Posted by Lucy Baker, May 12, 2008 at 2:30 PM
I was once helped to edit a cookbook devoted entirely to crab cakes, so I considered myself somewhat of an expert on the subject of pan-fried shellfish patties. Dungeness or Chesapeake, cracker crumbs or panko, to Old Bay or not to Old Bay—I thought I'd seen it all. But I'd never come across a recipe quite like the one in this week's Cook the Book selection, Wine Bar Food, for Falafel Crab Cakes.
Chickpeas are prevalent in much of the cooking of southern Spain, and this dish, a specialty of Seville, is no exception. Combined with fresh lemon, earthy cumin, and fragrant cilantro, these crab cakes are best served with a side of tzatziki sauce and pair wonderfully with a glass of sherry.
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As is always the case with our cook the book selections, we're giving away five (5) copies away this week to lucky readers. Enter to win here»
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Posted by Blake Royer, May 6, 2008 at 6:30 PM
This dinner is ready in as much time as it takes to cook rice. It has five ingredients, and is totally un-nutritious. It's also luxurious and subtle, and takes very little effort. The secret? Heavy cream, for one—but also a little thing called pastis, an anise-flavored liqueur that stood in for absinthe while it was still illegal. It's an obscure ingredient, I'll admit, and not everyone has it banging around in their cabinet. But allow me to recommend that you consider buying a bottle, if only because it's integral to the Sazerac cocktail, one of my favorite drinks in the world. And because it will probably outlive you.
The recipe comes from Pierre Franey's classic cookbook The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet. So this is what passed for gourmet in 1979: bring on the heavy cream. Not that I'm complaining—the cover on my old copy promises "gourmet recipes and menus that reach absolute perfection in a matter of minutes," and that's exactly what happened to me. The taste was familiar, because the pastis flavor is similar to tarragon, an herb commonly used in French cream sauces. In fact, if you really don't want to invest in a bottle, a little fresh tarragon thrown in with the shallots might work just as well.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, May 6, 2008 at 5:00 PM
After preparing the Roasted Cod on Large Garlic Croutons from the June issue of Bon Appétit for this week's magazine recipe review, I've determined that the only way to make always-delicious bruschetta even better is to make it bigger.
The recipe, part of an article on quick summer suppers that can be thrown together in 15 minutes or less, was designed to turn bruschetta—once relegated to party appetizer platters—into a main course. And that it did: the briny tomato-anchovy sauce perfectly complimented the mild cod, and the crusty bread beneath soaked up all the savory juices.
This was one of those simple-yet-sophisticated recipes that leaves you at once completely satisfied and at the same time pondering how you could make it again differently. Entrée-sized bruschetta is such a great idea. Next time I'm going to try it with tuna, or maybe salmon, and I'm definitely going to throw some olives into the sauce.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, May 3, 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.
While the unofficial start to grilling season, Memorial Day, is yet to come, it's May, so what the H. And, to conflate two hallmarks of May, I think I'm going to fire up my own grill for the following recipe; it's adapted from a Rick Bayless recipe I clipped at some point, and I figure it's somewhat appropriate for Cinco de Mayo, which, for the non-Spanish-speaking folks in the audience, is this Monday, May 5. So check your propane tank or stock up on some coal and viva la grilling!
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, May 2, 2008 at 5:15 PM
The fiancée wanted mussels; I wanted something spicy. So I plugged in spicy mussels into the Food Network’s website and found this Bobby Flay recipe for spicy southwest mussels that had heat, limes, and a whole lotta herbs. With the weather hovering in the 80s here in Ohio, this dish could be the perfect pre-summer version of mussels.
The fiancée and I dug in expecting to be bawled over by flavor—I was particularly excited about the acidic kick of the limes—but what we found was a little less engaging. Though all kinds of flavorings had gone in, it all combined to make a bland dish. Not offensive and gross, mind you, but just kind of unremarkable. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I squeezed some more fresh lime juice on top, and suddenly all those herbs perked up, the spice kicked in, and we finished the bowl in a matter of minutes.
