Blogs : Test Kitchen Notes

Walk-In Lunch

Usually, the issue in the test kitchen is not what to eat for lunch but how much. Granted, it may be a strange assortment of foods (braised artichokes, chopped liver, and derby pie, anyone?), but victuals always abound. That is, every day except Monday, when we have yet to shop and cook for the week. With paltry pantry pickings, whoever gets hungry first plays the role of Iron Chef and whips up something on the fly. We affectionately call it our “walk-in lunch” as we make the meal from whatever’s in the fridge (“walk-in” being a term borrowed from restaurants where all perishables are stored in walk-in fridges).

Despite the scary potential flavor combos and meals that come from throwing together leftover bits of this and that, we usually come up with tasty treats. The key seems to be using a good dose of interesting spice. This week: a comforting parsnip-potato soup topped with leftover toasted pumpkin seeds from last week’s cotija-cilantro salad (recipe due out in May). For the soup, we simply sautéed some garlic, onions, celery, and carrot until browned, added parsnips, potatoes, thyme, and broth, and cooked until the vegetables were knife tender. After a few whirls in the blender with some nutmeg and some toasted pumpkin seed oil, lunch was served. Just a reminder that you should be inspired not defeated by the leftovers in your fridge, as you never know what walk-in genius may arise.

Posted by Aida Mollenkamp | 2 comments
Tagged with: test kitchen notes, food and cooking, leftovers, recipes, test_kitchen_notes

Where Are Recipes Born?

It’s assumed that we do a lot of cooking in the test kitchen, and we do. But where do the recipes come from? They are not just random recipes from cookbooks or online directories; we make them up.

But before any cooking can actually happen, we spend hours on research. Some recipes take less research, like Nutty Trail Mix, and some take more, like the tamales recipe in our soon-to-come “Mexico Staycation” feature.

While I enjoy eating tamales, making tamales does not come naturally to a girl from Wisconsin. It is quite familiar, however, to our resident nueva Latina, Kate, and our Southern California girl, Aida. Yesterday, when tamale making commenced, Kate was forming tamales, Aida was dictating what she was doing, and I was noting the written directions so that any novice could successfully make a proper tamale. Although it usually does not take all three of us at once to complete a recipe, certain situations call for extra care and clarity, and especially accuracy. What’s the point of investing in a time-consuming recipe if it’s not accurate and won’t turn out delicious? Collectively, we were able to come up with a process that would make sense to any novice.

If I had it my way, I would be able to spend at least twice as much time researching a recipe and leave no stone unturned, no question unanswered. Unfortunately, the food dork in me could also spend two weeks here in the kitchen reading up on how colonial women used to kill and dress turtles for soup. For now, I’ll just have to continue to read my food dictionary on the bus.

Posted by Amy Wisniewski | 0 comments
Tagged with: test kitchen notes, food and cooking, recipes, recipe development, test_kitchen_notes

Ode to Fat

Surely we’re not the first to tell you that fat is a vehicle for flavor, hence the reason cooking flavorful, low-fat food is such a challenge. Here in the test kitchen, our flavor vehicles of choice are those you can access easily and consistently: butter, olive, and canola oil. But when we start playing around with dishes that call for the less common fats, we don’t shy away, because the right fat for the right preparation—schmaltz for matzo balls being a prime example—is the right way to make it just like grandma.

This week, we’re elbow deep in ethnic recipes that require those other fats: chopped liver, tamales, braised lamb shanks, etc. Needless to say, flavor’s coming out of our ears at this point. So far we’ve played around with seven different fats, having already used olive oil, canola oil, unsalted butter, duck fat, lard, schmaltz, and lamb fat. But we’ll make it to number eight by week’s end, as we still have to zero in on some shortening. Glad to see we’re not alone in our love for the fatty stuff.

Posted by Aida Mollenkamp | 3 comments
Tagged with: test kitchen notes, test_kitchen_notes, food and cooking, lard, duck fat, schmaltz, olive oil, canola oil, butter, shortening

The Guest Chef Experience

I guess I’m a big dork but I have really good memories of my time in undergrad at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. The program is half business, half hospitality, and it all comes together during the hours upon hours (around 800 in all) students are required to work, applying theory to practical experience. One of the most realistic tests of the students’ skills comes via a class known as Guest Chefs, in which invited chefs visit the school to supervise a high-end, open-to-the-public dinner that students market and run. Heavy hitters such as Daniel Boulud, Todd English, and Michel Roux are just a few of the talented past participants. So when I was invited this year I was in, as I love new experiences, especially if it means helping other people learn along the way.

Last weekend, fellow test kitchen cook Amy and I headed to Ithaca and oversaw the students for two days as they produced our four-course, 12-recipe, pan-Mediterranean menu for a group of 100. Featured were a few of our favorite recipes, such as our Smoked Paprika Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp, Charmoula Roast Pork Loin (made with rack of lamb on this outing), and Saag Tofu with Ras el Hanout subbed for the garam masala. Though the recipes were largely about clean flavors, straightforward preparations, and simple presentations, the students still learned plenty. One student told me they thought the recipes had so few ingredients that they’d be easy, but quickly realized that wasn’t true. Instead, it meant every ingredient had to be treated with good technique or the outcome would be subpar.

But we learned too. The most exciting discovery was that a flailing economy made the students fearful, yet unwavering in their desire to forge a career in the food world and dork out on food, just like we do every day here. The one thing I didn’t recall? Just how hard it is to get to upstate New York from the West Coast and how freakin’ freezing it is there in mid-February.

Posted by Aida Mollenkamp | 0 comments
Tagged with: test kitchen notes, test_kitchen_notes, cornell, school of hospitality, guest chefs

The Giving Kitchen

Just as the people who work in the CHOW test kitchen wear many hats (writers, scientists, food stylists, prop stylists, and of course cooks) our kitchen, too, must adjust to our daily whims. Like a passive-aggressive mate, our workspace has to succumb to all the wishes of the family around it. On any given day, the kitchen is our library, prop storage room, photo studio, and often much more.

Today alone our poor kitchen has served as a recipe testing ground, the food team’s styling headquarters, a location for both a CHOW Tip video and Passover photo shoot, and a conference room. Add the lure of free food, and it’s clear that this is the most traversed room for all of CHOW.

But sometimes we forget to give a little love back to the kitchen that provides so much. When that happens, a busted sink or broken garbage disposal will be bestowed upon us, as a reminder that we need to appreciate and look after our workspace. So now, not unlike the old man in the ending of The Giving Tree, I’m taking a moment to sit in our ol’ kitchen and give it a well-earned rest.

Posted by Amy Wisniewski | 0 comments
Tagged with: test kitchen notes, giving tree, test_kitchen_notes