Speaking of asparagus...Most often, asparagus makes its springtime appearance in The Delicious household simply steamed with a little bit of salt and occasionally, in an omelet or frittata.
However, I will never go back to simple steaming of asparagus, nor to hiding them inside a mask of eggs after having them wrapped in slices of prosciutto and roasted. I realize, of course, that this is not a wildly innovative technique, but it is the first time I've done it and tasted it.
Now different recipes call for slightly different methods -- blanching the asparagus first, tossing them with olive oil, etc. -- but there is no need. Just trim the woody ends, wrap 3-4 stems in prosciutto, and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. There's no need for oil since the prosciutto's fat will render onto the baking tray, and the salty meat is enough with the asparagus.
I shied away from brussels sprouts until I found Ina Garten's (the Barefoot Contessa) recipe, and then I never looked back. I make 'em every few weeks, and I'm pleased every time.
They're deceptively simple and unbelievably delicious.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
A cup of brussels sprouts, washed with the ends chopped off 2 tsp. olive oil kosher salt for seasoning
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the sprouts on an oiled pan and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Bake for about 12 minutes, turn, and bake for another 12-15.
The sprouts come out perfectly, with sweet, crinkled caramelized skins and tender, flavorful insides. They're on the firmer side, but plenty easy to eat.
When my sister came to visit last week, the first thing she asked me after hoping into my car at the train station was, "Do you have any brussel sprouts?" This might sound like a weird question, but the last two times she's stopped in Philly I just happened to have roasted brussel sprouts in the fridge. Sadly, this time around I didn't have any (although I had thought briefly about stopping to get some just the day before she arrived) and while we ate well while she was here (she makes a mean roasted sweet potato) I had started to develop a mean yen for some roasted brussel sprouts.
Last Thursday I finally slaked my thirst, as it were, with a pound of sprouts from my local produce market. I trimmed the ends off, sliced them in half and tossed them in a roasting pan with half a chopped onion, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. They went into the oven at 375 degrees for about half an hour, until they were browned and tender. I finished them with a little squeeze of lemon and some chopped, toasted walnuts. Truly one of the best things ever.
My Slashfood friends, I am a sadist. Or is it masochist? I never knew the difference between the two.
Either way, for some reason known only to, well, to no one, I decided to do the most punishing thing ever on a hot summer day: turn on the oven. I know, I must be crazy. The inexplicable thing is, however, that I turned it on to roast something that doesn't need to be roasted. If I needed to make a roasted garlic puree, I could justify it. If I felt like roasting a lemon herb chicken for Sunday supper, it would make sense.
My friends, I roasted tomatoes. Tomatoes! At this point in the season, there is absolutely no need to roast produce that is practically dripping with fresh flavor right off the vine!
However, I couldn't resist after I came across a recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup while flipping lazily through Marcus Wareing's Cook the Perfect cookbook.
Coffee lovers know that the most important ingredient in an excellent cup of coffee is the beans. Not only should they be high quality, but they need to be freshly roasted. The easiest way to get freshly roasted beans is to find a reliable nearby roastery and buy theirs, but there are methods for roasting green beans at home, as well. The iRoast 2 is easier than both of these methods. The small appliance, upgrade from the original machine, safely and accurately roasts coffee beans to perfection in the comfort of your own home.
With a built-in timer and thermometer, the iRoast 2 uses hot air to roast beans evenly and quickly. It has programmable roast profiles that let you choose light, dark or in-between roasts from pre-set temperature options, simplifying the process of getting the perfect result by taking out the guess work. This is especially useful for someone new to home-roasting, as well as for anyone looking for consistency, which other home-roasting methods aren't able to provide without hours upon hours of experience.
The first things that will attract you to the books in the Williams-Sonoma collection are the mouthwatering photographs of the dishes. They've probably caught your eye in their stores. But beyond the eye candy, their books usually have good recipes and, in their Essentials series, a lot of useful information about the topic at hand. Williams-Sonoma Essentials Of Roasting is their definitive guide to roasting and probably a good reference to have on hand if you're thinking of starting up the tradition of the Sunday (or Monday, as tomorrow is Christmas) roast in your home.
The book begins, as do others in this series, by covering the basic techniques of oven roasting and the equipment that you'll probably need to be successful, like a good roasting pan. It has over 130 recipes for both traditional and updated dishes, including meats, vegetables, fish and fruits, as well as a variety of sides to complement them.
