As Strong an Endorsement as Any

“holy crap rlove. I made your slow-braised carnitas + scallion creme fraiche tonight. so good, they got me laid.”

—toshok, human extraordinaire

Food serves no greater purpose.

Photos of Mushroom Soup

With this, the last weekend of summer, I cooked up a pot of my mushroom soup to usher in the cooler autumn nights, taking the opportunity to update the recipe with pictures.

Thinking Man's Nachos

Makes 4-6 small servings or 2-3 large.

Ingredients:

8 oz yellow corn tortilla chips, two handfuls less than 100 chips, just under one medium-sized bag
3 cups finely-grated Irish cheddar, preferably aged 12-24 months
2 cups finely-grated Oaxaca cheese
4 shallots, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (alternatively, 2-3 teaspoons ground chiptole chile)
ground cayenne pepper, to taste
chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish
1 cup scallion & chive crème fraîche (recipe)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place just under half of the tortillas, tight but barely overlapping, in the center of a tinfoil-lined baking sheet. Top with a little less than half the cheese, shallot, and garlic. Top that with the chopped chipotle chiles. Sprinkle liberally with ground cayenne pepper.

Repeat with about 2/3 of the remaining ingredients, centered on the first layer of chips, so as to create a pyramidal mound.

For the final layer, repeat with the remaining ingredients, about 1/5 of the original amount, centered on the second layer of chips, furthering the pyramid.

Place in oven and bake until bubbling and starting to brown, 7-8 minutes.

Once browning, remove from oven and plate. Top with chopped cilantro and scallion crème fraîche. Serve immediately.

Variation: I have not tried it, but this recipe would undoubtedly be improved, albeit qualitatively changed, by the addition of shredded duck confit. A cup or so is likely sufficient. If you are preparing the confit de canard yourself just for this purpose, add a little cumin to the mix.

Scallion & Chive Crème Fraîche

Like scallion cream cheese—the only acceptable cream cheese—except snootier and not cheese.

Scallion & Chive Crème Fraîche

Makes one cup.

Ingredients:

1 cup crème fraîche
1/3 cup thinly-sliced scallion (green onion)
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons finely-chopped chive
1 teaspoon white pepper
sea salt, to taste

Folding in the scallion and chive

Combine crème fraîche, scallion, 2 tablespoons of chive, and white pepper in a bowl. Fold together. Taste and adjust salt.

Refrigerate at least 60 minutes before use. Top with the remaining two teaspoons of chive. Great as a garnish on baked potatoes, nachos, or anywhere else sour cream is specified.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara con Lobster Mushroom

As lobster mushroom pairs so well with egg, the representative recipe is often lobster mushroom frittata. As I would rather eat my own face than consume a frittata—Italian for crappy omelette, which is itself French for ruined egg—the following recipe is for a classic spaghetti alla carbonara, guest starring lobster mushroom. Keep the eggs, lose the omelette.

Lobster mushroom

Lobster mushroom is not, strictly speaking, a mushroom proper, but a parasite, Hypomyces lactifluorum, and the mushroom it grows on. The mushroom of choice is usually Lactarius piperatus or Russula brevipes. An infected mushroom turns a reddish-orange while its flesh remains white, the end result bearing a strong resemblance to lobster meat. "Lobster mushroom" thus refers collectively to the parasite and the host mushroom. You'd do well to not let the symbiosis gross you out, for lobster mushrooms are edible and delicious, with an unexpected shellfish note and a dense, meaty texture.

Mushroom or large marine crustacean?

Pasta alla carbonara, on the other hand, is an Italian dish of obscure origin. "Carbonara" derives from the Italian word for charcoal; the recipe is composed of long pasta (generally spaghetti), cured pork (traditionally guanciale), pecorino romano, black pepper, and eggs. The eggs are added to the dish raw and cooked by the heat of the pasta. American recipes often add cream, butter, or different cheeses, but the authentic approach is just the egg and pecorino romano.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara con Lobster Mushroom

This recipe ditches the cured pork—but, by all means, feel free to keep it—in favor of lobster mushroom. I also add some green peas for color and crunch.

Makes four servings.

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti
1/2 pound lobster mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup freshly and finely-grated pecorino romano
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed and drained
4 eggs, beaten
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely-chopped Italian parsley
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 3 tablespoons of salt. Cook until almost al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the butter. Once bubbling, add the lobster mushrooms plus black pepper and sea salt to taste. Saute until the mushrooms release their liquid and cook, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and more black pepper to taste. Saute just until aromatic, about 30 seconds.

