My wife made baklava the other day to bring in to a potluck at her office.  I’ve had so many soggy, over-sweetened, stale pieces of baklava that I wasn’t so sure of it at first.  One bite later I was a convert.  It was light, flaky, and had just enough sweetness.  The triple-threat combination of almonds, pistachios, and walnuts really elevated it.  Go get some phyllo dough and make this (she used Alton Brown’s recipe).

If you’re coming here from Chambanamoms (welcome!), where I am an occasional contributor, you’ve already seen my take on a vegetarian main dish for St. Patrick’s Day.  If not, go read about that Guinness tofu stew, and learn about my opinion on “authentic” St. Patty’s Day food.

As I touch on there, the food that grocery stores shove down our throats is pre-packaged corned (cured) beef brisket with limp cabbage.  It doesn’t have to be a bad dish, but I haven’t seen it prepared well yet.  Besides that, I’ve been trying (as Chambanamoms editor, Amy, has) to incorporate more meatless meals into our diet.  It can often be cheaper, much healthier, and if you’ve read books about how food is produced in this country (like Michael Pollan’s excellent In Defense of Food) you know that it may be a much more responsible dining option.

I had most of the ingredients for this meal already at home, but if my math is right, I can pick up everything for this meal at the coop, getting all organic produce (and supporting a local business), and still have a complete dinner for four for less than the cost of a bad piece of corned brisket at the grocery store.  And I’d still have to buy more stuff for the sides.

Even if the weather here is warming up, nothing says comforting like a stew.  It’s too bad that most stews cook so long that everything can end up tasting the same.  This meal came together while thinking about making something that was quick and easy, yet packed with lots of flavor (something many vegetarian meals lack).

You can read about how we introduced a lot of flavor into the stew, with umami flavor bombs like soy sauce.  Root vegetables are easier though, since you can just throw them in the oven.  Parsnips are one of my new favorite vegetables, and one that most people overlook.  They look like carrots, but are usually a pale yellowish color on the outside.  You can peel them and treat them just like carrots, but they are a little starchier, which lends well to roasting.

Roasted Parsnips

side/garnish for 4

• 8 parsnips, carrot-sized, a little less than 1 pound
• olive oil, to coat
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 T flour

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel the parsnips and cut on the bias into 1/4 to 1/2-inch slices.
3. In a bowl, toss parsnips with olive oil, salt, and pepper, until they are all coated.
4. Add flour, and toss to give each slice a good dusting of flour.
5. Spread out on a (foil-lined for easier cleanup) sheet pan, and roast for about 30 minutes, or until they soften and the edges start to brown.

We all know that potatoes and cabbage are very traditional Irish staple ingredients.  There is an old dish that is typically served around Halloween, according to Wikipedia, called colcannon.  It really boils down to mashed potatoes with cabbage (or kale).  Most recipes I’ve seen have you boil the cabbage.  This is a travesty.  Boiling cabbage tends to make it soggy and limp, devoid of flavor.  Worse yet, most recipes suggest overcooking it, which makes it stink and taste bad from the sulfur compounds it contains.

Here we use just a little water with a little oil, steam until it’s soft, then saute it to add some flavor.  I like to leave my cabbage with just a little crunch, but if you like it softer, go ahead and cook it longer.  One great kitchen gadget in use here is a potato ricer, which looks a bit like a giant garlic press.  After you cook your potatoes, cut them in half, put them skin-up in the ricer and press down.  The peel is left behind like magic.

Colcannon

serves 4

• 2-3 pounds of potatoes, scrubbed
• 1/4 – 1/2 head of cabbage, thinly shredded
• 2 T oil
• 6 T butter
• 1 c milk
• salt, pepper, to taste

1. Boil/steam the potatoes until cooked through, about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes.  Drain and allow to cool slightly
2. Add the cabbage, the oil, and 1/2 cup of water to the pot, cover and steam over medium-high heat until cabbage begins to darken and soften, about 5-10 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, allow the water to evaporate, then sautee the cabbage with the existing oil until it is as soft and browned as you like, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Lower the heat to low and add the milk and butter.
5. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or food mill, or mash by hand (which would require you to peel them first).
6. Add potatoes into the pot with the cabbage and stir to combine.
7. Taste and adjust texture with more milk and/or butter, and season with salt and pepper.

Potatoes are the perfect foil for stews, as they absorb a little of the liquid and add more heft to the plate.  Plus, well, I just love mashed potatoes!

I hope you find yourself trying some new meatless meals this year.  You may save some money, you may get a little bit healthier, and you’ll be eating with a little less impact on the environment.

I have grown to enjoy trying new food.  I have my wife to thank for introducing me to a wide range of foods that I never really ate before her encouragement.  From my first experience having Thai food to the joy of sushi, I owe it to her.  The exploration continues though, as I go on to cook things we’ve never had before.

Offal, if you’ve never had it, refers to the magical “fifth quarter” of the animal, the stuff that falls off (get it, off-fall?) when you cut it open.  This also includes the extremities, like feet and ears.  Today we’re going to look at some organs and a tissue.  For you vegetarians and squeamish people (and because I don’t have any), I’ll spare you the before pictures.

The most common offal available is liver.  It’s available in many forms, from the grandiose foie gras to buck-a-pound pre-packaged chicken livers.  You may have had pâté, which usually includes the liver of some animal.  My friend, Laurence, makes a mean pork liver pâté studded with tongue.  The flavor and texture is one I find so enjoyable.  Some people, however, turn their noses at it because “it looks like cat food.”  Good… more for us.  Beef liver is available, and is commonly served overcooked and doused with onions to try to cover up the fact that it’s overcooked liver.

You can sometimes find tongue, usually beef tongue, especially if you have ethnic markets available to you.  Americans have tended toward the less-worked, less-flavorful, more expensive parts of the animal, but many in the world have held on to traditional cuts.  I’ve had beef tongue a few times, and none of them were spectacular.  It was beefy, but not terribly flavorful.  It needs to be cooked a long time to make it tender, but in the process it seemed to have lost much of its character.  I recommend you try it… find a good taquería and order one.  If you don’t like it, close your eyes, dump some salsa on it, and pretend it’s actually tenderloin.

Now for the serious stuff, the kind of thing you can’t find at a typical grocery store.  The first is a specialty sausage made with a mix of delicious piggy parts, some spices, some fruit, and blood.  The traditional blood sausage, or boudin noir, is made with caramelized apples and cognac (or calvados), but the Caribbean-inspired riff that I tried (courtesy of Larbo’s skilled manipulation) had raisins soaked in rum.

Since I forgot that it had raisins instead of apples, I stayed true to traditional accompaniments and made simple baked (in butter) apples and crisp-fried (in schmaltz) potatoes, as inspired by the mentions on this page about boudin noir.  As recommended by Larbo, I sizzled the sausages in a skillet until heated through and served them sliced open.  The sausage mixture inside was almost creamy, with a slight metallic hint (blood does have a good amount of iron) in the aftertaste.  The allspice came through as a pleasant warm spice accompaniment to the sausage, and despite the raisin/apple difference, it went very well with the baked apples.

If you learn how to cook potatoes one way, learn how to cook sliced potatoes in a flavorful fat (like lard, goose, or chicken fat) until they are nicely browned all over and crunchy.  I added some lightly sautéed onion and garlic and finished with a sprinkle of parsley.  I could have eaten a bowl of those potatoes.

The other offal experience I recently had was with pork kidney.  I’ve seen them at the University meat salesroom a few times, and was always curious what they’d be like.  Last Friday, when my wife was returning from a business trip, I decided to prepare them as a side dish.  As a filtering organ, I knew there would be a much stronger flavor than, say, tripe or tongue, but there was little advice to be found on the web on how to “purge” them of their offensiveness.  I trimmed the meaty outer portions away from the inner glandular portions and gave them a quick rinse with water.

I did read that overcooking was strictly verboten, as they would quickly become disgusting.  I opted to saute them in a bit of butter, then finish with what I gathered is a traditional mustard sauce.  It was simply a bit of whole grain mustard and heavy cream stirred in at the end.  The mustard and cream worked together with the, ahem, unique flavor of the kidneys to make something that really tasted good.  Our 7-year-old tried them first (without knowing what they were) and said the kidney was “really good.”  To her credit, after we told her what it was, she kept on eating it.  I love that girl!

Edited to add (due to a question via Google Buzz): A friend who reads the blog asked me to be a little more descriptive about the flavor of the kidneys.  Here’s what I said: “I’ll be honest… it had a little bit of acidic twang, but the underlying flavor was deeply meaty. The texture was firm but pretty tender. To put it bluntly, kidneys filter pee and you could taste it juuust a little, but it worked well with the acid and fat of the mustard cream sauce.”

