tuna in a cup

go ahead and make this.

there are four parts to this amazing thing, so here's the recipe broken down in four parts, then combined at the end.

1. Wasabi mayo
mix wasabi and mayo in a bowl. if you want more spicy, add more wasabi. it you want more fat, add more mayo.

2. fried wonton crisp
this takes a little finesse. buy some wonton sheets from the store. get a fry pan hot. then add some vegetable oil. once the oil is hot, test one wonton sheet: drop it in the oil. it shouldn't burn outright (if it is turn down the heat), and also shouldn't be greasy upon removal (if it is turn up the heat). when you pull a good fried wonton out, it will be a little pliable at first then set to a nice golden crisp. so get a little bowl and use it as a form to make your wonton into a little cup to hold the tuna as you pull each fried wonton out. make sense? make about 4 per person and set aside on a towel to drain and cool.

3. tuna filling
in a bowl, mix chopped raw ahi tuna (1/3 lb per person), chopped chives, sesame seeds, two garlic cloves mashed to a paste, a squirt of rooster sauce (siracha or something?), a couple leaves of cilantro, a touch of sesame oil, a touch of soy sauce, and a squeeze of fresh lime right at the end (right at the end or else it will cook the fish and make it gray, not brilliant red).

4. avocado
chunked.

on a plate, put a dollop (a lame word, but the best i can think of) of wasabi mayo for each wonton. put the cup on top of each dollop (the dollop is like glue keeping the wonton from tipping). spoon in fresh chunked avocado, a couple chunks per cup. on top of that, the tuna mixture. see photo.

mac and cheese and bacon and chard and breadcrumbs

mac and cheese go together like bacon and swiss chard.

Serves 4.

Preheat oven to 350°F. cook pasta and leave a bit firm since it will cook more after you put mac and cheese in the oven. for toasted breadcrumb topping:
- stale bread, about the size of two fists
- a few springs of thyme, leaves picked
- a couple garlic cloves, peeled and smashed (leave whole)
- olive oil

in a food processor make the bread breadcrumbs. in a fry pay hot with a glug of olive oil, toast the breadcrumbs, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper until the bread is crunchy. remove and put aside.

for mac and cheese: - 1 lb pasta. it doesn't have to be macaroni but should be short and not noodly. - 1 cup milk - 2 slices whole wheat sandwich bread - 2 tablespoons butter, divided - 8 ounce cheese shredded/chunked--like brie or white cheddar? Experiment - 1/2 cup gruyere shredded for melting - olive oil - 2 garlic cloves, minced - 4 strips bacon - like 5 leaves of chard, very roughly chopped cook the pasta. drain and set aside. cook the bacon. drain and set aside and crumble. while it's cooking, in a large saucepan, heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.

whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. add milk, and whisk the mixture until the flour has dissolved and the liquid begins to thicken. remove from heat and mix in cheese, stirring until melted.

Add the cooked pasta to the cheese mixture and stir in the bacon and chard. put in a oven disk and top with breadcrumb mixture. place on a cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes.

lamb ragu

my favorite mag taught this one. taken word for word from esquire.com.

Lamb Ragu With Pistachios and Mint

When it comes to feeding men — or anyone who knows how to eat — you have to respect the meat-and-potatoes appetite, even when the meal isn't exactly meat. Or potatoes. I put this sauce together out of things I had on hand: part luck, part learning. It's a traditional Bolognese sauce right up to the moment you drop in the orange. Juice alone wouldn't have enough citrus power to cut through the richness of the lamb — it's the essential oils from the rind that create a sweet undercurrent in the sauce. When you have a sauce this rich and complex, you want a flat noodle that provides some surface cling. A round noodle won't grip the sauce, and the best part of the meal will slip away.

