Summer Experiments

Kara’s out of school for the summer! She likes predictable when she’s working hard and stressed, so during the school year, Saturday is pretty much the only day I get to experiment in the kitchen, and then that’s only if I’m in the mood for that kind of challenge, which isn’t always. But we’re already off to a fun start with new dishes and I especially have to hurry and get this going because I’ll be gone most of July, shooting Solver in New York!

Thai Steak and Noodle Salad

This thing had an ingredient list a mile long, all Asian flavors. Marinated and grilled filet mignon, a salad with ramen noodles, mango, avocado, mint, cilantro, savoy cabbage, peanuts, arugula, and much more, with a dressing that gets a solid kick from sambal olek, funk from fish sauce, and plenty of acid from lime. Definitely a success.

Lamb Shank Ragu with Cheesy Gnudi, Topped with Sunflower Sprouts

Kara went for this because of the gnudi which is similar to gnocchi, but made with fontina, ricotta, and Parmesan instead of potato (yum). The lamb shanks are braised in a red wine sauce until the meat’s falling off the bone and then it’s topped with lemon and olive oil-dressed sprouts to brighten it up. Another winner.

Berry Crisp with Plums

Pretty standard crumble, but I thought it looked pretty as it dribbled over the sides after cooking (that was all after cooking). Black plums mixed with berries (mostly blue berries), a minimal amount of sugar and a crispy buttery topping made of oatmeal and almonds.

Roasted Beets with Avocado, Orange, Toasted Hazelnuts & Sherry Vinegar

A complex and interesting little salad from Gjelina. This was just for me. Beets with avocado and orange and even hazelnuts are pretty classic combos. It was fun, worked out well, and lasted a couple days for my lunches.

Wabbit!

There’s a great farmer’s market right by our house every Saturday and we walk to it pretty often. It’s bountiful with veggies this time of year, but my favorite vendor is a ranch that sells trained horses and ranch dogs, and also offers their own ethically and sustainably-raised lamb, pork, duck eggs, and... rabbit. I pick up a rabbit every now and then and let Jonathan choose a recipe for me to cook it up. He brings over some local beer and we make an afternoon of it. Here’s the latest:

Rabbit Fricassee

Originally a French stew (etymology is debatable), it makes sense that fricassee is often Cajun-flavored when served in the U.S. This one builds off a flavorful roux and lots of Creole spices to make a bold, but not overpowering dish. Lot’s of tomato, garlic, onions, bell peppers, and celery are braised in the tasty sauce along with the rabbit. Very tasty, I served it over a simple rice pilaf.

A Phan Favorite

Forgive the Phan pun, but last night I made two of the top 10 dishes Charles Phan credits for his success- his spring rolls (which I’ve written about before) and...

Crispy Egg Noodles with Seafood
Fresh chow mein egg noodles deep fried briefly so they make a sort of crispy nest. That gets topped with stir fried onions, shiitakes, carrots, broccoli, squid, shrimp, and scallops, and a sort of light but flavorful Asian gravy made in the stir fry pan. You get a great mix of textures, especially because most of the noodles remain crispy but the ones at the bottom where the gravy collects get nice and tender.

Then this was a little bonus…

Fig Bars with Red Wine and Anise Seeds
Totally unrelated to our otherwise Vietnamese menu, Kara suggested this one for our guest, Nora, because she likes Fig Newtons (plus I've made it before and we love them, too). It’s tricker to prepare than you’d think, but the results are worth it. It’s a homemade grown-up version of Fig Newtons with a pie-like dough wrapped around the fig filling made in a red wine reduction with licoricey anise seeds. The recipe makes a lot, and luckily they are just as tasty for the next day or two.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

You may already know that we love celebrating holidays with matching food. And we love the history parts, too, so...

Cinco de Mayo celebrates a late 1800s Mexican victory in a seemingly impossible battle with the French army, who were better equipped, twice the size, and had not lost a fight in 50 years. The victory was short-lived and the holiday is not a national holiday in Mexico anymore, but has almost always been celebrated here in the States, especially in the last few decades... driven largely by beer sales.

So that’s why I made this food: Tex-Mex. This cuisine is one of the most uniquely American, and it took a food snob to accidentally give it respect. Diana Kennedy is a British-born woman who has dedicated most of her life to true Mexican cooking. She’s highly respected, but in the 70s she pointed out that the “Mexican” food being served in Texas was inauthentic, and this led to Tex-Mex finally receiving its own crown. Robb Walsh, one of the most renowned authorities on Tex-Mex puts it best:

We can all thank Diana Kennedy for inadvertently granting Tex-Mex its rightful place in food history. By convincing us that Tex-Mex wasn’t really Mexican food, she forced us to realize that it was something far more interesting: America’s oldest regional cuisine.

