Cook's Country - October 2021 by SOMOSTUDIO - ส้มโอสตูดิโอ

Letter from the

Editor in Chief Toni Tipton-Martin Executive Editor Scott Kathan

EDITOR

Executive Food Editor Bryan Roof Deputy Food Editor Morgan Bolling Deputy Editor Megan Ginsberg Senior Editors Matthew Fairman, Lawman Johnson

Associate Editor Jessica Rudolph Test Cooks Mark Huxsoll, Amanda Luchtel

when searching for recipes is as easy as typing the names of a few ingredients into an internet browser, I still find comfort in cookbooks. I rely upon cooks from around the world to do more than just provide me with ideas for cooking up whatever needs to be used up in the refrigerator. I consult cookbook authors to hear a word of encouragement, for inspiration and advice, for their storytelling. As I wrote in my James Beard Award–winning book The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks (2015), “A cookbook is rarely purely utilitarian. An author lures the reader into the kitchen through all sorts of tools: portraits, poetry, culinary authority, and the promise of delicious food.” Cookbooks tell stories that preserve history, memories, celebrations, and identity. I become more confident in the kitchen when I visit my cookbook library. It is there that I learn to cook a great steak and where unfamiliar voices teach me their way of doing things, inviting me to adapt classic béchamel sauce to match cultural tastes. At the same time, handed-down recipes in old cookbooks reunite me with ancestors I never knew. These cooks become as familiar as good old friends. This passion led us to film the opening segment for the Cook’s Country television show in the library that houses my cookbook collection. Previously, these informative moments were shared on the porch of a country farmhouse. This season, I will tell stories about the creator of popcorn chicken, or the complex history of green goddess dressing, surrounded by my cookbook collection. For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of restoring a historic house to serve as a place where women come together and share their family recipes and cooking stories with one another. Two years ago, my husband and I fulfilled this vision by

Photo Team Manager Alli Berkey

T A TIME

Lead Test Cook, Photo Team Eric Haessler Test Cooks, Photo Team Hannah Fenton, Jacqueline Gochenouer, Gina McCreadie Assistant Test Cooks, Photo Team Hisham Hassan, Christa West Lead Copy Editor Rachel Schowalter Copy Editors Christine Campbell, April Poole Managing Editor, Web Mari Levine Digital Content Producer Danielle Lapierre Contributing Editor Eva Katz Senior Science Research Editor Paul Adams Executive Editors, ATK Reviews Hannah Crowley, Lisa McManus Deputy Editor, ATK Reviews Kate Shannon Senior Editor, ATK Reviews Miye Bromberg Associate Editor, ATK Reviews Carolyn Grillo Assistant Editors, ATK Reviews Chase Brightwell, Grace Kelly Assistant Digital Editor, ATK Reviews Sawyer Phillips

purchasing a 100-year-old abandoned row house in Baltimore. We renovated its quaint front parlor as a space where people can do just that: share, learn, and eat. Shooting the show’s history segments here was very exciting. And intimidating. I’d spent years feeling shy in front of the camera, but the voices of the experts in the room invigorated my sense of purpose. Julia Child was one of the culinary elders who reminded me that I was here to fulﬁll a mission that is far bigger than me. She spoke through words whispered between pages, recipe ingredient lists, and cooking methods: “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” It was an awakening. In the same way that restoration gave new life to a forgotten building and preserving old cookbooks returned dignity to invisible cooks, the recipes we share here are respectful and delicious. My vision to create a culinary community at Cook’s Country can be summarized by a single phrase: In Toni’s Library, there is always a story.

Creative Director John Torres Photography Director Julie Cote Art Director Maggie Edgar Associate Art Director Kristen Jones Art Director, ATK Reviews Marissa Angelone Senior Staff Photographers Steve Klise, Daniel J. van Ackere Photographer Kevin White Photography Producer Meredith Mulcahy Senior Director, Creative Operations Alice Carpenter Executive Managing Editor, Editorial Operations Todd Meier Senior Manager, Publishing Operations Taylor Argenzio Imaging Manager Lauren Robbins Production & Imaging Coordinator Amanda Yong Production & Imaging Specialists Tricia Neumyer, Dennis Noble Test Kitchen Director Erin McMurrer Assistant Test Kitchen Director Alexxa Benson Test Kitchen Manager Meridith Lippard Test Kitchen Facilities Coordinator Kasjah Scarlett Test Kitchen Shopping & Receiving Lead Heather Tolmie Deputy Editor, Culinary Content & Curriculum Christie Morrison

Chief Executive Officer David Nussbaum Chief Creative Officer Jack Bishop Hosts & Executive Editors, Television Bridget Lancaster, Julia Collin Davison

TONI TIPTON-MARTIN

Chief Financial Officer Jackie McCauley Ford Senior Manager, Customer Support Tim Quinn

Editor in Chief

Customer Support Specialist Mitchell Axelson Chief Digital Officer Fran Middleton VP, Marketing Natalie Vinard Editorial Director, Digital Content Kevin Pang Director, Audience Acquisition & Partnerships Evan Steiner Director, Social Media Marketing & Emerging Platforms Kathryn Przybyla Social Media Managers Charlotte Errity, Sarah Sandler Social Media Coordinator Norma Tentori Chief Revenue Officer Sara Domville

NEW EPISODES OF COOK’S COUNTRY TV Season 14 Debuts This Month! Join Toni, Julia, Bridget, Bryan, Morgan, and the rest of the cast for a brand-new season with all-new recipes and reviews as well as recipe introductions shot in Toni’s library. To find out when episodes are airing in your hometown, go to CooksCountry. com and look for “TV Listings” on the left side of the page. Watch and learn with the Cook’s Country team.

Director, Public Relations & Communications Brian Franklin

Find us on Facebook facebook.com/CooksCountry

Senior VP, Human Resources & Organizational Development Colleen Zelina Human Resources Manager Jason Lynott

Find us on Instagram instagram.com/CooksCountry Food Stylists Ashley Moore, Elle Simone Scott

IN EVERY ISSUE 2 QUICK BITES AT K R E V I E W S

Chocolate Cake Mixes America’s Test Kitchen has been teaching home

10 C O O K I N G C L A S S

Tarte Tatin

cooks how to be successful in the kitchen since 1993. Our mission is to empower and inspire confidence, community, and creativity in the kitchen. Millions watch our two shows on public television; read our two flagship magazines (Cook’s Country and

17 G E T T I N G T O K N O W

Potatoes

Cook’s Illustrated); and rely on our books, websites, videos, podcasts, and educational products for

26 H O W T O M A K E

Peanut Butter

children. America’s Test Kitchen is located in a state-of-the-art Boston facility with 15,000 square feet of test kitchen and studio space. Learn more at AmericasTestKitchen.com.

27 S L O W C O O K E R

Hearty White Bean and Tomato Soup

28 C O O K I N G F O R T W O

Cacio e Pepe

29 O N E P O T

Pork and Cabbage Stew with Cheddar Dumplings

30 AT K R E V I E W S

Finding the Best Grill Pan

31 AT K R E V I E W S 10

Cooking with Canned Tomatoes

18 and 19

32 B O N U S R E C I P E

Lemon Aioli

FEATURES 6 Holiday Smoked Turkey Savory smoke—plus a top-notch rub and mop— puts a delicious twist on your celebration centerpiece.

8 Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes

18 Jamaican Oxtail

33 C O O K ’ S C L O S E - U P

Soto Guadelupe

My grandmother’s oxtail is more than a meal; it’s the connection between us and to our history.

19 Jamaican Rice and Peas

No Jamaican feast is complete without the “coat of arms.”

We dress up classic mashed potatoes for the holidays.

8 Sautéed Broccolini “Little broccoli” deserves a moment in the limelight.

9 Butternut Squash Salad This stunning make-ahead dinner salad is fit for a feast.

12 Cheddar-Crusted Grilled Cheese Here’s a simple hack to transform one of America’s favorite sandwiches.

14 Woodman’s-Style Clam Chowder Excellent clam chowder—no shucking necessary.

16 Salmon Peperonata This simple, satisfying weeknight dish will wow you with its balance and depth.

&KLFNHQ 6WURJDQRĮ What do you get when you make the traditional beef dish with chicken? A weeknight-friendly dinner that boasts all the richness and tang of the original.

21 Garlic-Herb-Butter Rolls These fluffy, savory rolls are destined to become a new holiday favorite.

22 Hot Crab Dip This creamy, Cajun-inspired dip is a crowd-pleaser.

23 Fried Artichokes These crunchy, savory fried morsels are easier to prepare than you might think.

24 “Easy Like Sunday Morning” &RĮHH &DNH This pantry-friendly breakfast treat is a snap to make and perfect for a cozy weekend morning.

Cook’s Country magazine (ISSN 1552-1990), number 101, is published bimonthly by America’s Test Kitchen Limited Partnership, 21 Drydock Avenue, Suite 210E, Boston, MA 02210. Copyright 2021 America’s Test Kitchen Limited Partnership. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA, and additional mailing offices, USPS #023453. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40020778. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 875, Station A, Windsor, ON N9A 6P2. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cook’s Country, P.O. Box 6018, Harlan, IA 51593-1518. For subscription and gift subscription orders, subscription inquiries, or change of address notices, visit AmericasTestKitchen.com/support, call 800-526-8447 in the U.S. or 515-237-3663 from outside the U.S., or write to us at Cook’s Country, P.O. Box 6018, Harlan, IA 51593-1518. PRINTED IN THE USA.

QUICK BITES: T E ST K I TC H E N T I P S , R EC S , A N D OT H E R T I D B I TS TO C H E W O N by Matthew Fairman and Mark Huxsoll

KIDS IN THE KITCHEN

VESSEL FOR RISING DOUGH We’ve found a nice trick to help gauge a dough’s size as it rises and cut down on plastic waste. Rather than placing the dough in a bowl covered with plastic wrap to rise (many recipes call for a doubling in size), we like to put the dough in a clear plastic container with volume measurements on the side and a lid (such as the Cambro 4-Quart Square Storage Container or something similar). The measurements come in handy while monitoring rising, and the lid means that you don’t have to use plastic wrap. These containers are also great for brining. –M.H.

Here are a few tips from our ATK Kids editors for making holiday cooking a family affair.

1 Holiday cooking often means lots of prep work—and kids want to help! Older children can help peel and chop vegetables, grate cheese, mash potatoes and squash, and whip cream for dessert. Younger kids can stem herbs, tear bread for stuffing, or put together plates of cheese and crackers. 2 Let kids choose a dessert just for them (and let them make it themselves)—giving them ownership instills a sense of pride in their final dish. Our ATK Kids recipe for Apple Crisp is a great place to start: AmericasTestKitchen.com/kids/recipes/ apple-crisp.

B E FOR E RI SING

AF TE R RI SI NG

A: Ideally, you should plan to brine your turkey at least one day in advance of the big day. Our overnight brine (12 to 14 hours) uses ½ cup of table salt per gallon of cold water. For a quicker brine (4 to 6 hours), we use a whole cup of table salt per gallon of cold water. Depending on the size of the bird and your brining bucket, you will need 2 to 3 gallons of water. Keep the turkey in the refrigerator while brining to maintain a safe temperature. If your refrigerator is full, use a big cooler and ice packs. Whichever brine strategy you choose, your bird will brown better if it’s fully dried before roasting. Thoroughly pat it dry with paper towels, and if you still have time, let it sit uncovered in the refrigerator for a few hours or even overnight.

3 Don’t designate a kids’ table! It’s so rare to have all your friends and family together at once around a single table, so let the kids fully participate and enjoy the special day (and use the good plates). 4 If your family eats the holiday meal later in the day, put the kids in charge of a light lunch to serve guests, such as simple sandwiches and a make-ahead soup. Visit AmericasTestKitchen.com/kids for more!

EMERGENCY QUICK THAW If you forget to thaw your turkey, fill a large bucket with cold water. For a 12-pound bird, thaw the turkey (still in its original wrapper) in the bucket for 6 to 8 hours (or 30 minutes per pound). Change the cold water every half-hour to guard against bacterial growth.

WHEN NOT TO BRINE: Both kosher and self-basting (aka enhanced or

injected) turkeys have already been pretreated with salt and should not be brined. Check the ingredient list. If it contains salt, skip the brine. –M.F.

ATK REVIEWS

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX by Carolyn Grillo

professional baker, I’ve made many cakes from scratch, but I understand the appeal of boxed cake mixes: They are reliable and convenient. For this tasting, I set out to ﬁnd a chocolate version that yielded a cake with a ﬂavor and texture close to those of a homemade cake. I bought nationally available mixes from eight brands, AS A FORMER

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baked the cakes according to the packages’ directions, and tasted them plain with the help of a few chocolate-loving friends. Some of the products weren’t all that speedy to make. Four required hauling out either a stand mixer or a handheld mixer; the rest could be whisked by hand. All the mixes called for eggs, but two called for additional refrigerated ingredients: milk and butter. We preferred the mixes that required just water, eggs, and oil (a pantry staple). The cakes ranged from crumbly and dry to light and tender. Some had the characteristic ﬂuffiness we expect from boxed cakes, but our favorites had slightly more chew and a moister

Less convenient

More convenient

We preferred the mixes that required mostly pantry ingredients and could be prepared with only a bowl and a whisk.

crumb. Cake mixes that called for butter yielded cakes that were dense and dry, while cakes made with oil were moist and tender. When we calculated the total amount of fat in the ﬁnished cakes, we realized that the ones made with butter were lower in fat than those made with oil. The cakes made with oil contained enough fat to bake up moist and tender.

Illustration: Lisa Orona (left), Sophie Greenspan (right)

Q: WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO BRINE A TURKEY, AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

Q: HOW DO YOU ROLL PIE CRUSTS INTO TIDY CIRCLES OF EVEN THICKNESS? MINE ALWAYS EMERGE AS CRACKED, AMORPHOUS BLOBS. A: The trick we like to use when rolling rounds of pie dough is to rotate the dough, not the pin, so that you’re always rolling up from the center of the dough. Place your well-chilled disk of dough on a floured counter and sprinkle the dough lightly with flour. Place the rolling pin in the center of the dough with the ends at 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock, and roll the dough upward from the center, applying even, gentle pressure. Using a bench scraper, lift and turn the dough 90 degrees. Roll upward again from the center with the same stroke and the same pin position. Lightly flour the counter as necessary to prevent sticking. Repeat the rolling and turning steps (keeping your hands at 9 and 3) until the dough is an even 12-inch circle. –M.F.

CONVECTION OVEN: Great browning

CONVENTIONAL OVEN: Good browning

Q: SHOULD I BE USING MY OVEN’S CONVECTION SETTING? A: A convection oven (essentially a conventional oven equipped with a fan and exhaust system) generally allows for faster, more even cooking and more efficient browning and can be very advantageous if you know how and when to use it. It’s crucial to note, however, that all our recipes (and most recipes in general) are written for conventional ovens, so you will likely need to adjust the cooking times and/or oven temperature if using convection. A good rule of thumb when using convection is to drop the oven temperature 25 degrees and begin checking for doneness earlier than called for. –M.F. WHEN TO USE CONVECTION

NEAT AND TIDY Many of the cooks at ATK have worked in restaurants, and we like to use the techniques we learned on the job in our home cooking. You likely already know the importance of completing your mise en place (“everything in its place”) before starting cooking. I like to take it one step further by arranging my prepped ingredients on a rimmed baking sheet in the order they’ll be used in the recipe. This keeps my counter less cluttered and makes it easier and more efficient to work through a recipe. –M.H.

Two cake mixes surpassed the others. Ghirardelli Chocolate Dark Chocolate Premium Cake Mix, which is widely available in supermarkets, yielded a moist and tender cake that impressed tasters. Tiny chocolate chips in the mix melted during baking, providing small bursts of chocolate. King Arthur Deliciously Simple Chocolate Cake Mix, a mail-order cake mix, contained two types of cocoa powder (traditional Dutched cocoa and ultradark black cocoa), giving the cake intense chocolate ﬂavor. A bonus: Both cakes were easy to make, requiring only water, oil, eggs, a bowl, and a whisk. For a mix that makes a great chocolate cake, reach for one of these two options. You and your guests won’t be disappointed.

