California Cioppino

California Cioppino
San Francisco A La Carte, The Junior League of San Francisco

Ingredients
2 freshly cooked whole crabs, approximately 1 ½ to 2 pounds each
24 clams, well scrubbed
3 cups dry white wine
⅓ cup olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 medium green pepper, coarsely chopped
2 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
3 ounces tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil, or 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
2 pounds fresh white fish such as sea bass, rock cod, halibut, ling cod, cut into large pieces
¾ pound scallops
¾ pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Chopped fresh parsley

Preparation
Remove the legs and claws from the crab and break the body in half, reserving as much of the soft, mustard-colored center (“crab butter”) as possible. Set crab pieces aside and force the crab butter through a sieve into a small bowl. Set aside. 

Place the clams in a pan, add 1 cup of wine, and steam, covered, over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes or until clams open. Remove clams, discarding any that do not open. Strain the stock through cheesecloth and reserve.

In an 8-quart heatproof casserole or a kettle, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, and green pepper and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for approximately 5 minutes or until vegetables start to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, remaining 2 cups of wine, pepper, herbs, and clam stock. Partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the fish, scallops, shrimp, crab, and crab butter. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes or until all of the seafood is cooked. Do not stir. Add the clams and heat for a scant 1 minute. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately from the cooking pot.

Matzo Ball Soup

Matzo Ball Soup
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit

Ingredients

1. Chicken Stock

2. Matzo-ball Mixture
   3 large eggs, beaten to blend
   3/4 cup matzo meal
   1/4 cup schmaltz (chicken fat), melted
   3 tablespoons club soda
   1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt or coarse sea salt

3. Final Assembly
   2 small carrots, peeled, sliced ¼” thick on a diagonal
   Kosher salt or coarse sea salt
   Coarsely ground fresh black pepper

Preparation
Chicken Stock can be made 2 days ahead. You should have about 8 cups.

Matzo-ball Mixture can be made 1 day ahead. Mix eggs, matzo meal, schmaltz, club soda, and salt in a medium bowl (mixture will resemble wet sand; it will firm up as it rests). Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Final Assembly: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Scoop out 2-tablespoonful portions matzo-ball mixture and, using wet hands, gently roll into balls. Add matzo balls to water and reduce heat so water is at a gentle simmer (too much bouncing around will break them up). Cover pot, and let your matzo balls simmer until they are cooked through and starting to sink, 20–25 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add carrots; season with salt. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender, 5–7 minutes.

Remove from heat, add your desired number of matzo balls, and voilà!

Brisket

90s Feldman Family Brisket
Recipe serves 8

Ingredients
1 beef brisket, 5-8 pounds, trimmed of all fat
24oz. ketchup
1 package onion soup mix

Preparation
Place trimmed brisket into a large roasting pan. Mix together ketchup and onion soup mix, and coat your brisket thoroughly.

Cover your roasting pan with foil, and let marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Place covered pan into a 275° oven, and roast for 6 to 8 hours. Cook time will depend on how large the brisket is, however you can easily check to see if it is finished, as your meat should fall apart easily using a fork.

Cinnamon Noodle Kugel

Hershey Family Cinnamon Noodle Kugel
Recipe from Lila Hershey - Serves 8

Ingredients
1 package wide egg noodles
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup golden raisins
2 eggs, whisked
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation
Boil noodles in salted water until done, around 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Mix together cottage cheese, sugar, raisins, cinnamon, and sour cream. Add beaten eggs, milk, and vanilla. Lastly, add your noodles. Butter a glass baking dish, and add your Kugel mixture. Dot the top of your mixture with butter.

Place in oven, uncovered, for about one hour. Check occasionally to make sure the top of your Kugel is not too brown. When your Kugel is done, a knife will come out fairly clean.

Bitter Herbs Salad

Borrowed from Martha Rose Schulman and The New York Times, this bitter herbs salad (and dressing!) is a go-to favorite. It was originally published as a recommendation for Passover, however we continue to make this salad time and time again regardless of the occasion. 

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Bitter Herbs Salad
Adapted from The New York Times

Ingredients
2 hearts of romaine lettuce
1 head radicchio
2 endives
2 cups arugula
1 celery stalk, sliced thin
2 scallions, sliced thin
chopped parsley, to taste
chopped fresh dill, to taste
chopped fresh mint, to taste (optional)
1 garlic clove
Kosher salt or coarse sea salt, to taste
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation
Wash and dry the romaine lettuce leaves and break into medium pieces. Separate the radicchio leaves and cut into medium pieces. Rinse and dry the endives and slice crosswise about 3/4 inch thick. Toss together all of the greens, the celery and the scallions in a large salad bowl and sprinkle the herbs over the top.

Skin the garlic clove, cut in half and remove green shoots. Place in a mortar and pestle with a generous pinch of salt and mash to a paste. Work in the lemon juice and then the olive oil. Taste and adjust salt. Transfer to a jar until ready to serve the salad.

Just before serving, shake the dressing in the jar, pour over the salad and toss.

Fluffy Dinner Rolls

The first time I made these rolls they turned out perfectly — and not because I know how to bake (I can assure you I am still a novice), but because this recipe is foolproof. These are now a holiday staple in our home, especially for leftover turkey sliders and French toast.

