Old-Fashioned Beef and Vegetable Soup (PCP)

• 1 pound boneless beef short ribs, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1 pound red potatoes, cut into 3/4 pieces
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Yet another occasion where something didn't really translate from ingredients list to grocery list.  All these carrots and a few parsnips are supposed to stand in for potatoes and celery ribs.

No, it didn't really work.

Mise en place.  I think I have already browned the short ribs since there's no picture of me browning them?

Heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat.  Add mushrooms and onion and cook until softened.

Stir in tomato paste, thyme, and garlic.  Cook until fragrant.

Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.

Whisk in wine, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps, and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute.

Stir in broth, carrots, all the vegetables I didn't have, bay leaves, and beef.  Bring to high pressure for 15 minutes and naturally release pressure.

 

I guess beef soup isn't really supposed to be a meal unto itself.  Particularly when a recipe or execution of one like this lacks much variety of vegetables.  I think I rather eat a beef stew instead.

However, I used Better than Bullion for the broth and it worked fine.  Amazing to have perfectly tender short ribs in such a short period of time.

Arroz con Pollo (TTH)

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
• 3 jarred piquillo peppers, seeded and chopped, or 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped [Eh, was moving soon.  I don't really need to buy a jar of pickled peppers right before.]
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 Roma (plum) tomatoes, halved, seeded, and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Espelette pepper, cayenne pepper, or hot paprika [I may have used double this amount.  I imagine half cayenne and half pimenton.]
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 small packet (1 1/4 teaspoons) Sazon seasoning [Completely failed to see that an actual measurement is listed here]
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 3 cups chicken broth
• Hot sauce, such as Crystal, to taste
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro [Pretty sure I didn't bother buying this]
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt for serving
• Lime zest (optional)

Mise en place.

Browning the chicken thighs.  it's probably impossible to tally up the number of chicken thighs I've browned since I started cooking.

Drain off half of the copious oil (we rendered plenty of fat from the chicken thighs) and cook onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes, Espelette (I'm pretty sure this is some fancy pepper that my idol Richard Blais digs, but I've finally bought the pequin chiles April Bloomfield is into.  Really, I only need so much specialty red pepper in my life, thanks.), and bay leaves.  Cook until the onion softens.

La di da, add tomato paste and caramelize.  Apparently this is also a big Richard Blais thing.

Add rice, Sazon, and saffon and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in chicken stock.  Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce (which is surprisingly rarely ever used in my cooking even though I like things hot).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and maintain a simmer.

Nestle in chicken thighs (I guess try to keep the skin from getting totally submerged.)_  Cook until chicken has cooked through.

Somehow it escaped me to take a photo of the finished dish itself.  Top with herbs, yogurt, lime zest, and copious amounts of the condiment I otherwise almost never use for some damn reason.
Arroz con pollo surely hasn't shot up my list of favorite things to eat, but this is arguably better than the ATK skillet version.

Moroccan Tuna Bolognese (TTH)

Tomato Sauce

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, minced
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• Two 28-ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes in juice [ATK says San Marzano is not at all inherently better quality and I take what they say as gospel]
• One 4-inch piece Parmesan cheese rind [Didn't have this]
• 1/4 cup finely diced charcuterie scraps, such as prosciutto or hard salami rinds (optional)
• 4 teaspoons dried oregano
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 18 to 20 fresh basil leaves [I threw the basil into the back of the fridge even though I knew they were a strong possibility that they would freeze and become ruined...  C'est la vie.]
• 5 to 6 leaves from an organic or nonsprayed tomato plant (optional) [Better be]

Tomato sauce mise en place.

Cook onion and garlic until softened over medium heat.

Add tomatoes, mash with potato masher and simmer for 1 hour.

Moroccan Tuna Bologneese

• Three 6- to 8-ounce tuna steaks
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
•  1 carrot, finely minced
• 1 stalk celery, finely minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon Moroccan spice blend [I'm judging you if you need to resort to this] or 1 teaspoon each ground coriander, cumin, and cinamon
• 1 bay leaf
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup dry sherry or red wine
• 2 cups Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 cup pitted Picholine or other green olives, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest, plus more for garnish
• 1 pound Fresh Pasta Dough, rolled out and cut into linguine, [Didn't happen], or store-bought dried linguine
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled, for garnishing
• 1/4 cup mixed chopped fresh dill, parsley, and basil [I think I just had parsley]

Mise en place.

