Four Spice Salmon

On By lukephillaryhIn Ode to NYT1 Comment
Salmon with four spices Mark Bittman recipe
Lil squeeze of lemon, always a good addition

Hillary is the recipe-finding maven in this relationship. She digs through our small cookbook collection or searches online to make sure we don’t fall into cooking monotony . I have a much simpler approach: Mark Bittman. I’ve used his workhorse of a cookbook, How to Cook Everything, since 7th grade when I made crab cakes for Mother’s Day. This Four Spice Salmon recipe is quintessential Bittman: simple, quick, and delicious. It’s salmon + cumin/nutmeg/coriander/cloves. Period.

My words of advice for anyone looking for a midweek meal: when in doubt, Bittman is best.

Ingredients:

  • 4 6-ounce salmon fillets > Bittman suggests aiming for equal sized fillets, best to go for center cut
  • salt & peppa
  • 1 TBS coriander
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 TBS neutral oil (grape seed, peanut, canola, etc.)

Directions:

  1. Season your fillets with salt and pepper on both sides.
  2. Combine all the spices and press spice mixture onto the top of each fillet.  Should be completely covered, don’t skimp!
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet or cast iron pan over med-high heat for 2-3 minutes.  Add oil and when it shimmers, place the fillets, coated side down, in the pan.  Cook for 2-3 minutes and then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Better to undercook than overcook!  You can test doneness with a thin-bladed knife.  Stick the knife into the thickest part of the fish.  The fish should slightly resist the knife.

If you’re not familiar with Mark Bittman, we highly suggest checking him out!  His cooking video for this recipe is very entertaining.

Details: Serves 4.  You can reduce portion size by buying fewer fillets and halving spice mix.

To print the recipe, click here: 4 Spice Salmon

XMAS Cookies II ~ Sugar Cookies

On By lukephillaryhIn ClassicoLeave a comment
Christmas sugar cookies
Classic cookies, just in time for Xmas

Jam cookies are a traditional Christmas cookie for Luke’s family, passed down from his Baka (i.e. Croatian grandmother) to his mother and now to us. The other cookies you will likely find at Luke’s home during the holidays (according to Luke): the “half moons,” the “cutouts,” and the “chocolate ones.” In my household, the cookies have bit more specific names. In addition to the ubiquitous cutout cookies, we also make gingersnaps, wonder bars, and sugar cookies. Sugar cookies is a vaguer name. It probably brings to mind those frosted cookies you find in every single supermarket. That’s what Luke initially thought we were making when I suggested baking sugar cookies. Fortunately, my mother’s sugar cookies are of a different variety. These classic crowdpleasers are easy to make, festive for holiday parties and office potlucks, and are a perfect 12:01am Christmas Eve snack.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 lb unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cream of tartar (or 2 tsp lemon juice)
  • Red + green sugar sprinkles

Directions:

  1. Cream together butter and sugar, until pale and a bit fluffy.  Add eggs and beat.  Add remaining ingredients – oil, salt, vanilla, flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Mix together until smooth.  Chill overnight or for several hours.
  2. After chilled, remove dough from fridge and preheat oven to 325°F.
  3. Roll dough into small balls (a bit smaller than golf ball size) and put on a cookie sheet, evenly spaced.
  4. Prepare to small plates with sprinkles – 1 green, 1 red.  Dip the bottom of a circular glass into sugar then use to flatten dough balls down.
  5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until light brown at the edges.

Details: Makes about 3 dozen cookies

To print the recipe, click here: Sugar Cookies

Jam Cookies for XMAS

On By lukephillaryhIn Classico1 Comment

 

Jam cookies Christmas
~ * ~* * Little Jewels ~ * ~* *

Impress your friends and Instagram followers with these jam cookies, or as they’re formally referred to, Linzer cookies. Post a pic of a platter of these beauties on your Insta and you’ll have people thinking you’re the millennial Martha Stewart (pro tip: they look even better with a sprinkling of powder sugar). They require some concentration and patience to make, but are simpler than you may think. Just make sure you have the proper tools and plenty of jams for an assortment of colors. With these cookies you’ll be celebrating XMAS in style!

