In a Pinch

I celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and even Valentine’s Day with food, but the Super Bowl? Not usually. No one around here really cares that much about the game (Big Ten/Ohio State college ball is completely another story), so I had nothing special planned. But…I started thinking I should make something to munch on while watching the new Doritos and Budwieser commercials. I wasn't going to the store on Super Bowl Sunday and dug through my provisions to discover fat free refried beans, cornbread mix and a couple cans of Rotel tomatoes (one Original and one Mexican Lime and Cilantro) in the pantry, half a block of cheddar-jack in the fridge and whole kernel corn in the freezer and formed a plan.

I also recently picked up a quarter of free-range, grass fed, family farm owned beef and had plenty of steaks, roasts and a ton of ground beef (about fifty pounds to be exact – thank you Three Sisters). I wanted to preserve the rich flavor of the beef, so I toasted (just until they started to smoke) 1t of cumin seeds and 1T of dried onions and ground them together in my (coffee) spice grinder and added it, along with 1t of kosher salt, ½t cayenne and 1t garlic powder, to a pound of browned hamburger.

On top of this first layer (in my 9x13 Pyrex glass baking pan sprayed with cooking spray), I added the two cans of tomatoes, then a pound of thawed corn, the can of refried beans and finally the prepared cornbread mix. I placed the whole mess into a 400 degree oven for thirty minutes - uncovered - then added the 8 ounces of shredded cheese and put the pan back in the oven for about ten more minutes (until the top was golden brown).

Topped with a blop of sour cream (I like the Darigold Crema Agria Mexican Style Sour Cream I found in the grocery here), the result was a hearty and delicious, one-pan meal the family dubbed Taco Pie.

I also had a bag of Trader Joe’s Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips (my favorite), so I made my famous quick and delicious, cheater salsa by quick pulsing a 14.5 ounce can of Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies in my blender with a handful of fresh cilantro, 1t of kosher salt, ½t fresh ground black pepper and a half dozen jarred jalapeño slices.

All in all, it turned out to be a quick, satisfying football worthy meal...in a pinch.

Three Sisters Beef: http://3sistersbeef.com/ 

All About Avocados

About a week ago, I decided to dig in to MIT’s free, online Kitchen Chemistry class. The first lesson involves preparing salsa and guacamole – two tasty and nutritious treats I love to make. I, however, decided to focus on the guacamole portion of the lesson right now because I rarely make salsa when tomatoes are not in season – I’ll save that one for the summer. (Call me a tomato snob, but I don’t like them if they are not locally grown and vine-ripened. They just don’t have that deep, rich tomato taste to me.)  Without any further ado, here is what I learned about avocados:

Avocados (Persea americana) - sometimes called alligator pears (so says my research, quite exotic sounding, huh?) – are fruits and, oddly enough, are in the same family as cinnamon. More specifically, they are drupes (new term for me) which are fruits that have pits or stones (meaning the seed is protected by a hard outer shell – think peach, plum, cherry).

Avocados are full of folate (good for heart health), vitamin K, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and copper and have more potassium than a medium banana.  They also contain nutritious monounsaturated fat (oleic acid) which is thought to increase good cholesterol (HDL) and decrease the bad (LDL).   

Ripe avocados are firm with a little give but not squishy and have darkened, unblemished skin.  Notably, avocados do not ripen on the tree - it is not until after they are picked that they begin the ripening process.  This makes them very shippable and durable but a pain to get just right.  Everyone who has cooked with avocados knows they are usually rock hard when found in the store and using avocados in a recipe takes some pre-planning.  Everyone also probably knows that stashing them in a brown bag at room temperature will ripen them...but why?  Gas is the answer - ethylene gas to be more specific.  Fruits and other parts of plants naturally produce this during key stages of growth.  Some fruits, such as bananas, produce copious amounts of ethylene.  In fact, placing an overripe banana in the brown bag with an unripe avocado will supercharge the process.  (This works to ripen tomatoes too.)  To cease, or at least slow, ripening, place the avocados in the fridge.  The coolness will put them in a sort of suspended animation - for a few days. 

Once the avocado is cut open, it will begin to rapidly brown.  Some fruits turn brown when exposed to the air due to a process called oxidation which is, in essence, a reaction by fruit enzymes (found in bananas, apples, potatoes, avocados and more) to the oxygen molecules in the air. This chemical reaction (akin to rust in metal) can be slowed or stopped by destroying the enzyme (through cooking), lowering the pH of the fruit (with ascorbic acid like orange juice or lemon juice) or physically blocking oxygen exposure (covering with water or plastic wrap). In guacamole, the addition of lemon or lime juice to the recipe accomplishes this as does pressing plastic wrap against the surface of the final product. I also found some recipes that suggest adding mayonnaise to the guacamole - which makes sense - as mayo is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar with a pH of 2.4 or lemon juice with a pH of 2.2. (<7 is acidic, >7 is base, 7 is neutral) (I’ve heard mashing the interior of the pit and adding it to the dip will do the same, but I’ve never tried it.)

Well, all this fancy science talk has made me hungry.  I think I'll go mash some avocados!  Here is my favorite Cook's Illustrated Chunky Guacamole recipe:

3 medium avocados, ripe (preferably Hass - the kind most commonly seen in the store)
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1 small jalapeño chile, minced (1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
2 tablespoons lime juice

1. Halve one avocado, remove pit, and scoop flesh into medium bowl. Mash flesh lightly with onion, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, salt, and cumin (if using) with tines of a fork until just combined.
2. Halve and pit remaining two avocados, and prepare. Gently scoop out avocado into bowl with mashed avocado mixture.
3. Sprinkle lime juice over diced avocado and mix entire contents of bowl lightly with fork until combined but still chunky. Adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary, and serve.  

Mix and Match Tabouleh

Now that my Aerogarden is in full swing, I have herbs coming out my ears and was trying to think of something to do with the excess parsley and mint which, in turn, made me think of tabouleh (love it!). I ate the most amazing, fresh tasting tabouleh in a Lebanese restaurant in the United Arab Emerites some time ago (along with hummus, khoubiz - a Lebanese flat bread - and a plate of "small tasty birds").  I have since perfected my own method for making this popular, traditional Middle Eastern salad and decided to make some for lunch.

Normally I pour a cup of boiling water over ½ cup medium grained bulgur wheat (fine grained is ok, but I prefer the texture of the medium) and set it aside to soak while I chop a cucumber, a tomato, a big handful of parsley (¼c finished product), a couple sprigs of mint and toss the veggies with 1-2T extra virgin olive oil, all of the juice from one large or two small lemons, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. When most of the water is absorbed by the bulgur and I'm happy with the texture, I squeeze out the grains with a few paper towels and combine it with the veggies and dressing.  The result is a tart, fresh, delicious lunch for two. 

I had beaucoup fresh herbs, bulgur (a highly nutritious, wholesome wheat product that has been that has been parboiled, cracked, and dried for ease of use), a good quality olive oil and even a huge lemon - everything but the one ingredient I consider essential - a cucumber. I wasn’t going to go to the store for one thing, so I considered my options.

Chagrined and cucumberless, I poked through the tidbits of leftovers in the fridge and pulled out some steamed broccoli, a small container of peas, and diced tomato and shredded romaine lettuce left over from taco night.  The lettuce?  Not so weird because tabouleh is often served with and eaten on crisp romaine lettuce leaves...but broccoli?  Peas?  Nonetheless, I mixed it all up and was pleasantly surprised - the salad was terrific.  But was it tabouleh?  I decided to find out.  

The more I read about the history of tabouleh and the more recipes I perused, the more I learned that the vegetables used in the dish change from region to region, season to season and even from from cook to cook.  The one thing that remains standard is the usage of bulgur, olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and lots and lots and lots of parsley.  (Indeed, the dish I had in the UAE seemed to consist of more parsley than bulgur.)  So...yes, I had tabouleh and no, in the future I will not hesitate to make it if I'm missing one of the veggies.  So, what's for lunch today?  I have a little asparagus in the fridge and plenty more parsley...

Get Back to Your Roots

Yesterday was National Pie Day and, true to my Buy Fresh Buy Local mantra, I went to Whidbey Pies in Greenbank, Washington for – what else – pie. They make very tasty fruit pies (I’ve had blackberry, loganberry and cherry but am dying to try huckleberry and marionberry). Each time I’ve been in to buy a pie, I’ve noticed the seated patrons feasting on what seems to be a very tasty lunch menu as well – so I decided to grab a bite.

The special (in honor of pie day?) was a savory pie stuffed with "Sea Man's Stew" also called as Lapkaus or Skaus (served with a delicious side of organic house salad). This traditional Norwegian fare is a meat and root vegetable stew commonly eaten by sailors throughout Northern Europe. I presume this is because it is a hearty dish chock full of winter root vegetables known for their long shelf life (sea life?). This particular version contained corned beef, cabbage, celery, carrots, potatoes and rutabagas – or were they turnips? Or parsnips? Darn it. It was some sort of light colored “root” veggie with a little more texture than a potato.

