Katie's Back! Feast

Katie, my partner in complicated cooking crime (see our past feasts: sushi, offal, around-the-world, & summer), is visiting from Scotland, where she's been living for the past year and a half. We designed a meal that highlighted seasonal ingredients, since she's been missing California produce. Unfortunately we were a bit too ambitious; we prepared 8 courses but our guests could only stomach 6. Nixed courses were a salad with arugula, heirloom tomato, avocado, and black radish, and a cheese course pairing Iberico with Bosc & Comice pear and Fuyu persimmon. We did manage to eat the following:

Spanish White Gazpacho with Grapes

Seared Duck Liver with Fig and Rosemary

Bay Scallop Ceviche with Avocado and Smoked Turkish Pepper

[photo missing]

Crispy Calamari, Baby Artichokes, Eggplant

Wild Mushroom & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry

Skirt Steak with Spicy Roasted Pepper Sauce and Savory Chimmichuri

chez johnny jump up

Ridwan made an incredible nine-course meal for John's birthday. I was lucky enough to attend and help out.

Here are some shots of the finished dishes (photos by Mike Seeman):

black truffle souffle

celery remoulade, frisee, crispy duck confit

fried artichoke, capers, lemon-heirloom jam

smoked salmon, baby greens,

matchstick potatoes, creme fraiche

kabocha squash soup, bacon lardon, fried bread

roast beef, yorkshire pudding,

horseradish cream, mustard

whipped delice d'argental, caramelized fig, balsamic syrup

carrot cake

poached pear, candied walnut

Rosemary Wine Short Ribs

I do love my short ribs, and it's been quite a while since the last ones. It's true that this is a winter dish, but I had a special request, and honestly it's been kinda wintry around here anyway. This is a dish best made in advance, meaning it's great for company-- just reheat an hour before serving.

You'll need:

4lbs bone-in English-cut short ribs (1lb per person)

1 large onion

3 leeks

1-2 carrots

6 cloves garlic

2 anchovies

2T tomato paste

1t chile flakes

1T herbes de provence

1 bay leaf

1T fresh rosemary

1 bottle red wine

1T grapeseed or canola oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Clean the short ribs well-- remove all visible fat and rinse and dry them. Salt and pepper generously. Heat oil in a dutch oven or heavy pot with tight-fitting lid over high heat. Reduce to medium-high heat and add ribs, meat-side down. Do this in batches so you don't crowd the pot. Brown about 10 minutes per side; be patient here, you want a well-browned exterior on all five meaty sides. Remove and set aside.

While the meat is browning, slice onions, leeks, carrots and garlic. Chop anchovies and rosemary.

Pour out accumulated fat and return pot to medium heat. Add all veggies, herbs, tomato paste, 1t salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until translucent (about 10 minutes). Add wine and bring to a boil. Boil until the alcohol smell disappears and wine reduces by about 1/3, 5-10 minutes.

Return ribs to pot, meat side down. The bone should not be submerged. Cover and place in oven for 2-3 hours, until meat is fork-tender.

Let ribs cool in sauce for at least 1 hour. Remove ribs and press sauce through a food mill. If you don't have a food mill, you can puree it, or you can just leave it chunky. I wanted a smoother, more concentrated sauce because I was serving the ribs with a potato gratin, so there wouldn't be a grain to soak up a chunky sauce.

If you have time, refrigerate the sauce until the fat congeals so you can remove it. If not, spoon out as much fat as you can *before* pureeing (it should be a translucent red top layer in the pot).

Half an hour before serving, place the ribs in a baking dish and spoon just enough sauce on top so they are well-coated. Reheat, uncovered, in a 300 degree oven. Reduce extra sauce and serve on the side.

I served this with a potato squash gratin (look for recipe soon!).

Stuffed Zucchini

This is my grandmother's recipe, except she doesn't use recipes, so it's an approximation. If you don't like zucchini you can stuff bell peppers, tomatoes, Italian eggplants, or pretty much any receptacle-shaped vegetable. This is also a lot easier than it looks.

