Tuna Conserva vs. Chicken of the Sea

   On a fellow chefs travels to Spain she brought us back a smorgasbord of canned seafood critters ranging from baby octopus and barnacles, to mussels and clams. We devoured them with a piquant vinegar sauce and to our delight it ruined any memories of the conveyer belt canned tuna we had grown to know. In some parts of the world these canned treasures are a delicacy and you will pay top dollar for them.
    Working for suzanne I can remember the Ortiz Ventresca Tuna de Bonito del Norte that was shipped in from Spain to top our Pan Bagnat. A Niscoise style tuna sandwich that boasted the olive oil packed tuna on french baguette dressed with a little lemon and caper, and topped with aioli, soft boiled eggs and tapenade. I can still taste in to this day. It brings me back.
    Take the massed production capitalist american water filled chicken of the sea. And weight it in next to the hand selected delicately poached olive oil packed european tuna and there is no winner by decision. It is a clear knockout in the first round. The referee didn't even have a chance to stop the fight. I mean who calls tuna "chicken of the sea" anyway?
    Now, I understand the craze about eating raw tuna. It is delicious. But don't let your misconception of canned tuna go any furthur. Try this recipe or at least go by a can of the ortiz tuna at whole foods. Don't stir it up with miracle whip. Just drain it. Add a little lemon, olive oil and some sea salt. Serve it over a white bean salad with some grilled leeks, a soft boiled egg, fried capers and a little tonnato sauce. Or toss it with a panzanella of tomatoes and cucumbers with some vinegar.  Either way it won't disappoint.  



For this recipe we are folding in the tuna with padron peppers that have been cooked over a charcoal flame. On a dried fava bean puree with pickled radishes a Calabrian chili oil and some black sea salt crackers. Make the tuna a couple of days before to let the tuna complexity seep in.

1 # of Tuna. Preferably Ahi or Yellowfin. Cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch slabs.
a bulb of fennel cut in half, a half of a red onion, a lemon cut in half
a couple bay leaves,  2 tablespoons of black peppercorns, a sprig of rosemary
a piece of calabrian chili torn in half

    Cover all of the aromatics with about 4 quarts of water. Bring to a simmer and let the court boullon infuse for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile season the tuna aggressively with sea salt on all sides while the aromatics are coming together. Put the tuna into a container large enough to cover the tuna in by 2 inches with the court bouillon. Let sit in the court bouillon for 12 minutes and then with a small knife peek inside. The tuna should be about medium and slightly opaque. Let the tuna carry over until just before medium well. It should be bright pink throughout. If it is not you have gone to far. Break apart by hand a piece of the tuna during this process to really see whats going on inside. Let the tuna rest on a dry linen for about 20 minutes until it is to room temperature and until it is dry.  I like to put the tuna in a mason jar covered with a lemon peel and a couple of bay leaves then drowned in olive oil.  When you are ready to serve then break up the tuna with a little anchovy, lemon and olive oil. Add sea salt if it needs.        

For the Fava bean Puree.                

2 cups of peeled dried favas
9 cups of water
1 cup of olive oil
5 garlic gloves smashed
1/2 of a sweet onion
1 calabrian chili torn in half                  
a sprig of rosemary

You can sub out dried white beans or cranberry beans if you like. But I like the taste of the dried fava. It gives a slight nuttiness and sweetness. First you are going to sweat the onions, rosemary, garlic and Calabrian chili in olive oil until onions are tender. Add the favas and coat in the oil. Cover with water and cook for about 1 hour until beans are breaking apart. Drain off the bean liquid and reduce until about  1 cup and then puree adding the bean liquid until you have the consistency of a loose hummus. Reserve and keep warm by covering.



For the padron peppers  you will just toss them in olive oil and sea salt and cook them over charcoal or oak. Applewood works well to.  If padron peppers are not in season then a shishito's work just fine. The secret here is to not overcook them. You want a high heat flame to char the skin and absorb the smoke flavor but you don't want them to be mush. And remember they will continue to soften when you take them off the flames. Cut the tops off of them after they have come to room temperature.

