Posted by Lucy Baker, April 25, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Today's cook the book recipe, excerpted from The Oprah Magazine Cookbook, is for a sensational Creole Gumbo straight from the Big Easy. Chef Leah Chase, owner of the restaurant Dooky Chase and arguably the Queen of Creole Cuisine, pulls out all the stops. Her version includes fresh crabs, oysters, and shrimp; veal and chicken; and two kinds of sausage. The recipe makes a lot—it serves 8 to 10—so mix up some Sazeracs and prepare it with a group of friends. This is soul food at its absolute best.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, April 23, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the April 23rd edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
Oprah Winfrey is known more for her skills as a television show host and not for her work in the kitchen, so it makes sense that her book The Oprah Magazine Cookbook is her compilation of recipes from famous chefs. This recipe for African chicken in peanut sauce comes from Norma Jean Darden, cookbook author and proprietor of two restaurants and catering company in New York City. This dish calls for browning chicken in a skillet and finishing it off in a creamy coconut milk-based peanut sauce.
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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 Nick Kindelsperger, April 9, 2008 at 4:30 PM
I've been having a lot of fun flipping through The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. It's unpretentious, easy to use, and full of tasty dishes that seem to be entirely too simple, if a little hard to believe. And this one is no different. The sauce is the perfect counterpoint to the broiled chicken—it takes on an almost mustard-like tang, but has a much brighter flavor thanks to the lemon. It's so perfect, in fact, that it's easy to forget that the recipe has raw potatoes in it.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 1, 2008 at 2:15 PM
I have never understood why many people are afraid of cooking fish. What's so hard about searing a little salmon? It's chicken, specifically roasting a whole one, that I find much more intimidating. Sure I've done it, but the occasion always fills me with anxiety. Should I butterfly it or stuff the cavity with onions? Set the oven at 425°F or 475°F? And just how do I know when it's done? I don't want to serve a desiccated bird, but on the other hand, few things are scarier than cutting into a bite of breast that is still cold and pink inside. (Just thinking about it makes me want to run for the anti-bacterial hand wash.)
But since reviewing these magazine recipes was, in part, an experiment designed to make me a better cook, I decided that it was high time I practiced my poultry skills. This week I prepared the ginger-roasted chicken from the April issue of Food & Wine.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, March 26, 2008 at 5:00 PM
At various times throughout this meal, I assumed failure. I hardly ever make curry, especially an African-based one I found in The Ethnic Paris Cookbook
. But it looked so easy that I had to give it shot, even if my instincts were rebelling. For one, besides some cloves, it only uses turmeric for spice. To act as some kind of insurance, I tossed out my aging old plastic bottle of the yellow spice and bought a brand new bottle from my local outlet of Penzeys Spice. Still, I had doubts.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, March 26, 2008 at 1:30 PM
One of the first Madhur Jaffrey meat recipes I ever tried was a goat stew. Although she recommends that Americans replace the goat with lamb, I’m open to new meats, and someone at the Greenmarket was actually selling goat for stew, so I thought, why not?
Well, my adventuresomeness was not rewarded. I don’t know if it was the recipe (which included at least 8 tablespoons of oil) or the goat (which gave off a lot of fat), but the stew tasted mostly of grease and gristle.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 24, 2008 at 6:15 PM
The first of this week's recipes from Nigella Express is for a bacon-infused roast chicken. Roast chicken is always pretty easy to make, and this one is no different, except that the little bit of extra work it requires—frying up some bacon—pays off in a big way. The bacon and brandy glaze help bronze the bird and add beautiful flavor without becoming a distraction.
Win 'Nigella Express'
As is always the case with our Cook the Books, we're giving away a number of them this week. Enter to win Nigella Express »
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, March 21, 2008 at 4:15 PM
I can't even remember the last time I just bought chicken breasts at the store. In college I would buy the skinless, boneless version in enormous frozen bags, but I've changed since then. I usually go for a whole chicken now, which I either immediately roast or cut up and use how I see fit. But the fiancée and I were going away for a long weekend and just needed a quick meal that wouldn't leave any leftovers. Sparked by both curiosity and practicality, I set off for some chicken breasts.
We wanted to make a recipe from Christopher Kimball's The Kitchen Detective
because of a fantastic sounding pan sauce made of olives and capers. As I was reading the entry I realized the main focus of the recipe is actually how to properly cook a chicken breast without drying it out. The obvious tip is to leave the skin on and the bone in—that was easy. He also recommends a brine, which might be wonderful, but I just didn't have the time. It didn't seem to matter; the seared chicken came out beautifully moist, if a tad bland. Luckily, the rich sauce was more than up to the task.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, March 17, 2008 at 2:30 PM
This chicken soup can be served alone as a clear broth or with the addition of matzo balls, kreplach, lukshen, or soup nuts (mandlen). It's adapted from Jewish Home Cooking by Arthur Schwartz.