Since my wife loves steak, and I’d heard steak and kidney pie has been a hit in the UK for generations, I made a pan-seared steak, some cannellini beans mashed with truffled goat cheese, some kale for greenery, and a parsnip-potato pancake (improvised from a Union Square Cafe cookbook) for crunch.  As a home-coming meal, it was teetering on the edge between extravagant and overwhelming, but we all managed to enjoy it.  I’ll definitely try to learn more about kidneys and prepare them again.  If you can find them, give it a shot.  As a less-desirable organ meat, they are super-cheap and pack a lot of flavor.

If you want to learn more about offal, there are many great resources.  The local meat master, Larbo, of This Little Piggy, has explored everything but the oink.  Famous chefs are becoming more open about offal, as it becomes more available and trendy in times of economic hardship.  One notable chef is Chris Cosentino, who is known for his offal cooking skills.

I got a few cookbooks for Christmas this year.  They have all been fun to look through and cook from over the weeks after the holiday.  One of the books I got was the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair (who also writes the food blog of the same name).  I was excited to look through it because the recipes seemed simple, but still tasty.  Turns out I was right!

I like to try recipes from cookbooks, unaltered.  This seems to be something that foodies decry as being a silly exercise in mindlessness, because all cooking should be improvisational.  I call bullshit.  I’m happy to improvise and come up with a meal from various cuisines, but if I’m cooking something I’ve never made before, I’m not just going to look at a recipe once and wing it.  I want to understand the intention, what the published dish is supposed to taste like.  In my mind, I’ll compare it with other things I’ve had.  Maybe I’ve had the dish in a restaurant, or I’ve enjoyed other meals in the same ethnic family.  Once I’ve tried it, I can move forward with a little more understanding.

For trained chefs, this is what cooking school seems to be all about.  You learn techniques and flavor profiles from a few different regions of the world and then they are challenged to regularly innovate on those ideas.  If you’ve ever read about someone going through cooking school, read any cooking school text, or watch any episode of Top Chef, you’ll see that chefs are expected to cook from experience, not books.  However, ask them to produce a dish in a cuisine they haven’t mastered and they’ll usually turn up short.

For me, I still feel like I’m learning a lot about Asian food.  The ingredients and techniques are in some ways very different from those used in Western cuisine.  Since I haven’t taken the opportunity to attend any local cooking classes, like those taught by Tien as part of an adult education program, I take my chances learning a lot from books.  Without further ado, let’s get into the book at hand.

How good could “Quick Vietnamese Chicken Pho” be?  Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is supposed to use a richly flavored broth that requires long simmering, not some Rachel Ray 30-minute abomination.  My fears were unfounded, though.  The technique worked really well, infusing classic pho flavors like star anise and clove into chicken stock.  I think the real secret to success here is starting with a good chicken stock.  Trust me, making your own stock is easy and uses up stuff you’d probably just throw away otherwise.  You’re not too stupid to cook.  Apologies for no photos… it was really good and we ate it too fast to stop and take photos.

I’m sure nearly everyone in America has eaten egg rolls in their lives, but how many people think of making them?  Well, we did, using “[Jaden Hair's] Mom’s Famous Crispy Eggrolls” recipe.  I shared a video of my daughter rolling them, but here are some more pictures of the before-and-after, as well as our younger daughter enjoying them with “dip” (a/k/a hoisin sauce).  The proportions of this recipe are huge.  We made about 40 egg rolls, perhaps being a little bit conservative with the filling.  We went on to make a couple dozen pot stickers and a batch of fried rice with the left over filling.

Jaden includes a really great recipe for a peanut sauce that serves as the base for another dish, “Thai-style Chicken Flatbread”.  This one I took her inspiration and ran with it.  After all, it’s really just another pizza topping suggestion.  I made my own dough, since I had the time.  We served it with some brussels sprouts cooked with bacon (not from the book).  This one was pretty popular with everyone in the family.

One dish I wasn’t crazy about was “Clams Sautéed in Garlic and Black Bean Sauce”.  I was lucky enough to go to the store right after a shipment of clams came in.  They were beautiful clams, too.  Unfortunately, the sauce was  a bit spicier than we wanted, and the flavor just didn’t do it for us.  We ate it… all… and enjoyed it, but it’s not on our must-repeat list.  No finished-dish photo, but aren’t the clams lovely?

Chap Chae (or Jap Chae, Japchae) is a dish of sweet potato starch noodles with some vegetables and (usually) beef, flavored with sesame oil and soy sauce.  If you’re used to Italian pasta made from wheat, these noodles are weird.  They start out bumpy and greyish, then when you cook them they turn nearly clear, smooth, and the texture is springy and chewy.  They have very little flavor on their own, but they absorb flavor well.  This dish is one that I order in restaurants often, because I really love it.  The Steamy Kitchen recipe came through again, with a dish that we all loved.

