Cook the Books 2013 - Wrapping up with Homemade Pantry

The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making by Alana Chernila was the perfect choice to close out our amazing year of Cook the Books 2013 Cookbook Challenge. I'm not sure how an entire year, or 12 cookbooks for that matter, have gone by already, but here we are.

As much as I appreciated learning so many new things in the kitchen, I came to most value reading other participants' posts. Along with intros, recaps, and more from our fearless leaders: Meg of Grow & Resist and Brigg of Ohbriggsy!. Each month, each post revealed different approaches, which recipes appealed, which ones flopped — literal food for thought. They also gave me personal insight into my fellow cooks; making this communal project influence me in the best of ways. New friends, new perspectives, lots of good food!

And, I think I am going to use Angela and J.K.'s  idea of cooking through cookbooks we already own in the coming year. This will be the perfect way to continue the method, while either weeding out my overflowing cookbook library, or discovering new favorites already on the shelves.

Usually I recap the recipes in the order I made them during the month, but this go around I am going to lead off with the ones I liked best.

Beef Stew
This was nice and hearty with simple but satisfying flavors. I used fancy beef which may seem contrary to stew tradition, but it sure made for tender chunks of tasty beef. I think the key steps here are the drying of the beef (tip of the hat to Julia), and crusting the pieces in the paprika-spiced flour mix before browning. I went with 1/3 red wine and 2/3 beef broth which is the right balance in my opinion.

Cereal Bars (Car Snack 1) 
These turned out great! Not only were they super easy to make, they last well in the fridge and make for a perfect snack on the go. They were also excellent impromptu gifts, requiring just the addition of parchment paper wrapping and a bow. I didn't have enough sliced almonds on hand, so toasted some pumpkin seeds to make up the difference which I liked a lot, and would probably go half/half on next time. Any mix of dried fruits will do, but the mix of coconut, apricot, cherries, cranberries and a little bit of mango was a winner. I also recommend sprinkling a layer of Maldon salt over the top before you put them in the fridge to set. Yum!

Chocolate Pudding 
Previous posts have revealed my love of pudding, so I won't rhapsodize again here. A dramatic cooking mishap unfortunately intervened in my pudding making this time though...I dropped my iPhone into boiling milk, sugar and corn starch. Miraculously, my phone survived! My pudding on the other hand got a bit overcooked, so it set more firmly than I would have liked. Still, this pudding I liked a lot.

Peanut Butter
So easy! Why have I not made my own peanut butter before?!? That is the beauty of a book like this. Per the nut butter recipe, I started with raw peanuts and roasted them lightly. Perhaps not enough, as this had a very unroasted, raw nut flavor. Which was nice, and rather unusual, but I'd go for a bit more time in the oven for my tastebuds next time. Also, I recently scored some spiced peanut butter at the food swap, and see myself definitely experimenting with some chile pepper enhancements down the line.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
This is another great use for extra buttermilk. I am not the biggest ranch dressing fan honestly, but the boyfriend is. I reduced the amount of mayo, and used some sour cream instead, which lightened it considerably and made it much more to my liking. I imagine using plain yogurt would work great too. This was awesome on a smoked trout salad.

Potato Leek Soup
A straightforward soup, which always pleases me. Even more so with the addition of bacon! I also used less milk than called for, since overly creamy soups are not my thing. A solid soup recipe to have on hand.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
This was my least favorite recipe/result. The roasted garlic flavor overwhelmed, though I did wing it a bit on proportions, so maybe that was my fault...

Fruit Gelatins: Black Currant and Peach 
I'm cheating a bit here, as I actually made these for the October food swap. But, since they are from this book, I'm including them with full disclosure. Choose your juice flavor wisely — I recommend a clear juice (not something thick like nectar), and something you really like the flavor of as that is basically what these will taste like. Actually, I wonder what you might use to give these a little bit of a flavor boost? Some kind of extract or booze or infusion might be just the thing to make these magnificent.

