The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (73 page)
Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
SERVES 4
Dried linguine can be substituted for the fresh Chinese egg noodles; in step 3, add the linguine to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, 5 to 6 minutes, then add the bok choy and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the noodles are al dente and the bok choy is wilted.
SAUCE
1¹⁄ | tablespoons vegetable oil |
2 | (3-inch-long) cinnamon sticks, broken in half |
2 | whole cloves |
1 | teaspoon anise seeds |
4 | garlic cloves, sliced thin |
1 | (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and sliced into thin matchsticks |
1 | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons Asian chili-garlic sauce |
8 | ounces beef sirloin or rib-eye steak, trimmed, halved crosswise, and sliced thin across the grain |
Salt and pepper |
GREENS AND NOODLES
1¹⁄ | pounds bok choy, bottom 2 inches of base discarded, remainder cut crosswise into ³⁄ |
Salt and pepper | |
12 | ounces fresh Chinese egg noodles |
1. FOR THE SAUCE:
Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add cinnamon sticks, cloves, and anise seeds and stir until cinnamon sticks unfurl and cloves pop, about 1 minute. Add garlic and ginger and cook until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and chili-garlic sauce, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until liquid reduces by half, about 4 minutes.
2.
Remove cinnamon sticks and cloves. Add beef and simmer until meat is gray around edges and still slightly pink in center, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cover to keep warm.
3. FOR THE GREENS AND NOODLES:
Meanwhile, bring 5 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add bok choy and 1 tablespoon salt and cook until bok choy is almost tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add noodles and cook until bok choy and noodles are tender, about 2 minutes longer. Reserve ¹⁄
3
cup cooking water, drain noodles and bok choy, and return to pot. Add sauce and reserved cooking water and cook over medium-low heat, stirring to meld flavors, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Nothing sounds easier than pasta with olive oil and garlic, but too often this Italian pantry classic, aglio e olio, turns out oily or rife with burnt garlic. For deep, mellow garlic flavor, we cooked most of the garlic over low heat; a modest amount of raw garlic added at the end brought in some potent fresh garlic flavor. Extra-virgin olive oil and reserved pasta cooking water helped to keep our pasta saucy. A splash of lemon juice and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes added some brightness and heat to this simple, yet complex-flavored dish.
SERVES 4
It pays to use high-quality extra-virgin olive oil in this dish.
1 | pound spaghetti |
Salt | |
6 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
12 | garlic cloves, minced |
³⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
3 | tablespoons chopped fresh parsley |
2 | teaspoons lemon juice |
1 | ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (¹⁄ |
1.
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ¹⁄
3
cup cooking water, then drain pasta.
2.
Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil, two-thirds of garlic, and ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt in 10-inch nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic foams and is sticky and straw-colored, about 10 minutes. Off heat, add remaining garlic, pepper flakes, parsley, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons reserved cooking water.
3.
Transfer drained pasta to warm serving bowl. Add garlic mixture, remaining 3 tablespoons oil, and remaining reserved cooking water to pasta and toss to combine. Season with salt to taste and serve immediately, passing Parmesan separately.
A FRESH CRUSH IS BEST
We’re always looking for ways to make our kitchen work more efficient and will often prep ingredients in advance if we know we’ve got a lot of recipes to get through on a given day. But noticing that garlic can develop a particularly strong odor if minced too far in advance, we decided to run a quick test. We used garlic in three different applications: lightly cooked in Pasta with Garlic and Oil, stirred raw into mayonnaise, and whisked raw into vinaigrette. For each recipe, we used freshly minced garlic, garlic that had been minced six hours in advance, and garlic that had been minced the day before. Both the six-hour and one-day-old minced garlic were so powerful they overwhelmed the other flavors in the dish.
It turns out, the garlic flavor is not formed until after the garlic’s cells are ruptured. As soon as you cut into garlic, the flavor will start to build and build until it becomes overwhelmingly strong. So if you’re going to prep a recipe in advance, make sure to leave the garlic cloves whole until the last minute.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
We love pasta with garlic and olive oil, but sometimes a fresh take on this classic is in order. We wanted to boost the flavor in this dish with easy-to-find pantry ingredients. Just a few garlic cloves delivered plenty of flavor. Fried capers are an simple way to give pasta loads of flavor, especially when combined with small amounts of minced anchovy or tomato paste for depth and balance; a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes added concentrated sweetness to contrast with olives in another variation.
SERVES 4
To keep the capers from splattering during frying, pat them dry thoroughly with paper towels before adding them to the skillet.
¹⁄ | cup extra-virgin olive oil |
¹⁄ | cup capers, rinsed and patted dry |
4 | anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced |
4 | garlic cloves, minced |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | pound spaghetti or linguine |
¹⁄ | cup chopped fresh parsley (optional) |
1.
Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add capers and cook, stirring occasionally, until capers darken, become crisp, and pop open, about 4 minutes. Remove capers with slotted spoon and transfer to paper towel–lined plate. Let skillet cool slightly, about 3 minutes.
2.
Add anchovies, garlic, and ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt to now-empty skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until garlic turns golden but not brown, about 3 minutes; remove from heat.
3.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ¹⁄
4
cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add crisp capers, garlic mixture, parsley, if using, and reserved cooking water to pasta and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
SERVES 4
For a milder olive flavor, use manzanilla olives in place of kalamata. Be sure to rinse the pitted olives before chopping them to remove excess salt. Use the smaller amount of red pepper flakes for a milder sauce. In addition to mezzi rigatoni or farfalle, any short, tubular, or molded pasta will work well.
1 | cup pitted kalamata olives, rinsed and chopped coarse |
¹⁄ | cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into ¹⁄ |
5 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
6 | garlic cloves, minced |
5 | anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced |
1 | tablespoon tomato paste |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
2 | slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into quarters |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | pound mezzi rigatoni or farfalle |
1¹⁄ | cups chopped fresh basil |
1 | ounce Parmesan cheese, grated fine (¹⁄ |
3 | tablespoons chopped fresh parsley |
Lemon wedges |
1.
Combine olives, sun-dried tomatoes, 3 tablespoons oil, half of garlic, anchovies, tomato paste, and pepper flakes; set aside.
2.
Pulse bread in food processor to coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add bread crumbs and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in remaining garlic and ¹⁄
4
teaspoon salt and continue to cook, stirring often, until garlic is fragrant and bread crumbs are dark golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer crumb mixture to bowl and wipe skillet clean with paper towels.
3.
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until just shy of al dente. While pasta is cooking, add olive mixture to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until aromatic and oil has turned rusty red, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove ³⁄
4
cup pasta cooking water from pot and add to skillet. Bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes; set aside while pasta finishes cooking.
4.
When pasta is just shy of al dente, reserve ¹⁄
2
cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add olive mixture to pasta and cook over medium heat, tossing to combine, until pasta absorbs most of liquid, about 2 minutes.
5.
Off heat, stir in basil, Parmesan, and parsley. Add reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency. Season with pepper to taste and serve, passing bread crumbs, lemon wedges, and Parmesan separately.