Very finely mince one of the tuna steaks and cook in olive oil over medium-high heat until it begins to brown.  Remove with slotted spoon.

This is a utensil I didn't exactly have when I cooked this, but I do now.

Add aromatics (I guess I need to be more explicit here and say this only includes the oncion, carrot, and celery.) and cook until softened.

Add garlic, spices, bay leaf, and salt and pepper.  Cook to toast spices.

Add tomato paste and cook to caramelize.

Add tomato sauce and cooked tuna.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer until the sauce is very thick, 25 to 30 minutes.

Stir in the tuna chunks, green olives, and orange zest, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Add pasta to the sauce, then add the lemon juice and half the feta and herbs.  Toss until pasta is well-coated.
Sprinkle with remaining feta, herbs, and extra orange zest if I really wanted to bother pulling out the microplane again.

Lamb Shanks Briased in Root Beer (TTH)

• 4 lamb shanks (2 1/2 to 3 pounds total)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• One 12-ounce bottle root beer
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 6 fresh flat-leaf parsley stems, plus 1/4 cup chopped parsley, for garnish
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 bay leaf

Mise en place.

Dredge lamb shanks in flour and sear in olive oil over medium-high heat until golden brown.

Bloody murder.

Browned shanks.

Reduce heat to minimum and soften aromatic vegetables.  Oh, since this is a dish I made upon moving from Cambridge to Malden, I didn't realize that nearly all my carrots had gone bad.

Instead of going out and buying more, I used parsnips.  Given the nature of the dish, I figured it would be a good idea.

Add tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until it caramelizes.

Add root beer, chicken stock, parsley stems, rosemary, bay leaf, and lamb shanks, along with any accumulated juices.  Braise in a 325 degree oven until tender and...

Goddamn MAGICAL.  Blanket it all with the mixed herbs; or rather, strictly parsley in my lazy case.  Microwave-in-a-bag vegetables and we're good.

It seems as if I might have a reason to bother attempting side dishes so...  I guess I'll keep you posted.

Lemon Curd + Black Pepper Roast Chicken (TTH)

Believe it or not, this my first ever experience roasting a chicken.  I know, weird, right?  But that kind of summarizes my whole kitchen story.

FOR THE BRINE

• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns (optional)
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds [I would argue that coriander seeds and Szechuan peppercorns are similarly difficult to get.  Neither are all that obscure though you'll have to hit up both an Asian and Indian market unless of course it makes sense to hit up Christina's Spices and Specialty Foods.]
• 8 cups water
• Scant 1 cup Kosher salt
• 1 fresh red Thai chile, slice, or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes [former]
• One 4- to 5-pound free-range chicken

Toast spice except for chiles.  Except, you know, I didn't notice.

Add 2 cups of water and salt.  Stir until salt is completely dissolved.

Remove from heat.  Add 6 cups of water and chile.  Let cool to room temperature.

Blais thinks you have to rinse the chicken for some reason, but ATK (which I usually hold as gospel) says this is unnecessary.  I swish some water around in the cavity and rinse that part.

Technically, you're supposed to brine the bird in a tall, narrow plastic container just big enough to fit the bird.  It was hard for me to settle on something without buying something new so I went with my enameled cast-iron dutch oven.  It's been showing battle scars lately, but I'm sure it's still very non-reactive.

Brine for at least 2 or 3 hours or preferably overnight.

FOR THE LEMON CURD

• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Grated zest and juice of 2 leomns
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried [fresh]
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon dried [Now if there was a dried herb that really did look like pot, it's gotta be this one]
• 1 tablespoon water

Or, hey, you could just be lame and use 1/2 cup store-bought lemon curd  mixed with two tablespoons of water, but don't expect me to respect you at the end of the day on this one.
Every time I make lemon curd, it tastes like a revelation.   I think I've had store-bought stuff before and it was not the same thing.

Lemon curd mise.

In a medium saucepan, whisk everything except the butter to combine.  Stir over low heat constantly until mixture is very thick and hot.  I stopped when it started looking like lemon curd since I've made lemon curd a few time over for MMB's Arnold Palmer Cake.

