Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Super Bowls for the Super Bowl

Millions of folks will be cooking up chili Feb. 1 for Super Bowl XLIII.

If you’re in need of a recipe, here are the top two vote-getters and my favorite chilis from the Jan. 24 chili cook-off at Whole Foods Market on Miller Street.

The Florida Girls’ chili has a definite cinnamon flavor, with a hint of chocolate.

The Beef, Bean and Beer Chili is more traditional, with just the right amount of beer and a bit of smoky chipotle flavor.

Florida Girl’s Chili
The winning recipe, by Sheila Fisher of the customer-service department. Fisher used a particular brand of spicy chocolate, but any type of bittersweet chocolate would work here.
3 dried ancho peppers, stemmed and seeded
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 tablespoons whole coriander
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 chipotle chiles in adobe sauce, chopped
2 28-ounce cans stewed tomatoes
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons masa harina
2 ounces Vosges Red Fire chocolate
Grated queso fresco, for garnish
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Lime wedges, for garnish

1. In a small skillet over low heat add the ancho peppers, oregano, paprika, coriander, cumin, and chili powder. Cook until they become fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Put the spices into a spice mill and grind until they are powdered. Set aside.
2. Heat a large heavy bottomed casserole dish over medium heat; add 3 tablespoons olive oil and the onions. Cook until the onions are soft and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Pat the beef dry and season it with salt and pepper. Add it to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until it has browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the toasted spice mix, the garlic, chipotle, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, and sugar. Season with salt and stir well. Add some hot water until the meat is just covered with liquid. Return to the boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1½ hours.
3. Remove the meat and shred it with a fork. Return it to the pot, stir in the masa harina and chocolate, and cook for another 10 minutes, uncovered, to thicken. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve with the queso fresco, cilantro, and lime for garnish.

Beef, Bean, and Beer Chili
The runner-up by Missie Dowdy of the prepared-foods department.

1½ tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
5 pounds ground chuck
2 tablespoons canola oil
2½ pounds onions, coarsely chopped
1½ pounds red bell peppers, seeded, cut into ½-inch pieces
1½ pounds yellow bell peppers, seeded, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 large jalapeno chilies with seeds, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
7 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons (packed) minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes with added puree
2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained
1 12-ounce bottle beer (preferably Guinness stout)
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream
Chopped green onions
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. Toast cumin and coriander in skillet over medium heat until darker and beginning to smoke, about 4 minutes. Cool
2. Sauté beef in large heavy pot over med high heat until no longer pink.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium–high heat and sauté onions, all bell peppers, and jalapenos until they begin to soften.
4. Add onion mixture to pot with meat. Mix in toasted spices, chili powder, and chipotle chiles. Add crushed tomatoes, beans, and beer. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with sour cream, green onions, and cheese.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Hurrah for Hummus

The other week, I mentioned in my Jan. 14 column that I had made some hummus.

Some readers asked for the recipe, so here it is.

I printed it this in a 2007 story I wrote about hummus.

Removing the skins is a tedious business, but if you have the time and the patience, I think the results are worth it.


Enjoy.



Hummus
Recipe adapted from The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert.

1 cup dried chickpeas

1 small onion, peeled

1/4 cup tahini

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, or more to taste

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Ground cumin, hot paprika or red pepper

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in water to cover.

2. Drain, rinse and cover with fresh water. Add the onion and gently simmer until the chickpeas are very soft, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

3. Drain reserving, 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Discard the onion. If desired, set aside 1/4 cup chickpeas for garnish. (See Note.)

4. Stir the tahini in the jar until well blended. Place 1/4 cup tahini in blender jar or the bowl of a food processor. Add garlic and lemon juice and process until the mixture lightens. With the machine running, add the reserved cooking liquid. Add 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas and process until well blended. Correct the seasoning with salt and lemon juice as needed. Allow dip to rest to blend the flavors for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature.

5. To serve, spread in a shallow serving dish. Use the back of a spoon to make a shallow well in the center. Drizzle olive oil in the well and sprinkle humus with cumin, hot paprika or red pepper. Garnish with reserved 1/4 cup chickpeas if desired.

