Yumi’s udon tsuyu

• 6 cups of water
• 1 piece of konbu 3×3 in
• 20g dried katsuobushi
• 1/2 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup light soy sauce
• 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Walla Walla onions and leeks quiche

A staple of my oven, sometimes topped with crumbled goat cheese (or a edgy aged blue cheese like Stilton.

for the dough (for a 9 inches baking dish – 4 people):

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (although I like high-protein flours more)
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 7 tbs cold butter (almost a stick)
• 2 tbs ice-cold water

I normally refer to this to convert butter content:
¼ pound = 4 oz = 115 g = 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons

I stick everything in a food processor except the water. When everything is dusted, I add the water to bring the flour together in the food processor then with cold hands I work the dough minimally and shape it into a ball that goes, wrapped in cling film, straight in the fridge for at least an hour.

for the filling:

• 4 leeks (white part and some green)
• 1 big Walla Walla onion (or a white onion soaked in water for 30 minutes)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs heavy cream
• 4 tbs grated pecorino
• 2 tbs butter
• extra virgin olive oil
• pepper/salt

Melt the butter in olive oil to prevent milk proteins to burn (enough to cover the pan you’re cooking in).
Sautee the chopped onion and the leeks (big chunks, to keep a bite) and slightly salt the mixture to release some water (lid on). Remove the lid and start browning/caramelizing. Stop at a golden stage with the onion structure maintained.
Cool down and mix one beaten egg, a splash of cream and the pecorino.
No salt added because of the pecorino but adjust with salt if Parmigiano is used.

Roll the dough, prick the bottom with a fork and stick in the fridge (covered).
Gently pour the filling and prick the borders like a galette.
Cook 30 minutes at 450º (or until the top gets nicely browned).

:: wine: Walter Massa “Derthona” Timorasso or a Loire Sauvignon.

Pickled daikon

Daikon, such a versatile radish. Less pungent and peppery than its brothers and more watery….

Had it pickled with sushi, loved it and reproduced it this way: (makes a ½ gal jar)

• 1 cup rice vinegar
• 1 cup filtered water (no chlorinated tap water)
• 1 cup sugar ½ tsp turmeric 
• 4 juniper berries 
• 1 lbs daikon kosher salt 

Slice the daikon into ¼-inch thick rounds and cut them into semicircles. Salt the slices generously in a bowl then transfer to a colander and let them drain for one or two hours.

In the meantime, combine water, sugar,vinegar, juniper berries and turmeric in a saucepan and cook on medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Try not to reach the boil. Let it cool down covered and allow the flavors to infuse. Rinse the daikon slices with water, pat dry, arrange in a sterile mason jar and cover with the brine (filter through a very fine mesh/coffee filter). Refrigerate overnight.

Good after one week. Keeps 2 weeks.

Gnocchi alla Vigezzina

While not being a fan of tweaking recipes, sometimes you just need to substitute your ingredients. It would be actually difficult to find the right cheese even in Italy. On top of that you can skip the chestnut flour just because you may have a hard time finding it. But of course…what’s the point? Get going and find some, even online.
The flavors stuck in my head since I visited val Vigezzo in Piemonte (Italy) years ago during college.
It’s chestnut gnocchi with cheese and bacon but there’s a unique earthiness associated with this dish.
The original cheese was a local “nostrano”, undefined for “made here”.  Slightly creamy and young with a subtle buttery texture and great texture thanks to the great pastures available in val Vigezzo and most probably the good view cows get since val Vigezzo is also called “painters’ valley” for the beautiful landscapes.

I actually pair these chestnut gnocchi with Castelmagno cheese or Castelrosso, a rather inexpensive cousin.

Murray’s Cheese defines Castelrosso a “pasteurized red cow’s milk cheese is a cousin of the famous King of Italian cheeses, Castelmagno from Piemonte, in NE Italy. Similar in apppearance, it has a dry, crumbly, snowy white paste, which is a bit creamier and more complex beneath the natural thick, gray rind smattered with yellow and red mold. The flavor is mild: lactic and buttery, with a full fungal finish. Its residual tang is similar to Lancashire and other English cheddar-styles. The straightforward flavors are an ideal foil to Italian condiments such as grape mostarda and chestnut honey”.

Now, I just love it when melted with some milk into a luscious creamy sauce that brings out the full earthy potential.

So here is the math for the gnocchi:

• 500 g russet potatoes
• 120 g flour
• 40 g chestnut flour
• 1 egg

Boil potatoes, skin on, until soft and let on a plate to dry for 10 minutes. Peel, mash and mix with the flours with a good hefty pinch of salt. Beat the egg, incorporate in the dough and let rest covered with foil for 30 minutes. Roll the dough, cut the gnocchi and texture them with a fork (or with a cheese grater as my Grandma does).
Boil some water, add salt, and cook the gnocchi until they float on the surface then remove them in batches and add them to the sauce. You can thin out the sauce by adding some of the starchy water used to cook the gnocchi. A dash of white pepper and you’re good to go.

