Italian Beef Stew from Union Square Cafe

Garnish with chopped parsley and enjoy with the rest of the wine.

Great beef, great wine, tomatoes, and herbs. That’s the essence of this Italian stew. Usually when browning meat for a stew or braise, it’s good to do only a little at a time, to not overcrowd the pan and lower the temperature too much. In this recipe however, a different technique is used, and all the beef can be browned at once. The meat will release a lot of its water, which will be cooked away, leaving the meat receptive to the flavors of the wine and tomato sauce. Once the meat browns, add onions and garlic, then some tomato paste, and then deglaze the pan with red wine. Bring to a boil, braise for an hour, add tomato sauce, and braise for another hour or so. The beef will be fork-tender, the sauce rich and satisfying. A nice green salad and some good crusty bread to soak up the sauce would round the meal out just fine.

In this method it doesn't matter how crowded the pan gets with the meat.

A lot of water will be released, and then the beef will basically be boiled in its own moisture until it evaporates, and the meat browns.

When the moisture dries up, add onions and garlic, then some tomato paste.

Cook out the tomato paste for a minute or so, then add a cup of red wine. I used a nice fruity Tuscan Sangiovese/Merlot blend.

After an hour, add tomato sauce.

The recipe, from Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 pounds trimmed beef chuck, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup red wine
2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce or store-bought tomato sauce
1 tablespoon sliced fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Heat the oil to smoking over high heat in a deep, straight-sided skillet large enough to hold the meat in one layer. Add the meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the juices have evaporated and the meat is browned, 20 to 25 minutes. (Turn the heat down if necessary to keep the meat from browning.)

3. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onion is soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cook for 1 additional minute, and then add the wine. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, and bake in the oven until the meat is tender and almost all of the wine has evaporated, about 1 hour.

4. Stir in the tomato sauce and the sage, return the pan to the oven, and continue baking until the meat is soft enough to cut with a spoon, about 1 hour longer. Transfer to a warm, deep platter, sprinkle with the chopped parsley, and serve piping hot.

Roasted Wild Mushrooms with Almonds & Tarragon

I worked at a Mediterranean restaurant that served a lot of small plates, similar to tapas, and I used to love making this dish. The flavors are a mix of deep earthiness and sweet licorice, and the textures a mix of tender and crunchy.

Use wild mushrooms such as oyster and shiitake, or a mix of these and the less expensive button or cremini mushrooms.

Cut the stems from the mushrooms, and cut the caps into halves or quarters, depending on size. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in a 350-375 oven for about 15 minutes, or until tender.

Let the mushrooms cool, then toss with chopped tarragon, and sliced almonds. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

Curry-Rosemary Bar Nuts

Here is a simple recipe for delicious, spiced mixed nuts that used to be served at a restaurant where I worked. They’re salty, spicy, and addictive.

Use a good mix of cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, etc.

Melt some butter in a large skillet, and fry some chopped rosemary until fragrant. Add some curry powder, and saute until toasted. Add the mixed nuts, and stir well to coat the nuts. Saute until the nuts are toasted and delicious. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Homemade Preserved Lemons

Preserved lemons are a unique ingredient often used in North African cuisines. They add a zesty, citrusy note to a dish, as well as a bit of color.

It’s not too hard to find jarred preserved lemons in gourmet stores, but making them at home is even easier. Buy a bunch of lemons, and make two lengthwise cuts into each one, from one end almost to the other, so that each lemon is quartered, but still held together at the stem. Fill the inside of each lemon with salt, and drop into a glass jar such as a Mason jar, with a tight-sealing lid. Press down on the lemons, and add more salt. Squeeze the juice of another set of lemons, and pour the juice into the jar. There should be enough salt and juice to cover the lemons. The acid and salt are the preservatives. The salt will draw water out of the lemon peels and give it a firm texture, and a distinct flavor.

Wait at least a month before using the lemons. Their flavor improves over time, and they will keep for more than a year in the refrigerator. Indeed, some chefs who use preserved lemons wait a whole year to use them, to get the strongest flavor from them.

Quarter lemons and fill with salt.

Marinated Olives & Spiced Almonds

Marinated olives & toasted almonds is a classic pairing for an appetizer or meze at a Mediterranean table. There are various recipes for olive marinades; some are very aromatic, others on the spicy side, with minced hot peppers or chili flakes. This one has a distinct citrus kick, from a Moroccan ingredient, preserved lemons.  The sour notes from the julienned preserved lemon peel are offset by sweet cinnamon and clove.

Olive Marinade:

Submerge olives in olive oil. Add: a few crushed garlic cloves, a bay leaf, a couple cinnamon sticks, a couple cloves, and some julienned preserved lemon peel.

Spiced Almonds:

(Use marcona almonds, the larger type. They will be peeled and blanched).

Toast almonds in one layer on a sheet pan in 350 or 375 oven for 10 minutes or so, until they are nicely browned. Check them after 7 minutes and stir them around so they toast evenly. When done, toss in a mixing bowl with salt, dark brown sugar, chopped rosemary, and paprika. Add these seasonings gradually and to taste. The almonds will be perfect when they’re a little salty, a little sweet, and a little spicy, with a fresh undertone from the rosemary.

The marinated olives keep for a very long time in the fridge. When I worked in a Mediterranean restaurant we would marinate a huge plastic tub full of olives, which would last two months or so. In fact the flavor improves over time as the olives absorb the marinade. If you have a dinner party, do what I did and make a big bowl of marinated olives of different types (Cerignola, Nicoise, Kalamata). It will be a colorful decoration on your table, and afterwards you can gradually make use of all the leftover olives by chopping them and throwing them in pasta sauces and salads.

