I don't know if there's a little ambiguity in defining "pork tenderloin" or if the butcher just gave Todd something else, but when I sent him to the pork store to buy a tenderloin, instead of the long, skinny little piece of meat I expected, Todd came home with a 3-pound roast. So we ate pork for about a week. First I roasted some of it, coating it with applesauce before I put it in a 500 degree oven and cooked it until it reached 155 degrees internally. Then we had sandwiches with some of the leftovers. With the rest of the meat, I made Bittman's pork and turnips (which we love) and Todd took those leftovers to lunch.

On Sunday we finally ate the last of the pork I had roasted, stir-fried with rice, bell pepper, scallions, garlic and celery and seasoned with toasted sesame oil, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. You stir-fry the veggies first, add the garlic, then the rice and seasonings. So easy. (Although I did have to cook the rice the day before, but that's easy, too. I just left it sitting on the stovetop, covered, like Todd's roommate used to do in college.)

Posted by Kim at 09:41 AM | Permalink

Have people had success with Martha's recipes? I subscribe to Everyday Food, and I find the recipes in there a little hit or miss. This weekend I made peanut butter and chocolate creams, which are basically heavy cream whipped with one of those two ingredients. For the peanut butter, you whip 3/4 cup heavy cream to stiff peaks, add 2 tablespoons sugar and whip to combine, then fold in 1/2 cup peanut butter. If you thought folding peanut butter into whipped cream would be hard, you'd be right. But it eventually worked.

The chocolate is what I really had a hard time with. You warm 3/4 cup heavy cream, pour it over 1/2 cup chocolate chips, let it sit for 5 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then stir to combine. Then pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes. When it's cool, whip until thick and fluffy. Only mine wouldn't get thick and fluffy. It had the texture of unset pudding. I usually chill the bowl and beaters when whipping cream and I didn't do that this time, so I stuck the whole thing in the freezer, then pulled it out and tried again, which made it worse. I ended up just freezing the chocolate cream, then I sandwiched the two creams between Nilla wafters and stuck them back in the freezer. They were pretty good that way. Martha's first suggestion for the creams was to eat them layered as a parfait, but I think that'd be way too rich. These little cookie sandwiches were perfect, like ice cream sandwiches with a slightly fudgier texture to the cream.

Posted by Kim at 08:42 AM | Permalink

Manhattan clam chowder, made with scallops (because I had a bag of frozen bay scallops) instead of clams. I've never been much of a red chowder fan, but it's not as bad for you as New England chowder, and I had a bunch of vegetables I needed to use up. I started with a bottle of clam juice, added about half a bottle of water. Diced up 1 carrot, 2 stalks celery, half a large red bell pepper and a large scallion, added that to the pot and simmered it all for 10 minutes, to soften the vegetables. Then I added 1 diced potato, half a 28-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes that I had chopped up (with some of the puree in the can), thyme, salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Simmered that until the potatoes were tender, then added scallops and simmered until they were cooked through. Easy, and pretty tasty, too, with a distinct seafood taste.

Yes, the bread got a little too broiled, but only on one edge. And I like that burned taste as long as it's not too much of it.

Posted by Kim at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is a restaurant in Chelsea Market that is committed to using organic ingredients. It's a cute little place, with only a few tables, but reasonably priced.

We went there yesterday after some gallery-hopping. While we were having lunch, though, Todd started to feel nauseated, so I had to wolf down my food (a meatloaf sandwich with a sweet and spicy tomato chutney and mustardy coleslaw) so we could go. But we'll definitely go back. We like to spend our free time visiting galleries in the area and I never know where to eat. (Todd is feeling better, and it wasn't the chicken pot pie. It's much more likely that he was sick with disappointment about the photography exhibits we saw that morning. Nothing outstanding, although I really liked the series of tract houses and old barns at Robert Mann galleries, and the 360 degree views of famous sites like the Brooklyn Bridge and the Louvre at Laurence Miller were kind of interesting.)