You'll need:

6 zucchini (you can use the normal long ones but I like the round ones, because you can put more stuffing inside, and obviously the stuffing's the best part)

1 onion

2-3 cloves garlic

a few tomatoes or a 1/2c or so of tomato sauce

juice from 1/2 lemon

mint for garnish

stuffing:

1/2lb ground beef or lamb

1/3c white rice

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

a few tablespoons tomato sauce

spices-- I used tomato flakes & baharat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start with the stuffing. Chop onion & garlic. Saute in olive oil with spices-- cumin-based flavors are good here-- until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Pour cooked onion into a large bowl. Add raw meat. Rinse rice until it runs clear. Add rice. Add some olive oil and tomato sauce to moisten, and generously season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Chop the end of the zucchini (small end if you're using rounded ones) and remove the insides with a corer or a spoon. Discard insides. Don't cut all the way through to the other side. You should have zucchini shells now. Stuff them will the stuffing but don't fill all the way (the rice will expand).

Heat olive oil in a large skillet (the same you used for the onion is fine). Chop onion and garlic; saute until translucent. Add zucchinis to pan and oil if necessary; saute briefly on all sides. Add tomato sauce and a bit of water if sauce looks very thick. Add lemon juice.

If you have extra stuffing, make little meatballs and add them to the sauce too.

Cover pan and cook in oven until rice is done, about 45 minutes. You can reduce the sauce on the stovetop, uncovered, if necessary at the end.

Serve garnished with mint.

Tingly Spicy Stir Fry

I know these are not the most appetizing photos, but I made this in a hurry and it smelled so good that I wanted to get around to eating it as soon as possible. This is an easy way to use up veggies that need to be cooked. I had some string beans and an eggplant on hand, but other things would be delicious in this too-- broccoli, kale, spinach, chard, bok choy, etc. 

Unfortunately I've been a bad blogger lately, and I didn't write down what went into this. But it was something along the lines of 1/2lb ground beef, 1/2lb ground lamb, cubes of roasted eggplant, green beans cut into halves or thirds, shittake mushrooms, garlic and ginger; all that cooked in a sauce of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and garlic chili paste. When I took it off the heat, I mixed in some toasted ground szechuan pepper for its delicious tingly spice.

Bechamel Baked Ziti

I've been a lazy blogger and cook lately. This is a lazy dish that can be put together while you're working at home, and can serve at least 8 people (or cut the recipe in half). I served this with a watermelon, feta & mint salad as the appetizer, and followed it with a simple arugula salad.

You'll need (serves 8-10):

1 1/2 packages ziti pasta

2lbs spicy Italian bulk sausage (I used Molinari)

5 shallots, thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

red chile flakes

3T tomato paste

28oz can of plum tomatoes

10 roma tomatoes (this is optional, but oh so good)

1c dry red wine

1 bunch basil

1/3c butter

1/3c flour

3c milk

1 1/2c grated mozzarella cheese

1/2c grated cheddar

1c grated parmesan/romano blend

Halve tomatoes and roasted, seasoned, in a 400 degree oven. Let cool slightly; remove skin.

Brown sausage, pouring out fat as it accumlates. Deglaze pan with wine and cook until liquid is absorbed. Remove sausage from pan. Add olive oil or reserved fat. Fry shallots, garlic and chile flakes, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Return sausage to pan. Make a well in the middle; add tomato paste and saute until it browns slightly. Stir to combine with sausage.

Add canned and roasted tomatoes. Julienne basil and add half to the pan. Cook over low heat until sauce is thick and flavorful, about 1 hour. You probably don't want to add salt because sausage tends to be salty, but add pepper to taste.

In the meantime, cook the pasta. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mornay (Bechamel+cheese) sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan and whisk in flour. Cook, whisking, over medium heat until golden brown. Add milk slowly and cook until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in mozzarella and cheddar and half the parmesan. Combine 2/3 of this sauce with the finished meat sauce. Stir the rest of the parmesan into the remaining sauce and reserve.

Mix cooked pasta with the mornay/meat sauce. Pour into buttered gratin dish. Top with reserved mornay sauce.

