©2008 Harry Kenney

One thing you know about the way I do things, for those who follow me, is that besides pointing out tips I point out the rough spots, the mistakes that I’ve made on a previous version or how to correct mistakes if they’re made. What you don’t see (though I sometimes talk about) are the once in a while big flops.

Yes, I have them too. We all do. (You might find some comfort in that.) Maybe I made a silly mistake that flopped the whole thing. Once in a while the technique I used was the downfall — as when I tried too tough a cut of beef for shish kabobs. Sometimes I misjudge as with a recent braised Swiss chard recipe where by (having not used it before) I totally miscalculated the amount of shrinkage and so the other ingredients in the dish came out in too much proportions.

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©2008 Harry Kenney

Cooks are generally pretty imaginative. That said, when something gets popular, everyone jumps on the bandwagon. In the last few years we’ve seen the big bulsamic vinegar craze, and then there was the Parmesano Reggiano fad, and of course romaine has long replaced the boring iceberg lettuce as the salad staple. The first one is still going, though I see some chefs lately such as Bobby Flay starting to use sherry vinegar instead; and as for grated cheese, it seems of late Pecorino Romano is the food world’s “new black”.

What brings this up? Especially in terms of this particular dish? Well while there’s not too much wrong with everyone jumping on a bandwagon (well, there is to some degree), the thing is few people seem to know when to jump off that wagon, not even when it’s been run into the ground. And that brings me to the mango. Like most people I enjoy it, and yes, I’m sure I will use mango in future recipes just as I have in the past. But, please folks, there is a world beyond. In short, the wide-spread massive over-use of the mango to the exclusion of everything else stops here.

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©2008 Harry Kenney

This recipe is so cut and dry that for once I’m not sure what even to write about. Of course, that’s not usually the case and this blog is set up to show the first two paragraphs and then “divide” so I have to write something here. I guess I’ll just say how nice it is to wander the earth from my desktop computer and from my kitchen and to see — and to taste — how different people’s do the same thing — like a salad — but do it their own way.

Californians, parts of Mexico and Spain all have salads that contain avacado, for instance. In Greece, it’s olives and feta that helps make it uniquely theirs, their “stamp” on things, or their contribution. You’ll notice two ingredients I say are option, I myself didn’t put into this salad, anchovies and hard-boiled eggs. Again two ingredients that make it more distinctly Mediterranean in nature. So, try it with one of the two Greek salad dressings I posted here yesterday if you want to keep it authentically Greek — or feel free to use your own favorite salad dressing. Your choice. Enjoy.

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What’s a great any-time appetizer and definitely a crowd pleaser? Stuffed mushrooms. Especially now, the “holidays” between Christmas and New Years when family and friends are more apt to come visit.

Want not one but two items that will not only impress guests but both are simple to make, taste delicious and can be done rather quickly? The first is Pancetta Wrapped Shrimp which can be done in under 20 minutes. And (bet you saw this one coming) the second one is stuffed mushrooms which can be made within 30 to 45 minutes.

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As with meat loaf, I have several different ways to make beef stew, depending upon my mood du jour. Actually the ways are not all that different, so maybe variants or “slight variations” would be the more correct phrase. But this one is pretty much what I would consider the “master” verion.

There are so many great things about stews. Number one is they turn any tough meat into delicious meat. Second they bring together so many wonderful things — meat, vegetables, herbs, sometimes wine — into this well amazing orchestra, basically. For what is an orchestra but something which at times you hear (in this case taste) all the individual elements, and yet they also work in harmony with each other Kill me for saying this, but it’s music for your mouth and your stomach

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I’m certain I’m not the first one to notice, but I must ask anyway. Exactly who was it and when that decided half of all Italian foods must begin with the letter “P”? Hey, even if you start typing “Italian food” in the Google toolbar one of the suggestions it offers is “starting with P”, and that’s based on the popular searches — so it’s not just me!