Sauteing the lobster mushrooms

Add the pasta, green peas, and the reserved cooking liquid to the pan. Cook one minute, shaking to mix the ingredients. Add the pecorino romano and more black pepper to taste, stirring to coat the pasta.

Integrating the pasta, green peas, and reserved cooking liquid

Remove the pan from heat. Add the beaten eggs, whisking vigorously until thickened but not scrambled.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

Serve immediately, garnished with the chopped parsley. Pairs well with a spicy Alsatian Gewürztraminer.

Slow-Braised Carnitas

Carnitas is a wonderful Mexican dish, pork shoulder cooked until tender and then given a great crisp. In Mexico, carnitas is eaten on its own, in tacos, or in tortas. The traditional recipe is simple: several pounds of pork shoulder, several pounds of lard, orange peel, and some water (or coca-cola), slow roasted and then boiled to a crisp. That is…a bit much. What follows is not an authentic approach.

Carnitas

Never ones to eschew taste for health, the French have nonetheless taught us nothing if not that we can make a succulent, flavorful dish without boiling a tough cut of meat in lard. In that vein, my recipe is more of a braiser de porc than a confit de porc—pork shoulder, aromatics, citrus juice, and a little Grand Marnier, slow cooked on the stove. Healthier for the heart, but also—more importantly—tastier to the tongue. To obtain that classic carnitas crisp, we braise the meat uncovered until the liquid evaporates and then move the pot to the oven and caramelize.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder, Boston butt (the upper shoulder) preferred, but picnic shoulder (the lower) fine
2 tablespoons grape seed oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced
2 oranges, juiced, plus the zest of 1/2
2 limes, zested and juiced
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
several cups chicken stock
herb sachet with 4 sprigs Mexican oregano, 3 sprigs thyme, 1 cinnamon stick, and 2 bay leaves, wrapped in a cheese cloth and tied shut with cooking twine
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground ancho chile
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
coarse sea salt, to coat meat, plus more to taste

Cut the pork shoulder into 5" chunks. Remove any gratuitously-excessive fat, but leave at least a thin layer. Sprinkle the chunks with sea salt. Let sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes.

Salting the pork shoulder

Heat the grape seed oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the pork shoulder until well browned on each side. If needed, saute over multiple batches.

Sauteing the pork shoulder

Add the garlic, orange zest, and lime zest and saute for one minute. Add the herb sachet and stir to infuse. Add the Grand Marnier, orange juice, and lime juice. Stir, scrapping the bottom of the pot.

Mexican oregano, thyme, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf

Herb sachet, tied and ready

Add chicken stock as needed so that the pork is two-thirds submerged in liquid. Add the ground cayenne pepper, ground ancho chile, ground chipotle chile, cumin, and black pepper.

Spices: ground cayenne pepper, ground ancho chile, ground chipotle chile, cumin

Stirring, raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat until the pot is just at a simmer and braise, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pork is cooked and falling apart and the liquid is reduced by at least two-thirds, about three hours. If the liquid gets perilously-low while cooking, add a little chicken stock.

Simmering

Remove pork from pot. Once cool enough to handle, use a fork and knife to shred the pork into bite-sized, but fairly large, chunks, removing any fatty pieces as desired.

Preheat oven to 450°F

Caramelizing in the oven

Return pork chunks to pot. Place uncovered pot in oven. Continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and starting to caramelize, about 20 minutes.

Carnitas taco

Taste and adjust salt. Serve with warm corn tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo, diced shallot, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, margaritas, and college football.

Photo of Pesto alla Genovese

Photo to accompany my pesto alla genovese recipe, featured here with chicken thighs and fusilli:

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Green Peas

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1 cup Arborio or Carnaroli rice
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup warm water
1/2 lb fresh assorted wild mushrooms, such as crimini, porcini, or chanterelle, wiped clean, sliced, stems reserved
1 oz dried assorted wild mushrooms
3 shallots, diced
1/2 teapsoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cognac (see cooking with alcohol)
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed and drained
1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, preferably Stravecchio or Riserva
1 teaspoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1-2 teaspoons white truffle oil
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
gray salt, to taste

Inspect the dry mushrooms, removing any grit. Place the dried mushrooms and warm water in a bowl. Let soak for at least 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, squeezing out as much excess water as possible. Strain the soaking water through a coffee strainer or cheesecloth and into a pot. Add the chicken stock and reserved mushroom stems. Bring to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes. Lower heat to low, just enough to keep warm.

Simmering stock

Heat olive oil and butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, fresh mushrooms, and reconstituted mushrooms. Be careful of splatter if the reconstituted mushrooms are damp. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add black pepper and gray salt to taste. Cook, stirring, for about 6 minutes. The mushrooms should sweat most of their liquid, which will then evaporate, and deflate.

