Cooking in Theory and Practice

Packets of Experimentation

2011-07-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong. - Albert Einstein

Most of you have a container like this someplace in your home. A collection of condiments from fast food joints. Those cute, unopened bottles purloined from discarded room service trays. Ketchup, mustard, hot sauce and soy. Lemon juice and vinegar. Jelly and honey. Ready for any emergency.

We have a tiny set of plastic drawers in the trunk of the car for those impromptu picnics, and this bin in the basement, which was overfloating as my kids used to say.

So Alison and I decided on a challenge yesterday. Other than oil and some onion, we would construct a tomato based BBQ sauce for our chicken dinner. Other than a few ketchup packets way past the sell by date, the stuff was in good condition. Not a bad sauce at the end - though my friend Kevin Weeks disowned me over the tomato base. Tennessean.

We had fun though.

CSA Report

2011-07-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

This week's haul included more baby turnips, lettuces and field greens, plus rainbow swiss chard, baby zucchini, and bok choy - both grown (right) and baby. Lo Mein tonight!

Through the Looking Glass

2011-06-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

I am not kvetching.

I am 53 years old. I take medication to treat hypertension and high cholesterol. I am not overweight, but I have a beer gut. I have arthritis in my hands. I have hyperopia - farsightedness.

If I were 30 years older, 4 inches taller, and 50 pounds heavier I would be my father. In fact, other than the male pattern baldness, I inherited everything I am from him. He is also the Optometrist who prescribed my first pair of reading glasses in 1980.

They were +1.00 then, and they still are in use by my wife. As for me, I am up to +2.50. At some point, as my vision deteriorated, my Dad (who at 83 is still doing the Optometrist gig full time) told me to skip him and just get them at a dollar store. My Culinary Comrade Fred said the same thing. It's a good thing - I go through glasses at a rapid pace. The temples pop off when I take them off - I have pairs with the temple glued in place like a permanent erection. I had one pair that just perched on my nose like Dorothy Malone in The Big Sleep.

The gift of 8 pairs (including two tinted pairs for reading outdoors) is worth noting. I don't only need the for reading, I need them to eat (I like to see what I am eating) and I need them to cook (I really like the tips of my fingers). I have both stir and deep-fried them. I have had them fall off my face and stepped on them. Now I have a bunch more at various places around the house for any necessity.

I still won't find them when I need them :)

Thanks Georg and Ted!

CSA Report

2011-06-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Meet Steve and Erin, the couple (they are getting married this fall) who operate Root Down Farm a new CSA we are shareholders in. I met them face to face for the first time today and I think we made the right choice. They are friendly and energetic, committed to their product, and skipping the organic label.

The latter is what made me take the gamble with them. Everything they do would qualify, but I'd rather they plow their money back into the ground than pay a 3rd party to put a Seal of Approval on their stuff.

We were late getting started. Considering the wet Spring (no Spring?) we had, I wouldn't have been surprised if the start had been delayed even more. But it started today.

Today's haul was 3 types of lettuce (Romaine, Butterhead and Red Leaf. An over-stuffed bag of field greens (I passed on the purslane - doing quite well wild in my own garden space). Some young turnips and radishes. Yes, salad. But more.

The greens from the turnips and radishes, will be nice sauteed with my pancetta, some garlic and good olive oil. I think some of the lettuces and roots are destined to be quick kimchee. I might even share it with Steve and Erin.

I will keep you apprised!

It all tastes great, by the way.

Food Comic for Today

2011-06-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.gocomics.com/bliss/

Thursday Morning Food Humor

2011-04-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

Food Comic of the Day

2011-04-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Life Cycle of a Common Beef Brisket

2011-04-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

Brisket: mid-14c., perhaps from O.Fr. bruschet , with identical sense of the English word, or from O.N. brjosk "gristle" (related to brjost "breast") or Dan. bryske or M.H.G. brusche "lump, swelling." Online Etymology Dictionary - Douglas Harper

Good Morning Children. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, let's begin.

The brisket is a segment of muscle tissue from the chest area of a bovine. As this area is used often, it provides a tougher cut best suited to moist slow cooking.

The common Brisket begins life as a cute and cuddly calf, also known as veal. Can you spell veal? I spell it Y-U-M.

When it grows up it is called a steer. Look at this noble beast. Now imagine this noble beast on the barbie.

But first it has to be confined to a feedlot where is "finished" on a diet that is made up of things it's not designed to eat. Between the cramped conditions, loads of manure, and diet, the bovine often becomes sick. Can you say antibiotics?

Now the beef is gently treated by persons of questionable immigration status because no one else wants the jobs. Don't say it. Looking at these sides of beef you are thinking barbie again.

The sides are further broken down into Primal Cuts, then Subprimal Cuts. This Subrimal is a whole Brisket. NAMP 120. It includes not only the common flat cut, but the fattier point cut (including the delicious deckle).

There are may ways to prepare this, including my mother's secret recipe. My favorite way is to corn it. It is called corning because this method was discovered by glass technicians in the southern tier of New York. The Brisket may be corned in a wet cure (right), a dry cure or with simple-minded, overdrawn humor.

Boiling is a Bozo no-no word. Simmer gently with aromats. When the Brisket falls off a pot fork, remove it, wrap in foil, and hold in a 200° oven while cooking yummy vegetables in the broth. Cook the beets in broth separately as all pink food is yucky.

Doesn't this look yummy? But you will have to deal with leftovers.

You can have Red Flannel Hash. Topped with an egg and a heathy dose of the Cholula Hot Sauce in the background.

You can make my favorite sandwich - The Reuben, which is totally not Kosher. I use Jarlsburg Cheese and a homemade dressing made with Weber's Hot Green Tomato Piccalilli Relish.

Alas, everything comes out in the end. But don't be mad at poor Mr. Hankey. Another word for pooh is "fertilizer". Can you say fertilizer?
Hidey ho!

Fertilizer makes grass grow, and that feeds these beeves who need food to make more Brisket!

Next class: Zinc Oxide and You!

Good to Hear From an Old Friend

2011-03-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have missed Ruth Reichl, and I miss Gourmet. When my magazine life stabilizes, I'll write about it. This interview gives me hope for her voice to be around again on a regular basis, but for me the money quote is:

ELAINE: What do you think about the new generation of food bloggers? Are they changing the landscape of food writing in general?

RUTH: A lot of them are really, really good. I think it’s changed for restaurant critiquing in particular. You can read 30 reviews and make up your mind yourself. A professional restaurant critic’s word shouldn’t matter that much. People should bring their own intelligence to it. What real criticism should do is give you a better way to appreciate food and give you the tools you need to enhance your experience, good or bad. And food bloggers have put the burden back on the professionals to be good educators and good writers, and maybe even be a little bit more humble about their own opinions.

For Want Of A Comma

2011-03-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Major hat tip to Andrew Sullivan!

Bet they all taste like s@#t.

Not Corny - But So Good

2011-03-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

There are times that satire is soooooo much better than a blogger can do. And with 50% less typing.

Meatwater II

2011-02-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

Having been a consultant to the makers of Meatwater in the development of their popular Buffalo Wings flavor, I am pleased to bring you this brief advertisement on their behalf.

This is real genius in action.

Meditations on a Coffee "Can"

2011-01-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

Recycling is a good thing to do. It makes people feel good to do it - Barry Commoner

Just a short rant for today. We recycle. Better yet, we reuse when we can. Jars for spices and spice blends as gifts, bottles for herbed vinegars and hot sauces. There is one brand of otherwise unremarkable wine vinegar I buy for the bottle as it has a little sprinker gizmo over the mouth - perfect for BBQ "mop" (I gussy up the contents and re-bottle for gifts).

But packaging is changing. Take the yogurt container. They're not recyclable here so we reuse them for storage (yeah, they'd be better if they were square, but they work). Suddenly the lids are gone - replaced by tear-off foil or plastic. Can't recycle, can't reuse.

Then there is a coffee can. The very word "can" implies metal. Tin coffee cans have been the storage device most used by (mostly) men to store assorted screws, nuts, bolts and other hardware that will never be used but are too good to discard. The plastic ones can be used for geocaches. The cardboard ones still will contain oddments, but they are not as sturdy. Neither provides that satisfying "klink" of days gone by.

Oh well, in a world where a pound of coffee is 11.5 oz, what do you expect.

Honorable Folk

2011-01-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

Beneath these green mountains where spring rules the year, the irbarbutus and loquat in season appear, And feasting on lychee - 300 a day, I shouldn't mind staying eternally here - Su Shih.

In my experience there are two types of human activity that are worthy of note and comment. The first are honorable acts. The second what Trish and I refer to as "bad form. This is a case of the former.

I wrote, briefly, in August about my wonderful visit to the Lotte International Supermarket (read mostly Asian) in Chantilly, VA. I loved the place, but it pointed out the limits of my familiarity with certain Asian ingredients, namely Asian produce. I have books that discuss them, but we don't have the extraordinary variety at local our local Asian markets that the have at Lotte.

That evening I decided to check the iTunes store in search of app to fill in the blanks. I found a pretty good one, from Specialty Produce in San Diego, and liked it enough that I paid $1.99 for the full version. It's not perfect. I hope they keep adding to the database. The first iten I looked up (durian) isn't there. My biggest gripe is that the photos are web based. With an iPod that means wi-fi, something not usual at small ethnic markets. I'd give up drive space for device resident images.

But, none of that is the reason for this post. A few weeks ago, via iGor my iPod (it's pronounced eye-gore), I was notified that SP was unveiling a Pro version and letting the Full version fade away. Because of the vagaries of the iTunes store they couldn't just swap me out, but if purchased Pro for the same $1.99 and provided them with proof of purchase they'd refund the original.

I went ahead, even though I wasn't sure I'd ever hear back. So it goes.

It put a smile on my face when I saw it in the mailbox. The sent me the check and took the hit for the postage. This is an honorable act. Now if they'd only open a branch in Buffalo.

See, I am not the only one.

2011-01-17T04:51:00.000-08:00

Me and Dagwood Bumstead. Food Porn Rules.

Shattered Glassware

2011-01-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

"....octagonal plates and silver domes....conceal the minute portions of food in snooty restaurants run by egomaniac chefs." - John Mortimer

The BuffNews reported this week that Pitt Petri - a purveyor of expensive gifts and tableware was closing after 87 years. Several reasons were cited, including the lack of foot traffic these days at the original location and the financial hit the Williamsville store took when Tiffany's ceased working with local merchants.

It's kind of ironic as a day or two before we were discussing with the girls what locally owned Department Stores were like.

I have to be honest, when I stopped in there it was just to browse - the stuff was primarily overpriced tchotchkes. I once had a gift certificate (it may have been a store credit for a gift I returned) and I couldn't find anything. I ended up buying a couple of cigar accoutrements, and spent the balance on a couple of tubes of Wenol metal polish.

Look at it this way, I have two sets of fine crystal - one from my Mommy and one from my Mom (no it's not weird. Mommy is my Mother, she died when I was 13. Mom has been my Mom for almost 40 years since). We don't use them - I just don't want even one to break (if you look close you can see we don't clean them often either). The real problem is that they are just not me (or us). I am just as happy with the 12 for $10 glasses from Linens n Things, and dishes from there too. Also platters from the Buffalo China "seconds" sale.

It's just an observation, with no empirical evidence. Beginning with my generation, and increasing with successive generations, interest in much of what PP sold is waning. People have far less tendency to spend money on tableware that is only used a couple of times a year, or to invest the time to do things like polish silver.

It's not that they don't spend on luxuries, it's just that the luxuries have changed: iPad's and flat panel TV's, Wii's or Xbox's, shoes and clothing and better foodstuffs.

This, I think is the real explanation for the end of PP. The local Department Stores fell victim to national chains, which are now becoming victim to Superstores. PP though fell victim to evolving tastes and desires.

YMMV.

Life's still too short to eat bad food

2011-01-05T05:45:00.000-08:00

"The devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat." - Albert Einstein

So, the USDA is going to start requiring Nutrition Labels on meats and poultry. Woo-Hoo!

First it's useless. If you are the type who examines the nutrition labels on prepared foods you are most likely intelligent enough to have pretty good idea of what you are getting. Second, this is one area where flavor is an issue. Fat equals flavor. You are welcome to buy 90/10 ground beef, but you'd be better off buying a hockey puck. It has more flavor and less chance of food-borne illness.

We want something else! We want something else! - Hawkeye Pierce

2011-01-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

First need in the reform of hospital management? That's easy ! The death of all dietitians, and the resurrection of a French Chef - Martin H. Fischer

Perhaps not as bad as: "a river of liver and an ocean of fish!", but Hospital Food has a reputation second only to military food as being less than palatable. I remember when I was a kid I visited my Dad at Genesee Hospital while he was eating. It looked like what's to the right.

