Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2021 i Cook's Country

WHAT COULD BE simpler or more comforting than a golden, crispy-skinned, juicy chicken perched atop a heap of hearty, schmaltzy roasted vegetables? When I started to develop this recipe, I expected it to be a snap. But for such a seemingly straightforward idea, it’s surprising how fast it can go sideways on you. I first threw together a mixture of salt, pepper, and fresh thyme; rubbed a whole chicken generously with olive oil (to help the spice mixture stick and the skin crisp); and then tossed my favorite vegetables for roasting—potatoes, fennel, onion, and carrots—with the rest of the spice mixture and a bit more oil. I added the vegetables to an ovensafe skillet; plopped the bird on top; and put it all into the oven to roast, eager to…

THE INSTRUCTORS AT my French-technique-focused culinary school taught me how to make poulet à la moutarde, a dish of bone-in chicken parts slowly braised in a rich, creamy mustard sauce. The ingredient list was simple: chicken, onion, garlic, milk or cream, and Dijon mustard. Sometimes wine, crème fraîche, or an herb was added to the mix. But the finished dish was always greater than the sum of its parts—it made you feel like you were eating languorously at a bistro in Montmartre, sipping Chablis. Remembering my fondness for this dish, I set off to create a recipe that I could cook on any weeknight using boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Since chicken breasts are tapered, with one end thicker than the other, I first gently pounded them to an even thickness…

PARSNIPS DESERVE MORE love. These oft-overlooked hearty root vegetables, which look a bit like ivory carrots, have an alluringly floral flavor. They are at their best when browned or roasted to intensify their natural earthy sweetness. But parsnips present a couple inherent prep challenges. First, parsnips with larger, rounder heads usually have tough, fibrous inner cores that are best removed before cooking. And second, parsnips can be hard to cut into uniform pieces because of their dramatically tapered shape; their bulbous tops winnow down almost to a point. For this recipe, I found it best to use medium-size parsnips, with heads no wider than 2 inches, to avoid having to core them. For uniform pieces, I first halved the parsnips and then cut the halves on the bias into ½-inch-wide…

YOU KNOW HOW they say you eat with your eyes first? Well, “they” must be big fans of stuffed mushrooms, which are on the short list of foods that look great but typically fail to deliver once you take a bite. That’s because poorly made stuffed mushrooms can be squidgy and soggy in texture and bland with middling mushroom flavor. I wanted stuffed mushrooms with deep mushroom flavor and an irresistible, savory filling worthy of a grand soiree or a quiet night on the couch with a favorite movie. I started by stemming two dozen white mushrooms and seasoning the caps with oil, sweet-tart balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. For the stuffing base, I had potent hot Italian sausage in mind. But did I have to cook the sausage first?…

SAUSAGE LASAGNA Serves 8 to 10 Total Time: 2¾ hours, plus 45 minutes cooling You can use either sweet or hot Italian sausage here. A 1-pound box of dry lasagna noodles should yield enough for this lasagna, but sometimes it’s best to buy two boxes in case some of the noodles are broken. Note that the Pecorino Romano is ground in the food processor (it can also be purchased preground). Attach the shredding disk of your food processor to make quick work of shredding the mozzarella and provolone, or use the large holes of a box grater. SAUCE 1 (1-pound) fennel bulb, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored, and chopped coarse1 onion, chopped coarse3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage4 garlic cloves, peeled1 tablespoon fennel seeds½ teaspoon red pepper flakes1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive…

LOTS OF PEOPLE like fried rice, but I absolutely adore it—especially shrimp fried rice. Unfortunately I don’t eat it as often as I’d like, since I don’t usually have leftover rice and shrimp sitting in the refrigerator. I wanted to create a from-scratch recipe for irresistible shrimp fried rice for two. For a simple work-around to using leftover rice, I employed the easiest method I know for cooking rice: the pasta method. This technique involves boiling the rice in lots of water to cook it through and wash off excess starch that could cause the grains to clump when stir-fried. I chose to use large shrimp, since doing so would require less peeling and deveining prep. Marinating the shrimp for a few minutes in soy sauce and brown sugar (while…

