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Recipes for Success

What it takes to make some Houston faves.

Dutch Baby Pancake by The Classic Houston, 5922 Washington, theclassichouston.com

THE CLASSIC HOUSTON’S
Dutch Baby Pancake
by Chef Maria Gonzalez

Ingredients:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup warm milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pinch salt
3 eggs

Instructions:
• Preheat oven to 400°
• Place 10-inch cast iron skillet in oven to heat
• Submerge the eggs in warm water to remove chill for 20 minutes
• Warm milk in microwave on medium-high power, stirring every 15 seconds, just until steam begins to rise from the milk
• Combine all ingredients except the butter in a blender and blend until smooth
• Let stand for approximately 20 minutes until the mixture
reaches room temperature
• Remove the skillet from the oven and place on stovetop
• Melt butter in the skillet and spread to cover the base and sides
• Add ¾ cup of batter to the skillet, making sure to coat the entire surface including the sides
• Place skillet back in oven for 5-8 minutes
• Carefully remove from the oven and serve immediately with your favorite nuts, seasonal fruits, ricotta cheese, and maple syrup

Giacomo’s Cibo e Vino, 3215 Westheimer, giacomosciboevino.com

GIACOMO’S CIBO E VINO’S
Giacomo’s Bolognese
Recipe by Chef Lynette Hawkins

Yields approximately 3 quarts (enough sauce for 12 orders of pasta) This recipe is so labor-intensive and time-consuming that it is best to make a lot of it at a time. It freezes beautifully. Freeze in 1-cup portions per serving of pasta.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds ground beef (preferably local grass-fed)
1 pound ground pork (preferably local pastured)
4 ounces pancetta, finely diced
3 cups finely chopped yellow onion
¾ cup finely chopped celery
1½ cups finely chopped carrot
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
½ cup finely chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups dry white wine
2 cups milk
6 cups puréed canned plum tomatoes (preferably imported San Marzano)
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions:
• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add the meats, and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until cooked through, nicely browned and caramelized, and completely broken up into little pieces. Remove from pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  In the same pot, melt remaining butter in remaining olive oil over low flame. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Season immediately with 2 teaspoons of the salt.  Sauté until completely cooked, meltingly tender, and caramelized. Return the meats to the pot and combine thoroughly with the vegetables.
   Add remaining salt and pepper. Add tomato paste, parsley, and bay leaves. Stir well to combine. Simmer together for about 5 minutes to brown the tomato paste, stirring occasionally, and then add the white wine. Raise heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the wine has become absorbed into the meat sauce.
  Add the milk. Stir thoroughly to combine. Simmer until the milk has become absorbed into the meat sauce. Finally, add the puréed tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, add the grated nutmeg, cover with a lid, and simmer sauce for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

 For 4 servings:
• Bring 16 cups of water to a rolling boil in a 6-quart pot. Season with 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Cook 1 pound of your preferred pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.
• In a large skillet, bring 4 cups Bolognese sauce to a simmer. Stir in 4 teaspoons unsalted butter. Add cooked pasta with reserved pasta water and toss/stir together until well combined. Serve immediately.

FREE GRILLIN’
Pink Peppercorn and Truffle Compound Butter
Recipes by Chef Michele Free

Free Grillin’
George Country Sports Bar
617 Fairview St.

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½  tablespoon whole pink peppercorns
½  teaspoon truffle salt
1 teaspoon honey
1 sheet aluminum foil (approximately 12” x 12”, optional)
1 sheet plastic wrap (approximately 12” x 12”, optional)

Instructions:
• Bring butter to room temperature to soften.
• Place whole peppercorns in a ziplock bag and pound with meat tenderizer, mallet, or the bottom of a drinking glass to crack.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine butter, peppercorns, truffle salt, and honey. Mix together well using a whisk, spatula, or fork.
• Chill for two hours and enjoy a dollop over a steak, or roll into a log and slice into pieces (directions follow).

 To roll butter into log:
• With a damp paper towel, dampen surface of countertop. Then lay aluminum foil square on damp surface, smoothing with your hands until it adheres to countertop. With a damp paper towel, dampen top of foil and carefully place plastic wrap on top of foil square. Smooth out plastic wrap as evenly as possible, trying to eliminate wrinkles.
• Transfer butter mixture onto plastic wrap and spread evenly lengthwise with your hands to form a log.
• Lift up edge of plastic wrap closest to you and fold over the length of the butter log. Press down firmly over the butter log. Take each edge of plastic wrap into your hands and roll butter log away from you until butter log is completely wrapped in plastic wrap.
• Using foil sheet as a guide, lift up the edge of foil closest to you and roll over the top of the plastic-wrapped covered butter log. Roll the foil around the butter log to tighten log and make more even (like a Sushi chef uses a mat to roll sushi rolls).
• Once you have formed an even log, unroll the foil and remove the plastic-wrapped butter log. Twist ends of plastic wrap tightly against butter.
• Chill butter for 2 hours in refrigerator or 30 minutes in freezer. Remove from fridge/freezer and unwrap plastic wrap.
• Slice butter log into ¼-inch coins and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Urban Eats
3414 Washington Ave.
FeastUrbanEats.com

URBAN EATS
Tequila Sunset
Recipe by Chef Levi Rollins

Ingredients:

Turbinado Sugar Muddle
3 fresh blackberries
1 ounce agave syrup
¾ oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz  dry curacao
2 oz Ambhar Plata Tequila

Instructions:
• Rim rocks glass with Turbinado Sugar Muddle
• Add 3 fresh blackberries and 1 ounce agave syrup
• Add ¾ oz fresh lime juice, ¾ oz  dry curacao, and 2 oz Ambhar Plata Tequila
• Shake and strain over ice. Garnish with lime wedge and blackberry

Redfish Sipper by Dripping Springs Vodka’s

DRIPPING SPRINGS VODKA
Redfish Sipper

Ingredients:
1 ½ oz Dripping Springs Texas Orange
1 ½ oz  Cranberry juice
3 oz  Orange juice

Instructions:
Build drink over ice. Garnish with a blood orange wedge.

Garden Springs by Dripping Springs Vodka’s

DRIPPING SPRINGS VODKA
Garden Springs

Ingredients:
1 ½  oz Dripping Springs Vodka
2 oz  grapefruit juice
¼ oz  Domaine De Canton (ginger liqueur)
1  large sprig of basil

Instructions:
Muddle 1 large sprig of basil in a shaker, then add vodka, grapefruit juice, and liqueur.
Shake vigorously and strain over fresh ice.

This article appears in the April 2019 edition of OutSmart magazine.

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