ON HIATUS.

Unfortunately, HTCA will be put on hold as I study for the LSATs. I'll be posting again at the end of december.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

Turkey Backs $0.89/lb. Small 2 in. by 1 in. chunks of meat, fat, bone and skin in a Styrofoam plastic-wrapped container staring at me as if to say, "I dare you." There was flavor in there. There was potential in there. Just like my mother took a naked slimy baby and over the years nurtured and cared for me so I would realize my potential, I was going to nurture those turkey necks into something more. Something delicious. Something unexpected.

It took me a while to figure out what to do with them. Which is something I'm sure my mother repeated over and over to me as young child, "What am I going to do with you?" They sat in my freezer for about 2 weeks taunting me much like they had in the supermarket. It got to me. "It's just turkey," I thought. How could I let something so simple, so small, frustrate me? I couldn't figure out what to do with turkey and almost has a nervous breakdown. God only knows what my mother was going through when I ran away from camp, threw a piece of marble tile at my sister or got lost at South Street Seaport when I was seven.

There were so many failed ideas with the turkey backs. It reminded me of my childhood and how many things I failed at; soccer, baseball, lacrosse, singing, the trombone, painting and sculpture. Virtually every activity children did, I could not. So, it must have been a great relief to my mom when she discovered, that in fact I did have a skill, cooking. That her tireless trips to practices, concerts and art lessons actually led somewhere. As her years of nurturing and trial and error finally bore fruit, so too would my struggle to cook the turkey backs.

Beans. It was so simple. So obvious. The obvious it seems has a tendency to be not so obvious to me. I think the same was true for my mom. Sure, every fat, overeating 11 year old doesn't love to cook as much as he does eat. But then again every fat, overeating 11 year old doesn't stand adjacent to the open kitchen and watch the cooks all night at the local Italian restaurant instead of waiting at the table with his parents. It's clear now that cooking was something I was in tune with as a child but I don't think it was obvious for my mother, or anybody else for that matter. When I was a kid my dad was busy starting his own business or working demanding Wall St. jobs and my mother was, by default, tasked with "figuring me out." I think all my antics, bad behavior, poor grades and lack of interest in school really was taxing and at the end of the day my potential became less obvious to her, just as my own obsession in trying to crack the turkey back mystery clouded me from the obvious solution.

Luckily however, all her patience and diligence paid off and she did help me figure out what I'm good at. What does this have to do with beans and better yet, chucks of turkey back? Well, together, with patience and ingenuity they can be transformed from hard and undesirable into something with unseen potential. This extended metaphor is in a way a belated mother's day gift. My great turkey/bean dilemma made it clear to me that if I was so easily frustrated by the remaining scraps of turkey, that my mother's patience is infinite, as must be her love. Thanks mom for seeing in me what I saw in those bony and fatty pieces of turkey: potential. Happy Mothers Day.

White Bean and Turkey Stew

1.5 lbs. turkey backs (for that matter any assorted bones, meat and scraps)2 lbs. dry Great Northern or other white bean such as Cannellini

4 cups chicken stock

2 medium carrots peeled and chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped

1 large onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 sprig of rosemary

3 tbsp Olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and soak the beans over night according to the package instructions. Place a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat and add the olive oil. Meanwhile, season the turkey parts with salt and pepper. When the oil starts to smoke add the turkey and brown on all sides, 10-12 mins. Remove to a plate lined with paper towel. Lower the heat to medium and add all the vegetables. Saute until translucent, 4-5 mins. Lightly crush the rosemary in the palm of your hand so it releases its natural oils and add to the pot. Add the beans, turkey and chicken broth to the pot and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2 hours.

Eat your veggies.

Apparently, mothers will never stop telling you the importance of eating your veggies. Recently my mother has complained that my blog is too meat-centric. There is some truth to that. So, I invited my vegetarian friend Kailee over for dinner and it was the perfect opportunity to experiment with some new all veg meals.

Before I delve into the recipes I want to share my thoughts on vegetarianism, veganism and the raw food diet craze. First off, if you're a vegetarian and you eat fish sometimes or buffalo chicken wings, but only when it's wing night at the dining hall, you're not a vegetarian. I'm sorry but an animal is an animal even if it's ugly. I can't root for the Red Sox 3 games a month and in good conscience call myself a Yankees fan so you can't call yourself a vegetarian if you eat fish. I'm glad I got that all out.

