Beet Borscht

One of my favorite memories from childhood was going to to Lindy's with my dad. The restaurant was large and noisy, the walls were covered with photos of movie stars. Waiters were rushing about and there was a feeling of being at an enormous party. I remember sitting up particularly straight so I could see everything that was going on.
The foods were familiar, Jewish and delicious.
They had an enormous menu. I remember ordering beet borscht and a wonderful apple pancake.

My grandmother had always made the classic Russian cabbage and meat borscht. But prior to this I had only had beet borscht from a jar we bought at the grocery store.  Beet borscht at Lindy's  came not only the standard sour cream but also, with a hot boiled potato! I had never seen it this way and when I put a bit of the hot potato into the soup it was nothing short of miraculous!


I am including  a link  here to a description of the venerable Lindy's that  I visited so long ago with my dad.

http://nyapril1946.blogspot.com/2010/09/lindys-already-legendary-in-1946.html

Beet Borscht

3 large boiling beets
cover with water
Sour Salt, (dried citric acid, available at gourmet stores) or lemon juice
Salt
Potato
Sour Cream
Dill


Wash and scrub beets. Cover beets with water. Add salt and boil. Remove the beets and slip the skins off in cold water. Grate the beets, either a food processor or a medium sized hole of a box grater will do..Rubber gloves will be handy here.
Put the grated beet back into the cooking water. Starting with 1 teaspoon of sour salt or a tablespoon or two of lemon juice and then add some granulated sugar  stirring and adding a little at a time alternating sour salt and sugar if necessary, until you have a tart but not too tart sweet sour taste. Add a little salt if necessary. Chill well and serve with a large dollop of sour cream and a hot boiled potato with a bit of chopped dill
Note: sugar can be replaced with agave syrup or stevia and there is  very good fat free sour cream which I use.

Quick Summer Lobster Salad

My simple summer cottage has the smallest stove on the planet.

 So I thought I would use the local takeouts to help me in my quest for easy and good food. Also..as often is the case.. I am on a diet so I am eating strategically today.

Tonight I am seeing a movie and lecture so I needed to figure out how I could eat early as my diet demands. My solution is to eat breakfast a little late and then skip lunch but have Linner..is that a word??

 Last night's dinner was a lobster and some corn..The local fish market The ClamMan http://www.clamman.com/
very nice people.. steamed me a lobster. Not knowing how much I could eat, I ordered a pound and a half. But I could only finish the claws and legs. So I saved the tail and all those tiny legs for today.

I went online and found a recipe for that cold leftover lobster,  lovely lobster salad. Here is the basic recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tarragon-Lobster-Salad-105219

I chose it because I love tarragon with lobster and had brought some out from my tiny city herb garden. If you don't have lobster you could easily substitute shrimp or scallops or take it in another direction completely and used chicken or turkey. You might try basil instead of tarragon.

I did not follow the recipe to the letter; rather I picked the lobster meat reserving it in a small bowl..then with a mini food processor I chopped my tarragon and after did my shallots. I eyeballed how much mayo, lemon juice and pepper and mixed it with the shallots and tarragon and added the  lobster. The picture shows some baby red oak leaf lettuce I got in the city and small yellow tomatoes..I wasn't really keen on the tomatoes you might be but if not  I encourage you to try other garnishes..I could imagine a bit of crumbled bacon or maybe some very sweet melon. Cooking is like that! Experiment! Wing it!

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. 

Listen to Heritage Radio Network

Heritage Radio Network is the source on up to date food and drink. Started by Patrick Martins the founder of Slow Food USA, (which world wide was started in Italy, my favorite place) The station is an online station with a searchable archive of shows/interviews with the most currently important cookers, brewers, food writers, cheese mongers etc. in America. It operates out of two shipping containers in the back yard of Roberta's, a legendary Brooklyn restaurant. I think you are going to love this.

http://www.HeritageRadioNetwork.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/Heritage_Radio

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Grits; With Many Thanks to Miss Edna Lewis and Mr. Scott Peacock

About a month ago, I took a far too brief trip down South for the very first time. I traveled to South Carolina and Georgia. I was after a pair of rare John Vesey chairs that I did not win at auction, darn! Someone else also spotted them!  So I spent the rest of that weekend exploring Southern architecture,  Southern culture and of course the distinctive cuisine.

 Eating gluten-free I am particularly interested in the many other grains that have no gluten.  Southern cooking utilizes both corn and rice and buckwheat. Grits are served all over the South and with just about everything. Down South for three days they were served to me three times. 

For those of you who swear that grits taste akin to cardboard mush, I can attest to having eaten grits that tasted like that. It was not until I was having a late lunch at the bar of a Savannah Georgia restaurant; Vic's on the River,  that I had my first taste of sublime sweet creamy grits. Served as the base of "Wild Georgia Shrimp over Stone-Ground Grits with Tasso Gravy". It was a revelation!  You can make the same dish if you  buy their cookbook. It is published by Billy Bob's, Inc in Savanah and can be purchased by writing to vicsontheriver@aol.com or calling 912-721-1000.

Grits come in different versions; White, Yellow or Mixed. They come regular, instant, quick or Stone-Ground. Here are a couple of resources for great grains and grits;

No discussion of sources would be complete without pointing you in the direction of Anson Mills; a stone-ground producer with a national following. Here is the URL where you can order online some of their renowned artisanal products; http://www.ansonmills.com/

The city of Columbia SC has a great food reputation; Here is the URL for their slow food site which has links many interesting producers from whom you can order quite an array of tasty southern treats. http://www.slowfoodcolumbia.org/

Currently I am working my way through the 2 pound bag of yellow/white grits I purchased down south from Palmetto Farms ; whose URL is http://palmettofarms.com/

Logan Turnpike Mills

1-800-84 Grits

706-745-5735

http://www.loganturnpikemill.com/

J.T. Pollard Milling Company

334-588-3391

My son Max, who takes his food very seriously says my grits are wonderful.

