One 16-ounce can whole tomatoes
One 4-ounce can jalapeño chiles
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
Combine the tomatoes, chiles, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend to a chunky puree; do not blend until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.
You can make this hotter by increasing the amount of chiles.
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (for a spicier salsa don’t devein chilies), and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
5 Roma tomatoes chopped
¼ cup cilantro leaves, minced
1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
Warm the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until it’s hot. Add the onion and chiles and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables to a blender and blend until completely pureed or desired thickness. Return the mixture to the pan and simmer over low heat until the sauce has reduced by about one-third. Add the cilantro and salt. Taste and add more salt if needed.
This salsa is traditionally served hot, but can be served cool as well. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
10 small tomatillos, husks removed and discarded, rinsed, and cut in half
2 to 4 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed
1 small white onion, half left intact and the other half minced
1 large garlic clove
1 Tbsp sea salt, plus more as needed
½ cup / 10g cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Combine the tomatillos, chiles, intact onion half, garlic, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add water just to cover and bring to a boil and then decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the tomatillos become more translucent and the chiles have faded from bright green.
Pour everything into a blender, including the liquid, and puree. Return the puree to the saucepan and simmer gently until reduced by about one-third. Add the minced onion and cilantro to the cooked salsa and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if needed.
This salsa is excellent served hot or cold.
It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
6 cups vegetable stock
1 pound porcini, cleaned, trimmed, and cut into ½-inch slices *
5 black peppercorns
2 to 3 bay leaves
½ cinnamon stick
Fine sea salt
¼ cup heavy (whipping) cream, whipped to soft peaks (optional)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
In a medium pot, bring the stock to a boil. Add the mushrooms, peppercorns, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.
Line a colander or large metal sieve with cheesecloth and strain the consommé into another pot, pressing gently on the mushrooms with a spoon to release as much liquid as possible. Discard the mushrooms and spices.
Reheat the consommé and season with salt. Pour into bowls. Add a couple tablespoons of cream if desired to each portion, sprinkle with cinnamon, and serve
* Fresh porcini, also called cèpes, are sometimes available in gourmet markets. If you cannot get them, you can make the soup with 1 pound button mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced, plus 2 ounces dried porcini.
4–5 new potatoes
2 eggs
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp chopped herbs (such as dill, parsley, chives)
2 slices of sourdough bread
½ jar pickled herring, drained (approx. 4oz)
½ red onion, very finely diced
small handful of chives, roughly chopped, to garnish
Boil the potatoes until just tender, about 20 minutes. Leave until cool enough to handle, then slice thickly.
Boil the eggs for about 8 minutes, until relatively hard boiled. Leave to cool, then peel and slice.
Mix the mayonnaise with the mustard, chopped herbs and a little seasoning. Spread over the sourdough bread slices, then arrange a layer of potato over the top. Add the egg, herring and finely chopped onion and garnish with a sprinkle of fresh chives.
2 cups low-fat Greek yogurt
Line a fine-mesh sieve with a piece of cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the sieve, fold the cheesecloth over to cover the yogurt, and refrigerate the setup overnight to drain. Transfer the drained yogurt to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. It should keep as long as the expiration date on the yogurt container
* Available at Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Haggen’s and specialty food stores. Skyr was introduced to America in 2005 by enterprising Icelandic expatriate Siggi Hlmarsson under the brand name of “Siggi’s Icelandic Style Skyr.”
Skyr—pronounced “skeer”—is a traditional Icelandic “yogurt” that has been made since the 9th century Viking era. It is technically classified as a cheese because it contains rennet, a substance used in curdling milk when making cheese, but is considered a yogurt because of its structure and texture.
Bring the milk to the scalding point. Pour the milk in a heavy-bottomed pot and bring the milk to a slow and steady simmer over a medium-high burner, heating it until it reaches the scalding point, which is between 185 and 190 F; this should take about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent scalding.
If toward the very end of the heating process you notice that the milk at the bottom of the pot has begun to scald (seems like it is starting to stick), reduce the heat to medium-low, and stop stirring. A small bit of scalding is okay, but you don’t want to release the scalded bits into the mixture.
Turn the burner off immediately when the milk reaches the scalding point. Remove the pot from the burner and allow it to cool to 110 F.
Scoop out the container of skyr into a bowl. Once the milk has cooled down, combine 1 cup of the cooled milk with the skyr, then return the mixture to the pot, stirring to incorporate.
Next, whisk the liquid rennet into the warm water, then stir this mixture immediately into the milk (the rennet will lose its effectiveness if prepared more than 30 minutes before using).
Cover the pot with a thick towel and place in a warm, draft-free spot, such as the oven (not turned on) or an insulated cooler, for 12 hours.
