foodguy's blog

Mom's Day Recipes...for the last minute guys

I know the fishing opener, baseball, the economy and hundreds other reasons probably got in the way...but you gotta do something for the missus or Mom tomorrow. There's no way out of it. So if you haven't made brunch recipes (and fat chance you'll find any now), or you want to save some change and do something at home. Here are some easy, and fancy, recipe that will make her think you scoured the food mags for weeks looking for just the right dish.

SAMBUCCA BROILED GRAPEFRUIT

Serves 8

4 large Pink Grapefruit

4 pinches Salt

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

4 tsp. Sambucca Liqueur* (optional)

4 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, cut into 8 thin slices

8 each Maraschino Cherries

Preheat the oven broiler to 500° F.

Cut the grapefruit into halves along the equator. Using a grapefruit knife (or any very sharp small knife), cut around the outside perimeter and all the sections (removing the core) to enable easy eating by your guests.

Place the prepared grapefruit halves onto a baking sheet with low sides. Cut a thin slice off the base of each one to make sure they all sit evenly.

Sprinkle the salt evenly on each grapefruit half. Pour the vanilla into a small glass and brush evenly over the grapefruit halves. Pour the Sambucca Liqueur over the grapefruit halves and then sprinkle the sugar over the grapefruit as evenly as possible. Dot with the butter.

Place the pan under the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, watching carefully.

Place a maraschino cherry into the core area of each half and serve immediately or at room temperature. These are also good as leftovers.

 

SWISS CHARD AND PROSCIUTTO BREAD PUDDING

Serves 8

12 slices Firm white bread, trimmed & cubed
2 cups Swiss Chard, chopped coarse and blanched
4 oz. Prosciutto ham, diced
2 cups Provolone, shredded

¼ cup Fresh Basil, shredded

¼ cup Italian flat parsley, chopped
6 large Eggs, slightly beaten
3 1/2 cups Milk
3/4 tsp. Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp. White Pepper

Bring 2 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil Add the Swiss chard. Return the pot to a boil and remove from the heat immediately. Drain the Swiss chard and cool immediately in a bowl of ice water. As soon as the chard, is cool, drain and squeeze dry.

Cover bottom of buttered 9 x 13 inch pan with 1/2 bread cubes. Layer Swiss chard, ham and cheese over bread. Top with half the herbs and remaining bread cubes. Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over bread pudding. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Bake at 350° until a knife comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes and cut into squares.

Download and Print Mom's Day Recipes

Recipe For A Pleasant Sunday

Snow and cold and freezing rain and more snow and more cold...a good old fashioned Minnesota winter. I've kinda missed it the last few years, call me sick. But I'm sure by the 150th snowfall in March I'll be climbing the walls with the rest of you. Without a team to cheer for in the NFL playoffs, and a hit and miss NBA team, there just aint a whole lot to do on Sunday's beside spend all day reading the papers and maybe catching a movie or two. When this part of winter hits...I cook. Sure its a busman's holiday for me, but I'm sure there are plenty more "normal" people dusting off their Dutch ovens and crock pots on weekends as well.

When I was a kid I grew up in a house of two working parents. Not so unusual these days, but in the late fifties and early sixties, I was the kid with the house key tied around his neck. One of the reasons I got so interested in cooking was the Sundays I would spend in the kitchen with mom and dad cooking. Mom loved to make her own "T.V. Dinners" among other things. She would have her friends and neighbors drop off their empty (and cleaned, I hope) aluminum trays from their own Swanson nights. She would fill them with all manner of stews and casseroles. She even took a stab at turkey and stuffing, though I liked the Swanson version better. My job after school was to start dinner for the family by tossing a few of these MTVD's (Mom's TV Dinners) in the oven.  But my favorite Sunday activity was Sunday Gravy day. It was a day long event of cooking that wound up with a great dinner of spaghetti, meatballs, braciole and sausage on Sunday night and then many variations of it for a week or more to follow.

