The wine that started my appreciation of whites was a Sancerre that an investment banker friend pulled out from his cellar during a party at his posh Grammercy Park town house. For years after that I ignorantly joked that I really only liked white wines I couldn't afford. That's no longer the case, but my appreciation for whites with citrus notes that give way to clean acid and low residual sugar remains. Sancerre (and other Sauvignon Blancs in a similar style) remains a favorite white wine for me.
So it was wonderful to turn up in Spain a couple days ago to play FIB and get turned on to a new favorite (and affordable) white wine: Rueda. It's a regional name; the main grape used is Verdejo. The story is that this grape was traditionally used to make not very fashionable oxidized whites until Riscal started making a modern version a few decades ago. The result is lots of up front citrus (and even some wildflowers), good acidity and a finish just dry enough to keep my interest. A great sipper and perfect pairing with seafood.
Rueda from Spain. The Riscal is great, but a little pricey. There are many not so pricey examples out there. Worth looking for in the summer heat.
(I'm typing this in Portugal. Summer festival tour is nearly over for me, so expect more regular updates to start in the next week or two).
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Udon with Chicken and Kimchi in Spicy Miso Broth
It's important for home cooks to have a few dishes up their sleeve that can be thrown together in ten minutes. They don't have to be our best work, nor do they have to be the healthiest meals in our repetoire. They simply have to be better than ordering a pizza (or getting take out) when you're hungry and pressed for time. I trot this recipe out when the hour gets late, we've not managed to eat supper and going out is not in the cards. It also makes a satisfying lunch. Substituite tofu for the chicken and you could feed it to a vegan without compromising much in the way of flavor.
This recipe is salty enough for me, but some may prefer a higher sodium level. Going heavier on the miso would provide that, while adding texture to the broth.
Exotic ingredients you'll need:
Kimchi - Korean spicy pickled cabbage, sold in jars in Asian markets. Keeps for over a month in the fridge. Tasty as a side dish or appetizer, but not for everyone. Good ingredient for Korean stews and fried rice, if you can manage to keep from snacking on it. When cooked it loses its aggressiveness, adding rich flavor and a hint of spice to a dish.
Miso - Health food nuts and fans of Japanese cuisine probably have this in their fridge already. I recommend white or red miso; both make delicious soup. Keeps for months in the fridge. Also pops up in Korean cooking, and makes a decent substitute for Chinese fermented soybean paste.
Toasted Sesame Oil - You don't need it for this dish, but it adds one more layer of flavor. And you may as well pick it up when you get the miso, since a few drops go well in miso soup. This seasoning is added at the last minute in very small amounts.
Udon Noodles - Fresh or frozen, these are useful to have around. This will be the third recipe I've given for them on this blog, and you can easily find many more. Sometimes nothing is better than a bowl of noodles, and you'll probably find these where you find the other ingredients on this list.
This recipe makes two large bowls of soup:
meat from a chicken leg and thigh, cut into bite sized pieces
4-5 cups water
3 scallions, cut into rounds
generous 3/4 cup kimchi
generous tbs miso
tsp sugar
1/4 -1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch salt
oil for frying
few drops sesame oil
1/2 lb cooked udon noodles, rinsed
Heat water in pot with kinchi. Stir in miso once it's hot. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. In a small pan fry chicken with salt, sugar and cayenne pepper. When meat is cooked add scallions and remove from heat. Divide the noodles between two bowls, and top with a few drops sesame oil. Ladle hot miso-kinchi broth over noodles, then top with chicken-scallion mixture.
This recipe is salty enough for me, but some may prefer a higher sodium level. Going heavier on the miso would provide that, while adding texture to the broth.
Exotic ingredients you'll need:
Kimchi - Korean spicy pickled cabbage, sold in jars in Asian markets. Keeps for over a month in the fridge. Tasty as a side dish or appetizer, but not for everyone. Good ingredient for Korean stews and fried rice, if you can manage to keep from snacking on it. When cooked it loses its aggressiveness, adding rich flavor and a hint of spice to a dish.
Miso - Health food nuts and fans of Japanese cuisine probably have this in their fridge already. I recommend white or red miso; both make delicious soup. Keeps for months in the fridge. Also pops up in Korean cooking, and makes a decent substitute for Chinese fermented soybean paste.
Toasted Sesame Oil - You don't need it for this dish, but it adds one more layer of flavor. And you may as well pick it up when you get the miso, since a few drops go well in miso soup. This seasoning is added at the last minute in very small amounts.
Udon Noodles - Fresh or frozen, these are useful to have around. This will be the third recipe I've given for them on this blog, and you can easily find many more. Sometimes nothing is better than a bowl of noodles, and you'll probably find these where you find the other ingredients on this list.