Toasting the risotto

Add the rice and cook, stirring, until the grains are translucent and toasted, about 1 minute. Add the fresh thyme. Add the cognac and deglaze, scrapping the bottom of the pan and stirring until nearly evaporated.

Add the stock to the risotto, a ladle at a time

Cook until the stock is reduced down and then add another ladle

Decrease heat to medium-low. Add a ladle of the chicken-cum-mushroom stock to the pan, just enough to cover the rice. Stir frequently, until the stock is all but completely gone. Continue, a ladle at a time, until the risotto is cooked, slightly al dente, and creamy. This should take about 30 minutes and use approximately all of the stock.

Once done, add the green peas. Stir. Remove from heat.

Green peas added and Parmigiano-Reggiano folded in

Fold in the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Taste and adjust salt.

The plated result

Plate. Garnish with white truffle oil and parsley. Serve immediately. Pairs well with a red Southern Rhône.

Grilled Cheese du Loup

A grilled cheese sandwich profound enough to warrant the coveted du Loup label. This recipe is simple, and although you can certainly add jamón, prosciutto, arugula, or caramelized onion, the star should be the cheese and good, perfectly-grilled, bread.

Photo of a grilled cheese by flickr user ninjapoodles, used under Creative Commons license by

Makes one sandwich.

Ingredients:

2 slices freshly-baked, rustic sourdough bread, cut about 1/2 an inch thick
2 oz (1/8 lb) Gruyère, coarsely-grated
2 oz (1/8 lb) aged Cheddar, coarsely-grated
2 tablespoons Mornay sauce (recipe)
2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard, Edinburgh Original Mustard an excellent choice
ground cayenne pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon grape seed oil

Place a layer of Mornay sauce on one side of one slice of bread. Spread a thinner layer of mustard across one side of the other slice of bread. Sprinkle with ground cayenne pepper to taste.

Mix the two cheeses together. Distribute evenly around the Mornay-sauced side of the bread, stopping about 1/4 inch from the edge. Top the cheese with the other slice of bread, mustard-side down. Press gently.

In a skillet over medium heat, add the butter and grape seed oil. Heat until the foam subsides. Add the sandwich and cook until golden-brown and melty, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

Sauce Mornay

Sauce Mornay, the French cheese sauce built from the Béchamel mother sauce, is absolutely among the most succulent and delicious things you can put in your mouth. Mornay functions superbly in the role of nearly any cheese sauce, including Alfredo. Recipes differ over what cheese to use; I dig this mix of nutty Gruyère and savory Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Makes just over one cup.

Ingredients:

1 cup Béchamel sauce, thick or medium depending on desired consistency (recipe)
1/4 cup Gruyère, coarsely-grated
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely-grated
pinch of freshly-grated nutmeg
freshly-ground white pepper
, to taste
gray salt, to taste
ground cayenne pepper, to taste

Bring the Béchamel sauce to a boil. Remove from heat.

Whisk in the cheese until fully incorporated and melted.

Add the nutmeg, stirring. Add the salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Stir.

If using as a finishing sauce—and not, say, in a gratin or more complex sauce—whisk in one tablespoon of butter per cup of Béchamel. If baking or building a more advanced sauce, emit to prevent separation.

Bechamel sauce

Béchamel, one of the four French mère—mother—sauces, is a simple white reduction of a roux and milk. Béchamel is named after Louis de Béchameil, with whom the sauce was dedicated in an attempt at flattery. This mixture is absolutely delicious over broccoli, or in lasagna, or coating a croque-monsieur, but its most common use is as a base for enhancement—as a foundation for sauce aurore, au Cari, Chivry, crèame, mornay, mustard, or Soubise.

Photo of bechamel over broccoli by flickr user bocadorada, used under Creative Commons license by-sa

Makes one cup.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon gray salt
very small pinch freshly-grated nutmeg

Bring the milk with the gray salt to a boil in a saucepan. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer.

In a saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once bubbling, add the flour and nutmeg. Stir, cooking slowly, for about two minutes, until the butter and the flour are incorporated but not brown. You now have a white (uncooked) roux.

Remove the roux from heat. Pour in the heated milk. Beat vigorously and constantly with a whisk until fully incorporated.

Return to heat and bring to a boil. Let boil one minute, whisking often. The sauce is now ready for use or enhancement.

Variaton: This recipe makes a "thick" sauce. Use 1.5 tablespoons of flour for a medium thickness, or "normal," sauce. Use one tablespoon for a thin sauce.

