the thin chef

If the title alone scared you off, you probably won’t enjoy the contents of this post. What I’m about to say (write?) will probably sound quite odd to some of you, but I imagine some of you may nod along in agreement. Or, maybe not…

Octopus is among my very favorite foods. Like, top 10 or maybe even top 5. I love the texture, the sweet-briny flavor, the look of it, everything. Until now I’d never attempted cooking it, usually relying on places like the Ravenous Pig (I know, I’m kind of obsessed) or Kefi—where they artfully prepare the squiggly seafood. But I saw some at Whole Foods and declared it was time to learn to make it myself.

Apparently baby octopus is like baby squid: you either have to cook it superfast, or braise it for a long time. I chose the quick option, since I like octopus best when it has just enough bite to be on the good side of chewy.

Cooking octopus, I discovered, is not for the squeamish. (Though I suppose eating it really isn’t either…) The tentacles curl and unfurl and wave and wiggle in the pan, as if they are coming back to life. It was great fun, if not a teensy bit unsettling at first, to watch. A fast sear in a very hot pan (or grill, if you can) makes the edges turn almost black and sweet. A slick of olive oil, a generous shower of lemon juice, and a sprinkling of coarse salt is really all it needs to be delicious. Served with some bread, it’s a perfect lunch.

This may not have convinced those of you who find anything with more than 4 legs creepy to eat, but for the brave, I highly recommend it.

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My husband loves mussels. One of our favorite restaurants, the Ravenous Pig, has mussels on the menu most of the year, and he orders them often. They change up the broth each month or so—using hoppy ales or dry wines and flavorings like fennel pollen or dill—but two things always stay the same: the generous size of the mussels and the pint glass of truffled French fries that comes alongside.

While I have yet to master the truffle fries, I love to make mussels for Jason at home. It’s so simple: take a big pot, add a knob of butter and shallots and let them sizzle together. Then pour in several generous glugs of white wine or some kind of straw-colored ale (sipping some while you’re at it), and a few pounds of the shiny black shells. Throw in a handful of chopped fresh herbs, if you feel so inclined (and you definitely should). Simmered for just a few minutes, magic happens inside that pot. When you lift the lid, swirls of fragrant, briny steam escape, giving hints to the flavorful broth and the sweet orange bivalves inside.

A big hunk of crusty bread is mandatory, and the remainder of the bottle of wine or some of the same beer you used in the broth is highly encouraged. We like to pour the contents of the pot into a big ceramic bowl and just share—it’s slurpy and messy and just plain fun.

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If you’re like me (and I hope I’m not alone), you cringe and feel terrible when you throw away food…but it happens more than you’d care to admit. Especially for those of us cooking for just two, leftovers are a fact of life. Many times, I love leftovers…but sometimes, they sit in the fridge for days before I cringe and throw them out. I hate, hate, hate to waste food. I know the sad reality that the majority of our planet would kill to have enough food to even have the option to throw some of it away. Without going any farther down that road, we’ll just leave it at the fact that wasting food is clearly irresponsible.

So. What to do with those leftovers? Pasta is one of my least favorites to eat the next day, but I always cook too much the night before. It’s almost never good simply reheated, since any amount of heat cooks it further, and it turns to mush in a matter of minutes. Pasta is almost always the leftovers I throw away.

But the other day, that all changed. Famished after running around all morning, I came home with the knowledge of two ingredients I wanted to combine: local eggs and a little glass container of pasta from the night before. I envisioned something Giada De Laurentiis made ages ago on her show—something called Torta di Pasta, an egg-and-pasta cake that’s similar to a frittata.

Seriously good, cheap, and filling, this might be my new favorite lunch. It’s crisp on the outside, yielding and creamy on the inside. The next time you find yourself with some leftover long-strand pasta sitting in the depths of your fridge, try this. It’s not even a recipe, it’s that easy.

Simply heat a small splash of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add enough pasta to the pan to cover the bottom generously. Let it sit for 1 or 2 minutes. Crack some eggs into a bowl. For a small skillet, you’ll need about 3; for a large one, maybe 6. Whisk the eggs, and add some salt and pepper. Pour the eggs into the pan over the pasta. Let set until the bottom is firm and golden (maybe 3 or so minutes). Sprinkle the top generously with grated parmesan. Then you have a choice. If it’s a small skillet, use a spatula to flip the whole thing over. If it’s a big one, stick the pan under the broiler for a few minutes until the whole thing is firm and the top is golden-brown. Slice, and serve.

I dipped my bites in sriracha (of course), but some pesto or leftover warm marinara (or a mixture of the two) would be good to serve alongside.

