The Dish: Chef Angie Mar on her family's culinary roots
Angie Mar is a chef who had spent much of her life around the world of food. Born in Seattle, Mar comes from a long line of food lovers and restaurateurs. Her legendary aunt, Ruby Chow, pioneered Chinese cuisine in Seattle. After training and working in some of New York's top kitchens, she landed at the iconic West Village restaurant the Beatrice Inn.
In 2016, she bought the restaurant and made it her own, showcasing her love of live fire, dry-aging techniques and over-the-top presentations. Her vision has made it one of the city's most coveted reservations.
Here are some of Mar's signature recipes:
Savory plum tart with beef suet crust
Tart filling ingredients
8 ripe black plums or 12 Italian plums
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 piece freshly grated nutmeg
10 cracks pink pepper
1/2 bunch fresh thyme, leaves picked, stems discarded
salt
Crust ingredients
7/8 cups flour, plus more for kneading
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups ground beef suet
1/4 cup cold water
One egg, beaten for egg wash
Garnish ingredients
1 pound wild arugula
2 cups parsley leaves
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan
Juice from 1 lemon
Olive oil
Sea salt
Directions
1. Make the crust: Place flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and beef fat in a food processor and begin to run. The mixture should look like rough ground cornmeal. Slowly stream cold water into the processor until the dough forms a ball.
2. Turn out the dough onto a floured board and knead lightly by pressing together until a slightly sticky, silky dough is formed, about 50 turns.Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
3. Make the filling: Cut the plums in half lengthwise, remove pits, and then slice into six wedges (if using smaller Italian plums, just slice them in half and remove pit). You should have about 6 cups of sliced plums.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, toss sliced plums with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, thyme and salt and allow to sit so the plums release some juices for about 30 minutes, or while you make the dough.
5. Assemble the tarts: Preheat oven to 375°F. Divide dough evenly into six pieces. Roll each ball of dough out into an 8 inch round about 1/4 inch thick and place plums in the center.
6. Place about 1 cup of plums in the center of each dough round, keeping a two-inch perimeter of dough clear around the outside. Fold the extra dough over the plums and gently crimp the edges with a fork, then brush with egg wash.
7. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Just before serving, mix the arugula, parsley and shaved Parmesan in a mixing bowl, seasoning to taste with lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt. Serve tarts hot with the cool salad cascading from the top to amplify the contrast.
Haricots verts
Ingredients
60 grams lamb fat
1250 grams green beans
36 grams butter
183 grams hazelnuts
93 grams chopped garlic
Juice from 1 1/2 lemons
15 grams salt
6 grams pepper
6 grams tarragon, chopped
Directions
1. Trim the beans.
2. Saute the garlic in the lamb fat and butter over medium heat, until garlic is golden and fragrant. Add the green beans and saute until just tender.
3. Toss with lemon juice, hazelnuts, season with salt and pepper. Finish with tarragon.
Dry-aged prime rib
Ingredients
1 prime rib rack with 5 bones, dry-aged for 60 days, trimmed, bones Frenched to 1 inch
Salt
Directions
1. Salt the rib rack heavily with kosher salt on all sides. Let the beef sit uncovered in the refrigerator overnight so the salt can really season the meat. Place the ribs atop a roasting pan with a rack, fat side up. Let the beef stand at room temperature for 3-5 hours, to temper.
2. Preheat the oven to 475F. Place the prime rib in the oven, roast for 20 minutes. Remove the ribs from the oven and allow to rest for 20 minutes in a warm place. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 275F.
3. Return the ribs to the oven and cook for another 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 85-92F°. Remove the ribs from the oven and rest for another 20 minutes. Return the rack to the oven once more for another 20 minutes, the internal temperature of the beef should be at about 115F, for medium rare. This in-and-out cooking method helps ensure the meat evenly cooks to a perfect medium-rare and stays rosy pink throughout, and the external color should be a dark golden brown.
