Parsnip and cilantro lamb ramekins

The Goods*:

1 lamb sausage link (about 1/4 lb)

3 medium-large parsnips

1 large portabella mushroom cap

1/2 medium yellow onion

1 tbsp clarified butter**

1 clove garlic

1 large handful fresh cilantro, stems included

1 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

Sauce

1 cup water

1 tsp cilantro

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp butter

1 tsp AP flour

Set a large, well-salted pot on high heat to boil. Wash and dry the parsnips. Trim off the heads. Finely dice the parsnips (see below). Once the water comes to a boil, add the parsnip cubes. Boil the parsnips for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Slice the mushroom cap as finely as possible while still keeping the thickness even. Heat a few spritzes of olive oil on medium in a large sauté pan. Working in small batches, sear the mushroom slices. They should need about 1 minute per side. Season with kosher salt and pepper, then set aside the cooked mushrooms.

Add some (roughly one quarter) of the clarified butter to the same skillet and raise the heat to medium high. Pan fry the boiled parsnips in small batches. It is important not to crowd the pan or they will burn. Each batch should cook for roughly 3 minutes, or until some brown color develops. Set aside the browned parsnips.

Finely dice the onion half. Remove the skin from the sausage link and crumble the meat, along with some olive oil, into the same sauté pan on medium heat. After a few minutes, add the onion. Once the onion is translucent and the meat appears mostly cooked, add the garlic, cumin, and coriander. After another minute or so, deglaze the pan with 1/2 a cup of water. Add the tomato paste. Cook for a few more minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of four ramekins with the mushroom slices (see below). Finely chop the cilantro. In a large mixing bowl, combine the parsnips, onion/lamb mixture, and the cilantro. Mix well. Pack the mixture into the ramekins. Using an appropriately sized drinking glass, press the mixture down within each ramekin. Bake for 10 minutes.

Place the same skillet back on medium heat. Finely chop the cilantro. Add the water, cilantro, salt, and lemon juice. In a small bowl, cream the butter with the flour. Once the water in the pan is bubbling, add the butter/flour mixture to thicken the sauce. When the ramekins are finished, invert onto a plate and serve with the sauce. Two ramekins should feed one person.

Parsnip dicing diagram

The seared mushroom slices.

Mushrooms in the ramekins.

The lamb meets the parsnips.

The finished product!

*This was the result of yet another attempt to scrounge together dinner without another trip to the grocery store. I had a few parsnips on hand, a portabella mushroom cap, some fresh cilantro, and this lovely lamb sausage, in the hot Italian style, from Stillman's Farm.

**High-heat friendly oil can be substituted here.

Creme caramel

The Goods*:

1 cup milk

4 oz. eggs (2 large eggs)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

Caramel

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp water

Combine the water and sugar for the caramel in a small non-stick pan over medium-high heat**. Cook until the sugar has melted and browned. Carefully pour the caramel, evenly divided, into three ramekins. It should provide a 1/8" coating on the bottom of the ramekins. Allow the caramel to cool and harden into a candy.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place the ramekins in a large pyrex (or other suitable for the oven baking vessel) dish. Add water to the pyrex dish until the level is three-quarters of the way up the ramekins. Remove the ramekins and put the pyrex dish in the oven.

Combine the custard ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously until the eggs are thoroughly beaten and the mixture is well incorporated. Add the liquid to each ramekin. Place the ramekins in the pyrex dish in the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the custard is almost set. Remove from the oven and cool. Once the ramekins are at room temperature, refrigerate for several hours before serving.

To serve, use a butter knife to cut along the edge of the ramekin wall. Place a small plate over the ramekin upside down, then invert both. The custard should slip out with

*Yet another item straight out of Ratio.

**The first time I tried this, I was scared to death of somehow burning the sugar. Of course, that is exactly what you are trying to do here. Caramel is burnt sugar. If the heat is too low, the water will simply cook off before the sugar has browned, leaving behind an ugly white paste.

Pear and cilantro roast pork tenderloin

The Goods*:

1.5-ish lb pork tenderloin

1 medium-sized d'anjou pear

1 star anise pod**

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp ground coriander

2 cups water

1 shallot

1 tsp chopped cilantro

2 tsp chopped cilantro stems

1 tbsp butter/1 tbsp flour

Brine

2 liters (2 kg) water

100 grams kosher salt

10 cloves garlic

2 medium-sized d'anjou pears

1 heaping bunch cilantro

2 bay leaves

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp peppercorns

1 bunch thyme

Add the brine water (warm from the tap) to a large container. Add the salt. Stir the water until the salt dissolves. Slice the pears and smash the garlic cloves. Add the garlic, pear slices, and the remaining ingredients to the brine. I brined the pork for 8 hours, but I'd recommend, if time is alloted, to brine overnight.