• When roasting meats or vegetables where the aim is good browning or crispy skin (whole or bone-in poultry; beef or pork roasts; broiled or roasted vegetables such as potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, asparagus, and squash) • When trying to drive off moisture or oven-dry foods (granola, jerky, biscotti, toasted nuts, bread) • When making hearty baked goods that benefit from additional browning (pizza, biscuits, pies, and breads that lack sufficient browning in the final stages of baking)

BOXED VS. HOMEMADE: THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN

WHEN NOT TO USE CONVECTION

• When making fragile baked goods that need time to rise or spread (cakes, soufflés, cookies) • When worried about excessive browning or when making any item that should not be browned (angel food cake, cheesecake, flan) • When toasting very lightweight items that may blow around (bread crumbs, shredded coconut, small seeds, etc.)

OUR TOP PICKS Best Supermarket Ghirardelli Chocolate Dark Chocolate Premium Cake Mix Price: $2.70 for 12.75 oz

($0.21 per oz)

Best Mail-Order King Arthur Deliciously Simple Chocolate Cake Mix Price: $6.95 for 22 oz We made two cakes—one from a boxed chocolate cake mix (left) and one from scratch using our own recipe (right). We enjoyed both cakes when we tasted them plain, but we did spot subtle differences in flavor and texture between the two. Once the cakes were topped with frosting, though, it was more challenging to tell them apart.

($0.32 per oz)

Web subscribers can see the complete results chart at CooksCountry.com/nov21.

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Holiday Smoked Turkey Savory smoke—plus a top-notch rub and mop—puts a delicious twist on your celebration centerpiece. by Morgan Bolling

for the holidays is a pro move. Why? Since you cook it outside, it’s one less dish that has to compete for precious oven space. Slowly smoking the turkey cooks it gently, helping the relatively

MOKING A TURKEY

lean meat stay moist and juicy. The smoke and seasonings add a lot of ﬂavor to the mild bird. And barbecuing is an activity that brings people together as they are drawn to the sights, sounds, and smells of the grill. Someone who understands the beauty of a smoked turkey better than anyone is James Beard Award–winning pit master and restaurateur Rodney Scott. While Scott’s barbecue restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama; and Atlanta,

Georgia, are famous for whole-hog barbecue, his new book, Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ (2021), includes a holiday recipe that calls for a spatchcocked turkey (the backbone is removed and the bird is flattened so that it cooks more evenly and is easier to maneuver). In that recipe, which also calls for a ceramic smoker, the turkey is seasoned with a spice mixture and cooked skin side down for 1½ hours before it is brushed with a thin, vinegar-based mop. The turkey is then flipped skin side up; brushed with the mop again; and cooked for another 1½ hours in the smoky, low heat until it’s done. After talking with Scott about his recipe, I decided to adapt it to work on a more common kettle grill, so I turned to a trusted test kitchen technique that transforms a kettle grill into a smoker: a charcoal snake. For this method, charcoal briquettes are arranged in a C shape around the perimeter of the bottom of the grill. When one side is lit, the briquettes slowly ignite in succession for a nice low, long (upwards of 6 hours) burn without the need to open the grill to add more charcoal. We like to place a disposable aluminum pan filled with water in the center of the C-shaped charcoal snake to help moderate the grill’s temperature. We also strategically place wood chunks on top of the briquettes for bursts of smoke throughout cooking. The first few times I ran through Scott’s recipe with a charcoal snake

The tradition of barbecued turkey is woven into American history. There is evidence that turkeys were roasted; stewed; and indeed, barbecued in the American Southeast, with archaeological finds dating back thousands of years. Dr. Heather Lapham, research archaeologist at the

Turkey’s Time to Shine

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, noted that turkey meat was dried over hot coals and dipped in bear or nut oil

to make a portable meal. Fast-forward to the early 1900s, when Samuel Greenberg, a Jewish community leader, started smoking turkey in Tyler, Texas, to fill a need for kosher barbecue. The demand grew as smoked turkeys became “the rage of the moment,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1939. The Greenberg family started

How to Spatchcock

1. Use shears or cleaver to remove backbone from turkey; flip turkey over.

2. Use heels of your palms to flatten turkey; apply rub and start smoking.

on the kettle grill, the birds cooked unevenly. Since the heat moves in a circular pattern around the turkey, the side of the bird that was originally closest to the burning charcoal was dark and overcooked by the time the second side, which was initially farther from the heat source, was cooked through. Lighting both ends of the charcoal snake at the start resolved the uneven cooking problem but created another problem: too much heat. The turkey’s skin turned too dark before the meat was done. The turkey was positioned at the edge of the grill, with the breast facing away from the arc of the snake. The solution: positioning the water pan toward the edge of the grill as well, not in the center, so that it was directly beneath the turkey. Having the steam from the pan directly under the turkey kept the

turkey skin from overbrowning while the meat cooked. I could now leave the turkey skin side down for longer (until the 2-hour mark) and then let the skin brown when I ﬂipped it. I also used a temperature probe to signal when the turkey breast was cooked to 160 degrees; that way, I could remove the bird from the grill before it could dry out. I kept Scott’s rub, a blend he makes in bulk at his restaurants. And I used his recipe for the mop, too, but I scaled it down. Scott explained that the acidic mop simultaneously adds ﬂavor and tenderizes the meat. In his book, Scott acknowledges that this turkey isn’t going to look like one you see on a magazine cover, but it will taste much better. With all respect to the chef, we think this bronzed, smoky, perfectly seasoned turkey is both delicious and gorgeous!

shipping turkeys around the country by packing the smoked birds in candy-store crates. Daniel Vaughn, barbecue editor of Texas Monthly, confirmed that Greenberg wasn’t the only one contributing to this trend. In the early 1930s, Fort Worth resident Rose Diamond shipped turkeys out of her home kitchen to destinations as far away as New York and Los Angeles. Smoked turkey’s popularity inspired a dish called “turkey pâté” that was made of finely chopped smoked turkey and mayonnaise, which Vaughn explained was considered worthy of serving alongside fine liver pâtés and foie gras. Between the 1940s and early 2000s, smoked turkey was sold mostly during the winter holidays or as a niche alternative to pork. In our interview with Rodney Scott, he explained that his restaurant originally offered smoked turkeys only for special Thanksgiving orders, but he later added barbecued turkey to the daily menu for customers looking to avoid pork or beef. In a video

produced for the hunger-relief organization Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Ed Mitchell, a renowned pit master from North Carolina, described his mother substituting turkey for pork on the holiday dinner table. He said that she prepared turkeys using the methods and ingredients she used for barbecued pork to accommodate family members who shied away from eating pork. And it’s not just whole turkeys that are popular: Vaughn says the trend of smoking turkey breasts has taken off in the last decade. “It went from a few places doing it to now you almost expect it walking into a place in Texas.” He attributes the rise, in part, to efficiency. “Smoked turkey breast is popular in barbecue joints because there’s little loss of fat and moisture during cooking, no bones, and it’s easier to hold and serve custom-sized portions of than smoked chicken.” Whatever the reason, we’re excited to be in on the turkey trend. –MORGAN BOLLING

The Pride of the Pit Text by Bryan Roof; photos by Steve Klise Rodney Scott arrives at his namesake restaurant, Rodney Scott’s BBQ, in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, at 7:30 a.m. He’s road weary from recent TV appearances and traveling between his three restaurants in three different states. On other days, he may have been up all night cooking whole hogs. “When we cook [whole hogs] we’re talking about at least 12 hours of cook time. That’s half a day! You can get worn out cooking whole hogs every day. That’s something you don’t hear a lot about.” Despite the long hours, Scott is quick to tell you that “every day is a good day,” a motto he’s become well-known for. As he enters the pit room at the back of

the restaurant, his weariness turns to smiles and ease as he greets the members of his crew, who are hard at work. Six cooks hustle around the screened-in bunker burning oak logs in a roaring furnace, shoveling hot coals into concrete pits, and hand-pulling meat from freshly cooked hogs for the day’s service. Saturday is their busiest day—customers begin lining up around the corner an hour before the 11 a.m. opening. Scott makes his way to each of the cooks in the pit, shaking a hand or giving a pat on the back, making small talk about life and discussing the job they’re doing. He’s a dedicated mentor to his team, sharing the knowledge

he’s learned over a lifetime of tending barbecue pits. As he observes the action, he wears a look of contemplation, like he’s juggling tasks in his mind. When he’s satisfied with what he sees, he turns and says proudly, “This is Scott’s barbecue.” Sitting in the dining room beneath a sunstruck disco ball, Scott tells the story of his motto, which is stenciled on the wall behind him in big letters. It stems from a not-so-great day when he was denied a home loan. “I put [the loan officer’s] business card on my refrigerator and said to myself, ‘He’s not gonna make my day bad. I’m gonna make it good. Every day is a good day.’ After about the first week or so of going out and saying it, I was like, ‘Man, it feels good just to say it.’ And it takes the pressure off.”

It’s clear that passion has driven Scott to this point. What he once did of necessity to support the family business has turned into a multirestaurant success story and given him worldwide recognition. If you ask him how he keeps up with the long hours and constantly being on the go, he’ll smile and tell you, “I try to sleep on my back and laugh at as many things as I can.”

H OLI DAY SM OK E D T URK EY

Serves 10 to 12 Total Time: 4¾ hours, plus 30 minutes resting

Grill Setup

This recipe is adapted from Rodney Scott’s holiday turkey recipe in his cookbook, Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ (2021). We developed this recipe using a 22-inch kettle charcoal grill. We recommend reading the entire recipe before starting. You can reserve the turkey neck and giblets for making gravy, if desired.

This “two-headed snake” (you light both ends simultaneously) provides hours of heat and smoke to gently cook and flavor the turkey.

MOP 2 cups distilled white vinegar ¼ cup granulated sugar 2 thin lemon slices 1 tablespoon pepper 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes RUB 2 tablespoons kosher salt 1 tablespoon monosodium glutamate 1 tablespoon pepper 1 tablespoon paprika 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar 1½ teaspoons garlic powder 1½ teaspoons onion powder ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper TU RK EY

4 (3-inch) wood chunks 1 (13 by 9-inch) disposable aluminum pan

1 . F OR T HE MOP: Combine all ingre-

dients in medium saucepan and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Cook

OCTO BE R / NOV EMB ER

WOO D C H UN K PL ACEM E NT About 2 inches apart for consistent smoke

SNAKE CONSTRUCTION Two briquettes wide by two briquettes high

giblets discarded, spatchcocked

of chimney so they catch). When coals are partially covered with ash, use tongs to pile 10 coals on each end of charcoal snake, where briquettes meet water pan, so both ends of snake ignite. 6. Set cooking grate in place, then clean and oil grate. Position turkey, skin side down, over water pan, with drumsticks pointing toward arc in charcoal snake. Cover grill, position lid vent over turkey, and open lid vent completely. Cook, undisturbed, for 2 hours. 7. Using small barbecue mop or basting brush, baste turkey liberally with mop. Using oven mitts or grill mitts, ﬂip turkey skin side up, again positioning it over water pan with drumsticks pointing toward arc in charcoal snake. Baste skin side liberally with more mop (you may not need all of it; discard any extra). 8. Insert temperature probe into thickest part of breast. Cover grill and cook until breast registers 160 degrees (check temperature of both sides of breast) and thighs register 175 degrees, about 1 hour. 9. Transfer turkey to rimmed baking sheet. Let rest for 30 to 40 minutes. Carve turkey and transfer to serving platter. Serve.

Illustration: Sophie Greenspan

1 (12- to 14-pound) turkey, neck and

until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Discard lemon slices. (Mop can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 2 months.) 2. FOR T H E R UB : Combine all ingredients in bowl. 3. FO R T HE T UR K E Y: Sprinkle rub all over both sides of turkey. Open bottom vent of charcoal grill completely. To make charcoal snake, arrange 50 charcoal briquettes, 2 briquettes wide, around perimeter of grill, overlapping slightly so briquettes are touching and leaving 9-inch gap between ends of snake. Place second layer of 50 briquettes, also 2 briquettes wide, on top of ﬁrst. (Completed arrangement should be 2 briquettes wide by 2 briquettes high.) 4. Starting 2 inches from each end of charcoal snake, place wood chunks on top of charcoal about 2 inches apart. Slide disposable pan into charcoal gap, running lengthwise into arc of snake and touching grill wall on opposite side of snake. Pour 6 cups water into pan. 5. Light chimney starter ﬁlled with 20 briquettes (pile briquettes on 1 side

IQU

O E T T ES TO B

TU RK EY PL AC E ME NT Skin side down over water pan, with drumsticks pointing toward arc in charcoal snake

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Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes We dress up classic mashed potatoes for the holidays. by Mark Huxsoll

A S H E D P O T AT O E S M A D E

M the traditional way need no

improvements, but it doesn’t hurt to embellish them a little, especially when preparing a special-occasion meal. Transforming this classic starts with choosing the right potato. After reviewing dozens of our mashed potato recipes, I opted for Yukon Gold potatoes, which become creamy when gently simmered and mashed. Peeling the potatoes was a no-brainer when it came to achieving a smooth mash. To ensure that the potatoes were well seasoned, I added a tablespoon of salt to the cooking water. Mashed potato recipes can call for a variety of dairy products—half-and-half, heavy cream, milk, sour cream, or some combination thereof. Milk worked best here because it didn’t overpower the potatoes. Just ¾ cup of whole milk turned out to be the right amount for creamy (but not loose) spuds.

And, of course, there’s butter. Some of the recipes that inspired this one are truly decadent, relying on almost as much butter as potatoes by weight. That would mean nearly 2 pounds of butter here. I cut this back to a more reasonable 7 ounces (or 14 tablespoons). However, I wanted to keep this dish both rich and indulgent, so I employed a culinary trick: browning. Nutty browned butter (see “Browning = Flavor”) contributes serious depth without sacriﬁcing the light milk notes or the natural ﬂavor of the potatoes that I aimed to preserve here. Once the butter’s milk solids darken to the color of milk chocolate and it gets that telltale nutty aroma, it’s ready to use. Whisking the milk into the hot browned butter, as opposed to stirring it into the potatoes cold, gently warmed the milk. It also prevented the browned butter from overcooking, which can happen quite quickly if it’s not monitored closely, and kept the potatoes from cooling too quickly. I returned the drained potatoes to the saucepan and heated them on low before adding the browned butter–milk mixture; this dried them out, enabling them to fully absorb the liquid. With this little extra attention given to the butter, mashed potatoes might steal the spotlight on the holiday table this year.

BROWNED BUTTER

Serves 4 to 6 Total Time: 50 minutes

Russet potatoes can be substituted for the Yukon Golds, if desired. A ricer or food mill can be used instead of the potato masher in step 4; process the potatoes in batches into a bowl. 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces ½ teaspoon table salt, plus salt for cooking potatoes 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 14 pieces

While it can be cooked whole, broccolini is easier to manage and eat when cut into bite-size pieces. So for this quick skillet-roasted broccolini side dish, I opted to cut the broccolini into 1½-inch pieces. Steaming these pieces first in a covered skillet with some water, oil, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes simultaneously softened and seasoned the vegetable. Removing the lid afterward allowed the liquid in the skillet to cook off so that the broccolini pieces could pick up some flavorful browning.

8 COOK’S COUNTRY • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2021

Reserve 2 tablespoons of the browned butter for drizzling, and whisk the milk into the remaining browned butter to halt its cooking.

¾ cup whole milk ¼ teaspoon pepper

1 . Combine potatoes and 1 tablespoon

salt in large saucepan and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, melt butter in medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking frequently, until butter is color of milk chocolate and has nutty aroma, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove saucepan from heat. Measure out 2 tablespoons browned butter and set aside. Carefully and slowly whisk milk (mixture may bubble), pepper, and salt into remaining

“Little broccoli” deserves a moment in the limelight. hybrid of broccoli and Chinese broccoli. And it looks like a cross between the two, sporting the ﬂorets of standard broccoli but the long, thin stalks of Chinese broccoli. It is less bitter and, in turn, milder than standard broccoli, and without the thick stalks, broccolini requires less cooking and prep (no need to peel the tender stalks) than standard broccoli. It’s typically sold in bunches like asparagus, so it’s easy to hack off the woody ends in one fell swoop while the broccolini are still bunched together.

