WELCOME TO WINTER

MUSHROOM PEPPER BUCATINI

Welcoming a new season always makes me think of changing what I'm hungry for. Actually, the season itself probably changes what I'm hungry for. So as the snow begins to occasionally flurry and I need a heavier jacket, my stomach tells me it needs something rich and warm and bursting with flavor. Personally, that triggers tomato sauce, lots of mushrooms and fat heavy pasta.

Bucatini is a thicker pasta with a hole, like a tube. Sauce gets in there and it has a nice solid texture.

Anything goes here. No holding back. So let your mind run to excess! Add or subtract what you like or don't like from the dish below, but try the idea. You'll like it. AND enhance everything with a fine wine. 

The fine wine I chose is probably my favorite of all: Brunello di Montalcino. There is always a case or two aging in my cellar for those special occasions. And nothing is as special as welcoming Winter!

Flavio Fanti

La Palazzetta

The Brunello I chose is from the small winery of Flavio Fanti. His 2008 La Palazzetta vintage of 100% Sangiovese is organically grown and fermented with its natural yeast, as it should be. 

This is not factory wine. He only produced 2500 cases and I know that I smile with the other 2499 owners who sip along with me.

Now to the dish. Pork and tomato sauce are a perfect combination. "Country Ribs" as they are called here, with or without the bone, make a flavorful choice. I like to shred off a piece on my plate and let it drink up any liquid part of sauce, it does so like a sponge, and then it melts in your mouth, full of flavor! Because of that, I want a sauce that has a liquid part. So I will not puree the tomatoes but merely mash them with my hands before cooking them down. I'll also add some of the wine to this sauce, wedding the dish and the drink.

I like my sauce soft, so I don't add too much salt or pepper and a little sugar. But everybody to their own taste. Do as you please. I won't mind!

This is more than sufficient for two. For timing, the initial prep, browning, etc. takes nearly one hour, so begin 3½ - 4 hrs before you intend to serve. Don't rush this. Also, a wine like Brunello, will have ample time to 'breathe.'

Ingredients

4                    "Country Style" Pork Ribs

1    med.        Onion, diced

8    oz            Mushrooms (or more), sliced ¼ inch

1                    Sweet Pepper, sliced ¼ inch

3    cloves      Garlic, chopped

4    Tbs          Butter (2 ea. for 2 sautés)

4    Tbs          Olive Oil (2 ea. for 2 sautés)

3    oz            Ham, diced

2                    dried chili peppers

⅛   tsp           Cinnamon

1    Tbs          Sugar

½   cup          Red Wine

28  oz            Tomatoes (use the best), hand crushed

2    Tbs          Tomato paste (or just enough)

A Lot             Fresh Basil

½   lb             Bucatini

                      Salt & Pepper to taste

                      Reggiano Parmigiano, grated

Method

Brown Pork well in 2 Tbs Butter and 2 Tbs Oil. Remove and reserve.

Add Ham to pot and sauté, stirring for about 1 - 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and reserve.

Prepped Veggies and Ham

Add Onions and stir around to pick up the browned Pork and Ham from the bottom of the pan. Let cook for about 3 minutes, stirring a few times.

Lower heat and add Sweet Peppers, stir in and cover, allowing vegetables to sweat down for about 10 minutes.

'sweating' peppers

Remove vegetables with all juices and reserve.

Vegetables reserved and Tomatoes crushed

Add 2 Tbs each of Butter and Olive Oil to pan, raise heat to sauté. When Butter is hot, add Mushrooms and stir occasionally until Mushrooms are limp and starting to exude their juices. Remove Mushrooms with slotted spoon to vegetable dish.

Now add the Tomatoes that have been hand-crushed, add some Salt then sprinkle on the chopped Garlic. 

Increase heat and partially cover, letting the Tomatoes cook down until they start to break down. Stir occasionally.

Start Tomatoes

Tomatoes ready

When Tomatoes are ready, add Sugar and Cinnamon, stir.

Add Pork and Ham, stir.

Add vegetables, stir.

Add Red Wine, stir.

Either add Basil and Dried Chili Pepper to be removed later, or as I did, tie them in a coffee filter or cheesecloth, making an 'herb bouquet' and add this to the pot now, submerging it a little.

Everything In

Herb Bouquet

Allow the sauce to simmer, partially covered for about 2 - 2½ hours.

But don't leave it and forget it!! Stir every half hour or so, and check on its thickness. If it gets too thick, add some water. If it remains too thin, add some Tomato Paste. If you add Tomato Paste, be sure to do it with at least ½ - 1 hour left to cook. (I needed to add 2 Tbs paste.)

Near the end, check seasonings and add Salt, Pepper or Sugar as desired and let sauce finish while pasta cooks.

When sauce is done, bring water to a boil in a pan large enough to hold pasta and sauce. I used an oblong casserole pan. Remember: "The sauce can wait for the pasta, the pasta can't wait for the sauce!"

When water boils, add Bucatini and cook to package instructions for 'al dente.' Strain and return to pan.

