Middle of the Road

As mentioned previously, the simple ricotta recipe that Lesya followed recently is apparently more of a paneer, which is the Indian cheese which comes in dishes such as palaak paneer (which, BTW, I’d really like to make). But my current target is to replicate the grilled, marinated paneer that I had on my recent trip to India.

So the other night I decided to kill several birds with one stone. I heated one gallon of whole milk to about 185 F, then filled two 1-quart Mason jars with the hot milk. Those were allowed to cool to about 115 F on the counter. In the meantime, I added 3/8 c white vinegar to the remaining hot milk in the Dutch oven, which caused it to immediately curdle. This sat for 20 minutes, after which it was filtered through muslin, allowed to drain, and then pressed under the weight of a large can (of mango purée which we really need to eat!). I kept this in the fridge overnight under the weight, but not much additional whey was released.

To the quarts of warm milk were added (1) 2 T yogurt (my fake-sweetened Dannon stuff, and (2) a little kefir, even though you apparently need special kefir starters for that to work. These were then kept in a warm oven overnight.

I discussed yogurt with my Indian colleagues then next day at lunch… Five men discussing yogurt at length!!! Their wives all make yogurt, some as much as 2 quarts per day. Everyone has their own special technique, and the Indians all use a special yogurt starter… some of which I hope to acquire before too long.

As for my yogurt, it turned out good but not great. I think I can take some of the tips I got and make it frat next time. As for the kefir, not too surprisingly it didn’t really turn out. But actually it is drinkable. And I haven’t yet grilled the paneer but hope to do so this weekend.

A terrific Ragu to go on top of gnocchi or other pasta, or polenta. From Mario Batalli’s Babbo cookbook. We made this for the Menards along with gnocchi.

5 lb oxtail in 2″ pieces
6 T olive oil
Flour for dredging
2 medium onions, sliced 1/4″ thick
4 c red wine
2 c chicken stock
2 c tomato sauce
2 T thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 350. Trim fat from oxtail and season liberally.

In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over high heat, then dredge the oxtail in flour and sear all sides. Do this in batches if needed. Set meat aside.

To the Dutch oven, add the onions and cook 5-7 minutes until lightly browned (my onions took on the color of the dredging flour that had darkened). Add the wine, stock, tomato sauce, and thyme; bring to a boil. Add the oxtails, submerged, then return to a boil. Cover the Dutch oven and cook 1.5-3 hours, or until the meat is fork tender and falling off the bone.

Remove from oven, and put the meat aside to cool. Shred meat when it has cooled enough to handle. As the sauce cools, skim fat from the surface. Return the meat to the pot, then bring to a simmer and reduce the sauce to the desired consistency. Serve with grated cheese.

There’s a cyclist, somewhere near Cleveland, who rides an insane number of miles every year and hopes to someday reach the million mile mark. Ignore the fact that he lives with his mother. The point is that he has a habit of screaming “NEW ROOOAAAAAD” every time he, yes you guessed it, rides on a road on which he’s never before ridden. I love the idea of this, and I also love riding on new roads, so I try to follow in his footsteps and continue his oratory practice.

I need a similar saying for new foods or food which I’ve never before made. NEW FOOD! Doesn’t quite have the same ring. I’ll work on it.

Today I had two new foods. Oxtail Ragu on Gnocchi, based on the cookbook Babbo from Mario Batali. Olesyk made something very similar to this on New Year’s, although the pasta was fresh from Brooklyn in that case.

Gnocchi

3 lb Russet potatoes
2 c flour
1 egg
1 t salt

Cover the potatoes with water in a large pot, then bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes or until soft. In my case, the skins started to crack and peel apart. I guess that means they’re done!!

Drain, and when cool enough to handle, remove skin and pass througgh a ricer onto a clean counter. Make a hole in the pile of potatoes, cover evenly with the flour, and rack the egg into the center. With a fork, start mixing the egg into the potatoes and four until combined, then form a dough a knead for 4 minutes.

Cut the dough into 6 pieces, then roll each piece into a snake 3/4 inch wide. Cut into 1″ lengths, then form the classic gnocchi shape with a fork.

Bring a large pot of water to boil with salt added. Drop in the gnocchi and let cook for about 1 minute. The gnocchi will rise to the surface when done. Skim out of the pot with a spider and allow to drain.

Well ok, technically I made my first brisket with my previous “bullet” smoker, before I had a decent thermometer and before I had any idea how to use a smoker. And needless to say, the brisket didn’t turn out so well.

But I felt so ready to get back into the brisket game that I asked Lesya to pick up not one but two briskets… perhaps a little over confident. But no worries. She bought two 5 lb CAB “whole” briskets from McCaffreys (although after reading more on the topic, these turned out to be not a whole brisket but rather just the flat cut).

For the rub, I approximated this beef rub from the amazing ribs website:

- 3 T ground black pepper
- 2 T kosher salt
- 1 T sugar
- 1 T onion powder
- 2 t mustard powder
- 2 t garlic powder
- 2 t ancho chili powder
- 1 t cayenne powder

This was just enough rub for the two briskets. They went on the smoker at about 10:15 am, smoked on two levels, were wrapped in foil once they reached about 165 degrees, and then finally reached the target temp of about 200-205 by around 5:30 pm.

We got good reviews from both the Piersons and Team Stevenson! I also made one of the beef hot sauces from a base recipe from the amazing ribs website. Deelish.