Mozzarella di Bufala (Serves 4)
Garlic-Honey Vinaigrette
1 oz fermented garlic honey
1.5 oz Dijon
1 oz champagne vinaigrette
1.5 orange zested
3 oz salad oil
3 oz EVOO
2.5 oz orange juice
1 oz lemon juice
½ shallot, minced
Method
For the fermented garlic place 12 garlic cloves into a well sanitized glass jar. Cover with 1.5 cups of raw honey. Leave out for a minimum of one week, stir every day after the third day. Place all ingredients into the blender besides the two oils. On med-low speed slowly add the oil until fully incorporated. Season with salt and pepper as needed
Salad
12 oz mozzarella di bufala
2 heads of escarole
1 oz minced garlic
2 oz olive oil
2 cara cara oranges, segmented
4 oz castelvatrano olives, pitted, crushed
1 ea lemon zest
1 head of radicchio
pinch controne or red chili flake
pinch salt
½ cup picked celery leaf or parsley
Method: Cut escarole in half lengthwise. Mix olive oil and garlic together and toss with escarole. Build a medium-heat fire in a charcoal grill (if you don't have grill you can use a cast-iron grill pan over medium heat). Grill escarole cut side down until lightly charred, turning over once, about 3 minutes. Remove from grill and cool slightly then roughly chop. Cut radicchio into small bite-size pieces, soak in ice water for 3 minutes to remove some of the bitterness. Strain and dry any excess water using a salad spinner. In a large mixing bowl combine both lettuces, orange segments and olives, toss with garlic-honey vinaigrette dressing. Place on serving dish and garnish with mozzarella torn into smaller pieces, pinch of controne pepper, picked celery leaf.
Pasta alla Buttera (Serves 6-8)
Dough
15oz pasteurized egg yolk
550g 00 Flour
Method: In a medium bowl whisk your egg yolks until fully incorporated. On a clean surface place flour down and make a well in the center of your flour. Add egg to your well and using two fingers start incorporating your egg into flour by going in a circular motion. When fully incorporated knead dough until the dough is smooth, about ten minutes. Cut dough into three balls and wrap with plastic wrap. Let rest in refrigeration minimum of 2 hours, best overnight. Take one of the three balls of dough, keep the rest wrapped to prevent drying. Roll out, evenly, to a thickness of one millimeter. Hand cut into linguini, or use pasta machine to cut into appropriate shape.
Bolognese Sauce:
2 bay leaves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
3 whole cloves
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns, plus more freshly ground
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 oz. chicken livers
1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more
1 cup large onion, small dice chopped
½ cup small diced carrot
½ cup small diced celery
½ small bunch thyme
¼ cup Calabrian chilies in oil
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes
⅓ cup red wine
¼ pounds ground beef chuck (20% fat)
1 pound pork shoulder (Boston butt), ground
4 oz. prosciutto scrap grind with pork shoulder
4 oz. pancetta scrap or ends grind with shoulder
2 oz. finiochiona salumi
2 oz. calabrese salumi
Method: Toast bay leaves, cloves, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and whole peppercorns in a dry small skillet over medium heat, tossing often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Let cool then transfer to a spice mill (or mortar and pestle) and finely grind. Preheat oven to 250°. Heat oil in a medium ovenproof pot over medium-high. Add livers and stir to coat; season with salt and pepper. Cook livers until highly caramelized, 5-6 minutes. Add half of the wine and deglaze, scraping bottom and sides. In a second pot add prosciutto, pancetta and salumis, render for 4-5 min. Add onion, carrot and celery, thyme, and Calabrian chilies; stir to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring as needed, until onion is golden brown and soft, 5-8 minutes. Add garlic (adding garlic after onion has been going for a while will keep it from burning) and stir to coat. Cook, stirring often, until garlic is soft, about 2 minutes. Stir in spice mixture and 1½ tsp. salt (this will toast the spices one more time, deepening their flavor). Add tomatoes and rest of the wine, stirring and scraping up any browned bits. Mix in beef and pork (mixture will be fairly stiff, but will soften and loosen as it cooks). Add the livers. Cover pot and braise in oven 3-4 hours. Remove pan from oven. As the sauce cooks, it will firm up (looking somewhat like meatloaf) stir sauce to loosen. At this point we prefer to refrigerate overnight. Next day, bring base up to a simmer, remove thyme and puree sauce with an immersion blender until desired consistency.
