Heights Eats

Sarah and I have a tradition of going to Aladdin’s on the way home after a vacation. We’re generally worn out from the trip and feeling a bit out of it, and Aladdin’s food always makes us feel better. Specifically, though, I think it’s the hummus and felafel that does it. Hummus always makes me feel better when I’m tired, and it helped get me through the day lately after only three hours of sleep.

Here’s an easy recipe:

1 can chick peas*, drainedliquid reserved from chick peas (optional)1 lemon, juiced3–4 Tb. tahini (stir with bread knife if separated)2 cloves of garlic1 t. kosher saltolive oil1/2 t. cumin (optional)

Crush garlic and salt together in a mortar and pestle (optional, but improves flavor). Put chick peas in your food processor (preferable), blender or a bowl. Process or mash together chick peas, 2 TBs lemon juice, 3 Tbs tahini, and some of the garlic and salt. Taste and add remaning lemon juice, tahini, garlic, … continue reading

Ben and I have always had a Sunday night tradition of making something a little more fancy than we would normally make during the week. Below are the recipes we made for this Sunday’s dinner.

I made the Barefoot Contessa’s Beef Bourguignon soup from her Barefoot in Paris cookbook. I think I was in the mood for beef as a break from all of the turkey and chicken from the past week. I was a little concerned after rendering the bacon at just how much bacon fat was included in the recipe; however, after following the rest of the instructions it seemed to me that the fat served as a “flavor accumulator” after cooking the beef and veg separately in the fat. There was at least a foot of flames coming out of the pot after setting the Brandy on fire. I wanted to get a picture of it, but the camera did not have a memory card in it. Also I think … continue reading

The bread was very basic. It’s technically not rosemary focaccia, but all you’d have to do for that is add a few tablespoons olive oil and some rosemary to the dough while kneading it.

1 1/4 cups warm (110 degree) water1 1/2 t. yeast1/2 t. sugar3 cups bread flour (all-purpose would work fine)1 1/2 t. saltolive oiloptional topping: butter, rosemary, garlic cloves (sliced)

Let first three ingredients sit in a bowl of a stand mixer for a few minutes until the yeast foams. Attach bread hook, then add half the flour, then the salt. Increase the speed of the stand mixer. Knead until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. (This can also be done with a food processor. Click here for Katheen Daelman’s instructions on how to do this. The dough can also be kneaded by hand, of course).

Coat dough with olive oil and allow it to sit for at least an hour or two, until doubled … continue reading

Thanksgiving leftovers are infamous for the headaches they cause. Slate has an excellent essay on why we should forsake the tradition of using up leftover turkey and another article which concludes that cooking chicken would be a better, more environmentally friendly idea. But the turkey tradition will continue, and I still can’t bring myself to throw out the leftovers.

Sarah’s Mom was kind enough to give us the turkey carcass to take home after an excellent Thanksgiving dinner. First I made Michael Ruhlman’s turkey stock (I should be portioning it out to freeze now instead of writing this blog — we have over a gallon of Turkey stock), which turned out well, but I still had turkey left.

I concocted the recipe below for the leg meat and ate it last night:

Beer Battered Turkey

2/3 cup beer (I used pale ale, but I’d probably try a dark beer next time)2/3 cup flour1 t. baking sodasalt, pepper, and … continue reading

For Thanksgiving this year we are headed to my folks house, but I have offered to bake some bread. I am making Mark Bittman’s New York Times No Knead Bread, which was posted last year. For those who are not familiar with this recipe, it is extremely simple and does not require any labor. The results are the best home made bread I have ever made. It has a nice crust and sourdough-like flavor. Instead of following the instructions for the baking part I usually split the dough in two and bake it in two separate loaf pans — but everything else remains the same. Also this dough would be easy to modify — you could add garlic and herbs or cheese at the second rise for equally fantastic results.

No-Knead Bread

Published: November 8, 2006; New York Times

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street BakeryTime: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

I’m starting to reconsider my quick judgment on the chicken. I made Bön Appetit’s Lemon Tarragon Chicken Salad with the leftovers today, and I’m sure it was improved by the fennel and thyme in the original roast chicken. The meat itself was perfectly tender and perfectly seasoned. Boston Market leftovers wouldn’t have been nearly as good. And how hard is it really to roast a chicken? I’m thinking it could become second nature if done on a regular basis.

In the interest of full disclosure, Sarah still won’t touch the chicken based on her initial experience with it covered in the sauce.… continue reading

I made the Amateur Gourmet’s Roast Chicken tonight. It was quite good on the whole: the chicken was perfectly done and the fresh thyme added nice aromatic elements. I used our oven’s probe to get the thigh to 165 degrees. The potatoes and garlic were excellent as well. One problem, though, was that, based on the amount of salt in the recipe, the skin was nearly inedible. And the recommended sauce–wine plus pan drippings–was so salty that Sarah’s mouth was burning after liberally saucing the chicken. On the whole, Sarah said that she preferred Ina Garten’s Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken, which she made for us about six months ago. That recipe calls for “liberally salting” the chicken, and I wonder if the definition of “liberally salting” is really best left up to the individual cook. The Amateur Gourmet recommends a half cup of salt (I used about 1/3 cup), but, then … continue reading

Monthly Archives: November 2007

Culinary Remedy for Fatigue

Sunday Dinner: Beef Bourguignon, Rosemary Focaccia and Hazelnut Gelato

Ben’s Sunday Night Recipes

Beer Battered Turkey

No Knead Bread

Chicken, pt. 2

On Chicken and Salt