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Posted by Blake Royer, January 29, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I almost didn't survive the second stage of this recipe, when fermented fish sauce hits the hot pan, and it suddenly seemed like the the scent of a thousand dead fish had washed upon my kitchen's shores. I almost turned back. The nutty, cheesy, anchovy smell was overwhelming—how could this eventually taste good? But a short writeup in last week's New York Times food section had promised me a "bright, palate-awakening blend of salty, sweet and spicy" that could be made in 12 minutes. I pressed on.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, January 29, 2008 at 12:45 PM
As I try to eat healthier this year, instead of drastically changing my diet, I've tried to make familiar standbys more fit-friendly. And almost nothing's more familiar at lunchtime than the ol' chicken salad sandwich. I've taken to this recipe, which I've adapted to my own liking.
In it, plain nonfat yogurt replaces mayo, and plenty of herbs and fruit keep things interesting. Serve it on the bread of your choice, though I like it on a nice rye.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, January 16, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Yesterday's Cook the Book recipe caused a minor stir because I chose a dish that was, admittedly, not so quick and easy and that used fresh lo mein noodles, which I even have a difficult time sourcing. I'm sorry about that—I should have been a little more thoughtful in my selection. Today's, for Jerk Chicken should do you right, though.
It's from The Culinary Institute of America's Techniques of Healthy Cooking
.
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Posted by Ed Levine, January 12, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Each Saturday evening we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.
I'm a roast chicken freak, so I was immediately drawn to Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories
Hopkinson's book has become a surprise best-seller, and why not? The British magazine Waitrose Food Illustrated calls it "the most useful cookbook of all time." Now there's a blurb.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 11, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Oh, how I've longed for this dish. The moment I opened up Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s The River Cottage Meat Book
, I’ve been eyeing that picture of duck breasts bubblin’ in a hot skillet with pineapple. I certainly had nothing to fear after trying his pork chop recipe last week. But I was worried about the timing. I am having a busy week and have no time to stand around putting together what looks like a fantastic meal that could very well take hours to prepare. Fortunately, I threw caution to the wind and decided to give it a shot. If it could get done in an hour, then I’d write about it. If not, then I’d have a tasty failure.
The recipe definitely teeters on the edge of not being a comfortable weeknight meal. But it can be done in an hour if you are organized and quick. I also managed to have everything at home except the duck and the pineapple, so I didn’t have to contend with a bad trip to the market to scrounge up various exotic substances. The hearty duck and sweet tang of the pineapple create the perfect ying and yang of the dish. But it was all the ingredients in my cupboard that created the massive flavor. It might not be a practical dish for a really busy night, but it can be done and is utterly delicious.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, December 3, 2007 at 3:00 PM
If you don't think you like duck, maybe that's because you haven't eaten duck confit. The formula for duck confit can only equate to deliciousness: Cure duck legs in seasoned salt and garlic for a day, then bake the legs in duck fat for two or more hours. The resulting meat is fall-off-the-bone tender and infused with salt, garlic and fat. Try to make it yourself by following Tom Colicchio's recipe for duck confit from Think Like a Chef
. You don't have to eat them all at once; the baked duck legs may be stored in their own fat for up to a month.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 2, 2007 at 3:15 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe is one that the late James Beard, "the dean of American gastronomy," describes as "one of the greatest—and simplest—chicken dishes" that he knew. "The whole process," he wrote, "takes less than 30 minutes, and you have a dish you could serve to the most critical group of food buffs." Coming from Beard, who moved among the most picky food folks of the time, that's a ringing endorsement. All you need to round out the plate is a salad or vegetable and a simple fruit dessert.
As with all the Cook the Book entries this week, this recipe comes from Beard on Food.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 7, 2007 at 4:25 PM
I don’t have much experience with duck. I usually save my experiences for restaurants which have the time to properly cook them. Most duck breast recipes call for a long marinade—something I often can't fit in my schedule. But this Cook’s Illustrated recipe skated around the issue by simply scoring the skin, sprinkling with a little curry powder, and then tossing it in the broiler. The incision helps the fat ooze all over the meat, covering every inch with a highly flavorful sheen.
If you managed to read that last sentence without stopping and gagging, then this recipe might be for you. Definitely not a replacement for marinading, but a nice short cut for the impatient.
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