Ombailamos

adventures in the kitchen

So we had a dinner party recently, and as usual it was a lot of fun mostly because of our guests.  Who are tolerant people and allow me to experiment on them.  This particular gathering featured TWO experiments.  One was a moderate success and one was an unqualified, and probably soon-to-be-repeated, WIN.  

The moderate success was an entree involving duck legs and the slow cooker.  The recipe is actually from the Crock-Pot website and I did not modify it much, it's called "Duck with Port, Mushroom and Tart Cherry Glaze."  Here is what was good: the flavors.  Here is what was kind of meh: the amount of prep required and the hard work required by the diners.

Basically this involved tying up each leg with an assortment of yummies, searing them off, and then popping them in the slow cooker.  So, not too bad for the cook once the tying-up part was figured out.  And they looked very impressive on the plate, BUT there's not much meat on a duck leg.  So I had also cooked two nice fat breasts the day before, and then heated the sliced breast meat through with the legs after untying, mingling with pot juices, etc.  Our guests still had to do quite a lot to get the leg meat off the bone.

My leftovers I took off the bone and cut up, and mingled with some extra guava jam and soy sauce, then mixed with leftover purple rice.  I frankly liked the leftover concoction better, and will probably serve THAT as an entree at some point.  Comments on the recipe in general: the whole searing and tying-up thing?  Probably not needed.  All those flavors will mingle perfectly well in the slow cooker without going through those contortions.

Part two: THE PAVLOVA.

Wow.  Just wow.  I looked at three or four different recipes.  All called for different quantities of egg white, and therefore different baking temperatures and times.  The recipe I settled on came from my newsmagazine "The Week," which took it from the Los Angeles Times, which credited it to a lady named Jenni Barnett.  Thanks, Jenni!

Basically this called for 8 egg whites, superfine sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and vinegar; Jenni used white wine vinegar and I used balsamic, 'cause that's how I roll.  Apparently balsamic activates a Self-Inflating Mechanism! 

My shell went from simply overwhelming the 8-inch circle on parchment (10 inches, people) to growing ... and growing ... and growing in the oven, to nearly 16 inches in diameter!  It was hilarious.  Witness the transformation in the photo album at right.

It was also really, really delicious - and our Australian friends assured me that it tasted and behaved just as it should.  I filled it with whipped cream mixed with key lime curd, garnished with some blueberries and some chopped candied ginger.

I will make this again ... probably with four egg whites, lemon curd, and strawberries.  And then maybe with chocolate.  Who knows?

cauliflower, chorizo & egg = easy dinner!

What to do when you have a head of cauliflower and not much of an idea what to put with it? I had a half-pound package of Spanish chorizo (the hard kind, like pepperoni) and decided to try that.

The playlist:

• 1 head of cauliflower, cleaned and sliced into chunks;
• 1 pkg chorizo, sliced;
• 1/4 c. cream cheese;
• 3 or 4 eggs.

The preparation:

• chorizo was sliced directly into my risotto pan and heated on medium until some oil was released and the sausage started to brown a little.
• Then I added the cauliflower and about 1 cup of water, put on the lid, and set the timer for 10 minutes.
• Checked for doneness, gave it another 10 minutes.
• Stirred everything up, nice tender veg, but needed a little something more as still a bit insubstantial for a full dinner.
• Added cream cheese to mellow out the sausage oil, then thought "I could poach an egg in there."
• Broke three eggs into hollows, replaced the pan lid, and left alone for 5 minutes.
• Served with Shaya old-vine Verdejo.

This entire invention took about thirty minutes and was quite tasty. Another inexpensive, nutritious, starch-free dinner preparation brought to you by the produce box.

pot roast of the week: pork with squash and pineapple

One of the best ways I've found to do an end run around weeknight dinnertime stress is to break out Ye Olde Slow Cooker. This week it was put to good use.

Not long ago I had some leftover baked squash. It was not enough for a meal on its own, and needed some protein. I added some commercially-prepared pulled pork and a star was born. But the sauce to pork ratio on that product was a little off (needed more meat and less sugar). This week I had two Delicata squash in need of employment. I decided to take the pulled-pork invention a little further.