Many of us only use a large roasting pan a few times a year and even though the meals we are using it for are holiday dinners, where to is important to try to get the food as perfectly cooked as possible, it is hard to justify spending $200+ dollars on a pan that gets so little use. Cook's Country tested some inexpensive roasting pans, all under $100, to see if they would do just as good a job as the more expensive pans while staying in our budgets.
Each of the pans they tested was designed to work both on the stove-top, so they could be used to brown meats, and in the oven or under the broiler. They chose pans with a minimum size of 15" x 11" inches, to accommodate largest turkeys. Overall, they strongly preferred pans that had sturdy, upright handles, which were easy to grip and did not interfere with the way the pan fit into the oven by adding an extra 2-3 inches to the length. They also found that stainless steel pans with aluminum cores offered the best heat distribution, while plain stainless steel could be a bit spotty when it came to browning. Their top picks were:
Talk Turkey to Me: A Good Time in the Kitchen Talking Turkey and All the Trimmings is one of those cookbooks that is so enjoyable to read that you almost forget it is a cookbook - and after reading well-written but intensely instructive texts, this comes as a welcome change. Author Renee Ferguson starts out by talking about selecting a turkey, choosing between fresh and frozen and the various sizes available. She covers defrosting and turkey anatomy (a crucial point, as anyone who has forgotten to remove the giblets from the bird before stuffing and cooking can tell you), too. From there, the book goes on to discuss stuffing, how to determine doneness and just about every cooking technique you can think of, from roasting to smoking to frying, along with all the important do's and don'ts for each. Once the turkey is done, you can move on to the chapters about sides, salads, desserts and tips for using up leftovers.
How does Renee know all this? She is one of the experts behind the Butterball Hotline, and not only does she share her turkey knowledge generously, but she also shares stories about funny callers and dinners gone wrong. After all, nothing will take the pressure off from a holiday meal better than a good laugh.
Should a holiday turkey be roasted for a longer time at a lower temperature or for a shorter time at a higher one? According to Robert L. Wolke , author of What Einstein Told His Cook 2, the Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science, one method isn't necessarily better, although the method of using a higher temperature is quite popular at the moment.
A turkey needs to reach an internal temperature of 165F in the thigh meat before it can be considered done. To achieve this, the bird must be cooked at a temperature greater than 165F for long enough to cook it through. The lower the temperature, the longer the time. A common temperature is about 325F, which results in a time of "about 20 minutes per pound." By increasing the temperature to 475F, roasting might take only 2 hours. Time, clearly, is a factor in choosing the latter method. Other advantages include getting a crisper skin and, according to many proponents of the faster method, a moister bird. In the end, it's a flavor and time preference as long as you check the meat with a thermometer to ensure that it really is done.
The name of the Sili Sling is derived from the fact that it is made of silicone, but it seems fitting for such a strange looking kitchen tool. The sling is designed to lift heavy foods out of a roasting pan, making it a perfect choice on Thanksgiving, as an 15-lb turkey can be difficult to maneuver, to say the least. No one wants to drop the turkey, but you can't leave it in the pan until it is cool and easy to handle, not unless you have no interest in making gravy, anyway. The oval sling is perforated and will not interfere with cooking, nor will it interfere with browning. The handles drape over the side of the pan and should be cool enough to handle after a few moments outside of the oven. Once Thanksgiving is over, you don't need to retire the sling for another year. It can be used for any other type of roasted or baked meat, from ham to fish, and has a maximum capacity of 18-pounds.
The USDA has some comprehensive food safety guidelines to help you cook your Thanksgiving turkey. While some cookbooks, and probably some chefs, might tell you that cooking times and temperatures should be changed to produce a moister bird, at least you'll get a safe bird from using the USDA's guide. First things first, you need to completely defrost your turkey before beginning. Keep the turkey in its original wrapper as it thaws and try to keep it as cool as possible. It should either be defrosted by being submerged in cold water or on a tray in the refrigerator.
