Leaving for Italy and England

June 14, 2009

Just a heads up that I’m leaving tomorrow for a vacation to Italy and England for a couple weeks.  It should be amazing.

My goal is to have a few posts scheduled each week while I’m gone, but I’ll likely be unable to respond to comments or approve ones that get stuck in the filter.

I’ll be sure to record my culinary adventures (such as seeing where Buffalo mozzarella is made) for posting when I return.

Posted in Other | 1 Comment » |

Tandoori-Style Roast Chicken

June 10, 2009

(Note: Images are being difficult.  They show up sometimes but not others – very frustrating.  Click through to see – they are pretty! -andy)

One of my favorite books to cook from is Pam Andersen’s How to Cook Without a Book (oh the irony!).  Her formulas and recipes are simplified as much as possible but are still really delicious.

When I found a frozen whole chicken in my freezer a few days ago, I remembered a variation of Andersen’s simple roast chicken recipe that I’d been eying for a while – tandoori-style roast chicken.

Tandoori-Style Roast Chicken Recipe

The recipe is basically the same as my previous roast chicken recipe, save one step and a few ingredients.  You’ll need a whole chicken, salt and pepper, olive oil, six tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne.  Also, an onion and a head of cauliflower, chopped into florets, are perfect roast vegetables to accompany the chicken.

Begin by cutting out the backbone of the chicken.  This is my least favorite part – it a little gross.  With the backbone removed, flip the chicken over and press it flat with your palm.  This will help you get a more evenly cooked chicken.

To season, rub salt, pepper, and a little bit of olive oil beneath the skin.  To get underneath, cut the skin near the edge of the bird and slide your fingers underneath.  Place the flattened chicken in a shallow roasting pan.

The key to the recipe is the Tandoori-style sauce.  It’s just a mix of the yogurt, red wine vinegar, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, the ground cumin, curry powder, garlic powder, ginger, salt and cayenne.

All you have to do is pour it over your butterflied chicken.

Simply roast the chicken at 450° F for approximately 40 minutes with the cauliflower and onion next to the chicken.

How Was It?

It was excellent.  The tandoori-style sauce stuff is really good.  I didn’t expect it to be that good since it seemed like a collection of pretty standard spices.  The only downside to the recipe is that the tandoori flavor didn’t get into the chicken well; it was mostly confined to the skin.

Next time I may rub some of the yogurt mixture underneath the skin to see if that helps.

No-Look Cooking

Recipe

• Cover a butterflied chicken with the tandoori-yogurt sauce.  Roast at 450° F for ~40 minutes.
• Tandoori-yogurt sauce
  • Tablespoons
    • 6 – yogurt
    • 2 – olive oil
    • 1 – red wine vinegar
    • 1 – ground cumin
  • Teaspoons
    • 1 – curry powder
    • 1/2 – garlic powder
    • 1/4 – ground ginger, salt, cayenne

Anyone have a better way to remember the tandoori sauce without looking at a recipe?  Maybe yogurt, oil, vinegar, plus a lot of cumin, less curry, then a little bit of garlic, ginger, salt and cayenne?

Cooking Techniques and Tips

• How to butterfly a chicken
• Roast a butterflied for about 40 minutes at 450° F
• Season a roast chicken with salt, pepper, and some fat (olive oil or butter) underneath the skin

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, butterflied
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil for underneath chicken skin
• 6 Tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 onion, peel and cut in half, roasted cut side down
• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 450° F.
2. Season the butterflied chicken with salt and pepper under the skin. You can also put olive oil underneath, though it may not be necessary.
3. Combine the yogurt, two tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, and spices in a bowl.  Mix and then pour it over the chicken.  Rub it around so it covers the whole thing.
4. Roast the chicken, onion, and cauliflower florets in a 450° F oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until the temperature of the chicken in the thickest part is close to 170 F.

Posted in Recipes | 5 Comments » |

10 Ways to Escape a Cooking Rut

June 8, 2009

I love cooking.  When I’m cooking I can really focus; I stop thinking about anything else going on.  I like creating something new and tangible.  And of course eating the food is fun.

But I have a confession – I frequently get into cooking “ruts,” where I either won’t cook anything (just eating mac & cheese, hot dogs, leftovers, etc.) or I only make foods that I’m very comfortable making.  It’s strange.  I sometimes don’t cook anything for over a week.

