Delicious History

For entertaining, there is nothing better than a one pot meal to make life easy.  I had been using a recipe that called for a lot of oil and fat, so I found a better recipe, cut the amount of shellfish (crawfish/shrimp) and meat (especially sausage), used chicken breast instead, and employed brown rice.  Mortal middle aged men can’t eat meatballs and sausage all the time.

Of course the recipe begins with the holy trinity of New Orleans cuisine, onions (2 cups), celery (1 cup), and bell peppers (1 cup) with 1 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp salt in 2 tbl vegetable oil until tender.  Then throw in a half pound of smoked sausage and cook 2 minutes.  Add 5 bay leaves, 2 tbl minced garlic, and 2 cups peeled and seeded tomatoes.  Then add 2 cups brown basmati rice and stir for 2 minutes.  This will make it thirsty for the next ingredient.

Add 5 cups chicken broth and 1 pound chicken breast, cut into pieces.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low/medium low and simmer for 35 minutes.  Turn off heat and rest on stove for 15 minutes.  Trust Jesus for a good jambalaya.

For such a simple recipe, this jambalaya boasted a great flavor.  The chicken was cooked perfectly, so tender it seemed poached.  The rice cooked up nicely, and the brown rice worked surprisingly well in this recipe.  Garnish with chooped green onions and copious hot sauce.  Only a good football game will divert your glance from your food.

I’m in the final throes of writing and editing the Columbia Spanish Restaurant’s Centennial history and cookbook, but it isn’t all solitary toil. I tried out a few of the restaurant’s recipes at a recent cookout, and the results were impressive. For a simple gathering, I chose to make the Mojito Chicken and Rice and Corn, with grilled asparagus on the side.

For the rice, simply cook onions in a little bacon fat and add the corn and rice. Use the liquid from the canned corn with broth.  When the rice is finished, add the crumbled bacon and stir. I made the mistake of trying to stretch the recipe a bit by adding 50% more rice. While it was tasty, I will follow the recipe next time.

The chicken’s marinade is mojo with plenty of lime juice and fresh mint added. While the chicken got started on the grill, I made the simple glaze of sugar, water, mint, lime, and rum by boiling and thickening it. The sweet, fragrant, and sour mixture heightens the grilled chicken flavor admirably. It is easy to see why the dish is a popular special at the Columbia restaurant.  I gave the cooked chicken a final brush with the glaze before serving. The grilled chicken has a caramelized mojito crust.

I finally got a grilling basket for fish and vegetables. It sure helps with the asparagus. The bottom of the basket sheltered the veggies from the harshest heat and I toss them as if they were in a pan, making it much easier to cook them la dente.

Wake up your chicken with the Columbia Spanish Restaurant’s great recipe. My centennial history of the restaurant (kind of like the Sopranos, except with less bullets and more food) is due out in Summer/Fall 2009, to be published by the University Press of Florida. I’ll leave it at that tonight and discuss it in more depth another time.

For some men (and women), food passions especially flare up during football season. Once aroused, these passions are best satisfied with simple food, preferably something you can stuff into your face with your bare hands. The fare must also work as good drinking food, so salads— which do not absorb alcohol— need not apply.

Let’s face it, most food that we associate with sporting events and public gatherings is not the stuff of nutritionists, and should probably only be consumed by athletes themselves, whose metabolism demands massive caloric doses. But dedicated sporting fans generously take one or two for the team. Cheeseburgers. Chili dogs. Fried Chicken wings. Nachos. Pizza. You know the drill.

I’m a Buccaneers fan, but I’m often more excited about the food than the games. It is no wonder that football fans eat and drink so much—- the games last forever and over 2/3rds of the time is devoted to stupid commercials aimed at stupid people. But most football fans are not stupid— at least at the beginning of the game. That’s where the drinks come in. They are especially necessary to tune out or tolerate some of the game hosts and announcers, who are convinced they are MVPs with microphones. The pre-game, in-game, half time, and post-game commentary is so long and exacting as to baffle one’s patience. (remainder of rant deleted) So drinking beer, wine, or liquor at one in the afternoon is perfectly acceptable.

Since football fans are hungry and bored 2/3rds of the time, if i invite friends over to watch a game, we get take out or I cook, and we sometimes feature certain cocktails. (Just ask me about the Gin Rickey incident some time.) So for the 2008-09 football season, I will post game day suggestions for face stuffing and guzzling.

In this first installment, I present marinara subs two ways: sausage or meatball, both hot off the grill.

