Reminiscing about the red fruit

 After skimming our blog and remembering our love for tomatoes, it seems appropriate that my first post in 8 years would be about this fruit. Not planned, by the way. I also wrote about tomatoes in my first Cornell Daily Sun article at the end of the summer 2003. August is tomato season, and fresh tomatoes that haven't touched a refrigerator are magical. 

Though I will say... a few years ago, I thought I could get good tomatoes from Whole Foods, and those would do in a pinch. Now I'm older and wiser- even the pretty red tomatoes at the organic grocery stores that litter our neighborhoods taste a little flat. Forget winter tomatoes- those are thick skinned, crunchy, and taste like nothing. I've hit the point in life where I have zero time to spend on something that isn't 100%. So- my tomato corn salad and pasta sauce only make an appearance during the three weeks in August when the farmers sell seconds (this is what we call slightly bruised tomatoes in the Midwest- not sure if it's the same in AZ).

Seconds at my market are sold by the pallet... $20 for a full, $10 for a half. First, this is much more agreeable than spending $4 on a single tomato. Second, I could give two shits whether the tomato going into a sauce has a brown crack on the top. Or the tomato going into a salad or a beautiful caprese for that matter... just slice off the offending portion. I'm not using these for food photography, and even if I was, the finished product would look the same. Enough on my food waste rant. 

Last week, I made so much sauce that my stock pot was filled to the brim (18 lbs of tomatoes). Louis has been an excellent helper in the kitchen... he dropped each piece of tomato one by one into the pot. This took about 20 minutes. As I restrained myself from grabbing the remaining pile of tomato and dumping it into the pot, I reminded myself that this was 20 minutes of a happily engaged, quiet tiny person. He's amazingly cautious of the gas flame- I have to watch him, but I don't worry that he's going to barbecue his fingers. I've tried redirecting him to the play kitchen (which has better backsplash than the real kitchen), but playing with wooden vegetables and fake cooktops isn't as fun as the real thing. I get it. 

After such a ridiculous last few months (COVID, general work malaise, life panic), I'm happy to settle into an old habit and produce consistently, legitimately good food for foods' sake. 

Anna's Summer Tomato Sauce

Olive oil

Pinch red pepper flake

10 lbs summer tomatoes

1 white onion

6 cloves garlic

1.5 tblsp Salt 

Torn basil

Coat bottom of sauce pot with olive oil & turn flame to medium. Add sliced white onion & garlic... stir for 3 minutes until aromatic. Meanwhile, quarter tomatoes and drop in the pot. Add 1.5 tblsp salt & stir. Keep on medium heat ~5 minutes or until simmering. Turn down heat to low & cover pot. Stir sauce about every hour. Cook down until 60% of original height in pot... about 6 hours. If you are short on time, uncover pot, and kick up heat to medium. Stir every 5 minutes in this case. Blend with immersion blender (a regular blender works but will make an unholy mess).

Remove from heat & add basil.

Eat within a week or freeze in pint or quart size containers.

Diner en Blanc- Cincinnati

The post I'm about to write has very little to do with food. I didn't cook the food for this event, nor can I say the food I bought was particularly spectacular. But the event itself was, well, beautiful.

Diner en Blanc is a flash picnic that was started in Paris in the late '80s. This is the picnic's 2nd year in the US, and I have to say, it was incredibly well organized. Space was limited to 1100, and signups were all online. Once signed up, you had the option to purchase a picnic basket. For $48, I couldn't have put one together myself (basket to boot, no less!) The location of the picnic was secret- we met at one of the 10 "bus stops" around Cincinnati, and had our names checked off a list.

This thing was not easy to prep- I had to buy a table and rent linens and folding chairs. The bf has no white clothes, so white pants/belt/shoes had to be mail ordered. Of course, there had to be at least a modest table setting, so an Ikea trip for votive candles and a white pitcher for flowers became necessary.

So- back to the bus. We boarded around 6pm, and drove 10 minutes down the road to Lytle Park for the event.

 Bus by bus, all 1100 people set up their tables and decorations- some people had insane tablescapes- one table had a canopy with twinkly lights. White napkins waved in the air to signify the start of the event (and the wine!)

Setting up in Lytle Park

Fantastic home-made picnic... wish it was mine!

Eiffel Tower Centerpiece

The table with the canopy!

Our table... flowers and candles are creative by my standards ;)

me at our table

Everyone had to pack a picnic basket with white plates (not plastic- real plates), flatware, wine glasses, and of course, wine. We brought two bottles thinking we'd only open one... good thing we brought both! One was a Hooked! 2011 Reisling... crisp, not overly sweet. The other was a 2009 Urban Uco Malbec- probably one of the best inexpensive Malbec's we've had since Argentina. Really smooth with strong blackberry overtones. My pre-purchased basket had spinach dip with crackers and veg, chicken sandwich, potato salad, tomato mozzarella salad, and cookies... good quality but not as impressive as some of the home made baskets.

