My take on a Tex-Mex tradition. This version is designed for brunch, specifically, thus the sausage-and-eggs combo, which I'm pretty sure isn't in the normal version. I don't really care if I'm mucking about with the usual way of doing things, though; this one tasted great, and that's what I cared about!
Huevos Rancheros
4 large corn tortillas (or alternately, 1 large bag tortilla chips)
8 eggs
1/3 cup cream
2 tbsp chopped dill
1 lb loose turkey sausage
1 1/2 cups pepperjack cheese, grated
2 tomatoes, cubed
1 can black beans
(Optional) Jalepeno pepper slices
1 recipe of Salsamole
Sour cream
Olive oil
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk in the cream and the dill until reasonably homogenous. Add salt and pepper to taste. Scramble the cream-and-egg mixture over medium heat until the eggs are light and fluffy. Remove from heat and store someplace warm for a moment.
Warm the beans in a simmering pot. While the beans heat up, add a dash of olive oil to a saucepan and cook the sausage over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the sausage appropriately. Drain the beans.
Assemble the huevos rancheros immediately prior to serving. In a large saucepan, melt a pat of butter over medium-high until faintly browned, then toss in a tortilla on top and shift the pan from side to side a few times to encourage the butter to brown as much of the tortilla bottom as possible. Once the tortilla has had a moment to toast, add about 1/4 of the eggs, sausage, tomatoes, and beans on top. Cook for 3-4 minutes just until the whole thing is warmed through, then slide the huevos out of the saucepan and onto an oven-proof plate with one smooth motion. If you do this correctly, the toppings should barely even be disturbed. Top the whole thing off with a generous handful of cheese, a drizzle of salsamole, and a few of the jalepeno slices if you like those. Place under a broiler in an open oven, and broil until cheese is melted and slightly toasted. Serve immediately, with sour cream and extra salsamole on the side.
Servings: 4-6
Showing posts with label meat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meat. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Roast Chicken
Once upon a time, I dared myself to eat for $15 a week. I wasn't entirely sure when I decided to try it that it could be done, but it turns out that it's not so hard. The secret? Roast chicken.
A small whole chicken (3-4 pounds, a fryer hen) is ridiculously economical meat. I can get them at my local store for about $4.50. Roasted, they're enough to feed me dinner for three or four days, and they produce really useful byproducts: namely chicken stock and leftover bits of meat that I use for chicken salads. I've already given my chicken noodle soup recipe, and I'm somewhat shocked that I didn't give my roast recipe at that time, but since today I roasted a hen and it turned out beautifully, it's clearly time to remedy that oversight.
A good roast chicken is lovely to behold. Golden brown and juicy, I've always thought it's an almost formal-looking dish: a Thanksgiving turkey in miniature. Roasted properly, it's also lovely to taste, with a perfect moist-but-not-too-moist texture and a delicately herb infused flavour that I find difficult to achieve by any other method. Combine these succulent selling points with the fact that a single roast chicken easily can be stretched into meals for a week (two or three nights of plain chicken and some veggies, two or three nights of chicken noodle soup, two or three nights of hot chicken salad), it's a bird that more cooks should learn to lean on.
This method for roasting was cobbled together from various sources, most memorably the Zuni Cafe Cookbook's famous bird, and Barbara Kafka's Julia Child Cookbook Award-winning method.
Roast Chicken
1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs is perfect, but up to 6 lbs is fine)
Salt (1 tbsp per 4 lbs of bird)
Baking soda (use the same amount of baking soda as you do salt, so if you've got a 4 lb bird, use 1 tbsp of each)
1/2 cup fresh rosemary
1/2 cup fresh thyme
Begin the day before you plan to actually cook the bird. Extract the giblets and neck from the body of the bird (save these in a pot nearby and use them to make stock), and rinse the whole thing thoroughly. Using paper towels, dry the chicken completely both inside and out. Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the breast and thighs. Mix the salt and baking soda together, and rub the mixture evenly over the bird. Sit the salted-and-sodaed bird on a rack and put it back in the fridge to wait until the next day. I know that a lot of cooks aren't big on prep that needs to take place the day before, but let me tell you, this is worth it. It's essential. The salt soaks into the bird and gives it amazing flavour, and the baking soda dries out the skin so you get the coveted crisp, crackly skin that cookbook covers envy. Plus it cuts way down on the prep time for the day you cook the bird.
Once you've refrigerated your chicken, it's time to make stock. Fill a soup pot with water and toss in the giblets and neck. Add a handfull of baby carrots, some of the tough stems of brocolli, the dark green tops of leeks that you never use, etc. Boil this for a few hours, then strain it through cheesecloth and skim the fat off the top. Save the fat as seasoning if you like, but certainly save the stock. You can use it with leftover bits of the chicken meat to make soup.
The next day, begin by preheating your oven to 450F. Remove chicken and rack from the fridge, and turn the chicken over so that the breast is pointed down towards the rack. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits across the bottom of the chicken (the side currently facing up). This will allow the fat to drain off more effectively, and will help you achieve the perfect skin. Stuff your herbs into the cavity of the upside down chicken, then place chicken and rack in a roasting pan, and stick it in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and use two spatulas to turn it over so that the breast faces the top. I advise spatulas in lieu of tongs, because tongs have the anoying tendency to rip the skin, which is not the desired result. Spatulas are gentler. Once you've flipped your bird so that the breast side is facing up, sprinkle pepper on top and replace the ckicken in the oven for another 25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 140F. Raise the oven temperature to 500F, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature hits 165F. Remove the bird from the oven, and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before cutting it so that the juices get a chance to redistribute themselves.
A note about cooking at 500F: this temperature is high enough to burn all the dripped bits out of the bottom of your oven. As such, you may want to run your stove-top fan, and keep an eye on the bird to see if you need to open a window, because it may smoke a little. i've never yet had a bird catch fire, so I'm convinced this method is very safe, but because you're essentially cleaning the bottom of your oven by doing this, you may get smoke from some of the drips heating up.
Servings: 6-8, plus stock.
A small whole chicken (3-4 pounds, a fryer hen) is ridiculously economical meat. I can get them at my local store for about $4.50. Roasted, they're enough to feed me dinner for three or four days, and they produce really useful byproducts: namely chicken stock and leftover bits of meat that I use for chicken salads. I've already given my chicken noodle soup recipe, and I'm somewhat shocked that I didn't give my roast recipe at that time, but since today I roasted a hen and it turned out beautifully, it's clearly time to remedy that oversight.
A good roast chicken is lovely to behold. Golden brown and juicy, I've always thought it's an almost formal-looking dish: a Thanksgiving turkey in miniature. Roasted properly, it's also lovely to taste, with a perfect moist-but-not-too-moist texture and a delicately herb infused flavour that I find difficult to achieve by any other method. Combine these succulent selling points with the fact that a single roast chicken easily can be stretched into meals for a week (two or three nights of plain chicken and some veggies, two or three nights of chicken noodle soup, two or three nights of hot chicken salad), it's a bird that more cooks should learn to lean on.
This method for roasting was cobbled together from various sources, most memorably the Zuni Cafe Cookbook's famous bird, and Barbara Kafka's Julia Child Cookbook Award-winning method.
Roast Chicken
1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs is perfect, but up to 6 lbs is fine)
Salt (1 tbsp per 4 lbs of bird)
Baking soda (use the same amount of baking soda as you do salt, so if you've got a 4 lb bird, use 1 tbsp of each)
1/2 cup fresh rosemary
1/2 cup fresh thyme
Begin the day before you plan to actually cook the bird. Extract the giblets and neck from the body of the bird (save these in a pot nearby and use them to make stock), and rinse the whole thing thoroughly. Using paper towels, dry the chicken completely both inside and out. Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the breast and thighs. Mix the salt and baking soda together, and rub the mixture evenly over the bird. Sit the salted-and-sodaed bird on a rack and put it back in the fridge to wait until the next day. I know that a lot of cooks aren't big on prep that needs to take place the day before, but let me tell you, this is worth it. It's essential. The salt soaks into the bird and gives it amazing flavour, and the baking soda dries out the skin so you get the coveted crisp, crackly skin that cookbook covers envy. Plus it cuts way down on the prep time for the day you cook the bird.
Once you've refrigerated your chicken, it's time to make stock. Fill a soup pot with water and toss in the giblets and neck. Add a handfull of baby carrots, some of the tough stems of brocolli, the dark green tops of leeks that you never use, etc. Boil this for a few hours, then strain it through cheesecloth and skim the fat off the top. Save the fat as seasoning if you like, but certainly save the stock. You can use it with leftover bits of the chicken meat to make soup.
The next day, begin by preheating your oven to 450F. Remove chicken and rack from the fridge, and turn the chicken over so that the breast is pointed down towards the rack. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits across the bottom of the chicken (the side currently facing up). This will allow the fat to drain off more effectively, and will help you achieve the perfect skin. Stuff your herbs into the cavity of the upside down chicken, then place chicken and rack in a roasting pan, and stick it in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and use two spatulas to turn it over so that the breast faces the top. I advise spatulas in lieu of tongs, because tongs have the anoying tendency to rip the skin, which is not the desired result. Spatulas are gentler. Once you've flipped your bird so that the breast side is facing up, sprinkle pepper on top and replace the ckicken in the oven for another 25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 140F. Raise the oven temperature to 500F, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature hits 165F. Remove the bird from the oven, and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before cutting it so that the juices get a chance to redistribute themselves.
