• 4 grass-fed beef sausages (or really any other sausage)
• 2 stalks baby leeks, rinsed and chopped into long strands (see image)
• 2-3 cups maitake mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup cornmeal for polenta
• 1 quart chicken stock

Prep:

1. Over low heat in a medium pot, saute garlic in olive oil or butter and cook for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add stock, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil.  Slowly add cornmeal while continually whisking until all has been added.
3. Cook about 35-45 minutes until cornmeal is cooked through (no longer gritty), whisking every 5-10 minutes to avoid lumps forming.
4. Meanwhile, saute sausages in olive oil over high heat until browned and almost cooked through.
5. Remove, add more butter to saute pan and saute mushrooms and leeks until cooked through (~15 minutes).
6. Very important: taste all components for salt & pepper and adjust accordingly.

Sources:

Polenta: Cayuga Pure Organics

Sausage: Arcadian Pastures

(Brooklyn Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket)

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Ingredients:

• 2-3 duck legs confit
• 2-3 cups tomato sauce
• 3-4 cups shaved brussel sprouts
• 1 lb pasta
• shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano to garnish

Prep:

1. Remove and shred meat from the duck legs, leaving some larger pieces (this is easiest when the are warm). Add to sauce, simmer, and adjust seasonings.
2. Saute shaved brussel sprouts in butter and/or olive oil over high heat until browned nicely but still maintain some crunch.
3. Cook pasta until just under al dente.  Add to duck ragu to finish.  Top with brussel sprouts and cheese.

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• 4 strips of bacon, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of tomato sauce — this time of year, it’s easy to find great heirloom tomatoes for a simple homemade sauce, but I use store bought sauce all the time as well
• 1 large bunch of hen of the woods mushrooms (see above) very roughly chopped (leaving some large chunks)
• 1 cup grated cheese — we found something slightly stinky at the farmer’s market which worked great with the earthy mushroom flavors (can’t recall the name unfortunately), but almost anything will work
• Pizza dough

Prep:

1. Saute the bacon over high heat until browned.  Remove, leaving the fat to cook the mushrooms.
2. Cook mushrooms in bacon fat over med-low heat for just a couple minutes.  They will continue to cook in the grill, so you really only need a little toast.
3. To assemble pizza, start with a very thin layer of tomato sauce, then add bacon and mushrooms, and finish with a light layer of cheese.
4. Grill pizza (instructions here) and serve with a salad and oaky red wine.

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For the grilled lamb:

• 4 lamb chops
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 T garam masala
• 1 T cayanne pepper
• 4 sprigs of rosemary
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3/4 cup red wine

For the risotto:

• 3 links lamb merguez sausage
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped leaks (about 2 small leeks)
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup grated young sheep’s milk cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• 3 T chopped lemon thyme

Lamb marinade: Saute garlic in olive oil with tomato paste and garam masala until garlic is slightly soft.  Add rosemary, soy sauce, and wine and bring to a boil.  Remove from hear, place in a large bowl or shallow baking dish and cool.  Once cool, add lamb and refrigerate for at least a couple hours.

Because the timing can get tricky with both grilling lamb and cooking risotto, I start by cooking the risotto until it’s about 3/4 finished, turn the heat off, and then grill the meat until its about 3/4 finished.  Then finish the lamb in the oven on very low heat while cooking the risotto.

For the risotto, saute sausage over med-high heat until browned.  Remove.  Add onion and saute until transparent.  Add garlic and leeks and cook for a minute or two over lower heat.  Add rice and cook for a few minutes to toast slightly.  Add wine and cook until rice has absorbed the liquid.  Add stock 1/2 cup at a time and stir constantly until the rice is al dente.  Fold in the cheese and garnish with chives and thyme.

For the lamb chops, grill over direct heat until a nice crust forms.  Move to indirect heat and cook until medium-rare.

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• 2 ears of corn
• 2 links of sausage, crumbled
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 lb orzo
• shaved parmesean reggiano to garnish

Shave the corn kernels from the ears and saute in butter over med-high heat until cooked through. Remove.

Saute sausage in a small amount of olive oil over high heat until browned and almost cooked through. Remove and add to corn.

Add shallots to saute pan (add a bit more oil if necessary) and saute until transparent and wilted.  Add jalapeno pepper and garlic and cook over lower heat for about a minute.

Turn heat up and add white wine.  Reduce and add tomato sauce, corn and sausage.  Continue cooking over low heat until orzo is ready.

Cook orzo according to package instructions until just under al dente.  Drain and add to saute pan with a bit of the cooking water if the sauce looks like it could uses some liquid.  Cook for another minute or so until orzo is al dente.

Top with shaved parm and parsley.

