Beef Cacciatore

Beef Cacciatore

 

 

Beef cacciatore (just pick a protein) is nothing more than an Italian stew.   In Tuscany, where my grandfather was born, this would not be made with beef but instead, a simpler protein like chicken.  You throw a few things into a crock pot, or make it more traditionally in a heavy stew pot and throw it in the oven.  You add this and that, and it becomes a tender, lovely and inviting dinner.  You can serve it equally over pasta or rice.  I will give you the traditional way my grandmother, Lucy Piermarini, taught me how to make it and also offer you the crock pot version.  Either way, you end up with a delightfully flavored dish.

Ingredients:

2 to 3 lbs. beef

½ lb. of pork fat (cut into lardon shape)
½ lb. of pancetta
1 bitter onion, peeled and chopped
3 to 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks of celery (with tops), chopped
1 head of garlic (throw in microwave for 20 seconds).  After garlic cools down, remove peels and crush all the softened garlic with a fork (reserve in a bowl).
3 bay leaves
3 cups of beef stock
1 can (8 oz.) of good tomato paste
1 tsp. of crushed black pepper
1 bottle of good red wine

In a very large stew pot (I use Le Creu

 

set), put a tbl. of extra virgin olive oil.  Over slowest possible heat, sauté the salt pork and the pancetta.  When browned, remove from the heat and place on paper towels to absorb fat.  Set aside the bacon and pork. 

In the same pan, over lowest heat, sauté the onions, carrots and celery until the onions turn translucent.    Remove the vegetables and set aside.  Turn the heat up slightly.  Add the wine and beef stock to deglaze the pan.   Stir for a few minutes until all the brown stuff at the bottom of the pan is now in the liquid. 

 

At this point, everything goes back into the pot and you can throw this in the oven at 200°F for several hours.  Alternatively, at this point, you could transfer everything into a crock pot.

For the crockpot version, simply sauté the pork fat and pancetta and the onion mixture and then throw everything into the crockpot.

To use other proteins, simply substitute chicken stock or white wine for a poultry or pork protein.  For dark meat, use the beef stock and red wine.

The most important thing to remember is that the longer it simmers, the better the flavor.  It also becomes much better if you freeze the remainder of the stew.  

 

My grandmother would have served this with polenta because polenta is less expensive than rice or pasta.  I also love to serve this with orzo.   

APPLE PIE

There is nothing more wonderful than the smell of apple pie when it is baking in the oven…the kitchen, perhaps the entire house, is filled with the overwhelming aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg and apples, inviting anyone and everyone to enjoy the finished pastry.

Traditionally, the best apples for making apple pie are tart, firm and varieties that meld well with the flavors imparted during the maceration process (read on).  My mother-in-law, Elizabeth Marshall, insisted (and rightfully so) that the best apple for apple pie is the Northern Spy.  Unfortunately for me, this apple is only available for a short window of opportunity in the fall.  I get by with Granny Smith apples.

If you are going to make the effort to make an apple pie, do several at a time and freeze two or three (unbaked) after carefully wrapping in plastic wrap (or a freezer pie box).  This ensures that you have a beautiful dessert just waiting in the freezer for drop-in company.

This recipe is one I’ve developed over the years and includes a process which gives the apples ample time to take on the flavor of the spices used in the completed pie.  I also prefer (I know I sound like a broken record) Butter Crisco®

for both the pie crust and the filling.  (See previous blog entry to learn how to make pie dough).   For this particular pie, you need a minimum of twelve apples and two crusts (ready made crust is fine).

Preheat oven to 400° F

Filling:

You will need a large deep, ceramic bowl and a potato peeler.

 12 tart apples

1 lemon (at room temperature)
1 ½ tsp. of cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. of nutmeg plus freshly grated nutmeg (if you have it)
1 ½ tsp. of ginger
½ cup of melted Butter Crisco®
2 to 3 tbl. of black strap molasses

Peel, core and slice apples.  Put in bottom of the bowl with the juice of one lemon and the remainder of the ingredients.  Stir occasionally.  Allow the apples to set at room temperature for at least an hour or two.  The longer you allow the apple slices to steep in the liquid, the better the filling will taste (the process of steeping fruit in a liquid is called maceration).

Assembly:

Take prepared brust and roll out one to two inches more than the circumference of your pie plate.  Put the dough in the pie plate.  Add the filling.  Dot with butter.  Top with second pie crust and crimp edges of the pie.  Brush the top crust with a little warm water using a pastry brush and sprinkle with granulated sugar (I use turbanado or bar sugar).    Bake for one hour or until knife inserted in pie is clean.