Halibut and Asparagus with Brown Butter Peas by Alison Roman

When people ask me why I like Alison’s recipes, my first reason is usually their boldness. “She never half-heartedly commits to a flavor - it’s just all there, in your face!” Interestingly enough, this halibut recipe may be the most mildly flavored dish I’ve cooked of Alison’s (and I’ve cooked 150 so far!). And yet I’d still make the claim that she always, I mean always, pushes flavor as far as it can go. 

Though this recipe is comparatively mild, I could still taste every ingredient in its fullness. The butter was very buttery, the olive oil and salt each enhanced the soft fishiness of the halibut and the springiness of the asparagus. The peas tasted very pea-like, emboldened by the butter, lemon juice, and black pepper. These descriptions might sound corny, but I don’t know how else to say that Alison maintains her commitment to bold flavor by embracing the mild flavors inherent to the ingredients involved in this dish. 

I baked the asparagus and halibut in olive oil, salt, and black pepper, for twenty minutes, until my meat thermometer read 130 and the asparagus appeared sufficiently crispy. The butter took only several minutes to brown. The peas - thawed from frozen - spent several more minutes sauteeing in the butter before being doused with lemon juice. The meal felt almost, dare I say, healthy? And as God said on the seventh day, “It was very good.” 

Note: Alison calls for chives and tarragon here. I sadly forgot to buy them. So instead, I added some fresh thyme to the buttered peas. It was also very good.

150 recipes cooked, 75 to go.

Seared Short Ribs with Quick Kimchi and Sesame Salt by Alison Roman

“Short rib” is a misnomer. Imagine a rack of beef ribs. A string of bones connected by sinews with a thin layer of chewy meat on top. Now think of short ribs. Tender meat stands tall atop a long line of bones, with layers of fat interrupting the surface. In other words, short ribs are not shorter at all! Hence my confusion whilst shopping for short ribs. Do not be fooled, dear friends, by the height of the meat. A butcher’s vocabulary will always remain a partial mystery. 

Near our new apartment is a meat shop called Wild Fork. I’ve never lived so close to a meat shop before, and let me tell you, it’s a real treat! Wild Fork only sells frozen meat, so I had to let my short rib thaw in the fridge for two days before it was ready. On the day of cooking, Jordan took the meat out an hour or so beforehand to let it come closer to room temperature, then covered it with salt and brown sugar. By the time they were ready to sear, the brown sugar had turned liquidy and showed the color of molasses over the surface of the ribs. 

I’ll admit, I was nervous about attempting to sear a new cut of meat. Short ribs just look intimidating, there’s no way around it. With mild trepidation, I nestled the ribs meat-side down in my skillet and let the sugar form a dark crust while the meat cooked. Alison recommends 6-8 minutes per side, not counting the bone side. However, after the instructed amount of searing, my thermometer read 99 degrees in both ribs, which is far more rare than I’m comfortable with. If the cookbook picture of this recipe tells us anything, it’s that Alison doesn’t mind a bloody piece of beef. But sadly, I cannot wrap my head around that one. So I ended up turning the temperature to medium-low, covering the skillet with a lid, and cooking it until 125 degrees. While it was edible, I can’t say I loved the fattiness or the rareness. Our dinner guests said they enjoyed it, but I wasn’t thrilled. 

As per usual, Alison nails the condiments here. Quick kimchi, cucumbers, cilantro, flaky salt, and sesame oil are the perfect accompaniments. I made Melissa Clark’s Coconut Rice from Dinner, which paired well, but I missed having meat juices or a type of sauce to drizzle on the rice. 

Given the price of short rib, and my preference for less fattier meat, I don’t plan to invest in short rib again. I want more meat for my money. Next time I’ll try the sides in this recipe with a flavorful, less fatty beef or pork. 

143 recipes cooked, 82 to go.