This recipe makes two large bowls of soup:
meat from a chicken leg and thigh, cut into bite sized pieces
4-5 cups water
3 scallions, cut into rounds
generous 3/4 cup kimchi
generous tbs miso
tsp sugar
1/4 -1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch salt
oil for frying
few drops sesame oil
1/2 lb cooked udon noodles, rinsed
Heat water in pot with kinchi. Stir in miso once it's hot. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. In a small pan fry chicken with salt, sugar and cayenne pepper. When meat is cooked add scallions and remove from heat. Divide the noodles between two bowls, and top with a few drops sesame oil. Ladle hot miso-kinchi broth over noodles, then top with chicken-scallion mixture.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Baked Red Snapper
Fish. I've met some folks who really don't like it. Others claim to like it as long as it isn't "fishy". Some folks I know enjoy fish just fine, but can't handle it appearing on the serving plate with the head and tail intact. We all have our hangups. Fish is not one of mine. In fact, I'll take it over beef or chicken in most instances. (Nothing wins out against pork and lamb in my world, but a nice piece of fish is hard to beat).
The problem for many who would eat fish more often is how to go about it. How do you know which fish is a good one? How do you cook it? We live in a world where sushi joints have their fish flown in, so even those in land locked places can shell out the bucks to enjoy good quality raw fish. Farmed salmon and tilapia are everywhere, along with tuna and sea bass, but try finding fresh flounder in the Southwest. For all of our interconnectedness the fish counter often smacks of regionalism, if only in its pricing. That's not entirely a bad thing. I'm happy to eat lobster in Maine, Dungeness Crab in the Northwest and Blue Point Oysters in NYC. I want Blue Crabs in Maryland and catfish in the Deep South, but no matter where I happen to be I don't want to go too long without a fish dinner. Blame it on being raised Catholic.
Fortunately one of our best fishes is fairly ubiquitous: the red snapper. Very tasty fish. This fish makes Europeans jealous. They have their sea bream and their Dover sole, but the red snapper is about as good a fish as they come. The meat is delicate, yet it can stand up to bold flavors. It's forgiving - it can be prepared in a variety of ways, all equally good. And best of all it's relatively inexpensive, as far as fish goes. I got one yesterday that was just under three pounds, easily enough to feed five or six (or in my case four, with leftovers) for $15. Depending on where you live it may be a little more expensive, but it's not nearly as pricey as trendier choices, such as ahi tuna or Chilean Sea Bass.
I had my fishmonger scale and gut the snapper, leaving the head and tail on. This is standard issue, and I don't know how to ask for it any other way in Cantonese (or Mandarin, for that matter), so that's how I get it. That's how I recommend getting it, unless looking at a whole fish on a plate squicks you. Season it just about any way you like: butter & lemon, Cajun style, Caribbean style, whatever. The fish picks up the flavor of whatever it's baked with. I wanted simple and elegant, so I used onion, celery and rosemary, which worked beautifully. Thyme would have worked equally well. Along the center of the fish the fillets will be mostly free of bones. Meat from the top and bottom will be richer, but bonier. All of it will be delicious. Use a knife and a spatula to serve.
2-3 lb whole red snapper, scaled and cleaned
small onion, chopped
2-3 ribs celery, chopped
4-6 sprigs rosemary
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together onion, celery and most of the rosemary in a bowl, with a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay remaining sprigs of rosemary on baking dish, and place fish on top of them. Fill the cavity of the fish with the vegetable mixture, then use remainder to cover fish. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until meat flakes with a fork.
Serve with roasted tomatoes, potatoes or rice, a salad and dry white (or rose) wine. Leftovers can be reheated the next day, or served as a cold salad in vinaigrette.
Enjoy your fish. (The aftermath won't be so bad, as long as you get to the baking dish right after eating, and remember to take the garbage out that night!)
The problem for many who would eat fish more often is how to go about it. How do you know which fish is a good one? How do you cook it? We live in a world where sushi joints have their fish flown in, so even those in land locked places can shell out the bucks to enjoy good quality raw fish. Farmed salmon and tilapia are everywhere, along with tuna and sea bass, but try finding fresh flounder in the Southwest. For all of our interconnectedness the fish counter often smacks of regionalism, if only in its pricing. That's not entirely a bad thing. I'm happy to eat lobster in Maine, Dungeness Crab in the Northwest and Blue Point Oysters in NYC. I want Blue Crabs in Maryland and catfish in the Deep South, but no matter where I happen to be I don't want to go too long without a fish dinner. Blame it on being raised Catholic.
