SG Archive:Corned Beef and Cabbage

A Day without Sunshine



The sun didn't come up yesterday. Or, if it did, I didn't see it. The weather was darkly overcast — the sky a rag of gray flannel stretching from barren treetop to dreary hillside. The wind was cold and gusting, hurling flourishes of rain and ice. It was the epitome of an East Tennessee January day with no color to provide visual warmth or snow to add romance. It was just plain cold and nasty.

There's only one way to deal with a day like that — cook. And I knew just what I wanted.

One of these days I'm going to think of having corned beef long enough in advance to try corning my own brisket. But not this day. A quick trip to the store garnered a three pound packaged corned beef, some potatoes, turnips, carrots, and cabbage.

It was the epitome of an East Tennessee January day with no color to provide visual warmth or snow to add romance.

Back at the house I made a mug of cocoa, rinsed the brisket, and dumped it in my Dutch oven with assorted pickling spices and beer. It went on the stove until it simmered and then into the oven to slowly braise though the afternoon. Filling the house with a thick blanket of savory scent to ward heart and soul against the whisperings of wind and sleet.

Corned Beef and Cabbage
Serves 6 - 8.

1 3 - 4 lb corned beef brisket — trimmed of visible fat
1 bottle of beer
2 tsp mustard seed
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dill seed
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp juniper berries
1 bay leaf
3 carrots — peeled and cut into 1" lengths
2 lg. onions — cut into quarters
1/2 head cabbage — cut into quarters
3 lg. turnips — quartered
3 lg. waxy potatoes — cut in half

Heat oven to 325F.

Rinse corned beef and place in a large dutch oven. Add beer, 1 carrot, 1 onion, and all spices. Add enough water to barely cover brisket. Place over medium heat and bring to a vigorous simmer. Cover and place on lower-middle rack in oven.

Cook 1 hour, turn brisket over, and add enough additional water (if needed) to bring level half-way up meat. Repeat 1 hour later.

After 3 hours, remove from oven and remove brisket from broth and set on a plate. Strain out carrots and onions and discard. Add all remaining vegetables, place on stove over medium-low heat, cover, and cook for half an hour or until vegetables are fork tender. Remove from heat.

Slice brisket across the grain and add it back to vegetable mixture to warm up.

I like to serve this with a collection of mustards: Dijon, Polish, honey-mustard, whatever. Then I'll smear one slice of meat with Dijon, another with honey-mustard, and a potato with Polish. The various mustards give each bite a unique flavor.

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Corning Your Own Beef

Be Gorrah!



Corning beef has a long, if not particularly savory, history as a means of preserving meat. You can certainly just salt and dry beef much as hams are cured, but soaking the meat (brining it) in a salt solution became popular during the hay-day of the British Navy when it became a staple on ships. According to Salt: A World History (by Mark Kurlansky) the Irish became particularly known for their beef's longevity and quality. British, German, and French corned beef was regarded as being generally inferior and in fact the British product was called "salt junk" by sailors.. By the way, the "corn" referred to in corning is a reference to the kernels — corns — of salt used in making it.

The standard cut of meat for corning is the brisket, which is a tough muscle with a layer of fat down the center and over the top. Salt breaks down muscle fibers so corning it in a brine that will seep into the meat it a good start on tenderizing it. And salt, through the process of osmosis, also carries the brine's spices into the meat. The brisket is also particularly suitable to the long, slow stewing or braising that is the usual cooking technique.

The Irish became particularly known for their beef's longevity and quality. British, German, and French corned beef was regarded as being generally inferior.

I typically corn at least one brisket a year. I get a small (3 - 3.5 pound) cut and even though that's a lot of meat for one person, I don't mind the leftovers in the least — try corning your own beef for the best reuben you've ever eaten. However, I have this site on Cooking for Two that I manage and although there are lots of foods that are better leftover (corned beef among them) I at least attempt to pay lip service to not cooking enough food to feed four for a week. So I thought about how I might corn a smaller beef.

Buying a brisket and just corning half of it while freezing the rest for another day occurred to me, but right now my freezer is packed so I considered similar cuts of meat and immediately thought of flank steak. Although it comes from the opposite end of the cow, it's also from the belly and shares brisket's long, stringy loosely-spaced muscle fibers. I gave it a try.

It worked beautifully.

Flank steak is long and flat, without the bulk of brisket, so I rolled and tied the steak to produce a piece of meat more similar in shape to a bulky brisket. You can use a commercial pickling spice for flavoring, I always prefer making my own based on a recipe published in Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. Note that if you use the flank steak you still need to slice it across the grain which means slicing with the roll, not across it.

If you have the urge to try corning a beef but don't want to take on a big brisket, this is a great option.

You can find the recipe here and my recipe for corned beef and cabbage here.

By the way, I used to cook corned beef in a big pot on the stove top until a Jewish friend suggested using a Dutch oven in the oven instead. The difference was striking. This was many years ago and I don’t recall the specifics but I do remember that not only was the dish more evenly cooked but the flavors were more mellow. These days I use my 6.5 quart Le Crueset Dutch (or French) oven in the oven. Once hot, the cast iron delivers very uniform and gentle heat throughout the cooking process. I now cook all braises and stews in cast iron in the oven.

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Leftovers:Making the Most of Pork

This is the first in a series of articles/recipes that demonstrate a featured recipe and then offers a schedule and additional recipes to use the leftovers. The featured recipe does require some time and, sometimes, effort but the leftover recipes are all quick and easy enough for a weeknight meal. This week we'll make the most of a pork loin roast.

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Potato/Beer Chowder

Brewpub Basic



It's odd how the lunch culture varies from workplace to workplace. I worked at one company where everyone would go out and get fast food then (usually) bring it back and eat it at their desks. At the next place I worked I got involved with a crew that went out to lunch every day. Sometimes there'd be six or seven of us, sometimes just two or three, but it was always the same basic group.

In Oregon everyone brought their lunch to work, although we'd go out to eat at one of the three greasy spoons in the area about once a month (we called these "editorial bonding lunches"). While in New Hampshire everyone ate at the company cafeteria

We'd go out to eat at one of the three greasy spoons in the area about once a month (we called these "editorial bonding lunches").

In California we'd grill burgers outside every now and then, but for the most part everyone ate alone at their desks. However, there was a brewpub not far from the office and every three or four months we'd go there for lunch. The beer was good and the food, typical pub fare, wasn't bad on the whole. However they served a potato/beer chowder that was outstanding. So I'd usually order a cup of chowder and half a sandwich

Of course I had to try to duplicate the recipe and I managed to come very close, the trick turned out to be the combination of milk, beer, and chicken broth. The chicken broth took me awhile to figure out.

Potato/Beer Chowder
Serves 4.

1 1/2 lb Yukon Gold potatoes — peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 strips bacon
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 lg onion — peeled and diced
1 c beer
1 c milk
2 c chicken broth
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese — shredded
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Cook the bacon to desired doneness in a large soup pot over low heat. Drain bacon (reserving rendered bacon fat in the soup pot) and crumble.

Heat milk and beer in the microwave on high.

Add onion to bacon grease and cooking until lightly browned — about 5 minutes. Add flour to pot and stir, cooking, about 4 minutes longer. Stir in the milk and beer, being careful to avoid clumping and continue cooking until thickened.

Stir in the chicken broth. Add the potatoes and simmer until tender. Stir in the cheese a handful at a time, stirring between each addition until soup is homogenous. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Serve garnished with bacon and chopped green onions.

Try this chowder with...
Schwarma
Garlic Bread
Tomatoes Parmigiano

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Tartiflette au Reblochon

Stinky Cheese and Potatoes



I don't do New Year's resolutions — in fact that resolution is the only one I've ever kept. However, a year ago I decided to eat less meat. I was prompted by a couple of factors, first I wanted to simply eat less meat simply because I decided I was eating too much meat and second because when I did eat meat I wanted to take more care in sourcing it from local producers — and at those prices I can't afford to eat a lot of meat.

