Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Page 31
• For a moist, flavorful Spatchcocked Thanksgiving Turkey, use the full 3/4 cup of salt. Add 2 sprigs thyme, 1 large sprig rosemary, and 12 sage leaves to the pot, but reduce the red pepper flakes to 1 teaspoon and skip the cayenne. Add 1 yellow onion and carrot, peeled and sliced, and 1 stalk of celery, sliced. Bring everything to a boil. Increase amount of cold water added to 6 quarts. Spatchcock the turkey (see page 316) and leave it in chilled brine for 48 hours for fullest flavor. Roast at 400°F until a thermometer inserted into the hip joint of the turkey registers 160°F. Allow to rest 25 minutes before carving.
Pork Braised with Chilies
Serves 6 to 8
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This is the single most versatile recipe in this book. I’ve prepared pork according to this method for diplomats at the US Embassy in Beijing and to distinguished guests at a thousand-year-old castle in northern Italy. But I especially love cooking it with my students at the end of every Heat class. We shred the meat and make tacos that we pile high with Simmered Beans, Bright Cabbage Slaw, and Mexican-ish Herb Salsa. The best part? I get to take the leftovers home and enjoy all week long.
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (sometimes called pork butt)
Salt
1 garlic head
Neutral-tasting oil
2 medium yellow onions, sliced
2 cups crushed tomatoes in their juice, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons cumin seed (or 1 tablespoon ground cumin)
2 bay leaves
8 dried chilies, such as Guajillo, New Mexico, Anaheim, or ancho, stemmed, seeded, and rinsed
Optional: For a touch of smokiness add 1 tablespoon smoked paprika or 2 smoked peppers such as chipotle Morita or Pasilla de Oaxaca to the braise
2 to 3 cups lager or pilsner beer
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro for garnish
The day before you plan to cook, season the pork generously with salt. Cover and refrigerate.
When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 325°F. Remove any roots from the head of garlic, then slice it in half crosswise. (Don’t worry about adding the skins to the braise—they’ll get strained out at the end. If you don’t trust me, go ahead and peel the whole head of garlic—I’m just trying to save you some time and effort.)
Set a large, ovenproof Dutch oven or similar pot over medium-high heat. When it’s warm, add 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil shimmers, place the pork in the pot. Brown it evenly on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
When the meat is brown, remove it and set it aside. Carefully tip out as much of the fat from the pot as you can, then return it to the stove. Reduce the heat to medium, and add 1 tablespoon neutral oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring from time to time, until the onions are tender and lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and juice, cumin, bay leaves, dried chilies, and smoked paprika or peppers, if using, into the pot and stir. Nestle pork atop the aromatic base, and add enough beer to come 1 1/2 inches up the sides of the meat. Make sure the peppers and bay leaves are mostly immersed in the juices so that they do not burn.
Increase the heat and bring to a boil on the stove, then slip the pot, uncovered, into the oven. After 30 minutes, check to make sure the liquid is just barely simmering. About every 30 minutes, turn the pork over and check the level of the liquid. Add more beer as needed to maintain the liquid at a depth of 1 1/2 inches. Cook until the meat is tender and falls apart at the touch of a fork, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
Remove the cooked pork from the oven and carefully remove it from the pan. Discard the bay leaves, but don’t worry about fishing out the garlic since the sieve will catch the skins. Using a food mill, blender, or food processor, purée the aromatics, and strain them through a sieve. Discard the solids.
Skim the fat from the sauce and then taste, adjusting salt as needed.
At this point, you can either shred the meat and combine it with the sauce to make pork tacos, or slice it and spoon the sauce over the pork to serve it as an entrée. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with an acidic condiment such as Mexican crema, Mexican-ish Herb Salsa, or a simple squeeze of lime.
Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days. Braised meat freezes exceptionally well. Simply submerge in cooking liquid, cover, and freeze for up to 2 months. To serve, return the braise to a boil on the stove with a splash of water.
Variations
• Any cut of meat from the list below will make a fantastic braise or stew. Memorize the basics of the recipe above, and then apply the steps to any cut of dark, sinewy meat you’d like. Refer back to the Heat chapter, page 166, for a detailed walkthrough of this braise, and a chart of average cooking times for various cuts of meat.
• When you’re inspired to cook any of the classic braises and stews from around the world, do a little research. Compare a few different recipes for the same dish to see what ingredients or special steps are common to them all. Use the aromatics chart and the fat, acid, and spice wheels to guide you. The beauty of it all is, once you’ve got this braise in your pocket, you’ve got a hundred others in there, too.
Everything You Need to Know to Improvise a Braise
Best Braising Cuts
Pork
Spare Ribs
Shoulder
Shank
Sausages
Belly
Chicken, Duck, and Rabbit
Legs
Thighs
Wings (poultry only)
Beef
Oxtails
Short Ribs
Shank (Osso buco)
Chuck
Brisket
Round
Lamb and Goat
Shoulder
Neck
Shank
Classic Braises and Stews from Around the World
Adobo (Philippines)
Beef Bourguignon (France)
Beef Daube (France)
Beer-Braised Sausages (Germany)
Bigots (Poland)
Braised Pork Belly (All over!)
