ALL-AMERICAN POT ROAST FROM THE FOOD LAB

Posted in Beef by sallybr

If you like a scientific approach to cooking, this new cookbook is a must-have: The Food Lab, by J. Kenji López-Alt. I am quite fond of his blog Serious Eats, so of course I had the book pre-ordered and was anxiously waiting for its electronic delivery. Since I have no space in any bookshelf at home to store cookbooks, Kindle became my helpful friend. The book is delightful to read, as the amount of “dry” information associated with perfecting a recipe is well-balanced by jokes and short stories. In one of my favorite chapters (Soups, Stews and the Science of Stock) he shares a great recipe for Creamy Mushroom Soup. In that recipe, Kenji tackles the persistent WRONG statement that they should not be washed under running water because “mushrooms are like sponges.” I swear, every time I hear a reputable chef spitting this non-sense I scream at the screen. Who on Earth came up with that idea, and why, oh why it gets repeated over and over? Kenji patiently goes over his experiments washing mushrooms and weighing them. Actually, you can soak them and after draining they will retain between 1 and 2% water, all on the surface. If you are paranoid about watering down your mushroom saute (keep in mind you don’t water down anything with 2% water), dry them slightly with a paper towel, or cook them 10 seconds longer…. Wash your mushrooms, folks! Toss that silly mushroom brush, it’s one big gadget scam. Ok, I feel better now. So much better that I will step off my soap box and share with you a great recipe for All-American Pot Roast, perfected in The Food Lab.

ALL-AMERICAN POT ROAST WITH GRAVY
(from The Food Lab, published with permission from J. Kenji López-Alt)

1 boneless chuck roast (about 5 pounds), pulled apart at the seam into 2 large chunks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 anchovy fillets
2 medium cloves garlic, finely minced or grated on a Microplane (about 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon Marmite
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1- to 2-inch chunks
2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 large onions, finely sliced (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 bottle (750-ml) dry red wine
4 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock
¼-ounce (1 packet) unflavored gelatin
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 pound russet baking potatoes (about 2 large), peeled and cut into 1- to 2-inch chunks

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 275 ° F. Pat the chuck roast dry and season it with salt and pepper. Tie kitchen twine tightly around each piece at 1-inch intervals to help it retain its shape. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until lightly smoking. Add the chuck and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the beef to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, combine the anchovy fillets, garlic, Marmite, soy sauce, and tomato paste in a small bowl and mash with the back of a fork until a smooth, homogeneous paste is formed. Return the pot to medium-high heat, add the carrots and celery, and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to brown around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until very soft and light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the anchovy mixture and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until no dry flour remains, about 1 minute. Increase the heat to high and, whisking constantly, slowly add the wine. Bring to a simmer and cook until the wine is reduced by half, about 15 minutes.

Pour the chicken stock into a large liquid measuring cup or a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Allow it to hydrate for 10 minutes. Add the gelatin and chicken stock, bay leaves, and thyme to the Dutch oven, return the beef to the pot, and bring the liquid to a simmer. Cover, place in the oven, and cook until the beef is completely tender (it should offer little to no resistance when you poke it with a cake tester or thin knife), about 3 hours; add the potatoes to the pot about 45 minutes before the beef is done. Remove the pot from the oven and allow to cool for 1 hour.

Transfer the whole pot to the refrigerator and let rest at least overnight, or up to 5 nights. When ready to serve, carefully remove the hardened layer of fat from the top of the cooking liquid and discard. Transfer the meat to a cutting board. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat and reduce it until coats the back of a spoon but doesn’t taste heavy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, remove the twine from the beef and slice it against the grain into ½-inch-thick pieces. Place the pieces in overlapping layers in a 12-inch skillet and add a few ladles of sauce to moisten them. Cover the skillet and set over medium-low heat, shaking occasionally, until the meat is heated through, about 15 minutes. Transfer the meat to warmed serving plates or a large platter and top with the cooked vegetables and more sauce. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Comments: The whole idea behind this recipe is to boost the amount of glutamates, creating what he calls a ‘umami flavor bomb.” Kenji noticed that components that bring umami to a dish act in fact synergistically, so by adding several of them to the dish, you’ll get a real boost in flavor. In this version, two very unexpected items are included: anchovies and Marmite, the “love it or hate it” ingredient more commonly found in light smears over buttered toast.

I confess to modifying his basic recipe a little. For starters, I added a lot more carrots because we adore them in our pot roasts. And I used only half a bottle of wine and half the amount of chicken stock/gelatin. It covered the meat from the beginning and seemed perfect in the reduction stage of the sauce. I also cooked the roast longer, for a total of 4 hours. By that time the meat was really tender the way we like it. My only other modification was to finish the dish with fresh parsley added right before serving. It was absolutely wonderful. comfort food at its very very best!

