The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

I love trying “foolproof” baking recipes, unintentionally messing them up, and proving that no, they are not foolproof. But this New York Times recipe for Chocolate Dump-It cake actually worked. If a 9 months pregnant lady with a need to pee every 5 minutes, an aching back, and an intense chocolate craving can successfully make this, anyone can.

A few notes: I used a bundt pan because I don’t have a tube pan, worked fine. Definitely take the recipe seriously when it says to generously flour and butter the pan – I thought I did a good job but still had a few chunks missing from the top when I unmolded the cake (which doesn’t really matter because you cover it with icing). I think I’d prefer a little more chocolate and a little less sour cream in the icing, it was a bit too sour for me. And I used the double boiler per the recipe, but you could just as easily melt the chocolate in the microwave and stir in the sour cream later. But all in all, easy, very moist, and delicious. I immediately wished I had purchased raspberries and whipped cream to serve with it. Next time.

This recipe appealed to me because it is geared toward those who work in the food industry, as I do. What I didn’t realize is that it would turn out to be an excellent, quick red curry that is easy to alter as you see fit. I served this over chinese egg noodles, but it would be great over rice. I added sliced peppers, you could use whatever vegetable you wanted – eggplant, baby corn, sprouts, whatever. Even the shrimp is up for grabs- make it completely vegetarian, use chicken, pork, or beef, whatever. Thanks Mario.

Beans and Tuna is a horrible name for a delicious, easy, no-cook supper. I couldn’t come up with anything better though, so Beans and Tuna (B&T?) it is.

B&T – serves 1
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 small red onion, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
several filets from jarred Italian tuna in oil (I used Tonnino), rough chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
3 tbsp capers (optional)
1-2 tsp olive oil (only if you feel it needs a bit more glue)

Mix all of these things together. If you have time, chill the bowl for 10-20 minutes. Eat. The end.

I was craving chocolate this week, so I looked through my many, many cookbooks and found nothing chocolate that I wanted to make. I did find two pound cake recipes that looked good, so I figured I’d do a taste test: Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake vs. Aunt Rose’s Pound Cake, both from the Gourmet Today cookbook (but also available online). Elvis is the larger cake, Aunt Rose the smaller, below.

There are a few main differences between the recipes. For Elvis, you sift the flour three times, add salt and cream, and beat for an extra 5 minutes before baking. For Rose, you only sift once, add cream cheese instead of cream, and no extra beating. (Rose’s batter tasted better, hands down.)

Aside from the sifting (who would have thought I would willingly sift flour three times instead of just skipping that step?), both cakes were easy to make, especially with the aid of my new stand mixer. But which was better?

Up to the taster, really. Elvis has a lighter texture with more vanilla flavor (surprising given that the batter was bland) and is not overly sweet. Rose is very dense from the cream cheese, with a richer, slightly sweeter flavor. I’d say if you’re looking for a pound cake to eat by itself, go with Rose. If you’re looking for a dessert component to serve with whipped cream and raspberries, Elvis is your man.

Last night I made fettuccine alfredo, because it is 10 degrees here and if you don’t eat something really fattening and delicious, you die.

I’m not posting a picture of my dinner, because truthfully, fettuccine alfredo is pretty gross looking and the sight of it really takes away from how wonderful it tastes.

Here is the recipe, from Giada. Now that I know what a difference the lemon makes in this dish, I’m never making it without. I did not include the nutmeg, because I think that’s stupid.

It turns out that Italian Wedding soup is pretty easy to make, pretty easy to make a lot of, and pretty easy to make delicious. It is also pretty tasty on a cold winter night.

Italian Wedding Soup:
1 yellow onion, grated and divided into two piles
1 clove garlic, grated and divided into two piles
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup plus 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped parsley divided into two piles
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
tsp olive oil
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups spinach
1 cup ditalini or other small pasta (plus another cup if you like a lot of pasta)
Juice of half a lemon (optional)

Mix the ground beef, half of the onion, half of the garlic, half of the parsley, 1/4 cup parm, bread crumbs, milk, and egg in a bowl until combined. Roll tiny meatballs and place on a plate, then put the plate in the fridge so they can firm up a bit.

Saute the remaining onion and garlic with a teaspoon of olive oil on medium heat. Throw in some salt and pepper, stir for a few minutes. Add the wine, cook for a few minutes until slightly reduced. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice, cook on high until boiling. If you have some time, cover the pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes. If not, turn the heat to medium high, and throw in one cup of uncooked pasta. (If you like more pasta, cook the rest in water in a separate pot – you don’t want too much pasta cooking in the actual soup, it will overwhelm the broth). Then, toss in the meatballs. In about 7 minutes both your pasta and meatballs will be cooked. Throw in the spinach and stir it around, then ladle out the soup and serve, topped with the remaining parm.

