Miso Ramen

It’s cold!  I get it, I’m not from Fargo, North Dakota (ya know?) and a daily temperature range of 32-42 isn’t terrible… but the barometer of a San Diego native is Rainbows (warm) or no Rainbows (frickin’ freezing).

So how does one keep warm when 42 degrees feels like minus 60?  Eat some soup!  I’m definitely preferential to soup in the winter, and rarely eat it outside of the season… but when winter is coming (yes, I am using a GOT referent in a cooking blog), I eagerly anticipate months filled with soups on soups on soups.

One of my favorite soups is miso ramen.  It is delicious, super easy to make, and cheap!  I like both red and white misos, but I find that white misos are easier to find.  You can put an array of additions to your bowl of awesome, but below you will see a picture of everything I like.  I recommend going to an asian market, although many of these items can be found at Whole Foods.  For those that live in Washington DC, there is a great Asian market on 17th and U that I go to.  It has some awesome stuff!  If you want some homemade ramen noodles, check out the Japanese pop-up at Union Market.

Ingredients (per bowl)

2 cups water
2 tbsp fresh white miso
1 tbsp dashi
1 packet of noodles (you can use soba noodles or thinner pho like noodles)
1 egg
1 cup maitake mushrooms
2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2-1 tbsp chili and dried ginger in chili oil
1/2 cup green onions
1/2 cup firm tofu
1/4 cup tried seaweed

You will need two medium pots and a saute pan. 

Preparation

1) Bring one medium pot filled 3/4 of the way with water to a boil.  This will be used for the soft-boiled eggs, noodles and dried seaweed.

2) In the other pot, add as much water as you want broth (typically 203 cups a serving).  Then add the appropriate amount of miso (you can always add more).  It is important you add your miso through a medal strainer.  There are solid particles that you will not want in your broth, and this will prevent them from getting in there.  Add the dashi and chili/ginger in chili oil.  You can add more or less of ingredients based of what taste you prefer.  

3) Once the first pot of water comes to a boil, reduce to an intense simmer and gently place in eggs.  Keep in water for 6 minutes, and remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath (this prevents the egg from cooking more).

4) Sautee mushrooms and ginger in a hot pan with a little oil.  Cook for 3-5 minutes, and empty pan into miso broth.  Add tofu as well.

5) Once the eggs are done, bring the water back to a boil and add noodles.  Cook until they rise to the top, and taste for flavor.  If they are done, remove with tongs (do not pour out water).  Place the noodles in serving dishes.

6) Place the dried seaweed in boiling water, and re-hydrate seaweed.  It is important you re-hydrate in water and not in miso broth.  The seaweed is dried out with salt, and putting it directly into the miso broth will make the soup far too salty.  Once the seaweed is re-hydrated (it will look like the seaweed in your miso soup at Japanese restaurants), strain water and rinse with medal strainer, and add to soup.

7) Pour soup into serving dishes over noodles.  Add green onions, halved soft-boiled eggs, nori, and whatever else you want to add that is lying around (I had some leftover pork belly).

8) Enjoy!

Sous vide lamb with lamb jus, my momma’s mashed taters, and a mint-oil fresh pea mash

First and foremost, I want to thank all my friends… who constantly nag me and remind me that I haven’t posted in forever.  I get it.  Sorry, I have been out of town a bunch and quite busy. Between weddings in Florida, my five year old cousin’s birthday in New York, and catching up with good friends in Seattle, I haven’t been in D.C. much to hunker down and cook.

Lucky for me, my first weekend in D.C. was filled with food.  Saturday I attended EmporiYUM near Union Market which was filled with great food and running into random friends.  After getting filled on various tastings from the venue, I biked home to start prepping dinner with my cousin Mahlon.  He had seen my blog, and requested a meal worthy of a blog post instead of going out to a restaurant.  I decided to bring in some family classics on to the plate.  Mahlon grew up in Pickford, Michigan with his mother on a sheep farm.  Every summer when my family would head to Sugar Island Michigan for the summer, we would have lamb at some point fresh from the farm.  It was served usually with heaping mounds of my mom’s mashed potatoes and a generous dollop of mint jelly.  Soooo I thought I would do my own twist of a childhood classic.

