This is one of the simplest but also tastiest sauces you can make. It's perfect when you have tomatoes that are starting to get a little old, soft and wrinkly. Just take those, cut them in half and place cut side up in a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil, some chopped garlic and shallots, and a little salt and pepper. Add some fresh herbs if you have them.
Roast at 200°C for about half an hour. The tomatoes should have softened quite a bit and released some liquid. Tip all the contents of the pan into a mixer. Add a little pinch of sugar and a little apple cider vinegar, and blitz until smooth. (Be careful, it's hot!)
Pour into a pot and cook until it's as thick as you like it. At this point, you could certainly add some browned beef mince if you'd like. Season to taste with more salt, sugar and vinegar.
No matter what you’re grilling this summer, chances are good you’re going to have more hot coals than food to cook on it, which makes baba ghanoush the perfect post-barbecue recipe. Instead of those glowing embers going gently into the sweet night, why not grill up some eggplant, and make one of the world’s best vegetable dips?
You can cook the eggplant any way you want, but charcoal is my favorite. Next best would be cooked over a gas burner, but that can really mess up your stove, so I guess the real next best is baked at 400 F. until they collapse, and get very soft.
As you can see in the clip, this is not a very complicated recipe. As long as this is seasoned thoughtfully, you should be enjoying a wonderfully savory, yet refreshing dip. Just be sure to pay attention to the salt. Eggplant, like almost every vegetable, needs a good amount of salt to bring out the flavor.
The difference between a terrible dip, and a stellar spread can be as little as a half teaspoon of salt. Wait for the mixture to cool completely in the fridge, taste it ice-cold, and adjust with more salt, as needed. Same goes for the lemon, cayenne, and the tahini.
If you grill these after a cookout, but have had too much fun, and don’t feel like doing any more work, you can peel them the next day, and this will work out the same. I hope you give this delicious baba ghanoush a try soon. Enjoy!
Over the weekend, I was treated to the best homemade egg salad I've ever had. It was made by a great cook who didn't want to reveal her specific recipe... however, she did tell me it's basically mayo, dijon mustard, dill, parsley and of course salt and pepper. But the big revelation was her technique for making it the PERFECT fluffy consistency... she smashes the hard-boiled eggs with a fork. Brilliant! I've never tried that before, but you can better your bottom dollar that I will now (I like to talk like Orphan Annie). Soooooo good.
We will be traveling a bit this week, but I will try and post as much as I can. And heading to the Today Show next week, more on that to come!
We’re going to take a couple days off for the holiday, but wanted to wish you a very safe, and festive 4th of July!
Fabulous summer cookouts are just one of the many things that makes America great, and I hope you’re involved one of those tomorrow; preferably serving something you saw on Food Wishes (like the no-baked cheesecake flag cake pictured here). Enjoy the food, the fireworks, and possibly the adult beverages, and we’ll be back next week with brand-new videos, as usual. Stay tuned!
Remember how fireworks were both exciting and completely terrifying as a kid? I was always convinced the droopy ones would fall from the sky and land on me. We saw some from our neighborhood last night, and Etta went to bed biting her nails, poor thing, but I hope she fell asleep having awesome, magical dreams about them. Here are some treat ideas for your happy weekends!
I'm not the best at following directions. If I feel like I can do something on my own, I will try before really thinking it through, or looking at an instruction manual. Why must there be so many words? So many steps? So many, before you begin's? I don't want to before I begin! I wanna begin!
I'm a child. This impatience can get me in trouble in the kitchen. I see a photo on pinterest and think, I can do that! I'm going to do that! And then I attempt without really thinking it through. This Bacon American Flag Pizza is case in point. I saw this photo, started jumping up and down (no really), and grabbing things in my fridge. I happened to have pizza dough in the freezer, fresh mozzarella cheese, purple potatoes (surprising), bacon (less surprising) and pizza sauce. Who needs directions!?
Well, had I looked at the ACTUAL recipe (found here), I would have realized I needed to bake the bacon first to get it crispy. And I would have realized that using alfredo sauce instead of a tomato-based sauce would have kept the cheese whiter. And if/when I make this again, I will use shredded mozzarella cheese. Oh well, you can still tell that it's a flag, right? It tasted good!
Now I want to make a patriotic dessert. Any ideas?