To make memorable subs, begin by making a fresh marinara sauce. In many cases, canned whole tomatoes have the best flavor, unless you have access to good ripe fresh tomatoes. Drain the canned tomatoes and remove the pulp and seeds.

For a proper Aztec human sacrifice, you must remove the heart while it still beats. Crushing the tomatoes in your hands helps make them more manageable in the pan and works out any extra liquid to shorten your cooking time.

After sauteeing onions and green peppers, add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook until thickened. The photo above shows a thickened sauce. When i push it aside at the top of the photo, it is not runny enough to flow back into place.  After adding some red wine and simmering about ten minutes, I pureed the sauce with an immersion blender.

For good Italian sausage, I went to the Cacciatore brothers’ store on Armenia. I go with sweet or hot, no chicken sausage allowed.  I prefer Castellano and Pizzo’s.  To maximize flavor, I grill peppers and onions for the sandwiches as well. It is amazing how much of the smoky grilled flavor the vegetables can hold. To make their handling much easier, I use skewers. Otherwise, flipping the peppers— and especially the onions, which sometimes fall apart— can be a chore.

My brother Tim mixed up a nice batch of meatballs, using chef Rocco Dispirito’s mother’s recipe. A mild, classic mixture of beef, pork, and veal with some egg, cheese, bread crumbs, and parsley. For a little added flavor, I cooked them gently on the grill. Cooking with too much heat would have left the meatballs with a hard crust and without their tender texture. Besides, they did not have to be completely cooked on the grill— they would simmer in the sauce briefly before serving.

After a quick slumber in the sauce, the meatballs are ready.  For a side dish, I sauteed fresh spinach with raspberry vinegar, small cubes of fresh (”wet”) mozzarella, and pecans.  I serve the subs on Cuban bread, but a more tender bread also works well. They work well as sliders.  A larger, more dressed sandwich is also great, piled with some grilled vegetables and a little parm.

For dessert, Peterton Crackers brought the making of banana splits. A man of appetite, Peterton is known for eating well during the first half of the game, and sleeping during the second. Just one of many ways for football fans to deal with intermittent games swarming with the vain utterances of commercials, hosts and announcers.

My neighbor and friend Starr had a dinner party last night, where the food and company were excellent.  Kathleen’s fruit salad was beautiful and delicious. The papaya was at the height of sweet juiciness.  Francis made a wonderful green salad with herbs, mozzarella, tomatoes, and a great balsamic vinaigrette.  Starr basted chicken breasts with barbecue sauce and gave them a turn on the grill.

With careless nonchalance, the bachelor Starr announced he would make the sweet potatoes and turned on the oven. They had already been prepped with onions and garlic.

Grilled chicken, wine, fruit, and champagne. My peach salsa lurks in the background. It comes on sweet but also brings a persistent spicy heat.

Kathleen’s cheese plate was wonderful. And Starr always demands postprandial chocolates. Some of us chose fine cigars from my father’s humidor, dipped their tips in rum, and retired to the yard to puff in the unseasonably cool weather. I also swirled a rum rickey (rum, lime, and seltzer). I felt so relaxed, I may as well have gone to a spa for the day. Congrats to Starr and company for a great evening.

I stitched together a couple old musings from 2001 or so about cooking in a smoker. I was really stuck on my smoker for a good 4 or 5 years. These days, I like to cook in the kitchen, too.

—————-

I love slow-cooking anything for anybody in my smoker. There is nothing more festive than smelling that smoke for hours before digging into a grand feast. I can turn my back on my smoker with no worries— unless i’ve done something rash or dumb, nothing will burn and the food will only improve.

I usually begin smoking anything by quickly searing it directly over the fire first (on a grill). This locks in the juices and speeds the cooking time for larger cuts. It also keeps the meat firm— slow cooking can sometimes result in TOO gentle preparation. After that, i put in the water dish and let it go. Unless i’m cooking something delicate like pork chops, fish, or skinless poultry, the smoker is on auto-pilot. I just check the state of the fire after that. Temperature is everything.

As for fave dishes, the smoked meatloaf is definitely one for great flavor and ease of preparation. Glazed pork chops are always a winner. Smoked turkey breast is among the best. Pork loin always impresses. A london broil stuffed with chiles and chorizo is exciting and easy.

In the end, grilling can make a chef seem better than they really are. Smoked onions in French onion soup makes one seem a genius. Smoked bratwurst can make one beg. Smoked hamburgers or even hot dogs will make you think you were a sucker to eat themn any other way. Smoked shrimp marinaded in lime and chiles… need i say more?

one more thing: it seems altogether more acceptable for a cook to have a few more drinks when grilling. always a bonus.

