Someone took my piece!

I don’t think that there was a single moment in my past that turned me off casseroles. The way I remember it is as a slow build to a final decision to turn the other way and not look back. Kinda like when you drink too much and swear off whatever was your poison the previous night (however temporary of a promise that may be).

Seriously though, “bad” would have been a kind thing to say about some I tried. “Tolerable”, “salty”, and “inoffensive” are but a few of the words I have bandied about to describe others. They all seem to blend together in my mind into an unrecognizable, soggy, salty mess–Not this one.

Ah, here's my peice. I thought somebody tried to steal it.

This one and the previous one stand out like a beacon of hope in a sea of mediocrity. A salute to flavor, hope, and all that is good to eat.

I may be going a bit heavy on the hyperbole today, but it’s good.

Beef and spinach casserole
Makes 4 large portions.
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef (I had about 1/3lb of veal from something else that I combined with beef. Not necessary, but a very nice addition)
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion, roughly chopped into wedges or half rings
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 carrots, roughly chopped (you should have about 2/3rds the amount of carrots as onion)
8 ounces fresh spinach
12 ounces ricotta
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 egg
2 ounces grated Parmesan
salt, pepper, olive oil

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, add 1 or 2 tsps olive oil, then the onion and garlic. Allow to cook for 5 minutes to soften the onion and temper the flavor of the garlic. Add the carrots and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the ground beef (and veal, if using) and rosemary, thyme and red pepper flakes. Break apart any chunks with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the meat loses all of it’s raw color. Then add the tomatoes (with juices), and a pinch of salt and pepper. Adjust the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until there isn’t much liquid left* (about 15+ minutes), be sure to stir occasionally.
4. While the mixture is simmering, prepare the spinach. Because of the large quantity of spinach, I find using a large pot is helpful. Heat a large pot over medium high heat and add about 2 tsps of olive oil. Then add all the spinach. Continue to stir and mix the spinach until they all wilt and substantially reduce in volume. (If you have never wilted spinach, it’s always amazing how little volume remains once cooked.)
5. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine the egg, ricotta, and Parmesan. Mix thoroughly to make sure the egg is well mixed.
6. Spread a dab of oilive oil in the bottom of a 2-qt baking dish (or spray lightly with cooking spray). Add the now fully cooked meat mixture to the baking dish. Cover this with a layer of spinach, then spread the ricotta mixture over it. Be gentle spreading the ricotta as you may pick up some of the spinach leaves.
7. Bake for 20 minutes. If the cheese hasn’t browned after 20 minutes, turn on the broiler until it begins to take on a golden color (it’s not a bad thing if a few dark spots show up, I kinda like those). Be careful with the broiler though, it will cook quickly.

*Note: To reduce the cooking time, drain out the tomato juice first.

Those crusty bits on the sides are my favorites.

Let me clarify in haiku form:

Best meal in a while
was not in a restaurant:
It’s Beef Wellington.

I'm being entirely serious when I say that this is one of the best meals I have eaten. Great flavor, great texture.

Alight, I admit that haiku didn’t likely clarify anything, but it was fun to write.

I had been hesitating making this recipe for a while now. It seemed a little too extravagant, a little to unnecessary. Is it wrapping meat around bread really a good way to improve it? Would it really improve the dish, or is it just a novelty? I was basically worried that I was making really expensive state-fair food–it may be an interesting experiment, but ultimately forgettable and certainly not anything you would actively seek out again.

The difficulty level of putting this together wasn’t stopping me either. It was the excessive ingredients. Combining two or more great things does not necessarily make the final product better (remember these?). This time a beef tenderloin, a load of mushrooms, a few strips of prosciutto, and puff pastry combined to create something that was elevated to an entirely new level.

I was so worried when I pulled this out. I had no idea what the inside was going to look like. I feared the worst.

I had conceived of multiple points of failure, everything from the beef overcooking, to the crust becoming a soggy mess, to the duxelles (mushroom mixture) would sliding off. Ultimately, all my worries were unfounded. It was excellent.

Really. Excellent.

Very tender, flavorful beef. Great, slightly buttery bread built-in. The mushroom flavor was noticeable, but not overpowered. The prosciutto tied everything together with a little more flavor. I wouldn’t change a thing.

