Damn, I love Food

Good food, mostly healthy food, but without compromise on taste/comfort factors; thoughtful food, and about food. Occasional digressions from food...

[dtpaine]

Kitchen Knives

It seems that most cooking manuals and courses begin with the knife-work – slicing, chopping, mincing, boning, skinning, carving. I suppose this makes sense, as most often, recipes begin with properly preparing the ingredients for the pot or skillet. And most chefs will surely say that their knives are their most essential tools, which they protect and care* for assiduously.

I feel a strong attachment to my modest collection. I did spend some good money on three or four of them, and that money has been worth it – they have lasted (with care*) for many years, and still work like new. They feel like an extension of my hand. They retain their edges well.

Some considerations in choosing knives, then:

Type: I use the chef-style blades almost exclusively, but also use paring, boning, and carving blades as different cutting tasks require.

Blade shape and thickness: Some chef’s knives have a rather straight cutting edge, others have a more rounded profile. Some blades are rather thick, others more slender. These are matters of preference and comfort.

Balance & Handle: Some knives can be somewhat blade-heavy; I prefer a thinner blade which balances well with the tang/handle. The handle, whatever its composition and shape, should feel really comfortable in the hand.

Composition: Old fashioned carbon steel is wonderful for a truly sharp edge, but stainless requires much less regular cleaning and sharpening. “High carbon stainless” comes at a premium.

Length: I use my 6-, 8-, and 10-inch chef-style blades for nearly everything. Each has its purpose.

Price: A quick check on Amazon** for an 8” stainless chef’s knife yields these results among well-known brands (there exist some extremely low-end, and some extremely high-end, knives, and I’ve ignored both) -

Henkels - $35-$300

Messermeister - $130-$150

Sabatier - $80-$150

Shun - $64-$300

Victorinox - $40-$50

Wüsthof - $70-$160

(** I would never buy an expensive knife online; I want to feel it, heft it, and look at it…)

Intangibles: Appearance, composition of handle, brand/snob-appeal…

*Care of knives is essential. Wash only by hand; dry carbon steel immediately; store in knife-block or on magnet; transport in a proper knife-case; sharpen with a sharpening steel regularly; sharpen with a good sharpener periodically.

[dtpaine]

Fleur de Sel

At the supermarket this afternoon, the end-cap at the self-checkout was promoting, in multi-tiered baskets, various nice salts – a black Hawaiian lava salt, a brown Hawaiian salt called “Alaea,” plain sea salt, and fleur de sel salt (excuse the tautology). A mother and daughter inspected the display, and the mother contentedly declaimed, "Flower of salt," and they shrugged and moved along. They had no idea what they were passing up, nor what "flower of salt" really is.

"Fleur" de sel – signifying the finest and most delicate of salts – is the gathered crystals from the very tops of salt water evaporation pans or pools, carefully raked or scraped off, and not processed any further. The crystals are flat, reflective, light flakes – as opposed to the denser cubical crystals of plain table salt, kosher salt, and other sea or rock salts. As the name implies, it is a western/southern French product, though it is produced in other countries also. Being hand-gathered, expect to pay a premium for the pleasure.

Fleur de sel should be served and used only at the table, not as part of cooking dishes. A pinch of it on vegetables or salads delivers a wonderfully salty, tender, gratifying crunch or "pop."

[dtpaine]

Low tide near Corea Harbor, Maine - One of the places where the incomparable Maine Lobstah comes from: Wicked good.

[dtpaine]

Easy Scampi

There is a rather labor-intensive recipe for (shrimp) scampi below. Here is a MUCH simpler improvised version which I’ve served up several times with highest marks. The last time, I doubled the recipe to serve 6 generously, AND added several small perfectly seared sea scallops to each plate. With the doubling, it’s important to flash-sauté the shrimp in two batches, so as to not crowd the skillet.

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INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 Tbsp butter

2 shallots, peeled & chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 lb. raw extra-large/jumbo shrimp, thawed & peeled

½ to 1 cup white wine

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 pinch dried thyme

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt

Cayenne pepper, to taste

½ cup, about, bread crumbs - for thickening sauce as necessary

Cooked linguine

PREP

Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium flame, add shallots, then garlic, and cook until fragrant - about a minute.

Increase heat, add shrimp, and sauté quickly, stirring/tossing, until they have JUST turned opaque. DON’T overcook! At end, add white wine, and briefly cook off alcohol.

Off heat, stir in parsley, thyme, lemon juice, salt, and Cayenne. Or continue to heat to thicken a bit, if necessary, and stir in some bread crumbs - but leave sufficient “sauce” to coat the pasta.