A note about cooking at 500F: this temperature is high enough to burn all the dripped bits out of the bottom of your oven. As such, you may want to run your stove-top fan, and keep an eye on the bird to see if you need to open a window, because it may smoke a little. i've never yet had a bird catch fire, so I'm convinced this method is very safe, but because you're essentially cleaning the bottom of your oven by doing this, you may get smoke from some of the drips heating up.
Servings: 6-8, plus stock.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Southern Egg Rolls with Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
A few months back, my parents went on vacation to Charleston, South Carolina and ate at a restaurant there called Magnolias, which is famous for its 'Southern Fusion' cuisine: southern-style takes on dishes from all over the world. Dad came back raving about the appetizer he'd had, a southern-style egg roll with a peach chutney on top. The idea sounded intriguing: substitute collard greens for the cabbage in an egg roll, and use Southern staple meats (chicken, ham, tasso). The chutney sounded amazing, and the ingredients in the egg roll didn't sound difficult. But I'm not one for frying, so I forgot about the egg rolls for a while.
Fast forward to three weeks ago. I was browsing through the cookbooks at my local Books-a-million. I'd been captivated by the plating in a cookbook by Morimoto (yes, the Iron Chef), and I still want to try the recipe for vegan mac-and-cheese in a Moosewood cookbook. But while browsing the regional cuisines shelf, I noticed that Magnolias had put out a cookbook, and lo and behold, there in a place of honor was the recipe for the egg rolls. "Well, that looks easy," I thought. "It's all ingredients I should be able to find around here, and none of the techniques look tough." But I still wasn't a fan of frying. So the egg rolls kind of percolated in the back of my mind for a few weeks, and today when I went grocery shopping, I swore to try them before the season for peaches went out. The key to my change of heart was a blog recipe I found for baked egg rolls, a genius invention that eliminated all the downsides I had been worrying about with this recipe.
They were amazing. They're very very good, a combination of chewy and crisp, earthy and light, with a dash of sweetness from the chutney holding everything together and making it sing. Seriously, don't make this without the chutney. It is the je ne sais quoi that makes this recipe work. I'll be making these again and again, not just for dad, but because I think I'm in love too.
Southern Egg Rolls with Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
Egg Rolls:
1/2 minced large vidalia onion
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 lb kale or collard greens, uncooked (I use kale, but I'll try collards next time, because I think their stronger flavour will pair well with the chutney)
10 egg roll wrappers
1 tbsp cornstarch
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Begin by preheating the oven to 425F.
Wash the greens thoroughly, and wilt them in a saucepan over medium-high heat with a teeny dash of olive oil, just enough to keep them from sticking to the pan. When they're wilted, slide them out of the pan and onto a cutting board, then chop them into thin, short ribbons. Once they've been chopped, slide them onto folded paper towels, place another folded paper towel on top, and press as much moisture as you can out of the greens. Then transfer them to a colander and use your paper towels to mash them against the sides of the colander, to get even more moisture out. Leave them in the colander to drain while you finish the rest of the filling preparations. Sprinkle some salt over the draining greens to help them remove water, and to season them.
Mince the onion and slide it into the saucepan to saute over medium-high heat. When the onion is just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook until the onion has caramelized. Reserve the onion and garlic in a medium-sized bowl, and use the same saucepan to cook the chicken, again, using only a teeny dash of olive oil to keep it from sticking. When the chicken is done all the way through and slightly browned, slide it out of the pan and onto the cutting board, where you can chop it into bite-sized strips. Add it to the onion and garlic, then dump in the greens. Use your hands to mix these ingredients thoroughly.
At this point, all the egg roll fillings are finished and you're ready to roll your wrappers. Do not begin rolling, however, until you've started your chutney over heat. Go chop all the stuff for that, then come back to this. Ready? Good.
Set a paper towel over your cutting board to help keep it dry. In a small dish, mix the tbsp of cornstarch with an equal amount of water, and stir until it has no lumps. Place an egg roll wrapper on the towel with one corner facing down, so that it looks like a diamond instead of a square. Brush the edges with the cornstarch mixture, to help them stick. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out a heaping 1/4 cup of filling and place it in the middle of the diamond. Arrange the filling into a thick horizontal line between the right and left corner of the diamond. Fold the bottom corner of the diamond upwards, to form a sort of pouch over the filling. Fold the right and left corners each a small way in, just enough to cover the filling (so that the roll takes on a long, thinnish shape). Finish by rolling the egg roll towards the top. Repeat until you've use all your filling (I usually get between seven and ten egg rolls out of this, depending on how much greens I'm using).
Take a baking sheet, and spray it with non-stick spray. Place the egg rolls evenly on the sheet, seam side down, and then spray the tops with the non-stick spray. Bake for 6-7 minutes on one side, then turn them over, spray the other side with cooking spray, and bake for 6-7 more minutes to finish. Serve while hot, with chutney on the side for dipping.
Because they're baked instead of fried, these tend to reheat pretty well in a toaster oven for lunch the next day, if you manage to have leftovers.
Servings: 2-3 if you use them as a meal like I do and everyone eats several, or 8-10 if you use them as appetizers and everyone eats only one.
Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
1 large, or two small peaches, peeled and minced (If you're using frozen peaches, go for about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 vidalia onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
Slightly less than 1/4 cup light brown sugar (I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup, but don't quite fill it all the way)
Slightly less than 1/4 cup regular sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar
Add all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until they're mixed. Turn the heat down to medium-low (on my stove, this is a very thin boil) and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chutney thickens and achieves a syrupy consistency. While it's cooking, go roll your egg rolls and let those cook. At first, the chutney will get more liquidy instead of less, since the sugar will encourage the peaches to release their juices, but eventually it will thicken back up. Use it immediately, or cool it to room temperature and refrigerate. It should keep 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
Note: If you're using fresh peaches, go for slightly underripe ones. The ones your grocery store sells are probably perfect. If you use fully ripe ones, they'll lose their consistency during cooking and get mushy.
Servings: see above, with the egg rolls.
Fast forward to three weeks ago. I was browsing through the cookbooks at my local Books-a-million. I'd been captivated by the plating in a cookbook by Morimoto (yes, the Iron Chef), and I still want to try the recipe for vegan mac-and-cheese in a Moosewood cookbook. But while browsing the regional cuisines shelf, I noticed that Magnolias had put out a cookbook, and lo and behold, there in a place of honor was the recipe for the egg rolls. "Well, that looks easy," I thought. "It's all ingredients I should be able to find around here, and none of the techniques look tough." But I still wasn't a fan of frying. So the egg rolls kind of percolated in the back of my mind for a few weeks, and today when I went grocery shopping, I swore to try them before the season for peaches went out. The key to my change of heart was a blog recipe I found for baked egg rolls, a genius invention that eliminated all the downsides I had been worrying about with this recipe.
They were amazing. They're very very good, a combination of chewy and crisp, earthy and light, with a dash of sweetness from the chutney holding everything together and making it sing. Seriously, don't make this without the chutney. It is the je ne sais quoi that makes this recipe work. I'll be making these again and again, not just for dad, but because I think I'm in love too.
Southern Egg Rolls with Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
Egg Rolls:
1/2 minced large vidalia onion
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 lb kale or collard greens, uncooked (I use kale, but I'll try collards next time, because I think their stronger flavour will pair well with the chutney)
10 egg roll wrappers
1 tbsp cornstarch
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Begin by preheating the oven to 425F.
Wash the greens thoroughly, and wilt them in a saucepan over medium-high heat with a teeny dash of olive oil, just enough to keep them from sticking to the pan. When they're wilted, slide them out of the pan and onto a cutting board, then chop them into thin, short ribbons. Once they've been chopped, slide them onto folded paper towels, place another folded paper towel on top, and press as much moisture as you can out of the greens. Then transfer them to a colander and use your paper towels to mash them against the sides of the colander, to get even more moisture out. Leave them in the colander to drain while you finish the rest of the filling preparations. Sprinkle some salt over the draining greens to help them remove water, and to season them.
Mince the onion and slide it into the saucepan to saute over medium-high heat. When the onion is just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook until the onion has caramelized. Reserve the onion and garlic in a medium-sized bowl, and use the same saucepan to cook the chicken, again, using only a teeny dash of olive oil to keep it from sticking. When the chicken is done all the way through and slightly browned, slide it out of the pan and onto the cutting board, where you can chop it into bite-sized strips. Add it to the onion and garlic, then dump in the greens. Use your hands to mix these ingredients thoroughly.
At this point, all the egg roll fillings are finished and you're ready to roll your wrappers. Do not begin rolling, however, until you've started your chutney over heat. Go chop all the stuff for that, then come back to this. Ready? Good.
Set a paper towel over your cutting board to help keep it dry. In a small dish, mix the tbsp of cornstarch with an equal amount of water, and stir until it has no lumps. Place an egg roll wrapper on the towel with one corner facing down, so that it looks like a diamond instead of a square. Brush the edges with the cornstarch mixture, to help them stick. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out a heaping 1/4 cup of filling and place it in the middle of the diamond. Arrange the filling into a thick horizontal line between the right and left corner of the diamond. Fold the bottom corner of the diamond upwards, to form a sort of pouch over the filling. Fold the right and left corners each a small way in, just enough to cover the filling (so that the roll takes on a long, thinnish shape). Finish by rolling the egg roll towards the top. Repeat until you've use all your filling (I usually get between seven and ten egg rolls out of this, depending on how much greens I'm using).
