Amuse Bouche

Ideas in Food at Craigie on Main: Activa

I've been following Alex and Aki at Ideas in Food for several years now and I managed to somehow miss the class they did at Stir so when it popped up in my twitter stream from @tmaws that they would be doing several classes this week as a lead up to their already sold out James Beard House dinner I decided to find a way to go.  My pal Ali from here and here is home from the UK for the summer so emails were dispatched and agreements were reached and we booked in for the Activa class on Tuesday.

While Ali and I were driving over he said "How much would you like to bet I will be the only person under 18 in the room?"  I knew we would get some looks, but if anyone heard him talk about food they would change any preconceived notions immediately.  I've known Ali for about 4 or 5 years now when he started taking classes with us at Create a Cook.  He has gone from mildly interested to sincerely passionate about food in that time. He is my first choice to call for any foodie field trip.  He takes classes at Stir and spends so much time there and at No9 Park that Barbara Lynch invited him to the soft opening at Menton.  How's that for 14 years old?  He's toured her kitchens, lamented missing the pigs head with me at the Craigie on Main pig night, and  his parents just built him his own experimental kitchen in the basement.  He is currently obsessed with getting a Pacojet and an anti-griddle and this class did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for the Pacojet.Quite simply he wants to be the next Heston Blumenthal or Ferran Adria.  I'm just along for the ride to feed his brain with ideas and maybe someday get a good table.

Activa, for the uninitiated, is simply an enzyme that allows proteins to bond together.  There are versions that work with dairy, versions that work well with soy and two that work well with meats. Alex ran us through all 4 versions with a demonstration of the application.  The photo at the top is his shrimp salumi.  Basically chopped shrimp, seasoned with cayenne, smoked paprika, garlic powder and salt and then bound with Activa RM, pressed into a ring mold and then put under vacuum and left to chill.  Texturally it felt a bit like a firm jelly, cooked it would have the nice snap of the shrimp in the mouth. Sliced thin and wrapped around a scallop and seared or layered between beef for a spin on a surf and turf.  A dish I could never understand the appeal of, but obviously widely loved by the number of times you see it on menus.

The coolest demo though was for mozzarella noodles.  Yup.  Noodles made from cheese. Spin that around for awhile my fellow cheese hounds.  They took mozzarella and ricotta some salt and the Activa Y-G and spun it a few times in the Pacojet. Using an offset spatula Alex spread it thinly on some acetate sheets and then you let it set up in the fridge for 18-24 hours.  It peels off the acetate in a thin sheet and then just cut it into fettucine or tagliatelle with a knife. They passed them around both raw and cooked in a bit of butter.  I loved the texture raw, but wasn't as enamoured when it was cooked.  But just imagine it raw tossed with a fresh tomato salsa. Caprese fettucine?

Ali's favourite dish was the bread pudding that tasted like a ramped up version of French Toast. I loved the hangar steak, folded in half, glued, wrapped with thin slices of bacon, compressed and then...Deep fried. HELLO. It was almost impossible to see where the halves were attached when sliced.  Really amazing. Alex is incredibly knowledgeable about the various products and their uses, but I wish we had more demo.  It was really fascinating to see the products transform in front of you. Our heads were spinning with ideas as we left Craigie. Ali was remembering an episode he saw where they had to make a turducken in 30 minutes.  He was already thinking of taking a breast of each, pounding them thin and then pasting them together and compressing them.

Is this something the average cook is going to use everyday? No. Will it gradually trickle down and find some home applications? Absolutely.

Eventually we wound up over at Formaggio on Huron, Ali had only ever been to the one in the south end and I felt that he should go to the mothership.  He was, for lack of a better word, gobsmacked. Every nook and cranny was investigated. I lead him room to room and then said " And now we are entering the room of happiness", and I waved my arm at the cheese wall. "Cheese" we both sighed. Like rats we both picked up a bit of this and a bit of that and grabbed two sandwiches for lunch.  We hopped back in the truck and we decided we needed to find a place to eat our spoils.  We headed over to the most beautiful place I could think of on short notice, the Mt. Auburn cemetery, and had a drive around and ate our spoils in the midst of the eternally quiet.  I'm taking bets on which one of us will order some Activa to play with first.  The circulator awaits.

