By Kay Steiger
Roasted Garlic Acorn Squash
This is a quick and easy side I found over at Bookcook (which I guess he got at The Kitchn), and as he says, this doesn’t even really count as a recipe. Since we’re talking about produce, I got these bad boys at Whole Foods, but they’re pretty much the largest acorn squashes I’ve ever seen. They were so big that Kate helped me cut them into more manageable pieces (see her in action below) for the IFA Top Chef crowd.
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by Kay Steiger
Upon Kate’s prompting, I’m posting the mashed sweet potatoes recipe. This recipe comes from Alton Brown on the Food Network, and provides a nice kick to your typical sweet potato fare. It’s super easy, and requires only the most basic ingredients. I was disappointed, though, to discover that Whole Foods doesn’t carry chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, so thanks to Ben Miller who stopped to pick some up for me at Safeway. I doubled the recipe (below are the doubled ingredients, go to the link if you want the original) for the IFA crowd, but could have even quadrupled it if I had more sweet potatoes on hand.
5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 whole canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
2 teaspoons adobo sauce from can of peppers
1 teaspoon salt
Put cubed potatoes into steamer basket and place steamer into a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of basket. Since I doubled the recipe I simply placed a colander in a large pot with a small amount of water on the bottom. Steam for 25-30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add butter and mash with potato masher. Add peppers, sauce, and salt and continue mashing to combine.
By Spencer Ackerman
Apropos of the great think-tank-lunch debate, my FDL colleague Pachacutec points out a glaring culinary omission. While it’s not by any stretch a free lunch — if you don’t watch yourself, you can really plunk down a lot of money — the cafeteria in the Brookings Institution offers a stunningly tasty and nutritious menu.
No lie. Usually ordering fish at a cafeteria amounts to gambling with your life, unless you’re getting some frozen fillet or -stick tossed out of a bag and into a deep-fryer. But I’ve had a light and nourishing salmon, lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice, and it’s neither toxic nor cooked to a rubbery husk. The same goes for their chicken selections. Baked chicken, properly prepared, and with healthy starches and whole-grain assortments to accompany it, to say nothing of the vegetable options. (Hope you like squash yearround!) Feel like a sandwich? There’s a DIY cold-cut station. It’s by no means a gourmet lunch — this is a cafeteria in the most establishment think tank in human history — but it is a satisfying one.
Looking out from my North Dupont office, I’m wondering whether I want to go so far as to say Brookings offers the best lunch in Dupont Circle. We’ve got some Circle-based IFAers here, so they can weigh in. You don’t suffer for a shortage of options here. There’s any number of sit-down places for taking sources or editors for leisurely meetings, plus you’ve got Chipotle and Cosi and Five Guys, and, if absolutely necessary, Subway. Not far away are the 19th Street power-lunch spots like the Palm, and in the other direction, the Adams Morgan reliables like Astor Mediterranean on Columbia. But for the mixture of value and taste and the likely company of John Judis, the Brookings cafeteria really stands on its own two.
by Ben Miller
Turkey a-brining
I have a turkey dilemma. Our feast is going to be so big this year that rather than purchase one enormous turkey I got one 13 pounder and one 15.5 pounder (the smaller from Whole Foods the bigger from Eastern Market). Now here is where I could use some advice. As you can see from the picture to the left, I put the smaller turkey into a 12-hour brine mixture at about 8:45 this morning. This is going off this recipe here ($), in which you let the turkey dry out a bit overnight in the fridge so that the skin crisps.
Now, the question is what to do with the second turkey. Those of you brining experts–should I do the same thing with the second turkey (a long brine and then let it dry out to crisp the skin). Or should I just brine overnight and then rinse, pat dry and put it right into the oven?
by Kay Steiger
Via Sadie at Jezebel, The Independent has an essay on how women are “everyday cooks” while men earn the title of “chefs.” I already wrote a post here on the IFA about my own personal aversion to the kitchen and attention to the gender stereotypes, but I think that Sophie Radice seems to hit on a fear that many women have: although men may be taking on more cooking responsibilities, there’s still a hierarchy there. Women are supposed to prepare the daily dinners while men take the stage and show off for the dinner parties.
The only time I ever suggested cooking for anyone other than the children he laughed. For he believes that only men can be truly great cooks. And though he is not a misogynist in real life, he certainly is in the kitchen.
The thing is, the kitchen is real life. It’s a perpetual problem that women allow their partners to imply that their role in the home is one of maintenance. Women need to ask that men take an equal share in the everyday cooking, and take the stage if they want to. The point of all this gender discussion isn’t just to make sure we have more Stephanies on Top Chef, it’s also about making home responsibilities more equitable.
Radice makes a lot of good points about the general feeling about skill levels of men and women in the kitchen, but she also seemed to imply that complicated recipes are overrated (and her piece is loaded with some gender stereotypes of her own). There’s no shame in taking on a complex dish — but they shouldn’t be expected for everyday. One thing I’ve discovered with my own cooking experiences is that a lot of it is about confidence. While I found a lot of joy in trying this asparagus souffle from Simply Recipes with Kate at home, I would’ve been terrified to serve something so complicated to guests. But if you have the confidence required, you don’t mind making complicated things, even if they fail.
The ego that goes with many Top Chef contestants (and other major chefs) is one that is broadly encouraged in men and discouraged in women. The kind of negative commentary Radice gets from her husband only furthers her lack of confidence in her cooking skills. So remember to compliment the chef — especially if that chef is a she.
