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Let’s have a roast. (TOP SIRLOIN AND MARCHAND DE VIN )

February 28, 2010

These days we see a renewed respect for humanely produced food, animal and vegetable alike. The questions of when, how and where did this come from are no longer smudged lines in a product’s history. And though it may seem like extra work to find out such details, I have full faith that some day soon it will become as commonplace as checking the date on milk. Whole, organic, grass fed, hormone free, non-antibiotic milk, of course.

So sometimes when I want the skinny on what I am putting in the oven, I wind up making fingerprints on the glass cases at Dickson’s Farmstand, located in the Chelsea Market. I started out as a neighbor, working a few doors down from these serious meat men and now we are friends, taking time to discuss dishes, the best cuts for the job as well as the various methods of getting a great product to the table. But this is not special treatment. When the lines queue up at Dickson’s, everyone is regarded as a friend and all of these fine points are regularly discussed with great care.

That is how I ended up with these two lovely top sirloin roasts, I needed a well-priced and flavorful cut of beef for an event I was catering. The beef was to be sliced, sauced (recipe below) and served over a bit of leek veloute, a roasted potato cake by its side. For portioning, I allow at least 1/2 pound per person, especially for a fancier dinner where not every slice is going to be gorgeous and plate-worthy (but definitely perfectly mouth-worthy). Several steps go into cooking a great roast. They are not complicated but should be followed well, decisions are best made in advance so there is no second guessing when time is precious.

It is important to take the meat from the fridge at least one hour before cooking to come  to room temp. This helps it cook faster, more evenly and more precisely but don’t sweat it if there isn’t time for that to happen, especially if you have a meat thermometer. That will really keep you from going wrong even if the timing is a little off. It’s the ticket.

Then sear. Do not be timid, get hot, get smoky and brown it up on all sides. After browning I use a spice rub, since the best method for this cut is a ‘dry roast’ and you want to get all the flavor you can onto the meat. I never remember exactly what I use but I am pretty sure it was a mild mixture of garlic powder, mustard, thyme, cumin, ancho powder, salt and pepper. That is my loose outline for a basic rub in addition to whatever is laying around and/or catches my fancy. Maybe a drop of cayenne, a dash of  Tony’s? Use your creative license.

From there, the following irreverant method works out great! A simple trick of cooking the roast high and mightily at 500F for 5-6 minutes per pound and then turning the oven off for two hours. Do not open the oven door, don’t even think about it. The beef will be a perfect medium rare when you take it out of the undisturbed oven two hours later. I really liked this style and it yielded buttery, tender pink beef. You can always flash cook it a little more at the end if it’s too rare but you can never un-cook it… so might as well err to the side of less-done.

More traditional methods (for medium rare boneless beef roasts) are quite varied, some cooks favor high temperatures for less time (400F / 10 minutes per pound) and others go for lower temps for longer periods of time (300F / 20-22 minutes per pound). The most important step is to consult an instant read thermometer after the first 45 minutes of cooking and every 20 or so thereafter to get the temperature spot on. There are so many variations to be had, it really is best to use the thermometer in combination with your intuition because who knows how wacky your oven is, how the shape of the meat cooks, the starting temp…etcetera. The following chart from themeatsource.com is very helpful for getting it right, an excerpt from a post dedicated to top sirloin. Dickson’s offers this chart representing a variety of animals.

Below is a cooking chart for top sirloin roast recipe. Remember you should always use an instant-read thermometer to check the doneness of a roast. The internal temperature will rise about 5-10 degrees during resting time, remove the roast 5-10 degrees before desired doneness. themeatsource.com

Doneness Description Meat Thermometer Reading
Rare Red with cold, soft center 125-130 degrees
Medium-Rare Red with warm, somewhat firm center 135-140 degrees
Medium Pink and firm throughout 140-150 degrees
Medium-well Pink line in center, quite firm 150-155 degrees
Well-done Gray-brown throughout and completely firm 160-165 degrees

When cooked to desired doneness (accounting for the 5-10 degrees of carryover cooking), it is mandatory to let the meat rest for about 15 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to be reabsorbed and redistributed into the meat and not be lost with the first cut. Ok! Now you have the earned the right to slice up your materpiece and enjoy. The following recipe is an awesome and easy sauce. Marchand de Vin (Winemerchant’s Sauce) goes exceptionally well almost any grilled or roasted beef, a great acidic kick to cut through the rich flavors of well-raised meat.

