Classic Dishes Wrap Up

Friday's lasagna wrapped up a month-long focus on "classic" dishes, a theme I used loosely in different ways:

• I explored classic dishes by notable chefs: A Beef Stew by Jacques Pepin, Bolognese Lasagna from a recipe by Marcella Hazan, and a Spice-Brined Roast Chicken inspired by local Palena chef Frank Ruta. None of these are fast dishes; they all took hours to make (and 2 days in the case of the chicken), but they are all good examples of the value of time in developing flavors. The hours were well worth it.
• I looked for ways to update two once popular dishes that have fallen out of vogue: Fish Almondine, which I made with grouper, styled after a dish recently served at Poste, and Beef Stroganoff, which I tried to take back to its simpler Russian and French roots, as well as push forward with a mashed potato base inspired by Range. The almondine may fade into history, but the stroganoff was quite tasty.
• I updated three classic salads with fresher, lighter ingredients: a Smoky Waldorf Salad with a vinaigrette dressing, Cobb Salad with honey-smoked almonds instead of bacon, and a Wilted Spinach and Bacon Salad that uses warm ingredients instead of hot bacon fat to wilt the greens. 
• I had one week focused on bacon as a classic versatile ingredient for salad (aforementioned Wilted Spinach Salad, soup (Smoky Pinto Bean with Red Wine and Sweet Potato), pasta (Smoky Trofie with Mushrooms), risotto (Bacon-Mushroom Risotto) and a cocktail (an Old Fashioned made with bacon-infused bourbon). One the great things about bacon is how much flavor it can impart to a dish, even in small quantities.
• For a vegetarian dish, I made a Red Lentil Stew with unusual inspiration: it's based on the dish a main character makes in the novel Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach.
• In addition to the bacon Old Fashioned, other cocktails for the month included the Gin Tonic, Spain's sophisticated update of the class G&T, the Singapore Sling, an old drink that really shines with quality ingredients (no sour mix) and the resurgent use of shrub in cocktails (specifically grapefruit). 
• For dessert, I included a simple classic that never goes out of style: Apple-Pear Crisp. Although it feels at home in the fall, it's good any time of year.

Lasagna, Bolognese Style

One of the great things about lasagna is how versatile it is. Last summer, I made a lasagna with seasonal vegetables, and at some point I hope to share with you my favorite fall version with roasted butternut squash, sage and goat cheese.

The version of lasagna most Americans know is the Italian-American one made with meat-tomato sauce and lots of cheese--ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan. Wanting to discover a more traditionally Italian method of making the dish, I went searching for a recipe by Marcella Hazan, widely credited as one of the foremost authorities on traditional Italian cooking.

I wished I'd had the foresight to just buy her cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, which I did pick up recently but not until after making the lasagna. Had I done so, I might have used homemade spinach noodles instead of the dried store-bought variety, which she says may save time but "you will be sadly shortchanged by the results." Er...sorry Ms. Hazan. Just don't use the "no boil" type, which I've not had good luck with unless the sauce is pretty thin, since they need the moisture to work right.

Regardless of how it could have been with homemade pasta, this lasagna was really quite good. Hazan's lasagna uses a bolognese sauce, which is like the meat-tomato Americans are familiar with but richer and made with more vegetables. Tomatoes are a component, rather than dominant. Instead of ricotta, the layers of pasta are spread with a thick béchamel. There's still plenty of parmesan, and I didn't miss the mozzarella.

The steps for making the béchamel were different than what I'm used to. Normally, when I make béchamel for mac & cheese, I add the milk all at once and whisk it with the butter and flour until it's thick. Here, the milk is added and whisked in gradually, which at first makes dough, but eventually with all the milk added makes a thick, rich sauce with the consistency of sour cream.

Carefully apportion your ingredients when you're ready to layer them. You don't want to run out of sauce before all the noodle layers are down.

Like many dishes that have been around a very long time, the exact origin of lasagna is not clear, although it probably comes from ancient Greece. Of course back then, it wouldn't have had any tomatoes in it, since tomatoes are native to the Americas. I used half a can of Cento San Marzano peeled tomatoes, which are whole plum tomatoes canned in a thick tomato sauce. I froze the leftover tomatoes and sauce for later use.

Some deviations below from the original recipe:

• As discussed above, I used regular dried lasagna noodles instead of homemade spinach noodles.
• I used 1 lb. of ground beef instead of 3/4 lb.
• The original béchamel uses 3 cups of milk, 6 tbsp. of butter, 4 1/2 tbsp. flour and 1/4 tsp. salt.
• I used a little more parmesan at 1 cup than the 3/4 cup in the recipe.
• Hazan dots the lasagna with butter before baking it, which I omitted.

Lasagna, Bolognese Style
Adapted from Baked Green Lasagna with Meat Sauce, Bolognese Style by Marcella Hazan from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Makes 12 servings

1 lb. lasagna noodles (should be 18 noodles)
Salt
Butter (for greasing baking dish, about 1/2 tsp. should be enough)
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Bolognese sauce:
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used half a sweet onion)
2/3 cup chopped celery (about 2 celery ribs)
2/3 cup chopped carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
1 lb. ground beef (recipe says "not too lean" so I used 90%)
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
1 cup whole milk
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
1 1/2 cups canned Italian peeled tomatoes cut up with their juice (this is about half a 28 oz. can; I used Cento San Marzano brand)

Béchamel:
2 cups whole milk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
Salt

Make the bolognese sauce (takes about 4 hours, so plan ahead):

1. Heat a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add butter and onion and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add celery and carrot and cook another 2 minutes. Add ground beef, salt and pepper to taste. Cook the beef until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.

