BrokeAss Gourmet

Chicken Kreplach, Marilyn Style

2013-02-05T21:15:39Z

You may have clicked on this link, thinking I was referring to Marilyn Monroe. I'm not. But don't go away--this is even better.

Because I'm talking about an even MORE glamorous, even MORE mysterious, knock-out gorgeous lady. That's right, folks: I'm talking about my grandmother, Marilyn Moskowitz.

Full disclosure: I am pretty sure my grandmother never actually made kreplach (Eastern European dumplings, boiled or fried, filled with either meat or cheese). Traditional kreplach are pretty work-intensive, as you must mix, roll and cut the dough, and make the filling from scratch. Grandma's kitchen style tended toward the less-is-more school of thought, when it came to prep. Once, when I was about twelve years old, I watched her cover a lasagna with pre-shredded cheese. I had never seen bagged, shredded cheese before.

"How come you don't grate it yourself?" I inquired.

"Because, sweetheart, I have better things to do with my time than grate cheese," she answered, pinching my cheek. I saw her point: spending time with me was definitely more fun than grating a block of mozzarella.

Though my approach tends to be the opposite of hers (I'd rather do more work and spend less money), I've had Grandma on my mind recently, so I decided to take the Marilyn approach to homemade kreplach: fresh, simple filling made from cooked chicken, onions, garlic, parsley, dill, salt and pepper stuffed into eggy dumpling wrappers, rather than the traditional fresh, eggy, time-consuming noodle dough. I floated them in simple, seasoned chicken broth with a bit of sliced, wilted kale, and nobody suspected the meal was made from anything less than scratch.

Wasn't she beautiful? My grandfather was a looker too.

The recipe is easy. First, you mix up the filling:

Then put a little on a dumpling wrapper:

Dab some water on the edges, then fold one side in like so, making sure to seal tightly:

Seal all the edges so it looks like this:

Make a bunch:

Cook them in chicken broth with sliced kale:

Ladle it up:

Garlicky BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potatoes for 2

2013-02-05T00:08:10Z

When I don't need the whole thing, there is no better chicken part for my money than whole legs.

This is one of those glorious one-pan meals. I usually add a green salad or a cooked vegetable, but it's not necessary. Served with a cold beer or a glass of Chardonnay, this is one of my favorite ways to end the day--and it's just enough for 2 (or 2 nights worth of dinner for 1).

When I don't need the whole thing, there is no better chicken part for my money than whole legs. Comprised of both the thigh and the drumstick, these tender, deeply flavorful chicken pieces work well in nearly every way--on the grill, cooked in mole, or roasted. They also feature a slightly higher fat content than chicken breasts, and therefore are ideal for cooking along with a root vegetable, as I've done here, since the extra bit of fat coats and flavors the dense veggies. I've used garnet yams here, but regular potatoes, peeled, cubed butternut squash, beets, turnips, or a combination would work nicely as well.

And the best part: one pan means fewer dishes!

Note: This isn't a requirement, but it's one of my favorite tricks: as soon as I open the package of chicken, the first thing I do is trim the excess fat. I saute it along with onions, garlic, ginger, Chinese Five Spice, fish sauce, a dash of soy sauce, water and whatever vegetable scraps I have laying around to make broth for pho. Even if I'm not planning on eating the pho the same day, it's a great, flavorful broth to have on hand, and it takes only a couple of minutes to get started. I let it simmer for a couple of hours, usually while I prepare and serve the chicken, and then simply strain, cool and refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container until I'm ready to use it.

Roasted Garlic Spinach-Artichoke Dip

2013-02-01T22:58:14Z

This classic spinach-artichoke dip gets an upgrade from sweet, slowly roasted garlic.

Look, I'm not going to lie to you; I am not interested in football.

I cannot tell you how many times when, as a kid, my dad would call me into the living room where he was watching an instant replay of some "amazing" play in some supposedly "epic" game. He'd take a brief break from screaming at the television (because he, like many sportsfans, believes the players can hear him). He'd wave me over to the couch, point at the TV and we'd have the following conversation.

Dad: Watch this, Gab! This is beautiful.

Gabi: Um. I have a lot of homework to do.

Dad: Just for a minute.

Gabi: OK.

(I watch a guy on TV catch a ball.)

Dad: Wasn't that INCREDIBLE!?

Gabi: Sure.

And that's how pretty much every conversation I have ever had about football goes. I don't begrudge football fans their fun--I just can't seem to get into it.

But this year, the Niners, of San Francisco, MY beautiful, amazing city, are going to the Superbowl. And, while I couldn't care less about the specifics of the actual game, I am stoked that SF is representing. As such, I figured I better do my part and make a kick-ass dip.

