Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2018 i Cook's Country

LIGHTER FLUID CAN impart unpleasant flavors to grilled food, so we use a chimney starter to light charcoal. These simple devices generally consist of a cylindrical body with a handle and two stacked chambers: the top one for charcoal and the bottom one for the fuel used to light the charcoal, typically newspaper. Since our last testing in 2009, our previous winner, the Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter, has been slightly updated with a more ergonomic handle, so we saw an opportunity to retest it alongside other new models. We rounded up six widely available chimney starters, priced from $14.99 to $29.95, and commenced testing. We lit 3, 6, and 7 quarts of charcoal in each starter and poured the briquettes into different formations to represent the many ways we grill—from…

COLONEL SANDERS FAMOUSLY touted the “eleven secret herbs and spices” in his fast-food fried chicken, but the real secret to its success wasn’t his flavorings—it was how he cooked it. Lore of the secret recipe overshadowed the little-known fact that Harland Sanders, the famous bowtied Colonel, used a covered pressure-frying machine to consistently produce juicy, deep-fried chicken in a fraction of the time traditionally required—a speedy technology still used today. While I didn’t have a pressure fryer, I was excited by the idea of faster frying. What’s more, I wanted to find a way to fry a full cut-up chicken (except the wings): two breasts (cut in half), two thighs, and two drumsticks in just one batch. Could I come up with a method for frying all the pieces together…

TO MANY, RANCH dressing invokes a feeling of nirvana, like what others may feel when they lounge on a tropical beach or sip vintage Bordeaux along the Seine. Heck, I went to school with a girl who was so smitten that she dipped her pizza in ranch dressing. And so a recipe for ranch-y roasted potatoes seemed like a surefire crowd-pleaser. To figure out how to season potatoes with ranch flavor, I ran dozens of tests to determine the right combination and ratios of herbs and spices. I settled on a carefully calibrated mixture of salt, pepper, onion powder, granulated garlic, fresh cilantro, and fresh dill. I tossed chunks of Yukon Gold potatoes—which we preferred to other varieties for their creamy texture—in olive oil and my ranch blend and roasted…

FOR YEARS, MY go-to to-go spot has been a Cuban rotisserie, so I’m no stranger to the simple but lively combination of tart citrus and sweet garlic that powers a great grilled mojo chicken. So when I got the assignment to develop a recipe for this dish, I figured, how hard could it be? Whip up a batch of mojo sauce, marinate some chicken in it, and roll the chicken around on the grill, basting as I go. But it turns out that not all mojos are created equal, as recipes use all sorts of ingredients in different ratios. Most mojo sauces I made in my early tests were too bitter with citrus pucker, harshly garlicky, or just generally out of balance. I set out to make a better mojo,…

TENDER STEAK BATHED in a garlicky tomato sauce sounds pretty good, right? The dish is called steak pizzaiola (“pizza maker’s steak”), and it’s a staple of old-school Italian American restaurants. I recently tasted this dish at a red-checkered-tablecloth place in New York and was blown away by the combination of sweet-sharp tomato and meaty steak. I was eager to cook up my own version. As part of my preliminary research I gathered six recipes that showcased most of the major variables (cuts of meat, cooking times, sauce styles) and prepared them for my colleagues. We were surprised at how different the completed recipes looked on the plate. At one end of the spectrum were versions that featured beautiful steaks quickly seared and dolloped with a spoonful of sauce; at the…

REMEMBER THAT OATMEAL cookie bar of your childhood? The one with a creamy milk chocolate center? One of our copy editors does. As soon as I described the three-layer treat that some call “revel bars,” she closed her eyes and traveled back to her Midwestern roots. “My mom made those when I was a kid.” That’s all I needed to hear. I committed to creating a recipe for this nostalgic favorite. Making a three-layer cookie bar can be trying. Usually, the project involves assembling and baking the dessert in stages, probably juggling a few hot pans along the way. I wanted something I could put together all at once and bake in one go. A standard trick for this kind of cookie bar is to make one dough work double…

