In the Hands of a Chef (48 page)

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium white onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1½ cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage

¼ teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 recipe Fresh Pasta (page 142)

IF USING SAGE SAUCE

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1½ tablespoons chopped fresh sage

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

IF USING PORK CONFIT SAUCE

2 tablespoons strained duck fat, goose fat, or olive oil from cooking the confit (see below)

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

½ pound spicy greens (e.g., turnip greens, mustard greens, or arugula), washed and coarsely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 recipe Crispy Pork Confit (page 313), drained of any excess fat

1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into ½-inch dice

2 cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or 4 cups high-quality low-sodium canned chicken broth, reduced to 2 cups (see page 32)

¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano (for either version)

1.
Peel the celery root. Its knobby exterior is more easily tackled with a paring knife than a conventional vegetable peeler. Dice the root into 1-inch cubes. (You should end up with about 1 pound peeled, cubed celery root.) Toss with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice so it doesn’t discolor and set aside.

2.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onions until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Take care not to burn them. Transfer to a bowl.

3.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the saucepan. Increase the heat to medium-high and sear the celery root on all sides. Add the garlic, return the onions to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook until the celery root is tender enough to purée and the stock has reduced to a glaze, about an hour.

4.
Purée the celery root in a food processor. The texture should resemble that of mashed potatoes. Stir in the lemon zest, sage, rosemary, and the remaining 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper and lemon juice, if necessary. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

5.
Following the instructions beginning on page 142, roll out the pasta dough to ravioli thickness (the #7 or #8 setting, depending on your machine). Follow the instructions for making ravioli on page 144, using a small spoonful of celery root purée for each ravioli. Transfer the completed ravioli to a lightly floured baking sheet.

IF YOU’RE GOING TO SERVE THE RAVIOLI WITH THE BROWN BUTTER AND SAGE

1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it with salt.

2.
While the water heats, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the sage and cook until the butter turns a deep gold, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat; cover to keep warm.

3.
Add the ravioli to the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly but very carefully until the water returns to a boil. Continue to cook until the ravioli have all floated to the surface and their edges are al dente, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.

4.
Place the ravioli in a large nonstick sauté pan over very low heat. Pour the brown butter and sage over the ravioli and swirl the ravioli to coat them with the sauce. Transfer to four warmed plates, sprinkle with the cheese, and serve.

IF YOU’RE GOING TO SERVE THE RAVIOLI WITH THE CONFIT

1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it with salt.

2.
While the water is heating, heat 1 tablespoon of the strained fat in a large sauté pan over
medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the greens, season with salt and pepper, and toss until the greens are tender and wilted. Transfer to a plate.

3.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon fat to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high. Add the pork and sear on the first side until crispy, about 4 minutes, then flip and sear on the other side. Transfer to a plate. Add the apple to the pan and sear until golden. Transfer to the plate with the pork. Add the chicken stock to the pan and reduce by half.

4.
Meanwhile, when the chicken stock has almost finished reducing, add the ravioli to the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly but very carefully, until the water returns to a boil. Continue to cook until the ravioli have all floated to the surface and their edges are al dente, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.

5.
Add the ravioli to the pan with the sauce. Add the greens, pork, and apples and gently stir everything together to heat through. Transfer to four warmed plates, sprinkle with the pecorino, and serve.

Crispy Pork Confit

C
onfit started out as a
technique for cooking and preserving game and other types of meat, especially duck, goose, and pork. Pieces of meat were salted and braised slowly in fat, usually goose or duck fat, then stored in crocks, with a layer of rendered fat covering the cooked meat. Throughout the winter, a dish of root vegetables or cabbage could be considerably enlivened with the addition of a scoop or two of confit. Confit can also be served by itself as a luxurious appetizer (this recipe makes more than enough for 4), accompanied with sautéed apples and wilted greens.

