Brisket Pot Roast with Heirloom Vegetables

Ingredients

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
One 3- to 3-1/4-pound first- or center-cut beef brisket
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup diced yellow onion
2/3 cup diced seeded plum tomatoes
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons minced fresh marjoram
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 pound baby carrots, about 3 inches long
1 pound unpeeled fingerling potatoes or baby Yukon Gold potatoes, about 1-inch in diameter
8 ounces purple-topped turnips (3 or 4 turnips), trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1-inch wedges
8 ounces cipollini onions

Method

1. In a shallow dish, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir to blend. Dredge the brisket in the flour to coat evenly.
2. In a large Dutch oven or flameproof casserole, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the brisket, fatty-side down, and sear for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the meat begins to brown. Turn and sear the other side for 4 to 5 minutes. The meat will shrink and curl during cooking. Transfer the meat to a plate.
3. Add the onion, tomatoes, and garlic to the pot and saute for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Return the meat to the pot.
4. In a small bowl, stir the stock, wine, parsley, marjoram, and thyme together. Pour over the meat and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently for 1-1/2 hours.
5. Add the carrots, potatoes, and turnips to the pot and continue to simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables soften.
6. Add the cipollini onions and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork-tender.
7. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and the vegetables to a serving platter. Skim the fat from the cooking liquid. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes to concentrate the flavors. No need to strain the sauce; it’s meant to be rustic, with bits of onions and herbs in it.
8. Carve the meat across the grain. Serve the pot roast with the vegetables and the pan gravy passed on the side.

Makes 6 servings.

Source: Lobel’s Prime Cuts

Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients

1 butternut squash
1 Tbsp olive oil

Stuffing

2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks
1 yellow onion, peeled, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
85 g wild rice
85 g white rice
60 g walnuts, chopped
50 g dried cranberries
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds, then put both halves on a baking tray, cut-side up.
3. Drizzle the olive oil on top of each squash and rub around to coat. Bake for 60-75 minutes until the squash is cooked and fork tender.
4. Once baked, remove the squash from the oven. Let it cool enough so that you can handle it. Scoop out the flesh in the centre of both squash halves, leaving about a 2.5-cm border all around. Chop the scooped-out squash flesh and set aside.
5. Prepare the stuffing while the squash is baking. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat. When hot, sauté the carrots, celery, onion and garlic until the veggies soften and begin to brown.
6. Add the wild rice and veggie broth to the pan, give it a stir, then cover and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes.
7. Add the white rice to the pan, cover and continue to cook another 8-10 minutes until the rice absorbs the broth.
8. Add the walnuts, dried cranberries, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. When ready, add in the squash flesh. Stir well to combine.
9. Pack in as much of the stuffing into both sides of the squash as you can. Pick up one squash half and flip it on top of the other. Use kitchen string to tie up the squash in 3 or 4 places, holding it together.
10. Lightly brush the top with more olive oil. Bake for 20-35 minutes until hot all the way through. Season the top with cracked pepper and a sprinkle of chopped sage. Carefuly cut into slices and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Source: Vegan Food and Living

Scrambled Egg, Roast Tomatoes and Prosciutto with Mushroom Puree

Ingredients

1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms (or 1 oz fresh porcini mushrooms, finely chopped)
8 medium vine tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon creme fraiche (or sour cream)
a big pinch of freshly snipped chives
4 eggs
scant 1/4 cup whole milk
6 slices prosciutto
sea salt and black pepper, to season

