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03 Dec 2020
Basics

Hard-boiled Eggs

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a hard poil.

  2. Gently lower in your eggs, then lower the heat to a gentle boil.

  3. Keep at that gentle boil for 10 minutes.

  4. Set up a bowl of ice water and move the eggs immediately into it to cool down. (This makes them easier to peel.)


Palacsinta

  • 1 C whole milk
  • 1 C flour
  • 3 eggs
  • pinch salt
  • splash of seltzer

Yes, butter the pan between each pancake. These are fabulous when greasy.

I flip as soon the first side is no longer shiny/wet, and remove from pan as soon as I see little bubbles on the other side.

I like to eat mine with cottage cheese that has cinnamon and maybe a little sugar stirred in.


Cucumber Salad

Slice cucumbers thin. Mix in some kosher salt and leave out for half an hour or so, then rinse. Squeeze out all the liquid. Put in a container with 1/3 white vinegar 2/3 water, enough liquid to cover. Done.


Roast Chicken

Spatchcock, ideally.

Brine: weigh chicken and water, and add 1% salt and 0.25% msg. Leave overnight.

Under skin: whatever

435, 30% humidity. Until thickest part is 155. Like 30-45 minutes?


Pork Shanks

General marinade instructions: Cover meat with water. Weigh the total amount of meat plus water. Add 1% salt and 0.25% msg. Optionally add some garlic powder. Marinate for 24-48 hours.

Put marinated pork shanks in some water or stock, along with 2 tsp minced garlic per shank and 1 tsp dried oregano per shank. Braise until tender, 4-6 hours. If the shanks have skin, you can finish them by removing them from the liquid and cooking at 425 convection for 15 minutes (?).


Israeli Couscous

Caramelize a bunch of sliced onions and then follow the instructions on the bag.

Optionally, grate a bunch of carrots and caramelize them with thick chinese soy sauce (the molasses-ish stuff) and maybe a bit of port and stir in at the end.


Rice and other basics in the instant pot

Ratios are water:rice (or water:other thingy), times are at high pressure.

  • Thai sticky rice - 1.5:1, 6min (Rinse first, and strain out the rinsing water (with a strainer, yes really). It still won’t have the proper texture, but it’s simple and we enjoy it this way)
  • Basmati - 1.75:1, 3min
  • Wild rice - 3:1, 15min (let sit for a bit, then drain)
  • Steel-cut oats - 3:1, 10min (and don’t let “stay warm”). I like to stir in some almond butter and cinnamon immediately after.
  • Beans, generally - water 3” above the bean. If soaked, 6min, else 25min.


Chickpeas with herbs and roasted lemon

Cook some desi chickpeas with coriander, salt and msg.

Slice up some lemons (into circles maybe 1/8” thick, ish), coat in olive oil, and roast in the oven. Pay close attention, they tend to be need to be flipped a bunch and then you take out the more done ones every minute or so near the end. I like letting the get fairly dark, but it’s nice to have a mix of donenesses. Chop them up when they’re done, I guess moderately finely.

When the chickpeas are done, stir in the roasted lemons, lemon juice, and lots of chopped herbs. (Dill is great, parsley, whatever. It’s nice to have a mix. But seriously, lots, ideally including some dill.)

Sizzle some garlic and cumin in olive oil and pour that on. Mix.


Matzo balls

1/2 C matzo meal 2 eggs 2 tbsp oil 2 tbsp water or both splash of seltzer (or ginger ale) salt, pepper, dried ginger powder

Mix together, chill 20 minutes, make into 1” balls, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

30 Nov 2020
Lemony Pea and Radish Salad with Mint

Lemony Pea and Radish Salad with Mint


Ingredients

  • ~12 thinly sliced radishes (the pink-skinned, round-ish ones) (1 bunch, hereabouts)
  • 1 1/2 C snow peas, trimmed (snap off and discard the hard ends)
  • 1 lb fresh or frozen green peas (honestly, I use one bag of the frozen ones)
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp nigella seeds
  • 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • zest from 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves (not quite finely, but not quite coarsely either)
  • coarse sea salt to taste
  • lemon juice to taste


Directions

  1. Fill a medium-large pot with water and bring to a boil. Salt it as if you were making pasta.

  2. Set up a large bowl with ice-cold water.

  3. Once the water comes to a boil, blanch the snow peas for 1 minute, then remove and shock in the cold water to stop the cooking.

