Party On! Part 1

© 2013 Chris Terrell 

The holidays are all about parties. We are either going to them; avoiding them; or hosting them. Personally, I like parties during the holidays. The holidays are a great time of year for parties because everyone is generally in a good mood; work has started to slow down so you have the time to go; and if it is a work party, then you can actually tolerate the boss.

Last night was my second annual holiday party. I guess I’m now fully committed to this being an annual event, or at least I hope so. The first one was a bit rough, but better than some other inaugural voyages—Titanic anyone? 

Last year around September/October, I decided to host a Christmas party for the first time. I had always wanted to have a holiday party and, overcoming years of inertia, I took the plunge and sent out invitations. Once you’ve done that you cannot turn back! Then it hit me. Oh my God!, I’ve never done this before by myself!  (Not sure that the Super Bowl party in law school counts.) And like any self-respecting type A person, I put together a to-do list. This involved a daily checklist of things to do; items to buy; things to order; food to make. The last one was particularly taxing. I wanted to cook nearly everything myself. This required that I start cooking four days before the party, not to mention all the cleaning and polishing of wine glasses and the cleaning of my loft apartment the day of the party.  Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time the party started. Hell, I was slipping on my loafers and throwing back the last of my whisky when the doorbell rang with the first guest!

But of course, the party was great; my guests had a wonderful time and so did I....until the next day. In addition to the obligatory hangover, all that hard work had worn me down to the point that I came down with mono. Yes, the “kissing disease.” But it wasn’t because anything that happened that night. Hell, I was too busy refilling wine glasses! And let me tell you, getting mono in high school is bad enough, but as a middle-aged single guy…well, let’s not go there!

For my own physical and mental health, I was determined that this year would be different. Yes, the meticulous checklist was dusted off, and yes, there was plenty to do. This year, however, I decided to play it smart, or at least a little less dumb. First, I ordered wine glasses from a local rental company. Why in the hell should I wash and polish wine glasses on a work night? Second, instead of roasting a pork loin, along with the homemade rub and barbecue sauce, I ordered a HoneyBaked® ham. (I did make some special mustards to go with it.) Third, I hired a cleaning service to clean my loft the day before the party. Fourth, and here’s the real genius move: I took the day off from work before the party.

With all this free time, I went the extra mile and did a little more decorating and made another dish that I didn’t make last year. But more importantly, I was not as tired (sans mono helped), so as to focus more on my guests. Some old favorites from last year were back, like caramelized bacon and parmesan crisps (more on that later). After doing this for two years in a row, I’ve learned a few things. While I'm no expert, here are the Insouciant Chef’s ten rules for hosting a great holiday party:

1. Put your guest list together early and send out the invites just after Thanksgiving. The party circuit gets crowded real fast.

2. Plan your menu carefully. If you like to cook, then come up with some items that are tasty and easy to eat (i.e., with one hand); are easy to make; and can be made a few days in advance.

3. Play music. Nothing is better than a party with music. And nothing is better during the holidays than holiday music. Make sure the playlist alternates between slow/laid back and upbeat.

4. De-clutter. Get the unread magazines and knickknacks out of the way. Throw away the old pizza boxes and take the recycling out!

5. Clean, especially the bathroom. As for the bathroom, put out some nice guest towels, but have some of those disposal paper towels handy, for a couple of reasons. One, you really don’t want people using the nice guest towels. Two, there are plenty of folks who know they really shouldn’t use the guest towels, and so will walk out of the bathroom with wet hands and then have to shake someone’s hand. Awkward! Also, if you keep a scale in the bathroom, put it away. Nothing reminds someone about how much they are eating during the holidays than a scale.

6. Flowers. OK, I’m probably going to lose my man card on this one, but you really need to have flowers when you have a party, especially fragrant ones like paper whites or lillies. Put some in the bathroom. (It’s more gracious than placing a big can of Glade on the toilet tank cover.)

7. Don’t forget about your guests. Greet them at the door; welcome them and thank them for coming; take their coat; offer them a drink. And if something didn’t turn out the way you liked it, take a page from Julia Child and don’t apologize. And no matter how small your place is, always walk your guest to the door and thank them again for coming and wish them a safe trip home and a happy holiday.