Take a baking sheet, and spray it with non-stick spray. Place the egg rolls evenly on the sheet, seam side down, and then spray the tops with the non-stick spray. Bake for 6-7 minutes on one side, then turn them over, spray the other side with cooking spray, and bake for 6-7 more minutes to finish. Serve while hot, with chutney on the side for dipping.
Because they're baked instead of fried, these tend to reheat pretty well in a toaster oven for lunch the next day, if you manage to have leftovers.
Servings: 2-3 if you use them as a meal like I do and everyone eats several, or 8-10 if you use them as appetizers and everyone eats only one.
Peach-Red Pepper Chutney
1 large, or two small peaches, peeled and minced (If you're using frozen peaches, go for about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 vidalia onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
Slightly less than 1/4 cup light brown sugar (I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup, but don't quite fill it all the way)
Slightly less than 1/4 cup regular sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar
Add all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until they're mixed. Turn the heat down to medium-low (on my stove, this is a very thin boil) and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chutney thickens and achieves a syrupy consistency. While it's cooking, go roll your egg rolls and let those cook. At first, the chutney will get more liquidy instead of less, since the sugar will encourage the peaches to release their juices, but eventually it will thicken back up. Use it immediately, or cool it to room temperature and refrigerate. It should keep 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
Note: If you're using fresh peaches, go for slightly underripe ones. The ones your grocery store sells are probably perfect. If you use fully ripe ones, they'll lose their consistency during cooking and get mushy.
Servings: see above, with the egg rolls.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Lemon Dill Tilapia
After a productive August, September has been so drab. The two recipes I've given are good, but it's only two. Sigh. Perhaps I shouldn't set my goals so high. When you're like me and eat leftovers for literally a week after you cook, seven recipes in a month is an accomplishment.
Anyway, here's a recipe I tried recently and liked. The best thing about this is that while it tastes good and is remarkably forgiving (I left it in the oven for seven minutes longer than it should be, oops!), it only takes about three minutes to make. If you're slow about chopping things. The toughest part about this is remembering to set the fish out to thaw beforehand. Also, conveniently, this recipe doesn't produce enough leftovers to last for weeks. I'll only be eating it for a few days, and it's good enough that leftovers won't be a chore at all.
The actual fish is very good. I don't poach things often, but this is poached in dill-infused lemon juice and parchment, and the texture is wonderful. The flavour is very lemony, but while it's strong, I didn't find it overwhelming. In fact, I liked it more than usual, because I'm not a big fan of 'fishy' tasting fish. I like my fish delicate and sweet, or steaky, like young flounder for the former or salmon for the latter. Tilapia is just not my favorite fish, even if it's cheap. This recipe doesn't talk down to the tilapia, but it also doesn't let the tilapia run away with the show.
Lemon-dill Tilapia
1 1/2 lemons, sliced
2 tilapia fillets (To buy fresh tilapia, look for fillets that are reddish, not brownish. Brownish means old.)
10 -15 baby carrots, chopped into little circles
2 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt
Pepper
Thaw the fish first, if frozen. Preheat the oven to 375F.
Cut parchment paper into two 13x9 rectangles. Don't worry about the dimensions much, you just need enough to be able to wrap a fillet in each. Place three lemon slices in the center of each rectangle, and sit a fillet on top of them. Sprinkle salt and pepper over each fillet. Add the remaining lemon slices to the top of each fillet, and sprinkle both fillets evenly with carrots, dill, and paprika. Top each fillet with 1/2 tbsp butter. Fold the parchment over the fish, and tuck the ends of each parchment packet under to keep it closed. Sit both parchment packets on a baking sheet to eliminate any mess in the oven.
Bake at 375F for 20 - 25 minutes or until the fish is done. The timing on this is really forgiving, you won't get overdone fish even if you leave it in for a half hour. Serve immediately.
Servings: 2-3
Anyway, here's a recipe I tried recently and liked. The best thing about this is that while it tastes good and is remarkably forgiving (I left it in the oven for seven minutes longer than it should be, oops!), it only takes about three minutes to make. If you're slow about chopping things. The toughest part about this is remembering to set the fish out to thaw beforehand. Also, conveniently, this recipe doesn't produce enough leftovers to last for weeks. I'll only be eating it for a few days, and it's good enough that leftovers won't be a chore at all.
The actual fish is very good. I don't poach things often, but this is poached in dill-infused lemon juice and parchment, and the texture is wonderful. The flavour is very lemony, but while it's strong, I didn't find it overwhelming. In fact, I liked it more than usual, because I'm not a big fan of 'fishy' tasting fish. I like my fish delicate and sweet, or steaky, like young flounder for the former or salmon for the latter. Tilapia is just not my favorite fish, even if it's cheap. This recipe doesn't talk down to the tilapia, but it also doesn't let the tilapia run away with the show.
Lemon-dill Tilapia
1 1/2 lemons, sliced
2 tilapia fillets (To buy fresh tilapia, look for fillets that are reddish, not brownish. Brownish means old.)
10 -15 baby carrots, chopped into little circles
2 tbsp fresh dill
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt
Pepper
Thaw the fish first, if frozen. Preheat the oven to 375F.
Cut parchment paper into two 13x9 rectangles. Don't worry about the dimensions much, you just need enough to be able to wrap a fillet in each. Place three lemon slices in the center of each rectangle, and sit a fillet on top of them. Sprinkle salt and pepper over each fillet. Add the remaining lemon slices to the top of each fillet, and sprinkle both fillets evenly with carrots, dill, and paprika. Top each fillet with 1/2 tbsp butter. Fold the parchment over the fish, and tuck the ends of each parchment packet under to keep it closed. Sit both parchment packets on a baking sheet to eliminate any mess in the oven.
Bake at 375F for 20 - 25 minutes or until the fish is done. The timing on this is really forgiving, you won't get overdone fish even if you leave it in for a half hour. Serve immediately.
Servings: 2-3
Friday, August 29, 2008
Cashew Chicken Curry
Wow, August has been a productive month for me. Maybe I'm making up for all the recipes I didn't post over the rest of the summer. No doubt I'll slack off again soon, as school has begun. But for today, here's a new one that I think I'll be returning to frequently.
I love curries. There's a Thai place about fifteen minutes away that makes an excellent chicken curry, and I've always liked their stuff. Unfortunately, my own attempts at curry had never quite seemed right. Until I (on my current low-cal kick) stumbled across a WeightWatchers recipe that promised to taste great, and seemed pretty healthy to boot. Me being me, I took it and twisted it, adding my own stuff and changing proportions.
It was fabulous. This was curry the way I liked it, and now I can make it at home in large quantities. Because this recipe certainly makes a very large quantity! I'll be eating curry for supper for the rest of the week, but I don't mind. It has a whole lot of my favorite stuff in it (Cashews! I love cashews!), and it's just the right amount of heat with an underlying hint of sweetness. I'm betting this one goes into regular rotation on my menu.
This recipe could very easily be made vegetarian by just leaving out the chicken. It has enough veggies in it that it will still seem chunky and full. You could also substitute tofu cubes for the chicken. This is an especially good recipe for tofu, since the tofu absorbs the curry flavour deliciously during the recipe's simmering time. I've made it both ways, and it's good any way you choose.
Cashew Chicken Curry
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 thumb fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced (or three smaller cloves)
1-3 tbsp red curry paste
1 tsp cumin
1 lb chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces (chicken breasts work too, whatever you've got on hand)
28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 lb baby carrots, chopped
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, torn into chunks
1 tbsp fresh oregano
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
1/4 cup very finely chopped cashews (think dust), plus extra cashews for sprinkling over the top
1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 can coconut milk (14 oz)
1/2 lb frozen peas
Salt
Pepper
In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 1 tbsp of butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger, and saute until the onions are translucent but haven't yet begun to brown. Add the chicken, and keep a close eye on your pot (especially if you're using a soup pot instead of a dutch oven) to make sure that nothing sticks. Add the other tbsp of butter if necessary to prevent stickage. Stirring frequently, let the chicken pieces cook all the way through. Add the tomatoes, the carrots, and the mushrooms. Stir to make sure everything gets mixed together, and bring to a simmer. Add in the curry paste, the cumin, the oregano, the thyme, and the rosemary. Stir until the curry paste has completely dissolved in the liquids from the tomatoes. Taste it, then add salt and pepper as necessary.
A word on the curry paste: I personally used three very heaping teaspoons, and the resulting curry was only barely spicy. My roommate, who is sensitive to hot foods and dislikes them, pronounced it perfect. The key when first adding the curry is to remember that you will later be adding the coconut milk and the yogurt, both of which will cut down the spicy flavor, and you will be serving over rice, which will also mitigate the spicyness. So to get appropriately spicy curry, you actually need to make it hotter than you think you will enjoy at this step. It'll tone down later, trust me. But add more curry (at least a heaping teaspoon more, and even more than that if you really like things hot) than you think you need here, or you'll end up surprised by the mildness at the end. Do not be shy.
