Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats

Episode 33 – “Chips for Sister Marsha”

Posted: March 11, 2015 in Season 3
Tags: alton brown, chewy, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, dessert, good eats, puffy, thin

Thank goodness I was set to increase my Boston Marathon training last week, as the 33rd episode of Good Eats had me baking not one, not two, but THREE types of chocolate chip cookies. We have family coming to visit next week, so I figured I could always freeze some cookies for when they arrive. As I ate two cookies with my morning coffee today, I was shocked, and somewhat horrified, to realize that we have a mere handful of cookies remaining. How did THAT happen? So much for freezing. At least I can say that we sufficiently and thoroughly evaluated the three cookie recipes, so if you want the scoop on Alton’s three chocolate chip cookie recipes, read on.

The Thin

From title alone, I was least excited to make Alton’s thin chocolate chip cookies, as I think of myself as someone who generally prefers cookies on the chewy side. I set out last Tuesday evening to whip up a batch, figuring they would be the perfect thing to greet Ted when he returned home from his evening running group. To start these cookies, combine one egg, 2 oz. of whole milk, and 1.5 t of vanilla, and allow the liquid to come to room temperature.

Milk, egg, and vanilla.

Liquid ingredients, coming to room temperature.

Meanwhile, sift together 2 1/4 C of bleached all-purpose flour, 1 t of salt, and 1 t (plus an extra pinch) of baking soda.

Bleached AP flour, salt, and baking soda.

Sifted dry ingredients.

Why use bleached flour? Alton did not specify a reason in the episode, but bleached flour is apparently superior for baking because it has a lower protein content. Alton seems to use Kosher salt in nearly all of his recipes, but he did not specify that Kosher salt should be used in these cookies, so I used regular table salt. In a stand mixer, cream 2 sticks of cold butter, starting on low speed.

Cold butter in the mixer.

Add 1 C of sugar, 1/2 C of light brown sugar, increase the speed, and beat until fluffy.

Cold butter creamed with sugar.

Light brown sugar added.

Creamed until fluffy.

Once thoroughly mixed, decrease the speed and slowly add the liquid ingredients.

Liquid ingredients slowly added.

Next, on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, scraping the bowl between additions.

Dry ingredients added gradually.

Dough after all flour incorporated.

Once all of the flour is incorporated, stir in 2 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Chocolate chips stirred in.

Final dough.

If you have one, use a #20 disher to spoon the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, with six cookies per sheet; I used an ice cream scoop, which resulted in pretty large cookies.

Ice cream scoop for dishing.

The cookies should take 13-15 minutes in the oven, and you want to remove them before they look like they are done. I used my oven’s convection setting to get more even baking.

Six cookies per parchment-lined sheet.

In the oven.

After baking for 13 minutes with convection setting.

Remove them immediately from the pan to prevent further cooking. Once cool, store for a week at room temperature or freeze for up to three months.

Alton’s thin chocolate chip cookie.

The science behind Alton’s thin recipe lies in the combination of ingredients used:

Butter is the fat of choice for these cookies because it has a sharp melting point, which allows the batter to spread before setting.
The butter is used cold because sugar crystals form bubbles in the butter by cutting into it. These bubbles help other ingredients to be better incorporated.
Baking soda is the leavening agent used because it decreases the acidity of the batter, which increases the setting temperature of the cookies. For thinner cookies, increase the baking soda.
A combination of one egg and 2 oz. of whole milk is used because eggs cause batters to puff and spread; replacing one egg with some milk results in thinner cookies.
A higher ratio of white:brown sugar results in crisper cookies.

The Puffy

Seeing as we only had one type of chocolate chip cookie in the house, last Wednesday seemed to be another day for cookie baking. Next up was Alton’s puffy chocolate chip cookie.

Ingredients for Alton’s puffy chocolate chip cookies: butter-flavored shortening, sugar, brown sugar, cake flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, vanilla, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

For these cookies, you begin by creaming together 1 C of butter-flavored shortening, 3/4 C of sugar, and 1 C of brown sugar (I used light brown sugar).

Butter-flavored shortening, sugar, and brown sugar in the mixer.

Creamed mixture.

Sift together 2 1/4 C of cake flour, 1 t of salt, and 1 1/2 t of baking powder. Again, I used regular salt, as Alton did not specify in the episode that Kosher salt should be used.

Cake flour, baking powder, and salt, ready to be sifted.

Sifted dry ingredients.

To the creamed mixture, add two eggs, one at a time, and 1.5 t of vanilla, and increase the speed.

Eggs and vanilla added.

Liquid ingredients incorporated.

Once blended, add the flour mixture slowly in three installments, starting on low speed and increasing to high.

Dry ingredients added in installments.

Dough after dry ingredients incorporated.

Once all of the dry ingredients are incorporated, stir in 2 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips and put the dough in the refrigerator until it is thoroughly chilled.

Chocolate chips being stirred in.

Finished puffy dough.

Dough in the refrigerator to chill.

Again, scoop six cookies per parchment-lined sheet, and bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes, or until they look to be almost done. For these cookies, Alton tells you to use a smaller scoop to get more puff. I used a smaller ice cream scoop.

Six cookies per parchment-lined sheet.

Remove the cookies from the pan ASAP to prevent further cooking, let them cool completely, and store at room temperature for a week, or frozen for up to 3 months.

Finished puffy cookies.

Alton’s puffy cookies.

I literally was about to start baking these cookies when the doorbell rang; it was our cute neighbor girl, selling what else but chocolate chip cookies for school. If you have seen the ending of this episode of Good Eats, you know how ironic this is, as Alton sits on a park bench with a huge tin of cookies when a Girl Scout approaches him, asking him to buy cookies. Too funny. Of course, I had to buy some, so we have even more chocolate chip cookies heading our way in the near future.

And, for Alton’s science behind these cookies:

Shortening is the fat used because it has a higher melting temperature, which allows the cookies puff before they spread.
The leavening agent here is baking powder because it increases the batter’s acidity, which gives more rise and less spread.
Cake flour is the flour of choice because it has lower protein content, so it soaks up less moisture in the batter; more moisture in the batter gives more steam, which increases puffiness.
A higher ratio of brown:white sugar yields more tender cookies.
Chilling the dough results in less spreading.

The Chewy

Alton’s final cookie recipe in this episode is for the chewy cookie. This is the cookie I was most highly anticipating. I was on a roll last week, so I followed up Tuesday and Wednesday’s cookie baking with another batch on Thursday. Why not? You can never have too many cookies. Right?

Chewy cookie ingredients: butter, bread flour, Kosher salt, baking soda, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, whole milk, vanilla, and chocolate chips.

These cookies begin with melting two sticks of butter in a saucepan over low heat.

Melting butter in a saucepan over low heat.

While the butter melts, sift together 2 1/4 C of bread flour, 1 t of Kosher salt, and 1 t of baking soda. Since Alton specified Kosher salt for this recipe, I used it here.

Bread flour, Kosher salt, and baking soda to be sifted.

Sifted dry ingredients.

Once your butter is melted, combine it in your mixer with 1/4 C sugar and 1 1/4 C dark brown sugar.

Melted butter.

Melted butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the mixer.

To this mixture add one egg, blending it in, and follow it up with an additional egg yolk.

One egg added to butter/sugar mixture.

An additional egg yolk.

Also add 1 oz. of whole milk and 1 1/2 t of vanilla.

Whole milk and vanilla added.

When all of the liquid ingredients are completely mixed, slowly add the dry ingredients, scraping the bowl between additions.

Wet ingredients after mixing.

Flour mixture added gradually.

Dry ingredients mixed in.

Stir in 2 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips and chill the dough thoroughly.

Chocolate chips added.

Final chewy dough.

Flour on the Coonhound nose.

Dough in the refrigerator to chill.

Once chilled, again scoop the dough onto parchment-lined sheets (six cookies per sheet), and bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes. I again used my smaller ice cream scoop.

Cookies ready to bake.

Chewy cookies in the oven.

