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!

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 

Applesauce

HTCEV p. 419

Recipe: Applesauce

Rating: ***

Making applesauce is something I never thought I would try. Two simple things inspired me to do it:

1. The fact that my sister and I made jam ourselves. If nothing else, that experience has gotten me really questioning what I can make myself and why I choose not to.

2. I had a bunch of apples that I wasn't eating. They were sitting in my hanging basket, threatening to begin to rot any day now.

3. (reason to do it once I was inspired) Mark Bittman had some amazing suggestions of things to add to applesauce. After thinking that I may do it, I read the list and was totally on board. Cayenne in applesauce? Consider my interest peaked.

Behold: The makings for applesauce!

I only had five apples and the recipe calls for five pounds. But the recipe is just apples and water so I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. I also had to peel them all by hand since I don't have a food mill. Not having a job and having a fairly slow afternoon ahead of me, this task wasn't really daunting. Besides, I found my pairing knife and wanted to try it out.

Not much to say about this recipe besides that it could not be easier. Since I made half and am now looking at about three servings, I do wish I had more apples and had doubled or tripled the recipe and taking on canning with it. There's always next time.

My comments on this recipe is that the final product wasn't very saucy. I put the amount of water recommended and in the end I got something more of the texture of mashed potatoes. Nothing wrong with that and maybe with a food processor it would have been better. Still, it's something I would make again.

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

French Toast

Recipe: French Toast

Page: HTCE p. 794

HTCEV p.177

Full Recipe
Rating: *****

This was truly amazing.... I should confess that I used day old (homemade) French bread that I sliced and left sitting out all night. I also made sure I soaked it well in the egg/milk mixture. I didn't add the optional sugar, used whole milk, and cinnamon instead of vanilla. My daughter wasn't a huge fan (don't know what her problem was) but my boys ate it up. I personally loved it. We served it with syrup.

Yogurt or Buttermilk Biscuits

Recipe: Yogurt or Buttermilk Biscuits
Page: HTCE p. 845 (HTCEV p694)
Rating: *****

I've made these so often, I don't even need the recipe. We LOVE these. They remind me of Cracker Barrel biscuits. I usually use 4 tablespoons butter, half whole wheat flour and add a bit more yogurt (I always use yogurt) than he recommends (I'm sure that's because the whole wheat flour soaks up more moisture). I love that he tells you to pat these out instead of rolling them out. Somehow, that little extra step saved helps. I often cut these into squares to save even getting out a circle cutter (read: drinking glass).

I've made the Baking Powder Biscuit variation as well as the Drop Biscuit variation--both are good substitutes, especially for savory biscuits to go with dinner. For instance, tonight I added 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, some garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon or so Italian seasoning; I combined the Baking Powder and Drop variations and had biscuits to go with dinner so easily! (And they were YUMMY.) In the main recipe, I've also left out the baking soda with no ill effects.

I've got the recipe on my recipe blog for those interested: "Cracker Barrel Biscuits"

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. **********

Crunchy Granola

I just finished reading Mark's book Food Matters and in it, he talks about the importance of eating enough grains. From there I decided to make my own granola to have as a breakfast staple and an easy snack throughout the day.

THIS IS SO GOOD! I'm eating it right now as I type! I usually think granola is too sweet and I am not the biggest fan of raisins so making my own, I got to decide how sweet to make it (using honey instead of sugar) and avoided raisins!

Here's what I put in mine (many variations are listed in the book, but I just bought what looked good): oats, shaved coconut, almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, honey, salt, craisins, and dried cherries.

I wish this picture came with smell:

HTCEV p. 573
HTCE p.821-22

Lentil Soup with Roasted Garlic (Variation of Lentil Soup)

This is the recipe I've been craving! I love the lentil soup at Athena's Restaurant in Lafayette and this really comes close. Easy and delicious. I used red lentils and followed the Roasted Garlic variation. Used 2 heads of garlic and also added 1/2 t. cumin.

HTCE p. 138-139
HTCEV p. 115-116 (Classic Lentil Soup)

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?

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This was the first time I've ever made mac'n'cheese not out of a box, and like many other thing I've made in this cookbook, I don't see going back again! The recipe labels this as "make ahead" but I did step 4 (making the sauce) while the noodles were boiling, cutting the time by 15 minutes or so. I used shells - although any pasta will do - and whole milk. I also put this in a deep corning ware dish because I don't have a 9X13 right now and everything baked just fine. After it came out I just mixed it up so that the breadcrumbs were coating all of the parts.

