06.01.08
Posted in Beef, Cuisines, Meats, Thai at 8:37 am by julie
So this was kind of fun. I’ve had a sort of off-hand interest in making the beef rendang from Molly Stevens’ All About Braising
for a while now, since reading rave reviews of it on eGullet. However, Molly’s version includes a few ingredients that I am pretty sure I couldn’t get in Salem, and have never actually seen in real life, such as fresh galangal and turmeric. (I’m not even sure I had realized dried turmeric came from a root, for that matter.) The ingredients essentially add up to a red curry paste, in which beef is slowly cooked with coconut milk until all the liquid evaporates, and the beef is fried in the remaining coconut oil and gravy-like remnants of curry.
After our last order of Curry Simple sauces arrived, I looked over the booty and began to wonder if I might be able to use some of it to make a simplified version of beef rendang. Jeremy brought me home a beautiful 3-pound brisket, and the next day I cut it into cubes, trimming off the fat cap as I went, and tossed it in my big Dutch oven with some whole star anise, a chunk of ginger, and enough red curry sauce to cover. It simmered ever so slowly away into the evening, and after a few hours of periodic stirring, I had a potful of tender beef covered in a rich mahogany gravy. Served over rice, it took no more of my time to prepare than does our favorite masaman curry, just spread out over the course of an afternoon, and the flavor was fantastic. Mind you, we haven’t eaten the red curry yet in its more basic form, but cooking it down with the beef made it complex and savory, with hints of sweetness, citrus (from the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, I imagine), and heat. It was a bit spicier than the masaman and yellow curries, but nothing a tall glass of water, a pile of rice, and a scoop of white chocolate ice cream for dessert couldn’t solve.
If I ever track down a source for fresh galangal and turmeric—there must be some in Portland somewhere, right?—it would be fun to try my hand at mixing my very own curry paste. In the meantime, we’ll definitely be making this version again!
Simple Beef Rendang
3 lb beef brisket, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 1/2″ cubes
2 T olive oil
3 star anise, whole
1″ chunk of ginger, peeled
1 family-size packet of Curry Simple red curry sauce
In a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, cook the brisket in the olive oil just until the meat begins to get a good sear. Add the star anise, ginger, and just enough red curry sauce to cover the meat. You may not need the whole packet; the excess can be refrigerated or frozen. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer very slowly uncovered for 2-3 hours, stirring every 25 minutes or so, until the curry sauce reduces to a thick gravy. If desired, skim off any excess fat before serving over rice.
Source: Loosely based on All About Braising, by Molly Stevens
Update 6/1/08: Tonight’s dinner was a panang-ified chicken curry with onions and peppers, using the remains of the red curry packet. (There was just enough leftover from the rendang to make 3 servings.) I added a tablespoon of peanut butter to the sauce, as recommended by the Curry Simple website. I’ve never had panang curry, but Jeremy said it tasted a little like what he’s had before. In this incarnation, the red curry sauce was definitely spicier than it was in the rendang—it was pushing the limits of my heat tolerance, but I went back for a little more, so clearly it didn’t bother me too much. 
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05.27.08
Posted in Beef, Chinese, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats at 1:18 pm by julie
I’ve been craving a lot of Asian food lately. We’ve been eating so much curry that we decided to invest in a quality rice cooker—our old one was a cast-off from friends. After doing a bit of research, we ended up purchasing a Zojirushi Micom Fuzzy Logic 5.5 Cup Rice Cooker, and we’ve already used it at least half a dozen times. It takes up a bit more storage space and requires slightly longer to cook rice, but it is lightweight and has a useful handle, rice paddle, and shockingly nonstick bowl…and did I mention it cooks and warms rice perfectly? Because it can keep rice warm for up to 12 hours if necessary, I can pretty much get the rice going anytime in the afternoon that I have a free moment, and it will be ready to eat whenever I get to dinner.
Anyway, I think part of my current interest in Asian cuisine may stem from the fact that, once the ingredients are prepped, it often cooks rapidly—even more rapidly if I just send my husband for take-out. Heh. My favorite Chinese restaurant dish is the one that goes by the name of orange chicken at Panda Express (but is sometimes called mandarin chicken or even sesame chicken at other restaurants I’ve visited): you know the one, with bits of chicken deep-fried and coated in a sticky-sweet, tangy, and often slightly spicy sauce. So I tend to gravitate toward trying recipes that promise crunch and tangy orange-flavored sauces. I’ve made two in the past few weeks, as it happens.
