Read Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times Online
Authors: Mark Bittman
• Add a garlic clove at the beginning. Try adding ½ cup roasted red peppers (or canned pimiento) and a little cayenne at the same time.
• Vary the kind of acid you use: fresh lime or orange juice or any type of vinegar. If the acidity is too strong when you’re done, beat in a little warm water.
• Add 2 or 3 anchovy fillets at the beginning.
• Add any fresh herbs you like. Start with a small amount and taste, adding more at the end if you wish. If you’re using a machine, they will turn the mayonnaise green. If you’re working by hand, you will have herb-flecked mayonnaise.
• Add horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, or spices or spice mixes to the finished mayonnaise, tasting as you go.
Tartar Sauce
Combine 1 cup mayonnaise with ¼ cup minced cornichons or other pickles, 2 tablespoons minced shallot, and horseradish to taste.
Aïoli
Combine 1 cup mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic and a pinch of saffron. Let rest for an hour or so before using.
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
TIME: 10 MINUTES
THIS IS A
rich cocktail sauce, laced with butter but made spiky with vinegar and horseradish. Make it as hot as you like and serve it warm or cold. It is a natural partner for poached, grilled, or otherwise cooked shrimp.
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, or to taste
Combine the ketchup, vinegar, and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts. (At this point, you can keep the sauce warm for an hour—but make the heat as low as possible.) Add horseradish to taste.
MAKES 8 TABLESPOONS (½ CUP)
TIME: A COUPLE MINUTES
COMPOUND BUTTERS
can be stored, well wrapped, in the freezer for two or three weeks.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened slightly
¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
10 chives, minced
1 shallot, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
Cream the butter with a fork, integrating all the ingredients, using about ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Taste and add more of any ingredient you deem necessary.
VARIATIONS
Compound butters can be made with any seasoning you like: mustard, garlic, ginger, chiles, vinegar, or citrus juice and zest, just to name a few. In good weather, you can easily experiment with adding the fresh herb of your choice—chervil is especially nice, as are dill and parsley.
MAKES 8 TABLESPOONS (½ CUP)
TIME: A COUPLE MINUTES
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened slightly
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish or wasabi
1 teaspoon finely minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon good-quality soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
Cream the butter with a fork, integrating all the ingredients. Taste and add more of any ingredient you deem necessary.
MAKES 8 TABLESPOONS (½ CUP)
TIME: A COUPLE MINUTES
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened slightly
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic or 1 tablespoon roasted garlic puree
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh oregano or marjoram
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Cream the butter with a fork, integrating all the ingredients, using about ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Taste and add more of any ingredient you deem necessary.
MAKES: 8 TABLESPOONS (½ CUP)
TIME: A COUPLE MINUTES
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened slightly
1 small fresh chile, seeded and finely minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Cream the butter with a fork, integrating all the ingredients, using about ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Taste and add more of any ingredient you deem necessary.
STRAWBERRIES WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR
STRAWBERRIES WITH SWEDISH CREAM
COEURS À LA CRÈME WITH STRAWBERRIES
GRILLED FRUIT SKEWERS WITH GINGER SYRUP
OLIVE OIL COOKIES WITH RED WINE AND ROSEMARY
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 20 MINUTES
THIS RECIPE AND
the four that follow share one basic requirement: in-season, preferably locally grown strawberries. In the event that you can’t find strawberries that match that description, substitute any other berries—blackberries, blueberries, raspberries—that are at their peak.
Look for strawberries that are dark red, inside and out. The sugar will juice up any strawberries and make them sweeter of course, but it cannot work miracles.
1 quart strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
¼ cup sugar, or more to taste
Sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional)
Toss the strawberries with the sugar and let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes, or until juicy. Serve, if you like, with whipped cream or ice cream.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 15 MINUTES
HERE’S A STRAWBERRY
dessert that not only is delicious and intriguing but also can compete with plain fruit in lightness. Strawberries are sugared to juice them up a bit, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with a pinch of black pepper. The result is so elegant that you’ll find it in great restaurants from here to Emilia-Romagna, the home of balsamic vinegar. It’s an ideal dessert after a heavy meal. Serve, if you like, with a few crisp cookies or a slice of pound, sponge, or angel food cake.
This will not hold for any length of time; you can sugar the berries an hour or two before you want to serve them, but no longer.
1 quart strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced, or a mixture of several berries
¼ cup sugar, or more to taste
1 teaspoon high-quality balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
About ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, torn or coarsely chopped (optional)
1.
