gravy weather

With this weekend's epic snowstorm missing Brooklyn by mere miles, we aren't snowed in at all, we have just the howling nor'easter wind to remind us what we're missing. But still, this is gravy weather.

The are a lot of ways to make gravy. You can be fancy, or simple. In this case we had the perfect leftovers practically begging to be transformed into brunch. Brian braised some beef shank last night and this morning we had a pot filled with rich stock and tender meat. While Brian went about dicing the meat, I made a roux with roughly 2 tablespoons butter and 1/8 cup flour. I then added the congealed stock on chunks and whisked it into the roux. When I ran out of stock, I added water to achieve the desired consistency. Adding some salt, a splash of madeira, and parsley, I turned everything down to lowest low, made some toast, eggs over easy, and garnished with slices of red onion.

preserved meyer lemon ice cream

While I'm not really big on novelty ice cream, I do like to push the flavor canon a bit. Especially with seasonal fruit or simple flavors that are around the house. Preserved lemon isn't something that a lot of people just have around, but if you really wanted to you could have it ten days from now.

So, preserved meyer lemon ice cream--I wasn't really sure how this was going to turn out, with the main ingredient being so very salty. But it was really good, with a delicious sweet and sour thing going on. The salt dissipated into the cream, making for a very rich flavor. I really love how the simplicity of the plain cream comes through in homemade ice cream, and it contrasted nicely with the tang of the lemon. This unique ice cream was fun to eat, and though this flavor won't likely make it into the ice cream cannon, it lends a definite brightness to the end of a winter meal.


Preserved Meyer Lemon Ice Cream with Honey

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons honey
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons preserved lemon, well rinsed and diced

Combine the milk, cream, honey, preserved lemon and sugar in a large saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat. In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks and set aside. When the cream mixture is starting to steam and bubbles are just forming on the sides, add 1/4 cup of the hot liquid to the egg yolks, and stir constantly. Add 2 or 3 more ladlefuls, until the egg yolks are warm, and won't curdle when added to the cream mixture. Gently whisk the tempered eggs into the cream mixture. Cook over medium heat for five or so minutes until the custard begins to thicken and coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Pour into a large bowl, cover and chill for a long time--3 hours at least. I often try and make the ice cream sooner, but it almost never works. It's really best to wait until your cream mixture is good and chilled. Then process according to your ice cream maker's instructions. Please note that this makes slightly less than 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream, so you might want or need to process the ice cream in two batches. Remove from ice cream maker and freeze for as long as you can wait. With this batch in particular, things were a bit runny, but firmed up fine once I chilled the processed cream. Place the ice cream in the back of your freezer and wait patiently for at least four hours.

winter pork braise

Like spring, summer, and fall, winter is an excellent season for braised pork shoulder. In the past, my braised pork shoulder has involved canned tomatoes, but you know those tomato cans are lined with BPA and the acid in the tomatoes really eats away at that stuff, so when you eat canned tomatoes you get a good amount of plastic in your food, and fellas, you don't want that.

So, here's a pork braise recipe that you can make with winter ingredients. It tastes good.

Winter Pork Braise

2 lbs boneless pork shoulder
1 cup dry white wine
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp. hot paprika
2 tbsp. honey
salt
pepper

Season the pork with salt and pepper.

In a deep heavy-bottomed pan that has a lid, brown the pork on high heat on all sides.

Turn the heat down to medium, add the garlic, after about a minute, add the wine, paprika, honey, and a little more salt and pepper.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat as low as it goes, and cover the pan.

Every half-hour or so, flip the pork shoulder. If the liquid is getting low, add a little more wine or water. Taste the braising liquid and adjust the seasoning if you need to. I'm not sure why and maybe this is a commonly known paprika fact, but I find that the paprika makes the braising liquid taste a lot more spicy than it ends up tasting in the final dish, but if you find it's too spicy, add a little more honey or some sugar.

Cook until the shoulder is falling apart (at least 3 hours, more if you have time). Using tongs and a fork, shred the shoulder, and let it cook in the braising liquid another 15-20 minutes.

Serve over bread, rice, or corn grits (known to some as polenta) with the braising liquid.

basic banana bread

You don't make banana bread because you want banana bread, you make banana bread because you have some bananas that are about to go bad. So the last thing you need is a fussy recipe. This is something you want to make quickly and without having to buy ingredients, unless you can get them from the deli across the street. And the only ingredients you can buy at the deli across the street are beer, cold cuts, or wild cherry pepsi, which don't traditionally figure into banana bread recipes.

Some banana breads can be very moist. This is not one of those. It has a more robust and delicate crumb. It isn't dry, but it's not all up in your face, so you can have it for breakfast. Or with butter. Or especially warm, with a scoop of ice cream.

Basic Banana Bread (adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of ground cloves
1 heaping teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons room temperature butter
1/4 cup plain, whole-milk yogurt, not totally cold
2 large, room temperature eggs, beaten lightly
3 ripe bananas, lightly mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Set out your dairy and eggs. Put your baking rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Liberally grease the sides of a regular size bread dish (9 x 5 x 3") and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and spices. Then, using the paddle attachment and lowest setting on a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon, lightly beat the butter, and then add the eggs and yogurt. Gently fold in the banana mixture and the vanilla. Finally, add the flour in thirds and stir just until combined.

