I had an intense smoked meat sandwich today from a new Brooklyn delicatessen called Mile End. The options for the sandwich are not a choice of meat varieties but a choice of fat level: lean, medium, or fatty. It was a delicious, heart-stopping, and slightly overpriced meal that drove me to finally join the gym this evening. And yet, I don’t regret my lunch choice because I’ve been enjoying lighter vegetarian meals the rest of the week.

A prime example is the butternut squash pasta I made on Sunday. It was easy to make and it used almost five ingredients, but a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese put it over the top. I’m placing it under my “Five Ingredients” category anyway because the amount of cheese is minimal enough to count as a seasoning.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
-1 medium butternut squash
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 tbs. fresh sage, finely chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 lb. pasta
-2 tbs. olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Parmesan cheese to taste

1) Pre-heat the oven to 400°.

2) Peel and cut the butternut squash into 1″ by 1″ cubes. Toss the cubes in a bowl with 1 tbs. olive oil and pour onto a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender.

3) While the squash is roasting, add the remaining tablespoon of oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic until fragrant (about thirty seconds) and add the onion. Cook until tender, stirring often. Add the sage and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat.

4) Cook the pasta according to box directions. Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.

5) When the squash is done roasting, add to the skillet, return to medium heat, and stir often for one to two minutes. Add the cooked pasta, pasta water, and stir.

6) Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese to taste.

My friends Angela and Sean hosted a small gathering Sunday afternoon to celebrate an a match made in culinary heaven: grilled sandwiches and beer. They gathered an impressive array of meats, cheeses, mustards, and more, and were ready with some fantastic combinations. More photos and combos after the jump

Angela made the first batch of sandwiches. They included ham, Swiss cheese, thin-sliced Roma tomatoes, and mustard. The secret ingredient? A light spread of cinnamon applesauce on each slice of bread.

They were the perfect match with a Belgian wheat beer.

Sean made the next two varieties. The first had thin-sliced granny apples, red onion, bacon, and cheddar sandwich with mustard.

Sean assembles the magic:

The final was a dessert sandwich of brie, granny smith apples, and cranberry pepper jelly. I don’t have a photo of the final sandwich, but I do have one of a lot of slow-cooked bacon. Mmmm.

In short, grilled sandwiches + beer + Sunday afternoon = WIN.

My senior year of college was a scramble to cram as much of the “college experience” into my days as possible. This involved a lot of assisting— I was an assistant music director at the radio station, a teaching assistant for a creative writing class, and an intern for a professor finishing his first book. I sang in a co-ed a cappella group (let’s keep that piece info just between us, though), and I held down a coveted job as Subway Sandwich Artist to help fuel my addiction to overpriced coffee and clove cigarettes. Fifteen hour stretches would go by with only a few minutes to stop by my on-campus townhouse to switch books or change into my work uniform.

This year of limited time and funds lead to an equally limited diet. I existed on frozen pierogies and Subway sandwiches, but I would occasionally indulge with baba ghanouj from the Mediterranean Bar at the local supermarket. After days of running around, I would find a moment to pull out some pita bread, sit down on the couch, and enjoy bad television and an eggplant spread.

Despite my love of baba ghanouj, I didn’t try making it until this afternoon when I found myself with two beautiful eggplants and a bit of time. Here’s the simple recipe:

Baba Ghanouj
(A modified version of this recipe from Epicurious)

-2 1-pound eggplants, halved lengthwise
-2 tbs olive oil
-1/4 cup tahini
-juice of 1 lemon
-2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
-1 tsp. cumin
-Salt and pepper to taste

1) Pre-heat oven to 375°.

2) Place eggplant halves, sliced side down on a lightly oiled baking tray. Roast for 35-45 minutes, or until soft. Allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes, then scoop out the pulp and place in a strainer over a large bowl. Drain for at least 30 minutes at room temperature and discard the liquid.

3) Add the eggplant pulp to a food processor, then add the olive oil, lemon, tahini, cumin, garlic, and process until just short of smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4) Serve at room temperature with pita bread or toasted baguette slices.