Making Tomato Paste in Sicily

I've been clearing out my 10 years of cooking magazines, culling recipes, etc. This is one of my favorite photos from Saveur, I thought I had lost it but the issue magically appeared in a heap on my library desk.  Given the weather we have been having lately I think we could try this at home, but these ladies are making tomato paste in Sicily.  The house dress and wedge shoes are reminiscent of my Italian Grandmother Olga. 

DIE SQUIRREL DIE!!!!

WAR IS ON

Route 119 Windy Roads and Farm Stands - Oh My!

Another gorgeous Saturday morning in New England and I packed the ice packs in the cooler bag.  Grabbed my Gran's harvest basket and sprayed on the sun screen.  I packed everything in the convertible trunk and set the ipod to a favorite playlist and headed out.

First stop was the Waltham farmers market.  I will admit to being disappointed this year, perhaps it is still early, but there are only two vendors selling produce, okay three, if you count the ladies with the greens.  There is no way I can get to the two other newton farmers markets during the week because of the hours they run, not to mention they don't even start until after the 4th of July, so I rely on Saturday markets to stock up. Oh you crazy California kids who have year round farmer's markets go ahead laugh as you watch the East coast brethren suffer with just a few measly months a year. Wipe that smug look off your face right now, I can see you. Waltham market is great if you want baked goods, eggs, photography, purses, soap or music, not so great for vegetables.  I'm going to hope more vendors add on later in the season.  I did manage to get a very large zucchini for $1.00.  That will get sliced in rings, dredged in spiced flower and sautéed up with some haloumi for dinner next week.  You can keep all your tiny zucchini, give me the giant-seed-filled-hidden-under-the-leaves-until-it's-a-baseball-bat-size zucchini any day.  The red leaf lettuce looked gorgeous so I grabbed one for salads and a nice punnet of red gooseberries will make a lovely fool later in the week the gooseberries lightly poached, cooled and then mixed with crushed up meringues and whipped cream.  When husband heard the plan he said, why bother, you married one - those silly Brits.

I left the market and headed out West on route 20 through Weston and Lincoln to Concord and picked up rte 2.  At the rotary I headed off the 2nd spoke towards Acton and route 119.  I lived in Acton for a few years so this strip of the road is quite familiar, just a few malls and plazas with grocery stores and clothing stores, but I did notice a big Brazilian presence with flags on the roadside and a shop in one plaza called Popular Brazil.  I'll have to go back and check that out on another trip. I decided I would head all the way out to Ashby mentally marking all the places I would stop on the ride back.  Why Ashby? Ashby has the finest stretch of 119 a stretch that is absolute heaven to drive. It winds though Willard Brook State forest on a freshly paved piece of tarmac with gorgeous curves, shaded tree canopy over head, streams on the side, places to pull over and picnic, oh, and did I mention the curves?  Panther really, really likes curvy roads.  I drove it to the end of the stretch, turned around and wound my way back down again with a very happy grin on my face.  Now it was time to start hitting the farm stands.

First stop was the Spaulding Cooperage.  The building hangs right over the falls and the sound is just gorgeous. 

Inside is an antique co-op filled with old and new doodads, gee gaws, shappy chic and grandma's closet.  I poked around for old tea towels and kitchenalia and headed out again.

My first farm stand stop was Greg's Farm in Pepperell a stand who tempted me with a sign that said Butter and Sugar corn.  In June?  In Massachusetts? The ears were very small, but the corn perfectly formed.  I am guessing they must have a field further south near Connecticut and they move it up here.  None of the corn fields I passed are high enough to be producing anything yet.  But I succumbed and bought a few ears.  They had local peas and strawberries and the first summer squash and zucchini, but I knew I had more stops so the corn would have to do. 

