Sophia's Anchovy Toast

Anchovy Butter Toast 

This ode-to-the-anchovy toast-topper makes an excellent breakfast or hearty snack. I’ve made this several times, inspired by Sam Sifton’s Not a Recipe anchovy toast. Good butter and high-quality anchovies go a long way, but whatever you have in your pantry works. For the bones of this recipe, you’ll need anchovies, butter, and bread for toasting. Feel free to add anything else you think sounds good, like lemon juice or hot sauce for brightness. You can top your toast however you like. This time, I made one with sliced radishes and another with egg and chili flakes. You can make it in about 15 minutes in the morning (if you remember to set your butter out while making your first cup of coffee). Otherwise, the anchovy butter can be made the night before and stored in the fridge for an even easier, filling breakfast.

I want to take one moment to talk about butter. There’s a lot of good butter at France 44 and a lot of strong opinions about butter. If you’ve ever asked us about butter, someone has probably told you to get the gold foil wrapped Beurre de Baratte. For me, you can’t beat the Ploughgate Creamery Salted Cured Butter. Usually, I stay away from salted butter, but the Ploughgate Butter is the best butter I have ever had. Eat with a spoon good. If you are going for salted butter with this recipe, go for the Ploughgate which is not overwhelmingly salty. Otherwise, lean into unsalted butter. The anchovies have the salt covered.

Ingredients 

The Butter:

2-3 Ortiz anchovies in olive oil

2 oz Ploughgate Butter or unsalted butter at room temperature 

1 clove garlic, minced

Fresh lemon juice

The Toast:

Rose Street Patisserie Baguette (day or two old works great) or Baker’s Field Hundred Rye bread for a twist 

Toppings:

6 ½ minute egg

Chili flakes

Sliced Radishes 

To prepare the butter, 

1. If topping with an egg, get a pot of water boiling on the stove.

2. Place your softened butter in a small bowl.

3. Mince anchovies. A smaller mince means they’ll blend more easily into the softened butter. But personally, I like a chunky anchovy moment. Add to butter.

4. Mince garlic. Feel free to use a dash of garlic powder (or no garlic at all) if raw garlic isn’t your scene. Add this to the butter as well.

5. Squeeze fresh lemon juice into the butter or add your hot sauce. 

6. Using a fork, mix the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, and butter together until well combined. This took me about a minute or two of steady mixing. 

7. Always taste as you go to see what it needs. Acid? Black pepper? Probably not salt. Make any adjustments and set aside.

For the bread: 

1. Slice your bread. For a baguette, I suggest a bias cut (with the knife at an angle instead of straight across). This way, you get larger pieces of toast. 

2. Toast any way you like. I did a few minutes in the toaster, but the world is your oyster. Er, anchovy. 

For the toppings: 

1. Your water should be boiling by now. Once it is, prep a timer for six and a half minutes. Six and a half minutes will yield a jammy, runny yolk. If you like your yolk firmer, set for a minute longer. 

2. Using a slotted spoon, gently lower your egg into the water and start the timer. Fill a bowl with ice water and place in the sink. 

3. Wash your radishes. Slice thinly. Set aside. 

4. When you six and half minute timer goes off, scoop your egg out of the water with the slotted spoon and gently place it in the ice bath. Let it hang out. 

To assemble: 

1. Place your toasted bread on a plate. Generously spread your anchovy butter on the toast. 

2. For the radish toast, simply place the sliced radishes on the designated toast.

3. For the egg toast, you’ll need to crack and peel your egg. Remember, a six and a half minute egg is pretty soft so you’ll need to be gentle. I like to gently crack both short ends of the egg on a hard surface and then gently roll the egg with light pressure to crack the rest of the shell. The ice water should have shocked the egg enough that the egg will peel with minimal effort. 

4. Once peeled, slice in quarters and assemble on top of toast

The eggs are messy, just the way they should be. The radishes provide a nice textural difference. The butter should be briney, rich, and full of umami and acid. The egg toast needed some heat so I added some dried chili flakes on top. Like most good recipes, this toast is flexible and should be adapted to your preferences. Have fun!

