In the Kitchen: “What’s in the Frig?” Pasta; aka “Ack! Time to Fix Dinner!”

I try to make dinner decisions by mid-day. I don't want to have to deal at the last minute. So today, I pulled a bratwurst from the freezer. (As usual, the meat I've bought over the last two months has piled up. We eat so little meat that I tend to forget it's there.) Beyond that decision, however, my brain did not go. I was too fixated on work, which, at the moment, is manuscript revision. So there I was, several hours later, glued to my screen, brain-deep in revision. And suddenly realized: Time to think about dinner. (Yes, in our house, I cook. He washes. My choice.) (Because the essence of "women's liberation," as we called it back in the day, is CHOICE.)

Head to the kitchen. Open the frig door. Grab what's in there and start chopping and cooking.

The result was definitely not summer food. But hey! It got the job done, and it was delicious. As always, your frig contents may vary. This is for two people.

“What’s in the Frig?” Pasta; aka “Ack! Time to Fix Dinner!”

•  four big mushrooms (more or less) sliced thick
• half a green pepper and half a red pepper (or use a whole one of one or the other)
• four or five oil-preserved sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• one garlic clove, chopped
• two or three big (and good quality) ripe olives, pitted and sliced
• a couple of cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 oz. of pasta (I used Rustichelli Fusilli)
• olive oil (of course!)
• bratwurst

Boil water for the pasta and pre-heat your broiler. While you’re waiting:

Heat some oil in a large, sturdy pan. When it’s hot, add as many mushroom slices as will fit. When they’re toasty brown, turn them and brown the other side. Repeat until all the mushrooms are cooked. You may have to add a bit more oil. (Transfer them to paper towel to drain.)

Add a bit more oil to the hot pan and add the peppers. Saute. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and some of their oil. Stir and saute. Add the cherry tomatoes and stir. I took the pan off the heat for these last two steps. The pan was quite hot by that point and I didn’t want to demolish the tomatoes. Add the olives and garlic. (Again, off the heat is good if the pan is still fiery; you don’t want to burn the garlic.)

Right around now, put the brat under the broiler. In my electric oven, I cook it five minutes one side, and one minute the other and then take it out and set the brat on a plate (I don’t want the heat from the broiler pan to keep cooking the brat.)

When the pasta is cooked, add it to the pan, which you’ve put back onto a (low) burner. Add a bit of the pasta water and toss and stir to coat the pasta. Transfer to bowls and add the bratwurst (which you’ve halved). (You could slice the brat and add it to the pan before plating.)

Finito!  Thanks to the pasta water, sun-dried tomatoes, and mushrooms, the dish has a good deal of umami. Was it "July" food? No. But it was tasty.

In the Kitchen: True Summer Pasta

A "true" summer pasta because the only ingredient you cook is the pasta. Use whatever vegetable/ingredients you want. I used what's listed below because it's what I had on hand. Caveats:

Re. the olives: I don't use "California" or "Spanish" olives. They're awful. If you can find them, use real olives. It's worth it. In this dish, green (unripe) olives work best. I've tried this using just a bit of black olive and those are simply too strong. Since the ingredients aren't "cooked," you're aiming for subtlety.

Re. the garlic: I'm not kidding about a "teensy" bit. Raw garlic can easily take over the world, let alone this dish. DO. NOT. GET. CARRIED. AWAY. If you lack restraint, do this: when the pasta water boils, and before you add the pasta, toss a clove or two of garlic in the water and cook it for seven or eight minutes. It won't be quite as raw.

Re. the pasta: Use good pasta, okay? I'm not a foodie or a food snob. But I'm here to tell you that spending money on GOOD pasta is money well invested. Bad pasta ain't worth eating. (My preference is for Rustichella. In this recipe, as in many, I used Rustichella Fusille Col Buco. Great texture.

TRUE SUMMER PASTA

For two people:

• a quarter pound of pasta (4 oz.)
• a bunch of basil, chopped fairly fine
• a few green olives
• a zucchini
• cherry or grape tomatoes
• a tiny piece of garlic (emphasis on tiny)
• parmesan cheese
• olive oil

Boil a pot of water and add the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, do the following:

Use a vegetable peeler to dismantle the zuke. Grating it will make it too mushy. You want thinnish strips, so simply use the peeler to transform the zuke into a collection of thin strips. Cut the tomatoes in half. Using a sharp knife, cut the olives away from their pits. (If you have a pitter, pit them and then quarter the olives.) Mince a teensy bit of garlic. Don’t get carried away. You’re not cooking the garlic, and unless you restrain yourself, it’ll take over.

Put all this in a large bowl (big enough to hold the pasta once it’s cooked), sprinkle a bit of good salt on it, and toss gently. Drizzle (and the operative word here is drizzle) a bit of olive oil and toss again.

