We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Prof. B. explained why reds should be chilled a bit before serving, especially in the summer - assuming the bottles are not coming from your underground or temperature-controlled wine cellar. 55-62 degrees F, max. That's not "room temperature."
I think The Prof is absolutely right, but I had never thought it through. No wine tastes good at 76 degrees. Hot grape juice isn't good either. (my Dad calls wine "grape juice" even if it's '81 Petrus).
Same thing applies to old Ports, I think.
Rich folks have wine refrigerators that keep each type of wine at its own preferred temp. If you have one, surely you deserve to be more highly taxed.
One of the Bird Dog daughters, and my lad, know that it is easy to please Dad with a selection of stinky, strong, expensive imported cheeses from The Grand Central Market in NY. At Sunday's Mom's Day cookout we had a killer cheese platter. Even a goat brie, which was a first for me.
All present were lovers of rare and strong cheeses. Since I have heard Steve Jenkins interviewed on the radio a few times recently, I began to pontificate about what I had learned from him. (He is the cheese-buyer for Fairway, the world's most prominent cheese pro, and author of the Cheese Primer.)
Jenkins preaches serving cheese with fruit, nuts, or honey - never without. To demonstrate his correctness on the topic, I pulled some hot pepper jelly (like this) and some fig preserves out of our dying fridge. Fresh fruit is good too, but I am partial to the preserves. I think everybody present was converted.
Our error was in offering the cheese board before the steaks, instead of after. The savoury course. Well, nobody's perfect.
A friend told me the other night that he was served hot pepper mashed potatoes at the home of a friend in Delhi. I did not know they made mashed potatoes in India. He said it was so hot he was in agony.
Well, I like hot but I respect the sanctity of ordinary mashed taters. Nonetheless, I have to try it.
Here's one recipe (photo from the recipe, but ignore the steak. I think hot pepper taters would go well with anything grilled). Here's another.
We like to eat lots of those skinny French beans. We steam them in Costco-style bulk, and they last a week.
Mrs. BD likes to dress them with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon (which is the Italian way with vegetables), but I prefer olive oil and wine vinegar. And salt of course.
Add a little crumbled goat cheese or Feta cheese, some bacon, maybe a chopped tomato, and you can make a fine lunch out of them.
It's been many years since we have bought either fresh or dried Thyme at the store. It's the easiest herb to grow in full sun and dry, lousy soil, and it comes back after hard freezes and cold winters. An advantage is that the leaves stay on the plant all winter, so you can just go out and scratch the snow off and harvest the sprigs you need. (I just throw the sprigs in with the leaves on, so my cooking often ends up with denuded Thyme sprigs in it.) Cooking with Thyme.
Another advantage is simply the smell it creates in a garden on a hot summer day. 4 or 5 small plants in the Spring will spread all over, only needing a little watering the first year to get started.
Thyme is the ultimate "savoury" flavor, but it's mild enough to make it difficult to over-use. I think it's basic to most stews and soups, Italian or otherwise. My chef friend uses it in muffins and biscuits, and on vegetables. She uses chopped Thyme blossoms on fruit cocktail. It has to be part of any bouquet garni.
Thyme comes in many varieties, some man-made and some wild. Most is Thymus vulgaris - common Thyme, with variants thereof. I assume it has Mediterranean origins. In the Massachusetts Berkshires, we have acres of Creeping Thyme as weeds in the less-fertile meadows, and my Mom always planted it between flagstones. Smells good in the summer when stepping on it, but watch out for the bees.
As a lady with refined sensibilities, Mom was always attentive to the small, charming details of life. There were always small vases of wildflowers around.
It's getting into Shad Season now in the Northeast. Just had my first shad roe dinner of the season with dear pals on Friday night. They made it with a caper and mushroom sauce, on a bed of spinach, with roasted potatoes. Chef slightly overcooked it, though. It should be fully pink in the middle.
Many of us in Yankeeland welcome this brief season when the Shad migrate from the ocean up the rivers to lay and fertilize the eggs, with the females filled with delicious Shad roe.
If you drive over the Hudson River, the Connecticut, or Housatonic bridges, you will see the shad fishermen's nets spread out right now.
The roe, cooked with bacon, is as good as food gets. Do not overcook it - it is Shad caviar. But the meat of the Atlantic Shad (a large type of herring, I believe) is underestimated. It requires an expert boner which makes it expensive, but it's as tasty a fish as exists. The Shad is full of crazy bones.
It's a brief season for Shad, and there are Shad Festivals all over the Northeast.
Photo above is Shad roe. My Mom loved it, and so do I.
Photo below is a Shad fisherman on the Potomac, c. 1900
Made another Ribollita for Dad tonight (photo). Will deliver tomorrow - these things are always much tastier a day later. My ol' Yankee Dad loves Italian peasant comfort food.
I used a different recipe this time for the Ribollita. These greens are half Kale and half chopped cabbage, plus the whites of two leeks. I pureed about 1/3 of the Canellini beans, and had to use plenty of chicken stock to keep it from being too thick. Water would be purist but I like flavor, and I throw all chicken bones in the freezer for whenever I need to make chicken stock. Or I make it and freeze it.
There's over 1/2 cup of olive oil in there, and pretty much all the rest of the (frozen) Thyme I could find in the icy garden. Plenty of garlic, onion, celery, carrot, of course. Large can of crushed tomatoes - maybe a little too much.
Cheap and delicious, and fun to make. It is difficult to over-use thyme in soups and stews. That's where the "savoury" comes from.
Serve on top of small 1"-cube chunks of preferably-stale Italian or French bread in a soup bowl. A glass of Chianti Classico Riserva. Then take a nap.
When I cook this, I do it in my largest stovepot, 10 or 15-quart. Usually 2 hunks of corned beef and 2 cabbages, plus the rest. I've never included rutabaga. Parsnips are always a good idea but you have to remember that they cook fast. Parsnips are delicious with their menthol tang.
I like to overcook the meat a bit until fork-tender. Serve with abundant Dijon mustard and Horseradish mustard on the side. And beer.Mrs. BD got us some Wasabi Mustard this year.
