Fancy Persian Rice

It's rare to say that you've had an adventure making rice.  Wait, that's not true.  There's plenty of pilafs that are neat, and paella is about as adventuresome as rice -- or any dish-- can be.

But "normal" rice is usually pretty straightforward.  Yesterday I tried out a Cook's Illustrated recipe for chelow, a fancy Persian rice dish famed for its mix of textures--it develops a beautiful, golden crust to contrast with the extra-fluffy, soft, well, normal rice.

The CI technique was interesting--you soak basmati rice in hot water to parcook it a bit. Then mix half of it with some yogurt and press it into the bottom of a Dutch oven, and gently mound the rest of the rice over the top and poke some butter into it.

It certainly worked--I probably overcooked the crust a little, but it was crispy and tasty.  Great texture.

Like so much of Cook's Illustrated, it's a bit of a fussy recipe, and I like just plain old regular basmati rice, too. 

Is it worth the extra time and effort? Probably not, usually. Still, if the right occasion presents itself, I'd definitely make it again.

Avocado Toast Pilgrimage

Spring is busily springing at the Cloisters, one of my favorite places in New York (and, therefore, the world).  I made a pilgrimage there on Saturday (19 March) to enjoy everything slowly turning green again, and to see their spectacular exhibit of luxury playing cards.

Now that's a death card.  Yowza!

Post-pilgrimage I wasn't exactly feeling like Death in terms of emaciated hunger, but I was a little peckish, so I stopped into the nearby New Leaf Cafe in Fort Tryon Park for a bit of refreshment.  Only to discover that just about the only thing they had that wasn't their prix fixe ginormous brunch was avocado toast.

Like a lot of people, I have a knee-jerk reaction against avocado toast.  It's too...easy, you know?  Avocado. Toast. Done. Too much of an obvious crowd pleaser, too. It's 2016, I want my food to challenge me! I can make avocado toast, for crying out loud.  Why eat it at a restaurant? Those sorts of sentiments.

And yet, and yet.  Avocado toast is so good.  Sometimes it is exactly the right thing.  And this moment, feeling serene and spring-like and art-inspired, was one of those times.  My only regret is I opted to go for a cappuccino rather than alcohol.  A bloody mary and the avocado toast would truly have been food of the gods.

Still, three cheers for avocado toast, judiciously, in small doses, at the right moments.

Carbon Steel Skillet

It's been a while since I treated myself to a new kitchen gadget.  So when Cook's Illustrated raved about carbon steel skillets as more user friendly than cast iron but with many of the same benefits, I decided to spring for one.

(Yes, I know...if CI said the secret to great ratatouille was to jump off a bridge with the eggplant I'd probably do that too.)

Anyway, it took a while before I decided to spring for one, and it gave me a firsthand view of CI's influence:  it was actually pretty hard to find one, particularly their recommended Matfer Bourgeat 062005 - 11-7/8" dia. - Black Round Frying Pan.

Finally found it at Restaurantsupply.com.  And here it is, newly arrived, heavy and shiny.

 

Very pretty, no?  Hope I get a lot of happy skilleting out of it.

The other thing that I thought was a little remarkable about this was the packaging it came in.  Here's a look--very, um, makeshift.  There was nothing in there but the skillet...no padding, no nothing.  I suppose, being carbon steel, it's theoretically indestructable but still.

While I applaud their ingenuity and creativity in packing supplies,  you'd think, being a restaurant supply place that ships stuff regularly, they'd have a suitable box. 

Anyway, it's here, it's beautiful, and I'm looking forward to seasoning it and getting cooking.

Maffles!

While on my annual pilgrimage back to the land of my birth (the island of Hawai'i) over Christmas I had the great good fortune to stumble upon the latest in local hybrid Eastern-Western baking concepts, the maffle.  Maffle mix seems is basically just sweetened mochi flour with maybe some leavening in it--add milk, egg, and oil and you get a very thick batter, really more of a dough.

The recipe calls for piecing out the dough and rolling each chunk in sugar before throwing it in a waffle iron, which results in something that's crunchy and caramelized on the outside, and chewy and glutinous on the inside.  And delicious all the way around.

Dominic Ansel gets all the credit for the cronut, and I have to confess a few years ago I made a savory waffle with chickpea flour and called it the fawafel and felt very proud of myself.  But maffles are truly a yummy stroke of genius.  I bought a package back from Hawai'i with me (and one to give to my neighbors) but I will definitely be asking mom to send more.

Sous Vide Chicken Again

 

I'm not totally sure why I'm posting this; I've done sous vide chicken here before, and there's nothing terribly different about this one.  It was delicious, and I do feel like I'm getting even more mileage out of my Sansaire when I get to share (or overshare?) what I've made with it.

How about this:  I did two breasts this time, and made the most amazing salad out of a the leftover one tonight:

 

I think chicken done sous vide-style is even better chunked in a salad that it is eaten as a solid block of protein.  Arugula, cucumber, and some avocado, and a balsamic/ lemon juice/ olive oil/ sumac dressing. Simple components but the sum was just delicious and the mix of textures was very satisfying.  Something I will remember for the next time!

New Fangled Dinner Rolls

This year for my contribution to Christmas dinner I took Cooks Illustrated's latest dinner roll recipe for a spin. The CI guys were all excited about something called a tangzhong, which was apparently invented in Japan and has been around for some time, but is only now getting the Cooks Illustrated treatment.  

A tangzhong involves making a paste out of flour and hot liquid, and actually cooking it together for a bit until it hits a pudding-like consistency.  This mixture is then combined back with the rest of the ingredients for a yeasty roll.

The theory goes that hot flour absorbs more liquid, and so adding that step results in rolls (or bread) that's got a super-pillowy crumb, and the layers within the roll end up almost flaky.

"That's not the only thing that's flaky here," I thought, but hey, it's not like I had anything else to do once the presents were opened.

The other thing CI does in the recipe that's a little unusual is their technique for forming the rolls--instead of just rolling little rounds of dough, you actually flatten and tightly roll sheets, before putting them in the pan for a rise and a bake.  Here's the raw material:

 And here's what they looked like post-cooking.  Very pretty.

And finally here's a roll in mid-dine.  I really liked them, though I'm not sure they were THAT much superior to just a plain old ordinary parker house roll.  Still, it was fun to try a new technique, they didn't come out of a can, and they got rave reviews at dinner, always nice validation for my baking skills.

Second Souffle Night--Just One This Time

December 6

This will be remembered as the year of two soufflé nights, for, inspired by the previous one, I had some friends over on 6 December for my first ever cheese soufflé.  Julia's recipe, naturally.  And once again it's hard to believe that something so simple can be so elegant and delicious.

Also roasted some new potatoes and made my favorite salad.  And my friend H. brought over some chocolate pots de creme for dessert, too.

Here's the view fresh out of the oven.  You get a good view of the height in this one.  In the moment I was thinking "God I hope I don't drop it."  Seeing the photo after, I think "God I need a haircut."  But that's a topic for a different, more sartorial, blog.

Anyway, one last "hooray for soufflé!"