SBL Farro-Mushroom Risotto

Carbs? Cheese? Wine? Yes please! Risotto is a classic rice dish from Northern Italy made from a few simple ingredients. With a little bit of elbow grease you can make stellar risotto at home. This preparation takes a few departures from the classic version you may know: I substitute Italian farro for rice, German Alex for Parmesan (blasphemy until you taste it!), and add in some celery and carrot to give it a little more body. Nutty and savory flavors from the farro, cheese, and mushrooms meet sweet lighter notes from the wine and veggies, and the whole dish is bound together with the best beef stock in town. And what better meal to eat with that bottle of wine you just opened?

Mushroom & Farro Risotto

2 c. (360g) Casino di Caprafico Farro

6 c. France 44 Beef Stock, simmering

1 Medium white onion, diced

2 Medium carrots, peeled and diced

3 Ribs celery, diced

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1 oz. Dried porcini mushrooms

6 oz. Alex (ask your Cheesemonger), grated and divided

½ c. Your favorite red wine

2 T. Extra virgin olive oil

2 T. Butter

Kosher salt

Black Pepper

Parsley to garnish 

1. Soak mushrooms in boiling water for 30 min, or until tender. Drain, reserving soaking liquid, and chop. Set aside

2. In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil and butter over medium high until shimmering. Add onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of salt. Cook until onions are translucent and tender.

3. Add garlic. Cook an additional minute or until fragrant.

4. Add farro and mushrooms and turn to coat evenly.

5. Add wine. Stir until alcohol has cooked off.

6. Introduce hot stock to the pot one ladleful at a time, stirring constantly. Continue adding stock gradually and stirring until the farro has absorbed all six cups. The farro should be soft but still have some bite to it, and the sauce should be glossy and thick but not dry. If it needs more liquid, use the mushroom soaking liquid, more stock, or hot water.

7. Add black pepper to taste and adjust salt. Stir in the Alex, saving a bit to garnish.

8. Garnish with the rest of the cheese, parsley, and more black pepper.

Jared’s Street Shawarma

Jared’s Street Shawarma

Serves 4

 This easy lamb shawarma is inspired by classic street food you can find all over the Middle East, from Egypt to Israel to Palestine. The yogurt marinade adds the perfect tangy tenderness to the lamb, and don’t skip out on the cornichon pickles — they cut through the richness and brighten up the whole party.

 This recipe also makes laffa, an Iraqi-Israeli flatbread to wrap up your shawarma, and tzatziki sauce, which pairs wonderfully with the Mediterranean spices. (And it’s convenient, because you’re already using many of the ingredients for the shawarma meat and toppings, too!) Hummus and amba, a fermented mango sauce, are other traditional spreads you could use as well. And in Israel, they’ll throw French fries in your shawarma too — feel free to go wild with toppings!

Ingredients:

From France 44:

·         1 lb fresh F44 lamb (chop, sirloin, shoulder steak, or T-bone are all fine!)

·         2 T New York Shuk Shawarma spice blend

·         ¾ cup Kalona Greek yogurt, divided (¼ cup for marinade; ½ cup for tzatziki sauce)

·         Cornichon pickles

·         Essex Lesbos feta cheese

·         2 balls of F44 pizza dough, thawed

From your pantry:

·         1 cucumber, cut in half (you’ll need both halves!)

·         2 cloves of garlic

·         1 T lemon juice

·         2 tsp olive oil, plus a little more for cooking

·         1 tsp dill

·         1 tomato

·         Kosher salt & pepper

 1.    Remove lamb bones (if necessary) and cut meat into small pieces, about 1 inch wide and ½ inch long.

2.    Combine ¼ cup yogurt, spice blend, and a pinch of kosher salt and pepper in a bowl. Add lamb and coat well with the yogurt marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

 3.            Meanwhile, prepare tzatziki sauce: Grate or mince half the cucumber (no need to peel it) and squeeze it out well. Grate/mince garlic.

4.            In a medium bowl, mix the remaining ½ cup yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill, and a pinch of salt. Cover and refrigerate to let the flavors combine while you keep cooking — this can be done the day before, too.

