FOOD SHELF LIFE AND KITCHEN ORGANIZATION
How often do you look in your refrigerator and feel overwhelmed by a wall of food, fresh, not so fresh, leftovers, and take-home boxes from last night’s quick meal? Just like a clean desk, an organized refrigerator is inspiring. I rely more on my pantry than my refrigerator for staples such as beans, grains, and canned goods (home canned and purchased) as the basis of most recipes. The fresh additions are simply that and can be picked up easily and quickly. Our refrigerator is usually fairly bare, but it has a generous amount of cheese, ham or sausage, eggs (as these have a long shelf life), homemade jams, and apples, carrots, and beets (the longer-lasting fruits and vegetables). Shorter shelf-life food—fresh meats, leafy vegetables, and tender fruits such as berries—are bought the night before or the same day I plan to use them.
TASTE AS YOU COOK
This extends beyond tasting the dish because you are cooking it; you need to taste ingredients for freshness and for compatibility, too. Undersalting is a new trend based on the fear of high blood pressure. As noted in Kathleen Flinn’s terrific book The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, only five percent of our recommended salt intake is from home cooking, whereas one can easily exceed healthy salt intake by eating a large serving of packaged ramen in one sitting. And why do chefs use a salt bowl instead of a shaker? So that they can see how much they are using.
FRY THE ONIONS BEFORE THE GARLIC, AND GO SLOWLY
As they cook, onions will darken slowly as they change chemically, caramelizing and becoming sweet tasting. Their texture also changes, from crisp to soft and almost pudding-like. Garlic that cooks too long tastes bitter, so add it toward the end of cooking, and stop cooking as soon as it is softened. Do not wait until it is browned.
BIGGER PIECES OF ANYTHING TAKE LONGER TO COOK
In French cooking, much is written about julienned, diced, and minced ingredients, which simply refers to the size and shape of the cut food (sticks and cubes). There are two reasons for this. One is to better anticipate cooking time; the other is for aesthetics. Knowing this, you can adjust accordingly. You might want something more rustic with larger pieces; just cook longer and add more liquid if necessary.
SWEET POTATOES BAKE MORE QUICKLY THAN WHITE POTATOES
Yes, it’s true. And once you begin cooking more, you will begin to recognize which foods are faster finishers. Doneness is also a matter of taste in some cases, safety in others. While al dente is great for pasta, it is unsafe for chicken. It is fine for green beans but terrible for eggplant. Many foods finish cooking in surprising ways. Ceviche, for example, creates a cooked texture in fish through marinating. Parboiled green beans continue to cook when mixed with a vinaigrette. Sweet potatoes, depending on size, usually require only thirty minutes of baking time, whereas white potatoes usually require an hour.
RECIPES REVEAL COOKING PATTERNS
Technique in cooking schools includes knife skills and such cooking terms as dry and wet heat or braising and frying. I break it down a bit more by type of food as well as technique. You will notice there are similarities in how certain dishes are made. Soups almost always start with “first, caramelize the onions.” Then there is an addition of chopped vegetables and heated broth, waiting, and then blending, possibly adding a little cream at the end. Once you learn these patterns, you will feel free to try your own ideas, use what’s handy, and launch a whole series of recipes. That’s how I created many of the recipes in this book.
LEFTOVERS ARE NOT ALWAYS LEFTOVERS
As noted in the Roasted Turkey Breast with Fennel recipe (see page 187), some foods also taste great after the first time you serve them. Think of them as building blocks for other dishes. The leftover turkey breast can be transformed into a Waldorf salad, turkey enchiladas, and, of course, turkey breast sandwiches. The trick is to look at food with imagination. What does it taste like? How would this finished dish work as an ingredient? When our three kids were living at home, this trick was a time- and life-saver. I often slow-roasted an extra-large pork butt on Sunday, and it reappeared throughout the week in various transformations without the word leftovers passing from anyone’s lips.
SOME EXAMPLES
MASHED POTATOES: For a hearty breakfast the next morning, mix in a bit of grated parmesan and possibly a bit of kosher salt, and form into patties. Fry in butter until crispy and brown on each side. Serve with a fried egg for a hearty breakfast.
ROASTED PORK BUTT: Shred and pile into corn tortillas with a salsa for soft tacos.
RICE PILAF: Add cooked rice to soups for added texture. Our kids loved something called Cheesy Rice. They heated rice pilaf with grated cheese (whatever was around) in the toaster oven or microwave. Sometimes they added toasted nuts to the mess. It was amazingly good comfort food.
PLAIN RICE: The basis of rice pudding, cooked rice adds heft to vegetable casseroles, such as Vegetable Tian (see page 164).
COOKED GRAINS, SUCH AS QUINOA OR BARLEY: Repurpose with a strongly flavored vinaigrette, a generous amount of chopped flat-leaf parsley, and chopped tomatoes for a delicious salad. Add crumbled feta and you’ve got a complete meal. See also Three Salades Composées (see page 148).
COOKED BEETS: Dice and add a flavored vinaigrette, a few crumbles of goat cheese, and chopped toasted walnuts.
“BATCH PROCESS”
When Eric and I were dating and he was a single dad, his favorite term about anything that had to do with housekeeping was “batch processing,” which included washing the dishes and similar tidying-up chores.
While not entirely agreeing, I did fall into a rhythm of cooking certain foods ahead of time on the weekends and then finishing them throughout the week. Such tasks included grating cheeses, toasting nuts, baking sweet potatoes, making chicken broth and freezing some of it, starting crème fraîche or other sauces, pickling cucumbers or mushrooms, mixing yogurt or ricotta herbed cheese, and soaking and cooking beans. This preparation extends to all fresh foods upon purchase. I take time to wash and dry all lettuce and other soft-leaf vegetables before putting them away. During the week, when I came home after a long day, these inspiring “ready-made” ingredients made dinner easy and creative and provided some very healthy snacking for the kids.
WHY LET MEAT REST?
Roasts of beef, pork, lamb, and whole chicken should be allowed to rest 15 to 20 minutes after being removed from the oven so that the meat can finish cooking (internal temperature will go up another five degrees) and so the juices will reabsorb into the meat. A roast that is carved immediately will lose a great deal of its internal moisture.
HOMEMADE IS NOT ALWAYS BEST
This seems sacrilegious, but there are certain ingredients that really are too complex and fussy for most of us and can, in fact, discourage us from home cooking. I buy pizza dough already made from a number of sources, phyllo dough from various Armenian markets, pasta, and good-quality mayonnaise and mustards. However, when feeling ambitious and time allows, by all means try anything. Eric once tried croissants—he never did this again.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO COOK VEGETABLES AT THE LAST MINUTE
We all have memories of gray-green beans, overcooked and mushy, from long-ago family dinners. To make good-tasting vegetables without last-minute stress, throw them into boiling salted water, cook until their color heightens—bright green for green beans, for example. Drain and immediately cool in a bowl of ice water. Once cooled, remove them with a slotted spoon, dry completely with a towel, and save them until mealtime to heat in a sauté pan with warm, foamy butter, salt, and herbs or spices.