Buy Local

This evening I cut into a whole green pepper purchased from Haymarket and discovered an (admittedly tiny) creepy crawly inside. Inside! Now, I'm merely your average horti-fahking-culturalist but how did that vermin get inside my bleeding vegetable? The pepper appeared to be structurally sound upon inspection.

In related news, I shall no longer be using fresh peppers.

Food2 Freebie Friday

Food2 - cool foodie blog - is having a giveaway today (and it's a weekly thing I guess) so head on over and check 'em out.

Belated Food Items

A) Very belated props to Dunndee for cooking up some tremazing omelettes the morning after the 4th Annual St. Patty's Day Meat 'n' Meet. There's nothing better than waking up on your couch after having ingested unconscionable amounts of boiled beef, cabbage, and Guinness and having a cheese omelette and a steaming mug of coffee appear in your lap. Who would've thought the kid who singlehandedly brought in record profits for the Peggy Lawton cookie company back in '95-'98 would turn into a single-star chef? (That's an MRhé star, not Michelin.) 10 points.

B) Props to Foonyor "Dr. Poached" Barzane for giving me tips on how to poach eggs. 10 points. Poached eggs are my favorite way to have eggs - I always order them if possible. Poached eggs on hash are a religious experience. In fact I wrote an ode about this very dish a while back. I've never tried making them because I always thought it involved arcane culinary secrets and alchemical equipment; much like my fear of cooking shellfish had been. But I discovered that upon trying it, it is actually quite easy to make perfect, delicious poached eggs.

My method, with a nod to Porkins:

1. Boil water in a small pot
2. Once water is boiling, turn off heat. Keep an eye on the water - once the bubbles become minimal then you can move on to the next step. You want to have the water very hot but not bubbling because you don't want the movement to break up the eggs when you add them.
3. Carefully add the eggs one at a time. I think the key here is to have a good "egg cup." I have these little glass dishes that I use to hold ingredients (like the TV chefs use) that are the perfect size for one egg. I actually put the dish in the water and just tilt it so that the egg slides right in. You can do as many as will fit on the bottom of the pot without dropping them into one another.
4. Let the eggs hang out for a few minutes. You'll find out how long works best depending on how runny you like the yolk.
5. I've been using a strainer to remove the eggs. Carefully pour the water and eggs into a strainer and then transfer to plate, toast, bagel, etc. This allows me to get all the egg. I've tried using a slotted spoon but found that I lost bits of egg and the eggs kept more moisture. I've also tried blotting off some of the excess water with a towel but found that egg stuck that way.
   
6. I've heard about adding vinegar but I haven't used it.
   

C) The first time I made poached eggs it was over red flannel hash - made from the leftovers from the boiled corned beef & cabbage dinner. This hash is reason enough to make the dinner - truly unbelievable. Aside from the actual fresh boiled corned beef (unlike that canned Hormel crap they often serve at low-rent greasy spoons) the mixture of veggies gives it an amazing taste. A couple of perfect poached on top and you're in heaven. Heaven.

---

Now 45's cooking up fish in his dishwasher; JCB's making Hollandaise sauce - I'm going to have to step up my game if I'm going to retain my self-appointed title of Resident Chef of the Triumvirate...might have to do up a tête de veau or a soufflé or something soon.

Chilli Powdey

I have a bag of red pepper flakes from an Asian supermarket and it's labeled "Chilli Powdey."

Thought I'd share.

(Currently making sauce from scratch. If the smell of browning sausage, garlic, olive oil and red wine sounds like heaven then come on over to my yard, because heaven's right here.)

Sauce update: Possibly the best yet. Spicy, balanced, and uber-delish. Using homemade stock was key.

Breakfast Musings

• Why do those Tropicana Tropics juice mixes like Orange Peach Mango and Orange Strawberry Banana all have white grape juice prominently in the ingredient and flavor profile but not on the label? On a related note, the Orange Peach Mango [White Grape] is delish.

• Not sure when these came out, but they only recently appeared in the Goose - "gourmet" Philadelphia cream cheese spreads including Spinach & Artichoke and Sundried Tomato & Basil. Tasty, although my heart will always belong to the Chives & Onion.

