Archive for November, 2007

It seems there’s at least three ways to make a Thanksgiving holiday turkey. The traditional oven method we all grew up with and usually do. The “set the back yard on fire” method that is all the rage right now, namely the deep-fried turkey. And then there is a lesser-done middle of the road method that straddles nicely between those two which is turkey on the grill, or to be more accurate, the barbecued turkey.

Which one to do this year? Well the weather decided it for me. Here in Philadelphia in November the norm is pretty much 55°F on a nice day, and on the occasional day when we get a Canadian down-draft maybe 42°F for the high. This year, as the weather tends to do what it wants, we inexplicably had a two-day warm spell with the day before Thanksgiving reaching to 66°F And the day of the feast just glancing the 70 degree mark. (Mind you, the very next evening it went down to 30°F). So with this as a sign — well, ok, I don’t actually believe so much in signs so I should say, with this opportunity presented I decided to make the most of it. One finally grilling for the year. And what a way to go out with a bang but with my first-ever BBQ turkey breast!

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This year I wanted to make stuffing from scratch and I wanted to do something completely different from the usual, traditional Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing. I also wanted it to be something a bit more “modern”. Seems chorizo is all the rage, and as I finally got my hands on some — yes, it’s easier to find in the South and Southwest then here in the Northeast — so I decided that was where I would go with this recipe.

Now then we have the words “stuffing” and “dressing”. So what is what with that? Well, they’re pretty interchangeable, basically. In the US, stuffing is used more often in the Eastern and Southern areas, whereas dressing more preferable in the rest of the country. That said, none of this is written in stone by any means.

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Here’s another side — one I did for Thanksgiving — and yet another “odd” root vegetable. Now, depending upon where you live, you’re saying “that’s not at all odd; we have it all the time”. Here in the Northeastern United States, well, common as it is at the market during the winter, it’s also one of those vegetables most people tend to pass up when they’re shopping. Often for the same reason as they might a rutabaga or the various winter squashes, simply because they are both unsure of what it is and of how to cook it. (But then that’s why you come here to find out, isn’t it?)

While the recipe itself is one of the simplest and shortest, there does need to be a some-what extended backstory here. You see, not only is this vegetable very much confused with at least two other veggies, but to make matters worse, depending upon what country you live in, they all have different names. And, of course, to compound things still further these differing names all confuse each other, meaning the same veggie called one thing in one place, that same name refers to a totally different vegetable in yet another place.

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Although this is allegedly the time of “Web 2.0″ when people are supposedly all into being interactive, communicating and socializing, I notice at least with my little site here, that people rarely communicate or participate. Why? I have no idea. Despite the ease of leaving a comment, seems that other than spammers, you the regular surfer has little or nothing to say or even ask.

… Or do you?

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If you’re coming here for leftover turkey recipes, sorry. I work in “real time” like you. What does that mean? Well, it means beginning today I’ll start putting up recipes for what I had for Thanksgiving. But wait, shouldn’t I have put them up last week or the week before, you might be asking. You know, back when you were interested in such things. Like, before Thanksgiving? Well, as I said, I do what you do; I work in “real time”.

Again, what does that mean? It means I’m not the Food Network. I’m not even PBS. I don’t get paid for this. I am not given money by someone to go purchase a mess of food and cooking it all up weeks ahead of time. And then who would eat it all? My vast kitchen or network staff? You know, the one’s I don’t have. So that is why I don’t have things ahead of time. Because I am just like you. Average everyday person making meals on and for the days I’m going to eat them.

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There are so many combinations of meatloaf in the world. Use 100 percent beef. No, use beef and pork. No, has to be the tri-meat combination of beef, pork and veal. No, it’s lamb as the third, not veal. You can use milk-soaked bread, big crouton things purchased or made yourself. You can use breadcrumbs. Nope, use the oats in oatmeal. With and without eggs. Mayonnaise as an extra binder; no way, hold the mayo. Gotta have some gravy. Gravy has to be brown. No, it’s gotta be tomato. No gravy anywhere; that ruins it. … And the list goes on and on.