The third pear is used as a base for the sauce. Peel the off the skin and slice the pear in half length-wise. Thinly (less than 1 cm) slice each pear half. Add the pear slices, salt, sugar, anise pod, ground coriander, and water to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. The pears should soften considerably; some will begin to fall apart and the water will thicken a bit.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. After brining, rinse off any stuck on peppercorns or thyme sprigs. Thoroughly pat the meat dry with a few paper towels. Trim off the silver skin and any loose fat. Add a bit of sunflower oil to an oven-proof heavy sauté pan and set on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the tenderloin. Seer until all sides are browned, or about 4 minutes total. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 18 minutes at 400 F. When the meat is done, remove it from the pan. Place the meat on a plate and cover with aluminum foil.

Slice the shallot. Mince the cilantro leaves and stems finely. Add some olive oil to the now meat-less sauté pan and set back on the stove on medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook until the they are translucent. Remove the star anise from the pear/water solution and deglaze the shallot pan with it. Add the cilantro leaves and stems. Once this begins to simmer, add the butter/flour mixture to thicken it. Slice the meat and serve the sauce over it.

The pear/water solution

Searing the meat!

*This is the third pork tenderloin that I've cooked in the last month! This incarnation is very similar to this one. This pork happens to be locally sourced, from Stillman's farm, in Hardwick Massachusetts.

**I've recently discovered that star anise, cilantro, and coriander are an amazing flavor combination (Yes, the continent of Asia has been on to this one for a long time, but hey). This happens to also really bring out the somewhat subtle flavor of (admittedly unripe) pears.

Dressed up Annie's #3

The Goods:

1 box Annie's Mac and Cheese

1/2 doz. crimini mushrooms

1 medium-sized leek

1 15 oz can black beans

1/4 cup St. Andre cheese*

1/4 cup Trader Joe's Light Mexican Shredded Cheese Blend**

1 sprig parsley

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

Place a medium saucepan three-quarters full of water on high heat. Add a spritz of olive oil to a sauté pan; place on medium heat. Wash and slice the mushrooms. Finely dice the leeks and mince the parsley. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms for a few minutes, until they brown. Then add the leeks. Season with salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, and chili powder. Once the leeks are translucent, deglaze the pan with a bit of water. Add the beans. Cook on high until almost all of the water is driven off.

Cook the Annie's per the box directions. Finely dice the St. Andre. After draining the pasta, add the bean/leek/mushroom mixture, the milk (per box directions, about 2 tablespoons), both cheeses, and the parsley. Place the pot back on the semi-hot (and off) burner and mix until all of the cheese has melted.

*This cheese is incredible. Its like Brie on creamy, delicious steroids.

**Obviously, I'm trying to empty the fridge of random things.

Kimchi

The Goods*:

1 large Nappa cabbage

1 head** garlic

1 small piece of fresh ginger

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup Sriracha chili sauce

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried thai chilis

1 tsp red chili flakes

1 bunch green onions

1 medium daikon

1 tsp table sugar

Brine

2 kg (liters) water

100 grams kosher salt

Prepare the brine in a large container. Slice the cabbage in half lengthwise; then, slice each half into three pieces. Discard the hard portion near the base of the cabbage. Brine the sliced cabbage for 2 hours with a plate or other weight on top to keep the vegetables submerged.

Thinly slice the green onions (including the green portion). Grate the daikon on a box grater. Trim the skin from the ginger and finely mince it. Finely mince each clove of garlic from the head. In a mortar, grind the thai chilis. Combine the onions, daikon, ginger, garlic, thai chilis, Sriracha, red pepper flakes***, sugar, fish sauce, and rice wine vinegar in a large mixing bowl.

After the cabbage has finished brining, drain in a large colander. Wrap the cabbage in a paper town and squeeze out any residual liquid (a salad spinner could also be used). Add the cabbage to the mixing bowl containing the other ingredients. Mix by hand. Add the mixture to a large highly seal-able glass jar or other container. Store in a cool (room temperature is fine) dark place for two days. Check the cabbage after two days. If there are bubbles forming in the liquid space, then the fermentation is on. If not, give it one to two more days. After the fermentation begins, store the jar in the refrigerator. Apparently the shelf life of kimchi is three weeks before it becomes over-fermented.