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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 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 Ed Levine, April 6, 2008 at 12:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on an old clam dish. —Ed Levine
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, April 2, 2008 at 4:15 PM
This Mario Batali recipe comes from his Simple Italian Food, a book that I somehow missed out on. I love his Molto Italiano and the Babbo Cookbook, but was a little surprised to find this amongst the stack at the local library. It sounded exactly like something I needed. I was worried about the lemon sauce and crispy garlic at first, but after the three minutes of boiling, it reduced to a beautiful lemony glaze that was perfect over the shrimp.
The only ingredient that might cause problems is the limoncello. It, unfortunately, also gives the dish its soul. There are some easy limoncello recipes, if you have a few months and some extra bottles of grain alcohol hanging around. As for substitutes, it’s all rather sketchy looking. It’d just suggest biting the bullet and securing a bottle—it’ll last for ages if you don’t drink it first. Or you could search out for some mini bottles, which is what I was able to find. That way you can whip up this wonderfully simple recipe in a matter of minutes and stun some guests.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 27, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Today's recipe from Nigella Express is for a couple different refreshing wraps—a tuna and a crab wrap. They're obviously great for sack lunches.
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As is always the case with our Cook the Books, we're giving away a number of them. Enter to win Nigella Express »
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, March 18, 2008 at 1:00 PM
I know I’m not the only person frustrated by the breathless announcements of nutrition journalism and by the studies behind it, which are so often contradictory and can always be manipulated to show just about anything (as discussed in last week’s thread about corn syrup). I'd rather forget about it all in favor of Michael Pollan's elegant and manageable, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
But now that I’m pregnant, I find myself drawn again to this report and that study or those recommendations.
Fish interests me most, probably since the information about it is so confusing: it’s vital to human well-being/no, it’s full of mercury and other toxins. In fish’s plus column, one of the omega-3 fatty acids that makes its way up the food chain from seaweed to swimmers, DHA, is said to be crucial for baby’s brain and retina development, especially in the third trimester. (Hey fathead, did you know that the human brain is 60% fat?)
Because wild fish is so expensive, I didn’t eat a lot of fish before; it was a special treat. Now, though, in addition to taking a DHA supplement with my prenatal vitamin I’ve started seeking out the highest-reward, lowest-risk, best-value fish I can find, and you can guess where that leads me: sardines.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, March 17, 2008 at 3:30 PM
This dish succeeds almost in spite of itself. I mean, look at what the fish is up against; it has to fight against both bacon and mayonnaise for some kind of balance, with only a lemon to help its cause. But what wonders that lemon does—with a combination of zest and juice, it brightens every aspect of the dish making this seem somehow healthy. That doesn't mean it isn’t filling, though. The bacon makes the fish taste luscious and full bodied, almost like a pork chop, but without the grease.
I’ll thank Jamie Oliver and his great new cookbook, Cook with Jamie
, for this one. He just calls for a white fish, and although mahi mahi may be a little firmer than what he intended, it worked. And it couldn’t have really been easier, especially the sauce. The lemon mayonnaise is as simple to prepare as the name suggests. Jamie does recommend a homemade version of the mayonnaise, which would increase the prep time a little bit, but also acknowledges the jar stuff works fine in a pinch. I agree.
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Posted by Blake Royer, March 13, 2008 at 4:30 PM
It's probably some kind of shill to say that one of Mario Batali's own recipes is itself proof that making his Basic Tomato Sauce is worth your time. But the sauce has become a freezer ingredient that I couldn't do without, especially when it comes to quick, simple pastas on weeknights. With little effort, a simple recipe goes from ordinary to superb. Sure, a can of good whole tomatoes will work instead, but a cupful of homemade sauce makes all the difference. It doesn't need to be Batali's—Serious Eaters have their own ideas, too.
