AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: The Origins of a Recipe (Juniper Scented Duck with Caramelized Balsamic Sauce) DATE: 4/07/2010 06:05:00 AM ----- BODY:
They say no idea is original, nor is any recipe. Most recipes take inspiration from someone else’s ideas. And my recipe for Juniper Scented Duck with Caramelized Balsamic Sauce and Celeriac Puree is no different.

Lorenza de Medici has a recipe for wild boar stew that has all sorts of unique flavorings and techniques. The marinade and subsequent braising liquid calls for juniper (the pine berry that is also the prominent flavoring in gin), red wine, carrots celery and onions. Separately, she caramelizes sugar with garlic, and then adds red wine vinegar to create a sweet and sour flavor. When the pork is cooked, the meat is pulled out, and the braising liquid (along with all the mushy vegetables) are pureed to act as a thickener to the stew. She finishes the sauce with chocolate, prunes and almonds.

As I often do, I substitute proteins within a recipe… chicken for pork, pork for duck, duck for beef or tuna, and so on… for this recipe, I decided duck breasts would be a fine substitute for the wild boar. And since duck breasts don’t require a long braising time (and in fact suffer from that) more modifications were necessary.

The duck received the same marinade as the original recipe. I then poached a technique from Thomas Keller to cook the duck “sous vide” I removed the skin, rolled up the duck breast lengthwise, the duck was rolled in a blanched cabbage leaf and then wrapped in plastic wrap like a tootsie roll. The whole package is poached in boiling water for 8 minutes for a perfect medium rare.

I liked the idea of the caramelized sugar for a sweet and sour sauce. But since I didn’t have red wine vinegar, I used balsamic instead. I didn’t want to lose the essence of the marinade, so I cooked that until the vegetables were tender, pureed that, and added it to the caramelized balsamic. Going back to the original recipe, I finished the sauce with chocolate. And recognizing my personal preferences, I omit the bay leaves, candied citron, raisins and pine nuts.

The prunes transformed into a tart relish with fresh plums, shallots and thyme.

Celeriac Puree pairs magically with the sauce – complimenting both the sweet and sour flavor, as well as the juniper.

Of course, I couldn’t lose the duck skin. Those went into the oven until they transformed into cracklings.

All together, this was an elegant main meal for the Passover Seder last week. I serve this dish year-round, sometimes with duck, other times with pork tenderloin, and sometimes even with tuna.

Original Recipe:
3 pounds wild boar
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
2 yellow onions, peeled and roughly chopped
½ bottle red wine
4 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. juniper berries
2 bay leaves
salt
1 tsp. black pepper
¼ cup sugar
½ cup red wine vinegar
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 oz. grated bitter chocolate
1/3 cup raisins, soaked in water
½ cup pitted prunes, soaked in water
¼ cup pine nuts
1 tbs. candied citron, finely chopped.

1. Twenty-fours ahead, put the meat in a good-sized, flameproof casserole together with the carrots, celery and onions. Add the wine and marinate for 24 hours, turning from time to time.
2. On the serving day, remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until it begins to color. Brown the meat on all sides. Strain the vegetables from the marinade add to the meat with the juniper berries, 1 of the bay leaves, salt and pepper. Pour some of the marinade over. Cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours or until the meat is tender, adding the remaining marinade, a little at a time.
3. Transfer the meat to a flameproof casserole. Puree the vegetables, then pour them over the meat and reheat. In a sauce pan, melt the sugar with the garlic and remaining bay leaf, and cook until lightly colored. Add the vinegar and bitter chocolate. Boil for a few minutes. Add the sauce to the meat together with the raisins, prunes, pine nuts and candied citron. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes before serving.

Julia’s Revised Recipe

Duck Roulade with Caramelized Balsamic Sauce, Roasted Plums and Juniper


8 duck breasts, skin removed
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 cups red wine
1 tsp. juniper berries
8 big leaves from savoy cabbage (with no splits or tears)
1/4 cup sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 oz. chocolate or butter
2 plums, quartered and chopped
6 prunes, pitted and chopped coarsely.
1 tsp. thyme, chopped
1 shallot, sliced or diced
salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinate duck with wine, juniper, salt, pepper, carrots, onions, and celery for up to 24 hours.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook cabbage leaves for 1 or 2 minutes, or just until wilted. Drain. Carefully, cut away large rib.

3. Remove duck from marinade.

4. Tear off a piece of plastic wrap about 20 inches long, and lay it across a work surface. Place cabbage leaf down. Roll duck breast, lengthwise into cylinder, and place cylinder of cabbage leaf. Roll leaf around breast. Trim edges, and roll tightly into plastic wrap. Roll both ends of wrap to secure shape and tie with kitchen string. Refrigerate packets until ready to cook.

5. Meanwhile, combine the sugar with the garlic and ¼ cup of water in a small sauce pot. Stir, over high flame just until the sugar dissolves. When the sugar begins to caramelize and turns a deep amber color, add the vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar re-dissolves (it will seize up with the vinegar is added)

6. Cook marinade in a covered sauce pot over medium flame until carrots are tender. Puree the vegetables with a little bit of the wine and add  about 1/2 - 1 cup to the balsamic sauce (taste after adding 1/2 cup and add more to taste). Swirl in chocolate and set aside in a warm place.

