learning to be human, since 1984
Recipes
Fried Rice Explorations, with Mustard Greens
Aug 15th
This post will kill two birds with one stone – and three if you count the chicken thighs I used.
A few days ago, some friends explained the process of preparing fried rice. Nothing overly complex, but there are a few ingredients that I had seldom used. Also, I had never cooked mustard greens. As the ever-intrepid food-a-holic, I embraced the opportunity and decided to combine the two. I’ll explain the basic process of fried rice, as it was told to me (with some of my input), and also weave in where I used the mustard leaves.
You’ll need:
- long-grain already cooked rice; I’d stick with something neutral in flavor, or Jasmine.
- oil; again, as neutral as possible; superlight olive oil or sunflower oil – or for some more flavor, peanut or sesame. I’m still on the fence about Canola.
- garlic; washed and finely chopped.
- green onions; washed and cut – these make the dish.
- sauces: oyster, fish, soy. If you have wheat allergies, I’m sure you know to make sure your sauces are gluten free. If you are AVERSE to any of these sauces, let me know of some AltERnatiVES.
- salt & pepper (not to be confused with Salt-n-Pepa)
Optional, though suggested:
- veggies; carrots, onions, snow peas, broccoli, and so on – you pick. Make sure to wash and clean them before chopping them into uniform bits, big enough to keep shape after a quick sauté. This is where the mustard fits in. Though they wilt somewhat quickly, it’s best to add them a bit early if you don’t like their bitterness, and also to soften them up a little.
- cilantro, basil, and other herbs for finishing. Wash and run your knife through these two or three times. Use your senses!
- a protein, be it chicken, pork, eggs, tofu, etc. Chop into bite-sized bits. If using eggs, you’ll scramble them after the other ingredients are cooked.
Totally optional:
- another protein!
- chile oil, or chile peppers, or something spicy.
You’ll also need:
- two large pans, depending on how much you’re making (but large enough to hold the contents of the other pan)
- chef’s knife/cutting board
- vessels for holding your prepped items. If you’re cooking meat, avoid cross contamination! I use a green board for veg and red for meat, but that’s not entirely necessary.
- wooden spoon/spatulas/etc
We’re going to do this in two parts. First, cooking the veg and proteins, then the rice, then mixing the two. So let’s get a move on!
Prep all your ingredients. Get your oil as hot as possible. You’ll need to work quickly, so get ready to move. Add the garlic. If you’re not adding the suggested stuff, move to the next paragraph – otherwise: add veg and protein in order of longest cook time first. You want to cook the veg but keep them crunchy in the center. Broccoli and carrots cook slower than onions, for example. Always keep the pan’s contents moving so they don’t stick and burn – remember, the pan is hot! Season with the sauces. About 2-3 minutes before the above pan’s contents are ready, heat another pan (unless you’re only adding the eggs – just use the one pan) and scramble the eggs. A little runny is fine, as the residual heat will continue to cook them. Transfer the scrambled eggs to the other pan. Lightly clean, oil, and return the egg pan to the heat, as you’ll use it to cook the rice.
Add the rice to your hot, oiled pan, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Season with your sauces to taste. A little goes a long way – so if these ingredients are unfamiliar to you, add them slowly. You can always add more, but can never remove it. Also, the fish sauce smells gross. After all, it’s usually made from fermented sardines or other salty fish. Taste it on its own at your own risk – I have.
Finally, mix the two together in one of the pans. Taste. Whichever sauces you think are necessary, salt and pepper. Mix in or garnish with green onion, herbs, and the spicy component!
The mustard greens added a mild bitterness, and some contrasting texture to the rest of the dish – both things with which I was pleased. And I apologize for any temporal confusion you may have endured. I blame that on all the Dr. Who episodes streaming through my computer. As always, if you have any questions/comments please let me know. I’d love to clarify any confusion or hear what you think. Also – I’ll soon be posting another recipe with the mustard greens. Till then!
Broccoli Soup, and Healthy to Boot
Feb 18th
This one is simple. “A piece of cake” will now be referred to as “A pot of broccoli soup”.
Inactive prep time: as long as your water takes to boil
Other prep time: 5-15 minutes
Cooking time: 4-5 minutes
serves: generally, 2-4 medium servings per pound of broccoli
Needed are 3 ingredients, bare minimum. They are: More >
Artichokes with Beets and Spaghetti
Feb 1st
I bought some beets and have been experimenting with them in their raw state. A few days ago I made a beet salad with fennel fronds. Here’s what I did today.
Here’s what’s needed:
- 2 or so artichokes, fresh or canned. In either case, make sure they’re thoroughly cleaned, rinsed, and relatively dry, and halved.
- one beet, small or medium. Or as big as you care to eat. Don’t forget to peel it.
- one medium shallot.
- olive oil
- sugar
- pasta
You’ll also need:
- a sauté pan
- a large pot with a cover, filled with water, seasoned with salt (about 2-3 tbsp kosher per 6 quarts, it should taste like sea water)
- wooden spoon
- chef’s knife, cutting board
So getting right to business, put your pot o’ water on high, and cover. Finely chop the shallot, and slice the beet into circles, as thinly as possible. To do this safely, slice off one end so the beet has a flat surface on which to rest. Heat your pan on medium -high and add a bit of olive oil, enough to sauté the artichokes. Add the shallots and sauté till they start giving off their flavor, then add the artichokes, flat side down. Push them with your fingertips to make sure they’re coming in full contact with the surface of the pan. Sprinkle with a touch of sugar and sauté till they’ve got some color on them, on all sides. The sugar should have carmelized somewhat.
When the pasta is done, drain and use a fork to turn two tantalizing tangles. Plate with the thin – and transparently so – beets, artichokes, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Eat.
Pan Seared Chicken Braised with Fennel & Beet Salad with Fennel Fronds
Jan 27th
Fennel is amazing. I had eaten it, but never cooked with it until today. What intrigues me the most, anise flavor aside, is how many ways it can be prepared. The whole plant can be put to use: the root can be roasted or eaten raw, fronds for salads or as garnish, and the seeds can be crushed, ground, or used whole. Even the fibrous stalk can be cooked with other foods to impart its flavor.
Here’s what I did with it.
prep time: 10-15 minutes
active cooking time: 6 minutes
passive cooking time: 35-40 minutes
ingredients:
- 1 chicken thigh, with skin (I bought a whole, natural, free-range bird and broke it down myself)
- 1 large fennel plant, rinsed and dried. We’ll only use one stalk, so just chop off a stalk through the root. The root should be about the size of half a medium onion.
- 1 beet, leaves and all, rinsed and dried
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- white wine – I used a Pinot gris
I first set my oven to 375°F before getting to work. In a medium pan I heated some olive oil in a pan while julienning the stalk of the fennel. I added some strips to the oil to flavor it and added the chicken thigh, searing on some color and rendering off some of the skin fat. I then transferred the chicken to a glass pan. Metal would probably be better. Oh well. I added some of the fennel fronds, bit of wine, and braised for about 35 minutes. When braising, you can use almost anything acidic, as long as the flavors work together. Lemon juice, wine, tomatoes, beer, stock – the main idea is to impart some flavor in a tougher bit of meat and keep it moist, which will also assist in breaking down the tissue.
While the chicken was cooking, I sliced the fennel bulb and fronds as well as the beet root into crescents. I mixed everything together with my hands, drizzled some olive oil and seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Chop the veg as rough or fine as you like. I like big chunks.
I served the chicken with some store bought pasta. That will soon be a thing of the past. Enjoy.
The Perfect Scrambled Eggs
Jan 20th
Eggs are quite possibly the world’s most intriguing and universal food. They are symbolic, nourishing, versatile, and complex. Almost everyone can cook them some way or another – but not many can do so well and with consistency. Let’s try to change that. More >
Tagliatelle with Tomatoes, Scallions, Herbs, Lemon, and Marsala
Jan 14th
Its not hard to make pasta. Real, fresh, homemade pasta. All it takes is five simple ingredients and some muscle. This should take about 40-50 minutes total, for the whole dish. It takes a bit of time to get the gluten going, so lets cut the palaver and get to it.