SAUCE MARCHAND DE VIN

(adapted from The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander)

1/2 cup shallots, minced

1 tablespoon sherry or sherry vinegar

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

juice of 1 lemon

pan juices from cooked meat (optional)

6 tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces

salt and cracked black pepper

  • Place first four ingredients in a pan and reduce liquids until the almost gone, but shallots are still moist.
  • Add parsley, lemon juice and meat juices, if using. And stir in butter until just melted.
  • Season with salt and pepper.

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Breakfast twice. (PINEAPPLE + STUFF)

November 17, 2009

Since returning from Europe, I have been waking up really early. It’s cool for me, different from my norm which always included working lots of nights and slumbering through lots of mornings. Now I am all about eating breakfast to get myself geared up for the day. Waking at 8am and eating something before 9 leaves me hungry again by 10:30 or 11am…so, I eat breakfast until it seems time for something more like lunch.

In my recent brekkie explorations, I took this picture for fun. When a few friends saw it in the camera they were full of questions. ‘It’s just breakfast’, I thought,  some of that sinful Fage Greek yogurt with pineapples, shredded (unsweetened) coconut, a drizzle of agave syrup and some chopped up lemon balm which is still growing in the yard. That damn yogurt is versatile, great with anything from fruit and nuts to cucumber and bulgur. I try to by a small container to control my consumption but I eat it so quickly that I just face facts and get a big one. And, by the way, I always buy full fat because the path of life wider than it is long. What?

I do believe eating yogurt regularly is great for your health, digestion, complexion, etc. but this day it was the gorgeous pineapple that stole the show, with the lemon balm making it super bright and fresh. The pineapple-herb combo was so interesting that I later made pineapple-parsley-lemon juice with what was left. It was excellent! I juiced some parsley leaves and lots of stems, about 1/3 cup total. Apparently parsley is one of those fantastical superfoods. It is full of vitamins A and C , plenty of minerals and provides a good supply of chlorophyll. Since it is quite concentrated, just an ounce of parsley juice is perfect mixed in with other juices. Its taste is faint but very fresh, maybe a good alternative for those who can’t take wheatgrass. Into the bright green juice, I juiced one peeled lemon and the rest of the fresh pineapple. Pineapple has all the vitamin C the Flintstones could ever offer, as well as minerals like chlorine and potassium with some extra beneficial enzymes. All that in a sweet, delicious, thirst-quenching beverage. The yield was just about a pint and it started my day off just about perfect.


Next time you go ‘juicing’ ask for a handful of parsley thrown in there. I have a juicer at home, the brand is Elite by Maxi Matic. A gift from some darling friends, it is several years old and still kicks! Look… My cute folding bike’s in the background. I call it Quickie.

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New woman in town. (VEGETABLE BEAN SALAD)

September 22, 2009

gordo_pkg

Bored in the supermarket Goya section? There is a remedy for that. A Northern California company, Rancho Gordo is here to school us on new-old varieties of beans and celebrate old-fashioned foods native to the Americas (the Beautiful). I, personally, am celebrating beans –the versatility and the benefits. Packed with fiber and protein, beans are naturally low in fat and cholesterol and very helpful in stabilizing blood sugar which is great for America the Diabetic. So these especially intriguing beauties were the star in a recent sort of refrigerator challenge to come up with a dish for an impromptu BBQ using odds and ends that were hanging about. The nice thing being, many of the close-by ingredients were results of our peppery container garden.

gordo_boxes

My goal was a hearty salad that would satisfy those not into meat, but tasty enough to be ladled all around. Adding plenty of veggies help keep a bean salad from being too dense and a super-flavorful dressing will be absorbed by the beans, bringing all of the ingredients together in a slick of deliciousness. I have several bags of Rancho Gordo beans (a great gift!) in my kitchen and I went with the Yellow Indian Woman type because the creamy texture would go great with the peppers’ bite, smallish size would mix well with the chopped veggies and the buttery color was perfect for the bright green, red and orange to come.