Off to the next stop R. Wilkin's Farm.  The outside is loaded with plants and herbs to buy and I noticed the sign as I walked in that sad florist and the inside looks like just that, an old florist shop.  I am guessing that they grew over time from a florist to a garden center and as an afterthought added some produce.  They had a few local cherries and strawberries and local grown hothouse tomatoes, but everything else was bought from a produce wholesaler.

Coming into Groton I stopped to take a picture of this house.  I'd love to know the history behind the house.  I love the imposing gates and the stone walls all locally found I'm sure.  Since it is in the town center and the center is pretty old I am guessing the house is old as well.  If anyone knows the story behind the house drop me a line.

My next stop was Spring Brook Farm.  A combination garden center and farm store they also raise and sell their own beef. 

I hopped out of the car and wandered over to visit the cows. 

Very curious about this crazy lady with the camera they wandered over and eyed me suspiciously.  I did get one nose rub in though for good measure. The store is small and quaint with a freezer case full of their own meats and some local cheeses and half gallons and pints of their own milk.  They had local peas, so I filled up a bag and they had early zucchini. The corn said it was from Connecticut but the hothouse grown tomatoes here smelled right so I picked up a few.  A jar of their rhubarb jam leapt into my hands and an interesting barbecue sauce.  I've been craving barbecued chicken for awhile now so I'll report back on how it is later.  The sauce is Kansas city style if any one cares to know.  Across the street from Spring Brook is yet ANOTHER farm stand, but I will save that one for another day. 

Out the lot and left again I would my way to Springdell Farm the last stop on my trip today.  It wasn't the produce I was after here, but they have grass fed beef and they carry local farm raised pork products and I was looking for some country style ribs for my SD's retirement party next weekend.  Sadly they were out of pork, but I spied a little sign next to some half pints of cherries.  The sign said they came from one of their uncle's cherry trees and I couldn't resist.  I'd show you a picture, but they didn't last the ride home on the passenger seat.  I left a trail of cherry stems from Littleton to Newton.

All this and more on Route 119 and I didn't even get to tell you about the ice cream stands, The Herb Lyceum, Meat market, small shops and antique shops I passed on my journey.  This road is going to be getting a lot of time over the summer and I can't wait to drive it in the fall!

A brief Mid Coast Maine Roadtrip

My Freedom Fridays will be ending soon with the arrival of Summer Camp at Create a Cook.  Classes all day 5 days a week.  34 new faces will parade through the door every week through September.  Add to that corporate events and date night weekends and a few other things we have up our sleeve and it looks to be a very busy summer.

Mom and SD are driving to Canada next weekend for a family reunion with SD's family so I took a last chance drive up to visit Mom before the insanity begins.  Mom took the day off working from home and we hopped in her Jeep and headed out 17 to the coast, mid coast Maine, Rockland area to be precise.  We had a few missions from some research I did and @mainelife told me not to miss Beth's Farm Market so a plan was hatched.

Mom had been seeing ads for Moose Crossing garden center in Woldoboro so we mosied over there first using the good old iphone as GPS.  We passed the infamous Moody's diner crowded with lunchtime patrons and tooled a bit further up rte 1 to Moose Crossing.  I'm sorry to the locals who adore it but no garden center in Maine that I have seen will ever beat Longfellow's in Manchester.  We had the obligatory walk around the greenhouses and picked up some herbs and a few black eyed susan vine to replace the bunny snacks.  Mom picked up a sweet autumn clematis to replace the one she lost two winters ago and replete with our purchases we re-configured the GPS to get us to Beth's Farm Market. 

