midweek gems #1
veg charring tips, delicate herbs, microwave tool, turkey confidential
Thank you for all the healthy good wishes. I am happy to announce that as of yesterday, 9/11, Mr. Virus is no longer an issue with me. Phew and onwards!
Have you made the smoky eggplant with scallion chile oil yet? Well, right after it went out as the debut of our Sunday Special section, Linda flagged a typo about the smoked paprika. This is why I love good editors and proofreaders! I corrected the error in the post and recipe PDF. When you go to use the recipe, grab the details from the updated dispatch.
💎 Reader tips: Eggplant charring
Related to that 🍆 🔥 recipe, a number of folks shared valuable insights into charring vegetables, like eggplant and peppers. Tips and questions arrived via comments, email, and IG DMs.
Sooz’s comment took me back to my college days! I wasn’t as daring as she:
Andrea volunteered that she uses a portable outdoor burner. BRILLIANT. “I have an induction cooktop, so I got it for charring ginger & onions & eggplant etc as well as dolsot,” Andrea DM’d me on Instagram.
I’m guessing the ginger and onions may be for pho broth! Dolsot is a special pot for Korean scorched rice dishes like bibimbap.
She sent photos of her Gas One 15,000 BTU burner, which she ordered from here. Our IG conversation reminded me that if you have a side burner on your gas grill, that would work for getting the flames to lick your vegetables too!
Amy emailed with this: “Have you ever seen a Turkish pan, fits right on the burner? Cheap like a hardware store flame tamer is and works really well to char the veggies not your stove. Kozmatik?” I happen to have one and plan to test drive it and something else that may be useful for charring vegetables.
💎 Game changers: Microwave Splatter Covers
Related to the minimal mess eggplant recipe, I mentioned using an inexpensive gadget that you may have, or have wondered about. I didn’t think I’d ever need it but in the past weeks, I test drove three (3) microwave splatter covers.
They cost between $9 and $25. The covers have strangely helped me be a better cook! The covers unexpectedly facilitated certain recipe breakthroughs. It’s more than that eggplant recipe. I hope to succeed soon with something that’s vexed me for years. And yes, the BPA-free plastic gadget has been pivotal.
If you’re not familiar with the splatter covers and want to add one to your kitchen, check out my cover review and recommendations. I just finished it last evening.
💎 Join me! Got Thanksgiving Cooking Qs?
Pinch me! Vietnamese me gets to offer cooking tips for an iconic, sacred American holiday meal! Wow. I’m so honored and excited to field Thanksgiving questions for the Splendid Table radio program on NPR. The panel includes host Francis Lam and stellar chefs and cookbook authors, one of whom is Joe Yonan, the food section editor of the Washington Post.
Below is TST’s Instagram call for questions. The deadline is September 13 — mañana. To submit a question, call 1-800-537-05252 or head to @splendidtable on Instagram.
💎 Technique: Preserving Delicate Herbs
One of my favorite but fleeting summertime herbs is lemon basil. It has the qualities of lemongrass and basil combined. I buy mine from Hmong farmers and have seen it at Persian markets too. It poops out so fast when I bring a bunch home, even when I stick it in water like I suggest in this post. 😫 This year, I let the basil air dry completely, then I harvested the leaves and flower buds and am keeping them in an airtight container.
When I want a final lemony basil-y hit of flavor (on salads, curry, even feta cheese!), I crumble the dried basil on top. Summertime is when I make Malaysian nasi ulam, a herbalicous rice salad, but now I can make it year round with the dried lemon basil!
I told chef Pim about it (lemon basil is a favorite of hers in Thai cooking), and she asked: What about grinding up the herbs so it takes up less space? I tried grounding some up and the volatile oils dissipated to nuthin’. We tasted it together and it was so meh. 🫤
I venture you can do this drying trick with other precious, rare herbs of the season. Ideas?
💎 Deal: September 4ever sale
We’re in a splendid shoulder season for food and I do love “September Song” by Earth, Wind & Fire. Combine those favorites, I’m holding a September 4ever subscription drive! From now until September 21 (remember the lyric?), you can lock in a 20% discounted annual subscription. Forever. That’s about 75 cents a week.
If you are a paid subscriber, you can always use the subscriber appreciation bonus.
Coming up for the Sunday Special — a very easy ice cream recipe that impresses me over and over.
Forgive me for the stupid question, but how do you dry the herbs? Just leave them out? Put them in a low oven?
I stopped drying fresh herbs quite some time ago.
The hardier ones (thyme and rosemary) keep for weeks in the fridge, if you first wash & dry them, roll them in slightly damp paper towels and then put them in plastic bag in your fridge.
As for herbs like sage and oregano, I blend those in a food processor with a few drops of oil and freeze those in ice-cube holders (before bagging them once frozen solid.)
I haven't done that with basil, since I grow that (outdoors and indoors) all year round, but I don't see why that shouldn't work. Though, admittedly, you would then only use it in cooked/baked meals, not in salads or drinks.....