When the pasta is cooked, tong it into the bowl. Drizzle a bit more olive oil over the mix, and then grate some parmesan over, and toss again, gently. Don’t get too carried away with the cheese; it can take over. Eat! Enjoy......

In The Kitchen: Fried Rice a la Philpott

I've not done an "In the Kitchen" for some time --- not because I've not been cooking. I have. Every day. Anyway, a couple of nights ago I made  fried rice using a recipe from Tom Philpott. The recipe I used dates back to when he was still writing for Grist (he's now at Mother Jones). (He's since posted a slightly different version of it at MJ.) (Lest anyone misunderstand: I don't know Philpott; I read his work because he writes about agriculture and meat. But otherwise: don't know the guy.)

In any case: We've been making fried rice at our our house for almost thirty years, using tips and "recipe" from a friend of ours from China. It was okay; nothing fabulous, but good. (Better than take-out, which we wouldn't be doing anyway.)

Never again! This version from Philpott borders on the sublime. As in: Wow! We gobbled every bit of it and I wish I'd made more (but didn't because I just used what cooked rice I had on hand).

"Fried rice" is based on cooked rice, which, presumably, most people in the Asian world have on hand most of the time. That's also true at our house: on any given day, open the frig and you'll find a container of cooked rice left over from some meal or other.

I followed Philpott's recipe and, most important, his technique, with the following exceptions:

I didn't have "spring" greens. ("Spring" would be any green -- spinach, collards, whatever --- that has just sprouted and is young and tender.) I had a bunch of decidedly not-young collards. The leaves were enormous and tough. So I boiled a pot of water, dumped in some salt, and boiled the collards for about 15  minutes. I let it cool a bit, and then sliced it in narrowish ribbons. And then cooked according to the recipe. I used plain old, non-"green" garlic.

I used plain old Asian jasmine rice, which was what was in the frig already cooked. NOTE: You don't need much rice. I had about a heaping cup of cooked rice. It was plenty for two people. It won't look like much, but you'd be surprised at how far cooked rice goes.

I used three eggs for two people. Because I'm greedy??

I also followed his lead and used a skillet instead of my usual tool-of-choice, a wok. I was curious about how that would work, non-wokish. Just fine!, as it turns out.

I will say that if you're making this for more than one person, the odds of you being able to "flip" the eggs are about zilch. Not to worry. I poured the eggs into the pan, gently, let them cook about a minute, and then, using a wooden spatula, gradually, and gently, broke them up so that the entire mass would cook. And, of course, gradually worked the eggs into the rest of the mixture.

Oh, man, was this GOOD. Seriously. Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Baked Egg Leftovers

I'm stopping by to drop this in so I won't forget what I did for dinner tonight. Might come in handy again.

I had a half can of tomatoes in the frig and didn't want to waste them. Because, really, what the heck can you do with a half can of tomatoes?

Well, you can use them with baked eggs. So I did.

I also found three slices of bacon that needed to be used. I would have added some mushrooms and a green pepper but we didn't have either of those. (And the point, of course, is to use up what's on hand, not to run to the store to get other ingredients.) (I'm getting ready to go out of town for four days and wanted to clean out the frig.)

I had dried porcini, so I used those. I intended to add some Kalamata olives but completely spaced out. Still -- the final result was delicious! 

If you decide to make this with more intention than I did, obviously you can add/subtract ingredients.

For two people:

• A few strips of bacon
• a half can of tomatoes 
• 4 dried porcinis (their flavor is so intense that you don't want to get carried away)
• a bit of chopped onion
• some dried basil
• chopped fresh parsley
• four eggs
• grated parmesan to taste

Preheat the oven to 350. That sounds high/hot for eggs, but it still took 15 minutes for them to cook. (My instinct told me to set the oven at 325, but then I looked at a few baked egg recipes and they all called for 350.So that's where I set the temp. I was glad I did.)

Boil a cup of water and pour it over the porcini to soften them. (If you're using fresh mushrooms, skip this.)

Using an oven-proof ten-inch saute pan (meaning: no plastic handle!), cook the bacon. Drain off most of the grease.

Add some olive oil to the pan and, when it's warmed, the chopped onion. After a few minutes, add the tomato and a bit of dried basil. (Fresh, if you have it.) Stir and cook for a few minutes. 

NOTE: If you're using fresh mushrooms, cook those with the onion. Ditto olives, which, again, I forgot but which would be great.

Rinse the porcini to get rid of the grit, chop them fairly small, and add them to the pan, along with the parsley.

Crack the eggs over the top of the mixture and season all of it with salt and pepper. Place in the oven. Bake for about 14 minutes. Keep an eye on it. If you want the yolks runny, take it out sooner.

About a minute before you want to take it from the oven, sprinkle the parmesan over the top. At some point (depending on how long your toaster takes), toast a couple of pieces of good bread. Butter them lavishly. ("More," said my husband as I buttered the toast. "MORE!")

Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Chicken Pot Pie

I've been meaning to upload this recipe for awhile. In fact, I tried to last year but couldn't figure out how to create a url for it. The recipe is long (but not complicated) and I didn't want to post the whole thing here. Much easier to make a Word document and let you have at it that way.

Anyway: homemade chicken pot pie is a glory. My kids love it. When they're all here at Christmas I make it and I swear. to. god. that they sit at the table and simply inhale it, that's how fast it disappears.

I take no credit for the deliciousness of this recipe. I got the original from Sara Gruen (back when we were in a writing group together) and then futzed with it a bit. And then I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten where she made a version and I added some of her genius to it and, hey, that's how recipes get made.

Anyway, it's not nearly as complicated as it sounds. And the bonus is that you can make it ahead of time and freeze the ingredients. Plus, if you're a small household like ours, you can make the entire recipe and freeze the ingredients for individual pies and you'll have several meals all ready to go. On the other hand, if you've got a hungry crew with discerning taste, well, make this and you will be MUCH loved by one and all.

Have at it -- and enjoy! Chicken Pot Pie. (The link leads to a Word file that will "download" on your machine.) (Thank you, Dropbox!)

In the Kitchen: Chard Galette

On New Year's Eve, my friend Kay (my oldest and dearest) came up to spend the night, cook, watch "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (which I'd never seen).

She opted to make a dish from Better Homes and Gardens magazine: "Rustic Swiss Chard and Mozzarella Tart." (At the site, you'll have to sign in to see the recipe).

It was delicious! And, I thought, could be even better with a little futzing here and there. So tonight I engaged in said futzing. Result? Magnifique! (If I do say so myself. Although I hasten to add that I started with a good recipe.)

Essentially this is a galette, which I typically make in the summer with fresh fruit. I have to admit that I'd not thought about the possibilities of a savory galette, but hey! Now that that I have, well, yeah, baby! (That link to the Wikipedia entry for galette is a bit limited. See this for a better image and recipe.)

Basically the recipe consists of cooked vegetables spooned onto a round of pastry. Fold the pastry and bake. Voila! (See commentary about pastry below.)

So:

• 1-1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 c. (one stick) unsalted butter, very cold/frozen
• 1/4 c. ice water
• 1 bunch of Swiss chard (you could use kale or spinach)
• 1 c. chopped onion (see note below)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• half pound of mushrooms, sliced
• handful of Kalamata or other brined olives, pitted and sliced
• 1 t. dry thyme
• 3/4 c. shredded mozzarella (see note below)

Pastry: This is not rocket science. All you're doing is mixing butter and flour using either your fingers or a machine. The main thing is not to overdo it. Don't worry if you see butter bits in the dough. No problem. If you're persnickety about it, after you've added the water and made a "dough," put it on the counter and use the heel of your hand to mush the butter deeper into the flour. But really, it's not necessary. The "trick," such as it is, is to make sure you add enough water. Most recipes say to add a couple of tablespoons. Trust me: that's not enough. A quarter cup does it.

The onion: the original recipe called for leeks, which are so expensive. So. Expensive. So I just chopped an onion. But I had some shallots, so I also diced two of those. 

The mozzarella: the original recipe called for "mozzarella." I decided to try some fresh mozzarella, along with some provolone I had in the fridge. Worked fine.

Make the pastry: Whisk the flour and salt together. Cut the butter into bits. Using your fingers (or a food processor, if you have one), cut/mix/meld the butter and flour. The usual recipe calls for "pea-sized bits" -- but really, just mix the stuff. Add the ice water and use your fingers to mix all of it into a dough. Flatten it into a circular disk, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the frig for an hour or more. (If you're using a food processor, google for some tips. I've never made it with anything other than my hands.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

De-vein the chard and chop the leaves. Heat some olive oil in a large pan (a 12" if you have one). Add the mushrooms and cook them over high heat for three or four minutes. Add the onion and cook another minute or two. Add the garlic and ditto. Add the chard and olives and some salt and pepper. (Be careful with the salt. If you're using brined olives, they add plenty.)

Cook till the chard is more or less wilted. I left the pan on the heat for several minutes more so as to cook off the water.

Let the mixture cool for five or ten minutes and add the cheese and, using a large fork, toss gently to mix.

Flour a work surface and your rolling pin. Unwrap your dough and have at it. Don't worry if it's not a perfect circle. You're aiming for a twelve inch circular piece of dough, more or less. If it's too sticky, put more flour on your pin and the surface. 

Move the dough to a baking sheet, preferably one lined with parchment paper. You can grease the sheet, but parchment paper is so much easier.

Using a large spoon, move the chard mixture from the pan onto the center of your dough, leaving at least a two-inch border of dough. Then fold the dough over the filling, leaving the center open and exposed, pleating the dough as you go.

Into the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the mixture is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. (Took 32 minutes in my oven, which runs a bit fast.)

Amazing!