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Best Recipes The by Top Chefs in the West

The Best Recipes by Top Chefs in the West

CONTENTS

Salads

8 Panzanella Salad

Chef Polly Lappetito—formerly of Ciccio restaurant in Yountville— shares her recipe for a timeless Tuscan salad made with heirloom tomatoes and chunks of bread.

12 Chinese Chicken Salad

Barbecued pork, macadamia nuts, and a hoisin mustard vinaigrette make this restaurant staple something special. A founding father of Hawaiian cuisine shows you how.

Comfort food

14 Spicy Buffalo Chili

Former Executive chef Zeke Wray of The Farm at Canyons Resort shares his recipe for a hearty, aromatic chili.

18 Meyer Lemon Pizza

Citrus adds snap to this peppery, salty treat from Corkscrew Café in California’s Carmel Valley.

20 Three-Cheese Mac & Cheese

A buttery version of the weeknight special based on the classic from Napa Valley’s famous restaurateur Cindy Pawlcyn.

Seafood

22 Citrus- and AlmondCrusted Halibut

Follow a Portland chef’s step-bystep instructions to give sweet fish a crunchy crust.

26 Salmon with Grilled Vegetable Succotash

Grilled salmon meets a medley of corn, tomatoes, green beans, and zucchini in a tasty dish from the former Reno restaurant Campo.

28 Northwest Clam Chowder

Hearty and soothing, this rich seafood soup from a classic Oregon lodge adds snap with bacon, thyme, and brandy.

32 Shrimp Tagine

by carolyn jung

cover photograph by robbie mcclaran

A hero of San Francisco’s red-hot culinary scene has adapted a classic example of soulful North African cuisine for home cooking.

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The Best Recipes by Top Chefs in the West

Poultry

36 Sautéed Duck Breast

A popular menu item from nowclosed Alexander’s on California’s Sonoma Coast includes parsnip puree and black cherry jus.

40 Brick-Grilled Chicken

Crisp, juicy, tender, smoky—those are a Napa Valley chef’s terms of endearment for one of his favorite dishes. It’s a hit with diners, too.

42 Fried Chicken Sandwich

Try a recipe for the Fried Chicken Sandwich from Bakesale Betty in Oakland, Calif.

44 Beer-Brined Chicken

Dark beer adds a delicate richness to a dish of tender roasted chicken with a tangy sauce.

Meat

48 Slow-Braised Short Ribs

Mild Mexican chiles meld with dark chocolate to make an irresistibly rich seasoning for long-braised beef.

52 Beef Bourguignon

Chef Wendi Mentink combines beef, bacon, and pearl onions cooked in red wine with a secret ingredient: ketchup.

56 Braised Pork Shoulder

A16 in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood shares a southern Italian countryside dish with pork, sun-dried peppers, beans, and olives.

58 Luscious Lamb Shanks

An unexpected lentil side dish brightens lamb at one of Idaho’s most popular restaurants.

60 Lamb Meatballs

Tender and juicy, these bursts of meaty goodness from a modern Greek restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area can be served alone or with pasta.

Sweets

62 Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Even coconut-haters love this luscious dessert at Tom Douglas’s Dahlia Bakery in Seattle.

66 Orange-Currant Scones

Bring a buttery bit of San Francisco scrumptiousness to your breakfast table with these simple step-bystep instructions.

68 Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

Cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate—not to mention plenty of butter and sugar—put the pleasure in this indulgent dessert.

70 Chocolate Chunk Cookies

You too can make impressively thick cookies that are delicately crisp on the edges, chewy inside, and loaded with semisweet chocolate and toasted pecans.

72 Olallieberry Pie

Along California’s central coast, a classic tavern in Pescadero dishes out old-fashioned summer goodness in a flaky crust.

Salads

Polly Lappetito’s Panzanella Salad

Chef Polly Lappetito, long associated with Ciccio in Yountville, shares her recipe for a timeless Tuscan salad made with heirloom tomatoes.

For chef Polly Lappetito, nothing says summer like heirloom tomatoes. “They are my favorite ingredient of the season. They almost have to be,” she says with a laugh. “They are just so abundant. In California, the quality is unbelievable.”

She should know. As the former chef of Ciccio restaurant (6770 Washington St., Yountville, ciccionapavalley.com), Lappetito has the luxury of using tomatoes and other vegetables picked fresh from the sprawling Altamura family ranch. The family owns not only an eponymous vineyard and winery, but also the restaurant.

Lappetito likes to showcase those stellar tomatoes in a classic panzanella salad. The timeless Tuscan dish was a runaway hit on the menu at Ciccio, as well as at the Greystone Restaurant run by the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, where she was chef for more than a decade. She also often makes it at home for friends and family when the temperatures soar.

The dish speaks to her philosophy that less is more. At Ciccio, she’s all about home-style Italian food that makes the most of a handful of key ingredients. Three or four different varieties of tomatoes—red, orange, green, striped, or yellow ones—add flavor and eye appeal to this rustic, peasant salad that makes use of leftover bread and pantry staples such as good olive oil and red wine vinegar. It’s also a dish that lends itself to tinkering. Add more cucumbers if you like. Or even capers and anchovies. True to form, Lappetito keeps to this simple recipe because it shows off tomatoes so splendidly.

“What I love most is when the bread kind of gets soggy and soaks up all that oil, vinegar, and tomato juices,” she says. “I almost like it better the next day, chilled, too, when the bread gets thoroughly saturated.” carolyn jung

Panzanella Salad

CICCIO

YOUNTVILLE, CALIF.

Serves 6 as a first course.

Ingredients

½ day-old baguette (or similar type bread), about ¾-inch dice

2 large heirloom tomatoes, diced

1 English cucumber, peeled (seeded or not) and diced large

1 green bell pepper, diced large

1 small red onion, julienned

¾ cup good quality olive oil, or to taste

¼ cup red wine vinegar, or to taste

Salt and pepper

1 bunch basil leaves, picked ½ cup shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Dice the bread and let it sit out the night before you plan to make the salad. Alternatively, if starting with fresh bread, dice, place on a baking sheet, and bake in a 300°F oven for about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, and red onion. Add the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, and toss. Allow vegetables to marinate for about 10 minutes.

3. Just before serving, toss in the dried bread. With your hands, tear the basil leaves into about ½-inch pieces and add to the salad. Add the Parmigiano, and combine everything well. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar, then serve. ●

In this recipe, three or four varieties of heirloom tomatoes— red, orange, green, striped, or yellow ones— add flavor and eye appeal to this rustic, peasant salad.

Alan Wong’s Chinese Chicken Salad

Barbecued pork, macadamia nuts, and a hoisin mustard vinaigrette make this restaurant staple something special.

You wouldn’t find a Chinese chicken salad at any of the restaurants run by Alan Wong— except at his first on Maui: Alan Wong’s Amasia (now closed).

The dish was created specially for this establishment in the Grand Wailea resort, which opened in 1991. Amasia—named for the continent scientists expect to form when North America and Asia crunch together millions of years from now—served a wide range of small plates, as well as sushi and robata-grill specialties. The Chinese chicken salad was one of a handful of larger family-style offerings.

“It’s a dish everyone can relate to,” says Wong, who’s widely regarded as a founding father of Hawaiian regional cuisine. “I wanted to create a salad with familiar flavors for guests coming from everywhere. Since I don’t do authentic Chinese or Japanese food, my dishes are always my own interpretation.”

His Chinese chicken salad is no exception. Sure, as in most versions, tender chicken pieces are tossed gently with crisp veggies and other ingredients. But Wong adds macadamia nuts for extra crunch and Chinese barbecued pork (char siu) to boost the Asian flavors. If you don’t know of a nearby Chinese deli or Asian grocery where you can buy the specialty pork, ham sliced into matchsticksize pieces makes a tasty substitute. Make the vinaigrette ahead so that the diverse flavors can come together into a complex dressing. Just be sure to hold off on tossing the dressing into the salad until you’re ready to eat, so that all the elements stay crisp. Then, enjoy a taste of Hawaii—without the long plane ride. c j

Chinese Chicken Salad ALAN WONG’S

AMASIA

MAUI

Serves 4.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by chef Alan Wong.

Salad

12 ribs romaine lettuce, chopped

⅔ pound poached chicken, skinned, boned, and shredded

1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks

1 rib of celery, cut into matchsticks

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves

¼ cup (about 2 ounces) macadamia nuts or cashews, coarsely chopped

2 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced

½ pound Chinese char siu pork (or ham), cut into matchsticks

4 wonton wrappers, sliced into ¼-inch ribbons and deep fried until crisp Hoisin Soy Mustard Vinaigrette (see recipe at right)

2 teaspoons sesame seeds, lightly toasted in a dry skillet

1. In a mixing bowl, combine lettuce, chicken, carrots, celery, cilantro, nuts, green onion, Chinese barbecued pork, and fried won ton slivers.

2. Pour some of the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and sprinkle it with the sesame seeds. Serve immediately. Any leftover vinaigrette can be held in the refrigerator for up to several days. It’s good on basic salads or lightly cooked vegetables.

Hoisin Soy Mustard Vinaigrette

Makes about 1 cup

¼ cup shoyu or any Japanese-style soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons mirin (a sweet Japanese rice wine available in many supermarkets)

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon Hawaiian chili pepper water or other Tabasco-style hot sauce, to taste

4 tablespoons lime juice

1 1-inch coin of fresh ginger, skin on, smashed

1 tablespoon Coleman’s mustard powder mixed with 2 teaspoons hot water

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients. Set the vinaigrette aside for an hour or so to allow the flavors to meld. Before dressing the salad, discard the ginger, then taste and adjust the seasonings. ●

After allowing the flavors in the dressing to meld, discard the ginger and adjust to taste.

Comfort Food

Zeke Wray’s Spicy Buffalo Chili

The perfect antidote to winter, this hearty, aromatic chili comes from the kitchen at a popular Utah ski resort.

When a restaurant sits at the base of the largest ski resort in Utah, it’s almost a given that chili will be on the menu. But when former executive chef Zeke Wray joined the staff in 2006, he couldn’t resist tinkering with the soulful winter staple served at the Farm Restaurant at Canyons Resort in Park City (open for the ski season only).

Rather than stick with beef, he opted for leaner buffalo meat from Wyoming, sourced, as were most of his main ingredients, from no farther than 200 miles away. This chili has a mix of both ground and chopped buffalo. “It makes the chili chunkier,” Wray says. “With the ground meat, you get a lot of buffalo taste from the juices. With the chunks, you get more texture. It’s a hearty dish that warms you from the inside out.”