We were not the typical family when you think of this quintessentially New York Italian American feast. In fact we were so far away from typical we were actually a Jewish family in suburban Chicago. But both my mother and father had many Italian friends and loved Italian food. I'm not quite sure where this recipe comes form, other than my mother's tattered recipe book. I'm sure some Sicilian grandmother grudgingly gave up the goods after being hounded by my mother for weeks. (She was good at getting things she wanted) It did our family well in good times and bad. I'll haul it out once or twice a year for friends, especially when I'm expecting a crowd. I love the way it fills the house with aromas and smells that to me mean warmth and home. When I talked comfort food last week, this is it.

So pick a Sunday soon and give it a test drive. Gather the family to help cook and eat. And before you take your first bite, raise your glass of cheap Chianti to Ruth, my mother, who taught me this recipe that I can now pass on to your family, and to the many other lessons she taught me about food, family and home.

SUNDAY GRAVY

Makes about 1 ½ gallons

Enough for 6-12 people

¼ cup Good Olive Oil

1 lb. Italian Sausage, links spicy

3-4 cloves Fresh Garlic, smashed

1 ½ cups Onion, diced fine

1-6 oz. Can Tomato Paste

1 cup Red Wine

¼ cup Sugar

4-28 oz. Cans Whole Plum Tomatoes, drained and crushed, reserve the juice

1 Tbsp. Dry Leaf Oregano

1 recipe Braciole (recipe below)

1 recipe Meatballs (recipe below)

3 cups Water (optional)

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Crusty Bread (for tasting the sauce while it cooks)

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed 8-quart Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cut the sausage in about 2 inch lengths and brown in the hot oil along with the braciole. Cooking the sausage and braciole in smaller batches will actually be faster. Just brown the sausage and braciole, actual cooking will come later. Remove the browned sausage and braciole pieces to a platter or baking sheet and reserve.

Reduce the heat to medium low and add the crushed garlic. Brown the garlic in the oil then remove it to the platter with the meat. If it looks like there is more than ½ cup of oil and fat in the pot, drain off excess and discard. Add the onions to the pot and cook over medium low heat until the onions are softened completely but not brown. They’ll pick up some color from the oil, but don’t let them get any darker.

Add the tomato paste and sauté in the oil with the onions about 3 minutes. Add the wine and sugar. Increase the heat to high. Scrape the bottom of the pot to release most of the brown bits. Let the wine reduce slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, reserved juices, salt, pepper and oregano. Keep the heat on high until the sauce begins to come to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.

Gently place the browned, sausage and braciole into the sauce. If the sauce seems thick, add a little water. Cover the pot and cook over very low heat about 1 ½ hours. Stir occasionally and taste the sauce (with torn pieces of bread), adjust the seasoning or add water if needed. Add the meatballs and cook for the 30 minutes more.

To serve, lift the meats from the sauce to a warm serving platter. Top with a little sauce and tent with foil. Toss warm cooked spaghetti with a little sauce. Serve extra sauce in a sauce boat at the table along with the platter of meats. Have lots of grated parmesan on hand for the pasta.

MEATBALLS

Makes about 25 Meatballs

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 lb. Ground Pork

1 lb. Ground Veal

1/3 cup Parsley, chopped fine

2-3 cloves Garlic, chopped fine

3 large Eggs

2/3 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 cup Fresh Breadcrumbs

2/3 cup Milk

1 Tbsp. Black Pepper

2 ½ tsp. Kosher Salt

Combine all the ingredients well. Portion the meatballs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Roll each lightly with moistened and while placing them on the pan.

Bake at 350° for 20 – 30 minutes or until 180° internal temperature. Cool slightly before placing in the meat sauce.

BRACIOLE

Makes 6 rolls

1 1/2 lbs. beef (chuck or round steak), sliced to 1/4 inch
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup Fresh Parsley, chopped

½ cup Fresh Breadcrumbs

3 cloves Garlic, chopped

2 large Eggs, hard cooked and chopped
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Pound steak with mallet to tenderize, cut into six equal pieces.

Combine cheese, parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs and eggs. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Divide the filling between the pieces of steak.

Roll steak fillets in jelly roll style, starting with short side. Tie meat securely with string. Brown the braciole with the sausages and follow recipe for the Sunday Gravy.

