French Fries

Not much is better than the classic French fry; fluffy on the inside, crisp on the outside, and just the right amount of salt. Sure, you can go to McDonalds for a very good fry, but nothing will beat homemade if it is done properly, and it doesn’t take long at all.

Keys to the perfect fry:

• The cooking vessel – a deep fryer or deep pot, preferably cast iron to retain the heat.


• Frying medium – peanut oil or lard, or a blend of the two.


• The spud – Idaho. Lots of starch, low moisture, and just enough natural sugars to get golden brown.


• Proper blanching


• Correct size batches


• Salt – kosher. No substitutions

The secrets – see the last sentence

If you do not have deep fryer use a heavy pot. A heavy cast iron pot will distribute the heat evenly and help to maintain the temperature when cold potatoes are added.

Use peanut oil for its high smoking point. For better flavor use lard (remember when McDonalds used lard?) To compromise between cholesterol and flavor you can blend the two in equal proportions. Do not overfill the pot as doing so will cause splattering, burns, a possible fire, and a huge mess. Usually no more than half full is good.

When cutting the potatoes leave the skin on. It adds flavor and texture. You should wash and scrub the potatoes to get the dirt off, but make sure to dry them thoroughly.Cut the fires all uniformly (same width and thickness). Doing so will ensure that they cook evenly.

Work in small batches. Adding too many fries into the basket will cause a rapid drop in the oil’s temperature which will lead to oil absorption and a soggy fry.

Start with your fry oil at 325 degrees. At this temperature we only want to cook the potato, to soften it. When a batch of fries is flexible (not falling apart) remove them from the oil, shake off the excess grease, and spread them out on a layer or two of paper towels on a sheet pan. When all batches have been properly blanched and cooled to room temperature, turn up the heat on the fryer to reach 375 degrees.

Again, working in small batches, cook the blanched fries until they are golden brown. Cooking the fries a second time at a higher temperature will cause the inside of the potato to get fluffy on the inside while crisping the outside quickly. Remember sugar will caramelize at 320 degrees; using a higher temperature will get the desired color results quickly. When the batch is done drain it and put on an unlined (no paper towel) sheet pan and sprinkle with kosher salt. Keep in a warm oven while working the other batches.

When finished they will be the best fries ever. To take it to a new level consider doing one of the following:
Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese
A light sprinkle of granulated garlic
a light drizzle of clarified duck fat (my favorite)

Backyard Meat Smoker

Back in 1995 I need a vacation from the 70 hour week weeks of being a new line cook. A friend, quite strange actually, was an avid police car enthusiast and was heading in a convoy to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to the National Police Car Owners of America annual convention. With nothing else to do I decided to tag along.

Eureka Springs is not too far south into the state, but the geographic layout is stunning. There are lots of very narrow winding hilly roads that seem to tempt the driver to roll off into a deep gorge. As we approach the top of one hill on a particularly straight patch of road the smell of BBQ was overpowering, in a good way. As the headed down the other side of the hill, in the distance, you could see the source of the intoxicating hickory fumes.

Some foodie, from Chicago, relocated to Eureka Springs and opened a BBQ place. Instead of building his smoker near the restaurant as most sane people would do, he built his just off the road, about 300 feet from the front door. Why you ask, pure marketing brilliance. The smoke was carried up the hill by the breeze and every car that came down that road couldn’t help but stop. We happened to see the owner/chef rolling a large cart full of briskets, ribs, and pork shoulders as we pulled in. I don’t think it’s possible to drive past without stopping.

The smoker that he built was ugly, but huge, about the size of a tool shed. The whole key to smoking meat is to control the air flow. To much air flow within the vessel will fuel the fire and cause the temperature to rise, cooking tough cuts of meat too quickly to properly and thoroughly break down the tough collagen and connective tissues. To little air flow and the food will be kept in the “food danger zone” temperature-wise and risk harmful bacteria growth.

I wanted a smoker for a long time to make ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and sausages. Charcoal, electric, propane, or pellet fed? That was the million dollar question. Prices can vary from $150 for a small cheap electric model to many thousands for a well insulated pretty stainless steel wood burning model. Each fuel source has its advantages: efficiency, ease of use, temperature control, etc.

After going back and forth, driving my wife crazy, I decided on the cheapest and most proven smoker, the UDS. UDS stands for “ugly drum smoker” and is made from a steel drum. I made mine for about $60. I bought a new, unlined, open top 55 gallon steel drum from a local barrel company for $30. The cooking grate, a standard 22.5 inch Weber replacement grate, bought at the end of the season for about $7. The other needed hardware was a handful of bolts, nuts, and washers, a thermometer, a few metal handles, and a piece of expanded sheet metal to fabricate the charcoal basket onto a small cooking grate. To control the air flow I bought two 2” threaded metal “nipples” with caps and two 3/4” ball valves. By uncapping the nipples and tweaking the ball valves, the temperature can be easily controlled and held to a constant. My daughters helped to drill the holes and insert all of the bolts, washers, and nuts. A good time had by all.