Aromatic with cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, and jalapeños, the chili also can be made with ground pork, beef, or turkey if buffalo isn’t easy to come by in your area. The dish gets a dash of smoky heat from ground chipotle pepper, which can be found in jars in the spice aisle at specialty stores and wellstocked supermarkets. This recipe makes a generous amount of chili—it’s great for a crowd, but also freezes well if you want to store some away for later.

Wray likes to garnish the chili with sour cream, grated local cheese, and cornbread croutons, but it’s just as good with only cheese. It was a signature on the lunch menu. Wray was more than willing to accommodate dinner patrons, too, who have to get their fix. c j

Spicy Buffalo Chili

THE FARM AT CANYONS RESORT

PARK CITY, UTAH

Serves 10.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by chef Zeke Wray of the Talisker Restaurant Collection.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 pounds ground buffalo meat

½ pound chopped buffalo meat

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon cayenne

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-ounce can tomato puree

2 jalapeños, seeded and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups beef broth or water

2 15-ounce cans pinto beans, drained

Water as needed

Shaved sharp cheddar, for garnish

1. Warm the vegetable oil in a large pot over mediumhigh heat, add the ground and chopped buffalo, and cook until browned. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.

2. In the same pot, over medium heat, mix the chili powder, cumin, chipotle pepper, cinnamon, and cayenne. Stir until the spices are slightly toasted and aromatic. Add the chopped onion and sauté until it’s translucent, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Next, stir in the tomato puree and cook for another minute. Add the diced jalapeños, diced bell pepper, salt, pepper, beef broth, and buffalo meat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the beans and cook for 15 minutes more. If the chili seems too thick, add water in stages during the cooking.

4. Ladle the chili into bowls, then garnish with sharp cheddar shaved into wide curls with a cheese plane or potato peeler. ●

Notes

cornbread croutons

Chef Wray likes to garnish the chili with sour cream, grated local cheese, and cornbread croutons, which are a cinch to make. Start with cornbread cut into cubes, drizzle with oil, season, and toast them in the oven. For complete directions from cookbook author Jamielyn Nye, go to iheartnaptime.net/ cornbread-croutons.

Walter Georis’ Meyer Lemon Pizza Citrus

adds snap to this peppery, salty treat.

When well-meaning neighbors came calling with four huge shopping bags brimming with justpicked Meyer lemons from their overladen trees, Walter and Sylvia Georis knew exactly what to do: make pizza.

Sylvia Georis, co-owner with her husband of the 24-year-old Corkscrew Café in Carmel Valley, turned that bounty into plenty of lemonade, lemon cake, and preserved lemons. But she also knew that the fragrant lemons, sliced thin, would make a dynamite and unexpected topping for pizza baked in a wood-fired oven and draped with salty prosciutto, gooey cheese, and peppery arugula.

For two weeks, the Georises made Meyer lemon pizza just for fun, handing out little morsels to diners waiting for dinner in the bright, Provençal-themed café (55 W. Carmel Valley Rd., corkscrewcafe.com) and to customers enjoying wine in the adjacent Georis Winery tasting room (1 Pilot Rd., georiswine.com), their shared garden abloom with roses and wisteria. The pizza proved such a hit that diners began ordering it in the café, even though it wasn’t on the menu. Finally, in spring 2010, the pizza got an official menu listing and has been selling briskly.

“You go into panic mode when you see all those lemons,” says Walter Georis with a chuckle. “People started ordering the pizza right away. Then they’d start telling me about their own lemon trees.”

Walter, a restaurant designer, has been a restaurateur since 1974, and four years later opened the well-known Casanova in Carmelby-the-Sea (Fifth Avenue between Mission and San Carlos, casanovacarmel.com). The Georis family also owns the rustic French restaurant La Bicyclette in downtown

Carmel (Dolores Street at Seventh Avenue, labicycletterestaurant.com).

Look for the pizza on the menu at Corkscrew until the couple runs out of Meyer lemons (the season runs from November through April)—or make it yourself at home. For a shortcut, buy prepared (fresh or frozen) pizza dough and follow the directions for the toppings.

“People think the lemon will make the pizza bitter,” Walter says. “But with the other ingredients, it’s really a perfect combination. It tastes light. Once you finish one slice, you just want to eat another.” c j

Meyer Lemon Pizza with Arugula and Prosciutto

CORKSCREW CAFÉ

CARMEL VALLEY, CALIF.

Makes one 14- to 16-inch pizza or two 8-inch pizzas.

Adapted with permission from Walter Georis, Corkscrew Café.

Dough

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ cup warm water (105° to 155°F)

Pinch of sugar

1½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Toppings

1 Meyer lemon, thinly sliced

4 slices of prosciutto

1 handful grated mozzarella cheese, or about 1 cup

¼ handful grated Parmigiano, or about ¼ cup

½ handful arugula leaves, or about 1 cup

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a small bowl, stir together the yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, ¼ cup warm water, and pinch of sugar. Mix and let stand about 5 to 10 minutes until mixture has started to foam.

In a large bowl, stir together 1¼ cups flour with salt. Add yeast mixture, olive oil, and remaining ½ cup warm water; stir until smooth. Add enough flour (about ½ cup) to make dough come away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will still be rather wet at this point.

2. Remove dough from bowl. Divide in two if making two pizzas. Shape into balls and place on a board or counter. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.

3. Heat a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven for an hour at 500°F, or heat an unrimmed cooking sheet in a preheated oven for five minutes.

4. Pat dough ball into a thin circle. If making one large pizza, sprinkle half the mozzarella over the dough, spread prosciutto over mozzarella, then layer lemon slices on top without covering the prosciutto completely. Next, add the rest of the mozzarella over the lemon, followed by all the Parmigiano. If making two smaller pizzas, divide the toppings accordingly.

5. Place the pizza on the pizza stone or cooking sheet in the oven. Bake until crust is golden and slightly darkened around the edges, and cheese is bubbling, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven.

6. Scatter arugula over the top of the pizza, then drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil. Cut into slices and serve. ●

Meyer lemons are smaller, more round, and sweeter than regular lemons.

Cindy Pawlcyn’s & Dale Ray’s Three-Cheese Mac & Cheese

A buttery version of the weeknight special based on the classic from Napa Valley’s famous restaurateur Cindy Pawlcyn.

Chef Cindy Pawlcyn grew up enduring Minnesota’s frigid winters and fondly remembers taking a pan of macaroni and cheese out of the oven, wrapping it tightly in foil, then trudging into the nearby woods to devour it with her dad. “It was 20 below and you could hardly move your arms,” she says. “But the dish retained its heat and was so good to eat.”

Is it any wonder that mac and cheese has a place of honor on her menu at Mustards Grill on the edge of Yountville in California’s Napa Valley (mustardsgrill .com)? Indeed, it became a staple side dish—and the best-selling one—a few years ago.

“Everyone relates it to childhood memories,” says former Executive Chef Dale Ray. “You take a bite and

you instantly go there.”

Mustards’ version showcases California cheeses. Throughout the year, he’ll switch up the cheeses and pasta. Most of the time the pasta is penne, but now and then it’ll be rigatoni or orecchiette. Gruyère is a staple, but goat cheese has proved a real crowd pleaser. In the past, the restaurant has used Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company’s Toma, a cow’s-milk cheese with a buttery texture and a grassy tang.

Sometimes, however, the dish is made with a mix of white cheddar, Gruyère, and Parmesan. It also incorporates a classic béchamel sauce for richness. Sure, making mac and cheese from scratch takes more time than just opening up the familiar blue box. But the creamy, dreamy results speak for themselves. c j

Three-Cheese Mac & Cheese

MUSTARDS GRILL

YOUNTVILLE, CALIF.

Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by chef Cindy Pawlcyn Of Mustards Grill and chef Dale Ray.

Béchamel sauce

1¼ cups whole milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Rest of the dish

1 cup heavy cream

¾ cup béchamel sauce

¾ pound penne pasta

½ cup grated white cheddar cheese

½ cup grated Gruyère cheese

½ cup grated Parmesan

Butter for greasing the dish

¼ cup dry bread crumbs

Snipped chives or chopped fresh parsley leaves, for garnish

To make the béchamel

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk to a gentle simmer just below the boiling point.

2. In another medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir for a couple of minutes until the raw flour smell dissipates. Do not let the mixture color; it should stay pale looking.

3. Whisk the flour-and-butter mixture into the scalded milk, allowing it to cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.

4. Season the sauce with salt, nutmeg, and cayenne, then strain it through a fine sieve to remove any lumps. Measure out ¾ cup of the sauce and return it to the pan.

To assemble the dish

1. Add the heavy cream to the saucepan of béchamel, and heat the mixture over medium heat until warmed through.

2. Preheat oven to 400°F.

3. Cook the penne in a large pot of salted water over high heat until it is just a little firmer than al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and add it to the pot of béchamel-cream. Add the cheddar and Gruyère, and mix well. Taste the seasonings and adjust if necessary.

4. Butter a gratin dish. Add the pasta to the dish. Sprinkle the top with the Parmesan and bread crumbs.

5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Garnish with snipped chives or chopped fresh parsley. ●

Chef Ray usually made

with

but occasionally he used rigatoni or orecchiette. Feel free to choose the pasta you like best.

this dish

penne,

Seafood

Greg Higgins’ Citrus- and Almond-Crusted Halibut

Follow a Portland chef’s step-by-step instructions to give sweet fish a crunchy crust.

During wild Alaskan halibut season—from early spring through fall—the tender, flaky fish is the must-have menu item at Higgins Restaurant and Bar in Portland (1239 SW Broadway, higginsportland.com). Since founding the groundbreaking restaurant 30 years ago, chef Greg Higgins has championed local and sustainable ingredients. When it came to halibut on the menu, he bought only fresh, whole, in-season fish caught using hook-and-line methods by a small co-op of fishermen in Alaska who delivered it to him only a day or two out of the water. Every part of the fish is used: fillets for evening entrées, scrapings for smoked fish plates, and bones for stock that forms the foundation of seafood soups and stews.

“Halibut is a people pleaser,” Higgins says. “It lends itself to everything from fish and chips to grilling. Especially if you like your seafood on the milder side of the spectrum, I can’t imagine not loving halibut.”

ROBBIE MCCLARAN

One of his favorite halibut preparations involves coating thick fillets with an egg-white wash, then a crunchy mixture of crushed almonds flavored with orange and lemon zest. After roasting, the fish is served with a buttery sauce fortified with Belgian white ale. Because his restaurant offers an extensive beer list, Higgins likes to incorporate brews into his dishes. The hints of coriander and citrus in this particular ale, he says, marry particularly well with the sweetness of the halibut, and he recommends serving the crusty dish with the same type of ale. c j

A cousin of onions, shallots have a delicate, sweet flavor with a hint of sharpness.

