Orange Beef.....made during a pandemic

This NYT's recipe by Sam Sifton is not really a pandemic-style recipe aside from the fact that it can be served up on some of your stockpiled rice. However, it does demonstrate how you can switch up, or leave out ingredients altogether, and still produce something tasty. Remember, perfectionism impedes progress.

Ingredients:
For the Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1 & 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced (Didn't have, so used some ground ginger)
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced (Didn't have, didn't use)
• 2 tablespoons orange zest, plus the juice of one orange
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup rice vinegar (Didn't have, so used cider vinegar)
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

For the Beef:

• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 boneless rib-eye steak, approximately 1 to 1 1/2 pounds, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ¼ cup neutral oil
• 6 scallions, white and green parts cut into inch long pieces and separated
• 2 to 4 dried red chiles, or to taste (Didn't have, so used some dried pepper flakes)

Methods:

Make the sauce first. Heat the oil in a small sauce pan set over medium-high heat. When it begins to shimmer, add the ginger, jalapeño and orange zest and stir to combine. Sauté the mixture until the ingredients soften, approximately 2 to 3 minutes, then add the garlic and continue cooking until it softens, approximately 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add the orange juice, brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce and fish sauce to the pan and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and reduces by half.

Meanwhile, prepare the meat by combining the egg white, cornstarch and salt in a bowl. Add the steak, and toss it to coat with the batter.

In a large skillet or wok set over high heat, heat the oil until it shimmers, then add the beef in a single layer and cook without stirring until the bottoms of the pieces are crisp and golden, approximately 60 to 90 seconds. Add the white pieces of scallion and chiles to the pan, then turn the beef pieces over and cook the other sides, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes more for medium-rare. Transfer the meat to a platter, then pour the orange sauce into the pan, let it boil and stir it as it thickens. Add back the meat and white scallions and stir to coat with the sauce. Scatter the dish with the green parts of the scallions when serving it up over the stockpiled white rice. 

French Canadian Tourtiere

I've posted this holiday recipe previously. It's very Canadian and very seasonal, so I'm posting it again. 

I bought a very expensive tourtiere from a high-end food shop to serve during the holidays. It had little flavour and a difficult texture. There had to be a better way.

According to the Laura Secord Canadian Cookbook, this French Canadian specialty was originally prepared with passenger pigeon (tourtes). As a child, I read a fictionalized account of the final days of the last passenger pigeon and it just about did me in. It was not until adulthood that I had any idea that my favourite pork pie had any relationship to a now extinct bird.

These days either minced pork or a mixture of different meats is used to make this savoury pie. Many people serve tourtiere on Christmas Eve, but our family often served it on New Year's Eve or on the first day of the new year, (along with oyster stew). This is really wonderful served with chutney and a green salad with an acidic dressing.

Just try not to think about the pigeons.

Ingredients:

• enough pastry for a 2-crust, 9 inch pie

• 3 potatoes

In a heavy 3 quart saucepan combine the rest of the ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 pounds of ground pork 

• 1 small onion minced

• 1/2 cup of boiling water

• 1 clove of garlic, chopped

• 1&1/2 teaspoons of salt

• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt

• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage

• pinch of ground cloves

Methods: 
Cook the meat mixture over a low heat, stirring constantly until it loses its redness and about half of the liquid has evaporated. Cover and cook for 45 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, boil and mash 3 medium sized potatoes. Mix the mashed potatoes into the meat mixture and cool.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Roll out half the dough and line a deep 9-inch pie plate with pastry. Fill with the cooled meat mixture and cover with the remaining dough. Seal the edges and make a cut in the top crust with a sharp knife. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. and bake for 30-40 minutes longer. Makes 6 to 7 servings.

Nigella Lawson's Tarragon Chicken

Here is another easy and delicious recipe from Britain's domestic goddess of yore, Nigella Lawson. I should caution that while it is easy, this dish will be delicious only to those who enjoy the flavour of tarragon.

Ingredients:

• one 3- to 4-pound chicken
• ¾  cup chopped fresh tarragon
• juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
• ½  cup olive oil
•  Malden salt or other flaky sea salt

Methods: 
Butterfly the chicken by placing it breast-side down and, using kitchen shears, cutting along both sides of backbone and through small rib bones. Place the chicken in a large ziplock bag, and add 1/2 cup tarragon, the lemon juice and zest, and olive oil. Ensure that the chicken is well-coated and refrigerate it for at least 1/2 hour and up to 24 hours.

