My Son Max

Everyone, this is Max. Max, this is Everyone

I’d like to introduce a fresh face to The Meat Market: Max Gitlen, our new butcher! Born and raised in Albany, Max grew up traveling between New York City, Upstate New York, and The Berkshires (he learned to ski at Butternut when he was three), soaking up the food-centricity of our region, and watching his mother craft a vegetable garden out of a vacant lot near their home. Though he studied architecture in school (Brown University) and toured as a DJ post graduation, he found he couldn’t stop thinking about the potentials of food. Putting aside the beats, Max began working at a Boston-based non-profit called The Food Project, one of the first organizations in the country that sought to unite youth of all stripes through the fun, frustrating business of farming. Seeking to spread the value of local farming even further, Max helped to set up a program that would match low income families’ food stamps at farmers’ markets. He noticed that despite a growing interest in sustainable food practice among his peers, there weren’t nearly enough people willing to get their hands dirty with the nitty gritty of sustainable food production. So, Max set out to get his hands dirty.
It was around this time that his father began raising sheep on a refurbished farm in Greenwich, NY, and Max was inspired; since most of the people he knew that were actively involved in food production were farming vegetables, he decided to focus on animals. As he put it, “if I’m part of a commune some day, someone’s going to have to bring the steaks.” He spent three months apprenticing at Formaggio’s Kitchen in Boston, learning the ins-and-outs of charcuterie production, then moved to New York and spent nine months with Liz Clark at Bubby’s, breaking down whole steer and pigs, before heading back to Rhode Island to work at Farmstead. The more he cut, the more he realized how all his interests seemed to funnel: from biology to architecture to environmental sustainability, all were aligned under the knife.

In many ways our shop espouses the very values he aspires to as a butcher. As he sees it, the key to sustainable meat production is local sourcing of whole animals, and the only way to do that viably is to have a solid business foundation that can take advantage of the whole animal; we agree, hence our extensive charcuterie program and fantastic cafe. As we talked, he noted how rare this type of business was, particularly outside a major city, and how tricky a business like this can be. He sees our business as an opportunity not only to provide a great product but to further the aspirations of local food, to provide the highest quality food to all people, to keep the lines visible between producer and customer, and to build a community that can thrive on these principles.

We here at The Meat Market are very excited to have him as part of the team, and he can’t wait to work with us, and with you, to make the shop better and better. “I’m excited about learning with our customers. We’re all in this together, we’re on the same team. I want the customer to go home with what they want, and I want to hear what works for them, what doesn’t, and how to make the experience better for everyone. It’s a collaboration between both sides of the counter, and it takes trust on both sides. I want to keep on learning, keep on experimenting, and bringing all that knowledge to the community.” Hear hear, Max, and welcome aboard!

FYI Max Gitlen is my Son! More on the Meat Market @ www.themeatmarketgb.com

How to make Schmaltz-Rendered Chicken Fat

Rendered Chicken Fat or Schmaltz

This recipe is for making a traditional ingredient of Jewish cooking. It is the eastern european version of lard. Used in seasoning, old timers also spread it on bread.

Remove excess fat from uncooked chicken. If you are preparing chickens you can remove this and store in the freezer until you have a small tupper ware full. It's best to rinse and then dry the fat before freezing.
When you're ready to make your rendered fat, dice it small. Place the pieces into a frying pan with a diced small yellow onion over low heat. Occasionally stir, keep it low so you do not burn it. When onions and fat are browned nicely..not burnt..strain the liquified fat so that the "gribbins" are separated from the fat. Put the fat into a tupperware container and refrigerate for later use or freeze. Real officianados love nibbling on the gribenes. One of my favorite gifts from my son Max is Michale Ruhlman's book, The Book of Schmaltz, love song to a forgotten fat. It is filled with wonderful stories and recipes

Nanny Pearl's Roast Chicken with Pan Gravy

I have been making roast chicken for over 45 years. It has a wonderful crisp skin and is simple to make. The basis for its spice rub is  schmaltz..rendered chicken fat with onions. The schmalz recipe is accessible via the link above and I've posted it separately.

I'm including information you may not see in all recipes, things like how to buy a good chicken. Please don't buy any old supermarket chicken. They are filled with antibiotics and grown in horrid conditions. Aside from how inhumane that is, chickens grown like that taste terrible.  Buy an organic free range chicken. If you can buy it from the farmer who grew it that's best. If not buy it where they sell pasture raised, antibiotic free.