This classic spinach-artichoke dip gets an upgrade from sweet, slowly roasted garlic. Roasted garlic is great on its own--just try it spread over some grilled bread...yum--but when used in place of the usual minced cloves, it adds a subtle-but-definitely-there hint of deep, garlicky flavor. A whole head of garlic might seem like a lot, but when it's roasted, it mellows out quite a bit.

I like to serve this with tortilla chips. pita chips and sliced red bell peppers.

GO NINERS! (And spinach-artichoke dip!)

Chinese Pork Dumplings

2013-01-23T22:41:52Z

Some people meditate with river rocks or yoga or gongs. Some people throw Tarot cards or the I Ching. Some people chant. Good for them.

I, however, make dumplings.

I find it endlessly soothing--the mixing of the meat, the flouring of the rolling board, the folding of the tiny ruffles that seal my dumplings together, creating a perfect vacuum for cooking the tender pork mixture.

It may not qualify as Zen, but it's my own personal Nirvana. And it's not as hard as you might think.

First, you mix pork (or another ground meat) with flavorings...

...so it looks like this.

Next, get your wrappers ready on a floured surface, with a little bowl of water.

Put a little bit of filling in the center of a dumpling wrapper.

After dabbing water on the edges, fold it in half, like a taco.

Carefully fold little pleats on one side of the dumpling, sealing as you go.

The finished product should look like this.

Make a whole plate of 'em.

Then fry them in vegetable oil, so the bottoms get brown and crispy.

Pour in a little water and steam away.

The finished product is crispy on the bottom and juicy inside. I like them chili paste for an extra kick.

Olive Oil Challah

2013-01-18T20:10:12Z

The richness of the eggs combined with the fragrance of good, grassy olive oil makes my mouth water every time.

For several months now, I have been baking challah every friday afternoon. This is, of course, in part because I have spent the better part of the last year falling in love with someone who observes Shabbat every Friday, but that's not the only reason.

Making fresh challah is both sensuous (the richness of the eggs combined with the fragrance of good, grassy olive oil makes my mouth water every time), and familiar (I've made it so many times now that I have the ingredient ratios memorized and can do it by feel). Kneading the soft dough (almost a hybrid of pastry and pizza dough) relieves tension and fills me with promise of the weekend ahead.

The toppings and variations are infinite. Once, I topped my braided dough with finely-minced onions, poppy seeds and sea salt:

And another time, I pressed fresh, halved figs into the soft dough before baking:

Feel free to get creative, and don't forget to make enough to have throughout the weekend--there is no french toast like challah french toast!

Vegetarian Green Chile Enchiladas

2013-01-08T23:07:01Z

I returned from the trip longing for all the accoutrements of my vacation: toasty kiva fireplaces, fresh sopapillas with Taos honey and green chilies on everything.

After spending Chrismukkah with my family in Sonoma County, and New Years with his in Milwaukee, Evan and I hopped a scarily small plane from MKE to Santa Fe for a romantic mini-vacation. We spent 2 days in Santa Fe and 2 in Taos. We soaked in a private hot tub overlooking snow-capped mountains at Ten Thousand Waves, hiked near the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos and ate our weight in chilies and mole sauce.

Aren't we cute?

As tends to happen, I returned from the trip longing for all the accoutrements of my vacation: toasty kiva fireplaces, fresh sopapillas with Taos honey and green chilies on everything.

Since I don't have a fireplace in my San Francisco apartment (Do you? I'm coming over.), and regular consumption of deep-fried bread, though delicious, doesn't really support my chances of fitting into my favorite jeans, I figured green chilies were the way to go.

We bought some roasted green Hatch Santa Fe chilies on our trip, but I'm saving those for later. Regular old jalapeños and poblanos worked perfectly here. I roasted the chilies with tomatillos, onions and garlic, and pureed them into a perky but mellow sauce, which I poured over corn tortillas filled with vegetables and cheese.

New Mexican cooking truly is a hybrid of Mexican, Native American and Tex-Mex food. Real, whole chilies get combined with regular American cheddar or jack cheese, as opposed to a more traditional Mexican cheese--still, these would be delicious with queso blanco or queso quesadilla, if you're so inclined.

I served mine topped witih greek yogurt in lieu of sour cream and a few slices of avocado. I sat down, took a bite, and let the sweet memories come flowing back.

Delicious, in so many ways.

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

2012-12-14T00:08:52Z

But I wasn't going to post any old dough recipe, just because it happened to be gluten-free. No, I was going to find the tastiest, chewiest, crispiest-edged pizza dough recipe--one that can also be prepared without buying seven different flours and chemical dough elasticizers. Because if it's not affordable and simple, it's not for this website.

If you know me, you know I don't like being told what to do.

If you know me well, you know that, not only do I not like it, but it's a totally ineffective way to get me to jump on your bandwagon. I hate bandwagons. I don't understand the Cult of Mac. I will never say "YOLO." I don't see what's so special about Ryan Gosling.

