Cooking with "This Will Make It Taste Good", by Vivian Howard

[curls]

11 minutes ago, Anna N said:

And yet…

”My plan for this book was only to offer recipes with ingredients I could find in my local Walmart. Not out of love for Walmart, but because I want you to be empowered by these recipes, not discouraged by what you can’t find because of where you live.”

(Can you imagine any other chef saying somethings so revolutionary?) So she does give you some options for LGD. But like you I would hold off for the castelvetrano olives. 

 

 

Yes, I am keeping this bit of Vivian’s advice in mind. I will be using some bulbing onions from my garden instead of the shallots that she recommends. Those olives sound so different from the ones that I have that I want to try the recipe with them before I start making too many other tweaks.

[blue_dolphin]

15 minutes ago, Anna N said:

And yet…

”My plan for this book was only to offer recipes with ingredients I could find in my local Walmart. Not out of love for Walmart, but because I want you to be empowered by these recipes, not discouraged by what you can’t find because of where you live.”

(Can you imagine any other chef saying somethings so revolutionary?) So she does give you some options for LGD. But like you I would hold off for the castelvetrano olives. 

 

 

Walmart Neighborhood Market is the closest grocery store that carries name brand stuff so I stopped in there the other day to get Ruffles chips to have with the caramelized onion dip. 

I neglected to check for endive but while I was there, I picked up the Castelvetrano olives (the Mezzetta brand), a container of black garlic, Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce, Chaokoh coconut milk and Crystal hot sauce.  

And more onions to caramelize 🙃

[Shelby]

20 minutes ago, Anna N said:

And yet…

”My plan for this book was only to offer recipes with ingredients I could find in my local Walmart. Not out of love for Walmart, but because I want you to be empowered by these recipes, not discouraged by what you can’t find because of where you live.”

(Can you imagine any other chef saying somethings so revolutionary?) So she does give you some options for LGD. But like you I would hold off for the castelvetrano olives. 

 

 

But also, I can get those olives at Walmart 😀

[Anna N]

35 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Walmart Neighborhood Market is the closest grocery store that carries name brand stuff so I stopped in there the other day to get Ruffles chips to have with the caramelized onion dip. 

I neglected to check for endive but while I was there, I picked up the Castelvetrano olives (the Mezzetta brand), a container of black garlic, Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce, Chaokoh coconut milk and Crystal hot sauce.  

And more onions to caramelize 🙃

I must be stuck in a time warp! But I’ll be kind to myself. I have not seen the inside of a grocery store since sometime long before March. 

[blue_dolphin]

Here's the LGD Goes Ranch dip/dressing from This Will Make It Taste Good p 18.  I recommend it highly.  Vivian suggests adding some chopped Red Weapons and I'll try that with the leftovers but, as is, it was really good.

Much better than any ranch dressing I've had - though I haven't made the Momofuku version yet.  

I've dipped into it with raw carrots, celery, cucumbers and snap peas and a Triscuits or two.  All excellent. 

 

Below is a crappy photo of this stuff with roasted beet stalks. 

That was to have been served as a salad on mixed greens but the greens didn't look so great.  Tasted fine but in future, I will avoid trying to photograph dark purple food on a black plate when the featured ingredient is pretty much white 🙃

[Margaret Pilgrim]

23 hours ago, gfweb said:

Braise it even more till its nice and brown. Gets nutty and sweet.

Or moosh it in salt,pepper and EVOO and grill it in a grill pan.

[Anna N]

33 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Below is a crappy photo of this stuff with roasted beet stalks. 

Dang!  What was I thinking? Apparently I wasn’t. I used the greens, I used the beets but it never occurred to me that there might be a way to use the stalks. Please tell me more so I don’t make the same mistake next time. 

[blue_dolphin]

22 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Dang!  What was I thinking? Apparently I wasn’t. I used the greens, I used the beets but it never occurred to me that there might be a way to use the stalks. Please tell me more so I don’t make the same mistake next time. 

 

I was going to pickle them as I've done with kale stems but remembered a recipe for roasted chard stems in Cooking with Scraps by Lindsay Jean Hard who writes that she was inspired by this recipe and decided to just roast instead of blanch, then grill.   Just cut into the desired length, toss with olive oil, sprinkle with pepper and roast @ 425°F for 7-10 minutes.  The picture in the book shows a bit of leaf left on the stem that gets prettily crisped.  I neglected to leave any leaf on the stem so I don't have that.  They had a pleasant tender-crisp texture.  I'd do this again.

