Recipes

Recipes We asked the experts (who also happen to be our friends) for party-ready recipes.

Hee yo go: Coquito

John Lacoss, Bar Manager, The Essex, Old Saybrook

We asked The Essex for a recipe for a seasonal and innovative cocktail and Bar Manager and expert, John LaCross shared his vegan, gluten free Coquito. It is a rum based cocktail, nice and boozy and surprisingly creamy, made with or without Paw Paws.

Ingedients: 2-14oz can condensed coconut milk 1-15oz can Coco Lopez 1-13.5oz can coconut milk 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon, Sri Lankan Ceylon cinnamon (Cassia will work as well, with a bit more aggressive flavor) 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups Paw Paw pulp 1/4 cup raw sugar • Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan • Bring to a boil • Lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes • Remove from heat and let cool for 20 minutes • Pour into 1/2 gallon container, add cinnamon stick and cool in the refrigerator Add 3oz of mix with 2oz of Dark Rum Stir without ice to retain the creamy texture and pour over ice. I like to garnish with a light dusting of fresh grated nutmeg.

Last step - enjo!

Braised Beef Roast

with Moromi Shiro Miso, Red Wine, Prunes & Parsnip Puree

James Wayman

Chef, creator, & partner of Nana’s Bakery & Pizza, Nana’s Westerly, & Moromi.

Ingredients for the Shanks

• 1 3lb chuck roast • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter • 1 large onion, cut into one inch cubes • 4 large carrots cut into one inch rings • 1 large red bell pepper cut into 1”pieces • 3 garlic cloves minced • 2 sprigs thyme • 2 bay leaves, • 1 1/2 cups pitted prunes • 2 C light red wine • 2 C beef or chicken stock • 1/4 C red wine vinegar • 1/4 C honey

Ingredients for Parsnip

Puree (Can be made up to two days in advance)

• 8-10 parsnips depending on size • 2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp • Salt to taste • 1/4 tsp Moromi Fermented

Cayenne Hot Sauce

Preparation for Parsnip Puree

Peel and cut parsnips into evenly sized medium pieces. Cover with generously salted cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook until tender, approximately 20-30 minutes. Drain in a colander well until they steam dry. Add to a food processor or blender and puree until silky smooth. Whip in butter, any more salt and cayenne hot sauce. Keep warm until needed.

Preparation (this can be made up to two days in advance)

One hour before cooking, bring roast to room temperature and season well with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Preheat the oven to 275. In a heavy bottomed dutch oven over medium heat melt butter until it starts to foam. Then add roast and brown slowly on both sides, being careful not to burn the butter. Once brown, remove shanks to a plate and set aside.

• 1/4 C Moromi Shiro Miso (See more Moromi recipes here.)

Handcrafted Sustainable Fine Jewelry Jewelry Redesigns & Custom Bridal Rings Reduce the heat to low and add to the pot your onions, carrots, red pepper and garlic. Season with salt and cover to slowly sweat without browning. When the onions are translucent return the shanks to the pan, turn up the heat back to medium and add your wine and reduce by half.

Then add stock, vinegar, honey and enough water so that it comes just under the tops of the shanks. Bring almost to a simmer, cover and put in the oven. Check after half an hour the juices should be barely bubbling. At two hours remove a ladle full of the liquid and whisk in the miso and return to the pan along with the prunes. Cook for at least another hour or until the meat is fork tender. Taste broth and adjust for salt if needed. Divide into four pieces and serve over parsnip puree along with the vegetables, prunes and cooking juices.

Enjo!

Coffee Anise Stars

Dorie Greenspan

Adapted from Baking with Dorie (Mariner Books, 2021)

Photo credit: Food Network

Ingedients: Makes about 50 cookies.

For the cookies:

• 1 1/4 cups (5 1/2 oz./170 g) allpurpose flour Dorie Greenspan • 1 cup (4 oz./120 g) spelt flour • 2 tsp. instant espresso powder • 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon • 1/2 tsp. ground star anise (see below) • 8 Tbs. (1 stick) (4 oz./113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature • 1/3 cup (2 1/4 oz./67 g) firmly packed light brown sugar • 1/4 cup (1 3/4 oz./50 g) turbinado sugar • 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt • 1 egg, at room temperature • 1 1/2 Tbs. unsulfured molasses • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the glaze:

• 1 1/2 Tbs. egg white (beat 1 white and measure out 1 1/2 Tbs., or use liquid whites) • 1 1/4 cups (4 3/4 oz./150 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted • 2 1/2 tsp. unsalted butter, melted • Warm water if needed

To make the cookies, in a bowl, whisk together both flours, the espresso powder, cinnamon and star anise.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the butter, both sugars and the salt on medium speed, scraping the bowl as needed, until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute (don’t be concerned if the mixture curdles). Reduce the speed to low and beat in the molasses and vanilla.

Turn off the mixer, add the flour mixture and pulse just until the risk of flying flour has passed, then mix on low speed until the dough comes together. Scrape the bowl and turn out the dough. Divide it in half and pat each half into a disk.

Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between sheets of parchment and roll it to a thickness of 1/8 inch (3 mm). Refrigerate the disks for 3 hours or freeze them for 1 hour. (You can refrigerate the dough for a couple of days or freeze it for up to 2 months.)

When ready to bake, preheat an oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.

Keep one piece of dough in the fridge while you work on the other. Peel off the top sheet of parchment and, using a star-shaped cookie cutter that is 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter, cut out as many cookies as you can.

Place the cookies about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and save them to combine with the scraps you’ll get from the second piece of dough, then roll, chill, cut and bake the scraps.

Bake the cookies until they are golden and only just firm—poke one in the center and it will give a bit—8 to 9 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Bake the remaining cookies, always using a cool baking sheet.

To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Add the confectioners’ sugar and, using a flexible spatula, stir until it’s incorporated—this takes a little work. Stir in the melted butter and keep mixing until you have a smooth glaze the spreads easily. If you think it needs it, add warm water by the droplet.

To finish the cookies, using a small offset spatula or a butter knife, spread some glaze over each cookie. If you’d like to add a little chocolate pearl or three, some sprinkles or anything else, do it while the glaze is still wet. Leave the cookies out for an hour or so to allow the glaze to dry. Unglazed, the cookies can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 2 months. Once glazed, they can be kept at room temperature for about 5 days.