Terra : Cooking from the Heart of Napa Valley (9780307815323)
Page 16
TO SERVE, place 1 cup of the mashed potatoes to one side of each of 4 warmed shallow bowls. Place 2 oxtails alongside of the mashed potatoes, then ladle the sauce over the oxtails.
Pan-Roasted Quail on Braised Endive with Sultanas and Napa Valley Verjus Sauce
Pan-Roasted Quail on Braised Endive with Sultanas and Napa Valley Verjus Sauce
Serves 4
We love this simple, pan-roasted quail (you can also use chicken or pork) in a complex-tasting, sweet-and-tangy sauce. Much of that complexity comes from verjus (pronounced “vair-zhoo”), the unfermented juice of unripe grapes, which is used in cooking like vinegar. We enjoy using verjus because sauces made with it can be much more successfully paired with wine than those made with vinegar. This is because verjus gets its tartness from natural fruit acids—the same acids present in wine—as opposed to the “wine-hostile” acetic acid found in vinegar. The verjus we use is made by our dear friend and former sous chef, Jim Neal, who now devotes his energies to producing and bottling both red and white verjus under the Fusion label here in the Napa Valley (707-963-0206). We encourage you to give verjus a try; you’ll find all kinds of ways to use it. One of our favorites is to toss Jim’s red verjus with fresh berries as a quick, easy dessert.
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sultana raisins or golden raisins
1 tablespoon Cognac
8 partially boned quail (leg and wing bones left in)
¼ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon grated garlic
Braised Endive
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 heads Belgian endive, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
Verjus Sauce
⅓ cup white verjus
1 cup game stock or brown chicken stock
⅓ cup Red Flame grapes or other seedless red grapes
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar (optional)
3 tablespoons clarified butter
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
2 cups hot mashed potatoes
2 ounces Foie Gras Terrine, cut into ¼-inch cubes (optional)
IN A SMALL BOWL, soak the raisins in the Cognac for 2 hours or up to overnight.
TO MARINATE THE QUAIL, make a small incision through the skin on the end of one leg of each quail. Slide the end of the other leg through the small hole to keep the legs together. In a large bowl, combine the thyme, olive oil, and garlic. Add the quail, turning to completely coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.
TO BRAISE THE ENDIVES, melt the butter in a sauté pan or skillet over medium heat, add the en-dives, cut side down, and sauté until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add the wine and bring to a boil, then add the chicken stock and return to a boil. Lightly season with salt and pepper, lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Keep warm.
TO START THE VERJUS SAUCE, cook the verjus in a small nonreactive saucepan over high heat until re-duced to 1 tablespoon. Add the game stock and cook until reduced to ⅔ cup. Set aside. Just before serving, add the soaked raisins and grapes to the verjus sauce and heat through. On low heat, whisk in the butter, then season with salt and pepper. If the sauce tastes too acidic, add a pinch of sugar to balance the acid; taste and adjust the seasoning again if necessary.
TO COOK THE QUAIL, preheat the oven to 500°. Heat the clarified butter in a large ovenproof sauté pan or skillet over high heat until hot. Season the quail with salt and pepper and cook, breast side down, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the quail over, place the pan in the oven, and roast for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the breast is pierced. Remove the quail from the oven and let rest in the pan for about 2 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, cook the endives and the cooking liquid over high heat until the liquid is reduced to a syruplike consistency, basting the endives with it.
TO SERVE, finish the verjus sauce and divide the mashed potatoes among 4 warmed shallow bowls. Place 2 halves of endive, cut side up and parallel, on either side of the mashed potatoes. Place 2 quail, breast side up, on top of the mashed potatoes. Arrange the foie gras on the quail. Pour off the fat from the sauté pan or skillet that the quail was cooled in, add the verjus sauce, and bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Spoon the sauce with the grapes and raisins over the quail.
Grilled Lamb Tenderloins on “Tagine” of Riblets with Minted Israeli Couscous
Serves 4
We love to serve—and eat—meat cooked two ways in a single presentation. In this one, we top Moroccan-style braised lamb riblets with grilled lamb tenderloins. This is a great party dish, and you can easily increase the recipe to feed a big crowd. It’s not hard to prepare and most of the work can be done a day or two ahead of time, so all you have to do at the last minute is heat the tagine and cook the tenderloins. If you can’t find lamb tenderloins, use larger lamb loins. Plan on four loins—one per person—and give them a little extra time on the grill. Israeli couscous isn’t really couscous at all. It’s a pearl-shaped toasted pasta that’s great fun to eat because of its shape and texture. If it’s not available, you can use regular couscous as a base for the tagine, but don’t stir it in.
