When Sheena sent me this recipe from Design*Sponge, I thought of it as the ultimate savory cookie. The process read easily enough so I decided to try it on Sunday and bring them to the office the next day. They were a hit, even for those who thought they wouldn’t be able to stomach the spiciness of the peppers. For lack of a better–and classier–description, they taste like Cheez-Its, only spicier.
I’ve made several edits to make the recipe easier to follow and renamed them biscuits because, let’s be honest, most people expect cookies to be sweet instead of savory. If you tell them you made biscuits, they’re more likely to try them. You don’t want to see the disappointment on your guests’ faces when you offer them cookies and then tell them they’re made of jalapeños.
I found it hard to make the cookie discs. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’m just not a baker, or if my dough was too wet. After cutting the dough into small discs using the rim of a wine glass, I still had to roll them into balls and then flatten them out because it wasn’t easy to pick them up from my counter. I liberally sprinkled extra flour to dry the rest of the dough up. When all was done, the kitchen smelled beautifully.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8-ounce block of extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup pickled jalapeños, patted dry with a paper towel
1. In a large bowl, mix together flour and cheddar. In a food processor, combine butter, salt and pepper until thoroughly blended. Slowly add flour and cheese until dough clears the sides of mixer. Add the jalapeños for one last quick blitz. Don’t over-mix.
2. Shape the dough into ball and wrap in parchment or wax paper and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350º. When dough is chilled, flour your kitchen counter and roll out the dough until it is about a 1/2″ thick. Using about a 2″ circular cookie cutter or the rim of a wine glass, cut out circles and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake in the center of the oven for about 13 minutes or until cookies are golden on top. Remove to a rack and let cool.
My mother handed me a butternut squash the last time I visited my parents’ apartment. I don’t usually get hand-me-down vegetables from people, but I was grateful for this one and immediately thought of butternut squash soup for dinner. Before cooking though, I opened my freezer to, er, re-arrange the vodka bottles in there and noticed the frozen leftover coconut milk tucked behind all the stock I’ve also stored. Something curry-ish came to mind and then something butternut squash soup-y curry-ish materialized from that.
I puréed the squash-coconut mixture towards the end of the recipe using my food processor. Do this in batches if you have a smaller food processor or else your kitchen counter will be squash-yellow by the time you have to eat. If you have a hand blender, even better! Feel free to add more stock to reach the desired soup consistency. I like mine a little bit chunky, so sometimes I even skip the entire step of pureéing it.
1. Preheat oven to 400º. Slice the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Slice into quarters. Drizzle the squash meat with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place squash cut side down on a lined roasting tray. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until flesh feels soft when prodded. Remove from the oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Roughly chop into smaller pieces.
2. In a Dutch oven, heat some oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic until brown and then onions until soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes and all the spices and keep sautéing until tomatoes are broken.
3. Add the vegetable stock and let simmer. Add the roasted squash, then add the coconut milk and continue to simmer. When bubbling, aid the softening of the squash by crushing them using the back of a large spoon against the inside of the pot. Season with chile flakes for a bit of spiciness and salt and pepper as necessary.
4. When everything is well incorporated, scoop the squash-coconut mixture into a food processor, toss in parsley leaves, and do a quick blitz.
Filipinos like their meat, but we especially love our pork. We love it so much that we will eat it three times a day–for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To start a traditional Filipino day, longganisa (also longaniza), or Filipino sausage, is one of the meat choices that pair up with eggs and fried rice. All three in one dish combined make longsilog: longganisa for “long”; sinangag, or fried rice, for “si”; itlog, or egg, for the “log”. All over the Philippines, you will encounter different combinations of -silogs.
I usually dash out of the apartment during the week and eat a simple breakfast of yogurt with fruit or Three Sisters cereal when I get to work, but on weekends I splurge on time and make myself a huge breakfast especially if I’m coming from a morning bike ride around Central Park. That breakfast always includes eggs and some type of meat, be it bacon or leftover steak from the night before. I rarely have cooked rice at home (it’s a lot to waste when you’re living on your own), so my fallback is usually a salad or a type of vegetable, even if it’s a pickle. Down the list of breakfast meats after bacon that I like comes longganisa because it has a touch of sweetness and tastes so damn good with a dash of vinegar. My mouth is watering just thinking of sticky-sweet longganisa and runny fried eggs on top of hot fried rice.
I promised myself that before the year ends, I will make my own sausages and use the attachments that I bought for my KitchenAid stand mixer. So during the long Thanksgiving weekend, I stayed busy in the kitchen and finally made them. I had asked my mother for a recipe because she’s originally from the province of Pampanga where longganisa is famous. She showed me an old copy of a Filipino recipe that used phosphate and food coloring! Fail! I then turned to my copy of Memories of Filipino Kitchens and substituted the rice wine and the rice vinegar for plain white vinegar and added brown sugar for the sweetness that I crave in these sausages. Their recipe also used lime zest which I thought was pretty interesting even though it got lost in the mix, so I have eliminated it from this version.