I recently heard an interview with the authors of a book called What We Eat When We Eat Alone, and while I haven’t read it yet, I think it’s a fascinating concept. What do you eat when no one is around? I for one eat spoonfuls of Nutella with a peanut butter chaser, simple turkey sandwiches from a Polish deli near my apartment, and the occasional BBQ pork banh mi. It’s not always take-out and jarred food though.

Ramsey spends a few nights a week in meetings for his sketch team, so depending on his schedule, I will make dinner for just myself from scratch. The ingredients are always a combination of anything fresh from the fridge or kitchen cupboards, but the results are (usually) healthy and delicious.

My stand-by combo is bean, green, and onion + rice + egg. Here’s the simple recipe with a very descriptive name:

Spinach and Chickpeas with Rice and Egg
-1/2 cup brown rice
-1/2 small onion, diced
-1/2 cup chick peas (canned or rehydrated dry)
-1 cup fresh spinach leaves
-1 egg
-1 tbs. olive oil
-1 clove garlic, minced
-Salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

1) Cook rice according to bag/box directions.

2) With 15 minutes of cooking time left for the rice, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally.

3) Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the garlic. Add the chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes.

4) Quickly add the spinach and cook for 3 minutes, or until the leaves are wilted and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5) While the spinach is wilting, cook your egg any style that will keep the yolk a bit runny (I prefer over-easy).

5) Add the rice and chickpea mixture to a bowl. Top with the egg and enjoy.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! To celebrate the holiday I’ve turned my attention to flan, a caramel-topped custard dessert that you can prepare with just five ingredients. I consider it to be the under appreciated cousin of crème brûlée, often overlooked because it doesn’t require the pageantry of a butane torch (nothing says “fancy” quite like a controlled fire in the kitchen). You can easily flavor it with chocolate, coconut, or just about anything else that can be added to or infused into custard, but I decided to go for a basic flan with just a touch of vanilla.

Vanilla Flan
Caramel:
-1/2 cup sugar
-3 tbs. water

Custard:
-3 eggs
-1 egg yolk
-2 cups whole milk
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 tsp. vanilla

Equipment list:
-1 small saucepan
-1 medium saucepan
-4 6oz ramekins or custard cups (If you don’t have any, they are affordable at $2-$3 each at most cooking stores)
-1 baking dish (preferably glass) with minimum depth of 3 inches
-1 large mixing bowl
-Whisk
-Teakettle (or additional small saucepan)

1) Place the 4 ramekins or custard cups into the baking dish near the stove. Make sure the cups aren’t touching the sides of the dish or each other to ensure even heating. I decided to try out my new custard cups for this recipe.

2) Add sugar and 3 tbs. water to the small saucepan and stir until all of the sugar is moistened. Turn on heat to medium-high. It should take 6-10 minutes for the sugar to melt into a syrup and caramelize, the ideal color being a light golden brown. I don’t recommend stirring at all during this time, but you can swirl the pan if you need to break up any chunks of sugar that aren’t heating. Keep a close eye on it because once it starts to caramelize, it will go quickly.

2) Once the sugar has reached a light golden brown, quickly pour even amounts into each cup. Use a pot holder or oven mitt to then pick up each cup and create a uniform coating on the bottom.

3) Preheat the oven to 350°.

4) Break the 3 whole eggs into the large mixing bowl, then add the single egg yolk. Pour in a splash of vanilla and then whisk lightly until fully mixed. Make sure not to whisk too much as you want to avoid adding air to the eggs.

5) Put the teakettle on to boil and pour the milk and remaining sugar into the medium saucepan. Bring to a very light simmer while stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat to low.

6) Now it’s time to temper the eggs. This requires adding the warm milk and sugar mixture to the eggs in small amounts to slowly bring their temperature up. If you were to add the milk all at once, it would result in a bowl of sweet scrambled eggs.

Slowly add 1/3 cup of the warm milk and sugar mixture to the eggs while whisking continuously. Repeat this twice more, then slowly pour the contents of the mixing bowl into the warm saucepan while whisking.

7) Once the milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla are fully incorporated, evenly divide between the cups.

8 ) The teakettle should be near boiling at this point. Remove from heat and then pour the water into the baking dish, taking care not to get any in the custard, until it reaches halfway up the cups.