I’m afraid to even remake this dish. My first attempt was so good that I’m scared that every other attempt will pale in comparison. It may take a while to build up the courage. Actually, why wait? I’ve convinced myself to make it again–and soon. It’s not even that hard and it can be broken up across multiple days to make things even easier. I’m so making this again.

I have to thank Gorden Ramesy for this recipe. He saved me last time I tried something overly British. His technique of wrapping the beef in prosciutto worked perfectly.

Beef Wellington
Recipe adapted from Gorden Ramsey.
1 tbsp olive oil
beef tenderloin 2lb 4oz (1kg)
3 tbsp olive oil
12 oz mushrooms (I used crimini) (better to err on the side of too much)
3 1/2 tbsp butter
1 large sprig fresh thyme
3 1/3 ounces (100ml) dry white wine
12 slices prosciutto, trimmed of fat (get 13 slices, you may find the extra one comes in handy, if not, just eat it)
1 two-sheet pack puff pastry, thawed
flour, for dusting
2 egg yolks, beaten

Directions
There are a lot of steps here, but don’t let that intimidate you, I’m just detailed :)
Preparing the Tenderloin
1. Trim off any silver skin or excess fat.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add about 1 tbsp olive oil, then the tenderloin. Sear the tenderloin on all sides (30-60 seconds a side). You aren’t cooking it, you just want to sear the outside. Remove the tenderloin and allow to cool.

Preparing the Duxelles
1. Finely chop the mushrooms. (You can use a food processor but be careful to not let it become a mushed mess. I did it all by hand.)
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, when hot, add 2 tbsps of olive oil, all the butter, the mushrooms and the sprig of thyme. Cook for about 10 minutes, until softened, stirring often to mix. Season with salt and a small amount of pepper.
3. Add the wine and cook for another 10 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. The mixture should be resembling a thick paste that holds it’s shape when pushed around.
4. Remove the duxelles from the pan, remove the thyme, and allow to cool.

Assembling the Wellington
1. Overlap two pieces of plastic wrap to make on large piece. Place the prosciutto in two rows of six slices to make a bed for the duxelles and loin. The prosciutto should overlap slightly and the plastic wrap should be visible (this is where that 13th slice I told you to get comes in handy). It should be as wide as the tenderloin and long enough to wrap around the tenderloin with a bit of overlap to seal.
2. Evenly spread the duxelles over the prosciutto, leaving about one-inch of prosciutto visible on the far side. (see the image below)
3. Place the loin on the part that has the duxelles to the end and, using the plastic wrap, roll the duxelles covered prosciutto around the tenderloin. The one-inch of prosciutto that was visible should wrap over itself to create a seal over the meat. The sides will stay relatively open. Chill until ready to continue.

Genius way to add a tiny bit of flavor and keep everything in place.

4. On a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper on it, place a third of one of the two sheets of puff pastry. It should be about the size of the base of the loin. You can gently roll it out on a lightly floured surface if needed.
5. Join the remaining full sheet of puff pastry to the two-thirds sheet by gently pinching the seam together with a bit of water or the beaten egg yolk. Roll newly elongated puff pastry gently on a floured surface to flatten it and extend it slightly.
6. Place the prosciutto-wrapped tenderloin (without the plastic wrap, silly) on the pre-cut piece of puff pastry. Drape the larger sheet over the top.
On the long sides, using the back or bottom of a butter knife, gently tuck the puff pastry toward the base layer.
Cut out four squares from each of the corners. This way the sides can fold towards the meat without getting in the way of each other.
On the long sides, using the back or bottom of a butter knife, gently tuck the puff pastry toward the base layer.
You should now have a relatively sealed tenderloin but with excess dough coming out from the bottom of the tenderloin. Don’t cut this off. Simple tuck it under itself to create a simple fold of dough. To do this, take the loose end of dough and fold it under itself, toward the sheetpan and, using the butter knife, press it against the dough. This will bake into a nice golden round around the beef.
7. Brush the entire surface with the egg yolk. Use the back of a butter knife to draw patterns over the surface of the dough. Gently press on the dough, but do NOT cut through it. Chill for at least 30 minutes (can chill for 24 hours without a problem).