This recipe is an exceptional fish pasta, which aren't all that common. The monkfish fillets are an inspired choice—they have a meaty, dense texture that holds up well to cooking. This recipe simmers half-inch chunks of the monkfish in a liquidy, winey broth—almost equal parts wine and tomato sauce. Beforehand, red onion and zucchini are cooked golden brown in olive oil to give it a sweet base. The result is a light yet substantial meal.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 12, 2008 at 5:30 PM
My Last Supper takes the old "last bite on earth" game to the next level by asking that question of 50 of the world's best-known and most-loved chefs. Though beautifully photographed and almost more of a coffee-table book in size and format, there are some serious recipes in here to accompany the memorable visuals and fun interviews. As this week's featured Cook the Book entry, we'll be highlighting a recipe a day from it. Today's is by Chui Lee Luk, the chef-owner of Claude's in Sydney. Lee Luk describes her last meal: "Assuming that I will be in good health and aware of the upcoming event, I would seek out the peace and comfort of familiar foods that have emotional meaning for me. I think I would have a meal of chili mud crab, braised tofu with prawn and pork, stir-fried snow pea leaf, and steamed rice, all followed by red bean pancakes with jasmine tea."
As is always the case with our Cook the Books, we're giving away a number of them this week. Enter to win My Last Supper »
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 11, 2008 at 1:45 PM
My Last Supper takes the old "last bite on earth" game to the next level by asking that question of 50 of the world's best-known and most-loved chefs. Though beautifully photographed and almost more of a coffee-table book in size and format, there are some serious recipes in here to accompany the memorable visuals and fun interviews. As this week's featured Cook the Book entry, we'll be highlighting a recipe a day from it. Today's is from Mario Batali, who describes his last meal as a "seafood extravaganza" that would end with this dish, gamberoni all'acqua pazza, or "shrimp in crazy water."
As is always the case with our Cook the Books, we're giving away a number of them this week. Enter to win My Last Supper »
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Posted by Blake Royer, March 4, 2008 at 4:30 PM
My girlfriend and I had just returned from a weekend of eating pizza in New Haven, Connecticut, and, frankly, salad was the only option for our stomachs after days of cheese and grease. But we were hungry, too, and a pile of leaves wasn't going to cut it. More problematic was that cooking after a few hours of traveling was the last thing I wanted to do. The takeout menus beckoned.
But we had some mesclun greens around, as well as some cherry tomatoes. Taking inspiration from the classic Salad Niçoise, we looked in the freezer for some haricot verts, and a salmon fillet to replace the usual canned tuna.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, February 28, 2008 at 1:30 PM
This week's Cook the Book is Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson. If you haven't heard of Hopkinson, chances are you aren't English; in Britain, this book was voted the most useful cookbook ever by a group of chefs, food writers, and readers.
Win 'Roast Chicken and Other Stories'
To give you a taste of how useful this book is, we're excerpting a dish a day this week. Today's follows, after the jump. If that whets your appetite, you can find Roast Chicken on Amazon or enter to win a copy here on Serious Eats.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, February 25, 2008 at 4:30 PM
I was in an awful mood. It doesn’t happen too often (you’d have to ask the fiancée for a complete total), but it made for a tense evening. Cooking is usually a therapeutic process, but not that night. Neither of us had any desire to leave the house, but the fridge wasn’t holding any answers to the dilemma. A quick glance in the freezer revealed some frozen tuna filets (a long ago purchase from Trader Joe’s), and after a quick google search I found seared sesame tuna filet with wasabi mayonnaise. It sounded vaguely exotic and yet I had everything ready to go.