Fortunately one of our best fishes is fairly ubiquitous: the red snapper. Very tasty fish. This fish makes Europeans jealous. They have their sea bream and their Dover sole, but the red snapper is about as good a fish as they come. The meat is delicate, yet it can stand up to bold flavors. It's forgiving - it can be prepared in a variety of ways, all equally good. And best of all it's relatively inexpensive, as far as fish goes. I got one yesterday that was just under three pounds, easily enough to feed five or six (or in my case four, with leftovers) for $15. Depending on where you live it may be a little more expensive, but it's not nearly as pricey as trendier choices, such as ahi tuna or Chilean Sea Bass.
I had my fishmonger scale and gut the snapper, leaving the head and tail on. This is standard issue, and I don't know how to ask for it any other way in Cantonese (or Mandarin, for that matter), so that's how I get it. That's how I recommend getting it, unless looking at a whole fish on a plate squicks you. Season it just about any way you like: butter & lemon, Cajun style, Caribbean style, whatever. The fish picks up the flavor of whatever it's baked with. I wanted simple and elegant, so I used onion, celery and rosemary, which worked beautifully. Thyme would have worked equally well. Along the center of the fish the fillets will be mostly free of bones. Meat from the top and bottom will be richer, but bonier. All of it will be delicious. Use a knife and a spatula to serve.
2-3 lb whole red snapper, scaled and cleaned
small onion, chopped
2-3 ribs celery, chopped
4-6 sprigs rosemary
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together onion, celery and most of the rosemary in a bowl, with a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay remaining sprigs of rosemary on baking dish, and place fish on top of them. Fill the cavity of the fish with the vegetable mixture, then use remainder to cover fish. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until meat flakes with a fork.
Serve with roasted tomatoes, potatoes or rice, a salad and dry white (or rose) wine. Leftovers can be reheated the next day, or served as a cold salad in vinaigrette.
Enjoy your fish. (The aftermath won't be so bad, as long as you get to the baking dish right after eating, and remember to take the garbage out that night!)
Monday, May 24, 2010
Rigatoni with Sausage and Peas
Lavagna in NYC's East Village: a nearly perfect neighborhood Italian joint offering wood oven pizza, pasta and a number of secondi all done to a much higher standard than one would expect when thinking "pizza and pasta". A friend who claims not to be a fan of most seafood dishes swears by their fish specials. The place is consistent: you could order completely at random and get a great meal, with service and decor to match. For less than high end Italian places charge, which fits the neighborhood joint perfectly. That would be plenty to distinguish itself, but Lavagna also has a (not so) secret weapon in its arsenal: a dish that has attracted a cult following. Tell someone in the know you're heading to Lavagna for the first time and they'll tell you, "Get the rigatoni." The last time I was there my server joked that it ought to have its own Facebook page.
The first time I had the rigatoni at Lavagna I thought, "This is one step short of sinful." It's rich enough that a half-portion will satisfy all but the most voracious appetite, but the turkey sausage makes it seem deceptively light. About halfway through my plate I realized I could reverse engineer it in my own kitchen. I also realized I'd be better off using less cream and avoiding the pat of butter that was most likely involved in saucing the pasta. I don't mind rich, but I don't need to eat restaurant rich at home.
So here is my home cooking version of rigatoni with sausage and peas, inspired by Lavagna. Mine is much lighter than theirs, so much so that you may want to substitute penne for the rigatoni if you're particular about the shape of pasta matching the weight of the sauce. I still use rigatoni as an homage. (I go heavier on the peas as well). While it's no substitute for a visit to Lavagna, this dish will impress your guests. It pairs equally well with white or a medium bodied red wine.
This recipe is for half a pound of pasta, which will satisfy two hungry people with a little leftover. To serve four or five double the recipe. If you're cooking efficiently this will take about half an hour to make.
3 Tbs olive oil, plus a little for frying
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
pinch crushed red pepper (or more, to taste)
15 oz can whole tomatoes, drained and broken up by hand
3 1/2 oz vodka
1 Tbs tomato paste
heavy cream
freshly ground black pepper
2 Italian style turkey sausages, meat removed from casings (casings discarded)*
1/2 lb dried Rigatoni
3/4 cup frozen peas
shaved Parmasean cheese, to garnish
In a saucepan heat olive oil and fry garlic (do not brown). Add tomatoes, crushed red pepper, a generous amound of black pepper, vodka and tomato paste. Gently simmer for 20 min to cook off the alcohol (which neutralizes the acid of the tomatoes so the cream won't curdle). While sauce is simmering fry sausage in a small pan with a little olive oil. Break up the cooked sausage and add to sauce. Bring your pasta pot filled with salted water to a boil. Taste the sauce to make sure all alcohol has cooked off. (If it tastes remotely like a bloody mary it needs to simmer longer). Remove sauce from heat and stir in cream until sauce is pink in color. Boil pasta for five minutes, then add peas and cook until pasta is al dente. Drain, return pasta and peas to pot and stir in sauce. Plate immediately, and garnish with a generous amount of shaved Parmasean.