Sauce

• ½ lb pancetta, diced small
• 1 yellow onion, diced small
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced small
• 2 stalks celery, diced small
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• >2 lbs ground lamb
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tbsp fennel seed
• 2 tbsp ground cardamom
• 1 orange, quartered
• coarse salt
• 1 cup roughly chopped mint leaves
• 1 ½ cups roughly chopped unsalted pistachios (about 3 cups in shell)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Pasta

• 2 lbs thin hand-cut fresh pasta, like tagliarini or tagliatelle

Black-Pepper Ricotta

• 1 ½ cups ricotta mixed with 1 tbsp ground black pepper

Instructions

In a large pot over moderate heat, render pancetta slightly with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. (Do not brown.) When pancetta is translucent, about 8 minutes, add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Lower heat and sweat until vegetables are translucent and soft, about 12 minutes. (Do not brown.)

Add lamb and cook, working it with a wooden spoon so all the meat touches the cooking surface, until it loses its pink color, about 12 minutes.

Add tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it turns rust colored, 3 to 5 minutes. Add up to ½ cup water and stir to loosen tomato paste so it doesn't burn. Add wine and simmer 2 minutes, stirring and scraping the pot with the wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits of meat. Add milk, fennel seed, cardamom, orange, and 1 tbsp salt. Stir to combine.

Cover and barely simmer over extremely low heat until flavors are well blended, about 1 ½ hours. (Use the lowest possible heat source to avoid scorching and stir frequently to avoid sticking.) Skim off fat and discard, remove orange, and season with salt to taste.

Stir in mint and pistachios and add ½ cup to 1 cup water to thin ragu slightly. Cook pasta according to package directions, but when noodles are about 1 minute from being finished (still a little sticky to the touch), transfer pasta to sauce to finish cooking. Add butter and reduce until sauce clings to pasta. Use tongs to toss noodles in sauce until coated. Salt to taste.

Transfer to serving bowls and top with dollops of black-pepper ricotta.

Serves 6.

Emma Hearst is the chef of Sorella in New York City.

buffalo burgers... that's alliteration

have you seen food.inc? it's heavy. you never want to eat mass made meats ever again. that's why last night we tried buffalo. was told it's sustainable, grass fed, delicious, and it impresses friends.(atin like a Sioux injun!) I believed the first two, and learned the last two for myself. here's how i did it:

grilled buffalo burgers--heirloom tomatoes, Gorgonzola, arugula, grilled onion, pickles, red pepper aoili, on toasted chiabatta.

things you need:
- ground buffalo. 1/3 lbs. per person, shapped into patties with your hands, seasoned with salt and pepper heavily. available at good stores or online.
- tomatoes. sliced. we used heirlooms for this because that's what we grew.
- gorgonzola cheese. sliced.
- arugula. again, because that's what we grew. the peppery flavor is nice. use garden greens maybe.
- onion. sliced. drizzled with olive oil.
- pickles. sliced.
- chiabatta. or some other bread of your choosing. a baguette cut to burger size would be super.

for red pepper aioli:
- red bell peppers. halved, deseeded.
- 1 egg yoke
- 2 clove garlic, smashed
- salt and pepper
- olive oil... sort of a lot
- lemon

first, make your red pepper aioli. drizzle peppers with oil, salt and pepper, and roast (@400) or grill (on high) until they're soft and black and delicious. while those are cooking, beat the egg yoke in a bowl. SLOWLY start to drizzle in oil. slowly add more and more, making sure oil and egg yoke are coming together smoothly. it will look more and more solid and fluffy. when it look/tastes like mayo but better, season with garlic, salt and pepper, and squeeze in half a lemon. taste and adjust. mince up the cooked red pepper and stir in, or whirl it all together in a processor.

Conversely, open a jar of mayo and stir in your red pepper. not as good, but quick.

then grill. light your grill, get it hot, and get onions grilled and soft and nearly black. move to side of grill. grill your bison burgers. DO NOT OVERCOOK. it gets dry easily. so as soon as you flip, put the cheese on and melt it.

toast your chiabatta, make your burgers, top with all the ingredients.

we wont do that any more

after some recent bad reviews, we won't be cursing anymore on this log. it's vulgar. it's lowers you, we're told. though we still may use the occasional expletive, it will be reserved for worthy occasion. apologies to the offend parties--we're better than that. that, and posts resume... now.