Spice (16 page)

4 tablespoons kosher salt

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 whole carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 cup medium-bodied, non-oaky white wine, such as a dry Riesling (see page 61)

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon chopped garlic (about 3 cloves)

2 tablespoons tamarind paste (available in the Asian or Indian section of some grocery stores) 4 medium carrots, peeled

2 tablespoons butter

½ vanilla bean

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ½ lemon)

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.
Season each of the short ribs generously with the kosher salt. Lay them side by side in a large, heavy roasting pan.

3.
Scatter the onion, chopped carrot, and the bay leaf over the ribs.

4.
Combine the vinegar, wine, brown sugar, and garlic in a small mixing bowl and pour the mixture over the short ribs. Place the tamarind in the same bowl and add 1 cup of hot water to dissolve it a little. Whisk the tamarind to loosen it and then add it and the liquid to the short ribs. There may be pulp and seeds from the tamarind, which you can strain out after cooking.

5.
The liquid should come ¾ up the sides of the short ribs. Add more water if necessary.

6.
Cover the pan tightly with foil and then again with a second layer of foil.

7.
Place the pan in the oven and braise the short ribs for 3 to 3 ½ hours. Remove the foil and check that the short ribs fall apart when poked with a fork.

8.
Remove the ribs carefully with tongs, place them onto a serving dish, cover, and set aside at room temperature.

9.
Strain the liquid (you should catch any tamarind seeds or bits of garlic, onion, and carrot) through a fine strainer into a large container.

10.
Chill the pitcher of liquid for at least 1 hour so the fat rises to the top. Remove the fat; it should form a large, solid chunk at the top when cold.

11.
While the braising liquid is cooling, slice the carrots slightly on the bias into ½-inch-thick ovals.

12.
In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds with a knife into the melting butter. Add the carrots and ½ cup water. Season with salt and pepper.

13.
Cook the carrots on medium heat until they soften and become lightly glazed, about 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice and stir. Reseason.

14.
In a large, deep-sided sauté pan over high heat, bring the skimmed braising liquid to a boil and add the short ribs. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the short ribs for 20 to 25 minutes, until they start to glaze in the sauce. The sauce will thicken after 15 minutes. Keep warm.

15.
Roll the short ribs around in their sauce, using a pair of tongs, to make them a little more glazed and sticky. Place each short rib on a plate and spoon on a little extra sauce. Serve with glazed carrots.

Panforte

A cross between candy and cake,
panforte
, which means “firm bread,” is a specialty of Siena and is excellent with coffee.

Many southern Italian sweets are Arab influenced. According to my friend and invaluable resource Cliff Wright, the traditional spices used in panforte—coriander seed, mace, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg—were all bought by Italian merchants in the great markets of Aleppo or Alexandria. It seems likely that the merchants encountered all kinds of Arabic sweets and that many culinary ideas passed to Italian cooks through them. The use of almonds, sugar, honey, and spices are markers of Arab influence, especially the sugar and almonds, because the Romans knew honey but not sugar.

At Oleana, Maura Kilpatrick creates her own version of this classic. It carries the use of spices on into the dessert course, with strong flavors of ginger, cinnamon, and clove.

Try serving this dish with a traditional Tuscan sweet wine, such as Vin Santo.

You will need a candy thermometer to make this recipe.

M
AKES A
9-
İNCH ROUND FOR
16
SMALL PORTIONS

1 tablespoon soft butter

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup whole blanched almonds

1 cup whole blanched hazelnuts

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon black pepper

½ cup dried apricots

½ cup candied ginger

½ cup dried figs

½ cup candied orange

½ cup currants

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup honey

Confectioners’ sugar

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.
Butter a heavy 9-inch or springform pan and dust it lightly with some of the cocoa powder.

3.
Toast the almonds and hazelnuts on a heavy baking sheet for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and coarsely chop.

4.
In a large bowl, combine the nuts with the flour, the rest of the cocoa powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper.

5.
Chop the apricots, candied ginger, figs, orange, and currants into small pieces and combine with the nut mixture.

6.
In a small saucepan, cook the sugar with the honey to 240°F on a candy thermometer.Immediately pour this mixture into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients and stir quickly to moisten. The mixture gets stiff very quickly and will become difficult to stir. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. If the mixture gets too sticky, try wetting your fingers.

7.
Lower the oven to 300°F and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until it bubbles around the edges. It shouldn’t brown.

8.
When completely cooled, invert the panforte onto a serving plate or cutting board. Dust it generously with confectioners’ sugar.

3

S
UMAC
, C
İTRUS, AND
F
ENNEL
S
EED

Tangy and bright, the flavors of sumac and citrus are interchangeable. Fennel seed, which is both savory and sweet, is a great companion and warms up citrus flavors. This spice group works best with fish, shellfish, and in salads. However, citrus notes and warm fennel flavor go well with almost anything.

S
UMAC

Sumac is the edible round berry from a tree related to the mango. There are many species of sumac, and some of them are poisonous, so I do not recommend foraging for your own unless you are sure of the species.

Sumac berries grow in cone-shaped clusters and turn from dark pink to crimson as they ripen. The berries are about the size of a peppercorn, have a thin outer skin, and the flesh surrounds an extremely hard seed. Sumac is usually sold coarsely ground and slightly moist. Its aroma is fruity, and its flavor is tangy and somewhat salty, as sumac processors use salt to preserve it. Powdered sumac adds a beautiful purple color and a bright, lemony flavor to a dish. In fact, you can season food with sumac as you would lemon or vinegar. In the past, Arabic cooks used sumac when lemons were out of season or not available.

Sumac is excellent sprinkled on grilled fish, on chicken before roasting, on avocados, or in salads with cucumbers and tomatoes. I love it tossed with sliced raw onion and eaten with grilled meat. It’s also excellent when mixed with other flavors like lime or orange and fennel (see Fish Spice, page 75). You can find sumac at www.tulumba.com, an online Turkish megastore.

C
İTRUS