I found that these cookies took a little bit longer to bake than the others did. Again, pull them off of the baking sheets immediately and allow them to cool before storing at room temperature or freezing.

Finished chewy cookies.

I had to sample part of a cookie that “broke” off.

Alton explains that these cookies are chewy because:

The water from the melted butter combines with the protein of the bread flour, which produces gluten and makes the cookies chewy.
Bread flour absorbs more moisture, which therefore increases the moisture in the cookies.
Brown sugar is coated in molasses, which loves moisture. Increasing the brown sugar increases the cookies’ absorption of water from the air, which makes the cookies chewy.
The egg yolk, rather than a whole second egg, is added because egg whites tend to dry out baked goods.
Darker brown sugar leads to chewier cookies.
Chilling the dough results in less spreading.

So, how did the cookies stack up against each other? We shared all three cookies with my parents, and the results were unanimous for the four of us.

Left to right cookie comparison: thin, puffy, and chewy.

Left to right: Alton’s thin, puffy, and chewy chocolate chip cookies.

We all preferred the thin cookies the best, followed by the chewy cookies, and finally the puffy cookies. While all of the cookies were delicious, the thin cookies had the perfect combination of texture and flavor; they were thin and had crispy edges, while the centers were perfectly chewy. The chewy cookies were thicker, more dense, and had more of a caramelized flavor to them. Finally, the puffy cookies were lighter and more cake-like in texture and appearance. Aesthetically, the puffy cookies were by far my favorite, and that certainly does count for something. Beauty contest aside, though, the ones I will surely make again (ahem, probably next week for my family) will be the thin cookies.

Episode 32 – “The Remains of the Bird”

Posted: March 2, 2015 in Season 3
Tags: alton brown, cornbread, cranberry, good eats, hash, jam, leftovers, pudding, sauce, soup, Thanksgiving, turkey

Seeing as I am putting myself through (what I call) the Alton Brown Culinary School of Good Eats, I would be remiss if I did not write a little bit about the day I had yesterday. I was awoken at 5:07 am by my adorable Coonhound, Hitcher, who was suffering from one of his occasional fits of morning sickness. While I stood in the dark kitchen, waiting for him to finish grazing in the back yard, I decided to make a quick check of Facebook, or Twitter, or one of the other online giants. Staring back at me from the feed of none other than Alton Brown was a pair of latitude and longitude coordinates for the location of an autograph signing he would be having in Spokane at noon. The coordinates were for the Spokane Convention Center.

After a few more hours of sleep, I had to decide whether to do my planned 15 mile run, or to try to meet Alton; I split the difference, ran 8.5 miles, and dragged Ted to the Convention Center with me, along with our giant metal spoon and my Alton Brown cookbook. Somehow, I don’t think Ted looked too out-of-place on Spokane’s downtown streets with his spoon, as I think of the gentleman I used to always see, riding a bicycle with a huge Finding Nemo hat. We ended up waiting in line for about 45 minutes, briefly met Alton, had our photo taken with him, and got a few autographs. I will somewhat shamelessly admit how stoked I was about this. Secretly, I think Ted thought it was pretty cool too.

Ted and me with Alton.

My custom Alton post-it.

To cap off the day, we took my parents to see Alton perform his Edible Inevitable show. Though I did not know what to expect, I knew I would enjoy the show, but it far exceeded my expectations. I cannot remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did last night. Seriously, if you have the chance to see Alton perform live, you really should take that opportunity.

In a Cranberry Jam

Last November, I cooked an early Good Eats Thanksgiving dinner for my parents and us, following it up with a Thanksgiving dinner with Ted’s parents on Thanksgiving day; that meant we had two Good Eats turkeys in a matter of days. I wrote about the early Thanksgiving dinner here. When I wrote about the Thanksgiving special, I failed to realize that the 32nd episode of the show would entail making recipes with the leftovers from the Thanksgiving special. So… we had Thanksgiving dinner again in February. Last Thursday, I again made Alton’s Tart Cranberry Dipping Sauce, Sweet Corn Bread Pudding, and the Good Eats Roast Turkey.

A February Good Eats turkey.

Sweet corn bread pudding.

After a Thanksgiving-like dinner Thursday, I made Alton’s recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers on Friday, the first of which was for his cranberry jam. This recipe is really simple. To make it, you combine 2 C of leftover cranberry dipping sauce with a cup of sugar and a half cup of ginger ale.

Ingredients for cranberry jam: leftover cranberry dipping sauce, ginger ale, and sugar.

The mixture is cooked over low heat until it reduces to the consistency of loose jam, which took a couple of hours for mine.

Dipping sauce, ginger ale, and sugar in a saucepan.

Reduced cranberry dipping sauce.

Finished cranberry jam.

The resulting jam was really delicious, and we have since used it for turkey sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and our morning toast.

Sandwich made with leftover turkey and cranberry jam.

The jam is tart-sweet, has a rich red color, and is easily spreadable. I liked the cranberry dipping sauce the first time around, and being able to make this jam from the leftovers makes it even more worthwhile. I will be making this one again.

Turkey Re-Hash

What better thing to eat for breakfast than Alton’s turkey hash? This recipe utilizes both the leftover turkey meat and the leftover corn bread pudding.

Ingredients for turkey hash: breakfast sausage, onion, jalapeno, bell pepper, cooked red potatoes, black beans, leftover corn bread pudding, leftover turkey, cayenne, salt, and pepper.

To start, Alton tells you to heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Since we have a brand new smooth top range, I opted not to use cast iron, as I have heard that it can scratch a smooth top range. Instead, I used a heavy non-stick skillet. Once the pan is hot, add a half pound of breakfast sausage and cook it until it renders some of its fat; I used a spicy Italian sausage.

Sausage rendering fat.

To the sausage, add half an onion and half a jalapeno, chopped.

Onion and jalapeno added to pan.

When the onion is translucent, add a half cup of chopped red bell pepper and cook for a minute or two.

Bell pepper added.

Next, add 1.5 C of cooked, cubed red potatoes (Note: I cooked my potatoes the night before by simmering them in salted water until tender). To get some good brown color on the potatoes, increase the heat to high.

Potatoes added to hash.

Then, add a can of black beans, drained and rinsed, followed by a couple cups of the leftover corn bread pudding, cubed.

Black beans in the pan.

The addition of leftover corn bread pudding.

Stir everything and add a cup of cubed turkey meat.

Leftover cubed turkey added.

Season the hash with some cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.

Seasonings added to the hash.

The completed hash.

Turkey Re-Hash.

Serve hot. This hash was good, but not mind-blowing. It really was a perfect leftover recipe, as you could easily make this your own, adding whatever you have in the house. We rarely eat hot breakfasts during the week, so that was a treat in itself. The hash had a nice medley of textures and a pretty good level of heat, which we really like. This is a recipe I wouldn’t seek out, but I will not be surprised if I end up making a version of this again in the future with the leftovers we have on hand. Next time, though, I will likely make Alton’s mentioned additions of a couple of eggs and some cheese. Even better!

Bird to the Last Drop

Alton’s last Thanksgiving leftover recipe is for turkey soup. Allow a few hours for making this soup, as it will be better if it has longer to cook.

Ingredients for turkey soup: vegetable broth, turkey carcass, frozen vegetables, rice, cubed turkey, Old Bay, thyme, salt, and pepper.

To make it, combine two quarts of vegetable broth with the remains of your turkey carcass.

Broken down turkey carcass.

Turkey carcass and vegetable broth.

Cover this and simmer it over low heat. While the online recipe tells you to cook this for an hour, it will only be better if you can cook it longer. I simmered my bones for 2.5 hours.

Turkey carcass after simmering for 2.5 hours.

After a good simmer, add 10 ounces of frozen vegetables (I added 12 oz), 1/2 C of rice, 2 C of cubed turkey meat, 1 t of Old Bay Seasoning, 2 t of dried thyme, salt, and pepper.

Addition of frozen vegetables.

Addition of rice.

Addition of leftover turkey meat.

Salt, pepper, and thyme added to soup.

Simmer the soup for an additional 20 minutes, remove the bones, and serve.

Turkey soup after final 20 minute simmer.

Turkey soup after fishing bones out.

I made the soup a day prior to serving it. We returned home Saturday, after doing a mountain bike race in Oregon, and this turkey soup was the perfect meal to come home to. It was the epitome of comfort food, with a super rich mouthfeel, a variety of textures, and the flavor of a slow-cooked stock with lots of thyme.

Finished turkey soup.

We thought this turkey soup was great, and I will surely be making this with our future turkey leftovers. Delicious and easy! The richness of the soup makes it a meal in itself. Keep this one in mind for Thanksgiving this year, or should you need an excuse to make a Good Eats turkey at any time in the year!

Episode 31 – “What’s Up Duck”

Posted: February 23, 2015 in Season 3
Tags: alton brown, chard, duck, duck fat, good eats, potatoes, poultry, shallot

First of all, I am getting pretty excited to see Alton Brown’s live show in less than a week, especially considering that we bought tickets the day they went on sale, which was about eight months ago. We will be going with my parents, and I think we are all highly anticipating the show. My dad, too, was an avid Good Eats watcher in the past.

I have not eaten a lot of duck in my life, but I know some people who have, namely my dad and my husband. There was a stretch of time when Dad and Ted would both order duck when we would all go out to eat, and this went on for months. Seriously, they ate more than their fair share of duck. I feel, therefore, that they can appropriately be deemed Duck Aficionados, or “Quackxperts,” as I prefer to call them.

Mighty Duck

I had some trepidation about preparing duck since I know how critical it is to cook properly, but I hoped Alton wouldn’t let me down. I set out to prepare Alton’s recipe last night, after thawing my duck in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Alternatively, for faster thawing, you could thaw your duck under cold, running water. I had intended to cook my duck on Saturday, which would have necessitated the running water thaw, but the combo of too long of a marathon training run with too little food led to a night on the couch, in lieu of duck prep. On the plus side, my duck (I named him Donald) was perfectly thawed for dinner last night.

To make Alton’s duck, first mix your brine by combining 1/2 C Kosher salt, a pint of pineapple orange juice, at least 15 black peppercorns, a bunch of fresh thyme, and four smashed cloves of garlic in a leak-proof, lidded container; shake to dissolve the salt.

Brine ingredients: Kosher salt, pineapple orange juice, black peppercorns, fresh thyme, and garlic.

Brine mixture.

Next it is time to prepare the duck itself. Place your duck on a cutting board and discard all of the innards. With a knife, slice through each wing to the joint, and break each wing off by bending the joint backward. From the base of the neck, cut along one side of the back bone of the bird with kitchen shears.

Dog craving duck, as I cut along the back bone.

Turn the bird around and cut up the other side of the back bone. It will be tough to cut. Pull the back bone out and discard it. Flatten the duck and flip it over, so the breast is facing up. Again, using the shears, cut down the middle of the breast, splitting the duck into two halves. Using a sharp knife, separate the breast from the leg by making a crescent-shaped cut. The duck is now in quarters, with two breast pieces and two leg pieces. The breast quarters have a fair amount of fat, so you want to score the skin of the breast in a grid pattern (three cuts one way, and three the other way) with a sharp knife, taking care only to score the skin; this will allow much of the fat to cook off.

Duck halves, cut into quarters. The breast pieces are scored.

Line a container with a large Ziplock bag, put the duck quarters inside, and pour the brine over the duck, squeezing as much air as possible from the bag.

Duck and brine in a bag.

Removed as much air as possible from the bag.

Let the duck brine in the refrigerator for 2-2.5 hours. When ready to cook your duck, bring some water to a boil in a large pot that can hold a strainer or colander; I used our pasta pot.

Pasta pot to steam the duck.

Place the duck quarters around the sides of the colander, avoiding stacking them on each other, as this can cause uneven cooking.

Duck quarters, ready to be steamed.

Cover the pot, decrease the heat, and steam the duck for 45 minutes. If your dog is anything like mine are, he/she will be sent into a tizzy, and will pace around the kitchen, whimpering and pleading for just a sampling of your duck. Why steam? In the episode, Alton, or rather his plumber, explains that it is a gentler cooking method than water, is more efficient than air, and it does not wash away the seasoning. Toward the end of your steaming, heat your oven to 475 degrees, placing a cast iron skillet inside.

Hot cast iron skillet.

When the steaming is complete, set the steaming water aside, place the duck legs into the skillet, skin side down, and cook them for 10 minutes.

Duck quarters after steaming for 45 minutes.

Duck legs in hot skillet.

After 10 minutes, use tongs to move the legs up to the sides of the skillet, and add the breast quarters to the pan, skin side down. Cook the duck for an additional 7 minutes. While the duck cooks, shred some chard and chop a couple of shallots.

Duck breasts added to skillet with legs.

Shallots and shredded chard.

Chopped shallot.

When the duck is done, let it rest on a plate, covered with foil; a small, upturned bowl in the center of the plate gives the duck something to lean against, keeping it from sitting in its own juices.

Duck quarters, resting.

While the duck rests, add a couple handfuls of shredded chard to the hot cast iron skillet, tossing with tongs.

Chard added to hot duck skillet.

The skillet will be hot enough that you can do this off of heat. Add some chopped shallots to the chard, toss until wilted, and sprinkle with some balsamic or sherry vinegar.

Chard and shallots in hot skillet.

Remember that cooking liquid that remained after steaming? The water portion of that liquid can be boiled away until all that remains is wonderful duck fat.

Steaming liquid, boiling down to duck fat.

Alton recommends simmering some cubed red potatoes in salted water before sautéing them in a little duck fat over high heat. I just could not resist that idea, so I heeded his advice and made some duck fat potatoes to go with our duck and chard.

Red potatoes to saute in duck fat.

Red potatoes, after simmering in salted water.

Potatoes cooked in duck fat.

Duck, potatoes cooked in duck fat, and chard.

Not being a Quakxpert myself, I thought this meal was pretty darn delicious… and sinful. My one complaint was that the duck skin was only super crispy where it had directly contacted the skillet, but that crispy part was really great. I also ended up having very strongly flavored shallots, which overpowered the chard a bit, but that was just the luck of the draw. The duck was very moist and had lots of flavor. Ted agreed, and he had the leftovers for lunch today. I foresee making this again for a special meal, and it could be a different option for a future holiday dinner. As my dad would say, “It’s a life’s work for a duck.”

Episode 30 – “Egg Files II: Man with a Flan”

Posted: February 20, 2015 in Season 3
Tags: alton brown, blueberry, caramel, custard, dessert, Eggs, flan, good eats, pie, quiche

I was super stoked to prepare the recipes in the 30th episode of Good Eats. Why, you ask? Though I do love quiche and flan as much as the next girl, I was most excited to make these recipes because I got to use our brand new range for the first time. When we moved into our house, we were greeted with the original, 25-year-old, drop-in Tappan range (I had never even heard of the brand before!). I cook often enough that a range with roll-over numbers (stuck permanently at 4:44), a broken burner, and an oven door that would not shut just was not going to cut it.

The old range. You can’t tell in this photo, but the oven light is permanently on since the door won’t shut.

Old range with a broken front burner.

Ta-da! Enter our new smooth top Samsung electric range.

Isn’t she pretty?

We considered putting in gas, but the venting, etc. just wasn’t going to be feasible, and we would have lost cabinet space. So far, we are loving our range!

Refrigerator Pie

The very first thing I cooked in our new oven was Alton’s recipe for Refrigerator Pie, AKA quiche. I had my share of quiche growing up, as it was something my mom made on a fairly regular basis. Alton’s version is particularly easy, in that it uses a frozen crust.

Ingredients: frozen pie crust, spinach, cream, eggs, cheddar, cubed ham, Kosher salt, nutmeg.

To start the recipe, you whisk a cup of cream with two eggs (this is called “Royale”) and you place your frozen crust on a baking sheet (to avoid any spills in the oven).

