Expedited Deliciousness, and no leftovers

I got a new cookbook for Christmas and you all need to go out and get it, stat. I start with a bias here because I've always been fond of Mark Bittman, but his new How to Cook Everything Fast is a whole new level. One of my biggest problems is that I'm just not a speedy chef, and when I make something new or interesting - or even something I've made many times before - we often end up with a later dinner than I'd like. So I was really excited to see this book - he covers many cuisines and basically just simplifies things. The book starts with helpful resources like substitution suggestions, and then he's off and running.

The other night, with snow in the forecast, I was craving Bolognese. Now anyone with a drop of Italian blood knows a decent Bolognese simmers for a good long time, and it was already mid-afternoon by the time I had this idea. So I checked HTCEF, and voila - Spaghetti with Nearly Instant Bolognese. I tweaked the recipe a bit based on what I had on hand and a few other things, but followed his process for the most part. The result, while a stray from traditional, was delicious. Not to toot my own horn...much...but I was kind of impressed with myself. The ingredients are things you mostly have on hand or can sub easily, making this a great late-afternoon-cold-weather-lazy quick dinner.

The slowest bit was the chopping, and Bittman recommends doing that while the meat simmers (or even, if you are already multi-tasking here, just pop them all in the food process for a sec). I chopped ahead of time but that's just my preference and it did add time doing it my way. This, like the baked chicken & squash soup menu from last week, has two things cooking at once so you can adjust a little as you see fit; the pasta is an approximate timeframe and if you're using a thinner pasta you'll want to wait till the sauce is reducing the wine before you put the pasta in the water, then do a quick salad while those two finish off. The cooking was so quick that I didn't get to take pictures, and then it was so good that leftovers went out the window too.





Meg's Nearly Instant Bolognese
Adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Fast
Should serve 4...but don't expect leftovers with less people!

Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper
Olive oil
~1 lb ground meat (I used turkey because it was there, the recipe suggests meatball meats - beef/pork/veal, so whatever you have on hand should work)
1 small onion or equivalent shallots
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup tomato paste (if you only happen to have, say, a can of diced tomatoes, that's fine too, and particularly with a drier meat like turkey you can use the whole can)
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup of cream (which I didn't have, so used a splash of milk)
Pinch of dried thyme
Dash of cayenne (optional; not enough to make it spicy - just enough to brighten the flavors, and people might not even realize it's in there)

Pasta (shape & size of your choosing)
freshly grated parmesan

Get the pasta water going (don't forget to salt it! This is an overlooked but important step and your noodles will thank you). Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium high and add a glug of oil (about a tablespoon or two, not a ton). Once the oil is hot, add the meat and cook, breaking it up with a wood or silicone spoon. While that cooks, trim and finely the carrot, onion, garlic, and celery. As you finish each toss it into the pan to cook with the meat. Once everything is in there, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Once the meat is fully cooked and the veggies are softened (about 10-15 minutes), add your tomato product of choice, and sprinkle with the thyme and cayenne if using. Let it cook for a minute to heat through, then add the wine and scrape the pan as you stir it in. (NOTE: at this point, add the pasta to the boiling water if you are using a thick noodle like a fettucine that takes 10-11 minutes to cook.)

Let the wine bubble and cook until it has reduced (about halfway is the guide Bittman uses). Add your cream/milk at this point and turn the heat as low as it will go so you don't boil the milk. (NOTE: this is when to start cooking your pasta, if using a fine noodle, as you only have a few minutes of cooking left)

After a couple minutes you can turn the heat off under the sauce. Drain your pasta now. Bittman recommends tossing the pasta in with the sauce and serving that way; I prefer to plate the pasta and top with the sauce. Your call. Either way this is the time to add the parmesan, although full disclosure - I put the cheese on the table, and when we tasted the dish it was so flavorful we both completely forgot about the parmesan.

Buon Appetito!

Sunday Suppers: The 45-Minute Edition

(Caveat, because I hate all those 30-minute recipes that have tons of prep time - this could have some prep time. A little planning can offset that, though. Read on...)

So it was 4:45 on Sunday. Rainy, gloomy, dark. A miserable January day, except warmish, which had the odd effect of being more irritating because, well, JANUARY. I didn't want to go out to the store but hadn't planned a thing for dinner. Most nights, I'm good with cobbling something together and seeing what happens, but Sundays...well, it's Sunday Dinner. It ought to be a higher bar, in my opinion. But I wasn't open to going outside, so that left...the freezer. A dark and mysterious place, with many well-intentioned but since-forgotten packets.

And what to my wondering eyes...oh right sorry. January. Habits and all that.

So I poked around and found some forgotten chicken things and some cubed squash from a few CSA pickups ago. I don't know about you all but in the fall we went CRAZY with the squash, roasting it six ways to Tuesday. So that's good and all...but I'm kind of over it. I was feeling like soup, but a low-complication soup. Google to the rescue! I merged a couple recipes, and got this. This soup was flavorful and creamy, but with limited actual creamy ingredients and a relatively short cooking time. The biggest complication, frankly, was waiting for everything to defrost. I made kale chips to pass the time. And full disclosure about the squash: I used both butternut and Hubbard squash, because that's what I had. Delicata might work too, although I think acorn would be too savory. Butternut just sounds better in the title than "Any Squash You Have Soup," don't you think?

