Confessions of a ‘not so great’ cook
As a longtime reader of Food & Wine Magazine, I don’t know whether it is comforting or scary to read Editor-in-Chief Dana Cowin’s first words of her new cookbook: “I am not a great cook.”
Cowin, who has edited F&W for a long time, seems to come by her non-cook status honestly. Her parents did not cook. Her mother, she says, “goes out for dinner or cocktails seven nights a week”; even Thanksgiving at the Cowin house was take-out. When she took over F&W she began cooking, and she would share her failures with the staff, and eventually began writing them up -under a pseudonym -- in a column for the magazine.
Her new book, however, is somewhat of an expose: Cowin botches a recipe, asks a famous chef for help, and then turns out something quite spectacular. We home cooks can’t help but be jealous; how great would it be to have Lidia Bastianich or Mario Batali looking over your shoulder as you whip up some Italian specialty, or David Chang (of Momofuku fame) giving you tips on making kimchi?
Cowin has screwed up all manner of recipes. She’s made lumpy crepes, burned the fried chicken, served grit-filled spinach and ruined caramel. It’s possible that this “not great” cook has done a great service to all tentative, unsure-of-ourselves, eager- to- please home cooks by giving us permission to fail.
And, more importantly, permission to try again and, just possibly, succeed. There is something endearing about picturing Cowin -- editor-inchief of a major food magazine, for goodness sake -- defeated by pastry dough. And something even more endearing about her resolution “not to make the mistake of giving up” and, with some help from a friend (none other than Jacques Pepin), turning out a delicious tart.
So take heart. Cowin’s original Chicken Stir-fry attempt was not a failure, but “really bland, as if all I was doing was sauteing on a higher heat, with a splash of soy sauce at the end.” But with the help of Chef Andrew Zimmern, host of “Bizarre Foods,” she turns a simple stir-fry into a tasty, nuanced dish that is her “new favorite weeknight” dinner.
Here are a few of Zimmern’s tips to help you through the recipe:
-- Cut chicken thighs in thirds, then into an even dice.
-- Use a spoon to scrape the skin off ginger. Then cut a thin slice off of one side so it sits flat on the cutting board while you slice.
-- Taste your soy sauce before using it: If it has been sitting around for a while, it will be stronger because some of the liquid will have evaporated. CHICKEN STIR-FRY Yield: 4 servings 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon Asian chili sauce (sold as “sambal oelek” in the Asian or “international” aisle of supermarkets)
1- tablespoon starch
1 tablespoon rice wine, sake or rice wine vinegar
4 tablespoons sauce
4 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
1 (2-inch) piece of ginger, peeled and cut into
corn-
soy matchsticks 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts kept separate
2 small stalks celery, thinly sliced, plus 1/2 cup roughly chopped celery leaves
2 large shallots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced 2 teaspoons sugar 1/4 cup unsalted dryroasted peanuts
1/2-pound snow peas, ends trimmed
1/4 cup canned water chestnuts, drained and sliced 2 tablespoons water Kosher salt 1 hot red chili pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
Put the chicken in a large bowl. Add the chili sauce, cornstarch, rice wine and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Toss to coat. Set aside.
Set a large heavy skillet over very high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil ripples, add ginger, garlic and scallion whites and cook, stirring, over high heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the celery, celery leaves, shallots, sugar and peanuts and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a plate and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet, reduce heat to medium, and let it get quite hot. Add the chick- en in a single layer and let it sit for a moment before stirring.
Then cook, stirring, until well browned and nearly cooked though, about 5 minutes. Add the snow peas and water chestnuts and cook, stirring, until the snow peas are bright green and crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.
Add the reserved ginger-celery mixture along with the final 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and water, and scrape up the flavorful bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Season to taste with salt.
Transfer to a platter and scatter scallion greens and sliced chili (if using) on top.