Crisp Panfried Potatoes (Home Fries)

 

Home fries are one of my favorite things to make on breakfast night.  Above is a picture of two different types of new potatoes bought at the farmer's market over the last couple of weeks.  They were delicious.   They do require patience, and even though the recipe calls for peanut oil I have used vegetable oil on several (if not every) occasion.

Here is the full recipe.

HTCE pg.341-342

The HTCEV version has even more variations then big red!

Fresh Tomato (or Fruit) Salsa

I always argue with myself over writing a post with no picture or posting the bad picture that I do have.  As you can see above, the later option won.  My husband loves this fresh salsa and asks for it every time we have any dish of the mexican variety.  In the picture above I do not have any cilantro, but that is one of our favorite ingredients.  I would suggest making this ahead of time if you can so that the flavors have a chance to meld together.

HTCE p.23
Full Recipe

Braised Chard with Olive Oil and Rice

Let me start off by saying I don't care for greens.  My husband is a veggie-vore and loves anything green, but I just have a hard time getting past the often bitter taste.  Well, this recipe was a winner!  A truly great starter recipe for those of us who don't like the pungent taste of greens.  My three year old asked for seconds and my 14 month old gobbled all her's up!

The only reason I'm even cooking greens is because we joined a CSA this year.  Colvin Family Farms to be specific.  This week in our box we got a whole bunch of rainbow swiss chard.  Now, I've never eaten or cooked chard before but I knew where I could get a recipe, my good old red friend, HTCE. 

 

You'll want to start off this recipe by washing your chard well and shaking it off in the sink before wrapping it up in a kitchen towel to dry off a bit.  The recipe instructs you to cut out the ribs, but I learned long ago from Rachel Ray that is never necessary!  Just hold the dark green by the stem and make your other hand into a claw.  Use your claw hand to strip the leave from the stem.  Voila!  No cutting stems out of individual leaves!

Now, line up all those beautiful stems, give them a trim and then chop away.  I hear you can use the stems like celery in other dishes if you just want to use the leaves for another recipe.

Frying the stems in olive oil with carrots is a key step!  The carrots in the finished dish have great texture.  We served our rice next to fish sticks:

HTCE p.285
Full Recipe
Nutrition: 4 servings, 217 calories, 18.3g fat, 13.3g carbs, 3g protien

So you got a new cookbook!

This entire post has been moved to the Guide to HTCE page.

Stir-Fried Chicken with Cabbage

When my friend Betsy suggested this cookbook to me my first complaint was that it didn't have any pictures.  Foodies will tell you that we eat with our eyes first and I have to agree.  Pictures of the recipes was one of the main reasons I wanted to write this blog in the first place!

If you have the HTCE app it highlights one recipe a week and along with a note a picture of the recipe is sent out.  Well the picture that was sent out last week had me very intrigued!  I'm only sorry that my picture isn't as good theirs was.

Not only did this dish taste wonderful but it was quick and easy!  The best part is that other than the Napa cabbage I usually have all the other ingredients on hand.  I did use about two pounds of dark meat chicken because the cabbage was over one and a half pounds.  This was so good we will be having it again next week!  As you can see from the picture we served it over rice.

HTCE p.643
Full Recipe

Overnight Waffles

Last night the newscaster mentioned that she loves waffles with peanut butter for breakfast.  Waffles with peanut butter?  Genius!!

So there it was 10:30pm and I have a craving for waffles.  The problem is that Wednesday mornings are our most rushed morning.  Not only do we have to get Ethan off to school, but Asher and I attend BSF so I have to get our bags ready too.  Then I remembered that Bittman has an overnight waffle recipe!  The perfect solution.

I had tried these waffles before but I only let the batter rest for a few hours.  These were much more yeasty tasting and the recipe yielded 6 of these giant waffles instead of just four.  The results were scrumptious!  I have to say that I did take the extra step and broke out my hand mixer to whip those egg whites until they held a soft peak.  I know this is an extra step and three extra dishes but it was well worth it!  It really increased the volume of the batter and added to the lightness of the finished waffle.

The other plus about this batter is that we ran out of time this morning (see previous note about Wednesday mornings) and I didn't have time to cook all the waffles.  No problem!  I just covered the batter and stuck it back in the fridge.  When we got home this afternoon I reheated the waffle iron and finished cooking the last two waffles.  They look just like the ones from this morning so I'm expecting they will taste the same.

You might be wondering how the peanut butter went; it was delicious!  On one side of the 2x2 waffle I drizzled our favorite syrup (Steen's) and on the other side I spread peanut butter.  Then I folded the waffle over on itself and I had breakfast to go!  I will definitely be making these again and again (even on Wednesdays). 