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees F. and hope that it is clean. Otherwise, you will end up testing your smoke alarms. Place the chicken in a roasting pan, spread it flat, breast side up and roast until skin is crisp and golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

Sprinkle it with salt to taste, and cut into 8 serving pieces. Transfer to a platter, and garnish with remaining tarragon. Yummy.

Pork with White Beans and Winter Greens

This one-pot supper of Italian-style pork and beans is adapted from a recipe provided by food columnist Lucy Waverman, when she actually acted as a food columnist. Recently, she has been relegated to more of  food trivia columnist. 

I'm sure that her more rigorous approach to re-hydrating dried cannellini beans would yield a more authentic dish. My approach (using canned white kidney beans) was way faster and still got rave reviews. I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. So, the photo you see above is taken from the Oct 24, 2015 edition of the Globe & Mail. It's all Lucy's.  

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of white kidney beans (very well rinsed and drained)
• 1 and 1/2 pounds of pork shoulder, cut in 1 inch cubes
• several sprigs of thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp. slivered sage leaves (I used 3 sprigs of rosemary instead)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• lemon juice
• 6 cups thinly sliced kale (or other bitter greens)

Methods:
Season the pork with salt, pepper and thyme. Heat oil in large sauté pan or heavy pot over high heat and sear 1 minute per side or until browned. Remove to a plate and reserve. Reduce heat to medium and add onions. Cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and slivered sage ( or rosemary)  and continue to cook until the garlic is softened, about 1 more minute. Stir in the beans and pork. Add stock to the pot and return the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot and then reduce heat to a simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Add the sliced kale to the pot. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes or until the greens are wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste and a spritz of lemon juice.

Brined Pork Chops from the New York Times Cooking Column

These brined chops were moist and flavourful,  although slightly too salty for my taste. The NYT recipe called for fennel as an accompaniment, which I think would be delicious. I only had onions so that's all I used. It also called for allspice berries. I'm not exactly sure where one finds allspice berries. Perhaps in New York city.

Ingredients for the Brine:

• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 6 allspice berries, crushed
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
•  2 bone -in pork chops, about 12 ounces each

Ingredients for the Pork Chops:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced 1/4 inch think
• 3 or 4 trimmed fennel bulbs, sliced 1/4 inch thick (that's a lot of fennel )
• salt and papper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• a few fennel fronds

Methods: 

Make the brine by mixing 4 cups of water into the brine ingredients. Put the pork chops in a glass or plastic container and submerge the chops in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove the chops and pat them dry. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. 

Place a skillet on high heat and add the olive oil. Brown the chops for 3 minutes per side, then remove the chops from the pan. Reduce the heat to medium high and add the onion and fennel. Season with salt and pepper and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes. Stir in the fennel seed and garlic and turn off the heat. 

Lay the chops on top of the fennel mixture and place the pan in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

When you serve the fennel-onion mixture and chops, sprinkle them with parsley and garnish with fennel fronds.  

Braised Beef with Feta Gremolata

If you like very well done beef, this recipe is for you. This comes to you from the Dairy Farmers of Canada. These are the individuals who produce the feta cheese portion of this recipe. Interestingly, the feta gremolata gives the rather stodgy flavour of the beef a substantial lift, elevating it to a fairly interesting cold weather dish. 

 Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 pounds boneless beef blade roast ( I used a 3-pounder instead)
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 leeks (slice up the white parts only into 1/2 cm. discs)
• 1 blonde beer
• 1 bay leaf

For the gremolata:

• 1 cup of feta cheese crumbled
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• 1-2 tsp lemon zest ( I also added a tablespoon or 2 of lemon juice)
•  2 tsp pink peppercorns, crushed (or not, if you don't have these on hand)
• 1 chopped clove of garlic

Methods:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. In a Dutch oven, (or other heavy pot with a tight fitting lid), melt the butter  on high heat and brown the meat on all sides. Season generously with salt and pepper, then pour the beer over the beef and top the roast with the leeks Cover the pot and roast in the oven for 2.5 hours.

Prior to serving, mix the ingredients for the feta gremolata in a bowl. 

To serve, place a serving of leeks on a plate, top with a slice of meat and garnish generously with the gremolata.

