Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

My husband has been obsessed with a new toy recently.  It has been fine with me because I never have to do any work to get the main dish on the table.  For a full week we have had such dishes as smoked butterflied chicken,  thick cut grilled steaks, pork ribs and this excellent smoked brisket.  Here is a picture of his new obsession.

It is a ceramic Kamado grill.  It is not a Green Egg, more like a Brown Egg.  We got such a deal on it that all thoughts of holding out for a Green Egg went out the window.  Plus it is made exactly the same.  David is very happy with it.  I took this picture after he took the brisket off of the grill.  All of the temperature probes were left dangling.  But notice that the gas grill has been shoved aside and the Kamado has pride of place under the umbrella.

David cooked the 4 pound brisket for 8 hours.  What you see is not burned.  That is the bark that develops after a long slow smoking on the grill.  If you are not smoking a whole brisket which can weigh from 10 to 12 pounds, the cut you should use is the second cut, sometimes called the point or the deckle.  Most supermarkets sell the first cut, or flat.  It is leaner, but is also tougher.  That is why most people braise a brisket in liquid.  You can find the second cut at specialty stores such as The Chop Shop in Asheville.  Or you can ask your local butcher for this cut.  All you will ever need to know about cooking a brisket on the grill and the recipe that David followed can be found on this website.

With the brisket I wanted to make a special potato dish.  I adapted a recipe from David Rocco for a potato cake.  Mashed potatoes are cooked in a casserole with bacon, sauteed onions and Parmesan cheese.  They are topped with cracker crumbs.  The potatoes were perfect with the brisket.  Here is the recipe.

POTATO CAKE

8 medium potatoes, peeled
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
6 slices bacon, chopped and cooked crisp
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cook potatoes in water to cover until tender.  Drain.  Place butter, cubed into a large bowl.  Using a potato ricer, rice potatoes into bowl over butter.  Add milk and mash together.  When partially cool, add beaten egg.

After bacon is cooked, place on paper towels.  Discard all but about 3 tablespoons of bacon fat.  Add onion and cook until onion is slightly browned.  Add bacon, onion and Parmesan cheese to the potatoes and mix together.

Place potato mixture into a greased casserole dish.  Mix crushed crackers with melted butter and sprinkle over the top.  Bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until cracker crumbs are golden brown.

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In my last post I included the above picture of dishes that I served over the holidays.  Number 1 is Braised Short Ribs on Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Green Beans and Roasted Tomatoes. If you want to impress your guests on New Year’s Eve, you won’t do better than this.  It is pretty to look at and the beef is so tender that all you need is a fork to enjoy it.  I have several boneless short ribs recipe in my repertoire,  but this one is so special that I will make it for birthday parties, Christmas dinners, New Year’s or any other special occasion for which I want to make people feel special.

The presentation is the key.  If you have a wide mouth white soup bowl it would be stunning.  But even served on my black and white dinner plates it looked festive.

 

The recipe came from Chuck Hughes on The Food Network.  I was intrigued by it because of the unusual ingredients including beets, cinnamon, cocoa powder and brown sugar.  The beets impart a dark color to the sauce and the flavorings give it a hint of sweetness.  I have changed the amount of brown sugar.  It called for 1 cup but that seemed excessive.

 

I can’t think of a better way to bring in the New Year.  Your friends and family will thank you.  Happy New Year everyone.

 

BRAISED SHORT RIBS

2 packages boneless short ribs (about 16 to 18 total) or 8 bone-in short ribs
3 large onions, coarsely chopped
3 to 4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
4 carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 beets, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 heads of garlic, cut in half
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme
1 star anise (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
Coarse salt
1 cup flour
Canola oil
2 bottles red table wine
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
Handful peppercorns
1 to 2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, celery, carrots, beets and garlic.  Add the rosemary, thyme, star anise, and cinnamon stick, and set aside.

If using bone-in ribs, trim off the excess outer fat.  Season the ribs well with coarse salt.  Dredge in flour until well coated.

In a (very) large Dutch oven or wide soup pot on high heat, pour in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the ribs to the hot oil and sear the ribs so they are browned on all sides.  You will have to do this it batches for the boneless ribs.  Remove the ribs and set aside.

In the same pan, transfer all the vegetables from the bowl, and stir to caramelize and pick up all the brown bits.  Add the meat back into the pot.  Pour the wine over top.  Ensure all is covered with the liquid and if not, top up with water.

Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar and peppercorns, and bring to a boil, cover with a lid or foil, and place in the oven until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours.  Remove the ribs to a platter, and strain out the solids to use for something else.

Boil the cooking liquid in a wide shallow pan until it is reduced by half.  It will be richer, more flavorful and thicker.  Add a nub of butter at the end for sheen and flavor.

Serve the short ribs on a mound of Garlic Mashed Potatoes, topped with green beans and roasted cherry tomatoes.