Beth's is decidedly off the beaten track but the occasional hand painted sign stuck to a pole or a tree with BETH'S and an arrow kept us on track which is good because AT&T has zero signal in that hood.  We turned a corner in the road and admired the fields being worked and on the left was a flower filled adorable barn. Inside? Holy mother of yumminess! They had some of the most perfect freshly picked still damp peas which I immediately stuffed in a bag, my finger is still tinted green from all the shucking but those were the sweetest happiest popping bursts of pea flavor I've had since Grandma's garden.  It's so important o have peas as close to when they were picked as possible.  They had their own greenhouse grown cucumbers, yes, 1 please.  Then I stood and read the sign above the tomatoes.  They grew them locally in their greenhouses.  I thought oh yea sure, another greenhouse grown tomato how good can it be?  I picked up a choice one and sniffed it.  Damn, it actually smelled like a tomato.  Mom wandered over and expressed her doubts about hothouse tomatoes, but we decided based on the smell to pick up 3 anyway.  Let me not keep you in suspense.  That tomato was so DAMN good Mom and I stood over the sink with the kosher salt and ate it all while occasionally moaning and exclaiming how we could not believe we were eating something that tasted like a REAL TOMATO in early June in cool and cloudy Maine. We picked up a jar of their house made spicy dill pickles and pickled hot peppers for my stepdad's Bloody Mary's.  I picked up bread and butter pickled fiddleheads (I KNOW!) and something labeled grape juice.  Grapes are put up in a syrup at their peak and left to steep.  The liquid is a gorgeous reddish purple and the little grapes are floating around inside just WAITING to go on a spear for a grape martini later.

Then I noticed those shore greens.  I've never heard of them before so I grabbed one of them, rather like a blade of grass and bit in.  Instantly you get a nice salty bite with a green background.  Delicious.  I asked what you would do with them and the girl said some people cook them like fiddleheads and others just cut them up and add them to a salad.  A really unique sensation.  I didn't buy any here but later at the fish market we found in Rockland I had to grab a bag. The last grab were some punnets of fresh dug red potatoes. 

We left Beth's and headed to Rockland proper to track down a fish market to finish our now formed dinner of garden peas, fresh dug potatoes with garden chives and a salad with those heavenly tomatoes. A quick iphone google and we found Jess's fish market right on South Main Street in Rockland.  Small, clean and well stocked with beer, wine, and fish, they even pack to ship.  They had smoked Alewife, soft shell crabs, local oysters, house smoked Finnan Haddie and loads of other tempting items.  We picked up some swordfish for dinner at Moms request and then I bought the most gorgeous halibut steak I have seen in ages to take home for husband on Saturday night and a Finnan Haddie for chowder later.  They graciously packed it all in a styrofoam box for us with some ice because not only had I not brought my camera (all photos are iphone) but I also forgot to pack a cooler and ice packs.  I'm obviously out of practice. Jess's market is highly recommended I wish I had a local market like this in Newton. 

On our drive home I chewed on goose grass and drank a local ginger beer and we lamented the fact that we didn't live closer to Beth's Farm market because that place could be seriously addictive, but an hour and a half drive for produce probably isn't going to happen all that often.  We wound our way home and feasted on a dinner that all came from the borders of our favourite state. Maine.  The way life should be.

Some bunnies been Vewy Vewy Bad

From "Oh look, so cute!"

To "That little rat b@stard!"

In less than 2 days.  Ragu anyone??

He's going to have to work mighty hard to eat all of this.

Frisée salad: Salumeria Biellese guanciale, fava beans and tiny, teeny mushrooms

Summer has come early to New England for the first time in as long as I can recall.  May has felt very much like June, the garden is out of control for this early in the season and even though we have had a few nights that have threatened us with frost, I feel remiss for not having my tomato plants in their pots already.  I know that I am pushing things, Memorial weekend is the traditional plant your tomatoes weekend in my neck of the woods, then again Gran always said have your peas in the ground by St. Patrick's day which found me one year planting in a snow storm. Who am I to question Gran's wisdom?

Summer of course means salads, salads of all kinds and shapes and colours.  I consider salad like a good tapas meal, little bites and nibbles of this and that all available on a plate for combining various ways on a fork.  No taste bud burnout and new combos in each bite. Given my love of all things bitter it comes as a surprise that it took me 45 years to like frisée.  I used to call it the lettuce that bit you back with its vicious looking spines sticking out of a salad like coral on a beach.  A few tries later and some encounters with some lovely softer leafed frisée has changed my perception entirely. The impetus for this salad came when my pal Maggie at Kinnealey sent me some gorgeous Salumeria Biellese Guanciale when I ordered guanciale last week.