But not so much beer than you cannot go out and plant your peas. It's the day to plant peas in Yankeeland, regardless of the weather. Snow Peas.
I happen to love corned beef and cabbage (plus potatoes) - as long as there is plenty of horseradish mustard and beer.
The real name of the meal is New England Boiled Dinner. I cook it all together in a giant pot. If the beef needs a knife, it's underdone. I think it should crumble.
Maple sap begins to flow when there are sufficient daily temperature swings between below and above freezing. That tends to be towards late February-early March in New England, depending on latitude and the weather. Curiously, Sugar Maple sap does not just flow up from the roots - it flows both downwards from the branches and up the trunk, depending on the time of day and the whim of the tree.
Our Vermont friends have been busy getting ready for sugarin', so it's time for some info. We tend to think of Vermont maple syrup, but Canada is the major producer. We consume it abundantly in New England and do not approve of the cheap substitute goop in the supermarkets. We buy the real stuff by the gallon when we can, especially the Grades below Light Amber. You can buy the rather intense Grade B here, but I think I prefer the third level of Grade A - Dark Amber. This place sells all of the grades.
Grading - Many of of us like the intensity of the lower grades , but you won't find them in supermarkets. They are easy to find in Maple sugar country, though. About Maple sugar grades
$ - We pay retail in the $20s/gallon, but the farmers get between $2-$3/gallon, usually. More in a "bad" year.
When it looks like it has gone bad, it hasn't. Give it a light boil, skim it, and it's fine. Better yet, use it before any mold grows on the surface.
Besides on waffles, French Toast, and pancakes, what can you do with it?
- Put it on oatmeal like the Pilgrims did. - Pour some into winter squash halves with a pat of butter and bake, like my Indian ancestors probably did. - Drizzle some over fresh-fallen snow. Instant Maple popsicles with the power to pull out all of your fillings and crowns and to enrich your dentist. - Drizzle some over Pumpkin Pie. Wow. Tom taught us that. - Drizzle it over salmon, with some butter, before baking
The most recent dinner we had in Sicily was swordfish stuffed with herbs and pignoli nuts on a bed of couscous with a sweetened wine and raisin sauce. That was outside Agrigento on the southwest coast. To this day, western Sicily is "Arab" and eastern is "Greek." The local cuisines of Italy reflect the history.
The history of Sicilian cuisine is the history of beautiful, wonderful, and profoundly-corrupt Sicily. No problema - they only hassle eachother. Put it on your bucket list. They love Americans there.
For some dumb reason, I decided to look at the dominant carbs of Italy, which like Sicily still has large variations in regional cuisine, sometimes varying almost completely over 50 miles in terms of wines, cheeses, sausages, meats, carbs, etc. As readers know, in Italian tradition the Primi is generally a carb or a soup, and the Secondi is meat, with a veg on the side if you ask for it.
Bread? Everywhere. "North" and "South" roughly mean in relation to Rome. (Umbrian bread is terrible: they quit using salt after a salt tax argument with the Pope in 1540 and still don't use it.)
The North: Polenta, Rice and Risotto, Potato, Gnocchi, some usually-fresh-made egg noodles (eg Pappardelle) including ravioli and tortellini. Butter for fats, but more olive oil over time.
The South: Plain (no egg) dried pastas, beans. Pizza. Olive oil for fats.
Sicily: Couscous, rice, some plain pastas. Olive oil.
Now I expect arguments and exceptions from readers, but I think this is generally accurate.
Image is a very fine Umbrian Primi - Gorgonzola and Porcini Risotto. Nothing better. Arborio Rice only. Italian women have strong arms from stirring Risotto and Polenta. You can't stop stirring them until done.
The global cooling we are experiencing inspired me to consider some truly fine cool-weather all-white breakfast eats which are not easily found in Yankee-land. The good stuff that sticks to your arteries ribs and warms you from the inside.
Creamed chipped beef on toast is the fine old Yankee version of the southland's biscuits 'n gravy. Both have done wonders for warming the hearts and narrowing the arteries of generations of American boys. Add some potatoes and you have the perfect meal for a lumberjack or hunter.
While apple pie is an old-time Yankee breakfast staple, it has been replaced long ago by eggs, toast, and bacon, maybe a chunk of fruit, and preferably home fries with ketchup on them. Not Heinz 57, though - it's not my job to feed John Kerry.
Some people eat cereal for breakfast. Why? Because Dr. John Kellogg, a health-food charlatan in the 1800s, told them to. Zero nutrition. Breakfast cereal is a fraud and a scam, unless it's plain grits or cream of wheat or oatmeal. The crunchy granola stuff? Well, I thought the guy who discovered that you could sell people plain water was a genius, but the people who decided to sell guinea pig food to humans was his creative equal.
(At Maggie's Farm, we are also fond of fish for breakfast, like the Brits. Kippers. Or a lighty sauteed trout someone has caught early, sprinkled with parsley. Or left-over broiled salmon.)
The chipped beef was always a boarding school standard, and half loved it and half barfed to look at it. It does look like vomit, but it's great stuff. It's a gourmet's delight, but nobody makes it anymore.
When I did my time south of the Mason-Dixon, a local favorite was hot dog gravy on biscuits. Grits on the side, of course. Everything white. Not a refined breakfast, just gravy made with supermarket hot dogs instead of sausage. A truly revolting flavor unless you grew up in the hills and hollers, but it will fend off hunger for hours. I prefer my Sabretts on a bun at Yankee Stadium. But other sorts of southern gravy, made with ham or sausage, are just fine. I won't presume to offer a biscuit 'n gravy recipe, because every Southern Mom has her own. Well, here's a Virginia one from someone's Grandma.
Biscuits 'n gravy, and grits. Serious food for the soul.
Image: New Hampshire chipped beef on English muffins - with home fries. They don't do grits up north (except in Italian homes and restaurants, where they like to call grits "polenta") and it's a damn shame. Good stuff.