Ingredients

French rack of lamb (count two bones per individual)
1 bunch of thyme
Lamb jus
Lamb bones (ask the butcher at the counter for these)
1 quart Beef stock
2 celery stocks chopped
1 Onion
3-4 carrots chopped
3 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
4-5 red potatoes
1 bushel parsley
1 bulb of garlic
2 tbsp butter
1/2-1 cup milk or cream
1 pound fresh snap peas
1 bushel mint

1 pint grape seed oil

Preparation 

1) Making mint oil will require preparation at least 24 hours in advance.  Bring a pot of water to boil.  Once boiling, add the mint leaves for 10-20 seconds.  Remove from boiling water and place in an ice bath.  Place mint leaves in food processor, and add grape seed oil until the leaves are completely covered.  Blend for two minutes and remove from processor.  Let sit refrigerated overnight.  The next morning, run the oil through a cheese cloth to separate all the solids.  This can take a long time, so provide ample time for the oil to drain out.

2) For the pea mash, you will want to bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add the peas for about a minute, remove and put peas into a ice bath.  Shuck the peas from the pods, and place the peas into a food processor.  Add about 4-5 tablespoons of the mint oil, fresh cracked pepper and salt, and puree/mash it.

3) I have never made jus before, but its frickin delicious!  In a pot, add the lamb bones, celery, carrots, onion, bay leaves and thyme sprigs, cover with beef stock, and bring that sucker to a boil!  Reduce heat slightly and allow the liquid to reduce down about 85%.  Strain the liquid out into a container and you will have this super rich and awesome broth to pour onto your meat later.

4) Bring a pot of water to a boil, and boil potatoes until tender in the center.  Meanwhile, cut the top of the bulb of garlic, pour a little bit of olive oil on top, add a sprig of thyme, and wrap in tinfoil.  Roast in oven at 350-400 for 30 minutes.   Once the potatoes are completely cooked, strain the water and mash the potatoes.  Add butter, milk, chopped parsley, and roasted garlic.  Make sure to add plenty of salt and pepper for flavor, and mash until you get your desired consistency.  I get that keeping skins on potatoes is super contentious, but that’s how my momma makes them so back off!

5) You can do your lamb in several different ways.  First, you should divide the rack of lamb into portions.  I do two chops per portion.  You can grill, roast, or in my case use a sous vide (my newest most favoritest toy ever).  I went ahead and brought my stove top grill to a very high heat and seared the lamb on all sides.  Once you get a nice sear, remove from heat and place into a Ziploc bag with a small dollop of butter and sprig of thyme per portion.  To use a sous vide, you are supposed to use a vacuum bag… but not all of us have vacuum bags do we?  So I left a very small break in the seal and inhaled air from the bag, and quickly closed the Ziploc before the air can get back in.  Submerge the lamb in the Ziploc into the water bath set at 55 degrees Celsius for an hour.  Remove the lamb from the water bath, and baste the meat in a hot pan with brown butter and coloring.  Let the protein sit for a minute or two and cut down the center.

6)Plate your dish, and cover the protein with lamb jus, and enjoy!

IPA Steamed Red Cabbage and Fujis with IPA Boiled Brats, and a Fuji-Sage Dijon

Ahhhh Fall!  The sound of wind through crisp autumnal leaves, hot totties, ghords, squash, pumpkins, and motha f****** apple picking!  If you live even remotely close to an apple orchard, which you should if you live in America, go there right now and pick some motha f****** apples!  Have you ever picked an apple, rubbed the dirt off on your shoulder, and eaten it straight from the tree?  If you haven’t let me tell you… its f****** awesome and f****** delicious!! And its cliche… but cliche in a fashion that allows hipsters to partake in the fun festivities as well.

I know, I know. Apple picking is complex, and can be stressful if not done properly.  Allow me to provide you a brief tutorial:

Step 1: Upon arriving at the orchard or farm, walk directly to the Fuji apple section.  To be frank, Fuji apples are the best and I am not sure why anyone would eat anything else… just ask Colleen and Zoe, I’m kind of obsessed.

Step 2: Inspect the Apples

Step 3: Continue to inspect the apple from different vantage points.

Step 4: If the apple has no apparent worm holes, no lesions, and looks all around good… place it in the bin.

Step 5: There are only four steps.

Alright, enough funny business.. it is time to cook!  After picking my apples at Homestead Farm in Poolesville, MD, I moseyed over to the pseudo farmers market and got some other goodies.  I saw a beautiful red cabbage and immediately decided to steam cabbage with apples, and go with bratwurst for the protein.  It would need a condiment, so mustard was rather obvious.  And a nice IPA is always nice in the fall, so lets put as much IPA into this as possible.

