Cooking with Confidence

Notes for next time… Roasted tomatoes What I like about it ___________________ Might be good with ___________________ Lemon, Parmasean + Basil Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ VinaigreTe vs. Mayo Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ What other flavors might taste great in a pasta salad? _________________________________________________________ 151

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Building a Recipe No maAer where you are in the world, we’re all probably eaEng almost the same exact thing for dinner. This is how the whole world gets enough calories, flavor, and nutriEon to stay alive: 1) Some fat / acid or combo used as a dressing - like mayonnaise or soy sauce 2) Some protein - ground meat, nuts, eggs, or beans 3) Some vegetables - corn, tomatoes, greens, or whatever’s cheap now 4) Some herbs / spices to make things more delicious - plus salt + pepper 5) Some carbohydrate to fill you up - like rice, noodles, torEllas, or bread Consider what tastes, textures and flavors you like best when you’re at a restaurant or cooking, and don’t worry about gelng it “right.” Do you like the taste and texture of torEllas? Beef, beans, and salsa taste great with torEllas - but there’s no law saying you can’t put bananas, peanut buAer, and coconut flakes in a torElla instead. We all grew up loving certain flavors and textures. It’s great to treat yourself with those things from childhood that you miss! It can feel harder to branch out. Pizza without red sauce - or tacos without salsa - can feel wrong, somehow. But this kind of thinking leads a lot of us to not cook unless we have everything we think needs to go with a dish on hand. Which is why most folks don’t make tacos at home. Wouldn’t it be great to shake those thoughts off, and feel ok about experimenEng? Just something to think about. Random idea: the food we think of as the fanciest restaurant foods are almost always recipes that started out as “peasant foods.” French Onion Soup’s just a clever thing to cook when there’s nothing le^ in the cupboard but old onions, stale bread, and a liXle cheese. The only reason we have red sauce is because someone smart no?ced there weren’t any fresh tomatoes around, but there were a lot of tomatoes that were about to rot, and thought to cook them before they went bad. Experiment, and you might end up the next person to invent something amazing from not much. 153

Recipe Basics: What’s in a Meal? You’ve got some vegetables and proteins at home. Now, how do you go about using those to make a delicious, nourishing meal? Feel free to bounce ideas around. What protein do you have on hand right now? What vegetable(s) might taste good with that protein? Would those two things work on pasta, toast, rice, or torEllas? What herbs and spices might make it extra good? Experiment! Recipe Dressing Protein Vegetables Spices Carbohydrate Cream of Water or Milk or Tomato Fennel, BagueAe, Tomato orange juice cream puree tarragon, + sliced Soup (opEonal) thyme Shakshuka Tomato Egg Tomato Cumin, Naan bread sauce sauce cayenne, paprika + coriander Red Pepper Olive oil Anchovy + Red pepper Oregano + Pizza dough, + Anchovy Mozzarella salt english Pizza cheese muffin, or sliced bread Pasta Mornay Parmasean Zucchini, Garlic, Pasta Primavera (cheese cheese asparagus, parsley noodles sauce) broccoli, tomato Cook’s Some liquid: Your favorite Whatever’s Salt, Pepper, Bread, rice, Choice acid, fat, or a meat, bean, lewover from herbs, and noodles, or combinaEon or other the last food spices torEllas protein box 154

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Homemade Pasta Noodles with Peanut Sauce Shape your flour and salt into a mountain shape. Boil 1/4 of a box of dry pasta noodles according Then hollow out the middle to make a volcano. to the package’s direcEons. Drain. Pour in an egg plus two egg yolks. Slowly and Meanwhile, chop a handful of vegetables. Oil a gently sEr a fork into the egg. Gradually add the pan and cook chopped veggies on medium heat flour into the egg. unEl as sow as you like them. Awer a few minutes, add one teaspoon of warm Add drained noodles, 1/4 cup peanut buAer, and water and begin kneading your dough by hand. 2 tablespoons soy sauce to the pan. SEr Once it’s formed into a smooth ball, flour a everything together unEl the peanut sauce coats surface and roll it out flat and thin. It should be everything and everything is warmed. almost see-through. Cut it very thin into spaghel noodles. Wrap half in plasEc and refrigerate unEl tomorrow. Boil a pot of salted water and add today’s noodles. Boil four minutes, then drain. Pasta Salad with VinaigreTe Pasta with Mornay (Cheese Sauce) Chop a handful of cherry tomatoes in half. Place Boil 1/4 a box of dry pasta according to package cut-side up on a baking tray and sprinkle with salt direcEons. Drain. and olive oil. Roast in a 300 degree oven for 90 If you want to include vegetables, chop up a minutes, or unEl chewy. handful or two of veggies and boil them or fry Boil 1/4 a box of dry pasta according to package them in a pan. direcEons. Rinse with cold water and drain. Melt a liAle buAer in a pan on medium heat. Add Your dressing can be mayo, or it can be a mixture an equal amount of flour and sEr constantly unEl of olive oil and lemon juice - or any other your roux has thickened. When it’s thick, add vinaigreAe you like. some milk and bring to a boil. Take off the heat You can add chopped olives, if you like them, and sEr in a bunch of grated cheese. fresh or dried herbs to taste, or maybe some Add pasta noodles (and opEonal veggies) to the cheese. Add in the roasted tomatoes, sEr cheese sauce and sEr unEl the sauce coats everything around, taste, add more salt or everything. pepper or whatever you want, then toss with the cold noodles. 156