My first stab was at the Shun Lee Palace’s Crispy Orange Beef, and it was alright. I did use pre-cut stirfry beef instead of cutting my own, so the meat was probably not of the quality it might have been, but hey—time is a precious commodity around here these days. The beef was incredibly crispy after coming out of the oil, but not so much after having been tossed with the sauce, despite serving it as quickly as possible. I’d like to know how the Chinese restaurants keep their deep-fried meats crunchy. I also stir-fried a few snow peas with the beef right at the end for some green veggies.
Crispy Orange Beef
1 lb sirloin steak, cut for stirfry
1 T baking soda
6 T water
Zest of 2 oranges
4 C vegetable oil
1 egg white
1 C corn starch
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C red wine vinegar
2 T sherry
1 T soy sauce
2 tsp corn starch
½ cup scallions, sliced diagonally into ½ inch pieces, white part only
1/2 lb snow peas
2 tsp sesame oil
Juice of 1 orange
1 T Ginger People sweet ginger chili sauce
In a bowl, mix the steak, baking soda and water, and marinade in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. The baking soda will tenderize the meat.
In a wok, heat salad oil until smoking. To the steak, add the egg white and corn starch, and mix thoroughly. In a bowl, mix sugar, vinegar, sherry, soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of corn starch.
Fry the beef in the hot wok for 20 seconds, remove, and drain. Clean the oil with a slotted spoon. Return the beef to the wok, and fry again for another 30 seconds, remove, and drain.
Discard the oil, and to what remains in the wok, add scallions, beef, sesame oil, sherry-soy sauce, orange rind and juice, and chili paste. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and serve immediately over rice.
Source: Adapted from StarChefs
My other recent stab at these flavors took the form of the Sesame-Orange Chicken from Elise at Simply Recipes. I didn’t manage to snap a photo of this meal, but it came out alright. My chicken was a bit burned on top and a bit soggy underneath; I can’t remember now exactly what I was doing while it cooked, but I imagine it had something to do with a baby. Anyway, I served it with some fresh skillet-cooked broccoli, and boiled down the marinade to drizzle back over the finished chicken and rice for sauce. It tasted good, and was easier to make than the beef dish, but every time I make an orange chicken dish that involves marmalade, it comes out with a bitter edge that just doesn’t quite work for me, and this was no exception. I’d still probably make it again—especially since I have an open jar of marmalade in the fridge now—but I’m still on the lookout for a recipe that reaches closer to my ideal. Maybe this one should be next on the list?
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05.03.08
Posted in Beef, Cuisines, Dinner, Italian, Meats, Pastas at 9:41 am by julie
[Nolan is 6 weeks old today. This is his birth story, so it's a long post; fair warning, you may want to grab a snack...]
A day or two before I went into labor, my mom and I went to the grocery store. As I was browsing the meat counter considering some meal options, I noticed several packages of oxtail, and would have hopped up and down with glee if I hadn’t been 41 weeks pregnant. I’d never cooked with oxtail before because I couldn’t find it anywhere, but it was one of those cuts that I had always been curious to try out. Needless to say, I snapped up several packages and determined to make them into an oxtail ragu, some of which could be frozen for after the baby’s birth.
That Friday—Good Friday this year, as it happened—I ended up taking the day off of work to run some errands with my mom. I spent the morning getting the oxtails braising so they could simmer away while we were out and about. At 5pm, on the way back home from the fabric store, I felt two strange snaps in my belly and thought perhaps my water had broken. I didn’t notice any fluid leaking, but shortly afterwards I started having contractions so mild I still wasn’t convinced it was actual labor. To be on the safe side, though, I wanted to take it easy: I asked my mom to shred the meat from the oxtails and reduce the sauce, and Jeremy to photograph the neat-looking bones and boil up some pasta for dinner.
We ate our very tasty dinner of rotini with braised oxtail ragu around 7pm after deciding to cancel my scheduled non-stress test because I was probably about to have a baby. Our doula suggested over the phone that we go for a short walk and try to get some rest afterwards, but by the time we got back from the walk, I was in active labor and could no longer get comfortable. We never did time the contractions, but they were pretty close together and I had the chills. We asked our doula to come over, and I breathed through contractions and drank about 3 quarts of water while we waited. Shortly after arriving, she reminded me to try and use the bathroom, and everything really sped up from there. I had bloody show, and was trying to stand through the next contraction when I suddenly felt intense pressure and it was time to leave for the hospital (this was about 10:15pm).
By the time we got to the hospital, it was nearly impossible to talk during the contractions and the walk from the turnaround to the birth center door seemed to last forever. The delivery room was chaotic, and I was kind of relieved not to be wearing my glasses (my mom brought them along for me to wear afterwards). I labored on my left side facing Jeremy and Stacey while the nurses asked admission questions (a little irritating), strapped on the external monitor belts (painful because I didn’t want my belly touched), pulled off my shirt (they never could get me into a hospital gown though), and did an internal exam (I was 7-8cm upon arrival and definitely in transition). They gave me oxygen, saying the baby wasn’t tolerating the contractions well, and tried putting IVs first in my left then my right hand, but they both just blew out as soon as the saline drip was hooked up. Jeremy advocated for me, and I ended up getting sips of water between contractions instead. The contractions were so intense that I had several bouts of nausea and kept forgetting to breathe, but Jeremy and Stacey were right there to help me focus.