7. Toss plums with shallots and thyme. Season with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Mix with prunes

8. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add duck packages and cook for 8 minutes, for medium/medium-rare. Remove from water and let rest for a few minutes before removing the plastic and slicing.

9. Serve with asparagus and celeriac puree

Celeriac Puree
3 knobs celery root (celeriac)
½ - 1 cup cream
truffle carpaccio
salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

Peel celery root. Cut into 1/8th. Put in a pot of cold salted water. Boil the be-jeebies out of it. When tender, drain. Put in a food processor, and puree with approximately 1/2 cup of cream. Add lemon juice, 1 squeeze at a time, until it is seasoned to your taste. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.





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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:4/07/2010 10:59:00 AM Thanks for sharing your recipe and the thought process that goes into adapting a recipe for both available ingredients and personal preferences. Too often I think we're afraid to mess with what's written on the page, but here you've shown that not only can you mess with it, but you can turn it into something completely different while retaining the essence of what you liked about the recipe in the first place. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous nazarina DATE:4/07/2010 04:05:00 PM You have really poured your love into this delicious dish!I bet the recipients could not wait! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous easy recipe DATE:4/07/2010 04:17:00 PM Thanks for sharing this recipe, it looks amazing. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Shaken, Not Stirred (Recipe: Risotto) DATE: 2/20/2010 11:34:00 AM ----- BODY:
Conventional wisdom dictates that risotto should be stirred continuously while the rice is cooking.

But Lydia Shire is not a conventional chef. As a line cook at Biba, she taught me how to cook in her style… risotto, for example, was cooked in a large, 3 gallon rondeau pan. The large surface area allowed for even cooking, and easy pan-shaking. Lydia did not stir her risotto; rather she’d shake the pan occasionally just to make sure it wasn’t sticking on the bottom. After cooking the risotto ¾ of the way, it was spread out on sheet trays to cool quickly (and prevent over cooking). During dinner service, we (the line cooks) would finish the risotto by stirring in butter and cheese. The final stirring was just enough to coax out the creaminess while keeping the grains of rice separate.

I didn’t think much of this technique, one way or the other… until I was cooking with my brother-in-law. As we divvied up the cooking responsibilities for dinner one night, he offered to take on the risotto – an old friend had taught him how to make it, and he felt confident in his technique. I watched him stir and stir the risotto, just as his friend had taught him, slowly adding hot liquid. I didn’t question his technique – though different than mine, I knew this was traditional.

But as we sat down for dinner that evening, the risotto seized up into a glomy mound. All that stirring produced too much “creaminess” to the point of starchiness that glued the rice grains together.

To my taste, I prefer shaken, not stirred, risotto. And now I know why.

Risotto
Leftover duck confit makes a wonderful additional to risotto.
3/4 cup arborio rice
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup white wine
1/3 cup parmesan
4 tbs. whole butter
lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring chicken stock and water to a boil. Keep hot while making the risotto.

2. Heat large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add butter. When it is melted, add shallots, and sweat for 2 minutes. Add rice, stirring to ensure each grain is coated in butter.

3. Deglaze with wine. When the rice has absorbed the wine, add 1/3 of the liquid. Gently stir, to ensure that nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add 1/2 of remaining liquid. Cook rice, uncovered and without stirring, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add remaining liquid and continue cooking in the same method.

4. Test risotto to ensure that it is cooked almost completely. If not add more hot water, and continue cooking. Otherwise, season with salt and pepper. Stir in parmesan and butter. Adjust seasoning with fresh lemon juice, if desired.





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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:2/20/2010 08:58:00 PM I'm going to try your method -- I know that constant stirring doesn't always give the best result, but I've never tried the shaking method. I do like the idea of being able to make it ahead of dinner, and then finish it just before your serve. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types DATE:2/21/2010 09:22:00 AM This is good to know, Julia. I've read about the "stir" and "don't stir" camps, and always wondered. Good to know you get great results with the less conventional method. (Having just converted to a gas stove, you've just reminded me how much fun it would be to make risotto. It was always a bit of a chore on an electric burner.) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous noble pig DATE:2/21/2010 06:39:00 PM That's a great tip, I am going to try it. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Ken Albala DATE:2/21/2010 08:38:00 PM I so agree with you here. Never understood why solid clumpy rice was what Italians want. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Melissa DATE:2/24/2010 06:47:00 PM I definitely need to try this. I haven't had luck with risotto but once (out of 4 tries) and really want to make it in such a way that we love it and it can be a regular thing. Thanks Julia! ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Rice Paper DATE: 2/05/2010 01:55:00 AM ----- BODY:
I arrived in Hong Kong at 6pm, bleary-eyed from a 24 hour flight but also fully aware that I should get a bite to eat and try to stay awake until 9pm. I headed down Wanchai Road in search of food and adventure.