All in all- a successful evening. The weather was perfect, and the white lights and balloons in the evening were beautiful. I'll sign up for next year, you should come too.

DEB at night

Sparklers to end the evening

Tomato Take 2

Hi Becky-

Tomato season isn't over, and I've already one-upped my own posting. The recipe of the season has been bumped from tomato corn salad to chicken with seared cherry tomatoes. Can't pretend that I made this one up, but I do have a few comments.

1) Read the entire recipe before you start- this one goes in and out of the oven so many times that you need to watch which ingredients are added in the beginning/middle/end:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2012/08/chicken-with-herb-roasted-tomatoes-and-pan-sauce

2) I know you have a cast iron skillet. For anyone reading this blog who doesn't own a cast iron skillet, buy one... specifically for this recipe. They're listed on Amazon for $20- Loge is a good brand.

3) Grape, heirloom, cherry, roma... any tomato will do, really

4) I don't have Herbes de Provence in the pantry, nor was I going to stock up on a $5 bottle. I know- flippant, considering the demand to purchase a $20 cast iron skillet... the skillet will change your cooking life, the herbs won't. At any rate- sub out the 2 tblsp of Herbes de Provence for 1 tsp dried thyme and 2 tblsp fresh chopped basil. Add the thyme to the tomatoes in the beginning. Stir in the basil at the end, right before serving.

5) Worcestershire sauce + red wine vinegar + tomatoes= magical (sweet/tart/savory all in one bite!)

6) This recipe is flexible enough to use with any protein. Follow cooking times exact if you're using chicken. If using tilapia or other fish, sear on each side 1 minute and bake in the oven 4-5 minutes. Don't check the fish while searing- let it sit in the hot pan a full minute on each side to allow the golden crust to form.

7) The fresh tarragon and parsley are optional, particularly if you used the fresh basil

This is really awesome with ravioli or pasta on the side... the tomatoes act as built-in pasta sauce!

Tomato- Game On

Finally, it's tomato season! (cue dull roar from crowd) And, I've been buying 5 pounds a week from the farmers market.

Any other time of year, I can't stand eating raw tomatoes... they're flavorless with a crunchy yet goopy texture that just doesn't do it for me. I always wondered why winter tomatoes didn't have the magic... according to U of I, tomato flesh degrades when stored below 54 degrees. Meaning: don't pop those suckers into the fridge! http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/tomato.cfm

Have tried a few fresh tomato recipes & want to try a pasta with raw sauce that I found in this month's Bon Appetit. Last year, I made a few tomato salads with cheeses, bruchetta, and tomato pie. All were ok, but this one is my absolute favorite:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/07/charred-corn-salad-with-basil-and-tomatoes

The recipe is impossible to screw up, and it also happens to be corn & basil season too :) The only kicker is this salad tastes like complete crap if you make it outside of July & August. Eat up while you can, let me know what you think!

Do you have any other ideas for using fresh summer tomatoes?

Kick-N-Chicken

When I was a little kid, I used to spend 2 months every summer at my grandparents' house in upstate NY. Not the Westchester county version of Upstate NY... I'm talkin' about the back country road, old farmhouse, pig farm, corn field Upstate NY. And every Sunday was chicken day. What was chicken day, you ask? Chicken day was when smoked rotisserie chicken owned the kitchen- the smell alone was enough to attract every member of the family like flies to sugar water. 

Every weekend during the summers, the chicken stand would light a wood smoker early in the morning. Imagine a massive pit with a 15 foot rotisserie spit spread across. On the spit were 20 perfect chickens, bound together with twine, seasoned with BBQ seasoning (Bucks), and gently rubbed in butter. The chickens would slow roast over the smoky embers for a couple hours, until the meat fell off the bone. *Fell off the bone* Imagine a slow roasted pork butt shredding between your fingers- that's what this chicken is like. This isn't a chicken with flavor reserved only for the skin, or the chicken that requires a heavy coating of sauce to be called barbeque. The meat itself is infused with smokey flavor, and the slow roasting melts the tendons to lock in moisture. Equally moist white and dark meat- impossible to achieve in the oven without dissecting the bird before it's fully cooked.

Yesterday, I encountered the infamous Upstate NY chicken for the first time in over 5 years. What the hell was I thinking, skipping all of those summer family visits? The chicken alone was worth the flight (and grandma too).

Here's a picture of Kick-N-Chicken in Palermo, NY. The pit has been replaced with a wagon. Clearly this ain't your Kroger dual chicken electric rotisserie.

Grandma with the birdies

Dosa Back

Hey Becky-

I have three very awesome food months to catch up on (Korea! New York! Cupcakes! Blueberry smashes!) In the meantime though, I can't help but wax a little poetic on dosas.

I had my first dosa 4 years ago at a place called Dakshin in Louisville (http://www.mydakshin.com). Dakshin is probably the best Indian food I've had in a restaurant, and it's located in a veritable shithole of a shopping center. But the massive half moon, size-of-a-Carolina's-tortilla, crispy, delicately browned dosas with the mashed potato filling were worth transferring the hefty contents of my car into the trunk for safekeeping every time. I liked them so much that I bought rice flour thinking I might try to recreate them at home- no such luck so far.

Was the uttapam similar to a Korean pancake? Yet another unsatisfied reason for the rice flour purchase.

Dosa on Fillmore next year?

Left My Heart (and Stomach) in San Francisco

Dear Anna,

Gosh, it’s been … 2 years since I last posted on the blog. I suppose I’ve been busy in the meantime: finishing graduate school, getting married, working. That reminds me, I should probably update my bio on the left side bar, hm?

I thought I would herald my return to the blog with a restaurant review – Dosa in San Francisco, specifically Dosa on Fillmore (there’s also a Dosa on Valencia). But first, the story. My good friends J and J (I figured I would keep it limited to initials since this is a blog and not Facebook) live in the Bay Area, and they are foodies as well. On a visit last year, they took Husband and I to an Indian restaurant called Dosa, and I have to say it’s astoundingly delicious and unlike any Indian food you’ve probably ever had before.

The Interwebs at Wikipedia tells me that dosa is “a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils … and is a staple dish in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.” Uttapam is a thicker pancake with toppings like onions, chiles, tomatoes and spices are cooked into the batter. I’m no expert, but I think the kormas, paratha, roti, and other dishes in which we used to drown our Cornell studying sorrows and typically think of as “Indian food” is northern Indian cuisine.

So, continuing the story: our friends J and J got married earlier this month, and Husband and I flew in to San Francisco for the wedding. (May I just say that in our experience, it’s a lot more fun to be guests at a wedding versus being the marrying couple.) We made it a point to go back to Dosa while we were there… well actually, it was more like a “hurry-up-and-get-through-baggage-claim-because-we’re-having-dinner-at-Dosa-now” kind of point.

The restaurant itself is quite beautiful, with tables both upstairs and downstairs and at the bar, in that sexy urban restaurant kind of way.

I can’t quite remember if we ordered both dosas AND uttapams during our first visit, but it was the uttapams that we remembered. At the restaurant, you can order a chef’s selection of five different uttapams (South Indian Moons) if you have a hard time making your choice. And you can get both entrée-sized dishes or small plates of meat, fish, and vegetable dishes. The small plates are particularly nice if you, like us, just want to taste EVERYTHING.

I’m trying to think how to describe an uttapam to you … all the descriptors say “pancake,” but that’s like saying that a loaf of ciabatta fresh out of an oven in Tuscany is bread; technically true but misses something important. The texture is dense and moist, with pops of flavor from the toppings and spices.

*sigh*

Too bad this restaurant is 750 miles away from me in Arizona and 2,400 miles away from you in Ohio.

So… when can we go? =D

Love,

Becky

http://dosasf.com/fillmore_home.htm

Ode to Queen Creek Olive Mill

Becky-

Admittedly, I was a little jealous when I found the bacon olive oil at your house in February and I had only hand-carry luggage. So when you called a couple weeks ago to tell me you'd purchased olive oil for my birthday gift, clearly it was a good day :)


Birthday package arrived in the mail yesterday, and I'll have you know that I've made good use of the contents.

Bacon Olive Oil... with Green Beans
2 tblsp bacon olive oil
1 lb french string beans
1/2 cup minced red onion

Heat 2 tblsp bacon olive oil in medium hot pan. Saute onion until soft. Turn up the burner to medium high and add string beans. Saute 3-4 minutes, until string beans are crispy. Season to taste.


Roasted Garlic Olive Oil... with Popcorn
3 tblsp garlic olive oil
1/2 cup popcorn seeds
salt

Heat olive oil in covered soup pot over medium high heat until smoke point is reached (you'll start to see steam coming from the pan). Add popcorn seeds. Cover & shake pot over heat. Remove from heat as popping slows... don't wait until the popping stops, it'll burn every time. Season with salt.

