shakshuka

I first had Shakshuka at the Fagen estate in East Hampton. Their chef who used to work at Mimi's Hummus, prepared the Middle Eastern dish for 10 people and we ate it at a long table by the pool. I've been wanting to make it since and when I found out Aimee and Marc were coming to brunch (she's allergic to seafood so no lox) it was the perfect time.  I made Melissa Clark's shakshuka — delicious, cheap and easy. You don't need a private chef for this. In fact you can make it mostly ahead of time (add eggs after guests arrive) and serve family-style in middle of table with warm pita.

when the kids don't finish their pasta

There is always leftover pasta so I usually save it and sometimes turn it into a slightly more grownup dinner for us. Here's the gist: saute some fresh or frozen veggies and either leftover meat or maybe frozen shrimp** in a large frying pan. Add seasonings and a little chicken broth then dump in leftover pasta. Serve with parmesan cheese.

A note on frozen shrimp--all shrimp is flash frozen even if you buy it fresh in a good fish store. So don't feel bad about buying a big bag in the freezer or seafood section of any grocery store. You can buy raw or cooker but go for already deveined and cleaned (most are.) Keep it in your freezer indefinitely then when you have nothing else for dinner, defrost overnight in the fridge or just let it sit under running water in a colander for a few minutes. Then eat or add to any pasta dish.

the mommy chef who saved dinner

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My Brooklyn Based article about chef Paula Hankin and her ideas for feeding picky eaters.

 Read here

passover 2015 ala slow cooker

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This year's menu....made in the slow cooker and much better than Passovers of years past.

Mile End Deli’s Matzoh Ball Soup
(adapted from recipe by Noah Bermanoff)

6 cup chicken stock (stock made in slow cooker from Smitten Kitchen's recipe)
2 cup matzoh meal
1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper
7 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup schmaltz

Bring stock to a simmer in a 3 quart pot. Meanwhile,in a large bowl combine matzoh meal, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Stir in eggs and schmaltz. Using a 1/4 cup measure,scoop out matzoh mixture and roll between palms into balls. Drop matzoh balls into simmering stock. Cover pot and reduce heat slightly to maintain a medium simmer. Cook 15- 20 minutes until balls are puffy and uniform in texture.

Brisket from Cooks County
(better than last year's brisket recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3 large onions, halved and sliced 1/2-inch thick (about 2 pounds)
  • tablespoon light brown sugar
  • salt
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  •  2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  •  3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 3⁄4 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  •  1 (5 lb) flat-cut beef brisket trimmed of exc ess fat
  •  3 sprigs fresh thyme
  •  3 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

    DIRECTIONS

    1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Saute onions, brown sugar, and 1-4 teaspoon salt (to taste) until onions are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Clear a space in the middle of the pan. Add tomato paste and flour to open space and cook, stirring constantly, until darkened, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth and cook until sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Off heat, stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar and transfer mixture to bowl. When cool, cover tightly with plastic and refrigerate.

    2. Whisk together 1 teaspoon salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small bowl. Prick brisket with fork, evenly all over both faces. Rub spice mixture over brisket and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate brisket and onion mixture overnight.

    3. The next morning, add half of onion mixture to slow-cooker. Add thyme and bay leaves and place brisket, fat side up, on top. Spread remaining onion mixture over brisket. Cover slow cooker and cook on low until brisket is fork-tender, 9 to 10 hours (or cook on high for 5 to 6 hours). If brisket it especially thick, cook an extra hour. Turn cooker off and allow brisket to rest for 30 minutes.

    4. Remove brisket to cutting board. Cut across grain into 1-to-2-inch slices, and transfer to serving platter. Tent with foil.

    5. Pour sauce into large skillet, discard herbs, and simmer over high heat until slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Skim off as much fat as possible, add remaining vinegar, then pour half of sauce over brisket. Serve with remaining sauce on side.

 

breakfast pasta

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A stupid-simple, obvious ripoff on carbonara, but the kids liked it (mostly for the name though nothing about this dish is not delicious) and it added some protein to the usual plain pasta dinner. It also inspired our enthusiastic discussion of: "why can't you eat pasta for breakfast or breakfast for dinner?!" Next up: veggie pancakes?