This is an annual re-post. We'll post more game recipes over the next few weeks to help our hunters with their bursting freezers -
With hunting season winding, it's time to get cooking what we have in the freezer. It all begins with the sauce:
Uncle Bill's Jus de Gibier (mixed game) sauce, aka Brown Game Stock, aka Clean out the Freezer Sauce
Technically, it's a jus, not a sauce. Add a little roux and it will become a sauce.
This will be the tastiest sauce base you have ever had in your life, for chicken, game birds, turkey, venison, pork, veal, pasta, ravioli, etc. It's an ideal base for pheasant, chicken, venison or goose bourguignon. It has an earthy richness to it which is remarkable. We like to make a woodcock ravioli with black truffle, and this sauce is essential for that.
Gibier refers to mixed game, but we do it with mixed meat too, but not beef, which would overpower the subtler flavors. It is the best use of freezer-burned game and other stuff in the freezer. It's fun to make (but it takes a while), and you can clean out the freezer and the fridge at the same time. I freeze the used carcasses of Thanksgiving turkey, ducks, goose, random deer bones, etc. to use when I make this, once or twice a year, along with freezer-burned chicken, pheasant, etc. You could do this with entirely store-bought stuff if you lack a hunter in the family. The more stuff, the better.
You need a 10-12 (or larger) quart pot to make this, if you have a lot of stuff to use, but it freezes fine when made. It's good for a few months, at least.
Bake in oven until browned (not necessarily cooked-though) your saved carcasses and freezer-burned game meat and meat, especially pork and pork bones are good, and veal bones, (even if they have already been cooked). Yes, you bake the bones too. Do not burn them in the oven. I tend to use freezer-burned venison, pork chops, all my game bird carcasses, venison bones (cracked with a mallet), a bunch of veal bones and veal scraps if I can get them nowadays (it doesn't hurt to hit up the butcher for some stuff for this), turkey carcass, woodcock carcasses, and a pile of chicken wings. Chop this stuff roughly with a cleaver into 3-6" chunks and toss in the pot. Try to crack the bones.
By popular request, I've collected the recent posts on old-timey Mommys of America non-gourmet, comforting (eg filling), quick 'n easy (eg no lasagna or fried chicken), and sensitively-multicultural (even Shrimp 'n Grits) winter suppers here, in no particular order. Such foods mean family love.
I suspect some of our foreign readers - of whom we have quite a few - might be interested in what American moms (and sometimes modern dads) fix up for ordinary family suppers in Upper Yankeeland (with the exception of Shrimp 'n Grits which is real Southern food and suitable for breakfast, lunch, or supper):
My sibs and I are sharing the pleasant job of keeping my Dad happily fed while Mom is struggling in the hospital.
I brought a crock pot pot roast before, and last weekend my Pasta Fagiole which came out perfectly if I do say so myself (see my photo at right).
I borrowed from several recipes to try to make it come out just like Mrs. BD's Italian-born Grandma used to make it. That is real homey, filling, comforting peasant food. I did use a little tomato paste in it. If it gets too thick you just add more beef broth.
My Dad loved the PF so much that I am considering something similar for this weekend: Ribollita. Maybe make some for the kids, too.
Ribollita is a Northern Italian bean, kale, and bread concoction which is meant to use stale bread and other random leftovers. Here's one recipe. I will just get some French bread and let it go stale.
Thinking that I wish I could feed Dr. Merc some PF or Ribollita.
Next weekend, maybe some Kare Kare, Filipino Oxtail Stew with Peanut Sauce. Damn, is that good stuff. Our kids' Filipino nanny (a gift from God to our family) made it often, but with mango slices added. I have no doubt that Dad would like that. Oxtail is delicious meat, close to the bone.
It's the end of hunting season, and I have not killed enough stuff this year to satisfy the hunter in me. I have a doe in the freezer, countless pheasants and chukars, a few Canada Geese and a bunch of ducks of several species. A couple of grouse, but we have eaten most of them and all of the woodcock. (Ask me how to make woodcock ravioli with jus de gibier and black truffle - I will tell you.)
There is a feeling of regret. How many hunting seasons does a man have in one lifetime? And work, family, and obligations intrude, as they should and must. Carpe diem, if you can. It's been a terrible winter for ducks - weather too pleasant.
The only consolation is that it is now time to really get cooking all of the good game in the freezer. For starters, we're doing a large-scale venison bourguignon for a get-together next weekend. The following week, will do the venison filets for some lucky guests. With the Canada geese, I will have a small party and sautee the breasts rare with some mushrooms and celery root puree, with gibier sauce, etc. For the ducks - oh, man. Very special recipes for those precious wild spirits, which I may write about sometime. For the Snow Geese, a nice cassoulet with some other mixed game. For all the bones, wings, carcasses, etc., including the carcass of the Thanksgiving turkey and the bone of the Christmas ham, we'll make a gallon or two of Uncle Bill's jus de gibier, to use with everything, saving some of it for a special, once a year consomme de gibier for Valentine's Day.
Despite all of these delights, I'd rather be in the woods and swamps with the dogs and a gun.
Those very thick Costco Prime Ribeyes are the official steak of Maggie's Farm. Given the choice of cooking them on charcoal or in a fiery-hot cast iron pan, I'll always use the pan. They must come out Rare, in my view, and crispy on the outside which means taking them off the heat before they are Rare. I always have to remind myself that they continue cooking after you take them off the stove. Undercooked is much better than overcooked, and a smoky kitchen is a good kitchen.
I use a little butter in addition to the steak's fat. On a normal day, I can only eat half a Costco ribeye. I like to serve it with some canned red bell pepper slices, sauteed and almost burned, in the same pan. Mashed potatoes too, of course, and if anybody makes creamed spinach, then it's a perfect supper.
As you may know, cassoulet is basically French baked beans with meat. The real original of hot dogs and baked beans. It is country home cookin, but it can be great stuff. Dutch oven cooking. Crock pot? Why not, as long as the meats are browned first, but it will not brown the top.
It's a good way to cook some wild game meat, especially the less-tender parts.