Bring the whole thing to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover the pot and let the mixture simmer for 25-30 min. It can go as long as 45 min if you get caught up doing something else, this simmering is not exact science. When you're ready, remove the cover and dump in the frozen peas, then turn the heat back up under the pot to bring it to a simmer again. Add the cashews, the yogurt, and the can of coconut milk, then stir. If you like your curry a little thicker, you can let it reduce for a few minutes, stirring slowly, but I usually just eat mine as is. Serve over rice, topped generously with cashew halves for crunch.
Servings: 8-10. This makes a pretty large pot. Curries are really good for leftovers, though, since the flavors blend and actually improve over time. You might like it better the second day than the first!
I love curries. There's a Thai place about fifteen minutes away that makes an excellent chicken curry, and I've always liked their stuff. Unfortunately, my own attempts at curry had never quite seemed right. Until I (on my current low-cal kick) stumbled across a WeightWatchers recipe that promised to taste great, and seemed pretty healthy to boot. Me being me, I took it and twisted it, adding my own stuff and changing proportions.
It was fabulous. This was curry the way I liked it, and now I can make it at home in large quantities. Because this recipe certainly makes a very large quantity! I'll be eating curry for supper for the rest of the week, but I don't mind. It has a whole lot of my favorite stuff in it (Cashews! I love cashews!), and it's just the right amount of heat with an underlying hint of sweetness. I'm betting this one goes into regular rotation on my menu.
This recipe could very easily be made vegetarian by just leaving out the chicken. It has enough veggies in it that it will still seem chunky and full. You could also substitute tofu cubes for the chicken. This is an especially good recipe for tofu, since the tofu absorbs the curry flavour deliciously during the recipe's simmering time. I've made it both ways, and it's good any way you choose.
Cashew Chicken Curry
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 thumb fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced (or three smaller cloves)
1-3 tbsp red curry paste
1 tsp cumin
1 lb chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces (chicken breasts work too, whatever you've got on hand)
28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 lb baby carrots, chopped
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, torn into chunks
1 tbsp fresh oregano
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
1/4 cup very finely chopped cashews (think dust), plus extra cashews for sprinkling over the top
1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 can coconut milk (14 oz)
1/2 lb frozen peas
Salt
Pepper
In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt 1 tbsp of butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger, and saute until the onions are translucent but haven't yet begun to brown. Add the chicken, and keep a close eye on your pot (especially if you're using a soup pot instead of a dutch oven) to make sure that nothing sticks. Add the other tbsp of butter if necessary to prevent stickage. Stirring frequently, let the chicken pieces cook all the way through. Add the tomatoes, the carrots, and the mushrooms. Stir to make sure everything gets mixed together, and bring to a simmer. Add in the curry paste, the cumin, the oregano, the thyme, and the rosemary. Stir until the curry paste has completely dissolved in the liquids from the tomatoes. Taste it, then add salt and pepper as necessary.
A word on the curry paste: I personally used three very heaping teaspoons, and the resulting curry was only barely spicy. My roommate, who is sensitive to hot foods and dislikes them, pronounced it perfect. The key when first adding the curry is to remember that you will later be adding the coconut milk and the yogurt, both of which will cut down the spicy flavor, and you will be serving over rice, which will also mitigate the spicyness. So to get appropriately spicy curry, you actually need to make it hotter than you think you will enjoy at this step. It'll tone down later, trust me. But add more curry (at least a heaping teaspoon more, and even more than that if you really like things hot) than you think you need here, or you'll end up surprised by the mildness at the end. Do not be shy.
Bring the whole thing to a boil, then turn the heat down, cover the pot and let the mixture simmer for 25-30 min. It can go as long as 45 min if you get caught up doing something else, this simmering is not exact science. When you're ready, remove the cover and dump in the frozen peas, then turn the heat back up under the pot to bring it to a simmer again. Add the cashews, the yogurt, and the can of coconut milk, then stir. If you like your curry a little thicker, you can let it reduce for a few minutes, stirring slowly, but I usually just eat mine as is. Serve over rice, topped generously with cashew halves for crunch.
Servings: 8-10. This makes a pretty large pot. Curries are really good for leftovers, though, since the flavors blend and actually improve over time. You might like it better the second day than the first!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Meat and Mushrooms
This is a good way to dress up cheap meat cuts. It's another of those recipes that came together when I discovered a few ingredients in my kitchen, and needed a way to use them. In this case, I had a package of cube steak in my freezer, and some mushrooms in the crisper that needed to be eaten before too many more days passed. Sounded like the perfect start to a meal. Add pasta, onion, garlic, some herbs, and a nice sauce, and viola, supper.
This doesn't take as long as I thought it might, so it's not bad for weeknights, but it's nice enough that I would serve it to company without blinking twice. It's also pretty forgiving: you could probably use just about any cut of beef and it would work fine. I would recommend hamburger steaks if that's what you've got on hand, or you could dress it up by using one of the nicer cuts. I bet you could even use NY strips and melt some provolone over the top for a neat date night meal that wouldn't require much stress.
Steak and Mushrooms
1/2 lb pasta (it doesn't really matter what pasta you use here. I used vermicelli, but to each her own)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb cube steak (Or whatever beef cut you've got on hand. This would probably even work with chicken.)
1/2 vidalia onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lb (8 oz) mushrooms
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup beef stock plus 1 tbsp beef stock, separate
1 tsp cornstarch
Optional: fresh-cut rosemary and thyme
Salt
Pepper
Begin boiling water for the pasta. When the water boils, add a dash of salt and the pasta to it. Keep and eye on this while you're doing the other things, and drain the pasta when it's cooked to al dente.
Start by cooking the meat as appropriate for whatever cut you're using. Salt and pepper the meat on both sides. Pour in 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and lay your cube steaks in a pan over medium-high heat. Turn after 3-4 minutes, and cook the other side until they're done. If you're not using cube steaks, cook whatever meat you're using until it's appropriately done. Remove the meat from the pan to a plate, and let it sit for a while to absorb its own juices.
While the meat is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Wash the mushrooms, and slice them into 1/4 inch thick slices. When the meat has been removed from the pan, add the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is lightly browned. If you need more olive oil to keep the onion from sticking, add more, but be sparing. You probably won't need the whole 3 tbsp I've allotted. You may need to turn the heat down a little to keep things from cooking too quickly here, you want this to go slowly enough that the mushrooms will have time to saute before the onions caramelize to a pulp.
When the onion is slightly browned and the garlic has begun to turn translucent, add the mushrooms and let the whole thing cook for a while. When the mushrooms have sauted themselves soft, add the balsamic vinegar and let that cook for a minute or so to get the strong vinegary taste out. Then add the worchestershire sauce, and 1/2 cup of the beef stock. Stir, and let the whole thing simmer. If you're using the rosemary and thyme, chop those finely and add them now. Add the meat back into the pan with the sauce, as well as any juices that might have seeped out as the meat was settling, so that the meat can start to absorb some of the flavour of the sauce.
In a separate cup, mix the remaining tbsp of beef stock and the tsp of corstarch together, then add those to the pan with the mushroom mixture. Let the sauce simmer for another 3 minutes or so, to mix everything together and give the starch a chance to thicken it a little. Taste it, and add salt and pepper as appropriate. Serve over the pasta.
Servings: 4-6
This doesn't take as long as I thought it might, so it's not bad for weeknights, but it's nice enough that I would serve it to company without blinking twice. It's also pretty forgiving: you could probably use just about any cut of beef and it would work fine. I would recommend hamburger steaks if that's what you've got on hand, or you could dress it up by using one of the nicer cuts. I bet you could even use NY strips and melt some provolone over the top for a neat date night meal that wouldn't require much stress.
Steak and Mushrooms
1/2 lb pasta (it doesn't really matter what pasta you use here. I used vermicelli, but to each her own)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb cube steak (Or whatever beef cut you've got on hand. This would probably even work with chicken.)
1/2 vidalia onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lb (8 oz) mushrooms
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup beef stock plus 1 tbsp beef stock, separate
1 tsp cornstarch
Optional: fresh-cut rosemary and thyme
Salt
Pepper
Begin boiling water for the pasta. When the water boils, add a dash of salt and the pasta to it. Keep and eye on this while you're doing the other things, and drain the pasta when it's cooked to al dente.
Start by cooking the meat as appropriate for whatever cut you're using. Salt and pepper the meat on both sides. Pour in 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and lay your cube steaks in a pan over medium-high heat. Turn after 3-4 minutes, and cook the other side until they're done. If you're not using cube steaks, cook whatever meat you're using until it's appropriately done. Remove the meat from the pan to a plate, and let it sit for a while to absorb its own juices.
While the meat is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Wash the mushrooms, and slice them into 1/4 inch thick slices. When the meat has been removed from the pan, add the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is lightly browned. If you need more olive oil to keep the onion from sticking, add more, but be sparing. You probably won't need the whole 3 tbsp I've allotted. You may need to turn the heat down a little to keep things from cooking too quickly here, you want this to go slowly enough that the mushrooms will have time to saute before the onions caramelize to a pulp.