Posted by Kim at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I made chocolate chip cookies last night (I used a recipe in the Once Upon a Tart cookbook, but it's pretty basic). Sorry to sound like the end of a coming-of-age novel, but it taught me a couple of things about myself.

I've come a long way in terms of cooking and baking. There was a time when baking a batch of cookies was an event, involving what seemed to me a huge shopping list, a long process and endless scooping and baking. I would skip key elements, like using room-temperature butter, or not know how to "make" the butter room temperature quickly (microwave, LOW POWER, in 30 second increments until your thumb leaves a mark). I know some of you will understand what I'm saying, and others of you have baking in your blood and can't imagine that a batch cookies could be viewed as daunting. Anyway, I have changed. I have all the ingredients on hand (they're staples in my kitchen) and everything goes so quickly and easily. I was a little surprised. And I always used to be disappointed in the results, but the cookies I made last night are awesome. (I have in my possession a box of Entenmann's cookies that I'm supposed to deliver to a friend, and that's what got me craving cookies last night, but I wasn't allowed to open the box since they weren't mine, so that's why I made my own. Mine were better.)

The other thing I learned about myself is that I'm a comfort baker. Some news made me a little sad last night, so I made a batch of cookies, and it made me feel better. Skilled and useful, like I could do something that other people would appreciate and enjoy. Is that an unhealthy attitude about food? I just wish there were more than just the two of us to eat up all my comfort baking.

Posted by Kim at 06:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Wednesday night I went to a dinner at Bryant Park Grill honoring three honey recipe contest winners. Two thoughts on the night:

1. Alton Brown was the host, and he was as friendly, enthusiastic and smart as you would imagine him to be. He made the whole process of honey production interesting: the social network of bees, the process they use to make honey, beekeeping, the harvesting process and the different "varietals" of honey. We did a honey tasting, and it was fun. You definitely can detect different flavors in the honey (the strong, molassess-y buckwheat honey was my favorite). He looked kind of schlubby, unshaven and unkempt, but that was kind of nice, too. I mentioned my husband, who works on big web sites, loves him, and he said he gets all the techies. Must be that Bill Nye-MacGyver thing he has going on.

2. If I were the honey organization that hosted the evening, I would be pissed at Bryant Park Grill. The recipes looked great, but the execution sucked. The honey cocktail was weak, the goat cheese and figs were topped with a couple of sad nuts and barely any honey instead of being rolled in nuts and drizzled with honey, the fruit salad, which was supposed to be in a dressing of mint honey and yogurt, was watery with no evidence of dressing. The dessert, a honey gelato, was way too lemony and icey. Nice atmosphere, but I'd rather have good food, crappy decor.

Posted by Kim at 04:14 PM | Permalink

This is, in the incarnations I've seen it, a broth-based soup with greens and meatballs. I know someone's going to be horrified, but since this is called "Italian," I decided a good, flavorful shortcut for the recipe would be to use sweet Italian sausage to make the meatballs. I can never find packages that contain ground beef, veal and pork all together, and buying the separate packs would result in entirely too much meat, so this seemed like a good way to make up for the loss of flavor.

This is a recipe from Rachael Ray's second cookbook. You start by sauteeing, then sweating, two chopped carrots and two chopped celery stalks in olive oil (I don't know if the recipe doesn't include an onion or if I just forgot to put it it). While that's cooking, covered, mix 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing, with 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs, 1 egg, salt, pepper, nutmeg and minced garlic. Add 6 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water to the carrots and celery and bring to a boil, then form the meat mixture into small meatballs and drop into the soup. Add about a cup of small pasta (I used elbow macaroni; she suggests broken up linguine) and boil for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile chop and wash fresh spinach. When the pasta's soft and the meatballs are cooked through, add the spinach and allow it to wilt. Serve with more Parmesan grated on top.

I liked the flavor of the sausage meatballs, with the sweet fennel-seed taste, and will probably make them again.