And then, like myself, many cooks have more than one meatloaf. Why? Same as above. There’s so many ways to do it and there’s no one right way. In fact, it’s pretty tough to mess up. Hope all you newbie cooks are listening up. Meatloaf is many things: The perfect comfort food being one. And an excellent dish to start on if you’ve never or rarely cooked before.

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Whew! The last three recipes were each a bit complicated and time-consuming in terms of preparation and cooking … got to do plenty of interesting cooking things though: turned a slab of beef into steaks, pounded meat thin, made a meat stuffing, created a custard in a pot, made a ganache, took a squash apart, made a puree with the food processor, oven-roasted vegetables, got to cook some chorizo…

Time then to switch things up and do something quick and a bit more whimsical. So for today, it’s pizza for kids. Yes, I know, kids like any kind of pizza; but that said, they’ll like these even more. Moreover, you don’t have to have kids, these are definitely pizzas for the kids in us all!

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Gourmet and gourmet food. Exactly what do these mean? And I am not talking about people who are “gourmets”, which by the way, is actually supposed to be “gourmands”, and either way (truthfully or not) seem to equate with snobbery. No, what makes something gourmet cooking or gourmet food?

The definition it seems nearly everyone uses is the same: “gourmet food is of the highest quality and flavor, prepared well and presented in an artful manner”. A three year old discussion on a forum a person, saying the thinks there should be more, posts: “I have had some of the best meals at non-’gourmet’ venues and some of the worst at ‘gourmet’-venues.”

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Winter (and Summer) Squashes

Before getting into the following illustrated preparation of the butternut squash, let’s take a quick look at exactly what is a winter squash. So which vegetables are winter squashes? And why are they called that in the first place?

Normally we (mistakenly) think this seasonal termiology must refer to when they are harvested. As in, a winter squash might be something harvested in the winter, and therefore we wouldn’t see these in the market until maybe February — that, however, would be a very common and incorrect assumption. Actually it refers to the days before refrigeration and motorized transportation when everything was “local” and capable of quick spoilage and of short storage times.

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Sometimes you just want to have it all. And sometimes you can — especially when you’re cooking. And in this case, baking. How this recipe came along was simple: I had a couple of bananas, I wanted to use them to make some kind of sweet desert, preferrably something baked and I wanted it to include chocolate.

While it’s true with this basis there’s a hundred things I could choose to do, the first thing that popped to mind was maybe a banana cream pie. Graham cracker crust, chocolate pudding (some folks do vanilla), sliced bananas and whipped cream. Yummy but way too easy. No challenge in it.

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This is one of those delicious dishes I haven’t had for so long. The very first time I had it was many years ago when I actually made it. Yes, it was a recipe and it was during the days when I was all into The Frugal Gourmet, my first television chef inspiration. Braciole (pronounced bra’zhul) was one of the dishes featured on his PBS show and in one of his very first books. Really though how could a guy in his twenties having seen this being made on the TV screen not instantly fall in love with the idea of braciole? I mean: It’s like a jelly roll made of steak!!! Obviously the same Olympus god who created beer surely must have had his hand in the making this as well.

The second time (and the third and the fourth) I had this dish was in the best place on Earth or at least in North America I can think of to have it, namely in Little Italy in New York City. Luna’s on Mulberry Street to be precise. Huge portions, so juicy, so …. scrumptious. Really it was as they say “to die for”. And here I am once again faithfully revisiting a past delight.

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Time to go around the “dial” — remember when televisions had dials? or am I dating myself again” — and look at what’s happening and what’s worth watching in television food land.

The Next Iron Chef Finale

First to mention, as it’s a limited series and about to end tomorrow in fact is The Next Iron Chef. In two previous articles I’ve mentioned some of the “bad” or annoying that’s happened on the show. The behind the scenes and little known blunders created by the production team that put the competing chefs through hell as well as how later the judges seemed to think they were on another show where the idea was to change the essence of who each chef is. And while those were indeed valid revelations and criticisms, I probably wouldn’t have written about them unless on some level I cared. And indeed I do.

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