food basics

In Search of Comfort & Good Grilled Cheese

Nibbles

(I have a feeling that I’ve written about this sort of thing before…)

Last week was a little rough around the edges: new schedules, unfortunate news, changing weather and a lot of things up in the air. When the going gets rough, the rough start craving foods that make them feel safe, warm and cuddled.

Remember, everything is fine in moderation: even comfort food.

So when it was my turn to grocery shop this weekend I loaded my list with comforting food that fit the change in the weather and were sure to sooth. Dishes including pot roast with potatoes and carrots, sausage with peppers and onions, chicken and broccoli roulade and stuffed meat load with glazed carrots will grace our table this week and  get us through the bumps in the road.

But to start things off, Sunday was soup and sandwich night.

I pulled out a container of the Borscht I’d made too much of while testing the recipe for Raiding Party and left it to defrost and simmer on the stove while I prepped the sandwiches. (This borscht, by the way, is based on a medieval Russian sour soup recipe and features 3 types of meat, lots of vegetables and a wine broth–it’s very hearty!) I can’t fully explain why (other than the general craving for comfort foods), but I’d been wanting a good grilled cheese sandwich for a couple of weeks.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are fairly simple, right? Butter both sides of two pieces of bread, place cheese between and cook until golden brown and melty.  Still, sometimes the simplest things can use a few tips…

Grilled Cheese Confidential

  • Make things easy on yourself, soften your butter first. Or, if you prefer, use a butter spread (we like Brummel & Brown yogurt spread). Point being, if you’re fighting with the bread there could be holes and holes mean the cheesy goodness can spill out (the horror!). Just 20 seconds in the microwave can soften a stick of unsalted butter, it’s worth the effort.
  • Speaking of bread, use a nice bakery bread. If you don’t want to bake your own, that’s fine, but some nice Italian sandwich, potato or honey wheat can really bring the sandwich up a bit, not to mention handle a wider variety of cheeses.
  • White bread and American singles might be what we were raised on, but there’s a lot of cheese out there deserving of the Welsh Rarebit treatment. Choose a cheese that melts well and has a good flavor. Stouter breads (such as rye or pumpernickel) can stand up to a good sharp cheddar or even a blue cheese while Havarti melds almost seamlessly with Italian or French breads (that’s what we had Sunday–delicious!).
  • If you like grilled cheese but think it might need just a little something extra, spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on the inside of one of the buttered slices. You don’t need much, just a little will impart a tang that’s better than salting your sandwich.
  • Keep the heat low and slow to allow the cheese to melt as the outside of the bread turns golden. Too high a heat will scorch those butter solids and turn your toast black before the cheese has had a chance to get nice and gooey! I like to use our electric griddle set at 200F-250F since it’s much easier to control the temperature plus you get a larger surface than the usual frying pan.
  • Finally, if you’re prone to include anything else in your sandwich (crispy bacon, deli ham or tomatoes), keep a half-inch border of cheese around any inclusions so that the edges will seal and your sandwich won’t go to pieces in your hand when you try to eat it.

How do you like your grilled cheese?

Breaking Bread

Nibbles

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” –James Beard (1903-1985)

Is there anything better than the smell of fresh-baked bread? The sight of butter melting on it or the chewy feel of it between your teeth?

I think not.

But it is, in many circles, a lost art.

Common theory is that baking bread is too hard. Nonsense. It’s a very basic skill to learn but there are some pitfalls that, once learned, making your chances of success that much better.

When it comes to dealing with yeast…

  • Proofing yeast (mixing it with warm water and a little bit of sugar) is not essential these days with the easy access of commercial, but it does jump-start your dough and can’t hurt.
  • Liquid too hot (140 degrees F) will kill yeast.
  • Liquids added to yeast for proofing should be between 90 and 110 degrees F while rising is best done in an area in the 70 to 90-degree range.
  • To slow down rising, it’s okay to pop the dough in your refrigerator.

Measuring…

  • Flour is often listed in a range because the water content of the flour can change from bag to bag, day to day based on the flour and the relative humidity.
  • Weights are more reliable that volume measures and a good digital kitchen scale is a low-cost investment that will pay off exponentially!
  • The ratio of dry ingredients to wet is pretty important. If you’re going to mix anything into a basic bread recipe, wait until the first rise has completed if there’s any chance it’s going to throw off that balance.
  • When doubling a bread recipe, only use 1.5 times the amount of yeast.

Kneading…

  • Develops the gluten–protein framework–of the bread which gives the bread that chewy texture.
  • The sturdier the finished product, the more kneading it requires.
  • Under-kneaded dough won’t have enough support for the rising that will happen in the oven, resulting in flatter loaves with uneven texture.
  • Can be done with the hook of your electric mixer but it’s a really good arm workout, too.
  • Be careful of adding too much flour during kneading, you’ll weight the dough down too much–just enough to keep it from sticking to the counter-top and your hands for the first few minutes of kneading, after that it should no longer be sticky (unless it’s a sweet dough, that will stay sticky–don’t fight it!).

