Oxtail Ragu

the present:

I saw a braised oxtail recipe on foodisluv and decided I wanted to try something with oxtail, but Italian style because I have yet to post an Italian recipe! I had all of the ingredients but just didn't have a large pot that could go from stove to oven. With the vitality of $30 of oxtail ticking away in my fridge, I was afraid this would be another FAIL, when by the powers of my wishing, someone bought a dutch oven off of my registry. I am now the proud owner of a fire engine red dutch oven, and I am in love with it (even though I just met it). I have no idea how I cooked all of these years without one. Oh right, I didn't cook. Anyway, it heats up quickly and food almost never sticks to the magical enamel. My only regret is that I didn't get it in the carribean blue color to match my tiles and make my kitchen super fun happy. Oh, I think I see a risotto pot in my future...

the future:

Oxtail Ragu

This is an adapted recipe from Osteria in Philadelphia that I found on epicurious.com. If I make this recipe again, I would probably leave it in the oven for 3 hours instead of the 2 they directed. Then after I pull the meat off of the bones, I'd refrigerate it to skim the fat off, then reheat it on the stove until it reduces to the thickness of a ragu. While the flavors of oxtail are rich, I might try it with a brisket meat as an everyday dish.

5 pounds of 2-3 inch pieces oxtails

All purpose flour

1/2 cup of evoo

5 large celery stalks, coarsely chopped

2 large carrots, peeled, chopped

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 cups dry red wine

28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes with added puree

4 garlic cloves, chopped

6 fresh Italian parsley sprigs

2 large fresh rosemary sprigs

3 Turkish bay leaves

2 cups beef broth

1 cup low-salt chicken broth

Preheat oven to 325°F. Sprinkle oxtails with salt and pepper, then flour. Heat oil in heavy wide ovenproof pot over high heat. Add oxtails; cook until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Add celery, carrots, and onion to pot. Reduce heat to medium-high and sauté until vegetables brown, about 15 minutes. Add wine and tomatoes. Boil until thickened to chunky sauce, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in garlic. Tie parsley, rosemary, and bay leaves with kitchen string and add to pot. Return oxtails to pot in single layer. Add all broth; bring to boil. Cover pot; place in oven.

Braise oxtails until very tender, about 3 hours. Transfer oxtails to rimmed baking sheet. Discard the herbs. Using potato masher, crush juices and vegetables in pot to coarse sauce. Pull meat off oxtails and add to sauce. Season ragù with salt and pepper. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. Rewarm before continuing.

Gazpacho

Okay, gazpacho is not really Italian either, but to be fair, I had a great one at Quattro Leoni in Florence. It's a spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup and while it's really just a glorified salsa recipe, I eat it all the time in the summer. It's healthy, refreshing, easy to make, and I can make it batches and store it for days.

After shopping around a lot, I settled on Alton Brown's recipe with modifications - the main one being that instead of cooking my own tomatoes, I just use a 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes (crushed or whole).

28oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes

1 cup of cucumber peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 of a small jalepeno pepper seeded and minced

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup evoo

1/2 lime, juiced

2 tbsp balsamic vingar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Drain the can of tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl to catch the tomato juice. You can use it later to thin the soup, but I like mine chunkier so I never end up using it. The gazpacho will get saltier the longer you keep it, so depending on when you plan to consume it, adjust your salt use accordingly.

Place chopped cucumber, red bell pepper, and onions in a bowl and toss to mix. Place evoo, lime juice, vingar, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper in a cup and mix.

You could use a food processor, but I use my Magic Bullet to process everything. It's a little small so I do it in 3 batches. Place a third of the tomatoes in the cup first, then pour a third of the seasoning mixture, then a third of the chopped vegetables. Pulse until everything is processed, and then blend for several seconds to puree until it looks smooth and soupy. It doesn't result in a true puree, but the small chunks of vegetables give it a nice, crunchy texture. Keep it refrigerated and it will taste even better the next day.

You can serve it with a chiffonade of basil, croutons, or some of the chopped vegetables placed on top of the soup right before serving. The French Laundry recipe serves it with dots of a balsamic glaze squeezed on top, which I have yet to try, but if you're interested here's the receipe for it.

Balsamic Glaze

Heat 2 cups of balsamic vinegar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until steam rises from the liquid. Place the sauce pan on a heat diffuser and let the liquid reduice very slowly (it shouldn't simmer) for 2 to 3 hours, until it has reduced and thickened to a syrupy glaze. Keep it in a squeeze bottle at room temperature for garnishing. If the glaze is too thick, warm the bottle in hot water to loose the glaze.

Cleaning a Cutting Board

A cool trick with salt and what, season your board with evoo?

Does anyone know the best way to keep your knives clean after cutting meats? Is it enough to use antibacterial dishwashing soap?

Fresh Thyme Popovers

Okay, so popovers aren't a Tuscan thing - I don't think they're even Italian - but I love eggy things, so I thought I'd start out with a recipe I've made many times. They go well with any meat dish or stand perfectly alone as a breakfast.

I've had a hard time trying to get my popovers to pop and a couple of things have helped. First, I like to bring the egg and milk to room temperature ahead of time while I'm doing other things. Second, the pan should always be heated before you pour the batter in. Third, fill up cups only half way with batter. Don't over fill your them. This recipe is for 8 popovers and my pan only has 6 cups. Trying to squeeze in the last of the batter will be a fail.

Other modifications. You can reduce the salt to about 1/4 tsp if you wanted. You can omit the butter, but it's more custardy and lessy crispy on the outside then, so please don't.

Some say you can make the batter up to 4 days ahead if you refrigerate it, and others say 2 hours. But I think it's just easier to make it fresh when you want to eat it because you still have to let the batter reach room temperature before pouring it into a hot pan, and that alone could take an hour.

Without further ado, my favorite popover recipe from Cooking Light. They're only about 97 calories each, so gobble them up!

• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, thyme, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Combine milk and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended; let stand 30 minutes. Gradually add flour mixture to milk mixture, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in melted butter.

3. Coat 8 popover cups with cooking spray; sprinkle cheese evenly among cups. Place cups in oven at 375° for 5 minutes. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately.