Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Subbing at the Super Bowl

I published a few unusual Super Bowl dishes in my story about Joe Monteiro.

But for a lot of people the Super Bowl menu is about tradition.

One of my favorites is this meatball sub. Beware: It’s a little messy for the couch, but that’s part of the fun.

Meatball Subs
Any smooth tomato sauce may be substituted for the pizza sauce; merely combine the 2 cans of tomato sauce with a 6-ounce can tomato paste to thicken, and add more oregano or Italian seasoning blend to taste. Dense rolls are necessary to keep sub from falling apart.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves, garlic minced
2 15-ounce cans pizza sauce
1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried
Crushed red pepper to taste
Meatballs, (recipe below)
Salt and pepper to taste
6 crusty, dense sub rolls, split
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional)
1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring often, 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute. Add pizza sauce, oregano and crushed red pepper. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or more to blend flavors. Add meatballs and heat thoroughly. Taste for salt and pepper. (Recipe can be made ahead to this point and kept warm over low heat up to 2 hours, or refrigerated.)
2. Just before serving, wrap rolls in foil and warm in 350-degree oven, about 5 minutes. Do not leave in oven too long or they will dry out.
3. Open rolls and place 4 meatballs in each. Add enough sauce to cover. (Too much sauce will make for messy eating.) Sprinkle with freshly grated cheese, if desired. Serve with chips or salad.
Makes 6 servings.

Winter, schminter

Oh, boy, here comes more snow. I remmber a few weeks ago, a friend told me she was worried about the cold ending. “I’ve got braising to do,” she said.

No need to fret, Kate.

While I’ve loved hunkering down and getting cozy, I’m a little sick of winter. Looks like we might get some more this weekend. That stupid Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow - should we blame it on him? Hmm, I wonder what groundhog tastes like.

Well, if you can’t beat’em, join’em. Thursday in relish you’ll find a whole list of winter activities, recipes, music and films. It’s our way of dealing with the February doldrums. Six more weeks of winter means six more weeks to try your hand at making hot buttered rum or French onion soup. While I’m longing for the simple suppers of summer - sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, fresh mozzarella salads with mint, peaches and prosciutto - braising is delicious and rewarding. And Friday, I’ve been invited over to someone’s house for osso bucco. Can’t really enjoy that in July.

Hopefully the snow won’t get in my way, either.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Eating Out or In

Maybe you raided the grocery store like thousands of others Friday to stock up on bread, milk and whatever else you consider essential eats during the snowstorm.

If you didn’t, and you are brave enough to drive through the winter wonderland, there is one place you can count on to be open.

Waffe House, the franchise that calls itself the “restaurant with no locks,” has vowed to remain open this weekend.

“We never shut down. We’re like the post office; Rain, sleet or snow, we
deliver,” Waffle House franchise owner Gary Fly said in a press release.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Spam a lot of cash

In case you didn’t see my story in the Journal, 11-year-old Michaela Smith won a cool two grand for a winning recipe that first won at the Dixie Classic Fair in October, and just recently was chosen by Hormel Foods as the best kids’ Spam recipe from all the fairs in the country (or at least the 40 fairs in which Spam contests are held).

Michaela came up with an appealing recipe—essentially a hot ham and cheese sandwich. By making it into a calzone, she made it just exotic enough to mainstream audiences while having very familiar flavors.

Essentially, it’s a recipe that can’t lose—assuming it tastes good, and this does.

A noteworthy trick in this recipe is that she makes one big calzone and then cuts it up. Traditional calzones are individually shaped and filled. Doing one big one cuts down on the work tremendously.

Spam and Cheese Calzone
Recipe from Michaela Smith, national Spam kid chef of the year.

1 12-ounce can Spam with Bacon, diced
½ cup chopped yellow onion
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons stone ground mustard
2 cups shredded Colby Jack Cheese, divided use
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided use
2 13.8-ounce packages refrigerated pizza crust
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In large bowl, combine Spam, onion, jalapeño pepper, mayonnaise, mustard and 1 cup of cheese; mix well.
2. Lightly brush a jelly-roll pan (15-by-10-by-1-inch) with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Unroll one package of dough onto the bottom of the pan, gently stretching and pressing the dough to cover the bottom. Sprinkle the dough with the remaining 1 cup of cheese to within 1-inch of the edge of the dough. Spoon Spam mixture over the cheese.
3. Unroll remaining dough directly over the filling, matching edges of dough and shaping to fit as dough is unrolled. Press edges of dough to seal. Brush remaining oil over the dough. Make 12 slits, in three rows of four each, into the top of the crust. Bake calzone for 14 to 16 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Remove calzone from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return calzone to oven; bake 2 to 3 more minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown. To serve, cut calzone into squares.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.

(Photos courtesy of Hormel Foods)

Mussel Bound

Here’s an extra recipe to go along with my Jan. 27 story on mussels.

Because mussels create such a delicious broth—and do it in about 5 minutes—they are excellent for soup and stews.

Mussels also go well with curry, as in this hearty chowder.