When butter is heated slowly, its water evaporates and its milk solids separate and undergo the Maillard reaction, at which point they take on a complex, nutty flavor.

MASHED POTATOES

Sautéed Broccolini ROCCOLINI IS A

Browning = Flavor

by Morgan Bolling

Anchovies, a powerhouse ingredient that packs a ton of savory depth, added an extra dimension without making the dish taste ﬁshy (they are optional, and the broccolini is still great without them). Golden raisins stirred in at the end of cooking provided pretty pops of sweetness. And some shredded Parmesan sprinkled on top added nutty, savory notes. This side dish is so good and so easy that it made sense to create a variation, swapping in lemon zest and Gruyère for the raisins and Parmesan.

browned butter in saucepan. Cover to keep warm. 3. Drain potatoes and return to now-empty large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are thoroughly dried and begin to break apart, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. 4. Using potato masher, mash potatoes in saucepan until smooth and no lumps remain. 5. Whisk browned butter–milk mixture into potatoes until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving bowl. Drizzle with reserved 2 tablespoons browned butter. Serve.

Butternut Squash Salad This stunning make-ahead dinner salad is fit for a feast. by Matthew Fairman O TA M O T T O L E N G H I , A N

Y Israeli-born, London-based chef

and cookbook author of well-deserved fame, has been one of the great culinary inﬂuences over the past decade. It was in his book Jerusalem (2012) (coauthored with Sami Tamimi) that I ﬁrst encountered the delightful combination of roasted butternut squash and red onion with lemon-tahini sauce, and that recipe is the inspiration and jumping-off point for this salad. To make this dish my own, I adapted Ottolenghi’s side dish into a substantial meal; I serve the roasted butternut squash and onion (seasoned simply with olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper) on a bed of baby arugula, which adds color contrast, freshness, and a peppery foil to the sweet roasted vegetables. Whisking

mayonnaise into a mix of tahini, lemon juice, and water creates a ﬂavorful dressing with over-the-top creaminess. Instead of the pine nuts in the original recipe, I top the vegetables with rich, crunchy toasted pecans, which add heft and textural intrigue. Briny kalamata olives bring in welcome pops of saltiness, further balancing the sweetness of the squash and onion. Finally, Ottolenghi sprinkles his version with za’atar (a concentrated mix of dried herbs, sumac, and sesame seeds). For something a little fresher and brighter, I layer on a ﬁstful of vibrant fresh mint (parsley, dill, and cilantro also work great). The result is a unique, gorgeous salad that makes a satisfying vegetarian dinner or a beautiful addition to a grand holiday spread.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SALAD WITH CREAMY TAHINI DRESSING

Serves 6 Total Time: 2 hours

We developed this recipe using Ziyad Tahini Sesame Paste. Using other tahini products may result in a thicker or thinner salad dressing. The dressing should be the consistency of buttermilk (or slightly thicker than heavy cream). If the dressing seems thick, thin it out with water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it’s smooth and pourable. If the dressing seems thin, add extra tahini, 1 teaspoon at a time, to thicken it. You can substitute parsley, dill, or cilantro for the mint, if desired. baking sheet. Roast until squash and onion are browned and tender, 35 to 45 minutes, stirring halfway through roasting. Remove sheet from oven and let cool for 15 minutes.

ROASTED SQUASH 1 (2- to 2¼-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces (7 cups) 1 red onion, halved and sliced through

2 . F O R T HE D R E SS IN G A ND S AL A D : Meanwhile, whisk tahini,

root end ½ inch thick 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

water, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in now-empty bowl until creamy and thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. 3. Reserve ¼ cup dressing. Add arugula to remaining dressing in bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread arugula on large serving platter. Top with squash and onion, pecans, olives, and mint. Drizzle salad with reserved dressing. Serve.

2 teaspoons ground cumin 1¼ teaspoons table salt ½ teaspoon pepper DR ESS I NG A ND SA LAD ¼ cup tahini ¼ cup water 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 garlic clove, minced

Squash Prep

½ teaspoon table salt ¼ teaspoon pepper

TO MAKE AHEAD

5 ounces (5 cups) baby arugula

Cooled cooked vegetables can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour before assembling salad and serving. Dressing can be refrigerated for up to 3 days but may thicken over time. If dressing becomes too thick, adjust consistency with water as needed.

¾ cup pecans, toasted and chopped 1⁄3 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped ¼ cup chopped fresh mint

1. F O R T H E R O AS TE D S QU A SH :

SAUTÉED BROCCOLINI WITH GOLDEN RAISINS AND PARMESAN

Serves 4 Total Time: 30 minutes

2 tablespoons water 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced (optional) ½ teaspoon table salt 1⁄8 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 pound broccolini, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch pieces ¼ cup golden raisins ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese Lemon wedges

1 . Combine oil; water; garlic; ancho-

vies, if using; salt; and pepper ﬂakes in

One Big, Happy, Emerald-Green Family

SAUTÉED BROCCOLINI WITH PANCETTA AND GRUYÈRE

Shred the Parmesan on the large holes of a box grater. To serve more than four, make two separate batches rather than just doubling the recipe. 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss all ingredients together in bowl. Spread vegetables in single layer on rimmed

12-inch nonstick skillet. Add broccolini and toss to coat with oil mixture. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until paring knife inserted in thickest stalks of broccolini meets little resistance, about 5 minutes, shaking skillet occasionally to redistribute broccolini. 2. Uncover and cook until water has evaporated and broccolini is lightly browned in spots, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. 3. Off heat, stir in raisins. Season with salt to taste. Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesan. Serve with lemon wedges.

Omit anchovies. Substitute 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest for raisins and Gruyère for Parmesan. Before beginning step 1, cook 2 ounces pancetta, cut into ¼-inch pieces, in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and crispy, about 6 minutes. Transfer to paper towel– lined plate. Wipe skillet clean with paper towels and proceed with step 1. Sprinkle broccolini with pancetta before serving.

The genus Brassica includes cabbage; mustard; turnips; and various types of broccoli, such as broccolini, broccoli rabe, Chinese broccoli, and broccoli (shown below from left to right).

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4. Cut into 1-inch pieces.

CHINESE BROCCOLI

3. Remove seeds and pulp from both halves of bulb.

BROCCOLI RABE

2. Halve each piece (neck and bulb) lengthwise.

BROCCOLINI

1. Peel thoroughly, then cut between neck and bulb.

COOK’S

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Tarte Tatin This classic French showstopper features apples in rich caramel atop flaky, buttery pastry. It’s baked upside down and flipped out of the skillet before serving—but don’t worry, our technique makes it easy. by Jessica Rudolph

We like Gala or Golden Delicious apples here because they retain their shape and provide mild sweetness. If your apples are on the large side, you may have one or two pieces that won’t ﬁt. Serve with vanilla ice cream. DOUG H 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons sugar ½ teaspoon table salt 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled ¼ cup ice water FI LL IN G 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces, divided 5 Gala or Golden Delicious apples (6 to 7 ounces each), peeled, quartered, and cored ¼ teaspoon table salt ¾ cup (5¼ ounces) sugar ¼ cup water 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1. FOR THE DOUGH: Line large, flat

A Slice of History Tarte Tatin was created by sisters Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France, in the 1880s. They ran a hotel, and it is fabled that Stéphanie created the tart by accident. Stories vary: Her apples got too dark, the tart was assembled upside down, she dropped it . . . Patrons enjoyed the tart, but the Tatin sisters didn’t formally put tarte Tatin on the menu nor publish the recipe. The dish as we know it was popularized in the 1930s at the Parisian restaurant Maxim’s, where it is still served today. The oldest recipes call for layering sliced apples with butter and sugar, topping them with pastry, and baking it all together. There is a specific copper pan with sloped sides known as a tarte Tatin pan that is about the size of a deep pie plate. Originally the pan had a lid with a raised lip on which hot coals would be piled, and the whole tart would cook on the stovetop.

10 C O O K ’ S C O U N T R Y • O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1

plate with parchment paper. Process flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. Scatter butter over top and pulse until irregular, large chunks of butter form with some small pieces throughout, about 5 pulses. Add ice water and process until little balls of dough form and almost no dry flour remains, about 10 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl after 5 seconds. 2. Turn out dough onto clean counter and gather into ball. Sprinkle dough and counter generously with flour and shape dough into 5-inch disk, pressing any cracked edges back together. Roll dough into 9-inch circle, reflouring counter and dough as needed. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto prepared plate. Cut three 2-inch slits in center of dough. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is very firm, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. 3. FOR T H E FILLIN G: After dough has chilled for at least 2 hours, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in 10-inch

ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Off heat, arrange apple quarters on their sides in melted butter in circular pattern around edge of skillet, nestling fruit snugly. Tuck remaining apples into center (it is not necessary to maintain circular pattern in center). Sprinkle salt over apples. 5. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until apples have released enough juice to cover bottom of skillet and juice just begins to reduce, 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until liquid has mostly evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes longer (apples may brown on undersides). Remove skillet from heat and set aside. 6. Bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to boil in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, without stirring, until mixture begins to turn straw-colored around edge of saucepan, 4 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, swirling saucepan occasionally, until mixture is light amber–colored and registers 355 to 360 degrees, 2 to 5 minutes longer. (To take temperature, remove saucepan from heat and tilt to 1 side; stir with thermometer to equalize hotter and cooler spots, avoiding bottom of saucepan.) 7. Off heat, carefully stir in remaining 3 tablespoons butter (mixture will bubble and steam). Working quickly, pour caramel over apples (caramel will not completely cover apples). Place dough over apples. 8. Bake tart until thick, syrupy bubbles form around edge and crust is golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer skillet to wire rack and let sit until cool enough to handle, 20 to 30 minutes. 9. Run thin rubber spatula or plastic knife around edge of skillet to loosen tart. Invert large serving platter over skillet (make sure platter is larger than skillet and has sloped sides to catch any excess caramel). Swiftly and carefully invert tart onto platter (if apples shift or stick to skillet, rearrange with spoon). Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

TO MAKE AHEAD Let baked tart cool completely in skillet. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To serve, reheat tart in 300-degree oven until hot, about 25 minutes, then cool and invert.

Photo (bottom): Creative Commons

TART E TAT IN

Serves 6 to 8 Total Time: 2 hours, plus 2 hours 20 minutes chilling and cooling

Stages of Caramel Making caramel isn’t hard, but it requires attention—and, ideally, an instant-read digital thermometer. Here are the visual cues of each step.

STA RT Bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to a boil.

COOK FO R 4 TO 8 MI N UTES

CO OK 2 TO 5 MINUTES LO NGER

STIR I N BUTT ER

Mixture starts to turn straw-colored; reduce heat.

Mixture turns light amber–colored (355 to 360 degrees); remove from heat.

Mixture will bubble and steam.

1. Make dough Process chilled butter, flour, sugar, and salt until irregular chunks of butter form. Add ice water and process until little balls of dough form. Why? The food processor makes mixing a breeze. Because we roll the dough right after making it, we take care not to overwork it so that it bakes up tender, not tough.

2. Shape dough Gather dough into ball on counter, shape into disk, and roll into 9-inch circle. Cut 3 slits in center. Why? The dough is the perfect temperature to work with, so we roll it out now and let it rest later. The slits will allow steam to escape in the oven so that the filling isn’t too runny.

3. Cut and core apples Peel and quarter 5 Gala or Golden Delicious apples, and then cut out cores. Why? Apple quarters are large enough to stay intact through the cooking process but will still soften enough during cooking to be easy to eat.

4. Arrange apples in skillet Place apple quarters in circular pattern around edge of skillet and tuck remaining apples into center. Why? Nestling the fruit tightly will ensure even distribution of the fruit, even as the apples release moisture and shrink.

6. Make caramel Bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to boil in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Why? Making the caramel in a separate saucepan (rather than in the skillet with the apples) gives you greater control over both the caramel and the apples.

7. Add butter to caramel Carefully stir 3 tablespoons butter into caramel. Use caution; it will steam and bubble! Why? Butter arrests the caramel’s cooking so that it stays the perfect amber shade; plus, it adds delicious richness.

8. Assemble tart Immediately pour caramel over apples (apples won’t be fully covered). Place dough round over top. Why? The caramel will loosen in the oven and coat the apples. The dough round will collapse over the apples, creating a lip around the edge that cradles the apples when the tart is turned out.

9. Bake tart Bake until thick, syrupy bubbles form around edge and crust is golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Why? You can judge how set the filling will be by how thick the bubbling juices are. Big, thick, slow bubbles indicate that the filling has sufficiently thickened.

O CTOB ER /N OVE MBE R

5. Cook apples Sprinkle salt over apples, cover, and cook until they release moisture. Uncover and cook until moisture evaporates. Why? Salt balances the sugar; the lid traps steam to jump-start cooking and draw out liquid; and removing the lid lets the liquid evaporate, so the finished tart isn’t too wet.

10. Flip tart After tart rests to let filling thicken further, loosen tart from skillet and place inverted large platter with sloped sides on top. Swiftly and carefully flip tart onto platter. Why? Using a platter that’s larger than the skillet eases the flipping process, and a platter with sloped sides will contain any excess caramel.

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GOOEY AND CRUNCHY The flat hats these sandwiches are wearing are made of skillet-crisped cheese!

STED -CRU R A D SE CHED CHEE D E L GRIL AT O TOM WITH

C H E D DA R

-C R U S T E D

G R IL L E D C HEESE

Cheddar-Crusted Grilled Cheese Here’s a simple hack to transform one of America’s favorite sandwiches.

deﬁning (and most frequently consumed) foods of my childhood was a grilled cheese sandwich. To this day, I still love to make and eat them for lunch or a quick snack. Obviously I’m not alone: Grilled cheese sandwiches are an institution of American cuisine (see “A Sandwich for All Times”). Knowing that they are endlessly adaptable, I wanted to perfect a variation that I’d seen online and that I hoped would carry this sandwich to an even higher plane of deliciousness. But ﬁrst, the basics. As with any supremely popular food, there is a heated debate about the best way to make a standard grilled cheese sandwich. While I would never try to force my method on anyone—to each their own—I do have a tried-and-true procedure that results in fantastic grilled cheese sandwiches. I start by melting butter over medium heat in a nonstick skillet. NE OF THE

Once the butter is liquefied, into the pan goes the sandwich, which consists of a combination of American cheese (a good melting cheese) and sharp cheddar cheese (for flavor), a little mayo on the inside (for extra richness), and white bread. Covering the skillet traps the heat and helps the cheese melt. Once the bottom is a beautiful, deep golden brown, I flip the sandwich, melt more butter, and brown the second side. Perfection. But why stop there? Here’s where things get fun. Cheese crisps (also known as frico) have become one of America’s favorite snacks—they are especially popular among keto dieters. In restaurants, cheese crisps are used to garnish soups and salads. I am not sure who originally thought to combine the crunchy appeal of cheese crisps with grilled cheese sandwiches, but I knew it was an idea worth exploring.

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After experimenting with several recipes, I eventually landed on the following process—a rousing success. Make two grilled cheese sandwiches as previously described, remove them from the skillet, and then sprinkle more sharp cheddar cheese (which I liked better than Parmesan here for its crunchy-chewy texture when crisped) in two piles in the now-empty skillet. Then lay the sandwiches on top of the cheese in the skillet, taking care not to move them until the cheese has crisped and fused onto the bottoms of the sandwiches. Gently remove the sandwiches from the skillet and let them rest for a few minutes, crisped-cheese side up, on a wire rack to allow the cheesy crusts to crisp even more as they cool (and to let the molten cheese centers cool enough to eat). I did try adding the cheese crust to both sides of the sandwiches but found that it was too much and made the sandwiches hard to eat.

by Mark Huxsoll

I know it sounds like hyperbole, but this recipe has changed my life . . . or at least the way I’ll make grilled cheese sandwiches moving forward. Inspired by this success, I developed three variations that keep the combination of crunchy exterior and melty cheese but bring some other distinct ﬂavors to the party. Enjoy! A SAN DWI C H FOR ALL TI MES

When processed cheese became readily available in the United States in the 1920s, grilled cheese sandwiches spiked in popularity. The humble (typically open-faced) sandwich became a staple during the Great Depression and then a favorite of overseas troops during World War II; the combination of bread and cheese was nothing new, but the sandwich became iconic. It even has its own day: April 12 is National Grilled Cheese Day.