BREAKFAST PASTA

  • 1/2 lb spaghetti
  • 1 egg
  • 2 slices turkey bacon
  • Parmesan cheese

    Cook spaghetti and add 2 tbsp of the cooking water to raw egg. Beat egg and stir into pasta with crumbled bacon and cheese. 

fish for dummies

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I have a problem with fish: I don't like to cook it. I don't like having to be super delicate with the spatula for fear of ruining the filet. I don't like grilling it and watching it fall through the grates. I don't really like salmon and there's only so much swordfish a girl can eat.

After some research and practice, I discovered two great fish recipes that make it much easier and much tastier. The upshot: cover with seasoned texture and bake.

Jacques Pepin' slow roasted salmon (above) is from his book Fast Food My Way which is brilliant, but dated. (I found it lost in the back of my mom's cookbook collection but refer to it all the time.) He puts a coating made of bread crumbs, herbs and ground hazelnuts on top of the fish then bakes it low and slow. He serves it with a sundried tomato mayo but I just mixed a little tomato soup into mayo, added some S&P, and it was perfect. I also didn't have nuts so I just mixed the bread crumbs with some olive oil and salt. 

The other recipe comes from The Barefoot Contessa but the concept is the key. Cover (any white fish) seasoned fillets in a mixture of mustard, sour cream (creme fraiche if you want to be fancy) and capers. (See left) Then bake. The fish comes out really moist with a slightly spicy/creamy flavor. 

pizza bagels

We ate these all the time as kids—made with mini Lenders of course. I didn't have minis or Lenders but I did have some whole wheat everything bagels which I scooped out and gave to the boys with a bowl of tomato sauce and cheese. The boys liked making them, probably more than they liked eating them though Nate finished most of his. We all agreed next time--less cheese. When I asked what other ingredients we might add, Mack suggested a fried egg and Nate said bacon. Duh.

DIY egg muffins

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It was Michael's morning to sleep in so when the kids lost interest in the epic car race across the living room, I came up with this project. I greased some muffin tins and beat some eggs in a pourable measuring cup. Then I gave them a choice of toppings on a plate: crumbled turkey bacon, cheese, sauteed red peppers/onions and pumpkin seeds (a new favorite in our house—we pretend they are little bugs.) I poured the egg and they added their choice of toppings to their muffin tin. We made one for Michael too even though he was still sleeping. 

I can't say these were a huge hit but many factors other than their inherent yumminess may have contributed to their failure. First, kids were now fighting because they had been indoors too long. Then Michael, hungover from a night of whiskey with the boys, was not hungry because he had had a late night love affair with a taco stand. I did get credit for trying. Michael said he appreciated my spirit in the face of adversity. Met with continued resistance I continue to try to entice the boys to eat new things. I am Super-Feeder. I will not be defeated!!

Semilla

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A new restaurant named Semilla recently opened in Williamsburg. Michael and I went so I could review it for Brooklyn Based.  While we were eating, a NYT photographer was taking pictures for Pete Wells' review in the Times.  (see us on the right?)

simple shwarma

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My new favorite easy dinner party recipe, which I've now made three times, is Sam Sifton's recipe for oven roasted chicken shwarma. It's easy to make and serve and all three tries have been huge successes. The basic idea is to marinate chicken thighs, bake them until crispy, then cut them in pieces and serve on a big tray with a mix of any of the following: couscous, greek salad, feta, olives, parsley, humous, pita, tahini, yogurt sauce, etc. I also serve it with my secret special sauce which I adapted from something called "white sauce" and is supposedly Turkish. 

secret special sauce

  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • salt/papper

    Whisk everything together and chill. 

jerk chicken in slow cooker

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I love my slow cooker these days. I like being able to throw it all in, turn it on and not worry about dinner. Plus we've had some good meals-shredded Mexican chicken, pulled pork. Once you get the hang of it, it is worthwhile. The problem is that I'm not so practiced in it that I can just improvise. I've been using Cook's Illustrated Slow Cooker Revolution book but found it was too complicated for a slow cooker meal so then I bought their second volume: Fast Prep. Much better. This Jerk Chicken recipe came from that volume. Basically you blend the ingredients (scallions, ginger, molasses, etc.) into a paste to cover chicken. Then you slow cook and at the very end, put under the broiler for a crisp skin. 

stealing your date

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I made these for the "healthy eating bake sale" at school after Spencer's mom Cynthia revealed that she often makes date cookies for her kids and calls them chocolate. #stealingyouridea But I also added molasses and some actual mini chocolate chips to further fool the innocents. Oh and I used the Bob's Red Mill Date and Bran mix which I highly recommend if you don't bake.

