Cassoulet

From “Down South” by Donald Link. You will need 6 hours from when this starts cooking to finish. You’ll need about an hour for prep/cutting/putting everything in the pot to cook. Highly recommend home made chicken stock and good beans. If you wanna get fancy, look for a recipe with duck confit but you can really get away with duck fat,

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Great Northern or Canelli beans
• 2.5 lbs of pork belly cut into 1 1/2″ cubes
• 2 TB kosher salt
• 1 TB black pepper
• 1 lb smoked sausage, 2″ segments
• 4 cups of diced onions
• 2 cups diced celery
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 TSP red pepper flakes
• 1 TSP chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 TB tomato paste
• 3 TB whole grain mustard
• 2 quarts of chicken broth

Directions:

• Soak beans in water overnight
• Season pork cubes with 1TB of salt and 2 TSP of pepper
• Heat oven 250 degrees

• Heat large cast iron pot to med/high
• Sear belly in batches, brown on all sides about 10 mins per batch
• transfer belly to plate with paper towels

• Saute sausage in rendered fat until lightly browned 2-3 min
• add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and thyme and 1 TB of salt, 1 tsp pepper
• saute until veggies soften about 5 mins
• pour in wine and simmer, slightly reduce about 3 mins
• add tomato paste and mustard and cook, stirring until the ingredients are evenly combined, 2-3 more mins

• Return pork belly and any accumulated juices to the pot
• add 1 qt of chicken broth and bring to a slow simmer.
• cover and simmer for 60-70 mins – belly should be tender but not falling apart

• add beans and remaining 1 qt of broth, enough to comfortably cover the beans by 2″
• put in oven and bake uncovered stirring the top curst into the beans every hour or so until the beans are tender, about 3 1/2 hrs – add more broth if needed to keep the bean submerged.

• blast the oven to 450 and cook for another 30 mins to form a crust on the top of the bean mixture.
• Push the crust down into the middle of the pot and cook for another 15 mins to form a new crust.
• cool for 30 mins

Baller Beef Stew

Once again, upgrading my regular dishes with Kenji’s video. Link to recipe you can follow.

Notes: I just brown meat, throw everything in a slow cooker and it turns out great but there are some small things to improve on.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (950ml) homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste (2.5 ounces; 75g)
• 3 oil- or salt-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed (or 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce)
• 4 packets powdered unflavored gelatin (1 ounce; 30g)
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
• 3 pounds (1.25kg) whole boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 3 steaks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 10 ounces (275g) white button mushroom, quartered
• 4 medium carrots (10 ounces; 275g), 2 left whole, 2 cut into bite-sized pieces
• 8 ounces (225g) frozen or fresh pearl onions (thawed if frozen, peeled if fresh)
• 1 large yellow onion, unpeeled, split in half (10 ounces; 275g)
• 2 small ribs celery (3 ounces; 85g)
• 3 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 cup sherry, dry vermouth, or red wine (8 ounces; 235mL)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (about 3/4 ounce; 20g)
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1 pound (450g) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 ounces (113g) frozen peas

Directions:

• Combine stock, tomato paste, anchovies, gelatin, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce in a blender and blend on high speed until homogenous. Set aside.
• Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season beef all over with salt and pepper and add to Dutch oven. Cook, turning occasionally, until beef is well browned on 2 sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer beef to a rimmed baking sheet or large plate and set aside.
• Add mushrooms to Dutch oven and cook, stirring, until liquid is released and mushrooms begin to brown, about 6 minutes, lowering heat as necessary to prevent scorching. Add diced carrots and pearl onions and cook, stirring, until well-browned on all sides. Season to taste with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
• Add halved yellow onion to Dutch oven, cut-side-down. Add whole carrots, celery stalks, and garlic. Cook, turning carrots, celery, and garlic occasionally until all the vegetables are well-browned, about 4 minutes.
• Add wine or sherry, scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon, and cook until reduced by 3/4, about 3 minutes. Add broth mixture and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
• Cut seared steaks into 1 1/2- to 2-inch chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with flour. Add beef and any juices accumulated in the tray or plate to the Dutch oven along with bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Stir to combine and return to a simmer over medium heat. Transfer to oven, cover with lid partially open, and cook until beef is starting to become tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Liquid should hold a slow, steady simmer the entire time. Adjust oven temperature if necessary during cooking.
• Remove stew from oven. Using tongs, fish out and discard carrot, celery, thyme, bay leaves, onion, and garlic. Add potatoes and reserved sautéed mushrooms, pearl onions, and carrots to stew, return to oven, and continue to cook, partially covered, until beef, potatoes, and carrots are tender and broth has thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Remove stew from oven. If necessary, place over a burner and simmer for up to 15 minutes to reduce to desired consistency. Stir in peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve immediately, or refrigerate overnight or for up to 5 days and reheat to serve.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Literally ripping this off of Kenji’s comments from his Youtube Video Here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound (700g) broccoli
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 TB of butter
• 1 medium onion, sliced (about 6 ounces
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced finely (about 4 ounces
• 3 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 cups water or homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 small russet potato, peeled and sliced (about 4 ounces
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 8 ounces deli-style American cheese, diced (any soft melt-able cheese)
• 1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
• Dash of hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot

Directions:

• Separate broccoli into florets and stems. Cut the florets into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Roughly chop the stems and reserve separately.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering. Add broccoli florets and cook without moving until charred on the bottom, about 1 minute. Stir, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until tender and charred on several surfaces, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet to cool.
• Return the Dutch oven to medium heat and add butter, onion, carrot, and broccoli stems. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes, lowering heat if necessary. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add chicken stock, milk, and potato, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until broccoli and potatoes are completely tender, about 30 minutes.
• Toss both cheeses together along with mustard powder in a large bowl. Using an immersion blender or working in batches with a countertop blender, blend the soup, adding the cheese in a handful at a time until completely smooth. Stir in hot sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in reserved broccoli florets and pulse with the blender a few more times until a few of the pieces are broken down but most bite-size pieces still remain. Serve immediately.

Beef Stroganoff

Paula Deen

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs of cubed beef
• Beef Spice/Coating: flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
• 2 TB olive oil
• 2 TB butter
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 sliced onion
• 1 (10 3/4 oz) can of beef broth
• 1 (10oz) can of cream of mushroom
• 1 cup sour cream
• egg noodles

Directions:

• Drag meat through beef spice, brown on both sides in a skillet with olive oil and butter. Remove steak
• Add onion and mushrooms to pan drippings. Saute. Sprinkle with flour
• Put steak back in pan, add cream of mushroom and broth, cook on low heat for 30 mins.
• Add 1 cup of sour cream. Serve over egg noodles

Shepherd’s Pie

By Alton Brown

Awesome for winter/fall. Use any ground meat you have: beef or pork. Tried to actually get ground lamb but it’s expensive af for a ground meat product. It was $8/lb at Aldi’s and $17/lb at Mariano’s. This is great for using any leftover veggies in the fridge instead of using frozen stuff.

Ingredients:

For Potatoes

• 1 1/2 lbs potato
• 1/4 cup of half and half
• 2 oz of butter
• 3/4 TSP salt
• 1/4 TSP pepper
• 1 egg yolk

For Filling

• 2 TB canola oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 lbs of ground lamb/pork/veal/beef
• 1 TSP salt
• 1/2 TSP pepper
• 2 TB flour
• 2 TSP tomato paste
• 1 cup of chicken broth, gonna use knorr cause I don’t have any freshie stuff
• 1 TSP Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TSP of fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1/2 cup peas
• use whatever veggies you have in the fridge

Directions:

• Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan or mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes and then add the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth. Stir in the yolk until well combined.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the lamb, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
• Add the corn and peas to the lamb mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish (He uses a cast iron pan which I’m gonna use next time to save a dish.) Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Shrimp Sausage and Oyster Gumbo

Didn’t really need the oysters, if for some reason you got extras or whole lying around for this, I’m all for it but I used chopped and it didn’t really add much except flavor from the juice. For reference, this calls for a dark roux, Binging With Babish has an amazing rundown of making a quick one with Isaac Toups, known cajun chef.

