Vinaigrette

I don’t remember where I learned this one, but it never fails to bring raves.  I've had to give this simple recipe to numerous friends.

Put a large pinch of kosher salt in the bottom of a wooden bowl. Slice up one large or two small cloves of garlic and place on top of the salt. Use a hefty and narrow-tonged fork or even a mortar to crush the garlic well into the salt … making into a paste. Add a good dollop of Dijon mustard and the juice of one-half a juicy lemon (or all the juice of a not-so-juicy lemon). I also like to add a big splash of good red-wine vinegar now. Mix it well with a fork adding about 3 or 4 turns of a pepper mill. If you must add an herb, try chervil ... about 1/2 a tablespoon.  Next drizzle in about 4 or more tablespoons of good extra-virgin olive oil, mixing all the while with the fork to create a creamy emulsion.

The actual salad contents can vary greatly, but how about a package of mesclun-mix greens, a bunch of halved cherry or grape tomatoes and three sliced-up scallions? And maybe even some crumbled up blue cheese?

Italian Sub

Call it a Hoagie, Hero, Grinder, Po’ Boy, Torpedo, Submarine or whatever, it is a classic Italian treat and here is my version. Again first, please buy high quality cold cuts and bread otherwise the end product will be second rate.

Slice the Italian bread (poppy- or sesame-seeded is good) lengthwise … the crustier the better. Now drizzle some good red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil on the top and bottom cut sides of the bread and then sprinkle with Italian or Greek oregano. Now layer in the following (order can be reversed … see picture):

- thinly sliced real Italian mortadella (a must in my opinion)
- deli-thin Genoa salami slices
- deli-thin Provolone cheese slices
- chopped olive medley (optional)
- deli-thin capicola slices (hot or sweet according to your taste)
- paper thin imported prosciutto ham slices (go ahead splurge)
- deli-thin Swiss cheese (very optional … as this is not traditional)
- shredded Iceberg lettuce
- chopped or sliced ripe tomato
- chopped sweet onion (or scallions)
- chopped or sliced roasted Italian peppers (hot or sweet according to your taste)

Give the whole thing an extra sprinkle of oregano and drizzle of olive oil and red-wine vinegar. Do not, I repeat, do not heat this sandwich or use any mayonnaise. Serve it as described. Use a bib or tuck a dish towel around your neck as eating this treat will be messy.

Enjoy!

A Thanksgiving Warning

Something to avoid on Thanksgiving.  Click here.

A Wine Whiner

Upon further reflection, I probable should have published this blog post over here.

Navy Bean Soup

A few weeks back, at the Commons Lunch in Little Compton, Rhode Island, I had a steaming bowl of delicious navy bean soup. I’ve kept thinking about how good it was and how I wanted to reproduce it for my family. I came very close last night so I thought I would share this success.

Rinse well a package of dried navy beans and then place them in a pot of cold water. Bring this pot to a rolling boil and boil for two minutes and then turn off the heat, cover, and let it stand for a hour.

In a much bigger soup pot sweat, in about two tablespoons of good olive oil, one finely-chopped onion, two finely-chopped stalks of celery, two cleaned and finely-chopped carrots and a hand full of finely-chopped parsley. If you have some left over ham use it, but I bought a bone-in ham steak and cut it into pieces. Add the ham (and bone) to the soup pot along with 6 peppercorns and 6 allspice berries and about a good two quarts of water. No salt yet! Start boiling this mixture and, when the beans are ready, add them along with their soaking liquid. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for a good two hours.

Next take a 15.5 ounce can of stewed tomatoes and, after chopping up the tomatoes, add it to the soup. Now, add salt to taste (less than a teaspoon). If need be, retrieve the ham pieces and mince them finer. Remove the bone, but add the marrow and the minced ham back to the pot.  Re-cover and simmer for another half hour.

Serve with crusty bread and butter. (Even my wife loved this soup and she hates beans.)

Ala Porcine

Schnitzel is a quick and delicious departure from normal American fare. You can make it with expensive veal if you wish, but I usually use pork and defy most diners to tell the difference.

First find some nice, almost white pork tenderloin. Cut it into two inch sections and the pound these sections flat (about ¼” thick) with a tenderizing mallet. The results should be about six inches across. Salt and pepper these schnitzels on both sides, then do the quick-frying three step: dip in seasoned flour first (shaking of the excess), then a beaten egg (or two), then seasoned breadcrumbs or Panko (again shaking off the excess), and pan-fry in hot oil (corn or canola oil is fine) till golden brown on both sides. (The seasoning for the flour and breadcrumbs is open for creative flair, but I use salt, pepper, dried parsley flakes, and sometimes onion powder.) Top with the traditional lemon slice.

Serve these schnitzels with sides of red cabbage and apple sauce. To make the red cabbage: melt in a frying pan a good tablespoon of bacon grease (a must), add a small onion diced finely, sweat the onion for a minute or so and then add a jar of red cabbage (I’ve only ever seen one size of red-cabbage jar.) Heat thoroughly for a few minutes and then serve. The apple sauce is more complicated: get a large jar of good apple sauce, chill well, and serve with a topping of cinnamon. (French fries would be good too ... nice and hot ... and maybe even the cucumber salad from my previous blog post here.)

Should serve four.  Enjoy. (Make sure you have hired an oompa band and a zaftig female server.)

Unencumbered Cucumber

Here is a traditional German salad dish that is devoid of sour cream. (Not that that version isn’t good too.) And it is quite simple.

Peel and slice two medium cucumbers into 1/8 inch pieces. Next, peel, half and slice a small Vidalia (or other sweet) onion. Place all these slices in a bowl and cover with ice cubes. Place in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. In the meantime mix 5 tablespoons of good sharp cider vinegar with three tablespoons of sugar (can be light brown), a good pinch of salt and about four pepper mill turns … all in a small glass. Mix well and place this glass in the freezer until you are ready to remove the cucumber and onion slices. Drain and pat dry these cucumber and onion slices and top them with the well-chilled vinegar dressing. Sprinkle with chopped fresh dill or coriander seeds (pictured) and serve immediately ... as the secret of this dish is for it to be well chilled.

Goes will with chicken or pork dishes.

Beefy Stew

I made a beef stew last night and it turned out so well I thought I would share it. I found 1½ pounds of sirloin beef on sale so I decided to greet our change to autumn weather with a hearty meal. You can use round steak or even chuck steak for this recipe but cut it up in pieces about 1 inch square. (I think that supermarkets sell you beef stew pieces that are too big to cook and eat easily … and need to be at least halved.  Cooks Illustrated magazine recommends sirloin steak tips for beef stew.)

Dice one large onion and sauté it in a few tablespoons of olive oil. (Bacon grease would also be good.) Use a Le Creuset pot if available, otherwise, a cast iron one. Add a few chopped up garlic cloves and cook till transparent. Salt and pepper the meat well and brown it along with the onions and garlic. Next add a small package of mushrooms, cleaned and halved. Now clean and chop three carrots, two celery stalks (with leaves). Add them. After things are well amalgamated add a bouquet garni (I used a teaspoon of powdered bouquet garni from Penzey’s Spices. See here), one bay leaf, a half teaspoon of dried thyme, two tablespoons of chopped parsley, three squirts of Lea and Perrins, five peppercorns, five allspice berries, a third bottle of Bogle old-vine zinfandel, and a container of good beef stock (Emeril’s was good). Bring up to a simmer. Halve 7 or 8 baby Yukon Gold potatoes and add them. Mix well with a fork a heaping tablespoon of flour with an equal amount of softened butter and stir well into the pot. Continue simmering this concoction on the back of the stove for at least one hour (two is better). Then remove the bay leaf (and bouquet garni, if not powered) and adjust the seasoning. Serve with the remaining bottle of Bogel’s zinfandel and a crusty baguette. Enjoy!

Now, when done, if it is still light out, go out and rake some leaves.

DOH!

