Simple Cooking

Fresh citrus juice is ideal for making granita; it is easy to extract and it freezes particularly well. For variety, use an equal amount of any type of citrus juice in place of grapefruit. Campari lends a pleasant bitterness and dash of color to grapefruit granita; add 3 tablespoons to the proportions below. To make apple granita, puree four peeled and cored apples in a food processor with 1/2 cup water and the juice of one lemon (to preserve the color); strain, and you should have 2 cups juice. For watermelon granita, puree about 3 cups cubed melon in a processor; strain.

Vegetables such as potatoes and fennel are often parboiled before grilling, for the best texture; you can add additional flavors by tossing them with spice blends between boiling and grilling. Increase the amounts given below if you wish to keep the mixes on hand for convenience. The spice mixes are best stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark spot for up to 6 months.

Simple syrup has countless uses—here it is combined with fruit to make frozen desserts, but it can also be used to poach fruits (see page 489) and to sweeten iced tea, lemonade, and cocktails.

Because no two batches of fruit have the same sweetness, it’s important to adjust the mix before freezing. This will affect more than flavor because sugar lowers the freezing point of water; so the sweeter your mix, the slushier your sorbet. Too little sugar and the sorbet will be icy hard. Some chefs use a saccharometer (which gauges a liquid’s density by how much of the instrument floats above the surface), but a large uncooked egg stands in quite well (see step 4). Watermelon is one of the simplest flavors to make, since it requires no added water. Follow the amounts in the chart on page 485 to make the suggested flavor variations. When using only juice, you can skip the first step. Citrus fruit can be squeezed by hand. For the kiwi and pineapple sorbets, you will need to add fresh lime or lemon juice along with water in the first step. All liquids should be strained into a deep bowl or plastic container as directed. If desired, add up to 3 tablespoons of other flavorings such as liqueur before adding the simple syrup.

This simple yet timeless Italian dish demonstrates beautifully the process of sautéing: cutlets—most often chicken or veal—are dredged with flour, then sautéed in a mixture of olive oil and butter, a typical combination that is practical and flavorful. The flour encourages the chicken to form a light crust (and helps thicken the pan sauce), the butter helps it to brown, and the oil raises the smoke point so the butter doesn’t brown too much before the chicken is cooked through. A simple pan sauce is the only accompaniment, and is designed to make good use of the tasty browned bits left in the pan from cooking the chicken.

A high proportion of lemon juice gives curd its intense flavor. Since it is an acidic ingredient, it also prevents the yolks from curdling, eliminating the extra step of tempering. Lemon curd makes a delicious filling for a cake like the one on page 457 but it’s equally welcome spread into a tart shell or on slices of pound cake or Buttermilk Shortcakes (page 433). Gelatin is added primarily to make a sturdier cake filling; leave it out if you are making the curd to serve on its own. Other citrus curds can be made using the formula below; replace 1/2 cup of the lemon juice with other fresh citrus juice and use an equal measure of zest.

The cabbage family takes quite well to braising. Start by caramelizing the apples and onions with some sugar for a pleasant balance of sweet and tart flavors. Not only does the vinegar add a delicious flavor, but the acid helps keep the cabbage a bright purple color.

Unlike crème anglaise, which is pourable, pastry cream is intended to hold its shape, requiring the addition of starch for structure (cornstarch is preferred over flour for producing a silkier texture). For this reason, pastry cream must be brought to a full boil to activate the starch and ensure proper thickening. Contrary to its name, pastry cream contains no cream, only milk; butter is added at the end for richness. Pastry cream is used to fill tarts, cream pies (such as Boston or banana), pâte à choux (cream puffs, éclairs, and profiteroles), and puff-pastry confections, notably napoleons and mille-feuille.

Seafood boils are a mainstay of Southern cooking, the type of shellfish varying by region. Shrimp boils are most commonly associated with Low Country (South Carolina) cooking, while crawfish is a specialty of Louisiana. In most of these one-pot dishes, new potatoes and corncobs (and sometimes onion wedges and sausages) are first cooked in the pot, often on the grill, and the shellfish added at the end. Then everything is piled onto a platter and served with lemon wedges, melted butter, and hot sauce on the side. Despite the name of the preparation, shrimp shouldn’t actually be boiled (or even poached), since they will toughen if overcooked. And the point at which they turn from perfectly cooked to overcooked is very hard to detect when in boiling water. Here, the cooking water is spiked with a few simple aromatics, but you could use Old Bay Seasoning (follow the suggestions on the package for the amount) for classic peel-and-eat shrimp. Or replace the water with Court Bouillon (page 231). Serve chilled shrimp with cocktail sauce (recipe below) or as an ingredient in salads.

This is an example of a short braise, where the cooking liquid is not reduced to make a sauce. Many recipes call for broccoli rabe to be blanched and then sautéed to remove some of its bitterness, but if you prefer its natural taste, braising is a better option. It mellows the bitterness without adding an extra step, especially when cooked in chicken stock, which adds a touch of richness.