Mashed sweet potatoes

Recipe complements of "Cooks Illustrated." It turned out fantastic --  rich flavor -- great texture.  Only potential downside:  slightly chunky in places. My only modifications:

• using 1/2 cup water instead of 3/4 cups
• 4 tablespoons of light cream

I think the amount of water could be reduced even further.  Once the potatoes were tender at around 45 minutes there was still excess moisture in the pot that needed to be evaporated off.

Italian 101

I had been avoiding this theme for some time now; mostly because it seems so commonplace, broad, and non-exotic.  With all of the tomatoes, eggplant, and summer squash in our garden, though, it didn't make sense to wait any longer.  In the end, it was a very tasty and fun several weeks of cooking and eating.

Recipe sources:

1. David Downie's "Cooking the Roman way:  Authentic recipes from the home cooks and trattorias of Rome" -- my favorite book of the bunch
2. Lidia Bastianich's "Lidia's Italy" -- good but focused on northern Italy, especially Northeast Italy
3. Marcela Hazen's "Essentials of classic Italian cooking" -- the most comprehensive of these cookbooks; unfortunately, the recipe names do not include the Italian translation
4. Biba Caggiano's "Trattoria cooking"
5. Clarissa Hyman's "Cucina Siciliana"

See this album for the recipes and photos of all of the dishes made, which I will list out here also.  The (*) symbol denotes some of my favorites:

• Primi (soups)
• * chickpea soup with porcini
• pasta and chickpea soup with rosemary and garlic
• minestrone alla Toscana (minestrone in the style of Tuscany)
• Primi (pasta)
• * linguine with clams
• * spaghetti alla amatriciana
• * pennette with cauliflower ragu
• pasta with eggplant, tomato and red chili
• spaghetti cacio e pepe (spaghetti with pepper and cheese)
• pennette with summer squash (zucchini, etc.) and ricotta
• * penne with cream sauce of ham (or prosciutto), peas, and peppers
• fresh tagliattelle with sauce of tomato and porcini
• Secondi (entrées)
• chicken cacciatore (pollo alla cacciatora)
• * coda alla vaccinara (Roman oxtail stew)
• braised pork chops with tomatoes, cream and porcini
• Contorni (vegetables and sides)
• * skillet fennel with capers
• broccoletti strascinati (boiled-sautéed broccoli rabe)
• panfried zucchini with vinegar and herbs
• * artichokes, Roman style (braised with garlic and mint)
• braised Swiss chard with cannellini beans
• gratin of artichokes
• Signor Corsi's spicy braised cabbage
• Miscellaneous
• * zucchini frittata with mint
• prosciutto with melon

General Principles:

• Primi (pasta)
• In general, stop cooking the pasta 1 minute before it reaches perfect "al dente" and finish cooking it once it has been tossed in with the sauce
• use at least 5 quarts of water to cook a standard 1 pound of dry pasta
• binders and lubricators for sauces:  diced or crushed tomato, olive oil, butter, animal fat (rendered from pancetta, etc.) cream, ricotta cheese, puréed vegetable ( e.g., roasted red pepper), pasta water, cheese ( especially Parmesan and pecorino Romano)
• cheeses should be stirred in at the very end, after pasta has been tossed with the sauce
• almost always serve grated cheese on the side
• fresh pasta is more common toward the north of Italy and dried more common toward the south
• Romans seem to be most fond of spaghetti and linguine and other long strands
• Contorni (vegetables and sides)
• Italians, especially towards Rome, love:  artichokes, fennel, broccoli (and broccoli rabe), and zucchini
• Perhaps the most common way of cooking vegetables like these is to braise or pan fry them in generous amounts of olive oil, possibly some vinegar or wine, some herbs like parsley or mint, some aromatics like garlic and onion, and maybe some red pepper

Some technical notes:

