NEW YORK, Oct 6 — Sarah Kliff has an interview with the authors of that sociology study that I wrote up a couple of weeks back.
The authors continue to sound like they are performing their analysis from some alien planet, perhaps the world where food processors film their commercials.
That would explain why they seem to view as their task as describing, cataloging and remedying reality’s surprising departure from the normal standard of glowing, clean-scrubbed children merrily asking for seconds while a trim, impeccably coiffed mother relaxes with a glass of wine.
That said, there is something that niggles about haute food writing, isn’t there? I love Mark Bittman, and everyone struggling to get that nightly meal on the table should read his latest article, which perfectly sums up my own cooking philosophy.
But then there’s this recent Times gem, which urges people to make dinner. Here’s the idea that the Times offers to get you started:
Imagine a chicken smothered in gravy, cooked on the stove top, served with white rice and steamed green beans with a pat of butter. It is as pleasant a meal as a September night can offer, and simple to prepare.
The shopping is a breeze. Go to the market for a chicken of moderate size. Get an organic one because it will taste better. Ask the butcher to take out the backbone if you’re nervous about doing that yourself.
This isn’t a time for more courage than is called for in the preparation of a midweek meal. (A bird with its backbone removed has been “spatchcocked,” and you can lay it out flat in a pan. If you want to know how to do that yourself, there is a short instructional video and other tips on cooking techniques here... Sometimes the easiest way is the best.
First, select a pan in which to cook. Claiborne believed a cast-iron skillet to be essential to the dish’s success, probably in part for nostalgic reasons and absolutely because cast iron conducts heat so evenly and well.
But any heavy-bottomed pan large enough to hold the chicken will do.
Set it over medium heat, and add a couple of tablespoons of butter.
As it melts and starts to foam, salt and pepper the chicken.
Then add it to the pan, skin side down, and turn the heat to low.
Now, a technique straight out of Claiborne’s mother’s playbook: Put an inverted plate on top of the chicken and weight it down with a full can of tomatoes or beans, a foil-wrapped brick or a small dumbbell — something heavy enough to press the skin of the chicken into the heated surface.
Cooking is patience. Cooking is trust.
The low heat of the stove combined with the butter and the rendering fat of the chicken will slowly turn the skin golden brown and crisp, so that it releases easily from the pan.
At which point you will turn the chicken over, carefully, and cook it some more.
(Use the downtime to make rice and prepare your green beans.)
Then, the smothering. When the chicken has cooked through, take it out of the pan and pour off all but a couple of tablespoons of the fat in the pan, and make a quick gravy. There is no need to panic at that command.
Simply sprinkle a few tablespoons of flour into the hot fat and stir it around with a whisk for a few minutes, allowing the raw taste of the flour to diminish. Then hit the resulting roux with a cup or so of chicken stock, whisking until it thickens.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Return the chicken to the pan with the gravy and allow it to cook yet a little while longer, until it is ridiculously tender, almost coming off the bones.
Then remove to a cutting board, hack into pieces and place on a platter. Spoon some of the gravy over the top and serve the rest on the side, with the rice and vegetables.
Keep in mind that the proposed audience for this article is people who aren’t currently cooking dinner. And certainly won’t be anytime soon, if this is the standard to which they are supposed to aspire.
Where does one even start?
Perhaps with the fact that most of us shop at a boring megamarket, where a request to spatchcock a chicken is likely to be met with something between puzzlement and an incredulous stare. Then there’s the recipe itself. There are about a zillion ways that an infrequent cook can screw this up and produce something burned or otherwise inedible.
Might I try this recipe? Sure. But I already cook dinner six or seven nights a week. I’m not the target of these exhortations.
If you want to encourage people to cook, you need to offer people actual recipes that are 1) good and 2) can be made by someone with at best a modicum of interest and experience.
Luckily, I happen to have a few right here ...
1. Tomato basil pasta with black pepper and mozzarella
Ingredients:
1 1-lb. box of spaghetti, linguini or fettucine 1 Tbs. salt 2 8-oz. boxes of grape tomatoes OR a pound of fresh tomatoes 1 package of fresh basil from the herb section OR 2 cubes of frozen basil from Dorot (available at Trader Joe’s and many normal supermarkets) 3 cloves of garlic OR 2 tsp. Gourmet Gardens garlic (crushed or chunky) 1 Tbs. fresh ground black pepper 1 8-oz. package of the smallest mozzarella balls in water (perlini) OR larger balls cut into quarters OR a package of fresh mozzarella cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Do not use shredded, which is coated with starch and won’t melt right. 3 Tbs. butter
Equipment:
Large frying pan, pasta pot, garlic crusher (optional), knife something to stir with, large bowl
Step 1: Fill the pasta pot with water. Put it on the stove to boil.
Step 2: Cut your grape tomatoes in half lengthwise, or your larger tomatoes into one-inch pieces.
Step 3: Cut up your mozzarella, if necessary.
Step 4: If you are using fresh basil, take the leaves off the stems and rinse them under cold water. Dry by rolling in a couple of paper towels for five minutes. Chop the basil into strips. Don’t worry, it won’t take long, because you aren’t using that much basil. Set the basil aside.
Step 4a: If you do not have a garlic crusher, or a tube of Gourmet Gardens garlic, chop your garlic fine with a knife.
Step 5: Put the frying pan on the stove over medium heat. Melt 2 Tbs. of the butter in the frying pan.
Step 6: When the butter is melted, add the tomatoes and garlic, crushing the garlic with your garlic crusher if you are using fresh and have a garlic crusher. Saute for five minutes, stirring at least once a minute. Remove from the heat, but leave in the pan.
Step 7: When the water comes to a boil, add the salt. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.
Step 8: A minute before the pasta is done, put the tomato-garlic mixture back over medium heat (or turn on the burner again, if you are using gas).
Step 9: Drain the pasta. Put it in the large bowl with the remaining 1 Tbs. butter.
Step 10: Put the tomato mixture, basil, black pepper and mozzarella into the bowl. Mix well. Try to make sure that all the cheese is under a top layer of pasta. Let stand for five minutes. Serve.
2. Thomas Keller’s recipe for roast chicken. This is what an easy chicken recipe actually looks like.
3. Easy slow-cooker pulled pork
Ingredients:
5 lbs. pork shoulder or pork butt Commercial rub (available in the spice section of your supermarket or from Amazon) OR a rub made of 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup paprika, 2 Tbs. dried mustard, 2 Tbs. cumin, 2 Tbs. salt, 2 Tbs. garlic powder and some fresh ground black pepper. Aside from the sugar, the salt and the paprika, any of these ingredients can be safely omitted if you do not have them. 1 cup commercial barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray’s, which is available in the Ultra-Economy Size from Costco) apple cider vinegar (optional) Hamburger rolls
Equipment:
Plastic wrap A slow cooker
Step 1: The night before, make your rub and slap it liberally all over the pork. For maximum flavor, cut the pork into four pieces so you can get more rub on. But it’ll be OK if you don’t.
Step 2: Wrap the pork in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
Step 3: In the morning, before you leave for work, unwrap the pork. Put it in the slow cooker with the cup of barbecue sauce and a tablespoon of vinegar, if you have some on hand. White wine vinegar can also be substituted, but not distilled white vinegar, which is for cleaning, not cooking. Cook on low nine to 11 hours.
Step 4: When the cooking time is done, take the pork out of the slow cooker. Pour the liquid into a glass or clear plastic measuring cup to let the fat rise to the top; this will take about five minutes. — Bloomberg