Edited November 1, 2020 by blue_dolphin
chard is not shard (log)

[Anna N]

32 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

They had a pleasant tender-crisp texture.  I'd do this again.

Thank you so much. I will be keeping my fingers crossed that I will be lucky enough to get such great greens when I next get beets. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I don't have the book, but I am more a fan of beet greens than I am of the roots.

 

[Shelby]

Vivian said LGD goes well on any type of egg....soooooo it was perfect to put a dollop underneath my spiders for Halloween..plus, it's green!  

 

 

And more endive.  this time I braised it even longer like @gfwebsuggested.  I'm sad that this was the last of it.  

 

[blue_dolphin]

For today's breakfast, I made the Tomato Pie for Dough Dummies on p 48 in This Will Make It Taste Good, one of the recipes that makes use of the R-Rated (aka deeply caramelized) Onions. 

These are quite good.  Kind of a nice, all-in-one side dish.  I'm not sure the caramelized onions are a must here but they do add a nice depth of flavor and save the step of chopping and cooking an onion. 

The recipe calls for 1" to 1.5" thick slices of tomato.  I suspect the days of getting tomatoes big enough for more than 2 such slices are over for much of the northern hemisphere until next summer but I think even smaller slices would be nice. 

I used beet greens instead of spinach, Mahon cheese instead of fontina and some sort of Trader Joe's crackers instead of Ritz, all because they were on hand. Still works.

[Smithy]

I wish to correct myself. I said:

 

On 10/29/2020 at 10:52 AM, Smithy said:

 

FWIW castelvetrano olives don't taste like what you might expect. They're green ripe olives, not green unripe olives unless my memory fails me. (If I'm misremembering, somebody please correct me.)) Very different flavor profile.

 

I was wrong. I don't know what the bright green but mild olives were that I was thinking of, but the Mazetta Pitted Italian Castevetrano olives that I bought yesterday taste very much like Spanish olives, or Queen olives. I like them, but they aren't what I expected and I don't wish to mislead anyone. Since @Shelby agreed with me, I wonder whether there are different treatments and flavor profiles?

 

My batch of LGD is sitting and, I hope, mellowing, as I type. It has a bit more bite than I expected. Perhaps because of the HUGE double shallot I used.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Here's my 2 cents on the LGD.  Aside from anointing the jammy eggs, you are unlikely to end up with a mouthful, or even a significant taste of this stuff on its own.  

It's like a pre-prepped mix of flavorful ingredients that can be a shortcut in recipes with complex flavors like the punchy tuna salad or excellent ranch dressing/dip with no need to chop anything.

You've got shallots, garlic, red wine vinegar, olives, capers, anchovies, parsley, mint, lemon zest and juice and hot sauce but this is an ensemble cast, not a series of solo performances.  As such, all those ingredients contribute something but none of them take over the show.  Unless there is something guaranteed to make you hurl, I'd suggest giving it a try, maybe a half recipe or even less, if you have doubts.

 

On the Castelvetrano olives, here's an article that sings their praise: Castelvetrano Olives Are the Best Olives, Hands Down.  I do find them more mellow, rich and creamy than the inexpensive pimento-stuffed Manzanillas from the grocery store. I think the color and firm texture of Castelvetrano olives sold with pits is superior to the pitted version but everything's getting pretty mashed here so I'm not sure it's worth the trouble of de-pitting them.  I bought a jar of Mezzetta brand pitted Castelvetranos at Walmart but I used a different brand from Whole Foods for the LGD so I can't comment on the former.   I'm sure LGD would be good with most any olive.  Obviously, kalamatas or the like are going to impact the greenness but the flavor will still be good. 

Edited November 1, 2020 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

I wish to correct myself. I said:

 

 

I was wrong. I don't know what the bright green but mild olives were that I was thinking of, but the Mazetta Pitted Italian Castevetrano olives that I bought yesterday taste very much like Spanish olives, or Queen olives. I like them, but they aren't what I expected and I don't wish to mislead anyone. Since @Shelby agreed with me, I wonder whether there are different treatments and flavor profiles?

 

My batch of LGD is sitting and, I hope, mellowing, as I type. It has a bit more bite than I expected. Perhaps because of the HUGE double shallot I used.

 

I don't think they taste like Spanish olives at all.   Isn't it funny how different people taste things differently?  I'm not saying you couldn't use the Spanish ones, but I think it make it taste way more olivey.  

 

edited to say: yes, I agree most any olive would work...just would change the taste a bit from the original.  Maybe I'm just in love with this brand new olive that I've never tasted until now lol.

Edited November 1, 2020 by Shelby (log)

[MetsFan5]

My local Wegmans has pitted Castevetrano  olives. They’re my favorite. The non pitted ones have a much creamier flavor imo but these are still good. 
 

[Smithy]

My batch of LGD did indeed mellow a bit, and as @blue_dolphin noted, it's better as a condiment than as a stand-alone dish. So far it's been on a hard-boiled egg and last night's potatoes. It was my dinner-prepping snack on tortilla chips. It was my midnight snack (must stop snacking while I'm cleaning up from dinner) on leftover chicken. I think it'll be a killer addition to potato salad. I'm going to try it in chicken salad, and of course there's the tuna. Nice stuff! 

 

Meanwhile, I started a batch of can-do kraut using a lonely head of red cabbage a friend gave me a month ago. I had thought I'd braise some of the cabbage for last night's dinner, but in the end did the whole head. I think I'll need to repack it in a day or so, though. It's in an oversized glass jar that's fine sitting on the counter, but in a few days we're headed out for the winter. A plastic container is much easier to deal with on the road, and if the plastic reacts to the kraut...well, it will be a lesson learned.

[chromedome]

As long as it's food-grade plastic, you should be fine. I make mine in a big plastic ice cream pail, 18 litres IIRC.

[blue_dolphin]

Aside from the crispy bits on top, I'm not a huge fan of the breakfast casserole but I decided to give the Does Not Disappoint Breakfast Casserole from This Will Make It Taste Good a try anyway.  This is a fairly standard example of this type of thing.  Sturdy bread, sausage, some vegetables (spinach & roasted red peppers), cheese and a custard mix of eggs, milk and cream.  The twist here is chopping a cup of  Red Weapons and mixing that into the custard mix for a flavorful, vinegary punch.  I really liked that and I'll add them to the egg mixture next time I make a frittata. In fact, I'd switch out the bread for potatoes and turn this into a frittata. I also very much liked the cheese cut into 1/4" dice rather than shredded.

Before baking:

 

And after:

 

I made a half-batch baked in an 8-inch pan and baked ~ 45 min instead of a full hour.  I also cut the sausage back from 8 oz to 5 and the cheese from 5 oz to 4, both for the half batch and that was plenty. 

If you like breakfast casseroles, this is a good one to try and if not, Red Weapons are still an excellent ingredient for other egg dishes. 

[Toliver]

On 10/30/2020 at 10:25 AM, blue_dolphin said:

The recipe calls for an English cucumber.  I used a regular one.  Not sure if that will be bad.

The biggest difference between regular cucumbers and English cucumbers, it that the green skin of regular cucumbers can be thicker and while edible, is usually bitter.

Also, English cucumbers tend not to have seeds (large seeds anyway) and doesn't have the "goop" around the seeds like regular cucumbers.

 

[Shelby]

59 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Aside from the crispy bits on top, I'm not a huge fan of the breakfast casserole but I decided to give the Does Not Disappoint Breakfast Casserole from This Will Make It Taste Good a try anyway.  This is a fairly standard example of this type of thing.  Sturdy bread, sausage, some vegetables (spinach & roasted red peppers), cheese and a custard mix of eggs, milk and cream.  The twist here is chopping a cup of  Red Weapons and mixing that into the custard mix for a flavorful, vinegary punch.  I really liked that and I'll add them to the egg mixture next time I make a frittata. In fact, I'd switch out the bread for potatoes and turn this into a frittata. I also very much liked the cheese cut into 1/4" dice rather than shredded.

Before baking:

 

And after:

 

I made a half-batch baked in an 8-inch pan and baked ~ 45 min instead of a full hour.  I also cut the sausage back from 8 oz to 5 and the cheese from 5 oz to 4, both for the half batch and that was plenty. 

