Authentic Hemingway Daiquiri

The Old Man and the Daiquiri: Happy New Years from Food & Love.

Authentic Hemingway Daiquirí

Makes one drink.

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces (1 jigger) rhum agricole, such as Clément
3/4 ounce freshly-squeezed lime juice
1/2 ounce freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
1 grapefruit peel, for garnish

Combine all of the ingredients except the grapefruit peel in a cocktail shaker with several large ice cubes. Shake vigorously and then let rest until the outside of the shaker starts to sweat, a few seconds.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the grapefruit peel, comrade. Enjoy.

Variations: If too tart for your palate, add a teaspoon or two of simple syrup. For a Papa Doble—what Ernest likely ordered—double the rum to 3 ounces (2 jiggers) but fix the other ingredients.

Seared Diver Scallops, Curried Cauliflower Purée, Brown Butter, Chervil

Chervil is a close biological and culinary relative to parsley. Often considered a gourmet variant of parsley, chervil tastes similar to its cousin, but with a more delicate, sweet taste, and the faint note of licorice. It pairs great with seafood dishes such as this, but in a pinch Italian flat leaf parsley is a fair substitute.

Seared Diver Scallops, Curried Cauliflower Purée, Brown Butter, Chervil

For this dish, you want to use big, firm sea scallops—the better to sear to a beautiful golden brown. If at all possible, seek out dry packed. For more, see how to buy scallops.

Makes four servings.

Ingredients:

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon gray salt
1/4 cup heavy cream, divided into tablespoons
16 diver sea scallops, preferably dry-packed, foot removed and patted dry
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lemon, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons chervil, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh chive, chopped
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground white pepper, to taste

Bring a salted medium-sized stock pot to boil. Add the cauliflower and cook until tender, 8-9 minutes. Drain. In a food processor, combine the cauliflower, Madras curry powder, cayenne pepper, gray salt, and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. Process until a purée, adding more heavy cream, a tablespoon at a time, until smooth and creamy, but still thick enough to weakly hold a shape on the plate.

Season the scallops with sea salt and white pepper.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter. Once bubbling, add the scallops and raise the heat to high. Cook until golden and crisp on each side, 4-5 minutes total. Reserve the scallops to a warm plate.

Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and, scrapping the bottom of the pan, deglaze. Add the lemon zest, chervil, and a pinch of sea salt. Stir continually for 30 seconds.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

To plate, place a large dollop of cauliflower purée in the corner of a warm plate. Using the back of a spoon, smear about half of the dollop across the plate. Place four scallops on top on top of the smear. Spoon the butter and chervil sauce on top. Garnish with chive and a sprig of chervil. Serve immediately. Pairs well with a dry white wine from Pessac-Léognan, in Graves, on the left bank of the Garonne, in Bordeaux.

Purée of Garbanzo Bean Soup, Paprika Oil, Seared Foie Gras

I love chickpeas—particularly when made from dried, nutty, Spanish beans—and this soup really allows the legume to shine. When puréed, the soup is so creamy from the chickpeas you don't even need to add dairy. This recipe garnishes the soup with smoked paprika oil, whose smokey redness is a great pairing both to the eye and the mouth, and foie gras. The foie gras' flavors marry surprisingly well, but you can substitute it with some crispy pancetta, as shown in these photos.

Purée of Garbanzo Bean Soup, Paprika Oil, Seared Foie Gras

Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

3 cups dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas), soaked overnight, rinsed, and drained
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 pound smoked bacon, cut into chunks
4 cloves smashed plus 2 cloves chopped garlic
about 6 cups low or no salt chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 Spanish yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 leek, white part only, sliced
1 habanero chile, chopped
2 tablespoons smoked paprika oil (recipe)
6 ounces foie gras, Grade A or B
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Place the dried garbanzo beans, lemon juice, smoked bacon, and garlic cloves in a medium stockpot. Cover by about 3 inches with low or (preferably) no salt chicken stock. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring and skimming occasionally, until the beans are tender but not falling apart, about 90 minutes. Discard the bacon and garlic cloves.

