Categories
Comfort Food Italian Main Dish Noodles and Pasta

Spaghetti Carbonara

One of my favorite pasta dishes is spaghetti alla carbonara. This Roman dish – whose origins are disputed (we’ll talk about that tonight) – is super easy to make, especially if you know a few tricks. It’s also super comforting: it’s basically breakfast-for-dinner (eggs, bacon, cheese) + pasta! What could be better?

We’re going to use a recipe from Serious Eats as a guide, check it out here: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/12/pasta-carbonara-sauce-recipe.html

That will give you the basic ingredients that you’ll need. I know that you may not have everything and that’s ok! You can substitute any kind of pasta if you don’t have spaghetti (I’m going to use buccatini – my favorite long pasta) and can use any cured meat product (including bacon) if you don’t have pancetta (or even leave it out for vegetarian version)! Regardless, you should have the ingredients prepped and ready to go. One addition – if you have it – will be a couple of cloves of minced garlic.

From an ingredient perspective you’ll need:

1 lb. of pasta (preferably a long shape like spaghetti or bucatini but anything will work), 3-4 oz. of pancetta, bacon (chopped), or guanciale, 6-8 eggs, 1-2 oz. of parmesan or pecorino, 1-2 cloves of garlic, olive oil, S&P

From an equipment perspective you’ll need:

A pot to cook the pasta in (and a strainer), a pan to saute the pork-y product in, a heat proof bowl (e.g. something porcelain or ceramic), tongs, and serving bowls

Here’s the finished product!

Categories
chicken Comfort Food Main Dish

Chicken Tikka Masala

The recipe below is the original from Grace Parisi. It is great as is and I owe her for teaching me how to cook this. You can improv on this recipe pretty easily with little to no impact on the finished product. Things I typically do:

  • Add about a tablespoon of garam masal spice blend to the marinade
  • Marinating time doesn’t need to be more than 1 hour
  • No need to scrape off the yogurt before cooking the chicken
  • Grill the chicken, turns out better and is easier than broiling
  • If you don’t have almonds substitute almond butter…or skip it
  • If you don’t have cream substitute yogurt
  • Experiment with how much of the different spices you use – I often add more chile powder and garam masala
  • Add ½ c minced cilantro at the end of the cooking process
  • Serve with yogurt spooned over the tp

Grace Parisi’s Chicken Tikka Masala – from FoodandWine.com (https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-tikka-masala)

Ingredients

MASALA MARINADE

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

Salt and freshly ground pepper

CHICKEN

2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, fat trimmed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup blanched whole almonds

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala

1 1/2 teaspoons pure chile powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

One 35-ounce can peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, juices reserved

Pinch of sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Directions

  • MAKE THE MASALA MARINADE: In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cayenne and turmeric. Season with salt and pepper.
  • PREPARE THE CHICKEN: Using a sharp knife, make a few shallow slashes in each piece of chicken. Add the chicken to the marinade, turn to coat and refrigerate overnight.
  • Preheat the broiler and position a rack about 8 inches from the heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade; scrape off as much of the marinade as possible. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and spread the pieces on a baking sheet. Broil the chicken, turning once or twice, until just cooked through and browned in spots, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut it into 2-inch pieces.
  • Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add the almonds and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a plate and let cool completely. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until finely ground.
  • In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes.
  • Add the garam masala, chile powder and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juices and the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the cream and ground almonds and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in the chicken; simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, and serve.
  • Serve With Steamed basmati rice, rice pilaf or warm nan.
Categories
Main Dish Seafood

Grilled (or Sautéed) Shrimp

This is a general guide to grilling shrimp. The flavors I use below are Mexican(ish) as I Iike to use them for shrimp tacos but don’t feel beholden to them.

For some science-y details, check out this site:

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/07/grilled-shrimp-garlic-lemon-food-lab-recipe.html

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs large (15-20 per pound) shrimp, peeled and deveined. You can use peel-on shrimp if you want – they do turn out better but you’ll (presumably, I’m not judging) want to peel them after cooking
  • ½ t baking soda (makes the shrimp snappier and juicier)
  • 1 T kosher salt
  • 1 T Mexican hot sauce (I like Valentina)
  • 2 T lime juice (fresh, duh)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 T honey
  • Chopped cilantro and lime wedges for garnish

Instructions

  • Mix shrimp with all other ingredients in a large bowl until well combined
  • Place bowl in the fridge and let marinate for 1-2 hours
  • Get your grill REALLY hot – like as hot as you can get it
  • 5 minutes before you’re ready to cook, put a grill basket on the grill to pre-heat (or, even better, put them on double-pronged skewers)
  • Spray the basket w/ grilling approved cooking spray (don’t use the regular stuff unless you’re impartial to your eyebrows)
  • Have a serving dish ready to go
  • Pour the shrimp into the basket. No need to drain the marinade – it will flare up for a second but that’s a good thing for charring
  • Cook 3-4 minutes stirring regularly until shrimp is just done
  • The shrimp is done when pink and just opaque
  • Remove to the serving dish and garnish w/ cilantro and lime wedges
  • Alternately – heat a skillet (cast-iron on nonstick) – on high heat, add 1 T of olive oil, add the shrimp and cook, stirring constantly, until just cooked through about 4 minutes.