Download and Print Sunday Gravy Recipe (click here)

Technorati Tags: pasta,spaghetti,Sunday Gravy,food,cooking,meatballs,tomato sauce

Apple Economy

Hopefully we won't get back to this condition again anytime soon...but just in case part of your recovery plan includes a little apple entrepreneurship, then you should know it's the peak of the apple season and this economic hiccup we're in couldn't have happened at a better time.

Plus if your' e in Minnesota, like I am, you couldn't have picked a better place. Here's an excerpt from the Minnesota listing on the web site All About Apples.com;

"Minnesota orchards offer the most distinctive assortment of apple varieties in the country. Some of the varieties you will find in Minnesota that are rare or absent in the rest of the country: Oriole, Mantet, Keepsake, Fireside, Honeycrisp, Wealthy, Beacon, Prarie Spy, Sweet Sixteen, Honeygold, Haralson, Zesta, Chestnut, Centennial, Red Baron, and Malinda. Part of the reason for this is the extensive program of research and development carried on for over 90 years at the horticultural research center of the University of Minnesota. Fruit varieties developed at the research center now represent two thirds of the state's fruit production. The program started in the 1880s. Peter Gideon from Excelsior, who discovered the Wealthy apple, is the first of Minnesota's illustrious apple breeders. His success with Wealthy was used as an example by the state's horticultural society to show the legislature what the results could be from a well-funded research and breeding program. The result has been dozens and dozens of successful varieties suited to the state's harsh climate.

Haralson is the number one apple in the state, representing 50% of production. Of all the Minnesota varieties, Honeycrisp is generating the most enthusiasm, both in the states and abroad. It is probably the most talked about variety in the country right now. The Honeycrisp, introduced in 1991, is the product of a 1960 cross of Macoun and Honeygold by the University of Minnesota research team. While Honeycrisp is an especially good "keeper" in storage, demand is much greater than supply, making it hard to find."

Well supplies of Honeycrisp have finally caught up since that was written as have the Haralson apples, which in my book are the best pie or dessert apples around, so here's a recipe for using the Haralson in very unique, but simple way. That's if you haven't sold them all.

TARTE TATIN

Makes 1 9" tart

1 stick + 3 Tblsp. Butter (5 oz.)

1/4 Cup Sugar

pinch salt

1 3/4 Lbs. Apples, peeled and cut roughly into quarters

8 oz. Puff Pastry

Pre-heat an oven to 375°

Butter a heavy high-sided pan. A cast iron skillet would be ideal, but choose any pan that can withstand the high temperatures needed for caramelizing the sugar. Coat the butter with the sugar. Place the apples side by side with the curved side down in a concentric pattern. Fill in the gaps with large slices.

Set the pan on a low flame for 10 to 15 minutes, to begin caramelizing the sugar. Then place the pan in the oven for approximately fifteen minutes. Meanwhile roll the pastry slightly larger than the pan.

Remove the pan from the oven and lay the pastry over the apples, let the pastry drape over the side. Return to the oven and bake for another fifteen minutes, or until the pastry is brown and puffed.

Remove the pan from the oven and let rest about five minutes. Place a serving dish over the pan and turn out the tart quickly.

Serve warm with whipped cream flavored with Calvados (apple brandy)

Download more_apple_facts.doc

Technorati Tags: apples,Honeycrisp,Haralson,Minnesota,Tarte Tatin,autumn

Cooking With A Conscience

Why bother! Restaurants are supposed to be a fun relaxing experience. We should not be held accountable to anything more than serving safely prepared food. Restaurants, Chefs, Cooks, Managers, Food and Beverage Directors, no one for that matter that have any say in what appears on a menu...are responsible for what you choose to eat. If we choose to menu foods that are high in fat, too laden with sugar or processed to the point of unrecognizability, then that is our problem. As our guest, you have the right and the ability not to order it. In fact, if you really don't like the fact that we serve abused veal, liver from force fed geese, potatoes fried in trans-fats and beverages loaded with high fructose corn syrup...then don't walk through the front door. Please don't think you need to legislate against bad behaviors like that. The market will take care of it all by itself. If no-one orders them...we won't sell them. It's really that simple.