*Chicken sausage works equally well. If you use the "hot" kind you may not need the crushed red peppper. Poultry sausage is generally much saltier than pork sausage, which is the reason I add no salt to the sauce; it comes out salty enough, especially when garnished with Parmasean.
The first time I had the rigatoni at Lavagna I thought, "This is one step short of sinful." It's rich enough that a half-portion will satisfy all but the most voracious appetite, but the turkey sausage makes it seem deceptively light. About halfway through my plate I realized I could reverse engineer it in my own kitchen. I also realized I'd be better off using less cream and avoiding the pat of butter that was most likely involved in saucing the pasta. I don't mind rich, but I don't need to eat restaurant rich at home.
So here is my home cooking version of rigatoni with sausage and peas, inspired by Lavagna. Mine is much lighter than theirs, so much so that you may want to substitute penne for the rigatoni if you're particular about the shape of pasta matching the weight of the sauce. I still use rigatoni as an homage. (I go heavier on the peas as well). While it's no substitute for a visit to Lavagna, this dish will impress your guests. It pairs equally well with white or a medium bodied red wine.
This recipe is for half a pound of pasta, which will satisfy two hungry people with a little leftover. To serve four or five double the recipe. If you're cooking efficiently this will take about half an hour to make.
3 Tbs olive oil, plus a little for frying
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
pinch crushed red pepper (or more, to taste)
15 oz can whole tomatoes, drained and broken up by hand
3 1/2 oz vodka
1 Tbs tomato paste
heavy cream
freshly ground black pepper
2 Italian style turkey sausages, meat removed from casings (casings discarded)*
1/2 lb dried Rigatoni
3/4 cup frozen peas
shaved Parmasean cheese, to garnish
In a saucepan heat olive oil and fry garlic (do not brown). Add tomatoes, crushed red pepper, a generous amound of black pepper, vodka and tomato paste. Gently simmer for 20 min to cook off the alcohol (which neutralizes the acid of the tomatoes so the cream won't curdle). While sauce is simmering fry sausage in a small pan with a little olive oil. Break up the cooked sausage and add to sauce. Bring your pasta pot filled with salted water to a boil. Taste the sauce to make sure all alcohol has cooked off. (If it tastes remotely like a bloody mary it needs to simmer longer). Remove sauce from heat and stir in cream until sauce is pink in color. Boil pasta for five minutes, then add peas and cook until pasta is al dente. Drain, return pasta and peas to pot and stir in sauce. Plate immediately, and garnish with a generous amount of shaved Parmasean.
*Chicken sausage works equally well. If you use the "hot" kind you may not need the crushed red peppper. Poultry sausage is generally much saltier than pork sausage, which is the reason I add no salt to the sauce; it comes out salty enough, especially when garnished with Parmasean.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sichuan Noodle Soup (Dan Dan)
Reader JonnyH commented that he didn't get the variety of foods I have available in NYC in Sydney. That left me a little surprised, having just visited Sydney on tour with Julian Casablancas. It's a world class food town. The good people from Frontier took us out for some of the best Thai I've had in my life at Arun Thai in Kings Cross. Of course, left to my own devices before a show I'm usually on the lookout for a hole in the wall serving up something exotic and tasty on the cheap. Which is how I ended up at Yee King on Sussex, right around the corner from BBQ King, where I had to stop for some takeaway BBQ pork. The Dan Dan noodles at Yee King were an inspiration. I've had many variations on this dish, but theirs sent me into my own kitchen immediately upon arriving home, where I reverse engineered the dish to my own specs. My wife was amused until she took her first taste. "Where did you learn to make this?" "Sydney," I replied.
Exotic ingredients you'll need:
Noodles - The hand pulled noodles at Yee King were good, but none of us are likely to pull noodles in our own kitchen. Japanese udon are a good substitute - the size and shape may be different, but the taste and texture are very similar. I use 1/4 lb cooked noodles per serving.
Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan) - Found in jars in Asian markets. Keeps well in fridge once opened. Also useful for making MaPo Tofu, which is my favorite tofu dish.
Chinese Chicken Broth - You can buy chicken broth in the supermarket, then turn it Chinese by simmering it with a pinch of sugar and a chunk of fresh peeled ginger. Alternately you can boil some chicken backs (or bones) for 45 min in enough water to cover with ginger, a pinch of sugar, salt and a glug of Chinese rice wine. Any leftover broth can be frozen for future use.