When the onion is slightly browned and the garlic has begun to turn translucent, add the mushrooms and let the whole thing cook for a while. When the mushrooms have sauted themselves soft, add the balsamic vinegar and let that cook for a minute or so to get the strong vinegary taste out. Then add the worchestershire sauce, and 1/2 cup of the beef stock. Stir, and let the whole thing simmer. If you're using the rosemary and thyme, chop those finely and add them now. Add the meat back into the pan with the sauce, as well as any juices that might have seeped out as the meat was settling, so that the meat can start to absorb some of the flavour of the sauce.
In a separate cup, mix the remaining tbsp of beef stock and the tsp of corstarch together, then add those to the pan with the mushroom mixture. Let the sauce simmer for another 3 minutes or so, to mix everything together and give the starch a chance to thicken it a little. Taste it, and add salt and pepper as appropriate. Serve over the pasta.
Servings: 4-6
Friday, June 20, 2008
Turkey Meatballs
Holy crap, these are good! I'd never tried cooking with ground turkey before, but when I noticed at my grocery that it's both cheaper and healthier than ground beef, I thought I'd give it a go. Orangette provided a recipe for me to riff on, and I was ready to cook.
And oh man, these are fabulous. Even my red-meat-and-potatoes parents loved these. They're fast, easy, and delicious. What more could I ask of a first experiment with turkey? I think I'll be using it more often.
Turkey Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey meat
1 medium onion, diced
2 eggs
2 tbsp fresh basil, shredded
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup plain fine bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper
Cumin (a few shakes. I probably used 1/2 tsp, all told)
Olive oil
Mix everything except the olive oil together in a large bowl. Use your hands and get it all gooey, but try to avoid overmixing, since that just makes the turkey tougher. Make little balls about an inch wide (lean towards the smaller here; larger take too long to cook and the bottoms might get burnt) out of the mix. Heat a thin film of olive oil to just over medium heat, and saute your meatballs in batches so they don't get too crowded (too close together and they steam instead of sauteing, which ruins the consistency). Turn them as they color on the bottom so that all sides get evenly cooked. When they're done (check one with a fork if in doubt), drain them on a plate with a paper towel to catch any excess oil.
And oh man, these are fabulous. Even my red-meat-and-potatoes parents loved these. They're fast, easy, and delicious. What more could I ask of a first experiment with turkey? I think I'll be using it more often.
Turkey Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey meat
1 medium onion, diced
2 eggs
2 tbsp fresh basil, shredded
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup plain fine bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper
Cumin (a few shakes. I probably used 1/2 tsp, all told)
Olive oil
Mix everything except the olive oil together in a large bowl. Use your hands and get it all gooey, but try to avoid overmixing, since that just makes the turkey tougher. Make little balls about an inch wide (lean towards the smaller here; larger take too long to cook and the bottoms might get burnt) out of the mix. Heat a thin film of olive oil to just over medium heat, and saute your meatballs in batches so they don't get too crowded (too close together and they steam instead of sauteing, which ruins the consistency). Turn them as they color on the bottom so that all sides get evenly cooked. When they're done (check one with a fork if in doubt), drain them on a plate with a paper towel to catch any excess oil.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Parmesan-Crusted Salmon Ceasar Salad
Boy, I wrote that title and thought, 'Wow, it makes this salad sound fancy!' And to some degree, it is. This is a classy dish that just screams summer to me. Fresh, crunchy lettuce, plump little tomatoes, a tangy twist on classic Caesar dressing, and salmon pieces wrapped in a delicate Parmesan-breadcrumb crust make this a light, healthy meal that leaves you full but not stuffed. I don't think I've ever eaten a restaurant salad that left me with the same feeling of full flavour, but healthy calorie-count.
I'm not usually a salad person, but I had some lettuce languishing in my fridge after making burgers and gougeres, so one day when I needed something clean and light I thought I'd try to gussy it up into something that even my non-salad-eating self would like. Most of my original recipes happen this way, I think: I'll look into the fridge and think "Oh, that needs to be used before it goes bad. What sort of thing could I do with it that doesn't require a trip to the grocery store?" Laziness and thrift are the mothers of my culinary invention.
This particular gem was inspired by the lettuce I needed to use, and the fact that I'd frozen a salmon steak earlier in the month, so I had some salmon on hand. I'd thought about using chicken originally (and you could probably substitute chicken for salmon here and still have a great salad), but I didn't have any chicken on hand. It was late in the week, and I needed to get to the grocery. So salmon it was, and I think it ended up being a fortuitous choice. Chicken, while a nice all-purpose meat, can't rival salmon for both clean, healthy flavor and a certain classiness that salmon conveys. Salmon has long been my go-to meat when I need to feel like I'm being good, when I feel like I've eaten to much fried or cream-heavy stuff for a few days. Salmon is a palate cleanser, and pairing it with the refreshing salad makes for a really healthy, sort of Zen meal.
I will definitely make this one again, and I foresee it becoming a staple in my summer repertoire. As long as there are fresh veggies and swimsuit figures to consider, this salad is a great way for me to feel like I'm doing something good for myself, as well as good for my tastebuds!
Parmesan-Crusted Salmon Caesar Salad
For the dressing:
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
A scant 1/2 cup olive oil
About 1/2 - 1 tbsp finely chopped cooked salmon (I just microwave a small chunk off the salmon I'm about to cook anyway, then mince it with a sharp knife)
3 loves garlic, very finely chopped
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups lightly packed Parmesan or Parmegiano-Reggiano, finely grated
Salt
Pepper
For the salmon nuggets:
1 lb salmon fillet (salmon steaks don't work so well for this, and fillets are cheaper anyway)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/2 cup plain or Italian fine, dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 eggs
3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper
For the salad (use your favorites here, obviously, but here's what I used):
Romaine lettuce
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
15 baby carrots, sliced into small circles
2 eggs, boiled and sliced into quarters
1 cucumber, sliced into circles
Begin by making the dressing. Combine the vinegar, oil, minced salmon, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkling of pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly. Add the egg and a few sprinkles of the cheese, whisk those in, and taste it. Add more salt or pepper as necessary. Add the lemon juice, and whisk that in. Taste it again, first by itself, then on a piece of your lettuce. Adjust the dressing to suit the taste of the lettuce -- if the lettuce is very sweet, it may be fine as is, but if the lettuce is a little old or minerally, you may want to add more lemon juice to pull out brightness, more garlic to spike up the fresh flavour a little if the lettuce is bland, or a pinch of sugar to mitigate the acid in the dressing if the lettuce runs toward the minerally. I usually just go with whatever my instinct is, and use a combination of the above techniques to achieve a balanced taste. The key is to add things slowly, so that you don't ruin the dressing. When in doubt, spoon a small amount into another cup, adjust that and taste it until you've got it right, then adjust the rest when you know what needs to be done. When you've got the dressing to your taste, whisk it once more for good measure and stick it in the fridge to chill out while you do the rest of the salad.
Next, make the salmon nuggets. Use a very sharp knife to remove the skin from your salmon fillet. Next, salt and pepper the fillet on both sides, then cut it into nugget-sized chunks. 1 - 1 1/2 inch squares is usually what I go for. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir this until completely combined. In a separate bowl, beat the egg lightly.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Dredge the salmon chunks in the egg, then coat them in the breadcrumb mixture. Set them in the pan to cook, turning them occasionally so that all side of the breadcrumbs get browned. Cook until salmon is done through (about 2 minutes per side, in my experience), then remove the chunks to a paper towel and allow them to drain. Not all of the chunks will fit in the saucepan at once (you don't want them to crowd each other overmuch, it will interfere with their browning process), so you'll probably have to do these in a few batches. When the salmon nuggets are finished, they can be put in an oven or toaster on 200F to keep warm while you prep the rest of the salad.
The final step is salad preparation. Assemble your lettuce into the bowl, and retrieve your dressing from the fridge. Drizzle the dressing very lightly over the lettuce, then toss to ensure that all lettuce pieces are covered in a thin film of dressing. Dust the whole thing with the remaining cheese (remember how you only used a few sprinkles earlier?), coating each piece of lettuce in a 'dust' of grated cheese. Add whatever other salad toppings you're using (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, croutons, etc), and pour any remaining cheese over the top. Place the salmon nuggets on top of the salad, and serve the remaining dressing alongside for people to spoon over the salad as they please.
Servings: 2-3, depending mostly on how much salmon everyone like to eat
I'm not usually a salad person, but I had some lettuce languishing in my fridge after making burgers and gougeres, so one day when I needed something clean and light I thought I'd try to gussy it up into something that even my non-salad-eating self would like. Most of my original recipes happen this way, I think: I'll look into the fridge and think "Oh, that needs to be used before it goes bad. What sort of thing could I do with it that doesn't require a trip to the grocery store?" Laziness and thrift are the mothers of my culinary invention.
This particular gem was inspired by the lettuce I needed to use, and the fact that I'd frozen a salmon steak earlier in the month, so I had some salmon on hand. I'd thought about using chicken originally (and you could probably substitute chicken for salmon here and still have a great salad), but I didn't have any chicken on hand. It was late in the week, and I needed to get to the grocery. So salmon it was, and I think it ended up being a fortuitous choice. Chicken, while a nice all-purpose meat, can't rival salmon for both clean, healthy flavor and a certain classiness that salmon conveys. Salmon has long been my go-to meat when I need to feel like I'm being good, when I feel like I've eaten to much fried or cream-heavy stuff for a few days. Salmon is a palate cleanser, and pairing it with the refreshing salad makes for a really healthy, sort of Zen meal.