As a consequence I've become more sensitive to main-dish recipes that include little or, well, little meat. Somehow I just can't quite get to the point of going completely meatless. However, there are loads of dishes such as stir fries, casseroles, soups, and so on that, while they include some meat, it doesn't hold center place. When I saw a recipe for Tartiflette, a potato and cheese casserole form the Savoy region of France that contains a bit of bacon I immediately had to learn more.

The word "reblochon" is derived from reblessa, which means "to steal."

From what I could find tartiflette isn't a traditional recipe but was created in the 80s by an association of reblochon cheese-makers to promote their cheese. Reblochon is a soft, washed-rind cheese similar to brie in appearance. Unlike brie, though, it's a somewhat "stinky" cheese.

The word "reblochon" is derived from reblessa, which means "to steal." During the middle ages the farmers were taxed on their milk so they would milk once for the tax collectors and then sneak back out later and milk the cows a second time thus stealing the milk. The second milking produced milk much higher in butter fat. The true reblochon is made fome raw milk and is aged no more than six to eight weeks. Because it's aged less than 90 days the true reblochon can't be imported.

Although gruyere is often recommended as a replacement, gruyere is a hard waxy cheese. On the recommendation of a cheese expert, I chose Italian talegio as a substitute, he also suggested Italian Bel Paese. A French chef on a forum suggested a young French raclette as well and I can see that working.

I was really pleased with the dish. It's deeply rich and savory with an unctious mouthfeel and a distinctly pungent odor.

Tartiflette
Serves 6.

1 1/2 lb Yukon Gold potatoes — peeled
1/2 lb reblochon (or telagio, bel paese, or soft raclette)
5 oz bacon
1 md onion — diced
1/4 c dry white wine
6 tbsp crème fraiche
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter

Choose potatoes that are roughly the same size, and boil for about 20 minutes until slightly tender but not cooked through. Drain and allow to cool.

Heat oven to 350F.

Slice cheese 1/4-inch thick and do not remove rind. Reserve.

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium low heat until just slightly crisp. Drain bacon on a paper towel and pour all but about a tablespoon of bacon grease out of the skillet. Let bacon cool a bit, then chop very coarsely. Increase heat to medium and sauté until translucent. Add wine and reduce by half.

Cut potatoes into 1/3-inch thick slices. Butter a 9-inch casserole dish (the photo above is of individual casseroles) and layer 1/2 of potatoes in the bottom. Season generously with salt and pepper. Spread with crème fraiche. Then layer with onions, bacon, and half the cheese.

Layer on remaining potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and add remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil, turn on broiler, and broil until golden brown.

Try the tarteflette with...
Braised Red Cabbage
Pureed Cauliflower
Triple Fudge Brownies

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SG Archives:Apple-Brined Duck Breast

Precedent



It is my firm belief that the most important meal of the year is what one eats on New Year's Day. I'm not referring to the multitude of traditional foods served in various parts of the world such as Hoppin' John in the South, Vietnamese banh chung, 12 grapes in Cuba, or stewed mushrooms in Russia. My belief is it doesn't matter what one eats so long as one eats well. You are, after all, setting a precedent for the remainder of the year.

This year, because I didn't get to do much cooking for Christmas dinner, I paid special attention to what I wanted to fix on New Year's Day. I considered a beef roast because the one my sister fixed was so good and I hadn't quite satisfied my hankering. But another superstition, which I just made up, is that New Years dinner shouldn't include or produce leftovers. That just strikes me as a bad precedent to set. So what to fix?

Duck, that most succulent poultry. Queen of avian edibles. Voluptuous volaille. Amazing anatra.

I wanted something fairly traditional. Something that would look back to past meals while anticipating future dinners. And then I remembered I had half a duck breast in the freezer. Duck, that most succulent poultry. Queen of avian edibles. Voluptuous volaille. Amazing anatra.

I decided to brine the duck. I wanted to infuse it with apple cider and I thought brining would do so more effectively than marinating. Then I figured sauteed apples in a sweet red wine pan sauce would carry the apple tune just a bit further. To accompany it I made a potato gratin and steamed Brussels sprouts simply dressed in butter and lemon juice.

Judging from last night, I should be eating very well in the year to come. I flavored the cider brine with juniper berries and garlic. The result was wonderfully sweet with a distinctly salty edge to it that I liked. The pan sauce of apples sauteed in duck fat with marsala and crushed juniper berries reinforced the milder flavors in the meat.

For the gratin I layered thin slices of under-cooked potatoes and Appenzeller and sprinkled each layer with salt, black pepper, and minced rosemary. The rosemary in the potatoes nicely complimented the juniper in the duck.

The Brussels sprouts did their job, which in this case was mainly to not interfere with the duck or potatoes.

Cider-brined Duck Breast
Serves 2.

1 duck breast (about 3/4 lb) — cut in half, crosswise
Brine:
1 c apple cider
1 tbsp juniper berries — crushed
3 tbsp Kosher salt
1 clove garlic — smashed
Pan Sauce:
1/2 Braeburn apple (or other cooking apple) — peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 scallion — peeled and minced
1/2 tsp juniper berries — crushed
3/4 c marsala
2 tbsp butter

Bring cider, juniper berries, and 1 cup water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and add salt and garlic. Stir to dissolve salt and cool to room temperature. Place duck in a zip-lock bag and add brine. Refrigerate at least eight hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350F. Pat breast halves dry with a paper towel. Using a sharp knife, score duck skin in a diamond pattern and season liberally with black pepper. Place, skin-side down in a 10" oven-proof skillet over medium heat and brown — about 5 minutes. Turn breast over and cook another three minutes, then place pan on middle rack in oven. Cook for about 15 minutes or until center of breast registers 140 on an instant-read thermometer. Remove to cutting board and tent with foil.

Drain all but 2 tablespoons of fat from skillet. Place over medium heat and add apples, shallot, and juniper. Saute, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until apples are browned and softened. Add marsala and reduce by half, scraping up browned bits. Remove from heat.

Slice duck across grain and arrange on plate. Swirl butter into sauce and spoon apples and sauce over duck.

Try this duck with...
Potatoes Savoyard
Roasted Rutabaga
Baked Baby Artichokes

Originally published 01/02/2006.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | duck | main dish

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Italian Roast Beef Sandwich

Collections



I have three collections that I've pursued over the years with relatively little vigor — meaning lackadaisically. The first was a collection of boxes that I collected prior to adulthood. I was never interested in ordinary boxes so my collection only has 10 members and my favorite is the first, a box handmade and intricately carved with a geometric motif by my father's father, a man who died before I was born.

During my early adult years I collected hats, a collection that began with a beret I bought when I was around 13 and most recently with my acquisition of a straw cap (you know the kind, the sort of things people driving sports cars wear, but made of straw instead of tweed). My most prized item in that collection is a very old straw boater.

I have one more thing I've collected with some assiduousness over the past 10 years: sandwiches.

I also have around 25 cork screws. Some old, some new; some were gifts, some I purchased in my travels; some quite efficient, some almost worthless. All are distinctive except for three that are nearly identical. I purchased one of those similar cork screws and then was given the other two within the next four months — an odd coincidence.

But I have one more thing I've collected with some assiduousness over the past 10 years: sandwiches.

No, they aren't arranged in a display case or strewn artfully around my house. Instead most of them are displayed in this blog. I'm particularly interested in sandwiches associated with a particular place or culture. So while I consider the basic hamburger/cheese-burger a member of the collection (as a supremely American cultural icon) most other burgers don't count. And although the ham sandwich is the most popular sandwich in America and has been since at least 1970 there is no particular format considered Kosher — figuratively speaking.

