[Veloce]

(02-10-2015 03:31 PM)Harvey Specter Wrote:  

(02-08-2015 07:59 PM)Veloce Wrote:  

For tonight I'm cooking 5-spice rubbed pork chops with charred broccolini and shitake mushrooms, black rice, and a ginger carrot puree. I'm making the carrot puree by microwaving the carrots with ginger and butter just until tender and then mashing through a food mill. By pureeing the carrots, cooking them in a microwave, and cooking them with fat, I'm getting the greatest nutritional payload from the carotenoids than any other method, even eating them raw, not to mention a very tasty side dish for my dinner tonight.

Forget the bad rap that microwaves have gotten and experiment for yourself. Best used for vegetables that you want to fully cook, especially foods that you intend to puree.

First, that sounds amazing. I am going to try the ginger carrot puree this evening. How long do you typically microwave the carrots for?
Do you broil the broccolini and mushrooms to get the char?

Second, what is your favorite way to cook broccoli? Steaming it gets kind of old and I don't own a wok so I can't really stir fry it.

I believe it took 8 minutes for the carrots. I just kept poking them with a knife until it pierced the carrots with zero resistance.

For charred broccoli, I did a 2 part cooking process. I par-boiled them (but definitely could have microwaved them) until tender and then shocked them in ice water. I cut some shiitake mushrooms about a 1/2 inch thick. Separated the broccolini heads from the stalks, and sliced the stalks into batons.

Heated up a cast iron saute pan and put in a very small amount of rice bran oil, just barely enough to glaze the pan. Waited until smoking hot and then put the shiitake slices and broccolini in the pan, evenly spaced out so there's no crowding and steaming going on. You want a HARD sear. I let them go like this for at least a minute and then start checking the underside. When they have a deep, dark caramelization, borderline burned, I turn the pan off and toss the broccolini and mushrooms to heat them through. I add about a tablespoon of kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) and toss to coat. It's one of my favorite ways to prepare broccolini.

This is kecap manis, I highly recommend having a bottle of this in your pantry:



It's got palm sugar in it and it's by no means healthy, but it's a secret ingredient and a little goes a long way.

And on that note, I should have disclaimed that I almost never cook purely for nutritional content. To me, good cooking is finding that balance between creating dishes that are deeply satisfying and also nutritionally complete. My go-to dinner is centered around protein, vegetables, and either rice or potato (the most easily digested starches for me). But that doesn't mean I don't indulge here and there. Pears are killer right now and there's no better use for them than in an endive salad with blue cheese, walnuts, and a champagne vinaigrette. Not the healthiest but goddamn does it satisfy.