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One of the first meals I ever cooked away from home was chicken piccata, a dish I grew up eating a lot (I requested it all the time). It’s still a staple in my kitchen today, and I love to play around with the technique and flavors to create new-ish recipes inspired by the classic rendition.

A few nights ago, I wanted something super easy and fast for dinner since I had already spent the whole day in the kitchen testing, photographing, and editing recipes for the second issue of edible Orlando. I looked in the fridge; a few chicken tenders, a half-drunk bottle of Chardonnay, a half a bag of arugula, and about a quarter of a box of chicken stock stared back. Just enough, I thought, for some kind of piccata-esque meal.

You can use spinach or watercress here instead of (my current obsession) arugula, and you could easily do this with chicken breast cutlets or even thin slabs of tofu for a vegetarian version. If you don’t have wine for the sauce, that’s OK, too. Just replace it with more chicken stock. Fresh herbs would be nice here—dill or parsley if you have them. If not, it’s lively enough as is. You could pair this with some orzo or brown rice to round out the meal.

Super Fast Lemony Chicken with Tender Greens
I prefer chicken stock for this recipe, as opposed to chicken broth, because it makes a richer sauce. Kitchen Basics makes my favorite kind, and Progresso also has one that’s pretty good. Look for low-sodium since you’re reducing it.
serves 2

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
6 chicken tenders
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 big handfuls arugula or other tender greens

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place flour in a shallow dish and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken tenders in flour mixture, coating evenly, and shaking off excess. Place coated chicken in the hot oil. Cook until golden brown and cooked through. Set chicken aside on a plate.

Add lemon juice, wine, and chicken stock to the pan; scrape any brown bits from the bottom with a spoon. Simmer sauce until reduced and slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Taste, and add salt and pepper. If the sauce tastes too tangy, add a splash of chicken broth, and keep simmering until reduced. Turn heat off.

Add chicken tenders and arugula to the skillet, and toss gently to coat everything in the sauce and to wilt the greens. Serve immediately.

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Well, so much for my 40 nonstop days of blogging. I’m getting back on track today, though, with this delicious and healthy salad we had for dinner a few nights ago. Mark Bittman writes a column for Cooking Light about using less meat in main courses, without making the meal completely vegetarian. This salad combines skirt steak (I got ours from Deep Creek, an awesome local, grass-fed ranch) with tofu to top a green salad dressed with a tangy Thai-style dressing.

We try to keep the meat to a minimum in our house—we do love it, but to eat mostly organic (or grass-fed, free-range, responsibly raised, etc.) it can get really expensive. And, of course, it’s just better for you to eat more veg than meat. So I love recipes like this one that call for only 4 ounces of steak, total (a mere quarter-pound). It’s just enough for the flavor and satiety that comes from a bite of juicy beef, but not so much your stomach feels like a brick afterward.

If you don’t dig tofu, you could go the surf-and-turf route, and toss in some wild-caught shrimp. Or, just do the steak. The recipe is technically for 4 people, but because it’s all we had for dinner, we ate two servings each, and I only cooked about 5 or 6 ounces of tofu. Another note: I left the oil out completely when cooking the steak, because my pieces were nicely marbled, and the rendered fat from the beef was enough to cook the tofu. You be the judge of whether you need the whole tablespoon, or, really, any at all. I also cooked the beef and tofu separately, because we like tofu nice and brown, and I didn’t want the meat to overcook.

Thai-Inspired Beef & Tofu Salad
adapted, ever so slightly, from Mark Bittman’s recipe in Cooking Light
serves 2 as a main course

6 ounces firm tofu, cubed
6 cups fresh salad greens, such as romaine, Bibb, arugula, baby spinach, or a mix
1/2 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
1  cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1  tablespoon fish sauce or low-sodium soy sauce
2  teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon mirin or brown sugar
1 serrano pepper, minced (optional)
1 tablespoon peanut oil (optional, depending on the marbling on your steak)
4 ounces skirt steak, trimmed of excess fat and cut across the grain into thin strips
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place tofu cubes on several layers of paper towels on a cutting board or countertop. Cover with additional paper towels, and top with a baking sheet and weigh down with a coffee mug or can of soup. Let stand 30 minutes.

Combine lettuce, herbs and cucumber in a large bowl. Combine lime juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, mirin and serrano pepper in a small bowl, and stir to combine. Drizzle half of the dressing over lettuce mixture; toss to coat.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 3 minutes or until the beef is browned, stirring only once or twice. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon, and add tofu to the pan. Cook until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes.

Add beef and tofu to the bowl with the dressing, tossing to coat. Pour tofu mixture over lettuce mixture; toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Are you in Orlando? Need plans this weekend? Come see edible Orlando publisher Kendra Lott and me at the Edible Orlando Cooking Stage at the Orlando Home Show! We’ll be doing cooking demos of Thanksgiving dishes from the current issue. Lots of other great local chefs and food personalities will be there as well, making delicious local food. Click here for tickets! See you there!