I do consider the Muffaletta a member of my collection as well as the Rueben, Bahn Mi, Cubano, a prosciutto panini, and the grilled cheese. In fact, last year I won a prize for my grilled cheese sandwich, beating out dozens of imaginative competitors by concentrating on getting the details right on a basic cheddar-and-white-bread version.

Before adding a sandwich to my "collection" I do as much research on it as I can, trying to home in on all the common elements. Then I put together a recipe and make it. The initial recipe gets tweaked until I'm happy with it. So here I present the latest addition to my collection: the Chicago Italian Roast Beef. This sandwich is awesome.

Italian Roast Beef Sandwich
Makes 10.

3 lb. rump roast*
4 c beef stock or broth**
Dried Italian herb mix
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Salt and pepper
10 hoagie rolls***
Gardiniere (Italian pickled salad)

Heat oven to 300F.

Generously season the roast with herbs, garlic and onion powders, and salt and pepper. Allow the seasoned roast to warm on the counter for two hours.

Pour stock into a medium roasting pan and bring to a boil on the stove. Then place a rack over the pan (I used a cooling rack), place the roast on the rack, and set in the middle of the oven. (Note: You want the roast above the jus, not resting in it.

Cook for about 3 hours until the internal temp is 130F. This may seem like a long time (and do keep an eye on the roast's temperature) but the liquid below the roast will slow the cooking. You're shooting for a medium-rare roast.

Let the roast cool, then refrigerate for at least four hours or, better, overnight. Store the jus separately.

Skim any fat off the jus and pour it into the roasting pan. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce to about 2 cups. Taste and adjust seasoning. Reduce heat to a simmer.

Cut hoagie rolls in half — but not all the way through, leave a hinge. Slice roast extremely thin (a circular meat slicer is your best tool for this job, but I just use a very sharp carving knife) and add to jus for about 2 minutes — just to warm through. Spoon about 4 ounces of meat with plenty of jus onto each roll then top with gardiniere. Serve with plenty of paper towels and the rest of the jus for dipping.

*Although rump roast is the most common choice, I used chuck with great success.

**I had homemade stock in my freezer and used that, but it's equally authentic, perhaps more so, to use bouillon cubes and when I tasted the juice I'd made I ended up adding a tablespoon of Better than Bouillon beef base to the mix.

***Look for rolls that are somewhat chewy (meaning well-developed gluten) or the rolls will simply dissolve in the juice. In fact, in some joints in Chicago they dip the whole roll in the juice before adding the meat.

Try this sandwich with...
Tomato/Garlic Soup
Italian Apple Cake

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | sandwich | beef

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Duck Soup

Pulchritude and Poultry



I pulled the pot of stock from the fridge and it shimmied. It didn't wobble. It didn't shudder. It didn't ripple. It didn't sashay. Nor did it undulate, shake like a bowl full of jelly, or shiver. No. It shimmied like a skinny 15-year-old girl doing a hula dance on a Polynesian island for her boyfriend.

A few weeks back I wrote an article for NPR's Kitchen Window on cooking duck. As with most of my NPR pieces, the hardest part was deciding which recipes to cover. I was tempted to do duck confit because of the holiday season and because duck rillettes made from the confit are so special as a holiday appetizer. But I figured no one was going to take on making confit during the holidays. I considered the classic Peking Duck, but then I'd have to also provide a recipe for crepes - which would have been off-topic. One recipe that I didn't include but really wanted to was duck soup.

I strained the liquid, discarded the solids, and reduced it to about a gallon. Now I had the essence of duck in a pot.

It seemed incumbent on me to provide a recipe for roasting duck, because for best results it's a two or three step process in order to extract the excess fat: simmer the duck for 40 minutes in a stock pot, dry it overnight, then roast it at high heat for 30 minutes. This process would utterly destroy a chicken or turkey but for duck it's, well, water off it's back.

At then end of the roasting process you have the duck stock that had just sashayed out of my refrigerator. After roasting and mostly eating the duck I dumped the carcass back in the stock and simmered it another couple of hours to extract more flavor plus the gelatin in the bones. At this point I had about two gallons of liquid. I strained the liquid, discarded the solids, and reduced it to about a gallon. Now I had the essence of duck in a pot. I also happened to have a pair of roasted legs I hadn't eaten - but this was purely an accidental bonus of living alone.

After some internal discussion, I decided to make lentil soup. Whoooeee, we are talking some awesome soup here.

Duck and Bean Soup
Serves 6.

5 - 7 qt duck stock (see NPR article)
duck carcass
1 preserved lemon (or 1 stalk lemon grass, or the juice of two lemons)
1 lb lentils (I used the French du Puy lentils)*
1 carrots - peeled and grated
1 onion - peeled and finely diced
4 tbsp olive oil - separated
3 cloves garlic peeled and finely minced
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup assorted, pitted olives
Salt and pepper to taste.

Place the stock on the stove and add the duck bones and preserved lemon. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for two hours. Strain out solids and discard. Return to heat and reduce to about 4 quarts. Taste stock and if necessary add more salt.

In the meantime, brown the diced onion in 2 tablespoons of oil.

Add all remaining ingredients except last 2 tablespoons of oil to pot, return to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1 - 2 hours until you like the texture - adding water if needed.

Taste again and adjust seasonings and serve with lemon wedges. I found that garlic bread was a perfect accompaniment to this soup.

*Note: I chose lentils (and any lentils will work), but I nearly went with cannellini beans, which would have also been great but would have taken 3 - 4 hours to cook.

Because I had a duck leg/thigh I stripped it off the bone, shredded it, and added it to the soup at the last moment.

Try this soup with...
Quick Cheddar Cheese Bread
Parmesan/Bacon Burger
Roasted Garlic Bread

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | duck | beans | soup | main dish

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Paella

Spanish Evening



We'd spent the day at the Alhambra in Grenada. It had been a rainy day, but in many ways that added to the beauty of the palace by lending the architecture's sunny exuberance a hint of melancholy. A bright smile put on to hide the aches and pains of 700 years of history. The patter of rain on flag stones accenting the gurgling of water in the building's fountains and streams.

Around 2:00 we returned to our van and headed back our villa in the south, stopping to buy some ham, bread, and cheese for lunch. Around dusk the sky finally began to clear highlighting the puddles left by the rain with colors of rose and orange. We reached the coast just after dark, too tired to cook so we decided to stop somewhere and get paella.

Around dusk the sky finally began to clear highlighting the puddles left by the rain with colors of rose and orange.

We'd been in Spain for a week and a half and had yet to order this most famous of Spanish dishes so we looked for a likely café as we drove along the coast toward home. Eventually we found a place and parked the van. The evening was somewhat chilly with a breeze blowing in from the Mediterranean, but not really cold. The sort of weather that makes a hearty meal all the more appealing.

Sadly, we chose the wrong restaurant. We ordered two different paellas and both were greasy and the flavor one-dimensional. I don't even remember what they were, only the disappointment. If that had been the only paella I ever ate I'd never have eaten it again.

Fortunately I'd had good paella both prior to that experience and since then. Dishes filled with the smoky flavor of sausage and paprika or briny taste of the sea. Tender chicken surrounded by creamy rice and blessed with a kiss of saffron. Flavors made round by the sweetness of ripe bell pepper and peas. Made well, paella is seriously good.

Paella
Serves 8.