Citrus- and AlmondCrusted Halibut with Beurre Blanc

HIGGINS RESTAURANT AND BAR

PORTLAND

Serves 4.

Adapted from the recipe of chef Greg Higgins at Higgins Restaurant and Bar.

Ingredients

1 orange

1 lemon

1½ cups Belgian white ale such as Hoegaarden or Blue Moon

4 medium shallots, minced

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 sprigs fresh thyme

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided

1 tablespoon ground coriander, divided

½ cup sliced almonds, toasted and crushed

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 egg white

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

4 halibut fillets, about 6 ounces each

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ sticks (6 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

1. Rinse the orange and the lemon in warm tap water. With a paring knife or potato peeler, peel the orange-colored zest from the orange, leaving the white pith behind. Repeat with the washed lemon. Using a hand juicer held over a small bowl, juice the orange and lemon.

2. In a small, nonreactive saucepan, combine the orange and lemon juices, the ale, shallots, peppercorns, thyme, ¼ teaspoon of the cayenne, and ½ tablespoon of the coriander. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer.

3. Preheat oven to 400°F. While the sauce mixture reduces, chop the orange and lemon zest finely and combine it with remaining ½ tablespoon coriander, remaining ¼ teaspoon cayenne, and the crushed almonds. Season with the salt and pepper.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and the Dijon mustard with a drop or two of water. Season the halibut portions on all sides with salt and pepper and place them on a pan brushed with the olive oil. Lightly brush the top of each halibut fillet with the egg-white wash, then sprinkle heavily with the almond mixture to form an even crust. Roast until the fish is nicely browned, 10 to 12 minutes.

5. While the fish cooks, prepare the sauce. Allow the seasoned juice-ale mixture to simmer until it reduces to about ½ cup. Using a fine sieve, strain the liquid; discard the shallots and other seasonings. Return the strained liquid to the saucepan, and with a hand whisk rapidly blend in a few pieces of the cold butter. Place the pan over very low heat and continue whisking in the butter a few pieces at a time, removing the pan from the heat as you add the last pieces. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon a fourth of the warm sauce onto each halibut fillet, and serve promptly with a tossed salad and some hearty bread. ●

HERE WE DELIGHT

Mark Estee’s Wild Salmon with Grilled Vegetable Succotash

This simple, flavorful preparation of salmon and a bright vegetable side came from the Reno restaurant Campo.

ot all chefs are fortunate enough to have their own fisherman. But among the lucky ones is Mark Estee, former chef and proprietor of Campo (50 N. Sierra St., Reno, camporeno.com) and Campo Mammoth (6201 Minaret Rd., Ste. 240, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., campo mammoth.com), both now closed.

Estee’s coveted source was a Reno friend, a firefighter who regularly steers his boat to Bodega Bay during Northern California’s salmon season. “He’d call me and say, ‘They’re biting— how many do you want?’ I would tell him I’d take 12,” Estee says. “When I got them, they would be super fresh, barely 24 hours out of the water.”

At Campo—the name loosly means “gathering spot’’ in Italian—Estee practiced sea-to-table, nose-to-tail, and root-to-stalk cooking. The restaurant made its own pastas by hand and butchered its own animals.

Salmon, with its high oil content, is ideal for the grill because it can stand up to the heat. Estee thinks grilling is a perfect way to prepare the fish at home, too, because nothing says summer like cooking outdoors. The corn, tomatoes, green beans, and zucchini for the succotash also get a turn on the grill, which imparts a wonderful smokiness. Even if you don’t have a fisherman at your beck and call, this dish might make you feel as if you do. c j

Wild Salmon with Grilled Vegetable Succotash

CAMPO AND CAMPO MAMMOTH

RENO, NEV. / MAMMOTH LAKES, CALIF.

Serves 4.

Adapted from the recipe by Mark Estee, formerly of Campo.

Salmon

4 (5-ounce) wild salmon fillets, pin bones removed

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

Kosher salt

Coarsely ground black pepper

Succotash

2 ears of corn, shucked

½ cup green beans, stems removed

½ cup cherry tomatoes, stems removed

½ cup zucchini coins, cut ½ inch thick

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh basil

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons

Kosher salt

Coarsely ground black pepper

1 cup pea sprouts or other small, fresh greens

1. Heat an outdoor grill to high.

2. Brush the ears of corn with a light layer of grapeseed oil, then season them with salt and pepper. Toss the green beans with a little grapeseed oil, season them with salt and pepper, then proceed to do the same with the tomatoes and zucchini.

3. Place the corn on the grill and char the ears all over. Transfer them to a platter.

4. In a grill basket set on the hot grill, cook the beans until tender and lightly charred, then transfer them to a platter. Repeat those steps with the tomatoes and zucchini.

5. Pull the leaves from the thyme and basil sprigs and chop them coarsely.

6. With a sharp knife, cut the corn kernels from the cobs and transfer them to a bowl. Dice the beans, tomatoes, and zucchini; add them to the bowl. Add the chopped herbs, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice to taste, salt, and pepper. Stir the ingredients well.

7. Brush the salmon fillets with grapeseed oil, then season them on both sides with salt and pepper. Place salmon fillets on the grill, skinside up, and cook for three to four minutes. Flip the fillets and cook for another three to four minutes. The salmon should remain slightly pink in the center.

8. Place the fillets on a large serving platter and spoon the succotash over the top. Garnish with the pea sprouts. ●

Season and grill the corn before cutting the kernels from the cob and adding them to the succotash.

Michael Tighe’s Northwest Clam Chowder

Hearty and soothing, this rich seafood soup from a classic Oregon lodge adds snap with bacon, thyme, and brandy.

Creamy, velvety, chock-full of tender clams, and with the added kick of brandy—this is the epitome of chowder that soothes and satisfies. Northwest clam chowder, made with locally grown potatoes, smoky bacon, and fragrant thyme, was once served at the historic Crater Lake Lodge, which seats only guests who have a reservation (Rim Village Drive, Crater Lake, Ore., craterlakelodges.com). The warm, rich chowder is the perfect pick-me-up, especially in this breathtaking national park, where there is often snow on the ground in every month. Enjoy it in the Dining Room with quite the view—perched right on the edge of the volcanic basin overlooking the deepest lake in the United States and one of the clearest in the world.

After working at the rustic 1915-era lodge, former executive chef Michael Tighe was won over by the signature clam chowder. “I used to use sherry in mine, but I like the brandy in it better,” he says. “When it’s cold up there, the brandy really gives you that fire in the belly.”

Stir up a big pot and taste for yourself. The chowder gets its body from both heavy cream and whole milk. It’s thickened with a cornstarch slurry rather than flour, so it doesn’t end up pasty. Tighe uses fresh, chopped clams in his version but says you can easily use canned, if you like. Just be sure to add them at the end, so they don’t overcook and turn rubbery. Then he accompanies his bountiful bowl with wedges of crusty sourdough and a brandy chaser. c j

Northwest Clam Chowder

CRATER LAKE LODGE DINING ROOM

CRATER LAKE, ORE.

Makes 2 quarts or 6−8 servings.

Adapted with permission from Crater Lake Lodge.

Ingredients

2 slices good-quality bacon

1 onion, diced fine

3 stalks celery, diced fine

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 grinds black pepper

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon dried thyme

3 cups clam juice

1 pound peeled, diced potatoes (Yukon gold or red bliss)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1½ pounds chopped clams (fresh or canned)

2 ounces brandy

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, slowly sauté the bacon until it is just starting to crisp. Add onions and celery; cook until onions are translucent.

2. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme; cook just until the herbs release their fragrance.

3. Add the clam juice, potatoes, Worcestershire, and Tabasco, and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and allow the potatoes to cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

4. Stir in the heavy cream and milk. Add the clams. Bring the pot to a simmer again.

5. In a small cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the brandy. Stir the mixture into the soup, then cook for 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Add more salt or pepper, if necessary. Ladle into bowls and serve with sourdough bread. ● Yukon gold (shown here) or red bliss potatoes add to the heartiness of the chowder.

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Mourad Lahlou’s Shrimp Tagine

A hero of San Francisco’s red-hot culinary scene has adapted a classic example of soulful North African cuisine for home cooking.

To be transported to vibrant Morocco—or actually to one man’s superb crossover remix of it—step into the refreshed dining room of Aziza restaurant in San Francisco’s outer Richmond District.

Beginning in 2001, Marrakech-born chef Mourad Lahlou has honored the dazzling cuisine of his homeland by mastering and then reinterpreting it, incorporating organic ingredients from his weekly farmers’ market outings and applying some ultramodern cooking techniques.

One dish that showcases the evolution of Lahlou’s cooking is shrimp tagine. It’s a riff on a classic Moroccan seafood stew in which mussels, clams, scallops, and fish are simmered in a spicy tomato-based sauce. But making the original requires a deft hand, because the several varieties of seafood cook at different rates. Lahlou invented an all-shrimp version to simplify the recipe and to play up the crustaceans’ sweetness. For more than a year, it was one of the most popular dishes he offered. With Lahlou’s ever changing menu and constant refinement, shrimp tagine could still make an appearance—perhaps as a dainty amusebouche served atop a spoon.

“It started out being a dish I wanted to re-create from Morocco,” he says. “But eventually, I wanted to make it more personal and timely.”

At home, you can make the full-scale dish easily on the stovetop. The shrimp cook in a sauce rich with paprika, cumin, ginger, and saffron. Or, for a textural contrast that Lahlou enjoys, cook vegetables in the sauce and arrange the grilled shrimp on top.

Look for more of Lahlou’s recipes in his first cookbook, published in 2011, which showcases the Moroccan dishes he likes to make at home. c j

PETRINA TINSLAY

Serves 6.

Adapted with permission from Mourad Lahlou, Aziza.

Ingredients

¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, plus whole sprigs for garnish

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1½ pounds large shrimp, shelled, deveined, tails left on

2¼ pounds plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1½ teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 large carrots, thinly sliced

1 large sweet onion, such as Walla Walla, Vidalia, or Maui, thinly sliced

4 large red bliss potatoes (about 1½ pounds), peeled and thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips

½ preserved lemon, peel only, thinly sliced

½ cup pitted green olives

Shrimp Tagine

AZIZA

SAN FRANCISCO

1. In a medium bowl, combine the parsley with the chopped cilantro, lemon juice, paprika, ginger, saffron, and olive oil. Add the shrimp, toss to coat with the marinade, and refrigerate for two hours.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the tomatoes with the garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.

3. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole or Dutch oven, spread the sliced carrots in a layer and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the onion, potatoes, and bell peppers, lightly seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Spread the tomato sauce on top. Cover and simmer over moderately low heat until the vegetables are just tender, about 20 minutes.

4. Remove the shrimp from the marinade and set aside. Mix ¼ cup of water into the marinade and pour the mixture into the casserole. Add the preserved lemon and olives, then arrange the shrimp on top in a single layer. Cover and cook over moderately low heat until the shrimp curl and turn pink, about 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Raise the heat to moderate and cook the tagine uncovered, stirring several times, until the liquid thickens, about 5 minutes; be sure the vegetables on the bottom don’t burn. Transfer the tagine to a bowl and top with the reserved shrimp. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve. ●

Notes

preserved lemons

Preserved lemons lend a piquant tang to this dish. Buy them in jars at gourmet stores—or make your own.

Preserved lemons are washed, whole lemons split lengthwise, packed with abundant salt, submerged in lemon juice, and allowed to macerate—a fancy word for steeping or soaking—for up to a few weeks, at which point they are ready to use. For complete directions, go to foodgal.com/2009/01/ meyer-lemons-the-salty.

Poultry

William Oliver’s Sautéed Duck Breast

This popular dish from Alexander’s—the restaurant at a scenic getaway on California’s Sonoma Coast— pairs especially well with the local wines.

Having grown up on the Connecticut coast, William Oliver felt right at home taking over as executive chef of Alexander’s at Timber Cove Inn (now closed)—even if he rarely had a free moment to gaze at the inn’s spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.

The 50-plus-year-old structure sits on 25 acres of a site so picturesque that famed photographer Ansel Adams shot some of his favorite scenic images here. Designed by a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, the inn underwent a renovation in 2016. It also hired Oliver, who is no stranger to renowned destinations. He has cooked at the Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, Calif., and at many Napa Valley wineries.

In fact, it was Oliver’s love of Burgundian pinot noirs from the Sonoma Coast that helped lead him here, and it’s no surprise that one of his favorite ingredients is pinot noir–friendly duck. Oliver’s version of roasted duck breast was a staple on the menu during his time at the restaurant. It featured Muscovy duck from nearby Salmon Creek Ranch in Bodega with black cherries that brough out the grape variety’s inherent fruitiness.

It’s a perfect dish for entertaining, because it looks beautiful whether served on individual plates or on one big platter. Just be sure to turn on your stove hood or to crack a window when searing the duck because its high fat content will cause it to smoke. And whatever you do, resist the urge to cut into the meat immediately after cooking. “Definitely let it rest, or else it will bleed out and become dry,” Oliver says. “Just enjoy half a glass of pinot—then cut into it.” c j

Sautéed Duck Breast with Parsnip Puree, Pancetta, Farro, Hazelnuts, and Black Cherry Jus

ALEXANDER’S AT TIMBER COVE INN JENNER, CALIF.

Serves 6.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by William Oliver of Alexander’s at Timber Cove Inn.

Farro

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup diced pancetta

1 cup farro

½ cup diced shallot

¼ cup diced celery

¼ cup diced carrot

½ cup dry white wine

6 cups duck or chicken stock, divided

6 fresh bay leaves, divided

1 sprig savory (omit if unavailable)

½ bunch thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Cherry sauce

2 cups defrosted frozen black cherries, pitted (or fresh cherries in season)

2 cups pinot noir or other red wine

Seeds and pulp of ½ vanilla bean

6 cloves

Juice of ½ lemon

2 tablespoons honey

Parsnip puree

4 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks of equal size

2 tablespoons butter at room temperature

½ cup heavy cream

Duck

6 5- to 6-ounce duck breast halves

2 bunches arugula, for garnish

½ cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped, for garnish

is a type of whole wheat available in wellstocked groceries and natural food stores.

Farro

1. In a medium-size stockpot on medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the diced pancetta and cook, stirring, until the pancetta is slightly crisp and some of its fat has been rendered. With a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta to a paper towel–lined plate. Leave the oil in the pot.

2. Add the farro to the pot and toast the grains. Stir in the shallots, celery, and carrot, and sauté until the celery and carrot are soft and the shallots are translucent.

3. Add the white wine to the pot, stirring to release the caramelized bits stuck to the sides and bottom of the pan. Add three cups of the stock, two of the bay leaves, the savory, and thyme, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes or until the grains are tender.

4. Remove the bay leaves and any herb stems from the pot. Season the farro with salt and pepper, and stir in the cooked pancetta.

5. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cherries, red wine, vanilla bean seeds, two of the bay leaves, and the cloves. Bring the mixture to a boil until the liquid is reduced by two-thirds. In a food processor, puree the mixture, then strain it into a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and honey. Set aside.

6. In a medium-sized saucepan over mediumhigh heat, combine the remaining three cups of the stock, the parsnip, and two of the bay leaves. Simmer until the parsnips are soft to the touch, about 15 minutes, depending upon the size of the pieces. Strain, reserving the parsnips. (Save the leftover stock for soup.) In a blender, puree the parsnips with the butter and cream until the mixture is silky smooth. (For a lighter dish, use stock instead.) Season the puree with salt and pepper.

7. With a paring knife, score the skin of the duck breasts. Season the skin with salt and pepper.

8. Heat a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the duck breasts, skin-side down, and turn the heat to low. Cook for about six minutes. Turn the duck breasts and cook for another two minutes. Turn them again and cook for two minutes more. Remove the duck breasts to a pan or plate and allow them to rest for at least 10 minutes. Slice thin.

9. Spread a spoonful of the parsnip puree on each of six plates. Spoon some of the farro on top, then top the farro with a sautéed duck breast. Mound a handful of arugula on the duck and sprinkle on some hazelnuts. Drizzle with cherry sauce and serve. ●

Notes

pitted cherries

Using fresh cherries and don’t have a cherry pitter? You can still pit cherries fast by using a chopstick, metal straw, or cake-decorating tip to push the pit out from the top down. You can even scoop out pits with a paper clip unfolded into an “s” shape. For more ideas and directions, go to chelanfresh.com/ 5-ways-to-pit-cherries.

Sheamus Feeley’s Brick-Grilled Chicken

Crisp, juicy, tender, smoky—those are a Napa Valley chef’s terms of endearment for one of his own favorite dishes.

Just how good is the chicken grilled under a brick at Farmstead restaurant? So good that former executive chef Sheamus Feeley feared his customers might mutiny if he were ever to yank the dish from the menu. So good that the chef not only cooked it at home for his wife and kids but often ate it for lunch at the restaurant (738 Main St., longmeadowranch.com).

“It’s one of the best restaurant chicken dishes out there,” Feeley says. “I could eat it any day, anywhere, anytime—no problem.”

It’s easy to see why the 14-year-old rustic-chic restaurant housed in an old nursery barn gets order after order for the dish, which is available at both lunch and dinner. The skin is crispy and the flesh is moist, with a haunting flavor from the smoky oak embers it’s cooked over.

The restaurant serves the grilled chicken with zesty salsa verde (a garlicky herb-and-oil sauce) and accompa-

nies it with creamy flageolet beans and earthy lacinato kale grown on its sister property, the 640-acre Long Meadow Ranch Rutherford Gardens in the Napa Valley. It’s a dish emblematic of the restaurant’s lusty, approachable food. “I like to make soul-satisfying food that people want to eat on their day off,” Feeley says.

His recipe for home cooks makes good on that promise. The chicken is marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, salt, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and sweet paprika that acts almost as a brine. (Plan ahead: The meat marinates overnight.)

Foil-wrapped bricks press the birds flat on the grill so they cook quickly and end up with crackling-crisp skin. Note that the chickens Feeley calls for are quite small—under 3½ pounds, a trim weight that’s most common in organically raised birds. If you can’t find chickens that small, you’ll need to make a little extra marinade and increase the cooking times by a few minutes. c j

Brick-Grilled Chicken with Salsa Verde

FARMSTEAD

ST. HELENA, CALIF.

Serves 6 to 8.

Adapted with permission from Sheamus Feeley, Farmstead.

Chicken

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon powdered garlic

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Two 3- to 3½-pound chickens

Salsa Verde

⅓ cup minced chives

½ cup finely chopped Italian parsley

¼ cup finely chopped mint

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Mint is antioxidant-rich, subtly sweet, and can brighten just about any dish.

1. Prepare the chicken: Place one chicken, breast side up, on a cutting board and, using kitchen shears, cut along one side of the backbone, starting in the cavity at the thigh end. Make the same cut on the other side, then remove and discard the backbone. Open the chicken and flip it over, then flatten the bird by pressing on the breastbone with the heel of your hand. Repeat these steps with the second chicken.

2. Marinate the chicken: In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, salt, paprika, oregano, garlic, pepper, and olive oil. Set the chickens breast side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Flatten the birds, then fold the wing tips under and arrange the thighs next to the breasts. With a sharp knife, make two slashes in each breast and one slash in each of the legs and thighs. Smear the chickens all over with the marinade, cover, and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. Remove the chickens from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before grilling to allow them to warm to room temperature.

3. Make the salsa verde: In a medium-size bowl, combine the salsa verde ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside. (Makes about 2½ cups.)

4. Cook the chicken: Light a grill. Cover two clean bricks with aluminum foil. Grill the chickens breast side down, each weighted with a brick, over moderate heat until browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the chickens, replace the bricks, and grill over low heat until the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced, 25 to 30 minutes longer. Transfer the chickens to a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes, then carve into six or eight portions. Pass the bowl of salsa verde at the table. ●

Alison Barakat’s Fried Chicken Sandwich

Lines form for the fried chicken sandwich at Bakesale Betty in Oakland, Calif.

Leave it to an Australian to reinvent an iconic American classic—fried chicken—with such panache that droves of diners line up for it daily.

Around the San Francisco Bay Area, if you’re talking fried chicken sandwich, you probably mean the one at Bakesale Betty in Oakland (5098 Telegraph Ave., bake salebetty.us). It’s downright voluptuous, the meat stacked high and spilling out from its soft roll. Diners pick it up with two hands and crunch down on the tender chicken breast made even tastier by its golden crust. A vinaigrettedressed cabbage slaw with the kick of jalapeño and the bite of red onion adds tang and brightness.

Just don’t expect mayo; owner Alison Barakat can’t abide the stuff. Barakat, who as her alter ego Betty dons an electric-blue wig, had made this picnic favorite for years for friends and family. She learned to perfect the buttermilkdrenched chicken while working as a line cook at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse Café. So a few months after opening her Temescal neighborhood bakery in 2005, she started selling a few dozen fried chicken sandwiches a day, each

made to order with her own two hands.

