Random Cookbook of the Week: Old-Fashioned Bread Omelet from More With Less

After a somewhat crazy summer with writing and editing deadlines, I'm starting to settle into a more normal schedule again...which means I have time again to challenge myself to cook a new recipe from a randomly selected cookbook from the 64 (yes, 64!) currently on my bookshelf.

This week I drew the More With Less Cookbook, one I also cooked from on my previous version of this challenge. That time it was winter, so I made a nice hearty lentil-sausage soup--which wasn't venturing far out of my comfort zone, since this cookbook is my go-to source for lentil dishes.

But this time I tried something I've never attempted before: an omelet. (I know, I know. I developed a taste for eggs relatively late in life, so I'm just now developing my cooking techniques for them.)

Old-Fashioned Bread Omelet

Combine and soak 15 minutes:
 - 1 c. bread cubes (I used fancy-schmancy farmers market organic white sandwich bread)
 - 1/2 c. milk

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Combine in bowl:
 - 4 eggs, beaten
 - 1/4 c grated cheese (I used medium cheddar)
 - 1/2 t. salt
 - bread and milk mixture
 - (I also added a bit of freshly ground pepper because this cookbook runs bland)

Heat in skillet:
 - 1 T margarine (I used butter because it tastes better AND is healthier)

Pour in egg mixture and cook over medium heat without stirring, about five minutes. When browned underneath, place pan in oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking on top. Turn out onto hot platter, folding omelet in half.

Note that this assumes you have an oven-safe frying pan. If all of yours have plastic handles, this recipe will be right out for you. We have a nice set of stainless steel, picked up at a bargain because it had been the store's display set, which I love for having a sort of double robustness--you can cook almost anything in them AND throw them in the dishwasher. Way too many quality pots and pans aren't dishwasher safe, IMHO. Just because I'm something of a foodie doesn't mean I have all the time in the world at my disposal, nor that I enjoy the cleaning up part of the process.

So, anyway, this isn't the prettiest thing I've ever cooked, not by a long shot. It fell apart when I tried to fold it:

But it was quite amazingly tasty in a comfort-food sort of way. The bread gave it sort of a savory French toast effect. I'm sure you could vary the flavor considerably depending on what type of bread and/or cheese you chose. The cheddar didn't impart a very strong flavor, which was fine by me, but if you like your cheeses cheesy, you'll probably want a sharp cheddar or other strong hard cheese.

I think using good white bread was the right choice. Poor-quality white bread wouldn't have soaked up the egg and milk while still maintaining its breadly integrity the way this did, and a whole wheat, sourdough, rye, or whatever would've overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the eggs. (Sheesh. I sound like a judge on Iron Chef or Chopped.)

You can barely see it in the picture, but I accompanied the omelet with quick-cooked chard flavored with garlic, salt, pepper, and white balsamic vinegar. The combo worked, but really I think just about any bright, strong flavor would pair well with the omelet, not least such traditional breakfast goodies as bacon, ham, and fresh fruit.

I'm sure I'll make this again. It's quick, simple, nutritious, and tasty all at once.

Random Cookbook of the Week: Roots

One of the things I was most looking forward to about finishing my manuscript was having time to cook again, including rebooting my Random Cookbook of the Week feature. I love to cook. There's something so satisfying about transforming ingredients into dinner with my handy knife, cutting board, whisk, stove, etc. 

I've included every cookbook I own in this round of random cooking, including ones that I consider beyond my skills--the French Laundry Cookbook and Mastering the Art of French Cooking, to name two--and those I keep around for sentimental reasons but rarely cook from because they're just not how a 21st century foodie cooks. Think fundraiser cookbooks with lots of casseroles heavy on the cream of mushroom soup. That's 64 cookbooks. I just can't seem to stop collecting more of the things.

For this first week, I drew one of my newest volumes: Diane Morgan's Roots.

(I need to get better about taking pictures of what I cook, but for this week I'll make do with the book cover.)

It's an encyclopedic cookbook of edible roots, from the common (carrots, potatoes, turnips, etc.) to the exotic (salsify, burdock, crosne, etc.). It's fascinating to page through just for the sheer variety of root vegetables and ways to cook them.

But because I'm just easing back into cooking a lot and trying new recipes again, I didn't go looking for crosnes or decide it was finally time to embrace the Jerusalem artichoke. No, I picked a nice, straightforward carrot recipe, and one that's unusual for this cookbook in using some shortcut ingredients:

Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Dried Plums and Toasted Cumin Vinaigrette

- 1 T cumin seeds

- 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

- 2 T fresh lemon juice

- 1 T honey

- 3/4 tsp kosher salt

- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

- freshly ground black pepper

- 1 10-oz package shredded carrots

- 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

- 2/3 c. dried plums (prunes), chopped into chickpea-sized pieces

- 1/2 c. coarsely chopped fresh mint

1. To make the dressing, first toast and grind the cumin seeds. Place a small, heavy frying pan, preferably cast iron, over high heat, add the cumin seeds, and toast, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Using a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, grind the seeds to a powder.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, honey, ground cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper. Season with black pepper.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the carrots, chickpeas, dried plums, and mint. Add the dressing and toss gently to coat evenly. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (The salad can be made up to 8 hours in advance. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.)

