Here Come the Wings

This week’s challenge was to make chicken wings, in honor of March Madness. (Apparently, chicken wings are a favorite for snacking while watching sports.)

Now, I am not a huge fan of wings. I usually find them too fatty and greasy for my tastes. So I think I’ve only cooked them once or twice before.

When I don’t know what to start, I turn to one of my reference cookbooks. First on my list is Mark Bittman‘s How to Cook Everything (Revised Edition), and sure enough, I found a recipe for chicken wings in the Appetizers section. Bittman’s recipe promised the tastiness and crust of deep-fried wings without the deep frying. It sounded like the perfect solution. (Since I didn’t modify the recipe, I won’t reprint it here, but if you don’t own a copy of Bittman’s cookbook, you really should.)

Bittman’s method is to first roast the chicken wings with a little olive oil, salt and pepper — turning and basting them halfway through with their own fat — for close to an hour. You then baste them with the flavorful sauce of your choice and turn the oven heat up high to achieve that brown, crusty skin.

Bittman offers six variations of sauces, and we tried three. Of those, we liked the traditional hot sauce (I used my leftover barbecue sauce from a previous challenge) and the ginger-soy glaze the best. Both of these darkened nicely and developed a crunchy skin, while soaking up lots of flavor. The beer-and-butter sauce was a bit too subtle, though, and those wings didn’t get nearly as brown.

My husband and I both enjoyed the end result very much. (The toddler refused to sample them.) The meat was falling off the bones and flavorful, without being too fatty or greasy, which is what usually turns me off about wings. During the long roasting time, most of the fat cooked away, but the meat did stay tender. Adding the sauce just at the end ensured it didn’t burn or get cooked away. I only wish I had made extra sauce for dipping.

I served these with crudites: celery sticks, cherry tomatoes and quartered mushrooms, plus a simple blue cheese dip, also from Bittman’s book, which I made by mixing blue cheese, lemon juice and plain yogurt. I would definitely prepare this yummy meal again for a party or sports-watching event. I think the wings would taste good at room temperature, and so also would make great picnic food.

All in all, a successful challenge! My husband hasn’t issued next week’s challenge yet, so stay tuned to see what it will be.

Tried-and-True Mashed Potatoes

I have made mashed potatoes so many times that I have pretty much memorized my recipe. And I can adapt it to whatever I have in my fridge. Mashed potatoes go with just about anything, and almost everyone loves them, so it’s a tried-and-true side dish. I’ll almost always serve them with fish, for instance, like last weekend’s crusted cod.

I usually choose Yukon Gold potatoes. They seem to make the creamiest, tastiest mash. If you haven’t discovered these all-purpose potatoes, they also make great hash browns and oven fries. Give them a try.

I won’t normally buy sour cream or buttermilk just to use them for mashed potatoes, but if I already have it for some other recipe, I find it adds a nice zing to the potatoes. When I don’t have either of those, though, cream, half-and-half or even milk works just fine.

If you want to dress your mashed potatoes up, you can stir in cooked bacon, shredded cheese, fresh herbs, a spoonful of pesto or even chopped, sauteed vegetables. If you boil peeled garlic cloves with the potatoes, you can mash them in too. But I usually just serve mine with butter and cream. They’re absolutely delicious that way.

Mashed Potatoes

Select 1 medium Yukon Gold potato per serving. This may make more than you need, but it’s better to have too much than too little. (Ideas for leftovers will be posted tomorrow.) Peel each potato and cut into rough chunks. Put in a pot, cover with water and add a few pinches of salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the potatoes are tender enough to be split by a fork (15-20 minutes).

Drain the cooked potatoes and return them to the pot. Per serving, add ½ tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon cream, milk, buttermilk or sour cream (depending on what you have). So for 4 servings, you’ll need 2 tablespoons butter and ¼ cup of dairy. Mash with a potato masher or fork. Add salt and pepper to taste, and beat with a wooden spoon to the desired creaminess (or push the potatoes through a food mill if you want them absolutely free of lumps).

Dried Beans, No Soaking?

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The New York Times claims that you can skip the tedious soaking step when cooking dried beans and still have flavorful beans. I know that I often forget to soak, which means I don’t make beans. I might experiment with skipping the soaking step, although I find it curious that every other recipe is wrong on this score. What do you think?

via A Good Appetite – Dried Beans, Flavorful Without Soaking – NYTimes.com.

How to Slow-Roast Tomatoes

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Here’s another idea if you have an excess of tomatoes from the garden: slow-roast them. The results are similar to sun-dried tomatoes: sweet, chewy, with an intense, sunny flavor. I like to eat them on bruschetta with a soft cheese, but they are also good tossed into pasta dishes and casseroles. They can even be pureed for an intense tomato sauce or soup.

Roma tomatoes are the best choice for slow roasting. Larger tomatoes will work (quarter them), but the roasting time is longer and the results won’t be as pretty. I haven’t tried cherry tomatoes, but I think they might get too sweet after roasting. Still, feel free to experiment.