Coconut-Braised Chicken with Chickpeas and Lime by Alison Roman

I’ll admit I came to this recipe with a bit of healthy skepticism. An Indian-Korean fusion dish sounded nice in theory, but could gochujang and cumin really go well together? Thank goodness it’s in Alison we trust (at least when it comes to cooking). I didn’t have to taste this dish to know my doubts were laid to rest. I simply had to smell it… 

This recipe calls for a mix of bone-in, skin-on chicken parts. Instead of trying to cut up a whole chicken myself this time, I bought 1.7 pounds each of legs and breasts. Which turned out to be a good call. With so much rich coconut milk, a darker meat, like thighs, would have felt too heavy. The whiter meat soaked in the fatty coconut and strong spices nicely. But I’m getting ahead of myself… 

The first twenty minutes were spent browning the chicken in my dutch oven, trying to render as much fat as possible. Sadly, much of the skin stuck to my pot, ripping off the skin as I took it out. I kept the heat at medium, like Alison says, and used canola oil too. Perhaps it’s my pot? Maybe the heat was still too high? 

With the chicken browned and the fat rendered, the chicken lies in waiting on a plate while garlic and onion spend time softening in the fat. Then joins the spice brigade: gochujang (Korean chili paste -- find this at Whole Foods or H-Mart), ginger (freshly grated), turmeric (I used the ground kind), cumin, and red pepper flakes. This is one powerful combination, and each spice is essential to the end result, adding dynamic heat, floral and earthy tones, and acidic tang (gochujang is fermented). The spices took no time at all to become fragrant. I added two cans of coconut milk next, along with chicken broth. I’ve recently taken after my pal Margaret and stopped buying cartons of chicken broth. Instead, I bought a Costco-sized jar of Better Than Bouillion and add one teaspoon at a time to boiling water before I start any recipe that requires chicken broth. It takes no time at all to make my own, plus it’s more fridge-space efficient and environmentally friendly! 

I submerged the chicken in the liquid, and sprinkled in a drained can of chickpeas. Now for the fun part: put on the lid and walk away. Forty-five minutes later, the smells of spice and coconut are frankly irresistible. But the stew needs more time. I removed the lid and let everything simmer for another half hour. You’ll know it’s ready when the chicken meat can practically fall off the bone with the smallest nudge. 

Toppings can make or break a dish. Good thing Alison’s suggestions make this dish a hundred times better: namely lime juice (use it liberally), fresh cilantro (sprinkle it freely), and thinly sliced red onions (enjoy). These three elements elevated the dish from being too heavily dominated by the coconut milk and chicken fat. I made the effort to chop up more for leftovers too – they’re that essential. For the record, Alison suggests fish sauce and peanuts as well, but I felt they were unnecessary. 

This dish is hands-down in my top three Alison-chicken dishes. It requires moderate effort and skill for such flavorful and filling results. Plus, I’m a huge fan of Indian and Korean flavors, so it’s no surprise that this dish won me over. The other top two are her Slow-Roasted Oregano Chicken with Buttered Tomatoes (no surprise there), and Crispy Chicken Legs with Rosemary, Tiny Potatoes, and Sour Cream. I also love when a dish makes enough for leftovers. Quick tip: before storing the rest in a container, try separating all of the chicken from the bones. It takes about ten minutes, but it makes eating leftovers effortless, and less messy. You’ll thank yourself later. 

140 recipes cooked, 85 to go.

Whole Roasted Snapper with Harissa and Sun Gold Tomatoes by Alison Roman

Rule #1: Don’t forget to ask the seafood counter person to gut and scale your fish for you. 

Rule #2: If you forget to ask, don’t be afraid to take the fish back to the store and ask the seafood counter person to gut and scale your fish for you. 

Rule #3: Gutting a fish is really gross. 

You’ve probably surmised my fish journey by this point. Yes, I assumed the seafood counter person had gutted and scaled my fish. They only scaled it. Turns out seafood counter people agree that gutting a fish is gross and they won’t do it without being asked. Can I blame them? No. But learn from my mistakes. And yes, you can bring your fish back to the store and they’ll gut it if you ask. 