Rutabagas, turnips and parsnips are all root vegetables which means they are the underground portion of the plant – usually a tuberous root (potato) or taproot (a large single root versus the many small, branching fibrous roots as seen in lettuce and tomato plants, etc). A rutabaga (Brassica napobrassica) is a close botanical relative of the turnip (Brassica rapa). (Indeed, a rutabaga is an ancient cross between a cabbage and a turnip.) Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa), on the other hand, are more akin to (and look a lot like) carrots. All three can be served boiled, broiled, mashed, smashed…or in Lapkaus pie. All three are in season right now and all three are nutritious and delicious (and cheap!).

One serving of turnips (100 grams, about 3/4 cup cubed) has a mere 28 calories but 35% of a daily dose of vitamin C along with a healthy bit of fiber, potassium, vitamin B6, calcium, folate and more.

The same amount of parsnips (100grams, 1 cup) has 64 calories, 28% vitamin C, 20% fiber, about 1/3 of the rda of vitamin K (for blood clotting), folate, magnesium, phosphorous and other good for you stuff.

Rutabaga (100g, 2/3 cup) has 36 calories and a healthy 42% of daily Vitamin C (take that, scurvy) combined with potassium, calcium, and folate.

While the German side of my family loved their kolarabi (Brassica oleracea - another turnip/cabbage cultivar), I’ve never regularly eaten turnips, parsnips or rutabagas and decided to dig through Cook’s Illustrated to see what they said about the under-appreciated, under-the-ground-growing three.

Among the recipes for roasted root vegetables, parsnip cake (why not, they do look like carrots) and corned beef and cabbage ala rutabaga, I saw minestrone with turnips. But of course! I wrote about the virtues of turnips in Meatless Minestrone last March, so I guess it’s about time to make another pot.

I may not figure out which I had for lunch (without calling and asking) but I know I will be serving some or all three roots in upcoming lunches and dinners of my own.

Nutritional information courtesy of http://www.nutrition.gov/
Whidbey Pies: http://whidbeypies.com/
Meatless Minestrone: http://agoodcooker.blogspot.com/2010/03/meatless-minestrone.html

Chemistry of Cooking

One thing I love about Alton Brown - whom I have not watched much of lately because, sadly, I was a little put off by his sudden weight loss (it falls under my “never trust a skinny chef” mantra) – is the fact that he digs into the whys and hows of cooking. I appreciate knowing the science behind why yeast makes my bread rise and how vinegar “cooks” seafood and more. Much to my delight, I was recently made aware MIT – yes, that MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) – has hundreds of FREE online courses ranging from Multivariable Calculus to German and…Kitchen Chemistry.

Kitchen Chemistry, complete with fourteen assignments, is described as the following:

“This seminar is designed to be an experimental and hands-on approach to applied chemistry (as seen in cooking). Cooking may be the oldest and most widespread application of chemistry and recipes may be the oldest practical result of chemical research. We shall do some cooking experiments to illustrate some chemical principles, including extraction, denaturation, and phase changes.”

Sounds boring? Difficult? Nerdy?! Maybe to some, but how can they go wrong with lectures like “Cookie - death by chocolate,” “Scones and coffee,” and “Pasta, meatballs, and crème brulee.”

Each lecture has associated recipe(s), lessons and assignments though the questions are not your run-of-the-mill school stuff. Take the first lecture, for example. In “Guacamole, salsa, make your own hot sauce, and quesadillas” serious cooking issues are addressed including the following:

Why do onions make us cry?  What makes peppers taste hot?  How do you make tortillas?  Why does guacamole turn brown?

Fascinating!  Maybe I AM a nerd, but I’m certainly looking forward to learning more of the hows and whys and chemistry of the kitchen and writing about it here…and, I feel inspired to set up a few Alton Browns to record again.

Kitchen Chemistry: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/special-programs/sp-287-kitchen-chemistry-spring-2009/
Check out all the rest: http://ocw.mit.edu/

In all fairness...

The homemade pasta sauce was amazing. It did, however, make WAY MORE than “enough to sauce more than a pound of pasta,” but no one here was complaining - they all loved it. I packed spaghetti in the kids’ lunches the next day, and they finished off the leftovers another time for snack. To make the recipe sweet enough for the tastes around here, I ended up using 1T of raw sugar (a little more than the recipe notes – or maybe not because raw sugar has larger granules and is probably roughly equivalent to 2t of white sugar), and I puréed the sauce in my new chrome KitchenAid blender because I was afraid it was too much (volume wise) for the food processor (yes, yes…I could have done it in two batches). Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter.

Sidebar: One of my cousins wrote that she always makes and cans (jars!) her own sauce from her own, homegrown veggies and herbs. This is my goal for the spring/summer – to have a huge garden at this new house with its corresponding acreage. And a greenhouse. Oh, and some chickens. Fressssh eggs rule!

The only drawback to the recipe was how long it took to make. I know in the grand scheme of pasta sauces, one hour is a mere moment, but spaghetti has always been a quick, cop out meal for me. Boil the water…crack open a jar…throw in a few frozen turkey meatballs (thank goodeness I DON’T have an old Italian grandma – she’d probably bop me on the head with her ladle). I am not alone in this, as I heard the same thing from a few others. Fortunately, Cook’s Illustrated also extensively taste-tested jar sauces, so I thought I’d share a few.

In the January 2008 edition, tasters tested nine popular brands and this is what they found:

~Bertolli Tomato and Basil Sauce was noted as the best because it, “tasted the most like fresh-cooked tomatoes.”
~Next came Francesco Rinaldi Traditional Marinara (“thick consistency and good texture”) and Prego Marinara Italian Sauce because it did not have “that fake herb flavor.”
~Also recommended were Barilla Marinara Sauce, Newman's Own Marinara, and Muir Glen Organic Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce.
~Highly NOT recommended was Ragú. “Ragú” is an Italian term (derived from the French word “ragoûter” meaning "to revive the taste”) for a meat-based sauce traditionally served with pasta. Ironically, this one was deemed very yucky. (my word – not theirs.)  I guess they missed the bus on that one.

As a note, I always use jar pasta sauce (usually Bertolli or Prego) when I make pizza.  It works very well on my homemade (or on ready-to-stretch dough in wheat or white from Trader Joes) crust topped with cheese and any array of miscellaneous toppings.

So, mash your own 'maters or some from a can or even pop a jar in a pinch - all have a healthy does of lycopene (an antioxidant thought by some to prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis) as well as tons of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.  I'm certain any old Italian Grandma would approve of that! 

Say No to the Jar

Despite my penchant for making all things from scratch, there is one shortcut from which I have been unable to wean myself - jar spaghetti sauce. Recently though, a friend of mine asked me for a good marinara recipe. Much to my chagrin, I had none – nor do I have an old Italian grandma - so I did the next best thing and turned to my trusty Cook’s Illustrated annuals to see what they had to offer. In March, 2006 I found the answer…Marinara sauce in less than an hour.

After I emailed the recipe to her, I scanned the list of ingredients again and realized I had ALL of them. AND, since my youngest could and would eat saucy spaghetti – with or without meatballs - every single day, I decided to give it a try. I got out the tomatoes, garlic, onion and merlot (Yes, I keep some in the house for cooking – just cooking) and snipped fresh basil from my 7 Pod Aerogarden (I love having fresh herbs at my fingertips. It often inspires dishes depending on what is currently growing like crazy). Technically I didn’t have plain dried oregano but instead had a shaker of Mrs. Dash Italian Medley which contains oregano along with garlic, basil, rosemary, parsley, marjoram, white pepper, sage, savory, cayenne pepper, thyme, bay, cumin, mustard, and coriander – wow! Even with all the extras, I reasoned this one change would not make or break the recipe.

I chopped, minced, sautéed and simmered and the smell in the house is divine! All that is left to do is feed it to the spaghetti connoisseur and see if she approves. If so, then it’s bye-bye Ragu and Progresso…

Regarding the ingredients…Cook’s Illustrated regularly tests food products to pick the best brands. These are a few pertinent to the sauce:

~Extra Virgin Olive Oil - The highest recommendation was for DaVinci brand (they also make the “best” regular olive oil used for every day cooking). The Filippo Berio I use did rather well too.

~Whole Canned Tomatoes - Progresso Italian-Style Whole Peeled Tomatoes with Basil were the hands-down favorite with Redpack and Hunt’s right behind. (Hunt’s also won in the diced department with Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes in a close second)

~Dry pasta – Ronzoni was number one with De Cecco, Mueller’s and Barilla also on the tasty list.

Here’s the recipe. I encourage all to throw away the jars and make marinara from scratch.  I did!

Marinara
Makes 4 cups. This recipe makes enough to sauce more than a pound of pasta; leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen. Because canned tomatoes vary in acidity and saltiness, it's best to add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste just before serving. If you prefer a chunkier sauce, give it just three or four pulses in the food processor in step 4.

Ingredients
2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, packed in juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/3 cup dry red wine, such as Chianti or Merlot
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-2 teaspoons sugar , as needed (see note above)
 Instructions
1. Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Open tomatoes with hands and remove and discard fibrous cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup tomatoes from strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard remainder.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of pan and brown fond ("fond" is defined as carmalized bits of food) forms around pan edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Transfer sauce to food processor (or transfer to saucepan and insert immersion blender) and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses. Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil and salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.

Thanks to Aerogarden for the picture: http://www.aerogarden.com/