Practice run: Grilled Hanger Steak with Classic Bearnaise Sauce

Only had time to practice one dish, the hanger steak.  Hanger steak seems like all the rage now, as a cheaper cut of meat that's very flavorful, but can be tough if not cooked correctly.  I've been wanting to try it ever since Kirk raved about cooking it with his sous-vide machine.

However the cheaper part seems to be a myth, as it was $12 a pound at whole foods.  I think it was pasture-raised or something.  The guy behind the counter was mildly surprised I asked for it, and also that he had some available.

The marinading and grilling of the meat was all pretty straight-forward.  I did take the cooking time way-down from 6-8 minutes per side (as stated by the recipe) to 3 minutes per side.  It was definitely at least medium-well all the way through, so time could probably be even shorter as these were not very thick.  They steak remained fairly tender enough though and was pretty tasty, with a distinctive flavor (probably from the wine).  Seems fairly forgiving as long as you cut it across the grain.

The béarnaise sauce was also interesting to make.  It's basically a sabayon with lots of butter dissolved to finish.  It took lots and lots of whisking to thicken up though, and there were times I was doubting myself whether it would ever come together.  But after about 10 min (definitely more than 4-5 min as stated in recipe) it started to thicken up.  Turned out quite lovely and rich, and the color made it feel like a "fancy" dish.

Overall this was not too hard to make, and had an unusual flavor different from everyday steak with some pan sauce, so I'm glad we tried this.  I think it can be a fancier main dish when company's over.

 

Cashew and Fennel Salad, Grilled Hanger Steak with Classic Bearnaise Sauce, Peas & Bacon & Onions, Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

Hi, Sorry for the lateness!  Here's the proposed menu for 2/2.  These are from "Come-In, we're closed" cookbook, with staff meal dishes from WD-50 and City Grocery.

Patatas Riojiana (Potatoes Rioja-style with Chorizo)

(Tapas first course)

3 tablespoons Spanish extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped (about 1 cup)
7 ounces chorizo sausage, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1/2 pound Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon pimenton (Spanish sweet paprika)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt


Warm the olive oil over low heat in a large shallow pan. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute.

Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and tender and have turned a light brown color, at least 20 minutes. You want the onions to caramelize. If the start to get too dark, add 1/2 tablespoon of water to keep them from burning.

When the onions are caramelized, add the chorizo and continue frying until it too is browned, about 2 minutes. Place the potatoes in the pan and stir to coat them in the oil. Cook for 10 minutes.

Add the pimenton and the salt, pour in water to cover, and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through and the water has reduced by half, about 20 minutes. You'll end up with a wonderful, thick stew.



From Jose Andres (Made in Spain)

Ad Hoc At Home: Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Red Beet Chips (Course 1)

Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Red Beet Chips

• 2 heads cauliflower (4 to 5 pounds total)
• 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped onion
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped leeks (white and light green parts only)
• ¼ teaspoon Yellow Curry Powder or Madras curry powder
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups water
• Peanut or canola oil for deep-frying
• 1 medium beet
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• Torn Croutons (see belwow)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh ground pepper

The unctuous, velvety, creamy texture of this soup is so elegant and satisfying. Curry offsets the richness and cauliflower florets, croutons, and beet chips give the soup some body and crunch.

Remove the leaves from the cauliflower, and cut out the core. Trim off the stems and reserve them. For the garnish, trim 2 cups florets about the size of a quarter and set aside.

Coarsely chop the remaining cauliflower and the stems into 1-inch pieces so that they will cook in the same amount of time. You need 8 cups of cauliflower (reserve any extra for another use).

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, curry, and coarsely chopped cauliflower, season with 2 teaspoons salt, cover with a parchment lid,

Pour in the milk, cream, and water, increase the heat to medium high, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off the foam from time to time.

Working in batches, transfer the cauliflower mixture to a Vita Mix (leave an opening in the lid for the steam to escape). Begin pureeing the cauliflower on the lowest speed and blend, slowly increasing the speed, until smooth and velvety. Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed. Transfer to a large saucepan and keep warm. (The soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Fill a small deep pot with 1 inch of peanut oil and heat over medium heat to 300 degrees F. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Line the rack with paper towels.

While the oil heats, peel the beet and slice off about ½ inch from the top. Using a Japanese mandolin or other vegetable slicer, slice the beet into rounds that are slightly thicker than paper-thin. Reserve only the full rounds.

Carefully add a few beet rounds to the oil and fry, turning them with a wire skimmer or slotted spoon as the edges begin to curl and pressing gently on the chips to keep them submerged. You will see a great deal of bubbling around the beets as the moisture in them evaporates; when the bubbling stops, after 1 to 1 ½ minutes, the beets will be crisp. Transfer the beets to the paper-towel-lined rack and season with salt. Fry the remaining chips in batches. The chips can be kept warm in a low oven.

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the vinegar and the reserved cauliflower florets and blanch until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. The vinegar will help keep the cauliflower white. Drain.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter turns a rich golden brown. Add the florets and sauté until a rich golden brown. Set aside.

Pour the soup into a serving bowl or soup tureen. Top each serving with a few cauliflower florets, several torn croutons, and a stack of beet ships. (If the beet chips sit in the soup, they will be come soggy and discolor it.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Serve the remaining florets, croutons, and chips in separate bowls on the side.

SERVES 6 (MAKES ABOUT 2 QUARTS)

(Page 127)

Torn Croutons

• 1 loaf country bread
• Garlic Oil (see below)
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter

Cooking the torn pieces of bread very, very slowly is the key to these garlicky croutons. When toasted over high heat, croutons become a little dry; these absorb the oil and butter through the slow cooking, and the result is croutons that are very crunchy but bursting with the flavor of the oil when you bite into them. We serve these in many salads.