I will definitely make this one again, and I foresee it becoming a staple in my summer repertoire. As long as there are fresh veggies and swimsuit figures to consider, this salad is a great way for me to feel like I'm doing something good for myself, as well as good for my tastebuds!
Parmesan-Crusted Salmon Caesar Salad
For the dressing:
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
A scant 1/2 cup olive oil
About 1/2 - 1 tbsp finely chopped cooked salmon (I just microwave a small chunk off the salmon I'm about to cook anyway, then mince it with a sharp knife)
3 loves garlic, very finely chopped
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups lightly packed Parmesan or Parmegiano-Reggiano, finely grated
Salt
Pepper
For the salmon nuggets:
1 lb salmon fillet (salmon steaks don't work so well for this, and fillets are cheaper anyway)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/2 cup plain or Italian fine, dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 eggs
3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper
For the salad (use your favorites here, obviously, but here's what I used):
Romaine lettuce
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
15 baby carrots, sliced into small circles
2 eggs, boiled and sliced into quarters
1 cucumber, sliced into circles
Begin by making the dressing. Combine the vinegar, oil, minced salmon, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkling of pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly. Add the egg and a few sprinkles of the cheese, whisk those in, and taste it. Add more salt or pepper as necessary. Add the lemon juice, and whisk that in. Taste it again, first by itself, then on a piece of your lettuce. Adjust the dressing to suit the taste of the lettuce -- if the lettuce is very sweet, it may be fine as is, but if the lettuce is a little old or minerally, you may want to add more lemon juice to pull out brightness, more garlic to spike up the fresh flavour a little if the lettuce is bland, or a pinch of sugar to mitigate the acid in the dressing if the lettuce runs toward the minerally. I usually just go with whatever my instinct is, and use a combination of the above techniques to achieve a balanced taste. The key is to add things slowly, so that you don't ruin the dressing. When in doubt, spoon a small amount into another cup, adjust that and taste it until you've got it right, then adjust the rest when you know what needs to be done. When you've got the dressing to your taste, whisk it once more for good measure and stick it in the fridge to chill out while you do the rest of the salad.
Next, make the salmon nuggets. Use a very sharp knife to remove the skin from your salmon fillet. Next, salt and pepper the fillet on both sides, then cut it into nugget-sized chunks. 1 - 1 1/2 inch squares is usually what I go for. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir this until completely combined. In a separate bowl, beat the egg lightly.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Dredge the salmon chunks in the egg, then coat them in the breadcrumb mixture. Set them in the pan to cook, turning them occasionally so that all side of the breadcrumbs get browned. Cook until salmon is done through (about 2 minutes per side, in my experience), then remove the chunks to a paper towel and allow them to drain. Not all of the chunks will fit in the saucepan at once (you don't want them to crowd each other overmuch, it will interfere with their browning process), so you'll probably have to do these in a few batches. When the salmon nuggets are finished, they can be put in an oven or toaster on 200F to keep warm while you prep the rest of the salad.
The final step is salad preparation. Assemble your lettuce into the bowl, and retrieve your dressing from the fridge. Drizzle the dressing very lightly over the lettuce, then toss to ensure that all lettuce pieces are covered in a thin film of dressing. Dust the whole thing with the remaining cheese (remember how you only used a few sprinkles earlier?), coating each piece of lettuce in a 'dust' of grated cheese. Add whatever other salad toppings you're using (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, croutons, etc), and pour any remaining cheese over the top. Place the salmon nuggets on top of the salad, and serve the remaining dressing alongside for people to spoon over the salad as they please.
Servings: 2-3, depending mostly on how much salmon everyone like to eat
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Pork Tenderloin with Pear Glaze
This is the first of two recipes that go together. There's pork tenderloins with pear glaze, and the side dish is a potato salad with pears and haricot vert. A splashy little sauce/dressing (which I've included with the salad recipe) ties it all together.
The idea for this dish is a riff on something I saw on Top Chef. Yes, I watch Top Chef. It is my weekly reality-show crack. I always sit there in the comfort of my living room, cat on my lap, popcorn by my side, and think, "Gosh, I could cook better than some of these people." But last week's top chef featured a recipe that was reputedly very good for pork tenderloins on the grill, and I found myself intrigued by the pear in the potato salad that the chef (Stephanie Izard) served alongside. So today I came up with this version, which needs no grill and includes a glaze for the pork loin. I am not a grill person, I loathe grills with a passion (so messy, so much cleanup, so finicky for the proper temperature!), so this is designed to grab the good flavors of the recipe in an oven.
Pork Tenderloin with Pear Glaze
Pork tenderloin:
1 pork tenderloin
1 tbsp olive oil
Pear Glaze:
1/2 red pear, core removed and very thinly sliced (save the other half to use in the salad)
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/4 large white onion, finely diced
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 sprig rosemary, chopped very finely (use a spice grinder if you've got one)
Salt
Pepper
For the absolute best flavour, start a day early and salt the tenderloin. 1 tbsp salt for 4 lbs meat is a good rule of thumb. Let the tenderloin sit in the fridge overnight to absorb the salt.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Rinse the tenderloin and trim off any excess fat. Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan (I use non-stick, it makes things easier) over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated, drop in the tenderloin and brown it on all sides (less than 2 minutes per side is good). Transfer the browned tenderloin to a foil-lined roasting pan, and let it hang out there for a few minutes.
In the same saucepan that you used to brown the roast (there should still be a little olive oil in the bottom), add the diced onions. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, then add the garlic. Give that 2 or 3 minutes, then add the finely sliced pear, the butter, and the rosemary. Cook all of this together for about five minutes, until the butter is just beginning to brown and the pears are falling apart. Salt it gently (Emphasis on the gently. You don't want this too salty). Pour this glaze over the tenderloin, spreading the pear-onion bits evenly along the top.
Cook the tenderloin for an hour or so, turning every 20 minutes to prevent the top from drying out. The inside should be white and not give off pink juice when poked with a knife. When the tenderloin is finished, slice it into medallions and serve over Potato-Pear salad, covered lightly with the rosemary dressing from that recipe.
Servings: 6-8
The idea for this dish is a riff on something I saw on Top Chef. Yes, I watch Top Chef. It is my weekly reality-show crack. I always sit there in the comfort of my living room, cat on my lap, popcorn by my side, and think, "Gosh, I could cook better than some of these people." But last week's top chef featured a recipe that was reputedly very good for pork tenderloins on the grill, and I found myself intrigued by the pear in the potato salad that the chef (Stephanie Izard) served alongside. So today I came up with this version, which needs no grill and includes a glaze for the pork loin. I am not a grill person, I loathe grills with a passion (so messy, so much cleanup, so finicky for the proper temperature!), so this is designed to grab the good flavors of the recipe in an oven.
Pork Tenderloin with Pear Glaze
Pork tenderloin:
1 pork tenderloin
1 tbsp olive oil
Pear Glaze:
1/2 red pear, core removed and very thinly sliced (save the other half to use in the salad)
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/4 large white onion, finely diced
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 sprig rosemary, chopped very finely (use a spice grinder if you've got one)
Salt
Pepper
For the absolute best flavour, start a day early and salt the tenderloin. 1 tbsp salt for 4 lbs meat is a good rule of thumb. Let the tenderloin sit in the fridge overnight to absorb the salt.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Rinse the tenderloin and trim off any excess fat. Pour the olive oil into a large saucepan (I use non-stick, it makes things easier) over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated, drop in the tenderloin and brown it on all sides (less than 2 minutes per side is good). Transfer the browned tenderloin to a foil-lined roasting pan, and let it hang out there for a few minutes.
In the same saucepan that you used to brown the roast (there should still be a little olive oil in the bottom), add the diced onions. Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent, then add the garlic. Give that 2 or 3 minutes, then add the finely sliced pear, the butter, and the rosemary. Cook all of this together for about five minutes, until the butter is just beginning to brown and the pears are falling apart. Salt it gently (Emphasis on the gently. You don't want this too salty). Pour this glaze over the tenderloin, spreading the pear-onion bits evenly along the top.
Cook the tenderloin for an hour or so, turning every 20 minutes to prevent the top from drying out. The inside should be white and not give off pink juice when poked with a knife. When the tenderloin is finished, slice it into medallions and serve over Potato-Pear salad, covered lightly with the rosemary dressing from that recipe.
Servings: 6-8
Monday, March 24, 2008
Pot Roast
Pot roast: how hard can it be? People have been roasting things in pots for millenia, and if some prehistoric cavewoman could master braised mastodon over a fire that she wasn't 100% sure how to restart, then surely I could conquer a chuck roast. Or so I told myself when I purchased my first roast. The sad truth was, that particular roast conquered me. After two hours in the oven, it turned out dry, tough, and tasteless. The Mastodon probably tasted better. Roast:1 Me:0.
Clearly I needed tutelage in the art of the slow-cooked roast. So my second attempt was with the "help" of a Southern Living Cookbook (a Christmas gift from my mom) and a crockpot. I'm sure that the magazine meant well, but the recommended salted water (!) as a braising liquid was both too little and too bland: maybe it tasted better than the mastodon, but it surely wasn't the culinary paradise of tender, succulent meat that the recipe promised. In reality, though perhaps I'd graduated to the bronze age, I was still far from the roast that I wanted. After all, if cavewomen could master this technique, surely a college-educated, brainy feminist could grasp the basics of the braise. Roast: 2 Me:0.