Newton's third law states that forces occurs in pairs, one called the action and the other the reaction. However, I don't believe Newton's laws are limited to physics. To me, the explosion of vegetarian, vegan and raw diet culture is a direct result of the sad state of meat production and the prevalence of the fast food industry in the United States. It is easy to see how McDonald's and KFC can turn people off to meat. Not only because they serve either fried reconsituted chicken bits or greasy and grey pre cooked beef patties but because there is no soul or effort put forth to respect the animal that has been killed. If you're going to eat chicken you should cook the best chicken you possibly can. If a chicken has to die it shouldn't be for a nasty soulless nugget. I imagine that if the widespread use of animal protein was more respectful to the dead animal, if we used all the parts, if we cooked it well with some love and soul, and treated it as if it were once alive there wouldn't be such aversion to meat.

Now enjoy these veggie recipes you dirty hippies.

Sweet Potato and Turnip Curry with Spiced Kale

For the curry:

4 white turnips (slice into 1/4'' semi circles)
2 large sweet potatoes (cut similarly)
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp ginger minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp cruish red pepper
1 tsp cumin 3
tbsp of your favorite red curry paste
2 tsps olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, add the olive oil. Saute the onions, garlic and ginger until they are softened and lightly brown. Add the cumin and crushed red pepper and lightly brown the spices for a minute. Add the vegetable stock, tomatoes, yogurt and curry paste. Stir until combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Add the sweet potatoes and turnips to the mixture cover and continue to simmer on low for 20 minutes.

For the Kale:

1 1lb package frozen kale (spinach works too)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tsps fresh ginger minced
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place a saute pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and when it is warm add the fresh ginger, garlic, garlic powder crushed red pepper and cumin. Brown for 1 minute. Add the vegetable broth and stir. Season with salt and pepper. When the liquid comes to a simmer add the Kale. Cover and let cook for 8 minutes.

Serve these along side steamed jasmine or basmati rice.

Curry:



Jack says:

Dirty hippie recipe deserves dirty hippie music -

"When I Woke" by Rusted Root

My Big Fat Greek Preplanned Week Long Supply of Dinner

There's no point in cooking unless you're going to cook a lot. Sure I'm only one person, but recipes for one are (a) not worth the effort and (b) make you feel lonely... That's why I like to cook in big batches because I can have a lot of food prepped for the week. If a day comes along and I'm too tired to cook at least I have a delicious pre-prepared meal that saves me money as opposed to eating out.

Over the weeks I've put up a lot of heavy dishes and stews, like meatloaf and chili but as the weather turns warmer people want to eat lighter and suddenly that big old slab of bacon wrapped meatloaf is less appealing. The following recipe for Greek roasted chicken and potatoes doesn't have to be a preplanned dinner for the week, that's just how I use it. It's perfectly fine for any light supper. Here we go:

Greek Chicken and Potatoes

2 lbs assorted chicken parts bone in and skin on (legs, breasts, thighs, whatever you like but you need to buy bone in skin on pieces or the chicken will be dry and tasteless)
1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sprig of rosemary, leaves chopped roughly
2 tsps salt
2 tsps pepper
2 tsps garlic powder
2 tsps dried oregano
2 lbs red potatoes, quartered

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the chicken pieces and pat them dry with a paper towel. Wash, dry and quarter the potatoes. On a baking sheet arrange the chicken and potatoes so they fit. Drizzle with olive oil and squeeze all the lemon juice out over the top. Sprinkle the rosemary and remaining seasonings over the top and toss the chicken and potatoes until coated. Place in the oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes at 400 degrees, place the baking sheet with the chicken and potatoes under the broiler for 5 more minutes. Done.

Before:



After:



Musical Pairing:

Jack says, "Steely Dan, "Aja," for no other reason than I like to listen to Steely Dan when I cook, especially one-dish or one-pot wonders."

Not for the purist.

We've already tackled green chili, so it's about time we moved on to the red stuff. Now, if you're a chili purist, this post probably is not for you. The purists will talk about making sure you use small chunks of beef instead of ground, and insist on using a variety of dried peppers to make a complex "gravy" as they call it. That is all fine and well, it's just not what this is. My chili has ground beef. My chili has tomatoes. My chili has okra? Yeah, I threw some in one day to ramp up the veg count and it came out well, so I kept it. It's also quick and dirty. Sometimes you don't have 5 hours to fire up a bowl of red and you need to get dinner on in an hour or so. If it helps the chili traditionalists out there, think of this more as a thick chili like stew than actual chili. Then again, to hell with the purists. They probably would not regard the green chili I made as chili either. No matter what you call it though, green or red, beans or not, it's delicious.

My 'not' Chili

1.25 lbs ground chuck
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 medium green bell pepper chopped
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 12 oz can kidney beans (rinse off the nasty bean liquid)
2 tsps cumin
2 tsps crushed red pepper
2 tsps salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 lb okra sliced (fresh or frozen)
2 tsps olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

This is easy. Place a heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Saute the onion, bell pepper and garlic until lightly browned, 4-5 minutes. Add the ground chuck and brown, 10 minutes. Add the garlic powder, cumin and crushed red pepper. Lightly cook the spiced meat mixture for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and incorporate into the meat mixture. Stir in the crushed tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and add the beans. Cover, lower the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. Add the okra and stir (if the okra is frozen it will only take about 3-4 minutes to come to temperature, if fresh it will take about 7-8 minutes to cook). Serve with yogurt or sour cream.