I recommend this one highly. It's quick, the only remotely challenging technique is toasting and grinding the cumin, and it's colorful with lovely bright flavors to match. 

Random Cookbook of the Week - Old-Fashioned Desserts

OK, so it took me a week to get over my mourning for the BCS results and come back to the blog. At least the Seahawks are still in the hunt for a championship!

This was my second encounter with Betty Crocker's Old-Fashioned Desserts. You can read my first post about Peanut Butter Cake here. This time around, I tried another cake:

Lazy Daisy Cake

1 1/2 c. cake flour or 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. milk
1/3 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
Broiled Coconut Frosting (below)

Broiled Coconut Frosting
1 c. flaked coconut
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 T. half-and-half

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches. Beat all ingredients except frosting on low speed 30 seconds, scraping the bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Set oven to broil. Prepare frosting, spread over hot cake. Broil with top of cake about 4 inches from heat about 2 minutes or until frosting is light brown. Serve warm.

Like my last recipe from this cookbook, this was a nice, quick cake, not too sweet. Very buttery and vanilla-y, and my coworkers mowed through it, even ones who usually dislike coconut. Definite win.

Random Cookbook of the Week - Old-School Comfort Food

I've fallen behind on blogging this month, but I'll try to catch up--between my blog tour posts for Christmas Past and having my usual round of holiday events front-loaded in the first half of December, I've been unusually busy.

Anyway, the last time I had time to give myself a random cookbook challenge, I drew Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli's Old-School Comfort Food and chose to make her...

Mom's Meatloaf

- 2 tsp canola oil, plus more if needed
- 2 small yellow onions, minced (about 1 cup)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Kosher salt
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3/4 lb ground pork
- 1 tsp hot paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 c. plus 2 T plain dried bread crumbs, plus more if needed
- 2/3 c. ketchup, plus more for brushing
- 1 c. sour cream
- 1 medium bunch curly parsley, leaves chopped (1/4 c.)
- 1 medium bunch fresh tarragon, leaves chopped
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, plus another as needed

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Make the meatloaf mix: In a medium skillet, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, season with salt, and cook, stirring from time to time, until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Scrape into a blow and set aside to cool. Reserve the pan; do not wipe it out.

3. Put the beef and pork in a large bowl and gently knead them together with their hands. Spread the meat out on the bottom and sides of the bowl and season with 2 tsp salt. Add the paprika, pepper, bread crumbs, ketchup, sour cream, parsley, tarragon, the onion mixture, and 3 eggs. Mix to blend.

4. Taste test: Heat the skillet over medium heat. If there isn't a sufficient layer of fat left in the pan, add a little more oil. When the pan is hot, lower the heat and add a small piece of the meatloaf mixture. Cook until cooked through, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and taste. If too moist, add more bread crumbs. If too dry, add another egg.

5. Cook the meatloaf: Mold the meat mixture into the shape of a rectangular loaf pan, roughly 9 x 5 inches, and place it on the parchment-lined baking sheet. The meat will feel slightly wet. It should form into a ball but still stick to your hands slightly. Bake for 15 minutes.

6. Brush the meatloaf with additional ketchup and lower the oven temperature to 350 F. Bake until the meat is firm when touched or when it has an internal temperature of 150 F, 30-35 minutes more. Remove from the oven, pour off any excess grease, and allow the meatloaf to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving. Brush again with ketchup, if desired.

For the most part this cookbook lives up to its name. Unlike some of the chef cookbooks I own, there's almost nothing in here that a reasonably good home cook like myself would feel intimidated to attempt, and none of the ingredients are so exotic I'd have a hard time obtaining them. (Keep in mind that I live in Seattle, though, with all the culinary benefits of a big, diverse coastal city. Still, I bet I could find what I needed to make 90% of these recipes, including the one above, in any average American grocery store.)

This meatloaf recipe was certainly straightforward and easy to make, albeit time-consuming enough to be a weekend-only venture. That said, it makes a large batch and I bet it would freeze well. It's tasty in a soothing, comfort food way--great for the cold dark days of fall and winter. 

Random Cookbook of the Week - Mariners Cookie Book

For a couple of years at the turn of this century, back when the Mariners were a good baseball team, the Mariners Wives put together an annual cookbook to raise money for worthy local causes. 2002's entry was The Cookie Book.

Each player and his family and a good chunk of the coaches, front office, and broadcast team provided a recipe. The result is like any other community collection cookbook, just with better photography and production values than most of the ilk. Most of the recipes were familiar to me from my lifetime of bake sales and potlucks, and I chose to try one my mom used to make all the time:

Chocolate "No Bake" Cookies
(Submitted by RH pitcher James Baldwin, now retired from the MLB and serving as pitching coach at a North Carolina high school. His son, who looks maybe 10 in the photo in the cookbook, was drafted by the Dodgers in 2010.)

1/4 cup margarine (I used butter)
2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. milk
3 T cocoa
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c. peanut butter
3 c. quick oats

In a medium saucepan mix margarine, sugar, milk, and cocoa and bring to a boil. Stir constantly. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix well. Add oatmeal and mix well. Drop by the spoonful onto waxed paper. Cool. Makes 3 dozen.

Simple, tasty, and nostalgic, at least for me. And my coworkers mowed through them in a hurry when I brought them in to the office Tuesday. 

