Feast: A Celebratory Dinner at Scampo
- studious dean martin.
When you have dinner at Scampo, you will hear a lot about “her.” Her favorite is this, her preference is that. She recommends this, and she put that back on the menu. She likes to cook this medium rare, and she only serves that in half portions. She is Lydia Shire, the highly acclaimed chef and owner of Scampo (as well as Boston’s Locke-Ober and York, Maine’s Blue Sky), and she is omnipresent, which is not a bad thing. I’ve met Ms. Shire before, and she is not just an excellent chef and successful business woman, she is a gracious and modest host. I had been waiting for a special occasion to get to Scampo, one of her newer ventures, and this weekend afforded me just such an opportunity.
Scampo is a lively, friendly restaurant in the Liberty Hotel. While the clientele is heavily based on the run-off from the trendy Alibi -located right across the hall- there are also families and tourists dining with you, so you’ll get a bit of everything. The hosts and waitstaff are excellent, with one minor caveat: After my sparkling water glass was filled to the brim for the third time in two minutes by our incredibly overzealous water-waiter, I began to mentally examine the concept of over-service. I certainly appreciated his tenacity toward keeping every glass as full as possible, but after his tenth refill I just wanted to tie him to a chair to keep him still. Chill out man, I hydrated before I left the house.
With our water more than taken care of, we were able to focus on Scampo’s wine list, which was modern and relevant. We chose a Crocker Star Cabernet that complemented just about everything we ordered, starting with the visually arresting Onion and Cider Soup.
onion and cider soup
The recipient of this first course described it as “really good onion soup, but sweet, and with extras.” I mean, what else is there to say? The bone marrow and fontina were the extras, and they were much appreciated.
For me however, the winner of the entire meal was my first course- sweetbreads agrodolce with muscat-plumped golden raisins and crisped risotto milanese. “Agrodolce” is an Italian term for sweet and sour, but the preparation was actually very mild, allowing the flavor of the sweetbreads to shine. The texture was the best part – because of course, that is the risk you take with sweetbreads- they were seared to a chewy tenderness.
sweetbreads agrodolce
For main courses, the duck with mahogany glaze of espresso, anisette, and red chilies was presented far more impressively than the sub-par picture I took could convey. (So much so, I’m not even including the photo.) The bird was crusted nicely but still tender and moist. Ordered by someone who has eaten duck in some of the finest restaurants in America (I’m not referring to myself) and still given two thumbs up, this dish is clearly a star.
Another feature at Scampo is their “mozzarella bar,” a section of the menu highlighting different types of mozzarella accompanied by items such as crab, beef carpaccio, and sumac. Anytime I see burrata- a mozz with cream folded in- I melt a little, so I had to try it. It was definitely worth the price of admission- I could see myself stopping in after work for a drink and a few options from the mozzarella bar on a regular basis.
Surprisingly, I was less enthusiastic about the pasta options at this Italian restaurant. The bolognese was good, if not particularly noteworthy. The risotto with crisped duck leg and bitter orange had a nice flavor, but was a tad watery. The best of the bunch was the spinach gnocchetti with sea-salted and roasted walnuts in a gorgonzola cream – great flavor, great texture, pungent but not overwhelming sauce.
For dessert we had lemon budino cake and a surprise gift from the chef to honor our celebration, which was much appreciated. The lemon cake was topped with almond cookie crumbs and cream, making the whole thing worth it, and our server’s dessert wine recommendation paired perfectly.
It’s hard not to be happy in Lydia Shire’s omnipresent shadow at Scampo. Just tell the guy pouring your water to chill out.
Frame: Intuition
The most recent issue of Food and Wine includes a piece by Daniel Duane on becoming an intuitive cook. Duane sets out to learn how to put a meal together entirely by instinct, without having to consult his collection of cookbooks. The article also discusses the idea of making a recipe “yours,” which I have discussed before on this blog. In the piece, Duane spends time with master chef Thomas Keller, who imparts on him the wisdom that, unless you practice, you will “never quite absorb a hyper-detailed recipe, always having to return to the book and its precise measurements. In that way, a cook never breaks a recipe addiction, never trusts himself to create.”