Dinner is served! Pot Roast with Golden Cauliflower Puree….

Kenji, thank you so much for giving me permission to blog on this luscious pot roast… I have way too many things I’d like to make from your book, like the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. They are calling my name super loud! Of course, I will have to follow your instructions to make my own ricotta, which is a project I’ve been flirting with for a long time.

If you want to order the book or read more about it, click here.

ONE YEAR AGO: Chicken Marsala Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce

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9Oct2015

PALEO MOUSSAKA

Posted in Beef by sallybr

Do I follow a Paleo diet? No, not really. But I am quite open-minded when it comes to food, and love a recipe that turns something a bit on the heavy side into a lighter but still delicious version. I have zero interest in lighter food that loses a ton in the flavor department. Or texture. This is another gem of a recipe I found at Mike’s site, The Iron You, made and loved. It is amazing how versatile cauliflower can be, in this preparation it doubles as a pseudo-bechamel sauce, and I guarantee you won’t miss the real thing. Plus, instead of having a hard time getting up from your dining chair because your stomach acts as if it’s trying to digest 14 bricks, you’ll be light as a feather slowly dangling through the air. Ok, not quite as light. But close enough.

PALEO MOUSSAKA
(slightly adapted from The Iron You)

for the eggplant layers:
2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced into ½-inch thick rounds
olive oil
lemon juice
sea salt
ground black pepper

for the meat sauce:
1 lb ground beef (or ground lamb, more authentic)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can 28 oz diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 handfuls fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon red vinegar
¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
A pinch of ground black pepper

for the Paleo bechamel sauce:
¾ cup almond milk (I used half milk, half almond milk)
2 cups (7 oz) cauliflower florets (best to weigh it)
dash of nutmeg
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
A pinch of ground black pepper
3 eggs

Heat oven to 400°F.

Whisk a little olive oil with lemon juice. On a baking sheet brush eggplant slices with the oil/lemon mixture and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer and roast in the oven until soft and golden about 25 to 30 minutes. While the eggplant is roasting make the meat sauce.

In a large saucepan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat, add shallots and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes until translucent. Add meat and cook, stirring to prevent sticking, until meat is browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, cinnamon, vinegar, salt and pepper and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.

In the meantime make the paleo bechamel sauce. In a saucepan add cauliflower florets, milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes. Add a pinch of nutmeg. Remove from the heat and with an immersion blender, blend until smooth, or use a food processor. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl, add a little of the warm sauce to temper them, then slowly add them to the sauce.

To assemble the moussaka, lightly grease baking dish large appropriate to make two layers of eggplant slices. I used a round, 10-inch diameter baking dish. Arrange eggplant slices to form a uniform layer. Cover the eggplant evenly with half of the meat mixture. Repeat to make a second layer. Carefully spoon the cauliflower bechamel sauce over the meat mixture and spread evenly to the edges. Try not to disturb the meat mixture too much.
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Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes, until the top is nicely puffed and browned. Let rest 10 minutes, and serve warm.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I like to peel my eggplant slices after roasting, but if you prefer to peel before, or to leave the slices unpeeled, go for it. I am not too fond of the bitter taste of the peel and find its texture unappealing, so I definitely remove it before assembling the moussaka. For dishes such as this one, I am happy to remove the peel on my plate, as the presentation is nicer with the intact Solanum melongena.

I love the meat sauce with its touch of cinnamon. The smell as it simmered was to die for! And I must share this picture, because it’s a rare occasion: I managed to catch a photo of steam rising from the pan… how sexy is that? I was impressed by Karen’s achievement in her post a while ago, and managed to get there too….

Since it was my first time making pseudo-bechamel with cauliflower, I decided to be precise and weighed the florets. I suppose eyeballing 2 cups would work too, but I felt like playing safe. The best part of the dish? Leftovers were even better than on the first day. In fact, I would almost advise you to make this dish a couple of days before showtime. The flavors mingled together perfectly, the dish had a more wholesome feel. Awesome.

When I served this moussaka, I did not tell Phil the modifications to make it Paleo. He could hardly believe when I divulged the dirty secret to involve cauliflower. It works so well, it’s kind of surprising. Don’t be put off by it, give this method a try, it is so much lighter than the real thing, but it still feels like comfort food. A gastronomic win-win situation.

Mike, thanks again for the great recipe, your blog is a constant source of inspiration!

Dinner is served!

ONE YEAR AGO: Zucchini “Hummus”

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26Jun2015

HOW ABOUT SOME COFFEE WITH YOUR STEAK?

