July 3, 2008
Over the years, I have become quite the fan of boiled peanuts.
I remember the first time my father bought some from a wizened old man at a roadside stand in the Carolinas. The shells were an ugly, dark brown color and the peanuts themselves looked more like pinto beans or kidney beans to me. They were soft like cooked beans, too, and salty.
Not everyone in my family likes them, but my own devotion to boiled peanuts was sealed when our buddy Mike started bringing them to the beach every summer. There's nothing like sitting back in your beach chair, listening to the ocean and sucking on salty boiled peanuts.
Yesterday, I came across some green (raw) peanuts in the shell at a local market. I wondered: Could I possibly recreate the boiled peanuts of the roadside stands in the Carolinas? The answer was a resounding NO, I could not recreate them. At least not in about 45 minutes.
I did try, however. I boiled them for about 20 minutes in salty water, then let them soak for another 10 minutes or so. At that point, everyone got impatient for a snack, so I drained them and served them up.
The shells looked nothing like the lovely ones pictured above. They just looked like tan peanut shells. I wondered where that dark color comes from. The peanuts inside were softened and had a nice flavor, but they were nowhere near as salty as roadside boiled peanuts.
I realized then that every time I've bought boiled peanuts, they've come out of a big cauldron filled with hot, salty water. Who knows how long they have been sitting there? Perhaps all day. And maybe steeping in that liquid for hours turns them a darker color and lets the salt soak in.
I'm sure some Southerner out there has the answers to these questions. I don't consider this a failed experiment, just the first attempt at a snack that I'm determined to keep practicing until I get it right. Isn't that the secret to most good cooking?
June 4, 2008
Hi everyone, this is Kathy Lu, Lindsey's editor and fellow foodie.
I'm here to attest to how I love Goya's Mojo marinade and produce from the farmers market.
Last night, after the storms blew through (hope everyone's OK! But if you happen to have any funnel cloud pictures, send them on to roanoke.com!), we made a huge salad.
After marinating a few chicken breasts in the Mojo (you can find this at Kroger, in the Mexican food section), we put them on the grill.
The beautiful Bibb lettuce came from Roanoke's farmers market on Saturday. It was $1.50, I believe, and really worth it.
Continue reading "The magic of Mojo" »
March 7, 2008
On Sunday, I had a gallon of frozen, homemade chicken stock in the freezer.
I bought a $5 roaster at the grocery store, rubbed it down inside and out with butter, seasoned it with Canadian chicken seasoning, rosemary and a little salt and pepper and roasted it until it was juicy on the inside and browned on the outside.
We dined on roasted chicken, fresh asparagus and a side salad.
On Wednesday, I gave the carcass a near-thorough picking. Meanwhile, I thawed out my cube of frozen chicken stock on the stove.
I made a roux from butter and flour, then whisked in my stock. I added sauteed onions, celery and garlic along with my cooked chicken pieces. It thickened. I added a little milk to make it creamier. I let it simmer. I added a half-bag of egg noodles and let it simmer away on the stove until the hubby came home.
We dined on the thick, stewy chicken and noodles for dinner.
On Thursday, I had leftover chicken and noodles in my lunch.
Tomorrow, I'm going to get out the remaining carcass, submerge it in a pot of water on the stove with some onion, carrot and celery and simmer for several hours until I've got a nice, rich stock.
Then I'll pour it into a plastic container.
On Sunday, I'll have a gallon of frozen, homemade chicken stock in the freezer.
This is the beauty of when the roasted chicken comes full circle.
Have a great weekend!
January 14, 2008
Okay, sorry for the rather graphic title today, but the truth is that I'm having a little trouble typing this blog entry due to a kitchen injury I sustained this weekend.
Have you ever had one of those nights when it seems that everything is going wrong in the kitchen? Last night was one of those for me. I think fate was flipping me the bird for picking on my friend Stacy about her ugly bundt cake.
First, while slicing onions for my black bean soup experiment, I sliced the tip off my finger instead. Not all the way, mind you. But it's bad enough. How embarassing! My knife skills have gotten much fancier over the past year and I've never cut myself before in my life. There's a first for everything.
Next, while explicitly following the recipe directions for my soup, I removed several cups and placed them in my blender to puree and return to the soup. Well, I don't know if it's because the soup was boiling hot or what, but it immediately blew the top off my blender and I had tiny black bean skins all over the counter. Clean-up on aisle 5!
(I'd love to know if anyone else has had problems pureeing hot soups. Maybe I should have let it cool for a bit, but that's not what the recipe suggested.)
Finally, my rooster sauce seemed to have a bit of a clog in the nozzle, so it came shooting out exactly perpendicular to the bottle itself and sprayed across my kitchen floor. Much cursing occurred at that time.