HTCE p.816

HTCEV p.204
Full Recipe 

Quick Tip: the Baking Trio

This quick tip might seem obvious to some, but I've been actively cooking (from scratch) in my kitchen for over 5 years and this has just now occurred to me. I use to keep my baking soda, baking powder and salt down in a cabinet with all of my other spices. If you bake often you know that these three are often used together in recipes including everything from quick breads, muffins and pancakes to cookies and cakes!

So here is my quick tip: store these three together in an easy to access spot! I have now moved this trio from my lower spice cabinet to an upper cabinet that also contains my measuring spoons and cups. I'm pretty sure my mom stores them in the same place in her kitchen, but I never noticed that they weren't with the other spices and I never thought to ask why they were stored separately!

My salt, baking soda and baking powder in their new home, right below the measuring utensils!

Got a tip you can share? Email it to us!

Bittman recipes for FREE in a new "app"

I stumbled across this app the other day and I wanted to share it.  I know there are a few of you out there that still don't have the HTCE cookbook.  If you have an iPhone, iPad, or other "i"device you can try out all of the essentials in Mark's book for free!!  I will say that I enjoy the iPad version much better than my iPhone version (which this app resembles), but the concept is the same.

Here is the link to the app.  Enjoy!

My First Brussels Sprouts

After being at my in-laws for a week during Thanksgiving I was re-inspired to get back into the kitchen and cook for my family.  Since having Asher cooking has seemed like drudgery but after seeing this recipe I had to try my hand at Brussels sprouts!

Now I don't have any pictures of this recipe because I ate it too quickly, and for never having a Brussels sprout before I thought these were awesome!  I was happy to find that Bittman has many recipes for sprouts in HTCE and one of them is very similar to Tyler's example above.  As a matter of fact Bittman left off the one thing we didn't really like about Tyler's recipe - the soggy breadcrumb topping.

I will say that if I make this recipe again I will combine Bittman's recipe and Tyler's by only cutting the sprouts in half (way quicker) and browning them in the pan with the bacon before adding the water (or if you have it, stock).  If my oven happens to be on, I will still add the Parmesan cheese though because it was nice and crunchy and added a nice texture contrast.

Real Beef Stroganoff (w/turkey)

Believe it or not I used this recipe with leftover turkey last year and it was great! Just substitute the beef tenderloin for four cups of cooked diced turkey.  Perfect for post-Thanksgiving leftover turkey burn out!

I did not use tomatoes (that sounded strange) and I served it to my family over egg noodles.

HTCE p.739

Grilled or Broiled Split Chicken

I'm so glad I tried this recipe!  I usually just use whole chickens to make crockpot rotisserie chicken, but back last December I forgot to put the chicken in the crock pot and after searching HTCE came up with this solution.  The results were delicious and done in less than an hour!

Not only is this chicken beautiful to look at, but using the directions on page 692 it was surprisingly easy to do.  I cooked my bird in the oven, but we'll probably try it on the grill this fall.  I used just the basic recipe and it was tasty. Tonight I had intend to try the honey-mustard version, but after reading this post I have a whole table of options to peruse (p.642-3)....I'll let you know what I try.

HTCE p.693

HTCE: The App!!

http://www.culinate.com/app/htce

So we all know how much I love Bittman's big red cookbook, and for those of you who know me well, you also know how much I love my iPad.  Now the two have come together in the How To Cook Everything App for the iPhone.  I can't really say enough about this app.  It is everything the cookbook is and then some!  You can search for recipes by ingredient (i.e. fresh bread crumbs), use the built in timers, make grocery lists with the recipes you are planning to cook.  You can even save and name grocery list for future occasions.

One of the neat features in the grocery list department is that you can see what recipe each item is coming from.  That way if the grocery store is out of a particular item, you know what recipe will be short and you can make the necessary substitutions.

There are plenty of online reviews out there so I'll stop mine here.  One thing to note about all the online reviews that I read is that they all gave this app a 4.5 or 5 stars!  Also I just read, "...the kind people at Culinate tell me that there will be a future app just for the How to Cook Everything Vegetarian book. They also report they are working on an iPad specific version of the HTCE app."  I hope when the iPad version comes out they will discount it for those of us that are using the iPhone version on our iPads!

Oven-"Fried" Fish Fillets

I'm sad to say that I did not get a picture of this recipe, however it was delicious!  I think the extra touch that made this dish for me was at the end of step two when you pour the extra butter down over the fish.  I do think if I make this recipe again I will use a little bit more seasoning on the fish.  I did use Fresh Bread Crumbs that I made from all of the leftover hamburger and hot dog buns I had after a recent party.

