Recipes Master 12

One of my earliest “exotic” food experiences was eating potato knishes with my Dad when we’d visit Coney Island. There were the square variety, and we’d buy them from a hot dog cart, and since potatoes were my favorite food growing up, I was in heaven. I mean, mashed potatoes in a warm, flaky pastry? I’ll have two, please. Back then they were still made with copious amounts of chicken fat, also know as “schmaltz,” which was the real secret behind their awesomeness, but you can make a perfectly fine version without that, especially if you have some leftover corned beef around. Regardless of how you fill these, the technique seen herein will work, and half the fun is trying new versions. As long as the base is mashed potato, spiked with onions fried in lots of fat, anything goes. I think the baked version is the easiest, but if you feel so inclined, these can also be deep-fried, or pan-fried. No matter how you cook them, one of the keys is getting the dough nice and thin, so your finish...

I usually make a recipe before trying to adapt it, but that didn’t happen with this Mississippi beef short ribs recipe, which is based on the viral sensation, Mississippi pot roast. In the original, the beef is braised in a slow-cooker with butter, pepperoncini, and packets of powdered au jus gravy, and powdered ranch dressing. I really wanted to try it, but I was afraid someone at the store would recognize me buying those last two ingredients. Anyway, people were losing their minds over how delicious it was, and while I figured most of that was due to the copious amounts of MSG in the gravy, and dressing mixes, I was fascinated by the strange combination of ingredients, and decided to give it a whirl with some boneless short ribs.   I’m so glad I did, as this really did come out amazingly well. The original recipe calls for a few whole pepperoncini to be scattered over the top, which in hindsight, probably would have worked out better. I used a ton of sliced peppers, and their in...

Don’t think of this amazing Indonesian beef curry as not having a sauce, think of it as not needing a sauce. By the way, it has a sauce – you just can’t see it. Flavorless water evaporates when you reduce a pan sauce, like we’re doing here, but fat doesn’t, nor does flavor, which is what makes this such a unique, and deliciously addictive dish. Originally the recipe was developed as a way to preserve meat in hot and humid Indonesia, which is why it was cooked until dry. The lack of moisture, along with all these naturally antimicrobial ingredients meant you could keep this around for weeks without it spoiling, and apparently people enjoyed the taste and texture so much, they continued making it this way long after refrigeration was available. Having said that, if you do want some sauce to serve with it, simply add more water during the cooking, or cover for part of the time, and you’ll be all set. Which reminds me, if you do cook this the day before, as recommended, you’ll want to add ...

I’ve wanted to do a video for baked cheeseburger sliders for a while now, but I’ve also been craving a meatball sub, so long story short, this is what I ended up with, and they were amazing. Above and beyond some decent ingredients, the real secret to these beauties is placing the meatball in through the top of the roll, versus splitting and stuffing in the traditional manner. I can’t explain exactly why, but there’s something very special about these, and they really were a lot of fun to eat. Maybe it ‘s the symmetry, or center of gravity, but they just feel right in your hand. I’m not sure who invented this technique, but I first saw it on a blog called, Cooking for Keeps , so they get the credit for now. Like I mention in the video, this easy procedure would lend itself to all kinds of variations, and I expect to see some great ones shared on social media soon. We’re getting close to the Super Bowl, and like I said before, it’s not about who wins the trophy, but rather who wins the...