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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Nov 13, 2013 12:29:48 GMT -5
My secret - buy piles of end-of-season veggies at the market when everyone's sick of zuchini and such. Then, take all the veggies, slice them, brush them with oil and stick 'em on the bbq until they're nicely grilled. Then coarsely purée the veggies, apportion in to baggies, and freeze. Now all through winter you have grilled veggie purée you can add to soups and sauces and it's ridiculously easy. Oh man that is genius. You'd think I'd have learned the prep work thing by now, but I get burned by that every time. Not just you. Every single time I think "oh I can do that later," I can't. Every damn time. Crap, I had a huge thing of fresh parsley and forgot to use it in my pasta last night. I like to cook bacon and onions/shallots/garlic, then steam some green beans. Throw the beans in the bacon mixture, then add some sugar and vinegar. YUM! Oh hey, there's a great cooking tip here. SHALLOTS. Shallots are the best. Use shallots in everything! Seriously, they add that extra kick that makes your food - any food - taste just a little more fancy-restaurant. And yes, the dark chocolate brie strawberry sandwiches are amazing. Don't hesitate to let the chocolate and brie get extra melty, and then play with the ratios to figure out your dream combo. Here's a recipe to pitch in. Insanely Easy Cookies With AnythingYou will require: 2 eggs 1/2 cup oil 1 box of whatever cake mix you want 1 cup of whatever topping you want (I think it was originally 1/2 cup but I'm a greedy pig) OPTIONAL: 1 dash Baileys Caramel Irish Cream, Mozart liqueur, or similar 1. Preheat oven to 400F. 2. In a bowl, combine eggs, oil, and box of cake mix. 3. Add toppings. 4. Mix. 5. Spoon onto pan(s) (it makes like 30 cookies so you'll probably need two). 6. Put in oven for 7 minutes (super gooey), 8 minutes (kinda gooey), 9 minutes (still a bit gooey in the middle), or 15 minutes (weaponized discs). Suggested combos: - dark chocolate cake mix, white chocolate chips - yellow cake mix, M&Ms - anything with those Heath toffee chips |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Nov 13, 2013 12:32:12 GMT -5
Okay, I'm posting my personal favorite Spanish Tortilla recipe which I promised scrawler.
I hope you enjoy, all. And definitely seconding Ron Howard Voice that cooking isn't necessarily hard. Just gotta try stuff. Sometimes you will fail, but many times you'll make something amazing and feel really super about it. Oh yeah, this is so true. My friend and I made that sweet potato gnocchi with a cheese sauce and bacon, and served it with a summery salad and bottle of malbec, and we figured we'd happily pay $18-22 for it in a restaurant. The feeling you get when you make something that good is really worth fighting for. |
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Post by scrawler on Nov 13, 2013 12:36:03 GMT -5
YAY!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!
EDIT: This was supposed to quote Morgendorffer for the tortilla recipe, but somehow it didn't.