The cabbage brines.

The non-cabbage ingredients.

Let the fermenting begin!

*Adapted from David Lebovitz.

**Yes, that is correct, not a clove, a whole head of garlic. Peeling and chopping each clove is kind of tedious, but definitely worth it.

***This preparation results in face-meltingly-hot kimchi. If face-meltingly-hot is not your jam, then I'd suggest paring down the hot ingredients.

Fresh pasta

The Goods*:

6 oz. semolina flour, plus some extra

4 oz. (2 large) eggs

Weigh out the flour in a large bowl. Make an opening in the center, this is where the eggs will go. Crack the eggs and add them to the "cup" in the flour. With your hands, incorporate the flour and the eggs.

After the dough is mixed, transfer to a well-floured working surface. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. The goal is to even out the dough and produce a velvety texture. After kneading, form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 10 minutes to an hour.

After refrigerating, cut the dough into four equal-sized pieces. On a well-floured surface, roll each piece into a flat sheet. It is important to make the entire sheet as thin as possible (without any portion of it tearing), while maintaining an even thickness throughout the sheet. Hang the sheets on a rack (or failing that, a kitchen chair) for approximately half an hour to dry before cutting. Using a paring knife, cut ~1 cm thick fettucini noodles**. Cook the pasta in a large (as large as possible) pot of boiling, well-salted water. The noodles should cook quickly, give them a minute after they've floated to the surface. Serve with anything at all. I served this batch simply, with olive oil, chopped garlic, parsley, and thyme.

The eggs meet the flour.

The pasta sheets dry on a kitchen chair. Classy.

The freshly cut product.

*I was pretty surprised to learn that the ratio for pasta is simply 3 parts flour : 2 parts egg. Making pasta at home really is this easy. I didn't even use a crank or extruder or any other pasta making device, just a rolling pin.

**Obviously, this is where a pasta-maker would come in handy. The down-side here is the possibility (read: inevitability) of non-uniform noodle thickness. This may complicate things in cooking and is also an aesthetic bummer.

¡Las habichuelas gigantes!

The Goods*:

1 package Giant Peruvian Lima Beans (I neglected to recall the size of the package, but I think it was about 12 oz)

2 cups vegetable stock

1 portabella mushroom cap

1 shallot

3 cloves garlic

1 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup orzo

Per the instructions on the Giant Peruvian Lima Beans: Soak the Giant Peruvian Lima Beans overnight. Dump the Giant Peruvian Lima Beans into a large bowl. Add enough water to completely submerge the Giant Peruvian Lima Beans in water. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

After soaking, the Giant Peruvian Lima Beans will double in size and have wrinkled skin. Place the them in a medium saucepan. Add the stock and any additional water needed to fully submerge the Giant Peruvian Lima Beans. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Fill a small saucepan three quarters with water. Place on high heat to boil. Finely dice the shallot and garlic. Slice the mushroom lengthwise into thin strips. Add a few spritzes of oil to a medium sauté pan and set the heat to medium. Cook the mushrooms for a few minutes on medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the shallots. After the shallots are translucent, add the garlic. After one more minute, add the tomatoes and fully cooked Giant Peruvian Lima Beans. Cook the orzo according to the box directions. Serve the Giant Peruvian Lima Beans over the orzo (or all mixed up).

*I've been meaning to try out giant beans for a while. I saw these Giant Peruvian Lima Beans while strolling the aisles at WF and had to give them a try.

Creme brulee

The Goods*:

1 cup milk

1 cup light cream

1 vanilla bean

4 oz sugar, plus some extra

4 oz egg yolks**

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place four 4-oz ramekins in a pyrex baking dish, or other suitable oven safe vessel. Fill the pyrex with water up to around three quarters of the height of the ramekins. Remove the ramekins and place the pyrex in the oven.

Split the vanilla bean length-wise, down the middle. Combine the milk, cream, and vanilla bean in a saucepan on medium heat. Once the mixture beings to simmer, remove from the heat and allow the bean to steep for 15 minutes. It will also be important to have slightly cooler milk/creme when it comes time to mix with the eggs (one does not want scrambled eggs for dessert). After the 15 minute steeping period, carefully scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod into the mixture. At this point, taste the milk/cream mixture. If one desires more vanilla-ness, a teaspoon of good vanilla extract*** can be added (I love me some vanilla flavor).

