Recipes by Ingredient + Prep – Page 64 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Rib-Eye Steak with Red Onion Pickles

Tony tore a page off his psychiatrist’s copy of Departures magazine before he got kicked out of her office. The page had a steak recipe on it. And after the bloodbath in The Sopranos last night, I could only think of eating a thick rib-eye steak for dinner. After an hour of push-ups, lunges and sprints in Central Park, I walked to the Fairway supermarket to pick up a $26 rib-eye steak. I will never know what recipe Tony wanted to replicate, but maybe Carmela will put these red onion pickles on the side.

Ingredients:
1 pound rib-eye steak, excess fat trimmed
2 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil, salt, pepper

For the red onion pickles:
2 large red onions, peeled, sliced into thin rounds, separated into rings
1 bunch of red beets
1 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
salt

1. Pickle the red onions ahead of time. In a saucepan, cook the beets in boiling water until tender, about 30 minutes. When the beets are cooked, remove from the pan. Save 1/2 cup of the beet juice in a large bowl. In this bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, sugar, salt and 1 cup of water. Add the onions to the bowl and make sure they are completely submerged in the pickling liquid. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
2. Rub salt and pepper all over the steak. Drizzle with some olive oil. Using a knife, make several slits on one side of the steak and insert garlic pieces. Set aside until ready to cook.
3. Heat an oven-proof frying pan. When the pan is hot enough but not smoking, sear one side of the steak for about 8 minutes. Slowly lift with a pair of tongs and turn over to cook the other side for another 6 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven and broil on high for another 5 minutes or until medium-rare.
4. Remove the steak to a chopping board and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice against the grain when ready to serve. Top with red onion pickles.

Skirt Steak with Grilled Endives

I love endives in the spring. It may feel like summer in New York City, but the spring vegetables are still available in the market. When I’m in the mood for beef, I can’t help but serve a medium-rare steak with grilled vegetables. It’s too hot to be using the oven for longer than ten minutes so adding them to the same pan your steak is grilling is just perfect. If you are without an outdoor garden like me, use a dependable Le Creuset frying pan to get the handsome grill marks.

Ingredients:
1 pound skirt steak, excess fat trimmed
4 Belgian endives, quartered lengthwise
3 sprigs of rosemary
3 sprigs of thyme
half a bunch of parsley, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. In a large baking dish, combine all the ingredients except for the steak and the endives. Place the steak in the dish and turn to coat both sides with the herb mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. When ready to cook, heat an oven-proof frying pan. When the pan is hot enough but not smoking, sear one side of the steak for about 8 minutes. Slowly lift with a pair of tongs and turn over to cook the other side for another 8 minutes. Save the marinade.
3. While the other side cooks, brush the endives with the remaining marinade and place on the same pan. Turn when one side is charred enough. 4. Remove the steak to a chopping board and let rest for about 5 minutes. Slice the steak on the bias about 1/2-inch thick and divide slices among serving plates. Serve with the endives.

Salsa Verde

All the herbs in this salsa verde, or green sauce, recipe is available in the spring and early summer. Wash them thoroughly and you can make almost two cups. I put mine in a small glass jar my father picked up from Ikea and stored it in the fridge for up to a week. It’s a great side with steak.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, washed
1 bunch of mint leaves
1 bunch of basil leaves
1/2 cup of capers, drained and rinsed
2 salt-packed anchovy fillets
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine everything except the oil, salt and pepper. Pulse to form a coarse purée. While the motor is running, drizzle in the olive oil to form a smoother purée. Season with salt and pepper.

Ginger-Mint Chicken with Mizuna and Arugula Salad

I walked to my desk this morning and a box was waiting. Anna sent me my annual supply of greens from her garden. There were two Ziploc-fulls of arugula and of Japanese mizuna. There was also a bunch of ginger-mint leaves. Chives and Texas tarragon were also included. They were an absolutely nice surprise to start my day.