CH ED DA CH R-C EE SE RU PE ST WI PP ED TH ER GR BA JE ILL L LY CO N A ED ND

ED SA LM ON EE SE W IT H SM OK CH D LE IL GR D UY ÈR E- CR US TE

C H EDDAR - CRUST E D G RI L L ED C H EESE

Makes 2 sandwiches Total Time: 35 minutes

It’s important to use a good nonstick skillet here. While crisping the cheese crust in step 5, avoid flipping the sandwiches too early. At first the cheese will be soft and melty, but it will crisp as it continues to cook. When sprinkling the cheese in the skillet for the crust, be sure to leave enough room between the portions so that the cheese doesn’t run together. For the best flavor, buy the American cheese at the deli counter, not the presliced cheese that comes wrapped in cellophane. 2 teaspoons mayonnaise 4 slices hearty white sandwich bread 2 slices deli American cheese (11⁄2 ounces) 4 ounces white sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup), divided 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 . Spread mayonnaise evenly on 1 side

of each slice of bread. Layer 1 slice of American cheese and ¼ cup cheddar on mayonnaise side of each of 2 slices of bread. Top with remaining 2 slices of bread, mayonnaise side down. 2 . Melt 1 tablespoon butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches in skillet. Cover and cook until deep golden brown on bottom, 4 to 7 minutes. 3. Using spatula, carefully ﬂip sandwiches. Add remaining 1 tablespoon

butter to center of skillet between sandwiches and tilt to distribute butter as it melts. Cover and continue to cook until second side is deep golden brown and cheese is visibly melted around edges of sandwiches, 2 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer sandwiches to wire rack. 4. Remove skillet from heat and wipe clean with paper towels. Sprinkle two ¼-cup portions of remaining cheddar into rectangles just larger than slices of bread, about 6 by 4 inches, on opposite sides of now-empty skillet. Place sandwiches directly on top of cheddar. 5. Return skillet to medium heat and cook until edges of cheddar beneath sandwiches are well browned and crisp, 2 to 4 minutes. (Do not slide spatula under sandwiches before cheddar is crisp; it will pull cheddar and

ruin crust.) When cheddar is browned along edges, slide spatula underneath sandwiches and transfer, cheddar crust side up, to rack. (For decorative purposes, you can upturn edges of cheddar crust, if desired.) 6. Let sandwiches sit for 5 minutes to allow cheese to set. Transfer sandwiches to cutting board and cut diagonally. Serve.

GRUYÈR E-C RUSTE D G RIL L ED CH E ES E WITH S MO KE D SALMON

Substitute Gruyère for cheddar. Layer 3 slices smoked salmon on top of American cheese in each sandwich. Sprinkle salmon with 1 tablespoon fresh dill leaves, 2 teaspoons minced shallot, ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest, and pinch pepper. Sprinkle Gruyère over salmon layer.

C HEDDAR -CRUSTE D GRI LL ED C HEESE WITH BACO N AND

Patience Required

P EP PE R JEL LY

Making the crispy cheese crust is easy: You simply have to wait. OK, so maybe waiting isn’t easy, but it’s important to make sure that the shredded cheese is well browned and crisp before sliding a spatula under the sandwiches and transferring them to a wire rack to rest.

Substitute ¼ cup pepper jelly for mayonnaise and yellow sharp cheddar for white sharp cheddar. Place 4 half slices of cooked bacon between cheese layers in each sandwich. C HEDDAR -CRUSTE D GRI LL ED C HEESE WITH TO MATO

Shingle 2 thin tomato slices on top of American cheese in each sandwich. Sprinkle tomato slices with 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan and pinch each of table salt, pepper, red pepper ﬂakes, dried oregano, and granulated garlic. Sprinkle cheddar over tomato layer.

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the potatoes were almost tender. Only then did I add the whole baby clams and light cream. After just 5 minutes more, still below a simmer, the clams remained succulent and tender, the potatoes were cooked through and creamy, and the chowder was deliciously close to the one I remembered from Woodman’s. I melted in a knob of butter, enriching the relatively light chowder and adding the signature butteriness of the Woodman’s version. Finally, as a nod to all those chowder purists out there who prefer a thicker clam chowder, I included an optional flour-free thickening agent: instant mashed potato flakes. They not only add a bit of heft and body to the soup but also enhance the strong potato flavor that’s characteristic of the Woodman’s version. Now you can have this authentic New England classic no matter where you live.

No flour means a lighter, thinner chowder where the clam and potato flavors shine brightly.

WOODMAN’S-STYLE CLAM CHOWDER

Serves 6 to 8 Total Time: 11⁄2 hours, plus 1 hour marinating

Woodman’s-Style Clam Chowder Excellent clam chowder—no shucking necessary. by Bryan Roof

F T E R TA S T I N G T H E

award-winning New England clam chowder at the immensely popular Woodman’s of Essex (see “Life’s a Clam; Dig It”) and getting the rundown on their time-tested recipe, I wanted to see if we could bring an approximation of their version to home kitchens everywhere. At Woodman’s, which sits on the Essex River, the team uses local, freshly shucked clams, relying on the quality of those bivalves to set their chowder apart. Unlike other versions that are often thickened with ﬂour and contain salty pork products, Woodman’s chowder is more austere.

It is made simply with clams, potatoes, onion, butter, and light cream (and thoroughly seasoned with salt and a healthy dose of black pepper). Woodman’s chowder is lighter than most yet unbelievably delicious and satisfying, brimming with the sweet, briny ﬂavor of the succulent clams. The cooks at Woodman’s have a smart method for keeping the clams in their chowder fresh-tasting and tender (not tough and rubbery): They never let the chowder come to a strong simmer, much less a boil, always monitoring the temperature closely and maintaining it around 160 degrees for the duration of a short cooking time (less than half an hour). But could I make this method work without access to freshly dug clams? To ﬁnd out, I tried my own scaled-down version of the Woodman’s recipe with the different varieties of

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canned clams that were available at my local grocery store. Though some of the less expensive canned products were noticeably inferior, I was pleasantly surprised with both the flavor and texture I got when using a combination of canned chopped clams and canned whole baby clams. After those first forays into chowder making, I continued to refine my recipe. I began by partially cooking diced russet potatoes and mixing them with the chopped clams and their juice, finely chopped onion, salt, and pepper. After letting that mixture marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour (this step is crucial for letting the flavors meld since the chowder is cooked for such a short time), I heated it up slowly in a large saucepan over medium heat. When I noticed the first bubbles breaking the surface, I lowered the heat to keep the chowder below a simmer until

To make this recipe more accessible, we call for two kinds of canned, rather than fresh, clams: chopped clams and whole baby clams. Be sure to purchase the best-quality canned clams you can find; they are typically a little more expensive, but they make a difference. The Woodman’s of Essex clam chowder is relatively thin compared with other New England clam chowders. We use instant mashed potato flakes to thicken ours slightly; their impact is subtle and they help bolster the potato flavor (for more information on potato flakes, see page 17). However, if you prefer a thinner chowder, omit the potato flakes. If you can’t find light cream, you can substitute a combination of 1½ cups of heavy cream and ½ cup of whole milk. 1¾ pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice 2 (6.5-ounce) cans chopped clams 2 cups finely chopped onion 2½ teaspoons table salt, divided 2 teaspoons pepper 2 (10-ounce) cans whole baby clams 2 cups light cream 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes (optional) Oyster crackers

1. Place potatoes in large saucepan

and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are al dente and paring knife

inserted into them still meets some resistance, about 3 minutes. Drain potatoes in colander and transfer to medium bowl. Let potatoes cool completely, about 30 minutes. 2 . Add chopped clams and their juice, onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to potatoes and stir to combine. Transfer mixture to 1-gallon zipper-lock bag, seal bag, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. 3. When ready to finish cooking chowder, drain whole clams in fine-mesh strainer set over bowl; reserve juice (you should have about 1 cup; add water if necessary to make up difference). 4. Combine potato mixture, reserved clam juice, and remaining 1½ teaspoons salt in large saucepan. Bring to bare simmer over medium heat (bubbles should just begin to form along edge of saucepan), stirring often (it will take about 10 minutes to reach bare simmer). Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat to keep chowder just below simmer, until potatoes are mostly tender, about 5 minutes. 5. Stir in whole clams and cream. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring often to keep chowder just below simmer, until potatoes are fully tender and chowder is hot throughout, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in butter and potato flakes, if using, until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with oyster crackers.

It’s All in the Can

Illustration: Sophie Greenspan

Fresh clams make the best chowders, but for the sake of convenience and affordability, we call for two kinds of canned clams. We use canned chopped clams in the marinating stage to infuse the potatoes with briny ﬂavor; then we add canned whole baby clams near the end of cooking so that they stay plump and tender. WHOLE BA BY + C HO P PED CL A MS We developed this recipe with the two brands shown here.

ON the ROAD

Life’s a Clam; Dig It Text by Bryan Roof; photos by Steve Klise

OODMAN’S OF

is famous for fried seafood; steamed lobsters; and all things clam, from cakes to chowder. Situated on a piece of inland marsh on the North Shore of Massachusetts, the area offers up all the elements of an ideal coastal setting: rocky shorelines, tangerine sunsets, and sweet salt air. On any given weekend at Woodman’s, a line of customers waiting to place their orders—most of them still sandy from the beach—stretches 50 long out the door, and the hunger in the air is as palpable as the fog of fried seafood that hangs over the place. Inside, a view into the open kitchen reveals a crew of at least 20 seemingly high school–aged kids ESSEX

frantically working 10 deep-fryers and ladling out cupfuls of clam chowder for hungry customers. It’s hard to believe that it all started with a desire to sell fresh clams. Steve and Doug Woodman now co-own the business that their grandfather, Lawrence Woodman, started in 1914 as a simple roadside stand. “My grandfather’s nickname was Chubby,” Steve says. “He was a short man with a big barrel chest. He was a trolley engineer at the time and was digging clams to make some extra money.” When the stand opened up, it carried a few grocery items to draw customers in, but ultimately “Chubby was really trying to sell his clams.” Chubby eventually began selling homemade potato chips. Then, on July 3, 1916, at the suggestion of

a customer, he breaded and fried clams and sold them during Essex’s Fourth of July parade. Steve says, “They put a sign up: ‘Fried Essex Clams.’ And people came in and bought them. My grandfather took in $35 that day, which was the most money he’d ever taken in on any day he was open. So, he wasn’t a stupid man, he kept them on the menu.” Soon the menu expanded to include clam cakes; clam rolls; and their famous, award-winning family recipe for clam chowder (see “Woodman’s-Style Clam Chowder”), a true New England classic. Clockwise from top left: Noah Davis makes chowder; empty seats at Woodman’s are rare; fresh clams bagged and ready; a view from Main Street in Essex, Massachusetts.

SALMON PEPERONATA

Serves 4 Total Time: 55 minutes

To ensure uniform pieces, we prefer to purchase a whole center-cut salmon ﬁllet and cut it into four equal pieces. Alternatively, you could purchase four 6- to 8-ounce skinless ﬁllets of similar thickness. The most accurate way to assess the doneness of the salmon is with an instant-read thermometer. 1 (2-pound) skinless center-cut salmon fillet, 1 to 1½ inches thick 1¾ teaspoons table salt, divided 1 teaspoon pepper ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch-wide strips Using different-colored bell peppers gives the dish an extra dimension of flavor and visual appeal.

1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch-wide strips 1 onion, halved and sliced ¼ inch thick 6 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, plus 4 teaspoons brine ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus

Salmon Peperonata This simple, satisfying weeknight dish will wow you with its balance and depth. by Mark Huxsoll quiet hero of Italian cuisine. Sweet bell peppers, stewed in extra-virgin olive oil until meltingly soft, play the starring role, with onion, garlic, and tomato as supporting players. The mixture is served at room temperature as part of an antipasto platter or warm as a condiment for different meats. It is equally fantastic on salads, with eggs, spread on slices of crusty bread, or layered into sandwiches. We wanted to pair this mild, sweet vegetable mélange with rich, quick-cooking skinless salmon ﬁllets for an easy weeknight supper. To make the peperonata, slice up two bell peppers and an onion, crush six garlic cloves, and add them all to a skillet with lots of olive oil plus some salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers

E P E R O N ATA I S A

and onion are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in a can of diced tomatoes (including the juice), some capers and a little of their brine, and red pepper ﬂakes and cook until the sauce is thickened. Then turn down the heat and nestle the salmon ﬁllets into the peperonata. Cover and cook until the salmon is done, about 15 minutes more. This last bit of cooking is where the magic in this dish happens. The

Skinned Side Many of our salmon recipes— including this one—reference the skinned side of skinless salmon. That simply means the side from which the skin has been removed; with salmon fillets, the skinned side is typically grayer.

16 C O O K ’ S C O U N T R Y • O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1

flavors of the peperonata and salmon mingle, with the peperonata gaining richness from the salmon and the salmon picking up a subtle sweetness from the vegetables. A drizzling of lemon juice perks up the flavors of both the peperonata and the salmon, a sprinkle of basil adds freshness to the dish while more pepper flakes add heat, and an extra drizzle of olive oil is the perfect finishing touch.

The side that looks slightly gray is the skinned side.

extra for sprinkling 1½ teaspoons lemon juice ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

1. Cut salmon crosswise into 4 equal

fillets. Pat salmon dry with paper towels and sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon salt and pepper. 2. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add bell peppers, onion, garlic, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. 3. Stir in tomatoes and their juice, capers and brine, and pepper flakes. Continue to cook, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 4. Reduce heat to medium-low. Nestle salmon into peperonata, skinned side down. Cover and cook until centers of fillets are still translucent when checked with tip of paring knife and register 125 degrees (for medium-rare), 10 to 15 minutes. 5. Drizzle lemon juice over salmon. Sprinkle with basil and extra pepper flakes. Serve, drizzled with extra oil.

Smoked Salmon and Potato Frittata

DINNER TONIGHT

Cilantro-Lime Turkey Salad Wraps with Mango Chutney

DINNER TONIGHT

Spiced Lamb Patties ZLWK 5RDVWHG &DXOLķRZHU

DINNER TONIGHT

Smoky Roasted Shrimp and Potatoes with Garlicky Spinach

DINNER TONIGHT

Spiced Lamb Patties with Roasted Cauliflower Serves 4

Total Time: 55 minutes You can substitute ground beef for the ground lamb, if preferred. Serve with rice. 1 head cauliflower (2 pounds), cored and cut into 1½-inch florets 1 red onion, cut through root end into 8 equal wedges, divided ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided 2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided 1¾ teaspoons table salt, divided ¾ cup fresh mint leaves, divided ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon pepper 1 pound ground lamb

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to

450 degrees. Toss cauliflower, 6 onion wedges, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon cumin, and ¾ teaspoon salt together on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through roasting. 2 . Meanwhile, pulse ½ cup mint, pine nuts, 5 tablespoons oil, and ¼ teaspoon salt in food processor until finely chopped, about 6 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed; transfer mint sauce to bowl. Add cinnamon, pepper, remaining 2 onion wedges, remaining 1 teaspoon cumin, remaining ¾ teaspoon salt, and remaining ¼ cup mint to now-empty processor and pulse until finely chopped, about 10 pulses. Add lamb and pulse until mixture is well combined, about 6 pulses. 3. Using your wet hands, shape lamb mixture into 12 balls, then flatten into ½-inch-thick patties. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook patties until browned and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Serve patties with vegetables and mint sauce.