The trans-fat debacle is not a unique case. It's really nothing more than 19th century science seeking a solution for the common good but instead, creating a 21st century monster. Mankind has had many missteps like this on its path of culinary discovery. The hallucinations and destructive behaviors of the witch hunts and inquisition have been traced to a naturally occurring bread mold. A mold that was related to a later 20th century discovery turning it into the super drug known as penicillin. It wasn't until late in the 17th century that a clever physician discovered that it was the lead in drinking vessels that were routinely killing nobleman and peasant alike. He noticed that sober monks were healthier than their wine sotted brothers who all seemed to develop a similar case of cholic, a symptom of lead poisoning. At the dawn of the industrial revolution, canning foods was a gamble before pasteurization was fully understood and widely practiced. Early canned food was just as likely to kill you as nourish you. As an organized life form on this planet, we've made it passed these plus countless other comestible pitfalls on the way to our current culture. And each of these were settled by the marketplace and not a well meaning  legislature.

 

What line do we cross when politics invade the kitchen?

 

Technorati Tags: trans-fat,healthy cooking,food bans,legislation

Is the Minnesota State Fair on a Sticky Down Spin?

It would be nice if the fair regained some of it's agrarian patina. Machinery Hill is now filled with motorcycles, cars and the world's largest traveling barbecue because farm implement manufacturers no longer saw the value in showing their products to an urban audience seeking out greasy grub. Besides, our farm culture has changed. There are hardly any small family farms left. Most have been absorbed by large corporate farming groups that don't need fairs to see the latest tools or gather with neighbors.

The Minnesota State Fair may still have some ghostly remnants of it's rural past...but it is now nothing more than a glutinous gathering of society on a stick broken up by a few entertaining venues and needless retail goods. I love the Minnesota State Fair. I just thought I should get that out of the way, because when your done reading this...you may think otherwise of my intentions. I'm not a native Minnesotan. I came here willingly and with a purpose from Chicago, which is a wonderful place to live, but I liked Minnesota just a little bit better. During the 30 plus years I lived in the Windy City, I never once thought about the Illinois State Fair. So when my new friends in the Twin Cities introduced me to the Great Get Together, I was awed and amazed that so many hip urbanites went so absolutely ga-ga for such a rural convention as a State Fair. I soon learned they weren't going to inspect the latest John Deere combine, gather with friends to discuss the best in corn hybridization or even seek out and congratulate the blue ribbon winner in jams and jellies. Even then, over 20 years ago, it was, the beer, Tiny Tim's, Pronto Pups and Midway rides that drew them, and me with them, to the fair. They loved the lure of cheap, bad for you food, taking dizzying rides and gawking at the rabble of fellow Midwesterners. It was like that for many years. But somewhere in the mid '90s a shift started to take place that I am heart sickened to say I reveled in along with almost every other Minnesotan. The Great Minnesota Get Together became The great Minnesota Food Orgy. Along with an increased volume of some pretty bad food offerings, we also got the bad joke of putting food on a stick. Each year we would see who could be more inventive and "wacky" about what could be served on a thin stick of wood.

Enough already, sure there have been some great new foods to join the classics. But there has also been too many that were jokes that got out of hand. Fried "anything" is now as rampant as "crap" on a stick. Like I said, ENOUGH ALREADY !!! If the State Fair is going to be a food fair, then let's get it out of it's joke stage into an arena that would really be fun and tasty. There's a small contingent of Minnesota grown and raised products being sold by several vendors this year. (By the way, many vendors make enough money at the State Fair to do nothing else the rest of the year.) There should be more. I call for a mandate that 70% of all food products sold at the fair be grown or produced in Minnesota. I also call for a moratorium on any new fried or stick vendors. Let's see how creative or inventive vendors can be if they have to really cook.

Technorati Tags: Minnesota,State Fair,Locavore

Pasta Artisnal Dried and Fresh

 

Here's a video on how some of the best pasta in Italy is made.

 

Fine Living Network

 

FRESH PASTA DOUGH

Makes 1 lb dough.

2 1/2 cups flour, plus additional for kneading
1 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until mixture just begins to form a ball. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, incorporating only as much additional flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 6 to 8 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Pasta dough, though best used immediately, can be made (but not rolled out) 1 day ahead and chilled, wrapped in plastic wrap.

