Is it cold where you are?

Here in Salem, MA, it’s fr-eeeee-zing. Like, freezing freezing. I think we hit 8 degrees last week.

Let me tell you…weather like this makes me want to do one thing, and one thing alone: Cook.

(And winter is the season for feasting, after all, right?)

How do you entertain?

The last few years, I’ve thrown fewer and fewer formal parties. I’ve had my fill with fussy and formal. And while fancy dinners definitely have their place, I find myself doing a lot more impromptu entertaining lately.

You know how it goes. Friends stop by, we get to talking in the kitchen, and before we know it, a few minutes turns into a few hours.

As a result, we keep our freezer and fridge stocked with lots of stuff that makes it easy to whip out a nice spread in no time. Cheese, olives, crackers, pickled veggies, salami, cold beer…you get the idea.

(Want to stop by? The kitchen is open most days after 7!)

Puff pastry is definitely one of those indispensable things on my list of pantry staples. Grab a package or two, pop ‘em in the freezer, then forget about ‘em until you need to feed folks in a flash.

It’s really versatile. I use it to make tarts. I use it to wrap fish and shrimp.

Hands down, though, this turnover recipe is one of my favorite new uses for the stuff.

These little guys are freezer friendly

Make these in advance, wrap them well, and freeze them. They’ll keep happily for about 3 months.

When you’re ready to make them, pop them right from freezer to a 400-degree oven, and you’ll have hot treats in just about 20 minutes.

So, what’s in them?

These turnovers are stuffed with a sweet and savory filling made with tart apples, salty bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese. I could eat the tangy apple & onion filling by itself with a spoon. (Did I just say that out loud?)

The whole business is fragrant with autumn spices (think cinnamon, clove, and cardamom) and sweet maple syrup.

They’d make a perfect addition to a Sunday brunch—or a great late-night snack after a good movie.

Thank you, Pepperidge Farm!

So, recently, Pepperidge Farm hired me to do a little recipe development for them. I’m never one to shy away from a challenge, especially when it involves ingredients I use all the time anyways, like their puff pastry.

You know, this stuff.

You can find it in the freezer aisle of almost any big grocery store. Look for it by the frozen berries and pie crusts.

The good folks at Pepperidge Farm were even kind enough to test my recipe and even do a celebrity photo shoot! (Oooh la la, right?) Take a peek at my recipe on their website.

So let’s whip up a batch, shall we?

New England Harvest Turnovers

For the filling
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chunked up
1/2 a large sweet onion
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground star anise
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
pinch of salt
1 Tbls. maple syrup, grade B

(Yields about 3 cups)

For the turnovers
1/2 lb. thick-cut bacon
1 cup shredded Vermont cheddar cheese
2 sheets Pepperidge Farm puff pastry
flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten

Makes 8 turnovers

Thaw the puff pastry

This will take about a half an hour, maybe a little more, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Unwrap it and set it out on the counter to thaw.

Make the filling (up to 2 days ahead of time)

While the puff pastry is thawing, get your filling cooking. Grab your apples.

Peel ‘em on up.

Cut the apples into small chunks.

Peel and dice your onion.

Put the cut apples and diced onions into a large pot.

Toss in the apple cider vinegar. (I love Bragg brand. It’s so good for you. Learn more about it here.)

Add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, star anise, black pepper and brown sugar.

Stir the whole shebang until the apples are coated fairly evenly.

Drizzle in the maple syrup and stir to combine.

I used Grade B syrup from a little farm up in Vermont.

Grade B syrup is deeply flavorful and fantastic for cooking. (As opposed to Grade A, which is more delicately flavored and is perfect for finishing or drizzling on pancakes.)

Set on the stove over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture starts to bubble and steam.

Partially cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the apples and onion are tender, stirring occasionally.

While the apple mixture cooks, fry up your bacon.

I used Black Forest bacon from Whole Foods. I can hear you groaning about fancy, gourmet bacon from here…but! It actually costs just about as much as a pound of regular bacon when it’s not on sale at the grocery store. If you’re a bacon lover, it’s a total treat. If you don’t have it, by all means, use your favorite bacon.