Bake until set and top is golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. (This looks rather gooey and unphotogenic when hot, so the pictures are of cold leftovers.)

Braised Beef with Tomatoes

This dish was my celebration of summer fog: after days on end of interminable sunshine and 90 degree weather, we finally got some cooler, fog-filled days and I jumped at the opportunity to embrace my winter lover, braising. But I still had some delicious summer tomatoes sitting on the counter (never, ever refrigerate tomatoes) so I incorporated those as well. This is the perfect fall dish, and its simplicity really highlights the few ingredients involved.

Warning: I thought I could make it in the evening for the same night. When dinner time came, the meat was still tough. This needs a good 3-4 hours of cooking, and it's better the next day, or the next.

You'll need:

1lb beef stew meat

1/2 onion, sliced

1T coriander

1T tumeric

1T tomato paste

1c chicken stock

4 medium ripe tomatoes

1T grapeseed oil

Heat grapeseed oil over medium-high heat. Remove excess fat from beef. Dry very, very well. Salt and pepper. Brown beef in oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pan (do it in batches if you must).

Remove beef and add onions. Saute until onions absorb fond (if fond is burnt, clean it out first). Add coriander and cumin and saute over medium heat until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add tomato paste; stir and cook 1 minute more.

Deglaze with 1/4c chicken stock, scraping fond.

Return beef to pan and add stock until it comes about halfway up meat. Cook at barely a simmer, covered well, until beef is tender, about 3 hours.

Serve over a grain. You can serve as is, or sprinkled with parsley, or-- like I did-- with a dollop of yogurt to cool it off.

Farmers' Market Skillet Casserole

This dish was born when I went, rather uninspired, to the farmers' market today and fell in love (as usual) with the tomatoes and (rather unusually) with the ground beef at Highland Farms. Then I picked up a beautiful bunch of basil to go with the tomatoes, and stopped at the cheese guys, who gave me a free container of spicy curds to replace the one I bought that went moldy in a few days. I came home to an ear of corn that needed eating. And that is how all these unlikely ingredients combined to produce a seriously good dish. Ooo-- added bonus-- prep took exactly 15 minutes. Cooking took another 20 or so, and the whole meal uses only one pot, making this a perfect weekday throw-together meal.


You'll need:

1 lb ground beef
kernels from 1 ear corn
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb assorted heirloom tomatoes, thickly sliced
1c cheese curds or grated cheese
1/4c fresh bread crumbs
1/4c grated parmesan
1/4c basil, chopped
1T red pepper flakes
1T cayenne
1T olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat olive oil in an oven-proof skillet (cast iron would be a great choice here). Saute onion and garlic, stirring, until onion is golden. Add corn and saute another 5 minutes. Add ground beef, breaking up with a wooden spatula, until brown. Add red pepper and cayenne. Season to taste with salt and pepper, but remember that the cheese will add salt.


Top ground beef with cheese. Lay tomato slices on top. Sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan. Bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes, then put under the broiler briefly to brown.

we also had this surprisingly delicious wine

Veal Cheek Pappardelle

Veal cheeks can be hard to find; you can substitute with beef cheeks, which you might have to special order anyway from your butcher. In a pinch, use short ribs. I begin this ragu with guanciale, another hard-to-find ingredient, which can be substituted for with thick-cut pancetta or bacon. The guanciale, if you can find it, is nice because it retains its luscious mouthfeel, and nice added richness to this meaty sauce. It's from the jowl (cheek), not the belly, of the pig. Veal or beef cheeks are also delicious on their own; I made a pasta sauce here to make my 1lb cheek feed 4. As with any slow braise, this is best prepared the day before. If you must make it the day of, start early, as the meat cooks for a few hours, and then needs to cool to be shredded.

guanciale

You'll need:

1.25lb veal cheek (trimmed weight, 1lb)
1.2lb guanciale
.7oz (20g) dried morel mushrooms
5 medium onions
2 large carrots
3 large cloves garlic
1 6oz can tomato paste
1T harissa paste (optional-- you can use chili flakes instead)
1 bottle dry red wine
about 4c beef broth (I used leftover broth from making beef tongue)
1T herbes de provence
1/2c heavy cream
fresh pappardelle pasta (I used a mix of porcini & black pepper rosemary)

Rinse dry morels and place in bowl. Cover with hot water and set aside to soak.

