Braised Rabbit, Italian Grandmother Style

Slow cooked with carrots, onions, tomatoes, olives, fresh herbs, wine and brandy, braised rabbit makes an impressive rustic company dinner. Recipe below, including substitutions for rabbit.

Rarely seen in American kitchens, rabbit shows up on dinner tables all over Europe. I’m turning the kitchen over to Marion this week, as she gets in touch with her inner Italian grandmother.

Years back, when I lived in the country, a lady up the road raised rabbits for meat, and it got so pretty much no month went by without some rabbit dish making it to my table. I would walk down to her place, about a mile away (sometimes getting the chance to see the local pheasants, owls and the wacky, kind of scary neighborhood flock of turned-feral guinea hens), make a purchase, then walk back home and cook it. It was inexpensive, delicious, low in fat and versatile. I was crazy about it. Continue reading “Braised Rabbit, Italian Grandmother Style” →

Osso Buco: Italian “Bone with a hole” packs a whole lot of flavor

There are many versions of the classic Northern Italian favorite, osso buco. This one uses slow oven braising to make the meat flavorful, fork tender and moist. Recipe below.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT USING KITCHEN TWINE that makes me feel like a chef and connects me to the past. Trussing up pork tenderloins or rolled roasts with string says you’re getting serious in the kitchen, in a comfortingly old school way. It was something Julia did. Continue reading “Osso Buco: Italian “Bone with a hole” packs a whole lot of flavor” →

Country style ribs, Italian style

Slow cooked with aromatics, herbs and canned Italian plum tomatoes, country style ribs take on a delicious Italian accent. Recipe below.

We moved our cookbooks last weekend. More precisely, we moved our cookbook bookcase, which involved removing the cookbooks and then reshelving them in their new spot. Have you ever moved cookbooks without opening any of them? Neither have we. That’s how we came across the recipe that inspired this one.

More than a year ago, Marion gave me the wonderful (and sadly out-of-print) Roma: Authentic Recipes from In and Around the Eternal City. I immediately cooked one of Rome’s “favorite humble meals” from it, pasta e ceci (pasta and chickpeas). And I promised more to come. Of course, then it got filed away with all the other cookbooks and forgotten.

Now it’s back, with a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs rib dish that’s perfect for chilly nights. Continue reading “Country style ribs, Italian style” →

Just like somebody’s grandma used to make: Braised Lamb with Juniper Berries, Fennel, Sage

Adapted from an Italian grandmother’s recipe, slow oven braising allows many flavors—onions, garlic, celery, wine, sage, juniper berries, fennel seed, bay leaves—to melt together in this soul-satisfying, fork tender lamb dish. Recipe below.

One of the perks of doing Blue Kitchen is that we’re occasionally asked to review cookbooks. It’s also one of the drawbacks. Writing, thinking, reading and talking about food on a daily basis means that we’re almost always at least a little bit hungry—kind of a low grade infection that never clears up unless you are actually actively engaged in consuming a substantial meal at the moment. And when a gorgeous cookbook like Jessica Theroux’s Cooking with Italian Grandmothers: Recipes and Stories from Tuscany to Sicily comes along, whole hams can’t quite stay your hunger.

To write Cooking with Italian Grandmothers, Theroux spent a year in Italy talking, cooking and often staying with a dozen Continue reading “Just like somebody’s grandma used to make: Braised Lamb with Juniper Berries, Fennel, Sage” →

Let us now braise, part 2: Braised Lamb Shoulder Chops and Tomatoes

Inexpensive lamb shoulder chops become the star of a flavorful meal when you add thyme, garlic, tomatoes, wine and oven braising. Recipe below.

There are so many thing I love about this dish. First and foremost is the distinctive, mildly gamy flavor of lamb. As I’ve said in these pages before, that gaminess is the same quality that separates venison from beef and duck from chicken. I also love the straightforward simplicity of this meal—a handful of ingredients, simple preparation and time are all that’s required. And most of the time is the meat cooking unattended in the oven—prep time is minimal. And maybe most of all, I love the way it transforms a humble cut of meat into something delicious and satisfying.

In last week’s post about Oven-braised Asian Short Ribs, I talked about oven braising and how its even heat tenderizes flavorful but chewy inexpensive cuts of meat without drying them out. Lamb shoulder chops are another cut perfect for this treatment. Continue reading “Let us now braise, part 2: Braised Lamb Shoulder Chops and Tomatoes” →

Let us now braise inexpensive cuts: Oven-braised Asian Short Ribs

Slow oven braising and plenty of garlic, scallions, star anise and pan-Asian ingredients turn inexpensive beef short ribs into a tender, exotic main course. Recipe below.

The first time I tasted steak I was in college. Cheap cuts of meat were what we ate in my working class family when I was growing up. Chuck roast, pork steaks [as opposed to the leaner, more costly chops], beef stew, burgers made from fatty ground chuck… We also occasionally had short ribs, but only as an ingredient in a beefy vegetable soup.

I relate this personal history with cheap cuts not as a tale of woe and deprivation. These cuts are often more flavorful than their pricier brethren and probably largely responsible for my love of all things meaty. But they’re usually tougher than the more expensive cuts too. I remember many happy, chewy meals.

Braising takes care of the toughness issue. Slow, moist cooking breaks down connective tissue and melts some of the fat also present in most inexpensive cuts of meat. The result is wonderfully flavorful, juicy meat that is almost falling-apart tender. Continue reading “Let us now braise inexpensive cuts: Oven-braised Asian Short Ribs” →

Worth the wait: Slow-braised pork roast with five-spice rub and apple/onion compote

An inexpensive pork roast, seasoned with fresh garlic and Chinese five-spice powder and braised on a bed of apples, onions and apple cider until falling-apart tender, becomes an impressive, company-worthy dinner. Recipe below.

I love pigs. If you’re going to eat meat—and I am—you should honor the animal by preparing it well and making sure nothing goes to waste. That’s the core philosophy of nose to tail eating. Can you think of a creature more completely, creatively and deliciously suited this approach? Chops, ribs, roasts, ham, bacon, a whole world of sausages and charcuterie come from pigs.

Our current infatuation with all things charcuterie led us to a recent dinner at Rootstock Wine & Beer Bar in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. And that led to this recipe. Rootstock’s liquid-centric wine & beer handle belies an equally thoughtful focus on food. Executive Chef Remy Ayesh supports “local farmers, hormone-free meats and seasonal produce as often as possible” to deliver a small but intensely varied menu of “bar plates, greens, crusts, cheese and charcuterie.” She also offers “more plates,” which include one of the best burgers I’ve tasted in a while and braised pork shoulder on a pickled plum and carrot purée. One bite of the tender, heavenly meat and I knew I would be attempting a pork roast soon.

Oven braising is a great way to turn tough but flavorful, inexpensive cuts of meat into soul-satisfying meals. Think of chunky stews and stick-to-your-ribs pot roasts Continue reading “Worth the wait: Slow-braised pork roast with five-spice rub and apple/onion compote” →