Dice it up.

Set the diced bacon in a large pan over medium-high heat.

Fry ’til crisp, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, drain, and set aside in a small bowl.

Back to the apple mixture. When your 20 minutes is up, uncover the pan.  Increase the heat to medium.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, transfer the hot mixture to a bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.

Assemble the turnovers

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Beat one egg in a small bowl. Set both aside while you put the turnovers together.

Oh, and grate up the cheese and set it aside, as well.

OK. Lightly flour a board.

Unfold one sheet of thawed puff pastry.

Whack it into quarters with a sharp knife.

Grab one square. Position it like this in front of you.

Put about 1/4 cup of the cooled apple/onion mixture on the bottom half of the square. Don’t spread it right to the edges. You’ll see why in a minute.

Top with a little crisped bacon. Aim for about 1 Tablespoon, but don’t make yourself nuts. This isn’t neurochemistry.

(Mmmmm, crispy bacon. Nom, nom, nom…)

Sprinkle with a little cheese. Again, don’t make yourself nuts. Both these things are kind of hard to measure exactly.

Fold the pastry over the filling.

Grab a fork and crimp the edges shut. (This is why you left a little room.)

Your finished turnover should look about like this.

Now, puff pastry is very forgiving. If yours look a little mangled, don’t sweat it. They will be glorious and golden when they come out of the oven. The main thing is to ensure that you have a good seal around the edges. You don’t want the juice from the filling to come out as they bake.

Brush the top of the turnover with beaten egg. If you don’t have a pastry brush, use your (very clean) fingertips.

Set the turnover on your prepared pan.

Last but not least, punch a little X in the top center of the turnover with a sharp knife. This is your steam vent, and will keep your turnovers from exploding if they get overly excited in the oven. (They should be fine, but I like to err on the safe side.)

Repeat with the rest of your ingredients until you’ve used all your puff pastry.

Bake the turnovers

Pop your pan into your pre-heated 400-degree oven. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastries have poofed up and are golden brown. When they’re done, yank the pan out of the oven.

Let the pastries cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Stay tuned for exciting news about my cookbook!

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Grab a fork and put on your fat pants

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all! This is one of our all-time favorite holiday side dishes.

It never disappoints whenever we bring it to a potluck. It’s easy to make, travels well, and reheats beautifully. It’s also unapologetically NOT low fat. (Lovers of old-school indulgent holiday dishes, unite!)

This is also the first recipe in our Thanksgiving for Under $50 series, sponsored by Sam’s Club. (Thank you, thank you!)

For this recipe, you mash up 5 lbs. of creamy Yukon Gold potatoes, add a practically illegal amount of butter, cream, and cheese, then top it with more cheese and crispy panko breadcrumbs and bake it until golden.

Add your own twist

This is also one of those recipes that it’s really easy to customize to fit various tastes and menus. Here are some ideas for stuff you could stir in after you add the cheese.

• A few handfuls of crispy, crumbled bacon (come on, you knew I’d say something like that)
• A tablespoon or two of freshly chopped herbs (rosemary, parsley, chives, and/or thyme would all be great)
• A minced clove of fresh garlic (vampires beware, keep in mind that the garlic won’t have much time to mellow/cook in the oven)
• Chopped, caramelized onions

You get the picture. Just don’t add anything that’s going to give off a lot of moisture when it’s warm. Too much liquid will make your mashed potatoes runny.

Oh, and if you want to switch out the cheeses, be sure to pick cheeses that melt well. Fine Cooking magazine has a great list of cheeses here.

Let me know what you come up with!

A note on salt

Aside from the cooking water for the potatoes, I don’t add any extra salt. The cheese already has a lot. By all means, if you think it needs it, toss a little extra in at the end when you taste it, before it goes into the oven.