Remove Pork Ribs and herb Bouquet from sauce and then add all the sauce to the Bucatini and gently stir everything together. 

Let sit on very low heat for about 3 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. The sauce will fill the Bucatini tubes.

Place two pieces of Pork on a plate and some of the Bucatini, add sauce over that and then a generous amount of  freshly grated Reggiano Parmigiano. 

Bon Appetit!

BRAISED BEEF SHORT RIBS

with Risi e Bisi

        Wintertime demands a warm, rich, homey meal. You don't have to make a big stew that feeds dozens to achieve this. (Although I have, in the past, when there were lots more tummies around to feed!) By using Beef Short Ribs, you can produce a small, flavorful dish with very little work.  A slow braise does all the cooking while you tend to other things. Two pounds of ribs will be enough for two people. I have coupled the ribs with a simple rice dish that can be assembled in the last half-hour of the rib's braise. This is Risi e Bisi, or Rice with Peas. Even the rice cooks pretty much without interference for about 25 minutes. I used that time to make a small "winter salad" of just slices of radish, zucchini, tomato and Gorgonzola cheese, drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar and the finest Olive Oil.

        The wine should also not be pretentious. I've chosen Stella di Campalto's Rosso di Montalcino, just a simple red table wine with more character than you'd expect. Of course, her Brunello is legendary, but I save that for more special occasions.

        The quantity of the braising liquid will dependent upon the size of your pot. I'm using a small oven casserole and so the quantity of liquids in my recipe was too large, but with a larger pot, or one that doesn't seal in the juices so well, you might need what is recommended here. If you have too little liquid, just add water, there is so much flavor that it won't taste diluted.

        When the Ribs are done, they will slip off the bones. If you wish, you can remove the thick fat rinds before you plate, but I like to leave them all together.  

        (Option) Another possibility would be to remove the bones and fat and shred the meat. Force the braising liquid through a sieve, and it will become a silky smooth, rich, gravy. You could then serve with mashed potatoes and the shredded meat for a different type of meal.

        Relative to the Rice dish, if you use fresh Peas, cook them the whole time with the Rice. Since it's wintertime here, I used frozen Peas.

Ingredients:

Ribs:

2    lbs    Beef Short Ribs

½             Onion, diced

2              small stalks Celery, diced

2              small Carrots, diced

¼   cup   Red Wine

1    cup   Beef Stock

½   cup   Tomato Sauce

1              Bay leaf

                Salt & Pepper

Rice:

½   cup   converted Rice

1⅓ cup   Beef Stock

1    Tbs   Butter

1    Tbs   Onion, minced

2    Tbs   Pancetta, small dice

3    Tbs   Peas, fresh or frozen

2    Tbs   Parmesan Cheese, grated

                Pepper

Salad:

2     Radishes, sliced

6     slices, small Zucchini

1      small Tomato, sliced

        chunks of Gorgonzola Piquant Cheese

drizzle   Balsamic Vinegar

drizzle   Finest Olive Oil

Method:

1.    Warm the Beef Stock. Preheat the oven to 325F.

2.    Brown ribs in batches, reserve.

  3.    Sauté veggies until they start to wilt. Add Salt & Pepper.

4.    Add wine to deglaze pan, then add Tomato Sauce, stir in.

5.    Place meat back in pot. Add stock until it comes about ⅓ of the way up on the Ribs.

Ready for oven

6.    Add Bay Leaf, cover, and place in 325F oven for about 3 hours. Check each hour to see if you need to add more liquid. If you have a good pot, you probably won't.

After one hour of braising

After two hours

7.    After about 2½ hours, make the Risi e Bisi:

8.    Sauté onion and Pancetta in 1 Tbs Butter for about 2 minutes. 

Add rice and stir in. 

Add Stock and bring to a simmer.

 
 9.    Cover and let barely simmer for 15 minutes. While rice simmers, make Winter Salad.

10.  After the 15 minutes, add Peas and stir in, re-cover.

11.  At 25 minutes, add grated Parmesan and stir in with a fork.

12.  Re-cover and turn off heat. The rice will be ready in 5 minutes.

13.  To plate, make a ring with the Rice and place the Ribs inside, pouring some braising liquid over Ribs.

Enjoy!

Bacalao "Il Tricolore"

A  Dish for the New Year

      I love a special meal for New Years Day but I don't like to work too hard. So I usually have something that can be prepared a day or two ahead and just heated while concentrating on Strauss and Champagne! For 2014 I chose to make some Bacala (dried Cod), but in a couple unusual ways. When I noticed that one recipe was red and the other white, I decided that with a bright green vegetable I could have the Tricolor flag of Italy, in an edible form. Whimsy befits ushering in the New Year. This is also very delicious.

      You must reconstitute the cod in a bath of cold water which you change several times a day. After about two days, keeping it refrigerated of course, the cod is ready. Make sure any skin left on is removed and check for any bones. There's normally not much of either. I used 2 pounds of Bacala (dry). About one pound for each recipe.