In what seemed like no time, I was complete and was rolled onto my back to start pushing. The fingers on my left hand were all numb, which made gripping my knees a little difficult, and my calves kept cramping; but the contractions spaced out enough to give me a breather between pushes, and Stacey and the doctor coached me on how to push more effectively. I don’t think I pushed for much over an hour, and then my little boy was on my chest at 12:17am, all 7 lb 2.3 oz of him. He scored 9/9 on his Apgars, and Jeremy remembered to ask that the cord cutting be delayed until it stopped pulsing.
I did have a 2nd-degree natural tear and something like 6 stitches, but was really surprised by how quickly I recovered from the birth, and how little pain I was in. My throat was really sore (whether from the nausea or the vocalization, I’m not sure), and all the muscles in my upper body were incredibly sore for two days. My IV bruises were actually almost the worst part, because the fingers on my left hand stayed tingly for almost a week, and the bruises didn’t disappear entirely for about a month. My bleeding diminished rapidly, however, and I think I could have been discharged after 24 hours.
We ended up staying in the hospital for three days because our little Nolan was not much interested in eating, and lost 9% of his body weight in 48 hours (he weighed 6 lb 8.5 oz at discharge). We had several discussions with a lactation consultant because he was such a lazy eater and a difficult latch. As a result, we’ve ended up on a regular pumping regimen, which is tiring but working out alright: Nolan is gaining weight like a champ, and I have had enough supply to feed him breastmilk exclusively, which I consider a huge triumph.
All in all, the most surprising thing was just how quickly the entire labor happened, and how similar it was to my mom’s labor timewise (she was overdue, went into natural labor around 5pm, and I was born around 12:30am via forceps and episiotomy). Once I knew I was really in labor, it lasted just another 5 hours. As a first-time mom, I was much more mentally prepared to have a long, drawn-out labor than such a quick, intense one, but once Nolan decided he was ready to come out, he meant business! It largely proceeded as I had hoped, however. I didn’t go to the hospital until I was at least 7cm dilated; I didn’t have to wear an IV or hospital gown (not that they didn’t try); and most importantly, I had a completely natural labor, and asking for pain relief never even crossed my mind. We did have a pretty awful nurse during the delivery: apparently she actually threw a temper tantrum over the IV thing (threw down her gloves and slammed the door), but I was facing away from her at the time and otherwise occupied. She was rough with me and entirely unsympathetic after that, and seemed to be pouting. Thank goodness I only spent two hours or so in the delivery room! Stacey and Jeremy encouraged me not to focus too much energy on her, and the great nurses on the recovery floor totally made up for her bad attitude.
Oh, and the leftover oxtail ragu froze beautifully! I can’t remember now exactly what I did, but it was based on Mario Batali’s recipe in the Babbo cookbook, meant to be served with gnocchi.
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03.20.08
Posted in American, Beef, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats at 4:09 pm by julie
We got a huge packet of beef chuck roast for making pot roast late last week, with the intention of making it for dinner on Saturday, and freezing all the leftovers for future meal insurance. Problem is, since last Thursday, our schedule has been pretty packed: dinner with friends on Thursday and Saturday, my mom’s arrival and our last childbirth prep class on Sunday. I thought I could squeeze the roast in on Monday night, even if we didn’t have time to eat it until the next day, but even though I seasoned and wrapped the meat before work in the morning, a doctor’s appointment and an evening vacuum-shopping trip (we got a pretty purple Dyson that laughs in the face of dog hair mountains) ate up all my time and we ended up with fast food instead. It couldn’t wait anymore, though, so on Tuesday, even though my aunt came down from Portland for a visit and I had one last ante-partum meeting with my doula, I made sure to get the roast going as soon as I came home from work.