Tastes of Europe: A Food Tabblo

In June of 2008 I took a trip to Ireland, Hungary, and England. Experiencing different food is one of my favorite parts about traveling abroad, so I decided to dedicate a tabblo to a few of the meals I had in my travels. You can read about my entire journey on my blog. ... See my Tabblo>

Evolving in the Kitchen

An interesting Economist article about the theory that cooking evolved as an essential human activity.

Legume Maths

Check out this equation for lentil soup:

(L + H2O)[h^t] = L(s)

Also, lentils are the new black, cf. Euler's lenticular proof:

L = b(n)

Of course, you may want to include some minced garlic and onions, maybe some carrot, a bit of stock (or bouillon cubes if you don't have any stock in the larder), and make sure it's well seasoned.

Perhaps serve with some velvety soft lavash for kicks. Your call.

Risotto Cakes

I discovered a great use for leftover risotto this evening: risotto cakes. I had a good amount left over from my mushroom risotto from a couple days ago. I had a bit of difficulty getting the consistency right with the cakes - I added a little stock because I thought it would be too gluey, but then after I added a couple lightly beaten eggs the cakes weren't forming well. So I added a bunch of panko bread crumbs and got the right balance.

Ingredients:
leftover risotto
seasoned panko bread crumbs
1-2 lightly beaten eggs
olive oil
a bit of butter (I like the extra browning and flavor of a little butter so this is only necessary if you like amazingly delicious things)

Steps:

1. Dump risotto into large mixing bowl. Mix the beaten eggs into the risotto and form into patties.
2. Dredge each patty in the bread crumbs to coat.
3. Heat up oil and butter on high heat in a pan and fry the cakes until golden brown on each side.
4. Enjoy the funk out of your newfound risotto cakes.
   

Mushroom Risotto

I made one of my favorite dishes tonight - risotto. This one was a very simple portabella mushroom risotto that happened to come out extra creamy and delicious. It's very easy to make fantastic risotto; it just takes a bit of time.

Ingredients:
2 cups risotto (arborio rice)
5-6 cups chicken stock
1/2-1 cup white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup butter
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 large shallot (minced)
1-2 cups portabella mushrooms (sliced)
Parmesan or pecorino romano cheese (grated)
Italian herb mix (oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley)
Salt & pepper to taste


Steps:

1. Sauté the shallots and garlic for a couple minutes in the oil & butter over med high heat.
2. Add the risotto. Stir well to coat all the grains. Cook until each grain has a "pearl" or white center within the translucent outer layer - about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the 'shrooms. Cook for another minute or so to soften.
4. Add the wine and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring well.
5. Add the entirety of the chicken stock and reduce heat to low. Add seasonings. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 25-30 minutes, or until the risotto has become thick and creamy (should fall off the spoon reluctantly but not stick to it). In the past I have gradually added the stock after bringing the whole thing up to a boil but I think adding all the liquid first and simmering on low heat for the entirety of the cooking resulted in a creamier risotto and better texture (although I also used a new brand of risotto this time. One would think rice is rice but who knows?)
   
6. Make sure to taste after about 20 minutes or if it looks like most of the liquid has been absorbed. The individual grains should have a slight bite to them (al dente) but be surrounded in creamy goodness.
7. Add the bulk of the cheese at this point. This will help with the creaminess.
8. Serve, topping with more grated cheese.

I was lucky enough to use some Dunn Reserve, a high-end white wine; extremely limited vintage; usually only available to personal friends of the vintners.

Normally I use a cheap (e.g. Yellowtail) pinot grigio and it works well.

Note: One problem with risotto is that it's never the same after that first night. It tends to get very sticky and gluey reheated. But I've found that if you save a bit of chicken stock and add that to a bowl of risotto to be microwaved, it vastly improves matters.

I Can't Believe We Made It!

A somewhat belated post-New Year's "Happy New Year!" post to my fellow blogospherians. Some highlights from spending the final night of '08 and early days of '09 in the Empire and Garden states:

• Driving down during the Great Blizzard of '08 in Dunndee's Trans Am, AKA the Car with No Traction, Wiper Fluid, Functioning Wiper Blades, Rear Windshield Heating Element, or Headlights. At one point I thought we were going to be stuck in a rest area parking lot on 84 until 2009.
  