Smoked Salmon and Potato Frittata Serves 4 Total Time: 45 minutes You can use store-bought everything bagel seasoning or you can make your own; to do so, combine ½ teaspoon each of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced garlic, dried onion flakes, and kosher salt. 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into ½-inch pieces, divided ¼ cup water 10 large eggs 3⁄8 teaspoon table salt, divided ½ red onion, sliced thin 2 tablespoons lemon juice ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided 2 cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes 4 ounces smoked salmon, chopped 2½ teaspoons everything bagel seasoning 2 plum tomatoes, cored, halved lengthwise, and sliced crosswise ¼ inch thick ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh dill 1 . Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to

375 degrees. Microwave half of cream cheese in large bowl until softened, about 20 seconds. Whisk in water until smooth. Whisk in eggs and 1⁄8 teaspoon salt. Combine onion and lemon juice in second bowl; set aside. 2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in egg mixture and salmon. Off heat, scatter remaining cream cheese over top and press lightly to partially submerge. Sprinkle evenly with bagel seasoning. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until frittata is just set in center, 10 to 12 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, toss tomatoes, dill, remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil with onion mixture to combine. Using rubber spatula, loosen frittata from skillet and transfer to cutting board. Cut frittata into wedges and serve with onion-tomato salad.

Smoky Roasted Shrimp and Potatoes with Garlicky Spinach Serves 4 Total Time: 1 hour

Cilantro-Lime Turkey Salad Wraps with Mango Chutney Serves 4 Total Time: 25 minutes

Serve with lemon wedges.

If you don’t have leftover turkey, you can substitute chopped rotisserie chicken.

½ cup mayonnaise 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided 4 teaspoons smoked paprika, divided 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, plus 5 teaspoons juice, divided 1½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch pieces 1¾ teaspoons table salt, divided

¾ cup mayonnaise 1½ teaspoons ground coriander ½ teaspoon grated lime zest plus 1½ tablespoons juice ½ teaspoon pepper 3 cups chopped cooked turkey

1 teaspoon pepper, divided

1⁄3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 pounds jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled, deveined, and

1⁄3 cup raw cashews, toasted and chopped

tails removed

¼ cup mango chutney

6 garlic cloves, minced, divided

4 (10-inch) flour tortillas

1 pound (16 cups) baby spinach

1 romaine lettuce heart (6 ounces), sliced thin

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to

1 . Whisk mayonnaise, coriander, lime zest and juice, and pepper together

475 degrees. Combine mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon paprika, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in bowl; set lemony mayonnaise aside. Toss potatoes, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and 2 tablespoons oil together on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until potatoes are browned on bottoms, about 20 minutes. 2 . Toss shrimp, half of garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon salt, remaining 1 tablespoon paprika, and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper together in bowl. Stir potatoes and scatter shrimp over top. Return sheet to oven and roast until shrimp are cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. 3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil and remaining garlic in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in spinach, 1 handful at a time, allowing each handful to wilt slightly before adding next, and cook until mostly wilted, about 4 minutes. Off heat, stir in remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Serve shrimp, potatoes, and spinach with lemony mayonnaise.

in large bowl. Stir in turkey, cilantro, and cashews. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 2. Spread 1 tablespoon chutney on each tortilla, leaving 2-inch border. Distribute turkey salad and lettuce evenly on bottom third of tortillas. Working with 1 wrap at a time, fold sides of tortilla over filling, fold bottom of tortilla over sides and filling, and roll tightly. Serve.

Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Grapes and Fennel

DINNER TONIGHT

Porcini-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Celery Root Puree

DINNER TONIGHT

Bulgur Salad with Curry Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas

DINNER TONIGHT

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Grapes and Fennel Serves 4 Total Time: 1 hour Look for small grapes, as they release less juice when roasted. If you can find only stalkless fennel bulbs, look for those that weigh around 10 to 12 ounces each. Serve with crusty sourdough bread.

Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Cream Sauce Serves 4 Total Time: 50 minutes For the best flavor and texture, be sure to buy fresh ravioli sold in the refrigerator case at the supermarket. 1½ pounds fresh cheese ravioli

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 garlic cloves, minced ½ teaspoon dried thyme 2 (1-pound) fennel bulbs, 1 tablespoon fronds chopped, stalks discarded, bulbs halved, cored, and sliced thin crosswise 1½ teaspoons table salt, divided 1 teaspoon pepper, divided 12 ounces seedless red grapes (2½ cups) 8 (5- to 7-ounce) bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed

5⁄8 teaspoon table salt, divided, plus salt for cooking pasta 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided ¼ cup blanched hazelnuts, chopped 12 fresh sage leaves 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar ¼ cup finely chopped shallot ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 cup heavy cream ½ cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (½ cup)

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to

450 degrees. Combine melted butter, garlic, and thyme in small bowl. Toss fennel bulbs with 2 tablespoons butter mixture, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in separate bowl. Spread in even layer on two-thirds of rimmed baking sheet. Toss grapes with 1 tablespoon butter mixture in now-empty bowl and spread in even layer on other third of sheet. Roast until fennel begins to soften, 12 to 14 minutes. 2 . Meanwhile, pat chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle all over with remaining 1 teaspoon salt and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper. Place chicken, skin side down, in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until skin is light golden brown, 10 to 13 minutes. 3. Using spatula, push fennel and grapes to sides to clear space in center of sheet. Arrange chicken, skin side up, in clearing. Brush chicken skin with remaining 1 tablespoon butter mixture. Roast until chicken registers at least 175 degrees, about 15 minutes. Transfer fennel mixture to platter, top with chicken, and scatter with grapes. Pour accumulated juices from sheet over chicken. Sprinkle with fennel fronds and serve.

1 . Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon

Bulgur Salad with Curry Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas Serves 4 Total Time: 50 minutes

Porcini-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Celery Root Puree Serves 4 Total Time: 40 minutes

Look for small sweet potatoes that weigh about 8 ounces each.

Use a spice grinder to grind the porcini mushrooms. You can use a countertop blender for the celery root if you don’t have an immersion blender.

salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ½ cup cooking water, then drain pasta. 2. Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add hazelnuts and sage and cook until sage is crispy, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, transfer sage to paper towel–lined plate; continue to cook butter and hazelnuts until both are browned and fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to heatproof bowl and stir in vinegar and 1⁄8 teaspoon salt. 3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in now-empty skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, nutmeg, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallot is softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in cream and pumpkin and bring to simmer. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in Parmesan. Add pasta and toss to combine. Adjust consistency with reserved cooking water as needed. Serve, topped with sage and hazelnut butter.

1 pound small sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cut lengthwise into 1-inch wedges 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus extra for drizzling 1 tablespoon curry powder 1½ teaspoons table salt, divided, plus salt for cooking bulgur 1¼ cups medium-grind bulgur 5 tablespoons cider vinegar 6 ounces kale, stemmed and chopped 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (1 cup) ½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1½ pounds celery root, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick 2½ cups chicken broth, divided 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 1¾ teaspoons table salt, divided 1¼ teaspoons pepper, divided 1⁄8 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, ground fine 5 teaspoons all-purpose flour, divided 2 (12- to 16-ounce) pork tenderloins, trimmed ½ cup dry sherry 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1⁄3 cup dried cranberries 1 . Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss potatoes, chickpeas, 1 tablespoon oil, curry powder, and ½ teaspoon salt together in large bowl. Arrange in single layer on prepared sheet. Roast until potatoes are lightly browned and tender, about 20 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts water to boil in large saucepan. Add bulgur and 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain. 3. Whisk vinegar, remaining 7 tablespoons oil, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt together in now-empty bowl. Add bulgur and kale and toss to combine. Divide bulgur salad, potatoes, and chickpeas evenly among 4 serving bowls. Top with goat cheese, walnuts, and cranberries. Drizzle with extra oil and serve.

Bring celery root, 1½ cups broth, 6 tablespoons butter, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low; and cook, stirring occasionally, until celery root is tender, about 20 minutes. Off heat, process with immersion blender until smooth. 2. Meanwhile, combine mushrooms, 1 tablespoon flour, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining ¾ teaspoon pepper in bowl. Sprinkle pork evenly with mushroom mixture. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in 12-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pork until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and roast until meat registers 135 degrees, 10 to 14 minutes. Transfer pork to carving board and tent with foil. 3. Add remaining 2 teaspoons flour to fat left in skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Whisk in sherry and remaining 1 cup broth and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in chives and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Slice pork and serve with celery root and sauce.

TOP-RATED EQUIPMENT

Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler, $4 Y-shaped. Razor-sharp. Lightweight. Messermeister Pro-Touch Fine Edge Swivel Peeler, $19 Straight peeler. Very sharp. Comfortable. High arch means less clogging. Zyliss Stainless Steel Potato Masher, $13 Very efficient. Comfortable handle. Heavy-duty.

STORAGE Potatoes keep for at least a month if stored at room temperature with some ventilation and away from light. Why keep your spuds in the dark? When potatoes are exposed to light for prolonged periods of time, they begin to turn green just below the skin. This green is chlorophyll. While the chlorophyll is tasteless and harmless, it does mark the potential presence of solanine, a toxin that can cause serious illness. Since solanine develops on the skin of the potato (or just below the skin), peeling away the skin greatly reduces the risk of becoming ill from a slightly green spud. But it’s better to prevent the chlorophyll and solanine from developing at all, and storing potatoes away from light accomplishes this.

SPUDS FROM A BOX Instant Mashed Potato Flakes We’re typically skeptical of “instant” products, but we’ve grown fond of using instant mashed potato flakes not for actual mashed potatoes but as an ingredient in different types of recipes. Good versions (such as those from Idahoan and Bob’s Red Mill) contain only dehydrated potatoes and have a mild, slightly savory flavor (we avoid those with “butter flavor”); they readily absorb moisture and thus have some thickening power. The test kitchen uses them in recipes for croquettes (Chicken Croquettes with Lemon-Scallion Sauce), clam chowder (Woodman’s-Style Clam Chowder), rolls (Soft and Chewy Dinner Rolls), and even candy (Needhams [Potato Candy]).

Buy loose potatoes when possible. If you do buy potatoes in plastic bags, transfer them to something more breathable when you get home.

Perfectly seasoned rice and peas is the ideal companion to the rich oxtail.

Jamaican Oxtail My grandmother’s oxtail is more than a meal; it’s the connection between us and to our history. by Jillian Atkinson

X T A I L A LW A Y S R E M I N D S

O me of my grandmother’s cooking.

A staple of Jamaican cuisine, oxtail is a cut from the tail of the cow that features a round bone surrounded by a small amount of tough meat. A long cooking time tenderizes the meat, extracts gelatin from the bone, and delivers a treasured stickiness that requires you to lick your lips while you eat. My grandmother’s oxtail is cooked in caramelized sugar before it is braised. This cooked sugar is called browning and forms the foundation of the dish. Oxtail is coveted as much for the silky gravy it produces as for its tender meat. While the meat should be easy to peel from the bones with the tines of a fork, my family enjoyed plucking the meat from the bones with our teeth. As a child, I often watched my grandmother prepare Jamaican dishes such as oxtail for her grandchildren’s Jamaican American palates at her home in Westchester County, New York. She would nudge everyone out of the kitchen whenever she was cooking, but I would peer from behind her elbow,

sniffing the air and trying to guess what she was stirring in those heavy silver pots. When I could, I’d sneak rice and peas, a traditional accompaniment to oxtail, from the pot a teaspoon at a time. Eventually, Grandma would relent and hand me a half-ﬁlled teacup of the rice and peas smothered in oxtail gravy before sending me elsewhere to eat. My grandmother never showed me how to make these dishes through hands-on teaching; instead, I absorbed her every move and noted every mumble I overheard while I did my homework at her kitchen table. I learned not to ask about the amount of an ingredient in a recipe because my grandmother’s shoulders would rise and fall as she exclaimed, “I don’t know; enough.” She was not withholding, but the recipes themselves were so well enmeshed in her muscles that she couldn’t tell you. Never one to use a measuring spoon, my grandmother would simply shake seasoning from the bottle, so I would stand close enough to watch her and measure with my eyes. I observed her countless times standing over a bowl of trimmed and rinsed raw

18 C O O K ’ S C O U N T R Y • O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1

oxtail, cleaning with a vinegar-soaked paper towel and pulling off excess fat and shards of bone before sprinkling a little extra vinegar into the marinade to assist in tenderizing. By watching her I developed a deep relationship with Jamaican food, with some ideas about how to cook it. But back then there was no urgency to make it myself—when I got hungry for oxtail gravy, I had Grandma. As an adult, I found myself longing for my grandmother’s Jamaican cooking. Alone in a studio apartment, I tried to command Grandma’s dishes back to life. Living too far away to open her front door and inhale the aromas in her kitchen, I recalled sitting at the table and watching her spin away from the stove, slippers on her feet and a spoon in her hand, saying to herself that the oxtail needed vinegar or returning from her olive-green refrigerator with a bottle of ketchup. (I eventually understood the use of these ingredients as a technique for rounding out the ﬂavors of the dish that are mellowed by long cooking and providing the right balance

between salt, sweetness, and acidity.) Finally, after years of strategically asking and hawkishly surveying, I called Grandma, notepad in hand, to conﬁrm my long-held kitchen memories. I tweaked her techniques and created my own version of the traditional oxtail recipe. Averse to sugar, my grandmother used browning judiciously. Occasionally she would omit it entirely and replace it with thick, dark soy sauce to ramp up the deep savory saltiness in the ﬁnished dish. I use both browning and dark soy sauce to strike a balance between salty and sweet in my version. Oxtail is a legacy dish, handed down through oral tradition, observation, adaptation, and practice. It represents a blend of generations and a history of my childhood, adult travels, and experiences living such a long way from my grandmother—all in one pot. Cooking this meal is the bond that joins my grandmother and me across the distance and always gives us something to talk about. Jillian Atkinson is a photographer and food writer living in Brooklyn, New York.

Keys to Jamaican Oxtail THE OXTAILS

THE BROWNING

Look for oxtails that have been separated at the joints. Trim any large chunks of excess fat surrounding the meat, or ask your butcher to do it for you. Oxtails come in varying diameters, so keep in mind that you’ll want to judge the doneness of the entire pot by the largest oxtails.

Browning, a dark caramel sauce used in Jamaican cooking, is not to be confused with searing and browning meat in oil. To make browning, melt sugar in a large Dutch oven until it turns golden, and using a wooden spoon or heat-resistant rubber spatula, pull any unmelted sugar toward the center to help it melt. Continue to cook the sugar to a dark chocolate brown. (The browning will smoke.) Have ¼ cup of hot water ready to go into the pot once the browning has reached its proper color. Add the oxtails to the browning and stir them so that they pick up color from it rather than from searing.

JA MA I CA N OXTA IL

Serves 6 to 8 Total Time: 5 hours, plus 4 hours marinating

Plan ahead: The oxtails need to marinate for at least 4 hours before cooking. Note that the oxtail marinade is reserved and added to the pot in step 9. We call for using dark soy sauce here, which is thicker and slightly sweeter than regular soy sauce. Search for it online or at an Asian grocery store. Butter beans are also called baby lima beans. If you can’t ﬁnd them canned, you can substitute 1½ cups (about 8 ounces) of frozen beans. You can substitute a habanero chile for the Scotch bonnet chile, if desired. It’s important to have the hot water called for in step 6 ready to add as soon as the sugar has properly browned. The wide time range for the reduction in step 10 accounts for the varying heating capabilities of different stovetops. Be sure to reduce the liquid until it has thickened and is just below the surface of the oxtails. OXTA I L 5 pounds oxtails, 2 to 2½ inches thick, trimmed 2 onions, halved and sliced thin 10 sprigs fresh thyme 2 scallions, crushed with side of knife, then chopped 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar 1 tablespoon table salt 1 tablespoon pepper 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon granulated garlic 8 whole allspice berries 6 cups hot water 1 Scotch bonnet chile 1 (15.5-ounce) can butter beans, rinsed ¼ cup ketchup BROW N I N G ¼ cup sugar ¼ cup hot water

1 . FOR THE O XTAIL: Place oxtails

in large bowl and ﬁll with cold water. Agitate to remove any loose bone and fat fragments. Drain and repeat, then drain again.

