Passages

I lived in Houston, TX for a time growing up and for a Mother’s Day brunch our family visited Brennan’s of Houston. I was probably all of 7 or 8 at the time. At any rate I was reminded of all of this not by my mom, but by a friend commenting on how much she liked “Bananas Foster”. As I recalled, that Mother’s Day was the first time I ever had Banana’s Foster.

Turns out that Brennan’s is the originator of that delicious dish and the recipe is on-line for all of us to enjoy. If you’ve never had it, give it a try. It’s not too hard to make and extremely yummy!!

I think I’ve solved my texture issue with hash browns. While watching an America’s Test Kitchen episode on mashed potatoes, the cooking technique called for rinsing the sliced potato pieces in water before boiling. Washing the slices removed  the surface starch which would cause gumminess in the mashed potatoes. WHAM! Gumminess is exactly what I was trying to remove from the texture of my hash browns.

This weekend I decided to give it a try. I grated the potato on a box grater per normal, but before pressing the water out with a towel, I loaded the shredded potato pieces into a small strainer and rinsed them under cold water. After draining and pressing the excess water out using a towel, I ended up with the driest potato shreds I’ve ever had - amazing! Some oil, pepper and garlic salt coupled with 8-9 minures of heat and I had the texture I was after.

I had been working under the assumption that the gumminess was being caused by excess water instead of the surface starch. In hindsight I should have realized it was the starch since changing potatoes to Yukon’s and Red’s dropped the gumminess vs. russet. Russet’s have the least water while reds have the most and russets have the fluffy texture I was after  - think french fries - and reds don’t.

Now that I have the texture I’m going to try to get more middle fluffiness. I’ve observed that the mound of shreds shrinks as cooking progresses. Some of that undoubtedly is the downward pressure, but I’m sure that the water loss from the cell destruction also contributes. I’ll try some higher mounds.

Remember the movie “The Sting“? Paul Newman and Robert Redford play con men and conspire to swindle money from a mob boss played by Robert Shaw. Great movie! The movie was arranged as a series of “acts” - The Players, The Setup, etc. with each “act” designed to build up Robert Shaw’s confidence before Newman and Redford pulled the rug out from under him in the final act.

The Sting’s “confidence game” acts reminded me of my just completed woodstove install. The players, actions, and events of this little drama all built confidence toward a preconceived conclusion on the part of the “stingee” (me in this case) that getting a new wood stove would be a relatively simple process along a well thought out path that others had traveled before me. And while the end result is what I wanted, a new wood stove, the journey sure as hell felt like a sting operation.

• The Players - me, my 1977 Vermont Castings Vigilant wood stove, The City of Keene, US Tax Code
• The Hook - $1000 voucher to replace an old wood stove, 30% tax credit, help with cleaner air
• The Tale - take a few pictures, fill out a form or 2, draw a floor plan, get a permit, get a voucher, take voucher to store, pick out a stove, subtract $1000, pay balance, installed wham - new stove, deduct 30% of final bill (including install) from bottom line of taxes.
• The Shutout - How big is that hearth and what’s it made of? Fire codes have changed in 30 years, need a new hearth, new non-combustible protection for  rear wall, new double-wall stove pipe for chimney connection, $$$$, oh and here’s a new form that we didn’t tell you about at first, and by the way that’ll be $75 for the permit.
• The Sting - money already committed to purchase, paper work filled out, permits obtained, do I really need this? Nothing really wrong with the old stove. Could invest money in other projects? Don’t really need tax write-off. Sniff, air quality seems fine to me.. sigh.. I’m already here - might as well continue.

To be fair, every one of the players (including the vendor/installer) was as helpful as the could be. The people at city hall went out of the way to be helpful and answered my questions no matter how many trips I had to make. The vendor and installer were professional and told me exactly what they needed from me in order to do the job right. I read all the documents available to make sure I thought I understood what I was getting into.

If I had to add another act to this saga, I guess it would be called “The Gripes”:

• Timing - This is probably my largest issue. The program only had $100,000 in vouchers. At $1000 per person only 100 people could participate in the program. With a population of 22-23K it seemed like “first come, first serve” would go fast. Add to it that once accepted into the program a new stove had to be purchased within 21 days. Install could drag out but the purchase had to be complete. Oh and the program only lasts from Oct. 22, 2009 - Jan. 29, 2010 - slightly less than 3 months from start to finish. Don’t forget the holidays…
• Requirements - there should have been a fire code/pre-install check list to ensure that the consumer understood the areas in and around the install that may need to be addressed. Hearth construction requirements, sizing issues, non-combustible space requirements, all fees, etc. Finding these out as I went along and from different people (mostly the vendor and installers) make the process feel unorganized and haphazard. Granted I could have done more up-front investigation but the “time constraints” on the project meant that things had to happen quickly.
• Game changing - to be fair, I didn’t get my install permit finished until just before the install. Problem was there was a “new form” to complete before getting the permit that neither I or the vendor had ever seen. If I had completed the permit right after the purchase, the form would not have been required - my bad. Still, adding a step to the process that some had to complete and others didn’t smacks me the wrong way. I certainly understand the need for the extra form but the city should have thought of that before hand and once added, informed all parties of the change and what it meant.