Orange Olive Oil... with Baby Back Ribs
(1) 3 lb rack of baby back ribs
Dry rub- 1 tblsp paprika, 1 tblsp Caribbean sea salt (or jerk seasoning), 1 tblsp steak seasoning
Marinade- 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup red wine, 1/4 cup BBQ sauce (bottled), 1/8 cup honey, 1/8 cup sorghum, 2 tblsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 cup water
2 tblsp orange olive oil
Extra BBQ sauce (bottled)

Prepare ribs by removing the transparent membrane from bottom. The membrane is slippery and tough to grab onto, so cut the rack in half if you need a place to start peeling. Once you peel a corner, the rest should come off. Don't skip this step if you want your rib meat to "fall off the bone." Rub with dry rub & place in large plastic zipper bag. Cover in marinade and seal, pushing to remove air. Marinate 2-12 hours in refrigerator.

Pre- heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking pan with foil, spray with nonstick, and place ribs ontop. Pour marinade from bag ontop of ribs & add 1 cup water to bottom of pan. Drizzle with orange olive oil. Cover with foil. Bake 2 hours.

Preheat grill to 400 degrees. Remove ribs from baking sheet & drizzle again with orange olive oil. Grill ribs 3-5 minutes or until crispy. Brush with extra BBQ sauce.

Link to Queen Creek Olive Mill in Arizona where Becky found these super-fun olive oils: http://queencreekolivemill.com/

Yam Fajita Momma

Hey Becky-

One day back from your house, and I've already made the yam fajitas.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chorizo-Poblano-and-Yam-Fajitas-with-Lime-Marinated-Red-Onions-350963

They were so beautiful... pretty pops of orange yam and green poblano peppers sprinkled with the creamy white feta (French feta... less salty than regular Greek style feta). Very wise of your man to suggest slicing the red onions mandolin-thin. The lime juice seriously broke them down in a pliable yet still crispy, tangy way.

I meant to share a photo with you, but by the time I remembered, there was a set of teeth marks in the fajita wrapper (compliments of Carolinas: http://carolinasmex.com/)

Becky, you are so lucky to have Carolina's flour tortillas in driving distance. Thin, floury, yet stretchy at the same time (but not moist like at the average burrito place). I'm happy to have 3 packages in the freezer, but really wish Carolina's had a shipping service. In the meantime, I just need to keep making trips to Phoenix :)

Pita Madness

Becky-

Can't wait to see you tomorrow- wedding countdown clock at T-4 days (it's annoying now, but in a week, you'll read and smile).

In the meantime, I'll tell you a little story about a girl named Banana, who went to Israel 2 years ago. A sucker for any kind of local spice, Banana went to the market in Jerusalem and stumbled across a fragrant green spice called za'atar (see photo). The stuff has been around for thousands of years, but it took a trip halfway across the world to notice. Turns out, the spice was a mixture of thyme, marjoram, oregano, and sesame seeds- fragrant in an earthly, mildly musky way.


And it was commonly used to season thin, crispy, chewy flatbread...


Thinking she'd hit the jackpot, Banana waltzed out of the market with a 1 pound bag of za'atar and visions of homemade pita.

Fast forward 2 years. Banana is Anna, the bag of za'atar still weighs one pound, and no pita had been produced... until Sunday. Blame it on guilt, lack of pantry space, or the fact that I owed Matt a birthday dinner... regardless, a full kebab dinner was produced, with homemade za'atar pita to boot:
Here are the recipes- all worked pretty well with a few modifications.

Pita: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread
*1/4-1/8 of an inch will get you a pita as thick as War and Peace... roll those suckers till they're paper thin. If you have za'atar, sprinkle pita dough with olive oil, then rub with za'atar and salt right before baking.

Shawarma: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lamb-shawarma
*spice mixture worked well. I used a cut of lamb leg, but it was tough... recommend using the method in the recipe. Skip the sauce.

Tzatziki: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/gyro-meat-with-tzatziki-sauce-recipe/index.html
*skip the gyro meat recipe (the meat will fall apart), but the tzatziki is awesome. If you use plain greek yogurt, no need to drain.

Eggplant Fries: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/08/eggplant-fries
*Changed my life, follow this one exact

Let me know if you try this out... I'll bring za'atar with me tomorrow.

Pasta for Posterity

A ten month hiatus... at least you have an excuse with wedding planning. I've just been lazy :) So much good food from Portugal and Korea to write about, but in the meantime, I need to document my ravioli recipe. Dug my trusty recipe out of the box today only to realize it was stuck to another recipe. Several minutes of prying and praying, and it came unglued- barely. So if you don't mind, I'd like to document electronically :)

Anna's Ravioli

Pasta
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 tblsp oil
1 tblsp water (if dry)

Combine all ingredients in Kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment. Mix on speed 4 for 1 minute. Turn off mixer and knead by hand to gather up dry bits- there should be dry bits, and if there aren't then you've added too much liquid. Add a bit of semolina in this case. If the dough crumbles in your hand, then add 1/2 tsp of water- the dough should be a firm, grainy ball. Add Dough Hook and mix on speed 4 for 1-2 more minutes. Dough should look smooth and somewhat shiny. Allow dough to rest up to 30 minutes in plastic wrap before rolling. Roll to desired thickness with roller attachment, making sure to place on a floured surface.


Ricotta
8 cups whole milk
4 cups buttermilk
Pinch of salt
strainer lined with cheesecloth

Combine whole and buttermilk in a pot over medium high heat. Stir constantly. As milk reaches boiling point, the curds will separate from the whey. Skim off curds and place in cheesecloth- there should be roughly 2 cups. Allow to drain anywhere from 5-20 minutes, depending on how firm you prefer your ricotta. Dump drained curds into bowl and season with a pinch of salt. Fantastic when served warm over crostini (stir in basil and honey). For this purpose... we're making ravioli filling.

Ravioli filling
1 cup cooled ricotta cheese (above)
1 large egg, whisked
1/2 cup shredded pecorino
fresh cracked pepper

Combine all ingredients in bowl, stirring until just combined

Assembly
Floured counter
Boiling pot of water

On a flat sheet of raw, floured pasta dough, dollop ~1tsp filling at 1 inch intervals. Take a 2nd sheet of pasta dough and lay ontop. Press all around the edges and between dollops to begin formation of ravioli. Cut with ravioli cutting wheel (a knife will do the trick too, but the wheel makes fun edges). After cutting with wheel, gently separate ravioli and examine edges. Odds are they won't be perfect, so pinch closed to seal any popped edges. Cook ravioli in boiling water for 3 minutes. DO NOT add pasta to water until it has reached a rapid boil- otherwise, the noodles will stick together. Drain after 3 minutes, and enjoy! Really good tossed with olive oil and topped with shredded parm... or with Trader Joes vodka sauce (after this much work, you won't want to make sauce too, trust me)

Happy eating!

Hey Becky-

Would have been nice if I checked the blog first before sending you the harassment email about reunion. As usual, you're a step ahead ;) The Cornell chicken recipe sounds amazing- but to be honest, I'm not sure I have the patience to grill for 45 minutes on indirect heat. Maybe a job for the boys- they like to mess around with gas barrels and fire, I like playing with my knives :)

Salt potatoes are totally an upstate New York thing. Every Sunday at Mimi's (my grandma's), we'd go to the local fire pit and order two spit-roasted barbeque chickens, a few ears of corn, and a styrefoam container of salt potatoes covered in clarified butter. The chicken was so smoky, sweet, juicy, and crispy all at the same time- nothing like a smashed buttery potato to round out the experience. Dessert was always strawberry shortcake. With real whipped cream. I've never heard of grape pie- likely because my grandmother lives in a town of 1000 people... imagine grape pie is more common near the wineries in the Fingerlakes.

At any rate- the reunion food fest sounds like a date to me!

Next time, remind me to tell you about my pumpkin ravioli experiment. Everything from the pumpkin itself to the ricotta and pasta dough were scratch made. It was fun, but I'm thankful for Trader Joes during the week- no wonder my great grandmother spent her life kneading bread dough!

Cornell Reunion Via Food

Hi Anna,

So I got to doing some date-related math the other day, and next May, we will have been graduated from Cornell for 5 years. Eeek! When did this happen?

I'm probably not going to be able to make it to reunion, since a) I'll be graduating from my master's program, b) I'm planning a trip to China in May so that my grandparents can meet Boy before we get married, and c) I already keep in touch with the people I want to from our class.

I saw this recipe on Huffington Post, and thought it would be a great meal spread to make in honor of Cornell, Ithaca, and all things upstate New York. Check out the article link at the end.

~Becky

Bob Baker's Cornell Chicken Recipe

Makes. 16 chicken quarters
Preparation time. 20 minutes
Cooking time. About 1 hour

Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups cider vinegar
1 tablespoon table salt
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (click for recipe)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 broiler chickens cut into quarters

About quartering the bird. The original recipe calls for cutting the birds in half, but I think it is better to quarter them since the breast and thighs cook at different rates, with the breasts being thicker, but less forgiving. You can overcook thighs and drums a bit and still have moist meat, but not breasts.

About the sauce. It is very close to a mayonnaise, so you can store the sauce in the fridge for a couple of weeks, even though there is raw egg, because the vinegar, salt, and cold will prevent salmonella from multiplying. Cooking, of course makes it perfectly safe. You can cut the recipe in half by discarding half the egg after whisking it.

About the salt. I found Dr. Baker's original recipe just a bit salty at 3 tablespoons, so I cut it back to 1 tablespoon.

Do this
1) In a large bowl, whisk the egg white and yolk together with a balloon whisk or a hand mixer. Add the oil and whisk until it gets thick, homogenous, and a bright yellow, for about 2 minutes. A balloon whisk is the best tool for this job since the wire strands really do a good job or emulsifying (mixing together) the two ingredients, one oil based, the other water. Now whisk in the vinegar, salt, seasoning, and pepper.