Just a couple years ago my roommates and i would have vast sleepover parties. I’d cook up some stuff in my smoker for dinner, and something big for brunch the next day. This time, we cooked 3 boneless pork shoulders for brunch, about $35 of beautiful meat rolled up with string.

I smoked them all afternoon and all night after rubbing them with spices. Late in the night, the entire drunken party migrated down to the smoker to watch me take the roasts off. They looked and smelled so good that we passed one of the roasts around and each of us took a big barbarian bite off of it.

The pork was moist, smoky, and immensely flavorful. At long last, we had found the holy grail of BBQ. We all wondered at how something could taste so good. Brunch was shaping up to be an earth-shattering culinary event.

Then, the buddy that bought the roasts in the first place decided that it would be a good idea to stew the roasts all night long with vinegar-based BBQ sauce in a crock pot. I immediately advised against it. I had smoked the meat for 8 hours, cooking it any more would be a moot and dangerous move. He insisted. I continued to protest, but finally let him have his way, as he had paid for it (though i was the one who smoked it lovingly all day). He coarsely chopped the meat and stewed it.

Late that night, when i was up from bed, i looked at the crock pot. It was boiling fiercely. I turned it off, hoping to save a bit of flavor. That morning, there was no holy grail on our plates. Instead, we found, dry, stringy, tasteless BBQ that seemed two weeks old. A priceless meal denied. My friend was so apologetic that he bought more roasts the next weekend, but they just didn’t taste the same. One golden moment had been lost forever!

I am a changed man.

I’ve been imbued with a sacred sense of mission, a crusading impulse to grasp at glory and exercise my ambitions. With a clear sense of my own shortcomings, I want to emulate the sentiment of French gastronome Brillat-Savarin, who wrote: “The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery a star.” I couldn’t agree more, and I’ve had a vision.

I have begun a Quest for Sauce.

While a sauce may not qualify as a new “dish”, it is at least as important as discovering a new planet or a moon. So I will invent my own awesome grilling sauce, with an aroma that sings and a flavor that explodes. Something good enough to warrant the epitaph: “At least he made the sauce.”

These are the ground rules, people. One: it cannot resemble the typical American barbecue sauce. I love American style barbecue, all the regional favorites, but I don’t think I could add much to that genre. Two: the sauce must be very spicy— heady, even— and utilize fruit. Three: it should enhance the meat or vegetable’s flavor, not overwhelm it.

Let me tell you how I came to this awesome task, this spicy inspiration, this Quest for Sauce.

My friend Kristin recently confessed how bored with life she felt. Working in her family’s payroll business for the last twenty years and raising her wonderful children have been rewarding, but her talents and creativity demand new challenges. She wants to go into business herself.

As I’ve said before, Kristin is a great cook, so I suggested that she prepare and package food products, like a sauce, chutney, salsa, or tapenade. She said that it was already one of her more intriguing ideas. But what to make? I wondered what products were most in demand. What kind of product would I go out of the way to buy myself?

I certainly wish Kristin luck with whatever her enterprise might be. I’m especially thankful that her idea has reawakened ambitions of my own. With all humility and gratitude, I want to invent my own awesome grilling sauce. I don’t plan on making a business of it, but I want to create something distinctive, mix my impulses with discipline. I plan on perfecting the recipe’s taste until next summer, when i will package it for friends and family. I premiered the the first prototype at a housewarming party for some good friends.

I began with a rub adapted from a Steven Raichlen recipe, a much more interesting mixture than the typical barbecue:

2 tbl brown sugar, 2tbl hot paprika, and 1 tbl each of coarse salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon, and 1/2 tbl cardamom.

The rub was great, but the sauce was the experiment here. I want it to be spicy, sweet, fruity and tart without being too salty. My first run was not bad. I began with a recipe for peach, rum, and chili sauce. It turned out excellent, but my adaption was not hot, sweet, or punchy enough. At least it was an excuse to get a bottle of Myer’s rum, that dark elixir.

I was the first to season my buddy’s brand new grill. Another flaw of my sauce was its runniness, so I must admit that I seasoned it quite well. And the patio. And probably a few other things. I was in the heat of the moment. Cooking is like sex, you can’t be afraid to make a bit of a mess if you have to. If you’re worrying about a mess, you’re not giving the sex the attention it deserves. Or in this case, the cooking. So I got a little excited…

Clearly, a thicker, more clingy sauce would have cooked onto the chicken better. But no one complained, not even the new homeowner when he hosed my delicious sauce off his concrete patio.