I '76 my big brother had knee surgery. He was dying from the food. I borrowed the Father Mulcahey outfit from when we were both in MASH, stuffed a black bag from the same with a Whopper, Fries and and a shake.

Now I have respect for anyone who toils in a kitchen, but when it comes to institutional cookery those who work in Hospitals and Nursing Homes occupy the bottom rung (yes, even below lunch ladies). It's not their fault - it's the nature of the beast itself.

My first experience with Hospital food was in 1994 and consisted of blue stuff running through a tube down my nose. When I was back on solid food, I'd circle my choices on a sheet of paper. It would get delivered - usually when I was at respiratory therapy.

My first meal was a revelation. I was still in the ER, waiting for a room. So they fed me. Burger, Home Fries, Peas, Peaches, Jello, Coffee and Milk. All cold. Shame about the coffee - it would be the last caffeinated beverage until yesterday. Still, I give them a pass. How the hell does one prepare for an ER patient being hungry.

There were innovations. Instead of the check sheet, you now get a menu and can order when you are ready (in fact they call if you haven't). I stuck to cold food for the most part - it's just too difficult to keep food warm. I stuck to cereal for Breakfast. Tuesday's dinner was a quite passable tuna sandwich, lettuce and tomato on the side as ordered.

Wednesday not so well. Egg Salad ≠ Pot Roast. It became apparent that even though they might get it right the first time, redo's were a mess. What showed up was a miserly schmear of Egg Salad on torn bread, with no additions.

Thursday was the best meal I had. Trish brought me Pad Thai and Tom Yum Goong from Saigon Bangkok. Friday she made me Chicken Soup With Matzoh Balls - Yummy.

The most bizarre meal was Friday's Lunch. I ordered a Roast Beef Sandwich with L,T and O and a side of fries. The tray arrived with only fries - cold ones at that. I called down with the "where's the beef?" question. What showed up was s sorry excuse for a sandwich, no L or T and the O looked like they were around for a week.

As a fitting dénoument, I ordered a banana with breakfast yesterday. It should be ripe by next weekend.

The bottom line: they've made some improvements, but there's no place like home.

Sunday Brunch

2010-12-25T08:57:00.000-08:00

One of those weird things. Early last Sunday morning (way to early - an insomniac night) I read a post from a friend, cook and restaurateur that he was suspending brunch service until March. That is sad - it's a bottom line boost. Despite my own concerns (not to mention Bourdain's), about brunch in general, I am sure Steven knocks his out of the park.

But, despite my promise that on our next available "date" Trish and I will dine at Europa, brunch is not likely.

Sunday mornings are sacrosanct and almost ritualistic in nature. At eight the Today Show comes on. Alison climbs the counter to get our special plates, assigned by design to each of us. Trish picks her off the counter and dances with her singing " A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes". Trish cuts the bagels, I slice the onion (preferably red but plain yellow works fine). After the local weather, the toasters get activated and I make the mimosas. The kids Tang is ready.

Ellie gets a blueberry bagel - she doesn't do lox. She takes about 2 hours to Spackle the cream cheese on. The rest of us do everything bagels. Alison takes a whole one - butter on one side cream cheese on the other - disgusting, but better since she stopped dunking it in orange juice. Trish and I do it pretty much the same way, except I do capers. They are whole if we make them, open-faced if they are from Bagel Jay's.

We toast: Cheers to new life and Bon Appétit. We added "and so it goes" after Vonnegut died, but have lost it.

9:00 if it's Sunday, It's Meet the Press. 10 another Mimosa and This Week. We switch to Face the Nation at 10:30. PBS at 11 - we like Meacham and Stewart, but they don't hold our attention as much as Moyers, so we usually go up and Trish cuts my hair.

The we get on with the day.

So, Steven I wish you good luck when brunch resumes, and we will get there for dinner, but we just really enjoy this quality family "alone time".

And we giggle.

Ham

2010-12-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

I would not eat green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am - Dr. Suess

I grew up a Kosher home. The first time I had a cured pork product at a classmate and neighbor's home. It was bad baloney on white bread with mayo. Served with milk. I wanted to vomit, but I was nice.

It wasn't until my mother passed and we stopped being Kosher that I learned how bacon and eggs taste (and the bacon doesn't taste that way anymore - what do you think?).

My admiration for cured pork grew as quality improved and imports increased, but I have become a firm believer that the best is done yourself. I wrote of the first attempt at a home brined and smoked ham earlier. This one may have been better. When you put the ham in a sandwich you taste the ham, not just the mustard.

It is worth the effort and I got a big bone and trimmings for pea soup!

Frère Jacques

2010-12-18T08:47:00.000-08:00

In February of 1981 I prepared a dinner to impress a red-headed nursing student from Bowling Green. Her roommate (my law school classmate) and her boyfriend were there as well. The dinner was not a disaster, but the soup was. (We still dated a year and a half).

It was then I decided I needed to learn to really cook, a journey I continue on today. I went to a local used bookstore and asked not for cookbooks, but books that would teach me to cook. She sold me Vol. 1 and 2 of Mastering and La Technique by Jacques. I didn't cook through them a la Julie and Julia, but boy did I practice and learn.

Jacques and Julia taught me that you can disagree over cooking without being disagreeable. Jacques and Claudine gave me ideas of how to cook with my kids. Jacques, himself, continues to inspire me.

Jacques is 75 today. Celebrate with me!

This is a test

2010-12-16T06:25:00.001-08:00

Just trying out an app!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Life's too short to eat bad food

2010-12-16T06:14:00.000-08:00

I am sorry. This is still too high, but we cannot get the government to create one agency to supervise our food supply and give them the powers to enforce. Ultimately the blame lies with us for accepting crap on our plates.

A new local find.

2010-12-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

I love discovering local places like The Village Smokehouse in Orchard Park. A small local niche business using excellent ingredients and giving one a choice over generic supermarket choices, or niche specialty items. Found them when picking up some sheet music for Beezil.

I do my own smoking, and it's a haul from here, but I'll do what I can to support then.

No website or Face book page yet. I'll let you know.

Food Wars: Episode V - The Monster Thickburger Strikes Back

2010-12-08T05:55:00.000-08:00

If you're afraid of butter, use cream. - Julia Child

This is an interesting article in the WaPo about how the food "wars" have become part of the broader culture wars. One side can can come off as condescending. The other as ignoring reality. Julia Child berated the "Food Police", decrying those who suggested using "healthier" and foul tasting substitutes for the real thing. She enjoyed the occasional In-N-Out Burger and McVomit's fries until they stopped using lard as the frying medium. But I cannot even imagine her making a political statement defending the KFC Double Down as food.

My personal motto, noted above, is "Life's to short to eat bad food". This does not imply avoiding foods that are technically bad for me. Give me a fat laden Mangalitsa rib chop or an occasional Ted's Hot Dog. I like diner food. They make me happy.

It refers to food that is just bad. Engineered. Mostly it refers to the crap served at national chains. Why would anyone go to Olive Garden for cookie cutter pasta when we have so many locally owned "Spaghetti Houses" with better food and better value.

It's OK to splurge on food that is bad for you if it tasty and well prepared. However I revere the words of James Hilton in Lost Horizon: "I would say it was "moderation". It's the virtue of avoiding excesses of every kind... including the excess of virtue itself".

Selah

Cooking or Death - The First Loaf

2010-12-07T04:30:00.000-08:00

Beezil made her first loaf of bread this weekend. I love watching these kids cook!

Situation Normal All Fraked Up

2010-12-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

I have written about this before. We need to completely overhaul the way our government oversees our food supply. Congress passed legislation which, while minor, is a step in the right direction. The House passed a bill, and then over the strong objections of Sen. Tom Coburn the Senate passed a bill. But they added a provision not in the House in a way that violates the Constitution. They frakked it up. Now they start again.

Oy. I am going to beat my head against the wall.

In The News Again

2010-12-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

This time on on food and nutrition. Look for more in my piece in Buffalo Rising to be posted soon.

New Rules

2010-11-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

I don't recommend nonstick pans for most preparations. - Michael Symon

I like Michael Symon. I cannot wait to go to Lola on one our biannual visits to Cleveland. I recently read through his new cookbook and enjoyed it a lot. The above quote is from it.

So why is he now shilling for nonstick cookware? I just saw his ad on TV. I do not begrudge any cook for making extra money, and the quote is not unqualified, but it feels wrong.

New Rule: a cook should not recommend any kitchen item that is not used most of the time!

Selah

Last Fruits of Summer

2010-11-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is the saddest time of year. The peppers remaining had to be picked this week. It always presents a challenge though - hot sauce, salsa, something else?

You tell me!

Local Heros

2010-10-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

Did you cook my rabbit?- Mac MacIntyre

There has long been a developing of trend of cooks doing what they can to feature locally raised food. I would credit Alice Waters with bringing it to America's attention, but I am sure that there were precursors.

It is certainly not easy to do it here in the northeast. A short growing season to start with. Seafood is flown in or frozen, though I would like to see more pickerel on local menus. A restaurant needs to be canny to make use of local products. Take meats, for instance. As Jim Guarino of Shango pointed out at a Farmer/Chef conference last winter local producers cannot supply things like say a T-bone on a regular basis.

But a lot of cooks are making the effort to try their best to still utilize local stuff. Sometimes as a special when available. They have also been curing things - a little bit of really good dry cured ham goes a long way as an app or ingredient.

Wild Russian Boar is not native to Western NY, but like all "heirloom" piggies, good souls (and apparently brave souls) like Rich Tilyou of T-Meadow Farms , the place that brought us some of those lovely hams people are curing, acquired some and made them available to local restaurateurs.

So, when two restaurants we have been dying to visit were featuring it, and we were surprised by a chance for a "date", we jumped at it. The choice of which one would have been tough, but for the fact that one would have kept us away from the construction at the I-190/290 interchange and on the Grand Island Bridges and that the Chef at that Restaurant has done everything but get down on his knees and beg me to come in with Trish so he can show off.

Steven Gedra of Bistro Europa is hot cook, and the kind of friend who offers the gift of meat when you stop in to say hi (cured pork usually) and you do the same in return. But, in a bizarre twist the same night we had a rare date, Steven had rare night out of the restaurant. With apologies to Bruce and the rest of the crew, I wasn't going without the Gedra.

That meant going to Lewiston, freaking out at the traffic delays and arriving 15 minutes late for our res - something I HATE to do. It was worth it.

First there is something going on on Center Street that we liked. It reminded us of Niagara-on-the-Lake when we liked it and Honeymooned there. There is the Little Yellow Chocolate House a sweet shop and ice cream parlor. An olive oil emporium called D’Avolio which was discussed in the BuffNews a week ago Wednesday. A bunch of restaurants from pubs to fine dining, including Carmelo's our destination.

I think I may have briefly met Carmelo Raimondi at the Farmer/Chef conference last January, but I really have wanted to go to his restaurant for a while (like Steven, Carmelo lists his local producers on the menu). We even overcame our fear of Niagara County water.

There are some basic indicators of a good fine dining experience. One is the amuse - the pre-app - the thing put on your table before you even get to peruse menu. The baseline is a boring bread and bland butter offering. I have had some amazing ones, but I don't need them. All I want is a step above B & B to show that some thought has gone into it - a compound butter, the bruschettas we did at DACC's, seasoned olive oil. It doesn't matter.

Here it was a good bread served with EVOO (damn you RayRay) and an Italian celery based relish whose name I have forgotten (though I am sure it's in one of my Italian Cookbooks). Perfect.

Another is those little things a kitchen can do to show you are not an imposition. Trish and I are not appetizer people, unless we are making a meal of them, but the beet salad on the menu just sounded seasonal and good. We asked to split it and would have been happy to have a plate placed between us. When the server came back (and she was good) it was with two perfectly arranged plates with a half order on each. Nice touch.

Of course one must deal with with the entrees. Trish had the Squid Ink Tagliatelle. It was lovely. It is so easy to overcook small seafood. I, of course, had the boar off the specials menu (below). I had been prepared for some gaminess, but there was none - only a rich porky flavor. Anyone who has ever dined with me knows how little I eat. I can live for a week on the leftovers. There was barely a morsel left on the plate.

The bottom line is that we are never going to get to 100% local, but when you can support a Chef who thinks local and puts on a good feed it's worthwhile. We will be back. With friends.

Don't worry Gedra, the next time the the Moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, Europa is top of the list.