I had quite a bit of tomato juice to use up, so I did a Yankee-style pot roast based on this recipe, originally taken from a Barefoot Contessa cookbook. I pretty much just used the ingredients as a guide and didn’t measure anything out. Rather than letting the meat sit at room temperature for an hour, I seasoned and wrapped it in the fridge for what ended up being a day and a half. Once it was seared and the veggies were sauteed, I poured on that tomato juice and had enough to nearly cover the meat. It went in a 350F oven for 3.5 hours, and I flipped the meat every so often to keep an eye on things. Once it was done, I removed and roughly shredded the meat—which required no more than gently poking at it with my tongs—and pureed the veggies and remaining braising liquid with my stick blender. I’d considered adding potatoes to the pot in the last hour or so, but didn’t want to fish them out of the liquid again for that last step, and mashed potatoes were perfectly satisfactory. The meat was fork-tender, succulent and flavorful, and I thought the gravy was fantastic, but then I’ve always been a gravy girl. We’ve got another meal or two stashed away in the freezer now, and while it was in the oven, I was able to take care of everything else that was on my plate for the night: that’s why I love braising!
Contessa’s Yankee Pot Roast
5 to 5 1/2 lb. pot roast or brisket, washed and patted dry
2 T kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 large garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tsp dried oregano
About 1 cup flour for dredging
2 T olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 tsp sweet paprika
3 bay leaves
Tomato juice to cover (at least 32-40oz)
In a small bowl, mix the salt, black pepper, garlic and dried oregano. Rub all of this mixture all over the roast. Cover tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for an hour (or overnight in the fridge).
Preheat oven to 350F.
Unwrap the roast and sprinkle the flour all over the roast, patting away any excess. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed dutch oven over medium high heat. When hot, add the roast and sear for several minutes per side, until you have a golden crust on the roast. Immediately remove meat from pan and set aside; add the carrots, celery, onions, paprika and bay leaves. Saute until the onion is translucent, then place the seared roast on top of the veggies. Pour tomato juice over everything until it comes up nearly level with the top of the meat, and cover tightly with lid.
Braise for 3 1/2 hours or until meat is tender and falling apart. Gently remove the roast to a serving platter and tent with foil. Remove the bay leaves from the braising liquid and use a blender or immersion blender to puree into a smooth gravy. If desired, pass mixture through a sieve. In the meantime, slice meat across the grain or pull into serving-sized chunks; serve slices of meat with the sauce and some sort of starch and green veggies.
Source: Adapted from Armida Cooks.
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01.20.08
Posted in Beef, Breakfast, Cookies & Candies, Cuisines, Dessert, Dinner, Italian, Meats, Pastas, Spanish, Veggies at 7:18 pm by admin
I haven’t posted anything new on the blog in the last week or so because I’ve been holding off to give you something that wasn’t brown or white. So yeah… I really tried, but that is apparently beyond my ability at the moment. To wit:
Exhibit A: Homemade Fettuccine Alfredo
This is one of my gold-standard pasta dishes to order at restaurants, but for one reason or another (read: obscene amounts of butter and cream), I’ve never made it at home before. Well, it sounded really good, and I had cream to use up. I used Marcella’s recipes for both the egg pasta and the alfredo sauce, and it was a surprisingly quick-fix dinner, even with making fresh pasta. Two very white thumbs up.
Exhibit B: Penne with Braised Cauliflower and Capers
I approached this meal by digging into the vegetable drawer to avoid the brown and white. What did I come up with? Cauliflower, of course: I made the pasta variation of Molly Stevens’ Braised Cauliflower with Capers and Toasted Bread Crumbs from All About Braising (the original recipe can be found online here). Do capers count as greens? I didn’t think so either. This was pretty tasty fresh from the stove, but made surprisingly delicious—and white—leftovers.
Exhibit C: Spanish Daube
I thought for sure that this entry, despite the predominance of browned beef, would be my key to returning to the world of color, with all those pretty green peas and roasted red peppers. And so it would, if the recipe (from the January 2008 Cooking Light) had been remotely worth sharing. Jeremy bravely ate a bowlful, but I found it pretty inedible. It may not have been entirely the recipe’s fault, though: my cut of organic beef was horribly butchered with the grain, riddled with fat and gristle, and rubbery as all-get-out, even after several hours of braising. Very disappointing, but I had plenty of leftover rice to make more vegetable fried rice with.
Exhibit D: Allspice Crumb Flop
This was absolutely delicious. I made a variation of my weekend standard cinnamon flop, substituting brown sugar for the white and adding a bit of allspice to the batter. Then I packed the top with the leftover allspice crumb topping from the previous weekend’s muffins, and baked for half an hour as usual. It came out extra-moist and flavorful and beige. Almost makes me want to keep a container of crumb topping on hand in the fridge at all times.
Exhibit E: Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies
Since we ran out of our gianduja gelato, it was time to make a fresh dessert, and I ended up deciding on a batch of oatmeal cookies. We are, I’m ashamed to admit, currently out of chocolate chips, so I went with cinnamon chips. Actually, I ended up just making the recipe off the back of the cinnamon chip package (sans raisins), and these little brown cookies really hit the spot.