Ingredients:

  • 6 TBS unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • a variety of jams + powdered sugar (the latter is optional)

Directions:

  1. In a medium sized bowl, cream together butter and sugar until pale then beat in egg and vanilla.
  2. In another bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, mixing in the dry in three batches. It’s ok if the dough is a wee bit crumbly, better crumbly than sticky.  You can add more flour (sparingly) if too sticky.
  3. Divide the dough into two balls and then flatten the balls into disks.  Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  4. Meanwhile…Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or use non-stick sheets). Prepare a lightly floured surface to roll out dough.
  5. Take one dough disk, place on your floured surface and roll out.  You are aiming for an even 1/4 inch thickness. Use your Linzer cookie cutters to cut the bottom circles.  Collect the remaining scraps of dough, re-roll, and cut out more bottom circles.  You’re aiming to make around 25 bottoms.  Transfer to your baking sheet as you go along.  Once you’ve sufficiently used up your first disk of dough, bake the bottoms for 8-10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.
  6. Repeat the above with your second disk, this time using the Linzer cookie cutters with the cut-out shapes to make the top circles.*
  7. When the tops and bottoms are cool, assemble!  Take your circle cookies (these have no cut out shape) and spread jam (a little more than 1/2 tsp) on the bottom of the cookie (the “bottom” is the smoother, more even underside of the cookie).  Then, take the circle cut-out cookies and gently place on top.
  8. Dress with powdered sugar or not – they’ll look beautiful either way. Enjoy with a cup of tea and make sure to snap a pic.

Details: Makes about 2 dozen cookies

*Note 1: Luke and I find that dipping our Linzer cookie cutters in flour makes it easier to keep the cut-out shapes intact.

*Note 2: If you don’t have or don’t want to buy special Linzer cookie cutters, you can use different sized circle cookie cutters.  A 3-inch circle cookie cutter can be used for the bottom and you can use a 3-inch and 1-inch cookie cutter to create the cut-out top.  You’ll have lack the variety of shapes, but still have very classy cookies.

To print the recipe, click here: Jam Cookies

Hoagies + Pie

On By lukephillaryhIn Adventures1 Comment
Walking Map of Paisanos Union Market Caputo Bakery and Four Twenty Blackbirds
Paisanos > Union Market > Caputo > Four Twenty Blackbirds 

Sundays are for walking. Whether it’s to Brooklyn Bridge Park in steamy July or a loop around Prospect Park in bone-chilling January, Hillary and I are devoted to our Sunday walk. With perfect weather this past weekend, we were inspired to log some major steps. After watching Creed on Friday evening, our hearts and stomachs longed for Philadelphia. What better to fulfill that taste of home than a classic Italian hoagie. We headed to Cobble Hill on Sunday morning for the essential hoagie ingredients, and made a detour to Gowanus for some pie slices.

Our stops

  1. Paisanos Meat Market for Hot Soppresatta and Genoa Salami
  2. Union Market for a tomato and wedge of cheese
  3. Caputo Bakery for a seeded Italian roll
  4. Four & Twenty Blackbirds for 2 pie slices: Salted Honey and Salted Carmel Apple

Feta-Brined Roast Chicken à la Melissa Clark

On By lukephillaryhIn Ode to NYTLeave a comment
Brined roast chicken Melissa Clark recipe
The ~ perfect ~ sunday night dinner

Roasted chicken. It’s a classic dish. But what recipe to choose? It’s all over the web, in every cookbook. There’s a plethora of tips, an abundance of varieties. The options are endless! Luke and I initially made your typical roast chicken – lemon and garlic in the cavity, salt and pepper, yada yada yada. But then NYT Food posted a new Melissa Clark video – Feta-Brined Roast Chicken. Of course we had to try it. Melissa makes just a few modifications to the usual recipe. The result: a roast chicken with all its wonderful traditional characteristics, but a nuance of newfangled taste.

One important lesson we’ve learned from Melissa’s recipe:

Brining makes everything better!!

You’ll find that this recipe produces an especially moist and flavorful chicken with extra crispy skin.

