liquid smoke v. EU
i made this bbq sauce to go with the pulled pork i was making last week, and along with the pork, it’s quite a winner. it’s mild in your mouth with a bit of a fiery kick at the end, and pairs well with pulled […]
Tag: tomatoes
in which the weather complies
as you know, i love really involved recipes. as it happens, i’ve had a yen for spaghetti and meatballs for some time – comforting, savory but slightly sweet, altogether delicious. it is also, however, a cold-weather food, but luckily for me the weather complied […]
sinful things to do with tomatoes
what you see is roasted tomatoes, nicely caramelized in a 450-degree oven, sitting on top of saffron and smoked paprika scented rice. what you see is gorgeousness. let us all worship at the altar of tomatoes and rice.
this is a slightly revised version of mark bittman’s tomato paella from the new york times food section. i’ve made this three times now: once when i was sick and could barely taste anything, once for my parents while i was home, and once for a couple of my roommates.
in the article that accompanies the original recipe, mark bittman says that you have to try it at least once with just tomatoes, and i would have to say that with respect to this paella, i’ve become a tomato purist. for the purposes of this post i’ll be ignoring any issues regarding the authenticity of this particular paella, because when something tastes this good, you ignore pretentions like authenticity. this rice is pretty fantastic: the smoked paprika and saffron give the rice an earthy, unplaceable flavor and aroma that’s balanced by the tomatoes. if you make this in the summer, with homegrown or locally grown tomatoes, i guarantee you that the tomatoes will taste like tomato-infused sunshine. (more…)
tomato love and dilled chicken stew
so i found out a couple days ago that i got a full-tuition scholarship for this coming school year (!!!), and celebrated by cooking for the entire evening. i had chicken thighs that i needed to use, and i was envisioning chicken in a dill […]
chicken cacciatore
i was disgruntled because i hadn’t cooked all week; if you know me, i get kind of grumpy and unsettled when this is the case. so since i had no plans for the weekend, i decided to make chicken cacciatore. i had made the joy […]
dill, dill, and more dill
did you know that trader joe’s (at least the one on boylston) now carries a brand of herbs called “infinite herbs”? if only the “infinite” were true. at any rate, the herbs are perfectly good and a whole 60 cents cheaper than herbs at star or whole foods, so i might have to make weekly treks out to trader joe’s. sadly, when i moved in june, i moved closer to star and harvest, but farther away from trader joe’s and the river street whole foods (“the mother ship”). when i went to get my hair cut i stopped by and made the herb discovery, and pounced on some thyme and dill. thyme is my reigning favorite herb, with tarragon a distant second.
i bought the dill because i like the way it smells. i have had it infrequently in the past few years; notably in a warm green bean salad carrie made for a menu once, and when my mother makes little toasts for special events – she spreads the toasts with cream cheese that has been blended with onions, ham, and dill, and puts a slice of tomato on top of that. carrie and i, needing to use it, decided on a tunisian fish soup, the green bean salad, and some dill-cheddar biscuits. all right, carrie decided to make the soup, and i made some things to go along with it. (more…)
a glut of cooking
it occurred to me that there are phrases that make recipes sound better to me (or to other people). for example, i always am attracted to recipes that include the word “icebox” in their titles: i get an image of a white refrigerator a la […]
beef-thyme stew with mushrooms and swiss chard
beef-thyme stew with mushrooms and swiss chard 3T olive oil or vegetable oil 2 lbs beef chuck, cut into large-ish chunks 3 large onions, halved and sliced 1T garlic, minced 2T fresh thyme, leaves stripped off stems and chopped fine 1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes […]
cobbling leftovers into real food
first, before i forget, the recipe for pasta i made a while back:
pasta with bacon, onions, + tomatoes
1 pkg bacon
1 lb pasta (preferably shells)
1 1/2 lbs plum tomatoes, chopped (i suppose you could use 2 cans of diced tomatoes, drained, if you were really desperate)
4 large onions, diced
parmesan cheese
white wine, muscat, or water
[1] Fry bacon in batches over medium heat, until crispy. Pour off fat into a bowl between batches. Drain bacon on paper towels, then rip into small pieces. Put in a bowl, cover, and set aside.
[2] Use white wine, muscat, or water to deglaze the pan. Set aside fond liquid – it’s fine if it has bits of stuff in it. Pour a few tablespoons of bacon fat into the skillet and fry onions until almost browned. Set aside in a bowl.
[3] Pour fond liquid into skillet and add tomatoes. Cook until reduced to a thick sauce.
[4] Pour sauce over pasta. Add onions and bacon, and toss. Add parmesan to taste and toss. Serve immediately.
[serves 6]
today was really spent cooking. i intended to wake up at my usual time, sometime around 7, but apparently my body thought it needed more sleep. i think it may have actually needed more sleep, as i didn’t feel tired immediately after i woke up (at 10am). i then proceeded to make pancakes, the recipe of which i am still fiddling with. the past couple of times that i have used 2T of baking powder, there was definitely a baking powder taste, although they are still as fluffy and absorbent as they always are. i think i’ll drop it down to 1T and see how it goes. i also tried splitting the milk between buttermilk and whole milk because buttermilk has no fat, but there was no noticeable difference. oddly enough, the egg whites were slightly runny (translate: old) but they whipped up faster than usual. was it the fork? or the metal bowl? who knows. maybe harold mcgee does! (more…)
quick, fake italian pasta
fettuccine with eggplant in a tomato-onion cream sauce 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes 3 onions, halved and sliced 1 medium eggplant, cut into 2″-3″ long strips 2T olive oil 1/4c cream 1/2c parmesan cheese, grated salt to taste 1 lb fettuccine [1] heat oil in […]