Heat a dutch oven or heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Once hot, add the Spanish onion and carrot. Saute, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the celery, leek, and habanero chile. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Saute until the onion and carrot are soft but nothing is brown, about 3 more minutes.

Add the cooked garbanzo beans and their liquid to the stockpot. You should have around 3 cups of liquid in the pot; add more chicken stock if needed. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are all integrated, about 20 minutes.

Puréeing the soup with an immersion blender

Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, purée the soup until very smooth. Stir. The soup should be thick—a purée—but not as thick as hummus. Add more chicken stock if needed. Taste and adjust salt. Return to a simmer and cook until heated through and integrated, about 2 minutes.

Using a knife dipped in boiling water, cut the foie gras into 1/2-inch slices. Season the foie gras slices on both sides with sea salt and black pepper. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the foie gras slices. Cook for 45 seconds. Turn the slices over and cook for 30 more seconds. Reserve to paper towels. Cut into strips an inch long.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

To plate, ladle the purée into warm shallow soup bowls. Garnish with the smoked paprika oil, seared foie gras, and parsley.

Smoked Paprika Oil

This infused oil is as useful for its delicious smokey taste as for its bold red color.

Smoked Paprika Oil

Makes 1/2 cup of flavored oil.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup good olive oil
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (pimentón de la vera)

Place the olive oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and add the smoked paprika. Whisk the paprika into the olive oil.

Let infuse for 45 minutes, by which time the paprika should separate from the oil and rest on the bottom of the saucepan. Gently spoon or pour off the oil, passing it through a double layer of cheesecloth if necessary, into a clean container. Reserve to a cool, dark place until ready to serve. Will keep for several weeks.

Dry Aging Room at Peter Luger

From the Times, a 360° panorama of the dry aging room at Peter Luger. Those are some gorgeous porterhouses.

While the interactive picture is beautiful, the associated article is a bit confused:

The New York porterhouse—that cut of meat found between the prime ribs and the sirloin of a cow—is a specialty dish as local and distinctive as the London broil, the Viennese schnitzel or the Parisian steak frites. It is thicker and more marbled than a T-bone, infinitely more tender than sirloin and, according to the greatest chefs, likely to be even more flavorful than the best filet mignon.

A T-bone steak is a large cut of beef from the short loin of the animal. Each steak sports a T-shaped bone, with a strip steak on one side and a small cut of the tenderloin on the other.

A porterhouse is a T-bone cut from the rear end of the short loin, yielding a larger tenderloin steak. Although porterhouses are often thicker than T-bones, that is a function of the butcher's cut and not the steak itself (porterhouses, being essentially high-end T-bones, are usually a more generous serving).

As for these greatest chefs, its hard to say a porterhouse is more flavorful than a filet mignon since one contains the other, and the best tenderloin cuts are usually reserved for standalone filet mignon steaks. The strip steak is, of course, significantly more flavorful than a filet mignon—nearly every part of the cow is—but since the porterhouse is essentially two different steaks on a single bone, this whole comparison suggests the author does not eat a lot of steak.

It is also—and consensus is fairly widespread on the point—New York City’s signature cut of beef

Not so. This article invented the term "New York Porterhouse"—the steak is just a porterhouse, with no locale prefixed. I'd consider the porterhouse, outside of Peter Luger's, more the purview of Texas, or somewhere else where quantity outbids quality. (Just kidding, Texas, I love you and your hats.) If New York had a signature cut of meat, it would have to be the New York strip, also known as the strip steak (yes, from the T-bone). Or maybe beef short ribs.

As for me? I love the texture of a good filet mignon, but I usually opt for the excellent flavor of a rib eye, preferably dry aged and cooked to barely medium rare.

Ful Medames: Egyptian Fava Bean Stew

Ful medames, Coptic for buried favas, is a dish of mashed fava beans, often eaten at breakfast. The dish consists of Egyptian fava beans, slow cooked with spices, partially or completely mashed, mixed with olive oil, parsley, garlic, and lemon juice, and served with hard-boiled egg, onion, and pita.

