Homemade nooks & crannies!

Last night I got antsy, couldn't sit still, couldn't just enjoy the night off and curl up on the sofa with a good book, so what did I do?  Well, what I always do: I made some food!  The ants-in-the-pants cure ended up being whole wheat bread dough, which this morning became beautifully light and fluffy English muffins!

If you have a food processor, making bread dough is a simple and magical undertaking.  If not, it's no big deal, it will just require some patience as you knead the ingredients together by hand.  I like Mark Bittman's recipe for Sandwich Bread, from his classic tome, How to Cook Everything.  

Whole Wheat English Muffins (printable recipe)

yield: 12 muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the bowl

1 and 1/2 cups cool milk

Place the flour in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Add salt and yeast and process for a few seconds.  While machine is running, add the honey, butter, and most of the milk through the feed tube.  Process about 30 seconds, then remove cover to see if the dough is a well-defined, barely sticky, and easy-to-handle ball.  If it's too dry, add milk a tablespoon at a time and process for another 5 to 10 seconds.  Remove dough from the food processor bowl and knead by hand for a minute or so on a well-floured surface. (I do my kneading on a baking sheet so as to minimize the mess!)

Grease a large bowl and shape the dough into a rough ball.  Place in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, until it's almost doubled in size.  Deflate the ball and shape it again into a nice round.  Let it rest on a lightly floured surface (baking sheet) for about 15 minutes, covered.

Next, cut the dough into 12 equal pieces with a bench scraper or a knife.  Dust your hands with flour and shape each piece of dough into a 3- to 4-inch disk.  Dust with flour and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes, until puffed up.

Preheat a griddle or large skillet over low heat for 10 minutes; do not oil it.  Sprinkle it with cornmeal and "bake" the muffins, a few at a time, on both sides, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, for a total of 15 minutes.  Cool on a rack and split with a fork before toasting.  Serve with a liberal smear of butter and perhaps a scant dusting of sea salt.

I'm (almost) famous

And now for a quick commercial break: follow this link to check out a CBS piece about Astor Bake Shop, where I'm the part-time cook.  Look closely and you'll see yours truly (just my hands, mostly), and all the yummy food I made for Chef George McKirdy's interview.  The desserts displayed were not my creations, but they are also delicious and well worth a trip out to Astor Bake Shop, if you're ever in my lovely neighborhood of Astoria!

Happy (post-)Thanksgiving!

Hello all!  Hope your Thanksgiving '10 was as rowdy and entertaining as mine.  All the usual suspects were present (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc.) as well as abundantly flowing wine and reams of laughter and typical family shenanigans.  Not to mention pie!  (Didn't even get a shot of that, but trust me, it was shameful.)

How was your Thanksgiving??

 myself and the bro, harassing the turkey

me and my cousin, Kate, showing off the goods

Lupi the dog, rov(er)ing for snacks

 

put a fork in us: we're done!

Carrots 'R' Us

Two topics to discuss today: toys and carrots.  

Regarding the former, I spent all morning questing after the perfect holiday gifts for my 5 nephews and nieces, and I now declare the toy store officially closed until next year -- phew!  

And as for the latter, my refrigerator scavenger hunt unearthed precious few ingredients for a quick and healthy lunch, so what did I eat?  Roasted carrots!  Surprisingly satisfying, and what in the world else was I going to do with that half-used bag of leftover dirt candy?

Simple Roast Carrots

(serves 2 as side dish)

Note: While this recipe calls for carrots, you can use up many other kinds of leftover vegetables in this manner.  Is your crisper drawer housing an abundance of aging zucchini, or peppers, or even tomatoes?  Are you denying that your fridge smells like the inside of a compost bin?  Just blast those buggers in the oven with some olive oil and salt, and stop throwing out your unused veggies!

5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced  

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

pinch cayenne (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. In a medium glass casserole, toss the carrots and garlic and drizzle with enough olive oil to coat.  Sprinkle with salt, cumin, ginger, and cayenne (if using) and mix well. 

3. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, checking every 15 or so minutes to shake up the pan and ensure that garlic does not burn.

