I'm Just Here for the Food (32 page)

Remove the pan from the oven, unroll one end of the packet, carefully drain all juice into a
saucier
or small saucepan, and add the honey, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, espresso powder, and cayenne.

Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently until reduced to a glaze that coats a spoon. Remove the pan from heat.

Move oven rack to the next-to-the-top position and turn on the broiler (use the high setting if you have a choice).

Remove the slab from the foil packet and cut it into four equal sections (I use kitchen shears for this). Place ribs on the broiling pan, meat side up, brush with the glaze, and broil for 2 to 3 minutes. Reglaze and repeat until the ribs are a dark mahogany color. Flip the ribs bone side up, glaze, and broil a minute longer.

Remove and allow to cool a couple of minutes before serving, preferably with potato salad or copious amounts of coleslaw.

Yield: 1 to 3 servings, depending on who’s doing the eating

Note:
For one rack of ribs, ½ to ¾ cup of rub will be sufficient. The ratio of ingredients for Rub Number 9 is: 5 parts brown sugar, 3 parts chile powder, 1 part garlic powder,½ part ground thyme, ¼ part cayenne, and ¼ part allspice. A part can be any amount—a tablespoon, for example—depending on how much is needed.

Software:

1 full rack/slab baby back ribs
Kosher salt
Rub Number 9 (see
Note
)
½ cup orange juice (not fresh
squeezed)
½ cup prepared Margarita mix
⅓ cup honey
⅓ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon espresso powder or
instant coffee (freeze-dried, not
actual grounds)
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Hardware:

Paper towels
Extra-wide, heavy-duty aluminum
foil
Shallow roasting pan
Saucier
or small sauce pan
Kitchen shears
Broiler pan

Chicken Piccata

Piccata
is Italian for “sharp” and refers to the bright snappy flavor of this classic one-pan dish. Although there are thousands of ways to execute a “piccata,” this recipe sets out some fair guidelines. Here, braising has less to do with tenderizing and more to do with sauce construction. The simmer stage accomplishes three things: it gently completes the cooking of the chicken, marries the flavors of the aromatics and the capers, and gelatinizes the starch in the flour, thus thickening the liquid so that it clings to the meat. Properly executed, there shouldn’t be much sauce left in the pan.

Application: Pan-Braise

Place the chicken breasts, one at a time, on a sheet of plastic wrap; fold the wrap over to cover. Using the mallet, pound each breast to a uniform thickness of ¼ inch. Season the chicken liberally with the salt and pepper, dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess.

In a heavy skillet just big enough to hold all the chicken, heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. When the oil and butter stop sizzling, add the chicken and cook, turning once, until just brown on both sides. Remove the chicken to a plate. Pour off any grease from the pan and add the remaining tablespoon of butter.

Add the onion to the skillet and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and the scallions and sauté 1 more minute. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the flour over the vegetables and toss to combine.

Deglaze the pan with vermouth and the lemon juice. Add the capers and toss to combine. Return the chicken to the pan, cover, and reduce heat to low, simmering until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary, and serve on warm platter garnished with the parsley and lemon slices.

Yield: 2 servings

Software:

2 boneless chicken breasts, cut in
half
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Flour for dredging plus 1 teaspoon
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons butter
½ yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 scallions, chopped
⅓ to ½ cup sweet vermouth,
sherry, or white wine
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and
lightly crushed
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 lemon, sliced thinly

Hardware:

Plastic wrap
Smooth mallet or heavy sauce pot
Container for dredging
Large skillet or electric skillet
with lid
Tongs

Cube Steak à la Salisbury

I originally called this a recipe for Salisbury steak. Although the flavors and textures involved are reminiscent of a Salisbury steak, as Dr. J.H. Salisbury (a nineteenth-century physician) reminded me when he came to me in a dream, Salisbury steak is always made with ground beef. Promoting the health virtues of ground beef was his raison d’etre, after all.

These steaks are browned in a combination of butter and oil. This will give you the flavor of butter while increasing the smoke point, allowing you to cook at a higher temperature than with butter alone.

Application: Pan-Braise

Preheat the oven to 275° F. Lightly season the steaks and the dredging flour with the salt and pepper, then dredge the steaks in the flour and shake off any excess.

Add 1 tablespoon each of the butter and oil to a hot sauté pan. Brown the steaks, two at a time, adding more butter and oil as needed, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a plate.