The chicken is one of my go-to's - easy, comforting, and aromatic, if maybe not 100% healthy as it basically cooks in its own fat. But whatever. I stuck that in the oven, and made the soup while the chicken cooked. Add a quick salad, and you're done. If you think of this the night before and pull everything out of the freezer, you dodge the only complication. (Yes, this assumes you have squash in the freezer. If you don't and this sounds good to you, keep an eye out for it - you can chop and freeze it raw very easily.) The particular seasoning combination in the soup is just right for January - the allspice and clove have a lingering holiday-ish aroma, but the cumin takes that and gives it an almost Middle Eastern spin to get you out of the rut.

45 Minute Sunday Supper: Baked Chicken Things & Butternut Squash Soup

Chicken:

Bone-in Chicken Thighs (2 per person, roughly)

Seasoning of your choosing

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking dish (like a Pyrex or that depth, not a baking sheet) with foil. Place your desired number of chicken breasts in there - I've done as few as two and up to 6, but it's really more about how many you want and will fit in your dish without crowding them. Generously sprinkle your preferred seasonings on them - I prefer Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt, as it seems to hit all the right poultry notes and is good and salty. I confess to not really knowing what's in it, though. I would think if you wanted something fresher you could use any good poultry friendly herbs, and some salt and pepper. Anyway: coat it, and stick the dish in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes (or a few minutes more if you like the skin particularly crispy).

While the chicken cooks...

Butternut Squash Soup

1/4 cup chopped onion [*prep shortcut: shake in some dehydrated minced onion. Works fine with all the liquid.]
~2 1/2 tablespoons butter
4 cups peeled and cubed butternut (or other winter) squash
2-3 cups chicken stock
Generous dash of allspice
Generous dash of ground cloves
Generous dash of cumin
Generous pinch of dried thyme
Something cream-based (in my case, it was about 3 tablespoons of leftover whipped cream cheese and a dash of milk. Got some heavy cream left from a holiday recipe? Dump it in. I'd probably draw the line at eggnog, though...I imagine, since this is more of a texturizer than a flavor add, you could make this healthy fairly easily - maybe some greek yogurt (plain), or even a chunk of ripe avocado. Play with it!)

In a large saucepan or stockpot, melt the butter. If using fresh onions, saute until tender. If using dehydrated: add about half a cup of the stock and the dehydrated onions, and let cook for a few minutes. Add squash, the rest of the stock, and all seasonings. Bring to boil, then lower heat to a brisk simmer and cook 15-20 minutes, or until squash is tender.

Add whatever creamy ingredient you've chosen and give it a little stir. Puree the whole thing with a stick blender, leave on a gentle simmer for a few minutes to get back up to hot, and do NOT boil. 

Your chicken and your soup will probably be done at about the same time - but you have flexibility here. The soup can hang out on a low simmer for a few minutes if you need it to, and the chicken can stay on keep warm or even come out and rest while the soup finishes or while you throw together your salad.

Caterpillars in the Sink

I remember one of the first business lunches I had after moving to Seattle years ago. I was enjoying a really lovely salad, and then I looked down and saw...a leaf was moving. A tiny green caterpillar emerged a moment later, and we blinked at each other. (I know, they can't blink, don't be so literal) The server happened to be standing there and noticed this as well, and his response: "well, you know we take our organics very seriously!" And that, dear readers, is how you know you're in the PacNW.

I thought of this tonight as I was cleaning up a bunch of kale to make kale chips. I got a bag full a few weeks ago at our CSA here in Pennsylvania (they have a root cellar and greenhouse so we are lucky enough to access fresh produce throughout the winter), and had been meaning to get to it. The new year, with all those take-on-the-world resolutions, motivated me to do so as part of the cleaning out of the fridge, the inventory of the freezer...you get the idea. Next week: it all goes off the rails. Anyway...

 I chopped and tossed each leaf into a big bowl of water to jump start the rinsing, and as I pulled it all back out to spin dry I spotted a few wee caterpillars, sadly (?) dead and drowned at the bottom of the bowl. (*This also explains the larger caterpillar EPH spotted working its way across the kitchen floor last week...although it poses the new question of how exactly the little guy got out of the fridge. EPH was impressed with the effort.) So yes indeed, organic kale here. Anyhoo, the chips. I attempted them once years ago only to be rewarded with a smoky mess of a kitchen, so have stayed away since, intimidated. But now thanks to the CSA there's much kale in the fridge, and I am determined to waste none of this bounty. EPH's sister was kind enough to share her much-tested recipe, and I am happy to report I have conquered the kale!

It's pretty simple, and the result is thin, crispy, salty, and addictive. All you need is kale, olive oil, and salt. Preheat the oven to 325-350, depending on if your oven tends to run hot or cool. Take your bundle of kale and give it a good rinse (watch out for caterpillars). Slice out the spines, then rip/cut into roughly 2" pieces. Dry, dry, and dry again - wet leaves will not a good chip make. I dried and then threw it in the salad spinner for good measure. Toss it in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil - really work the oil around so it distributes, but don't use a ton. Sprinkle salt and pepper,or whatever spices you want, really, and lay them out on a baking sheet in a single layer. I put parchment under them for good measure, but I'm not sure that's mandatory. Pop the sheets into the oven for about 8 minutes (or closer to 10 if you're using curly kale, apparently). Keep an eye on it, because it will cross from a yummy hint of smokiness to a charred disaster in a quick second. Pull it out, leave it to cool for a few minutes, and then serve! (Or if you are making it for later...put it aside promptly. If you test a piece you'll eat them all.) Be prepared to go through many rounds of baking due to the single layer rule, but otherwise it's super easy. Enjoy!