Fudgsicles!

Jamie got really excited about making popsicles this summer. I was much less enthusiastic. I have really sensitive teeth and the thought of biting into a ice-cold popsicle sends shivers down my spine. I can eat them slowly, of course, and I do adore the creamier popsicles that melt quickly in your mouth. Creamsicles, fudgsicles, monkey bars--those are great. But flavored ice blocks are something I haven’t been able to get into yet. Plus, the homemade popsicles we made when I was a kid had a fatal flaw. When you sucked on them the flavor leaked out, leaving an ice cube on a stick behind. I know, some of you may love these things. That’s fine with me, but I decided that I wouldn’t settle for crappy popsicles. These things had to be amazing.

The first popsicle we made turned out incredible! Seriously, this is a life-changing fudgsicle. I started by modifying the chocolate pastry cream we used to make our award-winning Three Point One Smore’s Pi. With a few modifications this turns into a delicious chocolate sauce that you can pour into the molds and freeze. A pinch of xanthan gum minimizes ice crystal formation, making these smooth and creamy. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to generalize the xanthan gum trick to other kinds of popsicles yet. It seems like the high fat content of the cream and chocolate really helps xanthan gum to do its magic. If anyone knows how to make smooth popsicles, please fill me in! 

Special Equipment

Popsicle molds (We love Tovolo popsicle molds)
Immersion blender (but a stand blender also works) 

Ingredients

0.5 cups white sugar

1.5 g xanthan gum

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup milk

100 g/0.5 cups dark chocolate

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Instructions

Stir together the xanthan gum and sugar. Place the sugar mixture, cream, milk, dark chocolate, and heat on low heat until the chocolate melts. The chocolate will not incorporate into the milk fully. Blend with an immersion blender until homogenous. Pour into popsicle molds and allow the popsicles to freeze overnight. Excess mix can be stored in airtight bags in the freezer.

Simplified Chana Masala

Chana masala is amazing. It’s a delicious, tangy curry made from chickpeas. I first learned to make it when an Indian co-worker of mine recommended I check out http://www.vahrehvah.com/. The Vah Chef--Sanjay Thumma--is amazingly entertaining and his recipes always turn out great. His chana masala recipe is a little complex, but we found it to be a huge crowd pleaser when we have guests. If you have a few minutes, you should check out his recipe and give it a try. 

We eat this dish so often that I had to adapted it into a much simpler recipe. It uses ingredients we always have on hand, so we can easily throw this together on a weeknight. And even though it’s a lot simpler, we think it still tastes awesome. Even our toddler loves it!

Note: There are two main types of chickpeas in Indian cuisine: chole and chana. Chole is what we call the garbanzo bean. Chana is a smaller bean, which I think makes for a better dish. If you have an Indian store nearby, these are really easy to find and inexpensive. If you don’t, chole masala is still wonderful! The other secret ingredient for chana masala is amchur powder. Amchur is powder made from dried green mangos. It’s extremely sour and adds a wonderful flavor profile to the dish. It’s easy to find at Indian stores and online, but if you don’t have it, try adding more lemon juice. You can also use chana masala seasoning packets to make this, but they aren’t as good and often use a foul smelling seasoning called black salt.

Special Equipment

Nothing! (But a pressure cooker won’t hurt.)

Full Ingredient List

1 cup dry chickpeas

0.25 cups oil

0.5 tsp cumin seeds

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1.5 tsp garam masala

0.5 tsp coriander powder

0.25 tsp cayenne pepper

0.5 tsp amchur powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp sugar

1 T lime juice

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the chickpeas

1 cup dry chickpeas

Soak the chickpeas overnight. Drain, rinse, and cover in water. Pressure cook for 7 minutes or boil for 1 hour. Drain the cooking liquid. (Alternatively, you can use 2 cans of cooked chickpeas. Just rinse them well.)

Step 2: Cook the onion

0.25 cups oil

0.5 tsp cumin seeds

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and saute until lightly toasted (about 30 seconds). Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the diced onion and garlic. Saute until the onion turns translucent.

Step 3: Finish the dish

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1.5 tsp garam masala

0.5 tsp coriander powder

0.25 tsp cayenne pepper

0.5 tsp amchur powder

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp sugar

1 T lime juice

Add the tomatoes and their juices into the onions. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cover the mixture. Continue cooking until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the chickpeas and then heat until warm. Serve over basmati rice or with hot buttered chapatis.

Dandelion Greens

A long time ago I heard that west-bound pioneers survived because they were able to eat dandelion greens. I don’t remember where I heard the story, and I have no idea if it is true. But I have always wondered what well-cooked dandelions taste like.

As luck would have it, the backyard to our apartment is an urban dandelion farm. I would work harder to get rid of them, but my landlord hasn't been too responsive to my requests for tools. His attitude has also made me confident that the crab grass lawn hasn't been treated with anything in the recent past. So I went and foraged some local, organic, hand-picked dandelion greens from my own back yard.

Before I cooked them, I read online that dandelion greens had more vitamins than Centrum and a “slightly bitter” taste. I didn’t evaluate whether these greens impart Popeye-esque strength, but I will tell you that calling dandelion green’s “slightly bitter” is like suggesting that the titanic was a “slightly large” boat. I sauteed my dandelion greens with onions, garlic, crushed red pepper, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Even with all of these relatively strong flavors, the greens were just too potent to enjoy. I had a healthy serving of them, but Jamie decided they were a little intense for her. Maybe I cooked them wrong. Or maybe I should try farmed dandelion greens, which are apparently less bitter. I can’t see myself trying them again soon, but I’d be willing to take the risk if I found a great dandelion green recipe. Let me know if you’ve found a way to enjoy them!

Perfect Oven Omelettes

I’ve only recently started to like eggs. That may destroy my credibility in posting an omelette recipe, but hear me out. There are two huge challenges to making eggs great: texture and flavor. Everybody knows about the textural issues. Eggs can be rubber when you want velvet, watery when you want creamy, and astringent when you want melty.

The flavor issue is a little more subtle. When eggs are cooked for too long at higher heats, they release sulfurous compounds with a potent smell and flavor. These compounds are called thiols, and they come from protein breakdown in the white. Some people call this flavor “eggy,” much like the distinctive “fishy” flavor*. But I refuse to accept that “eggy” is an intrinsic property of eggs. “Eggy” isn’t a flavor I enjoy, and so I’ve been grateful to learn that you can make almost all egg preparations without developing this flavor.

The secret to perfect eggs is precise temperature control**. In fact, I would argue that the secret to cooking almost all proteins well is precise temperature control. This is why some of the more popular egg preparations among chefs are cooked in simmering water (poached), a bain-marie (French scrambled eggs), or sous vide (almost anything you can think of). Admittedly, fried eggs are not typically cooked this way, but their brief exposure to heat makes their “eggy” flavor less pronounced than a traditional hard boiled egg.

In this recipe, we control heat transfer by preheating a metal baking sheet in the oven. This allows excellent heat transfer to occur without expensive equipment. We adapted this recipe from Modernist Cuisine at Home. They use a small frying pan, extra egg yolks, heavy cream, gourmet fillings, and a lot of repetition. That’s great, but we wanted to see what would happen if we tried the same thing with a huge pan, milk, and classic omelette toppings. We think it turns out really well! Plus, what’s cooler than cooking a six-egg omelette all at once? It sure beats trying to toss two-or-three smaller omelettes on the stove.

*I like “fishy” flavor, and I really like “fish saucy” flavor. So don’t put those flavors in the same category as “eggy” by saying you have to have the “eggy” flavor to enjoy eggs. We’re all different though, so if you really love “eggy”, I highly recommend that you try using Indian black salt. It’s a sulfurous salt that smells just like a dozen overboiled eggs. Some say it’s an acquired taste. I think that it’s a direct assault on happiness. Incidentally, it’s an ingredient I am purposefully leaving out of a Chana Masala variant I’m working on right now.

**Nerdy note. This should actually be heat transfer control. In an oven, heat transfer is relatively slow, while in a water bath, it is much more rapid. Having precision temperature in an oven, therefore, is much less important than in a water bath. With that said, I still would love to have a combi-oven in my kitchen one day.  

Special Equipment

Nothing! (but a blender won’t hurt)

Full Ingredient List

6 eggs

30 g/2 Tbsp milk

2 g/0.25 tsp salt

Cooking spray

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Crispy bacon (optional)

Green peppers (optional)

Green onions (optional)

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat the oven

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Place a baking sheet on the middle rack of the hot oven for at least 15 minutes.

