Braised Beef Brisket

Tyler Florence inspires me.  I usually like the flavor of his recipes and the required ingredients are often in the house so I turn to his cookbooks again and again.
Last night I created a variation of brisket, even though I started with Tyler's recipe. It was super easy to put together and it was a one pot meal, but it only reached a 6.5 rating.  These were the problems: the meat was a bit tough and a touch dry, the sauce too spicy and not enough, not enough carrots, and why the celery?

I halved his recipe to start as I do not want to eat the same meal for days.

Braised Beef Brisket adapted from Tyler Florence

2 T minced garlic
1/2 teas Kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 pound first cut beef brisket
3 large carrots
3 ribs celery
1 cup Chianti wine
1 15 oz can adobo chopped tomatoes
4 chopped fresh tomatoes
1 bay leaf

Preheat oven to 325*

On a cutting board, mash the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt together with the flat 

side of a knife until it turns into a paste. Put the garlic paste in a small bowl and 

add 2 tablespoons of the oil; stir to combine. Set aside.

Season both sides of the brisket with plenty of salt and pepper. Rub the garlic paste over the brisket. Drizzle with additional olive oil. Place a large roasting pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, place the brisket in the roasting pan and sear to form a nice brown crust on both sides, adding additional oil as necessary to prevent sticking. Lay the vegetables all around the brisket. Add the wine, tomatoes, tomato liquid, and bay leaf. Cover the pan tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 3 to 4 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices, until the beef is fork-tender.

Remove the brisket from pan and place on a cutting board. Allow brisket to rest 

for 15 minutes.

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

Finally, a huge winner.  This is a recipe of Ina Garten that my friend, Cookie, recommended.  It was very easy to make and the flavor is delicious.  Follow the directions for a perfect tasting apple crisp!  The rating: 9.5  I would have given the crisp a 10, but I cooked the apples a bit too long, nevertheless even with the extra time I gave the apples it was still the best tasting crisp ever. I don't think anyone could ruin this one.
The photo is of the topping only.

Here it is:

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

• 5 pounds McIntosh or Macoun apples
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 14 by 2-inch oval baking dish.

Peel, core, and cut the apples into large wedges. Combine the apples with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices. Pour into the dish.

To make the topping, combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.

Place the crisp on a sheet pan and bake for 1 hour until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly. Serve warm.

Lemon and Herb Crusted Halibut

Another good Sunday; I cooked.  Tonight I attempted to cook fish, which I rarely do since I am not a huge fan, but I am trying.  I choose a recipe from Emeril Lagasse that I hoped would be mild enough to not ruin me.  Overall, it was an easy recipe to put together, but the end product was too salty and it did not have enough promise to attempt a retry. As usual, I adapted the original to match my kitchen ingredients.  The rating: 6

My adaptation of Lemon and Herb Crusted Halibut

• 2 teaspoons chopped lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
• 2 (6-ounce) halibut fillets, skinned
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups cleaned fresh arugula leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Cherry Tomato Salad, recipe follows

Directions

In a shallow bowl combine the lemon zest, dill and black pepper. Season the fish with 1 teaspoon of the salt, then lightly brush 1 side of each piece with 1 teaspoon of the Dijon mustard. Firmly press the mustard-coated side of each of the halibut fillets into the lemon-herb mixture. In a skillet, preferably non-stick, heat the vegetable oil. Place fillets, coated side down, into the hot oil. Cook until the crust turns golden, 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until the fish flakes easily, 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl toss the arugula with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Divide between 2 plates and place one of the fillets onto each mound of arugula. Top with Cherry Tomato Salad and finish with a drizzle of the remaining olive oil and serve immediately.

Cherry Tomato Salad:

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons champagne wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, red onion, lemon zest, and parsley. Toss well. Add vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with Lemon and Herb Crusted Halibut.

Chicken Marsala

There is good news and there is bad news about the chicken marsala that I adapted from Tyler Florence's recipe box.  The good news is that the meal was OK, not great, not the best, but good enough.  The total output of time and energy from start to finish was two hours.  That includes the prep time, cooking, eating, and clean up.  Not so bad.  Pounding out those chicken breasts took way too long.  I need to hone my skills and produce quicker results.  According to the recipe by Tyler Florence, prep and cook time is forty minutes.  I'm going to try another approach next time I cook.  I think I'll have all the ingredients measured and ready to go and hope that cuts my time.  Maybe Tyler did not count the time it took him to gather all the ingredients and pound those chickens before he set the timer to go.

The bad news about the recipe was that the meal was just ordinary.  I will make this again as it was easy to prepare and to be honest, I changed up a number of ingredients which may have had a lot to do with the taste.  I didn't have chicken breasts so I used thighs instead.  I used bacon for the prosciutto, and mixed shitake mushrooms with the crimini.  Finally, I had a dry Marsala wine and not a sweet one.  Maybe all those changes altered the final product.  The only problem I had with the dish was it did not have enough sauce to go with all the chicken pieces so I would double the stock, wine and butter next time to increase the sauce.
Forgot to take a photo again.
The rating on this one: 7

Prep: 20 mins

Cook Time:  20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces bacon, thinly sliced
• 8 ounces crimini and shitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them; pound with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly.

Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.

Lower the heat to medium and add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan, saute for 1 minute to render out some of the fat. Now, add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

The Amazing No Knead Bread Recipe of Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery

After making soup the other night, I decided that some chewy on the inside and crusty on the outside bread was needed so I pulled out my favorite bread recipe.
The No Knead bread recipe never fails to make a delicious loaf and tonight was not different.  Since this recipe requires a serious wait time for the yeast to rise, the planning portion is the only part of the recipe that is difficult.
Where's the picture?  When the bread came out of the oven I did not wait for the bread to cool and I forgot that I wanted to get a picture.  Next time.
The rating on this loaf: 10 out of 10.

Here's the recipe:

No-Knead Bread
Yields one 1 1/2 pound loaf

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Minestrone Soup

I needed a quick recipe so I looked for something from Rachael Ray. I choose Green Minestrone, but the soup quickly became a bit different when the ingredients in my refrigerator did not match the ingredients of the recipe, so I improvised. The end result; a soup with a lot of color, nutrients, and flavor.

I gave this soup a rating of 8, while Andy thought the soup was a 7.3.

Here is my adapted recipe:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 pound prosciutto, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

2 large cloves minced garlic

1 box frozen corn

1 bay leaf, fresh or dried

1 15 oz can red kidney beans

1 15 oz can black beans

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 cups chicken broth or stock (use more if necessary)

1 cup ditalini pasta

6 small tomatoes, quartered

10 ounces triple washed spinach, stems removed and coarsely chopped, or any other dark greens

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, plus extra to pass at the table

Directions

Heat a soup pot over medium high heat. Add oil and prosciutto. Saute 2 minutes and add onions, celery, garlic, corn and bay leaf to the pot. Season vegetables with salt and pepper. Saute vegetables 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add beans and chicken broth to the pot. Cover soup and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook 8 minutes, or until pasta is just tender. Stir in spinach to wilt, 1 minute. Stir in grated cheese and ladle soup into bowls.