A lazy Hazan Saturday

Nothing new here, but I thought I would post about the food I cooked yesterday, pretty much on a whim, drawing on my Hazan training.

I was off in a shopping centre looking for some walking shoes, and thought about buying some lunch. I preferred not to, and instead wandered into the supermarket where I bought a nice looking eggplant, a punnet of blueberries, an onion, a potato and some rosemary. I felt quite virtuous queuing up at the checkout, with my real food, especially looking at some of the processed crap other shoppers had selected for themselves.

Lunch was blueberries followed by baked eggplant slices and a rosemary, onion and potato frittata, cooked carefully with my specially bought non-stick frypan. It is true you only need two tablespoons of oil when you have a non-stick pan. It set more than my prior effort, although it was perhaps not quite as delicious not being as creamy. It was still quickly devoured and appreciated and will be cooked again. It looked more like a frittata should.

I managed to go for a reasonably long walk around the mountain with my new shoes, and as it started getting dark I dreamt of risotto for dinner. Although I had not shopped for any special ingredients I knew I had precious meat broth in the freezer. I started this on my return, and as I was cooking for three I also attempted a pasta sauce. I spotted a red capsicum, which I dutifully peeled and then cooked with onion, garlic, chili flakes, canned tomatoes and, as a last minute addition, olives.

And so dinner was butter and parmesan risotto, which was a triumph, followed by a competent pasta that was made sweet by the capsicum and given some intrigue by the olives and chili.

Not a bad dinner given I had not shopped for it and on first glance there was nothing in the house.

One thing I have noticed about Hazan risotto, when cooked with real parmesan and real meat broth, is that people are absolutely stunned the first time they eat it, as I was. I suspect they have never eaten risotto like it in their lives, and perhaps feel differently about all of the tired, packet stocked, chicken breast ridden travesties they have cooked proudly for themselves following recipes of dubious origins.

I had lunch the other day with a client at what I consider to be the best restaurant in town. He told me he often cooked risotto, and had in fact just cooked it the night before - from a packet. It just had to be heated up.

I told him Marcella would not approve.

Meat broth (2nd try)

(See the both bottom right)

Well, I wanted to make my second batch of meat broth. It is used in so many soups for starters.

This time I just did what I was told in "Marcella Says". I followed the instructions pretty well to the letter.

At least I tried. I went back to my butcher's, and asked if they had any cheap cuts of meat out the back, or at least any bones.

Yes he said, he has meat on the bone, Osso Bucco, it's frozen but would be fine.

And only $15 per kilo.

Ah, I said, do you have anything a little cheaper. Like offcuts, or even bones, out the back?

He checked. No, nothing out the back. No offcuts. No bones.

No bones, I said. My butcher doesn't have any bones?

That shamed him into a discount on the frozen osso bucco. I also bit the bullet and bought some chuck steak.

I think the main difference this time though was in the volume of water. I just used the Marcella Says meat broth technique, and the resulting liquid was quite delicious. Not as meaty as last time, but much more palatable. Delicious.

I'll freeze this little number in the morning. Might even make some risotto next weekend!

Basic Homemade Meat Broth

Bloody meat broth. So many of Marcella's recipes call for it. And her son's. Soups, stews, vegetable dishes, true risotto. In Hazan world you certainly have one hand tied behind your back if you don't have some trusty brodo in the fridge or freezer.**

So, finally, after at least a year of cautious examination, I decided to make the damn stuff. Boiled meat. With flesh on the bones. Some vegetables. No herbs. No spices except salt. Or are there? One benefit of cooking through this book over 15 years after its publication is that you can see what Marcella and her son have said in subsequent books. Up until Marcella Says, the recipe seems to be the same. In Marcella Says she throws a few things in that makes it more stock like such as bay leaves and black peppercorns. That sounded like a good idea to me. But first I had to get the meat.

Once again the butcher thought I was mad. No stock bones for me. No cheap cuts of veal. So I bought some braising steak, and some osso bucco meat. Not a cheap exercise, by McDonald's standards. But I guess it isn't McDonald's.

(Marcella does counsel that the 'active cook' can collect meat morsels from other dishes that can be frozen for use when Brodo Day comes. Alas I must not be such a cook as my freezer was bare).

So I threw it all in and I was away. The subtle variations of technique given by Marcella in her various books were a bit confusing. Would my broth end up watery? Would the meat cook properly? Should I leave the lid off (Essentials) or on (Says)?

I concluded it didn't really matter and just got on with it. For hours my creation simmered and bubbled, until I came to think of it as in some way being alive. In time it became increasingly meaty - not obviously delicious in the way a french chicken stock is, but meaty.

As instructed I dutifully ate the boiled meats for dinner when done, with a simple dressing of lemon, olive oil and pepper. With a salad. It was ok.

The brodo in all its glory was strained in a pasta strainer (not ideal), cooled a little on the bench, and ended up in the fridge. A layer of fat awaits, followed by beef broth ice cubes, and hopefully some tasty and quick Italian classics including a half decent risotto.

**Interestingly when I interviewed Marcella's son Giuliano Hazan he said he had none in his fridge. Just me and Marcella perhaps.