Taco Thoughts

Serve the shrimp with warmed corn (or flour) tortillas, guacamole, crema (or sour cream), shredded cabbage (or slaw – that recipe is coming), pickled red onions (that recipe is coming, too), salsa, etc.

Other Flavors

If you don’t want Mexican(ish) shrimp you can just use garlic and lemon juice. You can go for an Asian vibe with soy sauce and Sriracha…really the world’s your oyster (or, in this case, shrimp).  

Categories
chicken Comfort Food Main Dish Uncategorized

Roast Chicken

The best way to cook a whole chicken is to spatchcock it and that’s not only because it sounds dirty. When you spatchcock a chicken (or any other kind of poultry), you remove the backbone and flatten it. This process has three benefits:

  1. The flattened fowl is more evenly thick and that = even cooking
  2. The squished squawker is, overall, not as thick and that = faster cooking
  3. You get to say spatchcocked a lot = more entertaining cooking

Start this process a couple of hours before you want to cook the bird so it has time to marinate.

For a detailed guide to this process, check out this site (I LOVE seriouseats.com): https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/01/the-food-lab-how-to-roast-a-butterflied-spatchcocked-chicken.html

Ingredients

  • 3-4 pound whole chicken (organic is preferred)
  • 2-3 T spice rub of your choice (more on that below)
  • ½ C mayonnaise

Instructions

  • Place the bird back side up on a cutting board
  • Using kitchen shears, cut down each side of the backbone to remove it
    • This may take some effort. You’re strong, stick with it
    • As a guide, the piece of backbone that you’ll remove will be about 1.5 inches wide – you don’t want to cut out too much of the meat
  • Grab the two sides of the chicken and sort of pull it apart to start to flatten it
  • Clean up any offending ‘bits’ (fat, blood, whathaveyou). No need to rinse the chicken, that just makes a mess
  • Flip the bird over and push down on the breast to fully flatten. You may need to flip the legs around, you want the whole bird as even as possible
  • Create a pocket under the skin on the breast by poking your fingers under the skin and wiggling them around
  • Sprinkle the entire bird including under the skin (in that little pocket you just made) with the rub. on both sides
    • See notes below on rubs
  • Slather (that’s a technical term) the bird (again, both sides, and under the breast skin) with the mayo            
    • I use mayo because the fat and protein in it help the skin brown and crisp (no, it won’t taste like mayo)
  • Set the bird on a wire rack in a roasting pan, put it in the fridge and let it sit for at least an hour, longer is fine too
  • Preheat your oven (on convection if you have it) to 425 degrees
  • Roast the bird, legs towards the back, for 40-50 minutes
    • Check the temperature starting at about 35 minutes
    • The bird is done when the breasts are about 150 degrees and the legs around 170 degrees
    • If the skin gets too brown, cover it with foil
  • Remove the chicken from the oven, cover it with foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes
  • Carve – first remove the legs, then split the breast in half lengthwise and then again cross wise. You’ll have six pieces total
  • Place the chicken on a warmed platter and serve

A Word on Rubs

You can use whatever rub you like – a pre-made one from the store, a homemade one, whatever. Seriously. Don’t stress. If you don’t have a rub, use a tablespoon or so of (Kosher) salt and lots of pepper. When I cook this on the ‘gram I use 2 tablespoons of a commercial porchetta rub from Clif Family Wines (check them out – great wines and food products (and energy bars) to which I add 3 minced garlic cloves, ¼ teaspoon or so of crushed red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon of ground fennel, and 1 teaspoon of ground rosemary. I mix the whole thing up with my mortar and pestle but you can use a spice grinder, food processor, or a large hammer.

Categories
Miscellaneous

It’s About Time I Did This

I love to cook. What’s more, I love to cook for my friends and family. Ultimately, I use cooking and food as a way to bring people together. None of this is news to those who know me. People often ask me for recipes for things I’ve made for them and I’ve frankly struggled to provide them because of the way I cook — if I use a recipe at all I almost always modify it. Sometimes I cook completely off the cuff, making things up as I go. Other times I combine elements of four different recipes for the same dish, using the best parts of each.

Fast forward to the present day and the unprecedented crisis we’re experiencing due to the coronavirus pandemic. The social distancing we are practicing has separated us from the people we normally host on a regular basis (which is devastating to my wife and I – especially when the various kids in our lives ask when they are next coming over.

Thanks to a suggestion from my friend Andria Bever, I started thinking about how I could share my cooking with others. It started with the Instagram Stories I’ve done the last couple of nights (if you’re interested, follow me @chezhoff). Those have been well received and after several people have asked for recipes – boom – this site was born.

I’ll post recipes periodically. Some will be more fully thought out than others. Many won’t have been “tested” in terms of quantities and times (I’ll try to come close but, well, it’s hard to do when you’re an improvisational cook like I am). I’m new at this and am not good at measuring – if you try something and it doesn’t work I’m (truly) sorry and want your feedback.

Let me know things you’d like to see me cook and/or want recipes you’ve been thinking of making but haven’t. Love to you all!