Ingredients

1 head of red cabbage
3 shallots
6 fuji apples, skins removed
1-2 tbsp dijon
6-10 sage leaves
1 IPA for steaming
1-2 tbsp apple-cider vinegar
Bratwurst
Enough IPA to cover the bratwurst

Preparation

1) Remove the skins from three fuji apples, remove the core and cut into small pieces. Cook down in a few tbsp of butter and sage.  Once the apples are tender to the center, remove from heat and put into food processor with sage.  Puree until mixed through.  Place mixture into strainer, and push mixture through strainer (This can be labor intensive, and take a few minutes but it is worth it.  This keeps the mixture smooth and without chunks).  Mix in dijon gradually until you get the flavor you want.

2) Cut red cabbage into small pieces.  Remove skin of three remaining fuji apples, remove core and cut into small pieces. Cut shallots into thing but long pieces. Steam mixture with one beer and a splash of apple-cider vinegar. Add salt and seasoning for flavor.  Steaming should take more then ten minutes, and cabbage should be tender but not mushy.

3) Bring remaining IPA to boil.  Put bratwurst into boiling IPA, and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove from IPA.  If you have a grill, throw it on there for additional texture and flavor.

4) Plate it and enjoy!!

Chilean Sea Bass with Heirloom Succotash and Nectarine Puree

Chilean Sea Bass with Heirloom Succotash and Nectarine Puree

The swampy thick air of D.C. is starting to subside.  Soon the leaves will change colors, the air will turn crisp and before we know it we’ll be bundled up eating our harvest squashes and wintry soups.  We will trade our shorts for sweaters, and flip flops for wool socks.  We will say goodbye to summer, and welcome the fall.

In a final attempt to harness the easy going summer vibes, I ventured down to the Dupont farmers market to pick up some seasonal flavors before they disappear.  I was drawn, as I always am, to the white nectarines.  They have always been my favorite, over the peaches and over the yellows.  I sampled one… it was delicious.  I then bought some sweetcorn before it goes bland, some dragon beans and a cuccuzza.  To be honest, I had no idea what a cucuzza was!  They had samples out and it tasted like a squash, so I figured why not give it a go.

Now that I had all these great fresh ingredients, I had absolutely zero idea what to do.  A small voice inside me was saying “make a succotash”, and that would make most sense with the ingredients I had.  I wanted some sort of puree to plate with that had its own flavor profile, so I decided I would use the white nectarines for that, add one Serrano chili, and green onions to give it some great color.  All I needed was a protein.  So I jumped on my bike, and headed to Whole Foods.  The Chilean sea bass looked the best, and it also smelt fresh.  I had the fish monger wrap up one piece (that stuff is pricey, so I only bought one piece and made this dish an appetizer).

I was all set!  I headed to the kitchen and started prep.  I put on some tunes, thanks to my buddy Toby’s  music blog Ruckus Rhythms (http://www.ruckusrhythms.com/).  There was one song on their September Playlust that was well suited for the dish and occasion, Goodbye Summer by Misun. https://soundcloud.com/misun/misun-goodbye-summer Give it a listen!

Ingredients

2 white nectarines
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 cup green onions
1-2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 Serrano chili
2 cups chopped cucuzza
2 cups fresh corn
1 cup dragon beans
1 cup sweet onion
1 tsp paprika
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1-4 filets Chilean sea bass
(1 filet for appetizer, 1 filet per person for entree)

(Note: In classic Spencer fashion, I clumsily dropped the edamame on the floor, hence why it is not in the ingredients list.)

Preparation

1) To prepare the puree, saute finely chopped green onions in butter and thyme, and add to food processor (be sure to pick out thyme stems). Char Serrano chili over open flame until the skin is black.  Let cool, and remove the skin and add to food processor.  Remove skin from nectarines, and take out the pit.  Add to food processor, blend, and add salt to flavor.

2) Remove dragon beans from pods, and boil in salted water for 6 minutes.  Remove beans from boiling water and place in ice bath (this will help preserve the colors of the beans, and prevent the beans from cooking further).  Char corn over open flame, and cut kernels from the cob.

3) In a medium oiled sauce pan, saute onions and cuccuzza on medium-high heat.  Cook for 3-5 minutes, and add corn and beans.  Add white wine vinegar and paprika, and reduce heat to medium to medium-low.  Cook for 5ish minutes, and season to flavor.

4) In a room temperature oiled pan, place the fish skin side down.  Place on stove on high heat.  Cook for 4-5 minutes, and try to work spatula under the skin.  Once the skin is fairly crispy, flip for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.