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STAMP HERE Try It Again! Pick one recipe from this chapter and make it yourself (or with some help) outside of group. What did you make? ___________________________________________________ What would you do differently next Ame? ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Would you make it again? ______________ What did you do well? ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ 158

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Rice Bowls Cooking rice can sound super inEmidaEng. But with pracEce, it’s so simple! 160

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Rice with Soy Sauce Buy a boAle of soy sauce, or just grab a couple packets from a restaurant. Rice + soy sauce is delicious - no need to add anything else, unless you want to. 162

In over 100 countries, most folks eat rice every day. Half of the whole world’s populaEon eats rice as their main, staple food - kind of like some Americans eat sliced bread. That’s because rice is both preAy nutriEous. Rice is full of fiber, vitamin B, iron, magnesium, and several other necessary vitamins. It’s also preAy cheap. One large serving of rice costs less than a nickel to make at home. 1. In a small pot, mix • 1/2 cup rice • 3/4 cup cold water, and • 1/2 teaspoon salt. Put on a lid and cook on high heat. 2. When it boils, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for about ten minutes, unEl the rice has doubled in size. Don’t liw the lid. 3. Wait five more minutes before liwing the lid and fluffing with a fork. For a very simple addiEon of flavor, sprinkle with soy sauce and enjoy! 163

Notes for next time… Cooking Rice Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Soy sauce ___________________________________________________ What else might taste great with this meal? ___________________________________________________ 164

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Cuban-Style Rice + Beans Rice + beans = affordable, and a great source of protein. Add a great sofrito of veggies, kick up the flavor with some common pantry staples… Delicioso! 166

1. Prepare your rice What You Need: In a small pot, CARBOHYDRATE mix the rice with • 1/2 cup white rice 3/4 cup cold water and 1/2 PROTEIN teaspoon salt. Put • 1/2 a can of black beans on a lid and cook • 1 strip of bacon on high heat. VEGETABLES When it boils, • 1/2 a green pepper reduce the heat • 1/2 an onion to medium-low, • 3-5 garlic cloves and simmer for about ten EXTRA FLAVOR minutes, unEl the • 1/2 teaspoon dried cumin rice has doubled in size. and/or dried oregano NEVER liu the lid while rice is cooking. This is • 1 tablespoon vinegar why it’s nice to have a pot with a see-through lid. • 1 teaspoon sugar Wait five more • salt and pepper, to taste minutes before liwing the lid and fluffing with a fork. 167

2. Fry a strip of bacon Place a strip of bacon in a pan on medium heat. Cook, flipping every once in a while, unEl cooked. Set aside. When cool, chop small. 3. Cook your sofrito (vegetables), then add beans Add a liAle oil to the pan and Pour in the minced garlic, vinegar, cook diced onion and bell sugar, spices, and salt and pepper. pepper over medium heat unEl SEr, and turn the heat to medium- they’re sow. low. Add beans and mash them in the pan with the back of a spoon. Add in bacon pieces. Keep cooking for about 10-15 minutes, unEl flavors combine and everything sowens. Taste owen - does it need more acid? More black pepper? 168