I also can't wait to try the crushed cereal variation.

HTCE p.568

Similar Recipe

Simplest Omelet (Denver Variation)

I wish I could eat this all over again!  Unlike Mark's suggestion I just cooked the onions, bell peppers and ham in the same skillet I was going to cook the omelet in.  I also was doubling the recipe and added 3/4 cup ham for two omelets.  With the Denver Omelet fixins and a handful of cheddar it was plenty of filling!!  I also add all of my filling on one side and then flip the other half of the omelet over the filling.  Like so:

This recipe lists the servings number as 2, and maybe for breakfast with 5 eggs you could split just one omelet, but in our case I used 4 eggs per person and for dinner we both were able to eat the entire thing.

So good.....

HTCE p.802

HTCEV p.172
Full recipe

Calzones Revisited

A while back I wrote this review of HTCE calzones:
"This recipe is so great that I'm surprised that I haven't made it once a week. We did not use the ricotta cheese in the filling because it is not my favorite and I rarely if ever have it on hand. Never fear though, cooking with Bittman allows you to substitute and delete ingredients with no anxiety! Also, instead of the sausage I used rendered pepperoni. This is a trick I learned from America's Test Kitchen that stops pepperoni from greasing up your calzone. Now when my husband wants to order pizza I balk at the cost compared to the pennies I spend on this recipe."

I forgot to mention a few things and I was making calzones again last night, so I thought I would revisit this recipe.  I think the key to these calzones cooking up correctly is that you don't add sauce to the filling.  Instead make your fast tomato sauce and serve it on the side.  This way your calzones cook all the way through and you don't end up with a slimy inner dough. 

In the past I've cooked these on a stone, but last night I chose to put olive oil on a pan and cook them that way.  The result was so delicious.  The bottom crust of the calzone was nice and crisp.  It even tasted a tad bit fried (YUMM!).  I should note that I tend to roll out my dough a little thinner then Mark suggests and I also do not try to roll it out in a circle, but instead a long oval.  I didn't really express this well in the first post, but we do replace all of the ricotta with mozzarella and the calzones are still really good.

Every time I make these I can't get over how crisp and non-slimy the calzones are.  We even had a guest over on this night and she commented on the fact that the pepperoni was not greasy which is a result of the aforementioned pre-rendering in the microwave (30 seconds on two layers of paper towels does the trick).

Next I want to try the cooked spinach variation or I want to try and copy Mellow Mushroom's jerk chicken calzones.  Both sound really good.

HTCE p. 183
HTCEV p.729

Updated: What if I don't own a Bittman cook book....

but I want to try some of his recipes?

If that is a question you ask yourself as you read this blog please click the books found at the top right and you will see a whole list of sample recipes from each book. Some of them (like the Fried Chicken Made Easy) will even have some of the variations that the authors of this blog rave about.

**New: I've made a new label called "full recipes" where (when we can) we will link the recipe we review to the full recipe already posted online by Bittman. To see a full list of these posts just click on "Full Recipes" in the labels list over to the right.****

******New update:  I just found a preview of HTCEV on google books.  It doesn't have all the pages in the book (not even close), but it has helped me post some more "full recipes" for our friends out there who haven't yet bought this book. ******

Enjoy cooking!

Everyday Pancakes Revisited (Alton Brown's Variation)

So, as I mentioned before in my first review of this recipe my family didn't like this recipe at all, but we love Alton Brown's version.  Well this morning while I was making AB's tender, delicious pancakes I was struck by how similar the recipes were.  Here are the changes you can make to Mark's recipe to end up with Alton Brown's recipe:

• Increase baking powder to 1 tsp.
• Add 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• Increase sugar to 3 tbl.
• Use 2 cups of yogurt or buttermilk instead of milk (I love to use yogurt here)
• Increase melted butter to 4 tbl.

This is the second recipe where I have just noted the changes in my HTCE book so that I don't have to have two cookbooks out. The instructions are really similar with one important change (which you will want to note).  Mix the batter exactly as Bittman instructs, but then let the batter sit for 5 minutes. You'll see why this is important after 5 minutes.  This rest time allows the leavening to make a ton of little bubbles in your batter.  With yogurt this batter is thicker than normal pancake batter but I just spread it out with the back of whatever I'm pouring the batter with and it works out. One of the great things about the recipe is that it can easily be halved if you are just cooking for two people (or one adult and one toddler).

It's important to note that in the pancake variation table (HTCE p.813, HTCEV p.202) that buttermilk is the first one that Mark mentions.  That variation would be similar but not exactly like the one posted above.  If the batter is too thick for your personal preference you of course could add milk to the batter as Bittman suggests here.