Dan Barber’s corn ice cream

• 3 ears of corn, kernels cut from cobs and cobbs chopped (1-inch pieces)
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 5 large egg yolks

Cook corn kernels with cobs, milk, cream and sugar in a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, 1 hour.

Discrd corn cobs. Puree corn mixture in batches in a blender until smooth.

Lightly beat yolks in a large bowl. SLowly add hot corn mixture, whisking. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is slightly thickened and registers 170ºF (do not let it boil).

Immediately strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Chill at least 6 hours. Freeze custard in an ice cream maker, in batches if necessary. Transfer to freezer, to firm up at least 3 hours.

From the Stone Barns brochure Summer 09.

Crust math

3-2-1 w/w (flour / butter / water)

1 ½ cups flour / 1 stick of butter (cold) / 5 tbs ice-cold water / ½ tsp salt.

Bingo!

Inauguration casserole

When asked to make a solid American dish for Obama’s inauguration, my mind pointed straight to a casserole from the 50-60′s. I’m not a big fan of cooked tuna in dishes so I decided to approach a solid tater tots casserole. While casseroles are absolutely spanning through all culinary cultures, the canning wave that started in the early 40′s in the US by Campbell’s pushed these dishes a little bit off the gourmet path.
I then approached the dish from scratch, trying to gather the best ingredients I could and elevate the gourmet level, hopefully without sacrificing the original flavors. I basically prepared 4 different dishes and assembled them before sending the casserole to the oven.

Cream of mushrooms:

• 1 lb of white button mushrooms
• 2 dried mushrooms
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 cup + 2 tbs whole milk
• mochiko (rice flour)
• salt & pepper
• nutmeg
• unsalted butter
• extra-virgin olive oil

Sweat the chopped button mushrooms in a 2 good tbs of butter and oil over medium heat. Add some salt and pepper to release their excess water. Meanwhile flavor the heated broth with two dried mushrooms. Add two cups of broth to the mushrooms and let them soften for half an hour or until the broth is almost completely reduced. Dissolve 2-3 tsp of rice flour in 2 tbs of milk and make a slurry. Pour the cup of milk in the mushrooms and add a pinch of grated nutmeg. Incorporate the milk/mochiko slurry and cook until thickened. Adjust salt & pepper while still liquid. Set aside while other dish component are in the works.

Potato croquettes (aka the tater tots):

• 1 lb russet potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1 yolk
• breadcrumbs or panko
• 3-4 tbs grated parmigiano reggiano
• salt
• white pepper
• nutmeg
• parsley
• 1 tbs milk
• vegetable oil

Skin the potatoes and steam them until soft (I do prefer big time steaming vs boiling) and let them dry for a good 20-30 minutes or until warm. Add the whole egg and the yolk , a finely chopped sprig or two of parsley (no cilantro, please), the parmigiano, a pinch of nutmeg, the tbs of milk a dash of salt and pepper (white preferably) and combine all together.

The dough should be soft but not sticky. If so, include 1 tbs of white flour at a time to adjust the consistency but don’t exaggerate otherwise the final texture will be off. So now you do little balls, you shape them cylindrically and dredge them in a bed of breadcrumbs until happy and uniformly covered. Heat up enough oil in pot (1 ½ inches of oil will do) and wait until hot, I mean hot (drop one crumblet of potatoes in the oil and it has to fry instantly). Fry until golden brown and set aside on kitchen paper.
I guess this recipe will yield something like 30-40 croquettes. You’ll need less…so enjoy some while you cook.

Green beans: just steam a bunch of green beans (after removing the extremities) with a garlic clove in the pot for flavor. Stop cooking them when they start to soften but let them crunchy.

Beef filling: sweat two/three tablespoons of soffritto (celery:carrot:onion  1:1:2) and a smashed garlic clove in a good tbs of extra virgin olive oil and salt. When golden, remove the garlic and add ½lb of good minced beef. Cook on medium heat until the meat juices have evaporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Fun time! Assembly line can now start.

Mix the meat with beans and cream of mushroom, lay the mixture on the bottom of a casserole dish (get inspired here) and cover with the crispy potato croquettes. Send the casserole to an hot oven (350ºF) for 10 minutes then let rest for 5 minutes and serve.

Now I know why this dish has gone through a major canning revolution, it’s actually pretty laborious and has too many steps. I would say that this is a classic Sunday dish, to prepare with the whole family around. Certain dishes have to be special, no? We can’t have Christmas or Thanksgiving food every day, right?