Sometimes, when I think I have absolutely NOTHING in the house to cook for dinner, I remember that I have tomatoes and I have pasta, therefore I have a meal. By slowly cooking cherry tomatoes until they blister and pop, you create a delicious sauce, and it couldn't be easier. I just heat up one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, add the tomatoes, season them with salt and pepper, and cook them for however long I want. Sometimes as little as 10 minutes, sometimes for as long as 30. Sometimes I add minced garlic or shallots. Sometimes fresh basil at the end (and a dash of cream?!). But I always add them to cooked pasta, and I always top it with lots of Parmesan cheese.
I hope you're all getting ready to enjoy your holiday weekends! I wrote another article for the Today Show Parenting Team about summer... and how I'm TRYING to keep it simple and fun (and messy... I keep chanting "let kids be messy, let kids be messy" - it helps with the OCD).
These colors don’t run, but they do stain, so I recommend eating this delicious, red, white and blueberry chicken outdoors, preferably at some type of 4th of July barbecue. While the Independence Day wordplay was very much intentional, this grilled chicken is no gimmick.
Smoky, spicy meats have been paired with sweet-and-sour, fruit-based sauces since we’ve had cooks, so that this combo works beautifully is no big surprise. And yes, other juicy fruit like peaches, or other berries will work nicely.
Like I said in the video, I made my spice rub extra hot, so I could really take advantage of the cooling effects of the sweetness in the sauce. Sweet cancels out heat on your palette, so you can kind of push things a bit if you want. The measurements below are what I used, but you should, and must adjust.
As far as chicken doneness goes, I recommend checking with a thermometer. If you cook a lot of chicken, it’s fairly easy to tell by feel, but why take a chance? I usually go to 150 F, which left to rest for a minute, should be safe, and very juicy. So, if you’re looking for a very tasty, slightly unusual, appropriately named chicken recipe, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp kosher salt 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground dry chipotle
1/2 tsp cayenne 2 cloves minced garlic
For the blueberry gastrique:
2 cups blueberries
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
*splash of water as needed to adjust thickness (after the blueberries start cooking)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
*If you make the sauce ahead, your sauce will thicken, and you will probably need to thin it out with some water. When tasting for seasoning, remember this is going to go on highly seasoned meat.
If you want to be a food writer, I highly recommend that you read Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob, but if writing a cookbook is your goal, you’ll also want to check out The Joy of Writing a Great Cookbook by Kimberly Yoirio. This no nonsense book takes you through every step of the process with tons of examples. Yorio has been a cookbook publicist, agent and co-authored several books, so she speaks from personal experience. From building your platform to proposals to social media this book really covers it all.
Ready to go? Use the book as your guide, then enter to win a cookbook contract, sponsored by Page Street Publishing Co. Contest ends 8/1/15
I spoke with Kim about cookbook publishing and here’s what she had to say:
Is it just my imagination, or is cookbook publishing experiencing a boom right now?
It’s not your imagination at all. Cookbooks are selling really well right now and more and more publishers want to get into the business of making them. Cookbooks are one of the few categories (like illustrated children’s books) that aren’t impacted by digital books. Although there have been some brilliant e-cookbooks produced (I like Nancy Silverton and Tyler Florence’s), most people still want to buy and own (and occasionally cook from) real books, hard or soft-cover. Also, cookbooks can sell for years—so they make a good business for publishers.
What trends do you see in cookbook publishing at the moment?
Oh you mean outside of the zillion or so Paleo cookbooks on the New York Times bestsellers' list?Celebrity chef cookbooks continue to sell well, baking books are a safe bet, as are cookbooks written by bloggers with big followings.
What is the best advice you can give to first time wannabe cookbook authors?
Work hard to develop your unique voice. What makes you and your cooking different and special? Just because you take pretty pictures and your friends like your recipes, doesn’t mean you will be a best-selling cookbook author. In addition to your voice, you need to develop a platform to prove your marketability.
How long does an author typically have to turn in a manuscript once the contract is signed?
Delivery times TOTALLY vary depending on the author. An average is one year, but it can be as short as three months if you are a hot commodity and the publisher wants to get your book into the marketplace as soon as possible.
What are the best reasons to write cookbooks?
They can be validation of a life’s work, a snapshot of a great moment in culinary time or even a historical record. They can be highly personal or highly academic. Folksy or scientific. At the very least they should be a fantastic collection of recipes that work time and time again, in every kitchen around the country. Disclaimer: I received this book as a review copy and this post includes affiliate links. I was not compensated monetarily for this or any other post on Cooking with Amy.
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