I'm not sure whether or not it is a hazard of the profession or just a personal quirk but I figured out recently that I have a bucketload of knives.
My husband says that if anyone ever breaks into our house, forget about a gun. He's just going to grab one of my "scimitars" and go with that. I didn't even know I had a scimitar until recently. But apparently I do.
When I began working as a professional chef, I realized that I needed a serious set of professional knives. I didn't initially attend a school like the Culinary Institute. (I'm a doctor by profession - go figure. Well, cutting works there too... nevermind.) My father did attend Culinary School.
When we were younger kids, my sister and I were taught how to cook by both parents, but the more formal stuff was by dad. My sister was always way better at the presentation end of things. She could make a peanut butter sandwich look like it belonged in Bon Appetit. Me, I was happy it made it on the plate. (good grief so much has changed). But after I started cooking professionally, my father gave me all his "gear" and this included all of his knives. Some of them were rather old, and realistically, not that well cared for over the years. But, since they were his I took them, and lovingly, restored them to all their original glory. Slice and dice. I will never part with them. But I found that what worked for him, a big burly man with big guy hands, didn't comfortably fit my needs. My arms were much smaller, hands smaller and my pivot of thrust for workability just wasn't the same. It made it harder to do some jobs. (some jobs were actually easier because these knives were just so honking big.) I knew that for me I needed something different.
I got knife set number one. I went for a really good set of Henkels, which I still use at home to this day. What I did find was that after a full day at the restaurant, my arms ached. The knives, although the right size, were weighted differently than I needed, so these caused that kind of problem.
I got the second knife set a few months later. I did get a beautiful set of Wustoff-Trident knives. These had the right leverage, but what I found was that for me the weight was off.
YOU ARE A BIG BABY.
That was my husband's statement after knife set number two. At this point, I decided to really try them out, and maybe, just maybe, purchase some knives individually. This began the collection. I now have 7 knife blocks and an unknown number of storage areas for knives. All are properly stored and accessible to my kitchen prep area.
We now have Globals (my pride and joy, the absolute knife for a woman with slightly larger than normal woman hands - perfect weight, size and leverage), I have a pair of titanium-coated Kasumi knives that were my 25th Anniversary present from my wonderful husband. And one, lone, Shun.
Until today.
I could not believe my good fortune on this one.
I was at T J Maxx Home store looking for an egg cup. Again I'm going to have to digress. I was watching Nigella Lawson's show on the Food Network and she was eating a soft boiled egg with "toast soldiers". I haven't had that in years. (primarily because I never have bread in the house that lasts until breakfast). I went and bought a wonderful homestyle white bread and made the soft boiled eggs. Until I tried to cut into them and watched them roll all over the table. Tried a pyrex cup, and out leaches the wonderful yellow egginess, into the bottom of the cup, amongst bits of white and shell and bread. What a mess. I needed an egg cup.
When was the last time you saw an egg cup in the store?
My poor husband was delegated to shopping with me this trip. We started at the usual home store in our area (which is now Bed Bath and Beyond since Linens and Things closed) and they didn't have it. They had a few plates to store deviled eggs, a whisk with an egg on the bottom that had feet, and anything to poach an egg. But no egg cup. We have a serious need in our area for a Williams Sonoma or a Crate and Barrell. I probably could have looked at Pier One Imports but I didn't even think of that place until I was writing this.
Then I remembered the Home area of TJ Maxx. That place has the weirdest eclectic collection of stuff I have ever seen, but I thought, they might have it. (my poor husband hates the place. People are known to rip things right out of your hands if they want it. Kind of creepy.)
We went into the place, looked around and no. But my husband, ever willing to look with me, suggested we look at the china and not just the cooking toys. Yes, we found it. In an area that had china (some of the stuff looks good, some is mismatched plates, serving dishes no one wanted for their sets etc.) My gain was their loss so to speak. And the egg cups came as a pair of two for only $3.99. Cool. A bargain.
But, I couldn't resist looking at the other things, and of course, I looked at the rack they keep knives on. If you were me could you resist? And there they were. Shun knives. Not just one. Three of them. Ken Onion ones. MORE THAN HALF OFF. I'm still doing the happy dance.
These are beautiful, well weighted, wonderfully constructed and sharper than....well most things.
AND THEY WERE HALF OFF. There was a slicing knife, a chef's knife and a utility knife. All really useable sizes and I couldn't get over the price. A WEEK BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY! Guess what I'm getting for Mother's Day!
He did ask me this after we got home - "Is this collection complete NOW?"
I didn't have the heart to say no. After all, can I be content without a flexible boning knife???
But, in reality, if you live near the TJ Maxx in the Mid Hudson Valley NY, there are some of the Shun knives still there, and they are more than half off the price at retailers I looked at online. It is a really good deal if that is your thing.
We did finally go home, and I made us a lunch of Soft Boiled Eggs with a light sprinkling of Fleur De Sel and artisanal white toast soldiers, in yes, egg cups. And it was worth the trip finding them.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Update Time
Hey,
I do know it's been awhile, and the purpose of a blog should be communication. I just had more on my plate than food lately and totally ran out of time to talk. But... this time I have a few things to say.
How long has it been since you've been out to dinner with friends? Especially for a special event or special evening? We did that this week, as my husband and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. Yep... finally getting up to the eyebrow raising years... (how many??) or the inevitable question (to the same guy???) Yes... to the same guy. Now, about dinner.
We live in the Hudson Valley of New York State. That is a 98 mile trip from Manhattan, or a full train ride up here.(About an hour). We are a stones throw from the Culinary Institute of America, so our area spawns a significant number of decent restaurants. (I admit when I travel that I see how we are spoiled in our neighborhood). There was one restaurant that I found recently, that I had my eye on. I wanted to try it, so I waited for a special event because it was nearing the pricey tag for food. (Not real expensive but creeping up there).