So I set out to expand my braise-iary (I can totally turn that verb into an adjective!) horizons. The Zuni Cafe Cookbook - whose recipe I adapted for polenta fries a few days ago - helped, with extensive advice on braising. I also quizzed my Grandmother's nursing home neighbor, who had been a catering cook and personal chef in her youth. Thus, armed with the advice of elder generations and Beard-winning chefs, I set out once more into the fray. I traded the water (!) for a carefully constructed mixture of reduced wine and beef stock. The generic mirepoix (Can you believed I used a frozen veggie cubes mix? I was so naive!) got swapped out for a chunkier, funkier accompaniment. Instead of serving the over-cooked veggies alongside the roast, I grabbed a strainer and mashed them into submission as a puree to thicken my sauce. Who needs loads of cornstarch when the veggies you already roasted work better? Also, two hours is not nearly long enough to produce a heavenly-tender roast. Girded with the experience of my past mistakes, I set out to better myself. I was going to produce a perfect roast if it killed me, and then I did. My third attempt at braising a roast turned out delicately, fall-apart-on-the-fork tender, and the sauce the accompanied it was thick and luscious with a gorgeous red-brown color from wine and beets. I wallowed. And the leftovers! I swear it was even better the second day, if that's even possible. Roast:2 Me:1. My days in the dark ages of braising were over!
Braised Chuck Roast
Note: I advise tying this roast before anything else. It may not seem to need it when the roast is uncooked, but during the browning process, and especially after the roast is finished braising, it will literally fall apart if it's not secured with some sort of twine. So break out your kite string or your hemp rope, and tie it according to the instructions on the link above for an easier braising experience.
1 750ml bottle of a red wine with some body to it (think Burgundy or Cab Sauv here, nothing too fruity)
1 qt low sodium beef stock
1 large yellow onion
3 small beets (if your grocery doesn't carry small beets, use one large one instead)
15 baby carrots (or two large carrots)
4 lb shoulder chuck roast (Pick a roast with lots of connective tissues, where lots of muscles meet. Your butcher can help.)
1 tsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
Start by salting the meat (1 tbsp salt for every 4 lbs meat). Zuni recommends salting up to 3 days in advance, but I usually forget until the day before. Even so, salting in advance is a great idea, it really does make a flavour difference.
When you're ready to actually start your braise, get out a wide, shallow saucepan and pour in the whole bottle of wine. Sit it over medium high heat and let it reduce until it gets down to about half a cup. I know it sounds like that would take forever, but in reality it only takes about twenty minutes, and you can do other things in the meantime. Set another wide, shallow pan on a different burner, and pour in the quart of beef stock. That one should reduce to about two cups.
While your stock and wine are reducing, tie up the roast. Tying should compact the meat together (so it doesn't fall apart as easily), and bind in any irregular parts so that they'll cook more evenly.
After you tie the roast, chop your veggies. I usually just chop the onions into 1 1/2 inch wedges, and beets into thickish rounds, and the mini carrots in half. If you're using large carrots, chop them into chunks. Since everything is sort of thick and rustic, this shouldn't take long. These veggies don't have to be pretty, so just give them a once-through with a knife to get them into manageable portions.
Next, brown the roast. Pick a skillet not much larger than the roast. Add a very scant tsp of olive oil, and warm briefly over medium heat. Set the roast in the pan, and allow it to brown BUT NOT TO SCORCH. I know scorched bits are tasty when you're eating them on burgers or steaks, but imagine those bits once they've soaked for five hours in liquid. Ew. So the goal is brown, but not scorched. Turn the roast so that all sides and both ends are browned. This doesn't take long, two minutes or so per side is plenty.
By the time the tying, chopping, and browning is done, your liquids should be about reduced, and you are ready to start assembling your braise. Preheat the oven to 325F, and find a covered, oven-safe and flameproof dish that will accommodate your roast with about 2 or 3 inches to spare on all sides. This can be a Dutch oven, a large saute pan with a lid, a casserole dish, whatever floats your boat. Set the browned meat in the pan, then surround it on all sides with the veggies. The vegetables should be very crowded, and pressed right up against the meat. Scatter the bay leaves on top of the vegetables, and sprinkle pepper over the whole thing. Add the reduced wine then the reduced stock, so that the liquid comes to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 way up the roast. If you don't use all the stock, save the remainder for adding to the gravy, or for another recipe.
Cover the braise and bring it to a simmer on the stove (this cuts down on cooking time by a little). When it's simmering, take it off the stove and place the braising dish in the oven. Helpful hint: you may want to place it on some sort of tray first, then sit tray and dish in the oven, so that if it bubbles over it won't get your oven dirty. After two or so hours, turn the roast over, recover the dish, and sit it back in the oven to continue braising. After another hour, turn again. This help keep the top side of the meat from losing too much liquid and becoming unappetizingly dry. Turn it once more 15 minutes before it's done, so that no side will be too dried out.
Continue cooking for another hour or so, until the roast is fork-tender. The Zuni Cafe Cookbook recommends that one can extend the cooking time by dropping the oven temperature to 275F or even 250F, and cooking for five or six hours instead of four. This will produce an even more succulent roast. I've done this a few times, on Saturdays when I didn't have anything better to do, and it really does work.
When the roast is finished, remove it from the braising dish and let it rest. While it's resting, fish the veggies out of the sauce and into a strainer situated over a medium bowl. Mash them with a wooden spoon until you have a cup or so of veggie puree. Taste the sauce in the braising pan, and add puree to give it a little more body and sweetness. You don't have to use all the puree here although I usually do, this is a personal taste thing. If you've still got some reduced stock left over, pour that in, then use the puree to adjust thickness and taste. Other potential additives to the sauce include balsamic vinegar (just a little), a pinch of sugar (to balance out an acidic sauce), or a tbsp or so of cornstarch (for additional thickness). I usually use the cornstarch, because I like a more substantial gravy-like sauce.
Once you've got the sauce right, carve the roast (this shouldn't be difficult, properly-braised roasts are very very tender). As with all meat, braised roasts should be carved against the grain. Pour the sauce back over, and you're ready to serve.
Here's my little braising secret: this roast improves vastly with age. Let it sit in the refrigerator for a day, and what was merely a good roast will transform itself into something approaching meat-godliness. So if I'm really on the ball, I'll do this braise a day in advance, and instead of carving I'll just refrigerate the whole thing after I get done adjusting the sauce and pouring it back over the roast. On the second day, I'll take it out and rewarm it in a 300F oven for half an hour or so (just enough to let the meat warm through, but not enough to dry it out), then serve. People always seem amazed when they taste it, and with good reason: they've never had a braise this good. The secret's in the extra time, when the roast can reabsorb its juices and add even more flavour to itself.
Servings: 6 to 8, depending on the size of your roast.
Clearly I needed tutelage in the art of the slow-cooked roast. So my second attempt was with the "help" of a Southern Living Cookbook (a Christmas gift from my mom) and a crockpot. I'm sure that the magazine meant well, but the recommended salted water (!) as a braising liquid was both too little and too bland: maybe it tasted better than the mastodon, but it surely wasn't the culinary paradise of tender, succulent meat that the recipe promised. In reality, though perhaps I'd graduated to the bronze age, I was still far from the roast that I wanted. After all, if cavewomen could master this technique, surely a college-educated, brainy feminist could grasp the basics of the braise. Roast: 2 Me:0.
So I set out to expand my braise-iary (I can totally turn that verb into an adjective!) horizons. The Zuni Cafe Cookbook - whose recipe I adapted for polenta fries a few days ago - helped, with extensive advice on braising. I also quizzed my Grandmother's nursing home neighbor, who had been a catering cook and personal chef in her youth. Thus, armed with the advice of elder generations and Beard-winning chefs, I set out once more into the fray. I traded the water (!) for a carefully constructed mixture of reduced wine and beef stock. The generic mirepoix (Can you believed I used a frozen veggie cubes mix? I was so naive!) got swapped out for a chunkier, funkier accompaniment. Instead of serving the over-cooked veggies alongside the roast, I grabbed a strainer and mashed them into submission as a puree to thicken my sauce. Who needs loads of cornstarch when the veggies you already roasted work better? Also, two hours is not nearly long enough to produce a heavenly-tender roast. Girded with the experience of my past mistakes, I set out to better myself. I was going to produce a perfect roast if it killed me, and then I did. My third attempt at braising a roast turned out delicately, fall-apart-on-the-fork tender, and the sauce the accompanied it was thick and luscious with a gorgeous red-brown color from wine and beets. I wallowed. And the leftovers! I swear it was even better the second day, if that's even possible. Roast:2 Me:1. My days in the dark ages of braising were over!
Braised Chuck Roast
Note: I advise tying this roast before anything else. It may not seem to need it when the roast is uncooked, but during the browning process, and especially after the roast is finished braising, it will literally fall apart if it's not secured with some sort of twine. So break out your kite string or your hemp rope, and tie it according to the instructions on the link above for an easier braising experience.