Cod, reconstituted and drained

Squeeze them out dry with paper towels and I like to gently pound the fish a bit which tenderizes them. I'll now divide the story into four parts: the wine, the red, the white and the green.

The Wine

      Of course the wine for today must be Champagne!

Cédric Bouchard's Champagnes are always a treat, when you can get your hands on some. This is the 2010 Inflorescence and it makes a special occasion yet more special. If you are a Champagne lover and you don't know of him, do a little research and then do your best to track down a bottle or two. You won't be disappointed

The Red

      We're basically going to fry up bite sized pieces of Cod and bake them with pasta and sauce. If I had a lot of Cod to fry, I would use a deep fryer at 375F. Since this is only a little Cod, I'll use a small cast-iron pan and cook them in batches. A small pan because I want the oil  to be deep, "Fish gotta swim!"   (I used a Canola and Olive oil mixture)

      You can make up your own recipe and use whatever tomato sauce you like (preferably your homemade). I've chosen to make a richer and more aggressive sauce to contrast better with the White recipe.

      First run a can (28 oz) of good quality Italian Tomatoes through the blender, but not too much. Leave a little lumpy.

      For the rest of the sauce I used 4 oz. Tomato Paste, 4 cloves of Garlic chopped, a Hot Banana Pepper sliced into rings, a small Sweet Onion stuck with a few Cloves, several small Mushrooms quartered, and about 2 teaspoons of crushed Capers.

      Sauté the Garlic in Olive Oil for a minute or so, then add the Mushrooms and Pepper rings. 

Sauce ingredients, starting Garlic

adding Mushrooms and Peppers

Cook down, stirring, until Garlic starts to color. Now add the Tomato Paste and blend in thoroughly. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, this will help caramelize the Paste. Then add the crushed Capers, 2 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Sugar and some ground Pepper and stir in. 

adding Tomato Paste

Add Capers and seasonings

Now add the Tomatoes and mix everything together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add the Clove-stuck-Onion and let simmer, uncovered, for at least an hour, adding a little water from time to time to keep at a good consistency. After an hour, correct seasoning.

Sauce ready to simmer

      While the sauce is cooking, prepare the Bacala. Cut into cubes about 1½ inches on a side. Prepare a bowl of 2 eggs, beaten. Place some seasoned Bread Crumbs on a small plate, and get the oil to 375F. Dip the fish in eggs and roll in crumbs. Then fry until golden and remove to paper towels. Remember, small batches.

ready to fry

frying Bacala

      Cook Pasta until a few minutes less than being done. I used a small corkscrew shaped pasta, with a central hole. This manufacturer called it Cavatappi, which is Italian for (unsurprisingly) Corkscrews. Drain thoroughly.

      Now we're ready to begin assembly in an ovenproof casserole. Start with a layer of sauce, then half the fish, then half the pasta. Then repeat: sauce, fish, pasta. End by pouring the rest of the sauce covering all the pasta on the top layer. 

ready to assemble

half asssembled

RED part is ready for the oven, or (as I did) refrigerate and bake in a day or two.

The White

      There is a common Codfish Portuguese style recipe that sort of resembles what we Americans call Scalloped Potatoes, but with garlic and Cod as added ingredients. You could say this recipe is based on that, but I have chosen to mash the potatoes and infuse this with the Cod and Garlic, you'll want to use a food processor. This can all be done ahead and baked along side the RED casserole. That meets my needs for New Years Day, exactly. This is also a very, very delicious way to prepare Bacala and could be a side dish or a main course. I really like this dish!!

      Peel about 2# Potatoes, quarter them and boil until tender. Meanwhile cut the Cod into small pieces. Chop 3 cloves of Garlic. Have some Sour Cream ready. slice two small Scallions into thin rings. 

Cod and Garlic chopped

Boiling Potatoes

Generously butter a Casserole (with Butter). When Potatoes are done, drain them well. Then mash them up pretty good.

Place the Cod and Garlic in the food processor, with steel blade. Add a couple of big dollops of mashed Potatoes. Also a couple dollops of Sour Cream. Process well. Scrape down sides and process again. 

Ready to process

Finished processing

Now mix this back into the rest of the mashed Potatoes, add the scallions, some salt and pepper and mix well.

Everything mixed

      Place in the casserole and you're ready to bake, or place in the refrigerator for a day or two, as I did.

Ready to Bake

  

The Green

 

     Use any bright green vegetable you prefer. I chose Asparagus because it is quick to prepare, has a beautiful color, and I like it a lot! 

You can steam it, of course, but for this little amount I prefer placing it in a small Pyrex^® container with lid, add a few drops of water, and Microwave on low for 4 minutes. 

It emerges bright green and with just a little bite. All microwaves are different, so it is wise to check on it after each minute to get the right consistency. I hate overcooked Asparagus. Also, I always peel my Asparagus before cooking it. 

Bake these casseroles in a 350F oven  45 min - one hour. If you have refrigerated them, remove and let stand at room temperature for about an hour first.

Finished and out of the oven

Starting to bake

My final New Years Day plating: