Cooking at Home

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What's in Season: October

If you are trying to add more seasonal food to your dinner table, you should check out the Peak Season Map at Epicurious.com.  This interactive feature produces a list of seasonal produce based on the month and area of country you select. 

Some of the items that are in season here right now:

My Last Meal

A lot of people play food games – not in the sense of building a mashed potato mountain dotted with green peas, but the, “If you had to choose a last meal, what would it be?” type questions.  Now that the weather is turning colder, I figured I would tell you about mine.  For my last meal on earth, I would choose a big steaming bowl of chicken and dumplings.

I imagine there would be several helpings if it was my last time to have it, but I wouldn’t want anything but chicken and dumplings.  A lot of chefs choose things their mothers made them in childhood, but I actually never had it growing up.  It was something that I decided to make when I was at school, trying to impress a young woman.  I am pretty sure I was far more impressed than she was.  I instantly fell in love (with the dish, of course), and over the years I just kept making it.  These days I only make it maybe twice a year, and only in the winter time.  I think it’s a subconscious way to keep myself from getting sick of it.

I had it this past winter January (I remember it was during the playoffs).  It was a Sunday.  Bess and Henry and I were leaving church.  It was cold and starting to snow, and I thought it was perfect.  We went to the store on the way home and we watched football, drank beer and cooked ALL day.  I love days like that, when your whole house smells like fresh chicken stock and herbs while it pours snow outside.   

Here are some versions of chicken and dumplings (or chicken 'n' dumplin's, as the case may be) for you to check out.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickendumpling/Chicken_Dumplings_Recipes.htm

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chicken-and-dumplings-recipe/index.html

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/old-fashioned-chicken-and-dumplings/detail.aspx

A Few Pounds of Herb

A few pounds of herb.

A few pounds of herb

We use 20 pounds of fresh herbs every day in Pinzimini.

Wait, what?

Yep, 20 pounds a day, on average.  What can I say?  I dig herbs.  Here’s a little run-down of some of my favorites.

Thyme

I like thyme because it is one of the most versatile herbs.  It has a lot of flavor, but it also plays well with others, blending nicely with a variety of other herbs.

But you know what else?

Thyme is made up of 25-50% thymol, which is the made ingredient in Listerine.  It is also effective against the fungus that causes toe infections.

Um, gross.

Less gross and more magically delicious, ancient Greeks believed thyme was a source of courage, and it was used in Europe in the Middle Ages to ward off nightmares.  

So, the next time your stinky breath and toe fungus flare up, or you have a bad dream, or you’re just feeling really wimpy, chew on some thyme.  In the meantime, I’ll keep sprinkling it all over the place.

Basil

Unlike thyme, which can be added early in the cooking process because it holds up, basil goes in at the last minute to keep its flavor from getting destroyed.  Most people think of basil as an Italian herb, but it is actually native to India.

Good thing, too, because it is used to treat stress, asthma, and diabetes in India.  It is also buried with the dead in some countries to ensure a safe journey.

The question might be, a journey to where?  In ancient Greek and European tradition, basil was a symbol of hatred or even Satan.

Whoa.  We just use it to cook.

Parsley

We also use a lot of leaf parsley.  I say “leaf” because I just read that there is a variety of parsley grown for its root, which looks like a parsnip but apparently tastes quite different.  In any case, while leaf parsley is often thought of as a garnish, it actually adds a good bit of flavor to all kinds of dishes.

Swallowtail butterflies and goldfinches agree; both the butterfly and the bird enjoy eating parsley.  It is often used as a companion plant in gardening, meaning that it is planted to attract the insects that eat pests that attack other crops.  For instance, parsley planted near tomatoes creates a scent that confuses the tomato moth.

Nothing like a good, old-fashioned diversionary tactic in the garden, huh?

What is your favorite herb to cook with?

Ask the chef a simple question and see what happens

What's Your Most Important Kitchen Tool?

As a chef I get asked a lot of questions, what do you like to cook at home, where do you like to go out and eat, what would you cook for your last meal etc…?  I love talking about food, especially local organic GOOD food, but I also love talking about the tools that we use in a professional kitchen to produce the great meals that we come up with.  I was once asked what kitchen tool or gadget could you not live without?

            That is a tough one.  When thinking about this post I reached out to my fellow culinarians in the kitchen to see what they would say.  Their responses varied quite a bit by position.  I got a few “my chefs knife”, a couple of tweezers, side towels (I thought that was a great answer), and a few more answers that were no more or less significant than any of the others.  Then it donned on me that as executive chef my most important kitchen tool is probably my small red Adams memo book.  For some time now I have kept one of these at an arm’s reach with me all day every day.  I write anything and everything in there.  When I fill one up I note the finishing date next to the starting date on the front cover, file it away with the others, and start a fresh one. 

