Petit salé aux lentilles

This class bistro dish was one of my favorites when I lived in France and great winter comfort food. I've been wanting to do more recipes from my Anne Willan books and this seemed very apt in the cold weather between the years.

It's very simple. You put a 2 lb pork shoulder (mine was a little bigger), tied in a cylinder, in a brine made of 2 qu. water, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf, 2 sliced garlic cloves, 2 tsp. juniper berries, 1 tsp. peppercorns (oops, forgot these), 2 whole cloves, 1-3/4 c. coarse salt, 3 Tbl. sugar and an optional 2 Tbl. curing salt gently heated and stirred until salt and sugar dissolve then completely cooled. Cover and refrigerate, the recipe says, anywhere from 12 hrs. to a week (I saw too late that the headnote recommends at least two days and cooked mine after 24 hrs.)

To cook, you rinse off the brine and cover pork with water in a pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 min. then pour off water and refill. (If the pork has been in the brine longer than 3 days, soak for 1 hr. in cold water prior to this step.) Bring to a boil and simmer for 1-1/2 hrs. Then stir in 10 oz. French lentils (closer to 12 oz. in my dish), a whole peeled onion with two cloves stuck in it, a crushed clove of garlic and a bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaf tied together) and cook for another 1/2 hr. Remove pork and cover, drain excess liquid from lentils, take out onion, remove cloves, chop and return to lentils, and remove bouquet garni. Slice pork and serve on bed of lentils. The pork is juicy and tender from the brine, and salty without tasting too salty. Lentils are always great.

I've been loyal to Anne Willan since I attended a cooking course at her Ecole de La Varenne in Paris (before it de-camped for the countryside) and have several of her cookbooks. This recipe was in The Country Cooking of France. Her books tend to be big, heavy coffee table books with lots of text and photos. I don't have the impression that the recipes are quite as meticulously tested for the home cook as you would expect from someone who operated a cooking school. Nothing that can't be overcome if you do a little thinking yourself, which I tend to do after the fact. So I probably should have used a smaller pot, since there was a lot of excess liquid which may have kept the flavor from concentrating. I should have read the headnote about keeping it in the brine for two days, but why should the recipe say something different? The result was nonetheless delicious, but I will put on my thinking cap the next time I use one of her recipes.

Masala Art

It seems I was observing radio silence the first time we went to Masala Art a couple of months ago, so let me rectify that after our return trip this week. Both times our reaction was the same: I love this place!

The name of the restaurant comes from its mastery of spice blends. As the Web site says: "Spice blends are called masalas. Indian cooks have mastered the timed roast of spices, releasing various flavors from the same spice based on its length of roasting. A spice is also manipulated by the way it is prepared. Each of the many spices has its own unique function: some spices tenderize, some intensify heat while others cool, some augment color, some thicken and others bring necessary tartness."

That must account for the remarkable freshness and novelty of the dishes we've tried. I can't remember the ones we had the first trip, but on this latest visit we split an appetizer, Aloo aur Pyaz ki Bhaji, which is juliennes of potatoes and onions in chickpea batter. This came out fresh and hot from deep frying with two very nice little sauces and was delicious. For main courses, we ordered a tawa -- cooked on a griddle like skillet -- and a tandoori. The Tawa Murgh Khatta Pyaaz was marinated chicken cubes with masala gravy, royal cumin and pickled onion. It had a rich tomato-ey flavor and a quiet, deep heat set off nicely by the pickled onion. The Bhuna Gosht was stir-fried lamb curry with spices. Somewhat less original but the lamb was very tender with a nice mature (muttony, the way I like!) taste. We got a rock salt and garlic nan (the one small criticism of the restaurant is that the nan portions are relatively small).

Prices are great: appetizers run about $5 and entrees $10 to $15. We split an appetizer and got two entrees. Next time we may get two appetizers and split an entree, with perhaps an additional half-order of a vegetable entree. All in all a great find, and close enough in Tenleytown to be considered a neighborhood restaurant.

Chicken and dumplings

One of the strongest food memories from my childhood is the time we went to a Methodist church supper for chicken and dumplings. We attended Catholic schools, and I worried that it was vaguely sinful to go to a Protestant church for dinner. But what a revelation! These anonymous ladies at the Methodist church created a fabulous meal with plump dumplings, a luscious broth and melt-in-your-mouth chicken.