One of the first windows I peered into, a woman was steaming rice-noodle rolls. The next had a man hand-pulling la mein noodles. And if you have never seen this, you should, it’s amazing!!

I was intrigued since I had never seen such culinary action in the US. And so the quest began to learn how to make these two dishes. The la mein has been a long saga without a happy ending, so I won’t regale the details here. The rice noodles on the other hand…

I took two cooking classes during my trip to mainland China, but had to wait until my trip to Vietnam to see the rice paper/noodle in action. As I explored various cooking school options, I focused on a course that would teach me had to steam rice paper or rice noodles.

A woman in the Mekong Delta making rice paper

In the class at Red Bridge Cooking School, we learned how to steam the rice paper for fresh summer rolls. The chef gave us instructions for making the batter… soaking raw white rice in water over night and then pureeing it with 4 parts water for 7 minutes. The batter was already made for the students to then steam on the steamer-contraption they had set up. Imagine a tambourine (without the jingle) with a taut, translucent fabric set over a steamer. The batter is poured onto the drum and smoothed out with a ladle; I made one rather successfully. As I started to make a second, the instructor stopped me… “No, no, no. Only make one.” I was disappointed but also felt I had enough resources to try again when I returned home.

Attempt #1 was an unmitigated disaster. I tried to fashion a steamer-drum using a cotton napkin and an extra-large rubber-band. I soaked the rice overnight and then put it in the blender to puree. And puree. And puree. The batter never became smooth enough to make the thin crepe-like batters, but I tried cooking a few anyway. The napkin smoldered around the burner, the batter seeped through the napkin leaving the grainy rice on top. I was defeated and didn’t think about it again until I saw the recipe for steamed rice rolls on Ravenous Couple’s blog.

For their batter, they used rice flour and tapioca starch. This seemed doable to me. So I set out again to make the rice paper. Making a steaming device remained the unresolved challenge. But then the flash of brilliance passed before me just long enough to realize that a silk screen (typically used for making art and t-shirts) might also work.

Did you know that silk is flame-proof? I learned this in the Arab markets in Jerusalem. If the salesperson claims the fabric is pure silk, ask if you can take a match to it. If they say okay, they know that the silk won’t catch fire. If they say no, then fabric is probably made of polyester or other flammable material.    This was a useful factoid to remember as the silk of the steamer dangled precariously above the burner.


At the local craft store, I bought a sheet of silk (though I could have also bought the whole silk screen set up, the size didn’t seem right for me) and a large rubber band. I wrapped the silk around the bamboo steamer. Success #1.

I then made a filling of pork and mushrooms to go inside the eventual rice papers. Pretty straightforward, and another check in the success column.

Batter…. Easy. I measured out the flours and mixed with water. Check.

Cooking the batter was a bit of challenge, but after a few attempts I was able to successful ladle the batter onto my steamer-drum, fill it with the pork and roll it up.



As I was photographing the final dish, I thought to myself, “Self, this was good, but I don’t think it’s good enough to go through the effort. Glad I tried it.” And then I tasted it and thought, “Well, okay. That was pretty damn tasty. Let me think of an occasion when it would be appropriate.”


And then I started to clean the kitchen....

Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls with Ground Pork

4 oz. rice flour
3 1/2 oz. tapioca flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups water
plain oil
filling (see recipe below)
dipping sauce (see recipe below)

1.  Mix together flours, salt and water.
2.  Put silk-steamer over a water bath.  Bring water to a boil.
3.  Brush oil over silk.  Brush oil over cookie sheet.  Brush oil over spatula that will be used to turn noodle.
4.  Ladle a scant quarter cup over silk-drum.  Spread the batter so it's very thin.  Cook for 2 minutes, or until it begins to look translucent.
5.  Sprinkle pork on top of noodle, and use the spatula to roll it up, starting from the edges.
6.  Gently remove from steamer and placed on greased cookie sheet until ready to serve.
7.  Serve with dipping sauce, garnish with scallions and fried shallots.

Filling

1/2 lb ground pork
8 shiitake mushrooms, steams removed, caps chopped
1 shallot, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
1 tbs fish sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. oil
pinch salt and pepper

1. Heat a medium skillet over high heat. Add the oil. When oil is hot, add shallots and garlic.
2. Season pork with salt, pepper and sugar.  Add to the pan, breaking up the meat.  Cook until there is no more pink.
3.  Drain excess fat.  Season with fish sauce.

Dipping Sauce
2 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. fish sauce
2 tbs. mirin
2 tbs. rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, smashed
1/4 lime juiced

Mix Everything together.



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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Ravenous Couple DATE:2/05/2010 02:28:00 AM kudos for your ambition and success and so glad that we inspired you to try this!! The next time we see one of these banh cuon pots, well reserve it for you! It does cut down on the time! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:2/05/2010 07:18:00 AM For me, this would go into the same column as making pita bread -- do it once, check it off the life list, and get thee to a store to buy some rice paper rounds! I love seeing the photo of your screen contraption, but don't envy you the clean-up job! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:2/05/2010 10:53:00 AM Maybe stretching the silk over an embroidery hoop would be easier than the rubber band over the steamer. You could trim the silk so it doesn't touch the flame.