Yesterday, I had a "DOH" moment and I would like to share it to show that all us cooks get goofy sometimes.  I spoiled a wonderful pot of onion soup by not following the recipe carefully.  I was salivating as I again tried to duplicate Julia Child's great recipe for onion soup (Mastering the Art of French Cooking, page 43).  I bought all the ingredients and cleaned and cut up a large leek (a small digression), six large yellow onions, a few garlic cloves (another improvisation) and was sauteing them in butter and olive oil in a large Le Creuset pot.  Now, I noticed that Julia calls for adding three tablespoons of flour after the onions are well cooked down.  I cut this critical corner and added the flour near the beginning of the process.  Needless to say, the flour burned and, not only spoiled the soup, but I had to spend almost an hour cleaning the Le Creuset pot.  (It's still not perfect.)

The moral is -- sometime, but not always, recipes mean what they say.  (Perhaps critical steps need to be in bold type?)

Cyetta’s Superb Spinach Salad

Anytime we have a gathering of friends and Cyetta asks what she can bring, I always request this superb salad:

First the most delicious salad dressing (Makes about one quart of dressing. Can be cut by ½ or 2/3rds. Remainder can be stored for months in the refrigerator.)

Ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup salad oil (canola oil is good)
2/3 cup good sharp cider vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
1 small onion or shallot, grated (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seeds (Cyetta's choice, but I substitute poppy seeds)
½ tsp paprika
Juice of 1 lemon
1 minced garlic clove (or equivalent in garlic powder)
A pinch of dry mustard
½ tsp Worcester sauce

Shake all these ingredients together in jar of sufficient size.

Use this dressing on a salad made from a package of baby spinach, a good amount of crumbled fried or broiled bacon (at least 1/2 a pound), a small cold can of Mandarin orange sections (or cold navel orange sections), and toasted slivered almonds. (The almonds can be toasted in the bacon grease … but are optional.)

Dried Lima Bean Casserole

Rinse and soak a package of dried lima beans (baby limas or full size, but baby limas are best) overnight in lots of cold water. Drain them well.

Sauté, until light brown, one large yellow onion with one or two cloves garlic, both chopped fine. Add one large can of chopped whole tomatoes, salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste, a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar, a teaspoon of Worcester sauce, a good sprinkling of thyme, a little marjoram, a bay leaf (or a little bay leaf powder), a pinch of powdered cloves, a handful of chopped flat parsley, and a splash of good cider vinegar.

Add this mixture to the lima beans in a heavy casserole dish and bake in a slow (200-250 degrees) oven, covered, for at least two hours, adding water (or cider) as needed to keep the beans bathed in fluid. Uncover the dish and top with a layer of pork chops (or shoulder lamb chops) which have been salted and peppered. Continue cooking, uncovered, until the chops achieve your desired degree of doneness -- an hour or more. It is also good to splash some of the sauce over the chops from time to time to add to their flavor. The more fat you leave on the chops, the more flavor they will add to the beans below.

Serve with hard cider or beer and a good, crusty bread. Enjoy!

You Devil You

I love deviled eggs, but the rest of my family doesn’t. So, as a consequence, if I make a batch, I have to eat them all … no problem. I guess I relish them so much because they remind me of my childhood picnics … and I also enjoy their taste and convenience. So here is my take on them.

First the eggs … place six eggs in a pot of cold water to cover. Bring this water up to a rolling boil and then turn off the heat. Let stand and cool in this water for at least 15 minutes. Then run cold water in the pot, cracking the eggs on the side so that some of the cold water gets inside the shells. This should make the job of peeling the eggs a breeze … and also keep the yolks from forming a green ring. Now cut the eggs in two longitudinally and ease out the yolks into a separate bowl … placing the 12 half eggs on a serving plate. Mash the yolks well with a fork and add:

- two well-minced shallots
- a tablespoon of good Dijon mustard
- a heaping tablespoon of Hellmann’s mayonnaise
- a tablespoon of chopped capers
- a big pinch of salt
- five grinds of fresh pepper
- a few squirts of Tabasco sauce (optional, but they are called “deviled” eggs)
- a tablespoon of sweet pickle relish (optional)
- a teaspoon of well-chopped parsley (optional)

Now mix well, taste for seasoning, and spoon into the yolk craters in the egg whites. (There is no need to use a pastry bag for this process unless you double or triple this recipe.) Finally, sprinkle some paprika on top and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Pop them in your mouth in between bites of crispy fried chicken.

Gazpacho

When the farm stands are full of large ripe tomatoes (and their price is beginning to come back down to earth), this is the time for gazpacho soup. I can make a few quarts of it and, as my wife will surely testify, eat the entire batch myself. In fact, I will sometimes sneak out of bed late at night to raid the refrigerator’s last few bowls of it … climbing back under the sheets reeking of garlic.

Gazpacho is a fairly simple and flexible recipe. Start by peeling, coring, and chopping about five large, dead-ripe tomatoes. Put them in a large stainless steel bowl. You may de-seed them or not depending on your taste. (I don’t.) Next peel, de-seed (I do), and chop two large cucumbers. Add them to the bowl. Then de-seed and chop two large Italian peppers … add them. If you can’t find Italian peppers, use Bell peppers, but be sure to peel them first. Clean and chop a large Bermuda (preferred), Vidalia, or red onion. Add it. Then mince at least five large garlic cloves and add them. Finally, include a handful of fresh chopped Italian parsley. (At this point you might save a good cupful of these chopped vegetables to add as a garnish to the top of the served soup.  I usually don't however.) 

Then, process all these vegetables in a blender until just a little chunky, adding some V8 juice, if necessary, to get the blending going … placing the results in a large, pretty serving bowl. You’re almost done but for a few more steps: Add a large handful of fresh Italian bread crumbs, the juice of one large lemon, a tablespoon of good wine (or Balsamic) vinegar, about a quarter cup of extra-virgin olive oil, a palm-full of kosher salt, five turns of a pepper mill, and about ten good squirts of Tabasco sauce. If the result is too thick, add some more V8 juice until it is the consistence you desire. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate, covered, overnight. If you don’t cover this, everything else in there will pick up a garlic flavor.

Serve well chilled (with garnishes, if desired) as a first course for about six people (or just one, me.)

Spaghetti American

By now most foodies know how to make spaghetti the highly stylized and sublimely tasty way that Italians religiously do. I also love it this way. But here I am going to offer an Americanized version. Just as imported bees have “Africanized” our native docile breed, so there is a version of spaghetti that we Americans have morphed out of the original Italian import. I will give you my interpretation here.

As per my recipe for meat loaf, start with the meat, “a mélange of ½ pound of ground beef, ½ pound of ground pork and ½ pound of ground veal is certainly a winner. However, if your taste runs to all beef … cajole your butcher into grinding you 1 ½ pounds of beef neck meat. It’s the sweetest and tastiest of all the beef cuts.” One thing that ruins my appetite for such ground meat is gristle … so make sure that your butcher is equally averse when preparing your order.

Now, place a large enameled pot on high heat and add a quarter cup of good olive oil. Dice a large Bermuda onion and sauté until translucent. Then add four (or more) minced garlic cloves and cook briefly. Next add the ground meat and brown thoroughly … breaking it apart completely. (Use a potato masher if you can’t do a good enough job with a fork.) Add one small can of good tomato paste (Red Pack) to a cleaned-out space and let it cook for a minute or so ... prior to adding four large cans of good crushed tomatoes (Red Pack or Muir Glen).

Next add a good wine-glass-full of the red wine you intend to drink with dinner (a Pinot Noir or an old-vine Zinfandel?) and the following: a quarter stick of butter, a palm full of salt, a good pinch of red pepper flakes, a tablespoon of fennel seeds, about 5 good dried mushrooms (Cremini or Polish ones), a good pinch of oregano, and a teaspoon of dried basil. (Yes, dried basil … I know that many believe that dried basil has no taste, but I strongly disagree.)  Stir real well.

