Kitchenography

Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce

2010-05-31T10:42:56-04:00

For years and years I lived in a tiny house the size of a seaside cottage with no dining room and a kitchen and living room so small there was no way to put a table in either one. Alright, that's not strictly true. For awhile we had a table in the living room but then there wasn't room for anything else so the table went.

In winter anyone coming over for dinner had to sit with a dinner plate perched on their lap. Not very satisfying. But in summer we moved the show outside where there was enough room for a table, and when we cooked dinner on the grill, more often than not, this is what was served.

I have been making chicken this way since sometime in 1978 when my first husband, who grew up in Tompkins County, New York not too far away from Cornell University, introduced me to it. It's a completely delicious chicken, smoky and vinegary, and I love that this recipe only requires the most basic of ingredients, and has so few ingredients that the recipe is easily memorized.

The recipe comes from a poultry science professor at Cornell who developed it in the late 1940s in an effort to encourage chicken consumption. (It was originally published in a Cornell Cooperative Extension Program Information Bulletin which you can see here,)

This makes enough to marinate and baste 10 pounds of chicken. I'm usually cooking in smaller amounts and half everything but the egg.

Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce

1 cup of oil (I use canola oil)
2 cups of cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of salt
1 tablespoon of poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 egg

1. Put everything in a blender and blend.

2. Pour the sauce over the chicken and marinate. I usually marinate a couple of hours before I start cooking but others marinate for up to 24 hours.

3. Remove the chicken and grill it, basting every 5 or 10 minutes with the sauce you marinated the chicken in.

Notes: I know nothing about gas grills but if you're grilling it over charcoal, keep the briquets on one side of the grill. Start the chicken on this side and brown on both sides, then move to the other side of the grill to finish it. Keep the cover on the grill while cooking it. I cook it until the internal temp is 165.

Chicken thighs are my favorite parts to grill. Far more forgiving, far cheaper, and far more flavor than chicken breasts.

April Food Day 2010

2010-04-01T08:50:30-04:00

If you are here reading a food blog, hunger is probably not an issue in your life. But that's not true of all Americans. Some unsettling facts about hunger in America:

According to the USDA's Economic Research Service in a report issued in November 2009, 14.6 percent of Americans were food insecure at least some time during the year and 5.7 percent of these had very low food security because the household lacked money and other resources for food. These rates are the highest recorded since 1995, when the first national food security survey was conducted. And because this report was looking at a previous year, expect these numbers to be higher in the next survey.

37 million people (which works out to about one in eight US residents) received food aid in 2009 through Feeding America, the largest network of emergency food providers in the country.

76 percent (10 million) of the client households served by Feeding America are food insecure, meaning they do not always know where they will find their next meal. 36 percent of these client households are experiencing food insecurity with hunger, meaning they are sometimes completely without a source of food.

April Food Day is a blog event to help end hunger in America and around the world. Read about the good work Feeding America is doing and then consider making a donation.

Mike's Tuna Noodle Casserole with Jalapeno Pepperjack Cheese

2010-01-31T21:37:10-05:00

I know, I know. ... tuna noodle casserole?

And let me just lay all my cards on the table. Not only is it tuna noodle casserole -- possibly the casserole most emblematic of 1950s-style casseroles made with a can of cream of something-or-other soup -- but it's the real deal in that it's actually made with a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup.

Are you still with me? Or have you snorted with derision and closed your browser window? Never mind. I'm still here. And I think there's a case to be made for this tuna noodle casserole.

When I first met Mike he had a rotation of three favorite recipes: pasta with clam sauce, chicken enchiladas, and tuna noodle casserole made with jalapeno pepper jack cheese. There were a few more things but these were, and remain, his go-to recipes.

In the intervening 20 years I've flitted from one thing to the next while Mike has been steadily honing the meals in his repertoire. All these years later, his tuna noodle casserole, always good, has evolved into a thing of awesomeness.

It's not a thing I encourage him to make very often -- its cheese and sour cream content create a dish that's not exactly health food. But it is relatively inexpensive-- eight generous servings work out to about $1.65 per serving, or less if you buy any of the ingredients on sale -- and on cold winter days tuna noodle casserole can be the ultimate comfort food.

