The Perfect Taco

A few weeks ago, I had an amazing achievement. I made perfect tacos.

 The perfect taco pictured above included shredded spice rubbed roast pork, shredded romaine lettuce, radishes, crumbled cotija cheese and sour cream. The pork is great, versatile (tacos, burritos, nachos, breakfast burritos, enchiladas!), and super easy to make.
You will need:

• 3-4 lb pork shoulder (butt)
• 2 4 oz cans diced green chilies (or use fresh roasted Anaheim chilies like I did)
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp taco seasoning
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Mix the chilies and spices together (I pulsed them until chunky in my food processor so I didn't have to dice the chilies or mince the garlic), rub them on the pork, wrap it all in foil and bake on a cookie sheet for 3-4 hours in a 300 degree oven. Let cool and shred.

This recipe is super easy, really tasty and makes a TON of shredded pork for all your Mexican food needs. I froze half of it and am going to thaw it out to make more perfect tacos tomorrow. I am going to make them even more perfect by swapping out the sour cream for crema.

Crema is like a Mexican version of creme fraiche. I am using this recipe from Good Eats to make it right now. I am terrified because this jar of warmed up cream and buttermilk is sitting on my counter where it supposed to sit for the next 24 hours. Then I am supposed to eat it. Mmmm spoiled cream and buttermilk.

I think it's going to be awesome, though.

New Toys? For Me?

Look what I got!

Pasta Roller and Cutters and a Food Slicer

 

 

Ravioli Mold

 So, armed with a pasta roller and the ravioli mold my grandparents gave me, I was prepared to tackle butternut squash ravioli again. I made the same recipe for filling that I used the first time I tried to make pasta by hand. To make the pasta dough, I followed a recipe that came with the rollers and mixed it in my stand mixer. It turned out okay, but I think prefer mixing the dough itself by hand.






Here's how my ravioli turned out.

Beautiful

Date Night @ Home

It didn't really start out as a date night. I was just trying a chicken recipe from MtAoFC that I hadn't made before, but as I worked on it, I realized this was going to be good. So I set the table and called it a date even though I was wearing yoga pants and an I <3 NY shirt (it's laundry day).

 

 

Folded napkins, candles and wine make it a date!

This is a nice chicken recipe. Everything cooked evenly, the meat was tender and juicy and it still had a crispy skin. I followed the Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe for Fricassee de Poulet au Paprika which is just a variation on the basic chicken fricassee recipe with paprika added. Instead of adding paprika, you could substitute curry powder or really any other flavor you like with chicken. The chicken was served with roasted broccoli with red pepper flakes and a little baby loaf of French bread. We had a bottle 14 Hands white to drink.

Last Christmas, Nathan and I stayed in a beautiful little hotel in downtown Seattle called the Vintage Park that celebrates Washington wineries. Each room is decorated with art and photographs from a winery and there is a nightly tasting in the lobby. One night we had wine from 14 Hands and loved it. Lucky us, they stock several varieties at our local Lee's Discount Liquor.

In my last post, I included a lot of detail right from the book because I wanted to show how crazy daunting it can be to look at this particular cookbook from a modern point of view, but it's really not that bad once you get used to the style, so today I'm just going to explain how I made the chicken.

Step 1: Get A Chicken
This chicken came from the butcher's. Nathan asked specifically for a frying chicken, so I kind of expected it would be broken down.

 Step 2: Cut Up Your Chicken
There is a great step by step guide to breaking down a chicken here. I've never been very good at it myself, so I usually have Nathan do it. His grandfather was a butcher, so I figure it's in his blood. Plus, I like staring at him luridly while he's in the kitchen.

Flavor Crystals

Step 3: Aromatic Vegetables
Slice a carrot, small onion, and celery stalk and saute in 4 Tbsp (I know that's a lot, but it's to cook the chicken in too) butter for about 5 minutes. I didn't have any celery. 

Step 4: Brown Your Chicken
Push the veggies off to one side of your pan and brown the chicken for about 3 minutes per side. It should end up a nice golden yellow. Make sure to dry the chicken pieces thoroughly before putting them in the butter to brown. That is how you get a nice crispy outside.

Step 5: Paprika
Don't get too excited about the paprika just yet. First dust your chicken with about 3 Tbsp flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper. Roll the chicken around with tongs to make sure you evenly coat each piece with flour. Put a lid on your pan and cook over low heat for 3 or 4 minutes.