Continue reading "Sunday, bloody Sunday" »
November 20, 2007
Indian food is one of the most-craved ethnic cuisines, and every time I end up at an Indian restaurant, I have to fight hard to avoid ordering my very favorite dish, malai kofta.
Malai kofta are vegetable dumplings served in a rich, spicy, creamy sauce. The sauce is either very similar to or identical to korma, a nutty, cream-based gravy.
But Indian food can be very time-consuming to make from scratch. It can also be quite expensive, considering that several of the standard spices, like saffron, cardamom and curry, are among the pricier ones you can buy.
Imagine my delight, then, when I was shopping at World Market in D.C. recently and came across some delicious jarred Indian sauces, including korma and tikka masala. The sauces are made by Shere Khan, an England-based restaurant. They sold for $5 per jar at my favorite store on earth (can we get a World Market here?).
Continue reading "Korma chameleon" »
September 14, 2007
Blog reader Helen saw the chiles rellenos recipes in this past Wednesday's Extra section, but she has pointed out that the recipe calls for charring peppers, which she's not sure how to do. This was an oversight on my part-- I should have included some quick instructions on charring peppers for those who have never done it before.
It's pretty easy, Helen. Here's what I've done:
Get your grill going on a high heat. Wash the peppers, but otherwise leave them whole. Pretty much any larger pepper you want to use is fine. Varieties like bell peppers or Anaheims or poblanos work very well. Place the peppers on the grill and grill them, turning slowly, until they become charred (black) on the outside. Then place them in a paper bag or a dish covered with plastic wrap. Let them sit and steam until they are tender and cool enough to touch.
After that, it should be fairly easy to peel the skin off. You may not be able to get all of the skin off, but you should be able to slip off most of it. After that, proceed with your recipe!
As always, if any readers have additional tips or disagree with something I've said, feel free to chime in and help our friend Helen.
August 20, 2007
I did pretty much nothing useful all weekend except cook and eat. Oh, I cleaned a little house, too. Then I washed my hands and went back to cooking.
In response to our discussion last week about making homemade tomato sauce, I decided to whip up a big spaghetti dinner last night to see if it would change my opinion in any way about spaghetti.
That's right, I am actually not a big fan of spaghetti. That drives my husband nuts because it's such a quick and easy go-to meal, especially on a week night when we both get home late from work. I don't know why I have such an aversion to it. I love manicotti, lasagna, ravioli, fettucini alfredo and a few other Italian dishes. Baked ziti or baked spaghetti is pretty good, too.
But spaghetti...just doesn't get me excited.
However, yesterday I started cooking at about 3 p.m.
In front of me, I had a Betty Crocker recipe for homemade meatballs and a few cobbled-together instructions for tomato sauce, which I stubbornly planned to make mostly freestyle, or without a recipe.
I started by blanching and peeling about 3 pounds of tomatoes, then cutting out the stem end. I then threw the tomatoes in a big bowl and crushed them up with my hands. The soft, squishy feel of them between my fingers was almost therapeutic.
I then sauteed a medium, diced Vidalia onion and four thinly sliced cloves of garlic in 1/4 cup of good olive oil. When they were lightly brown, I added about 2 Tbsp. fresh, chopped basil and 1 Tbsp. dried thyme. After that, I dumped in the tomatoes, a small handful of kosher salt, a little pepper, and two tablespoons of real butter.
As I said the other day, the thought of butter in tomato sauce really intrigues me. So, yes, I went whole hog and used both olive oil AND butter.
Continue reading "On top of spagheeettiii...." »
August 16, 2007
Adam Roberts, The Amateur Gourmet, has a new book that I started reading last night. The book, which is so far quite humorous and well-written, makes me feel exceptionally knowledgable about food during some chapters and sadly ignorant during others.
For example, the one recipe that Adam says beginning cooks should be able to master first is one that I have admittedly never even attempted. There, I said it. I have never been compelled to try tomato sauce from scratch-- until now.
The first recipe that Adam offers really got my mouth watering-- it consists very simply of a can of tomatoes, a tablespoon of butter and half an onion. The second comes from Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook and calls for extra-virgin olive oil, Spanish onion, garlic, dried or fresh thyme, grated carrot, peeled tomatoes and kosher salt.
Still pretty simple, don't you think?
Continue reading "Mastering tomato sauce-- or not" »
April 10, 2007
Six months ago, I probably would never have considered brining a cut of meat in my own home, but it's funny how research and a little advice will up the comfort level considerably.
After talking with Hotel Roanoke chef Billie Raper for my corned beef article on St. Patty's Day, I was fascinated by the brining process. So when I ran across a wonderful-looking recipe for a pork loin that is brined before it is grilled, then topped with blackberry-wine sauce, I dove right in.
The result was so unbelievably flavorful- even without the sauce- that I'm now on the search for something else to brine. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...
Continue reading "Now What Can I Brine?" »
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