My mother never cooked chicken and dumplings because her fried chicken was so good. Perhaps because the standard was set so high by the Methodist ladies, I've rarely attempted it myself. But the recipe in Molly Stevens' All About Braising was too appealing to resist.

Rather than the traditional method of poaching the dumplings in the broth the chicken is cooking in, Stevens has you cook everything separately. So first you sear the salted and peppered chicken parts in 2 Tbl. butter (I elected the thighs and legs option instead of the cut-up chicken). She insists that you just color the chicken pieces frying 4 min. a side, not brown them. Remove, pour off the fat, heat 2 more Tbl. butter, and sautee 1 medium onion chopped into 1/2-in. pieces, 2 celery stalks likewise chopped, 1 large shallot chopped, 2 strips lemon zest, and scant 1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg with sprinkling of salt and pepper until vegetables are soft. Add 1/2 c. dry white wine and simmer for 7 min. (until 3/4 of the wine is gone), add another 1/2 c. wine and simmer another 6 or 7 min. Add the stock and bring to simmer, then add the chicken pieces (if using cut-up chicken, keep the breasts out for the first 10 min.). Check heat after 10 min. to make sure braise is at a slow simmer, turn chicken pieces (add white meat) and simmer a further 25 to 30 min.

Remove the chicken pieces to platter and loosely cover with foil. In the meantime, you have mixed the dumpling batter, whisking 1 c. flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. coarse salt, 1 Tbl. chopped parsley, 1 Tbl. chopped chives or scallion ends (I just used 2 Tbl. parsley), and scant 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg (call it a pinch). You make a well in the dry ingredients, put in a whole egg at room temperature and add 6 Tbl. milk. Whisk ingredients together, adding up to 2 Tbl. more milk if batter is too stiff (mine was still pretty stiff with all 8 Tbl. milk), then whisk in 2 Tbl. butter, melted and cooled. Don't overmix, Stevens warns, because that will toughen dumplings. Form the dumplings with 2 tablespoons and put into the braising liquid, which you have strained to remove the aromatics (and skimmed for fat, a step I skipped). Simmer for 5 min. on one side, then gently turn and simmer for another 5 min. Remove to platter with the chicken.

Whisk together a liaison from 2 egg yolks, 1/2 c. heavy cream, salt and pepper. Whisk in a ladle-full of the braising liquid, and then whisk the liaison back into the pan with the rest of the braising liquid, stir and avoid bringing to a boil. If sauce tastes starchy, add a squeeze of lemon (I did anyway, what the heck). When sauce has thickened, pour over chicken and dumplings, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

This was different than the church supper, but it was extremely good. The Stevens book has been a great find, with many wonderful braising recipes.

Eye of the Goat beans

This has nothing to do with Men Who Stare at Goats. It is a pinto-like bean from Rancho Gordo and I used a pound in two more wonderful dishes from Steve Sando's Heirloom Beans.

The first was Posole with Eye of the Goat beans and chicken. I also got the posole -- husked, dried kernels of corn -- from Rancho Gordo. I soaked the beans and 2/3 c. posole (separately) overnight. I cooked the beans for 1-1/2 hrs with chopped onion and garlic sauteed in lard. The posole, following this recipe, I cooked 1/4 chopped onion for a little over 2 hrs (recipe said 3 hrs but they were plenty tender before that). Meanwhile, I slit 3 New Mexico chiles (next time maybe something a little hotter) and removed stems and seeds, roasted them in a skillet then poured boiling water over them and let them soak 30 min. Afterwards, I pureed them with some of the soaking water to "the consistency of buttermilk."

For the final assembly, I thinly sliced 2 more onion quarters and sauteed 3 to 4 min. in 2 Tbl oil with 2 chopped garlic cloves. I added 4 c. chicken broth, 1-1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano, the pureed chiles, and 4 canned tomatoes, chopped. Then I added the posole with 1 c. of the cooking liquid, brought all that to a boil, checked the salt, added 2 c. of cooked beans and simmered 20 min. to blend. Then I added 2 c. (recipe said 1-1/2 c.) of shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken and warmed through. The stew was served with chopped onion, cilantro leaves, limes, and diced avocado on the side, accompanied by warm corn tortillas. Very satisfying.