There is a distinct difference between a Pittsburgh hoagie and a Boston sub. For one, you can’t pay someone to bake your Italian sub in Boston – there must be a blue law about it somewhere. You can get a hot steak sub, or a hot meatball sub, but ask someone to throw your Italian sub in the pizza oven for a few minutes and they look at you like you’re from, well, Pittsburgh. (Other differences: Boston subs have pickles, hot peppers, and more meat. Not necessarily bad things, but when you grow up with a hoagie, you’re a hoagie girl for life.)

I’ve become fixated on this difference in the last few months (read: intensely craving a Pittsburgh hoagie), so when I arrived back in my home town for the holidays I announced that I must devour the best sandwich within a reasonable distance. From that, the “sub crawl” was born. My family and I visited three sub shops within 2 hours, each ate 1/4 of each sandwich, and voted on the following metrics, ranked 1-3 (half points allowed):

Authenticity: Hoagie must be baked, and must have Italian dressing, no mayo.
Freshness: Vegetables (lettuce, tomato, onion), must be fresh.
Bread: Must have a baked crunch but be neither too hard nor too soft.
Meat Selection: Turns out that the only meats on Italian hoagies in Pittsburgh are salami and ham, plus provolone cheese. I never realized this. So this category turned into more of a “Meat taste” than meat selection.
Accompaniments: This didn’t factor into the overall score, but we did take note of them.
Price was not factored in, though they ranged from $6.95- 11.25.

Contender #1: Sam’s Subs, Fox Chapel.
Second Runner up with 8 points, mostly due to a poor showing on veg freshness and authenticity. The meats were heated up on the griddle, which gave them a bit of a char, and the actual sandwich wasn’t baked, so the bread was too soft. However, the excellent French fries would be a reason to go back, even though they did not factor into voting.

Contender #2: Italian Village Pizza, Fox Chapel:
First runner up with 9.5 points, only losing to Veltre’s due to vegetables being slightly less fresh. Others also thought there was too much dressing on this sandwich, but I disagree. Extremely tough call between this and our winner. (Also, no accompaniments to this sandwich, though it was a bigger sandwich in general.)

Contender #3: Veltre’s Pizza, Oakmont (pictured at top):
Overall Winner with 10.5 points, this sandwich scored no lower than a 2 in any one category, with a 3 for authenticity and “generous chips” as the accompaniment. Perfect amount of dressing, fresh veg, and nice crust on the bread. Exactly what I was looking for.

So there you have it. If you ever feel like eating a lot of processed meat to get your fix of an authentic Pittsburgh hoagie, run down to Veltre’s and enjoy!

Note: Now that I’m back in Boston, I will say that perhaps the best Boston sub is from Bob’s. And I do enjoy the pickles.

When I was a kid, my parents would go out on Saturday nights, and my brother and I would stay home and watch movies and play games, and eat Kraft Mac & Cheese. It was heaven. Ever since then, Kraft has been a cheap, easy, comfort food staple for me, and I always have a box in the house for emergencies. (My emergencies are typically food related.)

So when I saw this news story, relaying that Kraft is going to change their recipe, I was not psyched.  I agree that removing artificial flavors and colors is a good idea, but there is no way my mac & cheese is going to taste the same. I have two options: Buy a boatload of Kraft before January 2016, or find the closest possible substitute and start training my taste buds. So, in the name of science and my wallet, I have set out to try all* the mac & cheeses.

*By “all” I mean 4 at a time, because otherwise that’s just too much mac & cheese, even for me.

Round #1: Kraft against Back to Nature, 365 (Whole Foods Market Store Brand), and Annie’s

For purposes of this experiment, Kraft is the control variable, as it is my favorite and that by which all other boxed mac is judged. Also of note, I prepared all of these according to the instructions on each box, which had slight variations in amounts of milk and butter. Typically when I make my Kraft, I alter the recipe by adding less butter and more milk, and throwing in some shredded cheddar at the end – but  not for this experiment. In the name of science, no fancy alterations.

While none of these is going to break the bank, it is worth noting the cost of the contenders. Back to Nature was almost three times the cost of Kraft.
Kraft: $.99
365 (Whole Foods Market) Original Mac and Cheese: $.99
Back to Nature Organic: $2.79
Annie’s Original: $1.99

Now, to the cooking. The first big difference was the color and texture of the sauce. Clockwise from the top left, we have Annie’s, Back to Nature, 365, and Kraft. Kraft is clearly the most neon in color, and 365 has a paste -like consistency that really made me want to toss it in the trash without even tasting it.

Next, the noodles. The noodles were all very similar except for the box of 365, where they were shorter, fatter, and sturdier. All of the noodles cooked for the same amount of time, but 365 remained the most “al dente”.

I tasted 365 first, and Kraft last, primarily because a) I didn’t want to ruin the taste of the others with my love for Kraft and b) by the look of it I really thought I was going to hate 365.