8. No matter how tired you may be, let people stay as late as they wish. People really know when to leave anyway. Besides, some of the best conversations I’ve had with guests are when there only about three of us left; the wine is in fifth gear; and the clock is getting a bit late in the day.

9. Don’t let your guests clean. This can be a tough one, because there is always that one guest who, believe it or not, likes to clean and genuinely wants to be helpful.  The best advice I’ve ever heard is to tell this person something like:“I appreciate that you want to help, but I’ve not seen you in ages, and I’d rather spend the time talking with you. I can clean some other time.”

10. Have fun. This should be obvious, but hosting a party is stressful. It requires a lot of planning and hard work. And if you are like me, you want everything to be perfect. (To me the most stressful part is the first few minutes after “go time.” The party is suppose to start at 6:30pm and at 6:31pm there are no guests, and you are convinced no one is coming!) This goes back to Julia Child’s advice about not apologizing. Your guests are happy to go to a party for several hours without kids; without work; without anything but good cheer, food, and drink. Isn’t that what the holidays are all about?

OK, what about the recipes I mentioned earlier?  I did promise you recipes. Well, here are the two things that I’ve made for the 1st and the 2nd Annual Holiday Party that have been a hit, Ina Garten’s caramelized bacon and parmesan crisps.

Caramelized Bacon (Barefoot Contessa Foolproof)

Makes about 15-20 hors d’oeuvres 
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 pound thick cut bacon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In food processor, combine sugar, nuts, salt, pepper and cayenne until finely ground. Add maple syrup and pulse until moistened.
Ina suggests using a wire baking rack on top of a sheet pan lined with foil, but I used a slotted broiler pan lined with foil with good results. Whatever you use, be sure the fat has a place to drip to prevent sogginess. Cut bacon in half and spread evenly with sugar mixture. Bake 25 to 30 minutes and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Parmesan Crisps (Barefoot Contessa Foolproof)

Makes 15 Crisps

Ingredients

1 (4 oz.) piece of Parmesan Reggiano cheese (without the rind)
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/2 kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

Grate the parmesan cheese, using the large grating side of a box grater, as a you might use to grate carrots. Combine the Parmesan, flour, thyme, salt, pepper in a bowl and mix well. 

With a measuring spoon, spoon level tablespoons of the mixture onto the prepared sheet pans, spreading each round into a 3-inch disk. Toss the mixture each time and scoop from the bottom of the bowl to be sure you get some flour in each spoonful. Bake in the middle of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. 

Cool on the pans for 5 minutes, loosen with a metal spatula, then cool completely on a baking rack. Serve at room temperature. 

"Your Table Is Ready" Part I

© 2013 Chris Terrell

Restaurants have been around for a long time. (Some educated folks believe they arose in China during the T’ang Dynasty, 618-907 AD.) Restaurants cover the spectrum: from whole-in-the-wall burger joints to gastronomic versions of Mt. Olympus. Why do we go to restaurants? Again, the reasons are as varied as there are restaurants. Perhaps it is to celebrate a promotion at work; a birthday; an anniversary; closing of a business deal: or just plain laziness—you just can’t pull it together to make meatloaf for the kids. Which restaurant we choose varies as well. A restaurant like Per Se or Le Bernadin would be great for a special occasion, but you would not want to eat there every day even if you could afford it. Time and place matter too. Sometimes the best meal is a conch fritter on the beach in Key West, with a special companion watching the sun set over the Gulf. 

For you see, eating is a social endeavor. And that may be the primary reason we go to restaurants. One of my kids is not much of a foodie, a somewhat distressing circumstance considering I am one who likes to eat and cook and write about eating and cooking. He is simply not very adventuresome and very picky. 

What is interesting, however, is that he loves—simply loves— going out to restaurants. And one day, it finally dawned on me: he likes the excitement; the people bustling about; the music playing; and the menu with all its choices (even if he’ll order the chicken fingers for the 145th time). But he’s also on to something. Eating, and eating in restaurants, is a fundamentally social affair for one of our planet’s most social of animals. And for this reason no one really likes to dine alone. (Though there are times I really kind of enjoy it.)