Posted by Kim at 12:53 PM | Permalink

I always noticed this bread at the fruit and vegetable place near my apartment, and wanted to try to make something with it. It's probably close to three feet long and very soft. (And only 99 cents! I don't understand how these pitas and breads can be so cheap. Especially when it's about $5 to buy a loaf at a bread shop and $2.50 to buy a loaf of supermarket bread. I know the quality doesn't rival the bread shop bread, but it's "daily bread" quality and always fresh.) It says on the package to keep it refrigerated, but I had to fold it in half to get it to fit in the fridge. Todd would shake his head every time he opened the door. So I made a pizza.

I spread marinara sauce over half the bread, then grated some Parmesan over that and sprinkled it with oregano and red pepper flakes. Added shredded mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced proscuitto and more mozzarella. Baked it on the oven floor for about 12 minutes with the oven at 450 degrees. The bread made a good crust. As I suspected, it didn't have a huge amount of flavor, but it was thick and light, kind of soft but crisp on the bottom and firm enough to eat slices out of hand without them drooping. I think the bread might make good panini. It seems that slightly thick, light bread, like focaccia, compacts and gets crusty in a press, making a nice, crisp, thin sandwich.

Posted by Kim at 08:51 PM | Permalink

It's popular among those who consider themselves food enthusiasts in NYC to criticize the titular cakes from Cupcake Cafe, and so I feel the need to defend them. A friend is getting married this weekend and the buttercream-laden cupcakes were featured at her shower here at work, so I've had a couple in the last few days.

They're good for the type of dessert they are: elaborately decorated, very pretty. They're small, which is good because they frosting has the texture of pure butter and the cake is pretty dense. But I feel like it strikes a good balance. The size is perfect for the richness, the slight dryness of the cake complements the moist buttercream. There's just the right hint of sweetness without going anywhere near sweet or cloying. I don't feel sick when I'm done eating one, but I'm definitely done. Too-light desserts don't give you that satisfied feeling. Straight from the fridge, Cupcake Cafe cupcakes are fantastically decadent.

And now a study, as reported in The New York Times, says there are benefits for your health, too.

Posted by Kim at 02:15 PM | Permalink

I had a whole huge list of things I was going to do yesterday: AMMI had free admission, the San Gennaro festival is going on, we need groceries and cash. But it was one of those days, in the mid-70s so you don't feel justified turning on the air conditioner but the humidity hovers around 100 percent so you feel like your slugging through a swamp just walking down the block.

But I did turn on the air and use this. I've been intrigued by the idea that you can bake a cake on a baking sheet . We call it a "rimmed baking sheet" at work, I presume because the jelly roll is not as common a dessert as it once was, so new cooks might be confused by the term "jelly-roll pan." Anyway, I made a basic jelly roll yesterday, and it wasn't pretty coming out of the oven, although it didn't look too bad once it was assembled. Haven't tried it yet, but Todd didn't rave. I think I'll spread it with ice cream next time - the best thing about the birthday cake is eating it with ice cream, a creamy contrast to the spongey crumb of the cake. I make sure I get a little bit of each with every bite.

Anyway, the cake recipe:

I lined the pan with foil and sprayed it with nonstick spray, which worked OK but not perfectly (the edges of the foil sort of curled up as the cake shrunk while baking, making it hard to remove without getting some cake with it). First you mix 1/2 cup flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder in one bowl. Separate 4 eggs into 2 bowls (yolks in a medium bowl, whites in a large one). Add 1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla to the egg yolks and beat for 5 minutes, until they're creamy. (The recipe called for beating the yolks with the vanilla, then adding the sugar, but I made a mistake. It didn't seem to make a difference.) With clean beaters, whip the egg whites to soft peaks, then add 1/2 cup sugar and whip to stiff peaks. Fold in the yolk mixture, then the flour mixture. Spread in baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Turn out of pan immediately onto a clean kitchen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Roll the cake up together with the towel and set on a rack to cool. Once it's cool, unroll it and spread the filling (I used 1/2 cup cherry preserves mixed with some Cointreau) in center, leaving a 1-inch border without. Roll up and trim the edges.

