Читать книгу The Urban Forager - Elisa Callow - Страница 8
ОглавлениеGetting Started: An Appeal for Planning
Over the past few years, I have found ready-made food to be less and less satisfying compared with homemade dishes. While homemade can mean more work, the benefits far outweigh the time required. Let’s consider two scenarios.
SCENARIO ONE: THE READY-MADE DINNER
What you do: Purchase roasted chicken, boxed pilaf, frozen peas, salad in a bag, and bottled ranch dressing after work for dinner that evening. (Note: For a family of four there will be no leftovers, as most precooked chickens are on the small size. They are rarely organic.)
Total time: 45 to 60 minutes (includes driving to the store, selecting food, waiting in line, driving home, cooking the peas and pilaf).
CALORIE COUNT: 600 to 1,200, depending on number of servings.
SCENARIO TWO: DINNER MADE BY YOU
What you do: The day before your evening meal, you purchase one organic roasting chicken, butternut squash, a fresh lemon, and two heads of organic red leaf lettuce. You have on hand olive oil and vegetable oil, sherry vinegar, soy sauce, long-grain rice, butter, black pepper, garlic, and canned chicken broth.
That day or evening, you marinate the chicken pieces in a mixture of vegetable oil, soy sauce, crushed garlic, salt, and lemon juice and store in a Pyrex container. You halve the butternut squash, seed each half, brush with olive oil, add salt and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
The day of dinner, you roast the chicken and bake the squash at the same time. You make a double recipe of vinaigrette with olive oil, garlic, sherry vinegar, and salt and pepper. And you make a double recipe of pilaf by adding a tablespoon of butter to the saucepan, adding the rice, and cooking until golden, then adding hot chicken broth and simmering on low heat for 15 minutes.
TOTAL TIME: 55 minutes (includes shopping and active cooking time, prep the night before, and final steps the day of the evening meal. It does not count the roasting time, which requires none of your attention except to check for doneness).
CALORIE COUNT: 450 to 900, depending on the number of servings.
As this chicken is larger, you should have enough cooked chicken and rice for a second one-dish meal, such as chicken and rice soup (for four), chicken salad (for four), or chicken enchiladas (for four), thus saving time, energy, and $$$, as well as being assured of the quality of the ingredients.
NOW, COMPARE THE SCENARIOS
There is little difference in time expended; rather it has more to do with planning. Imagine how much better you might feel at the end of a workday knowing that most of dinner is waiting for you. All you have to do is roast the chicken and the squash while you relax, change your clothes, help your kids do their homework, take a walk—anything but wait in line at the supermarket at the busiest time of the day. Leftovers are transformed and elevated into a completely new meal on night two. Enough said.
WHAT TO KEEP ON HAND
Once you become more secure with cooking techniques, you will waste less and might even find yourself experimenting more freely with ingredients. I have learned from years of cooking for myself, my family, and friends that certain ingredients are key to many dishes. Having these “food tools” on hand allows me to be creative without a great deal of effort or last-minute running around. The list below is designed to help you develop your own kitchen as a place for inspiration, confidence, and readiness.
ON THE COUNTER
Avocados
Bread, homemade or from a great bakery
Citrus fruits, including lemons and limes
Garlic, ginger, onions, shallots
Potatoes of various types, yams
Stone fruits such as peaches, apricots, plums
Tomatoes
IN THE REFRIGERATOR
Butter
Cheeses: whole parmesan, gruyère, goat, jack, manchego, cotija, feta
Crème fraîche, mayonnaise, and yogurt
Eggs
Fruits and vegetables requiring refrigeration, such as lettuce, fresh herbs, and summer squashes
Masa for tortillas
Mustards: Dijon and yellow
Whole milk, buttermilk, and cream (avoid ultra-pasteurized; much of the good bacteria that creates cultured-milk products, such as crème fraîche and yogurt, are destroyed)
Wine and bubbly water
Yeast
Why no juices? Because they are full of sugar without the positive nutritional benefits of fresh fruit’s fiber.
IN THE FREEZER
Chicken, cut up
Chili, homemade, or other dishes that freeze well, such as beans and soups without dairy ingredients
Cookie rolls, homemade (ready to bake)
Garam masala and any other spice mixes
Ice cream
Nuts, especially high-oil nuts that can become rancid easily, such as walnuts and pecans
Pancetta, an Italian bacon that adds complexity of flavor to many dishes, especially soups and stews
Rolls, good-quality (for last-minute needs)
Sausages: good-quality pork, turkey, chicken, including chorizo, lap cheong, breakfast
Spices and dried chiles, all types
IN THE PANTRY
I buy most of these items in bulk and store them in large jars, a practice that saves a lot of money and is environmentally more responsible, as it avoids excessive packaging.
Anchovies packed in oil
Beans: garbanzo, black, pinto, kidney (dried and canned)
Bulgur wheat
Capers
Chicken broth, canned or boxed
Chocolate chips and baking chocolate
Coconut milk
Dried fruit: raisins, cranberries, apricots
Extracts: vanilla and almond
Flour: white, pastry, rye, bread
Flour for pasta: 00 (finely milled) and semolina (coarsely milled durum wheat)
Lentils of various colors
Nuts, roasted, such as almonds
Oats, whole
Oils: grapeseed, olive, sesame
Pasta, dried, several varieties
Polenta, quinoa
Rice: long-grain, short-grain, black
Salt: iodized, kosher, sea
Soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauce
Spices, ground: mustard and paprika (store up to six months)
Spices, whole: allspice, black pepper, cardamom, caraway seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, nutmeg, saffron
Sugars: granulated, brown, honey, molasses, maple syrup
Tamarind paste
Tomatoes: canned, sun-dried, sauce
Vinegars: sherry, champagne, apple cider, red wine
It is worth paying a bit more for good storage items, including glass and good-quality plastic containers, as well as resealable bags for the refrigerator and freezer. The investment will be made up in food that remains fresh. I don’t recommend using glass in the freezer, as liquid expands as it freezes and can cause glass to crack.
