Made with love
Cozy up in the kitchen to create a weeknight dinner approved by Food52
Seven years ago — before getting married, moving to Sunnyvale, California, and becoming a mom — Kristen Miglore and her then-fiance, Mike, spent a memorable evening in their small Brooklyn kitchen with the sloping black-and-white checkered linoleum floor, side by side, cooking steaks.
They had a tilting gas stove with burners that had to be lit by hand (is it getting hot in here?), one pair of tongs, a pot fork and matching cast-iron skillets. Awww. They turned on music, sipped something red and seared those rib-eyes in unison, “flipping every 30 seconds like ice dancers.”
“I called it my favorite speed-luxury dinner,” recalls Miglore, who grew up in the foothills east of Sacramento. The founding editor of Food52, she’s the brains behind its award-winning Genius Recipes columns and cookbooks. “We rarely cooked together so it was really special.”
In the midst of this chilly, snowy winter, up the cozy factor with a quick yet delicious, slamdunk seasonal dinner.
In times like these it is totally possible to get a wow-factor three-courser on the table in less than an hour and still get the kids to bed on time or squeeze in some bingewatching on the couch.
The secret is simple recipes with time-tested, foolproof techniques and clever hacks. Miglore is an expert there. She’s been distilling the tricks of the world’s best chefs for over a decade (that steak flipping is a J. Kenji Lopez-alt trick that yields a better crust and quicker cook). And her latest cookbook, “Simply Genius: Recipes for Beginners, Busy Cooks & Curious People” (Ten Speed Press, $35), is filled with home runs. Some call for as few as five or six ingredients.
For the main course, Miglore suggests a one-pot citrus risotto by Judy Rodgers, the late chef and driving force behind San
Francisco’s Zuni Cafe.
“For that wow factor, I tend to go for a Judy Rodgers recipe,” she says. “This is made with grapefruit and lime, so it’s perfect for winter. And you just trust Judy Rodgers.”
Miglore does not condone shackling oneself to a pot on a Tuesday night. Quite the contrary. This recipe skips continuous stock-ladling by starting with two cups of any stock you want — even water, Rodgers tested it — and adding another cup or so while you segment the citrus.
You can also try Miglore’s hack for quick stock. She makes it alongside her risotto pot by heating up water with mashed overripe tomatoes, smashed garlic cloves, herbs, anchovies or Parmesan rinds.
The final, citrusflecked dish, which gets its creaminess from mascarpone that is vigorously stirred in once the rice is al dente, is finished with plenty of time left to make “a fancy salad” of shaved fennel, provolone and one lemon’s worth of zest.
That “Simply Genius” recipe, from New York City chef Ignacio Mattos, calls for a mandoline or chef’s knife to slice the fennel bulb as thinly as possible. The results are nestled atop a jumble of chopped Castelvetrano olives that are quickly coated in olive oil, white wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. No dressing emulsification necessary.
“The olives sort of play peek-a-boo under all the fennel,” Miglore says. Hence the fanciness.
For dessert, you can certainly go the traditional route with, say, a decadent, “Simple Genius” chocolate mousse made with two ingredients, or you can keep the winter citrus theme. The chilled Algerian orange salad in “Simply Genius” calls for peeling and slicing Valencia oranges and sprinkling them with orange flower water, cinnamon and confectioner’s sugar. It’s a refreshing, palate-cleansing finale to a wintry meal. And the perfect way to get fruit into kids.
Zuni Cafe’s one-pot citrus risotto
Serves 4to 6.
INGREDIENTS
2tablespoons unsalted butter ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion Salt 2 cups Carnaroli or Arborio rice 4to 5cups chicken stock, divided 3⁄4 cup grapefruit segments plus juice, from 1 to 2 medium grapefruit A scant 1⁄4 cup lime segments, from 1 lime 1⁄4 cup mascarpone
DIRECTIONS
Sauté the onion: In a 4-quart saucepan or another medium pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and a few pinches of salt and cook, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon, until the onion is tender and translucent, about 6minutes. Simmer the rice: Add the rice and stir until the grains are warm and glossy. Pour in about 2cups of the stock, adjusting the heat to let it gently simmer, then stir occasionally until it has been mostly absorbed. Add another cup or so of stock and repeat. The risotto should be starting to look like a porridge. Taste and adjust the seasoning — the rice will still be hard and a little rawtasting. Add another 1⁄2 cup or so of stock and stir as needed until just absorbed. Taste and adjust the seasoning again. Stir in the citrus: Break the citrus sections into irregular chunks as you add them to the risotto. Add the grapefruit juice — if your grapefruit was very juicy, you may not need much of the remaining stock. Beat in the mascarpone and taste again: If the rice is still quite firm, add more stock, a tablespoon at a time, and cook until the rice is still just a little firm in the center (al dente). Turn off the heat and aggressively stir in the mascarpone until the risotto is creamy, and the citrus is broken down into pretty flecks. Serve immediately.