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Posts Tagged ‘Cooking’

Best Kitchen Gadgets Under $20

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on March 19, 2012 | 2 Comments »

The kitchen is a room that is easy to fill with expensive goodies. Appliances (big and small), fancy knives, pots and pans – thousands of dollars spent faster than you can say Crate and Barrel.  The good news is that there are tons of useful, fun tools and gadgets that aren’t pricey but still making cooking easier. Here are some of my favorites:

Microplane Zester ($15.95) - a must-have for zesting citrus fruits, you can also use this for fine shavings of chocolate and cheese.

Citrus Reamer ($3.95) - while it certainly doesn’t have the power of a large electric juicer, this little sucker makes it surprisingly easy to get tons of juice out of citrus fruits. This is a favorite of mine when making cocktails!

Steaming Basket – an easy way to gently cook vegetables and it’s invaluable for making baby food!

Liquid Measuring Cups ($11.95) – did you know that liquid and solid measuring cups aren’t the same? It’s true. One cup in a dry measuring cup is different than one cup in a liquid container.  It makes a big difference when baking because you need precise measurements. This measuring cup from Crate and Barrel is pretty with its green markings, don’t you think? Pyrex and Anchor make sets of these in different sizes for very reasonable prices.

Cookie Dough Scoop ($12.95) – If you bake cookies with any regularity, using a scoop helps keep the cookies a consistent size so everything cooks evenly. It also keeps your hands clean (that is until you start eating cookie dough).

 What about you, fellow home cooks? What low-cost gadgets and tools are invaluable to you?

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Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Need some last-minute inspiration for Thanksgiving menu ideas? Here is what I’m making:

Roast Turkey - Barefoot Contessa’s hands-off approach to turkey hasn’t failed  me yet. No brining. No basting. Moist and delicious. Her recipe is for a 12 lb. turkey; I adjust accordingly for my 20 lb. bird. I make this gravy (minus the business with the giblets) and it’s easy breezy.

Mashed Potatoes - Again, love Barefoot Contessa’s. I don’t bother with putting them through a food mill, however. I gently mash them by hand and then use a stand mixer. The thing with mashed potatoes is that they have to be made last-minute. Last year I attempted a baked version from The Pioneer Woman and I have to say, it just wasn’t the same. To give yourself a little extra time, you can keep mashed potatoes warm for a while in a bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Carrots – I’m trying these for the first time this year because they look easy and I’m interested to see how the chili powder and the pumpkin pie spice come together.

Cranberry Sauce – Pioneer Woman’s is sweet and a touch tart. I’ve tried other ones that are too citrusy or too lumpy but this is just right. I like mine a little smoother so I put half the cooked batch in the food processor and pulse two or three times to break up the cranberries.

String Beans – I don’t really know what I’m doing here. Probably blanching them, and then sauteeing with butter and shallots.

Sweet Potato Casserole - I’ve made a half-dozen different versions and loved and them all but I think I’m sticking with the copycat recipe for the Ruth’s Chris Sweet Potato Casserole. It’s dessert on the dinner table.

For appetizers I’m doing the basics, cheese and crackers, hummus and veggies, and spinach dip in a bread bowl.

I love Thanksgiving because it’s a holiday that everyone celebrates. It’s food and it’s family and it’s the intro to Christmas and the holiday season. What I DON’T love is that tons of stores are opening on Thanksgiving. I have plenty to say about the hypocrisy of people cutting time short with their families to go buy gifts for…their families. And what about all the poor people who have to work these stores?? Ugh, that’s a post for another day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving 2009

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Get your veggies with roasted asparagus

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Roasting vegetables is the easiest and most delicious way to whip together a vegetable side dish. One of my favorites is asparagus. Asparagus is sold in bunches and one bunch is usually enough for 2-3 people.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Snap the tough ends off each stalk (it’s usually about an inch or two) and put them on a sheet pan. Drizzle the asparagus with about a tablespoon of olive oil, one teaspoon of kosher salt, and a half teaspoon of black pepper. Mix it all up with your hands and arrange so that the stalks are flat on the pan.

I like to serve it with pancetta or prosciutto on top, but you can leave it off if you don’t like that. I broke up two slices of thinly sliced pancetta and spread it on top.

