Tea & Biscuits

Adventures of a home cook

June 24, 2015
by kaysdad
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Multigrain Salad

Diet. It’s a nasty 4 letter word in my vocabulary! Counting calories, counting carbs, eating Weight Watchers prepared foods or subsisting on short rations. That’s no way to live in my opinion and yet it works for some. I don’t have the self discipline it takes to sit and watch others getting tucked in to a nice plate of roasted chicken with garlic mashed spuds and gravy while I look at a plate of spinach salad. Maybe it’s a character flaw. Nah! You think? Nah!

Your diet is what you eat; good, bad or indifferent. But when we say we are going on a “diet” we really mean some regimen or other that will result in reduced weight and/or better overall health. It is that “regimen” thing that always stopped me. Until a few years back when I went to the doctor for my annual check up. On previous visits the doctor had warned me about my ever rising cholesterol levels and I should consider going on a diet. This time she told me I was this close (holding her thumb and index finger a millimeter apart) from adult onset diabetes. That was an attention getter!

Knowing my reluctance to go on a diet she suggested I buy a book called The Sonoma Diet by a nutritionist called Dr Connie Guttersen. It is modeled on the Mediterranean diet and in essence it amounts to this: There are good carbs and bad carbs, good fats and bad fats. You eat the good and avoid the bad. Then there is portion control; don’t gorge on food and no going back for seconds! And there is no getting away without some exercise…

Well, I bought the book and I was very pleasantly surprised. The food is real, people food; no pre-portioned stuff you have to buy like you do with Weight Watchers and similar programs. My weight and cholesterol dropped to much healthier levels and have stayed there. I am a great fan and advocate for The Sonoma Diet and I highly recommend it.

But what has all this to do with a Multigrain Salad? Well, one of the recipes in Dr Guttersen’s book that helped me get started on the road to controlling my cholesterol is the multigrain salad (Dr Guttersen calls it a Southwestern Grain Medley.) It is one of my wife’s favorites and I make it quite a lot.

One of the things I love about this recipe is its versatility. I made it as written for the first few times but soon I began to vary it to suit my mood and what’s in the fridge/pantry at any given time. It often happens when I cook that I get into a “zone” and my mind races as ideas form. At each step of the way I am improvising and revising till the dish is plated and set on the table. That is never more so than when I make this salad. I made a version of it the other day for my wife to take to work for lunch. She shared it with a colleague who said some very kind words about it and asked for the recipe. That’s a problem on two levels; first, there isn’t a “recipe” because in the construction of the dish it was a matter of one action following another to a natural conclusion. Second, if I write down all the things I did to get there, the recipe becomes very long and intimidating to many home cooks. I find the whole process very therapeutic but I’m weird that way. Most people, I suspect, don’t have the time or inclination to go through all the steps necessary to get where I got to. For those who do, why not give this a try.

Here I will write the recipe as it appears in Dr Guttersen’s book, The Sonoma Diet, trusting she won’t mind my sharing it with you. Then I will write out (as best I can remember) what I did to create the salad my wife took to work yesterday, for those inclined to try it. In case you are not familiar with some of the ingredients or how to prepare them I have added some descriptions and suggested substitutions at the bottom of this post.

So, here’s a bit of advice for what it is worth, that applies to cooking in general but is especially relevant to this recipe:

Do you remember the ending of the first Star Wars movie? (Was it really that long ago? Yikes!) The Rebel forces had identified the Achilles heel of the Galactic Empire’s Death Star. Luke Skywalker is going in for the kill using all the electronic gadgetry at his disposal when he hears Obi-Wan Kenobi’s voice saying, “Use the Force, Luke. Use the Force”. Luke shuts down his heads-up display, goes on manual control and scores the fatal hit. So, the moral of the story is, instead of slavishly following a recipe, listen for my voice (however you imagine it) telling you, “Use the Force, Cook. Use the Force”.

The two recipes are not so very different really. It’s all the pre-cooking of the grains and the roasting and peeling and chopping in my version that gets laborious and time consuming, and so….

A word about some of the ingredients:

Tomatoes – To prepare the tomatoes trim off the stem end and cut the tomato lengthways into quarters. Cut out the seeds and the tough, whitish core then chop the tomatoes into 1/4: (6mm) pieces.

Roasted Poblanos – Poblano chiles have a fairly mild heat (I don’t know where they appear on the Scoville scale but it is near the bottom) and are just right for this salad. To roast them set the peppers over the gas flame on your stove top, turning occasionally with tongs, until they are completely charred all over. Seal the peppers in a paper bag or in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 15 minutes. The steam generated in the enclosed space will loosen the charred skin making it easy to peel off.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, cut off the stem end then cut the pepper in half lengthwise. Remove the seed pod and any stray seeds. Slide or scrape off the charred skin then chop the peppers into 1/4″ (6mm) pieces. (Don’t be too obsessive about removing all the skin. A little charred skin adds a nice smokey flavor). Peeling and seeding is a bit of a messy job but stick with it, the end result is well worth the effort. Do not be tempted to rinse the peppers to remove all of the seeds or charred skin; you will be washing away the flavorful essential oils.

If you can’t find fresh poblanos you can just as well do what Dr Guttersen suggests and chop up a serrano or jalapeño chile. You may know that most of the heat in a hot chili peppers resides in the seeds and ribs of the pepper in the form of a substance called capsaicin. You can control the level of heat by how much of the seeds and ribs you leave in the chili.

The red pepper is roasted, seeded and chopped in exactly the same way.

Quinoa – (pronounced KEEN-wa) Quinoa is an ancient seed cultivated in the Andean countries of South America. Until recently it wasn’t much known outside of the traditional growing regions but it is gaining popularity here in the US and around the world and with good reason. Quinoa is one of the so called “Super Foods”, chock full of goodness and it tastes good to boot.

In its natural state quinoa seeds are coated with a bitter compound called Saponin, making it unpleasant to eat. The compound is water soluble and easily washes off. Some commercially available quinoa sold today is pre-washed and ready to cook but it’s good idea to rinse it under cold running water before cooking anyway. I always do, even though I know it is not always necessary. It’s amazing what the power of suggestion can do!

Quinoa only takes about 15-20 minutes to cook and it is cooked on the stovetop much like rice. If you use a ratio of one part quinoa to 2 parts water or stock (by volume) and cook it covered over low heat till the water is absorbed, the seeds will pop open kinda like tiny popcorn. If you want more intact seeds you can use less liquid (1.5 times the amount of quinoa) so the seeds cook to the point of being tender without popping. Either way works fine.

If you can’t find quinoa, use any other grain of your choice.

Wild Rice – And what about that wild rice? Wild rice like all varieties of rice is a species of grass. The state of Minnesota in the US is a major world wide producer of cultivated wild rice (isn’t that an oxymoron?). Wild rice has a distinctive flavor and texture unlike any other rice. It can be difficult to find and compared to the more common varieties of rice, it’s quite expensive. It takes really long time to cook as well; up to an hour. You can absolutely use brown rice or pearled barley instead. I do not recommend using regular white rice though.

Pearl Coucous – Sometimes called Israeli Couscous it is a kind of pasta. I use it because I like its taste and texture. You can use regular or wholewheat couscous if you prefer. Follow the packet instructions to prepare regular couscous. When I make pearl couscous I use a ratio of 1 part couscous to 1.5 parts salted water or stock. Like the quinoa I bring it to a boil, cover it, lower the heat and simmer about 15 minutes until the water has been absorbed. When it is done I stir in a good glug of olive oil to stop it congealing into a solid lump.

Bulgur Wheat – Bulgur comes in 3 forms; fine, medium and course. (I have also seen it labeled 1, 2 and 3.) It is the fine grade I use here because it doesn’t need cooking. You simply add a little cold water to the dry bulgur and let it sit for 10-20 minutes to absorb the water and there you have it. The courser bulgurs have to be cooked like other grains and that’s OK but they tend to be somewhat gummier than the fine grade.

These are the grains I used the other day when I made this salad. On another day I may choose other grains and accompanying flavors depending on what I have available in the house and what I feel like at the time. On a recent trip home to the UK I saw in the supermarket vacuum sealed packages of precooked grains, perfect for this salad. There were several grain variety combinations to choose from. I would encourage you to experiment with your own choice of grains and flavors. Use the Force, Cook. Use the Force!

Bon Appetite!

Multigrain Salad (from The Sonoma Diet book)

Course Salad
Cuisine Mediterranean
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Cook wild rice* 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup wild rice – *See note below
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1/2 cup corn kernels – fresh or frozen
  • 4 Tsp EVO – divided
  • 1/2 cup canned black beans – rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
  • 1/2 cup cucumber – seeded and chopped
  • 2 green onions – sliced thin
  • 2 TBS lime juice
  • 1 1/2 Tsp jalapeño or serrano chile peppers – seeded and chopped fine
  • 1 1/2 Tsp fresh cilantro (coriander) – chopped
  • Salt preferably Kosher or sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  • Cook the wild rice according to the packet instructions. *See note below. Remove 1 cup of cooked rice for the recipe and save the rest for another use.
  • While the rice is cooking, rinse the quinoa under the cold water tap in a fine mesh strainer for 20 -30 seconds and set aside to drain.
  • Bring the broth to a boil in a small pot. Add the rinsed and drained quinoa and bring the pot back to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is fully cooked and fluffy. Remove a cup of quinoa for the recipe and save the rest for another use.
  • Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat, Add 1 Tsp oil and the corn. Cook for about 5 minutes until the kernels begin to brown in spots.
  • Add the corn to a large bowl along with the remaining 3 Tsp oil, the rice, quinoa and all the other ingredients.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Serve with a little poached chicken for a healthy and satisfying lunch or dinner.

