our present to ourselves for the holidays this year was a beautiful robin's egg blue enameled casserole. i was dying to try a braised beef dish. having been intrigued by beef en daube, with its orange peel and bitter chocolate additions, it seemed just the thing to inaugurate our present.
the flavor is built up by searing cubes of beef, then using the bacon fat created from a few strips of bacon to saute onions. after those just begin to caramelize, add a couple spoonfuls of tomato paste, flour and smashed garlic cloves and toast those up.
a big glug of cognac never hurt anything. that's followed by a couple cups of wine or so. add in the bacon and seasonings and let it simmer for a few hours. later i added sliced carrots and parsnips and mushrooms that i'd pan-seared.
Yum, your lunch sounds good. I'm having red rice and greens and tofu. I'll post more pictures of the beef en daube and the whole menu-- tom and doug were supposed to come over for dinner but were feeling under the weather so it's been postponed.
I swoon at the memory of the daube. As the lucky dinner guest, I also marveled as T&B whipped up some yummy truffle arancini without producing the hot oil smell that always comee when I fry...so much to learn. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!
David’s mac & cheese, as re-interpreted over the years
Preheat oven to 350*
Boil in salted water (should be like sea water) until just before al dente: 1 lb pasta (like macaroni shaped or penne or whatever you like)
Grate 1 lb+. cheese of choice. I like to use some jack, as it melts well, and is a good medium for the other highly flavored cheeses you should consider using like: sharp cheddar, gruyere, pecorino, goat cheese etc.
Meanwhile, sauté a small diced onion in a few TBSP butter until soft over medium heat. Add a couple cloves of garlic, smashed, and sauté another minute. Add another TBSP butter and four TBSP flour, sauté to lightly toast the flour, about a minute (should be the consistency of wet sand). Add, oh, 1 cup milk slowly and whisk to break up clumps. Slowly add milk until you get a sauce with the consistency of heavy cream or campbell’s tomato soup, just out of the can (should be about 3 cups total). Add salt; I like to add some smoked paprika and woscheshire sauce. Taste for seasoning (should be highly seasoned). Add oh, ½ the cheese.
Now, layer in a buttered casserole (I actually make this recipe in 2 dishes and freeze one): pasta, roux (milk/cheese sauce) and cheese in about 2-3 layers.
In David’s version, you’d put some pats of butter over your pasta layers, then sprinkle on wheat germ. That’s good—the germ is kind of sweet, and yummy. What I do is sauté some breadcrumbs very lightly in butter and garlic and toss in some wheat germ at the end and sprinkle this (liberally) over the pasta.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. If you’ve made two casseroles (you smart thing), take the one you’ll freeze out of the oven after about a half hour, let cool, wrap in foil then in plastic, label and freeze.
our present to ourselves for the holidays this year was a beautiful robin's egg blue enameled casserole. i was dying to try a braised beef dish. having been intrigued by beef en daube, with its orange peel and bitter chocolate additions, it seemed just the thing to inaugurate our present.
the flavor is built up by searing cubes of beef, then using the bacon fat created from a few strips of bacon to saute onions. after those just begin to caramelize, add a couple spoonfuls of tomato paste, flour and smashed garlic cloves and toast those up.
a big glug of cognac never hurt anything. that's followed by a couple cups of wine or so. add in the bacon and seasonings and let it simmer for a few hours. later i added sliced carrots and parsnips and mushrooms that i'd pan-seared.
4 comments:
wow. that makes my lunch of miso soup and rice and spicy tuna triangles look really unsatisfying!
i hope as you do this, that i will learn more things to do in the kitchen, using your blog as a tutorial. I'll have to come back to this one. . . :)
Yum, your lunch sounds good. I'm having red rice and greens and tofu.
I'll post more pictures of the beef en daube and the whole menu-- tom and doug were supposed to come over for dinner but were feeling under the weather so it's been postponed.
I can't wait to hear how it turned out! I am totally in love with your casserole!
I swoon at the memory of the daube. As the lucky dinner guest, I also marveled as T&B whipped up some yummy truffle arancini without producing the hot oil smell that always comee when I fry...so much to learn.
Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!
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