2. Add milk and simmer, stirring frequently until it has bubbled away completely (takes about 10-15 minutes). Stir in nutmeg. Add wine, simmer until evaporated (another 15 minutes or so), then add the tomatoes. When the mixture begins to bubble, turn the heat way down and cook uncovered at a very low simmer for 3 hours (yes this is a very long time, and even though the liquid will evaporate, the fat keeps this somewhat moist. That said, if it looks too dry, add a little water. Check it every 20 minutes or so). Don't proceed to the next steps until you're about 30 minutes from putting this in the oven, as the bechamel does not take long and you don't want it sitting around.

3. Preheat oven to 400 F with rack in second from top position (about 6 inches from top).

4. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.

Make the béchamel:

5. Heat milk in medium saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling (alternatively, and to avoid dirtying yet another pot, heat it in the microwave in a glass measuring cup).

6. Heat butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. When melted, whisk in flour. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Do not brown flour. Remove from heat. Add 2 tbsp. hot milk and whisk to incorporate. Continuing adding and whisking in milk in 2 tbsp. increments until half the milk is incorporated. Then add 1/2 cup at a time util all the milk is whisked in.

7. Place saucepan over low heat, add salt and cook stirring constantly until thickened (should be thick like sour cream).

Assemble and bake lasagna:

8. Coat the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish with butter. Spread 1 tbsp. of bechamel over butter. Lay down a layer of noodles (with standard lasagna noodles, 3 laid the long way should be enough for one layer, so with 18 noodles, plan to make 6 layers; with homemade noodles, you may need to do some cutting, be sure not to overlap noodles within a layer). Combine bolognese with remaining bechamel. Spread a layer of sauce on the noodle layer (aim to use about 3/4 cup of sauce per layer). Spread about 2 tbsp. of Parmesan over sauce. Repeat layering (noodles, sauce, parmesan), finishing with the extra parmesan on top. Bake until bubbly on the sides and golden on top, about 15 minutes, maybe a little more.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Cut into 12 squares and serve carefully to retain stacked shape.

Cocktail: Singapore Sling

A friend of mine recently returned from a trip to Southeast Asia. To welcome him back, I made Singapore Slings, invented (in Singapore, appropriately) in 1915 by hotel bartender Ngiam Tong Boon. Washington Post spirits columnist Jason Wilson wrote a nice piece about the drink a couple years ago, so I won't rehash all the good history he covered, except to note that the drink most people call a Singapore Sling may have actually originated as the Straits Sling, with the original Singapore Sling being a far simpler drink of gin, cherry brandy, lemon juice and cherry.

In writing about the drink in 2011, Jeff Burkhart calls the Slingapore Sling "a virtual mosaic of European colonialism," citing the British, Danish, French and German origins of its ingredients. He also recounts how the drink devolved to just gin, grenadine and sweet and sour mix by the 1980s, but its fresher form has enjoyed a revival with the current interest in mixology.

I like the recipe from PDT. This isn't as simple as the one Wilson identifies as the original version, but it has a nicely balanced list of fresh ingredients far better than what Burkhart saw in the 1980s.

Singapore Sling
Adapted from The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan

2 oz. pineapple juice
1 1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. cherry heering (I used Cherry Kijafa)
1/2 oz. grenadine
1/4 oz. Cointreau (orange liqueur)
1/4 oz. Bénédictine liqueur
1/4 oz. lime juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry and pineapple, mint sprig or citrus garnish

Combine all ingredients (except garnish) in a shaker with ice. Shake until cold and strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and pineapple (the PDT recipe) or other combinations.

Traditional Beef Stroganoff

If Beef Stroganoff could be the subject of a biographical film, it would be a grand epic, spanning decades, continents and wars. It would have its moments of tragedy, a little infidelity (bear with me on that one) and possibly a downer ending: Daily Meal included it on its recent list of 11 dishes disappearing from restaurant menus.

Sirloin is a tender, lean cut good for Beef Stroganoff because the dish is not cooked long. Be careful not to overcook it, or it will become tough.

Like the Grouper Almondine, I wanted to explore whether Beef Stroganoff is worthy of a new chapter. My impression of the dish is that it is not haute cuisine: chunks of beef mixed with sour cream and served over noodles sounds rather dowdy frankly. But when I looked into its background, I learned that it has a surprisingly rich history.

Sirloin, cut into 2-inch strips prior to searing.

The dish emerged in Russia during the 19th century and is likely named for Russian statesman Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov, as was the fashion to name a dish after the household it was created for. Sources say the exact origins of the dish are unconfirmed. Some point to French chef Charles Briére, who was working in St. Petersburg and submitted it for publication in L’Art Culinaire in 1891. Other sources indicate the dish was in the Stroganov family for some time and appeared in the 1861 Russian cookbook A Gift to Young Housewives by Elena Ivanovna Molokhovets. Regardless, I like to imagine this is the sort of thing Anna Karenina would have sat down to eat at dinner.

