Veal Chop with Wild Mushrooms

Dear Devon,

I traded you Alice Waters for Patricia Wells. With the number of cookbooks published every year, I am surprised that trading cards of superstar chefs have not yet been included in every issue of Saveur. Cookbook trading, or borrowing, in our case, is better than laminated cards.

Our cookbook swap is still affecting the way I think about food long after Patricia Wells’ Simply French returned to your library. You had dog-eared a recipe for veal chops with wild mushrooms and asparagus. In addition to Wells’ mouth watering writing and the luscious photograph on the facing page, your high regard for the recipe made me pay closer attention. I studied it and copied it down for later use.
I am not sure if it was the excitement of seeing crates of wild mushrooms, or the blood red loins of beef, but it wasn’t until I walked through the market a few weeks ago that I finally made Wells’ recipe. Of course I made some slight changes. I traded baby asparagus for leftover thin green beans and seasoned one side of each chop with herbaceous za’atar seasonings. Friends of mine brought this tasty mix back from their trip to Israel last summer, and I loved it so much I brought it to Barcelona.

My weekly meat consumption includes cold cuts and sometimes chicken, but in general, I am not a big meat eater. (I confess, I have a weakness for good hamburgers, which are a rarity over here). This was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. The meat was perfectly cooked, pink and soft inside, but with a salty, herby thick crust. When the knife pierced the juicy meat, my mouth instantly began to water and nothing beats that satisfying crunch of a nicely crusted aromatics. The fragrant mushroom port sauce enhanced every bite, bringing out the sweet grassy undertones of the meat.

You will probably run to your bookshelf in search of her recipe. I wish I had a copy of her book here, so I could continue my dialogue with Ms. Wells. After the success of this recipe, I am eager to try more. I can’t believe I waited half a year to make this!



Veal Chop with Wild Mushrooms
Roughly adapted from Patricia Wells
(serves 2)

2 veal chops
2 tbsp za’atar seasoning
100 g wild mushrooms
2 handfuls of thin green beans
¼ cup port
1 tbsp butter

Let meat come to room temperature. Liberally salt and pepper both sides. Generously sprinkle za’atar spices on one side of meat. Gently pat into the meat. Set aside to rest for a few minutes before cooking.

Sear veal chops za’atar side up over high heat in a large sauté pan in a bit of olive oil. Once the meat has settled into the pan, avoid the temptation to touch the cooking meat. This will ensure a nice browned crust. Depending on the thickness of the meat (mine was ¾ of an inch), sear 5 to 7 minutes before flipping. Continue cooking over a medium high flame for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. I prefer my meat rare-medium rare, but I know many who prefer well done. In any event, cook the meat to your desired temperature. Remove from the pan and set aside on a warmed plate, then cover with foil or a dishtowel.

Over a medium flame, deglaze the pan with port and add the mushrooms. Gently cook the mushrooms in the reducing port sauce. Cook for five or seven minutes before adding thin green beans with their stems removed. Cook for an additional two or three minutes. Add a lump of butter and melt into the sauce.

To serve, top steak with mushroom port sauce. Serve with bread and butter and a green salad.

Tomato Confit

Dear Michelle,

There are few pleasures as simple or as anticipated as the first ripe, sun-warmed tomato of Summer. Cut into thick slices, sprinkled with salt, and drizzled with olive oil, the first juicy, melting, dripping bite of fruit signifies to me the end of Spring more than heat, ice cream, or sandals. It is something I look forward to every year.

But, then, there comes a time when one is ready to turn those tomatoes into something else; after all, they are very versatile, and even the best tomato salads get old when eaten every day. And, of course, there are some people who don’t like raw tomatoes. Who knows what’s wrong with them, but I suppose we must account for all tastes.



Here is a recipe to satisfy those people, and others who didn’t even know they were ready to move beyond the perfection of a good vine-fresh tomato. This is not a roasted tomato, but one that is gently melted, the flavor condensed and intensified. The slices or halves (depending on what kind of tomato is used) are cooked at a very low heat with herbs, oil, salt and pepper, garlic if you wish, until they slump into a flavorful concentrate that you’ll want to eat right off of the baking sheet.

