Dedication

What would you do on a super-cold, snowy day? Set up a stand in the local farmers' market? That's what quite a few vendors did today in the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan. With the wind blowing, snow falling, and most of the city (except for the schmucks waiting in Times Square...seriously, I have no idea why people think that's fun...) taking naps, local food purveyors still lined the market.

Sure, it was a bit more sparse than a bright summer's day. But you could still find everything you need for an amazing meal. Two grass fed beef vendors, sustainable poultry & pork, apples aplenty, root veggies, squash, preserves, wine...

The point is, if these guys and gals can drag their asses into Manhattan & stand in the cold/snow, we can all make a little effort to eat locally. It's a lot easier than what they're doing. So let's do that.

I'm going to have a Ronnybrook Farm yogurt, and a mackintosh apple (75 cents a pound, take that megamart!), and get ready to get hammered. Happy New Year.

Home of Chicken and Waffles

I was exploring the Jack London Square farmers' market yesterday (good market!), and a wonderful smell was in the air.  After much exploring, my nose led me to...Home of Chicken and Waffles.  Now, I might be a Yankee & a Jew, but I love soul food like a fella from Mississippi.  As soon as I walked through the door, I knew I was in the right place.

The Home of Chicken and Waffles began as a franchise of the famous Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.  In 2004, the family decided to spilt from their parents and take the reigns themselves.  This was a smart move.  The strong family ties are evident on the wall- each menu item is named after a family member, their portraits (with the dish) are painted on the wall by a local artist.

The food is soul food at is best.  Although the protein is limited mostly to fried chicken, the array of sides more than makes up for the lack of smothered pork chops.  Truth be told, the fried chicken is so good that you might run the risk of missing it if you had other options!  Some of the best fried chicken I've ever had in fact!  It's crisp, juicy, sweet, and without a hint of greasy.  As for the sides, it's a hit list of soul food champions: grits, mac 'n cheese, yams, greens, peas.  All menu items are accompanied with a suggested side or two.  While you can swap sides for 50 cents, you probably won't feel the need to do so.  Oh, and the waffles?  Heavenly.  

Service at Home of Chicken and Waffles is fantastic.  Personable, fast, and funny.  They make you feel like you're popping by their house for a meal.  Indeed, the diverse clientele all seem equally at home there.  Hipsters sit side by side with families on their way home from church.  Old and young enjoy the sweet sweet chicken.

I believe the join is always open, as hours aren't listed and they tout themselves as the perfect place to go after a night out in downtown Oakland.  I couldn't agree more.

Latkes!

Latkes are potato pancakes traditional to Jewish cuisine, and enjoyed by many many Jews during the festival of Chanukah.  They are damn good.

4 Russet Potatoes

1/2 - 3/4 Onion

1 Cup Flour

2 Eggs

Salt

Fat

Peel and grate the potatoes.  Squeeze grated potatoes as hard as you can, removing the starchy water.  You could also use a salad spinner.  This step is important, removing the moisture & potato starch will improve the texture of your latkes.  Grate onion.

Beat the eggs, add all the ingredients.  Except the fat of course.  Then again, if you want to stir a little chicken or duck fat in there, be my guest.

Now we fry.  How do we fry?  Well, let me count the ways.  Latkes are traditionally cooked in chicken fat.  I say go for it!  Seriously, you eat these things once or twice a year, so why not go crazy?!  If you opt out of the chicken fat (maybe just mix in a little bit....?), use vegetable oil.  It won't be quite as amazing, though I suppose your heart will be happier.  

So, heat whatever fat you like to 360 degrees (the latkes should immediately bubble).  Form mix into cakes 3-4 inches across, 1.5 inches thick.  Don't get out a ruler or anything, you'll get the hang of it!  Fry for three minutes per side.  Latkes are also a great candidate for deep frying.  4 minutes in the fryer will do it!