For the pasta, you will need:
- 1/2 cup unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup semolina flour, or superfine semolina
- 2 or so tablespoons olive oil (assume extra virgin, unless otherwise noted)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- a cup of water
For the sauce:
- two handfuls of cherry tomatoes (I also used some romas that needed to be used)
- 2 or 3 scallions
- some olive oil
- some dried oregano
- a sprig of rosemary
- 1/2 a lemon (use a real fucking lemon, please)
- a cup or so of Marsala
- kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper
You’ll also need:
- a fork
- a sharp knife
- a measuring cup
- a small bowl
- a medium mixing bowl
- sexy muscles
- a rolling pin or pasta machine
- a large (stainless steel) pan
- a large pot and cover
- a colander
Combine the flour into the bowl. Crack the egg into small bowl, breaking the egg with a fork. Mix in the olive oil and a touch of water-about a tablespoon or so. Then combine the liquids with the flour, using the fork to bring everything together. Once most of the clumps have combined, use your hands to get everything together into a singular mass. Add a touch of water if too crumbly; a dash of flour if too sticky. Continue kneading in the bowl till better combined. Then take it out and knead on a flat work surface. Work the dough until the edges don’t break off as much and it stays together. It will firm up and become more elastic and cohesive. Use the pin to flatten it out into a long sheet, about 1mm thick (1/32 of an inch). If you’re using the machine start it at the thickest setting, reducing it each time. This whole process further develops the gluten, so if you’re using a pin, you might want to knead a bit more by hand. Once you’ve got a sheet of dough, cut strips with your knife or set your machine to do it. For tagliatelle, you want about 1cm strips. Don’t worry about extraneous bits, they’ll all go in the pot.
Before your pasta is cut, get a pot of water large enough to contain it-generally, 6-8 quarts of water per pound of pasta. Also, per 6-8 quarts, season with about 2-3 tablespoons salt. I use kosher or coarse sea salt. Cover and boil. Toss in the pasta and cook
for several minutes, about 3-5, checking by tasting. Your pasta should be firm, still soft but not soggy.
While the water was boiling, you can make the sauce. Coat a sauté pan with olive oil and set to high heat. Halve the tomatoes and add to the pan once the oil is hot. You’ll know it is hot enough if the oil sizzles. If you’re not certain, try one half first to test the heat. Generally, hot olive oil is as viscous as water, cool oil is much slower to move in a pan. Hot oil also smokes, but avoid this, as it kills all the flavor and nutrients in the oil. Chop and add the scallions. A pinch of salt. Don’t stir or move the pan. Let the heat wrinkle the tomatoes and add some color – the scallions will start to caramelize too. Give the pan a quick forward-and-back jolt to loosen any stuck bits, to keep things from burning. Add some oregano, removing any stalks. I rub it between my palms, over the pan, to release any oils. Rip off the leaves from the rosemary by pinching and pulling the stalk between your thumb and forefinger. Give a good toss to mix everything together.
Drain the pasta in a colander and dump it into the pan, with the tomato party. Coat all the pasta in the sauce and mix in about half of the Marsala. Let it simmer for awhile until the alcohol is burned off and the liquid absorbed or evaporated. Remove from the stove and pour into a serving dish. Use the remainder of the Marsala to deglaze the pan. Deglazing simply removes all the bits of burnt schmootz from the pan – this is where all the flavor is! Reduce till the alcohol has burned off and all the bits of veg and pasta are free. Then, pour over the pasta. Finish by squeezing lemon on top. Jam a fork in there and wiggle to get all the goodness out.
I like it served as is, but you can finish it with a nice hard, aged cheese, coarsely grated, a small pad of butter, or a drizzle of olive oil. Grind some pepper on top, and serve three of your best mates. It should also be noted that this is entirely vegetarian – there’s only one egg keeping it from being vegan. But egg substitutes are an entirely different post altogether!