Our friends went with us, and that was the best part. The food, unfortunately, was not. Let me tell you about our evening.
I'll start with the service. We were greeted very well by a team of wait staff. Apparently, without saying so, one of them must have been training the other one, as she didn't let her more than a few feet away from her the entire evening. The only problem was, for me, I couldn't tell who was training whom. They started with a crucial error. Instead of telling us about the specials they could please us with, they told us what they were out of and could not have. This immediately made me disappointed. Now personally, I can live without razor clams or ramps, but after she talked about it, I wanted them. The focus wasn't about what good things were on the menu, but things that were missing. The next problem was the server really didn't know the menu that well. She confused the soup (not really knowing the product) and had to look at the menu several times to explain things. My friend and I decided to not order anything at all but to leave our meal entirely to the chef. (Her) choice. As a chef, I've had this happen some, and I enjoy doing a few new ideas with food that I have or doing something entirely off the menu. The chef didn't do this, just gave us some things that were there. I was hoping she would take the option and run with it as this restaurant had a reputation for being somewhat eclectic, but not this time.
The chef did send out an amuse bouche. This for me was the best tasting piece of food we had all evening. It was a version of hummus with peas on pita with microcelery and it was charming and flavorful. Next came our bread. The bread was a crusty loaf, sliced and grilled (you could see the grill marks). The bread had parmesan cheese on it and was served with a sun dried tomato tampanade. This was the highlight of our meal.
My friend and I tend to be rather adventurous eaters but sometimes our husbands are more traditional. For his appetizer, my husband had a lobster macaroni and cheese. This sounded good, but seemed rather bland, and there wasn't much lobster either. There wasn't much depth of flavor from many different cheeses, just monodimensional. He said he wasn't really that impressed. Her husband had a Caesar Salad. It looked good and he said it was good. (But really, not much to do with that anyway). She was served a goat cheese and mushroom strudel with a salad on the side, which was drizzled with a vinegar glaze. (I'm not sure whether it was sherry vinegar or balsamic). The product was nice, but seemed to be lacking in seasoning. My appetizer was a pate, with pistachios served with slices of toasted baguette. I can say the pate was nice, but again, as a theme to our meal, lacking in seasoning overall.
For our main courses, my friend asked specifically for seafood. She was served a crusted grouper with a fruit accompanient. It was a type of a fruit salsa which was very good, but the fish itself again lacking in seasoning was decent. My friend summed up her meal and probably the entire evening with her remark. "It's good but not WOW. I was looking for WOW." So was I. My meal was a stuffed quail served on mashed potatoes. The quail was not deboned so it was slightly difficult to eat (especially if you were unfamiliar with quail). The stuffing was nice, cornbread and sausage, but primarily I could taste the cornbread, and not much of the sausage. Sauces were demi's which were good but not a WOW. My husband had a seared Ahi tuna which to our liking, was slightly overcooked for tuna and could have used more acid. Her husband had a steak, which was somewhat undercooked. If we could have had the tuna with the same amount of doneness as the steak, and vice versa, all of us would have been happier.
Desserts were some better but they were mixed in our opinions. I had a bread pudding, one of my personal favorites. It had decent flavor but I felt it could have been sweeter. I should have gone with the creme brulee, which is another of my favorites. I might have liked it better. My friend and her husband had a sampler dessert. There was carrot cake and chocolate cake on it, some ice cream (not sure if it was a gelato or sorbet actually) and a creme brulee, all in a sample few bite sizes. The sampler was charming, they seemed to like them. At this writing I cannot remember what my husband had so I cannot comment.
Personally, when we go out with friends, the best part of the evening is the social aspect of it, but for my friend and I, who are major foodies, we love to "dissect" the food and try new things. We were hoping to love the place. We only barely liked it. We doubt that we would return.
Comments are welcome or you can email me. Or follow me on twitter @drenapaulson
I do know it's been awhile, and the purpose of a blog should be communication. I just had more on my plate than food lately and totally ran out of time to talk. But... this time I have a few things to say.
How long has it been since you've been out to dinner with friends? Especially for a special event or special evening? We did that this week, as my husband and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. Yep... finally getting up to the eyebrow raising years... (how many??) or the inevitable question (to the same guy???) Yes... to the same guy. Now, about dinner.
We live in the Hudson Valley of New York State. That is a 98 mile trip from Manhattan, or a full train ride up here.(About an hour). We are a stones throw from the Culinary Institute of America, so our area spawns a significant number of decent restaurants. (I admit when I travel that I see how we are spoiled in our neighborhood). There was one restaurant that I found recently, that I had my eye on. I wanted to try it, so I waited for a special event because it was nearing the pricey tag for food. (Not real expensive but creeping up there).
Our friends went with us, and that was the best part. The food, unfortunately, was not. Let me tell you about our evening.
I'll start with the service. We were greeted very well by a team of wait staff. Apparently, without saying so, one of them must have been training the other one, as she didn't let her more than a few feet away from her the entire evening. The only problem was, for me, I couldn't tell who was training whom. They started with a crucial error. Instead of telling us about the specials they could please us with, they told us what they were out of and could not have. This immediately made me disappointed. Now personally, I can live without razor clams or ramps, but after she talked about it, I wanted them. The focus wasn't about what good things were on the menu, but things that were missing. The next problem was the server really didn't know the menu that well. She confused the soup (not really knowing the product) and had to look at the menu several times to explain things. My friend and I decided to not order anything at all but to leave our meal entirely to the chef. (Her) choice. As a chef, I've had this happen some, and I enjoy doing a few new ideas with food that I have or doing something entirely off the menu. The chef didn't do this, just gave us some things that were there. I was hoping she would take the option and run with it as this restaurant had a reputation for being somewhat eclectic, but not this time.
