A Love Affair With Neil, The Local Butcher

My friend, Bacon, (so-called because he is convinced that "Bacon is a Vegetable,") may be having an affair with the local butcher.  Every other day, Bacon will call me and say something like, "Neil gave me 20 chicken wings," or "I gave Neil some chipotles in adobo," or "Neil wants me to come over and watch a rugby match,"or perhaps, "I took some chili over to Neil."

I think it takes an intimate relationship with a butcher to make sense of British cuts of meat, as they are often not the same as American ones.  A British butcher does not know what the heck you are talking about if you march in and ask for some short ribs or tri-tip.  So, I think Bacon is onto something here.  Especially since one day, Bacon called to announce, "Neil gave me a ton of those Jacob's Ladders.  You should take some."  (Jacob's Ladder, incidentally, is a rack of Short Ribs.  We finally figured that out, after getting various cuts from the cow.  I even once tried to explain to Neil which ribs I wanted, demonstrating on my own body.  It was slightly embarrassing to stand in the middle of a local butcher shop and have 3 butchers in bloody aprons watching me point to my own torso over and over again.  And even more annoying to come home with the wrong cut, revealing that perhaps I stink at Butcher Charades.)

Bacon's wife, Dr. Tex, doesn't seem to mind.  After all, she gets to eat lots of tasty meals (although she's not as into meat as her husband.  Few are.)  So now that Bacon and I have all of these short ribs, the challenge is finding the recipes that best showcase this lovely, inexpensive cut of meat.  It's a good value, even for those of you who aren't in love with your local butcher!

Penne With Short Ribs, by Giada DeLaurentiis

Ingredients

• 4 pounds beef short ribs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 5 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
• 1 cup red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon (or 1 cup chicken or beef broth, see Note below)
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the ribs with salt and pepper. In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or ovenproof stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In batches, add the ribs and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine and mustard. Bring the mixture to a boil and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Return the ribs to the pan. Add the beef broth, cover the pan and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is fork-tender and falls easily from the bone.

Remove the ribs from the cooking liquid. Using a large spoon, remove any excess fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Using a ladle, transfer the cooking liquid in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into small pieces. Stir the shredded meat into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and place in a large serving bowl. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the sauce and add to the pasta. Pour 1 cup of the sauce over the pasta. Toss well and thin out the pasta with more sauce, if needed. Sprinkle the pasta with Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley before serving.

Note:  I substituted 1 cup of chicken broth for the 1 cup of wine because I didn't think my kids would like the flavor of the wine.  The substitution worked out fine, although it meant that the acid level of the braising sauce wasn't that high, which meant that the ribs didn't break down as much as they otherwise would.  To shred the meat, I had to take it off in big chunks with two forks, then chop it up really small with a chef's knife.  The meat chopped up very easily because it was still pretty tender.  Then, I stirred the chopped meat back into the sauce and let it sit for a couple of minutes so that the meat would absorb the sauce.  After that, I put in the pasta, tossed to combine, and topped with the parsley and cheese.  

On a Hazelnut Mission

What is it about the hazelnut?  All I know is that if you put it in a cake, cookie, pastry or ice cream, you will also have to wrestle me to the ground in order to keep me away from it.  

So when I watched a cooking show called "Catherine's Italian Kitchen," on GoodFood (UK's version of Food Network), I was extremely intrigued when Catherine visited the Nebrodi mountains in Northern Sicily.  Gaetano Calamunci owns a pastry shop/ice cream factory in the tiny town of Sinagra and makes all kinds of delectable looking treats.  Now, I had assumed that I had pretty much seen it all when it comes to sweets, but this guy takes decadence to a whole new level.  For breakfast, he is known to take a freshly baked brioche, slice it open, and spread on a generous helping of hazelnut gelato.  Then, to finish it off, he'll throw a handful of toasted hazelnuts on top of the ice cream before he closes up the amazing sandwich.