Ingredients:

• 1 (3 lb) Chicken
• 4 cups of water
• 1/4 cup veggie oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped onion (1 large onion yields about 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped celery (5)
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion (this can be optional)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 chopped parsely
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 3/4 lb of sausage (preferably andoullie, sliced)
• salt, pepper, cayenne, worcestershire to taste
• 1 cup of oysters with liquid (I used 2 cans of chopped oysters you can omit this)
• 2 cups of rice
• file powder

Directions:

• Cook chicken in a pot barely boiling water until tender (165 degrees)
• Strain broth set chicken aside to cool so you can pull meat off of it
• heat oil in dutch oven on high heat, get it smoking and gradually add the flour, whisk semi-constantly for 5-6 mins
• Medium heat. Add yellow oninos, celery, pepper, green onions garlic and parsley and cook until tender
• Stir in broth
• pull chicken off the bones and add.
• In a skillet, brown the sausage. Drain and add.
• It says cover and simmer but I had it open and cooked down wonderfully. 60 mins
• Add salt, pepper, cayenne, worcestershire.
• Add oysters and liquid and cook until oysters curl
• Plate with rice, gumbo and file on top

Potato Leek Soup

From Alton Brown. I had to sub some stuff so that is in parenthesis.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of leeks, white part: took about 6 of them
• 3 TB of unsalted butter (used some rendered lamb fat)
• heavy pinch of kosher salt
• 1 lb of yukon gold potatoes, 1/2 cubes
• 1 qt (4 cups) of veggie broth (used 4 cups of water and 2 MSG chicken cubes)
• 1 cup of heavy cream (would def use 2% to reduce calories/don’t have it in the fridge)
• 1 cup buttermilk (used 2%)
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Directions:

1. Chop the leeks into small pieces.
2. In a 6-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks and a heavy pinch of salt and sweat for 5 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook until the leeks are tender, approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the potatoes and the vegetable broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and gently simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream, buttermilk, and white pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately, or chill and serve cold.

Thicc Clam Chowder

Thicc Clam Chowder | Kenji’s Cooking Show

Time: 30 mins or more to thicken

Ingredients

• 1 medium white (any) onion diced (used leek)
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 1/2 lb bacon (optional)
• 1 cubed potato (whole russet sized any will do)
• 2 cans of chopped clams
• 1 bottle of clam juice
• 4 cups of whole milk
• thyme/rosemary (optional)
• oyster crackers

Directions

• In another pot boil 1 1/2 lb of potatoes (2 medium or 1 large unit) until al-dente (you finish cooking the potatoes in the chowder later)
• If your using bacon/salt pork, cook that first, remove and cook veggies in rendered fat
• Pan on med heat, put diced onion and celery into a pot with butter or bacon fat. Add salt. You want to sweat the veggies to soften
• Add 3/4 cup of flour and mix with veggies. Cook until the raw smell is out. 1-2 mins. It’ll brown.
• 1 bottle of clam juice, stir to get the flour clumps out, if you need additional liquid, just add some extra water. (this will deglase the bacon bits and flour)
• In another pot boil potatoes until al-dente (you finish cooking the potatoes in the chowder later)
• Add 4 cups of whole milk and stir for clumping again. Add spices, 2 bay leaves, fresh thyme, rosemary if you want
• Bring to a simmer
• add potato let simmer for 5-10 mins to thicken

NOTES:

• Use any leftover veg, any potato, leftover not to crazy seasoned pork, any onion
• Tastes great, maybe use a 3rd can of chopped clams?
• Using whole milk (8% fat) is awesome instead of using cream (35% fat) which is usually called in recipes

[soup]

Lasagna – old sad recipe and vastly superior new recipe

I try to keep cooking some what easy. Depending on how much time I have, depends how complicated I want to get with my prep and execution. For lasagna, I just googled ‘lasagna recipe’ and picked the most popular one.  For the most part, I don’t really look for new or improved recipes if one works great but I found another one while I was watching Bon Appetite’s Youtube channel.

They’re similar in the fact that they have all the lasagna components but the Bon Appetite version (video) has some distinct prep differences that yields a far superior product for the same amount of prep time. Here is the recipe.

Instead of throwing all the meat in the pan and cooking it, we turn them into meatballs and brown the outside of the meat, then cook a mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion) in the fat. After that add tomato paste and throw some white wine in there to deglase the fond from the meatballs. This added step adds a huge amount of flavor. I’m going to do a mirepoix base with deglase as much as possible now. It’s so fucking savory, I’d make that and just eat it plain.

It just gets better though. The sauce, which is actually a ragu bolognese, actually came out too thick which I’ve never had happen before.  The sauce is usually very wet and I use the oven ready noodles to soak up the moisture but in this instance I’m going to have to actually add water it. The addition of whole milk adds another depth of rich flavor which I’ve never done. I had to use 2% but added half a stick of butter to emulate the rest of the milk fat and still turned out great. The butter idea was inspired by a simple sauce recipe that well respected in the cooking world. Article and recipe here. So there is zero ‘traditional’ Italian spices that I’m accustomed to while cooking sauce, no bay leaves, thyme or rosemary and this sauce is fucking banging.