• Great New Year's Eve party "in the village," as they say, replete with bottomless Strong Islands, lots of A-side peeps, and vaulting bartenders
• 24 hours on Dunndee's couch on Jan 1st. Quite literally.
• Seeing the outside of an old law school building at Rutgers Law, Newark, AKA "City Law University," the law school Mike McD attends in Rounders, a film I watched approximately 146 times in college. Damon, Norton, Malkovich, and Turturro at their absolute peaks.
  
• Getting serenaded a cappella by five cheerful gentlemen in the wee hours of 2009 on the PATH train from World Trade Center back to Penn Station, Newark, NJ. A brief but comical Hall & Oates stint - "Hey, what you wanna listen to? White people music? What do white people listen to? Hall and Oates!" - was followed up by a little Sam Cooke at my request. A few bars of "A Change Is Gonna Come" were all too appropriate at that point.
• Calamari pizza. Don't knock it 'til you try it.
• Sauerbraten, AKA the "best thing on the menu" over at Cafe Steinhof in Crooklyn, NY. Nothing but steins, schnitzels, and spaetzle over there.
  

Very Veggie Chili

WARNING: This is the kind of vegetarian dish that may make you question - if only for a moment - your lifestyle as an omnivore.

I made this last weekend and I've been eating it all week. A pot of truly gargantuan proportions; too delicious to freeze despite the fact that my fridge has been overflowing with chili for the last few days. Ridiculously easy, ridiculously delicious, and ridiculously cheap (if your local neighborhood convenience store doesn't charge you $3.99 for a single red pepper).

The Key:
1 large diced, roasted eggplant (dice it, spread it out in a baking sheet with some olive oil and roast at 450 for about 30-45, making sure to mix it up halfway through. I snagged this hint from the uber-helpful Elise over at Simply Recipes, which is fantastic. I've cooked probably 5-6 dishes using her recipes and every single one has been a grand slam on the first try. I've mentioned her before; if you're a new reader or if you're one of those readers who "read" but don't "comprehend" then you will not remember. Go to her; take in her reams of digital culinary expertise. She will astound and delight.)

What I used:
1 jalapeno (could've used 2)
2 medium white onions
6 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
3-4 medium diced carrots
1 large zucchini, rough-chopped
1 can black beans (16 oz)
1 can cannellini beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, rough-chopped
a bit of balsamic
a bit of red wine vinegar
1/2 a bottle of Smithwick's
a goodly dash of olive oil before you sauté all of the above

Seasonings:
I tend to experiment a lot with seasonings. I used a ton of cumin, red pepper flakes, black pepper, lotsa salt, oregano, cilantro, a dash of cinnamon, a good bit of honey, a few squirts of sriracha, and plenty of cayenne. I love cumin and I like my chili to be heavy on the cumin. If you're inexperienced with this particular spice, go easy on it at first - fairly strong flavor but it's like culinary cocaine from the Levant.

I don't really do exact measurements as I'm in the process of perfecting the recipes for my upcoming cookbook, Esculent Sin: Late Nights in the Kitchen with MRhé.

Follow Elise's recipe and you'll be good. I didn't use red wine or Worcestershire (which I usually do in my meat chilis) or any sort of stock - I ended up adding a couple 28 oz cans' worth of water to get enough liquid initially to get everything mixed well before simmering away the excess but I reckon stock would've been better. Chicken or veggie, no matter. I'm flexible, as should you be.

Aside from this you can put pretty much anything you want in here, with a few caveats:
1) Bring her up to a boil and then long, sloooow simmer. Patience is key. I like it to lose a lot of liquid and cook down into a soft mushy deliciousness.
2) Season after the chili has reduced so you have an accurate idea of the flavor concentration.
3) Don't start cooking without wine at hand. It's just depressing otherwise.

This chili comes out so rich, thick, and hearty, with such great flavors and layers of heat - I mean I just stuffed myself with a huge bowl and I'm getting hungry again writing about it. Cook this to make this horrendous, dismal winter somewhat palatable (literally!)

