The Best American Recipes 2003-2004: The Year's Top Picks from Books, Magazines, Newspapers, and the Internet - Hardcover

9780618273843: The Best American Recipes 2003-2004: The Year's Top Picks from Books, Magazines, Newspapers, and the Internet
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Culled from a wide variety of books, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet, this collection of great recipes covers everything from comfort food to exotic international specialties by famous chefs, celebrities, and little-known home cooks. 20,000 first printing.

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About the Author:
Fran McCullough has been an editor at Harper and Row, Dial Press, and Bantam, where she discovered such major cookbook authors as Deborah Madison, Diana Kennedy, Paula Wolfert, Martha Rose Shulman, and Colman Andrews. She is a coauthor of Great Food Without Fuss, which won a James Beard Award, and the author of the best-selling Low-Carb Cookbook.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:
Introduction

This year we were very much taken by surprise when one of our most basic
assumptions seemed to have a stake driven through its heart. All at once,
around Thanksgiving, America decided it didn"t want to cook anymore. From
upscale food magazines to newspaper food sections and even news
magazines, publications were loaded with bright ideas on how not to cook
and get away with it. This 180-degree turnaround goes by several names:
faking it, semi-homemade (that"s TV cook Sandra Lee), can-opener gourmet.
We shuddered at the very idea of giving up cooking for Thanksgiving, which
struck us as positively un-American.
But once we thought about it, we concluded that breaking all the
rules and making creative use of what"s available is a completely American
thing to do — at Thanksgiving or any other time of the year. And then we
realized that in making the selections for this series, we ourselves have
always been devoted to the smart shortcut recipe, not to mention using high-
quality convenience foods to speed things along.
Few recipes in this book delight us as much as Garlicky Potato
Chips (doctored commercial chips) or Instant Black Beans, a fast take on the
Brazilian classic. Quick-cooking grits turn out to be just great in the right
hands, much to our amazement. Bobby Flay"s no-fuss turkey is a winner, as
is Nigella Lawson"s nearly instant Bitter Orange Ice Cream (and no, you don"t
need an ice cream machine). As long as the results are worth it, we"re all in
favor of the quick fix, and we"ve got plenty of quick fixes in this book.
In America, there"s usually a diametrically opposite trend for
everything, and food is no exception. If we don"t want Grandma"s
Thanksgiving anymore, we do want her recipes. This year we were inundated
with great hand-me-downs, from aunts and dads as well as grandmothers.
Among our favorites are a terrific French creamy chocolate cake, a fabulous
spaghettini with tuna and raisins, and a blueberry cobbler that"s the best
we"ve ever tasted. These heirloom recipes fall into the category of dishes we
can"t stop making, an occupational hazard of putting this book together.
Instead of keeping these passions to ourselves, we"ve decided to
share them. We"re adding a new category to our list of top ten this year: our
own favorite recipes from the book. The fact is, though, whether the source is
a tag on a gadget, a radio station"s Web site, a chef"s cookbook, a food
magazine, or a regional newspaper, we love every recipe in this book and will
make them all again, our test of something really good. And we think you too
will find dozens of doable recipes that you"ll return to, some of them so
insanely simple that you"ll want to share them with your noncooking friends.

— FRAN MC CULLOUGH
and MOLLY STEVENS

breakfast and brunch

Eggs with Crunchy Bread Crumbs 72
Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Crisps 74
Creamy Scrambled Eggs for a Crowd 76
George Davis"s Pancakes 78
Amazing Overnight Waffles 80
Buttermilk Scones 82
Never-a-Leftover Breakfast Bread Pudding 84
Sausage and Cheese Grits Casserole 86

SOURCE: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers
COOK: Judy Rodgers
Eggs with Crunchy Bread Crumbs

Just when you think there"s no new way in the world to cook
something so simple as a fried egg, along comes this delightful recipe, in
which the eggs are cooked right over crisp bread crumbs. The combination of
the familiar floppy eggs, the rich yolks, the crunchy crumbs, and a final sizzle
of vinegar is amazingly good. Judy Rodgers likes to have these eggs for
dinner
when she"s eating alone, but the dish also appears on the lunch menu at her
San Francisco restaurant, Zuni Cafe, accompanied by bacon or sausage and
grilled vegetables or roasted mushrooms.
You"ll need a very large pan or two pans to make this dish for four. This is
a terrific breakfast for houseguests.

serves 1

3 tablespoons packed bread crumbs (see note)
Salt
About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
A few fresh thyme or marjoram leaves (optional)
2 large eggs
About 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or sherry vinegar

Sprinkle the bread crumbs with salt to taste in a small bowl and add enough
olive oil to just oversaturate them.

