Sep 04

Fiesta de Paella

We were in the Detroit Airport last week waiting for our delayed flight. I walked into a newsstand to get some bottled water, as we were flying home on Spirit Airlines. (“You wanna breathe on this flight? That’ll be 25 bucks.”) Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the latest issue of Food and Wine magazine, which featured Spain. Figuring that I needed reading material, I bought it. Julian saw it and said, “Maybe we can invite the crew to a paella feed on Saturday night.”

Paella is a peasant dish that’s become alta cocina. We did a paella feed last year, as documented in this post. My mother would recognize paella’s ingredients: Rice, vegetables, and meat, poultry, game, or seafood. However, paella is more refined than the “Spanish rice” Mom used to make. For one thing, she never used saffron. We used the recipe out of the magazine, which used boneless chicken thighs and country-style ribs as the protein. Julian added some Spanish chorizo to his pan. I adapted the recipe for our allium-averse friend and cooked a small pan on the stove top; Julian did a larger portion on the grill. Both versions were well received.

Alongside the paella, Julian fried up some chickpeas (too picante for most of our friends) and I fried some of my Padron peppers. We also made sangrias. Julian made an alcoholic sangria with garnacha wine, apples, peach, orange, lemon, and lime. I found non-alcoholic white grape juice with elderflower and added peach and lime for a sober version. The cheese plate was multi-mammal: Sheep’s milk Manchego, cow’s milk Affinois, and a goat cheese with figs.

For a change, the festivities were sit-down, as we had a smaller crowd than usual. Several of the regulars were in Ireland for the wedding of our former next-door neighbor’s daughter. Guests brought salads and desserts. As usual, everyone left well fed.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/09/04/fiesta-de-paella/

Sep 03

How to Gemisch a Recipe

Gemisch is Yiddish for mess. In our house, gemisch refers to a culinary experiment. It can be the product of too many things to use up in the fridge or an adaptation of a recipe because you forgot an ingredient. Some gemisches live up to the translation; others enter the echelon of epic eating. Most are serviceable meals for weeknights.

A couple of gemisches have graced this blog: the asparagus and pasta recipe from “When the SO’s Away” and an adaptation of my grandmother’s Swiss steak in “How to Write a Recipe…” Some gemisches are simple substitutions, such as using dried fruit instead of candied citron and cherries in Christmas bread. Others are more elaborate, or come out of pure imagination. Here are a few guidelines to keep your gemisch from being a mess:

In general, baking is trickier than cooking to gemisch. The flour/liquid ratio is key to obtaining the desired result. Egg yolks are required to emulsify fat with other liquid in the recipe. The protein in egg whites may provide additional structure to the recipe, as in the gluten-free matzoh balls turned pancakes shown in “Seder Day Night with the Goys.” Oil substituted for melted butter in a recipe will give you an entirely different taste, texture, and mouthfeel; however, in small quantities (less than 1/2 cup per loaf of bread or batch of cookies), you can get away with it.

If you’re substituting other “milks” for cow’s milk, be aware that protein contents are wildly different. One cup of cow’s milk has 8 grams of protein; one cup of nut and other non-soy milks have 2 grams of protein or less. The fat content of these milks may alter the recipe. For example, coconut milk is much higher in fat than whole milk.

Some related items don’t work as substitutions. Italian basil won’t work in a Thai or Vietnamese recipe, and vice versa.

(Suggested by Julian) Some sugar substitutes will not behave the same way as sugar in a recipe, particularly in baking. Honey is sweeter than sugar, but can be substituted in small amounts. It will also alter the texture of a recipe.

You can use starches other than flour to thicken a sauce. Cornstarch and arrowroot are two examples. Use about half the amount of cornstarch as flour for a recipe (1 tablespoon of cornstarch thickens the same as 2 tablespoons of flour).