Making it, Baking it
1. Heat oven to 430F. 2. If the Wellington has been refrigerated overnight, brush with a little more egg yolk.
2. Cook for 25-30 minutes for medium-rare, 30-35 minutes for medium. (Uhh, times are an estimate. I used a thermometer. You should too.) After removing from the oven, allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Highly recommended tips
- This is actually a great recipe for a dinner event because almost all of it can be made ahead. You can sear the meat, make the duxelles, and wrap the prosciutto around the tenderloin up to two days ahead. The next day you wrap that with the puff pastry. Then on the day of your meal, all you have to do is bake it.
- If the Wellington starts to brown too much, tent loosely with a sheet of foil.
- Using the wide, bottom end of a butter knife to seal the dough will help ensure that you don’t accidentally cut through it. Also, consider using the back of a plastic knife to draw the patterns on the dough.
- The excess dough is folded for two reasons: 1) I think it looks nice, and 2) more importantly, it gives the dough some room to expand to ensure the dough doesn’t break.
- Those four scraps squares of dough you cut out of the sides… don’t though those out. Simply roll them out into a free-form circle, throw on some sliced pears or apples, sprinkle a small amount of sugar and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350F. Easiest, quickest tart ever.

Beef Brisket.

Through my brisket adventures, I learned that good barbecue brisket should have a dark, smoky exterior and a tender interior. Achieving this yummy effect takes several hours in a smoker, and a lot of patience.

The real secret to good brisket lies not in a dry rub or a sauce, but in proper temperature control. Many beginner barbecue-ers fail to understand why “low and slow” became the mantra of pit masters everywhere, but it’s the most important part to cooking the perfect brisket.

Certain cuts meat, like beef brisket, beef chuck roll, pork ribs, and pork butt, are tough due to the amount of collagen and connective tissue in the meat. At the correct temperature, collagen transforms into gelatin and the connective tissue breaks down, making these normally chewy portions moist and tender. Keeping the internal temperature of the brisket in the 180F to 205F range for several hours is ideal for gelatin formation. Many of the cuts of meat listed above are popular for this very purpose. However, if you were to try the same technique with naturally tender cuts, such as a NY Strip steak, the results will not be as pretty.

I really wanted to get a 10+ lb whole, untrimmed cut, but this time, I made do with a 4 lb trimmed brisket flat. You may have to get your butcher to order a full brisket for you. Most grocery stores and butcher shops will place special orders without any extra charge. Either way, a USDA Choice cut is preferred if you can find it.

Barbecue Brisket.

The trimmed brisket flats are not usually ideal for smoking because much of the fat is removed which can cause the meat to dry out during cooking. To counteract this, this cut is generally oven braised in order to retain moisture in the meat. If only brisket flats are available, or your smoking grate is too small to accommodate a whole brisket, you can put a layer of bacon over the meat to help keep it from drying out. Water smokers, such as the one I used, produce steam in the cooking chamber, so the bacon wrapping method isn’t required.

Now that we have our meat selected let’s prepare it and smoke it.

Directions
The way I preped the brisket may surprise some people, but I actually cut away most of the fat. My thought is that the rub and the smoke would have a hard time penetrating through a half inch of fat–especially since the cook time for a 4 lb brisket is significantly shorter than a 10 lb brisket.

With that said, cut away most of the fat leaving 1/8 to 1/4 inch where possible. Apply a generous amount of dry rub to the trimmed meat. Pat lightly with your hands to help keep the rub from falling away.

Dry Rub
Many rubs work, feel free to make additions or changes to this blend. Simply mix everything together and place in a shaker.
Ingredients
1 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon powdered garlic
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (a bit less, actually)

Wrap the rubbed brisket in foil and return it to the refrigerator.

Four to eight hours later, load your smoker with your choice of wood. Like the pulled pork recipe, nearly any hard wood will do. I used all hickory again because it was what I had on hand. Once the smoker is lit, remove the brisket from the fridge and apply a little more dry rub. Put the brisket in the smoker, fat side up.

The target temperature of your smoker should be around 225F to 250F. As stated above, the internal temperature of the meat should be in the 180F to 205F range. This is ideal for gelatin conversion, and will ensure that the meat stays tender. Cooking time will vary, but a good rule of thumb is 1 to 1- 1/2 hours per pound of meat.

