Ben Cooks Everything

Have you guys been following the slog (a combination of ‘salon’ and ‘blog,’ oh brother) over at the recently relaunched bittman.com? It’s quite good, kind of like the blog that I always hoped the now defunct Bitten blog at the NYTimes site would be. In addition to regular posts from the man himself, there’s a rotating cast of bloggers writing about recipes, cooking methods, politics of food, and everything in between. Included in this stable is Cathy Erway of Not Eating Out In NY and lately of Lunch at Sixpoint, who recently wrote about making herb butter, the best way (after pesto) of preserving fresh herbs in your freezer. (more…)

Remember last year when I went to New Hampshire with Melanie to stay with her mother and aunt? No? Well, it happened. Mel’s mom Donna made an incredible brisket, and I made a couple salads from How to Cook Everything, and it was just one of the most relaxing weekends and delicious meals of my life. Last weekend we returned, and on Saturday night Donna turned the kitchen, and the grill, over to the kids. (more…)

When my friend Jen asked me a few months ago if I wanted to go in on a CSA share from the Piggery, a pork farm near Ithaca, NY, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Weekly deliveries of pork, charcuterie, bacon, cooking lard,* and who knows what else? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. (more…)

Last night on The Real World, while some dumb kids said really stupid things to one another, the BEST THING EVER HAPPENED. (more…)

Just a quick note to let you all know that I was interviewed for this week’s Last Chance Foods segment on WNYC’s All Things Considered. I chatted with Amy Eddings about July 4th, the patriotism of eating locally and what’s in season at the market, as well as a red, white and blue recipe for Queso Fresco Salsa with Blue Corn Chips (I made it for taco night here). You can see the writeup of the segment on WNYC’s Culture page here, and listen to the piece tonight on WNYC, 93.9 FM or AM 820 if you’re in the greater New York area, or on WNYC’s live web stream here (I’m told it should air at about 5:40pm). The audio from the piece should be up on the website after it airs this evening.

Patriotic Eating: Beyond Red, White and Blueberries [wnyc culture]

Well, this week’s Minimalist is another show stopping 101 column: 101 Fast Recipes for Grilling. The list is full of winners; can’t wait to cook a few of these this summer. It’s too early to pick a favorite, but I’ll leave you with this:

46. Not so easy, but so impressive: Stuff squid bodies with chopped chorizo (optional), garlic-toasted bread crumbs, lemon zest and parsley. Close with toothpicks. Char quickly over a very hot fire.

Oh, and the video is SUPER kooky.

101 Fast Recipes for Grilling [nytimes]
Actually Grilled Cheese [nytimes video]

Bringing lunch to work is a win-win proposition in my book: you save money, and what you eat is tastier (usually) and healthier (usually) than what you’d buy on your lunch break. Salad, however, poses a problem. What started out last night as a delicious plate of greens is nothing more than a mushy pile of yecch by lunchtime today.

Well, fellow Serious Eats contributor Maggie Hoffman over at Pithy and Cleaver has a solution: skip the greens altogether. Her Chinese restaurant inspired Crunchy Cucumber Salad has all crunchy ingredients (plus sauteed shiitakes) smothered in a peanut sesame dressing (go check it out). I wanted to replicate this, but my salad had to go with the White Beans with Sausage and Greens I was making for dinner (more on that soon), so I switched in a simple lemon vinaigrette for the peanut sauce, and voila: a salad that’s even better the next day. It’s not so different from Bittman’s recipe for Chopped Salad, so we’re going to go ahead and check that recipe off the Everything list, too.

Here’s a nice, substantial salad that you can eat as a main course or a side–I had it as a main, and it was nice and hearty yet light enough for a hot summer day.

You just sautee some garlic, ginger and cumin (I added green garlic to the mix, which worked great) and then add chickpeas and stir until they’re coated in the seasonings. Then you just add some honey and vinegar and mash up some of the chickpeas to give this dressing a bit of texture. That goes into a bowl with some sliced shallot or red onion and arugula, mix it up, and you’re done. I added some cheese, because hey, why not?

For Mother’s Day, I was off on a trip to Montreal. Whoops! But as soon as I got back, I headed straight to my parents’ place and made Mom dinner. It had to be fast, and it had to be special, so I pulled some tomato sauce out of the freezer and went to the Greenmarket to get some super fresh scallops from Blue Moon.

This recipe is a variation on Quick-Braised Fish Filets in Tomato Sauce. It’s great over pasta. Throw in a salad, you’ve got a special home cooked meal that doesn’t take much time to prepare. You lightly dredge the scallops in flour, brown them quickly on each side over high heat.

Remove them from the pan and throw in some garlic and onions, then some white wine, then tomatoes (canned works well here). Or, you could do what I did, which is just dump in some pre-made tomato sauce. You could probably even get away with using a jar, though it’s not much easier than just adding a can of crushed tomatoes. Once the sauce is hot, lower the heat a bit, return the scallops to the pan until just done (do NOT overcook them!). I garnished with green garlic, which is great if it’s in season and you can find it. Otherwise, some parsley or scallion does the trick. That’s it. Spoon some scallops and sauce over a bowl of pasta, and you have something super classy that took almost no time to make.

It was Mom’s birthday yesterday, so I guess I better start planning another special dinner…

In March, I visited some friends in San Francisco. It was my first time visiting the city as an adult, and I had an incredible time enjoying the weather, seeing old friends and eating like a madamn. There’s so much great stuff to eat there. The full list of where I ate is here. Some thoughts:

-The coffee scene out there is stellar. Not only is the coffee great, the service is friendly and refreshingly non-snobby. There’s a prevailing attitude of “we want our customers to learn more about their coffee,” rather than “we know more about coffee than you, and we’re going to act like it” that you get here in NYC (looking at you, Ninth Street Espresso). That being said, I did not have a single coffee drink that was as good as Abraco here in the East Village. And it should be said that the staff at Abraco is just as friendly as any I met in SF, if not more so.

-Oh god, the burritos! I am so ashamed of our burrito scene in NYC.

-The overarching theme of my food experiences in San Francisco has to be one of justified hype. So many places I went to expecting to be let down by all the glowing reccomendations–Blue Bottle Coffee, Tartine, all the tacquerias, the Ferry Building, Cafe Zuni, Four Barrel, Burma Superstar–but left thinking, wow, it was that good. Except…

-I ate with some friends at the Cafe upstairs at Chez Panisse. The meal was delicious, and I’m glad I went. But I was not blown away–the snacks we’d had earlier in the evening to tide us over at Bar Tartine were less expensive and more interesting, not to mention tastier.

More food porn from my trip can be found here.

Below, a recipe for really authentic Mission style burritos. Many thanks to Felicia Wong for teaching me this recipe.

Authentic Mission Burritos
Adapted from Felicia Wong
Yield: 6 burritos.

1) On your way to SFO, stop at your favorite San Francisco burrito joint and order six burritos without avocado, guac or sour cream.

2) Pack them securely in your carry on luggage. Protect them with your life. Check every 10-15 minutes on the plane to make sure they’re not getting crushed under your feet.

3) When you get home, put them in the freezer.

4) When ready to eat, heat in a 300 degree oven for about an hour, until soft and warmed through.

5) Enjoy while contemplating a move to San Francsisco.