Many of the staples in this book I have made, or make regularly already, but my biggest regrets this month are not getting to the Toaster Pastries or the Fig Bars. Alas. But, I am inspired for an awesome yogurt flavor I will post on in the new year. Which is literally upon us! Farewell 2013...you delivered a lot of good cooking and good times.

Cook the Books 2013 - Marcella Hazan & the Essentials of Italian Cooking

I was struck not only with sadness at the recent passing of Marcella Hazan, but also with a bit of déjà vu. Last year cooking legend Marion Cunningham passed away while I was just a few weeks into cooking my way with a group of friends through her famed The Breakfast Book. This time, it happened just days before Cook the Books 2013 was to begin cooking from Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. What better tribute to these enormously influential women chefs, than to cook their food?

Frittata is one of those dishes my mom whips up regularly, and one she taught me to make early on. Though she uses a different style than Marcella's, this of course just made me want to try my hand at a different technique. I based my frittata on the one with Tomato, Onion and Basil on p 281, but instead used cherry tomatoes, broccoli, kale, and fresh sage and thyme. I ended up baking mine in the oven (alternative method on p 279) versus using her broiler method. This was a satisfying and healthy breakfast dish which was very easy to prepare. And, leftovers are extra handy for workday mornings.

Minestrone is a favorite. And it is officially soup weather, so the Minestrone alla Romagnola (pp 84-6) recipe was a no-brainer pick for me. And one I did not regret. This large batch fed us numerous times, over many days...and was filling and satisfying every time. I'm with Marcella, taking the time to slow cook a flavorful soup base is where it's at. Go onions and carrots and celery! Minestrone, is a soup par excellence, with simple ingredients making magic together.

Pan-Roasted Potatoes with Anchovies, Genoa Style. Period. Do I need to say anything else? Yes, I suppose I must, or you might not understand how crazy delicious these are. Crispy, golden, soft, salty, with a kick from the anchovies that is not at all fishy. Oh yeah. With slight deviance from the recipe, I added the garlic in with a few minutes left to cook, and then the parsley with a minute or two more in the pan before serving. Everything. was. just. right. There were no leftovers.

Foccaccia with Rosemary: it's hard to go wrong here. While I'm not a big bread baker, I've made my share—but never focaccia! Which I love. In fact, I think I might have subsisted on this delicious tomato-y scallion-topped focaccia in Santa Cruz during my college years. Anyhow, memory lane aside, this focaccia was very easy to make and has great olive oil flavor. And it's fun to stab it with your fingers for the "pockets". I would definitely top mine with sea salt next time and see if I could get the dough right with a little less flour, making it more moist and soft. Also, this makes a honkin' slab of focaccia. If you're not having a party, get ready to pop some in the freezer (per Marcella's advice) or make your friends and co-workers very happy with fresh baked bread. Heck, do both.

Eggplant Parmesan is another one of my mom's staples. But in this case, it has meant I've never made it myself. Yup, eggplant lover and all, I'd never made this beaut of a dish before. And there's no going back now. I think I cut the eggplant a bit thick, which meant it soaked up too much olive oil, which I didn't drain very effectively (apparently), so it was a bit heavy. I'd look to thinner slices, and less oil next time. But so glad this has made it into my repertoire, and I liked the colander layer technique for salting and "purging" the eggplant.

The best thing I can say about this book? I didn't want to stop cooking from it. You won't either. Though I do feel like I need to go on a diet after eating potatoes and focaccia and fried cheesy eggplant in just the past few days. Oh wait, next month's pick is The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, so that plan is a farce. Onward I march in the name of Cook the Bookery...

