Category: Basics & Process

From basic how-to’s to fancy words and lots of stuff in between…

New Years Fondue


Few dishes are more festive than a great fondue. The method invites the creative use of leftovers, so dive into the freezer or fridge. Fondue is also a great ‘Hobo Stew’ dish, so invite your guests to bring their favorite dippers, or an alternate fondue to expand the fun.

Cheeses for fondue need to be varieties that melt well and yield a smooth, creamy consistency. The noble Swiss variants used here are famous for their good behavior in a fondue, and their light, nutty flavor. Cheddar and Jack also do very well, so experiment and find your favorite.

Bread is the traditional primary dunk, but by no means the end of the road! Venison, pheasant, meat balls, and sausage tortellini are great treats, as are crisp apples, grapes, broccoli, roasted potatoes, and snap peas. The sky and your taste buds are the limit!

Classic Cheese Fondue
3/4 pound each Gruyère and Emmentaler cheese, grated
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons tart Cherry Juice or Kirsch
1 small clove fresh garlic
Sea salt, Black Pepper and Smoked Paprika to taste

Pour wine and lemon juice into a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the cheeses slowly and stir constantly until each batch melts and incorporates thoroughly. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir occasionally.

Melt butter in a small pan, then add flour and incorporate, then add cherry juice and thoroughly blend to a smooth paste.

Add the paste to the cheese mixture and blend thoroughly. Press garlic, and add salt, pepper and paprika to taste. Reduce heat to warm and stir now and then until ready to serve.

A fondue pot is best for service, but not necessary, ’cause its gonna go quick!

Cube bread, slice fruit and veggies and arrange on a tray. Thoroughly cook meat, poultry or pasta through and keep warm until served.

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M and I wish y’all a wonderful, prosperous 2013 filled with great food, family and friends!

“Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past.
Let it go, for it was imperfect,
and thank God that it can go.”
Brooks Atkinson

Scaling, Converting, and More Leftover Tech


Well, if you’re a regular here, you know we have a real passion for leftovers. It is damn near criminal to waste good food and it happens way too often. To some degree, this is our fault, ‘our’ being foodies and bloggers who exhort others to cook. I say that because a lot of what I find in out there are recipes offered in quantities that demand leftovers. And it goes without saying that restaurants in the US routinely offer ridiculously huge portions, the lions share which is thrown out as well.

So something needs to be done about it, right?

Right.

You can do your part by learning to scale recipes when they’re designed for more folks than you’re going to reasonably feed. Scaling is especially useful if a recipe is complex or involves expensive ingredients; in any case, most of the time, you just don’t need or want to cook at larger volumes. While it sounds easy, it isn’t always such, (I found this out taking a homebrew recipe to barrel volume…) Scaling definitely involves a bit of art in addition to straight math.

Take, for instance, a recipe that catches your eye, but is shown for 10 when you need it for 4.

Knocking it down mathematically is straightforward: You take the quoted measure of each ingredient and divide it down to where you want to be. So in this case, we’d divide 4 by 10, yielding 0.4; each of the stated measurements would then be multiplied by 0.4 to reach your goal.

Lets say the recipe calls for 4 cups of all purpose flour. Take the 4 cups, multiply by 0.4.

4 cups × 0.4 = 1.6 cups of flour for your 4 person conversion, and so on down the line of ingredients.

As a guitar maker, I can tell you that I spend a fair amount of time converting fractions to decimals, so don’t feel even a little bit bad for squinting at 1.6 cups for a second or two. Truth be told, for the vast majority of home cooking, eyeballing 1.6 cups is going to work out just fine. Yes, things like a teaspoon are gonna end up 0.4 but again, almost a half, more than a third; you’ll get the idea.

For any and all of this that seems to funky to do, drop over here to this handy Cooking Conversion Tool at About.com. For those of you who actually use your smart phone or tablet for cooking as I do, there’s a very decent app called Kitchen Calculator Pro that works great.

One of the things we do here is to test conversions for you. As I mentioned, scaling recipes isn’t always as simple as the math. Sometimes things have to be tweaked to come out just right. That said, this is often a case of personal taste; it’s nothing to worry about on the big picture view, but if you’re wanting to impress your new date with a great home cooked meal, you might wanna test that conversion first, right?

A lot of the secret of cooking well has to do with ratios; it could be reasonably argued that, next to good ingredients, nothing is more important. Author and Chef Michael Ruhlman has put out a few tools and books about this stuff. I own both his Bread Baking and ratio apps for iPhone and iPad, and I use them both. They’re good common sense stuff and a handy reference when you’re experimenting.

Now, all that said, there are times when you’re going to build food at larger volumes. You’ll notice that a lot of what we do here starts out fairly basic; consideration of multiple meals is a primary reason for that. We, like most of y’all, are not exactly wading in spare time, so prepping one primary meal that can become two or three saves work and is much more efficient.