Pour off any grease from the pan and add the remaining butter. Add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms to the pan and sauté until nicely caramelized, then deglaze the pan with the wine. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and stock, and stir to combine. Return the steaks to the pan, cover, and cook in the oven for 25 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings

Software:

4 (½ pound) beef cube steaks
Flour for dredging
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ medium onion, sliced
Lyonnaise-style
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ pound brown mushrooms, thinly
sliced (an egg slicer works well)
¾ cup red wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
¾ cup chicken or beef stock

Hardware:

Dredge container
Ovenproof sauté pan with lid
Wooden spoon

Stewing

Classically, a braise involves a big hunk of meat, a very small amount of liquid, low heat, and a covered vessel. A stew involves lots of pieces of meat that are completely submerged in liquid, cooked over low heat in a covered vessel. The cooking goal is identical as far as the meat is concerned: slow, moist heat that will dissolve collagen.

However, the liquid part of a stew is as important as the meat and whatever other chunks of vegetable may be present. In other words, a stew is half a soup, so seasoning isn’t just about the meat.

Also, just about every stew recipe out there is thickened by starch somewhere along the line. Either the meat is dredged before searing, or flour is sprinkled over the assembled ingredients before it heads off to the oven. There’s a chili recipe coming up in a few pages that gets its starch from dissolved corn chips.

And just so we’re clear, I don’t consider dairy-thickened soups (bisques and chowders) to be true stews . . . but that’s just me.

WHY STARCH THICKENS

When starch granules get hot and become saturated with liquid, they explode like popcorn. Then they get in the way of the liquid molecules, preventing them from pooling together. Voilà: thickness! Different starches explode, or gelatinize, at different rates and different temperatures, but it happens just the same.

Beef Stroganoff

The components of this stew aren’t that different from those of a pan braise, but the size of the pieces, the starch, and the extra liquid necessitates a new step here: stirring. That’s why I reach for my electric skillet. It gives me heat control and quick access.

Application: Stewing

One hour before cooking, place the roast in the freezer. It will firm it up and make it easier to slice. Cut the meat into ½-inch strips. Season the meat and the flour liberally with the salt and pepper. Allow the meat to rest a few minutes so that the salt can pull a little moisture to the surface, then dredge in seasoned flour (see
Note
).

Heat the electric skillet to its hottest temperature. When the thermostat light goes out add 1 tablespoon each of the butter and the oil. When the butter begins to foam, add just enough of the meat to barely cover the bottom of the skillet. Do not crowd the pan. Turn the strips until they’re brown on all sides, then remove to a rack resting over a pan. Continue browning the meat in batches, adding more butter and oil as needed.

When all of the meat has been browned, pour off any grease from the pan, add the remaining butter, then add the shallot, garlic, and mushrooms to the skillet and sauté until brown. Using a shaker or sifter, sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the seasoned flour over the top of the vegetables and toss to coat. Deglaze the skillet with the wine, using a spatula to scrape up any stubborn bits. Stir in the mustard and return the meat and any drippings to the skillet. Add enough beef stock to barely cover the meat. Drop the temperature to a simmer (between 180° and 200° F), and cover. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sour cream and serve over wide egg noodles or rice.

Yield: 4 servings

Note:
Seasoned flour is typically a simple mixture of flour, salt, and pepper, but depending on the recipe, it may involve any number of different seasonings. What you’re looking for when you taste—and you should get into the habit of tasting everything—is a subtle background of both salt and pepper.

Software:

2 pounds inexpensive beef roast,
such as eye of round
Flour for dredging (see
Note
)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 tablespoons minced shallot
1½ tablespoons minced garlic
½ pound brown mushrooms,
thickly sliced (an egg slicer
works well)
¾ cup red wine
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard,
blended into 2 tablespoons
beef stock (so it will incorporate
easier)
2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved in
2 to 2½ cups beef stock
4 tablespoons sour cream

Hardware:

Container for dredging
Electric skillet
Rack and drip pan for resting
Shaker or sifter
Spatula
Wooden spoon

Posole

Posole can be prepared exactly 6,483 different ways but in order to be “posole,” hominy must be present. What the heck is hominy anyway? Hominy, or nixtamal in Mexico, is maize (yes, that’s just corn) that has been treated with a lye solution in order to loosen the outer seed coat or pericarp. The process also unlocks some of the protein content of the grain, making it available for fine folks like you and me. If you don’t have a Crock-Pot, you can do all your browning in a Dutch oven, then cover it and stash it in a 200° F oven for several hours. Time is a major ingredient but it’s nearly impossible to say exactly how much is required. It depends on the type of pork, the size of the pieces, and too many other variables to predict. It’s done when your mouth says it’s done.