The Bitten Word

Best Old-Fashioned Burgers

Cook's Illustrated (July/August 2008)



We don't often make burgers, but when we do, we've taken to grinding our own meat. 

Why, you ask? 

Well, Mark Bittman told us to do it, of course, and who are we to turn down his advice?

Grinding your own meat sounds fancy, but it's actually quite simple if you have a food processor.  It also brings several benefits -- especially the fact that you know exactly what meat is in your hamburgers.

This recipe, from Cook's Illustrated, adds an unexpected step that really takes burgers to the next level: freezing the meat slightly before you chop it.

Oat Risotto with Peas and Pecorino

Food & Wine (July 2008)

When Clay initially suggested we make this dish, I kept thinking he was saying "haute risotto."

"Why would we make something so fancy for a weeknight dinner for just us?" I thought.

Turns out, though, that "haute risotto" is a pretty fitting name for this amazingly delicious -- and delightfully unconventional -- dish.

Best Blueberry Pie with Foolproof Pie Dough

Cook's Illustrated (July/August 2008)

Once a year, when blueberries come in season, we binge.

It always starts the same way, with an innocent trip to the grocery store, and suddenly, out of nowhere, pints of blueberries are buy-one-get-one-free, and we load up. 

We eat them by the handfuls in the morning.  We make muffins.  We serve them with sherbet (which you'll see in an upcoming post).  And this year, after reading the most recent Cook's, we were determined to make a pie. 

But before we get to the pie, let's talk about the crust made with Cook's Foolproof Pie Dough, and its one surprise ingredient.

Caramelized-Onion and Gorgonzola Grilled Pizza

Gourmet (June 2008)

The Bitten Word's Let's Get Fired Up for Grilling! series continues with this absolutely outstanding pizza. Seriously, it is ah-mazing. Drop all your plans and make it this weekend!

We fell in love with the combination of smoky sweet flavors, the crunch of the toasted walnuts and the creamy, melty Gorgonzola dolce.

But we did decide there are two important ingredients missing from this dish.

Flank Steak with Tamarind Glaze and Orange Gremolata

Food & Wine (June 2008)

As grilling season continues to ramp up, we're continuing to experiment with new recipes that can dress up the most common meats we typically grill.  In the case of Flank Steak with Tamarind Glaze and Orange Gremolata, we've found a winner. 

At first we were a little daunted by the name of the dish, not being familiar with either tamarind or gremolata.  Both components, without knowing what they mean, conjure thoughts of an exotic shopping list and extended time in the kitchen.  How wrong we were . . .

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

We all have a few recipes we return to time and time again. 

In the case of cold-brewed iced coffee, we actually have the recipe taped inside our kitchen cabinet, and in the summer, we use it several times a week.

If you like iced coffee, this is fantastic recipe.  It takes all of 90 seconds of active time. You just stir coffee and water in a jar and let it sit overnight. The next morning, strain the coffee, mix equal parts of the coffee concentrate with water, and drink over ice.  Add milk if you're into that.

Grilled Scallops with Mexican Corn Salad

Food & Wine (June 2008)

We don't have a whole lot of experience grilling seafood.  Most of the fish we cook -- and we cook quite a bit of fish -- is done on the stovetop or in the oven. 

With grilling season upon us, we're trying to do as much cooking as possible on the grill, both to keep the heat outside (and believe us, it is hottttt outside) and also to become more adept at using the grill. 

This recipe was very easy, and we were eager to try the combination of scallops, corn and cheese. But it's a recipe we probably won't be trying again anytime soon.

Grilled Pork Chops with Saté Sauce

Gourmet (June 2008)

We're not quite sure what just happened. One minute it was a lovely warm late spring in our nation's capital. The next minute, we found ourselves staring down triple-digit temperatures. Time to fire up the grill!

We absolutely love grilling in the summer. When we moved into an apartment with a little outdoor space a couple years ago, we bought a grill before we were even unpacked.

Summer grilling's great -- it's simple, full-flavored food that doesn't heat up your kitchen. And we're always on the lookout for recipes, like this one, that take a simple grilling standard and give it a twist.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Food & Wine (June 2008)

Our first two shares from our CSA this summer contained beautiful strawberries, giving us the perfect reason to try this Strawberry Frozen Yogurt. 

We purchased an ice cream maker last year and since then have made a half dozen or so ice creams and a few sorbets, but no frozen yogurt so far.  When the berries arrived, we rushed to pull out our ice cream maker. 

Raw Sweet Corn and Cashew Chowder

Food & Wine (June 2008)

Our experience with raw cooking is pretty much limited to making salads and the occasional joke in which we suggest to each other that we go on a raw food diet. 

No offense, raw foodies. 

Food & Wine's recent profile of Ani Phyo, author of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, made us sit up and take notice.  It contained two delicious sounding and beautiful looking raw dishes. 

The first -- Zucchini Ribbons with Raw Tomato Marina -- looks amazing and we're dying to try it once we start getting these vegetables from our CSA. 

But our interests were especially piqued by the Raw Sweet Corn and Cashew Chowder.  The combination of corn and cashews sounded so unusual that we had to make it ASAP.