The Kitchn Archive: Sep 2011

While blessed with many attributes, a roasted chicken has its drawbacks. One biggie is that it usually limits your guest list to about four people tops. But chickens are adaptable creatures and open to being flexible. One way to stretch a chicken, quite literally, is to spatchcock it (a fun way of saying butterfly), stuff its gills and other tender parts, literally expanding the bird to feed more people.

This, if you can’t tell, is an enormous zucchini. It’s the the type that shows up this time of year, somehow having hid beneath leaves all summer long until reaching proportions too gargantuan to ignore. There’s only one thing to do with a zucchini of this size: stuff it. This particular zucchini was bequeathed to me (as such things usually are) by a friend’s mother.

Last week we shared a recipe for Carrot-Ginger Dressing, which we use on everything from salad to sandwiches. One of our favorite ways to serve this sauce is over tofu-hijiki patties. The patties happen to be vegan but most importantly, they’re packed with umami flavor. Hijiki is a mild, earthy flavored seaweed high in iron, calcium, and other minerals; look for it at health food stores and Japanese and Korean markets.

Last week, Nealey talked us through making Pork Buns (Baozi). Today, I bring you the vegetarian version. Have you ever bit into a fluffy, savory steamed bun at your local dim sum restaurant and thought, How on earth are these made? I marveled over this question for years before my sweetheart decided to take on this DIY cooking project at home. Thank goodness he did because veggie steamed buns are one of my favorite restaurant treats.

When my boyfriend and I first started dating, he invited me over for a home cooked meal. However, living in New York City, my expectations for home cooking on a date were limited. Would he make macaroni or spaghetti? But when he told me the menu involved a dish he learned from his mom in Turkey, I prepared for some seriously delicious food.After reading my blog posts over the past year, my boyfriend wanted to contribute one of his specialties.

Nothing is simpler or more classic than opening up a can of cream of tomato soup for lunch. So if you’re going to make a homemade version, it had better be worth the extra bother. This recipe most decidedly is, although it’s really not that much more work. Just chop up an onion, maybe a rib of celery, and open up a few cans of tomatoes. Splash in some milk and buzz it with a blender until smooth. That’s it!

Every week we round up our favorite posts from our friends at Serious Eats. This week: What beer to drink with fried chicken? Serious Eats guides the way. Plus, sandwich cookies with lingonberry jam, a new way to brew coffee, and more!• Beer Pairings: What to Drink with Fried Chicken – Which beers stand up best to the glorious greasiness of fried chicken? Serious Eats points the way.• Pie of the Week: Butternut Squash – A subtle, creamy pie for fall.

Have you noticed that challahs reinvent themselves each year for the Jewish New Year? All year long, we shape our challahs into beautiful braids. On Rosh Hashanah, our challahs are round to symbolize the cycle of the year. Just like our challahs, the new year is a time when we too can consider how to transform ourselves in a positive way during the coming year.

Game of Thrones may be full of strange landscapes and fictional creatures, but the food in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy book series is quite familiar. Gilt Taste explains why the characters eat strawberry pie instead of roasted dragon, and where to find recipes inspired by the series.

Do you have a secret love for American cheese, perhaps in a melty grilled cheese sandwich or on a diner-style cheeseburger? The folks at America’s Test Kitchen have figured out how to make a block of that mild and familiar cheese from scratch, without any weird additives or preservatives. American cheese is more like a cheese ball than a traditional cheese.

Earlier this week we posted about about Tara Austen Weaver’s new ebookTales from a High MountainLike much of Japanese cooking, the beauty and taste lies in the simplicity of the recipe. Udon is a perfect dish for a light supper on a cool night, as the first of the autumn leaves gently rattle in the trees.

Tired of the usual baked or roasted potatoes? For a pretty and flavorful twist, try slicing and seasoning your potatoes before popping them in the oven. Lemon and thyme, rosemary and garlic: the flavor combinations are endless.The idea for these potatoes came from the always-inspiring blog Ideas in Food. They stuffed their potatoes with lemon and oregano, and roasted them on a bed of sliced Vidalia onions. I used lemon, thyme and garlic cloves, and skipped the onions.

Tater tots are like the homely cousins of french fries, browned and chubby instead of slender and golden, but just as addictive. The most recent issue of Cook’s Country has a recipe for crunchy, fluffy homemade potato tots that is making us wonder why french fries get all the attention.The team at Cook’s Country experimented with the best way to make tater tots that were not too dense or gummy, with a crunchy exterior.

Like many people, I spent my childhood arms-crossed, head-shaking, floor-stomping vehemently hating beets. They were weird, and slimy, and tasted of dirt. They made people’s mouths look bloody (also kind of cool.) Yuck. But then, like many people, I grew up and discovered that beets are absolutely delicious. Today they are one of my top five most favorite vegetables. So how did I get from stomping my feet to eating beets twice a week? This recipe for glazed beets played a big part.

Labor Day weekend always seems like the last gasp of summer before fall begins in earnest. Everyone scrambles to make the most of it — one last vacation, one last trip to the lake or the beach. And, for those of us taking the simpler route and staying home — one last summer cocktail. The beauty of this cocktail lies in its simplicity.