After an initial burn of lump hardwood charcoal to season the grill, the initial BBQ test was beef brisket. I rubbed the brisket with a Texas inspired dry rub and smoked it for about 5 hours at 220 degrees. The result was incredible! The meat was absolutely juice and tender and was served with a thin tangy cider vinegar BBQ dipping sauce.

Life is good.

Hog Butchering

Wow, it’s been awhile. It isn’t that I haven’t been cooking and teaching cooking to my daughters, quite the opposite. It’s just that I started this blog for me without knowing if anyone ever read it. Then I shared it with family. It isn’t like I received criticism, quite the opposite. But after that I lost interest. Now that fall is coming and that I’ve been uniquely busy I feel the need to start again.

One of the things I really care about is knowing where my food comes from, especially animal products. For the past five years I have been buying beef, pork, and lamb from a family member that raises livestock naturally. He can’t call it organic because of the very specific requirements as stated by the Oregon Tilth, the only seal, stamp, or “verbiage” that has any meaning. Don’t buy into the labels that say all natural, local, cage free, or free-range, to name a few.

Know where your food comes from. The meat I buy is living outdoors. The hogs are a breed of Berkshire (for fat and flavor) and Durock (for body type). The pigs are quite happy roaming around through the woods and rooting for nuts and other things that pigs eat naturally. They walk on the ground not on a metal platform. The get sunshine, not artificial and UV lighting. The get fresh air not gross air circulated through a huge CFO (concentrated feeding organization).

The flavor of this pork is amazing. It actually tastes like something. You can see the different colors of the muscles from exercise and eating iron rich grasses. The only downside, if there is one, is only slight, and that is that the animals are naturally leaner (hence the need to cross breed with a fatty Berkshire). If a chop is cut too thin it will dry out a little before you can get the nice caramelization that enhances the natural flavors.

When my cousin contacted me late last year stating that 2011 pricing was going to increase because of rising costs for corn (damn ethanol!) and fuel I opted to buy half a hog and a hind-quarter of grass-fed beef at locked-in 2010 pricing. I only had to wait for July or August for the animals to be ready.

Now, I could have had my cousins processor butcher the hog as they do for all other customers, with set weights for chops and such, but that is not good enough. As I stated, a thinner chop from one of these hogs can dry out quickly. I offered to drive directly to the processor to pick up the hog and beef whole. Aside for paying for the animal’s weight I was only going to have to pay the processor their $14 fee for the slaughter. No butchering fees. No delivery fees. And I know that the animal is fresh as can be. It was only slaughtered the day before. You can’t get fresher than that unless you kill it yourself. Maybe one day!

Now, I have half of a hog on my butcher block table and need to decide what to do with it. With a brand new 19” bone saw, a butcher knife, a cleaver, a boning knife, a ball of kitchen string, and my vacuum sealer I’m ready!

There are essentially only three “primal” sections to a hog: the shoulder, the loin, and the ham (rear leg).

From the shoulder:

• 
  
  The shank (forearm) – leave it whole and braise it or even deep fry it for amazing crispy cracklin’ goodness.


• 
  
  The picnic – a group of muscles with good fat percentage for juice roasts.


• 
  
  The butt (not from the ham area as you would think) – this group of fatty muscles has the ideal protein to fat ratio for making sausages, which is exactly what I’m going to do with it.

The loin:

• 
  
  Belly – homemade bacon. Need I say more?


• 
  
  Spareribs – off the belly


• 
  
  Baby back ribs – off the back side, naturally


• 
  
  Boneless chops – technically a chop has a bone, but I’m cutting these babies thick so chop is more accurate than saying “cutlet”


• 
  
  Chops – I’ll be cutting the standard chop as well as utilizing the tenderloin for some “T-Bones”.

The ham:

• 
  
  I’m not set up for curing (yet) so making a traditional ham is out. Instead, I’ll break the leg into the various muscles and tie up roasts.

Cutting the hog myself means very little scraps that would normally be sold as ground pork. Most of this is just trimmings from roasts to make them more uniform and from scaping the bones, and the lovely cheeks and jowels from the head. I’ll also take the “fat back” area and cure it for homemade salt pork.

Much more on this little piggy as he goes into my belly.

Steak Salad

The wife wanted lighter fare, a steak salad, the other night so I accepted the challenge.
(serves 2)

In a bowl:
2 large handfuls of washed lettuce. With the availability of fancy mixed greens at every supermarket there is no excuse for plain iceberg or romaine.
1/2 red onion, sliced really thin
1/4 C. sliced pepperoncini peppers
1/4 C. sliced green olives
1/2 seedless cucumber, sliced thin on bias
2 really ripe tomatoes, whatever kind is in season at the moment, cut into wedges.
2 carrots, sliced really thin on bias
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Vinaigrette:
All mixed together:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl. honey
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbl. oregano
1 Tbl. liquid from pepperoncini peppers
2 Tbl. red wine vinegar
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil (buy the good stuff: from Greece or Italy)

Steak:
1 ribeye steak seasoned heavily with salt and an over-the-counter "steak rub".
Preheat a heavy pan, cast iron preferred, and sear the steak on both sides. Do not put oil in the pan. You want the steaks to be almost blackened. Take out of the pan when cooked to your preferred doneness. If you like steak cooked medium or more (ruined, in my opinion), finish it in the oven. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes.

