Receta Thomas Keller's Marinated Skirt Steak and Asparagus with Tomato Bacon Stew
L. to R. Eric and Adam One night last week, Andrew, our friend
Kathy and I all went to see Eric Rippert, the Chef Extraordinaire at New York’s
Le Bernardin. Chef Rippert was appearing at the
YMHA as part of the “Conversations with Chevaliers” series. The participants in these talks all have one
thing in common: They have all received the prestigious French ‘Legion
d’Honneur’ or Order of Arts and Letters from the government of France. It’s no surprise that Chef Rippert would be
so honored. For the 20 years that he has been there, “Le Bernardin” has been consistently listed
at the top of any roster of New York’s best restaurants. It’s also listed as the #18th best
restaurant in the entire world according to San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best
List. I’ll save a lot of what Chef
Rippert had to say to the moderator, The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik, for a
separate post. Today I’ll tell you what
he recommended when asked “What Cookbooks should a home cook own”.
To paraphrase, Rippert said you
only need 3. He’d start with any great
book that actually teaches you how to cook, the techniques for producing great
meals at home. The books that made this
list were Julia Child’s “The Way to Cook” (Alfred A. Knopf 1989) is still in
great Jacques Pepin whose “Essential Pepin” (Harcourt Mifflin Harcourt) came
out in 2011. Both books are filled with
techniques and skills. Finally, the
author of “Avec Eric” (John Wiley & Son 2010), offered up Thomas Keller’s
“Ad Hoc at Home” (Artisan Books 2009) as being the third essential
cookbook. (Cookbook fanciers, like yours
truly, were encouraged to hear that Chef Rippert himself has ‘about a 1000
cookbooks’ which sounds about right to me.)
The Great Man himself, Thomas Keller
Now
I have all three of the recommended cookbooks. I have gone to Julia and Jacques
for help more times than I could possibly remember. Thomas Keller, on the other hand, is
well-represented in our kitchen but all three volumes we have--“Bouchon”, “The
French Laundry” and “Ad Hoc at Home”-- all seemed to fall into the category of
‘too intimidating’ and have remained as ‘coffee-table books’ that just happen
to be kept in the kitchen.
After
Chef Rippert’s talk, as I was planning a small dinner party, “Ad Hoc at Home”
was the first place I looked. And much
to my delight, it turns out that, in this book at least, Chef Keller is
determined to teach you how to cook and not just leave you hanging with a list
of 25 ingredients and 25 steps to get dinner on the table. It’s good to remember that of the 9
Restaurants “Ad Hoc” in Yountville, California is his “more casual eatery”.
Casual compared to Yountville’s other Keller property the world famous “French
Laundry”. Poring over this beautiful
book, I settled on a menu that would incorporate my guests’ fondness for beef
and the stellar Asparagus that’s started to come in from California instead of
South America. Hopefully, by the time
you read this or shortly thereafter, we’ll be deep in our local asparagus,
which will only make this even more appropriate.
(I
also served Potatoes Anna, which were absolutely delicious but swimming in
butter so I won’t take you through that preparation until I’ve mastered the
recipe.)
The Un-prepossessing Ad Hoc
Thomas
Keller is a supremely wonderful teacher, I was surprised to find out. He takes you by the hand and lets you know
exactly what to expect. Don’t plan on
doing much the afternoon you take on this menu. There’s down time, but nothing is
rushed. The marinade is heat to a simmer
- then cooled to room temperature before being into service. The tomato-bacon sauce takes 30 minutes just
- to render the bacon fat. Then there’s the hour and 20 minutes that the tomatoes
- stew. This is no rush weeknight
- meal. But it succeeds in taking a very
- reasonably priced cut of steak and elevating it in flavor and texture. It also something as common as Spring
- asparagus and makes it very special. And
- Asparagus has never looked prettier on the table and plate. So allow yourself the luxury of an afternoon
- and serve this to company. They’ll love you for it. Here are the recipes:
- Thomas Keller’s Recipe for Marinated Skirt Steak:
- Ingredients for Marinade:
- 2 eight-inch rosemary sprigs
- 1 tablespoon black
- peppercorns
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed,
- skin left on
- 2 cups extra virgin olive
- oil
- Six 8 ounce trimmed outer
- skirt steaks
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted
- butter
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed,
- skin left on
- Combine the thyme,
- rosemary, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, and oil in a medium saucepan and
bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let the marinade
cool to room temperature.
2.
Trim steaks of any excess
fat and discard. Cut the steaks crosswise into 2 to 3 equal pieces, depending
on the size of the steaks. Put the steaks in a baking dish, add the
marinade, and cover with plastic wrap pressing down on it to completely cover the meat. Marinate for at least 4 hours
or up to 24 hours, in the refrigerator.
3.
Remove the meat from the
marinade and let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking.
Discard the marinade. Dry the meat with paper towels. Season with salt and
pepper. Preheat the oven to 350
degrees; set a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Heat some canola oil in a
large frying pan over high heat. (Have a splatter screen ready.) When the oil
shimmers, add half the meat and quickly brown the first side. Turn the meat
and, working quickly, add 1 tablespoon of butter, 2 thyme sprigs, and 1 garlic
clove, and brown the meat on the second side, basting constantly; the entire
cooking process should only take about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer the meat to
the roasting rack and spoon the butter, garlic, and thyme over the top. Wipe
the pan, and repeat with the remaining steaks.
Transfer the roasting
rack and pan (or cooling rack and half sheet pan) to the oven and cook for 8 to
10 minutes, or until the center of the meat registers 125 degrees. Remove from
oven and let the meat rest on the rack in a warm place for about 10 minutes for
medium-rare. Serve, garnishing steaks with the garlic and thyme.
Thomas Keller’s Recipe for Asparagus with Tomato Bacon Sauce
3 oz. thick
cut bacon, cut into 1″ x 1/4″ lardons
2 Tbsp.
coarsely chopped leeks, white part only
2 1/2 lbs. Asparagas,
trimmed
1/4 cup
plus 2 tbsp. chicken stock
1.
Prep all
your ingredients
2.
Pour 2
tablespoons water into a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Add the
bacon and reduce heat and let bacon render for 30 minutes. Transfer bacon
to paper towels using a slotted spoon. Save bacon fat.
Keep 2
tablespoons in pan, reserve the rest of the bacon fat, and add the leeks,
onions, garlic and stir to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5-7
minutes or until the veggies are soft. Add the tomatoes with their juices and
simmer for 45 minutes.
Transfer
half the mixture to a mini chopper and process until puree. add back into pan.
cook for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in the bacon and reduce
the heat to low.
Heat a large
frying pan, one that can hold half the asparagus in a single layer over medium
low heat. Pour a film of the reserved bacon fat or some canola oil into the pan
and lay the asparagus over the fat. Add 3 tablespoons of stock and some
salt. Cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Repeat with the other half of
the asparagus.
lay a layer
of sauce on a your platter. Layer your asparagus over the sauce and top
with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with some good olive oil. Serve at once.