The Royale.

You sprinkle your choice of toppings over the crust, mixing them with your hands; I opted for spinach, shredded cheddar, and cubed ham since that is what Alton did in the episode.

Spinach on the crust.

Topped with cheese.

And ham.

Ingredients tossed together.

To your Royale, add a couple pinches of Kosher salt and a few grates of fresh nutmeg. My whole nutmeg seed decided to take a dive into my Royale, which necessitated fishing it out. Butter fingers!

Nutmeg and salt added to Royale.

Pour your Royale over your ingredients. The egg will expand when it cooks, so you do not want to fill your crust all the way to the top; I had the perfect amount of liquid for my crust.

Royale poured over toppings.

Bake your pie in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes, or until it is set like Jell-O and no liquid comes out if you poke a small hole with a toothpick. My quiche was done in 37 minutes.

Obligatory dog shot.

Baked Refrigerator Pie.

Great filling, but needs a better crust!

You do not want to overcook this. Ideally, allow the quiche to cool for about 15 minutes before eating. The filling on this quiche was the best I have ever had because it was so much lighter and fluffier than any other quiche I have had. We liked it so much that Ted made one for breakfast a few days later. My one complaint was about the crust, as it wasn’t as crispy as I would have liked. Alton did not mention pre-baking the crust, so I did not pre-bake mine either, and it seemed a little doughy. When Ted made his quiche, he did pre-bake it, but it was not significantly crispier. I did buy a generic brand of pie crust, so maybe a different brand would yield better results. Seeing as we will be making this again for sure, I will have to play with different crusts. The filling, though, is already a winner. I foresee that we will be making this when our refrigerator is poorly stocked but we still want to eat something good! Seriously, best quiche filling ever.

Flandango

And what was the second thing I made with our new range? Alton’s flan, of course. For some reason, my only childhood association with flan is of an unpleasantly jiggly, overly gelatinized, dessert served at bad Mexican restaurants. I have a distinct memory of my family going to a Mexican restaurant with another family, and at the end of the meal the other family got super excited to order flan. I had no idea what flan was, but their enthusiasm made me think I SHOULD know what flan was, so I feigned excitement and ordered a flan. I should have gone with the churros. Creme brulee has since been my custard of choice.

Still, I was excited to make Alton’s flan, as I figured that pretty much everything Alton made on Good Eats was fantastic, so this was likely to be my best opportunity to have, and make, a good flan.

Flan ingredients: whole milk, half and half, vanilla, sugar, eggs, blueberry jam, and fat-free (doh!) caramel.

For this recipe, combine whole milk, half and half, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat at a bare simmer.

Whole milk, half and half, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan.

Milk mixture at a bare simmer.

Meanwhile, add 1-2 T of your chosen topping(s) to eight ramekins, and place them in a roasting pan that allows an inch between them.

Caramel and blueberry jam in ramekins.

Ramekins in roasting pan.

For my toppings, I chose caramel ice cream topping and Alton’s blueberry jam I wrote about here. Unfortunately, I made the horrible error of accidentally purchasing fat-free caramel. Yuck! I did not have time to make a homemade caramel, so I had to go with the fat-free junk and hope for the best. In retrospect, I probably should have opted for plain flan. In a bowl, whisk three eggs and three egg yolks until they are thick and light.

Three eggs and three yolks.

Eggs and yolks whipped until light and thickened.

Slowly drizzle about a quarter of the cream mixture into the eggs, whisking. The key here is to go slowly. Once the eggs are tempered, add the egg mixture back to the cream, whisking again.

Tempered eggs.

Tempered egg mixture added back to milk mixture.

Strain the custard to get rid of any curdled egg or any chalazae (the tough “strings” in eggs that keep the yolks suspended).

Strainer to remove any lumps.

Strained custard.

Pour the custard into the ramekins and place the roasting pan in the middle of a 350 degree oven.

Custard in ramekins. I wonder which ones are blueberry? So much for mystery.

Pour boiling water into the roasting pan, bringing it up almost to the level of the custard in the ramekins.

Water up to almost custard level.

Bake for 25-40 minutes. Alton explains in the episode that the slower you cook the custard, the lower its setting temperature will be. My flans were done right at 40 minutes. They are done when they wobble and a pairing knife comes out cleanly. Remove them from the water bath with tongs, allow them to cool to room temperature, wrap them tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate them.

Flans after 40 minutes in the oven.

Completed flan.

When ready to serve, you can eat them straight from the ramekins, or you can run a pairing knife around the outside and invert them onto a plate.

Caramel flan.

We ate the flans for dessert, and shared a couple with my parents. The caramel topping was indeed unfortunate, but the custard was really good. The only flan I have had previously has had caramel topping, so the blueberry topping was very different. My mom commented that the blueberry flavor really surprised her, as she too envisions flan with caramel. Though I would still opt for creme brulee, Alton has redeemed flan for me. The texture was smooth and silky, and the flavor was creamy, sweet, and slightly eggy. There is a pretty good chance that I will make this again in the future, though I will make Alton’s caramel sauce next time. If you are a flan fan, you likely would think this recipe is flantastic! Okay, that was bad.

Episode 29 – “Mussel Bound”

Posted: February 10, 2015 in Season 3
Tags: alton brown, bread, good eats, moules, mussels, seafood, shellfish

Mojo Moulies

It was amidst the moving boxes and clutter that I made my first Good Eats recipe in our new home. Continuing with the third season of the show, I prepped Alton’s version of mussels. As with several of the recipes I have made in my Good Eats project, I was again dealing with an ingredient that I had never prepared myself. I fondly recall a delicious dish of moules et frites that I got at a restaurant in Walla Walla, Washington, so I was hopeful that Alton’s mussels would prove to be likewise as delicious.

The online version of this recipe is a little goofy, in that it calls for a total of only 20 mussels, while 10 mussels will be used as part of the sauce. If you watch the episode of the show, however, Alton specifies that you should count on 15-20 mussels per person for an entree portion, while 7-8 mussels make for a great appetizer. Oh, and he recommends that you purchase enough for an extra serving, just in case some mussels need to be thrown away. My store happened to only have about 25 mussels. Rather than waiting for another day, I bought all of the mussels they had, figuring we could always eat more bread if we were still hungry. To store mussels at home, Alton tells you to put them in an open bucket or bowl, covered with a damp paper towel and a bag of ice, and to change the ice daily. I used my mussels within a few hours of buying them, but I still stored them this way.

Mussels ready for storage.

Mussels topped with a damp paper towel…

…and a bag of ice.

Very few ingredients are needed for this recipe.

Other ingredients for the dish: garlic, olive oil, leek, tomato, white wine, and Kosher salt.

Chopped leek.

Chopped garlic.

Diced tomato.

To begin, you sweat leeks and garlic in olive oil, along with a pinch of Kosher salt. You will want to do this in a fairly large, lidded stockpot, in which you can nest a colander or steamer basket to hold the mussels.

Leeks and garlic sweating in olive oil.

While the vegetables sweat, you can clean your mussels with a brush. You will also need to remove any beards with needle-nose pliers. Many of my mussels still had their beards. Discard any mussels that are open.

Slightly blurry photo of cleaned mussels.

Meanwhile, once the leeks have softened, add chopped tomato and white wine, increase the heat, and bring to a boil.

Tomato added to the pan.

Wine added to the vegetables.

Once boiling, put the colander of mussels inside the pot, add the lid, and set a timer for three minutes. When the timer goes off, make sure all of the mussels are open; if any are unopened, move them around a bit and cook for another 30 seconds. If any mussels are still not open, throw them away, and divide the other mussels among individual serving bowls.

Steamed mussels.

Add the meat of 10 mussels to the pot with the vegetable mixture and cooking liquid, and puree to a smooth consistency with an immersion blender.

Cooking liquid after steaming mussels.

Ten mussels added to cooking liquid for sauce.

Pureed sauce.

