The Minimalist Strikes Again!

Once again, Mark Bittman a/k/a the Minimalist provides a great go-to guide in the New York Times of 101 quick and easy things to make, this time for a picnic. I realize that it sounds sort of crazy for someone who chose slices of uncooked bacon as her personal icon, but I've been trying to cut down on the amount of meat I eat, in favor of eating only really good quality meat, and so I was pleased to see that at least half of the recipes are vegetable, grain, and pasta-based.

Since we're planning at least one picnic this long weekend, I'm definitely going to give a few of them a whirl.

Definitely on the To-Do List

So I am one of those people who enjoys a page-a-day calendar in the office. Usually I get Dilbert or Why Do Men Have Nipples, or something like that, in the hope that I might get a little chuckle as I scrawl phone messages all over it. But this year I got Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything calendar, which is really a collection of recipe cards from the book and a box to store them in. The last two cards look fantastic, and I'm definitely going to make them. The first is Chicken, Provencal-Style, which sounds nice and browned with a sauce including anchovies, garlic, tomato, olives, and thyme. The other is for Fettuccine with Spinach, Butter and Cream, and which sounds basically like the heavenly marriage of pasta with cream sauce and creamed spinach.

Daily Bittman

My time-honored approach to holiday shopping is the old "one gift for you, one for me" method, so while buying myself stocking stuffers, I picked up the How to Cook Everything page-a-day calendar for 2008. It's actually a recipe box stuffed with excellent, simple Minimalist recipes, and my only complaint is that you don't get 366 of them, but a few days share each page. However, it comes with month and type of dish dividers so they can be organized, you can take them with you, and it's going to be very helpful at that time of day when you sit there at your desk going "what the hell am I going to make for dinner?"

Today's recipe is for "Sweet Simmered Pork Chops" in a soy-sherry-ginger sauce that doesn't even require you to brown the chops first. I'm definitely going for it.

UPDATE:
This dish was AMAZING and easy. The only problem was that after I removed the cooked chops to the oven to keep warm while I reduced the sauce, I got caught up on the Internet and let it burn. So I had to remake the sauce, but it wasn't that much of a big deal, and so worth it.

Reading about food is like dancing about architecture

Sort of. Anyway.

Best. Edition. Ever. Of the New York Times Dining In/Dining Out section yesterday. In addition to a fairly customary (but good) piece on holiday cookies, there was a fantastic, tempting article on Caribbean black cake that calls for not just rum-soaked fruit (such as, say, Boozy Cherries) but more rum for soaking the cake and more rum in a glass on the side. Then there was a brilliant companion to Mark Bittman's list of summer dishes that take less than 10 minutes to make -- 101 appetizers, each at less than 20 minutes. There is a whole section on things wrapped in bacon. Swoon.

Summer Cooking

I was going to name this post something really stupid like "Hot Tips for Summer Cooking" but decided to spare us all.

I'm sure this is getting linked to all over the universe, as it's the #1 most emailed post on the New York Times website, but it's really worth it. 101 great ideas.

A nice piece chicken

Made totally kickass roast chicken last night. Roast chicken is one of those things that once upon a time was considered dead simple to make, and then everyone turned into a foodie and was like "Oh, making a perfect roast chicken like the French do takes special knowledge, skills, and equipment" and soon the labor-intensive One True Roast Chicken recipes came flying -- you must cook it breast side down first! you have to roast it on high and then turn it down! baste it! brine it!

But I consulted the Minimalist Cooks at Home last night, and Mark Bittman is very old-school about it. Roast at 400 degrees and turn the pan in the oven a few times so it heats evenly. Basting with a liquid containing some form of sugar is nice and gives a dark brown skin. And that's it.

So what I did will take longer to write out than the actual work entailed. Stuffed the cavity with half a lemon, half a head of garlic, and a big sprig of tarragon. Stuffed under the skin a few more sprigs of tarragon and some butter. Drizzled a little olive oil on the skin and sprinkled with sea salt. Threw into the pan around it some baby Yukon Gold potatoes (my favorite) and some halved mushrooms, and the other half of the head of garlic, and made sure those got a little salt and pepper. When it was done and I left it to rest before cutting it up, I squeezed the lemon from the cavity over it. The pan juices were wonderful, all over the potatoes and mushrooms. And now: leftovers!

Sensible Advice

When Mark Bittman is on the money, he is on the money, and today he devotes his Minimalist column in the New York Times to excellent advice about how to equip a kitchen quite adequately for $200, $300 if you want to add some nice-to-haves. I myself always fall for the good looking/prestigious temptations, and yet I reach for my old Farberware over my All-Clad more often than not, and get tons of use out of the sheet pans we got at Costco 9 years ago.

Contrary to Bittman's view, a bread machine is nearly indispensable in my house, because Mr. Gateau has perfected his whole wheat bread recipe and hasn't missed a week in at least five years. I know Bittman insists you can just as easily learn to make your own bread by hand, but with our non-freelance-writer schedules, there is a big difference between dumping some ingredients in and letting a machine do the rest, and going through kneadings, punching-downs, and baking.

And once in a while I do pick up nifty equipment recommendations from watching TV chefs. After watching Nigella Lawson quickly mince herbs with a mezzaluna, I got one, and find it incredibly useful for herbs, garlic, and other items I may want in a fine mince (such as shallots for Mark Bittman's awesome vinegar chicken recipe).

Top tips from today's column: get a good pair of tongs (I love tongs!) and don't bother buying more than one pot lid, as it's a hassle to hunt down the correct size one and you can just use the same one or a plate or whatever anyway.