Who rigs every Oscar night? We do!

I love it when dishes have secret ingredients. It makes me feel like part of a secret foodie club, kind of like an epicurean version of the Stone Cutters. And the only way to learn about the secret ingredient is to get the secret password from someone who's tried it, vouched for it, and passed it along. So consider this blog entry a secret handshake that opens the door to the best beef (or buffalo) stew you've ever had.

And what exactly is the secret ingredient? The brined green peppercorn. I know! I had never heard of it either! But in the pack of my mind, I knew I had seen it at my tiny little neighborhood grocery store near the capers and other various pickled things. If you can't find them in the store, there is always the interwebs.

Porter beef (or buffalo) stew, adapted from Gourmet, October 2004
Serves 3

1 lb. beef or buffalo stew meat, cut into small (1-inch or smaller) bites (I used buffalo)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-and-Guinness-Pie-230754#ixzz0grtZ57Kx

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-and-Guinness-Pie-230754#ixzz0grtZ57Kx

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-and-Guinness-Pie-230754#ixzz0grtZ57Kx

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-and-Guinness-Pie-230754#ixzz0grtZ57Kx

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-and-Guinness-Pie-230754#ixzz0grtZ57Kx

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-and-Guinness-Pie-230754#ixzz0grtZ57Kx

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-and-Guinness-Pie-230754#ixzz0grtZ57Kx

1 tablespoon flour
salt and papper
vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz. shitake or crimini mushrooms, stems discarded and the heads chopped
3 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 cup beef broth
1 cup porter beer (I used Rogues Mocha Porter)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, or a teaspoon or dried

1/3 sheet puff pastry, taken out of the freezer when you put the stew in the oven (even when its frozen, you can break off one of the folds, which is 1/3 sheet)
1/2 tablespoon melted butter
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pat the meat dry, season with salt and pepper, and dust with flour. Heat a small amount of vegetable oil over medium high heat in a heavy ovenproof pot, and brown the meat on all sides. You may have to do this in a couple of batches, depending on the size of your pot and how much meat you are using. Don't crowd the pot. Remove the browned meat to a bowl.

Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and water to the pot, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the onions and mushrooms are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mustard, stirring for another minute. Add the meat with any accumulated juices, broth, beer, Worcestershire, peppercorns (yes, the secret ingredient!!) and thyme. Let it come to a bubble, then transfer to the oven to cook for about 75-90 minutes, until the sauce is nice and thick and the meat is very tender. This is a good time to drink the rest of the beer that didn't make it into the stew.

Right before you take the stew out of the oven, roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured board, until its about half as thin. Cut it into however many pieces you need (I just did two, but you could easily get three pieces per 1/3 sheet.) Brush both sides of the pastry with butter, and place on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. When you take the stew out of the oven, raise the heat to 400 degrees, then put the puff pastry in the oven for about 10 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Ladle the stew into bowls, then top with a puff pastry "cracker."

Open (your mouth) sesame!

I used to be very anti-tofu. My husband always liked it, but up until five years ago, I always got a little lip sneer when thinking about eating it myself. But now I'm totally hooked. (If you already eat tofu, just skip ahead to the recipe, because below is my mini-treatise on why one should try tofu.) You can't think of it as fake meat. It tastes nothing like meat, which is one of its selling points. It tastes like whatever you cook it with. And if you cook it right, it is crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Anything that's crispy on the outside is delicious! I dare you to name one food that isn't. Try this recipe if you're new to tofu. If you hate it, there's noodles as a side. And if you hate noodles, well, only God can help you.

Bonus feature: the leftovers are great cold for lunch the next day.

Sesame tofu and sesame noodles, from Eating Well and Simple Vegetarian Pleasures
Serves 4

Tofu
1 16 oz. block extra firm tofu
1/4 cup rice wine, sake or sherry (I used sherry)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup white sesame seeds (these are much cheaper in the bulk food section, rather than the spice section, of your market)

Noodles
1 lb. soba noodles
1/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste) or peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sherry
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
a few dashes of Sriracha hot sauce, to taste
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow, red, or orange pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

Cut the tofu into eight slices, about the size of playing cards. Mix together the rice wine (or sake or sherry), soy sauce, and sesame oil in a low bowl or pie plate. Marinate the tofu, turning occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a big pot of water to boil for the soba noodles. Mix together the tahini paste (or peanut butter), soy sauce, sherry, sugar, sesame oil, water, ginger, and Sriracha. Cook the soba noodles in the boiling water until tender, but still with a little bite, about five minutes. Drain and rinse, then toss with the sauce, diced pepper, and onions.