Certain tactics have helped me escape this rut. I’ve compiled them here to help get me (and hopefully you) cooking again.

1. Schedule some time – When I get busy, I get lazy.  I often don’t feel like cooking.  I find, though, that picking one night in the upcoming week to cook something new or a favorite dish will get me excited about cooking again.  It also ensures that I’ll have the time cleared for it.
2. Clean your kitchen – I don’t have a dishwasher, so I often let dishes (clean or dirty) sit around and clutter the kitchen.  Walking into my cluttered, sometimes dirty kitchen drains any desire I have to cook.  It just looks like too much work.  On the flip side, a clean kitchen can energize me to cook.
3. Plan three meals – One of the most difficult parts of making new meals for me is getting all the necessary ingredients.  Like I said, I’m lazy.  When it is 7:00 pm and I am choosing what to eat, I usually choose the easy option because I don’t want to run to the store.  If I pick a few recipes at the beginning of the week, however, and accomplish the shopping all at once, I’m more excited to try the new meals.
4. Buy a new ingredient – Sometimes when shopping I’ll grab an ingredient I’ve never cooked with, waiting to find out what to do with it when I get home.  You get the added benefit of increasing your ingredient repertoire.
5. Make something up – If cookbooks and websites aren’t inspiring you, maybe it’s just time to get in the kitchen and create something with what you have on hand.  I don’t do this often, but creating your own dish can make cooking fun again.
6. Cook for someone else – I enjoy cooking for others.  I’m not sure why – maybe I like seeing them happy, maybe I’m looking to impress, or maybe I just like the added pressure.  Either way, cooking for others is exciting, so invite people over or head to their place to cook.
7. Pick a new cuisine – I frequently get stuck making classic American and Italian dishes.  Picking a new ethnic cuisine that you don’t normally cook can make things interesting and expand your knowledge.  If you’re not sure where to start, check out Ben at What’s Cooking? (Mexican) and Peter at Kalofagas (Greek).  Their food cannot be resisted.
8. Try to recreate a restaurant dish – Odds are there are certain dishes at restaurants that you love, the ones you’ll go back for.  See if their are any recipes of it online or try to make one up yourself for fun.
9. Cook with someone – Similar to number six above, cooking with someone can make it more fun and you’ll get the meal on the table more quickly.
10. Cook breakfast or lunch – My cooking usually revolves around dinner, as it probably does for most.  Finding some new recipes for breakfast or lunch can widen your possibilities and get you excited about something new.

I hope this list helps – it has gotten me back in the kitchen when I’m feeling lazy.

Posted in Other | 2 Comments » |

My Favorite Quick Tomato Sauce

June 5, 2009

I was on the phone with my brother last week when he told me about an arrabiata tomato sauce he made.  For those unacquainted, arrabiata means “angry” in Italian – it is a spicy tomato sauce.

He told me how good it was, mentioning it had over 10 ingredients.  I’m sure the sauce was incredible, but the downside (sort of – I’ll explain) is that he made it sound like an event.  Go shopping, prepare the ingredients and spend a long time cooking.  “Event cooking” is not always bad – I love making complicated or long-cooking dishes when I have time, and the food is usually great.  The obvious “but” here is that I don’t always have the time or energy for it.

Quick homemade tomato sauces – especially arrabiata – with pasta are one of my favorite foods.  When you’re short on time or energy, you can create a delicious spicy tomato sauce in the time it takes to boil your pasta using only four ingredients. Is the sauce as good as the one my brother made? Probably not – but it is quick, easy, and still delicious.

Arrabiata (Spicy) Tomato Sauce Recipe

For this recipe you’ll need olive oil or butter, garlic or onion, a can of crushed or whole tomatoes, and crushed red pepper flakes.  I am deliberately vague on the ingredient amounts, as it is an easy recipe to eyeball.  For the olive oil or butter, you want a thin layer on the bottom of your pan.  If you’re using garlic, I probably use two cloves for a 14.5 oz can of tomatoes, and 3-4 for a 28 oz can.  The tomatoes are obviously the main factor in how much sauce you want.  I probably use around a teaspoon of red pepper flakes (a little more or less depending on the tomato can size), though I don’t measure anymore.

You’ll also need salt and pepper, but I’m not counting those as ingredients because it is not as impressive to say six ingredients.  Also, I like to toss in fresh parsley at the end, but it’s not required.

