We’ve got mail, and it’s a box full of tiny brains, mini mushrooms, little fish, and Pocky. Tune in, Tokyo: it’s Japanese snack time. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
Roasted chestnuts
Mountain Mushroom cookies
Green tea mochi balls
Salty chocolate Pocky
Slivered almonds and fishies
Yakiimo (roasted sweet potatoes)
This week, we’re lacing up our boots, buying a truffle pig, and going foraging in the Safeway produce section. From criminis to shiitakes, Matthew and Molly discuss the finer points of our most common fungi and, once and probably not for all, answer the age-old question: what’s the best way to clean a dirty mushroom? www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
SLICED MUSHROOMS WITH FRESH MOZZARELLA AND THYME
Adapted from Jamie’s Italy
This dish is extremely adaptable, so what follows is more of a method than a true recipe. To give you an idea of proportions: for two people, you might want two small handfuls of crimini mushrooms, 3/4 to 1 standard-size ball of fresh mozzarella, and the leaves from one sprig of thyme. That, plus some bread and a salad, is a nice, light lunch.
Ingredients:
Fresh mushrooms, such as crimini, porchini, shiitake, or portobello
Fresh mozzarella
Olive oil
Fresh thyme, leaves removed and stem discarded
Sea salt
Preheat the broiler.
Clean the mushrooms, and then slice them thinly, no thicker than 1/4 inch. Arrange them in a single layer on a large ovenproof platter. Tear the mozzarella into coarse bits—each about the size of a nickel—and scatter them over the mushrooms. Drizzle with olive oil. Scatter the thyme leaves over the top, along with a good pinch or two of salt.
Slide the platter under the broiler, and cook, checking frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and golden in spots. Serve with plenty of bread.
KUNG PAO MUSHROOMS
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 pound cremini mushrooms, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
6 dried red chiles (such as Arbol, Japones, or Tien Tsin)
1/2 teaspoon crushed sichuan peppercorns
Sauce:
2 tablespoons black vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
2 scallions, green parts only, sliced
Stir together sauce ingredients in a bowl. Heat peanut oil in wok or skillet. Cook mushrooms until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, chiles, and Sichuan peppercorns and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add sauce and peanuts and cook until sauce is reduced to your liking. Garnish with scallions and serve with plenty of steamed rice.
Yield: 2 to 3 servings.
If you could have one day of unlimited travel, cash, and stomach capacity, plus the power to raise dead breakfast cooks, what would you eat? (Hmm, that makes it sound like we advocate eating zombies.) Molly and Matthew select their ultimate breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and dessert, and it quickly turns spooky. (Plus, you’ll never guess who goes to France! Okay, you will.) www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
Links!
Nigella’s rhubarb crumble
Nigella’s statuesque figure
Molly’s Rhubarb sherbet
Delancey
France.fr
Little Uncle
French toast recipes
Taylor Kitsch
When we were in grade school, bringing a granola bar in your lunch box was a key factor in the daily struggle to avoid ostracism. But you had to pledge to one of the rival gangs: the Crunchies, the Chewies, or the Kudos. Learn about our secret gang tattoos and…actually, we just eat a bunch of granola bars. http://www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
Chewy Granola Bars with Pecans, Chocolate, and Cherries: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2012/05/you-know-me-well.html
Greetings from Spilled Milk University. First, the zoology department weighs in on how bees make honey (we have no idea). Next, to the law school, where the judge weighs in on whether honey is theft. Finally, the school of culinary arts, where fingers get sticky. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
What makes a meatball tender and juicy? The Filler Man knows. We discuss how to make them, how to cook them, and then things get a little bulgur. Recipes: Chicken and Spinach Meatballs; Cafe Lago Meatballs. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
Recipes:
SPAGHETTI WITH CAFE LAGO MEATBALLS
For sauce:
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, with their juices
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium yellow onions, halved and peeled
1/2 tsp. table salt
For meatballs:
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup whole milk, or more if needed
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 cup finely ground (not grated) Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving
1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp. table salt
5 grinds black pepper
2 large eggs
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
To serve:
1 lb. dried spaghetti
To make the sauce, combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter, onion halves, and salt in a large, wide pan, such as 5-quart Dutch oven. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, at a slow but steady simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free from the tomato. Taste for seasoning. Remove and discard the onion (or eat them, if desired). Using an immersion blender, process briefly to break up any chunks of tomato. (Alternatively, the back of a wooden spoon works, too.) The sauce will not be perfectly smooth, but its texture should be even.
While the sauce cooks, make the meatballs. Put the breadcrumbs and milk in a small bowl, and stir to moisten the crumbs evenly. Set aside for 10 minutes, or until the crumbs are swollen and thoroughly saturated.
Put the ground meats in a large bowl. Break them up into chunks. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano, parsley, salt, and pepper.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs well with a fork. Add the garlic, and beat to mix. Pour into the bowl with the meat.
Using your hands, squeeze the milk from the bread crumbs, reserving the milk. Add the bread crumbs to the bowl with the meat.
Holding your hand in a claw shape (fingers separated, tensed, and slightly bent) and moving in a strong, quick stirring motion, mix the meats and their seasonings. When the mixture looks well combined, pick it up and turn it over in the bowl, and then mix some more. (Turning it over helps to ensure that no ingredient settles to the bottom and clumps there.) This stirring process should be fairly brief; do not work the meat until it smears on the side of the bowl. Chill until the sauce is ready.
When the sauce is ready, remove it from the heat, and keep it close at hand. Remove the meatball mixture from the refrigerator. Moisten your hands with the reserved milk, and then pinch off bits of the mixture and gently roll them into golf ball-size meatballs. Place the meatball in the pan of sauce. Repeat, arranging the meatballs in a single layer in the pan of sauce. Return the pan to the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through and no longer pink inside.
Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water. Drain, and transfer to a serving bowl. Spoon desired amount of sauce onto the pasta, leaving the meatballs in the pan, and toss well. Divide among plates, and top with meatballs and Parmigiano Reggiano.
Note: If possible, make the meatballs and sauce a day ahead, or even a few hours ahead, and chill until ready to use. Reheat gently on the stovetop.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Molly and Matthew get wings, fly high like a starfruit, unleash the beast, and get in touch with our inner rockstars. We’re here to answer one question: do energy drinks have any culinary merit? The answer may surprise you. (But probably not.) EXPLICIT. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
Hoo boy, we’ve cranked the juvenile up to 11 (years old). We’re talking about American-style hard tacos, and if the phrase “American-style hard tacos” is already making you snicker, you’re our kind of people. EXPLICIT. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
It’s green. It’s leafy. It makes your teeth feel like you’ve been slimed, Ghostbusters-style. Join us as we savor an all-spinach lunch, straight from President Taft’s bathtub. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
Recipes:
Fergus Henderson’s Spinach Gunge
Ohitashi from Just One Cookbook
Spinach with Sesame Sauce from Just One Cookbook
This episode is dedicated to those among you who, like us, spent your youth sucking on Sour Patch Kids until your tongue was raw and bleeding. We’ll see you in the drugstore parking lot, and don’t forget the sour watermelon slices. EXPLICIT. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
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