Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen (35 page)

Spud Simple

Potatoes are the original underground vegetable. Humble, not flashy. Satisfying and substantial. There when you need them. The best friend in the buddy movie of cooking. This gives them a noble quality that makes good cooks want to do as little to them as possible—just enough to showcase their refreshing simplicity with a little butter or salt or olive oil. Parsley or onions, maybe, but not a lot of sauce or fuss. Potatoes provide a delicious edible reminder that less is more.

BUYING AND STORING

When buying potatoes, make sure they have no soft or rotten spots. Look for smooth skin and absolutely no sprouts.

Wait to wash or scrub potatoes until just before cooking them. Store them in a cool, dark, dry place, ideally one with ventilation. The temperature should be about 45°F to 50°F. Don’t keep potatoes in the refrigerator, which can turn their starch to sugar and make them sweet.

Although onions and garlic should be stored in the same conditions, you should separate them from your potatoes as much as possible because they produce gases that cause potatoes to rot when stored in close quarters with them.

You can store potatoes for up to 2 months for the heartier varieties, such as russets, and 1 month for small “new” potatoes, such as red creamers, or heirlooms, such as fingerlings. Check in on your stored potatoes every few days, and get rid of any that have softened, shriveled, or sprouted. These conditions are contagious (to other potatoes, not to you).

Vegetable Sides—Front and Center

At my house, vegetables are the stars, and I like to keep their preparation very simple. You’ll notice a common theme here: olive oil, garlic or onion or shallot, salt and pepper. It’s a light touch in which the vegetables themselves are the variety. Once you discover how accessible this approach is, your “sides” might just become the “center” from time to time. Note that you can expand any of the vegetable sides in this chapter into light vegetarian main dishes, just by serving them over brown rice, couscous, or bulgur (following pages)—or
a combination of grains—and topping it all off with toasted nuts, cheese, or a sauce. This is what I call eating a little lower on the food chain, and for so many reasons—from economy and sustainability to health and weight management—it’s really the way to go.

how to cook rice

Rice seems like the simplest thing in the world to cook. You just simmer it in the right amount of boiling water until tender, right? Well, yes. At least, theoretically. Problem is, differences in stoves, pots, and individual types of rice make for uneven results. So if you have tried to cook rice (any kind—white or brown, long-or short-grain) according to the package directions and have ended up with either half-raw grains (and possibly a scorched pan) or globs of overcooked mush, I have a plan for you.

But before I get to my plan, you should know that one fine route to reliable rice would be a good electric rice cooker. Full disclosure: I have never used one, but my friends who cook their rice this way swear by their machines. Also, many or most Asian restaurants use rice cookers, with consistently perfect results. So clearly this is one way to go. It takes up space in your kitchen, but it might be worth it if you are a rice lover and want to upgrade to also being a rice achiever.

Now, moving on to my plan (which is kind of unorthodox, but it works). Namely, you boil rice, as you would pasta, in an unmeasured large quantity of water until it is
mostly
cooked. Then you drain the rice, transfer it to a shallow pan, cover it tightly, and bake it until done. This takes about the same amount of time as the old-fashioned stovetop method, but more reliably produces perfectly separate, fluffy, tender grains. The bonus benefits: (1) You are spared having to worry about proportions of rice to water, and (2) after the rice is done, you can leave it right where it is and reheat as necessary in the same pan.

These instructions will work for any kind of rice: white or brown, long-grain or short-. (You didn’t ask, but just so you know: my own favorite kind of rice, which I use for just about everything, is brown basmati, which is a fragrant, delicious long-grain rice that will make your kitchen smell incredible. I strongly recommend that brown basmati become your default grain.)

You can make a medium batch (yielding 6 cups cooked rice, or 4 to 6 servings) or a large one (yielding 9 cups cooked rice, or 6 to 9 servings). Use 2 cups uncooked rice for the medium yield, and 3 cups uncooked rice for a large recipe.

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the water and salt in a large saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, place the rice in a strainer and rinse it several times under cold running water.

2.
Add the rice to the boiling water and let it boil rapidly until the rice is just tender to the bite—in other words,
almost
done: 10 minutes for white, 30 minutes for brown. Drain the rice in a colander over the sink, and rinse with warm running water.

3.
Brush the oil or melted butter over the bottom of a 9-by 13-inch baking pan (the same size pan will work for both size batches, although if you have a slightly larger one for the bigger batch, use it), and spread the rice out in an even layer. Cover the pan tightly with foil, and bake until a taste test tells you the rice is done to your liking: 15 minutes for white rice, 25 minutes for brown.