*Don't be alarmed if the latke mixture changes color.  It's just the potato oxidizing.  Removing the potato water will help stop this, as will the egg.  Keeping it covered helps, too.  Still, your mix will turn brown, maybe even grey.  Don't stress it.  It's cosmetic, and the beautiful golden brown crust that forms when you fry will make it disappear.  

Savory

Savory is an often overlooked herb, especially in American cuisine.  There are two major types of savory: summer and winter.  Summer savory can be found during the ... summer!  Winter savory can be found ... anytime.  (Summer savory is an annual herb, winter savory is a perennial shrub, much like rosemary.) 

Summer savory has a more delicate flavor/texture, better for finishing dishes.  Winter savory is more hearty, and can be used as a base flavor for longer cooked dishes.  Makes sense, doesn't it?  One cooks things longer when the weather is colder. 

The flavor is a mild cross between thyme & rosemary, both botanical cousins.  It can be used in the same way you would use either herb, and is especially popular in Italian long cooked dishes.  Medicinally, savory is known to aid in digestion, and is rumored to be an aphrodisiac.
 

(Breakfast) Beef Stew

This is my take on a recipe first published in Marion Harland's Common Sense for the Household (1884), updated in The American Heritage Cookbook (1964, edited by Helen McCully).  I've updated it to suit my taste, and you should feel free to play with it, too.  This was, without a doubt, the best beef stew I've made.

2 Lbs. Beef, cubed

Grass fed beef preferred!

2 Tbs. Flour

1 Tbs. Fat, your choice, butter preferred

1 Small Onion, sliced

2 Carrots, quartered

3 Ribs Celery, quartered

1 Parsnip, quartered

1 Small Green Bell Pepper, quartered

3 Cloves Garlic, crushed

1 1/2 Cup Beef Broth

3/4 Cup Water

1 Tbs. Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

4 Sprigs Savory

6 Sprigs Marjoram

6 Sprigs Thyme

1 Tsp. Salt

1 Tbs. Mustard

1 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

2 Sprigs Savory

4 Sprigs Each Thyme & Marjoram

Salt

Begin by coating beef with flour.  Melt fat in pan, then add beef to brown.  After beef browns, add vegetables.  Cook 5 minutes.  

This step is optional, but recommended.  Not only does it deepen the flavor of the dish, the melting fat & flour form a roux that will thicken the stew.  If you decide not to brown, omit the flour.

Add remaining ingredients in the top part of the list.  You'll save yourself some time (thyme!) later by either tying the herbs together with twine, or putting them in a tea bag.  See, the herbs are woody, and not especially tasty to eat, so- better to keep them in one place and remove them when the dish is done.

Bring to a boil.  Lower heat to simmer.  Walk away for 1.5 - 3 hours.  You can stir from time to time, but that's all the work you need to do.

In the last five minutes, add the remaining ingredients.  Again, it's a good idea to keep the herbs together.  Taste, and add salt as necessary.  Serve over some kind of simple starch- rice, potato, noodles.

As with all dishes of this kind, it's only going to get better with a day or two in the fridge.  Also, don't be put off by the long list of ingredients.  There isn't a lot of work to do, I promise.  The assembly took 20 minutes, including the browning.

Why is it called a breakfast stew?  I have no idea!  Maybe this was breakfast in 1884.

Read: This Organic Life

I'm not sure how this book managed to escape my radar for so long.  "This Organic Life," written by Joan Dye Gussow, is a terrific read.  

Warning:  If you don't own/have access to somewhere you can grow things, this book can be frustrating.  Here's the thing: Ms. Gussow loves to garden.  She loves it so much, that you're going to want to grow things too.  And not just a few things.  You might find yourself at the garden center enviously eying people buying a fig tree, or a grape vine.  You might find yourself secretly planting shallots between your landlord's flowers.  You might find yourself going to Home Depot and buying a GIANT box, then filling it with hundreds of pounds of dirt....