The chef did send out an amuse bouche. This for me was the best tasting piece of food we had all evening. It was a version of hummus with peas on pita with microcelery and it was charming and flavorful. Next came our bread. The bread was a crusty loaf, sliced and grilled (you could see the grill marks). The bread had parmesan cheese on it and was served with a sun dried tomato tampanade. This was the highlight of our meal.
My friend and I tend to be rather adventurous eaters but sometimes our husbands are more traditional. For his appetizer, my husband had a lobster macaroni and cheese. This sounded good, but seemed rather bland, and there wasn't much lobster either. There wasn't much depth of flavor from many different cheeses, just monodimensional. He said he wasn't really that impressed. Her husband had a Caesar Salad. It looked good and he said it was good. (But really, not much to do with that anyway). She was served a goat cheese and mushroom strudel with a salad on the side, which was drizzled with a vinegar glaze. (I'm not sure whether it was sherry vinegar or balsamic). The product was nice, but seemed to be lacking in seasoning. My appetizer was a pate, with pistachios served with slices of toasted baguette. I can say the pate was nice, but again, as a theme to our meal, lacking in seasoning overall.
For our main courses, my friend asked specifically for seafood. She was served a crusted grouper with a fruit accompanient. It was a type of a fruit salsa which was very good, but the fish itself again lacking in seasoning was decent. My friend summed up her meal and probably the entire evening with her remark. "It's good but not WOW. I was looking for WOW." So was I. My meal was a stuffed quail served on mashed potatoes. The quail was not deboned so it was slightly difficult to eat (especially if you were unfamiliar with quail). The stuffing was nice, cornbread and sausage, but primarily I could taste the cornbread, and not much of the sausage. Sauces were demi's which were good but not a WOW. My husband had a seared Ahi tuna which to our liking, was slightly overcooked for tuna and could have used more acid. Her husband had a steak, which was somewhat undercooked. If we could have had the tuna with the same amount of doneness as the steak, and vice versa, all of us would have been happier.
Desserts were some better but they were mixed in our opinions. I had a bread pudding, one of my personal favorites. It had decent flavor but I felt it could have been sweeter. I should have gone with the creme brulee, which is another of my favorites. I might have liked it better. My friend and her husband had a sampler dessert. There was carrot cake and chocolate cake on it, some ice cream (not sure if it was a gelato or sorbet actually) and a creme brulee, all in a sample few bite sizes. The sampler was charming, they seemed to like them. At this writing I cannot remember what my husband had so I cannot comment.
Personally, when we go out with friends, the best part of the evening is the social aspect of it, but for my friend and I, who are major foodies, we love to "dissect" the food and try new things. We were hoping to love the place. We only barely liked it. We doubt that we would return.
Comments are welcome or you can email me. Or follow me on twitter @drenapaulson
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Why a Bird?
Hi,
It's that time of year again.
You know what I'm talking about...the bird time. Leaves have turned their wonderful colors and now are starting to do nothing more than clog up both the roads and the gutters. Slight gusts of wind blow, and finally you can see your breath when you go out late at night or very early in the morning. Its fall. And at the base of fall is Thanksgiving. The quintessential bird holiday.
Yes I know, we are celebrating the first time that the Pilgrims ate with the Indians and many people try to duplicate the tradition. We all have been forced to sit through that children's program at the school. You know the one. They dress all the kids with masks that they drew out of construction paper, and have feathers in their hair...some are Indians, some are Pilgrims and some are "narrators" (those who can't act apparently, or in some cases, these are the kids in their grades who actually can read!) But after years of listening to the story I still don't understand one thing. WHY DO I HAVE TO COOK A BIRD???
Tradition.
My mother, who passed away in 2001, tried to explain the concept to me but apparently it fell on deaf ears. We, after all, are the family who doesn't usually put up a Christmas tree. (no, it is not a communist plot, we have three dogs in a small house and I am tired of picking glass out of paws. We actually use smaller decorations instead so chill.....). Since we don't do the tree thing, we have done a Christmas present scavenger hunt (loved by my son) and other things of that ilk. But Thanksgiving, in my mind, is a food holiday. Just the idea conjures up thoughts of going to my parents house where my mother would feed 30 or so people at dinner. (never mind though that only 6 might actually be AT the table, she would still feed 30!) But she said, "Turkey for Thanksgiving is tradition! Everyone does turkey! How can you have Thanksgiving Dinner and no turkey????" She would cook enough potatoes to feed a third world nation, stuffing that would end up in several sheet pans, and numerous pies, nut roll and poppyseed roll and cookies. If she had the time to make cookies. I remember an Alka Seltzer commercial many years ago that used to air around the holidays that started with a woman's voice saying "I'll bring out the first turkey!" Now you get what I mean.
I do believe in traditions. Especially food based ones. Growing up in our house, most of the traditions we had WERE food based ones. That is just who our family tended to be. But I am not glued into an individual item like a turkey, to dictate what we really have for tradition.
I have been blessed the last few years with some very close friends. Since my parents died, having holidays was at best difficult, as there was no one even to do the "basic traditions" with. The last few years were different, and I am grateful for the loving friends we now have.
But guess what? One of the little buggers likes the turkey. And if I have to be honest, so does my husband. It is a rather large undertaking, and we don't often have the option to cook something so large, and to share it with many people.
This year we will have our holiday with our friends and some new ones will be joining us, and yes, it will be turkey. I am very happy to share this time with them all. But all I can say is this....why doesn't anyone ever want to talk about a Thanksgiving Meat Loaf?