HERBS TO GROW
California has a year-round outdoor growing season. In colder climates, plant in a generous-size pot that can be moved indoors or outdoors, depending on the temperature.
Basil (spring and summer)
Tarragon (spring and summer)
Chives (all year)
Marjoram (all year)
Parsley (all year)
Rosemary (all year)
Thyme and/or oregano (all year)
A WORD ON FOOD SOURCES
Recent news about the origins of food, how it is processed, and its safety should not be taken lightly. Paying less for poor ingredients is a false economy, as you can end up with food that does not taste good or store well because it is not fresh.
Chicken and beef are often raised in cruel environments, and ranching has proved to be one of the most environmentally degrading processes affecting our water and land. In some cases, particularly with meat and eggs, you are eating food that has been raised with growth-producing hormones that may be linked to breast and other cancers.
Imagine what it requires to raise a cow versus a row of lettuce!
So consider eating more grains, fruits, and vegetables, and include meat as a condiment rather than the centerpiece of your meal. You will save money, possibly lose weight, and, if you eat products from smaller farms or ranches, you can be more secure about the health and quality of what you eat while supporting the local economy.
COOKING EQUIPMENT
To cook well, you need to invest in equipment. Even our son has a decent set of knives and pots and pans, and has really enjoyed his adventures in cooking. This list is presented here in order of the most basic to more specialized to respond to your developing abilities and interests. If, for example, you find that you are more interested in baking, you can build on this and treat yourself to some of the many specialty pans. They are beautiful!
THE BASICS FOR NEW COOKS
Apron
Basting brush, silicon
Blender
Can opener
Ceramic baking dishes: rectangular and oval (all ovenproof, varied sizes)
Colander
Corkscrew
Cutting board (I like a heavy wooden board for stability)
Dish towels, tea towels
Dutch oven; enameled cast-iron is the best, and worth it
Flatware, service for 6 (forks, knives, soup spoons, coffee spoons)
Frying pans: 8- and 11-inch nonstick
Garlic press (and here is the commercial: Zyliss is the only way to go)
Half-sheet pans, at least 2 (the most versatile piece of equipment I own)
Hand mixer
Instant-read thermometer
Kitchen shears
Knives: chef's 7- or 8-inch and paring
Measuring cups: American dry-measure and glass liquid-measure
Measuring spoons
Mixing bowls: 1 medium glass and 3 nesting melamine
Oven mitts, pot holders
Parchment paper
Salt cellar
Saucepans with lids: 1- and 3-quart
Sauté pan: 11-inch with lid
Scale for weighing ingredients (especially for baking, where accuracy matters)
Sharpening steel and stone for knives
Spatulas: metal, rubber, silicon
Spoons: large metal, slotted, wooden, silicon
Tongs: traditional locking, nonstick-surface friendly
Vegetable peeler (the serrated ones work best)
NEXT LEVEL—FOR EXPERIENCED COOKS
Cake pans: springform, Bundt
Chef’s long tweezers (more precise than tongs)
Food processor (I use this almost daily)
Funnels
Graters: fine and coarse (microplane is far and away the best)
Immersion blender, for making smooth sauces and soups
Knives: boning, an extra paring knife, serrated bread knife
Ladle
Mortar and pestle, aka molcajete
Pepper mill
Pie pan
Rolling pin, wooden-dowel style
Sieves: medium and fine mesh
Spice grinder
Stockpot: 9-quart with lid
Whisks: balloon and flat
Wok
SPECIALTY EQUIPMENT
Banneton (a coiled wooden basket for proofing dough)
Canning equipment: canning jars, jar “lifter,” slotted holder for inner lids, canning funnel, and the big splurge—a copper jam pan
Comal, for roasting vegetables and chiles on the stove top
Double boiler, or DIY with a heat-proof measuring cup fitted inside a saucepan
Offset spatula, for spreading frosting and smoothing out batter
Pastry blender, for cutting fat into flours
Pastry cloth, for rolling out dough
Stand mixer, if baking and pasta-making become a big part of your repertoire
Tart pans with removable outer ring, 10- or 15-inch
Tortilla press
EXPERIENCE EQUALS WISDOM THE WHY AND THE HOW OF THE WHAT
COOKING AND TIMING
It pays to read through a recipe a couple of times to understand the flow of the work. I remember many years ago coming home to my daughter, Nori, and her boyfriend (now husband), Anthony, cooking dinner. They had fried two pork chops to a burnt crisp and were just putting whole potatoes in the oven to bake. Cooking well requires some organization and multitasking, but it is actually a rather relaxing experience. For example, while caramelizing onions for a soup, you can use the wait time to chop other vegetables, heat up your broth, and even set the table.
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.
Roasting is another way to cook vegetables without stress. Cut thick slices of root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, beets, onions, or potatoes), mix with a coating of olive oil and salt, and spread over a parchment-lined half-sheet pan. Bake until done—a bit caramelized and browned—for 35 to 45 minutes in a hot oven (about 400°). Another great way to cook vegetables without fussing is to cut carrots, turnips, onions, and potatoes into quarters and place under a chicken for roasting. They act as a rack for the chicken, which flavors the meat. I love symbiosis.
AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, USE YOUR SENSES AS WELL AS TIME TO KNOW WHEN FOOD IS “DONE”
Ovens vary in temperature; the freshness of vegetables can change cooking times; a hot day can mean a faster rise for bread. Trust your eyes, nose, and touch when cooking—not just the timer.