MAKES 1 POUND

SPICE MIX

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon dried sage

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon celery seeds

½ teaspoon fennel seeds

2 bay leaves, crushed

½ cup kosher salt

1 pound pork butt, cut into 8 pieces

6 cups duck or goose fat (substitute extra virgin olive oil if you cannot get the fat)

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

DO AHEAD:
Marinate the pork.

1.
Combine the spice mixture ingredients in a medium bowl. Toss the pork pieces with the spice mix, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 to 18 hours.

2.
Heat the duck fat in a large heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. (It’s important to use a pot with a heavy bottom so that it conducts the heat evenly.) Add the garlic cloves and onion and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Check the temperature with a deep-fry thermometer—it should read 185°F. Lower the heat if necessary.

3.
Remove the pork from the refrigerator, rinse well, and pat dry with paper towels. Carefully lower the pork into the fat. It should be submerged. Cook, uncovered, until the meat is falling apart, 2½ to 3 hours. Let cool in the fat.

4.
Remove the pork from the pot and shred into ½-inch pieces. Strain the fat. Transfer the pork to a glass or ceramic container and add enough fat to just cover it. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Strain the remaining fat into a container, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for another use. The confit and fat will keep for several weeks refrigerated.

B
oth fresh cod and salt
cod are often paired with greens or pancetta in classic Italian recipes, but you rarely see the two served on the same plate. Early in my career, I came up with the idea of creating a pocket of salt cod inside a piece of fresh cod and then giving each portion a “belt” of crisp pancetta to hold it together. I come back to it again and again because of the contrasting textures and flavors, and because it makes me feel good. Serve it with polenta for a fabulous comfort meal.

This recipe asks you to slice partway through a fresh cod fillet, leaving it attached on one side. This creates a pocket for the salt cod. Obviously, the thicker the fillet, the easier it is to slice through it. But really hefty cod fillets—¾ inch thick or more—are difficult to come by in these days of diminishing cod stocks, especially since seafood wholesalers often reserve the thickest cuts for the restaurant trade. If you can’t find thick fillets, simply buy thin ones flexible enough to wrap around a piece of salt cod. Skip the instructions in Step 3 that call for you to slice the fresh fillets. Instead, season one side of the fillets with salt and pepper and thyme, as per the recipe, then wrap the fresh fillets around the salt cod. Continue with Step 4. When placing the bundles in the sauté pan, cook the side with the overlapping layers of pancetta first. The pancetta slices will bind together as they cook, holding the fillets in place.

MAKES 4 ENTRÉE SERVINGS

¼ pound skinless, boneless salt cod of even thickness, center cut

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Four 6-ounce cod fillets, approximately ¾ inch thick (see headnote)

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

12 thin slices pancetta (5 to 6 ounces) (see box)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

6 to 8 cups mixed greens (such as watercress, radicchio, mustard greens, and Belgian endive)

¼ cup water

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed

4 lemon wedges

DO AHEAD:
Soak the salt cod for 12 hours.

1.
Soak the salt cod for 12 hours in a large bowl of cold water, changing the water 3 or 4 times. When finished, the cod should
not
be completely salt-free, or it will have lost its distinctive flavor. It should taste about as salty as a fish that you’ve seasoned and cooked with salt. Drain the cod.

2.
Place the salt cod in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring just to a boil over
moderate heat. Remove from the heat and let stand until the cod is barely cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain and trim away any bones and membranes. Cut into quarters, cover. (Refrigerate if doing ahead.)

3.
Using a chef’s knife, slice horizontally through each fresh cod fillet to within an inch of the opposite side, so that the two halves of the fillet can be opened (see headnote if you’re using thin fillets of cod). Season the inside of the fillets with salt and pepper and sprinkle the inside of each with ½ teaspoon of the thyme. Put a piece of poached salt cod inside each fillet and close the two halves. Spread 3 overlapping slices of the pancetta side by side on a work surface and place a cod fillet in the center. Bring the pancetta up and over the cod, wrapping it snugly to form a neat package. Repeat with the remaining cod and pancetta to form 4 packages. (Before you proceed to the next step, read About Pancetta.)