Catching Fire

A very interesting book that answers the question of what makes humans different than animals... cooking! Most of it is an anthropology study determining when in the evolutionary chain humans starting cooking their food, and the implications to society. What makes it good is that it brings together several branches of science to support the theory, and although a bit technical, is well written. It pulls together several things that once put together seem obvious (like much of our food, like most grains, are not digestible if not cooked). The other is that it takes much more energy to digest raw foods (vegetable or animal), and that as humans, our digestive systems are not designed to eat large quantities of raw foods (it also supports this with some not so flattering studies done on current raw-foodists, especially if their goal was to propagate the species). The key take-away for me was that no one has a good understanding of the net energy value of foods (calories in the food minus calories needed to digest minus what is not digested). Small studies show that both cooking foods and making food finer in texture (like grinding) increases the energy and nutrient value of food, and reduces the amount of energy needed to digest the food. Which supports one of my key beliefs on nutrition: there is still a lot we don't know.

3rd Annual Napa trip

For the 3rd December in a row, we journeyed to Napa Valley.  (here's why).  Mornings were foggy but the afternoons were sunny... not bad for this time of year.   Unfortunately, one of the couple that was going meet us there got sick, so we were on our own.

Courtyard at Clos Pegase

We grabbed lunch in Napa (the city) at the Fatted Calf,  and had soup and a sandwich (the are really a butcher, but have a special every day). We started our winery visits at Clos Pegase, one of our long time favorites (and a good place to start, since we had not bothered with reservations).  We re-joined their wine club which we had to stop when we moved to Arizona, fortunately the shipping laws have changed so we can once again get club shipments.   They also took care of making us a reservation that afternoon at Failla, a winery we passed on the way there. We had had (and really liked) their Pinot's, but  had never visited.  Failla was definitely the new find for this trip.  They are a small producer, mostly Pinot Noir's and a Chardonnay. Most of the fruit is sourced from the the Russian River or Sonoma, which is a bit cooler and better suited to these grapes.  They ferment in open containers (!), and then into French oak.   We tasted several different Pinot's ... they were all good.. and only one is available outside the winery.   Last, we visited Salvestrin, which is conveniently were we stayed (again).    Dinner was at Cook, a small restaurant in St. Helena.  Roy had some really awesome pasta, with roasted pork.  I had cioppino... lots of good seafood, but it was pretty spicy, which was OK but not wine friendly.

On Saturday, after a good and huge breakfast at the B&B, we wandered around St Helena a bit.  Then we went to Casa Nuestra, an even smaller winery.  They did some interesting stuff ... we bought a few bottles, I'm reserving judgement until we tasted them a bit more. Lunch was at Greystone, in addition to the temptations appetizer, I had the onion soup which had a fun meringue / souffle top.  Roy had the butternut squash soup.  That afternoon we visited Bremer Family Winery, one of our absolute favorites.  We liked everything we tasted!   After that, we were pretty much winery-ed out... and had enough wine coming to fill the wine fridge.   Dinner was at Martini House.  I had chicken pot pie and Roy has pot roast... nothing like comfort food done sous-vide!

There was another great breakfast Sunday morning, then we were back to airport to come home.  And now, the wine starts to arrive... did I mention that before?  Not like in the summer where you need to have the wine held before shipping.  Another great reason to go this time of year!

Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch

I will be the first to admit I’m not the type to read big non-fiction books.  So I’m pretty proud of myself for actually getting through the 500 pages of Appetite for Life!  This is a biography with a big B:  it was authorized; the author had full access to Julia Child, her letters, several family diaries, as well as letters and interviews with family and friends.   It’s very much the historical work, sometimes overstuffed with minutia, names and dates, but does an excellent job of describing Julia and how she fit into the recent history of food as well as US history. The appendices describe all the source material, a great job was done in editing to only 500 pages. In the end, I find myself awed and inspired by Julia and her works.

The early part of the book is slow, she grew up as a spoiled California party girl which was not all that interesting.  The story picks up during the time she was in the OSS in India and China.  Fascinating to me (as someone who doesn’t read big historical books, but lately, lots of WWII fiction) was the non-European perspective of WWII:  the people and politics of the time, including the OSS, McCarthy-ism, and their influence on Vietnam. 

Later in life, Julia Child was quite the celebrity between PBS shows and Good Morning America appearances in addition to her books. I never saw much of her on TV (but knew enough to fully enjoy Dan Aykroyd’s satire of the show), and never had the Mastering The Art of French Cooking  cookbooks. I didn’t understand her real influence on food.  Her memoir, My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme gave me much more background on what went into the first cookbook, but this book brought so much more to the story. 

Julia was passionate about food, and wanted to share this passion with others.  She followed through with incredible organization, detail and hard work to share the vision through teaching.  She had the drive to get things right (and that would be her definition of right).  Also impressive was the energy that Julia had, right through her 80’s, even with the problems of aging like bad knees and loved ones in nursing homes.

