We Like to Cook!

Technique of the Week: Marinating

2012-01-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

Marinating is the technique of soaking food, especiallymeats, in a seasoned liquid before cooking. Like brining, it is commonly usedto flavor foods and to tenderize tougher cuts of meat. The liquid used is a 'marinade'is often acidic with ingredients such as vinegar, lemon juice, or wine or an enzymaticsuch as pineapple or papaya juices. The acidic ingredient softens the food,allowing it to absorb the flavors of the sauce.

Along with an acidic liquid, a marinade often contains oils,herbs, and spices to further flavor the food items. Marinating works on all kindsof meat, fish, tofu and even vegetables. Different cuisines utilize varyingmarinades. For example, yogurt-based marinades with a mixture of spices areused in Middle-Eastern dishes and a teriyaki marinade is common for Asiandishes.

Generally speaking, most meats (beef, pork and chicken)should be marinated for at least 2 hours (up to 24 hours), while fish shouldonly be marinated for 30 or so minutes before it starts to turn “mushy.”Foods should be marinated in the refrigerator, rather thanat room temperature. Re-sealable plastic bags are the most convenient and safestvessels for marinating rather than bowls or other containers. They cut down oncleanup and allow you to evenly distribute the marinade. You should not use an aluminumcontainer or foil for marinating because a chemical reaction could spoil thefood.

If you plan to use your marinade as a finishing sauce or forbasting, it should be boiled for several minutes before using to kill anybacteria from the raw meat or vegetables. You should ever reuse the marinadefor another recipe or meal.

Mint Marinade for Lamb:

¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup fresh mint leaves, cleaned

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Combine all items in food processor and pulse several timesuntil all ingredients are well chopped and combined. Pour marinade over lamb ina plastic bag and mix well to ensure that all meat is well coated. Allow to sitin the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before cooking. Periodically “massage”the bag to re-distribute marinade over the meat.

When ready to cook, remove meat from bag and cook topreferred doneness and toss marinating bag away.

National Soup Month Seafood Chowder

2012-01-21T23:11:00.000-05:00

Soup is one of the oldest forms of food right up there with bread. Although it was not until the invention of waterproof containers, about 9,000 years ago, that soup came into existence, the fact that an entire month is devoted to celebrating soup is a testament to its continued universal popularity.

Soup can be dated back to about 6,000 B.C. and was first made of hippopotamus. Soup is made by combining ingredients, such as meat, vegetables or beans in stock or hot water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a liquid meal. There are lots of variations on the basic theme of soup, each offering a wide range of nutritional benefits.

Soup, first known as "sop," was originally a piece of bread served with some type of broth. People used to pour sop over a piece of bread or over broken off chunks of bread in a platter allowing it to soak up all the broth and then they would eat it. As time went by sop was placed in deeper bowls and the liquid became the focal point instead of the bread. In modern day, the word sop is used to define the act of sopping up food.

Every country in the world has soup recipes and family traditions from long ago so it comes as no surprise that soup is a favorite in most households. We have all been nursed back to health with chicken noodle soup, warmed on a frigid day by a hot bowl of tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and celebrated holidays with green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup.

New England-style chowder is a favorite in our family with the ingredients varying depending on what is fresh at the market and what we have on hand. This is the basic formula, but don’t be afraid to experiment to create a chowder that will become your own family recipe to be handed down to the next generation.

2 teaspoons olive oil
¼ lb. country ham or bacon, cut into 1/8-inch cubes
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
6 cups fish or vegetable stock
4 cups russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 bay leaves
1 lb. (30 count) shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 lb. clams (and juice), chopped
1 lb. cod, skin and bones removed, cut into bite-sized pieces
½ cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and ground white pepper
Old Bay seasoning (optional)
Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish (optional)

Heat a medium skillet over low heat adding enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add ham and cook for 5 minutes and then add onion and celery and cook, stirring, until soft.

In a separate stock pot, bring stock and bay leaves to a simmer. Add diced potatoes and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until just tender. Add ham and vegetable mixture to the stock pot and stir to mix well. Then add shrimp, clams, and fish, and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add cream and season chowder with cayenne, salt, and white pepper. Remove bay leaves and serve hot with parsley and Old Bay seasoning.

Technique of the Week: Stirring

2012-01-17T22:50:00.000-05:00

Those of us that have been cooking for many years, “stir” our ingredients with little or no consideration for the actual act of stirring. In reality, there is more to it than just sticking a spoon in the bowl and wiggling it around a bit.

Stirring is the technique of mixing together ingredients of before or during cooking. Stirring is a simple concept, but it does require that you know when and where to stir.

Before sitting down to write this post, I stumbled upon a very instructive little video on the à la carte cooking website. The video was made by Peter Hertzmann who is the author of Knife Skills Illustrated and an instructor at Sur La Table is titled “Stirring Conclusions.” According to Hertzmann, there are three main reasons to stir: to create a homogenous mixture; to evenly disperse temperature; and, to alter the viscosity of a liquid (thicker or thinner). These reasons may seem to be common sense, but many cooks stir only because the recipe tells them to without considering the reason.

When stirring, for example, you should always make sure that the utensil you’re stirring with touches the bottom and all corners of the pan. For thin liquids without any solids mixed in, stirring in the middle of the pot or pan may be adequate. You should select your stirring utensil on purpose rather than just grabbing the first thing at your fingertips. And, when a recipe says, “stir occasionally” or “stir frequently,” you should have a clear understanding of what the intended result is to ensure you are stirring properly.

Hertzmann’s video is broken down into chapters and answers all basic questions about stirring and has tips and tricks for even the most advanced ”stirrers.” So without further ado, CLICK HERE to view his video for your edification.

Conquering the Elusive Cavatelli

2012-01-14T15:28:00.000-05:00

The art of cavatelli manufacture has evaded Dom for many years. He has fond memories of his Grandma’s handmade pasta: “She and my Aunt Mary would sit for hours drinking coffee and casually shaping and flicking the ‘cavatells’ into a huge pile on the kitchen table. Later all the family would show up to eat the delicious little nuggets of joy.” Several earlier attempts at making these at home failed miserably resulting rather in “little blobs of sadness.”

Dom received a cavatelli maker for his birthday. The metal device looks like a clunky can opener with wooden knobs. After scouring cookbooks to find the perfect recipe and a series of trials (and errors,) we got the proper consistency of dough and the correct technique with the apparatus. Lo and behold! – We had achieved cavatelli perfection.

If you do not have a handy-dandy mechanism for shaping your cavatelli, you can use a butter/gnocchi paddle, hair comb or even a putty knife along with a “smearing motion,” however, creating uniform macaroni in nearly impossible.

3-4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 eggs
pinch of salt
Cake flour for dusting

Put 2 1/2 cups of the flour into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add 2 eggs and the ricotta cheese and incorporate the flour into the eggs and cheese, and then knead the dough adding more flour as needed until dough is soft but not at all sticky.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes (believe us, it makes a big difference.) Roll out on board dusted with flour and make long ropes. Add more flour to the board as needed.

Flatten ropes a bit before feeding them into the cavatelli maker. If they start to glob together rather than falling freely from the machine, then you will need to incorporate more flour into your dough. Another trick we learned is to place a teaspoon of flour on top of the cavatelli maker, so that a tad falls between the two wooden rollers with each turn of the crank.

If you are hand forming dough: cut into one-inch pieces, rolling them individually into “worms.” Then using a butter paddle or wide-toothed comb with your thumb“smear” each piece away from you rolling the pasta as you smear. Alternatively, you can use a flat surface (a plastic putty knife works best or butter knife) held at a 45-degree angle. Press on each “worm” of dough and “smear” the length of it. You find that the motion causes the dough to curl up the edge of your implement. Both of these techniques take practice!

Place finished cavatelli on a cookie sheet dusted with cake flour. As you fill up in the cookie sheets, place the whole pan in the freezer for about a half hour (until the pasta is completely frozen and does not stick together.) Then you can easily transfer the frozen cavatelli to a freezer bag and refreeze until you are ready to use them.

To cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and then place frozen cavatelli in the water. They should float to the surface of the water when they are done. It is best to taste one or two before draining. Once drained, immediately add olive oil or pasta sauce to prevent them from sticking together. Serve in plentiful portions and watch them disappear!

Technique of the Week: Stewing

2012-01-10T23:29:00.000-05:00

On a cold, damp day, few things are more pleasing than a rich and steaming bowl of stew. But, what exactly is “stew”? Stew is not only the name of a dish, but it is also its cooking method.

Stewing is the process of cooking ingredients slowly in a flavorful simmering liquid in a closed container which obviously requires a leak-proof vessel for cooking. Cooking by boiling has occurred for literally tens of thousands of years. In fact, primitive tribes are thought to have used conch or turtle shells to boil water. The development of pottery some 10,000 years ago was the impetus for the development of several dishes named for the container used to prepare them including (but not limited to) tagines, casseroles, and stews. The technique was refined over the years with references to more modern stews found throughout recorded history, from the lentil stew in the Biblical story of Cain and Abel to Hungarian Goulash with paprika in the 1700’s and Lord Byron’s reference to Irish Stew in “The Devil’s Drive” in 1814.

Types of stews exist all over the world which are referred to by a variety of names: French Cassoulet, Italian Cioppino, Beef Bourguignon, Pot au Feu, Kentucky’s burgoo, Louisiana’s gumbo, and even Chili con Carne. While stewing is easily confused with braising, there are a few distinctions between the two. In a stew, the meat is generally cut into smaller pieces rather than left whole and in a braise, the liquid might only come halfway up the sides of the meat whereas the meat is immersed in cooking liquid when stewed.

The best cuts of meat for stewing are the toughest cuts. Prime stewing candidates include shank, brisket, chuck, oxtail and beef round. Stewing meats are not limited to beef, though. Irish stew shines because of lamb or mutton, dark meat chicken is the base for Coq au Vin, fleshy fish stars in Caldeirada de Peixe and French Ratatouille is just stewed vegetables.

The general method of preparing a stew is to sear meat on all sides in a little oil in a Dutch oven (or whatever pan you’ll be stewing in) until deep brown and then setting the meat aside. In the same pan, chopped mire poix (onions, carrots and celery) or trinity (onions, celery and green pepper) are cooked until golden brown. Dried herbs and spices are added at this point. The pan is deglazed with liquid (stock, water, wine, beer, etc.) The meat is added back to the pan and liquid is added to cover the meat, and bring it to a simmer. Frequently, a starchy ingredient is added to thicken the stew before serving. Examples of these include potatoes, beans, corn, and rice, or in the case of gumbo and burgoo, fresh cut okra.

Beef Cassoulet
1 lb. of stew beef trimmed of fat and cut into 1”-2” cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups chopped onions or leeks
1 cup peeled and sliced carrots
3/4 cup sliced celery
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced or squished
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
½ cup white wine
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste or ketchup
1/2 lb. dried Great Northern beans, (pre-cooked according to package directions)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh parsley or chives, chopped for garnish (optional)

Pre-heat your stewing pot. Pat the beef dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and then add it to the hot pan. Allow the beef to form a crust before turning it over to brown the other side. Remove seared beef from pot and set aside. Add the diced vegetables and a drizzle of olive oil and allow them to sauté until soft. Stir in spices and then de-glaze the pan with a good glug of white wine or cooking wine (about half a cup) and stir in the ketchup.

Add the seared beef chunks back to the pot and cover with beef stock. Put on the lid, place in a 200oF oven and cook for 3-4 hours until the meat is meltingly tender. Check periodically to make sure that the sauce is not reducing too fast, if it is add some more stock or water to prevent it from drying out.

About 30 minutes before serving, remove the stew from the oven and add cooked beans to the pot. Stir together gently (so as not to break apart meat or smash the beans) and simmer on your stove over low heat until ready to serve. Ladle cassoulet into serving dishes and garnish with chopped parsley or chives and serve with crusty bread for a hearty, delicious meal.

Wakey Wakey Eggie Weggie

2012-01-07T21:36:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you have heard the expression “Wakey, wakey - rise and shine." The expression began as a reveille for British “squadies” to rise and shine (as in shine their boots before roll call.) It was later cheerily broadcast at Butlins’ UK Holiday Camps during the 1960’s to get vacationers up in the mornings. A variation of the saying "wakey, wakey eggs and bakey," was popularized by Michael Madsen in the 2004 movie "Kill Bill: Volume 2." We use this phrase quite often in the Romeo house to beckon one another to the breakfast table.

Several years ago Dom came home from a trip where he had enjoyed a perfect plate of Eggs Benedict. He started out to duplicate the dish at home, but none of us truly like Canadian bacon. We did, however, have smoked salmon in the fridge (which would normally accompany bagels and cream cheese with finely sliced shallot and tomato.) Being a huge fan of Ernest Hemingway and of smoked salmon, Dom replaced the Canadian bacon in the recipe with smoked salmon to make Eggs Hemingway. Another adaptation was the use of a fried egg (or “eggiweg” in the UK vernacular) prepared sunny-side-up rather than poached eggs (fried eggs are faster and easier) which lead to the creation of the Romeo “eggie-weggie!” Needless to say, our morning wake-up call has been changed to reflect this addition to our family repertoire!

Homemade Hollandaise
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
Pinch cayenne
Pinch salt

Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl until the mixture is thick and has doubled in volume. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water (you can use a double boiler if you have one,) the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Continue to whip egg mixture rapidly; an immersion blender works beautifully for this task! Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and again doubled. Remove from the heat and whisk in cayenne and salt. Cover and place in a warm spot until ready to use for the eggs benedict. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. If the sauce gets too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water before serving.

Eggs Hemingway
4 English muffins, split and toasted
8 slices of smoked salmon
Butter for pan
8 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
Hollandaise sauce
Fresh chopped chives or scallions (optional)

Gently break eggs into a non-stick pan coated with butter and cook on medium heat until whites are set but yolks are still translucent. You may need to work in batches.

To assemble the eggie weggies, lay a slice of smoked salmon on top of each toasted muffin half, followed by a sunny-side-up egg. Season with salt and pepper and then spoon hollandaise sauce over the eggs. Garnish the plates with chopped chives or scallions. Lastly, prepare your taste buds for a flavor sensation you won’t soon forget!

Technique of the Week: Whipping

2012-01-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

Whipping is the process of beating an ingredient vigorously to incorporate air, which makes the ingredient foamy. Whipping transforms heavy cream into whipped cream. Egg whites when whipped form stiff peaks which can be used to make meringue for pies, pavlova, or nougats. Whipped egg whites are also used in mousses, soufflés, and angel food cake. Potatoes and squash are also good candidates for whipping.

One item we use frequently in our house is whipped cream cheese. While it is an obvious accompaniment to bagels, we love it on banana bread! Interestingly, whipped cream cheese is more expensive than regular cream cheese (especially if you prefer the flavored varieties) even though what you are paying for is added air. You can save up to 60% by making your own and the flavor possibilities are endless…

Whipped Cream Cheese
1 - 8 oz. block of cream cheese (or Neufchatel)
3 - 4 tablespoons of milk

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. Place cream cheese and milk in a food processor or blender and blitz for a few seconds until smooth and “fluffy.”

Flavor Variations (added to the above ingredients):

Fruit - add 3 tablespoons of your favorite jam or preserves;
Maple Nut - omit milk and add 3 tablespoons maple syrup and chopped nuts of your choice;
Cinnamon - add 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon;
Hot pepper - add 1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped, 2 tablespoons chopped green onions or chives, and a pinch of salt;

Herb - add 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley (or herb of choice,) 1 tablespoon chopped green onions and 1/2 teaspoon paprika;
Roasted Red Pepper - add 1 red bell pepper, roasted, seeded and peeled and ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese;
Smoked Salmon {shown above and at left} - add 3 oz. smoked salmon or lox bits an (optionally) 2 tablespoons chopped red onion and 1 teaspoon capers.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage and Pecans

2011-12-28T22:25:00.001-05:00

Sweet potatoes are readily available during the cooler months and are a delicious accompaniment to all sorts of dishes. Sweet potatoes are low in calories and contain no saturated fats or cholesterol. They are a rich source of dietary fiber. They are also an excellent source of the powerful natural antioxidants beta-carotene and vitamin A. Vitamin A is also required by the body to maintain integrity of healthy mucus membranes and skin and is a vital nutrient for vision. These amazing tubers are jam-packed with essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and thiamin (vitamin B-1), niacin, and riboflavin as well as gracious amounts of minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium that are essential for metabolism.

We always seem to have sweet potato leftovers. Perhaps we subconsciously make extras as an excuse to make gnocchi (or pie!) This recipe has it ALL: sweet, savory, cheesy... (need we say more?) The wonderful flavors and textures of this dish will make you a sweet potato enthusiast too.

Gnocchi Dough:
2 cups sweet potatoes mashed (about 2 1-lb. sweet potatoes)
1 1/2 to 2 cups wheat flour
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Sauce & Serving:
20 large fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup pecans (or walnuts), chopped (optional)
Grated Parmesan for serving

If you are not using leftover sweet potatoes, first you must cook some sweet potatoes. We normally have leftovers so this step is not usually part of the recipe for us. The microwave works wonderfully for the potatoes in this recipe. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and then microwave until cooked all the way through. In our microwave this takes about 20 minutes on high. In our microwave this takes about 20 minutes on high. They are done when a knife inserted into the center goes through with little resistance. Alternatively, you can bake them in a 450°F oven for 40 minutes.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh from the skins and place in a mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes until smooth, and then add egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and about 1 1/2 cups wheat flour. All-purpose flour works just fine as a substitute if wheat flour is not available. Mix with a spoon and then kneed until a soft dough forms. Then gradually add additional flour until the dough is not sticky. Depending of the moisture level of your potatoes and egg, you may have to add a fair amount more flour to get the dough to a workable condition. If it’s too sticky to roll out, add more flour. Don’t overcompensate though; the dough should be soft – not dense.

Now for the fun part! Divide the dough in four parts, and using your hands, roll out each piece into a very long, skinny roll (our boys call them “snakes.”) Then cut off small parts of the dough to form little pillows. Each “snake” makes about 20 gnocchi. If you want them to look fancy, you can use a fork to make indentations on the top of each piece. Place the gnocchi on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil and working in batches, boil gnocchi for 3-5 minutes until tender. The gnocchi will float on the surface when done. Don’t over-boil or they turn to a gluey mush!

While there are lots of sauces that go well with gnocchi, the simplest is the best. In a large saucepan, heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Add chopped sage and a bit of kosher salt and heat for about a minute before adding gnocchi to pan. Transfer gnocchi from the boiling pot with a slotted spoon directly into the pan with the sage-infused olive oil. Toss gnocchi to coat well and cook for several minutes until slightly browned. Cook remaining gnocchi in same fashion, transferring to the pan once boiled.

Serve immediately, topped with chopped pecans (or walnuts), freshly grated Parmesan and a bit of fresh ground pepper.

Note: Any uncooked gnocchi can be frozen for up to 1 month. We freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then store them in a freezer bag. Do not thaw before cooking; simply boil them right out of the freezer so that they thaw as they cook.

Meet the Original Tom & Jerry

2011-12-23T18:36:00.000-05:00

This very potent variant of eggnog which is served hot with brandy and rum was a popular drink in the U.S. and England from the mid-1800s until the Eisenhower administration. “Thomas and Jeremiah” was a jokingly-highfalutin’ name for the frothy hot drink once every bit of piece of American Christmas iconography as mistletoe and roasted chestnuts. In the 1880’s, the New York Sun reported that the most fashionable barrooms would place a huge ornamental and costly punchbowl midway on the bar at Christmas time. It was vulgarly called “dope.” The stylish martinis and “wallbangers” of the swinging 60’s instigated the demise of the Tom and Jerry craze. We first encountered this heady libation at a neighbor’s home several years B.K. (before kids.) We were very excited to find the recipe in our first cookbook “The Joy of Cooking” copyright 1975. We’ve been told that later versions of the cookbook do not include this recipe, so truly it must be an outdated concoction.

Contrary to popular belief, the drink’s name is not related to the popular MGM cartoon nor was it the brain-child of famous bartender "Professor" Jerry Thomas who authored of one of the first bartender's guides “How to Mix Drinks” in 1862 either. Instead, it is a reference to Pierce Egan's book, “Life in London” and the subsequent stage play “Life in London” (“Tom and Jerry”) circa 1821. To publicize the book and the play, Egan introduced a variation of eggnog by adding ½ fluid ounce of brandy and rum calling it a "Tom and Jerry." The additional fortification helped popularize the drink.

The drink also features prominently in Damon Runyon's 1932 short story "Dancing Dan's Christmas" beginning with the passage: “This hot Tom and Jerry is an old time drink that is once used by one and all in this country to celebrate Christmas with, and in fact it is once so popular that many people think Christmas is invented only to furnish an excuse for hot Tom and Jerry, although of course this is by no means true.” Runyon’s story, which inspired the Broadway musical “Guys & Dolls,” introduces the drink and a group of New York street characters who, after having a few “cracks” of Hot Tom and Jerry, embark on a goofy adventure to spread holiday cheer while tarnishing the image of Santa Claus in the process.

Tom & Jerry Batter:
3 eggs
Pinch of cream of tartar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Wash the eggs in their shells with mild dish soap before cracking* and separate the egg whites from the yolks. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until they are stiff but not dry. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with sugar, allspice, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Gently fold the yolk into the egg whites trying not to deflate the whites. This is the batter which can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week or can be frozen.

For each drink:
2 tablespoons of Tom & Jerry batter
½ jigger (3/4 ounce) of brandy
1 jigger (1½ ounces) of dark rum

Dollop batter into a mug and add brandy and rum. Top off the mug with the hot water, milk or coffee and gently stir to mix thoroughly and dust each mug with freshly grated nutmeg. To quote Dancing Dan, “you will never taste anything so soothing in your life.”

*The original recipe in “The Joy,” the eggs are used raw. To avoid the threat of salmonella, use the freshest eggs possible and wash the shells before using. You can use pasteurized eggs or you can prepare the batter over a double-boiler if you wish to be extremely cautious.

Busy Hands Cinnamon Dough

2011-12-19T00:18:00.000-05:00

Busy hands are happy hands (and make happy Moms!) While this dough is not comestible in the true sense of the word, it is made from edible ingredients to form non-toxic, kid-friendly craft dough is undeniably perfect for the holidays. It gives the kiddles something to do while you work, makes the house smell wonderful and makes adorable holiday gifts and tree ornaments. This was always a great way for the kids to experiment with shapes using cookie cutters and plastic utensils to create their own masterpieces. One year we used alphabet cutters to make gift tags for packages. They were almost as well received as the actual presents!

Cinnamon Dough
3 cups (25 oz. jar) of unsweetened applesauce
1 cup ground cinnamon
½ cup ground clove
½ cup ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon corn starch (or non-toxic school glue)

Pour applesauce into a sieve and place over a bowl. Drain overnight. Mix together ingredients and roll out dough on adding more cinnamon if needed to roll out dough without it sticking to your work surface.

Roll the dough between waxed paper until it's between 1/4" thick and 1/2" thick. And then cut out desired shapes. Gently place the shapes on a piece of clean wax paper or parchment paper. You can use a straw to punch a hole for the ribbon to hang. The circle of dough will pull out with the straw.

The ornaments will take about 4 days to dry completely depending on their thickness. You should plan to turn them over a couple of times or the edges will curl. (The thicker they are the longer it takes for them to dry, but the less they will curl.) Don't be surprised if the ornaments shrink a bit during the drying process. You may wish to keep this in mind when picking out the cookie cutters for your designs.

When dry, thread a piece of ribbon or yarn through the hole to hang. Enjoy the wonderful scent all season long.

Waste-Not Want-Not Rice Pudding

2011-12-16T19:00:00.002-05:00

Anyone who has ever tried to cook for their children knows that it is nearly impossible to judge how much food to prepare on any given evening, which in this difficult economy can be very frustrating as we don’t want to waste food.

Rice is a wonderful accompaniment to countless meal options. It is also a rich source of dietary energy and a good source of thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. Rice provides 20 percent of the world’s dietary energy supply, while wheat supplies 19 percent and corn only 5 percent. Luckily, rice also keeps well as a leftover and can be used in a variety of salads, casseroles and, my personal favorite, rice pudding.

Not only is this recipe simple, but it makes a great, soothing dessert and is especially delicious served with a dollop of whipped cream. It makes a great breakfast treat too (but perhaps without the whipped cream.)

2 cups leftover cooked white rice
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half and half
2/3 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, beaten
½ teaspoon cinnamon, optional
Pinch of nutmeg, optional
½ cup raisins, optional
2 tablespoons of brandy or rum (cognac), optional

Combine cooked rice, milk, half and half, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. The mixture will look very thin and you may think the proportion of rice to liquid is off, but it’s not. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer and stir in the vanilla and raisins.