I don't think I'd test your claim that silk doesn't burn. I found a few fire department web sites that said silk burns hot! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types DATE:2/07/2010 06:55:00 AM Very impressive! From the class to your home attempts, I know much more than I ever did. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: The Quest for Crispy (Recipe: Cheese Straws) DATE: 12/02/2009 02:50:00 AM ----- BODY:

When my parents took their annual anniversary trip to the Caribbean, they would ship me and my sister off to our grandmother’s house in Alabama. Once there, Grandma Charlotte would trot us around town to visit her friends or to the country club to play bingo and eat fried chicken.

Wherever we went, the snacks abound. Cheese straws were the favorite: buttery, crispy and a little bit spicy. They satisfied snacks cravings on many levels. Even though my grandmother was an excellent cook, she never made them: a local woman baked them by the hundreds and sold them in round cookie tins packed in bubble wrap to the Junior League women.

A constant supply of this addictive treat may seem like a good thing: it was not. Since my grandmother never learned to make them, she didn’t have a great recipe to pass on. And since she always had the best, the cheese straw bar was set very high.

With the entertaining season upon us, a stream of guests will make their way through my living room and dining room. To simplify, I want to have snacks at the ready. I decided to tackle the elusive cheese straws.

Uncle Ken is the only one of the four kids who regularly makes cheese straws, and even he admits his recipe is not as good as the ones Charlotte served. As he says, “Same thing every year. I make them. They look nothing like I remember them. They end up more like 'cheese cookies' than cheese straws. Not nearly as crunchy or pretty as I remember them. Yet, my kids eat them, love them, and want more. I remain puzzled, and they are happy. I think what I use now is a variation from Cousin Henry.”

He sent me several old family recipes, including Uncle Henry’s and one from Aunt Emma Lee. The ingredient list is simple and consistent across recipes: butter, flour, cheese, baking powder, salt and cayenne. The variations are in the ratio of butter, flour and cheese; and the baking temperatures.

If crispy is the goal then I decided that more butter and cheese is better, as is a lower cooking temperature.



What follows is the recipe I used.  Do you have a great recipe for cheese straws?

¼ pound butter
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1/2 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 ¼ cup flour
1 tsp. sriracha chili paste
¼ cup water

1. Cream butter with a paddle attachment in a kitchen aid mixer. Add baking powder, salt and cheese.
2. When combined, add flour and sriracha and just enough water to bind the mixture. Do not over-mix.
3. Roll out dough to ¼ inch thick, and cut into strips, 1 inch by 4 inches.
4. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
5. If you can, let cool before eating and definitely before storing.


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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:12/02/2009 07:48:00 AM Woo hoo -- Sriracha in cheese straws! That's a first for me. I'm bookmarking and absolutely have to try these. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Katie DATE:12/02/2009 08:30:00 AM My grandmother used to make cheese straws frequently, and hers were great. I'm pretty sure that she used tabasco, but Sriracha sounds even better! I wonder why she hasn't made them in years... ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Fresh Local and Best DATE:12/02/2009 06:09:00 PM Yummy! These are so unique and wonderful! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous jo DATE:12/03/2009 08:17:00 PM I'll check my Alabama festival cookbooks tomorrow and see if there is anything in there. We had a friend who grew up in Gulf Shores and i used to pick up those books whenever we went to visit. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Reeni DATE:12/04/2009 08:01:00 PM I've never made cheese straws or eaten them that I know of. They look really good! ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Challah Revisited: Babka DATE: 11/10/2008 10:39:00 AM ----- BODY:
My first few attempts at challah were surprisingly easy and successful. The recipe yields two loaves. And while I could easily eat both before they go stale, I decided to experiment with the dough. Babka seemed the natural successor to challah… the sweet, yeasty dough with chocolate swirls in the middle. Martha Stewart has a recipe that uses butter and milk. I made it once and for such a complicated recipe it was disappointing. Zabaar’s makes the best babka I’ve eaten and it’s dairy free. It seems like a logical step that challah enriched with eggs and oil would be as suitable substitute for sweet dough enriched with butter and milk.

I switched out the recipe for the dough, but otherwise used Martha’s technique.

I blended bittersweet chocolate with butter, sugar and flour. I rolled out the dough to ½ inch thick rectangle and sprinkled the chocolate mix on top. I rolled up the dough like a jelly-roll and folded it until it fit into a loaf pan.

I sprinkled the dough with a streusel topping of flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon.


Voila! Babka!

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Melissa DATE:11/10/2008 06:59:00 PM NICE JOB! Seriously, that looks flawless. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger PG DATE:11/11/2008 09:09:00 AM Oh yum. Now THIS is a jelly roll shape that I could handle (and not screw up). Starred! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:11/14/2008 10:14:00 PM Melissa, Thanks! I don't think of myself as a baker, so I was quite pleased.