*UPDATE*

Jack Every, a trusted music and radio buff, will be providing complimentary musical pairings with each post to enhance the culinary experience.

Jack says, "Seeing that this looks like a good southern-style chili, I'm going to have to go with a good southern-style album, and I promise, it won't be, or ever be, ZZ Top. Listening selection-- "Live Alive" by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble."

There you have it. ZZ Top out, Chili and SRV in. Enjoy

Sauce me properly.

If you ask around you'll find that the secret to high quality tomato sauce is shockingly simple. The secret: tomatoes and carrots. Let me explain. Since your sauce is minimalist in nature it should be made with high quality ingredients so that the few ingredients may accentuate the pasta. Fortunately, when it comes to canned tomatoes, finding quality is easy. Every Italian cook worth his/her weight in lira will tell you you that San Marzano tomatoes are the best in the world. San Marzano isn't a brand, but rather the name of a commune, nestled in the volcanic soil near Mt. Vesuvius, where the first San Marzano tomato was grown. The tomatoes are especially good for sauce making for two reasons. They are less acidic and sweeter then say, Roma tomatoes, and have a deeper tomato flavor.

However, no matter how less acidic one tomato is than another tomato, it was always be acidic. That's where the carrot comes in. Carrots, much like beets, are full of natural sweetness and using a small amount of carrot in your pasta sauce imparts a sweetness that will offset the acidity of the tomatoes. Since I've already provided a recipe for simple tomato sauce in my fresh pasta post I decided to use make a meat ragout still erring on the side of simplicity.


Bucatini with Turkey Ragout

* Bucatini is a thick spaghetti like pasta with a hole running through the center

1 lb Bucatini
1.25 lbs ground turkey
1 medium size carrot diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes (crushed, if whole make sure to chop the tomatoes first)
1 tsp ground sage (if you have poultry seasoning leftover from thanksgiving, that works too)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Place a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is heated add the carrot and saute 4-5 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1-2 more minutes. Add the ground turkey and saute until brown and cooked through. Season thoroughly with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, sage and a ladle or two of the pasta water. Stir, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

Serve immediately with chives or parsley.

Animals wrapped in other animals: Meatloaf wrapped in duck bacon.

My friend Jason, aware of my lack of pork consumption recently turned me on to duck bacon, much like turkey bacon but actually delicious. If you're like me and think that anything with duck fat is delicious, you will love this recipe. This is more decadent than your average meatloaf, so I made a nice accompaniment that balances the richness of the meatloaf.

Duck Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

2 lbs lean ground beef (93% lean)
1 large onion minced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 medium carrot minced
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the over to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl mix the ground beef, eggs, onion, carrot, garlic, milk, Worcestershire sauce, milk, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and garlic powder until combined. Set aside. In a loaf pan layer the duck bacon on the bottom and sides of the pan.



Add the meatloaf mixture and spread evenly. Cover the top with remaining bacon.



*Note I ran out of duck bacon so I had to use turkey bacon...bummer.

Place the meatloaf in the oven for 1 hour. After one hour, the loaf will have shrunk away from the sides of the pan and a large amount of duck fat will have accumulated. DO NOT THROW THIS OUT. Carefully, pour the excess duck fat into a bowl and set aside. Put a baking rack upside down over the top of the meat loaf and flip it over much like you would a cooled cake. Place the rack with the meatloaf on top of the loaf pan. This way the the underside of duck bacon is exposed and can brown in the oven, while the loaf pan catches any more drippings. Place back in the oven for 40 more minutes.

Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed pot add the duck fat and drippings and chicken broth. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. In a bowl mix together the flour and water and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and cover. That's gravy.

When the meatloaf has finished cooking remove it from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.







The recession has forced people to be more economical and stretch their budgets when it comes to food and while this meatloaf is clearly not a reflection of that, the accompaniment is. True or false, you can eat broccoli stems? True, and they're delicious when you pickle them.

for the the pickled broccoli stems:

3 cups broccoli stems
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 fresh chili pepper sliced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt

Using a sharp knife, peel away the fibrous skin of the broccoli.






Then cut the pale inside trunk into matchstick-size batons. Blanch for one minute in boiling water, drain and cool under cold running water.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients, pour over the broccoli stems in a large bowl, toss and chill. Refrigerate for two hours before serving.

Serve the meatloaf with the gravy and some of the pickles on the side. The pickles match the meatloaf perfectly. The acidity and brightness of the pickles goes well with the richness of the meatloaf. Enjoy.