Before Jordan, my dear husband, started his new job last week, he had time on his hands. As I was commuting home from my own new job, I thought to put his free time to good use. Why not have him drive a fish to Whole Foods to be gutted, and have him make Alison’s whole roasted snapper recipe for me? So that’s exactly what he did. 

He tells me the whole preparation and cooking process was easy. “Are all of Alison’s recipes this simple?” All he had to do was combine garlic and harissa with some olive oil, and use that mixture to coat the fish and cherry tomatoes. He stuck them all in the oven, and voila! Meal ready. We served the fish with salad and brown rice. 

We both decided that snapper isn’t our favorite fish. The flavor is too… fishy. The texture, a little too game-y. We far prefer branzino or salmon. Jordan found this especially disappointing because he wants to be able to say “I love eating snapper.” “That’s a cool thing to say, isn’t it?” We’ll have to score our cool points elsewhere. 

139 recipes cooked, 86 to go.

check out those jammy tomatoes

Grilled Squid with Spicy, Garlicky White Beans and Vinegared Tomatoes by Alison Roman

I had a dream. That I’d cook all ten of Alison’s recipes intending for grilling with an actual grill. I got so close -- I made it to eight out of ten. Until recently, we lived a short drive away from my in-law’s who graciously let me use their grill for these recipes. I fed them great food, so why wouldn’t they? Then, three weeks ago now, we moved to Chicago. A city I love with all my heart, though it lacks many of the people I love in it. And once again, I’ve found myself grill-less. The last two grilling recipes -- this squid and the shrimp I posted over the weekend -- had to be cooked in a skillet on my stove, which, though a fine substitute, did not deliver the same flavor or texture that a grill could accomplish. If you make either of these recipes, do yourself a favor and find a grill. Even if that means a community grill at your local park. But bring a grill pan. Shrimp and squid will most definitely fall through the cracks! 

The flavors in this dish are right up my alley -- vinegary, a tinge of spicy heat, and the right balance of acid and creaminess between the tomatoes and beans. I got home from my commute around 6:10pm, and we were ready to eat by 6:40pm! This is a quick, satisfying, don’t-need-another-side-dish, kind of meal that’s perfect for a summer night after work. 

One of the very first recipes I cooked for this blog was Alison’s Spicy Garlicky White Beans. That was eight months ago now, and I had forgotten how simple they are! You can read all about them in the link above. I started the beans first before moving onto the squid. 

Want to know about my prep process for squid? Read about it here. Essentially, if you’re going to use a skillet instead of a grill, the tubes should be cut into half inch pieces, and the tentacles cut in half lengthwise prior to cooking. If you use a grill, Alison recommends cutting them after cooking, which makes sense. Squid shrinks quite fast, and it could prove challenging to keep them from falling into the grates.  

In her instructions for both grilling and sauteing, she tells us to look for the squid to turn a golden brown color. I’m not sure what she means. A very pale golden tint, maybe. But golden brown? Not only do I not see my shrimp turn that color, but the picture in her book doesn’t show squid that color either! So if you too don’t see that color appear, don’t be disheartened. Give it the six to eight minutes she instructs, and then move on. 

While sauteing the shrimp in batches till “golden brown,” I sliced the tomatoes. I couldn’t find heirloom tomatoes at my TJ’s, so I used organic tomatoes on the vine instead. They were delicious. (Do your best to find tomatoes that won’t be mealy or watery. That will honestly ruin the dish.) Then I covered them in red wine vinegar, and topped them with the beans and squid.

Like I said, Jordan and I ate this as our only dish for dinner, and nearly finished the whole plate. The tomatoes paired perfectly with the beans (which pack quite the heat!), and the salty squid added the right balance of protein and chewiness. 

137 recipes cooked, 88 to go.