Intuition and experimentation are what I like about cooking- I feel I’ve developed enough proficiency at certain dishes that I can improvise them, and get to use my cookbooks more for inspiration than instruction.
But if you’ve been paying attention, you know by now that I do not feel the same way about baking. So I decided, with a deep breath and a relatively easy recipe, to use my intuition and do my best to improvise a bit in some baking.
I chose shortbread cookies, whose only ingredients are flour, salt, butter, and confectioner’s sugar. I mixed together the dough, but going through my cabinets I decided to include almond extract and rosewater for flavoring. For the glaze, I mixed lemon juice into the sugar instead of milk, and added some lemon peel. After icing, I even got a little whimsical and put thyme leaves in the middle of each cookie.
It may seem like my “intuitive” additions were simple, and I would certainly think the same if those were the changes I made to say, a pasta sauce – something I know I am proficient with. But for someone whose baking used to be so bad I could barely make toast, adding ingredients and changing flavor profiles in a cookie was a really big step.
Plus, the cookies didn’t taste half bad. And they looked just darling, if I do say so myself.
Fluid: Caves Des Perrieres Pouilly Fume (2009)
My newest discovery in the category of great everyday wines under $15? Caves Des Perrieres Pouilly Fume, 2009. Versatile enough to drink with most any meal, cheap enough to use while cooking said meal, this crisp white is a sure bet.
very versatile
When I went wine shopping, I specifically requested a wine that would cut through rich dishes (which I’ve been a bit obsessed with lately). The steward immediately walked toward this French bottle, stating that it was bright, smooth, and mildly fruity. He was right- and it only cost me 11.99 to find out. It’s actually got a bit of a lime taste to it, a nice mellow acid that cuts through everything from short ribs to shortbread. Enjoy!
Food: A Tough Cookie
3 perfect cookies (47 not so perfect)
I don’t know why I decided today was the day I should give baking another shot. But I do know that it is not a good sign when you are baking, someone calls, and your first words on the phone are “I fail at cookies.”
It must be the season- my mother is a fabulous baker and when I’m home we bake together (read: she bakes, I measure things and crack eggs for her), especially during the holidays. So I guess I thought, hey, I can do that too. But instead of trying to bake something simple like chocolate chip cookies, I went on a hunt for the recipe to one of my favorites, Italian Christmas Cookies.
The recipe below made 5 batches*, and thank god. The first batch was dismal- too big, too flat, and I hadn’t added enough ricotta. The second batch was only marginally better and still had fork marks in the top since I hadn’t gotten the timing down. The third batch was promising until I dropped it on the floor (see below- this was about when I answered that phone call). The fourth batch was almost there, but the fifth batch- that one was the winner. Did they taste the way I remember them, or like the cookies you can buy in the North End? No, not at all. But I did take batches 4 and 5 (and the non-floored half of batch 3) with me to work and got the following comments:
-“I’m really not trying to kiss-up, these are actually good.”
-“You made these?”
-“These are way better than those cupcakes you made last year.”
So, I’d say they weren’t a total disaster. Below is the recipe, should you feel inspired to try a little baking this season.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
15 oz ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons anise extract
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
one-handed, my only baking skill
Beat in ricotta and vanilla. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl, then gradually add to butter mixture.
my favorite part of baking
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper, on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
batch #2
Should you decide to lift up the parchment paper and transport your cookies from your oven to your kitchen table, try really hard not to drop them on the floor. But if you do, que sera sera.
batch #3. FAIL.
Compare batches before deciding which are worth frosting.
too big, too small, just right.
To make the icing:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp anise extract (or almond)
3-4 tbsp milk (or enough until icing reaches right consistency)
Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add milk until frosting is spreadable. Frost cooled cookies by dipping tops into bowl. If you are decorating, do so immediately before icing hardens. Store cookies in fridge. Voila.
batch #5
*Actually there was enough dough for 6 batches, but after the fifth I put the rest in a container in the fridge. I may not be able to make good finished cookies, but the dough was delicious and makes an excellent snack.
