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Gem and Romaine Lettuces with Pear, Celery, Raisin and Pistachio Crunch and Lemon-Yogurt Dressing
Spice-crusted, Glazed Pork Ribs with Honey and Chermoula
Homemade Wasabi Mayonnaise
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Frozen Key Lime Meringue Pie
About the Class
Ignacio Mattos is the chef/owner of three of my favorite Manhattan restaurants--Estela, Cafe Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar at the Met Breuer. If you haven't already tried them, I recommend all three. Recently the long-waited ESTELA cookbook hit the shelves. It's great, a somewhat more sophisticated and complicated answer to Ottolenghi (not sure if that makes sense but excellent).
The centerpiece of the March 11 class is my adaptation of Mattos' Spice-crusted Glazed Pork Ribs with Honey and Chermoula, at once sweet and spicy, juicy and crispy-crunchy. Actually quite amazing. I've substituted pork ribs for lamb ribs as they are easier to come by, much meatier and to my way of thinking, better (and they are also about 1/4 the price of lamb so great for feeding a crowd). I've added a homemade wasabi mayo side sauce as well. Lily-gilding but an OTT treat if you're up for it. And a versatile repertoire addition (serve it alongside fish, chicken, pork chops, or steak or slather it on almost any sandwich.)
Mattos provides the first course as well. A fabulous, fabulous salad combining soft and crisp lettuces with a plethora of other flavors and textures. Mattos modeled the dish on the Waldorf Salad, but that is a salad I've always detested and I adore this one, at least partly because he replaces gloppy Helman's mayonnaise with a light, fresh yogurt and lemon dressing and walnuts with pistachios and apples with pears. He also adds a whole new "crunch" component much less pronounced in the original. In any case, this superb first course can serve as a light main course as well. For a more substantial main course, add cooked chicken, turkey, or sea scallops.
Crispy baked sweet potato fries add contrast, color and a carbs. I love sweet potatoes any which way but this "oven-fried" is one of my faves.
For dessert, the simplicity, tang and temperature of this frozen key lime hits the spot after a meal of complex flavors and spice. Key Lime Pie is hard not to like but this one, frozen and with a warm and chewy meringue topping is the best!
I hope many of you can make it to this class (the Mattos recipes are to die for).