Yeah.  That's probably going to happen.  Why?  Well, it's a very sensible (and wonderful!) thing to grow your own food.  Joan Dye Gussow's tale of suburban gardening is a terrific read.  Gussow manages to inspire without preaching.  She might live a life sustained almost entirely of things she grows, but she never expects the reader to.  This isn't a holier than though type of sustainable living read.  Rather, it's pure inspiration.  

Review: Dan Tana's

It's not often I feel compelled to write a restaurant review, but my family and I really enjoyed this place, so there it is.

Change is good.  We can all agree on that.  However, some places should always stay the same.  Dan Tana's has embraced that philosophy fully.

Basically, picture a stereotypical East Coast, Italian American restaurant circa 1973. You know: red checkered table cloth, Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling, dim lighting, 8454355 lbs of garlic...

Warning: If you hate the idea of that, if you think that today's Italian food should be all butternut squash ravioli in sage brown butter, you're going to hate this place.  Fine.  Hate it.  Because, frankly, the place is a little cramped and I'd be happier if you weren't there.

For the rest of us, this is a little bit of heaven.  In a city that often struggles with authenticity, Dan Tana's is dripping with it.  This place isn't cliche- it's where the cliche started. 

Service is attentive.  Fast, helpful, and with a little bit of attitude that lets you know you're in good hands.

The food?  Well, aside from the forgettable prosciutto and melon, it was all fantastic.  Amazing.  Get what you'd expect to get at a classic Italian joint: something parmesan, something big fat steak, something covered in garlic and butter. 

Happiness.

Chicken Lew Cashew

Maybe it's not the smartest idea to try to make a traditional style Chicken with Cashews without doing much research.  Or, maybe it is.  Whatever I made, it didn't quite match what you'd expect from the dish.  Nonetheless, it was pretty damn good.

2 Chicken Breasts, diced

1 Carrot, diced

1 Small Onion, diced

2 Ribs Celery, diced

2 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1 Small Nug Ginger, chopped

1 Small Chili Pepper of Fire, seeded and chopped

1 Cup Raw Cashews

1 Tbs. Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Chicken Stock

2 Tbs Hoisin Sauce

2 Tbs. Mirin

2 Tbs. Soy Sauce

1 Tbs. Rice Wine Vinegar

1 Tbs. Corn Starch

Marinate chicken in soy sauce for 15 minutes to an hour.

Quickly brown chicken, say for about 2 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Add cashews and cook for about two minutes.  Add the veggies and cook for another minute.  Return chicken to pan, cook for...another minute!  Add sauce, and cook till it thickens, about...a minute!  Serve.

Nobel Son

If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, why not see me in a movie?!  Seeing movies is always fun, and seeing me in a movie is even better.

Nobel Son is a thrilling dark comedy.  Kidnapping, car chases, theoretic chemistry.  With a cast that includes Alan Rickman, Eliza Dushku, Danny DeVito, Bill Pullman, Bryan Greenberg, & Shawn Hatosy, you know you're in for a treat.

Check out the Nobel Son website for all the details.  It's playing nationwide.

Oh, and it's (kind of sort of) food related, too.  How?  Well, you need to check it out.

Idea: Don't Be Absurd

"We eat with our eyes."  It's cliche, but true.  So why would the people at Sevan Produce decide to add a giant cigarette discount ad atop their food flyer?

Now, I'm no advertising expert.  But, if watching Mad Men has taught me anything, it's that you should drink a steady diet of highballs all day long.  This way, you're drunk enough to call a person out on their craaaaazy ad scheme.  Clearly, someone at Seven isn't drinking nearly enough, because this is just absurd.

Nothing says quality like a cheap (giant monoculture tobacco) smoke.

Turkey Leftover Hot Sandwich

Everyone loves a hot sandwich.  They're even better when you're a bit hammered.  And they're best when you're a bit hammered and you have leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

Leftover Turkey

Good Bread

BBQ Sauce

Pesto

Your Favorite Cheese

Bell Pepper, sliced thin

Onion or Shallot, sliced real thin

It's pretty easy to assemble.  Slather a thin layer of BBQ sauce on the bread.  Turkey on top of that.  Pesto sauce (I made my own quick sauce from frozen basil, olive oil, garlic, and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese) on turkey.  Thin slices of bell pepper & onion atop the pesto.  Finally, a layer of cheese to top it off.  I used swiss.

