I think there’s something way cool about knowing both a poem and a really great, simple recipe by heart. The kind of recipe made of pantry staples so it rarely requires a trip to the grocery store. Where you can make it in about 30 minutes. Where it’s good enough for company. This tomato sauce is my by-heart recipe. With it I can name drop brand names and quote al dente times like I grew up in San Marzano Oliveto and invented spaghetti.
It’s a bright, tangy sauce. Not over cooked, not deep red. It’s more lively than that and when paired with perfectly cooked spaghetti and really great bread you can fool yourself into thinking you’re in the kitchen of an Italian family who loves you. And thinks you look too thin. “Eat! Eat!”
This sauce has only seven ingredients and you must be living in a dorm room if you don’t already have six on hand.
Salt. Pepper. Sugar. I have those in my purse.
Onion. I haven’t been without an onion since 1994.
Garlic and olive oil. Check and check.
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The brownie is a polarizing baked good. Either you’re fudgy or chewy. A middle or an edge. I’ve heard legend of this debate devolving into arm wresting contests at county fairs. It’s ruined friendships and ended marriages. Only the chunky vs. smooth peanut butter war has done more damage. It’s true. And for those I’m about to offend, I hope we can find culinary middle ground somewhere else. Maybe with our preference of scones over muffins? Or our shared love of thin crust pizza? OK. Here goes:
I am a chewy edge person. I can’t help it. I was born this way.
I am also a fan of chocolaty brownies, which you’d think would be a no-brainer but many recipes and mixes (gasp!) trade chocolate-depth in favor of overly sweet. What’s a girl to do?
Consult Cook’s Illustrated, that’s what.
And when Cook’s Illustrated gets all culi-nerdy with their talk of fat ratios and emulsification and THEN goes on to provide a recipe for a guaranteed chewy brownie that doesn’t require a double boiler to melt the chocolate — SIGN! ME! UP!
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This recipe is so good that it doesn’t even matter that I don’t know what a tian is. Not one bit. It doesn’t even matter that I was too lazy to Google it. And it especially doesn’t matter that I thought it was a typo for “gratin” for a good 10 minutes while I wondered why it didn’t have any cream in it. All those things don’t matter because I can whip one up with the best of them and now you can, too.
And I hope you will.
The original recipe can be found here. Ina Garten is behind this casserole dish of deliciousness. Surely, you are not surprised. She has that way about her — that “let’s just use thyme, salt and pepper” way. Simple dishes that exceed expectations. It’s a classic under-promise/over-deliver. Potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, thyme, a little cheese. “Sure, sure.” you think. “That sounds good.” but really it knocks your socks off and I can’t explain why. It just does.
This recipe seems rather forgiving but here are some tips I’ll pass along for good measure:
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It’s July 5th and yesterday was 60 degrees and rainy. My heat kicked in. Seattle Summer 2010 is off to a precarious start. Usually, turning on the oven or stove is low on the list of good ways to spend a July day but this year making soup seemed the perfect antidote to the drizzle. And what better soup than pho? Light, vegetable-plentiful, and with as many noodles as you need to feel better about the fact that you considered wearing mittens on your morning walk. Not that I wore them, mind you. I just wished I did.
Being from the Midwest, the Starbucks-like abundance of pho and teriyaki restaurants in Seattle was a welcomed surprise. You can’t throw a limp rice noodle in this town without it sticking to the window of a Yummy Teriyaki or I Heart Pho. And these folks aren’t afraid of the tofu. Vegetarian dishes are more thought-out than just meaty offerings sans meat — how nice is that?!
My favorite of all pho places is, luckily, in my neighborhood and their vegetarian pho is a work of art. While I can walk there in about 12 minutes and making my own takes about 45, it really makes no sense that I put in the effort. There’s a cook’s compulsion to recreate though, isn’t there? Maybe tweak ever so slightly? Use organic everything? I fall victim to that compulsion on a regular basis. And by victim I mean I sometimes spend a lot on groceries.
That said, this is worth the 45 minutes (tops) it takes to prepare. It makes 4 generous servings so you can impress three friends once or one friend twice with this soup. It’s filling but doesn’t weigh you down and dessert can be cream puffs. People will love you.
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