New Ideas for Recipe Design

Check out this amazing contest from the folks over at GOOD Magazine:

http://www.good.is/post/project-redesign-the-recipe

They want recipes designed in a new, graphic format, submitted only as a .jpg!  I'm working on mine right now, inspired by Carl Kleiner and his beautiful photos for the Ikea Cookbook.  Here, I'll throw you a bone:

Carl Kleiner/ Ikea / Styling Evelina Bratell / Vaniljhorn

Say It With Me: "Broo-SKATE-ta"

As overdone as bruschetta is, it's still one of the best and cheapest go-to dinners del mundo, especially if you eliminate tomato and basil from the equation.  In this version, I opted for:

Seared Beef + Blood Orange Sour Cream + Dill

My method for searing beef requires a powerful exhaust fan and a resistance to teasing ("my eyes are burning, are you cooking again?").  First of all, you'll need a sheet of plastic wrap and a heavy object.  Place each piece of steak on the plastic wrap, fold to cover, and smack the living hell out of it in the name of tenderization.  Get a cast iron skillet, turn that sucker up to full whack on the stove, let it get HOT, add a bit of oil and throw the pounded steak pieces on in.  I'm talking 30 seconds per side at most.  Let it rest for a good 10 minutes, then slice on the diagonal.

Mix some sour cream with the juice and zest of 2 blood oranges, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  If you've got fresh nutmeg, grate a tiny bit in as well, it will give you some complexity.  Make sure to add enough salt so that it doesn't taste like dessert.  

Take your excellent loaf of french bread and slice it.  Grease it up and toast it in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Slather on some sour cream, then the beef and the dill.  I've taken naps that required more effort.

Weeknight Kid Bait

So 5 year-old Ms. Thang says she would like chicken 'n' dumplins for dinner.

I check the kitchen.  I am confident I can oblige, not with the typical Southern-style flat-dough-noodle-clear-broth kid bait that worked me over as a child (sorry, Gramommy), but with a new spontaneously iron-cheffed version based around the limited stock involved in my Tuesday night fridge situation.

In said fridge I find...

+ 3 skinless chicken thighs  + self-rising flour  + half a bunch of dill  + eggs  + 2% milk  + whipped cream cheese  + 1 Spanish onion

I decide to work up something I've never tried before, which is my own version of a knedlach, just like the ones I was completely obsessed over when I studied in Vienna.  Quicker than my G-mommy's flat dough noodles but less time consuming and equally impressive.  

First I chop the onion and fry it up in some olive oil in a smallish stock pot.  I add the chicken thighs, salt and pepper and give'em 5 minutes to brown before adding water to cover, bringing it to the boil and then lowering the heat to poach the chicken and develop a broth. 

4 cups of the self-rising flour go into a large mixing bowl with a healthy shaking of sea salt and white pepper in addition to the finely chopped half bunch of fresh dill.  I heat 1.5 cups of milk and the small tub of whipped cream cheese on the stove until melted, then I stir the hot mixture into the flour.  At this point it should still be a bit dry.  Beat 2 eggs very well with a fork and then add them to the dough and stir a bit to combine.  Turn the dough onto a floured board and work it a teensy bit but NOT TOO MUCH.  I rolled dough chunks into long "snakes" and then cut the "snakes" into equal pieces.  There ya go.  Boil the dumplins (knedumps?  dumplachs?) in salted water and drain. 

By now those chicken thighs should be broken down and the broth should have luscious schmaltz pooling on its surface.  Try and spear a whole thigh, break it up into pieces in a bowl, throw out the bone and add some dumplins.  Ladle some of the broth on top.  Kids will run from down the street to accost you and steal your dinner.

Technique: The Mushroom Fry-Up

The most essential part of a mushroom fry-up in my book is the combination of lard and a rich deglazing agent with a lot of depth.  One in particular that I've been futzing about with lately is

A combo of 3 parts soy sauce, 1 part fish sauce

First fry your chosen mushrooms in lard and keep yourself from adding salt by whatever means necessary.  Once your mushrooms have a beautiful mahogany crust, douse them in the aforementioned ratio of soy and fish sauce.  Give them a toss and wait for all the liquid to evaporate.  Uuuuumami.