4 c chicken stock
5 - 6 strands saffron
1/2 lb chorizo — cut into 1/4" rounds
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts — cut into 1" cubes
1 tsp Spanish paprika
salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lg onion — peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper — diced
3 cloves garlic — sliced
1 c white wine
1 c short grain rice (ideally Spanish Bomba, but a risotto rice works)
1/2 can diced tomatoes (15oz can) — drained
1 1/2 c frozen peas
1/2 lb shrimp — peeled

Heat oven to 325F.

Bring chicken stock to a vigorous simmer and add saffron.

Heat oil in a large, covered sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown chorizo and reserve. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and paprika. Brown in pan on all sides and reserve with sausage.

Reduce heat to medium and saute onion and red pepper until translucent, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and continue cooking for one minute. Add rice and cook for another three minutes, stirring frequently.

Add tomatoes, chicken, and sausage to pan. Stir in wine and stock and bring to a vigorous simmer. Cover and place on center rack in oven. Cook until most, but not all, of the liquid is absorbed — about 30 minutes. Add shrimp and peas, re-cover, and continue cooking another 10 minutes.

Try Paella with...
Leeks with Anchovy Butter
Green Beans with Anchovies
Espresso Ice Cream with Nutella Swirl

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | spanish | rice

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Beef Stew

Hearty Fare

Beef stew is an American classic. A cheap cut of meat (chuck roast is best) is cut into chunks, dredged in flour then browned. Some liquid is added, a few vegetables are tossed in and voila (or "viola," as my buddies and I used to say) supper in a pot. This version is pretty standard (albeit with a few key tricks) and although it requires time, it's way easy. As with so many of the dishes featured on Cooking for Two, it freezes well thus saving you the effort of cooking at some future date and, again like many dishes here, it's better on the second day.

Recipe here...

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | cooking for two | main dish | beef | stew

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Ragu from Bologna

In the Flesh



Yesterday some friends were passing through Knoxville on their way to Memphis from Winston-Salem, North Carolina so of course I invited them to have supper here and stay the night. Actually, I didn't know him but I've known her for about five years — we'd just never met I the flesh before.

This is old-hat for me. I'd guess that over the past 15 or so years I've met over 50 people that I first got to know on-line. But Angela was nervous about it and her husband, Frank, was downright skeptical about the whole idea of making friends on-line — much less planning on staying the night with a "stranger." Some folks just don't understand how genuine friendships can be based on e-mail.

I'd guess that over the past 15 or so years I've met over 50 people that I first got to know on-line.

Our minds are constructed in such a way that we automatically form mental pictures of people we know even if we've never seen them. Apparently we require some sort of visual image to hang our knowledge, suppositions, and opinions of them on. And no one I've eventually met in person has ever looked or sounded at all like I expected, which isn't particularly odd. What is odd — at least the first few times — is how quickly after that initial meeting the other person's actual physical and, especially, vocal character completely supplant the fictional image you've carried around for so long. Within a few short minutes they're as familiar as they would have been if you'd always known them in person.

As it turns out, Angela is much prettier and more elegant than I'd imagined and has a gorgeous and genteel tar-heel accent — characteristics that completely belie the quirky and somewhat warped sense of humor I knew she possessed. Frankly I was expecting someone a bit more country. And speaking of Frank, he turned out to be a quiet and rather taciturn man with a wickedly ironic sense of humor. They were perfect foils for each other.

They didn't know exactly when they'd arrive — between 5:00 and 7:00, they thought — so I needed to fix a meal that would hold well. Neither of them are foodies, although Angela has an appreciation of food. She warned me, though, that Frank is fairly conservative about what he eats. I decided to make pasta Bolognese.

I'd never made it before — never even eaten it — but it's long been on my list and everybody likes spaghetti so I figured Frank would be Ok with it. I used Marcella Hazan's recipe in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking as the base, but tweaked it a bit. For the pasta, I had some Papardelle that I'd been looking for an excuse to serve and this seemed a good time.

I fixed a salad with raspberry vinaigrette to go along with it and for dessert I made gingerbread cake that I served warm with a sherry sauce. It was all good and we finished off the gingerbread for breakfast this morning before they left.

Ragu Bolognese
Serves 4.

2 tbls olive oil (you can use all olive oil or all butter, here)
1/4 c onion — finely chopped
1/4 c celery — finely chopped
1/4 c carrot — finely chopped
2/3 lb minced or coarsely ground beef
1/3 lb minced or coarsely ground pork
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper
1 c whole milk
1 c dry white wine
1/8 tsp nutmeg
15 oz whole canned tomatoes — roughly chopped, with their juice
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp anchovy paste
1/2 lb parpardelle
2 tbsp butter
Parmigiano

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent — about 3 minutes. Add celery and carrot and cook another two minutes. Increase heat to medium high and add beef and pork, season with salt and pepper, and cook stirring as needed, until no pink remains.

Reduce heat to medium low and add milk. Simmer until little or no liquid remains. Add nutmeg and white wine and simmer until little or no liquid remains. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and anchovy paste, stir to mix thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and simmer for three hours. (Note: the sauce should just barely bubble.) Stir occasionally and add water as needed to prevent mixture from drying out. However, at the end the ragu should not be runny.

Cook pasta and toss with butter. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano.

We had a great time and, because Angela is a photographer and wanted to see how I take my food pictures, I got some photos before having to clear the dining table so we could eat.

Try this ragu with...
Grape & Rosemary Focaccia
Roasted Garlic Bread
Roasted Cauliflower

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | pasta | italian

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Rack of Lambwith Caramelized Onions

A Different Rib Roast

Rack of lamb is the ovine equivalent of a standing rib roast. It's essentially the same exceedingly tender cut of meat. A standard lamb rack has eight ribs and a large rack can serve four people. Typically the ribs themselves are frenched (meaning the end of each rib is scraped clean) and they are beautiful on a plate. So if you have an occasion that deserves a prime rib roast but it's just the two (or three) of you, try a lamb rack instead — this is red meat at it's best.

Recipe here...

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | cooking for two | breakfast | eggs

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Lamb & Barley Stew

Bah, Bah, Black Sheep



A few weeks ago I bought some lamb stew meat from my local meat producer, Tracy Monday. I bought three pounds to make lamb daube for a dinner party I was catering. Tracy now has a retail outlet in a shop he shares with several other local producers. Although the shop is 30 minutes from my house it's a lot more convenient than having to show up at 3:00 PM Friday afternoon in a parking lot to buy meat from him.

Tracy's meat isn't cheap — the stew meat was $7/pound, but it's mighty good and I buy from him whenever I can. I'd called Tracy the night before to make sure he had the meat ask him to save it for me. I bought a duck for an article I was writing at the same time and when I drove out to get my meat Tracy was there and threw in an extra pound of lamb. Although a pound of lamb stew meat doesn't begin to cover the additional cost of buying meat from Tracy or the other local meat supplier, the recognition means a lot.

I have a personal relationship, a genuine connection, with Tracy and other local producers.

No supermarket would ever give me something. I have to pay for the pork fat I sometimes get at the grocer for making sausage and confit — even though the fat would be pure waste if I didn't want it. But I have a personal relationship, a genuine connection, with Tracy and other local producers.

I brought my bonus lamb home and froze it until I figured out what to do with it. Lamb and barley stew seemed like a good idea — lamb is particularly good with barley. I wish I'd had some lamb bones to make stock from, but I didn't, so I used homemade chicken stock. I should give Tracy a call and ask him for some lamb bones to make stock with. He probably wouldn't even charge me for them.

Lamb & Barley Stew
Serves 4.

1 lb lamb stew meat — cut into 1" pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 sm onion — peeled and diced
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 sm turnips — cut into eighths
2 carrots — cut into 1" lengths
1/4 cup pearl barley
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp juniper berries — smashed flat and then chopped finely
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Pat lamb dry and season liberally with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat, and brown lamb. Reserve meat, reduce heat to medium and brown the onions.