DP
It's that time of year again.
You know what I'm talking about...the bird time. Leaves have turned their wonderful colors and now are starting to do nothing more than clog up both the roads and the gutters. Slight gusts of wind blow, and finally you can see your breath when you go out late at night or very early in the morning. Its fall. And at the base of fall is Thanksgiving. The quintessential bird holiday.
Yes I know, we are celebrating the first time that the Pilgrims ate with the Indians and many people try to duplicate the tradition. We all have been forced to sit through that children's program at the school. You know the one. They dress all the kids with masks that they drew out of construction paper, and have feathers in their hair...some are Indians, some are Pilgrims and some are "narrators" (those who can't act apparently, or in some cases, these are the kids in their grades who actually can read!) But after years of listening to the story I still don't understand one thing. WHY DO I HAVE TO COOK A BIRD???
Tradition.
My mother, who passed away in 2001, tried to explain the concept to me but apparently it fell on deaf ears. We, after all, are the family who doesn't usually put up a Christmas tree. (no, it is not a communist plot, we have three dogs in a small house and I am tired of picking glass out of paws. We actually use smaller decorations instead so chill.....). Since we don't do the tree thing, we have done a Christmas present scavenger hunt (loved by my son) and other things of that ilk. But Thanksgiving, in my mind, is a food holiday. Just the idea conjures up thoughts of going to my parents house where my mother would feed 30 or so people at dinner. (never mind though that only 6 might actually be AT the table, she would still feed 30!) But she said, "Turkey for Thanksgiving is tradition! Everyone does turkey! How can you have Thanksgiving Dinner and no turkey????" She would cook enough potatoes to feed a third world nation, stuffing that would end up in several sheet pans, and numerous pies, nut roll and poppyseed roll and cookies. If she had the time to make cookies. I remember an Alka Seltzer commercial many years ago that used to air around the holidays that started with a woman's voice saying "I'll bring out the first turkey!" Now you get what I mean.
I do believe in traditions. Especially food based ones. Growing up in our house, most of the traditions we had WERE food based ones. That is just who our family tended to be. But I am not glued into an individual item like a turkey, to dictate what we really have for tradition.
I have been blessed the last few years with some very close friends. Since my parents died, having holidays was at best difficult, as there was no one even to do the "basic traditions" with. The last few years were different, and I am grateful for the loving friends we now have.
But guess what? One of the little buggers likes the turkey. And if I have to be honest, so does my husband. It is a rather large undertaking, and we don't often have the option to cook something so large, and to share it with many people.
This year we will have our holiday with our friends and some new ones will be joining us, and yes, it will be turkey. I am very happy to share this time with them all. But all I can say is this....why doesn't anyone ever want to talk about a Thanksgiving Meat Loaf?
DP
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Is this Pumpkin thing gone too far?
I was driving by one of my favorite summer eateries the other day...I confess...I'm hooked on Dairy Queen Blizzards. Ground cookies in ice cream, what is there not to like?
Well, the sign outside said, Pumpkin Pie ice cream and Pumpkin Blizzard. So you know what happened. I had to try one.
Well, the Cheesecake one has chunks of real cheesecake in it so you know what I was thinking. There was probably going to be chunks of pumpkin pie in the pumpkin pie ice cream.
NOT SO.
Disappointment crept into my soul as I tried my newly purchased confection. No pie. It was a pumpkin ice cream of sorts with cookies in it to mimic the crust. I can't take being fooled by these fast food consortiums. IF YOU CALL IT PIE, I WANT PIE. The spicing was at best mediocre and as for the pumpkin flavor. Not too pumpkiny if that is even a word.
But then it got me thinking.
How many pumpkin things are there at this time of year? And for the love of food, WHY?
Pumpkin coffee.
I was in Starbucks and they have a pumpkin latte. Pumpkin. In a coffee. Now I do have trouble with some flavors of coffee. I can handle the nut flavors after all, coffee is really a nut of sorts. And anything that usually goes with nuts should go with coffee. Now some spices will, like cinnamon and nutmeg (I have seen others put it on their cappuccino although I don't like it). But, some of the weird flavors put me off.
I cannot wrap my head around blueberry coffee under any circumstances. The local morning mart carries it, and the girl working there said it tasted like the flavor in your mouth after you've eaten a blueberry muffin and followed it with a drink of coffee. NAAH. No it isn't, its a nasty, fruity coffee gone wrong is what it is. And its younger brother raspberry isn't any better either. I am afraid that pumpkin coffee has a similar type fate in my life. I haven't tried it yet as they don't make a sugar free version . Starbucks, get on the bandwagon!!! Diabetics like more than just two flavors, Vanilla and Hazelnut and the occasional Caramel! (and most sugar free caramel flavors have a very strong flavor reminiscent of evaporated milk anyway. What's not to love?)
Pumpkin pasta.
I kid you not. I was in the supermarket and saw it there. Now I can understand pumpkin ravioli. Aren't there are many versions of stuffed pasta made out of butternut squash, served with deep fried sage and in a brown butter sauce? And truly, pumpkin isn't that far off of a relative of butternut squash in both the flavor profile and texture sense if it is treated properly. But this was pumpkin in the actual pasta. I'm not sure how the texture would be. I could see pumpkin as a gnocci (they can be soft and pillowy and handle less flour). But, I don't know how a long, dried linguine could have enough pumpkin flavor or not fall apart when cooking it.
Pumpkin cheesecake. A long standing favorite for many, including a gingersnap cookie crust for the best of presentations. Yum.
Typical standbys are pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.
We also must not forget pumpkin soup. Both as a stand alone soup and in other soups too.