PS. Carmelo, if you read this, my 11 year old daughter, who is becoming a good cook, would like lessons in making your panna cotta :)

Soup of the Day

2010-10-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

"No soup for you!" the Soup Nazi

So, this started of as an offhand comment to Elissa Altman, a food writer at such places a Saveur, the HuffPost and her own blog Poor Man's Feast. Now I have never met her, though I hope to some day, but when she put a call out to find a way to comfort her partner Susan who was suffering from a cold I jumped in. My suggestion was Tom Yum Goong, part of why I am married, and something I was planning to make that night (author's note - I wasn't able to do it until last night - wonderful with a nice Torrontes).

Elissa took the idea, and was even kind enough to acknowledge it, but then she got sick too and posted this piece on comfort soups. I hope you are feeling better, Elissa, and that chicken soup recipe sounds remarkably like my own grandmother's, but this discussion made me think of a top five list of me favorite soups. After all, the term restaurant comes from a soup that restores. Google the name Boulanger.

So, here they are:

5. Barley Broth (aka Scottish Broth). If you want a hearty soup for a cold winter night, this is a hearty choice. Lamb, peas, barley, cabbage, and root vegetables, thickened slightly by the barley. This is truly a restaurer. Eaten with a dense crusty loaf of say oat bread it's a complete meal.

4. Onion Soup Gratinee (aka French Onion Soup). This is a perfect example of simple peasant austarity. Broth from simmered meats, stale bread, cheese and onions stored for the winter. Yum. Hints: saute the onions low and slow and let them caramelize naturally. Don't buy $19 a pound Gruyere no matter who tells you. I love Gruyere, but it's lost here. My favorite is Jarlsberg. This is one of the two soups on the list that suffer from bad restaurant versions. Soup base and cheap cheese don't do it.

3. Hot and Sour Soup. This is the second soup butchered too often by bad restaurants. It should be prepared gently, with the best ingredients. When thus prepared it is an awesome experience. When not - it's liquid snot. When it's done right it's heaven.

2. Tom Yung Goong. More heavenly than Hot and Sour, this is a soup that brought my wife and I together. It is a perfect balance of hot, sour salty and sweet with the punch of umami. Laced with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and mushrooms, Thai basil and mint, I don't care what seafood or protein is in there. I just want slurp the wonderful broth. It should be number one on my list, but it cannot because:

1. Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls. I am Jewish. I have no choice. But, I really love it. I usually take care of the broth, and Trish takes care of the kneidlach using David Rosengarten's seltzer recipe. But my Mom has taken to buying a chicken soup mix, and tossing out the soup part and just making the matzoh balls. They are not bad.

When I am sick the Jewish Penicillin always works - as do the others - what works for you?

Hope you are better Elissa!

Nomeclature IV

2010-09-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

What a kid I got, I told him about the birds and the bees and he told me about the butcher and my wife. - Rodney Dangerfield

As people begin to get used to buying locally, they will be in for a surprise when it comes to meats. We don't have the butchers. I am not talking about the few remaining independent butchers that will still stick their elbows on the counter and give you advice on how to cook that hunk of meat you just bought. I am talking about the kind of USDA approved places that will slaughter the beast and fabricate the carcass in to recognizable parts.

The problem is they have forgotten how to be butchers, seemingly limited by only getting to deal with venison. I have split a delicious pig with a friend for the last couple years. But I don't want sausage. I don't even want ground pork. I want bones in my chops. I want to specify the cuts. I got hocks which I will be smoking next week, and some neck bones I used to make a rich gelatinous stock. I want my skin, my trotters, my head. I bought a half a pig and I want half a pig. (And I can't help thinking that the butcher is reselling the parts I don't get.) I have considered asking for the whole half, but I have neither the room to store it nor break it down.

I blame the producers a tiny bit for not anticipating the educated consumer. I blame consumers for being gullible enough to embrace the skinless - boneless mindset. I blame the butchers for not being flexible, but now for mislabeling. I have written about this several times before, but identify the part accurately!

The pork comes frozen and carefully wrapped in butcher paper, labeled with a sharpie. Yes, you can roast any part of a pig, even a whole pig, but certain cuts are better suited to different methods of roasting. When I thaw a a package labeled "Pork Roast" I anticipate a cut that can be cooked at high heat. When I peel back the butcher paper and see the unmistakable "7" bone of a shoulder aka butt it pisses me off. It's one of my favorites - my go to for sausage and pulled pork. It wasn't what I was planning on in the time frame I had. It came out tasty but tough.

It's the tasty part that kills me. Absent the butcher issue, this is food worth paying a bit more for. That same week, I cured a ham from that piggy in a brine with Grade B Maple Syrup, cold smoked it then roasted it. I glazed it with some of my jalapeño jelly thinned with some white wine. It was delicious. My wife, who is not a ham fan, called it the best she'd ever had.

Of course, the dilemma now was what to do with leftover ham and roast pork. Easy call. Cuban Sandwiches. Ham and pork, thinly sliced, Swiss (I actually prefer Jarlsberg), and a dash of mayo (sometimes a tad of mustard). I don't own, nor do I want, a pannini press. A cast iron pan with another on top works fine.

Now if someone could just definitively state: dill pickle, sweet pickle or no pickle . . . .

Sunday Morning Food Porn

2010-09-12T07:06:00.000-07:00

Lunch yesterday at Suzy Q's . Yum Yum!

Cold Hearted Orb

2010-09-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

Breathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
another Summer's useless energy spent

- Graeme Edge (with a slight modification)

And thus another summer comes to an end. Oh. I know it doesn't officially end for a few weeks, but we all know that summer is over Labor Day, especially as a parent. Tomorrow the pool will be drained and the lifeguards gone. I will walk a child to the bus stop for the last time.

To make matters worse, shortly after rising I realized that I was having one of my occasional attacks of vertigo. Just casting a cloud over a day too cloudy by any Labor Day standard. The "cold hearted orb" of the title is supposed to be the moon, not the sun.

But nothing will stop me from my annual Labor Day hot dog. Not this year. My second article for Buffalo Rising was on the history of the hot dog based on the differences between Buffalo and Rochester - my two homes. You can read it here and here.

This year I am going Rochester style.

In Julia's Kitchen

2010-08-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it. - Julia Child

If you know me, you know it started with Julia. My love affair with food and the preparation thereof was described in my very first post in this blog in September 2007. A few weeks ago I finally got to view the shrine to the life of the Blessed Saint Julia at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Yep. I got to see her kitchen (and you are dealing with a guy who has Julie and Julia on his iPod!). It was wonderful to see the tools she used to practice her craft preserved with such care.

But the experience felt sterile. Since my wife first visited the display they have erected Plexiglas barriers. Take a look at the last few moments of Julie and Julia - you do have a copy, don't you - it's like a movie theater rope. When we saw the the real Star Spangled Banner that day, and the Founding Documents the next day we expected heavy protective coverings, but this should have been an easier view.

Plus it made photography a pain. And there were no good chachkies in the gift shop as a momento.

Still, I am glad to have made the pilgrimage. And I left butter. :-)

A Little Help From Your Friends

2010-08-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm,I get high with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

Ok, so I kvetched a few days ago about the "dark side" of supporting local food producers who want to be Disneyland. There is a bright side too. When we can, we help each other out.

Christa Seychew and I have engaged in a spirited discussion about why we don't have real Mexican here - even street food. Her question is here. My response here.

But, then Lloyd came.

Yep, Lloyd - a real taco truck. A taqueria on wheels opened by two entrepreneurial local cooks to great acclaim. Long lines, and great reviews from people whose opinions I trust. We planned on going going there with the kids for lunch yesterday.

I mean these guys refurbished the truck, passed Health Department regs, got approval from Buffalo Place (who were worried apparently about whether this would lead to an invasion of Mr. Softee's)

But last week the truck blew it's engine. Rather than sit idle, people like Christa and the folks a Artisan Kitchens and Bath threw a benefit. We decided to attend.

I'd like to tell you that the tacos were great. I can't. I barely tasted them. It was clear when we got there that they had more visitors than they planned on. They were "in the weeds". I told Christa I'd volunteer to help, but I really wanted to eat those tacos first.

Then I saw Nelson Starr gloved up and helping out. Dude, you brought Bourdain to Buffalo. Leave some of the spotlight for the rest of us!

But I gloved up and spent the rest of the night squeezing out churros. Trish spent the night tossing them in cinnamon and sugar.. I came home stinking of sweat and frying oil. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!

Here I am, a few days later, and my hands still ache. Arthritis sucks. I'd do it again tonight though. Buffalo is the City of Good Neighbors. And we cooks are a family.

Selah

Eat A Peach

2010-08-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

We love doing our best to support local food. Be it cooks, growers, producers or sellers, we like to help out our neighbors in Western New York. But there is a dark side to this trend.

Let us start with this story. There is a place not far from here where we used to take the kids to pick pumpkins every October. They got to walk in the fields and find their perfect pumpkins. There were also some farm animals to watch. As time went by, the pumpkins were pre-picked, and higher priced. The Corn Maze appeared. And the gift shop opened. And we stopped going.

This is the curse. We want the kids to get out in the fields and pick stuff. Period. I know they need profits, but some of these folks are giving U-pick a bad name.

We went to pick peaches. It was a bad sign that there was a gift shop. Oh, and an ice cream parlor. We were provided with baskets, and a wagon and headed to the orchard. There were big signs pointing to the U-pick area. We picked. The peaches looked better on the other non-U-pick side. Tuff nuts, we picked some there too. I will admit we had some sticker shock at the price of a bushel.

Then we went to pick some berries. Another bad sign - in addition to the large gift shop there was a hamburger/hot dog stand and a mini amusement park with a farm theme, including tricycles painted to look like John Deere tractors. We paid 25¢ a piece for picking baskets and wandered into the fields. Lot's of berries in many varieties. None of them ripe.

I was so pissed that I skipped a planned visit to my friends at Leonard Oakes. We just went to Krull Park and had a picnic lunch.

Too add insult to injury, my wife stopped at a nearby farm stand for some corn for dinner (the best we've had this season). They had local peaches picked by someone else at less than half price that we paid to pick our own.

As for pumpkins, we have found a roadside source with what I call a "We Trust You" box for payment. Can't pick your own, but the price is right. This year I will ring the doorbell to say thank you, or at least leave a note.

I'd tell you where it is, but I don't want to find a gift shop there!

{queue the Allman Bros.}

Doe Urine ≠ Econmomic Renaissance Downtown

2010-08-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Don't build a Bass Pro at Canal Side - who cares. - Modified by me.

I never got the allure of a Bass Pro. When I think of an "anchor" to a retail spot, or a key to the revitalization of our City, this doesn't even enter the picture.

Look I have nothing against hunting or fishing. Some of my fondest memories are the time spent with a family whose annual food budget counted on their take of venison - I loved cooking with it. They also raised pigs. Full disclosure, it was also the first time I was ready to ask someone to marry me (it's OK, I am still friends with her and her sister). It also was the source of one of my favorite stories - the time Ralph wanted Amy to test her sights and drew a deer on a piece of cardboard. She fired and the shot went wide right (appropriate as I was with them on the day of that dark cloud in Buffalo Bills history). Ralph put a leaf in the hole and had Amy shoot again. The leaf fell. She put the bullet through the same hole. Ralph suggested I be nice to his daughter, as she could take me out one nut at a time. :)

No, my problem is that, as my wife first pointed out, we never saw people running downtown to buy doe urine then dropping a couple of big bills at SeaBar or Hutch's or the dozens of other fine restaurants or businesses downtown.

There is a dynamic that works. I have been buying herbs and spices at Penzey's for years. First by mail order, then when they opened in Cleveland. But, they opened this year in Buffalo. Their presence a couple of doors down caused us to become member/owners of the Lexington Co-op. A trip to Penzeys/Co-op/Guercio's is now a regular trip.

So here's the thought: Screw the hard stuff and bring a Lotte/Assi asian market like the one I was at in Northern VA last weekend. Tons of fresh produce. Live fish in tanks. Every condiment you can think of.

That would bring me downtown to canal side!

Social Networking

2010-08-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

If it's the Psychic Network why do they need a phone number? - Robin Williams

OK, you can love or hate Facebook, and the effect it has on our lives, but it is a network over all. Yes, you can meet old school buddies you have lost touch with, but in the end it is also a network. A place where people of similar interests, like food, can meet and share ideas.

That is how I met a friend - for the sake of convenience let's call her Christa - who is friends with a lot of my friends in the Buffalo food community. She is also an ardent supporter of local food and local cooks. We traded occasional quips and barbs via Facebook, but it wasn't until the Field and Fork network's annual Farmer/Chef conference (she was an organizer) that we started to get to know each other.