At one time I was bothered enough by the idea of canned cream of mushroom soup to experiment with making a white sauce instead. It didn't improve it. And since Mike is not about to bother with making a white sauce, and in our household this is almost always cooked by him, I've come to accept the use of canned soup. In fact I've moved beyond accepting it. I've embraced it. It's tuna noodle casserole -- get over yourself!

For the past two or three years I have attempted to get a decent picture of tuna noodle casserole every time we have it. It it has defied my every attempt. It may be possible to get a decent photo of tuna noodle casserole but I'm pretty sure I've proved that it's not possible for me to get a decent picture of tuna noodle. I've given up and I'm going with this picture. Don't let it put you off this stuff. It really is pretty darned good.

Mike's Tuna Noodle Casserole with Jalapeno Pepperjack Cheese

2 6-oz cans light tuna in water (dolphin safe!!) , drained
1 lb. egg noodles, cooked according to package directions
8 oz to 1 lb of mushrooms (based on how much you like mushrooms -- I like a pound), sliced
2 stalks celery, diced (optional)
1 medium onion, diced
8 oz pepperjack cheese, grated
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
8 oz sour cream
olive oil
Salt and pepper
Pinch of cayenne
An ounce or so of Parmigiana-Regianno cheese, grated
Paprika

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Saute mushrooms, onions, and celery (if using) in 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat until mushrooms are soft. Set aside and allow the mixture to cool.

3. Combine the mushroom mixture with tuna, noodles, pepperjack cheese, cream of mushroom soup, cayenne and enough sour cream to thoroughly moisten the mixture. Turn into a buttered 9 X 13 inch baking dish and sprinkle the Parmigiana-Regianno over the top of the casserole and then dust lightly with paprika.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. It's ready when the top is crispy and the casserole is heated through.

Fennel and Blood Orange Salad

2010-01-05T08:22:28-05:00

For anyone who's been on a steady diet of holiday foods (uhmm, yeah, that would be me), this salad is the perfect antidote for overly rich meals and excessive amounts of Christmas cookies. It's a wonderful combination of flavors, and it feels light and healthy. It's also pretty and festive enough to be served for special meals, and because of the brightness and freshness of the citrus and fennel combination it's a perfect salad to serve with any meal that involves heavy foods.

Ever since I had a version of this salad last month at Cookbook Club I've been making it regularly. The elements of the salad can increased or decreased depending on your taste or what you have on hand. This version is fennel heavy but you could scale back the fennel and add more cucumber, radish, and onion. On occasion I've varied it by adding goat cheese crumbled over the top, or adding avocados, or adding smoked fish -- all delicious.

Fennel and Blood Orange Salad
adapted from a recipe in Jamie's Italy
serves 4

2 fennel bulbs
1/2 small red onion
1/3 English cucumber (the long skinny type which comes wrapped in plastic)
4 or 5 radishes
3 blood oranges (or use naval oranges, Cara Cara oranges, or a combination)
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons of olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Take the stalks off the fennel bulbs, reserving some of the fronds for garnishing. Halve the fennel bulb from top to bottom. Take the outer layer off if it doesn't look fresh, and remove the core. Slice the fennel as thinly as possible either with a mandoline or with a knife. Half or quarter the pieces so they are bite-sized.

2. Slice the onion, cucumber, and radishes so they are as thin as possible. Paper thin is what you're going for here. Toss with salt.

3. Cut the oranges by slicing off the top and bottom, and then slicing off the skin from the top to bottom, cutting deeply enough to take the pith (the white coating) with it. Then slice the orange horizontally.

4. Add vinegar, oil, a pinch of salt and grindings of pepper to a small jar. Shake the jar to combine. Taste for flavor by dipping a piece of sliced vegetable in it and add additional salt, vinegar, or pepper if needed.

5. Add vegetables and orange slices to the salad bowl. Add enough dressing to moisten and toss. Taste for seasoning again and adjust if needed. Garnish salad with fennel fronds and serve.

