Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
During the summer of 2019, a friend and I decided to work through this cookbook she had recently come across – Salt Fat Acid Heat. Now, in 2020, I have just realized it is a Netflix series!
This is a great cookbook for those wanting to learn the basics of cooking. She takes the science behind good food and teaches you how to apply to anything you cook. The SALT section was my favorite. I used to use any kind of salt in my meals – kosher, sea, table. All of them were interchangeable. Big mistake. Each type of salt has a different role in cooking.
I decided to share this cookbook after I cooked chicken the other night, with everyone raving how good it was. Salt is the key to making chicken flavor-able. In this cookbook, I learned that salt should be rubbed into the chicken prior to cooking (for at least 30 minutes). Literally, slather the chicken in salt. This is very similar to brine except easier and quicker. The salt penetrates the chicken so the seasoning soaks into the meat. This one tiny aspect I learned from the cookbook completely changed the way I cook chicken. Well, that and the Ninja Foodi!!! If you do not have a Ninja Foodi, you are completely missing out!!!! Salt…Foodi… Voila!
Update: Additional Recipes Below
Pasta al Ragu
This was very well worth the time it took to cook! It will only get easier from here. Also, what makes this recipe really awesome is the ability to freeze the ragu for up to three months!!!! How awesome is that! I was not able to make it exactly like the recipe but the omissions did not alter the taste (I did not have a cinnamon stick or a carrot…and had to use tomato sauce instead of paste).
Pasta alla Pomarola
I have made this recipe twice – once with canned tomatoes and once with fresh tomatoes from my garden (with fresh basil from my garden as well). The canned tomatoes/oregano version is great for the winter; however, if you have access to fresh tomatoes and basil, go that route for the summer! This was an incredible easy recipe. I am always trying to find ways to save time on cooking. That is where the Ninja Foodi comes in!!! For this meal, I did everything according to the recipe except I decided to throw some frozen chicken and arborio rice to pressure cook (30 minutes which is about the same time for the sauce). I have done some experimenting with my Ninja Foodi. I have learned that if you need to pressure cook chicken, add a little more water to the pot and a bag of rice (I only had arborio rice this time). Once everything finishes pressure cooking, you have cooked rice (that tastes like risotto) and your chicken. Also, side note: if you do not add rice, I freeze the broth to use for soups. For this meal, I added the rice and chicken (pulled from bones) to the sauce. Voila! Quick and easy!
the sauce
chicken and rice after pressure cooking
combine together for a delicious meal!
Frittata
I used more duck eggs than chicken eggs. You can tell the different when cooking with duck eggs. Quiche and frittata have a thick, creamy texture due to duck eggs.