Pour this sauce over the mussels, sprinkle with parsley (I forgot to add the parsley), and serve with crusty bread.

Mussels in sauce, served with bread.

We ate our mussels as an entree and had a large proportion of sauce to mussels. The mussels themselves had the fresh taste of the ocean; I always think they taste exactly like the ocean smells. The sauce was, to me, the best part of the dish. It had a great balance of sweetness and acidity, along with a hint of brininess from the mussels, and it was great to dip good bread in. The mussels were really good, but Ted and I agreed that we really think we would prefer a bowl of clams, if given our choice of shellfish.

Episode 28 – “American Pickle”

Posted: January 24, 2015 in Season 3
Tags: alton brown, apple, bread and butter pickles, carrot, cauliflower, cider vinegar, cucumber, curry, fruit, good eats, pear, pickles, refrigerator, sour

I have been sort of forced into a project hiatus, as we moved this week. It is quite amazing to see just how much stuff you can accumulate after living in a home for five years, as well as how much of a process it is to move a mere three miles. As I type, I still have boxes on either side of me, but the kitchen items are largely put away, so that is a good start! A few days prior to moving, I tackled the recipes in the 28th episode of Good Eats, but I am only now getting to writing the post about them. It actually has worked out well since this episode is about pickles and you want to let them sit a bit before really eating them anyway. Plus, I am a huge pickle fan, so this was a fun episode for me to do. My mom and I have made pickles nearly every summer for the past several years, and they are a great way to taste seasonal produce year-round.

AB’s B and Bs

Bread and butter pickles are first up in this episode. While I like pretty much any type of pickle, I tend to prefer pickles that are more on the savory, rather than the sweet, side. To make Alton’s version of these, you combine half of a sliced onion and two thinly sliced cucumbers in a spring-top jar.

Whole cucumber.

Sliced cucumbers in a jar.

Cucumber slices in a jar. Note: I forgot to add the onion to the jar initially, so I ended up adding it after I had put the brine in.

I somehow managed to forget the onion completely, so I added it after my pickles were all completed. Oops. I opted to slice my cucumbers by hand, but a mandolin would always be a great choice. The brine for these pickles is made up of water, cider vinegar, sugar, Kosher salt, mustard seed, turmeric, celery seed, and pickling seasoning. All of these ingredients go into a saucepan, are brought to a boil, and are simmered for four minutes.

Water, cider vinegar, sugar, Kosher salt, mustard seed, turmeric, celery seed, and pickling seasoning make up the brine.

Simmering brine.

Alton says you only need to boil your brine if you are using whole spices, as it results in better spice extraction. Once your brine has simmered, pour it gently over the cucumbers in your jar.

Bread and butters.

AB’s B and Bs.

Let the pickles cool to room temperature before closing the top. You may have extra brine (I did), and you may want to top the jar off after the pickles have cooled. Stick these puppies in the refrigerator, and they will keep for up to two months. I am quite happy with my bread and butter pickles. They have been in their brine for 10 days now, and they are really crunchy and flavorful. They are probably my favorite bread and butter pickles that I have ever had, as they are very well-balanced. They are tart and sweet, but not overly so. They also look pretty in the jar, and would be a great addition to a sandwich. Plus, they take mere minutes to make. Alton has done bread and butters proud with this one.

Kinda Sorta Sours

The second pickle recipe Alton makes in this episode is very similar to his bread and butter pickles, but it is more on the sour/savory side. Again, to begin these pickles, half of a sliced onion and two thinly sliced cucumbers go into a jar. I had run out of spring-top jars, so I used two regular quart canning jars. Note: I had to make additonal brine to fill both of my jars.

Onion in the pickle jar. Didn’t forget it this time!

Thinly sliced cucumber.

Cucumbers and onion in two quart jars.

The brine this time includes water, cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, sugar, Kosher salt, mustard seed, turmeric, celery seed, and pickling seasoning.

Brine of water, cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, sugar, Kosher salt, mustard seed, turmeric, celery seed, and pickling seasoning.

In contrast to the bread and butter brine, this brine has less sugar, more salt, more mustard seed, less turmeric, more celery seed, more pickling seasoning, and the addition of champagne vinegar. The process is the same, except you add four crushed garlic cloves to the jar before adding the brine to the cucumbers and onions.

Four crushed garlic cloves into the jar.

Simmering brine.

Brine poured over cucumbers.

Kinda Sorta Sours.

Let the pickles cool before closing, top them off with more brine, and put them in the refrigerator. These, too, will keep for up to a couple of months. I like these pickles quite a bit too. They have the same pleasantly crunchy texture of the bread and butter pickles, but they are much more savory. They really are almost sour. They would also be great on a sandwich. For a more savory cucumber pickle, this is the one to try.

Firecrackers

If you are looking for a more unique pickle to try, try making Alton’s Firecrackers. What are Firecrackers? They are crunchy, spicy, sweet, zesty pickled baby carrots. To make these, Alton tells you to put a half pound of baby carrots in a (you guessed it) spring-top jar. I weighed out a half pound of baby carrots and they only filled my jar half-way, so I wound up using about a pound of baby carrots.

A pound of baby carrots in the jar.

To make the brine, you combine water, sugar, and cider vinegar in a saucepan. To this, you add onion powder, mustard seed, Kosher salt, chili flakes, and dried chilies.

Brine ingredients: water, sugar, cider vinegar, onion powder, mustard seed, Kosher salt, chili flakes, and dried chilies.

Bring the brine to a boil, simmer it for four minutes, and pour it over the carrots.

Simmering brine.

Brine over carrots.

Firecrackers.

Let them cool, close the top, and refrigerate them. My firecrackers are 10 days out and they are only getting better. They are crispy and tangy, and the natural sweetness of the carrots come through. There is also a decent amount of residual heat. I ate some of these on a salad for lunch and they were great. I highly recommend these, especially if you like a little kick to your pickles.

Summer Fruits

Alton’s next next recipe is quite different because it is for fruit pickles. This was my first fruit pickle attempt. Alton calls for you to pickle one Bartlett pear and one red plum. Seeing as it is January, I could not find a red plum, so I substituted an apple (Fuji, I think) for the plum.

Bartlett pear and an apple.

As with the cucumber pickles, slice the fruit very thinly and add it to a spring-top jar. In a saucepan, combine water, sugar, and rice wine vinegar and simmer this until the sugar dissolves completely; no need to boil this one since there are no whole spices.

Simple brine of water, sugar, and rice wine vinegar.

Sugar almost dissolved in brine.

Meanwhile, to the jar add slivered ginger, a sprig of fresh mint, and half of a lemon, thinly sliced.

Thinly sliced lemon added to the sliced fruit in the jar.

Apple, pear, ginger, and lemon in the jar.

Fresh mint.

Mint added to the jar.

Once the sugar has dissolved in the brine, pour it over the fruit, let the pickles cool, close the lid, and refrigerate them.

Brine poured over fruit.

Summer Fruits.

Alton recommends serving these over ice cream or with pound cake. So far, we have only eaten them plain, but I think they would also be fantastic in a spinach salad with some walnuts, beets, and goat cheese. These pickles are fun because they are completely different. They are lightly sweet, but also quite tangy. The fruit has not gotten mushy, which is what I was concerned about. The flavor of the mint really comes through, especially in the pear, and it is really quite a nice pairing with the fruit.

Hurry Curry Cauliflower

The final recipe in this episode is for pickled curried cauliflower. To start these pickles, crush some whole cumin and coriander seeds. I did this with a mortar and pestle.

Whole coriander and cumin seeds.

Crushed cumin and coriander seeds.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the crushed spices. Along with the spices, add curry powder, ginger, and a smashed clove of garlic.

Coriander seed, cumin seed, curry powder, ginger, and garlic in oil

The spice mixture.

Cook the spices until they are fragrant and the oil has turned yellow. To the spice mixture, add one head of cauliflower florets and toss to coat them.

Cauliflower florets.

Cauliflower added to spice mixture.

Curry-coated cauliflower.

