D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch (4 page)

½ medium yellow onion, cut into chunks

2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

½ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup sugar

One 2- to 3-inch stick cinnamon

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon whole cloves

½ teaspoon celery seeds

6 black peppercorns

½ teaspoon dry mustard

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to your taste)

½ teaspoon salt

Put the tomatoes and their juices in a blender. Add the onion and garlic and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon. Discard (or compost) the solids.

In a large pot over medium-low heat, bring the tomato mixture to a simmer. Lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by half and beginning to thicken, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, mustard seeds, cumin, cloves, celery seeds, peppercorns, dry mustard, cayenne, and salt to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar, turn off the heat, and let it sit while the tomatoes continue to reduce. When the tomatoes are reduced by half, strain the spice-infused vinegar into the tomatoes, discarding the spices. Continue to simmer the ketchup, stirring often, until thick, 20 to 30 minutes more. Taste for salt and spice, and adjust to your liking. Transfer to a jar and seal. The ketchup will keep, refrigerated, for 2 to 3 months.

NOTE
:
If fresh tomatoes are used, the ketchup will take about 2 hours to reduce and thicken, will have a final yield of about 2¼ cups, and will be slightly less smooth than commercial ketchup
.

√ TIP
:
The ketchup will taste sweeter, but less salty, when it is hot than it will after chilling, so use a light hand with the salt initially
.

Brisket is the traditional Texas barbecue-pit meat, but it can be a bit unpredictable and frustrating to cook unless you have a real smoker or pit. Buy a brisket with the fat cap left on and prepare to cook it low and slow for five or six hours, or you’ll end up with great barbecue sauce on a piece of shoe leather. If you have a smoker, by all means do it the right way. For those with only a grill, I’ve devised this combination method. If you’re intimidated, this recipe can easily be done with a friendlier cut of meat, such as tri-tip (and it won’t take nearly as long). Or, you could do the entire recipe in a low, slow oven and skip the grill. You’ll miss out on that smoky taste, but the smoked paprika makes a nice “cheater’s ‘cue.” It’s really about the tasty homemade barbecue sauce made with Real Ketchup anyway. Either way, start one day ahead as the meat needs to absorb the rub for at least 24 hours. Serve with cooked beans and
Potato, Green Bean, and Radish Salad with Creamy Herb Dressing
. It’s also good with
Corn Tortillas
or
Flour Tortillas
.

TIME REQUIRED:
30 to 45 minutes active; 30 hours passive (excluding ketchup preparation)

YIELD:
8 to 10 servings

SPICE RUB (MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP)

4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

Salt

¼ cup ground mild pure New Mexico chile powder

3 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

One 4- to 5-pound brisket, fat cap on

Mesquite, alder, applewood, or other wood chips

1 cup medium-bodied beer, such as IPA

BARBECUE SAUCE (MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP)

¾ A cup
Real Ketchup

½ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To make the rub: Pound the garlic to a paste in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic paste, chile powder, brown sugar, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and black pepper. Mix to blend.

Reserving about 3 tablespoons of the rub for the mop, coat the brisket all over with the rub, using your hands to massage it into the meat so it penetrates into the grain. Wrap the meat well and refrigerate for at least 24 or up to 48 hours.

The morning of the day you plan to cook the meat, soak a couple handfuls of wood chips in water.

Start a fire in the grill for low indirect heat (keeping the coals over to one side of the grill). When the coals burn down to ash, and you can hold your hand over them for several seconds, or the grill temperature reads no higher than 250 degrees F, put the drained wood chips in a tin pie plate or sheet of aluminum foil, edges folded over but open at the top. Place the chip tin on top of the coals, but not covering them completely. Put the meat on the side of the grill away from the fire, fat-side up.

Make a mop by mixing together the beer and the reserved rub. Set aside for basting.

Cover the grill and cook the meat for 1 hour, basting with the mop, flipping, and rotating once halfway through. If you are using a real smoker, you can continue to cook until the brisket’s internal temperature reaches 185 degrees F, another 3 to 4 hours, continuing to baste every half hour. If you’re cooking on a grill rigged out as a smoker like I’ve described, baste the meat well, wrap it in foil, and transfer it to a 200-degree-F oven until the internal temperature reaches 185 degrees F, 3 to 4 hours. Unwrap and baste once and then re-cover and let rest before slicing.