I would have taken picture of these pancakes, but frankly they are all gone!!

HTCE p.811-812
HTCEV p.200
Full Recipe

Corn Bread

I have long searched for the perfect corn bread recipe.  I have a very specific idea in my head of what cornbread should taste like.  To me it should be fluffy and moist and even though I would never dream of eating it without butter, it really shouldn't need it.

In this recipe Mark specifically says that you should use medium-grind cornmeal.  The cornmeal that I had in my pantry did not say what kind of grind it is, so I'm not sure if it was correct or not.  I do know it was white cornmeal that I used and that some recipes specify yellow, but Mark did not so I thought white would be fine.  The taste of this cornbread was okay, but this recipe isn't the "one" I have been searching for.  This one was a little more dense then I like and it was way too dry to become my go-to cornbread recipe.  It was good, don't get me wrong, just not the "one".  Philip complained that it did not have much flavor, but I attribute that to the type of cornmeal that I used, not necessarily the recipe.

The next time I make this recipe it will definitely be with "medium-grind" yellow cornmeal (and probably a cup of corn kernels for the "corny corn bread" variation).  On second thought maybe the "lighter, richer" variation is the version that will really give me the soft moist crumb that I have been searching for.  I'm sure I can still add corn and I'll just have "lighter, richer corny corn bread".

Even though this recipe is not the "one", I do have some additional comments on the method suggested here.  Mark asks you to use any 8-inch ovenproof skillet. I'm sure "any" skillet would be okay, but I used my 12" round cast iron skillet to make this recipe because frankly if you own a cast iron skillet, why would you make cornbread in any other vessel?  If you don't own a cast iron skillet, put it on your wish list now before you finish reading the rest of this post!  Since I am using a 12" and not an 8" my cooking time is a little bit faster and the bread was thinner then I like, but in the future I should just make a double batch if I want it to be thick (a 12" skillet has a little more than twice the volume of an 8" skillet).

In Step #2 Mark has you heat up your skillet on the stove top to melt your butter or warm your oil.  Are you kidding?  Your oven is already at 375° so please, don't follow his advice, and instead pre-heat your skillet in the oven.  If you are using just butter in this step you will have to watch the butter or else you can burn it.

Lastly, this recipe calls for buttermilk and if you are like me you don't keep buttermilk in your fridge.  Instead I use powdered buttermilk and according to Cook's Illustrated it works just fine in place of the real thing and lasts a whole lot longer.  Just add the powder in with the dry ingredients and add water instead of milk during the wet ingredients step.


HTCE p.831
HTCEV p.687

Since writing the post above I found this version posted by Mark.  It is the same one that is in HTCE except that is has another egg and way more sugar (1/4-1/2 cup instead of 1 T.).  If you don't have HTCE, our version is called the "Old-Fashioned Cornbread" variation at the bottom of the recipe. In this recipe he also just uses plain milk instead of buttermilk which I have never seen before in a cornbread recipe.  The instructions have also changed a bit in that they follow my advice and is preheating the cast-iron skillet in the oven.  Now I don't know which variation to try next!

************Update (12/2011): I have found THE ONE. **********

Carmelized Onions

This recipe is a perfect example of how when I think I know how to cook something, really Mark does it a little bit better. When caramelizing onions I usually add the oil or butter at the beginning and then they take FOREVER to cook. Well, enter Bittman. He cooks his onions in a dry pan for 20 minutes before adding the oil just so that they don't stick to the bottom. I only did one onion tonight and I was ready to add the oil in just under 15 minutes. Result? They were delicious!! 15 minutes still might seem like a lot, but if you start them first by the time you get the rest of your dinner together (tonight it was hot dogs in the grill pan with frozen peas) they will be ready.

HTCE p.325
HTCEV p.329
Full Recipe 

Navigating Bittman

When I first saw this massive cookbook on Betsy's counter I thought, "How in the world can that be a quick and easy to use book? It is so massive!!"

Here are a few of the things that I have employed to make "Navigating Bittman" a slightly easier task:

• Post it notes on the chapters. These are "permanent" post-its that mark all of the chapters that I access regularly. I don't have one for each chapter, but I might rethink that really soon since I've widened my horizons to include beans!!

• Star post-its. These mark recipes I want to try or ones that I have "on deck" to be made in the coming week. I also recently added a new star color to distinguish recipes that I need to review here on this blog.

• Quick list. This is yet another post-it note that is kept on the back cover of my book that contains the page numbers for all of my most popular recipes. So far it includes: Popcorn, Vinaigrettes, Crepes, Tomato Sauce, Bread Crumbs, Pizza and Flour.

What have you done to your Bittman book to make it easier to use?