Ful Medames: Egyptian Fava Bean Stew

The dish is historically a peasant dish, where the beans would be placed in earthenware and buried under hot coals. Today, the dish is popular across the economic spectrum, having risen to be a de facto Egyptian national dish—and a favorite throughout the Afro-Asiatic region.

Dried fava beans

Egyptian fava beans are a small, brown variant of the broad bean. Seek them out for an authentic dish, but any fava bean will work.

Thinly-sliced red onion and cucumber

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1 pound dried Egyptian fava beans, rinsed, soaked overnight, and drained
2 cloves smashed plus 2 cloves minced garlic
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
about 7 cups filtered or spring water
1 teaspoon cumin
6 tablespoons your favorite peppery olive oil
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup finely-chopped scallions, to garnish
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

In a stockpot, combine the fava beans, 2 smashed garlic cloves, bay leaf, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Cover with water by 2 inches. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a heavy simmer. Occasionally skim off any foam that rises to the top. Cook until the beans are tender and any remaining liquid is thick, about 2 hours. Discard the garlic and bay leaf. If the beans are cooked but too much liquid remains, drain and return to the pot.

Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, and cumin. Stir well. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Using a potato masher, mash the beans until well integrated but still quite chunky.

Add the olive oil and parsley. Stir to combine.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

Spoon into a warmed serving dish. Garnish with scallions. Serve warm with thinly-sliced red onion, cucumber, hard boiled eggs, and warm pita. Pairs well, perhaps surprisingly, with a nutty, saline Spanish manzanilla Sherry from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Spain.

Chicken Noodle Soup alla China

This recipe prepares that old comfort food classic, chicken noodle soup, with a Chinese twist. Not unlike your mom's recipe, but the aromatics and spices are East Asian, the noodles lo mein, the greens Chinese.

This soup is very light, but complex enough to serve as a meal. I absolutely love this dish—perhaps my favorite soup.

Chicken Noodle Soup alla China

Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

about 8 cups Chinese chicken stock (recipe)
reserved chicken meat (recipe)
8 ounces lo mein noodes
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 shallots, sliced
one 4-inch piece of ginger, diced
2 red thai bird's eye chili peppers (prik ki nu), halved lengthwise
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon gray salt
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 stalks baby bok choy, chopped
1 cup broccoli rabe (rapini), chopped
2 scallions, green and white parts, sliced
6 tablespoons watercress, to garnish
6 tablespoons cilantro, to garnish
6 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, to garnish
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Broccoli Rabe and Baby Bok Choy

Scallions, Watercress, Broccoli Rabe, and Baby Bok Choy

If your Chinese chicken stock is cold, place it and the reserved chicken meat in a large saucepan and bring to just a simmer. Keep warm.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add the lo mein noodles and cook until tender but still firm, 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water. Set aside.

Heat a dutch oven or heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add the sesame oil. Once hot, add the shallot and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the thai chili pepper. Cook until the shallot is tender and the ginger is soft and golden, about 2 more minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Add the Chinese chicken stock. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer. Add the gray salt, brown rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir well and let return to a simmer.

Simmering the chicken meat, lo mein noodles, baby bok choy, and brocolli rabe

Add the reserved chicken meat, reserved lo mein noodles, baby bok choy, and brocolli rabe. Cook until the baby bok choy and brocolli rabe are just beginning to become tender, about 3 minutes. Add the scallions. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper.

Ladled into a warm soup bowl

Ladle the soup into warm soup bowls.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

Garnish with watercress, cilantro, and toasted sesame oil. Pairs well with a spicy Alsatian Gewürztraminer.

Chinese Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is a common input to any number of Western dishes, but it is of course a frequent ingredient in many locale's staples. The cuisine of China, in particularly, values chicken stock as a crucial and delicious component of its cooking. This recipe is for a chicken stock in the general style of China, and in particular that of Canton.