            So what is the significance of keeping an unorganized log of meeting notes, recipe ideas, food cost calculations, doodles, menu analysis etc…?  That’s a great question.  As a chef I work in a field that is evolving every second.  There are new techniques, flavors, and trends popping up so fast that if you don’t pay attention they are uncool before you even realize they were ever cool at all.  So personally I use my “chef’s diary” as an evolving foundation.  Every dish, or idea, or management technique that I use today is somehow based on or evolved from a dish, idea or management technique that I have used in the past.  By writing everything down it solidifies my thoughts even if I don’t go back and read them, which I do on occasion just for fun.  It is kind of neat to see what the hell I was thinking a year ago.  Some of the stuff will make me laugh out loud, “WHAT? I was serving that as a special? OMG!”. 

            For the home cook I have a few suggestions.  I imagine most cook from a favorite cookbook, or this would work even if you are the kind that prints recipes off the internet.  My first suggestion is that while cooking take notes.  Do it right in the book or on the printed recipe that will soon make it into your new three ring binder (suggestion number 2).  Don’t just take notes the first time you make a certain recipe but every time you do.  This will develop your solidified, identifiable, foundation for which you can reference the next time.  Even if you don’t like the dish and never attempt it again you might have a discovered a technique that you hadn’t used before that could be useful in another application.  Examples could be… “grilled the corn over high heat this time even though the recipe called for medium heat, had a nice caramelized flavor.”  Silly example but you get the point.

            If you took away my knives I would borrow Benjamin’s, if my stove disappeared I would use the grill, but if my memo books went away I would lose my written foundation.  Could I still cook, of course, but it would hinder my continued culinary evolution…

           

            Plus I was hoping that I would get famous some day and maybe someone would pay me a lot of money for them????

Ok why not, I’ll play your game 4th of July

I figured for my next post I would play into the fact that probably every other guy out there with a food blog will inevitably be writing about grilling out on this holiday weekend.  Their posts will have cool catchy titles like “Time to fire up the grill”, or “Breakout the backyard BBQ”.  So I figured I would go with the grain on this one and share an adaptation of a recipe that my Dad made for us on a hot summer day a few years ago.  All I know about the origin of this grilled chicken dish is that it was something that my Dad would eat at an amusement park or fair as a child growing up in Pennsylvania.  Now, my Dad is a CIA grad and former chef that makes some pretty tasty stuff, but on this occasion he missed the mark with his execution and I think we all knew this wasn’t his best performance.  The recipe that follows will have a few minor adjustments that should make execution a breeze.  So let’s talk about a few things that should help make a delicious, inexpensive and “different” chicken dish on the grill…

                Let’s start with the bird.  For the purpose of this recipe we will reference just one bird, so if cooking for more than four people just adjust as needed.  I don’t know if y’all have noticed yet but I am a passionate believer in organic/local meats and produce, so if possible get to a Whole Foods Market or check out your local farmers market and pick up a whole bird that will blow you away with natural flavor.  There are organic free-range chickens available at most “regular” grocery stores that aren’t quite the same but are a better choice than the bottom of the barrel factory farmed “chickens” produced by Perdue or Tysons.  If you are real nice you can probably get the butcher to break it down for you, just tell him you want it 8-way cut and that you want to keep the back (to make stock out of later).  I will post a demonstration on how to breakdown a whole bird in the future so that you can do it yourself… it’s really not that tough.

                The next thing we need is a grill.  Propane or charcoal are both fine, they both have their advantages and drawbacks so for my money it’s an even split.  In a perfect world I would use just Texas mesquite wood but like I said the grill and fuel aren’t that big of a deal (I’m hoping this starts a heated thread on which is better gas or charcoal).  The only thing that does matter is that the grill is ripping hot, so let it heat up for a good while because we want to get nice char on the chicken. 

                What makes this dish awesome is that it really plays with your palate.  A good dish hits all the senses on the taste buds… sweet, salty and sour (we will leave bitter out of this one for obvious reasons).  It is important to marinate the chicken for at least 8 hours to let the flavor fully develop.   The other thing to keep in mind is that there will be a fair amount of sugar in the marinade so we will loosely double wrap the chicken in foil for the second stage of the cooking process to prevent the sugars from burning over direct flame; this is where my Dad lost his way.  This will also allow the chicken to steam in its own juices over low heat resulting in super juicy, tasty meat.  “So let’s grab a couple cold ones, fire up the grill, invite over some good friends and celebrate this holiday with a bang!”  Just kidding that’s the kind of garbage that we don’t want to see on this blog.  Enjoy!

·         1 whole local chicken (8-way cut)

·         2 cups apple cider vinegar

·         Fresh bay leaves

·         2 cups apple juice

·         5 cloves chopped garlic

·         2 minced shallots

·         Fresh thyme

·         Juice of 2 lemons

·         ½ cup of olive oil

·         Fresh cracked pepper

·         Kosher salt

·         Two large pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil

1.       Combine all ingredients for the marinade.

2.       Place the chicken in a gallon sized zip lock bag and pour in the marinade, then store in a large bowl to prevent leaking all over your fridge.