If the alterations you have to make to key ingredients of a recipe add up to too much, you need to find another recipe. This is common with trying to adapt dishes for vegetarians or vegans, or if you’re dealing with multiple food allergies or intolerances.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/09/03/how-to-gemisch-a-recipe/

Sep 02

The Perils of a Double-Door Refrigerator

Casa Sammamish came equipped with a double-door refrigerator with a freezer drawer on the bottom. Our erstwhile landlords wanted the most cubic footage for the space allotted in the kitchen. All well and good, but I’ve noticed some drawbacks to the configuration of this fridge:

  • The food on one side of the fridge turns over rapidly; food on the other side turns to compost. If I want to take leftovers to lunch the next day, I put them on the left side of the fridge so Julian won’t find them for his midnight snack. I just have to remember where I put the food.
  • Stuff expands to fill the cubic footage. You buy a case of white wine at Costco and it all goes in the fridge. You buy multiple bottles of hot sauce or fancy pickled vegetables to stuff the door shelves. (We are guilty of this sin.)
  • Bottom freezers may be more energy-efficient, but they’re not practical for folks with creaky knees or balance issues. Things settle to the bottom of the drawer never to be seen again until you move. On the other hand, bottom freezers can work well for people in wheelchairs.
  • The drawers in a bottom freezer never seem to be tall enough for half-gallons (actually 1.75 quarts these days) of ice cream or other oddly-shaped containers. And it’s difficult to lay something flat in there if you want to freeze it in a single layer.

There is one upside to the double-door refrigerator: More room for grocery lists, postcards, and cartoons.

 

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/09/02/the-perils-of-a-double-door-refrigerator/

Sep 01

Juiced

Several months ago I wrote a post on the Juicero, a $400 contraption that squeezed $8 packets of juice into a glass. Alas, Juicero is no more. Reality does eventually catch up with hucksters. Now we need to see reality catch up to the huckster in chief.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/09/01/juiced/

Aug 30

Carolina Coleslaw

Our department had another potluck today. I’d signed up to bring a salad, but didn’t have a clue of what I’d make until a coworker offered to bring pulled pork. Then it hit me: Carolina coleslaw.

Some explanation is in order. We lived in Greensboro, North Carolina for seven years. During that time we got an education in the ways of North Carolina barbecue. The style east of Raleigh and Durham is made from the whole hog and served with a thin vinegar- and pepper sauce. On the other hand, west of Raleigh and Durham the barbecue is mostly pork shoulder and served with a tomato-based sauce. Coleslaw is standard; as with the meat and sauce, the slaw differs as well. In the eastern part of the state, the slaw is mayonnaise-based; elsewhere, the slaw is vinegar-based. The latter does wonders in cutting the richness of the pork, and is the one I make.

The recipe is very simple. Chop the cabbage into small pieces. You can do this with a food processor. Alternately, you can buy a bag of pre chopped coleslaw mix. Stir together ketchup, cider vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, and hot sauce for a dressing. Pour the dressing over the cabbage and stir well. The mixture shouldn’t be soggy, as the salt and sugar will pull water out of the cabbage. Chill the slaw at least one hour or overnight.

My coworker was happy to see the coleslaw for his pulled pork. He’d smoked two shoulders for 14 hours in his pellet smoker. The cooked meat was warmed up all morning in a slow cooker before the potluck, so our break room was fragrant with the aroma of pork. I explained that the traditional way to use the coleslaw is to put it on top of the pork in a burger bun. My colleagues were dubious, but many of them tried it – and liked it. The vegetarians were content to eat the slaw sans barbecue. Another successful potluck.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/08/30/carolina-coleslaw/

Aug 22

Hound of the Woodinvilles

Woodinville, the town to the east of Bothell, is basset hound crazy. Every year they hold a Basset Bash to celebrate the breed. It was originally held the Saturday nearest April Fools’ Day, but the organizers thought better of it when that date was rainy and cold for several years. (A park redolent with the smell of wet dog is not a pleasant thought.) It’s now held in mid-August, which is more congenial to both human and hound. This year’s Basset Bash was last weekend. I rode through the park earlier in the day. I didn’t see any bassets, but I could hear them barking.

Basset hound statue in downtown Woodinville.

Julian and I were musing about the basset hounds’ plans for world domination. (Yeah, right.) Here is what we came up with for the Basset Manifesto.