Any meat, but not beef - strong red meat is too strong for cassoulet. We have, over time, used various mixes of duck, snow goose, chukar, venison, chicken, pork, wild boar, and pheasant which we have killed. Mix the meats - it adds to the flavor. There should be some source of pig fat or duck fat in it. Some venison sausage, or any sausage, because it is a necessary traditional ingredient. The meat-to-bean ratio is supposed to be fairly high - 30% - but I like beans and prefer a lower ratio. I think every village in southern France has its own recipe and method. I figure roughly one hunk of sausage and one or two hunks of meat per person.
A few tips about Cassoulet:
1. Make it the day before. Like beef stew, it improves overnight. 2. Serve with salad, toasted garlic bread with a pile of stinky and gooey cheeses on the side, and then fruit for dessert. And a Cote Rotie or Cotes du Rhone. 3. You need to use large white beans, ideally French haricot beans. They should be intact when served - not mushy. 4. Make sure you push the bread crumbs down into the surface of the mixture when baking. 5. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top when done - it looks better that way.
Our editor has been inspiring with food this winter.
My serious girlfriend and I are having a little dinner party for 12 friends tonight. Acquaintances with whom we feel we would like to be better friends, and who could enrich our life.
Building new friendships as a couple is a complicated dance, isn't it? Do I enjoy their company? Do they think I'm boring, or a jerk? Do they wonder what I am doing with her, or she with me? You never know unless they call you back to do something after you have extended your hand in friendship.
Whether formally or informally, inviting people into your humble abode for supper is generally a social signal of warm and positive feelings unless it involves business. No space at my kitchen table, so will need my whole humble Lower East Side 1 BR apartment for seating. Who cares, if it's a good time?
I had braised (Massachusetts White-Tail) venison shoulder and various scraps in the crock pot all day yesterday, and later we'll whip up some cheese grits for a side and reheat the stew. About 8 lbs. of meat. I agree that stews are always better a day later.
We're having people who never ate a Bambi before. Actually, it's from a sweet-tasting and tender doe I bowed last month up at the Bird Dog homestead, but I will not mention that. Baguette to sop up the juice. A relatively cheap California cabernet, and good beers for the beer people. I am too cheap and modest to pay for some good Burgundies.
Then a tiny scoop of mango sorbet with a mint sprig on it.
After that, the Stinky Cheese Board (thanks, Fairway cheese man) with fruit, dried fruit, and nuts, for dessert or, I suppose, a savoury. Fig preserves and walnutty French breads to accompany the cheeses which have been out of the fridge all day to soften up. Bottle of nice port that my Dad gave me for Christmas, for those who enjoy Sunday morning headaches.
Entertaining people with whom you want friendship is easy, the Maggie's Farm Way. The secret ingredients, it seems to me, are not food, decor, or fancy homes or restaurants, but intelligent people with interesting and varied interests, charming gals, lively conversation, controversial topics, and snappy repartee. It requires just one or two people who are willing to rise to the occasion to be the life of the party without over-drinking. I will do that if nobody else will, but I'd rather leave that to others.
The meaning of tasty or interesting food is to honor guests who take the trouble to come to your place.
A reader advised us that the Macaroni Pie in The Leopard was one local version of Timballo (or "Timpano"). There appear to be numerous local versions. I've never heard of it, but I want to try a good one.
Sometimes it's made with eggplant (aubergines), sometimes not. The version I had read about had hard-boiled eggs and chicken liver in it. Sounded delicious.
Here's a good post about Timballo. Lots of recipes pop up if you google "Timballo recipe."
Many of the recipes are made with Tagliarini, and almost sound like a molded Mac and Cheese with goodies inside, while some seem more like a molded lasagna.
Off topic, but during my research I stumbled on more tagliarini - the well-molded Bianca Tagliarini.
I'm doing the cooking today and not doing Mommys of America cheap 'n easy - I am making Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon for the kids. I browned the meat, carrots and pearl onions (doubled the amount of onions because I love them) and prepped the lardons last night. Also threw in some porcinis because I hate a meat stew without them, and a couple of dashes of ground clove. I do it the French way - large chunks of meat (2 1/2" or 3" x 3" - they shrink) and large chunks of carrot. It's meant to be about the stewed meat. I used a Chianti Classico because I had a glass last night and an open bottle, but should have used a Cab I think. Why not a Burgundy, as the name says? I don't know. I used a 3-pound chuck roast instead of venison, and cut it into large hunks. I don't know why I used the pearl onions because big old onions work just as well, or better.
Then it all goes into the big new crock pot for 7 or 8 hours, adding the pearl onions near the end. Since we old folks are going out to dinner tonight with friends, I hope the kids appreciate my efforts and will leave us some leftovers. I'll have egg noodles for it. They are the best thing for beef stews.
The only real hassle with Julia's recipe is having to drain the stew and reduce the sauce instead of just ladling it out of the pot. Worth the trouble, though.
But this is a post on lardons. Or was. While catching up on the subject of lardons, I noticed this country-style French bread: Fougasse de Foix. Baked into it is Gruyere cheese, creme fraiche, and lardons. How good does that sound?
This sentimental series could keep going on, but this is enough for now. I hope Moms are still cooking these simple, filling things for their kids, because kids (and Dads) appreciate them and the homey, loving, and pedestrian nature of the food.
Man cannot live on take-out alone. Even if Mom has no talent in the kitchen, hot and home-made (even with the help of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup) means a lot, says a lot.
Here's Moussaka. Very quick and easy to make. I've had it with ground beef, lamb, venison, even African antelope. All plenty good enough.
That's what Maggie's Mom's Home Cookin' is all about - good enough, loving enough, and cheap enough for a hungry, growing family.
(I deliberately left out many good Mom items which take more time to prepare - like Lasagna - or cost more - like ribeye steaks. And a good roast chicken can be got at Costco for $3.99. I left out Stuffed Cabbage and Shrimp and Grits, but I'll add them to the summary post.)
