Papperdelle with Oxtail Ragu

I love braising. I particularly love braining meat with lots of bones, fat and collagen. Collagen is the connective tissue found in the muscle areas of the animal that does the most work - the neck , legs, shoulder. Collagen turns into gelatin when the meat is cooked slowly and gently and  gelatin gives meat the silky and velvety flavour that comes from braising.

Tonight I braised oxtails. 
Actually I braised them yesterday and we had them tonight with papperdelle.

Braising Oxtails:

We got the oxtails from Brian Quin"s Meats in Stone Mills ( Yarker), Ontario. Brian Quin's Meats is also a slaughterhouse.
I browned the oxtails in a deep frying pan (I was in Toronto and didn;t have my braising pot), removed them and then sauteed onions carrots ans a couple of cloves of garlic. I glazed the pan with a cup of white wine and a cup of canned tomatoes and reduced the liquid by half, I added the oxtails and some chicken stock (to almost cover the oxtails), seasoned and let it cook slowly in a 320 oven for 4 hours
The next day I stripped the oxtails of their meat, removed the solidified fat from the liquid and mashed the carrots, onions, garlic and tomatoes into the liquid while heating it up. (You could strain the liquid for a more sophisticated dish but I wanted the vegetables for a more rustic "ragu".)
Served with papperdelle (not home made but there is some very good artisanal dry papperdelle available in specialty stores and  supermarkets.

Dinner for Eight

On Saturday night our friends Eric and Barb, who own the Waterfall Tea Room in Yarker invited us to help cook a dinner for 8 at their apartment above the Tea Room. The eight people invited had won a charity auction prize. The menu (arrived at after months of discussion) was as follows:

Smoked Trout Mousse
Charcuterie Plate

Roasted Squash and Apple Soup
Warm Mushroom Salad
Grapefruit Sorbet
Beef Tenderloin with green peppercorn demi-glace/shredded brussel sprouts with pancetta/potatoes Anna
Chocolate-dipped poached pears stuffed with apricots and pecans on chili sabayon
Local cheeses


The smoked trout mousse I made ahead (described elsewhere in this blog) and froze. Freezing did it no harm and we served it on Rainforest salty date and almond crackers with capers and a sprig of dill as a canape. The guests got a Cava cocktail (Cava with sweet Oloroso sherry)
The charcuterie plate consisted of home made duck prosciuttto (also described elsewhere), a slice of Elk terrine (from Quebec) and two slices of Wild Boar sausage (also from Quebec) which we served with a dab of home made port jelly, home made apple and pear chutney (I made this ahead and brought them with me) and Koslicks orange and ginger mustard
Eric made the soup by roasting acorn squash, apples and onions and pureeing them. I didn't get to taste it but it looked great
Barb made the warm mushroom salad by roasting chanterelles, oyster mushrooms and creminis with olive oil and herbs, deglazing with balsamic vinegar and tossing the mushrooms and warm dressing on a bed of mixed baby greens
The palate cleanser was a grapefruit sorbet which I made with water, sugar, the zest of one grapefruit, the juice of four grapefruits, a splash of campari (mainly for colour) and a few sprigs of mint. This mixture was chilled, strained and churned in the ice cream maker. really refreshing.
The main course was a whole beef tenderloin (picked up that day at the local butcher/slaughterhouse) , rolled in salt and chopped rosemary and roasted on high heat for 25 minutes. It was served with a wonderful demi-gace to which was added green peppercorns and cream. Accompanied by Potatoes Anna (thinly sliced russet and red potatoes, cooked in a skillet in a hot oven, beautifully browned and sliced in wedges) and shredded brussel sprouts, stir fried with pancetta and pecans. Unfortunately I slightly burned the pecans and add to pick most of them out before serving!
Eric was responsible for the poached pears - they were cored (but left whole), poached in spiced red wine, cooled and then coated with chocolate and cooled again. Eric made a sabayon with egg yolks and white wine and a teaspoon of chili powder and the chilled pears sat in a bowl on the sabayon. Beautiful!
The cheeses (which I picked out) were Riopelle (a soft cheese from Quebec - one of my favourite cheeses), Victor and Berthold (washed rind semi soft also from Quebec), Lemon Fetish, a lemony chevre from Fifth Town in Prince Edward County, another semi soft Fifth Town cheese and an old chedder from Wilton cheese (just down the road from Yarker)
A couple of glitches - Eric burnt his hand,  I almost burnt the brussel sprouts, the potatoes Anna lacked slat and the pacing was a bit off (although Kerry did a fantastic job of serving) but all in all a great success!