Psychgrad, I'm glad you're ready to try jelly rolls again! :) ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Adventures in Smoking DATE: 10/09/2008 02:10:00 PM ----- BODY:
Welcome to my journey of culinary exploration. What started as a way to incorporate more bacon into my diet, ended in a discovery of a new taste sensation!

It all started with a post by Canary Girl. She wrote about bacon mayonnaise: mayonnaise made with rendered bacon fat instead of the usual vegetable oil. I was beside myself with the genius of this idea. But as I thought about it, the logistics seemed somewhat challenging. Bacon grease solidifies at room temperature which would make it seemingly difficult to emulsify into mayo. The really beauty of the idea, my thought- process continued, is the smoky, salty fat. So if I made “smoked” oil, then I could make mayo without bacon – and have a recipe that my non-pork eating friends would like.

Given my history of setting fires in other people’s kitchen, smoking oil wasn’t one of my better ideas. This is what I did… I lit a charcoal fire (yes, that’s right, open flame) in the Weber grill on the patio. When the embers started to fade, I threw on soaked wood chips. I put the grate on, and on the side without the flame, I put on a pot of canola oil. Oh, and as long as I was smoking, I put a second pan with home grown chilies and more oil. Thank goodness I’m still here to tell the tale, because I could have created a massive fire. But I didn’t and I ended up with some smoky oil and chilies.

With the oil, I made mayonnaise. Unfortunately, it tasted like the bottom of an ashtray. It probably would have been better with equal parts regular oil and smoked oil. As I recounted my tale to my neighbors they mentioned yet another brilliant idea: popcorn in bacon fat! And so the culinary journey continued…….

I rendered bacon over low heat – wanting to release the fat without crisping the bacon.

When enough fat coated the bottom of the pan, I added the corn kernels. While the corn popped, the bacon continued to crisp. After 10 minutes, I had fluffy popcorn mixed with crispy bacon bits. A quick toss with salt… The bacon flavor was good, but very subtle – I had used three slices for 1 cup of popcorn. Next time, I will need to use more bacon.
Since I also had the smoked chili oil, I decided to pop corn in that. Now THAT was delicious. Surprisingly smoky and unexpectedly spicy, it was a great success for pre-dinner cocktail snacks. Thanks to Canary Girl for inspiring this journey!

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:10/09/2008 05:27:00 PM Popcorn in bacon fat on Yom Kippur? Oy Vey! What a shanda. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:10/10/2008 09:24:00 AM Bishop22, SSSHHHHH! Don't tell my parents. I guess I should have done a better job of timing this post, eh? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:10/11/2008 06:28:00 AM OK, I was thinking the same thing! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:10/12/2008 03:16:00 AM Bacon popcorn!? YUM. I'm glad the post was inspiring! :D ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Cultivating Creativity: Peachy Mamas DATE: 8/26/2008 01:04:00 PM ----- BODY:
I spoke with Brett (from Even' Star Farm) this morning and the Peachy Mama are producing incredible amounts. It's no wonder, he says, he planted 800 seedlings. CSA subscribers will be getting a pint or two in their weekly boxes, and he'll sell the rest at the Chevy Chase Farmers' Market on Saturday and to his wholesale restaurant customers. Peachy Mamas are sweet peppers that look like habaneros, but have no heat. They have a wonderful floraly aroma.

I've received several inquiries for recipes. While I don't have recipes, per se, I can offer you these suggestions:

Peachy Mama Jelly
2 cups diced peachy mamas
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1 tablespoons pectin
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup white-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients, except pectin in a stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add pectin, stirring constantly, and continue cooking for 5 minutes over medium heat.

You can refrigerate for a week, or can according to the directions here.

Happy Experimenting! If you have some interesting recipes, I'd love to hear them too!

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Gus and Clay's Mama DATE:8/26/2008 10:17:00 PM Do you knowhow to preserve them in oil? brett gave the csa folks directions, but I accidentally deleted the email- do you sautee them first? what about freezing or dehydrting? I hve too many!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:8/27/2008 08:41:00 AM Hi gus and clay's mama, Slice the peppers in rings, maybe 1/2 thick. I discard the stems and seeds, (but don't tell Brett, he leaves the seeds in). I saute them in canola oil over medium heat just until they are soft, and season them with salt. You can freeze them packed in oil, or can them (see the post about "preserving summer"). I have done both with fine success. If you think you have too many you can send them my way! :). I canned 6 pints to last me through the winter, but I think I might not have enough. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Kohlrabi – Cultivating Creativity DATE: 8/22/2008 09:15:00 AM ----- BODY:
On a regular basis, I browse the supermarket aisles looking for inspiration for dinner. I’m hoping the mix of unrealized cravings and fresh produce will elicit a creative flash. More often than not, my plan fails and I usually fall back on a few standby’s: Clay-pot Chicken with Chinese Sausage and Mushrooms, Fish Tacos with Chipotle Slaw or Chicken Piccata with Spicy, Garlic Broccoli (yes, I cook this way on an idle Tuesday night). If you’re like me, the produce aisle (and the fish and meat counters, too) tends to look the same after a while… and I glaze over the unfamiliar or uninteresting like kohlrabi or jicama.