Yet in our age of celebrity chefs, with cooking as sport and dining that is increasingly didactic, a lot of people may be losing sight of why we eat out. It seems like a lot of people have this sense that they must go to the latest “it” restaurant by the latest “it” chef. I admit that I’ve been guilty of this too. In going back to the question I asked above, maybe I should have asked, “how do we pick the restaurants we do?” I think it depends on the circumstances; why are we going out to eat in the first place?; and, more importantly, who do we want to share a meal with?  I really got to thinking about this recently in planning a trip to New York at the first of the year.

I love New York. It is one of my favorite cities in the world (Paris being the other one). When I go to New York, there are really only three things on the itinerary: museums, shows, and restaurants. The first two are pretty easy. The last one is hard as hell for a lot of reasons. The most obvious being that New York has just shy of a gazillion restaurants. The other is that getting a good table, at a good restaurant, at a good time on a Saturday night is about as easy as getting a private audience with the Pope.

And when it comes to trips, and New York trips in particular, I approach with them Teutonic zeal. Every detail is considered. I even plan for spontaneity! And so with a trip to New York, in which going out to dinner will be center stage, I employ what I call the “method” when picking restaurants. Of course, I start with asking friends and family for recommendations, but usually that source gets tapped out pretty quickly. After that, I have several factors I employ when picking a restaurant in New York. Here they are:

1. The Menu. This is the first thing I look at. I always read the menu of a restaurant before I visit. One thing I like to see is a menu that is unified. I don’t want something that looks like Wikipedia. Have you seen the menu at your neighborhood Cheesecake Factory?! That thing is 15 pages long and has every thing from spaghetti to peanut-bourbon-glazed blackened flank steak! (And what the hell is that anyway?!)

2. Location. Where is the restaurant? If I’m staying in Midtown, which is typically where the best hotels are located, I may get tired of eating in the same Midtown restaurants. Maybe I’m feeling adventuresome, so I’ll go to Korea Town or the Village. Maybe I’m feeling trendy and hip, so I’ll hit Brooklyn or the Lower East Side. Or, if I’m going to the theater district, then obviously I want a restaurant in the Theater District.

3. Cuisine. French bistro? Italian? Molecular Gastronomy? Gastropub? Seafood? Hot dog stand? Depends on my mood....and the time of day.

4. Price Point. For me, this too has a lot to do with my mood, because reasonably priced food and “laid back” are directly proportional to each other. I mean really? Who wants to kick back and wear jeans and a t-shirt and then pay $50 for a hamburger? (Even in New York!)

5. Atmosphere. I actually pay attention to this, believe it or not. Is the restaurant formal or kitschy? Is is sleek and modern or rustic? Again, goes back to mood.

6. The Chef. Ok, I know this contradicts what I said above, but I do pay attention to who the chef is....or isn’t. 

7. Reviews. I do look at reviews, even online ones from Urban Spoon or Yelp. Believe it or not, there is wisdom in crowds. When it comes to New York restaurants, The New York Times is hard to beat.

So, based on these factors, what New York restaurants did I pick and why? Patience dear reader. I will tell you when I get back, and I’ll tell you then if they held up to my expectations. In the meantime, I will leave you with a great quote about chefs and restaurants:

There is really no such thing as an original recipe…But cooks must feed their egos as well as their customers.” M.F.K. Fisher to Julia Child, October 4, 1968.

Tune in next month…

Going South for Thanksgiving

Last Thursday, like millions of my fellow Americans, I sat down and gorged myself on Thanksgiving dinner. And while we had the traditional turkey, our menu, because we live in the South, likely varied from that of our Northern cousins. The biggest difference being the “mess” of collard greens we ate.

Collard greens are about as Southern as it gets, though not without some controversy. They are either loved or loathed, even amongst Southerners.  Alex Albright of East Carolina University stated that “Southern childhood memories often focus on collard greens; either the pleasant, loving connection of grandma’s iron pot and steaming potlikker, or the traumatizing effects engendered by the first whiff of the unmistakable odor for which greens are famous.” 