I learned a few important things when I made my own sausage links for the first time:
1. Making sausages is hard work, so another pair of hands is always helpful.
2. Keep lemon handy. The smell of meat will stay on your fingers for several hours and I found only lemon juice removed the odor.
3. White bread was invented to clean off your food grinder and sausage stuffer attachments.
This is a two-type recipe for longganisa. One is the easy way without any equipment or casings which makes the sausages naked, or hubad in Tagalog. The other is for sausage links which requires both the food grinder and sausage stuffer attachments with your KitchenAid stand mixer, plus sausage casings from your well-stocked butcher shop.
Ingredients:
2 tbsps vinegar
2 tbsps brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
oil
If making them naked:
1 pound pork belly, grounded
1/2 pound lean beef, grounded
1. Add all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands. Knead the meat until it holds together and you can shape the mixture into patties. Wrap in wax paper to store in the fridge or keep in the freezer.
2. To fry longganisa patties, heat some oil in a deep skillet. Add longganisa and fry using low-medium fire until both sides are browned. Crumble and break into pieces and serve with two eggs, preferably over easy.
If making links:
1 pound pork belly, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 pound lean beef, cut into 1-inch chunks
sausage casings, soaked overnight in cold water, rinsed
white bread slices
1. Combine all the meats with the spices except the oil. Massage with your hands to mix well. Marinate for at least an hour or overnight in the fridge.
2. When ready to make links, assemble the food grinder and sausage stuffer attachments with your mixer. Select a length of casing and run water from the tap through it in order to clear out any excess salt and spot any holes. Trim to remove the holes. Run the casing between your fingers to remove excess water. Stretch the open end of the casing around the attachment’s nozzle and gradually slide the rest of the casing onto the nozzle, an inch or 2 at a time, trying not to twist. Leave about 3 inches at the knotted end dangling free. This will be your end knot.
2. Ground the meat and stuff the casing. Put the meat mixture in the hopper of the grinder and turn it on to speed 4. Hold the dangling casing with one hand, and with the other, feed the meat into the hopper with the plastic or wooden pestle at an even pace. Your stuffer will slowly stuff the ground meat into the casing. Gently guide the rest of the casing off the nozzle to aid the stuffing of the sausage. When you have 2 inches left at the other end, stop stuffing and remove the free casing from the nozzle. This is your other end knot. Repeat this process until all of the sausage meat has been used, pushing out the last bits of meat with a slice or two of bread. Discard grounded bread.
3. Run your fingers over the casing to distribute the sausage evenly. Pinch every 3 inches or in empty spots and gently twist it to form separate links. Feel free to tie end knots.
4. To fry longganisa links, heat some oil in a deep skillet. Add longganisa and fry using low-medium fire until all sides are browned. Gently pierce empty casing that bubbles up to avoid bursts of sausages! Serve with two eggs, preferably over easy.
I realize that this is probably the longest recipe I have on this site, so I hope these photos will guide you to making your own sausages at home.
1. Stretch the open end of the casing around the attachment’s nozzle and gradually slide the rest of the casing onto the nozzle, an inch or 2 at a time, trying not to twist. Leave about 3 inches at the knotted end dangling free.
2. Hold the dangling casing with one hand, and with the other, feed the meat into the hopper with the plastic or wooden pestle at an even pace. Another pair of hands is always helpful.
3. Your stuffer will slowly stuff the ground meat into the casing. Gently guide the rest of the casing off the nozzle to aid the stuffing of the sausage.
Please excuse the innuendos from the video above (which may not show up on your phones); they made sausage-making more fun though.
469 Sixth Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets
212/675.4295
$100 for two with tip, with one cocktail
wheelchair patron may wheel in, but bathrooms are downstairs
♥ ♥
The last time I was on Sixth Avenue above 8th Street, I was at Jefferson Market buying blood sausages after a stranger tipped me about the store at Whole Foods. He saw how frustrated i was when I had to explain to the guy what blood sausages were. At Jefferson, sure enough, I found what I was looking for and noted that they also carried sweetbreads. (That’s another story.)
To me, Sixth Avenue between 8th and 14th is pretty much the dead part of the West Village; there’s nothing past the nice Filipino guys behind the counter at Gray’s Papaya unless you’re buying Co.Bigelow handwash or your morcilla for Sunday breakfast. I think Harold Dieterle’s Kin Shop will change that.