  4. Refresh the cold water and water for the pot to return to a boil.

  5. Blanch the peas for 20 seconds then again remove and shock in the cold water to stop the cooking.

  6. Combine the peas and snow peas in a large bowl.

  7. Sizzle the mustard and coriander seeds in the olive oil in a pan just until the seeds start to pop, then pour the oil and seeds over the beans. Stir.

  8. Stir in all other ingredients EXCEPT the salt and lemon juice.

  9. Season with salt and lemon juice to taste when serving. If you want to save the leftovers, do not season them – only season each serving as you eat it.


Notes

loosely adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

30 Nov 2020
Black Pepper Tofu with Pork
savorymeat

Ingredients

  • 800g (1.75 lbs) firm tofu
  • Corn starch, to dust the tofu
  • 454g (1 lb) ground pork
  • 3 tbsp sweet soy sauce / kecap manis
  • 3 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 4 tsp dark soy sauce
  • Safflower [or some other neutral] oil, for frying
  • 65g (~4.5 tbsp) butter
  • 12 small shallots (~350g), peeled and thinly sliced
  • 12 garlic cloves, crushed and then minced
  • 3 tbsp minced ginger
  • 5 tbsp crushed (or very coarsely ground) black peppercorns
  • 16 small, thin scallions, cut into segments 3cm (~1″) long
  • Optional garnish: sliced pickled chilies


Directions

  1. Stir the pork in with the soy sauces and set aside.

  2. Cut the tofu into cubes (3cm x 2cm, or about 1″ x 1/2″) and toss them in corn starch, shaking off the excess.

  3. Heat your wok until it starts to smoke and feels like a radiator with your hand held a few inches above the bottom, then pour in enough oil to really coat the bottom in a thin pool. Fry the tofu in batches in the oil, turning the pieces as you go so that they’re golden and crispy on all sides. Once they are golden all around, and have a thin crust, transfer to a paper towel. It’s important to do this in batches, because if you overcrowd your pan the tofu will steam instead of frying and will never develop that wonderful crisp, dried texture.

  4. Clean the oil and tofu bits out of your wok, then throw in the butter. Once the butter melts, add the shallots, garlic and ginger, and stir-fry until it’s all shiny and soft (should take about 15 minutes, but of course your mileage may vary).

  5. Stir in pork once the shallots are soft.

  6. Stir in the black pepper once the pork is pretty much cooked.

  7. Stir in the tofu and keep going for just a minute until it’s thoroughly warmed up and coated in the sauce, then stir in the scallions and remove from heat.

  8. Optionally, serve with sliced pickled chilies and a bit of their pickling liquid (recipe below). I really like the flavor and extra heat these offer. Though seriously, even without the extra pickled chili garnish, it was ridiculously spicy considering that all the heat came from just the black pepper, not chilies of any sort. Really tastily so. Serve with lots of rice.


Notes

adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi, mostly by adding way more meat

29 Nov 2020
Pistachio Wasabi Beets

Pistachio Wasabi Beets


Ingredients

  • 5 beets
  • 1/2 C pistachios
  • 3 tbsp sour cherry vinegar (red wine vinegar works fine, honestly)
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp wasabi oil (or less if you’re not so into the spicy)
  • flaky sea salt and black pepper to taste


Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.

  2. Cover a baking sheet with tinfoil. Wrap each beet individually in tinfoil (put it in the middle, then scrunch the edges together at the top) and place on the baking sheet. No oil needed – they’ll roast fine on their own.

  3. Roast the beets in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until tender when you poke a fork in.

  4. Peel the beets, then cut into 1/2″ cubes.

  5. Crush the pistachios, either by chopping coarsely or using a mortar and pestle.

  6. Mix everything together and season to taste.

  7. Sprinkle extra pistachios on top right before serving if you care about things looking pretty.


Notes

This is another Dave invention, but of course. It’s sweet and spicy and we’ve made it a bunch of times over the past year, so it’s way past time for me to share it with you!

The spicy awesomeness of these beets comes from wasabi oil, which you can find locally if you live in a city with a large in Chinatown. If not, your alternatives are to order wasabi oil in Amazon (not the brand I have, but it’s probably about the same), or just use horseradish instead.