Exhibit F: Marion Cunningham’s Yeasted Waffles
This brings us just about back to the present. I first read about this recipe on Wednesday Chef, and have been meaning to try it since seeing it again in The Cake Bible last month. It requires advance preparation, which I kept forgetting to do, but I remembered last night, so we had waffles for breakfast this morning. Besides being yet another brown meal, they didn’t work so well with our waffle iron. I think it was because the batter was so thin that it didn’t provide good contact between the top and bottom plates of the iron. The one I ate was nicely browned on the outside, yet seemed half-cooked in the middle. I’m holding out hope that that little flub will make the leftovers good toaster waffles when reheated from the freezer.
Update 1/21/08: They were indeed tastier waffles when reheated on the defrost setting of our pretty new toaster. They cooked through and crisped up perfectly, and filled the kitchen with a very yeasty smell—almost enough to be offputting to my sensitive schnozz, actually. They’re still not worth making again just to become toaster waffles, however.
Exhibit G: Saffron Fettuccine with Scallops and Leek Sauce
So this is the closest I’ve come to color lately: Homemade saffron pasta with seared scallops and leek sauce. The scallops were previously frozen, and they were so full of water that they spattered oil all over the kitchen before transforming into rubber erasers. The pasta and sauce, however, were delicious, and made a perfectly satisfying meal sans shellfish. Since it came out with an overwhelmingly pallid appearance despite the saffron (I didn’t have quite enough on hand for the saturated yellow effect), however, it didn’t quite break us out of the brown and white funk.
On the menu tonight? Some lovely white baked cod and white fingerling potatoes with rosemary and garlic. I need help.
Saffron Fettuccine
1 tsp saffron threads, firmly packed
1 1/2 tsp hot water
1/2 C unbleached flour
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
2 large eggs
In a small bowl, combine the saffron and the water and let stand 10 minutes. Place the flours in the bowl of a stand mixer with a pinch of salt. Beat the saffron water together with the eggs, and pour over the flour; use the paddle attachment of the stand mixer to beat this mixture until it forms a firm, cohesive ball of dough. It should not be sticky; if it is, add a tablespoon or two of flour at a time until it achieves the proper consistency. Divide into 4 parts and run through a pasta roller to desired thinness, then cut either by hand or with a pasta cutter. Cook for about a minute in boiling salted water, drain and serve tossed with leek sauce, below, and garlic bread.
Source: Adapted from Astray Recipes
Lele Rivolta’s Leek Sauce (Il Sugo di Porri della Lele)
3 large leeks
1 T vegetable oil
2 T butter
3 large whole garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Fine sea salt
1/2 C creme fraice
Black pepper, freshly ground
1 recipe of fresh saffron pasta (about 3/4 lb)
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, if desired
Cut away the root end and the dark green tops of each leek. Dice or julienne the leeks, and rinse well in a colander; shake off the excess water, but do not dry off the leeks.
Pour the oil into a 10- to 12-inch skillet, add the butter and the garlic cloves, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the garlic briefly, stirring it, and when it becomes colored a very pale blond, remove it from the pan. (If you like, reserve the garlic, smush and finely mince it, and stir it into softened butter to make some yummy garlic bread.) Add the sliced leeks to the pan, sprinkling them with salt. Cook the leeks, stirring them from time to time, until they become very soft, almost creamy in consistency. If you find that at some point there is insufficient liquid to continue the cooking and the leeks are not quite done yet, add 3 or 4 tablespoons of water.
When the leeks are completely soft, raise the heat to high, and continue cooking them until the become colored a pale nut color, turning them over from time to time. Reduce heat to low, and sprinkle with generous grindings of pepper to counterbalance their potentially cloying sweetness. Add the creme fraiche and melt it into the leeks to form a light sauce.
As soon as the pasta is done to a firm, al dente consistency, drain it and toss it immediately with the sauce. Add a generous amount of freshly grated Parmesan, toss thoroughly five or six times, and serve at once.
Source: Adapted from Marcella Says…, by Marcella Hazan, 2004 (pp. 172-173)
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01.11.08
Posted in American, Beef, Cuisines, Dinner, Meats at 11:52 pm by julie
I’m starting to get sort of anxious about the fact that everything I’ve been writing about lately is either brown or white or both. We really do eat other colors of food, I promise. I made pork-fried rice on Tuesday, and I think it ended up having more vegetables in it than pork or rice, but there wasn’t exactly a recipe associated with that meal, just me chopping stuff and dumping it all in the wok.
I’m afraid today’s post is just more of the same brown and white, but gosh darn it, meatloaf just sounded really good, and I can’t even remember the last time I made it. Actually, I think I partially made it this week in backlash against what I thought was a pretty horrifying recipe for bacon-cheeseburger meatloaf that I watched Paula Deen make recently. To me it felt like one of those trainwrecks you can’t take your eyes off of, but then I saw the Food Network’s Top 100 Recipes list for 2007, and it’s right up there at #7. Go figure.