Best Recipes of 2009

2010-01-03T23:13:55-05:00

I'm a big fan of the end-of-year lists of editors' favorites that newspaper food sections and cooking magazines publish. I always figure that these people cook through a lot of recipes in the course of a year and if something stands out enough to be remembered as a favorite, then there's a better chance that it will actually be a recipe that I find worth making again and again. It's nice to have someone winnow the chaff for you. Or maybe winnowing the chaff is too negative a way to put it. Let me rephrase: nice to have someone pointing out the gems.

Fine Cooking Staff's Top Picks for 2009
Saveur's Best Recipes of 2009
Cooking Light's Greatest Hits of 2009
Southern Living Magazine Editor's favorites from 2009
Baltimore Sun Food Section's Favorite Recipe of 2009 and also Recipes of the Decade
Chicago Tribune's Best Recipes from 2009
LA Times 25 Years of the LA Times' best recipes
Atlanta Journal Constitution's Best Recipes of 2009
The Toronto Star's Top 10 Recipes of 2009
Chicago Sun Times Best Recipes of 2009
Cleaveland Plain Dealer's Greatest Hits of 2009
Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Favorite Recipes for 2009

For good measure, two lists of reader's favorites for 2009:

Real Simple Reader's Top 20 Recipes of 2009
RecipeZaar's 100 Most Popular Recipes of 2009

And finally, a list of blogger's 2009 favorite recipe posts.

Blogger's Top 10 recipes of 2009

Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pumpkin Cheesecake With Gingersnap and Pecan Crust

2009-11-23T23:01:52-05:00

Recently I went out to lunch with the women in my office and we ended our meal by sharing a remarkably good dessert of pumpkin cheesecake. One of my coworkers was so smitten that she wanted to make a pumpkin cheesecake for her family's Thanksgiving and asked me if I had a recipe. I didn't but I am always happy to have a research project of this sort.

I immediately began looking for a pumpkin cheesecake recipe by Rose Levy Beranbaum who is a cheesecake baking heroine of mine. The first baking book I ever bought was The Cake Bible (this was in 1988 when it was first published) and following its meticulous instructions I was able to make cakes and buttercreams that were far more sophisticated than anything I'd ever imagined being able to make.Among the recipes were cheesecakes which were of a completely different texture than any cheesecake I'd had up to then -- they were creamy and smooth as opposed to dry and dense. Almost every cheesecake recipe I see the days involves baking a cheesecake in a water bath in order to ensure a creamy texture but the Cake Bible was the first place I remember seeing this.

I was thrilled to find a pumpkin cheesecake recipe by Rose Levy Beranbaum in Fine Cooking and delighted when I tasted it. There's a a delicious crust of pecans and gingersnaps and the cheesecake itself has a wonderfully creamy texture.

You'll also find the same recipe on Leite's Culinaria and Rose's own website. The Fine Cooking version is a simpler version but on the other two sites you'll find a recipe for caramel sauce to serve with the cheesecake, and pointers to guide you in the making of the cheesecake.

Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pumpkin Cheesecake With Gingersnap and Pecan Crust

Crust

4-1/4 oz. gingersnap cookies (about 17 two-inch cookies), broken into pieces
2 oz. (1/2 cup) pecans, toasted
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 pinches table salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Filling

1 cup unsweetened pumpkin purée (Rose recommends Libby's)
1 cup granulated sugar or turbinado sugar
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1 lb. cream cheese at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks

To garnish: about 24 toasted pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x2½-inch or higher springform pan. Wrap the pan in a double-layer of heavy duty aluminum foil (the kind that comes in the 17" width) to keep the cheesecake dry while it bakes in the water bath.

Make the crust:
In a food processor, process the cookies with the pecans, sugar, salt, and cinnamon (if using) until the cookies become fine crumbs, about 20 seconds. Add the melted butter and pulse about 10 times, just until incorporated.

Press the mixture into the base of the prepared pan and partway up the sides. The easiest way to do this is to use a flat-bottomed, glass to press the crumbs over the bottom and then use the back of a spoon to press them into the edges and part-way up the sides of the pan. Keep pressing until you have a thin even layer. Cover the crust with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Make the filling:
In a small, heavy saucepan, stir the pumpkin purée and sugar together. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a sputtering simmer, stirring constantly, about 5 min. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture has darkened and thickened to the consistency of applesauce, about 5 min.