Meanwhile, in a container with a tight-fitting lid, combine water, rice wine vinegar, cider vinegar, sugar, and pickling salt; shake this liquid until the salt and sugar have dissolved. If you do not have pickling salt, you can substitute Kosher salt, but be sure to add 1.5x as much.

Water, rice wine vinegar, cider vinegar, sugar, and Kosher salt shaken until dissolved.

Once the cauliflower has softened slightly, add it to a spring-top jar and pour over the brine.

Brine and cauliflower combined.

Hurry Curry Cauliflower.

Close the lid and refrigerate. These, too, are more unusual pickles. When we first tasted them after a few days of pickling, we agreed that they were our favorite of the five types of pickles in this episode. Tasting them again after 10 days in the brine, we still like them, but not as much as before. While all of the other pickles seemed to improve with more time in the brine, these seemed to just increase in vinegar flavor, while their delightful curry flavor diminished somewhat. Don’t get me wrong… they are still really good. The cauliflower has maintained it’s crunchy texture, they are really tangy, and the curry flavor is in the background. They would be good on a relish tray (Do people do those anymore?).

Overall, we liked all of these pickles and I think they are all worthy of being made again.

All five types of pickles on a plate, along with some summer sausage. Clockwise from the top: Kinda Sorta Sours, Firecrackers, AB’s B and Bs, Hurry Curry Cauliflower, and Summer Fruits.

After 10 days of pickling, Ted ranked the pickles from best to worst as: Firecrackers, B and Bs, Summer Fruits, Sours, and Cauliflower. I ranked the pickles as: B and Bs, Firecrackers, Sours, Summer Fruits, and Cauliflower.

Episode 27 – “Ear Apparent”

Posted: January 9, 2015 in Season 2
Tags: alton brown, corn, cornbread, creamed corn, good eats, maize, microwave popcorn, popcorn

My husband spent many years in DeKalb, Illinois, a.k.a. “Corn Country.” It also happens that our youngest “fur child” was coincidentally born in DeKalb (long story), and her name, Brixie Maize, is an homage to her origin among the corn fields. Her mother was actually found “knocked up” in Kentucky, but a nice Coonhound foster mom in DeKalb took her in. So, while a couple of my family members have strong ties to corn, I cannot say the same. I do, however, have very fond memories of the white sweet corn my mom would buy in the summer from some Mormons who set up a tent along good ol’ Thain Road. My dad would grill the corn for family dinners on the deck, and there really was nothing like a fresh ear of corn with butter, salt, and lots of black pepper, freshly ground, of course.

Better Than Grannie’s Creamed Corn

The 27th episode of Good Eats is about corn. I know, I know… I totally hit this episode at the wrong time of the year, as a truly fresh ear of corn is nowhere in sight. Sticking with my project, however, I felt that I had to proceed to the best of my ability. Alton’s first recipe in this episode is for creamed corn. For this recipe, ideally you want to use fresh ears of corn. I was able to find some corn at my grocery store, but it was from Mexico, so who knows how truly fresh it was?

When selecting ears of corn, Alton recommends looking for ears that have moist husks, are firm, have a gold, sticky tassel, and sport no spots on their cut ends. You can store corn, wrapped in plastic, for a couple days in the refrigerator. I, for one, have been known to keep corn in the refrigerator far longer than a couple of days. Alton, of course, has a solution for longer storage too. To keep ears fresh for up to two weeks, shuck them and place them in an ice water bath for 15 minutes, along with one drop of lemon juice and two drops of Clorox bleach (per gallon of water). Wrap in plastic and refrigerate. The combination of the lemon juice and the bleach serves to decrease microbial and enzymatic reactions.

Back to the creamed corn. Sweat half an onion in some butter, along with Kosher salt and bruised Rosemary.

Chopped onion.

Butter in the pan.

Sweating onion with salt and Rosemary.

Meanwhile, shave the corn off of your corn cobs. The best way to do this is to place a paper bowl upside down in a wide, flat pan.

Overturned paper bowl in a wide, flat pan.

Standing the cobs on the overturned bowl, shave the corn off the cob, holding your knife parallel to the ear. Once the kernels are all removed, flip your knife over and scrape the milky fluid out of the kernel pockets (this fluid is the endosperm).

The freshest corn I could find.

Corn cut off of the cobs.

FYI: you can freeze the cobs and use them in place of wood chips for smoking on your grill. Add the corn to the onion, increase the heat, and add sugar and turmeric.

Corn added to the onion.

Turmeric and sugar added to corn.

You want to stir this mixture until there is no visible fluid in the bottom of the pan.

No visible liquid in bottom of pan.

Then, whick in some cornmeal, preferably stone ground, which will help to thicken the corn.

Cornmeal sprinkled in.

Add heavy cream, whisk, and cook for a couple of minutes. When your corn has a consistency that will stand up on a plate, remove the Rosemary and add freshly ground pepper.

Cream added to corn.

Cooked until thick enough to stand up on a plate. Freshly ground pepper added.

Finished creamed corn.

Creamed corn with lots of texture.

We had our creamed corn as a side dish, and we both thought it was great. I tend to think of creamed corn as overly sweet, yellow mush. Alton’s creamed corn, however, has just the right amount of sweetness that contrasts nicely with the heat of the black pepper. Hints of the Rosemary come through, and the texture is far from mushy. Instead, you really get the texture of the individual corn kernels. I will definitely make this one again, even if I have to use frozen corn. I look forward to trying it with truly fresh corn in a few months.

Creamed Corn Cornbread

The second recipe in this episode is for cornbread, which happens to use some creamed corn. While you could use canned creamed corn, it is better to use homemade creamed corn. I saved some of my creamed corn from the first recipe to use in this one. To start, you heat a cast iron skillet in the oven.

Cast iron skillet heating in the oven.

While the skillet heats, you whisk together stone ground cornmeal, Kosher salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.

Dry ingredients: stone ground cornmeal, Kosher salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, and creamed corn.

Wet ingredients: buttermilk, eggs, and creamed corn.

Combined wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until it is pourable. You may need to add more buttermilk if your mixture is not thin enough, but mine was good to go.

Adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients.

Cornbread batter.

Pour two tablespoons of canola oil into your hot skillet, dump in your batter, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top bounces back when gently pressed.

Canola oil for the hot skillet.

Batter in the hot pan.

Finished cornbread.

Cornbread with lots of texture.

Cornbread wedge.

My cornbread was done in less than 20 minutes. We had the cornbread last night as a side dish to soup, and Ted ate it again for breakfast this morning. The bread is quite different from the sandy, overly sweet, fat-slathered cornbread I remember eating in Catholic elementary school. Conversely, this cornbread is a combination of sweet and savory, and has a variety of textures. It is slightly crumbly, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, and has textures of both whole corn kernels and stone ground cornmeal. This is one we will be making again for sure, and it was so easy and fast. If you are stuck in a rut with Jiffy cornbread mix, try making this and you will not go back.

Microwave Popcorn

The last recipe in this episode is not found online, but it is for Alton’s version of microwave popcorn. We occasionally have microwave popcorn in our house, as Ted cannot say no to the Cub Scouts who sell it in the grocery store. It had never really occurred to me to attempt making my own microwave popcorn. To do it, put 1/4 C of popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag. Add 2 t of olive oil, a pinch of Kosher salt, and whatever seasoning you may prefer; I opted for a dill pickle popcorn seasoning I found here.

Popcorn in a brown bag.

Fold the top of the bag down and seal it with a couple staples.

Bag sealed with staples.

Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes, or until there are ~5 seconds between pops.

Post-microwaving.

Homemade microwave popcorn.

I ended up cooking my popcorn for 3 minutes, and the insides of a few kernels were slightly charred. Next time, I will microwave it for a shorter time. I also wonder if a different oil might be better – one with a higher smoke point. Still, the result was perfectly good microwave popcorn. I will be trying this again, experimenting with different seasonings, oils, and cooking times.