Step 2: Make the omelette

6 eggs

30 g/2 Tbsp milk

2 g/0.25 tsp salt

Cooking spray

Grease a 9” by 13” casserole dish with the cooking spray. Blend together the eggs and milk (We like to use a blender, but a whisk works in a pinch.) Pour the eggs into the casserole dish. Place the casserole dish in the oven and immediately cover it with the baking sheet. Cook until the eggs are just set, 8-10 minutes.

Step 3: Top the omelette

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Crispy bacon (optional)

Green peppers (optional)

Green onions (optional)

Immediately top the omelette. Start with ingredients that need to melt (such as cheese, and then add on the other ingredients. Serve hot.

Roasted Potato Soup

Winter is supposed to be over, but it seems to linger here in Pittsburgh. This potato soup is an easy way to fight against the chill. We use the pressure cooker to help develop the rich flavors of roasted potatoes in just a few minutes. It's true that the potatoes aren't really roasted, but it sure is nice to leave the oven off just in case the sun decides to come out!

 

Special Equipment

Pressure cooker

 

Full Ingredient List

 

600 g/about 3 medium potatoes, peeled

30 g/2 tbsp butter

3 g/baking soda

55 g/0.25 cups chicken stock (or water)

125 g/half an onion, diced

1 tsp vegetable oil

170 g/6 oz ham, cubed

450 g/2 cups milk

55 g/0.25 cups heavy cream or sour cream

Pepper to taste

Sharp cheddar cheese (Optional)

Frank’s Redhot (Optional)

 

Instructions:

Step 1: Caramelize the potatoes

 

600 g/about 3 medium potatoes, peeled

30 g/2 tbsp butter

3 g/baking soda

55 g/0.25 cups chicken stock (or water)

 

Slice the potatoes into 1 cm/0.5 inch thick half circles. Melt the butter in the pressure cooker. Toss the potatoes in the butter until coated. Add the stock and baking soda. Cover and turn up the heat until you reach 1 bar/15 psi (this is the standard setting on pressure cookers). Turn the heat to low and cook under pressure for 20 minutes. Release the pressure by running cold water over the top of the pressure cooker.

 

Step 2: Saute the onions and ham

 

125 g/half an onion, diced

1 tsp vegetable oil

170 g/6 oz ham, cubed

 

While the potatoes cook, saute the onions in oil over medium heat until clear. Add the ham and cook until light browning starts to appear. Remove from heat and stir into the potatoes. The potatoes will break apart slightly, leaving many large chunks.

 

Step 3: Finish the soup

 

450 g/2 cups milk

55 g/0.25 cups heavy cream or sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Sharp cheddar cheese (Optional)

Frank’s Redhot (Optional)

 

Stir in the milk and cream and warm over low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and Frank’s Redhot (if desired). Serve immediately.

Perfect Nacho Cheese

I have a love-hate relationship with nachos. We ate them all the time as kids, and they are still one of my favorite snacks. My go-to version of nachos is really simple. I grate a little sharp cheddar cheese over a plate full of tortilla chips and then microwave on high for 25 seconds. The cheese and chips combine into a greasy, salty, snack that forms the wonderful foundation for a variety of toppings.

Concession-stand nachos, on the other hand, are not something I enjoy. The yellow goop doesn’t taste like cheese, and the spicy flavor is sharp and one-dimensional. Also, it’s usually served with bland, round tortilla chips. The texture of the sauce is good, but the flavor combination just isn’t right. At $7 a tray, I've never understood why anyone buys these.

In my opinion, great nachos are made by letting good cheese shine. Since great cheddar doesn’t melt into a smooth sauce, you have to add something to the cheese to keep the oil and water together. The classic recipes for cheese sauce call for a roux, which is a blend of equal parts flour and butter. This works well, but it also smothers the taste of the cheese. That's the reason your homemade mac n' cheese can't really complain when the blue box claims to be "the cheesiest."

Thankfully, there is an easy way to make a cheese sauce that will capture the delicious flavors of any cheese: just add a pinch of sodium citrate. Modernist Cuisine at Home gives two different recipes to make this work, and they have been nice enough to publish both of them on the web. The first version creates an amazing sauce, but it hardens rapidly when poured thin over chips. And don't even think about dipping this stuff--the slightest amount of cooling causes it to harden into a chip-crushing lump of cheese. This is perfect if you want to mold your own American cheese, but it is terrible for a cheese sauce. The second Modernist Cuisine at Home sauce is also excellent, but it tends to be a little too thin. They claim that this sauce is ideal for mac n' cheese, but it doesn't really stick to the noodles. I think that it's probably best thought of as a base for a cheese soup.