I’ll just say it, the 365 looks gross when compared to the others, or when compared to what I think boxed mac & cheese should look like. The sauce is so thick that it didn’t seem to spread evenly over the noodles, even though I gave it a vigorous stir in the pan. (My dog highly enjoyed the bits that ended up on the floor.) And the color was more brownish than orange.
But, despite how off-putting it looked, I liked it. The sauce, while thicker than the others, was mild but flavorful, and the texture was actually fine. The noodles had more heft to them than Kraft, which I liked. There was also another, very pleasant, flavor that took me a few bites  to identify. Was it a smokiness? No.  Garlic? No. After awhile I realized that it has the same cheese flavor as Cheez-Its. Which was a bonus for me, since I love Cheez-Its.

Next up was Back to Nature (try to ignore the chipped bowl – I have a million bowls yet somehow I used the chipped one here). This was by far my least favorite. The consistency was chalky, and it had next to no flavor.  It wasn’t just bland, it was watery, and if I didn’t know it was supposed to have a cheese or cheese-like flavor, I’m not sure I would have guessed. This would need serious doctoring to make it worth eating. If this is what new Kraft is going to taste like, I quit right now.

Next, Annie’s. A bowl of Annie’s is, thus far, the closest approximation to Kraft. It looks very similar, the sauce makes enough to coat the noodles with a bit left over so it doesn’t get dry after a few minutes. The flavor is good, more mild and less salty than Kraft, but a satisfying cheesy blend.

And finally, the control. Note: I actually ate the bowl of Kraft for dinner, or as much as I could muster after all of the taste testing. Sadly, in this bunch of competitors there is just no comparison. Kraft is MUCH saltier (which isn’t necessarily a good thing, but definitely contributes to the flavor), and the fake cheese taste just wasn’t recreated anywhere else.

I’m soliciting requests/ideas for Round 2 competitors, and so far I’ve heard that I should try Trader Joes. Shoot me a comment if you think there is another brand worthy to go up against the gold standard. Until then, I’ll be squirreling away Kraft before the recipe changes…

I’ve made cacio e pepe before, I’ve even written about it here. And it’s been great, a basic Roman pasta with very few ingredients, easy to make and easier to eat. Then I read Mark Bittman’s piece on how to REALLY make this dish, and my whole world of pasta changed.

In his recipe, important components are a paste, made from the cheese and water, as well as the addition of the pasta water. But the real crux is the method – stirring the pasta vigorously to activate the starch. In all the years I’ve been making pasta, I’ve never heard of this process (perhaps it is a well kept secret), but now that I know, I will use it whenever appropriate. Once you try it, you’ll never look back.

picture from the new york times

In case the link doesn’t work, here’s the recipe, courtesy of Mr. Bittman and the NYT.

I have tried for years to find at least one Asian-inspired dish that I can cook well, and when I stumbled across this recipe for Curry and Yogurt Braised Chicken yesterday, I finally found it.  Things I love about this recipe:

1. Easy to make, and quick.
2. Ingredients are easy to find, but the dish still tastes like something you could get at your favorite neighborhood restaurant.
3. Inexpensive.
4. Healthy and filling. I used non-fat greek yogurt and served it over brown rice and spinach. (I also omitted the corn because I didn’t really understand why it was there in the first place.)

I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they have more flavor and become so tender (I simmered this for an extra 45 minutes), but you could substitute chicken breasts if you’d prefer. Either way, this is making its way into my regular rotation.

In case the link stops working, here is the recipe, courtesy of Food and Wine:

This winter is challenging every ounce of hope New Englanders can muster. Here is an easy pasta that can provide at least a little comfort amidst the snow, ice dams, and general crankiness.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
(serves 2-4)
1 lb orecchiette pasta (or other small pasta), cooked and drained with 1 cup cooking water reserved
1 lemon, cut in half
1 package fully cooked Italian sausage (sweet or spicy), casings removed and insides chopped
1 bunch broccoli rabe, blanched and chopped
1 cup breadcrumbs, panko or Italian
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil

Boil water and drop pasta into a large pot, to cook while you heat the other ingredients. In a large sauté pan, sauté garlic with the sausage (the oil from the sausage will cook the garlic). Once sausage is warm and garlic is cooked, add the chopped broccoli rabe and sauté until hot. Squeeze 1 half of lemon on top, stir, cover, remove from heat and set aside.

Reserving 1 cup of cooking water, drain pasta and return to its pot on medium heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, stir. Add 1/2 cup of cooking liquid, juice from the other half of the lemon, and 1/2 cup of grated cheese, stir until you have a sauce coating the pasta. Add more of the cooking liquid if necessary, or discard the rest. Add sausage and broccoli mixture, stir to combine. Serve topped with breadcrumbs and more parmesan cheese. Voila.