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You already know my love of pasta. It’s comfort in a bowl. I love short cuts, long strands, sheets of lasagna, and especially wide, slurpy papardelle. The name of the noodles derives from the verb “pappare,” to gobble up—which is what I do when I see a bowlful of this pasta.

I have an unabashed love of Trader Joe’s, and I stock up whenever we’re in a city that has one. My friend Sarah turned me on to their spinach and chive pasta, which I get every time. And last trip, I also grabbed a bag of lemon-pepper papardelle. Lemon, and pepper, and my favorite pasta? Yes, please.

I was waiting to cook the pasta until I could think of a sauce or preparation that would let the flavor of the noodles shine through, but also compliment them. I picked up bags of organic, locally grown arugula and watercress at the co-op last week, and I was reminded of a recipe from one of my favorite books, Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser. It involves pasta, lemon zest, creme fraiche, and arugula, and it’s fabulous. This is my take on it.

Pasta with Greens and Lemon-Butter Sauce
serves 4

1 pound long pasta, such as papardelle, linguine or fettucine
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 tablespoons unsalted, room-temperature butter
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large handfuls arugula
1 large handful watercress, thick or tough stems removed and discarded
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Cook pasta per package directions. Just before pasta is done, ladle out about 1 cup of the cooking water, and set aside. As the pasta cooks, combine the lemon zest and butter in a small bowl, mashing and stirring to combine. Drain pasta, and place in a large bowl. (I like to warm the bowl with very hot tap water so it doesn’t cool the pasta.)

Add butter-zest mixture, lemon juice, and olive oil. Use tongs or two large forks to toss the pasta together until it’s coated in the butter, oil, and lemon juice. Add greens, 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, and salt and pepper to taste. (Need guidance? Start with about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and go from there.) Toss again until the greens are wilted and the pasta is coated in “sauce.” Add more pasta water, if needed, to keep the pasta slicked but not wet. Serve immediately.

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This is the second post this week about a favorite, go-to snack that tastes even better when you make it from scratch. Why go through the trouble, you might ask, when you can easily grab a box of crackers at the grocery store and call it a day? Well, for one, these taste better. (And I am a huge fan of the non-homemade kind. I once, regrettably, ate an entire box in one sitting, and was very ill as a result.) Second, you know exactly what’s going in them, and there are only a handful of ingredients, instead of odd-sounding preservatives and trans fats. You can use organic ingredients, if you’d like, and local butter and cheese, if you’re fortunate enough to have access to them.

It takes 30 seconds to throw this dough together in the food processor and about 4 minutes to roll and cut the crackers. They bake for less than 30 minutes, and you can clean the whole kitchen and start a load of laundry in that time, so really, it doesn’t count.

Now tell me that’s not faster than a trip to Publix. That’s what I thought.

Homemade Cheez-It Crackers
makes about 40 crackers
Adapted from this Country Living recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 (7-ounce) bag grated extra-sharp 2% reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, but recommended)
5 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour, butter, cheese, salt, and cayenne in the work bowl of your food processor. Pulse until crumbly. Pulse in water, a tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. (You may not use all the water.)

Wrap dough in plastic wrap, press into a disc, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350º. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone mats. Set aside.

Place dough between two pieces of parchment paper. (It’s sticky!) Roll to 1/8-inch thickness. Carefully flip dough in parchment over, and gently peel off the top layer. Using a pizza cutter, trim dough into a rectangle, then cut into 2-inch squares. Carefully transfer squares onto baking sheets, using a spatula if needed.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until crackers are just slightly turning light brown, and are crisp. Quickly cool and taste one for crispness. If they are not crisp, bake just a few minutes longer. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days (if they last that long!). If crackers are soggy after storing, re-crisp them in a preheated 400º oven for 3 to 5 minutes.

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Peanut butter is a very American snack. I was amused to see it on the “USA” aisle in a French grocery store a few years ago. In fact, in Paris, there is a shop called Thanksgiving, and its shelves are stocked with things like Pringles, McCormick’s gravy mix packets, Oreos, Campbell’s soups, and, yes, peanut butter.

But I really wonder why it hasn’t caught on worldwide as a favorite food item. It’s a favorite in our house, whether spread on soft bread for a PBJ (or PBBH—peanut-butter-banana-honey), warmed in the microwave and drizzled over ice cream, or just eaten out of the jar with a spoon. My friend Amy won’t keep it in her house, because she knows she’ll eat it out of the jar, spoonful by spoonful, until it’s gone.