Mussel Soup with Curry

Recipe loosely adapted from The Complete Robuchon (Knopf, 2008) by Joel Robuchon and from 50 Chowders (Scribner, 2000) by Jasper White.
3 pounds mussels
1 teaspoon butter
1 medium onion or leek (white part only)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ½-inch dice
2 firm-fleshed potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, Red Bliss or all-purpose white, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
1 medium sweet potato (optional), peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 fresh sprig or pinch dried thyme
1 sprig parsley
½ bay leaf
¾ cup dry white wine
1½ cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse and scrub mussels under cold running water. Discard any with cracked or open shells.
2. Place butter, onion, red pepper and potatoes in a soup pot. Cook without browning over medium-low heat about 3 minutes. Stir in curry. Raise heat to high and add the mussels, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and wine. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 2 minutes.
3. Discard herbs. Remove mussels with a slotted spoon and take them out of their shells. Discard shells; set mussels aside.
4. Meanwhile, bring liquid and vegetables to a boil. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in cream and bring to a simmer. Add mussels. Add salt and pepper to taste. If desired, half or more of this soup can be pureed in a blender, but leave at least ¼ of the mussels and vegetables to give the soup some chunky texture.
Makes 4 servings.

Friday, January 22, 2010

The Pie’s the Thing

Tomorrow, Jan. 23, is National Pie Day.

What, you didn’t know?

In case you have a sudden urge to bake a pie, the folks at CRISCO have set up a toll-free hotline for pie info: 877-367-7438.

They can answer questions about making crusts, preventing them from getting soggy, and more. But you probably don’t want to ask them about crusts with butter. They sell shortening, after all.

The hotline has a lot of prerecorded tips, but also lets you transfer to a live person (during business hours).

LIstening through the prerecorded intro takes some patience, so you may want to just go to the Web site, http://www.crisco.com, which has

tips and recipes.

The pie info is a bit hard to find on the site. But click on Articles & Tips, then scroll down and click on “Pie Central.”

Among other things, the site has a handy troubleshooting chart that identifies problems, their causes and solutions.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Wine Wave

I just got the 2010 Guide and Map to North Carolina Wineries put out by the N.C. Wine and Grape Council (www.visitncwine.com).

It lists 89 current wineries. Actually, it lists 90, but I’ve learned that one, J. Wesley Vineyards in Cumberland County, has closed.

Still, 89 wineries is more than twice the number listed in the 2005 guide. And it’s more than quadruple in the state in the fall of 2001, when I wrote my first story about the state’s winer industry.

Interestingly, 30 of the current wineries are in the Yadkin Valley AVA and its subregion, the Swan Creek AVA. In other words, Winston-Salem, being the largest city in the Yadkin Valley, is essentially the hub of the N.C. wine industry.

A free copy of the new guide is available by calling 877-3NC-WINE, or 877-362-9463.

A couple of the newer ones that I have yet to check out are Brandon Hills in Yadkinville and Divine Llama in East Bend.

I’m always on the lookout for a new place or a good wine to try. If you’ve visited any wineries lately and been impressed, let me know.

What are you drinking these days?

Monday, January 18, 2010

Going Kosher

Reporter Kim Severson of The New York Times had a good story last week about the growing popularity of kosher foods—by non-Jewish people.

As Severson reports, people buying foods specifically because the label says kosher could be a $17 billion business by 2013, accordinng to Packaged Facts. Only about 15 percent of people buy kosher for religious reasons, according to Mintel research group.  A lot of these shoppers reach for kosher chicken and other foods because they think they are cleaner, safer and, in the case of meats, more humane.

The truth behind those beliefs is a bit gray. The answer is really that it depends on the processor.

But some people, too, simply think some kosher brands, like Empire Kosher chickens, taste better.

Are you one of those people who swear by Hebrew National hot dogs because they taste better or you think the animals were treated better? Or maybe you heard that a 2007 USDA study found that the kosher method of salting and rinsing chickens reduced salmonella contamination? (The USDA also found kosher chickens had the most listeria in another study that year—a result that kind of cancels out the good news of the salmonella study.)

And here’s something you may not know: Oreo cookies have been kosher since the 1990s, and the kosher Tootsie Roll came on the market last month.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Julie Powell is Back….with Knives!

Julie Powell got a lot of heat from people who thought she was the less charming half of Julie and Julia, last year’s movie that combined two books - her memoir of cooking her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking and My Life in France, which focused on Julia Child’s experience developing and writing that cookbook in the 1960s.

Some thought Powell’s character (played by Amy Adams) was too whiny. Too unlikeable. I defended her. Her book is better, I said. Things got lost in the translation from book to film.

Now that I’m done with her second memoir, though, I’m more unsure. It’s not I think Julie Powell is whiny. I do wonder if she doesn’t lean hard toward self-destructive.

This time, Powell combines the unravaling of her marriage with her increasing interest in learning the craft of butchery. You might get a clue from the title that Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession is going to be rawer than Julie and Julia. Oh, and a wee bit angrier. And people who want to make the whiny case…hmm, you may have more ammunition here.

