Popcorn in motion

In college, my friend Kat showed me how easy it is to make popcorn on the stove, after which point I never went back to the fakey-fakey microwave popcorn junk.  Then, recently, I found this shortcut for making perfect popcorn and, of course, I couldn't resist the urge to attain the unattainable and aspire to perfection.  Turns out, it works!

Here's a friendly little popcorn sequence to get you off to a good start this week!

First, heat 2 TB oil over medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot, add 3 popcorn kernels
and a large pinch of salt, and cover the pot.

Measure out 1/3 cup of kernels.
(check out these pretty red ones from the farmer's market!)

Once the few lone kernels in the pot have popped, add the remaining 1/3 cup,
cover, and hold away from the heat for 30 seconds (count it out!)

Return the pot to medium-high heat and listen to it POP!
Give it  a few shakes as it does its thing,
and remove from heat when pops are more than 5 seconds apart.

Et voila! No burnt pieces, no unpopped kernels, just perfect, tender popcorn!
Add salt, butter, smoked paprika, chopped rosemary, brown sugar - whatever strikes your fancy.
Enjoy!

Spring is Here!

Green garlic from the farmer's market heralds the spring

Friday Night Dinner

Last night, inspired by this recent post on one of my favorite cooking blogs, Dinner: A Love Story, I made baked beans from scratch to accompany some hot Italian sausages from Astoria's own Butcher Bar, homemade leftover-grain bread (I'll save that for another blog post/day), and a simple salad of kale and pecorino.

 Baked Beans (adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Serves 6

Two 15.5-ounce cans small white or navy beans

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar


Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a baking dish.  Drain and rinse beans and set aside.  Combine the last six ingredients well, then mix in the beans.  Turn out into the baking dish and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.  Stir and bake another 30 minutes, uncovered.

Pulled BBQ Turkey

Well, it's finally happened: I have encountered something that the slow cooker can't do (besides wash and fold laundry, brush my teeth, etc.)  Behold exhibit A:

These big honkin' turkey dinosaur legs just wouldn't fit in my 3.5 quart cooker!  Soooo...a transfer was made:

...and it all worked out in the end.

Most excellent food-related wedding gift award goes to Betsy, for bestowing upon us this 10 gallon vat of Show Me BBQ sauce.  Essentially, a lifetime supply of deliciousness.

This stuff is The Best.  Makes everything taste better.  Probably even that potholder underneath the jug.  Yep.

Pulled BBQ Turkey Legs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 turkey drumsticks (about 3.5 pounds)
salt and pepper
2 cups BBQ sauce
1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans

Preheat the oven to 300 deg. F.  Heat the oil over high in a large skillet and season the turkey legs liberally with salt and pepper.  Sear the turkey on all sides, one at a time.

Pour half the BBQ sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish.  Transfer the browned turkey legs to the dish and top with the remaining 1 cup of BBQ sauce.  Cover tightly with foil and slow cook for 3 hours, until the meat is tender and pulling away from the bone.

Remove the drumsticks to a plate.  Once cool enough to handle, discard the skin, gristle and bones and shred the meat with your hands or two forks.  Return to the baking dish and mix well with the sauce.  Return to the oven for another 30 to 40 minutes, until the sauce thickens and coats the meat.

Drain and rinse the beans and toss in with the turkey and sauce.  Reheat for another 10 minutes until the beans are heated through.  Serve on toasted kaiser rolls with melted cheddar cheese, sliced pickles, and extra napkins.

Messy cupboards and why I love garlic

Ok, I'm feeling a bit random today.  Probably cause it's Sunday, so whatever OCD to-do list has been sitting in my head all week, patiently holding it together, is finally spilling out as a mess of house chores, random food alchemy, and disjointed musings.  Cool...

 Sitting here with a nice delicious cup of milk tea.  Here's how I make the stuff (and you should too!):

1. Boil 1 cup of water in a small saucepan and add tea of your choice (loose or in a bag, who cares?)
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer tea for 5 minutes. 
3. Add 1 cup of milk and heat on low for about 3 minutes, until the tea is steaming hot.
4. Strain into a big ol' mug and sweeten to taste with honey (or sugar.  if you want to be that way. [behold my judging face])

Moving right along... remember how, just a few sentences ago, I mentioned OCD?  Speaking of, this is my kitchen cupboard, full of spices, beans, grains, pasta, tea, etc. - very, VERY messy by my standards, and driving me semi-batty... 