These days, employees in Oakland turn out as many as 1,200 fried chicken sandwiches daily. Betty also sells egg salad sandwiches and Sloppy Joes. But more than 80 percent of the sandwiches ordered are the famous one.

“People liked it from the start and started to write about it online,” Barakat says. “That’s how the word spread.”

There’s almost always a line out the door, but it moves swiftly, so that by the time you’re done ordering, paying, and gawking at the cookies, brownies, and sticky date pudding in the glass cases, your wrapped sandwich is handed to you. Most diners grab a stool at one of the metal ironing boards set up as makeshift tables on the sidewalk.

How can you make a chicken sandwich as good Bakesale Betty’s? Barakat uses sweet torpedo rolls from Acme Bread Company in Berkeley, poultry from Mary’s Air-Chilled Chickens, coarse kosher salt, and Bariani brand extra-virgin olive oil for the coleslaw. “It’s a simple sandwich,” Barakat says. “But people really love fried chicken.” c j

Fried Chicken Sandwich

BAKESALE BETTY

OAKLAND, CALIF.

Serves 4.

Adapted with permission from Alison Barakat, Bakesale Betty.

Preparation 1 ½ hrs. Cooking and assembling 15 minutes.

Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Coleslaw

1 small red onion, sliced very thin

1 cup red wine vinegar

2 jalapeño chiles cut in half lengthwise, then seeded and sliced crosswise

¼ cup chopped parsley

½ green cabbage, core and outer leaves removed, sliced very thin, about 3 cups

½ teaspoon salt

Chicken

4 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, each about 6 ounces salt to taste

1 quart buttermilk

4½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying salt to taste

4 fresh sweet French rolls, sliced lengthwise

1. Make the vinaigrette: In a bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, and salt. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until well blended. Set aside.

2. Make the coleslaw: In a medium-size bowl, combine the sliced onion and vinegar and let stand at least 20 minutes. With a strainer, drain the onion, discarding the vinegar. Return the onion to the bowl and add the jalapeño, parsley, cabbage, and salt. Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate the coleslaw until the chicken is ready.

3. Season the chicken breasts with salt. Let stand at least 5 minutes. Fill a wide, shallow, nonreactive bowl or casserole dish with buttermilk. Add the chicken, making sure the buttermilk covers all the pieces. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight.

4. Pour the vegetable oil into a large stockpot, filling it no more than halfway, so that any oil spatters stay inside during frying. Place the pot on a burner over high heat and raise the oil temperature to 365°F, checking frequently with a digital or candy thermometer; adjust the heat to keep it at a constant temperature. Meanwhile, prepare the chicken.

5. In a wide shallow bowl, stir together the flour, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Using tongs, lift one chicken breast out of the buttermilk, allowing some liquid to drip off, then dredge the breast in the flour mixture. (During this process, don’t shake off excess buttermilk or flour.) Return the coated breast to the buttermilk, then dredge it again in the flour. (Double-dredging creates a thick crust.) Coat each breast the same way.

6. When the oil temperature is at a steady 365°F, use tongs to gently add the coated chicken pieces one by one. Let them cook for one minute, then, using the tongs, nudge the pieces to make sure they don’t stick together. Continue to cook until the pieces are crisp and evenly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove them from the oil and drain on paper towels. Season lightly with salt.

7. Assemble the sandwiches: Generously top the bottom half of each French roll with coleslaw, then place a piece of fried chicken and the other roll half on top. ●

Matthew Lake’s Beer-Brined Chicken

Dark beer adds a delicate richness to a dish of tender roasted chicken with a tangy sauce.

Sometimes the best things happen by accident. Take the unusual name of Zy Restaurant (now closed), which rhymes with “pie.” When chef-owner Matthew Lake was trying to think of a name for his restaurant in 2011, he grew frustrated that his wife, an intellectual property rights attorney, kept vetoing every suggestion because it was already in use.

At wits’ end, Lake started typing the alphabet, got to the end of it, and accidentally mistyped a couple of letters. He liked what he saw. Fortunately, his wife did, too.

Lake’s beer-brined chicken started out similarly. He was experimenting with different ways to flavor and tenderize poultry, when he picked up a bottle of dark beer and had an aha moment. The beer-brined chicken not only stayed juicy during cooking, but it took on the maltiness and nuttiness of the beer.

“We think of dark beer as being very hearty and rich,” he says. “But when you cook with it, it’s actually very delicate tasting. It’s there, but it’s not hitting you over the head.”

The chicken marinated overnight. Lake uses two Mary’s Air Chilled chickens, but he says you can use any brand you like. Lake recommends asking your butcher to cut off the chicken breasts, then “french” them so they are semiboneless. Remove the legs and thighs as well. You’ll use those parts, too. Save the wing tips and bones to make soup or stock.

The glaze can be prepared the day before. You can blanch the green beans ahead of time and boil the potatoes the

day before, too, making it an ideal dish for entertaining.

Lake serves the chicken on a bed of crisped smashed potatoes with a piquant mustard-seed glaze. It’s a dish that’s comforting enough to appeal to unadventurous eaters yet has just enough edge to win over diners looking for something a little different. The perfect accompaniment: frosty mugs of dark beer. c j

Beer-Brined Chicken and Skillet Potatoes with Beans and Bacon and Grain Mustard Glaze

ZY RESTAURANT

SALT

LAKE CITY

Serves 4.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by chef Matthew Lake of Zy Restaurant.

Chicken

2 whole chickens, about 2½ pounds each, legs and thighs removed and breasts frenched

1 bottle (12 ounces) good-quality dark beer

½ cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

2 tablespoons whole yellow mustard seeds

2 whole star anise

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons kosher salt

Mustard glaze

2 large cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 shallots, minced

2 medium carrots, diced

¼ cup yellow mustard seeds

2 quarts chicken stock

¾ cup veal demi-glace (available at gourmet markets)

Salt to taste

Smashed potatoes and green beans

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled

1 bunch scallions, green parts only, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 slices bacon, chopped, then sautéed until crisp

6 ounces green beans, trimmed and blanched

Notes

blanched green beans

To blanch green beans, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the beans and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. While the beans are cooking, fill a bowl with cold water and ice. When the beans are done cooking, transfer them immediately to the ice bath. For tips and complete directions, go to food52.com/blog/27135-how-toblanch-green-beans.

Beer-Brined Chicken and Skillet Potatoes with Beans and Bacon and Grain Mustard Glaze

(continued)

To prepare the chicken

In a large nonreactive bowl, combine the beer, maple syrup, peppercorns, mustard seeds, star anise, garlic, bay leaves, and salt. Stir to incorporate. Add the chicken pieces, making sure they are submerged. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

To make the mustard glaze

1. Place the garlic cloves in a small, dry sauté pan on medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic cloves soften. Remove the cloves from the heat, allow them to cool, then remove the skins and mash the garlic.

2. Place 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots, carrots, and mustard seeds. Cook until the mustard seeds are lightly toasted. Add the mashed garlic, chicken stock, and demi-glace. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue cooking until the sauce is reduced, about 45 minutes. Season with salt and keep warm.

To cook the chicken

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove the chicken from the marinade and drain well. Discard the marinade.

2. Place the chicken pieces, skin side up, in a roasting pan with a rack. Roast for about 15 minutes or until cooked through, turning the pieces halfway through the cooking. Remove the chicken from the oven and set it aside to rest.

To make the potatoes and serve the dish

1. In a medium pot of salted boiling water, cook the potatoes until tender. Drain them, place them in a bowl, and smash them with a potato masher until flattened. Fold in the scallions and season with salt and pepper.

2. Place the 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a cast-iron pan on medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the potatoes, allowing them to brown and crisp up. Add the sautéed bacon and blanched green beans. Continue cooking until everything is warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

3. Divide the potato-and-bean mixture among four plates. Top with a leg and thigh. Cut the breasts in half and place a half-breast on each plate. Spoon on some of the mustard glaze and serve immediately. ●

The chicken takes on the maltiness and nuttiness of the beer along with the flavor of the spices.

Meat

Abby McManigle’s Slow-Braised Short Ribs

Mild Mexican chiles meld with dark chocolate to make an irresistibly rich seasoning for long-braised beef.

When you’re married to a winemaker and also head chef at a restaurant in the heart of Willamette Valley wine country, you naturally give wine a big place in your cooking.

At least, that’s the case with chef Abby McManigle, formerly of Tina’s in Dundee, Ore. (760 Hwy. 99, tinasdundee.com). Opened in 1991 by David and Tina Bergen, the restaurant is one of the valley’s oldest, drawing local patrons including area winemakers for its Mediterranean cuisine that showcases Northwest ingredients.

McManigle, whose husband was perviously assistant winemaker at Coeur de Terre Vineyard in McMinnville, put her signature version of the braised short ribs on the menu. The dish grew so popular that it stayed on the list year-round. She changes the garnishes each season. In winter, it might be a roasted grape salad with parsley. In spring, it’s fingerling potatoes with radishes and pea tendrils.

Her version of an easy, wine-friendly chile sauce, the dish is an effortless one that cooks on its own for a few hours in the oven. The sauce is not especially spicy, because the chocolate’s sweet richness helps balance the moderate heat of the chiles. (Find guajillos and anchos in Mexican groceries and in some well-stocked supermarkets.) Just be sure that the wine you add is a good-quality one. The short ribs pair well with many red wines, McManigle says, so enjoy the finished dish with anything from a pinot noir to a French Bordeaux. “It’s a rich sauce,” she says. “Definitely not mom’s pot roast.” c j

Slow-Braised Short Ribs with Chile-Chocolate Sauce

TINA’S

DUNDEE, ORE.

Serves 4.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by Abby McManigle of Tina’s.

Ingredients

4 beef short ribs, about 8 ounces each

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

2 cups good-quality red wine

4 cups beef stock

4 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded

4 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded

1 cinnamon stick

¼ cup semisweet chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, warm two tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the short ribs and sear, turning frequently, until the meat is browned on all sides. Remove the meat to a plate and discard the drippings in the pan. Place the pan back on the stove over medium heat, add the red wine, and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits.

3. Add the beef stock, guajillo and ancho chiles, cinnamon stick, and chocolate. Place the browned short ribs back in the pan with the stock and seasonings. Cover with a lid, and place in the oven. Cook for 3 to 3½ hours until the meat is tender and beginning to fall off the bone.

4. Remove the meat from the braising liquid and cover it with foil to keep it warm. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Using a blender, process the braising liquid until the mixture is a smooth puree, then return the liquid to the pan. (Alternatively, leave the braising liquid in the pan and use an immersion blender to puree it.) Simmer the puree over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes until it reduces to a thick, glossy sauce. Place the short ribs back in the sauce; stir to coat. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve the short ribs and sauce over polenta or creamy potatoes. ●

The chocolate’s sweet richness helps balance the moderate heat of the chiles.