Meatloaf is one of those things I would never order in a restaurant or experiment with in the kitchen because the texture and seasonings have to be just so—meaning, exactly like the one my mom made when I was growing up. Jeremy seems to like it too (though he thinks the cooked loaf looks like braiiiiins), and leftovers make great meatloaf sandwiches.
My Mom’s Meatloaf
1 lb ground beef (or equal parts ground beef, pork and veal)
1 1/2 slices soft bread, crumbled
1/2 C milk
1 egg
2 T minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp each pepper, dry mustard, garlic salt and celery salt
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Preheat oven to 350F. Moisten crumbled bread with the milk, then quickly mix together all ingredients with your hands until homogenous. For tender meatloaf, do not overwork. Shape into a loaf in a shallow baking pan, and spread a thin layer of ketchup over the top, if desired. Bake for 1 hour or until done.
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12.28.07
Posted in Beef, Breakfast, Dinner, Fish, Meats, Seafood, Sides, Veggies at 1:10 pm by julie
We had a lovely quiet Christmas holiday with my parents this year. Freyja, our persnickety puppy, was just in heaven to have company, and made fast friends with my mom. We also had a 3D/4D ultrasound done on the 22nd so my parents could have their first look at our little gourmet in the making. In the absence of more interesting things to eat, he seemed to spend the entire session nibbling on his hands and feet and umbilical cord; unfortunately, that doesn’t allow the best photo opportunities, but I decided to share one here anyway.
For our meals, braising turned out to be the watchword. I made braised wild monkfish from a Mario Batali recipe on Christmas Eve. My mom isn’t a big fan of fish, but since monkfish is sometimes considered to be “the poor man’s lobster,” I thought that perhaps she wouldn’t object too much. I adapted the recipe slightly and served it over quinoa. Everyone actually did seem to like it—except me. I found the texture difficult to eat, and the flavor not worth the trouble. The one thing I did find really amusing about it was the fact that right after we finished eating, we watched an episode of Planet Earth that we’d never seen before about the “Ocean Deep,” and it featured a live monkfish doing its thing. Not a pretty character, so it’s a good thing we weren’t watching while we ate.
Christmas dinner was braised beef short ribs. I wanted to do osso buco, but Whole Foods was fresh out of veal shanks for the job, so we made a last-minute change of plans. I usually like to make lots of extra short ribs because they reheat so well, but we were barely able to purchase enough for the four of us. Does everyone really cook standing rib roasts for Christmas? They had an awfully large selection of those.
I used my standard short rib recipe, adapted from Suzanne Goin. We got it going in a low oven, and on my birdwatching dad’s suggestion, drove out to Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in what ended up being a mix of rain and SNOW. It didn’t stick, of course, but it still counts as a white Christmas for Oregon in my book! We mostly ended up sitting in the car with binoculars because of the cold and wet and wind, but saw a surprising number of species: Northern pintails, canvasbacks, cormorants, ruddy ducks, Canada geese and mallards, great egrets and a great blue heron, tundra swans, a kestrel, two hovering harriers that caused quite a ruckus among the ducks, and even a bald eagle.
Getting back to the ribs, I served them with mashed potatoes and the cream-braised Brussels sprouts from All About Braising. You can find a version of this recipe at Orangette here. I only had about 3/4 C of cream left and quite possibly more than a pound of sprouts, so I supplemented the braising liquid with some chicken stock, and it did just fine. More than fine, actually, since everyone raved about them. I had noted with surprise my father’s reluctance when I started sorting through the sprouts at Fred Meyer; my mom said they were one of his favorite vegetables, so I thought they were a gimme. Afterwards—while eating the last few sprouts straight from the saute pan as we washed dishes—he explained that he had been worried because Brussels sprouts are so easy to cook into tasteless mush. I’d say the key is to choose nice tight sprouts of the same size, which allows for even cooking. The smaller ones cook faster and are less bitter. Needless to say, this recipe will be going in my permanent rotation.
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12.11.07
Posted in American, Beef, Bread, Cuisines, Dinner, Lunch, Meats at 12:02 pm by julie
We brought home a brisket for dinner on Sunday afternoon, and I immediately started thinking about braises. But after paging through my braising bible and browsing one uninspiring recipe after another online, I ended up changing tactics and going with a dry-rubbed, slow-roasted barbeque brisket recipe instead. It turned out to be the perfect solution because I had everything I needed on hand, and even got to try out my new chipotle powder and alder-smoked sea salt. Note to self: That chile powder is hot stuff; it was nearly too spicy for us even though I cut back from a tablespoon to 2 teaspoons, so if I make this again, I’ll just use one teaspoon.