 

Atlas Roller Style Machine

 

 

 

Lello Extruder Style Machine

 

Technorati Tags: pasta,pasta machines,artisnal pasta

Langdon's Request

Here are the recipes I promised Langdon I would put up on my blog today (Saturday May 24, 2008).

Enjoy them and see you next week.

By the way...here's a link to "The Smoke n' Fire Enquirer" The best barbecue spot on the net.

 

Brick-Grilled Chicken

Serves 4

Notes: Instead of bricks, you can use cast-iron pans (20 to 25 lb. total) to flatten birds. Weights work best if equally sized and evenly distributed.

2 med. chickens (about 3 lb. each)

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup chopped parsley

3 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp. garlic, minced

½ tsp. coarse-ground pepper

½ tsp. hot chili flakes

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Lemon wedges

2-4 large Bricks

Aluminum Foil

Pull off and discard any lumps of fat from the birds. With poultry shears or kitchen scissors, cut along one side of backbone on each bird, cutting back completely in two; cut along other side of backbones as well and discard backbones. Pat dry. Pull birds open and set skin side up on a flat surface; with your hand, press birds to flatten.

In a 9- by 13-inch baking dish, mix lemon juice, parsley, olive oil, garlic, pepper, chili flakes, and salt. Rub mixture all over birds. Place in dish, overlapping and stacking as needed. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

Wrap the bricks in foil and start the grill. Set the bricks next to the coals to warm while the coals turn to gray. If using a gas grill, warm the bricks over medium high heat, turn once or twice while heating. Warm the bricks for about 30 minutes for either method.

Set birds, skin side down and side by side, on a 12- by 17-inch section of an oiled barbecue grill over a solid bed of medium coals or medium heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 4 to 5 seconds). Set the hot bricks over the chicken

Cover grill and cook until skin is well browned (lift to check), about 20 minutes. Remove bricks with an oven mitt and, turn birds over. Cover grill and cook without weighted pan until meat at thigh bones is no longer pink (cut to test), 5 to 10 minutes

Transfer birds, skin up, to a platter. With a knife or poultry shears, cut chickens into quarters and hens into halves if desired. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over birds. Add salt to taste.

 

PANZANELLA (ITALIAN BREAD SALAD)

Serves 12

2 Lbs. 1 to 3 day-old Crusty Artisan Bread, cut into 1/2" cubes

2 Tblsp. Capers, drained and chopped

4-6 cloves Fresh garlic, minced

4-6 Anchovy fillets, diced

1 cup Extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup Red wine vinegar**

4 cups Fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

2 cups Cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

2 cup Red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1/2 cup Red peppers, diced

1/2 cup Yellow peppers, diced

1/2 cup Kalamata or Nicoise olives, pitted

1/2 cup Fresh basil, torn into pieces

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

The bread can be cut and left out overnight to dry or, spread the bread cubes on a large baking sheet in a single layer and dry in a 375° oven approximately 10 minutes.

Mash the capers, garlic and anchovies with a large chef's knife or in a food processor until you have a smooth paste. Place the paste in a large bowl. Whisk the olive oil and red wine vinegar into the anchovy paste until combined.

Add the toasted/dry bread cubes and toss thoroughly. Add tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, red peppers, yellow peppers, olives, basil, coarse salt, and pepper. Toss the ingredients gently to coat; let stand at room temperature for at least a half-hour

Panzanella can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for several hours. Remove from refrigerator an hour or so before serving and bring to room temperature. Before serving, sprinkle Parmigaino Reggiano cheese over the top.

Balsamic vinegar may be substituted or combined with the red wine vinegar.

del.icio.us Tags: recipes,chicken,bread,salad,grilling,Italian food,barbecue

A Memorial to A Holiday

Memorial Day was a special holiday when I was eleven. The coming day signified the weather was finally going to be warm enough soon to get back to my usual summer activities of staying outside till dark playing kickball in the street or hanging out in the park with my posse.  Memorial Day meant the end of school was not far off. Three weeks was an eternity then, but it was an eternity with a happy end. Memorial Day weekend was the time when the neighborhood would fill with smells of wood smoke, charcoal and burning beef. This was suburbia in the early sixties and there were barbecue grills in just about every back yard, grilled hamburgers were king and Kool Aid was always red.

