Author Archives: robertaklapper

By Genevieve Ko

The crackly almond roof of this summer-in-a-dish dessert gives way to jammy berries begging to be swirled with ice cream. To make this dead simple treat even easier, the crisp topping is simply stirred with melted butter, which binds together the dry ingredients while giving the mixture a sturdiness that holds up against the juicy fruit. Sliced almonds require no chopping and add a delicate crunch, but chopped pecans would be delicious here too.

(You might want to try this topping recipe with the peach crisp also.)

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

For the topping:

• 1 lemon (Taste your blueberries. If they are not sweet, omit the lemon.)
• ½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar
• 1 cup/136 grams all-purpose flour
• ½ cup/52 grams sliced almonds, toasted if you’d like
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• ½ cup/114 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• For the filling:
• ½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar
• 1½ packed tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 to 2¼ pounds blueberries
• Ice cream, for serving

PREPARATION

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prepare the topping: Zest the lemon directly over the sugar in a medium bowl and mix with a fork. (Save the zested lemon for the filling.) Mix in the flour, almonds and salt.
3. The cooled melted butter has likely separated, so stir it until evenly pale yellow, then drizzle over the dry ingredients. Stir lightly and quickly until the mixture forms pea-sized crumbles with gravelly bits; don’t overmix. Refrigerate until ready to use. The topping can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
4. Make the filling: Whisk the sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl to break up starchy clumps. Add the blueberries and squeeze in 1 tablespoon lemon juice from the reserved zested lemon. Toss until evenly coated, then scrape into a 1½- to 2-quart casserole (such as a 9-inch square dish or deep-dish pie plate).
5. Spread the berry filling in an even layer, then cover with the topping, leaving no gaps. Place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips.
6. Bake until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling like lava, 40 to 45 minutes. You don’t want to burn your mouth eating the crisp hot, so let it cool for at least 15 minutes and preferably an hour or so because the filling firms up as it cools. It can be served warm or at room temperature, ideally with ice cream.

By Yossy Arefi

I am including 2 fruit crisp recipes. Serve them warm, ideally with ice cream.

Choose peaches that are just ripe for baking, as super-ripe peaches will turn into mush during this dessert’s long bake time. In this crisp, the peaches are peeled for the most luscious texture — and you can do so using a standard Y-shaped peeler (no need to boil a pot of water). That said, if you don’t have the time or energy to peel your peaches, you can leave them on for a slightly more rustic dessert.

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 8 servings

• 3 pounds peaches (about 8), peeled and cut into ½-inch slices
• ⅓ cup/67 grams granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Fine salt
• 1 cup/128 grams all-purpose flour
• ½ packed cup/100 grams light brown sugar
• ½ cup/45 grams rolled oats
• ½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter, soft but cool and cut into pieces
• Vanilla ice cream (optional), to serve

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the center.
2. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, granulated sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine, transfer to an 8-by-8 inch baking dish and press down gently to compact the fruit in the dish.
3. To a medium bowl, add the flour, light brown sugar, oats and ¼ teaspoon salt; stir to combine. Add the butter and use your fingers or a pastry blender to smash the butter into the flour mixture until evenly mixed and clumps form.
4. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the peaches, then bake the crisp until the topping is golden brown and the peach juices are bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes.
5. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream on top, if using.

(Mirin is a rice wine found in Asian groceries. It has a low alcohol content which cooks off once it’s heated through.)

This is my own recipe for a delicious roast chicken. There are no exact measurements. You just have to trust your taste.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, brined

olive oil

soy sauce (This recipe may take more soy sauce than you would expect.)

mirin

black pepper (optional, garlic powder)

1 large onion, thinly sliced, 2-3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and halved, 1-2 large carrots, sliced in rounds

Instructions:

Wash and brine the whole chicken. Do not rinse off brine, but pat dry with paper towels. Heat oven to 400.* Place chicken in a roasting pan that has a cover. Pour some olive oil over chicken and spread with hands. Pour some soy sauce on the chicken and do the same. Pour some mirin on the chicken, less than the amount of soy sauce, and spread. Add some freshly ground black pepper and garlic powder, if desired. Arrange onions, potatoes and carrots around the chicken. Pour a little soy sauce on the potato halves. Roast uncovered in oven for 20 minutes. Then cover the chicken and reduce the heat to 350.* Bake for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours more, basting, and tasting the gravy in between. Take off the cover the last 15 minutes if chicken needs further browning.

Tasting the gravy: You will need to taste it to see if you need to add more soy sauce. If yes, pour some directly onto the chicken. Then baste. It should taste a little salty and a little sweet. Trust yourself. It’s perfect if you like it!

Brining your poultry, whether it be chicken, turkey, or other types of poultry has long been one of the top secrets of top chefs and restaurants. Brining your lean meats is an excellent way to keep your poultry from drying out during the cooking process.

What Is the Brine Ratio? 