Finish Sauce:
1 tbl. shaved raw garlic
2-4 tbl. Butter
2 tbl. chopped parsley
2-4 tbl. grated parmesan
2 tbl. Lemon juice
Garnish
2-4 tbl. shaved ricotta salata
Basil pesto
Method: This is a quick pan sauce so it is easy to make as the pasta is cooking. First, boil water with enough salt to taste it. Once boiling drop heat to a smooth simmer (only small bubbles). Cook pasta until al dente, approximately four minutes total. In a small sauté pan slowly cook garlic until soft on low heat. It is best not to get any color. Add Bolognese and turn up heat. Finish with butter and add cooked pasta, lemon and parmesan. Using a continual rotating motion with your wrist, mix the pasta in with the sauce. The "marriage" of the pasta and the sauce is important because the sauce needs to saturate and coat the pasta. Adjust with pasta water if needed. Add a spoonful of salsa verde across the top of each plate of pasta, garnish with shaved ricotta salata and parsley.
Pluma Iberica de Bellota (serves 4)
Mostarda glaze for beets
2 cups sake reduction
2 cups water
1 ½ cups white wine
1 cup fennel, small diced
2 tbsp honey
4 each cloves garlic, smashed
½ cup of yellow mustard seeds, plumped
8 sprigs thyme, fresh
1 each lemon (peel and juice)
1 tsp. controne pepper or chili flake
1 each bay leaf
1 tbsp fennel seed, toasted
Salt and white pepper, to taste
Method: Add all above ingredients into a sauce pot, cook on medium heat until sugar has fully dissolved. Allow to cook for 10 minutes on low heat, until the mostarda liquid has become a glaze consistency. Season with salt and white pepper, chili and reserve.
Roasted beets
5 lbs golden beets
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns
Small bunch of thyme
1 pint white wine vinegar
1 quart water
¼ cup sugar
Salt, to taste
Method: Heat oven to 3500. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Cut leafy tops from the beets, close to the beet. Scrub the beets thoroughly, lightly grill the beets just enough to get a smoky flavor. Add beets and all remaining ingredients in a roasting pan, cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil, roast for 40-60 minutes. Check the beets every 20 minutes or so. Beets are done when a fork or skewer slides easily to the center of the beet. Small beets will cook more quickly than large beets. (If you do not want to grill beets you can easily wrap individually with salt, pepper and olive oil in aluminum foil. Place the wrapped beets in a rimmed baking sheet to catch drips in case beet juices leek). Set the beets aside until cool enough to handle. Hold one of the beets in a paper towel and use the edges of the paper to rub the skin away. The skin should peel away easily. Dice beets into medium dices.
Herb Butter
½ cup unsalted butter
½ tbsp fresh thyme
½ tbsp fresh parsley
½ tbsp fresh oregano
Salt and white pepper, to taste
Method: Leave butter out at room temp until softened slightly. Remove all stems from all herbs and discard. In a robo coupe blend the butter and herbs together with salt and white pepper. Transfer the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Then roll up to create a cylinder. Twist both ends tight and refrigerate until you're ready to use. This method could be done by hand using a fork if you don't have access to a robo coupe or hand blender.
Pluma
2.5 pounds pluma
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Method: Turn grill on high heat, or 480 degrees F. Dry off pluma and trim any sinew, Season both sides with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Grill pluma on both sides for about 3 minutes each. Once browned on both sides put meat aside and let rest for a couple of minutes. Recommended temperature for this cut of meat is medium rare or 135 degrees F. If you do not have a grill you can get an oiled frying pan or cast-iron skillet very hot over medium-high heat. Gently lay in the pluma and let sear for 3 minutes to develop a brown crust before flipping over. Drain off any excess fat that collects in the pan. Note: Pluma is a cut of pork from the end of the loin (the last muscle of the butt) if you cannot find this specific cut you can ask your butcher for a bone in country rib. You can fan this meat out so it cooks similar to the pluma.
To finish: Heat a sauce pan on medium heat, add 2 cups mostarda glaze to pan, bring to a full boil, add 2 cups roasted diced golden beets. Cook for 2 minutes until beets are glazed. Turn off heat, add 3/4 cups of cold herb butter in small pieces until sauce is emulsified. Brush pluma with herb butter while resting. Thinly slice the pluma against the grain, arrange slices on a plate. Add beets on top and around pluma with sauce.
For more information call (480) 307-6900 or visit ilovefatox.com