Ingredients:

  • 1 3.5-4 lb whole chicken
  • 2 oz feta (plus about 2 oz more if you’d like to add to the pan drippings at the end of cooking)
  • 4-6 cups water
  • 2 tsp salt (brine) + 1 1/2 tsp salt (dry rub)
  • 1-2 TBS freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 TBS dried oregano
  • 2 large lemons
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

  1. Brine the chicken: Do this the night before serving or morning of (brine for at least 8 hours, up to 36 hours). In a blender, combine water, 2 tsp salt, and 2 oz feta and blend until smooth. But your chicken in an extra-large resealable plastic bag or container and cover with feta-brine.  Add extra water to fully submerge chicken if necessary.
  2. Prep chicken to cook: Remove chicken from the brine, pat dry, and let rest for about 1 hour so that it reaches room temperature.
  3. Make dry rub and dress chicken: Combine 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1-2 TBS black pepper (we tend towards 1 TBS), 2 TBS oregano, and zest of 2 lemons. Rub all over the bird and in the cavity.  Do not skimp on rub!! Cut one lemon into quarters and place into the cavity. Truss the chicken.
  4. Cook: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place a large, oven proof skillet (cast iron pan) over high heat.  Once heated, add oil. Place chicken breast-side up (legs in the air!). Transfer entire pan to the oven.  Cook for 50 minutes – 1 hour, basting once or twice. To test if finished, pierce chicken with a knife.  If juices run clear the chicken is ready!*
  5. Remove chicken from oven.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing (check out this video for carving instruction). Add some feta and juice of 1 lemon to the pan drippings to make a simple sauce. Enjoy with a baguette and green salad!

Details: Serves 4 (Luke and I love using the leftovers for chicken salads).

*Note 1: Another way to test doneness is with a meat thermometer.  Chicken is finished when the internal temperature reaches 150 – 160°F.

To print the recipe, click here: Feta-Brined Roast Chicken

Bâtons + Soft Boiled Egg

On By lukephillaryhIn Hillary's Dishes1 Comment
Soft Boiled Egg with batons Buvette
In action!

In college, a classic dining hall meal was breakfast for dinner. Freshman year brinner was an occasion. What could be better than eggs, pancakes, and a giant platter of bacon? Unsurprisingly, brinner always turned out to be a little lackluster.  Watery eggs, chewy pancakes.  And though the bacon was actually perfectly crispy, a self-respecting person can only allow themselves to consume so much bacon. After freshman year I moved out of the dorms and said goodbye to dining hall food, but not to brinner. Because making breakfast for dinner allowed for some cheap, quick, and very satisfying meals. And because breakfast food is delicious. When we’re feeling lazy about making a weekday dinner, Luke and I will whip up some bacon, cheesy eggs, wrap em up in a tortilla, squirt some sriracha on top and voilà – dinner! This recipe is a bit more special. It comes from the Buvette cookbook (fav brunch spot for all the NYC betches) and puts a little fancy flair on a breakfast meal that I imagine many cute French children enjoying. Dip these crunchy bâtons into a gooey soft boiled egg and enjoy! A delicious dinner (or brunch) without the 2 hour wait.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 rustic loaf of bread (boule) ~ making 16 bâtons
  • 2 TBS olive oil
  • handful grated parm
  • 1-2 tsp fresh (or dried) thyme *it using dried, use closer to 1 tsp
  • 8 slices prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise
  • as many eggs as you like!! (serves 4-6)
  • salt & pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Making the bâtons: Cut your bread loaf into 4 slices, cutting from the middle of the bread to have wider, evenly sized slices.  Cut each slice into 4 long bâtons, aim for about middle finger size, 1/2 inch thickness.  Place bâtons on a baking sheet in one layer and bake 5-10 minutes, turning once or twice to ensure all sides are golden brown.
  3. Adding the flare: Remove baking sheet from the oven, drizzle bâtons with oil olive to evenly cover and scatter with parm and thyme.  Wrap each bâton with a strip of prosciutto and then place back on the baking sheet.  Bake for another 5-10 minutes.
  4. Eggs: Meanwhile, boil a pot of water (enough to cover however many eggs you’d like to boil).  Once boiling, add the eggs *gently* and cook for 3 1/2 minutes.  Remove (again, gently!) and run over with cold water.
  5. Get your egg set up in its stand, crank and peel the egg shell and puncture! Dip your bâton to soak up all that yolk-y goodness!  This is an action packed meal.

Details: As mentioned in the ingredients, this recipe can serve up to six (doing the math, that’s about 3 bâtons per person) but Luke and I could easily eat up to 8 bâtons each.  They’re addicting!!