Posted in Beef, Sous-Vide Cooking by sallybr

Have you missed the 6th anniversary of my blog?
Only a few days left to enter my giveaway!
Click here to join…

If you’ve never used coffee in marinades or dry rubs for meat, you are missing a great opportunity to enjoy its mysterious flavor added to usual suspects such as herbs, peppers, and spices. I’ve blogged before on a take on pork tenderloin that I still think is one of the best recipes I have in the blog, and that uses coffee as one of the ingredients. But today I’ll switch gears and apply a coffee-based dry rub to beef. The recipe, published by The New York Times, was recommended by our very dear friend, Marijo, who happens to be a great cook, so when she raves about something, I am all ears. And taste buds. It did not take me too long to jump on it, although it is taking me a long time to share it here. What else is new? That’s the way Sally rolls…

ALL-PURPOSE CALIFORNIA BEEF RUB
(as published in The New York Times)

2 tablespoons finely ground coffee
1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
1 ½ tablespoons granulated garlic
1 heaping teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Rub on the meat you intend to grill and leave it for at least one hour, overnight works too.

Grill to medium-rare, or to the level of your choice (hopefully not well-done!)

Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe click here

Comments: I’ve made this recipe quite a few times, with flank steak, flatiron steak, tri-tip, and even bison rib eye steaks. For the bison rib eye, I adapted it to sous-vide and it turned out spectacular, but the photos not so much, so I won’t dedicate a special blog article for it.

SOUS-VIDE METHOD: Apply the rub, and seal the meat in a plastic bag (vacuum is fine, water replacement method will work too). Leave the meat in the fridge for one hour or more, whatever is convenient with your schedule. Place the bag in the water-bath set for 134 F (medium-rare) for a minimum of 3 hours. I left mine for almost 6 hours, as I started cooking it at lunch time and we enjoyed the meat at dinner time that evening. Once the meat is cooked, open the bag, discard the liquid accumulated inside, pat-dry the surface with the meat with paper towels. Sear on a blazing hot grill or cast iron pan.

To our taste, the sous-vide was by far the best method for bison steaks. Same applies to flatiron. For flank and skirt steak, we think there is not much improvement by going the sous-vide route, both cuts of meat cook perfectly fine on the grill. Whatever your method of cooking, this rub is money! Give it a try…

Marijo, thanks for sending this recipe our way,
looking forward to many more!

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7Jan2015

CREMINI MUSHROOM MEATLOAF

Posted in Beef by sallybr

As Anne Burrell often puts it: brown food tastes good. I fully agree, but it is a nightmare for food bloggers. Why? Taking a good picture is quite tricky. Granted, photography is not one of my fortes, but I am aware that even those who know their way around a camera need to work a little harder when faced with beef stews, chocolate brownies, and – case in point – meatloaf. This one maybe even trickier as the beef is mixed with cremini mushrooms. Double decker brown for you! Still, no matter the quality of the photos, I had to share this recipe because it is totally worth it. The mushrooms not only provide extra moisture to the meat loaf, but they add that enticing umami-ness. The recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine which is one of my favorite sources for weeknight recipes. Never too rich, always packing great flavor.

CREMINI MUSHROOM MEAT LOAF
(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 pound cremini mushrooms

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons dry sherry

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1/4 cup almond flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 ounces ground sirloin

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

1/4 cup ketchup, divided
.

Heat oven to 375°.
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Place the mushrooms in a food processor; process until minced. Do it in two batches if necessary.
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Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add minced shallot; sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add mushrooms; cook 7 minutes or until liquid evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown. Add sherry; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in thyme. Cool slightly.
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Combine mushroom mixture, almond flour, and next 4 ingredients (through egg), mixing until well combined. Shape mixture into a free-form loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Remove from oven; brush with half of ketchup. Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Remove from oven; brush with remaining ketchup, if desired. Cut into 8 slices.
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ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

One of the changes I made in the recipe from Cooking Light was using almond flour instead of Panko. If you prefer a more traditional take, go for breadcrumbs, same amount. I served the meatloaf with mashed cauliflower and spinach, a recipe that I blogged about not too long ago. This was a simple, but delicious meal. You can prepare the mushroom mixture in advance, even a couple of days earlier to speed up dinner preparation. One of the best things of this meal: leftovers. My lunch next day was a couple of slices of meat loaf with a hard-boiled egg, and an avocado. The type of lunch that doesn’t make me sluggish during the afternoon. Love it!