Increase heat to high, add wine and reduce by half, deglazing pot. Return meat to pot along with all other ingredients. Bring to a boil them immediately reduce heat to low and cover pot, leaving a 1/2" gap.

Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, taste and adjust seasoning.

Try this stew with...
Spiced Apples
Braised Red Cabbage
Bread Pudding

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | lamb | stew

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Quick Holiday Main Dishes

Take it Easy



The demands on your time and attention reach a frenzy in the period beginning Thanksgiving week and ending New Year's Day. You have office and private parties to attend or host, shopping to do, cookies to make for swaps and your kids, and the two big feasts bracketing the holidays to prepare. Typically the last thing you want to do is spend a lot more time preparing meals. Often, you turn to more take-out food, order in pizzas, and picked up prepared meals at the supermarket.

But although these options may save time, they increase expense during an already expensive time of year and they're not particularly satisfying. So I thought I point out some recipes that can be made, a la Rachel Ray, in 30 minutes or less. Even better you won't have to put up with me talking about "sammies" or "evoo." I'm quite content to refer to things by their actual name.

Dale's Minute Steak: This is one of my standard last-minute meals. Quick, easy, and tremendously savory, this recipe is based on Dale's Steak Seasoning. I don’t ordinarily put steak sauce on good steak because it tends to hide rather than highlight the flavor of the beef, but I have no qualms about putting steak sauce on minute steaks or ground beef and this is a case in point. Figure this will take 30 minutes if you slice your own mushrooms.

Veal with Feta Cheese Sauce: One year I did several cooking demonstrations on one of the local TV stations. I never got any business out of the spots and they were a lost of trouble, so I quit doing them. Nevertheless the key was choosing something I could prepare in five minute (not including prep time) and I came up with this recipe. It's takes five minutes to cook and only about 5 minutes to prep.

Lamb Steak with Gremolata: Gremolata is a simple combination of parsley, garlic, lemon zest, olive oil, and salt and pepper traditionally served on Osso Bucco. It's particularly good on lamb, but also complements steak and chicken. Careful, though, the next morning you'll still be tasting it. The gremolata takes five minutes to make the the steaks should cook in no more than 15 minutes.

Austrian Pork Chops: This recipe is nothing extraordinary. I was in the supermarket and picked up a package of boneless chops and wondered what I might do with them. Then I bought some Jarlsburg and some sauer kraut and voila, a meal. These chops are amazingly good for being so quick and easy. It takes 15 minutes to make, maybe 20 if you've had a couple of cocktails before starting.

Schnitzel: Schnitzel (or breaded pork cutlets) are popular and frequent fare at local meat-and-threes. A "meat-and-three" is a small homey restaurant that offers a meal consisting of a meat and three side dishes. These places do mostly lunch business so being able to serve their customers in a hurry is a key to success (the other is not poisoning their customers, quality is a distant third). However, you can make these at home in 20 minutes.

Chicken Piccata: This is not only my favorite last minute, quick recipe, but it seems quite special, is wonderfully piquant, and is the most popular recipe I've ever published. I usually have some chicken breasts in the freezer, lemons, capers, and vermouth on hand. Thawing the breasts adds 30 minutes (you can safely thaw a boneless breast in hot water if you immediately cook it) to the prep time, but they cook in five minutes max including the sauce.

Technorati: Food | recipe collection | kevin d weeks | seriously good | quick and easy | main dish

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Glazed Cornish Hens

Small Packages



Succulent Cornish hens are roasted and then coated with a sweet, garlic-flavored vermouth glaze. Despite the mess, you'll want to eat this wonderfully sticky, rich, and juicy bird with your fingers to make sure you don't miss a single morsel of skin or flesh.

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother roasting ordinary chicken. Unless you can get free-range chicken (which is expensive even when you can find it) it's barely worth the bother of cooking. The flavor ranges a gamut from bland to flavorless. By the time the thighs are done the breast is usually overcooked. And it takes an hour (or more) to roast.

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother roasting ordinary chicken.

Supermarket chicken is fine if you're using it in another dish such as paprikas or you're marinating it. And the individual boneless breasts are convenient for many dishes and if you're not worrying about getting the thighs done then overcooking them isn't a problem. But roasting a whole supermarket chicken? Phfft! The best thing whole chickens have going for them is they're always available.

Not so Rock Cornish Games Hens (aka, Cornish Hens, aka Game Hens). They aren't as easy to find as chicken and, although not up to the standards of free-range chicken, are more flavorful than the usual fowl. And because they're small (less than 2 pounds) they cook in 30 - 40 minutes, and the breasts are seldom overcooked. I fixed one the other night using a recipe from the October 2004 issue of Gourmet.

Cornish Hens with Sweet Vermouth-garlic Glaze
Serves 4.

2 ea Cornish hens — halved lengthwise through breast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 c sweet (red) vermouth
6 cloves garlic, large — quartered lengthwise
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 c water

Heat oven to 450F and position rack in center.

Pat hens dry and season with salt and pepper. Place cut sides down in a large heavy 1" deep baking pan and roast until just cooked through, about 30 minutes.

In a small, uncovered sauce pan, simmer vermouth, 1/2 cup water, thyme, and garlic for about 10 minutes until garlic is soft. Discard thyme and mash garlic with a fork (or use an immersion blender). While hens cook, reduce sauce to a glaze -- about 3 tablespoons.

When the hens have cooked for 30 minutes, brush glaze onto hens and roast 5 minutes more. Remove from oven, place on a platter, and cover with foil. Add remaining 1/2 cup water to glaze and scrape down sides. Place baking pan over two burners on medium high and add glazing liquid. Simmer briefly, scraping up browned bits. Season with salt and pepper and pour over hens.

I served this with fruit couscous and carrots glazed in red vermouth. Beautiful and delicious.

Try these Cornish hens with...
Couscous with Dried Fruit
Pureed Cauliflower
Roasted Rutabaga

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | cornish hens

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Standing Rib Roast

Fundamentals



When I was editing programming magazines I sometimes had writers object to an assignment as redundant: "Lots of people have already explained a hash sort, why should I reinvent the wheel?" or, "Everyone knows how to do phonetic parsing, it doesn't make sense to do it again." To which my response was, "Trust me, know one has ever explained it the way you can and there are programmers — experienced programmers — who will learn some new take or suddenly gain an insight they were missing when they read your article."

I told them this knowing the article I'd written that received the most response from readers was on a topic computer science majors studied in their first year. And yet the e-mails said things like, "I'd forgotten that algorithm and it's perfect for a project I'm working on." and, "I never really understood why x and y were swapped, now I do." In short, I'd made something old, new again and given it my own spin. And that's why I'm addressing the King of Roasts — a prime rib.

Nomenclature

Enzymic action in the presence of oxygen breaks down muscle fibers (making the roast more tender) and creates more complex flavors (especially glutamates — umami).

There are two sources to the name "prime rib" and in most cases they don't apply to what we cook at home. The primary source is that the beef rib is known as a "primal" cut because it's a fundamental devision of an animal. The ribs from the center section of ribs are the rib primal cut. This cut typically includes 6 - 7 ribs, weighs around 25 pounds, and will serve 12 - 15 people. This large primal rib cut is then often divided into a large end and small end. These are what we find at the store and they are not, by this definition, "prime ribs."

The other source of the name is from the Prime grade. This is the highest grade of beef, well-marbled with fat, and exceptionally tender. You can no longer find prime grade beef in most stores, in fact even choice is getting hard to find. Nevertheless, a Prime grade, well-aged primal rib roast is carnivore heaven.

Given the above, what you can buy in the standard Safeway, Kroger, and even Whole Foods is a standing rib roast — a smaller, lesser-grade roast. Someday you should save up and get a genuine, aged Prime-grade rib roast mail-order just to find out what the fuss is about, but a 3 pound roast from Lobels will set you back almost $150 or about $25/person. And I am serious, if you love beef one day you should try this meat.

