Food

Crispy Roast Potatoes

Listen, I get it. Thanksgiving is in a couple days, and you already have your mashed potatoes recipe figured out. Or maybe you’re going nuts and trying out some smashed potatoes this year. But hear me out — if you’re preparing your turkey outside of the oven (say, in my Perfect Smoked Turkey recipe, or frying it), maybe think about making these Crispy Roast Potatoes with all of that free oven space.

This British-inspired version is very simple: just potatoes, salt, and a good animal fat like tallow, duck fat, or lard. There’s a bit of work involved, because you par-boil the potatoes, and “chuff” them by jostling them in a colander when draining. But it really shines by leaving them alone after that — you don’t want to turn them often, so that a nice crust forms. And these crispy chunks of deliciousness pair really well with gravy, if you’re interested.

I won’t hold it against you if you choose to cook your turkey the traditional way, which you can find here. And really, today’s recipe isn’t a holiday-specific endeavor (although now is a great time to share it, since potatoes are likely on your mind right now). Have a happy holiday, and see you next week.

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Gluten-Free Stuffing

This week is a big cooking week for most Americans, so you’ll be getting two recipes from me — this one for gluten-free stuffing, and another surprise tomorrow.

We’re headed to our friends Matt and Stacy’s house for Thanksgiving this week and so I used this past weekend as an opportunity to test and photograph this stuffing recipe ahead of the big day. (Also, I wanted to try out my new blue carbon steel roaster from Made In Cookware.)

This stuffing (technically a “bread dressing” since it’s not going inside a turkey) is pure classic style; think of it like a supersized version of that boxed stuffing you may or may not have grown up eating. One trick to this recipe is to chop up celery leaves to go with your traditional herbs of sage and parsley; they add a bit of zing. Looking for something a little more unconventional? Try this New Brunswick-style potato stuffing.

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The Heritage Cookbook – now $9.99!

Hi everyone, starting today I’m reducing the price of The Heritage Cookbook from $14.99 to $9.99 — consider this my early Black Friday gift to you. This will be the new price point from here on out, so don’t worry about this discount expiring. This price reduction applies to all three electronic versions of the book: PDF, Kindle, and Apple Books formats should all now reflect the new price point.

I’ve also made some adjustments to each format — the PDF version is now an exact copy of the limited edition print version that I shipped last month, and all versions also sport the watercolor painting cover you see above.

If you’re having trouble deciding which format to buy, consider where you’re going to use the book. If you plan on using it on your home computer, the PDF is definitely the version to get (this version can also be ported to your phone or tablet if you’re tech savvy). If you primarily use Kindle or Apple Books to read your eBooks, then I would get one of those formats. The Kindle version has adaptive text, so you can adjust the text size on the fly; the formatting isn’t very pretty but it’s a very useful feature. The PDF and Apple Books formats are fixed, which means they reflect my intended page layouts.

Here is a link to the eBook’s landing page, where you can read more about it (and gaze at some tantalizing photos). Or you can use the buttons below if you want to just buy the darn thing already. Let me know if you have any questions, and happy reading!

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Berry Preserves

During the four years I spent writing and revising The Heritage Cookbook, I took it as an opportunity to redefine how I write recipes. I went back to the basics, and rediscovered the fundamental joy of writing a simple recipe. Now don’t get me wrong, I like a good challenge from time to time, but sometimes basic recipes really accent the beauty of simple flavors.

This Berry Preserves recipe highlights how sometimes, less is more. I have a more involved preparation of Cranberry Sauce here on the blog, which we often prepare for Thanksgiving. But lately, I’ve been falling back on today’s simpler version — not just because of its ease on a holiday when all that kitchen bustle can be a bit overwhelming, but because it really lets the berries be the star of the show. Moreover, this simple preparation allows you to plug-and-play various berries, to fit many different occasions.

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Fish Tagine with Chermoula and Preserved Lemon

Hi, remember last week’s recipe, for Preserved Lemons? Let’s make good use of it with today’s recipe. We’re going to use some of the juice to make Chermoula, a relish used in Algerian, Libyan, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking (primarily with seafood), and then use one lemon to build a base tagine sauce and to garnish the end product. Combining those slices of lemon with a bite of fish…boom.

