Slow Cooked Polenta

I've done this before, but I just can't stop raving about the joy of this stuff.  This is not quick cooking polenta.  This is simply coarsly ground cornmeal that gets to soak up a lot of water.

Also, it goes perfectly with braised short ribs.  So I had to write about it again, just so you could experience them together, as it should be.

Heat up a box of stock.

Add a box of water.

This isn't rocket science, people.  The stock adds flavor, but we want to stretch out the cooking time with this one, which means we need more liquid.  So we add water.  I like to fill the empty stock vessel to retrieve any extra flavor that might still be hidden in there.

Get some good polenta. 

Stone ground is best.  Corn is essential here. 

Now I'm just bein' silly.

When the liquids boil stir in one to two cups of polenta, depending on how many people you're feeding.  And the size of your saucepan- you need some room to groove here.  In the apartment, I'd definitely only do a cup.  It expands a lot anyway.

Now, lower to a simmer, whisk occasionally, and add water when it gets thick.

Do this for a long time.  Hours.  You want those starchy grains to explode into soft globules of deliciousness.  This takes a lot of patience.

What should you do while your polenta cooks?

Enjoy the lovely spring weather we're having:

Stop and smell the roses (you know what I mean):

(Thanks Sanne, they were lovely)

Eat some cheese and crackers:

That would be aged gouda with black pepper crackers and currant jelly.  It did the trick.

I keep the polenta pretty loose until about thirty or forty minutes before I know we're going to eat.  Then I crank the heat up a bit and start stirring more frequently.  It's perfectly creamy when it's time to eat.

Which is now.

Enjoy.

Playing,
Meredith

Braised Short Ribs

This one is a Michael classic.

I've had it a few times, but never actually witnessed its creation.  This weekend that was remedied.

It's really a simple idea.  Brown the short ribs.  Sauté some veggies.  Cook everything with wine and stock.  But it's nice to see it all broken down, right.

Here are the short ribs.  They were cheap- 14 dollars for all that meat.  It's a good thing.

The veggies:

Dust the ribs with a little flour, salt and pepper:

Brown on all sides.

I like to call that one "Meathenge".

Heehee.

Open a can of tomato sauce.  You just need a bit.

After browning the meat, deglaze with some dry vermouth.

Add the veggies:

About half that little can of tomato sauce.

And when that's all reduced and thick add a cup or two of red wine.

Put the short ribs back in.

Michael got really excited about the design of this new stock box. 

When you twist the cap it perforates the aluminum seal, so it's ready to go when you open it.  No pesky pull tabs or anything.

Top the short ribs off with some stock:

And some herbs:

Pretty self explanitory...

Simmer for a long time.  Simmer for hours and hours if you have the time.  You want the meat to fall of the bones and to be incredibly tender.

When it's ready purée the veggies.

We used a food mill, but a blender or food processor would do.

Pour that goodness back into the pot and let it reduce into a nice thick sauce.

You might add a little butter to that, you know, for richness.

Our short ribs needed more time, but we were hungry, so we gave them a sear more like steak.

Serve over polenta, and possibly braised celery.

How do you make perfect polenta? 

Well I'll tell you.

Tomorrow.

Playing,
Meredith

Instant Pancake Mix

This stuff blows the box out of the water.

Not that there's anything wrong with buying a brand name pancake mix.  Generally speaking, they don't have too many weird ingredients.  The thing is, they taste pretty good.  If you want fantastic pancakes, you're just going to have to think outside the box.

This recipe is awesome because you can throw the dry ingredients together in a few seconds, and then any day of the week fresh fabulous pancakes are at your fingertips.  Just so you know this is another Alton Brown gem.  I can't get enough of that guy lately.

I simply plopped all of the ingredients into this canister and gave it a good shake.

And what is in this mix I speak of?

Sugar, salt baking powder, baking soda, and a mixture of half whole wheat pastry flour and half all purpose flour.  (The whole wheat flour would be my addition to this mix- I can't help making things just a little more wholesome.)

Once you've got your mix, you can get going on the wet ingredients.

In one bowl mix together 2 cups of buttermilk with 2 egg whites:

In a separate bowl (or coffee mug) mix together 4 tablespoons of melted butter with the two egg yolks:

Note the use of an Old South coffee cup.  Old South is a famous pancake house in my hometown Fort Worth.  These mugs are G's.

Mix the butter mixture with the buttermilk mixture:

Throw in 2 cups of your pancake mix.

Be careful not to over mix once you've added the flour mixture.

