¾ cup nuts (any combination of pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, or pistachios)
2 oil-packed anchovy fillets
3 cloves garlic, peeled
8 to 10 cups loosely packed greens like basil, parsley, cilantro, and arugula (mixing tastes great)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons sherry wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ to 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cup grated Parmesan
¼ cup fresh creamy goat cheese
Toast the nuts in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, tossing every 30 seconds or so, until they just start to brown. Place the warm nuts and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor. Blitz the hell out of everything for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides. Blitz again for 10 seconds. Taste. Too herbaceous? Add more nuts. Too bland? Add more garlic and salt. Too oily? Add more goat cheese. Adjust accordingly. Store the pesto in a jar. Top with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent browning.
The pesto lasts in the fridge for about a week. You can freeze it. Thaw it. Refreeze it. It’s quite hearty and acidic and resilient.
JALAPEÑO QUICK PICKLES
makes a little over a cup
If you prefer a milder pickle, use Fresno chile peppers for medium heat or banana peppers for no heat at all. You can use this brine to pickle anything: red onions, cauliflower, cucumbers, carrots, shallots, radishes. The crunchier the vegetable, the more time you will want to cook them in the brine. Just keep tasting. Remember that they will continue to cook as they cool in the brine.
If you are using a spicy chile, wear disposable gloves. Trust me. I have spent many miserable hours trying to put out the fire on my hands. Milk, cream, olive oil, ice: nothing works! Once, I even wiped my eyes and suffered for about 24 hours. Not worth it.
Use any good-quality vinegar (except balsamic). Please don’t use the bulk white kind that kills your bathroom mold.
You can liven up the brine with anything you like: thyme, rosemary, peppercorns, Aleppo pepper flakes, juniper berries.
Once the jalapeños hit the vinegar, their color will shift from a beautiful vibrant green to a dulled brownish green. Fresno chiles stay a vibrant beautiful red.
Like many things in the kitchen, pickles are always better the next day.
6 jalapeños (or about a cup of any other pickling item)
1 cup Champagne or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Put on your gloves. Slice the peppers into ⅛-inch-thick circles. To do this, hold the jalapeño at the stem end and slice starting from the small point at the tip, making your way all the way up to the stem. Set aside.
In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low. Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the jalapeños and simmer for two minutes. Pour into a jar. Cool. Store in the fridge for up to a month. Use the brine in salad dressings, pasta sauces, soups, and stews.
AVOCADO BOWLS WITH GARLIC ANCHOVY VINAIGRETTE
serves 6
I serve these by themselves or on top of a butter lettuce, hearts of romaine, or cabbage salad.
6 oil-packed anchovy fillets
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and microplaned or very finely chopped
2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
1 shallot, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 avocados
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Handful of parsley and cilantro leaves, chopped coarsely
For the vinaigrette
Heat a small heavy-bottomed pan (I use cast iron) over medium heat. Add the anchovies and a splash of their oil. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to help them disintegrate. Turn the heat to low and add the garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds until the garlic smells sweet and fragrant. Whisk in the vinegar. Once simmering, add the shallots and cook for 20 seconds. Take off the heat. Whisk in the mustard. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Taste. Add more olive oil if it’s too tangy. If it doesn’t emulsify right away, sometimes it’s helpful to pour it into a jar and shake vigorously.
For the avocado bowls
Halve and pit the avocados. Carefully peel off the skin. Place the halves cut-side up. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Spoon a tablespoon of the vinaigrette into each half. Top with chopped herbs.
CARAMELIZED ONION TART WITH ANCHOVIES AND OLIVES (PISSALADIÈRE)
serves 6 to 8
This was the first savory tart I ever made back when I was teaching myself to cook. I learned how to make caramelized onions from Richard Olney’s book Lulu’s Provençal Table. He writes that Lulu Peyraud was very strict about how you’re never supposed to brown the onions. And while I usually don’t like anyone telling me that there is only one way to do something in the kitchen, I have always respected Lulu’s wishes. Be prepared: they take at least an hour. Sometimes a bit more. But the reward is a sweet, golden, compote-like onion jam.
I love eating this tart with a crisp green salad and Avocado Bowls (here).
This recipe makes enough onions for one 8-inch tart plus another jarful of caramelized onions to freeze or keep in the fridge to add to pastas, sandwiches, potato salads, or vinaigrettes. It’s a lot of trouble, so it’s nice to have some extra.
Warning: Don’t use red onions. They taste great, but the dark reddish-brown color is very unappealing.
1 recipe Tart Dough (here)
5 medium yellow onions
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
Two 3-inch sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (creamy Grey Poupon is my favorite)
8 to 10 oil-packed anchovy fillets
⅓ cup Niçoise olives
Cut the onions in half from stem to root end, peel, and thinly slice. Don’t be perfect about it. Discard any tough root ends. Alternatively (saving time and tears), you can use the slicing disc on your food processor to slice peeled, quartered onions.
