Posts tagged ‘Ask Casey’

I’m getting more into cooking, thanks to your site, and I’m noticing a lot of recipes that call for unsalted butter. Why should I be using this instead of salted, which I usually buy?

I’m glad you’re inspired to take on new challenges, and that you’re paying attention to recipes. Salted butter exists for the same reason that other mouthwatering ingredients like ham, beef jerky, gravlax, and cheese do—salting is a time-tested method of culinary preservation.

These days, with omnipresent refrigeration, there’s less of a need to worry about whether you, Ma, and Pa will have enough dairy products to make it through the winter on the prairie. However, because modern salted butter will still keep longer than its unsalted counterpart, even the generic unsalted butter at the grocery store will be fresher than the salted version.
>> But there’s another important reason to choose unsalted butter when cooking. Read on. >>

Nothing beats homemade, but have you ever come across a chicken broth for cooking that does not taste horribly artificial (and does not contain MSG, yeast etc labelled as “spices”)?

You’re absolutely right—you’re never going to get the same poultry-infused goodness from a can or a box as you do from making your own broth, and it’s truly hard to make a case for store-bought versions. I taste-tested a number of off-the-shelf options as research for your questions, and the depressing answer is that I can’t wholeheartedly recommend a single prepared broth that tastes amazing. There are, however, two brands that I keep in my pantry for quick fixes.

Out of all the readily-available boxed broths, I give my seal of approval to the Whole Foods 365 house brand, which lists “organic chicken concentrate” as the second ingredient and “organic spices” at the tail end, but trends closer than the rest to an authentic broth flavor. It’s also cheaper than my other preferred option, Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock, which also lists “chicken flavor” as the second ingredient but notes all the specific spices involved.

Both of these impart a clean taste without some of the lingering oniony overtones, sodium overload, or even worse, absolute lack of flavor in the boxes and cans cluttering the local supermarket aisles.

You’ll never catch me using them as a base for chicken soup—that’s the time to buy the whole chicken and throw it in the stockpot—but I’ll use them in place of water for cooking rice and grains, add some in place of the full amount of cream to my mashed potatoes and sauces, or quickly deglaze a pan if I don’t have any wine open.

A few words about the additives you mentioned: As I noted in an earlier post on umami, glutamates/glutamic acid are found in all proteins, and are what give salty foods their deeply savory flavor. Manufacturers will often add these in various processed forms to boost your impression of their product as “rich” and as such, it’s hard to find an option that has a naturally brothy taste without going overboard.

Autolyzed yeast extract and hydrolyzed soy protein, both of which are in the vegetarian option Better than Bouillon, are types of processed glutamic acid to help it mimic the mouthfeel and flavor of an animal protein-based broth. And as glutamic acid is the main component in MSG, it’s something to be aware of if you have sensitivity. Livestrong (surprisingly) has a clear, easy-to-understand breakdown of the process used to autolyze yeast and the ongoing controversy between naturally-occurring glutamates versus processed glutamates.

Ask Casey taste-tests it all so you don’t have to. Got any more cooking conundrums or dining-out issues? Bring it on at caseyATgoodfoodstoriesDOTcom.

My family will be in New York next month and we’ll be attending an event on 12th St. in the East Village. Where can I take them to eat that night? They’re a bit of a meat-and-potatoes crowd, but it would also be great to suggest some hipper places for my cousin when he sheds the parents.

The East Village is one of the best areas for dining in Manhattan—you can wander any of the Avenues and find at least one satisfying place to eat on each block. But since you’ve restricted it to the northern end, I can narrow it down to a few parent-pleasing options around 12th St.

The meat-and-potatoes crowd will feel very comfortable at Back Forty (190 Avenue B at 12th St.). It’s an ingredient-driven “haute barnyard” menu—basics like roast chicken and vegetables, grilled trout, and the house burger—prepared unfussily. If any member of your group wants to splurge on a house cocktail, I highly recommend you try one or two of the seasonal selections. My friend Lisa’s favorite, the strawberry-based The Red and the Black, only comes around in the summer when the berries are in the greenmarkets, but you can try it at your leisure with her recipe.
>> Read on to find out where to impress the out-of-towners with bacon peanut brittle >>

Ask Casey is back but the coffers are low. Keep the questions coming, and send them (along with any catering requests and cash tips) to caseyATgoodfoodstories.com.

January always seems like “soup month” to me—after the holiday excesses and the onset of prolonged cold and/or stormy weather, simple soup suppers have an appeal. I have lots of old recipes that I fall back on, but perhaps you can suggest some new ones with or without accompaniments (other than the trusty loaf of French bread)?

I’m not exactly sure how appealing a creamy soup will sound to you after “holiday excesses,” but for me, when the weather gets this cold, one soup stands above the rest: corn chowder. And apparently I’m not alone in my affection for the rib-sticking meal—like Top Chef contestant Kevin Gillespie’s beard, the chowda even has its own Facebook page.

>> Read on to get a good chowda recipe, Bobby >>

Reminder: your questions are the gifts that keep on giving for your fellow readers! Ask Casey returns in January and I need more fodder for the new year. Send your q’s, catering requests, and invitations to warm, exotic destinations to caseyATgoodfoodstories.com. Now, on with the show.

My friends and I do a food-related Secret Santa every year and this year we’ve been assigned tastes. I got what I consider to be the hardest of all—umami. I know that umami is savory and earthy, but what kind of a gift can I give for that? It doesn’t have to be literal, so I could get something food-related or loosely interpret the taste into some other kind of gift (easier for sweet or sour, I guess). Do you have any ideas?

A quick primer for the unitiated: known as the “fifth taste,” umami is actually the presence of the amino acid glutamate in a dish, and is found in foods with a rich and savory mouthfeel: meats, mushrooms, anchovies, fermented things like soy sauce or fish sauce, rich broths and stocks, and aged cheese (those little crystallized bits in your Gruyere are actually amino acids!).

Though it occurs naturally, the food industry has been using the processed version, monosodium glutamate (yeah, that’s MSG) to up that luxurious, full flavor in your foods or the last century. Happy 100th anniversary, Chinese takeout headache!

Now, about your gift—since ramen is an umami bomb, why not give a gift certificate to an authentic noodle joint in your city? Here in New York, Ippudo and Setagaya set the gold standard, and there are no shortage of bloggers ready to debate their relative merits. A high-end Japanese meal would fit the bill as well, since uni, shrimp, dashi broth, and lobster are also umami-rich ingredients. If your giftee happens to be in Los Angeles, I might not be able to resist sending her to Umami Burger, whose signature patty is topped with cheese, roasted tomatoes, and mushrooms.

Looking for something larger than a gift card? Pack a basket for a trip through the umami-packed Mediterranean with cheeses like an authentic Parmigiano Reggiano or an Istara, a tin of luxurious anchovies, a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, and some jamon serrano. I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it.

Finally—and how close are you to this friend, exactly?—depending on the Secret Santa budget, you could also splurge on one intense truffle or a chunk of foie gras. And then invite yourself over for dinner.