The chicken was quite good, but I will return in the next installment of the Quest for Sauce.

Sometimes we all lose patience and passion for cooking, especially after a day at work.  I devised a couple quick meals that are meant to be nutritionally balanced and very tasty: Expedient eats.

The first dish might not be perfectly “healthy”, but it isn’t evil.  While hanging out with my brother Tim, I made a quick pizza.  I bought the crust at the store, used my leftover chunky fragrant tomato sauce with turkey, and topped it with some leftover cheese and bits of ham.  I missed the fresh crust, but it was quite good for a creation that took under 5 minutes to prep.

I almost never cook on Fridays, but the other night, I grilled a couple frozen turkey burgers and served them on wheat toast with baked sweet potato fries and granny smith apple.  With a drizzle of honey on the fries, a dash of cinnamon on the apples, and my own spicy peach sauce on the burgers, the flavors of this meal shined, healthy and happy.

Another recent experiment for a party worked quite well. I made some creamy leek and shrimp cornbread. I spiced the creamy sauce with garam masala, nutmeg, Dijon mustard, and black pepper. I will make it again and record the recipe.

The luxurious shrimp and leek sauce tastes rather exotic.  Packed up and ready to party!

After a tough day, it is sometimes best to take a step back, appreciate what you have, and share the love.

I did something rather silly recently, and I almost came to regret it. I offered to prepare a gumbo feast for a work-related fund raiser: The annual University of South Florida Faculty and Staff Campaign, which solicits employees to donate part of their wages to the university. I’m still quite short of my fundraising goal.

Getting coworkers to give, many of whom earn mediocre wages, is a very hard sell, especially in these tough times. But the campaign is a very noble effort, as there are so many areas of the university to celebrate and support. In my research of USF’s history, I’ve seen so many ways it has changed peoples lives from all over the world. If USF made me respectable (which is debatable), it has worked wonders, indeed.

I like my job and the people I work with, and I thought it would be fun to share something delicious with them and lay my gourmet reputation on the line. I will be serving just 30 tomorrow. Perhaps I’ve overestimated the curiosity of librarians. I know how many of my co workers eat Lean Cuisine, Subway, and McD’s on a daily. I was amazed at how few people signed on for a fine free meal prepared lovingly by a colleague.

Of course, I should be thankful that I only have 30 to serve. If it was 50 or 60 instead, I would surely have needed two nights for cooking. and two more crock pots. and much more patience. But i counted many more of my blessings as it i set out to cook the best gumbo I’d ever made. I’m given wonderful opportunities for creativity and professional growth at work, and being able to hold such an event is more a privilege than a duty.

I set out to make Gumbo Ya Ya, a Paul Prudhomme recipe made famous by a restaurant called Mr. B’s, part of the Brennan’s empire. Gumbo Ya Ya is an old New Orleans saying that refers to the loud chaotic banter of a party, with everyone talking at once. It also means everyone talking at once, the multi ethnic and multi-lingual mish mash of that unique Creole city. I adapted the dish from Emeril Lagasse’s Every Day’s a Party: Louisiana Recipes. I change the timing a bit, and don’t mess with a whole chicken, just breasts and drumsticks.

The first two times I went to New Orleans expressly for the spectacle and debauchery of Mardi Gras. I was young, thirsty, and poor. I’m so glad I rediscovered the city in subsequent visits. I found Mr. B’s Gumbo Ya Ya to be my favorite specimen. Unlike many gumbos, it calls for a very dark roux, which requires more time and diligence. I blew my first attempt to make a roux two years ago— too much heat and an inferior stock pot. Late last year, I made a passable version but scorched it while reheating. Other times, it seemed much too oily. I resolved to master Gumbo Ya Ya a couple nights before a charity event with 30 of my co-workers. Pretty stupid, huh?

Although I was grouchy after work and just wanted to take a nap, I let all that go and started to prep. I felt better the moment I turned on the heat: I focused on good things, and the challenge I so blithely charged in to.