Wells uses plum tomatoes in her recipe, but I’ve used all sorts. It is too difficult to peel smaller tomatoes, and I don’t always bother to seed them either, though my (spoiled) father will complain when I skip this step. Regular, large tomatoes should be cut in ½-3/4 inch slices. The peel will come off after cooking. I rarely bother with the garlic, unless I’m using larger tomatoes, and instead of thyme I’ll often use herbes du provence. These, especially the smaller tomatoes, can be cooked further for a chewier texture, but if you go too far you will end up with something closer to sundried tomatoes. Not the worst problem to have, for sure.

You’ll find many uses for these, not the least as a way to store extra tomatoes if you have a surplus. My parents freeze the confit to enjoy in the colder months. Tomatoes prepared this way have many uses. You can:

Puree them for a pasta sauce; mix with equal parts finely chopped artichoke hearts and olives, adding oil and vinegar to taste, as a tapenade (I made sandwiches with this and goat’s cheese one night for dinner); pizza, where they are much better than fresh tomatoes; added to omelets; tossed into a pasta salad; you get the idea.

Patricia Wells’ Tomato Confit (recipe copied verbatim)

2 lbs plum tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded, and quartered lengthwise

Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

A pinch of confectioner’s sugar

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

4 plump, fresh garlic cloves, peeled and slivered

2 Tb extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to the lowest possible setting, about 200F (90C; gas mark 1).

2. Arrange tomato quarters side by side on a baking sheet. Sprinkle each side lightly with salt, pepper, and confectioner’s sugar. Scatter the thyme leaves over the tomatoes and place a garlic sliver on top of each quarter. Drizzle with olive oil. Place in the oven and cook until the tomatoes are very soft, about 1 hour. Turn the tomatoes, baste with the juices, and cook until meltingly tender and reduced to about half their size, about 2 hours total. Check the tomatoes from time to time. They should remain moist and soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool thoroughly.

3. Transfer the tomatoes to a jar along with the cooking juices and oil. Cover securely and refrigerate up to 1 week. Use in salads, on sandwiches, for pasta, or anywhere you want a rich, pure, tomato flavor.

Meyer Lemon Honey Madeleines

Dear Devon,

I finally had a chance to sit down and read through your copy of Patricia Wells' Simply French. I paid special attention to your dog-eared pages and added a few tags of my own. Before returning the book, there are a few recipes I must try out. I am drooling over her recipes for thick veal chop with wild mushrooms and asparagus (p. 175), and cheese and bacon potato cake (p. 203). But today, I am once again enamored with the idea of making madeleines.


I realize I already told you about my love for these delectable shell-shaped cookies, but I must do it again. Please indulge me. I'm always looking for new ways to make madeleines, and Patricia Wells offers five variations! (Madeleines aux cinq parfums: au chocolat, au citron, au miel, aux noisettes, et aux pistaches.) Obviously, she loves madeleines as much as I do.

I considered her flavoring techniques and made some adjustments in my latest dozen. Using a mortar and pestle, I ground the lemon zest into the sugar, gently persuading the zest to release its essential oils. What the Meyer lemon lacks in size it more than makes up for in flavor. The zest is intense and flowery. The juice is like lemon concentrate, with sweet notes and a distinct tang. The addition of honey subdued the intense lemon flavor while adding a subtle nuttiness. It is popular to take your tea with lemon and honey, why not a madeleine?

The only thing consistent about a madeleine is its shape. I am always surprised how different the recipes are for these treats. Patricia Wells asks for six large egg whites whisked until frothy and mixed with 13 tbsp of melted butter and 1/2 cup of finely ground almonds. I'm sure it tastes fantastic, but I'm not in the mood to separate eggs, so I went back to Dorie Greenspan's recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours.

Waiting for them to emerge from the oven, I am tortured by their sweet buttery fragrance. At the end of my patience, I burned my hasty fingers sliding them from their molds. The results, as always were fantastic. Tart lemon and the round, smooth flavor of honey are perfect in the buttery madeleine.

