#105 Pair this with your steak

All-time side dish

Other than a side of duck fat french fries, creamed spinach is the next best thing you can have with good steak. Spinach is best consumed when you cook it in fat, and honestly there’s no better way than to make some beautiful garlic-y creamed spinach. The best part? It doesn’t take that much time at all. You can cook the best creamed spinach in the time it takes for your steak to rest. It’s both a side dish and a sauce for your steak itself.

Ingredients (per person):

• Half a bag of spinach leaves, washed and drained

• 1 cup (230ml) of cream (adjust accordingly)

• Garlic powder (there's no such thing as too much)

• 1 shallot, minced

• Few knobs of butter

Equipment:

• Stainless steel pan

• Wooden spoon

Method:

1. Caramelize Shallot

• Using medium heat, coat pan well with butter

• Once sizzling, add minced shallots and caramelize, stirring constantly

2. Cook Spinach

• After translucent, add spinach leaves and sauté for 2-3 more minutes. Add more butter if necessary.

3. Add Cream

• Add cream along with generous sprinkles of garlic powder

• Let the pan come to a simmer and stir constantly, removing the moisture from the sauce

• Once you can form streaks on the pan from side to side and see the steel, you are close to completion

• Season by adding salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste.

• A knob of butter just as it finishes cooking adds a nice sheen

You can add various other herbs and spices like fresh sprigs of rosemary (which I commonly do), thyme and even some finely grated nutmeg

Don’t rush the process. Give time for the moisture to evaporate. Let the cream get thick. Taste the cream towards the end to make sure it is thick enough. If it isn't, just let it simmer for longer, you will see the bubbles. Remember to season as per your liking, you can also add more garlic powder.

Fruits for fall

Oranges. Figs. Persimmons. Pomegranates. Dates. These are your essential fruits for fall.

Maximalism is back

The pendulum has swung. Minimalism is out. Maximalism is back in. Jaguar’s absolutely catastrophic rebrand only proves this point. Nobody wants boring logos anymore. We’re about to see the most beautiful logos and marks of our lives.

Peddle milk propaganda

You don’t really hear milk propaganda anymore. When we were young we all heard how milk would make our bones strong. We must glorify milk again.

Butter is better

Real butter nourishes. Butter is made when fresh, whole cream is churned. Nothing else needs to be added. Butter’s not just butter, it’s better.

❋ CALO VERDE — PORTUGUESE STYLE GREEN SOUP WITH SMOKY CARAMELIZED ONION AND PECAN NUT

Today’s version of Caldo Verde is no ordinary one: there is no chouriço involves so it makes this soup vegan and gluten free. I thought of a way of recreate the smoky and umami taste that comes from the chouriço, which I thought in the beginning was impossible without using ready-made faux meat (shop-bought vegan chorizo normally contains gluten, therefore it is out of the question for me, and I don’t want to always rely on tofu as a meat substitute). But I think I cracked it, caramelising onions in good quality olive oil and smoked paprika is the key to mimic the smokiness of the sausage, pecan nut gives the soup a bit of a crunch to enhance the texture.

❋ 8 WAYS TO USE CHICKENS IN THE GARDEN

I am continually blown away by the power of chickens in the garden! They’re such great workers, I would keep them even if couldn’t eat their eggs or meat. Plus, they reproduce themselves, unlike any man-made tool.

❋ CRANBERRY-ROSÉ POACHED PEARS

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. rosé

• 1/2 c. granulated sugar

• 6 small slices fresh ginger

• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

• 4 firm Bartlett or Bosc pears, peeled 6 c. water

• 1 c. fresh or frozen cranberries

Steps

1. Combine the rosé, sugar, ginger, and vanilla in a deep medium saucepan and bring to a boil till the sugar dissolves.

2. Add the pears and water to cover completely (add more water if needed) and return to a simmer.

3. Place a lid from a smaller pot on top of the pears to keep the fruit submerged, then cook over low heat 30 to 35 minutes, until the pears soften.

4. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to a container and turn the heat to high.

5. Boil the poaching liquid until reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes, then add the cranberries and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until they start to split.

6. Pour the poaching liquid over the pears, cool completely, and chill overnight (and for as long as a week).

7. To serve, carefully slice pears in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds with a melon baller or small spoon. Serve with poaching liquid and sesame tuiles, if desired. Serves 4.

❋ Read our latest WARKITCHEN magazines:

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Hope you had a beautiful weekend ladies & gents,
Godspeed!