Shitake mushrooms: I prefer the fat ones from the Chinese greengrocer's, but the skinny Japanese style ones from the supermarket will work fine.
(This recipe makes two bowls of incredibly pedestrian, yet delicious noodle soup)
1/2 pound udon noodles, cooked, rinsed and divided between two bowls
1/3 pound ground pork
Tbs chopped ginger
2 Tbs Chili Bean Paste (or more to taste)
1 bunch scallions, chopped into thin rounds
4 shitake mushrooms, chopped
small handful of chopped peanuts
scant 3 cups Chinese chicken broth
oil for frying
Bring broth to a low simmer. In a small pan heat frying oil. Fry mushrooms over high heat until nearly cooked. Add ground pork and ginger and continue to fry until pork is nearly cooked. Add chili bean sauce, scallions and peanuts. Remove from heat. Pour hot broth over noodles in bowls, then divide fried mixture between the bowls. Eat with both chopsticks and a spoon, so as to enjoy every bit.
Exotic ingredients you'll need:
Noodles - The hand pulled noodles at Yee King were good, but none of us are likely to pull noodles in our own kitchen. Japanese udon are a good substitute - the size and shape may be different, but the taste and texture are very similar. I use 1/4 lb cooked noodles per serving.
Chili Bean Sauce (Toban Djan) - Found in jars in Asian markets. Keeps well in fridge once opened. Also useful for making MaPo Tofu, which is my favorite tofu dish.
Chinese Chicken Broth - You can buy chicken broth in the supermarket, then turn it Chinese by simmering it with a pinch of sugar and a chunk of fresh peeled ginger. Alternately you can boil some chicken backs (or bones) for 45 min in enough water to cover with ginger, a pinch of sugar, salt and a glug of Chinese rice wine. Any leftover broth can be frozen for future use.
Shitake mushrooms: I prefer the fat ones from the Chinese greengrocer's, but the skinny Japanese style ones from the supermarket will work fine.
(This recipe makes two bowls of incredibly pedestrian, yet delicious noodle soup)
1/2 pound udon noodles, cooked, rinsed and divided between two bowls
1/3 pound ground pork
Tbs chopped ginger
2 Tbs Chili Bean Paste (or more to taste)
1 bunch scallions, chopped into thin rounds
4 shitake mushrooms, chopped
small handful of chopped peanuts
scant 3 cups Chinese chicken broth
oil for frying
Bring broth to a low simmer. In a small pan heat frying oil. Fry mushrooms over high heat until nearly cooked. Add ground pork and ginger and continue to fry until pork is nearly cooked. Add chili bean sauce, scallions and peanuts. Remove from heat. Pour hot broth over noodles in bowls, then divide fried mixture between the bowls. Eat with both chopsticks and a spoon, so as to enjoy every bit.
Monday, February 15, 2010
My Happy (?) Medium
Like so many, I find reading Michael Pollan exciting. It's like having your suspicions validated by someone who actually went out and bothered to do the research. After all, it's hard to look at the way we produce food today in America without coming to the conclusion that much of it flies in the face of common sense. A food chain based on corn and petrochemicals seems absurd, and when that extends to how we produce meat it's not only disgusting, it's also ethically difficult territory.
The locavore movement attempts to address this, but it's riddled with problems. It's tough to eat a varied diet of fresh foods when most Americans live in places with limited growing seasons. Considering this in the Business section of last Sunday's New York Times, Damon Darlin compared to locavore movement to Mao's Great Leap Forward with regard to steel production. By decreeing steel production be relegated to cottage industry he assured that many resources were wasted in the production of useless pig iron. Substitute the kale in your CSA basket for pig iron and you get the comparison. Darlin concluded that we have to find the happy medium between these extremes. Easier said than done.
Quite a bit of money has been spent to convince those with enough disposable income that buying "organic" was that happy medium. Unfortunately "organic" has become an increasingly meaningless label placed on products that aren't that different from those produced in a business as usual fashion. Same goes for "free range". Do terms like "carbon footprint" and "food miles" have any meaning? How do we make decisions about food that incorporate concerns about tastiness, ethics and healthfulness when we have no clear criteria for judging such things?
I'm with Pollan on eating real foods - only things someone's great grandmother would recognize - avoiding industrially processed crap whenever possible. That's a bit of work, but probably worth it. It'd be quite the leap of faith to assume new creations of food science and marketing are more wholesome than traditional foods. The last century's record hasn't been that great. What is there to put faith in? Breakfast cereal? Oleo? Baby formula? TV dinners? Spray on cheese? "Instant" whatever? Soda pop? HFCS? No thank you, unless I'm on the road, doing the best I can.