Here are the steps for slow-roasting roma tomatoes:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Toss with olive oil and a little salt.
3. Arrange the tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut side up, and put them in the oven.
4. Start checking the tomatoes after 2 hours. They are done when they turn dark and it looks like all the juices have evaporated. A little black on the edges is okay, but you don’t want them to charcoal. Remove the tomatoes to a plate with a spatula as they finish cooking. The smaller tomatoes will finish first. The larger slices may take up to 3 hours.
5. Let cool to room temperature and store or enjoy. The tomatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week, or they can be frozen and used as needed.

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• How to Puree Tomatoes (simplycooking.wordpress.com)

How to Puree Tomatoes

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It seems we either have too few tomatoes (most of the time) or too many (right now). When we have too many, it is worth taking an hour or so to puree those tomatoes and preserve them in some manner. If you are adept at canning, the tomato puree can be canned, or do what I do and just freeze them. These pureed tomatoes can be used in any recipe that calls for canned puree, such as sauces and soups, but the recipe may have to cook longer if your tomatoes are particularly watery.

I generally puree roma tomatoes and save the larger slicing tomatoes for salads and sandwiches. The process couldn’t be easier, but you do need a food mill to puree the tomatoes. The food mill removes the seeds and skin for you, making tomato-preserving a snap.

1. Chop the tomatoes roughly and put them in a large, non-reactive saucepan.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
3. Simmer until the tomatoes start to break down and thicken, 10-20 minutes.
4. Remove the tomatoes from the heat and let cool a little.
5. Run the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins. Food mill discs generally come in three sizes. I use the middle size for this.
6. Chill the puree in the refrigerator, then transfer to freezer containers. The puree can be frozen up to 1 year.

How to Freeze Berries

Here are some tips on freezing berries from Cook’s Country. Apparently, I already goofed when I froze excess blackberries and blueberries last week by washing them first. Oh well, they are destined for pulverization in smoothies or ice cream anyway.

Best Cooking Techniques By Ingredient

Recently, when posting tips on how to cook without recipes, I suggested learning one or two techniques for each ingredient that you cook most frequently. Just as a guide, here are the techniques I’ve identified for my own personal cooking. These suggestions will give you a place to get started, especially if you’re just learning how to cook. I’ve linked to specific instructions if they were posted previously on my blog.

Please note: These suggestions do not represent every possible way you can cook an ingredient, just the methods that I like best and use most frequently. Also, not all ingredients are listed, because I don’t eat everything. Substitutions are noted when applicable.

Apples: raw in salads or applesauce

Asparagus: pan-roast

Avocados: raw in salads

Bacon: pan-fry or roast

Beans, lentils and peas (dried): simmer in the slow cooker

Berries: puree (especially frozen) to mix in yogurt, oatmeal, smoothies or for sorbets and popsicles

Broccoli: blanch for salads or crudites; otherwise, braise; substitute broccoli rabe or cauliflower

Cabbage: raw in salads or braise; substitute brussels sprouts (cooked)

Carrots: raw in salads, braise or glaze; substitute beets, parsnips or turnips (cooked)

Chicken: grill, pan-fry (cutlets), pan-roast (boneless breasts) or roast (bone-in pieces); substitute shrimp or scallops for boneless breasts

Clams and Mussels: steam

Cucumbers: pickle or raw in salads

Edamame: boil or simmer; substitute fava beans or lima beans

Eggplant: grill or roast

Eggs: bake, boil, fry, poach or scramble

Fish: pan-fry (thin fillets), pan-sear (thick fillets and steaks) or poach (especially salmon)

Garlic: roast

Grains: boil or pilaf

Green beans: simmer

Greens (chard, collards, kale, etc.): boil or wilt in bacon fat

Mushrooms: roast or saute

Onions: caramelize, glaze (pearl onions) or grill

Pasta: boil, pilaf (orzo) or risotto-style

Peas (including sugar snap and snow peas): boil or stir-fry

Peppers: roast

Potatoes: bake (russets), mash (Yukon gold), pan-fry (diced or sliced) or roast (red or new)

Rice: boil, pilaf or stir-fry (leftover cooked rice)

Sausage: grill, roast or saute

Spinach: wilt

Sweet potatoes: bake, hash browns or mash

Tomatoes: raw in salads, roast or saute (cherry tomatoes)

Winter squash: roast or simmer; substitute celeriac, pumpkin or rutabaga

Zucchini: grill or saute; substitute summer squash

Cucumbers from the Garden

Everyone knows that tomatoes from the garden taste the best. They are warm, sweet and taste like sunshine on a plate. Nothing you can buy in the grocery store can come close to tomatoes you grow yourself.

This year, we are growing cucumbers for the first time, and I have discovered that the same is true of them. Usually, I can take or leave cucumbers. But the cucumbers from our garden actually have flavor. They are cool, crisp and herbaceous, great with just a touch of salt or lightly pickled. After eating my own homegrown cucumbers, I think I’ll have to give up supermarket cukes altogether.

