Let’s talk about the weather. Not simply because I always do, but because it’s been absolutely unhinged the last weeks – at least here in the part of the Midwest that’s really neither middle nor west, but still gets lumped into that category mostly because of the corn. At least that’s my theory – the corn. It’s all about the corn.
Like that uncertain geographical designation, the weather the past few weeks has been difficult to pin down. One day it’s hovering below freezing with harsh wind and blowing ice whatsit that isn’t really snow but more like white flying frozen sandpaper, and the next it’s sixty degrees Fahrenheit and the runners are all out in t-shirts and shorts.
I’m not really complaining about the warm, or really even the cold – after all its January. But it makes thinking about food sort of weird. Last week I was thinking about something summery to escape from the grey and cold. Yesterday, as I was editing photographs for this week’s menu, it was sunny and warm and I was craving warm, right, and spicy.
This week’s menu reflects a bit of that dichotomy. It’s focused around a rich braised beef dish – with a bit of a backstory – but it’s both summery and wintery and rich and bright. Sort of reflective of a weird winter in a place that’s eastmidwestnotwest and maybe even a little bit southern except, you know, that borders Canada.
Pane Toscano
Pane Toscano is, in most ways, similar to the simple lean dough breads I’ve often included in these newsletters. Then there’s that one headline flashing, siren emoji wailing difference that makes it what it is. There’s no salt in it. If you’re not much of a baker, or if you’re one of those people who’s sort of neutral on as opposed to passionatelyobsessivlyloving of breads and rolls, that may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Bread without salt tastes shockingly weirdly different – and in most cases would be a crime against the yeasty arts.
But Tuscan bread is salt free for a reason – it’s always served as an accompaniment to rich, spicy, salty foods – or used as a base for such. Dragged through a plate of well-seasoned sauce, it’s perfect, and salted bread might actually make that mouthful just a tad too salty and if you can have perfect? Why not.
An added benefit, for those of us cooking at home, there’s almost no traditional yeasted bread that’s ready faster. Without the salt to slow the fermentation, the yeast bloom and provide a fast rise. Sure, you can cut back the yeast and have a slower ferment and (probably) more flavorful product, but you could also have fresh bread on the table in under two hours.
500g bread flour
350g lukewarm water
7g instant yeast
Combine the yeast and water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
Allow to rest for ten minutes for the yeast to proof.
Add 350g of the flour to the bowl, and turn the mixer on low to combine.
Once the flour and water have been incorporated (basically when there’s no dry flour sitting around waiting to fly into the air) turn the mixer to high.
Process on high until the dough is shiny, stretchy, and pulling away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.
Remove the whisk attachment, using a spoon or spatula to scrape any dough back into the bowl, and fit the mixer with a dough hook.
Set the mixer to medium, and slowly add the remaining flour, allowing the mixer to work until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic – about 5 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, allow to rest for a few minutes, and form into a ball.
Place the ball in a covered bowl, and allow to rise util doubled in size.
Turn out, again, onto a lightly floured surface, allow to rest for a few minutes, and form into a round loaf.
Cover the ball with a slightly damp towel and allow to proof for 35 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Cut a tick tac toe pattern into the top of the loaf.
Bake at 400°F until well browned, and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom – about 35-40 minutes.
Radicchio Caesar Salad
I know I often praise the bitter when it comes to salads. I like rich foods, and bitter salads are a nice balance and a great complement to things like the rich wine laden braised meat below. Note that I left out the word green in that little rant. That’s because this one isn’t really all that green. Flipping the usual here, and adding a touch of green for color to a salad that’s otherwise starkly red and white. I love radicchio – as I’ve said many times before. This is a simple Caesar, but subbing radicchio and parley leaves for the traditional romaine. It’s bright, crunchy, and bitter, and the radicchio stands up to the hearty dressing better than almost any other green.
I’ve used the more common Chioggia Radicchio – the bright red and white ball shaped ones, but if you’re lucky enough to find it, Treviso – with long crunchy leaves that in shape resemble romaine – would be even better.
1 head radicchio
½ cup loosely packed flat Italian parsley leaves
1 cup garlic croutons
¼ cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
1 large clove garlic.
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp prepared smooth Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
Trim and tear the radicchio into small pieces.
Add the radicchio and parsley to a large bowl of cold water to crisp.
Peel, trim, and crush or microplane the garlic.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and garlic to a large non-reactive bowl and allow to rest five minutes.
Whisk the mustard into the mixture.
While whisking vigorously, slowly drizzle the olive oil in to the mixture to form a stable emulsion.
Add the black pepper and parmesan to the dressing.
Drain the radicchio and parsley well.
