In the Hands of a Chef (40 page)
Read In the Hands of a Chef Online
Authors: Jody Adams
I
learned to make anchovy butter
from Lydia Shire, one of Boston’s pioneer female chefs, who served it with lobster. The experience was a revelation. I was amazed at how the anchovies metamorphosed from their salty incarnation as a topping for pizza into something almost sweet. People who instinctively shy away from unadulterated anchovies can find themselves quite taken by anchovy butter, especially with seafood.
The butter needs to be at room temperature (65° to 70°F, no warmer) before you can prepare the recipe. In a pinch, you can use the anchovy butter as soon as everything is blended together, but it tastes and looks better if you allow it to chill for 45 minutes before serving. I usually double this recipe and put half of it in my freezer; we inevitably find a use for it within a month. After a day or two in the refrigerator, the flavors of fresh thyme and parsley in the anchovy butter fade and the anchovy becomes more pronounced. Frozen anchovy butter keeps its flavor for about a month.
MAKES ABOUT ¼ POUND
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 anchovy fillets, rinsed and finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1.
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small pan over low heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until the shallot becomes translucent and you can smell the garlic’s aroma, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.
2.
Mix the shallot and garlic with the remaining butter, the herbs, and anchovies in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
3.
Place on a sheet of plastic wrap, form into a roll, and chill until firm, at least 45 minutes.
4.
Once the butter is firm, you can open the plastic wrap and slice off tablespoon-sized pieces as needed. Place 1 piece on top of each portion of meat or seafood just before serving. If the butter was molded in a ramekin, offer the anchovy butter in the ramekin on the side, along with a small serving knife or spoon.
S
hort ribs are one of
my favorite meats for braising, a fail-safe illustration of the transformative powers of slow cooking with a little liquid. The ribs start out unappealingly tough and covered with fat, but 2½ to 3 hours of braising softens them into a dish of otherworldly tenderness. The fat melts off the meat and, in this recipe, the apricots and olives blend into something with a distinctive eastern Mediterranean flavor. Although you can certainly enjoy this dish on the same day you make it, like all braised meats, these ribs taste better made a day or two before serving. The ribs and sauce should be refrigerated in the same container so that the meat absorbs the flavors of the braising juices. After scraping any congealed fat from the surface of the sauce, reheat, covered, in a 350°F oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
MAKES 4 ENTRÉE SERVINGS
8 beef short ribs (6 ounces each)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour for dusting
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 ounces smoked bacon, cut into 1x¼-inch lardons
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into ½-inch dice
1 medium onion, chopped into ½-inch dice
16 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups dry red wine
½ cup brandy
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon celery seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
2 cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth
⅓ cup Kalamata olives, pitted 18 dried apricot halves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1.
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2.
Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Dust with the flour. Heat the oil in a large braising pan or ovenproof casserole over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until most of the fat is rendered, then remove and set aside.
3.
Add as many ribs as can fit in a single layer to the pan. You will need to cook them in batches. Sear the ribs on both sides until well browned, then remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with the remaining ribs. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan.
4.
Lower the heat to medium, add the carrots and onions, season with salt and pepper, and
sauté until the vegetables begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 4 more minutes. Add the red wine and brandy and reduce by half, about 6 minutes.
5.
Return the ribs and bacon to the pot. Add the remaining ingredients except the apricots and parsley and bring to a boil. The liquid should come one-third of the way up the ribs—if not, add some water. As soon as the liquid comes to a boil, turn off the heat and cover the ribs tightly with foil, pressing the foil down into the pan, then place a lid on the pan.
6.
Braise the ribs in the oven for 2 hours, turning them every 30 minutes so they cook evenly. Add water as necessary to keep the braising juice one-third of the way up the ribs.
7.
After 2 hours, add the apricots and cook for an additional 30 minutes. The meat should be almost falling off the bones. Transfer the short ribs to a large platter. Spoon the vegetables, olives, and apricots over them. Keep warm.
8.
Strain the braising juices into a clear glass container and siphon or skim off the fat. The braising juices may already be the consistency of a sauce. If not, return them to the pan and boil for a few minutes to thicken. If you prefer an absolutely smooth sauce, strain out any remaining pieces of vegetable. Taste, season with salt and pepper, and add the parsley. Pour the sauce over the ribs and serve immediately.
P
ot roast ought to be
one of the great glories of anyone’s home repertoire—once you know the rules, it’s actually quite easy to produce a fork-tender masterpiece. Unfortunately, if you don’t know the rules, it’s easy to go wrong with either the texture or flavor. Pot roasts cook by braising. Long, slow cooking breaks down muscle fibers, helping to tenderize the meat, but if there isn’t enough fat in the muscle fibers to keep the meat moist during the cooking, then the end result will be dry. The greater the marbling of fat in the meat, the more tender and juicy the pot roast will be. Use chuck or rump cuts, not the bottom round (a boneless muscle from the back leg) that is often promoted as an ideal pot roast cut. To my taste, there just isn’t enough fat to make bottom round work. Chuck and rump cuts, by contrast, are richly marbled and produce beefy, juicy pot roasts.