Notes

*Note: Wild rice takes a long time to cook – about an hour. It is also quite expensive and may be difficult to find. Feel free to choose another grain such as pearl barley which cooks in about 30 minutes but is much more widely available.

That’s the simple version. Now for my more substantial salad recipe:

Jock’s Multigrain Salad

A healthy main course salad featuring a variety of whole grains and vegetables
Course Salad
Cuisine Mediterranean
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa – *See note below
  • 1 1/2 cups pearl (Israeli) couscous – *See note below
  • 1 cup prepared bulgur wheat – *See note below
  • 1 1/2 Tsp olive oil
  • 1 cup kernels from one large ear of corn – or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 2 plum tomatoes – seeded and chopped into 1/4" (6mm) dice
  • 2-3 green onions – finely sliced
  • 1 cup cucumber – peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 2 poblano chiles – roasted, seeded and chopped. See head notes
  • 1 large red pepper – roasted, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 small fennel bulb – fronds, core and tough outer layer discarded, thinly sliced
  • salt – preferably Kosher or sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper

Dressing

  • 1/4 cup (4TBS/60ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 garlic clove – minced
  • 1 Tsp ground cumin
  • grated zest and juice from one large lime
  • 1 Tsp Dijon mustard
  • Pinch salt

Instructions

  • Prepare the quinoa, pearl couscous and bulgar. *See note below.
  • Heat 1 1/2 Tsp olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat and add the corn. Cook for about 5 minutes until the corn is brown in spots. (Note: some of the sugars in the corn may have caramelized in the bottom of the pan. Don't throw that away, it has good flavor. To capture it add 2-3 TBS water to the pan and shake it about to release the fond. Let the water evaporate until it is almost dry.)
  • Add the corn to a large bowl along with the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Dressing

  • In a small pot heat the oil over medium heat. Add the cumin and garlic and cook about a minute or so until the cumin and garlic become fragrant. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the lime zest, juice, mustard and salt.
  • Whisk the oil mixture into the lime juice mixture. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Too astringent? Add a bit more oil. Too mild? Add more juice. A bit flat tasting? Add a pinch more salt. Don’t have a lime? A lemon will do nicely.
  • Stir the dressing into the salad and set it aside for an hour or so at room temperature to allow the flavors to meld together. (This will keep in the fridge, covered, for a few days.)

Notes

*Refer to instructions #2 & #3 of the Sonoma Diet version of this recipe (above) to see how to prepare the quinoa.
*Prepare the couscous according to the package instructions.
*Use the finest grain bulgar and prepare according to the package instructions.
*Feel free to substitute any other grain combination you prefer.
*Alternatively, use precooked grains if they are available to you.

May 29, 2015
by kaysdad
1 Comment

Digestive Biscuits

2015-06-15 17.40.23

What’s in a name? Sometimes, quite a lot! Take biscuits, for example.

To an American a biscuit is a scone like pastry made with buttermilk and is often served alongside savory dishes like stews. In the South biscuits and gravy are served for breakfast. Just as popular, biscuits are also eaten much like scones with butter, honey or jam.

To a Brit, however, a biscuit is a slightly sweet crispy treat somewhere between a cookie and a cracker you would enjoy with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

So, now that we are all clear on the differences, these Digestive Biscuits are the British style and they have become our new favorite snack.

Used to be, back in the bad old days in the UK everybody stopped mid morning and again mid afternoon for a nice cuppa. Usually tea but sometimes coffee. It was said that a good cup of tea could solve all the world’s problems and it was true. For that 15 minutes while you sit back and relax with your cup of tea, all the world’s problems go away. Of course, they came crashing back again as soon as the tea break was over. But at least twice a day you could be assured of a little peace and serenity.

Typically you would have a little snack with your cuppa in the form of a biscuit. One of my favorites was (and still is) a McVitie’s chocolate covered digestive.

Digestive biscuits were invented in 1839 by two doctors in Edinburgh, the epicenter of medical science at the time. They believed (somewhat erroneously) that the biscuits aided digestion because they contained bicarbonate of soda, hence the name ‘Digestive”. There is no science to support this notion but to this day, McVitie’s digestives remain the most popular biscuits sold in the UK.

Here in the US making cookies at home is very common. Making biscuits at home in the UK, not so much, I think. It is so much easier to buy a packet of biscuits at the store. I am an avid food label reader and it distresses me when I read on some labels the preservatives and unpronounceable ‘stuff’ in the product I am expected to eat. There are some exceptions to the label reading rule, however, and McVitie’s is one of them. I mean, everybody is entitled to some guilty pleasures, right? And it’s not like I eat them every day or anything…

I can get McVitie’s where I live here in California but they are hugely expensive compared to UK supermarket prices and are usually at or near their ‘best by’ date. And so I always fancied having a go at making digestives at home. I’ve tried a few recipes and have been thoroughly underwhelmed with the results. Until a few months ago when I happened upon an article in the Guardian newspaper by their food writer, Felicity Cloake. In the article Ms Cloake compared recipes from a number of bakers and created her own, a composite of the ones she compared. I made them and they weren’t half bad. (You can read the original article here). I made some modifications though. So many in fact that even though I used Ms Cloake’s recipe as a starting point I feel comfortable claiming this one as my own.

I call for white whole wheat flour here. While not as ubiquitous as the red whole wheat flour, it is widely available in the US. Wholemeal flour in the UK is made from white wheat berries by default because that is the wheat most commonly used there. White wheat berries are not actually white, more of a tan color. The flour is less bitter than that made from red wheat and has a milder, sweeter taste.

The oatmeal I use is proper Scottish oatmeal (what we Scots would call porridge oats), not the Quaker rolled oats. Rolled oats are oat berries that have been steamed to soften them, then rolled flat, hence the name! I have ground up some rolled oats to use instead of the porridge oats to see how the biscuits would turn out. (I use a cheap – $20 – coffee grinder for this purpose as well as for grinding fresh spices but you could just as well whizz the rolled oats in a food processor). There was a noticeable difference in taste but it still made pretty good biscuits so, if you can’t find proper porridge oats, ground up rolled oats will do. Irish steel cut oats won’t work here. Again as the name suggests, steel cut oats are oat berries that are cut into large pieces rather than being ground like porridge oats.

I originally developed this recipe around a stick of butter. Here in the US, butter is commonly sold in 1 pound (450g) packages with each package containing 4 x 4 ounce ‘sticks’. How many biscuits you get out of this batch of dough depends on how big they are and how thick you roll the dough. I got 18 biscuits if I roll the dough 3/16″ (5mm) thick and use a 2-3/4″ (7cm) cookie cutter. I found that 3/16″ is a good thickness; any more and the biscuits don’t crisp up like they should and any less they tend to get too brown around the edges. However, 18 biscuits didn’t last long so I upped everything by 33% and now make 24 at a time.

So that raises a question; how do you get the dough to an even, consistent thickness? You can buy these rubber band thingies you fit over the ends of your rolling pin. The bands come in various thicknesses so you can roll out any dough evenly to whatever thickness is appropriate. You can also buy a set of plastic sticks at a baking supply shop. They too come in various thicknesses. You set a stick on either side of the dough and roll it out until the rolling pin gets to that level for even thickness every time. A clever idea, I thought. But me, being me, decided, “I can make these”, and so I did! Carpentry is one of my many hobbies I went to my workshop and fashioned a set of limit sticks out of some maple wood I happened to have left from a previous project. They work perfectly. I would encourage you to look for the commercially available product or, if you have the wherewithal, make some. It will make your baking life a lot easier, trust me!

Do you see those holes I poked in the biscuits? They are not just for show. The holes allow moisture to evaporate during baking so that the biscuits bake and crisp evenly. Otherwise the edges would crisp up while the center would not. Being mildly OCD about these things I poked 14 holes in each biscuit with a bamboo skewer for a total of 336 holes. That was getting a bit tedious so I made a spring loaded stamp to streamline the process. But again, that’s just me all over, isn’t it? A normal person would poke the biscuits a few times with the tines of a fork!!

You will notice that there is very little liquid in the dough; only 4 teaspoons. So, what binds the dough together? The sugar! The little bit of milk dissolves the sugar which becomes liquid. It does make the dough quite sticky though and that is why I roll it on wax paper and covered with a sheet of plastic wrap. Even so, the dough will still tend to stick to the wax paper, especially in warmer weather. I use a small off-set spatula like this one to lift them off the paper.

Now, what about chocolate? Chocolate covered McVitie’s digestives are a very special treat with either dark or milk chocolate. If you want to melt some chocolate and spread it on one side of your digestives, by all means, go ahead. Personally I think the biscuits work perfectly well on their own.

