Recipes & Cooking: June 2003 Archives

I made a peach pie this weekend. I used Lora Brody's basic crust, a peach filling recipe from Epicurious and a crumble topping, also from Brody's book, that was part of a recipe for a strawberry-rhubarb pie.

I think two of the cookbooks I'm informally testing are keepers. (Although did anyone who knows me really think I would be getting rid of anything?)

We had Oatmeal Pancakes from Elizabeth Alston's book yesterday, and I was very pleased with them (they'd be good for people who are trying to avoid refined carbohydrates, too, I think, except for the sugar - I wonder if you can leave it out?). You start by pulverizing 2 cups of uncooked oatmeal into a flour in the blender or food processor along with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Then you add 2 eggs, 1 cup plain yogurt and 2/3 cup milk and blend until smooth. The batter's really thin at this point, but you leave it set for 5 minutes and it thickens up nicely. The finished pancakes have a pretty brown color and a nice, hearty texture without being the kind of pancakes that sit at the bottom of your stomach all day. I went ahead and made the extra batter into pancakes and froze them. I just pop them in the toaster when I feel like having them for breakfast.

On Friday, I used Bittman's technique for pan-frying salmon fillets and then finishing them in the oven, and, although the apartment smelled like fish all weekend, we did like the crispy results. I'll try a different spice mix, though. I used 5-spice powder and really didn't like the flavor.

It's been so hot here: Hello summer! We put our air-conditioner in last night, but not before I made dinner, so I made a no-cook meal, a Thai-inspired noodle salad with strips of thick-cut roast beef from the deli.

It starts with two packets of ramen noodles, which you soak in hot water for 10 minutes (it really works). While that was soaking, I cut up a red bell pepper, a cucumber, some lettuce and mint. I also chopped some unsalted nuts, cut the deli roast beef into strips and made a dressing from peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, a pinch of cayenne and some sesame oil. Drained and rinsed the noodles, tossed them with some of the dressing and arranged it all on plates with some lime wedges. Todd took a photo that I'll post tonight. It's pretty. Huge amounts of food, too, so we're having leftovers for lunch.

We have not put our air conditioners in the windows yet, so I've been trying to make dinner without turning anything on. Fortunately, it's an annual tradition at Woman's Day to have an article on no-cook meals. Lots of sandwiches and cold soups, but tonight I'm going to try this Thai-inspired beef noodle salad that you make with deli meat and by soaking ramen noodles in warm water for 10 minutes. We'll see.

Last night I made another no-cooker, a couscous salad, with all the leftovers in the fridge. I nuke the water to get it boiling (although supposedly that's a no-no; see why below), then dump in the couscous and cover it for 5 minutes. This time I added tomato, roasted red pepper, diced mozzarella, salt, pepper and kalamata olives.

Why you shouldn't boil water in the microwave (although I do it anyway): Apparently the hot water can unexpectedly spurt up when you take it out of the microwave because the air that's trying to bubble up has nothing to form bubbles around, then when you slosh it when you take it out, the bubbles all form along the sides of the container and burst out of it; since the water reached the boiling point without bubbling, it's hotter than the boiling point when it spills all over your hands. I've seen others recommend putting a string or wooden pick in the water, breaking the surface, to allow the bubbles to form along that. I just use a really big, really old pyrex container with lots of scratches for the bubbles to form on.

You know how Julia Child boils an egg? She doesn't. She puts the eggs in a pot, covers them with water, brings the water to a boil, turns the heat off, covers the pot and then lets the eggs sit in the water for somewhere around 10 minutes (I'd have to look up the exact amount of time). Perfectly hard-cooked eggs, no green ring around the yolk.

Mark Bittman uses the same technique for cod or other white fish fillets in the Cod Cake recipe I tried last night, and, while I didn't particularly like the cakes (I used too much potato), I did like that technique.

I had a whipped fish spread at Craftbar that I've wanted to reproduce, and I think this recipe may be a good start. If I used less potato, added more seasoning or maybe some really good olive oil, I may have something. It's basically just cooked potato and cod mashed with ginger and scallions, salt and pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. Kind of a delicate flavor, which is good, but it needed more. Maybe some rosemary instead of the ginger and scallions. We'll see.

I know, I'm baking with toxic-colored berries, but it wouldn't be the classic without the neon-red cherries on it. So I donned my frilly apron, my string of pearls and my high-heeled pumps and started baking.

This is called a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in Laura Brody's book, but the testers in the kitchen at work said this type of cake used to be called a plate cake, and I like the assonance, so . . .

This recipe has kept Basic Baking in the running, although I'm not 100 percent behind this one. My main objection is to the two sticks of butter that are used; the first stick is melted and combined with 2/3 cup brown sugar and poured into the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan to make the topping. Then you arrange the pineapple and cherries on top. Pretty sweet.