Clean the chicken. Wash in cool water. Dry thoroughly inside and out with an old clean kitchen towel. In order to proceed it cannot be slimy wet. One trick is to put it on a rack uncovered in the refrigerator for a few hours. It will lose any hint of water on its skin and be ready for seasoning. The picture below showin pin feathers remaining on the bird. These can be fluffed upward with the hand and then with a lit wooden match burnt off. Use a needle nose pliers or tweezer to remove the remaining quills you might find around the openings of the bird or on legs or wings.

Once you've cleaned it to your satisfaction check for excessive amounts of fat at the openings and grasping firmly pull away from the bird. Save the fat for making schmaltz. You can accumulate this fat in your freezer and then make the schmaltz and freeze it for when you need it.

This is the basic recipe for Nanny Pearl's spice rub :

One or two tablespoons schmaltz
one tablespoon or less kosher salt
a large garlic clove pressed thru a garlic press
paprika..maybe two or more teaspoons
fresh ground pepper..to taste
two teaspoons flour..or substitute flour for gluten-free results
mix all together with a tiny bit of warm water..1/2 teaspoon or so

When the chicken is dry as you can make it, rub it all over with the rub. I keep surgical gloves around for this but otherwize expect your hands to be a bit garlicy for a few hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the seasoned chicken on a rack, in a pan. If you don't have a roasting pan or a rack placing it into a pre-heated cast iron skillet will also do..breast side up

Cook roughly an hour and a half..testing
to test there are a few ways to test for doneness
press the drumsticks with fingers..are they soft and yielding? Wiggle drumsticks in joints..they should move fairly freely without much resistance. With a pairing knife make a slit where the drumstick meets the body and open and press enough to see if the juices look very bloody or red or clear..a little pink at the joint is desireable..lots of red is not. If you want to be really accurate, you can use a digital meat thermometer. My Son Max who is a butcher prefers his chicken breasts cooked to 145 degrees and the legs to 160.

Cooking Notes:
I prefer some pink left in the joints of the bird. See the photo at the beginning to see the color at the joint of the leg..you could let it cook just slightly more but if you do the breast will likely be dry.

These days I spatchcock and cook the bird in a cast iron skillet.  Spatchcocking is removing the backbone and flattening the bird. It cooks faster that way and more evenly.  To spatchcock the bird. Hold it on a board with its tail on the board and backbone facing you. With a sharp strong knife cut on either side of the backbone and carefully remove it. Turn the chicken breast side up onto the board and press down firmly on the breasts to flatten it. Then season and arrange backbone side down in a pan and continue to cook.

To Make Pan Gravy

Remove the chicken from the pan. Scrape as much of the crusty stuff off the rack and into the pan as you can. Remove most of the grease careful to leave the drippings.
While the pan is warm or room temperature add liquid maybe a cup or so. The liquid can be water, broth or wine/vermouth..white is best or white vermouth if no wine is available or any combination of the above. Using a whisk scratch up the bottom of the pan into the liquid. Gradually strain 2 Tablespoons of flour (I have used rice flour or gluten-free substitutes and it works fine) into the gravy, (use Cup4Cup by Tom Keller or other good gf flour, if you are gluten free). Bean based flour makes bean tasting gravy. A little at a time mix it into the liquid quickly so no lumps occur..then slowly heat to a boil until the desired consistency is reached. If there are resulting lumps you can always strain it out at the end. If you think you need more liquid just whisk it in as you go. I have at times enriched this gravy with boiled liver, neck meat and heart..chopped.

Cooking Notes:
I like to take the liver, heart, neck etc and cover in water adding a cut up carrot, small onion and piece of celery. Cook low heat, skim the scum. Strain and use this as your liquid in the gravy. You can still start it by adding a little wine. 

Turkey Stew from Leftovers

If you have a lot of things in the frig and some meat or poultry this is a method to re-use all those leftovers.
Seasoning it depends on what you have and is often best as a trial and error process.

Here is what I started with. Left overs in my refrigerator were: carrot and celery sticks from an open house at the shop. a small amount of sauteed onions, sauteed leeks and sauteed bell peppers, turkey. So here is what I did. Chopped the carrots and celery and added chopped onion, added salt and pepper. Sauteed all in a bit of olive oil. When softened I added a chopped red bell pepper. (if I had some mushrooms I would have added them too) Then I added in the leeks, onions and red peppers that were previously sauteed. As it browned a bit I tossed in some WhiteVermouth to deglaze the pot, ( could have used water wine or chicken broth). Next I added the turkey that I had cut into cubes, then a small amount of tomato paste from the refrigerator and a can of peeled italian plum tomatoes, crushed. I put in some parsley from the terrace and a bit of tarragon. After tasting and thinking it needed something I added a bit of ground cloves. Finally at the end I added a bag of frozen peas from the freezer. At this point It is a turkey stew, which could be covered with an number of crusts or bisquit dough. I made a corn bread to accompany and took it to a pot luck supper with my high school friends. There was enough left over to package into individual tupperware containers that I froze for future meals. If you have left over steak or pot roast this can work too. I dont thicken with flour as it is less fattening to use a bit of tomato paste or nothing at all and just reduce the liquid a bit. You could also add cubed potatoes or cooked dried beans to this and even some wilted dark leafy greens for a different version.

