Monday, August 18. 2014
 Garlic is one of the most popular flavorings on the planet, and rightly so. There is no point to growing it, because it is so cheap and abundant. Like taters and like pasta. Who would bother growing pasta these days?
Despite not being an Italian "garlic-eater", I love garlic. I am informed that I occasionally reek of it. Too bad. Actually it seems that the Chinese consume the most.
Various garlic types are wild all around the world. I was interested to learn that the handy Elephant Garlic is not really garlic - it's a Leek sort of thing.
Sunday, August 17. 2014
 No visit to NYC is complete without a little side trip to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. The old Little Italy in downtown Manhattan has mostly been invaded by new Chinese immigrants who have been expanding Chinatown, and the Italians have moved through the tunnel to Jersey. Don't ask me why.
Today, New York's Little Italy is Arthur Avenue in the Fordham area of the Bronx. It's near the lovely Fordham campus, The Bronx Zoo, and the famous and magnificent New York Botanical Garden.
Is it a "safe" neighborhood? Hardly need to ask that about a heavily Italian neighborhood in New York, for several reasons. You do not need to lock your car. Many in the metropolitan area come by just to shop for Italian delicacies.
The restaurants do not take reservations, so you have to plan it out, be early, or wait in line a bit. Lots of folks I know like Roberto. I need to get there soon.
This person documented and photographed her routine shopping outings to Arthur Avenue.
Saturday, August 16. 2014
 The Lobster Roll is right up there with Clambake as classic New England summer cuisine. Clambakes have to be made by you, on the beach in a hole in the sand just like the Indians used to, but every New England seafood joint has its own recipe for the simple Lobster Roll.
Here are a few recipes.
Other classic Yankeeland coastal dishes? Fish and Chips (with fresh-caught Cod in a light beer batter), Stuffed Baked Haddock, Shellfish on the half-shell, Chowder (clam or fish), fried clam bellies and fried oysters. 15 Classic New England Seafood Recipes: Clambakes, Lobster Rolls, Chowder
 I thought it might be interesting to go over a few food combos that sound just terrible when mixed together, yet go great together when a third food is involved.
This will be one of those famous "user participation" posts you read so much about in Blogger's Digress. As we did in Bag O' Links, I'll add any additions left in the comments to the list ASAP. The rule is, two of the foods have to evoke a "Yuck!" when mentioned together, but go perfectly well when a third food is introduced.
Probably the classic is ketchup and grape jelly, or any kind of jelly or jam. Can you imagine eating a bite of jellied toast, then tossing a spoonful of ketchup into your mouth? Yuck! Or eating some french fries with ketchup, then suddenly eating a teaspoon of grape jelly? Uck-yay!
Then you'll be sitting there eating some scrambled eggs with ketchup, and halfway through the chew you'll take a bite of the jellied toast, and there's your ketchup and jelly. And, amazingly, they go perfectly together because of the scrambled eggs.
And there's another small anomaly in the same meal. Would you mix ultra-sugary and ultra-salty foods together? Not usually. Yet there you are, chewing on the ultra-sugary jellied toast while stuffing another piece of ultra-salty bacon or sausage into your mouth, again brought together by the eggs.
Another oddity is pepper on bananas. You never see anyone peppering a banana, just because it would look too weird. In secret, or in the confidence of a mate, perhaps. I wouldn't know, I've never tried. It would just look too weird.
Yet I've peppered tons of bananas in my life. Sliced, on sandwiches. As soon as you add the bread and mayo, the pepper just seems to magically fit and the results are delicious. I'm not sure I'd eat a banana sandwich without pepper, just because it adds so much to the taste.
And here's one I bet you've never tried. How about munching on some barbecue potato chips... then washing them down with chocolate milk? Doesn't sound very appealing, I admit. We're back to that salt-sugar clash.
But, assuming you like egg salad sandwiches, the next time you have one, buy a bag of BBQ chips and your favorite brand of chocolate milk. It's just amazing how well the three go together.
How about garlic bread and soy sauce?
"Yuckypoo!"
Exactly. But there I was the other night, eating some garlic 'Texas Toast' with some Chinese eggrolls, dunking the garlic bread in the soy sauce on the plate. Somehow the eggrolls magically tied everything together.
If you have your own favorite food quirk, toss it in the comments and I'll slap it on the list. If you'd like to include an accompanying blurb like the above, please do so.
