When you get home, lift the lid and allow the liquid to cook down a bit while you’re getting the rest of dinner ready. Before serving, sample the juices and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Play with Your Food
A few bits of bacon make a wonderful addition to this stew. You don’t need more than five or six one-inch pieces, but they really enrich the broth.
If you like a thicker gravy, simply pour the juices into a saucepan and whisk in a mixture of 2 tablespoons softened butter and 2 tablespoons flour for every 2 cups of liquid. This is better than cornstarch, because it thickens and enriches the broth at the same time.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Banquet Crock-Pot Classics Beef Stew
Ingredients: Potatoes (potatoes, sodium acid pyrophosphate), cooked diced beef (beef, salt, rosemary extract), carrots, water, onions, seasoning (modified corn starch, hydrolyzed vegetable protein [corn, soy, wheat, autolyzed wheat extract, dextrose]), dehydrated potato, dehydrated onion and garlic, sugar, wheat flour, monosodium glutamate, caramel color, spice (contains sulfites), celery, beef fat (beef fat with BHT and citric acid), beef flavor (beef extract, flavors, autolyzed yeast, salt), salt, potassium chloride, soy lethicin, mono-and diglycerides with DATEM (diacetyl tartaric esters of monoglycerides).
Braised Orange Chicken
This recipe was discovered by accident, after we realized that we were completely out of the usual ingredients—apples and avocados. But this adaptation worked very well.
Time to the Table: 60 minutes Serves 4
Tricks of the Trade
If there’s too much oil in the pan from the chicken, olive oil, etc., the gravy will separate, so be sure to add the water.
A wonderful way to thicken your gravy is to mix equal parts of flour and butter into a paste (say 1 tablespoon of each) and whisk it into the mix. If the mixture becomes too thick, just add more half-and-half.
YOU’LL NEED
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium chicken, cut into 4 pieces
1 navel orange, peeled and cut into modest chunks
2 to 3 tablespoons triple sec liqueur
1 to 2 tablespoons water
2 large sprigs rosemary
1 cup half-and-half
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
IN A LARGE LIDDED POT
Over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and butter. When the butter is just melted, place the chicken in the pot to braise for about 5 minutes. Turn the pieces to brown the other side for five minutes or so.
Add the orange chunks and triple sec. Very carefully, immediately light a match to it and allow it to burn down. Add the water and 1 sprig of the rosemary, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover.
Allow this to percolate for about 45 minutes, turning the chicken perhaps once in the middle of the process.
FOR THE GRAVY
Remove the chicken pieces to a warm platter. Proceed with the gravy by increasing the heat to medium-high, and boiling the cooking liquid until it reduces by half, about 3 minutes. During this process, be sure to scrape up the chicken bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Add the half-and-half and the remaining rosemary sprig. Allow to bubble away for another two to three minutes, and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm over the chicken, but especially over mashed potatoes.
Play with Your Food
Apple and mushroom is another combination that works very well. Instead of oranges, add a chopped tart apple and flame it with calvados. While the pot is covered, sauté sliced mushrooms (darker varieties are tastier) and add into the sauce at the end.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: McCormick’s Chicken Gravy Mix
Ingredients: Wheat flour, modified wheat starch, dextrose, salt, whey solids, monosodium glutamate, chicken meat, chicken fat, silicon dioxide, onion, chicken broth, xanthan gum, chicken skin, yeast extract, spice, natural flavor, paprika, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, soy sauce.
Tricks of the Trade
Cook this dish with the lid off the pot. This will concentrate the flavor in the juices, which you’ll notice right away when you serve a little extra to douse your rice with.
Pork and Beans
This delicious comfort food can’t be beat for warm, homey flavor. The beans emerge with the nutty taste and texture of boiled peanuts. If you’ve never been to the South and nibbled on boiled peanuts, here’s your chance to try the flavor without having to make the trip.
Time to the Table: 3 to 4 hours Serves 15 to 18
YOU’LL NEED
1 16-ounce bag pinto beans, rinsed
2 quarts water
1 cup chopped onion
½ pound pork ribs
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
3 rosemary sprigs or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon pepper
TO A CROCK-POT
Add all the ingredients, turn the Crock-Pot on high, and leave all day long, until the beans are barely done. If cooking on the stove, add all the ingredients to a large stockpot, bring to a boil, and then simmer with the lid on until the beans are just soft (about 90 minutes).
Play with Your Food
This dish is wonderful with rice, some Tabasco sauce, and hot sausage on the side. Add a beer and you have perfect game-day food. If you don’t want to use pork ribs, spicy sausage will work just as well.
