Joe Claro, King of the Roast Beef

Joe Claro makes a mean roast beef. That's my Dad, in case you didn't recall that from some of my other posts.

His method is simple just use some salt, pepper and roast the meat until cooked to your liking.

Everyday after school one of us five kids would get dinner started. Gran Fran would call us from her office (which was an actual office with a door and a ceiling, not a cube) and give us instructions. She talked at the lowest possible whisper, so we could barely hear when she said "Put the roast beef in for 1 hour. Make sure to put lots of salt on it." Trying to decipher her instructions took some time, and it often made me feel like we were involved in some kind of espionage instead of just dinner making.

Joe, on the other hand, always wanted to make sure that we knew the proper grammatical reason whether, when the roast was finished cooking, it was done or finished. I had to ask him to go back in time and outline his preference for the use of done or finished when referring to meat. We got in all kinds of trouble when we were kids. So, here's his definition (though he finally admits that maybe he's the only one who cares).

I am finished (with what I was doing). I have completed the activity I set out to complete.

The activity is done. It has been successfully completed.

I am (or you are, or she is) done should be used only when a person is the victim of cannibals, a tanning machine, or a hairdresser. Hence, the reference to roast beef.

On the other hand, if you check reliable usage sources,  you'll find that most otherwise respectable people no longer think this time-honored distinction is valid. This is one definite sign of the decline of Western civilization as we know it.

Let that be a lesson to you, young lady.

Now onto my all time favorite Joe-ism:  where does the inflection go when talking about roast beef?

The roast beef mispronunciation is a little harder to defend, but I'm ever willing to take on the extraordinary challenge.

In normal American English speech, a two-word noun-adjective phrase will almost always be pronounced with the stress on the noun. Nouns, after all, are far more meaningful than adjectives, which serve only to describe (or modify, in traditional grammatical jargon) the really important half of the phrase.

Of course, there are phrases in which we will on purpose emphasize the adjective, such as, "I wanted the GREEN beret, not the RED one." But that kind of pronunciation is by definition out of the ordinary, which is why we would usually exaggerate the emphasis.

So, unless you're talking about ROAST beef as opposed to BRAISED beef, emphasizing the adjective is careless, improper, and in some localities morally questionable.

And let that also be a lesson to you.

I am the grammarian about whom your mother warned you.

And so, goes my reminiscense of all things ROAST beef with Fran and Joe.

Roast Beef a la Joe

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pound chuck roast
• Kosher or rock salt to coat the whole piece of meat
• Ground black pepper to coat the whole piece of meat

Method:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Thoroughly dry the chuck roast.
• Roll the roast in the salt and pepper, making sure to make a nice even coating, if possible.
• Roast for fifteen minutes.
• Reduce heat to 375 degrees and roast for an additional 40 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let rest for fifteen minutes.
• Grab your handy electric knife and cut into thin slices.

Chili-Mac: Gluten-Free

I love chili. When my daughter was home sick with a stomach bug, I took the opportunity to break out the chili fixin's for myself.

Weird thinking, I know, but when there is a bonus day off from work (not saying her being sick was a bonus, mind you), I feel inclined to go big with my cooking. She doesn't eat chili and said the cooking smells wouldn't bother her, so I figured since I had to make really bland stuff for her to eat, I'd make myself something extra spicy. I also made oven-roasted jalapeno peppers (recipe will be appearing shortly, needs some adjustments...). Clearly, I was not having any of the bland food myself.

For years now, I've been using a mix for the spices, from Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit, which I highly recommend. There are no chemicals or weird fake-foods in the box, just cayenne pepper, corn masa flour, cumin, garlic, ground chili peppers, onion, oregano, paprika, salt. It's just easier to have everything put together for me, especially since I may not have all the ingredients on hand, most importantly, the corn masa which you use towards the end of cooking to thicken the chili.

I'd like to talk about chili-mac now. It's not a dish I grew up with. Maybe it did exist in NY, but it never made its way to me. The first time I encountered it, I was in southern Illinois with my then in-laws at Steak 'n Shake. It seemed to me like an ingenious combination. Why not use pasta as your vehicle of choice for chili? It's a pretty good combination of textures, and the cheese just sinks into the pasta every so nicely.

While I cooked the chili, I looked around for some corn tortillas to serve it with, only to come up empty. Instead, I chose a rice pasta as my base for the chili, making this the first time I've made chili-mac in my own kitchen. There is no cheese in this version, as I'm primarily dairy-free (except for butter, can't leave that behind), but you should feel free to add some nice sharp cheddar and maybe even some sour cream to finish off this great dish.