Simmer the pudding-to-be uncovered for 30 minutes, until the rice is very soft and just about all of the milk is absorbed. Stir often, particularly toward the end. The mixture should still be a littler thinner than you want the finished product to be because it will continue to thicken as it cools. Stir in cinnamon and/or nutmeg, if using and then slowly stir in the beaten egg and continue to cook for 1 minute.

Remove from heat, and add the brandy (if using) and stir well to mix. Pour into a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Serve warm or chilled with whipped cream.

Technique of the Week: Mulling (for Cyciling Santas)

2011-12-13T10:47:00.000-05:00

Mulling is a centuries-old practice in which various spices and fruit essences are infused into heated juices, wines, ciders or brandies. The ingredients used in this infusion are known as mulling spices. The recipes for mulling spices may vary somewhat, but in general they include allspice, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and various dried fruit peels. The essences of the mulling spices create a complex undertone of spicy and citrus flavors which complement the basic fruit elements of the mulled beverage.

The process of mulling was first used with wines which prior to refrigeration and modern bottling techniques, went bad pretty quickly. To delay spoilage (and make spoiled products taste less disgusting,) spices began to be added during the Renaissance period. Since young wines were commonly bottled during the early fall, “mulling” was necessary by Yuletide as some were beginning to reach the undrinkable stage, hence how the consumption of “mulled” beverages became a holiday tradition. Apple cider was another autumnal product which lent itself to mulling. Physicians of the period also believed that mulled beverages were curative acting as a kind of vaporizer and conduit of other foodstuffs to every part of the body, and the addition of fragrant and exotic spices would make it even more wholesome.
These “therapeutic” properties made mulled cider the perfect choice for celebrating the 5th annual Atkins Park Santa Ride benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society last Wednesday. Cyclists dressed in Santa suits and bikes decked out with trees, lights and tinsel rode through the streets of the Virginia-Highland neighborhood braking several times en route to revel and share some holiday cheer.

We were very excited to be part of this year’s festivities. Dom and other members of the Morningside Dads’ group hosted a “holiday cheer” station near Piedmont Park featuring hot mulled cider for the merrily-clad riders. Using a small camp stove, the mulled cider was steaming hot as riders stopped to imbibe and socialize.

Cheerful Mulled Cider
1 gallon apple cider
2 cups dark rum
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons allspice, ground
½ teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1 apple, sliced
1 orange, thinly sliced
3-4 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons whole cloves

Wrap cinnamon sticks and whole cloves in cheese cloth and tie tightly. Place apple cider in a stock pot with the wrapped cinnamon and cloves, and apple and orange slices and bring to a boil. Add the brown sugar and ground spices and stir to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes before adding rum. Ladle into mugs and make merry!

Bacon-Braised Brussels Sprout Love

2011-12-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that you either love or hate. There is very little middle ground where they are concerned. Our family falls into the “love” category. In fact, I have been known to order Brussels sprouts as my main course at our favorite restaurant.

Brussels sprouts are now known to top the list of cruciferous vegetables. While all cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates (the chemical starting points for a variety of cancer-protective substances), Brussels sprouts have been shown to have greater amounts of glucosinolates than those found in mustard greens, turnip greens, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, or broccoli.

These Brussels sprouts are very hearty and smell delicious, and go very well with pork dishes. Take care not to overcook the sprouts because not only will they lose their nutritional value and flavor, but they will begin to emit the unpleasant sulfur smell that is so often associated with overcooked cabbage.

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, washed, and cut in half
4 ounces (about ½ cup) bacon, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
½ cup water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Place a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook bacon turning, until crisp and until fat renders (about 2 to 3 minutes.) Transfer to paper towels to drain.

While bacon is cooking, prepare Brussels sprouts by removing brown and damaged outer leaves and trimming the bottoms. To help Brussels sprouts cook more evenly (and quickly), cut each sprout in half. Add the smashed garlic clove, crushed red pepper (if you are using) and Brussels sprouts to the rendered bacon fat in the skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally (and gently) until slightly caramelized (about 3 minutes).

Add water to the pan and gently scrape the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan. Then simmer, covered, for approximately 5 minutes until sprouts are fork tender but not mushy. Remove lid and add a splash of vinegar and reduce until syrupy, another 2 to 3 minutes.

Crumble bacon over the Brussels sprouts and toss with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a sprinkling of shaved or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Technique Of The Week: Peeling & A Giveaway!

2011-12-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

Means “to strip or tear off an inedible or undesirable outer layer, especially as it relates to a fruit or vegetable.” The term “peel” refers to the protective outer layer (exocarp) of a fruit or vegetable which can be peeled away to reveal the edible portion of the produce.

Depending on the thickness and taste, fruit and vegetable peels are sometimes eaten, such as with apples. In some cases the peel is unpleasant or inedible, in which case it is removed and discarded, such as with bananas or potatoes. In the case of citrus fruits, the peel is bitter and generally not eaten raw, but may be used in cooking. The outermost, colored part of the peel is called the zest, which can be peeled off and used in recipes for its tangy flavor.

Like every budding chef who starts out with the routine task of peeling, my peeling career began with an ancient swivel-blade peeler and some carrots. The peeler of my youth is still the most commonly available, is still inexpensive (I even saw one recently at the Dollar Store!) and is still perfectly designed for the job it's meant to do. It was a simple tool with a contoured metal handle, which is really an open, easy-to-grip frame that provides a stable holder for the steel rod that, in turn, secures the blade. The curved blade is point¬ed at the top, the better to carve out unwanted potato eyes, and has a slit down the center. Since both sides of the interior slit are sharp, the peeler works equally well for righties and lefties. And since the blade is mounted on a steel axis, it rotates just enough to ride up and down the hills and valleys of a bulbous potato or craggy squash.

I was 23 before I realized that there were other types of peelers. I was intrigued by the top-bladed “harp” peeler, but quickly relegated it to the yard sale heap because I could never master the proper motion and ended up with a frustrated pile of mutilated potatoes. I reverted back to the rickety prehistoric pivoting version of my formative years.

Then I found it. The only peeler I will use forevermore. The stationary-blade peeler is as close as you can get to a knife and still have the convenience of the curved, slit-down-the-center righty or lefty blade. On this no-nonsense tool, the blade is mounted straight up on a handle that can be made of any manner of high-tech materials or the standard metal, plastic or wood. I prefer the indomitable straightforward movement of the immobile blade to the clanky swivel variety.

Recently, I got 2 handheld “Swift Peelers” made by Kitchen Keepers. One for us and one for YOU! The compact peeler slips over your middle finger allowing you “to run your palm naturally all over your fruits and vegetables for the easiest most efficient peeling ever.” We can experiment together to see if it lives up to its sales pitch. Now, here is what you have to do to WIN this handy little devil!

Ways to Enter (3 possible entries):

1. "Like" We Like To Cook! on Facebook and leave us a comment in the comment section below this post letting us know you did so = 1 Entry

2. Leave us a comment in the comment section below this post telling us what kind of peeler you prefer to use = 1 Entry

3. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page and tag @weliketocook and then come back and leave a comment below to let us know you did so = 1 Entry

**Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry and list a valid email address so that we can contact the winner!**

This Giveaway will close on Sunday, December 18th at midnight EST and a winner will be randomly selected using random.org and announced no later than Monday, December 20th.

*I have not received any monetary compensation for this product mention nor is it sponsored or endorsed by Kitchen Keepers or Facebook. We have purchased these products on our own.

Oh Yea! The technique part...

How to Peel Produce:

The peel fruits or vegetables using a vegetable peeler, firmly grasp the produce in one hand and hold the peeler in your other hand. Slant the peeler downward and slowly peel the skin away. Rotate the item and continue the peeling.

Continue the process with the top and bottom of the produce making sure to remove all unwanted skin. Using the pointy tip of the peeler, extract any unwanted blemishes or growth (like a potato’s “eyes”) by simply gouging the tip into the produce and twisting with your wrist. Remember to save the peels that can be used to enhance broth or soup or add them to your compost pile.

Food, Wine & Cars: A Tour of Discovery

2011-12-04T00:50:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, the multi-city Buick Discovery Tour rolled into the Loews Hotel in midtown Atlanta offering locals the opportunity to mingle with celebrity chefs, attend cooking demonstrations, participate in a wine tasting and get a first-hand look at Buick’s 2012 line. Buick, in partnership with FOOD & WINE magazine, gave Atlantans the chance to “discover” gourmet cuisine, fine wine and luxury vehicles.

Our tour began with a cooking demonstration by Chef Hugh Acheson, one of Food &Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2011, current judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef Texas” and owner/chef of the popular Atlanta restaurant Empire State South. Chef Acheson showed us how to prepare a roasted carrot and beet salad with feta cheese and cumin vinaigrette while encouraging the audience to savor seasonal ingredients and local produce. We all sampled the fresh simple salad and marveled at how well the cumin complemented the carrots.

Next we were treated to an exhibition of molecular gastronomy (the application of both scientific and artistic principles in cuisine) by Chef Ben Roche, Executive Pastry Chef of Chicago’s Moto restaurant and co-host of “Future Foods” on Discovery’s Planet Green Network. Toting a huge canister of liquid nitrogen, Chef Roche prepared a batch of bacon ice cream flavored with bacon, maple syrup and sage, and beaten in a mixer with liquid nitrogen. He then re-created his signature “S’mores Bomb,” a caricature of the traditional ice cream bombe, complete with an Asian glass noodle ”wick” that he actually lit.

We were then escorted to the hotel parking lot which was packed with a fleet of 2011 Buicks including the Regal Turbo, Lacrosse, and Enclave. Informative product presenters and a legion of personal driving concierges provided information about the vehicles while guiding drivers around a 2-mile test-drive course. Special thanks to my ride-along partner Tamara who was a great chaperon in demonstrating the luxurious amenities of the new Buick LaCrosse.

Wine Consultant Michael Green, owner of Liquid Assets Consulting Group, gave a captivating and animated lecture, condensing a 32-week wine seminar into a 20-minute lesson and tasting. Attendees tasted a pouring of Rodney Strong 2010 Charlotte’s Home Sauvignon Blanc and compared its flavor alone and after a bite of lemon noting that the lemon’s acidity altered the drinker’s perception of the wine’s flavor. His best advice is that “if a particular wine tastes good to you, then it is a good wine.”

The grande finale featured charismatic Chef Ming Tsai (producer of the Emmy-nominated public television cooking show, “Simply Ming,” and owner of Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, MA) slicing, dicing and cajoling his way through his favorite chicken and tri-bell pepper chow mein and sweet and sour mango pork recipes; offering comic relief while proving to the crowd that Asian food is approachable for the home cook. Each attendee was also were presented with a signed copy of Ming Tsai’s Simply Ming One-Pot Meals to take home as a reminder of the amazing event!

And, as if that weren’t enough - for every attending guest, Buick will make a donation to The FEED Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the global food system, starting with ensuring nutritious school meals for all children.

Be A Good Cookie: Join the Virtual Swap For A Cause

2011-12-01T12:17:00.001-05:00

We all have favorite cookie recipes. By the time the holiday season arrives, however, ours are spread far and wide between a variety of bookmarked cookbooks, archived emails, and batter-stained scraps cut from an age-old magazine. Wouldn’t it be fabulous to have them all in one place?

And since, hosting a cookie swap is a great way to get together and exchange gifts with friends during the busy season, we thought a virtual cookie swap would be the perfect way to connect, compile a library of delicious baked goodies and support a wonderful cause!

Through the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer™, you can join in the fight against pediatric cancer by raising funds and awareness through bake sales and cookie exchanges. For each cookie exchanged or sold this holiday season (November-December), GLAD® will donate $.10, up to $100,000. To sweeten the pot, we will donate an additional $.10 for each cookie recipe contributed to this virtual cookie swap!

We all have that one recipe, whether it's for the viscots your Gram used to bake, that special kolache Aunt Rose served on Christmas morning, or the gingerbread cookies decorated by you and your Mom, right? Share that special experience with us in your blog post along with your special recipe. Please don't forget to include the VCS badge in the body of your post so we can include it in the linky party!

Grab badge code here:

Don't have a blog, but want to participate? Simply add your story and recipe in the comments section below, and the recipe will be counted in our donation list!

Technique of the Week: Braising

2011-11-29T21:55:00.001-05:00

Braising is a long, slow, moist method of cooking used for cuts of meat, poultry, and game that are too tough to roast. Braising utilizes the combination of heat, time, and moisture to break down the tough connective tissue collagen in meat. Many classic braised dishes such as coq au vin are highly evolved methods of cooking tough and otherwise unpalatable foods. Pressure cooking and slow cooking (as in a crockpot) are other forms of braising.

Braised meats are usually cooked in one piece which are first seared in oil and then cooked with vegetables in a tightly covered pot with a close-fitting lid. The dish is then cooked in a low-temp oven or simmered on the stove top with a surprising small amount of braising liquid.

Braised Pot Roast
1 beef roast, lean chuck, bottom round, or rump, about 3 to 4 pounds
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
½ cup carrots, cut into ½” chunks
4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 small bay leaf
1 cup beef broth
1 can (13 ounces) diced tomatoes (can substitute crushed)
8 ounces baby portabella mushrooms, washed and sliced (optional)

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over high heat. Do not begin to sear meat until pan is quite hot. Salt and pepper the meat on both sides and brown the roast on all sides in the hot oil. Add the onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms; reduce heat to medium and sauté, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and tomatoes and then bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the beef is very tender. You can also place the Dutch oven in a 325oF oven for the same length of time. We serve this pot roast with mashed potatoes or egg noodles and a tossed green salad.

Dried porcini mushrooms can be used in lieu of the baby portabella mushrooms. Put ¼ cup of dried porcini in a cup or small bowl and add enough boiling water to just cover them. Steep them for 20 minutes or until they've expanded. Drain them, reserving the liquid, and mince them. You can use the reserved mushroom liquid in lieu of some of the beef broth.

Back to the Roots Golden Borscht

2011-11-27T01:21:00.000-05:00

In response to a post by Archana Potdar of The Mad Scientist's Kitchen, we are going “Back to the Roots.” We started this blog several years ago, as a way to record all our family recipes, traditions and tricks for our boys to have when they grow up. Along the way, we have tried new ingredients and created new recipes that have shaped new traditions.

When considering an older post for a new twist (and never being able to resist a play-on-words), the obvious choice for a recipe redux had to be roasted beets. These root vegetables are even more appropriate given that Archana asked for vegetarian options for included recipes.

The first thing that leaps to mind when we think of beets is a traditional Ukrainian borscht; beet soup. So, for a makeover with a new twist, we decided to use golden beets instead of the typical magenta-colored roots. We used chicken (or vegetable) broth instead of beef broth and orange juice instead of red wine or vinegar which seemed to better complement the flavor of these yellow-fleshed beets. We also used yogurt instead of sour cream for an added tang.

1 cup roasted beets, peeled and sliced
1 cup chicken broth or vegetable stock
¼ cup orange juice
2-3 cloves of roasted garlic
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
Yogurt (we used FAGE Total Greek-style)*
Fresh chives, chopped for garnish

Place the beets in a small roasting or baking dish in one layer. Drizzle with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast until tender and easily pierced with a knife, about 45-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel using a paring knife or by pushing the skin with your fingers. Slice the beets and place in a food processor or blender. Add stock, orange juice, roasted garlic, salt and pepper and puree to desired consistency.
Refrigerate until cold. (While borscht is occasionally served hot, it is most often served cold.) Taste the soup and adjust seasonings before serving with a dollop of yogurt and chopped chives.

*As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering theFAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway.

Cranberry Sauce - Two Ways

2011-11-24T09:16:00.000-05:00

The botanical name for the North American large-berry variety of cranberry, vaccinium macrocarpon, comes from the Latin words vacca, meaning cow (since cows seem to be fond of them) and macro meaning means large, with oval leaves. The English term “cranberry” derives from "craneberry" named because the plant's flowers that dip down and resemble the head of a crane (which grow in bogs where cranes make their home and the bird’s seem to like them as well.)

The Pilgrims learned about cranberries from the Native Americans, who discovered the usefulness of the berry’s benzoic acid as a natural preservative. Cranberry sauce became commonplace when General Ulysses S. Grant ordered it to be served to the troops during the Civil War in 1864.

In 1912, "Ocean Spray Cape Cod Cranberry Sauce" became the first commercially canned cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce is incredibly easy to make at home. There are differences in flavor preference depending on where the sauce is made. European prefer a slightly sour-tasting sauce, while in Americas prefer a more sweetened mixture.

The most basic cranberry sauce consists of cranberries boiled in sugar water until the berries pop and the mixture thickens. Some recipes include other ingredients such as slivered almonds, orange juice, zest, ginger, maple syrup, port, or cinnamon.

Basic Cranberry Sauce
1 (12 oz.) bag of cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice

Rinse cranberries in cold water and remove any damaged or soft berries. In a medium-sized saucepan dissolve the sugar in the orange juice over medium heat. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. The natural pectin in the cranberries will cause the sauce to continue to thicken as it cools.

Easy Cranberry Relish
1 (12 oz.) bag of cranberries
1 whole orange
½ cup sugar

Rinse cranberries in cold water and remove any damaged or soft berries. Wash the orange (yes, the whole orange) and cut the whole orange into quarters. Place berries and orange quarters in a food processor and pulse until pieces are minced to your desired consistency. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your food processor.

Pour mixture into a bowl and add sugar stirring to mix. Place in the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Stir relish again just before serving.

Lifestyle Feature Article on November 30, 2011

No-Place-Like-Home Oatmeal Cookies

2011-11-19T16:42:00.000-05:00

Dorothy had it right when she clicked her heels and wished her away out of Oz and back to her Kansas farm by repeating the mantra “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…“

We are blessed with the gift of warm and cozy home and though I like to complain about doing mundane chores, I am rarely happier than when doing those routine tasks amidst the drone of domestic machinery and a background of football commentary on a chilly Saturday afternoon.

You can imagine then that there is a ripple in the time-space continuum when hubby is out of town especially on a weekend. Having the opportunity to go quail hunting with his buddies, he skedaddled on a Friday with plans to return on Sunday. In an attempt to express that he would be missed (and to remind him of what he would be missing), I made a batch of his favorite cookies for the long drive to his destination to be shared with his travel-mates.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
1 large egg
½ cup raisins

In a medium bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, milk, and eggs, and mix well to the mixer, and then add flour mixture. Beat ingredients until just combined; do not over mix. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in raisins. Place cookie dough in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 350oF. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough using a tablespoon and place on one of the prepared cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing balls 3 inches apart. You can press the dough down with the back of a spoon to flatten into 2-inch diameters if you prefer flatter cookies.

Bake in the pre-heated oven until golden but still soft in center which should take about 16 to 18 minutes. Rotate the pans between oven shelves halfway through baking. When nicely browned, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. This recipe makes a manageable batch of about 2 dozen small cookies. My family is spoiled and prefers fresh cookies over those that have been frozen thus giving me an excuse to bake more often and them an excuse to stay home because, in the end, there really is no place like it.

Technique of the Week: Trussing

2011-11-15T11:20:00.001-05:00

Trussing is a technique used for birds and roasts to keep the meat in a uniform shape to ensure even cooking. Trussing helps the meat keep its shape and holds in natural juices while cooking.

Trussing a bird:
Trussing a turkey means tying the legs and wings together and closings all cavities to give the bird a nicer and much more presentable appearance. While trussing isn't necessary for cooking, it can actually make the legs and thighs take longer to cook, since the bird is pressed against itself. Trussing also makes the bird easier to carve.

Remove the bird from its packaging. If giblets are available, remove them (they will be wrapped separately and placed in the body cavity) and set them aside to make gravy. Thoroughly wash the bird inside and out under running tap water. Pat skin dry with paper towels and place the bird breast side down on a clean surface.

Fold the wing tips over and secure them behind the shoulder, tucking them neatly under the bird in doing so. This keeps them from cooking too quickly.

Using a trussing needle (or large embroidery needle) and fine cotton string, pull the skin of the neck flap over the neck opening and sew the cavity closed. A toothpick can be used if necessary.

If you are stuffing the bird, fill the body and neck cavities loosely with dressing just before roasting; being careful not to overfill. Pull the skin taut from the breast and fold over stuffing, tucking in the Pope’s nose (fatty tail flap) and sewing the cavity closed with the trussing needle and cotton twine.

Use kitchen string to tie the bird's legs together, pressing the legs close to the turkey body. To secure the legs, press them firmly into the breast, tucking any excess skin between the legs and the breast. Cross the ends of the drumsticks together and tie several loops of string around the drumstick ends and then knot the string.

Trussing a Roast:
The technique is for tying a roast is the same whether you're working with pork, beef, or lamb. Begin with a long piece of standard butcher's twine and bring the string up and around to the top of the roast, forming the letter 'A' with the string being the cross, then pull gently but firmly.

Slowly wrap the string around the feed side again to make another tie, and then pull the string, holding your fingers against the knots to tighten lightly. You want a slight indentation in the meat, but the meat should not be squeezed too tightly. To finish the tie, make the letter 'C', pulling the end of the string through to make another knot. Repeat this process every few inches along the roast.

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Moroccan-Style Candy Cap Filling

2011-11-12T11:36:00.011-05:00

I have lived on the East Coast my entire life with few regrets until I tried the Candy Cap mushrooms I received from Marx Foods. My introduction started at my mailbox. When I opened it, I was bombarded by the heady aroma of … butterscotch? With startled curiosity, I opened the package and the aroma erupted, filling the whole room with a wonderful nutty-maple scent. Imagine my surprise to find that a small plastic bag filled with dried mushrooms was imparting such an abundance of fragrance! Perhaps the potpourri industry should consider using these little gems.

Candy cap mushrooms (Lactarius rubidus) which are indigenous the West Coast, primarily coastal California, can be used fresh, however, they are primarily harvested for use in dry form because they are far more flavorful when dried, and can keep their flavor for years.

Visions of sugar plums danced through my head while considering a recipe in which to highlight the candy caps. While strolling through the market, my gaze fell upon two gorgeous acorn squash and I knew exactly how I would use the unusual and unique fungi to underscore their unequaled soft, honeyed flavor.

Moroccan Stuffed Acorn Squash
2 medium acorn squashes, halved and seeded
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ ounce dried Candy Cap mushrooms, reconstituted and chopped
½ medium onion, finely chopped
½ lb. ground beef (or lamb)
1-2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons Kosher salt, to taste
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup white or brown rice, cooked
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400oF. Wash acorn squash to remove waxy exterior coating and cut them in half horizontally. Using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, remove seeds and make a nicely shaped hole in each half. If the squash halves will not stand steadily on their bottoms, then cut a small portion of the bottom off to make an even surface. Season the four cavities with salt and pepper, then brush with olive oil before placing them cut side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet or shallow pan. Bake squash until tender which should take about 35 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, rehydrate the Candy Cap mushrooms by placing them in a ½ cup of boiling water and allow them to sit until the water is cool. Strain the mushrooms and use the reserved mushroom water to cook the rice according the package instructions. Chop the mushrooms and them set aside.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add ground beef, chopped Candy Caps, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until meat is browned and cooked through which should take about 5 to 7 minutes. If there is an excess amount of fat, drain before adding rice. Add rice and sauté until rice is fully coated with pan juices.

Once squash halves are done (a knife inserted through the flesh meets no resistance,) turn upwards and add the rice mixture to the empty cavities, then drizzle the tops with pure maple syrup and place back in the oven for 10 minutes until warmed through and the tops are browned. Allow to cool slightly (they retain heat) and serve with a spoon. Scoop spoonfuls of tender squash with the aromatic filling and prepare your tastebuds for an amazing taste sensation.

As the filling was cooking the whole house smelled of maple and cinnamon! It was like a warm comforting cloud which enveloped us, making us crave the finished creation. We all dove into dinner with reckless abandon. (Even our oldest, who is not a big fan of squash, decimated his portion down to the skin!) The intensity of the candy caps shone through and truly complemented and accentuated the flavors of the filling and squash. I may be willing to consider a move to the West Coast!

Simple Satisfying Split Pea Soup Week

2011-11-10T11:37:00.000-05:00

During this Split Pea Soup Week, I am reminded of my first welcoming bowl of this sort of nourishment on a foggy, clammy day in London. You can ask me the name of the pub where I consumed this scrummy sustenance; I have no idea. The creamy, hammy potage served with a piece of dry toast and a shandy* were all that were needed to chase the dampness from my tour-weary bones.