Three-Cheese Mashed Potato Casserole

5 lbs. white or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
water for boiling
kosher salt
8 Tbls. butter (that’s 1 stick)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups mozzarella, shredded
1 cup Asiago, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated + more for topping
white pepper
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs

Serves 6-8

Peel & dice the potatoes

This bag of potatoes would feed a small army. I used about half of it for this recipe. I’m saving the other half for later on this week. (If we’re feeding you around the holidays, guess what we’re serving?)

Alrighty. Grab your potatoes. Since I’m going to peel them, I don’t bother washing them. (That said, these spuds were pretty clean.)

Relieve them of their jackets with the sharpest peeler or paring knife you have.

Whack them into small-ish pieces. The smaller (and more evenly) you cut them, the faster they’ll cook.

Toss them into a pot. Cover with cool water by an inch or two. Add a little kosher salt and give the pot a swirl to combine.

Boil the potatoes

Set the pot on the stove over high heat and bring it up to a boil. Cook uncovered, at a rolling boil, until the potatoes are tender when you stick them with a fork.

When they’re cooked through, drain them well. I like to let them sit in the colander for a few minutes to get all the extra water off them. (Too much water = soggy mashed potatoes.)

Mash away!

When the potatoes are well drained, toss them back into the cooking pot. Whack the butter into a few pieces and toss them into the pot. Add the cream.

Mash the potatoes to smoosh them and incorporate the butter as it melts.

Toss in all that glorious cheese (the mozzarella, Asiago, and Parmesan).

Toss in a little ground white pepper to taste. Mash well to incorporate. Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning as you see fit (more cheese, more pepper, etc.). If you’re adding any extra ingredients, throw them in now and stir to combine.

Bake the potatoes

Scoop the mashed potatoes out into a glass baking pan. I used a 7″x9″ pyrex baking dish. Don’t bother greasing it. Just toss the potatoes in. There’s a ton of butter in them, and they’re not going to be in the oven long enough to stick to the pan.

Smooth the potatoes down in a relatively even layer. Sprinkle the top generously with panko breadcrumbs. Then sprinkle on a layer of grated Parmesan. (To add your own twist, you could layer on some fresh, chopped herbs, or even some chopped walnuts or pinenuts.)

Slide the pan into your preheated 350-degree oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, until just golden brown on the top.

Serve, inhale, enjoy!

When the topping is nice and brown, yank the pan out of the oven. Serve warm.

How to reheat

Just in case you don’t polish off the whole pan in one sitting, reheat the potatoes in a 250-degree oven. Cover the pan loosely with foil.

Enjoy!

Next up: The Angry Chef’s Whiskey Glazed Roasted Turkey

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment of our Thanksgiving for Under $50 series. We’re doing the bird next. It’s actually a whole, bone-in turkey breast, which is a little more manageable than a Godzilla-sized bird.

Talk to you tomorrow!

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It’s easier than you might think to make potato chips at home. These particular chips are skin-on, thicker than usual, asian-spiced crunchy bliss. And? They take about 10 minutes to make.

The short version of this recipe goes like this: Slice. Fry. Sprinkle. Inhale. Read on for detailed instructions.

You only need a one or two potatoes to serve four people as a side. I like to dust my chips with hand-mixed Asian 5-Spice salt. They make a totally great accompaniment to burgers—or a pan-roasted sirloin.

How thick should you cut your potato chips?

I like them a little bit thicker than a standard potato chip. I also like to leave the skin on the potato. If you prefer, though, peel the potatoes before slicing.

I’m really good with a knife, and some of mine still came out uneven. You want them to be the same thickness so they all cook evenly.

Generally speaking, I like to cut the potatoes so that they’re a little on the thicker side, but they’re still thin enough to see through. Too thick = floppy chips.

All that said, I’d recommend using a mandoline to cut these. Or a food processor fitted with a thin slicing disk. Trust me. It will save you time and hassle.

How to buy a mandoline

If you haven’t seen one before, a mandoline is a hand-operated machine that you use to uniformly and precisely slice firm foods (fruits, veggies, etc.).

The blade is housed in the body of the mandoline, and you slide the food over it to make your cuts. You can adjust the height of the blade to change the thickness of the slices.

