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By Root 654 0

chicken broth, and balsamic vinegar, then boost the heat and bring to a boil. Then back off the heat and hold a low simmer for 20 minutes. If you have a food mill, gently ladle in the soup and mill away to remove the skins. Otherwise, hit it with your stick blender and be prepared to floss.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Software:

1 recipe AB’s Slow-Roast Tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, seeded

and chopped fine

1 cup onion, chopped fine

3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Hardware:

Cutting board

Chef’s knife

6-quart stockpot

Food mill or stick blender

Turkey and Fig Breakfast Meatloaf

Application: Roasting

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Boil the grape juice in a small saucepan until it’s reduced to 2 tablespoons. Remove and cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, combine the turkey, breadcrumbs, figs, salt, pepper, thyme, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir in the grape juice reduction. Halve the mixture and shape into two 6 x 2-inch loaves. Place the loaves on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake until the internal temperature hits 155° F, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest 15 minutes before carving.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Software:

½ cup white grape juice

1 pound ground turkey

⅓ cup dried breadcrumbs

2 ounces dried figs, chopped fine,

approximately ½ cup

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground

black pepper

¼ teaspoon dried thyme,

crushed by hand

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Hardware:

1-quart saucepan

Cutting board

Chef’s knife

Digital kitchen scale

Large mixing bowl

Parchment paper

Half sheet pan

Darned good at breakfast.

CHAPTER 4

Frying

Americans adore fried foods and yet we’re willing to entrust the process to tenth graders wearing polyester smocks and funny hats...strange.

I Fry

YOU: What the heck’s so great about frying?

ME : Remember the mean Terminator in Terminator 2?

YOU: The guy that was made out of that liquid metal stuff?

ME: Imagine having a pan made out of that stuff. That’s what frying’s like.

YOU: How’s that?

ME : Because you fry in fat, and fat’s dry.

YOU: But it’s a liquid.

M E: Just because it’s a liquid doesn’t mean it’s wet. Mercury’s a liquid.

YOU: Well, it doesn’t matter. Fried food’s greasy.

ME: Not if you do it right.

Fat is one of the three substances that act as both ingredient and cooking medium, and yet it brings something to the party that neither of the others can. Sure water can add flavor to simmered foods (especially to foods that must be hydrated, such as pasta and rice) and air can also carry flavor in the form of that wondrous vapor, smoke. But in both of these instances additives are required. Frying adds flavor simply through the interaction of the fat with the target food.

Fact: American home cooks have turned their backs on frying. They say that it’s unhealthy—that it will make them fat and plug their hearts and give them cancer and God knows what else.

Fact: American per capita consumption of frozen potato products is thirty pounds a year, almost all in the form of fast-food fries. This of course doesn’t include all those orders of fried calamari—and hush puppies and fried fish planks down at Admiral D’s. Obviously, something’s going on here.

In practical terms, here’s how my fry world breaks down.

Pan-Frying uses enough oil to come one-third to halfway up the side of the food. Unlike sautéing, the food is not moved around during cooking. Unlike deep-frying, the food is not immersed in the cooking medium. Pan-frying is most commonly the first step of a hybrid cooking method, and is followed by pan-braising. In this method the food is dredged, fried in very little fat until a crust forms, then liquid is added and the pan is covered. The food finishes cooking via stewing, and the flour that hasn’t already gelled into a crust becomes available for thickening the liquid into a sauce.

Immersion-Frying