5) Plate and enjoy!

Poblano Duck with Charred Corn Polenta

Poblano Duck with Charred Corn Polenta

I have fallen in love… with a chili.  A poblano chili, to be specific.  Two weeks ago I dined at Birch and Barley on 14th Street in DC, and tried a bite of the grouper and I was intrigued by the flavor tucked underneath the flaky fish.  I was blown away by the pure flavor from the beautifully green poblano puree at the base of the plate.  I had enjoyed poblanos previously only in chili rellenos… so filled with gooey cheese and fried in an eggy batter.  But I had never tried it in its own puree.  I had to replicate it somehow, but make the dish my own.

A few days later, the dish started to develop.  I decided on a poblano tequila puree, cuz why the hell not throw some tequila in there?  Then I realized the chili may be too spicy, so lets cut it down… what is fresh and in season?  Peaches!  Then I wanted to bring in a rich protein, so duck was a natural, that I would marinade in a citrus blend of fresh orange and lime.  Finally, I wanted a little smokiness to the dish with some contrasting color… so I decided on a charred corn polenta with toasted pine nuts.  The idea was created, and it was time to see how it would turn out.

Ingredients

Duck
2 duck breasts, skin on
3 oranges
3 limes
3 ancho chilies (dried poblanos)
4 cardamom pods

Puree
4 poblano chilies
1 peach
2 oz anejo tequila
1/2 lemon

Charred Corn Polenta
2 cups polenta, or corn grits
4 cups water
4 cups heavy cream
1-1.5 stick unsalted butter
3 ears of corn
1/3 cup pine nuts
Salt for flavor

Preparation

1) Generously salt duck breasts on both sides, and marinate in the juices and rinds of limes and oranges.  Dice ancho chilies and add to the marinade.  Smash cardamom pods and add to marinade.  Store in refrigerator… the longer the better (I marinated for 6ish hours).

2) Char poblano chilies until cooked and outer layer completely blackened.  I do not have a grill that gets hot enough to do this (I HATE the electric grill at our building!! (first world problems)).  So I put down a little tinfoil on our gas range, and did it on the stove!  Peel outer charred layer, removing all black char… this is important to get the great green color you are looking for.  Peel skin from peach, and cook in a dollop of melted butter.  Add tequila and cook off alcohol.  BEWARE: your pan will catch fire, but that is just the alcohol burning off… chill out.  The last thing you want is fire extinguisher chemicals in your puree.  Combine chilies, peach/butter/tequila, and juice from half lemon into food processor and puree thoroughly.

  

3) Char the corn, similar to poblano chilies, until cooked thoroughly.  Mine were pretty much burnt, but frickin delicious. Cut from the cob, and set aside for later.

4) Remove duck breasts from marinade, and place in a lightly buttered skillet on low/medium-low, with the skin side down.  The trick here, as advised by my friend and duck hook up Jason at Cork Market, is low and slow.  So you want to cook it until the duck fat renders and you get a nice golden crispy layer of duck skin (aka fat), 12-17 minutes.  After you get that golden crisp, flip the duck and increase the heat to a medium and cook until you get a nice sear, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat, and let sit for a few minutes.

5) In a small pot, take the remaining citrus rinds, juices, cardamom pods, and chilis and fill with water.  Bring to boil and simmer while the duck is cooking.  This can be drained and used later to drizzle over the duck for additional flavor.

6)  While the duck is rendering, bring liquid polenta ingredients to a boil in a medium pot.  Add polenta and a stick of butter, reduce heat a bit and stir continuously.  Toast pine nuts and add to pot.  Once you get the consistency you want (more firm for polenta, more runny for grits), add corn and pine nuts, and remove from heat.

7) Plate and enjoy!

  

Beet-Leek Tortellini with Sugar Snap Peas and Summer Corn

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Beet-Leek Tortellini with Sugar Snap Peas and Summer Corn

So I just purchased a pasta roller, and had to cook something… immediately! I decided on tortellini.

Legend has it that Venus, goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility and prosperity, once stayed in Castelfranco Emilia, a sall town between Modena and Bologna.  The innkeeper of the tavern she stayed at often spied on his guests through a small peep hole in each door. As he peered into the room of Venus, he was blown away by her beauty and grace.  In complete awe, he had to attempt to recreate her.  So he went to the kitchen and rolled out a sheet of fresh egg pasta and folded it in the shape of her navel.