Frozen turkey thawing timetable Weight In refrigerator In cold water 4 to 12 pounds 1 to 3 days 2 to 6 hours 12 to 16 pounds 3 to 4 days 6 to 8 hours 16 to 20 pounds 4 to 5 days 8 to 10 hours 20 to 24 pounds 5 to 6 days 10 to 12 hours
I always approach unknown veggies with a bit of trepidation. There are boxes of them on on the produce stand, and everyone looks different -- so what should I be after? Pumpkin is on the grocery shelves rarely enough to qualify (at least to me) as one of these unknowns, so I thought I'd share these tips for picking out your perfect pumpkin, for those braving the fierce waters of pumpkin outside the can.
For a future jack-o-lantern, of course, you're looking for a pretty pumpkin -- with a deep orange color and firm flesh. (You can still have roasted pumpkin seeds from your jack-o-lantern!) But if you do want to cook your pumpkin, you might be a bit pickier. Throughout your local produce department, you're likely to find some pumpkins specifically labeled as pie pumpkins, which are going to be the best sort for eating. You'll want to take a look at the stem -- a strong, green stem will show a pumpkin in good health. And other than that, look for the same signs of quality you would in any other produce: no blemishes or soft spots, and it should feel heavy for its size.
..but not a bite to eat. With the beginning of October, the grocery stores in my area seem to be overflowing with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. However, I'm a bit confused by the numerous pumpkins that are not recommended for eating. The small pumpkins in a large display by the store entrance are marked "for display only, do not eat!" and the pumpkins in the produce section are covered with stickers that read "great for painting!" Am I the only one who heads to the produce department looking for things to eat? So, stubborn as I am, I've become set on turning these decorative objects into food -- and hopefully something more interesting than the pie that everyone seems to be so set on this time of year.
Before you consider investing in La Caja China, there are a couple of questions that you need to ask yourself. The first is, how serious are you about cooking pork? The second is, how much meat do you want to cook at one time?
La Caja China is - quite literally - a large box that is used for roasting a pig in Chinese fashion, though it is hugely popular in Florida's Cuban community and anywhere else that people want to roast whole pigs. The medium sized model costs almost $300 and can hold up to a 70-lb pig (the large can handle a 100-lb swine). If you don't want to go the whole hog, it can also be used to roast 16-18 whole chickens, 4-6 turkeys, 8-10 pork ribs slabs, 8-10 pork shoulders or any other type of meat, all at the same time.
The way that it works is that a dressed pig is laid inside the box. The box is shut and covered with charcoal. After a few hours inside the aluminum-lined Caja China, the meat of the pig is cooked. At that point, the pig is flipped over - getting the skin side nearer to the indirect heat source - and the skin crisps up to be a dark golden color. The whole process takes a few hours, but connoisseurs say that the juicy meat and crispy skin is worth every minute of waiting time, although you may want to run errands or something while the pig cooks.
David Blaine at From The Back Kitchen recently posted about his experiments trying to develop new menu items around plantains. Faced with nearly 50 pounds, I guess he had plenty of chances to explore. Blaine says he tried grilling and roasting plantains both with and without the skin. From the photos, it looks like most of the plantains were cooked when they were still quite starchy. Unlike bananas, plantains can and should still be eaten when their skins are completely black. My standby method is peeling them with a knife, slicing them on a bias into half- to quarter- inch thick slices and shallow frying them in either butter or vegetable oil. A good dose of kosher salt and cracked pepper finishes them off. A little hot sauce never hurt them either.
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
Many of us only use a large roasting pan a few times a year and even though the meals we are using it for are holiday dinners, where to is important to try to get the food as perfectly cooked as possible, it is hard to justify spending $200+ dollars on a pan that gets so little use. 
Talk Turkey to Me: A Good Time in the Kitchen Talking Turkey and All the Trimmings
Should a holiday turkey be roasted for a longer time at a lower temperature or for a shorter time at a higher one? According to 
The USDA has some comprehensive 
..but not a bite to eat. With the beginning of October, the grocery stores in my area seem to be overflowing with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. However, I'm a bit confused by the numerous pumpkins that are not recommended for eating. The small pumpkins in a large display by the store entrance are marked "for display only, do not eat!" and the pumpkins in the produce section are covered with stickers that read "great for painting!" Am I the only one who heads to the produce department looking for things to eat? So, stubborn as I am, I've become set on turning these decorative objects into food -- and hopefully something more interesting than the pie that everyone seems to be so set on this time of year.
Before you consider investing in La Caja China, there are a couple of questions that you need to ask yourself. The first is, how serious are you about cooking pork? The second is, how much meat do you want to cook at one time?
David Blaine at 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