Chinese Chicken Stock

Like a Western chicken stock, the base is chicken meat and bones, slow simmered with aromatics in water, until the meat is tender, the collagen infuses the liquid, and the fat begins to render. Onion is a shared aromatic, but Asia invites to the pot thai chili peppers, ginger, lemongrass, scallion, and star anise.

Although chickens are a vital link in nature's chain, do not use them to play chicken ball in the house

My approach blanches the chicken before starting the stock, to remove impurities and yield a clearer, purer resultant. You occasionally see such blanching in French preparations, but it is common in, if not a requisite of, Chinese recipes. It does indeed yield a clearer stock, and you will have less scum to skim, so go ahead and spend the extra effort for the authentic approach.

Properly dressing the chicken

Note that, as with all of my stock recipes, this is unsalted.

Makes about 8 cups of stock plus one chicken worth of meat.

Ingredients:

one 3 pound chicken, dressed whole, preferably free range
about 16 cups plus 16 cups cold spring of filtered water
3 shallots, quartered
2 red thai bird's eye chili peppers (prik ki nu), halved lengthwise
two 1.5-inch pieces lemongrass
one 2.5-inch piece ginger, thickly-sliced
4 scallions, white and green parts, sliced into 2-inch pieces
1 pod star anise
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine

Place the chicken in a large stockpot. Cover by about 2 inches with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. With tongs, carefully remove the chicken to a strainer. Discard the water in the pot. Rinse the pot clean. Gently rinse the chicken with cold water, removing any scum.

Bringing all of the ingredients to a boil

Return the chicken to the pot. Add the shallot, thai chili peppers, lemongrass, ginger, scallions, and star anise. Again cover by 2 inches of cold water. Return to heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the stock is rich and infused, about 2 hours. Occasionally, skim any scum off the surface. If the water becomes perilously low, add more as needed; although toward the end of cooking, some reduction in the liquid is welcome.

Remove the chicken to a strainer (make sure you thoroughly cleaned the strainer from earlier) and let cool.

Add the Shaoxing wine to the stock. Return to a simmer and cook just 2-3 minutes, to integrate. Remove from heat and let the stock cool slightly and then strain twice through a chinois. Reserve the strained stock to a clean pot if using immediately or an airtight container if storing.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin. Remove all of the meat from the bone. With a fork, pull apart and shred into bite size chunks. Reserve.

Arugula Insalata with Strawberries, Speck, Pecorino Sardo

I dig this beautiful salad as a first course. The strawberries, lightly marinated and wrapped in the speck, go great with the pecorino sardo, which is a creamier, richer, less biting variant of its more famous cousin, pecorino romano.

Arugula Insalata con Fragole, Speck, e Pecorino Sardo

Speck is a salumi that is both cured and smoked. A pig's hind leg is boned and divided into individual hams, called baffe. Each baffe is cured with seasoning and salt. They are then cold smoked over wood and, ultimately, matured for several months. Speck is common in Austria, Germany, and northern Italy, and each region has its own seasonings and practices behind the product. The most famous Speck, Speck dell'Alto Adige, is from the Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige. Lean, smoky, moderately seasoned, and offering a delicate pork flavor, Speck is a wonderful smoked alternative to prosciutto di parma and shines when wrapped around fruits, such as this dish's strawberries.

Arugula Salad with Strawberries, Speck, and Pecorino Sardo

Makes four salad course-sized servings. For a more substantial meal, add an additional speck-wrapped strawberry or two to each plate.

Ingredients:

about 16 fresh strawberries, tops trimmed
1/2 a medium lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons of your best peppery olive oil
about 8 thin slices Speck dell'Alto Adige
6 cups arugula
1/2 cups basil leaves, lightly-packed, preferably Genovese
balsamic vinaigrette (recipe)
1/3 pound pecorino sardo or pecorino caggiano, peeled
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

In a mixing bowl, toss the strawberries with the lemon juice and olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Slicing the Speck dell'Alto Adige in half

Cut each slice of speck width-wise in half.