Well, almost. The only thing I didn’t have was the wasabi, but I did possess some red chili paste. I’d have the kick. But I was a tad leery about mixing the Asian cooking staple with my true-blue American Hellmann’s. The fears amounted to nothing, as the sauce came together perfectly and provided the key balance to this fantastic dish.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, February 22, 2008 at 3:30 PM
This one's a good one for Friday if you're going along with Lent. I doubt you have a whole salmon in the fridge at home, but this one's so easy and quick to make that you could run out and buy one or pick one up on your way home and still have it on the table before anyone gets too grumpy with hunger. The recipe is adapted from Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver, who points out that whole salmon is a great fish because of its fat content; even if you flub it up and overcook it, it'll still remain juicy.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, February 20, 2008 at 4:15 PM
It began its life as a pizza sauce, nothing more than some canned tomatoes, a slug of red wine and olive oil, and some salt. After all the dough was used, I poured the bright red liquid into a plastic container and moved it to the back of the fridge. In the old days (probably a year ago) I would have forgotten about it until a week later when I’d open it up, give it smell, and then wash it down the drain.
But no longer. Ever since I discovered eggs in purgatory, I’ve never had a problem with getting rid of leftover tomato sauce. The recipe is dead simple (sauce and eggs), but tastes far more complex. It is my go-to recipe whenever I have the chance. But for the sake of shaking things up, I decided to see what other simple recipes awaited some leftover tomato sauce.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, February 20, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Posted to the Serious Sandwiches Flickr Photo Group by Dylan Valliere
Normally, I like to leave the serious sandwich making to the professionals, and typically this column focuses on already prepared sandwiches available in some sort of complete and purchaseable form (i.e. all you have to do is pay and eat). But occasionally I'll enjoy making a sandwich for myself at home, and I'm not ashamed to admit that sometimes those recipes will come from surprisingly un-serious sources. That sandwich looks good, right? Who cares where the recipe came from? And it takes more than 30 minutes to make, so how bad could it be?
Serious is not a word that most use to describe Rachael Ray's food, but I'll be damned if that doesn't look like a delicious tuna sandwich.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, February 18, 2008 at 4:15 PM
I’ve been stuck on Saveur for a few weeks now, mostly because I’ve been able to find little gems like this one. The magazine likes to search for truly authentic dishes and explores their origins in longer written pieces. Salad of shrimp and roasted peppers is actually an adaptation of a traditional Italian dish which substitutes the hard to find eel (well, in the Midwest at least), with the far more approachable shrimp. Everything else is pure simplicity. How can so few ingredients create something so fresh and flavorful?
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Posted by Mario Batali, February 12, 2008 at 1:30 PM
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
1 pound fresh crab meat
4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus 4 scallions
1/4 cup basic tomato sauce
1 recipe basic pasta, rolled out to thinnest setting
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Procedure
1. Bring 6 quarts water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together crab, scallions, and basic tomato sauce until well blended. Cut pasta into 4-inch squares; place 1 tablespoon filling in center. Fold into triangles, exude air and seal edges. Bring points of long side together to form a ring (or a hat!) and seal with pressure between fingers. Place tortelloni in water; boil 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter with poppy seeds. Drain cooked tortelloni carefully; place gently in pan. Add remaining scallions; toss to coat. Serve immediately.
Posted by Ed Levine, February 10, 2008 at 1:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on a whitefish soufflé. —Ed Levine
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Posted by Adam Kuban, January 15, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Yesterday I was in the market for a good vegetable soup recipe. Today, my thoughts have turned to stir-fry, which is another item I like to make that I've been wanting a healthier recipe for.
This one, for Stir-Fried Shrimp with Lo Mein and Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette, comes from The Culinary Institute of America's Techniques of Healthy Cooking
.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 9, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I’m apparently still obsessed with death, because I can’t put My Last Supper down. I mean, of all recommendations, wouldn’t a “last-recipe-ever” tag by a respected chef seem like a good place to start? Especially when the chef is Mario Batali and his recipe is called Shrimp in Crazy Water? It looked like a beautiful rustic dish, rather like his chicken with green sauce recipe I still salivate over.