These biscuits keep very well in an airtight container for several days without loosing their crispness. Of course they don’t usually last that long!

To make the biscuits you will want to:

Dry ingredients in the food processor bowl
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of your food processor and pulse to combine.
Add the butter pieces and...
Add the butter pieces and…
…process until clumps start to form.
Transfer to a bowl and add the milk...
Transfer to a bowl and add the milk, tossing gently with your finger tips until…
…it is uniformly moistened and looks like wet sand.

Prepare to roil out the dough:

The dough with the sticks to control thickness
Gather half the dough and form it into a firm mass.
Roll the dough between sheets of wax (greaseproof) paper and cut out biscuits
Roll the dough between sheets of wax (greaseproof) paper and cut out biscuits, transferring them to the prepared sheet pan. Refrigerate while the oven preheats.
Poke holes with the bamboo skewer
One sheet pan at a time, poke holes with the tines of a fork or a bamboo skewer and…

…bake the biscuits according to the recipe instructions.

Bake, cool and enjoy with your cup of tea
Bake, cool and enjoy with your cup of tea

Digestive Biscuits

A crisp, buttery and delicately sweet snack to enjoy with a cup of tea
Course Snack
Cuisine British
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Time to chill biscuits 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 24 biscuits

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups (9 1/2oz/255g) white wholewheat flour
  • 1/2 cup (3oz/85g) Scottish oatmeal *See note below
  • 10 1/2 TBS (5 1/4oz/150g) unsalted butter – cold from the fridge, cut into 1/2" (12mm) pieces
  • 5 TBS (2oz/55g) dark brown sugar – **See note below
  • 1/2 Tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/2 Tsp baking soda
  • 4 Tsp (20ml) milk

Instructions

Mix the dough:

  • Place the flour, oatmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder in a food processor and pulse several times until thoroughly combined.
  • Add the butter pieces and process thoroughly. It is important to process the butter into the flour until it starts to form clumps or the dough will be crumbly and difficult to work with. This may take up to 25, 1 second pulses. Stop and scrape down the the bowl a few times when the dough starts to climb up the sides.
  • Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the milk. Toss gently with your fingertips to thoroughly distribute the milk throughout the dough. It should look like wet sand.

Prepare to roll out the dough:

  • Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • This dough is very stiff and needs a sturdy rolling pin and some elbow grease to roll it out. Wipe your work surface with a damp cloth to moisten it. Place a piece of wax paper (greaseproof) about 18" (45cm) long on your work surface. (The damp surface stops the wax paper from sliding all over the place.)
  • Gather half the dough on to the wax paper and form it into a dense ball. Flatten the ball with the heel of your hand as much as you can. Cover with another sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap and roll it out to 3/16" (5mm) thickness. The dough may be a bit crumbly to begin with but it becomes more workable the more you roll it. With a 2-3/4" (7cm) cookie cutter cut out as many biscuits as you can. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet using a small spatula. These biscuits don’t spread at all so you can place them quite close together.
  • Gather the scraps adding more dough from the bowl. Roll and cut more biscuits, transferring them to the baking sheet pan as you go. Keep rolling, cutting and gathering until all the dough is used up.
  • Transfer the sheet pans to the refrigerator.

Bake the biscuits:

  • While the biscuits are chilling in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) with a convection fan. If your oven does not have a fan, heat it to 375ºF (190ºC).
  • Take one sheet pan out of the fridge and poke the biscuits 3-4 times with the tines of a fork. Bake for about 18 minutes on the middle rack, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even baking. ***See note below.
  • Allow the biscuits to cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Repeat with the second sheet pan.
  • The biscuits will keep for a week in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

* Scottish oatmeal is commonly available in the UK. Not so much in the US. Look for Bob’s Red Mill Scottish oatmeal where you live. Failing that, whizz regular rolled oats in the food processor until the are finely ground. The flavor won’t be quite the same as with porridge oats but still very good.
** Unlike flour and other dry ingredients, brown sugar is always packed into the measuring cup or spoon so be sure to pack it in when you measure it out. Unless you are weighing your ingredients of course – always the better choice in baking.
*** All ovens behave differently and have their own characteristics. In my oven it takes 18 minutes to bake a batch of these biscuits. Yours may bake a few minutes faster or may take a little longer. Trial and error will soon get you to the ideal time. Keep in mind, the biscuits will darken slightly as they cool so if they look a tad on the pale side at the end of baking, don’t worry, they will be perfect by the time they are cooled. 
If you are making these in the summer time in a warm kitchen the butter in the dough may start to melt. If it becomes too sticky to work with, place the bowl of dough in the fridge for 10 minutes to stiffen it a bit before continuing.

December 17, 2014
by kaysdad
0 comments

Chicken Adobo

Adobo! What is that, exactly? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Adobo is a Spanish word which in this context means pickle. Historically it was a process used to preserve food, something we still do today. With the advent of refrigeration, however, pickling is no longer just a way to preserve food (especially meat) but a way to flavor it. Meats are marinated for a short period of time in a mixture that includes vinegar (the adobo element) before being cooked.

When the Spanish went a-conquering back in the day they introduced the concept of adobo wherever they went. Not surprisingly I suppose, the local populations applied their own cultural twist to the basic concept. All over central and south America you will find variations on the theme in the different cooking cultures. One of the best known here in the US is Chipotle en Adobo from Mexico. Chipotle chiles are dried and smoked jalapeño chiles that are packed in a tomato/vinegar based sauce – Adobo!

When the Spanish first made their way across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines they saw that the local islanders were not storing their food in a vinegar based sauce but actually cooking in it. Their process was similar enough to the Spanish adobo that the Spaniards called it that. The original name for the cooking of meat in a vinegar based sauce is, I believe, long lost to history.

Although today almost anything can be cooked in adobo, Chicken Adobo is thought to be the unofficial national dish of the Philippines . Pork adobo is also very popular.

In terms of “authenticity” I don’t think there is any one recipe or process in the Philippines that can claim to be the definitive recipe. Across the regions, towns and even within families, everybody has their own way to prepare chicken adobo. All of them no doubt very good in their own right. I made this particular version a few weeks ago and thought it the best I had ever tasted and so I wanted to share it with you. It is not a complicated recipe; in fact, it is remarkably simple and I hope you try it.

The chicken adobos I have eaten in the past have been cooked in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. This one adds coconut milk to balance out the the saltiness of the soy sauce and the astringency of the vinegar. Yum!

I cannot take any credit for this recipe; it comes from the folks at America’s Test Kitchen. ATK, for those who don’t know, started many years ago as a food magazine called Cook’s Illustrated (still published today). 14 years ago they started producing a TV show called America’s Test Kitchen and later, it’s sibling, Cook’s Country. So, thanks to ATK for this.

This recipe will serve 4-6 people depending on their appetites. You can reduce the quantity of chicken if you like but keep the sauce ingredients the same. You will have an excess of sauce but that’s OK,  it is so tasty you won’t regret it.

Chicken Adobo

Chicken braised in coconut milk, vinegar and soy sauce
Course Main Course
Cuisine Filipino
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • 12" skillet

Ingredients

  • 8 chicken thighs bone in, skin on
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce (80ml)
  • 1 can coconut milk 13.5 oz (400 ml)
  • 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar (180ml)
  • 8 garlic cloves skins removed and lightly crushed
  • 4 dried bay leaves or 2-3 fresh leaves
  • 2 Tsp freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  • In a large bowl toss the chicken with the soy sauce and set aside for 30-60 minutes to marinate.
  • Remove the chicken pieces from the bowl allowing excess soy sauce to drip back into the bowl and place skin side down in a large, cold skillet.
  • Set the skillet over medium high heat and cook the chicken until the skin is well browned – about 7-10 minutes depending on your stove's heat output. Leave the chicken alone at this point and don't be tempted to fuss with it. Lift a corner of one piece to see how it is progressing and take it out of the pan when it has a nice golden brown color.
  • While the chicken is browning mix the coconut milk, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and pepper into the soy sauce left in the bowl.
  • Remove the chicken to a plate and pour off any fat in the pan.
  • Return the chicken to the pan, skin side down and pour in the coconut milk mixture.
  • Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered for about 20 minutes.
  • Flip the chicken over and continue cooking another 10 minutes or more if the thighs are particularly large. It should be tender enough that the meat will offer little or no resistance when poked with the tip of a small paring knife.
  • Remove the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep it warm.
  • If the sauce seems too thin, turn up the heat and reduce it until it thickens a bit. It should be just viscous enough to coat the back of a spoon. See note below.
  • When the sauce is the consistency you want it, return the chicken to the pan to warm it through and coat with sauce.
  • Serve the chicken over rice with the sauce.