Place the sandwich in the oven.  Bake until cheese is bubbly and golden.  Note: This would make a wicked good panini, too.

Thanksgiving

What a great tradition- cook massive amounts of tasty food (with massive amounts of butter), eat until you're going to burst, eat more just to prove you won't, then try really hard not to take a nap, only to pass out on the couch.

This year was a great success.  Nearly everything was produced within 150 miles of my house.  I like that.  It's good for the planet, and good for the belly.  Fresh, local food has more flavor than you can imagine.   

Let's start with the turkey.  Free range, freshly slaughtered, and damn tasty.  I brined it overnight in a solution of salt, sugar, apple cider vinegar, ground sage, dried rosemary/thyme/bay, and peppercorns.  The brine will keep your turkey tender, and flavor it to the bone.  I stuffed it with carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and lemon. Coated the skin, inside and out, with melted butter blended with duck fat and sage.  Yeah, duck fat.  Do it.  

I had a pretty brilliant idea.  I elevated the turkey on a couple of bricks, and slow roasted it at 325.  Left a pan underneath to catch the juice.  This allowed air to circulate all around the turkey.  The result was a very crispy skin, and a ton of pan juice, which I turned into a swell gravy.

The highlight of the meal, for sure, was the sweet potato.  I used two varieties of tuber, sweet potato and yam, both picked up at the farmers' market.  Roasted in the oven, passed through a sieve, then enhanced with butter, cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, & fresh nutmeg.  I managed to forget to buy pecans, so I went with the traditional marshmallow topping.  The pecans, though they would have been great, weren't missed.  This was something special.

The table was rounded out by a carrot & apple salad, cranberry sauce (shoot me, but I prefer the canned stuff. Actually, don't shoot me, most of you do.  I did get a brand without corn syrup, which was smart), stuffing, and roasted green beans (with bacon!).  There might have only been 4 of us, but we ate like 40.  

Special thanks to Mom, who acted as both soux-chef and chief dishwasher.  Thanks especially for the dishwashing!  (Seriously, Mom kept the place tidy all day long.)

The Apple, specifically the Arkansas Black

If, for some wacky reason, you're still buying peaches/nectarines/grapes, stop. The season is over my friends, even here in California. Time to spend some time with your old friend, the apple.

Yes, we can get apples year round. And, unlike most other fruits that have been shipped long distances, they're pretty good all year. Apples, when cooled properly, store really well, and that's a very good thing. But, do we really need to have them shipped from far far away? We don't. And, thankfully, we don't have to. Apples grow throughout the country, and, with a quick stop at the farmers' market, you might find something interesting.

In my case, it was the Arkansas Black, an heirloom variety dating back to the 1870s. What a great find! It's texture is super crisp, the flavor mostly sweet with just the right balance of tartness. It's perfect out of hand, tasty chopped & added to a salad.

You might not be able to find this variety, but, I bet you'll find something you haven't tried. Yup, I'm a fan of the Fuji apple, but it was nice to try something different!

Here's a quick tip: Notice how the top of the apple is all brown? I thought maybe this was a sign of not-so-goodness, but, it turns out, it's just the opposite. That's the pollen mark. The bigger the mark, the sweeter the apple. Who knew?! Great tip, and very true. That apple in the above pic was sweet indeed.

Making Yogurt

A few days ago Karen updated her facebook status to something like "Thinking about making yogurt from scratch. Wondering if I'm becoming a hippie." Well, I'd argue that anyone that titles their blog "Off the (Meat) Hook" probably is in no danger of becoming a hippie. I think she's safe. More interestingly, we agreed to both conduct yogurt making experiments.