Add a pinch of allspice or cumin to give it more of a Jamaican twist. I also love the Cajun flavor that gumbo filé gives to beans.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Campbell’s Pork and Beans
Ingredients: Water, pea beans, high-fructose corn syrup, modified food starch, salt, tomato puree, distilled vinegar, oleoresin paprika, caramel color, flavoring.
Super Chicken Stock
Although the little cubes of chicken-flavored MSG ought to come with an FDA warning label, for a long time the thought of making my own chicken stock and storing it in the freezer seemed so time consuming. How much better could mine be to justify the time and energy? Given that I am putting this chicken stock recipe in this book, you probably already know the answer. The difference this stock made in my French Onion Soup, for instance, was stunning.
Make everything possible from this intense stock because its flavor drastically improves everything from sauces and risottos to chicken potpie—once you try it, you can’t go back to the cubes. Soon chicken stock becomes the reason to have baked chicken, instead of the other way around.
Time to the Table: At least 3 hours Makes 2 quarts
Tricks of the Trade
Don’t boil the stock over very high heat. This makes it cloudy. A simple simmer with the lid off is all you need.
The main trick to this stock is time. It takes a while to concentrate the savory flavors of the chicken and vegetables. That’s why we start with 3 quarts of water so we can end up with 2 quarts of stock.
YOU’LL NEED
Carcass of 1 baked chicken
3 quarts water
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons salt
3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, smashed
5 sage leaves or 2 teaspoons rubbed sage
Several turns of a pepper grinder, to taste
PREPARE THE CHICKEN
After you’ve had a baked chicken one evening, pick the majority of the meat off and cut the bones into 2-inch pieces.
IN A 4-QUART STOCKPOT
Add the chicken bones with the water and bring to a boil. Once the foam comes to the top, skim it away and add the celery, carrots, onion, salt, bay leaves, garlic, sage, and pepper.
Let it bubble away uncovered for half a day or so, until it cooks down by about a third.
STORING
Strain the stock, let it cool, and store it in a Tup
perware container in the refrigerator if you are going to use it within a week. Otherwise, store it in the freezer, where it will keep for up to 3 months.
Play with Your Food
Any number of vegetables go quite nicely into the stock base, although what French Cajuns call the “holy trinity” of vegetables—onion, carrot, and celery—are required staples in any variation.
The best, though, is the addition of a few ginger coins to the broth, which gives it a light lemony flavor.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Gia Russa Clear Chicken Broth
Ingredients: Chicken broth, chicken fat, salt, dextrose, seasoning (hydrolyzed soy, corn gluten, wheat gluten proteins, onion powder, modified corn starch, torula yeast, autolyzed yeast, natural flavor, garlic powder, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, soybean oil, thiamine hydrochloride, tartaric acid, gum arabic), monosodium glutamate, oleoresin carrot.
French Onion Soup
French onion soup is a dish that proves there’s an elegant genius to creating something out of even the most mundane ingredients. From the lowly onion, butter, flour, and cheese, this rich, delicious hot meal in a bowl emerges.
Tricks of the Trade
As in other matters of the skillet, time and flavor trade off. Leave the onions over medium heat and let them slowly sauté, to mellow the floury taste.
Likewise, after the stock goes in, allow the soup its full 40-minute covered cooking time. You’ll appreciate the results in the end.
Time to the Table: 1 hour Serves 6 to 8
YOU’LL NEED
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts chicken stock
2 tablespoons Emmentaler or Swiss cheese per person
1 baguette toast round per person
IN A SKILLET
Sauté the onion in the butter over a gentle medium heat until it softens (a good 15 minutes). Sprinkle in the flour and stir for another 2 minutes.
Add in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, and then simmer, with the lid on, for 40 minutes.
READY THE REMAINING PARTS
As the soup cooks, grate the cheese, and then toast the bread (baguettes, not surprisingly, work best for this). Simply ladle the broth into oven-safe bowls, top with the toast, and sprinkle with enough cheese to just cover the bread. Broil until the cheese wants to be golden and the soup bubbles up the side of the dish.
Play with Your Food
For a heartier soup, add some sliced mushrooms and chicken meat just after the flour is added. The smokiness of the mushrooms and the heartiness of the chicken are truly delicious and make this soup its own meal.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Campbell’s French Onion Soup
Ingredients: Onions, beef stock, salt, yeast extract, vegetable oil, potato starch, water, monosodium glutamate, caramel color, hydrolyzed yeast protein, enzyme modified cheddar cheese, beef fat, hydrolyzed soy protein, citric acid, spice extract, dextrose, hydrolyzed wheat gluten.