[dtpaine]

Gaylyne's French Onion Soup

While on vacation in Downeast Maine this late August, Gaylyne made her often requested, always successful, French onion soup. As summer temperatures on the coast are typically cool – 75° max by afternoon, and 60° by dawn – this hearty, warming soup is a perfect first course at any time there.

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INGREDIENTS

2 large red onions, peeled, halved, sliced medium-thin

2 large Spanish onions, peeled, halved, sliced medium-thin

2 (32 oz.) containers good beef broth

2 packets onion soup mix

Mozzarella (yes, mozzzarella), grated or shredded or carefully sliced - 2+ cups

Baguette rounds, toasted - enough to cover 6 bowl-bottoms. Can also prepare rounds with olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, and ground pepper, and toast briefly under broiler.

6 soup bowls - the kind which can tolerate the oven and broiler.

PREP

Sauté onions in butter/olive oil, long and slow - about an hour and a half (or more), stirring some but not too often. Minding/adjusting heat, cook off the onions’ moisture, and let begin to caramelize. BE PATIENT with this process - it’s the most important part! When done, add a nice portion to each soup bowl - on top of the toasted baguette rounds.

Meanwhile, prepare the baguette rounds - toasted plain, or with olive oil, garlic/oregano/ground pepper.

Meanwhile also, warm broth and soup mix, and at boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Add remaining sautéed onions, simmer for a while.

Turn on broiler.

Ladle hot soup into bowls, on top of the toasts and onion portions; cover generously with mozzarella. Place bowls on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil, watching constantly, till bubbly and slightly browned.

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HERE IS, PER JULIA, A DIFFERENT, AND POSSIBLY DEFINITIVE, FINISHING METHOD – AGAIN FOR 6 SERVINGS:

Bring onion soup to the boil and ladle into six soup bowls. Divided evenly among the soup bowls, stir in 2 oz. slivered Gruyère cheese and 1 Tbsp. grated raw onion. Float the rounds of toasted bread on top and spread 1½ cups grated Gruyère cheese over. Sprinkle with a bit of olive oil.

Bake for 20 minutes in the oven at 325°, then set under the broiler to brown the tops lightly.

[op-tique]

[dtpaine]

OK - Water is good. But WHY pay so much $$$$ for such a bottle, which I could fill approximately 1000 times from my faucet for the same $1.50, and without BPA/estrogenics? I can show you the math. There are serious questions about the quality of the water, as well. Bottom line: Bottled water is a rip-off, not to mention the manufacture and the disposal, and the health-concerns, of the plastic!

[dtpaine]

Just one more reminder for St. PADDY’s Day 2014…

🍀

[dtpaine]

French Food Glossary

For lovers of French food and cookery, by far the best list of terms – ingredients, preparation, menu-decoder – is on Chef Patricia Wells’ website, http://www.patriciawells.com - click on the Glossary tab. For such a comprehensive document, it contains very few errors, and is available in .doc and .pdf formats.

The printout might be a bit hefty to carry to a restaurant with you; besides, it’s much more fun to engage the server with questions regarding the menu!

(Image from http://www.mslimalicious.com/2011/11/french-paradox-how-to-enjoy-food-and.html - a great blog regarding the “French paradox” and good and healthy eating.)

[dtpaine]

Pass the Pronunciation, please!

I admit to being a stickler about a few things, and near the top of the list are the common mispronunciations of many words – “farmiliar” for familiar, “mischievious” for mischievous, “nucular” for nuclear, “jewlery” for jewelry, “realator” for realtor, and so on. I have an enormous list of such (non-regional) errors and other misuses of English (like “beg the question” for raise the question, or a phenomena, or please RSVP, St. Patty’s Day, et cetera) born of simple ignorance. Ignorance is merely a state of not knowing, so I do not judge harshly; I just shake my head and worry about the state of our schools.

A few food-terms, foreign words, are on my list. Here we go:

The pasta penne is oft pronounced “pen-AY” by those who don’t know better. It’s “PEN-eh.”

Bruschetta is problematic. The only correct pronunciation, if you ask me, is “broos-KET-a” but everywhere you will hear “broo-SHET-a.” The latter is just WRONG. Unfortunately, the normally wise usage panel of my beloved American Heritage Dictionary has very recently deemed the mispronunciation “acceptable,” I suppose because of popular and widespread usage. Next, they’ll accept “excape” for escape…

Aioli is another word which gives Americans trouble. Because of the tendency to stress the penult (which doesn’t at all explain “pen-AY” above), you hear “aye-O-lee,”or worse, “ay-O-lee” in place of the correct “aye-o-LEE.”

Vichyssoise, the nice, usually cold, cream of leek and potato soup, too often comes out “vee-she-SWA” or “vee-she-SWASS” - final s should be pronounced, but like a z.

Mesclun, the Provençal salad mixture, is hard for people because of the nasal at the end -  ​should rhyme with the way we say “uh-huh.”

Then there is liqueur, which most render as “lee-COOR.” The stress falls on the correct syllable, but COOR? “Lee-KER” is more approximately correct, even if it doesn’t quite match  /likœʀ/ .

There are many more – look for additions, and please submit suggestions!

[dtpaine]

Ranch Dressing Dill "Oyster Cracker" Snacks

My latest favorite treat, making almost weekly, and not unhealthy at all!  The origin of "oyster cracker" is vague, but it seems only that these little crackers were used to accompany chowders and stews... They don't contain any oyster at all, of course.

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INGREDIENTS

¾ scant cup salad oil (canola + olive)

1 package ranch dressing mix (3 Tbsp bulk - brand name available at Sam's Club for a fraction of the cost of the individual packets)

¼ tsp lemon pepper

½ - 1 tsp dry dill weed

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder OR 1 Tbsp onion flakes

12 -16 ounces oyster crackers

DIRECTIONS

Whisk oil(s), dressing mix, and remaining seasonings together in a large bowl.

Add the crackers and stir well to coat. Spread out on a large rimmed baking sheet.

Place in 275° oven for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. A small spatula does this well.

I drizzle a bit more olive oil atop the mix during and after the baking. A final sprinkle of fleur de sel is also heavenly, if less healthy. Delicious with any additions or alterations!

[thepreprally]

The Prep Rally: A Life Style

[dtpaine]

This is the 151’ (LOA) schooner Margaret Todd, at her dock - obscured by the lobster boat - in Bar Harbor, Maine.

[dtpaine]

Cranberry Sauce

In time for Christmas, here is the formula for real cranberry sauce, my favorite of all formulas just discovered this past Thanksgiving. It is a perfect mixture of sweet, tart, savory, fruity.

INGREDIENTS

1 (12 oz.) bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

1 cup granulated sugar (or slightly less, if desired)

½ cup water

½ cup orange juice

½ cinnamon stick

¼ scant teaspoon ground allspice

¼ scant teaspoon ground nutmeg

5 three-inch strips of orange zest, chopped - use a vegetable peeler to slice off perfect strips of zest without the pith

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, water, and orange juice. Stir to blend. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. (Stay with the saucepan, as this easily gets away from you if the heat is too high.) Reduce heat to low and add the cinnamon stick, allspice and nutmeg. Stir to blend, and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Some of the cranberries will burst and some will remain whole. Add the orange zest, stir and allow to cool. Refrigerate several hours or overnight, and the sauce will “set up” beautifully - the sugar and the berries’ pectin do this naturally.

[dtpaine]

Tom's Downeast Fish Chowder

Here, not just for summer, but also for a Christmas Eve “light” meal, served with good hot dinner rolls and a simple salad – to leave room and energy for the next day’s groaning board – is my brother’s recipe for fish chowder. It is, as we dually call a few of our best dishes, “world-class.” It is easy, highly comforting, generally nutritious, and superb at any time of year.

INGREDIENTS

1½ lbs haddock

½ lb bay scallops

½ quart milk (a bit more, if needed, as the chowder comes together)

1 can evaporated milk - the secret ingredient

1 bottle clam juice

3 or 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” or so dice

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

4 ounces salt pork, cut in tiny dice – easiest if diced when semi-frozen

1 bay leaf

Salt and ground black pepper

1 or 2 “slurps” of half-and-half, for finishing (optional)

PREP

Fry salt pork dice in the chowder pot until golden brown and fat is rendered, then remove and set aside.

Wilt onions in remaining pork fat, stirring often. Add a bit of butter, if necessary.

Add potatoes. Add clam juice and water to just cover. Simmer until potatoes are just tender - about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Smush several potato chunks against the side of the pot to thicken the developing broth.

Add milk and evaporated milk, add bay leaf and some ground pepper; bring to the simmer, stirring, without boiling. Check for consistency, and add more milk if needed/desired.

Stir in bay scallops, then lay fish on top. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let chowder cool and gain character.