Heat a nonstick or cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add a little vegetable oil. Spread the sesame seeds on a plate. Lift the tofu slices out of the marinate, and coat on both sides with the sesame seeds. Cook the tofu slices in two batches, allowing the sesame seeds to brown and crisp, about 3-4 minutes per side. (A good spatula is essential here. One reason I really like using a cast iron skillet is that you can use a metal spatula.)

Serve the tofu on top of the noodles. You could also make all of this ahead, and have it chilled for a picnic lunch.

It's noon (and summer) somewhere...

I am currently doing a load of socks in the washing machine. Why just socks? Well, what with the recent snomg! in DC, I have worn all of my tall wool socks, which are the only thing I will wear with my hiking boots out in the snow. And with the promise of another 10 inches (of snow) tonight, I need all of my wool socks available for duty. (My favorite name for the second storm is kaisersnowze.) Usually I like comfort food and spiked hot chocolate (with marshmallows) to see me through the winter, but when it gets to be this ridiculous, its fun to pretend you're somewhere else. Like Florida. Drinking a martini. Fresh from a visit to the Turtle Hospital. Plus if you have enough of these cocktails, you might even forget the deathmatch you witnessed at the grocery store between two neighbors battling it out for the last loaf of bread.

Key lime martini, adapted from GreatGrub.com
makes one drink

2 ounces vanilla vodka (see recipe below, or use store-bought)
1 ounce Cointreau*
1 ounce lime juice (I used Nellie and Joe's key lime juice)
1/2 tablespoon superfine sugar (made by putting regular sugar in a clean coffee/spice grinder - but don't make it into powdered sugar - although it's just a cocktail, I'm sure it will go down the gullet fine either way)

Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, and then strain into a martini glass.

*We have a large bottle of Cointreau gifted from my parents' dog, who stayed with us a few months ago and threw up in the living room. (From being nervous, not from drinking martinis.)

Vanilla vodka
makes about a pint, takes 3 days

1 vanilla bean, split open
1 pint vodka (moderate quality works great here)

Put the vanilla bean in a pint jar. Cover with vodka. Let it sit three days. We threw the vanilla bean away, and kept the vodka, but you could keep the bean in there and keep adding more vodka as you use it. It will continue to intensify the longer it sits.

A study in ravioli, parts 1 and 2

I don't mind taking the time to make something a little labor intensive on a weeknight. It's a nice chance to spend time with my sweetheart, chatting about our day over a drink and working on creating a nice meal to share together. Aren't we so sacharine sweet you could just barf? Ha! But for reals, y'all - it's such a nice way to transition from workday to evening. But I will draw the line somewhere - for example, take these ravioli. After making the (rather quick) fillings, I was not about to mix together and roll out homemade pasta dough. But wonton wrappers make a really good substitute. And you and your dinner partner(s) can regale each other with amusing anecdotes whilst stuffing.

Note: We both of these made these on a night when we were starving, and had to hold  ourselves back from eating the entire two batches. We prepared them at the same time, but did boil them one after another (so as to only wash one pot, yet keep them separate.) If you made a nice big salad, bread and dessert, you could probably serve 4 people.

Sweet potato ravioli, from Bon Appetit February 2003
1 1/2 lb. sweet potatoes
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
24 wonton wrappers

crushed spicy nuts, to garnish (I was lucky enough to be Christmas-gifted delicious spiced pecans from my friends Henry and Erin)


1/2 stick of butter
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
(this is the sauce for BOTH ravioli dishes)

Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork, then microwave them until soft, about 10 minutes. Turn them once during the cooking. Let them cool briefly, them peel the skin off, put the flesh in a bowl, and add the sugar, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Take about a tablespoon of filling and place in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Wet the edges of the wonton wrapper, then fold over into a triangle. You can leave it at that, but we made little hats by putting a dab of water in the middle bottom of each wrapper, then folding in the two edges.

For butter sauce, melt butter in a skillet, let the foaming subside, then add the chopped rosemary, stirring until fragrant, about a minute or two.

Boil in a large pot of water for 2-3 minutes, then toss with half the butter sauce, and garnish with chopped nuts.

For ravioli recipe number two, see below

Read more »