How I Do Cooking

Most Recent

  • Lobster Mac and Cheese

    I didn’t grow up eating Mac and Cheese, so it’s not comfort food for me. The wife did, and she loves it, and what she loves is the revolting instant stuff.

    This is my riff on a version I tried at a local restaurant, and it’s Michigander-approved.

    SERVES: 6
    PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES
    COOK TIME:35 MINUTES

    Ingredients

    16oz/454g elbow pasta
    1-2lbs cooked lobster meat
    1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    5 tbsps butter (a stick)
    2 cups of whole milk
    8oz Gruyere cheese (2 cups)
    8oz Cheddar (2 cups)
    Salt & pepper

    Method

    Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C.

    Cook the pasta.

    Melt the butter in a skillet, and whisk in the flour till there are no lumps left. Still whisking, add the milk and cook for about 2 minutes, until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the Gruyère and Cheddar until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper.

    Add the pasta to a 9×13″ baking dish. Scatter the lobster meat in, and pour the sauce on top.

    You can go ahead and scatter half a cup of Parmesan over the top if you like, or breadcrumbs. That’s not my style.

    That can go in the oven for twenty-five to thirty minutes.

    Notes

  • Any Fish Pie

    A pie made with fish.

    Ingredients

    About a pound of potatoes
    About a pound of whatever fish you have on hand
    1 leek
    1 tbsp flour
    1 medium onion
    1 cup of full-fat milk – and none of that UHT shite either
    4 tbsp butter
    Salt & pepper

    Method

    Cut the potatoes into same-sized chunks, and boil in salted water until forkable. Drain, and mash with a splash of milk and two tablespoons of butter.

    Thinly slice the leek, and dice the onion.

    Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.

    Cut any uncooked fish into bite-sized pieces, and poach in milk.

    How?

    Chuck in a pan, cover with milk, heat to an almost-boil, reduce the heat, and leave it simmer for about five minutes. Take care not to overcook.

    Strain the fish and reserve the milk.

    In the same pan, melt two tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the onion and leek to soften, then sprinkle in the flour bit by bit, stirring with a wooden spoon as you go. Add the reserved milk in, and stir until it starts to thicken. Take off the heat and mix in the fish.

    Spread the mixture in your preferred oven dish and top with potatoes.

    That’ll do in the oven in about twenty-five minutes.

    Notes

    Let’s talk about fish for a mo’. I did really mean ANY fish you have to hand: cod, pollack, haddock, salmon, tillapia, orange roughy, swordfish….

    Shrimp? Let’s have some of those. Cockles, mussels, scallops…

    For me, smoked haddock is a taste of home. Herself is not a fan, but she’ll go along with it because she loves me. For this, I use Acme Smoked Fish Smoked Whitefish because I don’t have to wait for the postman to deliver it. It can be bought at the local supermarket, ‘proper’ smoked haddock cannot.

    If you’re adding a pre-cooked fish to the mix, add it after you’ve cooked your fresh ingredients, lest they be rendered thrice.

  • Chicken Chili

    SERVES: 4 (PROBABLY)
    PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES
    COOK TIME: 6-8 HOURS

    Ingredients

    1 supermarket rotisserie chicken
    3 15.5oz/440g cans of cannellini beans
    1 7oz/200g can of sweet corn, or Mexicorn®, or whatever’s handy
    1 4oz/113g can of chopped green chiles
    8 cups of chicken broth
    1 green bell pepper
    1 medium white or yellow onion
    2 cloves of garlic
    1 tbsp olive oil
    Salt & pepper

    Method

    Bust out the slow cooker.

    Chop the onion and sweat it in a frying pan with a bit of oil, add the garlic and cook for a wee minute. That can go in the pot.

    Pull and shred the chicken, that goes in the pot.

    Roughly chop the pepper into pleasing bite-sized bits. Those goes go in the pot.

    Drain and rinse the beans, and oh look, you’re there already: into the pot with them.

    Add the contents of the wee chopped chili can, same goes for the sweetcorn.

    Add the broth.

    Cook on low for six to eight hours.

    Serve with a dollop of sour cream or Mexican crema in, and crusty bread on the side.

    Notes

    I use a rotisserie chicken because I’m lazy, and you’ll never do better at home. This is more assembly than cooking anyway, but if you must do everything yourself, you’ll want about a pound and a half of cooked chicken meaty goodness.

    If you want to go veggie, skip the chicken.

    Any kind of white bean is fine. I promise.

    Personally, I’d add half a teaspoon or more of chili powder and a sliced chili or two, but herself gets awful heartburn. This one’s family-friendly.

  • Morcillo Hash

    SERVES: 2
    PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES
    COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES

    Ingredients

    8oz/226g potatoes
    8oz/226g morcillo
    1 small onion
    2 tbsp olive oil
    Salt & pepper

    Method

    Dice the potatoes into small-ish bits, about a 1/4″ or so, and blanch in salted water for four or five minutes. Drain and set aside to dry.

    Chop the onion. Cut the morcillo into little cubes that enthusiastically embrace how you’ve styled the potato.

    Season the potatoes, and get them going in a hot pan with your olive oil. They’ll start to brown in about five minutes, when they do, add the onion and let it soften.

    Add the morcillo, give it all a good mix, and keep it on the heat for another five minutes or so.

    Once the morcillo looks right, it’s ready.

    Notes

  • Air Fryer Chicken Tenders

    If you’re just looking for the times and temperature, it’s twelve minutes at 375°F /190°C. Gerne!