The playlist:

• just under 4 lbs of pork shoulder, a.k.a. Boston butt;
• 2 onions, peeled & cut into eighths;
• 2 Delicata squash, cleaned, cut into chunks, and mostly peeled;
• 1 6-oz can of tomato paste;
• 1 snack cup of pineapple tidbits in juice;
• 8 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into rough chunks;
• seasonings (to taste): 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce, 1 tsp ancho chili, 1 tsp Satay seasoning from Penzey's, 1/4 tsp red chili flakes, 1/4 tsp ginger

The process: cut pork in half to fit into slow cooker. Rejoice in the layer of fat that was hidden by the packaging. Schmear it with all the tomato paste. Throw in the vegetables. Toss in the spices and seasonings. Dump the pineapple & juice over the top. Cover and heat through for an hour on High, then turn down to Low and go to work. It'll be smelling heavenly when you get home.

Wine pairing: we drank "Obsession," made by Ironstone Winery from the Symphony grape (white, something between a riesling and a moscato). Delicious.

What I've learned about slow-cooker pot roasts over the past couple of years:

• do not use very lean cuts of meet. This I know from painful experience.
• do not cut vegetables very small (they will dissolve).
• do not add much liquid - half a cup, max; and make sure it has flavor: broth, beer, wine, juice - not plain water.
• do fill up the cooker. There is no such thing as "too many" vegetables, and my best results are with tubers, bulbs, and roots.
• do be liberal - in fact, be lavish - with seasonings.
• do tear the meat apart as soon as you get home, and let it continue to soak in the accumulated liquids till serving time.

If you like the flavors of barbecue, adding pineapple to your slow-cooker pot roast can give you the same acid and sweet elements, without adding sugar or vinegar.

And, in my opinion, tomato paste is an essential component. I use it with any kind of meat because it adds color, brightness of flavor, and a richly savory complement to the protein - as well as helping to integrate the fat.

Don't fear the fat! This kind of preparation is better for you than anything fried. Damn tasty, too.

link of the week: casual kitchen

http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/mastering-kitchen-setup-costs.html

This is an archive post, and I wanted to bring it back into the light because here we are, at the beginning of the year, and people are wanting to make life changes, right? Also there's graduation a few months away, and wedding season, and all kinds of other things that might make people turn around and think "what do I need to live on my own?" So, some ideas here.

Also linking back to one of my own old posts that took the setup costs concept all the way through appliances. Because there really are places where a rented "kitchen" consists of a two-burner cooktop and a sink. What's In the Kitchen

faking out your brain

I don't know about you, but I often get a midafternoon sugar craving. It has nothing to do with hunger. It is just my brain saying "I have been working since six thirty a.m. and I want some sugar now pleeeease."

Most of the time, I just say No. Very occasionally, I give in and have something sweet. In between, there are the times that I use one or another little tricks to con my brain into thinking it got what it wanted.

My most common fake-out strategy is to get a cup of decaf. Even if I am drinking the awful office coffee, which is bad enough that even I will add sugar, a little sugar and cream adds up to about 50 calories. That's a heck of a lot wiser choice than a 230-calorie candy bar.

My second most common fake-out strategy is even better: a zero-calorie peppermint. You know, one of those little white ones that looks like an aspirin and blows the top of your head off if you bite down on it. But they have artificial sweetener so I'm not planning to buy more when I run out.

Something I want to get in the rotation this year is mint tea. My palate reads mint as sweet, so it satisfies the brain, which apparently cannot tell the difference between fake sweet and real sweet. It's also a fluid, and that's always good in this desert.

Even better, for me, a strong taste of mint (this applies to the peppermints too) effectively kills food cravings. I suspect this is not unique to me, as the advice to brush your teeth after every meal is quite commonly given to those trying to lose (or just manage) weight. I can be truly hungry and a cup of mint tea will settle things down - between the flavor and the fluid - for quite a good while.

I don't know anyone who never has to worry about their weight. I'm in favor of using small, painless tricks to keep our body chemistry from sabotaging us.

ye holiday pie!

So, I made an unusually timely, small photo album over there to the right. You may notice that one of the photos is not of holiday decor, but of holiday pie. I had all these apples, you see; something had to be done.

APPLE-CRANBERRY PIE

Requirements: one deep pie dish; one oven; double pie crust; four to five medium-sized tart apples (about four cups of chopped apples); two cups of cranberries.

Other ingredients: apple-pie spice; cardamom; brown sugar; butter; flour.

The process: Preheat oven to 375. Rinse the cranberries, shake in a tea towel to dry, and deposit in a large mixing bowl. Core the apples (do NOT peel them!) and cut in eighths, then slice fairly thin - 1/4 to 1/8 inch. Deposit with the berries in the bowl.