Begin by placing a small saucepan over medium-low heat and add your fat (olive oil/butter) to the pan.  Then begin mincing your garlic and/or chopping your onion.  When you are closed to finishing your knife work, increase the heat on the stove slightly (I usually find medium or just under a pretty good level).

Add your garlic/onion, a little bit of salt, and the red pepper flakes.  Sauté until the garlic begins to turn golden or the onion softens.

Pour in your crushed tomatoes, or crush your whole tomatoes by hand into the saucepan.  Be careful if you’re crushing whole tomatoes – they tend to splatter.

Stir everything together and add a bit more salt and pepper.  Just simmer your sauce for 10-15 minutes (or until your pasta is finished), add any final seasonings (I like minced parsley), pour in a quarter cup or so of pasta water if you’re into that sort of thing, and you’re finished.

The pasta is bright and slowly builds a spicy flavor.  I highly recommend for nights when you’re tired after work.

No-Look Cooking

Recipe

1. Sauté your aromatic (garlic or onion) in fat (olive oil or butter) with red pepper flakes and salt.  Add tomatoes and simmer until the pasta is finished.  Season the sauce.

Cooking Tips/Techniques

1. Sauté garlic until it starts to turn golden brown, or onions until they are soft.
2. Add a little bit of salt when sautéing (I’m not sure why you do this, but the recipes call for it.  I’ll look into it.)
3. Quick tomato sauces only need 10-15 minutes of cooking (a little longer if it is a huge batch).  Cooking it too long destroys the fresh tomato flavor.
4. Add some pasta water to the sauce for extra flavor.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• Olive oil or butter to cover the bottom of the saucepan
• Garlic (minced, 1-2 cloves per 14.5 oz of tomatoes) or onion (chopped, as much as you want)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes, about 1 teaspoon, but really to taste
• Canned crushed tomatoes or whole plum tomatoes
• Other garnishes – fresh Parmesan, fresh chopped parsley (optional)

Recipe

1. Sauté the garlic and/or onion in the fat, with salt and red pepper flakes, until the garlic is golden or the onion is soft.
2. Add the tomatoes, and more salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until your pasta is finished.
3. Add a quarter cup of pasta water to the sauce, add fresh parsley if desired, then serve over pasta with freshly grated cheese.

Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments » |

The Hardest Part of Making Pizza: Sliding the Dough onto the Pizza Stone

June 3, 2009

Though pizza is the quintessential take-out food, homemade pizzas are incredibly easy to make.  They’re cheaper, healthier, and often taste better (I think the best restaurant pizza is better than I can do, but I’d rather eat my creation than some of the lower end pizzas).

Oddly, the hardest part of making a pizza is sliding it onto the pizza stone.  The dough? Sauce? Topping?  All easy as pie (zing!).  I’ve screwed up more than one pizza, though, when the heavy dough stuck to my overturned jelly roll pan.

Oh, wait, maybe that should be my first pizza sliding tip:

Pizza Sliding Tip #1: If you don’t have a pizza peel, flip over a baking sheet and use the back.  It’s smooth, flat, and still low enough that the pizza can slide off onto the stone without much trouble.

Finally a few nights ago I was successful sliding my pizza from the pan to the stone.  And this is how I did it:

Pizza Sliding Tip #2: Use plenty of flour and/or cornmeal.

I had to use much more than I expected.  I also found that I had to keep adding more as I worked the dough out.  I wonder if there is a way to work the dough into a round and then add most of the cornmeal?

Pizza Sliding Tip #3: Give the pan a couple shakes to ensure the dough is not sticking before you attempt to slide it onto the stone.

This tip saved me – I was about to slide my round so I gave it a quick shake before opening the oven.  One patch of the dough was sticking, potentially causing a pizza disaster, so I re-cornmealed to fix it.

Pizza Sliding Tip #4: Only sauce the dough before sliding – add the toppings and cheese immediately after it’s on the pizza stone.

This last one is admittedly a bit questionable, as leaving the oven open like this let’s much of the heat escape (which is partially counteracted by the heat retention of the stone, but still).  I’ve personally just found that the weight of fresh mozarella, tomatoes, etc. makes it more difficult for the dough to slide easily.

How do you slide your pizzas?  Do you top them before sliding, or after?  Any tips I’m missing?

Posted in Kitchen Tips | 9 Comments » |