KitchenCritical

Ask any American if they like anchovies and the answer is likely an emphatic no. Ask them if they've had it, and the answer is the same. It seems to be that as is the prospect of eating, say, a cockroach, one doesn't have to try one to know that it's revolting. Judgment is passed, and verdict rendered. Yet you do eat anchovy, and you like it. You may simply be unaware of how common an ingredient it really is.  These popular items: Thai and Vietnamese food, all Caesar salads, anything with Worcestershire, a great deal of Italian dishes and many dishes of any provenance that are featured in high end restaurants all contain some preparation of anchovy, an extract of it or a similarly fermented, oily fish, yet none of the above contain "anchovy" in the name.  The reason is that anchovies, through the long curing process, develop flavor compounds, amino acids and naturally occurring glutamates (MSG) that enhance all other flavors it is joined with. Chefs know this and ...

 I'm a curmudgeon, so the cloying and ubiquitous fall season "spiced" scents will be an assault on my senses until after New Year. Pumpkin Parm beats pumpkin spice.  Pumpkin needs no cinnamon, allspice, clove, ginger, vanilla, brown sugar or maple. Even less so their artificial counterpart "flavorings" added to lattes and hideous dyed pastries with an almost religious fervor until the Spice Assault subsides once again.  I hereby offer you this recipe. To fellow curmudgeons it will be a relief, and to the Autumn Army a chance to see the orange gourd that is their seasonal totem with a fresh entourage. To entice the Spice crowd, I add a perennial rather than seasonal superstar: parmesan.  Ingredients : Approximately 3 cups of any pumpkin, calabaza, butternut, etc, chopped into rough cubes. 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth One leek, tough outer leaves removed, chopped. One medium parsnip, chopped. One tablespoon each of butter and heavy cream. Olive oil, enough to...

 For a snack, salad topping, or a nutritious alternative to popcorn, you can't beat roasted chickpeas. Here's what you need: Cooked chickpeas, well drained on a colander. They should be as dry as possible. Extra Virgin olive oil. Good Salt  Black pepper, freshly ground. Fresh Lemon Garlic Powder Cumin powder Cayenne powder The Process For the cooked chickpeas, you can cook your own or use canned. For canned chickpeas, dump them in a colander and rinse well, tossing them around in the colander. You want to get that mucoid slime off of them. Grossed out? Good. Cook your own.  For cooked chickpeas, you will cook them less than you do for  hummus.   If using an instant pot, cook unsoaked Chickpeas for 38 minutes on high pressure in salted water. On the stovetop, an overnight soak is recommended. Simmer slowly in salted water until tender but not mushy. It may take a while, depending on how long you soaked them. Whether you use canned or cook your own, you'll want to...

 The humble radish is widely available in any grocery store, where it is sometimes sold along with its edible green leaves.  Though it's flavor is described elsewhere as "pungent," that may be an unfair description. It's flavor is like mild watercress. It's texture is firm, crunchy, watery, like raw carrot. As you chew it, you will get a mild, wasabi or horseradish-like aroma but without the eye watering kick. Indeed, they are a related species. And that striking color, which no camera can do justice, is due to anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid which may have several important health benefits. What's not to like about this fresh, colorful member of the mustard family?  At less than one calorie per radish, you'll get these flavonoids along with a modest but broad range of vitamins and minerals in a very inexpensive package. Like most brassicas, they will stay fresh for an extraordinary amount of time in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator. Here is a s...

 Many friends and family over the years have sought my input on cast iron.  There was even a sizeable cast iron facebook group at one point (may still be, for all I know). It seems to exert some mysterious allure to a great many people, who, as far as I can tell, seem to want cast iron because they want it. Inevitably, almost everyone misused their pans and subsequently got over them. There they remain to this day; lonely little iron golems condemned to rust forever in the back of a cabinet or in a landfill for their owner's impulse purchase. The "wet" look of a healthy, twenty year old cast iron skillet. The truth is that although cast iron has its merits, its a niche item, and a heavy gauge steel skillet will do anything a cast iron skillet can do, and more. So why is cast iron praised? The main reasons I have seen is that cast iron is lauded as an excellent heat conductor and heat retainer, its sear, for its durability and long life, and for its natural non-stick surfa...

  "Street" is another empty word thrown at you to get you to buy "food" with a connotation that it's somehow a more authentic version of whatever you were having before. Tacos that affect a pedigree are Street Tacos. Roasted and spicy corn on the cob - an old fixture at barbecues, festivals and flea markets wherever Central Americans were present- is now given a hip makeover as Street Corn. Fine eating it is, but it misses a point. In Miami, five "Street Corn" just like this can cost $42 in a casual restaurant.  "Street" labeling is a marketing ploy designed to invoke the beloved, fiesty, ethnic or working class portable meals that one may buy at a roadside stand or at a window. Despite many forms across continents, these dishes seem to have a common pattern: a seductive envelope or core of carbohydrates surrounding or surrounded by something oily or proteinacious: meat, often greasy or aggressively seasoned, cheeses, legumes, cream, chilies,...

You can make your own hummus with no special skill, better and healthier than store bought and at a fraction of the cost. You can also apply this same technique with almost any other type of bean. Technique is superior to recipe; see  Reading a Recipe  for clarity.  Ingredients: Dry Chickpeas One clove of fresh garlic, pureed with the side of your knife or a mortar and pestle. Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cumin Powder Fresh lemon Paprika.*  Any good salt**  Optional Ingredients: Chili flakes Tahini Cook the amount of chickpeas you think you'll want for hummus, but be aware that chickpeas will double or even triple in size from their dry state. To cook:       -In an instant pot: Add unsoaked dry peas to pot and cover with enough water to submerge the peas by about an inch. Add more water than you think you need, since you'll be draining it, and add salt (about 1/2 teaspoon per cup of dry peas should be fine). Cook for about 40 minutes on high pressure in...