  • Outlaw cats. My mother’s basset Clementine would have concurred with this bullet point. My 20-pound barn cat Shamus abused her horribly back in the day. When Clem was pregnant with her first litter of pups, Shamus used to sit on a stool in the kitchen and whack her on the butt as she waddled by. (Believe me, there are few things more pathetic than a pregnant basset hound just before whelping.)
  • Position a sofa on every block. Hey, being walked is hard work. And there should be a kibble dispenser next to the sofa.
  • Position two fire hydrants on every block. Not only is walking hard work, the bladder of a male basset hound is about the size of a walnut. Territory must be marked. Granted, the only other dogs marking the low end of the fire hydrant are chihuahuas, pugs, and Yorkshire terriers, but a basset hound can outspritz any of them.
  • Curbs should be no more than four inches high. Those curb cuts are never where the hound wants to get on or off the sidewalk anyway.
  • Any tasty table scraps or leftovers automatically go to the basset hound. This is an obesity prevention maneuver – for humans, not hounds.
  • The cushiest seat or bed in the house belongs to the basset hound. The human has to attempt to squeeze onto the room that remains.

    A future Master of the Universe – not. From the 2013 Basset Bash, courtesy of Julian.

    Luka and Neli: Pay no attention to this picture. Also from the 2013 Basset Bash.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/08/22/hound-of-the-woodinvilles/

Aug 19

Grilled Pizza and Gridiron

The Seattle Seahawks had a Friday night exhibition game, and it was my night to provide dinner. I had a hankering for pizza, but knew that every pizza joint in western Washington would be slammed. Therefore, I took matters into my own hands.
I’ve grilled pizza several times before. It sounds more imposing than it is. Make a standard-issue pizza crust dough. The dough shouldn’t be slack (wet). Let it rise until doubled, then stretch the dough out to shape. Heat up the grill, grease the grates well, and slide the circle/rectangle/whatever of dough on the grill. Cover the grill and let the crust cook for about 3-5 minutes. The grill should be hot – 400° or higher. With tongs, turn the crust over to finish cooking. While that’s occurring, you can spread on the tomato sauce, add cheese, pepperoni, etc. Cover the grill again and let cook about 5 minutes more until the cheese is oozy. Carefully ease the pizza off the grill onto a cutting board, baking pan, or pizza peel and chow down.

I opted to make pizza Margherita, since I had extra sauce in the fridge and a bumper crop of basil. I stopped on the way home to pick up some mozzarella cheese and other provisions. Julian came up from the office as I set the dough aside to rise. “When is this pizza going to enter my belly?” he asked. “About the end of the first quarter,” I replied. Actually, the pizza was done midway through the first quarter. A fine accompaniment to watching the home team win.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/08/19/grilled-pizza-and-gridiron/

Aug 09

Cider

On a jaunt to Issaquah last weekend I noticed a farm store that sold cider pressed on the premises. Given that real apple cider is one of the things I miss the most about upstate New York, I pulled in on the way home. We were treated to a tasting of four different ciders. We bought a half-gallon of one made from a mixture of apple varieties grown on the farm. We also bought some ice cream. Since we were still about 20 minutes away from home, Julian wrapped the ice cream in his fleece jacket to keep it cold. Finding the cider stand was the highlight of the excursion. We’ll go back there.

It’s a mystery to me that, as many apples are grown in Washington, you have to hunt to find fresh pressed, non-alcoholic, unpasteurized cider. My first year here I asked a clerk at a (now defunct) grocery store to show me where I could find the cider. She showed me the shelf-stable, pasteurized product. FEH! You may as well drink water with a little caramel coloring added.

I asked the owner of the cider stand why I couldn’t find unpasteurized cider in grocery stores. He said it was health department regulations. He can only sell his cider on premises, even though a neighboring hotel would love to serve it. This stems from the infamous E. coli incident involving a major organic juice company. They were pressing apples dropped on the ground in a barn open to the elements, flies, and aerosolized bacteria from the nearby cow pasture. My home state of New York passed a law in 2006 mandating pasteurization of cider after an E. coli episode from a producer. This web page explains the law.