After the subsequent fall of the Russian aristocracy, the dish traveled to China, where it was popular in restaurants and hotels prior to World War II. Immigrants and American military personnel stationed abroad brought the dish back to the United States, where its popularity grew and peaked during the 1950s, ironic considering this was also the height of the Cold War. This is also when the once elegant dish became troubled. High costs of meat during the war sent cooks in search of cheaper, lesser quality cuts. American home cooks looking for shortcuts turned to the burgeoning processed food industry, leading to recipes for Beef Stroganoff that included ingredients like cream of mushroom soup and ketchup. Anna Karenina would not have been happy.

Because the meat will be heated again, it does not need to be fully cooked during the searing step.

For my take on the dish, I wanted the honor the dish’s history, taking it back to a more traditional form. I was intrigued by its French origins. Blogger Jennifer Eremeeva (from Dividing My Time; she now writes Russia Lite and The Moscovore) describes Beef Stroganoff as an adaptation of beef fricassee and offers a good traditional recipe. For my dish, I turned to the definitive American voice on French cuisine for ideas.

In Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child describes Sauté de Boeuf à la Parisienne as a French version of Beef Stroganoff. Perfect! The recipe’s simplicity is what drew me to it to use as the blueprint for my dish. Although her book is notorious for its hours-long recipes, this one is surprisingly quick—she claims it can be done in 30 minutes. And it uses just 12 ingredients, including salt and pepper. I also used elements of the recipe by America’s Test Kitchen, which is always a useful source for good technique.

Instead of flour or cornstarch, I thickened the sauce with arrowroot powder which is less cloudy and has little flavor.

Although commonly served in the United States with noodles, sources I reviewed indicated that the original Russian version would have been served over fried potato straws (see, I told you there was infidelity in this story). For my dish, I wanted to reunite Stroganoff with its original partner, although I chose mashed potatoes (and a modern take on mashed potatoes at that). I am grateful to sources Beef Stroganoff.Net, Christine’s Pantry, Jennifer Eremeeva, WikiBooks and Wikipedia for the historical information presented here.

Traditional Beef Stroganoff
Adapted from Sauté de Boeuf à la Parisienne from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and Skillet Beef Stroganoff by America’s Test Kitchen

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 ½ lb. sirloin steak, pounded to ½ inch thickness and cut into strips 2 inches long by ½ inch wide.
12 oz. sliced cremini mushrooms
Seasoned salt, to taste
2 shallots, minced (about ¼ cup)
¼ cup madeira
3 cups beef broth
2 tsp. arrowroot powder mixed with 2 tsp. waster.
Fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup sour cream
Everything Mashed Potatoes (see recipe below)
2 tbsp. chopped Italian parsley (garnish)

1. Heat 1 tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear beef in batches 2-3 minutes per side, turning once, about 4-6 minutes total. Repeat until all the meat is browned. Remove meat from pan and set aside.

2. Melt 1 tbsp. butter to skillet. When foaming subsides, add mushrooms, season with seasoned salt to taste, and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add shallots and continue cooking until mushrooms and shallots are browned, about 6-7 minutes total. Remove from pan.

3. Deglaze pan with madeira, stirring to remove any remaining browned bits. Add beef broth, increase high and bring to a boil. Boil liquid until reduced by half. Reduce to medium. Return beef and mushroom mixture to pan, reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the meat is cooked but still tender, about 12-15 minutes. During the last couple minutes of cooking, add the arrowroot-water mixture and stir to thicken the sauce as it cooks. Turn heat to low. Season with fresh-ground black pepper and, if desired, additional seasoned salt. Stir in the sour cream. When heated through, turn off the heat. Serve over mashed potatoes topped with fresh chopped Italian parsley.

Everything Mashed Potatoes
Inspired by Range

We recently had Everything Mashed Potatoes as a side dish at Range, and I thought they would make a more interesting accompaniment for Beef Stroganoff than plain mashed potatoes. Apparently I’m not the only one, as an online search turned up a number of recipes. Some people got lucky and found an “everything bagel” spice blend, but since I couldn’t, I had to come up with one (which I did by studying the ingredients list of the Everything Bagel at Whole Foods).

3 large russet potatoes, unpeeled and cut in half
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. dried minced garlic
1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
¼ tsp. poppy seeds
Seasoned salt, to taste
2/3 cup milk (may use skim)
1/3 cup sour cream

Put potatoes in a large pot and fill with water until covered by 1 inch. Bring to boil and cook potatoes until easily pierced with a paring knife. Drain potatoes, allow them to cool a bit and pass through a potato ricer into a large bowl (when using a potato ricer, the potato skins should stay in the ricer). Add butter to potatoes and stir to combine. Add minced onion, minced garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and seasoned salt. Heat milk in the microwave or in a saucepan over medium heat (if you do this on the stove, heat the milk while the potatoes are cooking). Pour milk over potato mixture, add sour cream and stir to combine thoroughly.

Cobb Salad

According to The Kitchen Project, the Cobb Salad was invented in 1937 at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood by its owner Bob Cobb who, prowling for a snack, created a salad with what was on hand: lettuce, watercress, cold chicken, bacon, tomatoes, avocado, hard-boiled egg, cheese, chives and French dressing. It became very popular at the restaurant and has since become one of the most popular salads at restaurants everywhere.