Cover this concoction and gently simmer for about an hour until well amalgamated. Then, uncover and cook for about another half hour to fill the kitchen with those great childhood aromas. It is now permissible to dip a chunk of baguette into this sauce to assuage your galloping hunger and adjust the sauce’s seasonings. Finish the sauce off with a handful of chopped Italian parsley and a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Finally, boil your spaghetti (I prefer angel hair or vermicelli, my wife likes the thicker kind) in a good amount of salted water until it is just done (a little past al dente)… and then drain well in a colander. With a pair of tongs place a small mountain of pasta on your plate, at least a ladle-full of sauce and a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese. I realize that this later ceremony diverges markedly from the way that real Italians do things, but this is the way I often like it. I also enjoy my accompanying crusty baguette with lots of butter and a tall cold beer (certainly not Peroni … how can Italians drink that panther p*ss?) or the aforementioned red wine.

(Left-over spaghetti sauce can be made into chili quite easily.  Just add a can of drained pinto or kidney beans, a handful of chili powder (you choose the number of alarms), more oregano, and a good tablespoon of cumin.  Heat and serve over rice or on some steamed hot dogs in their buns.  In some parts of the Midwest U.S., they even serve chili over cooked spaghetti.  Try topping any of these variations with diced sweet onion, diced jalapeno peppers, and a grated cheese of your choice.  How's that for morphing an Italian classic?)

Vichy Water

Vichyssoise can be served either hot or cold. Each is appropriate depending on the weather … cold in summer, hot in cold weather. And it can also be pureed or chunky. I like it pureed when cold and chunky when hot. But, to me the secret to good vichyssoise is the quantity of leeks, the quality of the chicken broth, and the herbs used to flavor.

So start with one huge or two smaller leaks. Clean them well according to the myriad of advisories on just about every other cooking show (split and de-sand under running water). Then cut them crosswise into ¼ inch pieces. I like to include at least ½ of the green part, but purists disagree and eschew the verdant. Sauté these leaks in about a quarter cup of butter or good olive oil adding a palm full of salt and a good pinch of fresh-ground pepper as you stir. Next add about a quart or more of good low-sodium chicken broth (home-made if you can) and a quart or more of cold water.

Then peel, roughly dice (1 inch pieces), and add about six or seven good sized Russet potatoes. Bring up to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft (at least 15 minutes). Now add either two teaspoons of minced fresh tarragon (my preference) or fresh chervil (half this amount of these same herbs, if dried), stir, and heat for another few minutes. Now carefully add more salt to taste … as potatoes have a way of reducing salt’s impact.

Now you can use an immersion blender (or potato masher) briefly to chop things up a bit … or take this soup all the way down to a puree. Again serve hot or cold according to your want and the weather. But in either case sprinkle a goodly amount of chopped chives on top of each bowl and have the pepper mill handy. Serve with a nice salad (Caesar?), crusty rustic bread, and a well-chilled white wine (vino verde?).  Serves about six people.  Is even better the next day.

Simply Simple

Here is a recipe for an hors d’oeurve that contains only five ingredients and about which I have had continued raves. (And it was given to me by my wife’s father, Leo, a former chef at Luchow’s.) The ingredients are: a large package of room-temperature cream cheese, 5 scallions chopped into bite sized pieces, 5 radishes (preferably French Breakfast) chopped into bite sized pieces, a good pinch of salt, and a good pinch of freshly-ground pepper. That’s it. Put all this into a pretty bowl, mix well and refrigerate for a few hours. Serve with crispy crackers or thinly sliced crusty bread and your favorite cocktails. Enjoy ... and then look up and thank Leo.

Addendum: the reason that they are called "French Breakfast" radishes is that the French often eat them in the AM, thinly sliced on a well-buttered baguette with salt and pepper.  Try this tip with what you have left over from the above recipe.

Soup to Nuts

When the frost is on the pumpkin, then it’s time for the soup bumpkin ... OK, I’m not quite a bumpkin, but my wife does accuse me of overcooking my vegetable-beef soup. She makes a delicious, fresh, crisp version of said soup, whereas mine tends to be comfortably overdone almost to the point of mushiness. So let me give my version here and she can riposte me later in this blog (actually, it would be higher up). I consider a few things to be essential to a good vegetable soup … lots of meaty beef shank bones with plenty of marrow … and cabbage. Both provide the essence of vegetable soup. After that, there is lots of leeway as to what goes in this soup. Here’s how I make it:

In a large pot place about a quarter cup of good olive oil. Heat this up and add three or four meaty beef shank bones (well salted and peppered) and maybe a few more just plain marrow bones. When this is well browned, add two large diced onions, four minced garlic cloves, three or four diced carrots, an equal number of diced celery stalks, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Stir this around to brown lightly. Next fill this pot to 2/3rds full with cold water. Follow this with at least a quarter of a cabbage head shredded. (This can be a Savoy cabbage … but not a red cabbage.)

Add a handful of salt, about five allspice berries, seven peppercorns, three bay leaves and a bouquet garni. Bring this up to a slow boil, cover, and simmer about an hour until the meat starts to tenderize. And then add about four cleaned and diced Russet potatoes. Cook about another 15 minutes. It is now time for the rest of the vegetables. I like string beans, wax beans, broccoli, zucchini, fresh peas (if available), and a can of good crushed tomatoes (Muir Glen). I don’t like to add any peppers, corn, or turnips as I think they add a slightly bitter taste to things. The amount of the vegetables I mentioned will depend on how much room you have in the pot. (At this point you can add pasta or noodles ... but don't go overboard. I would suggest orzo , broken-up capellini or schnittnudeln.) Now, here is where my wife and I diverge. She would cook it only for about five or ten more minutes. I like to cook it for about another half hour.

When fully cooked, remove the shank and marrow bones and de-bone, de-gristle, and chop up the meat and clean out the bones’ marrow. Add all these good things back into the soup and remove the bouquet garni and the bay leaves. Now, comes my secret. (Don’t tell my wife.) I like to add about a quarter to a half cup of Heinz tomato catsup. Mix well and serve hot with lots of crusty bread and butter. It should serve a small army. And I think you will find that it tastes even better reheated the next day.

Spanish Ayes

I love paella although I make it all too infrequently. I guess it has something to do with getting enough people together to finish it in one sitting … since, due to its seafood content, it doesn’t keep. Let me first list the necessary ingredients: one small high-quality kielbasa (or chorizo), one good flavorful small chicken, a dozen mussels, a dozen littleneck clams, a pound of jumbo shrimp, a small jar of sliced pimento, a good-sized pinch of saffron, two cups of short-grain rice, a package of frozen Le Sueur peas, a half cup of good olive oil, a chopped up Spanish onion, four crushed garlic cloves, a teaspoon of smoked Spanish paprika, salt and pepper, lightly chopped Italian parsley, the wedges of one lemon, one cup of dry white wine, and two cups of water.

The process: Clean the shrimp and de-sand and clean the shellfish (soaking in cold water with a good handful of cornmeal). Then start with a paella pan (preferable) or a very large frying pan. Add the olive oil and heat it up. Cut the chicken up into 11 or 12 pieces (including cutting the breasts in two). Salt and pepper the chicken liberally. Fry the chicken until golden brown and place on a plate. Slice as much of the kielbasa or chorizo as is your taste (to me, kielbasa is preferable to chorizo) into ½ inch pieces and also fry it until slightly darkened. Also place this on a side dish.

Now to the remaining oil (augmented if need be) add the onion and garlic and sauté until transparent. Add the rice and cook until it gets a chalky white. Add the wine, water, saffron and paprika, stir briefly, and bring up to heat. Then stuff back the chicken and kielbasa into the rice and cover for about 15 minutes (or a little longer if uncovered). Next add the pimento, the peas and tuck in the shrimp, mussels and clams into the meat/rice mixture. Cook until the clams and mussels open (easier if covered) and the shrimp are pink. For a flourish you might top this off with a cut-up pre-steamed lobster. Take off the heat and sprinkle with the parsley and arrange the lemon wedges around the pan’s periphery.

Place on a good trivet in the center of the table next to a large pitcher of ice-cold, fruity red or white (my preference) sangria and a basket of crusty sour-dough baguette bread. This dish should easily feed (serving-oneself) eight to ten hungry people.

