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flour underneath). Then slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone and bake it for 8 to 12 minutes, checking on it after 5 minutes and rotating it if necessary to ensure that it’s baking evenly. When the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly, use the peel to remove the pizza from the oven and place it on a cutting board. Let it cool for 2 minutes. Then slice and serve immediately.

Prepare your second pizza the same way.

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Cauliflower with Pine Nuts and Dried Cranberries

This is one of our most popular vegetable sides at the restaurant. In order to maximize flavor, it’s important to caramelize the flat side of the cauliflower floret when you sauté it and to take the time to reduce the sauce slightly after adding the butter.

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INGREDIENTS

¼ cup pine nuts

1 head cauliflower

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon champagne vinegar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup chicken stock

¼ cup unsweetened dried cranberries

1 whole scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced shallots

1 tablespoon minced chives

1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Place the pine nuts on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven until very light brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Let them cool completely.

Cut the cauliflower into florets, making sure they are similar in size. Fill a medium pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt, the vinegar, and the cauliflower and cook until the cauliflower is fork-tender, about 12 minutes. Strain the cauliflower in a colander.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the cauliflower and brown it lightly, 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the toasted pine nuts and the cranberries, scallions, shallots, chives, parsley, and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Cook until the liquid reduces and forms a little bit of a sauce, 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Photographs by Sara Remington

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Braised Venison Osso Buco

We had wanted to put a venison dish on our menu for a while, but we wanted to find an alternative to venison steak. Our purveyor suggested we try osso buco, and it turned out to be a wonderful idea.

Osso buco means “bone with a hole,” and that’s exactly what this piece of meat is: a shinbone surrounded by meat, plus a bone filled with marrow. This dish hails from Milan and is traditionally prepared with lamb shanks and white wine.

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INGREDIENTS

FOR THE OSSO BUCO:

Kosher salt

2 cups light brown sugar

2 bay leaves

5 black peppercorns

4 pieces venison osso buco

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons rice bran oil or canola oil

FOR THE BRAISING LIQUID:

2 tablespoons rice bran oil or canola oil

1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 celery stalk, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves

1 cup port wine

4 flat-leaf parsley sprigs

2 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

2 cups beef broth

Serves 4

Fill a large pot with 5 quarts water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Turn off the heat. Add 2 cups salt, the brown sugar, bay leaves, and peppercorns and stir until the salt and sugar are fully dissolved. Set the brine aside to cool completely.

Put the venison in the cooled brine, placing a heavy plate on top to keep it submerged. Cover the pot with plastic wrap and let it sit for 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Pull the meat out of the brine, rinse it under cold running water, and pat it dry with paper towels. Discard the brine. Season the osso buco pieces lightly with salt and pepper. (The meat is already brined, so don’t go too crazy with the salt—the additional seasoning just helps the meat caramelize as it sears.) Heat a large cast-iron pan over high heat and drizzle the oil into it. Arrange the osso buco in the pan without overcrowding, and sear the meat until all sides are nicely caramelized, 5 minutes on each side.