Perhaps owing to its long and somewhat buffet-like list of ingredients, it's a salad that easily open to interpretation--for better or worse. Because there are so many ingredients, it can become a dumping ground for lesser quality ones under the guise that such flaws will be "masked" by everything else. However, I think a salad made with a lot of bad ingredients does not make a good salad. Too many times I've had Cobb salad with bland lettuce, not enough vegetables and too many flavors competing for attention without harmonizing. In my opinion, a good Cobb Salad needs the freshest quality ingredients and a little editing.

In that vein, there are a number of ingredients I could have included that do not appear here: tomatoes (not in season), olives, cucumber, onion and (gasp) bacon. Yes, I decided not to include the bacon. I do love bacon. After all, I just devoted a week of content to it. But I find it dominates the chicken too much in Cobb Salad. Instead, I've added my own twist: honey-smoked almonds. They provide a little crunch and smoke but with less assertiveness.

Cobb Salad

Makes 2 dinner servings

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken cutlets
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
3 cups mixed greens
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
2 hard-cooked eggs (see recipe)
3 oz. smoked blue cheese
Honey-smoked almonds (see below)

1. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and cook in the pan until cooked through and browned, about 10 minutes, turning halfway. Season with salt and pepper as they cook. Remove from pan, allow to cool a bit and cut into cubes about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide.

2. Add mixed greens to a large bowl. Whisk together remaining 2 tbsp. olive oil with vinegar and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Pour dressing over greens and toss to coat greens.

3. Divide greens between two plates. On top of greens, arrange cooked chicken, avocado, hard-cooked eggs, blue cheese and almonds.

Honey-Smoked Almonds


1/2 tsp. liquid hickory smoke flavor
1 tsp. honey
2 tsp. water

1 oz. sliced almonds

1. Combine smoke flavor, honey and water in a small bowl.

2. Toast almonds in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat until they start to turn lightly brown, about 5 minutes but watch closely to make sure they don't burn. Add the honey-smoke mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the water has dissolved. Remove from pan and allow to cool on a plate (spread the nuts out evenly on the plate, otherwise as they cool the honey will bind them into nut clusters).

Spice-Brined Roast Chicken a la Palena

Palena Café makes the best roast chicken in the country. Period. That’s a pretty big boast, but it’s true.

You might say, what about the chicken at Zuni Café? Yes, that is very good.  Chris and I had it in San Francisco 2 years ago. I love their bread salad and I make that dish all the time. But when it comes to the chicken itself, Palena’s is superior.

Okay okay, but certainly Palena’s chicken isn’t better than The NoMad’s, you’re thinking. It’s the talk of New York City with its luxurious under-skin stuffing of foie gras and truffles. Admittedly, keeping the chicken breast moist with foie gras is an interesting idea, and although we enjoyed it during our last New York trip, the whole time we kept talking about how it was good, but it wasn’t Palena. Chef Frank Ruta is just a genius with poultry.

So what makes Palena’s chicken so special? That’s the question I wanted to answer with this dish, my attempt to make a Palena-esque chicken with juicy, flavorful brined flesh and crispy browned skin.

Answering the question isn’t so easy, as Ruta has been secretive about his recipe. It’s not the one on Food & Wine, which sounds good but lacks the flavor complexity of the Palena chicken, which everyone assumes has been brined in a combination of herbs and spices. Last August, I asked Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema if he knew the secret. Sietsema went to the source who revealed that he brines a 2 ½ to 3 pound chicken in sweet spices and garlic with “more herbs in summer, more citrus in winter.” So I was partway there but not really sure what the “sweet spices” could be. Clove seemed liked a definite, maybe some cinnamon.

Thankfully, I found this lively discussion on DonRockwell.com where members have had a years-long discussion trying to crack the Palena chicken code. From this, I got lots of good intel about the possible brine ingredients and techniques from which I based my recipe. Salting the brine was a bit of an issue. I needed enough for the brine to work, since the salt is what draws moisture from the chicken, which is then replaced by the salt-rich fluid in the brine. Since I’d used ½ cup of kosher salt to brine my Thanksgiving turkey breast, I figured 1/3 cup (specifically 2 oz.) would be sufficient for the smaller chicken.

To cut the chicken in half, locate the backbone (between my fingers in the upper right),  remove the backbone by cutting on either side with kitchen shears. Then cut down the middle of the breastbone.

I’d never cut a whole chicken in half before, so I was grateful for this video that shows how to do it. I also cut the ribs out, since they were a bit sharp after I removed the backbone.

After brining the chicken for 20 hours, I took it out of the brine, rinsed it, patted it dry with paper towels and placed it on a cooling rack set in a baking sheet that I would eventually use for roasting it and let it sit in the refrigerator for 6 hours. This is an important step for helping the skin brown: allowing it to air dry, since moist meat will cook but not brown well.

Into the brine.

As a final rich touch and a nod to The NoMad, I spread truffle butter between the skin and breast and drumstick meat. I used 2 oz., but I think 1 oz. would have sufficed, since a lot of this melted and dripped off. In their Science of Good Cooking cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen, the recipe for roast chicken discusses how putting the butter between the skin and the breast meat is preferable to putting it on the skin, since the moisture in the butter inhibits browning.