So I experimented. The result was not a terrible failure, as I had first thought, but, I wouldn't call it a grand success either. What happened was:

I started with whole raw milk. Since the first step was to heat the milk to 180F, I felt it would be an interesting and wholesome choice to go with unpasteurized milk. If you're at all freaked out by this, use the pasteurized stuff, by all means. I've never tried raw milk before, and you can taste the difference. It tastes somewhat fresher and cleaner, if that makes sense.

Why heat the milk to 180? Well, you want to kill off any unwanted bacteria, so you can introduce your own desired bacteria. This is best done over a double boiler, to prevent scorching, but I used a regular pan and that worked just fine. Heat to 180, once it reaches that, remove and cool.

Now comes the tricky part. Really tricky. And, not terribly fun. You need to monitor the milk as it cools. Yeah. Annoying. The goal, a temperature between 108 - 112 degrees. Why? Well, that's the temperature that the good yogurt making bacteria does best.

So, when you get there, which will take tedious time, stir in two tablespoons of organic plain yogurt. I know, why not just eat that yogurt instead?! Well, maybe you should. But for the sake of the experiment, stir it in. This introduces yogurt cultures to the milk, starting the process of fermentation. If you decide you love making yogurt, you can save a small part of each batch to use as a starter for the next one.

Now comes the tricky part. Really tricky. And, not terribly fun. Wait, did I just say that? I did. Like I said, this is a tedious experiment. Now, you have to keep the fermenting pre-yogurt at the same 108 - 112 degrees for 4-6 hours. Fun!!!!!

I took my warm milkgurt and put it in the oven. Luckily, I have an old timey 1950s gas oven. The pilot flame keeps the inside of the oven at about...110 degrees! Lucky me. So, I just left it there, stirring and taking the temp from time to time. After 4 hours, nothing. After 6, it smelt and tasted a little sour (good) but the consistency remained about the same (bad). So, I went out for a beer.

Two hours later, not much had changed. The whatever it was now became a bit thicker, but not very yogurt-like. I figured what would be done was done, so I removed it from the oven and put it in the fridge.

The next day, things looked better. A decent sized pool of watery whey had formed on the top. I poured this off, stirred the mix, and, found I had indeed made something that kind of resembled yogurt. It was a little more sour than the commercial yogurt. I added a fair amount of honey and agave, and it was pretty good. Grainier texture than I would have wanted, but pretty good.

Was this worth it? Probably not. The flavor, once sweetened a bit, was slightly better than commercial yogurt. The texture was not. This was a lot of tedious work. There are very good small batch yogurts for sale just about everywhere. I'm going to continue to buy those.

Maybe Karen will have better luck. She's much more science-minded than I am. (Her dad is some kind of world famous neuroscientist, and that clearly has rubbed off.) Also, she's a dirty hippie.

I should add that whatever it was I made was fine with my belly. So, although I didn't make perfect yogurt, I didn't make myself sick, either!

Goodness

Because, sometimes when you're out, you need to have a bacon wrapped hot dog (with peppers & onions).

Beats!

Please enjoy this photo of "beats" while I try to beat my mac into working again.

Technique: How to Render Duck Fat

Let's begin by talking about the giant elephant in the room. Cooking with duck fat is not for everyday cooking. Duck fat is not healthy, at least in the unclogged artery sense of the word. It is, however, amazingly flavorful, and nice to have on hand to add something special from time to time. Also, if you're going to cook duck, might as well keep the fat!

If you're roasting duck, you can add trimmed fat/skin to the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover that with water. Excess fat will drain from the duck, adding to the mix. Make sure that the fat remains covered with water. When duck is finished cooking, strain the fat/water mixture into a smaller pot.

*If you're not roasting duck, and just happen to have trimmed fat/skin from previous duck cooking in the freezer, place directly into a small pot, and cover with water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Allow water to cook out. This will take about 45 minutes. The mixture will gradually become more golden as the water evaporates. It will bubble, slowly at first, then increasing. Once the bubbles bubble at a steady quick pace, remove from heat. Strain through a fine sieve, and store in an airtight jar.