At serving-time, bring the chowder back to the simmer. The fish will have fallen into just-right pieces on its own. Ladle nice portions of broth, potatoes/scallops, and fish into large soup bowls. Just before serving, rapidly heat the reserved salt pork dice in a small skillet, then spoon several bits atop each bowl. (Those in the kitchen may hear a pleasant sizzle when the pork dice are added - which I erroneously called “cracklins” for that reason, and which I’ve learned is merely the Cajun term for fried pork fat/rind, nothing to do with the sizzle on the chowder, just the sizzle in the skillet. Newfoundland Canadians call these “scrunchions.”)

NOTE: This chowder is fine served immediately, but is better if made early in the day and brought back up to heat in the evening, and is WAY better cooled/refrigerated/”ripened” overnight and brought up to heat the next day!

NOTE #2: I like to add a hint of thyme to Tom’s recipe - a couple of sprigs of fresh, leaves stripped and chopped, or about a quarter-teaspoon of dried…

[dtpaine]

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I’ve been missing something for all of my life, it turns out, until a few months ago. Just my upbringing, I guess. I never knew the absolute comfort and perfect glory of mashed sweet potato.

Thanksgivings and Christmases, I don’t recall my ma ever making sweet potato in any form. A steak restaurant chain’s baked version, served with a sweet cinnamon butter, aroused my interest, already some years ago, but I never pursued it until very recently. Maybe I harbored memories of insipid canned yams in a sugary syrup served to me here and there; or maybe I was simply unimaginative enough to not consider the sweet potato as a non-holiday, spectacularly delicious, side dish at any time of year.

The folks at Cook’s Illustrated have the perfect recipe, along with usual detailed commentary about arriving at the just-so preparation. So here it is, with a few small edits and additions – manna from the earth.  For 4 servings.

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INGREDIENTS

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

2 Tbsp heavy cream

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled, then quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices (BE CAREFUL – sweet potatoes are hard: use a large and sharp knife and mind your fingers)

1 pinch ground black pepper

PREP

Combine the butter, cream, salt, sugar, and sweet potatoes in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan. Cover and cook over LOW heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork – about 35 to 45 minutes. They will in fact begin to disintegrate on their own, during stirrings. Very easy to mash – you don’t need a potato ricer for these!

Mind your heat and be sure to stir even more than occasionally: the easy-to-burn ingredients shouldn’t rest long nearest the heat!

Off the heat, mash the potatoes in the saucepan. Stir in the pepper (and any other additives - see below) and serve immediately.

NOTES: Can replace the (white) sugar with 1½ Tbsp brown sugar… Can also add 2 tsp minced or grated ginger at the beginning… Can also add some grated nutmeg, and also sour cream to the finishing… Can also add more butter and/or cream at the finish!

[dtpaine]

On Lettuce and Vinaigrette

LETTUCE

Mid-November – I’ve been thinking a lot about lettuce as winter approaches. A long time ago by this time of year, we had to resort only to heavy heads of the so-so “iceberg” lettuce. Long distance transport of fresh produce (especially highly perishable things like lettuce) was just about non-existent, and people my age will remember, not so fondly, the 3-packs of anemic and hard things in a little plastic basket covered by crinkly cellophane which were sold as “tomatoes” beginning about now.

Thinking about the wonderful year-round bounty of lettuces available in the present day, I got to considering their preservation once brought home.

IF I feel industrious, having unloaded the groceries, stored them, frozen some of them – and this is a big IF – I like to “process” the whole heads of greenleaf, redleaf, romaine, or Boston lettuces that I might bring home. This is optimal, not only for the greens’ preservation, but also for ease of putting together salads for the next few days.

The process merely involves tearing up the leaves into bite size pieces, tearing around or cutting out the white central vein as desired, into a salad spinner; then rinsing and tossing with copious amounts of cold water; then spinning several times, shaking the spinner between spins, to extract all the water; and finally storing in zipper bag(s) in the refrigerator.

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VINAIGRETTE

Lettuce, in my mind, really serves as a vehicle for delivering a delicious salad dressing to the mouth. Every cook should know how to make perfect vinaigrette from scratch – so much better than what comes from bottles, and achieved in fewer than 3 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

⅛ teaspoon sea salt

⅛ teaspoon ground pepper

1 Tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar

½ small shallot, peeled and minced (about 1 Tablespoon) — I include this only if I have it

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 to 4 Tablespoons olive oil

Minced garlic, if desired

Fresh chopped herbs, if desired

PREP

1. In a small bowl*, whisk together the salt, pepper, vinegar, shallot, and mustard (and garlic, if using). I use a fork.

2. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. After ingredients are fully blended, taste. If too sharp, add additional olive oil. Adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.

If adding fresh herbs, it’s best to chop and mix them in shortly before serving so they retain their flavor. (Good dressing herbs are parsley, basil, marjoram, thyme, oregano, and tarragon - individually or in combination.)

With experience, you will not need to measure anything, and will whip up vinaigrettes in a hurry, following intuition and tastebuds. Other possible ingredients, by the way, can include a sprinkle of sugar, a dribble of ketchup, a dash of Worcestershire, a dollop of mayonnaise for a creamier dressing…

* I prefer to make the vinaigrette in the bottom of the salad bowl, then lay the salad utensils over the little pool of dressing, then add lettuce(s) and other salad ingredients. At salad-serving time (in our house, it’s always AFTER the main course), give the salad the “magic minute” – gently toss the ingredients for a full minute to coat everything completely. In other words, you don’t want lettuce and dressing to be together for a long time before service.

[dtpaine]

AP's Moose Milk

The cool-verging-on-cold dawns, the changing colors of the leaves, and the “smoke” rising off the slightly warmer fields and waters remind me distinctly of late summer / early fall fishing trips with my father at the Yoke Ponds in remote central Maine.

And of enjoying a tumbler of his version of “Moose Milk” to brace for the pre-breakfast fishing session -- near a fast hot fire in the small cast iron camp stove and hoping for a well-timed hatch of late season Caddis or Hendrickson mayflies rising to the glass-smooth surface of the waters.

It was sometimes cold enough, once out on the pond, to need to dip one’s fly rod into the water in order to melt ice developing on the guides. But the dose of Moose Milk made that tolerable, and was a wonderful start to a day of perfect leisure, of commune with nature (which might include a real moose-encounter), of good home-style meals, and possibly a few pretty trout.

There are many Moose Milk recipes out there, holiday egg noggy things involving eggs, liqueurs, and ice cream.

Dad’s formula is a much simpler “camp” version; I'm guessing it was originally proposed by a salmon fishing guide on the Miramichi in New Brunswick. I still include among my fishing gear his old nutmeg grater and a few smooth samples of Miramichi gravel...

[My brother/editor has just written "Most of the time Dad would settle for a little Old Crow with some Thermos coffee."  ;-) ]

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For one potent serving – Stir together and top with grated nutmeg these approximate measures:

1 oz. dark rum

1 oz. white rum

1 teaspoon sugar

4 oz. cold whole milk

[dtpaine]

Scampi in Umido - "Shrimp Scampi"

Below is a new family favorite. It’s rich, rich, rich, so we won’t indulge too often. This recipe for “Shrimp Stew” or “Shrimp with Moisture” is what we silly Americans call Shrimp Scampi – “Shrimp Shrimp.” I can only guess that we mean to say Shrimp Cooked in the Italian Shrimp Style. Or something.

The recipe is verbatim from LidiasItaly.com – It needs no amendment, though I cut back some on the butter and the salt. I serve over linguine, making sure that there’s enough liquid remaining in the skillet to coat the pasta deliciously.

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SERVES  4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

3 shallots, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)

7 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled

¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 pounds extra-large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 tablespoon dry bread crumbs, if needed

2 cups dry white wine

PREP

Combine the shallots, five garlic cloves, and 2 tablespoons of the oil in a mini-food processor and process to make a smooth paste.

Pour 6 tablespoons olive oil and the remaining garlic into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Let the garlic sizzle for a minute, then add half of the shrimp and all of the thyme sprigs. Season with ½ teaspoon salt, and cook until the shrimp are seared but not fully cooked, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining shrimp and another ½ teaspoon salt. Remove the shrimp and thyme from the skillet to the plate. [If making a half-recipe, the repetition isn't necessary.]

Add the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil and the garlic-shallot paste to the same skillet set over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the paste has dried out and begins to stick to the bottom of the skillet, about 2 to 3 minutes. Return the thyme to the skillet, and pour in the white wine, lemon juice, the remaining 1½ teaspoons salt, 4 tablespoons of the butter, and 1 cup water. Bring the sauce to a rapid boil, and cook until reduced by half, about 4 to 5 minutes.

When the sauce has reduced, whisk in the remaining butter and return the shrimp to the pan. Cook and toss until the shrimp are coated with the sauce and just cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley. If the sauce still seems too thin, stir in the bread crumbs and bring to a boil just to thicken. Serve immediately.

Source: http://www.lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/1176