2) Stab the chicken skin several times with a fork or knife so the marinade can get in and so fat can get out when cooking. This will help make the skin crispy. Marinate the chicken for 3 to 24 hours in zipper bags. You can do this in a bowl or pan, but you need more marinade than if you use zipper bags. Every hour or so, turn the meat a bit so all surfaces get well coated.

3) Set up the grill for 2-zone indirect cooking. This is an important technique. Click the link if you are not familiar with 2-zone grilling. Place the chicken over the indirect zone and close the lid. Every 5-10 minutes baste, turn the chickens on both sides, and move the ones closer to the heat away and the ones away closer.

4) Cooking about 30 to 45 minutes until the internal temperature of each part is 150F and stop basting. Then move them over the hot direct heat side of the grill, skin side down, and crisp the skin without burning it for 10-15 minutes. Flip and heat for about 5 minutes more. This step is important to finish cooking, crisp the skins, and make sure the meat is sterile since raw egg can contain salmonella. When the skin is crisp and the joint temp is at least 165F, take the meat off. For the dark meat stick the probe of a good instant read thermometer in the joint between the drumstick and thigh. That's the place that takes longest to cook. Even if it is a bit red in there when you cut in, it is safe at 165F according to USDA. I strongly recommend you use one of the fine new digital thermocouple thermometers available nowadays to make sure your poultry and other foods are cooked properly for taste and safety.

**Copied from article on Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/crispy-cornell-chicken-recipe_b_771375.html

Corn Pesto

Hey Becky-

Normally my weeknight dinners are pretty boring- pizza, pasta with red sauce, soup... anything I can throw in the oven or a pot and heat. But I'm still pretending that I'm on vacation (and paying for it now as I type this at midnight). After digging through my cooking magazines, decided to try the pasta with corn pesto recipe from last month's Bon Appetit... except I made my own pasta :)

The pasta itself was an accomplishment this time- my dough generally varies from dry and gritty to sticky. This time, I combined 4 eggs, 1 tblsp oil, 2 tblsp water, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 c semolina flour, 1.5 c all purpose flour in the mixer and mixed 30 seconds with the flat beater and 2 minutes with the dough hook for a smooth, even consistency. And then- I actually let the dough rest. What a difference! The gluten must have had a chance to chill and lengthen- the dough was much more pliable than normal. Rather than beating it into submission with a rolling pin, we only had to feed it through the pasta roller a few times. Phew.

And the idea of creating a pesto with corn? Genius! Creamy, sweet like honey, and coated the pasta noodles evenly. The sweetness can be offset by either bacon (super salty, crunchy, totally out there like a swimsuit model in a thong) or by smoked salmon (smooth, smoky, mellow like a French model smoking a cigarette)- harmonized by clean, cool basil and salty sharp Parmesan.

One of my best weeknight dinners that I can't make every night because it took 1.5 hours. Started by chopping 4 pieces of bacon and frying till crispy. Remove bacon, wipe fry pan. In the meantime, cut corn off 3 cobs (~2 cups of corn), which is surprisingly easier when the corn is raw vs. cooked. Smash 1 garlic clove. Add garlic, corn, pinch salt, few grinds of pepper to pan and heat till crisp/tender. Then, make the pesto- use 3/4 of the corn, 1/4c pine nuts (or a nut blend if you don't have those- cashews and almonds are fun), 1/2c Parm, and combine with olive oil- I usually need to stir in between pulses or half my pesto looks like baby food and the other half is unprocessed. Dump ontop of pasta with remaining corn, bacon pieces, and basil. Stir to combine, and serve with more parm. If you have it, smoked salmon adds an entirely different smoky layer.

Hey Becky-

Where the hell did the summer go- September already? What have you been up to? Like all good foodies, I've been earmarking time based on what I've eaten. Trip to Seattle? Nah, it was all about that crab omelet that I ate at Pike's Place Market and the Senegalese food in the family owned restaurant. More to come on that later- I'll spend the next few days trying to catch you up on my food adventures, and I hope to hear about yours too!

Starting with today... Taste of Blue Ash is our favorite local food festival. Blue Ash is a small suburb with a few thousand residents that looks like the Pleasantville movie set- streetlights, brick sidewalks, manicured street signs, and a propensity to compete with downtown's festivals by holding their own. Small restaurants offer $3-$5 portions, and with ~20 vendors it's enough variety to be entertaining without being completely overwhelming. Granted, the restaurants aren't the most popular by chain or by locavore standards, but a few dishes stood out: Cajun scallops on field greens with vinaigrette from La Petit France. Simple, well executed (the scallops were firm yet tender with a crispy glaze), and healthy (unheard of during a street fair). Parker's Blue Ash Grill always comes to the party with a firecracker stick- a tortilla stuffed with shrimp, sausage, and onions then rolled/deep fried and dunked in a cheesy tomato sauce. It's almost cheating because of the deep frying- but something about the spicy sausage setting off the crispy shell doused in cheesy, creamy goodness puts all pessimism to rest. And hell, everyone was walking around with one, sweating bullets no less (it was hot this afternoon)! There was a pork taco stand, though it didn't hold a candle to our local taco truck, Senor Roy's. I know, a taco truck in Cincinnati! Who would have thought that this was a cool enough city to merit a food truck?! Ach, so much to catch up on!