I like Asian cooking, well the taste at any rate, and when a recepie came along for a sweet and sour dish with vegetables I wanted to give it a try. The issue for me is the original recipe was a strictly vegetarian preparation using tofu and salad bar vegetables. Sorry, I’m just not that into tofu and having a pound of salad bar veggies sitting around didn’t excite me either.

I decided to see what I could do with using chicken and a bag of frozen onion & pepper stir fry vegetables. This makes a good dish for 4 people when served with rice. Here’s how it works:

• 1.5 lbs chicken (about 4 breasts) cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp garlic-chili sauce
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1 lb frozen stir-fry vegetables (pepper and onions were my choice)

In a large non-stick pan, heat 1/3 cup of oil over medium high heat until shimmering. Note that you may want to work in 2 batches if your skillet isn’t that large. Just half the oil for each batch of chicken.

Pat the chicken dry, cut into cubes and set aside. Add cornstarch to a shallow pan (pie pan works good here) for dredging and set aside. Reserve 1 tbsp of corn starch for use in sauce.

Whisk together honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic-chili sauce, and reserved 1 tbsp of corn starch and set aside.

When oil is shimmering in pan, dredge chicken in corn starch, and shake off excess. It’s best to dredge all (or a batch) of chicken and then add to pan rather than piece at a time. Add dredged chicken to pan and cook until golden brown turning as needed so all sides are cooked, about 6-8 minutes. Remove to paper towel lined plate.

Add frozen vegetables to pan and cook for about 5-7 minutes until liquid is gone. You can cook them in a separate pan to speed things along. Add soy sauce mixture to pan and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Return chicken to pan and stir to mix well. Serve. Note that if you used a separate pan, return the vegetables to the pan used to cook the chicken.

Some observations: This was my second time making this and I think the frozen vegetables come out way to soft. I’d like them to be crisper. I’d also like to try a mixture of beans and watercress. If you’re not a spicy fan, you may want to cut back on the garlic-chili sauce. My wife found it to be a bit on the spicy side. The cornstarch dredge gives the chicken an interesting texture. It seems lighter than flour and is “bumpy” on the surface.

I’ve made scrambled eggs most of my life. When my kids were much younger, one egg in a microwave-safe glass bowl for 1 minute was an instant breakfast. Recently I’ve experimented with cooking them on the stove-top attempting to get a really light, fluffy texture.

Over the past couple of months I’ve added 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar per 2 eggs as I’ve whipped them in a bowl. I’ve been doing this on the advice of several articles I’ve read on getting them fluffy. No more. I’m adding milk to the scrambling process.

I just whipped up 2 scrambled eggs to have with some left over holiday ham and they were the lightest, fluffiest  eggs I think I’ve ever had.

• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp whole milk
• 1/2 tsp butter

Whip eggs with mik in a bowl using a fork. Melt butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until just foamy. Add eggs and drop heat to low. Constantly push eggs toward middle of pan forming a larger curdle mass in the middle. When egg liquid is all gone, evacuate eggs from pan to serving plate and let stand 1 minute. Enjoy!

Now I used the drippings from the ham I heated in the 10″ pan instead of the butter but I don’t think that’s what made them fluffy. I think it was the milk and not over-cooking them. Now if I can only get my hash browns to turn out I’ll have a great breakfast trio!

Our family has started a tradition of having roast beef tenderloin for Christmas dinner and this year was no exception. This year’s menu was:

• 3 lb beef tenderloin roast, rubbed with pepper, thyme and garlic
• cranberry-pear chutney sauce
• garlic mashed potatoes
• rosemary carrots
• fresh green bean casserole

This is my 4th year making the roast in the same manner and it came out a little drier than usual. I think the internal temperature got too high (150+ range) which caused it to loose moisture. Next year I’m going to try searing it first and then 200 in the oven until it hits 140-ish.

As my wife will tell you I detest green bean casserole, but I found a recipe at Cooks Illustrated that solved all my issues. The green beans were crisp, not soggy; the sauce was made from fresh mushrooms and tasted wonderful; the home made bread crumbs complimented the only prepared ingredient - fried onions. I even ate left-overs the next day! It’s certainly a green bean casserole I can get behind.

For dessert mom and I attempted a cherry cobbler using Bing cherries. Let’s just say that mom’s crust was magnificent and the filling was - well - interesting.

