Corpse Reviver Contemporary

refreshing and strong

This is a better option than the classic. Use a good dry gin and vermouth for this.

• 1 oz dry gin
• 3/4 oz yellow chartreuse
• 3/4 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• absinthe
• lemon peel

In a martini glass pour a splash of absinthe, coat glass and drink what remains. Express lemon juice as zesting the peel into glass as well. Add other ingredients to a shaker with ice, shake well and serve in glass with lemon peel to garnish.

Banana Nut Bran Muffins

These are adjusted from Nourish & Fete.

light and delicious unless you hate banana

• 1 1/4 cups wheat bran
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup unbleached white flour
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup black walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together. Mash bananas to a paste with oil and eggs. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into dry ingredients and mix to combine. Spoon into prepared muffin pans to top and bake for about 20 minutes.

Mariner’s Octopus

This works best with little grape tomaotes that are halved at most but can be done with any size diced fairly fine. 12-15 baby octopus or 1 whole octopus can be used. If one large on cut it into medium pieces when you add the tomatoes.

Mariner’s Octopus

• 2 1/2 lbs baby octopus
• 1 onion halved and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves chopped roughly
• 2 cups grape tomatoes larger ones halved
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 1 tbsp chopped sage
• 3 tbsp chopped basil
• Salt/pepper

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add onion. Saute until golden and all rings are separated, then add garlic, sage and octopus. Stir to one layer and cover. Saute over low heat for one hour stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, wine and basil and saute covered for another hour until sauce is thick. Serve with polenta.

Pickled White Turnips

check out my shiny balls

Keep turnips whole up to the size of a ping pong ball, halve any larger. Make sure to wash and remove bad spots before parboiling. This is the ratio per 32 oz jar of pickles.

Pickled White Turnips

• 1 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2-4 dried cayenne peppers
• 1 tsp black peppercorn
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 tbsp dill seed
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• Turnips

Parboil turnips for 45 seconds then strain into ice water for 5 minutes. Measure out turnips into 32 oz mason jars then sterilize jars. Bring water, vinegars and salt to a boil. Pack each jar with spices and turnips, pour brine to cover and seal. Let stand till all caps ping then store for 30 days before eating. Refrigerate any containers that fail to seal.

Black Walnut Tart

has to be black walnuts

This tart will work with pecans or regular walnuts as well. Top with whipped cream.

Black Walnut Tart

Crust

• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp butter cold
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp water

Filling

• 1 1/2 cups chopped black walnuts
• 2 tbsp ground espresso
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter melted
• 1/8 tsp salt

Make crust. Combine flour, brown sugar and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter. Mix egg yolk with water and mix into flour until pastry dough forms. Chill for 30 minutes then roll out to fit a 9″ tart pan. Fit dough into pan and bake at 400 degrees until golden, about 12 minutes. Cool completely. Toast walnuts in oven for 8 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350. Dissolve coffee in water add brown sugar and whisk until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, corn syrup, butter and salt whisking until smooth after each one. Add walnuts and pour into tart pan. Bake until set about 30 minutes. Let cool 2 hours before serving.

Octopus in Red Wine

ahoy yeh mateys it’s the leviation

This works well with both a larger single 2 lb octopus or 10-12 small baby octopus. Cook the babies whole or cut the large one into 1/4″ pieces.

To clean remove beak and eyes and pull out stuff inside main body cavity. Rinse under cold water and pat dry.

Octopus in Red Wine

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large shallot diced fine
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2-3 fresh sage leaves chopped roughly
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 lbs octopus
• 1/2 cup red wine

Saute onion in butter and oil until browned then add spices and garlic. Saute until fragrant then add octupus and cook on medium heat until tentacles curl and color changes to light purple, about 5 minutes. Turn heat to very low, add wine and simmer partially covered for 1 1/2 hours. Serve hot.

Spiced Slightly More Involved Carnitas

Still a good amount of liquid left to go

This works well with about half of a bone in pork butt. Use the bone to make a meat stock.