2. Add onions, thyme sprigs, scallions,

vinegar, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, soy sauce, garlic, onion powder, granulated garlic, and allspice berries to bowl with oxtails and toss to thoroughly combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. 3. Brush marinade off oxtails and transfer oxtails to plate; reserve marinade to use in step 9. 4. FO R T H E BR OWNI N G : Add sugar to center of large Dutch oven. Place pot over medium-low heat and cook, without stirring, until edges of sugar begin to liquefy and turn golden, about 4 minutes. Using long-handled wooden spoon or heat-resistant rubber spatula, pull edges of melted sugar inward to help melt remaining sugar. 5. Continue to cook until sugar turns dark chocolate brown, 4 to 6 minutes longer, stirring often for even cooking. (Browning will smoke; we recommend turning on your hood vent.) 6. Carefully add ¼ cup hot water to browning (mixture will sputter and let off steam) and stir to incorporate. Simmer until reduced by half and large bubbles break surface, 1½ to 2 minutes. 7. Add oxtails to browning and increase heat to medium-high (pot will be crowded). Cook, turning oxtails frequently, until oxtails have picked up signiﬁcant color from sugar-based browning, some fond has begun to form on bottom of pot, and most moisture has cooked off to point where sizzling can be heard, 10 to 12 minutes. 8. Add 6 cups hot water to pot and bring to boil. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low; and cook at strong simmer for 2½ hours, stirring and turning oxtails occasionally. 9. Stir reserved marinade into pot. Poke small hole in Scotch bonnet with tip of paring knife and add to pot. Cover and continue to simmer until largest oxtails are fork-tender and meat begins to fall easily off bone, about 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally and being mindful to not burst Scotch bonnet as you stir. 10. Stir in butter beans and continue to simmer, covered, until meat falls easily off bone, about 30 minutes longer. Stir in ketchup and cook, uncovered, until liquid has thickened and reduced to just below surface of oxtails, 5 to 15 minutes. Serve.

Jamaican Rice and Peas No Jamaican feast is complete without the “coat of arms.” by Matthew Fairman

is so foundational in Jamaican cooking that it has been called the nation’s “coat of arms.” Brought to Jamaica by enslaved West Africans who were skilled at growing and cooking rice and beans, the dish was traditionally made on Sundays, the only day free from plantation labor. Now, rice and peas is made any day in Jamaican homes and restaurants. The dish features ﬂuffy white rice and creamy red kidney beans (Jamaicans call them peas) enriched with coconut milk and seasoned with scallions, garlic, a Scotch bonnet chile, thyme, and pimento (allspice). It’s a wonderfully simple one-pot recipe; the rice is cooked with the beans. The rich, earthy, sweet-savory bean-infused broth, with its mild yet fruity heat, ﬂavors the whole dish, making it supremely satisfying.

ICE AND PEAS

JAMAICAN R IC E AN D PEAS

Serves 6 Total Time: 2¼ hours, plus 8 hours soaking

If you can’t ﬁnd a Scotch bonnet chile, you can substitute a habanero. Rinse the rice in a ﬁne-mesh strainer until the water runs clear. Once the saucepan is covered in step 4, do not uncover it until after the 10-minute rest. 1 cup dried red kidney beans, picked over and rinsed 3 cups chicken broth 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk 10 sprigs fresh thyme 2 scallions, sliced thin 4 garlic cloves, chopped coarse 1 Scotch bonnet chile 2 teaspoons table salt ½ teaspoon pepper ¼ teaspoon whole allspice berries 2 cups long-grain white rice, rinsed 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 . Combine 1 quart cold water and

beans in bowl and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. 2. Drain beans and transfer to large saucepan. Add broth, coconut milk, thyme sprigs, scallions, garlic, Scotch bonnet, salt, pepper, and allspice berries. Bring to boil over high heat.

Cover; reduce heat to medium-low; and simmer until beans are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. 3. Drain bean mixture in ﬁne-mesh strainer set over 8-cup liquid measuring cup or large bowl. Discard thyme sprigs and Scotch bonnet. Return bean mixture to saucepan along with 3½ cups bean cooking liquid (add water to compensate if necessary; reserve any excess for another use or discard). 4. Stir rice and butter into bean mixture. Bring to boil over high heat. Once boiling, stir and place large sheet of aluminum foil over saucepan and cover tightly with lid. Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Transfer rice and bean mixture to shallow serving bowl. Fluff rice with fork and serve.

elaborate ones, endures. It hasn’t always been stellar, though—as some of you may remember from the school cafeteria line or a box of Hamburger Helper from your youth. To make stroganoff in its simplest form, you coat pieces of meat with flour and spices, lightly fry (or sauté) the meat, build a creamy sauce, and serve the meat in the sauce. Molokhovets’s recipe calls for only beef, allspice, butter, salt, flour, sour cream, and mustard. But additions such as thinly sliced onions, sautéed mushrooms, tomato paste, paprika, broth or bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and cognac have made their way into recipes over the years. While beef is the traditional choice for stroganoff, chicken, pork, and meatless versions also exist. Here I make a back-to-basics version using versatile, hard-to-overcook chicken thighs. And for a weeknight dinner, I cut the thighs into quick-cooking bite-size pieces. To boost the flavor of the thighs, the flour coating benefits from just a bit of paprika and dry mustard. The coated

chicken needs only a light browning before it can be taken out of the skillet to rest off the heat. Then the sauce can be built right in the same skillet. This starts with melting 2 tablespoons of butter and browning thinly sliced mushrooms and finely chopped onion, two classic additions. Garlic, tomato paste, and thyme up the flavor even further, and a bit more flour stirred into the sauce ensures that it thickens to the right consistency. One and a quarter cups of chicken broth simmers down to the right amount of sauce, while a mere 2 tablespoons of sherry provides a hint of sophistication. Incorporating the sautéed chicken and its accumulated juices into the sauce allows the chicken to warm through and makes the dish more cohesive. Finally, stirring in just ⅓ cup of sour cream off the heat (to prevent curdling) provides the requisite tartness and rich creaminess that stroganoff is known for. Served over buttered noodles with a sprinkle of parsley and a little extra sour cream and paprika for depth, this timeless dish offers distinctly modern appeal.

CHICKEN STROGANOFF

Serves 4 Total Time: 55 minutes

Water or extra chicken broth can be substituted for the sherry. If omitting the sherry, season the ﬁnal dish with lemon juice to taste. 12 ounces (6 cups) egg noodles 1¼ teaspoons table salt, divided, plus salt for cooking noodles Sweet paprika imparts both a subtle red hue and fruity, earthy notes.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided

Chicken 6WURJDQRĮ

1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon paprika, plus extra for sprinkling 1 teaspoon pepper, divided 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces 12 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin 1 onion, chopped fine

What do you get when you make the traditional beef dish with chicken? A weeknight-friendly dinner that boasts all the richness and tang of the original. by Lawman Johnson

TROGANOFF HAS UNCLEAR

S origins. Was it, as many food histo-

rians agree, a dish made for Count Pavel Stroganoff (or Stroganov)—a Russian noble on the court of Alexander I, a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, and a gourmet—by his French chef? Did it start as fricassee (a French dish consisting of fried meat in sauce), and did that chef adapt it for the Russian palate by adding sour cream? Or could it be attributed to famed Russian food writer Elena Molokhovets, whose simple recipe appeared in her book A Gift to Young Housewives in 1861? The questions remain unanswered, but the dish, from basic versions to more

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3 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon tomato paste 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried 1¼ cups chicken broth 2 tablespoons dry sherry 1⁄3 cup sour cream, plus extra for serving 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 . Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large

pot. Add noodles and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain noodles, return them to pot, and toss with 2 tablespoons butter. Cover to keep warm. 2. Combine 2 tablespoons ﬂour, mustard, paprika, ¾ teaspoon salt, and

½ teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Add chicken and toss to thoroughly coat. 3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and spread into single layer, breaking up any clumps. Cook, without stirring, until browned on bottom, about 4 minutes. Stir and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to large plate. 4. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper and cook until any liquid has evaporated and vegetables just begin to brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, thyme, and remaining 1 tablespoon ﬂour and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 5. Stir in broth and sherry and bring to simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Add chicken and any accumulated juices and cook until warmed through and sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. 6. Off heat, stir in sour cream until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer noodles to shallow bowls and spoon stroganoff over top. Sprinkle with parsley and extra paprika. Serve with extra sour cream.

Garlic-HerbButter Rolls These fluffy, savory rolls are destined to become a new holiday favorite. by Mark Huxsoll RE HOMEMADE ROLLS

A really worth the effort, especially

when you have a handful of other dishes in play for a holiday meal? Yes! As soon as you hold one of these light, airy rolls—still warm from the oven—in your hand, you’ll understand that store-bought rolls can’t hold a candle to homemade. And while you can (and should!) slather a homemade roll with butter, what if the butter—plus garlic and parsley—was already on the rolls? That would make them even more worthwhile. A bonus: The work can be done ahead of time, as the dough can be shaped into balls and then refrigerated for up to a day, which makes these rolls extra-appealing during the holidays. Unlike starter-fed doughs or yeasted doughs that require you to begin the kneading and prooﬁng days in advance, this dough comes together quickly. A little kneading in a stand mixer, an hour rise, a quick and easy shaping step, a second rise, a short bake, and a brush with ﬂavored butter are all it takes for a sensational payoff at the table.

GA R L I C-H ER B -BUT TE R ROLL S

Makes 12 rolls Total Time: 1 hour, plus 1 hour 50 minutes rising and cooling

We developed this recipe using a ceramic baking dish. If you choose to use a metal baking pan, check the rolls for doneness 5 minutes early in step 5. The slight tackiness of the dough aids in rolling it into smooth balls in step 3, so do not dust your counter with ﬂour. DOUGH ¾ cup whole milk 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon, softened, for baking dish 2 large eggs, divided 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour 2¼ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon plus pinch table salt, divided GARL IC -H ER B BU TT E R

Brushing the warm rolls with a mixture of melted butter, garlic, parsley, and a touch of salt takes them from everyday to holiday.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 garlic cloves, minced ¼ teaspoon table salt 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

MIX

SHAPE

These rolls use a mixing technique called autolyse; this is simply mixing the wet and dry ingredients together— withholding the sugar and salt—and letting the mixture stand for 15 minutes. Then you add the sugar and salt and knead the dough in the stand mixer. The resting period allows the flour to fully hydrate (both sugar and salt can slow hydration), resulting in efficient gluten formation (during the subsequent kneading and rising) that leads to tall, fluffy rolls.

Shaping these rolls couldn’t be easier. Simply divide the dough into 12 equal portions, and then, working with one portion at a time, cup your palm over the portion of dough and apply light pressure as you move your hand in small circles. You’ll feel the dough tighten up in your palm. Transfer the shaped rolls to a buttered 13 by 9-inch baking dish, let them rise, brush them with an egg wash, and bake them.

1 . FO R T H E DO U G H : Whisk milk,

melted butter, and 1 egg together in bowl of stand mixer. Add ﬂour and yeast. Fit mixer with dough hook and mix on medium speed until dough comes together and no dry ﬂour remains, about 2 minutes, scraping down dough hook and bowl as needed. Turn off mixer, cover bowl with dish towel or plastic wrap, and let dough stand for 15 minutes. 2 . Add sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and knead dough on medium speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to knead until dough begins to pull away from sides and bottom of bowl (dough will be sticky), 8 to 12 minutes longer. Transfer dough to greased large bowl. Cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 3. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking dish with softened butter. Turn out dough onto clean counter and divide into 12 equal portions (1¾ ounces each). Working with 1 dough portion at a time, cup dough with your palm and roll against counter into smooth, tight ball. 4. Place dough balls in prepared dish

in 3 rows of four. Cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. 5. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat remaining egg with remaining pinch salt. Brush tops of rolls evenly with egg mixture (you may have some left over). Bake until rolls are deep golden brown and register 200 to 205 degrees in center, about 20 minutes. 6. F O R T H E G A RL I C- H ERB B U TT E R : Meanwhile, melt butter

in small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and salt and cook until just fragrant, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in parsley. 7. Remove dish from oven and let rolls cool in dish for 15 minutes. Brush tops and sides of warm rolls with garlic-herb butter (use all of it). Let rolls sit for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

TO MAKE AHEAD Before second rise in step 4, cover dough balls with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Let dough balls sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before proceeding with step 5.

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Hot Crab Dip This creamy, Cajun-inspired dip is a crowd-pleaser.

A shallow dish means more surface area for the gooey broiled cheddar cheese.

at home, I usually just want to get dinner on the table as efficiently and affordably as possible, but when I’m cooking for holiday gatherings, I pull out all the stops. That’s the spirit of this crab dip: everything from scratch, no shortcuts, and the best ingredients available. Crab-loving coastal regions in the United States have myriad traditions for creamy, gooey crab dishes, including deviled crab and baked crab, but this dip was inspired by one from French-influenced Cajun Louisiana, where it’s called crab au gratin. The base is essentially a traditional French Mornay sauce (a cheese-laden cream sauce) that’s boldly seasoned with distinctly Cajun ingredients. You build the sauce by sautéing onion, bell pepper, and celery (the foundation of Cajun and Creole cooking that’s known as the holy trinity) in a generous amount of butter before flavoring the mix with fresh garlic, thyme, cayenne, and black pepper. After sprinkling flour on the vegetables and briefly toasting it all together, you whisk in whole milk and a spoonful of ultrasavory Worcestershire sauce. Now you’re ready for the two crucial ingredients: the cheese and the crab. Seek out the best of these, and

HEN I COOK

you’ll be rewarded with a dish that’s truly worthy of a celebration. I look for aged cheddar, the kind I’d be excited to get on a cheese plate. The best aged cheddars are a bit firmer and crumblier than younger cheeses and are not only salty and sharp but also pleasantly sour and buttery. When melted into the already flavorful base of this crab dip, they add incomparable depth. Finally, it’s worth your time and money to do your research when sourcing the crab. If you’re able to find it, freshly cooked and picked unpasteurized crab is usually best, but keep in mind that it has a short shelf life. On the other hand, the refrigerated pasteurized crabmeat sold in containers at the seafood counter in your supermarket can be really great, but not all products are created equal. Phillips Premium Crab Jumbo, our taste test winner, makes an excellent choice if you can find it. It’s fresh-tasting and sweet, with a pleasant mild brininess. When carefully stirred into this delightful Mornay sauce, topped with more good-quality cheddar, and broiled briefly until beautifully browned and bubbling, it lightens and invigorates the dip. With a final topping of fresh thyme leaves and some toasted baguette slices on the side, this dip will fly from the dish.

22 C O O K ’ S C O U N T R Y • O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1

HOT CHEDDAR CRAB DIP

Serves 6 Total Time: 45 minutes

If you can’t find fresh crab, refrigerated pasteurized crab is the next-best option. Lump, backfin (special), and claw meat all work well here. This recipe can easily be doubled to serve a crowd. For the best results, we recommend using good-quality aged cheddar cheese and shredding it on a box grater. The finished dip goes great with a little extra Worcestershire and some Tabasco sauce on top. Serve with toasted baguette slices or crackers. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ cup finely chopped onion ¼ cup finely chopped celery ¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, divided 1 teaspoon table salt ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Adjust oven rack 8 inches from

broiler element and heat broiler. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, 1 teaspoon thyme, salt, cayenne, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle ﬂour over vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. 2. Slowly whisk in milk and Worcestershire and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Whisk in ¾ cup cheddar until melted. Off heat, gently stir in crabmeat. Transfer crab dip to shallow broiler-safe 1-quart baking dish. 3. Sprinkle remaining ¾ cup cheddar over crab dip, followed by paprika. Broil until cheese is well browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove dish from oven and sprinkle dip with remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Let dip cool for 5 minutes. Serve.

¼ teaspoon pepper 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour 2⁄3 cup whole milk 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 6 ounces sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1½ cups), divided 8 ounces crabmeat, picked over for shells 1 teaspoon paprika

TO MAKE AHEAD At end of step 2, let dip cool completely, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, unwrap and bake at 400 degrees until hot throughout, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir dip and continue with step 3.

