Recipe: Kenji’s Roasted Cauliflower

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Kenji Roasted Cauliflower

Kenji’s Roasted Cauliflower.

Kenji Lopez-Alt may be a bit of a trickster, but Kenji’s Roasted Cauliflower is solid. The key is to cut the head of cauliflower into large chunks and roast at high heat so it is crispy on the outside, tender in the middle. Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Roasted Cauliflower Salad

Kenji’s roasted cauliflower salad with pine nuts and raisins.

Method: preheat oven to 500 degrees. Cut the head of cauliflower into large chunks, each of which would make a very generous mouthful on the end of a form. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Distribute the pieces on a sheet pan in one layer so they are not touching one another. Roast for 20 minutes or until the tops are nicely crisped and brown, then turn over and roast another 20 minutes. Serve as-is as a side dish, or add other ingredients and spices as desired for a hot or cold dish such as Kenji’s cauliflower salad with pine nuts and raisins.

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How to build a Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Thaniksgiving leftovers sandwich

Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich, up close and personal.


(Apologies for being late with this post. If you’re out of Thanksgiving leftovers, bookmark this post for next year.) Our Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich follows a precise formula to get the ideal balance of textures and sweet/savory flavors. We verified this by improvising at a friend’s house the day after the holiday and, with key ingredients missing, it was a big disappointment. Here’s the best way to build a Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich.

The bread should be dense enough to hold up to the ingredients, yet with a soft crumb. Our bread machine basic white bread is just right. This year it was even better because we used some whey, left over from making yoghurt, as the liquid. Slice it thin; it should support the other ingredients, not overpower them. Toast it lightly if you wish.

Turkey Sandwich Dressing

With that sandwich you’ll want some dressing, of course, heated up with gravy. Add more cranberry sauce if you like.

The Durkee’s Famous Sauce goes on next. Generously slather it on both slices of bread, all the way to the edges. If you’re like us and only use Durkee’s at Thanksgiving, you can afford to be extravagant.

The turkey should be breast meat, sliced across the grain so it doesn’t resist when you bite into it. We love dark meat at the Thanksgiving table, but it’s too sinewy to be easy to eat on a sandwich. Slice it thin and build a double layer on one slice of bread, on top of the Durkee’s.

Leftover wilted salad goes on next. It’s not only thrifty but practical to find a way to save your leftover greens from the big meal. You want them to lie flat and not interfere with the other ingredients, rather than being crunchy and poking out. If you don’t have wilted salad, toss salad greens with a little vinaigrette for the same effect.

Cranberry sauce goes on last, spread on the other slice of bread. Create a smooth layer that goes all the way to the edges of the bread. Homemade sauce works better for this because it is softer than sauce out of the can so easier to spread.

And now… place the top slice over the bottom, press it a bit with your hands to stabilize the ingredients, and slice in half; this sandwich is way to big to eat without slicing. Take that first bite and you’ll be in turkey heaven,

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Recipe: Gerald Ramsey’s Chess Pie

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Gerald Ramsey Chess Pie

Gerald Ramey’s Chess Pie.

Gerald Ramsey’s Chess Pie is the version featured in his Morning Noon and Night Cookbook and presumably served in the tea room at SMU in the olden days. It is different from Mom’s Chess Pie in several ways: more eggs, more solids for a thicker consistency, and lemon juice instead of vinegar. Try them both and see which you like better. Makes 1 9-inch pie.

Ingredients:
9 inch basic pie crust, unbaked
2 c sugar
5 eggs, beaten
1 ¼ T cornmeal (white if you have it)
1 ½ T pastry flour or all purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 t vanilla extract
1 ½ t lemon juice
½ c melted butter

Gerald Ramsey Chess Pie

The large number of eggs caused the top to crack, similar to a fallen soufflé. But it made for an interesting top layer on the sliced pie.

Method preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, cornmeal, flour and salt. Gradually beat in eggs. Add other ingredients and beat 3-5 minutes until all combined. Pour into unbaked pie crust and bake 1 to 1 ½ hours till the filling is set. Cool before slicking and serving.

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It’s turkey time!

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
2017 Turkey

Follow our recommendations, and your first Thanksgiving turkey can look like this!