After a few minutes, remove the lid and sprinkle the chicken with 1 and 1/2 Tbsp paprika. I know that sounds like a lot, but it can take it. Really. Turn the chicken pieces to make sure they are coated and that the paprika has mixed thoroughly with everything else. Put the lid back on and continue to cook the chicken over low heat for 10 minutes.

Step 6: Fricassee!
Pour 2-3 cups hot chicken stock (enough to pretty much cover the chicken pieces) and 1 cup dry white wine over your chicken. Add a bay leaf and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Bring it to a simmer, then cover and maintain a slow simmer for 25 minutes.

finished sauce

Step 7: Sauce
Remove the chicken to a serving dish and keep it warm while you make the sauce. Let the cooking liquids continue to simmer for a few minutes and skim as much fat off the top as you can, then raise the heat and boil rapidly until the sauce reduces and thickens. At this point, I poured the sauce through a sieve to strain out the carrots, onions and herbs.

In a large mixing bowl, blend 1/2 cup whipping cream and 2 egg yolks with a wire whisk (I did this while the chicken was fricasseeing). Add the pan sauce a tablespoon at a time while continuing to mix. Once you've added about half the sauce by spoonfull, drizzle the rest in a steady stream while continuing to mix. Pour the sauce back into your pan and bring it to a boil while stirring constantly. Let it boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat and pour into your serving dish.

Nathan is really picky about how chicken is cooked, and he loved this, or at least pretended to for my sake. I think the recipe would be great without the paprika - the sauce would still be flavorful from the chicken drippings and vegetables. I can't wait to try it with curry powder instead of paprika. I even think with the paprika that this recipe is pretty kid/picky eater friendly. Paprika doesn't have a strong taste, and the burnt orange color of the sauce isn't too offputting for kids.

 

The cat definitely wanted some.

Mastering the Art of French Roast Beef

Roast Beast

I love roast beef. I love it in the fall with carrots and turnips and parsnips and onions and potatoes and any other delicious root vegetable you can think of. I love how it gets all fall-apart-y in little strands of tender beefiness. I love the gravy. But, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I am not ever fancy when it comes to cooking roast beef. My go-to roast beef recipe involves browning a roast on all sides and throwing it in a crock pot with a can of mushroom soup, a packet of onion soup/dip mix (oooh onion dip and ruffles sounds alarmingly good... I think I'm hungry), carrots, onions and potatoes then leaving it cooking on low while I go to work. It's certainly not low in sodium, but it's easy and delicious - try it!

Today, though, I am making "real" roast beef (real "French" roast beef) from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. According to Julia Child:

Braised beef is a wonderful party dish; it is not only delicious to smell it really is, I can smell it cooking right now, look at, and eat, but you have no worries about overdone meat and you can cook it ahead of time if you need to. Boeuf a la mode is traditionally garnished with braised carrots and onions just like from my crock pot! and is usually accompanied by buttered noodles, parsley potatoes or steamed rice. Serve it with a good, characterful red wine such as Burgundy, Hermitage, Cote Rotie or Chateauneuf-du-Pape I don't know what some of those are.

Boeuf A La Mode

(Beef Braised in Red Wine) 

Step 1: Marinate

Delicious Aromatics

• An enameled, pyrex, or porcelain bowl just large enough to hold all the ingredients
• 1 cup each: thinly sliced carrots, onions, and celery stalks
• 2 halved cloves unpeeled garlic
• 1 Tbsp thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 2 whole cloves
• A 5 lb piece of braising beef trimmed and tied for cooking
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 5 cups young red wine with body
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Not enamel, pyrex or porcelain

Place half the vegetables, herbs, and spices in the bottom of the bowl. Rub the meat with salt and pepper and place it over the vegetables. Spread the rest of the vegetables and herbs over the meat. Pour on the wine, brandy, and olive oil. Cover and marinate for at least 6 hours (12 to 24 hours if the meat is refrigerated). Turn and baste the meat every hour or so. Half an hour before cooking, drain the meat on a rack. Just before browning, dry it thoroughly with paper towels. It will not brown if it is damp.