Cassoulet (France)
Chicken Alla Cacciatora (Italy)
Chili Con Carne (US)
Coq au Vin (France)
Country-Style Ribs (US South)
Doro Wat (Ethiopia)
Fesenjan (Iran)
Ghormeh Sabzi (Iran)
Goat Birria (Mexico)
Goulash (Poland)
Lamb Tagine (Morocco)
Locro (Argentina)
Nikujaga (Japan)
Osso Buco (Italy)
Pork Cooked in Milk (Italy)
Pot au Feu (France)
Pot Roast (US)
Pozole (Mexico)
Ragù Bolognese (Italy)
Rogan Josh (Kashmir)
Roman Oxtail Stew (Italy)
Tas Kebap (Turkey)
Basic Braising Times
Chicken Breasts: 5 to 8 minutes if boneless, 15 to 18 minutes if on the bone. (If braising a whole chicken, split the breasts into quarters, cook them on the bone, and remove them from the pot when finished, about 15 to 18 minutes, allowing the legs to finish on their own.)
Chicken legs: 35 to 40 minutes
Duck legs: 1 1/2 to 2 hours
Turkey legs: 2 1/2 to 3 hours
Pork shoulder: 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, longer if on the bone
Bony beef (short ribs, osso buco, oxtail): 3 to 3 1/2 hours
Meaty beef (chuck, brisket, round): 3 to 3 1/2 hours
Lamb shoulder on the bone: 2 1/2 to 3 hours
Protein Shopping Guide
On average, 1 pound of each of the following will feed:
Fish filet: 3 people
Shell-on shellfish (except for shrimp): 1 person
Shell-on shrimp: 3 people
Bone-in roast: 1.5 people
Steak: 3 people
Whole animals and meat on the bone: 1 person
Ground meat for burgers or sausages: 3 people
Ground meat for ragù or chili: 4 people
Steak
The key to cooking any steak perfectly is to sear the surface evenly on all sides while cooking the meat to your preferred doneness. But not all steaks are created equal: different cuts will cook differently depending on their fat content and the structure of the muscle fibers.
When cooking steak, a few rules apply no matter what cut you’re using. First of all, trim silver skin, sinew, and excessive fat. Secondly, season any steak in advance to give salt the time it needs to perform its tenderizing and flavor-enhancing feats. Bring any steak to room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes before cooking, whatever the method may be.
When grilling, always create various heat zones: glowing hot coals for direct heat, and a cooler, mostly coal-free spot for indirect heat. If using a gas grill, mimic the same effect with the burners. Don’t leave grilling meat unattended—as it cooks, and its fat renders, it will drip down and cause flare-ups. When flames brush the surface of cooking meat, they leave behind awful, gaseous-tasting flavor compounds. So never, ever cook directly over flame.
If you don’t have a grill, or the weather isn’t conducive to grilling, simulate high-heat grilling by cooking steak in a blazing-hot cast iron skillet. Preheat the skillet in a 500°F oven for 20 minutes, and then carefully place it over a burner set to high heat. Cook as directed below, ensuring that you leave plenty of space between each steak in the pan to allow steam to escape. You might also want to open a window and disable your smoke alarm before you start. You can simulate indirect-heat cooking by simply preheating your cast iron pan on the stove and then cooking over a moderate flame.
My two favorite steaks are skirt and rib eye. Both are deeply flavorful. Reasonably priced, and simple to prepare, I think of skirt as a “weeknight” steak. Juicy and beautifully marbled, rib eye can get pricey, so I think of it as a “special occasion” steak.
Grill skirt steak over hot coals, or the highest heat, 2 to 3 minutes per side for rare/medium-rare.
Cook a 1-inch-thick rib eye, about 8 ounces, over high heat, about 4 minutes per side for rare, and about 5 minutes per side for medium.
In contrast, cook a 2 1/2-inch-thick bone-in rib eye, about 2 pounds, 12 to 15 minutes per side for medium-rare, over indirect heat in order to allow a beautiful dark-brown crust to develop on every inch of its surface.
Press on any steak to judge its doneness. It’ll be soft when rare, a little spongy when medium-rare, and firm when well-done. You can also always just cut into the steak and take a peek. Or use an instant-read meat thermometer: 115°F for rare, 125°F for medium-rare, 135°F for medium, 145°F for medium-well, and 155°F for well-done. Pull meat from the heat at these temperatures, then let it rest 5 to 10 minutes. It’ll carry over another five or so degrees, to the perfect level of doneness.
And, however you cook a steak, always let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, no matter how hungry you are! The resting time will give the proteins a chance to relax and allow the juices to distribute evenly throughout the meat. Then slice it against the grain, which will ensure tenderness in every bite.
Kufte Kebabs
Makes about 24 kebabs (serves 4 to 6)
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Kufte, kofte, kefta—call it what you like. It’s essentially a torpedo-shaped meatball, and every country in the Near and Middle East, as well as the Indian subcontinent, has its own variation. I cook this dish when friends request a Persian meal but I can’t bear the thought of all the tinkering and chopping involved for Kuku Sabzi or any of our other endlessly complicated dishes.