Baking…

  • Want a golden crust? Add at least 1 Tbsp sugar to the dry ingredients to get that great caramel color. Alternately, an egg wash will give you a nice, glossy surface.
  • Always preheat your oven and don’t over-crowd. Individual items and pans should have a minimum of 1 inch of space around them so air can circulate.
  • Rotate your pan(s) half-way through cooking but, otherwise, don’t open the oven if you can help it.
  • To get that quintessential thick and chewy French-bread crust, place an empty pan on the bottom rack of the oven as it preheats, then add cool water to the pan when you place the dough on the rack above. Steam during the initial baking phase is what makes French bread, French bread.

It’s interesting that, back in the old (very old, feudal old) days, the finer the society, the finer the flour. Whole grains and mixed wheat was the bread of the commoner while the fine, white flours were the stuff of luxury. Granted, those “whole grains” were usually the leftovers of the milling process bulked up with sand or other things (seriously, you don’t want to know), making for hard, dark loaves–but the hardier grains they did include were basically healthier than the more expensive white flours of the nobility.

These days the tables have turned.  A loaf of refined white flour, cushy and soft is still available for a buck or just over, making it more accessible to the lower-income brackets while whole grain breads are now prized for the health benefits and, generally, carry a price tag triple of it’s over-processed, bleached brethren.

Bread gets a bad rap these days–it’s carb central, after all. But, as more and more are learning, all carbs are not created equal, and whole grains provide a powerhouse of nutrients and energy that our bodies need. Bread doesn’t have to be the bad guy if we make smart choices and keep it in moderation.

Just a little food for though whether you’re making or buying your daily bread.

~~~oOo~~~

Have any bread-baking horror stories? Share in the comments and I might just have a solution for you. Also welcome are stories of triumph, love for your bread machine or questions about baking in general.

The Question of Leftovers

Nibbles

I love leftovers. Leftovers, for me, mean

  • I don’t have to cook the next day.
  • I don’t have to do dishes the next day.
  • I don’t have to go out for lunch or pick-up take-out that comes in super-sized portions (and calories) and less-than-stellar taste.

Leftovers are also inevitable when you’re only cooking for 1 or 2. Veggies are easy to find in single-serving sizes but most grocery stores frequently package meat in quantities fit for 4 or more–same for many other goods. Cooking for 4 takes the same amount of effort that cooking for 1 does and results in more prepared meals instead partial bits of boxes and cans.

Some folks, though–and I fail to comprehend the why–have a real issue with leftovers. As in, they can’t stand them, won’t touch them much less eat them and regard this as trash. My friend’s dad was this way. Serve it once and if it wasn’t finished at that meal he didn’t ever want to see it again, even used in a new dish.

This baffles me because I know several dishes–everything from a seafood dip to a good marinara–can be improved by a night in the fridge. This happens because the flavors have time to really hang out and mingle, they spread through the dish and permeate every corner.

Sure, there’s a limit to the lifespan of a pork chop under refrigeration–after 4 days or so I wouldn’t suggest anyone eat it. But a meatloaf sandwich the next day or a pot of soup that gets you through the week, that’s a deliciously beautiful thing! [Caveat: all leftovers should be reheated properly to a temperature above 140 degrees Fahrenheit–165 is a safer best–before being consumed. Safety first!]

True, some things don’t reheat well. Rice and pasta–dry things–tend to need a little help. Sprinkling either with water before popping into the microwave or toaster oven help hydrate the drier parts during reheating. Breads should never be put into the microwave for more then, say, 20 seconds or you’re going to end up with a brick about 10 seconds after it cools.

But why the lack of love towards the leftover? Seriously, if you don’t like leftovers please leave me a comment and try to help me understand. It might not be solvable, but I really would like to understand.

~~~oOo~~~

This year’s fundraiser for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk has begun. Check out my Cocktails for a Cure page if you’d like to find out how to help.

Write it Right, or Risk Recipe Disaster

Nibbles

After talking about recipe basics over at What to Feed Your Raiding Party, I recently ran into a great example of why pre-reading is so very important!

We had a little family fish-fry this weekend and I was in the mood for some cheese grits. Sure, I could make grits on the stove and melt-in pieces of cheese but I wanted something with a little more… oomph? So I went to a reliable source: River Road Recipes.

Garlic Cheese Grits

2 cups water
Salt
1 cup quick grits
1 roll garlic cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs, separated
Salt and pepper
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce

Bring water and salt to a soft boil. Add grits slowly, stirring constantly, as it will thicken quickly because of the small amount of water. After a few minutes of cooking, remove from heat and add cheese (which has been cut in 4 or 5 pieces) and butter. After cooking a few more minutes, add egg yolks, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce. Mix well. Fold in stiff egg whites with a fork. Put mixture in a greased baking dish. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown. This dish should be served immediately, as it will rise.

Now, I’m sure Mrs Fred A. Blanche, Jr., assumed everyone would know how these grits were made and that no one would mind a little short-hand. And the Junior League committee members in 1976 probably had no idea that their fundraiser would go into more than 20 additional printings and that certain things would need to be spelled out for future generations and cooks that are not local to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In her defense, she didn’t commit the most heinous recipe wrong: asking for additional ingredients in the instructions. Even if it’s just a bit of water, when you’re in the middle of cooking is not always the best time to stop and measure something you weren’t expecting.

