Corned beef doesn’t exactly conjure images of glamour and sophistication; nevertheless it’s one of those things I get a craving for it roughly once a year. How convenient that my craving happened a short while before St. Patrick’s Day so I can share my results with you lot (I’m told that’s a right Irish way of saying things- correct me if I’ve misspoken). 

Supermarket corned beef, in my experience, is tough, plagued with a lingering flavor of skeevy salt, and downright bilious in many cases.  Doing it right, which means doing it yourself, really only takes a bit of planning, is more economical and tastes infinitely superior.  I borrowed the corning technique from Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie with only minor adjustments based on my own taste preferences.  I’m a bay leaf fanatic, so I doubled up on those since my bay leaf tree is only too happy to oblige me with her radiant foliage.  I started with a lovely first-cut brisket that I picked up for a song from my favorite butcher in Pike Place Market.  The capable butcher men are always eager to help now that they know I write a Seattle food blog and they can log on and check out the crazy things I do to their meat. 

The brisket needs to sit in the cure for five days in order to achieve proper “corning,” which is great because it gives you lots of time to think about which sundry delicacies you’ll serve alongside it.  I also pickled some vegetables using a salt-brine rather than vinegar and let those get nice and infused over the five day period.  I came up with two appetizers that at first seemed slightly incongruous to me but in retrospect I realize there was, in fact, a common thread uniting the meal.  Appetizer “A” consisted of bresaola, which is air-cured beef, wrapped around stracchino cheese topped with a leaf of mache lettuce.

 Next up was an inventive take of seared foie gras.  I had gluten-free folks coming to dinner so the toast squares I might have normally served the foie gras with were out.  I decided to be inventive with the base of my dish and use baby artichoke halves as the “bread” to the foie gras’ “butter.”  I halved them and cooked them in pear butter in the Sous Vide Supreme for two hours at 183° and they were perfect in texture.

  They took on a touch of sweetness from the pear which matched the rest of the dish well.  I topped the artichokes and foie gras with a pear-Sauternes sorbet I whipped up while the artichokes were stewing.  I steeped anise, cardamom, clove and nutmeg into the sorbet and those flavors really brought out the delicate taste of the foie gras. 

Have you realized what everything has in common yet? Every course features something that has been cured, aka something that falls under the vast realm known as charcuterie.  It is interesting that charcuterie is today considered a delicacy.  Much like necessity being the mother of invention, charcuterie at its source was really just a means of preserving food so it would last longer before the era of refrigeration.   Nowadays we don’t technically need to cure meats, so it’s moved into the domain of luxury and often the price of good charcuterie reflects that.  It’s a fun world in which to dabble; oftentimes all you need is an inexpensive cut of meat, some salt and a bit of time. 

Back to the corned beef.  After it finished curing in its rock star juice, I rinsed it and bagged it along with some homemade pickling spice liquid and plopped it into the sous vide bath at 176° for 26 hours.  For those of you battling with the sous vide/foodsaver bagging liquid issues, I’ve finally come up with a bit of a workaround.  I know many people freeze the liquid into a solid so they can suck all the air out. I also know Thomas Keller feels the foodsaver is unacceptable and everyone should really be using a $3,000 cryovac that really does the trick of sucking all the air out even when there’s liquid in the bag.

  Short of spending three grand or taking the time that I don’t often plan for to pre-freeze my liquids, I’ve found myself SOL on several occasions now.  It helps to use gravity, ie hold your bag below the foodsaver as you’re sealing and it will be harder for the foodsaver to suck up any liquid.  The other really great trick that has been working wonders for me is a double bagging system.  First I pack the corned beef (or whatever) and liquid into one foodsaver bag without sealing it.  Then I insert this bag sideways into a second, larger foodsaver bag.  I seal the outer bag and it’s able to get a ton more air out since the liquid is all trapped in the inner bag.  It’s not a perfect solution but until I have a spare three grand lying around, it will do. 

The time and temperature seemed to be just right, and I’m glad I went with my gut instead of listening to all the random voices on the internet.  If I had an extra day or two to play around I would have been really tempted to do a 48 hour cure at a lower temp, perhaps closer to 134°, but now that I’ve achieved a result I’m immensely satisfied with I think I’ll stick with it next time too. 

 The only truly great solution to this problem would be a parallel tasting. Don’t you think the good folks over at Sous Vide Supreme should lend me a second sous vide machine so I could throw in two briskets, two sea bassies, two Silkie chickens and two Jerusalem artichokes all at different times/temps to get down to the real nitty gritty of culinary perfection?  There are plenty of scientific studies on the affects of different sous vide temperatures and what happens to the sinews and muscles not to mention gasses released by the meat. 