Some recipes recommend turning and basting the brisket. I skipped this for three reasons. One, the smoker I was using was a water smoker. This meant that the smoking chamber was very moist, and dry meat is not a likely result. Two, opening the smoker would have released all that precious smoke. And three, once open, the smoker would have lost a lot of heat and it would have taken some time for the temperature to stabilize in the correct range again. Because this was a small brisket, I felt it best to allow for a longer exposure to smoke and not to disturb the cooking process.

Once the brisket is cooked (mine took 5 hours) remove it from the smoker and wrap it in foil. Place this in an insulated cooler to retain the heat. A 15-30 minute rest will allow the juices to re-distribute. After resting the meat, remove it to a cutting board and use a large chef’s knife to cut the beef, across the grain, into thin strips for serving.

Sliced barbecue brisket.

The exterior of my brisket had a wonderful, dark crust (otherwise known as a bark) from the smoke and the rub that contrasted nicely with the tender, smoky meat hidden beneath. The only disappointment was that I did not get the pink smoke ring characteristic of well-smoked meats (though all the flavor was there).

Store leftovers well wrapped and reheat individual servings over medium-high power in a microwave or entire briskets in a 225F oven.

Bowl of chili.

If you think about it, chili likely evolved over time as a stew on the road, made by ranch-hands throwing in anything that was both available and edible. Over time, different regions popularized different variations of it. If you like beans in your chili, go for it. Like many one-pot soups or stews, you can alter this endlessly and still call it whatever you want (at least, I do). I let others argue about what is a real chili, I just want to eat.

So really, the spirit of chili is not whether it has beans in it or not, but whether it is good, filling, and (probably) cheap. Regardless of what “authentic” chili is, this gets the one important part right: It tastes good.

As a bonus, this chili let me use up some surpluses I had in my kitchen. How? Click through for the recipe and more info.

An unfinished enormous bag of tortilla chips purchased for a party were beginning to go a bit stale. I always feel guilty throwing out food, so I wanted to find a good way to use them. Then I remembered that Alton Brown made a chili that used tortilla chips as a thickening agent! Great, problem solved!

I changed his recipe a bit because I didn’t have a pressure cooker. If you want his method, go here.

Ingredients
3 pounds stew meat (beef, pork, and/or lamb) (cut to 1-inch pieces)
4 rashers of bacon (cut into small pieces)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 (12-ounce) bottles of beer, a medium ale, bock or anything with some body
1 (16-ounce) container medium heat salsa
30 tortilla chips
5 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
2 tablespoons adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions

1. Place a large dutch oven (aka a big pot) over low to med-low heat. Add the bacon and cover; cook for 10-15 minutes. You want to render the fat from this but not crisp them yet. When a lot of the fat looks rendered, you can boost the heat to medium-high until you hear the bacon begin to crisp (take the cover off, please). Once cooked, place the bacon bits into a large mixing bowl and pour the bacon fat out into a small bowl and let let to cool for 5 minutes.
2. In another large mixing bowl, toss stew meat with the bacon fat and the salt. Turn on your oven to 300F.
3. Place the dutch oven over high heat and, once hot, add the meat in 3 or 4 batches. Sear the meat until brown on all sides. Each batch should take 2-3 minutes. When each batch is browned, place in the large bowl that already has the bacon pieces in it. Repeat with each batch of meat.
4. After the last batch, add about half a beer to the pot and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the fond that formed when searing the meat. The word of the day is “deglazing”.
5. Add the rest of the beer, the meat, the bacon bits, salsa, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder and cumin. Stir the whole pot a few times. Cover and put in a 300F oven for 4 hours.
6. Take out of the oven and serve. I didn’t garnish this chili with anything (but I did use some of the almost stale tortilla chips to eat the chili off of.)

Rendering the bacon fat.

Browning the meat.

Bowl of chili.