Quick Stewed Chicken Breast with Cilantro

Here is an easy way to have nice stewed chicken around for lunches or dinners. Using chicken breasts that are on the bone will give deeper chickeny flavor to this quick dish.

Buy 4 chicken breasts and take the skin off..skin is mostly fat..and with a cleaver chop each piece in half. This will give you 8 pieces each between 3 and 4 ounces a piece..which is about a proper portion if you are watching your intake.
Salt and pepper each piece. Using a Tablespoon of olive oil brown the pieces over med-high heat..just so the red outsides turn white and lightly golden. Remove from the pan lower the heat to medium and add a medium chopped onion and minced clove of garlic. Cook til softened. add chopped stems of a half bunch of cilantro cook briefly. Then add 2/3 cup of either white wine or dry vermouth and the same amount of chicken broth..bring to boil and scrape the pan a bit to de-glaze it. Then add the chicken pieces back in, cover and cook low turning every once in a while until the pieces are tender. Make sure you continue to have a nice sauce..if it starts to dry add more liquid or even water ..you want to have some to spoon over the chicken and rice after it is cooked. To serve garnish chicken with cilantro leafs and serve with either cooked quinoa or wild rice. A simple salad or cooked green vegetable will make this a well rounded healthy meal.

Rabbit Stufada

Rabbit is full of flavor and low fat! It is easy to prepare and found in many places..around here Citarella always has it as do Stew Leonards.
The recipe I use is from a cook in Crete.
It is very easy and I freeze extra for later.
Cut up the rabbit or have the butcher do that for you. You want 6-8 pieces.
Dry the pieces ..salt and pepper
Brown in a tablespoon or two of olive oil
Once browned add
a can of tomato sauce
a bunch of peeled pearl onions..red ones are really good..
Half a bottle of red wine
a cinnamon stick
a bay leaf
Slowly cook til tender falling off the bone
This goes nicely with a little boiled quinoa

A salad might be made of wild baby arugula 4 or 5 broken walnuts and dressed in oil and vinegar salt and pepper

nutritional content of rabbit
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2442/2

Beet Greens from the Farmer's Market with Turkey

Leftover Salad

So at Passover I cooked up some lamb shanks..in red wine forever..a little to forever as I slightly burned them. I also made some chick peas thinking to make a chick pea and lamb recipe..but I never did so now I had both and they were aging in the frig..

I am of the opinion we should eat what we want..if the item is fattening then eat tiny portions but have some.

Here is what I did.
Using a bit of good aged balsamic I took tiny bits of the meat..heated up..and chick peas..also heated up. Then I let them sit while I put the last of the salad greens from Passover with some sliced fennel and slices of red pepper and half an apple. I sliced the fennel and apple with my Benriner.. more on this wonderful tool later..I tossed a tablespoon of good olive oil and a bit more balsamic and then added the peas and lamb. It made for a delicious and a little rich salad..I used only a tablespoon or two of chick peas and of lamb so it wasn't a diet breaker..it just tasted like one.

more water..must keep hydrating..

Turkey Wrapped Sweet Potato and Fennel Salad, Bean and Kale Soup

Started the day off with Oatmeal..

recipe

1/2 cup Bob's Red Hill organic extra thick rolled oats..The best I have found!

1 cup of water

boil quickly til almost dry..watch the pot or you will burn it

add hot skim milk, agave syrup, a little currents and a little sliced almonds

Coffee with hot skim milk and Agave syrup

low glycemic agave syrup tastes great and doesn't spike your glycemic levels. It is the same calories as you get in cane sugar but doesn't have the effect of making you hungrier later as does cane sugar

Lunch

Salad:

mixed mescalun greens with shavings of fresh fennel dressed with lemon juice and good tasting extra virgin olive oil pepper and a few flakes of sea salt

Shopping in New York City is a joy

Fairway allows you to taste different olive oils daily and sells large great bottles for 12 to 15 dollars..your food is only as good as the individual ingredients you use..especially if the recipe is simple and ingredient driven

Main Course

a sly diet copy of a recipe by Mark Bittman seen on video at the NYT.com website..he makes sweet potato wrapped with proscuito

Sweet potatoes are recommended in stage two South Beach Diet because they are not as starchy as white potatoes and again are low on the glycemic index..something integral to the diet, so I decided to slightly change Mr. Bittman's recipe substituting turkey bacon for the somewhat higher fat of proscuitto.