Gluten-free Chili-Mac

Ingredients:

• 1 box  Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit (or the chili spices of your choice)
• 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Shallots, finely minced
• 1 pound Ground Beef (or Ground Turkey)
• 1 8 ounce can Tomato Sauce
• 1 cup Water
• 1 can Black Beans, drained
• 1/2 pound cooked Rice Pasta (I use Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta)

Method:

1. Heat a large non-reactive pot over high heat.
2. Add the olive oil and half of the minced shallots.
3. Cook for 1 minutes. Add the ground meat.
4. Brown on all sides, about 15 minutes of cooking time.
5. Drain the fat from the pan.
6. Add the tomato sauce, water and spices.
7. Cook for ten minutes. Add the drained black beans.
8. Slightly cover the pot. Cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. While the chili is cooking, take the masa flour and mix with 1/3 cup warm water.
10. Add to the chili to thicken it. Make sure the corn masa flour is not clumping in the chili, break it up with a fork as you stir it into the mix.
11. Cook for five more minutes.
12. Place the prepared pasta into individual serving bowls.
13. Top with chili (and cheese, if you're into that).
14. Serve and enjoy!

Bones...Not for Soup....for Roasting

There is a restaurant here in San Francisco, Bar Tartine, that has a lovely menu ranging from locally harvested veggies to fatastically prepared roasts. My most favorite item on their menu is the roasted beef marrow. I had never tried this dish before going to Bar Tartine.

Let me tell you, once I had them, I found every excuse to go there for dinner as often as possible. It is not inexpensive, so it was quite an undertaking financing my new obsession. But, they never let me down. Each and every order showed up at the table piping hot with a lovely herbed salad and perfectly toasted bread slices. Frankly, I like going there with vegetarians, that way I get the whole order to myself.

Today, I am on day two of staying home sick. As mentioned in my previous post, I have taken to cooking my own comfort foods. And, so, this morning when I was at Whole Foods picking up fruit, I wandered over to the meat counter. They did indeed stock (no pun intended...ok, well maybe a little pun), beef marrow bones.

But then, the questions began: "is it for soup?" "did you want the femur or the knuckles?" "how many pounds did you need?"

Short of telling the butchers about my craziness for the Bar Tartine version, I tried to give them the sense that I knew what I was doing. I explained I was just roasting them and serving them with toast. He figured out that I wanted the femur cut into smallish pieces and went off to saw the bones apart for me. In the end, I didn't come off as an idiot, and came home with $12 worth of the loveliest beef marrow I've ever seen (ok, I guess I'd never seen it raw until this morning...).

In the end, I realize that Gran Fran did make osso bucco periodically utilizing the same (or very close to the same) types of bones. Once I got them marrow home, I placed some in a pan and stared at it. It resembled the cooked appetizer I loved from Bar Tartine, but it also seemed like a daunting task to get these bones from raw to roasted.

The recipe I based my first batch on came from Group Recipes. I used it mostly to make sure of how to put the bones in the pan, but improvised from there. So, herewith, my version (I've now made two batches) of an almost-as-good-version of Roasted Bone Marrow ala Bar Tartine.

Roasted Bone Marrow serves 6 as an appetizer

Ingredients: 3 lbs Beef Bone Marrow cut into 3 inch long pieces

• 1 cup loosely packed Italian Parsley
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

• Place marrow bones cut side up in oven proof skillet or roasting pan.

• Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, just until the marrow gets soft, the outside of the bones are lightly browned and the excess fat on the bones has browned as well.

• While bones are roasting, finely chop the parsley and garlic. Mix with the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. If you have an electric chopper, this is a good time to use it.

• Toast bread pieces.

• Serve with small spoons to scoop out the heavenly marrow, which can be placed on the toast with the parsley mixture.

ps check out those photos, huh? thanks again to gran fran and joe for my swanky new camera! xo

The Comforts of Home

OK, I have sent Ms. Iz back to school already, and am now posting my summer vacation musings. So very sorry for the long absence, but I am back, so please enjoy!!"It's Summer Vacation!!!!"

You get to say this just after the last bell of the last day of school rings. And, I prefer to scream if at the top of my lungs, in public, to the dismay of my daughter, Iz. But, it starts off the summer with a bang.

Just after school ends, it is likely you will find me and Iz on an early morning flight to NY for an extended stay. This year, it has been two weeks long. With the number of cousins, aunts, uncles and the famous Gran Fran and Joe to visit, we can use as much time as possible here.

Oh, and let's not forget about the meals. I believe I ate enough over the last two weeks to comfortably miss a month's worth of food. Not only did Gran Fran and Joe outdo themselves with copious amounts of food and drink on offer at any time of the day or night, but my siblings did as well.