Toss the berries with ¼ cup sugar and let sit for 10 minutes or longer. Do not refrigerate.
2.
Sprinkle with the vinegar; toss gently, then taste and add more sugar or vinegar if necessary. Sprinkle with the pepper and the mint if using, toss again, and serve.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 20 MINUTES
A SIMPLE TRADIONAL,
and super-rich dessert.
2 cups strawberries, picked over and trimmed of stems
½ cup superfine or confectioners’ sugar, plus 1½ teaspoons, plus more if needed
1 cup heavy cream, preferably not ultra-pasteurized
1.
Slice about two-thirds of the berries and toss them with ¼ cup sugar; set aside. Puree the remaining berries in a blender with ¼ cup sugar. Force the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds. Taste; the puree should be quite sweet. If it is not, add a little more sugar.
2.
Beat the cream with the remaining 1½ teaspoons sugar, until it holds soft peaks. Beat in the puree, then fold in the sugared berries. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to an hour.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 15 MINUTES
THIS MIXTURE OF
sour and whipped cream is akin to crème fraîche, but I find it more delicious. It’s killer on strawberries.
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup sour cream
Sugar or honey to taste
1 quart strawberries, rinsed and hulled
1.
Whip the sweet cream until it holds soft peaks, then fold it into the sour cream; add sweetener to taste.
2.
Put the berries in 4 bowls or stemmed glasses and top with the cream.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 24 HOURS, LARGELY UNATTENDED
“HEARTS OF CREAM,”
a lovely, classic dessert and one that takes very little attention or work.
½ pound cream cheese
1 cup whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
1 quart strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
1.
Use a fork or blender to cream together the cream cheese, yogurt, vanilla, and half the sugar. (If you use a blender and the mixture is too thick, add a little heavy cream or milk.) The mixture should be quite smooth. Put in a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth or a clean dishtowel and place over a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
2.
About a half hour before serving, toss the strawberries with the remaining sugar and let sit at room temperature. Turn the cream
cheese mixture out onto a plate and divide into 4 portions or put some of the mixture in each of 4 bowls. Mix the berries, if you like, with a little more sugar.
3.
Serve the coeurs à la crème topped with the berry mixture.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 20 MINUTES, PLUS OVERNIGHT RESTING
FROZEN POUND CAKE
is fine for the summer pudding (homemade is better, of course, though not one in ten people will know the difference), but fresh berries are essential.
1½ pounds raspberries, fresh or frozen
¼ cup sugar, or to taste
1 pound pound cake
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, sour cream, or crème fraîche
1.
Rinse the berries, then combine in a saucepan with the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, just until the berries soften and yield their liquid, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool.
2.
Meanwhile, cut the pound cake into roughly ½-inch-thick slices. Line a rounded bowl with just over half the slices of the pound cake to a depth of about 4 inches; pack the slices so they leave no (significant) gaps. When the berries are cool, strain them, reserving the liquid. Spoon the solids on top of the pound cake and drizzle with about half the liquid.
3.
Cover with the remaining slices of pound cake, again packing them close together. Drizzle with all but a few tablespoons of the remaining liquid (refrigerate the rest).
4.
Find a plate that will just fit in the bowl and press it down on top of the pudding. Weight it with a few cans (or whatever you can find that will do the trick) and refrigerate overnight.
5.
To serve, run a knife around the edge of the pudding and invert onto a plate. Cut slices and serve with cream.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 1½ HOURS, LARGELY UNATTENDED
THIS DESSERT—
the kind of thing that Jell-O is supposed to imitate—is unusual these days, but it’s easy and delicious, a nice use of fruit that’s available year-round.
1 grapefruit
2 medium (or 1 large) navel oranges
2 tangerines
2 temple or other juice oranges
1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint, plus a few mint leaves for garnish
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1.
Over a bowl, cut the grapefruit in half and section as you would to serve it at the table, being sure to catch all the juice; you want small pieces with little or no membrane or pith. Peel the navel oranges and tangerines, then, over the same bowl, trim off most of the white pith that clings to their surface. Separate into sections and cut into small pieces if necessary, again being sure to catch all the juice. Strain the fruit. To the reserved juice, add the squeezed juice of the juice oranges.
2.
Toss the fruits with the honey and mint and put them in 4 small bowls. Put the juice in a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Wait a couple of minutes, then warm the mixture over low heat, stirring to dissolve the gelatin. Cool slightly, then pour the juice mixture over the fruits in the bowls.