Julia’s vision started with an attempt bring the pleasures of cooking and eating to the American public, not the “America home economics with its undercurrent of nineteenth-century melioristic scientism”.  (Definition of melioristic: the notion that the world can be improved by human effort). Her cookbook was out of step with the current fashion: “Americans were then eating canned vegetables with marshmallows melted on top, frozen chickens cooked in canned mushroom soups, frozen fish sticks, and dishes that could be served during commercials…  Processed food products and junk food led to unwanted poundage, which in turn stirred up a wave of dieting and diet books … Avis [Julia’s agent] commented about  the “gunk” in the American kitchen and the increasing number of manuscripts for diet books she was receiving … “[There is] not a single honest recipe in the whole book – everything is bastardized and quite nasty .. Desserts .. sweetened with saccharin and topped with imitation whipped cream. Fantastic!  And I do believe a lot of people in this country eat just like that, stuffing themselves with faked materials in the fond belief that by substituting a chemical for God’s good food they can keep themselves slim while still eating hot breads and desserts and GUNK.”  This was in 1959!  (and its taken until 2009 for me to get all of the high fructose corn syrup out of my house, and even then some slips back in, last in the guise of Rice Crispy Squares).

The other theme that runs through Julia’s work was to help Americans overcome their “fanatical fear of food”. An example: “fear of food was endemic in suburbia. Every new health warning (Poisons in Your Food) reinforced America’s puritanical relationship to food and wine. Food was either a sinful or a bothersome necessity.  The most popular food books in the early 1960s were Calories Don’t Count and the I Hate to Cook Book…”  That said, she had some confrontations with other visionaries of the time, like Alice Waters. Julia felt that all the talk of organic foods and evils of pesticides would just further scare people from cooking.

I could go on.. but this book really hit home for me during my current quest to reduce the amount of processed food in my diet and understand the struggles of those around me with food.  Plus I have another role model on living a full life, continuing to learn and share and grow (bad knees and all).  The other take away: During the life of Julia Child, there was massive amount of written communication compiled, including letters, diaries, manuscripts, and written articles.  I sometimes wondered if she ever made a phone call!    But I can hope that in addition to more people cooking from the larger selection of fresh food available, that someday people can use our blogs, tweets, Facebook and other written communications to write inspiring biographies!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Last night at a wonderful party with lots of friends, we were discussing seasonal favorites, and someone mentioned how often she makes "my" stuffed mushrooms and how everyone loves them.  I'm not even sure where I got the recipe, and have not made it myself in a long time.  But a good reminder of something yummy I should make for the next get together  -- especially convenient since you can make them ahead, and bake when you need them.   And maybe a good experiment when I get around to trying to make sausage (being that I can't do anything the easy way). 

Stuffed Mushrooms

3 hot Italian Turkey sausages, casings removed

1 clove garlic chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

Olive oil

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces) 

6 ounces low fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 large egg yolk

48 small ( or 24 large 2-inch-diameter) mushrooms, stemmed

1/3 cup dry white wine 

Sauté sausage, garlic and oregano in heavy large skillet in small amount of oil over medium-high heat until sausage is cooked through and brown, breaking into small pieces, for about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage mixture to large bowl and cool. Mix in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, then cream cheese. Season filling with salt and pepper; mix in egg yolk. 

Line cookie sheet with parchment. Brush cavity of each mushroom cap with white wine; fill with scant 1 tablespoon filling.  (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)   Arrange mushrooms, filling side up on prepared sheet pan and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake uncovered until mushrooms are tender and filling is brown on top, about 25 minutes.

Bread for stuffing and other Thanksgiving comments

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with all the traditional fixings   ... but we are slowly losing the tradition of cans and packaged foods. And I think we have started a new tradition of smoked chicken wings for lunch (Lou's new specialty).

 

A big hit was the new version of Green Bean Casserole, using the recipe from Alton Brown.  We did all the parts the night before: blanched the green beans, made the mushroom soup part, and cooked the onions.  (Did you know that the first ingredient of the fried onions that you buy in a can is palm oil... yuck).  The only tricky part is the onions.  Don't cut too thin (go for ~ 3/16 of an inch) and try to cut evenly.  And don't get too brown the first time, as they will get browner on the casserole (especially in the turbo-charged convection oven).  We cooked in a 9x13 casserole dish, for about 20 minutes after the turkey came out of the oven. 

Not so big a hit were the brussels sprouts, even sauted with a bit of bacon (and finished with a little cider vinegar).  Roy, Sharon and I loved them, everyone else, not so much.  At least Bridget had fun slicing them with the Cuisenart!

Also a note on a deconstructed turkey:  You can do a big one this way: we did a 23-pounder.  Using the turbo-convection oven, when started at 400F for 20 minutes, then 325 it was done in about 2 1/2 hours (we dropped the temperature to 300F towards the end so it actually cooked for almost 3 hours).   I started at the higher temperature because I was a little late getting it into the oven, I had figured on 3 1/2 hours (which might be right for a normal 325 oven).  As always, everything cooks evenly.  We just had to use an extra pan because both legs didn't fig into the roaster.