Meyer Lemon Honey Madeleines (makes 12)
adapted from Dories Greenspan Baking from My Home to Yours
inspired by Paricia Wells Simply French p. 262-265

2 eggs
5 tbsp butter, melted
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cake flour
pinch of salt
1 meyer lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a madeleine pan. Set aside.

Melt butter in a double boiler over moderate heat. Set aside to cool. Using a mortar and pestle, grind sugar and zest from one Meyer lemon. Whisk together eggs and sugar until pale yellow and doubled in size. Fold in the sifted flour, pinch of salt, and baking powder. Gradually whisk in cooled melted butter, honey, and juice of the Meyer lemon. Spoon into molds and bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown and plump. The madeleines should slide easily out of their molds. Serve with coffee or tea.

Penne Risotto with Beef Short Rib

Dear Michelle,

I wonder why it is that twice now, when I'd like to relate to you a recipe by Patricia Wells, it will end up being a short post? An hour must be sufficient for me to write this, as I'll soon be on my way to meet my mother at noon, but this must be shared! I've already told you how I feel about Wells, so I'll not go into that again. Suffice to say that the following recipe for penne risotto is one of my favorites, not just of her recipes but of meals to make in general, and like regular risotto, it can be varied infinite ways.


The impetus for this came from a half-pound of beef short rib Jeff brought home from our favorite neighborhood butcher. As you know, there's not too much you can do with a half-pound of short rib; it's a bit like having 3 pieces of bacon, that is to say, delicious but not a whole lot of meat. However, when faced with that bit of discouraging information regarding his meant-to-be-exciting-surprise-purchase, he accessed his talent for coming up with terrific meals to suggest penne risotto, a favorite of his we'd not had in a while.

The basic idea of penne risotto is that of regular risotto. You toast the pasta in oil, add seasonings, then add broth slowly. The result is tender, perfectly al-dente pasta that is coated in rich, flavorful, almost silky sauce. This goes well with so many things: roasted vegetables in the summer, artichoke hearts, asparagus; the variations are endless. This time, it went perfectly with short rib. I'd cooked the short rib simply in white wine, herbes de Provence, onion and carrot, then shredded it and added the liquid, vegetables, and meat to the chicken stock I'd bought (chicken because it's a little lighter, but one could certainly use beef, or even vegetable stock), then added the meat and veggies when I was almost through adding stock. Now, I might go buy a half-pound of shortrib just for this! It was the perfect amount of meat (plus a half-pound is pretty cheap), and the additional carrots I added towards the end balanced it out well.



Penne Risotto with Beef Shortrib

Penne risotto recipe is from Patricia Wells at Home in Provence, pg 144-145. The below recipe is hers (as always, paraphrased by me. Seems wrong to copy word for word), with my notes in parentheses.

About 2 1/2 quarts stock
1lb dried Italian tubular pasta (works with any pasta; orzo is especially nice)
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t fine sea salt
4 T tomato paste
2 T finely chopped rosemary leaves (I used dry herbes de Provence, sometimes rosemary, sometimes thyme when I have fresh; let this be dictated by what else you are adding, what you have, and how you feel)
1/4 t crushed dried red pepper (I sometimes omit)
2 t good red wine vinegar
1/2 c grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or another good, dry, hard cheese, finely grated)

Heat stock till barely simmering (here, I added short rib liquid and guessed as to how much. It was fine. If you run out of liquid just heat more up. Directions for cooking short rib below). In a large skillet (LARGE- otherwise there will be overflow. Trust me), heat oil over moderately high heat. When hot but not smoking, add the pasta, stirring till until it begins to brown lightly.



