Search results
Cooking The Books Meaning - Yahoo Recipe Search
Food and WineWhen I'm looking to put on the Ritz for a fancy dinner party, I often center the menu around a majestic lamb roast, either a whole bone-in leg of lamb or a rolled-and-stuffed shoulder. But when I crave lamb on a weeknight, it's lamb steaks all the way. Depending on where you shop, lamb steaks can be harder to find than other cuts, but their tender meatiness makes them worth seeking out. The best cuts for quick-cooking are sirloin and leg steaks (the sirloin, basically the upper leg or hip portion, will be boneless, while leg steaks contain a single round bone).The ideal thickness for lamb steaks is 3/4 to 1 inch, but thicker steaks are no problem, especially boneless sirloin ones. Just butterfly them by cutting the steaks almost in half horizontally and folding the meat open like a book to make thinner, quicker-cooking steaks. If the steaks have a thick cushion of fat around the edges, trim it down to a modest 1/4 inch, and, to keep leg steaks from curling during cooking, make shallow incisions every couple of inches around the perimeter to break up the membrane that will shrink and buckle in a hot skillet.Much of the excellence of lamb steaks comes from their natural tenderness, but if there's time, pre-seasoning the meat (anywhere from 1 to 8 hours ahead) will further enhance the texture and flavor. I keep the seasoning simple to allow the sweetness of the lamb shine through, but I do kick things up at the finish by slathering the hot steaks with a lusty anchovy butter. The flavored butter takes advantage of two things I learned about lamb long ago: lamb loves butter, and lamb loves anchovies. There's some magical alchemy that happens when the meaty lamb juices blend with the richness of the butter and the funky brine of the anchovy. A bit of fresh lemon zest and parsley provides the perfect counterpoint.Lamb steaks are best cooked to medium-rare, or medium, if you prefer; the most effective way to get it right is to brush the surface with olive oil and sear the steaks in a hot skillet or grill pan (cast iron works well). Once the surface develops a handsome crust, lower the heat and continue cooking until they reach the desired internal temperature (125°F to 130°F for medium-rare and 135°F to 140°F for medium). Transfer the steaks to plates or a carving board and immediately smear the tops with the flavored butter (the heat of the steaks melts the butter into an instant sauce), and let the steaks rest for 3 to 5 minutes before cutting into them. Of course, if it's grilling weather (or you’re one of those intrepid cooks who likes to grill no matter the forecast), by all means, cook them outdoors. A slight kiss of smoke will only make them better.Food52This is a dessert that I discovered when I was researching for my cookbook, The London Cookbook. This is an Italian riff on the British classic that I happen to love quite as much as the original strawberry classic. It’s based on a version I had at Locanda Locatelli, a truly spectacular Italian restaurant in London. If the name Locatelli sounds familiar, it’s because the chef, Giorgio Locatelli is the author of Made in Italy, the comprehensive tome on Italian cooking. Eton Mess is a delicious improvisation of broken up meringue, berries, and whipped cream. Giorgio omits the berries and opts instead for a homemade Amalfi lemon curd and sorbet. At Locanda Locatelli, he includes a foam and cookies and makes his sorbet from scratch. I find the foam and cookies an unnecessary distraction, and I tend to buy the lemon sorbet. My latest obsession, however, is Jeni’s Lemon Buttermilk Frozen Yogurt (https://shop.jenis.com/frozen-yogurts/lemon-buttermilk-frozen-yogurt-pint/), which gives just the right creamy tanginess here. The lemon curd is from another recipe in my book and comes thanks to the restaurant DuckSoup. Having tried it once, it is now the only lemon curd I make. If you love lemon curd as much as I do—it’s terrific on scones, toast, English muffins and eaten directly from the jar—double the recipe. It will keep in the fridge for a few days or even longer if you use a sterile canning jar. Mess is meant to be as random, as its meaning suggests. If you don’t have sorbet, skip it. If you prefer a different ratio of cream to curd, do it your way. If you like your meringues chewier, cut their baking time. This recipe is meant to be broken.Food.comI know that garam masala recipe often vary family to family and region to region. I couldn't say where this one is specifically from but it comes courtesy of the fabulous Madhur Jaffrey, her World of the East Vegetarian Cooking book. This is quite heavy in cardamom, so if that's not a flavour you enjoy, this might not be the mix for you. Note that when it says cardamom seeds, that doesn't mean the pods, it means the seeds inside.Food.comBased on a recipe from Williams-Sonoma’s book, Savoring Spain & Portugal. The intro to the recipe states, “Although escalivar means 'to grill,' many restaurant cooks in Spain roast their vegetables, as it is easier and requires less maintenance. I have joined them.