Sadly, I am not planning a trip to Sicily in the next few months, yet I feel like I must try something made by this master craftsman soon.  Calamunci makes all kinds of treats that he is willing to ship, thankfully.  I was delighted to discover that he had a website and gladly took orders (for a minimum of 25 Euros).  Unfortunately, I am not that seasoned when it comes to ordering goods from the Italian Internet.  So, someone may or may not show up at my doorstep with 5 jars of hazelnut spread and 1/2 kilo of hazelnut cookies, demanding cash on delivery.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you are lucky enough to be heading towards the Land of Hazelnuts, visit Calamunci's and give us a full report!  http://www.pasticceriacalamunci.com/

Potstickers - The Perfect Oscar Party Starters!

Let's face it, the powers-that-be are not predicting too many surprises this year for the Academy Awards.  For your Oscar pool, you are choosing between "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker," and the accolades for actors supposedly will go to everyone who snagged the Golden Globes.  So, how to make your Oscar Party exciting?  Fabulous cocktails, obviously. And...fun appetizers!

Potstickers are one of those great little wonders that everyone loves.  If your guests do not eat meat, fill the little gyoza wrappers with grated veggies instead.  You are only limited by your imagination.  If it sounds like it would taste good fried in a crunchy wrapper, then it probably will!  Throw it in and see what happens.

Potstickers
Ingredients:
2 lb ground pork (ground turkey is fine)
3-4 cups shredded cabbage (I like to buy the pre-shredded cole-slaw cabbage to cut down prep time)
3-4 green onions, minced
2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 package of medium tofu (medium firm is fine)
1 egg
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons sesame oil
2-3 packages gyoza wrappers (won ton wrappers are too thin for these dumplings)

You will also need:
2 large cookie sheets/baking trays/platters lined with wax paper or parchment paper
1 small bowl filled with water
1 damp paper towel or kitchen towel
1 large, heavy frying pan with a tight cover (a glass cover makes frying the dumplings easier)
1 small bowl filled with water for frying

Place all ingredients except for the wrappers into a large bowl.  Mix together with your hands or a large wooden spoon until everything is incorporated together.

Gather together your other materials at a table where you can spread everything out and sit comfortably.  Take one wrapper and put a rounded tablespoon of filling onto one side.  Dip a finger into the small bowl of water and brush your wet finger at the edge of half of the wrapper (Do not go all the way around the whole wrapper, just make a half-circle).  Fold the wrapper into a half-moon shape, using the water you brushed on to act as an adhesive and close the dumpling into a half-moon shape.  (A lot of people pleat the top skin to make a pretty fan, but I really can't be bothered with such nonsense when I'm making a bazillion little dumplings).

After you've made one dumpling, lay it on the lined tray and repeat until you're out of filling.

If you would like to eat the dumplings immediately, begin the frying process, or keep the dumplings in the refrigerator/freezer until ready.  (Make sure your dumplings are in a single layer so that they don't stick together).

To fry, heat a few tablespoons of canola oil in the frying pan over medium high heat.  Place the dumplings onto the pan in a single layer, arranging them in rows.  Once the bottom of the dumplings are slightly cooked but before they turn golden, pour about 1/3 to ½ cup of cold water over the dumplings, making sure that all tops of the dumplings are moistened.  Cover the pan and cook until the dumplings are transparent.  Remove the dumplings from the pan onto a serving platter, fried side up.  Serve with Potsticker Sauce.

Note:  Major Obvious likes his potstickers fried and crunchy on both sides, so after the potstickers are transparent, I will lift the cover, flip the potstickers with wooden chopsticks, and let them crisp up on the other side.  The traditional way to eat them, however, is crunchy on one side and soft on the other.  The choice is yours!

Potsticker Sauce
1 bottle soy sauce
1 bottle sesame oil
1 bottle hot chili oil

Give your guests their own little sauce dishes and encourage them to make their own potsticker sauce to their own liking, by mixing the soy sauce, sesame oil and hot chili oil.  (Some guests may choose to forgo the hot chili oil altogether).

I like to make a big, big batch of these and freeze them for convenience food at later times.  To do so, place your tray of potstickers in the freezer.  Once frozen, place the potstickers in a large, labelled freezer storage bag.  Potstickers will keep for 6 weeks.