My Comrade in Culinary Catastrophes (we'll call him Fred) called me the day before and asked if I wanted to join him, but a quick scan of the web site showed it was sold out. So I contactedChrista and offered to coat myself with EV Olive Oil if she could slip me in. She couldn't, but put me on a wait
list and within hours I had a slot.

It was enjoyable, and I got to meet Christa and some other new friends, as well as reuniting with old friends. Lunch initiated some interesting discussions.

Some time after, when Christa put out a call for where to get something, I volunteered my Restaurant Depot account. she had one through Buffalo Rising, where she was working again.

I told her it was a wrong answer. The correct answer was "yes, I'll use your card, and then we will have lunch at El Canelo", a favorite of both of us. This prompted her to question why we don't have a "real" Mexican restaurant here. Her post was here, my response is here.

And we may have a solution here.

Ultimately we did get together at El Canelo - only to find that that location had closed. So we had an unremarkable meal at a chain. During that meal, she asked if I wouuld like to write for Buffalo Rising. My first article was on fish sauce. My second went up today, the first part of a discussion about hot dogs.

So remember, social networking may be social, but it is also networking!

ETA: I have been advised by this person who calls herself "Christa" that it was Nickle City Chef that provides her with the membership to Restaurant Depot. :)

Congratulations Beezil

2010-06-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

My daughter Alison completed her time at Dodge Road Elementary today. In preparation for the Recognition ceremony, each child has a photo taken to be posted on the Auditorium wall. They can choose to wear what they want, preferably something that says something about them. This is my little baker (though she wants to be an archeologist or a veterinarian.

The Return Of The Giant Hogweed

2010-06-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

Turn and run!
Nothing can stop them,
Around every river and canal their power is growing.
Stamp them out!
We must destroy them,They infiltrate each city with their thick dark warning odour.

They are invincible,
They seem immune to all our herbicidal battering. - Genesis

Back in 1971 I went with a friend, Kenny Pearsen, to see what we thought was a SciFi movie. It wasn't. It was a documentary starring Laurence Pressman as a fictional scientist Dr. Damien Hellstrom telling of how trying to kill insects just makes the the survivors stronger. "Ever wonder how David slew Goliath? Like the insect, he wasn't afraid to die".Kind of Darwin meets Nietzsche.

It came to mind last week listening to On Point on NPR. Here is a link to it - you can get transcripts or podcasts there.

It was a round up of Roundup the miracle herbicide created by Monsanto (and which makes me wish I hadn't enjoyed the Monsanto pavilion at Disneyland for many years). Here's the deal - Roundup is a really good herbicide. I first discovered it when I got to Law School in Ohio. It helped me realize that Toledo was not WNY - we don't have TV ads about "Broadleaf Plant Infestations" here in WNY, just fat men yelling HUUUUUGE!

I have a jug in in the garage for the stuff that grows where nothing should grow. It also kills things you don't want it to - which is why the grape vines grow on only one side of my arbor.

So to make the substance more marketable to farmers Monsanto went on to genetically modify crops - primarily soybeans and corn - that were resistant to Roundup. Spray your fields, plant your crops and no hacking out weeds by hand. It had a second benefit for places where tilled soil tended to blow away. Think Tom Joad. It allowed a form of farming that required no plowing or tilling. Perfect, right?

Wrong.

Much like Dr. Hellstrom's warning, some weeds survived - being immune to Roundup. And they grew fruitful and multiplied. So now they are talking about dosing our crops with old chemical crap. Or new chemical crap. When will we realize that keeping food cheap may not be the best policy.

On the plus side, It got me to listen to Nursery Cryme once more. Always a good thing. Oh, and as the lyrics suggest, the boys (probably Peter, but maybe Tony) got this in 1971.

Mexican Dining in the Nickel City - an open letter to a friend

2010-05-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

“If I moved away, I would definitely miss the Mexican food. Every region has its own Mexican food, and they're very chauvinistic -- they believe their food is the real Mexican food.” - Russ Parsons

My friend Christa Glennie Seychew, now back at Buffalo Rising, brought up on Facebook a consideration of the state of Mexican food in Buffalo. I had answers or at least my view, and said I'd respond, but I cannot find the frakkin' post.

So, instead I'll post here, and let her know.

The main premise of her post was that with all the Mexican "themed" places in town, why don't we have a true Mexican restaurant?

Dear Christa, I have two answers.

But first, discount the national chains. They suck. I am not even sure that Taco Hell qualifies as food. Discount Mighty Taco, too. As one who grew to love it in the purple haze of the 70's it is a food group separate and apart. I do not even think Mexican when I consider it - it's a Mighty.

What this leaves are the local places with Margarita specials (often bad ones), cold Corona with a lime, canned Mexican music, and occasionally some hygiene issues. The problem is that they are Tex-Mex - lesser offspring of the places we enjoyed on our trip to San Antonio - places such as Rosario's, Mi Tierra and La Margarita. Frankly, I'd like to have a place like those here, with real breakfast tacos like those at Mi Tierra, the middle one is Lengua. (BTW, when it comes to kitsch, Mi Tierra makes Salvatore's look like rank amateurs!)

So, to my theories. First, I don't think people get Mexican food. If you grew up at Taco Hell and Chi-Chi's you're going expect that kind of mierda . It may be worse here in WNY. One lesson I learned working in local restaurants is never to overestimate the culinary intelligence of local diners. For everyone who dreams of spending special occasions at Sea Bar or Torches, there are dozens who dream of doing the same at Olive Garden or Alice's Kitchen.

This is an area that reveres the fish fry. They think menudo, if they think of it at all, is where Ricky Martin got his start, posole is on the bottom of a poor persons shoe. Try to convince them that corn smut, huitlacoche, is not only edible, but delicious.

The other problem is closely related to overcoming those prejudices - demographics . Think about it, a Korean, or Indian or Caribbean restaurant can open and do fine because there are no ingrained concepts. (Japanese is the exception that proves the rule, but that's another post).With Mexican we don't have the population to overcome the Ortega/Taco Hell syndrome. In fact, even with the Chinese/Chinese American population here we can't overcome the La Choy generation.

But, here's the rub: There is at least one fair Chinese restaurant nearby that when asked by Chinese immigrants to put on a 13 course traditional banquet did so in a phenomenal way! If we get enough people who want traditional Mexican - even if just a taqueria - we may get one.

In the mean time, Christa, you have two options:

Go to Toronto on a weekend. Perola's Market on Augusta (the west border of Chinatown) does have a taqueria only on weekends - I was clued in by Corey Mintz of the Toronto Star. It may mean eating standing, but it's worth it. Or:

From Toronto Sat

Get to know me well enough to get an invite to dine here. I do good Mexican.

Sunday Morning Food Porn

2010-05-30T08:22:00.001-07:00

Ming Teh, Ft. Erie, Canada

Food For Thought

2010-04-06T04:26:00.000-07:00

Reminded by Nick Stellino:

Heaven, is where the police are British, the cooks Italian, the mechanics German, the lovers French, and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the chefs are British, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss, the police German, and it is all organized by the Italians.

Julie and Julia Night

2010-03-26T04:22:00.000-07:00

Julie and Julia night was a great success, but I hurt today. I ain't as young as I once was. The food was well recieved, and very few leftovers. At left are the gougères, or as the girls call them Cheesy Poofs. I love those kids!

Discuss!

Maple Weekend and Earl's

2010-03-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

"Food for the body, music for the soul" Earl's Motto

Saturday marked the opening of our Statewide Maple Weekend. So we made or annual journey to some of our WNY Sugar Shacks for a good time and on a quest for our yearly gallon of Grade B syrup, the best on the planet.

We hit Randall's in Alexander, which was fun, and Kirsch's in Varysburg where we scored that gallon of Grade B as well as discovering that they raise Natural Black Angus Beef. We need more producers that do that kind of thing around here. That's a photo of the Sugar Shack with a couple of the giant windmills that dot the landscape along Rte. 77.

The bad news about this part of the trip is that we had so little snow and warmed up so quickly that the trees are budding, which ends the season. Syrup, at least in WNY will be in short supply.

Afterwords we we went to Earl's, a WNY landmark for 54 years. It is known for "pies and fries", drinks served in real handleless mason jars and Country Music. The last is why I have only been there twice.

But, we had promised the kids, and let them down three times before. Once we arrived to find they only took cash, and we had none (they now have an ATM). Once I was ill. The last was when we forgot that restaurants in the southtowns close on Monday?

The burger was ok, and filling (so filling that we skipped dinner), but the fries I used to like were undercooked and cold.

If you want to know what Earl's is like, it's on TVFN at 10 tonight. I know 'cause Earl told every party that came in. Every party!

"Do you'all watch Food TV." We heard it so much that Trish was dissolved in laughter!

Goodbye, Godwulf

2010-03-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

After a while I got hungry and went to the kitchen. There was nothing to eat. I drank another beer and looked again, and found half a loaf of whole wheat bread behind the beer in the back of the refrigerator... — Robert B. Parker (Mortal Stakes)

There is a long history of Detectives and food. Now I am not speaking of the caterer turned detective thing, but rather the traditional detective. Sherlock Holmes had Mrs. Hudson bringing him trays of Food. Mrs. Maigret making meals. Miss Marple having tea. Philip Marlowe drinking whiskey, or making coffee without a filter (milk only in the morning). Poirot and Hastings sharing a meal.

The Apex may have been Nero Wolfe, the 300 pound Gourmand who employed Fritz Brenner as his personal chef. I actually have cookbooks based on Maigret and Wolfe.

But to me, it's Spenser. He is a great, intuitive cook, but reading his adventures is also a history of Restaurants in Boston. From the Locke-Ober and the Ritz, to Biba, The East Coast Grill and Blue Ginger.

I just finished The Professional. It will be the last one Robert B. Parker was alive to finish. He died Jan 18. There are more works in the pipeline, but it won't be the same.

Farewell Spenser, and Susan and Hawk and Quirk and Belson and Farrell and Vinnie . . . . .

Very few of my books are about who stole the Maltese Falcon. — Robert B. Parker

Blogorrea Redux

2010-03-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

Been really busy lately, so I'll be finishing some things that have been queuing up!

Tuesday Morning Food Porn

2010-03-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

Santasiero's Meatball Bomber - Monday, March 15 2010

Fun Food Stuff

2010-02-01T04:56:00.000-08:00

"The cow is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other milk."- Ogden Nash

This just kind of explains itself. Just go to this Amazon.com link Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz "and read the reviews. They are a hoot of literary imitations!

Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan!

Food Quote of the Week

2010-01-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

It isn't often that the Sunday morning shows we watch have food references, but in the past year, Bill Moyers has had at least two. He interviewed Michael Pollan, and this gem came from a discussion about Global Warming and the possibility of ending up in a world as depicted in Richard Fleischer's Soylent Green.

The quote: "I don't want to spoil the ending, but Food and Nutrition labels have been dramatically relaxed."

It's people. Soylent Green is made out of people. They're making our food out of people.

Cole Porter

2010-01-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

Anything goes in, anything goes out, fish, bananas, old pyjamas, mutton, beef and trout - The Other Cole Porter

Or, as Jesse Jackson might say "If you love to eat, you'll have to excrete". This is a Public Service Announcement. When you hit 50, get the colonoscopy. It took me almost 2 years despite friends and family assuring me that it wasn't that bad. Chad Ward, author of the wonderful "An Edge in the Kitchen" - perhaps the best book on how to deal with knives available - took the time to remind me of Dave Barry's famous column on the topic. Read it again.

It really wasn't that bad. In fact for me it was better than some of those who told me it wasn't that bad. I think it helped that flatulence is second nature to me. Look, as Barry say you either have cancer or pre-cancer, or you don't. If you do early treatment can be a lifesaver. If you don't, you will sleep better.

I know. I'm clean. Plenty of meals left to prepare and eat.

'Nuff said!

Wings

2010-01-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

There is no such thing as a Buffalo Wing. Buffalo (Bison bison) are mammals. They don't have wings.

There are just Wings.

They are neither baked, broiled, broasted or roasted. They are not breaded. They are not cajun nor teriyaki nor BBQ. They are not boneless.

There are many legitimate other uses for the chicken wing, but they are not Wings.

Considered to have been created at the Anchor Bar, a mere 20 minutes from here, Wings are Deep Fried and tossed in a sauce of butter and Frank's hot sauce (No Tabasco or Crystal or Texas Pete, etc. allowed). A bit of ketchup may be added - the corn syrup helps the sauce stick.

They are served with celery and or carrot sticks. And Blue Cheese dressing (Ken's was the standard). The best wings were served at Rooties, but it is now gone, with only a satellite in KY remaining. (OK, aside from the fact that I REALLY loved the wings while at UB, it was our regular hangout after we closed down DACC's. And the bartender then was smokingly hot!)