Heat a large heavy-bottomed pan (with an available lid) over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and butter.
Once the butter is melted, add the onions. Stir. Add the salt and thyme. Keep stirring every few minutes. The onions will give off about a ¼ cup of liquid almost immediately. When the onions have softened a bit and are starting to turn translucent (about 5 minutes), turn down the heat to low and throw on the lid. Cook, covered, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the onions have turned very soft, translucent, and very sweet, and have released a good cup or two of juices, at least one hour and up to two. If the onions start to brown, add a splash of water or chicken stock.
Remove the lid for good, turn the heat to medium-high, and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until nearly all the liquid in the pan has evaporated and the onions have taken on a marmalade-like consistency (golden yellow, honey-sweet, and still moist), about 15 minutes. Stay with it. Don’t let it burn. Stir, stir, stir.
Locate the thyme sprigs and discard. Taste. Add salt if needed. Cool. The onions keep in a covered container for a few days in the fridge and for several months in the freezer.
Take your tart dough out of the fridge or freezer. Once it’s soft enough to roll out, preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll out your tart dough until it’s about 10 inches in diameter and ⅛-inch thick. Press into an 8- or 9-inch tart pan. You can also do this as a free-form tart. Thinly spread the mustard over the bottom of the tart shell with a pastry brush or a butter knife. Spread at least a cup of the cooked onions over the bottom of the prepared tart shell. Top with lots of anchovies and olives in any pattern that you like. Bake until the crust is just set and the onions are golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with a crisp green salad. Freezes beautifully.
BRAISED CH
ICKEN
serves 4
When I want roast chicken, I go to my parents’ house. It just tastes better when they make it. In my kitchen, I usually braise it. Mostly because I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to cooking meat. And I am less likely to overcook chicken if I slowly simmer it in liquid.
Before making this dish, I search the back of my fridge for forgotten olives, capers, jalapeño pickle brine, and old wine. I save red wine from the end of dinner that I find in glasses and keep it in a mason jar in the fridge and use it for braises and stews (it cooks for a long time so no need to be grossed out!).
Serve the tender chicken and the briny broth over a mound of creamy polenta, farro, mashed potatoes, or brown rice.
4 whole chicken legs (leg and thigh combo)
1 lime
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon crushed Aleppo, Marash, or red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
½ red onion, diced (about ½ cup)
4 cloves garlic, microplaned, pressed, or chopped
2 oil-packed anchovy fillets
Three 2-inch sprigs thyme
1 cup red wine
1 cup canned chopped tomatoes (or the same amount of chopped and very ripe fresh tomatoes)
½ cup random olives from the back of your fridge, any combination works and pits are fine (just warn the eaters)
1 tablespoon capers, plus their brine
2 tablespoons jalapeño pickle brine (see here), optional
¼ cup chopped parsley for garnish
Zest of 1 lemon for garnish
Squeeze lime juice all over the chicken pieces. Season both sides of each piece with kosher salt and pepper flakes. Go do something else for a bit.
After about 30 minutes, put an ovenproof heavy-bottomed pot (with an available lid) over medium heat. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Add the vegetable oil. Once it’s shimmering, use tongs to carefully lower each leg skin-side down into the pot (if they don’t fit, do this in two batches or else they will steam instead of brown). You want them sizzling and moving toward a nice deep dark brown color. This takes 6 to 8 minutes. Turn the pieces over and brown the other sides. With the tongs, transfer the chicken legs to a plate. Pour all but a thin slick of the grease out of the pot, leaving behind the brown bits.
Turn down the heat to low under your pot. Add the olive oil and onion. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the goodies off the bottom of the pot and incorporate into the onion. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until it just starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the anchovy fillets. Turn up the heat to medium. Stir for 30 seconds until the mixture starts to smell nutty, fishy, and sweet. Pour in the wine, tomatoes, olives, pickle brine, thyme, and capers. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and place the browned chicken back in skin-side down. You want the liquid to come halfway up the sides of the chicken but not completely submerge it. Add chicken stock or wine if necessary. Turn off the heat. Place the pot in the oven with the lid on. After 20 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over, skin-side up. Leave the lid off and cook for another 20 minutes. Check the chicken. You want it tender and just starting to pull away from the bone. But don’t stress. The beauty of braised chicken is that it’s hard to overcook.
Slide the pot to the back of your stove for a few hours. Or, once cool, refrigerate for up to 3 days. This dish gets better with time. When you’re ready to eat, use tongs to take the chicken out of the sauce and place the pieces on a plate. Heat the sauce back up. Taste it and adjust. It might need salt or a splash of sherry wine vinegar. Put the chicken back in the sauce. Reheat over low temperature on the stovetop or in the oven. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.
SPICY BEEF STEW
safely serves 4-ish with some leftovers
The roots of this recipe come from a short rib nacho recipe written by Melissa Clark in The New York Times.