However, even if you head down to the supermarket for a Select-grade roast, make the effort to select one with as much marbling in the meat as you can find. The fat strewn through the muscle adds flavor, mouth-feel, and juiciness. I recommend at least a three-rib roast, although I have had some success with a two-rib, large-end roast. But I suggest the larger roast because I recommend aging it. This will improve both it's flavor and tenderness but will reduce the servings by one. (Note: There is some risk here of food poisoning, how much I have no way of determining. The US Government recommends cooking eveything to 160F. It's your call.)

Aging the Roast
Dry-aging beef accomplishes two things. First, some of the water in the roast's juices evaporate. This concentrates flavors just as reducing wine enhances its flavors. Second, enzymic action in the presence of oxygen breaks down muscle fibers (making the roast more tender) and creates more complex flavors (especially glutamates - umami).

Pick up the roast seven days before you plan to cook it. Choose a roast with good marbling and, a thick layer of fat (at least 1/4-inch) over the flesh. If you're lucky enough to have access to a real butcher (even at a supermarket) or to a local supplier you can request this — just be sure to give them two to three weeks warning before you plan to pick it up.

Place the roast on a rack in tray (to promote air circulation and catch any drips) on the lowest shelf in your refrigerator. But avoid the coldest corner which can freeze the roast and prevent aging. Do NOT Cover or wrap the roast. It it's wrapped it will spoil.

Let it sit, just sit, for five to seven days.

Remove from fridge and using a very sharp knife trim off the dried fat and flesh from the meat sides — don't worry about the rib side. And don’t be overly concerned about a pristine appearance with no spot of slight grey flesh or slightly brown fat. By the time it's those minor imperfections will disappear.

Cooking
Restaurants that specialize in "prime rib" typically have special ovens to cook the roasts in. The ovens are large enough to contain several primal ribs at once and are geared toward very slow cooking.

The roast is first blasted with high heat to both begin browning the meat and to kill any surface bacteria. Then they are slowly cooked, sometimes over as much as eight hours, to assure the entire roast is cooked to a uniform rare. Then if someone orders medium rare, medium, or (God forbid) well-done the meat is sliced off the bone and quickly heated to 135, 145, or 160 degrees. You can do this at home.

Recipe
This is as basic a recipe as you can imagine, but if you've followed the steps above you already created a great deal of complex flavor. Don’t futz with the work you've already done. Take it easy.

1 3-rib standing roast
3 lg cloves garlic — smashed
Kosher salt
Black pepper
2 tsp ground rosemary
3 tbsp olive oil

Rub the roast all over with the smashed garlic. Salt generously and warm, covered with plastic, on the counter for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 225F. Season roast with pepper and rosemary.

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy roasting pan over medium high heat. Brown roast on all sides, finishing bone-side down.

Place in lower third of oven and cook until center of roast reads 120F for rare or 135F for medium rare according to an instant read or probe thermometer — 3 to 4 hours. Remove from oven, tent with foil, and rest 20 minutes. There will be almost no carryover cooking, but the juices will redistribute.

Cut roast from ribs, slice, and serve.

I'll leave it to you to decide on sauce or no sauce and what to do with the goodness left in the bottom of the roasting pan. But I like tossing some par-boiled potatoes and carrots into the roasting pan and sticking the pan back in the oven at 400F while I make a port wine demi-glace to grace the meat.

Try this roast with...
Potatoes Savoyarde
Leeks with Anchovy Butter
Cranberry Mousse

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | beef

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Pasta Carbonara

Italian Ecstasy



A number of years ago I spent a week in Italy with my parents. We rented a villa outside of Rome and used it as a home base to explore Rome and southern Tuscany. One morning we visited the ruins of the Emperor Hadrian’s Villa and afterward had a late lunch at a restaurant there. I ordered Fettuccini Carbonara.

This dish had been a favorite of mine since college when I waited tables at a restaurant where it was a specialty. Over the years I’ve made it many times using a recipe based largely on what I remembered from watching the chef fix it. The version I had in Italy was a revelation.

Carbonara has been a favorite of mine since college when I waited tables at a restaurant where it was a specialty.

When it arrived it was a bright lemon yellow. The color turned out to be egg yolks — multiple egg yolks. My version included a single whole beaten egg. What I was served had at least two yolks in it with no whites and no cream. It was unctuously rich and luscious.

The version below is still basically what I’ve made for years, but I learned a lesson about the eggs in Italy.

Fettuccini Carbonara
Serves 4.

8 ounces fettuccini (or spaghetti)
6 ounces pancetta, 1/4" dice
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp olive oil
12 green onions, sliced 1/4" thick
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c heavy cream
4 oz parmegiano — grated
2 oz pecorino — grated
1 tsp salt
Additional salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl mix together egg yolks, cream, and salt.

Add olive oil to a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, for two minutes. Add garlic and onion and continue cooking and stirring for one minute. Remove from heat.

Cook pasta, drain quickly, return to pot and add remaining ingredients stirring constantly to prevent egg yolks from curdling. Serve immediately with a healthy grind of black pepper. Fresh asparagus is a wonderful side dish with this meal and a good Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc washes it down nicely.

If you can't get pancetta, you can use ordinary bacon, but ham is a better choice. And if you're feeling rowdy, I sometimes substitute country ham for the pancetta.

Try this Carbonara with...
Baked Baby Artichokes
Green Beans with Anchovies
Roasted Rutabaga

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | pasta | italian

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Vitello con Carciofo

Veal with Artichokes



It was about 8:00 pm, 10:00 pm my time, on a Tuesday night and I was in Scottsdale, Arizona. I'd only been to Scottsdale once before, when I interviewed for the job that brought me here on this October evening. I'd been driving around for about an hour getting a feel for the area and looking for a place to eat.

Sadly, nothing caught my eye. There were the usual collection of fast food joints, pizza joints, and family-style joints. But as hungry as I was, I couldn't persuade myself to stop at any of them. I was heading back to the hotel when I noticed a little restaurant hidden in a strip mall — an Italian joint. Don't ask me why, but I made a U-turn and stopped there — expecting the worst.

It was a tiny place with three tables in front by a bar and another 15 or so tables in back. There were, perhaps, four tables seated. The bartender greeted me and when I asked for a smoking table waved me to a table up front by the bar. Then he brought me a menu and took my drink order.

I asked the bartender for a recommendation and he suggested the veal scallopini with artichokes.

The bartender was not your typical college kid. He was a dark, well-built middle-aged man wearing a starched white shirt, a starched white apron, and a conservative tie. He had an Italian accent. So when he brought my drink I said, "Grazie." He responded with, "Prego."

The menu wasn't the typical Italian-joint fare either. I asked the bartender for a recommendation and he suggested the veal scallopini with artichokes. I've had good veal dishes, but never in this country. The veal is usually so bland as to be tasteless. But I took him at his word and ordered it. It was excellent and, when I asked, the chef was kind enough to tell me what went in it.

Vitello con Carciofo
Serves 4.

4 ea veal scallopini (1/4 lb each)
1/2 c flour
3 ea jars marinated artichoke hearts — quartered
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 ea lemon – juiced
1/2 c white vermouth
parsley – chopped

Lightly season both sides of scaloppini and flour lightly, shaking off excess.

Heat 2 tablespoons of artichoke marinade and olive oil over medium heat. Saute 2 veal for two minutes on each side. Do not overcook! Remove to warm dish. Add another tablespoon of marinade and repeat for 2 remaining scallopini.