9) Using pot holders, carefully place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the custard is softly set. This means the custard is firm but will still jiggle a bit in the center.

10) Remove the baking dish from the oven, then place the cups on a cooling rack or towel-covered counter. Allow them to cool almost completely and then put them in the fridge to chill for 3-4 hours.

11) Once completely chilled, remove the cups from the fridge. To serve, run a thin knife around the edge of the custard to loosen, then turn upside down on a plate. If it does not come out immediately, place the cup in shallow baking dish filled with warm water for 10 seconds and try again.

There are two basil plants thriving on the mantle in my bedroom. I picked them up at the farmer’s market in February and they have not only been a great help to my recipes, but my wallet as well. Rather than spending two dollars for a small box of fresh basil leaves at the supermarket, I just walk ten feet, cut a few leaves off of the plants, and I’m ready to go.

The plants recently reached a stage of being weighed down by the amount of leaves that have sprouted. For the good of the plants and my dinner plans, I decided to have a basil harvest this week. It started with a simple Tomato and Basil Pasta.

Tomato and Basil Pasta
-1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
-2 cups tomatoes, diced
-3-4 oz. goat cheese, depending on your taste
-1 lb. linguine
-Black pepper to taste

1. Cook the linguine according to box directions in salted water. Before draining, reserve one cup of the pasta water and set aside.

2. Return drained pasta to the pot and add goat cheese. Stir gently until melted, then add the tomato and basil. If the tomatoes don’t provide enough additional liquid for the sauce, add the pasta water 1/4 cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. You may need to put the pot over very low heat.

3. Add a dash of black pepper and serve.

Coming later this week: Pizza.

I’ve been trying to keep food bills to a minimum the past few months, so Ramsey and I have been eating a lot of chicken and pasta. There are endless pasta variations that can be easily improvised, but I’ve been searching for more ways to prepare chicken beyond my standbys of roasting and pan-searing. A quick flip through my cookbook library yielded a technique I had never tried in my kitchen before: braising. It calls for searing meat and/or vegetables in a bit of oil, then slowly simmering them in flavorful liquid until they’re cooked through. It’s easy, delicious, and best of all, it’s cheap.

Braising is best for poultry and tougher cuts of meat, as the slow-cooking allows for a breakdown of connective tissue and an infusion of flavor. You can also braise vegetables alone by sauteing them for a few minutes, then adding vegetable or chicken stock and simmering, covered, for an additional 2-3 minutes. I decided to braise both chicken and vegetables with this adapted recipe from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food.

While this recipe doesn’t technically have only five ingredients, it does call for a number of common ingredients you may already have in your pantry (oil, bay leaves, salt, pepper, garlic), so I’m counting it as a Five Ingredients entry.

Braised Chicken Legs
-4 chicken legs (with skin)
-2 tbs. olive oil
-1 red onion, diced large
-1 yellow onion, diced large
-4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
-2 bay leaves
-1 rosemary sprig (keep whole, don’t remove the leaves)
-1 12 oz can whole tomatoes, diced (make sure to include the juice)
-1 cup chicken broth

1. Season the chicken legs with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large saucepan (that you have a lid for) over medium heat and place the chicken legs in the pan, skin side down. Let them cook about 12 minutes, or until crisp and well browned. Flip and cook for an additional four minutes.

2. Remove the chicken and place on a nearby plate. Add the diced onions to the saucepan and cook until translucent. Add the herbs and garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring often.

3. Add the diced tomatoes and juice, then scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to pull up any brown bits that are still holding on.

Cook for 5 minutes and then place the chicken in the pan, skin side up, on top of the tomatoes and onions.

4. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

5. Pour the braising liquid into a medium bowl, remove the bay leaves and rosemary sprig, and skim the fat. This can be done by tilting the bowl to one side, then using a large spoon to scoop out the fat that has collected. Discard the fat by placing it in a small bowl and allowing it to congeal, covered, in the fridge (yes, it’s a bit gross). Once congealed, scrape out the fat and throw it in the trash, unless you want to use it in place of cooking oil in a dish the following day. This will avoid any unfortunate clogs in your kitchen sink.