SUMMER BLUEBERRY COBBLER Serves 8 You can substitute unthawed frozen blueberries for fresh berries, but increase the baking time in step 3 to 40 minutes. BISCUIT TOPPING 1½ cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour5 teaspoons sugar1½ teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon salt¾ cup buttermilk6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter FILLING ¾ cup (5¼ ounces) sugar1 tablespoon cornstarch1½ teaspoons grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon juice Pinch salt30 ounces (6 cups) blueberries 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. FOR THE BISCUIT TOPPING: Whisk flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl; set aside. Stir buttermilk and melted butter together in 2-cup liquid measuring cup (butter…

AUTHENTIC MARYLAND-STYLE CRAB cakes are made with little besides top-quality crabmeat. Sure, you need a few seasonings and a bit of binder—but not too much or you risk masking the fresh crab’s sweet flavor and plump, tender texture. I wanted to make similarly straightforward crab cakes the centerpiece of a summery one-pan supper that included sweet corn and crisp wedge fries on the side. I started with the crab cakes. Finding the right crabmeat can be tricky. Our advice is to skip the shelf-stable canned stuff and go to the seafood counter at the grocery store, where, if you’re lucky, they offer two good options: freshly cooked and picked crabmeat (expensive and delicious) and pasteurized crabmeat (which is less expensive and lasts longer). Both are good choices here. After blotting…

IF YOU’RE ORDERING the house special hot roast pork sandwich at John’s Roast Pork in South Philadelphia, you don’t have to wait in line; that deeply satisfying sandwich of roasted pork, braised spinach, and a noticeable kick of black and red peppers can be made in short order, and you’re allowed to weave through the lunch-rush crowd and up to the counter. You can be out the door while the other guy is still getting yelled at for ordering his cheesesteak all wrong. (“American wit’ extra” is the way to go [“extra” = onions].) At midday, John’s is a noisy place, thanks mostly to the yelling between the cashiers, line cooks, and back kitchen staff all jammed into a tiny shoebox of a building. By contrast, the cavernous Reading Terminal…

His iconic white suit is part of what makes Harland Sanders’s image an indelible one in the American food landscape, but according to Josh Ozersky’s biography Colonel Sanders and the American Dream (2012), the Colonel’s original suit was black. “It came with a string tie and was distinctive enough in its way, but something about it lacked oomph, panache.” Eventually, in a bid to portray the image of a “paternal-looking Southern gentleman,” Sanders bleached his beard and changed up the suit; as Ozersky tells it, “television producers told him the white suit made him stand out, giving him a visual signature.”…

I’M ALWAYS LOOKING for an excuse to fire up the grill. And when I’m grilling, flank steak is a cut I come back to time and time again. Flank steaks are big, are readily available in supermarkets, and have an intense beefiness that is enhanced by smoky grill flavor and pairs well with all sorts of bold marinades and sauces. But after reviewing a sampling of grilled flank steak recipes, I was left with a list of common questions. Is marinating the steak before grilling worth it? How do I cook the whole steak to medium-rare (as is often instructed) if it’s shaped like a wedge, with one end thicker than the other? And how do I get deep exterior browning without overcooking the interior? I set out to answer…

IF YOU ASKED me to choose a favorite summertime vegetable, I’d have a hard time choosing between tomatoes and corn. At peak ripeness, each is perfect on its own. But together? Even better. If, that is, you don’t mess with them too much. I wanted a simple salad with a subtle southwestern profile, just right for a relaxed summer supper—preferably outdoors. I started my recipe development process not in the kitchen but at the market. Heirloom tomatoes are great when you can get your hands on them. Juicy and delicate, they usually can’t withstand shipping, so they’re more likely to be grown locally. But if your market’s fresh out at the moment, look for a tomato that has a strong fruity aroma and feels heavy with juice. I picked up…