 

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

1 heat garlic
1 tablespoon good, fruity olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A sprig or 2 of fresh herbs (rosemary or thyme)
6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled, and quartered
1 stick butter
1 cup cream or half and half

Slice the top off a garlic head and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the fresh herbs.  Wrap in a tin foil packet, and roast in the oven for about 1 hour.

Fill a large saucepan with water; add a few good pinches of coarse salt and the potatoes.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until just fork tender.  Do not over cook or the potatoes will be soggy.  Drain off the water, leaving the potatoes in the pot.

Add the butter and cream to the potatoes and mash well.

Remove the garlic from the oven.  Squeeze the garlic cloves into the potatoes, and stir in.  The consistency you want is rough, with some lumps.  Seaon the potatoes with salt, and pepper, if desired.

 

BEANS AND TOMATOES

Stem the beans and place them in boiling water.  Cook until crisp tender.  Plunge the beans into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and set the color.  Set aside until ready to assemble dish.  Just before serving time, heat a couple of tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.  Add beans and toss to coat.  Cook until just heated through.

Place a pint of cherry tomatoes on a small baking sheet.  Coat with olive oil, coarse salt and pepper.  Place in a 400 degree oven and cook just until skins begin to burst, about 10 minutes.

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Photo Courtesy of The New York Times

I picked up a copy of The New York Times while traveling recently.  It was the Wednesday edition which always includes the Dining section.  It featured a column by Melissa Clark on making a brisket you can be proud of; one that is not dry and chewy.  You can read the article here.  The key to a good brisket is in the cut that you use.  Most supermarkets carry the first cut, which in our lean-conscious era is the preferred choice.  But the fattier second cut of the brisket, sometimes called the deckle, braises better and retains the juiciness that the first cut often lacks.  But finding the second cut can be a problem.  This is where having a friendly butcher shop comes in handy.

Photo courtesy of Mountain Xpress

We are fortunate to have such a butcher shop in our area.  The Chop Shop in Asheville is there to serve all of the needs of people who are looking for a personal touch when it comes to buying meat.  Owner Josh Wright and butcher Karen Fowler buy whole carcasses of meat from local purveyors.  Buying locally ensures quality and buying whole carcasses makes it possible to fulfill orders for every cut available.  They are there to answer questions about cooking methods and suggestions on uses of lesser known cuts of meat.  Karen was pleased with my request for the second cut of brisket.  She said that most people judge a piece of meat by how lean it is.  That might be a criteria when the meat is cooked quickly, but if you are braising meat slowly, the extra fat melts and keeps the leaner portions moist.

I made some changes to the original recipe, but the most important step suggested is critical.  This is a recipe that benefits from cooking it at least a day ahead.  The fat layer that forms when it is refrigerated can easily be removed.  The sauce becomes fat free and is delicious drizzled on the tender meat and potatoes.  What I omitted were the plums.  It was suggested that the plums would add a sweet overtone to the dish, but I was looking for a more meaty flavor.  You can find the original recipe in the article listed above.  Here is my version.

BRAISED BRISKET WITH PORT (adapted from The New York Times)

1 brisket (4 to 5 pounds), preferably second cut
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup ruby port
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 bunch of thyme, tied with twine
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
Beef broth if needed if sauce reduces too much
Thyme leaves, for garnish

Season brisket all over with salt and pepper.  Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  Place a very large Dutch oven over high heat.  Add oil.  Place brisket in pot and cook, with moving, until browned, about 7 minutes per side.  Transfer to a plate.

Add onions to pot and reduce heat to medium-high.  Cook onions, tossing occasionally, until golden brown around the edges and very tender.  Add sliced garlic near end of cooking time.  Pour in port and wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Stir in thyme, whole cloves, and bay leaves.  Return meat and any juices to the pot.  Cover pot and transfer to oven.  Cook, turning occasionally until meat is completely fork tender about 4 hours.

Let brisket cool completely in the pot, then refrigerate, covered, overnight. (This makes it easier to remove the fat from the top with a slotted spoon.)  Put meat on a plate and reheat sauce.  Add beef broth to the sauce if it has reduced too much.  Strain sauce.  Return to pot.  Return meat to pot and reheat the casserole in a 300 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  Slice meat and serve with the sauce garnished with thyme leaves if you like.

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The first time I ever had Hachis Parmentier was in a French restaurant that had just opened in our home town in North Carolina.  It was almost twenty years ago.  My love of French cooking was already established but I had never heard of this dish before.  I loved the earthiness of the minced beef filling and the fluffy mashed potatoes flavored with Gruyere cheese.  It was like an amped up version of cottage or shepherd’s pie.

When I bought Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook, Around My French Table, last year I bookmarked her recipe for this casserole.  What intrigued me about her version of hachis parmentier was the option of using cubed steak instead of chunks of beef.  She also included sausage in the minced meat for the filling.