What with spiraling prices for gas and food, among other things, I've got the feeling many of us will be spending time in our own back yards wondering what to grill. If your like me, you've done all manner of exotica on your grill from extremely good, and expensive, steaks to the rare swimming species already. It's time, for just oh so many reasons, to turn the clock back a bit and gather the family and friends around a blazing grill covered in plump patties of ground meat. Sure it won't be the same, but with these fun burger recipes it'll be very different in a real good way. It may even be some fun to do them all and let the gang choose. Just remember to round it out with some soft buns (not the ones in your too tight shorts), a bowl of Aunt Bessie's Potato Salad, a pot of baked beans and pitcher of red...

 

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Burgers

Makes 8 burgers

4 slices bacon (try the pepper bacon for extra kick)

¼ cup onions, chopped

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. garlic powder

2 tbsp. steak sauce (your favorite)

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain all but a couple of tablespoons of the drippings and sauté onions in drippings until light brown. Crumble the bacon and add to the skillet. Set aside to cool.

Combine the beef, pork, pepper, garlic powder and steak sauce in a large bowl. Shape into 16 patties. Divide bacon mixture and place over eight of the patties.

Place remaining patties on top and press edges tightly to seal. Refrigerate about 1 hour.

Grill over medium coals until you get an internal temperature of 165°

 

Coke® Burgers

Makes 6 burgers

1 large egg

¼ cup Coca-Cola®

¼ cup crushed Ritz® crackers

2 Tbsp. creamy French salad dressing

¼ tsp. Kosher Salt

1 ½ lbs. ground beef

In a mixing bowl, combine the egg, Coca-Cola, cracker crumbs, dressing and salt.

Add the meat and mix well. Form into six 3/4-inch thick patties.

Basting Sauce

¼ cup Coca-Cola®

4 Tbsp. creamy French dressing

Combine the Coca-Cola and dressing.

Grill the meat over medium coals until desired doneness. Turn once, basting occasionally with sauce. Serve on buns. Remaining sauce may be used as a topping.

 

Beef and Lamb Gorgonzola Burgers
Makes 6 burgers

¾ lb. ground beef

¾ lb. ground lamb

¼ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. Kosher Salt

6 ounces Gorgonzola or other bleu cheese
Mix the beef and lamb with the salt and pepper. Set aside.

Form beef into 12 3-inch-diameter patties Form the cheese into 6 1-1/2-inch rounds. Place the cheese rounds atop 6 of the patties. Top each with another patty, sealing at edges. Let the patties rest refrigerated 1 hour.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat) or preheat broiler.

Brush barbecue rack with vegetable oil. Grill burgers until charred outside but still juicy, about 3 minutes per side.

 

del.icio.us Tags: burgers,hamburger,cooking,Memorial Day,grilling,barbecue,bbq

Ice Age Shore Lunch

Even though the ice floes still fill our northern lakes. The Minnesota Fishing Opener is here. Many still count summer from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but the adopted Ole in me counts it from fishing opener to State Fair. It just seems more natural. There's a saying in Spain that there are as many recipes for Paella as there are grandmothers. In the land of 10,000 lakes there are at least that many recipes for Shore Lunch. The one below, besides being my favorite (especially with the beer and Ritz crumbs option) is easy and simple enough to make in your kitchen at home or at the edge of a pristine lake at midday with your just caught bounty. Either way enjoy it often this year. It may be the only way we'll recognize summer.

 

Shore Lunch Walleye

4 med.          skinless, boneless walleye filets 6-8 oz. each

1/4 cup         water or beer, your choice
1 large          egg    

1/2 cup         all-purpose flour
4 cups          Ritz cracker crumbs or crushed Corn Flake crumbs
1 1/2 tsp.      baking powder
1 tsp.           salt
1 tsp.           freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp.           Paprika

Vegetable oil (Corn or Canola or Solid Shortening)

Premix the dry ingredients in a zip lock bag at home

Beat the egg and liquid together at the campsite in a flat metal pie tin.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a heavy cast iron skillet over the coal. Fill the pan a little less than half full of oil or shortening. Make sure you have a stable surface to keep the pan level. A cooking grate is the best choice. Test the temperature of the oil with the handle of a wooden spoon. Dip the handle in oil, it will send of a stream of bubbles if the oil is in the 350-400 degree range…perfect for frying. The more bubbles, the hotter the oil.