In handling beans, I rinse them and do a quick check for stones or dirt clumps. Soaking overnight in a large bowl of cold water is a standard procedure which reduces the cooking time and is said to remove some of the indigestible sugars that are responsible for beans’ bad rap. At the least, a soak will clean off any residue that is clinging to the exterior of the beans. Then into a pot with some fresh water with a small piece of kombu (kelp) seaweed, said to boost the nutrients and digestibility of beans in general.*

It is important to use enough water to keep the beans covered during the entire soaking and cooking times to prevent drying out and/or burning. When making beans for a salad, err on the side of too much water and simply strain the excess. When done they should hold their shape, but mash under a fork. Check in on them frequently while they are cooking, always giving a stir and adding water if necessary. Do not undercook, as that is hard on the gut and will make you hate me and my recipe. Really pay attention as they are getting close to done, it will ensure perfection. It’s hard to set a definite cooking time since all beans are different. Even the same variety of bean can differ in length of cooking due to age. That is another plus of sourcing higher quality beans and legumes, they are most likely fresher than the supermarket kind, since there is no way of knowing how for long Safeway’s beans have been sitting around. Once drained, the finished beans will continue to cook slightly from their internal heat. It is best to let them cool spread out on a sheet pan to minimize the carry-over and have better control over the final texture, a little past al dente, but not yet splitting apart, which is key in a great bean salad.

gordo_vegetables

After cooling slightly, the thick pesto-like dressing can be mixed in and tossed with any veggies you like. The dressing is thickened with roasted garlic and shallots instead of  traditional nuts + cheese, making it suitable for all types of extremists. The beans will double in volume once they are soaked and cooked. A one-pound bag (about 2 cups dry) yields 4-5 cups cooked. The vegetables add another 4 cups, which can easily be stretched or reduced. This recipe makes enough bean salad for about 20 people as a side dish. It keeps well in the fridge (3-4 days) getting more flavorful as it rests. It’s a great snack to have in the icebox and a no brainer to-go lunch.

VEGETABLE + YELLOW INDIAN WOMAN BEAN SALAD

For the Roasted Garlic and Basil Dressing:

6 cloves roasted garlic and 1/2 cup of roasted garlic oil

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup fresh dill leaves, packed

1/2 shallot

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

pinch red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

For salad:

1 pound Yellow Indian Woman Beans, cooked

1 bell peppers, finely sliced

2 banana peppers, sliced

3 carrots, sliced

1 can hearts of palm, chopped

1 jalapeno, finely minced

  • Add all dressing ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree. Check for seasoning and adjust as needed.
  • Place the cooked beans in a large mixing bowl and toss with the dressing.
  • Add vegetables to the bowl and toss to combine.
  • Check for seasoning one last time. Serve + enjoy.
  • Leftovers may need a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to come back to life.

gordo_salad

ALSO!! The Roasted Garlic and Basil Dressing can be applied to the TOP 15 Uses for Pesto

* I use this method and beans don’t bother me, that is my only proof that this theory holds water. I think everyone has an opinion on this one, which I am always happy to entertain.

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The old man + the snack. (SARDINES + PICKLES)

September 16, 2009

mcclure_plate

In the last several years I have found myself thoroughly enjoying sardines as a snack here and there. I believe it began back in ‘04, when I first grilled fresh sardines in a restaurant. Seeing as how delicious they were just slightly charred wearing nothing but some salt and lemon, I decided that they couldn’t be so bad from a can. Then began what I refer to as my ‘old man snack’; canned sardines on a cracker, with a hard boiled egg, with hot sauce, in a pita with mustard and greens, etc. It may be reminiscent of someone’s hobo-grandad, but the truth is, there are many excellent boutique companies that are canning very good quality sardines/fish as we speak. In some supermarkets, the section of canned fish is extensive, tins hailing from all parts of the world. The brand I have been gravitating toward is Cole’s, a Portuguese sustainable foods company that catches with care and packs the firm, flaky fish in olive oil or all-natural sauce concoctions of their own.

Perhaps the age-old, almost folkloric, popularity of canned sardines stems from the fact that they are just one of those extremely convenient foods. I know that preserving fish helped people travel and conquer and stuff like that further afield than they otherwise could have. Or it could be because they complement one’s diet with omega 3’s, calcium, iron, vitamins D + B12, phosphorous, potassium and protein and the wise ones have always known this. Today, sardines are enjoying a renaissance. Since the small catch (sardines, trout and mackerel) don’t harbor toxins like bigger tuna and salmon, benefits can be had without as much worry of side effects. Peel open a can and you will see that weird old sardines play very nicely with other ingredients that might be hanging around in your fridge or pantry. My favorite way to eat this superfood snack is on a whole grain flatbread piled with a chunk of pickle or two. Bold flavors and textures get together just right. If you are close enough to heaven to be eating McClure’s Spicy Spears, chop up some of that red chili pepper and pop it on top. Old meets new.

mcclure_pickle

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It s’easy. (HIJIKI AVOCADO SALAD)