I must admit that I didn’t really like collards much when I was a kid because of the smell and because they tasted too much like spinach (which I now love). Speaking of the smell, I've read that a whole pecan placed in the pot of cooking collards eliminates their pungent odor.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I discovered I liked them. To give you an idea how prevalent collards are in the South, they were served in my third grade school cafeteria in Suffolk, Virginia, and even at the hospital in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where my mother had cancer surgery. (And the collards at that hospital were really good! Only in the South!)

And don’t forget about the potlikker! Potlikker is the liquid leftover when the collards are done. For many in the South, it is the nectar of the gods and is best sopped up with corn bread. Joseph P. Caldwell, writing in the Charlotte Observer in 1907, stated that “The North Carolinian who is not familiar with potlikker has suffered in his early education and needs to go back and begin it over again.” And Richard Wright once wrote: “I lived on what I did not eat. Perhaps the sunshine, the fresh air and the pot liquor from greens kept me going.”

And of course, no self-respecting Southerner would enter the new year without collard greens, which are representative of prosperity. They are best enjoyed with black-eyed peas. 

Here’s how I make collards. Get a big ‘o mess of them (i.e., enough to feed a bunch of friends and family), and cut off the stems and cut the leaves into long strips. Place the collards in a big pot of water and bring to a boil. Once the water has boiled, pour off the water and refill the pot with fresh water. (This will take away some of the bitterness.) For greens that are particularly tough (winter greens), you may want to do this twice. For the second boiling, put some salt and pepper in the water, along with a big ham hock or salted pork if you can’t get a ham hock at your butcher. And if don't have a ham hock or salted pork, then go with bacon. In any event, get some dang animal fat in there! Some folks will put vinegar in the water while the greens cook, or you can add some when served. (I like Trappey’s Pepper Vinegar.) You need to let the greens cook at a low simmer for a least two or three hours. Eat and enjoy with friends and family.

Thanksgiving: A Holiday that Ages Well

I must confess. I’ve not always liked Thanksgiving, especially when I was younger. In fact, I don’t think I really started to enjoy (or at least appreciate) Thanksgiving until I went off to college. One must leave before one can appreciate coming back. 

Eventually, it became a holiday I looked forward to more than just about any. (Until Christmas-with-Children grabbed the #1 spot.) Speaking of children, Thanksgiving is something of a bummer for kids—no presents and no candy. And the food is not exactly kid friendly, except maybe the turkey. (Even pumpkin pie is not a big hit with most kids.) Thanksgiving really is more of an adult holiday; one that is better appreciated as the years pass by. 

Thanksgiving is also a unique holiday. It is not religiously based; it is not nationalistic; and it does not come with all that gift-buying stress. (I mean, really? Does Aunt Marge really need another cat book?!) It is a holiday based on a simple premise, and the manner in which that premise is celebrated is simple, yet ancient: food, friends, family, and a warm hearth. In some respects, we should be thankful that we have such a uniquely American holiday like Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving can be as simple as one would like (one year when my Mom was really sick, we ordered everything from Honey Baked Ham) or as complicated as one would like. Personally, I think Thanksgiving is best when simple and homemade, even if the turkey is dry and the stuffing/dressing tastes like styrofoam.  And then there’s that “one dish.” The one dish that must be made every year, no matter what. Every family has one. For me, it was my Dad’s oyster casserole. He made it every year and, God bless him, he was the only one who ate it. In retrospect, it was probably pretty good and, most likely, I would eat it today. Each Thanksgiving dinner is as unique as the family that prepares it.

That’s another thing I like about Thanksgiving. The memories: sweet and sad; good and bad; friends and family gone. This is why it is the holiday for adults. Only with the passage of time can one truly appreciate Thanksgiving. This is made even more poignant when you glance over to the kids’ table and see your children laughing and, with each passing year, enjoying this day just a little bit more.

Soup!

The cool air and golden-red patchwork of the trees on Red Mountain makes fall one of my favorite times to cook. Even better is when fall gives way to the rich foods of winter and the holiday season—stews, braises, pies, and soups—all foods that warm the belly and feed the soul. Soup in particular pairs well with winter in my opinion because it is a communal food, brought forth from a single pot simmering on the stove for all to walk up to and savor its aromas.