post marination

I halved the whole recipe because I do not know what Nathan and I would do with 5 lbs of roast beef

besides get a terrible case of the meat-sweats and pound on the table like the man vs food guy. For the beef I used a rump roast from the butcher (getting meat from a butcher rather than the grocery store has changed my life, and it really isn't any more expensive. For the wine I decided "young red wine with body" sounds like Zinfendel. I know absolutely nothing about wine, so please tell me if I'm terribly terribly wrong. Zinfendel was great in a stew I made when we were camping though, so I picked it. I did not have any celery on hand, so I tossed in a little celery seed from my spice cabinet. Nathan didn't think it would work, but I didn't notice anything weird (probably because there are enough other flavors going on). Oh, and the advice about drying your meat before browning it is the most important thing I have learned from reading and cooking with MtAoFC. It's really true; you get such a lovely perfect brown crust every time if you just pat your meat dry with a paper towel before cooking. Why did home-ec at Sequim Middle School not teach me this?

 Step 2: Brown

• A fireproof casserole or heavy roaster just large enough to hold the meat and braising ingredients
• 4-6 Tbsp rendered pork fat or cooking oil

 Add the fat to the casserole and place over moderately high heat. When fat is on the point of smoking, brown the meat on all sides. This takes about 15 minutes. Pour out the browning fat. *Recipe may be prepared in advance up to this point.

I used cooking oil because I save my rendered pork fat for really special occasions.* My fireproof casserole is an enameled dutch oven and it's basically my favorite cookware. I also have an enameled cast iron skillet with a lid, and I love them both a lot.

*I do not have any rendered pork fat. 

Step 3: Braise 

•  One or all of these to give body to the sauce: 1 or 2 cracked veal knuckles, 1 or 2 split calf's feet, 4-8 oz fresh pork rind.
• 4-6 cups beef stock, or canned beef bouillon

Pour in the wine marinade and boil it down rapidly until it has reduced by half. Then add the veal knuckles, calf's feet, and rind, and pour in enough stock or bouillon to come two thirds of the way up the beef. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove, skim, cover tightly, and set in the lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid remains at a gentle simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and turn the meat several times during its braising. The beef is done when a sharp-pronged fork will pierce it easily.

This is how I know this recipe was written for 50s housewives. I am lucky enough during the summer when I'm not working to nip down to the butcher and pick up this or that, but even my butcher does not carry veal knuckles. I'm pretty sure she made that up, actually. Cows don't have toes; they have hooves. I hope my sauce will have enough body without the veal knuckles or calves feet. What is the difference between a veal knuckle and a calf foot? Ugh, this recipe. Anyhow, I wasn't quite sure if I was supposed to boil the marinating liquid down while the beef was in the pot or not, so I left it sitting on the cutting board since I was scared cooking it at that high of a temperature would make it tough. Also, I strained out the herbs and veggies from the marinade because I wasn't sure if they should be in the cooking liquid or not. I'm sure they wouldn't hurt. The strained liquid smelled amazing all meat juice and aromatic vegetable juice and seasonings and red wine melding together overnight. I am not ashamed to admit that I tasted it, and that I liked it.

I tasted this meat juice, and I liked it.

Step 4: The Sauce

• A hot serving platter
• 1 Tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp Madeira or port if needed
• Parsley Sprigs
• A warmed sauceboat

When the meat is tender, remove it to the platter. Discard trussing strings. Trim off any loose fat, and keep the meat warm while finishing the sauce (5-10 minutes). Skim the fat off the braising juices, and strain them through a sieve into a saucepan. Simmer for a minute or two, skimming, then boil rapidly until liquid is reduced to about 3 1/2 cups and is full of flavor. Taste carefully for seasoning. Sauce should be lightly thickened. If too thin, beat in the starch and wine mixture and simmer for 3 minutes. Decorate the meat with parsley. Pour a bit of sauce over the meat and send the rest to the table in a warmed sauceboat.

I did not use parsley sprigs because I don't have any. I also mixed the cornstarch to thicken the sauce with a little of the wine we were drinking with dinner. It was another bottle of the same zin I used to cook the roast. This sauce is heavenly. It isn't very thick, even with the cornstarch, but it's so rich and meaty and flavorful (though I could taste a distinct lack of veal knuckles). It was good drizzled over slices of the roast and even better with some lightly buttered egg noodles. In almost every meat "main course" recipe from MtAoFC, Julia Child recommends serving it with buttered egg noodles. This is, I imagine, because they all have delicious pan sauces that taste really good on buttered egg noodles. I don't really think of noodles when I think of French food, but I forget sometimes that MtAoFC is French home and dinner party food. Not haute cuisine.