Photo (bottom right): Shutterstock

by Matthew Fairman

Fried Artichokes These crunchy, savory fried morsels are easier to prepare than you might think. by Lawman Johnson R E S H A RT I C H O K E S A R E

F beautiful—they look almost sculp-

tural—but they can be intimidating because they’re spiky and require a bit of trimming work before they’re ready to cook. Artichoke hearts, which are already prepped, are more convenient. While we’ve all seen jarred marinated artichoke hearts, there are more versatile artichoke hearts hiding in plain sight in the frozen foods section. Frozen artichoke hearts are unseasoned (so you can flavor them in myriad ways), trimmed (save, typically, for a few soft leaves), and tender. In other words, they’re perfect for frying! As culinary titan Marcella Hazan writes in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (1992), “Of the substantial achievements of Jewish cooks in Italy, none is more justly celebrated than the fried artichokes of Rome, whose crisp outer leaves, looking like those of a dried chrysanthemum, curl around the tender, succulent interior.” I set out to make fried artichokes based on the classic version that lived up to this honor—but using frozen hearts for convenience. I quickly found that thawed frozen artichoke hearts, even when thoroughly patted dry, were too wet to fry to crispiness. Clearly these artichokes needed help. Dipping them in a flour and water batter and frying them did provide crunch, but the batter felt a little heavy here, and it didn’t allow the artichoke hearts to shine. Omitting the water and using a dry coating of flour, cornstarch (to absorb excess moisture

and help with crispiness), baking powder (which lightens the coating), and seasonings gave these artichokes a shatteringly crispy fried exterior, while the interior remained pleasantly tender. Best of all, the thawed-and-patted-dry artichoke hearts were moist enough that the coating adhered well without the need for a multistep (and messy) breading process. Just 1 quart of vegetable oil proved to be the perfect amount to fry 1½ pounds of hearts to golden-brown crispiness in two batches. These hearts are great on their own, but a dipping sauce makes them even better. A quick, easy marinara sauce made from canned crushed tomatoes, minced garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, and grated Parmesan cheese is a delicious break from tradition that turns these artichokes into a winning party snack or a “ﬁght you for the last one” appetizer. F RI ED ART I CHO K ES

Serves 4 to 6 Total Time: 50 minutes

These artichokes also go well with our Lemon Aioli (page 32).

We toss the artichokes with seasoned flour for a delightfully crispy exterior.

MARI N A RA SAUCE 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes ¼ teaspoon table salt ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 1⁄8 teaspoon sugar ART I C HOK ES 1¼ cups all-purpose flour ¼ cup cornstarch 1 tablespoon granulated garlic

A Quick Dip

2 teaspoons table salt

Our marinara sauce comes together quickly. Garlic adds punch to the tomatoes while sugar enhances their natural sweetness. And instead of trying to get Parmesan to stick to the artichokes, we stir it right into the sauce.

1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon pepper 1½ pounds frozen quartered artichoke hearts, thawed and patted dry 1 quart vegetable or peanut oil for frying

1. F O R T HE M AR I N AR A SA UC E :

Heat oil and garlic in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and salt and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and

sugar. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm. 2 . F O R T HE A RTI C HOK E S : Whisk flour, cornstarch, granulated garlic, salt, baking powder, and pepper together in large bowl. Add artichokes to flour mixture and toss with your hands to coat evenly. 3. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and line with triple layer of paper towels. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 375 degrees. 4. Gently shake off excess flour mixture from half of artichokes and carefully add to hot oil. Immediately stir with spider skimmer or slotted spoon to break up clumps. Fry until artichokes are golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. (Adjust burner, if necessary, to maintain oil temperature around 350 degrees.) 5. Transfer fried artichokes to prepared rack. Return oil to 375 degrees and repeat with remaining artichokes. Transfer fried artichokes to platter and serve immediately with sauce.

Artichokes in Bloom Artichokes are the immature flower buds of a large perennial plant in the thistle family; if they aren’t picked as food, a beautiful purple blossom emerges from the top of each artichoke.

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“Easy Like Sunday Morning” &RĮHH &DNH This pantry-friendly breakfast treat is a snap to make and perfect for a cozy weekend morning. by Amanda Luchtel

The flavorings are simple: cinnamon and vanilla, with plenty of caramelly brown sugar.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THE LEAVENING Coffee cake evolved from lightly sweetened yeasted breads to what we know it as in the United States today: a crumbly, cake-like treat with layers of streusel. For timing and ease, this coffee cake (like most) uses the chemical leavening power of baking powder and baking soda along with eggs to lift the dense batter. This means no waiting for the dough to rise.

over. You slept an extra hour and awoke craving a treat—something warm, buttery, and sweet. From somewhere deep in the back of your mind, the familiar smell of coffee cake washes over you (nostalgia has a powerful connection to our senses). But you didn’t plan ahead; can you still make and enjoy coffee cake in one lazy morning? With this recipe, yes! Unlike yeast-leavened breakfast pastries that require long rising times or those baked in special pans, this chemically leavened version of coffee cake comes together quickly and requires only two bowls, a few measuring spoons and measuring cups, and a square baking pan—it’s so easy that you could pass the recipe to the kids and get a little more sleep!

HE WORKWEEK IS

BASIC CI NNAMO N COFF EE CAKE

Serves 9 Total Time: 1¼ hours, plus 30 minutes cooling

We developed this recipe using a metal baking pan. If using a glass or ceramic baking dish, increase the baking time to 55 minutes and let the cake cool for 45 minutes before cutting it. We prefer dark brown sugar in this recipe, but you can use light brown sugar instead. F I LL IN G AND STREUS EL ¾ cup packed (5¼ ounces) dark brown sugar 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon table salt ½ cup (2½ ounces) all-purpose flour 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted CA K E 2¼ cups (11¼ ounces) all-purpose flour 1¼ cups (8¾ ounces) granulated sugar

Batter, Filling, Batter

PANTRY FRIENDLY Many recipes use buttermilk or sour cream in the batter for moisture and structure. This recipe calls for more-standard ingredients that most of us keep on hand: milk, eggs, butter (melted, for ease of mixing), and all-purpose flour.

To prevent the filling from sinking too low, we spread about two-thirds of the batter into the pan, sprinkle the filling over the batter, and then spread the rest of the batter over the filling (below).

1¼ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon table salt 1 cup whole milk 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg plus 1 large yolk, lightly beaten

BASI C GINGER -NUT MEG

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 . FO R T H E F I L LI N G A N D S T RE U S E L: Adjust oven rack to

middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Reserve ¼ cup packed brown sugar mixture for ﬁlling.

LAYERING THE BATTER

Illustration: Sophie Greenspan; photo (right): Los Angeles Times

Measuring the batter for the bottom layer of the coffee cake is essential in keeping the filling from sinking to the bottom of the pan. With about two-thirds of the batter on the bottom and one-third of the batter on the top, the cinnamon filling stays suspended within the cake.

DOUBLE DUTY Many coffee cake recipes do what we do here: use the streusel mixture as both a filling and a topping. We found that we liked a streusel with flour (plus brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon) to make hearty crumbles atop the coffee cake but that such a streusel on the interior had a grainy, sandy texture. So we omitted the flour and butter from the portion used as a filling; this created a soft, sweet cinnamon swirl inside the coffee cake.

Stir flour into remaining brown sugar mixture. Add melted butter and mix until no dry spots remain and mixture forms clumps; set aside streusel. 2 . F OR T H E CA KE: Whisk flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl. Stir in milk, melted butter, egg and yolk, and vanilla until just combined. Pour 2¼ cups batter into prepared pan and spread into even layer. Sprinkle reserved brown sugar mixture evenly over batter. Dollop remaining batter evenly over filling and spread to edges of pan with offset spatula. Crumble streusel into pea-size crumbs evenly over top layer of batter. 3. Bake until center of cake is set and toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Cut into 9 squares and serve warm, or let cool completely before cutting and serving. (Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

COF F EE CAKE

Add 2 teaspoons ground ginger and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg to ﬂour mixture in step 2. BASI C ORAN GE-CAR DAMOM COF F EE CAKE

Add 1 tablespoon grated orange zest and 1 teaspoon ground cardamom to ﬂour mixture in step 2.

The Story of a Sweet Breakfast Treat The history of coffee cake is somewhat elusive, in part because adapting and simplifying coffee cake is not a new concept. In the 1940s and ’50s, a recipe for Merk’s Coffee Cake—a sour cream coffee cake filled and topped with a nutty streusel—was popularized in the Los Angeles Times. It seems that handwritten versions of this recipe were mainstays in many family recipe boxes. Later, in the mid-1950s, a simplified version of old-fashioned coffee cake was served in the cafeterias of the Los Angeles Unified School District. This recipe called for ingredients that were standard commodities in school kitchens: salad oil, buttermilk, and flour. Sour cream coffee cake, made with cake mix and dubbed “Sock It to Me Cake”—a pop culture reference to the television comedy Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In—hastened the arrival of hurry-up baking during the 1970s. After that, cookbook authors and food media returned to making homemade versions of the cake, improvising and adapting recipes according to their unique tastes and the ingredients on hand. During the COVID-19 pandemic, families dug deep into their archives to search for comforting family favorites, and these coffee cake recipes seem to be some of the most popular renditions that keep coming back.

THE AMERICAN TABLE

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Peanut Butter Take charge and make your peanut butter just the way you like it—with no added sugar, oil, or emulsifiers—with our easy technique. by Mark Huxsoll

HY MAKE YOUR

W own peanut butter?

There are a lot of reasons, but chief among them is that it’s empowering. You control the ingredients; you control the ﬁnal texture; and, well, it’s fun. It’s also less expensive than buying prepared peanut butter, and it’s easy—all it takes is a food processor, some dry-roasted peanuts, and salt. Plus, you can express yourself by creating customized peanut butters with different add-ins (we give you a few vetted recipes to prime your imagination).

How Peanut Butter Became an American Favorite Peanuts (and other closely related legumes) have been ground into a paste and eaten for centuries in South America, Africa, and China. In the United States, the first patent for peanut butter made from raw peanuts was filed in 1895 by John Harvey Kellogg, the cereal magnate. But peanut butter consumption didn’t take off in America until it was promoted by the U.S. government as a healthy alternative to meat during food rationing in World War I.

Creamy? Chunky? Flavored? You decide.

1. Grind the peanuts in a food processor with table salt. After about 30 seconds of processing, the peanuts will have the texture of coarse, wet sand.

2. The pulverized peanuts will begin to clump between 30 seconds and 1 minute of processing, and at 1 minute the peanuts will form a tight ball. This is OK. Keep processing.

26 C O O K ’ S C O U N T R Y • O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1

3. After 11⁄2 minutes the peanut ball will break back down into a coarse, thick, grainy paste. Keep going.

4. After 3 minutes the mixture will heat up and start to resemble peanut butter, but it will be a bit too grainy. Stop processing and scrape down the bowl to make sure that all the peanuts are processed evenly.

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CO OK E R

A finishing drizzle of our flavorful infused oil takes this soup over the top.

S LOW-COOK ER WHITE BEAN AND TOMATO SOUP

Serves 4 to 6 Total Time: 41⁄2 hours

For a vegan version, you can substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth. SOU P ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

HOMEMADE CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER

1 cup chopped carrot

Serves 8 (Makes about 1 cup) Total Time: 10 minutes, plus 20 minutes cooling

1 cup chopped onion 1 cup chopped fennel bulb 3 garlic cloves, minced

To control the salt level, we developed this recipe with unsalted peanuts. If you can ﬁnd only salted dry-roasted peanuts, omit the salt and season to taste before serving.

1¼ teaspoons table salt, divided ½ teaspoon pepper 3 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained 4 cups chicken broth 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes ½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups dry-roasted peanuts ½ teaspoon table salt

KA LA MATA-FE N NE L OI L

1 . Process peanuts and salt in food

processor until smooth, about 4 minutes (mixture will initially form clumps but will eventually thin out), scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed. 2 . Transfer to 1-cup jar and let cool completely, about 20 minutes. Serve. (Peanut butter can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 months. Stir to incorporate any oil that has separated before serving.)

1⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives

Hearty White Bean and Tomato Soup

H OM EM A DE C H OCO L AT E PE AN UT BU T TE R

Substitute ⅔ cup milk chocolate chips for ½ cup peanuts. Increase cooling time to 1 hour to allow peanut butter to thicken. If peanut butter is thinner than desired after cooling, thicken by stirring in water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. H OM EM A DE C H U N KY P E AN UT BUTT ER

Reserve ½ cup peanuts. Process remaining 1½ cups peanuts with salt until smooth. Add reserved ½ cup peanuts and pulse until broken into ¼-inch pieces, 6 to 8 pulses. H OM EM A DE H O NEY P E AN U T BUTT ER

Process 3 tablespoons honey and 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil with peanuts and salt. H OM EM A DE MA P L E– PU M P KI N S P ICE PEA N UT BU T TE R

Process ¼ cup peanut or vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, and 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice with peanuts and salt.

This rib-sticking, ultraflavorful soup is just what the doctor ordered. (Grilled cheese sold separately.) by Amanda Luchtel

fits the bill when you want something wholesome to eat: It’s simple, comforting, and nourishing. And unlike some tomato soup recipes that call for sugar to enhance the natural sweetness of tomatoes, this hearty version relies on a harmonious mix of vegetables for its sweet notes. First, make a flavorful base by sautéing carrot, onion, fennel, and garlic until the vegetables are slightly softened and beginning to brown, and then add the mixture to the slow cooker. Next, stir in drained cannellini beans; chicken (or vegetable) broth; canned crushed tomatoes; and a sprinkle of slightly minty, floral dried thyme. Note that the canned beans are drained but not rinsed. The starchy liquid clinging to the beans helps give the soup body. Cooking the soup on the high setting for 4 hours (or on the low setting for 6 hours) ensures that the vegetables are

H I S T O M AT O S O U P

completely tender and allows the flavors to mingle. Many soups are thickened with flour, bread, or cream, but to keep this one gluten- and dairy-free, puree a portion of the beans and vegetables with a portion of the liquid. This creates a thick, velvety consistency without the need for added thickeners and makes for a pleasing mix of textures. For a spectacular finish, drizzle the soup with an aromatic kalamata-fennel oil. To make it, combine olive oil, chopped kalamata olives, ground fennel, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl or measuring cup and microwave the mixture until it’s fragrant. Then let the olives and spices steep in the oil to deepen in flavor before adding minced fresh parsley. The red pepper flakes and fennel add a perfumed, savory element to the soup while the kalamata olives bring a bright brininess that plays off the natural tartness of the tomatoes. Delicious.

1 teaspoon ground fennel ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1. F OR TH E S OU P : Heat oil in

12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add carrot, onion, fennel, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper and cook until vegetables begin to soften and brown, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer vegetable mixture to slow cooker. 2 . Stir beans, broth, tomatoes, thyme, and remaining ¾ teaspoon salt into slow cooker. Cover and cook until vegetables have softened and ﬂavors have melded, 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. 3. F OR T HE KA L A MATA- FE N N EL O IL : Combine oil, olives, fennel, and

pepper ﬂakes in small bowl or 1-cup liquid measuring cup and microwave until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Let cool for 5 minutes, then stir in parsley. 4. Transfer 3 cups vegetables and beans (using slotted spoon) and 2 cups liquid (using ladle) to blender. Process until smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir puree into soup in slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling each portion with kalamata-fennel oil.

A Mix of Textures To thicken the soup while keeping the textural interest of some chunky vegetables and beans, simply puree 3 cups of the soup solids with 2 cups of the soup liquid.