I've had it from La Quercia and Niman Ranch before but nothing and I mean nothing beat this pig cheek.  Marbled, cured, piggy porky heaven.

My other latest obsession are agrodolce or sweet and sour cipollini onions.  I had a pint one day that were languishing around so I found a Mario Batali recipe that didn't cook them in balsamic.  I like them well enough with the balsamic but I feel like it drowns them out a bit and I wanted something lighter tasting.  His recipe is simple.  Peel your onions, in my case a 1 pint container.  Add to a sauté pan with 2 TBS olive oil, 2 - 3 TBS white vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 2 TBS sugar and some salt.  Cook at a good simmer until the onions are knife tender and then lid off to let it reduce and glaze a bit.  I store them in a crock in the fridge and have them with everything.  They are very, very addictive.

Spring is also the season of the fava bean, broad beans to those of you on that island over the pond, the worlds most labor intensive, delightful, vegetable.  Piss and moan about artichokes all you want, for maximum work, waste and also reward the fava bean wins hands down.  First you choose the tightest freshest pods, far more than you think you will need, and then if you are me, sit down and join the 11+ class on a Wednesday night and chat with them all as you shuck them from the pod.  Proceed to then discard most of the weight of the product you bought in the trash, those empty pods weigh a lot and take a lot of real estate.  Since the burners are all in use, go and join the 9-11 class in the other kitchen who just happen to be blanching asparagus and quickly blanch and shock your fava beans in ice water.  Go back across the hall again to the 11+ class and sit down and peel the outer tough layer of each and every fava bean off.  Pare a 3 lb purchase down to, oh say, 6 ounces of beans.  Those were later sautéed with some teeny, tiny mushrooms I bought at Russo's in olive oil and garlic. Foolishly I did not get the name of the mushrooms and of course I haven't seen them there again.  They were like tiny representations of toadstools you might find in Alice in Wonderland, a bit like these.  We had some for dinner one night and the leftovers were sprinkled on the salad.

The salad itself was simple.  A bed of frisée topped with a few of those agrodolce cippolini, poached egg from my egg lady in Maine and the leftover fava beans and mushrooms The dressing was guanciale sautéed until rendered and crisp, removed and drained and to the pan I tossed in a minced shallot sautéed until soft and added a final splash of cider vinegar. Fridge cleaning at its finest.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Garlic Aioli and Herbs

 
Life continues at a rapid pace sucking the time out of every day.  Sure, things are being cooked, cars are being restored (just not the one mentioned here), we drive up to open the house in Maine for my Mom this Saturday - turn on the water, reconnect the dishwasher, the ice maker, the washing machine, etc, gardens are being planted, flower pots are being filled, water features are cleaned out and restocked with a GIANT bullfrog tadpole named Hermione (pictures if I can get her(?) to sit still long enough) and recipes are beginning to be culled for Summer camp. 

Ah Summer. That will be 11 weeks of 5 - 8 recipes a day for just the 11+ age group.  Given all of that activity there are not a lot of words forming in my head and not many pictures are being taken to keep things up here.  I am sure that my new car and a season ahead of winding roads and far flung farmer's markets, road side stands and foodie field trips will remedy that.  In the meantime I bring you this quick dinner dish.

Pictured above is one of my quick go to recipes.  I make the aioli in about 5 minutes in a mortar and pestle.  Speaking of, I was reading Jamie Oliver;s website recently and I saw a thread where someone was bashing Jamie for having a recipe that suggested pounding something in a mortar and pestle.  The ranter was suggesting that he didn't have a 'gourmet' kitchen with all sorts of extra specialty equipment like that.  I just want to take a second to say that I really couldn't live without mine.  I use it all the time and it has a permanent home on my counter as it should since it weighs about 10 pounds and is made of a rough stone.  I bought it for a whopping $15.00 at an Asian market it is an indispensable tool. 

These thighs are so easy to make. 10 minutes to get them ready in the morning (or the night before) and another 5 minutes before you put them in the oven.  BIG reward for very little effort.  The aioli I use is more of a Spanish aioli, it is not mayonnaise based and I don't even use yolks in it.  It is pretty loose when you make it, so don't worry, it tastes lovely and GARLICKY! No vampires here.