Each house offered up it's own special dish, each excellent in it's own way. So, my friends, here is an ode to my many family members and friends who made with the love and the food while we were in NYC and gave us a trip to remember.

The highlight at Gran Fran's house was the Linguini with Clam Sauce. I have made this countless times, but it never, ever, turns out like Gran Fran's. She manages to get the sweetness of the clams to come through alongside a little bit of spice and tangy flavor of the Anise flavored liquor. I recall this being a favorite birthday meal while growing up, and such a comfort food to me. Delicious!!

That's not to say that Joe didn't also deliver the goods. Take, for exmple, his Tuna or Egg Salad, and you will never need to buy pre-made again. I recall eating either of these after school on Peperidge Farms White Sandwich Bread. There is a kick from the cayenne that is offset by the mellowness of the celery. I have yet to find a better or equal salad of this nature. But, these days I tend to eat it over salad greens (I have already discussed the carb intake, in direct relation to keeping my girlish figure at my age...need I say more?).

Bacon, which always factors heavily into my vacation breakfast rotation was another standout on this trip home. Iz, who should just be rena,ed "Little Miss. Bacon", was in Pig Heaven (yes, pun intended, thank you very much). Gran Fran offered up bacon everyday, which Miss Iz gladly accepted.

Not only was our bacon always cooked perfectly, but it was also cooked with no mess and no fuss. The secret?? Cook it in the oven at a fairly high heat for a bit longer than it would take on the stovetop. I have tried his new-fangeled idea, and oh the joys of bacon -tastic flavor without the slippery floor/stovetop/walls to deal with.

It's a dawning of a new bacon era around my house!

Last, but most certainly not least, The Roast Beef. Joe mqde this for us one evening, under the tutelage of Gran Fran (via phone from her office), though I believe he can make this one without the phone calls. Talk about juicy, flavorful meat. Oy! It was just divine. I donùt have much more to say on this, except that you must make it, and come to the table with an empty stomach so you can be sure to eat as much as possible. And, I would say some nice horshradish mayo would be the only addition I would make to Joe's recipe.

I could go on and on here, but that might tap me of recipes for posts to come (OK, thqt is highly unlikely), but this is enough to give you the flavor of our summer vacation.

You can never get enough of your old-time childhood favorites, and with Gran Fran and Joe around, I will never have to!

Tuna Salad or Egg Salad a la Joe:

• Celery, two stalks, cut into small pieces
• Scallion, two, cut into small pieces
• 12 oz can of Tuna, washed and drained or 8 boiled Eggs
• 2 Tbsps Mayonnaise
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper

Combine Tuna with Celery and Scallions, mash it with a fork, add salt, pepper, cayenne. Mix in about two tablespoons of mayo, and then determine how much more you need as you mix.

For Egg Salad Variation:

1. Put the 8 eggs into cold water, bring to a boil, then set the timer for five minutes.
2. When that time is up, turn off the heat, leave the pot where it is and set timer for 10 minutes. Then run the eggs under cold water for several minutes.
3. Slice them (I use an egg slicer), add them to the celery and scallions, mash them with a potato masher, add the seasoning, and slowly mix in mayo until you're satisfied.

Roast Beef a la Joe:

serves 4 to 6 people

• 3.5 pounds of eye round beef
• Kosher or Coarse Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Method:

1. Dry the eye-round with paper-towels.
2. Slather with salt and pepper.
3. Cook on a rack to allow drippings for gravy.
4. Although recipes call for 20 minutes a pound, I cook it not for 1:10, but for 1:35.

Amazing Bacon Cooked in the Oven:

serves 4 as a side dish

1 Lb Bacon (best quality that you can find)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spread bacon out on a rack set in a sheet pan with sides.
3. Bake for 20 minutes or so.

Linguine with Clam Sauce

serves 4 people

• 1 pound thin linguine
• 2 1/2 pounds baby clams
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 tablespoons anisette
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth or other dry white wine
• 3 cloves garlic, quartered
• Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup finely minced parsley

1. Set pasta water up to boil. Sprinkle with not too much salt; clams are salty. 2. Clean clams thoroughly under cold running water; scrub with brush 3. Warm the olive oil gently with the garlic, until garlic turns golden 4. Over medium heat, carefully add liquors 5. When alcohol evaporates, add clams and turn heat high and put a lid on pan. 6.Clams should cook in less than 5 minutes. 7. Add pasta and a dollop of pasta water. Stir over medium heat to combine. Add parsely; serve.