Gravlax with Espresso Mustard Sauce & Avocado Puree

I had a dinner party last month, with some plated dishes and some dishes in a sort of buffet. Most of the dishes were things I learned to make in restaurants I’ve worked at. Recently I was working in a Swedish restaurant, so I decided to feature a Swedish specialty, gravlax, or cured salmon, as part of my menu. I made it the amuse-bouche, and served it with espresso mustard sauce and avocado puree, two unusual and delicious condiments I also learned in the Swedish kitchen. I added half a fingerling potato to each plate, as well as a few cherry tomato halves. It was a very colorful little plate.

Gravlax Amuse. On paper plates lol.

I used sockeye salmon for the gravlax, and one 1-pound fillet was enough for 9 little plates. Curing salmon is very easy – just mix 2 parts sugar and 1 part salt, add some cracked white peppercorns and dill for flavor, and cover the salmon with this mixture. After two or three days, the salmon will be cured. The salt draws water out of the fish, giving it a firm texture that makes it easy to slice paper-thin. The salt and sugar also both preserve the fish, as they prevent bactaria from growing. Thus the cured salmon will stay good in the fridge for at least a week. That makes it an easy item for a dinner party, as it can be cured & sliced well in advance, then just taken out and plated.

Espresso mustard sauce – blend brewed espresso with red wine vinegar, smooth mustard (Swedish if you can find it, but Dijon works fine), and brown sugar. Slowly stream in canola oil. Sorry I don’t have amounts – I used to make 3 gallons of this sauce at a time at work, and had to scale down the recipe significantly for the party, and don’t have the amounts on hand now.

Avocado puree – scoop out the flesh of a couple avocados and puree in a food processor with some lime juice. Season with salt and black pepper. Make sure the avocados are ripe but not overripe – the puree should be a beautiful green color, not an ugly brownish-green.

As they say in Swedish, maan ska ju unna sig!

Culinary Quotes #1

“Mother nature is the true artist, and the chef is merely the technician.”

-Marco Pierre White, in The Devil in the Kitchen.

Good food starts with good ingredients which nature has blessed us with. I made a simple side dish this evening of cremini mushrooms with asparagus and a little heavy cream. Nature made this delicious combination; all I did was blanch the asparagus to make it palatable, saute the mushrooms, and mix it all together with the cream. The taste is of creaminess and spring freshness; the texture smooth with a slight crunch.

Sacrifice to the Gods… and a tasty slab of meat

I have started to read the entire Larousse Gastronomique and found this passage on the first page interesting:

“In the past the relationship between people and their livestock was much more intimate. ‘The meat of Greek animals is god-given… For the Greeks, matters relating to butchery, religion, and cooking were all mixed up in what they called thusia and what we call sacrifice… The moment when the sacrifice begins, after the procession, the moment when the blood spurts out, belongs to the gods… The altar and the earth receive it all, then with a special implement and vessel it is collected and spread over the altar… The principal ritual act is the extraction of the noble viscera, essentially the liver; then comes the cutting up of the animal, horizontally, according to a strict procedure. According to the nature of the parts, they are grilled (particularly the viscera, whose perfume is offered to the gods), cooked on a spit, or boiled (the manner of cooking preferred by the Greeks, particularly as fresh meat, already naturally tough and more so when cut in this way, is difficult to eat when roasted). The portions of meat are placed on the table as an offering to the gods, and afterwards they are at the priest’s disposal… The priest also receives that part which, at the start, contained the whole animal: the skin… In taking their fill of the edible parts men recognized, at the same time as they replenished their energy, the inferiority of their mortal state.”

This shows that, the ancient Greeks not only enjoyed eating their meat, they also appreciated that it came from the Earth, from a living animal. The sacrifice was their way of showing thanks. Often these days, people don’t seem to realize this – maybe because buying meat has become so convenient with meat cut in portion sizes available in shrink-wrapped packages. But we should appreciate the sacrifice, by taking care when cooking the meat, and not wasting any. McDonald’s doesn’t teach us to appreciate meat. That’s why their burgers suck. They haven’t given thanks to the Earth.

Gigot de Sept Heures (7 Hour Leg of Lamb)

That’s right, this leg of lamb is braised in a tightly-sealed pan for 7 hours for some of the most tender meat imaginable.

Ample flavor is supplied by white wine for the braising, garlic slivers inserted into the leg, more whole cloves of garlic, caramelized onions and carrots, and a boquet garni.

The lid is sealed to the pan with dough to keep the moisture inside. So you seal the pan, throw it in the oven, and your work is done for 7 hours.

These aromatic vegetables flavor the cooking liquid, and taste great after 7 hours of slow caramelization.

Very nice, fresh meat, from the wonderful Big Apple Meat Market

Resting on a bed of aromatics

The dough seal, after cooking. It breaks off easily.

Extremely tender and moist

Degrease the cooking liquid to make it a sauce. Soak up with meat, potatoes, or bread.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers in Ranchera Sauce With Goat Cheese and Epazote (Chiles Rellenos)

There are many versions of stuffed peppers. This Mexican version is a blend of spicy, sweet, and nutty flavors with a deep roasted aspect. The poblano is a large chile pepper, and these stuffed poblanos make either a hearty appetizer or a main course. They are stuffed with spinach, raisins, and pine nuts, and served in ranchera sauce with cream, a slice of goat cheese, and epazote.

Stuffed poblano peppers in ranchera sauce