Thanksgiving: Indulge with Roman, Mexican, Filipino recipes

Krauty Beans

Serves 1 as a main or 2 or 3 as a side

This dish came about because of a somewhat harried need to cook my wife something to eat when I had not been shopping in quite some time. The resulting dish has become such a staple that Iliza now requests I make it on a regular basis. She even cooks it for herself sometimes.
In a way, it is the perfect encapsulation of Don’t Panic Pantry: a can of beans, a fermented bit of cabbage that can live in the fridge for months on end, some tamari, a clove of garlic, dried oregano, crushed red pepper, and olive oil — all making something deeply nutritious in about 5 minutes, from the staples that you have on hand. It gets weight from the beans, with a tart, probiotic crunch from the sauerkraut, and a hit of umami from the tamari.

Ingredients 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• ½ cup or so sauerkraut, with its juices
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 (15-ounce) can beans (any bean is great, but I often use cannellini or pinto), undrained
• 1 teaspoon tamari
• Salt
• Freshly grated Parmigiano- Reggiano, for serving (optional— Iliza usually does, while I usually do not)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for serving

Instructions

1. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and sauté until it just browned around the edges. Add the sauerkraut and stir, cooking it until it is just beginning to crisp and brown in places and much of the liquid has evaporated, about two minutes. Add the oregano, crushed red pepper, and beans and increase the heat to medium- high, stirring the beans frequently. Add the tamari and continue stirring and simmering until the beans have thickened up a bit, and when you drag your spoon across the pan, the beans are slow to fill in the gap, about 2 minutes longer. Season the beans to taste with salt.

2. Serve in a bowl and top with cheese if you desire, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Gnocchi alla Romana

Ingredients 

• 1 quart of whole milk
• 4 tablespoons butter (optional), divided
• Salt to taste
• Pinch of ground nutmeg or 4 scrapes of nutmeg
• 1 ½ cups fine semolina flour
• 1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano plus more for garnish
• 2 egg yolks

Instructions

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan with half the butter, salt, and nutmeg. When the butter melts and the milk begins to bubble around the sides of the pan, add the semolina in a continuous rain while you stir or whisk continuously. Cook over low heat until the mass begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the parmigiano and egg yolks. Stir vigorously.

2. Rinse a rimmed baking sheet with cold water and just shake it dry. You still want the metal to have a few droplets of moisture. Using a silicone spatula, spread the batter onto the pan to an even ½” thickness. If you want to make the dish in advance, you can cover and refrigerate at this point for up to two days. Once it cools, which happens quickly, cut out 2-3” discs with a biscuit cutter, and lay them in overlapping circles in an oven to table dish. I usually put the leftover pieces made by cutting out the circles in the dish as a bottom layer, then layer the circles on top. Some people brush the top with melted butter. But do sprinkle a healthy amount of grated cheese on top, then bake in a 400-degree oven, bubbling and golden brown with a few darker spots here and there.

Carne Asada Clásica

Serves 4

Ingredients 

• ½ cup (120 ml) orange juice, freshly squeezed if in season
• ¼ cup (60 ml) fresh lime juice
• ¼ cup (60 ml) grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ounces (240 ml) dark Mexican ale
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 2 pounds (910 g) flap steak
• 4 spring onions (can substitute 6 green onions), trimmed
• 1 cup (40 g) chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ large white onion (5 ¼ ounces/150 g), sliced
• 2 serrano chiles, sliced lengthwise

For serving

• Warm tortillas
• Salsa taquera

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add the orange juice, lime juice, oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and beer. Whisk to combine. Add the pepper, oregano, paprika, cumin, ground cloves, and salt, and whisk until the salt and spices have dissolved.

2. Pat the meat dry with paper towels. Using the palm of your hand against a flat surface, lightly smash the spring onions until a little moisture comes out. In a gallon-size resealable bag, add them along with the marinade, cilantro, onion, serranos, and the meat. Mix well, seal, and let sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.

3. Remove the steaks from the refrigerator to allow them to reach room temperature before grilling, still in marinade, if possible. This should take at least 30 minutes.

4. Start a charcoal or gas grill. The gas should be set to high. If using a pellet grill, preheat your grill to 450°F (230°C) for at least 15 minutes. If using charcoal, the coals should be red but entirely covered with gray ash.

5. Remove the steaks from the marinade and put them on the grill directly over the fire. Close the lid and cook, turning once, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and let rest for five minutes.

6. Slice the meat against the grain. Serve with warm tortillas and salsa.

Adobo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 22

Chicken adobo stewed in soy sauce and vinegar was always the dinner my parents cooked for us when they needed to fix up a quick but delicious meal. For my signature chocolate chip cookie recipe, I wanted to incorporate all of adobo’s nuanced and comforting flavors. I am a big fan of incorporating savory into my desserts, and this recipe is no exception. Miso chocolate chip cookies have been everywhere lately, and I thought that soy sauce acts as an excellent alternative source of salt. For an acid to help with activating the baking soda, apple cider vinegar is mixed into the dough.

To add a hint of herbal flavor, I steep a couple bay leaves in the butter while it’s browning. Last but not least, toasted pink peppercorns adorn the cookies. When you take a bite with some of the chopped dark chocolate, they help accentuate the fruitier, more floral notes of the chocolate while adding a hint of spice. As a kid, I’d wince every time I took a bite of a whole black peppercorn while eating adobo. For these cookies, I opted for pink peppercorns specifically since they’re milder and less harsh on the tongue.

Ingredients 

• ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 fresh bay leaves (or 4 dried bay leaves)
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• ¼ cup soy sauce (regular sodium)
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 10 ounces dark chocolate (60% to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon pink peppercorns
• Flaky sea salt, for garnish

Instructions

1. Place the butter and bay leaves in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula until the butter melts and gets golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour the brown butter into a large bowl and discard the bay leaves. Set aside until cool enough to touch, about 10 minutes.

2. Add both sugars to the brown butter and whisk by hand until well combined. Mix in the egg, egg yolk, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla.

3. In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda until the baking soda is evenly distributed.

4. Gently whisk the flour mixture into the butter mixture until no flour streaks remain.

5. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate.

6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Ideally, you’d want to let it rest overnight to allow more time for the flavors to meld. After an overnight rest, the cookies have an intense caramel flavor once baked. If you’re resting the dough overnight, just make sure you let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to make it easier to scoop into balls.

7. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with silicone mats.

8. Using a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the dough into balls. Place six dough balls on one of the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave at least 2 inches of space between the balls. Place the bowl of remaining cookie dough back in the fridge until the first sheet is done baking.

9. In a small skillet, toast the pink peppercorns on low heat until they start to smell fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Grind the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle until they’re coarsely crushed.

10. Sprinkle some of the crushed pink peppercorns and flaky sea salt on top of the dough balls before popping the baking sheet into the oven.

11. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Before taking the cookies out of the oven, drop the sheet against the oven rack a couple times at a height of about 4 to 5 inches to create outer ripples in the cookies. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool completely.

12. Repeat the process with the remaining cookie dough and the other lined baking sheet until all the dough is baked.