Roast at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes (20 if it’s REALLY thick asparagus). If you’re leaving off the meat, put some shredded Parmesan on for the last 2-3 minutes. Mmmmmhmmm.

If you’re new to asparagus, get ready for some SMELLY pee. Asparagus has an enzyme called mercaptan and when you digest it, there is a smelly byproduct that comes out in your urine. It’s all worth it because roasted asparagus is full of folic acid, low-calorie and delicious.

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Nick and Toni’s Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on May 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I have no idea what half the words in that title even mean, but it is the name of the recipe I tried out yesterday. Nick and Toni’s is a popular restaurant out in East Hampton and the chef was featured on an episode of Barefoot Contessa.

Nick and Toni's chef (as you can see, I didn't mind watching him cook on Barefoot Contessa)

This pasta dish is basically Penna alla Vodka “with the volume turned up” (as BC would say) and I liked it, but didn’t initially LOVE it. The first time I made this I followed the recipe exactly and found that all that fresh oregano gave the sauce a very perfume-y taste I didn’t enjoy. This time I left it out (read: forgot to buy fresh oregano) and I enjoyed it more, though I did tweak a few other parts of the recipe as well. Here is the recipe as it was presented on the show. My slight variation is below.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp dried oregano

1 cup of vodka

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3/4 to 1lb penne

Preheat the oven to 375.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven-proof pan/dutch oven. Saute the onions for five minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally to make sure they don’t burn.  Add the garlic and saute for one minute. Add 3/4 of the oregano (1 and 1/2 tsp) and saute for another minute. Add the vodka and cook until the liquid is reduced by half (about five minutes).

Drain the tomatoes or just pluck them out of the can one by one and crush them (by hand) into the pot. While you don’t want the sauce/puree that’s in the can, you do want the juice that’s in the tomatoes.

The tomatoes really squirt so you should probably wear an apron.

Oops! Add the salt and pepper and stir it up!

Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and bake for 90 minutes. This really concentrates the flavor, which in the end, you may or may not like. Toward the end of the cooking, you should prepare the pasta water.

This is what it looks like after you cook it. Let it cool for 15 minutes and then spoon the mixture into a blender. Blend for 30 seconds or so until it’s smooth.

Add it back to the pot and add up to a cup of heavy cream to achieve the right consistency. Add another half a teaspoon of oregano and season if necessary. Heat over a low flame for about ten minutes and add the parmesan. Combine with pasta and enjoy!

I don’t have a final product picture because I ate it…sorry!

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Getting over a fear of fish

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 7, 2010 | 1 Comment »

I love fish. I love to cook. For some reason, I never liked to cook fish. It just seemed difficult and fish can be fragile and isn’t there a smell and will I poison myself?? Keep in mind, I like my beef so rare it’s practically grazing its way off my plate. I don’t know where this fear of undercooked fish came from but it’s been keeping fish out of my kitchen for the past several years.

No more! Not only is fish easy to cook but it’s fast, healthy and delicious. Here are some of the recent recipes I’ve been trying out:

Grilled Tuna Salad

This makes a great side dish for a bbq but it’s also a delicious lunch. Even though this link is for a tuna roll, just ignore the sandwich part and eat it as a side dish. Unless of course you want a sandwich! If you’re cooking tuna indoors, season the steak with lots of salt and pepper and saute in a DRY, very hot saute pan for 2-3 on each side. Tuna steaks should be pink in the middle so watch it carefully. You may only need a minute on the second side.

Image: Food Network

Spice Rubbed Tilapia (or salmon, or sea bass, etc.) with Strawberry Avocado Salsa

Wow. This recipe has such an interesting blend of flavors and they work beautifully together. My only suggestion for tweaking is that you rub the fish with salt and pepper before you apply the spice rub. The tilapia takes four minutes to cook. Four minutes!! The second time I made it I used salmon and that cooked for about eight minutes (no flipping if it has skin on one side).

Image: Whole Foods

Penne with Tomato Cream Sauce with Shrimp

Who knew cooking shrimp took under five minutes?? Apparently everyone but me. This is a delicious comfort food and it’s really easy to make. I use fresh shrimp from the fish store or butcher and ask for them to be peeled and deveined. Peeling them really isn’t that bad if you have to do it yourself. My only suggestion for this recipe is to substitute crushed tomatoes for some (or all) of the tomato sauce because the sauce can be a little watery.

