Shaking Beef

When two of Steve's students, Kyungmin and Jel, graduated last August, their parents were unable to make the trip, so we offered to host a dinner for them.  They invited several friends, and I wanted to make something very special for them, so I made this dish.  The recipe comes from Charles Phan, whose restaurant, the Slanted Door, has been hugely successful in the Ferry Building in San Francisco for many years now.  We're headed to S.F. soon, so his food was definitely on my mind this week as well.

This is definitely a special occasion dish, because it depends upon buying a very good cut of meat.  The recipe calls for filet mignon, and I highly recommend using it.  I go a step further and buy organic, grass-fed, but you don't have to go that far for a good result.  The dish is Vietnamese in origins, and you will recognize the familiar Vietnamese flavors.  A word on fish sauce.  There are many different brands, and each tastes a little different.  I read one cookbook and they recommended Red Boat, which is probably my favorite, but then I read another, and that chef prefers Three Crabs brand, which is stronger and funkier smelling.  Right now I'm using that up, but I'll probably go back to Red Boat Vietnamese fish sauce, which I get from Amazon.

Another suggestion is to search out a good brand of Chinese rice wine.  I like Yu Yee brand and it's called "Chinese Shao Shing Cooking Wine." I've been able to find it at the local asian markets.

You'll find this recipe very easy to prepare, and it literally takes 20 minutes to cook.  I like to serve it with steamed rice, to soak up the juices.

SHAKING BEEF

     1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin (filet mignon), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
          (be sure to pat the beef dry)
Marinade:

     5 garlic cloves, chopped (about 2 Tablespoons)
     1 Tablespoon sugar
     2 teaspoons kosher salt
     1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
     1 Tablespoon peanut oil
Sauce:


     1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar (be sure to get the one made without salt)
     1/4 cup rice wine or white wine
     3 Tablespoons soy sauce
     1 Tablespoon fish sauce
     1 Tablespoon sugar
Dipping Sauce:


     Juice of 1 medium lime (about 2 Tablespoons)
     1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
     1/4 teaspoon pepper

To finish:

     1 bunch arugula
     4 Tablespoons peanut oil
     1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
     3 scallions, trimmed and cut in 1-inch lengths
     2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

First, cut the beef into the 1-inch cubes.

Marinade

In a large bowl, place meat, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, and oil.

Toss the beef cubes in the marinade.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours and no more than 12 hours.

Sauce

Whisk together rice-wine vinegar, wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar.

Dipping Sauce

In a small ramekin, whisk together lime juice, salt and pepper.


To prepare

Arrange arugula on four plates.

[I have a HUGE skillet, but I am going to give the instructions for a smaller one, which involves dividing the meat into 2 portions and placing them in two medium bowls.]

In wok or other large skillet over high heat, heat 2 Tablespoons oil until smoking,

then add 1 portion meat in one layer.

Sear until brown crust forms, about 3 to 4 minutes,

then flip to brown other side, another 3 to 4 minutes.

Add half of red onion slices and scallions,

and saute, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add 1/3 cup vinegar mixture and shake pan to release beef, stirring if necessary.  Add 1 Tablespoon butter, shaking pan until butter melts.

Divide meat onto two plates, then repeat with remaining portion of meat and remaining onions, scallions, vinegar mixture, and butter.

Arrange beef on top of arugula and serve with lime dipping sauce.

Serves 4.

Lemon Tea Cake

There's a lovely little bakery in the Ferry Building in San Francisco called Miette.  They make "pretty food," things that look fragile and perfect, but it turns out they taste pretty good, too.  So I bought the cookbook, and it's even got scalloped edges on the pages.  The cakes I've made from it are delicious, moist and flavorful, and the techniques are very particular, often with many steps and always making a ferocious mess in the kitchen.  This one is the simplest of them, and it only makes a medium-sized mess, so have no fear.
It's really a lemon pound cake, with lemon simple syrup poured into it, and then a lemon glaze.  Very lemony.  It fills the bill when you are looking for something a little less sweet, or to break the monotony of the chocolate desserts :) in the treat drawer.

Miette specializes in little cakes, and this recipe makes either two 8"x4" or four 5"x3" loaves.

Before you begin, you will need to make some simple syrup.