Posted by Kim at 07:12 AM | Permalink

When it comes to food, even when Todd and I agree, we disagree. We had all that leftover chicken this week, so on Wednesday I made enchiladas. But not the enchiladas Todd likes, with the green chile sauce. I made a quick mole, with chile powder, chicken stock and chocolate. He ate it Wednesday night, but he keeps leaving the leftovers behind. I don't think he likes it much.

Anyway, I do, and it's made from stuff we tend to have in our cupboard. Dice an onion and cook it in oil, covered, with cumin, a pinch of cinnamon, garlic, salt and pepper until it's soft. I added 2 tablespoons chipotle chile powder (this sauce was really hot!), 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour and another tablespoon of cumin. Add 2 cups chicken stock and simmer until it's reduced quite a bit and starting to get thick. Take it off the heat and stir in about a tablespoon of chocolate (I used chips). Stir some of the sauce into the leftover shredded chicken.

Spread a spoonful of sauce over the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking pan, then make 8 enchiladas, rolling the chicken, shredded Cheddar cheese, raw onions and chopped black olives in corn tortillas. Lay them in the pan, then spread the rest of the sauce over the top and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, then uncover and cook for another 10 minutes.

Posted by Kim at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It was fresh whipped cream, actually, spiked with a little Cointreau. If you chill the beaters and the bowl that you're going to use to whip the cream, everything comes together really well. I just sprinkled in a little sugar and poured in some Cointreau once the cream started to get fluffy, then continued to beat it until it was the right consistency.

One of my favorite articles from Cooking Light was cakes that can be made using only one bowl. The one I made recently, and accompanied with the whipped cream, is a Devil's Food Cake. The key technique used in the article is melting the butter, then mixing it with the sugar, salt, levening, spices, then the flour. You start with 5 tablespoons of melted butter for this cake, then add 1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1 cup brown sugar. Mix that, then add 2 eggs, one at a time, then 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix in 3/4 cup flour, then add 1 teaspoon espresso powder dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water and pour into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Posted by Kim at 08:08 AM | Permalink

My cousin decided to become a vegetarian after handling a raw chicken, and that was my first thought when I opened the chicken package yesterday. After I got it all rinsed off, though, I actually warmed up to handling the thing. I had made a lemon-thyme butter, which I rubbed under the loosened skin on the breast. Then I rubbed more all over the outside of the chicken, seasoned the inside with salt and pepper, and stuffed a cut-up lemon, a bunch of thyme springs, a small halved onion and some halved garlic cloves in the cavity. Placed it breast side up in my heavy, deep-sided skillet on top of a cut-up onion and some baby carrots and roasted it at 450 degrees, basting it every once and a while with the pan juices. I think the whole operation took about 1 hour 45 minutes, but I'm not really sure. I had stuck my thermometer in the thigh and took the chicken out when the temperature reached 165 degrees. The breast had reached about 162, but it was still really tender, juicy. Must've been all that butter.

Posted by Kim at 09:15 AM | Permalink

It has whole cherries in it and is now one of my favorite condiments. It's actually somewhat like a jelly, with tons of the cherries making up the bulk of it. I made jam bars from it about a week ago, and this morning I mixed it with some thickened yogurt for breakfast (it felt like a sinfully rich breakfast, but I can't imagine it's that bad for you - just plain, nonfat yogurt and a spoonful of the cherries).

Thickening yogurt is easy, and I like the finished texture better than the regular yogurt: I line my strainer with a paper towel and put it in a bowl that's deeper than the strainer. Then I fill the strainer with the yogurt, fold the paper towel over the top, put a small plate on top and weigh it down with a jar of something. Leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours, and all this liquid comes out of it, which you just throw down the sink.

Posted by Kim at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The New York Times ran a recipe for scallop chowder last week. I didn't make that chowder. I intended to, but then Todd only got 1 cup of heavy cream (the recipe calls for 1 1/2 quarts) and I realized that it took a good 2 hours to make (way more time than I wanted to spend on a weeknight). I found this recipe for Fish Chowder on the Food TV web site (it's from Sara's Secrets, I think) and just substituted scallops for the fish.

