FamilyFood

Ravioli with Butternut Squash and Pancetta

It's only taken five years, but Bunny will now eat ravioli. You'd think all kids would like tortellini, ravioli, or other stuffed pastas, from the get-go but not so. It took a long time for Bunny to warm up to ravioli, but now she loves it. 

Our favorites are stuffed with some kind of meat, usually prosciutto. Lately we've been loving the grilled chicken-stuffed, triangle-shaped ravioli from Costco.  It comes in a two-pack and, in our Costco, is located near the hummus. Because it's so flavorful it marries well with simple sauces.

To make the sauce above, I baked off a buttnernut squash then cubed it.  I added it to a pan in which I sauteed garlic, shallots, and about 4 ounces of diced pancetta. I tossed the squash gently and just warmed it through. I added a spoonful of pasta cooking water to the sauce to loosen it, then tossed it with the cooked ravioli.  A little parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper were the finishing touches.

Korean Braised Short Ribs (Kalbi Jim)

See the recipe at my personal blog, CityMama.

Boeuf Bourguignon (or what to do with those half empty bottles of red wine)

We're not one of those couples that can ever finish a bottle of wine when we open it to drink at home. I don't know why, we just don't. Actually, I have a theory: I love the first glass of red wine. After that, the thrill is gone, as it were. So inevitably, we end up with 3 or 4 partially filled bottles of red wine sitting on our counter. If I don't use it for sauces within a week, then it just goes to waste and gets dumped.

But in the fall and winter, those bottles of wine go into coq au vin (or coq "faux" vin), beef stew, lentil stews, long-simmering tomato-beef ragus for spaghetti, and if I have a lot if it, into boeuf bourgignon. Traditionally this beef stew is made with burgundy, but tonight I used cabernet, a petit syrah, and a cabernet/petit syrah blended table red. I think it came out great if I do say so myself.

I made a big batch tonight because tonight is when I felt like cooking it, but we'll have it on Friday night when we have friends to dinner. (The bowl above was devoured by my husband who decided someone needed to taste it to make sure it will be fit to serve.) This recipe makes a lot because I had a lot of wine to use up. You can make it all and freeze half for another time, or half the recipe.

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

With a nod to Anthony Bourdain

• 8 pounds of beef cross rib chuck roast, trimmed of fat and cut into 1.5-2-inch chunks. (I buy 2 3-4 pound roasts and cut them up myself)
• olive oil
• 4-6 yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 8 tablespoons of flour
• about 4-5 cups of red wine (burgundy or whatever you got)
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cloves of garlic
• some water
• salt and pepper
• optional: carrots

Heat 3-4 glugs of olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until it starts to smoke. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Working in 3-4 batches, sear the meat until very brown on all sides. Add a little more olive oil as needed with each batch. Set meat aside. Continue searing until all meat is browned. This takes a while so be patient.

Reduce heat to medium and add the onions. Salt and pepper them and cook for about 15 minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir them often.

Sprinkle in the flour and cook for about 5 minutes more.

Slowly add in the wine stirring contantly, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and when you can no longer see any lumps of flour, add the meat and accumulated juices back into the pot along with the garlic and bay leaves.

Add water as needed to make sure the meat is fully covered with liquid. (Don't worry, this will reduce and the stew will not be "watery.") Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 3-4 hours until meat is fork-tender.  If you want some veg, add about 6 carrots, cut into 2-inch hunks with about an hour left to go.

It's much better the next day, so wait to eat it if you can, otherwise, dig in. Serve with mashed potatoes or boiled new potatoes or buttered pappardelle or egg noodles. Serves 8-10.

20 minute meal: Japanese Yellow Curry

Curry and rice is nice...and would be even better with a side of kimchi.

Japanese yellow curry is one of those comfort foods that reminds me of my childhood. A steaming-hot bowl of curry and rice just hits the spot sometimes. Thankfully, it's easy to make using boxed curry which contain bricks of curry paste. I like S&B or Vermont brands, available at any Japanese store and some well-stocked supermarkets in the Asian section.