Lamb Shoulder Chops

Tonight a braised a couple of lamb shoulder chops with onions and garlic and veal stock. First I rubbed the chops with Moroccan spices and left them in the fridge for a few hours. I then browned them in butter in a deep oven proof skillet, removed them and sauteed sliced onions in butter with turmeric and added a garlic clove. After the onions were soft (8-10 minutes) I added a cup of veal stock and buried the lamb chops under the onions. I covered the skillet with parchment paper and put a lid on and put it in the oven (pre-heated to 300) for one and a half hours. I removed the chops and most of the onions, boiled down the braising liquid and served in with couscous (with raisins and pine nuts)
Beautiful!

Cod with onions, white beans and thyme

I bought a piece of black cod at Lapointe on my way home (I asked where it was from and they told me it was "pacific" - anywhere from Chile to Alaska. I really need to find out more about fish sustainability)

Tonight I roasted the cod - heated up a frying pan (one that can be put in the oven), poured in some olive oil when the pan was really hot, added the cod (skin side up) and left it for a couple of minutes so it got nice and bronzed. I then turned the fish over and put the pan in the oven (pre-heated to 450) for 10-15 minutes.

I served it over a bed of onions and crushed white beans. Simple! I chopped some onions and fried them in olive oil. Added a drained can of white beans (I used navy beans) which I mashed slightly. Added half a cup of white wine (and turned up the heat for a minute or so to burn off the alcohol) and lots of fresh thyme. Seasoned and cooked on medium for 10 minutes.

I napped the fish with some leftover parsley sauce.
Delicious!

Smoked Trout Mousse

I have been practicing making smoked trout mousse for a dinner we are planning two weeks from now (more about this later). The smoked trout mousse is to be an amuse-bouche. I have decided to serve it with a couple of slices of apple braised in Reisling wine.

My first attempt at the mousse was based on a recipe from a food blog (which in turn was based on an old recipe from The Silver Palate).

I soaked a sheet of gelatin in cold water and then pored hot water over it to dissolve it. To this I added a quarter cup of mayonnaise, the juice of half a lemon, a teaspoon or so of finely chopped shallot, a pinch of smoked paprika, a drop of Choluca (hot sauce), a pinch of fresh dill and salt and pepper. I then chilled it for half an hour while I whipped a cup of whipping cream.

Once the mayo mixture had set slightly I folded in a cup of flaked smoked trout and the whipped cream and scooped the mousse into a bunch of different sized ramekins, covered them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for a few hours.

For dinner I braised some apple slices in sparkling wine (we had no Reisling on hand). To braise the apple slices you simply saute them for a few minutes in butter, sprinkle them with sugar and then pour some wine in the pan and braise for a few minutes until the wine has become a syrup.

I plated the smoked trout mousse(s) and draped a couple of apple slices over them.

The verdict: the apples slices were delicious and a perfect accompaniment. The mousse however was a bit overly creamy and not quite set enough (not enough gelatin?). It was tasty, although the smoked paprika and hot sauce really didn't come through.
so.. not quite perfect. I guess I'll try another batch before the dinner party to see if I can get it right.