• Primi (pasta)
• linguine with clams
• used about 1.5 pounds of clams, which worked out well for 3 servings
• sauce needs salt despite no mention in the recipe
• reduced the pasta amount by 50% and the proportions seemed very nice
• didn't filter the clam juice (contrary to the recipe) and it seemed to be fine; was careful to pre-scrub the clamshells and change the soaking water several times
• was unable to perceive any hotness from the fresh chili pepper that I used (add more next time?)
• The basil is a fantastic touch
• spaghetti alla amatriciana
• fantastic; not nearly as greasy as I feared
• almost a "sweet" flavor from the guanchiale
• pennette with cauliflower ragu
• the kick from the red chili is important; don't skimp on it
• don't worry too much about cooking each of the cauliflower pieces to uniform doneness because it is nice when the sauce has some larger chunks amongst the small pieces that turn into a pulp
• pasta with eggplant, tomato and red chili
• the eggplant got overly soft during the frying process; in the sauce it almost had the same texture as the tomato -- not a good thing in my opinion
• spaghetti cacio e pepe (spaghetti with pepper and cheese)
• accidentally used a large amount of Parmesan instead of pecorino, which really doesn't have the strength of flavor needed for this simple dish
• the cheese ended up clumping terribly in the bowl and on the spoon
• would it be good to add back the pasta water after adding the cheese into the noodles?
• pennette with summer squash (zucchini, etc.) and ricotta
• used the cheaper of the 2 brands of ricotta cheese from Bianchini's ( with the built-in strainer in the tub); had to add much more water than specified (4 or 5 tablespoons)
• sauce needed salt-and-pepper despite no mention in the recipe
• used 50-50 mix of zucchini and pattypan, which worked well
• penne with cream sauce of ham (or prosciutto), peas, and peppers
• used 50-50 mix of peeled, chopped, sautéed red peppers and Trader Joe's jarred roasted, peeled peppers; the jarred ones seem to work well
• reduced the fat by roughly 1/3; was still sufficiently rich and good texture
• fresh tagliattelle with sauce of tomato and porcini
• used 50-50 mix of durum semolina and all-purpose flour
• used 2 eggs and 1 1/3 cup flour
• 2nd thinnest setting on pasta roller seemed best
• Secondi (entrées)
• chicken cacciatore (pollo alla cacciatora)
• I made the mistake of only Browning to a "brown" color instead of to a rich brown
• I used the expensive "Mary's pastured chicken" from Bianchini's market, which is supposedly truly free range 
• the meat was really not tender at all; I may have erred on the side of too short of cooking time.  Is the dark meat on the drumsticks supposed to be starting to fall off the bone?
• coda alla vaccinara (Roman oxtail stew)
• clove aroma in the sauce is fantastic
• the minced vegetables in the gravey are nice change of pace from the standard diced vegetables; it gives a more refined feel
• braised pork chops with tomatoes, cream and porcini
• used 1 inch chops instead of three-quarter inch chops
• cooked for about 45 minutes total
• the meat turned out tough and dry
• because the pan was fully covered instead of slightly ajar?
• Because I didn't flip the chops periodically?
• in any event, the sauce was fantastic
• Contorni (vegetables and sides)
• braised Swiss chard with cannellini beans
• be careful not to over cook the beans at all, otherwise they will partially disintegrate during the mixin with the other ingredients
• Signor Corsi's spicy braised cabbage
• adding some julienned carrots and sliced onion was a nice addition

Kurdish Eggplant and lamb casserole served with toasted noodle and bulgar pilaf

From Wolfert's "The cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean".

This meal served as the finale to my Turkish cuisine cooking segment. Thankfully, the dishes turned out well so we ended on a good note. Unlike other pilafs I've made recently, the texture of this one was spot on: not too dry, not too mushy or wet. Also, I used homemade lamb stock (from the casserole lamb), which obviously gives an extra special flavor.

The casserole was definitely unique and, as Nick pointed out, certainly not your stereotypical Turkish dish. The lamb flavor was very strong and the eggplant was nice and creamy in texture. I was concerned that the layers would not bind together well, given the relative lack of sauce or liquid applied before baking; however, I think the eggplant absorbed much of the juice from the tomato and the meat and ended up pulling it all together.

Bulgar and lentil pilaf

At first, the result seemed disappointing: it felt sticky/heavy and dry, as well as under seasoned, I think.

The leftovers turned out really good, though, when I learned to add a little added water in the dish to continue the steaming of the grains. Also, adding a bunch of chopped parsley to the leftover servings was a fantastic addition -- really lightened the feel.