 I would opt for a different approach, however, one that defies scientific logic in many cases.  After all, aren’t some of the greatest culinary feats in history achieved by happy accident? I’m thrilled to note that my typical “cook-by-feel” approach seems to work in the sous vide bath thus far, I only regret not being able to mess around with multiple times, temps,and preparations simultaneously so I can arrive at a final consensus sooner.  After too many words (why am I so long-winded) I will leave you to your gastronomic devices, any questions on sous vide corned beef? Leave me a comment and I’ll hit you back.

*One final note: I will be on vacation away from the land of technology in the coming weeks. I haven’t forgotten about my amazing readers, I just need a bit of r and r.  When I return I’ll be back with a vengeance, but in the meantime please enjoy this lovely springtime and join me in a virtual clinking of wine glasses. Salute, Linda :)

It’s truffle season again, my darlings; get out your sniffers and let’s get down and get woodsy with it.  I have heard tell that this season isn’t considered a vintage year in the grand scheme of things, but my craving is so strong once I go an entire year without a whiff that I’m willing to do just about anything for a fine white truffle from Alba.  I asked my friend Shane who works at DeLaurenti to keep his ear to the ground about impending truffle arrival and he gave me the heads’ up a few days ago that now is the time.  I headed down to pick up the fine specimen he hand-selected for me, and we did a mini photo shoot with Rachel, the Pike Place Market pig before I collected my prize and hunted for the rest of the ingredients of the feast. 

On the menu: tagliolini al toma e tartufo bianco, which is noodles in a sauce of the Piedmontese cheese Toma topped with shavings of truffle.  For the antipasto I knew I wanted to do something with duck egg since I’ve been really into them lately.  Even though it’s considered more of a first course, I decided that serving a single raviolo with a duck egg yolk inside would actually be kind of an antipasto due to its singular nature as opposed to a plate of pasta.  I foraged through the market for the ingredients for the feast and got sidetracked by a gleaming pork belly calling to me from the butcher’s glass case.  That’s a tale for another time, but suffice it to say that I’m now curing said belly to turn into either pancetta or bacon; I haven’t decided which makes more sense for my next foray into charcuterie. 

I had really wanted to do a sauce of Castelmagno cheese instead of Toma, although both are proprio Piemontese.  When we lived in Torino we became very fond of Castelmagno in sauces and Toma sliced and served on a platter of antipasto misto.   The fact remains that both are excellent melting cheeses if you buy the Toma young, and though Toma has a milder flavor, that might be a good thing so as not to overwhelm the delicate truffle flavor.  Plus, DeLaurenti did not have Castelmagno, which very much surprised me, so that made the choice glaringly obvious. 

I schlepped the long haul back to my car with all my market goodies and went home to start the feast.  I made pasta dough the size of a boulder because I knew I’d need it both for the tagliolini and the raviolo sheets.  I made more still because I had worked myself up about making the duck egg yolk raviolos so much that I was worried I’d need tons of overage in case of the odd screw up.  It turned out to be a good thing because there were, in fact, several screw ups, each one peppered with its own choice selection of words not appropriate to publish in this PG-rated diatribe.  I seem to have quite the potty mouth in the kitchen which I am going to have to watch out for since Bentley is nearing his mid first year and I think language acquisition is largely based on parental influence.  For now though I don’t worry too much, in fact a few good F*#$’s and Sh@*’s impart a nice infusion of passion into the food.  Food always tastes better if it’s made with passion, even if the passion is of the flummoxed and swearing varietal. 

I’ve been eager to try shoving a duck egg yolk into a raviolo for quite some time, so I undertook that challenge first.  I made a firm paste of Crema di Stracchino (in keeping with the Piedmont theme, but you could use ricotta if you so desired) and Parmigiano Reggiano.  I cut my rolled out pasta sheets with a cookie cutter and dolloped some paste in the middle, upon which I carefully balanced an egg yolk.  I carefully placed another round sheet over the top and sealed the deal with lots of egg white wash, some tricky finger crimping, and a final stamp with a slightly smaller cookie cutter.  They stayed together beautifully with the exception of one casualty in the beginning that I sacrificed to discover the best process.  I learned from the chef at Spring Hill restaurant in Seattle that it is important to make the raviolos and let them air dry a bit so that they attain a perfect al dente when cooked, so I gave my babies some rack time and moved on to the next project. 