I (heart) Hot Chocolate

Just in case my earlier entry highlighting my love of vegetables led you to think I'm some sort of a health nut, think again: I'm a raging chocoholic.  And I love love love hot chocolate, especially when the weather starts to turn cold.  I grew up in a Swiss Miss household, with the occasional cup of Ovaltine thrown in when I visited Grandma, so I didn't discover that hot chocolate came from anything but dry mix packets until I lived in Spain for a year, where I made it a habit of ending a long night of bar-hopping at the Chocolatería San Ginés in Madrid.  This place serves deeply satisfying cups of thick dark hot chocolate with perfectly warm and crunchy churros (the Spanish donut).  Needless to say, I was hooked (and I subsequently gained a few pounds).

Now I'm back, I've lost the weight, but I still indulge in the occasional homemade hot chocolate.  It's easier than you'd think to make a perfect cup at home, and if you live in New York, you'll appreciate not having to spend $5 or more for the privilege.  Here's my secret recipe...

The Most Delicious Hot Chocolate Recipe
(yield: 1 quart)

Ingredients:
- 4 cups milk
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
- pinch of salt
- 5 ounces good quality dark chocolate pieces (I used 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips)

Method:
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, vanilla bean (if using), cinnamon, cayenne (if using) and salt over medium heat just until steaming, not boiling. 

Turn off the heat and remove the vanilla pod halves, if using.  Add the chocolate chips or pieces (if you start with a whole chocolate bar, the best method is to grate it as you would a piece of cheese using a box grater.  The small and even pieces will melt quickly and uniformly).  Stir with a whisk until the chocolate is completely melted, leaving no visible pieces.  Add the vanilla extract, if you haven't used the vanilla bean.  Pour into a container and cool completely before storing, covered, in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Sometimes you just feel like a veggie

You might think a cook would live a decadently delicious life full of daily home-cooked meals, but the truth is that the working chef survives on hastily prepared dishes like oatmeal, scrambled eggs, PB&J, and a thick stack of take-out menus.  Sad but true.

Given the busy week I had, I crashed into my Sunday off with a booming, resounding hunger for fruits and vegetables!  Holy guacamole!  So I hit up the vegetable aisle of my local grocery and came home to make the yummiest sandwich of all:

 

 Poised between two toasted slices of 7-grain bread - each properly slathered with Dijon mustard and butter, respectively - were slices of golden delicious apple, avocado, pepperjack cheese, radicchio, and red onion.

 

Whoa mama, this really hit the spot!

A Smattering of Things Unseen

I regret to have to tell you, dear readers, that I've been holding out.  I've made food these past few months that I have devoured greedily without sharing one measly morsel with you all.  Please forgive me; but sometimes it's between doing the dishes and writing an entry - and the dishes usually prevail (thank you, mild OCD).  To make up for this, I'm delivering a montage of Dinners Past.  I hope you enjoy the following images, albeit belatedly...

  

Cream of tomato soup with sherry, and radicchio garnish

 

 Almond biscotti for John's fundraiser

  Brine for pork...

 ...and said pork (thank you Rustico Cooking for this delicious recipe!)

 Black beluga lentil hummus on pita toast with white sesame seeds @ John's event

 Sonoma chicken salad in endive cups @ John's event

 More from John's event.  On the right are my "caprese pops": tomato-mozzarella skewers with basil!  Check out my friend John's dance company, John J Zullo Dance - amazing!

Okay, definitely not food.  But isn't he cute enough to eat??  Meet my mom's new puppy, Crosby.

 

When life gives you leftover rice, make rice balls!

In my opinion, there are two types of cooks: the kind that follow recipes to the letter and produce flawless food every time, and the kind that employ their creativity (and hopefully common sense) to draw outside the lines of recipes and invent completely new dishes in the process.  I consider myself among the latter category.  I'm not one to abide by the rules of a recipe (BO-ring!).  

So, since I choose to cook in this flexible way, I often find it easy to make use of my leftovers.  "And here I am!" says the newborn rice ball.

