May 23, 2015
When a friend showed up with some beautiful ribs from Iberian pigs that were locally raised and finished on acorns, I began considering how to cook them. Then I remembered one of my favorite Gourmet recipes. It's one that Ian Knauer created for one of our last summer issues. (Ian now has The Farm Cooking School, where he's constantly posting great recipes like the newest one for a sorrel panna cotta.)
Haven't made them yet, but I'm posting the recipe now because the ribs want to marinate for a day or so.
I can hardly wait!
Sweet and Sour Sticky Grilled Baby Back Ribs
8 pounds baby back ribs, preferably from a humanely raised pig
Marinade
12 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sea salt, divided
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons cayenne
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
3 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Glaze
juices from the pans
1 cup balsamic vinegar (inexpensive supermarket kind)
½ cup brown sugar
Mash together the garlic and 1 ½ teaspoons salt with the back of a spoon or in a mortar and pestle to make a paste. Mix together the rosemary, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, cayenne pepper, 1 ½ tablespoons salt, and the pepper in a medium bowl, and stir in the garlic paste. Rub the mixture all over the ribs. Remove to a large plastic Ziploc bag or two and refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.
Heat an oven to 300 degrees
Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and let them rest for an hour at room temperature. Place them in two pans in a single layer, add half a cup of water to each pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast for 3 hours until tender and falling off the bone.
Remove the ribs from the pans and deglaze each pan with a cup of water. Pour the juices into a measuring cup and allow the fat to rise to the top. Skim it off and pour the remaining liquid into a large skillet with the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce the liquid to about one cup, medium high heat, for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season the ribs with salt and pepper, generously brush the glaze over the ribs, and grill for five minutes to give it a hint of smoke. Brush again just before serving.
May 20, 2015
Dinner Last Night: Farro
I've been lucky enough to have lunch at The Inn at Pound Ridge by Jean-Georges for the past couple of days. The food has been – no surprise – fantastic. Jean-Georges never stints; after a whole array of appetizers (homemade ricotta with strawberries and olive oil, asparagus with morels, pizza…) we've had fabulous halibut (yesterday's with a saffron sauce), and then no fewer than three delicious desserts. So at dinner, I've wanted to keep it light.
Last night I opened the cupboard and discovered a forgotten bag of farro. It looks like any other grain, but it packs a punch: nutty, robust, and instantly satisfying. To me it's the caviar of the grain family.
But this was not any old farro; this was the finest strain of ancient Italian farro, slowly roasted to coax out even more flavor. As the farro bubbled on the stove, I inhaled the scent of corn. Was there barley in there too? It was wonderfully round and slightly smoky.
And while I’ll admit I was tempted to eat it plain, I decided to do something more. I began pawing through the larder, seeking out crunch and zing.
The result was extremely satisfying. Without further ado, I pass the recipe on to you.
Farro Salad
1 bunch lacinato kale, stemmed and snipped into short strips
1 1/2 cup uncooked farro
2/3 cup hazelnuts or almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup pepitas, toasted
1/3 cup sheep’s milk feta or ricotta salata, crumbled
1/3 cup dried cherries
Dressing:
1 tablespoon harissa
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Big grind of pepper
Pinch of sugar
Bring three cups or so of salted water to a boil. Add the farro, bring to a boil, cover, and set to simmer. Let cook until just past al dente, around 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool until the farro is just warm enough to absorb the dressing without wilting the greens.
Make the dressing. Taste and adjust for seasoning. If you have a low spice tolerance, go easy on the harissa – most varieties can be quite hot.
Throw the kale, nuts, fruit and cheese into a large bowl, and give everything a good toss. Add the cooled farro. Dress to taste; you should have a bit of remaining dressing to use on leftovers.
This keeps well, in the refrigerator, for several days. Add a bit more dressing each time you serve it.
Serves 4.
May 14, 2015
Straight from Sicily
Open a jar of great jam and step into an orchard. Cue sun, wind, and rain.
That's what I thought when a friend brought me this jar of blood orange jam. I took one bite and found myself in Sicily, sun beating down. The jam, made by Fabrizia Lanza (she runs her mother Anna Tasca Lanza's wonderful cooking school in Palermo), has a peculiar sweetness that edges into bitter. The flavor took me right back to the first time I tasted magenta oranges. It was in Sicily,and I was stunned and surprised by the taste.
This jam isn't cheap. On the other hand, I don't know an easier way to travel halfway round the world.
May 12, 2015
We still don’t know what it costs.
There are only two women among the 37 chefs.
Still, it’s intriguing.
The Gelinaz shuffle has some of the world’s top chefs swapping not only restaurants, but also homes, lives, and pets. One night only. July 9th.
You buy a ticket, blind. Only when you show up will you find out which chef will be cooking in your restaurant of choice. It would be a kind of Russian Roulette – if the chefs were not so great. But as it is, I don't think you can possibly lose.
