Allison Roman's Caramelized Shallot Pasta

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 large shallots, sliced very thin
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (2-ounce) can anchovy filets, drained, but not rinsed.
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste or one (4.5-ounce) tube tomato paste
• 1 16-ounce package bucatini pasta (with reserved pasta water…don’t forget)!
• fresh parsley, finely chopped
• freshly grated parmesan

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy dutch oven (I used my Le Cresuet) over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the shallots have softened with golden brown edges. This takes about 20 minutes
2. Add red-pepper flakes and anchovies drained and straight from the can. No need to chop them. They will dissolve when they’re cooked. Stir to combine the anchovies with the shallots, about 2 minutes.
3. Add tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent any scorching, until the tomato paste has started to cook in the oil a bit, caramelizing at the edges, and turning from bright red to a deeper rusty, brick color, about 2 minutes
4. Remove the pot from the heat and transfer about half of the sauce into a jar, leaving the rest behind. (These are your leftovers that you can use for a future dish).
5. Fill another large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions or until very al-dente. Save a cup of pasta water when draining. Transfer the cooked pasta to Dutch oven with the remaining shallot mixture. Cook over medium-high heat, tossing the pasta with the shallot mixture to coat each piece of pasta, use a wooden spoon to scape up any bits at the bottom until the pasta is a thick sauce and is reduced and is sticky, but not saucy, 3 to 5 minutes. Divide pasta into bowls or one large serving bowl and top with a little parmesan cheese and the fresh parsely.

Another No-Knead Bread Recipe

Update: I have made the following modifications to good effect.Use the ingredients specified in the Test Kitchen version with the following modifications:

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting work surface (15 ounces) or 3 cups for whole wheat use 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fast rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 7 ounces water
• 5 ounces beer
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Combine beer and water in a measuring cup and heat in the microwave until hot. For my 1000-watt machine, this takes 2 minutes. Make sure that you have whisked together the flour, yeast, and salt before adding it so as not to kill the yeast.

Heat oven to 500º to prep the Dutch oven, then lower to 425º for baking. Follow other instructions as posted.

Mark Bittman has offered two new versions of the No-Knead Bread Recipe:

Ingredients

• 3c bread flour
• 1 packet (1/4 oz) instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• Oil as needed

Preparation

• Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
• Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.
• At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-to-8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
• Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Jim Lahey made the following changes:

Ingredients

• 3c bread flour
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1/4 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 5/8c hot water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3-4 hrs on first rise; then a shorter rise (30-mins to 1 hr) on the second. Otherwise, same as above.
This is the first result of Lehey’s version. The crumb was as good as the slow rise. The flavour was not. I will try it again with lager in the mix. The crust was thinner but still crispy. I baked it in a 4qt Dutch oven to get a higher rise.

The Bo Ssam Miracle

I have a pork shoulder in the freezer and I've been meaning to give this recipe a try:

Ingredients

Pork shoulder:

• 1  whole bone-in pork butt or picnic ham (8 to 10 pounds)
• 1  cup white sugar
• 1  cup plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 7  tablespoons brown sugar

Ginger-Scallion Sauce:

• 2 ½  cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts
• ½  cup peeled, minced fresh ginger
• ¼  cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)
• 1 ½  teaspoons light soy sauce
• 1  scant teaspoon sherry vinegar
• ½  teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Ssam Sauce:

• 2  tablespoons fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets, and online)
• 1  tablespoon chili paste (kochujang, available in many Asian markets, and online)
• ½  cup sherry vinegar
• ½  cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

Accompaniments:

• 2  cups plain white rice, cooked
• 3  heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried
• 1  dozen or more fresh oysters (optional)
•  Kimchi (available in many Asian markets, and online)

Preparation

1. Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
2. When you're ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.
3. Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.
4. Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.
5. Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.
6. When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.