Check out the gravy boat - thanks, Grandma!

Like a lot of the things I have made from this cookbook, I think it was delicious, but I don't think it's worth the time it takes to make it for an every day dinner. I'd make roast beef like this for a family (as in extended, not just me and Nathan and the hypothetical children) dinner or a special occasion because it is that good, but marinating overnight and monitoring the roast and making the sauce and side dishes (since you don't want to eat the marinade vegetables as a side; there is such thing as too much wine flavor) was a lot of effort compared to my usual crock pot roast. It was seriously, seriously good though.

Side note: for a side dish I made "Carottes a la Concierge" which is on page 480 of the book if you have it. It's carrots and onions sauteed in olive oil until tender with flour and beef broth added at the end, then finished with a whipped egg yolk and a few tablespoons of cream. It is delicious.

No really, it was good.

The Best Blueberry Muffins Ever

I don't bake much. I think this is mostly because I hate cleaning up after (I tend to make a big old mess baking), I hate waiting for batch after batch (I always end up making bar cookies or just eating the cookie dough) and because my husband is better at it than I am. This recipe is awesome though because it's very fast and it only makes one batch of muffins so I don't have to sit there and bake batch after batch after batch. Yes, I realize I could cut any recipe down, but who wants to make only 12 cookies? Also, sometimes the amounts are hard to cut in half. What is half of 3/4 cup? 3/8? How would I measure that?

Makes 1 batch of 12 muffins, so adjust to meet your muffin needs.

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 and grease or paper muffin pans. Toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of the flour and set aside. Mix the remaining 1 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg, milk, and butter, stirring only enough to dampen the flour; the batter should not be smooth. Add the blueberries and 1/4 cup flour last. Spoon into the muffin pans filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. 

Summer Vacation!

a victorious tomato and red chili

I have been a very neglectful blogger, but now it's summer vacation. There aren't a whole lot of good excuses to not take an hour or two a week to write down what I cooked during summer vacation. The most exciting thing about summer so far is that my little urban victory garden hasn't been a total bust. The herbs are flourishing, and look what I picked on Sunday!

We've been getting lots of that early summer sweet corn that's so abundant this time of year in our bountiful basket lately, and I had a few week old ears to get rid of, so I turned to my go-to produce cookbook. It's called Cooking from the Farmer's Market, and I absolutely love it because it has great, simple recipes organized by different fruit and vegetable family such as "beans & peas," "cabbages & other crucifers," or "stone fruits." The sweet corn section had recipes for Chili-Rubbed Corn on the Cob, Corn Pudding with Chives, and Risotto with Fresh Corn and Basil Oil. The Corn Pudding is next on my list, but since my basil plant is going so crazy it's starting to flower, I opted for the recipe that used it.

fresh basil from my little garden

This is only the second time I've made risotto. I was terrified I would mess it up like I did paella, but it's really simple. The first time I ever tried, I was totally blown away by the fact that there is no dairy in risotto. "How on earth is it so wonderfully creamy?" I wondered. It turns out that the procedure of slowly adding hot cooking liquid and constantly stirring (which I will explain below) loosens the starch molecules from the grains of rice into the surrounding liquid. Yum!

Extra fancy like me!

A word about rice: long grain rice won't work. Most recipes recommend a high-starch, low-amylose (fancy word for a type of glucose found in starches) short grain rice such as arborio or carnoroli. These pedigrees of rice are typically imported and extremely expensive in a normal grocery store (I found them for more reasonable prices at World Market). The problem with using any old rice for risotto is not any old rice has properties needed to absorb liquid while releasing starches. We had calrose rice at home and figured since it makes great sticky rice, it would work for risotto, and it did. You might have better results with the fancy rice, but I am not going to pay $10 for a box of it.

