Side

Dirty rice is a spicy Cajun dish typically made with sausage, chicken giblets, and vegetables—the meats color the rice and make it look “dirty.” There are as many versions of the dish as there are cooks. This one, contributed by Tanya Holland of Brown Sugar Kitchen, in Oakland, California, is spicy, light, and meatless.

Sweet potatoes and yams are virtually inter-changeable in the kitchen. Sweet potatoes have pale-yellow, dry, nutty-flavored flesh. Jewel and garnet are the two most common kinds of yam; both have reddish to purple-colored skin and brilliant orange, sweet, moist flesh. Look for firm, unblemished sweet potatoes or yams. They continue to sweeten after harvest, but they don’t store well and they tend to spoil fairly quickly. Wash them and roast them whole in the skin or peel them to roast, steam, or fry.

Parsnips look like large ivory-colored carrots. They are indeed related to carrots, but biting into a raw parsnip is not a good idea: they are almost inedible. When cooked, however, the flavor of parsnips is nutty and sweet. They are wonderful roasted or mashed, by themselves or with other vegetables, and they add a deep, complex note to broths and soups. At the market look for medium-size, firm, smooth-skinned parsnips; when you peel small ones, there’s not much parsnip left to eat, and very large ones have a woody core that needs to be removed. Prepare parsnips just like carrots, peeling away the skin and trimming off both ends.

The most common eggplant is the large, purple, oval-shaped globe eggplant, but there are plenty of other varieties to choose from. Globe eggplants range from small to large and from dark purple to the more uncommon white-and-purple striped Rosa Bianca. Smaller, thinner eggplants, usually called Asian eggplants, range in color from dark to light purple, and from short to quite long. There are many more obscure varieties, including eggplants as small as marbles and eggplants that are bright orange and red. Unless otherwise indicated, most recipes can be made with any variety. Eggplant is best when the skin is bright and shiny, the fruit is firm, and the cap and stem are fresh looking. A dull, matte skin is an indication that the eggplant is too mature or that it has been in storage too long, or both. Wash the eggplant and trim off and discard the cap and blossom end. It is not necessary to peel most eggplant because the skin is usually quite thin and tender. Many recipes ask you to salt eggplant to rid it of its bitterness, but I find that small eggplant don’t require this; nor do most large ones for that matter, as long as their seeds are small and tender. However, eggplant has a sponge-like ability to soak up a great deal of oil as it cooks. Salting eggplant before cooking will rid it of some of its internal moisture, which will help reduce the amount of oil it is able to absorb. To further lighten a dish, eggplant can be tossed with oil and baked instead of fried.

Sweet corn comes in an array of yellows and whites. There are ears that are full of white kernels, yellow kernels, or both yellow and white. The open-pollinated varieties begin to lose sweetness, converting sugar to starch from the moment they are picked. Modern hybrids have been bred to keep their sweetness for a few days, but some argue that these varieties are too sweet and lack “corn flavor.” What better way to decide than by experimenting with a few varieties to discover your own favorites? No matter the variety, corn is still best eaten fresh, the day it’s picked. Look at the cut end to gauge the freshness. Select ears that are plump, juicy, and bright in color, with a fresh cut. The brown silk may look a little sticky on a very fresh ear of corn. Don’t be put off if there is a worm at the tip—not that one wishes for a worm, but its presence is a healthy sign that the farmer is not using pesticides. If you can’t eat it immediately, store corn in the refrigerator, unhusked. Shuck corn right before you cook it, removing the husk and all the silk. If there has been a worm visitor, slice off the evidence; no harm has been done to the rest of the ear. To remove the kernels from the cob, hold onto the stem end, pointing the tip of the ear down, and run your knife down the cob, cutting off the kernels. The trick is to gauge the right depth at which to cut—not so deep as to take some of the cob with the kernel, but not so shallow that too much of the kernel is left behind. It is less messy if you tip your ear into a roasting pan to catch all the kernels as they are shaved off. If you wish, rub the cob with the back of the knife to remove all the corn milk from the kernel bits left behind.

Cauliflower is a bunched mass of flower stems. The mass of flowers is referred to as the curd. Cauliflower is typically white, but there are green and purple varieties as well. The leaves are the best indicator of a cauliflower’s freshness. Look for bright fresh leaves, and heads with tight, brightly colored curd. There should be no brown spots; these are signs of age, as is a coarse-textured curd. Wash the cauliflower well. Trim away any damaged leaves, but leave the nice ones, as they are actually quite tasty.

Carrots are a fundamental staple of the kitchen. They are part of the culinary triumvirate of carrot, celery, and onion that is the basis of so many broths, braises, and stews. Carrots are available year-round, though they do have specific seasons regionally. Here in California they are at their sweetest and juiciest in late spring and fall. Look for fresh carrots that have been grown locally and harvested recently with their greens still attached. The difference in taste between such a carrot and one already peeled, cut, and sealed in a plastic bag is enormous. A fresh carrot will cook better and add more flavor to your food. There are many varieties of carrots; some of them are not even orange. Check out your local farmers’ market to see what is growing in your area. When you buy carrots with their tops intact, remove them before putting them in the refrigerator. The carrots will keep better without them.

Artichokes are the flower buds of a domesticated thistle plant. There are large green globe artichokes, small violet ones, and purple ones. Some are smooth, without a single thorn, and some have leaves tipped with sharp, treacherous spikes. Each variety has its own unique flavor. Artichokes are best when young and freshly harvested. A more mature artichoke will have a larger choke (the hairy interior) and tougher flesh. Look for brightly colored, tightly closed artichokes with stems that look freshly cut, not shriveled. Artichokes can be cooked whole or pared down to their pale-colored hearts. To pare large artichokes, pull off all of the small leaves (petals, really) along the stem. Then with a heavy sharp knife, cut away the top of the artichoke to about 1 inch above the base. With a small sharp knife, pare away all the dark green from the stem, base, and outer leaves. Scoop out the choke with a small spoon. If you’re not cooking the artichoke heart right away, rub it with a cut lemon or submerge it in water acidulated with lemon juice or vinegar to prevent the cut surfaces from oxidizing and turning dark brown. Small young artichokes are prepared similarly; break off the outer leaves until you reach the light green interior leaves with darker green tips. Cut the tops of the leaves off at the point where the two colors meet. Pare away the dark green parts of the stem and base. Don’t be timid about trimming away all of the dark green leaves and parts of the artichoke, as they are fibrous and will not soften, no matter how long they are cooked. Once again, if the artichokes are to be cooked fairly soon they don’t need to be treated, but otherwise rub them with a cut lemon or put them in a bowl of acidulated water.

Asparagus comes in three colors: green, purple, and white. The green and purple varieties taste very much the same and the purple, when cooked, turns dark green. White asparagus, which doesn’t turn green because it is grown protected from the sun, is much more rare and expensive, and it has a milder flavor. Asparagus is best when the tips (the blossom ends) are tightly closed, and its flavor is sweetest when freshly harvested. Look for smooth-skinned, brightly colored spears with fresh (not dried-out looking) cut ends and compact tips. To prepare asparagus, grasp each spear and bend it until it snaps. The spear will break at the natural point where it becomes tender. I prefer fat asparagus stalks to thin ones because once they are peeled they are sweeter and less grassy-tasting than the skinny ones. The trick is to use a peeler that removes paper-thin layers of skin, exposing pale green flesh, not white. This is unnecessary if the spears are quite thin, or if they are going to be cut into small pieces. Start about 1 inch below the blossom tip and peel down along the spear towards the cut end.

