Grits are extremely comforting and very simple to make. They require very few ingredients and just a little bit of stirring in the kitchen. And though simple, they offer a base meal that is endlessly customizable. Think shrimp, herbs, chili crisp, braised greens, cheese, pancetta, eggs, pimento spread and so on.
Among the incredible new offerings in our deli case, the first to be immediately loved (and devoured en masse) by the staff was the chicken cutlet. There are few pleasures greater than a really good, well-seasoned, crispy cutlet, especially when they’re right there and ready to eat. I often find myself craving them but not having it in me on a weeknight to butterfly chicken breasts, pound them out into cutlets, set up a three step dredging station, fry the cutlets, and then deal the mountain of dishes and leftover oil in the aftermath. But now I can live out my chicken cutlet fantasy anytime–chicken parmesan in the time it takes to boil pasta.
Here’s what a cheese monger actually cooks on a busy weekday after being on their feet and slinging cheese all day—a super simple, extremely flavorful sauce that comes together in 30 seconds and gives you a finished dish in the time it takes for a pot of water to boil. The sauce revolves around two exceptional ingredients: incredible canned tomatoes and Nduja.
This simple and refreshing summer salad exceeds by the quality of its ingredients. Briny Feta and Kalamata olives bring out the sweetness of watermelon, and the addition of herbs like mint and thyme make this a fragrant, simple salad with a crispy, cooling, crunch that you’ll be bringing to every garden party, cook-out, or picnic this summer.
Have you ever had a bite of cheese you’ve just wanted to keep eating over and over again? This is that bite, scaled to the size of a cheesecake. It’s at the intriguing intersection of a cheesecake, icebox cake, and your favorite cheeseboard. This is the perfect unique dessert to serve this Mother’s Day.
It’s been a surreal, sultry winter for us in the upper midwest. Like a tuber or budding branch, I’m unsure of whether winter is already over or not. With the prospect of a meager inch or two of snow this weekend, I had to make one of my favorite French classics before we’re supposed to shed this winter weight: tartiflette.
by Austin Coe Butler
Rush Creek Reserve is a highly coveted, seasonal cheese made from the raw, autumn milk of cows at the precise moment they transition from fresh pasture to cured hay. This decadent, custard-like cheese is girdled in a band of spruce, which imparts a woodsiness at home in the winter kitchen and at holiday meals. Cheesemaker Andy Hatch was inspired to make Rush Creek Reserve by his time as an apprentice cheesemaker in the Jura region of France where he made Vacherin Mont d’Or, another coveted, seasonal, and spruce wrapped soft cheese. While often compared to Mont d’Or, Rush Creek Reserve is a unique and incredible cheese in its own right.
I’ve written previously about baking your Rush Creek and its place on my Thanksgiving table, but here is a nod to the traditional Mont d’Or bake you’d find people enjoying in the Jura on a special occasion or winter’s night. It’s bound to leave you scraping the last of your Rush Creek from its bark.
1 Rush Creek Reserve
1 garlic clove, minced
3 or 4 springs of hearty, winter herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram, or savory, minced
3 teaspoons dry white wine
1 lb/450 g fingerling potatoes
An assortment of charcuterie like speck, France 44’s house made summer sausage, or Lowry Hill Provisions salami
Cornichons or other pickles
Good bread like Patisserie 46 Baguette or Baker’s Field Table Loaf, both available at France 44
Preheat your oven to 375º F.
Cut the top off the Rush Creek Reserve and set it aside. Add the garlic and herbs before mixing. Add the wine and cover with the top. Place the Rush Creek on a sheet of tinfoil and wrap the foil around the sides of the cheese. You can make this look as elegant as you’d like. Bake the Rush Creek for 15-20 minutes until hot, but not overcooked and split.
Meanwhile, place the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a pot of cold, salted water and bring to a boil. Drop the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and reserve in the hot pot.
While the Rush Creek bakes, assemble your spread. Slice the bread or tear it apart with your hands. Shingle the speck. Slice the salami. Shake the brine from the cornichons. Serve the potatoes piping hot. Pour yourself a glass of wine.
Once the Rush Creek is ready, serve it immediately with small plates and a single spoon. This is a meal best enjoyed with your hands. There’s nothing quite like the snap of a potato split in two and dipped into bubbling cheese.
by Matt Gruber
Quack quack, quack quack quack honk... Ahem, excuse me I forget sometimes not everyone can read duck - but duck is exactly what we are cooking this week. Never in my adult life did I think I'd return to duck. It was a dish served to a young me, beer can style, shotgun pellets on the side. Absolutely horrified and having an immature palate I had no idea what I was consuming. This was all just normal cabin life at the time; you know, ants in the syrup are just added protein vibes. I always tell this story and it is funny to look back on, but I figured duck was spoiled for me forever.