Remove from heat and whisk the butter in a little at a time until smooth.  Press mixture through fine-mesh strainer to remove the zest and inevitable lemon seeds.

Coarsely crush peppercorns and coriander seeds with a mortar and pestle or on a cutting board with the bottom a small pan.  Though good luck with that second option.

Not that I once didn't have proper equipment before and still do not in all cases.

Mix this all up with the rosemary and sage.

Add 3/4's of the mixture to the lemon curd, along with the water, and stir to combine.

The perhaps weirdest thing about roasting a chicken for the first time is the whole loosening its skin so just can jab stuff under it, like a compound butter, herb paste, or in this case lemon curd.  It's hard not to think, "Well wouldn't it be weird if someone was doing this to me?"  Or am I psycho for thinking stuff like that?
Anyway, 1/2 the curd goes under there and then you paint the rest of the thing with lemon curd and sprinkle it with the remaining spice/herb mixture.

Pour 1 cup of water into baking pan with rack and chicken set on it.  Tie the chicken's legs together, and I guess you were suppose to tuck the wings in under the bird (Blais leaves out the darndest details about how to cook something).  Roast at 450 for 30 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 325 and continue roasting until the chicken is golden brown and juices run clear when thigh is pierced, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.

I couldn't stop myself from picking at this.  I almost want to have one of these in my fridge constantly even though that'd probably be a bit dangerous.  Maybe this should be a biweekly thing.
Happy I didn't fuck up my first roast chicken.  Far from it.

Chicken Confit with Green Olives + Kumquats (TTH)

FOR THE DRY CURE

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 2 whole star anise, finely crushed with the side of a knife [Probably better done in a mortar and pestle]
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried [dried]
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest or dried orange peel [former]
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers [I did my best here in trying 3 different stores.  My third store was Christina's Spices and Specialty Foods in Inman which is the one store in Boston where if you can't find that spice/herb/rice/flour/tea/chile/pantry item here, you probably should order it online.  I guess they usually carry it, but they were all out.]
• 8 large bone-in, skin -on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), patted dry.

Mix it all up.

Pat thighs dry with paper towels.  Layer a third of the salt on the bottom of a pan that will hold the thighs as tightly as possible.  Throw in the chicken and evenly sprinkle another third of the salt in.  Pack the last of the salt so well that the chicken is completely covered.

Cover with another plate, pan, or saran-wrapped box of kosher salt in my case.  Weigh this down with a couple heavy cans.  Throw this in the fridge for a couple hours.

FOR THE CONFIT

• 2 cups vegetable or canola oil, or as needed
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 whole star anise
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers (optional)

My pyrex isn't quite stove-top safe so I moved the operations to my dutch over where things are a bit roomier.  Pour over oil to cover the thighs you have rinsed of salt and patted dry again.  Toss the spices in and confit in a 300 degree oven for I don't know how long.  Blais doesn't tell you, but a paring knife met with no resistance at the 1 1/2 hour point.

Transfer thighs skin side up to baking sheet to drain excess oil.

Heat up 2 tablespoons of the confit fat (You can apparently strain it and use it as many times as you like for 30 days, but I don't really think I'm going to confit again so soon.).

Dip skin side down into the flour seasoned with black pepper and crisp up the skin over medium heat.

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 18 kumquats, thinly sliced and seeded, or 1 small tangerine, peeled and finely choppes, any seeds removed [After cooking this, I think it would be nuts to use a tangerine over kumquats, but if you need to use a tangerine to get you by...]
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted green olives, such as Picholine or Cerignola
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sauce mise en place.

Toast the mustard seeds.

 
Add sugar and water and stir to dissolve.

Add kumquats and cook until they break down a bit.  Season with black pepper.  Later on, add olives.

You know, I've never been a fan of duck confit.  It's one of those hoity-toity ingredients I don't get that all foodies seems to love like foie gras that I simply can't fathom why they're interesting.

However, I do love cooking chicken thighs, it was fun to go through the confit-ing process using vegetable oil (rather than duck fat which will set you back a considerable amount unless you're rendering duck skin all the time), and...  This was insanely good.
Remarkably well-seasoned even without the lavender I failed to source.  Beautiful texture, beautiful skin, the kumquat-olive relish the perfect foil.  Great dish all around though not necessary one I'm going to cook all the time unlike the recipe in my next blog entry.