Welcome to another Thanksgiving, and another BMF Thanksgiving clips post. We moved our 16 pound turkey from the freezer to the refrigerator on Saturday, expecting it to thaw by Wednesday so we can brine it and then put in the oven Thursday morning. (If this happens to be your first time Thanksgiving turkey, this post is filled with tips to maximize your success.)

Our brine follows the Chez Panisse formula: 2 ½ gallons cold water, 2 c Kosher salt, 1 c sugar. We also throw in a few bay leaves, a few cloves of garlic and a scoop of juniper berries. Mix all this up in your bucket with a big spoon like a witch uses. Then extract the packets of innards from the turkey (there might be more than one, and in more than one spot), drain any liquid inside the bird, and dunk it in the brine to leave overnight in a cool spot, and ideally 24 hours. Put it in neck first, then flip it halfway through. Pro tip: the turkey doesn’t have to be completely defrosted to start marinating, as long as you can reach your hand and get those bags of parts. In fact, a partially frozen bird will insure your brine stays at a food-safe temperature.

We’ve already made our bread machine stuffing and it is getting good and stale so it will be ready to mix up using this recipe (though we’ll cut back on the sage since it’s already baked into the bread).

Chess Pie

Mom’s Chess Pie… mmm.

We’ll likely make cranberry sauce using the directions on the Ocean Spray package, which was a landslide winner in our cranberry sauce taste test, though we’ll also pick up a can for backup. For sides we might mix things up a bit, and make some Highland Park Squash Casserole but substitute a winter squash for the yellow squash. Recipe modification: we’ll cut the winter squash in half, scoop out the seeds and rub butter on the surface, then bake in a 350 degree oven until just tender, maybe 30 minutes. Then we’ll scoop out the flesh and follow the Highland Park recipe from that point. And we just might bake some Mom’s Chess Pie instead of pumpkin just because it’s so good.

On Friday we’ll be fixing sandwiches with the leftover turkey, leftover wilted lettuce salad, cranberry sauce and good old Durkee’s Famous Sauce replacing mayo. We laid in a supply of Durkee’s last year; if you can’t find locally (and you probably can’t) an order today, Monday, should get you a two pack or, why not, the economical 12 pack for Wednesday delivery before the holiday. This will be served with leftover stuffing and gravy at a neighborhood potluck.

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Recipe: Bagel for One

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Bagel for One

Bagel for One.

Our Bagel for One recipe is stolen outright from jenniabs3 on TikTok, with just a couple of modifications in technique. If you think making just one bagel is overly indulgent, just imagine the satisfaction of mixing the dough with your own hands, watching it grow, then enjoying it piping hot out of the oven half an hour later. We were baking No-Fuss Focaccia at the same time so didn’t feel guilty about firing up the oven for one bagel; of course you could also multiply the recipe or cook the single in a toaster oven or air fryer.

Ingredients:
1 t instant dry yeast
1 t brown sugar
½ c warm water
120g (a little less than a cup) all purpose flour
¼ t Kosher salt
2 T honey
Your choice of fillings
Your choice of toppings
Egg wash made from an egg white or whole egg (if adding topping)

Bagel Dough

Bagel dough after shaping.

Method: mix the yeast and brown sugar with the water and wait a few minutes for the yeast to bloom. Mix the flour and salt and any desired fillings (such as dried or fresh blueberries, for example) in a small bowl, add the yeast water, and knead in the bowl for a couple of minutes until the dough becomes more cohesive. Cover with a towel and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size. Shape with your hands into a ball then flatten and poke a hole in the middle and shape into a bagel.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a quart of water to the boil in a pot just big enough to hold the bagel, along with 2 T honey. Boil for 1 minute on each side for a slightly chewy bagel; adjust the time up or down with less boiling = more tender, less chewy. Drain and then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or a Silpat on a sheet pan or cookie sheet. If using topping (we topped ours with Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Seasoning) brush the top of the bagel with egg wash to hold it in place, then apply seeds or other topping generously. Bake 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned but not yet dark. Serve hot for best results.

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Recipe: No-Fuss Focaccia

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
No Fuss Focaccia

No Fuss Focaccia.

No-Fuss Focaccia is a light modification of the recipe of the same name from King Arthur Flour. It’s perfect when you crave a savory flatbread but don’t have the time or patience to manage a long ferment. Makes one 10×13 focaccia, about a dozen servings.