It's not an Italian dish (it's an invention of Italian-Americans, poor immigrants from southern Italy who found they could afford meat in America), and it gives adults heartburn, but American kids seem to love it and it's easy to make.
I loved it as a kid, but now I feel it's an unpleasant meal. At least, we have evolved beyond Chef Boyardee. Here's Easiest Spaghetti and Meatballs.
One genuine Italian touch: Crazy Martha says to throw the drained pasta into the meat and sauce in the saucepan. That's the right way to do it. Pasta in the sauce, not the sauce on top of the pasta.
Black Bean Soup. Good stuff. I like it with a big spoonful of mashed potatoes in the middle of the bowl. Don't be afraid to use instant mashed taters for it: it's cheap and easy, consistent with our theme.
Red Beans and Rice. It doesn't really need the ham hocks as long as you use some bacon. I lived on this when I was in college. I miss it. Need to make some.
Each of these dishes is not harmed by some hot sauce or hot pepper flakes.
No matter where you live in the US, Chili is a basic warming winter supper. Always good for lunch too on a ski slope with a cold beer or two.
Chili is like barbecue: every region and every locale has developed its own favorite version. Up here in Yankeeland, it's usually made with ground beef and lots of beans. It's OK, not great. Something like this recipe. That's what moms here make.
That's OK, but that is a pic of a real Texas Chili: no beans and no ground beef. 3/4 of a cup of hot chili powder?!? Well, I did that. Unless your Mom was a Texan or a Mezzican-American, you probably never had it like that. Stewed meat in tomato, garlic and hot pepper sauce, hot and spicy as hell - or as spicy as you decide to make it.
Got a deer on hand? Venison is as good, or better, than beef. Use your least-desirable cuts because it tenderizes during 7 hrs. in the crock pot. Best to kill the deer first too, if you know how to do it. Bow, spear, or AR-15. Who cares?
You can put the pure-meat version on rice if you need to. Never on brown rice. My rule of thumb: Nothing on brown rice. It took the Asians thousands of years to make rice white, so why go backwards? At Maggie's HQ we use Costco's tasty Basmati but there is nothing wrong with Uncle Ben's.
It's the best use of an inexpensive chuck roast or round. Pot Roast can be terrible dry mystery meat, or it can be OK. Pot Roast never looks very appealing, and should taste better than the pile of grey, well-overcooked meat looks.
Either way, it gets the family well-fed and meated-up. Kids need meat to grow their brains. I like this recipe because it has lots of my favorite root vegetables in it, parsnips, turnips.
Pot Roast is not a roast, it's braised. I call it Braised Beef and it has to be cooked until fork-tender.
It's a southern Italian bean soup/stew. Real, non-Americanized Italian peasant food. If you are from around Napoli, it's pronounced something like "fazool." Otherwise, "fajole." Fagiole are la Carne dei Poveri. (No, I am not a paisan but I married into a half of one.)
I see recipes online which include meat, but Pasta Fagioli is best made with meat broth (chicken or beef), but should have no meat in it.
This recipe about gets the basic version, but I'd use canned cannelini (white) beans for convenience, and chicken or beef broth instead of vegetable broth. I am not enough of one of the poveri not to have meat broth around.
Another recipe includes tomato sauce. I've never had a Pasta Fagiole with tomato in it, and believe it ought to be without the tomato. It's meant to be pleasantly bland, cheap, and filling. If I make it, no tomato but I'll add some hot pepper flakes to give it a little zip.
Any small pasta works in it. Serve with a plate of simple crostini, eg with oil and garlic and maybe some herbs on them.
No, my Mom never made this or ever heard of this, but my wife's Grandma made it to please her husband who required it weekly to feed his soul.
It's the dumplings that make it worth eating. Good stuff. Otherwise, it's sort of like Chicken Soup or Chicken Stew, which are good if you have the flu but, otherwise, not too exciting.
When young, most Americans never saw any tuna that did not come out of a can. Tuna Noodle was indeed a classic and, for Fridays, a Catholic standby. Cream of mushroom soup in it, of course: Tuna Noodle Casserole.
I would not want to eat it today unless I were starving. Was not even Catholic, just had enough of it.
Shucks, I almost forgot the notorious Tuna Surprise, aka Tuna Disappointment.
Italians do love their Mediterranean Tuna, and you can Google plenty of tasty Tuna sauce pasta recipes. Here's one: Italian Tuna and Pasta
You get a mess of big old quahogs or sea clams (steam open and then chop them up), or some chunks of fresh Codfish, Haddock, or Monkfish - or just a bag of frozen corn.
The base of your Yankee chowder is the same, whether Clam, Cod, or Corn. See Grandma's Corn Chowder for the base (substitute other ingredients for the corn).
You can add a little thickener if you want, corn starch or whatever. Not necessary, though.
My Mom would serve chowda with Bisquick biscuits. Good memories: Mom cooking up a chewy, clam-packed chowder with the basket of quahogs we kids had harvested from the low-tide mud off Great Island in Wellfleet.
Fellow parents: Our job is to build sustaining memories and traditions as best we can, isn't it?
A pal of mine cooks a big dinner of venison Stroganoff for friends each late winter because it is such a good use of his venison scraps, shoulder, etc. He probably makes a gallon of it, then served on pappardelle. The thin strips are tender even when the meat is not.
(For his appetizers, pizzas of random ingredients cooked in his outdoor wood-fired pizza oven and, for dessert, his famous Apple Crunch with ice cream. How's that for a fancy party? All his Mrs. has to do is to gather plates, silverware, and napkins for 40, and hire a helper for bartending and clean-up. Light up a fire in the fireplace, bring your pals, and you're all set for a fun winter party.)
They called it "Beef Stew" because I don't think they put any wine in it. Mom served it on rice or on slices of white bread.
Good for the cheapest cut of beef you can find because it will tenderize any cut, and the poorest cuts have the most flavor.
It probably tasted similar to that Dinty Moore dog-food-tasting canned thing, because it had no bacon, no garlic, no wine, etc. Tasted good at the time, though.