For the Olive Oil and Black Salt Crackers you will need:  

2 cups of "00" Flour ( Order on Amazon)
1/4 cup of water
1 Tablespoon of Wheat germ
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1/2 a teaspoon of Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Olive oil for brushing
Black Sea Salt Flakes ( Whole Foods) You can buy by the gram

In a mixer with a dough hook combine all ingredients and mix until combined and forms a sticky ball. Let rest covered with a towel for 10 minutes. Cut into quarters, dust your hands with flour and roll through a pasta machine or with a rolling pin until you get it very thin. Brush the bottom of a sheet tray with olive oil and place the cracker dough on top. Brush with more olive oil and black sea salt and bake at 500 degrees until golden brown. Let the Cracker cool and break into medium size rustic pieces.

To finish I just garnish with slices of radish that have been soaked with rice wine vinegar for about 10 minutes. And then we mix calabrian chili paste with lemon, fish sauce, and olive oil.

   DUCK SUGO SEDUCTION

             Sugo + Nonna = Tasty Meat Gravy. Its       almost the same as the newly found art of the crock pot but just with out the set it and forget it. You see with Italian cuisine nonna (grandma)  doesn't leave the house. She nutures the sugo. Early that morning she negotiates the meat with the butcher. She picks the herbs from the garden, she fries the meat in the fat from her prosciutto brodo. And if she were from bologna she would finish the gravy with the unpasturized milk from her neighbors cows utter while double fisting a bottle of Lambrusco in the other hand. Well.... my irish grandma would if she were from bologna. But really... Have you had a bolognese sauce here in america. It is crap. It is made from hamburg meat. The true Bolognese sauce was made from hand ground hanger steak and braised like a piece of shortrib. Creating layers of flavor from constantly reducing the natural juices in the pan to form a fond (Crust and the bottom of the pan) and then deglazing it with a small amount of liquid only to reform the fond and repeat. This is how you need to treat the sugo or any sausage ragu for that matter. You dont just turn the stove on low and walk away.

        In this case we are using ground duck leg meat to make our duck sugo. Just ask your butcher to order some in for you. Before we get to that lets talk about the prosciutto brodo. Ask your butcher to save all of the prosciutto scraps and end pieces for you. Im am sure they will be happy to do as there is quite seldomly a request for this. This means you don't have to buy the proscuitto at full cost but at a cheaper rate. You should have about 2 # of meat for this recipe.

Cube up the prosciutto and put in a pot covered with water and bring to a simmer. Skim off all the impurities and lower the heat to medium and cook covered for about 3 hours until all of the fat has melted into the brodo and the connective tissues in the meat have broken down. Enjoy the aroma of cured meat broth that takes over your domaine. For this is the smell of authentic Italian cuisine. Not fussy but time consuming.



I strained my prosciutto brodo into a mason jar and covered with an air tight lid. And into the fridge overnight. Use the fat at the top if the brodo to fry you duck meat in. Think of it like melted lardo.


                                                                                                                                                                        







     Now we are ready to start cooking. Take off the fat from the the top of the prosciutto and fry the ground duck meat in it at a very low tempurature. Break up the meat so that there are no large lumps. Deglaze with a little water to release some of the fond on the bottom of the pan. At this point add in a half of sweet onion, 2 ribs of small diced celery, a half of bulb of fennel, half of a grated carrot, 2 cups of mushrooms ( preferably black trumpet, chanterelle or porcini), 1 tsp of rosemary and a quarter pound diced of pancetta. Slowly cook the vegatables and mushrooms until you obtain a golden color and the fat from the pancetta renders out.

Once a fond builds on the bottom of your pan then deglaze with white wine. In this case to balance the richness of the duck i used about 2 cups of a dry moscato. Once again reduce the wine until you create one last fond to build layers of depth and richness.