When you’re doing that, you may well build dishes that are sized for much more than your one-meal needs. Of course quite a few things like soup, stew, chili, roasted or broiled meats, potato dishes and many veggies, really do taste better the next day. It makes sense if you think about it; good ingredients, well married, seasoned and cooked – It should taste better, right?

To close this post, we’ll give you a lightning round example of what we’re talking about.

Day 1; we’re both off, so we bought a big ol’ pork roast and paired it with gnocchi, seedless red grapes and a nice salad.

Day 2: Sky’s the limit; we could do cold sandwiches, Mex, what’ll it be? It was a bit nippy, so digging into the fridge, we found some great veggies, soaked and added some beans and made a wonderful soup. The prep for this took maybe 15 minutes, then we just stuck it in the pot to get happy. Paired with sourdough garlic bread and some more grapes, life is good.

Day 3: We sure could have soup again, but why not throw 30 minutes prep time into the mix and make a pot pie, right? Kitchenaid pie crust recipe, 15 minute rest, blind baked in a baking dish, thicken the soup with a little roux, and off you go…

There’s three distinct, easy meals from one pork roast. Efficient, fun, and delicious.

What are you gonna make tonight?

E & M

Chile Time, Y’all!


OK, this one is not a gratuitous repeat, hear? It is the time of year when we need to look for chiles and do what needs to be done to preserve them.

So go here and get acquainted with the real deal chiles, first and foremost, ‘K?

Now, for some of the best and brightest basic things you really must do with chiles, go here and make them all, hear?

Be of good chile!

E & M

Duck a la Y’all


This weeks Big Wild featured duck, so here are a few thoughts to flesh out that discussion.

First consideration is that all ducks ain’t created equal! If you’re adverse to the funky, gamy character of wild meats, steer clear of the fish eating ducks like Mergansers and Scaups. Of all the species hunted for game, these guys tend to be quite fishy tasting and their fat is very gamy. Wood ducks and Teals are your best bet for a tamer, more palatable taste profile.

Season also has bearing on taste and condition of course; the character of the meat certainly changes if your duck is in migration mode versus stocking up for winter months, as a fer instance.

With any species, it’s best to field dress and clean promptly and thoroughly, and get the bird cooled below 40 F as soon as possible. Food safety rules apply to wild as well as tame game!

I think that brining a wild bird is almost always a good idea prior to cooking. 1:16 salt to water is a good rule of thumb, so 1/4 cup salt to 1 quart of water. Brine your bird from anywhere from a couple hours to overnight, then rinse thoroughly by running the bird through at least 3 fresh water changes and minor soaks. You can use alternatives to water if you want to de-funky the taste of your bird further; citrus juice replacing all or part of the water is nice, and apple cider is exceptional.

Here’s the game plan for a basic roast duck.

Prick the skin liberally to allow fat to escape.

Stuff the bird with,
1 medium Sweet Onion
1 Orange
A few stems Cilantro
1 teaspoon ground Sage
Salt and Pepper to taste

Rough chop fruit and veggies, mix all thoroughly in a bowl and stuff bird liberally.

Truss your bird with kitchen twine so thickness is as uniform as possible.

Roast at 300 F with wings toward the side wall of stove and breast toward the middle, until internal temperature of meat at the thickest part reaches 160 F.

Start with the duck breast side down and flip roughly half way through roasting process.

Remove the bird and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carving. Meat should look, feel, and smell cooked, and juice from wing to body joint should run clear when checked.

Cook wild rice, brussels sprouts, green beans, or asparagus as a side with crusty, fresh bread and a nice, cold white wine of your choice.

Enjoy!

Cukes-R-Us


M and I just got back from an amazing dry run meal at Chef Gabriel Claycamp’s soon-to-be newest undertaking, Casoulet, (More on that shortly!), and found this email waiting from Christy and Grant at Neighborhood Gardens:

Hey, guru of the kitchen! It’s cucumber overload season. Can you give us a bunch of ideas to get beyond cucumber sticks and cutting them into salads?

And, of course, the perennial question of what to do with all the summer squash/zucchini. Naturally we can google, but then we are overwhelmed with major junk recipes. We would prefer your expert guidance.

Overwhelmed in Northern Minnesota

My answer? Of course! I mean, be still my heart; anything and everything cuke is near and dear to us! So, here’s some ideas for immediate use, as well as long-term storage and enjoyment.

First, some general thoughts.

Cukes are great on sandwiches and they aren’t used for that as much as they could and should be; add them to your favorite toppings, or try replacing lettuce with super thinly sliced cukes.

Cukes make great faux noodles; they’re great sliced thin, lengthwise, and used like lasagna for a cold variant of the dish. You can take it one step further and turn those long, thin slices into spaghetti wanna-be’s as well. Both are tasty and visually very cool.

