Silly Turkey

Around this time of year, many food bloggers and chefs get really serious about giving out tips for preparing for Thanksgiving.  I have some tips, but I think you'd rather see silly Thanksgiving food instead.  Am I right?

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: womansday.com via Elle on Pinterest

Source: eatingwithfoodallergies.com via Susan on Pinterest

Are you making anything creative for Thanksgiving, or are you sticking with the old standbys?

For the Rest of My Life

If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be pork, every bit of it.  A lot of people feel that way – hey, pork is delicious! – so I started to think about what food I could go without for the rest of my life.

If I could never see, eat, or cook with a certain food again for the rest of my life, it would probably be lobster.  It is usually not prepared well, and, even when it is, it’s boring to me.  Lobster is “destined” to taste good before a chef ever comes into the picture, so it really doesn’t take much to make it delicious.  Try grilling a raw beef tongue for two minutes per side, then squirting lemon juice on it and calling it delicious.  Not going to happen. 

I can’t remember the first time I had lobster, but I can remember a specific time I had it.  I was young, 11 or 12, on a trip with my parents up the east coast to visit family.  During the trip, we stayed at a hotel where my father had formerly been the Director of Food and Beverage.  We had dinner in the hotel restaurant one night and were met by the current Director of F&B, a man my father knew quite well (who, coincidentally, would become my General Manager at the Sanderling Resort 16 years later). 

While I was looking at the menu, the F&B director asked what I thought looked good.  I said that I was really hoping for a lobster but there wasn’t one on the menu.  He said, “Let me see what we can find for you,” grinning a grin I would later grow to hate.  As our meal arrived, a steamed, six pound whole Maine lobster on a platter was placed in front of me.  I had never seen a lobster even close to that size.  That was a pretty cool dinner. 

I couldn’t tell you the last time I had lobster.  I am confident that since I started cooking professionally I haven’t ordered it once.

Where Our Oysters Come From

Like most things, if you pay attention, oysters taste exactly like where they come from.  At Pinzimini, we serve endless oysters (all you can eat) every Friday afternoon for $15.  This video takes you on a tour of the marshes and country around the Chesapeake Bay, where our oysters are grown.

Cooking at Home

If you can't see this video, click here.

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?