Profiteroles are not nearly as hard to make as you might think, and they’re pretty fun too.
Dinner with Bittman: Okra Gumbo with Spicy Sausage
Recipe from How to Cook Everything.
Okra Gumbo with Spicy Sausage
Makes: 4 servings
Time: About an hour, largely unattended
I love slow-cooked okra, especially with sausage and tomatoes. For the best texture, you’ve got to sear the okra first. But after that, there’s little to do but let the pot bubble away. To serve this New Orleans style, pour a ladleful into a shallow soup bowl and nestle a scoop of plain white rice into the center.
Garlicky Chard with Olives and Pine Nuts
By Freya Bellin
All too often I come home with a giant bunch of beautiful leafy greens and then wonder what exactly to do with them. This recipe is a simple, flavorful answer to that question. All of the ingredients are easy to keep on hand, and it’s also the type of recipe that can be altered to taste or whatever you happen to have in stock, although olives are a great choice. I used Moroccan oil-cured olives: shriveled, bitter, and very salty. They’re delicious, but make sure to go very light on any additional salt, if you use any at all. Particularly useful is learning the braising method used in this recipe. Leafy greens can fill up a pot or pan really quickly, but when you add liquid, like the red wine here, the leaves wilt much more quickly and are less likely to burn than if simply sautéed. Recipe from The Food Matters Cookbook.
Spooky Sunday Supper: Winter Squash Curry
Recipe from How to Cook Everything.
Winter Squash Curry
Makes: 4 servings
Time: About 30 minutes
Peeling and chopping the squash is probably the hardest part of this recipe. All sorts of vegetables work in addition to or instead of squash; use this recipe as a base and improvise from there.
Other vegetables you can use: any winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, any root vegetable, eggplant, cauliflower, mushrooms, okra, peas, any summer squash, or green or wax beans.
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Red Pepper Vinaigrette
Makes: 4 servings
Time: About 45 minutes
Here is another potato-vinaigrette combo: The red pepper dressing is tart, sweet, and spicy, with a touch of cumin. This is best served warm or at room temperature, though of course you can refrigerate and serve it up to a day later, as long as you take it out of the refrigerator beforehand to take the chill off. Recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.
Dinner with Bittman: Couscous with Cauliflower and Almonds
Recipe from How to Cook Everything.
Couscous with Cauliflower and Almonds
Makes: 4 servings
Time: About 20 minutes
When cauliflower is finely chopped and fried as in this recipe, its crumbly texture mimics cracked grains. I like this best with the nutty flavor of whole wheat couscous. Other grains you can use: bulgur.
Why It’s Better if We Can’t Afford Meat
Beef ranchers are complaining that the domestic market is “withering,” and therefore the quality of meat will decline.
This, of course, assumes that we’re not smart enough to buy better beef. From many perspectives – that of the person who wants only organic beef; that of one who wants only local beef; that of one who wants grass-fed beef, or “natural” beef, or humanely raised beef, or all of the above – the price of “normal” (that is, industrially-raised) beef is already too low. Suppose one wanted higher quality beef, and were willing to pay for it? Suppose one were willing to eat less beef in order to keep one’s food budget more-or-less stable? Wouldn’t a decline in industrially raised beef be OK? And who cares if it becomes even “worse?” It’s already produced with almost no concern for quality.
Dinner with Bittman: Real Beef Stroganoff
Recipe from How to Cook Everything.
Real Beef Stroganoff
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 30 minutes or less
Don’t scoff; this is good stuff, despite the bad versions of it you’ve undoubtedly tried. Use pieces of tenderloin if you can, because the cooking is quick and the meat should be tender. Both the mushrooms and the tomatoes are optional; the dish is perfectly fine without either or with both. Serve this over buttered egg noodles or plain rice or with bread.
Other cuts and meats you can use: boneless veal or pork shoulder or veal round.
This Week’s Minimalist: Ricotta Gnocchi
No potatoes. No dough-rolling. No-sweat gnocchi.
Dinner with Bittman: Raw Beet Salad
Recipe from How to Cook Everything.
Raw Beet Salad
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 20 minutes
Beets, like carrots, can be eaten raw. And they’re delicious that way, crunchy and sweet. So sweet, in fact, that they need a strongly acidic dressing like this one for balance.
