really good beef stew with mint gremolata

For the garnish (mint gremolata):
2 oz extra virgin olive oil
1 T finely sliced parsley
1 T finely sliced mint
1 red chili seeded and diced
1 tsp orange zest
salt & pepper

Just mix the above together and set aside.

Ingredients
For the stew:
(you'll use these ingredients first)
1 dutch oven with a lid
2 beef shanks
2.5 T flour
1 T paprika
2 oz extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

(you'll use these ingredients second)
5 carrots rough chopped
2 celery branch diced
3 red beets .5 inch cubes
1 chunk of fresh horse radish the size of my little finger
1 red and 1 yellow onion diced
5 parsnips rough chopped



(you'll use these ingredients third)
1 head of garlic peeled
4 T paprika
1 T dried onion flake
1 tsp mace
salt & pepper
1 T finely chopped orange zest
2 bay leaves
5 peeled and seeded plum tomatoes
juice of an orange
3 T chopped flat parsley
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 tsp fresh rosemary

1 qt chicken or beef stock


Cooking Steps
Start by dredging the shanks in flour and paprika then sear them until they are nice and brown. Next remove the beef, turn the heat to low and add the chopped veggies. Sweat them until all the brown bits from the beef shanks come loose from the pan.



Now add the next twelve ingredients. Stir until the spices are completely mixed in bring the pot to a simmer return the beef shanks and add your stock. Put the lid on and put it in the oven on 250º. The stew should cook for about 3.5 hours. Take a look every hour or so... add a bit of water if the stew looks to thick. Once the meat is tender and almost falling from the bone remove the pot from the oven. Now take the beef shanks out pull the meat from the bone, pop out the marrow and remove the connective tissue. Put the meat and marrow back in the pot, give it a stir and check your seasoning.



Finally put some of the stew in a bowl add a spoon of the mint gremolata and serve with some crusty bread.

red stripe smoked ribs

I went to the West Side Market in Cleveland the other day... man it was awesome! There were a lot of butcher shops and fish mongers. So anyways I got some ribs there... they looked really nice and were only $2.29 a pound (see below). This is how I cooked them...

First the rib rub;
You want to grind all the spices that need grind'n (coriander, bay leaf & black pepper) and mix them with the rest.

1 bay leaf
1 T coriander seed (fresh if you have it)
1 T black pepper
1.5 T salt
1.5 T sugar
1 T granulated garlic
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp mace
1 tsp dried oregano
about 4 T chopped cilantro

You should rub your ribs at least a day in advance. First peel off the connective tissue on the concave side of the ribs. The easiest way to do this is peel up one corner with your fingernails and then grip it with a towel and yank it off. Next rub the the ribs with your spice mixture so they are coated in an even layer... just enough to stick to them. Cover the ribs and refrigerate for a day or two.

I smoked these ribs with a small amount of coal using cherry wood to make the smoke. I also opened a red stripe and placed above the coal to keep the smoker nice and moist (hence the name). The cook time was about 5 hours... obviously this will vary with the size of your smoker/grill and the amount of coal. Another option is to smoke them for about an hour and then cook them in the oven in a pot with a tight fitting lid. Add some beer and leave them in there for about 2 hours.

I made some jerk sauce to go with them. I suppose it felt like the ribs were Caribbean style. Here's that recipe;

1 oz o.j.
.5 tsp lime zest
2 red chilies seeded and minced
1 T chopped parsley
2 T chopped cilantro
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground allspice
1 oz olive oil
1 minced shallot
1 tsp sriracha
salt and pepper

Just mix these ingredients together and pour it on the ribs before you eat them. Next time I'm going to marinate the ribs in the jerk sauce before smoking them.

blood orange & oil cured olive relish

I made this today for a snack... it was delightful. The recipe follows.

First smash and pit the olives, dice the roma and garlic. Put these ingredients in a mixing bowl. Now segment the orange and juice the skeleton. Add the supremes, o.j. and the (italian) parsley chiffanade. Season the mixture and mix with a fork to mash the blood orange just a bit.... done.
This was really damn good too.
I served it with broiled ciabatta, shaved pecorino, citrus salad and fresh grapefruit juice. It was refreshing... nice for a spring afternoon.

spinach and garlic soup

This was good and easy to make. The total preperation time including knife work, cooking, pureeing and storage was just a bit more than an hour. I recommend trying it.

First dice and sweat these items in 1 tb olive oil and a knob of butter.

a pinch of salt
1 medium yellow onion
1 carrot
.5 bulb fennel
5 cloves of garlic

Then add the following elements and simmer for about an hour

2 peeled and diced russet potatoes
1 cup cream
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
20 coriander seeds

Next put all of the above in the blender with the ingredients listed below and puree. This will take 2 or more batches depending on the size of your blender.

10 oz spinach
2 clove garlic
4 oz frozen peeled edamame

Now put everything back into the pot and season with salt and pepper to your liking. This soup was a lot better the second day after the garlic had time to blossom.
I garnished it with crème fraîche and mosta olive oil... i think that some smoked bacon would have been a good addition as well.

pictures of food from work and home

red snapper.


sweet potato and blue cheese gratin.

quiche in the oven... me in the reflection.

veal breast.

foie gras with sour apple, huckleberry jam and brioche.

grouper.



golden hedgehogs, shimeji's and thyme.

hazelnut pana cotta with carmelized pears and.... i don't remember the rest.

goat cheese mousse packed cherry peppers

I bought pickled cherry peppers (approx 24) from the olive bar at Whole Foods. I know that lots of gourmet food stores carry these. They are sweet and slightly spicy which goes great with the goat cheese mousse.

For the mousse you need the following:
1 pastry bag (small tip required) or a ziplock
3 oz goat cheese
3 0z heavy cream
1 tbs chives sliced thin
1 tsp thyme fresh leaves
sea salt
black pepper

1. put everything but the cream into your kitchen aid fitted with the paddle attachment
2. mix on low until cheese is softened
3. remove contents from bowl
4. put cream into mixing bowl with the whip attachment
5. whip until it has stiff peaks
6. fold the goat cheese mix into the whip cream with a spatula
7. fill pastry bag or ziplock (is using ziplock, just cut the corner off making a hole the size of the end of your pinky finger)
8. fill peppers with mixture
9. i garnished the finished platter with olive oil and fresh parsley

guglhupf

Today Marty and I went to a bakery in Durham for lunch. Best sandwiches I've eaten in a long time — roasted beet and a brat on a pretzel roll. I highly recommend it if you live in the area. The name of the place is Guglhupf.