Frame: Why I Hate Black Friday
I love Christmas, and I love buying Christmas presents. But I hate Black Friday, and everything it stands for. Black Friday is the cheap, all-you-can-eat buffet of the gift-giving paradigm. Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Macy’s, Barnes and Noble, they’re all gloppy, oily, hours-old pans of suck on Black Friday. And they’re all screaming at you.
Quick! Buy this thing! It’s on sale!
Hurry! Buy this thing that just came on the market! Don’t know anyone that wants it? Buy it for yourself! Plus, it’s on sale!
Wake up! You need to get in line at 5am to buy a massively large piece of electronic equipment that no one actually needs! Look- It’s on sale!
Push that person in front of you out of the way! She’s buying something you might want! AND IT’S ON SALE!
The act of choosing a gift should be thoughtful, and pre-meditated, and fun – not a noisy, pushy trip to retail hell. If you feel so harassed about buying presents that you need to get everything done in one day, at break-neck speed, while mowing down everyone in your path to buy generic big box crap, maybe you should just renounce gift giving altogether.
I love Christmas, and I love buying presents. This year I will choose them as I always do. Slowly, deliberately. I’ll make lists and special trips and phone calls to track down unique items. I will have so much fun finding things that the people I love will love. And I will do none of this on Black Friday.
Frame: Empty Seats
When I thought about what I wanted to post on Thanksgiving Day – the biggest food holiday of the year – a few things came immediately to mind.
- A big picture of a gorgeous turkey
- A recipe for my favorite pie
- A haiku about my love for stuffing and gravy
But when it comes down to it, I know that what’s really on everyone’s mind during the holidays is the empty seats. While I’m very grateful for my family and friends, it’s impossible to have a holiday without thinking of the people who won’t be at your table this year. You’ll remember the things they always brought to your celebration, like blueberry muffins, never-duplicated gravy, or strains from a guitar. This year, myself and others will be missing their important people, whether due to distance, disagreement, or death. It’s hard to think about these people at the holidays, but sometimes that’s all one can think about. It’s ok.
Raise a glass to the empty seats this Thanksgiving.
And while you’re here, enjoy this big picture of a gorgeous turkey.
Food: Lemon Garlic Aioli and Roasted Asparagus
I’ve been talking about perfecting made-from-scratch aioli (a fancy type of mayonnaise) for a few years now, but I think I’ve finally gotten it down. It takes only a few ingredients, but quite a lot of bicep power if you are going to be legitimate and just use a whisk. Once you start mixing the ingredients, you’re pretty much a slave to the bowl until everything emulsifies and thickens- I’ll admit I usually have to finish it off with a blender.
One of the best parts about aioli is that it is an excellent accompaniment to roasted vegetables, which are a staple at this time of year and an easy side dish for any holiday meal/dinner party. One of my favorites to roast is asparagus, especially if you can get small, sweet stalks. To prep them, hold each stalk by both ends and bend- the stalk will snap where the inedible part ends. Keep the part with the spear head, discard the wooden stem. If the stalk doesn’t snap, you probably don’t want to eat it.
Below, my recipe for Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Garlic Aioli.
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 cup extra virgin olive oil (good quality)
Crush the garlic cloves with your knife and cover with salt. Mince this mixture and then press your knife over and across it, making the garlic and salt into a paste. Alternately, you can use a microplane to grate the garlic, then mix with the salt.
Put eggs, lemon juice, and garlic mixture in a bowl, whisk until incorporated. Then slowly stream in olive oil, whisking continuously.
When your arm gets too tired to continue, break out the beater and continue until mixture thickens. If you end up needing to thin the mixture to pour/drizzle over vegetables, use lemon juice or warm water, added by the tsp until you reach the consistency you want.
Prepare asparagus as mentioned above. Place on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sea salt. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (depending on how thick your asparagus is).
Drizzle with aioli. Voila.