Herb Oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
12 lamb tenderloins (about 1½ pounds total), sinew removed
“Tagine” Base
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
½ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped carrot
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sherry wine vinegar
4 cups chicken stock
½ cup tomato puree
1 slab lamb riblets with 8 bones
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Couscous
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅓ cup chopped onion
½ teaspoon minced garlic
⅓ cup Israeli couscous
1 cup chicken stock
Minted Yogurt
⅓ cup plain yogurt
⅛ teaspoon grated garlic
1 large fresh mint leaf, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
20 white pearl onions, peeled
Pinch of sugar
½ cup water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 carrot, peeled and obliquely cut
Pinch of curry powder
1 tablespoon finely diced preserved lemon rind
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Garnish
1 tablespoon sliced almonds, toasted
12 kalamata olives
4 fresh cilantro sprigs
TO MAKE THE HERB OIL, whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl.
TO MARINATE THE LAMB, place the tenderloins in a nonreactive baking dish and coat with the oil mixture. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or up to overnight.
TO MAKE THE “TAGINE” BASE, preheat the oven to 350°. Heat the olive oil and garlic in an ovenproof pan or Dutch oven over high heat and sauté until the garlic just starts to caramelize, about 4 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, and cinnamon, and sauté until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except salt and pepper, bring to a boil, and skim off any foam that develops. Remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Cut a circle of parchment paper that just fits inside the pan and a 1-inch hole in the center. Place the paper on the tagine to cover, then bake in the oven for about 1 hour, or until the riblets are tender. Remove the pan from the oven and gently rem
ove the lamb riblets, supporting the slab so it comes out in one piece, and transfer it to a plate. Spoon off any fat from the surface of the sauce, then transfer the sauce to a blender and puree for 1 minute, or until smooth. You may need to do this in batches. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Rinse the pan, then return the sauce to the pan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 3 cups. Cut the riblets into 8 pieces and add them to the sauce. Set aside and keep warm.
TO MAKE THE COUSCOUS, melt the butter in a small saucepan over high heat and sauté the onion and garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the couscous and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, bring to a boil, cover, and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until tender but firm. Spread out on a baking sheet pan and let cool.
MEANWHILE, TO MAKE THE MINTED YOGURT, whisk together the yogurt, garlic, and mint in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors mingle.
Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill.
TO COOK THE PEARL ONIONS AND CARROT, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat, add the onions and the sugar, and sauté until caramelized, 4 to 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup of the water and bring to a boil, decrease the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the onions are soft, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a small dish. Rinse and dry the pan. In the same pan, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat, add the carrot and curry powder, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the remaining ¼ cup water and bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a small dish.
TO COOK THE LAMB, season the tenderloins with salt and pepper. Grill for about 2 minutes per side for medium rare. Or, heat a large sauté pan or skillet over high heat until very hot and cook the tenderloins for 2 minutes per side. (They are very thin and cook quickly, so be careful.) Let rest for 3 minutes in a warm place.
Meanwhile, to finish the tagine, heat the sauce and riblets and add the couscous, pearl onions, carrot, preserved lemon, and parsley. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
TO SERVE, divide the tagine among 4 warmed plates, giving each plate 2 riblets, then drizzle the minted yogurt around and a little over the tagine. Place 3 lamb tenderloins on each plate on top of the tagine and sprinkle with the almonds. Put 3 kalamata olives around the tangine and a sprig of cilantro on top.
How to Peel Pearl Onions
BLANCH THE PEARL ONIONS IN BOILING WATER FOR 1 MINUTE, THEN PLUNGE THEM INTO A BOWL OF ICE WATER TO COOL. PEEL WITH A SHARP PARING KNIFE AND CUT OFF THE ROOT END.
Grilled Dry-Aged New York Steak with Potatoes Aligot and Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce
Grilled Dry-Aged New York Steak with Potatoes Aligot and Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce
Serves 4
Aligot (a young Cantal cheese) is reputed to be the oldest cheese in France, first made by monks in Auvergne. This traditional French dish is about as simple as stirring the cheese into warm mashed potatoes until they become stringy and wonderfully rich. These potatoes are divine with steak, roast chicken, and pork. Actually they’re divine all by themselves, too.
