What Claudia Had For Lunch

I am lucky enough to have friends who know the things I don't know.

Yesterday when I needed help with a couple -- let's say, functions -- I couldn't figure out, I looked to Claudia. Although I would have happily paid for her expertise, Claudia chose to be paid in food . . . so, this is what Claudia had for lunch.

First off Peposo -- a peppery Italian stew that supposedly dates back to the early 1400's (at least) and became known through the construction of the cathedral dome in Florence. As the story goes the tile makers from near-by Impruneta (just South of Florence) would bake this long cooking stew in their kilns and Brunelleschi, the architect, while looking for roof tiles came to love it. Think of it as Italian Boeuf Bourguignon (kind of a theme this month) but much, much easier.

Cut beef suitable for long cooking (I used beef shanks and chuck -- I like some bone and some boneless) into large pieces (I think mine were about 2" x 3" or 3" x 3" -- I left the beef shanks whole) and make a layer in a pot. On top of the beef put about a TB of peppercorns, a tiny sprinkle of salt, a handful (6 or so) of peeled garlic cloves and a spring of rosemary (not traditional but still delicious). Continue making layers with all the beef. Then pour a bottle of fruity red wine (Chianti is traditional) to cover the beef (make sure the beef is covered -- add water or stock if necessary). Bring to a boil, cover tightly (I use a bit of aluminum foil under the pot lid to get a good seal) and place in a 300º over for 4-5 hours. It's also great cooked overnight in a 200º oven. A perfect make ahead meal.

As a condiment for the tender beef I simmered chopped pears in a bit of white wine. I'm not sure if it's traditional but the sweet fruit is a ready foil to the peppery beef.

On the side, a creamy vegetable gratin -- cauliflower and broccoli rabe baked in a light cheese sauce, a radicchio frisée and fresh artichoke salad, and the easiest homemade bread in the world, Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread. If you think you can't make bread, try this recipe, it will change your baking life forever!

There is no Sunday lunch without dessert.

And so, gazing down at the pile of plums and pluots from the farmer's market, I opted for one of the all time easiest -- upside down cake. Pretty much following a recipe from Chez Panisse I melted butter (4TB) in a range/oven proof cake pan (I could have used a skillet). I sprinkled that with 3/4 brown sugar and let it melt in the pan and laid the thickly sliced fruit on top and took the pan off the heat. For the batter I creamed 1 stick of butter with 1 cup of sugar, added 2 egg yolks and a tsp of vanilla and mixed until smooth. Next I alternated adding 1 1/2 cup flour (mixed with 2 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt) and 1/2 cup milk -- adding the flour last -- and mixed until just smooth. In a separate bowl I beat the 2 egg whites to soft peaks and folded them into the first mixture and spread the batter over the sliced fruit. Baked for 55 minutes at 350º (let cool 15 minutes or so before un-molding onto a serving dish) it's a warm, sweet perfect autumn dessert.

Thank you Claudia!

Spaghetti Again?

We are a spaghetti family. When I can't think of anything else, we're running short on time, the cupboard seems bare . . . there is always spaghetti.

Last night a chunk of bacon left from Sunday's Boeuf Bourguignon a la Julia, a bunch of Kale I thought would be good for something when I saw it at the farmer's market, and a couple spoonfuls of ricotta hiding on the top shelf of the fridge became pasta dinner on the quick.

I sautéed the chopped bacon in a bit of olive oil (over medium heat and let it crisp), added in half a sliced onion, and a chopped clove of garlic and let everything cook until the onions were soft and just starting to brown. I added in the chopped kale and cooked until the greens were just wilted. When the spaghetti was barely al dente I added the drained pasta, chopped parsley, about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and a bout 1/4 cup of ricotta to the frying pan and stirred over medium heat until just combined.

Top with grated parmesan for a 20 minute week night dinner.

Hometown Favorite

About 2 months ago the Hungry Cat in Hollywood had their last crab feast of the summer. The chef/ owner, like me, is from Maryland and for us crabs are a summer ritual -- nay a summer necessity. So, we splurged (actually we ended up being treated by our dear friend Shari -- I happily stuck her with the pick up and ended up profiting in two ways :-)) and carried out a couple dozen for a Franklin Hills crab feast complete with steamed corn and newspaper covered tables. I get pretty excited when there are crabs on the table and I generally don't stop to open the claws. As any good Marylander would, I save them (tucked away in the freezer usually) for the follow up pot of crab soup.

Instead of starting my soup with water, as many hometown cooks do, I made a quick crab stock with the claws and a bit of reserved crab fat simmered for 30 minutes with onion, celery, chopped tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme. I made the stock the day before. When it was time for dinner, I added cubed potatoes, chopped green beans, frozen peas, lima beans (some frozen and some fresh from our garden), onion, celery, carrot, fresh corn kernels, worcestershire sauce, old bay, dry mustard, red pepper flakes and a can (home canned of course) of tomatoes to the drained stock. I brought that to a boil and allowed to simmer slowly for 30 minutes. I added in a pound of crab meat and let the pot to bubble slowly about 30 minutes longer.

With plenty of crackers and a side salad, beautiful swimmers make a beautiful, easy dinner.