DeVino Wine Studio

On Saturday night we went with friends to DeVino Wine Studio on Preston Street. Since our friends had been before a number of times we were greeted by the owner, Antonio and sat at the bar. The bar is very cool as there is seating on both sides (so you can actually talk to the people you are with!). In our case we were facing the open kitchen so I could watch the two young chefs at work.
The restaurant is an interesting concept - basically an "enoteca", an Italian wine bar, serving small plates and unique wines, mostly imported directly from Italy by Antonio. There is a young and very engaging sommelier who explained the wines we were drinking (we all chose the $80, four course tasting menu with wines).
The food itself was fun, but somewhat inconsistent. Our first course was three "balls" - a risotto ball, a salt cod ball and a deep fried olive. The second course was a tasty salad of thinly sliced mushrooms, a "dry" gorgonzola, pesto and a mound of baby spinach. This was followed by papperdelle (a bit too al dente for my taste) with wild boar ragu. The final course was a small lamb "lollipop" served with Jerusalem artichoke puree, heirloom carrots and a small mound of risotto.

The service was pleasant but somewhat slow - there was a large group in the back room and the kitchen was having a hard time keeping up - and the food was somewhat inconsistent but it was fun and I'd definitely go back.

Trout with Anchovy butter

Tonights dinner - fillet of trout with anchovy butter, brussel sprouts sauteed with duck procuitto, braised potatoes and leeks and home made dulce de lecce ice cream for desert.

The braised potatoes and leek recipe was from All About Braising by Molly Stevens (my new favourite book). Simply put a layer of leeks (quartered lengthwise and cut into three-quarter inch lengths) and yellow-flesh potatoes (cut into small chucks)into a baking pan or shallow braising pot, season generously and pour in a cup of hot chicken stock. Cover in foil and braise in a 300 degree oven for 45 minutes. Take off the foil and continue to braise for another 20 minutes or so until the potatoes are soft and most of the liquid is gone. Pour in some cream and turn up the heat to 425 until the cream thickens and the pototoes and leeks brown. Delicous!

The dulce de lecce ice cream is one of the easiest ice creams to make (if you have an ice cream maker). Heat two cups of whole milk with a jar of dulce de lecce until it just begins to bubble around the edges. Take it off the heat, cool it and refrigerate it for a few hours. Add in a cup of cream, dump it all in the ice cream maker and after 20 minutes or so you will have some of the tastiest ice cream ever.

Making Duck Procuitto

Every restaurant I go to now is doing charcuterie! so...I decided I had to do it too. I bought Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. Great book, well laid out with easy to understand recipes. The problem is, of course, for some of this stuff you need a lot of special equipment and ingredients. There were, however, a couple of things that seemed pretty easy to do - duck prosciutto and duck confit.
I bought a duck breast, two duck legs and a tub of duck fat from a meat place in St Lawrence Market and set to work. Simple! I packed the duck breast in kosher salt in a baking dish, covered it with plastic wrap and left in in the fridge for a couple of days. When I took it out it seemed denser, heavier and slightly shrunken. I rinsed it off, wrapped it in cheese cloth and hung it in the fridge for 10 days. That was it.
It was fabulous! sliced thin, we used it in salads (baby frisee), on toast with mustard or just ate it on its own. It is even better when briefly sauteed - delicious with brussel sprouts. The other night I sauteed some chopped pieces and added them as a garnish to a cauliflower soup - marvelous!
Duck confit is a little more work but still really easy. Rub the legs with salt (unlike the procuitto you don't have to completely cover it) and leave it in the fridge, again covered in plastic wrap, for 24 hours. Take it out, rinse it off and poach it slowly in the duck fat for 10 hours at a very low temperature (190-200 degrees). It must be completely covered by the duck fat. Take it out, let it cool in the fat and store it in the fridge in the pot you cooked it in, still covered in the fat.
When you are ready to eat it - remove it from the fat and put it in a hot oven (425 degrees) for 15-20 or until the skin crisps. Strain the fat - it can be re-used.