I carefully sheeted, rolled and hand-cut the tagliolini for the pasta dish and about mid-way through decided a glass of wine was in order.  Hmmm, what to have when preparing a Piedmontese feast? I probably should have started with a young Barbera or Dolcetto since it was not yet the 5 o’clock witching hour, but instead I went straight to the top and opened a bottle of Barolo.  It needed to breathe, right?  Yeah, Linda, keep telling yourself that!  I prepared the cheese, measured out the cream and set up my mise en place for the primi piatti all under the tender influence of gentle sips of a big Barolo.  I also roasted hazelnuts and put together a hazelnut chocolate dessert, again in keeping with the Piedmontese theme of the evening. 

When the guests finally arrived I laid out some bresaola for them to nosh on and we all took turns imbibing the lovely aroma of the truffle.  I made quick work of boiling up the raviolos though we had to go through one or two before we got our cooking time down pat.  I wanted the yolk a bit runny but not so much that it was still entirely raw.  I served it in a buerre noisette and of course shaved tartufo bianco- over the top- deeeelish!

Our Italian dinner guests had brought two very nice bottles to accompany the meal, a Barolo and a Barbaresco.  Since the Barolo I had opened earlier miraculously disappeared rather quickly, we opened both of them to accompany dinner.  I whipped up the sauce last minute- I like to do this with a cheese sauce since they really only take a few minutes to come together and if you let them sit for too long they separate.  We tossed in the tagliolini, shaved on some truffle and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the evening.  I have to agree that the truffles this season aren’t quite as strong as they have been in years past, but the price is also considerably lower and they do satisfy a truffle craving in a pinch.  I will leave you with a few shots from the truffle festivals in Piedmont that we used to frequent when we live there.  Following that is the recipe for the tagliolini which would make a great weeknight meal without the shaved truffle on top.  I did not include the recipe for the raviolo since I didn’t measure quantities this first time making it, but look for it in a post soon as I intend to make it again and refine it further. 

 Tagliolini al Toma e Tartufo Bianco

Serves 4-6

Tagliolini

• 12 oz semolina flour
• 10 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ c water
• All purpose flour as needed

1. Place the semolina flour in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook.  Add the egg yolks, oil, and salt and begin to knead on medium low speed, scraping down the bowl with a spatula.  As the dough starts to come together, add the water and increase the speed to medium.  At this point your dough will start to form a mass, and you can add all-purpose flour until you reach the desired consistency of pliable dough that is not overly-sticky to the touch.
2. Remove dough from mixer and make into 3 balls.  Flour a large work surface and begin rolling out one of the balls into an oval shape.  Roll the dough to as thin as you can possibly get it, and repeat with remaining balls.
3. Carefully hang each sheet of dough over on object such as the back of a chair and cover with tea towels that have been ever-so-slightly misted with water.  Let dough rest for ½ hour.
4. Bring the sheets back to the floured surface and roll out the dough one final time, using as much strength as possible to get the dough truly flat.  Next, generously flour a sheet of pasta and roll it up so it forms a short tube, not the long way so that the tube is long- this way you will have long strands of pasta.
5. Using a chef’s knife on a cutting board, cut the tubes into individual pasta strands as small as you can make them. Once you have cut one of the tubes into their strands, use your fingers and unroll the strands so that they do not stick together creating kinks in your pasta.  Place the strands in a bowl, repeat with remaining two tubes, and cover bowl with a moist tea towel if you are not planning to cook right away.
6. To cook, add a tbsp of olive oil and a tbsp of salt to a large stockpot of water. Bring to boil, add pasta, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until noodles are al dente. 

Toma Sauce

• 1.5 c heavy cream
• 6 oz cubed Toma cheese (not too aged or it will not melt properly)
• ½ cup butter cut into 8 pieces
• 2 egg yolks (I use duck eggs)
• Parmigiano Reggiano for garnish
• White truffle shavings
• Salt and pepper to taste

1.  Bring the heavy cream just to boiling point on a low simmer.  Add the Toma a few pieces at a time, stirring to incorporate and melt it into the cream.
2.  Once all the cheese has been added and the sauce is relatively smooth, add the butter one piece at a time. 
3. When the butter is fully incorporated, whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl.  Temper the eggs by adding a few tablespoons of the Toma sauce to them and whisking thoroughly.  Remove sauce from heat, add tempered egg yolks, stir thoroughly and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper as needed. 
4. Toss the noodles with the sauce and plate individual portions.  Add truffle shavings and parmigiano to each serving and serve immediately.