Mondays Are Made For Sunday Dinners

Last night at dinner James and I were talking about-- yes I am embarrassed to admit it -- an episode of Hell's Kitchen where the cheftestants (oh wait that's the other show) are blindfolded and asked to identify fairly common cooking ingredients. James -- although I think he has an excellent palette and offers astute dinnertime critiques -- mentioned offhand that he wouldn't be able to taste the difference between a parsnip and a . . . James left the end blank. I was certain that he could -- whether or not he could identify the vegetable (I don't know if he's ever knowingly had a parsnip, for instance) I felt certain he would taste the difference. And so was born tonight's dinner of roasted root vegetables. Sweet potatoes (the purple variety), little round Yukon Gold potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and turnips were chopped into 1/2" pieces and tossed with a little olive oil and salt in the bottom of a roasting pan. I rubbed a whole chicken with garlic sage butter (under the breast skin and on top), trussed it and let it sit on top of the prepared vegetables. I sprinkled everything with salt and popped it into a 400º over to crisp. After 15 minutes I lowered the temperature to 375º and roasted about an hour more. I covered a platter with chopped fresh dandelion leaves (the big man loves bitter greens) and when the bird was ready, drizzled a few tablespoons of the fat from the pan onto the waiting leaves. I then layered the roasted vegetables on top of the dressed greens. While the bird rested I whipped up a quick pan sauce. With the roasting pan across two burners on high I poured in a bit of white wine and a bit of water and let them bubble while I scrapped the yummy brown bits from the bottom of the pan. I finished the sauce with a little S&P and a knob of butter and served alongside the carved bird.

Oh, by the way, he could tell the difference.

Kathy and Julia

I'm not sure what took me so long. Yesterday, between batches of freezer Christmas cookies, I ran out to see "Julie and Julia." Sitting in the dark I wanted to live in Paris, I wanted to have blogged it first, I wanted to be tall -- but mostly I wanted to go home, and like millions of movie going cooks, make Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon.

Unlike my usual slap dash -- let's say, rustic style -- I followed the rules. I simmered the lardons, I carefully dried the meat before browning, I toasted the flour with the beef in a hot oven. I've made versions of the classic French dish before, but this was Julia's signature recipe and I wanted it to be right.

I used my flame Le Creuset French oven -- just like Julia's.

To get the full effect actually requires 3 recipes. There is the actual stew. Then the "support" recipes for the braised onions, and sautéed mushrooms that get added in just as the dish is being warmed to serve.

I won't try to paraphrase Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the full recipe is available at Knopf's website. Try it at home when you have a spare 4 hours or so and a loved one to coddle and impress.

Ground Beef Spaghetti

It's not gourmet. It's not delicate. It's not even vaguely Italian.

But, some nights it's what James wants. A vaguely Women's Day dish that feels like a memory of a 1960's mid-week dinner. It's not authentic, it's comforting.

While the pasta was boiling I sautéed chopped onions and garlic in olive oil, added the beef and cooked til just about brown. We've run out of our fancy Hearst Ranch grass fed ground beef and this TJ's substitute cooked up a little bland (I usually add a healthy spray of fennel seeds in with the beef but we were out) even for Americana comfort food so I added in a bit of chopped chorizo and prosciutto to the pan. I stirred in a couple TBs of tomato paste and a splash of wine (I would have rather had red but we had white open so I winged it) and let it cook down a bit. When the spaghetti was just tender I added 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid to the ground beef along with the drained noodles, tossed in some chopped parsley and gave it a stir. Quick dinner, good for what ails you.

Creamy Asparagus Risotto

This is a monumental dinner. A recipe form a magazine so good I followed it as written. Okay so I didn't chop the shallots all that fine and my risotto took more than 15 minutes to be tender and 3 1/2 cups of rice is more than a pound in my book . . . but for me, that's strict adherence.

Try this one at home -- it's Lori De Mori's Creamy Asparagus Risotto from Food and Wine.

First I cut the tips off 2 bunches of fresh asparagus and cooked them in salted boiling water. After 2 minutes I removed the tips and shocked them in ice water, then drained and set aside on a paper towel. Next I trimmed the hard ends off the stalks and cooked the tender remainder in the same salted boiling water for 10 minutes. When those were tender-soft I puréed them in the blender (okay another variation, I didn't use a food processor and I didn't strain this purée because I have a super powered Vita-Mix and it pulverizes everything smoothly). then it was a normal risotto procedure. I sautéed 3 minced (sort of) shallots in 1/4 cup olive oil for about 4 minutes and added 3 chopped cloves of garlic and cooked until the shallots were starting to brown. I added the rice (the recipe said 3 1/2 cups and defined it as 1 pound -- that's way more than a pound to me so I split the difference here) and cooked and stirred until the rice was coated with the oil. Meanwhile I heated about 6 cups of broth (the recipe said 8 but I had used less rice -- and, because I couldn't throw it away, instead of just broth I mixed in the water left over from cooking the asparagus). When the rice was coated I added 3/4 cup of white wine and let it cook, stirring here and there, until evaporated. It was risotto as usual, adding stock about a cup at a time, stirring and adding more broth until the rice was just about tender. I stirred in the puréed asparagus stalks (not all quantity explanation below), and stirred and cooked about 4 minutes more. Next I added in the asparagus tips, cooked for 1 minute, stirred in 1 TB of butter, S&P, and 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese -- let sit for two minutes and served. It might be the best risotto I ever made, I am going to try this puréed vegetable method with other flavors -- mmmm, sweet corn risotto.

One problem. In my slavish recipe following I failed to notice this was a recipe for 8 servings -- way more than my traditional lunch for tomorrow left overs. As I stirred I debated . . . extra risotto for asparagus flavored arancini? I decided to try a risotto experiment. When the rice was about half-cooked I poured about half out onto a sheet pan to cool. I'm going to try and store it and pick up a similar recipe where I left off some time down the road. Details to follow. But for now, try this recipe -- quick, while asparagus is still in season.