Duck fat will keep in the fridge for at least a year. Sweet! You'll know it's turned bad when it smells...bad. Before that happens, it's going to smell like heaven.

Bacon Filled Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef, grass-fed 15% fat

1/2 lb ground turkey, mix of dark and white

1 cup ground tomato

3/4 cup breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tabelspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon pepper

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

6 thick slices of bacon

6 thick slices of bacon!

Ketchup

Fried Onions, optional

I was having a conversation the other day about the need for another post about bacon. Somehow the subject veered to meatloaf, and I thought, 'great, meatloaf often has bacon on top of it!' That was when the light bulb went off. Yes, meatloaf often has bacon on top, but I've never seen a recipe with bacon INSIDE! Thus, a new and exciting dish was born. Bacon Filled Meatloaf.

Begin by dicing the first 6 slices of bacon. Remove some of the extra fat. Add to a frying pan over medium-high heat. Render bacon until it just begins to crisp, about 3-4 minutes. This will help the texture of the meatloaf greatly. Drain rendered fat, saving it for another day.

Place the almost crisp bacon in a large bowl, and add all other ingredients save the other bacon slices, ketchup, and fried onions. Mix well (best done with your hands!), and let rest for an hour at room temperature. Don't skip the resting. Trust me, you'll be sad if you do. The mix needs time to let the breadcrumbs and meat absorb all the seasonings. If you don't let it rest, you'll end up with a strange textured loaf and a pool of sauce at the bottom. See? Sadness.

Put rested mixture in a loaf pan. Put loaf pan in a 375 degree oven. After a half hour, remove from oven and carefully drain most of the melted fat. Cover top of loaf with a layer of ketchup, then cover pan with foil. Return to oven and cook additional 30 minutes, removing foil for the final five.

At some point, cook the additional slices of bacon.

Rest, covered, for 10-15 minutes. Again, you'll be sad if you don't do this. After resting, cut into slices to serve. Top with a little more ketchup or crushed tomatoes, just a dab. Top that with extra bacon (crumbled), and, if you'd like, some canned fried onions.

Note: This one is still a work in progress. I'm going to play a bit with fresh onions and garlic, though I do like the convenience of using powdered. This was made using thick sliced bacon, so if you only have thin, use more.

Meatloaf is a million times better the next day. I'm not saying you have to wait a whole day to dig in, just that you should dig in again the next day.

Enter the Dragonfruit

I made a quick stop into a supermarket the other day.  I tend to get most of my food from farmers' markets, but I only needed a couple of things and, well, they don't have farmers' markets at 10PM.  Wandering through the produce section, I found a strange looking fruit, the dragonfruit.  It was marked 'locally grown,' so I gave it a go.

The first thing you'll notice about the dragonfruit is it's amazing shape.  It's a cactus fruit, and it looks fairly similar to the prickly pear.  A prickly pair with crazy leaf-like soft scales growing from it.  The color is a soft magenta, with green highlights.  It's unique, that's for sure.

Splitting the fruit in half, I was amazed by the bright magenta color of the inside.  The small black seeds contrast with the thrilling magenta.  Cut open, it's one of the most beautiful fruits I've ever seen.  The subtle pumpkin-like smell wasn't terribly pleasing, but the visual was. Other varieties have a creamy white interior.

Dragonfruit tastes like a softer version of the kiwi-melon chewing gum you might have tried.  The flavor is really subtle.  The texture is similar to a kiwi.  Overall, I'd say looks trump eats on this one.  Not crazy amazing.

The dragonfruit, also known as a pitaya, is rich in vitamin C & fibre, and it's a decent source of phosphorus and calcium.  The one I bought was very expensive, $12.99/pound.  I wouldn't get another one at that price, but I'd try it again if I found a less expensive one.