But the real star of this dish is the mashed potato topping.  The potatoes are lighter than normal because they use more milk and cream.  Also the Emmenthal (French Gruyere) cheese give them such lip-smacking flavor, that I was in danger of devouring the whole dish by myself.

There are a lot of steps to putting the casserole together, but they can be done in stages.  Believe me, it is worth your time.

HACHIS PARMENTIER (Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table)

FOR THE BEEF AND BOUILLON
1 lb cube steak cut into small pieces
1 onion,sliced
1 carrot, cut into 1 inch slices
1 celery stalk cut into 1 inch slices
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
5-7 black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups of water

Add all of the ingredients into a large dutch oven, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for
about an hour and a half until the meat is tender and the broth is flavorful. Skim off foam in the early stages.  Remove the beef from the broth and set aside. You can also reserve the vegetables if you’d like to use them or discard them.  If you want to use them, cut them into small dice.  Strain the broth through a sieve and reserve for the next step. You will likely have more bouillon than you’ll need.

FILLING
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 lb of sausage, removed from casing
Beef from the bouillon step, cut into very small pieces by hand plus vegies if using
1 cup of bouillon cooking liquid
1 beef bouillon cube
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Salt and ground pepper to taste

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. When your pan is hot, add the olive oil, followed by the sausage.
Break the sausage up into small pieces as it cooks. As soon as it is just barely cooked through, add in the beef, vegies and the tomato paste and combine. Add in the bouillon and the bouillon cube. Depending on the amount of meat you have you may need a little more or less than a cup. Cook to allow the boullion cube to dissolve.  You want the mixture to be moist and bubbly but not soupy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a casserole dish (see Putting it all Together below). You can also reserve mixture in the fridge until you’re ready to make the final dish.

TOPPING
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup milk
1/4 half and half
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of Gruyere cheese or Emmenthal cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of butter to dot on top

Place the potatoes in a cold dutch oven or large soup pot and cover with water by a couple of inches. Add a
generous pinch of salt, then bring to a boil over medium high heat. Keep at a slow boil until the potatoes are soft. Drain and transfer back into the pot (the warm pot will keep your potatoes warm) and mash with a potato masher or run through a food mill. Add in milk, half and half, and butter and mix until the consistency is smooth. A whisk is helpful here. You want your potatoes to be a little more moist than you would for stand-alone mashed potatoes.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spoon the filling into a 2 qt.casserole dish (Dorrie recommentds a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate).  Press the filling down with the back of the spoon, making it even and flat. Spoon the
mashed potatoes on top of the filling and spread evenly over the whole surface. Make sure to “seal” the edge of the casserole with the potatoes. Sprinkle the cheeses evenly over the top of the potatoes, then dot with the butter. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  I turned on the broiler at the end of the cooking time to brown the top better.

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Sorry about this picture.  It looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Maybe a tad too much of the Hendry wine?  But seriously, when you photograph your food, you sometimes have to do it in a hurry because there are people waiting to eat.  There was little time for me to make adjustments.

There has been little time to do any serious cooking either.  That is why this quick stew of beef, potatoes, carrots and mushrooms is so reliable.   It cooks quickly because the beef is sirloin and doesn’t require the slow braise that chuck usually needs.  It is just a matter of cubing your beef and vegetables, sauteeing them in batches and simmering the mixture in beef broth for about an hour, with a last minute infusion of flour and wine.  So easy.

It is nice to be home with my collection of copper pans again.  I have a history with them.  It is just a shame that I do not have the wall space to hang them like Julia.

Hendry Wines out of Napa Valley are some of our favorites.  When we visited there years ago we stayed at a bed and breakfast outside of St. Helena and the Innkeeper was a distributor for the small winery.  What fascinated us was that the winemaker at Hendry was both a farmer and a nuclear physicist.   We are fortunate that we have a generous family member who brings us Hendry Wines regularly.  In a blind wine tasting that we conducted last year, Hendry Wines won hands down in all catagories.

Enjoy.  We are off for a few days visiting the kids for Easter.

SKILLET BEEF IN WINE

1 1/2 pounds boneless sirloin steak
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 onion chopped
1 pound red potatoes cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 can low sodium beef broth
2 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup red wine

Cut steak into 1-inch cubes.  Coat a large nonsick skillet with 1 tablespoon oil and place over medium-high heat until hot.  Add steak cubes; cook 4 minutes or until steak loses its pink color and is browned on all sides.  Remove steak cubes from skillet, and drain well.

Recoat skillet with 1 tablespoon oil; place over medium-high heat until hot.  Add carrot, mushrooms, onion and potatoes; saute 5 mintues.  Return steak to skillet.  Add thyme, salt, pepper and beef broth; stir well.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

Place flour in a small bowl; gradually add wine, blending with a whisk.  Add to steak mixture, and cook, uncovered, 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring occasionally.

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