Some notes:

  • This meal is excellent with a simple side salad of greens, tossed with a vinaigrette dressing.
  • If you don’t have egg stands, as they are a somewhat unusual and niche kitchen accessory, you can peel the shell of the egg as you would with a hard boiled egg.  It’s a bit tricky, but doable.  Arrange 4 or so bâtons on a plate and place your unpeeled soft boiled egg on top and then break.  You can use your bâtons to soak up the yolk-y mess.
  • Deb also has a delicious looking bâtons recipe  on Smitten Kitchen. YUM.

To print the recipe, click here: Bâtons + Soft Boiled Egg

Classic, Simple Banana Bread

On By lukephillaryhIn Luke's DishesLeave a comment
Banana bread simple Nigella Lawson recipe
Baked to ~ perfection ~

Often, we purposefully set aside a couple of bananas, letting them get seriously ripe. We love a pile of black speckled bananas because it gives us the perfect excuse to make a loaf of banana bread.  And if we are ever lacking enough bananas, there’s a good chance our bodega on the corner will have an excellent selection of extra ripe bananas. This is Luke’s recipe (originally sourced from Nigella Lawson) and he is the b-bread maker. But I am the expert on moistness.  And, strongly believing moistness is a vital characteristic for perfectly baked banana bread, I always insist that we take the bread out of the oven a bit earlier than Nigella suggests. Despite banana bread being Luke’s domain, he begrudgingly listens. The result (in my opinion): perfectly baked b-bread.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup + 2 TBS whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3-4 **very** ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F and butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch bread pan.
  2. Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt) in a medium sized bowl.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Then add the mashed bananas, whisking until incorporate with eggs and sugar.  It’s ok if there are a few banana lumps. Next, with a wooden spoon, stir in walnuts and vanilla extract.
  4. In 3 batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing with a wooden spoon until relatively smooth.
  5. Pour mix into loaf pan.  Give a few shakes to make sure the mix is even in the pan.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes (Nigella’s suggestion.  We typically cook closer to an hour).  You can tell when the bread is ready by inserting a toothpick into the middle (the thickest part).  When you remove the toothpick, it should come out fairly clean.

Details: Makes one 9 x 5 inch loaf of banana bread.

Perfect for breakfast, though we also enjoy a slice toasted in a buttered skillet with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert!

To print the recipe, click here: Classic Banana Bread

Chickpea + Spinach “Curry”

On By lukephillaryhIn Exotic2 Comments
chickpea spinach indian curry
Maybe not so authentic? But very tasty

When we first made this recipe, we felt pretty accomplished.  We made an Indian meal!  In under 45 minutes!  With *fresh* ginger and authentic spices!  But now, we supplement the meal with some legit curry and samosas from our favorite Indian takeout spot.  So this curry is not the most authentic, but it is a simple, delicious, and healthy weekday dinner meal.  And it makes excellent leftovers.

Ingredients:

  • olive oil – to coat skillet
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp fresh minced ginger
  • 2 tsp gram masala
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • additional (optional) spices: ground toasted fennel seed (1 tsp), coriander (1 tsp)
  • shake of red pepper flakes
  • two 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
  • 1-2 tsp sugar
  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can)
  • generous handfuls of spinach
  • squeeze of lemon

Directions:

  1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat, add onions and cook until translucent, 4-5 minutes.
  2. Add garlic and ginger, cooking 1-2 minutes more.
  3. Add the spices, stirring so the onions are coated.  Cook 1-2 minutes more, until fragrant.
  4. Add chickpeas.  Stir to coat with spices.
  5. Add tomatoes and sugar.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Once at a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.  If liquid is reducing too rapidly, cover.
  6. Add spinach, in batches, stirring into curry so spinach wilts.
  7. End with a squeeze of lemon and a garnish of cilantro.  Serve with rice, nan, a little yogurt if you’d like!

Details: Serves up to 4 people, or 2 with lots of leftovers (especially when you’re eating with some samosas, you’ll be very full!)

To print the recipe, click here: Chickpea + Spinach “Curry”

Salmon + Anchovy Butter

On By lukephillaryhIn Ode to NYT1 Comment
Salmon with anchovy butter Melissa Clark recipe
The salmon – nice and crispy!