To make the sauce while the meat rests: in a small saucepan, whisk together the ketchup, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, mustard, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thick and the flavors are blended, about 10 minutes.

Slice the meat very thinly against the grain and serve with the barbecue sauce on the side.

√ TIP
:
You can mix up big batches of the Spice Rub and store it at room temperature in a glass jar, but leave out the garlic, adding it only when you are ready to use the rub
.

The word
aioli
is often misused to describe any flavored
mayonnaise.
But it seems fitting to use the term aioli to indicate that this is special mayonnaise. Follow this basic recipe to make any variety of mayonnaise you like. Depending on how you are serving it, you might want to add cayenne, capers, anchovies, different types of herbs, or chopped, canned chipotle chiles. This is lovely in vegetable sandwiches, in BLTs, as a dip for roasted asparagus, or as a dressing base for potato salad. My very favorite use for Meyer Lemon and Parsley Aioli is to spread it on croutons and float them like buoys in
Sustainable Seafood Stew
. Of course you can make this in a food processor, but washing slippery mayonnaise out of a food processor always makes me cranky, while whisking it by hand is quick and soothing
.

TIME REQUIRED:
10 to 15 minutes active

YIELD:
about
cup

1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole

Salt

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

½ cup good, but not too pungent, olive oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice, at room temperature

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Pound the garlic to a paste in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolk until smooth. Add the oil a few drops at a time, whisking continuously, and making sure that each addition of oil is incorporated fully before adding more. You can begin adding the oil more quickly about halfway through the process because the more oil the egg has incorporated, the less likely the aioli is to separate.

When all of the oil is incorporated, and the aioli becomes very thick and yellow, like lemon pudding, add the lemon juice a little at a time, whisking continuously. If you want your aioli to have a thinner consistency, add warm water a few drops at a time. Stir in the parsley and the garlic paste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a jar and seal. The aioli will keep, refrigerated, for 3 or 4 days.

To make in a food processor, follow the same procedure, adding the oil a little at a time through the feed tube while processing continuously.

Seafood that’s low on the food chain is healthier for both you and the oceans. Plus, it’s tasty and economical. This recipe combines clams, mussels, and squid, but you could replace all or some of these with crab, lobster, or even sustainably caught or farmed fish, local to your area. You can gussy up this dish with chopped fresh tomatoes, citrus zest, or saffron, but it’s quite good as is. A good trick for making a flavorful, quick stock is to ask the fishmonger for some heads or bones of fish trimmed that day. It’s cheap, fresh, and flavorful. To shop for sustainable seafood, get a
Seafood Watch card
for your local area and take it to the store with you
.

TIME REQUIRED:
about 1 hour active; 20 minutes passive (excluding aioli preparation)

YIELD:
4 as a first-course or light-supper servings

¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for croutons

½ medium onion, roughly chopped

1 celery rib, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, roughly chopped

½ small fennel bulb, chopped

2 garlic cloves, left unpeeled and smashed with the side of a knife blade

Salt

1 pound fish heads and bones

½ cup dry white wine

3 or 4 sprigs fresh parsley

6 black peppercorns

Pinch of fennel seeds

½ baguette, sliced into ¼-inch slices on the diagonal

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound mussels, washed and debearded

1 pound clams, washed

½ pound squid, cleaned (
see note
)

Meyer Lemon and Parsley Aioli

In a medium soup pot over medium heat, warm the ¼ cup oil. Add the onion, celery, carrot, fennel, garlic, and a few pinches of salt. Let the vegetables cook gently until soft and aromatic, about 10 minutes.

Add the fish heads and bones, 3½ cups water, the wine, parsley, peppercorns, and fennel seeds to the vegetables and bring to a boil. Skim any scum from the top and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer until fragrant and the broth begins to color, about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lay the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer, brush with olive oil, and bake until lightly toasted, about 7 minutes.

Remove the broth from the heat and strain it, reserving the fish for other uses (see “No-Waste Tip,” below). Return the broth to the pot, taste, and adjust the salt, pepper, and acid by adding a little more white wine if desired.

Add the mussels and clams, cover, and simmer until they just open, 3 minutes or so. Add the squid and turn off the heat. Let sit, covered, for 30 seconds. Discard any unopened clams or mussels and ladle the stew into 4 warmed, shallow bowls. Spread the croutons with aioli and float in each bowl of soup.