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Post by Cerusee on Nov 13, 2013 12:37:10 GMT -5
My only real 'secret' is that I tear out all of the 15-minute recipes from Men's Health, since they're quick and usually fairly nutritious. *If you get a good rice-cooker, that keeps rice warm and edible for days, frozen veggies, and some chicken and pork, you can be set for days. *Chicken legs bake in an hour at 375 - just flip them once half way through. *You can make tons of sauces and marinades with a 5 quart box of cheap wine for a base and other stuff as needed. *Frozen fish filets can be pan cooked in less than 15 minutes. Most pork cutlets / chops, too. Anything in particular you're looking to cook? Wait, how does that rice cooker thing work? If it's keeping the rice warm for days, what's inhibiting bacterial growth? |
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Morgendorffer
Shoutbox Elitist 
In the end I was the mean girl or somebody's in-between girl
Posts: 55 
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Post by Morgendorffer on Nov 13, 2013 12:43:46 GMT -5
YAY!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! EDIT: This was supposed to quote Morgendorffer for the tortilla recipe, but somehow it didn't. You're welcome, Scrawler. Hope it works for you. |
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Post by maryworthfan47 on Nov 13, 2013 12:50:12 GMT -5
This is my most requested recipe: they don't really have a name. I call them Great-grandma Timmis' Unregenerate Teuton Spice Cookies. This recipe came off of a boat from Austria, or Bavaria, or some old place. 325 degree oven Whisk together: 4 cups flour 2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon .5 teaspoon fresh nutmeg (heaping. Go to town.) .5 teaspoon clove cream 3 sticks butter with 1 cup white and 1 cup brown sugar add 2 eggs add .5 cup molasses stir dry ingredients into wet bake 8-9 minutes-if you don't have a good nonstick cookie sheet, use parchment paper Don't overcook. They'll get hard. Dredge baked cookies in powdered sugar. This makes a ton. I usually halve the recipe. Oh, wait, I meant baking SODA. Straight bicarb. Powder would probably make them too puffy. |
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Post by Inamine on Nov 13, 2013 12:59:09 GMT -5
As for recipes, these cookies are amazing: www.cookthink.com/recipe/8656/Chocolate_Spice_DropsAnd related to said cookies, when using chocolate, try adding lime or spices such as ground chile peppers or cloves to make it more interesting. And when baking cookies from a new recipe, I usually opt for going a minute or two under the suggested baking time, as undercooked cookies tend to be tastier than overcooked cookies, and then you can adjust after that first batch. |
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Post by Great Unwashed on Nov 13, 2013 13:03:59 GMT -5
Some people think you should never send stuff back at a restaurant, believing the staff will spit and pee in your dish, but whenever I send stuff, it always comes back tasting amazing.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Nov 13, 2013 13:06:37 GMT -5
My only real 'secret' is that I tear out all of the 15-minute recipes from Men's Health, since they're quick and usually fairly nutritious. *If you get a good rice-cooker, that keeps rice warm and edible for days, frozen veggies, and some chicken and pork, you can be set for days. *Chicken legs bake in an hour at 375 - just flip them once half way through. *You can make tons of sauces and marinades with a 5 quart box of cheap wine for a base and other stuff as needed. *Frozen fish filets can be pan cooked in less than 15 minutes. Most pork cutlets / chops, too. Anything in particular you're looking to cook? Wait, how does that rice cooker thing work? If it's keeping the rice warm for days, what's inhibiting bacterial growth? Add 2 tablespoons hand sanitizer. |
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Post by switters on Nov 13, 2013 13:29:41 GMT -5
So, I have pictures for this one, but I wanted to talk about making a roux. Last weekend, I made my first pot of gumbo, and I have to say, I was blown away by how good it was. Gumbo along the Gulf Coast is like Chili and BBQ in other parts of the country. People have fierce loyalties and recipes are guarded, family secrets. The one thing in common in all of the best, though, is a properly made roux. Fuck that up, and the gumbo will suck. Plus, making roux will open up things like bisque and etouffe as well as gumbo. First off, let me get it out of the way to say roux is equal parts flour and butter. That's it, no deviation. You can look online and find recipes calling for vegetable or canola oil instead of butter, but those people are liars and fiends. It is butter, flour, constant stirring, and patience. For the gumbo this weekend, I melted one cup of butter and slowly stirred in a cup of flour. I kept the temperature between medium low and medium and stirred. Here's after 20 minutes:  This color would work for a bisque. For the gumbo, though, it needs to be a rich, dark chocolate color. I ended up working on the roux for over an hour to get it where I wanted it:  After the roux was ready, I added a finely chopped yellow onion, 4 chopped celery stalks, and half a chopped green bell pepper and cooked for about 10 minutes, then added 4 cloves of garlic and cooked for another minute or so. Added 8 cups of seafood stock, 3 cups of vegetable stock, and around 6 cups of water, added 1/4 worchestire sauce, a few sprigs fresh thyme and oregano, 3 bay leaves, salt/pepper, hot sauce and brought to a boil and simmered for an hour. After the hour, I added 3/4 lbs of cut up okra and simmered for 30 more minutes, then added 1.5 lbs of crab meat and simmered for 30 more. It was amazing. Gumbo, boom! |
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Post by Jean-Luc Lemur on Nov 13, 2013 13:32:28 GMT -5
Add a bit of cinnamon to your Egyptian lentil soup like I did tonight.