6. Return the braising liquid to the pan and serve the chicken, topping with the onions and tomatoes and a spoonful of liquid.

As I was caramelizing onions for a goat cheese and puff pastry dish I was testing out a few weeks ago, I started looking for other vehicles for one of my favorite flavors. I am not a huge fan of raw yellow onion, but with a little olive oil and some time in a skillet, they become tender and gain just a hint of sweetness. This sandwich is a simple blend of caramelized onions with four other classic flavors: steak, Dijon mustard, mayo, and a crusty baguette.

Steak Sandwiches
Makes approx. 4 sandwiches, based on amount of meat
-Flank steak (1 lb-1.5 lbs)
-1 thick baguette or bread of your choice, sliced sandwich-sized
-2 medium yellow onions, cut into thin rings
-1/2 cup mayo
-2 tbs. grained Dijon mustard
-2 tbs olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste

1) Season the steak with salt and pepper on both sides, and place on a baking sheet coated with tinfoil. Broil to desired doneness, flipping halfway through, and tent with foil for 10 minutes to rest the meat. This will help retain the juices while cutting.

2) While the steak is broiling, heat the olive oil in the skillet and add the onion. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often to avoid burning, until they are browned and tender. This should take 15-20 minutes.

3) Once the meat is resting, toast the bread slices (if desired) at 400º for 3-5 minutes.

4) Mix the mayo and mustard in a cup and add salt and pepper to taste. Spread a thin layer on each side of the bread.

5) Slice the steak into thin strips. Create a layer of caramelized onions on the bottom half of the bread and cover with three strips of steak. Top with the other half of the bread and slice down the middle.

Oh, potatoes. Although many wage war on carbohydrates, I embrace a serving of starch in potato form at least once a week, sometimes more. I can’t think of a form that a potato takes that I don’t enjoy, save for bad fries (the flavorless steak variety that lack seasoning, often served with sub-par burgers at pubs). They’re my quintessential comfort food, barely beating out chocolate cake and the Pork Belly Buns at Momofuku Ssam Bar. 

In my pre-Thanksgiving rush to clear out my kitchen, the perfect pairing for the small white potatoes I had was a pile of shallots, fresh rosemary sprigs, and little else.

Roast Rosemary Potatoes with Shallots
-1.5 lbs. small to medium white potatoes (or potatoes of your choice)
-4 medium shallots
-3 fresh rosemary sprigs
-2 tbs. olive oil
-Salt
-Pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 400º

2. Clean and cut potatoes into wedges and arrange into a single layer in a square pan.

3. Cut shallots into halves and place among potato wedges in pan. Drizzle 2 tbs. olive oil over them and toss. 

4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss again (not too much, as you can add to taste after cooking). 

5. Place three sprigs of fresh rosemary on top and place in the oven. Cook for 30-40 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. 

6. Remove from oven and throw away the rosemary sprigs. Serve. 

I’ve decided to challenge myself by creating a dish every few weeks that requires five ingredients or less (not counting salt, pepper, and olive oil). It tends to save time, and as we continue to slog through these tough economic times, recipes with sprawling ingredient lists are becoming much less appealing. 

The first installment in this series is mushroom tacos. They are a satisfying and quick meal, especially when paired with some Spanish rice (not counted in list of five ingredients).

Mo’s Mushroom Tacos
-3 cups chopped button mushrooms
-1 chopped medium yellow onion
-3 tbs. chopped cilantro (or more to taste)
-Your favorite brand of salsa verde (or homemade if you have some tomatillos kicking around the kitchen)
-Soft flour or corn tortillas
-Olive oil, salt, and pepper 

1.  Heat 2 tbs. of olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook until translucent, keeping a close eye on it and stirring often to keep it from burning. Turn down heat if necessary.

2. Add chopped mushrooms and an additional tbs. olive oil. Stir often and cook the mushrooms until they are an even light brown and are tender. 

3. Add cilantro, salt, and pepper to taste and cook for an additional 1.5 minutes.

4. Remove from heat. Grab a tortilla, add a line of salsa verde, and place the mushroom mixture on top. Serve.