Mr. tristeza gave me a beautiful 12.5" Cuisinart non-stick pan (looks vaguely like a wok) that has handles on both sides, glass cover and is oven-proof (I think?).
I don't cook.
Can you suggest any
1) one-pan
2) easy(ish)
recipes to take advantage of this lovely piece of cookware?
Welcome to the world of stir fry! Google 'stir fry recipes' or get a good stir fry cookbook. Once you get used to it you'll never look back. I've been doing one pan cooking for the better part of thirty years.
Generally, you'll want to stir fry the meat, then add the veges & finish with seasonings. It's so ridiculously easy that it's difficult to give instructions.
torquemaniac - thank you, yes, it is pretty much the perfect stir fry pan. I've not had the best luck getting a stir fry to taste anything other than bland crap, but a good cookbook would for sure help (I can't just throw stuff together and have it be good)
I should say I'm looking for recipes in addition to the typical stir fries - like, pasta dishes, meat/rice dishes, stews, etc. posted by tristeza at 6:16 PM on June 5
Hmm...the shape of the pan probably limits you to stir fries and their ilk, really. That's not bad, of course--that's what the pan is designed to do.
You could try this, which I normally do in a flatter skillet: heat up a bit of oil and butter, add chicken and brown gently. You could cut up the chicken into smaller pieces so you can keep them moving, and brown different sides when they're in contact with the bottom of the pan. When they're browned, lower the heat a bit and add minced garlic, a bit of lemon juice, a splash of white wine, and whatever herbs you've got lying around. Rosemary, thyme, parsley, that kind of thing. Cover and cook until the chicken is done and the sauce is reduced. posted by Garak at 6:37 PM on June 5
Won't be traditional with nonstick wok like pan, but try a paella.
Or dirty rice.
Find a recipe on the internet that has ingredients you like. Do not skimp on saffron. But a little goes a long way.
Both are easy for a non-cooker to attempt and succeed at. posted by Seamus at 6:38 PM on June 5
If your new pan can handle a few minutes under a broiler, try this:
Skillet Pork and Peppers
Ingredients
1 large pork tenderloin (about 11/2 pounds), trimmed
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, thickly sliced
2 red and/or yellow bell peppers, sliced into wide strips
6 cloves garlic, smashed
16 fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup sliced pickled pepperoncini, plus 2 teaspoons liquid from the jar
1/3 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preheat the broiler. Slice the pork on an angle into 1-inch-thick pieces; season with salt. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the onion and bell peppers; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender and slightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet. Add the pork and sear over high heat until browned, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the pork to the plate with the onion and peppers.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, sage and tomato paste to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste turns brick-red, about 1 minute. Add the pepperoncini slices and their liquid, then pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Add the broth and return to a simmer. Arrange the pork in a single layer in the skillet; add the onion and peppers and sprinkle with cheese. Transfer to the oven and broil until the pork is cooked through, 4 to 7 minutes.
You can also do this with thin pork chops or chicken cutlets. If you double the "sauce" ingredients and cook a package of angel hair pasta, you'll be very happy. posted by ersatzkat at 7:21 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
Yakisoba is my current favorite stir-fry. It's super easy, you can throw in whatever veggies you have sitting around, and it's not easily ruined by changing quantities
Ingredients:
Cooked soba noodles (use two bundles if dry, follow directions on package to cook)
One or two medium onions, coarsely chopped
Two or three carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 lb thinly sliced chicken or beef, or cubes of tofu
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Sauce ingredients (mix together):
1 cup light soy sauce
1 cup sake (the cheap stuff works fine)
2 tbs sugar
Instructions:
1. Put 3 tbs vegetable oil in pan and heat to medium-high
2. Throw in onions and garlic, mix with oil, let cook for ~30 seconds (the garlic will burn if you're not careful)
3. Throw in other vegetables and meat
4. Turn heat to high, stir constantly. Continue until meat is cooked all the way through
5. Put noodles on top of stir-fry, and pour all of the sauce on top. Mix.
6. Continue stirring until most of the liquid has evaporated
7. Serve! posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:12 PM on June 5
Chop up a potato, tomato, some green pepper, some onion, whatever. Put olive oil or whatever you have into the pan, at somewhat appropriate intervals add the ingredients. Some dashes of Worchester sauce and lemon juice somewhere in there. It's not science, just know how long things need to cook, mix ingredients up with some idea of taste. Voila, dinner. posted by hungrysquirrels at 8:15 PM on June 5
Make Kadai Paneer!
Here's my recipe:
1/2 a package paneer (find it at Indian grocery stores) cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tbsp oil
1 bell pepper sliced into long strips
1 onion chopped fine
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp cayenne
1 serrano pepper chopped fine (with seeds if you want it hot)
(Adjust cayenne and serrano quantities depending on your heat tolerance levels. The levels given here make it pretty spicy.)
2 tsp whole cumin seeds
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves to garnish
Heat the oil in your pan on medium high heat.
Add onion and garlic and fry until translucent.
