And the winner is...

...mlr-86! Send an email with your contact information to brokefoodie@hotmail.com, and I'll send your copy of Recipes Every Man Should Know right away!

Cookbook review: How to Cook Like a Top Chef

Now, here's a cookbook I don't like.

(It's rare, I know.)

How to Cook Like a Top Chef is a spin-off from the hit TV show. First, if you don't watch the show (like me), the cookbook is essentially useless. There are some interesting recipes in it, but most of the book is dedicated to celebrity worship--interviews with the winners and contestants, that sort of thing. All the recipes are paired with a name (John Besh's Frozen Cauliflower Blintz, Rick Bayless's Chile-Garlic Shrimp). That in itself isn't bad, but if you don't know the name, then who cares? The recipes look good, but the presentation is a major turn-off.

If you're a fan of the show, you may get a lot more out of this book. But if not, don't bother.

Cookbook review: Recipes Every Man Should Know

There are some things everyone should know how to do, regardless of gender, age, or urban environment. Drive in snow and ice. Change a tire. Sew a button. Open a bottle of champagne. Fix a running toilet. Build a fire. Pack. File a tax return (correctly). Clean (properly, and on a regular basis). And of course, cook.

There is nothing sexier than a man who knows how to cook.

Let me repeat that. Ladies, be sure your husbands/boyfriends read this.

There is nothing sexier than a man who knows how to cook.

Picture Daniel Craig as James Bond, rising out of the ocean in Casino Royale. Now picture him making you breakfast in bed. See?

Anyway. Most men haven't gotten the memo that women really do want them to be able to cook competently, which is why there are books like Recipes Every Man Should Know. It's your basic starter guide, pocket-sized and discreet. As you might expect, it's heavy on the meat-and-potatoes, chili, and grill lore.

Fortunately, there are other recipes, as well, some of them even involving green vegetables. Greens with Bacon, Garlicky Spinach, Roasted Asparagus. I support that. Even basic cookie recipes, and a diagram on how to properly carve a turkey.

So in an effort to improve marriages everywhere, I'm giving this cookbook away to some deserving male! Guys, leave a comment, and I'll select a winner at random!

Using the CSA veggies: Minestrone with kale, turnips and Napa cabbage

I made this using the standard soup architecture.

In several tablespoons of bacon fat, I sauteed:

1 chopped onion
a few minced cloves of garlic
several finely chopped stalks of celery and two big carrots

When that was soft, I added:

the equivalent of two cans of white beans
a 28-oz can of whole tomatoes
two peeled and chopped turnips
3/4 cup Israeli couscous
enough chicken broth to float the whole thing
the rind from a hunk of parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
a bay leaf

After 15 minutes or so on medium heat, then:

1 chopped head of kale
1 chopped head of Napa cabbage

Cook until just wilted, and serve.

New veggie CSA!

So in addition to my new fish CSA, I'm in a new veggie CSA, as well. If you're in the Boston area, check out Enterprise Produce. Because it's winter in Massachusetts, it's a six-month time commitment, with a box of stuff every week. Sometimes it's what you would expect from winter in Massachusetts--my first box had kale, potatoes, carrots, buttercup squash, turnips, and Napa cabbage. But they subcontract out to other CSA farms on the East Coast, meaning I also got a bag of mesclun greens, a box of cherry tomatoes, fresh green peppers, and a huge grapefruit. It was a pretty decent haul.

Based on that first box, I'm optimistic about the next six months. It was $700 for six months; between that and the fish CSA, the only grocery shopping I'll be doing in the next six months will be to replenish the pantry. That's $115 a month for fruits and veggies, another $40 a month in fish; that's $145 a month to feed two people. Not bad at all.

By summer I'm hoping to have laid in my own garden here, thus negating the need to join a CSA. It'll be my first garden; stay tuned!

Fish tacos

I used the cooked flounder from my fish CSA to make fish tacos.

Any white fish will do (flounder, tilapia, even catfish), cooked and in pieces. On a tortilla, layer the fish, then shredded red or Napa cabbage, then salsa. Maybe a little salt. Done! And really good.

It's ironic that I moved from Southern California to Boston before I made my own fish tacos.

Adventures with flounder

First: I apologize for the lack of photojournalism to accompany this post. It's hard to take pictures when your hands are covered with fish guts. I'll try to do better next time.

(Also: that is a stock photo of a flounder. The ones I got were lighter in color, a couple of pounds each, and a little prettier.)

I picked up my first delivery from my fish CSA, which consisted of three whole flounder, a couple of pounds each. When I say whole, I mean whole. They were so fresh they hadn't been gutted or scaled. So I had a project ahead of me when I got them home.

Here's what I learned:
1. Lock the cats up first. (I didn't.)
2. You can't freeze whole fish with the guts still inside. You have to clean them first.
3. I didn't bother to descale them.
4. Flounder guts are not actually in the middle. They're off to one side, immediately under the head. Basically their guts live in their chin.
5. My super-sharp professional knives weren't up to the task of cutting through fish scales and skin, which is actually very tough. What did work: my super-heavy-duty professional kitchen scissors. (Also called kitchen shears.)
6. Between my impromptu biology lesson ("Where are the guts?...What are THOSE? Oh, lungs.") and figuring out that scissors worked better than the knives, it was not a pretty or clean butchering process. Just as well I didn't take any pictures.
7. Fish decapitation is very easy with good scissors.

So, in summation: with whole fish, first cut off the head. Find and remove internal organs. Snip off fins/gills if necessary (not necessary with flounder).

Then, since I had three cleaned fish in front of me, I figured I might as well roast them all at once and eat them later.

It's also best if you clean fish the night before trash day, so that fish remains can go immediately outside, and not stink up your house any more than it already is.

I didn't do anything fancy to the fish. I put some olive oil in a roasting dish, added the fish, flipped them to coat on both sides with the oil, and baked them for about 20-25 minutes at 400, until the skin was crispy and the meat was opaque.

After they cooled, I peeled off the skin, removed the remaining bones (and tails), and put the remaining meat in the fridge. I predict fish tacos in my immediate future.

Then I took the three fish heads (minus guts, of course--those got thrown away) and the bones/skin/leftovers and made a big batch of fish stock. I threw it all into a big pot, added a roughly chopped carrot and a couple stalks of celery, two big glugs of white wine, and maybe four cups of water, and let that cook down for a couple hours. When it cooled, I strained it and popped it right into the freezer.

I'll continue sharing fish butchering stories and fish recipes as the CSA continues!