Few things are more genuinely refreshing during a hot summer than a nice, cold, cucumber salad. Variations are endless, but simple is always best for a starting point

For the salad:
3 Cukes, sliced very thin
1 Tomato, cored, seeded and diced
1/2 sweet Onion, sliced thin and quartered

For the dressing:
The classic vinaigrette ratio is 3:1 oil to acid, but this is not in any way set in stone. Deepening on the strength and nature of your constituents, let alone your personal taste, you can and should tweak that ratio to your liking. For this salad, we’ll do a classic recipe, but here again, this combination of ingredients lends itself to many variations on the acid side; orange, lemon, lime, or grapefruit juice replacing the vinegar are all delightful. For something this delicate, the oil should always be extra virgin olive oil.

3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dill
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all veggies and toss. Add the dressing and toss liberally. Allow to sit, chilled, for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Truly goes great with dang near any meal.

Tzatziki is one of our all-time favorite sauces; if you’ve not tried it, you simply must.

Tzatziki

1 8 oz container of Greek Yogurt, (You can use regular too)
1 med cucumber
2 tbspn olive oil
Juice from 1/2 to 1 lemon, (As you like it)
1 tspn dill, chopped fine, (You can sub spearmint)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt to taste

If you don’t have Greek Yoghurt, plain will do, but find Greek if you can; it is richer, tangier and thicker, all of which are good things when it comes to Tzatziki.

Line a colander or strainer with paper towel and drain the yogurt for 15 to 30 minutes; this is critical in avoiding a runny final product.

Peel, seed and grate cucumber. We used Armenian from our garden, which have wonderful taste and nice, firm flesh. Any decent cuke will do, but make sure it is nice and firm.

Combine everything and mix well by hand, as blending or processing will make your yogurt break down.

Place in a non-reactive bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. This stuff just goes well on dang near anything, but certainly does shine with lamb or pork. Try it as an omelet with feta or mizithra.

And of course, you simply gotta do a quick pickle!

Choose glass jars for your pickles, (And of course, pickle jars work great!). Wash your jars really well and rinse thoroughly.

Cut your cukes into flat slices or quarters lengthwise and size them to the jars you’re using. Keep in mind that the bigger the cut, the longer it takes for everything to infuse.

Pack your jars full but not too full; leave enough room for plenty of brine. Make sure you’re leaving at least 3/4″ from the top of the jar.

For spicing, use a 1/2 teaspoon of dominant notes and a 1/4 teaspoon of minors. Our go-to pickling spice blend includes a Pepper blend (Red, white,black, green) and whole coriander seed as the dominants, with juniper seed, mustard seed, fennel seed, cumin seed, whole garlic cloves, and dill as the minors. Drop the blend right into the jars in equal measure.

For the brine, bring to a boil and stir until well dissolved and combined:
1 cup vinegar
1 cup good water, (Meaning, if you don’t drink your tap water, don’t use it!)
1 Tablespoon non-iodized salt (Iodine makes things turn funky colors and adds a nasty metallic taste, so don’t go there. Use pickling salt, it’s a better mousetrap.)
OPTION: 1 teaspoon of sugar if you like a sweeter pickle

Pour the hot brine over your cukes, making sure they’re completely covered.

Seal your jars; you’re not canning, per se, so you can reuse old lids if they’re clean, and you can reuse original pickle/sauerkraut/whatever lids too.

Refrigerate your jars and do your best to let things work their magic; resist the urge to sample for at least a week, and two weeks are better yet – The longer they hang, the better they get.

Fridge pickles are good for at least 3 or 4 months, if they last that long.

Preserving cukes.

So, you grew or bought a huge patch of cukes, whataya gonna do to keep them for the long run?

Head on over to The National Center for Home Food Preservation and find everything you need to know about virtually any method you’d like to try.

The first and most obvious preservation option is pickling, and this time, we mean water-bath canning as opposed to fridge pickles. The beauty of ‘real’ pickling versus fridge pickling is longevity. Where fridge pickles will last a few months, water-bath canned pickles will easily last a year.

Cukes can be dried and still retain enough flavor and character to be worthwhile for certain uses. You’ll find an excellent how-to paper from the University of Colorado at NCHFP.

What about freezing? Well, the answer for doing so as they stand is, not really. You can., however, do a freezer pickle and you’ll find those do quite well indeed. Simply use the recipe we showed above for fridge pickles and refrigerate your cukes for 24 hours. Transfer pickles to freezer bags or containers along with a little juice and freeze. If you have a food saver / vacuum sealer, they work even better.

And finally, if you still have left overs and can’t think of anything to do with them, then get in your ride and haul ’em over to your local food bank; sharing is always a good option! In fact, maybe you aughta do that first, eh?