Wrap each strawberry in one of the slices of speck

Wrap each strawberry in one of the speck half slices. Set aside.

Toss the arugula and basil with the balsamic vinaigrette, salt, and pepper.

Plated and ready to serve

Place a handful of the arugula and basil on each plate, topped with about four speck-wrapped strawberries. Sprinkle with pecorino sardo. Drizzle a little more vinaigrette atop. Serve. Pairs well with a crisp Pinot Gris from either Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia or Trentino-Alto Adige region.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

A vinaigrette is three parts oil to one part vinegar. For this, like any vinaigrette, you will want to whip out your finest balsamic vinegar and favorite olive oil. The diced shallot is common, but not required. Depending on your needs, skip it, or replace it with diced garlic.

Makes about one cup.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena
1 tablespoon shallot, diced small
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
3/4 cup your favorite peppery olive oil

Combine the aceto balsamico, shallot, sea salt, and black pepper in a small mixing bowl. Stir to incorporate.

Slowly, while whisking, drizzle in the olive oil. Continue combining, in driblets, until all of the olive oil is added and the vinaigrette is a smooth emulsion. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

Purée of Parsnip Soup, Crispy Pancetta, Truffle Oil

With luck, this simple yet succulent, earthy yet elegant soup will do its part toward reducing the astounding number of folks who have never enjoyed the sweet, strong flavor of parsnip, a root vegetable akin to the carrot.

Purée of Parsnip Soup, Crispy Pancetta, Truffle Oil

Makes six soup course-sized servings.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon grape seed oil
1/4 pound pancetta, cubed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 pounds parsnips, peeled, ends trimmed, halved, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
6 teaspoons white truffle oil
2 tablespoons fresh chive, chopped
gray salt, to taste
freshly-ground white pepper, to taste

Heat a heavy stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the grape seed oil. Once hot, add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until rendered and very crispy. Using a slotted spoon, reserve to paper towels.

Sauteing the parsnips, onion, and celery

Add the butter. Once bubbling, add the parsnips, onion, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent but nothing has browned, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper.

Bringing the stock to a boil

Add the bay leaves and chicken stock. If needed to just cover the parsnips, add more stock. Raise heat to high. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Puréeing the soup with an immersion blender

Remove from heat. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Using an immersion blender, process until a fine, silky purée.

Grating nutmeg

Add the nut meg, heavy cream, and sea salt and white pepper to taste. Return to heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 more minutes, until heated through and integrated.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

To plate, ladle the purée into warm shallow soup bowls. Drizzle with white truffle oil. Garnish with pancetta crumbles and chopped chive. Serve immediately. Pairs well with an Erste Lage Riesling from Germany's Mosel region.

Black and White Soup

Black and white soup is visually fun, but my version aims to build a contrast of more than just color. For the black half, I like to make a bold, spicy soup, with sherry and plenty of habanero chiles, so that you need the simple, creamy cheese soup as a counterbalance.

Black and White Soup

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

4 cups spicy black bean soup (recipe)
4 cups white cheddar and leek soup (recipe)
1 cup cilantro sour cream (recipe)
4 tablespoons chive, chopped
sea salt, as needed

In separate pots, bring the two soups to a simmer and reheat.

Taste and equalize both soups' seasoning.

The soups need to be about the same consistency. Adjust consistency by adding beef stock and sherry to the spicy black bean soup or heavy cream to the white cheddar soup, as needed. Add as little as possible; the soups are best thicker rather than thinner.

If the soups are too thin, thicken the black bean soup by adding more cooked beans. To thicken the white bean soup, prepare a blonde roux, slowly temper the soup into the roux, and add more grated cheddar.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

To plate, simultaneously ladle about a cup each of the soups into opposite sides of square, shallow, warm soup bowls. If similar consistencies, the soups should will out and meet in the middle without mixing. Garnish with chopped chive and a big dollop of cilantro sour cream. Pairs well with a dry stout.