Place artichokes in skillet; add extra oil if necessary, cook, stirring gently, until warmed through. Add lemon juice and wine and scrape up fond. Return veal to pan and heat everything together briefly. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with rice or buttered noodles.

I can't say what prompted me to stop at that little unassuming restaurant, but the impulse was a good one. Although I didn't live in Scottsdale, the job brought me there another half a dozen times and I always made a point of eating at least one meal in what became my favorite Italian restaurant.

Try this veal with...
Potatoes Savoyarde
Sauteed Greens
French Pear Tart

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | veal

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Oven-Barbequed Ribs

Blasphemy or Saving Grace



Two years ago the damned local fire marshal decreed that not only was it now against fire regulations to use an open flame grill (gas or charcoal) within 20 feet of a multi-family dwelling (read "my condo") but that you can't even store a grill (gas or charcoal) within 20 feet of the dwelling. It's a completely reasonable rule. Most people are idiots and I don’t want an idiot burning down my house because he gets drunk and uses too much lighter fluid. But I'm not an idiot and I totally detest the rule because it put an end to one of my favorite modes of cooking.

I hauled my grill and smoker out to my parents' house and visit them (parents and grills) when I can, but my parents live 30 minutes away and I've gone from cooking over flame two or three times a month to cooking over flame two or three times a summer.

I hauled my grill and smoker out to my parents' house and visit them (parents and grills) when I can.

If all I want is a grilled flavor in a steak, I can use my stove-top smoker and then toss the steak on a really hot grill pan to get the sear and char. But that's a quick technique that doesn't work for smoked Boston Butt or pork ribs, which require long, slow cooking to become tender. So recently I tried a technique I've been hearing about in unexpected places — liquid smoke.

Probably like you, I figured liquid smoke was an artificial product. That's not necessarily bad, but typically such products are one-dimensional. For example, artificial vanilla extract contains vanillin but none of the other complex flavors that make true vanilla true vanilla. I figured the same was true of liquid smoke. I was wrong.

Liquid smoke is made from real smoke filtered through water. It has most of the flavor — and probably all of the carcinogens — you get from cooking over wood. So I've been playing with it to see if I could get at least the flavor, if not the texture, of meat cooked in a smoker. I'm still experimenting, but these ribs turned out reasonbly well.

Oven-Smoked Country Ribs
Serves 4.

12 country-style pork ribs — bone-in
Dry rub
1/4 c liquid smoke
Barbeque sauce (if desired)

Generously season ribs with rub, stuff in a zippered bag, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

Wrap ribs tightly in heavy-duty foil, add liquid smoke, and cook at 225F for 5 1/2 hours.

Open up foil and drain off the liquid, it's too smoky to keep, so discard it.

At this point I had preheated my grill pan over medium-high heat. I brushed the ribs with sauce and tossed them on the grill pan for about 4 minutes per side to provide browning and caramelization.

Liquid smoke does give you a genuine smoke flavor, but the result is more one-dimensional than actual slow smoking over charcoal with soaked wood chips. So in terms of genuine flavor it falls somewhere between imitation vanilla flavoring and real vanilla extract. My conclusion is the techique is an improvement on doing without, but it still feels a bit blasphemous.

Try these ribs with...
French Fries
Potatoes Parmigiano
Fried Okra

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | pork | barbeque | main dish

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SG Archive: CostelettesTuscan Lamb Chops

The Girl



It was December of 2001 and, despite having protested for years that I'd never live in California, I'd moved to Sacramento three months before. On this particular day, the Thursday evening after Christmas, I was driving around the town of Sonoma in a steady, chilly, drizzling rain looking for my B&B.

One of the nice things about the publishing business (I was a magazine editor at the time) is that it's no problem for a monthly magazine to just take a week off with minimal notice. I mean lock the doors and leave a message on the answering machine and everyone take a long holiday. Provided you still hit the two or three drop-dead dates for getting the current issue out the door this is relatively painless for a small company. So we'd given everyone the week between Christmas and New Years off and I decided to take my first trip to The Wine Country.

Sonoma has a lovely town square — in the daylight, with the sun shining. But on a wet Thursday night in that purgatory between holidays it's not particularly welcoming.

My problem at the moment was I couldn't find the B&B I had reservations for. I had a map I'd printed out from MapPoint but for the first (and so far, only) time MapPoint had led me astray. I tried calling but there was no answer. Finally I spotted a UPS truck and I accosted the driver as he got out to make a delivery. Luckily he knew where the place was and so, about 6:30 I pulled into a gravel driveway next to a rambling house that appeared to be some sort of strange hybrid of Queen Anne and Craftsman bungalow.

I got out, and dashed up the stairs to the front door. Locked. Coming back down I missed a step in the dark and fell, badly bruising my back and hip. I hobbled around back. There was a light over the back door but it, too, was locked. In desperation I limped over to what I'd thought was the garage and found a note on the door addressed to me along with a key to the house and my room. I dumped my bag in the room and sore, wet, and hungry went looking for supper.

Sonoma has a lovely town square — in the daylight, with the sun shining. But on a wet Thursday night in that purgatory between holidays it's not particularly welcoming. More or less by default, I walked into a restaurant named The Girl and the Fig. Surprisingly for a Tuesday night, it was packed. It looked like my day was only going to get worse

There was a large woman in jeans and sweater working as hostess who told me there'd be about a 15 minute wait and asked if I wanted to wait at the bar. Apparently she'd sized up my frame of mind because she escorted me to the bar and told the bartender: "Take care of him." A few minutes later she came back and directed me to an empty bar stool. And I'd just ordered my second bourbon and water when she returned to take me to a table.

The waitress recommended the costelette (Italian marinated lamb chops). They were excellent, the wine recommended by my waitress was a perfect match and her service could not have been better — attentive, competent, and ubobstrusive. When I got the bill, my first drink had been comped. I had been "taken care of."

When I got home I did my best to recreate the recipe.

Costelettes
Serves 4.

8 lamb chops
1 c olive oil
1/2 c fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic — crushed
2 sprigs rosemary — bruised by rubbing between palms
2 generous pinches of salt

Combine everything except lamb chops in a one gallon ziplock bag and allow floavors to meld for several hours. Add chops to bag and marinate for about 3 hours.

Grill chops on a charcoal grill to preference — about 4 minutes per side for medium rare.

It was somewhat cloudy for the rest of my visit, but I had a great time touring wineries and playing tourist.

I went back to the restaurant twice more and took a large party of foodies to the sister restaurant, The Girl and the Gaucho. It was always good. And the hostess who recognized someone in need of some TLC? She was The Girl.

Try these Costelettes with...
Green Beans with Anchovies
Potato/Carrot Gratin
Buttermilk Pie

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | lamb | italian | main dish

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Rum-and-cider-brinedPork Sirloin Roast

Falling



The day-time temperature has been in the 70's this fall — right up until a few days ago when it plunged 30 degrees over-night. Colors haven't really started changing yet — because of the warmth, I suppose. But perhaps now we'll see fall. Although New England is certainly the most beautiful place in the country for leaf peeping, East Tennessee does pretty well — and for that matter when the aspens turn gold on California's mountain sides it's pretty stunning.

At any rate, I woke up to a cold house Saturday morning and didn't want to get out of my warm bed. So I put off getting up for a few minutes and gave some thought to supper. The first thing that popped into my mind was roast pork. To me fall means pork — and it also means apples and it just so happens that apples and pork go together beautifully, but what to do?

I woke up to a cold house Saturday morning and didn't want to get out of my warm bed.

I let my mind free associate and settled on cider (hard or soft... soft) with rum and juniper berries. A brine not a marinade so the salt would draw the flavors fairly deeply into the meat. However, choosing to use a brine meant it would be too salty to use as a sauce — but there was no reason not make a separate pan sauce using rum and cider — and toss in some sautéed apples as well.