This adaptation improves upon the second Modernist Cuisine at Home recipe by thickening it with a touch of xanthan gum. You'll be using two ingredients that you may be unfamiliar with, but you'll end up with a perfect cheese sauce that you'll want to cover everything with. I love to throw in a little liquid smoke and hot sauce for a flavorful treat, and sometimes I mix it with a little thai sweet chili sauce to mix things up. It is excellent in any of these mixtures over chips, pretzels, or steamed vegetables, but my very favorite way to eat it is over a bowl of freshly cooked pasta. I hope Kraft has a great legal team, because this sauce really is "the cheesiest."

Special Equipment

Immersion blender (ideal) or countertop blender (both are optional)

Kitchen scale (it is too hard to determine the appropriate amounts of cheese, sodium citrate, and xanthan gum without one. But trust me, it's a great investment)

Full Ingredient List

300 grams milk

11 grams sodium citrate

270 grams sharp cheddar cheese, grated

30 grams parmesan cheese, grated

0.6 grams xanthan gum

Instructions

Step 1: Melt the cheese into the milk

300 grams milk

11 grams sodium citrate

270 grams sharp cheddar cheese, grated

30 grams parmesan cheese, grated

Stir together the milk and sodium citrate. Over low heat, slowly wield in the cheese. Continue stirring until all the cheese has melted.

Step 2: Thicken the sauce

0.6 grams xanthan gum

Add the xanthan gum to the cheese mixture. Blend until fully incorporated and no lumps are present. Note: If you don't have a blender, just add a couple of drops of vegetable oil to the xanthan gum. The resulting oil and xanthan gum slurry will incorporate perfectly into the sauce without any lumps.

Modern Kitchen Staples

The modern kitchen requires us to think differently about the food we eat. Most of these ingredients are the same foods you have always used: fresh produce, dried beans, grains, fruits, meats, dairy, oils, sugars, salts, etc. However, some staples in the modern kitchen may be unfamiliar--and perhaps a little frightening to people who have not used them before. Some of these may be things you've seen only seen on food labels. Due to a generalized mistrust of the processed food industry, you might be a little worried about what these are, where they come from, and how they might affect your health. I respect that sentiment. As we go forward, I will do my best to explain where each ingredient comes from, what it can be used for, and the advantages of the modern version over more familiar cooking supplies. Today, we'll just talk about three different categories of ingredients: thickeners, gelling agents, and emulsifiers.

Thickeners

Thickeners give body to a sauce and slow down the flow of fluids. When you make a simple pan gravy, you take the drippings from the meat and then whisk in a little corn starch. After boiling, this produces a much thicker sauce. However, the starch molecules have a tendency to hold back flavor. A simple substitution of xanthan gum or Wondra accomplishes the same task with a lower quantity of thickener. This allows the flavor of the sauce to shine through without any starchy taste or texture.

Familiar: corn starch, flour

Unfamiliar: xanthan gum, Wondra  

Gelling Agents

Gelling agents include gelatin and pectin, the critical ingredients in Jello and fruit jam. These ingredients are fantastic, but each has limitations. For example, gelatin-based dishes melt into thin liquids at body temperature, while agar-based gels can form similar structures (and even thick liquid gels) at much higher temperatures. Agar is not animal-based and therefore suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Carageenan is an ingredient I have not yet used, but it is a commonly used in commercial chocolate milk to make a thick, pourable gel.

Familiar: gelatin, pectin

Unfamiliar: agar, carageenan

Emulsifiers

Oil and water don't typically mix, and emulsifiers allow these ingredients to come together into a smooth, stable mixture. The most common emulsifier is called leciithin, and it is formed from the cell membranes of many living organisms. Lecithin is found in abundance in egg yolks, which makes it the critical component of mayonnaise. Purified lecithin is usually made from soy beans, but it can be used in much smaller quantities than an egg yolk and has zero risk of curdling with heat. Sodium citrate is a salt of citric acid, and it raises the pH of sauces and binds calcium. In milk-based sauces, calcium binding causes milk proteins to better interact with both water and fat, allowing you to make unbelievably smooth cheese sauces. 

Familiar: egg yolk, roux (flour and butter)

Unfamiliar: sodium citrate, lecithin

Are you skeptical that you won't use any of these? Wait until you learn how to make the ultimate cheese sauce. You may just change your mind!