As always, accompany this with some Jiffy cornbread.

Top with minced red onions, scallions, sour cream, and obscene amounts of cheddar cheese.

And invite me over for dinner.

Leftovers

A few weeks ago we had quite the feast here Chez MRhé. It was the weekend after Thanksgiving. The 1L was in town and the Pats were playing on Sunday (although let us not speak any more of that tragi-comedy against the 'Burgh) - reason enough for a big jam. 45 contributed his specialty - bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. Utterly delicious. I did up some littlenecks in white wine, butter, and garlic sauce and then did an impromptu version of clams casino stuffed with diced bacon, shredded italian cheese blend, and panko bread crumbs. I also happened to have a giant turkey carcass lying around - Thanksgiving leftovers - so I made turkey soup from scratch. Worked out well and it was a great, fun meal, football ineptitude notwithstanding.

On Butter

“I can tell a margarine cookie as soon as I bite into it,” [Olson] said. “And then I put it right down.”

I don't bake, but I do so love butter. Read about this most wondrous of foods in this New York Times article here. I think I'd actually be a decent baker but I generally don't have any desire for sweets, desserts, baked goods, etc. It's a glaring weakness in my culinary repertoire.

But I do butter up just about everything under the sun. The best butter I ever had was in June of this year. Mom and I got a big slab of fresh, golden, West Cork butter in Skibbereen and enjoyed it along with some bread, cheese, crackers and wine on our first evening in the Old Country. Now that was some serious butter.

Last night at Club Passim, inspired by a fairly tasty but cottonmouth-inducing orange spice cake, the conversation turned to the necessity of animal fats for moist, delicious desserts - niceties absent from the vegan menu of Club Passim/Veggie Planet. I respect personal dietary choices, whether for health or ethical reasons, but it's quite the flavor and texture sacrifice. I just can't imagine seraphim snacking on soy butter brownies.

Thanks to Butterchurn Johnston and Rhode for buttering up my internets this morning.

Who Am I, June Cleaver?

For whatever reason I've been making several casserole-style dishes over the last few weeks. Baked cellentani, butternut squash risotto, shepherd's pie, and tuna casserole this past Monday.

Tuna casserole? What is this, 1958?

I had a hankering, I've never made it, and I frankly love that kind of comfort food. So I took a trip to the fantastic Simply Recipes by Elise and checked out her recipe. I used panko bread crumbs instead of potato chips, but otherwise followed her lead...and wow! Familiar and delicious. I probably haven't had legitimate home-cooked tuna casserole in about 15 years, give or take, but this was perfect on a frigid November evening in the Commonwealth.

So now my fridge is filled with pyrex dishes covered in aluminum foil. Leftovers galore.

(I like leftovers more than most, but I am looking forward to some catfish tacos tomorrow at the Border Cafe. The thought alone brings tears of joy.)

Doritos 2.0

These will change your life.

Take Home Chef*

I made a roasted butternut squash & portabella mushroom risotto for Laura's Fall Potluck Extravaganza this evening. Judging by the results - a container with just a few grains of risotto remaining - it was very well-received. At the Goose they had a package of pre-cut organic squash. I tossed that with some olive oil and salt and pepper in a baking pan and roasted that at 400 for about an hour. In the meantime I prepared risotto as per usual, including adding red wine (Ruffino chianti this time, which worked very nicely). I mashed up the squash in a bowl after it was done roasting and then mixed it into the risotto toward the end of the broth-adding phase. It added a nice orange color and flavor in keeping with the fall theme of the event. I added a fair amount of turmeric (?!? not sure how this even got in our spice cabinet), mainly for color, as well as a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. Boom.

I was standing at the sideboard, adding a bit of Caribbean delight to my hot mulled cider, when I overheard one young lady comment to another about how delicious and amazing my risotto was. So I pulled the old "take a long time making my drink while I shamelessly drink in praise from afar" bit. Also these people evidently had never heard of spiked cider before, so I also introduced that to the sober, thirsty, huddled masses.