I also made the suggested barbeque sauce to go with the meat, but had to improvise a little because I don’t keep chili sauce on hand. What I did have was some sweet ginger chili sauce from Ginger People that I bought as a dip for potstickers. It was way too spicy for the potstickers, at least for my sensitive tongue, but a quarter-cup of it was just enough to give the barbeque sauce a kick and a slightly exotic sweetness.
I was most proud of the buns, though. We of course had no hamburger buns, so when I popped the foil-wrapped brisket in the oven, I had to scramble to come up with a suitable barbeque-beef vehicle in the space of three hours. Turning right to my trusty Bread Baker’s Apprentice, I plunked my finger down on the first white bread recipe that didn’t require overnight fermentation and started throwing ingredients in the mixer. With a little help from some heating pads, I was able to coax the dough through both of its rises just in time to pop a dozen egg-washed rolls in the oven when the brisket was done (along with two par-microwaved baking potatoes). The rolls came out beautifully: perfectly sized and shaped, shiny and golden brown, with a soft texture that was still hearty enough to hold up against the moist beef. I will totally make these again, and will probably sneak some of my favorite white whole wheat flour in the next batch for the heck of it. There’s also a buttermilk variant in the book, so there could also be some fresh cinnamon swirl bread in our future.
Classic White Bread Burger Buns
Makes 12 burger or hot dog buns (or 2 1-lb loaves or 18 dinner rolls)
4 3/4 C unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C powdered milk
3 1/4 T sugar
2 tsp instant yeast
1 large egg, slightly beaten, at room temp
3 1/4 T butter, melted or at room temp
1 1/2 C plus 1 T (up to 1 3/4 C) water, at room temp
1 egg, whisked with 1 tsp water until frothy (for optional egg wash)
Sesame or poppy seeds (for optional garnish)
Mix together flour, salt, powdered milk, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a 4-qt stand mixer. Pour in the egg, butter and 1 1/2 C plus 1 T water, and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until all the flour is absorbed and the dough forms a ball. If the dough seems very stiff and dry, trickle in more water until the dough is supple.
Mix on medium speed with the dough hook, adding more flour if necessary, to create a soft, supple dough that is tacky but not sticky. Continue mixing for 6-8 minutes, during which the dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick slightly to the bottom. When ready, the dough will pass the windowpane test and register about 80F. Oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to it, turning to coat in the oil; cover the bowl with plastic wrap and proof in a warm room for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the dough doubles in size.
Remove the dough from the bowl and divide evenly into 12 3-oz pieces (or 18 2-oz pieces for rolls, or in two for loaves). Shape into tight boules for burger buns or pistolets for hot dog buns. Transfer to parchment-lined sheet pans, mist with spray oil and cover with plastic wrap or a towel; proof for an additional 60-90 minutes, until nearly doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 450F (or 350F for loaves). Brush buns with egg wash and sprinkle with garnish, if desired. Bake for approximately 15 minutes (or 35-45 minutes for loaves), rotating halfway through for even heating if necessary. The tops should be golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes on a rack before serving.
Source: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart (p. 266-267)
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10.05.07
Posted in Beef, Dinner, Meats, Sides, Veggies at 9:32 pm by julie
I haven’t done much in the way of cooking this week. After baking off my sticky buns on Sunday, we made a trip up to Ikea to get a bookcase, and on the way back home, we were involved in a 6-car wreck on I-205. My husband wrote more about it on our main blog, but everyone walked away safely. Our brand new Prius, however, was all mangled and won’t be fixed for another month.
Nearly a week later, we’re still feeling the effects of the accident in our sore necks, backs, and shoulders. I’ve had headaches most of the week as well, so cooking has been kept to a minimum. We made a trip to Costco the day before the accident, though, and had a halibut fillet and a big sirloin tip roast in the fridge that couldn’t wait too long for attention.
On Tuesday, I gathered my wits and put together a tasty and fairly simple dinner: roasted halibut with a walnut-panko crust and penne dressed with an arugula pesto sauce. The halibut recipe was a quick one from Epicurious; my only adjustment was to adhere the crumb topping with a smear of whole-grain mustard instead of butter. Our halibut pieces also took quite a bit longer to cook through than called for, as at 8 minutes they registered an internal temperature of about 55 degrees. You know it isn’t a good sign when your supposedly-cooked meat still registers lower than room temperature coming out of a 400-degree oven. We ended up reducing the oven to 375F and letting it go for another 10 minutes or so, until the meat was about 140F inside, and that was just right for our palates.