For those car fans who allowed me a little moment of gearhead mixed in with the cooking recently do continue on, for those who want the recipe, just scroll on down and skip my little car diatribe.

In the end the family Pontiac was beyond the scope of restoration given her value as a restored car.  I would have had to pour 8 - 10 thousand into her to make her a nice set of wheels again.  In the end Dad and I decided to sell her and my hunt for a convertible carried on.  I had it pared down to a Mercedes 450SL or a 500SL or a Jaguar. Older ones are not difficult to find at a really reasonable price. My dad has collected many a Jag over the years and husband, being a Brit, was rallying for the English to win over the Germans.  Dad also has quite a few great jag mechanics under his belt (hello Elston!) for me to go to and that is key if you are going to own one of these beauties. This car came my way at just the right time and in just the right situation.  She is a California car, then Arizona. Stored when she came to MA and not driven at all for the last 4 years, the sticker on the windshield was from 2006 and the property of an estate. I brought her home a few weeks ago and I could not be happier.  So if you ever see her pulling up at your local Farmer's Market come and say hello I plan on spending lots of time with her this summer.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Aioli and Herbs

5 cloves garlic, peeled

Kosher salt

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Bone in skin on chicken thighs

Fresh herbs - I use thyme, rosemary and sometimes tarragon and savory- don't chop it, use the whole twigs and branches

Lemon slices, at least one for each thigh

Place the garlic cloves in the mortar with a good pinch of kosher salt and pound into a paste.

Scrape everything to the center and begin adding oil a drop at a time while using the pestle to grind in a circle, not pounding.  Continue adding and stirring, adding and stirring.  After a TBS or two has gone in it should hold together fairly well and you can stream in the oil, but continue stirring with the pestle, grinding against the sides.  Stop occasionally to scrape down sides.  I generally end up with about 1/2 cup of oil.

Gently loosen the skin on the thighs so you can slather the mixture UNDER the skin, but keep the skin intact for roasting.  I pop them all in a ziploc and leave them in the fridge to hang out.

When you are ready to cook them, get a shallow roasting dish, set the oven to 425F.  Lay a lemon slice down, cover with some of the fresh herbs, no need to chop, whole twigs and branches are fine, lay over 1 thigh, season with a little kosher salt and pepper.  Continue doing this until all the thighs are in the pan.  I even use a spatula to scrape out any extra aioli from the bag to drizzle on top of the thighs.

Place in the oven and roast until an instant read thermometer reads 170F and the skin is nice and crispy.  Thighs are pretty forgiving and do not dry out easily.  Depending on how large your thighs are, this could take 25 - 35 minutes.

Once they are done I remove the thighs, take some tongs and squeeze out the lemon juice from the slices, pour off the pan drippings, remove the fat and use this as a sauce to pour over the chicken or the rice you might serve it with. 

 

Korean Barbecued Pork Ribs (Jeyook Kalbi Gui)

Lani at Heritage Hill Farm had sent out the email that it was time to decide if we wanted a half pig for next season because they were buying the piglets and wanted to be sure that everyone who wanted one in the fall was accounted for.  I went out and checked the chest freezer in the garage and there is still quite a bit of Bernie in there, so I told her we would take our chances in the fall on a half pig being left, but I did place a definite order for 3 or 4 of her free-range (and I do mean free range, watch your step!) chickens for the fall.  While I was rooting around in the freezer I spotted a package of country style ribs so I grabbed it and started contemplating how would cook them.  Husband is not a huge fan of barbecue sauce and I really didn't want a braise.  I'm all done with braising for the season, these days all I want is something with bright flavors and I really wanted to try my new Tuscan Grill.  I've been dabbling in Korean dishes for awhile now and since husband loves heat and Asian flavors I dragged out my Korean cookbooks to see if anything fit the bill.  While spending a lovely birthday gift certificate at the Mobile Bookfair recently (thanks heather!) I picked up The Korean Table by Taekyung Chung and Deborah Samuels and page 93 called to me.

