It's recipe-posting time! One of these I've owed some of you for a while, and the other two were requested after I made them last night.
I think I need a cooking icon.
Serves 2
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 c mirin
1/4 c water
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp peanut oil
1/2 lb beef tenderloin, sliced as thinly as possible
8 oz firm tofu, cubed
6 oz enoki mushrooms, brushed clean and bottoms trimmed
3 oz (dry weight) udon or other Japanese noodles, cooked
4 small scallions, chopped
1. Whisk the soy sauce, mirin, water, and sugar in a small saucepan over med-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm while you prepare the rest.
2. Heat a 10-inch high-sided saute pan over high heat until smoking. Swirl in the oil, then sear the tenderloin slices, about 10 seconds per side. Reduce heat to medium, move beef to one quarter of the pan, and arrange tofu, enoki, and noodles in the other quarters. Pour in the soy sauce mixture, then mound the scallions in the center. Cover, bring to a simmer, cook ~5 minutes, then serve.
Note about ingredients:
You'll probably have to go somewhere special for things like the mushrooms. I get everything from the Japanese grocery in Porter Square- they have handy pre-thinly-sliced beef (I think it's ribeye rather than tenderloin).
Serves 8-10 very happy people.
Rub:
1/2 cup minced garlic (get it in a jar, or spend forever with the garlic press)
1 c chopped fresh oregano (yes, really, you must have fresh)
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly cracked black pepper
One 10-pound bone-in leg of lamb (I've also done it with boneless roasts, they work fine too.)
8 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick
2 large red onions, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
3 whole lemons, very thinly sliced and seeded
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 500.
2. In a small bowl, combine the rub ingredients and mix well. Dry lamb well with paper towels. With the point of a paring knife, cut 8 or 10 slits about 2 inches deep in the roast. Push some of the oregano mixture into these slits and into any gaps between bone and meat on the ens of the roast, then rub the rest all over the outside of the roast.
3. In a large (and you will be much happier if it is nonstick) roasting pan, combine the potatoes, onions, and lemons. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
4. Place the lamb on a rack, put it in the roasting pan with the potato mixture, and roast until well-seared, about 20 minutes. Stir the potatoes around, reduce temperature to 300, and cook until lamb is done the way you like it. To check doneness, insert a meat thermometer into the dead center of the roast and let it sit for 5 seconds, then check the temperature: 120 is rare, 126 is med-rare, 134 is medium (that's what I usually cook it to), 150 is medium well, and 160 is well done. Transfer the roast to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil, and allow to rest for 10-20 minutes. Carve into thin slices and serve with potato mixture.
Note: The recipe doesn't say how long it cooks, but for reference, last night, it took almost exactly two hours in the oven- I had a 5-lb bone-in leg and a 4-lb boneless leg roast in the roasting pan.
Pie Crust, for one-crust 10-inch pie (double for 2-crust):
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp cold buter
1/4 cup shortening
2 Tbsp ice water
Mix flour and salt, then cut butter and shortening into 1-Tbsp pieces and put into flour. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, *thoroughly* incorporate butter/shortening- when you're done, it should be approximately the texture of small gravel (but yummier) and there shouldn't be large drifts of flour without any butter crumbs in them. I do a lot better at explaining this in person, and am happy to give Pie lessons.
Filling:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups pecan halves
Mix all but pecans thoroughly, until there are no chunks of brown sugar left, then stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes.
Easy as pie.