Tag: NYT

Seriously Good Ragù

On By lukephillaryhIn Classico1 Comment
Ragu Sausage Winter New York
The  perfect pasta dinner

Two weeks ago, when Winter Storm Jonas wreaked snowy havoc on New York, Luke and I ventured into the frozen tundra. Trekking in our not so appropriate snow gear through the streets of Brooklyn, we worked up a serious appetite. Our chilled limbs craved a warm, comforting meal. Something that required simmering, included carbs, and plenty of cheese. Pasta was the obvious answer. But we wanted something special to mark this momentous weather occasion. This ragù, adapted from the always trustworthy NYT, perfectly fit our needs. It is the ultimate Saturday night let’s just chill inside and watch a movie meal. And though your plans may be low-key, prepare to be mind-blown by this ragù. That is not hyperbole!! It is ideal for dinner, lunch leftovers, or at around 3am, after you’ve had too much red wine and find yourself in a drunken, hungry stupor.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb spicy Italian sausage
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, minced
  • 2-3 medium sized carrots, peeled and minced
  • 3 celery stalks, minced
  • 1/3 cup parsley, minced + extra for garnish
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes (San Marzano are best!) + juice
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 3 TBS tomato paste + 1 cup hot water
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 lb tubular pasta – rigatoni, penne, cavatappi, etc.
  • plenty of fresh grated parm!

Directions:

  1. With the tip of your knife, slit open sausage casings. Crumble meat into a heavy pot or skillet (Dutch oven, cast iron pan both work very well) and set over medium-low heat. If the meat is not rendering enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan, add some olive oil. Saute, breaking up any large chunks, until the meat has turned opaque (not yet brown!).  Should take about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the onion, carrots, celery, parsley, and garlic and stir. Drizzle some more oil if the pan seems dry. Cook over very low heat, stirring often, until the vegetables have begun to caramelize in the fat and the meat is a nice deep brown. This could take up to 40 minutes! Just stir occasionally, make sure nothing is sticking to the pan, and let the flavors develop. You will taste the difference!
  3. Add tomatoes and their juices. Break up the tomatoes by squeezing them into the pan with your hands or crushing with a spoon. Raise heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, lower heat and add thyme and oregano. Simmer, uncovered, until thickened and pan is almost dry, about 20-25 minutes.
  4. About midway through this simmer, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for your pasta. Boil pasta until al dente.
  5. At the end of the simmering, mix tomato paste in 1 cup hot water. Add to pan and reduce heat to very low. Cook for about ten minutes more.
  6. Ideally, your pasta is finished right around the same time as your ragù! If sauce seems thick, you can add in a little pasta water. You can mix the hot pasta directly with the ragù or plate individually (we prefer the latter, allows everyone to decide on their pasta to ragù ratio). Serve with lots of freshly grated parm and some parsley!

Details: Serves about 4. You’re gonna want a big portion.

To print the recipe, click here: Sausage Ragù

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

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

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