Random Cookbook Catch-up: West Point Officers Wives' Club Cookbook and the Gourmet Cookie Book

Two weeks' worth of random cookbook goodness!

From the West Point Officers Wives' Club Cookbook:

Simply Elegant Chicken

- boneless chicken breasts (1 or 2 per person)
- 1 pt sour cream (2 T per breast)
- 1/2 bag Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix (I used a box of Stove Top)
- 2 T butter

Place chicken in baking dish, side by side. Spread sour cream on top of chicken. Sprinkle all thickly with stuffing directly from the package. Dot with butter. Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 45 minutes.

I thought it looked too dry, so I added some chicken broth. And I'm not sure I'd call this recipe elegant, but it's most certainly simple. As such, it made a nice, easy dinner for a chilly fall evening.

And, from the Gourmet Cookie Book, a recipe from December 1951:

Navettes Sucrees (Sugar Shuttles)

Sift 1 c. sifted all purpose flour, 1/4 c. sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt into a bowl. Add 1/4 c. soft butter, 2 egg yolks, and 1 tsp vanilla and knead until the dough is well blended. Chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Divide the dough into portions the size of a small walnut. Roll each piece of dough with the palm of the hand on a lightly floured board to give it the shape of a small sewing-machine shuttle. Dip each in egg white and roll in granulated sugar. Bake on a lightly buttered baking sheet in a moderate oven (350F) for about 8 minutes, or until the little cookies are lightly browned.

The cookbook helpfully notes that the cookies should be shaped into cylinders about 2.5 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.

These turned out nicely, sort of a mini sugar cookie, crisp on the outside and doughy on the inside, and they're very easy to make.

Random Cookbook of the Week - the Minimalist Cooks at Home

This week I drew one of Mark Bittman's earlier cookbooks, published in 1999, The Minimalist Cooks at Home. It's simple, quick cooking without relying on a lot of shortcuts or prepared ingredients, and for the most part I've had good luck with the recipes, though to my taste Bittman underseasons things a bit. I have to use a LOT of salt and pepper, and often increase other spices and herbs, to get the flavor I want.

Prosciutto Soup

- 3 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 lb prosciutto, in 1 chunk or slice
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 medium onion
- 1/2 lb greens, such as spinach or kale
- 3/4 c small pasta, such as orzo or small shells
- salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Set 6 cups water to boil. Put 2 T of the olive oil in the bottom of a medium saucepan and turn the heat to medium. Chop the prosciutto into 1/4-inch or smaller cubes and add to the oil. Brown, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, while you prepare the garlic, onion, and greens.

2. Peel the garlic and chop it roughly or leave it whole. Peel and chop the onion. Wash and chop the greens into bite-sized pieces.

3. When the prosciutto has browned, add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to color, about 2 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it becomes translucent, 2 or 3 minutes. Add the greens and stir, then add the 6 cups boiling water. Stir in the pasta and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper; adjust the heat so the mixture simmers.

4. When the pasta is done, taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and serve.

This is pretty tasty. Not the best soup I've ever had, but a good quick recipe, and the thick chunks of prosciutto and garlic give it a nice, robust flavor.

Random Cookbook of the Week - 1951 Joy of Cooking

My mom married my dad in 1952. (I was their late-edition surprise oopsie Gen-X child born in 1971--I have three Baby Boomer brothers.) She received a 1951 Joy of Cooking for a wedding present, one that six decades on bears the stains of long use, especially in the pie and candy sections. It's one of several "family" books she gave me during her last illness, along with a few other cookbooks, my father's and grandfather's Bibles, and a 100-year-old speller with my great-uncle's name penciled on the inside cover.

The 1951 Joy is an intriguing mix of the timeless and the very much of its era. My chosen recipe fell into the latter category, but made for a good dinner for a fall evening nonetheless:

Pork Chops Baked in Sour Cream
4 servings

Prepare for cooking:
- 4 loin pork chops 1/2 inch thick

Dredge them with:
- Seasoned flour

Insert in each chop:
- 1 clove

Brown them lightly in a little hot pork fat or lard. (I used a tablespoon of butter, because, this being 2013, I don't have a canister of lard by the stove like my mom used to before she and Dad got put on low cholesterol diets.) Place them in a baking dish. Combine, heat, and pour over them:

- 1/2 c. water
- 1/2 bay leaf
- 2 T vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
- 1 T sugar
- 1/2 c. sour cream

Cover the dish. Bake the chops in a moderate oven (350 F) for about 1 hour.

The pork chops came out tasty enough, and the sour cream sauce made a nice gravy, but it was a little sweet for my taste. I'll probably make it again, since it was so simple and such a nice cool-weather dish, only I'll omit the sugar and brown some mushrooms, capers, and garlic or shallot along with the pork chops.

Random Cookbook of the Week - A Feast of Ice and Fire

A Feast of Ice and Fire has its roots in the Inn at the Crossroads blog, and both are devoted to bringing the food from George R.R. Martin's books to life. The recipes are a mix of accessible and challenging, and of modern and historical--often the cookbook will offer two recipes for a dish mentioned in the books, one modern and one medieval (or sometimes Roman or Elizabethan). It has a handful of recipes I know I'm not brave enough to try--e.g. Honey-Spiced Locusts--and several I'd love to tackle but haven't yet had the time to attempt--Roman Honeyfingers, Quails Drowned in Butter, Medieval Pork Pie, etc.

