My Word with Douglas E. Welch

If the hardest decision at your holiday table is choosing between desserts — be it a slice of pumpkin pie, a scoop of seasonal fruit crumble, or even a simple sugar cookie — these pumpkin pie bars are a sweet solution to your Thanksgiving troubles. Made with a sweet cookie crust, a spiced pumpkin filling, and a buttery oat crumble, these pumpkin pie bars will satisfy all your cravings — and they couldn’t be easier to make.

This is one of our “Recipes in Rotation” that we make about once a month.

This is a great seasoning that I think holds up to nearly any Mexican fast-food out there. We use it for ground turkey, but I have found you can use it with tofu, textured plant-based meat replacements and, combined with 2 cans of black beans and topped with a bit of cheese, a great bean dip, too.

Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes and cayenne to suit your taste, add in real chilis to stoke the fire further. All in all, this very flexible and a great staple item to have on hand so you can whip it up as necessary. It only takes 30 minutes or so and can be combined with any number of foods.

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
4 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
pinch cayenne pepper

2 tbls olive oil

1 lb ground turkey
1 cup water

DIRECTION

Heat olive oil in large skillet

Add ground turkey and brown

While turkey is browning, combine all seasoning ingredients in small bowl.

Once turkey is browned, sprinkle seasoning mix over turkey and cook it with the turkey for a minute or so.

Add water and reduce heat to low simmer.

Simmer until meat and sauce is desired consistency. About 10 minutes.

As we stay home, wait out this crisis, and bake our hearts out, sourdough is surging. No yeast needed, sourdough lets anyone turn flour, water, and time into absolutely spectacular bread. If you’ve thought about trying sourdough yourself, now is the time. Today I and the rest of the Kitchn team are kicking off Sourdough for Beginners, the perfect starting place for a baking adventure. Are you in?

Sunday night was the night for Risotto all milanese (Saffron Risotto in the Style of Milan). This is one of our “Recipes in Rotation” that we make about once a month. Rosanne had spent Saturday making stock and we often use it to make risotto and soup. The recipe is below. It is quite tasty. You can serve it with your favorite vegetables like asparagus, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli and more. 

Recipe Below

Sweating the onions

The first stock goes in

Adding some of the saffron steeped in the warm stock

Ready to eat

Risotto alla milanese RISOTTO, MILAN STYLE

For 6 persons 1 quart Homemade Meat Broth (page 10) OR 1 cup canned chicken broth mixed with 3 cups of water
2 tablespoons diced beef marrow, pancetta, or prosciutto
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots or yellow onion
5 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups raw Italian Arborio rice
1/3 teaspoon powdered saffron OR 1/2 teaspoon chopped whole saffron, dissolved in 1 1/2 cups hot broth or water
Salt, if necessary
Freshly ground pepper, about 4 twists of the mill or more to taste cup
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring the broth to a slow, steady simmer.

2. In a heavy-bottomed casserole, over medium-high heat, saute the beef marrow and shallots in 3 tablespoons of the butter and all the oil. As soon as the shallots become translucent, add the rice and stir until it is well coated. Saute lightly for a few moments and then add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth, about a ladleful. Proceed accord-ing to the basic directions for making risotto (page 180), adding a ladleful of hot broth as the rice dries out, and stirring it very frequently to prevent it from sticking. After 15 minutes add half the dissolved saffron. When the rice has dried out, add the rest of the saffron. ( The later you add the saffron, the stronger the taste and aroma of saffron will be at the end. Herbs that call too much attention to themselves are a rude intrusion upon the general harmony of a dish, but if you like a stronger saffron presence wait another 5 to 8 minutes before adding the diluted saffron. But be careful it doesn’t upstage your risotto.) When the saffron liquid has been absorbed, finish cooking the risotto with hot broth. (If you run out of broth, add water.)

3. When the rice is done, tender but al dente, firm to the bite, taste for salt. ( If the broth was salty, you might not need any. Con-sider, too, the saltiness of the cheese you will be adding.) Add a few twists of pepper to taste, and turn off the heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and all the cheese and mix thoroughly. Spoon into a hot platter and serve with a bowl of freshly grated cheese on the side.

MENU SUGGESTIONS Risotto Milan Style is traditionally served with Braised Veal Shanks, Milan Style ( page 256), one of the rare instances when a first course is served together with the meat course in an Italian menu. It is a well-justified exception, because the two dishes are an ideal complement to each other. This risotto can also be served as a regular first course when the second course is a roasted or braised meat or fowl.

Tonight’s dinner was my own ”cheater” version of chicken marsala – one of Rosanne’s favorite dishes.

My version is a bit of a hodgepodge without a recipe but here my take.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbls Olive Oil
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1 lb chicken breast
• 1 cup milk or 1/2 cup half-n-half
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup Marsala Wine (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp oregano or majorum
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 lb spaghetti or other pasta
• 2 tsp butter

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large pan with lid
Season chicken with salt and paper.
Dredge in corn starch and shake off excess
Fry chicken breast until mostly cooked through
Add onions and garlic
Saute onions and garlic
When lightly browned add spaghetti to pan
Add chicken stock, oregano, parsley, stock, marsala wine, milk, butter
Add more stock or water to cover spaghetti, if needed
Season with salt and pepper as desired
Cover with lid and bring to boil, then set heat to low
Simmer until spaghetti is almost cooked through
Remove lid, raise heat to medium and reduce sauce to consistency of your choice
Serve

Another homemade meal during our isolation. Tonight was a lovely stew made with Italian Sausage, green lentils, kale, and some sliced carrots thrown in for good measure.

Recipe

Lentil & Sausage Stew

Ingredients:

• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 4 cups coarsely chopped kale (or other leafy green)
• 1 cup dried green or red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 pound sausage, removed from casing (We also used some leftover smoked sausage, sliced and then quartered into bite size pieces)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed chili flakes (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• handful of shredded cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Brown sausage in non-stick pan

2. Reduce heat to medium and deglaze the pan with the 1/4 cup of the chicken stock, add the garlic, chili flakes, paprika and cayenne pepper.

3. Toss in the greens and broth, heat until greens are wilted.

(Alternately, add kale near end of cooking for a different texture)

4. Add lentils and water, bring it back to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally and season as needed with salt, pepper, chili powder, etc. to your liking. I found a pinch or two of chili powder added a nice touch with the paprika.

5. Serve, topping with shredded cheese, if desired

In the same way that I’m in awe of friends who have learned new languages by “immersion”—but how do you start, I’ve wondered? And what keeps you from just, you know, staying silent for all of eternity?—I am also confounded by older, wiser, better cooks who tell me that I’ll learn to cook by, well, cooking.

 

But how? It never seemed to add up. I’ve held a brain in biology class, and it really isn’t very much like a sponge.

And yet, when I think back to how I cooked five years ago, and think about the knowledge that I seem to have osmosed, I’m shocked to realize that just the act of cooking is also an act of learning. Nearly every recipe—even those not billed as life-changing—has a valuable tidbit or takeaway that can be applied to other future recipes.