Meat is more troublesome. My wife has pretty much decided that she wants no part of corporate meat at home. Thankfully, all bets are off when we go out to eat. I don't see it as too different from neighbors of ours who keep kosher kitchens, but go out for a cheeseburger once in a while. Still, it has upped our food costs.
I go along with this because supermarket meat really doesn't always cut it. Aside from the ethics issues that bother my wife, there are quality issues that bother me even more. Flavorless chicken with a weird texture doesn't appeal to me, regardless of how cheap it is. I'd go so far as to say supermarket chicken kinda sucks. Fortunately I live right next to Chinatown, and many Chinese seem to feel the same way. This means I can get heritage breed (and ostensibly free range, locally raised) birds at Chinatown prices. These taste and smell like the chicken I remember from my childhood. Not much of a big deal to get used to buying them with the head and feet still on. I'd recommend that anyone looking to up their game on the chicken front without breaking the bank check out their local Chinatown (or their local Asian markets).
What about beef? We don't eat much beef at home, but I'm torn nonetheless. I don't think cows should be fed corn when grass is what they're supposed to eat. It isn't good for the cows or the environment, and I don't think it makes their meat good for us to eat. But... corn fed prime steaks taste good, so once in a while I'll buy them (from the butcher). For me they're in the same category as foie gras - an ethically murky treat that isn't exactly healthy, but you eat it once in a while anyway. The rest of our beef these days is expensive, grass-fed and best braised or stewed.
We do spend the extra $$$ for butter and cheese made from the milk of grass fed cows, but we don't consume enough butter and cheese for that to be much of a big deal, cost-wise. (Many imported dairy products qualify, since we're one of the few countries crazy enough to feed corn to our cows). Haven't made the switch as far as milk is concerned, but we do buy the hormone free milk, which is at least a start. The farmer's market, specialty shops and a locavore cheesemonger serve as sources for these things.
What about pork (my go-to meat)? Here the wife and I disagree. I say pigs are omnivores, so it doesn't matter what you feed them. Corporate hogs might not be pleasant to think about, but they taste fine. My wife wants happy pigs. I get this, since they're probably the smartest things we eat. Perhaps their misery is of higher value than that of dumber beasts? I don't know. They are cute. She buys the pork at the farmer's market. If she doesn't buy it often enough I'll still buy corporate pork, even if it means getting static from her. She's in the process upping the static level to the point where I stop. I expect this will take a while to play out. She'll very likely get her way, but I will have impressed upon her the importance of pig meat being ever at the ready in my kitchen. I can go weeks without beef or chicken, but only days without pork.
Lamb is another fine line. Lamb and goat are the only meats I'll still buy at the supermarket on a regular basis, but I get the good stuff at the butcher. I don't think they've figured out how to feed corn to lambs yet. That doesn't stop my wife from buying lamb at the farmer's market, too. We're eating the stuff more often, but in small portions. It is rich.
Fish is murky. Farmed fish is fed corn, and wild caught fish comes with varying ethical problems related to overfishing and environmental concerns. Some fish is even toxic! What do you do? I don't know. We still eat fish, though. Mostly flounder, canned tuna and sardines. We're not eating salmon like I used to...
What about veggies? Local is good, so is fresh. In season local is the best of both worlds. Unfortunately in the Northeast our seasons are pretty short. We eat too many veggies to go completely local. I appreciate eating seasonally, so I don't eat things like slicing tomatoes, summer fruits or asparagus out of season. Winter is about cabbages and root veggies, anyways. I try to minimize the amount of California produce I buy, as I'm not convinced trucking it across the country is a good thing for flavor or the environment. I'm still buying most of my fruits and veggies from the supermarket or my neighborhood greengrocers. I'm not averse to paying twice as much to support local agriculture in season, but I'm not ready to get dogmatic about it.
Specialty items like coffee, wine, olive oil and the like are off the table as far as ethical shopping goes. The best coffee I can get my hands on (from Counter Culture) happens to be labeled "fair trade" and "sustainable", but I have no idea whether those labels are in any way meaningful. Nor do I care. Being a home cook is already a part time job. Trying to be so "aware" only complicates complicates it. I guess it's worth it, though. My wife is no longer queasy about the meat we eat. My food tastes good and I have every reason to think it might be a little healthier.
The fact that I'm frugal means we can afford to do this without our grocery bill going through the roof. A day's worth of eating for the two of us (lunch and dinner) still rarely exceeds $12 (before wine), usually coming in under $7. (I'm not one to be zealot about my ethics, but I will be about my food costs!)