Flash forward to a little local butcher shop sourcing humanely raised, locally sourced, delicious duck (hold the shotgun pellets) - my mind was changed.
It's speculated that long before everyone's favorite dinner option was chicken, duck was the real star. The Chinese domesticated ducks some 4000 years ago and started the legacy of this delicious dinner option which now offers so many different directions, spins, and takes on countless dishes. Trying to not do duck à l'orange as a tired cliché of the 1960's, I wanted to still incorporate orange, but add a little rosemary and make a nice finishing sauce to add on top while keeping the duck simple with salt and pepper. To accompany this, I've also whipped up a side of Les Moulins Mahjoub hand rolled couscous with almonds and cranberry. A perfect dish for a perfect fall day.
1 Duck breast
1 knob of butter
1/2 cup Dried almonds
1/2 cup Dried cranberries
1 cup couscous
1 1/2 cup chicken stock for couscous
3/4 cup chicken stock for sauce
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 orange plus zest
2 sprigs rosemary
1 tbsp onion, minced
Sauce
Add 3/4 cup chicken stock, knob of butter, juice of one large orange plus zest, and rosemary sprigs to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Once a rolling boil is reached, reduce heat and simmer until thick. (should thicken out by the end of all the cooking)
Couscous
Lightly toast almonds, cranberries, and onions prior to adding in chicken stock and bringing to a boil. Add in 1 cup couscous, slightly cover and reduce heat- wait until couscous has absorbed all the chicken stock.
Duck Breast
Start your duck breast skin side down on a cold cast iron or your favorite heavy bottom pan, heat set to medium/medium-low. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until golden crispy skin. Flip over and cook for 2 minutes, remove from pan and let rest for another 3 minutes.
Plate and enjoy!
by Austin Coe Butler
Bavette is a little known cut of beef here in the states. It’s similar to a flank steak in that it comes from the bottom sirloin, but it’s a bit thicker and more marbled, giving it a deeper, beefy flavor and remarkable juiciness. With this in mind, some believe that butchers conspire to keep the steak for themselves, which has given bavette the reputation as “the butcher’s cut.” It’s rich, beefy flavor can hold up to a stronger cheese like Roquefort. This recipe is a combination of two classics, the French bistro classic steak frites, which often features bavette, and the American steak house staple of steak and blue cheese.
4 tbsp beef tallow or vegetable oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
12 oz shallots, thinly sliced
11 oz fingerling potatoes
1 lb Bavette
1 sprig of rosemary
2 garlic cloves, crushed
125ml dry red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir
4 oz Vermont Creamery crème fraîche
4 oz Maison Carles Roquefort, crumbled
2 tbsp beef stock
1 tbsp chives
Salt and pepper to taste
Season both sides of the bavette generously with salt and pepper. Allow it to temper while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.
Slice the fingerlings in half and place them in a pot of cold, salted water. Bring the pot to a boil then drop the heat to medium and cook for 8 minutes. Strain the potatoes and reserve.
Meanwhile, in a pan over medium heat, caramelize the shallots in a tablespoon of oil and a knob of butter. Reduce the heat and sweat, stirring often, until caramelized, about 20 minutes. If the shallots look like they are sticking or scorching, add a splash of water to release them. Despite what the internet may tell you, there’s no shortcut to jammy, caramelized alliums, so pour yourself a glass of wine, put on your favorite podcast, and enjoy your time babying those shallots.
Finish the potatoes. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until lightly crisp and golden.
To cook the bavette, place it in a pan over medium high heat with a tablespoon of oil and cook for 4-5 minutes on one side depending on its thickness. Flip the bavette and then add in the 2 tablespoons of butter, garlic, and herbs, and baste the steak for another 4-5 minutes. Remove the steak from the pan when its temperature reads 10º under your preferred doneness, for example, if you prefer medium rare you would pull the steak at 125º and allow the residual heat to carry the steak to 130–135º. Allow it to rest for a minimum of 5 minutes.
To make the Roquefort sauce, begin by removing the excess fat, rosemary, and garlic from the pan. Over medium heat, deglaze the pan with the wine and scrape up the fond, those crispy, browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and then reduce the liquid by half. On low heat, add in the crème fraîche and Roquefort, stirring until the cheese is incorporated. Add the chives and cut the heat.
To serve, cut the bavette against the grain. Plate with a the caramelized shallots and fingerlings. Serve with a generous spoonful of the Roquefort sauce. And, of course, if you have any leftover Roquefort you can crumble it on top of the steak. Bon appétite!