Wendi Mentink’s

Beef Bourguignon

Red wine, smoky bacon, pearl onions, and a secret ingredient give this classic French dish its irresistible richness.

Asignature beef bourguignon practically guaranteed the success of Bidwell Street Bistro in Folsom, Calif. (now closed). In the year 2006, just before the restaurant opened, executive chef Wendi Mentink participated in the Taste of Folsom festival, preparing an aromatic stew of beef, bacon, and pearl onions simmered gently in red wine. Attendees were so smitten by its flavors that they vowed to show up the day the bistro opened its doors.

The classic Burgundian dish was a seasonal staple at this thriving restaurant done up with burnished gold mirrors and wrought iron accents. Bidwell’s version, though, boasts an unorthodox ingredient, one that Francophiles might deem sacrilegious were it not for the fact that Mentink learned the trick from a French culinary consultant. The secret seasoning? Shhh. It’s ketchup.

Mentink thought it sounded odd until she tried it. “Most people add a bit of tomato paste,” she says. “But ketchup is better. The sugar in the ketchup counterbalances the acidity of the red wine and gives the sauce just the right richness.”

The chef likes to serve the beef with braised carrots and buttered spaghetti or fettuccine, although it pairs just as well with garlic bread or roasted or mashed potatoes. “It’s the ultimate French comfort food,” Mentink says. Her recipe calls for marinating the meat overnight. You can skip that step if you’re in a hurry, she says, but the flavorful results warrant planning ahead. c j

Beef Bourguignon

BIDWELL STREET BISTRO

FOLSOM, CALIF.

Serves 6.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by Wendi Mentink of Bidwell Street Bistro.

Beef and marinade

2½ pounds boneless chuck short ribs

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch pieces

½ teaspoon whole cloves

½ teaspoon whole peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 750-ml bottle good quality red wine, plus more as needed

Rest of the dish

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup ketchup

5 tablespoons canola oil, plus more as needed

2 cups water, plus more as needed

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more as needed, at room temperature

1 pound white button or cremini mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed, and cut into ¼-inch slices

½ pound thick-cut bacon

1 10-ounce bag pearl onions or ⅔ pound loose pearl onions, peeled

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Chef Mentink serves the beef with braised carrots and buttered pasta, although it pairs just as well with garlic bread or roasted or mashed potatoes.

To marinate the beef

Cut the beef into 1-inch cubes and place them in a 3-quart, nonreactive container. Add the remaining marinade ingredients and mix well. Add more wine, if necessary; you want the beef to be almost completely submerged in the wine. Refrigerate overnight.

To cook the beef

1. Place a colander over a mixing bowl and pour the marinade and meat into it. Shake the colander to drain as much marinade as possible. Reserve the liquid and separate the beef from the vegetables, placing the beef on a cookie sheet. Season the beef with salt and a few grinds of black pepper.

2. Place a 3-quart Dutch oven or large pot near the stove and put the ketchup into it. Place 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a medium sauté pan over high heat. Place some of the beef into the pan in a single layer with plenty of room between the cubes. Brown the beef on all sides. When that batch is browned, transfer the pieces to the Dutch oven, leaving any fat in the pan. Repeat this process with a second batch of beef, adding oil if necessary.

3. Add about ½ cup of the marinade to the sauté pan and bring it to a boil. Using a whisk, scrape all the brown bits up from the bottom of the pan, then transfer the liquid to the Dutch oven. Continue with this method—browning the beef in two batches, transferring it to the Dutch oven, and deglazing the pan with the marinade—until you’ve browned all the beef.

4. Add the vegetables from the marinade to the same sauté pan, and sauté on medium-high heat until lightly browned. Transfer the vegetables to the Dutch oven along with any remaining marinade and 2 cups or more of water so the ingredients are covered by at least 2 inches of liquid. On high heat, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low to simmer.

5. Using a ladle, skim off and discard any impurities from the surface of the liquid. Cook for 2 to 2½ hours, or until the beef is tender enough to shred with a fork.

To cook the rest of the dish

1. While the beef cooks, place 2 tablespoons of the canola oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter into a large sauté pan over high heat. When the butter sizzles and begins to brown, add the sliced mushrooms, stirring often, until they’re tender and any liquid has evaporated. Season the mushrooms liberally with salt and pepper and set them aside to cool.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and arrange the bacon slices on it. Place the bacon in the oven and cook for 14 to 18 minutes until lightly crisp. Allow the bacon to cool, then cut it into ½-inch pieces. Add the bacon to the reserved mushrooms.

3. In a medium skillet, place the peeled onions, ½ cup of water, 1 tablespoon of the butter, and the tablespoon of sugar. On high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, and cook until the liquid thickens and starts to caramelize. Stir the onions and add a couple of pinches of salt. Set the onions aside to cool, then add them to the mushrooms and bacon.

4. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter with the 6 tablespoons of flour, kneading with your fingers to form a paste. Set the mixture aside.

5. When the beef is fully cooked, place a colander over another large pot and pour the beef, vegetables, and liquid into it. Set the strained cooking liquid aside. Transfer the beef and vegetables to a cookie sheet to cool slightly, then discard the vegetables. Rinse the Dutch oven, then add back the strained liquid and bring it to a boil. Add the butter-flour mixture a little at a time, whisking frequently, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add the cooked beef and the mixture of pearl onions, mushrooms, and bacon to the Dutch oven. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

7. Ladle the bourguignon over buttered noodles arranged on individual serving plates. ●

Rocky Maselli’s Braised Pork Shoulder

Authentic flavors from the southern Italian countryside inspired this dish from the Oakland, Calif., outpost of a renowned San Francisco trattoria.

When chef Rocky Maselli tasted pork braised in white wine on his travels through the Puglia region of Italy, it was amore at first bite. So much so that he decided to create his own version of it from memory when he started work as executive chef at A16 Rockridge in Oakland, Calif. (5356 College Ave., A16rockridge.com).

The East Bay restaurant is more seafood-centric than its sister, A16 restaurant in San Francisco, but still serves up equally lusty, satisfying cuisine inspired by the namesake highway that runs from Naples in Campania to Canosa in Puglia.

At A16 Rockridge, the cooks get in a whole pig each week and do their own butchering. The shoulder is cooked gently for hours in the oven with plenty

of wine and Italian peppers. Pureed beans are then stirred into the braising liquid to thicken it—for a traditional Southern Italian flavor. The popular dish, which was on the opening menu and reappears regularly, was initially made with fresh fava beans, then later in the season with cranberry beans. For ease at home, canned white beans make a fine substitute.

The flavors particularly resonate with Maselli, whose great-grandfather was from Puglia and whose parents used to own a ranch in Clovis, Calif., where they raised their own pigs. He likes to serve the pork with a simple salad of chicory, arugula, escarole, or radicchio.

“This dish has such a rich depth of flavor,” Maselli says. “It’s very soulful. It’s Italian country comfort food.” c j

Braised Pork Shoulder with Sun-Dried Peppers, Beans, and Gaeta Olives

A16 ROCKRIDGE

OAKLAND, CALIF.

Serves 6.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by Rocky Maselli of A16 Rockridge.

Pork

2 tablespoons canola oil

1½ pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1½-inch cubes

Salt to taste

1 yellow onion, diced

Pinch of red chile flakes

1 bay leaf

2 cups white wine

3 cups chicken stock

6 sun-dried sweet Italian peppers, Senise peppers, or ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed

Bean puree

1 cup canned white beans such as cannellini, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Salt to taste

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Parsley salad

1 cup parsley leaves, packed

1 teaspoon lemon zest

½ teaspoon lemon juice or to taste

Salt to taste

¾ cup Gaeta olives, pitted and left whole or cut in half

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

To make the pork

1. Preheat an oven to 300°F.

2. In a heavy oven-safe saucepan or Dutch oven on high heat, warm the canola oil. Season the pork with salt, then add the pieces to the pan in one layer. (You may need to do this in batches.) Brown the pork on all sides until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove the pieces to a plate.

3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions, chile flakes, and bay leaf. Add the wine to deglaze the pan and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Adjust the seasonings. Return the browned pork to the saucepan along with the sweet Italian peppers.

4. Cover the pot and place it in the oven. Cook for about 2 ½ hours or until the meat is tender when tested with a fork.

To make the bean puree

In a blender or food processor, puree the beans, lemon zest, salt, and olive oil until smooth

To make the parsley salad

In a small bowl, toss together the salad ingredients.

To serve

Remove the pork from the oven. Stir in the bean puree to thicken the braising liquid. Divide the pork and sauce among six plates or place it on one big platter to serve family-style. Top with the parsley salad and serve. ●

Jesús Alcelay’s Luscious Lamb Shanks

An

unexpected lentil side dish brightens lamb at one of Idaho’s most popular restaurants.

Set beside the Boise River Greenbelt, the convivial Cottonwood Grille (913 W. River St., cottonwoodgrille.com) ages its prime beef on-site and prominently features on its menu local lamb, elk, and buffalo.

This is meat and potatoes country, after all, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that one dish—slow-cooked lamb shank with mashed potatoes—never leaves the menu. The restaurant opened in 1999, coddling diners with clubby leather booths, striking alder paneling, and a massive quarried-sandstone fireplace. Its perennial entrée, which showcases fork-tender lamb raised mostly on small farms in Idaho, remains quite popular, says executive chef Jesús Alcelay.

The Idaho mashed potatoes served with the red-

wine-and-rosemary-laced lamb are a relatively recent addition, however—a replacement for a rich lentil ragoût initially offered. But state pride being what it is, more diners ordered their lamb shank atop buttery potatoes, and the menu changed. Still, Alcelay believes more people would request the ragoût—he keeps it available—if they knew how good it is. He simmers the legumes with bacon, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf until they’re tender, adding a chopped Idaho potato for body.

The whole dish is an ideal make-at-home meal because once the shanks, vegetables, and aromatics go into a big pot in the oven, it cooks on its own—no need to hover. And the accompanying lentil ragoût is a hearty, stress-free cinch. c j

Lamb Shanks with Lentil Ragoût

COTTONWOOD GRILLE

BOISE, IDAHO

Serves 4.

Adapted with permission from Jesús Alcelay, Cottonwood Grille.

Lamb

4 lamb shanks (¾ to 1 pound each)

4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup plus 4 tablespoons flour, divided

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

2 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 cups dry red wine such as cabernet sauvignon

3 cups chicken stock

Lentils

¼ cup chopped uncooked bacon

4 cloves garlic, chopped

½ large yellow onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

2 cups lentils, picked over, then soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained

4 cups chicken stock or water

2 bay leaves

1 sprig fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 Idaho russet potato, peeled and diced

Salt and pepper, about ½ teaspoon each

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. To cook the lamb shanks: Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper, then dust them lightly with flour, shaking off the excess.