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 (12 ounces each) dry-aged New York strip steaks
Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce
3 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
1½ cups veal stock or brown chicken stock
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar (optional)
Potatoes Aligot
3 cups mashed potatoes
⅔ to 1 cup shredded Aligot or Cantal cheese, or ½ cup fontina cheese and ½ cup mozzarella cheese
½ teaspoon minced garlic
Heavy cream (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 cups haricots verts or baby Blue Lake green beans, blanched
TO MARINATE THE STEAKS, mix together the herbes de Provence, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl. Coat both sides of the steaks with the marinade, place in a nonreactive baking dish, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
TO MAKE THE SAUCE, cook the wine in a medium nonreactive saucepan over high heat until reduced to ½ cup. Add the veal stock, bring to a boil, and cook to reduce to about 1 cup. Set aside and keep warm. Just before serving, whisk in the butter and season with salt and pepper. Taste the sauce; if it is too acidic, add a pinch of sugar. Taste and adjust the seasoning again if necessary. (The sauce should not be sweet, but the sugar will cut the acid in the wine if it is too high.) Meanwhile, prepare a fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill.
TO MAKE THE POTATOES ALIGOT, heat the mashed potatoes in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the Aligot and the garlic, and stir continuously until it starts to bubble. The potatoes should be a smooth puree and the cheese should make them stringy; if not, add a little more Aligot. If it is too thick, adjust with a little cream. Transfer to a double boiler to keep hot.
TO COOK THE STEAKS, season them with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare, then let rest in a warm place for 3 to 4 minutes. Or, heat a large sauté pan, skillet, or grill pan over high heat until very hot and cook the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large sauté pan or skillet over medium heat, add the shallots, and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the haricots verts and sauté for about 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
TO SERVE, finish the sauce by adding butter and adjusting the seasoning. Divide the potatoes among 4 warmed plates, then place a steak on each serving of potatoes. Top with the haricots verts and spoon ¼ cup sauce around each steak.
Ossobuco with Risotto Milanese
Serves 4
One of the all-time great combinations of Italian cooking is braised veal shanks with saffron risotto and lemon-parsley gremolata. And that’s just the way we serve it at Terra. Nothing could be more gratifying to us than the telltale sound of a happy customer sucking the marrow out of the bone. Of course, you can offer your guests long, thin marrow spoons or even those all-purpose lobster picks with a scoop at one end to make the marrow retrieval easier. But for the truly passionate, ossobuco is best enjoyed as a “hand-to-mouth” experience.
Save any leftovers to make Bone Marrow Risotto.
Ossobuco
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup diced onion
½ cup diced carrot
½ cup diced celery
1½ teaspoons minced fresh basil
1 teaspoon fennel seed
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup tomato puree
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 (1-pound) veal shanks, each cut into 1½-inch- to 2-inch-thick pieces
¼ cup all-purpose flour
Gremolata
⅛ teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
⅛ teaspoon minced lemon zest
Risotto Milanese
4 cups chicken stock
½ teaspoon saffron threads
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup arborio rice
⅓ cup dry white wine
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
TO MAKE THE OSSOBUCO SAUCE, preheat the oven to 325°. In a large ovenproof saucepan or Dutch oven just large enough to hold the shanks in 1 layer, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over high heat and sauté the garlic, onion, carrot, and celery until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the bas
il, fennel seed, and pepper flakes, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the wine, chicken stock, and tomato puree and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and decrease the heat to a simmer.
Season the veal shanks with salt and pepper, and lightly dust with flour. In a large sauté pan or skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over high heat until smoking. Add the veal shanks and brown well on each side. Transfer them to the simmering sauce, placing them in a single layer. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam that develops. Cut a circle of parchment that just fits inside the pan and a 1-inch hole in the center. Place the paper on the ossobuco to cover and braise in the oven for about 2½ hours, or until the veal shanks are very tender. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the shanks to an ovenproof plate or roasting pan and keep warm. Place the pan over high heat and cook until the sauce is reduced to 3 cups. Return the shanks to the sauce and heat through.
TO MAKE THE GREMOLATA, mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
TO MAKE THE RISOTTO, combine the chicken stock and saffron in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. In a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter, and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the rice and sauté for about 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon until the outside of the rice becomes opaque. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Stir constantly, scraping the entire bottom of the pan until almost all the wine is absorbed by the rice. Add 1 cup of the simmering chicken stock. The rice should be kept at a fast simmer and not a boil as you stir and add stock. Stir the rice constantly until almost all the stock has been absorbed. Add ½ cup of the simmering stock and repeat the process until the rice is tender but firm. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the Parmesan cheese.