The “crazy” in the water is due to some fresh chiles, which in my case were serranos, though jalapeños or habeneros—for you really crazy folk—would also work. The chiles certainly do make a scene in the tomato and fennel sauce, though not in a way that would impede excessive slurping. I sure couldn’t find any live or whole shrimp in Ohio, so I had to settle for some wild Gulf shrimp without their heads. Not exactly the perfect re-creation for his last meal, but perfectly delicious for a weeknight meal.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 4, 2008 at 4:30 PM
I’ve been flipping through Melanie Dunea’s My Last Supper, since the fiancée got it for me on Christmas. It’s a big, beautiful book with an embarrassment of world-famous chefs detailing their last meal. It’s great reading and has some surprisingly stirring vignettes about family and lots of pictures (including a rather scandalous portrait of Anthony Bourdain with one very large bone covering his, well, little Tony). What’s most surprising about the meals is how simple they are. Faced with death, most people shied away from the grand and went to the basic. And, lucky for me, the fairly simple recipes are the in the back of the book, so I can indulge in a little end-of-times eating on a regular weeknight.
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 24, 2007 at 4:05 PM
- serves 4 as a main pasta course -
Ingredients
1 pound linguine
1/2 medium red onion, finely minced
1/4 pound pancetta, cut into 1/8th inch dice (or mole salame)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red chiles
1 pound Manila clams, scrubbed and rinsed
2 cups dry white wine
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped, to yield 1/4 cup
Procedure
1. Bring six quarts of water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.
2. In a large sauté pan, sauté red onion, pancetta, and garlic over medium heat until onion is very soft and pancetta is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add hot chiles, clams, white wine, and butter and bring to a boil. Cook until all clams have opened, and then set aside.
3. Boil linguine according to package instructions. While softened but still firm, drain in colander over sink and toss into plan with clams and stir gently to mix. This should still be a little brothlike. Add chopped parsley, pour into warm serving bowl and serve.
Posted by The Gurgling Cod, December 22, 2007 at 7:30 PM
Sunday Night Soups, where each week The Gurgling Cod shows up to offer a soup appropriate to the week's Sunday Night Football game on NBC.
The antepenultimate regular season Sunday Night Soup has SNS regulars the Redskins venturing to Minnesota to face the Vikings. The Vikings play indoors, which seems a shame, given the hardiness of their namesakes, and the franchise has languished since moving to a dome in the 1980s.
These teams have radically different foodsheds—the riches of the Chesapeake and the sweeping expanses of the northern reaches of America’s breadbasket. Flour comes from Minnesota, and crabs from Maryland, so breaded soft-shelled crabs would be an idea, but they are unwieldy in soup, and out of season, anyway. They will be teeing this one up not long before Santa kicks the tires and lights the fires, and that calls for something festive but not overwhelming. In other words, a perfect spot for Fergus Henderson’s leek, potato, and oyster soup.
This recipe is from his first book, published Stateside as The Whole Beast. He has a newer book out as well, Beyond Nose to Tail, which is more attractively produced than the first but not as compelling to cook from. Despite what the newspapers tell you, there is nothing wrong with giving cookbooks not published within the last year, so if you have a cook on your list who likes to use everything but the squeak, start with the first one.
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Posted by The Gurgling Cod, December 8, 2007 at 1:30 PM
Sunday Night Soups, where each week The Gurgling Cod shows up to offer a soup appropriate to the week's Sunday Night Football game on NBC.
This Sunday evening sees the renewal of the Carbetbag bowl, as the Colts, former Charm City NFL franchisees, return home to face the Ravens, who stepped out on the long-suffering fans of Cleveland, where they were known as the Browns, but were required to leave their colors and nickname in Cleveland for the new Browns. Got that?
Brian Billick coaches the Ravens, and could be seen last week blowing kisses to Rodney Harrison after the Patriots safety snared an interception during the Patriots' Monday Night victory and drew the Ravens' coach's attention to the play he had just made. So some sort of lip-smackingly delicious soup seems warranted. Peyton Manning, of New Orleans, will also be participating in this contest and is likely to have an impact on the outcome.