Now get your griddle nice and hot.

Give it a rub with the butter stick.

And scoop your mix, wait for those bubbles to form and give them a flip.

Note the bacon sizzling on the back burner.  I can't have pancakes without some sort of breakfast meat.

Look at this fabulous stack.

The pancakes are hearty yet fluffy.  You wouldn't know that there was any whole wheat flour in them if I didn't tell you.  I don't think I told G.  Do you think she knew?

Serve with melted butter and REAL maple syrup.  It's the only way.  Real maple syrup is an amazing unrefined sugar that people should eat much more of.  It's so much better tasting and better for you than that flavored corn syrup or chemical-laden sugar free stuff. 

 Instant Pancake Mix
from Alton Brown, adapted by a Player

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour (Or 3 cups AP and 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (check expiration date first)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake
to mix.

Use the mix within 3 months.

Ingredients

"INSTANT" PANCAKES:
2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups "Instant" Pancake Mix, recipe above
1 stick butter, for greasing the pan

Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F. Heat oven to 200 degrees F.
Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.

Check to see that the griddle is hot by placing a few drops of water onto to the griddle. The griddle is ready if the water dances across the surface.

Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)
Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and sprinkle on fruit if desired. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.

Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Hold in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 pancakes



Make your own pancake mix and become the king of breakfast.  Or queen.  Whichever you prefer.

I promise...

Playing,
Meredith

Pork with Cream Cheese Gravy

This is one from my childhood.

It's Brazilian.  I know, you totally love it when my South American roots shine through. 

First of all, this dish is supposed to be made with "lombo" which is portuguese for pork loin.  But when I was at the old Union Square Farmer's Market something caught my eye that I couldn't resist.  There is a farm museum in Queens aptly called the Queens Farm Museum.  They have recently become an actual working farm and are selling their wares at the greenmarket!  Queens is wonderfully amazingly local.

Can you believe that this exists in New York City?  It's amazing.  And when I saw a sign advertising pork fed with grains from the Brooklyn Brewery, I couldn't say no.  So this is a new venture, and they don't have a lot going on.  No pork loins, only loin chops.  AND when I tried to buy two, which seemed like a reasonable amount, the price came out to over forty bucks.  FORTY BUCKS!  So I just bought one instead.  I figured I'd sear that baby up, finish it in the oven, and slice it up.  I mean, you just need a little meat, and since this meal was pork fest, we were getting extra protein with our salad. 

Here's our chop:

There was a lot of fat.  I cooked it with it on and carved most of it off later. 

Here it is when I took it out of the oven:

It rested happily while I made the sauce.

Using the same pan I seared the pork in, I add some sliced mushrooms into the pan.

The pan was a little dry so I added some extra bacon fat from my bacon dressing.  You can obviously use butter if you don't have bacon fat.

Add a bunch of sliced scallions and sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of flour into the pan.

When that cooks out pour in water or stock.  I used water, since I already had plenty of bacony porky flavor.

Throw in 8 oz. of cream cheese.

Let that melt:

Make sure to add the drippings from the resting meat.  You won't regret it.

And serve over the sliced pork and rice.

This is an incredible easy dish.  You really should give it a try, either with the traditional loin, or a chop. 

I'll go ahead and give you the original recipe modified to my tastes.

Pork Loin with Cream Cheese Gravy
From What's Cooking in Rio, adapted by a Player

Ingredients:

2 lbs pork loin, or loin chops, 1 per 2 people
salt and pepper, and optional sage
1 bunch of scallions, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbs flour
1 c. water or chicken stock
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (I prefer reduced fat)

Recipe

Rub loin/chops with salt pepper and optional sage.  Give the chops or loin a sear and finish cooking in a 350˚ oven.  (For the chops, it will be about 15 minutes.  For the loin, more like 45 minutes.)

Using the pan drippings sauté the mushrooms until brown, and add the scallions, reserving the green tops for later.  When they're soft add the flour and cook briefly.  Whisk in the water or stock.  Then stir in the cream cheese.  Cook until just boiling.  Serve over the sliced pork and rice.


Eat it.

Playing with more pork,
Meredith

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Um, what could be better?

This was part of a wonderful pork-filled meal James, G and I shared Saturday night.  It's totally greenmarket-crazy!  See!  You can be local in March!  You just have to eat a lot of pork...

In this particular dish, that would be bacon.  They didn't have pre-sliced, so I got to chop it into nice big hunks, or lardons, as the French say.

