For the first half of our stay in Ireland, we are living in a beautiful, 400 year old stable house about an hour outside of Dublin. Our backdoor opens to a trove of apple trees. Ever since we arrived, I’ve been anxious to take advantage of this amazing bounty and start baking. Unfortunately, the house isn’t yet stocked with the necessary baking supplies (rolling pin, measuring cups, mixing bowls…). Luckily, my mom was in town recently, and showed me how to make due (and make apple pie) with found items. 

Step 1: The dough recipe called for 1 1/4 cup flour. Using baby James’ sippy cups (which were labeled in Ounces
) we were able to figure out that this glass held just the right amount:

Step 2: Find a suitable pot to use as a mixing bowl. Add the flour and 10 tablespoons of Kerry Gold Butter. Combine and set aside:

Step 3: Pick some apples. Peel and slice into 6 cups. Add to pot.

Step 4: Add 3/4 cup sugar (using James’ sippy cup again, we found that this little glass was the perfect size):

Step 5: We needed to add a teaspoon of cinnamon. Since we didn’t have any measuring spoons, I figured an actual tea spoon could do the trick. It may have been a little off, but the pie didn’t suffer:

Step 6: To add 2 tablespoons of flour, I used an actual table spoon, twice.

Step 7: juice of one small lemon, and a pinch of salt.

Step 8: With the filling ready to go, now I just needed to roll out the dough. We had a spare empty wine bottle. So my mom suggested I use that.

Step 9: The house comes complete with an Aga oven. Not knowing the exact temperature, I placed it in the “hotter” door, and checked on it after 45 minutes.

And here’s the result. So good and so easy. I’ve already made it twice since.

This dish was the best thing I ate in Argentina.  I happened upon it at Francis Mallman’s 1884 restaurant and it was amazing!  So, this is a pretty direct copy of that. Or my guess at how each element of the dish was created. Depending on the size of the steak, this is enough for one or two people, though the potatoes are for one portion.

Steak:

• Cast Iron pan
• Choice grass-fed beef steak (in this case we use a porterhouse, but really you could use any piece. The thicker the better, over an inch is recommended)
• cooking oil
• butter
• spring of thyme or oregano
• clove of garlic

Chimichurri;

• 1 cup minced parsley
• 1/2 cup minced oregano
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried chili flake
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper

Patagonian Potatoes

• 1 large russet potato
• 2 tablespoons clarified butter
• salt
• large cast iron pan

Start by making the potatoes.  Peel the potato and slice into very thin circles using a mandolin, maybe half a centimeter.  Heat the pan and add clarified butter.  Then arrange the potatoes in a circular fashion.  Press something heavy on top and let cook for 10-15 minutes on a medium flame (depending on your stove) — making sure not to turn it up too high and burn the potatoes.  The slower this goes, the less char you will have and the more even crispiness.  Also, the thinner the potatoes, the crispier they will be.  after 10 minutes, take the weight off the top and season the potatoes. Continue cooking until they are translucent on top.  Also, the potatoes will shrink a bit, so you can rearrange them to make sure there are no gaps in your design.  Check for color, flip and season other side.

For the chimichurri, just mince all the ingredients and combine them together.  This will last for a week or so in the fridge and the flavors will come together more.  Add more vinegar and oil if you want a less thick consistency.

Now onto the Steak. This really depends on how thick it is, but the key points here are to make sure your meat is seasoned before hand, that it is dried off with a towel before cooking and that the pan is nice and hot – oh and that you let it rest…  If you do that, you have won half the battle — and if you have a thermometer, you can’t lose.  So, season the meat with lots of salt and let it sit out while you prepare the other components.  Then dry the meat off and salt again while your cast iron pan is heating up.  Add oil to the cast iron and sear that steak hard.  Once it has got some serious color, flip it over, let it sear on the other side for about a minute. Then add the butter, garlic and oregano.  Base the steak in the butter – depending on how thick your steak is, this could be a 30 second thing or an 8 minute process.  For an inch thick piece of meat after the sear I would give it about a minute of basting.  Let the meat rest for a good 10 minutes.  Then heat the pan up and throw the steak back on for 10 seconds just to heat up the exterior again.  Serve directly on the potatoes so the juices drip through. And, of course, top with the chimichurri salsa.

Tamale:

Take corn husks and pour hot water over them, weigh down with a heavy pan and let sit for an hour.

In a mixer, cream the butter by spinning on medium until all the chunks are broken apart and the consistency is smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients before adding the vegetable stock.  Mix thoroughly until it becomes a dough.  Add the dough to the creamed butter, and mix on medium for about 2 minutes until it gets a little fluffier.  The mixture should have the consistency of thick cake batter (it should just barely stick to the spoon).  If it’s too thick, add a bit more vegetable stock.