4. Remove the ribs from the oven and rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes. The internal temperature of the rack will rise during that time to about 125F for medium rare. To serve, slice the meat off the bone completely and cut into ¼ -inch pieces and arrange on a serving platter, garnishing with the sauce. Serve the bones on a separate platter for guests to enjoy.
Blackberry clafoutis with honey-whipped cream
Ingredients
25g butter
95g sugar
55g flour
3g salt
195g whole milk
3 eggs
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 pint blackberries
1 pint heavy whipping cream
20g sugar
71g honey
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Brown the butter: In a small pot over medium high heat, add the butter and swirl constantly until the milk solids are toasted and brown, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour and salt. Whisk in the milk until fully incorporated, and crack the eggs in, one at a time, whisking between each addition. Add in the contents of the vanilla bean and stir to incorporate. When the batter is even and smooth, slowly stream in the browned butter, whisking as you pour, making sure to scrape all the solids from the bottom of the bowl.
3. Pour the batter into a deep 9-inch pie pan and dot the berries throughout evenly. Bake until puffed and golden brown and the center is set but still slightly wobbly, 35-45 minutes. The clafoutis will puff up like souffle while it bakes and sink as it comes out, which is fine.
4. In a standing mixer using the whisk attachment, whip together the cream and sugar until the cream forms stiff peaks, about 6 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, lightly fold in the smoked honey.
5. Serve the clafoutis whole, while still warm, with whipped cream in a separate bowl on the side, for people to garnish with as they wish.
Mutton stroganoff with wild spring mushrooms
Ingredients
4 ounces bacon
1.5 pound bone-in mutton shank
Salt
119g Spanish onion, small dice
5 cloves garlic, smashed
158g (about 6 medium) cremini mushrooms
95g chanterelle mushrooms
95g morels
153g Champagne or white wine
949mL beef stock
3g thyme- 1 bunch, tied with string
219mL heavy cream
40g butter, divided
60g crème fraîche
5 cracks black pepper
20g chopped parsley, divided
½ recipe duck egg yolk pasta, cut into pappardelle
Directions
1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, cook the bacon until the meat is golden and the fat has rendered, 6-7 minutes. While that happens, truss the mutton shank to ensure the meat stays on the bone and season it with salt on all sides.
2. When the bacon is golden, set the meat aside, reserving the rendered fat in the Dutch oven. Increase the heat to medium high and add the mutton, browning on all sides, about 10 minutes. Set the mutton aside with the bacon and reserve the bacon and mutton fat in the pot.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and garlic and sweat until translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add all of the mushrooms and stir to combine. Don't season anything yet- the vegetables will pick up salt from the bacon and mutton fat, and we can adjust seasoning later. Continue cooking until the onions turn golden and the mushrooms soften and absorb all of the fat, 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the bacon and mutton shank back into the pot, along with any of their accumulated juices. Increase heat to high and deglaze the pot with Champagne or white wine, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Reduce heat to medium, add the beef stock and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a cartouche (parchment paper lid) and a lid, and simmer over medium-low until the mutton is tender, about 3 hours and 15 minutes.
5. When the mutton is tender, bring a large pot of water salted like the sea to a boil. Remove the mutton from the pot, untie it and remove the thyme, and set meat aside in a bowl with a few ladles of its own braising liquid so it doesn't dry out. Cover with foil and place somewhere warm.
6. Increase the heat on the pot with the braising liquid to high and reduce the liquid by one quarter, 8-10 minutes. The liquid should lightly coat the back of a spoon, like a chiffon veil. Stir in the cream and return liquid to a simmer to thicken and reduce again, until it really coats back of a spoon, 6-7 minutes. Add the butter and creme fraiche, swirling to incorporate, and season with black pepper. Return the mutton shank back to the pot an check for seasoning. Finish the sauce with half of the parsley.
7. Cook the duck egg yolk pasta according to recipe and after draining the pasta, add another 20 grams of butter and the other half of the parsley to the pot, swirling to coat each strand. Serve the pasta family-style, topped with the mutton stroganoff.