Notes

Chicken thighs are the preferred cut here because they can tolerate the long cooking time. Long, slow cooking allows the connective tissue in the thighs to break down into gelatin which takes the place of the water in the meat which will have cooked out. The result is tender, succulent chicken thighs. If you choose to use breast meat, be aware that it will have a tendency to overcook and become dry since it doesn’t have any intramuscular fat or connective tissue to keep it moist and tender. The cooking time will be shorter for white meat and you will want to use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the meat. Take it out of the pan when it reaches 160°F (70°C) to avoid overcooking.
The 1 hour prep time indicated in the recipe includes 30-60 minutes to marinate the chicken in soy sauce. During this time all of the other prep, minimal though it is, can be done.
I have found that the consistency of the sauce after cooking the chicken is inconsistent. Occasionally it is perfect, sometimes it needs to be reduced a bit to get the right consistency and sometimes it simply does not thicken at all. In that case I will dissolve a teaspoon of tapioca or potato starch in a tablespoon of water and sir it into the sauce to get a nice silky texture. Plain flour or cornstarch tends to dull the flavor and can make the sauce a bit gloppy.
Once the chicken is done and ready to serve, you may want to discard the skin which will have become unpleasantly rubbery from being cooked in liquid.
While the chicken is cooking you can cook the rice that will be served with it.

November 13, 2014
by kaysdad
0 comments

Carnitas

I made some carnitas the other day and used it to make quesadillas with flour tortillas which we ate with guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

I expect most American readers will recognize the foods mentioned in that sentence but others may not be altogether familiar with some of them. For those who may not be familiar, here is a breakdown:

Carnitas is a Mexican dish made by deep-frying chunks of pork (typically pork shoulder) in pork fat until it is crispy on the outside and deliciously succulent on the inside. The cooked pork is then shredded into bite sized pieces. It may sound like the meat would be grossly unhealthy and greasy but in fact it isn’t. Duck confit is cooked in a similar way with pieces of duck cooked in duck fat. If you have ever had it you know it is actually quite lean but very delicious. And so it is with the pork.

Quesadillas are a traditional Mexican street food made by warming tortillas (either corn or flour), spread with cheese (queso in Spanish – hence the name) and any number of different fillings.

Tortillas. If you are in Spain and ask for a tortilla you will be served a kind of omelet made with potatoes and onions. Tortillas are typically served in tapas bars accompanied with allioli (a kind of garlicky mayonnaise and spelled aioli in France). In Mexico a tortilla is something completely different. It is a kind of flat bread made with either ground corn (called Masa) or with regular white flour, mixed to a dough with lard and water. Both kinds of tortilla are used to make quesadillas, burritos, tacos and the like. Filled with a huge variety of fillings these foods are typically “finger food”, eaten out of hand rather than with a knife and fork. Messy sometimes, but very satisfying.

Guacamole. Guac is the Aztec word for avocado and Mole means sauce. So, guacamole is simply avocado sauce. In it’s basic form guacamole is just mashed avocado with a spritz of lime juice (for flavor and to slow down oxidation) and a pinch of salt. Other versions are tarted up with onion, tomato, cilantro (called coriander leaves in the UK and otherwise sometimes called Chinese parsley) amongst other things. Some guacamoles are smooth and liquid to the point of being pourable while others are thick and chunky. They are all very delicious.

But today we are focusing on the Carnitas. I don’t imagine many households have huge vats of pork fat in the kitchen so this version is for the home cook and is one of many ways Mexican home cooks prepare carnitas. It takes 2-3 hours to make but most of that time is unattended; that is to say, the pork bubbles away on the stove top and needs only an occasional peek to monitor its progress.

No “Buts”, it’s got to be Butt

The preferred cut of pork for carnitas is the upper shoulder of the pig, sold in the US as pork butt; a name that is a bit off-putting because some people think it is the pig’s butt. In fact, the name comes from the barrel or butt used in the bad old days to store pig parts. When the hog was butchered some of the pieces not used right away or cured (like the belly for bacon) were stored in the butt, covered with melted pork fat. The fat would exclude oxygen and bacteria, thereby inhibiting spoilage. The very perishable pork meat could be stored for extended periods this way.

I don’t know how pork shoulder is sold in the UK (or anywhere else outside the US) but ask the butcher if in doubt. You want a piece that has a good proportion of fat and connective tissue. The connective tissue will break down as it cooks and give the meat a luxurious texture and the fat will add lots of flavor. You may need to trim some of the larger pieces of fat if it is a particularly fatty piece of meat, but don’t be tempted to trim too much. And don’t try this with lean pork; it will cook up dry and tough. If you can’t get pork shoulder, give up the carnitas idea and grill a chop instead!

Easy Peasy

Our carnitas couldn’t be simpler; the pork is braised in a mix of water and orange juice for a couple of hours until the liquid boils away. The fully cooked meat then fries in its own fat till the outside crisps up, approximating the crispy deep fried version.

Waste not, want not!

If you do trim some of the fat cap, don’t throw it away. Cut it into small pieces and put it in a small pot over very low heat to render the fat. Pork fat is great for sautéing and for making tortillas, which is what I usually do with it.

What are you going to do with all this lovely meat? Make quesadillas? Good idea. Today at the store I bought some sweet potatoes to mash up and serve with the pork cuz, you know, anything sweet goes with pork. You could mix in a little BBQ sauce and put this on a sandwich or serve it with creamy mashed potatoes or roasted vegetables.

Bon Appetite!

Carnitas

Chunks of pork braised in water and orange juice to tender perfection
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 8 people

Ingredients

  • 4 lb (2 kg) boneless pork butt – *See note below
  • 2 cups (450ml) water
  • 1.5 cups (350ml) orange juice
  • 2 garlic cloves – crushed
  • 1 Tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup 60 ml brandy or rum

Instructions

  • Trim any large pieces of fat and cut the pork into 2" (5 cm) chunks.
  • Place the pork, water, orange juice, garlic and salt in a large, heavy pot over high heat.
  • Bring to a boil. Cover the pot, lower the heat and simmer for about 2 hours. Check occasionally to monitor the progress.
  • As it gets closer to the time test the meat by poking it with a knife. When the knife can be inserted without resistance the meat is done. Give it more time if necessary.
  • Add the brandy or rum and increase the heat to medium. Continue cooking, uncovered for another 15-20 minutes.
  • If any cooking liquid remains, turn the heat to high to boil it off.
  • Once the liquid has evaporated, turn the heat back to medium and continue cooking until some pieces of pork begin to crisp. Be careful at this point; the sugars in the orange juice will tend to burn. Stir the pork as it fries to prevent burning and also to break up the bigger pieces of meat.
  • Taste for seasoning but be warned – this stuff is addictive!

Notes

*A whole pork shoulder is a huge piece of meat. At retail it is typically sold in the US as shoulder and butt. The shoulder cut is lower on the leg and the butt is the upper portion. However it is sold where you live, the upper butt is the preferred cut here. It has more muscle groups and connective tissue than the lower, shoulder cut. During the long, slow cooking process the collagen in the connective tissue breaks down into gelatin. It’s this gelatin that makes the finished pork tender and juicy with a luxuriant mouth feel. Leaner cuts of pork (or any meat for that matter) do not have the same connective tissue and long cooking like this renders them dry and tough.
You can scale this recipe up or down as you please. If you use less meat the cooking time will be the same, more or less. But, because there is less liquid it may cook down before the meat is fully cooked and you may need to add more water if it looks to be running dry.
Carnitas keeps well in the fridge for a few days in an airtight container. It also freezes very well. Portion it out into separate containers and you will have a quick dinner ready at a moment’s notice.

October 5, 2014
by kaysdad
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Spaghetti Bolognese

The city of Bologna in the region of Emilia-Romagnia in the north, central part of the Italy is passionate about it’s pasta. It is the home of the Tortellini.

(Legend has it that in the days when gods roamed the earth Venus and Zeus stayed the night at an inn near Bologna. The innkeeper was so enthralled by Venus’s beauty he wanted to see her one more time. So late at night he snuck into her room and saw her lying naked in her bed. He then created the tortellini which is said to represent Venus’s navel.)

But perhaps the most popular dish to come out of Bologna is Spaghetti Bolognese (anything originating in Bologna being Bolognese). It is the meat sauce that is Bolognese, not the spaghetti. The sauce is cooked for hours on low heat; these long, slow cooked sauces are called ragu so the sauce might well be called Ragu alla Bolognese.

Most of the spaghetti Bolognese I have eaten have been watery, one dimensional sauces on top of tasteless spaghetti. A good Ragu Bolognese is a rich, complex meat sauce coating pasta well cooked in properly seasoned water. This recipe produces just such a sauce.

Before starting this I strongly recommend reviewing my post on How to Cook Pasta

A quick note about the tomatoes:

Organic, canned tomatoes are best for this dish because they are cheaper than fresh tomatoes, they taste much better than regular supermarket tomatoes and they are available year round. Canned whole or diced tomatoes contain a chemical called Calcium Chloride which is added to let the tomatoes keep their texture when cooked. In my sauce I like the tomatoes to cook down and blend in so I use crushed tomatoes which do not have the calcium chloride added. You can use whatever tomatoes you like; whole, diced, crushed, fire roasted, whatever. I would not recommend using stewed tomatoes though. I don’t think their flavor is right for spaghetti sauce.

The meat: (This is after all, a meat sauce.)

Many Bolognese recipes will ask for a combination of ground beef, ground pork and ground veal. Some also include pancetta, that unsmoked, cured Italian bacon. Although it may not be truly authentic, all ground beef (mince) works just fine.