Tarragon Tuna Salad
This salad is an absolutely delicious rendition of an old standby. Whether you’re on the beach, at a picnic, or in your home, this dish stands out on a Saturday afternoon.
Time to the Table: 5 minutes Serves 2
YOU’LL NEED
1 can tuna packed in water
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon spicy mustard
Capers, to taste
½ teaspoon fresh tarragon
Salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
Drain the water from the tuna.
IN A MEDIUM MIXING BOWL
Mix the tuna with the mayonnaise, mustard, capers, tarragon, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Taste and fix the flavors to your liking.
Play with Your Food
After you do this once, don’t follow the precise ratio of ingredients anymore. This isn’t a chemistry experiment; it’s an exercise in flavor preference. Don’t fit your tastes to the recipe; fit the recipe to your tastes! For an open-faced tuna melt, lightly butter both sides of a bread slice, and brown each side over medium heat. As the second side browns, place sliced Cheddar cheese on the toast to melt. When the cheese softens, add a slice of tomato, a smear of mayonnaise, salt/pep-per/oregano to taste, and then tuna over the top. Try this with goat cheese and you’ll be hooked for good.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Chicken of the Sea Mayonnaise and Onion Tuna Salad Kit
Ingredients: Soybean oil, water, eggs, white vinegar, dehydrated onion, high-fructose corn syrup, salt, spice, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, calcium disodium EDTA, tuna (light tuna, water, vegetable broth, salt), bread crumbs (wheat flour, dextrose, salt, yeast), dried vegetables (diced bell peppers, dried celery, dried onion, sodium bisulfite).
Healthful Pepperoni Pizza
Pizza can be a health food when made with natural ingredients: bread, tomatoes, cheese, fresh vegetables, and spices. This recipe is delicious and couldn’t be simpler.
Time to the Table: 90 minutes Serves 6
YOU’LL NEED
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
Sturdy pinches to your liking of basil, oregano, salt, and pepper
¼ cup hearty red wine
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
25 pepperoni slices
FOR THE SAUCE
In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sauté the garlic for just a few minutes before adding in the tomato sauce, spices, and wine. Let this barely simmer for 10 minutes before correcting the seasonings. Let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
Tricks of the Trade
When the pizza comes bubbling out of the oven, it is very helpful to place it on a large wire rack-much like cookies-so that the bottom becomes crisp.
FOR THE CRUST
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar into the warm water for 5 minutes. Mix in the flour, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and mix until smooth. Check to see if it is too dry or too wet. A perfect dough should be just barely sticky. If too dry, add another tablespoon of water. Knead for a minute or two on a lightly dusted board and then set into a clean, oiled mixing bowl. Set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
ASSEMBLE THE PIZZA
Preheat the oven to 450° F.
Deflate the dough and roll it out onto a floured board with a rolling pin to make it the shape you like. Be sure to build up the edges so your sauce and goodies don’t leak off the sides. Place the dough on a pizza stone or pan and set in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread on the sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and any other toppings you have.
Reduce the oven temperature to 425° F. Return the pizza to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Pull it out when the cheese is golden.
Play with Your Food
Thinly sliced onions are great on pizza, as are all the usual suspects, such as sausage, peppers, and mushrooms.
Another smart adaptation: instead of making one big giant pizza, make several smaller “personal” pizzas that you can use for lunches. This allows everyone to doctor their pizzas to their own tastes.
FAUX-FOOD EQUIVALENT: Red Baron Pepperoni Pizza
Ingredients: Crust (flour, water, sugar, soybean oil, corn meal, yeast, partially hydrogenated oil with soy lecithin, TBHQ, citric acid, gluconodelta-lactone, encapsulated sodium bicarbonate, wheat gluten, salt, DATEM), toppings (low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese, tomato paste, water, pepperoni [pork, beef, salt, water, paprika, dextrose, natural spices, smoke flavoring, lactic acid starter culture, sodium ascorbate, flavoring, garlic powder, sodium nitrate, BHA, BHT, citric acid]), sugar, modified food starch, salt, spices, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed soy protein, hydrolyzed corn protein, paprika, garlic, onion.
French Onion Rings
Onion rings are one of those foods that have been maligned by mass production. That’s because you think of onion rings as coming out of deep-fat, trans-fat fryers. But French onion soup uses the very same ingredients: onions, oil, and flour. With this recipe, the onion rings turn out to be very good for you. So if anyone asks, just tell them you’re having French onion rings!
The French Don't Diet Plan Page 28