A more up-to-date recipe for a crock pot is not too bad: Crock Pot Beef Stew With Red Wine. Gets closer to a real Boeuf Bourguignon.
People make a meal of it, with salad, but it's also a darn good side with roast beef.
A little truffle oil makes for an upscale Mac and Cheese. I had that once in a very fancy restaurant, baked in individual pottery ramekin/mugs with shaved truffle on top. Quite effete and entirely edible.
Note to readers who might think this little series is stupid: It's intended as a sentimental journey through the love-providing kitchens of the Yankeeland recent past, not a substitute for Betty Crocker!
An Italian peasant dish, fully functional for any small game the hunter - the cacciatore - brings home in his bag - fowl, rabbit, squirrel. I made it with pheasant a few nights ago and the family loved it.
My Mom never heard of it, but I had a friend whose Mom cooked it. Adventurous for a New England Yankee Mom.
We serve it on rice, egg noodles, or pappardelle.
Like all such things, it's better the second day.
Regarding this pretty-good recipe - Chicken Cacciatore - I can report that it is darn good with the capers. An alternative to the capers would be wild mushrooms, but not both. Definitely add some hot pepper flakes. Don't simmer for 1/2 hr - simmer for 60 minutes to fully mix the flavors while you give the baby a bath.
I sometimes cheat by sauteeing the chopped vegatables, then adding them to marinara sauce from the supermarket. It works darn well with the rest of the ingedients.
My Mom used to make this when we were young. She'd never had any real Italian food in her life at that point except spaghetti and meatballs (not Italian either); she thought Tetrazzine was an Italian dish.
It tastes just fine, especially if you are hungry.
Meat loaf and mashed taters, and maybe some steamed summer squash on the side. Meat loaf needs gravy or its juices, on top.
At the Maggie's HQ, we make meat loaf the Italian way:Italian Meat Loaf Recipe. Italian-style meat loaf usually has a dash of nutmeg and/or allspice in the recipe, but that particular one does not. I do not think they make this in Italy. Maybe it's a modified meat-ball recipe, but they don't eat meatballs in Italy either. (Nor do Swedes cook Swedish Meatballs.)
Best thing about meat loaf? Meat loaf sandwiches the next day or two. White bread only, plenty of mayo.
Why "Shepherd's"? Because it is traditionally made with ground lamb or mutton. That's how Alton Brown makes it.
Americans use ground beef, usually. Ground mutton is not a typical supermarket item. Go ahead and use instant mashed potato if you must - the recipe don't care.
I am hoping some Mom will try each of the recipes in this series, and report back on family response.
The Mommys of America commonly made winter casseroles using cans of Campbell's soups. Mushroom soup, especially. We're getting into Hotdish territory here.
In the good old days, eating in restaurants was not routine as it is now, but instead was a special treat for birthdays and anniversaries. Take-out Chinese, much less Thai or sushi, did not exist. Moms used to have food budgets, but no more because good food has, blessedly, become such a small component of an American family budget.
I sure hope moms still make stuff like this: Easy Creamy Chicken Casserole because it is good, and heart-warming. Ritz cracker topping. Wow. Put it on white rice.
Then home-made chocolate pudding for dessert with Jiffy Whip or Cool Whip on top. Perfection. Thanks, Moms of America!
Moms show their love for their families by cooking, especially those gooey, bland, rib-sticking comfort foods in the winter. They make everybody feel loved, and they're all in Fanny Farmer's cookbook if you have one around.
Mommys of America winter foods are cheap and easy to make. Cheaper than McDonald's, but probably less "healthy" than McDonald's. Whatever "healthy" means.
Here's a classic Mommys of America dish, Creamed Chicken with Peas, best (I think) on top of white rice but it works on toast, mashed taters, and egg noodles. Lots of ground pepper on top.
For one extra Mom point, serve it on Basmati rice. For two extra points, on a brioche. For three extra Mom points, use the pheasant Dad shot instead of chicken because she deserves it for marrying a guy who goes out and shoots the family's food.
Got any favorite Mommys of America dishes? This is first of a sentimental, anti-gourmet series this week.
A family friend just returned from a year's posting overseas, and despite massive jet-lag got himself over to the Maggie's HQ to cook up a storm last night.
After a year of southeastern Asian food, he wanted to cook a rustic Ragu. Either rabbit or duck are fine, but he used duck because rabbit was sold out at the market. Lots of Italians around here in Yankeeland. Use Porcini for the mushrooms, or at least the dried mushroom mixes with porcini in them.
There are excellent versions of this without tomato, too. "Italian" does not = tomato sauce. The Italians were cooking tasty dishes for thousands of years before tomato seeds were brought over from Mexico.
(Another great Italian classic is Rabbit Stew - like Veal Stew - which is usually not served with a carb or, if it is, with rice or risotto.)
For a Ragu - or for almost any meat concoction like Beef Bourguignon or Beef (or venison) Stroganoff - the only pasta I like to serve is pappardelle, which is a broad, egg noodle. It's also the best pasta for Pasta al Funghi with Porcinis. Trust me. How much do we love Porcinis? Is there any other mushroom really worth eating?
A Chianti Classico or Chianti Riserva works well with it, too.
Last year, we were at a friend's and I was introduced to the Coquito. This is, basically, a Puerto Rican eggnog.
Very tasty, but also very fattening. Probably 10,000 calories per glass. Delicious as can be. After that party, I made some and brought them to our family Christmas party, where they were a hit. We all had to run marathons to burn off the calories, but it was worth it.
I decided to make them again this year and found another recipe to work with. Most of the recipes are similar, though there are minor variations which make it an interesting drink. This year's recipe called for egg yolks, last year's did not. Last year I added nutmeg and vanilla. This year I didn't.
I pour it into resealable bottles, and keep it cold. It needs to be shaken prior to pouring, and sometimes you have to warm the neck of the bottle a bit to loosen it up.
I don't usually like distilled liquors, but during the winter I'll have some whiskey or add rum to my drinks. Particularly when the temperature dips as it has lately.