Note: To make a lighter hummus, Wolfert suggests removing and discarding the skins of the chickpeas before pureeing them. This can be done by pressing the cooked and drained chickpeas through a food mill or shallow sieve, or tamis. The job can be done with a regular sieve, but it will be more difficult to press the chickpeas through. Also, rolling and lightly rubbing the cooked chickpeas between your hands or in a clean kitchen towel will make skins come off.

Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

A World Without Meat? Or How About A Little Less of It

I’m not impervious to a guilt trip. You can ask my mother. She thinks I worry for a hobby, and she’s probably right.

So imagine my thoughts today, when I wake up to NPR’s Morning Edition, and an interview Mark Bittman, a cookbook author and a columnist at the New York Times who recently wrote a new book called Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating. In it, Bittman argues for us to eat less meat. As I’m listening to this, I couldn’t help but appreciate the irony that that my review of Bib’s Downtown ran in relish today, too, in which I was rather glowing about the restaurant’s many meats, in particular, its wonderful ribs and beef brisket.

Not that Morning Edition or Mark Bittman know or care. But it got me thinking about how many mixed messages float around out there in Medialand about food. We have such a love-hate relationship with so much of it.

Now, I used to not eat meat. I was a vegetarian (albeit a lazy one, meaning I often relied on cheese and eggs, not loads of tofu and leafy greens) for part of my teenage years and into college. I think years of missing bacon was the straw that broke my back - that, and lamb, and generally being fed up with the worry about eating meat in restaurants or at friends’ houses. I know many vegetarians and applaud their efforts, but it’s just not for me anymore. And I never stopped eating fish. So perhaps my heart wasn’t really in it.

Bittman doesn’t argue for any meat. He argues for less of it as a means to a healthier body and planet, and it’s not a chain of thought I disagree with. It’s just that if I’m going to have meat, it’s going to be good. No wasting meat consumption on dry hamburgers, or boring barbecue.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Send Me Your Valentine’s Day Recipes

What kind of food do you find romantic?

Is there a recipe you plan to make for your loved one this Valentine’s Day?

That’s what I want to know.

I’m looking for readers who have special Valentine’s recipes and food ideas for a story to run in a couple of weeks.

If you have any good ideas or recipes, please send them along with your name and contact info!

In the meantime, here’s a great brownie recipe—the ultimate in simplicity for a Valentine’s Day chocolate celebration.

On-the-Fence Brownies

Recipe adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion (Countryman Press, 2004), by the staff of the King Arthur Flour Co. The name comes from the texture, which straddles between fudgey and cakey and provides a fudgey brownie’s moistness with the greater rise of a cake brownie.

Be sure to check out the variations below to add different flavors.

1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups (15.75 ounces) sugar

1 1/4 cups (3.75 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (6.25 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil with enough to hang over edges of pan. Lightly coat with cooking oil spray.

2. In a microwave-safe bowl (or a medium saucepan set over low heat), melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine. Microwave or reheat slightly until hot (110 to 120 degrees), but not bubbling. Stir until it becomes shiny. (Heating mixture a second time dissolves more sugar to help produce a shiny top crust to the brownies.)

3. Stir in cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, stirring until smooth. Add flour and, if using, nuts and chips, again stirring until smooth.

4. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 28 to 30 minutes, or just until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Brownies should feel set at edges and in the center. Cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Lift out of pan using overhanging pieces parchment or foil. Cut into 24 2-inch brownies.

Makes 24 brownies.

Nutritional information for one serving (one 2-inch square, without nuts or chips): 194 calories, 9 g fat (saturated fat unavailable), 3 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates (7 g complex carbohydrates, 18 g sugar), 57 mg cholesterol, 123 mg sodium, 1 g dietary fiber.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Lunching with Lincoln (Sort Of)

The menu for Tuesday’s Inaugural Luncheon will take its cue from the inaugural theme “The New Birth of Freedom” and the celebration of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

The luncheon tradition goes back as far as 1897, but has existed in its current form since 1953, according to The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

The committee hosts the lunch for “approximately 200 guests including the new President, Vice President, members of their families, the Supreme Court, Cabinet designees, and members of Congressional leadership” in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, according to a press release issued by the committee this week.

The theme tries to connect Lincoln’s culinary tastes to 21st-century food.