The spices used are the ones that many of us have on hand, that have been sitting in our cupboards forever. My paprika was a gift from a friend who went to Hungary. I always have ground cinnamon for my Christmas gingerbread. And I bought some chipotle chili years ago to make chili. And now that I have one of those high-velocity turbo blenders, it makes me so happy to use a random bottle of beer from the back of my fridge and wilty cilantro (stems and all) as I move toward less waste in the kitchen.
Very important note: This stew is not meant to be eaten by itself. It needs friends and toppings like cabbage salad with Garlic Anchovy Vinaigrette (here), Avocado Bowls (here), Crème Fraîche (here), Jalapeño Quick Pickles (here), and warm tortillas.
2 pounds beef chuck stew meat, cut into 1½- to 2-inch cubes
Freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt
1 cup amber ale (or any beer you have lying around)
1 cup canned tomatoes, diced or whole
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 jalapeño, stemmed, halved, and seeded (for more fire, use the seeds)
1 bunch parsley (half for stewing liquid, half for garnish)
1 bunch cilantro (half for stewing liquid, half for garnish)
1 teaspoon hot or sweet smoked paprika (or a combination)
1 teaspoon chili powder (chipotle if you can find it)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for browning the meat
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 lime
Sherry wine vinegar, optional
Generously season the stew meat all over with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Adjust your oven racks so that your pot fits on the middle rack. I use a sturdy thick-bottomed pot with a lid.
In a blender or food processor, pulverize the beer, tomatoes, anchovies, garlic, tomato paste, jalapeño, ½ bunch parsley leaves and stems, and ½ bunch cilantro leaves and stems. Since you’ve added stems and whole garlic cloves, make sure the mixture is puréed enough so that it’s almost smooth. It won’t be the prettiest color.
In a small bowl, combine the paprika, chili powder, and cinnamon.
Turn the heat on high under your pot. If you have an exhaust fan, turn it on. Open your windows. Add a tablespoon of the vegetable oil. When the oil is shimmery and smoking, add your first batch of meat. Don’t slide the meat into the hot oil, because it can splash up and burn you. Use tongs. Do this in batches. It’s important that you don’t crowd the pieces or they will steam. Once they’re searing away, there’s no need to move them about. Just let them do their thing. You want them to turn a deep dark brown before flipping them over. You don’t need to brown all four sides of each piece of meat. Instead, when about two sides of each piece are browned, remove from the heat and reserve on a plate. Continue with the rest of the meat. If you need to, add a splash more oil for each batch.
Turn down the heat to low. Add the olive oil to the hot pot and then the onion. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the meat goodies off the bottom of the pot. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion softens. Add the dry spice mixture to the onion. Raise the heat to medium. Stir for about 30 seconds until the onion is coated and the spices have toasted a bit. Don’t let them burn. Slide in the browned meat with its juices. Stir in the beer-tomato-herb mixture. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. Stab the lime a dozen times with a small, sharp paring knife and press it down into the stew. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven, and cook for anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. Check the stew after 2 hours.
The stew is done when the meat starts to fall apart. A nice way to test for doneness is to take out a piece and try to shred it with two forks. If the meat gives you resistance, stir the stew and return the covered pot to the oven. Continue to check every 20 minutes until the meat just falls apart. You can leave the meat in chunks or shred all of it with two forks (or your fingers when it’s cool). I like it shredde
d because it soaks up more of the sauce. Make sure you taste it. If it’s a little flat, add some salt and a splash of sherry wine vinegar. Cook for a few minutes and taste again.
If you’re eating the stew that day, just place the covered pot at the back of your stovetop until dinnertime. Heat it back up before serving.
The stew will keep for a few days in the fridge. Or you can freeze it for several months.
LAMB POPSICLES
serves 4
Lamb rib chops are an indulgence, so we only eat them occasionally. We pick ours up like popsicles to make things a little less precious. I often get a rack and cut it into chops. I try to trim off some, but not all, of the excess fat along the meat and up the bone (google how to French a lamb chop with string). You can also get the butcher to do this for you. Watch them butchering so you can do it next time. It’s fun.
The chops are juicy and delicious on their own. But, right after they are cooked, it’s nice to squeeze lemon on them and top with chopped parsley. Or spoon some Pesto (here) on each cooked chop. They also work really well encircling a salad of arugula or hearts of romaine tossed with Garlic Anchovy Vinaigrette (here) and scattered with pomegranate arils. Honestly, almost anything goes with these as long as they’re cooked properly.
1 rack of lamb cut into rib chops (usually between 6 and 8)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, quartered, seeds removed
Two 4-inch sprigs rosemary
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, for the marinade
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for cooking
Lemon wedges, for serving
Chopped parsley, for serving
Pesto (here), for serving
Place the chops on a sheet pan or large plate in one layer. Generously season both sides with salt and pepper.
Everything Is Under Control Page 7