April 2008
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, April 30, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Gordon Ramsay’s In the Heat of the Kitchen has been fun to look through, but I haven’t really been able to put it to much use. Most of the recipes seem rather complex for a hectic weekday night. So I was a little surprised to find this quick little broccoli recipe stuck between “Caramelized baby onions with beet jus” and “corn fritters with lime crème fraîche." With only eight ingredients, seven of which I had already, this proved to be a perfectly practical side.
While the crisp garlic is fun and those onions sure do add a lot of sweetness, what really separates this dish from a standard accompaniment is the oyster sauce. It somehow binds all the ingredients and transforms this into an interesting side dish worth paying attention to. It’s such a simple addition, too. This, of course, all depends on whether you have oyster sauce just hanging around the fridge ready to go in to random dishes. I do. Its cost is so small, and it keeps surprising me with dishes like this one.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 29, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Lidia's Italy, proves that Italian food doesn't have to be heavy. There are plenty of light, flavorful dishes that are just as satisfying as stick-to-your-ribs spaghetti and cheese-laden lasagna. Manfredi's Steamed Calamari is a healthy Sicilian classic perfect for the impending summer months. Enjoy it warm or room temperature, as a main course, or an accompaniment to grilled fish or chicken.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, April 28, 2008 at 5:00 PM
When I pulled this from the oven, I was livid. Both the cauliflower and capers came out looking awfully disappointing. And by “awfully disappointing,” I mean “burnt." I just couldn’t believe Martha Stewart, of all people, would construct such a disastrous mess of a recipe. I mean, you all can see this, right? Those little black balls are the capers. I almost chucked it right there.
Ends up all those crispy black bits are full-flavored goodness. I really should have known better. I had no use for cauliflower until I learned that it gets this wonderful nutty aroma when you roast the hell out of it. And this caper-assisted recipe is even easier than the curried version I had made before. The fiancée actually finished this before the meat course, forking up all those little black bits as quickly as possible.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, April 25, 2008 at 4:30 PM
I had to find something to do with my delicious leftover feta. While I wasn’t exactly worried about it going bad, I was afraid that I would attack the whole package with a fork without coming up for air. That’s not an appealing image.
Since I needed a little refinement, I searched all around my favorite sites for some kind direction. I still wanted the cheese to play a central role and didn’t want to spend much more money. This Cook's Illustrated salad felt perfect.
So, I had the fantastic feta, some plump grapes, and I even sprung for a new bottle of raspberry vinegar to properly dress the salad—but it was the small teaspoon of minced rosemary that really made the salad for me. The earthy notes of that herb provided the beautiful contrast to the fruity dressing. Instead of being cloying, the rosemary gave the whole salad balance. I'm always astounded by simple additions that focus a dish.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 24, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Turkey is a bird for all seasons: an obvious choice for elaborate holiday roasts, it's equally delicious when grilled and paired with warm-weather produce. Today's Cook the Book recipe is for Yogurt & Citrus Turkey Breast with Grilled Tomato & Wax Bean Salad, excerpted from the Oprah Magazine Cookbook. Created by chef Michel Nischan, who invented a "cuisine of well being," the dish is full of fresh flavors-- orange juice, organic yogurt, grated ginger-- that keep the turkey moist and flavorful without adding extra calories.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 22, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Sometimes a few simple ingredients come together to create something spectacular. The individual elements compliment each other so well that, when combined, the results are so delicious they border on magical. Think bacon and eggs; chocolate and strawberries; hot dogs, ketchup, and mustard.
To my mind, few dishes are as effortlessly flawless as a classic caprese salad composed of tart tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and fragrant basil. And while I wouldn't normally mess with perfection, I was intrigued by a recipe in the May issue of Bon Appetit that replaced the tomatoes with slices of fresh mango, and added radicchio to the mix.
A caprese salad with tropical and bitter flavors? I had to try it out for this week's magazine recipe review.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, April 22, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Last fall I caught up with an old friend over dinner. Slender, tall, beautiful, and very stylish, she has a fancy high-paying job that requires her to travel a lot, eat in swanky restaurants, and generally be glamorous. Average height, average build, and mousy-haired, I spend most of my days working at home in yoga pants and a sweatshirt from the children’s department at Target and get truly excited about the prospect of a Saturday night trip to Brooklyn for dinner out.
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 20, 2008 at 1:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on cold chicken. —Ed Levine
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 19, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Each Saturday evening we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.
It's finally starting to get up into the 70s in my neck of the woods, and this weekend looks like it'll be the first truly nice and warm one we've had this spring. It's the kind of weather that draws me out of the kitchen and out to the park or for a bike ride—basically anywhere but the kitchen.