The second issue is flavor. Slow cooking gives the meat the opportunity to absorb the flavors of other ingredients. The more intense the flavors, the stronger their influence. If the ingredients are too mild, the final taste will be bland. This recipe includes red wine vinegar, a potent enhancement to the powerful influence of pancetta, anchovies, and green peppers. When I first made this dish, the flavor reminded me so much of the American South that I served it with grits instead of potatoes, but polenta would be just as good.
MAKES 6 TO 8 ENTRÉE SERVINGS
1 boneless beef chuck or rump roast (about 4 pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ pound pancetta, cut into ¼-inch dice
2 medium onions, chopped into ½-inch dice
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
8 anchovies, rinsed and coarsely chopped
½ cup red wine vinegar
4 bay leaves
4 cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth, or as needed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
4 green peppers, roasted (see page 99), peeled, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ½-inch-wide strips
2 cups canned tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
1.
Season the meat all over with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large braising pan or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until the fat is partially rendered, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2.
Sear the meat all over in the fat until well browned, then remove from the pan and set aside.
3.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until
they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 more minutes. Add the anchovies and vinegar.
4.
Return the meat and pancetta to the pan, then add the bay leaves and enough chicken stock to come one-quarter of the way up the roast. As soon as the liquid comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cover the roast with foil, pressing the foil down into the pan, then place a lid on the pan.
5.
Braise the meat for 3 hours, turning the meat every 30 minutes or so, and adding more stock as needed to keep the juices one-quarter of the way up the meat. Adjust the heat if the liquids are at more than a simmer. The meat should be very tender, offering little resistance when pierced with a fork.
6.
Add the sage, peppers, and tomatoes and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Transfer the meat to a large platter.
7.
Skim any fat off the juices. Remove the bay leaves. If the braising liquid seems too thin, increase the heat to medium and cook until the liquid thickens.
8.
Thinly slice the roast and arrange overlapping slices on the platter. Spoon the braising liquid and vegetables over the slices and serve.
I
magine a pot roast so
juicy and tender it falls apart as soon as you wave your fork over it—you’re really thinking about oxtails, you just don’t know it. If there were a Braising Hall of Fame, the oxtails display would be front and center. Their secret advantage is a huge reservoir of collagen that melts during braising. The collagen thickens the braising liquid into a sensuously velvety sauce and the meat, which has its own helpfully high fat content, takes on the remarkably tender richness that only happens in braising.
You can certainly enjoy this the day you make it, but to my palate, braises taste better if made a day or two before serving, allowing their flavors to blend. Refrigerate everything in the same container, then reheat after scraping any congealed fat off the surface of the sauce.
MAKES 4 ENTRÉE SERVINGS
1 cup navy beans, picked over for stones and broken beans and rinsed
4 pounds oxtails (from the thick end of the tail), cut into 3-inch sections, trimmed of excess fat
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour for dusting
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths
3 medium onions, sliced 1 inch thick
1 celery stalk, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
3 red peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped into 1½-inch pieces
1 garlic clove, chopped
1½ cups dry red wine
½ cup red wine vinegar
2 cups canned tomatoes, drained
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1.
Either soak the beans overnight or put them in a pot, cover with 1 inch of water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let sit for 1 hour. Drain.
2.
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
3.
Season the oxtails with salt and pepper. Dust with the flour. Heat the oil in a large braising pan or ovenproof casserole over medium-high heat. Sear the oxtails in batches, cooking no more than will fit in a single layer in the pan at a time, until browned all over. Remove from the pan and set them aside.
4.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the carrots, onions, celery, and peppers to the pan and sauté until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking until it becomes aromatic, a couple of minutes. Add the red wine and vinegar and cook until reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes.
5.
Return the oxtails to the pan and add the remaining ingredients, except the parsley; add the drained beans. Cover the oxtails tightly
with a piece of aluminum foil, pressing it down into the pan, then cover with a lid. Put the pan in the oven to braise.
6.
After 45 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and give everything a quick stir, so the beans will cook evenly. Check to make sure the liquid hasn’t dropped below halfway up the bones; if necessary, add more liquid. Replace the foil and lid and return the pan to the oven. Braise the oxtails for approximately
3½
more hours, stirring and checking the level of the liquid every 30 minutes. The dish is done when the meat is beginning to fall off the bone and the beans are tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings. (If giving the dish a day or two of rest before serving, remove the oxtails from the heat and allow them to cool, then transfer the entire dish to a fresh container for refrigerating. The next day, after skimming off the fat, reheat on top of the stove; if you prefer the dish without bones, remove them as described below before reheating. Proceed as directed.)
7.
Skim the fat off the surface of the braising liquid. If you prefer to serve the dish without bones (I leave the bones on board), remove the oxtails from the pan, trim off the meat, and return it to the pan. Stir everything together, sprinkle with the parsley, and serve from the pan at the table.