And soups are surprisingly easy to make. If one can boil water and chop vegetables, one can surely make soup. This may explain why soup is one of the oldest forms of cookery. At some point, one of our distant ancestors, the proverbial “cave man,” got tired of eating tree bark and sipping water from a stream. He perhaps took that bark, maybe even a few veggies and herbs, and put them together in an earthen pot on that new-fangled invention called “fire” and—voila—soup was born!  M.F.K. Fisher liked soup and devoted a whole chapter to it. Here’s what she had to say:

The natural procession from boiling water to boiling water with something in it can hardly be avoided, and in most cases heartily to be wished for. As a steady diet, plain water is inclined to make thin fare, and even saints, of which there are an unexpected number these days, will gladly agree that a few herbs and perhaps a carrot to two and maybe a meager bone on feast days can mightily improve the somewhat monotonous flavor of the hot liquid.  

      —M.F.K. Fisher, How to Boil Water.

Wise words indeed! (And if she thought there were food “saints” in her day, she’d be downright shocked by today’s gastronomic high priests and priestesses!)

And while making soup is a relatively fuss-free endeavor, there are some basic tips one should keep in mind. Here are some good ones from Harold McGee’s Keys to Good Cooking:

• Rich soups can benefit from a counterpoint of acidity. For example, vegetable purees can benefit from the savoriness of a little bacon or tomato or parmesan cheese, soy sauce, fish sauce, or miso.
• To thicken soups with flour or starch, always pre-disperse the thickener in a roux or slurry to prevent lumpiness.
• Add uncooked ingredients in stages to a simmering soup to avoid over- or under-cooking them. First, add whole grains, firm carrots, or celery, then more tender onions or cauliflower, pieces of chicken great or white rice or pasta; at the last minute, add delicate spinach, fish, or shellfish. 
• Take care not to overheat the soup when adding protein, in order to avoid curdling. You can also use starch or flour to keep proteins from coagulating or curdling.

So one evening, with fall in the air, I put on some holiday music and fired up the fireplace and made soup. (OK, I don’t actually have a fireplace, but I have a great app that plays one on my flatscreen.) The best part was getting to use the immersion blender to puree. Damn thing sounds like an engine on a jet fighter!

Copyright © 2013 Chris Terrell

The Finished Product!

I made roasted cauliflower and carrot soup, a recipe for the most part of my own creation. My recipe uses sumac to add some acidity. Sumac is a shrub originating in Turkey and certain varieties are cultivated in southern Italy and in Sicily. The fleshy petals and small berries are dried and reduced to a powder which has a lemony, acidic flavor and is popular in Middle Eastern cooking. Mixed with water, it can be used in the same way as lemon juice.

Here’s the recipe:

Roasted Cauliflower and Carrot Soup with Sumac

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower
2 cloves of garlic
1 small yellow onion
1 1/3 lbs of carrots
1 tablespoon of coriander (ground)
1 tablespoon of sumac
1/2 tablespoon ancho chili powder
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 qt of vegetable stock
1/2 cup of dry white wine
3/4 cups of water
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Break apart of the cauliflower into florets and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper and spread out onto a sheet pan and roast in an oven at 425 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.
While the cauliflower roasts, dice the onion and mince the garlic. In a stock pot, place the butter and a tablespoon of the olive oil, along with some salt and pepper and sauté the onions until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant.  

Add the carrots to the stock pot, along with the vegetable stock, wine, and water and bring to a boil. Then add the roasted cauliflower and reduce the heat. Cook on medium for about 35-40 minutes until the carrots and cauliflower are tender.  

Puree the soup with an immersion blender until puréed. (This is fun!) Add coriander, sumac, and ancho chili powder Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve into bowls and add a table spoon of heavy cream to each and mix. Serve immediately.

NOTE: You can also take whole coriander and roast and then grind in a mortal and pestle.

Miss American Pie!

Apples from the Market

©2013 Chris Terrell

My interest in cooking began with baking. Early on, before I had acquired a certain degree of confidence in the kitchen, I was comforted by baking because it was like a high school chemistry experiment. All one had to do was follow the recipe and, “voila,” you had desert. (I’ve always said that baking has a wide margin of error. Put enough butter, cream, and sugar into anything and it will taste good. ) 

In high school and college, the holiday season was my favorite time to bake. I had time off from school and it was the perfect time and place for baking.