Recipe:
420 g all purpose flour
320 g warm water
1 T (not a misprint) instant dry yeast
1 ½ t salt
3 T olive oil, plus additional for greasing pan and topping
1 T dried rosemary or 2 T fresh rosemary leaves, optional*
Zata’ar or other dried herb for topping, optional

Method: line a 10×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper**, including the sides. Mix flour, water, salt, yeast, optional herbs and 3 T oil in a bowl, first with a spoon then with your hands, until the dough forms a cohesive mass and no streaks of white flour remain. Cover and rest 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Focaccia Parchment Paper

Lining the pan with parchment paper means no-fuss cleanup.

Pour 2 T or so additional olive oil in the bottom of the pan, on top of the parchment paper, and spread it to the edges with your hands. Pour in the very soft dough and let it rest for a few minutes, then push out the dough with your hands to completely fill the pan. Brush on a little olive oil if you like and add zata’ar or another topping if you like. Bake 35 minutes, checking after 25 minutes, until the top of the bread is lightly browned and the bottom is a nice golden brown. Flip out onto a rack and cool before slicing.

*Adding rosemary to the dough will approximate the famous herbal slab sold at Acme Bakery in San Francisco.
**This isn’t called for in the King Arthur recipe but if you truly want no-fuss focaccia you shouldn’t have to wash the pan, right?

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Recipe: Breakfast Sausage Patties with Ginger and Sage

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Breakfast Sausage with Ginger and Sage

Breakfast Sausage with Ginger and Sage, served with pancakes and a nice runny egg.

Breakfast Sausage Patties with Ginger and Sage is a modification of the recipe in Ruhlman and Polcyn’s Charcuterie. No need to deal with sausage casings and stuffing when you have access to fresh pork with a high fat content (like Boston butt) and a mini-chop to grind it. Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork, from butt or other with high fat content
2 t Kosher salt
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 t rubbed dried sage, or 1 T fresh sage if you have it, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
½ t ground pepper
2 T ice water

Method: mix all ingredients by hand and form into 8 or so patties. Fry over medium heat until crispy and serve with eggs, pancakes or what have you.

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Recipe: Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Fermented Soybean Stew)

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Doenja

Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Fermented Soybean Stew)

Doenjang jjigae is a savory, filling stew you can make in almost no time once you assemble the ingredients. Doenjang, or fermented soybean paste, is often compared to miso (which drives Korean crazy) but arguably this recipe is superior to miso soup because it has more ingredients and extra complexity so it eats like a main dish instead of an appetizer. Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:
½ c doenjang*
2 t gochugaru (Korean chili powder; do not substitute regular chili powder)
1 t ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 c zucchini, cut into half-moon slices
1 c potato, peeled and cut into ¾ inch cubes
1 c carrot, peeled and cut on the bias into ½ inch pieces
½ c diced onion
2 green onions, cut into 1-inch lengths including some of the green part
1 Anaheim or jalapeño chili, sliced into ¼ inch rings
½ lb spare rib or other tender beef, cut into small cubes
6 live littlneck clams or 6 shrimp, optional**
1 lb soft tofu, cut into ¾ inch cubes
4 c beef stock
2 c dashi***
Cooked white rice, for serving

Method: combine all ingredients except optional seafood, and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until potato is tender, about 20 minutes. Add seafood if using and simmer 5 more minutes until the clams open up or the shrimp turn pink. Serve with a bowl of rice; you can either pour the stew over the rice or add rice to the stew to your preference.

*You can find the brown tubs of doenjang next to the gochujang in almost any Asian grocery; you can also order a tub from Amazon for under $10 and it will last a long time in your refrigerator.
**Koreans like to find a bit of seafood hiding in their jjigae. If using clams, scrub and soak in water for 30 minutes, If using shrimp, leave the shells on or not, your preference.

Dashi Packet

We used this instant dashi product; 1 packet makes 3 cups of dash but you could use 2 cups water for a more concentrated flavor.

***There are many doenjang recipes out there and most include some kind of fishy marine element—dried anchovies, kombu etc. We used a dried dashi packet that includes both fish and kelp.

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What Saratoga Restaurant Week looks like in 2022

Posted on November 3, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Pork Ragu Taverna Novo

Pork Ragu at Taverna Novo, $25 with app and dessert on the 2022 Saratoga Restaurant Week menu at Taverna Novo. Photo credit: Hinna L. on Yelp.