But it's also packed with a surprising number of good everyday recipes. Modern Bean and Bacon Soup has become one of my go-to dinner recipes, for example, and I plan on making this week's choice again, too.

Almond Crusted Trout
Serves 2

1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c. fresh dill, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1/2 c. chopped or ground almonds
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. bread crumbs (I used panko)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 egg
1/2 c. flour
2 small cleaned and gutted trout, or 4 trout fillets (I used fillets)

Heat a grill to low or preheat the oven to 275F. (I used the oven, because it's the rainy season now.)

Mix the herbs, shallots, almonds, salt, and bread crumbs together by hand or in a food processor. (food processor here) Add the garlic, lemon juice, and egg and mix until uniform in texture. Put the flour into a shallow bowl and dredge the fish in the flour. Gently pack the almond mixture inside and around the fish. Grill or bake for about 1 hour, or until the crust is just crispy and the fish is cooked through. Plate and serve.

Since I was using fillets instead of a whole fish, it only took about 20 minutes for the fish to cook through, by which point the crust wasn't anywhere close to crispy, so I turned the broiler on and stuck the fish under it for 5 minutes to give it some crunch.

The crust mixture is a perfect balance of flavors, IMHO. It doesn't have a strong almond flavor, but the fat and richness of the nuts seems to mellow and bind the bright flavors of the lemon and herbs, and they marry beautifully with the fish.

Incidentally, I'm still trying to acquire a taste for fish, and I was advised by other fish-averse folk to avoid trout. But I tried it one night when it was the special at Maple Leaf Grill, and it's my favorite fish. Turns out my problem with fish has at least as much to do with texture as flavor, and trout and salmon, though fishy-tasting, have a nice meaty texture. So give them a tasty sauce or crust so they don't scream FISH! and I'm a happy diner.

Random Cookbook of the Week - Ad Hoc at Home

Last week's cookbook draw was Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home, which is exactly the kind of cookbook you'd expect as a home cooking cookbook from a chef of Keller's level--i.e. a reasonably skilled and experienced home cook like me can make most of the recipes, but they're more labor-intensive and challenging than I have energy for on an ordinary weekday when I've already put in a full day at the day job and I still need to squeeze in an hour or two's writing time while also helping my daughter with her homework, packing her and my lunches for tomorrow, and hopefully at least having a conversation or two with my equally busy husband.

Still, it's a good cookbook, and the Potato Hash with Bacon and Melted Onions I made the last time it came up in my rotation is one of the most delicious things I've ever produced. Last week's effort didn't turn out so well, but I figure that's more my fault than the recipe's.

Marinated Skirt Steak

Marinade:
- 6 thyme sprigs
- 2 8-inch rosemary sprigs
- 4 small bay leaves
- 1 T. black peppercorns
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed, skin left on 
- 2 c. extra virgin olive oil

- 6 8-oz. trimmed outer skirt steaks
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- canola oil
- 2 T. unsalted butter
- 4 thyme sprigs
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed, skin left on

Combine the marinade ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let the marinade cool to room temperature.

Put steaks in dish or resealable plastic bag, add the marinade, and cover the dish or seal the bag. Marinate for at least four hours or up to a day in the refrigerator.

Remove the meat from the marinade and let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking; discard the marinade. Dry the meat with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan. 

Heat some canola oil in a large frying pan over high heat. When it shimmers, add half the meat and quickly brown the first side. Turn the meat and, working quickly, add 1 T of the butter, 2 thyme sprigs, and 1 garlic clove and brown the meat on the second side, basting constantly; the entire cooking process should only take about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer the meat to the rack and spoon the butter, garlic, and thyme over the top. Wipe the pan and repeat with the remaining steaks.

Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the center of the meat registers about 125 F. Remove from the oven and let rest on the rack in a warm place for about 10 minutes for medium rare.

I think I erred in trusting the time in the recipe over my own instincts for when the steak was sufficiently seared. I think if I'd let it go 30-60 seconds longer, it would've gotten a nice char to go with just barely medium rare innards. (I do like my steaks on the bloody side.) As it was, it was a bit too mushy and soft altogether. That said, the marinade imparted a nice subtle but distinctive flavor.

I also tried the book's buttermilk biscuits recipe. I won't post it here, but suffice it to say I still haven't quite got the hang of biscuits. These turned out a bit like hockey pucks, but I think even if Keller himself had made them they wouldn't be the elusive high, light, and fluffy Southern-style biscuits like my mom used to make. Once I achieve those, I'll post the recipe for sure...and I've just discovered you can order White Lily flour on Amazon! Maybe good biscuits are within my grasp after all, since I'm given to understand that the Yankeefied flour my local grocery store carries is too hard for a Southern biscuit.

Random Cookbook of the Week: Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood

This week I cooked from the newest of my cookbooks, Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood. The second oldest of my brothers and his family live in Yearwood's hometown in Georgia, and my niece gave me an autographed copy of this cookbook when I visited the family after RWA.

When I drew this cookbook I gravitated to the dessert section, as is my habit with the Southern cookbooks in my collection. In my experience, aside from fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, and barbecue, the sweet stuff is what my people do best. And since I'm always curious about quirky ingredient combinations, I decided to try...