The only critique I have of this was that it was VERY hard to pour the milk into the butter/flour mixture while whisking and control the amount that pours out. I would recommend putting the milk into a dish to pour it in to or having a companion help you out with that step.

HTCEV p. 460
HTCE p.508
Full Recipe 

Grilled Nut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Today I was looking for a mid-afternoon snack and I wondered if Bittman ever used Nutella in any of his recipes. I didn't find any Nutella recipes, but I did find this wonderful suggestion: Grilled Nut Butter and Banana Sandwich. This recipe is found in a table called "7 Other Grilled Sandwiches" and it follows the Grilled Cheese recipe. I used normal sandwich bread and Nutella as the nut butter. I also added marshmallows for some extra goodness. The result? Pure goodness. The marshmallows were melted and the bananas and Nutella were warm and delicious! The next time I don't have time to make crepes but I want a sweet snack, I will think of this sandwich.

I never would have thought of grilling my stand-by peanut butter banana sandwich, but after reading this suggestion I can't wait to try it. Adding chocolate chips and marshmallows to that sandwich sounds great too!

Even though I'm not typing out the recipe I'm going to label this as a "full recipe" because if you know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich then you can make this sandwich.

HTCE p.167
HTCEV p.734

Quick Tip: Measuring Flour

For most recipes that call for flour, getting the right amount is crucial. Following Alton Brown's lead I always weigh my flour instead of using a volumetric cup. Weighing your flour will give you more consistent results. Kitchen scales also come in handy for all sorts of things, but that post is for another day.

On page 836 of the HTCE (p.680 of HTCEV) book Bittman has a description of different types of flour. On this page I have written down the weights of the flours for one cup (non-sifted) and one cup sifted.

Here are the numbers for your reference:

• AP: 140g/115g
• Bread: 160g/130g
• Cake: 130g/100g
• Whole Wheat: 150g/130g
  

Everyday Buttermilk Waffles

These are amazing! I do have to say that I do not separate the eggs and these were still great (and a bit less complicated). I'm sure this has to do with the fact that there is a half a stick of butter in the recipe.

Also, Bittman doesn't label this recipe as make-ahead but you could certainly do so. When reheated in a toaster the outside will be much more crisp, but they are just as tasty the next day. If you have a ton left place them in a plastic bag and freeze them. Then reheat just like they are the name brand Eggos! To make them last as long as possible squeeze (or suck out with a straw) as much air out of the bag as you can. This will help prevent freezer burn.

HTCE p.815
HTCEV p.203
Full Recipe

Fresh Bread Crumbs

I know this recipe seems silly or a non-essential recipe but I know that I will never again buy normal bread crumbs from the store! I love that Mark is teaching me (again) how to buy less processed foods at the store and use more of what I have at home to cook for my family. I love that he mentions panko bread crumbs in his intro, because that is what these bread crumbs reminded me of.

Even though he calls for French or Italian bread I just used some white sandwich bread that I had already to make chicken parmigiana. It was great!  This recipe is also good with leftover hamburger or hot dog buns!!

HTCE p.876
HTCEV p.804 

Fast Tomato Sauce, with or without Pasta

I love this recipe!! I even wrote a whole post about it on my "Favorite Things" blog. The only change (as you can see in the post) that I make to this simple recipe is that I add garlic and red pepper flakes at the beginning and then Italian seasoning at the end (instead of the fresh herbs). I also usually add meatballs (as you can see from the picture) to satisfy my meat-eater husband. Once you eat this homemade sauce you will never buy Ragu again!

To make this a pot-luck worthy dish make the recipe with a pound of pasta as the recipe indicates. Toss the pasta and the sauce in a 13x9 dish and top with shredded mozzarella. Place the entire dish into a 350 degree oven until the cheese melts. This dish looks as good as it tastes!

I have yet to try any of the 20 variations that Mark lists because I love the basic recipe so much. Maybe one day I'll read how to make this great recipe better and try one of them out. Until then I'll enjoy this sauce on pizza, pasta, chicken parmigiana, etc.

HTCE p.502
HTCEV p.445