3 Things You Can Do to Help Us Help You (The Salvation Army Made Me Cry)
This week marks the beginning of the busiest time of year in the food service industry. People everywhere are treating themselves to restaurant meals, ordering holiday treats for their special dinners at home, and just generally eating. In a perfect world, every experience one has at this time of year would be seamless, everyone would be smiling, your own personal favorite soundtrack would be playing, and puppies would be available for hugging at a moment’s notice. But it’s not a perfect world.
I work in the food service industry, and I assure you, it is the goal of myself and all of those that I work with to give everyone that crosses our path the perfect holiday experience. If a problem arises, we will do our best to fix it, and we appreciate your help and patience as we do so. We do not appreciate screaming, rudeness, or general bad behavior in the face of our best efforts.
Last year, as I approached the storefront of the business that I run, I noticed that the Salvation Army had set up a station outside, without asking my permission. When I approached the two people standing there, I started by saying a cheerful hello and asking if I could get them a free coffee (which they readily accepted). I then asked them, nicely, if they could do me a favor and move their station two feet to the right, to create a better traffic flow for my business. I’m not exaggerating when I say I asked for a move of just two feet.
Sadly, in the face of my request, the team of two proceeded to unleash upon me a fury of epithets and nasty sentiments. According to them, I was a horrible person, a horrible manager, an affront to society and the community in which I work. Stunned, I stood there and took this abuse, and before I knew what was happening, tears were running down my face. Maybe it made them feel better to ruin my day, and if it hadn’t been my busiest week of the year I would probably have responded with less emotion. But the point is, there was absolutely no need for anyone to treat me in this manner. And unfortunately, this is what many retail professionals deal with, not just during the holiday season, but all year long. If someone came into your office building and started screaming about the spelling errors in your report, threatening to make your life a living hell, you would call the police. In retail, we call that “Tuesday.”
This holiday, if a detail goes slightly awry during your retail or food experience, please remember the following three things that you can do to help us help you. I promise, in the long run, it will make you feel better than loosing your cool and treating someone badly.
1. Don’t kill the messenger – everyone makes mistakes. The woman who can’t find your holiday order is most likely not the person who took it in the first place, and trust me, she would much prefer to make you happy than have you leave angry or call her manager to bad-mouth her. The man bagging your groceries did not maliciously drop your pie on the ground- and there is a stack of 4 million more in the back, you can get another one. We know you are tired and frustrated and have family to deal with- we do too, only we have to deal with you and a thousand other people as well. Take a deep breath, and be kind.
2. Remember, it’s our holiday too. Sometimes people get upset when they see retail staff enjoying themselves. Perhaps we are humming a tune, or wearing a Santa hat, or joking with our friends. Perhaps our merriment delays your service by 10 seconds or so. Are you really going to begrudge another human being a few moments of holiday happiness? Relax everyone. Really, relax. As I tell my staff – it’s not brain surgery. No one is going to die if you have to wait a few extra moments for your dinner rolls.
3. Tip well. A lot of people seem to think that leaving a poor tip is a great way to get even if your food was not exactly to your liking, or took too long to arrive. But a lot of people forget that your server is not the one cooking the meal. Your server is not the one that overbooked the restaurant, causing you to have to wait to be seated. So why should your server get screwed out of a few measly dollars? I’m not saying that you aren’t entitled to good service- you are, everyone is. Just remember the holiday circumstances.
The people I work with are the smartest, kindest, most compassionate, and hardest working that I know. They deserve your respect and patience. So please, as you pick up your turkey at the grocery store, enjoy your dinner out, or even just grab a coffee at Starbucks, keep in mind that the employee helping you is a person too, smack in the middle of their busiest and most stressful time of year. They are doing their best. Relax, give them a smile, and say “thank you.”
Fluid: Winter Ale, Pumpkin Stout, and Oak-Aged Beer
Beer Fest: n. 1. An event in a convention center arena that has been filled with booths serving small cups of beer. 2. For most of the city, a drunken shit show.
I’ve been to my share of Beer Fests- I am no longer a rookie to these affairs. I don’t wear a pretzel necklace, I don’t bother trying to use the bathroom at the event, I eat a big lunch the day of. And at this point in my life, I actually go to the Boston Beer Summit to taste the beer, not just drink it as fast as I possibly can. At last night’s event, I came away with three new favorites.