3.       Let sit for at least 8 hours but no more than 24 turning over every 4 hours

4.       Pull the chicken from the marinade and pat dry with a clean towel, then salt both sides liberally to help form a crust.

5.       When the grill is cranking hot lightly oil the grates to prevent sticking and place the chicken skin side down (I use adjectives like “ripping” and “cranking” hot to get the point across that the grill can’t be too hot.  If you could get it to 800 degrees that would be great) .

6.       Now this is the important part so listen carefully… don’t go anywhere not even for a second, stay right on the grill staring into what should be a pretty violent scene of flare ups and smoke.  There is a big difference between burnt chicken and beautifully charred chicken; there is also a fine line between the two.

7.       Depending on the temp of your cooking surface this step should only take 3 to 4 minutes

8.       Once nicely charred (reference picture) remove from the grill, close the lid and allow to get “stupid” hot again.

9.       Repeat steps 5 and 6 on the other side.

10.   At this point we have done all we need to on the grill and could actually finish the rest in the oven, but being that it’s the day that makes everyone think they have to grill we will stay outside.

11.   Remove the chicken and loosely wrap in the aluminum foil making sure to seal all the edges tightly.

12.   Place back on the grill not over direct heat, the ideal temperature would be about 250-275 degrees (advantage propane grill) so adjust accordingly or move it inside if you’re not sure.

13.   At this temperature and with the way we’ve wrapped the chicken you can’t really over cook it so just let it go as long as you can but make sure that it reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees (I would recommend around 2 hours) .

Tomato Time!

July is about the tomato…

Until a few years ago I, like most people, thought that a tomato was a tomato.  I would go to the store and see a pile of perfectly round light red undersized tennis ball looking no flavor fruits that looked as if they were all clones of each other.  Over to the left of that pile would be a same uniform stack of “roma” tomatoes aligned in the same kind of factory feel format, with the only exception being that they have the green house gassed stem still attached.  Rounding out the tomato fallacy that is American food today, we see the infamous “cherry or grape” tomatoes, tightly packed in their plastic ½ pint package ready to be a tasteless accompaniment to the below average “house salad”. 

If anyone out there senses the least bit of sarcasm in my writing, first of all, get used to it.  My frustration on this topic is that if I had not had the luxury of working with incredibly talented chefs over the past couple of years I would be just as ignorant as the next Applebees or T.G.I Fridays “chef” that thinks good produce comes neatly packed… 88 at a time from “the market”. Tomatoes are like people, the more diverse the more interesting.   But for some reason over the last 65 years we as a culture have evolved into a “bigger, faster, cheaper, more uniform food environment”.  The side effect of this culture is flavorless, non nutritious food. 

Let’s step back for a second.  What if this was a blog about building houses?  Let’s pretend I was a home builder that cared only about appearance, and nothing about structural integrity.   I would fill you with tips on how to make your home feel safe and adequate while cutting costs and caring nothing about the sustainability of your future.  If you build a house with “crumby” wood, you are going to build a “crumby” house.   For the record I know absolutely nothing about building a house; but have developed a good dish or two and I know that the foundation of a great dish is great ingredients…

I got a shade off topic for a second!  The bottom line is that there are tomatoes out there that most of us have never heard of.   However they are available if you are willing to look past the produce section at your “super” market.   They have funny names like Amana Orange, Bison, Russian Black, Peach Blow Sutton, and Fordhook First.  They are just like you and me; they have different colors, different sizes, and different flavors all unique depending on age and origin. 

So why is July my favorite month?  Because we can now see these beautifully ugly fruits come to market.  Not at the super market, unless you are lucky enough to be in the area of a Whole Foods Market, but your local farmer’s market.  I encourage everyone to speak with your produce specialist and ask pointed questions… where are these fruits from? Can I have a sample? When were these harvested?  If you are speaking to a true professional you will be in the presence of a TRUE tomato.  Next week I will be posting a list of farmers markets in the Northern Virginia area that should have some of tasty fruits harvesting soon.

What follows is a recipe that was passed down to me by a great chef mentor, Chef Joshua Hollinger.  Enjoy!

Heirloom Tomato Five Herb Salad

Serves 4

·         4 large tomatoes (the wider the variety the better)

·         4oz cheese of your choice (ricotta salata, fresh mozzarella, or goat)

·         “five herbs” (basil, tarragon, mint, Italian parsley, cilantro)

·         3 oz plain yogurt

·         2 oz shaved parmesan cheese

·         1 oz sherry vinegar

·         2 oz grape seed oil

·         Fresh cracked pepper… lots!

·         2 cloves garlic minced

·         ½ shallot minced

·         Salt to taste

1. 1.       Prior to assembly of the salad salt the cubed tomatoes (large dice) to allow them to bleed water for at least 20 minutes
2. 2.      For the dressing combine the yogurt, parmesan, sherry vinegar, grape seed oil, pepper, garlic and shallot briskly with a whisk
3. 3.      Make small cubes of your choice of cheese
4. 4.      Pick all herbs in equal parts… only whole leaves
5. 5.      Lightly toss together and serve immediately