The recipe calls for rendering bacon fat, but I just melted some butter (that's what I had). Sauteed half a diced big white onion in it with a bay leaf and a few springs fresh thyme until the onions were soft. Added 1/4-inch-thick half-moons of potato (1 medium), 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (recipe preferred fish stock) and lots of salt and pepper. Brought that to a good boil, covered and cooked for 10 minutes (a lot of liquid evaporated, and what was left was kind of thick. I actually added about another 1/2 cup water at this point). Leave it off the heat for 10 minutes, then add 1/2 pound scallops (the little ones - bay?) and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup cream and more salt and pepper, to taste. Todd got home late, so it sat for about 45 minutes before we warmed it up and ate it, and the recipe said that time allowed the flavors to meld. It was good; we both wanted to take the leftovers for lunch today, but, alas, there was only enough for one. (Would it make you think I'm a spoiled brat if I told you that I got to take it? He got the leftover salmon, which I would have willingly taken instead.)

Posted by Kim at 10:02 AM | Permalink

A box of phyllo contains about 28 sheets, but once it's open you have to use all of it in a week. So I've been trying out different phyllo recipes the last couple of nights. Last night I made salmon fillets in phyllo, and tonight I made banana-chocolate triangles. Both recipes were from the recent issue of Everyday Food, but I took a lot of liberties with the fish.

I cut a 3/4 lb salmon fillet in half and skinned it, then seasoned it with salt and pepper. My fillets got gradually thinner on one side, so I folded that side under to make the whole thing even. Then I laid out a phyllo sheet, brushed it with melted butter, sprinkled dried sage on it, then added another sheet, which I brushed with more butter. Centered 1 fillet about 3 inches from 1 short end, brushed it with Dijon mustard, then rolled up the near end and folded in the sides. Then I rolled up the fillet in the phyllo sheet and brushed it with an egg wash. Repeated that for the other fillet and baked them in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.

For the banana-chocolate triangles, I halved a banana lengthwise and cut it in 1/2-inch slices, which I tossed with sugar and chocolate chips. Laid out a sheet of phyllo and brushed it with melted butter, then sprinkled on sugar. Repeat with 5 more phyllo sheets. Cut the sheets lengthwise in 4 long strips, then mound some of the banana mixture on one end of a strip. Rolled up, using that corner-to-side technique that gives you a triangle at the end. Repeat with other 3 strips. Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Make sure to let these cool before biting into them - the banana and chocolate get melty and really hot.

Next is a tomato pizza with a crust made from phyllo.

Posted by Kim at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wasn't yesterday perfect slow-cooker weather? It was gray, cool and drizzly, so I opened up a couple cans of diced tomatoes and took the skin off 6 bone-in chicken thighs. Put that in the slow cooker with 1/2 cup of peanut butter and a small can of diced green chiles. Turned it on high for an hour, then switched it to low, went to a movie and came home to the smell of dinner filling the whole house.

(I know the peanut butter seems weird, but it works. And the chicken gets so tender it comes right off the bone when you stir the stew. Plus now we have lots of leftovers.)

Posted by Kim at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This was an easy recipe - an egg white is the secret to getting the sesame seeds to stick, and you pound the breast thin so it'll cook through before the seeds burn.

First I pounded two small chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness, salted them, then dredged them through slightly beaten egg white mixed with more salt, and then through sesame seeds. Set that aside to allow the whites to dry out a little, and heat a good amount of oil (a scant 1/4 cup?) in the pan. Cook the breasts on each side about 5 minutes. I sliced them up and served them over arugula with balsamic vinaigrette drizzled on top. (I wanted to do an Asian dressing, but my sesame oil had gone bad and everything I tried turned out kind of foul. The vinaigrette was good with it, though.)

Posted by Kim at 08:36 PM | Permalink