1 large pinch saffron
1 large yellow onion, coarsely grated
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb (preferably shoulder meat)
3 garlic cloves, finely grated or pounded with a pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
6 tablespoons very finely chopped parsley, mint, and/or cilantro in any combination
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Use the saffron to make saffron tea as directed on page 287. Push the onion through a sieve, press out as much liquid as possible, and discard the liquid.
Place the saffron tea, onion, lamb, garlic, turmeric, herbs, and a pinch of black pepper into a large bowl. Add three generous pinches of salt and use your hands to knead the mixture together. Your hands are valuable tools here; your body heat melts the fat a little bit, which helps the mixture stick together and yields less crumbly kebabs. Cook up a tiny piece of the mixture in a skillet and taste for salt and other seasonings. Adjust as needed, and if necessary, cook a second piece and taste again.
Once the mixture is seasoned to your taste, moisten your hands and start forming oblong, three-sided meatballs by gently curling your fingers around 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Lay the little torpedoes onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
To cook, grill the kebabs over hot coals until delightfully charred on the outside and just barely cooked through within, about 6 to 8 minutes. Rotate them often once they start to brown to give them an even crust. When done, the kebabs should be firm to the touch but give a little in the center when squeezed. If you’re not sure whether they’re done, cut one open and check—if there’s a dime-size diameter of pink surrounded by a ring of brown, it’s done!
To cook indoors, set a cast iron skillet over high heat, add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, flipping just once on each side.
Serve immediately or at room temperature, with Persian-ish Rice and Persian Herb Yogurt, or Shaved Carrot Salad with Ginger and Lime and Charmoula.
Variations
• To make Moroccan Kofta, omit the saffron and replace the mixed herbs with 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro. Reduce the turmeric to 1/2 teaspoon. Add 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 3/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon finely grated ginger, and a small pinch of ground cinnamon. Continue as above.
• For Turkish Köfte, use beef if desired. Omit the turmeric, saffron, and herbs and instead season with 1 tablespoon Turkish Marash pepper (or 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes), 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley, and 8 finely chopped mint leaves. Continue as above.
SAUCES
A good sauce can improve a delicious dish and save a less successful one. Learn to think of sauces as trusted sources of Salt, Fat, and Acid, which will always provide bright flavor. To get the best sense of how any sauce tastes, try it along with a bite of whatever you plan on serving it with to see how the flavors work together. Just before serving, adjust the salt, acid, and other flavorings.
Herb Salsa
Master herb salsa—it’ll only take one attempt, that’s how easy it is—and soon you’ll find a hundred sauces up your sleeve. Get into the habit of buying a bunch of parsley or cilantro every time you go to the store. Turn the herbs into salsa to spoon over beans, eggs, rice, meats, fish, or vegetables—really, anything you can imagine. It’s a simple gesture that will improve almost any dish, from Silky Sweet Corn Soup to Tuna Confit to Conveyor Belt Chicken.
When using parsley, pick the leaves from the stems, which can be tough. Save the stems in your freezer for the next time you make Chicken Stock. Cilantro stems, on the other hand, are the most flavorful part of the herb. They’re also a lot less fibrous, so work the tender stems into your sauce.
I’m a salsa purist and recommend chopping everything by hand, but if that’s simply out of the question for you, these recipes will absolutely work in a food processor—they’ll just have a slightly thicker texture. Since different ingredients will break down at different rates in the machine, use it to chop everything individually and then stir it all together by hand in a separate bowl.
Basic Salsa Verde
Makes 3/4 cup
* * *
3 tablespoons finely diced shallot (about 1 medium shallot)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup very finely chopped parsley leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
In a small bowl, combine the shallot and vinegar and let sit for
15 minutes to macerate (see page 118).
In a separate small bowl, combine parsley, olive oil, and a generous pinch of salt.
Just before serving, use a slotted spoon to add the shallot (but not the vinegar, yet) to the parsley oil. Stir, taste, and add vinegar as needed. Taste and adjust salt. Serve immediately.
Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.
Serving suggestions: As a garnish for soup; with grilled, poached, roasted, or braised fish and meat; with grilled, roasted, or blanched vegetables. Try with English Pea Soup, Slow-Roasted Salmon, Tuna Confit, Crispiest Spatchcocked Chicken, Finger-Lickin’ Pan-Fried Chicken, Chicken Confit, Conveyor Belt Chicken, Spicy Brined Turkey Breast, or Kufte Kebabs.
Variations
• For a crunchy Bread Crumb Salsa, stir in 3 tablespoons Sprinkling Crumbs (page 237) just before serving.
• To add some texture to the salsa, add 3 tablespoons finely chopped toasted almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts to the parsley oil.
• For a spicy kick, add 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 teaspoon minced jalapeño pepper to the parsley oil.
• For an extra hint of freshness, add 1 tablespoon finely chopped celery to the parsley oil.
• For a little citrus touch, add 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest to the parsley oil.
• For a little garlic fire, add 1 clove finely grated or pounded garlic.
• To make Classic Italian Salsa Verde, add 6 finely chopped anchovy filets and 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and coarsely chopped to the parsley oil.