Season with salt and add tomato paste and rosemary, stirring constantly until pasta is evenly coated with sauce (allowing the tomato paste to brown lightly as well will add a very rich flavor). Slowly add a ladelful of stock, stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn heat to medium; you want to maintain a simmer. Pasta should cook slowly. Just before it looks dry, add another ladeful of stock. Continue until pasta is tender. It will feel springy to the touch, and have just a little bit of resistance when bitten. (I added additional diced carrot about halfway through. Here's where I would add any vegetable, except those roasting in the oven, which I would stir in with about 5 minutes to go. How do I know when that is? The pasta is almost done, a little too hard to the bite; one more ladelful will do it. This is also the time at which I added the short rib meat). Add vinegar and additional seasoning to taste. (the vinegar helps to balance the richness. It makes a huge difference!). Stir in half the cheese. Serve in warmed bowls or dishes, sprinkling on the rest of the cheese. (Reheats very well- so much better than buying lunch out!)

Short Rib

We think of beef as traditionally cooked in red wine, but I wanted something a little lighter for this. There is a French dish called Provencal daube in which it is cooked in white wine, so I figured that would work out fine. And it did. Maybe I'll try making the daube sometime soon, before it gets warm out.

1/2 lb short rib
white wine
herbs
1 carrot
1 onion

Brown short rib in skillet. Set aside.
Dice and saute one half onion (or whole small onion) and one carrot.



Put beef, and juices, in a container small enough that you don't need to add the whole bottle of wine to cover, or almost cover, the meat. I only had a bowl that was a little too small (or way too large), so the beef wasn't quite covered. I kept turning it. It was fine. Add veggies, a sprinkling of herbs, salt and pepper, and wine to cover (or almost).


Cook at 200F for a few hours, until it starts to fall apart.

(Some notes paraphrased from the nerdy cook's favorite book, One Food and Cooking by Harold McGee: Pieces of meat like short rib are naturally tough because of the presence of connective tissue. Braising will make them tender and succulent. The connective tissue will turn into gelatin [what makes the meat succulent] at 160-180F. So, once meat is browned for flavor, cook at a gentle, low heat for best results. That is also why I do not preheat the oven here, which is fine if you have plenty of time)

Patricia Wells' Potato Gratin

Dear Michelle-

This is going to be short; it's almost time for dinner. I don't need to say much about this dish, which I made when I was at my parent's house. If you like potatoes, cream, and cheese, you will like this.

Patricia Wells has long been a favorite cookbook author of mine. I have three of her books, all of which I would recommend highly and in which I have found many of my favorite recipes. I've only been let down once, by the "onion family soup", but I'm pretty sure I measured wrong. That is one of those things that neither Jeff nor I mentions. It was really that bad, but like I said, I'm sure it was my mistake. Patricia lives a blessed existence in Provence, and cooks and writes about it for a living. She has several recipes for potato gratin, and this looked like the richest and most luxurious. It sure was. You start by cooking sliced potatoes in herbed milk, then layer them with cream and Gruyere. The dish is creamy and rich, but not greasy, and delicately scented with the herbs from the milk and nutmeg.

My father took them out of the fridge and dug in cold one day for lunch. Granted, he's not much of one to heat things up, but I had a few bites and they are pretty good cold as well. Really, you can't go wrong with this unless you are serving the lactose-intolerant. And that would just be cruel.

Madame Laracine's Gratin Dauphinios from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells, pg. 99

3lbs baking potatoes, such as russets, peeled and thinly sliced. I think I used Yukon Golds, my favorite potatoes, and they worked very well.
2 c whole milk
3 cloves garlic, minced (my father is garlic averse, so I substituted 3 T shallot to no ill effect)
3/4 t salt
3 bay leaves
freshly grated nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper
1 c creme fraiche or heavy cream ( I used the latter, not having any of the former)
2 c grated good-quality Gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.
Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with milk and 2 c water ( I think I forgot the water? but it was fine. As long as the potatoes are covered.) Add garlic, salt, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and stir occasionally so that potatoes do not stick. Cook till potatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 10 minutes.
Transfer half of potatoes to large baking dish (9x13" works) with slotted spoon. Sprinkle liberally with nutmeg, half of cream, half of cheese, and pepper. Add remaining potatoes and cover with all of the above again, cheese on top.
Bake until crisp and golden on top, about an hour. Serve as a side, or with salad as a complete meal. Dig in!