Moving on again! ...I was prepping the ingredients for some Moroccan spoon beef this morning, and I stopped to muse on the many wonders of garlic: O, Allicin.  Who is smellier than thee?  Who gets my nose running and my throat burning like you can?  In your raw form, you hurt so good, especially when your oils get into all the micro-cuts on my fingertips, into the dry-skin crevices between my fingers, but ours is a twisted relationship, and I love the short-term suffering for the long-term payoff, the flavors and the smells that waft through my house as the hours creep by and the slow-cooker rocks on.  *Sigh*

Told you I was feeling random.

Last bit before I dissolve into a total Sunday stupor: what the hell is Spoon Beef??  Well friends, spoon [insert meat variety here] is any piece of protein that's cooked so gently and for so long that when you remove it from the cooking vessel, you could do so with a spoon.  Now you know.  Here's how I'm making mine:

Moroccan Spoon Beef
Serves 8
3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 1-1/2 to 2 inch thick pieces
flour for dredging
1 tablespoon oil
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 cup Ras el Hanout**
1-1/2 to 2 cups dry red wine

Set a heavy skillet over high heat while you dredge the meat in the flour, seasoned with salt and pepper.  Add the oil to the pan and sear the meat, about 4 minutes a side, one piece at a time.  Place the seared meat in the bottom of your slow cooker.

Sprinkle the meat with half the spices, then pile the vegetables on top and add the remaining spices.  Pour in the wine and set the slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10.  Remove the meat to a platter and cook the remaining liquid uncovered on high until it reaches desired consistency.  Serve the meat topped with the thickened sauce and the vegetables.

**Ras el Hanout (Moroccan spice blend)
Makes about 1 cup
1/4 cup cumin seeds, toasted and ground
3/4 teaspoon saffron, crushed
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup paprika

Quick post on slow-cooking!

My bro Paul got me a super-sweet slow cooker for my b-day, and I've already used it twice, to make split pea soup and then some luxuriously creamy Irish oatmeal!  I love this thing!  I fill it up, turn it on, and leave it.  It's a workin' lady's dream come true.

I have the Cuisinart 3-1/2 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

This model is pretty perfect for a 1-2 person household.  Most slow cooker recipes are written for something in the 4 quart range, and it's also very easy to adapt other braise/soup/stew recipes to a slow-cooker.  Just reduce the liquid by 50% and double the cooking time (at least).  You always want to keep the meat browning step, but otherwise you can throw all your ingredients together in the slow-cooker and fuggeddaboudit!

Split Pea Soup (adapted from Cuisinart slow-cooker recipe book)
Makes 8 servings


6 ounces shallot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, trimmed and finely chopped
8 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
8 ounces carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 pound green split peas, rinsed and picked over
6 cups water
1 ham-hock, meaty ham bone, or 8 ounces cubed ham
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/4 cup dry sherry

Put all ingredients except sherry into slow cooker and set on High for 2 hours.  Switch to Low for another 6 to 8 hours (time needed will depend on your slow-cooker).  Remove ham hock or ham bone, discard the bone, shred the meat and return to the soup.  Stir in the sherry and serve.

And this is a cucumber salad I threw together last night, as far from slow-cooking as it gets!  I wanted to share with you because the combination was lovely: peeled and sliced cucumber, pitted kalamata olives, torn mint leaves, black pepper, and a dressing made of Greek yogurt, red wine vinegar, and a bit of olive oil.  Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and savor every Mediterranean bite!

Big Night of Pizza

This past Saturday I recreated my own version of the Big Night food spectacle, in which excessive amounts of food are steadily and shockingly produced from a very hot and crazy kitchen.  And it was SO MUCH FUN.

It was my birthday pizza party!  I made the dough from scratch using (roughly) the following recipe:

2 teaspoons instant yeast (note: this is not the same as "dry active yeast")
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup lukewarm water

I used my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook attachment to prepare the dough, but you can just as well do it by hand in a big bowl with a wooden spoon.  First mix the yeast, flour,olive oil, and salt, then add the water slowly, stirring as you do, until it forms a shaggy ball of dough.  Now knead until it's smooth and slightly sticky and springs back when you poke it.  Transfer to a big oiled bowl and let rise for 1 hour before dividing into two balls of dough for pizza, or you can rise for 45 minutes and refrigerate 4 to 24 hours until you are ready to use it (just be sure to take it out about 2 hours before you plan to use it).  Roll each ball of dough to your liking (I made mine into about 14-inch pies) and top however you please!