Melissa Clark is one of our cooking idols. She’s just so likable in her NYT videos!! Luke proudly has run into her two times to and from Prospect Park (stalker…). This recipe is one of the first of Melissa’s that we tried out. It’s so simple and delicious it has become a staple. Make sure to get a baguette because as Melissa says, “Anchovy butter is good on EVERYTHING.” Very essential to spread some extra anchovy butter on a slice of bread.

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 TBS butter, softened
  • 4 anchovy fillets, minced
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
  • salt + pepper
  • 2-4 skin on salmon fillets (6-8 oz each, number depending on how many peeps you’re trying to feed! one fillet per person)
  • 2 TBS drained and dried capers
  • 1/2 lemon

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 400°F. In a small bowl (or mortar and pestle) mash together butter, anchovies, garlic, and salt and pepper.
  2. In a large oven proof skillet (cast iron pan!) melt half of anchovy butter. Add fish, skin side down.  Cook for 3 minutes over high heat to brown skin, spooning melted butter over the top of the fish.  Add capers to bottom of pan and transfer to oven.  Roast until fish is cooked through, 8-10 min.
  3. Remove pan from oven and add remaining butter to pan to melt.  Squeeze some lemon juice on top.  Garnish with parsley if you’d like!  And as mentioned above, a baguette is a nice edition to dip in the anchovy butter  – mmmmm!

Details:  As mentioned in ingredients, this recipe serves 2-4.  You can easily increase the portion size by cooking more fillets and mixing up a bit more butter!

To print the recipe, click here: Salmon + Anchovy butter

Chicken Caesar Salad

On By lukephillaryhIn ClassicoLeave a comment
Chicken Caesar Salad dressing
Emily Gilmore would approve

This recipe reminded Hillary of a lesser known, but quintessential exchange between Emily Gilmore and Luke Danes of Gilmore Girls.  The scene’s setting is none other than Luke’s diner, of course:

Emily: How is your Caesar salad prepared?

Luke: I’d have to call Paul Newman and ask him

This dressing is not inspired by Mr. Newman’s and we think would definitely meet Emily’s standards in both safety and taste.

Ingredients – dressing:

  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 5 anchovy fillets
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 TBS red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 egg – coddled
  • 5 TBS olive oil

Ingredients – chicken:

  • 1 – 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (obvi)
  • 2 TBS salt **for brine!
  • 2 cups water **for brine!
  • Seasoning: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (a dash), squeeze of lemon

Directions:

  1. Brine Chicken: Dissolve 2 TBS salt in 2 cups water in a medium size container or big ziploc bag.  Submerge chicken breasts, cover or seal, and let sit for at least 30 minutes.  You can do this a couple hours ahead.  Refrigerate if brining over 30 minutes.  When finished brining, pat dry.
  2. Prep chicken: Cut into thin slices, moving from top to bottom.  Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
  3. Cook: Warm 1-2 TBS olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken.  Cook for 5-6 minutes making sure to flip chicken pieces at least one.  Finish with a squeeze of lemon then set aside to cool.
  4. Dressing / anchovies + garlic: Dice up anchovies and garlic then chop and mash together, either in a mortar and pestle or on a cutting board with the edge and blade of your knife.*
  5. Dressing / acids: Transfer anchovy and garlic to a bowl and add vinegar, dijon, and lemon juice. Whisk.
  6. Dressing / coddle egg: Get some water boiling (just enough to cover an egg).  While waiting, with a pin poke a hole in the broad side of the egg.  Carefully drop the egg into the boiling water and let cook for 60-90 seconds.*  Remove from boiling water and run cold water over to cool.  Then crack the egg into bowl with mix.  Make sure to scrap out everything – all the white bits!  Whisk.
  7. Dressing / olive oil: Slowly add olive oil to the bowl, either vigorously whisking or blending.
  8. Chill dressing for 5 minutes.  It can keep for about 3 days.
  9. Combine! Combine dressing and chicken with romaine (or kale, though kale requires extra dressing, you’ll have enough), plenty of parm, cracked pepper, and croutons too if you like!

Details: Serves 2-4, add more chicken to feed extra people!

*Note 1: A mortar and pestle can be used to make dressing in its entirety.  You can also mix in a food processor, with a whisk, or hand blender.

*Note 2: In the printable recipe coddling time is written as 30 seconds – this is incorrect!  60-90 is recommended.

To print the recipe, click here: Chicken Caesar Salad