A few notes:

• You can use any meat you want for this. I recommend beef, pork and/or lamb. Whatever is cheap. If it’s a bit fatty and has some connective tissue, that’s fine. It’ll be cooked long and slow so it’ll be tender whatever you do to it.
• I used bacon fat to sear the meat in, you can use any oil you have (though canola, vegetable or something with a high smoke point would be best.) I happen to have a lot of bacon in my house, so I use it a lot. It will save you some time if you just use oil.
• If the fond looks like it’s going to burn before you get to your next batch of meat to brown, go ahead and deglaze the pan with some beer and just pour the beer into a cup. Add the liquid from the cup to the pot when you add all the meat and beer together.
• If you don’t drink beer, use chicken or beef broth. I used AmberBock left over from a party, so I used that.
• I also like a lot of heat in my chili. I believe AB only used 2 chipotle peppers, I used 5. Next time I’ll probably use more.
• Adjust the salt and pepper after letting it cook through. The use of the tortilla chips in this recipe can add an unexpected amount of salt.

Burgers. (Bison and beef)

With a myriad of options available regarding cooking methods, meats, and toppings, burgers are nearly infinitely customizable. Unlike my previous documented excess, these were much more modest. I did make one fairly significant change by using two different kinds of meats. Using all beef will result in a superb burger, but I wanted an extra depth of flavor and a big meaty kick in these. Combining the ground beef with ground bison added the extra dimension of flavor that I was looking for. Using a combination of meats, seasonings, and a different shaping technique ensured that these burgers would be a cut above the rest. 

Burgers. (Bison and beef)

Click through to see details on how to make the burgers, the shaping method, and the seasonings I used.

I normally stick with ground chuck when making burgers. The 80%-20% meat-to-fat ratio allows for a tender, juicy burger. Going too lean tends to result in a denser, dryer patty, and noone wants a hockey puck of meat as their burger. The reason I didn’t use all ground chuck for these is that, as I mentioned above, I really wanted to emphasise a big game flavor. Bison fit the bill perfectly. Bison is genreally leaner than beef and the dense burger I cautioned about can result if you are not careful when shaping the patties. Mixing the bison with ground chuck ensures that there is still a decent amount of fat distributed throughout the patty to prevent the burgers from coming off the grill dry. 

Buger. Autopsy shot.

I mentioned above that the seasonings I used were also important to the finished burger. When I say seasonings, in this context I really mean salt and pepper. I season the beef before shaping the patties, ensuring an even distribution of salt and pepper throughout the burger. Sometimes I put a splash of Worcestershire sauce in there, but that’s entirely optional.

The shaping technique for burgers is also very important. You can’t just pound the meat into a disk–It’ll cook with a bulge in the middle or have a sausage-like texture. The real key to proper burger formation is to shape the patty loosly. The meat should not be falling apary, but seem like it is trying to. As it cooks, the meat will bind together. The other common technique is to make an indentation in the middle of the patties. This will prevent the burger from cooking into a mound.

Ingredients
(makes 6 1/3-lb burgers)

1 lb ground chuck
1 lb ground bison
salt
fresh ground black pepper
Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Loosely mix the ground beef and ground bison in a large mixing bowl. Do not pack the meat or force it together as this will result in dense burgers.
2. Season the meat with salt and pepper. If using Worcestershire sauce, put up to a tablespoon to a tablespoon and a half of the sauce into meat mixture.
3. Split the meat into six equal portions and loosly shape them into patties rougly the size of your burgers. The burgers should be loosely packed and craggy around the egdes. You can also make an indentation in the middle to prevent mounding as the burger cooks (see photos for details).

Bison and beef patties.

You can prepare the burgers in advance up to this point.
I used a charcoal grill, so the directions below are for that. The general idea is the same for gas grills or even stove-top griddles.

1. Pile the charcoal in a pyramid and light it (or use a chimney if you have one). Let burn for about 20 minutes until the fire has died down and the coals have a thin coating of light gray ash. Spread the coals over the base of the grill. The grill will be ready to use when the heat is such that it is difficult to hold your hand 5-inches above the cooking surface for more than 3 seconds.
2. Scrape the hot grill surface to clean it. Place the patties evenly distributed over the grill grate and grill, uncovered, until they are seared on one side, about 2-3 minutes. For medium-rare burgers, flip them as soon as the juices begin to ‘pearl’ on the surface. Allow 30-60 seconds longer than that for medium. Do not press down on the burgers as they are cooking.
3. Flip the burgers and cook for about 2 minutes more for rare, 2 1/2 minutes for medium-rare, or 3 minutes for medium. If using cheese, add about 15-30 seconds before the burgers are finished. Serve immediately.

Patties with cheddar and bacon.