I had this at a very good Italian restaurant the other day. They served it on top of some thin potato slices sauteed in olive oil. A couple of slices of fried polenta on the side would be an alternative. Or gnocchi. Pasta, I think, a poor fourth choice but readers know that, with a few wonderful exceptions, I think of anything with pasta as being a low form of Italian cooking. Call me a snob, but I think I've had more great, pasta-free Italian food in Italy and Sicily than the average American bear.
In my view, for this sort of recipe, stew the chunks of meat until you can cut them with a fork.
Christmas Day is a traditional feast day so we are expected to cook something either traditional or tasty. We have done all of the things: turkey, goose, roast beef, crown roast of pork with apple stuffing (wow - good), etc.
On the other hand, the Italians do a cool thing - they do their Christmas Eve fish dinner because it is a vigilia di magro (fasting, Italian-style).That is darn good. Fried baccala, fried calamari, scungilli, clams, mussels, maybe lobster etc etc. I love the baccala, and those little fried minnows bagiggi - smelt - with lemon that you eat whole like french fries, and clams (if they aren't cooked), but I hate those cold seafood salads - dolphin bait. In Sicily, the tradition is seven fishes.
But back to Yankee Christmas dinner, and goose.
As regular readers know, for the Canada geese we shoot we usually cook the breast only, marinated and sauteed rare. We confit the legs and thighs. For Christmas goose, you need to cook the whole bird.
Supermarket goose tends much smaller (maybe in Dickens' time they had bigger farm geese - if you can find a giant Christmas goose as big as Tiny Tim, great), and has more fat on it. In fact, it seems about 50% fat, which oozes out during cooking and fills the pan below. If you want to cook that traditional English bird, you need a few of them. I would say, one per 3-4 people if you are using the supermarket birds. (Some might disagree with this.) One bird will not do it, as a turkey does, because once the fat melts off, there isn't much left except bones. The plus side of all of the fat is that they are self-basting.
Overcooking a pair (brace) of whole geese, at low heat, is not a bad idea. For a roast goose, you may really want the meat falling off the bone, unlike a nice rare breast of wild goose. Goose is, of course, a dark meat like duck (but more coarse in flavor, I think). Stuff them with apples and onions and things, but don't eat the stuffing.
Make a tasty sauce out of the drippings, once you have removed the fat. Add a little red wine, maybe a handful of huckleberries or dried cranberries and a bit of sugar, and reduce/thicken.
What to serve with goose? Mainly braised and sauteed roots. Parsnip, carrot, potato, turnip. And how about a rutabaga puree? I love the mentholy flavor of parnips and rutabaga. Or a celeriac (celery root) puree? Maybe a pile of braised, sauteed baby squash, too. Cranberry sauce? You betcha.
Are store geese delicious? Not really. It's more of a tradition than an epicurian experience.
This recipe is pretty good. Definitely use the goose fat to roast the potatoes in. Toss some Rosemary into the pan with the potatoes. Salt and pepper. Potato heaven.
Been in the City lately? I have. Love the vitality of it, the spirit, the pretty people. Best place in the world at Christmastime when everything and every corner is hopping. It is uplifting, invigorating, inspiring.
McSorley's is one of the great old pubs, but there are so many.
McSorley's allows ladies to enter nowadays, but it's really still a guy place. I puked in their bathroom one time as a youth. "Boot and rally," as we say. Not a sacred place - just old, uncomfortable, dusty, and rickety. Perfect.
I do not care for vodka in any form other than in a Bloody Mary or its variants, no matter what our team member Opie says about Grey Goose: I think it's just ethanol with a twist. (To me, a vodka Martini is only suited for auto fuel for the sanctimonious feel-gooders.)
At Maggie's Farm, we are feel-gooders of the other variety. While it's not a strictly holiday drink, I seem to only have Bloody Marys in the winter. Besides Irish Coffee, it's the only drink a proper gent can have before noon without looking like a drunk.
There are about a thousand different Bloody Mary recipes. Here's an interesting one. I used to have our wonderful Connecticut Yankee neighbor William F. Buckley Jr's recipe, which included canned beef broth or consomme and sounded like a complete wholesome meal in a glass - protein, vegetables, roughage (the celery stick) and booze - but I can't find it. (Thanks, reader. You remind me that some folks call that a Bloody Bull, but I'd still like to find his recipe - it obviously worked well for him.)
The Bloody Caesar (or plain "Caesar"), I learned recently, is the most popular mixed drink in Canada. It must be all that clam broth that makes Canadians so "nice." It could not be more simple, because the magic is in the magical Mott's Clamato. Rimming the glass with some lime and salt is a delicious touch and also wards off the dread Scurvy. I like the Spicy Clamato more than the regular. Here's the history of Clamato - one of Canada's great contributions to civilization, second only to the Labrador Retriever.
On most days, I'd take the Caesar over the Mary or the Bull. We olde Cape Codders cannot get away from that clam broth, which was Mother's milk to us ever since the kind Indians taught our ancestors how to dig the tasty quahogs.
Addendum: Opie doesn't want our readers to forget the Bloody Maria
It's time to review mincemeat pies. I just bought a bottle of decent French brandy for the purpose.
Regular readers know that the history and the making of mince pies is a favorite winter hobby down at Maggie's Farm. They were once banned in Boston - as was Christmas itself. I make it with lard, of course, and preferably venison (I am using local venison shank this year), well-aged with brandy.
Favorite mincemeat pie quote: "Dad, what's a mince?"
It's a savoury pie, not a sweet pie. Here's a photo one of ours from last Christmastime. I use cranberries in it along with raisins and currants. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream or hard sauce.
The Englishman posted his favorite recipe. It must be well-aged, weeks or a month, but it will work fine with a couple of weeks of aging.
Prof. B. explained why 
One of the Bird Dog daughters, and my lad, know that it is easy to please Dad with a selection of stinky, strong, expensive imported cheeses from The Grand Central Market in NY. At Sunday's Mom's Day cookout we had a killer cheese platter. Even a goat brie, which was a first for me.