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Cacio e Pepe A little technique transforms simple ingredients into an extraordinary pasta dish. by Lawman Johnson

H E FA M E D R O M A N

pasta dish

T cacio e pepe (“cheese and pepper” in Italian) is, at its heart, a showcase for Pecorino Romano cheese, a sharp, nutty, pleasantly funky sheep’s-milk cheese produced in the region. While the ingredient list is simple, this dish is bold, delicious, and comforting; what’s more, it’s relatively easy to make and comes together quickly. After weeks of recipe testing—and plenty of arm fatigue from all the cheese grating and pepper milling— we came up with a top-notch version that serves two hungry diners. Here’s how to make it. Start by cooking 8 ounces of spaghetti (the classic shape for the dish, although other long noodles will work, too) in 1½ quarts of boiling water until it’s al dente. It may seem fussy to measure the volume of cooking water for pasta, but here it’s important because some of that water is reserved and vigorously stirred back into the pasta later. The precise measurement ensures that the water has just the right starch content to produce a creamy, silky sauce. When the pasta is done, reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, drain the noodles, and return them to the pot. Then stir in 1 cup of grated Pecorino Romano cheese. This cheese has

much more flavor than the domestic cow’s-milk cheeses sold as “Romano,” and it melts seamlessly into the sauce. Grating the cheese into feathery wisps on a rasp-style grater ensures that it melts more readily than if it were grated less finely. Along with the cheese, stir in the reserved cooking water and 2 tablespoons of butter. Use tongs to thoroughly toss it all together, and then cover the pot and let the pasta sit for a minute so that the residual heat can fully melt the cheese and butter and the pasta can drink up all of that goodness. Then uncover the pot, add some black pepper—freshly ground has the most flavor—and toss the pasta again to break up any clumps of cheese that may have formed and to thoroughly coat every strand of spaghetti with the creamy sauce. The black pepper isn’t merely a habit here; its clean, spicy flavor cuts through the richness of the butter and cheese—it earns its place in the dish’s name! An extra sprinkle of grated cheese gives the pasta another layer of salty richness, and a drizzle of bright extra-virgin olive oil adds sheen and reinforces the peppery punch. Serve the pasta with additional freshly ground pepper if you love it as much as we do. Buon appetito!

CACIO E PEPE FOR TWO

Total Time: 30 minutes

High-quality ingredients are essential in this dish; most important, use imported Pecorino Romano—not the bland domestic cheese labeled “Romano.” For the best results, grate the cheese on a rasp-style grater. Do not adjust the amount of water for cooking the pasta; the starchy cooking water is essential for the sauce. 8 ounces spaghetti Table salt for cooking pasta 2½ ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (1¼ cups), divided 2 tablespoons unsalted butter ¾ teaspoon pepper, plus extra for serving Extra-virgin olive oil

1 . Bring 1½ quarts water to boil in large

If the creamy strands of pasta aren’t flecked with black pepper, you didn’t use enough.

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saucepan. Add pasta and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until al dente. Reserve ½ cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. 2. Add 1 cup Pecorino, butter, and reserved cooking water to pasta. Set pot

over low heat and, using tongs, toss and stir vigorously to thoroughly combine, about 1 minute. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let pasta sit for 1 minute. 3. Add pepper and toss pasta vigorously once more so sauce thoroughly coats pasta and any cheese clumps are emulsiﬁed into sauce, about 30 seconds. (Mixture may look wet at this point, but pasta will absorb excess moisture as it cools slightly.) 4. Transfer pasta to individual bowls. Sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup Pecorino and drizzle with oil. Serve immediately, passing extra pepper separately.

O NE

Pork and Cabbage Stew with Cheddar Dumplings

POT

Superlative Stew—with Dumplings!—in Four Steps

The comforting flavors you crave, all with the convenience of one pot. by Amanda Luchtel HIS TIME OF

year it seems

T that everyone is so caught up

1. Brown chopped bacon and remove it from the pot. Sprinkle strips of pork tenderloin with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Brown them on one side in the bacon drippings and then remove them (the pork will finish cooking in the stew).

in planning for the holidays that weeknight dinners become an afterthought. One-pot stews topped with a pastry or bready topping are common dishes for many families and a great way to get a satisfying, multifaceted meal on the table with minimal fuss. From chicken and dumplings to pot pies to collards with cornmeal dumplings, this tradition creates comforting meals that are easy enough for weeknights yet warming and welcoming enough for Sunday suppers. In this recipe, we top a hearty, savory stew made with bacon, pork tenderloin, cabbage, and carrots with crisp, golden cheddar dumplings. Heady rosemary and piercing Dijon add depth and complexity to round out the dish.

ONE-POT PORK AND CABBAGE

Bacon and pork infuse this hearty stew with meaty, savory flavor.

DUM PLI NG S

STEW WITH CHEDDAR DUMPLINGS

1½ cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour

Serves 4 to 6 Total Time: 1¾ hours

1½ teaspoons sugar

One medium head of cabbage weighs about 2 pounds.

1½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon table salt 4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese,

STEW 1 (12- to 16-ounce) pork tenderloin,

shredded (1 cup), divided 1¼ cups heavy cream

trimmed, halved lengthwise, and sliced crosswise ¼ inch thick

1. F O R T HE S T EW: Adjust oven rack

1¼ teaspoons table salt, divided

to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle pork with ¾ teaspoon salt, ¾ teaspoon pepper, and cayenne. Toss pork with 1 tablespoon ﬂour; set aside. 2. Cook bacon in Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to plate. 3. Add pork in single layer to fat left in pot, breaking up any clumps. Cook, without stirring, until well browned on bottom, 3 to 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to plate with bacon. 4. Add cabbage, onion, carrots, garlic, rosemary, remaining ½ teaspoon salt,

1¼ teaspoons pepper, divided ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided 6 slices bacon, chopped ½ head green cabbage, halved, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces (8 cups) 1 onion, chopped 2 carrots, peeled and chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary 3 cups chicken broth 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper to fat left in pot (if very little fat remains, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil). Cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is wilted, 5 to 7 minutes. 5. Stir in remaining ¼ cup ﬂour to coat vegetables. Slowly stir in broth and mustard, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps with wooden spoon. Bring to simmer. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low; and simmer until ﬂavors meld, about 7 minutes. Off heat, stir in pork, bacon, and any accumulated juices.

2. Sauté cabbage, onion, carrots, and garlic in the bacon and pork drippings until the cabbage is wilted. Sprinkle the vegetables with flour.

3. Add chicken broth and Dijon mustard and scrape up any flavorful browned bits (fond) on the bottom of the pot to incorporate them into the broth.

6. FO R T H E D U M P LI N G S :

Meanwhile, whisk ﬂour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in ¾ cup cheddar. Add cream and stir until just combined. 7. Using 2 large soupspoons, drop golf ball–size portions of dumpling dough onto stew (about 14 dumplings). Sprinkle dumplings with remaining ¼ cup cheddar. Bake, uncovered, until tops of dumplings are light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

4. Drop the stir-together dumpling dough onto the stew off the heat, and then top with the remaining shredded cheese and bake until the dumplings are golden brown.

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REVI EWS

Finding the Best Grill Pan Bring the sizzle of the grill inside, but choose wisely—some pans sear and clean up better than others. by Lisa McManus

skillets customized with ridges across the cooking surface to mimic the cooking grate of a grill. A good one will add crisp, attractive grill marks and ﬂavorful char to foods such as meat, seafood, vegetables, and pressed sandwiches. These pans can be made from different materials, including heavy cast iron (enameled or plain) or thinner, lighter sheets of nonstick aluminum, cast aluminum, or steel. We liked those made from cast iron, as they offered superior heat retention and taller, more-distinct ridges that made better grill marks. Our favorite grill pan was roomy and had looped handles. It also had a compact shape and low sides that enabled easy access with a spatula. Its tall, well-spaced ridges made crisp grill marks and were easy to clean. R I L L PA N S A R E

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

WHAT TO AVOID

W EL L-SPACE D R ID G ES Fewer nooks to trap food, making cleanup easier

N ON STI CK- COATE D A LUM IN UM OR STE EL Easy to clean, but not durable; makes wimpier grill marks

SH O RT WA LLS Spatula goes in at a low angle, so it’s easier to maneuver food

EN AM E L ED CAST IRO N Doesn’t release foods as well as uncoated cast iron

RO O MY RI DGED SU RFAC E More space means fewer batches, quicker cooking, and less smoke

TA LL WAL LS Spatula goes in at a steep angle, so it’s harder to maneuver food

MODERATE WEIGHT, DUAL HANDLES Easy to lift; compact and balanced

LOW AN D/OR SK INN Y RID G ES Make wimpy grill marks; let fat touch food, so food is greasier

TA LL , SUBSTA NT IA L RI D GES Make crisp, bold grill marks; food sits above drippings

T IGH T LY SPACE D R ID G ES Trap food and make cleanup a nightmare

SE ASO N ED CAST IRON Surface becomes naturally more nonstick with use

S M ALL COOK IN G SURFAC E Less space means multiple batches and more smoke

Web subscribers can see the full testing results and complete chart at CooksCountry.com/nov21.

OUR FAVORITE GRILL PANS

Secrets to Making a Grill Pan Smoke Less

The Best Way to Clean a Cast-Iron Grill Pan

During testing we learned a few tricks about cooking in grill pans.

Follow these tips to reduce the amount of smoke your grill pan produces.

1. Use a slim metal offset turner or metal fish spatula with a sharp front edge to slip under food and avoid wrecking those gorgeous grill marks. 2. Don’t travel crosswise; for smoother access, slide the spatula in the direction of the ridges like a plane on a runway. 3. Choose a roomy pan with low, flaring sides, and leave plenty of space around food so that you can keep the spatula almost flat and the food intact as you lift it.

• Preheat the pan on medium—not high—for at least 4 minutes before adding food. Peek under food—flip it only when it’s sufficiently browned. • Oil food, not the pan. Fat not covered by food will smoke. • Keep sauces and glazes on top of food so that they won’t drip down. • Leave margins around sandwich fillings so that they don’t leak out when the sandwich is pressed. If cheese drips, tuck it back in before it burns.

The biggest sticking point—pardon the pun—when using a cast-iron grill pan is cleanup, as food has a tendency to get stuck between the ridges. We tried typical plastic scrapers with teeth that slide between ridges but preferred our winning scrub brush, the O-Cedar Rinse Fresh Pot & Pan Brush. Its firm bristles scour without damaging the pan’s seasoning. Heat the clean pan on medium-low to dry it thoroughly. Rub it all over with a very light coat of vegetable oil, heat it on medium for a few minutes longer to help the oil bond, and then let the pan cool completely.

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Borough Furnace Grill Pan/Braising Lid: A handmade stunner ($110)

Illustration: Sophie Greenspan

The Best Way to Flip Food in a Grill Pan

Lodge Chef Collection 11 Inch Cast Iron Square Grill Pan: Excellent value and performance ($36)

D I D YO U K N OW ? We love our tomatoes.

Illustration: Sophie Greenspan

But that wasn’t always the case in the United States.

While the exact location is unclear, tomatoes likely originated in the coastal highlands of western South America.

The Aztecs were among the first to cultivate the plant. The word “tomato” comes from the Nahuatl word “xitomatl.”

Tomatoes were brought to the United States in the 18th century via European settlers and enslaved people.

The tomato was initially slow to take off with Americans— until the 19th century, some believed it was poisonous!

The earliest known American recipes for tomatoes include scalloped baked tomatoes, soup, and even marmalade.

In the 19th century, advances in commercial processing made canned tomatoes available to Americans year-round, boosting their popularity.

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Today, tomatoes are America’s secondfavorite produce, with the average American consuming almost 21 pounds each year. CO OK’S

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BONUS

RECIPE

RECIPE INDEX MAIN DISHES

This dip is a fantastic sidekick for our Fried Artichokes (page 23).

Lemon Aioli LEM O N AI OL I

Bulgur Salad with Curry Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas DT Cacio e Pepe for Two 28 Cheddar-Crusted Grilled Cheese 13 Gruyère-, with Smoked Salmon 13 with Bacon and Pepper Jelly 13 with Tomato 13 Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Cream Sauce DT Chicken Stroganoff 20 Cilantro-Lime Turkey Salad Wraps with Mango Chutney DT Holiday Smoked Turkey 7 Jamaican Oxtail 19 One-Pot Pork and Cabbage Stew with Cheddar Dumplings 29 Porcini-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Celery Root Puree DT Roasted Chicken Thighs with Grapes and Fennel DT Salmon Peperonata 16 Smoked Salmon and Potato Frittata DT Smoky Roasted Shrimp and Potatoes with Garlicky Spinach DT Spiced Lamb Patties with Roasted Cauliflower DT

FIND THE ROOSTER! A tiny version of this rooster has been hidden in a photo in the pages of this issue. Write to us with its location, and we’ll enter you in a random drawing. The first correct entry drawn will win a copy of The Complete Cook’s Country TV Show Cookbook, and each of the next five will receive a free one-year subscription to our website. To enter, visit CooksCountry.com/rooster by October 31, 2021, or write to Rooster ON21, Cook’s Country, 21 Drydock Avenue, Suite 210E, Boston, MA 02210. Include your name and address. Carmen Ruth of Durham, North Carolina, found the rooster in the June/July 2021 issue on page 31.

WEB EXTRAS Free for four months online at CooksCountry.com/nov21

SIDE DISHES Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes 8 Jamaican Rice and Peas 19 Sautéed Broccolini with Golden Raisins and Parmesan 9 with Pancetta and Gruyère 9

Apple Crisp

Serves 24 (Makes about 1½ cups) Total Time: 15 minutes

Do not substitute olive oil for the vegetable oil; the aioli will turn out bitter. 1 large egg 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 garlic clove, minced ¾ teaspoon table salt ¼ teaspoon sugar Pinch cayenne pepper 1½ cups vegetable oil 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Process egg, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt, sugar, and cayenne in food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. With processor running, slowly drizzle in vegetable oil until emulsiﬁed and mixture is thick, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and continue to process 5 seconds longer. Transfer to jar and stir in olive oil. Affix jar lid and refrigerate until ready to use. (Aioli can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

COMING NEXT ISSUE Our December/January 2022 issue will warm you up with Honey-Glazed Pork Shoulder, Jalapeño-Cheddar Scones, and Brussels Sprouts with Chorizo. For a stunning holiday meal, we walk you through how to cook Duck Breasts with Port Wine–Fig Sauce. Swiss Chard Salad and Hasselback Potato Casserole make worthy sides and Pear Crisp a simple, sweet ending. Looking for homemade gifts? Try our Vanilla Marshmallows!

APPETIZERS, SOUPS, AND SALAD Fried Artichokes 23 Hot Cheddar Crab Dip 22 Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Creamy Tahini Dressing 9 Slow-Cooker White Bean and Tomato Soup 27 Woodman’s-Style Clam Chowder 14

BREAKFAST AND BREAD Basic Cinnamon Coffee Cake 25 Ginger-Nutmeg 25 Orange-Cardamom 25 Garlic-Herb-Butter Rolls 21

DESSERT Tarte Tatin 10

CONDIMENTS Homemade Creamy Peanut Butter 27 Chocolate 27 Chunky 27 Honey 27 Maple–Pumpkin Spice 27 Lemon Aioli 32

DT=Dinner Tonight

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READ US ON IPAD Download the Cook’s Country app for iPad and start a free trial subscription or purchase a single issue of the magazine. Go to CooksCountry.com/iPad to download our app through the App Store.

C O O K ’ S C LO S E - U P

SOTO GUADELUPE Three Brothers Chile, Hatch, New Mexico

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

10 Tarte Tatin

27 Homemade Creamy Peanut Butter

9 Broccolini with Raisins and Parmesan

16 Salmon Peperonata

21 Garlic-Herb-Butter Rolls

28 Cacio e Pepe for Two

DT Cilantro-Lime Turkey Salad Wraps

23 Fried Artichokes

13 Cheddar-Crusted Grilled Cheese

7 Holiday Smoked Turkey

20 Chicken Stroganoff

DT Spiced Lamb Patties with Cauliflower

DT Chicken with Grapes and Fennel

DT Bulgur Salad with Sweet Potatoes

25 Basic Cinnamon Coffee Cake

DT Smoky Roasted Shrimp and Potatoes

8 Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes

22 Hot Cheddar Crab Dip

DT Pork with Celery Root Puree

19 Jamaican Oxtail

27 Slow-Cooker Bean and Tomato Soup

DT Smoked Salmon and Potato Frittata

29 One-Pot Pork Stew with Dumplings

9 Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

14 Woodman’s-Style Clam Chowder