Time to assemble the tamales! Drain the water from the husks. Lay out each husk and put two heaping spoonfuls of the batter in the center of the husk, flattening the mixture a bit.  Add about a tablespoon of filling — in this case, beans (see recipe below) and cheese, but you could use anything.  Close the masa around the filling using one side of the husk.  Then fold the bottom of the husk upward and finally the other side of the husk across (see video) and tie with a strip of husk (torn off to act as string).  Steam the tamales for 45 minutes to an hour if they are small (like ours’ – easer to make) or an hour and half if they are bigger.

There are a lot of ways to cook beans.  I often forget to soak them overnight so here is an easy way to make same-day beans and also avoid some of the stomach repercussions.

Cover beans in water (by a lot — too much water here is not an issue) and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat.  Let them sit for 20 minutes then pour off the excess liquid. Apparently a lot of the flatulence-causing-elements are in that liquid.

Re-cover the beans with water and all other ingredients (just put them directly into the water).  Bring to a boil and then simmer.  I find it pretty difficult to gauge how long beans are going to take, so I start them as soon as possible and just let them go — continuing to test the constancy every 20 minutes after they have been simmering for an hour.  The longer the simmer, the tastier the beans.  Once they are done, I like to let them cool and then heat them back up again, the cooling seems to infuse the flavor and the salt.  By the time the beans are done, the garlic and the chiles will be soft.  Take out the cinnamon and the outer skin off the chiles and the stem, then mix all the ingredients together so the garlic and the chiles get mashed into the sauce.  Let cool. If there is too much liquid by the time it’s cooled, just strain off a bit, or hold aside to add back in if there are extra beans.

Broil all the ingredients for 10 minutes or until charred (remove the garlic early if necessary to avoid burning it — charred garlic is not good).  Let the ingredients cool and add them to a blender.  Blend with the cilantro, add salt to taste.  Add water to create a runny salsa-like consistency.  Serve over your tamales or on just about anything!

This lamb recipe is too easy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing!  This was a very common street food in Morocco, and the amount of cumin used on the lamb was always astounding and delicious

• 1lb ground lamb (20% fat)
• 1 large heirloom tomato
• 1 red onion
• 2 Tablespoons ground Moroccan cumin
• 1 preseved lemon
• 1 bunch parsley
• glug of olive oil
• salt

Liberally salt your ground lamb.  Form into balls and place in a fish griller or some other contraption that can contain your balls ( i know).  Over high heat coals, sear each side of the lamb until nice and brown, if directly on the heat, this is only 30 seconds per side.  Open the contraption and place slices of salted tomato and onion brushed with oil and salt on top of the lamb.  First tomato, then onion.  Re-close the contraption and cook the combo onion side down on slightly less hot coals.  Flip to make sure the onions don’t burn completely (a nice char is good).  You want to cook this for another 5 minutes until the lamb is medium rare.

Take the combo off the fire and rest.  Then dice a preserved lemon, mince some parsley, and toss with the olive oil.

Remove the lamb and very liberally season with cumin (more than you would think).  Eat in a piece of flat bread or just indulge in it all together.

Besides kebabs being everywhere in Turkey, the country is pretty great for a vegetarian thanks to the mezze available at many restaurants.  A good meal can start and end with the room temperature salads that the waiters bring to your table shortly after arrival.  In this video we have two favorite dishes from our travels… a garlicky yogurt and eggplant dish, and a chunky-gazpacho like salad.  Make them together or on their own, eat with bread or just use a spoon.  Use lots of herbs!

Yogurt and charred eggplant

• 1 eggplant
• 1 cup full fat yogurt
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup chopped parsley or mint
• ½ lemon
• 1 clove garlic or 4 cloves young garlic

Use a fork to poke lots of holes in your eggplant.  Roast the eggplant in the coals of a fire, on the burner of your stove top or under the broiler.  Each method will take different times, but you want the outside to be completely burned, and when you press down on the eggplant it should be soft and mushy  beneath the skin.  In coals this takes a good half hour and you will get the best flavor here.

After cooking, let it rest for a few minutes and then peel the skin of the eggplant, cut into strips and let it in a strainer till it cools completely.

Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestal, take your garlic and a pinch of salt, and grind the garlic into a pulp.

Once the eggplant has cooled, press it against the strainer for a few seconds to remove a little more liquid.  Then, cut the eggplant into small cubes, or tear into thin strips.  Mix the yogurt, olive oil, herbs, lemon juice and garlic, salt to taste.  Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil on top and some fresh cut herbs.