“Growing up in the frontier regions of Kentucky and Indiana, the sixteenth President favored simple foods including root vegetables and wild game,” the press release says. “As his tastes matured, he became fond of stewed and scalloped oysters. For dessert or a snack, nothing pleased him more than a fresh apple or an apple cake.”

Design Cuisine, a catering company in Arlington, Va., came up with the following menu. Though apparently, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had something to do with the fact that only California wines are being served. Feinstein, as luck would have it, happens to be chairwoman of this inaugural committee.

Illinois has vineyards. Could they not find even one decent wine in the state of Illinois or Kentucky (the state where Lincoln was born)?

At any rate, here’s the menu:
— First course: creamy seafood stew made with cod, shrimp, scallops and lobster, with Duckhorn Vineyards 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley.
— Second course: pheasant and duck served with sour cherry chutney and molasses sweet potatoes, with Goldeneye (another label from Duckhorn) 2005 Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley.
— Third course: apple cinnamon sponge cake and sweet cream glacé, with Korbel Natural “Special Inaugural Cuvée,” California sparkling wine.

You can get all the recipes for the luncheon at http://inaugural.senate.gov/documents/doc-2009-recipes.pdf.

The photo above (courtesy of http://www.inaugural.senate.gov) is of replica china from Lincoln’s presidency. The first course of the 2009 luncheon will be served on this replica china.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Pickled Shrimp Plus

After I wrote about Drew Ward’s pickled-shrimp salad being served at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball on Jan. 9, I got a lot of feedback.
Of course, someone asked for the recipe, and Ward, the executive chef at Noble’s Grille, was happy to oblige.

Ward said he had a great time feeding people at the ball. “I had plenty of shrimp. I just didn’t have enough of all the stuff to go with it. Still, it worked out,” he said. “A lot of people came up and said, ‘Hey, I saw you in the paper.’”

He thought he might see the new governor, but didn’t. “I was more excited about seeing Andy Griffith. But I didn’t see him either,” Ward said.

Ward also mentioned that he got such good reactions to his pickled-shrimp salad that he put it on the menu at Noble’s Grille at 380 Knollwood, Winston-Salem.

Pickled Shrimp Salad
Blanching liquid:
1½ pounds shrimp, peeled with tail-on
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 cup kosher salt
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 tablespoon celery seeds
2 tablespoons paprika
Water
Pickling mix:
2 cups white wine vinegar
1 cup white wine
1 cup water
½ cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
2 thinly sliced with peel on
1 red onion thinly julienned
1 cup capers drained
1 to 2 jalapenos, to taste, deseeded and sliced thin crosswise
Salad:
3 Blood oranges
Olive oil
Mache, arugula or other greens
2 avocados
½ bunch fresh parsley leaves
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
2 large sunchokes

1. In large pot, place all blanching ingredients with enough water to hold the shrimp without crowding. Bring mixture to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of ice water.
2. Once liquid boils, add the shrimp and cook until just begin to curl, about 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately remove shrimp and shock in ice water.
3. Mix all of the pickling ingredients together. Drain the shrimp, place in a glass or plastic container and pour the pickling mixture over to cover. Cover container and refrigerate for 24 hours or up to 3 days.
4. To make the salad, segment the blood oranges. Set the sections aside, then squeeze the bodies to extract as much juice as possible. Mix the juice with olive oil to taste to make a vinaigrette.
5. Mix mache or another light lettuce with enough of the vinaigrette to lightly coat. Add the onion, lemon, capers and jalapeno from the pickling liquid to the salad. (Discard the pickling liquid.)
6. For the avocado puree, add 2 peeled and seeded avocados, a ½ bunch of parsley and 1 lime, pinch of salt to a blender and puree.
7. Slice the sunchokes very thinly on a mandoline. Deep-fry or pan-fryin oil until golden and crisp. Season with salt while they’re hot.
8. To serve each plate, place about a tablespoon of avocado puree on each plate. Place a small amount dressed greens next to the puree.  Place about 5 orange segments on the greens. Place 2 shrimp on top of the puree. Garnish with a few slices of sunchokes. (These amounts can be changed to make a larger serving, if desired.)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Pancakes for Lunch

Mark your calendars and save the date: it’s pancake time.