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Post by Albert Fish Taco on Nov 13, 2013 14:00:50 GMT -5
Cooking is not that hard, but it is scary, and it's one of those skills that senses fear and pounces on you if you will let it. So, actually, for me, the best advice isn't a recipe - it's a pre-recipe. Or a mantra. Or more verbosely, HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING ALWAYS1. Set your laptop near your workspace. - If your recipe is online, great! Load that sucker up.
- Either way, load up your preferred podcast or audio stimulation. I use Comedy Bang Bang podcasts. Works every time. This is just about feeling comfortable and, if you're by yourself, not getting bored/alone.
2. Get the kitchen clean and ready. Here I will do all the dishes that are still stacked up in the sink. 3. Read the recipe all the way through, if there is a recipe. Make sure you have everything, plan for any complicated-sounding stuff, and google any techniques you don't understand. 4. Do ALL the prep work. Seriously, do it now. If you think "But it only says 'slice the carrots' in step 4," that's because recipes are written dumbly. If you think "I can slice the chicken while the onions are cooking," bad things will happen, such as, "Aaaaaa I'm not cutting fast enough!!" and before you know it, you're that guy from The 39 Steps. 5. Once ALL prep work is done, start to follow the steps of the recipe. 6. If you get frustrated, drink one beer. 7. If it doesn't taste great, that's okay. Add hot sauce and resolve to do better next time. GENERAL ADVICE
- If you're single especially, make a ton of food so you'll have 3-4 meals of leftovers. - Get a Crock Pot and a bunch of Crock Pot liner bags. They are the easiest, and the best. Crock Pots. Mmmm. - Anybody who could use intro to cooking type books, my favorites are Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics and Michael Ruhlman's Ruhlman's Twenty. Both of them are hybrids of techniques, instructions, pointers, encouraging words, and delicious recipes. Also, there are lots of color pictures, sometimes step-by-step. And Ruhlman's recipe for curing and roasting your own slab of bacon resulted in the best bacon I have ever eaten in my life. Another surprisingly relevant-to-the-home-chef book is Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. It even tells you his favorite kitchen utensils, with the brands and everything. - Join Pinterest. Really. No, seriously. You don't have to follow anybody's wedding boards. I have mine set up so all I see is all food, all the time. My boards are either food or booze. I have subdivisions for desserts and Crock Pot recipes. To get you started, here's my Pinterest board of stuff I have cooked and liked. I would be happy talk about any and all recipes, techniques, challenges, whatever! #4 is a biggie. I tend to take forever cooking because I like to get as much prep done slightly earlier than called for. Also no shame in using Pinterest for recipes. My ex recommended it to me for this purpose, and it's been a lifesaver for all the recipes in this Jack Bishop cookbook that she got when we split things up. OTTH I'd say always use more garlic than they call for, a hand blender is a must have tool, and for scrambled eggs err on the side of under cooking (because you probably won't undercook). |
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Post by Inamine on Nov 13, 2013 14:06:32 GMT -5
and for scrambled eggs err on the side of under cooking (because you probably won't undercook). Yes, undercooking for delicate items like eggs is very important, as food will continue to cook itself from the heat it has gained. |
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randy's donuts
AV Clubber 
Grant writing. Please, please chime in to distract me
Posts: 316
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Post by randy's donuts on Nov 13, 2013 14:11:13 GMT -5
Tip #1: Bacon fat makes everything better (especially rice and beans). I'm partial to using red silk beans (they're smaller kidney beans) and rice that's been prepared with chicken broth and left to cool for a few hours. Cook half a large onion in bacon fat (4 - 5 strips is usually enough), fry beans until they start getting a little crisp to them, and then stir in the rice.