The game is in Baltimore, which is in Maryland. As Thomas Cecil pointed out back in 1630, in Maryland, "The Sea, the Bayes of Chesopeack, and Delaware, and generally all the Rivers, doe abound with Fish of severall sorts; for many of them we have no English names: There are Whales, Sturgeons very large and good, and in great aboundance; Grampuses, Porpuses, Mullets, Ttruts, Soules, Place, Mackerell, Perch, Crabs, Oysters, Cockles, and Mussles."
Billick. Manning. Cecil. The circumstances warrant a crab gumbo. Back in October, we saw a chicken-based no-okra gumbo for Saints-Seahawks. This time, consider a crab and okra gumbo, like this one, adapted from Gourmet.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, December 5, 2007 at 4:15 PM
It’s back to the cupboards for another recipe from Off the Shelf by Donna Hay. This time I had a nice piece of salmon and not a whole lot of time. I don’t usually like to fuss with seafood, trying to keep things as simple as possible and letting the natural flavor of the fish shine. But this looked like an easy way to add another dimension to what can become a standard—and a tad boring—week-night meal.
This recipe is anything but complex. The ingredient list is tiny, and the marinating time is short. Yet, the flavors caramelize beautifully over the high, high heat, creating a dead-simple recipe that takes less than 30 minutes.
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Posted by The Gurgling Cod, September 14, 2007 at 1:00 PM
Sunday Night Soups, where each week Serious Eats offers a soup appropriate to the week’s Sunday Night Football game on NBC. This week's recipe appears a little early, to give you time to round up a fresh, whole fish.
This Sunday night’s Chargers-Patriots tilt is naturally soupier than many of this season’s matchups. (Stay tuned for horsemeat soups when the Colts appear.) San Diego and New England are both regions with strong culinary traditions, though San Diego’s may have more to do with its proximity to the ocean and to Mexico than with the natural culinary genius of its residents.
Given the Charger lightning bolt helmet logo, and New England’s strong chowder tradition, a chowder of electric eels would seem to be the call here. Alternatively, considering the bad blood between these teams, a soup of live fighting fish in a room-temperature court-bouillon would be another appropriate choice. However, here at Serious Eats, we’re all about local and sustainable, so consider a chowder of your local catch instead. For inspiration, we’ll reach back to the championship year of 1918, and the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, available free on the web.
Do note that this recipe calls for whole fish, so get your knives sharp, and call your fishmonger ahead of time. If you are apprehensive about how to handle a whole fish, this video, illicitly obtained by the New England Patriots, may help.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, September 12, 2007 at 2:30 PM
The Shrimp Creole recipe that follows is that of the late Austin Leslie, whose notable career is briefly chronicled in John T. Edge's Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South.
Leslie began cooking at the D. H. Holmes Department Store on Canal Street in New Orleans, bounced around to various local kitchens, and eventually landed at Chez Helene, the neighborhood restaurant that inspired CBS's short-lived sitcom Frank's Place.
Leslie was an icon of New Orleans cuisine, was known as the "Godfather of Fried Chicken," and received raves from patrons and food writers alike for dishes such as Oysters Rockefeller and Fried Chicken with Persillade. Sadly, he died soon after being rescued from his attic after becoming trapped there during Hurricane Katrina.
His legend and recipes live on after him.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 10, 2007 at 4:15 PM
For those not quite convinced, it is fun to light things on fire—especially when you get to eat the contents afterwards. I found this easy Gourmet recipe that is quick and simple and offers a good introduction to igniting your food. I just made sure I knew the location of the closest fire extinguisher before proceeding.
I had all the ingredients on hand except the shrimp and was able to whip this up quickly after purchasing them. And It was fun, even if the flavors didn’t exactly meld. The unmistakable whiff of tequila haunts this dish. But it’s hard not to long for the tequila in its more enjoyable cocktail form. Perhaps I was just sad to see it all disappear into thin air.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 2, 2007 at 3:27 PM
This dish, from my favorite grilling book, The Thrill of the Grill, by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, is great to make for friends or family on Labor Day. If you can't find sopressata any good-quality Italian salami or pepperoni you can buy by the piece will suffice. Italian food purists will certainly say this dish would not be found in Italy, and they are probably right, but I say delicious trumps authenticity any day.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 1, 2007 at 9:00 AM
I made this swordfish recipe from The Young Man and the Sea last weekend for my wife and some friends, and I was declared a culinary hero—for one evening at least. I'm posting this here this morning so you still have time to follow the recipe this weekend.