I was famished after my third session of bootcamp in Central Park. When I got home, I wanted to make and eat something quick but filling at the same time. This recipe may look long, but if you have an Asian family pantry, I bet you already have most of the ingredients listed here. Of course, if you don’t have someone in Chicago sending you fresh ginger-mint leaves from her garden, feel free to substitute with regular mint leaves and a knob of peeled and grated fresh ginger. If you can’t find mizuna, try baby spinach, chicory or mustard greens–it’s important that your greens are bitter and spicy at the same time because the chicken is a tad sweet with the brown sugar. As for the corn, I added them at the last second because I found them cooked in the fridge. Using a serrated knife, I cut the kernels off the cob. You can use raw or canned corn kernels, too. The fried onions were a nice touch, but again, if you’re feeling lazy, just sautÃ© them with the chicken.

When everything was done, Anna’s fresh greens made this dish even more nourishing. An hour-long of lunges, crab-crawls and push-ups weren’t so bad after all.

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken thighs, cut in small pieces
2 portobello mushrooms, cleaned, cut in small pieces
1 cup corn kernels
a handful of baby carrots, halved
fresh ginger-mint leaves
1 small jalapeÃ±o pepper, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 tbsps rice vinegar
olive oil

For the fried onions:
1 larged red onion, sliced thinly, rings separated
1/4 cup of flour
peanut oil

For the salad:
a handful of Japanese mizuna greens, torn
a handful of arugula, torn
juice from half a lemon
1 tbsp red hot sauce
2 tbsps soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Make the fried onions. In a large bowl, toss the onions in the flour to coat. Using a skillet, heat some peanut oil and fry the onions in small batches without overlapping. When golden brown on both sides, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towel. Set aside.
2. In another small bowl, combine brown sugar, fish sauce and vinegar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add some oil and stir-fry the chicken for about 10 minutes with the carrots. Add mushrooms, corn, pepper and garlic. Add the fish sauce mixture. Stir in the fried onions and the ginger-mint leaves. Turn off the heat and make your salad.
4. In a salad bowl, combine the lemon juice with the soy sauce and olive oil. Stir in the garlic and the hot sauce and season with salt and pepper. Toss in the greens. Serve with the ginger-mint chicken.

Pasta with Baby Octopus

This recipe was adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Babbo Cookbook, from one of my favorite chefs, Mario Batali. He used bavette, a thin, ribbon-shaped pasta, but I substituted spaghetti instead because it was all I had handy. He also used jalapeÃ±o pesto, but I doubled the amount of red chili flakes from what I would normally add to give it that kick without the hard work. I did make my own basic tomato sauce though, because, well, I usually do.

If you can’t find fresh baby octopuses, you can certainly used the frozen ones. Those are already cleaned. If you buy the fresh ones, all you have to do to clean them is to turn the head inside out and wash the entrails. Then pull out the eyes and remove the mouth which is found at the center of the octopus where the tentacles meet the head and body. It’s as easy as cleaning fresh squid. If you can only find large octopus, cook that longer until it’s tender and just slice it in smaller pieces before tossing with the pasta.

Ingredients:
2 pounds of baby octopuses, cleaned, washed, drained
1 bundle of spaghetti
2 cups basic tomato sauce
12 fresh mint leaves
3 tbsps red wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
red chili flakes
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Using a large pot, cook pasta al dente in boiling salted water for about 8 minutes. Remove and drain. Set aside. You will cook the pasta more later.
2. While cooking the pasta, cook the octopuses. In a large saucepot, combine octopuses with the red wine vinegar and just enough water to cover. Cook uncovered and immediately remove from heat as soon as the octopuses change color. Drain and set aside to let cool.
3. In a large skillet, heat some olive oil. SautÃ© the garlic until golden brown. Add the tomato sauce and chili flakes and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes. Add the octopuses and the pasta. Toss over high heat for about a minute with the mint leaves. Season with salt and pepper.