difficulty: Easy
servings: 6

summary:

“This dish is much better the second day. Just cool the stew down in an ice bath, or on your countertop (the Health Department is unlikely to raid your kitchen). Refrigerate overnight. When time, heat and serve. Goes well with a few boiled potatoes. But goes really well with a bottle of Cote de Nuit Villages Pommard.”

ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef shoulder or neck, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup red Burgundy
• 6 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bouquet garni (a tied bundle of herbs, usually thyme, bay and parsley)
• A little chopped flat-leaf parsley

directions:

Stage One: Season the meat with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over high heat until it is almost smoking. Add the meat in batches — NOT ALL AT ONCE! — and sear on all sides until it is well browned (not gray). You dump too much meat in the pot at the same time and you’ll overcrowd it; cool the thing down and you won’t get good color. Sear the meat a little at a time, removing it and setting it aside as it finishes. When all the meat is a nice, dark brown color and has been set aside, add the onions to the pot. Lower the heat to medium high until the onions are soft and golden brown (about 10 minutes). Sprinkle the flour over them. Continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the red wine. Naturally, you want to scrape up all that really good fond from the bottom of the pot with your wooden spoon. Bring the wine to a boil.

Stage Two: Return the meat to the pot and add the carrots, garlic and bouquet garni. Add just enough water (and two big spoons of demi-glace, if you have it) so that the liquid covers the meat by one-third — meaning you want a ratio of 3 parts liquid to 2 parts meat. This is a stew, so you want plenty of liquid even after it cooks down and reduces. Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer, and let cook for about 2 hours, or until the meat is tender (break-apart-with-a-fork tender).

You should pay attention to the dish, meaning to check it every 15 to 20 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to make sure the meat is not sticking or, God forbid, scorching. You should also skim off any foam or scum or oil collecting on the surface, using a large spoon or ladle. When done, remove and discard the bouquet garni, add the chopped parsley to the pot, and serve.

ht: The Washington Post

• 1 stick Butter
• ½ whole Onion, Finely Diced
• 1 whole Carrot Finely Diced
• 1 stalk Celery, Finely Diced
• 1 whole (to 2 Whole) Cauliflower Heads (roughly Chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Or Dried Parsley (chopped)
• 2 quarts Low-sodium Chicken Broth Or Stock
• 6 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons To 4 Teaspoons Salt, To Taste
• 1 cup (heaping) Sour Cream, Room Temperature

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to turn brown. Add the carrots and celery and cook an additional couple of minutes. Add cauliflower and parsley and stir to combine. Cover and cook over very low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour in chicken stock or broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer.

In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Mix the flour with the milk and whisk to combine. Add flour-milk mixture slowly to the butter, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup half-and-half. Add mixture to the simmering soup. Allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary.

Just before serving, place the sour cream in a serving bowl or soup tureen. Add two to three ladles of hot soup into the tureen and stir to combine with the sour cream. Pour in remaining soup and stir.

Serve immediately.

1. Since you’ve just ordered your steak to be burnt, there is no way you care whether or not you get a good cut of beef. Sure you are going to get that ribeye you’ve just ordered but chances are, those less-than-desirable cuts were saved for people who really don’t care about their steak… people, who would ordered a burnt piece of meat, for example.

2. By ordering ‘well-done’, you have just increased the time of cooking your order by four-fold over properly ordering the cut medium-rare or even rare in some cases. In order to make sure that the rest of the plates don’t get cold, the kitchen will simply throw your steak into the microwave to finish in time. So what was the difference between that steak and a TV dinner? Exactly.

I understand that you don’t want to be sick over a undercooked piece of protein but don’t confuse beef with chicken. Chicken is riped with all kinds of awesome bacteria and there is no dish in the world that calls for undercooked chicken unless as part of the dining experience means that you are glued to your toilet for the next 24 hours. Beef, not so much. There are many dishes that call for raw beef such as carpaccio which are thinly sliced or pounded raw pieces of beef, usually topped with a salad or Parmesan or both. My favorite is Yuk Hoe, a Korean dish with seasoned raw beef topped with raw egg.

Are there risks in eating raw beef? Sure but there are risks in no matter what you eat. Even something as healthy as spinach is not above being tainted.

To those reading, nodding in total agreement, let me challenge you to never let loved ones order well-done. The next time you’re with someone who orders a burnt piece of meat, stop them and insist that they order it medium rare. If they don’t like it, you will pay for their steak and get them what they like. Chances are, they have always had steak well-done and never really tasted steak to begin with.

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 stick butter
• ½ cup cooking oil
• 5 egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup coconut
• 5 egg whites
• 1 cup pecans, chopped fine

Preheat oven at 325°F

Prepare 3 cake pans (grease and flour).

Blend sugar with butter and oil. Add egg yolks.  Mix.  Combine flour with the mixture then stir in buttermilk, soda, coconut and vanilla.  Beat egg whites until stiff then fold into mixture.  Add pecans.  Pour into cake pans and bake at 325°F for about 30 minutes. (Note: my aunt warned me that her oven doesn’t get very hot so I should start check around 25 minutes for the following:)  For doneness, watch closely and it will begin to slightly pull away from sides and brown lightly.  Do not overcook. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, turn out and completely cool before icing.

Icing

• 1 8oz. pkg. Cream Cheese (room temp.)
• 1 box powdered sugar
• 1 stick of butter (room temp.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup pecans, chopped fine

Blend cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth.  Add vanilla.  Spread on all layers and top and sides.  Put pecans and coconut on top and sides.

Note from the chef: This salad was on the Tra Vigne menu for many years. When all was said and done, I must have eaten a hundred pounds of it, because each time I made it, I couldn’t resist taking a bite. Entertaining Notes: To make this ahead of time, cook right up to the point where you add the vinegar and remove the skillet from the heat. Reheat the dressing and then reduce the vinegar just before serving. Have the greens and cheese ready. Then toss and serve. With crostini it is an awesome first course. Wine Notes: I developed this salad for Laura Chenel and Dan Duckhorn. Laura makes goat cheese and Dan makes Sauvignon Blanc wine. The cheese and wine make a classic match, but the challenge was how to incorporate them into a salad with vinegar, which can overwhelm wine. I discovered that if you cook the vinegar, getting the acetic acid down, and the flavor of the vinegar up, then it works beautifully with wine.

• 6 cups loosely packed stemmed baby spinach
• 1/2 cup (5 ounces) fresh goat cheese
• 1/3 pound thick-sliced pancetta, cut into strips about 1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide As with all things, bacon works well in case you cannot score pancetta
  
• Extra-virgin olive oil just in case you don’t have enough fat from frying the pancetta/bacon… pssh, like that’s going to happen
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar balsamic vinegar works well here… don’t be scare to play around
• Sea salt or kosher is cool
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries I do ‘em chopped because it helps with releasing more of their sweetness

Put the spinach in a large bowl. Crumble the cheese over the spinach. Cook the pancetta in a medium skillet over medium heat until crispy, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pancetta in a sieve set over a heatproof measuring cup, reserving the rendered fat. You will need 1/4 cup for the dressing. If necessary, add enough olive oil to make 1/4 cup. Pour the fat back into the pan and add the pancetta. When the pancetta is warm again, add the garlic and cook until light brown, about 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Add the thyme and let it crackle in the fat for about 10 seconds. Add the vinegar, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for about 30 seconds to lower the acidity of the vinegar. You should see tiny drops of vinegar dispersed throughout the fat. Add the dried cranberries and stir. Pour the dressing over the spinach and cheese. Toss to coat the leaves evenly and melt the cheese a little. Serve immediately.