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Preserved Lemons

Super simple recipe this week, for Preserved Lemons. The process highlighted in my recipe below is modeled after the North African tradition of preserving lemons in salt — salt helps prevent microbial growth, and the citric acid found in the lemon (and as a byproduct of fermentation) helps to further preserve the lemons. But what we’re most interested in — that is, the deep, lemony flavor that comes from cooking with preserved lemons — will be in next week’s recipe.

Don’t have three to four weeks to spare preserving your own lemons? Check your local Middle Eastern grocery, they often have these shelf-stable favorites. Or, they can also be found online at a surprisingly affordable price.

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Moussaka (Roasted Eggplant with Bechamel Sauce)

Ah, casserole season. I don’t know what it is about this time of year that makes me want to layer a bunch of foods together into a large dish and bake them.

Moussaka is an eggplant casserole of various preparations and presentations. In the Middle East, Moussaka is a sauteed eggplant and tomato dish served cold; in Greece (as in this recipe) it is layered with meat and eggplants, then topped with a Béchamel sauce and served warm; in Turkey, it is not layered or topped with sauce, but served with rice pilaf; in the South Slavic states, it is layered with potatoes instead of eggplants, and topped with custard.

Looking for other casseroles? Here are some other casserole-like favorites:

Tuna Casserole
Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá
Tortilla Española
Ratatouille

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3-2-1 Smoked Ribs

Can you feel it? Summer is fading fast, thankfully–2019 was quite a scorcher. But that also means our grilling weather is in its death throes, so I wanted to push out to you my favorite ribs recipe. This is by no means an original recipe, the 3-2-1 technique is very well known at this point. I love its simplicity: you smoke the ribs for three hours, wrap and smoke for another two hours, then unwrap, sauce, and smoke for a final hour. All at 225F.

Also, some life updates. The limited hardcover edition of The Heritage Cookbook is complete, and I shipped out all of the orders last week! Who knew that signing and shipping 750 books at once could be so fun? Here are some pictures in case you missed seeing them on Instagram. The end result was 760 pages, 304 recipes, and 4 lbs, 8 ounces.

My next step is to try and find a way to distribute this massive tome for a wider (and international) release. Fingers crossed I will have some good news to share in the coming weeks!

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Cantonese Roast Duck

This is it: my last post before the limited edition hardcover version of The Heritage Cookbook is no longer available for purchase. This special edition shop will only be open until midnight Sunday, June 30th, because after that I must submit my order to the printer in time for an October delivery. We’ve sold a little over 500 copies at this point, which means I’ve reached my target goal and won’t be losing money off this endeavor. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders! Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy for yourself or a loved one — your support means a lot to me, and I think you’re going to love the finished product.

So to celebrate this milestone, I’m sharing one of my crowning achievements from this book’s recipe development: a recipe for Cantonese roast duck that rivals the versions you’ll find in restaurants. I found that the trick to getting that crispy-all-over texture comes from lots of exposure to air: air out the duck in the fridge, then brush on the glaze while airing it out with a fan, and propping the duck upright using a bottle so that the air hits every part of it.

Be warned that there are a few unconventional ingredients in this dish, but a) most Chinese markets will carry them at a fair price, b) you can find on them online for a little bit more (links below), and c) because they are all shelf stable, you won’t need to reinvest in these ingredients for some time. While you’re there at the market, pick up an extra Chinese rice wine bottle, the ones with a squared base — they’re the best bottles for keeping the duck solidly upright (see the picture above).

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Khao Soi (Chicken Curry Noodle Soup)

Here we are, folks: less than two weeks left to order the limited edition physical version of The Heritage Cookbook! I’ve been busy putting the final touches on this print edition, which I’ve redesigned from the ground up. I’m very proud of how it’s progressing, and I think you’re going to love it. Mark your calendars: the hardcover book will only be available for purchase until June 30th, and won’t be available in stores or on Amazon (after that, the digital edition will be the only version available).

Speaking of loving things, here’s a recipe from the book – one of my favorites. This curry noodle soup has a hefty ingredients list, but most of these can be tucked away in your pantry for other creations, like Thai Red Curry, Thai Green Curry, or Chicken Panang. So it’s really like an investment in deliciousness.

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