The Twin City Kiwanis Club’s annual pancake and sausage extravaganza is Friday, Feb. 13 at the Benton Convention Center - I noticed a sign up this morning on my way into work. There’s something comforting about eating breakfast for lunch, especially in the dead of winter. I’ll never forget when I was a photographer in college, shooting a similar (albeit much smaller) event at a local church. The griddle was circular, and one cook stood on one side, pouring batter. By the time the grill had rotated a full circle, it was time to flip the flapjacks. Looks like the Twin City guys use something similar. What a great invention!

I’m particularly found of the Kiwanis Club’s sausage, which I recall as peppery. This year I’m bringing my own syrup, though - I’m tired of that fake stuff, and I’ve got a good stash of Grade A Dark Amber from upstate New York at home.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Want Some Guilt With Those Fries?

Just in time for those lingering New Year’s resolutions, Massachusetts officials announced last week plans to make major fast food restaurants post calorie counts for burgers, fries and all other offerings on their menus or at the counter. Chains with at least 15 stores in the state are subject to the proposal, an estimated 2,000 restaurants, according to the story in the Boston Globe.

It’s an interesting idea, if a little heavy-handed. After all, don’t most people know by now that Happy Meals and value menus aren’t packed with healthy choices? Fast food companies already make calorie counts public, but they’re certainly not there staring you in the face as you order.

What do you think about this? Will it really keep you from eating unhealthy food? Or is that the last thing you want to see when you’re jonesing for a Big Mac?

Friday, January 09, 2009

Calling for Comfort

I wrote in my Jan. 7 column how comfort foods will be trendy this year. And I mentioned such examples as macaroni and cheese and spaghetti and meatballs.

After writing that, I picked up a copy of Gourmet’s January issue. Lo and behold, right there on the cover is a scrumptious photo of spaghetti and meatballs.

Opening up the magazine, I learned that Italian-American food is the theme of this month’s Gourmet.

As it so happened, Ruth Reichl, Gourmet’s editor-in-chief, appeared Jan. 7 on The Joan Hamburg Show, a show on New York’s WOR radio station.

Tuning in thanks to the wonders of the Web, I got to hear Reichl talk about the new issue, and to repeat my prediction about the popularity of comfort food in 2009.
The January issue has such Italian-American comfort foods as eggplant Parmigiana and minestrone soup, as well as spaghetti and meatballs.

Reichl revealed that the February issue of Gourmet will feature all kinds of comfort foods, including homemade rolls, short ribs and a 15-minute butterscotch pudding.

Reichl said on the radio show that mac and cheese is actually not one of her favorite comfort foods.

Instead her favorites are spaghetti with plain tomato sauce, butterscotch pudding and bacon and eggs.
(Photo from gourmet.com)

Salad Days

Was I the only one drooling this morning as I read Michael’s description of the salad Drew Ward (of Noble’s Grille) is going to make for guests at governor-elect Bev Perdue’s inaugural ball in Raleigh tonight?

Pickled shrimp, mache, blood oranges, fried sunchokes, avocado puree and blood orange vinaigrette? Oh, yum. I was eating oatmeal, but dreaming of salads. I love a good salad - the wilder, the more creative, the better. And what a way to show off really fresh, gorgeous ingredients. Along those same lines, all the dressing in the world can’t cover a salad that’s made poorly, with aging or under ripe produce. Rotten romaine? There’s no where to hide.

I also noticed that Ward is taking his cues from the season - citrus is in season now, even if it isn’t local, and so are avocadoes.

When I reviewed Noble’s last July, one of my favorite dishes was a tomato and watermelon salad with basil, gorgonzola cream and white balsamic vinegar, a perfect balance of sweet and salt, and acid and fat. The tomatoes were ripe, dripping and juicy.

The arugula with country ham and cantaloupe wasn’t bad, either.

There are some dishes that I like, and then there some dishes that I remember. That tomato salad is one of them.

P.S. I just noticed the Gamekeeper is among the other restaurants serving food at tonight’s party. Kudos to them. The Gamekeeper is a quirky, serene little restaurant, perched on a (very) windy road outside of Blowing Rock. I ate there once in the summer of 2007 and really loved it. I recall a good salad, something with fried okra, maybe?