I only recently tried kohlrabi for the first time… at a Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica. I waxed on about its virtues here, so I won’t repeat myself now. I decided to grow some in my garden this year. Because Kohlrabi is so little known, though, it’s hard to find a recipe for it. And with my kohlrabi finally ready for harvest, my research has reached fever pitch. My two vegetarian cookbooks, Greens and Vegetarian Planet, have nary a reference. The old standby: Time-Life Cookbooks had a few.

I like to think of myself as a creative chef, but it’s hard to come up with ideas without a frame of reference. For example, I know tomatoes and basil work well, so I can season a ricotta filling for squash blossoms or cannolonis with basil and serve with a tomato ragout, toss pasta with fresh tomatoes and pesto, or serve beef with a tomato sauce dotted with basil. You get the idea: the same two ingredients in various configurations. This summer, I’ve eaten kohlrabi twice in restaurants: at Oleana in a cucumber slaw served with fried oysters and at No. 9 Park, pureed and served with beef and chanterelles. Though the texture is different than zucchini (with no seeds in the middle) the flavor profiles seem to marry well as they are paired together in many recipes, or kohlrabi is used in a recipe where I might expect zucchini:

Bear with me in this train of thought…. Kohlrabi and zucchini seem to substitute well for each other… my stuffing recipe for stuffed zucchini also works well as moussaka filling… kohlrabi works well in gratin…. So I’ve come up with these ideas:

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:8/23/2008 02:14:00 PM Kohlrabi moussaka? Hmmm -- can't quite wrap my brain around that one! So glad that your garden continues to yield such wonderful treasures. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:11/09/2008 09:05:00 PM I recently bought some kohl rabi and am eager to try. Possibly some kohl rabi and broccoli soup! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:11/10/2008 06:51:00 AM soulchocolate, a broccoli-kohlrabi soups sounds great! You'll have to let me know how it turns out. At the end of my kohlrabi season, I decided my favorite preparation was roasted with olive oil, salt and garlic. So simple, but so delicious. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: General Gau's Chicken: The Man Behind the Myth DATE: 7/23/2008 12:30:00 PM ----- BODY:
Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, describes Chinese Cuisine in America as “the biggest culinary joke played by one culture on another.” General Gau’s chicken tops that list in that it appears on nearly every Chinese menu in the US as a chef specialty. While the General was real – a soldier from the Hunan region in China – his chicken is wholly an American invention. The dish varies from restaurant to restaurant, but the theme is consistent: crispy fried chunks of chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. Despite its inauthentic origins, it’s still a personal favorite.

My favorite Chinese cookbook, The Chinese Kitchen, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo features a recipe that continues to receive rave reviews from my dinner guests. The sauce is nicely balanced, not overly sweet, and fragrant with ginger and chilies. My continual challenge – which most restaurants mastered – is frying the chicken nuggets so they stay crunchy after they’ve been tossed in the sauce. The chicken, marinated in egg and corn starch, is dusted with more corn starch just before frying. I’ve experimented with the oil temperature, twice frying and even trying to caramelize the sauce, to no avail.

When I was in China a few years ago on a summer internship from business school, I broke away on several occasions to take cooking lessons. The top technique on my list was learning how to get the crispy chicken nuggets even after they were tossed in sauce. My cooking instructor in Beijing happily obliged me.

The first secret is in the corn starch. He used “wet” corn starch. To make wet corn starch: combine ½ cup of corn starch with enough water to make a slurry, about ½ cup. Let the mix sit for at least ½ hour until the water and starch separate. Pour off all the excess water. What you’re left with is the wet corn starch. It’s slightly chalky, but dissolves into liquid when you run your fingers through it. It is this mixture that he tossed the chicken cubes in before frying.

The second secret, which really isn’t as critical as the first, is in cooking the sauce. The sauce must be reduced until almost all the water has evaporated. It is then reconstituted with a little oil.

4 chicken thighs, cut into cubes
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tbs dry corn starch
2 ½ tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons Shao-Hsing Wine
½ cup wet corn starch
3 cups plain oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
8 small dried chilies
1 bunch scallions, cut into rings.

Marinate chicken with salt, egg and corn starch for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining the soy sauce, hoisin, sugar, vinegar and wine.

In a large pot, heat the oil to 350F. Toss the chicken in the wet corn starch and then add to the hot oil. Cook until crispy, about 5 minutes.

While the chicken is frying, heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tbs. of frying oil to the pan. Add ginger, garlic, scallions and chilies and cook until aromatic.

When chicken is crispy drain and add to ginger mix. Pour in sauce and reduce.