The breadcrumbs keep the swordfish moist. The keys to success with this incredibly easy dish are toasting but not burning the breadcrumbs and keeping a close eye on the fish while it's on the grill. The breadcrumbs will burn if you're not careful.
One more thing. Don't tell Dave, but I used store-bought Italian-style breadcrumbs, and the recipe still turned out great. If you use store-bought breadcrumbs, just make sure you add the lemon zest, the chopped fresh parsley, and the garlic (from the Italian-Style Breadcrumb recipe that follows) when you toast them.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, August 3, 2007 at 1:15 PM
This recipe for Oven-Baked Tuna with Savory Topping caught my eye as I was paging through Nancy Harmon Jenkins's Cucina del Sole. It's a recipe that really seems of a place—southern Italy—with its olives, capers, basil, and cherry tomatoes—instead of just another generic baked tuna dish.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, July 30, 2007 at 3:55 PM
I’ve only had mussels, oh, a few dozen times in the past year, but for some reason I had always thought that the key to success was a better liquid for them to cook in. Chorizo and champagne worked well, as did a simple onion, celery, butter, and vermouth mixture. So imagine my surprise when I found this recipe from Mark Bittman, who wants absolutely nothing at all.
This takes the emphasis off the ingredients and places it on the technique. Bittman suggests cooking the mussels in a cast iron skillet over really, really high heat. Add a few cracks of pepper and a pinch of salt—and that’s it. No butter, no onions, and no wine. He explains that the high heat gives the mussels a distinctly smoky aroma, almost like what you’d expect if they had been cooked over a wood. I’d have to agree. It’s weird, illogical, and a slight bit mysterious. But it works unbelievably well.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, July 16, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Today marks the debut of Nick Kindelsperger's column Dinner Tonight. Starting today, Nick will drop by on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with a quick meal that you should be able to get on the table in about 30 minutes. Regular readers of Serious Eats know that Nick is one half of the Paupered Chef duo that has done some writing for us. OK, we'll let Nick take it from here. —The Editors
Photograph by Nick Kindelsperger
Welcome to Dinner Tonight, a handy little guide to eating simply and quickly for weekday meals. I’ll run through an easy recipe that can be picked up, completed, and cleaned up before it’s time to hit the sack. I’ll pull from the latest celebrity chef’s photo-laden books as well as dusty old tomes I've picked up at yard sales. It’s all up for grabs, as long as it’s simple, quick, and delicious. If you have some perfect recipes for the column, please let me know.
First up, one my favorite quick meals from Everyday Mexican by Rick Bayless: Seafood Salad Tacos with Tomato, Radish and Habanero. It’s probably the easiest taco recipe this side of opening up a packet of “Mexican” seasoning, but it's healthier and tastier. Don’t skimp on the radishes; they provide a nice bitter crunch—a nice foil to the fresh shrimp. Use the habaneros, however, at your own discretion. Don’t be a hero. Jalapeños or even some hot sauce would work well, too.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 13, 2007 at 3:30 PM
Dave Pasternack is probably best known for introducing crudo, Italian-style raw fish, to American palates. Think of it as sashimi with an Italian soul.
I have eaten this Albacore Tuna Crudo at Dave's restaurant, Esca, hundreds of times and never tire of it. Some people get nervous at the thought of making a raw fish preparation at home. Captain Dave says, "Don't be. Obviously it's imperative to use very fresh fish. If you're not a fisherperson yourself, you need to develop a relationship with a local fishmonger who will steer you to the freshest fish he's got. Once your fishmonger selects your fish for you, ask him or her to cut it into crudo-size pieces, 2 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick."