So for the best wings in town, you have to come here -on the one or two days a year I make them!

West Side Story

2010-01-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

Today, all day I had the feeling
A miracle would happen
I know now I was right. - Tonight

Well I finally made it to the West Side Market in Cleveland over New Years and it was everything I hoped for and more. I have already written of my hopes for a return of the central market. But I don't see it happening soon.

Aside from seafood, it trumps my beloved Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia (OK it's a seaport - I know).

The variety of offerings was overwhelming. Really. And because I was unprepared, I bought little. But it does prove that a real City market can exist, and the gives me hope.

But, Susan and Brian also introduced me to the existence of Charlie's Gourmet Garlic, right around the corner from them. My supplies include German White, Music and Sussanna Soft Neck. What a hoot! I have just started playing with it!

Cleveland is good for food!

Learning Curve

2009-12-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

One of those days on the cooking front. Anyone who cooks has made mistakes. My devotion to cooking began with a mistake over soup. Today all girls learned important lessons.

Alison received her first Chef Stripes, and learned that hot ovens need to be respected.

Ellie learned that Baking Soda and Baking Powder are not interchangeable, and we are doing a second batch of cookie dough.

Trish learned that it is OK to dry dishes when the stovetop is on, but don't put plastic things near the back!

I learned that it's better sometimes to just watch Dr. Zhivago . . .

Julie and Julia

2009-12-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

I finally saw the movie Saturday night. I had been afraid to, fearing disappointment. It wasn't the casting. Certainly not with Meryl's Julia. Even before hearing her spot-on Julia, I knew she could pull it off. Heck, If Meryl (and I call her Meryl because I went to High School with her cousin Amy) announced she was playing the title role in a remake of Conan the Barbarian I'd believe she could pull it off!

Amy Adams was wonderful in Enchanted, and she's a redhead. I have a thing for redheads. I started to cook because of a redhead.

Jane Lynch? My sister didn't know her. Sorry Yinnie, if you don't know Jane Lynch you are watching the wrong movies. She is great.

Then there is Stanley Tucci. If there is a cook out there who doesn't revere him and Tony Shalhoub for Big Night, I will show them how to break down a carcass on their carcasses.

No, my worry was trying to parallel Julie and Julia with My Life in France. Look, I loved lurking at Julie's blog (I still do) and enjoyed Julie and Julia, but the comparison of the two stories seemed like comparing Mastering the Art of French Cooking to the Rochester Hadassah Cookbook. Both are inportant to my culinary life, but not equal in their impact.

I was wrong.

The movie was delightful, the acting and script. What got to me was the penultimate scene, the one pictured above, where Julie Powell leaves a pound of butter at the Julia's Kitchen display at the Smithsonian. I giggled when I read it. I cried when I watched it.

I suddenly realized what I had missed before in the Julie/Julia story. I remembered the importance of Julia to my cooking, and realized that Julie basically served as a representative of all the lives Julia touched! A pound of butter left on the altar of Saint Julia.

Thank you Julia.

And thank you Julie.

Bon Appetit!

Three Wishes

2009-12-20T06:42:00.000-08:00

From today's BuffNews, and just because he's a friend doesn't mean he isn't right . . .

ANDREW Z. GALARNEAU, Food

1. I wish that small-scale farming, animal raising and dairy operations would grow from a niche market to a sizable part of the nation's food system. Making cheese, curing ham and growing vegetables can become lifetime careers for people if there are customers willing to support them. That can only happen if enough shoppers begin to understand the value of variety, flavor and supporting the local economy.

Tastes great, creates jobs, gives everyone more choices. What's not to like?

2. The U.S. government would reorder its approach to federal food spending, cutting down or ending subsidies to politically powerful food-related industries like sugar, corn and corporate farms. Figure out the fairest, most effective way to spend the money on food for the hungry instead; it's a better investment.

3. I wish the City of Buffalo would sink some development money into restaurants that a community needs, instead of those that are politically connected. Like, say, a solid full- service Chinese place with its own roast meat counter, like Greater NY Noodletown on the Bowery, or Congee Queen in North York, Ont. Or how about tax breaks for a fully capable Ethiopian place, or Mexican tacqueria?

I'd add a wish that people would realize that food is not medicine, a lifestyle choice or financial issue. Food is joy, food is family, food is life. And life's to short to eat bad food!

Weighty Matters

2009-12-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

A difference that makes no difference is no difference - William James

Or not. If you can accomplish a task with one button push rather than two there is a difference.

This is prompted by what I hope will be a lively discussion, between Michael Ruhlman and James Peterson over measuring by weight vs. volume in baking, that started on Facebook. (For the record I am with Peterson on flour (too many variations even with a single brand. It's one of those are where experience is the best measurement) and Ruhlman on just about everything else.) Now I am a big fan of digital scales in the kitchen, but this seemed a good opportunity to tear in to the "tare" debate.

To quote Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Many educated cooks recommending features on a digital scale, including Michael and Alton Brown suggest that you look for a "Tare" or zero function as if they are the same. Michael, who despite what must be an overflowing inbox is unusually gracious in responding to my e-mails, said: "zero function and tare are the same thing no?".

Proof #1: This my scale, a horribly expensive Edlund E-80 I picked up at a restuarant auction for $10 because it had no cord (works well and is quite mobile on a 9 volt battery, or could work on one of those universal cords, but why?). It has both a Tare and a Zero button. Michael's own more affordable scale also has both. Why would a manufacturer give you two buttons that are identical when they can charge you the same but save money on the extra button? We'd never know the difference

Proof #2: They work differently.

The zero is so easy to understand a caveman could do it. Turn scale on. Put container on. Press zero. Scale goes to zero. Add 500g stuff. Press zero. Scale goes to zero. Add 300g stuff. Press zero. Scale goes to zero. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. This is the function useful for the cook.

The tare button has a different, specific task. My Dad's 1941 edition of Webster's defines tare as: "A deduction of weight, made in allowance for the weight of a container or vehicle". Useful for portion control or at the Wegman's Olive bar where the chek'em'out person can correct for the weight of the plastic. But that's not optimal for cooking. Turn scale on. Put container on. Press tare. Scale goes to zero. Add 500g stuff. Press tare Scale goes to . . . combined weight of stuff and container. You basically have turned the tare function off. Press tare a third time and it will re-tare to zero. But that is an extra button push.

Considering that if you boot up with a container on the scale it automatically tares, the tare button is acually redundant. YMMV, but that's what I tell classes.

So is this a difference that makes no difference? Weigh in!

Wednsday In The Dining Room With Georg (with apologies to Sondhiem)

2009-12-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, in this world of Molecular Gastronomy, we seem to forget that some of the simplest preparations are the most satisfying. Some of the best had origins as peasant food. I have talked about Choucroute Garnie before, but this was special.

The dish is basically meat and Sauerkraut. The wurst was from Spar's, as usual. I added some slab bacon (both as lardons and just in hunks), and some Canadian bacon. Somewhere in freezerland is a smoked pork hock that would have enjoyed the company, but I couldn't find them. Oh bother. Some juniper berries and caraway seeds.

The wines were dry Rieslings, both for cooking and quaffing, but not Alsatian though. I am a homer, and used wines from the Finger Lakes

What made this meal special was the company. Our friend Georg was in from Albany and over for supper. Oh, and this was made with my first batch of home-cured sauerkraut, and Choucroute is ALL about the kraut!

Yum.

Stop the Insanity

2009-12-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer. - Francis Bacon

Anyone who works in a restaurant deserves respect. It doesn't matter if you are slaving on the line trying to keep your fluid levels up while the instant read on your shoulder reads 14oº, or just trying to get that caked up crud off the silver before it goes back to the front of the house. Chef, line cook, prep cook, salad bitch or dish dog - all are worthy of respect.

There is a special place in the pantheon for the cook who manages to parlay his/her skills in the kitchen "empire". You can lose the quality by spreading youself to thin (see, English, Todd) or simply crash and burn (see, DiSpirito, Rocco). But by doing this you may get an appearance on a television show. Maybe a nationally syndicated one. Fine. You have done your work and made your bones. So don't frak it up by repeating one of the oldest cooking canards around - especially in front of your son. YOUR SON!

Two weeks ago Richard Sandoval , owner of like 14 reastaurants, was on the PBS show Chef's a Field, with his son, spouting the calumny that one sears the meat to seal in the juices. It doesn't work that way!

This is not applying a lit torch to a recently hacked off limb to cauterize the bleeding (I love that scene in The Vikings when Erik frees Ragnar's hands and gives him his sword so he can die fighting as a Viking. Then Aella hacks off the hand that freed Ragnar).

There are just too many signs that this belief is a false assumption - ending in the pool of jus that collects on the cutting board after your perfectly cooked strip steak has rested (you are resting your steaks, arent you?). Sop some of that up with a piece of nice crusty bread and tell me those juices were sealed in!

You don't have to trust me. In the culinary world where opinions are the rule, there is one voice that is pretty universally accepted. The voice is that of Harold McGee. "Searing does not seal in the juices" The Curious Cook: More Kitchen Science and Lore at page16. Argue with him at your own peril.

Now don't take any of that as meaning you shouldn't get that cast iron skillet smoking hot and flop that slab of beef in it. Plenty of good things happen (see, Reaction, Maillard).

But, when you get yourself on a syndicated TV cooking show, know the basics of our craft.

That means you too, Emeril!

Here endeth the lesson.

Monkey See, Monkey Do - Mexican Cooking

2009-11-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

The second of my cooking classes consisted of a reading of Skippyjon Jones, Lost in Spice, an examination of foods native to the Americas - especially chillis - and a lesson in the making of Guacamole. (Note to self - add a molcajete to your wish list for demos.)

The kids ate my salsa, but thought the guac looked gross (though they loved it when I faked a sneeze on the towel I had cleaned up the avacado with).

The parents dug right in though!

Nouveau 09

2009-11-20T11:18:00.001-08:00

We know. We really know. Beaujolais Nouveau is a scam. Wine unready for primetime (if it will ever be) rushed off to adoring masses ready to be ripped off.

We cannot resist. Once every 15 years or so, a product arrives too soon, but with promise. The other 14 produce swill. The 09 vintage is less than swill. It is nothing.

The vinegar vat is awaiting, and we are switching to a nice Argentinian Torrentes!

Monkey See, Monkey Do - And So It Begins . . .

2009-11-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my first regular gig at Monkey See, Monkey Do, a bookstore steered toward kids in Clarence. We did a reading of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi and Ron Barrett. We squished the ingredients, and and ate some meatballs in tomato sauce that I had made earlier in the day.

It is the first in a regular series of kids cooking events. Next up is a lesson in Mexican cooking and a reading of Skippyjon Jones, Lost in Spice tomorrow morning.

We will be starting adult classes in January, with a program on Julia and Julia, featuring My Life in France and Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.

It's fun
.

Grandma's Birthday Food Porn

2009-11-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

Instead of the usual pizza and wings this year went to Suzy Q's Barbeque Shack. This was a great idea as far as I am concerned. Local pizza keeps slipping in my estimation - most likely buying lower quality ingredients to keep costs low (plus, I am still sad at the loss of the local branch my favorite!).

But, Suzy Q's is damned good for northern Q. I like their attitude (we do it slow, and if we run out we close early). I like the frendliness, and the lack of pretense. Mostly I like the food. Pictured: my pulled pork, Memphis style. Big and stuffed enough to be lunch tomorrow!

And Now For Something Completely Different

2009-10-27T03:51:00.000-07:00

Every now and then it is good for a cook's spiritual welfare to return the the greatest bit of restaurant humor in the history of the world, by the world's best comedy troupe ever. And it hast Carol Cleveland!!!!!!! Happy Birthday, Mr. Cleese!

Out Of Our Gourds

2009-10-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

L to R: Astronaut L. Gourdon Cooper, Grandma Gourdon (after my Grandmere) and Chief Engineer Gourdi LaForge, Thunderbird 4 pilot Gourdon Tracy, Charles George "Chinese" Gourdon of Khartoum, and Chef Gourdon Ramsay because he's supposed to be an enourmous schwanzstucker.

I Cannot Live Without Books. - Thomas Jefferson

2009-10-21T03:40:00.000-07:00

I love books. All books. I have a particular fondness for cookbooks, as you can tell by the sidebar. So the gift of a cookbook is something to be taken seriously. When it comes from your Mother-in-Law even more seriously. When it's for your daughter, the burgeoning pastry chef, really really. But Martha Frakking Stewart?!?! Well, I couldn't let that go unaddressed.