Sweet and Saltines

- 35-45 saltine crackers (enough to cover a standard cookie sheet)
- 1 c. (2 sticks) butter
- 1 c. light brown sugar
- 8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/3 c.)

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil and the saltines.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour over the crackers, covering them evenly. Put in the oven and bake for 4-5 minutes or until just bubbly, watching carefully.

Remove from the oven and pour the chocolate chips over the crackers. When the chips melt a bit, spread them over the crackers with a knife. Let cool until cookie sheet is cool enough to touch and transfer the pan to the freezer for 15-20 minutes or until completely cold.

Break solidified candy into pieces and store in an airtight container.

This particular quirky ingredient combination? It works. It has crunch, salt, and chocolate, and it's sweet without being too sweet. It's far too large a batch for my little family of three to eat before the crackers go stale (especially since Miss Fraser thought it too salty and Mr. Fraser and I are both on Weight Watchers--he's lost 73 lbs. since December 1 and I've lost 42). I took it in to work the next day and my coworkers made quick work of it, so I'm making up another batch next week for the annual department picnic.

Next up is Ad Hoc at Home.

Random Cookbook of the Week - The Gourmet Cookbook

Last week my random cooking journey took me to The Gourmet Cookbook, one of the more encyclopedic of the works we own. It was a busy week, so I chose a simple recipe, but an unusual, old-fashioned one. Apparently dressing room-temperature lettuce in a warm butter sauce used to be a Thing (though the cookbook doesn't specify how long ago), which was enough to make my inner historical re-enactor want to come out to play.

Bibb Lettuce with Butter Dressing

- 4 heads Bibb lettuce or 1 head boston lettuce, at room temperature, leaves separated and torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 stick (4 T) unsalted butter
- 1 garlic clove, halved lengthwise
- 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
- Scant 1/2 tsp salt
- Freshly ground black pepper

(Note that having the lettuce at room temperature is key--if it's refrigerator-cold, the butter will solidify once you pour it over the lettuce, which wouldn't be very appetizing.)

Put lettuce in a large bowl. Melt butter in a small heavy skillet over moderate heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is golden and butter has a slight nutty aroma, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, discard garlic, and add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste, swirling skillet to incorporate; butter will foam.

Pour warm dressing over lettuce and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

This dish was...interesting. It didn't taste bad by any means, and I can imagine in the hands of master chef with a subtle hand for flavoring that it might be made into something special with an addition of just one or two more flavors. That said, I doubt I'll make it again. I do love to experiment, but I'm sufficiently of my own place and time that I like my salads cold.

Random Cookbook of the Week: I'm Just Here for More Food

This week I drew Alton Brown's main baking cookbook, I'm Just Here for More Food. He divides all baked good by their mixing methods--the Muffin Method, the Creaming Method, the Custards, etc.--and I decided it was high time I got in some more practice at the Biscuit Method

Blackberry Grunt

For the blackberry filling:
- 1 c. water (8 oz)
- 1 c. sugar (7.5 oz)
- 4 c. fresh or frozen blackberries (1 lb 3 oz)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger (1/8 oz)

The dry goods:
- 2 c. all-purpose flour (9.5 oz)
- 2 tsp baking powder (1/4 oz)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda (1/8 oz)
- 1 tsp kosher salt (1/4 oz)

The fat:
- 4 T unsalted butter (2 oz/ 1/2 stick), frozen

The liquid:
- 1 c. buttermilk (8 oz)

Make the blackberry filling: Place the water, sugar, blackberries, and ginger in a Dutch oven and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until the liquid is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow 5-10 minutes longer if using frozen berries.

Preheat oven to 400F.

While cooking the filling, assemble the dough via the BISCUIT METHOD, as follows:
- Scale or measure all ingredients.
- Pulse dry goods in food processor for 3-4 pulses, then move to a large bowl.
- Rub fat into the dry goods until about half the fat disappears and the rest is left in pea-sized pieces. Place in the freezer to keep the fat solid.
- Make a well in the center of the dry goods/fat mixture. Pour the liquid into the well and quickly mix using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Drop the dough over the fruit mixture by the tablespoonful, evenly distributing it over the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, just to brown the top of the dough. For a browner crust, brush with butter and broil until golden.

Remove the pot from the oven and allow the grunt to rest 10 minutes before serving.

This turned out DELICIOUS. However, the biscuit topping baked up just a little bit too heavy. I think I'm still overmixing the fats. Next time I make a biscuit dough, I'ma stop when I think it can't POSSIBLY be blended enough and see how it turns out.

Next up: The Gourmet Cookbook

Random Cookbook of the Week - Pasta en Brodo from The Food You Want to Eat

The first cookbook drawn for my rebooted Random Cookbook Challenge was Ted Allen's The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes. And since Mr. Fraser and I have both been battling a particularly vicious summer cold, I chose to make what amounts to chicken soup:

Pasta en Brodo

Kosher salt for boiling pasta
6 c. canned low-sodium chicken stock
6 skinless chicken thighs, about 2 pounds
2 garlic cloves, halved
10 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 large sprig of fresh thyme (optional--I meant to use it but forgot)
1 clove (optional--this I remembered)
1/2 lb. green beans, ends trimmed
1 lb. farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 T chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 c. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for serving

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the chicken stock, chicken thighs, garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf, and thyme and clove if using. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes to cook the chicken. Skim and discard any gray foam that rises to the top.

3. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon. Strain the sock through a fine strainer into a clean saucepan and boil to reduce to 4 cups, about 10 minutes. Bone two of the chicken thighs and shred the meat; set the meat aside. Wrap and refrigerate the remaining chicken for another use.

4. When the pasta water comes to a boil, add the beans and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon to a colander and refresh them with cold water to keep the bright green color. Then pat dry, cut into 1-inch pieces, and set aside.

5. Add the farfalle to the boiling water and cook until not quite tender, about 8 minutes. (You want to undercook the pasta slightly because it will cook further in the stock.) Drain and discard the pasta water.

6. Pour the reduced stock into the pasta pot. Add the green beans, shredded chicken, and olive oil, and bring to a simmer. Add the farfalle, ground pepper, and the parsley, and toss over medium heat for 30 seconds to warm the pasta and cook it completely. Remove from the heat. Use a slotted spoon to divide the pasta, chicken, and beans among 4 large, deep pasta plates. Ladle about 1/4 of the stock into each bowl and sprinkle each with 1/4 c. of the cheese.

Mr. Fraser liked this one better than I did and thinks I should make it again, possibly tweaking the ingredients a bit to lighten it up. (We're both on Weight Watchers, and this thing was a major hit to our points budget.) As for my opinion, well, while it's not a hard recipe, it did take me a little over an hour and cluttered the kitchen with dirty dishes. Given how busy my life is, if it takes more than 45 minutes and gives me more than one dishwasher load of dirty dishes, it better be something I'd proudly serve to company--like the rib recipe in this same cookbook. This was nice, but it was chicken soup.

Next week I'll be staying in the "cookbooks by Food Network hosts" section of my bookshelf and making something from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food. I may change my mind between now and this weekend's grocery run, but for now I'm torn between pineapple upside-down cake and blackberry grunt.

Random Cookbook of the Week Rebooted

Now that I'm back from RWA and my life has settled down a smidgeon, I'd like to bring my random cookbook challenge back. In it is I randomly select one cookbook per week from my rather extensive collection, pick out a recipe from it that I've never tried before, attempt it, and blog the results. I'm not going to bake in a heat wave, since I lack AC in the kitchen, nor am I going to grill when it's snowy or rainy. But other than that, I have to work with the cookbook random.org assigns me.

In the last version of this challenge, I'd narrowed my list to the kind of cookbooks I normally work from--I ignored all the tough chef-y ones, along with all the older ones I was hanging onto for sentimental reasons, especially the local collections put together for fundraisers. However, a certain husband of mine opined that that's cheating, not to mention cheating myself and my readers of the best culinary challenges. Of course I can cook from a Mark Bittman or an Alton Brown book. But can I successfully a Thomas Keller recipe or find something interesting and tasty from a 1970's home ec teachers' collection? Watch this space to find out.

Below is a list of all the cookbooks I currently own. Each week I'll blog my selected recipe along with the cookbook drawn for the next week's challenge.

First up will be The Food You Want to Eat, by Ted Allen. It's one of my more recent acquisitions and the source of my current ribs recipe, but I haven't tried much else from it yet.

1. How to Cook Everything
2. Mom and Me Cookbook
3. Cook it Together
4. Colorado Cache Cookbook
5. Favorite Recipes of Alabama Vocational Home Ec Teachers
6. Chicken: 150 Great Recipes for All Seasons
7. Ratio
8. 1950's Joy of Cooking
9. The Science of Good Cooking
10. Fresh Food Fast
11. Book of Soups
12. Old-School Comfort Food
13. Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times
14. Home Economics Teachers' Bicentennial Cookbook
15. Life after Pizza
16. The Minimalist Cooks at Home
 17. Southern Biscuits
18. More with Less
19. Express Lane Meals
20. Starters & Closers
21. Mariners Wives' Cookie Book
22. The Gourmet Cookie Book
23. Les Halles Cookbook
24. A Feast of Ice and Fire
25. Best One-Dish Meals
26. Process This!
27. Food Matters
28. Mastering the Art of French Cooking
29. In My Kitchen
30. Julia's Kitchen Wisdom
31. The Food You Want to Eat
32. Pig: King of the Southern Table
33. Calling All Cooks
34. Calling All Cooks 2
35. Calling All Cooks 3
36. West Point Cookbook
37. 1990's Joy of Cooking
38. Route 66 Cookbook
39. Ruhlman's Twenty
40. The Barbecue Bible
41. 30-Minute Meals
42. Chili Madness
43. The Pie and Pastry Bible
44. A New Turn in the South
45. I'm Just Here for the Food
46. I'm Just Here for More Food
47. Good Eats 1
48. Good Eats 2
49. Good Eats 3
50. The Bread Bible
51. Ad Hoc at Home
52. The French Laundry Cookbook
53. Great Food Fast
54. Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood
55. Old-Fashioned Desserts
56. The Best Recipes in the World
57. The Gourmet Cookbook

Random Cookbook of the Week - Good Eats 2

This week's chosen cookbook was Good Eats 2: The Middle Years, and I settled on a recipe from the Field of Greens episode:

Lemon Sesame Glazed Greens

- 1 to 1 1/4 lbs stemmed hearty greens such as mustard greens or kale, weighed after stemming but before washing
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 T honey
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 T sesame seeds

Wash the greens thoroughly; it's best to do this in a sink with at least 5 inches of water. Move the leaves around in the water and let them sit a few minutes so any sand or dirt will fall to the bottom of the sink. Dry them thoroughly in a salad spinner and coarsely chop the pieces.