Air dry the chicken in the refrigerator on a cooling rack set inside a baking sheet.

I roasted the chicken in a hot oven, covering it with foil once the skin had browned sufficiently. I’d had a blowtorch on hand for finishing this, but it proved to not be necessary. Since Palena serves their chicken with lemon-braised greens (chicory and escarole according to the server last time I was there), I served mine over braised Swiss chard with lemon.

Use your fingers to gently separate the skin from the breast meat and coat it with truffle butter.

I was generally please with how this turned out. The flavor was really good: rich and deliciously spicy not unlike what you get at Palena. The skin crisped nicely too. The only thing I wasn’t happy about was how the skin pulled back off the breast meat, probably a result of being cut and then shrinking as it cooked. However, since the breast meat was sufficiently juicy from the brine, this didn’t cause it to dry out. Overall, I’d say this was a definite score. If you’re a fan of Palena’s chicken, you might enjoy giving this a try. And if you’re not a fan of the chicken, you must not have had it yet.

Ready for the oven.

Spice-Brined Roast Chicken
Inspired by Frank Ruta’s Palena Roast Chicken with much input from the contributors to the DonRockwell.com Palena Chicken Project discussion

1 2 ½ to 3 pound organic chicken
5 cloves
10 cardamom pods, crushed
2 tbsp. black peppercorns
½ tbsp. juniper berries
½ tbsp. allspice berries
3 star anise
1 tbsp. fennel seeds
1 cinnamon stick (broken in half)
1 tbsp. mustard seeds
2 oz. kosher salt (about 1/3 to ½ cup)
1/3 cup sugar
3 large bay leaves
½ tbsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
½ vanilla pod (about 3 inches), split down the middle
1 garlic head, cloves peeled and smashed
4-5 sprigs of fresh tarragon
2 tbsp. honey
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 quarts water
2 tbsp. truffle butter (may use unsalted butter), softened at room temperature
Olive oil
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper

1. Combine cloves, cardamom pods, peppercorns, juniper berries, allspice berries, star anise, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick pieces and mustard seeds in a quart-size sealable plastic bag. Place on a flat surface and crush with the back of a large, heavy frying pan. Transfer coarsely crushed spices to a 4-quart saucepan.

2. In a 4-quart saucepan, heat 2 cups of water over medium-low heat to simmer (do not boil). While water heats, add the crushed spices, salt, sugar, bay leaves, thyme, nutmeg, vanilla, garlic, tarragon, and honey. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Allow to cool. Add lemon zest and juice.

3. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Cut the chicken in half by removing the backbone and cutting down the middle of the breastbone. Discard backbone and any included giblets (or use for something else). Combine cooled spice mixture in a large (2 ½ gallon) sealable bag with 3 quarts of cold water. Add chicken halves. Seal bag and refrigerate to brine over night for about 20 hours.

4. Remove chicken from brine, rinse, pat dry with paper towels and place on a cooling rack set inside a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator to air dry for 6 hours.

5. Preheat oven to 450 F with rack in middle position.

6. Using your fingers, gently separate the skin from the breast meat, leaving it connected to form a large pocket. If you’re feeling confident, you can even reach in and separate the skin from the drumsticks. Use your fingers to smear truffle butter on the meat and move the skin back in place. Brush the outside of the skin with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

7. Place the chicken on the rack set in the baking sheet in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Check chicken. If skin has browned sufficiently, cover with aluminum foil. If not, check again in 10 minutes and cover, if needed, to prevent burning. Reduce heat to 425 and continue roasting until instant-read thermometer reads 160-165 F, about 45 to 60 minutes total. Remove chicken from oven. Serve on top of lemon-braised greens (recipe follows).

It's always amazing how much greens reduce when they wilt.

Lemon-Braised Greens

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 bunch of Swiss chard
Salt and pepper
2 tsp. lemon zest
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Remove chard stems and cut leaves in half to make two long halves, then chop across the leaves to make pieces about 1 ½ inches wide. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add chard and sauté until wilted, about 3-4 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and lemon zest as it cooks. Add chicken broth, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer chard about 10 minutes. Remove lid, add lemon juice and continue cooking until the chard is tender, another 5 minutes. Remove with tongs or slotted spoon to leave excess moisture in pan.

Wilted Spinach and Bacon Salad

Wilted spinach with bacon dressing is a classic salad preparation for everybody’s favorite smoked pork product. The thing is, however, as much as I love bacon, bacon fat is, well, not healthy, considering that it’s 50 percent saturated fat. When using a really good bacon, is it really necessary to also use bacon grease in this dish? Could the spinach wilt another way?

These are the questions I sought to answer with this recipe. Instead of using hot fat to wilt the spinach leaves, I used other hot ingredients: sautéed onion, toasted pecans and the bacon itself. That way, I could make a healthier dressing with extra virgin olive oil.

The warm ingredients wilted the spinach nicely. Not so much that it resembled cooked spinach, but just enough to give it a softer texture. The bacon bits I added first didn’t really do much, but tossing in the hot onions and pecans right out of the pan did the trick. In addition to the traditional hard-cooked egg, I added celery for crunch and fresh mint, an idea I got from the Canlis Salad, which also has bacon.