And being the holidays, one of the first things I made was mincemeat pie. This was not a culinary high point, however. All I had to do was buy some jarred mincemeat and frozen pie crusts and —“bam!”—I was back in merry ol’ England for a Victorian Christmas. (I’m not sure how I got into the mincemeat pie thing, but it was probably because of an English friend in college who had served it at a party.)

Next, I moved onto pecan pie, which is one of my favorite pies in the world. And while I still used a store-bought crust, at least the filling was homemade this time. I swear the best pecan pie recipe in the world is the one on the back of every single bottle of Karo Syrup  And talk about convenient! You don’t need to dig through a dusty shoebox of recipes. All you need to do is go to the grocery store, grab a bottle, and start shopping!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/2  cups (6 ounces) pecans
1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen [optional—see below] deep-dish pie crust

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into pie crust.

Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes (see tips for doneness, below). Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.

To use prepared frozen pie crust: Place cookie sheet in oven and preheat oven as directed. Pour filling into frozen crust and bake on preheated cookie sheet.

RECIPE TIPS: Pie is done when center reaches 200°F. Tap center surface of pie lightly - it should spring back when done. For easy clean up, spray pie pan with cooking spray before placing pie crust in pan. If pie crust is overbrowning, cover edges with foil.

Next, I tried pumpkin pie (another favorite of mine—I guess I'm partial to fall-centric recipes). This also involved the use of frozen pie crust and canned pumpkin. Like the pecan pie recipe above, a recipe can be found on the back of the can of pumpkin. (I usually buy Libby.)

All this time, I used frozen pie crust because, like a lot of people, I was intimidated by the thought of making homemade pie crust. So one day I decided to overcome this irrational fear and make my first pie crust. The recipe I landed upon was one for apple pie I found in an issue of Southern Living. Now, I know I run the risk of loosing my “Man Card” by revealing that I read Southern Living, but they do have the best desert recipes out there. (And please believe me when I say I don’t read the articles on chintz!)

What I found interesting about the recipe was the use of chilled apple cider in place of chilled water. Besides giving the crust a nice apple flavor, the acidic nature of the cider inhibits gluten formation. Too much gluten keeps pie crust from being nice and flaky. This is why some recipes call for chilled vodka rather than chilled water because alcohol also inhibits gluten formation. (Try it! It works!) Another option is apple cider vinegar, which has the acid and a slight amount of alcohol. It also gives the crust just a touch of tanginess. 

This is the apple pie recipe I’ve used since then. I continue to tinker with it because I’ve found that even in baking one must experiment in order to make them your own.  I revisited this recipe this past weekend, and I must say that I probably made the best crust I’ve made yet. It was certainly the prettiest apple pie I’ve made. 

Finished Product

©2013 Chris Terrell

Over the years, I learned and read about some good tips on pie making, and here they are:

1. To avoid soggy bottoms (that sounds bad), sprinkle an even mixture of sugar and flour on the bottom of the crust before baking.  This protects the crust from absorbing too much moisture while cooking.

2. Rest the dough for at least several hours in the fridge, as much as 24 hours before rolling out. This allows for the glutens in the dough to “chill” out or relax.

3. Keep it cool. Everything you put into making the pie crust (water/vodka/cider, butter, shortening, etc.) should be well chilled.

4. Keep it slow: add your butter/shortening and liquids slowly in small bits.

5. Sweat the small stuff. If you're making a fruit pie, put the fruit in a large bowl with sugar and then after about 30 minutes, drain off the liquid. This keeps the pie from getting too soggy. Save the liquid because it can be used for lots of things, like pouring it over  ice cream or made into some kind of Sunday brunch alcohol concoction!  If you do this, add more sugar than the recipe calls for because you will lose some sugar in the juice that runs off.

6. Finally, make sure your crust is marbled. This should be easy if you add your butter/shortening to the flour in small bits. In other words, your crust should have little gobs of butter/shortening evenly distributed throughout the crust. This is important because as the dough  cooks, the bits of butter/shortening will melt, leaving air pockets which add to the crust’s flakiness.  