This is a far as I'm willing to go at the moment. I guess it constitutes my "happy medium". I don't know if "happy" is really the right word. Pain in the ass is more like it.
The locavore movement attempts to address this, but it's riddled with problems. It's tough to eat a varied diet of fresh foods when most Americans live in places with limited growing seasons. Considering this in the Business section of last Sunday's New York Times, Damon Darlin compared to locavore movement to Mao's Great Leap Forward with regard to steel production. By decreeing steel production be relegated to cottage industry he assured that many resources were wasted in the production of useless pig iron. Substitute the kale in your CSA basket for pig iron and you get the comparison. Darlin concluded that we have to find the happy medium between these extremes. Easier said than done.
Quite a bit of money has been spent to convince those with enough disposable income that buying "organic" was that happy medium. Unfortunately "organic" has become an increasingly meaningless label placed on products that aren't that different from those produced in a business as usual fashion. Same goes for "free range". Do terms like "carbon footprint" and "food miles" have any meaning? How do we make decisions about food that incorporate concerns about tastiness, ethics and healthfulness when we have no clear criteria for judging such things?
I'm with Pollan on eating real foods - only things someone's great grandmother would recognize - avoiding industrially processed crap whenever possible. That's a bit of work, but probably worth it. It'd be quite the leap of faith to assume new creations of food science and marketing are more wholesome than traditional foods. The last century's record hasn't been that great. What is there to put faith in? Breakfast cereal? Oleo? Baby formula? TV dinners? Spray on cheese? "Instant" whatever? Soda pop? HFCS? No thank you, unless I'm on the road, doing the best I can.
Meat is more troublesome. My wife has pretty much decided that she wants no part of corporate meat at home. Thankfully, all bets are off when we go out to eat. I don't see it as too different from neighbors of ours who keep kosher kitchens, but go out for a cheeseburger once in a while. Still, it has upped our food costs.
I go along with this because supermarket meat really doesn't always cut it. Aside from the ethics issues that bother my wife, there are quality issues that bother me even more. Flavorless chicken with a weird texture doesn't appeal to me, regardless of how cheap it is. I'd go so far as to say supermarket chicken kinda sucks. Fortunately I live right next to Chinatown, and many Chinese seem to feel the same way. This means I can get heritage breed (and ostensibly free range, locally raised) birds at Chinatown prices. These taste and smell like the chicken I remember from my childhood. Not much of a big deal to get used to buying them with the head and feet still on. I'd recommend that anyone looking to up their game on the chicken front without breaking the bank check out their local Chinatown (or their local Asian markets).
What about beef? We don't eat much beef at home, but I'm torn nonetheless. I don't think cows should be fed corn when grass is what they're supposed to eat. It isn't good for the cows or the environment, and I don't think it makes their meat good for us to eat. But... corn fed prime steaks taste good, so once in a while I'll buy them (from the butcher). For me they're in the same category as foie gras - an ethically murky treat that isn't exactly healthy, but you eat it once in a while anyway. The rest of our beef these days is expensive, grass-fed and best braised or stewed.
We do spend the extra $$$ for butter and cheese made from the milk of grass fed cows, but we don't consume enough butter and cheese for that to be much of a big deal, cost-wise. (Many imported dairy products qualify, since we're one of the few countries crazy enough to feed corn to our cows). Haven't made the switch as far as milk is concerned, but we do buy the hormone free milk, which is at least a start. The farmer's market, specialty shops and a locavore cheesemonger serve as sources for these things.
What about pork (my go-to meat)? Here the wife and I disagree. I say pigs are omnivores, so it doesn't matter what you feed them. Corporate hogs might not be pleasant to think about, but they taste fine. My wife wants happy pigs. I get this, since they're probably the smartest things we eat. Perhaps their misery is of higher value than that of dumber beasts? I don't know. They are cute. She buys the pork at the farmer's market. If she doesn't buy it often enough I'll still buy corporate pork, even if it means getting static from her. She's in the process upping the static level to the point where I stop. I expect this will take a while to play out. She'll very likely get her way, but I will have impressed upon her the importance of pig meat being ever at the ready in my kitchen. I can go weeks without beef or chicken, but only days without pork.
Lamb is another fine line. Lamb and goat are the only meats I'll still buy at the supermarket on a regular basis, but I get the good stuff at the butcher. I don't think they've figured out how to feed corn to lambs yet. That doesn't stop my wife from buying lamb at the farmer's market, too. We're eating the stuff more often, but in small portions. It is rich.