The best part is that I have another big rig of the risotto left over, along with my baked cellentani. There's gonna be some good eatin' chez MRhé this week!

*That's me, ladies!

Cellentani Makes the World Go Round

I made this tonight. I used hot and sweet sausage from the Goose, and I made the sauce from scratch. Ruffino chianti ($12.99 for a 1.5L!) and - get this - a bit of brown sugar. I usually add sugar to sweeten the gravy but we were out of white. Out of necessity I tried some brown, and it worked very well. I used some of that six-cheese Italian Sargento blend on top. Now I'm not one for either bragging or exaggeration, but this was the best thing that happened to me since that time we elected a black man as POTUS.

Man that felt good to type!

Off to Cruftlabs to bask in the collective patriotism of my peers. Chill, baby, chill.

Asian Mussels

Mussels: my favorite shellfish. In the interest of mixing things up a bit, I took a shot at kicking things up a couple notches last Friday evening with some Asian flavor. I sautéed up some garlic, shallots, scallions, shitake shrooms, and red pepper strips. Then I added a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, wasabi paste, sriracha hot sauce, a touch of honey, and a bunch of red pepper flakes. I'm not too sure of the amounts - this was all experimental. I had some thai rice noodles lying around - the pad thai sort - and soaked them in warm water while I cooked up the mussels in a wok with this hot, spicy sauce. Cooked the mussels, set them aside, them tossed the noodles in the sauce. I served it sprinkled with some toasted sesame seeds.

Yum.

Very tasty - quite spicy - and quite the departure from my now standard butter/garlic/white wine style. I haven't gotten the sauce quite right - it was a little too sour, a little too spicy I think, but the flavor was great on the whole. The red peppers and shitake shrooms did wonders.

Mussels are so versatile. Watch this space for more...mussels marinara...curried mussels...basil & cream mussels...mussels à la mode...the possibilities are endless.

Sunday

I'm going to resist the urge here to whine about how it's chilly out, how it's gray and increasingly dismal here in Our Great and Noble Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Just another fall Sunday in New England. Not going to wax wishful about my wanderlust for somewhere warm, sunny, and beautiful for the majority of the year, not just a scant few months. Nay - there's too much positivity in the air, too many things to celebrate.

Ladies and gentlemen: Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Bifano! A hearty congratulations to Laurie and Jeremy on their wedding this past Friday. I had the honor of being an usher in the wedding party, and it was a lovely affair. I think I need to rock the tux more often. More of my friends need to get married. Or at least I need to get invited to more weddings, they are a blast. The Scottographer was out in full force at the reception Friday night, snapping pics left and right and burning through film like the unpaid professional that he is. Too bad we can't expect to see those pics for the next several years, if at all...

Lazy Sunday reading: Catching up on my weekend WSJ, Globe, blogosphere, internews, and hopefully putting Prague out of its misery. Possibly my favorite way to spend a Sunday...

...with the exception of the Hub Sunday Sports Smorgasbord! Patriots-49ers at 4:15 and Game 3 of the Sox-Angels ALDS at Fenway at 7:17. That's about 6 or 7 hours of televised awesomeness, not to mention the associated daytime beer drinking. How 'bout those Sox taking two from the LAAoA out on the Best Coast and bringing it back to the Easy Coast to seal the deal? ThatswhatImtalkinabout.com. As for the Pats - Someone please tell Cassel the guys in red and gold are not his receivers. Thanks.

Victory Chili is a-simmering: One of the few benefits of cold weather is that it gives me the opportunity to cook up big, hearty meals, like stews, soups, chilis, and a ridiculous amount of glazed bacon. If everyone could start every day with glazed bacon, this world would be a better place. Football season means it's time for Victory Chili, and I've been simmering this season's first batch since about 3:30. Should be perfect in a couple more hours. For those interested, I once again used homemade turkey stock (frozen since April - the only stock in this market that's way, way up!), added a bottle of Sam Adams Octoberfest (minus a few sips for taste testing purposes) and substituted black beans for the cannellini. I'll let you know how it comes out. Preliminary tasting predicts near-perfect levels of flavor and heat. Full credit goes to my Gourmet magazine apron.