If you like breakfast casseroles, this is a good one to try and if not, Red Weapons are still an excellent ingredient for other egg dishes. 

This looks delicious.  I usually make a breakfast casserole when we have Ronnie's kids over to do Christmas....this year that's not happening, but I think I'll make this for just the two of us anyway!  

 

I finally got all of the ingredients to make the Quirky Furki.  I have never seen much less eaten bonito flakes.  This bag is HUGE.  A pound of bonito is....a lot.  I am going to google to see what else I can do with them.  Thinking I should vac pack them so they will stay fresh longer.

 

 

Also on the Bonito note....beware of opening the bag, sticking your nose in and taking a deep breath.  It was almost enough to put me off of making the recipe lol.

 

Toasting the nori makes it bend and shrink a bit.  Also, it catches fire very easily and if it's a big enough fire, have your sink cleared out so you can run over and turn the faucet on.  Just saying.

 

 

Then I toasted the sesame seeds.  That went a lot more smoothly lol.

 

If you go with the little dried shrimp, you roast those too, but the bonito you don't.  So, here's were I got a little confused.  As you can see, the bonito I have is BIG flakes.  She doesn't say to run the bonito through the food processor, but I felt it was too big, so I did.

 

All mixed together.

 

 

I didn't run the whole mixture through the food processor again simply due to laziness.

 

One of Vivian's no brainers was to toss it with shishito peppers and lime juice so that was lunch.

 

 

It was good!  I was pleasantly surprised.  I was scared it would taste super fishy but it works.  I am glad I made this when Ronnie wasn't in here because he would run from the bonito flakes, but because he doesn't know they are in there, I gave him a pepper and he liked it too.

 

Definitely use the turbinado sugar, you want the big pieces.

 

Also, this makes a lot.  This quart jar is full and I have about a half a cup that wouldn't fit.

 

[kayb]

13 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I finally got all of the ingredients to make the Quirky Furki.  I have never seen much less eaten bonito flakes.  This bag is HUGE.  A pound of bonito is....a lot.  I am going to google to see what else I can do with them.  Thinking I should vac pack them so they will stay fresh longer.

 

Miso soup.

 

[MokaPot]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

I have never seen much less eaten bonito flakes.  This bag is HUGE.  A pound of bonito is....a lot.  I am going to google to see what else I can do with them.  Thinking I should vac pack them so they will stay fresh longer.

 

Bonito flakes are also called "katsuobushi" and might give you extra hits when you Google.

 

Anyway, how about soft scrambled eggs with bonito flakes, like this:

 

https://medium.com/@choy/fluffy-egg-scramble-with-bonito-flakes-c484ee174d9

 

I'm also thinking a dry fry with scrambled eggs and string beans (or another veg). My mom used to make that with the small dried shrimps, but I think bonito would work.

 

[heidih]

@Shelby That is a LOT of bonito flake. You can freak Ronnie out by making them "dance" sprinkled over something warm. The boys loved it when the waitress sprinkled  them over the okonomiyaki

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by heidih (log)

[Maison Rustique]

20 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Aside from the crispy bits on top, I'm not a huge fan of the breakfast casserole but I decided to give the Does Not Disappoint Breakfast Casserole from This Will Make It Taste Good a try anyway.  This is a fairly standard example of this type of thing.  Sturdy bread, sausage, some vegetables (spinach & roasted red peppers), cheese and a custard mix of eggs, milk and cream.  The twist here is chopping a cup of  Red Weapons and mixing that into the custard mix for a flavorful, vinegary punch.  I really liked that and I'll add them to the egg mixture next time I make a frittata. In fact, I'd switch out the bread for potatoes and turn this into a frittata. I also very much liked the cheese cut into 1/4" dice rather than shredded.

Before baking:

 

And after:

 

I made a half-batch baked in an 8-inch pan and baked ~ 45 min instead of a full hour.  I also cut the sausage back from 8 oz to 5 and the cheese from 5 oz to 4, both for the half batch and that was plenty. 

If you like breakfast casseroles, this is a good one to try and if not, Red Weapons are still an excellent ingredient for other egg dishes. 

That looks delicious!!