I was excited to eat at the Top Chef’s second restaurant in the city because of my experience at his first, Perilla. I had a very good meal there because of the straightforward cooking and I wanted to see what he could do with one of my favorite cuisines, a type that New York city overflows with but doesn’t excel at. (I’m sorry, but techno music and fake modern furniture do not make a good Thai restaurant–I’m looking at you Sea and all of you at Hell’s Kitchen.)
Jennifer and I followed our server’s suggestion that we share a few dishes family-style. We usually share plates anyway but I like that this was how it should be at Kin. We started with the pork and oyster salad, a beautiful mix of textures. The pork was crispy while the fried oyster gave softly inside the breading. The celery was crisp and added a fresh contrast. I’ve never been to Thailand, sadly, but to me this dish represents the flavor profile I truly love about southeast Asian food: mint, lime and chiles.
The soup with pork meatballs and bok choy was hard to resist. The broth had legs but was subtle, and the meatballs well-seasoned and bursted with flavor–just what I needed to warm up even more after the ALN cocktail with Thai pickle brine.
We were warned that the duck laab salad was really spicy, but we still ordered it. I believe there were preserved Chinese long beans in there, one of my favorite Sichuan pickles to make at home. Toasted rice added to the crunch while the Romaine lettuce mimicked Korean and Vietnamese dishes. They’re not kidding when they tell you some of their dishes are hot. The Thai chiles kicked in right on the tip of our tongues which made us take advantage of the buttery roti and fragrant Jasmine rice. It woke our senses up and also filled us up that we didn’t have room to try the crab noodles that came next. The next night though, I peeled the plastic cover back and ate it for dinner with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to keep the saltiness at bay that seemed to have settled overnight. This reminded me of the Filipino pancit, only with hardly any vegetables and more seafood flavor.
The service was unobtrusive though we had to wait for a while to get our check. Our server acknowledged that she forgot to offer us the desserts, but we didn’t mind: we wheeled ourselves out of the restaurant.
After the sixth egg, I just knew I had to finally get a real Italian to teach me how to knead pasta dough properly. I had wasted enough flour and eggs trying to make my own while following written instructions and videos online. For one reason or another, I just couldn’t get the dough to roll into one; it kept breaking into shard-like pieces. I had no idea how it should feel under the bottom of my palms and had no basis of comparison since I’ve never made my own pasta before.
I’ve been trying to get in the recreational pasta class at the Institute of Culinary Education, but every time I checked their calendar, the class would be full. They never sent out any emails to announce when new classes opened up so I couldn’t even try to sign up earlier. Another search for pasta-making classes in New York City revealed Rustico Cooking in the midtown area. I signed up and spent half an afternoon in an open-loft kitchen with a few couples and, thankfully, some who came on their own. It turned out to be a very productive afternoon and a great–and more affordable–alternative to ICE or the French Culinary Institute.
During our three-hour class, we watched and followed founder and chef Micol’s instructions on how to make gnocchi, cavatelli and tagliatelle. I felt the mashed potato and the flour in my hands when making the gnocchi: I kneaded, rolled and cut the dough. I left the class feeling like I could do the three recipes on my own.
This is my first attempt in trying to replicate the gnocchi-making technique I’ve learned in class. I bought my own potato ricer and dough cutter for this recipe. I didn’t really want to buy any more toys for my kitchen, but the potato ricer is one of the most amazing gadgets I’ve ever come across: mashing potato will never be the same.
I think the dish turned out well even with my made-up sage cream sauce. Admittedly, my gnocchi wasn’t as light and fluffy as Micol’s, and I’m not sure if it’s because I used yellow potatoes instead of the recommended Yukon gold, or if I didn’t get the precise cup and a half measurement for the flour. But I can at least say that I’ve done it myself–there’s really no going anywhere from here except better pasta.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of yellow potatoes
1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 stick of butter
4 sage leaves
1 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
salt
pepper
1. Make the gnocchi. In a large pot, cover the potatoes with water and let boil under medium fire, until fork tender. Drain, peel and mash onto a clean counter surface using a potato ricer. Mix with flour and knead until smooth.
2. Cut dough into small chunks and roll each chunk into a thin snake-like shape. Cut into one-inch pieces to make gnocchi. Gather all gnocchi on a lined bake sheet and sprinkle with flour to avoid sticking.
3. Make the sage cream sauce. In a heavy skillet, melt the butter. Add the sage leaves and fry. When leaves are lightly browned, add the cream and the cheese with some pepper. Stir continuously with a whisk until well combined.
4. In the meantime, cook the gnocchi. Put a pot of water to boil with some salt. Add the gnocchi and wait for them to float to the surface. Scoop the gnocchi using a slotted spoon and transfer to a sieve and then to a plate. Pour enough cream just to slightly cover the gnocchi.