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 12, 2007 at 1:30 PM
Rock shrimp are delicious, forgiving, and so easy to cook with. Peppers and corn are the essence of summer eating, and when you combine them with rock shrimp and fettuccine you end up with the perfect, hassle-free summer dinner.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 11, 2007 at 1:30 PM
Dave Pasternack, with whom I wrote The Young Man and the Sea, has a real knack for combining two or three ingredients into something unique and delicious. Take this grilled shrimp dish for example. I love the combination of grilled radicchio—which is simultaneously smoky and bitter—with meaty shrimp and porky pancetta (cured Italian bacon). But what really makes this dish is the aged balsamic vinegar, which lends the whole affair a sweet, tangy finishing touch.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 10, 2007 at 3:00 PM
Working with Dave Pasternack on The Young Man and the Sea taught me how good seemingly plebian flounder can be if it's fresh and prepared well. This recipe for pan-fried Flounder with Beets and Sugar Snap Peas will have you thinking wonderful thoughts about flounder from now on. Trust me. Actually, don't trust me. Trust Dave. The man knows how to cook fish.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 9, 2007 at 3:00 PM
After writing The Young Man and the Sea, I had a keen appreciation for Dave Pasternack's ability to combine fish or shellfish with pasta in ingeniously simple fashion.
This recipe for Tagliatelle with Shrimp and Peas is easy, delicious, and takes less than half an hour from start to finish. Frozen peas work just as well as fresh ones, and, of course, they are a lot less work. If you can find rock shrimp easily where you live, by all means use them instead of the medium shrimp.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 22, 2007 at 4:15 PM
The last of this week's Cook the Book recipes is for a Slow-Roasted Whole Fish with Onion and Fennel Stuffing. It's a bit longer than the previous recipes, which is why it's coming to you on Friday, so you can attempt it over the weekend.
Like all the Cook the Book recipes this week, this one comes from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 21, 2007 at 4:30 PM
And today's Cook the Book recipe is for a Jersey Shore Tuna Sub. When I visit the Jersey Shore, subs somehow make it into my hands as if by magic—that is, unless the seagulls on the boardwalk (which are ruthlessly aggressive) steal them. This sub is one that both they and I would enjoy.
Like all the Cook the Book recipes this week, this one comes from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 20, 2007 at 6:43 PM
I have a confession: Until somewhat recently, I did not like the fish. I'd like to blame it on having been raised in Kansas, but the truth is my dad is an avid fisherman and caught plenty of fresh lake fish that he'd then bread and pan-fry—while I ate grilled cheese.
I didn't gain a culinary appreciation for finned or shelled or gilled creatures until I visited Japan and had to eat them out of politeness. Thank heaven for social niceties, because now I eat the seafood with abandon.
I've still never asked my dad for his pan-fried fish recipe, but I'd imagine it's similar to the one that follows, Perfect Pan-Fried Breaded Fish, from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook. It's just a simple technique that lets the fish itself shine. Happy fishin'!
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 19, 2007 at 3:15 PM
Seviche, as an item to prepare on my own, has always scared me off. (Eating it is no problem, though.) But given that it's just some raw fish "cured" with citrus juice plus a handful of simple ingredients, I don't know what's stopped me.
Here, in our second recipe from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook, a recipe for the popular Latin American appetizer. Though it's typically made with lime juice, White puts a spin on it with other citrus flavors.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 18, 2007 at 6:15 PM
We've had a fair amount of lobster roll discussion here on Serious Eats. Even a video about this traditional New England summertime fare. But we've never offered a recipe for this iconic treat—until now. After the jump, Jasper White's recipe for Classic Maine Lobster Rolls.
It's our first daily recipe from this week's Cook the Book offering, The Summer Shack Cookbook. The Summer Shack is White's mini-chain of restaurants that serve classic, simple, and comforting seaside fare. The cookbook is a collection of recipes, how-tos, and an overall guide to every kind of shore food you'd want to eat.
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