Oddly enough Google’s first 100 results never once listed a single page that actually corresponds to the search. It did find a bizarre reference to “P. Diddy’s Pasta” which you don’t want to know about …. Can you say time for another algorithm tune-up, Big G? I mean, wow, you couldn’t even match 1 in 100 to your own toolbar suggestion? That’s just sad. But enough of SEO and let’s get back to eating.

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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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This began as one of my experiment meals a good decade or longer ago. You go to restaurants, you see various veggies in the rice. Get a box of Rice-a-roni, little carrots or peas in the rice. So, what the heck, one night way back when, I put two dishes together, spinach and rice. They tasted good, looked great together. My mother and step-father Dave who I was cooking for enjoyed it a lot, as did I.

Can’t say it was great, but it was darn good. As time went on I started to mess with it more — aka, perfect it. Adding raw onion was too bitey. Dave thought it was an improvement though. Mom and I didn’t. Then again, Dave could smother so much horseradish sauce on a hot dog you couldn’t see the hot dog.

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I love this town. I love it for so many reasons, too many, I won’t even get into cause I might not be able to stop. But one of the reasons is food, baby. Philly is hometown to so many foods, it’s just crazy. Probably first that comes up on everyone’s list is the Philly Cheesesteak. If not that, it’s the Hoagie. Whats a hoagie? Ever have something called a “sub” or submarine? Ever have something called a “hero” or hero sandwhich? Well, if so, they are just pale, lack-luster imitations of a hoagie.

What else? There’s the Philly pretzel. Much superior to those things they burn in NYC and call pretzels. There’s scrapple, a mysterious and wonderful substance — sorta like haggis, not in taste, in mystery — that is a wonderful alternative to bacon, ham and sausage as a breakfast meat to go along with your eggs. And then, to my surprise, there’s the stromboli.

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I needed a side for my oven BBQ brisket. Yeah I had little baked potatoes and some fresh coleslaw, but I still wanted something warm and flavorful and that was (for lack of better words) very “veggie”. I also wanted something more “regional” … in this case, southern or western or southwestern. It just seemed like that would go right with my indoor BBQ meal.

Now last week there were quite a few things I had bought for my BBQ party that I never made it out to the table. Why is that, you may ask? A combination of my being too ambitious, wanting to make too much food than was necessary, as well as for various reasons six people, three couples basically, had to bale out because of sickness or previous commitments. So there just wasn’t the impetuous to cook twice the amount of food for half the amount of people.

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Taken straight from Wikipedia: “Mirepoix is the French name for a combination of onions, carrots and celery […] is the flavor base for a wide number of dishes, such as stocks, soups, stews and sauces. […] Traditionally, the ratio for mirepoix is 2:1:1 of onions, celery, and carrots.”

So today’s magic number, ladies and gentlemen, is 2-1-1. Though I find that can be confusing (believe it or not, at times). So maybe a better way is thinking 1 and half and half … one part onions, and the combination of half carrots and half celery. So 2-1-1 or 1-.5-.5, whichever works for you. How to remember which item gets the “2″? Think of “OCC”, of onions, carrots, celery, in that order.

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This is somewhat like a ratatouille, sorta like a cacciatore, in a sense like a stew, and apparently is a ragout (though it seems a million things could be a ragout). It appears from spending a great deal of time researching on the Web trying to find what was the most appropriate way to label this recipe, that in the end, it’s very much my own concoction. That should make me happy. And yes, it does — but, it’s one of those rare times when thinking of the name of dish was a ton more difficult then actually coming up with or even cooking the dish!

Ok, let’s explore what it’s similar to and yet not: Cacciatore which is usually definied as a hunter-style preparation with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and bell peppers. Now while all of those elements are indeed main ingredients, the real deal almost always contains red wine and capers, whereas mine doesn’t. Moreover, yes, cacciatore is most often found with chicken seems like it’s a shoe-in, but no, for it is not made with bonesless chicken breast but legs and theighs and the bones intact, the idea being to made a flavorful “stew” of darker meats “hunter” (as in just caught) style. This is close though.

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