A friend told me the other night that he was served hot pepper mashed potatoes at the home of a friend in Delhi. I did not know they made mashed potatoes in India. He said it was so hot he was in agony.
We like to eat lots of those skinny French beans. We steam them in Costco-style bulk, and they last a week. 
It's getting into Shad Season now in the Northeast. Just had my first shad roe dinner of the season with dear pals on Friday night. They made it with a caper and mushroom sauce, on a bed of spinach, with roasted potatoes. Chef slightly overcooked it, though. It should be fully pink in the middle.
Made another Ribollita for Dad tonight (photo). Will deliver tomorrow - these things are always much tastier a day later. My ol' Yankee Dad loves Italian peasant comfort food.
When I cook this, I do it in my largest stovepot, 10 or 15-quart. Usually 2 hunks of corned beef and 2 cabbages, plus the rest. I've never included rutabaga. Parsnips are always a good idea but you have to remember that they cook fast. Parsnips are delicious with their menthol tang.
St. Paddy's Day is next Sunday, March 17th. Just wanted to set the record straight on the historical facts. Even worse, his name wasn't Patrick.
Maple sap begins to flow when there are sufficient daily temperature swings between below and above freezing. That tends to be towards late February-early March in New England, depending on latitude and the weather. Curiously, Sugar Maple sap does not just flow up from the roots - it flows both downwards from the branches and up the trunk, depending on the time of day and the whim of the tree.
Grading - Many of of us like the intensity of the lower grades , but you won't find them in supermarkets. They are easy to find in Maple sugar country, though. 
The most recent dinner we had in Sicily was swordfish stuffed with herbs and pignoli nuts on a bed of couscous with a sweetened wine and raisin sauce. That was outside Agrigento on the southwest coast. To this day, western Sicily is "Arab" and eastern is "Greek." The local cuisines of Italy reflect the history. 
The global cooling we are experiencing inspired me to consider some truly fine cool-weather all-white breakfast eats which are not easily found in Yankee-land. The good stuff that sticks to your 
Uncle Bill's Jus de Gibier (mixed game) sauce, aka Brown Game Stock, aka Clean out the Freezer Sauce
By popular request, I've collected the recent posts on old-timey Mommys of America non-gourmet, comforting (eg filling), quick 'n easy (eg no lasagna or fried chicken), and sensitively-multicultural (even Shrimp 'n Grits) winter suppers here, in no particular order. Such foods mean family love. 
My sibs and I are sharing the pleasant job of keeping my Dad happily fed while Mom is struggling in the hospital.
It's the end of hunting season, and I have not killed enough stuff this year to satisfy the hunter in me. I have a doe in the freezer, countless pheasants and chukars, a few Canada Geese and a bunch of ducks of several species. A couple of grouse, but we have eaten most of them and all of the woodcock. (Ask me how to make woodcock ravioli with jus de gibier and black truffle - I will tell you.)
Our editor has been inspiring with food this winter. 
A reader advised us that the Macaroni Pie in The Leopard was one local version of 
This sentimental series could keep going on, but this is enough for now. I hope Moms are still cooking these simple, filling things for their kids, because kids (and Dads) appreciate them and the homey, loving, and pedestrian nature of the food.
It's not an Italian dish (it's an invention of Italian-Americans, poor immigrants from southern Italy who found they could afford meat in America), and it gives adults heartburn, but American kids seem to love it and it's easy to make.
Black Bean Soup
No matter where you live in the US, Chili is a basic warming winter supper. Always good for lunch too on a ski slope with a cold beer or two. 
It's the best use of an inexpensive chuck roast or round. Pot Roast can be terrible dry mystery meat, or it can be OK. Pot Roast never looks very appealing, and should taste better than the pile of grey, well-overcooked meat looks.
It's a southern Italian bean soup/stew. Real, non-Americanized Italian peasant food. If you are from around Napoli, it's pronounced something like "fazool." Otherwise, "fajole." Fagiole are la Carne dei Poveri. (No, I am not a paisan but I married into a half of one.)
It's the dumplings that make it worth eating. Good stuff. Otherwise, it's sort of like Chicken Soup or Chicken Stew, which are good if you have the flu but, otherwise, not too exciting. 
When young, most Americans never saw any tuna that did not come out of a can. Tuna Noodle was indeed a classic and, for Fridays, a Catholic standby. Cream of mushroom soup in it, of course: 
You get a mess of big old quahogs or sea clams (steam open and then chop them up), or some chunks of fresh Codfish, Haddock, or Monkfish - or just a bag of frozen corn. 
A pal of mine cooks a big dinner of venison Stroganoff for friends each late winter because it is such a good use of his venison scraps, shoulder, etc. He probably makes a gallon of it, then served on pappardelle. The thin strips are tender even when the meat is not. 
They called it "Beef Stew" because I don't think they put any wine in it. Mom served it on rice or on slices of white bread. 
It's basically an Americanized version of 
An Italian peasant dish, fully functional for any small game the hunter - the cacciatore - brings home in his bag - fowl, rabbit, squirrel. I made it with pheasant a few nights ago and the family loved it.
Another American adaptation/bastardization of some Italian recipes. 
Not too delicious, but it's variety and it gets the job of feeding done. 
Meat loaf and mashed taters, and maybe some steamed summer squash on the side. Meat loaf needs gravy or its juices, on top.
The Brits and Aussies call it "Cottage Pie." 
The Mommys of America commonly made winter casseroles using cans of Campbell's soups. Mushroom soup, especially. We're getting into Hotdish territory here.
Recipe 
A family friend just returned from a year's posting overseas, and despite massive jet-lag got himself over to the Maggie's HQ to cook up a storm last night.
Christmas Day is a traditional feast day so we are expected to cook something either traditional or tasty. We have done all of the things: turkey, goose, roast beef, crown roast of pork with apple stuffing (wow - good), etc.
I do not care for vodka in any form other than in a Bloody Mary or its variants, no matter what our team member Opie says about Grey Goose: I think it's just ethanol with a twist. (To me, a vodka Martini is only suited for auto fuel for the sanctimonious feel-gooders.) 