1. Geary’s Winter Ale: Brewed in Portland Maine, Geary’s Winter Ale tastes like maple syrup. You can smell the sweetness before you drink it, and it finishes with just a bit of maple. An excellent darker beer for the winter season.
2. Cape Ann Pumpkin Stout: I don’t normally get too excited about Pumpkin flavored beers, but this one, made with real pumpkin, cinnamon, and allspice, mixed really nicely with the chocolate notes of the stout. Plus, it’s brewed in Gloucester, one of my favorite places.
3. Innis & Gunn: My favorite of the night, when I hit this booth I was ready to camp out for the next three hours. Innis & Gunn is aged in oak barrels that have previously been home to bourbon or rum. I was skeptical that this process would benefit beer, but it was truly fantastic. Rich caramel flavors with a subtle vanilla sweetness and an incredibly smooth finish, this beer was the anti-hop. If you are looking for a place to buy it, here are some local distributors (I asked): Formaggio Kitchen (Cambridge), Atlas Liquors (Medford), Whole Foods Market (Dedham). Run, don’t walk.
Frame: Cilantro-phobic
Today I shared with a friend the information that I’m not really a fan of cilantro. This is something I usually try to keep to myself- I’m a food person, after all, don’t need people knowing I’m not crazy about a pretty popular herb. I’ll eat cilantro, I’ll even cook with it, but whenever possible I substitute flat leaf parsley or mint. When I admitted that I didn’t like cilantro, the response I got was “you know there’s a gene for that.”
There is a gene that specifically dictates whether or not one enjoys cilantro? Tell me more about this incredibly odd sounding phenomenon.
“It tastes like soap to you, right?” my friend said. Exactly. “Some people are just genetically programmed to dislike cilantro.”
I was still skeptical, so I looked it up. Sure enough, good old New York Times has an article on it, found here. Apparently I’m not alone in being a “cilantrophobe,” and this condition has been/is being studied by flavor chemists. (Flavor chemist? Where can I get this job, and how much does it pay? Can I wear a lab coat?)
While I felt good learning that I’m not alone in disliking cilantro, I feel great knowing that I share this issue with one Julia Child, who, when once asked by Larry King if she would ever order it, responded:
““Never. I would pick it out if I saw it and throw it on the floor.”
She’d probably stomp on it as she walked away, too. Take that, cilantro. OR ELSE.
Food: Stuffing v. Dressing
I am really particular about stuffing. First, I don’t like cornbread stuffing. Second, I don’t like chesnuts in my stuffing. Third, don’t ever put the words “wild rice” next to “stuffing” in my presence. Stuffing comes but once a year, and I like it the way I like it, period.
But what about dressing?
What is dressing?
Is it the same as stuffing? Is it just a different word? An alternate cooking method? Stuffing that originated from the South? So many questions about dressing.
I did some research that was mildly inconclusive. One thought is that stuffing is cooked inside the turkey, dressing is served on the side. Some say dressing is made of cornbread, stuffing is made of white bread. And there is a school of thought that says “dressing” is a just a polite Southern term. (It’s true, “dressing” is a nicer word than “stuffing.”)
But when you look at enough recipes, for both stuffing and dressing, it becomes clear that the real difference is an egg and some cream- dressing is savory bread pudding. All my life I’ve never had a stuffing baked in an egg and cream mixture, but almost every dressing recipe I found contained these two things. And well, I had to try it, if only to find out whether or not I am as picky about dressing as I am about stuffing. I made the below recipe last night, and I have to say, it was delicious. I can’t emphasize the bread pudding aspect enough- parts of this were almost custard-like. I would never have referred to stuffing as decadent or creamy, but this dressing was both.
Ingredients:
1 loaf sourdough bread, crusts removed, and cubed
1 carrot
1 onion
1 stalk celery
1/2 package mixed herbs (whatever combination you like- sage, thyme, whatever)
1 lb pre-cooked sausage (whatever kind you want), casings removed and chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
salt and pepper
Puree carrot, onion, celery, and herbs in a food processor. Warm sausage in pan- it is already cooked so you just want to warm it, brown it a bit, and release the oils to be mixed with the rest of your ingredients.
