The Minimalist Cooks Dinner (30 page)
Read The Minimalist Cooks Dinner Online
Authors: Mark Bittman
| WINE | Beer, or a spicy red like Zinfandel |
| SERVE WITH | Easy Rice or Crisp Pan-Fried Noodle Cake |
SUGAR
is key here. As it cooks, it makes the sauce not so much sweet but sticky.
IF YOU LIKE
, you can remove the fat from the dish by separating the ribs and cooking liquid when the ribs are done. Refrigerate separately and skim the congealed fat from the liquid before combining and reheating.
Slow-Cooked Ribs with Vegetables:
To make this into a whole-meal stew, increase the water to 2 cups and add some peeled and chunked carrots or turnips, whole pearl onions or shallots, or all of the above, after the meat has cooked for about an hour. Some shredded cabbage added during the last half hour or so of cooking is also good.
Miso-Red Wine Sauce
TIME:
20 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
In addition to its intense flavor, which is sweeter, saltier, and more complex than that of soy sauce, miso is a superb thickener, adding a rich, creamy consistency when whisked into a small amount of liquid. With that in mind, it’s the work of a moment to turn the pan juices remaining after searing a piece of meat into a great sauce, using nothing more than miso and a little liquid. My choice here is pork for meat and red wine for liquid; the combination resulting from these three ingredients completely belies the amount of energy put into the dish.
Four 1-inch-thick bone-in pork chops, each about 6 ounces
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup sturdy red wine, like Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon
2 tablespoons red miso
¼ cup roughly chopped shiso, basil, or parsley, optional
Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the chops. Sprinkle them with a little bit of salt and a lot of pepper, then brown them on one side for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and brown the other side until firm and nearly cooked through, another 3 or 4 minutes. Transfer to a warm plate and turn the heat to medium.
Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to loosen any bits of meat that have stuck to the pan, until the wine reduces by about half. Turn the heat to low and add the miso; stir briskly to make a smooth mixture (a wire whisk will help here).
Taste the sauce and add more salt (unlikely) and pepper, if necessary. Spoon it over the pork, garnish with shiso if you like, and serve.
| WINE | The same as, or similar to, the wine you use to make the sauce |
| SERVE WITH | Easy Rice or Rice Salad with Peas and Soy ; Green Salad with Soy Vinaigrette |
RED MISO
(which is in fact brown) adds terrific color to the sauce and has the strongest flavor of all the misos; it also has the additional asset of being the easiest to find. Miso must be handled gently, because high heat practically destroys its flavor; so be sure to keep the heat low when you stir it in.
FOR THE
pork, I prefer a bone-in chop, preferably from the rib end of the loin; it’s a little bit fattier than other chops; these days, pork is so lean that the extra fat is a benefit rather than a detriment.
SHISO IS
a Japanese herb (you’ve probably seen it with sushi) that is not easy to find; basil or even parsley are suitable substitutes here.
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Use boneless pork steaks from the loin or tenderloin or beef—rib-eye, strip, or skirt steaks are all fine. Reduce the cooking time slightly.
Cassoulet
TIME:
40 to 60 minutes
MAKES:
4 to 6 servings
Cassoulet in 40 minutes or less is heresy, of course, but if you want the pleasure of serving something cassoulet-like without spending two days doing it, here you go. It’s not “real” cassoulet, but glorified beans and meat. Like the original cassoulet it is a bean stew containing whatever meat, preferably fatty and flavorful, is available to throw in it. That’s the spirit.
4 cups chopped tomatoes, with their juice (canned are fine)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
4 cups white beans, nearly fully cooked, drained if canned (see above)
1 cup stock, dry red wine, bean-cooking liquid, or water
Salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 pound Italian sausage, preferably in one piece
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 boned duck breast
Combine the tomatoes and garlic in a large saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Bring to a boil and add the beans. Bring to a boil again, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat so the mixture bubbles regularly but not furiously. Cook for about 20 minutes, adding the liquid when the mixture becomes thick. Add the salt and cayenne when the beans are tender and flavorful.
Meanwhile, put the sausage in a skillet and turn the heat to medium-high; brown on both sides, turning only once or twice. Add the sausage to the tomato-bean mixture, along with the pork. Raise the heat a bit if necessary to keep a simmer going. Stir the beans occasionally so the pork chunks cook evenly; they’ll finish cooking in the time it takes to prepare the duck.