Sangria

Sangria can turn a mediocre wine (Two Buck Chuck?) into an afternoon treat with a gaggle of friends. And the more you drink, the better it tastes. It can be made with red wine or white … plain wine or sparkling, so please try all possibilities.

To keep with the theme, you might start with a bottle (or two) of white or red Spanish wine. Chilled is better since you need to add less ice. Pour into a large pitcher. Add a good two tablespoons of caster sugar (or ultra-fine sugar), three or four shot glasses of triple sec or Cointreau.  Squeeze in one sliced-up lemon, one sliced-up lime, one sliced-up orange (Valencia?), and maybe a few slices of fresh pineapple. Then, unless you are using a sparkling wine (Persico or even champagne?), add a good glass of seltzer or ginger ale (Vernor’s). Mix well and add enough ice to fill. Kick back and enjoy.

Then make another pitcher … and another.

One Potato, Two … Three Potatoes, Four …

Potato salad can be leaden and sticky … or light and tasty. I like the latter. Here is my take:

Boil four or five large Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes in a copious amount of salted water. When fully cooked (use the fork test), drain out the water and, when just cool enough to handle, peel them and cut them into ½ to 1 inch cubes … placing them into a large colander to dry. While still warm, put them in a large bowl and pour a scant two tablespoons of good sharp cider vinegar over them ... or substitute the juice of half a lemon for half the vinegar. Now clean two celery stalks and two scallions and chop them into fine cubes somewhat smaller than the potatoes. Add this to the potatoes along with a palm full of capers, salt and pepper to taste, a good half cup of Hellman’s mayonnaise, and a heaping tablespoon of poppy seeds (or celery seeds or even caraway seeds, but poppy seeds are best).

Cover and place in the ice box (an Emeril affectation) until well chilled. Then and only then, mix well, being careful not to mash the potatoes (less likely when they are not warm). When ready to serve, if the potato salad is too congealed, add a few teaspoons of cold butter milk and mix lightly to loosen it up. Then grate a cleaned cold carrot on the top and serve with your favorite picnic favorites (fried chicken would be nice.)

Speaking of cold buttermilk ... it is one of the best thirst quenchers around.  Try drinking a glass of it on a hot summer afternoon and see for yourself.  This benefit was common knowlege to our grandparents but is gradually being forgotten.  Drinking bittermilk is also often looked down on because of the way it makes the glass look afterward ... and also because of its name.  Many believe buttermilk contains butter.  In fact, it is the opposite.  It is what remains after butter making.  Our grandparents knew this.  Few of us now do.

Stuffed Flank Steak

Start by cutting a large pocket into a good-sized flank steak (or in about four thick pork chops). Then make the following stuffing:

- Melt one half a stick of butter in a large frying pan (or in an equivalent amount of olive oil if you prefer)
- Finely chop and add two shallots
- Chop and add about four good sized mushrooms
- Include two tablespoons of bread crumbs or Panko
- Add one teaspoon of dried thyme and a few sprigs of chopped parsley
- Dice and add about five apricots
- Chop and add a handful of pistachio nuts (or pecans)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sauté and stir until well incorporated

Let this mixture cool and then stuff the flank steak (or pork chops), securing the opening(s) with a few toothpicks. In the same frying pan add some olive oil, salt and pepper the outside of the flank steak (or pork chops) and sauté it (them) to your preferred level of doneness. (Alternately, use your barbecue grill), When cooked, let stand five minutes and then cut the flank steak across the grain or serve the pork chops whole. In either case remove the toothpicks before serving.

Serve with a good potato salad or even mashed potatoes. (You can even make a little gravy for the mashed potatoes with the sauté pan drippings.)

Carrots Vichy

This is a very simple but very good side dish that is well received on holidays. Start by scraping and de-ending five or six medium size carrots. Then cross-cut them into very thin (1/16th inch) medallions (smaller than pictured). This should make about two or more cups of carrot slices. Next melt about ½ of a stick of butter in a large sauce pan. Into this melted butter finely grate one small onion or two large shallots. Sauté this until translucent. Next add about two tablespoons of flour and cook until a light brown roux is formed.

Then add the carrots, a good pinch of sugar, and enough water to cover. Stir well. Cook the carrots until fork-tender and most of the water is evaporated. You should have the consistency of a thin gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add about three grates of a fresh nutmeg. Stir well and finish with a few sprigs of chopped-up Italian parsley and serve immediately. Serves six to eight people.  Goes well with roast turkey, roast beef or baked ham.

For a variation on this recipe, you could substitute an equal amount of tiny baby carrots (even those fru-fru ones with part of the tender stems still attached). And, if you want the silky restaurant-like sheen on these carrots, use a smaller amount of arrowroot instead of the flour ... and don't cook the roux quite so long. (Believe it or not, you can even use powdered kudzu root instead of the arrowroot.)

New England Boiled Dinner

This is a great autumn dinner and it is so simple as to be embarrassing. My German grandparents used to call this a New England boiled dinner, but, since it doesn’t include corned beef or cabbage, I think it must be a variation on an old German dish. (Actually, it was called "supper" since it was often served by my grandmother on Sunday around 2 PM.  "Dinner" was a more modest meal served later that day ... often just a big apple turnover.)

First get a nice loin of pork (about 3 or 4 pounds) and rinse it well. Place it in a large pot (such as Le Creuset) of cold water and add about 5 allspice berries, 5 black peppercorns, and a bay leaf or two (a dried Polish mushroom or two would also be good). Cover and bring up to a rolling simmer. (Do not hard boil, it toughens the pork.) Cook on low heat, covered for about an hour before you add two or three packages of sauerkraut and four large Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters. If you are so inclined you might also add a few small peeled onions and cleaned and quartered carrots (not necessary though). Cook another half hour uncovered so that the moisture levels are adjusted downward. Finally add about 6 good quality hot dogs or knockwurst, recover the pot and steam them for another 15 minutes. (I like them to crack open.)

Serves 4 to 6 people. May I suggest that a serving might consist of 3 or 4 potato pieces which are then fork-mashed and buttered and peppered. Then cover with sauerkraut, a good piece of pork loin (should be falling-apart tender), and a hot dog or knockwurst. Add some good German or Polish mustard, some crusty seeded rye bread, and crack a cold German beer. Enjoy!

A Boston Legacy

Baked beans can be a sublime treat ... if prepared correctly.  First get yourself a real crockery bean pot (as above).  Then buy two packages of dried navy beans (they're cheap).  Next pour both packages of these beans into a copious amount of cold water ... sorting through them for small stones and damaged beans.  Change this water one or two times to remove all the dried-bean processing detritus.  Then cover and place them in a cool spot overnight.  In the morning change their water once again, drain them, and fill your bean pot to about 3/4ths full ... discarding the remainder.

Now add to this bean pot:
- one medium-sized onion, finely diced
- a teaspoon each of dried mustard and salt (It is actually safer to add the salt later in the cooking process ... in added water ...as this early addition can sometimes make the beans tough-skinned.)
- a good pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg ... and a small pinch of minced cloves and dried ginger
- a quarter cup each of black-strap molasses, ketchup, and dark-brown sugar
- a good splash of the juice (and spices) from a jar of sweet-mixed pickles

Next add cold water to this bean pot until the beans are just covered ... and stir well.  Cut a pound of sliced bacon in half (across the slices) and place one half part on top of the beans.  Place a small piece of aluminum foil on top of the bean pot before you replace the cover (to reduce its moisture loss).  Put the bean pot in a slow oven (about 250 degrees F. for six to eight hours ... checking every hour or so to keep its moisture content up.  You might be able to skip the last addition of water as you don't want the final result to be too juicy.

Serve with baked ham, knockwurst, or barbecue (chicken, pork, or beef brisket), a tossed salad, and crusty bread.