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. First, prepare the mushroom puree. If you’re using dried porcini mushrooms, soak them in boiling water for about 20 minutes, then drain and finely chop.
3. While the mushrooms are soaking, prepare the roast tomatoes. Keep the tomatoes on the vine and put them in an ovenproof dish, then drizzle over the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until they are soft and start to brown.
4. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a frying pan/skillet, then add the garlic and soaked or fresh porcini mushrooms. Mix in the creme fraiche (or sour cream) and stir well. Remove from the heat and keep hot. Sprinkle snipped chives on the top.
5. A few minutes before you are ready to serve, make the scrambled eggs.
6. In a bowl, beat the eggs, milk and a bit of pepper together really well.
7. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a separate frying pan/skillet and pour in the egg mixture, stirring constantly to keep it from setting or sticking. Continue cooking and stirring, until the eggs are scrambled to your liking.
8. You can serve the prosciutto slices as they are, or, lay the slices in the pan that you used for the mushroom puree and cook for just a couple of minutes on each side, turning once, so that they start to crisp and soak up some of the flavour of the mushrooms.
9. Serve the scrambled eggs immediately with the mushroom puree, roast tomatoes and prosciutto.

Makes 2 servings.

Source: 100 Ways with Eggs

Black Cod with Miso

Ingredients

3 tablespoons mirin
3 tablespoons sake
1/2 cup white miso paste
1/3 cup sugar
6 (6 to 7 ounce) skinless black cod fillets (about 1-1/2 inches thick)
vegetable oil, for grilling
sauteed baby bok choy and pickled ginger, for serving

Method

1. In a small saucepan, bring the mirin and sake to a boil. Whisk in the miso until dissolved. Add the sugar and cook over moderate heat, whisking, just until dissolved.
2. Transfer the marinade to a large baking dish and let cool.
3. Add the fish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
5. Heat a grill pan and oil it. Scrape the marinade off the fish. Add the fish and cook over high heat until browned, about 2 minutes.
6. Flip the fish onto a heavy rimmed baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes, until flaky. Transfer to plates and serve with pickled ginger and sauteed baby bok choy.

Makes 6 servings.

Source: Chef Nobu Matsuhisa

Italian-style Roasted Beef with Prunes and Port

Ingredients

1 beef triangle tip (tri-tip) or top round roast (about 2 lbs), trimmed of fat
1-3/4 cups port
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 can (14-1/2 oz) beef broth
2-1/2 cups pitted prunes
2 packages (about 10 oz each) frozen tiny onions, thawed
1 pound dried farfalle (pasta bow ties)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
oregano sprigs
salt and pepper

Method

1. Set beef in a 9- by 13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
2. In a 3- to 4-quart pan, combine port and sugar. Stir over medium heat just until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
3. Measure out 1/3 cup of the port mixture to use for basting and set it aside.
4. Add broth, prunes, and onions to port mixture remaining in pan. Set aside.
5. Roast meat in a 450°F (230°C) oven, basting 4 times with the 1/3 cup port mixture, until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part registers 135°F (57°C) for rare (about 35 minutes). After 25 minutes, check temperature every 5 to 10 minutes. If pan appears dry, add water, 4 to 6 tablespoons at a time, stirring to scrape browned bits free from pan bottom. Do not let drippings scorch.
6. While meat is roasting, bring prune mixture to a boil over high heat. Then reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, until prunes and onions are very soft (about 30 minutes). Remove from heat and keep warm.
7. When meat is done, transfer to a carving board, cover loosely, and let stand for about 15 minutes.
8. In a 6- to 8-quart (6- to 8-liter) pan, bring about 4 quarts (3.8 liters) water to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in pasta and cook until just tender to bite, 8 to 10 minutes. (Or cook pasta according to package directions.)
9. Drain pasta well. Transfer to a large rimmed platter, mix in garlic and chopped oregano, and keep warm.
10. Pour any meat drippings from baking pan into prune mixture. Also add any meat juices that have accumulated on board. With a slotted spoon, ladle prunes and onions over and around pasta. Transfer cooking liquid to a small pitcher.
11. To serve, thinly slice meat across the grain and arrange over pasta mixture. Garnish with oregano sprigs. Offer cooking liquid to pour over meat and pasta and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 8 servings.

Source: Low-fat Italian Cookbook