Easy Roast Chicken Breast

4 Bone-In Chicken Breasts, skin on

4 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1/4 Cup Fresh Thyme Leaves, chopped

1 Small Red Onion, chopped

1 Tbls. Poultry Seasoning

1 Tsp. Salt

1/4 Cup Butter (Melted) or Olive Oil

Combine everything except chicken.  With the back of a spoon, press the seasonings into butter or oil.  Butter is better for the soul, oil is better for the heart.  You choose.  Or don't- I went half and half and that worked pretty well.  Regardless of the fat you choose, this should smell all fragrant and savory.

Preheat oven to 375.  Rub the rub under the chicken skin.  Drip remaining fat and rub onto top of skin.  Place on roasting rack, and cook until internal temp reaches 165- approximately 45 minutes.  If skin isn't crispy by the time temp reaches 160, raise oven temp to 450.

Let chicken rest for 5-10 minutes.

Idea: Vote

Do it.  ASAP.  Don't waste time.  Go vote.  It's a good thing.

Then go eat a giant bowl of ice cream or a bacon cheeseburger.  Or anything else that isn't terribly 'good for you'.  Do something good, have a treat.  Ain't life grand?

Idea: Frozen Basil

I'm normally a big fan of fresh over convenient.  From time to time, I find something exciting that changes my mind, at least for a minute.  Well friends, meet frozen basil.

Some herbs freeze brilliantly.  Basil is one of them.  Packed into tidy little cubes, frozen basil comes in handy from time to time.  If you find yourself with not much in the cupboard but a jar of tomato sauce, you can open the freezer and pop one in for a little extra flavor.  

This won't work if you're making a pesto sauce.  You're not going to get the brightest fresh basil flavor from it.  But, you're going to have another tool in your chest to rock your dinner with some excitement.  

Sometimes it's nice to have an easy helper in the freezer.

Beef Lasagna

Lasagna is awesome.  There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  It takes a wee bit of work, sure.  So worth it, though.  I encourage you to use grass fed beef.  It really makes a huge difference, both in flavor and in the way we treat the enviornment.  More about that soon.

2 lbs. Ground Beef, 15-20 % fat content
6 Cloves Garlic, smashed
32 oz Ricotta Cheese
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano, shredded
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg (optional)
64 oz Tomato Sauce, homemade or your favorite
Lasagna Noodles

Begin by mixing all the ricotta cheese and half of the other cheeses in a bowl.  Add egg, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, nutmeg, salt, and half the garlic.  Set aside.

Season ground beef with salt, pepper, and the remaining Italian seasoning & garlic. In a large pan, lightly brown the beef.  While browning, break the beef up into small bits.  This will get easier as the meat cooks.  The whole process should take about 4 minutes.  Don't worry if all the beef isn't brown- it's best not to overcook it.  Drain fat, and stir in about 1/4 of the tomato sauce.

Cover bottom of lasagna pan with sauce.  Add lasagna noodles (check package to see if you need to pre-cook).  Add a layer of beef, then a layer of cheese, cover with sauce and a new layer of pasta.  Repeat the process twice more, so you have three layers of goodness.  Cover top layer of pasta with more sauce, then top that with the remaining mozzarella & parmesan cheese.

Cover lasagna pan with foil.  Poke a few tiny holes in the foil with a knife.  This will allow some steam to escape, and help prevent the foil from sticking to the top layer of cheese (a sad sad sad thing).  Move to a 375 degree oven, and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove foil, and broil an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown. 

Let cool for at least 20 minutes.  Seriously.  After all this work and time, you're going to be tempted to dig right in.  Don't do it buddy.  Everything will fall apart if you do.  Give it time to cool a bit and settle.  Life will be better that way.  It always is.

A Lasagna for Obama

While I was watching the final presidential debate, I suddenly felt inspired to do something. I am part of a group of people who grew up as the tail end of Generation X- not quite the slackers of the group before us, but certainly still feeling the pull of apathy about government. Something has changed in the last few months. People all over the country are engaged, desiring to pitch in and do something. So it was that I decided to throw a dinner party to raise money for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The party started off with a prosciutto and melon appetizer. This is a perfect example of a dish in which quality of ingredients means everything. I mean, everything- there are only two pieces to the dish! I was really happy with the cantaloupe I found; lucky guess, really- I don't know much about picking them out. I grabbed one that had a nice light yellow color throughout and smelt slightly of a musky perfume. The prosciutto was quite good, though I think I'm ruined for life after eating the heavenly home cured prosciutto at Downey's a few months ago. Some tastes never leave the soul of your belly.