Image: The Pioneer Woman

Get cooking!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

My friend Laura made these for a Super Bowl party last month and I ate one. Ok, two. Let’s be honest, three. And a half.

I wasn’t able to get the exact recipe from her before I had to make them for a work party, so I hunted around online and found them on the Toll House website. The basics of the recipe are fine, but Laura and I both agreed that it could use some more peanut butter on the bottom layer.

Image: Nestle Toll House website

I also ignored their recommendation of putting chips in the bottom half because I think that breaks up the crumbly, peanut buttery, graham cracker goodness of it.

The Toll House website recipe is for a 13×9 baking pan but I only wanted an 8×8 pan so I adjusted the measurements accordingly below.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups peanut butter plus 3 tablespoons

1 stick of butter, softened

1 1/4 cups of confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)

2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (crush them yourself or buy them in a box)

1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer Ghirardelli)

Grease the baking dish. In a mixing bowl combine the peanut butter (save the two tablespoons) and the stick of butter. Use an electric mixer to thoroughly combine the ingredients.

Before you start GRADUALLY adding in the sugar, sift it if it’s lumpy. Trader Joe’s makes a powdered sugar from evaporated cane juice and it’s unrefined. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still sugar, but the less refined the better, right? For this I used the regular stuff because Matt hadn’t bought the new kind yet. I’m just letting you know it’s out there, and I’ve since used it with tasty results.

Sifting sugar can be messy. And it sort of makes your kitchen look like a crack den.

So again, you’re gradually adding the sugar and mixing with the electric mixer. Then add the graham cracker crumbs and stir it together with a big spoon.

Spread the mixture into the greased baking pan and get cracking on the topping. Make yourself a double boiler by setting a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (about an inch). Combine the chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter and stir until the mixture is smooth and shiny. If you really can’t manage with the double boiler, microwave the chocolate and peanut butter in 30-second increments, stirring quite a bit between heatings.

Pour the mixture over the bottom and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour and then cut it up into small bars. Yes, you heard me correctly – no baking!

Then come over and clean up my kitchen.

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Valentine’s Day Wrap Up

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Friday we had some friends over for dinner and I made Savory Palmiers, Boeuf Bourguignon, and Molten Chocolate Cakes.

Palmiers look like this:

Image: Real Simple

They are usually made with sugar and served as a dessert but Ina Garten has a recipe for them in Back to Basics that is a perfect appetizer. They are made with pesto, sun-dried tomatoes (which I normally hate), goat cheese and toasted pine nuts. Yum.

For dinner I went with the old standby boeuf bourguignon because it tastes better the next day. I used a few hours of my snow day on Thursday to prepare it and just reheated it over a low flame.

Dessert was so good and deceptively easy. I got this recipe off of Tasty Kitchen, a website where you can swap recipes.

Image: Tasty Kitchen

The recipe says to cook them for 13-14 minutes but I might do 12-13 next time because you want the center to be perfectly melted and I felt like some of mine were too cooked in the middle. Serve them with whipped cream or ice cream and get ready to swoon.

On Saturday Matt and I had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Fiore, in Floral Park. It’s sort of contemporary Italian and we’re never disappointed. In addition to a great variety of specials every night they always carry their two house specialties, roasted duck with strawberries and pork osso buco. Wow. I don’t even open the menu anymore, I just order one of those every time we go.

Image: fiorerestaurant.com

When Valentine’s Day rolled around, Matt opened a can of romance (pun intended, as you’ll see) and gave me this:

It’s a pretty deluxe garbage can and I couldn’t be happier. I’m a little embarassed to admit that it’s exactly what I wanted.

We also went to an engagement party for Brian and Dana yesterday.

Congratulations!

That’s my new dress from the clearance rack at the Gap. Lord knows I love a sale.

That’s one good-looking science department, right?

Glad that Matt got the memo about wearing a striped shirt.

What did you do for Valentine’s Day? Are you a lover or a hater?