Serve over rice with steamed broccoli.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) DATE:7/23/2008 10:17:00 PM This is one of my all-time favorite Chinese restaurant dishes -- one that I've never tried to make at home. Can't imagine why, especially now that I have this great recipe. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:7/25/2008 08:54:00 AM Lydia, You'll have to let me know how your gau goes! I'm making it again tonight for dinner. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Unknown DATE:2/10/2009 11:22:00 AM I find General Gau's chicken much different than General Tso's. Are they really the same? My fav restaurant makes General Gau's so delicious, that's the one I hope to duplicate... I think it is made with white meat instead of dark, which I've substituted at other restaurants as well... but no comparison! The one I love is a bit sweeter... how can I adjust the recipe? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Unknown DATE:2/10/2009 11:27:00 AM I just noticed you are in Cambridge! My favorite Gau's is a short ride away should you ever want to taste it. I so want to duplicate it!!! Don't know if I should mention any specifics here... Metrowest. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:2/10/2009 08:49:00 PM D, I'd love to know where your favorite Gau is! this recipe definitely tastes different than the restaurant version, but definitely delicious. You may want to play around with the hoisin and sugar to make it sweeter. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Adventures in Sweet Potatoes DATE: 7/07/2008 08:11:00 AM ----- BODY:
Four Burgers opened up just a month ago in Central Square with the mission of serving high quality, simply prepared burgers and fries. In this modern era of eco-friendly dining, they do the right thing by composting, recycling, and serving ingredients with known provenance. The net result, for the most part, is fabulous: Juicy, meaty burgers with flavorful toppings and fries that taste like potatoes.

There’s been a small hiccup in the business—and that has been the sweet potato fries. While most would agree that anything fried and salted is better, these fries suffer in that they never get really crispy. Short of coating them with a non-organic/unnatural substance (as many lesser burger joints do), the options are somewhat limited. The composition of the sweet potatoes creates a layered challenge with sugar, starch and water issues at play.

Food science research leaves a gaping hole in this domain. For regular potatoes, culinary experiments have yielded the best technique… first soaking the potatoes in water to rinse some of the excess starch, cooking the potatoes a first time in 325F oil and then a second cooking in 375F oil to crisp them. Intermediate refrigeration between frying further alters the starches which better enables a crispy fry. Researchers have discovered that Idaho potatoes are the best variety, and farmers have refined the genetics to consistently produce a fail-safe potato. What works for regular fried potatoes does not translate to sweet potatoes because of the starch, sugar and water content. And while there are a few sweet potato varieties out there (White Hamon) that are better suited, they are not mass marketed, leaving the small restaurateur to experiment with the readily available varieties.


The starch issue is a complicated one… And after researching in Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking, I discover this is more complicated than I can address with chain starches and branch starches and the chemical reactions of both.

The water and sugar contents pose a more straight-forward challenge. As we know, moisture is the enemy of crispy [[Think about meringues on a humid day or fried eggplant]]. In order to get “watery” foods crispy, we must first batter them to prevent the moisture from seeping out and soggying the crust. Sweet potatoes get crispy in tempura batter because they are sufficiently coated. Alternatively, in the case of regular potatoes, the minimal water evaporates before the fry crisps up – creating a fry with long-lasting crispiness. This is when the challenge of the sugar content kicks in: Sugar begins to caramelize about at 334F and starts turning bitter at 363F. This narrow window limits the opportunity for the sweet potato fry to rid itself of excess moisture and get crispy.

Armed with this (somewhat limited) knowledge base, Michael B. (owner of Four Burgers) and I entered the kitchen to begin experimenting. Our baseline was a sweet potato fry that was cooked in 350F oil until golden brown and soft in the middle. The fry was mildly crispy straight out of the oil, but quickly turned limp. The first wave of experiments involved coating the raw fries with a type of starch that would help absorb moisture and increase the starches that would crispy up the fries. We tried corn, wheat and potato starches. And with a nod to the tempura batter, we also made a mix of corn and wheat flours. The best yield was the corn starch. Straight out of the fryer, the potato was crispier than the original, but soon met a similar fate of limpness – though the crisp to limp time gap was greater. Other starches provided minimal improvement. The biggest complaint was that the floury coating took away from the flavor and “Mouth feel” of the potatoes.

The second round of experiments involved drying the potato first before frying. First, we “par-” fried the potatoes the way regular fries are. This seemed to produce a crispy fry but we soon realized that this extra step was minimal better than the baseline, and not worth the effort.

Par-Baking the potatoes yielded the best result. The potatoes dried out with a gentle heat. Unlike the fryer, the drying process did not brown (i.e. caramelize the sugars in) the potatoes. By the time we put them in the fryer, they crisped up quickly and stayed crispy.

Special thanks to Michael B. and his staff for allowing me to play in their kitchen! Stop by, have a burger and fries and let me know what you think!

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Cindy DATE:10/27/2008 05:24:00 PM Hi Julia - I found your article on sweet potato fries and this was so enlightening because I've been trying to figure out how best to keep them crispy for a party I'm having Saturday. I was just wondering, do you have specific instructions on how to par-bake the potatoes before frying? From what I've read about how it applies to baking, I would put the fries in the oven somewhere around 350 degrees and take them out just before they start browning and then quickly freeze them? I'm guess that this also includes soaking in cold water & drying as a first step?