Tip #2: When feeling lazy/overwhelmed/broke, eggs are life savers. Shakshuka (I use Yottam Ottolenghi's recipe), "breakfast" pizza with pre-made dough, cheese and ham, breakfast burritos (utilizing leftover rice and beans - see above).
Tip #3: Make arepas whenever possible. Bob's Red Mill Masa is our favorite for this. Haloumi is a good substitute for Venezuelan white cheese.
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Post by switters on Nov 13, 2013 14:12:47 GMT -5
Another quick recipe that I made last night:
Beef with red wine reduction sauce.
For the beef, I picked up 3 small cuts of sirloin.
1 large shallot
1 cup red wine (I used Cab)
butter (a pat or 2)
Pan fry the steak in a heavy skillet, cooking around 4 minutes per side. Remove and cover to rest. To the pan, add the shallot and cook until soft and translucent, around 5 minutes. Add the cup of wine to the pan and bring to a boil, scraping the pan to release any meat left in there, and reduce by half and thickens. Remove from heat and drop in butter and stir while it melts. Put sauce on beef and serve.
Easy and really tasty.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Nov 13, 2013 14:26:56 GMT -5
Also no shame in using Pinterest for recipes. My ex recommended it to me for this purpose, and it's been a lifesaver for all the recipes in this Jack Bishop cookbook that she got when we split things up. OTTH I'd say always use more garlic than they call for, a hand blender is a must have tool, and for scrambled eggs err on the side of under cooking (because you probably won't undercook). I take forever too. I made a simple pot of pasta last night and went through two Bugle episodes (and a glass of wine). Re: garlic, my philosophy is, "oh, the recipe calls for 3 cloves, so I should only use 5." |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Nov 13, 2013 14:27:51 GMT -5
Re: garlic, my philosophy is, "oh, the recipe calls for 3 cloves, so I should only use 5." Yeah, there's really never too much garlic. |
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Post by Mrs. Peel on Nov 13, 2013 15:05:34 GMT -5
My secret - buy piles of end-of-season veggies at the market when everyone's sick of zuchini and such. Then, take all the veggies, slice them, brush them with oil and stick 'em on the bbq until they're nicely grilled. Then coarsely purée the veggies, apportion in to baggies, and freeze. Now all through winter you have grilled veggie purée you can add to soups and sauces and it's ridiculously easy. On a similar note, a good way to save some money is to go to the public market/ farmer's market about half an hour before they close. You can get some excellent bargains, because they just want to get rid of that stuff. (Two for the price of one, etc.) |
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Post by Mrs. Peel on Nov 13, 2013 15:07:27 GMT -5
Cooking is not that hard, but it is scary, and it's one of those skills that senses fear and pounces on you if you will let it. So, actually, for me, the best advice isn't a recipe - it's a pre-recipe. Or a mantra. Or more verbosely, HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING ALWAYS1. Set your laptop near your workspace. - If your recipe is online, great! Load that sucker up.
- Either way, load up your preferred podcast or audio stimulation. I use Comedy Bang Bang podcasts. Works every time. This is just about feeling comfortable and, if you're by yourself, not getting bored/alone.