10 Nov 2006
Töltött Káposzta (Stuffed Cabbage)
meatsavory

Töltött Káposzta (Stuffed Cabbage)


Ingredients

1 cabbage (the typical green thick-leafed kind you find in the US)

for the filling

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1/2 lb. rice, rinsed
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp édes paprika
  • A little olive oil, just to help bind it together
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

for the sauce

  • 15 oz. sauerkraut (this is 1 jar, usually)
  • Water
  • Oil
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp édes paprika
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • Salt to taste
  • 12 oz. tomato paste (this is 2 cans, usually)


Directions

  1. Take off the most wretched outer leaves of the cabbage, and rinse the whole thing off. Steam the cabbage for 5-10 minutes, or until the leaves are pliable enough to bend easily. I find that after removing all the pliable leaves I can, I end up having to re-steam the still hard inner leaves. If I steam it so long that even they are pliable from the start, the outer leaves are easier to accidentally rip.

  2. Peel off the leaves. Hold each leaf rib-side up, and pare the thick rib down to get rid of that tough vein and make it about as flat as the rest of the leaf.

  3. Prepare the filling by mixing all the filling ingredients together by hand. The rice:meat ratio varies, though I have suggested using a 1:2 ratio here. Ima initially told me to use 1 part rice to 1 1/2 parts meat by weight, but when I tried it that way, there was way more rice than I’m used to when she cooks it. It may be that the type of rice used affects this – I don’t know what sort of rice Ima uses (Uncle Ben’s would be my guess), but I use basmati. Szaz Anna also uses 1 part rice to 1 1/2 parts meat by weight.

  4. To fill each cabbage leaf, set the leaf on the table rib-side down, so that it naturally curves into a sort of cup waiting to be filled. Roll small handfulls of meat into oblong patties that fit the size of the leaves, and place the filling on the cabbage leaf, near the bottom of the leaf. Fold the sides of the leaf over the filling, and roll the cabbage around the meat, being sure to tuck the bottom end of the rib around the filling to keep it all snugly wrapped.

  5. Cut the center out of the cabbage that remains, and discard. Chop up the rest of the cabbage into small pieces.

  6. To fill the pot, start with a layer of that chopped up cabbage mixed with sauerkraut. Then place the stuffed cabbage in a flat layer on top of that, starting by lining them up around the circumference of pot and then filling in the middle. Add another layer of chopped cabbage and sauerkraut on top of that, then another layer of stuffed cabbage. Keep going like this until you run out of stuffed cabbage, and add a final layer of chopped cabbage and sauerkraut on top. Add water to just cover the contents of the pot.

  7. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.

  8. A few minutes before your kitchen timer goes off, make a roux by browning the flour in a bit of oil in a separate pan. Stir in the paprika, then remove from heat. Add the sugar, salt, and tomato paste, and mix well. Ladle some of the water out of the cooking cabbage pot and mix in with the paste, just to thin it out. Add the thinned paste back into the pot with the cabbage, and carefully stir it in to dissolve it in the water. My grandmother instructed me to the shake the pot to get the paste mixed in, but my pot was too full for me to risk that.

  9. Simmer for another 10-20 minutes, or until done.


Notes

  1. The rice:meat ratio varies depending on who you ask, though I have suggested using a 1:2 ratio here. Ima initially told me to use 1 part rice to 1 1/2 parts meat by weight, but when I tried it that way, there was way more rice than I’m used to when she cooks it. It may be that the type of rice used affects this – I don’t know what sort of rice Ima uses (Uncle Ben’s would be my guess), but I use basmati. Szaz Anna also uses 1 part rice to 1 1/2 parts meat by weight. When I called Ima to ask her to clear this up for me, she explained that it is really based on what you can afford – if you can afford more meat, use less rice. If you want to stretch the meat further, use more rice. The rice also serves the purpose of keeping the meat from binding into nothing more than a tough patty; like the bread in meatballs, the rice here keeps the meat tender and good.

  2. You can skip the roux if this needs to be gluten-free. The sauce’ll be a bit thinner but the world won’t end.

  3. When I’m lazy I sometimes just make this as meatballs and chopped up cabbage. It all tends to fall apart into mush, gotta tweak it somehow to bind together better without the wrappers but I haven’t bothered because I don’t really mind eating bowls of delicious mush.