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Generic Asian Stir-Fry Hints

There are some things that I have learned over the years cooking a variety of Chinese and Asian wok dishes. They are:

  - Always prep (including cleaning and scraping if necessary) all your ingredients first as you won’t have time once the stir-frying begins. This means mincing (garlic, ginger root), grinding (pork, turkey), match-sticking (pork, beef, lamb, chicken), shelling and deveining shrimp, cross-cutting (beef, pork, scallions, asparagus, scallops, carrots, onions, celery, fish, peppers, scallions), de-sanding shellfish, and soaking in hot or boiling water (noodles, dried mushrooms, etc.)
  - Start cooking or steaming your rice as you prep your ingredients as this will take a good twenty minutes.
  - Your main ingredients should include a meat (pork, beef, chicken or even lamb or turkey) or fish/shellfish (carp, clams, shrimp, crab, scallops, lobster, flounder, etc); a vegetable or two or three (string beans, asparagus, broccoli, bok choi, baby bok choi, carrots, peppers, onions, cauliflower, celery, mung bean sprouts, baby corn, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, spinach, watercress, water chestnuts, peas, etc.); scallions; garlic, ginger root, sauce(s), and maybe noodles such as lo mein, cellophane (bean thread) noodles, egg noodles, rice noodles, or wheat noodles … and sometimes even fruit … such as pineapple in sweet and sour dishes.
  - Don’t be afraid to use exotic ingredients (snails, sea cucumber, cilantro, wood mushrooms, etc.) if you can find them … and get some advice on how to prepare them.
  - Strive for at least three or four contrasting colors (e.g., white meat, green asparagus, red pepper, and a brown sauce).
  - Strive for contrasting textures -- crunchy as in water chestnuts, soft as in noodles, chewy as in beef, hard as in peanuts or sesame seeds, etc. Don’t overcook everything so that it is all soft and mushy.
  - Strive for contrasting flavors – hot as in pepper flakes, sweet as in Hoisin sauce, salty as in soy sauce, bitter as in bok choi, sour as in lemon juice or vinegar, and umani (protein taste) as in soy sauce or MSG.
  - Strive for contrasting temperatures such as a hot stir-fry situated on top of cool watercress or chopped lettuce.
  - Don’t make everything in a brown sauce. Occasionally use just a clear sauce (chicken broth) or a red sauce (ketchup-based) or a yellow sauce (lemon chicken).
  - Always start with a hot wok. If you need to steam a vegetable first, add it to the wok and season it with a little soy sauce, then add a little water and cover for a few minutes and remove to a side plate. Then add to the hot wok just enough oil (peanut or safflower) to get the job done. I usually start by adding the minced garlic and ginger root and then the meat. You can coat the meat in corn starch if you want to get it crispy on the outside (if your wok is hot enough).
  - Then add the steamed and remaining vegetables and cook briefly.
  - Then add the sauce(s). Oyster sauce goes best with beef. Hoisin sauce goes best with pork. Black-bean sauce goes best with clams and fish. Ketchup-based sauce goes best with shrimp. If you want some heat, augment these sauces with Szechuan or Hunan sauces or red pepper flakes. And then use white pepper, MSG, salt, and sugar sparingly.
  - Thicken the wok sauce (as needed) with a cornstarch slurry made with a teaspoon to a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with some water, soy sauce, dry sherry, or chicken broth. This slurry needs to come to a boil before it will thicken.
  - I usually finish wok dishes with any bean sprouts (to keep them crunchy) and a good handful of chopped scallions ... a few seconds before stirring well and turning off the heat. Then, after the heat is off, I drizzle on about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil.
  - You can place the finished stir-fry on a bed of cool chopped iceberg lettuce, watercress, frisee, baby spinach, etc. to create a contrasting presentation (and better taste).
  - Finally, if handy, sprinkle with chopped peanuts, black sesame seeds, toasted sesame seeds, honey-coated walnuts, etc. depending on the dish. Not really necessary though.
  - Serve with cooked or steamed rice.

Yes, you will make mistakes experimenting with these guidelines, but keep trying until you get a repertoire of dishes you like. Freely consult Chinese, Korean, and Thai cookbooks to get specific combinations that work well together. (Notice, I didn’t say “Japanese” as it is generally a water-based cuisine as opposed to the oil-based wok cuisine of other Asian cultures.) Even try to duplicate dishes you have enjoyed from your favorite Asian restaurant. I did with my Shrimp in Hot Spicy Paste dish. (See: Szechuan Taste)

Salad Days

Need I re-iterate? If you want a good chef’s salad, you must buy good ingredients. Two-bit substitutions will produce two-bit results. So take time to find a good deli with superior cold-cuts and select carefully. Here is the shopping list for this summer-time favorite (generously serves six):

- 1/3 pound deli-thin sliced Genoa salami (NOT prepackaged)

- 1/3 pound deli-thin sliced Swiss cheese (the nuttier the better)

- 1/3 pound deli-thin sliced Italian roast beef (w/ that hint of garlic)

- 1/3 pound deli-thin sliced baked ham (the real deal)

- 1/3 pound deli-thin sliced roast turkey (not that plastic-looking imitation)
- One large cucumber
- Two ripe tomatoes
- One bunch scallions
- Two packages Summer Salad mix or make your own with torn-to-bite-size frisee, Bibb lettuce, arugula, radicchio, etc, (no baby spinach).
- Your favorite salad dressings (I prefer home-made Thousand Island made with equal parts mayo, ketchup and relish), but Italian or Ranch or Parmesan/peppercorn will do.

Then:
- Wash and spin-dry the salad greens (even if prepackaged).
- Peel the tomatoes (take the time, it is important) and cut into bit-sized pieces.
- Peel, seed and cut the cucumber into bite-sized pieces.
- Clean three or four scallions and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Cross-cut the cold-cuts and Swiss cheese into 1/8 inch slivers.

Next:
- Place the salad greens in a large salad bowl.
- Arrange the tomatoes, cucumber, cold cuts, and Swiss cheese in pie shaped segments on top of the greens (taking time to contrast the colors).
- Place the chopped scallions in the center.

Present the salad in all its glory to your guests and then toss it vigorously until it is well mixed. Serve to your salivating guest and let them pick their own dressing. If you choose Thousand Island dressing, top with some fresh cracked or ground black pepper.

Serve with a good white wine and crusty bread. Enjoy!

Buffalo Wings

Every Superbowl Sunday I make Buffalo chicken wings. I can never make enough, so I have decided to tutor my ravenous friends on how to make their own:

- Buy a very large package (or two) of chicken wings (on sale, if possible) at most a day or two before their intended use.

- Rinse and dry off these wings well. Cut each wing at their joints into three pieces. Put the expendable tips into a large pan with lightly-salted water, a small onion, and a bit of celery. Simmer long enough to get a nice chicken stock as a side benefit. Cool, drain and save the stock in the refrigerator or freezer for future use.

- Now well salt and pepper all the two bigger wing joints in a big bowl. In a large heated cast-iron frying pan add about an inch and one half of peanut or safflower oil. Fry and turn these chicken wings in batches until nicely browned (about five to eight minutes) adding more oil as required. Drain each batch on copious amounts of paper towels.

- When finished frying all the wings, dump them all into another large clean bowl.

- Depending upon how many wings you have, melt at least one stick of butter in a pan and add ½ a medium bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce to each melted butter stick. Right before you serve them, pour this hot buttered sauce over the wings and stir (or flip) until they are all covered.

- Serve while hot with cleaned and chilled quartered celery sticks and chilled blue cheese dressing. (I usually make this blue cheese dressing by taking a bottle of such dressing -- Ken’s is good -- and augmenting it with crumbled blue cheese bits bought separately.)

- Make sure you have enough cold beer on hand to cool and lubricate the enjoyers.