Heat a 13 x 11 inch roasting pan over 2 burners on medium heat. Once hot, add the oil. Add the garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Add the greens and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the red pepper flakes and the sesame seeds. Toss to combine. Adjust seasoning if needed. Serve immediately.

I used chard, since my choices at the grocery store were chard and collards, and I thought collards might be a bit too robust and hearty for this application. And it turned out tasty, but didn't blow me away with its spectacularness. Still, since it's fairly quick and simple, I may add it to my repertoire of leafy green preparations.

Random Cookbook of the Week: Southern Biscuits

Awhile back I stumbled upon the Kindle version of Southern Biscuits on sale for $0.99, or maybe it was $1.99--a price point that silenced the voice in my head that says, "You don't need another cookbook."

I grew up eating, and taking for granted, my mother's amazing homemade buttermilk biscuits. She whipped them together without a recipe or even measuring her ingredients, and they were wondrous tangy, buttery, airy bits of deliciousness. Unfortunately I spent my entire childhood trying my hardest to prove I wasn't like my mother AT ALL, thank you very much, and by the time I wanted to learn to make her biscuits, she'd stopped making them. You see, she'd found a frozen brand she liked, and she thought they were just as good for far less trouble. I didn't quite agree. To me the frozen biscuits, though far better than any national brand I could get up here in Yankee country (I'm using the Southern terminology by which the Pacific Northwest is every bit as Yankee as New England), were nowhere close to my mom's. (And, for those of you NOT in Yankee country, I unfortunately can't recall the brand she swore by. She bought them at Piggly Wiggly, and they came in large quantities in a clear plastic bag.)

Anyway, this week's cookbook. I've tried to make biscuits in the past without any grand success, so I deliberately picked something from the beginner chapter, knowing full well I wasn't going to resurrect Mom's biscuits, but hoping for something better than what I can buy frozen or refrigerated up the street at Safeway.

Rachel's Very Beginner's Cream Biscuits

- 2 1/4 c. self-rising flour, divided
- 1 1/4 c. heavy cream, divided
- Butter, softened or melted, for finishing

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Select either a 8 or 9-inch cake pan or oven-proof skillet if you want to nestle to biscuits together to create a soft exterior, or a baking sheet or pan where the biscuits can be placed wider apart for a crisper exterior, and brush the pan with butter.

Fork-sift or whisk 2 cups of flour in a large bowl, and set aside the remaining 1/4 cup.

Make a deep hollow in the center of the flour with the back of your hand. Pour 1 cup of cream into the hollow, reserving 1/4 c. of cream, and stir with a rubber spatula or large metal spoon, using broad circular strokes to quickly pull the flour into the cream Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened and the sticky dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. If there is some flour remaining on the bottom and sides of the bowl, stir in 1 to 4 T. on reserved cream, just enough to incorporate the remaining flour into the shaggy wettish dough. If the dough is too wet, use more flour when shaping.

Lightly sprinkle a board or other clean surface using some of the reserved flour. Turn the dough out onto the board and sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour. With floured hands, fold the dough in half, and pat dough out into a 1/3 to 1/2-inch thick round using a little additional flour only if needed. Flour again if necessary and fold the dough in half a second time. If the dough is still clumpy, pat and fold a third time. Pat dough out into a 1/2-inch thick round for a normal biscuit, 3/4-inch for a tall biscuit, and 1-inch for a giant biscuit. Brush off any visible flour from the top. For each biscuit, dip a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter into the reserved flour and cut out the biscuits, starting at the outside edge and cutting very close together, being careful not to twist the cutter. The scraps may be combined to make additional biscuits, although these scraps make tougher biscuits.

Using a metal spatula if necessary, move the biscuits to the pan or baking sheet. Bake on the top rack of the oven for a total of 10-14 minutes until light golden brown. After 6 minutes rotate the pan in the oven so that the front of the pan is now turned to the back. When the biscuits are done, remove from the oven and lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with butter.

Behold, biscuits! The lumpy-looking ones were made from scraps, and were indeed tougher, but they all tasted good. Southern, even. We had them for breakfast Monday, half sandwiched with sausage and half with jam, and we three Frasers, even the finicky 9-year-old, made short work of ten biscuits.

Though this is a recipe for beginning biscuit makers, I wouldn't call it one for beginning cooks. Sure, there are three ingredients, and it takes maybe fifteen minutes to assemble counting the time spent rummaging for the right pan, but it takes a certain amount of culinary judgement to know when the dough is just right. I doubt I could've pulled it off before I started challenging myself as a cook a few years ago.

Random Cookbook of the Week: Pork Everywhere (Pig: King of the Southern Table and The Food You Want to Eat)

I'm not going to post the recipe I cooked last week from Pig: King of the Southern Table. It's a good cookbook, sort of an encyclopedia of pork recipes from various Southern cuisines, but something was wrong with the breaded pork cutlets with lemon-caper sauce I made. All I can think is that an ingredient was left out or listed at far too small an amount, because the sauce part just did not happen, even when I tripled the amount of chicken broth and threw in some butter. I had a thick gravy, but I'm sure it wasn't what the recipe intended, and it wasn't that good...so I'll just hope for better luck the next time the cookbook comes around in my rotation.