So, in honor of a Mexican holiday celebrated most prominently in the United States, this gringo made from scratch the very simple and classic…

Pico de Gallo

Tomatoes, red onions, garlic, cilantro

Mexican Rice

White rice stirred into cumin, and tomato-flavored onions, garlic, and cilantro, with a splash of lime

Refried Beans

Pintos soaked and cooked with salt pork and thrown into bacon fat with onions and garlic, and then smashed up with the cooking liquid

Beef Enchiladas

One major part of successful Tex-Mex is NOT using enchilada sauce, but chili gravy. As far as I know, you can’t just buy the proper Tex-Mex sauce for enchiladas in a can, but it’s pretty easy to make. Build a roux like you were making gravy, then add in cumin, chili powder, garlic, etc. It is not the red sauce from the grocery store or the chili sauce from south of the border, but it is what you get at almost every restaurant when you order “Mexican” food in Texas. This is key to Tex-Mex. (If you want to push it, you can use Velveeta instead of cheddar, but that’s a bit much for me.)

So there you have it. A perfect Cinco de Mayo meal, pictured here at my in-laws' house on a decorated Dixie paper plate in the Texas sun. Serious yum.

Duck + Pasta = Yes, Please

I stumbled across this recipe for duck ragù and had to try it (credit goes to Curtis Stone). Duck ragù is a fairly traditional dish I was unfamiliar with and is usually done with tomatoes and red wine, but I thought that might overwhelm my favorite meat, so I made the delicious—if sloppily presented—dish below…

Pappardelle with Duck Ragù

Duck, seared, then slowly braised in a white wine sauce with fresh herbs, shredded, and then tossed with homemade pappardelle pasta (1” wide strips), all topped with ricotta dollops and grated Pecorino Romano.

The amazing smell was still lingering hours later when Kara got home and she liked it so much that I may have to do this one again, subbing dark meat chicken for the duck, which I already do with a couple duck dishes for her. It won’t quite be the same, but it’ll still be darn tasty.

 

Cooked

This food email is a movie recommend. The mini-series documentary, Cooked (available on Netflix), is based on the same-titled book, and hosted by its author, Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma).

At times it gets preachy and is preaching to the choir of this email list—ranchers, restauranteurs, home cooks, foodies, and chefs—but the history is thought-provoking and the science is fascinating. It’s a pretty powerful series. I suggest you check it out if you haven’t already.

Watch the trailer.

2016 Cookbooks II: (Momofuku Follow Up)

This will round off the cookbook series of emails unless I get another one this year, but I need a break from these restaurant recipes. I appreciate how they reuse so many things and keep so much cool stuff on hand, and I’ve learned a lot. But to do these things as a home cook, you either have to stock your fridge, freezer, and pantry for making only and all their dishes, or you have to spend days getting things together and reducing recipes for one time use.

So back to Momofuku, I finally made David Chang's two signature dishes:

Momofuku Ramen

This is pretty ironic because at least in college, ramen is thought of as the ultimate easy and cheap meal, yet this version took days and was actually pretty expensive by the end of it. I took his advice and did not make my own noodles, but found a source for very good fresh ones. Still, the broth alone took about 12 hours with multiple components. A lot of that was simmering, but much of it is hands on, and it’s never unattended. It was all worth it for someone who enjoys epic cooking sessions like this and Kara loved eating it too. The toppings include:

• pork belly (6 hours marinating, 2 hrs cooking, with regular basting)

• pork shoulder (I had some frozen from Super Bowl, but that would have been another 6 hrs)

• slow poached egg (45 mins, constantly monitoring the water to be 140º- very cool technique)

• Asian style collard greens (45 mins)

• flavored bamboo shoots (30 mins)

• chopped scallions

• toasted nori

• [I omitted fish cakes because I couldn’t find them. I called my Japanese store in LA just to see, and even they didn’t have it]

Momofuku Pork Buns

I used the same pork belly from the ramen, and the recipe for quick pickled cucumbers is truly fast (like 10 minutes). Add some store-bought hoisin sauce, chopped scallions, and the only thing that took time was making dough and 25 steamed buns (now I have a bunch frozen). These are delicious. He admits to not inventing this recipe—it’s a classic—but for whatever reason, his version has become a huge hit, and we loved it, too.

Bonus: Pickled Shiitakes

Like I said, these restaurant cookbooks don’t waste. So what to do with spent dried shiitakes used just for the broth? We can pickle that! Marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sherry vinegar, with a bit of ginger, they’re a very tasty accompaniment.