All that being said, don’t be intimidated by pie or pie crust. Don’t buy the frozen stuff anymore. Make the crust yourself. It is worth it. If your grandmother could do it, then you can to!

Southern Living Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients 

4 1/2  pounds  Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
1  cup  sugar
1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
3/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
1/4  teaspoon  salt
Cornmeal Crust Dough (see below)
1  tablespoon  butter

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Stir together apples, sugar, flour, ground cinnamon, and salt. Let stand 15 minutes, gently stirring occasionally.

2. Roll 1 Cornmeal Crust Dough disk to 1/8-inch thickness (about 11 inches wide) on a well-floured surface. Gently press dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Spoon apple mixture into crust, packing tightly and mounding in center; dot with butter cut into pieces. [Packing the fruit tightly into the crust avoids creating air pockets because the fruit will shrink during cooking.]

3. Roll remaining dough disk to 1/8-inch thickness (about 13 inches wide). Gently place dough over filling; fold edges under, and crimp, sealing to bottom crust. Place pie on a jelly-roll pan. Cut 4 to 5 slits in top of pie for steam to escape.

4. Bake at 375° on an oven rack one-third up from bottom of oven 50 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil, and bake 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool 1 1/2 to 2 hours before serving.

Cornmeal Pie Crust 

Ingredients

2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plain yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup chilled shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 to 10 Tbsp. chilled apple cider

Preparation

1. Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter and shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. Mound mixture on 1 side of bowl.

2. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. apple cider along edge of mixture in bowl. Using a fork, gently toss a small amount of flour mixture into cider just until dry ingredients are moistened; move mixture to other side of bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining cider and flour mixture.

3. Gently gather dough into two flat disks. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill 1 to 24 hours. 

Go Fish! Go Turkey!

The other day I was going through an old email folder I keep titled "Food & Wine." It's where I put interesting emails, links, recipes, and other electronic ephemera I have collected over the years. Scrolling down through the years, I found an old email about fish, dated April 16, 2008. After over five year's time, I have no clue where this email came from—whether I found the information on the Internet and emailed it to myself or whether someone sent it to me. I had totally forgotten why I saved it, but after reading it, I recall why.

It was information about fish and how and why different types of fish have different flavors and why some fish are better prepared by frying, broiling, baking, or poaching. I thought it would be fun to share this information.


Not surprisingly, the factors that determine a fish's flavor are numerous. Obviously, where the fish came from is the biggest factor: salt water vs. fresh water or cold water vs. warm water. Other factors, however, are less obvious. For example, fat content. Fatty or oily fish may have more flavor, but they also spoil faster, which is why tuna must be well iced. And like their landlocked counterparts, a fish's activity level affects flavor. The turkey is a good example.

The turkey's active muscles, such as the legs and thighs, used for running away from Pilgrims with the funny guns and goofy hats, are full of blood vessels. These blood vessels contain myoglobin (or muscle hemoglobin), which delivers oxygen to the muscles. You guessed it! The more myoglobin the muscles contain, the darker the muscle. (In my opinion, the dark meat of turkey and chicken also contains more flavor.)

These kind of muscles are referred to as "slow-twitch." Slow-twitch muscles are built for endurance, thus allowing the muscles to work for long periods of time. As a result, the turkey can run around all day without getting tired, just as the tuna can swim all day without getting tired. 

White meat, however, is the result of well-rested muscles. These muscles are used for flying, which a turkey rarely does, and when it does, it is for short distances. As you might expect, there is less of a need for an oxygen-rich blood supply for these muscles. These kinds of muscles are referred to as "fast-twitch"—designed for quick bursts of energy. Think of a flounder lounging on the sea floor, who only occasionally has to make a quick escape.

Therefore, the more active the fish, as well as the distances it travels (e.g., tuna, salmon, and swordfish), the more slow-twitch, red muscle fibers and fat the fish will have. This makes it a good candidate for more "robust" cooking, such as grilling. The less active the fish (sole, flounder, and catfish), the more "delicate" the cooking technique (e.g., poaching or roasting).

Who knew that a little knowledge about ichthyology could make one a better cook?!