Cook the Books 2013: Soup weather = Tom Yum Goong

March was filled with more work travel, lots of family occasions and visitors, and now a cold...so it didn't allow me much time in the kitchen to try out this month's Cook the Books selection, Good Fish by Becky Selengut. But, my Tom Yum Goong (Spicy Shrimp and Lemongrass) soup was just what the doctor ordered, and I've got the ingredients on-hand to make the Wild Salmon Chowder with Fire-Roasted Tomatoes and Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Trout and Chive Sour Cream in the next few days. I also have BIG love for sardines, so always have them in the pantry and will try not just her version of Pasta con la Sarde for sure, but the fresh Skillet Sardines too.

Anyhow, on to what I did make...

Cooking shallots and lemongrass is up there in terms of kitchen smells, but it's the kaffir lime leaves that are the magic ingredient here and will transport you right into the heart of Thailand as you cook this deliciously, evocatively, fragrant broth. Or at least that's what happened to me.

Though this isn't an overly complex recipe, making the stock takes some time, so once again I broke it down over two days. Be sure to brown the shrimp shells over high heat in order to impart their distinctive flavor to the broth.

Tom Yum Goong (Spicy Shrimp & Lemongrass Soup)
Adapted from Good Fish by Becky Selengut
Serves 4

2 tablespoons high-heat vegetable oil (I used safflower)
1 medium onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (shells reserved)
5 to 6 cups of water
3 tomatoes, medium dice, or one 14-oz can of diced tomatoes with their juice
6 Kaffir lime leaves, or zest of 1 lime
6-8 thin slices of fresh, peeled galangal or ginger
2 jalapeños, halved (remove the seeds and membranes if you want to decrease the heat of your soup)
1/2 cup sliced shallots
3 stalks of lemongrass, cut into 1-inch pieces, woody top half discarded
1 cup cremini or button mushrooms, thickly sliced
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3-6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (2-3 limes)
Salt
Whole cilantro leaves, for garnish

Making the soup stock

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a stockpot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, and celery and saute for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned.

Turn the heat up to high and add the reserved shrimp shells. They will turn their recognizable pink almost immediately, but saute about 3-4 minutes until they are lightly browned.

Add the water to the pot. If you are using canned tomatoes, drain the juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to total 6 cups.

Stir in the sliced galangal, jalapeños, and kaffir lime leaves and bring to a boil.

Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits and simmer gently for approximately 30 minutes. (This is when the fragrance magic happens)

Strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve and set aside. If you make the night before, store the stock in the fridge overnight.

Making the soup

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat, and add the shallots and lemongrass. Saute about 8-10 minutes until  lightly browned.

Add the mushrooms, tomatoes and reserved stock and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the fish sauce. Simmer for another 10 minutes, then add the shrimp and turn off the heat (the residual heat will do the cooking for you).

Add the juice of 2 limes and season to taste with salt. Add more fish sauce if necessary, as well as lime juice which will brighten the flavors. A little sugar or honey can help if your soup is tart or bitter.

Be sure to taste the soup at this stage and balance the flavors according to your palate.

Serve garnished with cilantro leaves, and remember you can lightly chew on the lemongrass stalks to release some of their flavor, but do not try to eat them!

Cooking notes:
While deveining shrimp is not the sexiest job in the kitchen, it was actually a first for me and I kind of enjoyed it. This takes about 10 minutes, so plan your prep and cooking time accordingly. Selengut's website includes a number of how-to videos, including one on deveining shrimp.

I had exactly, to the drop, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce left in the bottle. I love it when that happens!

Here's an in-depth, Spring-filled post reviewing this cookbook by Oh, Briggsy, with the monthly round-up post coming soon from Grow & Resist!

Cook the Books 2013: Salty Sweet Seaweed Butter Cookies and more from Around My French Table

After doing both Cook It! 2012 and a Cooking The Breakfast Book collaboration last year, I was thrilled to see a new communal cooking project emerge for 2013. Dreamed up by Grow and Resist and Oh, Briggsy..., Cook the Books! A Cookbook Challenge is a creative and fun way to get people to use the cookbooks they own, or try out new ones, together.