LEMON SIMPLE SYRUP

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

In a small saucepan, combine water, lemon juice and sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Be sure to bring it to a full boil.

Let cool and store tightly sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.  Makes 3/4 cup.

LEMON TEA CAKE

2 1/2 cups (12 ounces) AP flour
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
5 large whole eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 Tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 1/3 cups (11 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed
1/2-3/4 cup Lemon Simple Syrup

Glaze:

2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1 1/3 cups (5 ounces) sifted powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Liberally butter pans and dust with sifted flour.  Tap out the excess flour.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. [ I haven't found a mechanical sifter that makes me happy, so I use a strainer and a spoon.  Simple and cheap.]  Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the cream, egg yolks, whole eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest.  Set aside.

Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, and mix the dry ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds.  Add the butter, and mix at low speed for 1 minute.

Add half of the egg mixture and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Add the remaining egg mixture, and beat just until incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake until the tops of the loaves are golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  This cake is an exception to the slightly under-baking rule because you will be infusing it with the simple syrup, which will moisten the center.  The small loaves may take about 40 minutes, and the large ones 50 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and make holes in the top with a toothpick, at about 1-inch intervals, so that the syrup will go into the center of the cake.  You can brush the tops with the lemon syrup (or if you have a pan with a spout, you can carefully pour it).

Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes.  Run an offset spatula around the edges of the pans, then invert the cakes onto the racks and let cool for about 40 minutes longer until completely cooled.  (To freeze, wrap the cakes tightly in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 2 month.  Thaw at room temperature.)

Meanwhile, make the glaze:  In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and corn syrup.  Sprinkle in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, whisking constantly, until the glaze is thick and silky.  You may not need all of the sugar.  Glaze the cooled cakes and let the glaze dry, about 30 minutes.

Serve right away, or wrap the cakes tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature until ready to serve.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are a variation on the classic chocolate chip cookie.  Usually I can't see a point in tinkering with success, but I do love browned butter, so I thought it would be interesting to try.  This recipe does require some patience, first in watching that the butter browns but doesn't burn, and then because you have to refrigerate the batter overnight.  I think (but I don't know) that the overnight chilling has something to do with keeping the cookies from spreading too quickly on the pan, as regular chocolate chippers are apt to do.  [***I just read an article in Food & Wine about the best chocolate chip cookies in the country, and Jacques Torres (five NYC locations) has one that looks exactly like these.  He also refrigerates them overnight, which he says "allows the flavors to meld."]  So maybe that's it. Who knows?  Anyway, we all loved these when I made them two weeks ago, and they disappeared much to quickly, so I knew I had a winner.  So here goes.

BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg yolk
2 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups (10 3/8oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped*

*Do not use chocolate chips.  You can chop up a bar, or sometimes you can find chocolate chunks in the grocery store.  I recently discovered that Amazon carries Scharffenberger chocolate chunks, so I ordered a dozen packages, which makes all of us extremely happy.

[Note:  I used a sauté pan rather than a saucepan so that you can better see the browning of the butter.  I do not recommend this because the butter will sputter all over your cooktop.  Oh, the sacrifices we make for our art...]

In a medium saucepan, cook the butter over moderate heat until it is browned and nutty-smelling, about 5 minutes.

It will start off looking like this:

Next, you may see some browning at the edges:

And, finally, when you cut through the foam you can see the milk fat solids at the bottom are a beautiful, golden brown:

It can take anywhere from 5 to 7 minutes, and you must not walk away, because butter goes from brown to a horrible acrid burned in seconds.  

Transfer the butter to your mixing bowl and let it cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.

Add the sugars (white and light brown) to the browned butter.  

Using the paddle attachment, beat the browned butter and sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, 

scraping down the bowl halfway through, about 7 minutes.

Two things are happening with this long mixing time.  First, the butter is cooling off and incorporating the sugars, but second, you are introducing air into the mixture.  It is a much lighter mixture than the typical chocolate chip cookie for this reason.

Beat in the whole egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla.

At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl as needed.  

Remove from the mixer, and fold in the chopped chocolate.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  The dough will get very stiff.

THE NEXT DAY:  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  

Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.  Scoop 1/4-cup mounds of cookie dough onto each baking sheet.  Flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand.  There should be 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake one sheet at a time for about 14 minutes, until the cookies are just firm and golden brown on the bottom.  Transfer the sheet to a rack to cool.  