Here is what I made

peel and slice a medium sweet potato

parboil til medium tender..not too much so it stays together and can be baked again

roll in a bit of olive oil and salt very slightly as the bacon is already salty

place a fresh sage leaf against the potato and wrap a slice of applegate farms turkey bacon around each piece laying them loosely into a baking pan..drizzle a tiny bit more oil into the pan and rotating the pan around to distribute oil under the wraps.

bake 450 for 20 or so minutes..you want little crusty edges to form. I had three of the wraps which was quite filling for lunch after eating the salad and will have the remaining 3 pieces next week for a lunch. or even for breakfast.

the potato is about 170 calories..half ends up one serving and the bacon is 35 calories per slice with 1.5 grams of fat so a serving for lunch might amount to more or less 300 calories!

skipped the gym today as it was pouring all day

Dinner at 7 pm a little late

Bean and Kale Soup

I cut the leaves off and put just the leaves in boiling water to parboil. Then I lifted the leaves from the pot put them in a colander and ran cold water over them to cool..then squeezed out the water and chopped up..then reduced the water to about 5 cups of liquid.

Next, in a tablespoon of oil I sauteed a medium onion and two minced cloves of garlic and salt, adding a bit of broth and a bit of water, two cans of navy beans two sprigs of rosemary two sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf as well as enough of the reduced water to cover the beans simmer 20 minutes or so. Then I put it all into my cuisinart after removing the rosemary, thyme and bayleaf and puree the beans and liquid in batches til smooth. I put it back in a pot and added the kale strips to warm it..if you need extra liquid add kale stock or a bit of water.season with lots of pepper and salt to taste.

I like it topped with croutons. Just a few..this is after all a diet!

Fried croutons

a small piece of french bread I took from the freezer and thawed.

in a small frying pan, I cooked a clove of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil. Removed the clove of garlic and I added the bread cut into croutons. Cooked slowly til brown. Just before it is ready turn off heat and cool in the pan then drain them on paper. When they are cool they can be stored in the cupboard in a covered glass jar.

Kept drinking my water..lots of water is really good for a diet.

Tomorrow morning cardio then Yoga.

And I have lots of leftovers for meals.

Turkey Meatballs, Quinoa Cereal, Kale Soup,

So the diet is going very well. Thanks to blogging I am staying focused and I have lost 5.5 pounds since Wednesday! Most of this is water loss as it is not reasonable to assume it to be fat but it is an exceptional start for me.  For breakfast I made quinoa as a cereal. Quinoa is an ancient grain that has the highest quantity of protein of any grain..It is thought of as a supergrain and tasty and easy to make. You can read about it on the web or if you want to know about grains there is a wonderful book called Whole Grains by Lorna Sass which has lots of information about all those grains we should know more about and start incorporating into our meals. I put the quinoa in a strainer and wash with cold water a few times. Then I cook it in lots of boiling water til it is plumped up.. 15 minutes or less.  then just strain it and use or put into tupperware and refrigerate,for use later. Don't cook til mush as it is not as pleasant that way. The first time I cooked it I saw white threads in it which I thought were worms in the grain and tossed it out. These are the parts of the grain/seed that would sprout! I find it a tasty grain for cereals and salads and will include recipes for you as I go. For cereal I put about half a cup cooked and mix with hot skim milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, sliced almonds and currents. Btw cinnamon is good for lowering cholesterol. Use the nuts and currents thoughtfully. While they are good for you too they are not low cal. This is one of those breakfasts that gives me lots of energy!

Lunch was a mug of bean and kale soup made over the weekend with a few croutons.

Dinner was a salad of greens and cucumbers, fennel, tomato, with a great fat free dressing I learned from the Canyon Ranch people.

And meatballs

Turkey Meatballs

a 1.3 pound package of lean ground turkey. 2 eggs, ¾ cut freshly made breadcrumbs 2 tablespoons chopped italian parsley, salt and pepper

mix all together lightly

in a medium large skillet place 3 tablespoons olive oil and two crushed garlic cloves..Heat til cloves are lightly browned. Discard the cloves and over medium heat fry meatballs.. as one side browns turn carefully with a wooden spoon. You should have made about 36 small size meatballs and they should fit comfortably in the skillet. When they are browned on all sides, drain as much of the fat as it possible. Then add chicken broth to halfway up the sides of the meatballs and a cup of chopped canned Italian tomato. Cook rolling the meat balls in the broth over medium low heat until it forms a light covering with a little sauce with bits of tomoatoe in it.