3. In a large Dutch oven on the stovetop, on medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, then half of the lamb shanks, browning on all sides until well seared, about 10 minutes. Remove the seared shanks to a large plate; add the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and the remaining shanks, browning on all sides. Set these seared shanks aside with the others.

4. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the pan, then add the diced onion, carrot, celery, garlic cloves, thyme, and rosemary, cooking on medium heat until the vegetables soften and caramelize, about 10 minutes.

5. Stir in the tomato paste and 4 tablespoons flour, then pour in the wine and chicken stock. Return the lamb shanks to the pot and bring to a boil. Adjust the seasonings. Turn off the burner, cover the pot, and transfer it to the preheated oven. Cook for about 2½ hours, or until the lamb is tender when tested with a fork.

6. To make the lentil ragoût: In a medium-size pot on medium heat, sauté the chopped bacon until it is crisp. To the hot bacon and fat in the pot, add the garlic, onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Add the lentils and chicken stock or water. Cover the pot, turn down the heat, and simmer for about 45 minutes. Add the diced potato, then cook the ragoût about 30 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to taste, about ½ teaspoon each. To serve, divide the ragoût among four plates and place a lamb shank on each portion. Pour the lamb sauce through a strainer into a bowl. Spoon some of the sauce over each shank. ●

Marty Cattaneo’s Lamb Meatballs

Tender and juicy, these bursts of meaty goodness from a modern Greek restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area can be served alone or in pasta.

When former executive Chef Marty Cattaneo started cooking at Dio Deka, a modern Greek restaurant in downtown Los Gatos, Calif. (210 E. Main St., diodeka.com), he knew there were certain items on the menu that were sacrosanct—the mesquite-grilled prime steaks, ouzo pork ribs, and lamb meatballs. After all, he figured, if something’s working right, you don’t mess with it.

Especially when it came to the meatballs—not when a third of all diners ordered them every night, as did most of the banquet groups. Cattaneo, who has cooked with such illustrious chefs as David Kinch at Manresa in Los Gatos and Jeremy Fox at the now shuttered Ubuntu in Napa, merely adjusted the seasonings a tad and ended the practice of storing the meat mixture in vacuumsealed bags, which he thought compressed it too much, resulting in denser meatballs.

Known at the restaurant as keftethakia, these tender, juicy meatballs are served as a shared appetizer along with blistered grapes, yogurt infused with kalamansi (calamondin, a citrus), and a delicate broth of mint, cilantro, and parsley. But they’re equally wonderful with a simple dollop of Greek yogurt flavored with lemon juice and honey. The meatballs can also be tossed into pasta with tomato sauce or served warm over wilted arugula for a light salad.

Cattaneo incorporates all the ingredients using a stand mixer, which aerates the mix, giving it a fluffier texture, but blending by hand is fine, he says. Before cooking the entire batch, he fries one meatball in a pan to check the seasoning. Because the cheese is fairly salty, he cautions not to be heavy-handed as you add the salt.

“To me, they’re the quintessential bar snack,” Cattaneo says. “It’s like eating pretzels at a bar with beer. At the end of the day, they just taste great.” c j

Lamb Meatballs

DIO DEKA LOS GATOS, CALIF.

Makes about 24 meatballs 1½ inches in diameter.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by chef Marty Cattaneo.

Meatballs

2 pounds ground lamb

¼ cup milk

2 eggs

¼ of a yellow onion, minced

1 cup panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

¾ cup grated kefalograviera (a firm Greek cheese) or Parmigiano-Reggiano

Salt to taste

Garnish

1 cup Greek yogurt

Fresh lemon juice to taste

Honey to taste

Kefalograviera cheese is fairly salty, so don’t be heavy-handed when you add the salt.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the ground lamb, milk, eggs, onions, bread crumbs, herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, nutmeg, black pepper, and cheese at medium speed until the ingredients are well incorporated. If you don’t have a stand mixer, use your fingers, first moistening them with water to keep the meat from sticking to them. Work your fingers well into the mixture to combine the ingredients thoroughly.

3. In a small sauté pan on medium heat, cook a teaspoon of the mixture in several drops of olive oil. Taste the cooked mixture for salt, and add more if needed.

4. Roll the rest of the meat mixture into balls, each about 1½ inches in diameter. Place the meatballs on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil. Roast at 350°F for about 12 minutes until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 155°F and are browned on the outside. Serve with traditional Greek yogurt mixed with honey and lemon juice. ●

Sweets

Tom Douglas’ Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Even coconut-haters love this luscious dessert at Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Bakery in Seattle.

When Seattle chef Tom Douglas opened his upscale Dahlia Lounge in 1989, he put a decidedly down-home coconut cream pie on the menu as a lark. Little did he know that the pie would take on a sweet life of its own.

Not only was it the best-selling dessert at Dahlia Lounge (now closed), but it’s available at 12 of his 13 Seattle establishments. Only 12? If you’re hankering for it badly enough at the other one, a server will be happy to run across the street to another Douglas eatery and fetch a slice.

Douglas sells 1,000 coconut cream pies a month. The pie’s popularity was also an inspiration for Douglas’ Dahlia Bakery. The pies are so highly regarded that they’ve fetched hundreds of dollars at charity auctions.

All this fuss over a pie? You bet, when it’s this luscious—with coconut in the crust, shredded coconut in the filling, and big shards of toasted coconut atop ripples of whipped cream and curls of white chocolate. Even coconuthaters love it.

“That’s because it doesn’t taste like suntan lotion,” Douglas says. “Every other coconut pie out there has fake stuff in it. When you use real ingredients, you realize how good it can taste.”

The recipe appeared in the chef’s first cookbook, Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, and will show up again in a forthcoming Dahlia Bakery cookbook. It’s based on a recipe by celebrity pastry chef Jim Dodge. Any confident home cook can make it, Douglas says, although the ingredient list may seem long. (Unsweetened coconut chips or large-shred coconut can usually be found in natural foods stores or in the bulk section of supermarkets.) Because the recipe is time-consuming, he suggests making two pies at once. Give the extra one to a neighbor or to a local charity and make friends for life. c j

Triple Coconut Cream Pie

DAHLIA BAKERY

SEATTLE

Makes one nine-inch pie.

Adapted with permission from the recipe of chef Tom Douglas.

Crust

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons allpurpose flour

½ cup sweetened shredded coconut

½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

⅓ cup ice water, or more as needed

Pastry cream

2 cups milk

2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

2 large eggs

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened

Pie

1 coconut pie crust (recipe at left), prebaked and cooled

2½ cups heavy whipping cream, chilled

⅓ cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 ounces unsweetened “chip” or large-shred coconut

Chunks of white chocolate (4 to 6 ounces, to make 2 ounces of curls)

This triple coconut cream pie calls for sweetened shredded coconut and unsweetened chip coconut.

To make the crust

1. In a food processor, combine the flour, coconut, diced butter, sugar, and salt. Pulse to form coarse crumbs, gradually adding the water a tablespoon at a time. Use only as much water as is needed to hold the dough together. (Test it by gently pressing a bit of dough between your fingers.) The dough will not form a ball or clump in the processor. Place a large sheet of plastic wrap on the counter and pour the dough onto it. Pull the plastic wrap around the dough, then flatten it into a rough round. Chill 30 minutes to an hour before rolling.

2. Unwrap the round of dough and place it on a lightly floured work board. Dust the rolling pin and your hands with flour. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick, adding more flour if it begins to stick. Trim to a 12- to 13-inch circle.

3. Ease the rolled dough onto a 9-inch pie pan. Don’t stretch the dough to fit; it will shrink again when baked. Trim any excess to a 1- to 1½-inch overhang. Turn the dough under along the rim of the pie pan and use your finger to flute the edge. Chill the unbaked pie crust at least an hour before baking.

4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper in the pie crust and fill the cavity with dried beans or pie weights. Bake the crust until the edge is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, lift off the foil and beans, and return the crust to the oven. Bake until the bottom of the crust shows golden-brown patches, 10 to 12 minutes more. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To make the pastry cream

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and sweetened shredded coconut. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add both the seeds and pod to the milk mixture. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir the mixture occasionally until it begins to steam and tiny bubbles start to form around the pan’s edges. (But don’t let it come to a boil.) Remove the pan from the heat.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until well combined. As you whisk, temper the egg mixture (to keep it from curdling) by pouring about ⅓ cup of the scalded milk into the egg mixture. Then add the warmed egg mixture to the milk and coconut mixture in the saucepan. Place the pan over medium-high heat and whisk until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the pastry cream is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. Remove and discard the vanilla pod. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl, then place it over another bowl filled with ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming, and refrigerate until cold, about an hour. The cream will thicken as it cools.

3. When the pastry cream is cold, pour it into the prebaked pie crust, smoothing the surface with a spatula. In an electric mixer with whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla on medium speed. Gradually increase the speed to high, and whip to peaks that are firm enough to hold their shape. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with the whipped cream and pipe it over the surface of the pie, or spoon it over.

To finish the pie

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a baking sheet, spread the coconut chips, then place the baking sheet in the oven. Stir the chips once or twice while they toast, watching carefully—coconut burns easily—until they are lightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Use a vegetable peeler to shave about 2 ounces of the white chocolate into curls. Just before serving, decorate the pie with the toasted coconut and white chocolate curls.

2. The coconut pastry cream can be made a day ahead, covered with plastic wrap as above, and chilled in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to serve the pie, fill the prebaked crust with the cream, then top the filling with the whipped cream, coconut, and chocolate. ●

Judy Rodgers’ Orange-Currant Scones

Bring a buttery bit of San Francisco scrumptiousness to your breakfast table with these simple step-by-step instructions.

Scanning the Sunday lunch menu at San Francisco’s landmark Zuni Café (1658 Market St., zunicafe.com), you’ll be tempted by everything from a hefty grass-fed burger on rosemary focaccia to occasional specialties such as eggs fried in breadcrumbs with long-cooked kale. But you’ll likely find your eyes coming to rest at a pastry on the list: orange-currant scones. Savoring the tender sweetness of these scones is a

fitting way to remember Zuni Cafe’s beloved executive chef Judy Rodgers, whose death in 2013 saddened many food lovers. The simple dough gets its richness from whole milk and plenty of butter; the classic flavors come from fresh orange zest and dried currants (technically zante currants, a special variety of small, sweet grapes available in dry form at most groceries). As with any scone recipe, the key is to be gentle with the dough, mixing it just enough. c j

Orange-Currant Scones ZUNI

CAFÉ

SAN FRANCISCO

Makes 16 small scones.

