Tuesday, March 25, 2003

There are dueling gurus in my kitchen.    I like Mark Bittman’s Minimalist books, I really do.  His methods are great and he has informative introductions to each recipe.  But I’m learning to tread a little carefully because he and I evidently have very distinct tastes when it comes to flavors (if you remember, I didn’t like his recommendation of ginger in the cod cakes.)   Today I mixed up Bittman’s honey-orange-cumin glaze to put on the chicken I was going to roast for supper:  ½ cup honey, ½ cup orange juice and 1 tablespoon ground cumin.  I took one whiff and, ugh, there was no way in heck I was going to slather that poor beautiful chicken with the nasty stuff.    In his variations, he said substitute paprika for the cumin.  So I did.  Batch #2 of glaze down the sink.  There went a whole bottle of honey, dedicated to the cause of learning, I guess.   My problem is I want chicken that tastes like chicken.  So I relied on the old Nigella method:  brush with olive oil, salt lightly, and stick half a lemon in the cavity.  Roast for 15 minutes per pound, plus 10 minutes, at 400 degrees.  It cannot get any more minimal than that.   Bittman also mentions this method, though he must not have thought highly enough of it to make it his “master” recipe.  What I like is that without a sugary glaze, there’s no need to be turning the chicken every 10 minutes.       The chicken turned out well, simple, but well.  Although I now have a burnt thumb on my left hand and a burnt pinky on my right.  Could I afford to buy new potholders?  I think so.  I always forget.  Maybe the pain tomorrow will remind me.   Here’s something we have quite frequently that doesn’t usually cause me any pain:   Parsley-Chive Buttered New Potatoes:   Scrub a dozen or so golf-ball sized “B” red new potatoes and slice in half.  Steam them, covered,  for about twenty minutes until tender.   Chop fresh parsley and chives, about 2 tablespoons of each.   When the potatoes are done, throw them in a bowl and douse with as little or as much melted butter as you like.  Sprinkle the chopped herbs over them.  Salt to taste. Toss so all the potatoes are covered evenly with butter & herbs.   comment []9:12:21 PM     Spring alert:  First robin spotted in Red Wing!    I just got back from Wal-Mart.  Yes, the fact that this store has moved into our town saddens me, but I felt like thoroughly scrounging the grocery section for any available tidbits that I can’t get on a regular basis anywhere else here in town, and I came up with:  Italian flat-leaf parsley.  That’s about it. I could probably sweet-talk my local grocer into stocking it by assuring him that I and my dollars would never even have to venture into Wal-Mart if I could just find that particular item at his store.   If I were a local grocer, I’d kick my meat department into high gear, stocking things like wild salmon and organic meats—that sort of thing.  I know that organic, in some instances, is little more than a great marketing ploy, but when it comes to meat, and how animals are raised and what they are fed, call me a food snob, but I think it makes a difference.   I don’t know whether it’s this blog, or the reading that I do, or the places that I’ve traveled, but I now walk through grocery stores and it’s almost laughable how much I by-pass, saying “We don’t eat that, we don’t eat this, that isn’t even real food, march right by that whole section. . . please!”  Then, of course, my child spends an hour gazing longingly at the Lunchables.  I’m trying to teach him about profit motive, about how the corporations could care less about us and our health, how they just want our money.  They’re the enemy and we are knights and we have to fight!    And so many products engineered to put food, or pseudo-food, on the table within half an hour.  I understand I’m cooking and writing from the perspective of a non-working-outside-the-home woman, but even if I weren’t, I’d plan better, freeze more, do whatever I had to to make sure my family ate real, healthy meals.   Okay.  Off the soap-box and into the kitchen.  Tonight it’s The Minimalist’s Honey Cumin Roast Chicken, parsley and chive buttered new potatoes, and sweet green peas. comment []2:59:16 PM

© Copyright 2003 L. L. Adams. Last update: 4/7/2003; 2:56:37 PM.