The basic ratio of salt to water for a brine is 4 tablespoons of kosher salt per 1 quart (4 cups) of water. If you are using fine table salt, reduce the amount to 3 tablespoons. Keep in mind, also, that different kosher salt brands vary in how salty they actually are. When in doubt, cut down on the amount of salt or the amount of time you brine the item.

Instructions for a larger brine:

1. This quick chicken brine recipe calls for 1 cup of salt per gallon of water. You will most likely need more than 1 gallon of water. You want to cover your chicken pieces completely. If you use 4 gallons of water, you will use 4 cups of salt and so on. 
2. Wash all of the chicken pieces or meat that you are going to brine.  
3. Fill up your pot about halfway with cold water, measuring the water as you put it in so you will know how much you have put in the pot. 
4. Add 1 cup of salt per gallon of water. 
5. Stir the salt in the water until it has dissolved. If you want a quick way to do this, you can add a few cups of water to a small pot. Heat it on medium heat until the salt has dissolved, then add it to the rest of the water in the larger container. 
6. To flavor the chicken, you can add herbs and spices to the brine, such as rosemary, bay leaves, black pepper, or any other spice you desire.
7. Place the chicken pieces or other meat into the pot or container. 
8. Soak for up to 12 hours.  (I usually brine a chicken for two hours before roasting.)
9. After the soak time, remove the chicken pieces or other meat from the container and pat dry with paper towels or allow to drip dry on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. Do not rinse off brine.

This is a wonderful recipe from a Greek cooking class.

Ingredients:

2 ounces extra virgin olive oil (4 Tablespoons)

1 pound fresh spinach, washed , drained, and chopped

2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 bunch dill, minced

8 ounces ricotta cheese

3 eggs

1 pound feta cheese broken into large pieces

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 package of phyllo dough

1/2 pound butter, clarified

pastry brush

How to make clarified butter

1. Melt butter in a 1 quart saucepan over low heat, without stirring, 10-15 minutes, or until melted, and solids separate from fat.
2. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Skim off foam. Slowly pour off clear yellow liquid, leaving behind the residue of milk solids that has settled to bottom of pan. Cover; store refrigerated. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* F

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the spinach and scallions and sauté until wilted. Add the dill and continue to sauté briefly.Cool and drain off excess liquid.

Combine the ricotta, eggs and broken feta and mix together.

Add the spinach mixture to the cheese mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Open package of phyllo dough and cut entire package in half lengthwise to make two long rectangles. Place one on top of the other. Keep covered with a damp dish towel while making each triangle.

Take out one rectangular piece and brush lightly with melted clarified butter and place second sheet on top, brushing again with clarified butter.

Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise to make one long narrow rectangle. Brush lightly with melted butter. Place 2 teaspoons of the filling in lower left hand corner. Fold the lower right hand corner to the opposite side of the rectangle, covering the filling, and making a triangle. Continue folding the rest of the triangle in this manner, much like folding a flag. Repeat with the remaining phyllo sheets and the filling.

Arrange on a parchment lined pan, brush with melted butter, and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Note: If you need a video, search “how to fold phyllo dough (spanakopita triangles)” on youtube.com

By J. Kenji López-Alt

A classic side dish for homemade lunch boxes or bento picnics, a Japanese potato salad is made with boiled russet potatoes, vegetables, boiled eggs and, often, ham, all seasoned with rice vinegar and tangy Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. The potatoes in Japanese potato salad are typically roughly mashed, but you can dice them if you prefer a heartier texture. Salting the cucumber in advance helps it retain some crunch when you mix it into the salad, while adding vinegar to the potatoes while they’re still hot helps them absorb more flavor.

Note: My family makes this dish with Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, a salted, drained, and squeezed out cucumber, a thinly sliced raw apple, some chopped white onion, and sometimes, a thinly sliced Japanese fish cake (a processed seafood product). The Kewpie mayonnaise definitely adds an authentic flavor.

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

• 1 pound russet potatoes (about 2 whole large potatoes), peeled and cut into large chunks
• Salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, plus more to taste
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 small Japanese or Persian cucumber, or ½ an English cucumber (about 4 ounces), quartered lengthwise, seeds removed and discarded, and thinly sliced
• 1 small carrot (2 to 3 ounces), quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced (The carrot, just thinly sliced, can be cooked with the potatoes.)
• ½ cup thawed frozen corn kernels or briefly boiled fresh corn kernels (optional)
• ¼ cup chopped radish (about 2 radishes; optional)
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons Kewpie mayonnaise (see Tip), plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Preparation
• Step 1: In a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water by at least 1 inch. Add a few big pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Gently lower the eggs into the pot. Cover, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook until the potatoes are tender and show no resistance when pierced with a knife or cake tester, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander and spread in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle with vinegar and sugar. Set aside until completely cool, at least 15 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water and peel when completely cool.
• Step 2: Meanwhile, toss the cucumber with a big pinch of salt in the bottom of a large bowl and set aside until the potatoes are cool.
• Step 3: When the potatoes are cool, add them to the bowl with the cucumber and lightly mash with the back of a fork until some bite-size chunks still remain.
• Step 4: Add carrot, corn, radish, scallion, mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice. Squeeze the hard-boiled eggs through your clean fingers to break them up, or chop them with a knife and add them to the salad. Stir together and season with pepper, more salt, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice or mayonnaise, or a combination, to taste.
• TIP
• Kewpie is a Japanese brand of mayonnaise with a thicker texture, and tangier, though any mayonnaise you prefer will work in this recipe.

