TrelayneNYC

I spent T-day at my boyfriend's sister's place in Pennsylvania, just 25 min. away from Philly.

We had:

chips with a trio of dips -- salsa, nacho cheese dip and spinach dip

shrimp cocktail

spiced pecans

phyllo-wrapped brie with cranberry jam

roast turkey

smoked turkey

turkey jus

mustard sauce

stuffed butternut squash

brussels sprouts and squash stuffing -- this was a vegan option, since one of the guests was a lactose-intolerant vegetarian

regular stuffing

green beans

cranberry sauce (not from a can)

pumpkin pie

pumpkin-ginger cheesecake

Japanese butter cookies

coffee

tea

awesome food and the company was great.

mmmmmm.   I don't recall learning the term battuto, but did learn the techniques long ago.   Its simply scrumptious IMHO.  Here is one reference    I agree Trelayne, the variations and applications are endless.

btw:   thanks for all the pics of your cooking and dinners.  Looooooooooord...they make me hungry!!!

The technique is widespread in Italian cooking and there are references to it from the late 19th century, such as in the cookbook "La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene" originally published by Pellegrino Artusi.

A battuto is what a soffritto is before it undergoes the process of insaporire ("to add taste" or "to build flavor"). You have your chopped aromatics (onion, fennel, leeks, celery, celery leaves, carrots, etc. (occasionally pancetta or ham) in varying proportions, then you add them in a certain order to your cooking fat (unsalted butter, olive oil, lard, etc.). Cook the battuto over low heat, stirring occasionally while you watch over it. the battuto must not brown; if your ingredients brown, it will affect the finished dish in both taste and appearance. Your battuto becomes a soffritto once your vegetables have softened sufficiently and have developed their flavors.

There are many types of battuti. The combination of celery, onion and carrot is one such type (and very northern Italian I might add); a southern Italian battuto might begin with onion, garlic and Italian parsley cooked slowly in olive oil. If garlic is used, it's typically crushed or bruised slightly to release the juices, then sautéed gently in oil until the clove becomes a pale gold after which it's discarded.

As one of the commenters in the Serious Eats thread notes:

You cannot make one recipe for a generic term. With so many regional differences, you can't even make one recipe for a battuto for tomato sauce.

she alludes to another point -- Italian cooking is not "one type of cooking", but a collection of regional cuisines that varies not only from region to region, but from city to city, village to village, neighorhood to neighborhood, family to family.

The Serious Eats article is nice, but it contains a few errors/nitpicks such as the assertion that there are no rules, or that there is a one-size-fits-all recipe for everything.

And finally (this is a pet peeve of mine), if there is one thing that I would love for people to learn about Italian cooking, it would be to use garlic less and onion more!

Some months ago I opened my big ignorant mouth when seeing a post by Zora referencing a methodology for tomato sauce she picked up via Lidia Bastianich on TV.  This might be the basic recipe or close to it.   While I learned the technique years ago, I simply didn't realize it wasn't widespread.

Updating:    With an aged infirm old food processor that wasn't working I resorted to grating the onions, carrots, celery, and some peppers into a fine mulch, and then sauteed lightly in olive oil before adding to a sauce.   It was the old way to do this before food processors got to be so good.

The news is simply the sauce and consistency were fine and up to standards.  Blitzing or grating those veggies and/or some others, sauteing and adding to a tomato sauce is a terrific way to add flavors, veggies, and creates a terrific sauce.  Red pepper flakes and other add ons are optional.

the technique of cooking a battuto over low, constant heat and eventually transforming it into a soffritto was one that was popularized by Marcella Hazan and other doyennes of Italian cooking.

it's something I do all the time, and not just for red sauces, but also for minestrone or pasta e ceci.

as a side note, there are other types of battuti; the mix of celery, carrot and onion cited above is one out of hundreds.

Some pix from this weekend:





and while we're on the subject of "comfort food":



Flaczki -- tripe soup



Cheese blintzes



Clockwise from top: blueberry blintzes, sweet cabbage (not really sweet, but to differentiate it from sauerkraut), kielbasa



Little Poland
200 Second Avenue (East 12th Street)
East Village

Baked flounder
Crispy roasted heirloom potatoes
Cabbage, with smoked bacon and sherry vinegar

some pix from this weekend.





watermelon radishes





simply mind-boggling to find heirloom cherry toms still available this late in November.

I wanted to get a pint, but by then, our basket was burgeoning...

a couple of pix from this weekend:



spicy miso ramen -- smoked chicken, Swiss chard, sesame




note the prices.

the "snacks" are essentially small plates, designed to serve one person.

Radicchio, with honey-roasted shallots, heirloom cherry tomatoes and ricotta salata






Roast cod
Broccoli rabe and cauliflower, with heirloom tomato, rocambole garlic and lemon

It's very good for that style of dining, if a tad overpriced.

For instance -- $14 cocktails, $22 for a mille-feuille made with candy-coated popcorn and $15 for approx. 2-3 tablespoons of intensely flavored steak tartare.  If you're going to have the audacity to charge that amount of money, you may want to create value perceived for money spent particularly if your customers are discerning or knowledgeable.

On the other hand, everything is prepared carefully and presented well, and there is an abundance of attention to detail from the artistry in the kitchen and on the plate, and in the execution of the staff.

It's a great experience (and if you're a fan of Liebrandt, well worth your time), but I won't be back.

That's the un-sauciest boeuf bourguignon I ever saw.