Fat of the Land

Much of our nation is lipid-averse. Saturated and trans fats are about as popular these days as Osama Bin Laden. Although animal fat is a saturated fat, it is not chemically identical to artificially saturated fat. About a hundred years ago scientists learned how to bubble hydrogen (with a nickel catalyst) through unsaturated fats like corn oil or vegetable oil to add hydrogen atoms to the existing fat molecules to solidify (hydrogenate) them. That’s how such liquid oils were made into oleo margarine during the Second World War to serve as a substitute for the then-severely-rationed butter. Recently, these artificially hydrogenated oils, particularly trans fats, have been found to be very damaging to our health as they unacceptably push up our cholesterol levels (particularly LDLs). So, since animal fats are also naturally saturated, they have been also condemned by implication.

This development is unfortunate because animal fats add a great deal to the good taste of foods. We have seen over recent years the food Nazis forcing restaurants to substitute bad oleo for good butter … McDonald’s to be required by these same loonies to no longer cook their French fries in lard … and New York’s Mayor Bloomberg has banned all trans fats from the city's restaurants.  But, being a contrarian, I still cook with animal fats and will continue to do so. May I suggest the following uses:

Butter – I cannot imagine many desserts made without butter … perhaps Jello or zabaglione.  It took level-headed cooks like Julia Child sensibly to advocate for butter over oleo. She most often picked butter as the fat of choice in her cooking and baking … but, as she also always said, “in moderation.”  I would like to throw my lot in with Julia’s legacy.

Lard – Pie crust and scones made with lard (or half lard, half butter) have an unique, attractive taste. Although Crisco has generally been called for in pie crusts, I can’t help but think that this fat is (or, at least, was) artificially hydrogenated (ergo, saturated.)  And don't forget to use lard for frying French fries ...

Bacon grease – I find that frying a ham steak in bacon grease works best. As the first side is cooking, sprinkle a few teaspoons of dark brown sugar and some ground cloves on the up side. Quickly turn the ham steak and briefly cook the sugar-covered side and then flip back again so that both sides are covered with the sugar covering. Cook, turning back and forth until both sides are well done but not burnt. Serve with baked beans, and/or escalloped potatoes, and/or carrots Vichy.

Duck fat – Next time you roast a duck, save (in a closed container in the refrigerator) the usually copiously rendered duck fat like it was precious gold. Then, whenever you prepare oven roasted potatoes, use this duck fat in the bottom of the roasting pan. Preheat gently. Next peel, quarter, salt, and pepper some Yukon gold or Russet potatoes and swill them in the melted duck fat. Add a bunch of peeled garlic cloves and sprinkle with rosemary (or thyme). Roast until nicely browned and serve. You will get gastronomic raves from your guests but don’t you dare tell them the secret to these splendid spuds least they turn you in to Jenny Craig.

Chicken fat – This is also known by Jews as “schmaltz”. One cannot make good chopped chicken livers without schmaltz. Since chicken livers are almost free at grocery stores these days, they are very economical (and tasty). To make chopped chicken livers, clean one container of livers of their white sinews and connective tissues, separating each pair into singles. Dry them off well. Melt some schmaltz in a frying pan (augmented with butter if you don’t have a good three tablespoons of schmaltz). Thinly chop one very large shallot and add it to the frying pan. Slide in the chicken livers carefully as they tend to spatter. Salt and pepper them well and also add a good pinch of powdered bay leaf. (You can create powdered bay leaf by grinding two dried bay leaves in a spice grinder or in a mortar and pestle.) Cook the livers until medium (just a hint of pink). Deglace the pan with a good shot of cognac, letting it flare up. Turn off the heat and let cool. Place this mixture in a blender with half a hard-boiled egg and pulsate until a course pate is formed, adding a little cold water if needed. Place in a small bowl topping with the rest of the cooked egg white, finely chopped, and finely chopped parsley. Stand a bay leaf on the top so that its consumers will know what that elusive taste is. Refrigerate overnight and then serve the next day with rice crackers.

Meat Loaf

There must be ten thousand good meat loaf recipes. Mine is unique only in a few ways, but I like it and I think you will too.

First the meat: a mélange of ½ pound of ground beef, ½ pound of ground pork and ½ pound of ground veal is certainly a winner. However, if your taste runs to all beef … cajole your butcher into grinding you 1 ½ pounds of beef neck meat. It’s the sweetest and tastiest of all the beef cuts. A German butcher in New York City put me onto this trick and I think he was the only man I was ever tempted to run away with.

Next make the meat extenders:
- Chop and sauté one medium Bermuda onion in good olive oil until mahogany in color … adding toward the end two minced garlic cloves or ½ teaspoon of garlic powder. Also add two big pinches of Kosher salt and two grinds of black pepper. Let cool.
- Cut the crusts off of two slices of sturdy white bread and dice into ½ inch cubes. Soak this bread along with seven or eight cut-up dried mushrooms (Polish is best) in enough milk to cover and let stand until all milk is absorbed..
- In a dry non-stick frying pan heat six generous marrowed bones, turning frequently until the marrow browns and starts to loosen from the bone. Cool and scoop out this marrow into a small bowl. Save the fat in the frying pan to make the meat loaf gravy.
- Whisk one large egg (two eggs if you like your meat loaf “tight”) in a bowl along with six`squirts of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon of dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon of fresh), two more pinches of Kosher salt and two more grinds of pepper.

Combine all the above with the meat in a large bowl and mix well with your impeccably clean hands. Butter the bottom and sides of a square oven-proof dish (rectangular is better) that fits into your toaster oven (or you can use your regular oven). Preheat this oven to 350 degrees. Place the meat mixture in this dish and flatten out the top. Put about ½ a bottle of Heinz’s chili sauce on top of this meat loaf and place it in the oven for about 45 minutes (alternate topping – cover with three thin slices of good Swiss cheese.)

Remove from the oven and let stand for about twenty minutes. Then pour off any fat and juices from around the sides of the meat loaf into the frying pan that cooked the marrow bones. Add an equal amount of flour or Wondra and heat until all the fat is absorbed and the flour is light tan. While still on the heat, add some good beef stock and stir well until this gravy reaches the consistency you prefer. Correct the salt and pepper seasoning, perhaps adding a bit of Magi and marjoram to your taste. Stir and heat further briefly.

Serve this meat loaf and gravy with mashed or escalloped potatoes and briefly-cooked fresh peas (with butter and a bit of chopped-up fresh mint). You might also enjoy a bit of prepared horseradish with your meat. Enjoy.

You Say Scalloped, I Say Escalloped

Potatoes that is. This is a relatively low-calorie version of the classic lyonnaise potatoes … without the heavy cream and loads of butter. I prefer saying “escalloped potatoes” because it makes it clearer that it does not contain those shellfish.

This recipe is quite simple and delicious: Peel and thinly slice (a Mandolin helps) three or four medium to large Russet potatoes soaking the slices in cold water for about fifteen minutes. In the meantime peel, crosscut and thinly slice a very large onion (or two smaller ones) and saute these slices in some olive oil and a dollop of butter until they are dark brown but not burned. Add a little salt, pepper and dried thyme and mix well. Butter the bottom and sides of an oven-proof dish that fits in your toaster oven.

Now, layer the dried-off potato slices and onion mixture in this dish, lightly salting and peppering the potato slices as you go. Don’t go above four or five layers stopping on the potato layer. Now add enough boxed chicken stock to come up to the top of these layers. May I suggest the new product called “rotisserie chicken stock”. It is darker and more flavorful (or make your own chicken stock from a leftover rotisserie chicken.) Cover the top with grated Gruyere cheese.  (Don’t skimp on the quality or quantity here.)  Place in the toaster oven set on 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes. At the end, if the top is not bubbly and brown, put the toaster oven on broil for a few minutes until it is.

Enjoy with a baked ham, a meat loaf (with some bottled horseradish), or a roast beef (ditto on the horseradish).

Boobalaise

When I was a very callowed youth still dewy behind the ears, I was attending an American Management Association seminar all gussied up in my suit and tie and all (I just recently reread The Catcher in the Rye). Around noon, the leader of the seminar passed out menus from a local restaurant so we could order lunch. I said, “Oh, they have boobalaise!” to whit the guy next to me said, “I think it is pronounced bouillabaisse …” I was chagrined to say the most. As a red-faced penitence, I have learned to cook this South-of-France dish to the point where I can improvise with just about any seafood combination. However, there are certain necessities around which this dish is constructed -- leeks, garlic, an orange, olive oil, fish stock, saffron, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and either a fennel bulb or some Pernod or Ricard.