Scrape the mixture into a large food processor and process for 1 min. with the feed tube open (so steam can escape), scraping down the sides. With the motor running, add the chilled cream. Add the softened cream cheese and process for 30 seconds or until smoothly incorporated, scraping down the sides two or three times. Add the eggs and yolks and process for about 5 seconds, just until incorporated.

Bake the cheesecake:
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Set the pan in a larger pan (a 12x2-inch cake pan or a roasting pan) and surround it with 1 inch of very hot water. Check that the oven is at 350°F and bake the cheesecake for 45 min. Turn off the oven without opening the door and let the cheesecake cool for 1 hour. Transfer the cake to a rack (the center will still be jiggly) and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. .

Umold, garnish, and slice:
Be sure the cheesecake is thoroughly chilled. Have ready a serving plate and another flat plate or clean plastic cutting board that's at least as wide as the springform and covered in plastic wrap. Wipe a hot, damp cloth around the outside of the ring (or use a hair dryer). Run a metal spatula or a thin knife inside the ring. Release and gently loosen the ring and then lift it off. Set the plate with the plastic wrap on top of the cheesecake and carefully invert the pan. Heat the base of the springform with a hot, damp cloth or hair dryer and lift it off. Set the serving plate lightly on the bottom of the cheesecake (which is now facing up) and reinvert the cake. Lift off the plastic-wrapped plate.

Arrange the pecan halves around the perimeter of the cake. To cut neat slices, use a sharp, thin-bladed knife dipped in hot water (shake off excess drops) between each slice.

Red Wine Prunes with Mascarpone

2009-11-16T14:46:49-05:00

This is my idea of a perfect recipe, and it's one that captures what I love about Italian food: a small list of every-day ingredients that transform almost effortlessly into something elegant, and delicious. The whole thing could not be easier -- it simmers unattended for the most part -- and the prunes, that most unglamorous of foods, become richly flavored and meltingly soft. They are then served with a topping (or underpinning) of mascarpone which provides a tart counterpoint to the sweetness of the prunes.

It's been on my list of things to make since I read about it three years ago on Luisa's wonderful blog The Wednesday Chef. The recipe originally appeared in the NY Times and comes from Frankies Spuntino, a Brooklyn restaurant. The recipe in the Times appeared under the title Wine-Stewed Prunes with Mascarpone but I notice on the Frankies Spuntino menu it's listed as Red Wine Prunes with Mascarpone which I think is a far better name. If there's one food that manages to sound even less glamorous than prunes, it's stewed prunes.

Red Wine Prunes with Mascarpone

1 pound pitted prunes (about 40)
1¼ cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2½ cups dry red wine
2 8-ounce containers mascarpone

1. Combine prunes, sugar, cinnamon and wine in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook 45 minutes, until liquid has turned to syrup.

2. Remove from heat, and rest at least 15 minutes. Spread a mound of mascarpone on each serving plate, top with prunes and drizzle with syrup, or mound mascarpone on top of the prunes. Serve.

Yield: 6 servings according to the recipe, about twice that many servings in my opinion.

Fennel Apple Bisque

2009-11-05T12:00:03-05:00

Were you getting tired of seeing the April Food Day logo?

Yeah, me too.

Not that it's not a great idea but enough of it until next April.

In the meantime, how about a little soup instead? Let's just do a quick practice run to see if I still have this blogging thing in me.

Fennel soup in all its many variations has been an ongoing theme of mine. I've made Fennel Leek Soup, Squash and Fennel Soup, Celeriac, Fennel, and Potato Soup, and Tomato Fennel Soup. I have never met a fennel soup I didn't like. This one is subtle, definitely on the sweet side (when I make it again I'll probably use more watercress) but delicious and even Mike who can't abide fruit in savory foods liked it. A worthy addition to my fennel soup lineup.