Deglaze with about 5 cups of your prosciutto brodo and a half of cup of milk. Lightly season as the prosciutto brodo is has a pronounced salty flavor. Cover and simmer on low heat for at least 2 hours adding more liquid if it gets too dry.

Finish the Duck Sugo with a tablespoon of vincotto ( Fig Vinegar) and a basic tomato puree. (Pureed Good quality Italian Canned tomatoes. Note: I use carmelina from Whole foods) About 1 cup. Reduce the gravy until it coats the back of a spoon.


The Fig Vinegar and tomato puree give the sauce a nice balance of sweet and acidic that helps cut the richness of the duck. Notice how this is not a tomato based sauce but rather finished with a little tomato.

Now For the Ricotta Cavatelli                                

10 oz of Tipo "OO" Flour ( Buy on Amazon)
8 oz of drained Ricotta Cheese
2 Large Eggs
Season with salt and pepper




Mix the ricotta Cavatelli dough in a stand mixer with a hook or buy hand until you form a firm and tacky ball. About ten minutes. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes under a damp cloth and divide into 6 pieces. Roll the pieces into small logs and Dust heavily with flour. Run through a cavatelli machine and drop into lightly salted water for about three minures. You can order a Cavatelli Machine from Amazon.com for about 40 dollars.

Add the cavatelli into the duck sugo and let the cavatelli absorb any last bit of juice from the sugo. Here i finish the duck sugo with a little home made espresso infused olive oil and a healthy grating of grana padana. Cavatelli is just as good the next day and holds up well to the sauce. You can bake the dish in a cast iron post the next day to finish off the leftovers. I have been eating it for the last three days now and every time my taste buds are captivated by it.

BURRATA MADE EASY

        If you want to impress your friends with a luxurious italian ingredient then burrata is your go to. I like to think of Burrata as the the evil twin of mozzarella. It is much creamier and gluttonous than mozzarella. The translation literally means "Butter." We will cover the art of making curds for mozzarella in another lesson but for now I will show a full proof method to the mozzamadness.
        First off you need to source out mozzarella curds and fresh mozzarella. Always source a local cheesemaker or dairy. I use gioia based out of souther california. Go to your local whole foods and have them order in the curds for you. You won't have a problem finding the fresh mozzarella. Its that simple. You will need about 2 balls of mozzarella to make 5 pieces of burrata and exactly 21 oz of mozzarella curds for this recipe.
     Next we will make the "Stracciatella" which translates to "Torn Apart." Take a couple pieces of fresh mozzarella and grate it on the larger side of a cheese grater into a bowl. Add in a little heavy cream until you have the consistency of cottage cheese and finish with a good quality sea salt. Set the stracciatella aside.
     Meanwhile heat up a pot of water with at least a gallon of water to 170 degrees using a thermometer.  Then dice up 21 ounces of mozzarella curds into half inch cubes and sprinkle over three tablespoons of salt. Place into a bowl. Pour over 2 quarts of the warm water and let sit for exactly 2 minutes. Pour off the water and then pour 2 more quarts of the 170 water over the softened curds. Start to push the curds together with two rubber spatulas into a ball. Then with a large metal serving spoon pull up the curds into the air and stretch them two to three times being carefull not to overwork the curds. Form them into a ball with making sure to use plastic gloves. Pull off a pieces of mozzarella and and form a small pancake in the palm of your hand. Stuff the "Stracciatella" onto the middle of the mozzarella sheet and pull up the sides of the burrata as if you work going to make a sachet. You can tight a knot or pull of a piece and tuck it under. Then put the Burrata into a cool saltwater brine to set. It is said that they used to brine the mozzarella in ocean water if that gives you an ideal. Pull out the mozzarella from the brine about twenty minutes before serving.
     I would suggest filling it with some confit tomatoes with basil pesto, or some crushed peaches with mint. I guarantee that your guest have not witnessed or indulged in a stuffed burrata. This stuffed burrata recipe is the "Public Display of Affection" of the curd world.  Serve with some good quality olive oil, sea salt and grilled bread. Enjoy !