Continue reading "Food Quirks, reposted"
An annual re-post -
 Why is the CDC based in Atlanta? Because Georgia was the center of malaria in the US, and elimination of malaria from the US was the CDC's first job. It's hard to imagine, but through the 1940's malaria was endemic in the southern US, and prior to that in the northeast too. Every doc in New England used to treat malaria routinely.
DDT was a major factor in the elimination of malaria in the US, but it remains a common disease in the Third World, in the southern hemisphere. And, sadly, DDT harms lots of other things, too, besides mosquitoes but probably isn't as evil as Rachel Carson claimed.
The long history of malaria would make a fascinating book. I'll just share a few facts: the germ which causes malaise, fever, and anemia is a plasmodium, a wierd one-celled bug. There are 4 varieties. The vector (meaning the thing that distributes the bug) is of course an anopheles mosquito, which squirts the germ into the human bloodstream with its anticoagulating saliva. The plasmodium reproduces in your red cells, then goes loose in your blood, where it is presumably sucked up by an innocent mosquito who  spreads it further. Humans are the host of this bug (meaning their reproductive home). Like any parasite, the goal is to keep the host alive, while reproducing itself. If you kill your host, you sort of defeat your purpose (like over-taxing productive people), so malaria is more likely to cause chronic illness than death, except in the otherwise vulnerable. Fascinatingly, the sickle-cell trait of Africa confers resistance to malaria. Nature is amazing, which makes being an MD an astonishing privilege.
Prevention is simpler than treatment. Treatments include derivatives of sweet wormwood, as discovered in China in 300, and derivatives of cinchona bark (quinine), as discovered by the Spanish in the 1600s. The quinine treatment/preventative of course gave rise to the finest drink of the British Empire - the Gin and Tonic, which exemplifies the idea of making a virtue of necessity. A Brit will drink nothing without either gin or wine in it. Add a lime and the Limey can prevent scurvy too, as was attributed to Captain Cook. Thus truly a superior medicine for both body and soul.
Does the brand of gin matter? For martinis, yes. For gin and tonics, not to me anyway.
Sunday, August 10. 2014
 I like cooked potherbs, aka a "mess o' greens" -of any sort: collards, turnip tops, dandelion, kale, chard, spinach, cabbage. Especially fond of collard greens, even though they are far from typical Yankee cookin'. The Romans got their collards from the Greeks (along with everything else), so collards have a long history as food.
I will not prepare raw greens, such as salad, but have been known to eat that rodent food when placed in front of me. My theory is that greens are meant to be cooked, either with a bit of meat, or with garlic and olive oil. But collards require meat.
If there are no spare ham hocks in the fridge, I cook them with bacon or a couple of slices of ham, and I like them with bits of bacon and/or chopped onion on top. Collards are in the cabbage family, and I love cabbage in any form due to my northern European peasant roots (I'll try to remember to post my favorite cabbage recipes in the fall). Collards do not smell good when cooking, and you just have to put up with it.
Here's some collard history, and a basic Southern collard recipe. It's a given that collards and their juice have to be served with corn bread, even if you live north of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Gimme some smoked short ribs or pulled pork, a bowl of collards, some corn bread, and a couple of beers, and this New England Yankee is close to heaven.
Photo: Collards
Addendum: Re raw greens, I forgot to mention cole slaw, known as "ragbag" among old timey Yankees. Home-made ragbag is a wonderful thing. I guess it's a salad, of sorts, and it works well with barbecue and just about anything else, including fresh fried codfish or a plate of fried oysters. Which reminds me that fried oysters were once food for the poor - hence the "poor boy" fried oyster sandwich. Yum.
One of my favorite chefs in town makes cucumber slaw. Slivered cucumber with slivered carrot with a vinaigrette.
Tuesday, August 5. 2014
 Assigned to bring a large platter of cold red meat to an outdoor supper party last weekend.
Decided to bring a platter of almost-carpaccio - thick Costco New York Strip grilled very rare - just a few minutes per side to sear it, cooled off, then sliced thin with my amazing meat knife. Although we love carpaccio, not everybody does so I sometimes fake it by sizzling the surface for about 3 minutes per side.
Decorate at time of serving with salt and pepper, some shaved Parmesan, and a splash of truffle oil and serve the platter on a bed of arugula or dandelion. Nice treat.