Pour into the bread dish and cook for about an hour, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Keep a close eye toward the end of cooking time.

Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes before serving. If tightly covered, the bread will last for several days at room temperature.

goat stew

I think if you live in America (and probably most Western countries) and you only know one thing about goats, it's that they eat tin cans for some reason. I can't imagine that they can actually eat metal, but I also can't be bothered to look it up. I think because goats have a reputation for being walking trash cans, a lot of folks are hesitant to eat them. Which is weird because people love pork and if I had to judge one of the two for its eating habits, I'd pick the one that will eat rotten carcasses, Vegas buffet leftovers, and its own young.

Consider Bardwell Farms, our source for goat cheese, had some goat meat this weekend at the farmers' market, so I picked some up. I've heard goat is somewhere between lamb and venison in flavor, and to me, it definitely tasted more like venison. Still, you should be able to use goat for pretty much any recipe you use lamb in. It's really lean, so drying out is a concern, which makes it a good candidate for braises and stews. I used some pork broth for this stew because we had pork on Friday and I made broth from it, but you could also use another kind of broth or red wine.

Goat Stew

1 lb. goat stew meat, cut into 2 inch cubes, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 pint broth
1 small onion (red if you've got it), peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 bay leaves
sprinkle of cinnamon
salt, pepper
little bit of oil
2 tbs. vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

In a deep heavy-bottomed pan, heat a little oil on high. Add the goat meat and brown it on all sides. Remove to a bowl, should take about 6 minutes total.

Turn the heat to medium, add a little more oil if it's dry and add the onions and garlic. Stir occasionally.

When the onions are soft, return the goat to the pan, dump in the broth, add the bay leaves, the cinnamon, and the vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste.

Turn the heat to high until the liquid starts boiling, then turn to low, and cover. Let it go for 1.5 hours or more. During cooking, if you want it to have more liquid, add some water.

Serve over something like rice or potatoes.

cranberry jam

I know you're probably over the whole holiday cheer thing, but, trying to hold on to the season a little longer, I made this jam. Also, cranberries are totally on sale. The recipe, from 101 Cookbooks, makes a bright, tangy, and cheery jam. Just right for the deep, dark days of January.

The recipe is really simple. Just note, if you are the kind of person that doesn't really a read a recipe until it's time to make it, that you do have to let the sugar and cranberries mingle overnight. I also subbed in some orange juice and zest for the lemon.

Happy New Year everybody.

real onion dip

Dip is kind of tied up in ideas of the past. First, you have an entire type of plate dedicated to it, and then there's a notion that dip is something that comes in a foil packet. Chip'n'dips are fun to talk about, but I serve chips and dip in a bowl. As for the foil packet--throw it away. Real dip comes from sour cream, onions, vegetables, and herbs.

This is an easy recipe for a classic onion dip that is surprisingly sophisticated, and really delicious. Rich flavor and creamy sour cream, with real onions make for a dip that is classic, festive, and easy. Just right for a New Year's celebration or watching a football game with friends. It is a slight variation on an onion dip recipe I posted last year. I guess I love onion dip during the holidays.

I like to mix a blend of caramelized onions, slow cooked for almost an hour, and finely diced raw onions. The two types of onion preparation lend more depth to the onion flavor. I also add a bit of lemon zest, diced for flavor, and thin strips for garnish. Use preserved lemon if you have it. The other ingredients are salt, pepper, sherry or madeira, herbs (in this case a bit of rosemary, sage and parsley), and a squeeze or two of lemon juice.

Because sour cream is the base for your dip, you want a high quality, full fat variety. I almost always opt for local or organic dairy products, but in this case I go with Axlerod brand sour cream. It is super thick and has a mild, creamy flavor. It's totally my favorite sour cream--thank you C-town.

Finally, a note about the timing. I like to prepare the cooked onions well ahead of time, then cool completely, and drain off any liquids from the cooking process. If you need to speed things up, simply saute the onions until they are translucent, drain if needed, and put in the refrigerator for a while. I tend to prepare my ingredients and then combine everything 6 or so hours before serving. This gives things time to meld, but not turn watery. If you are hurrying, the dip could be put together and served right away; it will still be great.

Real Onion Dip (adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)
makes a lot--don't put it all out at once

1 pint full fat Axlerod brand sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 medium red onions
1 teaspoon plus several thin strips of lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sherry
salt to taste
a good amount of pepper
2 tablespoons herbs--diced for the dip, plus some whole leaves for garnish

Dice one of the onions. Heat a small frying pan with the butter over medium heat. When the butter is foamy and fragrant, add the onions. Allow them to sizzle for 30 seconds, add the sherry, and then turn the heat to the lowest setting. Stir occasionally and cook for 45 minutes. At first it will seem like nothing is happening, but the onions will slowly develop a caramel-y rich flavor. When they are done, set aside to cool. Before you add them to the dip, drain any excess cooking juices.

Meanwhile, take most of the other onion and dice it finely. Prepare the zest and herbs. Once the cooked onions are cool, combine half the diced onion, and everything else but the lemon juice, and then add the onion and juice as necessary to achieve your desired onion flavor and dip consistency. You can also add more juice just prior to serving. Check the salt levels and set aside, covered, in the refrigerator for 3-6 hours. Check the flavors just before serving, then add the garnishes. Serve with high quality or homemade potato chips, and carrot sticks.