13 Red Cabbage and Grapefruit Salad 5 Cast Iron Chicken and Vegetables 15 Mushroom Risotto 32 Skillet Candied Nuts 24 Sausage Lasagna 16 Spaghetti with Tuna and Capers 10 Sweet Potato Fritters 26 Beef Jerky 29 Slow-Cooker Apple Cider Pork 12 Crispy Fried Shrimp 21 Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms 22 Ganache-Filled Brownies 6 Pork Cacciatore 7 Skillet-Roasted Green Beans 9 Braised Lamb Shanks 19 Corned Beef and Cabbage Hash 28 Shrimp Fried Rice for Two 11 Chicken with Mustard-Cream Sauce 27 Pork Chops with Beans and Greens 20 Pigs in Blankets 18 Skillet-Roasted Parsnips and Pears RC Roast Chicken with Pan Sauce RC Turkey, Cheddar, and Apple Sandwich RC Tater Tot and Sausage Pizza RC Red Lentil and Squash Soup…

I HAVE A LIST of must-haves when it comes to fried shrimp: shrimp that are tender and juicy (not rubbery and overcooked), a coating that comes out of the fryer crispy (not soggy or greasy) and stays that way until the last shrimp is gone, and a sauce so good that I can’t stop myself from dipping. That’s exactly what I was after when I set out to develop my own fried shrimp recipe. First, I focused on the shrimp themselves. Since shrimp cook so quickly, I knew that I’d need to use large specimens that wouldn’t overcook in the hot oil before the breading could get crispy and golden brown. I opted for extra-large shrimp, since they’re more common and slightly less expensive per pound than jumbo (see “What…

IT’S LATE AFTERNOON on a Wednesday, and the sun has just sunk behind the horizon. I’ve spent the day at home, juggling work, kids (three), and a brand-new puppy. My stomach is rumbling, but my energy reserves are running short—the last thing I can imagine doing is going to the grocery store. Instead, I’ll dive into the pantry. Good news. There’s a can of tuna. There’s a box of spaghetti, a jar of capers, a head of garlic, and some red pepper flakes. Oh, and in the refrigerator, there’s half a bunch of parsley and a wedge of Parmesan cheese. “Good news, kids!” I shout. “It’s pasta night!” I’m a die-hard fan of simple pasta dishes such as aglio e olio, the streamlined Italian dish of noodles, olive oil, garlic,…

WHO SAYS A brownie has to be a square? Not the crew at Lauretta Jean’s Pie Bakery in Portland, Oregon (see “Portland’s Sweet Spot”). There, the brownies in the pastry case look more like muffins—squat, chewy little cylinders full of chocolate flavor, with rich chocolate ganache in the middle. I was inspired to make my own version. I started with an easy test-kitchen brownie recipe that uses chocolate chips instead of chopped chocolate. I found that using a high-fat Dutch-processed cocoa was essential for moist brownies here. For the ganache, I unlocked just the right ratios of melted chocolate and heavy cream to create a fudgy, truffle-like texture. And for the top, a sprinkle of crunchy sea salt! CHOCOLATE GANACHE–FILLED BROWNIES Serves 12 (Makes 12 brownies) Total Time: 1¾ hours,…

WE LOVE USING our slow cookers all year round (Who wants to turn on their oven on a sweltering summer evening?), but these appliances feel uniquely well suited for the comforting stews and braises we crave in the cooler months. One such dish is pork roast with apples and/or cider, a classic combination that works so well because apples are both sweet and acidic: Their sweetness enhances the pork’s natural flavor, while their acidity helps cut through the pork’s richness. Cook’s Country has a great recipe for Cider-Braised Pork Roast (December/January 2016) cooked in the oven, but I wanted a version I could make in the slow cooker. A common issue with slow-cooker braises is that without much evaporation, the braising liquid often turns out watery and bland rather than…

WHETHER WE’RE TALKING about brussels sprouts, butternut squash, broccoli, or beets, my go-to method for cooking most vegetables is to toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then roast them in the oven. The high, dry heat gives them deep browning and concentrates their flavors by cooking off some of the vegetables’ moisture. But I’ve never really gotten great results from oven-roasting green beans; they usually turn out dry and leathery. You can sauté green beans in a skillet on the stovetop, but it’s hard to not overcook them into mush by the time you get good color (unless you precook the beans first, and who wants to add a step?). Undeterred, I set out to achieve the ideal roasted green beans. I wanted them to be fully…

I HAD JUST WRAPPED up frying a few batches of battered shrimp, and as my hand reached out to shut off the burner under the oil, I paused and thought, is there anything else in my refrigerator to fry? (We test cooks are a strange breed.) As I held the refrigerator door open, I briefly considered the cookie dough on the second shelf before training my eyes on a more promising ingredient: leftover mashed sweet potatoes. With one eyebrow raised, I carefully dropped a few spoonfuls of the cold mashed sweet potatoes into the hot oil and peered into the pot. After a few minutes, the blobby spoonfuls transformed into little bronze nuggets. I pulled them out of the oil and then drained and salted them before taking a bite.…