There is a neighborhood pub on every corner, most of which have split pea soup on the luncheon menu alongside ever-present plates of bangers and mash. As a peckish 16-year-old from rural North Georgia, I was so busy absorbing all the sites and scenes I had experienced that morning that it never occurred to me to look at the sign hanging outside before pushing through the door to immediate warmth and comfort.

Pea soup is highly under-rated and an utter doddle to make. In fact, I chuckle when I walk down the aisle at the grocery and see “instant pea soup” sold in packets. It is absolutely brilliant dish for a rainy and dank day.

1 lb. (2 1/4 cups) green split peas (soaked overnight)
2 1/2 quarts of water
2-3 tablespoons ham, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oregano-infused olive oil, for drizzling
Croutons for garnish

Pick over the peas and remove any stone and soak overnight (if you remember.) Drain and place in a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Skim the scum off the top of the soup for several minutes, until the scum ceases to rise, then reduce the heat and allow peas to simmer.

Add grated carrots (you can use a food processor, but a grater is faster and easier to clean), ham, garlic, and bay leaf and cover loosely. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 1 to 1 ½ hour (less if soaked overnight.) Stir occasionally to prevent peas from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

First, remove the bay leaf. The soup should be fairly smooth with small bits of ham, but if you want a super smooth, you may want to use a blender. An immersion blender works stonking well for this. If you are using a regular blender, take care to work in batches and only fill the blender halfway if the soup is still hot, and hold down the lid while blending.

Return the purée to the pot and heat to serve. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the luvvly-jubbly draught into warm bowls and drizzle with olive oil and garnish with easy-peasy croutons.

Easy-Peasy Croutons:
I love this short cut (probably because I choose to believe that I came up with it myself.) Toast a few slices of day-old bread and rub with a clove of garlic and brush with olive oil (or if you REALLY need them in a jiffy, spray them with cooking spray.) Cut the toasted bread into cubes and Tally-Ho!

*A shandy is beer mixed with “lemonade” which in Great Britain another name for citrus-flavored soda akin to Sprite or 7-Up (just like potato chips are called “crisps” and French fries are called “chips”). The proportion of beer to lemonade is normally half-and-half, but can be adjusted to taste. You should also be aware that European beverages are a tad dodgy in the refrigeration department and are not served icy cold as they are in America, as a result I preferred a greater ratio of lemonade to beer!

Technique of the Week: Stuffing

2011-11-08T05:35:00.000-05:00

In cooking, stuffing or filling is an edible concoction used to fill a cavity in another food item. Many foods may be stuffed, including meats, vegetables, egg, and fruits. In addition to stuffing the body cavity of animals, including mammals, birds, and fish, various cuts of meat may be stuffed after they have been deboned or a pouch has been cut into them. Many types of vegetables are also suitable for stuffing after their seeds or flesh has been removed; tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms are common items for stuffing.

The term stuffing usually refers to the mixture placed into a turkey for the traditional Thanksgiving meal, while dressing denotes the same mixture cooked outside the bird. Turkey stuffing usually consists of bread crumbs or cubed, dried bread, with onion, celery, salt, pepper, and other spices and herbs such as oregano, sage and thyme.

Almost any ingredient may serve as stuffing such as contain bread, rice, vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs cheese and even tofu. Oysters are a traditional stuffing component for Thanksgiving. In England, a popular stuffing is sausage seasoned with sage, onion and apple. Other types of fruits and dried fruits are often added to stuffing including prunes, apricots and raisins.

The Roman cookbook "De Re Coquinaria" (c. 1498) includes the earliest documented recipes for stuffing for chicken, hare, pig, and even dormouse. Most of the stuffing mixtures described used vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and stale bread, and frequently include organ meats such as chopped liver or sweetbreads. Stuffing has been known been several names throughout history including “farce,” “stuffing,” “forcemeat,” and “dressing.”

It should be noted that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) cautions that cooking animals with a body cavity that is filled with stuffing can present potential food safety issues. Even when the cooked meat reaches a safe temperature, the stuffing inside may still contain bacteria (and if the meat is cooked until the stuffing reaches a safe temperature, the meat may be overcooked). The USDA recommends cooking stuffing /dressing separately from the bird and not buying pre-stuffed birds. Of course, stuffing is not recommended for turkeys that are to be fried, grilled or smoked.

Recipes using the technique of stuffing:

Steaming Hot Bowl of Watergate Reminiscences

2011-11-06T07:54:00.001-05:00

Last week, we had the distinct pleasure of attending the lecture of two of the most respected and well known journalists in the country, Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein. With Election Day this week and the 40th Anniversary of the Watergate Scandal rapidly approaching, the session held at Emory University was quite timely.

These two former Washington Post reporters were the first to uncover information suggesting that knowledge of the Watergate break-in, and attempts to cover it up, led deep into the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and even the White House.

The lecture setting was informal with both journalists cajoling and openly interrupting each other (with previous permission granted). The two waxed nostalgic about the good ‘ole days of typewriter ribbons and old-school, gum-shoe sleuthing. Not surprisingly, they are still bitter about the level of arrogance demonstrated by all involved with the scandal. They encouraged young journalists to always use integrity in seeking the truth and to confirm leads and tips, and cautioned against being drawn in by the immediacy that is created by gossip-driven, internet-based media.

In preparation for this post, I had planned to post the recipe for the ever popular Watergate Salad to add to the above paragraphs, but found (just as Woodward and Bernstein did all those years ago,) that there was more to the story. As it turns out, the two most popular recipes attributed to the Watergate scandal (Watergate salad and Watergate cake) did not appear in any of the original Watergate cookbooks printed in the early 1970s. Both were publicized by Kraft Foods and Standard Brands (respectively) well after the Watergate scandal occurred.

In 1973, seven Bostonians referring to themselves as "The Committee to Write the Cookbook" turned a parlor game into a cookbook. The idea for The Watergate Cookbook (subtitled Or Who’s in the Soup?) began when the hostess served chicken in peaches to her dinner guests and one of them dubbed it “Cox’s In-peach Chicken” and others took up the pursuit.

While the cookbook contains real recipes, it is also an interesting read when taken in context. This compilation was just one way for frustrated voter’s to express their anger and shock over the antics of Washington politics during this period of time and is certainly more intriguing when compared with decades of Junior League-esque spiral-bound collections of senators' wives’ recipes for hot crab dip, easy beef burgundy and, yes, Kraft’s Pistachio Delight also known as Watergate salad.

"Nixon's Perfectly Clear Consomme" is the first among the 108 recipes in this tongue-in-cheek cookbook. The recipe for "Ervin’s (referring to Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee’s Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr.) Bouillabaisse" says “put a kettle of fish on the front burner and keep the pot boiling; do not put a lid on it.”

Other recipes bring back memories of the Watergate scandal and its players including Ellsberg's Leek Soup, Ehrlichman's Cover-Up Casserole, Kennedy's Contented Sole, McCord's Spilled Beans, Billy Graham's Eggs Benedictine, Hunt's Hush Puppies, Republican Peeking Duck, Mitchell's Cooked Goose with Stuffing, Cox's In-Peach Chicken, Martha's Sweet and Sour Tongue, Liddy's Clam-up Chowder, Magruder's Dandy Ly'in Salad, Sauteed Slippery Eels a la Deanoise, and GOP Cookie Crumbles.

This easy recipe commemorating Judge John Sirica, who presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars and did not believe the claim that they had acted alone (and was named TIME magazine's Man of the Year in 1973,) makes a quick dinner or appetizer similar to our Linguine with Clam Sauce:

Sirica’s Steamed Clams
4 pounds clams, scrubbed
1 cup water
1 cup dry (inexpensive) white wine

Bring water and wine to a boil in a stockpot. Add clams; cover and return to a boil.
Keep the heat on them until they open up; about five minutes. Immediately remove open clams with a slotted spoon. Continue cooking remaining the clams for an additional 2 to 3 minutes; they may open. Discard any remaining unopened clams and serve the clams immediately with the clam broth.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Bark

2011-11-02T22:52:00.002-04:00

Pumpkin Spice Lattes, the ever-popular caffeinated beverage of the season, have a cult following similar to that of the McRib sandwich. So when I received a sample of Godiva’s new Pumpkin Spice ground coffee as a member of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I couldn’t wait to make my own PSL. What could be better than coffee, milk and pumpkin pie spice topped with whipped cream? Wait, I know – chocolate! Then I had an “Aha” moment. Another seasonal food item popped in my mind and an inspiration was born: Pumpkin Spice Latte Bark!

So without further ado, here’s how to make the PSL ultimate treat:

12 ounces white chocolate chips, melted
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
6 caramel squares, unwrapped and melted
2 teaspoons Godiva Pumpkin Spice coffee or (2 teaspoons freshly ground regular coffee and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)
2 teaspoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted, salted and hand crushed

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

White chocolate & pumpkin swirl

Place the white chocolate chips in the top pan of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl. Place over simmering water in the lower pan. Turn off the heat and let stand, without stirring, until the chocolate begins to melt. Then stir until just melted and smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine unwrapped caramels and pumpkin puree. Stir in the Godiva Pumpkin Spice coffee and stir until smooth. Then, swirl the caramel pumpkin mixture into the white chocolate, and spread onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with hand-crushed pepitas and an extra pinch of pumpkin spice if desired. Refrigerate, uncovered, until the bark is set.

Gently peel the candy from the waxed paper. Break or cut into pieces. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (if it lasts that long.) Try adding a piece to your morning cup of joe for a sumptuous start to your day!

Oh, if you are like us, you never have pumpkin pie spice in the cabinet so here’s how to make your own:

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Keep any extra in an airtight container to keep on hand for the mandatory pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!

Technique of the Week: Brining

2011-11-01T21:44:00.000-04:00

Meats soaked in a brine solution prior to storage last longer without spoilage which is why brining was a method used to preserve meats for prolonged periods of time prior to the introduction of refrigeration. Brining is no longer used to preserve food but rather to tenderize and flavor it. Lean and often mildly flavored meats with a tendency to overcook losing much of their natural moisture like chicken, turkey, and pork making them good candidates for brining. Many types of seafood also take well to brining, especially when they are subjected to cooking methods that cause extreme moisture loss as is the case with most recipes for shrimp and other fleshy crustaceans.

Soaking meat in a salt-saturated solution causes the muscle tissues of the meat to absorb water through osmosis. Once the water is absorbed, denaturation causes a sticky matrix which forms a moisture barrier that captures and prevents the water from leaking out as the meat cooks. These two processes yield tenderness and a unique flavor.

Some cheeses are also washed in brine to enhance the ripening process. Not only does the brine carry flavor into the cheese, but the salty environment nurtures the growth of the specific bacteria, which impart pronounced odors (Limburger) and unique flavors. The same bacteria can also have some effect on cheeses that are simply ripened in humid conditions, like Camembert. Accumulations of these "smear bacteria" show up as a sticky orange-red layer on some brine-washed cheeses.

Both table salt and kosher salt can be used to make a brine solution. We prefer kosher salt because it dissolves more readily and has a cleaner flavor than table salt. Table Salt contains iodine and anti-caking agents that can affect flavor. Generally, table salt is more “salty” than kosher salt which is why you should use less table salt in a brine than kosher salt.

Basic Brine Solution
½ cup kosher salt or ¼ cup iodized table salt
½ cup sugar
1 quart cold water

Plan for about 1 quart of brine for each pound of meat. If using a 5-gallon bucket, you will not need more than 4 gallons of brine. Combine the salt, sugar, and COLD water in the 5-gallon bucket. We line our bucket with a kitchen garbage bag for easy clean-up. Place thawed meat (with any innards removed) in the brine solution. If necessary, weigh down meat (a plate works well) to ensure it is fully immersed. Cover the container set in cool area for up 1 hour per pound (for not less than 30 minutes) up to 8 hours or overnight. Remove meat from brine and pat dry and discard brining solution.

The classic French way to cure pork is to brine it. Typically, brine for curing contains salt, sugar, herbs, and spices. It acts as a marinade and a cure at the same time, producing pork a bit like a mild ham. Flavored brines can be made from fruit extracts, various herbs, and even alcohol including beer and liquor. One of the most appealing aspects of flavor brining is the freedom to create your very own flavor using the ingredients of your choosing. Examples include: black peppercorns (1 tablespoon); allspice berries (1 teaspoon); fresh rosemary or sage (2 sprigs); or, bay leaf (2 whole) to name a few.

Recipes using the brining technique:

Sugar Skulls For Dias De La Muertos

2011-10-30T21:16:00.000-04:00

The Mexican Days of the Dead are celebrated on November 1st and 2nd; a two-day celebration of deceased loved ones. In this ritual observance rooted in a bizarre blend of pre-Colombian and Roman Catholic practices, Mexican families make merry with the souls of their dearly departed. Spirits of the dead are welcomed back to their “homes” with beautifully decorated altars made by their loved ones with offerings such as sugar skulls, food, candles and flowers to enjoy a day on earth.

Sugar skulls are a traditional folk art from Southern Mexico and are an integral part of Dias De La Muertos or “Day of the Dead” celebrations. Sugar skulls are exactly what the name implies: skull-shaped sugar made from a granulated white sugar mixture that is pressed into special skull molds. The sugar mixture is allowed to dry and then the sugar skull is decorated with icing, feathers, colored foil and more. While the ingredients of sugar skulls are edible the skulls are generally decorated with non-edible items and used only for decorative purposes.

When considering the origin of Mexican sugar skulls, it's important to remember that sugar is not actually native to Mexico. The making of sugar figures is actually a European tradition as well, and can be traced back to Palermo, Italy, where figurines were made out of sugar as religious decorations.

Sugar was first introduced to the Americas before "Mexico" even existed as a country. The original Spanish settlers quickly discovered that the conditions in the "New World" were perfect for growing sugar. Mexican sugar sculpture dates back to the 17th century when Italian missionaries visited the Americas. Mexicans during that time period had very little money, but had learned from the Catholic friars how to make decorations out of a plentiful resource; sugar. As Spanish Catholic beliefs began to mix with native Mesoamerican beliefs, the Mexicans started making sugar skulls as part of their Dias de los Muertos festivities. These decorated memorials have become more and more creative and extravagant over time. The designs are usually whimsical and brightly colored with stripes, dots, and swirls of icing to enhance the features of the skulls. They are meant to be festive, not morbid or scary.

Sugar Skulls
2 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 egg white

Add the water and mix with your fingers until all the sugar mixture is moistened. Once the mixture is about the texture of "moist beach sand" it is ready to mold. You may need a bit of extra water if so just add a few drops at a time. If it is a really humid day, you may choose to try this project on another day!

Once the sugar is evenly moist, pack it into the molds. We used a “medium-sized” mold which yielded 4 skulls. Make sure to pack the mold very firmly. It was surprising how much sugar dough was needed to pack each mold tightly. Scrape the mold with a straight edge (use the back of a butter knife), then pack again. Check the mold to make sure all the indentations are smoothly filled. Lay a small square of cardboard cut to fit the mold on top of the molded skull and invert onto the cardboard. Gently lift the mold away from the sugar skull and place the sugar skull in a warm, dry space for at least 8 hours to dry. This time will vary depending on room temperature and humidity.

If you are impatient and you try to move the skull before it dries, it will fall crumble apart. If this happens just place the sugar mixture back in the bowl, add additional moisture if needed and remold the skull. When the skulls are completely dry, brush them off (we used a paint brush) and assemble. Make a batch of Royal Icing (click here for recipe).

Use icing bags and pipe icing and decorate as desired. We named the skulls before we started and relayed memories about the dearly departed we were celebrating as we decorated our skulls. Set the skulls aside to allow the icing to fully dry.

~Research and article written by Sonny Romeo for AP World History project

Pumpkin & Toasted Chestnut Scone Yumminess

2011-10-28T08:28:00.000-04:00

As a general rule, Dom cooks our evening meals and I am the baker in the house. I have been baking cookies, cakes, and bread since I was a teenager, but there is one baked item that has always intimidated me. As a consequence, I find that I crave them excessively: scones. I have tried making them on several occasions each more disastrous than the last resulting in rocks or dusty lumps tasting of baking powder.

When I came across a recipe for pumpkin scones, I got my nerve up to try it. Pumpkin is such a versatile vegetable perhaps it would make for a more forgiving creation. We had some leftover roasted chestnuts which were screaming to be added.

Imagine my complete surprise when the most gorgeous lightly-browned triangles emerged from the oven. But, as we all know, looks aren’t everything - the “proof is in the pudding” in this case the pumpkin, egg and milk mixture. I brewed some coffee and plucked up the courage to try one. A wonderful spicy steam escaped as I broke open the scone elevating my hopes of success. I took a bite and (insert a drum roll here) YUM! Oh man, these are miraculous scones! Bookmark this page. NOW!

Pumpkin Chestnut Scones
2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
¾ cup (6 tablespoons) cold butter
½ cup canned pumpkin (don’t be afraid to be generous)
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
½ cup roasted chestnuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 425oF. Place chopped roasted chestnuts on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven while it pre-heats. Shake the pan a few times to evenly distribute heat. Toast them for about ten minutes and then remove from oven and allow to cool before adding to dough. They will get crisper as they cool.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. Cut in COLD butter. When the mixture is crumbly and no obvious chunks of butter are visible, set aside.

[The purpose of “cutting in” is to create evenly-sized pieces of butter, coated with flour distributed throughout the dough. When these little pieces of butter melt, they create layers of flakiness. In some recipes it’s the little pockets of steam that are important. (Remember the spicy steam I mentioned above?) It helps to cut the cold butter into small pieces first and then toss them separately into the flour making sure they each get covered in flour before you start “cutting.” There’s several ways to actually cut in the butter. I used a pastry blender made specifically for this purpose. My mom uses two butter knives moving them in opposite directions (kind of like a sharpening motion) actually cutting the butter. A fork works too, but be careful not to over “mash” the butter.]

In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, egg and milk. Then gently fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and chopped chestnuts. Do not over mix or you will defeat the purpose of cutting in the butter.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, forming a circle that is about 1″ thick. Cut the dough into equally-sized triangles. My dough was a bit wet and sticky, but when I made the triangles they held together with no problems. The recipe says it should make six, but I ended up with 8 generously sized scones.

Transfer dough triangles onto a parchment-lined baking sheet using a spatula. Reshape if needed before baking. (Or, do it the lazy way and drop blobs with a tablespoon that are about the size you want, and then flatten and shape them.) Sprinkle the tops with a bit a sugar for sweet crusty tops.

Bake in a preheated oven for 14-16 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool (if you can wait that long!!)

A Healthier Southern Sweet Potato Pie

2011-10-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

With cooler weather and Thanksgiving around the corner, ‘tis the season for making pies. It is also the season for sweet potatoes which we enjoy in many different forms; baked, mashed, and as fries or chips. A nutritional superhero, sweet potatoes are one of the best vegetables you can eat. The starchy, tuberous root vegetable is loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

In an attempt to maintain the health benefits of the sweet potato, we revamped our decades-old recipe which originally called for sour cream and 6 egg yolks. We replaced the sour cream with 100% natural, low calorie FAGE plain Greek yogurt* which contains whole milk, cream and cultures, and no added sweeteners, thickeners or preservatives. We also decreased the number of yolks to four to create a healthier version of the traditional Southern classic.

2 cups sweet potatoes, baked and mashed
1 ¼ cups FAGE plain Greek yogurt* (or sour cream)
¾ cup packed, dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
4 egg yolks
Salt
1 pie crust, deep dish
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

We frequently have leftover mashed sweet potatoes, but you can also bake 2-3 sweet potatoes, allow to cool, and then place them in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand or stand mixer until smooth.

Add yogurt, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, yolks, and salt to the sweet potatoes and beat until well combined. Pour this batter into the prepared pie shell and then place onto an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan in the event any filling overflows the crust.

Toast the pecans by placing them in the pre-heating oven for 10-15 minutes. When cool to the touch, break into small pieces. Mix chopped pecans with the brown sugar and sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie filling, then drizzle maple syrup over the pecan topping.

Bake the pie for 50 to 55 minutes or until the custard reaches 165oF degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Because the filling contains eggs it is best to keep the pie refrigerated after cooling. Top with fresh whipped cream for an authentic Southern dessert.

*In addition to enjoying the health benefits of FAGE Greek yogurt, we have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE as part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. You, too, can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway.

Technique of the Week: Crimping

2011-10-25T08:23:00.000-04:00

Crimping is the techniques used to decorate the edges of a pie in order to ensure the edges are well sealed. Begin by trimming the extra dough hanging over the edge with a knife or your fingers. Then, tuck the dough around the edge, creating an even ridge around the circumference of the pie plate. If you find a thin spot, you can add a little bit of dough from the scraps you removed earlier. Once you have an even edge on the way around the pie, pinch the pastry dough with a finger and thumb of one hand and pressing with the fore finger of the other hand to create a triangular pattern all the way around the pie. Once you have gone around the perimeter of the pie, then go back and lightly press down on the top of the crimped edge to even out the height giving the pie a fancy fluted crust.

Crimping can also be done with a fork, but is more common on smaller items such as hand pies, empanadas, or pierogi.

There has been much debate over the centuries as to how to create the flakiest crust. Some recipes call for ice water, cold butter or even vinegar. My Mom (dubbed the Pie Queen by Dom) uses this super simple recipe with nary a complaint from consumers.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
5 tablespoons cold water or milk

This recipe makes enough for two regular pies, a top and a bottom or one large pie with a little leftover. Mix ingredients together until well combined creating a large ball. Split ball in half and flatten out the dough beginning with a rolling pin. This dough is not sensitive to the heat from your hands, so once the dough is fairly flat, you can move it to the pie plate and press it out creating an even layer in and around the plate. Using the technique above, crimp the edge of your crust. The finished crust can be refrigerated until the pie is ready to be added.

You can use the scraps of dough to create pretty decorations for your pies using cookie cutters and sprinkling the cut-out shapes with a little sugar before placing them on top of your pie. As a little girl, I loved pie baking day because Mom always had leftover dough scraps that she would roll out and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. She would bake the little “tarts” until the crust was crispy and the cinnamon sugar melted into a candy topping which was usually still warm as my sister and I came in from the long bus ride home.

Taste of Atlanta = Tastes for Every Palate

2011-10-23T19:52:00.000-04:00

What a glorious day for the 10th Anniversary of Taste of Atlanta, the annual showcase highlighting the incredible verve and diversity of Atlanta's amazing food scene. Sonny and I started by strolling through looking at all the options, stopping to chat with volunteers at the Community Coffee booth and sampling their coffee with chicory.

With so many amazing choices, Sonny and I had a difficult time selecting from all the delectable morsels available for tasting. Sonny started with a chipotle chocolate chip cookie from Pura Vida, and was then lured by the wonderful scent of St. Louis-style ribs being grilled at the Ribs n' Blues table. I was intrigued by Famous Chuck’s roast beef po’boy and had to see if it rivals our homemade version. We walked through the organic market featuring honeys, preserves, fresh vegetables and other homemade goodies, and sat for a while to listen to Sonya Jones of Sweet Auburn Bread Company describe how to make her famous apple cider pie.

Being a huge fan of sushi, Sonny tried the crab and cheese spring rolls from Tin Drum, and Himalayan rolls from Genki and washed them down with a sample of Razzleberry tea from Peace Tea. Chef Tina Aleandri from Noche and Chef Phillip Strange of Shout (sharing a tent) were having such a grand time bantering with the crowd (and each other) that I had to stop and try their sumptuous “Albondigas” (spanish meatballs in tomato broth,) the most incredible warm chestnut soup, and equally stunning salmon rillettes on crostini that they were offering. By far, the best morsels of the day!

We stopped in the Silent Auction tent which was filled with loads of merchandise and offers for discount deals in the metro area. All proceeds from the Silent Auction will benefit one of our favorite charities; Share our Strength's Cooking Matters™. Cooking Matters™ is cooking-based program that teaches nutrition, cooking, and household budgeting with a focus on teen education.

While the fish and chips from Ri-Ra Irish Pub looked very tasty, the line was longer than a summer day on the equator. We elected instead for free samples of Chobani Champions’ “Honey-nana” Greek-style yogurt, and then while Sonny tried a lamb slider from Max Lager’s, I nibbled on some of their apple-caramel bread pudding.

Feeling satiated and having had our fill of people-watching, we started strolling in the direction of the parking lot when we both did a double-take: Sonny for a slice of oreo cheesecake and I for a freshly made Nutella banana crepe both being offered by Café Intermezzo. Using our last few tickets (and loosening our belts), we indulged in one last treat before passing through the exit gates of the festival.

So much food, so little time (and stomach capacity)! We will have to wait another year to enjoy so many flavor sensations in one metro-Atlanta location. We are counting the days… 365 (it is a leap year!)