Mandolines usually fold up, and come with a nifty little guard to hold the food so you don’t slice your fingertips off. (I’ve done that before. Use the guard. It’s not worth the risk.) For more info on how they work, check out this in-depth description of the different parts.

Now, a high-quality French mandoline is a beautiful—but pricey—thing. I’m talking about one of these babies, the Bron Original Stainless Steel Mandoline, which will run you just under $200.

There are a bunch of in-between models, too.

If you don’t want to spend a ton of money, you can pick up a Japanese beniriner for about $20.

It’s missing some of the bells and whistles of the French model above (folding legs, etc.), but it delivers where it counts—i.e. it’s compact and sharp. It accomplishes most of the basic cuts for a lot less money.

I’ve had one of these for years. I picked it up in Boston’s Chinatown, and it’s been indespensible to me. I highly recommend it.

Alrighty. To the hot oil!

Rustic 5-Spice Potato Chips

1-2 large russet potatoes
canola oil for frying
1 tsp. five-spice powder
1 tsp. kosher salt

Serves 2-4 as a snack

Slice and rinse the potatoes

Grab your potato(es). Scrub them. Peel them if you like.

Slice them into thin rounds.

If you have the time, soak them in ice cold water for about an hour to leach out some of the starch. (Less starch = crispier chip.)

If you don’t, put them in a colander or strainer and give them a good, long rinse under cold, running water.

Shake them around under the water to get them good and wet.

Pat them dry with paper towels. You want to get as much water off them as possible. (Water splatters when it hits hot oil, and nobody likes a grease burn.)

Make the Five-Spice Salt

Do this before you make the chips. You’ll want to season the chips when they’re hot out of the oil—which is when the seasoning will stick best.

Put the salt and five spice powder in a small bowl. Whisk together to combine until relatively uniform. Set aside.

Fry the potato chips

Line a baking sheet with a few paper towels. Set a rack on top. Set it aside.

Put about 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Set it on the stove over high heat. Heat the oil to about 380 degrees, if you have a candy thermometer handy.

If you don’t, heat the oil until the surface shimmers, then start testing it. Dip (carefully!) the edge of a potato slice into the hot oil. If bubbles start to form furiously and immediately, the oil is hot enough to fry. If not, wait a minute or two, then test again.

When your oil is hot enough, add a handful of potato slices to the pot.

Stir them around with a skimmer or slotted spoon, so they fry on both sides.

Pull them out of the oil with your skimmer or slotted spoon when they’re light brown and crisp. This should take about 2 minutes, depending on how thick your chips are.

Season the potato chips

Transfer the hot chips to your prepared rack. Sprinkle with five-spice salt to taste.

Repeat with the rest of the potato slices until you’ve fried them all.

Enjoy!

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This is like cheating, it’s so easy. In fact, it kind of IS cheating, since I didn’t make the tortillas from scratch.

No matter.

This is a fast and simple way to make delicious, spicy tortilla chips.

Just take fresh corn tortillas, brush them with oil, whack them into wedges, and bake until crunchy.

That’s it. Really.

I dusted mine with a little homemade chipotle salt. (Spicy. Hot. Smokey. Yum!)

They’re baked, not fried, so they’re a little better for you, as far as snacks go.

One of these days, I’ll make my own dough from masa harina (corn flour treated with calcium hydroxide, a.k.a. lime) and bust out some authentic, totally homemade tortilla chips.

Until then, this is a perfectly acceptable, easy, and fast substitute for the real deal.

Baking is for the birds. How do I make fried chips?

Oh, sure!

If you’d rather fry your chips, cut up the tortillas as instructed below. Fry them in batches in 360-degree vegetable oil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a rack.

Sprinkle with salt when they’re hot out of the oil.

How about some dip with those chips?

Coming right up! Serve them with salsa or homemade guacamole, which you can throw together while the chips are in the oven.

Easy Baked Tortilla Chips Dusted with Spicy Chipotle Salt

Chips
12 fresh corn tortillas
vegetable oil

Chipotle Salt
1 tsp. ground chipotle
2 tsp. kosher salt

Serves 2-3

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Spray the tortillas with oil

Start with good corn tortillas. You’ll usually find them in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. If you can get them at a local Spanish market, even better. Check the date to be sure they’re fresh.