“ I haven’t tried this yet.Food.comThis is based on a recipe from George Foreman's book, Indoor Grilling Made Easy. His intro says, "These are more like hamburger panini, so the burgers are meant to be on the thinner side." I made mine on the George Foreman grill (somehow I've managed to collect about 3 of them in various sizes!); however, any panini maker would work, too. You can also adapt these for a flat griddle, preferably a grooved one, keeping in mind that where the instructions say "grill" you'll need to grill both sides of the patties and the sandwiches, adjusting cooking times accordingly.Food52My husband and I run a large maple syrup operation in Vermont and one of my missions in life is to get people to think beyond pancakes and incorporate maple into every day cooking. I recently saw a recipe for banana cream pie in one of my favorite cookbooks, Rosie’s All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed Baking Book by Judy Rosenberg. She used a simple vanilla cream and layered in fresh bananas then topped it with whipped cream. I had a hunch that substituting a maple cream for the vanilla would work well with the bananas. Holy banana bonanza, it was great. Feeling freewheeling with the sugar, I also added a layer of caramel at the bottom. The caramel oozed out of the pie crust into the pan once it was cut but I didn’t see anyone complain. I added maple syrup as the sweetener for the whipped cream as well but the effect was subtle and it still helped lighten the rich custard. Surprisingly the bananas remained the dominant flavor. I’d say this one was a success in our household given every time I opened the fridge there was significantly less of it in the pie dish. It is sugaring season right now which means we have a large crew working their tails off either in the woods or in the sugar house. I plan on making a few of these pies for them during the next big sap run and anticipate the pies will become the signature dessert for the 2018 season.Food52Adapted from The Ladies Receipt Book by Eliza Leslie. This, friends, is the earliest-yet-found printed recipe for Chocolate Cake. “Wait, really?” you may be thinking… but it’s true! Older recipes that mention Chocolate and Cake were actually referring to cakes meant for serving with chocolate, usually of the hot and drinkable variety. Though cakes containing chocolate as an ingredient date back further—the Marquis de Sade mentions one in a 1779 letter sent to his wife from prison—we have found no written recipe until Eliza Leslies’ 1847 book, The Ladies Reciept Book. Eliza’s recipe calls for using grated chocolate or “prepared cocoa.” I love that both the Chocolate Cake and the Chocolate Chip Cookie evolved containing bits of the heavenly stuff, so grated chocolate it is. As with the Indian Meal Cake, Eliza used an entire nutmeg. In fact, you rarely see an early 19th-century recipe that does not call for nutmeg. They were crazy for the stuff. The highlight of this cake, for me at least, is the icing. The word icing evolved from this thick mixture of egg whites and sugar; for ages, bakers would pour it over a hot cake, then return it to the oven until it was dry and, well, ice-like in its smoothness. Eventually bakers stopped icing the hot cake, and, like in the recipe below, poured the mixture over the a cooled cake, then set it aside to dry for a few hours (hello Royal Icing). As an aside, Eliza calls for lemon oil, rose extract, or vanilla extract to flavor the icing. Until the early 19th century, vanilla was used as a perfume by those well-off rather than for cooking or baking purposes due to the high cost of production (second only to Saffron).Food52This recipe is meant to be an edible way to compost all your wayward produce. “Pantry vegetables” are the sturdy ones that last a while in the crisper drawer of your fridge. The green veggies cook quickly, which means you should add them toward the end of the soup process. Another great addition from the garbage bowl: a Parmesan or Pecorino rind to add a rich, cheesy flavor to the broth. Next time you finish a wedge, save the rind in your freezer until it’s soup time. Experiencing a different type of desperation? This soup can also be made with canned or frozen vegetables. If pre-cooked or canned, simply stir into the soup with the beans. For canned, it's best to rinse thoroughly. When I’m in the mood for a little more protein, I start by browning 1/2 pound of organic chicken or turkey sausage at the beginning of this recipe. Reprinted with permission of the author from The Wellness Project, copyright 2017 Phoebe Lapine, Pam Krauss Books.Food52This chicken is a real wonder.It fits this 52 $ bill in so many ways! Adobo packs the most punch for the least amount of effort- of any chicken dish I can think of. And cheap? In my book, that means no expensive ingredients.Yep, you start with chicken thighs, a less expensive cut of chicken, and then all you need is vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, garlic and black pepper! I am a real acid lover in food, and my favorite thing about this dish is the vinegar punch coupled with the salty depth of the soy sauce , punctuated by the full flavor of mellow cooked garlic, the spiciness of black pepper, and the floral herbiness of the bay leaves. Each batch I make yields extra sauce- which I freeze and add to the next Adobo (like a sourdough starter.) Because the sauce has alot of reduced chicken juices and collagen, each batch of Adobo is increasingly flavorful. The inclusion of okra and sunchokes makes it hit all the nutritional bases , once it is served over rice or another grain.