July 20, 2009

hijiki_salad
We have lots of enthusiasm for seaweed when wolfing down sushi rolls or slurping miso soup but most people don’t give it much thought outside of a Japanese food context. Too bad! Since it is such an easy product to incorporate into a meal, packed with major health benefits, and there are both overt and covert ways of working with it for those who lack said enthusiasm. Sea vegetables are known to stabilize blood sugar, alkalize the blood and help your body to eliminate heavy metals: led, mercury and aluminum which are toxins from the environment, otherwise tough to get rid of. They also cleanse the lymphatic system which is responsible for the health of all the other systems. Uh-oh, I feel a ’superfood’ rant coming on… luckily superfoods are one of my favorite things to rant about, especially when this easy aaaaand good for you to eat. Need I say delicious too?

Harvested in many parts of the world, so long as the waters are clean, sea vegetables are an age-old food not only in Asian traditions but in most sea-accessible parts of the world like Scandinavia, the UK, coasts of Australia, New Zealand and South America. In the US, seaweed is hand gathered from the cold, dark waters off the northern east and west coasts. Canada too. Unless you are at one of these sources, you will be very likely to purchase edible seaweed in dried form. It is widely available in health food stores, Asian markets and those really expensive bodegas-turned-gourmet shops in certain parts of Brooklyn… however convenient. Since it is dried, the shelf life is indefinite, which is great because you can keep a package of seaweed as a pantry item and use it when you wish. Varieties such as wakame, kombu, hijiki and arame need only to be rinsed and rehydrated in hot water and they grow like sea monkeys, up to three times the original volume (vegetarian sea monkeys). Others are eaten without rehydration and remain sort of crunchy like nori and dulse.

To subtly incorporate seaweed in a meal, start by adding a two inch piece of kombu to a pot of cooking water for beans, pasta, rice or grains. The nutrients in the seaweed which include vitamins A, B, C, E, and minerals like potassium, protein, fiber and calcium will fortify the water and the good water will be absorbed by the food in the pot. At the end, you can chop and eat the kombu or simply consider your duty done and remove it from the pot and toss it. Carrageen and agar are both sea products that are used as gelatin would be in helping both sweet and savory dishes to thicken and set. Great for panna cotta, puddings, glazes and the like, no one the wiser.

There are better tasting and textured seaweeds for eating straight, try a small handful of wakame or arame in a soup. Thinly sliced nori makes a lovely garnish on salads or soups as well. If you want a large helping, follow the recipe below for a briny hijiki salad coupled with smooth, silky avocado. The key is to marinate overnight in a great vinaigrette with a few crunchy carrots to round it out and sweeten the deal.

HIJIKI AVOCADO SALAD

1/2 cup dried hijiki seaweed
boiling water

1 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper

2 carrots, medium dice
2 avocados

  • Place hijiki in a bowl and pour boiling water over it to generously cover. Let stand 20-30 minutes or until tender. Drain thoroughly.
  • Meanwhile, place dressing ingredients: shallot, vinegar, oil, lemon juice, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper in a lidded jar or container and shake until well combined. Taste for seasoning, adjust.
  • Add chopped carrots to drained seaweed and pour on the vinaigrette. Place in the fridge covered for at least one hour, preferably overnight.
  • When ready to eat, half the avocados (remove seed) and slice the flesh lengthwise into about 5 strips inside the avocado skin, without piercing the skin. Using a spoon, lift out the strips in one scoop as intact as possible and lay them on a plate (4 servings).
  • Mound a heaping spoonful of marinated hijiki salad on top of each sliced avocado half. Pour on a little extra dressing if desired.

I almost forgot the rant!! Seaweed also has anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-boredom (i added that last one) properties. All that info is before even consulting wikipedia, which claims seaweed used in medicine fights tuberculosis, influenza, arthritis and even tumors. I hear it also helps dissolve cysts. It has no fat or calories, and combats sluggishness as it performs a house-cleaning on your insides. The only people who should steer clear of the sea crop are those who have a hyper-thyroid condition because the concentrated iodine content might cause trouble. For the rest of us, it means anti-goiter.

For the ultimate ease, try a seaweed shake… not the kind you drink with a straw, the kind you shake over things. Pictured here is a dulse and garlic shake which adds a great burst of flavor on top of soups, salads, roasted vegetables, stirfrys, popcorn, rice or just about anywhere you need a little seasoning. Other types may also contain sesame seeds, hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper. You can make your own combo with different ground seaweeds and the flavorings of your choice. Store in an airtight jar and shake! Use frequently. Enjoy.

hijiki_2seaweeds

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