THE SHORT WINTER days make me crave something bright, fresh, and crunchy to add a little extra sunshine to my day. That’s what brought me to this bold salad made with winter produce. While both red and green cabbage have nice crunchy textures, red cabbage was my choice here because it is a little sweeter and more floral. So I started building this salad by thinly slicing half a head of red cabbage. Another wintertime favorite: citrus. Orange slices were OK here, but sweet, tart, juicy grapefruit segments were even better. To make the grapefruit pieces easier to eat, I cut the fruit into supremes, which are wedges free of the bitter white pith and membranes. It took a little extra work (see “Cutting Grapefruit Supremes”), but the results were…

FIVE TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST FOOD IN YOUR COOKER 1 Brown food outside the cooker Browning adds flavor, and you can do it either at the beginning or at the end of a slow-cooker recipe. Practical application: Brown meat for stew in a skillet on the stovetop before adding it to the slow cooker with the broth and vegetables, or run slow-cooked chicken parts under the broiler to brown them before serving. 2 Season heavily Slow cooking can mute flavors, so we like to use lots of potent ingredients to build big flavor in slow-cooked dishes. Practical application: Add strong ingredients such as garlic, citrus juice, vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, tomato paste, dried mushrooms, and spices to slow-cooker recipes. 3 Use a thickening agent The covered environment…

IT’S TWO WEEKS before Thanksgiving 2019, and Lauretta Jean’s Pie Bakery in Portland, Oregon, is in full swing. In addition to the brunch menu and baked goods on offer, the staff is busy preparing more than 1,000 pies for the upcoming holiday. Owner Kate McMillen levels with me: “It’s just, like, supernuts right now.” In the kitchen, there’s a frenzied assembly line. “Someone’s mixing, someone’s wrapping [dough], someone’s rolling,” she says. The walk-in freezer is stacked with hundreds of crimped doughs in Pyrex pie plates, and a rented refrigerated truck behind the bakery is ready to accommodate the overflow. “It’s controlled chaos. It’s a ton of work, but when you’re working hard with people who like to work hard, it can be really, really fun. That’s what we’re going for,”…

LIGHTLY SWEET PORK chops and pleasantly bitter dark leafy greens are a fantastic, time-tested pairing. I set out to build on these ingredients’ delicious assets with a relatively fast square meal that used only one skillet. To get started, I chose meaty 1-inch-thick rib chops because they’re tender and flavorful, and, at an inch thick, one chop is the perfect hearty portion for one person. I sprinkled the raw chops with plenty of salt, freshly ground black pepper, and ground fennel; fennel’s sweet, licorice-like flavor is a great partner for pork. Then I seared the chops in a bit of olive oil in a nonstick skillet before transferring them (still not fully cooked) to a plate while I got on with the greens. I tried collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard…

SKILLET CANDIED NUTS Serves 4 (Makes ½ cup) Total Time: 25 minutes Any variety of nuts can be used here, but we’re partial to cashews, pistachios, and almonds. Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you start cooking. As the sugar caramelizes toward the end of cooking, it may start to get a little smoky; this is OK. ½ cup coarsely chopped raw, unsalted nuts1 tablespoon water1 tablespoon sugar⅛ teaspoon table salt 1. Toast nuts in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until fragrant and spotty brown, about 3 minutes. Quickly add water, sugar, and salt and stir with rubber spatula to evenly coat nuts. 2. Cook, stirring often, until sugar mixture caramelizes and nuts begin to clump together, 2 to 3 minutes. Quickly transfer nuts to…

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE Serves 4 (Makes about 3 cups) Total Time: 35 minutes, plus 8 hours chilling We prefer bar chocolate from brands such as Ghirardelli or Callebaut for this recipe. We use a glass bowl for the double boiler because glass conducts heat more evenly and gently than metal. Top the mousse with our Skillet Candied Nuts (page 32), if desired. 12 ounces white chocolate, chopped fine3 large egg yolks1 cup heavy cream, chilled5 ounces (1 cup) frozen raspberries4 teaspoons sugar4 teaspoons lime juice 1. Stir chocolate, egg yolks, and 2 tablespoons water together in medium glass bowl with rubber spatula. Set bowl over large saucepan of barely simmering water (water should not touch bottom of bowl) and cook, stirring and scraping sides of bowl constantly,…