Traditional corn tortillas are smaller than the flour tortillas usually used for burritos.

Lightly spray each whole tortilla on one side with cooking oil. (Or brush it on.) Stack the tortillas up.

Cut the tortillas into wedges

Whack the stack into four pieces.

And then in four again.

You want to wind up with 8 wedges.

Bake the tortilla chips

Spread the chips out on two ungreased, unlined baking pans. Arrange them so they don’t overlap (if they overlap, they won’t get as crunchy).

Pop the pans into your preheated 400-degree oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until light brown and crisp.

Make the chipotle salt

Put the kosher salt and ground chipotle in a small bowl. Mix together with a fork until uniform. Set it aside until your chips are done.

Season the tortilla chips

When your chips are done, they should be light brown and slightly curled on the edges. They should also be nice and crunchy.

How can you tell? Test a few. If they’re still a little on the chewy side, toss them back in the oven for a few more minutes, then check them again.

When they’re done to your liking, sprinkle the hot chips with chipotle salt. Toss gently to coat. Serve warm!

They’ll keep well for a day or two. Just seal ‘em up in a zip-top bag. Warm them up for a few minutes before serving in a 200-degree oven.

Enjoy!

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I have to tell you: I’m a sucker for blue food. Especially food that you don’t always expect to be blue. (You know what I’m talking about. Anything blue raspberry flavored, etc. And bonus points if it makes your tongue change color.)

Call it a weakness.

So, you can imagine that I’m thrilled as can be whenever I can get my paws on nice-looking blue potatoes.

You could probably blast these at super high heat in the oven and get them nice and crunchy. A lot of folks make oven-baked fries that way, say 20 or 25 minutes at 450 degrees.

Me, I prefer to roast them for about an hour at a lower temperature. I’m not a kitchen scientist, but I swear that there’s something about doing it this way that makes them a little nuttier. (Anyone, anyone?)

What is a blue potato, anyway?

Blue potatoes, native to South America, have been popping up in American markets since the 1970s. Aside from their striking color, though, they taste pretty much like a regular potato. (No blue raspberry flavor here, sorry.) The insides will range from solid blue, to speckled, like mine.

They get their blue color from anthocyanin pigments. That’s the same phytochemical that makes cabbage purple and blueberries blue. Anthocyanin is also a source of antioxidents. (Hello, a healthier potato? Yes, please!)

Blue potatoes are a medium starch potato. This means that they’re starchy enough to make fabulous mashed potatoes, and waxy enough to hold their own in potato salad.

A lot of folks are partial to making red, white, and blue potato salad around July 4.

This is a really simple recipe. It’s a great, easy weeknight alternative to french fries. I tossed the potato wedges with some fresh, minced herbs, garlic, and olive oil, then baked ‘em in the oven.

Roasted Blue Potato Wedges with Fresh Herbs

1 lb. blue potatoes
1 Tbls. fresh green herbs, minced (I used rosemary, thyme, and oregano)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Serves about 4 as a side

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Grab your potatoes. I got mine from a local farmer’s market, but I have seen ‘em in some Whole Foods.

Scrub ‘em clean under cold water. You can peel them if you like. Blue potatoes have relatively thin skins, so I don’t bother. Nip out any big eyes with a sharp paring knife and discard.

Blue potatoes tend to be on the smaller side, so I just whack each potato into quarters, like this.

Put your potato wedges in a large bowl. Toss in the chopped herbs.

Give them a good drink of olive oil. A quarter of a cup is usually good for about a pound of wedges.

Add the garlic and some kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

And toss to coat well.

Spread them out on your prepared pan.

Pop them into your preheated 350-degree oven. Roast for about an hour, stirring them once about halfway through.

They’re done when they’re crisp and brown on the edges.

Serve hot or at room temp. To reheat, pop them in a 250-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until warm throughout.

(Seriously, yum!)

Enjoy!

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