The Washington Post
Each week, The Washington Post’s staff fields questions about all things food at live.washingtonpost.com. Here are edited excerpts from that chat. Recipes whose names are capitalized can be found in via Recipe Finder at washingtonpost.com/recipes.
Q: I was surprised that your recent broth primer didn’t include garlic. I’ve always thought of garlic as one of the basic soup-making ingredients along with the onion, carrots and celery.
A: If you like garlic in your broth, great. But I think it can be a bit strong when the recipe calls for a neutral broth. If the flavor will complement the dish you’re using it in, go for it. — Becky Krystal
A: Don’t forget: If your broth wasn’t made with garlic, your soup can be. Saute the garlic with whatever other aromatic vegetables you might want in the soup, before you add other ingredients, including the broth. — Joe Yonan
Q: Do you think zucchini noodles would work well in your recipe for Fried Hoisin Tofu With Peanut Noodles?
A: Absolutely, you can substitute in your preferred noodle of choice here; zucchini would work just fine. — Joe Yonan
Q: When a recipe calls for fish sauce, such as your Coconut Chicken Soup, what can I substitute? Given an allergy, all fish/oyster/clam sauces and stocks are out of the question, but are there any that would be close? Or just drop entirely?
A: I swear by the mushroom- and soy-based recipe substitute from Cook’s Illustrated. — Becky Krystal
A: That is a good substitute, but for this recipe, I’d use soy sauce instead — the fish sauce adds a nice saltiness here. — Bonnie S. Benwick
Q: I’m making a batch of soup right now — tomatoes, beans, celery, onion, garlic, broth, oregano, etc. — and as I was rinsing the cannellini beans, I wondered whether I could use it the same way you use aquafaba from chickpeas? Or for some other use?
A: The liquid from all canned beans shares the basic quality that makes aquafaba so cool — as an egg white substitute, particularly. But the chickpea version seems to be the mildest-tasting (which is helpful for desserts, of course) and the most stable for those purposes. But you can certainly use the cannellini liquid to add body to the soup. I’d only do that, though, if the can lining is BPA-free and there’s little-to-no added sodium. Try a little bit and see what you think. — Joe Yonan
Q: I have a well-stocked pantry and freezer; due to the furlough I am sitting at home. I’m looking for fun recipes to try, especially those time-consuming dishes I don’t usually make when I work every day.
A: Lasagna! Look at the recipes for Abruzzese-Style Lasagna With Meat Sauce and Mini Meatballs; Lasagna Alla Bolognese; and Lasagna al Pesto, for starters. — Becky Krystal
Q: I have a 12-inch cast-iron skillet and I’m inspired to use it make desserts (such as the Skillet Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies). The problem I’m running into is that many of the dessert recipes I find call for a 10-inch skillet. What do you suggest I do? As I see it, my options are to just go with the larger skillet and adjust the cooking time downward — although in some cases that might produce an overly thin product. Or, I can increase the recipe by maybe 25 percent.
A: You could go either way. The blondie is fairly thick as it is, so it would be fine to go a bit thinner with a shorter bake time. For something like a cobbler that could start getting too thin, you’d want to scale things up a bit. — Becky Krystal
Q: My dear friend just had a health scare and needs to focus on a low-sodium diet moving forward. I’d like to make a few dishes to drop off that he can enjoy throughout the week. Do you have any recommendations?
A: Nice of you. Remind him that restaurant food tends to carry more sodium than home-cooked, so less dining out — or a careful watch on that intake — might be part of the approach.
Here are a few low-sodium recipes that will hold up well: Aromatic Chicken and Chickpea Stew; Pasta Fagioli With Zucchini; Peruvian Chicken Soup; and Georgian Ratatouille. Also, does your pal cook for himself? Maybe you could make a few sauces for him, using no-salt-added canned tomatoes (a red sauce), and/or prep vegetables (bag, label, freeze) he can use to make quick meals. — Bonnie S. Benwick
Q: I came across sweet potato glass noodles in the grocery store. What should I do with them? I’m vegetarian but don’t eat tofu.
A: I love those (they’re called japchae and are made with sweet potato starch) — they’re chewier than other glass-type noodles. Reminds me that we have some in our Food Lab, just waiting for a new recipe to be developed for them.
Pesto’s a great way to sauce them; this recipe for Green Glass Noodles includes avocado in the mix, and it’s very satisfying. They cook as quickly as any stir-fry you’d have going, so I’d boil a pot simultaneously, drain and add to the wok/skillet just as things are done in there. — Bonnie S. Benwick
Q: A friend has introduced me to Drumshanbo gin, which was recommended to him by a store employee. He’s underwhelmed, but he poured me some and I was instantly smitten. Unfortunately, our favorite gin-review site hasn’t reviewed Drumshanbo. Do you have a go-to review site for gin that you can recommend, regardless of whether it has covered Drumshanbo?
A: When I’m looking into new spirits, I tend to search and read far and wide — books and then broader web searches to see what’s being said and by whom. That said, I do end up on The Gin is In website a fair amount. — M. Carrie Allan
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