Gigot de Sept Heures... Yep, that's seven hour lamb

I've forgotten in which publication I found this recipe but I do know that its author is a fellow by the name of David McMillan. No one will ever accuse you of under cooking this lamb. A very tasty one-pot wonder.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups dry navy beans

• one 5 to 6 pound lamb leg

• 4 cloves garlic, 2 of which are sliced

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 Tbsp kosher salt

• pepper to taste

• 3 onions sliced

• 5 carrots cut into 2 inch pieces

• 2 ribs of celery cut into 2 inch pieces

• 2 bay leaves

• approximately 2 cups water

• 1 Tbsp tomato paste

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Place the dry beans in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Set aside.

Using a sharp knife cut slits in the lamb leg and insert the pieces of sliced garlic (2 cloves). Combine the olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl and rub the resultant paste all over the lamb leg.

Place the remaining 2 garlic cloves and the vegetables in a roasting pan that is just larger than the leg. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaves and about 1 cup of water to the pan. Place the leg of lamb on the vegetables and roast for 1 hour at 375 degrees F.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 280 degrees F. Drain the beans and add them to the bottom of the pan along with the tomato paste and return everything to the oven. Continue roasting for another 6 hours or so, checking to make sure the bottom of the pan does not dry out. Add water in half cup increments as necessary.  About halfway through the roasting, grasp the leg by its bone and flip it to ensure even browning. Continue roasting until the lamb is deeply browned on all sides and the beans are tender.

Flank Steak Tacos

This is my take on a recipe for seared salmon tacos that I ripped out of the May 2015 edition of REALSIMPLE while at my hairdresser's. I'm not totally uncouth by the way, I did ask for permission before removing it from the magazine. 

So last night I served my husband half a seared flank steak and decided to keep the other half for these tacos. They had a nice crunch and were tasty, not spectacular, but definitely crunchy and tasty. Lunchworthy.   

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon brown sugar

• leftover (rare) flank steak sliced thinly (about 12 ounces)

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

• 2 teaspoons hot sauce (Sriracha is fine, and seemingly very trendy, but any hot sauce will do)

• 2 baby cucumbers sliced

• 1/4 cup sliced scallions

• 1/2 cup of raw julienned carrots

• a small amount of red cabbage finely sliced

• 6 small corn tortillas, warmed

Methods:
Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and place in a 250 degree F. oven until warmed through. Alternatively, you can warm each tortilla individually in a skillet on the stove. Combine the soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl. Pour half the dressing over the already cooked and sliced steak. Reserve the remaining dressing. Then combine the mayonnaise and hot sauce in a small bowl. Quickly re-heat the leftover steak in a non-stick skillet. Divide the steak, carrots, scallions and sliced cucumber and cabbage between the warmed tortillas. Spoon on as much of the spicy mayo as you prefer and drizzle with a smidge of the reserved dressing (or not). Then roll 'em up and serve. 

Tortillas ready to pop in the oven. They appear to be floating over the countertop towards the oven....that's what happens in my magical kitchen.
 

Now lunchworthy

The Humble Meatloaf

I’ve been making up meatloaf recipes with varying degrees of success for years; just ask my husband. Tonight's edition was simple but remarkably effective. The secret ingredient was couscous, which took the place of the more frequently used breadcrumbs. My husband doesn't like couscous. He calls it foufou. But what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

Ingredients:

• somewhat over a pound of lean ground beef (I had 1.2 pounds available so that's what I used)
• 1/3 cup of homemade or other good quality tomato-based chili sauce 
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 tablespoons of uncooked couscous
• Salt and pepper to taste - you must use enough seasoning in meatloaf
• Smoky barbecue sauce to drizzle on top

Methods:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together all ingredients (except the barbecue sauce) until well combined. You might need to get your hands dirty to get things really well mixed. Grease a loaf pan and pack in the meat mixture. If you don’t own a loaf pan simple shape the meat into a loaf-like shape and place it on any greased flat baking sheet with a bit of a lip. Drizzle your favourite barbecue sauce over the top. Bake for around 40 minutes or until juices run clearish, or at least, not pink.. Meatloaf is not something you want to serve rare, and it needs to be firm enough to slice properly. Drain excess juices from the pan. Cover the cooked loaf and allow it to sit for around 10 minutes before slicing and serving.