White Cheddar and Leek Soup

A thick, creamy soup of cheesy white cheddar and delicious leek.

White Cheddar and Leek Soup

You'll want to use a real cheddar for this—none of that Americanized crap. A firm, sharp wedge from Somerset always works, but one of my favorites is Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, made in conjunction with the wonderful artisans at Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont. Whatever you use, make sure it is white.

Makes four soup course-sized servings.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 leeks, white part only, sliced thin
2 medium ribs celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound Vermont or English cheddar, shredded
2 teaspoons acetic hot sauce, plus more to garnish
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Marsala wine
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper, to garnish
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground white pepper, to taste

Heat a heavy stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter. Once bubbling, add the leeks and celery. Saute, stirring occasionally, until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and white pepper.

Add the all-purpose flour. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

Add the bay leaf. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, bringing it to temperature and integrating it with the flour. Raise heat to high. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook until everything is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, purée until smooth.

Slowly adding the cheddar

Add the heavy cream. Gradually, a small handful at the time, add the shredded cheese. Stir until fully melted and integrated before adding the next small handful. Return to heat and bring to a gentle simmer.

If using in black and white soup: Taste and adjust seasoning. Cook 2-3 more minutes, until cooked through and integrated, and then plate with the spicy black bean soup.

Otherwise: Add the hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Marsala wine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Cook 2-3 more minutes, until cooked through and integrated. To plate, ladle into warm soup bowls. Garnish with chopped chive, cayenne pepper, and more hot sauce. Serve with crusty, rustic sourdough. Pairs well with a medium-bodied English ale.

Spicy Black Bean and Habanero Soup

A kicked up approach to black bean soup: jalapeño and habanero chiles, smoked ham hock, sherry vinegar, and, of course, Sherry.

Spicy Black Bean and Habanero Soup

This recipe slow cooks the beans in beef stock, not water. Beans are best cooked without salt, as the salt prevents the bean exterior from softening. If you make your own stock, prepare a batch without salt. If using a store bought product—you should make your own!—use a low or no sodium offering.

Makes 6 soup course-sized servings.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium rib celery, diced
2 medium jalapeños, diced
2 smoked ham hocks (about 1.75 pounds), skin scored
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 habanero chiles, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 pound black beans, rinsed, soaked overnight, rinsed again, drained
8 cups low or no sodium beef stock
1/4 cup dry Spanish Sherry
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, preferably DO-classified vinagre de Jerez
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped well
1 cup cilantro sour cream (recipe)
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Heat a heavy stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, jalapeños, and ham hocks. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and the ham hock is brown, 6-7 minutes. Add the habanero chile and red pepper flakes and cook 60 seconds. Add the garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season to taste with black pepper.

Bringing to a boil

Add the bay leaf, black beans, and beef stock. Raise heat to high. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 2 hours, adding more beef stock as needed. When the beans are beginning to soften but are still firm, about 30 minutes before they are done, add 1 teaspoon of sea salt and remove the ham hocks. Set aside and let cool.

Puréed

Once the beans are fully cooked, remove from heat. Using a potato masher, mash into a purée.

If using in black and white soup: Add the sherry and sherry vinegar. Cook 2 more minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Plate with the white cheddar and leek soup.

Otherwise: Remove the meat from the hock. Shred the meat. Discard the bone, the skin, and any remaining large pieces of fat. Add the ham hock meat, sherry and sherry vinegar. Return to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro. To plate, ladle into warm soup bowls. Taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish with a big dollop of cilantro sour cream. Pairs well with a dry stout.

Cilantro Sour Cream

Great on fish tacos, soups, or anywhere else the pairing of sour cream and cilantro makes sense.

Cilantro Sour Cream

Makes about 1 cup.

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cilantro, finely-chopped
1/2 medium lime, juiced

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, cilantro, and lime juice. Stir well.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before use. Keeps 3-4 days.