Recipe Basics: A Sofrito Have you noticed that a whole lot of recipes start with cooking diced vegetables in oil? These “starter” or base vegetables are called aromatics - they smell great, and they make the finished dish more flavorful. A sofrito is a base sauce made from aroma3cs cooked in fat. If a recipe asks you to start with a sofrito you don't love, feel free to change it out for vegetables that work for you. In Cuba, a sofrito In Spain, a sufrito In the Philippines, a ginisá In Ecuador, a refrito In Russia, an obzharka In France, a mirepoix 169

Notes for next time… Cooking Rice Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Cooking Beans Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Cuban Sofrito (Onion, Bell Pepper, Garlic) What I like about it ___________________ Might be good with ___________________ What else might taste great with this meal? ___________________________________________________ 170

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Japanese Curry Pickled radish adapted from Jessica Koslow’s Everything I Want to Eat You’ve probably never had this before. That is a real shame. It’s an Indian curry, but Westernized, and then brought to Japan. According to government staEsEcs, folks in Japan eat this an average of 84 Emes per year, making it one of the most popular comfort foods there. 172

1. Cook your rice In a small pot, What You Need: mix the rice with 3/4 cup cold CARBOHYDRATE water and 1/2 • 1/2 cup white rice teaspoon salt. Put on a lid and cook VEGETABLES on high heat. • 1 onion • 1 carrot When it boils, • 4 mushrooms reduce the heat to medium-low, EXTRA FLAVOR and simmer for • 1/4 of a box of curry about ten • op?onal topping: 1 radish, minutes, unEl the rice has doubled a big squeeze of lemon, in size. and a big pinch of salt NEVER liu the lid while rice is cooking. This is • op?onal topping: 1 hard- why it’s nice to have a pot with a see-through lid. boiled egg, sliced thin Wait five more minutes before liwing the lid and fluffing with a fork. 173

2. Prepare your vegetables (today’s sofrito) Dice onion. Slice mushrooms. Chop carrot into thin coins. 3. Cook your vegetables, then add water Put a large pan over medium- high heat. Add two tablespoons oil, then the onion and carrot unEl the carrot sowens a bit, about five minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, sErring someEmes, just unEl they sowen a liAle - about 5 minutes. Add two cups of water, or enough to cover everything. 174

4. Add curry and smell the deliciousness Japanese curry comes in boxes that look like these. They’re sold in lots of grocery stores, usually in the “ethnic” or “Asian foods” aisle. Some versions are very mild, and some are almost spicy. Each box comes with squares of solid curry. Use about 1/4 of a total box to make 1 serving. When the water comes to a boil (which should happen quickly), turn the heat to low and add your curry squares. SEr constantly unEl the sauce thickens. If it’s too thick for your taste, add a liAle water. Serve over rice, with pickled veggies on the side if you want extra acid, or with a hard-boiled egg on the side, for extra fat + protein. 5. OpFonal: pickle a radish to go on the side Clean your red radish and use a peeler or a knife to slice very thin. Toss with a big squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. SEr well and set aside to marinate for a few minutes, unEl the radish slices become tender and turn bright pink. 175

Notes for next time… Japanese Curry packets Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Curry flavor What I like about it ___________________ Might be good with ___________________ Pickled radish Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ What else might taste great with this meal? ___________________________________________________ 176

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Tex-Mex Rice Bowl Guacamole adapted from Roberto SanEbañez’s Rosa’s New Mexican Table Fun fact: crispy tacos and fajitas were also invented in the US by folks who were inspired by Mexican cooking 178

1. Cook your rice What You Need: In a small pot, CARBOHYDRATE mix the rice with • 1/2 cup white rice 3/4 cup cold water and 1/2 PROTEIN teaspoon salt. Put • 1/2 a can of beans, drained on a lid and cook on high heat. VEGETABLES • big handful frozen onions + When it boils, reduce the heat peppers to medium-low, • 2 tablespoons black olives and simmer for about ten DRESSING / EXTRA FLAVOR minutes, unEl the • op?onal: hot sauce, rice has doubled in size. guacamole, sour NEVER liu the lid while rice is cooking. This is cream, or salsa, to taste why it’s nice to have a pot with a see-through lid. Wait five more minutes before liwing the lid and fluffing with a fork. 179

Gather your ingredients. Pro Ep: If you want to keep vegetables on hand to make a dish again and again, frozen or canned vegetables makes a lot of sense. 2. Cook your sofrito (vegetables), then your beans Add a liAle oil to a pan on medium heat. When the oil’s warm, toss your frozen vegetables around for about 2 minutes, or unEl almost cooked. They’ll keep cooking awer this step. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Push your veggies to the side of your pan and heat your beans directly over the heat unEl sow. This only takes a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When cooked, layer everything in a bowl as preAy as you can. 180