And finally…

Of all the ingredients, perhaps the most important is time! For a good, rich sauce, you can’t rush it. It is autumn now, soon to be winter and the ideal time to be making soups, stews, braises. Those house and soul warming dishes for cold weather days. Bolognese sauce is one of the most simple and satisfying of the ragus to make. You can double this recipe and freeze the leftovers in batches to have on hand when you want something satisfying but don’t have the time to make it. It’s also great for lasagne.

Tuti a tavola a mangare! (Everybody to the table and eat!)

Spaghetti Bolognese

Classic slow cooked Bolognese ragu
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lb (700g) lean ground beef (mince) – 10-15% fat or a mix of ground beef and pork (or beef, pork and veal)
  • 2 oz (56g) pancetta – diced (optional)
  • 1 small onion – chopped course
  • 1 medium carrot – chopped course
  • 1 celery stalk – chopped course
  • 2-3 garlic cloves – minced
  • 2 TBS tomato paste (purée)
  • ½ cup (125ml) dry white wine – or dry vermouth
  • 1 can (14oz, 400g) crushed tomatoes – *See note below
  • 1 cup (250ml) chicken stock – or water in a pinch
  • 1 cup (250ml) milk
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 lb (450g) spaghetti – or any other long pasta such as linguini, tagliatelle, etc.
  • Parmesan cheese – for grating on the finished dish

Instructions

  • In a large pot over high heat add about one third of the ground meat. Using a wooden spoon break up the meat and cook it until there are no lumps left and no traces of pink meat. Continue cooking the meat until all the liquid has evaporated and it starts to fry in its own fat and become nicely browned.
  • Transfer the meat to a bowl and repeat with the second and third batches of meat. Transfer them to the bowl also. Don't skimp on this step. Take your time to properly brown the meat which will add depth of flavor to the sauce.
  • While the meat is browning, add the optional pancetta along with the onion, carrot and celery to the work bowl of a food processor. Process the veggies to a paste and set aside. **See note below.
  • When all the meat has been browned, lower the heat to medium and add the puréed vegetables to the pot with about a teaspoon of salt. If there isn't enough fat rendered from the meat to cook the veggies, add about a TBS of olive oil.
  • Stir and cook the vegetables until they are soft and beginning to brown a little – about 5-8 minutes.
  • Add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant.
  • Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a minute.
  • Add the wine and cook for a few minutes until it evaporates, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. ***See note below.
  • Add the meat back to the pot along with the stock (or water), tomatoes, milk and another teaspoon of salt.
  • Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer gently, uncovered for as long as you can – at least an hour and up to 4 hours – stirring occasionally, until it thickens. If it looks like it is getting too dry, add a dribble more of stock or water.
  • Check the sauce for seasoning and add pepper and more salt if needed. ****See note below.
  • In the meantime, put a large pot of well salted water on to boil.
  • Add the pasta, bring the pot back to a boil and cook to the package instructions.
  • About 2 minutes before the instructions say it is done, start testing the pasta for doneness; taste it! Using tongs or a fork, pick out a strand of pasta and bite it. If it is still very hard in the middle continue cooking another minute and taste again. Keep doing this until it is al dente; just cooked through but still with some resistance under your tooth.
  • Scoop out and save a cup or so of the pasta cooking water then drain the pasta into a colander.
  • Return the spaghetti to the now empty pot and add a ladle or two of the sauce, tossing to coat the pasta. (Adding the sauce right away will prevent the pasta from clumping together.) *****See note below.
  • If the sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water to thin it out a little.
  • Serve the pasta on warm plates with a generous scoop of sauce on top.
  • Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese, passing more at the table. Use the good stuff, freshly grated. You've gone to all this trouble to make an excellent sauce and perfectly cooked pasta, you don't want to ruin it now by using inferior cheese.

Notes

*I like to use canned, crushed tomatoes. Whole and diced tomatoes are treated with calcium chloride, a harmless chemical that prevents the tomatoes from breaking down as they cook. If you don’t mind chunky tomato pieces in your sauce, by all means, use whatever tomato product you like.
**If you don’t have a food processor, no worries. Just cut the veggies and optional pancetta into small, 1/4″ (6mm) dice.
***The bits of browned food on the bottom of the pot is called the fond and adding a liquid to melt and dissolve the fond is a process called deglazing. The fond has lots of flavor that adds to the finished sauce.
****If you are using store bought chicken stock you may not need more salt since the stock is already salty. That’s why it is important to taste as you go and adjust seasoning as needed.
*****In Italy, pasta dishes are all about the pasta and Italians tend to be a bit more judicious when saucing their pasta that we non-Italians are. In this case you want to lightly dress the pasta while it is in the pot so every strand is coated with a little sauce. Then you add another spoonful on top after it is plated. And speaking of plates, make sure the serving plates are warm when you dish up your delicious Spaghetti Bolognese. 

October 5, 2014
by kaysdad
0 comments

K.I.S.S.

For those who may not know, the acronym, K.I.S.S. stands for, Keep It Simple, Stupid!

It occurs to me that I got carried away with how I cook and my posts and recipes have reflected that. I had forgotten the core purpose of this blog, which is to post simple, straightforward recipes that can be mastered by the inexperienced home cook.

I make no apologies, however, for delving into food science as I explain recipes. I think it is important to understand what it is you are doing and why you are doing it. It helps to explain why some recipes may fail and how to avoid those failures in the future, thereby building the cook’s confidence. And, since success feeds upon itself, as confidence grows so does the cook’s repertoire.

My problem is not knowing when to shut up! I can write forever on the topic of food and cooking and sometimes I prattle on to such a point that the audience’s eyes will roll back. It’s something I need to work on; finding the right balance between enough information to cover what needs to be covered without writing a dissertation every time.

To make it a little easier for readers to find recipes I will create a separate page with links to posted recipes. But not today! I need to find a block of time, uninterrupted, to figure out how to do it. I’m not a super savvy techie type to whom these things are second nature. I need to muddle my way through the process.

It is October now, which in San Francisco means a short heat wave with glorious weather. I will be out enjoying that while it lasts and when it ends and the weather turns cooler, I will make the time to post more (simple) recipes and create the recipe page.

Stay tuned….

September 10, 2014
by kaysdad
0 comments

Evolution of a Dish

Until a couple of years ago we lived in San Francisco, known throughout the greater Bay Area as “the city”. You’re at a social gathering and somebody asks, “Where do you guys live?” and we say, “We live in the city”, no further explanation required. We moved to a town 40 miles away that, while not exactly bereft of grocery stores, does not have the variety or quality of fresh foods I became accustomed to in the city. For us it’s a 30 mile round trip to a grocery store with the kinds of products I, in my food snobbish way, prefer.

When we lived in the city, every day my wife would ask, “What’s for dinner tonight?” Sometimes, if I had decided to make one of the staple dishes on rotation, like carbonara or quesadillas or the like, I could say specifically, carbonara or quesadillas or the like. More often than not though I would answer, “I don’t know, I haven’t been to the store yet.” Or, if I had been to the store that day I might answer broadly, “chicken” or “fish” or “pork” or, whatever.

I used to make daily trips to the store because I could and I had several to choose from near where we lived. Not being a planner I couldn’t focus on anything beyond the next dinner. I believed that this daily shopping routine allowed me to be a more spontaneous cook, starting afresh every day. Now that the ‘good’ grocery stores are a long drive away I have had to change my perspective and surprisingly, it has not seriously limited the spontaneity I so much enjoy about cooking. Typically our once a week shopping trip will include a protein or two, lots of vegetables and a resupply of pantry staples.

I still get the same, “what’s for dinner tonight” though, and the answer is usually the same, “I don’t know yet”. That’s because I often don’t know what the finished dish is going to be until it’s actually on the plate. I review what’s in the fridge and pantry and pull out a bunch of ingredients and consider for a minute what I might put together. Sometimes I do a “random” dinner (a term coined by my daughter) where I raid the fridge to repurpose leftovers and put something together.

So how does that work? Well, when I did my daily shopping I would cruise the grocery store isles waiting to be inspired or I might have a germ of an idea I want to develop. I would usually start by choosing a protein; chicken, pork, fish, etc. Then I’d think of a preparation method; sauté, roast, grill, etc. Next I would think how it might be served; with a sauce perhaps, or some kind of salsa? A salad maybe. Or perhaps just simple veg and a starch. All of this is building a mental image of what will end up on the table. So I would gather some bits and head home to the kitchen. It’s not too much different now with my fridge and pantry substituting for the grocery store isles.

I check the fridge and pantry to see what I have; vegetables, condiments, cheeses, fresh or dried fruits, sauces, etc., and I drag all this stuff out. Having it all in front of me reminds me that I have all these things whether I use them for today’s dinner or not. It also offers an opportunity to check ‘best by’ dates and determine if some of these foods need to be in the compost bin as well as what needs to be added to the shopping list for the next grocery store run.

So then I start to cook and I get into a zone, my happy place if you like, where my sole focus is on the immediate task at hand. Having reviewed my collection of ingredients I decide on a direction I want to take. However, new ideas spring to mind as I go and I am constantly making spontaneous course changes. So what may have started as oven baked chicken breast with a creamy tarragon/mustard sauce and mashed potatoes might well end up being poached chicken breast with a sweet pepper and onion sauté on a bed of polenta.

