Fresh bay leaves are not necessarily better than dried.
And they can be pretty different beasts.
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Interesting. I’ve used dry mostly but assumed fresh were better.
Yeah, I disagree with Kenji there on dried rosemary (I think I hate the dried even more than I love the fresh), but in a lot of cases there’s no shame in using dried herbs, and dried can be occasionally preferable.
I discovered something by accident that worked really nicely recently.
Was cooking up steaks for the family on an electric griddle (salt, pepper, a little stir fry oil on the griddle, then butter on top after flipping…might have used a little garlic powder, don’t remember). When I sliced the first one, I realized it was way too rare for my family’s tastes (I’m flexible, don’t really care rare to medium). I was going to cut it up for my kids, anyway, so I cut it into smallish pieces and threw it back on the griddle for just a few seconds. Just plopped it right in the oil and grease, using a little extra butter. Literally a few seconds just to brown the red parts more, tossing the pieces a bit.
Turned out just like hibachi at a Japanese restaurant. It was amazing. Thus, I did it for the other three steaks, rather than serving them whole.
Also, I’ve been enjoying watching J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s videos lately. I’ve made the smash burgers and mac and cheese so far. So easy.
For the smash burgers, I didn’t have parchment paper to prevent sticking, so I sprayed the spatula and then sprayed the bottom of a full tea kettle to use as the weight. Worked pretty well. Didn’t get them as paper thin as he does, but that’s fine because scraping them off the cook top like he did would not have worked in my kitchen.
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So the recipe only called for the white meat for the soup, even though I used the whole chicken for the stock. What do you do with the leftover dark meat (aside from snacking on it while you wait for the soup to finish)?
Chicken salad sandwich
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Clovis has top answer, but I’d also suggest that you could shred it up, mix it with either bbq sauce or wing sauce (melted butter + hot sauce), and either make a wrap, or use it to top nachos, a flatbread, or a pizza.
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That should probably finish it off, no?
Whenever in doubt about leftovers - fried rice
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Beef with broccoli is surprisingly easy to replicate, or at least that’s been my experience… The secret is oyster sauce and dark soy sauce and thickening it up with cornstarch. And of course garlic and ginger. Also, curry chicken is a thing you can make at home pretty readily.
High heat is super crucial for Chinese cooking. Gotta get everything prepared upfront so it can get thrown in the wok rapidly and sos the veggies stay crispy and don’t get overcooked. It’s very dynamic, things have to be executed with a sense of timing.
So for those of you who have a stockpile of rice, dried beans, and canned tomatoes, Mexican rice is pretty great. Big batch of that with some corn tortillas and cheese and Tapatío and you’re set for a while.
Is there a recipe for mexican rice?
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Yeah, you can improvise a lot of the ingredients. Ya just need beans and rice
and tomatoes and in a pinch you’re good to go.
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Decided to try this recipe tonight. It turned out spectacular. I made some veggie substitutions (used broccoli and mushrooms along with a yellow pepper) but it came out perfect. I really wanted beef tonight and the only beef we had was sirloin, so it’s a little more highbrow than the normal flank steak.
Like Trolly said above, the key to good Asian food is to prep everything first. I literally line up all the plates/bowls of chopped veggies, meat, and sauces right next to my stove. Also, you want a high smoke point oil that isn’t overly flavorful itself, like grapeseed or sunflower seed oil. Also, while i love my wok, you don’t need it, everything can be done in a regular pan.
presentation-wise it would have been better to have a red pepper, but I don’t have any left 
I love cooking Asian food because you don’t have to wait. Prep, then 5-10 minutes later, it’s done. No waiting around for something to bake or broil for 45 minutes.
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Try arrowroot sometime for thickener in Chinese dishes. No taste, and it thickens things like Chow Mein with the same sort of rich mouthfeel as the Chinese restaurants and keeps the liquid more clear than corn starch. I find I can’t do a good Chow Mein unless I use arrowroot as the thickener.
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I made teh ziti last night. Here’s how it went down:
First I got my 9” x 13” casserole dish and coated the bottom with a thin layer of the leftover sauce, just enough to cover the entire bottom of the dish
Next, I took one heaping cup of ricotta cheese and spooned it out into the sauce, spacing the clumps out as evenly (debatable) as possible
I boiled my ziti noodles a little al dente and strained with my handy colander pot. I added a little olive oil to keep them loose, plus a couple tablespoons of sauce, then stirred it all together
Next I poured my pasta/sauce/oil mixture into my dish
Next, I poured (almost) all the rest of the leftover sauce over the top (I still had sauce left even after all this)
Then I topped it off with 8 oz of shredded mozzarella and 6 oz of shredded parmesan. One could probably do with a little less cheese here but I like my shit cheesy af
Pop that thing into the oven at 350 for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly crusted around the edges
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I’m going to give this stir fry a go because my sf lolrepertoire consists of just one simple dish (chicken and broccoli with noodles pinched from Ramsay) and we could use a beef dish for variety.
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I know Italians have known this forever, but the best thing about that gambit is the economy of it. For the cost of about two McD’s combos, I got three spaghetti dinners (two the night of plus lunch the next day and I still have a little left over), plus four ziti dinners (two last night, two lunches today) plus 2/3 of that dish is now in my freezer awaiting its final resting place in my belly at a future date. And it’s just as good if not better coming out of the freezer. Garnish with a little side salad and some New York brand garlic bread, om nom nom
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