Golden chances seem to fall into Powell’s lap. Her best-selling book did sweep her old life as a cubicle drone away, but even Powell had to hustle to find a butcher shop willing to let her apprentince with them. But when she did, did she land one of the best: Fleicher’s, a small butcher in upstate New York dedicated to grass-fed, heirloom meat. Their meat is fantastic - we bought our Christmas roast from there in 2008 when my husband and I were in charge of cooking Chirstmas Eve dinner at my mother-in-law’s house (it crossed my mind that Powell might have prepped it).

Back to the book. It’s not the nitty-gritty descriptions of breaking down steer sides that bothered me. It’s that all the while, Powell seems hell bent on wrecking her marriage - sneaking back to her lover, obsessing about him when he cuts things off, and having sex with a stranger. This is not a syrupy, oh-no-the-beef-bourguignon burned kind of story. It’s pretty fierce, and kind of unpleasant. Yet I couldn’t put it down, and to this day, I’m not sure how I feel about the book. Or Powell. But as long as she keeps writing, I’ll keep reading.

Monday, January 11, 2010

A Surplus of Soups

I received dozens of soup recipes from readers for my Jan. 13 story in the Journal.

In fact, I got way more than I could print in the paper.

So here are a few more to keep you warm and satisfied this winter.

Country Chicken Soup

Recipe submitted by Dot Rutledge. This is best made over two days. When the broth is refrigerated until thoroughly chilled, the fat will congeal all at the surface and become easy to remove.

1 whole chicken
Water
2 onions, chopped
2 to 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs celery, chopped
Salt
Black pepper
Dried thyme leaves
Parsley flakes
1 to 2 cups egg noodles

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker and cover with water by about 2 inches. Cook on low about 8 hours. (Alternatively, gently simmer chicken and water on the stovetop until chicken is thoroughly tender, 1 to 2 hours.
2. Strain broth and place in refrigerator. Remove chicken from broth. When cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones and discard. Shred or chop meat and set aside.
3. When broth is chilled, scrape off solidified fat and discard.
4. Place defatted broth in a soup pot, and add onions, carrots and celery. Bring to a simmer and add salt, pepper, thyme and parsley flakes to taste. Add reserved chicken meat and simmer until vegetables are tender.
5. About 30 minutes before serving, add egg noodles and simmer until noodles are tender.
Potato Soup

Recipe from Anne Hardy of East Bend.

12 slices bacon
4 large potatoes, baked or cooked in a microwave
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 flour
6 cups milk
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1¼ cups (5 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
8 ounces sour cream

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Drain, then crumble and set aside.
2. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out potato flesh from skins and set aside.
3. Melt butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.
4. Add potatoes, salt, pepper, green onions, bacon and cheese. Cook until heated through. Stir in sour cream; heat, without boiling, until heated through.(Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.)Remove from heat and serve.
Makes about 6 servings.

Sanders Family Vegetable Soup

Recipe submitted by Barbara Beaudin.

4 beef short ribs
1/2 head (or less) cabbage
2 stalks of celery
2 boxes (frozen) mixed vegetables
A little onion
1 small can tomato sauce
1/3 cup barley
Potatoes, peeled and chopped (if desired)

Put short ribs in large kettle with two quarts water, 1 tablespoon salt, a little pepper, and a little onion. Cook covered for two hours, or until tender, adding more water if necessary. Add other ingredients (barley last), and cook for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Sante Fe Five Bean Soup

Recipe submitted by Sue C. James.
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 15 oz. can red kidney beans
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans
1 15 oz. can great northern beans
1 15 oz. can navy beans
1 14.5 oz. can chopped tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth ( or use vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian)
3/4 cup chunky mild salsa
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (can use less or more)
Sour cream (as a garnish)

1. Drain the black beans, place in blender with tomatoes & broth; puree until smooth. Spray large pot with
PAM. Place mixture in large pot.
2. Drain & rinse each of the remaining beans…running cold water through the beans while draining. Place
beans in pot with puree.
3. Add salsa, cumin & red pepper.
4. Cover & simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot. The mixture has a tendency to stick to
the bottom of the pot so be careful not to bring to a full boil.
5. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream.

Baby Clam and Sausage Soup

Recipe submitted by Jane Wallance of Sparta. I would love to try this with fresh clams. If you want to do that, it’s best to steam them in a separate pot, then carefully strain the liquid to remove any sand or other particles.

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
2 fist-size potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
1 12-ounce pkg. sausage (I use Jimmy Dean low fat)
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 28-ounce can petite diced tomatoes or 2 14.5-ounce cans
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
1 1-ounce can baby clams
1 cup (or more) chicken broth
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

In a large frying pan sauté the potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil. When slightly browned, remove and add sausage, mushrooms and garlic along with the remaining olive oil. Sauté until sausage is done, and no pink remains. Stir in tomatoes, clam juice, clams, chicken broth and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are done. Additional chicken broth can be added if soup is too thick.