My style of cooking is pretty much based on that kind of spontaneity and while that works for me it doesn’t necessarily work for others. Conveying my thought processes in words in the form of a written recipe is difficult because in the process there are dozens of minor but critical steps. Much of the subtle complexities of the finished dish come from these essential little steps. Writing all that down just makes the recipe seem even more daunting but leaving them out won’t produce the same result. When someone asks for the recipe it seems long and complicated but for me it is just the culmination of one idea leading to another and another. Taken one step at a time it is pretty straight forward but seen as a whole I can understand how others might see it as complicated. In my recipes I try to find a balance between providing enough information to reproduce the dish and making the recipe as accessible as possible.

And that’s how “cooking on the fly” works for me. You have to know what the rules of cooking are first before you can be comfortable bending and manipulating them to your will. That only comes with time, patience and lots of practice. When I first started cooking I used to slavishly follow a recipe to the letter. It was many years before I had enough confidence and experience to branch out and go off script. To this day I still get it wrong sometimes. Cooking is a never ending learning experience.

August 17, 2014
by kaysdad
0 comments

Panzanella Salad

If you’ve never had it, a Panzanella salad is a delicious way to use up day old bread that’s gone a bit stale. I’m talking about a good, so called rustic bread, not the soft sliced bread from the supermarket with all kinds of additives and preservatives. Something like a French baguette or batard or Italian ciabatta or the like. Anything made with little more than the 4 basic bread ingredients: flour, water, salt & yeast. Well crafted, these breads are truly exquisite but they don’t last more than a day before beginning to stale.

What do you do with stale bread? Feed it to the ducks? Toss it in the compost bin? EEK! No! Make croutons to top your green salads. Make bread pudding. Make breadcrumbs to coat you chicken breasts. Make a Panzanella salad. Now there’s an idea!

Although it is popular in many parts of Italy, the panzanella salad is believed to have originated in Tuscany. Until the early part of the 20th century the primary ingredient (after the bread) was onion. Onion is still featured in the salad but delicious, sweet summer tomatoes are now the star of the show.

I have seen recipes where the day old bread is soaked in water to reconstitute it and others where the slightly stale bread is used as is. Mostly though, the bread is tossed in a little EVO and either toasted in a hot oven or in a skillet on the stove top. The croutons are then tossed with delicious, juicy, summer ripe tomatoes, and a simple vinaigrette. The bread soaks up the tomato juices and the vinaigrette to make a luscious salad that can stand alone as a lunch item or light dinner. With a little protein on the side it becomes a substantial meal.

When I was casting about recently for a panzanella recipe I came upon an excellent website called A Cup of Jo by Joanna Goddard, a lifestyle blogger based in New York. Joanna’s friend and author of The First Mess blog, Laura Wright, posted her version of a panzanella salad on A Cup of Jo and touted it as the best ever. A bold statement indeed but I have to say, I haven’t yet tasted one better, either here or in Tuscany.

With Laura’s kind permission I present my version panzanella salad, only very slightly modified from the original.

Interestingly enough, the recipe Laura posted on A Cup of Jo does not appear on her own blog, The First Mess. She does have a recipe she calls a Summer Panzanella where she adds shredded kale and chopped peaches. The last time I made this salad I borrowed the idea and adapted it. Instead of adding chopped peaches to the salad I poached a chicken breast in white wine and butter and made a sauce from the pan juices, adding the peaches to the sauce until they were soft and falling apart. I dressed the sliced chicken with the peach sauce and served it alongside the salad.

Laura’s recipe for the panzanella salad calls for cherry tomatoes but I often use a variety of heirloom tomatoes because I like them. Cherry tomatoes are sweet and delicious but I find their skins to be thick and unpleasant to eat. But that’s just me, what can I say?! Feel free to use whatever tomatoes look good to you.

I can’t leave without throwing in a bit of food science; after all, understanding your ingredients is one of the main goals of this blog. So, today’s lesson….

Is there a difference between stale bread and toasted bread (croutons)? Why, yes there is, since you asked.

Bread is mostly flour and flour is upwards of 75% starch. When bread stales, the starches crystalize and some of the water in the original fresh bread is trapped within that network of starch crystals. Oh sure, some water is lost through evaporation as the bread sits out but it retains some of its original water content. When stale bread is warmed (in a microwave oven, for example) the starch crystals soften, releasing the trapped water and temporarily reconstituting the bread.

Toasted bread on the other hand is exposed to dry heat which evaporates most of the water in the bread, drying it out. Our stale bread is heated in the dry atmosphere of the oven, first softening the starches and then evaporating the moisture that is released.

This is an important distinction for this recipe because the stale bread on its own still contains some water and therefore will not absorb as much of the juices and vinaigrette as the dry, toasted bread.

And so endeth the lesson!!

Panzanella Salad

A delightfully bright salad making the most of day old bread and summer's bounty of vine ripened tomatoes
Course Salad
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

Croutons

  • 4 cups day old bread – *See note below
  • 1 1/2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Salad

  • 5 cups ripe tomatoes – **See note below
  • 1/2 Tsp salt
  • 3 TBS red wine vinegar
  • 4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup Shallot or red onion – finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove – minced
  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves

Instructions

  • For the Croutons
  • Pre-heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
  • Cut the bread into small, 1/2" (12mm) cubes and place in a large bowl. Toss the bread with 1 1/2 TBS of oil and a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. Spread the bread cubes on the prepared sheet pan into a single layer.
  • Toast the bread in the oven for 10-12 minutes until it is dry and beginning to turn golden brown. Toss the cubes once or twice to ensure even toasting.
  • For the Salad
  • Meanwhile, in the same bowl, add the tomatoes, salt, vinegar, olive oil, shallot and garlic, tossing gently to combine. Set aside for at least 15 minutes to let the tomatoes give up their juices.
  • When the croutons are nicely golden brown and quite dry and crispy, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool.
  • Add the croutons to the tomatoes and toss to combine. Let the salad sit for at least another 15 minutes, tossing occasionally to let the croutons soak up the tomato juices.
  • When the croutons are well moistened, coarsely chop the basil leaves and stir them into the salad. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as needed.

Notes

*Be sure to use a good quality country style loaf for this salad. Soft supermarket sliced bread will not work.
**If you are using small, grape tomatoes, cut them in half. Cut larger tomatoes into quarters and vey large tomatoes into chunks.

August 14, 2014
by kaysdad
0 comments

Salt & Pepper

Seasonings for food come in a huge variety of forms from spices to herbs to marinades and more but undoubtedly the most widely used seasonings are salt and pepper. And so I thought it might be worth discussing these humble but oh so essential pantry staples.

Salt

So, what can you say about salt? Quite a lot, actually. Books have been written about salt. Wars have been fought over salt. In ancient times it was a form of currency. Roman soldiers were paid in salt (from which we get the words, Salary and Soldier). Yeah, for such a humble mineral salt is quite a big deal.

I just checked in my kitchen and I have no fewer than 8 different kinds of salt! There is a pink Hawaiian salt, a pure Himalayan salt, a couple of smoked salts, Malden sea salt, a Fleur de Sel I picked up in Vancouver, Kosher salt and a tub of fine sea salt. A bit over the top, you think? Yeah, probably, but when you consider there are 4,000 varieties of salt in Japan, my collection of 8 is pretty modest.

Why so many?

Well, some of them were gifts, some I just wanted to try and the two workhorses, Kosher and sea salt are staples I am never without. (I used to keep common table salt but a few years ago I gave that up in favor of sea salt.)

I almost never add salt to a finished dish, French fries and other deep fried foods being the exceptions. I season the food as I go and it shouldn’t need any more by the time it gets to the table. I don’t even own a salt shaker. Another exception to the salting at table rule is so called ‘Finishing’ salt. That’s when you sprinkle a little Malden or smoked or Fleur de Sel on a piece of steak or other grilled or roasted meat. The large grains of these salts do not dissolve readily and give a nice crunch and a little salty zing to the food. It is not the same as sprinkling regular table salt on your food which has a totally different reaction in the mouth.

Kosher Salt

Kosher salt is not Kosher because it is produced under rabbinical supervision but because it it is considered pure enough for koshering meat. In fact, it is properly called “koshering salt” but has long since been marketed as Kosher salt. This is the salt I use the most often. It has a cleaner, more pure saltiness, unlike table salt which is more harsh. If you dip your finger in a little table salt and taste it, you get an instant hit of saltiness on the tip of your tongue that quickly dissipates. Do the same with Kosher salt and you can taste it all around your mouth. It has that same effect when you cook with it, giving food a roundness of flavor instead of a one dimensional, in-your-face salty taste.

The two most common kosher salts in the US are Morton’s and Diamond Crystal and each has its devotees; my preference is for Diamond Crystal. It has large, irregular grains that make it easy to pick up with your fingers. Try doing that with table salt and you find you pick up about 5 grains!

If you do use Kosher salt, don’t try putting it in a salt shaker; the grains are too big to come out of the little holes in the top. Instead put it in a small bowl (I used to use a rice bowl before I got a salt box or two or three!!) and pick it up with your fingers which should be impeccably clean while you are cooking anyway. But if you are really fastidious, use a small spoon.

Size Matters!