1 750ml bottle of a red wine with some body to it (think Burgundy or Cab Sauv here, nothing too fruity)
1 qt low sodium beef stock
1 large yellow onion
3 small beets (if your grocery doesn't carry small beets, use one large one instead)
15 baby carrots (or two large carrots)
4 lb shoulder chuck roast (Pick a roast with lots of connective tissues, where lots of muscles meet. Your butcher can help.)
1 tsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
Start by salting the meat (1 tbsp salt for every 4 lbs meat). Zuni recommends salting up to 3 days in advance, but I usually forget until the day before. Even so, salting in advance is a great idea, it really does make a flavour difference.
When you're ready to actually start your braise, get out a wide, shallow saucepan and pour in the whole bottle of wine. Sit it over medium high heat and let it reduce until it gets down to about half a cup. I know it sounds like that would take forever, but in reality it only takes about twenty minutes, and you can do other things in the meantime. Set another wide, shallow pan on a different burner, and pour in the quart of beef stock. That one should reduce to about two cups.
While your stock and wine are reducing, tie up the roast. Tying should compact the meat together (so it doesn't fall apart as easily), and bind in any irregular parts so that they'll cook more evenly.
After you tie the roast, chop your veggies. I usually just chop the onions into 1 1/2 inch wedges, and beets into thickish rounds, and the mini carrots in half. If you're using large carrots, chop them into chunks. Since everything is sort of thick and rustic, this shouldn't take long. These veggies don't have to be pretty, so just give them a once-through with a knife to get them into manageable portions.
Next, brown the roast. Pick a skillet not much larger than the roast. Add a very scant tsp of olive oil, and warm briefly over medium heat. Set the roast in the pan, and allow it to brown BUT NOT TO SCORCH. I know scorched bits are tasty when you're eating them on burgers or steaks, but imagine those bits once they've soaked for five hours in liquid. Ew. So the goal is brown, but not scorched. Turn the roast so that all sides and both ends are browned. This doesn't take long, two minutes or so per side is plenty.
By the time the tying, chopping, and browning is done, your liquids should be about reduced, and you are ready to start assembling your braise. Preheat the oven to 325F, and find a covered, oven-safe and flameproof dish that will accommodate your roast with about 2 or 3 inches to spare on all sides. This can be a Dutch oven, a large saute pan with a lid, a casserole dish, whatever floats your boat. Set the browned meat in the pan, then surround it on all sides with the veggies. The vegetables should be very crowded, and pressed right up against the meat. Scatter the bay leaves on top of the vegetables, and sprinkle pepper over the whole thing. Add the reduced wine then the reduced stock, so that the liquid comes to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 way up the roast. If you don't use all the stock, save the remainder for adding to the gravy, or for another recipe.
Cover the braise and bring it to a simmer on the stove (this cuts down on cooking time by a little). When it's simmering, take it off the stove and place the braising dish in the oven. Helpful hint: you may want to place it on some sort of tray first, then sit tray and dish in the oven, so that if it bubbles over it won't get your oven dirty. After two or so hours, turn the roast over, recover the dish, and sit it back in the oven to continue braising. After another hour, turn again. This help keep the top side of the meat from losing too much liquid and becoming unappetizingly dry. Turn it once more 15 minutes before it's done, so that no side will be too dried out.
Continue cooking for another hour or so, until the roast is fork-tender. The Zuni Cafe Cookbook recommends that one can extend the cooking time by dropping the oven temperature to 275F or even 250F, and cooking for five or six hours instead of four. This will produce an even more succulent roast. I've done this a few times, on Saturdays when I didn't have anything better to do, and it really does work.
When the roast is finished, remove it from the braising dish and let it rest. While it's resting, fish the veggies out of the sauce and into a strainer situated over a medium bowl. Mash them with a wooden spoon until you have a cup or so of veggie puree. Taste the sauce in the braising pan, and add puree to give it a little more body and sweetness. You don't have to use all the puree here although I usually do, this is a personal taste thing. If you've still got some reduced stock left over, pour that in, then use the puree to adjust thickness and taste. Other potential additives to the sauce include balsamic vinegar (just a little), a pinch of sugar (to balance out an acidic sauce), or a tbsp or so of cornstarch (for additional thickness). I usually use the cornstarch, because I like a more substantial gravy-like sauce.
Once you've got the sauce right, carve the roast (this shouldn't be difficult, properly-braised roasts are very very tender). As with all meat, braised roasts should be carved against the grain. Pour the sauce back over, and you're ready to serve.
Here's my little braising secret: this roast improves vastly with age. Let it sit in the refrigerator for a day, and what was merely a good roast will transform itself into something approaching meat-godliness. So if I'm really on the ball, I'll do this braise a day in advance, and instead of carving I'll just refrigerate the whole thing after I get done adjusting the sauce and pouring it back over the roast. On the second day, I'll take it out and rewarm it in a 300F oven for half an hour or so (just enough to let the meat warm through, but not enough to dry it out), then serve. People always seem amazed when they taste it, and with good reason: they've never had a braise this good. The secret's in the extra time, when the roast can reabsorb its juices and add even more flavour to itself.
Servings: 6 to 8, depending on the size of your roast.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Better Hamburgers
There are hamburgers, and then there are better hamburgers. This is my hamburger with a dash of flair. I don't always do it this way. Sometimes I use this recipe, and add cheese to the middle of two thin layers. Sometimes I go mad and use turkey or chicken instead of beef, then add apples or bananas to the result. But this is the burger that I return to, the one I serve to guests (or visiting parents!), the 'home base' of burgers. Ideally, this one starts with me salting the meat a day or so in advance, but I'm lazy. Sometimes that doesn't get done.
Better Hamburger
1 lb ground beef (or use your favorite meat here, I'm not picky)
1/4 yellow onion, finely diced
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup bread crumbs (I use panko)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
Begin by putting the olive oil in a skillet and caramelizing the onion over medium heat. Toward the end of the onion's cooking time, drop in the garlic to caramelize a little as well. While the onion is slowly turning a light amber color, get out the meat and drop it into a large mixing bowl. Add the Worcestershire sauce, a dash of salt, and pepper to taste. mix these in using your hands, smooshing the meat to distribute the sauce evenly. When the onion gets done, add it to the meat mixture. Dump in the bread crumbs, and the egg. Smoosh these into the meat, until the mixture is homogeneous and the meat generally sticks to itself rather than your hands. Separate the meat into four balls.
Spray a medium skillet over medium-high heat with non-stick cooking spray. I use the Pam Grilling variety, since it's made to withstand higher heat. We're using the cooking spray in place of olive oil here, and I use it even though the skillet is non-stick. The idea is just to have a thin layer of grease to start the meat cooking, until it can render enough fat to suitably sear itself. Flatten the meat balls one by one, and drop them into the skillet, arranging them so they are close to each other, but not touching. The key to hamburgers of even thickness is that they start out thinner in the middle than on the edges, so don't be shy with the flattening. Allow the meat to cook for about five minutes without moving, enough so that you can see the brown 'done' portion about a third of the way up the burger. Flip the burgers, and allow them to cook for four or five minutes on the other side. Cooking times may vary with your personal preference; I like my burgers on the more-done side of medium. When the burgers have achieved the proper level of done-ness for your taste (check one using a fork if you're wondering about the state of the middle of the burgers), remove them from the heat, flip them once more, and allow them to rest for a few minutes (go grab your condiments, set the table, whatever. The important point here is to let them reabsorb their juices, which will make them tastier). Serve with your favorite buns, lettuce, tomato, mayo, etc!
Servings: 4
Better Hamburger
1 lb ground beef (or use your favorite meat here, I'm not picky)
1/4 yellow onion, finely diced
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup bread crumbs (I use panko)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
Begin by putting the olive oil in a skillet and caramelizing the onion over medium heat. Toward the end of the onion's cooking time, drop in the garlic to caramelize a little as well. While the onion is slowly turning a light amber color, get out the meat and drop it into a large mixing bowl. Add the Worcestershire sauce, a dash of salt, and pepper to taste. mix these in using your hands, smooshing the meat to distribute the sauce evenly. When the onion gets done, add it to the meat mixture. Dump in the bread crumbs, and the egg. Smoosh these into the meat, until the mixture is homogeneous and the meat generally sticks to itself rather than your hands. Separate the meat into four balls.
Spray a medium skillet over medium-high heat with non-stick cooking spray. I use the Pam Grilling variety, since it's made to withstand higher heat. We're using the cooking spray in place of olive oil here, and I use it even though the skillet is non-stick. The idea is just to have a thin layer of grease to start the meat cooking, until it can render enough fat to suitably sear itself. Flatten the meat balls one by one, and drop them into the skillet, arranging them so they are close to each other, but not touching. The key to hamburgers of even thickness is that they start out thinner in the middle than on the edges, so don't be shy with the flattening. Allow the meat to cook for about five minutes without moving, enough so that you can see the brown 'done' portion about a third of the way up the burger. Flip the burgers, and allow them to cook for four or five minutes on the other side. Cooking times may vary with your personal preference; I like my burgers on the more-done side of medium. When the burgers have achieved the proper level of done-ness for your taste (check one using a fork if you're wondering about the state of the middle of the burgers), remove them from the heat, flip them once more, and allow them to rest for a few minutes (go grab your condiments, set the table, whatever. The important point here is to let them reabsorb their juices, which will make them tastier). Serve with your favorite buns, lettuce, tomato, mayo, etc!
Servings: 4
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