 This is less of a formal recipe and more of a guideline that goes as follows:
- For each cup of leftover rice (or other grain - I also had whole wheat berries) mix in one beaten egg.
- Add spices, herbs, seasoning, or a whole other leftover dish - I added black lentil hummus here.
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Oil lightly.
- Form one-tablespoon sized balls of rice mixture with your hands and space out evenly on the baking sheet.  You should be able to fit 5 rows of 6, for a total of 30 rice balls.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, longer if needed, making sure each rice ball is golden and crispy on the outside.  Remove to a serving dish and enjoy as a low-cost, highly-tasty appetizer!

First you get a chicken...

Admit it, there's nothing better than a roast chicken. As my bro Paul said to me yesterday, it's on par with doing laundry as far as simple satisfactions go. Let me explain: you get your little chicken load ready, you fire up the oven, pop it in, and in one scant hour, PRESTO, you've got delicious chicken meat for days.

So, yesterday I believe I made the best roast chicken of my life. It's perfectly moist, with a crisp, salty browned skin, and a delectably sweet aroma due to the bed of sweet Vidalia onions I cooked it over. And I can't stress enough the role that tons of garlic and herbs plays in producing the most perfect of chickens. I crammed as much thyme and peeled garlic cloves in there as I possibly could (pardon me, dear chicken). And then I trussed the legs together with kitchen twine so that nary a drop of delicious chicken juice could escape from that herbaceous cavity! Mwa-ha-ha!

Here's how it's done, people:

Best Roast Chicken
(makes 4-6 servings)

One 3- to 4- pound organic chicken
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1 bunch thyme
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, cut into chunks
1 lemon, quartered
1/4 cup dry sherry

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry, inside and out, so as not to risk steaming it.
2. Salt and pepper the cavity, then stuff it with herb and garlic. Truss the chicken by tying the ends of the drumsticks together over the main cavity, close to the breasts (see photo). This helps keep the breasts from drying out and also allows the bird to cook more evenly.
3. Next, give the bird a fine, even coating of salt. Not just a sprinkle or a pinch, but a visible crust. Season with pepper and brush all over with the olive oil.
4. Put the chicken in a roasting pan or oven-proof saute pan and surround it with the onions and lemon. Place in the center of the preheated oven. Roast it for 50 to 60 minutes, without opening the oven to baste or steal a peek, until a thermometer inserting into the thigh reads 160 degrees F and the juice runs clear.
5. Remove it from the oven and baste it with the rendered juices. Let it rest 15 minutes before carving and serving.
6. While the chicken rests, strain the pan juices, reserving the onions, and skim off the fat. Put into a small saucepan with the sherry, and heat over medium-high until the sauce reduces somewhat, about 5 minutes. Pour over the bird and serve with the reserved onions.

Autumn breezes, rooftop farms, pickled peppers

Today Kat and I paid a visit to Roberta's in Bushwick, a wonderful spot where you can chomp down on a variety of delicious, perfectly charred pizzas such as the Beastmaster, a genius invention topped with tomato, mozzarella, gorgonzola, Berkshire pork sausage, red onion, capers, and jalapenos. Like, whoa.

It's also a place to explore the great urban outdoors, where basil grows in bathtubs and old shipping containers house local radio stations. Outside the Roberta's complex, every Sunday (just my luck!), Brooklyn Grange -- a 1-acre rooftop farm launched in Queens in collaboration with Roberta's -- sells their goods, and how good they are! Today I bought 5 hot Hungarian peppers and brought them home for the pickling treatment. Stuffed into a recycled jar with cumin, thyme, garlic, black peppercorns, and of course the requisite sugar/salt/water solution, these are sure to be spicy and delicious little sandwich toppers for the winter months to come.


The below recipe can be used on all sorts of veggies, not just peppers, and I encourage you to play around with different spices and herbs - cause it's pretty hard to make a bad pickle!

Pickled Peppers
(fills one pint jar)

2 cups water
1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
5 black peppercorns
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 sprigs thyme
5 small Hungarian peppers, destemmed and sliced

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the water, salt, sugar, peppercorns, and garlic until it comes to a boil. Shut off the heat and leave covered until ready to use.

2. Thoroughly wash a pint-size glass jar and fill with the cumin, thyme and pepper slices. Pack in tightly, leaving a bit of room at the top of the jar.

3. Pour the pickling solution, with all the solids, into the jar, filling to the very top. Screw on lid tightly and leave on the counter until cooled to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator up to two weeks.