Toss the greens with the vinaigrette and plate. Slice the steak and pile on top of the salad.

Barley Risotto

photo compliments of www.freephoto.com

This is an alternative to the everyday basic grain sides and an easy way to get some protein and whole grains into your kid’s diet.

½ onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 ½ C pearly barley, NOT quick cooking
1/2 C. white wine, optional
3 Tbl fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbl fresh oregano, chopped
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ C fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 Qt chicken stock, maybe a little more

In a heavy pot, sweat the onions, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic and barley and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the garlic has softened.

If using wine, add it now, and stir constantly until it has been absorbed.

Start adding chicken stock, just enough to cover, and stir constantly, or very, very frequently. When the stock has been absorbed, add more, just to cover, and repeat the stirring process. Check for doneness of the barley after each absorption.

It is ready when the barley is tender and there isn’t much liquid remaining. The finished product should be nice and creamy. Add the herbs, cheese, and seasonings. If the cheese thickens it too much just add a little more stock.

Options:

• Add blackened, and then diced, andouille sausage with the garlic and barley
• Add crawfish tails at the same time as the herbs. Frozen crawfish tails are fully cooked and only need to be heated
• Top with braise beef (oxtails or cheeks)
• Serve alongside braised lamb shanks or rack of lamb.

Biscotti

The translation of “Biscotti” is twice baked, which is exactly what these cookies are. This is a great recipe to make with the kids because it’s easy, has few ingredients, and the options are endless. Ask your kids what they want in them, or how to “finish” them, and have fun. They go great with morning coffee or a glass of milk.

1 stick butter
¼ C sugar
(Cream the sugar and butter with a mixer until it is light and fluffy)

2 eggs
1 tsp. pure almond extract
(Add to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until smooth)

2 ¼ C all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
(Mix the above three together in a bowl then add to the rest half at a time)

1 Tbl. Anise seeds, toasted and cooled to room temperature
¾ C. sliced almonds, toasted and cooled to room temperature
¼ C. dried cranberries
(Add to everything else and slowly mix just until combined)

On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, using your hands, press the dough into a rectangular shape about 4” wide and 1” thick. It will be about 12” long.

Sprinkle the top with course sugar or “sugar in the raw” and gently press into the top of the dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, rotating the pan once.
Remove pan from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.
Using a serrated knife, slice the “bar” into ½” long pieces.
Arrange the slices in the same parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes.
Flip each slice over and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Let them cool on the cookie sheet, they will harden as they cool.

Options: Mix and match; you can’t go wrong

• Use vanilla extract instead of almond extract and substitute toasted and chopped filberts or macadamias. Whole pistachios or whole toasted pine nuts.
• Add 1 Tbl. finely chopped zest of an orange or lemon.
• Substitute dried cherries or chopped bittersweet chocolate for the cranberries.
• Omit the coarse sugar and dust the finished, and cool, biscotti with confectioner’s sugar.
• Dip half of the finished cookie into tempered chocolate.
  

Oxtail Barley Soup

Nothing is as satisfying as a bowl of rich and hearty oxtail and barley soup. For maximum flavor and texture development it takes a little patience, but is well worth it.

Step 1: The Braise

• About 10-15 pieces of oxtails seasoned with salt and pepper


• 1 can whole plum tomatoes, crushed with your hands


• 3 carrots, diced


• 3 ribs celery, diced


• 1 large Vidalia onion, diced


• 4 cloves garlic, crushed


• 1 bay leaf


• 1 cup red wine


• Beef broth to cover

Preheat a heavy pot (enameled cast iron with a lid preferred). Add a little olive oil. Sear the oxtails on all sides to a dark mahogany brown. Set aside. Add the tomatoes, carrot, onion, and celery and cook until they start to caramelize. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the red wine being sure to work loose the brown bits (fond) stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the bay leaf and the seared oxtails. Add enough beef stock to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a very low simmer for about an hour. Using a ladle, skim and discard the fat on the surface. The oxtails are done when the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the oxtails with tongs or a slotted spoon. Set them aside to cool.

Step 2: The Soup

• 2 large Portobello mushrooms, diced


• 4 cloves garlic, crushed


• 1 Tbl oregano


• 2 Tbl parsley


• 1 C barley

Add the soup ingredients to the pot. Return to a boil, Cover and simmer until the barley is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Step 3: Finish

When the oxtails are cool, use your fingers to pull the meat off the bone. Try to avoid leaving large amounts of fat on the meat. I prefer leaving the meat in large chunks. Add to the soup. Check the seasoning for salt and pepper and skim any remaining fat from the surface.

Adjust the consistency with more beef stock to your liking.

Finish with ¼ cup of sherry and enjoy with a lot of crusty bread.