The question is: do I scan it and add it to my official cookbook collection?

The Brussel Sprout Emporium

2009-10-21T02:30:00.000-07:00

To market, to market, a gallop a trot . . .

I firmly believe that every community deserves a vibrant public market, but with apologies to those who grew up here the Broadway Market isn't it. It hasn't been in the over 30 years I've been aware of it. Whether it ever was as I have been told, or just memories of childhood filtered by the passage of time, I cannot tell. What is certain is that the combination of urban flight and the rise of of the supermarket have combine to eliminate many traditional public markets.

They are not all gone. Cleveland's West Side Market has been around since 1840, and is still going strong. I plan to get there if I am ever in Cleveland when it's neither New Year's nor an event I am cooking for. My favorite, for now, is the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia (Pictured Above). You can get prepared foods here, from Amish to Chinese, and sundries of all types. But, the best stuff is fresh: Meat, Produce, Poultry, and especially the Fish. It is so fresh you can have breakfast mere feet away from a fish counter and smell nothing!

Unfortunately, many places are not so lucky. We cannot even get fish that fresh at local fishmongers.

Still, there is some hope. We do have a variety of smaller farmer's markets in the area. They are only open, at best, a few days a week, but the least of them are worth patronizing.

Our favorite is the North Tonawanda Farmers Market on Robinson Road. It's open Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday from 7 to 1. Saturdays are the best - the most vendors are there. There is a decent array of seasonal fruits and vegetables at fabulous prices. Do browse before buying as prices vary. The photos at right give you an idea of it.

There is just something missing.

Andrew Galarneau did a nice overview of farmers market's in Western New York by county back in the BuffNews back in June, but the article also highlighted local meat producers/purveyors. We have local eggs and poultry, and plenty of dairy products - cheese, yoghurt and more. If we could find a way to entice these good folks to show up at the farmer's markets, I think I'd be one happy pup!

When life gives you lemons

2009-10-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

ask for salt and tequila!

For a couple of years we have been promising the girls a stop at Earl's Drive In on Route 16 in Chaffee, NY. The first time we thought about it was on the way back from our August '08 camping trip to Allegany. But, they had just reopened and were not taking plastic ( the cash was gone after a week of camping). The next time was on the way back from this year's camping trip, but Daddy was seriously under the weather.

So, on Columbus Day, we thought we'd head down that way, check out a sundries store in Machias that Trish had fond memories of. Well, we had to pass Earl's on the way to Machias, and they are closed on Mondays. A curse of the Southtowns. We have run into the same thing with Coyote Cafe and a favorite used book store in Hamburg.

Then we went to the sundries store which now caters to home plumbers and hunters. The fun is gone. We passed several other eateries that would meet our needs - all closed on Monday. We came across a poultry farm on 240 south of OP, but the main store was closed on Monday - though we did score some great locally grown garlic. Eckl's - closed on Monday, too.

But, El Canelo was open, and we enjoyed!

A special thank you to Donna Ruhlman, wife of what's his name. It turns out that the geeks in 16 Candles were right, and "Ohhh, black and white would just capture the moment"! When it comes to food photos!

After Apple Picking

2009-10-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
- Robert Frost

The last days of apple season are upon us, cider and jellies and jams are being made, but the pickings are slim in the orchards. The weather of late has been lousy, so we delayed our annual picking session knowing that many of our favorite varieties were pretty much done for the year.

In an omen of our success, I unearthed a saved copy of my friend Andrew Galarneau's article in the BuffNews about local U-picks. The girls used it to stuff the scarecrows they were making this morning. It didn't matter.

No matter how much we discuss other options, we alwaws end up at Murphy Orchards in Burt. It's a known quantity. They have pigs and goats and cows and ducks and chickens to feed. There are horses at an adjacent farm that love getting fed an apple.

It was actually a stop on the underground railroad.

The Northern Spys were really good, and we even found a few of the last of the Macs. Best of all, Mrs. Murphy herself gave me permission to snag a couple of hunks of fruit wood cuttings for this seasons smoking need. So for dinner, I pan-fried a couple of chops from that wonderful half-pig I bought this fall, with some fresh applesauce - no sugar needed, with some spaghetti squash we bought at the NT farmers market last week.

Yum.

A Spoon Full of Medicine Helps the Sugar Go Down

2009-10-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

If you are bitter at heart, sugar in the mouth will not help you - Yiddish Proverb

I am getting annoyed during my daily cup of Morning Joe, and it's not because Pat Buchanan is yelling way too early in the morning. No it's because of two ads running all the time - Big Food apologist's efforts in one way or another to convince us that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a wonderful thing to load your diet with.

The first commercial is from SweetScam.com, which is in turn one of many scam sites run by the Center for Consumer Freedom which in turn is run by Berman and Company - a PR firm. CCF is sponsored by Big Food, Big Beverage and Big Tobacco, among others. It has taken stands against lowering the blood alcohol content for DWI, against smoking bans in restaurants, and in favor of trans fats and mercury laden fish.

Now these mega-industries have a voice that shoud be heard, but the lady doth protest too much, methinks. It reminds me of Martin Short's character Nathan Thurm with his ash dangling cigarette, or these guys from King Corn.

The first ad features a faux police line-up with a sugar cube, a bear of honey and a corn stalk (representing HFCS). The tag line is that a sugar is a sugar. The problem is that the argument is specious. Yes, for the most part a sugar is a sugar, but that's not the real argument against HFCS. Sure some may misinterpret it, but the real argument is about our total corn policy. We are growing megatons of otherwise inedible corn, paid for by our Federal tax dollars, that make HFCS both ubiquitous and insidious because it's artificially cheap. That is just one issue of a broad topic that has been dealt with by better writers than I, Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle among them.

The second ad comes from a group called Americans Against Food Taxes. It features a middle class lady with two kids. She is driving a Ford Something in good shape. The neighbor's vehicle is in good shape too. In short, a nice middle class, if older, suburb. The punch line is that a penny an ounce pop tax may not matter in Washington, but it does in real America. Lady, if a 35¢ increase in the cost of a 2 liter bottle of pop is gonna have that much impact on your food budget, you shouldn't be buying it anyway. It is a luxury, not a food necessity.

The problem is that the other side is also disingenuous. If taxing pop and juice drinks is a way to raise revenue, deal with it as that. If, however, it is trying to improve health, picking on those two is not enough. There are sugars everywhere. Start by eliminating corn subsidies, and make healthier stuff more available. Then we may be able to spend less on medicines to treat the result illness.

How about a "Dumb Choices" label.

OK, I am out of big "ous" words. It's just food for thought!

Food Comic for Today

2009-10-08T03:17:00.000-07:00

Nothing like trying to get your kids to eat good food, especially when you have one who won't eat the crust of crappy bread - the only bread she eats - unless it's toasted. But she will eat lox and an everyting bagel on Sundays.

I have no answers, and I am not sure there are any, but keep exposing your kids to good food and please don't treat food like medicine! YMMV

An Open Letter to Michael Ruhlman Re: BLT, Part Deux

2009-09-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Michael:

Thank you for your thoughtful, if terse, compliment on my first submission in you BLT contest. I'd refer to it here to refresh my reader's memories, but in a senior moment I overwrote the original post. But in pictures it still lives! That vile concoction of pre-cooked bacon, bagged iceberg, pink imported tomato, and Miracle Whip. Served with Lays Stax™ potato "crips" and Vlasic® "Kosher Dill" spears it was a delight only the American palate could appreciate! You can see a slideshow by clicking the photo at right.

Here is the real submission, and like every assignment from grade school through law school, I am cramming at the last minute!:

The Bacon: When you announced the contest, I saw everyone reaching for belly - whether from Niman Ranch or the local market. I wanted to do something different, and after briefly considering curing and smoking a hunk of butt, I settled on a nod to our neighbors to the North (and West) and got a lovely hunk of local pork loin, raised the way pork should be raised.

The brine was sweetened with Grade B maple syrup from Kist Maple Farm in Boston, NY, and the smoke was provided by pear wood from my Mother-in-Law's yard (And you can see Canada from her front porch).

The Lettuce: This is the only thing I didn't have a hand in producing. I live in a town house with a postage stamp sized yard, I can grow some tomatoes and peppers. The herbs do great, and I even do some leaf greens like mizuna and oak leaf. Head lettuces don't work here. But, what I used is locally sourced - as in two doors away, where my friend Tim (also a culinary professional) has a better view of the sun. A tasty crisp bit of Romaine.

The Tomato: These came from my limited garden space, and from my last batch of Roma seeds from Shepherds Seeds before they disappeared. Unlike many, I prefer a plum for sandwiches - more meat per slice. Yes, I know there is more Umami in the seed sacs, but on a sandwhich - I like the meatiness of a Plum.

The Bread: I went a a whole bunch of different ways with this, but as the deadline for the competition was extended, I realized that it fell on the second day of Rosh Hashanna. Of course my mind fell to Challah, especially since my Shiksa wife insist that well made Challah is the perfect base for a lovely sandwich with leftover ham!?

I love Challah - the almost brioche - which makes perfect French Toast. Its sweetness seemed the perfect foil for the smoke and salt of the bacon and the condiments. Instead of a loaf, I chose individual rolls shaped in the traditional Rosh Hashanna "crown".

The Condiment: My basic mayonnaise gone south of the border. These were my own Jalapeno chillies, smoked in a stovetop smoker, and dried to chipotles in a 145 oven. I skipped the mustard in making the mayo in the processor (2 yolks, 1 whole large, 1.5 cups of neutral oil or so) and substituted the juice of one lime for the vinegar. At the end I stirred in the chipotles and a bit more fresh lime juice. Sub-lime!

The Pickle: A true Kosher Whole Sour Dill, with the addition of a couple of cayenne chillies for a kick. My wife finds them too sour, but it reminds me of the debates my grandparents had between new dills, half sours and whole sours.

The Chips: Or rather the fries. In keeping with the Latin American theme, I was going to do plantain chips, but the green plantains were not as green as they were supposed to be. So - fries. They were double fried sprinkled with a mixture of dried Ancho chilli powder and dried lime zest - and horribly good with a bit of the mayo!

Ellie liked it! So did we all!

Sunday Morning Food Porn

2009-08-23T04:24:00.000-07:00

So, I am swimming in the Greenwood pool, and I engage in conversation with an attractive young blonde lady named Courtney, about food. (She is taller in real life than she looked in the pool). It turns out that she worked at a local Asian restaurant called Sake Grill. So Trish and Alison and I went there last night for dinner.

We liked it a lot.

They Got By With A Little Help From Their Friends

2009-08-05T04:17:00.000-07:00

Firing up another man's grill for the first time is like being the first to sleep with his bride on the wedding night. It's just wrong. - Scotty Harris

Trish and I are picky about our friends, and for some reason they are mostly scattered far away - from Hudson, NY to Hudson, Ohio, and beyond. No knock to our other friends, but we seem to spend the most time with the ones in Hudson, Ohio.

We generally see Susan and Brian twice a year - New Year's there and in the summer either here or there. All you need to know is that when we get together we giggle from start to finish!

Their daughter Angela is a few months younger than Alison, and the three girls are fast friends. Just don't let them put on a show. Really. It's "like having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick".

So when they called and asked for my help in doing BBQ'd ribs for 50 at a celebration of Angela's First Communion, it took me less than a millisecond to say yes. I was especially happy when he said he had arranged to rent a BBQ rig - 'cause I hate cooking on outdoor gas ovens.

Now Brian doesn't do things halfway. You can catch a glimpse of his landscaping work in the photos below, but they don't do his yard justice! He has created a waterfall that ends in a Koi pond. He has shifted tons of rock some for creating raised vegetable garden for Susan to till. He has cisterns to collect rainwater and uses that to irrigate the gardens. So I wasn't surprised to find about 80 pounds more charcoal than we'd use, and both a chimney starter and an electric starter. And I prepared the same way. A big batch of my dry rub. Four sauces - Standard KC, Vinegary (also used as a mop), mustardy, and a NY Grade B maple syrup and chipotle one.

But, he's going to use that charcoal. Friday morning, the "BBQ rig" was delivered. Long and about 6" deep. The kind you use to grill chickens on for a school or church fundraiser. I am not sure that I actually said "Houston, we've had a problem", but it was that kind of moment. We told the guys to put that thing back on the grill and went shopping. Brian had the brilliant idea of buying a floor model (no assembly) - we did so at Home Depot and rented a truck to get it home. (I love that he had to put $.25 worth of gas in the truck to return it!).

But, here's the thing. Susan had picked up a hunk of Prime rib eye that I carved into steaks. Brian had to go pick up his Brother and SiL for supper. He asked me to fire up his grill for the first time.