Instead, I'll skip straight to last night's dinner from Ted Allen's The Food You Want to Eat.

Mustardy Barbecued Spareribs

For the barbecue rub:
- 1 T kosher salt
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 T. chili powder
- 1 T. paprika
- 3 T. ground cumin
- 2 t. Colman's dry mustard
- 1/4 t. ground allspice

(You know, as I typed the recipe I realize I misread the ingredients while mixing the rub yesterday and put in 2 tablespoons dry mustard. No matter. It still tasted good.)

For the ribs and sauce
- 2 3 1/2 pound racks of spareribs (I used one 4-pounder because I was making this for just my little family, and it was the smallest one in the store.)
- 1/2 c. cider vinegar
- 1/2 c. medium-weight beer
- 1 t. sugar
- 2 t. prepared mustard
- 1 t. kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 300 F.

In a small bowl, combine all the rub ingredients. Rub the ribs all over with the dry spice mixture, place them in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet, put them in the oven, and let them roast for 2 hours or until very tender. They are now completely cooked and can be refrigerated for 2 or 3 days, or until you're ready to serve.

N.B. Allen has three paragraphs of instructions for how to do the grilling piece if you're using a charcoal grill. We have a gas grill, so I'll just say that I heated the grill to medium.

Put the ribs on the grill and grill slowly, turning once, until the ribs are heated through and have developed a crust, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together all the ingredients for the sauce. When the ribs are ready, cut between the bones with a large knife to cut them into individual ribs. Brush with the sauce and serve the remaining sauce on the side.

All I can say is YUM. While the mustardy South Carolina style isn't my favorite sauce, it is quite tangy and tasty, and I can always order some proper Alabama sauce from Dreamland for the next time I make it. For indeed there will be a next time.

Random Cookbook of the Week: A New Turn in the South (wherein Susanna botches the recipe)

This week I drew A New Turn in the South by Hugh Acheson, one of my newer cookbooks. It's based on the food at the author's Five and Ten restaurant in Athens, GA. I've never been to Athens, but I gather the Five and Ten is where I'll want to eat if I ever make it there.

That said, given that this weekend I was still fighting off the bug that kept me in the ER on Thursday afternoon, I went with one of the simplest recipes in the book.

Lemonade with Vanilla, Mint & Rosemary

8 c. cold water
8 large lemons
1 c. granulated sugar
10 springs fresh mint
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped seeds and pod
1 spring of fresh rosemary

Pour the water in a large pot over high heat and bring to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, halve the lemons and juice them thoroughly. Place the juice and the juiced lemon halves in a large heat-proof non-reactive pot. Add the sugar, 2 springs of mint, the vanilla seeds and pod, and the rosemary.

Pour the boiling water over the mixture. Stir carefully and let sit for 20 minutes. Stir well again and strain out the solids, then discard them and pour the lemonade into Mason jars or a large pitcher and keep refrigerated until people get thirsty.

To serve, pour the lemonade over ice in tall glasses, garnish each with a mint leaf, and sit on a porch.

Mr. Fraser and I gave the lemonade an identical verdict of "too much vanilla," and I'd decided not to make it again. Only just now as I was transcribing the recipe I realize that yesterday I misread the recipe and put in a WHOLE vanilla bean rather than half one. Maybe if I'd actually made it right, we would've been able to taste the rosemary and mint. Oops. That's a bit of a blow to my perfectionism and image of myself as a good cook! I think I'll have to give the recipe one more try after all.

Random Cookbook of the Week - The Gourmet Cookie Book

I'm more of a cook than a baker, so I was a bit dismayed when this week I drew The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe From Each Year, 1941-2009. It's what it sounds like--one cookie recipe from each year of Gourmet's existence. It's fascinating to browse, since you can see how fashions in sweet treats changed over the decades, but since this is Gourmet we're talking about, many of the recipes are dauntingly complex.

I toyed with picking a recipe based on a significant year--my birthday, my husband's or daughter's, the year we married, etc. However, those years' cookies either looked beyond my skills or out of synch with my tastes, so I settled on the 1950 recipe.

Chocolate Wafers

- 3/4 c. butter
- 1 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 T. rum extract (I used 2 tsp. rum)
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 c. sifted flour
- 3/4 c. cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter, gradually add sugar, and cream together till light and fluffy. Add rum extract and egg and beat thoroughly. Sift together dry ingredients, then add to the wet ingredients gradually, mixing well after each addition. Roll the dough out 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured board and cut it with a floured cookie cutter into rounds about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Place the rounds on an ungreased baking sheet in a 375 F oven and bake for 8 minutes.

I did fine with this recipe until the time came to roll the dough. On the advice of notes at the bottom of the recipe, I'd chilled it overnight in the fridge, and it was far too stiff to flatten out as much as needed. So I ended up rolling it into balls and pressing into rounds by hand. Not as pretty and uniform, but they baked up just fine:

This is a seriously rich and chocolatey cookie. I think I'd like it better if it were a bit lighter--more buttery, and with vanilla instead of rum, maybe. Which didn't stop me from eating half a dozen or so, however...