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!

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.

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 

Simpler Baked Brown Rice (Variation)

Recipe: Simpler Baked Brown Rice (variation of Simper-than-Pilaf Baked Rice)
Page: HTCE p. 453
Rating: *****

I've cooked A LOT of brown rice in my day, and I've tried several methods. For a while, my favorite was a Cook's Illustrated version where you baked it, but first, I had to bring some water and butter to a boil, then pour it over the rice in a different pan, then cover the pan with 2 layers of foil, and then I had kids... and any extra pot/step was thrown out with the baby's bath water.

So, I started boiling it and just draining off the extra water at the end. Not bad. In fact, Mark gives us this version somewhere--actually, it's the very first recipe in the grains chapter. And, it's easy and predictable.

But then.... I tried this recipe. And. It's. AMAZING. PERFECT brown rice--distinct grains, good flavor, frees up an eye on the stove, even reheats well. I leave out the cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, use the butter, and add 1 t. salt and a sprinkle of pepper per batch. Good news: you can even triple this recipe with the same timing and results!!! I use my Le Creuset wanna-be enameled cast iron 5-quart dutch oven from Aldi so that I have a nice, heavy, tight-fitting lid--that's important so the steam can't escape. I think Mark's liquid allowance is a little generous and may cut it back a touch next time.

Highly recommended!!!

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.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread (variation)

Recipe: Sandwich Bread, 5 Ways: 50 Percent Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread variation
Page: HTCE p. 859ff
Rating: *****

This is my go to sandwich bread recipe these days: quick (via food processor magic), doubles well, nourishing, tasty, easy, reliable, cheap, .... We make it with one primary change: subbing water for the milk called for. I've found this gives a softer, chewier bread, which we like better. I always use honey and oil (not butter). It's a leisurely process as far as rising time, but super quick to pull the basic dough together. It's a great all-purpose bread and makes terrific raisin bread. It also freezes well.

Muffins, Infinite Ways

Recipe: Muffins, Infinite Ways
Page: HTCE p. 832
Rating: *****

If I've rated these before, then just know they merit AT LEAST 2 ***** ratings. I make these almost weekly. You can't go wrong. They're delicious and just the right size. I've made muffins regularly for 15 years now--I even have a cookbook that is just for muffins. But this is now my go to recipe. I usually use oil instead of butter because I'm lazy. Otherwise, I follow directions per.

Oh--I also usually use half white whole wheat flour.

Variations that our family loves: Banana Nut Muffins (using half whole wheat flour and skipping the nuts), Blueberry Muffins (a real fave around here; leave out the cinnamon, the lemon zest is wonderful but I don't always have time/lemons), Cranberry Muffins (another fave), Coffee Cake Muffins (yum yum yum!), and the Savory Muffins (good with cheese in them instead of the onion).

Enjoy!

Chicken Scampi

We're fans of Olive Garden's chicken scampi around here and found a recipe that recreates it nicely. After I'd made our version a couple of times, I was making Mark's Sauteed Chicken Cutlets and noticed a definite similarity.

If you want to turn the Sauteed Chicken Cutlets with Wine Sauce (p. 679) into Olive Garden-style Chicken Scampi, make the following additions:

Saute 3-6 cloves minced garlic, a sliced red bell pepper (and a green if you want) and a sliced red onion either first or sort of in the sauce near the end.

Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon dried basil, and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano with the chicken stock as part of the sauce.

That's it! Same directions otherwise. Enjoy.

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

Variety = The Spice of Life

Sometimes, I wonder if the grass is greener in another cookbook.... For instance, I often turn to my trusty 11th edition Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook for cookie recipes. But, time after time I come back to Bittman for regular ol' grub. Why?

Variety!!

I bought a large family-pack of pork chops a while back, stuck most of them in the freezer in smaller my-family-size portions, and have been slowly cooking them. I keep looking in other cookbooks for pork chop recipes, but always come back to Bittman. Why? Because he has a great skillet pork chop recipe with tons of variations--and, I nearly always have the ingredients for at least 3 of the variations on hand. Variety! The other cookbooks have variety at the expense of learning new methods, having non-normal ingredients on hand, and so forth. Tonight, we'll be be trying a third version of the Skillet Pork Chops--keeps our meals from being too old hat, but gives me the confidence of preparing something I'm already pretty familiar with.

Just had to share!

Pork Chops with Onions and Peppers

Recipe: Pork Chops with Onions and Peppers (variation of Skillet Pork chops, 8 Ways)
Page: HTCE p. 721
Rating: ***-****

The peppers and onions were terrific and a nice topping for the pork chops. Our particular pork chops weren't that great, but we decided it was more a feature of the chops themselves than the recipe. That being said, this recipe would be a **** or perhaps a ***** if the chops were really high quality. Ordinary, mixed pork chops from your average grocery store? ***

Easy and some nice unattended time in which to get other meal elements ready.

Skillet Pork Chops, 8 Ways

Recipe: Skillet Pork Chops, 8 Ways

Page: HTCE p. 720

Rating: ****

These were a touch dry, hence the 4* rating. I think cooking pork chops this way makes it very easy to overcook them. Nonetheless, they were tasty, and the pan sauce was delicious. Easy, too. I added some Italian seasoning to the pork chops with the salt and pepper since my mom used to cook them that way. Can't wait to try some of the variations.

Blueberry Cobbler

Recipe: Blueberry Cobbler

Page: HTCE p. 883

Rating: ****

Easy! I used a pastry blender and then a fork to mix the crust instead of a food processor. I used 3 cups of blueberries and 1 cup of peaches. The crust/topping was great--kind of like a biscuit. The filling was quite runny since there was no cornstarch in it. We enjoyed it a lot; if you want a thicker filling base, you might need to add cornstarch to it.

Pasta with Bacon and Dried Tomatoes (variation)

Recipe: Pasta with Bacon and Dried Tomatoes (variation of Pasta with Pancetta and Pecorino)

Page: HTCE p. 506

Rating: *****

Since I've rated Pasta Carbonara highly, it should be no surprise that our family enjoyed this as well. This is easier and the dried tomatoes add a nice flavor dimension. Mmmmm

I used thick sliced bacon, didn't use any additional oil when I was cooking it, and just kept adding ingredients to the drained pasta as they were ready. I added a bit of reserved pasta cooking water at the end.

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.