Rainy Day: Guacamole What You Need: • 2 tablespoons onion • 1 teaspoon cilantro • A liAle salt, to taste • 1/2 an avocado • 1/2 a Roma tomato a. b. Mash half of your Chop an avocado in half. onion, all of your cilantro, and a little Smack the knife’s blade salt until it’s a paste. into the seed. Twist the knife to remove the seed. c. d. Slice down into the Scoop avocado into the peel one way, then onion-cilantro paste. the other. Toss gently if you like chunky guac, or smash if you like less texture. e. Chop a tomato in half and remove seeds. Dice with the rest of your onion, and fold those into your guac. Enjoy! 181

Notes for next time… Tex-Mex Bowl with Beans and Rice Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Using Frozen and Canned Vegetables Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Fresh Guacamole Worth the Eme? _____________________ What I like about it ___________________ Might be good with ___________________ What else might taste great with this meal? ___________________________________________________ 182

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California Rice Bowl Adapted from Jessica Koslow’s Everything I Want to Eat Filling rice, healthy kale, faAy bacon and egg, acidic pickles… A complicated but very interesEng meal, featuring lots of different flavors and textures. So cool! 184

1. Cook your rice In a small pot, What You Need: mix the rice with 3/4 cup cold CARBOHYDRATE water and 1/2 • 1/2 cup white rice teaspoon salt. Put on a lid and cook PROTEIN on high heat. • 1 egg When it boils, • 1 strip of bacon reduce the heat to medium-low, VEGETABLES and simmer for about ten • 1 kale leaf or 1 handful minutes, unEl the spinach leaves rice has doubled in size. • 1 radish NEVER liu the lid while rice is cooking. This is why it’s nice to have a pot with a see-through lid. DRESSING / EXTRA FLAVOR Wait five more minutes before • 4 tablespoons olive oil liwing the lid and • juice of 1 lemon fluffing with a • 1 spoonful feta cheese fork. • Dill (a fresh sprig or a big pinch of dried dill) • Salt, to taste 185

2. Make your kale dressing Remove the leaves from 2 sprigs of dill. Mince. Remove ribs (thick, light green stems) from a leaf of kale, if using. Mince your kale or spinach. Using bigger pieces will give more of a “greens” taste. Add 4 tablespoons olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Toss the rice with the green mixture. Taste, and add salt to taste. 3. Marinate your radish Clean your red radish and use a peeler or a knife to slice very thin. Toss with a big squeeze of lemon juice and a small pinch of salt. Set aside to marinate for a few minutes, unEl the radish slices become tender and turn bright pink. 186

4. Fry an egg while you fry a strip of bacon Use medium heat, and flip your bacon every once in a while unEl it’s the way you like it. (You can cook the bacon and egg in the same pan, if you want to. If you choose to cook both together, add oil to the bacon grease in your pan.) Pour some oil in a pan over medium heat. Add an egg, and start basEng (spooning hot oil over the egg whites) unEl the egg whites are no longer see- through or cloudy). If the yolk breaks, just scramble the egg. (See page 199.) When the egg’s white part is set (no longer see-through) but the yolk is sEll not hard, it’s done. With your most confident altude, try taking the egg out in one go. 5. Put it all together Spoon kale-rice mix into a bowl. Top with bacon and egg. Place feta and marinated radish slices in a preAy way over top. Make it preAy, because you deserve a preAy meal :) 187

Notes for next time… Balancing flavors (acid + fat) Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Kale What I like about it ___________________ Might be good with ___________________ Dill What I like about it ___________________ Might be good with ___________________ What else might taste great with this meal? ___________________________________________________ 188