Carnitas

1. 3-4 lbs pork shoulder/butt cut into large chunks stringy fat/skin removed
2. 1 dried ancho ground
3. 1 dried new mexico chili ground
4. 1 dried cayenne ground
5. 1 tbsp coriander seed ground
6. 1 tbsp black peppercorn ground
7. 2 tbsp sea salt ground
8. 2 tbsp cinnamon
9. 1 tbsp nutmeg
10. 1 tsp clove ground
11. 1 bay leaf
12. 1 onion diced medium
13. 4 garlic cloves chopped roughly
14. zest of 1 orange
15. 4 cups meat stock
16. 12 oz lager/ale

Combine ground chilis and spices and rub into meat. Let marinade for 12-24 hours. Put remaining ingredients and meat in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil and then stew on medium until all liquid has evaporated and meat shreds easily. Serve on corn tortillas with any assortment of toppings.

Gravlax

gravlax [ grahv-lahks ]: famous caribbean barbecue that takes advantage of the bountiful salmon schools that live in the region

Or perhaps a little further north.

Gravlax

• 1 pound fresh salmon filet skin on
• 3 tbsp sea salt
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup akvavit or other herbal liquor/botanical gin
• fresh dill or other spice of choice

Mix dry ingredients together. Rub into filet all over and wrap in plastic wrap. place skin side down and then cover in fresh dill/spice. Pour liquor over and seal. Place a plate on top with 3-5lbs of weight and refrigerate 72-80 hours basting in the juices every 24 hours. Serve sliced thin with crackers and horseradish cream sauce.

Indian Red Beans

The onions are the key

This would be good with red lentils as well.

Baked Rajma

• 1 red onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 fresh green chile
• 1″ piece fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp sea salt
•  28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups kidney beans soaked and cooked
• ½ tsp cayenne
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• ½ cup heavy cream 
• ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

For the Pickle

• 3 tsp granulated sugar
• 3 tsp sea salt
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Quarter the onion, then thinly slice one portion. Set aside sliced onion. Blend remaining onion with garlic, chile and ginger. Purée until fairly smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. In a large, deep ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium. Add the cumin seeds and cook until lightly toasted, about 30 seconds. Add the onion mixture and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the excess liquid has evaporated and the mixture is just starting to take on a golden color, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the beans and chile powder to the onion mixture, and mix well. Use a fork to mash a tablespoon or so of the beans against the side of the skillet to help thicken the sauce. Add tomatoes and garam masala to the beans, and mix well. Drizzle the top with cream then slide into the oven and bake, uncovered, until the sauce has thickened and the top is lightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes without stirring. Prepare the pickle: While the beans are baking, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Transfer 3/4 cup hot water to a small bowl. Stir in the sugar and salt until dissolved. Add the reserved onion slices to the boiling water in the saucepan, turn off the heat and, after 1 minute, drain the onion. Transfer the softened onion to the small bowl and stir in the vinegar. When the beans are ready, fish out the pickled onion slices and arrange on top, letting a few drops of the pickling liquid flick over the beans to season them. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot rice, buttered toast or flour tortillas.

Soy Sauce Eggs

Sunnyside up

This recipe is an adaptation of Momofuku’s eggs.

The cooking time must be followed exactly.

Fresh farm eggs give the best result.

Soy Sauce Eggs

• 6 tbsp hot water
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup light soy sauce
• 1-2 tbsp sriracha or other pepper sauce
• 6 large eggs

 

In a bowl whisk together the water and sugar until dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully put the eggs into the boiling water and cook for exactly 6 minutes and 50 seconds, stirring slowly for the first 1 1/2 minutes to distribute the heat evenly. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice. When the eggs are done, transfer them to the ice. Once the eggs cool, peel them under water. Transfer the eggs to the soy sauce mixture and marinate in the fridge for at least 4, and up to 8, hours, making sure they are completely submerged. If necessary, top the eggs with a small plate to ensure submersion.