Add the crumbs to a 6- or 8-inch French steel omelet pan or nonstick skillet
over medium heat. (If you like your eggs over easy, reserve some of the oiled
crumbs to sprinkle over the eggs just before you flip them.) Let the crumbs
warm through, then swirl the pan as they begin drying out — they"ll make a
quiet, staticky sound. Stir once or twice.

The moment you see the crumbs begin to color, quickly add the remaining oil
and the thyme or marjoram, if using, then crack the eggs directly onto the
crumbs. Cook the eggs as you like them.

Slide the eggs onto a warm plate. Immediately add the vinegar to the pan,
swirling it once. Pour the sizzling vinegar over the eggs and serve.

cook"s notes

*By "bread crumbs," Rodgers doesn"t mean the kind you buy in a container
at the supermarket. She"s talking about good chewy peasant bread, such as
ciabatta, that"s slightly stale. You can grate the crumbs by hand or in a food
processor. If you"re making the eggs for more than four people, it"s easiest to
prepare the crumbs ahead in the oven instead of the skillet. Toast them in a
425-degree oven until they are the color of weak tea, then scatter them in the
skillet and proceed with the rest of the olive oil and the eggs.

* The herbs are a very nice touch, if you have them available. Rodgers also
suggests rosemary, but we found it a little strong for this dish. You can also
add a subtle garlic flavor by rubbing the bread with a cut clove of garlic before
you grate the crumbs.

* Making this dish is a bit like making a stir-fry: have everything at hand, and
you won"t have any trouble. If you"re searching for the vinegar or plucking the
herbs at the last minute, things can get tricky.

SOURCE: Gourmet
COOK: Lori W. Powell
Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Crisps

We first discovered these little beauties one weekend in the country when we
wanted something special but didn"t feel like a trip to the store. Made from
ordinary ingredients, eggs and ham, with the added surprise of creamy
sautéed mushrooms, this breakfast is elegant enough to serve to fancy
company yet simple enough to make just for yourself. The recipe is easily
scaled up or down accordingly, as long as you have the right number of
muffin tins. Small ramekins work too. The mushrooms can be prepared the
night before, so all you need do in the morning is crack the eggs.

serves 6

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 pound button mushrooms, finely sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon, plus whole leaves for garnish (see
note)
12 slices Black Forest or Virginia ham (preferably without holes or tears;
about 10 ounces)
12 large eggs
Buttered brioche, challah toast, or other toast, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups. Heat
the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms,
shallots, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender
and the liquid they give off has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove from
the heat and stir in the crème fraîche or sour cream and tarragon.

Fit a slice of ham into each of the 12 muffin cups (the ends will stick up and
hang over the edges of the cups). Divide the mushrooms among the cups and
crack 1 egg into each. Bake in the middle of the oven until the egg whites are
cooked but yolks are still runny, about 15 minutes. Season the eggs with
salt and pepper. Lift from the muffin cups carefully using 2 spoons or small
spatulas. Serve immediately on the brioche or other toast, garnished with
tarragon leaves.

cook"s notes

* For a quicker version, try the recipe without the mushrooms — just a thin
slice of ham cradling a single baked egg. Or play around with other fillings,
such as a bit of leftover sautéed spinach or creamed chicken — but nothing
too watery.

* If you make the mushrooms ahead, let them come to room temperature or
add a few minutes to the baking time.

* If you don"t have fresh tarragon on hand, use a scant teaspoon of dried and
skip the garnish.

* If there are holes or tears in the ham slices, overlap or patch them as best
you can.

* The eggs come out with runny yolks and just-set whites. If you like your
eggs cooked more, just leave them in the oven for a few minutes longer.

tip

If you find that you"re always fishing bits of shell out of the egg after you
crack it, you might try this advice from Alton Brown in I"m Just Here for the
Food. Instead of cracking an egg on the edge of a bowl, which drives the
shell fragments into the egg, try cracking it with a flat blow on the counter. It
may take a little practice to get the amount of force right, but you"ll find that
the shell breaks cleanly.