Risotto with Fresh Corn and Basil Oil

• 2-3 ears of corn, husks and silk removed
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup thinly sliced leeks (use only the white and pale green stalk)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups short grain rice
• 2 Tbsp snipped fresh chives
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 Tbsp Basil Oil (recipe below)

• Strip the kernels from the ears of corn. There are tools for this, but why buy one when you already have a knife? If you're worried about kernels flying all over the place, hold the corn in a large mixing bowl as you slice the kernels from the ear. 
• Melt the butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the leeks and stir to coat. Cook the leeks on low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Step 2

Step 1

• Pour the broth and 3 cups water into a saucepan and place over low to medium heat. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the broth hot, but never simmering.
• Raise the heat under the leeks to medium, and add the rice. Stir the rice and leeks and cook the two until the rice is translucent, but not browned (about 3 minutes).



The set up: hot liquid needs to be added to the rice 1 ladle at a time.

• Begin adding the hot liquid 1/2 cup (I just use a ladle) at a time, stirring constantly and adding more liquid only when the previous ladle-full has been absorbed. This is the hardest part (for me) of making risotto. I tend to be a multi-tasking cook; I like to do other things like fold laundry, play a video game, or make the world's stupidest tumblr during cooking steps. If you want creamy delicious risotto, however, you've got to stand there and stir.
• After about 10 minutes, stir in the corn and continue adding the broth in small increments. It should take about 20 minutes for the rice to absorb all the liquid and become al dente and creamy. If you need more liquid, use hot water.

corny

• Remove from the heat and stir in the chives and 2 Tbsp of the basil oil. Divide among bowls and top with remaining oil. Serve right away.

 Basil Oil

• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (this is about a handful)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine the basil leaves and olive oil in a blender. Seriously. That's it.

The dish turned out great. It's very summery and mild and would go well with anything off the grill. We ate it with leftover steak and beets. Later this week I'm going to try making my own poppy seed dressing for a spinach and apple salad and some very adventurous burgers.

Eating Our Way Across NYC

This blog is for keeping track of things I cook, but I am not cooking this week since I am in New York, New York for spring break! NY is a food-lover's paradise. This is what I ate. 
 
Day 0

Late Lunch/Early Dinner @ Radiance near our hotel. Tea Shop with Asian Fusion foods. We shared a pot of white peony tea and an order of chicken won tons (the first time I ever had won tons that weren't fried!) Nathan had an unagi (eel) rice bowl and I had shrimp with avocado, pickled cabbage and creamy miso sauce.


Midnight (our time) snack @ Red 58 - a small bar/grill a few blocks from our hotel.
Shared an order of BBQ pork sliders (bbq pork, melted havarti and pickles) and a blue cheese wedge salad. He had a manhattan and I had their "Bastarda's" - a mix of JD, SoCo, Amaretto, cinnamon and an orange slice. Yummy.


Day 1

"Brunch" at Katz's Deli! Katz's is the "I'll have what she's having" restaurant in When Harry Met Sally, but it's more than just a movie spot. It's super good.
Shared a giant pastrami on rye, potato salad,  and pickles.

Not actually what she had.

 "Snack" at a brewery as we were walking back to our hotel after wandering up and down Little Italy, Chinatown, Town Hall, the Library/Bryant Park and Rockafeller center. I was thirsty. I had the wheat beer and Nathan had "Old Red Hen." They brew their own rootbeer which I might go back for. As we were leaving he said that he was going to suggest stopping for ice cream, but the beer hit the same spot. Beer. It's like ice cream for grownups!


Dinner before our show at Basso 56th, an Italian restaurant near Broadway. Shared a caprese salad.He had spinach and cheese ravioli and I had fettuccine with porcine mushrooms and spinach.

Fresh Mozzarella = love

Day 2

Central Park today!
"Brunch" was a $1 hot dog from a cart. Everything comes with brown ground mustard instead of yellow stuff here. I love it. Wish I could get a coke though. Stupid pepsi everywhere.
Later we had waffles from a cart called Waffles and Dinges with speculoos spread and whipped cream. Speculoos is the consistency of creamy peanut butter and tastes like a gingerbread cookie. Amazing.

Dinner was at Les Halles where Anthony Bourdain used to be the executive chef. It was all I wanted and more. I had steak frites with blue cheese sauce (to compare with the same meal at Mon Ami Gabi - it was better) and Nathan had some tripe thing. He is gross. Monday is half-off wine day so we shared a bottle of beaujolais. The only thing that could have made my dinner at Les Halles better would be Tony himself showing up, but it was not to be.

Oh, hi Sarah. Didn't see you come in.