Photo shows one way it can be done. Yes, lemon can be ok with rare meat. Italians do like that. I'd say either truffle oil or lemon - not both.
 Expert Gerry Tosh Offers A Wonderfully Informative Lesson In Conducting a Proper Whisky Tasting
It is informative, but I am fine with Dewars and sometimes Teacher's. If you offer me a rare treat, I will enjoy it though.
Sunday, August 3. 2014
 It's summer squash season around here, a two -to-three- month squash explosion during which little zucchinis turn into 1 1/2-foot Zucchis seemingly overnight.
Besides cold soups, it's fun to stuff those big zucchis. Google Stuffed Zucchini to find tons of recipes. Best ones I've had use seafood stuffings with clams and shrimp.
Scoop out the pulp, fill with stuffing, wrap in foil and bake until done. Brown the top at the end.
A "zucchini" (singular, zucchino) is an immature Zucca (gourd).
Friday, August 1. 2014
 Dr. Bliss' Blissful Fish Stock (Fumet)
Clam chowder is very good, but cod chowder is great. Here's how I begin:
Chop up a hunk of salt pork into 1/2" or 1" pieces. Bacon is a poor second choice. Plus some butter. Chop carrots or parsnips, onion, garlic, celery - easy on the celery, one or two stalks. Sautee in the pork and butter until soft. There's your mirepoix.
Toss that into a stewpot, then a pile of fish heads and/or bones (from lean fish - no salmon, trout, tuna, bluefish etc. Heads are the best - your fishmonger has 'em and will happily give them to you). Add black crushed peppercorns, a bay leaf, some parsley, and one clove. A sprig of thyme is good. Cover with water and a cup or two or three of drinkable white wine, and simmer, covered, for an hour or two, while consuming the rest of the wine.
Cool it, strain preferably through cheesecloth but I use a strainer, chill in fridge then remove any fat on the surface. Some people like to find some bacon or salt pork in their chowder, so you can salvage them from the strainer, or make new.
You can reduce it or use as it is (I always thicken chowder with corn starch), as the base for fish soup or fish chowder. Don't use it as a base for New England clam chowder, though, because the fumet will overpower the delicate clammy flavor.
Clam Chowda requires a different recipe.
Wednesday, July 30. 2014
Grilled marinated pork chops and grilled asparagus with some steamed yellow squash on the side. Here's a tip: There's no need to cook the heck out of a nice 1 1/2-inch-thick Costco pork chop anymore. Trichinosis is a thing of the past. Pink inside is perfect.
Tuesday, July 29. 2014
 The two best uses of big Quahogs are Stuffies and Chowda.
Here's a good Stuffy recipe from Emeril (who is from Fall River - in the general neighborhood).
Tuesday, July 15. 2014
 So is life. What We Really Taste When We Drink Wine
I don't know much about wine but I know what I like, and it tends to be old, French, and expensive. That's the problem.
Friday, July 11. 2014
I am gonna make us some. Maybe some Margaritas too, if I can find my lost shaker of salt...
Life has taught me at least one thing: have your Margaritas on the weak side and life will go better. Especially with bathtub-sized ones like the above, in Cabo last March.
Here's a good ceviche recipe. (It is "ce-BEE-chay.") All I would say about it is to make it 1/2" to 1" cubes, add some chopped garlic to the mix - not too much - and forget the parsley. It has to be fresh cilantro. Red onions, not white. Some carrot slivers are fine, too, to add some crunch but no cucumber, please. Avocado and orange slices for garnish, and definitely a bowl of chips. 2-4 hours marinating in the fridge - no more, no less. Some people quickly -20-30 seconds - blanch the seafood first, but it certainly is not necessary and I never do it. My local fish market has the freshest.
My family and I could live on this stuff, in the summer. Fork, and a spoon to finish off those delicious cool fishy juices.
What fish? Well, as I reported in March, Spanish Mackeral (Sierra) is the best for ceviche but you have to go out and catch that yourself. However, any salt-water firm-fleshed (ie not sole or things like that which would turn to mush) white-fleshed fish will do, as long as very fresh. Bay or Sea Scallops are a good addition, and I have had it made with just scallops. I don't think it needs shrimp, but a few whole shrimp in the mix works fine for a garnish. It's supposed to be about the raw fishiness. Too much hot pepper distracts from that, but too little is no fun at all.
