Bottega - Michael Chiarello [70]
Add more oil to the skillet if needed to make 2 tablespoons. Reheat the oil over medium heat, add the garlic, and sauté until lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Add the oregano and sauté briefly to release its fragrance. Add the tomato purée and season with salt, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes to thicken slightly.
In a blender, combine the red peppers, chile, and tomato mixture and purée until smooth. Add the vinegar, season with black pepper, and purée again. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 4 months.
Light a hot fire in a charcoal grill, preheat a gas grill to high, or set a grill pan over high heat. Positioning the steak for diagonal grill marks, grill the steak for 2 minutes on each side for medium-rare.
Transfer the steak to a carving board and let rest for 2 minutes. Slice each section of steak on the bias. Pour a spoonful of the salsa rossa in a pool on each plate, and arrange the steak on the salsa. Toss the arugula with the vinaigrette and place a small mound of dressed arugula on each plate before serving.
Grilled Quail with Sausage and Calabrese Romano Bean Ragù
SERVES 6
When I make this dish, I think of my dearest mom and a small kindness she showed me that has carried through all these years. Growing up in the country, quail hunting was a rite of passage, and my friends and I competed (as we did in all things) to see who could bring home the most quail. I set out one morning promising that I wouldn’t come home until I had ten quail, but after the first five I couldn’t get any more. I came home more quiet than usual. My mom noticed, and she slipped out to the grocery store and came home with five sausages. Instead of two quail on every plate, there was a quail and a sausage for each of us, along with her fantastic Calabrese bean ragù. With a plate this full, nobody in my family thought to ask about the missing five quail.
I cook the sausages just as my mom would, with an initial poach to ensure there are no flare-ups over the fire.
I use boneless quail, but bone-in works too. There’s a cool machine that removes the bones from the inside. If your butcher can find a quail producer that does this, you may as well take advantage of it, as it makes the bird much easier to eat.
Wine Pairing: A young Cabernet
6 sausage links, Calabrian pork sausage, or your favorite sausage (4 to 5 pounds total)
6 quail, each about 5 ounces, boned
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil for brushing
2 tablespoons Fennel Spice Blend
Calabrese Romano Bean Ragù
Soak 12 wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes.
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the sausages for 4 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the sausages to a platter.
Light a hot charcoal or almond- or oak-wood fire in a charcoal grill. Prepare the birds by removing the wing at the first joint (or have your butcher do this for you). Leave the drumstick portion of the wing. Use the skewers to form a crisscross by skewering from the right wing to the left leg and vice versa. You don’t need to pierce the skin of the bird; work so that the skewers are held in place by the legs and wing joints.
Rub each bird with about 1 teaspoon olive oil and season with the spice blend. Place the quail on the hot grill and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until the juices run clear when you cut into a thigh (just as you’d check with chicken). While the quail are grilling, add the sausages to the grill. Transfer the quail to a platter. Grill the sausages just until they’re