Probably because I don't like thick sauces and I used no flour.  But there was gravy, and judging by my BF's moans, well-deserved. 

brunch:



Soft-boiled eggs, roasted brussel sprouts




Parsnips and broccoli rabe

The parsnips were simmered in lightly salted water, then fried in unsalted butter.

Same first procedure for the broccoli rabe, which was then cooked in olive oil with garlic and preserved lemons.




Lamb and red pepper/fennel sausage, with sweet peppers, mushrooms and onion


tonight:



Boeuf bourguignon on egg noodles.

Not exactly the recipe Julia gives in MtAoFC but a close approximation.

I thought soubise was béchamel with onion in it. This is a new one for me - is it the green stuff on the plate?

(Feel free to reproduce and answer the question on the thread if you think it'll be of general interest - I didn't want to come across as "aggressive" by asking it publicly.)

Love your pictures!

Best,

Don

Thanks, Don.

This Bon Appetit recipe is an adaptation of the dish in the pic above. The onion soubise appears to be the clear liquid sitting beneath the egg.

BTW, the short ribs were cooked sous vide, then deep-fried, in case that wasn't apparent.

Insalata di scarola ("escarole salad, with mushrooms, wild arugula and ricotta salata")




Orecchiette con sugo di cozze ("orecchiette with mussel and tomato sauce")

As you can see, I eat a lot of pasta.  Probably 2-3x a week, at any rate.

Might do pasta e piselli later this week.  I have a craving for it.

They may have frowned on bloggers when you visited there, but there was a time when they didn't....





Fluke sashimi, toasted poppy seeds, buttermilk, chives



Coddled egg, soubise onion, potato chips, hackleback caviar, sweet potato vinegar



Deep-fried short ribs, carrot, daikon radish, scallion, pickled mustard seeds, fried parsley

That soup looks beautiful. What's the broth made of? This reminds me that I have what started out as a very nice big escarole in my refrigerator. It's probably pretty piqued by now, but I bet it would still work just fine for soup, if not for salad.

Hi Hersch.

It's chicken stock, shredded escarole, sea salt, black pepper, fried bread and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  Simmer some chicken stock, add the escarole and cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender.  Taste for salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, fry some stale bread cubes in olive oil until golden brown; drain on paper towels.

To serve, ladle the soup in individual bowls, add the croutons and some grated P-R cheese if you like.

In the pic above, it was Chinese chicken stock that I had -- basically poaching liquid from some bai qie ji I made a few months ago:  clear chicken broth with flavor notes of garlic, white pepper, ginger and scallion.  Regular chicken stock is even better.

Minestra di scarola ("escarole soup")



Pasta con cime di rapa e pomodoro

Rainbow carrots and parsnips, with candied ginger, hazelnuts and rosemary



Broccoli rabe, heirloom tomatoes and rocambole garlic

I somehow managed to score a basket of heirloom cherry tomatoes at USGM this weekend.




Pan-fried scallops
Freekeh pilaf, with scallion, currants and preserved lemon

Sweet peppers, with fresh mozzarella, Spanish chorizo and hazelnuts




Watercress and heirloom tomato salad




Baked eggs, cold roast chicken, rosemary toast

hungry prof -- very impressive.

tonight:



Orecchiette with mozzarella cheese and uncooked tomato sauce

Heirloom tomatoes will be gone in a week; say goodbye until next year.




Roast chicken with garlic and rosemary
Cabbage, cauliflower and cranberry beans

porcupine -- thanks.

last night:





Roasted brussels sprouts.







Orecchiette ("ears") with mussels, cranberry beans and Savoy cabbage.

Great pictures of the market, Trelayne! I grew up in NY and watched the USGM transform that neighborhood.When I made that first post, I was living in Tallahassee, FL - a good produce desert. Wandering through the market, even so early in the season, was uplifting. 

Thanks.  I shop there weekly.  This is probably my fave time of year.

it's interesting to find a thread dedicated to USGM on what is predominantly a DelMarVa-focused board.

anyway...

a few pix from yesterday; the rest are on my blog linked to in my signature.



radishes; at left are Japanese turnips.



green and purple kohlrabi.



very unusual to see parsnips so early in November. i should have bought a few, given that one of my favorite ways to serve them is for breakfast, fried in butter with toasted hazelnuts or pistachios and lightly drizzled with honey or maple syrup.



Seckel pears.



apples and cranberries.



German butterball potatoes. think of Yukon Golds, except these are denser and buttery in flavor; they're excellent roasted, fried or turned into olive oil mashed potatoes.

Autumn's in full swing here in NYC (even though today was in the mid-60s)...



Roasted brussels sprouts, with pancetta and sherry vinegar




"Beans and greens" -- radish greens, with cranberry beans, onion and lemon





Squid, with German butterball potatoes and sweet peppers




Spiced poached pears, vanilla ice cream, candied ginger

Last night's dinner and tonight's (11/01/2013):

Farfalle, with chard, lemon and bottarga

Mozzarella cheese, "melted" leeks and tomato

"Clam chowder" -- pan-roasted cod fillet, with crispy pancetta, heirloom potatoes, littleneck clams, clam and watercress broth

Chard, with pancetta and poached farm egg

You can vary the combo almost infinitely -- just pork, egg and veg.



Scarola e pomodoro ("escarole and tomato")



Spaghetti con gamberetti e pomodoro ("spaghetti with shrimp and tomato")