Fish is murky. Farmed fish is fed corn, and wild caught fish comes with varying ethical problems related to overfishing and environmental concerns. Some fish is even toxic! What do you do? I don't know. We still eat fish, though. Mostly flounder, canned tuna and sardines. We're not eating salmon like I used to...
What about veggies? Local is good, so is fresh. In season local is the best of both worlds. Unfortunately in the Northeast our seasons are pretty short. We eat too many veggies to go completely local. I appreciate eating seasonally, so I don't eat things like slicing tomatoes, summer fruits or asparagus out of season. Winter is about cabbages and root veggies, anyways. I try to minimize the amount of California produce I buy, as I'm not convinced trucking it across the country is a good thing for flavor or the environment. I'm still buying most of my fruits and veggies from the supermarket or my neighborhood greengrocers. I'm not averse to paying twice as much to support local agriculture in season, but I'm not ready to get dogmatic about it.
Specialty items like coffee, wine, olive oil and the like are off the table as far as ethical shopping goes. The best coffee I can get my hands on (from Counter Culture) happens to be labeled "fair trade" and "sustainable", but I have no idea whether those labels are in any way meaningful. Nor do I care. Being a home cook is already a part time job. Trying to be so "aware" only complicates complicates it. I guess it's worth it, though. My wife is no longer queasy about the meat we eat. My food tastes good and I have every reason to think it might be a little healthier.
The fact that I'm frugal means we can afford to do this without our grocery bill going through the roof. A day's worth of eating for the two of us (lunch and dinner) still rarely exceeds $12 (before wine), usually coming in under $7. (I'm not one to be zealot about my ethics, but I will be about my food costs!)
This is a far as I'm willing to go at the moment. I guess it constitutes my "happy medium". I don't know if "happy" is really the right word. Pain in the ass is more like it.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Linguine, Greek Style
A good friend of mine once described Greek food as tasting like "prehistoric Italian". This was one of the dishes that led to that pronouncement. A plate of linguine with a rich meaty sauce is comfort food, to be sure, but the use of lamb and sweet spices clearly took the dish outside of his comfort zone. It's squarely in my own, and has been in pretty heavy rotation this winter in my kitchen. Using a pressure cooker this can be made in under an hour. If you don't have a pressure cooker it'll probably take the greater part of two hours' simmering to get the meat to fall off the bone. One taste will show that it's time well spent. If you want to make a quick version you could substitute ground lamb for the shank. It won't be as rich, but it will cut the cooking time down to about half an hour.
(Serves two with leftovers or three without).
1 meaty lamb shank
2 onions, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
28oz can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp ground coriander
scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon (or one stick)
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch ground cloves
oil for frying
1/2 lb linguine
Brown shank in heavy bottomed pot with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add onions and carrots, and fry until onions are nearly translucent. Add garlic and fry for a minute more. Add tomatoes and spices. Thin down with a little water (6-8oz). Bring to a simmer and cover. Reduce heat to just maintain simmer. Stir every 15 min or so, to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You may need to thin it down with a little extra water as it cooks if it starts getting too thick (which would make it burn). When the meat is nearly falling off the bone bring pasta water to a boil and cook pasta until just before al dente. Remove bone from sauce, break up the meat. Drain pasta and sauce it with just over half the sauce for a minute over low heat until pasta is al dente. Plate the pasta and top with remaining sauce. Serve immediately. You can tart it up with finely chopped parsley or grated cheese to garnish.
I would pair this with a rustic red wine (think dark fruit and medium to heavy body) and a salad. (If rustic reds aren't your thing a restrained Bordeaux is an easy to find choice that would pair equally well).
(Serves two with leftovers or three without).
1 meaty lamb shank
2 onions, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
28oz can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp ground coriander
scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon (or one stick)
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch ground cloves
oil for frying
1/2 lb linguine
Brown shank in heavy bottomed pot with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add onions and carrots, and fry until onions are nearly translucent. Add garlic and fry for a minute more. Add tomatoes and spices. Thin down with a little water (6-8oz). Bring to a simmer and cover. Reduce heat to just maintain simmer. Stir every 15 min or so, to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You may need to thin it down with a little extra water as it cooks if it starts getting too thick (which would make it burn). When the meat is nearly falling off the bone bring pasta water to a boil and cook pasta until just before al dente. Remove bone from sauce, break up the meat. Drain pasta and sauce it with just over half the sauce for a minute over low heat until pasta is al dente. Plate the pasta and top with remaining sauce. Serve immediately. You can tart it up with finely chopped parsley or grated cheese to garnish.
I would pair this with a rustic red wine (think dark fruit and medium to heavy body) and a salad. (If rustic reds aren't your thing a restrained Bordeaux is an easy to find choice that would pair equally well).
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