How about pumpkin drinks? Some of my professional chef websites have things like Pumpkin smoothies, and even an alcoholic drink with sweet candied pumpkin cubes in it.
What about pumpkin seeds? A usual part of a vegetable that is discarded, is here cleaned, roasted/dried/salted and used in many cuisines. Pumkin seeds ground is used as thickener in some African and Moroccan recipes as well as in Latin American Mole sauces.
I guess I misjudged the mighty pumpkin. We should celebrate it and find other ways to use it.
Now to research to find the perfect pumpkin pie. That is a quest worth doing.
DP
Well, the sign outside said, Pumpkin Pie ice cream and Pumpkin Blizzard. So you know what happened. I had to try one.
Well, the Cheesecake one has chunks of real cheesecake in it so you know what I was thinking. There was probably going to be chunks of pumpkin pie in the pumpkin pie ice cream.
NOT SO.
Disappointment crept into my soul as I tried my newly purchased confection. No pie. It was a pumpkin ice cream of sorts with cookies in it to mimic the crust. I can't take being fooled by these fast food consortiums. IF YOU CALL IT PIE, I WANT PIE. The spicing was at best mediocre and as for the pumpkin flavor. Not too pumpkiny if that is even a word.
But then it got me thinking.
How many pumpkin things are there at this time of year? And for the love of food, WHY?
Pumpkin coffee.
I was in Starbucks and they have a pumpkin latte. Pumpkin. In a coffee. Now I do have trouble with some flavors of coffee. I can handle the nut flavors after all, coffee is really a nut of sorts. And anything that usually goes with nuts should go with coffee. Now some spices will, like cinnamon and nutmeg (I have seen others put it on their cappuccino although I don't like it). But, some of the weird flavors put me off.
I cannot wrap my head around blueberry coffee under any circumstances. The local morning mart carries it, and the girl working there said it tasted like the flavor in your mouth after you've eaten a blueberry muffin and followed it with a drink of coffee. NAAH. No it isn't, its a nasty, fruity coffee gone wrong is what it is. And its younger brother raspberry isn't any better either. I am afraid that pumpkin coffee has a similar type fate in my life. I haven't tried it yet as they don't make a sugar free version . Starbucks, get on the bandwagon!!! Diabetics like more than just two flavors, Vanilla and Hazelnut and the occasional Caramel! (and most sugar free caramel flavors have a very strong flavor reminiscent of evaporated milk anyway. What's not to love?)
Pumpkin pasta.
I kid you not. I was in the supermarket and saw it there. Now I can understand pumpkin ravioli. Aren't there are many versions of stuffed pasta made out of butternut squash, served with deep fried sage and in a brown butter sauce? And truly, pumpkin isn't that far off of a relative of butternut squash in both the flavor profile and texture sense if it is treated properly. But this was pumpkin in the actual pasta. I'm not sure how the texture would be. I could see pumpkin as a gnocci (they can be soft and pillowy and handle less flour). But, I don't know how a long, dried linguine could have enough pumpkin flavor or not fall apart when cooking it.
Pumpkin cheesecake. A long standing favorite for many, including a gingersnap cookie crust for the best of presentations. Yum.
Typical standbys are pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.
We also must not forget pumpkin soup. Both as a stand alone soup and in other soups too.
How about pumpkin drinks? Some of my professional chef websites have things like Pumpkin smoothies, and even an alcoholic drink with sweet candied pumpkin cubes in it.
What about pumpkin seeds? A usual part of a vegetable that is discarded, is here cleaned, roasted/dried/salted and used in many cuisines. Pumkin seeds ground is used as thickener in some African and Moroccan recipes as well as in Latin American Mole sauces.
I guess I misjudged the mighty pumpkin. We should celebrate it and find other ways to use it.
Now to research to find the perfect pumpkin pie. That is a quest worth doing.
DP
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Berbere
Hi,
The other day I was just sharking the kitchen. That's what I call it. Envision yourself going from cabinet to cabinet, in and out of the refrigerator, with the theme from the movie "Jaws" playing in your head. Yes, that is what I was doing. I had no idea what to cook and unfortunately for me I was legitimately hungry which creates another problem. I'm probably willing to eat stupid things rather than having a plan and executing some really creative dish.
I fought the urge to just eat cold cereal and milk as yes, I do have a family to feed as well. I asked them for input but, NO ONE WOULD HELP ME!!
Go and shark the freezer.
After a few minutes there, and I do have some really interesting things in my freezer, I found some boneless pork ribs. I defrosted them (I use the microwave partially, then place them on one of those defrosting trays made of black metal - they really do work). And then went looking in the larder for suggestions of what to do. My eyes wandered around a bit and then fell on the jars that I just got at Whole Foods. One of the was: Berbere.
According to Wikipedia: Berbere is a spice mixture whose ingredients usually include chile peppers, ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries, and ajwain. It is a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia and Eritrea (this is a newer country that borders Ethiopia). Basically, African cuisine with a good degree of spice.
The blend that I was using, when I gave it a good sniff, you could easily smell the cloves and allspice. Rue, or rue berries come from the rue plant. I have a very large herb garden, and I used to grow rue in it, not to eat but it would keep many pesky insects off the other herbs, especially basil. So I was familiar with this one. The berries when dried, looked like reddish peppercorns, and have a bitter, slightly musky scent. It is quite popular in African cooking as well as some parts of Italy. Ajwain is a seed spice that has a rather parsley quality to it.
My blend also didn't have the chile peppers ground, but looked like the red pepper you would shake on your pizza which I use in cooking all the time.
I decided to take the pork ribs and use this spice as a dry rub, marinating it for about 30 minutes at room temperature while I got the other ingredients for dinner together.
