Passover: the One Question

Wine:

Chateau Sainte-Marie Entre-Deux-Mers 2005
Saxum Broken Stones 2004 Paso Robles from Bea


We reduced the 4 Passover questions to one: Do you want Red or White Wine?

I went to Jerry’s Deli in the Valley and picked up some Creamed Herring (I love it, no one else in our house does). I also picked up Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls.
They turned out to be quite light and good. I also picked up some Coconut Macaroons at La Brea Bakery.

We exchanged potatoes for the turnips in the recipe. One thing we definitely discovered was that the meat was even better the second day! We had purchased the Brisket from Gus Meats and it was one of the best briskets we have had in a long time.

The previous Friday we had been to one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, Canale. We noticed a side dish on an entrée that we didn’t order: Fava Bean Hash.

We ordered it as a side for our dinner, and it was great.

At the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Sunday we had purchased fava beans with the intention of making fava bean puree sometime this week. I decided to stop by Canale to ask Corina for her recipe for the Fava Bean Hash. She graciously gave it to me. It turned out that the leftovers vegetables from the brisket were the beginning of the hash. All we had to do was to separate the carrots out from the Cipollini Onions and Carola Potatoes that we had used for the brisket. We added some olive oil, the mint and the beans. We warmed it in the oven and it was great! Thanks Corina.

For a first course we made a great spring salad from The Zuni Café Cookbook. We never had made it before. The title of the salad tells it all: Mixed Lettuces with Mandrins, Hazelnuts and Hazelnut Vinaigrette. It is made with fresh slices of Pixie Tangerines that are just arriving in the market, we surrounded the salad with Manchego Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. I liked the idea of a salad with fresh fruit in it.

We were basing our Brisket on a recipe from the Los Angeles Times

Braised Beef with Turnips and Onions

March 28, 2007

Total time: About 1 hour, 40 minutes, plus 4 hours roasting time, plus 24 hours marinating time

Servings: 8 to 10

Note: Adapted from "The Cafe Boulud Cookbook" by Daniel Boulud

1 (4- to 5-pound) brisket

2 cups white wine

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

4 sprigs thyme

4 bay leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups beef broth

24 pearl onions

4 medium to large turnips

1 cup apple cider

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1. Place the brisket in a shallow pan or container that will hold it snugly. Mix the wine, brown sugar, garlic, thyme and bay leaves and pour over the meat. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning the meat once.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lift the brisket from the pan and scrape off the garlic and herbs, adding them to the marinade. Save the marinade. Pat the meat dry and season it with three-fourths-teaspoon salt and one-half-teaspoon freshly ground black pepper on each side. Warm the olive oil on the stove at medium high in a Dutch oven that fits the meat. Brown the meat evenly and carefully for 7 to 10 minutes. Add the marinade and bring to a boil. Pour in the beef broth to cover. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and cover. Braise in the oven for 3 hours.

3. While the brisket is in the oven, bring a small pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the pearl onions, and blanch for about 1 minute. Remove the onions and shock in cold water. Cut off the ends of the onions, and squeeze off the outer skin. Peel, trim and quarter the turnips lengthwise.

4. Remove the brisket from the oven. Add the onions and turnips to the meat in the pan, spooning liquid from the pan over the brisket. Cover with foil and cook for 1 hour more, or until the turnips are fork tender.

5. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, slice it against the grain in thin slices and place them on a warm platter. You will need a large spatula, as the meat may be starting to fall apart. Spoon vegetables around the meat, removing bay leaves and sprigs of thyme. Cover loosely and keep warm. Put the pan with the liquid (you will have about 6 1/2 cups) over medium to high heat. Add the cider and cider vinegar, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and reduce for about an hour until the sauce coats the back of a spoon (this makes a little more than 1 cup sauce). Taste and season the sauce as needed with salt and pepper.

6. Strain the sauce over the meat and vegetables and serve.

For dessert we had Strawberries macerated in Balsamic and a little Sugar with Coconut Macaroons.



Fava Bean Hash from Corina at Canale

Portions according to taste
====================

Carole Potatoes Quarter then Slice
Cloving Green Garlic – Confit it
Cipollini onions
Salt
Sauté all in ¼ olive oil

Add to Pan
========

Double shucked Fava beans
Chopped mint leaves
Cracked Picholine olives
Warm through and serve