Mahi Mahi, Fluke, Shark, Sea Bass all good. I've heard of ceviche-starved Yankees using Cod and Haddock. Maybe I'll give it a try because I love that Cod.
For an appetizer, you can put it in a little bowl on some lettuce like a normal seafood salad, but I like it as a meal. There are very few cold dinners tastier than this.
Got a favorite ceviche? Let us know.
Tuesday, July 8. 2014
 My Rhubarb patch is having an excellent year.
Easiest thing in the world to grow in colder climates (comments there are useful). Just needs sun and fertilizer Spring and late summer/fall (bag of cow manure or whatever).
Can you gnaw on the raw stalks? You bet. Very tangy.
A few nights ago I made Rhubarb Compote (for on top of Vanilla Haagen Dasz) for dessert for friends. So much for those people who didn't think they liked Rhubarb.
Simple. I chopped up about 4 cups of Rhubarb stems, threw into a pot with 2 tbsp. of butter and a tablespoon or so of water, then stirred it around for about ten minutes with sugar to taste. I used only around 1 cup or less of sugar.
More delicious Rhubarb desserts, including Rhubarb Cobbler
Sunday, July 6. 2014
 Got the entire immediate family crew coming, plus some significant others. Kids up from NYC, etc. Feeding 11 1/2 in total. Being the man, I am the Griller, and in summer, I like to grill everything outdoors. Winter too.
Vegetables grilled first, of course, because they are good at room temperature. I sort-of hate vegetables, but soaked with olive oil, salt and pepper, basil, then grilled, I can eat 1 or 2. Salads I will not touch. I have really had enough salads and vegetables in my life already, and pretended to like those animal foods for long enough. Family loves them, though, especially grilled Italian-style on a wood fire.
- Grilled asparagus, potato, eggplant, pepper, and red onion and some Asiago and Ricotta Salata on the side - as antipasto. Costco was out of summer squash.
- Medium rare Costco New York Strip steaks grilled (3 1/2 mins/side on flaming wood), with Mrs. BD's famous cold Tabouli salad (tabouli, cucumber, tomato, a ton of parsley) on the side. Not sure how many of the large Costco steaks I'll need to grill. 4 probably, 5 maybe, with leftovers? I slice them thin, on a sharp bias, for serving. I have a killer meat knife.
- Italian wines (chilled because it is summer here), Lemonade with my mint, and Pacifico beer (with a bowl of limes)
- Two Birthday Cakes - we have 2 birthdays this week! I forgot to get the champagne.
Saturday, July 5. 2014
In the dining capitol of the world, "best" is difficult. However, Mas is getting all the buzz right now. I have not tried it, because I have more favorites than I can afford already.
Thursday, July 3. 2014
 - Grilled Pineapple chunks are an excellent side dish for lots of things, but especially with pork or seafood. With grilled Swordfish or Pork chops, it's the best. The grill caramelizes the sugar a bit. There are lots of recipes for it. However, you can just grill plain chunks. Some people use it as a dessert, but I think not.
- I like the flavor of grilled corn (Maize, to our foreign readers) on the cob. Maize on the cob? It's the Indian (American Indian, for our foreign readers) way. Take your ears of corn with all the leafy husks on them, rip off the loosest covering leaves, and soak them submerged in a bucket of salted water for a couple of hours. Then throw them on a hot grill and turn them as needed. The leaves will brown and burn a bit, the flossy stuff will burn off, and the corn inside will steam itself and get a bit browned. When you sense that it's about done (not too long - you have to play it by ear), serve intact and let your guests peel them.
Can you grill apples? Of course. You don't need a recipe like this. Just drizzle some honey on them.
Wednesday, July 2. 2014
 Easiest thing in the world, and a great side for steak, grilled lamb and fish, or burgers. I like to do it on the grill, burning wood, but of course gas, charcoal, or even the oven work fine too.
Slice whatever you want of these things into approx 1/3-1/2" slices:
Yellow summer squash
Zucchini
Eggplant
Red onion
Potato
Finocchio (fennel)
Asparagus (whole)
Peppers (chunks)
Mushrooms (whole)
Scallions (whole)
Canned or pickled artichoke, or those mini-artichokes (cut in half)
Toss all in a bowl with olive oil, plenty of salt and pepper, dried Basil. Then bake or grill until they seem right. Each type of item might require different cook times. The burnt bits are delicious. Serving at room temp. is fine.