Serving size is 6 meatballs per person. There are roughly 6 grams of fat per serving and about 200 calories.

Fat Free Dressing for salads Green or Quinoa

mix together 1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 cups apple cider 

1/4 cup of agave syrup

2 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon of sea salt

put it all in a jar in the frig and remove the cinnamon after marinating over night. It seems to keep indefinitely in my frig.

Morning snack was an apple I grabbed on my way to 30 minutes of cardio
evening snack was not health food but good for my sweet tooth..fat free no sugar instant vanilla pudding with a teaspoon of rum and some nutmeg..think fake eggnog!

Bean Taco and Chicken Curry and Plum Omelette

Got up this morning thinking I wanted a sweet breakfast..Sundays always seem to be days for french toast or pancakes..That would definitely mess up my plans for weight loss. I decided to make an old favorite. Ricotta and Plum Omelette
Here is the recipe:

Using the egg white omelette directions from an earlier blog.Make the egg white omelette. place good ricotta cheese in small pieces over the surface of the omelette and then add two or three teaspoons of sugarless jam..I used plum..lift out the omelette and fold on the plate..dip a fok into a jar of honey and let drip into jar then quickly wave over the top of the omelette and attach some sliced almonds to it..salt and pepper to taste..Yum!

I use Ricotta from a company called Salvatore Brooklyn.

www.salvatorebklyn.com

it has 40 calories per ounce and 3 grams of fat. I use just a small amount..less than one ounce and I buy it at the Essex Street Market



Then off to yoga class..boy am in inflexible..But, I am working on it.

Lunch was Bean Taco..this time with lots of cilantro and 1/4 cup cut up avocado and lots of fresh jalapeno.. Note the jalapeno is optional but remember if you like spice it speeds your metabolism and makes you prone to drinking more water. You can see the basic recipe for the taco in an earlier blog.

the delicious tortilla I use, made by Buenatural has 47 calories per tortilla and less than a gram of fat. it is available at the Essex Street Market and costs $1.79 for 12 tortillas. They are organic and made of stone ground corn..

web address is www.buenofoods.com

After lunch and posting to the blog I went to the gym and walked/jogged on the treadmill for 20 minutes..

I needed a snack before dinner..a cup of no fat vanilla yogurt with a few sliced almonds..I like stoney field organic..I'm partial to vanilla..which I also use as a sauce for berries and lemon and coffee..I dont like the chocolate as it has too much flavored gunk on the bottom of the cup.

Dinner was Chicken curry with Brown Rice Cake

Slice thin, across the grain, two or three ounces of partially frozen boneless skinless chicken breast. In an iron pan or teflon add a teaspoon or so of olive oil..cook briefly just to whiten. Remove from pan..add another teaspoon oil and cook, vegetables that you have lying around in the frig..I had..red peppers..sliced 1/8 inch thick and celery I cut on the Benriner, an inexpensive useful tool from japan..more on this one later. I added a teaspoon of curry powder and a pinch of ground cloves and a shake of ginger and mixed it up. Then I added water to keep it from burning and reduced it. When the water was drying and the veggies were not yet cooked I added more liquid. Here you can use imagination..water, chicken broth, white wine or vermouth even a little cider vinegar..but if you use vinegar don't use cast iron or you will ruin the seasoning of the pan. Next I added small pieces of fresh mango and a touch of hot sauce. When the veggies were al dente I added the chicken back just to heat through as they are very thin thats all they need..I leave a small amount of "sauce" in the mix.

I had brown rice cakes in the freezer and cooked them direct from the freezer in a slow/medium no stick pan with a thin coating of oil..maybe two teaspoons..

I make these cakes from leftover brown rice

1 cup brown rice
1 egg white
mix
add grated parmesan and 2 tablespoons low or no fat cottage cheese..I like axelrod cottage cheese the best but any brand will work..use good parmesan as it has the best flavor.
then I take about a 1/4 cup or a little less of the mix and place it into wax paper and fold it up after flattening the mixture to a square roughly 3.5 inches and about 1/2 inch thick. I then put these packages in the freezer and use as needed. I cook them until brown and crunchy on each side.

Last snack was a half grapefruit. Grapefruits are great diet foods and if you get great ones they need no sugar at all.