Just add water, protein (chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu) and veggies + the curry mix and you are done. This curry is also wonderful atop udon (with or without broth) or even over spaghetti (a Hawaii thing.)

Put on a pot of rice, and by the time that's done, so is the curry. Just follow the directions on the box.

Barbecued Leg of Lamb for J.'s Birthday

For my husband J.'s 38th birthday bbq blow out, I made a marinated, butterflied leg of lamb (two of them, actually) that I grilled...until I started a small grease fire in our grill.  Thankfully, the lamb was almost done and about 20 minutes in a 350º oven was enough to finish it to medium-rare perfection. Disaster averted.

The Greek theme of the party was the easiest ever.  I marinated the lamb over night, drained the yogurt over night, had all the greek salad ingredients prepped mostly in advance. I purchased the vat o' hummus at Costco where they carry my favorite store-made brand, and when dinner was ready to be served, we fired the grill back up and warmed up some Trader Joe's flatbread.

a big ole Greek salad with kalamata olives and sheep's milk feta

It was fun party, so fun that I also ended up cooking a pile of spaghetti alla carbonara at 1:00 AM to help stave-off any potential hangovers (Trader Joe's carries Citterio diced pancetta which I buy 4-at-a-time and keep in freezer for such occassions)...It didnt quite work since I woke up "suffering from exhaustion" that only 4 Advils and an El Grullense chile verde burrito could cure.

Half way into the festivities, my five-year-old declared that it was, "The best party ever!"  Happy Birthday, J.!

MARINATED GRILLED LEG OF LAMB FOR A PARTY

2 boneless, butterflied legs of lamb removed the netting and laid flat
8-10 sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed
1 whole head of garlic, peeled
4-6 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves removed
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything but the lamb in a food processor and whiz until a uniform paste is achieved.  Shmear all over the lamb, working into all the cracks and crevices, and then refrigerate overnight. (You can place the lamb in large zip-loc bags.)

To grill: preheat grill to high for 15 minutes. Salt lamb again on both side with coarse sea salt. Reduce heat to med-high then grill the lamb approximately 15 minutes on each side, with cover closed, checking occassionally.  Remove from grill, tent with foil for 10 minutes before carving and serving. Serves 12-15 people. Accompaniments: Greek salad, tzaziki, hummus, and flatbread.

Pelmeny and Spinach: A 20-minute meal

I often make this dish for our kids when my hubs and I have date night.  It comes together quickly and is really satisfying, to boot.

Cook one package of frozen pelmeny (delicious Russian "ravioli") in boiling water according to package directions.  Drain.  In the empty, still-hot pot drop in a couple pats of butter (or glugs of olive oil) and two big handfuls of washed baby spinach. Dump the pelmeny back in and toss until spinach is wilted. You can cover the pot for a minute if you want. Season with salt and pepper, top with grated cheese and serve. Dinner in 20 minutes.

Note: I can find pelmeny at my local grocery store, but if you can't, check your nearest Russian market.

Chicken Paillard on the grill

Thick chicken breasts make me gag. Especially when they are slathered in barbecue sauce to try and cover up their dry, stringiness. Bleck. I am definitely a dark meat kinda girl.

But—

I love chicken paillard (I've written about it before) which is just a fancy way of saying chicken that has been pounded uniformly flat, to about a 1/2-inch thickness. Parents: this is a great way to do chicken if you want to cook it quickly.  It couldn't be more kid-friendly.

The other night we had a friend over and did these on the grill. I marinated them in Eye-talian dressing for a couple hours after pounding them out and then cooked them for a couple minutes on each side. They came out moist and juicy and so tasty. A little squeeze of lemon and they are perfect.

The infamous "black meat" (so good)

Here in Silicon Valley, Schaub's Meat Market's Fred's Steak (aka marinated bottom sirloin) is legendary for two reasons:

1. It's made from a secret recipe and the butchers will not tell you what it is.
2. It's pitch black because of the air drying and the marinade. It's so weird-looking that my husband has dubbed it "baby seal."