The main event was a killer grass fed beef lasagna (for Obama). The beef was from J&J, one of my favorite local beef companies. Really excellent stuff. If you've never had grass fed beef before, you're in for a real treat. A smaller spinach lasagna, a Vice Presidential lasagna for Biden (he has a Popeyeish quality, don't ya think? I mean, you know the guy eats his spinich.), was also served. It was pretty damn tasty, especially for a first attempt. Mixed green salad, featuring peppers from my garden, was served on the side.

Tasty, fresh baked, apple pie (thanks Cass) and a homemade ice cream were served for dessert.

Overall, $265 was raised for the campaign. While quite a bit less than my friend Karen (who clearly has a future in fundraising should she choose to depart from a world of creative awesomeness), I was pretty stocked we beat my goal by $15. Also, the food was totally fantastic, and my friends and I had a kick ass time. U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! (Yeah, that's right, I'm taking that chant back from the crazy wingnut militia types. U.S.A.!)

The Jujube: Not So Awesome

I've been exploring a variety of exotic fruits recently. Perhaps it's a reaction to the fact that I've been nearly everything I've eaten this year has been grown locally. Maybe not though- all of the exotic fruits I've tried so far have been procured from the farmers' market. So maybe it's the best of both worlds, exotic and local. I like that.

Well, unlike the passion fruit and the guava, the jujube is not awesome.

I thought maybe it would be. Last week, at the Culver City farmers' market, I noticed a few vendors had large piles of strange brown items. The looked like a cross between a chestnut and a date. Seemed worth trying, so I got a variety of them- some yellow turning brown, some deep brown and smooth, some deep brown and wrinkled.

The fruit is believed to have first been cultivated in Southern Asia, and is widely used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for stress. It is also believed to soothe sore throats.

Sadly, the flavor doesn't move me. Ripe when fully brown, and, I thought a little better when slightly wrinkled, it tastes of a dull apple. The texture is reminiscent of a sponge. With apple season upon us, you might want to skip these little brown bugaboos, and grab an heirloom apple instead.

Meatballs, Amazing Meatballs

This is my version of my Aunt Arlene's amazing meatballs.  While I've never been able to achieve the gum-soft tenderness of her creation, these come remarkably close.  The flavor is deep, the process easy.

Beef Mix

1.5 lbs. Ground Beef

15 - 20% fat, grass-fed if possible

1 Egg, beaten

1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs

1/4 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 Tablespoon Oregano

1 Tablespoon Salt

1/2 Tablespoon Thyme

The Sauce

32 oz. Crushed Tomatoes, fresh or canned, depending on season

1 Cup Water

5 Cloves Garlic, smashed

2 Bay Leaves

1/2 Green Bell Pepper, cut into strips

1/2 Cup Fresh Basil, chopped

Combine beef mix ingredients and let sit for 15-30 minutes, to let flavors incorporate & bread crumbs to absorb moisture.  Roll mix into balls.  You want the balls to be somewhere in between golf and tennis ball size.

Combine all sauce ingredients except basil.  Bring to a boil.  Add meatballs, then cover, and reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer for at least 45 minutes, and up to three hours, stirring occasionally.  The longer they go, the more tender the balls will be (!).  The sauce will also have a deeper flavor.  Add fresh basil just before serving.  Top with extra grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Don't be tempted to use a lower fat ground beef.  The idea is for the fat to melt out of the meat, enhancing the texture of the meatball.  Stress not about the fat, you can skim it off the top of the sauce.  Goodness!

This dish can be prepared in advance, as it benefits from sitting in the fridge.  It also freezes really well.