Wilted Spinach and Bacon Salad

Makes 2 salads

2 eggs
6 oz spinach
1/4 lb bacon, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup pecan halves
1 tbsp. maple syrup
2 celery ribs, cut on a sharp angle
2-3 tbsp. fresh mint, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. smoked extra virgin olive oil (may use regular extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Fresh-ground black pepper
Grated parmigiano-reggiano

1. Place eggs in a saucepan and fill with enough cold water to cover the eggs by one inch. Heat over medium-high heat until the water boils. Remove from heat, cover and allow to rest undisturbed for 10 minutes. Remove eggs from hot water and place in ice water for about 5 minutes. Crack eggs all over and then roll on a flat surface. Peel eggs and discard shell. Slice eggs into quarters.

2. Wash and dry spinach and place in a large bowl. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat. Cook the bacon until it is browned and crispy. Drain bacon on paper towels and add to bowl and toss with spinach while still hot. Pour off most of the bacon fat, leaving a couple teaspoons. Add the red onion and sauté until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Add to bowl and toss with spinach and bacon while hot.

3. Heat a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add pecans and toast until fragrant, about 7 minutes. Add maple syrup, turn off the heat, and stir until nuts are evenly coated. Add hot nuts to bowl and toss with spinach, bacon and onions. After the salad has cooled a bit, add the celery and mint.

4. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and pepper. Add to salad and toss to combine. Serve topped with a little sprinkle of parmigiano-reggiano.

Mushroom-Bacon Risotto

Besides beans, another winning partner for bacon is mushrooms; their earthiness pairs nicely with bacon’s smoky saltiness. I’m offering two recipes today that bring this pair into focus, the Risotto below and a pasta (Trofie with Bacon and Mushrooms). This hearty risotto is a perfect for these days of waning winter.

Mushroom-Bacon Risotto

3/4 oz. package of dried chanterelle mushrooms, reconstituted according to package directions and patted dry with broth kept (about 1 cup of liquid)
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 lb. thick-cut bacon, cut into strips no wider than 1/4 inch (for this dish, I used black forest bacon from Whole Foods)
1/2 large sweet onion (or 1 small), diced
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
8 oz. shiitake mushroom, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup arborio rice
3/4 cup dry vermouth (I used a combination of vermouth and Lillet Blanc, since my vermouth bottle was almost empty)
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
Fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Combine the mushroom broth from reconstituting the chanterelles with the chicken broth and warm in a saucepan over low heat.

2. Heat a dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towel-lined plates. Remove bacon fat leaving 1 tbsp.

3. Add onion to dutch oven and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they give up their liquid and reduce in size, about 10-12 minutes (may take longer, depending on moisture--pan should be mostly dry when done). Season with salt. Add butter and rice and cook until rice turns translucent, about 3 minutes.

4. Add vermouth and cook until absorbed, stirring frequently, about 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups of broth and cook, stirring infrequently until liquid is absorbed. Add 1/2 cup of broth and continue cooking, stirring frequently and adding 1/2 cup of broth after each previous addition is absorbed, about 12-15 minutes total. Taste rice for doneness (should be “toothy” like al dente pasta). Stir in cooked bacon and parmesan. Season to taste with fresh-ground black pepper. Serve rice in bowls topped with fresh parsley.

Pigging Out on Bacon

My March classic cooking theme takes a different tact this week as I focus on recipes with a common key ingredient, that most classic of meats: bacon. I’ll be focusing on a variety dishes that use the meat in different ways, including a wonderful bean stew, risotto, pasta, soup, salad and yes, cocktails.

Bacon is basically the most amazing meat—smoky and salty with a texture that’s the perfect intersection of chewy and crispy. Although always welcome at breakfast and in sandwiches, bacon’s versatility has allowed it to find a home in every meal from dishes that satisfy with downhome simplicity to those with a great degree of culinary creativity. Recently, bacon has wormed its way into dessert, even cocktails.

Chefs are in love with it too: I see it on menus from all sorts of restaurants. Chef Josh Valentine, one of the more memorable contestants on this year’s Top Chef, was particularly known for using bacon (with results that always made me really hungry).

So loved is bacon that substitutes from soy and turkey have been created for non-meat or pork eaters. Valiant though this may be, fake bacon doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing. I’ve heard of vegetarians that, perhaps secretly, indulge in bacon as their one guilty meat pleasure. I’m not going to debate the ethics of that, although given my own love for bacon, I can sympathize. “No one but a vegan can get excited about fake bacon,” says Michael Pollan in the new issue of Lucky Peach (although he’s arguing that for environmental and societal reasons we need better meat substitutes--If they come along, I'll keep an open mind).

When I say “bacon” I’m referring specifically to the American form, which is typically cut from pork belly in strips about an inch wide, a foot long and 1/8 to ¼-inch thick with even streaks of red (meaty) and white (fatty) parts (foreigners thus call it “streaky” bacon). Fattier bacon, that is bacon with more white than red, will cook up crispier, and meatier, leaner bacon is chewier, but I think a happy medium is best.

