Anticiplate

To begin. I really wanna say something, but I am afraid I’ll jinx myself.

What the heck. Okay, here it goes! I think 2010 is going to be pretty much ridiculously awesome. Now, that the proclamation is over, I want to tell you about my trip to Portland for anniversary/food tour/new years eve celebration which started off the ridiculous awesomeness.

Portland is my new favorite city to dine. Okay, okay. It is no Paris, but I truly was impressed. I mean, my brain was on oh-ver-load with the amount of restaurants I wanted to try from many, many recommendations. Basically, our conclusion at the end of the week, as Erik and I gnawed on red vines driving north on I-5, was that Portland rocks when it comes to food. It was totally worth the new fat roll I gained on the trip. I think. 

Even the culture is different. The chefs all where t-shirts or button ups rather than the traditional sterile white coat. Most of the higher-end restaurants offer tasting menus. Every night. And the dinner scene is popping on a Tuesday night the same way it would on a Saturday night. Why don’t Seattleites go out to eat on weeknights except for How to Cook a Wolf and Delancey? Can someone please explain this to me?!!

The most impressive meal was at DOC. I won’t tell you what the restaurant stands for because, it actually embarrasses me to even say out loud. So, let’s just move on from that. Roasted and Smoked Goose with roasted Delicata Squash, crisp Heirloom Apples, and shaved Belper Knolle cheese was the highlight. I think better than any dish I had in Paris. Not kidding. The carrot cake with cream cheese creme anglaise was quite impressive. And, they added currants to the whole dish, which added a pop, like little purple confetti. Erik dislikes carrot cake, and only allowed me to have one bite of his. Yes. It was that good. We also had a roasted walla walla onion risotto with chanterelles and fried shallots. There was a perfectly seared scallop dish with seared chunky leeks and fennel over a meyer lemon sabayon. Oh yes! And, there was a braised mutton with mutton sausage, sauteed fuyu persimmon, braised kale with a lamb jus.

I mean, I could go on and on about DOC….

We had a nice dinner, sort of, at Laurelhurst Market. We probably ordered the wrong things. I mean, it is a steak house. But, I have this chefy tendency to try the “weird” things on the menu, because I know that it is probably the best dish. Well, it didn’t work this time. I should have followed the masses and just ordered a giant, juicy portherhouse. It probably would have been off. the. charts. The radicchio salad with brie vinaigrette just didn’t do it for me.

You could have also seen us eat at Screen door for a southern brunch that had amazing grits (we were that loud group in the corner), Beaker & Flask, Clyde Common (cayenne pepper popcorn!), Urban Farmer, Yasuko, and Mother’s, of course.

But, there were so many places I wanted to hit: Pok Pok, Ping, Whisky Soda, Beast, Ken’s Artisan, Kenny & Zukes, Navarre, Bunk. I just didn’t have enough room in my belly or time in the day. Actually, that’s a lie. It is that I have ZERO patience to wait in a crazy lines that wrap around the restaurants like a winter scarf for a sandwich. Any one else with me here?

Inspiration was absorbed from the wet Portland rain, and I came back to Seattle with a mission. But, let me not get ahead of myself.

So, about these pictures that you see. Oh, well, I can just thank Mr. Thomas Keller for this particular recipe. Yes. I am not buying any. more. cookbooks. until I actually start cooking out of the hundred(s) that I own. Bouchon has been my latest obsession. I slipped the ubiquitous Momofuku cookbook back in the black shelf in my living room for safe keeping. Bouchon was getting a bit dusty.

Snuggling under two comforters, I flipped the large pages from the cookbook this morning, trying to find motivation for a lunch, a dinner, and a catering. Well, he did it for me. Eight confited dug legs, twenty braised baby octopus, two cups of soffrito, a huge pot of chicken stock, and the recipe you are about to read, even I was impressed with myself!

Serves 4

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: Red Wine Jus-1 hour 20 minutes, Skirt Steak- 15 minutes

*Adapted from the Bouchon Cookbook

Red Wine Jus

1 bottle cabernet sauvignon

1 large onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 large leek, white and light green parts, chopped

2 shallots, sliced

1 tsp. black peppercorns

5 sprigs thyme

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

5 c. chicken or veal stock (preferably homemade, but not a huge deal)

Pinch of kosher salt

The Steak

1 skirt steak, about 18 ounces, cut into four pieces

Kosher salt

Cracked Black Pepper

2 tbsp. canola oil

4 tbsp. salted butter, please use Plugra (thanks)

3 large shallots, thinly sliced

2 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped

Combine all of the ingredients for the red wine jus, except for the veal/chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer until the red wine is almost a glaze. It won’t be thick and syrupy, but very concentrated in color and flavor. This should take about 45 minutes. Once it has reduced, add in the stock. Bring to a boil again, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Strain through cheesecloth through a fine mesh sieve. Set aside. There should be about 1-2 cups of jus.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring your skirt steak out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Season each side liberally with kosher salt and cracked black pepper.

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer, add in 2 tbsp. of the butter and turn the heat to medium-high. Swirl the butter so that it browns, but doesn’t burn. Place two of the steaks in the skillet for about 1 minute, allowing them to caramelize on one side. Flip them over and caramelize for another 1 minute. Set aside on a clean plate. Repeat with the other two steaks. Lay them on top of the other two steaks to keep them warm.

Add in the other 2 tbsp. of butter, and dump in all of the shallots. Scrape up the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, releasing the salty bits. Meanwhile, reheat the red wine jus over a low flame to warm it. Take a small spoonful of the jus to deglaze the shallots. Add in the chopped thyme. And taste for seasoning. You want your shallots to be tender and caramelized, but not too broken down so that they are too soft. Add the four steaks, plus the juice that has seeped out of them, back in to the skillet, and place the pan in the oven for five minutes.

At this point, I also like to warm my plates too, but you don’t have to do that. Taste the red wine sauce one more time for seasoning and make sure it is a good temperature, but not too hot.

Remove the pan. Place one steak on each plate, and top the steaks with a spoonful of onions. Drizzle the reduced red wine jus all over the top of the steak.

I served this with an herb and watercress salad with shallots and a champagne vinaigrette, and a cauliflower gratin. Whatever floats your boat!