My ingredients: 24 cups low sodium chicken stock, 3-3.5 lbs of chicken drumsticks, 3-3.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 bay leaves, 4.5 cups vegetable oil, 4.5 cups bleached all purpose flour, approx 2 lbs. andouille sausage, 4 medium diced yellow onion, 2 diced green peppers, 2 tsp cayenne pepper, 3 cups diced celery, approx 2 lbs. smoked sausage (i prefer hot), 2 bunches diced green onions, 6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

My first impulse was to cheat and use store bought chicken stock. Instead, I compromised and poached my chicken breasts and drum sticks in the bought chicken broth with bay leaves to richen it. I set the cooked chicken aside. I especially like this method because you don’t have to pick a whole chicken apart, as the original recipe calls for. No bones, no veins, no carving, etc. This assumes importance when you’re cooking for 30 people. The breast meat– which i chopped after poaching– is good for picky eaters, and the drumsticks please those with big appetites.

As always, making the roux would be the biggest challenge. When making a roux, you are basically frying flour in an equal amount of fat at medium heat until they incorporate and make a gravy of sorts. The darkness of the roux helps dictate the depth of the flavor. If you don’t vigilantly stir, parts of the flour begin to burn, the gumbo tastes scorched, and does not hold together. Don’t get too enthusiastic and splash around— this frying paste is like kitchen napalm.

Be prepared to adjust temperature and stir constantly. I always keep my phone close by, because talking to friends and family make the half hour of stirring go by more quickly.

See the Gumbo photos here.

I’m grateful that co workers have pitched in to make salad, desserts, gourmet crackers, and bring Cuban bread and beverages. I’m also bringing a simple shrimp with mustard remoulade to serve beside the salad or on the bread. I will deploy a squadron of 2 crock pots and 3 rice cookers.

Next year, I’m thinking of having a chili contest instead. Or a pasta throwdown or something.

If you’re interested, check out USF’s Faculty and Staff Campaign while you’re at it. There are so many worthy programs for health, academics, athletics, research and especially the libraries. They are the engines of intellectual industry. and they have a lot of cool stuff.

http://usfweb2.usf.edu/fscc/CampaignInformation.asp

I recently visited my good friends Will and Kristin in Pinellas county. I regularly cook gourmet dinners to relieve Kristin from her cooking duties. She is a wonderful cook, but I prefer to let Kristin relax if she can. Will’s boyish outbursts increase when I visit, perhaps because we’ve been close friends since middle school. It can help to occupy Will’s time with water calistenics and constructive activities such as grilling. So I quickly put together a celebratory summer menu of comfort food.

I humbly present another summer favorite: kofta. The mixture of lamb, beef, mint, onion, garlic, and cinnamon shines best when grilled. Instead of fooling with skewers, I form the meat into larger balls for easy handling. Provided that the meatballs are formed well, they don’t fall apart when handled. Using too much onion can lead to weaker balls. It helps cohesion to dice the onion more finely than I did above.

My buddy Will is a tested grillsmith, and handled my balls quite well. The smell alone is impressive and refreshing. I’d like to have a party some day and serve only meatballs of every nationality.

I made a spiced butter mixture by browning garlic in butter. I added cayenne pepper, Old Bay seasoning, black pepper and let it cook a minute with a couple splashes of pineapple juice, about 1/4 cup. The resulting butter on the grilled shrimp proved so good that it disappeared before my camera was ready.

I prepared the lemon orzo recipe I mentioned in my last post, and it turned out better than ever. For 2 pounds of orzo, I used

1/4 stick of butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

half of a yellow onion, diced

the zest and juice of 3 lemons

1 bottle white wine (I used pinto grigio)

1/4 cup of fresh rosemary

1/2 cup fresh parsley

3 tbl black pepper

1 tbl salt

approx. 3-4 cups of low sodium chicken stock

Sautee garlic and onion with butter over medium high heat. add next 6 ingredients and reduce heat to medium. add chicken stock a cup at a time until orzo is cooked. If you feel frisky, garnish with a leittle parmesan cheese.

as a side dish, I fell back on sauteed garlic and spinach with a little butter. It works very well with the bright orzo. Toasted pita rounded out the plate. Can I get an amen? Can I get a hell yeah?

We feasted that night like a cross between Olympic athletes and Hell’s Angels. The excitement was palpable and quite palatable. It made Will and I feel like we could still do something foolish, like drink more Gumbe Smash cocktails. More about those another time.

Will soon resorted to loading up his pita with the rest of the food, which he attacked like a tipsy gorilla. His side of the table soon lay strewn with the ruins and detritus of a great meal. Lemon-scented orzo had been scattered like rosemary-flecked constellations drunk on white wine. For once, I looked like the polite fellow. We all watched bull riding, Kristin’s favorite, and Will soon fell asleep on the couch. It was soon time for dessert: 2 a.m.  I’m sorry, doc. One thing led to another. At least I was in good company. Can i get an Amen?