Amy probably shouldn’t make this homemade version. If you love the store-bought stuff, you’ll find this to be a revelation. (I am being dramatic, but not overly so. This stuff is good.) Easy, cheap, and ever so satisfying, peanut butter is one of those things that’s just better—and, most likely, better for you—when you make it at home.

I used Alton Brown’s recipe, and it worked pretty much perfectly. The peanut butter is on the crumbly side, but spreads easily when warmed for 10 seconds in the microwave, or left at room temperature for a half hour before using. You can always drizzle in a bit more oil for a more spreadable consistency.

You can also customize the flavor…
*Maple: Use 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup instead of the honey
*Cinnamon-Raisin: Process with 1 teaspoon cinnamon; stir in raisins after processing
*Spicy Asian: Process with 2 teaspoons soy sauce instead of salt and 1 teaspoon sriracha
*Honey: Increase honey to 1 tablespoon

Homemade Peanut Butter
Adapted, very slightly, from Alton Brown’s recipe

15 ounces shelled, unsalted roasted peanuts
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons honey
1 1/2  to 2 tablespoons peanut oil (you can sub vegetable oil, as long as it’s flavor is neutral)

Place the peanuts, salt, and honey into the work bowl of your food processor. Process for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the lid back on and continue to process while drizzling in the oil; process until the mixture is smooth, adding oil bit by bit until desired texture is reached. Place the peanut butter in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

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In Birmingham, there is a Greek restaurant. It will remain unnamed because I have nothing very kind to say about it, but it’s an institution, and it has a lot of fans. It was very close to where Jason and I lived, so we tried to like it. We really tried to like it 4 or 5 times. But it just wasn’t very good or very authentic. However, they did have one dish that had a really nice idea behind it—Greek bruschetta. A thick slice of bread topped with fried eggplant, roasted peppers, and feta cheese. The flavors were there, but it wasn’t executed very well, mainly because of the copious amounts of grease from the eggplant and olive oil on the bread, both of which literally dripped down my forearms as I ate it.

Anyway. I do love the idea of putting Greek flavors on a thick, toasted slice of bread, so I made my own version. It was not swimming in oil, but it did have lots of great flavors. A quick, delicious lunch, for sure. Do me a favor, though, will you? Please use fresh, fresh, fresh tomatoes that are bursting with juice. And please only use imported (read: sheep’s milk) feta, which has a superior nutty, briny flavor. Don’t buy the grocery store brand, even though it’s cheaper—you can taste the difference, and the extra dollar or two are Worth. It.

Greek Bruschetta
Serves 1

I’m fortunate enough to grow oregano outside, but if you don’t have fresh, just sprinkle a touch of dried right on top of the bread, so the moisture of the oil and tomatoes can rehydrate it a little bit. As an afterthought (meaning 4 bites in) I realized roasted red pepper would be a lovely addition. If you have any on hand, pile them on.

1 thick slice good, crusty bread
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Pinch hot red pepper flakes (optional)
3 slices ripe tomato
1/2 roasted red pepper, cut in half, and patted dry with a paper towel (optional)
3 to 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices feta cheese
4 (or so) leaves fresh oregano, torn into pieces

Preheat toaster oven (or broiler). Brush bread with olive oil, coating well. Broil for just 1 minute or so, until the bread is golden. Remove from oven, and top with tomato slices, roasted red pepper (if using), and feta. Return to oven, and broil for 2 more minutes—watching closely the whole time—until the cheese is softened and golden. Sprinkle fresh oregano over top, and eat immediately.

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Have you ever used smoked paprika? If not, please do yourself a favor and purchase some. You can buy it at most grocery stores now, but it’s even better if it’s pimentón ahumado, from Spain. I absolutely love the deep, complex, smoky flavor it infuses into foods. It’s not aggressive, it’s not overt—it’s warm and rich, and a lovely addition to a lot of classic dishes. I have successfully added it to chili, hamburgers, oven-braised pork butt, soups, chowders, and—a current favorite—chicken salad.

I don’t have a photo of this chicken salad, but I am here to tell you it’s quite pretty. The smoked paprika gives the dressing a rosy pink hue. Sweet purple grapes add another pop of color, and are juicy and crunchy. It’s lighter than regular chicken salad, with the addition of yogurt in the dressing, and just enough of the creamy stuff to keep the mixture moist. Roasting the chicken on the bone ensures that it stays juicy and super flavorful.

I’m thinking this is a perfect Labor Day picnic/cook out bring-along…just be prepared to sing the praises of smoked paprika when everyone wonders what made the chicken salad so tasty.

Smoky Chicken Salad with Grapes and Almonds
Serves 4 to 6

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