With salt crystals it really does. Kosher salt crystals being much bigger than table salt crystals means that spoon for spoon Kosher salt is only about half as salty as table salt. By weight all salts are as salty as one another; 1 oz of any salt is just as salty as 1 oz of any other salt. Not so by volume.

1 Tsp of table salt weighs 7 grams, while 1 Tsp of Kosher salt weighs 4 grams; ergo by volume, table salt is saltier than Kosher salt.

Why is this important? Because whenever a recipe says ‘x’ amount of salt you need to be sure you are using the same salt as the recipe author, otherwise your food may be over or under seasoned.

Hard to find Kosher salt

Here in the US, Kosher salt is available in every supermarket. It is more expensive than table salt or fine sea salt but, in my opinion, well worth the extra $$$.

I understand that Kosher salt is not so widely available in the UK, or perhaps not at all which is too bad. I suppose, if there is no demand for it stores won’t bother carrying it. If you find a Jewish deli they might sell it. If you are lucky enough to find it, check its saltiness compared to what you are used to using.

Not all Kosher salts are created equal!

Diamond Crystal salt grains are relatively large and that is why it is less salty than table salt. If you imagine filling a bucket with tennis balls and then the same bucket with basket balls, you will obviously get fewer basket balls in the bucket. So it is with the salt grains; there are fewer Kosher salt grains in the teaspoon than table salt grains and are therefore less salty. Actually, it is a bit of a misnomer to say it is less salty. I should say its effect on the food it is seasoning is less pronounced.

Other brands of Kosher salt have different sized grains so you may need to do some trial and error or get out your handy dandy electronic kitchen scale to weight it and compare. Over the top again? I suppose. How do you think I know how much a teaspoon of salt weighs?

Sea Salt

Now this is interesting stuff. Sea salt, if you don’t, know is harvested from the world’s seas and oceans – I guess the clue is in the name!! The process for harvesting the salt is little changed since ancient times: basically salt beds, either natural or manufactured trap sea water which, with the aid of sun and wind evaporates thereby concentrating the salt. Eventually the concentration is sufficient that some salt crystals film the surface of the water. That is the iconic and very expensive fleur de sel (flower of the sea in French). It is expensive because a) there is very little of it in relation to the amount of sea water and b) it must be harvested delicately by hand. It gets its name from the flower like patterns the crystals form on the water’s surface.

As the fleur de sel is harvested other larger and heavier salt crystals sink to the bottom of the salt beds. This salt has a gray color from the clay at the bottom of the salt bed. The clay and minerals are not processed out of the salt and it is sold as Gray Salt or Sel Gris in French.

Turns out some of the sea salt sold (in the US anyway) is not actually harvested from the sea. Well, not exactly. Many of the landlocked salt deposits from which salt is mined for consumption were once prehistoric seas. Over millions of years the seas dried up… OK, we all know this story, right? Anyway, what remains are the salt deposits that are mined, processed and sold variously as table salt or sea salt; the difference being how the salt is processed.

The Diamond Crystal kosher salt I like so much is in fact pure sea salt produced just south of San Francisco airport. You can see the mountains of salt as your plane comes into land at SFO. It takes as much as 5 years from first capturing the water in salt beds to finally boxing the salt for market. Inexpensive sea salts in fine, medium and course grains are widely available. They have different minerals from the sea that are absent in other salts and that give them a slightly different flavor. Some people claim that the unrefined, mineral rich salts are healthier than the more refined salts. That is the subject of some debate and in any case, even if they are, the quantities we consume are so small that any benefits would be negligible. Or so one school of thought posits and one I happen to agree with.

Malden Sea Salt

Malden sea salt has gained international recognition in the last 20 years or so. I can remember seeing it for the first time in a specialty cookware store in San Francisco called Williams Sonoma and it was very expensive compared with the basic supermarket table salt. It is still relatively expensive but it is sold in pretty much every grocery store now. The salt is produced in Malden, a small town in the county of Essex in south east England

The lowly table salt

What about that ubiquitous salt shaker found at every dinner table in the land. Gone forever one day, I hope. If food is properly seasoned at the stove it shouldn’t need seasoning at the table.

That said, it has its uses. For example, you are salting pasta water you don’t want to use to use an expensive salt; cheap, plentiful table salt will do just fine thank you. It is often the salt of choice in baking because, bakers will tell you, it dissolves more easily (although I know of a few very successful professional bakers who use Kosher salt exclusively). In baking it is a critical ingredient when called for but used in such small quantities that you don’t get the flavor nuances you do in savory dishes. If you are brining lean cuts of meat like boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pork chops, table salt will do the job.

Salt Free Diets

I am not a doctor (I just play one on TV – not really!) and I would not presume to counter any directive a doctor might give a patient regarding salt intake. There are indeed some people for whom any salt may present a health risk. Those folks aside, I am of the opinion that many salt deniers are so because it has become popular to believe that salt is the enemy. And given my propensity for lecturing I will stop there. Nah! Can’t do it!

Salt is an essential mineral the body needs for certain internal processes to function properly. As with anything else though, too much of a good thing becomes bad. As a society the industrialized world consumes way too much prepared and processed foods which are often grossly over salted and this is where salt gets its bad rap. The answer to that is simple; stop eating these salty processed foods and eat fresh, properly seasoned food with just the right amount of salt. It is almost impossible to avoid all processed foods today but I do try to keep my consumption to an absolute minimum. The last time I ate any processed food was… can’t remember. Probably the weekend before last when I had some bacon at breakfast.

Salt reacts with the taste buds to heighten their sensitivity and allows us to enjoy the full flavor of the food seasoned with it. Without salt food is just plain bland! If you cut back on processed food and season your fresh food with just enough salt all will be well in your diet (doctor’s orders notwithstanding).

OK, rant over.

My last word on salt

For all that it is just a rock, salt is perhaps the single most important ingredient that makes food taste good. Too much and food tastes awful; too little and it tastes of nothing. You know why Goldilocks ate baby bear’s porridge? Not because it was neither too hot nor too cold but because it had just the right amount of salt – true story!!

Different salts have different colors, mineral content and crystal structure depending on how or indeed, whether it is processed. But in the end all salt is sodium chloride, regardless of where it originated.

Pepper

You can’t talk about salt without mentioning its partner in crime – pepper. So how many kinds of pepper do I have in the kitchen? Two; whole black peppercorns (Piper Nigrum to give it its botanical name) and whole white pepper corns.

Black Pepper

There are any number of varieties of black peppercorns you can buy; all of them from Asia, the indigenous origins of the plant. (Although the Piper Nigrum plant is native to South India, Vietnam is the world’s largest single producer of pepper today). The good stuff lists the type and source region on the label. Purists will tell you there are flavor differences in the various varieties of pepper and indeed there are. In my opinion, though, once the pepper is ground and in the food it is difficult (for me anyway) to tell the difference. Ideally you want to find a good, reliable source for your pepper corns though. You don’t want to be buying old, musty pepper. A bulk spice shop with a good turnover is best, where you can be sure they replenish their stock regularly.

Why whole peppercorns?

What’s wrong with the pre-ground pepper you buy in a tub at the grocery store? It has no flavor, that’s what! Oh sure, it still has heat and it will make you sneeze if your nose gets too close but that’s all.

Pepper gets its spicy heat from a substance called piperine but the dark skin on the peppercorn also contains aroma compounds that give pepper its character. These compounds evaporate very quickly (within 30 minutes) after grinding so all that is left is the heat from the piperine. It is far better to grind pepper at the time it is needed to get the full benefit of all its myriad characteristics.

White Pepper

White pepper is just black pepper without its overcoat. Because the outer skin of the black peppercorn contains all the aroma compounds, without it white pepper has fewer nuanced flavor characteristics. Its flavor is more delicate and floral, fine if you want pepper with a less aggressive presence. So why use it? Some cooks like to use it in light colored dishes because it blends in well. Black pepper leaves little black specs in white sauces, for example. I don’t use white pepper all that much; I’ll sacrifice aesthetics for flavor any day.

Seasoning food with pepper

Like salt, pepper is added to the food at the stove and shouldn’t be necessary at the table. Although, there are many more applications where adding pepper at the table is acceptable and even desirable than with salt.

Dump the tub!

I strongly recommend dumping the pre-ground pepper you may have in the pantry and invest in a good pepper mill and quality whole peppercorns – black or white. You’ll be amazed at how much better your food tastes when you do.

August 8, 2014
by kaysdad
0 comments

Hamburgers

Hands up anybody who thinks hamburgers are boring. Not in my house!

Not the same old burger

I’m not talking about the McDonald’s style burger you get in the freezer section of the grocery store on a cotton wool bun. I mean a home made burger with fresh ground beef (mince) properly seasoned, grilled to a perfect medium pink and sandwiched between a sturdy, tasty home made bun that absorbs the juices from the meat without falling apart in your hands. OK, if home made buns are a bit over the top for you, try to find a good quality bun and avoid the soft squishy kind if you can. But one of these days we will talk about bread baking and you can try your hand at home made buns.