2. Get the kitchen clean and ready. Here I will do all the dishes that are still stacked up in the sink. 3. Read the recipe all the way through, if there is a recipe. Make sure you have everything, plan for any complicated-sounding stuff, and google any techniques you don't understand. 4. Do ALL the prep work. Seriously, do it now. If you think "But it only says 'slice the carrots' in step 4," that's because recipes are written dumbly. If you think "I can slice the chicken while the onions are cooking," bad things will happen, such as, "Aaaaaa I'm not cutting fast enough!!" and before you know it, you're that guy from The 39 Steps. 5. Once ALL prep work is done, start to follow the steps of the recipe. 6. If you get frustrated, drink one beer. 7. If it doesn't taste great, that's okay. Add hot sauce and resolve to do better next time. GENERAL ADVICE
- If you're single especially, make a ton of food so you'll have 3-4 meals of leftovers. - Get a Crock Pot and a bunch of Crock Pot liner bags. They are the easiest, and the best. Crock Pots. Mmmm. - Anybody who could use intro to cooking type books, my favorites are Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics and Michael Ruhlman's Ruhlman's Twenty. Both of them are hybrids of techniques, instructions, pointers, encouraging words, and delicious recipes. Also, there are lots of color pictures, sometimes step-by-step. And Ruhlman's recipe for curing and roasting your own slab of bacon resulted in the best bacon I have ever eaten in my life. Another surprisingly relevant-to-the-home-chef book is Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. It even tells you his favorite kitchen utensils, with the brands and everything. - Join Pinterest. Really. No, seriously. You don't have to follow anybody's wedding boards. I have mine set up so all I see is all food, all the time. My boards are either food or booze. I have subdivisions for desserts and Crock Pot recipes. To get you started, here's my Pinterest board of stuff I have cooked and liked. I would be happy talk about any and all recipes, techniques, challenges, whatever! I definitely second Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"! (Both "The Basics" and the larger version). That's an incredibly useful book-- I got it as a college graduation present, and it's been a lifesaver over the years. There's also a vegetarian version, which I got for my sister when she graduated. Lots of good veggie stuff in there. |
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Post by Mrs. Peel on Nov 13, 2013 15:10:37 GMT -5
My biggest food tip is a bit like Trurl's -- load up on cheap veggies in the summer, do whatever processing you prefer, and freeze. I love to chop fresh cilantro when it's abundant in the summertime and then just freeze it in a big bag; then I've got pre-chopped cilantro for chili and tacos and whatnot all winter long. (Parsley freezes beautifully this way, too.) When there's a glut of basil during the season, make a giant batch of pesto and apportion as you'd like, either in units that would serve as enough for dressing whatever dish you'd plan to have with pesto, or in ice cube-tray sizes, for adding flavor to soups or whatever. My favorite easy "preserve the bounty now, and you'll thank yourself later" product is what we call in my household "Tomato Boost". Get a bunch of just regular tomatoes (they don't have to be plum or sauce tomatoes), preferably seconds that are good and cheap, and slice them around their equators, lay cut-side-up on a baking sheet, and bake at 300 degrees for three or four hours, until they're soft and getting a little dried out. Then puree them in a food processor, leaving on the skins and cores (this is all about minimal work, and that stuff just adds fiber, right?). I freeze this thick puree in quarter-cup units and then have a perfect little hit of summery, fresh-tasting tomato awesomeness to add to soups or jarred pasta sauce or anything else that could be improved by delicious tomato. It's like the old "add a tablespoon of tomato paste" trick, but without having to think of what to do with the rest of the can of tomato paste that you took the tablespoon out of. Great tips! I used to do this kind of thing a lot more, then I got lazier as I started working full-time. (I remember grossing out my law school roommates, because they found some ice cube trays full of brown demi-glace. That was delicious stuff, though). |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Nov 13, 2013 15:13:17 GMT -5
GENERAL ADVICE