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After the long awaited move to Brooklyn, we made it over to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket last weekend.  I was hoping to find ramps for a pizza, but they are out of season so we picked up wild onion and garlic shoots instead.  We also found some incredible manchego cheese and homemade sausage.  Sunday night we did the pizza (recipe below) and last night we made some very tasty orzo with the leftovers (recipe to follow).

Sausage Pizza with Wild Onion and Garlic Shoots:

• 4 sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and chopped
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce or chopped canned tomatoes
• finely chopped wild onion (you can use all of the bulb and as much of the greens as you wish)
• finely chopped garlic shoots
• fresh pizza dough (recipe below)
• shredded young manchego cheese

Saute sausage over med-high heat until nicely browned and almost cooked through.  Remove and add onion and garlic to the saute pan.  Saute until transparent and wilted and remove.

Roll out dough and start with a very thin layer of tomato sauce.  Add sausage, cheese and onion/garlic mixture.

Bake on a pizza stone at 500 degrees until dough is cooked through and cheese is nice and bubbly.

Pizza Dough:

• 3 ½ cups flour
• 1 cup warm water (between 95 and 115 degrees F)
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2-3 T honey
• 1 t salt
• ¼ cup olive oil

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl.  Add honey once yeast has been dissolved.
2. Add 1 cup flour to large bowl and mix in yeast/water mixture with wooden spoon.  Continue to add flour to bowl until a ball begins to form.
3. Transfer ball onto floured surface and begin kneading and incorporating flour until the ball no longer sticks to your hands.
4. Add ball of dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel, and set aside in a warm, draft-free area.
5. After about 45 minutes, the dough should have doubled in size.  Punch down the dough, so it deflates.
6. Cut the dough into thirds, cover again and let it sit for another hour.
7. Roll out dough into a nice even circle and transfer to a pizza slider.

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• 1 lb spaghetti (cooked until almost al dente)
• 4-5 strips of bacon or pancetta, chopped
• 1 bunch of ramps, bulbs and leaves chopped separately
• 1-2 jalepeno peppers, chopped
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup cream
• Parmigiano-Reggiano, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of chives, chopped

Saute bacon or pancetta in deep saute pan until nicely browned.  Remove and add the chopped bulbs of the ramps and jalepeno peppers.  Saute for about 5-7 minutes until the ramps are transparent.

Add white wine and reduce.  Add cream, bacon and spaghetti and cook until pasta is al dente.

Garnish with chives and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

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• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 head roasted garlic
• 3 chipotle peppers
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 poblano peppers, chopped
• 2 jalepeno peppers, chopped
• 1 cup carnitas (see recipe below)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• Cilantro

In a medium stock pot, blend garlic and chipotle peppers in chicken stock and bring to a slow simmer. This is the liquid used to cook the rice.

Saute onion and tomato paste over med-high heat until the onion is translucent.

Add rice and saute for a minute or so.  Add wine and reduce.  Add about 3/4 cup of stock at a time and reduce until the rice is al dente.

Meanwhile saute peppers over high heat for a couple minutes so they are partially cooked but still have some bite.

Fold cheese, peppers, and carnitas into the risotto and top with cilantro.

______________________________________________________________________________________________
Quasi-Carnitas:

• 1 lb pork ribs, butt or shoulder (boneless chops work well), cubed
• 1-2 Mexican beers
• Chicken stock and/or water
• Bay leaves
• Whole dried red chili peppers
• Few tablespoons cumin, chili powder and any other Mexican spices you like

1. Brown the cubed pork in olive oil.

2. Add all other ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat until the pork is cooked through.

3. Remove, let pork cool and shred.

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My method for doing mac and cheese is far from a science.  I usually ask the person working the cheese counter at Murray’s for an interesting combination of two cheeses and I always use parmigiano-reggiano.  In this version, I started by rendering some bacon in an deep, oven-proof saute pan.  Then used the rendered fat and a little butter, 2-3 tablespoons of flour, and a few cups of milk to make a roux. Add grated cheeses, a little freshly grated nutmeg, possibly some cayenne pepper for a little spice, and the slightly undercooked noodles to the roux.  In this version I also added a head of roasted garlic and some fresh thyme.  Top with parm and bake until bubbly and toasted on top.

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• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 jalapenos, chopped
• 3 ears of corn, shucked boiled
• 1 cup white wine
• 2/4 cup fresh blood orange juice, strained
• 1 lb fettucini
• Parmesean Reggiano, shaved

In large saute pan, saute shallots over med-high heat until transparent.  Add jalapenos and cook for another couple minutes. Lower heat, add garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Return heat to high, add wine, and cook down.  Add blood orange juice and corn and lower heat.

Meanwhile, cook fettucini according to box instructions until almost al dente.

Strain and finish cooking in blood orange mixture.  Add corn as well at this point.

Plate and serve with shaved parm.

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