The seafood in the American version of this dish traditionally consists of a sturdy, meaty fish like monkfish or halibut, a flaky fish like cod, haddock, or hake (even better, cod cheeks), maybe a few crabs, some cleaned/deveined shrimp, possibly some scallops and/or squid … maybe even octopus (double sucker-down-the-arm type, not single sucker), some shellfish like clams and/or mussels and, as a pièce de résistance, some lobster of whatever variety.

First start with the fish stock. This is best made with fish heads and fish frames begged from your local fish monger (as Julia Child used to say). To do so, sauté a handful of chopped onion, carrots and celery in some olive oil until “sweated” in a big enameled or stainless steel pot. Then add a few quarts of water and the fish heads/frames, a small palmful of sea salt, some grinds of pepper, a sprig of fresh thyme (or ½ a teaspoon of dried), and a few bay leaves. Simmer about an hour until all the goodness is rendered from the contents. Then cool and strain the stock into another container to use in the main dish. If you don’t want to jump through this hoop, use bottled clam juice or store-bought fish base/stock … which is now increasingly available. But the result won’t nearly be as good (and you will need to augment it with the herbs mentioned above.).

Next prepare a garlic mayonnaise (rouille) using two garlic cloves, a handful of bread crumbs or Panko , an egg yoke, a pinch of Cayenne pepper, the juice of ½ a lemon, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Place everything in a blender and process adding ½ cup of good virgin olive oil until you achieve a mayonnaise consistency.

Now split a good-sized leek in two and clean out all the sand between the leaves. Chop the leek crosswise up to and including most of the green part (my departure from the classic recipe). Again sweat this chopped leek in a good quantity of virgin olive oil in the same (cleaned out) large enameled or stainless steel pot until transparent. Add and sweat one fennel bulb cleaned and cross chopped just like the leek (save the gossamer top for a garnish) and about three cleaned and chopped up garlic cloves. Clear a space on the pot and place there a tablespoon of good tomato paste. Stir this with a wooden spoon until it is well heated and a little toasted. Next add back the fish stock, a large can of crushed tomatoes, and two good pinches of saffron. Stir well. Now, either grate and add just the zest from ½ an orange or cut two half dollar sized pieces of orange peel (the classic procedure) and add them to the fish stock.

Now for the seafood. To this base, first add the cut-up lobster, if available, and any larger cut-up crabs (such as Dungeness) remembering not to cook them for more than a total of 15 minutes. Then add the meaty fish (like the monkfish). Cook two minutes or so. Next the flaky fish (like the cod). Cook another minute or so Next add the well-cleaned clams and mussels. (to rid them of sand, soak in water with flour or corn meal for about an hour), any octopus, and any small crabs such as blue crabs or rock crabs.. Cover and cook about five minutes (making sure all the shellfish open ... if not, discard). Add the scallops, calamari and the shrimp. Cook a few more minutes until the shrimp change color. Season to taste with salt and pepper, some chopped up Italian parsley (don’t put the parsley in earlier as it tends to get bitter) and the chopped-up fennel gossamer. If you haven’t included fennel, add a jigger of Pernod or Ricard now. Stir well again and take off the heat.

Serve over crusty French bread in a large soup bowl adding a good dollop of rouille on top of the bread. Enjoy with a good glass of white wine (a Sancerre, a Pinot Grigio, a Chenin blanc, or even a Piesporter.) Have enough friends and family over to eat it all up because it doesn’t keep well.

Ham It Up

Ham, to me, is a production in three acts: baked ham, ham salad, and split-pea soup with ham. Generally every Easter we have ham and I follow the following ritual with a certain compulsive slavishness:

Baked Ham – first make sure that you have a real ham, no boneless varieties, none of those “modern” hams with a cuticle of some sort of plastic coating (ugh!), no ham overly plumped up with a saline or nitrate solution, and, preferably, not a spiral-sliced one (the front slices always dry out when it is baked). And if you must use a country ham (not recommended), make it a sugar-cured one and not a salt-cured one. I am talking about a real old-fashioned smoked ham with all its bones, a nice coating of pork fat and as little skin as possible. Now bake it according to the directions on the label. About a half-hour before it is done, baste it with a glaze made as follows: place ½ cup of dark brown sugar in a sauce pan with ½ cup of orange juice and ½ teaspoon of ground cloves (takes the place of whole cloves stuck in the ham, but you can do it the other way it you must). Stir and simmer this mixture until it is about the consistency of honey. Cover as much of the baked ham as possible with this mixture and return it to the oven, continually basting it with any glaze that slides off. Serve with whatever is traditional in your household (how about some real home-baked beans, escalloped potatoes, and a tossed green salad?)

Ham Salad – the next day, after you have had your fill of ham and Swiss cheese sandwiches or Blodgets  (see earlier recipe), take the majority of the remaining ham meat from the bone (with its fat, but not its skin – at least two good handfuls) and put it through a meat grinder (not a food processor) alternating it with the contents of a jar of sweet gherkin pickles. Into this salad base add at least two heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise and a little bit of the pickle juice. Mix well and serve either on some lettuce as a scoop of salad (even better, also add a scoop of tuna salad and some Thousand Island dressing), on a sandwich, or as hors d'oeuvres  on some nice crackers.

Split-pea Soup with Ham – dice two ribs of celery (avec leaves is better), one medium onion, and three large cleaned carrots and sauté them in some good olive oil until transparent. Rinse well in a colander one package of picked-over, dried split-peas (I like the green ones, but you can use yellow) and add to the vegetables with a large pinch of salt. Immediately add about three quarts of water, three bay leaves, five whole allspice, and seven whole peppercorns. Then slip in the ham bone with as much meat remaining as you favor. Cover and simmer for at least four hours until the ham meat is falling off the bones. Turn off the heat and let cool until you can safely handle the ham bone. Remove it and pull the ham meat from the bones and discard all the bones. For those with an old-fashioned pallet, you might also save some of the softened gristle. Chop up and put this meat (and gristle) back in the soup, adding more water if it seems necessary. Remove the bay leaves and add about ten squirts of red Tabasco sauce. Reheat briefly and stir well. Eat some of this soup now with some crusty French bread and butter, but it is even better the next day. The soup might appear a little thin now, but, trust me, it will thicken up over night in the refrigerator. The next day, ask over your best friends, heat and devour what’s left.

Applause for the emoter.  Curtain …

Welsh Lagomorph

OK, it’s not Welsh rabbit, it’s Welsh rarebit, but it is still a delightful lunch or dinner treat. Besides, this name is much more romantic than an open-face grilled cheese sandwich. This is a dish that seems to have been pretty much relegated to old, forgotten cookbooks … but it is well worth resurrecting. To serve two people follow these simple steps:

- First open a bottle of good beer, I prefer a hoppy (excuse the pun) ale, and pour about half of it into the top of a double boiler along with a large dollop of butter. Drink the rest of the beer. Maybe another one too.
- Fry or bake four to six rashers (an old-fashioned name for "slices", look it up) of good bacon.
- Place two to four pieces of good rustic bread (such as a 7-grain, seeded rye, or ciabatta) in the toaster set on medium dark. (Toast isn’t toast unless it is at least medium dark. Otherwise it is just warm bread.)
- Grate about a cup (or slightly more) of good-quality sharp cheddar cheese (Cabot’s or better).
- Heat up the beer or ale until simmering. Add the cheese in stages.
- Stir well. When fully melted add about five squirts of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 Tsp. dry mustard, and pinches of salt, white pepper and cayenne pepper. Stir again.
- Butter the toast points on two plates and pour the Welsh rarebit over them.
- Put under a broiler if so inclined until somewhat browned. But make sure the plate(s) are ovenproof. Put the bacon rashers on top of the cheese.
- Open another few beers to serve with this dish.
- Also, I suggest a salad accompaniment made with frisee and cross-cut Belgian endive. To make the dressing for this salad, place a good pinch of Kosher salt in the bottom of a salad bowl. Add two slivered garlic cloves. Mash with a fork until it becomes a paste. Add a few grinds of black pepper, about a scant tablespoon of Dijon mustard and the juice of half a lemon and maybe a squirt of red-wine vinegar. Mix well with a fork while drizzling in about three tablespoons of good virgin olive oil. Then add the greens and toss.