I, for one, will be checking in tomorrow at noon, when tickets go one sale. (6 PM Central European Standard Time.)
Hopeful. And excited.
These are the participating chefs:
Danny Bowien, Mission Chinese Food, New York — USA
Sean Gray, Momofuku Ko, New York — USA
Sean Brock, McCrady's, Charleston — USA
David Kinch, Manresa, Los Gatos — USA
Daniel Patterson, Coi, San Francisco — USA
Dominique Crenn, Atelier Crenn, San Francisco — USA
Carlo Mirarchi, Blanca, New York — USA
Blaine Wetzel, Willow's Inn, Lummi Island — USA
Colombe Saint-Pierre, Chez Saint-Pierre, Le Bic — Canada
Claude Bosi, Hibiscus — England
Magnus Nilsson, Faviken, Järpen — Sweden
Peter Nilsson, Spritmuseum, Stockholm — Sweden
René Redzepi, Noma, Copenhagen — Denmark
Paul Cunningham, Henne Kirkeby Kro, Henne — Denmark
Kobe Desramaults, In De Wulf, Dranouter — Belgium
Mehmet Gurs, Mikla, Istanbul — Turkey
Yoshihiro Narisawa, Narisawa, Tokyo — Japan
David Thompson, Nahm, Bangkok —; Thailand
Ben Shewry, Attica, Melbourne — Australia
Jock Zonfrillo, Orana, Adelaide — Australia
Bertrand Grebaut, Septime, Paris — France
Alain Ducasse, La Plaza Athenee, Paris — France
Yannick Alleno, Le Doyen, Paris — France
Inaki Alzpitarte, Le Cheateaubriand, Paris — France
Mauro Colagreco, Mirazur, Menton — France
Alexandre Gauthier, La Grenouillere, Montreuil/Mer — France
Ana Ros, Hisa Franko, Kobarid — Slovenia
Davide Scabin, Combal Zero, Rivoli — Italy
Fulvio Pierangelini, Hotel de Russie, Rome — Italy
Riccardo Camanini, Lido 84, Gardone Riviera — Italy
Massimo Bottura, La Francescana, Moderna — Italy
Massilmillano Alajmo, La Calandre, Venice — Italy
Andoni Luis Aduriz, Mugaritz, San Sebastian — Spain
Albert Adria, Pakta, Barcelona — Spain
Alex Atala, D.O.M., San Paolo — Brazil
Rodolfo Guzman, Borago, Santiago — Chile
Virgillo Martinez, Central, Lima — Peru
May 11, 2015
Banh Xeo
Southeast Asians boldly embrace the raw vegetable. A perfect salad roll, for example, is a challenge to the notion that vegetables require fat or fire to make them special.
That's why this Ottolenghi spin on banh xeo – the Vietnamese crepe often filled with shrimp and pork – caught my eye. It’s essentially just a bunch of garden variety vegetables rolled into a coconut-rice crepe.
But those crepes! The moment the batter hit the heat it became suffused with color, a riot of marigold spreading across the pan. Then the aroma kicked in, filling the kitchen with luxurious tropical scents. Snatched hot from the pan and folded around crisply shredded vegetables and herbs, it made a perfect lunch.
Note: If you’d like these to be truly vegetarian, use Ottolenghi’s dipping sauce recipe. I found it a bit sweet. Nuoc cham, on the other hand? Perfection.
Almost-Vegetarian Banh Xeo
Slightly modified from Ottolenghi's Plenty
Crepes
1 small egg
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup rice flour
One 400ml can coconut milk
Vegetable oil
Vegetable filling:
1 large carrot, shredded
2 green onions
Snow peas, sliced into matchsticks
Cilantro
Basil, ideally Thai
Mint
1 green chile
Bean sprouts
Red-leaf lettuce
Sesame oil
Nu0c Cham:
1 part sugar
1 part rice vinegar
2 parts fish sauce
6 parts water
Chiles
Make the nuoc cham by mixing all the ingredients together. Add chiles to taste and set aside.
Now make the batter, whisking the ingredients together, doing your best to smooth it out. The batter should be thin; if it's not, add a splash of water.
Heat a large skillet and toss in a teaspoon of oil. When it becomes glossy, pour in a medium-sized ladle of batter and swirl the pan around until it spreads into a large, thin crepe. Allow it to cook, on medium heat, about 2 minutes, until the bottom has browned. Flip gently and cook a couple minutes more. Be easy; these are slightly more temperamental than your ordinary wheat crepe.
Repeat with the rest of the batter- you should get 4 or 5 crepes – and set aside.
Use a peeler to make carrot curls. Cut everything else into matchsticks. Arrange the herbs and vegetables attractively on one plate and the crepes on another. Give each person an individual little dish of nuoc cham, and allow them to stuff their own crepes, drizzle on a bit of sesame oil, dip their banh xeo into the sauce – and dream of Vietnam.
This will serve two to four people, depending on their degree of hunger.