In a large mixing bowl, weight out the yolks and sugar; combine. Whisk vigorously until the two are well incorporated. Slowly add the milk/cream mixture while whisking continuously. Pour the custard into the ramekins. Add the ramekins to the water bath in the oven. The ramekins must be covered while baking. Ruhlman recommends a layer of parchment paper under a layer of aluminum foil over the entire water bath. This worked fine (other suggestions?).

Cook the custards until they set, approximately 30 minutes. Allow them to cool, then refrigerate until ready to serve (read: torch). Before finishing (read: blasting with fire), allow the custard to come to room temperature. Top each ramekin with sugar****, then shake off the excess to ensure each custard is coated with a fine layer. Using a propane torch, evenly heat the sugar until it melts, bubbles, and caramelizes (try to avoid burning). Serve immediately once cool.

*Adapted from Ratio (like, almost to the letter).

**This, of course, could come from a variable amount of eggs, depending on egg size. Ruhlman approximates 8 large egg yolks, though I managed to get to 4 ounces with only 6 egg yolks. Making the brulee actually came about kind of by accident. My room-mate was making a meringue cookie (requiring only egg whites) so he had a bunch of spare egg yolks...

***Ina will be fucking pissed if you don't use the good vanilla extract.

****Side-note, brown sugar is NOT suitable for creme brulee. It just sort of burns up, rather than forming the lovely hard shell goodness.

3 bean pork chili

The Goods*:

1 lb pork tenderloin

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can pinto beans

1 15 oz can black beans

1 15 oz can white kidney beans

2 medium yellow onions

6 cloves garlic

1 large sprig cilantro

2 cups Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp paprika

6-10 dried thai chilis

1 spritz sunflower oil

Dice the pork into 1 cm cubes. Add the oil to a heavy-bottomed stock pot and heat to medium-high. Brown the pork in small batches. It is important not to crowd the meat in the pan, or it will not develop a nice crust. Set the meat aside.

Remove the cilantro leaves from the stems. Finely chop the cilantro leaves. Mince about 1 tablespoon of the stems; discard the remaining stems. Crush three garlic cloves. Combine the cilantro stems, garlic cloves, cumin, coriander, chili powder, turmeric, paprika, and chilis in a mortar. For a more face melting** chili, use more chili powder/dried chilis. Work these ingredients together until a fragrant paste is formed. Set aside.

Dice the onions and the remaining cloves of garlic. Place the stock pot back on medium heat. Add a bit more oil if needed. When the oil is hot, add the onions. After 10 minutes or so, once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and cilantro leaves. After another minute, add the spice paste. Before the garlic or spices burn, deglaze the pan with the beer. Add the tomatoes, beans, and the browned meat. Allow the liquid to come to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer on low for about an hour. One may of course simmer for longer (I think mine was going for around 3 hours). Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

*This may officially be the week of pork (hot pork injection?). Using inspiration from co-worker Mike, I decided to go with pork tenderloin as the meat in this Superbowl-Sunday chili.

**Using the chili powder and chilis listed in this recipe resulted in a decidedly mild chili. There was heat, but it was not overpowering, and only detectable in the aftertaste.

Roast pork tenderloin

The Goods:

1 lb pork tenderloin*

1 tbsp canola/other high heat oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp AP flour

1 sprig thyme

1 medium shallot

1 portabella mushroom cap

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 tsp country dijon mustard

1/2 tsp brown sugar

Brine

2000 g water (~2 liters)

100 g kosher salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp country dijon mustard

2 large sprigs thyme

1 sprig parsley

10 cloves garlic

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

Weigh out the water and salt in a large container. Roughly tear the thyme and parsley; add to the brine. Add the other brine ingredients and mix well. Place the tenderloin in the brine liquid. Refrigerate overnight. I refrigerated mine for roughly 22 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Remove the tenderloin from the brine; discard the brine liquid. Rinse the meat under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Season the tenderloin with salt and pepper. Add the canola oil to a large, oven-safe sauté pan and set the heat to medium high. Once the oil is hot, add the tenderloin to the pan. Sear the loin for roughly 2 minutes per side. Add the pan to the oven. Bake for 18 minutes. Finely dice the shallot and thyme sprig and slice the mushroom. In a small bowl, mix the butter and flour together. After 18 minutes, remove the pork from the oven. Let the pork rest in a plate, under tin foil, for at least 15 minutes. This will produce a medium-rare roast.

Place the cooking pan back on the stove, on medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms. If they absorb all of the residual fat, a few spritzes of olive oil can be added to the pan. After a few minutes, add the shallot and thyme. After the shallot turns translucent, deglaze the pan with the vegetable stock. Add the brown sugar and mustard. One the liquid begins to bubble, add the flour/butter mixture. Stir until the flour has been fully incorporated and the sauce begins to thicken. Slice the pork and serve with the pan sauce.