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Cooking Rice for One Beans, Rice + Vegetables In a small pot, dump 1/2 cup dry white rice, 3/4 Cook rice for one. cup water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Dice and cook on medium heat about 2 cups of Cover with a lid, and turn heat to high. vegetables (for example, onion, bell pepper, and When water boils, keep the lid on and turn heat maybe garlic) with a liAle oil. to medium-low. When veggies are sow, add 1/2 a can of black Simmer rice unEl it's doubled in size, about 10 beans to the pan. Consider if you’d like to keep minutes. your veggies and beans separate or if you’d like Take pot off the heat and let sit, with lid on, for to combine their flavors in the pan. five more minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add Fluff by sErring rice with a fork to help it not sEck addiEonal spices (for example, dried cumin and/ together. or oregano), vinegar (for extra acidity), and/or sugar (for a liAle sweetness) to taste. Plate rice, veggies, beans, and any other flavors that might taste good as preAy as you can. Japanese Curry California Rice Bowl Cook rice for one. Cook rice for one. Dice, slice, and cook on medium heat about 2 Finely chop 1 leaf of kale and 2 sprigs of dill. cups of vegetables (for example, 1 onion, 1 Mix together rice, kale, dill, the juice of one carrot, and 4 mushrooms) with a liAle oil. lemon, and 4 tablespoons olive oil. Taste, and When veggies are sow, add water to cover add salt if you want to. everything and bring to a boil. Thinly slice one red radish. SEr radish slices with When water’s boiling, add 1/4 of a box of what's lew of your lemon juice and a pinch of Japanese curry. and turn heat to low. SEr salt. Set aside to marinate unEl it gets more pink constantly unEl your curry squares melt and (takes a few minutes). everything’s mixed together. In a pan, cook one strip of bacon unEl done, and Rice and Japanese curry tastes extra great with one egg unEl the whites are set. pickled radish and a sliced hard-boiled egg, but Spoon rice mixture into a bowl. Place bacon, egg, that’s opEonal. marinated radish, and a liAle feta cheese over top. 190

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STAMP HERE Try It Again! Pick one recipe from this chapter and make it yourself (or with some help) outside of group. What did you make? ___________________________________________________ What would you do differently next Ame? ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Would you make it again? ______________ What did you do well? ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ 192

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Eggs Eggs are hard. Very hard. Eggs take pracEce, y’all. We are not even gelng into omeleAes. 194

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Eggs: Practice Required Crispy Egg method by Kenji Lopez-Alt (Serious Eats) A liAle buAer in a pan, on medium heat - no sweat, right? Pour in the egg… and immediately feel anxious that you’re going to ruin it. When the whites look cooked… you freak out about how to get it out of the pan. NoEce that there’s a lot of burned egg stuck to the pan… and decide to stop caring about how you cook, because you’ll never get anything right. Eesh, what a terrible experience!! Stop haEng yourself and start pracEcing! 196

Sunny Side Up Egg 1 Crack an egg into a 2 Pour a good bowl and take out amount of oil into the shell fragments. the pan - enough (If you crack an egg that you can get right into a pan, some into a small you might burn spoon. yourself removing the shells.) 3 Pour the egg into 4 Spooning hot oil the pan on over the whites medium heat. helps the tops Immediately start cook evenly. spooning some of the hot oil over Watch for when the egg whites. the whites are no This is called longer cloudy. basting. 5 With your most 6 Season and enjoy. confident Perfectly, non- altude, try rubbery cooked taking the egg out whites, and a in one go. delicious runny yolk. Season with This takes Aleppo pepper pracEce! and enjoy! 197

Crispy Egg 1 Crack an egg into 2 Add good a bowl. Remove amount of oil - shell fragments. enough that you can get some into a spoon. Put the pan over high heat. 3 As soon as you 4 Just like with the pour the egg into sunny side up the oil, the egg, start basEng whites should hot oil from the start to solidify pan over top of and color. the egg whites. Be careful of the oil popping! 5 Keep spooning oil 6 Perfectly, non- over the whites. The edges should rubbery cooked whites, crispy crisp and brown textured quickly. Once all the whites are underside, and a delicious runny solid white, your yolk. Season with egg is done. salt and pepper and enjoy! 198

Scrambled Egg 1 Crack an egg 2 Add a liAle into a bowl… water for extra Shoot, the yolk fluffiness. SEr. broke. Guess we’re making Add more scrambled egg! buAer if you want creamier eggs. 3 Add a good 4 Keep moving! amount of buAer to the When curdles form, smash pan, and put it them down. on low heat. SEr and scrape so not much burns. No3ce that people oien go 5 Take the best for acidic flavors when parts out of the seasoning their eggs. pan. Leave Vinegary ketchup, hot sauce, behind any Aleppo pepper seasoning… rubbery bits. Season and enjoy - delicious, fluffy, Eggs are famy - acid helps to buAery eggs! balance that flavor. 199

Notes for next time… Scrambled Egg Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Sunny-Side Up Egg Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Crispy Egg Next Eme… ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Which technique makes for the best texture? _________________________________________________________ 200