I enjoy cooking but I’m not resolving to do anything in paricular about it over the next year other than to enjoy and learn more about it.

On the education front I’d like to:

• Finish reading “On Food and Cooking“
• Read a James Peterson book on a cooking subject
• Pick up a copy of the “Flavor Bible“
• Take an on-line culinary class

As far as actual cooking I want to:

• perfect those hash browns!
• work on making pie dough
• become more proficient with making pastries

Like most folks I’ve been seduced by the convenience of microwave popcorn - throw in an bag, hit the “popcorn” button, rinse, repeat. Over the holidays I made some caramel popcorn using the (*gasp*) non-microwave variety and had the oppertuniuty to hone some long forgotten popcorn skills:

• 2.5 tbsp oil; canola , corn or peanut
• 1/2 cup un-popped popcorn kernels
• 1/4 tsp popcorn salt
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

In a 6 qt pot add oil, 3-4 popcorn kernels and cover. Heat oil over medium high heat until the kernels pop. Remove from heat and wait 30 seconds. Add salt and remaining kernels and return to heat with lid cocked open to allow steam to escape. Scoot pot back and forth across burner as kernels pop. When popping stops, remove from heat, add butter, re-cover and spin pot to distribute butter. Add more salt as desired.

Why the 30 seconds? To allow the oil to return to a tempature slightly below popping. When the kernels are added and returned to heat, they all pop at around the same time.

If you don’t have popcorn salt, you can put regular table salt in a grinder to get a finer texture. I tried it in my food processor but there wasn’t enough “heft” to get the salt spinning round with the blade. A coffee or spice grinder can be used instead.

You can also use a metal 6 qt mixing bowl instead of a pot and aluimum foil with slits makes a great steam release lid (not to mention bringing back Jiffy Pop memories).

IMHO this stuff beat the pants off of the microwave stuff. The minor amount of work is well worth the effort in the taste department.

Lately when I need a quick bite to eat I zap some frozen boneless buffalo style chicken pieces. I usually get a bag from Schwan’s - they are more tasty than spicy hot. Still, I like to have them with some store purchased blue cheese dressing to at least make my mouth think they are getting something with a little zip to it.

Last weekend I was out of blue cheese dressing so I improvised using some Romano cheese mixed with ranch dressing. Turned out pretty tasty. I’m beginning to like the zing of Romano cheese. At any rate, here are the rough proportions; adjust to your flavor and consistency tastes - I like mine sharp and thick:

• 1/4 cup ranch dressing (I used Wishbone)
• 2 tbsp finely grated Romano cheese

Mix all ingredients together in a small dipping bowl and serve with boneless chicken.

Usually I have a meal planned for Sunday evening, but last night I just had one too many things to do so it was a “Make Your Own Darn Dinner” (MYODD) affair.

When 7 PM rolled around my daughter was put off by having to “roll her own”. When I asked what she wanted she said “breaded chicken”. It’s not often that I get a request from my daughter to cook her something so I decided to see what I could whip together for the 2 of us. A quick internet search for Chicken Parmesan gave me a few recipes that I could adapt to what I had on hand:

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 chicken breast sliced horizontally in half
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
• 1/2 small onion, diced fine
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp dried basil, divided
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup shredded motzorella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated romano cheese

Preheat oven to 200 placing rack in middle position. Insert a cooling rack into a jelly roll pan and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large fry pan over medium heat until just shimmering. Meanwhile, pound chicken breast slices until about 1/8″  thick. Combine egg and water in a shallow dish and beat until frothy. Place flour and breadcrumbs each in their own shallow dish (pie plates work great).

When oil is hot, dredge the chicken in flour shaking off the excess. Dunk in the egg mixture and then coat with the breadcrumbs. Add both pieces to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes per side until internal temperature is about 155-160. Remove pan from heat, transfer chicken to wire rack and put chicken in oven to keep warm.

Return pan to heat and add onion, garlic and bay leaf ; heat until onions are translucent, no more that 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle 1/8 tsp dried basil over onion mixture and stir for about 30 seconds. Stir in diced tomatoes and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until mixture is reduced to a thick sauce. When sauce starts to thicken, 5-7 minutes into the reduction cycle, remove chicken from oven and increase temperature to 450.

When sauce is fully reduced, push tomato mixture to one side and return chicken to pan. Spoon sauce over chicken and sprinkle cheese and remaining 1/8th tsp of basil over top. Insert pan into oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove and serve.

I”m sure I could have reversed the cooking order, making the sauce first and then the chicken but I would have missed all that nice brown stuff from the frying that went into the flavor of the sauce. The measurements of flour, breadcrumbs, and cheese are approximate. I didn’t take time to measure them.

My daughter thought it was delicious and she even let me have part of the meal! Not bad for winging it, not to mention spending time with my daughter.