Being obsessively cheap, we perk up when our local restaurant week rolls round, hoping for some real bargains and creative menu design that motivates us to try someplace new. For 2022 Saratoga Restaurant Week runs from November 7-13; lunches are $15 (they were $5 and $10 last time we wrote about this in 2019) and dinners are $25 and $35.

I’m definitely going to lunch at the Kaffee Haus, which will give me a Reubenator sandwich and a cup of gulash with a soda for $15 when these items add up to well over $20 on the regular menu. Will probably skip the Hideaway, which for $15 gives me a Reuben which is $14 on the regular menu and throws in a salad or dessert. Will also skip a couple of places that agreed to participate in the promotion but didn’t bother to put up a menu; what’s up with that?

For my $25 dinner I’m surely headed to Taverna Novo, which will serve me a small Caesar salad or pumpkin ravioli, an entrée of pork ragu, and a death by chocolate brownie for less than the entrée sells for on its own. And will avoid Panza’s, which marks up 3 of its regular entrees for a $35 menu and makes up for it with a soup or salad to start and bread pudding for dessert.

In fact, a rule of thumb for restaurant weeks might be that the entire promotional menu should cost less than its entree when purchased on the regular menu; e.g. the Taverna Novo promo is giving us a $28 entrée for $25 with extras. It also helps if the restaurant offers a special that is not on the regular menu (a Cuban sandwich at Hideaway, pumpkin ravioli at Taverna Novo) which will draw back regular customers and also make price comparisons against the regular menu more difficult.

Restaurants have had a hard time with the pandemic and subsequent staffing shortages, though the staffing situation seems to be more manageable at local places now that the tourist season is over. But the restaurant business depends on attracting new customers and turning them into repeat customers, and a restaurant week is a golden opportunity to do that. It’s not a time to pinch pennies.

I’m not alone in this philosophy; our local food curmudgeon Steve Barnes put up a long Facebook rant comparing Panza’s offering to another place down the road which serves the same menu every day at a little more than half the price. (We originally linked to the post but Facebook has blocked access for too many redirects, sorry.)

 

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Vote Early! Then make some Election Cake.

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Burnt My Fingers
Election Cake

We baked our Election Cake in a bundt pan. Can be sprinkled with powdered sugar if you like.

We voted yesterday, October 31, at a lively site filled with election workers in costumes and lots of voters (our machine was already over 100 a little before noon). If your state provides it, might be a good idea to do the same and avoid potential craziness on official Election Day, November 8.

Then… go home and make yourself some Election Cake!

This savory concoction was enjoyed in post-revolutionary America; election day was a joyous festival that often entailed traveling long distances and partying afterward. The lucky voter would get a slice of cake as a reward, likely accompanied by a cup of rum.

You can do the same with yourself and your friends, neighbors and family members. Start the cake today and enjoy it tomorrow, then cover and keep in the refrigerator and it will be just as good right up through November 8.

Election Cake with Pumpkin Pie Glaze

Election Cake with Pumpkin Pie Glaze

This recipe is adapted from the home bakers version of the recipe from OWL Bakery. Makes 1 bundt mold or 8″ or 10″ round.

Today:
1 c warm milk
1/2 t instant yeast
2 1/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 c dried or 1 c fresh fruits (optional)

Method: dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and stir in flour. If you are using dried fruits, chop fine and soak overnight in liquor or water. The preferment is ready in 8-12 hours when it becomes bubbly.

Tomorrow:
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 T whole-milk yoghurt
2 T honey or sorghum syrup
Last night’s preferment
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground coriander
1/4 t ground cardamon
Pinch ground black pepper
1 t salt
Last night’s rehydrated or fresh fruit (optional)

Method: using paddle attachment in stand mixer, cream butter then add sugar, mixing until very light and fluffy. Mix in the egg on medium speed, then the the sorghum/honey and yogurt.Exchange the paddle for a dough hook. Add the preferment and mix until just incorporated. Combine all of the dry ingredients before adding them to liquid ingredients and mix until just incorporated, being careful not to over-mix. Gently fold in the rehydrated fruit. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan or cake round.

Proof 2-4 hours, covered, until cake has risen by about 1/3 of its volume. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting and eating.

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