I couldn't do it. It was just wrong.

Dinner came out great, as did the BBQ. But that is another story!

Non Food Comic For Today

2009-06-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

A Personal Matter

2009-06-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine died yesterday after a long illness. His youngest daughter Kerri once impersonated my sister-in-law to get into my hospital room. His eldest, Amy - well Ralph could have ended up my father-in-law.

His memorial will be at the Millspaugh Camerato Funeral Home at 139 Jefferson Heights in Catskill Tuesday from 4-8. Masonic Service at 7:30.

The funeral will be Wed at 11am at Millspaugh, and internment in Cedar Park Cemetery in Hudson.

Memorial donations can be made to the Masonic Medical Research Lab or the Kiskatom fire department. To those friends wanting to send mail, I have addresses, but in the interest of privacy please email me at the contact address on my blog (View My Complete Profile).

Obit here.

Thanx!

The Herb Garden and Other Random Thoughts

2009-06-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

HERB gardens don't grow overnight. Oh you can stick a plant in the ground, and have herbs to use through the summer, and the annuals don't really make it - even if you shake the seeds on the earth - but a true herb garden works on its own. It grows, it changes, it fights.

After 5 years its finally taking off. Forget about the culinary uses - it looks great. I will use it, preserve, make lots of vinegar for gifts. Don't worry, anything that isn't used for cooking is saved and used to add to aromatic smoke for BBQ and other smoking tasks.

Still, watching the honeybees in the chive flowers just makes me smile. I wonder where the hive is . . .

Ellie is becoming a real cook. She recreated her lemon/key lime meringue pie this week. But. this time we only had to provide her with pie pan and pie weights. She made, rolled and docked the dough, and made the custard filling and meringue. . We did assist in getting it in and out of the oven - but this was her baby.

Finally, if you like frog legs, maybe you should try raising them at home.

Food Comic For Today

2009-06-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

Weekend Food Porn

2009-06-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

It was a weekend filled with good food, starting with London Broil on Friday. That meant steak and eggs for breakfast. The girls were at the drive-in, so we enjoyed our favorite simple meal - a collection of cheeses, some cured sausages, a crusty batard, and a chilled Cava. While watching The Dark Knight and an Eddie Izzard concert on DVD.

This morning was the usual bagel breakfast with lox and mimosas.

So why do I bring you this information. Because among these great meals was a lunch on Saturday we will long remember. Ellie had been raving about Suzy-Q's Bar-B-Que Shack for weeks, and she is developing a taster to be trusted. You can see menu here, but it is an abridged one - it dosen't have the details, or the humor, of the actual menu.

All you need to know is stated on the real menu:

We SMOKE fresh every day. We will close earlier if we get hit hard and run out of fresh cooked BBQ. Your best bet is to call ahead, 'cause when it's gone it's gone, and so are we.

You walk in the door and smell the smoke, and are heartily welcomed. Ellie had the piglets. Trish the Lil' Hogger, and I had the Pulled Pork, Memphis style. Alison had grilled cheese. She is a work in progress.

It was wonderful. Great, now I have no excuse for not visiting my mother-in-law!

To Michael Ruhlman - Cookbooks of the Future

2009-05-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

This is a response to Michael Ruhlman, author and Food Blogger. It begins with my theory on web etiquette.

When commenting on someone else's blog, keep it brief and to the point. It's their show and their space. If you need to say more, send an e-mail. They might respond. They might even invite you to go ahead and post your comments regardless of length. I have even tighter rules for Facebook comments.

If you need even more space - use you own blog, and tip the original author to your own post as a courtesy.

A little more that a week ago, Michael (may I call you Michael?), posted this simple query:

Question from 60 y.o.: what's best learn to cook book. Not recipe book but teach yrslf book?

I responded with two suggestions. As I read through the of the posts though, I had the feeling that the respondents were missing the distinction between a cookbook and a book that that teaches one to cook. But as I did not want to sow the seeds of discord, I decided to send my thoughts in an e-mail to Michael:

Joy is a recipe book. As much as I admire its place in history, and I own three different editions, it's the kind of book that got me into trouble the first time I "really" cooked.

I didn't want to get into it on Facebook, but I really get the question. I taught myself how to cook this way. After a disastrous attempt while in law school to impress a redheaded nursing student from Bowling Green with my non-existent cooking skills, I went to a used bookstore in Toledo. I told the lady I did not want a cookbook, but a book that would teach me how to cook. She sold me Mastering 1 and 2, and Pepin's La Technique.

I may not have done a Julie Powell, but I spent years using the basics studied. You don't have to turn pro like me to put those lessons to good use. If someone asked me the question you were asked, the recommendations would be what I put on Facebook: Julia's "The Way to Cook" or Jacques and Julia's "Cooking at Home" Plusses and minuses to each. YMMV.

I got a response from Michael and he said that I inspired him to do a blog post on the subject. I am sure I wasn't alone. He did. Please read it here.

But, he didn't stop there. He asked about the future of cookbooks, a topic that deserves more than just a blog comment. That's the reason for this post.

Thought 1: All cookbook authors, from the 4 star Chef to the home cook, must be required to read Jacques Pepin's essay The Anatomy of a Recipe from his marvelous Chez Jacques. Others have written of this, but no one else has spoken more eloquently on the difficulty of translating ones own skills and tastebuds in to the printed word. Not to mention the variations in ingredients.

Thought 2: Because of No. 1, the cookbook of the future should have a greater ratio of prose to recipes. You cannot keep reinventing the wheel. Tell me the whys and wherefores of how you chose this particular approach. Talk about variations, and what might cause things to go wrong. Tell how to fix the latter.

Thought 3: Focus on a more narrow topic. The General Purpose cookbooks never die, they just get updated and reprinted. And while you are at it, tell me why I need another book on whatever that topic is.

Thought 4: More Voices. One of things I love about the Jacques/Julia book is their interplay. Their distinct voices can be "heard" (in my head, at least) in the simple colloquy over black vs. white pepper. Now I mean a real collaboration, not just a collection of different cooks' recipes. Think of a joint effort between Michael and Alton. While that is intriguing, I don't think it's sustainable.

Which brings me to my Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and the Future of Cookbooks:

Thought 5: 42

No, it's interactivity, with the collaboration coming from the people who buy the book and are using the recipes. Here is how I see it working, using Michael's Charcuterie as the template.

Sherman, set the wayback machine to 2005. On the day Charcuterie is released a website goes up hosted by the publisher. It is monetized by advertising paid for by the companies listed in the sources section of the book, as well as other retail sources of the equipment needed. KitchenAid any one? This will pay for site administration and initial moderation of the site. Ultimately the authors might find volunteer moderators from friends, food bloggers, or regular posters who exhibit restrained reasoning.

There would be active links to the authors' blogs that show recent entries. While Michael and Brian wouldn't need to participate regularly, a drop by on occasion would be a good thing.

Most important would be the comment threads. There would be a general thread for people to talk about Michael's hair or how cute Brian looks in his Chef whites. The bulk of the threads will be based upon the specific techniqes and the specific recipies contained in the book.

So, if a person (let's call him "Snotty") tried out the recipe for sopressata and the result was perfect but so sour that it was almost inedible (worked well in baked beans though), he could go to the website. Someone else may have had the same problem. Someone may have a solution. You see "Snotty" was comfortable enough to e-mail Bob del Grosso to confirm his suspicions of what went wrong. Most people don't have that option.

The bottom line is that the cookbook of the future won't be just about selling books - it will be about creating a community.

Here endeth the lesson.

Wasted Breath

2009-05-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them!
- Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg

My personal motto is: Life's Too Short Too Eat Bad Food. I preach that gospel here and in person. Sometimes the the point gets through; most times it is like pissing in the wind.

This is a tale of the latter.

My wife Trish was at a Board meeting last week, at a local restaurant - the kind of place you want for a Board meeting. Good, competent food, I wouldn't choose it for a night out, but my parents would. So imagine Trish's delight when the salad came out with the usual mixed greens, sliced onions, some carrot garnish, dressed with a nice appropriate vinaigrette. But no tomato. In it's place, sliced strawberries.

Now I am not going on a rant here about winter tomatoes. I will by a decent Roma tomato during the off months for sandwiches and burgers. I have found that a salsa made with Redpack petite diced tomatoes is better than one made with an inferior supermarket stuff. If I really crave it, I will pay a premium for a high quality greenhouse fruit.

A restaurant like this can't do the latter, but instead of tossing on some flabby sliced of pink styrofoam tasting "tomato" on top, this Chef chose strawberries - in season in the US.

When Trish expressed delight at the exchange she found the number that missed, or even required a pink plastic piece of "tomato" disturbing.

We don't just have show people that they can make, eat and enjoy good food, we literally have to de-program the of decades of thinking that bad food is expected and even desired.

We have a LOT of work!

Is it wasted breath?

Food Comic For Today

2009-05-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

Worth Your Salt

2009-05-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

The wounds of Flight 3407 are still raw in this area. Worse for those of us who had a friend on the flight - unimaginable for those who lost loved ones. The hearings of this week have ripped off what scabs have started.

Look at the title of this piece. The phrase "worth his salt" comes from the Roman practice of paying soldiers with salt - a precious commodity. It is the source of the word salary.

Look, I consider the role of a cook noble and honorable and worthy of of respect, but to find out that the co-pilot of 3407 made just a few bucks more an hour than I did cooking is incomprehensible. I made food. Good food. This young lady had lives in her hands.

This is just so wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Farewell Pizza the Hutt

2009-05-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

News reports have just appeared announcing the passing of Dom DeLuise. In addition to being an actor and comedian in many favorite films - especially those of Mel Brooks, Mr. DeLuise is the author of many cookbooks. Thegirls learned to love via movies and TV - especially the Shari Lewis Passover special.

Eat This .. It'll Make You Feel Better, is a family favorite - when I post pictures of Ellie making her sauce, or lasagna, it's from Dom's recipe. They like the stuff out of that cookbook with its simple recipes for Italian-American food, and it reminds us of the Italian food we grew up with in the 60's.

So raise a glass to a man who managed years of friendship with Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks:

Throw out your hands!!
Stick out your tush!!
Hands on your hips
Give them a push!!
You'll be surprised
You're doing the French Mistake!!
VOILA!!

Come on, try it; move the scene along
Fifty million Frenchmen can't be wrong
Wheeeeeeee!!

Throw out your hands!!
Stick out your tush!!
Hands on your hips
Give them a push!!
You'll be surprised
You're doing the French Mistake!!
..................VOILA!!

In Times of Trouble II

2009-05-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

Last July, I did a post on a card I found at a Sur la Table store in Cleveland. My words at that time:

I don't care how skilled you are as a cook, there are always times where a kitchen disaster presents itself. In these time of crisis, I always look to to the one who showed me The Way - The Way to Cook, I mean - and pray to Saint Julia for help and guidance.

Well folks, thanks to David Lebovitz (and gracious assistance from from Kari at Whisk). I now have another method of seeking guidance from Saint Julia.

There is still no cure for the common birthday. - John Herschel Glenn Jr.

2009-04-30T03:53:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today I returned from the Dinner Shift at DACC's at about 12:30 AM. I was hot, sweaty, smelly and beat (which, by an odd coincidence, is the name of the last Law Firm I worked at). I followed the usual routine - dinner and a beer or two. A quick shower and flop into bed in hopes of a five or six hour of sleep before Trish had to get ready for work.

No such luck.

Two and a half hours later, Trish woke me up - the contractions had started, she thought. They had not only started but were already 3.5 minutes apart. We called the Doc, and got to the Hospital at about 5. At 6 I called the owners to say I would wouldn't be showing up that night - we had been planning for that. By 7:30 we were told the birth was imminent. At 8, we were asked if some nursing students could watch the delivery. Heck, a lot of the nurses hung around. We had an eclectic musical selection.

It seemed we were ready to deliver.

Again, no such luck.

At 4:30, after hours of pulling, pushing and bouncing on a big silver ball, Trish was prepped for a C. At 5:06pm a cook was born: Elanor Gordon Harris - 7lbs. 10 oz.

Happy 10th birthday, bug.

Love,
Daddy!

Toronto Recap

2009-04-22T10:02:00.001-07:00

Just some photos!

Confessions Of A Serial Starter Abuser

2009-04-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

May it please the Court, I admit it freely - I abuse my sourdough starter on a regular and consistent basis. I do so by ignoring the advice of most of the experts I respect and admire. I do so with willful disregard for their words . My only defense it that it works - regularly. And, if I may offer Your Honor an extenuating circumstance, the fraking Sourdoughs of the Gold Rush kept their sourdough alive in cold weather by placing the starter under their clothes near their unwashed bodies. This isn't rocket surgery people.

