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Tuesday, January 30, 2007February Bon Appetit is Worth a Look!I have to say that my favorite food magazine is Fine Cooking. I really like the attention to technique. When I read an article in Fine Cooking, I feel as if the writer is talking to me and trying to help me understand how to make a dish better. A lot of the writers are food writers or teachers or else really smart working chefs who truly love food and are not writing just to get their restaurants noticed. But after reading the February issue of Bon Appetit, I have to ask if a subscription isn’t in my future. I was a subscriber in the 1990s, then let my subscription lapse for a long time. You can tell a lot about a magazine by its advertisers, and Bon Appetit at the time had a lot of convenience food producers among its advertisers. I’m just not interested in many convenience foods--even ones labeled as natural or organic--and I thought that the appearance of these “foods” in the pages of the magazine indicated a downward trend in the quality of the editorial content and the recipes--and my interest in the magazine. But the February issue is great! For one, there’s an article by Molly Stevens, hands-down my favorite food writer, with some great recipes. I made “Roast Chicken with Spanish Paprika and Herb-Roasted Smashed Potatoes” for dinner Sunday night and it was, in a word, great. Smoky, intense, and the smashed potatoes soaked up the chicken juices for a perfect accompaniment. The article presents four main dishes that yield leftovers that can be made into a second dish later in the week. There are some other really terrific recipes in the issue--aside from those in Molly’s article, that is--including some fantastic-sounding winter desserts. Buy it now before it disappears from the newsstands! And maybe, just maybe, subscribe.... A Journey of a Sort: One Month DownAt the end of the first month, I’m down 4.5 pounds. Yay! And during the course of the month, I had french fries, fried chicken, butter, rice, and my beloved nightly martinis. What I did to begin the weight loss:
1. I invested in a Polar heart rate monitor. The monitr tracks my workouts through the week and helps me to log in both the proper quality and quantity of time. I do three hours of cardio each week and lift four times or so (depending on my travel schedule). Still well within the number of hours I said I’d be able to devote to exercise.
Lori and I were talking earlier today about how a successful weight loss program has got to be rooted in a lifestyle change to be sustainable. I’m finding that I’m much happier having less of what I enjoy and still being able to enjoy it in moderation than I ever was with extreme diets that you can only do for so long. The weight may not come off as fast (25.5 more pounds to go!), but I’ve never felt over the last month that I’ve been deprived. Sunday, January 28, 2007FryfestLast night Mikey and Johnny and Ken came over for fried chicken. Once an annual event, it’s turned out to be more semi-quarterly like the feast of St. Braise (a topic for a different post). I’ve been trying for awhile to get fried chicken right, and I think I’ve finally done. The following recipe for spicy fried chicken can be found in its original form on epicurious.com. I’ve incorporated my notes and changes into the recipe below ...
Marinating Chicken
Coating Chicken
Puree garlic in food processor with a little of the buttermilk. Place garlic, buttermilk, cumin, salt, pepper and into a large ziploc bag and add chicken, and refrigerate overnight. Remove chicken from marinade and set on rack to drain for 10 minutes. Mix flour, salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper in a large sheet pan. Toss chicken pieces in batches in flour mixture, turning to coat; shake off excess. Toss each piece again in flour mixture; shake off excess. Let chicken sit in the extra flour mixture for 15 to 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 205 degrees. Line baking sheet with paper towels. Pour oil into heavy large skillet to depth of 3/4 inch (or, in my case, a roto-fryer). Heat oil over high heat to 375*F. or until small cube of fresh bread sizzles instantly when added. Add chicken thigh and leg pieces to skillet. Adjust heat so that temperature remains between 340*F. and 350*F. or until small cube of bread sizzles slowly when added. Fry until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, turning chicken occasionally, about 14 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to paper towel-lined baking sheet. Place baking sheet with chicken in oven to keep warm. Reheat oil to 375*F. Add breast and wing pieces to skillet. Adjust heat so that temperature remains between 340*F. and 350*F. and fry chicken until cooked through and golden brown, turning occasionally with tongs, about 10 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to prepared sheet and drain. Transfer chicken to platter. Sprinkle with cilantro. Garnish with lime wedges and serve. Some Notes 1. A cast-iron skillet works fine, but I use a DeLonghi Roto Fryer, a wonderful little toy that I got for Christmas a few years back. It’s easy to clean, uses a third less oil, has a filter to cut a good deal of the “fried food” smell that can stay in a kitchen for days, and ensure perfectly uniform browning. It also was much easier to regulate than the skillet/thermometer combination on the stovetop. The one drawback is that only four to five pieces of chicken fit in the frying basket--it will take more than an hour to prep enough chicken for a dinner party of eight, so start early. 2. In the roto fryer at 375, you can guarantee that drumsticks will be done in 12 minutes (no turning necessary, the machine does it for you). Likewise, thighs in 14 and breasts in nine. 3. The double-dusting and “sit in flour” stage goes a long way toward making the skin crispy. I did a third quick dusting of each piece before placing it in the oil. 4. Because the chicken soaked in buttermilk for a day, it was juicy and tender even after sitting in the warming oven. I replaced the paper towels a few times during the cooking process. As a result, the chicken had all of the crunch and much less grease that our friends expected. 