Turkish “gazpacho”

• 1 cucumber
• 1 large tomato
• 2 jalapenos (1 grilled, 1 fresh)
• 1 sweet red pepper
• 1 cup chopped (grilled) garlic scapes
• ½ red onion
• ½ cup minced mint
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon Turkishpepper paste (we used harissa)
• 2 Tablespoons pomegranate molasses (or aged balsamic, or balsamic syrup)
• salt

Small dice each of the ingredients separately, then mince them all together.  Let them macerate for 10 minutes, then strain them out for 30 seconds.  You want some liquid but not a soup.  Serve with bread and other mezze.

Patatas Bravas are the ubiquitous Spanish Tapas.  What isn’t to like? It’s fried potatoes with spicy mayo!  In this recipe, we show you how to make an aioli and we switch out the potatoes for sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes).

For frying:

• 1lb sunchokes cut into half centimeter ovals.
• 2 cups olive oil
• salt

for aioli:

•  4 green garlics (or 2 cloves garlic, or 2 bunches young garlic)
• 2 hot peppers
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon
• 2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste

Heat your oil up to around 325.  (If you don’t have a thermometer, it’s ok, just don’t let your oil smoke!  This is carcinogenic.)  The ultimate test of oil readiness: Drop in one of your sunchoke slices, and if it sizzles, you are good to go.  Once you add the slices, just keep an eye on them.  It will take a good ten minutes to fry these through.  I’ve tried boiling and then frying them.  Frying them twice…three times. In the end, I thought the once fried worked the best.  So fry until they have gone past golden brown, but aren’t burned… they’ll continue to cook a bit outside the pan.  Strain the oil.  And set the “Fries” on a paper towel.  With fine grain sea salt, season liberally.

Char the green garlic and peppers over you stove top flame until each is black on all sides.  Peel off the outer skin and roughly chop.  For the chillis, take out the seeds if you’d like less heat.  Put the garlic, peppers, Dijon, vinegar, egg and tomato paste in a food processor.  Pulse until finely ground.  Then turn on the processor and slowly add the grapeseed oil in a fine stream, and then the olive oil.  Season with salt.  It shouldn’t be too stiff, so either add some cold water to loosen it, or if you’d like more acidity, add a bit more vinegar. 

Dip the fried sunchokes in the aioli and enjoy!

• grass fed beef ribeye, sirloin, tenderloin
• asparagus stalks (Thinly shaved)
• small bunch of pea shoots
• 1 lemon
• olive oil
• fancy salt
• plastic wrap
• parmesan cheese
• edible flowers (if they are in your backyard)

Thinly slice the beef, place it between plastic wrap, you want the circumferance to be about half of the plate you are serving it on. Pound it with your fist until it increases to the size of the plate (almost double). Slice asparagus and warm in olive oil and salt. Sprinkle the beef with fancy salt and then garnish the beef with the asparagus, pea shoots and flowers as well as olive oil and lemon juice. Serve and eat immediately.

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Chopped Roti  (Kothu Roti) was one of our favorite dishes in Sri Lanka.  Its a stir fry of day old roti, and its delicious.  Usually served with fish or chicken curry, we made it with Dal (for Mirra).
Godamba Roti

• 2 Ccups of flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 Cup coconut oil

To make the Roti dough:
Combine the flour, salt, teaspoon of oil and warm water in a bowl.  Knead for five minutes until it is very smooth.  Cut the dough into four pieces and roll into balls.   Place them in a small bowl and toss them in coconut oil then pour the rest of the coconut oil over the top.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap.  If you have a lot of coconut oil, submerge them completely – otherwise, after an hour, flip the dough balls so the other side is submerged in the oil.  Wait at least two hours before cooking.

To cook the Roti:
Once the dough balls have rested (submerged in coconut oil) for at least two hours, roll each ball out so that it is as thin as possible.  I flipped a sheet pan upside down and used it as a griddle, but really you could use any large flat surface.  Get it nice and hot and pour a little bit of oil onto the flat surface. Rub the roti with a little more coconut oil and place it on the hot pan.  It will cook in less than a minute per side. (I flip it back and forth every 20 seconds). You don’t want it to burn, but its nice to have some dark bubbles form.  Once you’ve cooked the roti, set them aside.  The rotis are great in the khotu roti dish, but they are also wonderful to eat as is alongside a curry or dal dish.

Khotu Roti:

• 2 Tablespoons Coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 small bunch of curry leaves (you can buy them at an Indian supermarket)
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 thumbs worth of ginger, minced
• 1 green chilli thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tomato diced
• 1/3 cup of water
• ½ the roti you made earlier (cut into 1 cm strips)
• ¼ of a small cabbage (1 cup shredded)
• 1 large carrot shredded
• 2 spring onions diced

Heat the coconut oil until it is very hot (But not smoking).  Add the mustard seeds and let them fry for 5 seconds, then add the curry leaves for five seconds, followed by the large onion.  Saute the onions for 2 minutes and then turn the heat down to Medium.