Also - I kind of liked the thin batter like texture of the fries that I had at this one restaurant. I'm trying to figure out if that outer coat was naturally from the potato itself or a coating. I was thinking about lightly coating with potato starch and then frying? or does it need to be coated before freezing? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:10/28/2008 08:50:00 AM Hi Cindy,

Thanks for stopping by. You inferred correctly -- about 20 minutes in a 350 oven, until they get soft, but not browned. I put the fries in the refrigerator to keep them from over-cooking (freezer is fine too). With the par-baked potatoes, you don't need to flour them. But if you do, I would recommend coating them just before frying them.

As for a batter, I like the corn starch coating the best. Tempura batter would also work well. For the tempura batter, I use corn starch, flour mixed with an egg and enough club soda to make a light batter. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:12/07/2008 08:51:00 PM I tried your method for making sweet potato fries this evening and it worked great. The fries were crispy and delicious and my family enjoyed them. We're going to have some more tomorrow. Thanks a lot for sharing it.

The one thing which I did notice was that a few of the smaller fries started to blacken a little on the outside while still in the oven, so I may try cooking them a slightly longer time at 300 instead. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:12/09/2008 10:00:00 AM Hi Keith, I'm glad this new method worked for you! And thanks for making the clarification -- the oven temperature can vary according to the cut of the potatoes. Happy cooking! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Jessica B. Howell DATE:1/10/2009 10:16:00 AM Okay, I might give your process a try. Soaking in cold water & dry; 350 for 20 minutes and then to the fridge; then a fry, am I right?

Thanks for clarifying. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Four Burgers DATE: 6/24/2008 11:19:00 AM ----- BODY:
I probably like a good burger more than the average person. With proper cooking and simple seasoning, little else is needed to achieve burger nirvana. You can imagine my excitement when “Four Burgers” opened in Central Square. The name suggested a simplicity to the offerings, which could either be very good (a juicy burger with a salty, meaty flavor), or very bad (that would require a post-cooking bath in ketchup and salt to make up for where the kitchen failed). The menu lets you know that the meat is of high quality – purchased from the same farm as Grill 23. In the back of the dining room are bins labeled from composting and recycling. Even with a friendly price point ($6.50 per burger, $10 average check with fries and a drink), you know that this will be a fresh, high quality experience.

The four burgers: salmon, beef, veggie or turkey, come on either whole wheat or white buns. The beef is a classic – no fancy condiments, just simple pickles, lettuce and tomatoes. The romaine lettuce is shredded so it fits nicely inside the bun, without over-expanding the sandwich which would have made the burger difficult to eat. The burger was cooked perfectly to our specifications, which sadly is a rare feat for most joints.

The turkey plays off the traditional Thanksgiving (autumnal flavors). Apple bits are folded into the meat, yielding a slightly sweet and crunchy texture. The burger was cooked perfectly – 95% on the grill, 5% from residual heat – the patty was moist and tender. The apple bits would have compensated well if the burger was overcooked, but oddly, in this case it was superfluous. The cranberry chutney was bright and was a nice diversion from the standard ketchup. My only complaint was that as we head into the heat of summer – I want to think of summer flavors and would have preferred a more seasonal flavor.

The sweet potato French fries posed an interesting culinary challenge. While they tasted like sweet potatoes with a lovely enhancement of salt, they were a bit limp. In speaking with the owner (Michael B. of Paramount and 21st Amendment fame) he agreed. He noted that the only crispy sweet potato fries come frozen from Sysco and are sprayed with some food-like substance. If you go naturally, as Four Burgers does, the fries won’t get that fast-food crispy.

Four Burgers is not alone in its quest to naturally achieve crispy sweet potato fries. A little research shows that no one has yet to find a solution (and publish it on-line).

In thinking about the problem… regular French fries typically use Idaho potatoes – a high starch, low protein, and lower water tuber. You never see Yukon gold fries, and certainly not red bliss. The starch content is low (which has its benefits for other preparations…) but does not yield a crispy fry. What makes the potato oxidize quickly also produces a crispy fry. (also thinking about potato latkes, they get crispiest when you squeeze all the water out of them)

Michael B. and I decided to do a little experimenting in the kitchen. With a nod to Chinese cooking, we tossed the sweet potatoes in a dusting of corn-starch. They fries stayed crisp longer, but soon met the same limpy fate of the original batch. I think we were on the right track, and I bet potato starch would be worth a try. In thinking of the crisp tempura batter, a blend of flours – in that case corn starch and wheat flour, might also work.

For sure, you'll find me back there again. But I might wander back into the kitchen to play around with sweet potato fries in a quest to perfect burger nirvana. Stay tuned for more culinary experimentations…



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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:6/25/2008 01:18:00 PM thanks for your posting. i'll give some thought to the seasonal topping to our turkey burger but feel free to make some suggestions. i didn't mention #5...our burger of the month. the first one coming this july...seared crab with a corn mayo or corn butter (not sure yet) and some crisp lettuce and tomato. simple summer flavors. see you soon. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Julia DATE:6/28/2008 09:02:00 AM Burger #5 sounds delicious! I love the idea of a burger of the month. ----- --------