Crispy Garlic Roasted Potatoes are a super simple side dish perfect with anything! Buttery, garlicky, and fluffy inside with crisp, golden edges! You can prepare AND cook your potatoes in ONE PAN!

Note: I am including a similar recipe, however, this one uses more olive oil and a whole head of unpeeled garlic separated into cloves. See below following this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (1 kg) potatoes, cut into cubes (preferably Yukon Gold)
• 4 tablespoons good quality olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic, (or 8 cloves garlic, minced)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

HOW TO ROAST POTATOES

• Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly oil a baking sheet or tray.
• Arrange potatoes on sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with the oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic. Toss so potatoes are evenly seasoned. 
• Roast in the oven for 45-55 minutes while flipping occasionally, until crisp and golden.
• Remove the potatoes from the oven and season with a little extra salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over with parsley and serve immediately!

Garlic Potatoes (second recipe)

6 potatoes cut into pieces (peeled), or 2 pounds of unpeeled baby Yukon Gold potatoes (pricked with a fork )

1/3 cup of olive oil

1 head of garlic, unpeeled, separated into cloves

salt and pepper

Bake at 450* for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Flip halfway. Serve with the roasted garlic cloves (may be squeezed onto potatoes, if desired). Season with a little extra salt and pepper to taste.

By Ali Slagle

For pull-apart tender chicken with crisp, deeply spiced skin, rub it with a spicy-sweet mix and roast it low and slow while you’re doing something else. Because this chicken is cooked at a moderately low temperature, the spices will bloom but not burn, and the chicken fat will render slowly and completely (which means you don’t need any oil). The smoky rub in this recipe will turn the chicken skin into what tastes like a barbecue potato chip.

INGREDIENTS

Yield:4 servings

• 4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• A heaping ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
• 4 chicken leg quarters (2½ to 3 pounds), patted dry

PREPARATION

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, paprika, salt, black pepper and cayenne with a fork or your fingers. Rub the spice mix all over the chicken. (You can do this step 1 to 12 hours ahead. Refrigerate uncovered, then bring to room temperature before cooking.)
2. Place the chicken on a parchment-lined baking sheet, skin side up. Bake, without flipping, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Eat the chicken with pan drippings spooned over top.

Note: I used chicken thighs (with skin and bone), regular paprika, and some hot pepper flakes. So good!!!!

By Melissa Clark

This classic recipe makes a simple garlic, white wine and butter sauce that goes well with a pile of pasta or with a hunk of crusty bread. However you make the dish, once the shrimp are added to the pan, the trick is to cook them just long enough that they turn pink all over, but not until their bodies curl into rounds with the texture of tires.

Note: My family prefers longer cooked shrimp. Still delicious!

INGREDIENTS

Yield:4 servings

• 2 tablespoons butter. (I used more butter, to taste, than recommended. Felt the sauce was too acidic.)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup dry white wine or broth
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1¾ pounds large or extra-large shrimp, shelled
• ⅓ cup chopped parsley
• Freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon
• Cooked pasta or crusty bread

PREPARATION

Step 1: In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine or broth, salt, red pepper flakes and plenty of black pepper and bring to a simmer. Let wine reduce by half, about 2 minutes.

Step 2: Add shrimp and sauté until they just turn pink, 2 to 4 minutes depending upon their size. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice and serve over pasta or accompanied by crusty bread.

By Millie Peartree

Served with salted butter or on their own, hush puppies are the perfect starter or side for any meal, but especially seafood or barbecue.

Yield: 20 hush puppies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• ¼ cup grated white or yellow onion (from about ½ large onion)
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives (optional)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1  tablespoon brown sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for finishing
• 1½ cups fine yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 quart vegetable oil, for frying
• Salted butter, for serving (optional)

PREPARATION

Step 1

Set a rack over a baking sheet. (If you do not have a rack, a paper towel-lined baking tray will work as well.)

Step 2

In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter and egg until smooth. Add onion, chives (if using), both sugars, baking powder and salt, and mix until no lumps are present.

Step 3

Mix in cornmeal and flour. While whisking, stream in buttermilk and incorporate until mixture is smooth but not runny. It should be thick enough to easily scoop and drop into hot oil.

Step 4

In a medium skillet with high sides or a deep cast-iron skillet, heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees over medium-high heat. Working in batches, scoop 1-tablespoon balls of the batter and carefully drop them into the oil. Fry until one side is golden brown, about 1 minute, then, using a spatula or spoon, flip and fry for another 1 minute until golden brown on all sides.

Step 5

Using a slotted spoon, remove hush puppies from hot oil and place on the prepared rack to drain. Sprinkle with a little more salt. Enjoy hot, with salted butter, if you like.