Thinly sliced red onion:

A few button mushrooms:

Some hard boiled eggs:

Then you make a vinnaigrette with the bacon grease.  It's amazing.

I got my inspiration from the fabulous Alton Brown over at Food Network.  I highly recommend this salad.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
from Food Network

Ingredients

• 8 ounces young spinach
• 2 large eggs
• 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large white mushrooms, sliced
• 3 ounces red onion (1 small), very thinly sliced

Directions

Remove the stems from the spinach and wash, drain and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Place the eggs into an electric kettle and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Turn the kettle on. Once the water comes to a boil, the kettle will turn itself off. Leave the eggs in the water for 15 minutes. Remove and peel off the shell. Slice each egg into 8 pieces and set aside.
While the eggs are cooking, fry the bacon and remove to a paper towel to drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the rendered fat. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
Transfer the fat to a small saucepan set over low heat and whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and Dijon mustard. Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.
Add the mushrooms and the sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Add the dressing and bacon and toss to combine. Divide the spinach between 4 plates or bowls and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately.


Playing with pork,
Meredith

Cocktail Monday: Mead

Well I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

I know I did- and I have lot's to tell you about this week.  But today, it's all about the cocktail.  And well, it's not so much a cocktail as an interesting spirit.  I read about this local mead company over at Serious Eats, and after doing a little research I found that Astor Wines carried it!  Astor Wines is in my hood, so I knew I had to give it a try.

Mead is wine made out of honey.  It tastes kind of like white wine, but it also tastes very uniquely mead-y.  It might be impossible to accurately describe, so you'll probably have to go out and try some for yourself. 

It tastes best extremely cold.  In fact, I wouldn't hold it against you if you put an ice cube or two in your glass. 

It actually tastes great with the addition of a frozen strawberry.

Mead is strange, but interesting.  And local mead?  Well, you know I couldn't say no. 

Trying something new is always fun.

Playing,
Meredith

Peter Luger Vegetable Soup

Okay, it's really just regular vegetable soup, but I used some bones to add flavor, and those bones happened to be from Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn.

The Peter Luger experience is a quintessential New York one, but I have to say it was not worth the hype.  The beefiness of the steak was amazing, but it was overly charred, and that kind of ruined things.  The creamed spinach was fantastic though...

We took home the leftovers, including these two t-bones:

They'll definitely give this soup some umph.

The other players:

Veggies.  Onion, potato, celery, carrot, and cabbage.  (Of course, you can use any combination of veggies you like.)

Sautée the onion, carrot and celery.

I threw in some whole garlic cloves as well.

Add the potatoes and cabbage:

Those fabulous bones.  If  you don't have leftover steak bones, you could use bones you buy at the butcher counter- just brown them in a hot oven to give them extra flavor.

A splash of vino:

Water to cover:

A can of diced tomatoes:

Here's a nice tip:

Put your herbs and spices in a bit of cheese cloth so they're easier to remove later.  I used peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme and parsley.

Tie it up like a little package:

And nestle it into the simmering soup.

Let your soup simmer on low as long as you can.  If any scum floats up from those bones, skim it off.

I like to add noodles to my soup.

I cooked them seperately so they wouldn't get too soft.

Place your egg noodles in the bowl:

And top with the soup.

Or, of course, if you're too lazy to cook noodles, there's always sourdough bread.

Make some soup.  It'll keep that cold snap at bay.

Playing,
Meredith

Cocktail Monday: Classic Martini

It's been a while since we've had a Cocktail Monday, and on this snowy day, what could be better than a nice movie and a cocktail.

The movie?  The Thinman.  A classic detective flick with Bill Powell.

The cocktail?  A classic martini.

That's a gin martini, with much more than a spritz of dry vermouth, and orange bitters.

Old Raj is pretty good gin.  It's also pretty pricey.  Plymouth is a great martini gin as well.  The dry vermouth should be Noilly Pratt or Boissiere.  The bitters should be orange.

Check out these crazy glasses:

You put ice water in the bottom part and it continues to chill the martini as you sip.  It's a little drippy, but fun.

The recipe:

2 ounces gin
1 ounce dry vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters

Stir, don't shake, and strain into your chilled martini glass.

We garnished with olives, but you might prefer a pickled onion, or perhaps a strip of lemon peel.

The movie?  Ah yes, a fabulous cocktail flick.  This movie makes the casual drinker look like a Baptist.  Let's just say he drinks a whole lot.




Rent the whole movie, stir yourself up a martini, and enjoy.

Playing,
Meredith