Christopher Kimball - Christopher Kimballs Milk Street: Tuesday nights

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ISBN 978-0-316-43733-2

E3-20180830-JV-PC

Albert Einstein may have shown that time is relative, but for as long as French cooking has ruled the world, weve been told itand heatwere constants, the critical components of flavor. Turns out thats only true in European kitchens.

Look at cooking elsewhere in the world and youll find that flavor is built with ingredients, not time. For anyone living outside Europe, this isnt much of a revelation. But for those of us raised on classic American cookery, heavily influenced by the cuisines of northern Europe, this is a watershed moment. Herbs, spices, fermented sauces, chilies, ginger, scallions, lemon grass, smoked meats and fish. These are the ingredients that make cooking quicker and easier. Likewise with pantry staples such as harissa, tahini, pomegranate molasses, salsas, chili paste and vinegars.

This quickly leads to a new way of thinking about dinner. Yellow lentils become a main course. Fried rice is the ultimate fast food. Stir-frying goes far beyond classic Chinese recipes, as in lomo saltado (a Peruvian stir-fry of beef and tomatoes) or Vietnamese shaking beef with soy sauce, sugar, garlic and watercress. Quick soups are made with stale bread, garlic, water and smoked paprika, or chickpeas and a soft-cooked egg. And, of course, there are endless variations on eggs for dinner, from frittatas to omelets to Turkish scrambles.

Weve organized Milk Street Tuesday Nights by the way you cook. Some chapters focus on timeFast, Faster and Fastestothers highlight easy methods or themesPizza Night, Easy Additions, Supper Salads, and Roast and Simmer.

We take familiar ingredients such as ground beef and spice them up. Add garam masala, ginger and garlic and you have keema matar. We dress pasta simply, but boldly, with ricotta and sage, for example. Spice rubs transform steaks, sauts and quick roasts. Meatballs are turned upside down with cashews and coconut. Sometimes we hew closely to the original inspiration. Sometimes we are inspired by our travels, as with chicken teriyaki donburi (a simple take on chicken teriyaki we learned from Elizabeth Andoh during our trip to Tokyo), or Thai rice soup, a classic recipe we picked up in Chiang Mai.

If you flip through these pages, you will notice two things: simplicity and big flavors. That is how you get supper on the table quickly on Tuesday nights while also delivering great food. No matter where you live. The secret is nothing new. This is how the world cooks. Milk Street is simply a translator, sifting through a world of spices, herbs, chilies and sauces that combine to put supper on the table quickly and easily.

Milk Street Tuesday Nights proves that culinary time is relative. It comes down to ingredients and how you define dinner. For millions of people let it be said that we offer nothing new. To them, we are late to the game. But we hope that this book offers the home cook a new beginning and a break from a past when fast food meant bad food.

In the kitchen, it turns out, time is indeed relative.

On the table in under 45 minutes

START TO FINISH: 45 minutes (30 minutes active)

SERVINGS:

Eaten on the spot with burning fingers and tongue or carried away wrapped in newspaper, the street snack known as suya is popular throughout Nigeria. Suya usually is made with thin strips of beef, but its the spice rub that sets it aparttypically a blend of ground peanuts, red pepper and other seasonings. We like this with flat iron steak, which is easily cut into long, -inch-thick strips; look for a single 1-pound piece. Blade steaks, also known as top blade, are a similar cut and are sometimes labeled flat iron; they are sold in smaller portions and a line of gristle runs down the center of each piece. Either cut worked, but if you opt for blade, choose the thickest you can find and remove the gristle (which means cutting each steak into two pieces) before slicing the meat into strips. The best way to check the meat for doneness is to cut into a piece at the center of a skewer; it should be medium-rare. We liked serving the suya with cucumber, tomato, cabbage and onioncooling counterparts to the spicy beef.

Dont skip the lime wedges for serving.They provide a much-needed hit of acidity and freshness.

cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

3 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil

1 pounds flat iron steak, sliced against the grain into -inch-thick strips

1 tablespoon lime juice, plus lime wedges, to serve

In a food processor, combine the peanuts, paprika, ginger, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, cayenne, teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Process until finely ground, about 20 seconds. Reserve cup of the spice mix, then transfer the rest to a medium bowl; add the oil and stir to form a paste.