I've done something similar, but without brining, without juniper, and using Calvados instead of rum. I made a grocery run and came home to make up the brine. I'd already decided it needed 24 hours of brining so I'd have it for supper Sunday night instead of that night. The longer I cook the more I learn that patience is a key technique and I've found that most of my meals fall into two categories: they are either quick and simple or slow. I cook fewer and fewer dishes that fall in between.

I don’t mind letting a roast brine for 24 hours, and I don't mind slow-roasting it for a couple of hours so it arrives on the table perfectly cooked throughout.

Rum-and-cider-brined Pork Sirloin Roast
Serves 4.

Brine:
1 1/2 c dark rum
1 1/2 c apple cider
1/4 c kosher salt
12 juniper berries — coarsely crushed
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
12 pepper corns — coarsely crushed
2 lg garlic cloves &mdash: smashed
Roast:
2 1/2 lb pork sirloin roast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Sauce:
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 apple — peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 tbsp finely minced onion
1/2 c dark rum
1/2 c apple cider
Salt and pepper

Brine:
Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, and cook until salt is dissolved.

Cool brine to room temperature. Put the roast in a gallon zippered plastic bag, add brine, evacuate most of the air, and refrigerate for 18 - 24 hours — turning three or four time while brining to distribute the brine.

Roast:
Heat oven to 250F.

Rinse roast and pat dry with a lint-free kitchen towel. Discard brine.

Heat oil in a heavy, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add roast and brown well on 3 sides — about 3 minutes per side. When you flip the forth side down, place the skillet in the center of the oven.

Cook roast to 140 - 145F at its center according to an instant-read thermometer. Remove from oven, place on a cutting board, and tent with foil.

Sauce:
Unfortunately the fond that accumulates in the bottom of the skillet is a bit too salty to use in a sauce, so use another skillet.

Heat skillet over medium heat. Add butter and swirl to melt. Add apples in a single layer and lightly brown. Flip and brown other side. Add minced onion and cook 1 minute longer.

Add rum and reduce by half. Add cider and reduce by half. Taste and season with salt and pepper (light on the salt).

Serve.

Try this pork roast with...
Roasted Rutabaga
Glazed Carrots with Mint and Lemon
Italian Sausage Pilaf

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | main dish | pork | apples

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Chicken Stir-fry

Leftovers go Lightly



Chicken Stir Fry is one of my favorite recipes for leftovers. For instance, a few days ago I roasted a chicken and that night had it with steamed broccoli and Cauliflower Puree. A delicious meal, but with lot's of leftover chicken. However, I planned for those leftovers. So a couple of days later I made some rice turned the leftovers into a stirfry. My original Mediterranean meal was transformed into an Asian meal in 30 minutes. (Note: this is not a classical Asian stir-fry, it's a quick dish made up from what's on hand suitable for a weeknight meal.)

Recipe here...

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | chicken | main dish | asian

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Braising

Low & Slow in a Pot



Perhaps it seems odd to have a favorite cooking method. I know it seems odd to me. But I love braising. There's something irresistible about taking a tough, cheap cut of meat and turning it into a tender cut of meat. And then there's the sauce.

For instance, a couple of weeks ago I featured canard au vin. This dish is a variation on Boeuf Daube and Coq au Vin. Popular throughout France, it's traditionally made with rooster (coq) past it prime, tough, and stringy. The coq is simmered for several hours in the region's wine (often a red) with aromatics such as onion, carrots, and celery and in addition to a bird that's fall-apart tender you end up with a deeply flavored wine sauce that is made for sopping up with a good country bread. This is a sauce that will make you think you're in heaven.

The best cuts for braising have several muscles running in different directions and, ideally, some bone.

The trick to cooking any meat in liquid is not boiling it. You should bring it just to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it for three — four hours Boiling meat makes it tough and the goal in braising is to make it tender. The second trick is the meat should only be half covered. This means half of it roasts, albeit in steam (the pot should be covered), above the liquid heightening the flavor. I usually turn whatever I'm braising over several times during cooking. The last trick is that, although you can braise on the stove top, if you're not using a crock pot it's best to braise in a 250 degree oven. This is a gentler cooking technique than using the stove top and applies heat to the top portion to achieve the roasting effect in the last trick.

The best cuts for braising have several muscles running in different directions and, ideally, some bone. The connective tissue between the muscles melts and adds richness to the sauce. It also adds gelatin as do the bones, which increases the body of the sauce.

So, given the above, here are some of my favorite braising recipes. Some call for oven temperatures above 275 degrees, but I would reduce the temp and increase the time by at least 30 minutes. You can also make all of these in a crock pot, but you'll have to make the conversion yourself.

Beef Daube: French daubes are a perfect example of a peasant dish that deserves a place of honor. These are stews or braises where the meat is typically marinated in wine with aromatics for 12 to 48 hours before being gently cooked in the marinade. As I mentioned above, the Canard au Vin mimics this method.

Beef Carbonade: Carbonade is a Belgian with a Spanish names that means grilled — talk about an identity crisis. Nevertheless it's amazingly good. The Belgian and Irish cuisines make the most use of beer in dishes - surprisingly, the Germans seldom cook with beer, they figure beer is for drinking. But I'm with the Belgians and Irish: Beer is a great in food.

Braised Lamb Shanks: I hadn't anticipated having to smell these shanks cooking for so long. I expected an initial burst of aroma during the browning phase, followed by a sharp decline, and then a gradual building of aroma until it was ready. This is fair. This is predictable. But no the initial smell spike was higher and more pronounced than I expected (Was it the tomato paste I added to the browning vegetables? The juniper berries that opened new scent avenues?) and the decline far less after going into the oven. Simply not fair - but they sure were good.

Lamb Tagine with Figs and Prunes: Tagine, the cooking vessel and dish, are Moroccan — meaning Arabic — meaning the spices can be surprising to Western palates. Mostly because Arabs use a lot of spices we've come to associate with sweet dishes: cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger… Our Western association isn't unreasonable, these spices do indeed complement sweet flavors, but Arab cuisine often adds sweet tastes to savory dishes and so it's not unusual to find fruit or honey paired with chicken and accented with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Milk-braised Pork: I used a pork loin in this case because that's what I had on hand. But since then I've made it using a Boston Butt (shoulder) roast and it's better because the Butt has connective tissue, bone, and is pretty damned cheap. I've also futzed with the recipe adding onions and carrots and herbs. Nope. Don’t do it. Keep it dead simple. You cannot make this better, all you can do is make it different.

Cuban Braised Pork: I developed this recipe (from a bunch of examples) in order to make a sandwich. I kid you not. I marinated a pork shoulder (boneless because I wanted to slice it) for 24 hours, then cooked it for three hours, and made bread just to experience a Cubano — the famous sandwich from Miami. I like sandwiches. But the roast isn't only good in a Cuban sandwich. I've also pulled it apart And served on rice drizzled with the sauce.

Curried Chicken: Chicken is not innately tough, in fact the breast is innately tender, consequently it doesn't need to be cooked as long as beef, lamb, or pork and chicken breasts aren't a particularly good choice for braising. But chicken thighs and legs can stand the longer, slower cooking and get much better. This curry recipe gently simmers thighs for and hour and half and during that time the legs will make their own sauce as if by magic.

Chicken Parpikas: Paprikas is one of my favorite chicken dishes, again thighs are chosen for their flavor and ability to stand up to 90 minutes of cooking. I've been berated for including mushrooms in my version, as well as dill. But I've run across other recipes calling for one or the other, and besides, it's a peasant dish. That means that as long as you keep to the spirit of the dish pretty much anything goes. In this case the spirit is a rich paprika-flavored sauce that's delicious on noodles or even rice.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | braise | main dish

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