Just before your ready to fry, make sure you have a landing spot for your cooked fish. A paper bag pressed flat is perfect for wicking away extra oil.

Dip the fish in the egg liquid then drop one at a time into the bag with the breading. Shake vigorously to coat. Lift the fish, shake off any excess and lay gently in the oil . Cook to deep golden brown on both sides. Lift from the oil and drain on the paper bag.

Hopefully someone else has roasted the corn or made a batch of excellent home fries to go with the fish. Squeeze plenty of lemon and dig in.

 

del.icio.us Tags: food,walleye,Shore Lunch,cooking,Minnesota

Heat and Smoke Primer...Again

Posted this last year and after looking at it again...I couldn't make it any better (why mess with perfection). So, for those of you who have asked for grilling advice, here's my Heat and Smoke Primer once again.

ENJOY!!

Today, we have many different types of fuel to use. Back in the really old days, folks used brush, sticks and larger pieces of wood to keep warm, frighten off wild animals and perhaps most importantly, cook their food.

You might find it interesting that charcoal is used for such things as making gunpowder, filtering water, curing tobacco, manufacturing glass, used as an additive to poultry and stock feed and as a pigment?

Charcoal is a black, brittle substance use most importantly for great outdoor cooking events. Many times charcoal is use to start a good fire and wood chips are introduced to add specific flavor to the meats. 

CHARCOAL

The Old Days: Years ago, charcoal was prepared by placing pieces of wood piled on end in rows in a shape like a cone. This pile was then covered with dirt or moist ashes with holes left in the top for a chimney and at the bottom for air to enter. The wood was then allowed to burn very slowly. When completely burned, the holes were then covered and the pile of wood was allowed to cool. This method was not as effective as is today and only yielded about 20% pure charcoal.

Charcoal consists of carbon full of porous, or many tiny holes, which assist in complete and thorough burning of the substance.

Charcoal consists of wood which has been heated to high temperatures in ovens while restricting the available amount of air. If oxygen was available, the wood would naturally burn up and that would be the end of this story. 

When the wood is heated, the wood chemically decomposes and releases gases and tars which are saved as by-products. The resulting product is charcoal which is almost a pure form of carbon. The charcoal when burned releases an even hot flame, no smoke and burns almost completely. The only residue is a little ash. No smoke. It takes approximately 4 pounds of wood to make a little more than 1 pound of charcoal.

So far, we have been talking about pure charcoal. Some of the more popular "charcoal" manufactures do not use exclusively charcoal. They blend their charcoal with by-products like clay (which we will refer to as "extenders") thus extending the amount of appeared charcoal. You can tell the difference quite easily. Most briquettes consist of extenders. After the fire has been burned, take a look at the ashes. If there is a heaviness when cleaning out the ashes, then you are probably removing clay and other particles called extenders. If on the other hand, the ashes are light and almost want to float away when disturbed, then you have been burning true charcoal.

CHIPS (WOOD FOR SMOKING)

As mentioned above, wood was probably the first and most important fuel used by man (generic). Our ancestors would both keep warm and cook food using the most plentiful fuel around - wood.

Unless you have a forest next to your house, there will be inherent expenses incurred in obtaining your cooking wood. If you had all the wood you needed, the ideal method of cooking with even and consistent temperatures would be to have a second fire located next to your smoke-cooker. This fire would be your source for coals. You would burn the actual wood in this second fire and, when needed, take a shovel, scoop up the required hot coals and add them to the grill or smoker. This method would all but eliminate flare ups and out of control fires while at the same time, insure even cooking temperatures.

Since this is not possible in most cases, many folks have resorted to using smaller pieces of wood to add the flavor without necessarily focusing on creating the heat. For example many use small wood chips, soak them in water and place them on the fire. As the water evaporates and the wood begins to burn slowly, the smoke flavoring from the burning wood flavors the meat.