From Paula Wolfert's "The cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean"

Rice pilaf with chickpeas (Nohutlu Pilav)

It seems like my last couple of rice dishes have really struggled to get the right amount of moisture/stickiness/fluffiness.  A couple of deviations I made from the written recipe:

• skipped the rinse and soak step at the beginning (supposedly the rinsing washes off excess starch, which helps prevent stickiness of the final product)
• added about 8 ounces of canned diced tomatoes instead of the 2 diced fresh tomatoes
• used 2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil instead of the 4 tablespoons of butter
  

Another challenge I've had is getting the right amount of salt.  I roughly added 1 teaspoon of salt in addition to the salt in the 2.5 cups of low sodium chicken broth.  In contrast, several recipes I found online for Indian basmati Rice specified 1/4 teaspoon of salt per cup of rice (much less than what I put in).

After bringing the whole mixture to a boil, I covered and steamed at lowest heat for about 10 minutes, then mixed in the 1.5 cups of cooked chick peas. However, after letting it steam for another 5 minutes, the Rice was clearly much too wet, still. I let it go for another 5 minutes (for a total of 20) and then turned off the heat and let it rest, covered for another 5.

The end result was still slightly wet, with a couple of very firm grains still. In hindsight, it probably just needed to go a bit longer to finish the cooking process and cooking off the excess moisture.

Despite my disappointment initially in the dish, the leftovers pproved to be fantastic. I think after a couple of days, the excess moisture evaporated away leaving it somewhat fluffier/lighter.

Kisir (Bulgur and tomato salad)

From Claudia Roden's "The new book of Middle Eastern food".

This dish reminds me of the more well known tabouleh -- the main differences being that this has noticeably less parsley and mint (a more pure starch salad as opposed to a starch-greens blend).

Lacking a couple of ingredients, I left out the minced green chili pepper and most of the scallions. Unfortunately, I think it suffered -- felt a bit flat/heavy. Also, I used #2 bulgur (fine-medium grain), which may have given it a slightly "mushier" consistency than desired. Still, I finished off the whole bowl after a couple of days with no problem.

Scalloped potatoes

Another recipe from "Best light recipe".

The final result was slightly disappointing: I think the potatoes were slightly overcooked; to the point where it was difficult to distinguish between the layers of potatoes. It almost had texture of mashed potatoes. I know my housemate Mike disagreed with me on this point. I ended up cooking it in the oven longer than suggested because the top had not browned, yet.

In any event, there were tons of leftovers and we had no problem finishing it all over the next couple of days!

Slicing the potatoes with the Cuisinart was very easy and the recipe, overall, was fairly low maintenance.

Buttermilk biscuits, Fluffy

Another recipe from "Best light recipe".

Final verdict: I took these to the office on the day that I made them and they got thumbs-up reviews. In my opinion, they were decent but not as flexible as many of the fluffy biscuits that I've had in the past. Surely, that is just the cost of being a "light" recipe.

Cornbread, Southern style

The recipe comes from Cooks illustrated "Best light recipe". This is code for saying that the recipe is low in fat, which is not generally a goal of mine, but good to shoot for every now and then.

The one detour I made from the recipe was to use "polenta" instead of standard cornmeal. My understanding is that polenta is a larger-sized grain. The effect was noticeable -- the bread had a definite course, slightly grainy/crunchy texture.

All in all, the final product was quite decent. My housemate Mike gave it excellent reviews. My one other complaint is that it didn't rise very much and was fairly dense (because we used polenta?).

Update ( 7/28/10):
Made successfully with following substitutions and got good results with nice Browning on the exterior:

• 3/4 cup 2% milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons butter
• used preheated 8" cast-iron skillet (perfect volume)
• Reduced oven to 425 from 4 50°F and cooked for 19 instead of 20 minutes

Barley Risotto

The recipe comes from Cooks illustrated: "Best light recipe" (?). (See the included images of the recipe.)


The official recipe implies that roughly 50 minutes of cooking time will be needed once the first broth has been added. I, however, had it going for at least 70 minutes and it still turned out very firm (firmer than al dente). Was it the particular batch of barley that made it so slow to cook? Should the heat have been higher? (I feel like I kept it at a very vigorous simmer.)

Nonetheless, the result was hearty and satisfying, especially with the beef short rib leftovers that I threw on top.