Cut the crusts off the loaf of bread. Tear the bread into irregular pieces no larger than 2 inches. You need about 3 cups of croutons; reserve any remaining bread for another use.

Pour 1/8 inch of the garlic oil into a large sauté pan and heat over medium heat until hot. Spread the bread in a single layer in the pan (if your pan is not large enough, these can be cooked in two smaller pans). Add the butter. The oil and butter should be bubbling, but if you hear sizzling, the heat is too high. Adjust the heat as necessary, and stir the croutons often as they cook. Cook until the croutons are crisp and a beautiful rich golden brown on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Move the croutons to one side of the pan and keep warm until ready to serve. (Do not drain on paper towels; you want the flavors of the oil intermingled with the other ingredients as you eat the croutons in a salad.) Torn croutons should be used the day they are made; you can reheat them in a low oven before serving if necessary.

MAKES 3 CUPS

Note: If you don’t have any garlic oil on hand, pour 1/8 inch of canola oil into a sauté pan, add 5 crushed, peeled garlic cloves, and heat over low heat until the garlic cloves are golden brown, flipping the cloves from time to time. Remove the garlic cloves and use the oil for the croutons.

(Page 274)

Garlic Confit and Oil

• 1 cup peeled garlic cloves
• About 2 cups canola oil

Cut off and discard the root ends of the garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch – none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.

Set the saucepan on a diffuser over medium-low heat. The garlic should cook gently: very small bubbles will come up through the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface; adjust the heat as necessary and/or move the pan to one side of the diffuser if it is cooking too quickly. Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.

Refrigerate the garlic in a covered container, submerged in the oil, for up to 1 week.

MAKES 1 CUP

(Page 266)

Source: Thomas Keller Ad Hoc At Home – Family Style Recipes (Artisan)

Har Gow Supplemental

Ha Gow - Test Run

We followed the recipe pretty closely for the filling, choosing bamboo shoots as the compliment to the shrimp, as well as using mirin and black bean sauce as suggested. Peeled and de-veined shrimp from Marina Market helped with process. The filling turned out straightforward and pretty tasty. The only caveat is that we found cutting the shrimp pieces smaller (instead of the 1/2" in the recipe) made filling the dumplings easier.


The dough came next. We got wheat starch from Marina Market and tapioca flour from Whole Foods.


Rolling out the dough went smoothly. The only curious part of the recipe was the hot chicken stock, more on this later. The dough was formed into rolls and cut into pieces.



We made wrappers from individual pieces by pressing them with a heavy pot between wax paper, and some slight enlarging with a rolling pin after.


Making pleats were a little difficult, especially given the hand made wrappers. We found our Ha Gow somewhat like regular dumplings in appearance, but overall not too bad looking.



The moment of truth. We steamed a few dumplings and the rejects to test the taste. It actually tasted pretty good, to our surprise. The filling was flavorful and the shrimp and bamboo shoots went together well. However, the wrapper left something to be desired. The wrappers had the translucent quality you normally see in Ha Gow, but were colored a bit yellow and were a bit overly chewy. The yellow color we believe came from the chicken stock (other recipes used water).

Ha Gow 2.0. Since we had some filling left, we decided to make another try at the dough and wrapper, this time choosing a water based recipe, to hopefully get rid of the yellow and chewy-ness. We found this recipe instead:

1 1/2 cups wheat starch
2 Tbsp tapioca starch
1 cup boiling water
1 Tbsp lard (we used veg. oil)

Supposedly this came from the book "Classic Deem Sum: Recipes from Yang Sing Restaurant, SF." by Henry Chan (http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Deem-Sum-Henry-Chan/dp/0030715466). We felt this was auspicious since we like Yank Sing.


We also watched some youtube videos on making wrappers, and found that some chefs used their cleavers to flatten the dough. So we decided to try this route, putting vegetable oil on both the table and the cleaver. We found this actually worked very well, and was faster than the rolling pin and produced thinner wrappers.


After making up dumplings with the rest of the filling, we decided to steam a few rejects again to taste the new recipe. The result was a success! The wrappers were translucent as before, and did not have the yellow coloring. They also weren't as chewy and tasted fairly close in texture to restaurant ha gow. For future dumplings we will definitely use the new dough recipe and the cleaver flattening method.

Lotus Leaf Wraps (Lo Mai Gai)

This dish is not hard to make, but does take a long time to prep. We started at 6pm and ended at midnight. so watch out for a long prep time.

The recipe says it makes 8 and we doubled it but actually still only got 8 servings, so the portion sizes are a bit off.

Also, the steaming of the rice is what took forever to get the right texture -- instead of 40 min (if you double the recipe it is 40 instead of 20 min) it actually took us about double the time (80 min). One thing we did wrong was to cram all the rice into one bamboo steamer, but after taking forever, we realize we should have separated the portion to two steamers going at the same time. This went faster but the overall process still took some time.

What was time consuming was also the presoaking of the leaves, rice, and mushrooms, and all the chopping. Then you had to wait until the rice and chicken mixture were both cooled enough to then wrap individually. Like I said, this is definitely not a 30 minute meal!!

Once everything was prepped however, the cooking and assembly was pretty simple. Going to steam these just in time for our meet-up tomorrow. Since this made 8 exactly, we didn't get a chance to taste them yet. The chicken mixture was tasty though, so hopefully they will come out good tomorrow.