Fettuccine al Burro

The Americanized fettuccine alfredo is an odd dish; thickened with flour, mixed with egg or cream, or born of some prepackaged sauce, it is often delicious but needlessly heavy. Indeed, the true genius of the dish is not a rich sauce, but the opposite—a simple condimento of nothing but butter and cheese.

Fettuccine al burro, fettuccine with butter, is an inspiration for the Roman classic, and certainly the better.

Fettuccine al Burro

Makes four servings.

1 pound fresh fettuccine
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
1/3 cup freshly and finely-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, preferably stravecchio
1/3 cup freshly and finely-grated Pecorino Romano
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of heavily-salted water to boil. Add the fettuccine and cook until just tender, only 60-90 seconds. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Plated and Ready to Serve

While the pasta is cooking, preheat a saute pan over low heat.

Add the fettuccine, diced butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, and two tablespoons of cooking liquid to the warm saute pan. Toss constantly until the butter is melted and the cheese coats the pasta. Add more cooking liquid if needed. Season with black pepper to taste. Serve immediately, without garnish. Pairs well with an oaked Chardonnay from California's Napa Valley.

Crispy Duck Confit

This is a recipe for preparing crispy duck confit given a preserved confit de canard. If you have duck confit and want to reheat it, this post is for you. If you have raw duck legs that you wish to confit, see how to confit duck.

Crispy Duck Confit

Although there are many wonderful ways to cook duck confit—such as in cassoulet or garbure—my favorite is crispy duck confit, where the leg is sauteed in its own fat until the skin is crisp and golden. The leg is then plated bone-in, with a frisée salad and, if you are lucky, pommes sarladaise—potato rounds cooked in duck fat.

Crispy and Delicious

This recipe is so quick, so easy, and yet so delicious, it exemplifies why the confit process is worth the effort, demonstrating why everyone should have a couple legs of duck confit in their refrigerator.

Makes four crispy legs.

Ingredients:

4 legs of duck confit (howto)
1 tablespoon duck fat
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Let the duck confit rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a gentle simmer. Place the container containing the confit legs in the pan and gently reheat, until the fat begins to melt and the legs loosen. Remove from the pan. Open the container and gently dislodge the legs from the melted fat. Reserve one tablespoon of the fat and store the rest in an airtight container in the refrigerator for another use. Season the duck legs with black pepper.

Heat the tablespoon of duck fat in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat. Once very hot, add the duck legs skin side down. Sear for 5 minutes.

Pour off all but a thin coating of the rendered fat from the pan. Without turning the legs over, place in the oven. Roast for 4 minutes, until the duck is cooked through.

Out of the oven, flipped over, and resting

Remove the pan from the oven. Pour off all of the fat. Flip the legs over, so that the skin side is now facing up. Let rest in the pan for 2 minutes.

Crispy Duck Confit with Prosciutto-Wrapped Roasted White Asparagus and Sunny Side Up Eggs

Plate and serve. Pairs well with a Pinot noir from Oregon's Willamette Valley.

Confit de Canard: How to Confit Duck

This post describes how to confit duck, for both preservation and gastronomic delight. If you already have legs of duck confit, whether store bought or prepared at home, see my crispy duck confit recipe.

Confit, French for "preserved," is a centuries-old method of preparation that involves salt curing a cut of meat, slowly poaching the meat in its own fat, and then storing the meat encased in that fat. Traditionally a preservation method before the advent of refrigeration, the meat would last for months, with the fat providing protection from both oxygen and light. Today, the preservation aspect is not a necessity, but we still make confit for its deliciously-intense flavor and decadent texture. The fat, dense and flavorful, is the perfect cooking medium, allowing the meat to remain succulent and moist.

Duck Confit (Confit de Canard)

Preparing confit is a multi-day project, although most of that time is unattended. On day one, you salt cure the meat with spices and garlic. A day or two later, you remove the meat, wipe it clean, and then slow poach it in the oven submerged in its own fat. About three hours later, you remove the legs and strain the fat. The legs, again submerged in fat, are stored in an airtight and opaque container, traditionally glazed earthenware, in the refrigerator. You'll want to let the confit rest, or "ripen," for at least two days after that. Its worth preparing a big batch so as to always have duck legs in the refrigerator, ready to reheat on a moment's notice.