Fat = juicy burger = flavor 

In the US ground beef is sold with the % of fat on the label. Typically, 8%, 15% and 22% fat. Lean (8%) ground beef makes a dry burger while 22% fat is just too greasy so I always opt for 15%. However it is sold in the UK, I do not recommend using the leanest beef. I also don’t trust the pre-packed supermarket ground beef; you never know where it came from or how long it has been stored or what quality it is. Much better if you can find a butcher who grinds his own and can tell you something about the meat and how much fat it contains. As with all things food related, the better the quality of the ingredients, the better the quality of the finished dish. But, if supermarket beef is all you have to work with, try to make sure it is the best you can get.

The not so plain old burger

Now, if you want a good, simple burger, toss the ground beef with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. Form the meat into a loosely packed patty, into a hot pan or on to the grill for 3-4 minutes a side and there you have it. Pop it on to the bun and dress it up with your favorite toppings, cheese, tomato, mayo, pickle or whatever else takes your fancy, et voila! Food of the gods. My personal preference follows the “less is more” rule and I usually don’t put more than two toppings on my burger so I can get the full flavor of the meat. But this is a very individual thing so make your burger how you like it. Do not be tempted to pack the patty tightly or the burger will tend to be a bit tough.

Variety is the spice of life

Now, a good old fashioned burger is delicious but I like to change things up a bit.

One time I mixed a spicy Andouille sausage into the beef and topped it with a red pepper aioli. Another time I made what I called the Simon and Garfunkel burger; I mixed some parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme into the meat. I will sometimes grate an onion on a box grater to get onion pulp and mix that into the burger for a subtle onion flavor. And so on.

Last night I made a leek and mushroom-mushroom burger. Here’s what I did:

I rehydrated some dried porcini mushrooms and when they were soft I drained and finely chopped them. I cut the white and pale green parts of the leek into small 1/4″ dice and sautéed them in a little oil. As they softened I added half the mushroom soaking liquid, covered the pan and simmered it until the liquid was almost gone. I added the chopped porcini and the rest of the soaking liquid and simmered it uncovered until the liquid was almost gone. I mixed in a small handful of fresh breadcrumbs to soak up the liquid, seasoned with S&P and let it cool. I mixed the leek/porcini into the ground beef, formed the patties and grilled them to medium pink. While the burger was grilling I also grilled a couple of portobello mushrooms and set the burgers on them and served them open faced rather than on a bun (good for all you GF folks), and topped with tomatoes and avocado and a spinach salad on the side. I will write the full recipe below for anybody who wants to try it.

Porcini mushrooms

I am very partial to porcinis. They have a very intense earthy flavor and in dried form, a little goes a long way. Porcini in Italian means little pig, or piglet and fresh, these mushrooms do resemble little pigs. Their growing season is very short so they are dried to extend their shelf life. Dried mushroom will last a very long time. Their soaking liquid is also very flavorful and I made use of that flavor in this recipe by cooking it down to concentrate it even more.

No porcinis? Not to worry there is a solution to that

If you can’t find porcinis you can make something called a mushroom duxelle. This is where you finely chop some button mushrooms (a food processor is ideal for this) squeeze the liquid out of the mushrooms and cook them in some butter and some thyme till they are soft. If anybody wants more information on this process, let me know.

So what’s with the breadcrumbs?

If you are making meatballs (for spaghetti and meatballs, for example) it is common practice to add something called a panade to the meat mixture. A Panade is a thick mush made with bread and milk and it helps to keep food made with ground meat tender. (For those who really want to know, starches from the bread coat some of the proteins in the meat and prevent it form releasing its juices as it heats up.) In this case the milk is replaced by the residual mushroom soaking liquid but the result is still the same.

When you mix the mushroom/leek mixture (or any of the other flavor additives mentioned) into the ground meat you have to be quite aggressive with it. You end up with a fairly homogenous mass rather than the loose mass you have with just meat and there is a risk of a tough burger. The panade helps to eliminate that risk. You can also cook the burger beyond medium without it drying out.

A purist will tell you that it is not a burger any longer if it has bread in it but hey, it’s all about flavor, not authenticity in my opinion.

GF? Not a problem. Just omit the bread crumbs and cook the leek/mushroom mixture a bit dryer.

Well done, Medium or Rare?

For best flavor and juiciness a burger is best cooked to no more than medium; that is, still a little pink in the middle.

For some, eating slightly undercooked beef is off-putting and those folks prefer to have their burgers well cooked. I would say this; try it a little more rare. If you really can’t tolerate it then by all means cook it to your liking. If you have used a panade you can get away with cooking to well done and still have a reasonably juicy, tender burger. Without the tenderizing effects of the panade you will most likely end up with a dry burger. Tasty, no doubt, but dry. Still, as with all things food related, if that’s how you like it, that’s the way to cook it.

If I am confident of the source of the meat I am OK with eating a rare burger (I eat steak tartare, after all!) but I usually cook burgers to a medium pink.

No bun please!

If I plan far enough ahead I will make hamburger buns; sturdy ones which have flavor in their own right and can stand up to the juices from the burger. Mostly though I am not that organized and tend to cook meals spur of the moment. And since I can’t abide the cotton wool burger buns I have to think of an alternative. That is often a grilled portobello mushroom; you know, those giant, saucer sized ‘shrooms. Or, if I have any left over mashed potatoes I will make potato pancakes and use that as the base for the open face burger. A few slices of pan fried sweet potatoes also works quite well. Or, more simply, toast a thick slice of a good sturdy bread and use a large cookie cutter to cut out a round of toast the size of the cooked burger.

Toppings

As I mentioned before burger toppings are very personal. I prefer to keep it simple with perhaps only a slice of cheese and tomato. But you can prepare a variety of traditional toppings – sliced or grilled onion, ketchup, lettuce, mayonnaise, aioli, etc. and let your family and friends help themselves.

Burgers at a dinner party? Why not?

I have done that a number of times; a uniquely flavored burger with a selection of toppings is unusual at a dinner party but is always well received, perhaps because it is so unexpected. Serve beer instead of wine for a jolly good time. If you fire up the old BBQ grill, so much the better. Most often though I just use a grill pan on the stove top. I get the grill marks and the channels in the grill pan keep the burger above the accumulated fat rendered out of the burger so it doesn’t get soggy.

So much variety, so little time…

Really, I feel bad about limiting the potential of the burger by nailing down a specific recipe. Hopefully you will not be limited to what I have to say here and explore the possibilities for a very non-boring burger.

Leek and Mushroom-Mushroom Burger

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb (0.5kg) ground beef (mince)

1 leek, white and pale green part only, rinsed well and cut into 1/4″ (6mm) dice – See Note Below – You should have about a cup of chopped leeks

1 oz (30g) dried porcini mushrooms

1/2 cup of fresh breadcrumbs

EVO

4 Large portobello mushrooms, stem and gills removed

Toppings of your choice

Method:

In a small bowl pour 1 cup (240ml) of boiling water over the porchini mushrooms. Set aside till the water is cool and the mushrooms are very soft

Carefully swish the mushrooms around in the water to release any particles of grit and lift them out of the water, squeezing as much out as you can. Chop the porcinis fine

In the meantime heat about 2 TBS EVO in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the leeks till they begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes.

Pour in half of the mushroom soaking liquid being very careful not to get any of the debris at the bottom of the bowl, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer until the liquid is almost all gone

Add the chopped porcinis and the remainder of the soaking liquid with the same caution regarding the debris, and simmer uncovered until the mushrooms are cooked and the liquid is almost gone

Stir in the breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of S&P. Set aside to cool

While the leek mixture cools, prepare the portobellos:

Remove the stubby stems and using a spoon, carefully scrape out the gills. Actually, the gills are quite edible and even tasty but they turn everything gray when they cook so removing them is purely for aesthetics. If you don’t mind gray food, leave the gills in.

In the ‘bowl’ of the mushrooms pour in about 1 Tsp of EVO and sprinkle with a little S&P. Set the mushrooms aside

When the leek mixture is cool mix it thoroughly into the ground beef, along with about a Tsp of salt and 1/2 Tsp of pepper. Your hands are the best tools for this

Divide the mixture into 4 and form each piece into a patty about 1/2″ (1cm) thick. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to cook the burgers.

Note: You can prepare the burgers to this point a day in advance

Pre-heat a grill pan over medium heat until it is hot. Using tongs and a wadded up paper towel dipped in vegetable oil wipe the grill pan to prevent sticking

Place the portobellos on the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes, depending on the size of the mushrooms

Set the mushrooms aside and wipe the grill again with the oiled paper towel

Cook the burgers for about 3-4 minutes per side or until done to your liking. Thicker patties will take longer as will patties straight from the fridge. The heat output of your stove’s burner will also affect the cooking time. The message here is, a bit of trial and error may be necessary to get it right, whatever ‘right’ means to you.

Place a burger on each portobello, dress it up with the toppings of your choice and serve alongside a green salad dressed with your best home made dressing

To prepare the leek

You may know this already but for those not used to preparing leeks…

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Shave off the dark tops of the leaves, leaving the white and pale green parts only.

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Cut the leek in half lengthways starting about 1/2″ up from the root end. Turn the leek 90° and cut it lengthways again

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Rinse the leek under cold running water to remove any particles of dirt trapped between the leaves

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Finally, remove any tough or damaged outer leaves and cut the leek crosswise into 1/4″ pieces, stopping near the root end where you made the first lengthways cuts.