“Power to the Pilaf”

One of the advantages of doing a food blog?  Everyone wants you to cook for them.  One of the disadvantages?  Everyone wants you to cook for them.  It’s just the nature of the beast – I’ll inevitably cook for certain groups of my friends more often than others.  Case in point – one of my friends commented after reading my last few entries, “Why don’t you ever cook for us when you come over on Mondays?”  My response?  “Well, how about this Monday?”  For, you see, I’d already thought about using that venue to make the next recipe – rice pilaf.

Now, pilaf is an undercooked dish in America, often falling by the wayside due to unfamiliarity and the ease that comes from grabbing a box of rice.  You’d be hard-pressed to get the flavors you’d find in a really good pilaf, though, in a boxed mix.  Is it more difficult than a box mix?  Sure, but not that much.  All you need to do for a pilaf is a few steps.  Sweat the aromatics, toast the rice in the same fat, add a cooking liquid, bring to a boil, lid, and cook in the oven until the rice has soaked up all the liquid.  You can add anything you want to the pilaf, but skip one of those steps, and you’re really not following the pilaf method.  In this case, Alton has a decidedly Spanish flair to his rice – onions and red bell peppers are sweated, and an infusion of bay leaf, orange zest and saffron gets added to the dish along with the chicken broth.  Frozen peas get added on top of that, as they will fully cook in the short time in the oven.  Alton also advocates an unusual manner of lidding – between the lid and the pot, he suggests placing a wet tea towel to prevent liquid from dripping back down into the rice.  I followed that instruction, but since I’ve not had much experience with pilafs, I can’t say whether it helped, hindered, or did nothing.

Garnishing the dish was some chopped pistachios and golden raisins, and it was a great accompaniment to the grilled chicken breast and steamed broccoli that was also on the menu.  It was quite delicious, and there was just enough for one or two meals after that.  So, another recipe down, and another group of satisfied appetites!

Next time, things take a darker turn.

Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/rice-pilaf-recipe/index.html

The Other Half of “Pantry Raid I: Use Your Noodle”

There’s one more recipe in this chapter, and it’s just as simple and easy as the spaghetti dish.  In fact, it’s pretty much the exact same recipe, but we make a few trade outs.  We swap the spaghetti for fettucine, we replace the garlic with fresh parsley, and switch up the olive oil for unsalted butter.  Oh yes, and saltines.  The pasta and the crackers were the only ingredients I didn’t have, so I invited my parents over for a simple Sunday dinner of pasta and salad.

Much like the spaghetti, the recipe’s incredibly simple.  Cook the pasta exactly how the spaghetti recipe went.  After that’s done, heat a pan and melt some unsalted butter.  Once the fat is nice and hot, add a handful of saltines and saute.  The crackers will soak up the butter and brown beautifully.  Once the sauce is done – and this won’t take more than three or four minutes – add everything together and mix.

This was good, but not my favorite recipe thus far.  It’s not a difficult recipe, and easily one that can be made when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands.  Heck, it could easily take some more additions as well, maybe something meaty like shrimp, or some additional herbal additions.  All in all, a quick, tasty dinner that had my perpetually dieting Dad go back for seconds.

Next time, we stay with starch and ponder the pilaf.

Recipes: None!  This was brand new for the book, so no recipe is included.

goodeatseaten – Now with Recipes!

I’ve had a few requests for the recipes Alton uses in his books.  I’m sort of loathe to give them out – that moves towards the IP debate, and I’d rather stay out of it.  After all, if you want the recipes as they’re written, you can buy the books and support Alton for his hard work and love of cooking.  However, I understand the sentiment.  So, I’ve decided to do the next best thing – include links for the recipes at foodnetwork.com!  I’ll be doing this for all recipes moving forward, but this post is about correcting past mistakes.  Below is a list of all recipes from each episode I’ve cooked thus far.  There will be a few recipes I can’t give out, as these are exclusives from the book, but you’ll get the lion’s share of what I’m making.  Enjoy!

Steak Your Claim: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe/index.html

This Spud’s For You: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/mashers-recipe/index.html

The Egg-Files I: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/scrambled-eggs-unscrambled-recipe/index.html

Salad Daze: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/veni-vedi-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/hail-caesar-salad-recipe/index.html

A Bird in the Pan: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/broiled-butterflied-chicken-recipe/index.html

Churn, Baby, Churn: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/serious-vanilla-ice-cream-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/key-lime-sorbet-recipe/index.html

The Dough Also Rises: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/southern-biscuits-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/shortcake-recipe/index.html

Gravy Confidential: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/white-roux-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/sawmill-gravy-recipe/index.html

A Bowl of Onion: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/french-onion-soup-recipe/index.html

Hook, Line & Dinner: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/pan-fried-fish-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/striped-bass-in-salt-dome-recipe/index.html

Pantry Raid I: Use Your Noodle: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/pasta-recipe/index.html

 

By the way, that’s most of the first season in roughly six months.  Not too bad, but I’ll definitely need to speed things up if I want to get this done in less time than the show ran!