Peel onions and set aside. Cut guanciale into pieces about 1cm wide and 3cm long.


Heat a large heavy pot over medium heat and cook guanciale. When it starts to brown slightly, lower heat and continue to cook until light brown and swimming in rendered fat.


In the meantime, trim cheek(s) of fat and silverskin. Season with salt and pepper. Remove guanciale with a slotted spoon. Raise heat to medium-high. Brown cheek on both sides. Remove and set aside.


While cheek is browning, slice onions and drain morels, reserving liquid.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Add onions to the pot where the guanciale and cheek were. As the onions absorb the fat, chop carrots and crush and slice garlic and add them too. Cook on medium to low heat, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes, until onions are very very soft.

Push onions to the side and add tomato paste and harissa. Let brown slightly, about 1 minute, then mix with onions. Stir to combine, about 1 minute. Add wine. Raise heat and boil until reduced by half. You should have a thick, luscious goo of tomato, wine, and onion, with the occasional carrot peaking through.


Add strained morel soaking liquid and continue to cook until the mixture is so thick that your wooden spatula can make trails in it.


Add morels, guanciale, veal cheek, any accumulated juices, and herbes de provence to pot. Add beef broth and water, if necessary, to cover cheek. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and put in the oven.

when adding dried herbs,
crush them with your hands first

Cook for about 3 hours, testing after 2. The meat should pierce easily with a small knife.


Cool the meat in enough sauce to cover. The next day, skim fat; remove meat and shred. Reduce the rest of the sauce to desired thickness, skimming the orange foam that rises to the top. Return meat to pot. Reheat. Stir in cream. Simmer 5 more minutes to develop flavors.


Serve sauce on pasta with a sprinkle of parmesan. Unfortunately, we forgot the cream, so yours should look a little paler than this picture.

the table was pretty & purple

Creamy Polenta with Meat Ragu

Polenta, when it's good, is luscious and creamy and nutty. When it's bad it's watery and soupy. Let's not even talk about bad polenta, because it's really easy to make well. You don't even have to stand there stirring the entire time-- just whisk well at the beginning and give it a few good whirls every few minutes. And despite what some recipes may say, you can use any grind cornmeal you have on hand. Traditional polenta is made with coarse ground cornmeal for more of a bite, but I used fine ground and it turned out delicious (I had a lot leftover from a misguided tamale pie a long, long time ago). You know it's done when it's thick and just starts pulling away from the sides of the pot as you stir (unless you're making firm polenta, which I will save for another post).

You'll need:

1c cornmeal
4 1/2c water
1t salt
1/2c sharp cheddar cheese


Boil water & salt. Lower heat to medium and gradually whisk in cornmeal. Keep whisking until lumps disappear. Lower heat to low. Cook, whisking vigorously every few minutes. After 15-20 minutes, when the polenta is thick and starts to pull away from the pot, whisk in cheese (and butter, if you want) and remove. Add salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, you could let the polenta cool and stiffen so you can cut cakes, but I like it hot and creamy, especially for this dish. (If you really want firm polenta, cook it longer.)


Top with a dollop of good, thick meat sauce, like this one (or a poached egg!). Enjoy!

Matza Pasta with Dandelion Green & Meat Ragout

Matza pasta was pretty much my favorite passover food as a child. I know it sounds weird, but don't knock it 'til you've tried it. Briefly cooked matza strips make a surprisingly good pasta alternative-- they even have a similar texture. My favorite way to have them is with butter, parmesan, and black pepper, but this ragout makes this more of a meal-- and can easily be served with regular pasta.