The pasta was just penne tossed with a walnut-arugula pesto from Elise at Simply Recipes. Because the fish took longer to cook than anticipated, I ended up adding a splash of cream to the pasta to keep it from drying out, and although it was a little cold in the end, it tasted very good and complemented the fish nicely.
We also had in the fridge a round tip roast weighing in at over 5 pounds, so that was our dinner on Thursday night. I think I might need to work on educating Jeremy about what meals constitute a little too much time and effort for a weeknight. This meal would probably go as a holiday dinner for some people, or at the very least a Sunday supper. I kept things as simple as I could, but we still didn’t eat before 9pm.
The roast was stuffed with slices of garlic and drizzled with Worcestershire sauce. I also added a cup or so of beef broth to the bottom of the roasting pan for added moisture. I was generally following this recipe, but my roast was much larger than the one called for, so it took quite a bit longer to register 150F. While it cooked, I worked on another batch of cinnamon rolls (more on that next time) and took on the mashers and Brussels sprouts. The sprouts recipe is worth mentioning because it is one of my favorite ways to eat them. It is on the fiddly side because you have to disassemble every single sprout, but the flavor is fantastic, and of course it cooks nice and evenly too.
Skillet Brussel Sprouts
Lidia suggests serving these with a lemon sauce, but we’ve never bothered making it because we love these sprouts just as they are, all nutty and garlicky.
1-1/2 pounds fresh, firm Brussels sprouts
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
4 plump garlic cloves, peeling and sliced (about 3 T)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
Rinse and drain the sprouts. Working over a big bowl with a sharp paring knife, cut off (and discard) a 1/4-inch or so of the base of each sprout, freeing the outer leaves. Now stick the point of the knife into what’s left of the base and slice out the tiny core, in one cone-shaped piece — just as you would cut out the bigger core of a cabbage or cauliflower. This loosens the inner leaves. Slice the small core in slivers and drop them in the bowl.
Begin peeling off the outermost leaves: discard only wilted or blemished leaves; drop all the fresh dark green leaves, even thick ones, into the bowl. Keep peeling off the leaves until you reach the tiny ones that can’t be pulled apart. Cut this bundle in slivers and drop them into the bowl. When all are done you will have a large fluffy pile of leaves.
Put the oil and the garlic in the skillet and set over medium heat. Let the garlic cook and caramelize lightly for 4 minutes or so, shaking the pan now and then.
Dump in the sprout leaves, shake the pan to spread them out, then sprinkle the salt and pepper flakes all over.
Cover the skillet and let the leaves cook and wilt for 4 to 5 minutes, giving the pan an occasional shake, then uncover and turn them well with a big spoon or tongs. The leaves should be sizzling but not browning — lower the heat if necessary — then cover again.
Cook another 4 to 5 minutes until the leaves are soft, greatly reduced in volume but still green and glistening. Serve the Brussels sprouts hot right from the skillet or turn them onto a warm platter.
Source: Lidia’s Family Table, by Lidia Bastianich
Update 10/6/07: We used some of the leftover beef to make Philly-style cheesesteak sandwiches for dinner. Jeremy went and got me some green bell peppers, provolone and hoagie buns to make them, sweet man. I caramelized some peppers and onions in my cast iron skillet, and then warmed up some very thinly sliced slabs of beef in the same pan. A very good use of leftovers, especially since I frequently find leftover meat unpalatable.
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09.09.07
Posted in Beef, Meats, Soups at 9:04 am by julie
When Jeremy brought home a huge package of tri-tip steak from Costco earlier this week, I knew right away that I wanted to use part of it for beef stew. It may not quite be fall yet, but it’s close enough for me!
The recipe I chose last night is one I’ve used many times before. It’s a recipe my mom has been making since my childhood, and although it is nothing fancy or complicated, it always makes a delicious meal (not to mention excellent leftovers) and it’s one of my favorite comfort foods.
Mom’s Beef Stew
2 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2″ chunks
2 T olive oil or shortening
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, whole
1-2 bay leaves
1 T salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
A pinch each of allspice and cloves
2 C hot water
6 carrots, peeled and sliced into chunks
4 potatoes, peeled and sliced into chunks
1 lb small onions, quartered (or 1 package frozen pearl onions)
2 T flour
In a heavy-bottomed large Dutch oven, heat oil or shortening and brown beef well. Add next 10 ingredients (through water), stir well, cover and simmer for 90 minutes. Remove garlic and bay leaves; add carrots, potatoes and onions, cover and continue simmering for an additional 35-45 minutes, until vegetables are tender. (If necessary, add enough extra water or beef broth just to cover vegetables.) Remove about a cup of liquid to a small container and add flour; shake or whisk to combine, and stir back through the stew. Continue to simmer for 3 minutes, or until stew is thickened, and serve.
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