But, a person's gotta eat, and this pasta is good in many ways for a Sunday when you don't want to spend much time at the stove. First, it takes advantage of asparagus, which is in season now; second, it's quick, so you can take advantage of the lengthening days; and third, it's moderately light, so you won't feel like a lead weight afterward.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, April 16, 2008 at 4:30 PM
I recently stumbled upon Saveur’s 10 favorite pastas and figured I had it made. I love pasta. Saveur loves pasta. We’d meet somewhere and have one hell of a dinner. And this is the one I fell for. I was immediately drawn to this dish because of how robust and filling it all sounded, even though there wasn’t an ounce of meat present. It exceeded my expectations. I was amazed at the full flavor and enormous body of this dish. I suppose the wonderful mushrooms had something to do with it, but I’m going to thank all that salt I dumped into the pasta water before the noodles ever went in. This dish didn’t need an ounce of seasoning beyond the obligatory sprinkling of Parmesan. It tasted as if some reduced stock had been thrown in.
The most expensive item in the meal—the sherry—is also the one that can most easily be substituted. A dry white wine would work perfectly fine. But it would slightly change the nature and aroma of the dish. And splurging for that Spanish beverage wouldn't be a complete waste. A good bottle of sherry is also worth drinking, and paired so well that I'm really glad I bit the bullet and bought the bottle.
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 15, 2008 at 4:15 PM
The first time I tried kimchi, a spicy Korean concoction of fermented vegetables, a friend of mine had made a stew out of it for a group of friends. The hot, vinegary taste flavored the whole broth, which had tofu and scallions, and then he added Sriracha to dial up the heat further. It was in the middle of summer in a capacious west Philadelphia apartment with no air conditioning, and the soup burned. But I was surprised to find that we all began to feel cooler immediately as the sweat-inducing soup caused us to condensate and cool. The pungent, garlicky taste stayed with me for hours.
Since then, I've loved kimchi, especially straight out of the jar. It's strong stuff though, and not necessarily fit for a meal all by itself, which is why this recipe caught my eye. Basically, it's a delivery vehicle for kimchi, with a few other ingredients to elevate the flavors. The clean, wheaty flavor of udon noodles absorbs some of the kimchi's spice, tempering the stronger flavors to allow them to mellow and bloom more in the mouth. Toasted sesame oil adds a rounded, caramel flavor that warms the stringent acidity. Best of all, it's made in about 7 minutes, just the time it takes to boil the noodles, run them under cold water, and toss them with all the ingredients. This is my new midnight snack.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, April 14, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Photograph from RockyEda on Flickr
I've been working my way through everyone’s suggestions in response to last month’s post about how to eat sardines. With many methods and recipes left to try, I have already discovered one new favorite. Sardines and hard-boiled eggs didn’t sound like a natural combination to me, but since more than one person cited the pairing with some fondness, I had to try it.
It’s really good! Especially on an English muffin. Thank you, hanak and allakarasik. Obviously this is a great source of protein for people who eat fish and eggs but not meat, and sardines are full of the wonderful fish oil we could all use more of. For people like my dad (who said, “Here’s a recipe for sardines: Give the sardines to the cat and order a pizza”), this could be a good gateway sardine dish. The eggs really mellow out the oily little fish, and the texture of the salad on a soft roll is very comforting.
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 13, 2008 at 2:30 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on white beans. —Ed Levine
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 8, 2008 at 2:00 PM
It's salad season. But I don't mean that in a negative, it's-almost-time-to-put-on-a-bathing-suit kind of way. I mean because the markets are once again full of fresh, vibrant produce, from artichokes and baby beets to radishes and watercress. And because the vegetables are in such abundance, they cost a fraction of what they did all winter. Cheap and delicious—what could be better?
One of my favorite spring veggies has always been asparagus. Whether simply broiled with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper or showcased in a sophisticated soup (I love Jerry Traunfeld's version with fresh thyme), I just can’t get enough of its sweet, crunchy, herbaceous flavor. For this week's magazine recipe review, I decided to prepare the quinoa salad with asparagus, dates, and orange from the April issue of Cooking Light.
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Posted by Gina DePalma, April 7, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Italians have an undeserved reputation for hammering vegetables to a fault, an accusation most often leveled at us by the" tender-crisp" camp. While I agree that cooking vegetables to the point of disintegration can be yucky, I think undercooked veggies are an insult to the vegetal world. Too many fine, deserving vegetables suffer an inconsequential position in a meal by being left in a slightly crisp state of unfulfilled flavor that no sauce can rescue.
Asparagus are the perfect example of a vegetable that needs a good long hammering (ahem) in a hot oven. Sorry, fans of tender-crisp, but I really dislike waterlogged, boiled asparagus, and steaming them renders them equally tasteless. If you don't believe me, bite into a "tender-crisp," steamed asparagus spear—no cheating with mayo, please—and tell me if any fireworks go off.
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 3, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Spring vegetables are beginning to appear in the produce aisle—asparagus, sugar snap peas—so I wanted to take advantage. What I found is one of those absurdly simple recipes that you think just won't work. Or at least, that's what I was thinking. Really? I can just sauté some shallots and garlic, add stock and rice, simmer for awhile, then toss in crunchy delicious vegetables? And it will taste clean, healthy, filling, and delicious? Well, yes, that's the idea.
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