Here's what I had for toppings:

The Margharita: sliced Roma tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, and torn basil leaves
The Sausage: tomato sauce, browned hot or sweet Italian sausage, thinly sliced red onion, and mozzarella
The Goat: (most popular!) pesto with roasted garlic, roasted red pepper strips, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, goat cheese, and oregano
The Popeye: Spinach sauteed with garlic and nutmeg, and ricotta cheese

Once your pizza is topped, either bake it on a sheet tray or slide it onto a pizza stone in a very hot oven - as high as yours will go.  Mine was cranked up to 500 deg. F.  Set the timer for 10 minutes, check to see if the crust is browning and the cheese melting to your liking, and if it still needs some more time, check back every 1 minute, up to 20 minutes.  My oven's sweet spot was 13 minutes flat.

Give it a try! and check out some action shots:

On being a mad scientist, MIA

I've dropped off the radar recently.  There's been a lot going on -- which is great!  Thus very little time to blog.  But that doesn't mean I've been out of the kitchen!  I've been finding new and freaky ways to create interesting flavors and smells through the wonders of lacto-fermentation.  And so, with those few words, I leave you to peruse a few pics of my latest science experiments.

Yours Truly,
Chief Mad Scientist, Apartment D6

Sourdough sponge bubbling away

My little wheat berry sprouties

Oats fermenting 

Multigrain bread dough, pre-rise

Multigrain bread dough, post-rise

The finished loaves, chock full of sprouted wheat, sunflower seeds, fermented oats, and sourdough starter

Honeymoon & Chicken Salad

Hey folks!  We're back from our honeymoon, and I've just successfully completed my first week of work at my new part-time office job - woohoo!  I also catered a wine n' nibbles reception for my client last night, which went off without a hitch.  So satisfying!  I'm finding that the balance of mental work there at the office and physical work in the kitchen is even more ideal than I had expected.  It's tough getting back into the swing of things, though, after such a fabulous honeymoon with my honey :)

Looks pretty terrible, huh? 

Now, let's talk food:  I think I've perfected the chicken salad, since my client has been asking that I make it for his lunch.  My big secret?  Homemade mayo, and keepin' it simple.  So I call this...

5-ingredient Chicken Salad
(makes about 3 cups)
Note: the key to making good mayonnaise is to use a strong blender on the highest possible setting (usually it's something intense-sounding like "liquefy").  Without that crazy blending action, you won't get an emulsion - that's dorky kitchen talk for a mixture of two or more liquids that is virtually un-blendable.  Think salad dressing that will never, ever separate into oil and vinegar.  Cool, right?  Most important of all, be fearless.  It's only mayo, no big deal!

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large egg
1 cup blended oil (half canola or grapeseed, half olive oil)

2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1.5 pounds)
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine in the blender the lemon juice, egg, a pinch of salt, and 1/4 cup of the oil, and whir on high speed for a whole minute.  With the blender running, carefully drizzle in the remaining oil, very slowly at first and more steadily as you go.  Continue to blend on high, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides, until the mixture has become a paler yellow and is totally homogeneous and thickened.  Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside in the fridge.

Set the chicken in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Pour 1/4 cup of water into the bottom of the dish and cover with foil.  Place in the oven and let it steam, tightly covered, for about 30 minutes, until the juice runs clear when you prick it and the internal temperature registers at 160 degrees F.  Remove to a plate to cool.

Once the chicken is cooled, remove the skin, tear it off the bone, and cut it into 1/2-inch chunks.  Add the chicken and chopped celery to the mayonnaise and mix well to combine.  Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately, or keep in the refrigerator up to five days.

The spread at the party I catered last night

Shake It Up

It's the beginning of a new year!  Go crazy - eat salad for breakfast!!

Ok, granted, that's not such a wild proposition.  But it sure is weird, right?  And it's what I did this morning, after waking up at the wee hour of 5am because I'm so darned excited to be leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow afternoon.  7-day Caribbean cruise with Dan my Man, here I come!  Also, I just landed a steady, part-time job to supplement my cooking work, so all is pretty groovy.  Take that, 2012.

I made a fun trip to my favorite spice shop on 1st Avenue in the East Village the other day and stocked up on some exotic but useful staples, such as sumac, Chai masala, and red honeybush tea.  The sumac is a particularly well-loved spice in my household, where I throw it on anything and everything that demands salty acidity (salad being the most obvious choice).  It's also great on soups, eggs, meat, veggies - anything that needs some extra pop!  It's essential to my Greek salad, below.

Greek Salad
Serves 2
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 vine tomatoes, sliced
1/2 large cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, chopped crosswise
2 scallions, green part only, sliced thin
scattering of pitted kalamata, or other black, olives
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sumac (available at Middle Eastern food store)
sea salt

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients and set aside.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, yogurt, olive oil, and sumac.  When ready to serve, toss the salad with dressing and season to taste with salt.  Serve immediately.