And so, when an onslaught of people started telling me to make a gluten-free version of my signature pizza dough recipe, I rolled my eyes. "This isn't a gluten-free blog! JEEZ!" I would have snapped at them, if I weren't so afraid of confrontation.

I made a habit of nicely redirecting those in search of glutenless pastures to the plethora of excellent gluten-free blogs on the internet, specifically the fantastic Sauna Ahern's Gluten Free Girl And the Chef--she knows what she's doing in the gluten-free department.

But then, I started working on my second cookbook, all about pizza dough (due out Fall 2013), and reached out to my friends and readers, as bloggers-turned-cookbook-writers are wont to do, and I started hearing it over and over again:

Ooh! I've missed pizza, ever since I went gluten-free.

Hey Gabs, any chance you can de-gluten-ify that pizza dough for me?

Me like pizza. Me no like gluten.

Stupid gluten.

Ooookaaaay. So, it sounds like this gluten-free thing is perhaps bigger than I had anticipated. From Celiac disease to slight gluten intolerance, more and more people were learning to live without gluten. And what is a life without pizza?

But I wasn't going to post any old dough recipe, just because it happened to be gluten-free. No, I was going to find the tastiest, chewiest, crispiest-edged pizza dough recipe--one that can also be prepared without buying seven different flours and chemical dough elasticizers. Because if it's not affordable and simple, it's not for this website.

Anyway, after a week of recipe testing and experimentation, I learned a few things:

Gluten-free dough neither behaves, nor tastes exactly like regular wheat dough. It's not going to be kneadable, rise in the same way, or stretch, but that doesn't make it any less delicious.
Pre-baking is your friend. Pre-baking the crust means you can load it up with extra-toppings without worrying about it getting soggy.
It's all about the olive oil. Gluten-free doughs can dry out easily. Counteract with a liberal brushing of delicious olive oil.
There is no reason to advertise the fact that your pizza is gluten-free. Because if you say, "Hey, try this pizza I just made!" they'll gobble it up without asking questions.

Chicken Pho

2012-11-26T22:41:37Z

I spent this Thanksgiving weekend drinking wine, eating, laughing, snuggling, eating, hugging, reminiscing, lounging, eating, and also eating.

We all ate and ate: mass amounts of creamy Brown Butter-Pumpkin Mac and Cheese, rich stuffing, velvety pumpkin pie and a million different kinds of crispy, creamy, browned, meaty comfort-food-y things. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

That said, this week's approach to food is going to have to be a little lighter, if I am hoping to continue to wear my pants through the holiday season. With that in mind, I decided to make pho--the spicy, deeply flavorful, soul-hugging soup of Vietnamese origin, in which noodles swim (I used low-calorie shirataki noodles--usually found near the tofu in most grocery stores--to make further atone for last week's caloric intake, but rice vermicelli is what is traditionally called for), and atop which fresh, toppings, like scallions, bean sprouts and cilantro dance, waiting to be stirred in.

Note: This soup also happens to be a fantastic way to use up that leftover turkey you've been plowing through for the past few days. Simply use the turkey carcass to make the broth, and shred cooked turkey meat to use in place of the chicken meat called for.

Bangkok-Style Deviled Eggs

2012-11-13T23:16:09Z

Today, I decided to devil some of my favorite Southeast Asian flavors...

Deviling hard-boiled eggs are such a fantastic canvas for flavors. Want truffles and white pepper? Devil it up, baby! Red peppers and olive oil? You devil, you! Even whimsical green eggs and ham can be made palatable by way of the deviled egg (eating them in a box with a fox is, of course, totally optional).

So today, I decided to devil some of my favorite Southeast Asian flavors--spicy chili sauce, fresh cilantro, perky garlic and sliced scallions. The result was a fun, totally unique appetizer, unlike any deviled egg I've ever had before.

I went the simple route of spooning the egg mixture into the whites, but feel free to get a little fancier with a pastry bag.

Sweet Potato-Andouille Hash

2012-11-11T22:10:38Z

This has quickly become one of my favorite breakfasts (or lunches dinners, for that matter). It’s a fast, flavorful, high-protein dish, with just enough of a kick from the spicy Andouille sausage and jalapeño. Serve some seared spinach or some steamed broccoli with lemon, and you’ll have an easy, healthy meal, that will keep you satisfied for hours.

If you’re in a rush and need to eat on the go, scramble your eggs right into the hash, and tuck it into whole wheat tortillas or pita pockets, for a unique take on the breakfast burrito.

Note: If you’re not a fan of Andouille, this hash will accommodate just about any other kind of sausage. I’ve enjoyed it with garlic-cilantro chicken sausages, kielbasa, and even vegetarian chorizo. Feel free to be creative.