Last, but not least (in this post), I’ll mention a couple of the vegetarian dishes in the book.  We made a big pot of jasmine rice and invited a couple of friends over one night and had the “Garlicky Tofu and Spinach” and the “Asian Style Brussels Sprouts”.  The tofu and spinach were cooked quickly until they were silky and smooth, with a delicious sauce rich with garlic and sesame oil.  Did I ever mention sesame oil is one of my favorite Asian ingredients?  Great stuff.  Anyway, the hardest part of the meal was the brussels sprouts, and only because I took the time to trim and slice them all by hand.  They are cooked quickly with some Vietnamese touches, like fish sauce and lime juice, just to start softening them.  They are bright and still a bit crunchy, offering a contrast to the soft tofu and spinach.  Best part about this meal?  I started when I put the rice in the rice cooker, and had all the food ready just as it was finished.

The theme of this book seems to be fast, flavorful food.  Jaden’s a mom, she does all the writing and photography for her blog and the cookbook herself, she’s obviously putting lessons from her own life on these pages.  The book is filled with so many beautiful photographs of her food, her travel, and her kids.  The great thing is that these recipes work.  It’s not just fast for the sake of being fast.  That said, the speed of Asian cooking usually relies on the cook’s diligence at the cutting board, prepping all the ingredients before-hand.  Take it as an opportunity to practice your knife skills, or an opportunity to buy pre-cut vegetables.

I’ll be doing another post soon with a recipe from the book.  It’s a versatile Korean recipe that you can bend to your will.  Stay tuned!

On a blog note, I’ve adjusted the line spacing (not everywhere yet, gotta track down a working Firebug), as it was mentioned in the survey that the text was a little dense and hard to read at times.  Let me know if you think it’s better, worse, or didn’t notice!

I mentioned in my previous post reviewing Xoco that I really wanted to have the torta ahogada.  Since I’m in Chicago quite infrequently, I had to take matters into my own hands.

First I made some crusty bread.  This is a pretty standard Ratio (5:3) bread, formed into a baguette shape, baked with steam until very crusty.

The centerpiece of the sandwich are the delicious little meats, carnitas, made from a big hunk of pork shoulder.  I used the simpler-than-you’d-expect “Slow Roasted Pork Carnitas” recipe from Rick Bayless himself.  You get tender shreds (or chunks if you prefer) of pork with crunchy surfaces, and all that without the mess of stove-top frying.

I also made some black beans, a blended chipotle salsa, and some pickled onions.  Slice the bread, top with meat and all the fixings, then slide it all into the oven to melt the cheese a bit.  Here it is pre-bake.

So, I wasn’t 100% accurate, but the spirit was there.  My bread was a little too crusty, but the components come together in a symphony of rich, sweet, salty, tart, spicy Mexican flavor.  The pickled onions are vital to balancing the richness of the carnitas, so you should make plenty.  I usually go with a really simple preparation and wish I made twice as much.

Pickled Onions

These things are great on sandwiches, tacos, toss them in salads or eat with a fork–anywhere you want that acidic zing.  Keep them refrigerated and they will stay nice and crunchy.  I like to use cider vinegar, but feel free to use whatever you like or is most appropriate for your dish.  I like them to be crunchy and bold, still offering the heat of the onion.  If you’d like to tame them a little, combine all ingredients and cook anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the texture you’d like.

• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 c vinegar (cider vinegar, or whatever you like)
• sugar, to taste (optional)

1. Sprinkle sliced onions with salt, and toss to distribute.
2. Add vinegar and toss to coat the onions.
3. Allow to sit 10-30 minutes, tossing occasionally.
4. Taste and add sugar to balance the vinegar, if desired.

In blog business, the winner (chosen by random draw) of the contest was Stuart, who writes the excellent food blog kitchenhacker.net.  A couple disks of Mexican chocolate (and a little something extra) from Taza Chocolate will be its way to him very soon.  He used to live in the Champaign-Urbana area, and I was fortunate enough to meet him a few times.  When he was in his last-minute moving preparations, he offered me some of his frozen stash that he just couldn’t take with him.  It’s still in my freezer, but it will be featured soon.

Taza is supporting the efforts to aid people devastated by the earthquake in Haiti by donating half of each retail sale on their website through January 22nd.  You can read more about the organization they are donating to in their blog post.  Go buy some chocolate and help a good cause.  I get nothing for telling you this, but there are plenty of people whose lives will be changed.