Ahhh! People. I have two days off. Yes. Working six days a week is not sustainable as I showed myself last Monday when I almost fell asleep standing up as I was making potato gnocchi. As I stood there, rolling little potato ball after potato ball on to the gnocchi board, I started to lose the concept of what gnocchi should look like. I have forgotten what it is like to actually enjoy a day off and not have to jam pack it with laundry, dishes, nail clipping (for the dog) and recipe experiments. Now I can check out new restaurants I have been meaning to try, and also have another night to cook out of a new cookbook and spend quality time with Erik. And, I can actually take a nap in the middle of the day and not feel like I am wasting valuable hours to get stuff done.
I spent this entire week at Delancey. The other pantry cook was out of town, doing her very first art show, so I saw what it was like to be there for a whole restaurant-week cycle. Generally, I work two days at the beginning of the week, then ‘Stage” two days at Tavolata, then come back for the last day of the work week. But, I like being there the whole time. I could get used to it.
We started a couple of new dishes at my station which invigorated me to no end. A roasted beet salad with watercress, minced shallots, Banyuls vinaigrette, and ricotta salata and a Kumamoto oyster with a brunoise of heirloom apple and olive oil. People really seemed to like both dishes. Oh yeah, and next week, I suggested to Brandon that we could make our own ricotta salata for the beet salad. He was thrilled.
Last night, was my busiest night at Delancey. Well, at least at the beginning. Remember how I told you guys that if I ever ran my own station at Anchovies & Olives I would be drowning in a sea of yellow tickets piled all around me, desperately trying to keep my head afloat. Well, there was a moment where that potentially could have happened. But, I took a deep breath as I stared at the eleven tickets piled in front of my station. I gave myself a pep talk, pulled my head out of my ass, and started working. It took me 45 minutes. I yelled at a server that took one of my plates by mistake to another table, requiring me to stop what I was doing and make the dish again. I cut my finger on my peeler as I was shaving grana padano. Twice. But, I did it. As I pushed the last tickets to the expediting area, I yelled “clear board” for nobody but myself. It felt good.
Actually, strike that. It felt amazing.
But the best part of the whole week, besides finally learning how to stretch the pizza dough, is that I got to clean out the refrigerator at Delancey and keep the prosciutto butts and the grana padano rinds. And you know what that means…..
Brodo.
Brodos are a staple in all Italian based cooking. Knowing how to make a brodo, or broth, was one of the first things I learned when I started working at Ethan’s restaurants. Everyone seems to have a different version, so I just came up with my own. The one I think tastes the best, yet still remains simple. I used Nate Appleman’s recipe as a base from his cookbook A-16. Ironically, A-16 is to Delancey as Giorgio Locatelli is to all of the Ethan Stowell restaurants. Sort of a bible, if you will.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours
Makes 8 cups for each broth
*I do these broths simultaneously because they basically require the same amount of attention, and I generally take all the grana rinds and prosciutto butts home on Sunday night.
Prosciutto Brodo
8 ounces of prosciutto trimmings
1/2 carrot
1/2 large onion
1/2 stalk celery
1 tsp. fennel seeds
3 quarts of water
Grana Brodo
8 ounces grana rinds
1/2 carrot
1/2 large onion
1/2 stalk celery
1 tsp. fennel seeds
3 quarts of water
In two large pots, put one tablespoon of olive oil in each and turn heat to medium-high. Once the oil starts to simmer, add in the vegetables and either grana or prosciutto (depending on the broth) and start to caramelize the vegetables, stirring often. Do not let the grana burn. That just requires you to stir it constantly.
Add three quarts of water to each pot, and bring to a boil. Once both broths have come to a boil, skim the prosciutto broth, and lower the heat for both of them to simmer. Let simmer for two hours. The prosciutto brodo should be salty, and rich. The grana brodo should have a nutty, creamy flavor.
Strain both of the broths through a fine mesh strainer and immediately put it, uncovered in the refrigerator to cool down.
This can stay in the fridge, covered, for up to a week. If you freeze it, it will last three months.
November 10, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Funny. When we went to Anchovies & Olives the 2 cooks/chefs looked bored.(But the pantry guy worked like crazy) Every time I looked they were just standing there doing nothing. Then, on my way to the restrooms, I saw plenty of pots and pans on the stoves, grill, etc. How do they do that and look as if they don’t move? (Maybe they move too fast for the eye to see?)
November 10, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Those two chefs were not shucking oysters (which is probably what you saw) if it was after 10pm. Manu, the chef working pantry, shucked 325 oysters that night. Matt and Charles have time to relax because their dishes require time to cook down because they do pasta and fish. There is no down time in pantry.