Repeat to bake the remaining cookies.  Recipe makes 18 large cookies.

Serve the cookies warm or at room temperature.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month (as if they'll last that long!).

Here's a peculiar thing that we have noticed.  If you eat the cookies warm out of the oven (and who can resist?) they're delightful, but the dominant flavor is the chocolate.  When you eat them after they've been frozen, whether you eat them as is or warm them slightly in the microwave, the browned butter flavor is more dominant.  No idea why.  

Recipe Index

I've decided that it's time to do a recipe index, which I will update periodically.

Apple Crisp                                                  1/27/13

Apple Galette                                               10/5/12

Banana Cake with Walnuts                            5/22/13

Banana Nut Bread                                                10/6/13

Beef Wellington with Green Peppercorn Sauce  1/1/14

Biscuits                                                         10/19/12

Blondies                                                        8/25/12

Blueberry Coffee Cake                                   7/14/13

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies     2/6/13

Bucatini with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce  1/12/14

Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken              3/1/13

Char Siu Grilled Lamb Chops                        7/20/14

Cheese Monger's Mac & Cheese                   1/29/14

Cherry-chocolate chip scones                        9/2/12

Chicken Scarpariello                                     12/12/12

Chicken Potpie                                              2/6/13

Chicken with Cashews                                  4/10/13

Chocolate Cake with Orange Frosting          10/2/13

Chocolate Chip Cookies                                9/29/12

Chocolate-Pistachio Sables                            1/11/14

Cinnamon Rolls w/Orange Frosting              10/12/12

Citrus Roasted Asparagus                              12/9/12

Curried Chicken Potpie                                  3/12/13

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies      2/28/14

Eggplant and Beef Stir-fry                              1/20/14

Enchiladas Suissas                                          8/2/14

Fallen Souffle Cake                                         1/1/14

Flops                                                               3/17/13

Fresh Peach Pie                                               8/13/13

Giant Ginger Cookies                                    11/11/12

Giant Peanut Butter Cookies                        8/2/14

Goat Cheese Ravioli with Bell Peppers and Brown Butter  1/12/14

Granola                                                          12/19/12

Grilled Fish Tacos                                          6/24/14

Island Pork Tenderloin Salad                         6/14/13

Kung Pao Shrimp                                           6/24/14

La Brea Bakery Brownies                              9/18/12

Lebanese Lamb Chops with Lemony Lettuce   1/28/14

Lemon Tea Cake                                            2/10/13

Levain-Type Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies  2/15/14

Lime Pie                                                          3/24/13

Macaroni & Cheese                                        10/27/12

Malaysian Glazed Chicken Wings                    5/21/13

Meatloaf                                                          11/2/12

Modern Appliances                                         9/13/12

Molten Chocolate Cake                                    5/16/13

Moroccan Beef Short Ribs                                1/6/14

Oatmeal Cookies                                             11/25/12

Orange Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies            3/12/13

Oven Roasted Potatoes                                    12/16/12

Parker House Rolls                                          12/9/12

Peanut Butter Munchies                                   8/5/14

Pecan & Chocolate Tart                                   12/9/12

Poppyseed Cookies                                          1/5/13

Pork Tenderloin Stir-fry with Clementines and Baby Bok Choy  1/8/14

Pudding Cake                                                  9/24/13

Pulled Pork                                                      7/9/14

Red Velvet Cake                                              2/3/13

Sam's Grandmother's Carrot Cake                  4/25/13

Shaking Beef                                                   2/25/13

Shrimp Tomatillo Soup                                     1/22/14

Slow-roasted Salmon with Fennel, Citrus and Chiles 1/12/14

Snowballs                                                         12/29/12

Soho Globs                                                        3/1/13

Spice Rubbed Salmon                                      12/9/12

Spicy Baked Shrimp                                         12/12/12

Steamed Sea Bass with Scallions and Ginger   3/26/13

Strawberry Shortcake                                       4/29/13

Sugar Cookies and Variations                           9/9/12

Summer Fruit Tart                                              8/13/13

Tart Apple Cake                                                 1/6/14

Thanksgiving Dinner                                        12/1/12

World Peace Cookies                                        3/12/13

Yoda                                                             3/26/13