autumn dinner
I think Autumn is my favorite season. The leaves, especially here, are so beautiful with all the oranges and reds, and little purple flowers seem to have poppped up everywhere. I also love fall food - I think it's my favorite season for cooking. Rich, hearty things are so comforting on the first chilly nights of the year.
The other night S. wasn't feeling well, and I had had a pretty bad day. But I had the afternoon off, and it was dreary and misty and perfect for spending the afternoon in the kitchen. When one feels worn out, in body and spirit, nothing is so comforting as a good meal.
Here's what I made:
Boeuf bourguignon(sort of), in bread boules, and then apple crepes with dulce de leche for dessert.
A simple salad of frisee or curly leaf lettuce with a lemon vinaigrette would go well with this meal, as well.
For the
Beef stew, I started with some cubed beef, sold as "stew meat" in the grocery store, and meaning, I'm sure, left over bits. But they were inexpensive and suited my purposes. I dredged them in flour and browned them in olive oil. I then add an entire bottle of red wine to deglaze the pan, brought it to a boil, then poured everything into the crock pot, set to low.
You could of course do this in the oven, particularly if you had a dutch oven, or stovetop, but I found that the crock pot worked very well. I've had it for years and seldom used it, and it recently occured to me that it's really a perfect tool for braising.
Then I started with a cold pan and rendered some diced bacon, and added a diced onion and quite a bit of diced carrot, and cooked it all until the onions were tender and translucent. I drained off the excess fat and added all of it to the crock pot. Then I added some peeled pearl onions, and about 3 tablespoons of tomato paste. Of course I added a good amount of salt and pepper. And that's about it. I let it braise for a good 5 hours, until the meat was really tender.
I decided to serve this in bread boules, so I just took a good French bread recipe and made it into medium rounds rather than baguettes. It was nice, and S. liked that aspect of the meal more than I did, because he love bread more than anything else in the world.
I have been wanting to make dulce de leche, but have been intimidated by the prospect of boiling a can of condensed milk, as many recipes tell you to do. My friend Cynthia, pastry chef at the Market Place, gave me a recipe that I used successfully last year which used whole milk and sugar. But I had a can of condensed milk in the pantry and wanted to try using it.
I simply emptied the can into a small saucepot and brought it to a low boil over low heat, and stirred it a lot with a rubber spatula - essential tool for this recipe!! It got some brown bits in it, but I just scraped them into the mixture and told myself, "It's supposed to caramelize, those will be the best parts." I kept boiling until it was golden and tasted like caramel, and it only took me about 10 minutes, not the 4 hours called for in many recipes (!!!).
Then I pureed all of it in the blender wtih a little extra milk, pushed it through a sieve, and I have to say, it was one of the easiest and best things I've ever made. If you dod this, be sure to take the middle part of the top off of the blender. The heat can cause an explosion if you leave it all sealed up. Cover that hole with a kitchen towel, and don't put your face right over it.
I sauteed some diced North Carolina apples - perfect right now!! - with cinnamon and brown sugar and vanilla. Then I made crepes, filled them, topped with the dulce de leche, and it was pretty good. Next time I'll make some whipped cream or serve vanilla ice cream with it.
Here's a good crepe recipe:
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. clarified butter (I actually used olive oil and it was great)
1/4 c. milk
6 eggs
salt
Whisk together eggs and butter (or oil), add flour then milk Season with a little salt. Make sure it's at ribbon stage (this means you can pull the whisk out and begin to write your name with the batter). Adjust consistency with more milk or flour as needed. Let rest in the fridge - it's actually great if it rests overnight, but an hour or even 30 min. will do.
To make the crepes, get a nonstick pan, brush with oil or butter, and ladle circles onto it, preferably one at a time. Try to make them thin. Flip over when they start to bubble, and transfer to plate when done.
It's really just a thin pancake, so don't be intimidated!
So that's my autumn dinner, and I recommend trying it when you need a little nourishment for your soul as well as your body.
The other night S. wasn't feeling well, and I had had a pretty bad day. But I had the afternoon off, and it was dreary and misty and perfect for spending the afternoon in the kitchen. When one feels worn out, in body and spirit, nothing is so comforting as a good meal.
Here's what I made:
Boeuf bourguignon(sort of), in bread boules, and then apple crepes with dulce de leche for dessert.
A simple salad of frisee or curly leaf lettuce with a lemon vinaigrette would go well with this meal, as well.
For the
Beef stew, I started with some cubed beef, sold as "stew meat" in the grocery store, and meaning, I'm sure, left over bits. But they were inexpensive and suited my purposes. I dredged them in flour and browned them in olive oil. I then add an entire bottle of red wine to deglaze the pan, brought it to a boil, then poured everything into the crock pot, set to low.
You could of course do this in the oven, particularly if you had a dutch oven, or stovetop, but I found that the crock pot worked very well. I've had it for years and seldom used it, and it recently occured to me that it's really a perfect tool for braising.
Then I started with a cold pan and rendered some diced bacon, and added a diced onion and quite a bit of diced carrot, and cooked it all until the onions were tender and translucent. I drained off the excess fat and added all of it to the crock pot. Then I added some peeled pearl onions, and about 3 tablespoons of tomato paste. Of course I added a good amount of salt and pepper. And that's about it. I let it braise for a good 5 hours, until the meat was really tender.
I decided to serve this in bread boules, so I just took a good French bread recipe and made it into medium rounds rather than baguettes. It was nice, and S. liked that aspect of the meal more than I did, because he love bread more than anything else in the world.
I have been wanting to make dulce de leche, but have been intimidated by the prospect of boiling a can of condensed milk, as many recipes tell you to do. My friend Cynthia, pastry chef at the Market Place, gave me a recipe that I used successfully last year which used whole milk and sugar. But I had a can of condensed milk in the pantry and wanted to try using it.
I simply emptied the can into a small saucepot and brought it to a low boil over low heat, and stirred it a lot with a rubber spatula - essential tool for this recipe!! It got some brown bits in it, but I just scraped them into the mixture and told myself, "It's supposed to caramelize, those will be the best parts." I kept boiling until it was golden and tasted like caramel, and it only took me about 10 minutes, not the 4 hours called for in many recipes (!!!).
Then I pureed all of it in the blender wtih a little extra milk, pushed it through a sieve, and I have to say, it was one of the easiest and best things I've ever made. If you dod this, be sure to take the middle part of the top off of the blender. The heat can cause an explosion if you leave it all sealed up. Cover that hole with a kitchen towel, and don't put your face right over it.
I sauteed some diced North Carolina apples - perfect right now!! - with cinnamon and brown sugar and vanilla. Then I made crepes, filled them, topped with the dulce de leche, and it was pretty good. Next time I'll make some whipped cream or serve vanilla ice cream with it.
Here's a good crepe recipe:
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. clarified butter (I actually used olive oil and it was great)
1/4 c. milk
6 eggs
salt
Whisk together eggs and butter (or oil), add flour then milk Season with a little salt. Make sure it's at ribbon stage (this means you can pull the whisk out and begin to write your name with the batter). Adjust consistency with more milk or flour as needed. Let rest in the fridge - it's actually great if it rests overnight, but an hour or even 30 min. will do.
To make the crepes, get a nonstick pan, brush with oil or butter, and ladle circles onto it, preferably one at a time. Try to make them thin. Flip over when they start to bubble, and transfer to plate when done.
It's really just a thin pancake, so don't be intimidated!
So that's my autumn dinner, and I recommend trying it when you need a little nourishment for your soul as well as your body.
posted by J at 9:47 AM
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