Homemade flour tortillas are amazingly good—and easier than you think. HOMEMADE TACO-SIZE FLOUR TORTILLAS Makes 12 (6-inch) tortillas Lard can be substituted for the shortening, if desired. The warm water makes the dough easier to roll out. 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour1¼ teaspoons salt5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into ½-inch chunks⅔ cup warm tap water1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1. Combine flour and salt in large bowl. Using your fingers, rub shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in warm water until combined. 2. Turn out dough onto counter and knead briefly to form smooth, cohesive ball. Divide dough into 12 equal portions, about 2 tablespoons each; roll each into smooth 1-inch ball between your hands. Transfer dough balls to plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate…

WEEKNIGHT DINNERS DON’T have to be ho-hum—in fact, they ought to be lively and interesting enough to power you through the midweek doldrums and into the weekend. I set out to create a decidedly not-boring recipe for meaty pork chops bathed in a sweet but lively sauce. There was one caveat: The sauce needed to be flavorful but not cloying or too sour. First I had to decide which chops to use. I was after a quicker-cooking kind of chop here, so two types of chops were immediately off the list: those that were superthick and those loaded with fat and connective tissue and needing a long braising period to tenderize. After running through a series of kitchen tests, I settled on ¾-inch-thick bone-in rib chops—these were big enough to…

AFTER I TRIED my first malasada, something was very clear: I should have ordered two. The soft, pillowy balloon of dough—fried in hot oil and then tossed lightly with sugar—featured a mesmerizing, faintly crisp exterior and a tiny hint of chewiness inside. Soft, sweet and satisfying, it was unlike any doughnut I’d crossed paths with before. With roots in Portugal, these rounds of fried dough traveled with a dias-pora that landed in ports around the world. Today, it’s a household staple in Portuguese American communities from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to Honolulu. In fact, in Hawaii, malasada bakeries enjoy cultlike status. They’re a perfect breakfast before a day spent outdoors, whether on the beach or under a waterfall. Early tests of existing recipes revealed one blunt truth: Malasada dough is wet!…

BREAKFAST, BRUNCH, LUNCH, dinner, even as a midnight snack—no matter when you eat them, omelets are quick, filling, and satisfying. But many cooks are intimidated at the prospect of making them at home—no one wants to eat a rubbery or, worse, soupy omelet, and there’s always the fear of mangling one. I wanted to soothe nerves and find an easy way to make tender, fluffy omelets with customizable stir-ins that required little to no cooking time. Which kind of omelet was best here? A French omelet is lightly cooked; is very moist, pale, and smooth; and is typically rolled into a cylinder. An American omelet is chunkier and more rustic; is cooked until lightly browned, and is commonly served in a half-moon shape. What I like best about the American…

HOMINY, THE OVERSIZE and deeply flavored corn kernels essential to Mexican cooking (see “Big Corn, Big Corn Flavor”), is called posole in Spanish. But posole is also the name of the robust, long-simmered soup made with those kernels; it is typically made with either pork or chicken and can be green or red depending on the type of chiles that bolster it. I figured posole was a great candidate for the slow cooker, so I chose my favorite version, red pork posole (we’ll save the green version for another day), and got cracking on a recipe for this deeply satisfying soup. The recipes for slow-cooker posole that I found tend to take a simple approach; most of them call for tossing the pork into the cooker with chili powder, chopped…

Editor in Chief PICKLED WATERMELON RIND Makes about 1 quart Depending on the size of your jar, you may have extra brine. The important thing is to make sure the rind is fully submerged. You can experiment and add different combinations of spices to the brine. 2 pounds watermelon rind½ cinnamon stick1¼ cups cider vinegar1¼ cups sugar1½ teaspoons salt1 teaspoon black peppercorns1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds1 teaspoon coriander seeds 1. Using vegetable peeler, remove green skin from watermelon rind; discard. Using spoon, scrape any remaining pink flesh from white rind; discard. Cut rind into 2 by ½-inch strips. 2. Combine rind and cinnamon stick in 1-quart glass jar with tight-fitting lid. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat.…