4.
Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. (Reheat in a 350°F oven to the desired temperature, if necessary.)

GET CREATIVE

Stir any of these items into the rice just before serving:

• Butter or a flavorful roasted nut oil
  
• High-quality olive oil
  
• Minced garlic
  
• Dried fruit
  
• Cooked onion
  
• Minced fresh herbs or scallions
  
• Toasted shredded unsweetened coconut
  
• Toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
  
• Your favorite dry spice mix
  
• Grated citrus zest
  
• Crumbled feta or goat cheese
  
• Fajita-Style Peppers and Onions (Chapter 7: Sides)
  
• Cooked peas
  

Sprinkle (or drizzle or dollop) the top with:

• Grated cheese (Cheddar or a good Swiss, jack, or Parmesan)
  
• Chopped toasted nuts
  
• Fresh lemon or lime juice
  
• Pomegranate molasses (see Get Cooking)
  

Two Great Soaking Grains

Talk about easy. Did you know that you can “cook” couscous or bulgur by simply dousing them with boiling water and letting them stand for a little while? Honestly, that’s it. They’re then ready to serve. Great for when you’re short on stove space. Kitchen table grains, both of them, and they’re truly delightful-tasting.

The only trick is to use the minimal amount of water, so they’ll be firm and fluffy, not waterlogged. After they’re softened up, just drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a
little salt—or dress them up with a touch or two of color and flavor.

You can make these in advance and reheat them in the microwave, in a covered pot in the oven, or in a skillet (first heating a tablespoon of oil, and then sautéing the grains briefly until they’re hot).

The cool thing about both of these grains is that they come off as exotic, and all you did was boil water. We all love it when that happens. Buy couscous and bulgur in the bulk bins at any natural foods store or in enlightened grocery stores. They are inexpensive.

In case you are unfamiliar with the genre, couscous is actually a tiny wheat pasta, but it’s usually classified as a grain because it looks, feels, and behaves like one. Bulgur is cracked wheat that has been steamed and then dried. So it is a partially cooked product to begin with, which is why a mere soaking is enough to finish the job. Enjoy them both!

couscous

Place the couscous in a medium-sized bowl, and pour in the water. Cover with a plate and leave alone for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, stir in the olive oil or butter and the salt, and it’s ready to serve.

bulgur

Place the bulgur in a medium-sized bowl, and pour in the water. Cover with a plate and leave alone for 30 minutes. Fluff with a fork, stir in the olive oil and the salt, and it’s ready to serve.

GET CREATIVE

You can stir any of these things into couscous or bulgur after it’s finished soaking:

• ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
  
• A handful or two of very finely minced fresh parsley, basil, cilantro, and/or mint
  
• Up to 1 tablespoon very finely minced scallion greens, chives, or dill
  
• Raisins or dried currants or cranberries
  
• Chopped toasted walnuts, pine nuts, or pistachios
  
• A drizzle of toasted nut or seed oil
  
• Chopped ripe tomatoes
  

baked potatoes

Makes 4 servings

A
baked potato is the mother ship of the entire comfort food fleet. You are blissfully reminded of that when you cut into one and add your favorite touches of butter or sour cream, and you know it will always taste and feel a certain way. You’re eating dependability itself, and it’s peace-of-mind-inducing as well as soothingly filling. So here’s a dependable way to make one.

The best way to serve baked potatoes is to bring them to the table whole and uncut—to let each person cut his or her own and season, fill, or top it right at the table. This last-minute routine will help keep the potatoes maximally hot, which is very important. They’re just not the same once they’ve cooled down. (And once they are baked, don’t worry about their becoming overdone—either through waiting in the turned-off oven for you to eat them or by being reheated in a microwave a few days later. They’re sturdy things and can withstand multiple heatings.)

1.
Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 400°F. Scrub the potatoes under running water and pat them dry with paper towels or a clean dish towel.

2.
Place the potatoes directly on the rack in the center of the oven. Let them bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the outsides become crisp and the insides are tender enough to be pierced easily with a sharp knife. (Better to overcook them than to have them be underdone.)

3.
Remove them from the oven and serve right away. (Or, if the rest of your dinner isn’t quite ready, you can wrap them in foil and keep them in the turned-off oven until dinnertime. They’ll hold well this way for about 45 minutes.)