Monday, June 16. 2014
With all the recent talk about couscous here, I decided to find out what it was. I imagined it was some sort of healthy natural grain or something. All it is is a form of pasta. Empty calories.
Sunday, June 15. 2014
Ran into two dads I know well at the market today, all planning their happy day at the grill and doing their shopping. So social and cheerful at the market it was hard to get out of there. Do dads do all of the weekend marketing these days? Seems like it. We'll have only 3 BD family dads here at the HQ with my own dad having died less than a year ago, but this dad Bird Dog will do the cooking because it's fun to do. I do prefer using firewood in the grill instead of charcoal, like camping. I don't understand why people use charcoal - or gas grills - because wood burns very well. I blame marketing. Wood makes good coals but they do not last as long as charcoal. That's the challenge.
A BD daughter has set up croquet. Perfect.
Antipasto: Grilled fennel with lemon (finocchio), grilled eggplant slices, grilled potato slices - grilled then splashed with oil, s and p, and chopped parsley. Yes, raw potato slices are easily grilled.
Primi: Couscous with mint and zucchini (Sicilian-style)
Secondi: Marinated butterflied leg o' lamb on my wood fire with home-made mint sauce. Charred on the outside (let the flames come, and never remove the fat), almost raw in the middle.
Side: Steamed spinach with oil and garlic
Good bread with hard crust
Apple slices and cheese for dessert. No, I am not Italian at all even though this is classic Italian/Sicilian cookin'.
 All Dads need is a little appreciation, a couple of books, and butterflied lamb on the grill - cooked by Himself, of course. We do Costco for lamb.
I toss the lamb into a small garbage bag in the fridge overnight (we marinate everything in garbage bags) with olive oil, a pile of chopped fresh mint and rosemary, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Wine is optional.
Next day, toss on grill, and let the herbs etc burn into it. Unless you are Irish, cook only until red in the middle. Overcook it, and you have made a very expensive dog dinner (or an Irish feast). One cool thing about butterflied lamb is that the variation in thicknesses permits all preferences of done-ness. The thick parts should be rare.
Serve with a mountain of mashed potatoes and salad, and a Cote Roti.
If you require mint sauce, do not use the store junk. Make this - it takes 2 minutes, assuming that your mint patch is already overflowing. No dessert - you don't want to ruin the experience. Just go straight to bed with your books, dogs, and wife because you have to get back to work in the morning.
In my opinion, it's the only grilled food that approaches burgers and hot dogs for pure grilling joy.
Saturday, June 7. 2014
 "Bob Benchley first introduced me to Ballantine Ale. It has been a good companion to me ever since. You have to work hard to deserve to drink it. But I would rather have a bottle of Ballantine Ale than any other drink after fighting a really big fish. We keep it iced in the bait box with chunks of ice packed around it. And you ought to taste it on a hot day when you have worked a big marlin fast because there were sharks after him."
- Ernest Hemingway
I remember when we used those green 40s for .22 target practice down at the farm's dump pile standing up at 40-50 yards. Not so easy to find tasty beers in green glass 40s these days. Shooting glass is more satisfying than shooting tin cans, and the big bottles are a little easier to hit.
I have always liked this ale - or whatever it is. Classic label, too. Give it a try, and think of Hemingway. It's cheap and good, if you can find it.
Thursday, June 5. 2014
 It's still Spring trout season in the northern hemisphere.
This recipe looks good, and I agree with the author about eating fish skin. Often, it's the tastiest part.
Wednesday, June 4. 2014
 Mint is a weed if you let it loose in your garden. It needs to be grown in pots, or out loose in a field but it is also one of the most pleasant flavorings which exist.
In the eastern Med, it's a major herb. In Turkey and environs, they mix it with yoghurt for a sauce for roast meat and fish. In Sicily, they served boiled taters with chopped mint. Quite pleasant, and an improvement on parsley. No recipe needed.
An occasional Mint Julep is pleasant, too, and I like to dry the leaves coated with sugar for treats on top of ice cream. Have to give those arabs credit for what they added to Med cuisine - but even more credit to the food explorers of the Americas: tomato, potato, squash, maize, avocado, peppers, beans, cocoa, etc., etc. These things were worth more than the gold, in the end, from a culinary standpoint. What the heck did they eat without those things?
|