If you can’t wait to see what bacon dishes I’ll feature this week (or just want more ideas) here are some of the best dishes I’ve made in the past with bacon:

Modernist Mac & Cheese with bacon and roasted cauliflower

• Bacon adds smoky notes and richness to soups and stews, like Jacques Pepin’s Beef in Red Wine Sauce or the bacon-enhanced broth I used to make French Onion Soup.
• Bacon adds salty complexity to vegetables sides, such as in this Broiled Salmon with White Bean, Kale and Bacon Ragout, and classic salads like the Canlis and the Wedge.
• Bacon finds a natural partner in cheese, particularly Mac & Cheese, like in this modernist version with roasted cauliflower.
• And yes, I have put bacon in dessert and it’s great, like the Maple-Bacon Ice Cream in this By The Fire sundae I made this year for Valentine’s Day.

Grapefruit Shrub Cocktails

While at my first visit to D.C's (rather fabulous) Union Market, I was lucky to get a demonstration at Salt & Sundry from Liber & Co., a small Texas-based producer of unusual cocktail ingredients, including tonic syrup and a couple varieties of shrub.

Until recently I didn't really know what shrub was, although I assumed it probably wasn't cuttings from a backyard bush (a potentially bad assumption in these days of cocktail experimentation). Shrub is an old-fashioned mixture of fruit juice, vinegar and sugar, generally as a way to preserve the fruit juice, that may or may not also contain liquor. According to Wikipedia, shrub emerged in colonial times but fell out of favor with the advent of refrigeration.

With the current interest in reviving classic cocktails, it's no surprise that shrub is becoming more common on cocktail menus (Some of the cocktails at Range, for example, include different shrubs). Liber & Co. were offering samples of their grapefruit shrub mixed with club soda, which was tart, sweet and refreshing. I used it to make the Dallas Drinks: The Judith cocktail from earlier this week, and also tried the two suggested cocktails on the Liber & Co. website.

Paradisii
From Liber & Co.

3/4 oz. grapefruit shrub
1 1/2 oz. gin
3/4 oz dry vermouth (I used Lillet Blanc, which is similar to dry vermouth but a little sweet)
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Lemon twist

Combine shrub, gin, vermouth and bitters in a cocktail glass with ice. Stir until combined and chilled and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

Fireside Fling
From Liber & Co.

This drinks calls for a flamed grapefruit peel, which is a rather exciting cocktail garnish. To make one, cut a wide slice of grapefruit peel (a coin shape works well), carefully hold the peel above the cocktail with the skin side facing the glass. With your other hand, strike a match and hold it under the peel. Quickly squeeze the peel to release its oils which will light on fire as they spray through the match flame and into the glass. Because this trick is probably best demonstrated, here's a good video.

1 oz. scotch whisky (I used a blended scotch)
3/4 oz. grapefruit shrub
1/2 oz. cherry heering
3/4 oz. Italian vermouth (i.e. sweet vermouth)
Flamed grapefruit peel

Combine scotch, shrub, cheery heering and vermouth in a shaker with ice. Shake until cold and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with flamed grapefruit peel.

Smoky Waldorf Salad

The Astoria Salad was the first recipe I posted on Cook In / Dine Out over a year ago (back when I thought flash photography and food were a good mix). This is similar in concept--a lighter, more modern version of the classic Waldorf salad--although this time I've given the dish added complexity with smoky flavors from the smoked olive oil (available from The Smoked Olive), smoked cheddar cheese and toasted walnuts spiced with smoked paprika and sweetened with a little maple syrup. I also swapped in fresh green grapes for the raisins, which are more appealing in this mayonnaise-free adaptation.

Smoky Waldorf Salad

Serves 4

3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken cutlets
Seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup walnut halves
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. maple syrup
1 granny smith apple, cored and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 cup green seedless grapes, halved
2 oz. smoked cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
2 oz. baby arugula (about 3-4 cups)

Dressing:
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Fine sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. walnut oil
1 tbsp. smoked olive oil
Pinch of soy lecithin granules (optional, to improve emulsion)

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Pat the chicken cutlets dry and sauté until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Season chicken with salt and fresh-ground black pepper as it cooks. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Chop the chicken into 1/2-inch cubes.

2. Heat a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the walnut halves and toast, stirring occasionally until fragrant, about 7-8 minutes. When almost done, sprinkle with smoked paprika then add the maple syrup and immediately stir to coat nuts evenly. Cook until the syrup has thickened and evenly coated the nuts, being careful not to overcook and burn it. Remove nuts from pan and spread out on a plate to cool.

3. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Combine the cooked chicken, toasted walnuts, apple, celery, grapes, cheddar and arugula in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Serve in small bowls.

Jacques Pepin's Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce

This is a classic that needs no messing with. Jacques Pepin’s Beef Stew with Red Wine Sauce ran in Food & Wine in April 2007 and again recently as one of the magazine’s 20 best ever recipes as part of their 35th anniversary celebration.

Food & Wine calls it the “quintessential” beef stew, and I couldn’t agree more. It’s really amazing. The dish gets its thick sauce from red wine—a whole bottle. There’s no broth or stock in this and just a little water for cooking the vegetables, which is done separately on the stove while the meat braises in the wine in the oven. There are also no potatoes, just onions and carrots, which are more flavorful choices.

