The New York Times-20080127-Stock Options

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Full Text (1677  words)[Author Affiliation] Daniel Patterson, the chef and owner of Coi in San Francisco, is a frequent contributor to the magazine.

Cooking isn't the kind of job you leave at the office. Friends are often surprised by the frequency with which I cook dinner at home -- often their homes -- but the truth is that it doesn't feel much like work. It's not like casually asking a lawyer to review a contract as you hand her a predinner martini. Chefs love to cook, especially those of us who started working in kitchens in the days when celebrity chef was an oxymoron: it allows us to connect with people whom we care about in ways that our generally meager social skills would not otherwise allow.

Home cooking is not, however, without its discontents. My pantry is an odd and not particularly useful assemblage of disparate elements -- an ancient can of sardines, half a chocolate bar that I didn't like and a small, sealed box containing wickedly expensive Italian balsamic vinegar that I can't bring myself to open. The refrigerator is reliably populated with milk, eggs, a few farmers' market vegetables and a bottle of Gay Caballero Very Hot Sauce (don't ask), but there's one staple that I never have on hand: stock. For someone who prefers cuts of meat that require long, slow cooking, this is a considerable handicap.

It was not until my wife and I visited friends in the Hudson Valley a few years ago that I found an elegant solution for the perennial problem of the no-stock braise. We were driving north heading out of Manhattan, and as I dodged a minivan that had taken a sudden interest in our lane, my wife casually mentioned that she volunteered me to cook dinner that night. No problem, I said.

I had forgotten, though, having lived in California for 15 years, the wasteland that is an upstate New York supermarket in February. The produce section, filled with distressed-looking vegetables from South America and limp West Coast greens, was less than inspiring. I felt sorry for local vegetarians.

Fortunately we were an omnivorous group, so I turned my attention toward the meat counter, where I found some nice duck legs. I bought red wine, onions, limes, cilantro and serrano chilies to cook them with, imagining kind of a coq au vin by way of Vietnam.

What I failed to imagine was the resulting dark, watery and oily cooking liquid, which rather unpleasantly put me in mind of the Exxon Valdez. I'm usually pretty good at predicting what will happen during any given cooking process, but as I stood in our friend's kitchen eyeing the pot, it was clear that the limpid, viscous sauce that I was going for had not materialized.

So I did something that I'd never done with a stew. I strained the liquid and then blended it with some of the onions, chilies and lime zest from the pot to thicken it into a sauce, which I seasoned with lime juice and cilantro. I flinched a bit as I did it; having been trained in French technique, with its long-cooked stocks and slow reductions, this seemed like a cheap shortcut. But there was no arguing with the sauce's dynamic flavor or its smooth texture.

The basic technique is simplicity itself: use some of the vegetables that cooked with the meat to emulsify the cooking liquid into a sauce, much like making a soup. The softened fiber of the vegetables thickens the sauce and binds the free fat, capturing all of the flavor of the braise. Herbs, spices or other aromatics added to the blender can refresh the long-cooked flavors, and a little acidity, like cultured cream, citrus or vinegar, balances its richness.

A water braise is slightly different from a stock braise. It's especially important to brown the meat well, developing crusty bits on the bottom of the pan that will flavor the cooking liquid. And don't remove the fat! The fat is what will give the stew its flavor and the resulting sauce its silky texture. Once the sauce is made, don't bring it to a vigorous boil, which can cause it to break.

When I returned home I made a version of beef stroganoff using this technique. Traditionally the dish calls for seared steak and a quick pan sauce, but browned and slowly simmered chuck gave the dish deeper flavor. Yogurt and a little mustard blended into the sauce was a lighter, tangier alternative to sour cream, and sauteed button mushrooms and buttered egg noodles completed the 1950s culinary diorama. I sent the recipe to an out-of-town friend, who pronounced it delicious.

I just wish that I could have been there to cook it myself.

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Duck Legs Braised With Red Wine and Lime

4 duck legs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced

Peeled zest of 2 limes, pith removed and cut into thin strips

2 teaspoons minced serrano chili

1 cup red wine

2 teaspoons lime juice, more as needed

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro.

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Season the duck with salt and pepper. Place a stew pot over medium-high heat, and add the oil. When hot, add the duck, skin side down, and cook until golden brown. Rotate the legs and cook for 30 seconds more; transfer to a plate.

2. Turn the heat to medium-low, add the onions and a little salt and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until they are softened, about 15 minutes. Stir in the lime zest and serrano chili. Add the red wine, 1/2 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Nestle the duck legs, skin side up, on top of the onions. Bring to a boil, and then cover, place in the oven and cook until the duck is tender but still toothsome, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

3. Transfer the duck and 1/2 cup of the onions to a plate; cover to keep warm. Puree the remaining onions, the cooking liquid and lime juice in a blender. Adjust to taste with salt and lime juice. Stir in half of the cilantro.

4. Mound the reserved onions in the centers of 4 plates. Put a duck leg on top of each, and pour the sauce around the duck. Sprinkle the remaining cilantro over each plate. Serve as a hearty appetizer. Serves 4. Adapted from Aroma, by Mandy Aftel and Daniel Patterson.

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Braised Beef 'Stroganoff'

2 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 medium yellow onions, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup white wine

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

* cup yogurt

2 tablespoons butter

8 ounces button or crimini mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced

Cooked and buttered egg noodles (optional).

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Season the beef all over with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a stew pot over high heat. When hot, add the beef and cook, in batches if needed, until browned. Transfer to a plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the onions and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 15 minutes. Add the white wine, 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt, scraping the caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Return the beef and its juices to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover, place in the oven and cook until the beef is tender, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

3. Transfer the beef and 1/4 of the onions to a large plate. Puree the remaining onions and cooking liquid in a blender with the mustard and yogurt, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Return the beef and the reserved onions to the cooking pot and stir in the sauce.

4. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender. Season with salt, and add to the pot. If you choose, serve over buttered egg noodles. Serves 6. Adapted from Daniel Patterson.

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Spicy Pork Belly With Green Olives and Lemon

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

1/8 teaspoon chili flakes

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon coriander

2 1/2 pounds pork belly

Salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

2 heads fennel, halved through the core and sliced

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 cup white wine

2 sprigs rosemary

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar

1/4 cup green, Tuscan-style olive oil

1/3 cup chopped green olives

Cooked rice (optional).

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Using a spice grinder, grind the peppercorn, chili, fennel and coriander together. Season the pork with salt and rub with the ground spice mixture. Set a stew pot over medium heat. Add the vegetable oil, and when hot add the pork, skin-side down. Cook until well browned, taking care not to burn the spices. Turn once and remove the pork to a plate.

2. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the garlic, fennel and leek and a pinch of salt, and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened.

3. Add the wine, 1 cup of water, rosemary and a pinch of salt. Return the pork and juices to the pan. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook in the oven until the pork is meltingly tender, about 4 to 5 hours.

4. Transfer the pork and one-quarter of the vegetables to a plate. Discard the rosemary stems. Puree the remaining vegetables and cooking liquid in a blender with the lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil, and season to taste with salt. Thin with water if necessary. Return the pork and reserved vegetables to the cooking pot and stir in the sauce and olives. Heat to serving temperature, basting the pork with the sauce. If you choose, serve over rice. Serves 4 to 6.

[Illustration]PHOTOS (PHOTOGRAPHS BY DWIGHT ESCHLIMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; FOOD STYLIST: DANIEL PATTERSON).