Of course, pathogens aren’t the only microbes that can grow in cider. So does yeast, which produces alcohol. The hard cider business is booming in Washington and elsewhere. Some enterprising grad students of my acquaintance pre-pasteurization law would get fresh cider from the grocery store that had passed the sell-by date and run it through the laboratory still. Voilà, apple brandy.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/08/09/cider/

Aug 09

The Multipurpose Cucumber Salad

Cucumber salads are a regular feature at dinner here. I often make one to balance a heavier main dish. They require no heat, so you can make them when the temperature’s well over 90°. They can also help keep you hydrated on hot days, since cucumbers are mostly water. Cucumber salads are ubiquitous among cuisines, so you can tweak the ingredients to go with almost anything.
Our standard template for a cucumber salad includes the following ingredients:

Cucumber(s). We use the standard grocery store or plastic-wrapped Persian cucumbers. If you can find or grow other varieties, use them. If the skin is wax-coated, peel the cucumber. You may also want to seed the cucumber by halving it lengthwise and running a teaspoon underneath the seeds. Persian cucumbers don’t require seeding or peeling. You can slice the cucumbers or grate them. If you do the latter, it’s customary to squeeze out and discard the excess liquid. One good-sized cucumber makes enough salad for the two of us for dinner, with some left over for lunch the next day.
Salt and sugar. You don’t need much of either. The purpose is to draw liquid out of the cucumber pieces.
An allium. You can use plain or sweet onion of any color, garlic, scallions, shallots, or chives. Whatever’s handy will work.
An acid. This is for flavor. We usually use rice vinegar, but you can use cider, white wine, or other vinegar. Lemon or lime juice can be substituted for vinegar. The classic Greek tzatziki uses yogurt as the acid.
Oil isn’t necessary, but you can add a flavorful variety. For example, you can add sesame oil for a northern Asian salad, or olive oil for a salad with a Mediterranean vibe.
Herbs and spices. This is the fun part. Here are a few things we’ve used over the years: Parsley, cilantro, mint, basil (Italian or Thai), thyme, five-spice powder, or dried Italian seasoning.
Other flavors. You can use soy or fish sauce in place of some of the salt. I added both black and white sesame seeds in my latest iteration. Chiles (fresh, dried, powdered, or pickled) can also be added. We’ve added chopped peanuts just before serving.
Now that you’ve settled on the ingredients, slice or grate the cucumber. Mix with a little salt and sugar. Stir in the allium, acid, oil (if using), any dried herbs, and other flavors. Let sit for about 1/2 hour while you’re making the rest of dinner. I usually add fresh herbs shortly before serving to keep them green. (Often mint and basil discolor if added too early.) Refrigeration isn’t necessary if you’re grilling something quick, such as steak or burgers; otherwise, put the salad in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
Cucumber salads are fast, easy, and versatile. They’re a great way to use up herbs or onion halves you have left in the vegetable bin. You can concoct any combination of ingredients you like. Just make sure you make enough to go around.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/08/09/the-multipurpose-cucumber-salad/

Aug 03

Upper Deck Dinner

I’ve been doing much of the cooking lately, courtesy of Julian’s cataract surgeries. They went well, but his current eyeglass prescription has been rendered moot. Last night I grilled some chicken thighs, eggplant, and home-grown Padron peppers. Three of the peppers and 1/4 of the eggplant were left over. In addition, I had to whack back my Italian basil plants. So tonight’s dinner was pasta with pesto and a mixed veggie salad.

I’ve been making pesto for years, so no recipe was needed. I buzzed 2 cups of basil leaves, 4 cloves of garlic, a hunk of Parmesan cheese, some pine nuts from the freezer, and some olive oil in the food processor. I got the pasta boiling and worked on the salad. I sliced the peppers and scooped the eggplant into a bowl. I then added a sliced tomato and some frozen roasted corn kernels that I thawed in the microwave. I mixed this all together with some white wine vinegar and Italian seasoning. By this time, the pasta was done and we sat down to eat. I picked some of the red shiiso leaves from my plant as a bed for the salad.

Julian was impressed. “Good gemisch.” High praise.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/08/03/upper-deck-dinner/

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