To use up the other 2 c. of beans, I used Sando's Chili verde with Anasazi beans, where Eye of Goat beans were listed as a suitable substitute. This was even better. I husked 8 tomatillos (first time I've ever cooked with these little green tomatoes!), boiled them for 5 min. and chopped them. I roasted 8 poblano chiles under the broiler for 15 min., turning often, put them into towels to steam for 10 min., peeled, seeded and cut into strips. In a large Dutch oven, I sauteed 1/2 chopped white onion in 2 Tbl oil, 3 chopped garlic cloves, and 1 tsp. of toasted, ground cumin seeds for about 10 min. Then I added 3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder cut into 3/4-in. cubes, chiles, tomatillos, 1/2 c. cilantro leaves and 1 tsp. Mexican oregano, and poured in chicken broth to cover. I seasoned with salt and pepper and simmered for 1-1/2 hrs. until pork was very tender, added 2 c. cooked beans and simmered another 30 min. Served with chopped cilantro. The green chiles lent a very satisfying heat to the tender, slightly fatty (I'd cut off a good deal of the fat) pork. Sando continues to astonish us.

Celery root and wild rice chowder

This was actually the first course in the meal with the Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, but I wanted to feature it in its own posting because it is so good and the first recipe I've used from Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets by Deborah Madison.

This dish is earthy, elegant and relatively simple -- a real keeper. You simmer 1/2 c. wild rice in 5 c. water for 45 min. (She doesn't specify, but I drained after it was done.)

Separately, you cut away the skin of a 1 lb. celery root (also known as celeriac), quarter it, and then cut into bite-size pieces. Chop and wash the white part of 2 large leeks. Dice one celery rib and thinly slice 1 c. russet potato. Melt 2 Tbl. butter in a soup pot, add the vegetables with 1/4 c. chopped parsley, bay leaf, sprig of thyme, and 1-1/2 tsp. salt. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 min., then add 2 c. vegetable or chicken stock (I used chicken), bring to boil, then simmer for 20 min. Add 2 c. half-and-half (or milk, I used half-and-half) and cook until vegetables are tender (didn't take that much longer). Check seasoning. For extra creaminess, purree 1 c. of chowder in blender and add back in to pot. Thin with stock or milk if chowder is too thick. Ladle soup into bowl, add mound of wild rice, and garnish with more chopped parsley and an optional drop of truffle oil.

This probably tastes great without the truffle oil, but I have to say I felt like the money for the oil was well-spent because that little whiff of truffles brings an added dimension to this chowder. We will certainly serve again this winter!

Zürcher Geschnetzeltes

This is one of the all-time classic European dishes, at least in German-speaking countries, so I was surprised that my well-traveled dining companions had never heard of it. It's a great winter dish and relatively easy, though pricey if you use veal as in the original.

Geschnetzeltes just means cut up, and this veal dish is to Zurich what Fegato alla veneziana (calves' liver, Venetian style) is to Venice. The recipe in the Swiss cookbook I've been carrying around for decades (Cooking in Switzerland by Marianne Haltenbach) was too vague. For instance, she neglected to mention that the veal should be cut in narrow strips, perhaps because she figures, wrongly, that everyone knows this. So I scoured the Web and settled on a recipe by Manuela Darling-Gansser carried at sbs.com.au/food as my guide.

She calls for veal back strap, whatever that is. Since American supermarkets carry very few cuts of veal, I just got scaloppini from the leg, buying 1-1/2 lbs for 4 people. I cut 3/4-in. strips cross-wise to get strips 2-4 in. long. Alone among the recipes, this one calls for flouring the veal, and since this works so well for scaloppini, I thought it made sense. However, the flour burned on the skillet and I had to change pans, so I would probably skip this the next time.

You sautée the veal quickly in butter and oil to brown the strips and set them aside. Add more butter and oil and sautée a finely sliced onion, 2 sliced cloves of garlic and 15 fresh sage leaves, chopped. After a few minutes, add a half-pound of "Swiss brown mushrooms" (I used cremini), thickly sliced. When the mushrooms are softened, add a cup of dry white wine, deglaze skillet, add the veal back in and cook until the wine evaporates, check seasoning. I stopped here to save the finish for just before serving. To finish, add 10 oz. of heavy cream and let bubble a couple of minutes, then serve.