Finally, here is the recipe for the stuffing.  Last year I discovered that Pepperidge Farms stuffing (which is what our family ALWAYS used) had one of my banned ingredients (don't even remember if it was HFCS, hydrogenized oil, or MSG) so I made my own bread using the bread machine (where you don't care there are stupid holes in the bottom from the paddles).   I'm always surprised at how long it takes for the bread to dry, especially considering that if you leave a slice of bread out you are making a sandwich from it is crispy in 15 minutes.  If you don't have a bread machine (I suspect that mine is on its last legs), there should be no problem making like normal bread, would just follow the steps for any whole wheat bread recipe. 

Herb Bread for Stuffing

2lb loaf, make 20 ounces of stuffing (lots)

¾ cup milk 

2 tablespoons butter

¾ cup warm water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped

½ teaspoon sage

Black pepper (a couple of good grinds)

2 teaspoons yeast

Heat the milk and butter together in the microwave until the milk is just a little warm, and butter is soft and starting melt.  Put everything (in order) in the bread machine and start.  When done, let completely cool, preferably overnight.  Slice into cubes, about ½ inch square.  If the crust is particularly heavy, remove some of the crust, but otherwise leave on.  Spread the cubes on a large sheet pan, and let dry for a couple of days.

Stuffing

Bread Cubes 

½ ounce dry mushrooms, reconstituted in ~ 1 cup boiling water. 

8 ounces (1 package)  mushrooms (sliced)

1 large onion (diced)

2 stalked celery (diced small)

½ to 1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter

2 cups turkey broth

¼ cup of chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, sage, etc).

Place the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl.  Stain the dry mushrooms, reserving liquid.  Chop and add to stuffing.  Saute the fresh mushrooms, onion, and celery with salt in the butter, add to the bread cubes.

Add mushroom liquid to bread cubes, careful to not get any grit at bottom.  Mix the cubes, add a cup of turkey broth (slowly pour around the top).  Stir and taste.  Add another ½ to 1 cup broth.  Cubes should be just moist, not soggy.    Ready to go in / under turkey, or in a separate casserole dish to cook (if cooking separately, put a bit of turkey fat and / or skin on top). 

Thanksgiving's coming

Its just a week away!  This year will be at my brother's house, with the standard Norman fare.  I slowly can change things ... for example, everyone is now expecting homemade cranberry sauce, and not disappointed that you can't see the ribs from the can in the jelly.

Last year, I started making the bread for the stuffing instead of Pepperidge Farms ... as part of my ban on HFCS and hydrogenized oils, not sure if anyone noticed.  I plan to do it again this year, just need to find the recipe (and I will post when I find it). 

This year, I'm going to mess with the green bean casserole, and will make the mushroom soup part instead of using Cambells.  Lou even agreed to use fresh green beans. 

We will also do a deconstructed turkey.     But the squash gratin will need to wait for Christmas.

Creamy Pasta Sauce

OK, so obviously I have not made the blog every day goal.  So I'm resetting the goal to blog every week...  at least until the end of the year.

Always an inspiration are recipes that I e-mail out to family and friends.   I was talking to my brother today, who had some chicken he needed to cook, and wanted some pasta for dinner.  I really like a creamy sauce with chicken and pasta (plus a few vegetables), so I recommended this:

Creamy Pasta Sauce

This is great to use up whatever you have on hand.  Also, it reheats very well

3-4 servings

8 oz pasta (linguine, spaghetti, corkscrew)

1 tablespoon butter

4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon flour

1 ¼ cups low fat milk

¼ cup of low fat cream cheese (block or tub)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Start water to boil for pasta.  For the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan or skillet.  Add garlic and sauté for a few minutes, then add flour.  Cook for about 30 seconds, then slowly add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook until nearly boiling, add cheeses and cook until very thick.

Drain pasta (with optional vegetables) and return to pot, add sauce and other options.  Give a good twist of black pepper, add more cheese or toasted nuts if desired

Options:

• Vegetables (blanched):  Use up to 2-3 cups of asparagus, peas, broccoli, carrots or other vegetables to pasta and cook (need to judge how much time to cook the veggies, generally add 2-3 minutes before the pasta is done

• Vegetables (sauted): Use up to 1-2 cups of onions, shallots, mushrooms, and/or bell peppers, can put garlic here rather in sauce.  Place a small amount of oil in skillet, add red pepper flakes if desired, and sauté vegetables.  If it gets too dry, add a little white wine, or a bit of broth or water. Use the same pan to cook the sauce, remove the vegetables first (unless you are just using a little onion or shallots, then its ok to leave them in the pan).

• Herbs: whatever you like, add to sauce when it is done.

• Meat: Sauté chicken chunks, black forest ham (cut sandwich slices into strips), or use other leftover roasted meat.

• Cheese: the original recipe called for Gorgonzola, but I’ve never actually tried this.  Usually I use a hard cheese, plus will throw in scraps if we have any left from a cheese appetizer.

• Nuts:  A nice addition if there is not any meat in the sauce.  Walnuts or pine nuts, toasted in the toaster oven (1 cycle through “toast” on a foil lined pan) are good.