There are many different sizes of wood chips, but for the sake of convenience, we will be discussing the three basic sizes as shown in the photograph:

Large - really too large to be called "chips"; rough cut and about the size of a softball
Medium - again rough cut and about the size of a rubber stamp
Small - Shavings really, larger than sawdust.

The large size, in addition to creating smoke, is large enough to also create heat. We would not necessarily soak these in water before using. Instead, simply place one on the fire as needed to keep the source of heat active. You must, however, have a sufficient source of heat already established before using these wood "chips".

Of the three, the medium chips are the most common and are usually available at the grocery store in the charcoal section. They are not really large enough to be a source of heat, however are sufficient to create the necessary smoke to flavor the meat. I suggest soaking these pieces of wood for 2 to 4 hours prior to use. After you have created the heat source in the grill or smoker, place a handful of these wood chips on the coals. They will hiss and simmer and as they slowly begin to dry and smolder, will create the needed smoke. Some folks will wrap the chips in heavy duty aluminum foil and puncture holes in the foil. After which they will place this bundle on the fire. Even in this method, the chips will also smolder and create the smoke needed.

Finally, the small chips are best used for making smoke in the gas grills. These chips are placed in a smoker box and the box is then placed over the gas burners. The smoker box is a cast iron box with a removable lid. The wood chips smolder inside the box and you then have your smoke!

MESQUITE PORK RIBS

Molasses Chile Rub

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

4 Tbsp. Kosher salt

4 Tbsp. Pasilla Powder* (homemade chile powder, see recipe below)

2 Tbsp. Granulated garlic

1/4 cup Brown sugar

2 Tbsp. Ground cumin

2 Tbsp. Ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Keep tightly covered until ready to use.

*Pasilla Powder

5 med. Pasilla chiles

Prepare the pasilla chiles by removing the stems and seeds. Toast the peppers in a skillet over medium height for 5 minutes, turning them frequently until they are dry and crisp, but not burned. Puree the peppers in a coffee grinder to a fine powder. (Be sure to clean the coffee grinder very well when you are done.)

Note: Yes there is no added molasses in this recipe. The name comes form the molasses found in the brown sugar.

Mesquite Pork Ribs

Serves 6-8

6 racks Pork ribs (4 to 6 pounds baby back ribs or 6 to 8 pounds spareribs) 1 recipe Molasses Chile Rub

Mopping Sauce (recipe follows)

Mesquite Wood Chips, soaked in water10 minutes

Remove the thin, papery skin from the back of each rack of ribs by pulling it off in a sheet with your fingers, using the corner of a kitchen towel to gain a secure grip, or with pliers. Rub two thirds of Molasses Chile mixture over the ribs on both sides, then transfer the ribs to a roasting pan. Cover and let marinate, in the refrigerator, 1 hour or overnight.

Set up the grill for indirect grilling, placing a large drip pan in the center. If using a charcoal grill, preheat it to medium. If using a gas grill, place the wood chips in the smoker box and preheat the grill to high; when smoke appears, reduce the heat to medium.

When ready to cook, if using charcoal, toss half the wood chips on the coals. Oil the grill grate. Arrange the ribs on the hot grate over the drip pan. Cover the grill and smoke cook the ribs for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the mopping sauce and set aside.

When the ribs have cooked for an hour, uncover the grill and brush the ribs with the mop sauce. If using a charcoal grill, toss the remaining wood chips on the fire. Continue cooking the ribs until tender and done, 1 to 2 hours longer. If using charcoal, after 1 hour add 10 to 12 fresh coals per side to the grill. The ribs are done when the meat is very tender and it has shrunk back from the ends of the bones. Fifteen minutes before the end, season the ribs with the remaining rub, sprinkling it on.

To serve, cut a notch between each bone then cut the racks in half, or leave them whole.

Mopping Sauce

2 cups Cider vinegar

1/2 cup Yellow (ball-park) mustard

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 Tblsp. Kosher Salt

Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and warm gently over moderate heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from the heat and reserve at room temperature until ready to use.