Slightly spicy entree with the cinnamon and cloves did scream for something starchy to take the edge off. Again in the larder and I found polenta.
Dinner :
Berbere crusted grilled boneless pork ribs with Parmesan and cream- soft polenta and green beans.
Grilling the pork ribs was definitely the way to go. They were very juicy, somewhat spicy and grilling them let the berbere crust them in a way that I definitely would repeat.
Try the Berbere spice. If you should cause to purchase some it will probably be worth the spice amount you will spend. My family definitely liked the entree and felt it did go well with the polenta (and usually I'm the only one who likes the polenta - me and the dog). This spice would definitely work well with chicken, turkey and probably duck as well. I think it would fight with beef.
If anyone else has recipes using this I would love to hear them, post or email as you feel led.
Till next week.... DP
The other day I was just sharking the kitchen. That's what I call it. Envision yourself going from cabinet to cabinet, in and out of the refrigerator, with the theme from the movie "Jaws" playing in your head. Yes, that is what I was doing. I had no idea what to cook and unfortunately for me I was legitimately hungry which creates another problem. I'm probably willing to eat stupid things rather than having a plan and executing some really creative dish.
I fought the urge to just eat cold cereal and milk as yes, I do have a family to feed as well. I asked them for input but, NO ONE WOULD HELP ME!!
Go and shark the freezer.
After a few minutes there, and I do have some really interesting things in my freezer, I found some boneless pork ribs. I defrosted them (I use the microwave partially, then place them on one of those defrosting trays made of black metal - they really do work). And then went looking in the larder for suggestions of what to do. My eyes wandered around a bit and then fell on the jars that I just got at Whole Foods. One of the was: Berbere.
According to Wikipedia: Berbere is a spice mixture whose ingredients usually include chile peppers, ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries, and ajwain. It is a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia and Eritrea (this is a newer country that borders Ethiopia). Basically, African cuisine with a good degree of spice.
The blend that I was using, when I gave it a good sniff, you could easily smell the cloves and allspice. Rue, or rue berries come from the rue plant. I have a very large herb garden, and I used to grow rue in it, not to eat but it would keep many pesky insects off the other herbs, especially basil. So I was familiar with this one. The berries when dried, looked like reddish peppercorns, and have a bitter, slightly musky scent. It is quite popular in African cooking as well as some parts of Italy. Ajwain is a seed spice that has a rather parsley quality to it.
My blend also didn't have the chile peppers ground, but looked like the red pepper you would shake on your pizza which I use in cooking all the time.
I decided to take the pork ribs and use this spice as a dry rub, marinating it for about 30 minutes at room temperature while I got the other ingredients for dinner together.
Slightly spicy entree with the cinnamon and cloves did scream for something starchy to take the edge off. Again in the larder and I found polenta.
Dinner :
Berbere crusted grilled boneless pork ribs with Parmesan and cream- soft polenta and green beans.
Grilling the pork ribs was definitely the way to go. They were very juicy, somewhat spicy and grilling them let the berbere crust them in a way that I definitely would repeat.
Try the Berbere spice. If you should cause to purchase some it will probably be worth the spice amount you will spend. My family definitely liked the entree and felt it did go well with the polenta (and usually I'm the only one who likes the polenta - me and the dog). This spice would definitely work well with chicken, turkey and probably duck as well. I think it would fight with beef.
If anyone else has recipes using this I would love to hear them, post or email as you feel led.
Till next week.... DP
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Why Can't I have a Whole Foods Market?
Hi
I'm feeling green today in honor of my friend's birthday and its her favorite color.... Hello Elaine.
I was in New Jersey the other day, not unusual for me even though I live almost a hundred miles NORTH of Manhattan. And while I was there, I used the navagation application on my phone. (no, I don't have an iPhone, big mistake, anything else is really secondary and I will get an iPhone as soon as my current contract expires...sorry, I digress).
I looked up how far away was the closest Whole Foods Market. Now some of you have Whole Foods near you... lucky people. I see them all the time on Top Chef. That's where they shop. So I found out that where I was it was 9.7 miles away. Navigate I go.
It was worth the trip.
Now I will not say I bought a lot of things, I was not in a position at that time to purchase much groceries, but I found some lovely additions to my larder.
Meyer lemon olive oil....they actually use the lemons, probably the skins or rinds, and squeeze them at the same time they do the olives. I am so looking forward to my next purchase of Arctic char to use this.
Yuzu rice vinegar. I have heard of Yuzu all over the Food Network. I don't know about you, but there aren't any Yuzu trees growing in upstate New York, nor are there Yuzu's in the local grocery stores, nor are Yuzu juices offered anywhere. Not even in our fancy pants local place (you know the kind, they have all the "fancy" ingredients and charge double for them then you'd pay even with the additional mailing cost if you purchased directly from Dean and Deluca). But, in my quest to support local business, I do go there rather than mail order, anything that I can. If I didn't, they wouldn't be there, and wouldn't that be worse? But, no Yuzu anything. I'm not really sure how I want to use the vinegar, but giving it a try will be interesting.
Ras el Hanout....yes, a real package of the stuff. Quite a bit actually and for not more than most other things cost in the spice aisle. The ingredients are on the label and I am going to make the blend that I am considering, and will compare it to this commercial one. I love tests like this.
Berbere...from the same company as the Ras el Hanout. The label on the ras el hanout called it a Moroccan spice, this one was called an African spice. HELLO??? Isn't MOROCCO IN AFRICA??? I already covered that before. I am going to spend some time with this spice as well.
I have send an email and several messages to Whole Foods about why the closest one to my home is over 40 miles away.
