Some thoughts on Skirt Steak. It is rich with a grainy texture and enough fat to baste itself. One caveat: grill it over intense heat so it can develop a wonderful char before it has cooked too long at the center.  So the rule is hottest even heat and fast, fast, fast (this is a thin cut of meat—that’s why they call it Skirt—Steak).

I like to make this all-natural, prime Angus Skirt Steak with Anchovy Butter and serve it alongside roasted zucchini and shallots.

Generously salt and pepper your Skirt Steak and place on your hot grill. For medium rare, grill three minutes on each side.

Remove from the grill and let it rest for a few minutes. Then slice against the grain.

One Skirt Steak will yield two portions

For the anchovy butter:

We first wrote about this Burrata Surprise in a warm tomato bath as a FLASH RECIPE last summer and have been happily enjoying it this year since the first tomatoes ripened.

Burrata is exquisite with a thin outside layer of mozzarella surrounding a pouch of rich cream tied off fetchingly with a topknot. Cut into the Burrata and the center spills out invitingly.

Burrata in a tomato bath? Perfect. 

Serves 2 ecstatic diners

Ingredients

Burrata 1 or 2
2 Tablespoons La Castellina Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 chopped red onion
1 chopped garlic clove
1 large or 2 medium chopped red tomato(es)
1 medium tomato and 12 cherry tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
basil

Bring Burrata to room temperature.
Heat 2 tabelspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used La Castellina) in small soup pot add 1/2 chopped red onion, 1 chopped garlic clove, and a pinch of salt and saute on low heat until onions soften.

Add 1 large or 2 medium chopped red tomato(es) continue sauteeing until soft and juices begin to be released. Puree in mini-chopper/blender and return to pan.

Add the equivalent of 1 medium tomato and 12 cherry tomatoes (I used Yellow Taxi and Sun Gold) which you have coursely chopped along with salt, pepper and chopped basil. Cook about 5 minutes on low/medium heat until the tomatoes start to soften.

Add room temperature Burrata (we added 1 and shared the dish but you can add 2). Cover
and cook on very low heat for 2-3 minutes until Burrata is warm to the touch.                 

Gently transfer Burrata to bowls, add tomato mixture, chopped   basil, fresh pepper and sliced bread for scooping. Drizzle with La Castellina Olive Oil.

These ingredients can be found at Olde Hudson

Our friend and neighbor, Bob Rasner, owner with his wife Marie, of The Inn at 34 graciously shared this recipe with us.

We think it’s perfect for brunch the day after Thanksgiving when overnight and out of town guests can share this elegant, simple to make delicacy. It doesn’t hurt that this Gravlax makes a beautiful presentation either.

One caveat: this is not a spur of the moment recipe… you’ll need to plan ahead…. The salmon takes a few days to cure.

 Gravlax

Rinse the salmon filet gently and pat dry with paper towels.

If there is a thin strip of meat along the belly edge of the filet, trim it off and save for another use.

If your salmon is in a single piece, cut it in half as accurately as possible.  (Not two long pieces but two pieces half the length of the filet.) You should have two pieces almost identical in size.

On your work surface, lay out a piece of plastic wrap about 8” longer than the entire filet. Place the filet halves end-to-end on the plastic wrap.

Distribute the salt and sugar over the filet halves. Use more on the thick portions of the filet than on the thin.

Roughly chop the dill and distribute half of it evenly over one filet half.

Zest the lime and distribute over the dill-covered salmon.

Using the remaining dill, spread over the salmon.

Lay the uncovered piece of salmon, skin side up on top of the dill-covered filet.

Wrap the stacked filets as tightly as possible in plastic wrap and place in a non-reactive baking dish. Place in the fridge. Each day turn the wrapped salmon over at least twice.

Although cure time is not critical, wait at least two days before opening the salmon.

SERVE!  Scrape the dill/lime mixture from the salmon. Bits of dill left are fine. Slice the salmon as thinly as possible and serve with mustard sauce.

Mustard Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Combine the mustards, sugar, and vinegar in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil and stir in the chopped dill. Serve with the Gravlax. 

My husband, Dick, always makes his mother's holiday stuffing and it's become our family tradition which I hope you'll enjoy.

Ingredients

(All amounts depend on your turkey's cavity  size)

Boil the giblets in 1 quart water for about 1 hour, drain and reserve broth. Finely chop the soft giblets in a food processor and set aside, discard the parts that are not usable.

sauté one pound of sweet, fennel sausage meat – set aside.

Dissolve "More Than Gourmet Roasted Chicken Demi-Glace" in 2 cups of hot water.

Combine Seasoned Herb Stuffing with onions, celery, mushrooms, apples, sausage, giblets and, walnuts salt and pepper.  Add demi-glace to soften.

Moisten with Giblet Broth until it feels soft but still firm enough to stuff into the turkey. Taste for additional seasoning and add more salt and pepper as needed.

Stuff the turkey, roast, happy Thanksgiving.

Eggs and bacon.  Coffee and cream.  Toast and jam. Harry and Bess.  Presidents deserve Valentines too!

Presidents’ Day and Valentine’s Day fall so closely together that we get the luxury of a long weekend and the chance to fill it with romance.

I say: Why wait for champagne and chocolates to mark romance? 

To me, Valentine’s Day starts early with a meal that covers all the bases. Farm fresh free-range eggs with shells the color of a Texas sky. Check. Thick bacon that oozes applewood fragrance.  Check. The special thick richness of cream from cows grazing just down the street. Got it.  And preserves that are so full of fruit they practically invented the word “jam-packed.”

Romance can’t be better than breakfast for two with perfect ingredients. O.K., maybe the anticipation of is pretty good, too…. Sitting at the kitchen counter while one person cooks, the other casually sips a hot coffee, rich with Ronnybrook fresh cream. Casual conversation while the bacon sizzles.

Then, giving in to the irresistible urge to sample the first slice while more is cooking in the pan. The decadence of fresh eggs frying in leftover bacon drippings. (Hey! It’s only once a year.)  And, finally, hot toast slathered with gem-like jellies from Les Collines.

Best of all is the gift of time to share a perfect breakfast. The view from the kitchen window looks out on pine trees where chickadees flit among the branches and nut hatches gripping firmly to the trunk hang upside down as they search for insects. The occasional cardinal flies by and, of course, the dogs chase them all!  But it’s seldom we take the time to pour a second cup of coffee and just take in nature’s morning activities. A peaceful, leisurely start to the day makes me appreciate all I have.  I love it here.