Sheetpan recipes- trendy, but I like

NYT has been running a lot of "sheetpan" recipes. This weekend's paper had an entire section devoted to them. with this intro:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/dini ... story.html

David Chang did sheetpan month in Feb,
https://peachykeen.momofuku.com/recipe/

I'm not usually a trendy guy, but I have to confess I've quite enjoyed doing these. When we're both working and I come home, walk the dog, etc it can be quite nice to have something that comes together in 30-60 minutes, and leaves me with one pan to clean.


I love to spend time on multi-step time consuming recipes, but this trend works for me on workdays (I did Chang's fish ssam Sunday for company, even though no time restraints)!

I've seen lots of these recipes in the past year, but have never tried one. I love my sheet pans and have at least half dozen half-sheets and two quarter-sheets (that I use more frequently now that we are empty nesters and company is way down these days). Just doesn't seem you can cook a full meal in a pan when different ingredients cook at different times and temperatures. But, I caught a foodnetwork show with Ina recently, and she did a sheet pan meal. I'm going to try it! She is my guru.

[Jenise]

I love sheet pan cooking. In a way, I've been doing it all my life without giving it a name--especially chicken. Waxed poetic here last week about Mel Clark's Vinegar Chicken.

Can't wait to read those articles, Dale, thanks for posting.

I've never heard the name 'sheet pan' before, They're a 'baking pan'* here and I've got 5, always had some.

Didn't realise cooking one dish in them was 'a thing', just always been there

*or is it baking tray, or roasting tin?

Just checked amazon.co.uk -baking tray, oven tray.

Searching for sheet pan gets baking tray, baking sheet, baking tin and one sheet pan by American company French Pantry

[Jenise]

Peter, the term 'sheet pan' comes out of the commercial kitchen where whole (typically aluminum) sizes fit in their large ovens. Half sheets and quarter sheets are suited to the home oven but probably referred to by most as 'big/large' (about 18x24) and 'small' (about 9x12) baking trays. As compared to the sideless cookie sheets of my childhood, sheet pans have about 1" rims for containment and you can get regular and non-stick versions.

Like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Natu ... 988&sr=8-6

Yes, I read the article.

[Jenise]

Oh. Somehow your comments above suggested (to me) that you weren't clear on what they are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheet_pan

Wikipedia refers to both, but like Jenise to me in US usage a tray without sides is a cookie sheet.

I think lots of us have cooked on them for years, but the recent boom in US internet use of sheetpan dinners as a catchphrase generally refers to:
protein and veg (and often starch) cooked together (often with shared sauce/marinade)
generally fairly high heat, with cooking times usually between 20-45 minutes (though I plan on trying the duck recipe on Chang's site,want to use my Tingly Salt)
Basically every can come together in under an hour.
Jo Ann, many of the recipes have you adding protein or vegetables later to make up for varied cooking times

[Jenise]

I'm an admitted sheet pan junkie. Couldn't live without them. I use them for so many things, including staging foods that are air-drying or cooling. For instance, I always cook rice hours before a meal to let the water evaporate and create more definite kernel mouthfeel, then reheat for service. Do that in a lined sheetpan. They're also how I make pizza, given that my stupid Viking oven isn't deep enough for round pizzas I have to make rectangular. I own six half sheets and four quarter sheets, and they're all brown/black from constant use/seasoning.

[Jenise]

Here's the Melissa Clark recipe I did a few weeks ago. Her quantities were suited to a half sheet (large) pan, so I used a quarter sheet cooking a double chicken breast for two. Most of the vinegar evaporated in the cook so where I thought it was quite a lot to begin with (and I *love* vinegar), I added more at the end to get the assertive flavor and texture I wanted. I served this on white polenta with truffles.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/102 ... e-dressing

[Jenise]

Just read thru the David Chang recipes and was impressed by the idea of a sheet pan breakfast! Not very enthusiastic about breakfast myself (usually go straight to lunch) but this would be great for one of those morning-afters where my dinner guests came from a distance and had to stay over.

https://peachykeen.momofuku.com/recipe/ ... li-crunch/

I'm an admitted sheet pan junkie. Couldn't live without them. I use them for so many things, including staging foods that are air-drying or cooling. .

And gives you space to separate berries for freezing! Sometimes the summer CSA bounty is more than we can handle.
Jenise that is one sheetpan recipe I missed in NYT, also a vinegar junkie, will do soon

[Jenise]

It's a great recipe. Dead-easy, company-worthy. For the olives, I used canned green olives, the kind that are in a salty brine, which are different from Castelveltrano but close enough. Afterward I kind of wished I'd roasted some of them with the chicken, as I love the taste of cooked olives and then mixed with the uncooked ones for more vibration in flavor. And like I said, awesome on polenta and a drizzle of good (real deal) white truffle oil was great, too.

Thanks for the Melissa Clark Recipe, Jenise. This kind of recipe is right up my alley. Love vinegar and mustard too (and olives and capers). Will be making this real soon.

I'll say the Chang duck with tingly broccolini is a winner, too. You could make a pretty good imitation of his tingly salt using dried shiitake and Sichuan peppercorns.
Also loved a NYT recipe where you roast cabbage and kielbasa together, then toss with cannellinis in a dill/mustard dressing. Incredibly simple (5 minutes prep, 30 minutes total).