Dandelion greens have replaced kale and chard in the farmers markets and are a delicious cooking green (you don't even have to cook them-- they make a good salad too, especially with a warm vinaigrette). As an added bonus, they're remarkably healthy, with more iron & calcium than spinach and even antioxidant properties. They're slightly bitter so the sauce I made is kind of on the sweet side-- if you're using no greens, or a less bitter green (like kale), add some cayenne & cumin to the meat at the end of the browning step and skip the roasted garlic.

You'll need:

3-4 pieces of matza per person (this recipe makes enough sauce for 3-4 people)
1 lb ground beef, about 85% (I used Kobe, as it was on sale, but you can use sirloin or just chuck)
1 large leek, chopped
2 spring garlic, chopped
2T red pepper flakes
1 head roasted garlic (optional, adds sweetness)
2T tomato paste
1 large (28 oz) can peeled Roma tomatoes in sauce
3 handfuls dandelion greens, large stems removed
1T olive oil
1/4c red wine or other liquid

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the beef, salt and pepper. Break up the meat with a wooden spatula and saute until brown. Add leek, spring garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute about 5 more minutes until meat starts to stick to skillet. Add tomato paste and stir to combine; cook 1 more minute. Deglaze with wine (or any liquid), scraping the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes in their juices and roasted garlic, if using. Stir to combine and lower heat to a simmer.

Boil salted water for the matza. Break matza into long thin strips-- you're going for something resembling pappardelle here. It's ok if they break in two. Put the dry strips on a plate while the water is boiling. When the water is ready, gently add the matza strips, leaving the crumbs behind on the plate (they'll turn the whole thing gooey-- that's why you don't just break the matza into the pot). The matza only needs about 1 minute to cook; taste it for doneness before removing and straining.


Top cooked matza with sauce and a sprinkling of cheese (I used pecorino, above). Serve immediately and mix well to coat matza. (You'll probably need a higher sauce:matza ratio than with pasta.)

Spicy Beer and Kale Stew

Like a Belgian (actually, Flemish) Carbonnade, this stew uses dark ale (Newcastle Brown); the similarity ends there. It also has leeks, hot chili peppers, and kale, which make for a complex and tasty combination. You can make the sauce thicker, but I wanted a soupier, classic stew-like texture. I've given instructions for both ways below.


You'll need:

3.5 lbs beef chuck, trimmed & cut into 1" chunks
1 onion, sliced
1 large leek, quartered lengthwise & cut into 1/2" pieces
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 large rib celery, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed and sliced
1T tomato paste
about 4 dried chili peppers (I used 2 chipotle, 2 other)
1 12oz bottle Newcastle, or other dark ale or stout
4c broth (I used the tongue broth I froze when I made the offal dinner)
3T flour
1 bunch kale, leaves removed and stems discarded
chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Pass chilies over gas flame until slightly blackened. Submerge in boiling water; cover.

Salt and pepper beef chunks and brown well in hot grapeseed oil, in batches. Set aside browned meat.

Lower heat. Add onion, leek, carrot, celery, garlic, tomato paste, salt & pepper. Stir, scraping brown bits at bottom of pot. Cook about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, remove chilies from water. Slice open to remove seeds. Chop roughly and add to cooking veggies.

Add flour to veggies and stir well, 2 minutes. Add beer. Scrape to remove flour stuck to bottom of pan. Scrape and stir until the pan is clean.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Add meat and accumulated juices. Cover and place in oven. Cook until meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours.

At this point, it's best to let the stew sit overnight for the flavors to develop, but you don't have to. If you do, reheat it in a 300 degree oven about 30 minutes before serving.

For a thicker stew, remove the meat and puree the liquid and veggies with an immersion blender. You can then reduce the pureed liquid to achieve your desired consistency. I normally do this, but for this stew, I wanted a more classic, brothy feel.

About 10 minutes before serving, add kale and stir to combine. Cook until kale is tender. Taste and adjust seasonings (salt & pepper). Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with spicy cornbread, brown rice, or egg noodles.

Spicy Cornbread

We used Bob's Red Mill Cornbread mix
and added 1 chopped habanero & 2 chopped jalapeños to the batter.

2005 La Cabotte Cotes du Rhone