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Fluffy Dinner Rolls

Ingredients
Flour Paste
1 cup water
6 tablespoons flour
Dough
1 cup cold milk
2 large eggs
4 cups flour
3 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon course sea salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Preparation
Flour Paste
Whisk water and flour together in small bowl until no lumps remain. Microwave, whisking every 15-30 seconds until mixture thickens to a stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency (roughly 60-100 seconds).

Dough
In a stand mixer, whisk flour paste and milk together until smooth. Add eggs and whisk again until incorporated. Add flour and yeast. Swap your whisk for a dough hook, and mix on a low speed until all flour is moistened, 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Add sugar and salt and mix on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. With mixer running, add softened butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to mix on medium-low speed about 5 minutes longer, scraping down the dough hook and sides of bowl when needed. Dough will be sticky at this point.

Transfer your dough to a lightly floured counter, and knead briefly to form ball. Place seam side down in a lightly greased bowl, and cover with clean cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Grease two round cake pans and set aside.

Transfer dough back to your counter, and lightly press down to expel all the air. Split the dough into two separate mounds. Using your hands, pat and stretch each mound to form a long rectangle (about 8x9 inches each). With the short sides of the rectangles facing you, cut lengthwise into 4 equal strips each - you should have 8 strips total. Next, cut each strip crosswise into 3 equal pieces.

TLDR; you need 24 equal-size pieces of dough.

Working with 1 small piece at a time, stretch and press gently to form small strips (about 6x2 inches each). Starting on the short side, roll each strip lengthwise to form snug cylinders.

Arrange your small dough cylinders seam side down in your greased pans, placing 8-10 rolls around edge of pan (like a clock face), pointing inward, and remaining 1-2 rolls in center. Cover again, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375°. Bake rolls 25-30 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown.

Let your rolls cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them from your cake pan to a wire rack. Once transferred, brush the tops and sides with melted butter.

Let rolls cool for another 20 minutes or so before serving.

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The next day…

Leftover Turkey Sliders

Ingredients
1 dinner roll, sliced in half
2 slices of fresh turkey
Mayonnaise, measured with your heart
Fresh cranberry sauce, measured with your heart

Preparation
Combine to make the best little sammy you didn't know you needed.

Roasted Carrot Salad

Whether served on its own or alongside a rotisserie chicken, this hearty salad has become a staple in my kitchen thanks to a dear friend. While arugula and carrots are both available year-round at the market, peak season for each hits around spring, and again during the fall.

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Roasted Carrot Salad

Ingredients
2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced
good olive oil
Kosher salt or coarse sea salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup dried cherries or cranberries
crumbled goat cheese or bleu cheese, to taste
3 cups arugula

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°. In a mixing bowl, combine the carrots, almonds, and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Spread out onto a baking sheet, and bake for about 30 minutes (or until the edges are browned). Remove, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once cool, drizzle the carrot mixture with honey and vinegar and toss until coated. Add the cherries and goat cheese; toss again until evenly mixed. Combine with the arugula and serve immediately.

Recipe serves about 6

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder

This recipe came from one of the loveliest people I have ever met; influential in more ways than one. When hosting others for the first time in my 20s proved to be more challenging than expected, she saved the day (my life?) with this face melter:

"OK! this recipe is insane: very rustic, falloff bone texture, nicely caramelly, and VERY delish. Homespun but foodie...like what a Tuscan housewife would make :) Also I think you can figure out the timing nicely...maybe only two trottings home midday...? easiest recipe EVER."
xoxo
kr

Thank you, KR! 
xo,
Nina

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Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Carrots, Onions and Garlic

Ingredients
2 tablespoons Kosher salt or coarse sea salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 6.75-7 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings
3-5 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch-wide sticks (2.5 inches long-ish)
10 cloves peeled garlic
1 cup dry white wine

Preparation
Combine 2 tablespoons salt and 2 teaspoons pepper in a small bowl, and rub the mixture all over the pork. Put the pork, fat side up, in a large roasting pan (about 12 X 16 X 3 inches). Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight, or up to 3 days.
 
Remove pork from fridge and let sit at room temp for 1 to 1.5 hours before cooking.
 
Position a rack in center of oven and heat oven to 300°. Uncover the pork, and roast until tender everywhere except the very center when pierced with fork, 4-4.5 hours. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, wine, and 1 cup water to roasting pan. Continue to roast, stirring vegetables occasionally, until pork is completely tender, about 1 hour more.
 
Remove from oven and raise oven temp to 375°. Using tongs, separate the pork into 8-10 large, rustic chunks and spread out in pan. If most of liquid has evaporated, add a splash more water to add more juice. 

"it shouldn't be soupy: and I've always siphoned off juice at this point. you don't want soupy."

Return pork to oven and roast until nicely browned on the newly exposed surfaces, about 15 mins. Remove pan from oven, transfer meat and vegetables to serving platter, and tent loosely with foil. Let rest for 20 mins. Skim fat from juices and serve them with the vegetables and meat.

"I served with garlicky mashed potatoes and a big fluffy green salad, maybe with blue cheese.
And a nice red wine.
ciao bella!"

Recipe serves 4 with leftovers or 8 without (perfect for 6!)