Pesto alla Genovese

For me, pesto is hit or miss. From the Italian pestâ, to pound or crush, the condimento is either this bitter, oily glop or a deliciously-fresh and light sauce. You have to make it yourself, you should eat it fresh, you cannot cook it, and you need to get the pesto-to-pasta ratio right. With those rules in mind, this recipe produces a delicious, bright green sauce.

Pesto alla Genovese

Makes enough for 1 lb of pasta.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons pine nuts
2 cups lightly-packed Genovese basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 green habanero chile pepper, seeded
1/4 cup finely-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, preferably stravecchio
1 tablespoon finely-grated Pecorino-Romano
1 clove garlic
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil, traditionally Ligurian but go with your favorite peppery oil

In a small skillet over medium heat, add the pine nuts and lightly toast until brown, shaking the pan continuously, about 3 to 4 minutes.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the basil, sea salt, and habanero chile pepper. Pulse several times, until the basil is chopped. While the food processor is running, add the cheese, toasted pine nuts, and garlic. Process several seconds, until incorporated. Again with the processor running, slowly add the oil until a creamy paste forms.

Pesto will keep several days, or months if frozen, although I recommend eating it fresh. Store in a tight-lidded jar, topped with olive oil to prevent the basil from darkening.

To serve with pasta, cook 1 lb of pasta until just al dente. Angular pasta, such as fusilli, pairs best. Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Remove the pot from heat and return pasta. Stir in the pesto, a little at a time until you reach the desired proportion, allowing the pasta to warm the sauce. If the dish is too dry or if the pesto is not coating the pasta, add a little of the reserved liquid. Top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt, and freshly-ground black pepper as desired. Serve immediately.

Guacamole

For the day after Labor Day, my guacamole recipe.

Guacamole

Makes about three cups.

Ingredients:

4 ripe Haas avocados, halved and pitted
2 limes, juiced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
1/2 medium-large red onion, diced
1/2 your favorite heirloom tomato, seeded and diced
2 jalapeño peppers, minced
1/4 cup roughly-chopped cilantro, plus more to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
2 sprigs cilantro, to garnish
2 tablespoons crumbled cotjia, optional, to garnish

Prepping the ingredients

Scoop the avocado flesh from the peel and place in a molcajete or other large bowl. Add the juice of 1 lime, stirring to incorporate.

Add the sea salt. Mash and incorporate with a pestle or potato masher.

Add the onion, tomato, jalapeño pepper, cilantro, and garlic. Mix to incorporate. Aggressively stir until the guacamole reaches a chunky consistency.

Taste and adjust sea salt, cilantro, and lime juice.

Add 2 teaspoons of the lime juice across the top of the guacamole without incorporating. Place in a dish and tightly cover with plastic wrap, pushed down right against the guacamole. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes, not more than three to four hours.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

Stir. Serve, garnished with a cilantro sprig and, optionally, crumbled cotija.

How to Pick a Ripe Avocado; How to Ripen Avocado

How to pick a good avocado: A good avocado, ripe or unripe, has skin of uniform appearance, with no bruises, scars, or mushy spots. A healthy Haas avocado's color is dark green to dark purple.

How to pick a ripe avocado: Ripe avocados have firm flesh, but give a little when you squeeze. Unripe avocados don't give under pressure. Overly-ripe avocados do not have firm flesh. Handle a bunch of avocados at the market and you will feel the difference. Select avocados based on this tactile test and not color. Your best bet is to buy ripe avocados the day you need them

How to ripen an avocado: Let the avocado sit in a cool place, such as a kitchen counter not in sunlight. Depending on when in the avocado's life it was picked, it will ripen in anywhere from one to eight days. To expedite the ripening process, place the avocado in a brown paper bag, loosely shut. The bag traps ethylene from the ripening avocado, speeding the process. To ripen even faster, place an ethylene-heavy fruit, such as an apple, in the bag along with the avocado. Be careful, however—the avocado could be ripe before you know it.

How to prevent oxidation: Once you cut open an avocado, time is your enemy. You should always prepare the avocado as close to consumption as possible. To slow oxidation, coat the flesh in lemon or lime juice. When preparing guacamole, for example, make mixing the avocado and lime the first step. To store avocado flesh, tightly seal your container with plastic wrap and push the plastic down right against the avocado.

What doesn't work: Until science tells me otherwise, placing the avocado pit in your guacamole does not keep it from browning. What I suspect it does, if anything, is prevent oxidation by consuming more space in the bowl and minimizing air-facing guacamole. A tight seal of plastic wrap accomplishes the same thing, with better success. Also, eat faster.