Adapted from Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers, 2002, with permission of W.W. Norton & Company.

Ingredients

3 cups (13½ ounces) all-purpose flour

7 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ pound (2 sticks) cold salted butter

½ cup dried currants

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest

1 large egg

½ cup cold whole milk

Zante currants are a variety of small, sweet grapes available in dry form at most groceries.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (or 325°F if it’s a convection oven). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix well. Using a pastry cutter (manual dough blender) or two kitchen knives, cut in the butter until it is the size of small peas. Scatter the currants and orange zest over the dry ingredients and toss well.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients; mix and fold gently until a dough forms and the flour is moistened. Don’t worry if the dough is a little streaky and bits of butter are still intact.

4. Divide the dough in half and shape each portion into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, pat each ball into a 6- to 7-inch disk. With a rolling pin, roll the disks into ¾-inch-thick rounds—the perimeter will be ragged—then cut each round into 8 wedges (like pie slices). On the lined baking sheets, arrange the wedges without crowding.

5. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, about 25 minutes (or 20 minutes convection). Serve warm. ●

Kayvon Jordan’s Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

Cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate—not to mention plenty of butter and sugar—put the pleasure in this indulgent dessert.

ayvon Jordan, former executive pastry chef, admits that, he’s a fruit lover through and through when it comes to his own dessert preferences. Despite that predilection, he’s managed to create a chocolate-on-chocolate-onchocolate concoction that had people flocking to Mayfield Bakery & Cafe in Palo Alto, Calif. (now closed).

The dessert—the quintessential frosted chocolate cake, baked and garnished to perfection—is every bit as rich as it sounds. Three layers of extremely moist chocolate cake are slathered with ganache enriched with honey, then covered in an American-style buttercream that’s wonderfully dense.

“It’s a cross between a devil’s food cake and a sponge cake,” Jordan says. “A very traditional, very comforting cake.”

No wonder it was always on the menu at the cafe and available either by the slice or by the whole cake at the bakery. In fact, it wasn’t unusual for the cafe and bakery to sell upwards of 36 slices of this cake per day and for customers to order three cakes a week for celebrations.

Jordan had tried out eight or so other chocolate cakes before nailing this. “I’m actually surprised at how popular it is,” he says. “I’d like to change it sometimes. But I can’t. People just have to have it.” c j

Makes one 8-inch cake.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

MAYFIELD BAKERY & CAFE PALO ALTO, CALIF.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by Kayvon Jordan of Mayfield Bakery & Cafe.

Chocolate fudge cake

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1⅔ cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

3 eggs

¼ cup water

¼ cup butter, melted

½ cup buttermilk

½ teaspoon coffee extract (optional)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Honey-chocolate ganache

½ cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons honey

¼ teaspoon salt

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, seeds and pulp reserved

½ cup semisweet chocolate pieces

Chocolate buttercream

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 stick butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon water

To make the cake

1. Heat an oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8-inch cake pan with baking spray.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt, and whisk until combined. Set the mixture aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, melted butter, buttermilk, coffee extract, and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, and whisk until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the cake seems to need more time, watch it carefully and remove it from the oven when the sides begin to pull away from the pan.

5. Allow the cake to cool on a rack, then unmold.

To make the honeychocolate ganache

1. In a medium-size pan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, honey, salt, and vanilla bean seeds and pulp, and bring the mixture to a simmer. While it heats, place the chocolate pieces in a large bowl.

2. When the cream mixture is ready, pour it over the chocolate. Let the combined ingredients sit for one minute, then whisk until

they are well incorporated. Allow the mixture to cool at room temperature.

To make the chocolate buttercream

1. Sift the sugar, salt, and cocoa powder together into a large bowl.

2. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a separate large bowl, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, water, and dry ingredients, and cream the mixture until smooth. Alternatively, you can beat the butter by hand, then cream in the vanilla, water, and the dry ingredients.

To assemble the cake

1. If the top of the cake has a slight dome, use a knife to carefully shave off a thin layer to level it. Next, cut the cake parallel to its bottom surface into three even layers. Place the first layer on a large plate. Spread ½ cup of honeychocolate ganache evenly on the first cake layer, and top with the second layer. Repeat with the rest of the ganache and cake, but do not spread the top layer with the ganache. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes to harden the honey-chocolate ganache.

2. Using an icing spatula and working in a circular motion, frost the entire cake with chocolate buttercream. ●

Teresa Ulrich’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Just about any chocolate chip cookie can be good. It takes a special recipe— like this one from Portland, Ore.—to make one that’s truly great.

Impressively thick, delicately crisp on the edges, chewy inside, and loaded with semisweet chocolate and toasted pecans, the chocolate chunk cookies at former Pearl Bakery were so alluring that customers actually showed up as early as 9 a.m. to start the day with one. (The bakery is under new ownership and has moved locations.)

Former head pastry chef Teresa Ulrich understood that kind of devotion. After all, this particular cookie had been on the menu since the bakery opened more than 27 years ago. It was among the shop’s most popular pastry items, with up to 700 sold each week. In 2011, when Portland Monthly named it one of the best chocolate chip cookies in the city, the adoration spread.

The family-run craft bakery made these cookies with locally sourced butter. Ulrich added Mexican vanilla rather than the usual kind because she liked its faint cinnamon and coconut notes. The zest of a whole orange is stirred into the dough. The citrus flavor remained in the background, she says, but it imparted an intriguing quality that added to the cookie’s complexity.

The cookies are easy to replicate at home. Just use a light hand when mixing the dough, Ulrich says, so the cookies don’t end up flat or tough. The bakery favored Barry Callebaut 45 percent–cacao semisweet chocolate, but any dark chocolate up to 60 percent cacao works well.

“It really is a great cookie,” Ulrich says. “It spoils me for any other chocolate chip cookie.” c j

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

PEARL BAKERY

PORTLAND, ORE.

Makes about 18 cookies.

Adapted with permission from the recipe by Pearl Bakery.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter warmed to room temperature

1½ cups dark brown sugar

Zest of one orange, finely grated

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (Mexican, if available)

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecan halves, lightly toasted

2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and orange zest on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes. (Don’t cream too long, or the cookies might bake flat.)

2. Beat in the egg and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Blend on low speed until thoroughly mixed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice.

4. In a separate bowl, toss the pecan halves and chocolate chunks together. Add them to the dough mixture and mix until just combined.

5. Divide the dough into ¼-cup balls. Space the balls about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets and flatten them slightly. Chill for 15 minutes. (The chilling helps prevent a flat cookie.)

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the cookies until they just start to turn golden brown and are still a little soft in the center, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the cookies to racks and allow them to cool. Serve promptly or store in an airtight container. ●

Orange zest in a chocolate chunk cookie? Yes! The background citrus flavor adds to the cookie’s complexity. (You only need one orange.)

Kathy Duarte’s Olallieberry Pie

Along California’s central coast, a classic tavern dishes out old-fashioned summer goodness in a flaky crust.

An astonishing 13,000 diners a month—locals and visitors alike—

brave the lines to grab a table at northern California landmark Duarte’s Tavern, a family-owned institution that’s been going strong since 1894 in the small, coastal farming town of Pescadero (202 Stage Road, duartestavern.com). They may come for cream of artichoke soup or crab cioppino or baked oysters. But they almost always save room for pie.

One pie trumps them all, selling 10 times more than any other kind: olallieberry. The red, knobby fruit that looks like a blackberry’s big cousin has a sweet-tart flavor. Olallieberries are harvested along the California central coast for only six to eight weeks in summer, usually starting in mid-June. But Duarte’s freezes at least 30,000 pounds each season to be sure it will have enough to make this signature pie year-round.

Why are folks so obsessed with olallieberries? “Part

of it is the unusual name,” says Kathy Duarte, fourthgeneration owner of Duarte’s. “Plus the pie is quite good. The crust is fantastic, and the filling is not covered up with a lot of sugar or tapioca. It’s old-fashioned, straightforward.” No wonder the James Beard Foundation named the tavern an American Classic in 2003.

Kathy Duarte’s grandmother, Emma Duarte, started the pie-making tradition. But olallieberry wasn’t one of the fillings until her son, Ron, started growing them in the 1960s and gave her some. If you can lay your hands on a stash of olallieberries—especially from one of the local u-pick farms in summer—making your own pie is, well, a piece of cake. (If you can’t, substitute blackberries in similar quantities.) Duarte’s recipe has a crust made with shortening (no butter or lard) that emerges from the oven tender, golden, and flaky, with juicy berries bubbling away inside. One bite and you’ll understand why the passion for this pie has endured. c j

Olallieberry Pie

DUARTE’S TAVERN PESCADERO, CALIF.

Serves 8.

Adapted with permission from Kathy Duarte, Duarte’s Cavern.

Ingredients

1½ cups cake or pastry flour, plus ¼ cup for filling

¾ cup vegetable shortening

¼ cup whole milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 pounds fresh or defrosted frozen olallieberries

1 cup granulated sugar

The olallieberry is a cross between a loganberry and a youngberry and has a sweettart flavor.

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour and shortening. Using a handheld pastry blender, work the shortening into the flour, stopping as soon as pea-sized lumps form. Add the milk and salt, and stir with a spoon until the lumps combine to form a soft, easy-to-work dough. If it feels too dry, gently stir in one or two more teaspoons of shortening.

3. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Using your hands, gently shape one piece into a ball. The dough should be soft—even a little sticky. (If it feels dry, the crust will be hard.) If the dough seems too sticky, add a small amount of flour while rolling the dough ball a half dozen times in a circle with your hands until it holds together. Place the dough ball on a well-floured counter and flatten with a few quick strokes of a rolling pin. Flip the flattened piece and roll it a few more times, adding a little flour to the pin if the dough sticks. Flip the dough again and continue rolling to form a circle of dough 9 to 10 inches in diameter and up to ¼ inch thick. Fold the dough circle in half, transfer it to a 9-inch pie pan, then unfold it and trim the edge, leaving a ½-inch rim of dough around the pan.

4. In a medium-sized bowl, gently combine the olallieberries with the sugar and the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Pour the berry mixture into the bottom crust.

5. Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust and place it over the berries. Fold the edge of the top crust over the bottom crust and seal the two together by pushing lightly with your fingertips. With a paring knife, cut a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.

6. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and set it on a low oven rack to catch drips from the pie. Place the pie in the center of a rack above it and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours or until it’s golden brown and steaming. Allow the pie to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. ●

carolyn jung contributes to AAA.com/via and writes about restaurants at her website, foodgal.com

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