I live within 10 miles of the Culinary Institute of America. The bastion of foodiedom. Where foodies go to become foodies. The mecca of chefs!! Wouldn't you think some place like Whole Foods would want to be near the CIA????
I'll get off my band wagon.
I have a busy next couple of days, a death of a friends father, wake and funeral to attend to. Once that has finished and the schedule settles down, my stab at ras el hanout and the comparison to do.
Berbere next....
DP
I'm feeling green today in honor of my friend's birthday and its her favorite color.... Hello Elaine.
I was in New Jersey the other day, not unusual for me even though I live almost a hundred miles NORTH of Manhattan. And while I was there, I used the navagation application on my phone. (no, I don't have an iPhone, big mistake, anything else is really secondary and I will get an iPhone as soon as my current contract expires...sorry, I digress).
I looked up how far away was the closest Whole Foods Market. Now some of you have Whole Foods near you... lucky people. I see them all the time on Top Chef. That's where they shop. So I found out that where I was it was 9.7 miles away. Navigate I go.
It was worth the trip.
Now I will not say I bought a lot of things, I was not in a position at that time to purchase much groceries, but I found some lovely additions to my larder.
Meyer lemon olive oil....they actually use the lemons, probably the skins or rinds, and squeeze them at the same time they do the olives. I am so looking forward to my next purchase of Arctic char to use this.
Yuzu rice vinegar. I have heard of Yuzu all over the Food Network. I don't know about you, but there aren't any Yuzu trees growing in upstate New York, nor are there Yuzu's in the local grocery stores, nor are Yuzu juices offered anywhere. Not even in our fancy pants local place (you know the kind, they have all the "fancy" ingredients and charge double for them then you'd pay even with the additional mailing cost if you purchased directly from Dean and Deluca). But, in my quest to support local business, I do go there rather than mail order, anything that I can. If I didn't, they wouldn't be there, and wouldn't that be worse? But, no Yuzu anything. I'm not really sure how I want to use the vinegar, but giving it a try will be interesting.
Ras el Hanout....yes, a real package of the stuff. Quite a bit actually and for not more than most other things cost in the spice aisle. The ingredients are on the label and I am going to make the blend that I am considering, and will compare it to this commercial one. I love tests like this.
Berbere...from the same company as the Ras el Hanout. The label on the ras el hanout called it a Moroccan spice, this one was called an African spice. HELLO??? Isn't MOROCCO IN AFRICA??? I already covered that before. I am going to spend some time with this spice as well.
I have send an email and several messages to Whole Foods about why the closest one to my home is over 40 miles away.
I live within 10 miles of the Culinary Institute of America. The bastion of foodiedom. Where foodies go to become foodies. The mecca of chefs!! Wouldn't you think some place like Whole Foods would want to be near the CIA????
I'll get off my band wagon.
I have a busy next couple of days, a death of a friends father, wake and funeral to attend to. Once that has finished and the schedule settles down, my stab at ras el hanout and the comparison to do.
Berbere next....
DP
Monday, August 31, 2009
Scones and Daily Life
You know what never makes any sense to me? Biscuits like hockey pucks.
We had a guest in the house from Friday morning to Sunday morning and when my son and his friend woke up on Saturday, I had the sudden realization that I had nothing really to feed them for breakfast. Teens and no breakfast cereal, not a good move. Since I really didn't want to give them more money to walk to our local deli for food, I decided to make some biscuits. I'm thinking, buttery, flaky, slightly sweet, etc. Who wouldn't want to eat those for breakfast right? WRONG. Hockey pucks. Yes, I confess, I did use biscuit mix. (And no, not the name brand one, but the slightly off name brand one). But that shouldn't matter. I used biscuit mix. To make, oh yes, biscuits. And they were hockey pucks. (word to the wise, teens eat them anyway). But I was disappointed and not about to let this go.
This opened up a two day hunt for biscuit recipes, which it turns out, wasn't what I really wanted, I wanted scones. True British biscuits, lovely flaky texture, and ....flavor. What flavor? I Googled scones and many hundred thousand web pages opened up to me. I decided to go to just one area and make a full search to see if I could find what I wanted.
I decided, since the search seemed endless, to stay for some time on Recipezaar. If you haven't been there yet, do so. It is not necessarily "the" website for professional chefs to find the newest, and best thing for the restaurant. But it is a great place for the home cook. These are the recipes people share with their friends, give out at pot luck suppers and give as gifts. Some require some tweaking as what one man deems "wonderful", another will say "tolerable", and if you are a professional, you probably can see where the flaws in the recipes are. I could. I also was amazed at the choices and things you could find. Also, just because a recipe "looks" weird, don't dismiss it completely. Remember some of the things grandma used to make? You'll probably find that recipe here.
I entered scones in their easy to use search feature and came up with 871 recipes. And I did at least read all of the titles. I could have narrowed the search down, but I wanted to look at some of the ideas for scone flavors. I was surprised first, at what some people consider scones to be. Some were really just cookies, and others were really biscuits. But I got many ideas and even tried a few.
I did for their second morning, make the kids Gingerbread scones. Not a bad idea in theory but I had a few execution problems. I used Organic Pastry flour (my brand turns out to be a very fine grind whole wheat flour) but without correcting and adding some white flour with it, or adjusting the liquids, they came out a little heavy. I liked them, but it was not the texture that I was after. I also found many recipes for a gingerbread type item and the spices were all over the place. I used proportions that at the time seemed ok, but in actuality, with the whole wheat flour, were a bit spicy. Luckily, as I said, teen boys will eat anything anyway.