- If you're single especially, make a ton of food so you'll have 3-4 meals of leftovers. - Get a Crock Pot and a bunch of Crock Pot liner bags. They are the easiest, and the best. Crock Pots. Mmmm. - Anybody who could use intro to cooking type books, my favorites are Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics and Michael Ruhlman's Ruhlman's Twenty. Both of them are hybrids of techniques, instructions, pointers, encouraging words, and delicious recipes. Also, there are lots of color pictures, sometimes step-by-step. And Ruhlman's recipe for curing and roasting your own slab of bacon resulted in the best bacon I have ever eaten in my life. Another surprisingly relevant-to-the-home-chef book is Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. It even tells you his favorite kitchen utensils, with the brands and everything. - Join Pinterest. Really. No, seriously. You don't have to follow anybody's wedding boards. I have mine set up so all I see is all food, all the time. My boards are either food or booze. I have subdivisions for desserts and Crock Pot recipes. To get you started, here's my Pinterest board of stuff I have cooked and liked. I would be happy talk about any and all recipes, techniques, challenges, whatever! I definitely second Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"! (Both "The Basics" and the larger version). That's an incredibly useful book-- I got it as a college graduation present, and it's been a lifesaver over the years. There's also a vegetarian version, which I got for my sister when she graduated. Lots of good veggie stuff in there. Yes, I actually have the iPad app version of How to Cook Everything and it is fantastic. |
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GumTurkeyles
AV Clubber
$10 down, $10 a month, don't you be a turkey
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Post by GumTurkeyles on Nov 13, 2013 15:13:54 GMT -5
I've found that it takes at least 7 years to properly caramelize onions. It takes a while, yes. There are cheats that use baking soda, which help the maillard reaction. I like doing a 3 or 4 lb batch of onions and almost making them into a jam. It takes over 2 hours total, but if you have nothing else to do that day, it's worth it. I've used it in a butternut squash and caramelized onion lasagna. I roasted, then pureed the squash, and mixed it with ricotta. |
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GumTurkeyles
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$10 down, $10 a month, don't you be a turkey
Posts: 3,065
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Post by GumTurkeyles on Nov 13, 2013 15:18:37 GMT -5
My only real 'secret' is that I tear out all of the 15-minute recipes from Men's Health, since they're quick and usually fairly nutritious. *If you get a good rice-cooker, that keeps rice warm and edible for days, frozen veggies, and some chicken and pork, you can be set for days. *Chicken legs bake in an hour at 375 - just flip them once half way through. *You can make tons of sauces and marinades with a 5 quart box of cheap wine for a base and other stuff as needed. *Frozen fish filets can be pan cooked in less than 15 minutes. Most pork cutlets / chops, too. Anything in particular you're looking to cook? Wait, how does that rice cooker thing work? If it's keeping the rice warm for days, what's inhibiting bacterial growth? I read that as a two-parter. It keeps it warm, and also it keeps it edible for days, rather than having the rice dry out the next day. DON'T leave it out on the counter. |
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GumTurkeyles
AV Clubber
$10 down, $10 a month, don't you be a turkey
Posts: 3,065
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Post by GumTurkeyles on Nov 13, 2013 15:24:57 GMT -5
1. Invest in a rice cooker. It's so much easier and leaves you with time and space to focus on whatever else you'll be making.
2. In keeping with the rice cooker, whatever you're cooking (unless it's white rice), use veggie stock instead of water. Quinoa, bulgur, wild rice, etc. SO much better with veggie stock.
3. Pureed root vegetable soups are an easy out for a delicious, filling meal. They're very hard to screw up (unless you do like I did and add equal parts celery root and potato. WAY too much celery taste). In that regard, invest in an immersion blender, as transferring the soup to a blender is a pain you can easily avoid.
4. If unsure what to do with a vegetable, 9 times out of 10, the best thing to do is roast it.
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Post by Cerusee on Nov 13, 2013 15:34:16 GMT -5
Wait, how does that rice cooker thing work? If it's keeping the rice warm for days, what's inhibiting bacterial growth? I read that as a two-parter. It keeps it warm, and also it keeps it edible for days, rather than having the rice dry out the next day. DON'T leave it out on the counter. That makes so much more sense. I was having nightmares of mass food poisonings. |
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Post by Mrs. Peel on Nov 13, 2013 15:34:48 GMT -5
As far as food secrets go, my bf swears by the pressure cooker. (Which I have to admit terrifies me a little, but I am resolved to learn how to use one). It really does let you cook stuff amazingly fast- vegetables, beans, lentils, etc. I know a lot of Indian and Pakistani families in particular swear by them and use them every day.