Many types of meats may be prepared confit. The most popular is duck or goose. This guide walks you through preparing a confit of duck legs.

Makes four legs of duck confit.

Ingredients:

4 Moulard duck legs (about 3 pounds in total), excess flaps of fat trimmed
8 cloves garlic, smashed
4 sprigs thyme, each snapped in half
2 sprigs rosemary, each snapped in half
2 bay leaves, each cut in half
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon freshly-ground black pepper
4 tablespoons kosher salt
2-3 pounds rendered duck fat

In a large mixing bowl, combine the duck legs, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, cinnamon, black pepper and kosher salt. Mix together very well, ensuring that each duck leg is coated with the salt. Transfer all of the ingredients to a large, heavy-duty zip-lock bag. Press as much as the air out of the bag as possible and seal. Alternatively and preferably, vacuum pack the ingredients on low. Store in the refrigerator for 36 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200°F.

Remove the duck legs from the refrigerator. Thoroughly brush off all of the salt, spices, and garlic from the duck legs. Gently rinse with cold water. Pat completely dry with paper towels.

In a large dutch oven over low heat, slowly melt the rendered duck fat. Once melted, add the duck legs. They should be fully submerged in the fat. Raise the heat to medium. Bring the fat to a low simmer. Once simmering, cover and transfer to the oven. Cook until the duck is fork tender, the fat is fully rendered, and any juices have evaporated, about 3 hours.

Remove from oven. Let cool for 30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the duck legs and reserve. Strain the rendered fat through a mesh strainer.

Place the duck legs in your storage container, which is traditionally glazed earthenware, although a Pyrex casserole with a tight lid is perfect. Ideally, divide the confit up into multiple containers each with only one or two legs, to better utilize space and match your serving size. Cover the legs in the strained fat, which should be clear and free of meaty bits and non-fat juices. The legs should be fully covered. Knock against the counter to dislodge any air bubbles. Transfer to the refrigerator and cool until the fat hardens.

Confit of duck legs stored in a vacuum pack

Remove from the refrigerator and check that the legs are fully submerged in fat, with at least a half inch of fat above the legs. Add more duck fat as needed. Alternatively, vacuum pack on medium the duck legs encased in the solidified fat. Return to the refrigerator.

Let meld and intensify in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours before eating. Will keep several months.

Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Soup, Parmesan Crisps, Truffle Oil

This is a rich, decadent soup—just puréed roasted cauliflower and cream, with leeks and turmeric as background notes. A ladle or two, with the Parmesan crisps and white truffle oil, is a meal in and of itself.

Makes 4 soup course-sized servings.

Ingredients:

2 medium or 3-4 small heads cauliflower, cut into medium-sized florets
2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, white part only, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
ground cayenne pepper, to garnish
4 tablespoons chopped scallion, to garnish
8 Parmesan Crisps (recipe), to garnish
4 teaspoons white truffle oil, to garnish
sea salt, to taste
freshly-ground white pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cauliflower florets and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to coat. Season with salt and white pepper. Arrange in a single layer across a half baking sheet. Roast until golden and soft, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven.

Heat a heavy stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the leeks. Saute, stirring often, until soft and just starting to change color, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds.

Add the cauliflower, turmeric, and nutmeg. Stir. Add the chicken stock. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until all of the ingredients are soft and integrated, about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender, carefully purée until silky and smooth.

Simmering with the cream

Add the heavy cream. Return to heat and bring to a simmer. Cook 2 minutes, until heated through and integrated.

Plated, garnished, and ready to serve

Ladle into warm soup bowls. Drizzle white truffle oil atop. Garnish each bowl with a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a tablespoon of chopped scallions. Arrange two Parmesan Crisps upright in the middle of bowl. Serve immediately. Serve with a big Chardonnay from California's Napa Valley or Carneros regions.