My favorite way to prepare cucumbers is to marinate the slices in vinegar and seasonings. I keep a bowl of these “pickles” in the fridge and snack on them guilt-free before dinner or throw them into salads. This isn’t a recipe so much as a set of guidelines. Feel free to experiment.

Lightly Pickled Cucumbers

Peel and slice the cucumbers. For 1 lb. of cucumber slices, combine 2 cups water and 1 cup white wine vinegar. Add 1 tbsp. coarse salt plus fresh dill, hot red pepper flakes and sliced garlic, as desired. Let the cucumbers marinate at least 1 hour. Keeps up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

If I have too many cucumbers to eat fresh, I plan to make freezer pickles. Here’s a recipe from Sidewalk Shoes.

How to Cook Without a Book

One of my cooking goals this year has been to cook more without using recipes. I do love cookbooks. I browse through them frequently and use them to come up with new ideas. I also enjoy challenging myself with difficult or new recipes when I have the time, usually on the weekends.

But during the week, when time is at a premium and energy is often at a low, I find it’s easier to cook without consulting a cookbook. I started seriously teaching myself how to cook about three years ago, and now I’ve reached the stage where I feel very comfortable winging it. Here are the keys to success that I have learned along the way.

The first is to learn some basic cooking techniques. While books on techniques are readily available, I’ve found that cookbooks that contain a lot of simple recipes are the best teachers. I highly recommend Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and Cooks’ Illustrated The New Basic Recipe, especially for learning basic methods of cooking meats and vegetables.

But don’t try to memorize every possible cooking technique. Sure, there are 101 one ways to cook chicken, but you don’t have to know them all. Instead, after sampling a few different ways of cooking a particular ingredient, pick one or two that you like best for the ingredients you cook most frequently. For instance, I like asparagus pan-roasted. I’m probably not going to bother steaming it, although that’s a fine way to cook it. For ingredients like chicken, I have 3 or 4 techniques in my repertoire, depending on whether I’m cooking bone-in pieces, boneless breasts or cutlets.

I keep a cooking notebook, where I list all the ingredients I usually buy, plus notes I’ve collected about them — including my favorite techniques for cooking that ingredient. This is also a good place to record notes on storage, freezing and any special prep required for that ingredient.

Next, develop a repertoire of key recipes, what I call master recipes. These should be recipes that you really like, which cook quickly and can adapt to whatever you have on hand. In my repertoire are a few soups, a handful of pasta recipes, an easy fish dish, and some one-dish meals like a stew, risotto, burritos and frittata. Although I prefer simply cooked vegetables or one-pot entrees, I also have a few side dishes in my roster, including some basic salads, a couple of potato dishes and a vegetable gratin.

Even though these recipes are easy to memorize, I record them in my recipe notebook in case I need to review the details. I rotate through them depending on what I have on hand to cook with, but I always make sure I have the foundations for my master recipes in my pantry.

The third key is to understand what flavors go together, especially when seasoning the dish. The Flavor Bible is a terrific reference. It lists pretty much every possible ingredient and the foods, herbs and seasonings that go best with it. You can pick and choose based on what you have and what you like.

Cooking this way makes grocery shopping a lot easier. I no longer make a list composed of what’s called for in the recipe, regardless of whether it’s in season or way too expensive. Instead, I look for produce that’s high-quality, in season and therefore usually cheaper. And I know that I need to replenish any foundation foods, dairy, eggs and meat when we’re running low and stock up when they’re on sale. I also treat myself to one or two cheeses — usually on sale — that will go well in salads or for snacking.

On the weekends, I spend some time making foods that will make it easier to cook during the week. For instance, I prep produce: washing, peeling, slicing. I also make a batch of chicken stock, a bottle of salad dressing and a loaf of bread or some pizza dough. I may make a sauce or pesto if I need to use up some surplus. This helps me avoid buying the packaged versions of these foods.

So I may not be posting as many recipes on this blog, since I am not cooking as many recipes anymore. Please share your tips for cooking without a book in the comments.

Roast Salmon: Simple & Healthy

It’s becoming harder and harder to incorporate fish into my diet. Due to worries about mercury, polluted fish farms and overfishing, I have really cut down the amount of fish I buy and eat. It’s not difficult to imagine that there may come a time when we eat no fish at all, other than those few species that can be safely and cleanly farmed.

I still buy Alaskan wild salmon from time to time, though. Wild salmon is much less contaminated than farmed, and salmon is the one fish (other than tuna) that everyone in the house will eat. It’s also very easy to cook. Usually, I buy one large fillet that will feed the three of us, probably leaving some leftovers for sandwiches the next day.

Roasting is a quick and easy way to cook salmon. Last night I basted the fillet with a mixture of one part honey and one part coarse grain mustard, then sprinkled it with salt, pepper and dill. I roasted it for 12 minutes or so at 400 degrees. Serve with some spring peas sauteed in butter and onions and a simple green salad, and you have an easy weeknight meal.