He tells me the modern ones don't explode, so I'm taking his word for it.
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Post by Cloggin' Boyd Crowder on Nov 13, 2013 15:37:33 GMT -5
New York Times No-Knead Bread I know that bread is really, really intimidating, but seriously anyone can do this bread. I've made it a number of times and it always turns out great. And the satisfaction of taking salt, yeast, water, and flour and making incredible bread is fantastic. I follow all of these directions as written, except I don't bother with the cornmeal or wheat bran. 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting ¼ teaspoon instant yeast 1¼ teaspoons salt Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed. 1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. 2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes. 3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. 4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. Yield: One 1½-pound loaf. www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0 |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Nov 13, 2013 15:49:31 GMT -5
There's also a vegetarian version, which I got for my sister when she graduated. Lots of good veggie stuff in there. I've been making a lot of great vegetarian stirfry and wok fare since getting Fuchsia Dunlop's cookbook Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking (think that's the subtitle... off the top of my head). The cookbook itself is flawed - ingredients tend to be in UK measurements and I'm too lazy to go buy a scale, but worse, there's almost never an indication of how much food the recipe will make. You sort of have to go by instinct. But the recipes are solid gold. I've had leftover dan dan noodles for lunch at the office like a dozen times. It's eye-opening to read that, in contrast with the giant pile of meat chunks you get at the local takeout joint, home Chinese cooking uses meat (almost always pork) as an accent or garnish, the way we use bacon bits. Kind of humbling, too. |
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LazBro
Prolific Poster 
Posts: 10,278
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Post by LazBro on Nov 13, 2013 15:58:21 GMT -5
New York Times No-Knead Bread I know that bread is really, really intimidating, but seriously anyone can do this bread. I've made it a number of times and it always turns out great. And the satisfaction of taking salt, yeast, water, and flour and making incredible bread is fantastic. I follow all of these directions as written, except I don't bother with the cornmeal or wheat bran. 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting ¼ teaspoon instant yeast 1¼ teaspoons salt Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed. 1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. 2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes. 3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. 4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. Yield: One 1½-pound loaf. www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0Mrs. Snape and I swear by the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The recommended process is similar - although much less waiting, you can go from mix to table in about 3 hours if you really want to push it - and there are dozens of bread recipes. After we got this book and took a liking to the method, I actually rearranged a shelf in our pantry to allow canister space for all the various flours I suddenly wanted to have on hand at all times. Here is it on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/1250018285/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384376260&sr=8-1&keywords=artisan+bread+in+five+minutes+a+dayWe have the original version, not the new version. |
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Post by Mrs. Peel on Nov 13, 2013 15:59:33 GMT -5
I've made this NYT recipe a few times, which is very fast and easy- it's a Japanese-style soup with soba noodles and veggies. I think I'm going to make it tonight. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they have a new Miso Ginger soup which is excellent, and which I would use in place of the stock in this recipe. www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/health/nutrition/26recipehealth.html6 cups kombu dashi, chicken stock or vegetable stock Salt to taste 6 ounces Japanese soba noodles, cooked and tossed with 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes (about 3/4 pound), peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick (cut in half lengthwise first if fat) 2 cups shredded cabbage 1 6-ounce bag baby spinach, rinsed 2 tablespoons minced chives Note: Sweet potatoes may be labeled as yams. Look for dark orange flesh. 1. Bring the stock to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt if desired. Add the sweet potatoes and cabbage, and simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 2. If the noodles have been refrigerated, warm them by placing them in a strainer and dipping the strainer into the simmering broth. Then distribute the noodles among four to six soup bowls. Add the spinach to the stock. Cover, and turn off the heat. Leave for three minutes. Ladle the soup into the bowls, taking care to distribute the vegetables evenly. Sprinkle the chives over each serving, and serve. Yield: Serves four as a main dish, six as a starter. |
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