The traditional accompaniment is rösti, a simple Swiss version of home fries. You are supposed to boil Yukon gold potatoes, let them cool, and then refrigerate covered for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days. I barely made the minimum and it probably works better if you can do it a day ahead of time. You peel and grate the potatoes in the large-hole side of the grater, and toss with salt and pepper. You heat butter and oil in a skillet, put in the potatoes, press into a flat "cake" with a spatula. Mine did not come out quite right (still tasted good because you can't really screw up with those ingredients). I used a skillet that was too big instead of the 9 to 9-1/2 in. called for. Other recipes call for it to be covered, but perhaps that was a mistake with this one, since it gets turned. Anyway, after 10 min. or so, a brown crust should form on the bottom of the cake, and you flip it onto a plate and slide the cake bakc into the skillet (with more butter and oil) with the uncooked side down and form a crust on that side for another 10 min. To serve, you cut into wedges.

Scallops with Brussels sprouts

I like Brussels sprouts anyway but this recipe in The Barcelona Cookbook featured a novel way of using them. After you parboil just 1 c. of pared Brussels sprouts for 3 min. (they are at their greenest), drain and plunge in ice water (to keep them green), you then "separate the sprouts into leaves for cooking." I just sliced off a bit more of the root and the outer leaves came off easily, sliced again for some of the inner leaves, then threw away the small core attached to the root.

We love scallops but only splurge on them a couple of times a year. The recipe specifies "dry" scallops from a "reputable" fish store. Apparently a cheaper version is preserved in liquid and won't work in this recipe. The Fishery, being reputable, had dry scallops and I got 6 beauties for the 2 of us (the recipe calls for 12 to serve 4). I did the full recipe for the rest, because we weren't having any other accompaniment.

Heat 2 Tbl. of butter in a skillet over high heat, add 1/4-lb. slab bacon cut into 1/2-in. dice (I used thick slice bacon I had on hand, but it's probably better to make the effort to get the slab because my bacon got pretty crispy), cook for 2 min. and then put the scallops, salted and peppered, in the pan to sear for 3 min. Directions not clear whether you also sear another 3 min. after turning (in general, this great cookbook could have used another round of home kitchen testing and final style editing because it is not always clear), but these were big scallops and I figured they weren't going to get overdone with another 3 min. Then you add those separated sprout leaves, 2 diced shallots, and 1 tsp. chopped garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 min. while stirring. Then you add 3/4 c. dry white wine, bring to a boil and scrape to deglaze pan. Remove scallops and boil down wine by 2/3. Swirl in another Tbl. butter (I actually forgot this and didn't miss it). Divide scallops onto serving plates and ladle sprouts and sauce over them. Elegant, delicious, light, lovely.

I ordered this book after the short ribs recipe I got online was such a hit. The book is very nice and there are also great descriptions of Barcelona, Spanish cheeses, etc. though the title itself refers to a restaurant group in Connecticut.

Parkway Deli

I've gone to Parkway Deli on Grubb Road to pick up sandwiches but we tried the dining room for the first time because we wanted pancakes but not the usual Sunday morning mob scene at House of Pancakes or the diners. Parkway certainly filled the bill (though it was also crowded). We were seated quickly, service was rapid and efficient, breakfast came out fast and hot and the buttermilk pancakes were great. Even the coffee was not bad for a diner-type restaurant. We'll go again -- maybe for bagel and lox!

Halibut, Short ribs

Two separate recipes and meals -- not together! Just catching up.

I've written several glowing reports about Steve Sando's Heirloom Beans but the best recipe yet was his fabulous Flageolet bean and halibut stew with asparagus and parsley-mint pistou. What a great balance of flavors that brings the wonderful qualities of halibut to the forefront -- white, chunky, tasty in a non-fishy way.

First you cook the half-pound of beans, soaked overnight, in a dutch oven where you sautée two garlic cloves, a chopped celery stalk and a chopped half onion for 10 minutes, then add the beans and soaking water, bring to a boil and simmer for an hour, until the beans are almost tender.

In the meantime, make the pistou by chopping a garlic clove and salt in a food processor to make a paste. Sando specifies 1/2 c. parsley and 1/3 c. mint with 2 Tbl. of EVOO to make the pistou, but that amount is small even for my mini-food processor, so it's probably a good idea to double it and have a little extra in order to get a smoother pistou.

Preheat broiler. Add 1-1/2 lbs. halibut cut into 2-inch pieces, a large bunch of asparagus with ends removed and cut into bite-sized pieces, and an optional 3 stems of green garlic (I opted out) to the pot with beans. Submerge ingredients gently with wooden spoon and simmer on top of stove about 10 to 15 min., turning fish once carefully to not break in pieces. When asparagus is tender and fish cooked through, top with 1/3 c. toasted bread crumbs, drizzle with 1 Tbl. olive oil, and put under broiler until stew is bubbling and bread crumbs are brown. Serve in shallow bowls and garnish each portion with the pistou. Serves 4.