Every year, Castelfranco Emilia celebrates the creation of the tortellini with an annual festival.  Just as beautiful as the tastes of  tortellini, is the process of making the tortellini. The Italian families come together every year and spend the time together folding the tortellini.

While we weren’t celebrating the annual tortellini festival in Castelfranco Emilia, I found myself in the kitchen of Ripple learning to fold tortellini about two months ago.  It was a quiet night at the restaurant and what do we do when things are quiet?  Prep.  In the room adjacent to the kitchen we all gathered and Isial, the legendary pasta maker at Ripple, was leading the way as the rest of us straggled behind folding tortellini here and there.  While we may not share the same love as Italian families, we all shared smiles and good conversation.

Filling

1 Beet
½ Cup Leek
¼ Cup Heavy Cream

Pasta

3-4 Cups Flour
3 Eggs
3Tbsp Water
1Tbsp Oil
1 pinch of salt

Side

3 ears Corn
2-3 Cup Fresh Sugar Peas
¼ Cup Pine Nuts
1 Lemon
½-¾ Cup Mint
½ Cup Goatcheese

Preparation:

1. Cut stem from beet and boil in lightly salted water until tender to center with fork.  Once cooked, remove outer skin from beet.  Meanwhile, cook leek and sauté with butter or oil, pepper, and salt until light brown occurs (5-7 minutes).  Blend beet, leek, and heavy cream in a blender.  Salt/pepper to taste.
2. Combine liquid pasta ingredients, and slowly add flour (usually ¼-½ cup at a time). Once your ingredients combine and develop a dough like consistency, roll dough out with roller (if you do not have a roller, an empty wine bottle with the wrapper removed works fine). Once dough is rolled out, cut dough into 6 inch wide pieces and roll through pasta roller.  Start at level 1, and end at 6 or 7.  Once dough is thin enough, lay out and cut with 2-3 inch circular cookie cutter.
3. Fill individual pieces of pasta with filling using a piping bag.  It is important not to put in too much filling.  I recommend ½ – 1 tsp.  Youtube videos on how to fold tortellini.  (No shame in telling you to youtube this, no way I can explain how to fold tortellini via text)
4. Boil tortellini until they float.  1-3 Minutes
5. Sauté sugar peas and corn with butter.  Add in cooked tortellini directly.
6. Garnish with lemon zest, pine nuts, fresh chopped mint, and goat cheese.
7. Enjoy

Lamb with Cauliflower Steak, Garlic Golden Potatoes and Mint Yogurt

Lamb with Cauliflower Steak, Garlic Golden Potatoes and Mint Yogurt

Lamb reminds me of my summers spent on Sugar Island in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan with my mother’s side of the family.  Every summer my cousins would come from uptown to the island and enjoy a lamb my cousin Seldon would send to the slaughterhouse a few days earlier.  I am not sure if it was intentional, but the lamb paid a nice tribute to our Scottish heritage considering the country’s long history with farming sheep.  

We would all sit in stale orange and brown woven canvas chairs and watch the sunset over Lake Huron.  Us children would sit until a car full of new cousins would pull up, at which point we would give our seats to the adults.  While we gave up our chairs, we had better ask if the adults needed a beer, or more commonly our family drink of choice, scotch and water with a dirty index finger stir. Ahh the smell of scotch, cigarette and cigar smoke, and on the grill… The smells of nostalgia!

Ingredients

1/2 – 1 rack of lamb or on-bone lamb chop
1-2 Cauliflower
3 clove of garlic
1 pack of rosemary
1 bag of small or fingerling potatoes
1 cup greek yogurt
1 bunch of mint

Preparation

1) Preheat oven to 375.  In a mixing bowl, dress potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic.  Mix thoroughly and put in the oven for 40-45 minutes. 

2) Generously coat a medium sauce pan with butter and rosemary, and bring to medium-high heat.  Sear each side of each on-bone lamb chop for 2-3 minutes, until it gets a nice sear.  Add more butter and baste meat with butter and rosemary.  Remove from pan and put on small baking sheeet.  Reduce oven heat to 350 and place in oven until center gets to approximately 140-145 degrees.  

3) While everything else is in the oven, return sauce pan to medium-high and grill cauliflower steaks.  Just cut through the cauliflower vertically throughout the center of the cauliflower to make cauliflower steaks.  

4) In a food processor, process mint and yogurt.  Add water or a little olive oil for thinner consistency.

5) Plate and enjoy!