  • 2 cups Bob's Red Mill Date and Bran Muffin mix (see right)
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/2 soft mashed banana
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup dried coconut.

    Mix it all in a big bowl and bake in muffin tins for 20 min on 350 degrees.

grape and olive crostini

Americas (null)
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I made Smitten Kitchen's grape and olive crostini as one of the eight courses of New Year's Eve dinner and am obsessed with this recipe for easy roasting of olives and grapes. It's amazingly simple but tastes complex because the grapes break down and crystalize around the salty warm olives. I will definitely make again—maybe next time as a side or platform for meat instead of on crostini.

monkey biscuits

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This recipe is from Avi's great great grandmother Sheindel who probably got it from her great grandmother. It's been passed down orally for generations so I'm now writing it down. The Gessers make this often as gifts for people or just to snack on because they are delicious and addictive. They are also quite labor intensive but easy enough-and actually fun-- for the kids. It's a whole family affair. 

The name is Mun cookies but since they are more crackers than cookies and Mun is hard to say we're calling them monkey biscuits. Here is the recipe:

  • 32 oz flour
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 egg
  • 1 brandyshot (glass size) poppyseeds
  • 1 minced large onion
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 heaping tsp salt
  • Dash of pepper
  1. Divide wet and dry ingredients into two large bowls. 
  2. Combine wet and dry and mix well.
  3. Continue adding flour until dough is not longer sticky. you should be able to make a handprint and pull our hand away without dough sticking to it. 
  4. Spread out very thin on greased baking sheet.
  5. Bake at 300 about 10-15 minutes (switching half way through) until they are crisp and light brown.

favorite recipe of 2014

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My favorite new recipe this year, and the favorite of many New York Times readers apparently, is Velvet Chicken Breasts with mustard sauce  It's very easy to make and can be prepped ahead of time. The actual cooking only take a few minutes on the stove. The chicken is incredibly dense and moist almost like you'd find from a sous vide machine.

The Velveting technique--used in a lot of Chinese cooking to marinade meat pre-wok-- involves soaking the chicken breasts in a mixture of egg whites and cornstarch. (You whip the whites then blend in the starch to create a foam.)  Breasts can sit here for a few hours.

Next you make a simple sauce of mustards and creme fraiche which can also hang out in the fridge until dinnertime. When it's time to cook, saute the chicken very briefly in vegetable oil or melted butter. It's not long enough for them to even brown but when the egg white marinade touches the hot oil, it turns into a thick skin-like coating around the still raw breast. Remove the breasts and heat the sauce mixture in the pan. Then finish the chicken in the pan by gently heating through. 

spinach dip

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Michael calls me the "queen of dips" for good reason. I can make a dip out of almost anything and they are usually pretty good. My standard "we're having guests and I need a dip" is yogurt, plus mayo plus spices. But I went out of my comfort zone and made this one for a mom's night holiday party. Not difficult, not fancy but good-looking and indulgent. 

  • 2 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons minced shallot
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • salt and pepper

     Mix everything. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

     Serve in a bread bowl with reserved bread cubes or fresh vegetables, pita chips.

#conceptdinner, #failure

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So what if the entire dinner was yellow? Fun, right? A new way to get the kids to try new foods? A fun new game? Nope, just a lot of work. Purple dinner is cancelled. 

the judy bird

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It was my second year on Turkey duty for the annual Moshan Thanksgiving. For the 20+ guests, I decided to dry brine (something I'd been reading about.) The Judy bird is a very simple recipe adapted from San Fransisco chef Judy Roger's French take on roasted chicken. It's almost too simple: cover with salt and let sit for four days in fridge. Then uncover the bird and let it dry out for a day. Then rub with butter and pepper and cook for four hours.

Deliciously moist and beautifully brown! In fact it only took about three hours in a fairly hot oven. With the turkey, I made this stuffing which I thought was the best part of the whole dinner. I made it a few days ahead and froze it in a foil tray. And finally, also a few days in advance, I made Mark Bittman's Make-Ahead-Gravy base and added drippings from the turkey after it was cooked. By the way, for all of these dishes I used my Crock a Stock.