First up for January was Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. This is a delightful and inspiring cookbook. I was immediately struck by her clear, no-nonsense tone, making French cooking feel very accessible. My first pass through the book also left me feeling like I wanted to make a good 20 or so dishes immediately. A lot appeals, and I also like her approach of including dishes that may not be French in origin, but that have become part of the culinary and cultural fabric of the country.

While I did make a number of recipes from the book (more on that below), I decided to highlight the magical butter cookies known as sablés here, because they are both fun to make and fun to eat. After you've tasted these flavor grenades it'll come as no surprise to hear they are très populaire in France.

Instead of the toasted nori suggested in the book, I happened to be at Trader Joe's and thought a package of their Roasted Seaweed would be perfect. Lo and behold, they have a new seaweed snack on their shelves that was destined for these cookies. Their Sweet Sesame Seaweed doesn't come in sheets, but instead in a mass of crispy, crinkly blades (yup, that's what the leaves of seaweed are called...don't ask me how I know or recall that bit of trivia...), that at first proved themselves difficult to chop, but excellent for making a mess. After a couple tries resulting in flying seaweed bits, I turned to a technique I use for grinding whole allspice, and happily it was very effective. Place ingredient (in this case seaweed bunches) between two sheets of parchment paper and using a rolling pin, run it over the contents until broken down to desired grain/consistency.

Don't kid yourself. These are called butter cookies, because that's their main ingredient. Get over it and get creative with how you flavor them.

I made three different flavors, and brought them as slice-and-bake logs to our most recent food swap—where they were hit!

The Cheez-it-ish Crackers Greenspan features are basically like more delicious Cheez-its, with more butter. I used a raw Emmenthal and it was perfect. The lemon ones (not included in this book, but a variation suggested in her master sablé recipe) were made with fruit from my mom's tree. This made them just that much more special. And the seaweed ones were all that I imagined.

  

Salty Sweet Seaweed Butter Cookies
Adapted from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick), unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons finely chopped toasted nori, or other seaweed of choice (see above)
2 teaspoons fleur de sel or 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Optional: flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, for sprinkling

This dough is easy to make by hand using a rubber spatula if your butter is really soft. In a large bowl, mix the butter, salt and chopped seaweed together until smooth and creamy in texture. 

Stir in the remaining ingredients following this sequence, but avoid overmixing or overworking the dough: sugar, egg yolk, olive oil, and flour. 

When it is smooth, divide into half (or thirds) and roll each piece into a slender log based on the size you want your finished cookies.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour, and up to 5 days. You may also keep in the freezer for 2 months.

When you are ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Slice each log into cookies "on the scant side of 1/4 inch" (description courtesy of David Lebovitz, who gave Greenspan this recipe). Place them on your baking sheet, cooking only one batch at a time on a rack centered in your oven.

Sprinkle the optional sea salt on top of each cookie at this stage if using.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes. They are done when they are slightly firm but not colored.

Transfer to a rack to cool, and cook remaining batches as and when needed.

Cooking Note: The flavor of the Sweet Sesame Seaweed was perfectly suited to use in this recipe. That said, I definitely plan to experiment a bit and will try the toasted nori method to compare. I also wonder if furikake might be a transformative addition?

Other dishes I cooked from this book include:

Orange-Scented Lentil Soup - I love lentils so am always looking out for new ways to prepare them. This recipe immediately tempted my taste buds, and being citrus season, how could I refuse them? My favorite way to pimp this soup out? Top it with a dollop of yogurt, some fresh dill, smoked sea salt, and a bit of hot sauce. (PS It is very hard to make a pureed lentil soup look good).

Lime and Honey Beet Salad - Nice, bright and simple. They way beets should be served in my humble opinion. I added a bit more lime juice than the recipe called for, and used some lime, cilantro and gingergrass flavored salt I had on hand.

Dilled Gravlax with Mustard Sauce - I left this to cure for 72 hours, which concluded this evening...but I didn't tackle the job until after dinner, and was too full to try it. I'm betting it won't disappoint.