The part of the broccoli plant that we eat is the unopened budding sprout, meaning that broccoli is, more or less, a big unopened flower. The most typical variety of broccoli is green and fairly large. Other types include sprouting broccoli, which produces small, dark green sprouts that are harvested individually. Romanesco broccoli looks a little otherworldly; it is chartreuse-green with a conical head made of pointy spiraling florets. There is also purple broccoli, some of which has such compact heads that it looks more like cauliflower than broccoli. Select broccoli that is brightly colored and firm, with compact heads that are not wilted, yellow, or blooming. Remove the florets from the main stem and cut or break them up as desired. Trim the end of the stems, and when they are large, peel them with a paring knife or peeler. Cut the peeled stems into sticks or slices.

When selecting live crabs from tanks at the market, choose lively ones that feel heavy. Keep them refrigerated and cook them as soon as possible; it’s important to cook them while they are still alive. Once out of water, they start to decline. The easiest way to cook crab is to boil it. Bring an abundant quantity of water to a boil, enough so that the crabs will be easily submerged. (You may only have a pot roomy enough for one or two large crabs, such as Dungeness; if you have more crabs, boil them one or two at a time.) Throw in a lot of salt; the water should taste salty. When it has reached a rolling boil, pick up the live crab between its back legs (to stay clear of its pinching front claws) and drop it in. Start timing the cooking from the moment the crab enters the boiling water. Keep the heat turned up all the way, but don’t worry if it never comes back to a boil. The amount of time the crab will take to cook will be anywhere from 12 to 15 minutes for a Dungeness crab, to just a few minutes for a small blue crab. Ask your fishmongers for their advice, or look online; there are many Web sites with information about cooking and cleaning the many different varieties. The cooked crabs can be cleaned and eaten right away, or cooled briefly in cold water and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Serve cracked crab with melted butter or homemade mayonnaise (see page 47), with a squeeze of lemon for a little zing. I like to serve a garlic mayonnaise (see page 47) flavored with the orange crab butter (or tomalley) that is found under the shell. Be sure to taste the crab butter first and use it only if it is not bitter. To clean a crab, turn it onto its back and pry up the triangular apron. Pull and twist it off the body. Turn the crab over and grasp it by the corner of the top shell or carapace. Pull it off with a twisting motion. Remove the lungs, the feathery fingers that run along the sides, and the mouth. Scoop out and save the tomalley or crab butter if you like, discarding the white intestine. Rinse the crab clean under cold running water. Split the crab in two (or not) and crack the claws with a mallet or crab cracker. Large crab can be reheated after they have been cooked, cleaned, and cracked; the meat can be picked out or the crab can be reheated later. (The delicate pointed tip at the end of a crab leg is the perfect tool for picking the crabmeat from the shells.) To reheat the crab, brush with melted butter or oil (flavored with herbs and spices if you want) and heat for 5 to 7 minutes in a 400°F or hotter oven, just long enough to heat the crab through. Much of the foregoing advice for cooking crab applies to lobster. Choose lively, heavy lobsters and cook them as soon as you can. Cook lobsters in abundant salted boiling water for 7 minutes. Put the lobster in head first and start timing from the moment it enters the water. Turn the heat down to a simmer if a boil is reached before the time is up (a rolling boil toughens the meat). Cooking lobsters too long also makes the meat tough, so keep an eye on the clock. If you are going to reheat the lobster or add it to a sauté or other dish, cook the lobster for only 5 minutes. Drain the cooked lobster and either serve it right away or cool it down under cold running water or in an ice bath for a few minutes. Lobster can be left whole or split down the middle, or it can be broken down into claws, knuckles, and tails. To do this, twist the tail away from the head and twist off the claws. Crack the claws with a mallet or crab cracker and remove the meat. With a pair of kitchen shears, make a cut down the soft , nearly transparent shell on the underside of the tail. Using a towel to protect your hands, grasp both sides of the tail and bend them back, splitting open the shell along the cut. Pull out the lobster meat. You can also cut the tail in two lengthwise to remove the meat. Some recipes call for cooking a raw lobster cut in pieces. To k...