April 2007 – The Kitchen Illiterate

Brax’s Tacs, or: Crystal cooks!

Tacos and beans Every now and then, Crystal gets the impulse to cook, and I take full advantage. She usually pulls out a family recipe, and impresses me with the most Americanized Mexican food I’ve ever had. Canned gravy in the enchiladas. A casserole loaded with ground beef and cornmeal. And these totally delicious tacos, which are called Brax’s Tacs in the Combs family, after her grandfather, Braxton.

The tacos my father made growing up were messy and complicated time suckers that I have yet to have the inspiration to try on my own. I don’t remember the last time he made them, but I do remember that even when I was in school, he would usually refuse to get involved with all that hot oil. The Combs family tacos, on the other, while certainly time consuming, don’t frighten me with deep frying, and I suspect that long after Crystal’s gone away to Spain and then started up her spa in Napa, no matter where I live, I’ll be making tacos like these.

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Chicken Cacciatore: Rich People Food?

Chicken Cacciatore

When I was a kid, chicken cacciatore seemed to my mind the epitome of elegant dining. I have no idea why. My mom never made chicken cacciatore. I don’t ever remember eating chicken cacciatore at friends’ houses. I think the only time I had it might have been on an airplane, and I can’t imagine that airplane food circa 1986 would have led me to perceive that this was glamour food. All I know is that when I pretended I was rich and famous, chicken cacciatore was what I imagined eating.

I never translated this chicken cacciatore daydream into reality, probably because I forgot all about it, until I was flipping through Giada’s cookbook (yes, again), where she offers an excellent looking cacciatore recipe. Cacciatore means “hunter’s style,” but I’m not entirely sure why. Elise speculates that if a hunter was unsuccessful, his wife would have to kill a chicken for dinner from their henhouse. Chicken cacciatore is just chicken braised in a tomato-based sauce, which sounds kind of boring and not easily distinguishable from other chicken dishes. But somehow this simple dish of common ingredients ended up being something memorable and distinctive. Ahh, the magic of cooking. Or something.

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Michael Pollan and Allandale Farms

Greenhouse

I recently had a life-changing experience. Well, it wasn’t so much AN experience as several of them, in quick succession. And they were experiences as much as sitting on a couch reading can really be an experience. But I feel that my head has been turned around, and something that was only minimally important to me before has become a serious kitchen priority. And that something is organic.

I guess you could say all of this started in late January, when Michael Pollan published an article in the New York Times. “Unhappy Meals” made the rounds pretty quickly and inspired much conversation. Of course, I read it and instantly forwarded it to Crystal. It was one of those articles that made me think, “Everyone needs to read this!” But I long ago learned that I can’t make people read anything, no matter how important I think it is. I stopped harping on people about it, and it was mostly forgotten.

A few weeks ago, I read Don’t Eat This Book, Morgan Spurlock’s elaboration on Super Size Me. Nothing particularly revelatory in there. After all, I did read Fast Food Nation. Twice. But it had the effect of focusing my attention, like a magnifying glass catching the sun and setting things on fire. I could feel it. I was going to become obsessed.

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Another Mushroom Ragu

Mushroom Ragu Number Two

A few months ago I made this out of control rich and delicious mushroom ragu and intended to make it again, many many times. I think I even said I would attempt to make the gnocchi that went with it from scratch. Needless to say, that hasn’t happened yet. And I wouldn’t want to bore my guests here by making the same thing over and over again, so that particular mushroom ragu hasn’t made a repeat appearance.

But I did see this particular mushroom ragu in, yes, Giada’s Everyday Italian. I told you I’m getting obsessive. Though I’ve noticed this cookbook thing is becoming something of a pattern. At the beginning of the week it’s as though I subconsciously pick one cookbook from which I cook all week. This week was Giada’s turn. Maybe next week will be Middle Eastern week.

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Lemon Spaghetti with Tuna

This is yet another Giada pasta dinner. My affection for Everyday Italian has been increasing lately, and I suspect tonight’s dinner will be pulled from its pages as well. The only change I made, to make it seem just a little more substantial, was adding tuna (well, and forgetting the basil) but even with tuna this was an simple, quick, light, summery dinner, perfect for these early days of spring. Also, the tuna steak I bought at the hippy mart was the biggest danged tuna steak I’ve ever seen.

I often worry that these pasta recipes with all of, like, two ingredients are going to be boring, but they never are. I was worried that this pasta would be overwhelmingly lemony, but it wasn’t. Its only drawback is that it looks boring, and it wouldn’t even look boring if I hadn’t forgotten the basil. Besides which, the only people who care if food looks boring are chefs and food bloggers, and I’m starting to get so obsessive about it that I often let food get cold while I’m taking pictures and arranging prettiness. I should just accept the fact that the food I’m actually planning to eat probably won’t ever look as nice as the food in the pages of Bon Appetit and just enjoy my meals already.

