Cooking Basics Recipes
Black Soy Sauce
Black soy sauce is an ingredient often used in Chinese recipes for cold noodles, such as Barbara Tropp’s Tangy Cold Noodles. Its Chinese name, according to Tropp, translates to “old-head” soy. Black soy sauce is aged longer than other soy sauces. Toward the end of the fermentation process, molasses is added, resulting in a darker, more caramel-hued…
Toasted, Peeled Walnuts
Toasting nuts is a lovely way to deepen their flavor and firm their texture. They don’t actually become crispy, but they develop a firmer texture. After they are toasted, the skins become loose and you can rub them off in a towel. The tannins, which are bitter, are located under the skins. So, when you rub…
Roasted Root Vegetables
Roasted root vegetables are so simple to prepare. They add a deep, earthy heartiness to a meal. The vegetables above graced our Thanksgiving table. I recommend them as a satisfying side for roasted meats, such as turkey, ham, or beef. Our vegetarians guests found them filling and comforting, too.
Thanksgiving Recipes
As you might imagine, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Here is a selection of my recipes that will complement any Thanksgiving table. Just click on the links to go to the relevant recipes on the blog.
Good Ingredients
A dish is always a product of its ingredients. When creating a dish from a small number of ingredients, this adage rings especially true. In salads, the ingredients really shine, so, when you can, spend more for top quality vinegars and oils. Think about it: you only use tablespoons of oil and vinegar to dress a salad. What seems like…
How to Choose Zucchini and Other Summer Squash
The first thing you need to know when choosing zucchini, or any other summer squash, is to look for the smallest ones; they will be the sweetest and most tender. In the photo above, there are yellow patty pans, dark green zucchini, and striped zucchini. Note that I have large and small examples of each…
A Fast, Simple Way to Cook Corn on the Cob
My favorite way to cook corn on the cob? In the microwave! This technique could not be easier. Place your unhusked ear of corn in the microwave and cook it for two minutes per ear on high. That’s it! You can check if the corn is done by pulling back the husk to check if…
How to Choose Corn on the Cob
Corn on the cob is one of summer’s joys. Growing up in the Midwest, my family and I would spend our summers at a lake in Indiana. The farmers near the lake grew delicious sweet corn in the sandy soil. I remember coming in off the lake towards the end of the day, getting in the car with…
Peeling and Cutting a Cucumber
It’s that time again: cucumber season! Usually, one cucumber plant produces a plethora of cucumbers. What to do with them all? First, I’ll show you how to prep them, and soon I’ll follow up with my favorite recipe for quick cucumber pickles.
Whipped Cream
Nothing can replace the taste of freshly whipped cream. The recipe is so easy and the results so luscious, there’s no reason not to try it yourself. Your family and friends will definitely thank you for it!
Poached Salmon with Salsa Verde
Poaching is a simple but underutilized, moist heat cooking technique. I love salmon and chicken breasts cooked this way. Poached foods are cooked in a court-bouillon, a briefly boiled, lightly flavored liquid. In this recipe I use white wine, but you could substitute the wine with another acid such as vinegar or lemon juice.
Simple, Delicious Strawberry Sauce
The taste of this simple sauce of slightly sweetened, fresh strawberries transports me back to my childhood summers. In my memories, the berries are just picked and still sandy, the air is warm and humid, and my friends and I are barefoot and laughing. Ah summer!
How to Cook an Artichoke
I have to thank my husband, David, for this entry. He’s the one who discovered this cooking method for artichokes. I came to love artichokes when I lived in Northern California. Artichokes can’t be grown just anywhere. They need certain soil and the right growing conditions. Those conditions exist in Southern Europe and, fortunately, in…
How to Roast a Chicken
Most of you are probably planning to roast a turkey for Thanksgiving, but here’s an option for a smaller gathering: roast chicken. The technique for making a roast chicken and a roast turkey is the same. I love roast chicken, and it’s incredibly easy to do. It makes a great family dinner or weekend entertaining dish….
How to Calibrate a Thermometer
Calibrating your thermometer is one of the most important things you can do in preparation for cooking your Thanksgiving turkey. Why? If your thermometer isn’t calibrated you won’t get an accurate measurement of the internal temperature of the turkey as it cooks. If your thermometer is registering an inaccurately high temperature, your turkey will be undercooked,…
How to Make a Basic Vinaigrette
A basic vinaigrette is an oil and vinegar dressing for salads. Above is a photo of just some of the ingredients from my pantry and fridge that I have on hand to make vinaigrette salad dressings. The possible flavor variations are endless.
Simple Baked Winter Squash
This one is for Ronda. Nothing could be simpler than this recipe for baked winter squash. I used carnival, also called dumpling squash recently. (It’s the yellow and green squash on the upper left corner in the photo above.) I did so because the size of the squash was perfect for the amount of puree…
No-Cook Tomato Sauce for Pasta
Here we are, deep into tomato season. It is HOT here in the Washington, DC area; temperatures in the 90s are predicted for later today with high humidity. It’s not a day to spend a lot of time inside cooking, and it’s too hot to even fire up the grill. So here’s a fresh, simple,…
Storing Parsley and Other Fresh Herbs
Fresh parsley is a living thing, so I store it and other fresh, leafy herbs as I do fresh flowers. It’s best to have your fresh parsley washed and thoroughly dried before chopping it.
Applesauce
What to do with all of the apples I collected for the photo in my last post? Applesauce. Applesauce is easy to make, and your efforts will be deliciously rewarded. It’s really worth the effort, and it’s a great dish to do with young children. Kids love applesauce, and eating the applesauce that they’ve helped…
Apples for Baking
I’m not very focused on baking, so when I want to bake something with apples I find myself in a quandary, as I don’t know which are the best for baking. In my experience, some apples are reduced to mush by the baking process. Others hold up but don’t taste great. Then there are those…
Roast Turkey
It’s that time of year again, and the big question is: how does one roast a turkey? Well, I’ve tried numerous methods, and this is the one I’ve settled on. It’s from the now defunct Gourmet magazine. In the original article, I believe they said that they had tested over 25 ways to roast a turkey…
Store-Bought Stock or Broth
In a perfect world, I would always have freshly made stock on hand in my fridge. But in reality I sometimes run out of fresh stock, and so I keep a variety of fill-ins of commercially available products. Here are the products I use and how I use them.
Homemade Chicken Stock
A good stock is a wonderful thing. It provides a lovely foundation and a flavorful, savory enrichment for dishes. On its own, properly seasoned, it forms the basis of delicious soups. I use a lot of stock in my cooking and, whenever possible, I always like to have some homemade stock on hand. I make…
Thanksgiving Gravy
This is it: turkey day is approaching. Plenty of cooks who manage very well all year panic when Thanksgiving approaches. How do you cook the perfect turkey? What is stuffing, anyway? Yikes, gravy! How do you make that? I’ve received a request from my sister-in-law DD to help her and the many other anxious cooks out there. So,…