Weekend Blitz

Hey Becky-

The title of your last blog makes me want to gag. The idea of sangria and schmaltz mixed together- while completely amusing in your entry- is a visual nightmare. *Shudder*

But yes... I am absolutely pro-sangria. First thing Matt and I did upon landing in Barcelona last year= walk to the beach, plop down at the most touristy cabana out there, and order a clay pitcher of the good stuff. I actually like the variation that's topped off with a splash of club soda or champagne... fizzy drinks are more fun. For my birthday, we went to a place in town that has three kinds of sangria- a white, a red, and a blue. How very American. Anyway, the blue sangria was champagne with curacao and blueberries. Didn't taste much like sangria but that also didn't stop us from downing a whole pitcher in less than an hour. And then consuming the red one in the next hour. Sadly, it is possible to have too much sangria... mmm but still so delicious. Unlike schmaltz.

I did have a food victory over the weekend. After several weeks of failed attempts to make bread, I successfully produced (wait for it)... hamburger rolls. That's right, homemade hamburger roles, thanks to a June 2008 issue of Gourmet. God I miss that magazine. Anyway, the instructions below. Seriously, any bungling bread-maker can successfully pop out a pile of hot, crunchy on the outside/moist and fluffy on the inside hamburger buns with this indestructible recipe:

http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/06/hamburgerbuns

I've also found a food completely local to Cincinnati- well, apart from Cincinnati style chili. Goetta is a sausage that, according to Wikipedia, is of German origin. Really, it was invented by poor German immigrants to the Cincinnati area in the 19th century. How did I find this goetta? Well, it's sold all over the grocery stores and markets here... but the hell if I'm going to buy a pound of white grainy sausage just to try it. There was an entire festival dedicated to this stuff over the weekend that included the following applications: omelets, burritos, fried balls, sausage patties, pizza, sandwiches, etc. One food made that many different ways- AND I didn't have to cook it? Ech, why not. Wikipedia and most local food blogs describe goetta as: "ground meat combined with pin head or steel cut oats. Usually goetta is made from pork shoulder or "Cali", but occasionally contains equal parts pork and beef. Goetta is typically flavored with bay leaves, rosemary, salt, pepper, and thyme. It contains onions and sometimes other vegetables."

Sounds nice, right? Ok, let me break this down for you. Ground meat with spices, check. Then mix in Irish oatmeal- that's right, the thick, grainy oats (not the flimsy processed oats). End product= goetta. Eating goetta is like consuming a bowl of oatmeal with a little sausage mixed in. Kind of weird- I can see eating a bowl of grits with sausage, but oatmeal- especially Irish oatmeal- is supposed to be sweet, or at least buttermilk-y. Not meaty. It wasn't bad... just strange. I'm not sure why the Germans in Cincinnati were harder up than the Germans in New York, but they sure knew how to stretch a buck by adding the thickest oatmeal known to man in their sausage. What mystifies me is that this sausage stuck around... how many piles of slosh that people invented to get through Depressions ended up becoming local food icons?

Schmaltz and Sangria

Hi Anna,

I must have had schmaltz when you took me to Seder at Cornell during senior year, but I don't remember the taste. However, I can imagine remembering the taste though, and it doesn't seem pleasant. The image reminds me of Depression-era people's Jar o' Random Oil and Fat that bully children dare wimpier children to eat a spoonful of.

On duck fat, I think it sounds great in theory because people imagine the fat and drippings off of a hot Beijing style roast duck (at least I do) or maybe a duck a l'orange for you Frenchy people. =P But the reality must be like the solidified white stuff on your duck and chicken leftovers after a night in the refrigerator. Talk about a morning after, eh? The mascara's smeared, the glitter's off, and it's just what it is. Schmaltz.

If you are out there searching for food epiphanies, I must be in a phase of secular foodieism. It's just too effin' hot to turn on the oven here, and I'm just not as hungry when it's over 100 degrees. I'm having fun with the bounty of summer fruit, though.