Remove sausage from pan (leaving the drippings), and add vegetable puree. Cook puree for 5-10 minutes on medium-low heat, until most of the water from the celery has cooked off.
Put sausage, vegetable puree, and bread cubes into a large bowl and mix.
Whisk the chicken stock, cream, and egg together, then add to the bread mixture and fold in. Season with salt and pepper
Put mixture into a buttered baking dish, bake for 30-35 minutes at 375. Voila.
Picky as I am, I would absolutely make this dressing for any holiday meal.
But I would also make stuffing.
Food: Mashed Potatoes with Celeriac
Ever wonder what this gnarled looking mess is, in the bins on the green’s wall in your supermarket? It is celeriac (or celery root), a kind of celery that is grown as a root vegetable. It has the same fresh, grassy taste as celery, but a parsnip-like texture. Despite its awkward appearance it’s easy to prepare- all you need is a vegetable peeler. It has a mild flavor that is often used to complement soups, gratins, or – if you are looking for something to eat with your leftover short ribs – mashed potatoes.
Adapted from a Saveur recipe, here is a nice alternative to regular mashed potatoes. The celeriac gives them a fresher taste, but don’t worry, the finished product is still quite hearty.
Ingredients:
1 lb celeriac
1 cup half and half
4 tbsp butter, plus 1 tbsp
8-10 sprigs thyme
3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled (about 3 large potatoes)
1 cup grated Parrano cheese
Salt and white pepper
Peel the celeriac with a vegetable peeler (no need to buy a “celery root peeler,” if such a thing exists), cut into 1/2 inch cubes and place into medium sauce pan with half and half, butter, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 25 minutes, partially covered.
While this is simmering, peel and cut potatoes, add to a pot of water. Salt your water, bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender- about 10-15 minutes. If you time this correctly, the potatoes and the celeriac should be done within minutes of one another.
Remove thyme stems and puree celeriac mixture in a food processor, add back to sauce pan and keep warm. Drain potatoes and whip, adding 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp half and half as you whip.
leftover short ribs waiting in the wings...
Transfer potatoes to pan with celeriac puree and whisk in cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
Pile on plate. Spoon leftover short ribs over potatoes.
Voila.
Food: The Truth About Short Ribs
I am a really bad liar. I wear my emotions on my face, I talk too loudly and gesture too broadly. When I’m attempting to tell a half-truth, my eyes get shifty. I’ve been told I have “no game” when it comes to the opposite sex- coyness and subtlety are not my thing- just another form of a lie. If I do manage to lie, my tell-tale heart keeps me up with worry until I finally come clean.
So you’ll know I’m being truthful when I tell you that the braised short rib meal I just made was phenomenal.
I’ve been wanting to make short ribs for a while, but haven’t had the time to really investigate how to cook them properly. When I finally did a little research I realized it’s not that complicated- there is just a lot of waiting around time. The recipe below, a conglomerate of my short rib studies over the past few days, takes about 3 hours to prepare- it’s best suited for a lazy Sunday or a night when you don’t think you’ll get around to eating until 10pm.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs short ribs, bone- in
2-3 oz pancetta
1 small can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup chopped onion
1 carrot
1/2 cup fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic
1 package assorted mushrooms
assorted fresh herbs: fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, 1 tsp of each
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup white wine
Start by chopping the pancetta and cooking it in a bit of olive oil until crispy – use a large deep pan for this, you’re going to make the whole thing in here. Remove pancetta from pan but leave drippings in pan. Then, season your short ribs* on all sides with salt and pepper- I am partial to Borsari seasoning salt. Dredge the ribs in flour and place back in pan on medium heat, browning each side for 5-7 minutes.
*Note: Make sure you use bone in short ribs- the bone will add a lot of flavor to the dish.