*These usually come in vacuum-sealed pouches, in the meat section. Typically, one could assume that pork tenderloin was a relatively cheap cut of meat, though this particular tenderloin, purchased at WF and certified "organic," was $10/lb. Pork tenderloin is an incredibly flavorful cut of meat, though I have found it is prone to drying out. Enter the brine. Brining ensures that the meat retains plenty of moisture even after baking in the oven. This was my first experience brining for over 12 hours. I've always been afraid that the high concentration salt solution would somehow "oversalt" the meat. This is definitely not the case. A pork tenderloin can definitely stand up to a full day in the brine.

Dressed up Annie's #2

The Goods:

1 box Annie's Mac and Cheese

1/4 cup unremembered Austrian cheese*

1/4 lb air-cured pork belly

1 small shallot

1 clove garlic

Place a medium saucepan three-quarters full of water on high heat. Dice the pork belly into 1 cm cubes. Place the pork pieces in a sauté pan on medium high heat. Finely dice the garlic and shallot. Cook the pork until all of the fat has rendered and the meat has browned. Add the garlic and shallot and cook for a few more additional minutes, taking care not to burn the garlic. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Cook the Annie's according to the package directions. Finely dice the unnamed cheese. After straining the pasta, add the milk (about 2 tablespoons, per the box directions), the cheese, the powdered cheese, and the pork belly**. Place the pot back on the burn and mix until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

Pork belly: massive chunk of bacon

*This, along with the pork belly, was purchased at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge. As often happens at Formaggio, I will taste a cheese that they have out for sampling and then immediately purchase some of said cheese. Unfortunately I cannot recall the name of the cheese in question, but it is made from cow's milk, hails from Austria, has an incredibly pungent aroma, and the name's Scrabble score would be easily over 80 (that is to say without any word or letter score modifiers).

**It is fair to say that one has added plenty of rich, fatty goodness with the pork belly and the butter that the box recommends can be skipped. In fact, it is highly recommended that this be served with a salad of some kind to offset the 400% of daily saturated fat present in this dish.

Leek, potato, and mushroom tart

The Goods:

Crust (3-2-1 Pie Dough)*

6 oz. AP flour

4 oz. cold/frozen butter

2 oz. ice water

1 pinch kosher salt

1 large leek

6 medium crimini mushrooms

1/2 lb fingerling potatoes

1/2 cup milk, plus some extra

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic

1 sprig parsley

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Weigh out the flour in a large bowl. Finely slice the butter into small cubes. Add the butter and salt to the flour. Work the butter together with the flour by pinching the flour into the butter chunks until the butter pieces are all pea-sized or smaller. Gradually add the ice water until the dough is formed. Try not to work the dough any more than is needed to form it together. On a well-floured surface roll out the dough. Form the dough into a 9" pie tin or pyrex. If one is feeling ambitious, a lattice top crust can be made from the extra scraps. Weigh down the dough with some parchment paper and dry beans or a lot of rice and "blind" bake for 20 minutes at 325. Remove the pie weight and continue to bake until the crust is golden brown, about 15 additional minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 F. Finely slice the white portion of the leek, finely dice the mushroom, finely dice the garlic, and slice the potatoes lengthwise as thinly as possible. Add a spritz of olive oil to a sauté pan and set the heat to medium-high. Add the diced mushrooms. After a few minutes, lower the heat to medium. After the leeks have softened, add the garlic and parsley. After two additional minutes, add the 1/2 cup milk. After the milk begins to bubble, remove from the heat. Make a layer of potato slices on the bottom of the crust. Add a thin layer of the mushroom/leek mixture. Repeat this process until one of the ingredients runs out. In my case, I had a few potato slices remaining, but was able to form 3 layers of potatoes and 2 layers of mushroom/leek. Pour the milk from the sauté pan over the tart. Add additional milk, if needed, to rise to the level of the potatoes on the top layer. Sprinkle the parmesan over the top. Finally, add a lattice, if desired. Bake the tart at 400 for 35-45 minutes or until the milk has reduced and the potatoes have cooked.

The crust after blind baking.

The fully assembled tart.

mmm... Tart.

*3-2-1 Pie dough (flour-fat-water) comes from Ratio. Ruhlman also gives tips for various savory and sweet tarts. A leek and potato tart is given as an example; this is a variation on that example.