The recipe below, copied directly from Recipezaar, was my favorite (and I will explain at the end what I did differently - I cannot leave anything alone).
http://www.recipezaar.com/Glazed-Lemon-Scones-202220
Glazed Lemon Scones
Recipe #202220 45 min 30 min prep
8 to 12 scones
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
yellow food coloring (optional)
grated lemon zest
slivered almond
Directions
1Preheat oven to 400°.
2In a big bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; cut in the butter using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in lemon zest and blend.
3In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, and lemon juice; pour into flour mixture; mix until blended and moistened and a soft dough is formed.
4Place dough on a floured work surface; knead 15-20 times and roll into a circle ¾-inch thick.
5Place on baking sheet; score into 8-12 wedges with the point of a sharp knife.
6Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown; cool slightly on wire rack; cut into wedges as marked and serve warm.
7The glaze: in a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice; add in desired amount of food coloring (if using); drizzle over warm scones; sprinkle with lemon zest and almonds.
Personally, I skipped the almonds and the food coloring. I added a teaspoon of vanilla as I really like the vanilla undertones with lemon. I gently formed the mixture into a rectangle which I cut into six squares and then cut them diagonally into triangles. I baked them off as triangles and not one single round to be cut after baking. The recipe made twelve. I used the glaze, and did glaze them when slightly warm.
These scones had a nice soft texture and lemony flavor. I do think the lemon flavor could be boosted a bit so next time I plan on adding a tablespoon of lemon vodka. it is unbelieveable how much of a flavor boost that will give this recipe.
ENJOY.
I haven't forgotten... I'm still researching ras el hanout. I am close to developing my own recipe so I will share it as soon as I can road test it.
We had a guest in the house from Friday morning to Sunday morning and when my son and his friend woke up on Saturday, I had the sudden realization that I had nothing really to feed them for breakfast. Teens and no breakfast cereal, not a good move. Since I really didn't want to give them more money to walk to our local deli for food, I decided to make some biscuits. I'm thinking, buttery, flaky, slightly sweet, etc. Who wouldn't want to eat those for breakfast right? WRONG. Hockey pucks. Yes, I confess, I did use biscuit mix. (And no, not the name brand one, but the slightly off name brand one). But that shouldn't matter. I used biscuit mix. To make, oh yes, biscuits. And they were hockey pucks. (word to the wise, teens eat them anyway). But I was disappointed and not about to let this go.
This opened up a two day hunt for biscuit recipes, which it turns out, wasn't what I really wanted, I wanted scones. True British biscuits, lovely flaky texture, and ....flavor. What flavor? I Googled scones and many hundred thousand web pages opened up to me. I decided to go to just one area and make a full search to see if I could find what I wanted.
I decided, since the search seemed endless, to stay for some time on Recipezaar. If you haven't been there yet, do so. It is not necessarily "the" website for professional chefs to find the newest, and best thing for the restaurant. But it is a great place for the home cook. These are the recipes people share with their friends, give out at pot luck suppers and give as gifts. Some require some tweaking as what one man deems "wonderful", another will say "tolerable", and if you are a professional, you probably can see where the flaws in the recipes are. I could. I also was amazed at the choices and things you could find. Also, just because a recipe "looks" weird, don't dismiss it completely. Remember some of the things grandma used to make? You'll probably find that recipe here.
I entered scones in their easy to use search feature and came up with 871 recipes. And I did at least read all of the titles. I could have narrowed the search down, but I wanted to look at some of the ideas for scone flavors. I was surprised first, at what some people consider scones to be. Some were really just cookies, and others were really biscuits. But I got many ideas and even tried a few.
I did for their second morning, make the kids Gingerbread scones. Not a bad idea in theory but I had a few execution problems. I used Organic Pastry flour (my brand turns out to be a very fine grind whole wheat flour) but without correcting and adding some white flour with it, or adjusting the liquids, they came out a little heavy. I liked them, but it was not the texture that I was after. I also found many recipes for a gingerbread type item and the spices were all over the place. I used proportions that at the time seemed ok, but in actuality, with the whole wheat flour, were a bit spicy. Luckily, as I said, teen boys will eat anything anyway.
The recipe below, copied directly from Recipezaar, was my favorite (and I will explain at the end what I did differently - I cannot leave anything alone).
http://www.recipezaar.com/Glazed-Lemon-Scones-202220
Glazed Lemon Scones
Recipe #202220 45 min 30 min prep
8 to 12 scones
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
yellow food coloring (optional)
grated lemon zest
slivered almond
Directions
1Preheat oven to 400°.
2In a big bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; cut in the butter using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in lemon zest and blend.
3In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, and lemon juice; pour into flour mixture; mix until blended and moistened and a soft dough is formed.
4Place dough on a floured work surface; knead 15-20 times and roll into a circle ¾-inch thick.
5Place on baking sheet; score into 8-12 wedges with the point of a sharp knife.
6Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown; cool slightly on wire rack; cut into wedges as marked and serve warm.
7The glaze: in a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice; add in desired amount of food coloring (if using); drizzle over warm scones; sprinkle with lemon zest and almonds.
Personally, I skipped the almonds and the food coloring. I added a teaspoon of vanilla as I really like the vanilla undertones with lemon. I gently formed the mixture into a rectangle which I cut into six squares and then cut them diagonally into triangles. I baked them off as triangles and not one single round to be cut after baking. The recipe made twelve. I used the glaze, and did glaze them when slightly warm.
These scones had a nice soft texture and lemony flavor. I do think the lemon flavor could be boosted a bit so next time I plan on adding a tablespoon of lemon vodka. it is unbelieveable how much of a flavor boost that will give this recipe.
ENJOY.
I haven't forgotten... I'm still researching ras el hanout. I am close to developing my own recipe so I will share it as soon as I can road test it.
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