cooksimple.com

As I still don’t have an easy to access grill I am still finding ways to “grill” food inside. Instead of heating up the broiler, as for the “grilled” tuna, this technique utilizes your stove top. In this case a cast-iron skillet is needed so you can get the heat required to create those nice dark specks on the outside of your veggies. A non-stick skillet isn’t safe to heat to the high temperatures needed and I have a feeling the veggies would stick to a stainless steel skillet. Be forewarned this technique did create a bit of smoke in the house so be sure to have your stove hood on turbo speed while you’re cooking.

I highly recommend marinating the veggies before you cook them for some added flavor, however, they will be fine if you just season then with herbs & spices. It is best to slice the vegetables thinly. Good veggies for this technique include: summer squash, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions and okra.

1. Marinate the veggies* for 5 minutes. Place a cast-iron plan over medium heat. When pan is heated brush with canola or safflower oil.
2. Cook veggies in batches, approximately 5 minutes per side. Drizzle with marinade periodically. If things start to get too smoky add a few tablespoons of water to the pan to cool it down a little. Don’t add too much water else you’ll end up with “boiled” veggies. Make sure each vegetable is in contact with the bottom of the pan and not on top of the other vegetables. You’ll probably have to cook in batches.

*I used a Mexican-inspired marinade and these were some of the best vegetables I’ve had in a while! Combine 2/3 cup beer, 2 Tablespoons lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 grated or crushed clove garlic and 1/2 teaspoon ground chile powder.

This is my current go-to method for cooking fish. It is quick, easy, and doesn’t heat up the house too much. I find grilling fish to be tricky as the fish tends to stick to the grates & can be difficult to turn. This method gives you similar results to grilling, however, there is no worry about the fish accidentally dropping through the grill! It works well for any fish steaks or fillets that are around 1″ thick.

1. Heat the broiler to Low. Sprinkle both sides of fish with olive oil and any spices you’d like in addition to salt & pepper. Good spices to use include: garam masala, cumin & smoked paprika, and lemon pepper. Marinades work well with this technique, too. Try a teriyaki style marinade or a simple mustard & lemon vinaigrette.
2. Place the fish on an oiled piece of foil. Once the broiler is preheated, put the fish on a pan on top of the rack closest to the broiler. Cook the fish 5 minutes, then flip. Cook the fish an additional 3-5 minutes. Your fish will be cooked through perfectly. Remove from the broiler & serve.

If you’ve ever been to a nice restaurant you’ve likely seen confit on the menu. I’ve always enjoyed the succulent meat cooked by this technique. However, it’s not just a means for cooking, but also for preservation. Long before refrigeration, the French slow cooked and stored meat in fat for months at a time. You need to make large batches of this, because it’s so yummy you’ll likely eat it all well before it would go bad.

This can be made with any type of meat. I used chicken because it’s so common – most of us can get access to it. This is a great thing to do if you’ve got a sale on chicken legs – buy a bunch and confit it.

Start by seasoning the meat. For about 4 legs, you’ll need about a tablespoon of kosher salt spread all over. The other spices are optional and really up to your taste. Use any combination of bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and fresh, crushed garlic. Make sure to put this in a non-reactive pan, cover, and refrigerate over night.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to about 200 ºF (my oven runs low, so I heated it to 225-250 ºF). Rinse off the seasoning and put in an oven-safe pan. I used a small stock pot because I didn’t want the juices to overflow. You can also put a larger page under your pan to catch any overflow.

Cover the meat in fat. If you’re using something fatty, like duck or pork, you can use rendered fat from other parts of the animal. For chicken, you can use rendered fat from these other sources (e.g., bacon fat) or you can simply cover in olive oil.

Start the meat cooking over a medium flame on the stove. When the oil starts to gently bubble, place the whole pot, uncovered into the oven. Cook for 6-10 hours until the meat easily pulls from the bone.

Cool and then place in the refrigerator. To preserve, make certain that the meat is fully covered by the fat. Store in the fridge for months.

When ready to use, pull out from the fat and reheat in a pan, skin side down for a few minutes. Because of the richness of this meat, it is best served with light food, such as an acidic salad or sauce.

Pan-frying is akin to sauteing. You cook small amount of food over medium-high heat in a minimal amount of fat (oil, butter, lard). The only difference between pan-frying and sauteing being in pan-frying you simply flip the food whereas in sauteing you make the food jump and hop.

In both techniques the goal is to create a brown crust on the outside of the food. To do this you must heat your pan to a relatively high temperature and not overcrowd the pan with food. Make either of these mistakes and your dish is more likely to boil in the steam released by the ingredients than get the desired browned crust.

Today I’ll be demonstrating pan-frying using trout fillets. Other foods I typically pan-fry are vegetable patties, veggie burgers, thin-cut pork chops, eggplant slices, and over easy eggs.

In this case I’ll be coating the fish in cornmeal. So let’s take a look at this ingredients: trout, cornmeal, salt, pepper & oil.

The first step is to season both sides of the fish. You’ll want to use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of each salt & pepper on both sides. In this case, trout is a freshwater fish and so needs a little extra help with the salt. You can add any other spices you like at this point. Cumin, oregano, garam marsala…

To get a nice crust on the fish we are coating it in cornmeal. This is one of the easiest coatings to use. Other coatings you could try would be breadcrumbs, flour/egg wash/breadcrumbs, or light coating of mustard/breadcrumbs. In the case of veggie patties you don’t need any coating. You are going to coat both sides of the fish with the cornmeal. You may have to sprinkle some extra in the spots that aren’t picking up the coating & press to make sure it adheres.

Once your fish is completely coated heat your oil over medium-high in a heavy skillet. I use extra-light olive oil for all my pan-frying because you can heat it to a fairly high temperature before it begins smoking up your house. Extra virgin olive oil will begin to smoke at a much lower temperature. Other good oils to use for pan-frying include: peanut oil, safflower oil, canola oil, & sunflower oil.

Once the oil is hot (you can tell because it will spread in the pan & begin to look shimmery) you add the fish. Cook on each side until you get a golden-brown crust. You may need to move the fish around a bit to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Once the fish is cooked through you can take it off the heat & serve. It is best served quickly as the coating will begin to get soggy if you keep the fish sitting around too long. For this piece of fish I cooked it about 3 minutes per side as it was a thin piece.