    SERVES: 4
    PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES
    COOK TIME: 12 MINUTES

    Ingredients

    8 chicken tenders
    2 large eggs
    1 cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs
    Olive oil spray

    Method

    Preheat your air fryer to 375°F /190°C.

    Rinse the tenders in cold water and pat dry.

    Beat the eggs in a bowl until they’re ready to confess, then continue to beat until they’ve convinced you they’re telling the truth.

    Place the eggs in a shallow bowl, spread the breadcrumbs on a plate.

    Roll each tender in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, and set aside without stacking. I used 4C Panko Seasoned Bread Crumbs for this go-around.

    Spray the chicken on both sides with a little bit of olive oil.

    Cook for 12 minutes, turning once. You don’t want to overcrowd your fryer, so cook in batches.

    Notes

    If you have time, brine the chicken first.

    There’s enough salt in the panko mix, so you don’t really need to season the chicken.

    The oil is optional, so don’t sweat it. I helps the chicken to crisp and brown evenly. Without it, they’ll look odd but will still be edible.

    Temperature-wise, I’ve tried this a couple of ways. At 350°F, the chicken was slightly undercooked; at 400°F, it was drier than I like. Your mileage may vary, but to me, 375°F was proper Goldilocks.

  • Silli Pasta

    My nieces never visit. They live in Co. Clare, and I live in New York. I’ve invited them many times. They’re six and four years old, and tell me that there isn’t as much money in flipping houses as there used to be: Times are tough, and the price of a flight is hard come by.

    That’s what they say.

    This is for them.

    SERVES: 4 ADULTS OR MANY, MANY YOUTHS
    PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES
    COOK TIME: 45 MINUTES

    Ingredients

    12oz/350g fusilli pasta – or any short pasta
    1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    4 tbsps butter
    2 cups of whole milk
    8oz shredded cheddar cheese – the supermarket stuff
    Salt & pepper

    Method

    Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C.

    Cook the pasta but stop about a minute shy of the box instructions, then drain, and set aside.

    Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is fully melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk, scraping the bottom to prevent burning. Allow it to cook until the butter is fragrant, and it doesn’t smell like flour.

    Slowly add the milk, whisking until there are no lumps left. Simmer for a minute or two. Dip a cold spoon in the mixture; if the mixture coats the back of the spoon, it might be ready. Run your finger across the back of the spoon; if it clears a path, it’s ready.  If the mixture flows back to fill the space, it needs a little minute.

    Once it’s done, knock off the heat and add about three-quarters of the cheese in small batches, whisking to a creamy consistency.

    Add the pasta and mix. Season with salt and pepper, then spoon into an 8×8-inch baking dish. Scatter the leftover cheese across the top and bake for about twenty-five minutes. When the top starts to look crunchy, and the edges are bubbling, it’s ready.

    Well, not really. Leave it on the counter, and play Magna-Tiles with the kids until it’s cooled enough, then serve.

    Notes

    If the butter starts to brown as it melts, the pan is WAY too hot. Turn it down a ways.

    I find I have an easier time of it if I sift the flour before adding it to the butter.

    I use Kraft Triple Cheddar Shredded Cheese straight from the bag for this recipe. Whatever you have in your fridge is fine.

    If you only have a non-stick aluminum pan, that’s fine, but for the love of God, use a wooden spoon instead of a whisk. It’ll be a little lumpy, but absolutely edible.

  • Corned Beef Sloppy Joes

    I inherited this recipe from my mother-in-law. It sounds awful, but it’s strangely satisfying during daylight hours, and pure excellent late at night after a feed of pints.

    SERVES: 2
    PREP TIME: 2 MINUTES
    COOK TIME: 2 MINUTES

    Ingredients

    12oz tin of Libby’s Corned Beef
    1 packet of Lipton Onion Recipe Soup & Dip Mix
    1/2 cup sour cream
    8 hot dog buns

    Method

    In a mixing bowl, break up the corned beef, and fork in the sour cream and the dehydrated onion nastiness.

    While the Lipton Onion Recipe Soup & Dip Mix is considered ‘traditional’, omit if your doctor has you on Lisinopril.

    Microwave for two minutes, stopping one to stir.

    Spoon over open hot dog buns.

    Make sure you have your cardiologist on speed dial.

    Notes

    When my ladywife emigrated from Michigan to New York in the nineties for college, her family sent her off with a survival kit, which she still has somewhere. The kit contains everything a soon-to-be-eighteen-year-old might need to survive in New York: two types of screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, a phase tester, a roll of duct tape, and a recipe book of classic Midwest recipes. By classic, I mean novel uses for mayonnaise, novel uses for hotdogs, other things you can do with mayonnaise, and this gem.

  • Black Pudding and Avocado Toast

    SERVES: 1
    PREP TIME: 3 MINUTES
    COOK TIME: 7 MINUTES

    Ingredients

    4 slices of black pudding
    1 slice of sourdough bread
    1 avocado
    Salt & pepper
    Lemon juice

    Method

    Preheat your air fryer to 375°F/190°C.

    Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Squeeze the fruit into a bowl. Season, give it a squirt of lemon juice, and mash with a fork.

    Four half-inch slices of black pudding go in the fryer for seven minutes. Turn them over at the four-minute mark.

    Make the toast. You know how to make toast.

    Assembly

    I think you’re there already, but just in case:

    Avocado goes on toast. Pudding goes on avocado. The whole lot goes in your cake hole.

    Notes

    If you’re feeling like taking it up a notch, throw an egg on it: A poached egg.

    If I don’t have Irish black pudding to hand, and I’m jonesing, I’ll buy morcilla up the road. I’ve tried a few, and I like the Argentinian one the best.