It’s 2 AM, Pot Roast Anyone?

There is a trend with at least three members of my family. We like to cook at odd hours of the day and night. Actually, I don’t know if “like” is the right word; for me, at least, it is a habit borne of necessity. The habit does, though, make it possible to create full-fledged meals any day of the week, but at the expense of less sleep than a normal person should require. And, Gran Fran is the reigning queen of this domain.

As far back as I can remember, I heard the sounds of pound cakes being whacked out of baking tins, Kitchen Aid mixers whirring, and caught the smells of roasting meats at any hour of the day or night. If there was a need for a big dinner on a Friday, for instance, Gran Fran would stay up the night before until at least 3AM and then get up again at 6 AM to leave for work. She was always pleasant about it, but with a bit of “…No, no, that’s ok, I can do it myself,” whenever she was asked if she wanted help.

The results were always great, and made all five of us the envy of our friends, since we got food cooked from scratch that was better than you could get in most restaurants. As the years went by and most of us moved out, the cooking marathons became less frequent, usually revolving around homecomings of the older kids.

Being the youngest, I got to see the preparations for these events firsthand. The most memorable was one night when I was in college (yes, I lived with my parents through most of college, bless them for taking me in), I came home late with a friend, around 2AM. There was Gran Fran sacked out on the couch, still wearing her apron and headscarf (circa 1973 by home textile designer, Vera), glasses on, “watching” TV. Once I closed the kitchen door, she was roused enough to utter these two statements:
“I was just resting my eyes. The pot roast on the stove is ready. Want some?”

The friend I was with had not experienced the Gran Fran way before and was astounded to be asked this not only at 2AM but by someone who was seemingly asleep. Of course, the pot roast (served with steamed potatoes, naturally) was fantastic and my friend stated she would come back any time of the day or night to see what Gran Fran would produce.

So, in an effort to continue Gran Fran’s legacy of cooking all-nighters, I now do the same. Mine are usually at 6AM before my daughter wakes up and we have to go to school and work, but the results are the same. And, I hope that Gran Fran will see that for me, it’s also just a little bit of trouble, but that’s ok, I can do it myself.

Pot Roast a la Gran Fran
Serves 8
(You may have noticed by now that all of the recipes on the site “serve 8”. Think about it; we were a family of 7, so this was the necessary serving size for everything we made. You can’t imagine how hard it was to relearn how to cook all of this stuff in smaller batches when I moved out!)

You will need 1 heavy skillet and 1 heavy, deep Non-Reactive stew pan with a lid

Ingredients:
• 3 to 3 ½ lbs Bottom Round Beef, whole
• ¼ lb double smoked bacon, diced
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Carrots, sliced into small pieces
• 1 White Onion, diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 3 cups Dry Red Wine
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• ½ Tbsp Thyme (dried or a little less if using fresh)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 2 Tbsp Flour

Method:
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Boil diced bacon in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes.
• Refresh bacon under cold water by rinsing it briefly. Then, pat dry.
• Heat Olive Oil in large skillet.
• Add bacon, browning well on all sides.
• When bacon browns, remove from pan and set aside.
• Dry Beef well. Add to pan of hot oil.
• Brown well on all sides.
• In heavy stew pan, add some oil from the skillet.
• Sauté onions and carrots until golden.
• Sprinkle the vegetables with flour.
• Brown until golden over medium heat, 3 – 5 minutes.
• Add the browned meat to the vegetables.
• Pour wine into the empty skillet, bring to a boil, while scrapping the browned bits off the bottom.
• Add wine and vegetable scrapings to the Beef stew pot.
• If there is not enough liquid to cover the Beef, add water to barely cover the meat.
• Stir in tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf and garlic.
• Bring to a boil once more on the stovetop.
• Cover closely (Hi, Gran Fran)
• Place on lower rack of oven. Leave pan undisturbed in oven for 1½ hours, stir, put cover back on and simmer another 1½ hours.
• Before serving add braised pearl onions (see below) and sautéed mushrooms

Braised Onions a la Gran Fran
To be served in Pot Roast

Ingredients:
• 1 lb Tiny Onions
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Bay Leaf
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• ½ cup Red Wine

Method:
• Peel onions by dipping in boiling water for 1 minute to loosen skins. Slip skins off.
• Heat olive oil in sauté pan and add Onions.
• Toss until golden brown.
• Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf.
• Add wine and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 35 minutes.
• Remove from heat, add to Pot Roast and enjoy!!

The Pot Roast is best if served a day after you make it, since it absorbs all of the lovely flavors the spices and wine broth have let off. Serve with mashed or steamed potatoes.