French Bistro Brisket

This is Steve Raichlen's recipe.  I heard this on the radio during a review of his book "Man Made Meals: The Essential Cookbook for Guys".  They way he described the "French Bistro" and this brisket, my mouth was watering!  I made it for Thanksgiving instead of Turkey.  It was awesome.

1 slab (about 3 pounds) center-cut beef brisket
4 slices thick bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slivers
24 pearl onions, peeled, or 6 small onions, peeled and quartered
8 medium-size carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces, plus 2 carrots, peeled, trimmed, and finely chopped
1 pound small red or new potatoes, cut in half
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup Cognac
1 bottle (750 milliliters) fruity red wine, like Beaujolais
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon chopped chives (optional)

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Trim any excess fat (more than 1/4 inch) off the brisket.Place the bacon in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a platter.

Add the pearl onions, carrot pieces and potatoes to the pot, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until browned (about three minutes), stirring often. Using the slotted spoon, transfer the browned onions, carrots and potatoes to the platter with the bacon. Lightly cover the bacon and vegetables with aluminum foil — they won't be added back to the pot until the brisket has cooked for three hours. Pour off and discard all but about two tablespoons of the bacon fat from the pot.

Very generously season the brisket on all sides with salt and pepper. Place the brisket in the pot and sear it in the hot bacon fat over medium-high heat until darkly browned, about five minutes per side. Transfer the brisket to a plate. Pour off and discard all but two tablespoons of fat.

Add extra two chopped carrots, second chopped onion, celery, garlic and bay leaves to the pot and cook until browned, about four minutes, stirring often.

Add the Cognac and let come to a boil, stirring up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon. Return the brisket to the pot. Add the wine and tomato paste and bring to a boil. 

Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven. Cook the brisket until semi-tender, about three hours, checking once or twice to make sure the meat doesn't stick to the pot or scorch on the bottom.

Remove the pot from the oven. Uncover the pot, and using a large spoon, remove and discard any fat floating on the surface. Stir in the bacon, browned pearl onions, carrot pieces, and potatoes. Cover the pot, return it to the oven, and continue cooking the brisket for 1 hour longer.

Remove the pot from the oven. Uncover the pot, spoon off the fat again, and return the uncovered pot to the oven. Cook the brisket until it is very tender, some of the pan juices have evaporated, and the sauce starts to thicken, 30 minutes to one hour more. Remove the pot from the oven and let the brisket rest for about 10 minutes.

Again, spoon off any fat that has risen to the surface. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and thinly slice it crosswise across the grain.

Place the pot with the sauce and vegetables on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Boil the sauce until concentrated and flavorful, about three minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste; the sauce should be highly seasoned.

Return the sliced brisket to the sauce and vegetables. Sprinkle the chopped chives, if using, on top. Serve the brisket French bistro style directly from the pot.

Three Onion Quiche

This recipe came with a shipment from the "Sunset Wine Club".  For what it's worth, they suggest pairing with "Cachette NV Blanc de Blancs Brut" from Burgundy, France.  We had it for breakfast with a glass of milk and it was great.

1 sheet refrigerated pie dough
1 tablespoon butter
3 medium leeks, thinly slice the white and light green parts, rinse well
2 bunches green onions, thickly sliced
1/2 red onion, cut into thin half-moons
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup half-and-half
3 eggs
2 cups grated white cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 425°.  Unroll pie dough into a 9-inch deep dish pie pan, crimp the edge.  Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or dried beans, popcorn, or something to add weight on the crust).  Bake until light golden, about 15 minutes.  Remove paper and weights.

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add leeks, green onions, red onion, and 1/2 of the salt.  Saute until onions are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Whisk together the half-and-half, flour, eggs, and remaining salt.  Stir in the cheese and 3/4 of the onion mixture.  Pour into the pie shell.  Sprinkle the remaining onion mixture on top.

Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes clean, 30-45 minutes.  Cover edges with foil if they get dark.  Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Orange Fennel Olives

This makes a great warm appetizer.  This recipe came with a can of "Lindsay" green olives.  There are other brands, like "Early California" -- the recipe is best with the fresh-packed kind of olives, packed in water, not in oil or with pimentos or other flavorings.

1 6oz can green ripe olives in water, drained
1-1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 2-inch strips orange peel, removed with a vegetable peeler
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon fennel seed, coarsely crushed with a mortar & pestle

Preheat oven to 375°.  Toss ingredients in a small table-ready baking dish (or you can transfer the olives into another dish to serve).  Place on the middle rack of the oven, bake until hot, about 5 minutes.  Serve immediately with toothpicks.

Coconut Lemonade Gelatin

We've been 'playing' around with jello/gelatin lately, and recently brought this to an easter brunch.  It made a good light dessert that had a nice eastery-colored look.  I was initially going to make the top section yellow, but decided on pink when I found a good pink lemonade at the store.  We'll probably post more gelatin recipes as we come up with other combinations that we like.

4 cup gelatin mold or bowl
3 packets (.25oz each) gelatin
2 cups regular or pink lemonade, filtered through a coffee filter to remove pulp
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
pink/red or yellow food coloring, or red or yellow hard candy

Lemonade layer:  Bring 1-1/2 cups lemonade to boil.  Soak 1-1/2 packets of gelatin in 1/2 cup cold lemonade for a minute or two.  Add boiling lemonade, mix until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Depending on how strong the color is, and how colorful you want it to be, you may want to add food coloring, or dissolve hard candy in a little boiling water and add for color.   Pour into gelatin mold and refrigerate. Let set for at least 2 hours before starting the coconut layer.

Coconut layer:  Bring the coconut milk, sugar, and almond extract to boil.  Soak 1-1/2 packets of gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water for a minute or two.  Add boiling coconut milk mixture and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Refrigerate in a bowl separately from the mold, until it starts to set, 1-2 hours.  Once it has started to set, mix in shredded coconut, and pour into mold over the lemonade layer.

Let mold set for at least 4 hours.  To remove from the mold, dip mold into a bowl of hot water, getting only the outside of the mold wet, for about 5 seconds before turning onto serving plate (put plate upside down on top of mold and flip both together).  Garnish with shredded coconut and lemon slices.

Lemon Potatoes

This recipe is our attempt to duplicate the lemon potatoes served at Le Petit Greek. If you've ever eaten there you'll remember the potatoes.  We found that parboiling the potatoes before marinading them in the lemon juice helps the lemon flavor penetrate better.  The marinade time is long, but the result is worth planning ahead for.

5-6 medium sized white or red potatoes, peeled and sliced into wedges
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
ground black pepper

Cover the potatoes in water, in a large pot. Bring them to boil, and let boil for about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Lay potatoes in 1 layer in a baking dish. Combine water, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pour over the potatoes. Add a little more water if needed to cover the potatoes. Cover, refrigerate, and let the potatoes soak overnight, or for at least 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 450°.  Drain the potatoes, put them back in the baking dish, toss with olive oil, oregano, a little salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and nicely browned.