 5.            To cook the lamb: Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt over the meat. (If all you have is table salt, use ½ teaspoon.) Put about a teaspoon of olive oil into a frying pan over medium heat and add the lamb. Don’t rub off extra marinade; leave it on so it caramelizes.

6.            Saute, stirring often, until the meat is cooked through (at least 145ºF) and very crispy but not charred, around 10 minutes.

 7.            Meanwhile, prepare flatbread: Split both pizza dough balls in half. You can sprinkle a little flour if you need. Stretch out each piece until it’s approximately dinner-plate-sized, making sure not to poke any holes.

8.            Heat a large frying pan on medium-low. Working one flatbread at a time, drizzle a little olive oil on the pan and place the dough into the pan to fry.

9.            Flip when it becomes golden with a few brown spots — about 2-3 minutes per side. Store covered under a towel or in a warm oven to keep warm until ready to serve.

 10.          Prepare fixings: Chop cornichons, tomato, and the other half of the cucumber. 

 11.          Assemble: Lay out a flatbread on a plate and spread a layer of tzatziki. Add lamb down the center, and top with chopped cucumber and tomato, lots of cornichons, and crumbled Essex feta. Roll up in tin foil and enjoy!

Dio’s refreshing shrub drink — yes even in winter.

I am not usually one for making fancy cocktails, but shrubs are dear to my heart. I have made them on my own before (although that is usually a summertime project) and was delighted to see that we started carrying some of INNA shrub mixes - you might recognize them for their fantastic jams that we carry. 

Shrubs have three main ingredients: fruit, sugar, and vinegar. Historically, they were made as a way to preserve fruit, plus there’s the bonus health benefits of drinking vinegar (look it up, people have been doing it for ages!)

We carry a few different INNA shrub flavors but I opted for grapefruit, as that is one of my favorite flavors in general, plus I had some blood oranges at home to pair it with. Shrub cocktails (or mocktails) are super easy and customizable. I made mine with gin, but you can also add it to white wine to make a grapefruit aperitif, tequila for a grapefruit shrub paloma, (insert your alcohol of choice here), or hold the alcohol and just add it to seltzer water for a bright refreshing drink. 

No, it doesn’t taste too much like vinegar. Yes, it is delicious and great with herbs. 

I know I’m supposed to give you a complete recipe here, but it’s really just “add splashes until you like the taste”. Here’s what I made: 

• 1 oz. Grapefruit Shrub

• 1 oz. Gin

• Seltzer (3-4oz)

• Sprig of thyme

• Freshly squeezed Blood Orange, plus some slices for aesthetic purpose

• Serve over ice

 Get creative with this one! There are endless options. Enjoy.

Carol Ann's Speck Pasta

Speck Pasta

Serves 2-3

It’s early in the week, you can’t reward yourself with take-out just yet, but don’t really have much energy to dedicate towards cooking. This is the meal to make. You can be in and out of the kitchen in 30 minutes with this meal and have minimal clean up. There’s a good chance you have at least the onion in your pantry, you may even have the heavy whipping cream in your fridge (or half & half works in a pinch).

 Ingredients 

I package (250g) Pappardelle Egg Pasta

4 oz sliced Speck, cut in ¼ inch strips

1 medium onion diced

1 cup heavy whipping cream

4 oz Alpine cheese (such as Gruyere or Comte), grated

salt & pepper 

Vegetable oil

1.    Heat 2 tsp of vegetable oil in pan over medium high heat. Add speck, cook 2-4 minutes until crispy. Remove from pan with slotted spoon to paper towel lined plate.

2.    Heat 3 qts water in separate pot for pasta.

3.    Heat 1 TBSP vegetable oil in now empty pan over medium heat, add onions and ½ tsp salt. Cook until onions are softened 8-10 minutes. Add heavy whipping cream, lower heat to medium low, cook until slightly thickened 5-8 minutes.

4.    Add 1 tsp salt to boiling water cook pasta 2-4 minutes until al dente. Before draining, save ½ cup pasta water.

5.    Once sauce has thickened add grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Add pasta, coating noodles with sauce. Add pasta water 1 TBSP at a time until desired consistency is reached. Portion, noodles in bowls and serve with crispy speck on top!