One of my RSS feeds came up with a recipe for Sherry-braised short ribs with autumn vegetables from The Barcelona Cookbook. It was such a hit I ordered the cookbook (the point of the exercise, I suppose).

You brine the short ribs -- they say 1 4-in. short rib per person for 6 but I did more -- in a marinade of 1 small chopped celery, 1/2 chopped carrot, 1/2 small chopped onion, 1/2 small head garlic halved (you tell me what that means, I just put in some garlic), 3 sprigs coarsely chopped parsley, 2 sprigs chopped thyme, 1 sprig chopped rosemary, 1 c. apple cider, 3/4 c. cream or other sweet sherry, 2 Tbl. sherry vinegar, 4 black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp. kosher salt. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hrs. to 2 days.

Parboil and peel 2 c. pearl onions. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. The other vegetables get peeled and cut into 3/4 dice (though the book curiously does not specify this preparation for the potatoes, they certainly can't mean to leave them unpeeled and whole) -- 2 Yukon Gold potatoes, 2 parsnips, 2 carrots, 1 celery root, 1 turnip. You toss these with 3 Tbl olive oil, then salt and pepper. Spread 1 more Tbl olive oil in roasting pan and roast vegetables for 20 to 25 min., stirring after 10 min. (and rotating roasting pans if you need more than one to keep vegetables spread out).

To braise the ribs, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix 2 c. flour, 1/2 cup paprika (not smoked paprika), 1/4 c. chili powder, 3 tsp. kosher salt, 1-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper in a ziploc bag. Remove ribs from brine (keep the brine!), pat dry, and drop two at a time into bag to coat. Heat 3/4 c. olive oil in a roasting pan and brown ribs over medium high heat. Drain oil from pan and wipe clean. Return ribs to pan and pour 1 c. of brine and 5 c. veal stock over them. Cover with foil, bring to boil, and transfer to oven to braise 1-1/2 hrs. Remove ribs from braise and after it has cooled, strain braise. Skim fat or put into freezer to congeal fat on top. I did everything to this point ahead of time. For final assembly you raise oven to 425 degrees, put short ribs into pan with onions, veggies, strained braising liquid, bring to boil on stove and then roast in oven for 35 to 40 min. The meat is falling off the bone and the braising sauce is almost a demi-glace. Magnifique!

We served with a very nice Bradford Mountain Winery Grist Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Syrah 2006 that got 90 points from Wine Spectator and that I got at a good price from Wines Til Sold Out.

Matisse

I've been neglecting my food blog, so will try to get back on track. I fell into the trap of thinking everything has to be a set piece, with photo, etc. But this is for me to talk about one of my passions -- food and drink -- so I will try to keep it more informal.

On the spur of the moment, we went back to Matisse last night after a long absence, and we loved it. It is a place of many memories for us when we went there regularly with Andrea's parents and partly for that reason, I think, we have been reluctant to go back.

But it is in oasis of civilization in the hurly-burly of downmarket restaurants in our neighborhood. Tablecloths, white napkins, flowers -- quiet! And the food was excellent. I had the grilled Portuguese sardines (did they come from Portugal? is it a Portuguese technique?) which gave me that whiff of the Mediterranean I wanted (yes, I know Portugal is on the Atlantic and not the Mediterranean, but you know what I mean). Andrea had a lovely lentil soup.

My main course was New Zealand venison (a waste, I know, given how much venison on the hoof we have right here in Chevy Chase), and it had a nice, slightly gamey taste cooked to just the right medium rare. Spaetzle and brussels sprouts accompanied it, and I paired it with a very nice California Zinfandel by the glass. By now, you pay $10 everywhere for a glass of wine, but at Matisse you actually get a very good wine.

Andrea had a luscious duck breast that truly was to die for -- tender, very ducky meat with a crispy, spicey skin. She had a glass of red Burgundy (pinot noir) with it.

The owner recognized us and was friendly as always. For some puzzling reason, he seems to have trouble finding good wait staff. We never see the same person -- which is good, because the waiters have been generally not so great, and last night was no exception. All in all, though, a lovely meal and good value. Think we'll be going back more often!