5. I used half oil and half shortening to cook the chicken. Safflower oil has a really high smoke point, but I’ve always been told that half solid and half liquid for frying is the best way to go. Next time, duck fat? Thursday, January 25, 2007A Perfect Winter Meal, from Italy via VermontI had a nearly perfect winter meal tonight. Not a braise--though it was certainly on my mind when I walked into pane e salute, my favorite restaurant. The name translates as “bread and health” and every town should have a restaurant like this. A place where locals sit next to restaurant people from Boston or New York, with a table of Dartmouth professors thrown in to enliven the mix. For ten years, pane was located in a street-level space here in Woodstock (Vermont--not New York!) with a lovely little courtyard where, in summer, you could sit outside on a gorgeous Vermont night and sip wine and eat ethereal pasta. You could imagine yourself in a small restaurant in Europe. Then, pane moved upstairs. We all wondered what it would be like. And we learned: even better. Those of us who go there a lot should know that the owners--Caleb Barber and Deirdre Heekin--would only make things better. Now, you walk up a set of glorious stone steps into the second floor of an old frame building in downtown Woodstock. Nothing really prepares you for what you encounter. The space that pane occupies is small and warm, warm colors on the walls, candles. The restaurant seats 22 at tables and banquettes, with 4 seats at the bar, and since it operates with a small staff (usually two people in the dining room and two in the kitchen, except on a really busy night), it feels very intimate. If there’s a large party of people drinking wine, it can be noisy. But mostly, it’s not. A place where you can go and have a nice dinner with friends, or an intimate dinner with your wife or partner. The owners--Caleb Barber and Deirdre Heekin--spent a lot of time in Italy, traveling there for the first time together on a one-way ticket the day after their wedding. Caleb apprenticed in a bakery and a small restaurant. In Woodstock, they opened an osteria, which they describe as “… a place of hospitality, a place where you can get a dish of handmade pasta, a bowl of soup, a glass of wine or beer.” That’s right: warmth, hospitality, great food. An unusual wine list: you won’t find this list laden with big barolos, but with a wide range of regional reds and whites, a list that Deirdre says is much like what you’d find in Italy. A list that’s earned them recognition from Food & Wine--not bad for a tiny restaurant in Vermont. I digressed, but you need to be able to imagine walking into this warm, intimate space from the frigid night, sitting down at the counter, and ordering dinner. So, tonight: a salad with bitter greens followed by a polenta made from cornmeal and buckwheat flour, sliced, and fried, topped with stewed porchini and portobellas. The polenta was crispy and tender at the same time, with a bit of texture when you bit into it, and the mushrooms chewy. The dish was finished with butter and parmiggiano, at once rich, flavorful. I really didn’t want a dessert, but I heard Caleb describe one of the antipasti for the night and I just had to have it. Funny enough, it was a perfect ending to the meal. And transcendent! Here’s the dish: a juicy prune stuffed with a bit of gorgonzola and toasted, slivered walnuts wrapped with a bit of pancetta. I was served six of them drizzled with some olive oil. The flavors and textures were just sublime: sweet, slightly chewy, crunchy, soft, salty, tangy--all at once. After the first one, I thought: Only six! What a perfect winter starter (or, for that matter, cheese course.) If you’re anywhere near Woodstock, you owe it to yourself to have dinner at this place. If you can’t visit in person, you can at least enjoy Caleb and Deirdre’s book, pane e salute: food and love in Italy and Vermont. In 2002, when it was published, I gave all my friends autographed copies. You can get yours from Amazon.com. And if you’re a New Yorker--or in New York on 5 March--join Caleb and Deirdre when they do dinner at the James Beard House. More info here. Tuesday, January 23, 2007Slow-Cooker Beef Brisket with BeerHere’s a great recipe for beef brisket that is actually a winner in two ways. A slow-cooker lazy day meal plus a lighter version makes it more legal for those of us trying to be good following the holidays.
Slow-Cooker Beef Brisket with Beer
If your slow cooker includes a removable insert, you can brown the brisket and onion mixture a day ahead, place all of the ingredients in the insert, and refrigerate. The next morning, place the insert in the slow cooker, and when you arrive home from work, a tasty entree will await you. The onion and parsnips function as flavorings, and so you’ll want to serve a vegetable side dish.
1 (3-pound) beef brisket, trimmed
1. Rub brisket with salt and pepper. Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add brisket to pan; cook 10 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove brisket from the pan. Add 1/4 cup water to pan, stirring to loosen browned bits. Add onion and parsnip; saute 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 2. Place onion mixture, vinegar, bay leaf, and beer in a large electric slow cooker. Place brisket on top of onion mixture. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours. Discard bay leaf. Cut brisket diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with sauce. What I did differently this time: I didn’t have any parsnips on hand and used carrots instead. This worked fine. I also used a bit more salt and pepper to suit my taste. What I would do differently next time:
Sneak the can of beer out of the fridge and into my recipe. It wasn’t worth the hassle to explain to my husband why I was pouring a perfectly good bottle of beer into the crock pot, no matter how good it tasted later! |
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