Episode 26 – “A Rib for All Seasons”

Posted: December 31, 2014 in Season 2, Uncategorized
Tags: alton brown, baby back, braising, dry rub, good eats, ribs

Ribs are not something I eat on a regular basis. In fact, chances are that I will opt for a pulled pork sandwich, or something else of the sort, over a slab of baby backs. I decided to make my foray into rib making the day before I left to celebrate Christmas with my family. Amid the melee of wrapping gifts and trying to jigsaw them safely into my suitcase, I was unsure if I would really have the time to also make ribs for dinner. As always, Alton Brown made his recipe for baby back ribs look very, very easy, so I figured… why not?

Who Loves Ya Baby-Back?

After watching the 26th episode of Good Eats, I headed to the grocery store to get the ingredients I would need to make baby back ribs the Alton Brown way. Thankfully, for me, this meant only a few ingredients. My grocery store happened to have no baby back ribs on the shelf, so I asked the butcher, who had some stowed away in the freezer. Since only two of us would be eating, I purchased one slab. When I got home, I thawed my vacuum-sealed ribs in cold water, which really did not take too long. While my ribs thawed, I made Alton’s dry rub. If you plan to make these ribs time and again, go ahead and make a large batch of dry rub, as it will keep indefinitely. Alton mixes his ingredients in a quart-sized mason jar that he tops with two lids – the first lid has holes punched in it for sprinkling, while the second lid is solid for storage. I made a small batch of the rub since I did not know when I would be making the ribs again. The only key with the rub is to keep the rub’s ratio the same: 8 parts light brown sugar:3 parts Kosher salt:1 part chili powder +1 part combo of black pepper, cayenne pepper, jalapeno seasoning (I used chipotle), Old Bay Seasoning, thyme, and onion powder.

Dry rub ingredients: light brown sugar, Kosher salt, chili powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chipotle seasoning, Old Bay Seasoning, thyme, and onion powder.

Mixing the dry rub.

Completed dry rub..

When my ribs were thawed, I placed them on a large sheet of heavy foil, which was placed shiny side down to slow heat absorption into the ribs.

Slab of ribs on foil, shiny side down.

I sprinkled the top side of the ribs liberally with the dry rub, patting it gently with my hands.

Ribs coated with dry rub.

I flipped my ribs over and sprinkled some on the other side too, but Alton explains that the top, convex side, of the ribs is where you want to put the majority of the rub.

Flipped ribs with some rub on concave side.

Note: you will not use all of the rub. Once the ribs are coated with rub, fold the foil over the ribs and roll up the ends.

Rolled up packet of ribs.

Stick the foil packet(s) in the refrigerator for at least an hour, and preferably overnight. I refrigerated my ribs for about three hours. You will want to put the packets on a baking sheet. When you are ready to cook your ribs, it is time to make the braising liquid. When braising, you only use enough liquid to keep the meat moist. Alton explains that his braising liquid is a combination of acidity, salinity, and sweetness. For the acidity, he uses white wine and white wine vinegar. Worcestershire sauce gives the liquid its salinity, while the sweetness comes from honey. Oh, and you add some garlic, which Alton says needs no reason.

Braising liquid ingredients: white wine, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, and garlic.

Braising liquid.

The braising liquid goes into the microwave for a minute or so until everything is dissolved, and then you pour it into one end of your rib packet, using the foil like a funnel, and lightly tilting the pan to let the liquid run through the foil packet.

Using the foil like a funnel for the braising liquid.

You close the foil packet back up, and it goes into a 225-degree oven for 2.5 hours. Alton stresses that you do not want to try to speed up this process, as slow cooking is critical. It is also a good idea to check the temperature of your oven. I checked my oven temperature with the new infrared thermometer I got for Christmas. To check for doneness, open the rib packet and twist a rib toward the middle of the slab; if it slightly rotates, the ribs are done. My one slab of ribs was done after 2.5 hours.

After 2.5 hours in the oven.

When the ribs are done, it is time to make the sauce. To do this, lay the rib packet over a large sauce pan and cut the foil to release the juice into the pan. I ended up with a pretty large volume of juice, and mine had a fair amount of visible fat.

Placing ribs over pan to cut packet and get sauce.

Sauce before reduction.

Heat the juice over high heat, letting it reduce until it is the consistency of barbecue sauce. Alton says this will take 5-10 minutes, but my sauce took a bit longer to reduce.

Sauce after reduction.

When the sauce is done, fold back the foil surrounding the ribs and paint them liberally with the sauce. You will have extra sauce.

Ribs ready for sauce.

Ribs with sauce painted on.

Keeping the saucy ribs exposed, stick them under the broiler, watching them carefully because they can easily burn. My ribs were under the broiler for maybe a minute before the sauce started bubbling and caramelizing.

Ribs after broiling.

Ribs, ready to eat!

Remove the ribs from the oven and portion them into two-rib portions. Alton says he likes to portion them this way because they are easier to eat. Toss the ribs in a bowl with the extra sauce, and you are ready to eat. We ate our ribs with a side of coleslaw. They were sticky and messy – the way ribs are supposed to be. Ted thought the ribs were great, saying he would definitely make them again. I, not being a rib aficionado, thought the ribs were pretty good, though I found them to be a bit chewy. I wonder if they would be even more tender with a longer cooking period. The flavor of the sauce was great – sweet, slightly tangy, and rich from the fat. If you are a rib person, this is definitely a good recipe, and it is so easy you cannot believe it!

Episode 25 – “Citizen Cane”

Posted: December 18, 2014 in Season 2, Uncategorized
Tags: alton brown, banana, banana split, candy, caramel, dessert, doodad, good eats, sugar

I was very excited for this episode of Good Eats because my dad made this recipe for Ted and me several years ago. I remember telling my dad about Good Eats, thinking he would really love the scientific approach to food. My dad’s first reaction to Alton Brown, however, was to ponder who the “nerdy” guy in the Hawaiian shirt was. After watching a few episodes of the show, he became hooked and was a true Good Eats devotee. We went to my parents’ house for dinner one night several years ago and Dad told us he would be making a special dessert of Alton’s. Sure enough, it was Alton’s banana split. Dad was critical of his recipe outcome, but we all thought it was great. Needless to say, I was excited to try making this dessert myself.

Banana Splitsville

The star ingredient of the 25th (Have I really done that many already?) episode of Good Eats is sugar. One recipe is featured in this episode, but it features sugar in a few applications. To start this recipe, you make the candy garnishes, or “doodads” as Alton calls them, for your banana split. You put sugar in a saucepan, adding water until you have the consistency of wet sand. The online recipe calls for a full cup of water, but this will give you a consistency that is far thinner than what you desire. I used a half cup of water, at most. Oh, and you want to add ~ 1 T of corn syrup to this mixture, as it will prevent the sugar from recrystallizing.

Sugar, corn syrup, and water.

Heat this sugar syrup over high heat until the sugar dissolves. If you have a candy thermometer, you will want to use it at this point. I made a mistake in using too wide of a pan, so my thermometer was not submerged.

Heating the sugar syrup, but my thermometer was not submerged enough.

This left me to go by my eye, but I do not recommend that method if you have not made candy or caramel before. While your syrup heats, prepare two sheet pans by turning them over and covering them with parchment paper. When your syrup hits ~300 degrees, you can begin to swirl the pan. Until this point, you want to leave the syrup alone. You will know that your syrup is approaching 300 degrees, as it will start to turn amber in color.

Around 300 degrees.

When your syrup reaches 340 degrees, remove it from the heat. It will be a deep amber by this point. Stir the mixture slowly, as you do not want to incorporate too much air; this can result in cloudy candy. Continue to stir the mixture until it falls from a spoon in a steady stream.

Around 340 degrees. Cooling the syrup by stirring gently.

When your syrup has reached this point, you want to make your “doodads” by swirling the syrup over the parchment paper, creating abstract sugar art to accessorize your banana splits. I found that I should have waited an additional minute or so before starting my doodads because they were easier to make as the syrup cooled more. Do not over-obsess about your doodads, as they will likely not be perfect, nor will they all look alike. Once your doodads are made, allow them to cool on the parchment.