My method for cooking the grits is taken from the wonderful book of southern cooking called; The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock.  Miss. Lewis, was the doyenne of Southern Cooking.  Mr. Peacock; many decades her junior, met Miss. Lewis  in 1988, while he was the executive chef at the Georgia Governor's Mansion.  They collaborated on her fourth book, became the close friends, colleagues and eventually housemates as Mr. Peacock lived with and tended to Ms. Lewis in the last six years of her life. Miss. Lewis passed away in 2006. To read more about Miss Lewis and also Mr. Peacock, here is her obituary from The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/national/14lewis.html?pagewanted=all

Here is their recipe for making basic grits.

Old-Fashioned Creamy Grits

Makes enough for 4-6

2 Cups water, or more

2 Cups milk, or more

1 Cup stone-ground or regular, (note: I am using stone ground)

Kosher salt

1/4 Cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Heat the 2 cups of water and milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until just simmering. While the milk is heating, put the grits in a large mixing bowl and cover with cool water.. (If you are using regular girts, skip this step.) Stir the grits assertively so that the chaff floats to the top. Skim the surface carefully, and remove the chaff. Drain the grits in a fine strainer, and stir them into the simmering water and milk. Cook, stirring often, until the grits are tender to the bite and have thickened to the consistency of thick oatmeal. Regular grits are done in about 20 minutes, but stone-ground require an hour or a little more to cook, and you will have to add additional milk and water as needed. As the grits thicken, stir them more often to keep them from sticking and scorching. Season the grits generously with salt, and stir in the cream and butter. Remove from heat, and let rest covered, until serving. Serve hot. 

Note: Leftover grits can be reheated over low heat, stirring in a little hot milk or boiling water as needed to thin.

Mr. Peacock serves grits for breakfast with bacon and eggs or for supper with roast chicken braised lamb or veal shanks or braised beef short ribs or salmon croquettes.

Blogger's note: Grits are simply a soft mush of rich sweet corn. Thus it can be used as you wish and doctored as you wish. I do need to quote Miss. Lewis from her book in response to all the additions people were making to grits, she said; "People should really leave grits alone" In fact these grits are dynamite alone. 

But, being hungry for even more the what ifs start up in my mind. What if I used them to make something like a souffle or a custard or pancakes? Or what if I made them spicy or cheesy? Use your imagination but first..Just eat them plain, because plain may indeed be the best way to enjoy them.  I find these grits keep well in tupperware for at least a week in the refrigerator.

Sunday Lunch with Max

Tuna Salad, Homemade Mayonnaise and Asparagus with Ramps

Today's Sunday Lunch with the Executive Chef; better known as my son Max.
Max started cooking with me when he was a little boy as did his sister Laurel. Now each is an accomplished cook and all grown up and sometimes they cook for me!

So Sunday, Max was our guest chef. Our lunch wass made from what was found in the frig.

Lunch consisted of a tuna salad made with homemade mayonnaise and fresh herbs from the terrace along with asparagus with ramps, parmesan and balsamic vinegar. Max had real bread with his and I had a gluten free Challah from Udi's..it tasted like Challah but the structure was not anything to write home about, still as a gluten free substitute it was fine.

Home made Mayonnaise
ingredients:
1 egg yolk
lemon juice..or vinegar..according to taste..somewhere between 1/2 Tablespoon and half a lemon's worth
1 teaspoon poupon mustard
big pinch salt
2-3 Tablespoons of Canola Oil
Up to 1/4 Cup Fragrant Olive Oil

Method #1 Handwhisked
Whisk together yolk, juice, salt and mustard
Continue whisking adding canola oil by dripping slowly 2-3 Tablespoons in all..the trick is that at the beginning you must add the oil in tiny amounts and emulsify entirely before adding more. Eventually you will be able to add the oil in a steady stream but go slowly or it will never come together. Finally add olive oil; as much as 1/4 cup in a steady stream. You must decide how firm or loose you wish the mayonnaise to be, which will be determined by how much oil is added.

Method #2 Using an Immersion Blender
Place yolk and salt and vinegar/lemon juice and mustard into a ball jar
Gently pour over this all the oil
Placing the immersion blender at the bottom of the jar start it up and it will do all the work for you. Max says it takes 5 minutes and the blender creates a vortex. I have yet to buy one so I am taking his word for it.

Tuna Salad with Herbs

Drain a can of tuna. I like to buy line caught tuna which often comes from the Pacific North West. This is because it is very good quality and likely small fish which are lower in heavy metals than big ones.
Mash it with a fork. Dice some celery. Add chopped chives, chopped parsley and mix with the mayo.

Serve on lettuce or on toast or with a baguette. I used Udi's challah. I also heated a gluten free baguette from Schar; a european company. It did not come out right when I cooked it 5 minutes at 400 as instructed. It turned out a lot better when I left it in the cooling oven for a half hour. So I assume if I left it 10 minutes it might have been fine. It is a little scary that it has a shelf life months long.The texture was great considering that it is made gluten free, although it was  not yeasty like a real bagguette. I can't wait til some local bakery makes fresh gluten free breads. I hear that Le Pain Quotidien is experimenting!

Now for the Asparagus

Asparagus with Ramps

Toss cut up asparagus into a cast iron pan..or another good pan with a Tablespoon or so of good olive oil and the white bulb parts of the ramps. Once they are nicely cooked but still a bit too al dente add the leaf portions of the ramps and toss some more. Dress with a good aged balsamic vinegar and a bit of grated parmesan.