As short ribs are browning, put chopped carrot, onion, garlic, and parsley in food processor, blend until minced, then add tomatoes and tomato paste, blend until smooth. Once short ribs are browned, add wine to pan and deglaze for 1-2 minutes. Then add tomato mixture and pancetta, as well as whatever combination of herbs you’ve decided on, 1 tsp salt, and the beef broth.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes, occasionally stirring and turning short ribs. If you have parm rind lying around (I know, seriously, I should stop with the parm rind, but it really is excellent for stuff like this), toss it in now.
Cook mushrooms in a small pan with 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour. Once done, add to short ribs and leave pan uncovered, simmering for another 90 minutes. Taste sauce and add salt and pepper to your liking.
At this point you will have flavorful, tender short ribs that you could just eat as is, or with some mashed potatoes or risotto or whatever you like. Or you could shred the meat, add it back to the pan, cook up some pasta, and toss with sauce. Either way, you are in for delicious.
No lie.
Frame: Many Happy Returns
BEV shot compliments of keith
One of my favorite places- Central Bottle– acknowledged its first birthday yesterday! Congratulations!
To celebrate, they held a party, complete with music from Prince, free cicchetti, a choice between two different wine flights, and of course, lots of good company. This was the first time that I walked into Central Bottle and felt certain I wouldn’t be able to find a place to set my wine tray, but there in the corner was the perfect space for my group. As my friends noted about the amount of people clamoring to be part of CB’s special day, it was – as always – “busy, but not uncomfortable.”
VFoSB (vegan FoSB) and SB
This was also my first foray into Central Bottle with a vegan in the group, who sadly had to pass up the salt cod and anchovy cicchetti being passed around to party guests. But our hero Nick quickly came to the rescue, arriving at our table with some non-meat alternatives that were just as delicious: braised fennel and cippolini onion crostini.
Central Bottle’s birthday party was the kind of celebration I like to have when I mark another year- lots of friends, good music, and great wine, but all in a relaxed yet festive atmosphere. It doesn’t really matter what you do, it matters who you’re with, and I hope Central Bottle is around for a long, long time.
fennel and cippolini onion crostini
Frame: In Cold Blood
I have a theoretical problem with the concept of a planned “last meal.” I guess if you are in prison eating mush all day, any food is an improvement, but I have a lot of questions about what kind of restrictions are put on that last meal.
-Can you request a specific restaurant, or is the prison kitchen making your shrimp, french fries, and garlic bread, a la the last meal requests of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock of In Cold Blood infamy?
-On that note, can you request a specific person to make your meal? A celebrity chef, perhaps? What if John Wayne Gacy’s requested fried chicken just HAD to be made by Pat and Gina Neely?
-Do last meal requests ever get vetoed? What if you ask for some exotic ingredient, or clementines in July- is someone really going to come back to you and say “pick something else?”
-Where do you eat the last meal? Do you have to eat it in your cell? Can you have candles or some mood lighting?
-Do you get real silverware? I assume, if you are in the position of having a last meal, you probably haven’t seen a real knife in a while. But what if you order steak, like Ted Bundy? Do they make you struggle with a plastic knife?
-Is there a price ceiling on your last meal? And if so, what is it? $50? $25? Not great for someone with a hankering for caviar, truffles, or foie gras.
Then there are the last meals that aren’t planned, like Julia Child’s french onion soup, or John Belushi’s lentil soup. I really hope my last meal isn’t soup, but I guess it’s better than Michael Jackson’s spinach salad or Cleopatra’s figs.
And of course, there are the gangster last meals- the meals that you are pretty sure are going to be your last meal, even if you don’t know for certain you’re about to go down in a hail of bullets. Bonnie and Clyde had spam sandwiches before they were ambushed, Ma Barker is said to have had beef stew. Tony Soprano had onion rings before the screen faded to black, and while I can’t seem to find the facts on what Al Capone ate, it was probably some form of pasta.
And finally, there are the gangsters that will actually give you, the gangstered, a heads-up on what could be your last meal, such as one lesser-known femme fatale. “That’s Vinny, my ex-boyfriend,” this lady mobster once said to her love interest as they sat in a restaurant. “He’s going to poison your food.”
Eat up!
The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread 