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Does A Cut Make Food Taste Better Than Meat And Meat Recipes Easy Meals - Yahoo Recipe Search
Food52I'm going to say right up front that this is a project, and while it can absolutely be assembled in a single session, it wouldn't hurt to consider dividing the labor over two days, or between morning and late-afternoon/early evening (i.e., around dinnertime). Not because it's particularly complicated--don't be intimidated by length of the ingredient list; it's mostly the contents of your spice rack--but because after the initial busywork, it's mostly waiting around for the meat to slow-cook at low heat over an extended period. And don't stews always taste better the next day? Anyway, the back story: I was home sick (read: hungover) from work one day about five years ago, trying in vain to find a Law & Order marathon on the tube, when I came across Good Eats on Food Network. The episode was "Beef Stew," and Alton Brown was preparing a goulash in a way I had never seen before. He took several pounds of English-cut short ribs and seared them on a griddle pan. Then he blended tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, paprika, and herbs, and coated the browned meat in it. Then he sealed it in foil and cooked it in the oven for 4 hours at 250. The meat was then separated from its juices, which were refrigerated until a fat cap formed and could be easily removed (and saved). He then cooked onions and potatoes in a little of the reserved fat before returning the meat and de-fatted sauce to the mixture and stewing them together briefly to complete the dish. I became fascinated with this technique and decided to try adapting it to the classic Hungarian Szekely Gulyas, which is a pork and sauerkraut stew, usually seasoned with paprika and caraway, sometimes cooked with tomatoes and banana peppers, and always finished with sour cream. I've tried this method several times now, with varied cuts of pork including cheek, butt, shoulder, neck, belly, and sparerib. A combination of belly, butt, and neck has yielded the best results so far, so that is what I call for here. Some notes about esoteric ingredients: Lecso is like a Hungarian version of ratatouille. It's a stew of tomatoes, peppers, and onion, usually seasoned with garlic and paprika, and if you're into canning, it's a great way to preserve the late-summer bounty. (In the colder months, many Hungarian cooks substitute lecso for the out-of-season fresh tomatoes and peppers in their recipes.) It's admittedly not the easiest ingredient to source, but there are two varieties I have seen: the one by Bende is like a chunky sauce and has a sweeter, more tomato-y flavor than the Gossari brand, which is slightly more bitter and emphasizes the pepper flavor, while also having a higher oil content, which gives it good body when pureed. If you can't find either of these, stewed tomatoes make an acceptable substitute. But if you want to be really DIY about it (and have the basis for another meal altogether--lecso is really good cooked with smoked sausage and/or eggs), it's super-easy to make. These are good recipes: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~june4/lesco.html OR http://zsuzsaisinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/hungarian-ratatouille-lecso.html OR http://www.thehungarydish.com/lecso-recipe-guest-post-by-peter-pawinski/. The basic rule of thumb is a 2:1:1 (by weight) ratio of peppers:tomatoes:onions. Cook the onions (and garlic, if using) in a little lard or bacon fat until soft, then add some paprika to taste (do this off heat so as not to burn the paprika), then throw in the peppers and cook a few minutes before adding the tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and simmering until a saucy consistency has been achieved. As for which peppers to use, traditionally you'd use Hungarian wax, a mixture of sweet and hot to taste, but you can use banana, bell, cubanelle, green Italian frying peppers, whatever is available, basically. If you do make your own, you can omit the stewed tomatoes and banana peppers when finishing the goulash and substitute an equivalent amount of lecso. Dill seed is, yes, the seed of the dill plant, and it has a flavor reminiscent of caraway, but lighter. Information here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/11/spice-hunting-dill-seed-how-to-use.html As mentioned above, this is an adaptation of Alton Brown's "Good Eats Beef Stew" recipe, which can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-beef-stew-recipe/index.htmlYummlyIf you have some stale bread in your pantry, you may be much closer to a delicious meal than you imagined. Mixed with a few basic ingredients, dry bread cubes can become knodel — traditional German bread dumplings. Sometimes called 'semmelknodel,' these dumplings are quick and easy to make. They're an inventive way to transform old bread into a warming side dish, or the base of a hearty a main course. Dry bread cubes are simply moistened with milk and eggs, and flavored with minced onion, fresh parsley, and some black pepper. This mixture is formed into balls, and simmered until fluffy. Knodels are particularly popular in Bavaria. They're an ideal accompaniment to traditional dishes like jägerschnitzel or rouladen. They're also in popular in Austria, in the Tyrol region especially, but you'll also find them in the most elegant restaurants of Vienna. The northern Italians even have a version of knodel, also in the Tyrol region. These are classic winter comfort food. In Germany and elsewhere, they are both a childhood favorite and a sophisticated, satisfying staple. Although hearty and satisfying, the ideal knodel are also light and fluffy. These tasty Bavarian dumplings are not at all tricky to make. But a few simple tricks will ensure great results. ## Tips And Tricks For Easy Knodel Preparation And Perfect Results _Start with dry bread:_ Knodel originated as a clever way to use up dry bread rolls so stale bread is the best base for light knodel -- they'll soak up a mixture of milk and egg. If you don't have stale bread, you can do what German cooks do: cut the bread into small cubes and toast them in the oven on a low temperature, much like croutons. Be careful to not let the bread cubes get too dark, but lightly browned bread cubes can give your dumplings a nice toasty flavor. _Use your judgement:_ While this knodel recipe provides the quantity of bread, milk, and eggs you need to make it, knodel recipes are flexible and forgiving and because all bread types are different, you may need a little more or a little less bread. Some bread is very airy and absorbent and can soak up lots of liquid. Other bread may be denser and need less liquid. What you are looking for is a mixture that will hold together nicely and form a smooth ball. If your mixture is too wet, the bread dumplings will fall apart as they simmer. If it's too dry, the dumplings may turn out to be dense and heavy. If you aren't sure you have the right consistency, go ahead and cook a test dumpling. If it falls apart in the water, you need to add a little more bread to help the mixture hold together. If the fully cooked dumpling is too heavy, you can loosen up the mixture with some extra milk. _Use a light hand:_ The key to making feather-light dumplings is a light touch. You don't need any special equipment to make knodel - just a large bowl and your hands. Mix the dough only until it comes together. Some of the bread cubes will remain intact, giving the finished dumplings a little texture. _Get your hands wet:_ Knodel dough can stick to your hands. Before you begin to shape the dumplings, make sure your hands are completely free of any traces of dough. Then get your hands nice and wet. This makes forming the balls much easier. You may need to periodically rinse your hands as you make the dumplings. _Smooth surface:_ Knodel dough is delicate. You want the dumplings to hold together as they simmer, so make sure the surface of your dumplings is absolutely smooth. Be careful not to leave any cracks or openings for water to seep into the dumpling and break it apart. This also ensures that your dumplings look great on the plate. _Simmer, don't boil:_ Easy does it with knodel, every step of the way. Just as you mix the dough gently, and form the dumplings smoothly, you'll want to cook them gently, too. A full rolling boil may break the fragile knodel apart. Before you start to cook, let the water boil to make sure it's hot enough. But then lower the temperature and wait for the bubbles to subside. Slide your knodel into gently simmering water, not boiling water. _Give them room:_ Knodel expand as they cook. Use a large pot to give your dumplings room to swell up and to cook evenly. Fill the pot about three-fourths full. The water temperature will lower as you add the dumplings and deep water will keep its heat better. But you also want to leave enough room for the dumplings. ## Versatile Dumplings There are many knodel recipes to suit every occasion and every taste. And you can easily customize your favorite recipe. For example, although most dumpling recipes call for white bread, you can use whatever bread you like, or even a mixture of breads, to make your bread dumplings distinctive. Most classic German knodel are served as a neutral side dish flavored with some onion and fresh parsley and little else. Semmelknodel can also be added to your favorite chicken soup to give classic American chicken and dumplings a German twist. You can also add meat to them -- some Austrian knodel recipes call for bacon or sausage for a dish that needs little more that melted butter to make it delicious. These simple bread dumplings can also turn a salad into main course fare, like in this recipe for Beet and Knodel Salad that takes its inspiration from traditional German cuisine. In this sweet and tangy salad, the boiled beets are tossed in a light honey mustard sauce. The savory bread dumpings, made with gruyere cheese for added flavor and texture, make an ideal accompaniment. Serve this German-style Beet and Knodel Salad on its own, or pair it with grilled meat.
