CURTIS STONE LOS ANGELES RESTAURANT RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 140C. Dry-roast spices in a small frying pan over medium-high heat until fragrant (2-3 minutes), and transfer to a bowl. Dry short ribs well with paper towels and season to taste. Heat a large casserole over medium-high heat until hot, add 2 tsp olive oil and half the ribs, then cook, turning once, until ribs are heavily caramelised (5-6 minutes). Set aside and repeat with remaining oil and ribs.
• Wipe out casserole with paper towels, add sugar and cook without stirring until dark caramel (1-2 minutes). Add wine (be careful, hot caramel will spit), stir to combine and simmer until reduced by half (1-2 minutes). Add stock and toasted spices, bring to the boil, return ribs to casserole, cover and braise in oven, turning ribs every 45 minutes, until very tender (3-3¼ hours). Cool ribs slightly in braising liquid, then remove and set aside in a warm place.
• Strain braising liquid into a saucepan and set aside until fat settles on the surface. Skim off fat and simmer braising liquid over medium-high heat until reduced by two-thirds (15-20 minutes), then strain through a sieve lined with muslin and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, for pomme purée, bring potatoes to the boil in a large saucepan of salted water (to cover by 4cm) over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until tender but not bursting apart (20-25 minutes). Drain and peel while hot, then pass through a moulis or press through a ricer or sieve into a clean pan. Stir potato over medium heat to dry out (1-2 minutes), then add butter in batches, beating well between additions, then press through a fine sieve and return to pan. Add milk in 4 stages, beating well between additions, season generously to taste with sea salt (about 3 tsp) and keep warm.
• For gremolata, blanch three-quarters of the parsley until bright green (30 seconds), then drain and refresh. Drain again, squeeze out excess water, then process in a blender on high speed with oil until very smooth and vibrant green (8-10 minutes). Strain through a fine sieve and refrigerate until required. Parsley oil can be made 3 days ahead. Just before serving, finely chop remaining parsley, and add to parsley oil with lemon rind and juice, garlic and 1 tsp sea salt flakes.
• Divide the pomme purée among serving plates, and top with a short rib, a little sauce and gremolata and serve.

Steps:

• For candied grapefruit peel, blanch rind for 20 seconds, strain and refresh in iced water, then drain. Repeat blanching, straining and refreshing twice more, using fresh hot water each time. Bring sugar, 125ml grapefruit juice, 125ml water and rind to the simmer in a saucepan over low heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, until rind is tender and translucent and liquid reduces to a light syrup (20-25 minutes). Cool rind in syrup (1-2 hours). Candied grapefruit peel can be made 5 days ahead.
• For lime curd, whisk eggs, sugar and lime juice in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water until light, fluffy and mixture thickly coats the back of a spoon (4-5 minutes). Remove from heat and leave to cool (5 minutes), then whisk in butter a little at a time, beating well between additions. Cover and refrigerate until cold and set (2 hours), then transfer to a piping bag with a 3mm plain nozzle. Lime curd can be made 3 days ahead.
• For ricotta, bring milk, cream and lemon juice to the boil in a stainless steel saucepan over low-medium heat without stirring. Remove from heat and set aside to cool until mixture separates into curds and whey (10-12 minutes). Transfer curds (discard whey) with a slotted spoon to a muslin-lined sieve placed over a bowl and refrigerate to drain (2-2½ hours), then transfer ricotta to a bowl and refrigerate until required. Ricotta can be made a day ahead.
• Preheat oven to 150C. Heat 8cm of oil in a large saucepan to 180C over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, whisk flour, icing sugar, baking powder and tsp salt in a bowl. Whisk ¾ cup of ricotta, eggs, milk and orange rind in a separate bowl, then whisk in flour mixture. Spoon half-tablespoonfuls of mixture into oil in batches (use a small ice-cream scoop to form the fritters if you have one; be careful hot oil will spit) and fry, turning occasionally, until deep golden-brown and cooked through (3-4 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels, then transfer to a baking tray and keep warm in oven while you fry remaining fritters (ensure oil returns to 180C between batches).
• Pierce fritters with the tip of the piping nozzle and carefully pipe in a little lime curd, wipe away excess curd and roll filled fritters in sugar. Serve warm, garnished with candied grapefruit.