Cut a ½-inch crosshatch pattern in the skin side of the duck breast, right down to the fat layer. Put the breast in the same skillet in which you cooked the sausage, skin side down, and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook
until nicely browned, pouring any rendered duck fat and juices into the bean mixture. Turn the duck and brown the meat side, then crisp up the skin side again for a minute or so, once more pouring any juice into the beans. The total cooking time for the breast will be 6 to 8 minutes. When it is done, add the breast to the beans.To serve, carve the sausage and duck breast into serving pieces, and put some on each of four to six plates. Top with beans and pork.
| WINE | Rough, inexpensive red from the south of France or elsewhere |
| SERVE WITH | 60-Minute Bread or good store-bought bread; Simple Green Salad |
UNLESS YOU
have a lot of time, start with frozen beans, which are now being sold in most supermarkets. If you can’t find frozen beans just use canned beans, but drain and rinse them first.
ALTHOUGH THE
pork tenderloin need not be browned before further cooking, the sausage benefits from a quick browning, which is definitely worth the 5-minute effort.
IF YOU
can get duck confitjust brown it lightly on both sides, adding both it and its fat to the stew in place of the duck breast.
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Start with dried beans, cooked with a few sprigs of fresh thyme, ½ head of garlic, and a piece of salt pork or bacon.
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Cook the garlic in a little duck fat—don’t let it brown—before adding the tomatoes and beans.
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Finish the dish by toasting some bread crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper, in the fat remaining from browning the duck. Sprinkle these on top of the stew, then run it under the broiler to brown just before serving.
Lamb Ribs
Next to pork (spare) ribs, lamb ribs are the best down-and-dirty grill item I know. They’re also the cheapest: Where I live, it’s hard to pay more than a dollar a pound for them.
Like spare ribs, lamb ribs are the bones of the breast, separated into individual pieces. The supermarket meat department or butcher may give you the entire breast, or he may separate the ribs for you. If he does not, make sure to ask him to at least remove or cut through the breastbone, which will make cutting in between the ribs fast and easy.
TIME:
45 to 60 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
4 to 5 pounds lamb breast, cut into ribs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup honey, orange marmalade, or maple syrup
¼ cup Dijon mustard
1 small onion, peeled
Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill to the maximum, or preheat a broiler; the fire should be only moderately hot and the rack should be at least 4 inches from the heat source. Bring a large pot of water to the boil; salt it. Put in the lamb and simmer for 10 minutes.
Drain the ribs. Grill or broil them for about 10 minutes, turning once or twice and sprinkling them with a little salt and pepper. Meanwhile, combine the honey mustard, and onion in a blender and whiz until smooth.
When the ribs begin to brown, brush them with the sauce and continue to cook, watching carefully so they do not catch fire. When they are brown and crisp all over—a matter of no more than 10 or at the most 15 minutes—remove them from the grill and serve.
| WINE | Chianti, rough Zinfandel or Syrah |
| SERVE WITH | Cornbread; Tomato Salad with Basil ; baked beans; coleslaw |
LAMB RIBS
require special treatment while grilling, because they are loaded with fat (this is one of the reasons they taste so good, of course). You can grill them very slowly, or (my preference), parboil the ribs just for 10 minutes or so, long enough to render enough of the fat so that it doesn’t catch fire the instant you put the ribs on the grill. You’ll still need to be careful during grilling; don’t leave the fire for more than a minute or two.
BROILING THEM
makes this somewhat easier, but you still have to keep an eye out; left unattended, they will burn.
Lamb Ribs with Pesto:
For the sauce, make a light pesto of basil, cilantro, or parsley, blending together about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to 1 cup of leaves, along with salt, a clove of garlic, and enough water to make the mixture creamy. Don’t brush the ribs with this mixture, but pass it at the table.
Lamb Ribs with Salsa:
Make Fast Tomato Salsa. Grill the ribs with just salt and pepper and pass the salsa at the table.
Lamb Ribs with Cucumber:
Grill the ribs with just salt and pepper. Make a cucumber “salsa” by peeling, seeding, and chopping 2 cucumbers, then coarsely chopping them in a blender or food processor with mint and salt to taste. Pass at the table.
Lamb Ribs with Mango:
Grill the ribs with just salt and pepper. Make a fast mango relish by combining the chopped flesh of 2 mangoes (or peaches) with ½ cup minced onion, the juice of 2 limes, and salt, pepper, and chopped cilantro to taste. Pass at the table.
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Rub the parboiled ribs with any spice rub, such as chili or curry powder, before grilling.
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Cook the ribs unadorned, then serve with a light drizzle of ½ cup fresh lemon juice and hot sauce and salt to taste.
