Lydias Kitchen Food

LYDIA'S AUSTRIAN RASPBERRY SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until soft and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and mix well.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter/egg yolk mixture and mix just until incorporated and the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form into 2 balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and freeze at least 2 hours or overnight, or as long as a month.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Remove 1 ball of dough from the freezer and coarsely grate the frozen dough into the bottom of a 9 by 12-inch baking pan or a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure the surface is covered evenly with shreds of dough. With a spoon or spatula, spread the jam over the surface, to within 1/2-inch of the edge all the way around. Remove the remaining dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it over the entire surface. Bake until light golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. As soon as the shortbread comes out of the oven, dust with confectioners' sugar. Cool on a wire rack, then cut in the pan with a serrated knife.

LIDIA'S INSANELY DELICIOUS ITALIAN BEEF ROASTED IN BAROLO WINE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250° F. Season the roast with half the salt. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Brown the roast on all sides, about 8 minutes in all, then remove it to a platter.
• Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, and cook until the onions begin to wilt, about 6 minutes. Add the rosemary, sage leaves, grated nutmeg, peppercorns, dried porcini, and remaining teaspoon salt, and toss all together. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, just until the vegetables soften, stirring frequently and scraping up the browned meat bits on the pan bottom; then lower the heat.
• Push the vegetables to the side, and return the seared roast to the cleared side of the pan. Pour in the bottles of wine and any meat juices that collected on the platter. The roast should be at least half submerged, so add beef stock as needed.
• Cover the pot, and heat until the wine is steaming but not boiling. Uncover the pan, and place it in the oven. After 30 minutes, rotate the roast so the exposed meat is submerged in the braising liquid. Braise this way, turning the meat in the pan every 30 minutes, for about 3 hours, until the meat is fork-tender. The liquid should not boil; if it does, pour in some cold water to stop the bubbling, and lower the oven temperature.
• After about 2½ hours or so, check the beef. If it is easily pierced with a fork, take the pan from the oven. Remove the meat to a platter, with the carrots and celery. Skim any fat from the braising juices, heat them to a boil, and reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Pour it through a sieve set over a clean container. Press the juices well from the strained herbs and remaining vegetable pieces. Pour in any juices from the meat platter, and season the sauce to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (If you are not going to serve it right away, put the meat and reserved vegetables in the sauce to rest and cool, for a couple of hours or overnight.)
• To serve: Slice the meat crosswise (easiest when it is cool). Pour a shallow layer of sauce into a wide skillet, and lay the slices in, overlapping. Heat the sauce to bubbling, spooning it over the beef, so the slices are lightly coated. Lift them with a broad spatula, and slide them onto a warm platter, fanned out. Heat the carrots and celery in the sauce, too, and arrange them on the platter. Serve, passing more heated sauce at the table.