Big Fun at the Big Grill!

2011-10-21T23:17:00.000-04:00

Smoked wafted through the air as we approached the tented area that had been cordoned off for Taste of Atlanta’s kick-off party dubbed “The Big Grill” with proceeds benefiting Georgia Organics. The back area was brimming with Big Green eggs and the heady smell of cooking meat filled the air. Inside the atmosphere was very festive with decorated tables, cozy seating areas and ample drink stands (sponsored by Amstel Light). And the food… AH-mazing!

We started at the back with Serpas' crispy pulled duck on a cube of confit, Rathbun’s pork belly taco with banana mayonnaise, and JCT. Kitchen’s grilled quail breast with puffed farro and pomegranate reduction.

Stopping briefly to listen and enjoy the party tunes being sung by Atlanta’s popular Yacht Rock Schooner, we circled back to sample Lamb loin, with chick pea frites and smoked paprika aioli from Briza, mini shrimp and crab burgers with remoulade from Watershed and hanger steak sliders with pickled vegetable slaw and citrus crème fraiche from Ray’s on the River.

We were swooning from all the incredible flavors (and feeling a bit full,) so we avoided lines for samples of seared scallops with pumpkin risotto, braised brisket sliders and hyper-dressed burgers which stretched to Terre Haute. Instead we opted to give in to the temptation of The Barrelhouse’s banana pudding shooters with graham cracker streusel and lingering over pumpkin-chestnut and bourbon-burnt-sugar ice creams, Campari-blood-orange sorbet created by High Road Craft.

It was clear watching the jovial crowd that we were not the only ones who were enjoying indulging our palates with all the marvelous treats offered by Atlanta’s premier restaurants and chefs. And this is just the Kick-Off Party! We can only imagine the delights that await us tomorrow at the 10th Anniversary Taste of Atlanta festival.

Warm Kettle Chips with Marzetti Blue Cheese Sauce

2011-10-19T09:33:00.000-04:00

I was very excited when I received an email from Foodbuzz letting me know that we would be given an opportunity to try a bottle of Marzetti Simply Dressed® salad dressing as part of the Tastemaker program. I had a devil of a time deciding which bottle to choose from the enticing assortment which included Champagne, Ginger Sesame, Greek and Pomegranate. I finally selected Blue Cheese with the realization that it would be the most desirable to our teenage boys. I envisioned a “wedge salad” as I placed a head of iceberg lettuce in the cart, knowing full well that any remaining dressing would be used for hot wings and celery.

Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men… During Cross Country season, the guys arrive home in the evening STARVING. A phone call from Dom let me know that dinner would be delayed a while, so in a pinch I found a bag of Kettle potato chips in the pantry. Thinking quickly I turned the oven on 350oF and layed the some of the chips on a parchment lined (oven-safe) plate. I grabbed the bottle of Marzetti Simply Dressed® blue cheese dressing from the fridge and slathered the chips with dressing and popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes (as long as it took 2 boys to finishing showering and pour sodas into glasses.) Once removed from the oven I added a few freshly snipped chives (for Sonny’s benefit) to the plate and crumbled some blue cheese (originally purchased for the wedge salad) over the top. And, of course, they ate every last chip before I could get a picture!

Needless to say the guys were not disappointed when I made a second plate for Dom’s arrival home. And Dom, who thinks everything tastes better topped with arugula that has been tossed with truffle oil and salt added his garnish to the dish. I guess I need to buy a least one more bottle.

Would you like to try a bottle of Marzetti Simply Dressed® salad dressing? Click here for a $1.00 off coupon.

Technique of the Week: Sautéing

2011-10-17T15:57:00.028-04:00

The French word sauté is a past participle of the verb "to jump." Similar to pan-frying, this cooking method uses a small amount of fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Always heat your pan with oil before adding the ingredients. When ingredients are added to the pre-heated pan, they hop and "jump" around in the pan confirming that you have begun with a sufficient amount of heat. Only enough fat to lightly coat the bottom of the pan is needed for sautéing; too much fat will cause the food to fry rather than just to slide across the surface of the pan. Olive oil or clarified butter are commonly used for sautéing, but most fats will do. Regular butter will produce more flavor, but has a tendency to burn more quickly than other fats due to the presence of milk solids, so clarified butter is more fit for this use.

The most common use of this method is preparing vegetables for stews or casseroles. When sautéing, the vegetables should be stirred constantly because they are usually finely chopped and need to be kept moving to prevent them from burning and sticking in the hot pan. The browned vegetables are fully cooked while preserving its texture, moisture and flavor. If meat, chicken, or fish is sautéed, the sauté is often finished by deglazing the pan's residue to make a sauce. Sautéing differs from searing in that searing only browns the surface of the meat in preparation for other cooking methods.

Some of our recipes that include sautéing include:

Randomly Awesome Auburn Rice with Chanterelles & Chilies

2011-10-15T17:46:00.005-04:00

Imagine the excitement when we saw that Marx Foods was having another of its infamous foodie challenges! This time it was the Random Sample Challenge. We received a goodie box that included an Auburn rice mix, dried wild chanterelle mushrooms, Cascabel chilies, granulated dried New Mexican chilies and coarse smoked salt of which 2 of the 5 ingredients must be used in an original recipe creation. The contemplation began. It has been our experience that in most recipe competitions, the most “creative” (read outrageous here) concoctions win. So, we were all set to experiment with a smoke-salted, chocolate molé rice pudding, when Sonny (who could survive on buttered rice with black pepper alone) pointed out that we would not be able to enjoy the natural flavors of the rice mix once smothered in chocolate and chili pepper. So…

Changing gears, we decided to develop a recipe that would accentuate the natural flavors of the random goodies we had received starting (at Sonny’s request) with the Auburn rice blend of short grain brown rice and Himalayan red rice. The rice seed is the most important grain with regard to nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed by the world's human population, since a large portion of the corn crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption. Most types of rice can be eaten as brown or white rice. When only the outer shell of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, brown rice is produced. White rice is produced by further removing the next two layers (bran and germ) leaving the starchy endosperm exposed. Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice and has a chewy texture and mild nutty flavor.

Being huge fans of chanterelle mushrooms, we decided to reconstitute and use them even though it is recommended that dried chanterelles be used in dishes where the mushrooms are to be pureed because they can be woody and tough. For the record, this was not true at all. When re-hydrated these high quality mushrooms were rich and complex with fruity undertones.

Next, we decided to grind and add in both types of chili pepper to add depth and zing. Realizing the resulting dish was an overindulgence in earthy, elemental essences; we went all the way and finished the plate with a light sprinkling of the coarse smoked salt. The deep natural flavors of each ingredient were accentuated by one another yet fused into the perfect combination of tastes and toothsome textures which made a wonderful accompaniment to roasted chicken. Of course, Sonny commandeered the leftovers, adding a splash of soy sauce for lunch the next day.

¾ cup Marx Foods’ Auburn Rice Mix

1 ½ cup water

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

5-6 (about 2 oz.) Marx Foods’ dried chanterelle mushrooms, re-hydrated and chopped

1 Marx Foods’ dried Cascabel chili pepper, toasted and ground

¼ teaspoon Marx Foods’ granulated New Mexican chili pepper

Marx Foods’ coarse smoked salt to taste

White Truffle oil for drizzling (optional, but REALLY good!)

¼ cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

Ground black pepper to taste

Rehydrate chanterelles by placing them in a cup of boiling water and allow to sit until the water is cool. (We soaked them overnight, but only because we remembered to do so.) Strain the mushrooms and reserve the water for cooking the rice.

Rinse the rice blend before cooking and add the rice and water to a pot. Bring the water (and rice) to a boil, cover the pot, and reduce the temperature to low. Let the rice simmer for about 20 minutes, then turn the heat off leaving pot covered to allow rice to steam for another 15 or so minutes until grains are plump and tender.

Toast dried chilies and allow to cool before grinding as this restores the fresh flavor and texture. Remove stems and grind the pepper using a coffee grinder. (You can use a mortar and pestle or pepper mill if you don’t have a coffee grinder.)

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion until soft then add chopped reconstituted Chanterelle mushrooms, continue to sauté until golden brown. Add ground chili peppers and mix well. Then carefully add the cooked Auburn rice and fold together completely coating the rice and cooking of any remaining liquid. Turn rice out into a bowl and finish by drizzling with truffle oil and finishing with smoked sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Toast pine nuts in a pan on the stove, shaking the pan continually. When the nuts start to turn a light brown, remove from the pan and let cool on a plate until ready to use as a garnish. (Note: the pictures do not show the pine nuts, because of allergies.)

Technique of the Week: Boiling

2011-10-11T23:56:00.009-04:00

Following the adage, you must walk before you can run, this week’s technique is boiling. This, however, occurred to me after last week’s segment of blanching, which of course requires the use of boiled water. In the 1940’s, it was not uncommon to hear someone say, “she’s such a poor cook, she can’t even boil water,” as women began enjoying professional advancement in the workplace. In fact, this was the premise of several classic movies including Katharine Hepburn’s Woman of the Year and Barbara Stanwyck’s Christmas in Connecticut. While the advent of microwave ovens has made boiling water as simple as pressing a button, it is still wise to have an understanding of the basic principles. Who knows, it might even come in handy if the power goes out.

Boiling is cooking food in a liquid (water, stock, or milk) at the boiling point of 212oF. The boiling point can vary with the atmospheric pressure affected by altitude or weather. Dissolved solids (like salt or sugar) will increase the boiling point of water as well, but the effect is minimal. The amount normally used in cooking will effect less than a 1 degree change. In order to make any significant difference, you would need to add it in vast quantities.

As the liquid heats in the process of boiling, tiny bubbles appear on the bottom of the pot and rise to the surface. Gradually, the bubbles increase in size until large ones form, rise rapidly and break which produces a constant agitation of the liquid. There are several factors that influence the rapidity with which water may be brought to the boiling point; namely, the kind of vessel used, the amount of surface exposed, and the quantity of heat applied.

While water that is hot from the tap obviously boils faster than cold water, it is better to use cold water instead because hot tap water will contain more dissolved minerals from your pipes, which can give your food an off-flavor. A good point to bear in mind in preparing foods by boiling is that slowly boiling water has the same temperature as rapidly boiling water and is therefore able to do exactly the same work.

Liquid boils faster when the pot it’s in is covered. A cover placed on the saucepan increases the pressure inside the pot which in turn increases the boiling point of the liquid. Because the liquid is in a confined area, the molecules are constantly bombarding into one another creating greater kinetic energy. A lid also prevents a loss of water by condensing the steam as it rises against the cover; as water boils, some of the steam flows back down in the form of liquid.

The main foods that are cooked using this method are eggs (toughening the albumin,) vegetables (softening the cellulose fibers) and pasta (rehydrating and cooking the dough). Meats are sometimes placed in boiling liquid to relax the tissue and dissolve the fat, and then the heat is reduced to allow the meat to simmer as in stews. Boiling most foods until done typically renders them shrunken and tasteless (this is where blanching comes in.)

In addition to cooking, boiling renders water safe since it destroys any germs that may be present. However, boiled water is known to lose flavor. As this change is brought about by the loss of air during boiling, the flavor can be restored by shaking it in a partly filled jar or bottle to add air.

Boiled Water
Water
Heavy saucepan or pot

Fill pot about 2/3 to the top with cold water leaving room for expansion and agitation of the water’s surface. Cover pot and place on the stove top over high heat. The appearance tiny bubbles on the bottom of the pot indicate the water is close to the boiling point. Once water reaches a rolling boil (i.e., turbulently churning with large bubbles,) the heat can be reduced as extra heat is not necessary to maintain the boiling temperature. The boiling water is now ready for use in one of its many applications.

TOW Addendum: Sous Vide

2011-10-11T17:52:00.021-04:00

A friend pointed out that I had neglected to include a very important aspect of the technique of boiling food: Sous Vide - a method in which food sealed in airtight plastic bags is cooked in a water bath for a long time (72 hours is not unusual) at a temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 140 °F.

The term sous vide (pronounced soo-VEED) is French for "under vacuum" and was developed in the mid-1970s by chef Georges Pralus for the Restaurant Troisgros in Rouen, France.

Pralus initially applied the sous vide method to cooking foie gras (goose or duck liver), as a way to retain the fat content and improve texture. Other gastronomy pioneers soon began experimenting with this technique, applying it to all manners of food to boost flavor and appearance, maintaining the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period at relatively low temperatures.
Atlantan and Chef Richard Blais is one of those pioneers, whose mission is to introduce sous vide to a wider audience. Sous vide is a well-respected cooking method among gourmet chefs and can routinely be found in upscale restaurants. In addition, many large-scale restaurant and institutional kitchens use the method in order to prepare perfectly cooked and consistent dishes that eliminate guesswork, Chef Blais explains.

Because of the expensive equipment costs, upwards of several thousand dollars, until recently sous vide was largely been inaccessible to home cooks. However, the technique has recently gained traction among foodies and has made the leap into home kitchens with the Sous Vide Supreme.It is a restaurant secret for your gourmet kitchen!

contributed by Jim Brams of The Cook’s Warehouse

Be Aware - It's National October Month

2011-10-08T10:08:00.006-04:00

The U.S. has become prolific at creating "national month" and “national day” events to promote business and social interests. October is a particularly popular month to raise awareness for a variety of causes* including National Emergency Care and National Fire Safety Month. The below infographic from J.E.S. Restaurant Equipment shows some statistics and safety tips to help “celebrate” these two important issues. October is the perfect time to practice kitchen safety as we start spending more time in the kitchen preparing for the upcoming holiday season (and the knife safety images are perfect for Halloween!)

*And for the record, we really think that Vegetarians and Pork Lovers should consider celebrating in different months.

Technique of the Week: Blanching

2011-10-04T12:44:00.005-04:00

This is the first of a new series posts which will feature a different cooking technique each week. We chose blanching because we seem to be doing quite a bit of it lately with the gorgeous greens that are coming into season. I recently mentioned to a friend that we were having our favorite Swiss chard gratin for dinner. When she politely asked how to make it, I started the explanation with "first you clean the chard and blanch it." Her eyes immediately glazed over and she said, "I'll never make it - I don't even know what blanching is."

Blanching is the process of plunging raw food items into boiling water for a few minutes typically to soften, partly cook, or to remove a strong flavor. After a brief time in the boiling water, the food is then plunged into cold or iced water (shocked) to immediately stop the cooking process.

The term blanch used to mean "to whiten" and was used to whiten meats like veal. Today this method is more often used to remove the skins from certain fruits and nuts including tomatoes, peaches, pistachios and almonds or to destroy enzymes that will spoil the flavor and texture of vegetables when frozen. Blanching cleanses the surface of dirt and organisms, preserves the color and retards the loss of vitamins of vegetables, especially leafy greens such as broccoli rabe or kale.

In the case of asparagus, the technique of blanching is actually the preferred method of cooking the tender-stalked perennial. To cook asparagus using the blanching method, the shoots are boiled for 30 seconds, and then to stop the cooking instantly they are dipped into cold or ice water.

It is not uncommon for home cooks to blanch raw eggs before using them in recipes such as a traditional Caesar salad dressing, fresh pasta dough or homemade cookie dough (especially if children are helping in the kitchen.)

Party At Ponce To Restore Hope (and Building)

2011-10-02T10:58:00.009-04:00

The Party at Ponce will most definitely be dubbed Atlanta’s party of the year! To kick-off the re-development of the 2.1 million square-foot property that was the first Sears retail store in Atlanta (which later became Atlanta City Hall East in 1991,) Jamestown Properties (in partnership with its subsidiary Green Street Properties) celebrated plans to transform the historic site once an amusement park called “the Coney Island of Atlanta,” and the original home to the “Atlanta Crackers” baseball team into an urban mixed-use “destination” named Ponce City Market.

The huge venue featured a stage in the back lot bordered by food trucks parked along the perimeter, and a multitude of tables laden with food samples prepared by the chefs of Atlanta’s most popular restaurants inside the building’s massive loading area. Attendees enjoyed the musical talents of the Party’s headliners the Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins and Francine Reed as they snacked on treats from Atlanta's most celebrated chefs including:

Kevin Rathbun of Rathbun’s; Szechuan-peppered Pork Belly Tacos with Orange Hoisin Sauce, Sake Pickled Onions
Joshua Hopkins of Abattoir; Brisket Salad
Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia; Radishes with butter, Cheese Straws and Ginger-Molasses Cookies
Shaun Doty of Yeah! Burger; Free-Range Turkey Burger with Pickle and Alabama White BBQ sauce
Jay Swift of 4th & Swift; Braised Lamb with Pomegranate Couscous topped with Spiced Yogurt
Hugh Acheson of Empire State South; She Crab Soup with Sherry Gelee with Mace Whipped Cream and Crisp Rice
Scott Serpas of Serpas; House-Smoked Salmon with Chipotle Cream Cheese, Red Onions And Capers
Ford Fry of JCT Kitchen; Sweet Onion and Fontina Tortelloni
Duane Nutter of One Flew South; Blueberry Mountain Chicken over Waffles
Ron Eyester of Rosebud; Marinated Shrimp and Late-Summer Peppers with Mustard Sorghum Vinaigrette
Pano Karatassos of Buckhead Life Restaurant Group & Eric Cutillo of Kyma; Grilled Octopus over Quinoa Salad
Frederico Castellucci of Iberian Pig; Iberico Ham and Artisanal Salads

Food truck offerings included frozen treats from Westside Creamery and Honeysuckle, Korean-style tacos from Yumbii, a selection of tamales from the Tamale Queen and jambalaya, crawfish dip and beignets from Just Loaf’n. Party goers also had the opportunity to try a "Cat's Meow," the PAP signature drink created by a master mixologist from Rosebud made with lemon-&-lavendar-infused Cathead Vodka, agave nectar and ginger beer.

Overall, the evening was an enormous success with all proceeds from the “Party” benefiting and the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership and Georgia Organics. The future “Ponce City Market,” on land previously populated with natural springs known for their restorative properties, is certain to "restore" the building's usefulness and become the nexus of the four established neighborhoods and the future Atlanta BeltLine transit corridor.

Cookbook Signing Salad With A Southern Twist

2011-09-30T23:30:00.006-04:00

Dom and I joined a crowd of Southern foodies at The Cook’s Warehouse in Ansley Mall to congratulate Virginia Willis on the national release of her new cookbook, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all; 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company. Atlanta-based celebrity chef Virginia Willis is a classically trained French chef with a Southern accent to her recipes and cooking. Beginning at her home teaching kitchen, the book signing fundraiser for the Atlanta Community Food Bank was the first stop on the Chef’s 10-city tour.

Guests were treated to samples from Chef Willis’ new collection of recipes served by Les Dames d’Escoffier International. Nibbles included fried pork skins, fennel flat bread, garlic-stuffed prime rib sliders, skewered okra, accompanied by Woodford Reserve, super-premium, small-batch Kentucky bourbon mixed with Coca-Cola Classic.

Fried pork rind in a pork rind serving bowl

The freshly made brownies were also difficult to resist as the gracious Cook’s Warehouse servers passed through the crowd. The arugula salad with quintessential Southern ingredients of country ham, and pecans was the stand-out preview of the evening. The zesty cider vinegar dressing and aged white cheddar crumbles completed the ensemble of regional flavors.

Arugula Salad with Country Ham and Pecans
8 cups (about 6 oz.) arugula, dandelion, or frisee
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon firmly packed light brown sugar
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 thin slices country ham, cut into lardons
1/2 onion, preferably Vidalia, thinly sliced
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup (about 2 oz.) crumbled aged white Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Place the greens in large bowl. Set aside. Stir together the vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ham to a plate lined with paper towels.

Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes; add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 to 60 seconds. Add the vinegar mixture, then remove from the heat. Working quickly, scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen any yummy browned bits. Set aside to cool just slightly.

Pour the warm dressing over the reserved greens, add the ham, and toss gently with tongs until the arugula is slightly wilted. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Divide among chilled serving plates. Sprinkle over the cheese and pecans. Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately. Wonderful crisp arugula with seasonal Southern flavors - Yum Y'all!

Pleasantly Bitter & Spicy Wherewithal

2011-09-28T23:50:00.002-04:00

This classic Italian recipe is a perfect seasonal dish for the cooler weather of fall through late winter when broccoli rabe, or rapini, is at its best. This is a regular meal at our house, made with readily available ingredients; it has a mild bitter tang that is an appealing contrast to the spicy pork sausage served with carb-loaded pasta that is a hit with always-starving teenagers.

Broccoli rabe, which is not technically related to broccoli at all, is an unusual and healthy addition to any meal. When young and tender you can eat it all, from stems to the florets and even the delicate yellow blossoms. We blanch the rabe to tenderize the stalks (with the added benefit of enhancing the brilliant green color.)

This dish is a masterpiece of textures and flavors with crisp spicy meaty, earthy pleasantly bitter greens, and piquant creamy cheese. As you toss the ingredients with the orecchiette (Italian for "little ears,") the juices and flavors are captured in the hollows of the concave pasta. It’s a forgiving recipe which can withstand variations in ingredients and types of pasta; a successful compilation on all levels which explains its long-standing popularity in Italian cuisine.

2 Ibs. broccoli rabe, stems removed
1 lb. hot Italian sausage, cooked with pan juices reserved
1 Ib. orecchiette pasta (Penne is a good substitute)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
7 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pecorino-Romano, grated

Bring a deep saucepan of salted water to a boil, and then place broccoli rabe in the boiling water. Allow water (and rabe) to return to a boil and simmer until bubbles appear. Remove from the pot from the heat and drain water from greens. Plunge broccoli rabe into cold water to stop the cooking process and drain again. Extract as much water as possible by patting rabe dry. We use a towel to roll greens and blot dry and then and set them aside.

Cook orecchiette in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente which should take about 10-12 minutes. We use the blanching water whenever feasible to retain the flavor and nutrients of the rabe. Remember to save some of pasta water to help hydrate the sauce if needed.

Remove sausage from casings and cook in a large sauté pan until done (about ten minutes) turning every few minutes and breaking into bite-sized pieces while cooking. When the sausage is cooked through, remove meat to a plate leaving juices and bits in the sauté pan.

Add olive oil to the reserved sausage juices and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant and just golden, (about 3 minutes.) Then add broccoli rabe and sausage back to the pan and season to taste with salt, and red and black peppers. Cook together until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and keep warm until pasta is ready.

Drain pasta in a colander, then add to broccoli rabe and sausage, and toss to mix well. Add reserved pasta water as needed to allow the sauces to fully coat the pasta giving it a creamy, smooth consistency. Transfer to a large serving plate and top with grated Pecorino-Romano. Remember to stop and savor the aroma and flavors that have been satisfying Italian appetites for centuries.

Fabulous Favas of Fall

2011-09-23T20:54:00.003-04:00

Nothing says Autumn like… fava beans? It is true that most people associate favas (also known as broad beans) with Spring, but in reality these legumes are most widely available in the late Summer and fall in most parts of the U.S. When we see favas available at the market, we load the basket and prepare to feast.

Fava beans were eaten in ancient Greece and Rome and are one of the oldest plants under cultivation. Despite the name, fava beans (from the Italian word fava, meaning "broad bean") are actually a member of the pea family. Fava beans have a distinct flavor and creamy texture that makes them a great addition to a wide variety of dishes.

Favas are high in fiber and iron, and low in sodium and fat. They have no cholesterol but so much protein that they are called the” meat of the poor.” As a matter of fact, Italians credit the fava bean as the key factor in saving the Sicilians from starvation during a great famine. Since then, the fava has been considered good luck; in fact some people believe that if you carry a fava bean, you will never be without life’s essentials.

Fava beans should be shelled and peeled before eating. The outer peel on the beans, while technically edible, is very woody in texture and detracts from the buttery taste of the inner bean. Fava beans can be served fried and salted, mashed, or added to hearty stews and soups. We love to eat them simply boiled and tossed with olive oil, mint and cheese. Sometimes the guys don’t even wait for the >mint and cheese, popping them down like beer nuts.

4 cups shucked fresh fava beans
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
½ cup Parm or Romano cheese, shaved thinly
Salt and pepper to taste

Start by removing the beans from the large green pods. Then blanch beans in a large saucepan in plenty of salted boiling water until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the beans and number in the pot. This will soften the outer shell for easy removal. Drain well and rinse with cold water to cool. This prevents overcooking and mushiness, as well as makes the skin easier to remove from the favas.