The cake part of this, though, could stand alone. The crumb was perfect, not too dense nor too light, with a hint of sweetness and perfectly moist on its own. It starts with three eggs, 3/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla, whipped together. Then the second stick of butter, melted, is added. Then you sift in 1 cup flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt and fold until it's all combined. Spread over the pineapple, then 350 degree oven for 35 minutes and let it set in the pan for 10 minutes before you invert it on a plate. The butter-brown sugar mixture soaks into the top part and sides of the cake, a sweet, buttery richness that requires a glass of milk. Almost too rich for me, but Todd was very enthusiastic.

(I almost couldn't get him to stop eating and take another picture.)

The cake part is definitely a keeper, though. I might experiment with other toppings, or no toppings, for it.

I enjoy 30-Minute Meals, the Food Network show with Rachael Ray, a lot (I rush home to watch the show when I can - it's on at 6). She's so easy and enthusiastic, and the recipes really are quick and practical. (I like Sara Moulton, too, but on one show, entitled One-Pot Meals, she dirtied a total of about 11 pots and pans making two dishes. That is not my idea of a one-pot meal.) So I was pretty excited when the food editor came over to invite me to a "Meet & Eat" with Rachael Ray at the Food Network studios.

She was exactly as she is on TV, giggly and friendly, but much smaller than I thought she'd be (a common experience for me; I once saw Rosie O'Donnell on the street and even she looked small to me). The food was Rachael's favorites from the show and was great: sausage-stuffed mushroom caps, skewers of ginger beef, chicken wrapped in pancetta with a balsamic reduction. It was a "Christmas in June" theme, to illustrate that you can entertain with quick recipes. I was a big geek and had her sign the cookbook they gave us. She gave us suggestions for where to eat on our upcoming trip to Orlando.

On the cookbook front, I tried Mark Bittman's Pork and Turnips and it was pretty good. Why have I never cooked with turnips? They have such an interesting flavor and are pretty hearty. I think Bittman's book may turn out to be a keeper.

I have too many cookbooks, and I've just had an infusion of more (the kitchen cleaned out their library), so I have to decide to get rid of some of the ones I have. There are three that I've put on probation, and I've been cooking from them for the last couple of days: Mark Bittman's The Minimalist Cooks at Home, Laura Brody's Basic Baking and Elizabeth Alston's (she used to be the food editor here at WD) Pancakes and Waffles. I chose five recipes to try from each book and then I'll assess whether they've earned a bit of my precious bookshelf space.

I'll just tell you. Jacques Pepin. Who is so kind, even when he must be exhausted. Who always seems to be teaching. Whose show with his daughter, Claudine, was the first cooking show that my husband would sit down next to me to watch.

Every time I walk by the Olive Garden that has gone into the new building on 6th Ave in Chelsea, I've struggled with the two animals living inside of me: the snob and the violent hater of snobs (which leads to a healthy dose of self-loathing from both sides). It makes me so sad to see the same old chain stores in Chelsea that you find in depressing strip malls in the rest of the country.

The article in this week's Dining In section of The New York Times brought up all those feelings again. Going into the Outback in Queens Center gives me a sense of nostalgia and makes me feel like I'm going home again, back to Colorado where my family is. But I just went home, literally, a couple of weeks ago: I hopped on a plane and ended up in Denver. I don't think I want one of the ugliest parts of where I'm from transplanted here. I've grown to love the portions of New York I frequent for what they are now. I never understood those who long for the days Times Square was unsafe, but now I'm beginning to get a tiny inkling.

Comments like Tim Zagat's in the article, though, make me really want him to be wrong, wrong, wrong, simply to put that snotty foodie attitude in its place. In some ways, though, I share that snotty foodie attitude. I am all ambivalence. It seems to be my natural state these days.

I think we should be subversive: Hold up the Olive Garden as the hip new place to score a table, order expansively, eat none of it, then stop by the falafel stand on the way home.

This isn't really a single-serving recipe (they rarely are), but the leftover pancakes are pretty good warmed up, so consider this lunch the next day, too. The recipe is from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe, her newest cookbook, which is all "breakfast" foods (although these don't seem like breakfast to me). They have wild rice, scallions, mushrooms and goat cheese, so were the perfect candidate for a night when Todd was at class.

I cooked the wild rice in the microwave following directions on the box, except that I had to keep adding water because it kept boiling away mid-cooking: 1/4 cup wild rice and probably about a cup of water in the microwave on high for about 20 minutes, stirring it every 5 minutes and adding more water if it needs it. The times probably vary depending on the microwave, too, but since this isn't really rice, and doesn't get sticky and gross if you mess with it, it's easier to play it by ear (or by taste and touch).

While that was going on, I salted and sauteed the mushrooms for about 10 minutes, then added a minced garlic clove and a squeeze of juice from half a lemon. Then I beat 2 eggs until mixed and added 2 generous tablespoons flour and some salt. Mixed that until uniform, then added the cooked wild rice, a large sliced scallion, goat cheese crumbles, pepper and the mushroom mixture. Heated oil in the same skillet I cooked the mushrooms and used 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Flipped 'em after 2 or 3 minutes and finished cooking on the other side.