Let’s examine the offenses she did commit:

  1. Vague ingredients, both in measurement and description.
  2. Missing preparation specifics, multiple counts.

Two out of three ain’t bad? Maybe in Meat loaf, but in cheese grits it could have been pretty bad.

First the vagueness. Salt and pepper are frequently added ‘to taste’ so that’s not the end of the world, but Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces can have a big impact in little doses–knowing the target is 2 or 3 dashes plus maybe more for taste is better than not having a starting point of reference.

The worst part of this one, though, comes with the “1 roll garlic cheese.” First, what is garlic cheese? If you do not have a labeled product in your grocery store, knowing more about it would give you a better shot of making an adequate substitution. Second, how much is a roll? Is it 10 oz like a large roll of chevre or a 1 pound block? Maybe your store carries different sizes of garlic cheese, which should you get?

But the more problematic is the lack of instructions on both the cheese and the eggs. Reading the recipe we learn that the cheese should be cut into multiple pieces before being added. With the eggs, we know they need to be separated, but what else? Turns out the whites need to be whipped stiff. If you plunged into the recipe without reading the instructions, trusting that you knew the basics, the grits would have turned to well-flavored paste by the time you got those white whipped into shape. Not to mention how difficult it would have been to fold the white and grits together.

The takeaway? Do I really need to say always read the recipe if you’re making something for the first time? Read the recipe if it’s the first time or the first time in a while. Refresh your memory. But, also, when you’re writing down recipes of your own or sharing someone else’s with a friend, do everyone a favor and write it the right way.

Oh, it turns out that garlic cheese is a softer cheese infused with garlic. We ended up using a pound of white cheddar and the grits tasted somewhat like white cheddar popcorn. In the future I’d like to try this with a container of Garlic and Herb Boursin–I’m betting it would be delicious!

Makin’ Gnocchi

Nibbles
Gnocchi

Pronounced NYO-kee... or something like that.

One of the recipes that is going into the cookbook is my Gnocchi Casserole with Pesto, Broccoli and Sausage. It’s a simple dish with a lot of flavor and great for beginner cooks since it uses ready made ingredients.

A goal of the book, though, is to have a little something for everyone–an impossible dream, perhaps, but there you go. To increase the skill-level of the dish you can do a few things: make your own pesto, make your own sausage, or make your own gnocchi.

I’ve made gnocchi before and it’s really not difficult (though a little finesse doesn’t hurt), but it’s not something most folks have tried and it’s a fun way to impress folks with your kitchen prowess. While gnocchi can be made with flour like any other pasta, the most common gnocchi that comes to mind is a product of  mashed potatoes bulked up with eggs and flour, formed into little dumplings and boiled briefly. There’s no special equipment required (unless you count a fork as special equipment) and the technique is very simple.

Potato Gnocchi

1 pound of potatoes
1 egg
3/4 c flour
1 tsp salt

Peel, cube and boil potatoes in salted water until tender, approximately 10 minutes. Drain and mash and allow to cool to room temperature.

Mix in egg, flour and salt gently until combined. Divide the dough into 4 portions and gently roll into a long, 3/4-inch-thick rope of dough. Divide each rope into 8 portions for a total of 32 gnocchi.

To form, take each segment, place one cut side against the fork at the base of the tines, smoosh down with your index finger, then roll the dumpling down the fork tines to create ridges on one side and a slightly concave shape on the back.

Place gnocchi in boiling water and boil until they float, just a few minutes unless you’ve chilled them before cooking them or have added a lot to the pot.

Sauce and serve immediately or top with sauce and cheese and finish in the oven, depending on your recipe.

Basic Gnocchi Formation

Basic Gnocchi Formation

These gnocchi end up rather large once cooked so you can also cut them in half before forming–that’s personal preference. The grooves created by the fork tines are great for catching sauces, same as the dent on the back where you finger was pressing. Finally, placing the cut end on the fork is my personal preference–I think the sides pushing out created a nicer, rounded end on the finished gnocchi than the blunt cut edges.

Having made them before, I was curious to know what different flours would do to the gnocchi. Obviously (just like in baking) whole wheat flour is going to taste and look different but what will it do to the texture. It’s a safe bet they might be a bit heavier or solid, less fluffy pillows compared to the all-purpose flour I’d used before. But what about cake flour? I had some in the pantry so I figured I’d give that a try, too!

A Tale of 3 Gnocchi--Cake, All Purpose and Whole Wheat Flours

A Tale of 3 Gnocchi--Cake, All Purpose and Whole Wheat Flours

Surprisingly enough, the cake flour gnocchi really were lighter in color and texture with a purer flavor than even the bleached all-purpose flour gnocchi. The whole wheat gnocchi was heavier, yes, but it had a great, nutty flavor and would pair very well with a thick, rich sauce. The wheat gnocchi were also amazing reheated the next day!