Once cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to pierce and peel away the outer grayish-white, waxy shells of beans revealing the bright green bean inside. Place shelled peeled beans in a bowl. Drizzle beans with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, add mint and toss gently to mix. Place beans in a serving dish and top with the grated cheese. You can also use a vegetable peeler to shave slices of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese making large “curls” to garnish the salad in place of the grated cheese. These dress the dish up for company!

Favas are also delicious served mashed. Following the instructions above blanch and peel favas, and mash beans adding butter and a splash of cream. We also add one boiled potato to the bean mash to improve the consistency (and stretch the beans!)

Thanks for reading our 200th post! We hope you will keep coming back for 200 more.

Nitty Gritty Start To The Day

2011-09-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

The season of sniffles is upon us and few things offer morning comfort like a bowl of creamy, steamy grits. Grits* are historically known as a food of the South, but they’ve been around much longer in one form or another. Grits are a traditional breakfast food made of ground dried corn kernels. In consistency, they are rather like the “Cream of Wheat” which is more popular in Northern states.

Rockahominie (hominy) dates back at least 5,000 years, and was one of the first foods that Native Americans shared with European colonists. This sturdy staple of dried corn kept many settlers alive during those first cold winters. Hominy is the dried kernel of corn that has been threshed to remove the hull and germ and soaked in a weak lye solution to make the kernels swell. To make grits, the dried hominy is ground to one of three grinds, fine, medium or coarse and is simmered with water until a thick porridge is formed. “Quick grits” (a very fine grind that has been pre-steamed) are available in supermarkets, but to quote the famous line from the movie My Cousin Vinny, “No self-respectin’ Southerner uses instant grits.”

It should also be noted that the Italians, got their corn meal for polenta by way of these same Native Americans, so contrary to Dom’s theory that all foods originated in Italy, grits has at least a 4,500-year head start on polenta.

Grits were also a vital part of the Southern diet during the Great Depression since they were inexpensive and required only water and lard or butter to make. During the same time period, the equally Southern expression, "nitty-gritty," originated as a derogatory term and was used as secret slang by segregationists. Southern politicians and campaigners adopted the phrase to refer to "back to basics" campaigns based around fundamentalist values and beliefs.

A proper bowl of grits has butter, salt and black pepper for seasoning. They are more savory than sweet. People have their individual tastes in grits. Some prefer a thinner consistency like polenta, while others like their grits thick and creamy.

3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup regular grits (we prefer stone-ground, white)
2 tablespoons butter

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan and add grits to water reducing heat to medium. The grits will be very watery at this point, but they will thicken nicely in a few minutes as the water is absorbed.

Grits should be allowed to simmer slowly so they don’t get lumpy. If they appear to be boiling excessively, turn the heat to medium-low. Stir consistently to ensure they cook evenly and do not stick to the sides of pan. Continue cooking and stirring until the grits thicken to just a littler thinner than your desired consistency as they will continue to thicken as they cool. Stir in the butter until completely incorporated. The grits should have a creamy, silky texture. Serve with freshly ground black pepper. For cheese grits, add ¼ - ½ cup of your favorite grated cheese.

To make grit cakes (great for leftovers), layer grits in a moistened baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. When the grits are chilled and firm, cut them into desired pieces, (moistened cookie/ biscuit cutters work wonderfully.) Fry in a lightly greased pan until both sides have a crispy brown crust.

*GRITS is also the acronym for Girls Raised In The South.

Milk Blanket and Nutmeg Dreams

2011-09-13T23:13:00.015-04:00

I know it sounds so smarmy, but the bed is too big when my sweetie (Dom) is out-of-town. So after tossing and turning, I am warming some milk and wondering whether there is a scientific reason it makes me sleepy…

Most of us have heard of tryptophan, the essential amino acid responsible for that unavoidable nap after a big turkey dinner on Thanksgiving day. As it turns out, there are traces of tryptophan in milk too. The human body converts tryptophan to the sleep-inducing hormones serotonin and melatonin. However, the amount of tryptophan in any food, turkey and milk included, is not great enough to boost hormone levels to a level that would induce sleep.

So, am I wasting my time waiting to see the little bubbles that mean the milk is perfectly heated and not on its way to being scorched, making the pan impossible to clean? Maybe it is the psychological association with warm milk and infancy; reminiscent of the times "I slept like a baby." Obviously, we associate milk with our mothers and their love and care. These comforting feelings and remembrances can produce serotonin in the brain that actually create a sensation of well-being and relaxation which promotes drowsiness.

Milk also coats and soothes the stomach. Most people sleep best when their tummies are full. Milk can also calm heartburn or digestive pangs caused by stress and may provide sense of relief for these symptoms.

Or perhaps, it is because a nice glass of warm milk warms the body. People sleep better when they are warm because their muscles tend to relax more. The few degrees that the drink might raise your body temperature are often enough to trigger the slowdown response. This slowing of bodily responses normally precedes sleep.

It is quite possible that it is not the milk at all, but the fresh nutmeg grated on top. Nutmeg is known to calm anxiety and muscles spasms. It can eliminate nausea (unless taken in large amounts in which case it can actually cause nausea.) Nutmeg can also lower blood pressure, reduce diarrhea, and has even been cited as an effective anti-inflammatory for joint pain and gout.

No, it definitely has something to do with the way the hot mug feels in my palms, the way the light aroma of nutmeg wafts past my cheek, and the way the warmth wraps around me like a toasty blanket. Not quite like a snuggly hubby, but it will do for tonight.

1 cup milk (I used 2%, but I like whole best!)
1 dash freshly grated nutmeg

Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Watch for tiny bubbles to form on along the sides of the pan and stir while simmering another minute or two. Do not let the milk boil or it will taste weird and the "scum" will be difficult to remove from the pot.

Pour into your favorite mug and grate (or sprinkle) nutmeg over the top. Sweet dreams!

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

SALT: The Flavor of Necessity

2011-09-06T17:20:00.019-04:00

For many families, Labor Day weekend is the last chance to get away for a visit to the beach; a last opportunity to enjoy the salty sea air and surf. But, few people realize the importance of salt and water to their everyday lives.

Water and salt are essential for maintaining extra cellular and intracellular cell growth in all plant and animal life. Cells may endure periods of lack of food, but without salt and water, the cells would perish from dehydration. Sodium chloride maintains the electrolyte balance within and around our cells. The human body contains approximately 6 ounces of salt to maintain the correct the balance of water in cells and tissues. Salt comprises about 1% of a human’s blood volume which is also the concentration used in saline solutions to clean wounds. The body’s nerves and muscles need salt for proper functioning.

Since our bodies cannot manufacture salt, we must consume it daily because it is quickly eliminated by the kidneys. Salt is so important to human survival that our tongues are sensitive to its taste. While salt enhances the flavor of our food, it triggers the production of saliva and gastric juices required for food digestion.

Active Salt Mine, Cardona, Spain

Salt (most commonly the chemical compound of sodium chloride.) Salt naturally occurs in many parts of the world as a mineral or is mixed in bodies of water. All culinary salts are produced by evaporation. Table salt is made by driving water into a salt deposit (like a mine). This process forms a brine which is then evaporated leaving dried cubical crystals similar to granulated sugar. Kosher salt is made in a similar fashion except that the brine is raked continually during the evaporation process. The resulting product has a light and flaky texture. Sea salt is evaporated from sea water. Even though sea salt has trace amounts of minerals not found in mined salt, all salts are nutritionally the same.

Sodium chloride has been important in the history of just about every culture since Adam and Eve. The Bible mentions it at least 30 times. Salt is still an important compound in all parts of the world. From preservation, to seasoning salt is used in most things we use today.

Evidence of salt usage goes back more than 8,000 years ago. While Neolithic tribes strategically settled near salt springs, it is believed that the Assyrians were the first to truly harvest it. In China, a major portion of writing in the Peng-Tzao-Kan-Mu, the earliest known document on pharmacology, was devoted to more than 40 uses of salt. It also had descriptions on extracting and putting it into usable forms that are similar to the way we process it today.

Salt was equally important to the Egyptians who used salt for mummification and preservation of food. In Europe it is well documented that salt was of great importance to the economy. Markets in Greece involved the exchange of salt for slaves which gave rise to the expression, "not worth his weight in salt."

In the Roman times, salt symbolized spiritual health, because it was a major ingredient in many medications including use as a coagulating agent. Special salt rations given to the Roman legion were known as "salarium argentum," or "salary." In the Roman Coliseum, salt was put in the floor so that when the gladiators would fall to the ground it would “encourage” them to get back up.

It was recorded that thousands of Napoleon’s troops died in his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal because they lacked sufficient salt for good health and convalescence.

American colonists refused to pay inflated prices and taxes for tea and salt from Great Britain which resulted in them being tossed in the Boston Harbor. Some historians believe that salt was the true cause of the protest, but that “The Boston Tea Party” just sounded better.

Not only do our bodies need salt, but salt has many amazing uses. In cooking it seasons, cures, preserves, and whip cream faster. It is also used for getting more heat out of boiled water so you can boil things like pasta and vegetables more easily. In medicine it cleans, treating sprains, sore throats, earaches and acts as an antiseptic. It also can glaze the outside of pottery, remove rust, seal cracks, remove spots on clothes, put out grease fires, melt ice, and kills poison ivy. It is claimed that there are 14,000 different ways for salt to be used.

Salt comes in many different types and colors including Alaea (red salt enriched with iron oxide from Alaea clay), Hiwa Kai (black, solar-evaporated Pacific sea salt with activated charcoal), and Bolivian Rose (pink, highly-mineralized salt from volcanic deposits of the Andes Mountain range in Bolivia). Also, because salt is derived from an evaporation process, it is very easy to infuse with a variety of flavors.

On our recent trip to Amelia Island, I had the distinct pleasure of touring the kitchens of the Ritz- Carlton on Amelia Island including Salt, an entire restaurant devoted to seasonal menus (created by Chef de Cuisine Rick Laughlin) that showcase brilliantly-flavorful foods paired with a variety of salts. They have also perfected the art of infusing salts and have a wide-variety of infused salts. A last stop in the Salt Gift shop provided the opportunity to taste their amazing salinized creations that are truly wonderful enhancements to any dish, as well as Chef Shelton’s luscious handmade salted caramels. We were graciously given a sample of natural and infused salts to try at home. Here's how we are using them:

Crisp roasted potatoes are the perfect vehicle for adding flavorful salt just before serving. These delicious potatoes are a faultless accompaniment to almost any roasted meat. Salt draws the moisture from potatoes, so they should not be salted before cooking as it will prevent the potatoes from developing a nice crispy crust. Try this recipe with fleur de sel, smoked sea salt, or any finishing salt you like.

4-6 large potatoes (we use Idaho), peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup of Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced lengthwise (optional, but SO good!)
Finishing salt, to taste (We used Mediterranean black garlic)

Preheat oven to 350°F (convection preferred). In a large roasting pan, toss potatoes with olive oil and then spread out in a single layer. Roast potatoes, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until potatoes are crispy, browned and tender. This usually takes about 1 hour to 1 ½ hours. If you are adding olives, add them to the roasting pan and toss with potatoes about 15-25 minutes before potatoes are done. Transfer potatoes to a serving dish, sprinkle with finishing salt (and pepper) and serve.

And what better meal than crispy roasted potatoes with grilled leg of lamb! This is one of our favorite Sunday dinners. Homey, earthy comfort food: a perfect meal for the beginning of the Autumnal season.

5 lb. boneless leg of lamb
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Finishing salt (we used rosemary-infused)

Carefully trim the lamb removing the layer of tough connective tissue and fat. Be sure to remove all visible fat and silver skin (the thin, grayish membrane). Use a thin utility or carving knife for this job. You may be tempted to skip this step, but poorly trimmed meat can develop a gamey flavor. Allow lamb to come to room temperature. Lamb may be cut into smaller "chunks" to hasten cooking time. It also allows for more crispy outside pieces! Rub lamb leg with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals. If using charcoal, light 50 briquettes and let them burn until they are covered with gray ash. Push them into 2 banks on either side of the grate. Place a drip pan between the coals and replace the grill grate. Brush the grill with oil to keep the lamb from sticking. Grill lamb, turning and grilling evenly on both sides until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meat registers 120 to 125 degrees for warm red center or 140 degrees for medium. This will take 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how hot the coals are.

Rainy-day method: Trim the lamb as above, and then set the leg of lamb on a rack in a roasting pan and place in a 325° F oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees for rare.

Remove the roasted lamb to a cutting board and tent with aluminum foil. Allow the meat to rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Before serving, sprinkle with a bit of finishing salt to enhance the delicious flavor of the meat. This allows the meat to relax and the juices to redistribute, ensuring you won't lose the flavor and moisture on your cutting board.

To order from the Ritz-Carlton Salt Shop, view their menu of Natural and Infused Salts.

Packing List for Mother Nature

2011-08-25T15:53:00.012-04:00

With the tremors and pending hurricane season, we thought it might be time to do a little preparedness planning. With an old backpack in hand, we went through the house and placed a few items inside, just in case.
The initial pass was easy. We tossed in a pre-paid credit card, disposable rain ponchos, emergency heat blankets, a small plastic tarp, flashlight, candles, a lighter, Swiss army knife, duct tape, travel toothbrushes and paste, soap & shampoo samples. We also packed a small first aid kit with bandages, pain relievers, alcohol pads and tweezers. I considered adding some games, but decided the guys could play Morra* or thumb wrestle; on second thought... I threw in a deck of cards (no batteries required).

Then we stopped at the pantry where the choices proved more difficult. Olive oil? How could we possibly live without that? Denise’s peppers? No, the jars could break. Cans tuna, beans, and corn seemed like good ideas. Then again, pop-top” cans might leak or explode. Not to mention that canned goods are heavy and bulky. Dry items appeared to be the way to go; lightweight and easy to pack. Rice, pasta, dried beans, dried fruits and nuts, crackers, flavored drink mix, granola bars were all added to the list. I checked the expiration date on all items to be included. Storm season only lasts a few months and these dry items will be fine for that time.

These things were all fine in concept, but how to make a meal out of these things? Cajun spice, now we could make red beans and rice. With some olive oil the possibilities would open up immensely. Aha! We had a small can of O&CO. lemon-infused olive oil, so olive oil was added back to the stash. Salt, black pepper and a small wedge of Parmesan or Romano (which don’t need refrigeration because they are hard, aged cheeses) and we could make Cacio e Pepe. Some anchovies (we could pack in a Ziploc in case of leakage), and crushed red pepper and we had the makings of Spaghetti con Acciughe. This would give us the 3-day supply recommended by 72hours.org. The backpack was filled and set aside with the Coleman camp stove, L.L. Bean emergency weather radio (Thanks Mom!) and a few jugs of water.

Spaghetti con Acciughe
1 lb. spaghetti
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
3 tablespoons of good quality extra-virgin olive oil
1 4-oz. can anchovy filets, chopped
½ - 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (to taste)
Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Cook pasta in salted water following package instructions. While the spaghetti cooks, heat the olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant and just starting to turn brown. Remove garlic pieces from oil and add chopped anchovies and with a wooden spoon, mash them until they are dissolved into the oil, then add the crushed red pepper reduce the heat and cook for another two minutes.

Drain pasta and dress it with the anchovy sauce. Serve with a light drizzle of olive oil and the grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

We need to remember to pack some forks!! And, maybe a box (unbreakable) of wine and some cups?

______________________________________________________________________________________
*Morra is a hand game that goes back thousands of years to ancient Roman times and is still popular in Italy today. In the Bible, it may have been referred to as "casting lots." In ancient Rome, it was called micatio, and playing it was referred to as micare digitis; literally, "to flash with fingers." As time passed, the game became Morra. The game was so common in Rome that a proverb used to describe an honest person: "Dignus est quicum in tenebris mices," which means, "He is a worthy man with whom you could play micatio in the dark." There are two styles of play. Northern Italians play sitting while Southern Italian players stand and use their whole body and extend their arms to flash their fingers. The purpose of the game is to sharpen the mind while enjoying the company of friends. In the most popular version, players throw out a single hand, each showing zero to five fingers, and call out loud their guess at what the sum of all fingers shown will be. If one player guesses the sum, that player earns one point. In another version one person is designated the "evens" player while the other is labeled "odds". Players hold one hand out in front and count together to three (sometimes chanting "Once, twice, thrice, SHOOT!" or "One, two, three, SHOOT!") On three, both players hold out either one or two fingers. If the sum of fingers shown by both players is an even number, then the "evens" player wins; otherwise the "odds" player is the winner. Since there are two possible ways to add up to three, both players have an equal chance of winning.

Godiva Coffee Granita - Icy Pick-Me-Up

2011-08-20T23:50:00.019-04:00

During these dog days of Summer, nothing is more welcome than an icy refreshment; something frozen with caffeine to ward off the lethargy that accompanies hot, muggy afternoons.

On our family trips to Rome, we became quite enamored of the Tazza d'Oro Café in the Piazza della Rotonda adjacent to the Pantheon. Tazza d’Oro, founded by the Fiocchetto family in 1946, is world famous for its granita di caffe: sugary espresso (strong and undiluted) frozen into a crystalline slush and served with a generous dollop of unsweetened whipped cream so cold it freezes where it touches the coffee, turning into little bits of solid cream.

Tazza d'Oro imports and roasts its own coffee beans to create its secret house blend of top Arabicas called "La Regina dei Caffe." Since their proprietary blend is not readily available in the U.S., we decided to try Godiva Coffee which we received as members of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. Godiva Coffees contains 100% Arabica coffee and in its natural and unadulterated state has no measurable sugar.

For an even more delectable treat we selected Godiva’s Chocolate Truffle coffee. Godiva’s Chocolate Truffle coffee is rich and decadent with deep chocolately undertones. Just opening the bag filled the entire kitchen with its scrumptious aroma.

We made our granita using an espresso machine with the Godiva ground coffee, and it worked perfectly. Remember, just don't stint on the quantity you use.

Coffee Granita
I cup freshly-brewed, strong (espresso-style) Godiva coffee (about 8 shots)
4 teaspoons sugar
½ cup whipping cream

Stir sugar into the hot coffee and stir well to dissolve. Then pour the coffee into a freezer-proof container or dish and freeze for 30 to 40 minutes, until the coffee starts to form crystals.

Remove the dish from the freezer and scrape with a fork to break apart the crystals. Return the coffee to the freezer, removing and stirring it vigorously every 15 minutes or so, until the coffee is thoroughly frozen and splintery like sorbet. This should take about I hour in total. If made well in advance just keep scraping periodically to keep crystals separated otherwise they will solidify into a block of coffee ice.

Using an electric hand mixer or a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (you can use a hand whisk, but it will take a good bit longer) beat whipping cream. Start slowly, gently increasing the speed as you go. If you set the mixer on high at first, you'll have cream all over the place. Set the mixer so it goes as fast as possible without splashing. Whip the cream until soft peaks form making sure not to over-beat else the cream will then become lumpy and butter-like.

Spoon the granite into the bottom of each serving glass and finish off each glass with 1 heaping tablespoon of whipped cream. Serve immediately garnished with cinnamon or shaved chocolate, if desired.

Guest Post: Pizza Swirls Perfect for Picnics

2011-08-17T11:04:00.000-04:00

We have been so busy getting back in the school routine that we haven't had time to post, so the kind folks at QuoteSearcher (UK) have contributed a guest post for our readers.

How time flies – it’s nearly the beginning of September which means Labor Day is approaching us and the end of summer is officially coming to an end. The Labor Day holiday began as a way to honor workers for their hard work and effort, so why not relax and make your holiday weekend as stress free as possible by making something easy to share.

Whether you are throwing a party, having a picnic, celebrating with a back yard BBQ or joining in with a street party, Labor Day is a great way to spend time with family, friends or neighbors. Pizza Swirls are great for sharing and can be eaten hot or cold and are easy to make at home, which ensures you won’t need to get a restaurant insurance quote to cook them!

Ingredients:
2 packets of pizza base (or bread mix)
tomato sauce or puree
mixed herbs
grated cheese
toppings of your choice (e.g. onions, peppers, ham, salami, sweet corn, chopped mushrooms)

Method:
To make a firm dough which isn’t sticky, make up the pizza base mix (or your bread mix), knead and leave to rise for around 30-60 minutes.

Then roll out onto a floured board until you have a rectangle of around 20cm (8”) by 30cm (12”).
Leaving the top and bottom 2cm (1 ½”) free of any toppings, spread 2-3 tablespoons of tomato puree over the dough.

Sprinkle the dough with toppings of your choice and top with grated cheese. Next, roll the pizza up tightly (long ways) and stick the outside edge down with a little water if needed. Then cut the roll with a sharp knife (be careful of your fingers!) into 2cm (1 ½”) and place on a greased baking tray – leaving a gap of around 1-2cm between each one. Then leave to rise for a further 10 minutes.

Cook at Gas 6/200C (400 degrees F) for around 10-15 minutes, or until they are lightly browned – your pizza swirls are ready to eat!

Other ideas of finger food to bring along on your picnic include, carrot and cucumber batons, crisps, hard boiled eggs, olives, grapes, berries, cheese blocks, bread sticks, ham, salami or cherry tomatoes – the list goes on! Remember if you take meat, remember to keep it cold as food hanging around in the sunshine can be a cause of food poisoning.

At Quotesearcher, we’re not just interested in restaurant insurance we are also fanatical foodies who really love our Restaurants! For more recipes and recommendations, please visit our food blog at http://www.quotesearcher.co.uk/blog.

Tully's Favorite Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes

2011-08-11T10:26:00.018-04:00

Stuffed vegetables appear on nearly every antipasto table in Italy. These rice-filled tomatoes are a regular entry on the extensive antipasti buffet at Ristorante Il Casale on the via Flaminia outside of Rome which we had the immense pleasure of visiting on our last trip to Rome. The restaurant is cut into a rock out-cropping giving the restaurant a rustic and unassuming atmosphere as does the huge outdoor rotisserie spit with giant trays of potatoes roasting under the rotating skewered meat. The cats* roaming the property added to the ambiance and authenticity of the experience.

These particular Pomodori a Riso are a favorite of our friend and neighbor, Tully. His contention is that any dish with “stuffed” in its name is bound to be delicious and thus irresistible. He has, on occasion, been known to take leftover tomatoes home and eat them cold for breakfast!

What better way to celebrate the bounty of garden-fresh tomatoes than with this traditional Italian preparation. We recently served these at a back-to-school soiree and watched as a passel of teens mowed through a dozen or so (always a ringing endorsement) along with squash blossom frittatas, homemade sausage with peppers and onions, and grilled lamb sandwiches; not your typical post-summer cookout fare!

8 firm, ripe medium tomatoes
½ cup risotto rice, uncooked (We used Arborio)
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (We used oregano-infused)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Position oven rack in top third of oven, then preheat oven to 400°F. Pull stems off tomato tops. Do not core! Turn the tomato over and then trim about 3/4" from the bottom of each tomato and set ends aside.

Working over a medium bowl, use a small spoon or melon-baller to carefully scoop out inner pulp without puncturing the side walls of the tomatoes. Reserve scooped-out tomato pulp.

Arrange scooped-out tomatoes open end up in a medium baking dish. Pass tomato pulp through a food mill or pulse in the bowl of a food processor to a chunky puree, and then transfer back into a mixing bowl adding rice, parsley, basil, garlic, and olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spoon rice filling into prepared tomatoes (It’s Okay if there is a little filling left over.) Place one of the reserved tomato ends loosely on top of each stuffed tomato to look like a little hat. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the tomatoes and bake until rice is swollen and tender and tomatoes are soft and well browned. This will take about 50 or so minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to let cool before serving. The rice retains the heat for quite some time and are quite tasty even at room temperature. Or as Tully likes them, cold with a cup of hot coffee.

*In our experience, we have found that the best restaurants in Italy always have cats!

Peppy Peppers of Padrón

2011-08-06T16:12:00.009-04:00

We cook with a lot of peppers which is no secret to our regular readers. There are more than thirty different known species of chili pepper with an even wider variety of peppers worldwide. All varieties of peppers are differing species of the genus Capsicum and are members of the plant family Solanaceae along with eggplants and tomatoes. The range of shades, flavors, shapes & sizes, and heat levels makes them wonderfully versatile for adding diverse flavors and colors to almost any dish.

Padrón peppers or pimientos de Padrón have received a good deal of attention lately. These delicious little green morsels are the most famous produce of Padrón, a town in the Galician Province of Spain. The first of these pepper seeds were transported from Mexico in the 16th century. Today, approximately 16 ½ tons are grown in Padrón each year.

The most-often-sweet, occasionally-hot-&-spicy peppers are usually served fried in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse kosher or sea salt. The level of heat varies according to the amount capsaicin of each pepper. Measured on the Scoville heat index, most Padrón peppers rate about 500-1,000 heat units although the odd one will stun you with up to 25,000 heat units! Eating these little devils is rather like playing “Spanish Roulette” because one in five peppers may be exceptionally hot.

While several growers are now selling Padrón pepper seeds for use in the U.S., finding fresh peppers at food shops or farmer’s markets is no easy feat. So, imagine my excitement when I met a man at Kroger looking for Tetilla cheese (also from Galacia, Spain) to use in stuffing his Padrón peppers! After a charming conversation, we agreed to a trade: some fresh Padrón peppers for a jar of “Denise’s peppers.”

He recommended following the method used by Spanish chef, José Andrés (shown in this video from his PBS show "Made in Spain.") Since we had no luck in finding the Tetilla cheese, we opted for Mahon, another Spanish cheese which is made from cow's milk and originated on the island of Minorca.

Stuffed Fried Padrón Peppers
1/2 lb. (about 12) Padrón peppers, cut with “windows”
2 oz. of Mahon* cheese, cut into ¼” x 1” pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt

Pick through the peppers removing any that have wrinkled skins or dark greenish-black blemishes. Carefully wash and dry Padrón peppers, trimming stems that are longer than 1 inch. Using a sharp paring knife, “open a window” in each pepper and stuff each with a rectangle of cheese. Don’t worry about removing the seeds, they add to the flavor experience.

Once the peppers are stuffed, heat a skillet or heavy pan over high heat and add olive oil. Heat oil to its smoking point, and then gently slide stuffed peppers into the hot oil. Cook over high heat until all sides are nicely charred and brown.

Drain briefly on a paper towel and place on serving plate. Sprinkle generously with salt. Like all fried foods, these Padrón peppers are best eaten hot, especially with a chilly glass of Txakoli or Verdejo - ¡Salud!

*If you cannot find Tetilla or Mahon cheeses, a mild white cheese such as Manchego or Monterey Jack makes for a reasonable substitute.

Fridays con Vongale

2011-07-29T12:27:00.029-04:00

Growing up, our family occasionally had linguini with clam sauce. My mom’s version was always the Ligurian -style white sauce made with a bechamel and canned chopped clams. It was always one of my favorites and one of the few dishes I could actually make when Dom and I were first married that he didn’t feel the need to “improve” before eating it.

Years later, we had the real deal at a tiny little bodega on a tiny little calli near the Rialto Market in Venice. Made with perfect little clams fished straight from the Venetian Canal, simmered in local white wine, and served over freshly made pasta - Unbelievable!

That one dining experience elevated our love of clam sauce to new heights. Now we buy bales of fresh Manila clams at the DeKalb Farmer’s Market and clean them with flour. Lately this has been Dom’s meal of choice on Friday evenings (even when eating out at our favorite Italian restaurant, Valenza.) Served with a crisp Gavi or Trebbiano, it is a fabulous way to start the weekend.

6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
½ bunch fresh Italian parsley, trimmed and chopped
3 ½ Ibs. Manila clams, scrubbed
2/3 cup dry Friuli white wine
2 tablespoon good-quality brandy
Salt
1 lb. fresh linguine
1 tablespoon grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat 5 tablespoons of the olive oil, along with the minced garlic and half the parsley in a large pan over medium-high heat for about 1 minute. Add the rinsed clams, cover the pan and cook for 1 minute more. Add the wine and brandy and simmer, uncovered, until the alcohol has evaporated which should take about 2 or 3 minutes.

Return the cover to the pan and continue cooking, shaking pan several times to turn clams and stir sauce for about 3 minutes more. The majority of the clam shells should open in this amount of time. Uncover to pan and allow liquid to reduce slightly.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 5-8 minutes (fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried). Drain pasta in a colander and add the pasta to pan with clams and pan juices. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for 1 more minute more, shaking pan until well combined.

Before plating, discard any clams that have unopened shells. Add Parmigiano-Reggiano and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with remaining chopped parsley. You may want to add an empty bowl to the table for the spent clam shells.

Writing Home About Iowa Chops

2011-07-23T10:57:00.000-04:00

Each July, we sojourn to the Midwest to visit family in Iowa City. This cozy little college town (home to the University of Iowa – Go Hawkeyes!) becomes a mecca for writer’s all over the country who jockey for spaces in the University’s annual Summer Writing Festival. The city, which is home to eleven literary presses, hosts over 180 writing-related events each year, and has attracted countless poets and authors to live and work in the city, has recently been named a City of Literature by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). With a population of less than seventy thousand people, Iowa City is the third city to receive the distinction, following Edinburgh, Scotland, and Melbourne, Australia.

Visitors to Iowa City have something write home about when it comes dining given the city's wide range of eating options. This year’s festival attendees were all treated to delicious Mediterranean food catered by Oasis, best known for their falafel and kaftas. The fresh, never-frozen, locally-farmed, black Angus beef burgers at Short's Burger and Shine are a not-to-be-missed treat for hungry visitors as well. Locavores looking for a more authentic experience may choose a 14 oz. smoked Iowa Pork Chop from Okoboji Grill described the Wall Street Journal’s Raymond Sokolov as a “galumphing chop juicy and pink from the smoking.”

The so-called "Iowa Chop" is a thick center cut; the term was coined in 1976 by the Iowa Pork Producers Association. Iowa chops are the king of all pork chops. They are the traditional, thick-cut pork chops that originated in Iowa, but prepared all over the Midwest. What separates Iowa chops from other pork chops is the cut and the size. Iowa chops, by definition, are bone-in, center-cut loin chops, and they must be between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 inches thick.

Having the advantage of a kitchen, we chose to grill our own. The wonderful butcher at HyVee East, hand cut eight gorgeous chops for us to work with.

Grilled Iowa Chops
Iowa Chops (large bone-in pork chops – 1to 1 ½ “ thick)
½ cup salt
¼ sugar
Water to cover

In a large bowl, place 1 quart water, salt and sugar. Stir to mix and dissolve. Add pork chops to bowl. Add more water to cover and gently stir to distribute salt and sugar. If it is a REALLY big bowl, add more salt and sugar in a 2:1 ratio. Let pork chops brine for 15-30 minutes. Drain chops and pat dry with paper towels.

Place chops on a hot grill, bones toward the center. Cook each side 7-9 minutes. Cooking time depends on thickness of chops and heat of coals. Leave chops on grill until nicely browned (sugar in brine should help a nice crust to form on pork.)

After 15 minutes of total cooking time, check for doneness. The surface of the meat should provide some resistance and the meat juices should run light pink to clear when a small cut is made into a chop.

When pork is nicely crusted and brown and juices are appropriately light, remove to a platter and let rest for about 5 minutes before serving to allow juices to absorb (redistribute from the center of the meat.) Serve with fresh picked and shucked corn on the cob. Enjoy!

Patty Melt Craving Replete

2011-07-16T16:49:00.007-04:00

Let’s face it, we’ve all been there. You're having a family cookout, the burgers and wieners are ready for the grill and then you are reminded that your Aunt and cousin are vegetarians. Yikes! What to do?

Harmony Valley Foods has a quick and easy solution. Their Vegetarian Hamburger Mix is a soy-based, low-fat, vegan, kosher-certified meat alternative that is a great source of protein and fiber. The dry mix is hydrated with the cold water and results in vegetarian protein with the same consistency and versatility as ground meat and can be substituted into any recipe that calls for hamburger.

We received a sample of the hamburger mix as a sample from Harmony Valley to try. While the guys were off on a fishing excursion, I found myself with an empty refrigerator and a grumbly tummy. The mix was front and center in the pantry and I was hit by a sudden craving for a patty melt.

½ cup Harmony Valley Vegetarian Hamburger mix
½ cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced into rings
¼ cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
2 slices of bread, toasted
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Follow the package directions and blend hamburger mix with water and stir well. Allow the dry mix to rehydrate for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

While patty mixture is resting, put olive oil in a sauté pan and cook onions until caramelized. Remove onions to a plate.

Once the rehydration is complete, (don’t panic if it looks like cat food at this point) form the mixture into a patty and place it in a pan with some olive oil. Now it looks like a burger! Add a little more olive oil to the sauté pan and place the patty in it. Cook patty until golden brown (about 2 minutes per side.)

Place the patty on one piece of toast and top with grated cheese and caramelized onions. Run sandwich under the hot broiler for a few minutes to completely melt cheese and then top the sandwich with the second piece of toast.

While it was obvious that the patty was not beef, it was quite tasty and closely resembled meat in texture and consistency. Served with cheese and sautéed onions on toast, the veggie mix made a sandwich that fully satisfied my patty melt craving.

The one aspect of Harmony Valley’s products that is most appealing is the versatility of the dry mix. It can be kept on hand for emergencies (power outages or surprise guests), packs easily for a camping trip, and is quick and easy to prepare. I will definitely keep a pack in the pantry in case of another cookout revelation or patty melt urge.

From Rags to Riches: The History of the Dish Towel

2011-07-11T11:10:00.014-04:00

The old cliché “everything old is new again” is completely true when it comes to the common dish towel. While every household has a few of these mundane, utilitarian sloggers, dish towels have again achieved popularity with budding foodies and designers. Bon Appetit recently featured actress Gwyneth Paltrow. She describes her Thornback and Peel dish towel as "a standout in the kitchen."

Archeologists believe that towels were closely held as personal items (along with the ever present knife) as early as the Middle Ages. In the early nineteenth century, the "tea towel" became the linen of choice for the ladies of Victorian England who personally used tea towels when caring for their tea services to avoid breakage by careless servants. The tea towel's highly absorbent, lint-free and soft features appealed to ladies requiring the right towel to thoroughly dry their delicate china and serving pieces without scratching or leaving lint behind.

Flour sack towels are the most desirable dish towels because they are super soft, completely lint-free, absorb like a paper towel and dry faster than most kitchen towels, they add unsurpassed sparkle to dishes, glassware and windows. They make superb dusting cloths and have many culinary uses. They are used for dehydrating, straining cloths for stocks and sauces, poaching, cheese making, pastry, proofing bread, herb drying, grabbing warm dishes and they keep salads fresh for hours.

Clever marketing efforts on the part of producers and grocers of the 1800s began packaging flour, sugar and other food stuffs in cotton sacks instead of bulkier wooden barrels. The tightly woven bags that held flour and sugar were coveted for use as dish towels. Flour bags represented 42% of bag production while sugar sacks accounted for 17% of total bags manufactured. Usually, both flour and sugar bags held quantities of only five or ten pounds. Advertising slogans such as, “The best cooks are generous with sugar,” and “Food that is sweet is hard to beat,” could be found on sugar bags. Some of these were embroidered with Outline Stitch designs (sometimes Redwork) and the initials "NRA" (National Recovery Act) as well as the words "we do our part."

In the mid-1920's, flour sack manufacturers recognized the increasing popularity of these cotton sacks with the nation’s thrifty homemakers, and began printing sackcloth (also known as “chicken linen,” "hen house linen,” or just “pretties”) with artistic patterns. Professional artists and local designers were commissioned to create the most desirable sack cloths on the market. Sellers found that they could influence the type of sugar, rice, cornmeal, flour or seed simply by the style or pattern of cloth the product was contained in. This recycling trend lasted from the mid-1920s through the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the war years of the 1940s until paper and plastic bags began to replace the cloth ones.

In our kitchen, we have an entire drawer dedicated to these venerated workhorses. We refer to them as “mupines” or “mup rags” (sorry Ross!). The term mupine most likely comes from the Italian vernacular; “moppina” (mop). But, author Joanna Clapps Herman in her essay for "Our Roots Are Deep With Passion," asserts that the term originates from the Italian word “mappina” (map) because maps used to be drawn on cloth.

The use of cloth maps is as ancient as (or even older than) the dish towel. Archaeological evidence from ancient Chinese tombs indicates that maps showing trade routes were being drawn on pieces of silk as long ago as the second century AD. In Europe, novelty silk scarves decorated with maps of spa towns were popular during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was with the outbreak of World War II, however, that the idea of printing maps on fabric really came into its own. From early in the war, British airmen were issued 'survival kits' which typically included a small saw blade, needle and thread, currency, phrase cards, a tiny compass, and, most importantly, a silk map. These durable maps were infinitely easy to conceal whether sewn into the lining of a jacket or the hem of an undergarment or hidden in the hollowed-out heel of a boot, a silk map was unlikely to be found during a prisoner search.

The Food Network's Rachel Ray has recently adopted the term "moppine" to mean a towel sewn with hand pockets to be used as a pot holder, but real cooks have been using dish towels as potholders for centuries; no special pockets needed!

No matter what you call them or where they came from, it is abundantly clear that dish towels are a mainstay of our society and are here to stay. Even in these days of computerization and technological advances, cooks and homeowners alike cannot survive with these handy tools. Besides what would we clean the screens of our iPads with otherwise?

Keep Your Fork

2011-07-01T12:48:00.008-04:00

The word fork comes from the Latin word 'furca' for "pitch fork." A two-prong twig was perhaps the first fork. One of the earliest dinner forks is attributed to Constantinople in 400 A.D. In 11th century Venice, forks were censured as being an affront to God's intentions for fingers which resulted in the fork’s disappearance from tables for nearly 300 years.

When Catherine de Medici married Henry I in 1533, her dowry included several dozen dinner forks wrought by the great Italian silversmith, Benvenuto Cellini. The fork began to gain acceptance in Italy by the late sixteenth century when upper-class Italians expressed renewed interest in cleanliness.

With Charles I of England’s 1633 declaration, "It is decent to use a fork," civilized table manners became vogue. Because seventeenth century forks had tines were made of case-hardened steel that were quick to wear down, early fork tines were made extra-long in length with sharp pointed tips. Additionally, the number of tines on forks of this period increased from two to four.

By the nineteenth century, mass production and the invention of the electroplating process made silver forks affordable to individuals wishing to emulate the nobility and eat with forks. Long fork tines were no longer needed and tines were shaped to accommodate particular foods. Forks wrought with long tapered tines, such as a dinner fork, are made to spear thick morsels of food, such as steak, and smaller forks were designed for eating salads and desserts.

In addition to their usefulness, forks are also a symbol of friendship, shared meals and good company. We have always enjoyed this anecdotal story:

A young woman diagnosed with a terminal lymphoma was told she had three short months to live. So as she was getting her “affairs in order," she contacted her sister to discuss her final wishes. She told her which outfit she wanted to be buried in and which songs she thought might be appropriate at her memorial.

When the sisters had gone over all the final arrangements, the sister was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly blurted out, "Oh and there's one more thing!" she said excitedly. "This is very important," the young woman continued. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

Her sister stood staring at her sibling, not knowing quite what to say. "That surprises you?” she asked. The young woman explained. "Don’t you remember that Grandma always used to say ‘keep your fork’ whenever she cleared the table. It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew that something better was coming, like her velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie. Something wonderful and with substance!” The young woman continued to explain, “I just want people to see me with a fork in my hand and wonder, ‘Hey, what's with the fork?’ Then, I want you to explain to them that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come." Her sister’s eyes welled up with tears of joy as she hugged her sister not knowing if it would be their last visit or not.

At the memorial service, friends and family were walking by the young woman's casket and saw the fork in her hand. Over and over, her sister overheard the question "What's the deal with the fork?" And over and over again she smiled. During her eulogy, the sister spoke of the conversation she had with her sibling shortly before she died. She admitted that she could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. She asked that the next time they reached for their forks, that they would remember ever so gently, that the best is yet to come.

And so, cherish the time you have, and the memories you share... Remember that being friends with someone is not an obligation, but a sweet responsibility. Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile, and encourage you to succeed. They talk you off the edge of the cliff when you stand too close, they bring chicken soup when you’re sick, and always remind you to keep your fork!

Some Like It Hot - Some Not!

2011-06-26T12:30:00.011-04:00

In today's Living and Arts section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Food Editor John Kessler poses the question(s): did you grow up in a culture that celebrated spicy food? If so, when did your palate adjust? And, do you have little kids who like hot foods as well as you do or more than you?

Much like Mr. Kessler's youngest daughter (whom he describes as spice intolerant,) growing up, I was the lone holdout in a house of "chile-heads." My father and grandfather would vie to see which could endure the hottest concentration of hot sauce until they both nearly succumbed to a spice-induced coma. This competition was typically followed by an Aquavit drinking contest, but that’s a story for another post!

My husband, Dom, enjoys dishes with the kick. He spent one summer going recipe to recipe through “The Whole Chile Cookbook” experimenting with different types of chilies from both ends of the Scoville scale; Ancho, Serrano, jalapeno, habanero, chipotle, etc. He is also a Cajun food junkie. In the early years of our 21-year marriage, we traveled to New Orleans for our annual visit to the mecca of cayenne and even once trekked to Avery Island to tour McIlhenny’s Tabasco® sauce factory.

Over the years he has learned to moderate the level of heat for my heat-judicious taste, but the dining room table is usually adorned with a dizzying array of hot sauces for himself and our guys. Although both boys admit they were more sensitive to the heat as little kids, both are now fearless when confronted by a plate of chili-laden sustenance. Maybe the spicy gene skips a generation (like the tendency towards having twins), or more likely, they became accustomed to the spices we used in our home cooking as they grew older.

The attraction to spicy foods may lie in the chemical “capsaicin” which is found in the spines of certain peppers and causes your body to release endorphins. Endorphins block pain, but they're also responsible for feelings of pleasure as well. So capsaicin is, in fact, a natural painkiller and anti-inflammatory.

Our friend, Nidhi grew up in Bombay, India where spicy foods and curries reign supreme. Street food vendors in Bombay sell copious amounts of grilled corn on the cob rubbed with lime, chili powder and salt. She describes the flavor saying, “The combination makes a wonderful tingling sensation in your mouth.” At a recent get-together, she patiently taught our oldest the tricks of making this specialty. Over the years she, too, has learned how to tame the spice for more discriminating palates.

While I may not have graduated to the level of a proper chile-head, I have grown to like spicy foods. While I still err on the side of caution when ordering Thai pepper steak, I always order the cheese dip WITH jalapenos at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and need no accommodations when eating Nidhi’s grilled corn!

Nidhi's Chili-Lime Grilled Corn
Fresh ears of corn, on the cob
Kosher salt
Chili pepper of your choice, finely ground (Nidhi uses "lal mirch" available in Indian food markets which is very similar to cayenne pepper)
Limes, cut horizontally

Heat a large pot of water to boiling. While waiting for water to boil, remove husks from the corn. Place the corn in the boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Remove from water, draining slightly, and then place the corn on a hot grill and cook until lightly browned and nicely charred. Remove the corn from the grill and allow to cool until it can be handled without burning.

On a separate plate, place a mound of salt and a mound of ground chili pepper on opposite sides of the plate. Slowly drag salt and pepper to the center and mix together. It is better to start with more salt and less chili pepper for folks who do not like their corn terribly spicy. Taking a lime half, grind the salt-chili mixture into the lime and then rub (really rub) the spices and lime juice into the corn. The lime will pick up more chili (and thus more heat) each time you return to the plate for more salt-chili and continue to rub down corn cobs.

Enjoy the tingle of the spice and lime juice in contrast to the sweet, caramelized corn. You may want to have a glass of milk close by in the event the chili pepper takes over your taste buds. The lactic acid and fat in milk cuts the heat of capsaicin far better than water or alcohol!

Eating Out For Good Karma

2011-06-23T15:58:00.000-04:00

Doc Chey’s Noodle House is one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants. Their menu features Asian dishes influenced by China, Japan, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam cuisines, and has something that appeals to every palate. We took the guys there when they were younger because they have kid-friendly menu items (high chairs, boosters, crayons and special kid-friendly chopsticks didn’t hurt either!) We have been regular diners ever since.

Doc Chey’s is the “brainchild” of Rich Chey who set out to “bring noodles to the people” when he opened the first Doc Chey’s in the Virginia Highland area of Atlanta in 1997. Osteria 832 Pizza & Pasta in the Virginia Highland neighborhood is also a member of Chey’s “HomeGrown Restaurant Concepts.” Customers of Chey’s restaurant are familiar with Chey’s concept of karma. In an interview with Creative Loafing’s Cliff Bostock in earlier this year, Chey said, “A big part of what I talk about with my kids and my team is the concept of karma - what goes around comes around. We give back to the communities we serve because it is the right thing to do and we do it with no expectations of receiving something in return. My hope is that nurturing this attitude of ‘being of service’ in my staff and my kids will help them “pay it forward” in every aspect of their lives.”

Chey’s HomeGrown restaurants offer free “Karma cards” which give customers incentives to come back. HomeGrown Restaurant Concepts also gives back to the local community through its charity fund HomeGrown Charities, which has raised over $100,000 for Atlanta non-profit organizations since inception.

In the spirit of good karma, Chey’s HomeGrown Charities has teamed up with the Atlanta Red Cross to sponsor “Dine Out for Red Cross” to help the thousands of families in Georgia and the southeast have been left homeless and suffering in the wake of spring’s natural disasters. Every Wednesday in July, participating Atlanta-area restaurants will donate 15 percent of their dinner sales. “With the recent tragedies across the southeast including our neighbors in Alabama we wanted to do something to help out,” said Chey. “Organizing Dine Out for ARC seems like the best way for our guests to help and give back as well.” Helping is as easy as eating dinner.

You can be assured that we will be there. Regular readers of our blog know that I will be ordering from the “Street Food” section of the menu! The Korean beef tacos are my addiction. Made with flank steak with Korean barbecue sauce, pickled vegetables, napa cabbage, scallions and sesame seeds, they are absolutely irresistible. While I am not sure how they cook the steak to give it such a velvety texture, Rich Chey and his team shared their recipe for their Korean BBQ sauce (just in time for the July 4th weekend of grilling!!)

1 cup sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 cups Gochujang (Korean Red Pepper Paste)

Add all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir together using a whisk. Mix thoroughly to completely dissolve the sugar. Transfer to storage container, label (it's a good idea to date it as well) and refrigerate. To serve, toss the cooked flank steak in the sauce then add to taco shells with the other ingredients.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for Wednesdays in July to Dine Out for Red Cross and good karma!

*Gochujang is a fermented (and pungent) Korean condiment. Gochujang is available in Asian grocery stores. (Click here for a recipe for a homemade version if you are feeling brave.)

What Dad Really Wants for Father's Day: Steak

2011-06-19T11:22:00.008-04:00

Thanks to the nagging of the greeting-card, flower and candy industries, Mother's Day has become etched in our collective consciousness as a holiday not to be forgotten; the guilt would be too excruciating. But Father's Day, which falls several weeks later, is often commemorated with only a card and perhaps a ubiquitous (and most likely hideous) tie (that he will never wear) to celebrate the occasion. Given all that our fathers have endured over the child-rearing years; endless games of catch, Christmas Eves spent sweating over the assembly a variety of gifts (with instructions in German), forced politeness toward dates with odd hairdos, and teaching us how to parallel park, Dad clearly deserves better.

So on his day, let's give him what he really wants: the chance to relax, have fun and, to top it all off, enjoy a great dinner. According to an informal poll conducted by Chef Nancy Waldeck, Dads want a big juicy steak that they cook themselves (to ensure that it is cooked to his exact taste.) So in honor of all Dads on Father’s Day, we are including grilling tips and advice for Dads everywhere to enjoy their meaty treasures:

Grilled steaks require glowing coals. No flame. Let the fire burn down till a gray-ash film covers the charcoal. If fire's too hot, you dry the meat, lose good juices. A well-made fire is the essential first step in outdoor cooking. The right fire makes barbecuing smooth and simple.

The temperature of the fire needed depends on the type of meat you are going to cook. For cuts of meat such as steaks, burgers, and kabobs which you intend to cook rapidly, use a relatively hot fire. A moderate fire is fine for roasts and larger pieces of meat. For slower cooking cuts of meat such as pork chops and spareribs, use a slow fire.

Charcoal comes in two forms: lump charcoal and briquets. Lump charcoal is in odd-sized pieces just as they come from the charcoal kiln. It is less uniform in burning quality and more difficult to handle. Briquets are ground, lump charcoal pressed into uniform blocks. They are easier to use, burn evenly, and produce a more uniform heat. They are easier to control and burn longer than lump charcoal.

Pile the charcoal in a pyramid on the firebox of the grill. You don't need much charcoal. Beginner chefs are often too ambitious, build too big a fire. After you've built several barbecue fires, you'll be able to gauge the amount easily. Add liquid lighter to charcoal; wait a minute, then light. Do not use gasoline or kerosene. Let charcoal burn for 15 to 20 minutes until the briquets are about two-thirds covered with gray-ash. Spread the briquets evenly throughout the grill. The bed of coals should be shallow (easy to control) and just a little larger than the area of food you are cooking.

The fastest way to get a bed of cooking coals (about 15 minutes) is with an electric fire starter. Most other methods of fire starting take approximately 45 minutes. A chimney is another secret for fast take off. Make your own from a tall juice can or a 2-pound coffee can. Remove ends from can. Using tin snips, cut out triangles or circles around bottom, 1 inch apart, to allow draft. Or punch triangular holes with a church-key bottle opener and bend down for legs. (While the bottle opener is out, be sure to use it to open an icy cold beverage for Dad while he labors over the hot flames.)

Place a wad of newspaper in the base of the chimney, add 6 to 8 charcoal briquets, and then light the paper from the bottom of the chimney. When the briquets are burning, add more to the top. Allow to burn about 15 minutes, and then lift off chimney (with tongs!) and rake coals where you want them.

Don't start to cook until the fire dies down to glowing coals. Coals are ready for cooking when they look ash-gray by day, and have a red glow after dark. No flames! Don't start cooking too soon. When coals are hot, tap off the gray ash with fire tongs; ashes on the briquets insulate and retard the heat.

An easy way to tell the heat of the fire is to hold your hand over the coals at the height the food will be for cooking. Begin counting "one thousand one, one thousand two", and so on. The number of seconds you can comfortably hold your hand over the fire will tell you how hot the fire is. If you can count to "one thousand two," you have a relatively hot fire; "one thousand three" or "one thousand four" is about a moderate fire, and "one thousand five" or "one thousand six" is a slow fire.

If you are cooking a large piece of meat that requires a long cooking time, plan to replenish the coals from time to time. Add a little extra charcoal around the edges after your fire is ready for cooking. Don't top your cooking fire with cold coals; this will lower the temperature more than you think. To increase heat, add warm coals from the reserve around the fire's edge.

To slow down the fire, move hot coals out to make a larger oval; to increase heat, move hot coals in to make narrower oval. This technique helps maintain the even cooking. Fire is ready only when flames die down. In broad daylight, the coals will look ash-gray and after dark, they'll have a red glow (they burn from outside in).

If drippings do flare up during cooking, sprinkle the fire lightly with water to quench the blaze. Keep handy a clothes sprinkler filled with water close by. Use only enough water to do the trick; don't soak the coals. It will take some time for very wet coals to dry out and begin to burn again. It will also reduce the intensity of the heat of the fire.

Orders for "rare" go on the grill last. When you see little bubbles on top surface of the steaks, they are ready to turn (heat forces the juices to the uncooked surface). Flip steaks with tongs and a spatula; piercing with a fork wastes good meat juices. Cook the second side a few minutes less than the first since the second side has a head start on heating. Turn only once. For 1-inch steaks cooked medium-rare, allow 13 to 15 min¬utes total grilling time. It is always a good idea to use a meat thermometer when grilling. Insert thermometer so tip is in center of meat. Tip must not touch bone, fat, or the metal spit.

For charred crusty coat, try this: Sear one side by lowering grill top close to coals for 2 to 3 minutes, then raise grill to finish same side. Turn steak, and sear second side; again raise grill and complete the cooking.

Wait until you turn steak to salt it (same for burgers and chops.) Salt and pepper the browned side and then season the other side as you take it off the grill. If you salt uncooked meat, the juices will be drawn out and you'll lose good flavor.

It is important to know how to carve a big steak, like a porterhouse or a sirloin, so that one person doesn't rate most of the choice portions, and another person get the tag ends. First remove the bone, cutting very close to it. Now cut across the full width of the steak, making 1-inch slices and narrowing them a little on the tenderloin side. Be sure everyone gets a section of the tenderloin. If steak has a tail piece slice it last to serve for second helpings.

When the steaks are grilled to perfection, serve them sputtering hot with a pat of butter and a squeeze of lemon. With the grill already “fired” up, it's a cinch to grill a few ears of fresh corn and some thick slices of red onion that have been brushed with olive oil. With some of Dom's potato salad, peach and mozzarella salad, and delicious grilled watermelon for dessert, you will have well-rounded and must-deserved treat for Dad on his big day!

Rubbing Elbows With Baked French Toast

2011-06-17T11:18:00.003-04:00

We have all heard the expression that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” According to the American Institute for Cancer Research it happens to be true. This morning, I was privileged to start my day with 11 Atlanta food bloggers at a Blogger breakfast hosted by Mary Moore and her amazing staff at The Cook’s Warehouse in Ansley Mall. We were treated to a delicious, healthy meal prepared by Chef Nancy Waldeck, food blogger, author of “Taste and Savor” and 3-year cancer survivor.

Introductions were made before Chef Nancy began her cooking demonstration. She started with a light version of shrimp and cheese grits made using chicken broth in lieu of cream. Chef recommends using colorful vegetables not only because they help dishes look more appetizing but because they contain more nutrients. Chef also shared several of her favorite cooking tips that I intend to use in the near future. For instance; after cooking bacon you should let it cool on a cooling rack rather than letting it sit in its own grease on a paper towel.

Chef sang the praises of stone-ground grits from Nora Mill in Helen, Georgia. One taste of the end result was proof that she was right. The grits were creamy with a terrific texture. The addition of grated Parmigiano Reggiano from the Murray’s Cheese shop located in the Ansley Mall Kroger didn’t hurt either!

Next, Chef Nancy prepared a baked French toast which was as delectable as it was easy. The fact that it can be made the night before and popped in the oven the next morning makes this recipe even more appealing.

Baked Maple and Cinnamon French Toast
6 (1 Inch-thick) slices of whole wheat bread
4 eggs (or the equivalent egg substitute)
2 cups skim milk
½ cup pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 9" X 12" baking pan or dish with non-stick butter spray and arrange the bread slices in a single layer. (The bread should fit into the pan, side by side, snugly.)

In a medium sized bowl, combine the eggs, milk, maple syrup, vanilla and ground cinnamon. Beat to blend and then pour mixture over the bread. Let soak until all the egg mixture is absorbed, turning the bread after about 10 minutes. Bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes, then flip the bread and bake for about 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Serve with maple cinnamon syrup.

Maple Cinnamon Syrup
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine the maple syrup and ground cinnamon in a heavy, small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a simmer. Remove from the heat, place the baked French toast on heated plates, top with the warm maple cinnamon syrup and serve.

After the wonderful meal, we had the opportunity to mingle with fellow bloggers, many of whose paths I had crossed in the ever-growing blogosphere. There is amazing talent in this group, and I was thrilled (and intimidated) to meet them. I am truly looking forward to pursuing their blogs and to working with them to promote great food in the Atlanta area (and beyond!) Special thanks to The Cook’s Warehouse for bringing us together to break our fasts!

Easy, Pleasing (Myers-Appeasing) Grilled Vegetables

2011-06-13T23:17:00.010-04:00

We interrupt the normally scheduled blog post to bring you this important response to the growing anti-foodie movement. Mindy Kaling, the actress who plays Kelly Kapoor on NBC's The Office reopened a festering wound last Thursday when she tweeted “I’m over foodies.” The brouhaha reached its peak in February when The Atlantic's B.R. Myers posted the polarizing article "The Moral Crusade Against Foodies." Myers’ article was followed by another writer for The Atlantic, James McWilliams who took up the cause in his article "Foodies vs. Darwin: How Meat Eaters Ignore Science."

My initial reaction to the accusation that all foodies are elitist jerks and are morally corrupt if they eat meat, was one of indignation, but I was willing to let it go. While Myers’ excessive ranting about Anthony Bourdain and his dinner guests eating ortolan (endangered songbirds fattened up in pitch-dark cages) was annoying, I was willing to let it slide. But then Myers went and did it! Oh yes, he made me angry. The kind of irritation that rankles until you feel you must retort. On page 5 of his anti-foodie diatribe, Myers says “Of course, the bulk of foodie writing falls between the extremes of Pollan-esque sanctimony and Bourdainian oafishness,” and then goes on to lambast Texas food blogger, Robb Walsh for his award-winning description of his visit to Bentley’s Oyster Bar in London.

Dom's reaction to the hullabaloo was "Really, a crusade over semantics? Given the other significant problems of the world, someone has time to write FIVE pages about the morality of foodies with such comments as 'littleness of soul' - really? Perhaps he should consider trying a slice of bacon, he might feel better."

I believe that Mr. Myers (a) has confused followers of extreme cuisine with “foodies,” and (b) has confused “foodies” with food writers. On the first count I would like to point out that there are always humans on opposing ends of any spectrum (our entire political system in the U.S. should be proof-positive of this occurrence). Sports are another perfect example. There are people who are perfectly happy climbing rocky surfaces for exercise or sightseeing, and then there are those reckless folks who prefer to compete in “extreme rock climbing” where the danger-seeker climbs to the top of a tremendously high cliff with his or her hands and feet and a bit of rope attached to a harness that (they hope) has been properly anchored to the rock face.

Jeff Corwin eating extremely

Although according to CNN Eatocracy’s Jennifer Wolfe the term ”foodie” is out of vogue at the moment, generally speaking, foodies are people who enjoy good food and want to learn more about the foods they eat. Good ingredients seasoned properly, cooked correctly and served nicely for the sustenance and enjoyment of the diner. Conversely, extreme cuisine challenges the “athlete” to dine on the wildest, most bizarre ingredients, seasoned with the most exotic spices, cooked using the most obscure methods and served for the entertainment of the challengers. New found interest in “extreme cuisine” is evidenced by the onslaught of new television shows on the topic. In addition to the Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, the Food Network has teamed up with Jeff Corwin, animal and nature conservationist, to explore human culture through regional cuisine in the primetime series Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin. The National Geographic series Taboo features episodes of which focus on Extreme Eats.

As for Myer’s second misconception all food writers are sanctimonious and are oafish; not all food writers are foodies (or vice versa) and seldom are they priggish or stupid. Actually most foodies that write, in my acquaintanceship, are pretty cool and groovy; they just want to hang out, drink a little bit, eat something tasty and then share the experience (and recipes) with their friends. They don’t feign piety or righteousness in their blog posts, are not hypocritically devout to the recipes they share, and do not seem high-minded in the stories they include in their posts. Food critics (that write) and opinion columnists (that eat) on the other hand, are far more likely to be holier-than-thou and dim-witted, but that’s an entirely different issue, (and one I do not feel inclined to address until another contributor to The Atlantic irks me to the point of rebuke.)

In the meantime, here is an easy (even a food writer could make it), vegan recipe for grilled vegetables. For the record, in the event there is any confusion as to my interpretation of the word grilled, I mean vegetables that have been “tormented with heat” which is exactly how I hope that B. R. Myers (and his misguided followers) feels in the wake of his silly tirade.

ANY fresh vegetable (we like fennel, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and even beets)
Olive Oil (NOT butter)
Salt and pepper

Prepare and light grill. Rinse vegetables and trim off ends and leaves. Cut larger veggies in to ½” slices or pieces (tomatoes in half) and brush with olive oil (we use cheap Home Depot disposable brushes) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. When the coals are ready, lay vegetables on the grill surface (tomatoes should go cut side down) and cook until they are soft and tender, turning occasionally. Depending on the temperature of your grill and the size of your vegetables this will take about 3-7 minutes per side.

When they are charred and brown to your liking, remove them from the grill and drizzle with additional olive oil and another sprinkling of salt and pepper. Savor the caramelized flavors with some crusty bread and a glass of crisp white wine, and then feel free to write about it and share with your foodie friends!

Crab Cakes and Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay

2011-06-09T10:13:00.024-04:00

Recently, we had dinner with a friend from Virginia at the impeccable Bistro Niko. An order of fresh raw oysters for the table turned the conversation toward the Chesapeake Bay and the sustainability of its marine life which is in fact the subject of an interstate summit this week.

Blue crab on oyster reef in the Chesapeake Bay

Due to over-fishing and pollution, the Chesapeake Bay oyster and blue crab populations have significantly decreased over the last decade. Bay oysters create 50 times the hard habitat surface (reef) of a mudflat of the same size which provides needed habitats for sponges, sea squirts, and small crabs and fishes. Oysters are also critical to the Bay biome as filter feeders. Blue crabs are major predators of benthic communities and serve as food for many other types of fish. Both species are necessary for the unique brackish ecosystem. Beginning in 2007, the harvesting of oysters and blue crabs was limited on the Bay. Thanks to these limitations, experts from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have announced that Chesapeake Bay blue crabs have made a remarkable recovery and restrictions on the capture of these delicious crustaceans have been lessened. Scientists are cautiously optimistic about the restoration of the oyster population as well. (To help "Save the Bay", click here!)

Talk of the Chesapeake Bay reminded me of the wonderful summers that I spent there with my grandparents as a teenager. The mornings consisted of helping my grandfather in the garden weeding, deadheading, and appreciating his gardening masterpiece. He considered himself the "Degas of dirt." I must give Gramps his due props; he was ahead of the curve in the home horticultural arena. While his neighbors were planting ubiquitous crops like okra and watermelon, he had rows of fennel, arugula, and spaghetti squash.

As a reward for taking her place in the daily garden appreciation ritual, Grams would put together a picnic lunch consisting of a Strawberry Shastas, apples, New England-style crab rolls filled with chucks of fresh blue crabmeat mixed with aioli (homemade garlic mayonnaise,) finely minced celery and a pinch of Old Bay* seasoning in top-loading buns, and a bag of Lay’s potato chips layered over ice in a galvanized fishing pail (which could later be used to bail water if necessary) and covered with a couple of ratty old dish cloths that doubled as a place mats. We would grab the pail and steer the dingy dinghy out to a sandbar that we pretended was our own private island.

Ian McShane as Blackbeard
in Disney's Piratres of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides

It is well known that the Chesapeake Bay was a popular hiding place for pirates seeking seclusion. Even Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, sometimes used the shelter of the Eastern Shore to prepare his ship Queen Anne's Revenge for sea. Though he traveled far and wide, the Virginia cape area proved to be fertile pirating grounds in the off-season. This made for the fantastical adventuring on our sandbar. I wonder if the ratty old dish towel that we embedded as a flag to mark our conquering of the island still stands today or if our haven was surmounted by a subsequent crew of scurvy scallywags.

When the allure of plundering had worn off, we would “sail” back across the Bay and spend the rest of the hot lazy afternoon teasing crabs with chicken necks and a piece of string. Those we caught were added to the collection.

When we had enough for the whole family, we would steam them and put them out on a newspaper covered table top with corn on the cob which had been boiled in the Old Bay*-spiked water. The following morning it was my job to pick all the leftover decapods and amass a quantity of intraskeletal meat large enough for Grams to make her famous crab meat quiche or succulent crab cakes. It was well worth bleeding from the numerous minute cuts and the mild swelling from the continued contact with the chitin-ladened shells.

From those summer experiences, I developed a serious penchant for all things crabby. Not for uncooperative people with the disagreeable tendency to complain bitterly or the acid-red imitation crabmeat typically found in grocery store sushi rolls (which is made from an artificially-flavored paste of minced and rinsed Alaskan Pollock called “surimi”), but for any food item that contains the succulent real crabmeat. For instance, gazpacho goes from flavorsome to luxurious when garnished with a dollop of crab meat. Over the years, Dom has perfected his crab cake recipe which rivals any I have had past or present (including Gram’s.) And while SpongeBob's boss, Mr. Krabs is obsessed with keeping his formula for “Krabby Patties” a secret, Dom is allowing me to share his recipe here:

1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over to remove cartilage or shell
4 scallions, green part only, minced (about ½ cup)
1 tablespoon fresh herbs, such as dill, basil, cilantro, or parsley, finely chopped
1½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning*
2-4 tablespoons bread crumbs (Dom likes Panko)
¼ cup mayonnaise
Salt and ground white pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ cup flour
4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Gently mix together crabmeat, scallions, herbs, Old Bay*, bread crumbs, and mayonnaise in a large mixing bowl. Be careful not to break up the crab. Big lumps of crabmeat are what make these cakes SO good. Season with salt and pepper and then carefully fold in the egg with crab mixture until it just clings together. The amount of bread crumbs you add will depend on the juiciness of the crabmeat. Start with the smallest amount, and then add the egg. If the cakes won’t bind together at this point, then add some more bread crumbs, one tablespoon at a time.

Divide the crab mixture into six portions and shape each into a fat, round cake, about 2 inches across and 1½ inches high. Arrange the chubby little cakes on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. As little as a half an hour in the refrigerator will make an ocean of difference. The cold firms the cakes so that they fried into perfect plump rounds without falling apart.

Put the flour on a plate or in a pie tin and lightly dredge the crab cakes in the flour. Heat the vegetable oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Vegetable oil creates a crisp crust, and never obstructs the crab flavor. Gently lay the chilled crab cakes in the skillet and sauté about 4 to 5 minutes per side (until the surfaces are crisp and brown). Drain quickly on paper towels and serve hot drizzled with:

Creamy Mustard Sauce
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup shallots, finely chopped
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped

Heat the wine and shallots in a saucepan over heat and cook until the liquid evaporates (about 4 minutes). Reduce the heat to medium and add the whipping cream and cook until the mixture is reduced to about 1 cup (about 2 minutes). Add mustard and herbs, and simmer for another 2 or so minutes to blend flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle over crab cakes or serve on the side.

*Old Bay Seasoning is produced in the Chesapeake Bay area and marketed by McCormick & Company. It was originally created by Gustav Brunn (a German immigrant) in the 1940s when crabs were so plentiful that bars in Baltimore, Maryland offered spicy crabs for free to encourage patrons to purchase more beverages.

On Being Green and Watermelon Pickles

2011-06-05T11:27:00.002-04:00

We just bought a used truck which necessitated a trip to North Georgia to pick up the Pick-up. As the city sprawl dissipated into the rear-view mirror, my mind wandered to my years of rural living.

My father became intrigued by the “back-to-the-land movement” that began in the early 1970s. As a result, we packed up and moved 1,000 miles (almost exactly) from the suburbs of Boston to the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains. We lived on a 30-acre would-be farm complete with three acres of blueberry bushes and a small flock of sheep. A Mother Earth News subscriber, my father embraced the revived interest in the ecology movement and self-sufficiency.

Mother Earth News magazine was a campy, utilitarian publication which concentrated on do-it-yourself and how-to articles such as gardening, food preservation, home brewing your own beer, geodesic domes, and distilling your own ethanol for fuel. My favorite article explained how to use a rain poncho to pitch a tent, make a hammock, protect your food from bears, catch fish and use it as a sail for your escape raft.

I get tickled when I read articles about “going green.” If you truly turned green with every earth-friendly deed then I would be a lovely shade of Cal-Poly-Pomona green. While I would like to claim that my motives have always been purely altruistic, that is not the case. We were green because we couldn’t afford to be anything else.

In the spirit of self-sufficiency and necessary thriftiness, absolutely nothing went to waste. My mother was the original "frugal gourmet.” Like the poncho, she could finagle several meals from one chuck roast. Necessity is not the only mother of invention, so is hunger. I read recipes for Brunswick stew made with ingredients specifically purchased for that purpose and chuckle out loud. Growing up it was an afterthought - all the left overs (or the edible remnants of the last butchering project) thrown in a pot with whatever seasonings you could rustle up. (I hope you are not looking for a recipe here because no batch was ever the same.)

Nowadays we pay more for organic produce. In my youth organic meant “home grown” and we ate it not to be healthy but because it was cheap or free. We also ate anything we could forage; in other words, bird fodder, scavenged blackberries, dandelion and poke (weed) salad, crab apples, and scuppernong juice. We bartered blueberries for venison and traded zucchini for homemade sausage.

Nothing went to waste; ever! Take for example a watermelon; the quintessential symbol for the opening day of the Summer season. Eaten fresh, the lycopene-rich red flesh is refreshing and elemental. A spiked watermelon? How blasphemous! Not that I am a watermelon purist, but I actually like the flavor of watermelon. (Why did you buy the watermelon if you wanted it to taste like something else?) Amazingly versatile, frozen watermelon makes delicious granitas, as well as an invigorating mojito (courtesy of Ina Garten). But wait, there’s more. With a coating of sugar and black pepper, watermelon grilled for 5 or so minutes on the grill is divine.

Then of course there is the rind. Before committing them to the obligatory compost pile, consider a batch of watermelon rind pickles. (My husband and children call me the Princess of Pickles or the Duchess of Dill because if it can't be frozen, I make it into pickles.) Possibly the earliest published recipe for watermelon pickles appears in the first known cookbook written by an American, Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery published in 1796. Since, her recipe for pickled melon bears very little resemblance to today’s pickled fruit recipes, here is my mine instead:

6 cups peeled watermelon rind, cut into 1″ pieces
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
1 lemon, cut into slices
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick

Trim the pink flesh and peel the green outer skin from the rind. Be careful not to cut yourself because the outer layer is harder than you think. I used a vegetable peeler and patience. Once peeled, cut the rind into small 1” cubes. Cover the cubes with a brine made in the proportion of 1/4 cup salt for each 1 quart of water. Refrigerate for five hours or overnight.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, drain rind from the brine and place in boiling water. Cook until just tender which should take about 15-20 minutes or until watermelon rind is translucent. In a separate saucepan bring sugar, vinegar, cloves, cinnamon, and lemon to a boil over high heat.

Pack the cooked watermelon rinds loosely into clean, hot jars. Cover with boiling pickle syrup, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remember to remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe the rims of jars with a dampened paper towel and secure lids. Let cool. Check seals and wait a day or two before opening to let the rind fully absorb the syrup. These are best served with grilled meats and Summer picnic fare.

A little bit more about watermelons:

Watermelon is thought to have originated in the Kalahari Desert of Africa. The first recorded watermelon harvest nearly 5,000 years ago is depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Southern food historians believe that watermelon made its way to the United States with African slaves.

Like other members of the squash family, watermelons don’t continue to ripen once they’ve been picked, so this is an important clue to watch for. Since watermelons are 92% water, you want a watermelon that is symmetrical and evenly heavy. The outside rind should be firm and blemish free with a deep green shell. Look for the tell-tale “ripe spot”. It will be on the bottom of the watermelon and a light yellow or creamy color. This spot develops as the melon grows on the soil. If the spot is greenish or white in color, it’s not ripe yet. Conversely, soft spots are a sign it’s starting to turn bad. Best chilled at least 12 hours before eating. Be sure to scrub the outside down well with soap and water so that you do not drag the germs down into the fruit as you cut it open with your knife.

Tortured Peach Salad

2011-06-01T21:06:00.010-04:00


Iconic Georgia Peach, Scarlett O'Hara*

Below the Mason-Dixon Line in the late 1800s, it was desirable for a woman to be considered a “Southern Belle” or “Georgia Peach.” A kind lady who was polite to everyone she met and never raised her voice lest she be accused of being a tomboy. While the requirements became more relaxed during World War II, ladies were still expected to act like, well, ladies. Growing up in the South during the late 1970s, I can attest to the fact that “unlady-like” behavior (climbing trees, rolling down dirt heaps, catching frogs) was still frowned upon. And, while I have never been afraid to get dirty (which worked out well since we lived on a farm,) I am probably what most of my Southern brethren would consider a “peach" (many with obvious sarcasm.)

That said, I am quite content to be the mother of two very active teenage boys. I have always been more comfortable around men than women. I like the way men think. You always know where they stand. They are not skilled (nor do they want to be) at the fine art of understatement which usually results in unbridled (often brutal) honesty. Their inability to candy-coat their thoughts or opinions is refreshing (except when it is directed at items in your wardrobe,) and preferable to the passive-aggressive, fibbing-to-preserve-your-feelings approach often employed by the gentler gender of the species.

Men take this same direct approach with food. In a restaurant, a woman might deliberate and fuss over a menu; asking for substitutions and sauce on the side, and then demurely pick at the dish to illustrate how dainty she is. Even the most sophisticated man, on the other hand, would order a huge T-bone, and then as politely as possible devour every morsel that could be civilly cut from the bone. This same refined man would then look across the table over the disseminated T-bone at his also-male dining companion and they would give each other imperceptible-to-all-others-approval to pick up their bones and ravage the remaining carnage like a lions on the savannah.

Conversely, I do not like big fat muddy boot prints all over my house. Men really have no patience or sensitivity for all things frilly and their concept of cleanliness does not quite jive with my own. So perhaps you can imagine my dismay to have contractors working in the house this week. It should be noted that all of these contractors are top-notch and I realize that some mess and disruption is inevitable. I even anticipated the extra use of water and power.