SOURCE: Eula Mae"s Cajun Kitchen
by Eula Mae Doré and Marcelle R. Bienvenu
COOK: Eula Mae Doré
Creamy Scrambled Eggs for a Crowd

This method creates some of the fluffiest, softest scrambled eggs we"ve ever
tasted.
We were skeptical about making them in the microwave, but
faced with a gang of overnight guests, we decided to give it a try. The
technique worked like a charm. While this recipe is not lightning fast (you do
have to start and stop the microwave a few times), it takes only about 10
minutes and leaves the stove free for bacon, sausage, or whatever else you"re
cooking. And if you choose a decent-looking microwave-safe bowl, you can
serve the eggs directly from it, meaning less to clean up.
Eula Mae is the chef of the McIlhenny empire on Avery Island, the
spot where Tabasco sauce is made. Here"s what she has to say about these
eggs: "I can tell you that this dish will make your head and tummy feel a lot
better after a long night of partying." Let the bon temps rouler!

serves about 12

16 jumbo eggs (or 20 large)
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Accent seasoning (see note)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups milk

Whisk together all the ingredients in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave
on high for 2 minutes.

Remove from the microwave and stir. Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes more,
then stir. Repeat the process until the eggs are set but still moist, about 8
minutes total. The cooking time will vary according to the microwave. Serve
hot.

cook"s notes

* Leave the wrapped cream cheese out overnight so it"s softened in the
morning when you"re ready to make these eggs.

* If you don"t keep Accent seasoning in your spice drawer, just use a pinch
more salt.

* A heatproof rubber spatula works well for stirring the eggs as they cook.

* This recipe is adaptable and can be made for fewer or more people by
adjusting the amount of eggs, cream cheese, and milk.

* Put the salt shaker and pepper grinder on the table, since you may find that
some people like their eggs a bit more seasoned.

tip

According to R. W. Apple in the New York Times, the scrambled eggs at
Bill"s café in Sydney, Australia, have been described as the best scrambled
eggs in the world. The secret to getting them soft, creamy, and amazingly
light is in the technique. To serve 1 or 2 people, melt a sliver of butter in a
nonstick skillet over high heat. Whisk together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup cream, and a
pinch or two of salt. (It"s best if the eggs and cream are at room
temperature.) Add the egg mixture to the skillet and do nothing for 20
seconds, then very slowly fold and stir the eggs with a wooden spoon, and
pause for 20 seconds more. Repeat the gentle stir-and-fold, then remove the
skillet from the heat and let the residual heat finish the cooking. Give one last
gentle stir and serve. Make the eggs in batches if you"re feeding a crowd so
you don"t overfill the pan.

SOURCE: A Return to Cooking
by Eric Ripert and Michael Ruhlman
COOK: George Davis
George Davis"s Pancakes

How many times are we lured into making a certain dish by a gorgeous
photograph only to find that the result looks nothing like the photo? Well,
these pancakes are a happy exception to that rule. They come out beautifully
browned, with lightly crispy edges and fluffy, soft insides — picture-perfect —
and they taste as good as they look. The two tricks are vinegar and bacon
fat. The bit of vinegar in the batter interacts with the baking soda and gives
the cakes their light texture. And frying them in bacon fat gives the exterior a
light crunch that you don"t get with butter.

serves 6

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons bacon fat
Maple syrup, for serving

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, and oil in a medium bowl. Add the vinegar
and whisk to combine. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and whisk until
the batter is just combined. The batter should still be lumpy.

Heat a large heavy skillet (cast iron works great) over medium heat. Add 2
teaspoons of the bacon fat. Using a 2-ounce ladle (or 1/4-cup measure) for
each pancake, pour the batter into the skillet. When bubbles start to form on
the tops of the pancakes and the edges look set, flip. Cook until golden
brown on the second side. Transfer to a plate or plates, and continue with the
remaining bacon fat and batter. Serve hot. Pass the maple syrup at the table.

cook"s notes

* If you first cook up enough bacon for 6 people (12 slices), you should have
just the right amount of bacon fat for frying the pancakes. Hold the bacon in a
warm oven while you make the pancakes.

* Although the pancakes are at their best when served directly from the
skillet, you can hold them briefly on a baking sheet in a warm oven.

* Be certain to use pure maple syrup here. These pancakes are too good to
waste on the imitation stuff. Eric Ripert prefers syrup from Vermont, and we
won"t argue with that.

SOURCE: Mollie Katzen"s Sunlight Café
by Mollie Katzen
Cook: Mollie Katzen
Amazing Overnight Waffles

There"s nothing like some waffles to brighten a morning, especially if they"re
homemade. It"s hard to say if these are superb because they"re so easy or
because they"re so delicious. Now you have no more excuses not to ...

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