Add cayenne, serrano pepper, whole cumin seeds, salt and pepper (don't oversalt, this should be adjusted at the end.).
Fry until fragrant. Do not allow the cumin seeds to burn.
Add the bell peppers and stir fry for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, allow most of the water to evaporate over high heat.
Add half a cup of water, lower the heat and cover your pan with the lid.
Cook for ten minutes.
Remove the lid, allow most of the water to evaporate again and add the paneer cubes.
Stir carefully, coating the cubes with the gravy. Add more water if this difficult to do. Adjust salt to taste.
Pour into a serving bowl, garnish with chopped coriander. Serve with rice or Indian breads. posted by peacheater at 8:52 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
One of the tips for woks is to keep it at a high heat level. Otherwise the veggies kind of steam instead of searing. But I'm not sure if non-stick woks can do that or not. I'd experiment a bit with the level of heat - you want things to slightly char on the outside, not a slow/gentle simmer because that's how The Soggy happens. posted by barnone at 9:20 PM on June 5
Be aware, that pan is almost certainly not oven safe. (Non-stick coatings need to be kept under a certain temp or they flake off and release noxious odors.) That's why I sort of question the point of a non stick wok.....stir frys need to made on the highest heat possible, and that pan looks like it should be kept at medium high, max. Maybe it has some sort of nifty new coating? It should have come with a booklet explaining how to take care of it and what temp it can go to.
That said, here's a simple delicious chicken:
melt some regular olive oil and butter in the pan on medium high heat.
take a chicken that you have salted and peppered and put it in, breast side down
brown the breast.
turn with tongs and brown the back.
turn the heat down to medium low
add whatever sounds good - some sliced onions, a few chunked potatoes, some garlic maybe, whatever you like that might go well.
pour on some white wine, or chicken stock, just enough to come up about halfway up the chicken.
sprinkle with an herb like thyme or rosemary.
cover and walk away for an hour.
come back and serve with bread and salad.
You can play with flavors - soy and ginger, or indian spices, or a make a tagine-like thing with apricots and cinnamon - whatever you like. posted by CunningLinguist at 9:40 PM on June 5
You might not be a cook yet, but once you realize how simple and delicious (and I mean 10x better than American "Chinese" food) authentic Chinese food can be, you'll become one in no time.
*Both of those books have many recipes that satisfy your requirement. There's a recipe for cabbage that's 1. chopped cabbage, 2. chilis, 3. soy sauce, 4. sesame oil that's so good, you'll find yourself buying multiple heads of cabbage just to satisfy your cravings for this recipe alone. posted by foooooogasm at 10:31 PM on June 5
This kind of pan is "hard anodized" which I though was awesome a year or two ago. I'm now somewhat less in love with them. You can't get a good sear, and building french traditional pan sauces are impossible, but hey, I've got other pans for that. Also NEVER put it in the dishwasher. They can't handle the acid in dishwashing detergent, and will get etched forever. (*shakes fist at roommates of past*)
However, these can really take the heat, unlike a teflon. There's no coating to burn off. I stick mine in the oven all the time.
Taking advantage of the shape, and non-stick, I'd suggest Chinese Eggs and Tomato, a simple homestyle dish.
I do love stir fries, and Steamy Kitchen has lots of non-intimidating asian fair. The trick to stir frying is to have everything ready before you start cooking, because it'll all be done in 10-20 min. Also try to check out Alton Brown's episode about it.
A few informal recipes we've been enjoying lately:
"Rasta" Pasta
1lbs sausage, your choice
2 Bell pepers, red and green, in strips
an onion, frenched
olive oil
red chile flakes
chopped garlic
Salt and peper
Parmigiana for topping
1 lbs of penne pasta
Slice sausages, brown. Remove from pan. Start cooking your pasta. Toss in veg, and cook until until soft and brown. Drain pasta when done. Put a glug of oil into the pan with the veg, and a big pinch of chile flakes. Toss everyone back into the pan. Makes 6 servings. (at least)
Garlic, sesame green beans.
Green beans, washed and trimmed to bite size
lots of chopped garlic
toasted sesame oil
salt and peper (sea salt is nice here)
Heat canola oil in your pan until shimmering. Add a few dashes of toasted sesame oil. Toss in the garlic, and swirl for 30 sec (looking for toasty, not black). Toss in the beans, and coat in the oil. Pour in 1/4c. water, watching for spatters, and cover. Let the beans steam for 5 min. Uncover, and cook until water evaporates and beans are still crispy tender. Season. Great with grilled chicken. Just about any veg can be cooked like this. posted by fontophilic at 11:07 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
(This would be even better with onions and celery added with the carrots, and even better yet with spices like rosemary and bay leaf, and still yet even better with a splash of red or white wine before the tomatoes go in.) posted by GamblingBlues at 4:19 AM on June 6
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Generally, you'll want to stir fry the meat, then add the veges & finish with seasonings. It's so ridiculously easy that it's difficult to give instructions.
Enjoy!
posted by torquemaniac at 6:09 PM on June 5