Watch out since, after all this beer and greens, you are not tempted to start hopping around.

Real Deal Veal

First let me give credit to Lidia Bastianich for the essentials of this recipe for veal parmigiana. This dish never fails to impress friends and even I constantly marvel at how good this tastes. My daughter, who claims to hate veal, will eat this Italian entree.

The most essential part of this meal is the veal. It must be pale, pale, pale leg meat cut across the grain in very thin, somewhat large pieces. If it is even the color of a baby girl’s blanket … forget it. It must be almost white. I know. I know that this means that the baby calf donor must be only milk-fed and kept in a crate, but I like to imagine that it does this to make me deliriously happy. Also use good quality virgin olive oil (light pale green and fruity tasting) and buffalo mozzarella cheese would also be a big plus.

Now, prepare the veal (about 7 or 8 pieces) by pounding them even more flat and thin with a meat mallet. Then salt and pepper them generously on both sides. Heat up a large frying pan and coat the bottom with the olive oil. Fry on both sides all the veal pieces in shifts, replenishing the oil as needed, until they are a crusty brown but still relatively pink on the inside. (If you are more ambitious and capable, you may want to quickly deep-fry these pieces.) Put a bit more olive oil on the bottom of a sheet pan and place the veal pieces a few inches apart.

Next, in the same frying pan (very important to incorporate all these good meat juices and the cooked-on veal fond or sucs) put some more olive oil, about four or five garlic cloves slivered, and about two or three pinches of red pepper flakes (Lidia calls them peppernchino (sp?)). Be careful about not putting in too much peppernchino as it can spoil the dish. Stir well with a wooden spoon to incorporate the meat juices and fond. Then add a large can of good-quality peeled Italian tomatoes (either small diced or, if whole, well crushed with your hand in a large bowl – I recommend Muir Glen or Red Pack tomatoes). Salt and pepper to taste and, if you like the taste, sprinkle some fennel seeds in too.  Cook briefly … about four or five minutes.

Place a good dollop of this quick tomato sauce on top of each veal piece and then cover them well with the mozzarella cheese (either sliced or grated through the large holes of a food grater) and, if you have it, sprinkle on a little good-quality parmesan cheese. If the veal is still quite warm then place this pan under the broiler until the cheese top is bubbling and the color of George Hamilton’s suntan. If not, then first bring it back up to heat in a 350 degree oven (about 3 minutes). Remove from oven and sprinkle with some chopped Italian parsley and maybe a few drops of olive oil (if they look dry) and serve immediately

Two good accompaniments with this veal are some al dente cooked pasta shells dressed`with olive oil, briefly sautéed minced garlic and chopped parsley as well as broccolini, dealt with the same way. You may also spoon some of the extra tomato sauce over the cooked shells. Enjoy with a glass of good Borolo and crusty baguette pieces (torn from the loaf, not cut). Bella sera

Hang Out Your Shingle

In the Army they used to call it SOS, “[bleep] on a shingle.” It is really creamed chipped beef on toast and it can be a sensational breakfast or brunch dish if prepared with just a modicum of care. First you have to acquire some real dried chipped beef (or jerky). I say "real" for the brand I often used was Beardsley’s. Unfortunately it is no longer available … another casualty of the food Nazis. (I bought a bunch of it on close-out at Ocean State Job Lot). Don’t be tempted to use Armour’s chipped beef. It’s a reconstituted product made from minced beef pressed back into a sheet with some kind of binder. So, you probably must go on the Internet to find the real thing. May I suggest trying Carson's or Knauss Snack Foods (the original maker of Beardsley’s). I can’t really vouch for either since I still have my larder stocked with aging Beardsley’s, so caveat emptor.

To prepare this wonderful dish, generally follow the following steps:

- Soak the dried beef in cold water for about 10 minutes to remove some of the salt.
- Mince a small onion and a small Italian pepper (or half a larger one)
- Sauté the onion and the pepper in a large frying pan in about half a stick of butter until the onion is translucent.
- Sprinkle this mixture with about about two heaping tablespoons of flour (or Wondra). Stir and heat until the flour turns a light brown.
- Gradually add about one cup of milk (1% is fine), stirring vigorously, and heat until this mixture thickens.
- Drain, dry, roughly chop, and add the dried chipped beef.
- Then add about three grinds of black (or white) pepper and ½ a teaspoon of dried thyme (or one teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme)
- Give this mixture about four or five squirts of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce..
- Heat thoroughly and taste for salt. Be careful about adding any more salt.

Serve on four buttered toast points made with a good quality rustic white or whole wheat bread (more generously than that pictured). Goes well with a good hot cup of coffee and a fresh-cut fruit cup.

Devil in the Details

This construction of deviled roast beef bones is for the frugal among us who love manly foods. I used to eat this dish many years ago at the Biltmore Men’s Bar when it really did bar women. When you have finished that standing roast beef for Sunday dinner, don’t throw away the bones! Follow these simple directions for a delicious Monday lunch:

- Cut the roast beef bones apart leaving a goodly and roughly equal amount of meat on each one. (You may have to separate and discard the chine bone.)

- Create the following “deviling paste” with a little bit of panache. Mix about two heaping tablespoons of a good quality mustard (Kosciusko or Gray Poupon) with about a tablespoon of horseradish. Give this mixture a few squirts of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, one squirt of hot sauce (Frank’s or Tabasco), a pinch of salt, a few turns of fresh-ground pepper, and, maybe, a few drops of lemon juice. Next you have to turn this sauce into a paste. You do this with a beaten egg yoke and enough bread crumbs (or Panko) to create a tight texture.

- Spread this paste all over the roast beef bones and place them on some aluminum foil covering a small pan. I use the toaster-oven pan and cook them in the toaster oven (again, frugal). Start them in the (toaster) oven at about 250 degrees to start rendering the excess beef fat. After about five minutes turn up the (toaster) oven to 300 degrees. Then, after another five minutes (or so), up it to 350 degrees, Then, 400 degrees. Finally, to broil. Be careful not to burn the bones but make sure they are a good dark color.

Enjoy them in private unless you don’t care if people see you with grease all over your chin. They go well with a hearts of lettuce salad with Russian dressing (made with caviar, not pickle relish … my one departure from frugality).

For the Walrus in Us

Every time I was perambulating through Grand Central Station and had a few extra minutes and a good appetite, I used to stop at the Oyster Bar and have their famous Oyster Pan Roast. They had numerous steam-heated copper pans at the bar itself which, it seemed, were dedicated to this concoction. There is a recipe for this dish in the old New York Times Cookbook which I have pretty much memorized to use when I find a pint or more of good, plump, shucked oysters for sale. All these figures are approximate so experiment yourself until you come up with your ideal proportions.

Assemble some (2 or 3) toasted French bread rounds in the bottom of two wide soup bowls. Now, get a good heavy enameled medium-sized but high-sided pan and heat it up well over a high flame. Next melt a good quarter of a stick of butter in the pan. Squeeze about a half a fresh lemon through your fingers into the butter. Then add the oysters, liquor and all. Give this mixture about 5 squirts of Worcestershire sauce (don’t skimp, use Lea and Perrins). Add about a half bottle of Heinz chili sauce and about 1/2 a teaspoon of celery seeds. Top this off with about a cup of heavy cream (OK, half and half if you are dieting). Stir well and heat until some large bubbles appear on top. Immediately ladle into the soup bowls and sprinkle with good quality paprika. The parsley leaf shown would be fluff.

You will not be hungry again for at least a day ... but you will talk of many things.