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Better French Toast

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on February 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Did you know that French toast doesn’t have to be boring and flavorless? Most people throw some milk and eggs together and think they’re done, but with a few more ingredients your French toast can be exponentially better.

Your Ingredients (enough for six slices of bread):

3 eggs

3/4 cup of milk

6 slices of bread

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

zest of half a lemon or orange

pinch of kosher salt

butter

syrup (the real stuff)

Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and zest in a 9×12 baking dish. Whisk together to combine the ingredients. That’s my cool flat whisk and it’s perfect for stove top tasks like gravies and sauces.

Soak each side of the bread for about two minutes. The softer the bread, the shorter the soak time. Leaving it in for two long will cause the bread to fall apart. We are a whole wheat bread household EXCEPT for when we make French toast. Whole wheat French toast? No thanks. Challah bread, French bread, or croissants would all be wonderful for this as well.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pan or griddle. Please pretend that my griddle is not non-stick. I know it’s horrible and toxic but it was free and it covers two burners so I can cook several pieces of bread or six pancakes at once.  It’s VERY difficult to find a griddle that isn’t nonstick. You can absolutely just make French toast in a regular saute pan, you’ll just have to do it in several batches. Keep the heat on about medium-ish heat (4-5) and when the butter is melted and just starting to sizzle, add the bread.

The first side will take longer than the second. Check it periodically but probably five minutes on the first side and three on the second.

If you have some fresh fruit like strawberries, blueberries, or banana slices, throw them on top! Do yourself a favor and start buying real maple syrup instead of “pancake syrup.” Yes, it’s more expensive. But have you ever looked at the ingredients??

Real maple syrup ingredients: MAPLE SYRUP

Pancake syrup (Aunt Jemima and the like) ingredients: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.

That’s no joke, I took that from the Aunt Jemima website. Michael Pollan makes a great point in his books: spend the money on real food now, or on medical bills later.

Enjoy!

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Snow days mean…

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on February 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Sticky Buns

Oh my word. Minimal effort and ten thousand calories later I was a happy woman. The recipe is here. I took the advice from some of the commenters and used half the butter for the topping.

Snowy Dog

Getting dressed to go

Snowy beard

Baxter?

The little explorer

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Homemade Chicken Stock and its Ghetto Sister

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on January 27, 2010 | 1 Comment »

A few months ago I got tired of hearing Ina Garten say, “If you can use homemade chicken stock you should, it’s  SO much better than store-bought.” I was so sick of it that I broke down and made my own stock. It’s not difficult, but it’s not necessarily smooth sailing either. You can print the recipe here. It looks like this:

Barefoot Contessa Homemade Chicken Stock

  • 3 (5-pound) roasting chickens
  • 3 large yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered
  • 6 carrots, unpeeled and halved
  • 4 stalks celery with leaves, cut into thirds
  • 4 parsnips, unpeeled and cut in half, optional
  • 20 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 15 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 20 sprigs fresh dill
  • 1 head garlic, unpeeled and cut in 1/2 crosswise
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

Directions Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, and seasonings in a 16 to 20-quart stockpot. Add 7 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 4 hours. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids. Chill the stock overnight. The next day, remove the surface fat. Use immediately or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

Here’s the truth: It’s really expensive to buy three whole chickens and then all those veggies. Plus, not all of  us have 20-quart stock pots. Not to mention, boiling whole chickens for four hours makes the stock incredibly fatty. It’s sort of like Chicken Jello. If you have the time and desire to make your own stock use two chicken carcasses instead (you can save them up in your freezer) or buy two whole chickens cut up but remove the skin before using them. It’s still full of flavor but there is a lot less fat to skim.

My newest revelation that is easier, faster and A LOT less work is my ghetto chicken stock. Buy low sodium stock (even better if it’s organic) and dump it in a large pot. I used two cartons of stock which is about eight cups. Then add a quartered onion, some garlic cloves, a teaspoon or so of salt, a few whole black peppercorns (if you have them), and lots of dill, parsley and thyme. Bring it to a boil and then lower it to a simmer for as much time as you have. Got an hour? Great! Two? Even better! 30 minutes? It certainly can’t hurt!

The stock you’ll get from this is significantly more flavorful than the boxed stock but half the work of making it for real. Use it in soup, sauces, risotto, etc.

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