NOTE: Ended up making it with oven ready noodles and no bechamel. It’s good but I feel like it’ll make a huge difference following the instructions exactly if the meat sauce came out so god damned well. Here’s for next time.

Ingredients

8+ servings

Ragù Bolognese

2lb. ground pork

1lb. ground beef chuck (20% fat)Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

2Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2oz. pancetta or slab bacon, chopped

1medium onion, finely chopped

1celery stalk, finely chopped

1medium carrot, peeled, finely chopped

6garlic cloves, sliced

2Tbsp. tomato paste

¾cup dry white wine

1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes

1cup low-sodium chicken broth

1cup whole milk

Bechamel

7Tbsp. unsalted butter

¼cup plus 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

6 cups whole milk (sub 1 or 2 cups with heavy cream)

4oz. Parmesan, coarsely grated (about 1 cup) Pinch of cayenne, Pinch of ground nutmeg, Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

1¼lb. dried lasagna noodles (we like De Cecco since they are wide and short)

Kosher salt

Extra-virgin olive oil (for greasing)

Preparation

Ragù Bolognese

Step 1

NOTE: Accidentally put the oven to 325 for 3-4 hrs with the enameled dutch oven and broke the meatballs apart. Almost scorching, it was perfect. Add extra sauce/water. (Oven was 355, changed to 325)

Preheat oven to 225°. Mix pork and beef with your hands in a large bowl; season generously with salt and pepper, then mix again. Form into about 18 large meatballs (they don’t need to be perfect—you’ll be mashing them later).

Step 2

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in 2 batches, cook meatballs, turning occasionally and reducing heat if bottom of pot looks in danger of scorching, until browned all over, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet as they’re done.

Step 3

Reduce heat to medium. Add pancetta and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned and beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6–8 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until paste darkens, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until nearly completely evaporated, 4–5 minutes. Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands, and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is jammy and reduced by about half, 8–10 minutes. Add broth and milk and return meat to pot. Bring to a simmer. Cover pot, leaving lid slightly ajar, and transfer to oven. Bake sauce (no need to stir, but check after 1–2 hours to ensure liquid is at a low simmer, adjusting oven temperature as needed) until meatballs are falling-apart tender, 3–4 hours.

Step 4

Using a potato masher, break meatballs apart and incorporate into liquid (you should have about 8 cups ragù); season with salt and pepper. Reduce over medium-low heat if needed to thicken.

Do Ahead: Sauce can be made 4 days ahead; let cool, then cover and chill, or freeze up to 3 months.

Béchamel

Step 5

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking occasionally, until flour begins to smell a bit nutty, about 4 minutes. Quickly whisk in milk and increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking occasionally, until béchamel thickens, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking occasionally, until smooth and velvety, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in Parmesan, cayenne, and nutmeg (you should have about 6 cups); season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and use within 1 hour or chill.

Do Ahead: Béchamel can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Rewarm just enough to loosen before using.

Assembly

Step 6

Preheat oven to 325°. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally and separating noodles so they don’t stick to each other, until just starting to soften but still snap in half rather than bend when folded; 3 minutes is the magic number. They will be so firm it will just seem all wrong, but this is what separates al dente lasagna layers from gummy ones. Transfer noodles to a large bowl of cold water to cool. Drain and lie flat in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, separated by parchment or wax paper.

Step 7

Lightly oil a 13×9″ glass or ceramic baking dish. Spread 1½ cups ragù in dish. Lay a single layer of noodles over ragù (you will need to cut some noodles in half in order to fill all gaps). Spoon 1¼ cups béchamel over noodles, spreading in an even layer with a small offset spatula. Top béchamel with 1½ cups ragù. Repeat, creating 5 layers of pasta (or 6, depending on how deep your pan is) and ending with remaining 1 cup béchamel. It should come right to the top edge of the dish, and the top layer of pasta will get super crunchy when baked.

Step 8

Cover with a lightly oiled piece of foil and set on a rimmed baking sheet (just to catch drips). Bake lasagna until bubbling gently around the edges, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 425°; carefully place rack in top of oven. Uncover and continue to bake until top is browned and crisp around the edges, 10–15 minutes.

Step 9

Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Do Ahead: Unbaked lasagna can be assembled 1 month ahead. Let cool, then cover with plastic and freeze. Let thaw overnight in fridge, then bake as directed.