Time for a cookbook update. (Any update to revive this dead blog!) I've made only a handful of recipes from the new(ish) Smitten Kitchen book, but all four of the main/meat dishes I've tried have been outstanding:
- the sweet and sour brisket. So Deb talked this one up a LOT (I loved her description of the defensive tactics her mother-in-law employed whenever she tried to pin down the exact recipe, which remains a secret). I think that made impressionable old me just a tad disappointed when I made it and it wasn't out-of-this-world good, but it was a very tasty chunk of meat that I didn't mind nibbling on for days. Also it was EASY (a feature she also talked up a lot, and rightly so). Compared with Cook's Illustrated's brisket, which you sear before roasting (besides a lot of other finicky things I probably forget), this one you just plop in the pan. I did change the oven time, since I thought 350 sounded too high. I took it about four hours in a 300 degree oven and that was perfect.
- tomato-glazed meatloaves. The first time I made these I cried "typo!," as it took more like 35 minutes for them to cook through. I think the second time I upped the oven temp to 400 and it was still a little more than 20 minutes til they were cooked through---not sure what happened there. Anyway, they're still fairly quick and easy and delicious.
- sesame spiced turkey meatballs with chickpea salad. This is a great, great dish. It tops the list of things I can't figure out why I never made before. A bonus is that it's totally make-ahead-friendly (make salad and mix/shape meatballs in advance, so you just have 20-25 mindless minutes to cook come dinnertime). I have neither Aleppo pepper nor sumac in my spice drawer so I make do with things like ground white pepper and smoked paprika (no idea how close they are to what I'm subbing them in for, but they work well with the other flavors). Everything else I follow to a T and get excellent results. One thing: she says that you need an ovenproof pan "with a lid," but I'm not sure why that is specified as there is no lid used in the directions. You bake them in the 400 degree oven uncovered, in the pan (preferably cast iron!) in which they were fried. And they will be so, so good, and you will have two items to wash after dinner (skillet, turner/spatula---oh and a meat thermometer for three items). It doesn't get much better than that.
- wild rice gratin with kale, caramelized onions, and baby swiss. This I made dairy-free but protein-rich by adding a bottom layer of about 2 cups cooked shredded chicken and a little chicken broth, then proceeding as normal without the cheese. What a great use of kale: it isn't in the forefront, in case any diners are kale-ambivalent, but there's enough that it counts as a vegetable serving, and tastes like it belongs. I can't wait to make this version with cheese someday, as nature/Deb intended.
I'm pretty bummed by the baking section and its complete dependence upon butter, but hey, I can't blame Deb. If I had a choice I would still be burning through a pound of butter a week, I am sure. (As an aside, Earth Balance vegan buttery spread is not nearly as objectionable as expected: I held out for so long, thinking surely I could get by without something salty and fatty to spread on my bread, haughtily committed to the idea that there is no substitute for butter, so why are those crazy vegans even trying? I couldn't cope with the deprivation so I caved and met with a pleasant surprise. Vegetable oil spread. Yum. ...) OH, and the plum poppyseed muffins. Now I'm sad, remembering how good those were (browned butter and sour cream---how could they not be?). I even made a note about it being the best base recipe for muffins that I've tried, and I've tried quite a lot. Including another SK recipe for coconut muffins (with coconut oil) that was...bad. But we'll not end this happy post on a sour note. I'm loving this cookbook and can't wait to try the leek fritters, to name just one thing I have marked.