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An ESADE Acceptance Celebratory Feast

So how dumb am I? Last night I put together a Mediterranean-style feast in celebration of my housemate’s acceptance to business school in Spain. I made crostini with tapenade and artichokes and aioli and marinated olives and delicious cheese and little chocolate tarts and plated everything and it was lovely and then I forgot to take pictures. We were just so excited! My excitement is mixed with extreme sadness at her imminent departure, but I’m still excited for her.

I suppose it’s really just as well, because this was about the most semi-homemade dinner I’ve ever made. But I was proud of myself for putting the whole idea together in the grocery store in about 10 minutes, and Crystal was overjoyed, although at that point I suspect she would have been overjoyed no matter what. So, I’m not going to write up anything long and fancy, but I do some quick words to share.

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Mac and cheese indulgence, with a bit of spring

Cheesy goodness

With the weather as crappy as it was all week, and a refrigerator full of fancy cheese, a mac and cheese night seemed like a necessity. Freezing rain in April makes me want to indulge myself, and stick things in the oven, and enjoy the comfort of a big bowl of cheesy noodles.

To my mind, macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, which I’m sure is true for many, many people. My mom recalls times when I refused to eat anything else. Of course, in my childhood it was Kraft, or an odd favorite of mine, Golden Grain that was so often clamored for. In college, I tasted Annie’s mac and cheese and was an instant convert. After Annie’s, Kraft just tastes like nothing. When I first moved to Boston, I probably ate macaroni and cheese at least once a week (with tuna, which some people find disgusting, for reasons I can’t fathom). And of course once I started cooking and realized how easy homemade macaroni and cheese really is, well…I can’t even remember the last time I bought a box of Annie’s.

Of course, the homemade macaroni and cheese I made Wednesday night did take over an hour, which is probably the reason the boxed version will never truly disappear from even the most ardent chef’s kitchen. But this week, that hour seemed best spent in a warm kitchen, watching the windows steam up while outside there was nothing but gray and drizzle and bleh.

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Pepper Crusted Salmon with Creamy Chickpea Vinaigrette

Pepper Crusted Salmon and Chickpeas

I still have a lot to learn about how to properly cook fish. The thing is, I like fish to be pretty well done, which I know is not the way it’s supposed to be eaten. I just feel squeamish about the mushy texture of some raw fish. Tuna fillets? It’s ok if they’re a bit pink in the middle. Salmon and other flaky fish? No mush, thanks.

These salmon fillets were even harder to cook properly, because they were very thin on one side and very thick on the other, which is actually pretty normal, but hey. What do I know about fish? I was so afraid of burning it (and I did end up with a very smoky kitchen) that, sadly, the inside of the salmon was a little too pink for my taste. However, that could have been just perfect for someone else.

Despite my undercooked fish issues, this was a really unique and tasty dinner that left me feeling all healthy and nourished. And, yes, it was easy, though it did result in more dishes than I usually care to clean, including the difficult food processor. The chickpea side was also excellent the next day, sans fish, just tossed with some spinach and tomatoes. (Tomatoes which, by the way, seem to be coming back in season, at least if you get them imported from somewhere warmer than here.)

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Two Super Speedy Dinners: Penne with Arugula and Shrimp and Grilled Asparagus and Pesto Potato Salad

Penne with Arugula and Shrimp

Neither of these dinners really seemed to merit their own special posts. There are no innovative or difficult cooking techniques involved. Neither of them require unique combinations of ingredients or sought-after spices or even new-to-me greenery. Well, I never really cooked with arugula before, but otherwise this is all pretty run-of-the-mill. However, they were both so fast and delicious and felt so perfect for spring (which I’m still patiently waiting for, here in Boston) that I did want to share them. They are both perfect when you come home from work starving and want something healthier than a microwavable meal, but just as easy. In short, they will quickly become staples in my kitchen, I am sure.

A few key ingredients served to make these super speedy: store-bought pesto and frozen shrimp. How I can even think of writing about frozen shrimp on this, my food blog, is beyond me, except that it’s actually a good food innovation. Sorry to all you purists out there who wouldn’t even consider frozen shrimp. You can plug your ears and hum a little tune through all of this.

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The Most Ultimate of Awesome Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich

In honor of National Grilled Cheese Month, we decided we had to concoct the very best, most ultimate grilled cheese sandwich of all time. And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that pesky cast iron skillet! Actually, they were pretty awesome, despite sticking in the worst way to the pan, thus diminishing their prettiness for the camera. And while it might be possible for someone to create a more ultimate grilled cheese sandwich, I think it would be very difficult.

How does one grilled cheese sandwich end up more ultimate than another? We took our cue from a local Boston restaurant, Picco, which, instead of coating the bread with butter before grilling, coats each slice with a healthy dose of Mornay sauce. I have not actually had this famous grilled cheese, only read about it Boston Magazine’s January 2006 food issue, but as soon as I read it, I knew I’d have to try it. But that innovation was not enough. This sandwich would need something else to become ultimate, and that something else was…bacon!

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