A really, truly New York Times recipe

When I started this blog lo these many years ago, the intention was to cook New York Times recipes AS WRITTEN, utilizing ALL the ingredients identified, and then blog about the results.

Well, hmm.  That didn't exactly happen.

Before retiring, I saved a stash of NYT recipes and actually cooked some of them, however seldom did I follow the recipe as written, for the following reasons.

1. I didn't have that much time to cook dinner.  My commute home was 45 minutes on a good day--let's not talk what traffic was like when it snowed, shall we?  Though I like to cook, by the time I hit the garage door, what was cooked was me as opposed to the food.  So I used the recipes more like guidelines as opposed to be followed to the letter instructions.

I love this.

2. Often the ingredients specified in the NYT recipes, or so it seemed to me, were either a bit arcane or more readily available if you actually lived in New York and there was a neighborhood bodega or Asian market on the street corner.  For example:

Persian cucumbers

Torn toasted nori sheets

Shallot

Capers

White miso

Mirin

Baby arugula to mix with dandelion greens

Full fat coconut milk

Naan

You get the picture.

I now have decidedly more time to cook dinner but far too often said meal  sneaks up on me.  Around 5 p.m. I think, "What should we have to eat tonight?"  Or if I  browse the NYT recipes, I find I don't have the necessary ingredients or the protein required marinating for at least a couple hours, if not overnight.

But then this recipe popped up; the number of ingredients were manageable and the ones I would need to buy weren't outrageously expensive nor did they seem to be "one and dones."  I'll admit, I had to fight the urge to cut corners and not follow the instructions as written.  But the end result was well worth it.  My husband even said, "Wow, this is flavorful!"

• Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry
• by Sue Li
• 1tablespoon whole black peppercorns, coarsely crushed with the bottom of a cup or pan (I put the peppercorns in a baggie, used a cup, a pan, then reverted to a rolling pin)

• 3garlic cloves, grated (Yes, grated)

• 2teaspoons light brown sugar

• 1teaspoon cornstarch

• Kosher salt

• ¾pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced crosswise (As long as I was going all in on the recipe, I bought a very nice piece of Akaushi sirloin)
• 3tablespoons sunflower oil or other neutral oil (substituted avocado oil)

• 2tablespoons soy sauce

• ½head small green cabbage (about 8 ounces), thinly sliced

• 1tablespoon sherry vinegar (looked this up in the grocery store to see what I could substitute given that sherry vinegar was over $9.00 for a bottle and this would be a one and done, so bought red wine vinegar instead)

• 1tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, crushed with your fingertips

• 2scallions, thinly sliced

• Cooked rice, for serving

Step 1

Add peppercorns, garlic, brown sugar, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon salt to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add sliced steak and toss to coat.

• Step 2

  Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Add steak and cook, stirring frequently, until some of the edges are lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add soy sauce and toss beef to coat, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a bowl or plate.

• Step 3

  Add cabbage to skillet, spread in an even layer and let cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute so that some pieces caramelize in the pan. Toss and cook cabbage, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in vinegar and season with salt.

• Step 4

  Add steak and any juices back to the skillet, and stir until well combined with the cabbage and warmed through, about 1 minute. Top with toasted sesame seeds and scallions; serve with rice.

I give it a 10 out of 10.

This past weekend, I was at My Friend Jeanie's™and I had sent her a recipe from the Minnesota Star Tribune for Mustard-Rhubarb sauced pork chops, saying let's cook this for dinner!  Well, turns out the NYT recipes are not the only ones with difficult to source ingredients.  It's too early for fresh rhubarb, and no frozen was able to be found.  So I scrolled through the NYT recipes app and found what may be one of the best written recipes ever!  We followed it to the letter and it was delicious.

Pork Chops With Onion Gravy

by Sam Sifton

This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredient list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

Start with the pork chops, as many as you need, on the bone if possible. Dredge them in flour that you’ve mixed with chile powder, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika and red-pepper flakes, or with Lawry’s seasoned salt or Old Bay seasoning or any spice you like, really. (Save what’s left of the flour; you’ll use it later.) Then sear the chops, in batches if you have to, in an oil-slicked Dutch oven or heavy cast-iron pan, over fairly high heat. You want a big, flavorful crust on the meat before you braise it with the onions, to enhance the taste of the sauce and provide a little texture. Set the seared chops on a platter. Throw away what oil is left in the pot, and wipe out the pot. Return it to the stove, and set over medium heat. Add some butter, and when it melts and foams, use it to sauté an enormous number of sliced onions, allowing them to wilt and soften and almost start to go brown. Sprinkle a scant handful of the leftover dredging flour over the onions, then keep stirring for a few minutes to dampen the rawness of the flour. Add about half an inch of chicken stock (or water) to the pot, along with a bay leaf, perhaps, then stir to thicken. If the sauce is too thick for your liking, add a little more liquid. Nestle the pork chops into the sauce, remove from heat, cover the pot and put it into a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

While the pork cooks, make the mashed potatoes, with hot milk, melted butter, plenty of salt and enough lemon zest to give them a real brightness. (Jeanie makes the best mashed potatoes in the world but I had used up the butter, so she made them with alouette cheese, cream cheese and half and half, no lemon zest.) So: pork, gravy, potatoes. I like some hearty sautéed greens moistened with chicken stock. Maybe a drizzle of red-wine vinegar too? You’ll know what to do when you get there. This is not a recipe. It’s your dinner. Make it however you like.

Another 10 out of 10.

So...am I incented to be more intentional about seeking out NYT recipes, purchasing prescribed ingredients, following the recipe to a T and then enjoying 10 out of 10 dinners?  We eat pretty darn well even without this guidance; in fact, tonight my husband is preparing home made pizza for dinner, a recipe cut down from his days working at his brother's pizza restaurant in Kankakee, Illinois.  While the weather cooperates, a 10 out of 10 for me is anything he prepares on the grill.  I could use some different sides, so that might be a path I'll follow on the app.

And am I stopping ranting and sticking to recipe reviews?