The recipe starts with using a Sweet Soy base that I had already made when I tried the tofu stuffed mushrooms last week, I wasn't in love with that recipe, a bit too bland for me, but I still had a ball jar full of the sauce. I decided to add some gochujang to the marinade to add a nice kick of heat.  It was perfect.

Around 5:00 I lit a fire in the fireplace so that the coals would die down and the firebox would be nice and hot by the time I was ready to cook.  It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm when in the afternoon and then later in the day it started to get chilly.  So the windows were open wide and the fire was blazing.  Perfect!

I made two quick banchan, those little side dishes you get in Korean restaurants. Sadly I had no kimchi, but we did make one of our favourites the leek salad.  it is a perfect sharp foil to fatty cuts of meat.

The other one was just some nice ripe on the vine mini tomatoes we had kicking around tossed in some mirin, soy and rice vinegar and I also made a pot of sticky rice in the rice cooker to go with the pork. 

Listen up, right now I am going to tell you an important thing to remember when you make this recipe! Double the sauce.  Double it. Just do it - these are amazing, sticky, gingery, perfect little barbecued morsels of pork.  You boil the marinade and use it as a glaze and it is amazing over the rice as well.

Bernie never tasted so good.

Barbecued Pork Ribs

Make the sweet soy base:

Sweet Soy Base

1/2c water

4 sliced cloves garlic

6 slices peeled fresh ginger

1 t black peppercorns, crushed

1c soy sauce

1/2c light brown sugar

1/4c red or white wine (I used Shaoxing)

Combine water, garlic, ginger and peppercorns and bring to a boil.  Lower heat, simmer 10 minutes.  Add soy, brown sugar and wine.  Return to high heat and boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, allow it to cool.  Strain it and store tightly sealed in the fridge.

For the ribs

Marinate 2-1/2 to 3 lbs of country style or meaty St Louis style ribs in the following mixture.  (I did it for about 8 hours, but I could see overnight doing quite nicely as well).  The ingredients below are for a single batch.  Like I said above, I would highly suggest doubling it.

2/3 cup of the Sweet Soy base

1 apple, grated (leave the skin on, we had jazz apples

5-6 cloves of garlic minced.  I used the microplane

2 T dark sesame oil

1/2 c of minced scallions (green onion)

2 TBS of peeled, minced ginger.  I have a ginger grater which really breaks it down nicely.  I am sure in the end I had at least 3 TBS ginger

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 TBS gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)

Fire up your grill. Remove the ribs from the marinade.  Pour the marinade into a pan and bring to a boil.  Boil 1 minute.  Now you can use it as a glaze and as a sauce. Grill your ribs until cooked to your liking (all depends on thickness and how hot your gill is.  Turn them every 5 minutes and brush with the glaze until they are cooked. Mine took about 15 minutes. 

For the Leek salad:

5 - 6 leeks

2T Korean ground chili (in a pinch use Aleppo pepper if you can find that)

2T sesame oil,

2 clove garlic

1 T cider vinegar

2.5 tsp sugar

4 tsp toasted sesame seeds

In a bowl mix the chili powder, sesame oil, minced garlic, cider vinegar, sugar and sesame seeds.  Season to taste with salt. Cut your leeks in half lengthwise and then across into half moons.  Soak them 15 minutes in cold water.  Lift the leeks off the water so the sand that has settled in the bottom is not poured on top of your leeks.  Place them in a clean bowl and add the dressing.  Stir well.  I let these marinate for about an hour stirring occasionally. Taste them and sometimes I add more salt, vinegar or sugar depending on how potent the leeks are.

Enjoy!