Sunset Magazine's Fennel Apple Bisque

1 large fennel bulb (about 1 1/2 lbs with the stalks still on it)
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 cups chicken broth (or use vegetable broth if you prefer)
2 large Fuji apples, peeled, cored, chopped
Leaves from one bunch of watercress (you should have about 1 cup of leaves)
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Crumbled blue cheese for garnish

1. Trim root end and stalks from fennel bulb, reserving some of the fronds for garnish. Chop bulb to make about 4 cups.

2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter, add onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add broth, fennel, and apple. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until fennel is soft when pierced, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in watercress and cook until wilted.

3. Purée soup in a blender in batches, holding lid down with a towel, or use a stick blender. (It will be smoother with a regular blender but if you're ok with a more rustic texture, the stick blender is certainly easier.) Pour back into pan, thin with more broth if needed, and reheat. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper

4. Garnish with fennel fronds and crumbled blue cheese and serve.

April Food Day

2009-04-01T00:34:57-04:00

I may have an over-romanticized vision of the internet and how it might make the world a better place but I firmly believe that networks of bloggers can foster an idea, passing it from one group of readers to another -- a dozen here, a hundred there, then a thousand, then many thousands -- until there are enough people to take that small idea and make it an enormous action.

April Food Day is a simple idea -- if bloggers posted a link to a food bank charity and asked readers to donate any amount, even as little as one dollar (with which a food bank can buy 10 pounds of food thereby providing seven meals) collectively we could make an enormous impact.

With the rise in unemployment in this country, the need for food banks has never been greater, yet because of the economic uncertainty the country finds itself in, donations are down. As a blogger, or a reader, you can make a difference.

If you're a blogger, please add a donation link to your blog. (More about this at (http://aprilfoodday.blogspot.com/) To donate please go to Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest) an organization that funds food banks in every state and the District of Columbia.

Thanks to friend and fellow Baltimore City resident Meg of Pigtown-Design and the editor of Elegant & Easy Life for coming up with the idea for April Food Day.

Quinoa, Watercress and Mango Salad with Lime-Curry Vinaigrette

2009-02-28T04:58:41-05:00

Last weekend I made quiche for a brunch and while it was good, it wasn't great; the recipe needed work. But then when I thought about the stick of butter that was used in the crust, and the 12 ounces of heavy cream that were used in the custard, not to mention the cheese that was stirred into the custard, it occured to me that perfecting a quiche recipe is not the way to go at all. Better to work on perfecting a salad -- a salad so good that you crave it.

Also, a salad that you can take to work for lunch, preferably one that you can make beforehand and happily eat for a day -- or two or three. My rate of packing a lunch for work becomes much higher if I'm not making a salad each day. This was my lunch for three days this week and it held up suprisingly well.

Mango is the star of this salad as far as I'm concerned. Quinoa in of itself wouldn't hold my interest but makes an excellent foil for the mango and spicy dressing. Watercress has a peppery leaf which also adds an element of contrast. Watercress's other virtue is that the sturdy leaf holds up so well. Four days after it was made the leaves were not at all wilted. I don't tear or cut the leaves either which I think helps in preventing wilting.

Roasting the peppers for this is a step I skipped because it would have increased the preparation time and roasting peppers is a pain. However, roasted peppers absorb the dressing better. On the other hand, unroasted peppers add a nice crunch.

The recipe is adapted from Raising the Salad Bar and the original recipe used chickpeas rather than quinoa. Raising the Salad Bar is a terrific book full of excellent inspiration. As I leaf through it I find myself drawn to almost every recipe.

Quinoa, Watercress and Mango Salad with Lime-Curry Vinaigrette

serves 3-4

1 cup quinoa, rinsed thoroughly if not using pre-rinsed quinoa
1 mango, diced
1 red pepper, roasted, seeded, ribs removed, and diced (or skip the roasting)
1 bunch watercress, stems removed

Lime-Curry Vinaigrette

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon honey or brown sugar
4 tablespoons canola oil
Salt and pepper

1. Whisk the vinaigrette ingedients together and set aside

2. Put quinoa, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover pan and cook for 13 to 15 minutes, until water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and let the quinoa sit until it has cooled completely.

3. Toss the quinoa with enough dressing to moisten. Taste for salt and add if needed. Add the watercress, mango, and peppers and toss, adding enough additional dressing to lightly coat. Grind a little black pepper over all, taste again for seasoning. Serve.