YOU HEAR PHILADELPHIA, you think cheesesteak. But it’s time to shine the spotlight on the cheesesteak’s porky counterpoint. A Philadelphia roast pork sandwich is a glorious beast: thinly sliced seasoned pork; bitter, garlicky greens; a rich, herby jus; and a fluffy roll topped with sharp provolone cheese (and optional hot peppers). It’s not a shy sandwich, boasting a bold personality full of different flavors. It is a local triumph and a point of pride. After sampling many of these sandwiches in Philadelphia (see “Philly’s Other Sandwich”), we wanted to re-create them at home. I made five different recipes, two of which were modeled after the famous sandwiches from DiNic’s Roast Pork and John’s Roast Pork, both located in Philly. One recipe called for braising a boneless pork butt roast in…

SOME COOKS IN parts of the Bluegrass State have a unique approach to coleslaw: They swap out the mayonnaise for an unexpected ingredient: ketchup. The sweet-tangy condiment gives the slaw its subtle red tint and bright flavor. In examining and testing five recipes for red slaw, I learned that ketchup isn’t its only deviation from standard slaw. The red version is boldly flavored with hefty doses of vinegar, sugar, and spicy heat, and it makes its creamy cousin seem demure in comparison. And with such a lively dressing, Kentucky red slaw pairs beautifully with rich barbecue or fried chicken. To make my own version, I abided by Kentucky tradition and finely chopped (not shredded) a small head of cabbage, which gave me about 6 cups. The idea is that the…

I ADMIT, I was not a big asparagus fan until I tried it grilled. Far from the grassy, steamy, washed-out specimens I grew up loathing, good grilled asparagus tastes subtly nutty and sweet, with a deeply caramelized, slightly crisped exterior and a tender, bright-green interior. It’s one of my go-to summer side dishes, but I wanted to create a version that felt a little more special than plain grilled spears. Pairing the asparagus with ultrasavory prosciutto was the way to do it. As I read through the numerous prosciutto-wrapped asparagus recipes I’d gathered, I found that some called for grilling the spears before wrapping them, hot off the grate, in their salty blankets of prosciutto. Others instructed you to wrap the spears before they hit the grill. I tried batches…

WHEN COOK’S COUNTRY executive food editor Bryan Roof came back from a trip to Cayucos, California, raving about a smoked salmon taco served with a mustardy mayonnaise sauce and chopped apples, carrots, and celery, I was afraid the sunshine had gotten to him. But he swore that the combination of smoky fish, creamy sauce, and crunchy, fresh topping was unbeatable. I decided I’d give it a shot. At Ruddell’s Smokehouse (see “Smoke on the Water”) massive double-door smokers house giant baking sheets of salmon, which take on smoke flavors and, once brushed with a fruity glaze, a sticky-sweet exterior. Soon, that fish will be chopped up for tacos. Since most of us don’t have an industrial smoker at home, I needed a smoking technique that would produce a similar outcome…

NOTHING SCREAMS SUMMER like a juicy peach. After sinking my teeth straight into the prettiest of the sweet stone fruit, I save several peaches for baking projects. For a seasonal treat this year, I wanted to combine two of my all-time favorites: peaches and coffee cake. Incorporating the fruit into the coffee cake led me down a few different paths. I tried sandwiching peaches between two layers of batter, but the areas around the fruit became wet and gummy; plus, the baked cake lacked visual flair because the peachy treasures were hidden inside. I tried showcasing the peaches on top, snaking a coil of slices around the cake’s perimeter. But the fruit dried out and became leathery. Ultimately, I arranged the peach slices in a single layer over the cake…

STIR - FRYING IS FAST and easy. The prep takes a bit of work, but once all the ingredients have been chopped and measured, the cooking goes quickly. With that in mind, I set out to develop a speedy, easy, and flavorful shrimp and green bean stir-fry for two. Most recipes I found for this dish call for the same core ingredients: shrimp, green beans, garlic, ginger, scallions, and some mix of Asian seasonings. A few versions use three separate pans—one to blanch the green beans, one to fry the shrimp, and a third to make the sauce. That seems excessive—and like a lot of washing up. Could one pan do the trick? And since every home cook owns one, could that one pan be a nonstick skillet? The green…