The curds should have separated from the whey overnight—what you need to create the skyr are just the curds. Spoon the curds into a fine-meshed bag or a double-layer of cheesecloth. Suspend the bag over a dripping tray in a cool room, or place the bag over a colander set over a bowl in the refrigerator, and allow the remaining whey to drain until the skyr is thick.
Your skyr will keep for three or four weeks, covered, in the refrigerator. To serve as breakfast or a snack, top with milk, fresh berries, and sugar or honey to taste.
2 lemons, 1 zested and juiced, 1 halved
pinch each of sugar and sea salt
½ red onion, finely sliced
1 tsp caraway seeds
small handful of dill, finely chopped
1 Ounce butter, softened
3 ½ ounces smoked salmon
2 slices of rye bread
micro herbs [such as dill, amaranth, rocket (arugula)]
Mix the lemon juice with a pinch of sugar and salt. Add the red onion slices and set aside for 30 minutes.
Dry toast the caraway seeds until fragrant, be careful not to burn them. Allow to cool, then lightly bash using a mortar and pestle. Tip into a bowl along with the dill, lemon zest, a little juice from the halved lemon and the softened butter. Season with salt and white pepper and mix together.
Thinly slice the remaining half lemon. Spread the butter over the bread and top with the smoked salmon, pickled red onion, lemon slices and some of the micro herbs.
Originally published in 2013:
I recently interviewed and then “shadowed” the head butcher at an exclusive butcher shop in Washington DC. I didn’t get the job by-the-way. I’m not at all sore about it, just a bit disappointed. Was I ready to make the move away from the South I have grown to love, maybe not but I had to check it out for the opportunity?
I shadowed the head butcher, Pam. She was impressive in her intimate knowledge and skill and as she said to me, “this isn’t a job it is my life.” It was immediately obvious that she deeply cared about what she was doing, her snide comments about the rest of the staff aside I felt there was a lot I could learn from her if given the chance. Which of course you know I didn’t get – but no sour grapes here. After a quick interview of my interest and knowledge of meat cuts, butcher experience, etc. (Ahem that would be none really, but I had bluntly told them I had never been professionally trained. They are the ones that told me they were interested in me due to my passion for the subject. Maybe I should mention writing a good cover letter is really a plus when applying for a job.) she quickly moved on to preparing the morning orders to be picked up.
I shadowed, which means I observed while I asked a few questions. I’m not sure if these were a nuisance in retrospect, but she appeared more than happy to answer any of my questions. One thing was obvious, she loved to talk, to talk about meat and maybe most of all how good she was as a butcher and salesperson. The first order of business that morning was to trim and tie a beef tenderloin and cut beef short ribs. It was riveting watching her work with such ease and grace. It was obvious she deeply cared about what she was doing as she told me with pride of her 103 day dry aged porterhouse steaks she had for sale. She did sell one while I was there, an inch and a half thick for a little over $80. The price seemed a little stiff to me, but what did I know about 103 day dry aged prime porterhouses. Better be a damn good piece of meat for that price and still needing to be cooked. I wondered how good of a cook the man buying the steak was, did he do the cooking? His wife? Did he have a private chef?
After the man left she turns, “I told you I’d sell all those steaks this morning,” she grins and she had told me so. I’ve never minded someone with a big ego as long as they have the talent to back it up which Pam clearly did. “I could sell ice to an Eskimo or sand to an Arab.” Okay I have to admit that comment was a little over the top, but what the hell she was proud of the sale and why not that is a damn expensive steak. I wonder how much the man is willing to pay for a steak at a fancy steakhouse. I wonder if that day was special or does he not even blink twice about paying that much for a steak.
“I’m the best butcher you’ll ever know. I won a butcher competition where there were 57 men and myself. I cut down a whole side of pork in twenty-five minutes. The guy next to me only had two trays done.” Ah, Pam I’ll miss your stories even if they are a bit self-absorbed. I highly recommend Wagshal’s Market for your meat procuring, so long as you have the unlimited budget to afford it. I hope to be back someday when I can afford a 103 day aged porterhouse, maybe then I can tempt my vegan relatives to try at least a bite.
With a heritage firmly rooted in Spain and dating back more than 35 years, 13 Gypsies strives to bring you a taste of true mediterranean flavors. As many restaurants push food innovation, 13 Gypsies proudly work and strive to preserve traditional recipes and flavors before they are lost. Staying true to his roots, Chef Howard runs his kitchen with a passion for the simple and elegant food of the old world – passing on his love and passion to young new cooks.
887 Stockton Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32204
Land – 904.389.0330
Fax – 904.389.0220
13g@13gypsies.com
Mark Bere Peterson’s Counterculture, Urban Legends, Paganism & Witchcraft 