ONE YEAR AGO: Roast Chicken with Clementines

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24Aug2014

SECRET RECIPE CLUB: TACO SALAD

Posted in Beef, Salads, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

This is the last Monday of August. We are about to say goodbye to Summer, and I cannot stand the thought of it. Only Reveal Day of The Secret Recipe Club can bring me some joy under the circumstances. My assignment this month was Flying on Jess Fuel, and I had a blast stalking it and making a list of possibilities to blog about today. Jess met her husband Nick at a Mexican restaurant, and apparently he went nuts over her jalapeno-eating skills. What a great way to fall in love! They lived in many different places while Nick went to flying school for the Navy, including Enid, a location quite close to Norman, our former home in Oklahoma.

For some reason, I usually pick sweets for my Secret Recipe assignments, but this time I took the road less traveled and went with her Taco Salad, considering that Mexican food would be a fun way to celebrate the way they met. I find it amusing that some recipes that I order in restaurants on a regular basis are never part of my own cooking at home. Taco Salad is one of those. For the most part, Tex-Mex restaurants offer dishes over-loaded with cheese, and served with a humongous portion of rice, beans, plus a few flour tortillas for good measure. Taco Salad is my default request to avoid feeling like a bloated whale as I leave the restaurant. I made just a few changes in her recipe, and decided to pump up the presentation by making my own tortilla bowls. Now, that was a ton of fun, but some unexpected problems were encountered. As I was frantically trying to figure out which cups would be appropriate to shape the tortillas, one of my custard cups fell from the cabinet and crashed on the granite (yes, glass flew everywhere), but not without first hitting my head. OUCH! And, going on with my usual modus operandi in the kitchen, I burned myself not once, but twice baking those tortilla bowls. Sometimes I even amaze myself… However, I can tell you it was all worth it! This recipe rocks, my friends….

JESS’ TACO SALAD
(slightly modified from Flying on Jess Fuel)

1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup yogurt
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 lb ground beef
2 tablespoons bulk taco seasoning mix (or 1 packet)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large head romaine, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
Black kalamata olives, chopped (to taste)
Shredded Mexican blend cheese (to taste

To make the dressing, combine sour cream, yogurt and salsa in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat the oil on a skillet and cook the meat for a few minutes. Season with salt (in case your taco seasoning doesn’t have salt already), then add either a packet of store-bought taco seasoning or 2 Tbs of a bulk product such as Penzey’s. Cook for a couple of minutes, add the amount of water recommended by the mix, and cook further just to thicken it slightly. Add the beans to the pan in the last 2 minutes of cooking.

If serving cold, let the meat and bean mixture cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, place half the lettuce, half the tomatoes, half the scallions and half the olives. Top with half the dressing. Top with the meat and bean mixture (you can reserve a little bit for decorating the top, if you want to be fancy). Sprinkle half the cheese on top. Add the rest of the veggies, dressing, and cheese (and meat mix if you reserved some). You can also serve it warm, adding the cold ingredients to the hot meat/beans mixture.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Here you can see some photos of my burning adventure with tortilla cups. You can do this in several ways, but I recommend the muffin tin + custard cup combo. Using the two custard cups nested together requires that they both fit just right not to tear the tortilla, and also makes it a lot harder to remove the top cup to brown the tortilla in the final moments of baking.

MAKING TACO BOWLS: Warm a corn tortilla very quickly over an open flame on your stove (I heard you can also use the microwave, but I haven’t tried it). Spray both sides of the warm tortilla very lightly with canola or olive oil spray. Immediately place in the muffin tin (or over a custard cup), and place another container on top to keep the shape. Bake in a 375 F for about 15 minutes, removing the custard cup in the final 5 minutes. Let cool over a rack.

We loved this recipe! Actually, Phil was raving about it non-stop, and begging me to make it again, and do it soon. The tortilla cups make it very festive, but the taco stands on its own without any problem, it is fresh, bright, the dressing mixing sour cream and salsa was incredibly tasty! I used a home-made salsa given to us by Mr. and Mrs. K (thank you, guys!), and it had just the right amount of heat. Use any store-bought salsa you are fond of, or make your own if you have a chance.

Jess, I loved being assigned to your blog! This has been one super busy month for us, but I made sure to compose this post within one week of getting the email notification. I fell in love with this recipe right away, and you can bet this will be in a regular rotation in our Bewitching Kitchen!

To my readers: if you want to see what the other members of my group cooked up this month, poke the blue frog at the end of the post.

ONE YEAR AGO: Semolina Sourdough Boule

TWO YEARS AGO: Forgive me, for I have sinned

THREE YEARS AGO: Cracked Wheat Sandwich Bread

FOUR YEARS AGO: Au Revoir, my Bewitching Kitchen

FIVE YEARS AGO: French Bread