Text 27349, 183 rader
Skriven 2009-08-10 10:49:00 av Michael Loo (1:18/200.0)
  Kommentar till text 27179 av Dave Sacerdote (1:123/140)
Ärende: a texture thing 11
==========================
 DS> I've tried that soak-with-cornmeal thing and no longer bother; it
 DS> doesn't seem to work.

I'm not sure. Perhaps length of soak is relevant? I used to
leave them overnight, and the next day, the clams seemed happy
as clams, and I like to think they were cleaner. Now that you
make me think of it, perhaps the purge owes itself to a
residual squeamishness of the diners? You know, "those things
were alive and sh1ttin' just a while ago, I want their little
butts wiped before I eat them."

 I've had excellent results, however, in
 DS> careful scrubbing with a stiff brush under a trickle of cold water.

Me, too, but usually after the cornmeal pigout.

 DS> Seems most of the sand is around the edges of the shell in the nooks
 DS> and crannies and can be scrubbed out with some time and care.

That's so. Especially around the neck wrapper.

=

 DS> I have two hocks-or-trotters recipes I want to try.  One is for a
 DS> Russian version of souse called "holodets" made with pig's feet,
 DS> the other is pickled hocks.  I might be able to get some time this 
 DS> weekend to do some experimenting.

I used to have a recipe for kholodetz, but it's not on this
computer. I believe that that one used calf's foot instead of
or in addition to.

 ML> 1 JTM Brand "Grillin' Ribs" pork patty
 DS> Those are nasty bastards.  Your recipes often crack me up.

I try to make sure that the attributions or comments reflect
my attitudes towards the recipes!

Braised beef with carrots
cat: saintongeoise, French, fxcuisine, main, stew
servings: 10 to 12

1.5 kg beef blade, chuck or arm clod
2 kg carrots [!]
20 shallots
200 gr bacon
200 gr butter
half a bottle red wine
1 glass cognac
1 calf's foot
- recipe refers to pig trotters later
1 bouquet garni (sage, parsley, thyme)

Daube de boeuf saintongeaise

The proper way to prepare lardons (bacon sticks) like a
French chef is to put them in a saucepan, cover with water
and slowly bring to the boil. I confess I don't remember why
exactly that is done but the explanation was very
convincing, something about this process ridding the lardons
of a substance that would contaminate the sauce. It only
takes a couple minutes and as you'll see below, we will get
all the taste we want from those lardons by frying them.

Ah those lovely piggy trotters. Every ham you have ever
bought in your life came with a trotter attached, but nobody
buys them anymore. Same for calfs' feet (picture). Just ask
for your butcher and they'll give them for free and tell
their wife at night some guy actually asked for one. The
trotters bring gelatin to the sauce. Ask the butcher to cut
the trotters in half lengthwise and boil it in hot water for
a couple minutes.

Wash a clean cotton cloth under water until it does not reek
of washing powder any longer. We'll use this bag to tie
every flavoring ingredient that's not eaten - sprigs of
thyme, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, sage leaves, parsley
and the blanched trotters.

This is much more elegant than having to fish them out
before serving. There is much poetry in this bag and the
evanescence of the ingredients who contribute to the show
but are never seen by the guests.

Braised dishes make use of lesser cuts which are very
affordable. The long braising in my black cauldron turns
these mundane cuts into delicious morsels like an alchemist
who puts lead into his athanor and through a long process
transforms it into gold. For this daube use beef blade,
chuck or arm clod. Cut into large cubes.

SautO in a large pan with a little oil until browned all
over. Reserve.

In a very large ovenproof pot sautO the blanched bacon and
add the peeled shallots.

Add the reserved meat.

Peel the carrots and slice them 1.5cm thick.

Saute the carrots and then pour them into the pot whith the
lardons, shallots and meat.

Mix well.

In a small saucepan heat the red wine and cognac until it
boils, then light it up with a match. The alcohol will burn
with a blue flame. It may sound like defeating the purpose
of adding cognac and good wine, but in fact alcohol has a
strong taste that would ruin the delicate balance of flavors
in the pot. It is best burnt off.

Place the cotton bag in the center of the dish and pour the
wine over.

Add enough broth so as to almost cover the meat.

This dish will cook for nearly 4 hours. If the pot was
leaking, much of the aromatic molecules we have taken so
long to prepare would escape, leaving a lessened dish. We
need to guarantee that as little as possible will escape.
The traditional solution is to lute the pot. This is a
magical moment. Just mix a little flour with just enough
water to obtain a thick paste.

Roll the past with your hands to as to obtain a long snake,
and cover the edges of your pot with the dough. As it heats
up, the dough will form an impenetrable seal that will trap
the flavor in the pot. A hundred years ago cooks used large
square copper pots called braisiere with a tight fitting
lid. These pots where placed in the fireplace and left to
cook for half a day in the hot embers...

... but with today's oven this is no longer necessary. Just
place your luted pot into the oven and cook for 4 hours at
120C (just above water's boiling point).

That's it. Now the alchemist opens up his crucible to see
how care and slow cooking transformed cheap beef cuts into a
dish fit for a king.

We remove the sack and set it aside. Nobody will see that
yet everybody will taste and smell the spices that were int
the sack. (Take a peek inside).

This dish is best served with potato purOe, a very simple
dish to make. Unless you are a character from Lost or live
in a bunker, there is just no excuse for using dehydrated
purOe. Just wash waxy potatoes and boil them unpeeled in
salter water until a knife can easily pierce them - about 30
minutes. Peel your potatoes (my fingertips prefer I do this
under running water), crush them and mix with a little milk
and butter.

Braised dishes such as chili con carne, boeuf bourguignon or
this delicious daube are often better when reheated the next
day. The meat becomes even softer and gorges itself of the
sauce's flavor. The home chef new to piggy trotters is in
for a surprise when he opens the fridge the next day and
discover his sauce totally jellyfied. But no alarm, after a
few seconds of heating its takes back its liquid
consistance. Here I let the sauce reduce a little, then
thickened it with a beurre manie (butter mixed with a little
flour) and a drop of cream.

Most people in France in a home setting will want to make a
little mound of potato puree in their plate and make a hole
on the top to put the sauce inside like lake or little
volcano.

This is the top of French confort food. If you do this for
yourself or happen to reheat some a couple days later, feel
free to eat it with a spoon. No need to bother with forks or
knives if you're alone. I ate this 4 nights in a row and it
kept getting better every night!

fxcuisine.com

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