My latest thing is making sangria, and I can't remember if you were in the pro or anti sangria. Certainly, I am anti-sangria at Spanish tapas restaurants; $7 for a puny goblet is outrageous. Anyway, since we have a house now, we get to import all the kitchen toys we've been given over the past three years and storing in my parents' house and actually keep them in the same dwelling as us. This includes a pitcher that my brother and his wife had given us 2 years ago.

The following is a recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

2	large juice oranges , washed; one orange sliced; remaining orange juiced
1	large lemon , washed and sliced
1/4	cup granulated sugar
1/4	cup Triple Sec
1	bottle inexpensive, fruity, medium-bodied red wine (750 milliliters), chilled

1. Add sliced orange, lemon, and sugar to large pitcher; mash gently with wooden spoon until fruit releases some juice, but is not totally crushed, and sugar dissolves. Add in orange juice, Triple Sec, and wine; refrigerate for at least 2, and up to 8, hours.

2. Immediately before serving, add in some ice and stir to redistribute fruit pulp.

Cook's Illustrated says that a cheap merlot works best for this recipe, but whatever you use, the key word is CHEAP. I've used the $5 Lambrusco red table wine with fantastic results, and I figure you can't go wrong with a Spanish wine like a tempranillo for sangria.

I've also thrown in mangoes and peaches into the mix for a fruitier taste.

Also, since I can't be drinking alcohol for all the days that Arizona is hot this summer, I've taken to adding chunks of fruit and mint leaves to my lemonade.

Best,
Becky

Double Dare

You're right, that was totally a Far Side comic, and a fair point. How many times in your life can you say that you've tried a new food, independent of any outside influence (watching someone else eating said food, etc). Probably never...

Speaking of new foods- I've been dying to try duck fat fries and finally had the opportunity tonight at a place called Senate. The way they've been talked up in food articles and blog posts, I was expecting the holy grail of all french fries- some subliminal, crunchy, meaty experience that transcends any possible potato experience on this earth. As a Jew, I should have known better. Have you ever had the pleasure of trying schmaltz? If not... it's the most commonly used ingredient in traditional Jewish cookery. Keeping kosher means no bacon, but butter and oil don't seem to recreate the meaty base in stews and casseroles. Ever wonder why matzah ball soup has that funky, musky aftertaste? That's right- schmaltz. It's actually a little gross to look at in pure form, all clear, giggly, and wibbly (ugh, you can actually buy it in the store).

But- I digress. My point on the schmaltz tirade is that the duck fat fries tasted like my Jewish grandmother's roasted potatoes. Don't get me wrong- they were good... definitely had a mellow aftertaste. But duck fat tastes nearly identical to chicken fat, and I'm plenty familiar with that flavor. So- the "organic," "fresh," "straight from the heart of France," flavor that duck fat imparts upon fries? In reality, it wasn't nearly as impressive as it sounded. Tasty- but not an epiphany.

On a Dare

Hi Anna,

Your last comment on cheese being made in an animal bladder got me thinking: who was the poor forgotten soul way back when who TRIED [insert odd food here - cheese, beer, etc] for the first time? Think about it - we don't go around scraping our fingernails into crud in the corners of our tupperware, do we?

For some reason, I imagine cavemen fraternity boys were the first, some band of roving testosterone with a penchant for groupthink. There is some mushy white stuff oozing out of one of the packs. One of them pokes it with a grubby finger. "EAT IT, Og!" another hoots, and a chorus rises up (OG! OG! OG!) and echoes over the rocks. Undaunted and spurred on by the dare of his band, Og picks up the mush and gives it a sniff before scooping it into his mouth.

*voila!* We have cheese.

BTW: I've been reading a lot of Far Side comics over summer break.

Becky

The Rut- Broken!

Hey Becky-

As of this week, it's safe to say that my 8 week cooking rut has been broke... there has been seriously awesome food made in this kitchen. I'll post a few entries describing each, but right now I'm most excited about my home-made ricotta cheese! The recipe was in a Bon Appetit from March, and I just now got around to trying it out. And for how easy it was to make, you'd think all the celebrity chefs on the Food Network would use it as a parlor trick. The end result? Fresh, creamy cheese- I like it best when it's still warm :)

Start with 8 c whole milk and 2 c buttermilk in a big pot on high heat. Stir for 7-8 minutes...when the liquid is nearly at a boil, the curds will separate from the whey. Take it off the heat, skim the curds off the top with a slotted spoon into a layer of cheesecloth over a strainer. Squeeze very gently (or you'll have dry cheese, ew)... then drain 20 mins. Put in a bowl with a dash of salt, chill, and you have home-made ricotta. It takes more time to heat an instant lasagna than to make this cheese.

Curious- ricotta in some form was probably one of the first cheeses. Isn't it urban legend that cheese was discovered when nomads stored sheep's milk in animal bladders. Rennet from the bladders separated the curds from the whey... and now we're using buttermilk as rennet :)