Next, add two tablespoons of flour; 2/3 cup of brown sugar; and spices to taste (a lot, in my case - a tablespoon of apple-pie spice and a teaspoon of cardamom, plus a healthy dash of grated orange peel) to the fruit and mix well. Let it sit while you get the bottom crust into the pie pan.

Next, mix the fruit again and then pour it into the pie pan. Capture fugitive berries and replace them. Dot the fruit with a few bits of butter, and top with the other crust. Cut a few steam vents, seal the edges, and place it in the oven with an anti-browning device over the edges (I have a silicone ring courtesy of my BFF; foil also works).

Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the edge covers and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes till nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool ... mostly ... before slicing.

Like all fruit pies, this one lacks structural integrity. Slicing the apples finely helps a lot with that. You could also slice the berries in half if you wanted to take the time.

Please note the sugar ratio. We are talking about roughly six cups of fruit, to 2/3 cup of sugar. I really could have used even less, especially since there's that gelato on top. The apple pie recipe I started with called for a full cup of sugar. In my opinion, that is more than any fruit pie - except maybe one made with rhubarb - needs.

You can always add maple syrup ... or gelato ... if your pie is too tart, but y'all, fruit is intrinsically sweet. And I for one would rather taste the fruit than the sugar.

This little beauty served as Christmas Eve chili potluck dessert for six ... and Christmas morning breakfast dessert for two.

one pan, three components: laziness wins again!

So, the produce box! This time, in addition to yet another Delicata (which was the galvanizing force I required in order to address the four other Delicatas, and one Butternut, resting on the shelf by the open window in my kitchen ... all now roasted, thanks) and four nice fat leeks and a whole mess of citrus and apples and turnips, I got a bunch of spinach and a bunch of finger-sized carrots.

Neither bunch was big enough to form a reasonable side dish on its own, but both together served the purpose. What I did was bring out my trusty not-paella pan, heat some olive oil and butter, and throw in a nice big pork tenderloin. That browned on all sides over medium heat.

Then, the seasoning mix went on: a half-teaspoon each of

• powdered ginger;
• coriander;
• allspice;
• ancho chili; and
• curry powder; plus
• a generous dose of low-sodium soy sauce; plus
• a splash of maple syrup; and
• a little water to cover the bottom of the pan.

Then, in went the scrubbed carrots. They got rolled around in the spices a bit, a lid went on the pan, the heat was lowered to medium-low, and everyone got left alone for ten minutes. When the timer buzzed, I turned over the tenderloin, splashed some more seasoning on the carrots, put the lid back on, and gave it another eight minutes.

When the pork was done - the carrots now nicely fork-tender - I took everything out of the pan and set it aside. Into the pan went the (laboriously cleaned) spinach, and a good solid squirt of lemon juice. Tossed the leaves in all the pan juice and left them to wilt while I set the table.

When the spinach was done to my liking - probably about five minutes, tops - I divided it between two plates, divided the carrots likewise, and gave us each a chunk of pig on top of the greens.

This was a Success. Adding the lemon juice gave the spinach an acidic sweetness that was a great contrast to the spicy sweetness of the pork and carrots. It was also really pretty, quite a difference from my usual monochromatic plate: dark green spinach with browned meat and bright orange carrots - lovely. And of course, the more color your food has, the more nutrition it generally has. The only thing this was lacking was a little something crunchy, and I'm thinking some pine nuts would have been perfect.

I would not call this a recipe. It's just taking one set of seasonings and cooking two items, then cooking a third item in the same seasonings +1.

On that note: pork tenderloin is not a very flavorful meat according to most. That's because it's quite lean, and fat is where the flavor is! So whatever spices you use, pork tenderloin will act like mushrooms and take on primarily the flavor of that spice mix. It's cheap and easy to cook, and I like it.

Some people like to boil their greens, or steam them; I am not a big greens eater but when I do have 'em, I use fat. If it's raw greens, the fat is in the dressing (Caesar or blue cheese); if they're cooked, it's in pan juice or olive oil or butter.

One good reason for this is that many of the valuable nutrients in plant parts (roots, tubers, stems, and leaves) are metabolically accessible only in the presence of fat.

The other good reason is that they taste a damn sight better that way.

link of the week: Slate (again!)

For some reason, Slate has been featuring more me-friendly topics of late. It is that mind-meld thing happening, I suppose!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/28/butternut_squash_soup_a_healthy_recipe_for_the_holiday_season.html This is, perhaps obviously, a dissertation on how not to make watery, thin, unappetizing butternut squash soup. I don't actually have any intention of doing this - the butternut squash that came in my produce box a few weeks ago got baked along with some Delicatas and cranberries - but I think this essay makes a very important point about cooking, which is:

It is always easier to add more of something than to try to make up for having put too much in to begin with.