This recipe is not difficult, but it takes time—about 3 hours including the prep. The longest step is roasting the meat, which takes an hour and a half. The time is important, as that’s what makes beef stew work. It’s a process of cooking tough cuts of meat in liquid at a low heat for a long time to make them tender. As such, it’s a dish that’s been around a long time, probably since the dawn of humankind.

Chuck is a traditional choice for stew, but Pepin prefers flatiron, a relatively lean cut that is quite popular these days on restaurant menus. I made a few changes myself, although more from necessity. I neglected to get pancetta while I was at the store, so I used bacon instead, which worked great. I also forgot to get parsley and just omitted that. For the wine, I chose a burgundy, which basically makes this beef bourguignon.

Jacques Pepin’s Beef Stew with Red Wine Sauce
From Food & Wine with a few minor changes

1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 lb. trimmed beef flatiron steak, cut into 8 pieces (may also use chuck)
Salt
Fresh-ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tbsp. finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
One 750-milliliter bottle dry red wine (I used a French pinot noir, a.k.a. burgundy)
2 bay leaves
1 thyme sprig
5 oz. of pancetta (neglecting to pick this up at the store, I instead used bacon)
15 pearl or small cipollini onions, peeled (a good tip here: buy them frozen and already peeled. Peeling tiny onions is a real hassle)
15 cremini mushrooms
15 baby carrots, peeled (Note that “baby carrots” here refers to small whole carrots that still have green tops, not the peeled bagged carrot sticks marketed as “baby-cut carrots”)
Sugar
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish (I omitted this only because I forgot to buy it)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In an enamel-coated dutch oven or casserole, melt the butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the meat in the dutch oven in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 8 minutes. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir to coat the meat with it. Add the wine, bay leaves and thyme, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.

2. Cover the casserole and transfer it to the oven. Cook the stew for 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is very tender and the sauce is flavorful.

3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cover the pancetta (or bacon) with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain the pancetta and slice it 1/2 inch thick, then cut the slices into 1-inch-wide lardons. (Note: I did this step in the large skillet used for step 4).

4. In a large skillet, combine the pancetta, pearl onions, mushrooms and carrots. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 cup of water and a large pinch each of sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until almost all of the water has evaporated, 15 minutes. Uncover and cook over high heat, tossing, until the vegetables are tender and nicely browned, about 4 minutes.

5. To serve, stir some of the vegetables and lardons into the stew and scatter the rest on top as a garnish. Top with a little chopped parsley, if desired.

Grouper Almondine

Yesterday I mentioned the recent Daily Meal story on 11 disappearing menu items. When I read it, I thought about why some foods lose favor with the public. Certainly I can see why French dishes with complicated cream sauces are no longer in vogue. Ever since the coming of the “nouvelle cuisine,” cooking has never been the same.

While some of the dishes look smothered by thick sauces, the trout almondine looks comparatively light. “Almondine” is actually an American misspelling of the original French “amandine,” although it’s easy to see why, since the term refers to a garnish of almonds. The fish in the article is topped with fresh green beans and almond slivers, a combination that seems like it could be very good.

Just days after reading that article, I saw Grouper Almondine on the Restaurant Week lunch menu at Poste. The fish was served with haricots vert and almonds. It didn’t look heavy, in fact, it looked quite tasty. I modeled my dish after that with some input from a Tyler Florence recipe I found on the Food Network website. Rather than slivered almonds, I used whole marcona almonds that I toasted with some honey.

Grouper Almondine
Adapted from multiple sources, including Sole Almondine by Tyler Florence for Food Network and inspired by Poste Moderne Brasserie

¼ cup marcona almonds
2 tsp. honey (plus 2 tsp. water)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. fresh green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
Kosher salt
1 lemon, zested and juiced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk (nonfat is fine)
¾ lb. grouper
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
½ tsp. arrowroot powder (optional)

1. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat. Toast marcona almonds until fragrant and lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. Combine honey and 2 tsp. water in a microwave safe bowl (or glass measuring cup). Warm in the microwave for 10 seconds and stir together. Pour over almonds, reduce heat to low, and stir until water has evaporated. Remove almonds from pan and spread on a parchment lined baking sheet to cool (spreading them out keeps them from sticking together as they dry).

2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add green beans, lemon zest and kosher salt to taste and sauté until beans are tender, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside.

3. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Pat fish dry with a paper towel. Combine flour with salt and pepper to taste on a plate. In a shallow bowl, lightly beat the egg, then whisk together with the milk. Dredge fish in the flour, then dip it in the egg mixture, allowing excess egg to drip off. Place coated fish in pan and cook about 3 minutes. Turn over carefully (I used two spatulas, flipping from one onto the other) and cook another 3 to 5 minutes until desired doneness (I like my fish pretty well cooked). Reserve drippings in pan.

4. Add garlic to pan the fish was cooked in and sauté until softened and fragrant, a couple minutes. Add the wine to deglaze the pan and cook a few minutes, stirring constantly with a spoon or whisk to scrape up the cooked bits from the pan. If desired, sprinkle with a little arrowroot powder to thicken. Turn off the heat. Stir in the lemon juice.

5. To serve, divide the cooked fish between two plates. Top each piece of fish with half the green beans, lemon-wine sauce and honey-glazed almonds.