Simple Fried Rice

 6 May 2022

Recipe from March 2022 Cook's Illustrated

I've enjoyed fried rice many times in restaurants. I've made a pretty-good version myself at home on numerous occasions, but never using a recipe. Having a recipe could lead to more consistent results and provide some lessons about how to prepare this dish. There's one sure way to find out.

I used the "for two" version of the recipe which provided enough food for one dinner for two plus leftover lunch for one. The recipe recommends day-old rice, so one day in advance I cooked 1 cup of Jasmine rice in 1½ cups of water and refrigerated it. This provided more rice than needed in the recipe. Two eggs were beaten in a bowl with a little salt and set aside. A teaspoon of oil was heated over medium high heat in a stainless steel skillet. The eggs were added and cooked until there was no liquid left, about one minute, then set aside on a plate. The heat was reduced to medium and diced carrot and some salt were added and cooked until they just started to turn brown. Ham pieces (approximately ½-inch cut from two slices of a small ham which was a little more than the recipe specified) were added and cooked until heated through.  The carrot/ham mixture was transferred to the plate with the eggs. Oil and scallion whites were added and cooked for about a minute then rice was added, spread into an even layer, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The rice was stirred and cooked until the grains were separate and heated through. Frozen peas, the egg mixture, ham, carrots, and scallion greens were added and cooked until the peas were cooked through. Total time was about 35 minutes.

We enjoyed this fried rice though it was a little salty. It had nice puffy eggs, crunch from the carrots, smoke and salt from the ham, and aromatic flavors from the rice and scallions. It was quick to make so good for a weeknight dinner. The magazine article lists other combinations of ingredients that the author enjoys. I liked how the eggs came out, light and fluffy due to the short time cooking in very hot oil. I should have used a nonstick skillet as there was some sticking to the pan. 

Roasted Chicken Wings

 30 April 2022

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, March 2022

While fried chicken wings have been very popular for some time, we have never jumped onto that particular culinary bandwagon. I've been tempted to eat at one of the chain restaurants that specialize in wings but have yet to give in to the temptation. I've had homemade Buffalo wings but I found them to be too spicy for my taste. When Cook's Illustrated published an recipe for wings that didn't require frying, promising wings with all of the good characteristics of wings from a roast chicken, I knew it was time to give them a try.

I purchased four pounds of party wings from Whole Foods. I didn't know what "party wings" meant, but soon surmised that the wings had been cut into drumettes and flats and the wing tips had been omitted, saving some work cutting up whole wings. The chicken was patted dry with paper towels then tossed with vegetable oil, salt, and pepper. The drumettes and flats were arranged on a parchment-lined baking sheet as described in the recipe. A sheet of parchment paper and a second baking sheet were pressed on top of the chicken. They were roasted in a 400° oven for 45 minutes. Juices were poured off the of the chicken, defatted, and heated to reduce the volume to ⅓ of a cup; very little reduction was needed. The top baking sheet and parchment were removed from the chicken which was then placed under the broiler until golden brown and then glazed with the reduced juices. Total time was 85 minutes.

We enjoyed the chicken wings, they came out juicy and tender though we thought the skin could have been crisper. We enjoyed them more with sauce than plain, barbecue and Ranch being our choices. They were easy to make with very few ingredients and the "party wings" eliminated most of the prep work. We had them for several dinners. I suspect we won't make them again as there are chicken dishes that we enjoyed more than the wings, but maybe we'll try takeout from a wing joint.