This is why I don't add salt - generally speaking - until something is about to be served. Which means I almost never add salt. I would rather use slightly salty ingredients, like soy sauce or butter or bacon, than add simple old boring one-dimensional salt. If by some fluke my preparation seems a little bland when I'm ready to plate, then I'll add a little salt. Iodized sea salt, of course.

I do chilis and chowders fairly often, especially in winter. Extra liquid is the last thing that goes in. Follow this writer's advice, and use just enough liquid to float your components.

Then you will never find yourself ready to serve and needing to use a strainer spoon. Or making your puree and then thinking "this is not right."

Bonus: here is another, even more holiday-appropriate essay. http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/12/14/the_tom_jerry_is_the_best_eggnog_.html

waste not, want not: broiled marrow bones

Marrow bones are a fairly recent discovery for me and I have only used them a few times; once to fatten up a mirepoix, once in a pot roast, and most recently broiled, to eat with fresh warm bread. WOW, y'all.

Beef marrow is like beef butter. It's almost pure fat - though unsaturated fat. It is not a staple food, or something that should be on the everyday menu. But if you like the unctuous and the rich and the indulgent from time to time, this was a laughably easy preparation that really fit the bill.

As an appetizer, count on one bone per person. I had a package of six bones ranging from 1.5 to 2 inches in height. It is shocking, and I am sorry to confess it, but two of us cleaned those up in one sitting.

The preparation: set bones on a sheet of foil in the bottom of your broiler pan (remove the grate). Curl up the foil around the bones a bit - this is just for ease of cleanup later. Dust each bone with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

The cooking: set the pan under the broiler for 7 minutes. Remove; turn the bones over; set it back under the broiler for another 7 minutes. Voila.

That is all. Now take your bones to the table and give everyone a knife to dig out that delicious gelatinous goo and spread it on fresh bread.

Recommended pairing: strong red wine. And, please do follow this with some kind of salad!

link of the week: the happiness project

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2011/11/14-tips-for-controlling-holiday-eating.html

I have sooo many strategies for controlling eating. Many of them are on Gretchen's list. In fact, I'd say I employ all of her tips from time to time!

The biggest and most successful, of my personal tips, is: if you're apt to eat all of it, and it has no nutritional value, don't bring it into the house at all. As a general rule:

I don't buy chips (except for Have 'A Corn Chips, and then only when we're planning to make guacamole; or on the very rare occasion that I crave salt, in which case I get a single-serving package).

I don't buy crackers (except for fancy crispbreads or rice wafers, and then only when we're planning to serve a cheese plate).

I don't buy cookies (except for the occasional hormonally-imbalanced drugstore Oreo raid, in which case I buy a single stack, not a jumbo pack, because I know they are in my belly within a couple of days and the fewer I have on hand, the fewer I will eat).

I don't buy anything that comes in a jumbo plastic tub. You know what I'm talking about ... the "economy" size macaroon or meringue cookie or whatever container, possibly from Costco or Trader Joe's. There are times when only a coconut macaroon will do, but for me, the solution is to go and buy that one macaroon on that one occasion. Having them in the house is just asking for trouble.

Regarding economy sizes: It is not CHEAPER if it contributes to making you - or keeping you - fat. I have a hard enough time keeping the fat off without sabotaging myself with excess quantities of non-nutritive, tempting junk food.

I also, as a rule, don't buy mass-market candy. I love chocolate, so I buy high-quality chocolate. The kind that satisfies you with an ounce or less. I remember the days of eating an entire giant-size Hershey bar ... not going back there. It makes me break out, anyway (must be the palm oil).

And finally, I don't buy cheap ice cream. Just like chocolate, excellent ice cream satisfies in smaller quantities. My favorite is the handmade gelato from the shop a few blocks away. For emergencies, there's Haagen-Dazs 5. I was weak (hungry) enough to buy some ice cream at Trader Joe's last month, and you know what? I regretted it. It just wasn't that good.

Real food tastes better; real food satisfies in smaller quantities. Stay away from anything manufactured and you will generally eat less and have greater food satisfaction - not to mention, much better nutrition.

But a final confession: I am not the one to come to if you need a reason not to eat sweet potatoes with marshmallows. I love that stuff.