Add the ginger and garlic and all of the spices. Stir. Then add the tomatoes and water.  Saute for another minute.  Then add the cabbage, roti slices, carrots and spring onion, turn the heat to high and fry for one minute.  Serve with the Dal.

Coconut Dal:

• 2 Tabespoons Coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 small bunch of curry leaves 
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 thumbs worth of ginger, minced
• 2 dried red chillies
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 cups red lentils (washed)
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups coconut milk

In a large pot, heat the coconut oil.  Then add in the mustard seeds and coriander seeds followed by the curry leaves.  Saute the mixture for two minutes on high, then turn to medium and add the rest of the spices.  Saute for 2 minutes.

Add the water and coconut milk.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are falling apart.  Add more liquid if it begins to dry out too much.  Salt to taste.

• 4 ½ cups dry soybeans
• 4 cups of water + 10 cups of water + 1cup of water
• 1 tsp gypsum (available at most health food and brewing stores)
• Some sort of press/mold lined with cheesecloth (I used a strainer with a bowl on top)

Soak your soybeans overnight in lots of water (twice as much water as beans).
In the morning, strain it off.  Blend the soybeans with 4 cups of water.
Put the blended beans in a pot and add 10 additional cups of water.  Bring the soy mixture to a boil, stirring the whole time.  A frothy head should appear at the top of the pot (sort of like beer).  Once this happens, turn the heat off, and strain out the mixture through cheesecloth.

You will be left with solids (in the strainer) and liquid in the bowl. For the purpose of making tofu, you dont need the solids (also known as Okara)… but keep them on hand for a number of other uses in other recipes.

Put the liquid into a pot and simmer for 10 minutes.  In a separate bowl, mix together 3 teaspoons of gypsum with a cup of water.  Slowly add it to the soy milk while stirring constantly. Once it has all been added, stop stirring and let the soy milk sit for 20 minutes.  At this point the soy will have started to coagulate and firm up slightly. You can either pour into the mold you are going to use, or ladle it in.  Set something heavy on top and let it sit for 2-3 hour or overnight depending on the consistency of tofu you prefer (the longer it sits, the more firm the tofu).  Remove the tofu and use however you see fit.

In the video I cooked Tofu with cabbage and coriander. For this, you will need:

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
• 2 small shallots, minced
• 1 cup of cubed tofu
• 1/4 cabbage, chopped into small strips
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon each of crushed peppercorns and coriander seed
• 2 Tablespoons oil or butter

Saute the garlic, shallots and ginger in the oil on low heat until they have softened, about three minutes.  Add the honey, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. let simmer for 2 minutes, then turn the heat to high and add the cabbage and tofu.  Fry for a minute, before adding 1/3 of a cup of water and letting it all meld together.
If the liquid has all evaporated, add a touch more soy sauce and vinegar.  Serve hot with steamed rice.

Udon noodles:

• 2 cups flour (plus 2 Tablespoons if needed)
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon red miso
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon shaved bottarga (optional)

Sift the flour into a bowl. In a separate container, combine the salt and water. Pour the water around the edge of the bowl of flour. Sift your hands through it, trying create small sand like balls of dough. After 30 seconds start to knead and combine into one chunk. Knead with your hands for five minutes. Then, either continue to knead for another 5 minutes, or have fun and do it with your feet. Seriously. The traditional way to make Udon dough is to use your feet. My dough is a little softer than the traditional version, so the foot action isnt necessary, but it is fun. So put plastic over your mixing bowl and step on it in a circle for 30 seconds. Roll it up into a ball again and press it with your feet again. Then roll it into a ball and let it rest, wrapped in plastic wrap for 30 minute.

With a large rolling pin, roll the dough out onto a big table. The dough will be very tough so you have to keep on rolling it out over and over again until it’s an 8th of an inch. This might take you 10 minutes, but trust me, it’s worth it for the texture. Once the dough is nice an thin, cover it with lots of flour. Fold the dough over on itself every 2 inches (like a chinese paper fan). This helps to allow you to cut long noodles. Take a very sharp knife and cut through the layers in 1/4 cm slices. Then unfold the noodles and drape them over something to undo the creases.

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 8 minutes. Once they have cooked for 7 minutes, remove almost all of the water. The leftover water should be thick and almost caramel like in its consistency. Add in the butter and miso and bring to a boil again. Shave in the parmesan cheese and bottarga (optional). The butter and cheese will turn the cooking liquid even creamier. Serve it hot with pickles or small salad tossed with rice wine vinegar.