Nonetheless, my senses were assaulted by less-than-pleasant smells (weird chemical odors, cigarette smoke and something musty that I hope wasn’t sweat), loud noises (hammering, banging, pounding, dropping and the ever-present, too-loud radio half-tuned to a country station), piles of materials far and wide, wheelbarrows, drop cloths, and dirt; gritty, grime everywhere. To quote Cusco (of Disney fame) they “threw off my groove.” I dislike the invasion of my personal space and the feeling that I can’t be myself in my own home. Like George Carlin often said, “we like our own stuff and want to keep our stuff safe and keep others away from our stuff, don't we?”

Once everyone left and the floors had been vacuumed, I was pleasantly surprised by the sweet scent of peaches. Dom had found gorgeous peaches at DeKalb Farmer’s Market that had been ripening on the counter and I knew at that moment that a salad of ripe peaches, fresh mozzarella and basil would be just the treat to reward myself for my patience and tolerance. Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Naked Chef Cookbook, this salad (with its torn peaches and cheese ripped into bit-sized shreds) seemed oddly appropriate after a torturous day of refurbishments. Jamie's recipe includes a few thin slices of prosciutto or Iberico ham (again shredded into strips), but I think I will go without any manly embellishments this evening.

2 ripe (freestone when available) peaches, pitted, torn into wedges
½ cup fresh mozzarella cheese (slurge on the good stuff), ripped into pieces
2 cups fresh arugula (or mache, or water cress)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
dried red pepper flakes (optional)
fresh basil leaves

Tear peaches into bite-sized pieces, capturing all juices! Whisk peach and lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper together. Toss the salad with half the dressing and add more only as needed so as not to drown the salad greens. Drain the fresh mozzarella and tear into chunks. Arrange the peach wedges and ripped mozzarella on top of the dressed greens. Top with basil leaves and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to taste.

Now for the obligatory lesson on how to select the perfect peach:

Peaches fall into two major categories; clingstone and freestone. Clingstone peaches have a firm flesh that “clings” to the pit and can be removed by slicing with a knife. Clingstone peaches are the first peaches offered every summer and are known to hold their shape. Freestone peaches are available later in the growing season and have juicy, soft flesh that is easily separated from the pit. These peaches taste great eaten out of hand and make a cook’s work easier in the kitchen. There is no discernible taste difference between freestone and clingstone peaches.

I know you are also wondering what the difference between a white peach and a traditional yellow peach? White peaches have a pearl, pink blushed skin, white flesh and pink seed. White peaches are less acidic resulting in a sweet fruit with essences of honey and vanilla and without the familiar tang of yellow peaches.

The key to choosing the best peaches (whether clingstone, freestone, white or yellow) is to feel and smell the fruit. Look for peaches that are somewhat firm yet yield lightly to pressure when applied. When you can smell the sweetness of a peach without even taking a bite, then you know that fruit is ready to eat. Color is rarely a good indicator of the readiness of a peach.

*This June, Atlanta celebrates the 75th Anniversary of Margaret Mitchell's classic novel "Gone with the Wind."

The Birthday Epiphany With A Strawberry On Top (Or Bottom)

2011-05-30T20:22:00.013-04:00

This post is not meant to be a shameless self-promoting attempt to solicit birthday greetings, but a commentary on the timing of my inner reflection. Everyone has a calling; a compulsion fueled by our own creative juices. Our artistic outlets provide us with a true catharsis. Dom’s is his cooking and mine is writing.

Lately, I have noticed that I have been writing what I think I should write; what I think people will want to know about or read. I entered recipes in quite a few food contests that actually received good reviews (including having 2 recipes chosen as Editor’s picks at Food52.com and one recipe chosen for Foodbuzz’s Flavor of the Month) which drove traffic to the blog, but they seemed hollow to me; devoid of personality. I now realize the problem was that I had gotten away from my true love which is writing about food. Not just recipes and trite blurbs of historical facts or nutritional benefits, but the experiences and revelations that make the recipes sing. This point was brought home after reading Robin Nixon’s advice about writing blog posts.

The Mind Purge

While some unfortunate souls have RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome), I suffer from RBS (Restless Blogger Syndrome). I find I create my best posts while cooking, cleaning, toiling in the garden, or when I finally lay my head on the pillow at the end of the day. I feel the uncontrollable impulse to empty my head of all thoughts in the way Dumbledore removes the memories from his mind with the elder wand and places them in the pensieve. The feeling of a fresh start after a mind purge is liberating; a brain dump resulting in a blank page.

Grams cooking in 1948
(in the sun, not the kitchen)

Perhaps it is even hereditary. My paternal grandmother (who was an exceptional cook trained at Le Cordon Bleu and may have even encouraged Julia Child to attend as Julia and my grandfather both worked for the OSS and traveled in the same social circles during the late 1940s.) Grams was known for two things: her art deco, ivory cigarette holder and the very audible, full-length conversations she would have with herself while she prepared dinner each night.

My undocumented pieces of literary genius always have Scrabble-winning vocabulary and segues that are smoother than hand-spun Tibetan silk which disappear into a misty vapor the millisecond I sit down in front of my laptop. Looking for inspiration, I log into the font of fodder known as Facebook and immediately get lost in the dizzying array of notions for blog posts. My mind sprints ahead from one potential post to another like a chess player thinking 5 moves ahead. Alas, no posts magically appear in the editing pane.

For this post, I employed a new tactic. While wiping down the kitchen counters, inspiration struck. Thinking quickly, I grabbed my cell phone and recorded my thoughts. Fourteen voice memos later, I had a clean kitchen, a clear mind, and the respectable makings of a blog post!

While this exercise in self-actualization has given rise to the epiphany about my writing which in the future will reflect more of my own personality, this is still a food blog. Thus, I feel compelled to include a recipe at this juncture; something simple and delicious (with a beat you can dance to.)

Since my birthday is usually heralded by the seasonal return of chimney swifts, gardenia blooms, and fresh strawberries, we should celebrate the sweet yet tart berries by accentuating them with sour cream and brown sugar. Chef James Haller, author of Cooking Brilliantly Without Recipes, is credited with first serving strawberries this way at his restaurant the Blue Strawberry in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.*

1 pint fresh strawberries
½ cup sour cream
½ cup brown sugar

Quickly and gently rinse strawberries (don't let them get soggy!) and place them in a bowl, and place sour cream and brown sugar in (separate) bowls. First dip the strawberries into sour cream and then in the brown sugar. Clear your mind and let the flavors drift over you like a gentle zephyr!

*See, I even managed to work in a little history too.

A Jaunt to the Much-Anticipated Atlanta Urban Picnic

2011-05-27T22:19:00.014-04:00

Peaches. An impromptu call from Sonny (while I was at the vet’s office with not one, but two cats) with a request for peaches, started the produce hunt. So, when I saw the post this morning that there were peaches at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, it was with great delight that I remembered that every fourth Friday is the Atlanta Street Food Coalition’s “Urban Picnic.” We had never been, but had been dying to check it out!

The Pup Truck!

The Atlanta Urban Picnic is like a small-scale food festival. Popular Atlanta food trucks surround the Sweet Auburn Curb Market on Edgewood Avenue offering a smorgasbord street food delicacies. This is not your typical collection of bloomin’ onions and funnel cakes, instead there are treats like handmade tamales, gourmet hotdogs, homemade ice cream, and Caribbean treats. Yumbii, the Pup Truck, Arepa Mia, Westside Creamery, The Good Food Truck, Blue Tailed Lizard and Just Loaf’N were all booming with business.

The Chihuahua

The guys decided on loaded hot dogs from the Pup Truck. Dominic got a Chihuahua (gourmet dog topped with Velveeta, Rotel, onions, jalapenos and even more cheese! He gulped it down with relish (No, not the pickle kind) declaring it “a heart attack in a bun in a good way.” Teenage speak for “totally awesome!” Sonny got the Bulldog; a classic Southern variation with melted Velveeta cheese, onions, mustard, chili and again more cheese, grated. He said very little, but it must have been scrumptious because he was wearing as much as he ingested! Several napkins later…

Pumpkin Cheese Cake

As we headed through the door to the Market, Miss D’s was passing around fresh cheese popcorn which was mighty tasty, while the Sweet Auburn Bakery offered samples of their New York and Sweet Potato cheesecake. Sonny grabbed a bite of the New York style extolling its creamy-rich texture, and I was tempted by the decadent-looking pumpkin variety which melted in my mouth leaving a wisp of cinnamony goodness behind.

Griddled Arepas

We did a quick turn through the market noting all the delectable-looking meats, sausages and organic veggies. We settled on three nearly-ripe peaches and headed in the direction of the car. After all that was the entire reason we began this adventure wasn’t it? But wait, why was there a line over in the corner? Aha! Arepa Mia! (Venezuelan for “Mama Mia” – not really but I almost had you!) Lis and Amber explained that arepas are traditional Venezuelan snacks. I ordered a Vegetarian made with grilled cornmeal patties stuffed with a roasted vegetable ragu of zucchini, bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, cauliflower, collard greens, and black beans topped with queso blanco and cilantro jalapeno salsa as well as…(Okay, I was so distracted by the smell of the cooking arepas that I didn’t hear what was in the other sauce), but the combination of flavors was incredible. Steamy toasted corn and vegetables with cheese and cilantro were simply too die for!

A half-eaten Vegetarian Arepa

And, quite filling as it turned out, thus I had no room for ice cream from Westside Creamery (Boo hoo.) However, I quickly made a note that next Urban Picnic will be held on Saturday, June 11th. Be sure to mark your calendars for the second Saturday and fourth Friday of every month for the Urban Picnic at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market!

Classic Provençal Clafoutis

2011-05-22T12:19:00.010-04:00

Like natives of Provence (the area of southern France and northern Italy,) we have learned the simple pleasures of foraging for wild foods and edibles in our backyard and public green spaces. One man’s weeds are another man’s salad! Even in urban areas there are many wild treats if you know what to look for. Mulberries are frequently ignored by neighbors as are dandelion greens, crab apples and even nettles. (Although we know there are edible mushrooms in the region, we have never attempted to harvest any as the potential for disaster is too great.) Imagine our surprise to find a cherry tree dripping with bright red ripe cherries overhanging the street in our neighborhood. What better way to celebrate tis find than with a traditional Provençal dish from the Limousin region of France.

The classic clafoutis is a French delicacy. Freshly picked cherries in a batter, flavored with brandy and sugared. The name “clafoutis” originated from clafir a verb in Provencal dialect meaning to "to fill” as in to fill the pan with batter. Clafoutis became quite popular throughout France during the 19th century. Other fruits can be used to create this pancake-like confection, but when other fruits are used it is properly called a “flaugnarde.”

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon brandy

2 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Combine flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk and brandy in a mixing bowl and beat until the batter is completely smooth, let it rest for about an hour while you prepare the fruit.

While Provençal purists claim that cooking this dish with the pits still intact gives it more depth and flavor, we recommend that you rinse the cherries and remove the stems and pits. In a large 9-inch non-stick ovenproof skillet melt the butter over medium heat and coat the bottom and sides of the pan. When the butter is bubbling, add the pitted cherries, cooking the cherries for 2 to 3 minutes until they have softened a bit and are coated with butter. Shake the pan gently to evenly distribute cherries in the bottom of the pan trying not to just eat them right out of the pan!

Pour the batter over the cherries and bake for about 20 minutes or until the clafoutis is puffed, set, and golden brown around the edges. Remember not to open the oven door until the end of the baking time or the clafoutis may collapse similar to a soufflé. Serve immediately with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and plenty of forks.

The Essence of Spring: Squash Blossom Frittata

2011-05-20T10:23:00.005-04:00

Rialto Market in Venice, 2005

Italians never let anything go to waste (a perfect example is offal). Since squash plants are monoecious, they have separate male flowers and female flowers appearing on the same plant.The female flowers turn into squash plants while the male plants wither and die, thus making them a guilt-free treat. We first sampled these tantalizing delicacies at Piperno in Rome. They are widely available throughout Italy.

Frittatas (and omelets) are made by swiftly cooking beaten eggs with butter or oil. They can include a combination of fillings such as cheese, vegetables, or meat. We have always told our boys that knowing how to cook an omelet or frittata is the best way to impress a date!

To produce a fluffy consistency, whole eggs (or sometimes egg whites) only are beaten with a small amount of milk or cream. This creates water vapor bubbles trapped inside the quickly cooked eggs. These bubbles are what make a frittata light and airy. Spring vegetables work particularly well in a frittata because they require very little cooking and benefit from the steam created by the water vapor trapped in the eggs. We especially enjoy using fresh-from-the-garden, brilliant orange squash blossoms for their subtle and squashy flavor.

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
4-6 freshly picked squash blossoms, cleaned
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoon Parmesan cheese, grated
2 teaspoons light cream (or whole milk)
1/4 cup favorite cheese (Chevre, Gouda, Gruyere, Manchego), grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Clean the squash blossoms by gently brushing off dirt; we use a paint brush (designated for kitchen use only.) Do not rinse blossoms! Rinsing turns them to mush and dilutes their essence.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, butter, and salt & pepper.

Melt ½ teaspoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick pan over medium heat, swirling the pan to coat it with the butter. Place squash blossoms in the pan and gently pour egg m mixture over the top. If you are using goat cheese, gently place dollops among the blossoms. Cook for about 3 minutes, gently stirring with a non-metal spatula or spoon to lift the cooked egg off the bottom of the pan and allow the uncooked portion to heat. Be careful not to over stir the frittata or break up your squash blossoms.

When the underside of the frittata is set on the bottom of the pan, scatter the top with the grated cheese. Run the pan under the broiler and cook for about 1 minute, or until the eggs are set on top and the cheese has melted. Using the non-metal spatula, loosen the frittata from the pan, slide it onto a platter to serve. Serve hot with toasted crusty bread and enjoy the amazing texture of the whisked eggs and delicate squash blossoms! Aaah, Spring is here!

Note: You would use the same techniques for cooking a squash blossom omelet. The amount of time under the broiler might be a bit less since the eggs would continue to cook once folded. When removing the omelet from the pan after broiling, slide half of the eggs out of the pan and use the edge of the pan to fold into the traditional half-moon shape. Garnish with cheese or parsley to serve.

Must-try Zippy Pickled Okra

2011-05-18T11:20:00.013-04:00

Once regarded as strictly a Southern vegetal, vitamin-rich okra has increasingly gained national distinction for its unique flavor and texture. Sprightly green okra pods embody the taste of summer. When combined with spices and a light vinegar brine, these crunchy, quintessentially Southern pickles are part and parcel of a fine old culinary heritage. The perfectly balanced, sweet-sour flavors and characteristic textures complement everything from charcuterie and cheese to a well-dressed hot dog. Zippy okra pickles also make a fabulous addition to vodka martinis and Bloody Marys. The chili peppers give these okra pickles a pleasant kick. If you prefer spicier pickles, add another chili or two to each jar.

1 pound fresh okra, stems trimmed
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 chili pepper, fresh or dried (I used one habanero)
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, cracked
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 whole cloves
2 cup cider vinegar
2 cup water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Wash and sterilized jars and set aside. Rinse okra and trim stems. Pack jars with okra, garlic, chili pepper, peppercorns, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, and cloves.

In a large pot over high heat, combine vinegar, water, kosher salt, and sugar and bring to a boil. Ladle the hot brine over the okra and then seal the jar. Allow jar to sit for a minimum of 1 week to marry the flavors before using. Refrigerate the pickles after opening (if there are any left!)

And, given the popularity of fried pickles (and because Sonny and I are bona fide pickled-okra-aholics,) we recently tried frying pickled okra. We can imagine that it would appeal to some, but neither of us really liked the result.

Dom's Magical Shrimp & Cheese Grits

2011-05-15T16:18:00.008-04:00

Outside of the Southern states, a lot of folks have never eaten grits; some have never even heard of them! Known as the "Southern oatmeal," grits were favored over oatmeal before air conditioning was invented because they could withstand the heat and humidity better. Three-quarters of the nation’s grits are still sold in the "Grits Belt;" the Southeastern coastal states stretching from the Carolinas to Louisiana.

Grits are coarsely ground (dried) corn that are traditionally cooked with butter and served as a side dish for breakfast or dinner. Their name comes from the Italian word "gruzzi" which means crushed corn. Grits are very similar to other thick maize-based porridges including the Italian polenta. Grits, however, tend to be made from white corn and are more coarsely ground than the yellow corn used in polenta.

To a true Southerner nothing compares to warm, cheesy grits topped with succulent, sweet seafood, except maybe the addition of a magical, spicy bacon sauce.

2 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and brined
8 slices of bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1 12-oz. bottle of beer*, room temperature
¼ cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup stone-ground grits
1 cup cheese, grated (Dom uses Gouda)
2 tablespoons of Denise's peppers (optional)

Rinse shrimp in cold water and peel. Brine shrimp in salted water until ready to cook.

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel to drain. Add chopped onions to the bacon grease in the pan. Depending on the amount of grease left from the bacon, add up to 1 tablespoon of olive oil as needed to coat the onions. Sauté onions until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. The term “until translucent” is commonly used to describe onions sautéed in butter or oil. Raw onions are fairly opaque, but as they cook they slowly become almost transparent. When this happens, add spices to the pan and stir to mix.

Next, add the beer, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce, stirring to combine. Coarsely chop the cooled bacon and add to the pan. Cook until the pan juices are thickened and syrupy.

Drain shrimp and add to the pan, tossing gently to completely coat shrimp. Bring sauce back to a boil, then cover pan and remove from the heat letting the shrimp rest for about 3-5 minutes to allow shrimp to steam and fully cook.

Meanwhile, cook grits according to package directions, stir in cheese and peppers until fully melted and incorporated. Serve immediately on a platter with a mound of cheese grits with the shrimp (and the magical sauce) in the center.

And now the really magical part… watch as all the shrimp and grits disappear!

*A while ago we received a stipend to try New Belgium beers as members of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program. Now, they are a favorite. We used a bottle of Somersault Golden Ale for this recipe.

Have Ziti, Will Travel

2011-05-13T08:49:00.005-04:00

Baked ziti falls into the category of comfort food for many Italian families. The hot saucy pasta and melted cheeses promotes a deep-felt contentment and the smell fills the kitchen making you feel at home even if you're not. It is a dish that is easy and delicious to make (and take). It can be eaten immediately or made ahead and frozen. It makes a wonderful house warming gift, new baby meal delivery, care package for a college student to take back to school, or even pot luck fare.

This vegetarian version makes use of all the fresh Spring vegetables available markets this time of year. Roasting the vegetables gives the pasta a rich, smoky flavor that is a good compliment to the pomodoro sauce.

1 pound ziti or penne pasta, cooked
3 cups Pomodoro sauce
2-3 cups roasted vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, squash, carrots, peas, and/or green beans)
½ cup mushrooms, sautéed (optional)
2 cups mozzarella (or a mixture of Italian cheeses)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
9” X 13” baking dish (disposable works best for travel!)

Place uncooked ziti in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Do not overcook or pasta will be soggy and break apart when tossed. Drain the pasta without delay in a large colander. Do not rinse the pasta before combining with about 2 cups of the sauce in a large mixing bowl. Add roasted vegetables and toss gently to cover pasta and vegetable completely with pomodoro sauce. Cover the bowl and set let stand for at least 5 minutes.

If freezing over serving later in the day, allow to cool completely. Transfer pasta to the baking dish and blanket the top of the pasta with cheese(s) and sprinkle with chopped parsley and cover with aluminum foil. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to reheat.

You can either re-heat from the ziti frozen or thawed state. From frozen will take much longer, so we recommend taking the dish out of the freezer at least 24 hours in advance and let it defrost in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you are reheating in an aluminum pan, be sure to place a cookie sheet underneath the pan. Leaving foil on the dish, cook for about 30-40 minutes if completely thawed removing the foil. Cook for 45-50 minutes if partially thawed or allow to bake for an hour (or more) if still frozen. It is ready when the sauce is bubbling to the surface. If the cheese is not browned and melted enough, remove the aluminum foil and let it cook for a little longer or put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Serve with crusty bread and a fresh Caesar salad for an Italian dinner worthy of an Emperor!

Roasted Beets Perfect for Salads

2011-05-11T12:55:00.004-04:00

Beets are a high-fiber food that have been found to increase the production of special immune cells that destroy cancer cells in the colon. They also contain antioxidants and help the liver to produce additional natural antioxidants. Eating beets on a regular basis can lower LDL cholesterol by as much as 30 percent. Furthermore, beets contain a compound known as betaine that can reduce inflammation in joints, bones, the throat and blood vessels by 20 percent which helps people who suffer from ailments such as osteoporosis and asthma, and beets are high in folate, a type of B vitamin that helps with natural tissue growth, which is especially beneficial to children and pregnant women.

Roasting beets intensifies their flavor, brings out their earthy sweetness, and makes them as easy to peel as a banana while maintaining their high nutrient content. Roasted beets are delicious eaten plain with olive oil, salt and pepper, and are particularly tasty in a variety of Spring salads.

3 medium beets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Select beets that are firm and heavy for their size. Rinse the beets thoroughly some beets may need to be scrubbed clean.

Place the beets in a small roasting or baking dish in one layer. Drizzle with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast until tender and easily pierced with a knife, about 45-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel using a paring knife or by pushing the skin with your fingers. Slice the beets and serve over fresh arugula that has been tossed with olive oil and red wine vinegar and then sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese for a refreshing Spring salad. We also like to serve the roasted beets with grated ricotta salat (dried and aged ricotta). Toasted or candied walnuts are also a wonderful accompaniment.

Pomodoro Sauce for Now (or Later)

2011-05-09T15:46:00.003-04:00

Tomato sauce is the foundation of most Italian dishes, and thus a mainstay of our family diet. All the names and terms for different sauces can be quite confusing; fra diavalo, amatriciana, arrabiata, puttanesca to name a few.

All of these start with a basic sauce, either marinara or pomodoro. Marinara (Italian for Mariner's sauce) is a meatless sauce made from roughly chopped fresh tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. All of these ingredients are placed in a saucepan and allowed to simmer for about 20 minutes. Since the sauce doesn’t cook very long, it retains much of its bright red hue, and the olive oil adds a sheen to it. By adding capers, olives, anchovies, and red pepper flakes to the marinara you will have a quick and delicious puttanesca sauce.

Like marinara sauce, pomodoro sauce is also meatless and made from tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, however, pomodoro sauce is somewhat thicker and smoother than marinara sauce. This is because the tomatoes are crushed and the sauce is simmered over a longer period of time. Pomodoro sauce can easily put up in canning jars and saved for later use in numerous recipes including baked ziti, amatriciana, or used for making homemade pizza! This recipe makes enough to cover 4 pounds of pasta (or 3 pounds of pasta generously). You can also toss the leftovers in the freezer if you're not up to a canning project.

2 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 106-oz. can of whole San Marzano tomatoes (We use Nina brand available at Costco)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, crushed
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Parmesan/Romano cheese rinds (or ½ cup grated)

Add olive oil to a large saucepan, and warm over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook until lightly brown. Do not overcook garlic or it will taste bitter and ruin the flavor of the sauce. Remove pan from heat and add tomatoes. Wash hands and hand crush tomatoes until they are the consistency you prefer. Don’t be afraid to get your hands messy!

After crushing tomatoes, add salt, paprika, peppers, sugar, and oregano, and stir together. If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can use a hand mixer or immersion blender to puree the sauce further. Place saucepan back on medium heat and bring the sauce to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Add cheese rinds to the sauce and allow to simmer for 30 minutes to one hour.

Turn sauce off and allow to cool fully. Letting the pomodoro sauce cool allows the flavors to meld. Bring the sauce back up to a boil before serving. To serve, place cooked pasta of your choice in a large serving bowl and add about 2 cups of sauce stirring to coat and set let stand for 5 minutes. Serve pasta in bowls with additional sauce and copious amounts of grated Parmesan cheese.

To be safe, it is always a good idea to sterilize your jars and lids. Wash jars in hot soapy water and rinse well, and then place in a large pot of water and boil gently for 10 minutes. Remove and drain on a clean towel until ready to fill.

Fill a large pot with enough hot water to cover the jars with 1 to 2 inches above the tops of jars. It is always a good idea to have extra hot water in case you underestimate.

Pour hot pomodoro sauce in clean jars and wipe rim clean of any excess. Place the lids on your jars of sauce and hand tighten. Place in the pot of boiling water and cover with 1 to 2 inches of water and the pot lid. When the water comes to a rolling boil, start to count the processing time (which differs for the size of the jars you use, so follow package directions). Reduce heat slightly and boil gently for the time recommended for the food being processed. When the cooking time is up, remove jars at once and place on a rack or on towels away from heat and away from any draft. Keep jars separated to allow air space for cooling.

After jars have cooled, test the seals by pressing down on the center of the lid. The lid should be concaved and not move when pressed. Be sure to label canned jars with contents and processing date. Store jars in a cool dark, dry place.