Add the croutons, and toss with the dressing.
Serve immediately.
Fried Garlic Rabe
Sort of like my obsession with bitter greens, I’m partial to bitter vegetables. They have character, or something. Give me Broccoli Rabe of Broccolini any day – even more so if it comes with some sort of crispy accompaniment: breadcrumbs, bacon or prosciutto, or in this case, slices of crisp fried garlic that also flavor the oil the crunchy green squiggly stuff is cooked in.
1 bunch broccoli rabe
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
Blanch the rabe by bringing a large pot of heavily salted water to a rolling boil, cooking for 30 seconds, then shocking it in an ice bath.
Drain well.
Peel, trim, and thinly slice the garlic.
Add the garlic and oil to a cold pan.
Place the pan over medium heat, and stir gently, but constantly, until the garlic is a light amber color.
Remove from the heat, and strain out the garlic – reserving the fried garlic chips for garnish.
Return the oil to the pan, and place over medium high heat.
Add the rabe, and sauté until just tender – about 3 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with the reserved fried garlic chips.
Nuovo Peposo with Parmesan “Polenta”
I’ll be honest. It’s winter. I’m in Ohio. It’s cold and grey, as such, there’s a real possibility that this is the start of a whole series of “braised stuff I dump over a pile of polenta” dishes that’ll just keep on going until sometime in late April. Which is why when my fellow former-political, rugby, and food nerd (and world renowned potato enthusiast) Steve posted about making Peposo a few weeks ago, I knew I needed to play around with it.
The traditional recipes call for little more than wine, meat, and black pepper. This isn’t a traditional recipe, but I haven’t added much more in the way of ingrediants. Some unflavored gelatin fortifies the wine – and helps create a smoother sauce. TO that same end, I’ve added a very small amount of roux that again, builds the sauce into more of a sauce, and less of pool of hot blackpeppery wine. Don’t get me wrong, that of hot blackpeppery wine is delicious on it’s own – but the gelatin and roux make it into more of sauce.
Finally, partly because I just can’t help myself, and partly because I love the texture of larger chucks of chuck roast, I tie the roast into four individual medallions rather than stew chunks. It’s pretty, makes for a clean(er) presentation, and when cooked very low and slow, has a wonderful pinkish – though perfectly tender – interior that just doesn’t quite show on the photos. Finally, though Steve and others paired this with a delicious pile of Italian style polenta, I’m more partial to their American cousin – white hominy grits. So that’s what I’ve used here – spiking them with cheese and cream and simmering them in a flavorful brew of herbs and onion and spice to make them a little more interesting.
3 lb beef chuck roast
1 tbsp black peppercorns
750 ml Chianti or other Toscano red wine
1 cup beef stock
1 tsp olive oil or bacon fat
2 tsp kosher salt
1 sachet powdered unflavored gelatin
2 tbsp AP flour (opt)
Cut the roast into 4 even portions, following the natural contours of the meat where possible.
Using kitchen twine, tie the portions into four medallions.
Use the bottom of a pan or a mortar and pestle to coarsely crush the peppercorns.
Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it over 2 tbsps of cold water.
Add the olive oil or beef fat to a pan over medium high heat.
Generously salt the meat.
Brown the medallions well on all sides.
Remove the meat from the pan.
Deglaze the pan with some of the wine, scraping up any fond that has formed.
Add the remaining wine, the bloomed gelatin, and the crushed peppercorns.
Return the meat to the pan and bring to a very very low simmer.
Cook, turning frequently, until the meat is tender and the wine is reduced by ¾ - about 2 hours.
If using the flour for thickening, skim off as much fat as possible, reserving the fat to make a roux.
In a second pan, add 1 tbsp of skimmed fat and 1 tbsp of four. Cook until the roux reaches a dark peanut butter color.
Remove the meat from the pan, stir the roux into the sauce and bring to simmer. Return the meat to reheat.
Cut the twine and slice in half before serving.
Serve hot, with remaining wine reduction, over parmesan “polenta.”
Parmesan “Polenta”
4 ½ cups cool water or milk
1 cup white corn grits
1 cup loosely packed finely shredded Parmigiano Reggiano
¼ cup heavy cream
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 medium shallot
2 bay leaves
2 tsp black peppercorns
Peel, trim, and half the shallot.
Add the water or milk, shallot, bay leaves, thyme, and peppercorns to a large thick bottomed pot over medium heat.
Bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
Strain out the solids and return to the heat.
Slowly add the grits while stirring to prevent any large lumps from forming.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the grits are thickened and have absorbed all the liquid.
Add the cream and cheese.
Taste for seasoning and add salt as necessary.
Serve warm.