I can honestly say that when we lived in Portland, this was one of the things I missed eating (along with good Mexican and Chinese Portland. And don't even go there Portland. You gotta a lot of great things to offer up in your beautiful city from the best cocktails anywhere to the luscious porchetta at Pastaworks, but good Mexican and Chinese food ain't on that list. Trust me.)

Henyway, the steak is best done up on the grill. Because it's so black it's hard to know where the marinade ends and the yummy, smokey,crusty char begins. The butchers will give you exact directions on how to cook it.  I follow it to the "T" and have never been disappointed.  The one time I overcooked it, it was still yummy, but I missed the juicy red center.  I prefer it cooked medium, but anyway you slice it, it's going to be a winner. It's also a fun thing to bring to cook-outs since people that have never seen it before just stare at it wondering what it is.

If you ever find yourself at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, swing around the backside and visit Schab's. It's worth a visit even if you don't buy a thing.

Views from a barbecue-filled weekend

Can I just say, I love the afternoon light in our backyard? I never ever take photos with flash and afternoon is my favorite time of day for the beautiful, golden light.

On Saturday it was burgers, BBQ kosher chicken, and cupcakes (Wallie and cupcake crumb mouth).

Then on Memorial Day, we brought out the big guns. Schaub's "black meat" aka marinated bottom sirloin (which my husband likes to refer to as "baby seal')...

And sangria (which I drank way too much of):

I made some sides (grilled chicken pasta salad with red peppers and fresh baby spinach, broccoli salad) and bought a side (rosemary orzo with golden raisins)...and people brought more sides.

Chicken kebabs off the skewer.

The condiment tray (I love me some condiments).

"Healthy" crudités with non-healthy dip and salt and pepper (Italian-style).

...and despite me giving away "meat carepackages" to everyone who came (we also cooked up about 2 dozen sausages and a slab of salmon) we have enough food left over to last us through until Labor Day, it seems.

God, I love cooking outdoors. It really can't be beat.

Kalbi: Korean Barbecue Beef Ribs

Recently I made some kalbi for friends and thought I'd share the preparation because, well, more people should try it! Consider me on a kalbi mission, sharing the kalbi love with the world.

I stopped at the Korean market to pick up all the ban chan or side dishes (which you can do, too if you live in a bigish city), but the kalbi I always make myself.

I bought some beef ribs (about 10 lbs.) at Costco and they weren't sliced thin enough for the typical preparation. Don't worry, though. My mom always butterflied them so they'd cook more quickly and evenly and you can easily do that if you can't find the thinly sliced ribs required for kalbi.

Here are the essential ingredients for the marinade: soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, honey, asian pear (which I grate), green onions, and garlic. The red-topped contraption is my Japanese sesame seed grinder, available at any Japanese market. You can use a mortar and pestle or food processor to grind your sesame seeds.

In terms of a recipe, I usually eye-ball so I will do my best to explain it. The marinade is for about 10 pounds of ribs. In a large bowl combine: 1 bunch of chopped green onions, 1 grated Asian pear, a good handful of toasted sesame seeds, and another handful of ground, toasted sesame seeds, 8-10 cloves of chopped garlic, and a hefty squeeze of honey.  Mix this up then add soy sauce (start with a half cup), and sesame oil (about a quarter to a third cup). Mix again.

The marinade before the ribs are added.

The shortribs. Notice they are cut across the bones.

Butterflying the ribs. Slice each rib lengthwise almost to the bone, the cut crosswise.  When putting ribs in the marinade, make sure to work it into all the cracks and crevices.

The meat in the marinade.  The way I was taught to make it, the meat should not be swimming in marinade.  The ribs should be "damp" or just moistened, so start with a small amount of soy sauce an increase it if you need more liquid. Let them hang out in the marinade at least a couple of hours or up to overnight.  Then fire up the grill and cook until desired doneness.

Traditionally, kalbi is served with steamed rice and red or green lettuce leaves to wrap each bite. (You place some meat and rice in the lettuce and wrap up like a burrito. Dip it in ssamjang sauce if you like.) I, of course. forgot to take a photo of the finished ribs, and when I remembered, they were all gone. This is by far my kids' favorite dish. If you make these, let me know how they turned out!