Doodads.

While your doodads cool, put the remaining syrup back on the heat until you see faint wisps of smoke; when this happens, remove the pan from the heat and add an equal amount of heavy cream. The caramel will bubble and hiss.

Syrup back on the heat.

Cream added once smoke was seen.

I added nearly 2 C of cream, roughly guessing as to how much cream to add. Put the caramel back over the heat and cook for ~3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not be alarmed if a glob of caramel seems to be in the bottom of the pan, as it will melt again when you put it back over the heat. The sauce for the dessert is now complete. If possible, make this in advance, so it has time to cool down. When ready to serve dessert, quarter one banana per person, leaving the peels on.

Bananas and sugar.

One banana, quartered, per person.

Rub the exposed surfaces of the bananas in sugar, and then remove the peels.

Bananas coated in sugar.

Place the sugared bananas on a rack over foil, and brulee them with a torch until they are golden brown.

Sugared bananas over foil.

Torching the bananas, with a helper.

Golden brown bananas.

At this point, all of the components of your dessert are ready. For plating, put the caramel sauce in a squeeze bottle and squirt it in a decorative pattern on the plate. Top the sauce with four banana pieces, layered like Lincoln logs in two layers.

Caramel with bananas.

Add a scoop of ice cream (I used store-bought vanilla, or you could use Alton’s vanilla ice cream recipe), and top with a doodad.

Finished banana split.

We ate these banana splits as dessert after a regular weeknight dinner, and the dessert definitely stole the show. The great things about this dish are the contrasting textures and temperatures. While the caramel sauce is smooth, sweet, and smokey, the bananas are warm, moist, and coated with a crunchy shellac. In addition to the bananas, you have cold ice cream and a crunchy doodad. This is a great dessert, and I would definitely make it again. The resulting presentation is impressive, especially given the effort put in. I can see why my dad wanted to make this when he originally watched the episode. It is a great dessert.

Episode 24 – “Seeing Red”

Posted: December 8, 2014 in Season 2
Tags: alton brown, canned tomatoes, good eats, mire poix, pasta, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, sherry vinegar, tomato, tomato sauce

The 24th episode of Good Eats is all about tomatoes. Specifically, Alton Brown makes a case for the value of canned tomatoes in the pantry, arguing that fresh tomatoes should really only be used when they are in their peak season and locally grown. Why would one opt for canned tomatoes when fresh tomatoes are readily available in the produce department year-round? Alton points out that “fresh” does not necessarily equal “ripe.” I see his point, as a tomato purchased in December in Washington has not ripened naturally, but rather has been artificially ripened by exposure to ethylene gas. While these tomatoes may look shiny and red, they are often rock hard and lacking flavor. In contrast, with canned tomatoes, you know you are purchasing fruit that was picked when ripe. While nothing compares to a fresh tomato from your own garden, we pretty much always have canned tomatoes in our pantry, as we often through them in soups, pasta sauces, etc.

I happen to be married to someone who does not much care for fresh tomatoes. Bizarre, I know. While he will eat tomato sauces, salsas, etc., he will pull tomatoes off of sandwiches and salads. Even more bizarre is the fact that my brother is the same way. Tomatoes were not my favorite thing when I was a kid, but I cannot get enough of the tomatoes that come from our garden. I suppose I will have to settle for the canned variety for several more months. Sigh…

Pantry Friendly Tomato Sauce

In this episode, Alton makes an all-purpose tomato sauce, using canned tomatoes. For making a tomato sauce, it is best to use canned tomatoes that have had the least cooking, which rules out pureed and stewed tomatoes. Crushed tomatoes are also not a great option, as they have many of their seeds, which can contribute some bitterness to a sauce. That leaves diced and whole tomatoes, and Alton opts for whole tomatoes because they are less processed than diced tomatoes.

Tomato sauce ingredients: canned whole tomatoes, sherry vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, onion, carrot, celery, olive oil, garlic, capers, white wine, Kosher salt, and black pepper.

To start this recipe, strain your canned tomatoes into a saucepan.

Tomatoes straining into saucepan.

Split the tomatoes open with your fingers and scrape the seeds into the drain, getting rid of as many seeds as possible.

Seeded tomatoes.

To the tomato juice in the pan, add sherry vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, oregano, and basil. I had trouble finding sherry vinegar, but finally found it at a natural market.

Strained tomato liquid.

Tomato liquid plus sherry vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, oregano, and basil.

Heat this tomato liquid over high heat until bubbles stack up and then reduce the heat to a simmer. You will want to cook this liquid until it reduces by 50%, and then remove it from the heat.

Reducing tomato syrup.

While your tomato syrup reduces, it is time to prep the mire poix, which is the classic French combination of onion, celery, and carrot. The ideal ratio for a mire poix is two parts onion to one part carrot and celery. Chop the carrot first, as it will take the longest to cook, and add it to a roasting pan set over two burners. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil, and let the carrot start to sweat while you chop the onion and celery.

Chopped carrot.

Carrot in roasting pan with olive oil.

It is ideal to cut the vegetables uniformly, so they will cook evenly. Add the onion, celery, and four gloves of garlic to the pan.

Onion and celery.

Mire poix in the roasting pan.

Chopped garlic.

Alton simply smashed his garlic with a marble slab, but I opted to chop my garlic since I knew I would not be pureeing my sauce, and therefore did not want huge chunks of garlic in the sauce. Continue sweating the mire poix for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. At this point, add your tomatoes and capers to the pan and put the pan under the broiler.

Tomatoes and capers added to vegetables.

Broil the vegetable mixture until the tomatoes start to caramelize, which should take 15-20 minutes. You will want to stir the vegetables every five minutes or so. When the vegetables are done, remove the roasting pan from the oven and add some white wine.

Vegetables after broiling.

White wine.

This will serve to release some alcohol-soluble flavors from the tomatoes, giving the sauce more dimension. Combine the cooked vegetable mixture with the reduced tomato syrup, add some black pepper, and mix. You may need to add some Kosher salt too, which I did.

Reduced syrup.

Combined syrup and vegetables, plus black pepper.

Depending on the end use of your sauce, you can leave the sauce as it is, mash it lightly with a potato masher, or puree it completely. As we were to be eating our sauce over pasta, I took Alton’s recommendation to lightly mash the sauce, leaving it with some texture.

Completed sauce after light mashing.

For a pizza sauce, or to cook meatballs in the sauce, you would want to puree the sauce to a smooth consistency. I served my tomato sauce over penne pasta, and sprinkled a little (okay, maybe a lot) of goat cheese over the top.

Tomato sauce over penne with goat cheese.

Ted and I thought this was a great tomato sauce. The vegetables gave it some texture, it was slightly sweet, had some heat from the red pepper flakes, and tang from the capers. As someone who frequently throws together pantry tomato sauces, this is one I will be adding to my repertoire. I will make this again, puree it, and freeze in batches for homemade pizza. If you are looking for an easy, healthy, year-round tomato sauce that tastes much better than commercial jarred sauces, be sure to give this one a go.

As a side note, I prepped my pasta for our dinner per Alton’s newer recommended method, which I mentioned in my previous pasta post here. Alton argues that there is no reason to boil water prior to cooking pasta. Instead, cover the dry pasta with cold water and put it on the burner, cooking until the pasta is al dente.

Dry noodles in pot.

Noodles in cold water.

Al dente penne.

Really, after cooking pasta this way (I’ve done it a few times), I have to say that Alton is right; there really is no need to boil the water first.

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Episode 33 – “Chips for Sister Marsha”

Episode 32 – “The Remains of the Bird”

Episode 31 – “What’s Up Duck”

Episode 30 – “Egg Files II: Man with a Flan”

Episode 29 – “Mussel Bound”

Episode 28 – “American Pickle”

Episode 27 – “Ear Apparent”

Episode 26 – “A Rib for All Seasons”

Episode 25 – “Citizen Cane”

Episode 24 – “Seeing Red”