Yogurtlu Kofte Kebabi (Lamb kebab with a spicy tomato and yogurt sauce)

This week I popped by Russo's to stock up on some supplies and into my cart fell a package of gorgeous pitas.  They were about 12" in diameter, tissue paper thin and soft enough to wrap a baby in.  I used one for lunch that day with a salad and rest of the package languished in my microwave bread box until I finally decided I was craving lamb kofte.  I first made this dish back in 2008 with my 11+ class and it was my first introduction to sumac. Sumac is a gorgeous tart, lemony ground spice that comes from grinding the drupes of the Rhus genus of plants. Just promise me you won't collect any poison sumac from the side of the road and try to make your own.  I get my sumac from the middle eastern markets in Watertown on Auburn St, but there are loads of sources online.  Husband was watching me prepare this as he popped in and out of the kitchen at various stages and he would occasionally say his usual 'i don't think i fancy that', 'what's that, will i like it?'  Once I pulled the toasted pita out of the oven and started breaking it up onto the platter his mood changed considerably. The smells won him over.  The recipe is an adaptation of the one by Claudia Roden in her gorgeous book Arabesque.

This is not a difficult dish to prepare and many steps can be done ahead like the spicy tomato sauce and the kofte mixture. Take your yogurt out of the fridge an hour or so before so it isn't freezing cold when you put it on the dish.  Don't buy those really thick pocketless pitas for this it will be too much bread.  The thinner the pita the better it softens up under everything and becomes a tasty base for it all.  Don't skip the foil on your sheet pan or you will be scrubbing a big mess for days. In the end the combo of the tart yogurt and lemony tart sumac with spicy tomato sauce seeps into the pita and it make a lovely, messy, delicious mess. Bring lots of napkins, you'll need em!

Yogurtlu Kofte Kebabi (lamb kebabs in a spicy tomato and yogurt sauce)

For the Spicy Tomato sauce:

1 can of 1 lb 16oz Fire Roasted Tomatoes, diced

1 jalapeño or serrano, remove seeds and ribs,mince fine

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small yellow onion, minced

a few glugs of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Aleppo pepper to taste

1-2 tsp sugar

Sauté the onion in some olive oil until soft, Add the jalapeño and garlic, stir once or twice and cook about 1 - 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, season with salt, pepper and sugar.  Simmer over low heat until it begins to thicken, about 15 - 20 mins.  Add the Aleppo pepper and taste for salt.  This can now be shut off and reheated later or proceed with the recipe.

For the Yogurt Sauce

2 cups thick Greek yoghurt like Fage at room temp, stirred well. (I will sometimes add a clove of garlic mashed well with salt in a mortar and pestle.

For Kofte

1-1/2 lbs ground lamb

1/4 - 1/3 cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley

salt and pepper (season generously)

1 small yellow onion, minced fine

In a bowl, mix the lamb with the salt, pepper, parsley and onion.  Distribute the ingredients well.  If you are curious about the seasonings, cook a small patty in a pan to taste for seasoning. 

Again, you can cover this and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to cook.  It gives the seasonings a chance to permeate the meat.

Finish and Assembly

2 pitas

1/2 - 1 tsp sumac

2 TBS pine nuts

2 TBS butter or olive oil

Heat oven to 450F

Reheat the tomato sauce if necessary, bring the yogurt sauce to room temp.

Line a sheet pan with heavy duty foil and smear with a small amount of oil to stop the kofte from sticking.  Take the kofte mix and form long sausage shapes.  Make them 2 or 3 or 4 inches long, but make sure they are all of even thickness.  Arrange them spaced well on the sheet pan. 

Toast the pita lightly in the oven on the rack.  Remove and break the pita up onto a platter.

Place the kofte in the oven and cook for 5 minutes.  Turn the kofte.  Roast 3 - 5 minutes more. Turn the kofte again and set the oven onto broiler and cook kofte under the broiler for another 3 minutes or so until nicely brown. (this cooking time is based on a kofte about the thickness of a fat Italian sausage, your mileage may vary)

Meanwhile melt the butter or heat the oil in a small pan.  Add the pine nuts and cook until butter stops foaming or until the oil and nuts smell fragrant.

Spoon the warmed spicy tomato sauce over the pitas on the platter.  Sprinkle with some of the sumac.  Spoon the yogurt sauce over the tomato sauce.  Arrange the kofte on top of the platter and pour over the pine nuts and oil or butter.  Sprinkle with more sumac and serve.