So, why do I raise it now? The Jewish Holiday of Passover is upon us and so my mind is upon yeast. Or rather the lack thereof. You see, while it probably occurred much earlier in history, the first archaeological evidence of yeast fermented dough comes from Egypt. At some point somebody realized that if you mix flour and water together, and let it sit for a few days, it to begins to bubble. When baked the dough cooks up much lighter and tastier. If you kept some of that first batch and added it to the next, it was ready sooner. You can get the details of this from far better sources than me.

The bottom line is that when my Israelite ancestors were fleeing from Egypt, they didn't have time for this biological miracle to occur. Thus, I have been condemned to most of the past week lunching on things that can be spread on a matzoh or stuffed into the dreaded Matzoh Meal Bagel aka the Horta.

If you want a brief overview of sourdough bread, I'd recommend this article in Culinate by Hank Sawtelle. For a more detailed discussion I'd try Mike Avery's excellent site.

On to my sourdough. There are two gripes one hears about sourdough: 1) some folks don't like the taste, and 2) there is so much waste in maintaining a starter. Unless you bake bread on a daily basis, you will be throwing a lot of flour down the drain.

I avoid this by keeping about 1/2 cup of starter in the freezer (with a backup that I dehydrated and stored). Nothing wrong with this - I keep my yeast there as well. It sleeps, rather than dies, in the cold. When I am going to make a sourdough bread, I pull it out and thaw it. When it is thawed, I transfer it to a clean plastic container. I add some warm water, and stir in some flour. I scrape down the sides, cover the bowl with one of those hotel shower caps and put it up on the top of the fridge.

That's my first sin. I know there is an arcane formula for refreshing a starter, but I don't care. I thin it down with water, and then add flour 'til it gets that to that thick batter state I want. Sin two - I don't follow a regular feeding schedule, several times a day style. Once a day, when I remember, it gets the same treatment, some water, some flour, a stir and a scrape - done.

By the first day it's bubbling away. The great Peter Reinhart sees "thousands of yeast cells eating and then burping." Wrong. They are farting, not burping. Farting carbon dioxide and alcohol. After two days, the starter is up and running. Heavy bubbling and a layer of the well named "hooch" on top (it is alcohol - a relative of kvass). It is
now ready to be prepared as a straight sourdough starter "liquid or stiff". It can be transformed into a rye starter, a whole wheat starter - heck any kind of starter.

And, as my friend Bob delGrosso pointed out, you can use it to start vinegar!

What you are seeing to the right, is the active starter, the firm starter and the firm starter the next day - ready to be incorporated into bread.

The bottom line is that this is the simple result of the combination of three things: water, flour and yeast. I happen to think that most people overthink this, and come up with unnecessary rules. If you mix the flour and water the rest happens by nature.

So let's examine the advice I ignore.

Water: Filtered water, spring water, bottled water, distilled water - the point seems to be that chlorinated water may interfere with the propagation of yeast. Feh. I have done dozens of starters using only Chateau Erie County Water Authority. If you live in a place like Phoenix, where the water tastes like it came right from the toilet, by all mean choose another source of water, but for most of us the tap is just fine.

Flour: Most experts call for unbleached bread flour. I think the idea of bleaching flour is silly, but I get 50 pounds of bleached bread flour for $16, and 25 pounds of all purpose for $6.30. Even store brand flours cannot compete with that price. But, bleached or unbleached, all purpose or bread flour, you can get and a maintain a starter with any of them.

Yeast: here is the real bone of contention, and a discussion that I think is ultimately irrelevant. When you start a starter, where does the yeast come from? The flour? The air? Grapes or some other vegetable? Bakers yeast. Mike Avery says its the flour, period, and that using other things like grapes is the "wrong" yeast. . Peter Reinhart notes that yeast spores are everywhere. Look. There is one there. And another. And one more. . . Bob delGrosso thinks the initial yeast comes from the flour, but more importantly he notes that it's a silly thing to think that only one strain of yeast is present in or on a particular substance.

I think it is all moot.

I have made starters by just about every method except using a purchased starter - more about that later. I have made starters with just rye or whole wheat flour. I have done it with all-purpose flour. My regular starter is the descendant of one done with grapes a la Nancy Silverton. I have started one with commercial yeast. Yes, I know the pH of sourdough starter is inhospitable to bakers yeast, but for me it seems to jumpstart the process, and when the pH lowers, other yeasts take over.

That leads me to my theory. To quote Ms. Ann Elk of Monty Python fame it is "my theory, which belongs to me, is mine." I don't think it matters how you start the starter. I do think that once it is up and running, the yeast microflora that take control is what is roaming around your house and is used to your particular environment.

That's my gripe with purchased starters - a) they are free if you do it yourself, and more importantly b) that San Francisco or French Starter you paid $10 for, if maintained, will become a {insert your location here} starter. My proof? Harold McGee.

Eventually, the "mother dough" or "starter" would come to be dominated by the microflora characteristic of the local area: contamination by airborne spores would dilute the initial yeast population.

You want to fight with McGee?

So don't sweat it. If an Egyptian peasant or an illiterate gold miner can make it work, so can you. And it's worth it!

Toronto Food Porn

2009-04-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday:

Dim Sum at Yiu Wah
Lunch at Perola's

Better Life Through Chemicals

2009-04-11T03:54:00.000-07:00

The Hill is reporting the the Nation's Agri-chemical companies are miffed at the choice by the First Lady to make the new White House Garden an Organic Garden. MACA, a chemical industry group, stated: "We live in a very different world than that of our grandparents."

It's true. Food tasted good then . . .

Toronto Food Porn

2009-04-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Friday Pi-Tom's Thai Restaurant.

Toronto Fri

Days Of Wine And Matzoh

2009-04-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

Trish reads the comics section of the BuffNews start to finish. I read five strips (six on Saturday). Two of the, Bliss and Rhymes with Orange, often have culinary themes. When Bliss has a good one, I go to the website and link to the image and post it. But, Rhymes with Orange has like a two week delay before the strip is available online, and by that time I have either forgotten or it's become irrelevant.

This was just good not to scan and post now.

Happy Passover!

Buffalo News, Meet The United States Food and Nutrition Agency (or Department)

2009-04-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

Back in Febrary, I posted a commentary on Nicholas Kristof's Op-Ed about changing the name (and and focus) of the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Food. The gist of the post was that a name change wasn't enough - a whole new agency is need to combine oversight of all food policy.

So I had to smile when the BuffNews dedicated a Sunday Editorial to just that idea. The only problem was that they too did not go far enough, focusing only on the issue of food safety. While this is at the forefront of the news these days, we need a new, holistic approach to food policy.

So, I decided to write a letter to the Editor.

I often suggest that I should write such a letter, and have done so on two or three occasions. But I have been gun-shy about the process since my first letter (the only one published) had been "edited" in a way that eliminated the point. So I went ahead and prepared a Reader's Digest Condensed version of the February Blog post and e-mail it off.

A day or two later a phone call came from the News - the were going to print my letter. It showed up in today's edition.

Here is the text:

While I am not a big fan of the creation of a new federal bureaucracy, the call to create a new agency to take over responsibility for inspecting and monitoring food safety from the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration is a good idea. Let me suggest, however, that it is just not enough to create the comprehensive change our national food policies need.

This new agency should also be given authority over nutrition policy, now split between the USDA and the FDA; food advertising policy, now shared between the USDA, the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission; and those aspects of farm subsidies that have an impact on the previous three topics.

All that is needed to make this happen is a method to ensure that decisions made by the new agency/department are based on facts, not influence from Congress or any interest groups from any side of a food issue, along with quite a bit of long-absent political will.

I have little hope that this will happen. Yet my family and your families deserve, at minimum, better food and a better, safer food supply.

Scott Harris

East Amherst

The Making of a Fool

2009-04-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 30th began as most Mondays do. Drag my ass out of bed, help get the girls fed, dressed and on the bus. Kiss Trish at her car and go back inside to decide whether to shower or eat first.

Then, the phone rang. It was my friend Andrew Galarneau of whom I often speak. He's a staff writer for the BuffNews and a fellow food addict. He was apologetic, not wanting me to think he only called when he was in a jam, but he had a problem. He had a photographer coming over, and no way to whip cream. Little did he know that Trish and I had decided that our old KA was going to be a housewarming gift.

So I traveled to his house, mixer and some glassware in hand, to make Fools. Andrew had the mango one made, but more work was ahead. I made a second trip home and back because his daughter Zoe had the brilliant idea of not just serving them in a cocktail glass, but making it look like a cocktail. I had paper umbrellas, and little sippy straws. I also had to make a stop at the Wine Cellar, where I knew they carried those cute little bottles of Cointreau that so resemble the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

So, with Klezmer music in the background, berries macerated, cream was whipped, chocolate melted and the Fools assembled and garnished. It was a hoot.

You might think the Fool in the title refers to the delicious desserts we created. You'd be wrong - it refers to me. It took my 8.5 year old daughter Alison seconds to point out that I had missed the obvious: "It's for April Fools Day, Daddy!"

And so, when I picked up last Wednesday's BuffNews I was able to show the photo's to the girls and point out that I had placed that mint sprig or that it was our martini glass in the photo above. How cool is that?

Not as cool as when I noticed that Andrew was credited as "News Food Writer". Congrats, bro! (I have to be nice to him - he is holding my Martini glasses hostage to ensure my continued co-operation

The photo is copyrighted by Sharon Cantillon / Buffalo News.

Service Contracts

2009-03-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

I don't generally buy them, but I did for our range. My parents had problems with electronic cooktops so we bought the contract. It has more than paid for itself. It was set to expire today, so I renewed it for 3 years at a cost of $186/3 years a week or so ago. The oven started acting up, so we called for service. Without the contract the cost would have been over $200.

If you choose the right products, these contracts are OK.

Meditations on a Recession.

2009-03-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

Like many folks, we are hunkering down a bit in this economy. We are in as stable a position as we can be in these uncertain times. Trish works for a bank, but it isn't being hit by what's going on very much at all and she just got a raise, but we are cutting back. The credit cards have been shredded, and we are just paying them down. Any excess is going into a new joint savings account. Yes, we know that runs counter what is needed in this situation, but it works for us.

The thing is that this account isn't for long term savings and we have not stopped buying or planning to buy, we are just saving up the cash first, as we just did for a new KA stand mixer. Still the current state of affairs makes us unsettled.

As I reported a little over a month ago, our beloved 6 Qt, has been ailing - the head was pulling off the neck. Now, it could have been something that simple that needed to be tightened, or it could have been something that broke. We bought it, a refurbished model, about 7 years ago or so and it has taken at least one walk off the kitchen counter. With the loss of local repair shops and my lack of knowledge of the inner workings of such a device, we started shopping for a new one.

We appreciated the web postings and e-mails giving us advice pro and con for various options (and there are pros and cons for all options these days), but we settled on a new 6 QT at a great price and with some great incentives including no shipping or other charges. It also works with our existing grinder stuffer attachments. It arrived quickly.

Then I got the testicular diameter to crack the lid on the old one. There were three connecting bolts - one out of reach without removing the motor, two I could kind of get to. I tightened them and it fixed the problem. I tried a soft "Italian" bread, a stiff multi-grain bread, and grinding pork butt for Salume. It worked just fine.

In the past we would have said "oops", opened the new toy, and given the old one to a family member or friend, sold it, or kept in in reserve for those times when a second mixer would be a godsend.

But this isn't the past, and the box stood unopened for a couple of weeks at the top of the basement stairs, serving as a convenient perch for stuff we needed to remember to take downstairs. And we contemplated.

After the incentives were deducted, the real cost was about $150 less than the actual cost - under $200, some of which was nice but not essential. Still, it was an an output in excess of$300 at a time we are watching our costs.

So, we decided to return it. I called, got a return authorization number, and downloaded the return form. But, when I was filling out the return for I noticed that there was a 15% restocking fee. Combined with shipping costs it was $75 lost.

So we contemplated again.

And we opened the box.

The old one? It now lives with another dedicated food nut. Our friend Andrew is forming a new home, and this was our housewarming gift. I will teach him how to use it well.

Selah!

Simple Gifts

2009-03-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

"'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free" - a Shaker Dance Song

I'll let the image speak for itself:

George Will on Agricultural Policy

2009-03-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

Without other comment on issues that might divide, here is a link to his cogent, Pollan citing, critique of corn policy. It traces everything from the leftover munitions of World War II being used for fertilizer and pesticides to subsidies and sweeteners and corn ethanol and the obesity crisis in our kids.

It's a must read.