Not just for sippin'

Presenting....

Tennessee Whiskey Glazed Pork Chops.

Yes, whiskey. That's what I said. Cooking with wine, fruits juices, vinegar, beer, vermouth... yeah, that I understand. But whiskey? Nah. No way. Uh uh. That is, until I tried this recipe.

If you have access to Lincoln County Tennessee whiskey (Jack Daniel's, in particular), use it. There is a smokiness that comes from a particular process used in the distilling that can make or break this recipe. I suppose, if you really want to go Whole Hog, you could use one of the single malt Scots or Irish whiskys. Those that are peaty and smoky but also 300 bucks a bottle....

• 1/2 cup whiskey, JD if you can get it
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 4 pork chops, bone-in center cut 1-inch thick
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Whisk whiskey, cider, sugar, mustard, cayenne, vanilla and 1 tsp vinegar together.
2. Transfer 1/2 c of this mixture to a bag, add chops. Press air from bag and zip. Turn to coat chops. Put in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, longer is better.
3. Keep remaining whiskey mixture separately.
4. Remove chops from bag, pat dry, discard marinade.
5. In small saucepan, heat remaining whiskey mixture to a simmer and reduce until thick and bubbly. Add the butter, whisking until melted in and the glaze has taken on a nice sheen.
6. Heat grill to high, reduce heat to medium-low. Place chops on grill to sear. Turn chops. Brush glaze on chops. Cook until almost done.
7. Turn chops, brush again with glaze.
8. Internal temperature should be 145 when done.
9. Remove from grill, plate and serve.

This recipe can be used for pan-frying if you modify things just a little bit. The original recipe came from an early 2007 issue of "Cook's Country." This great resource is published by the same folks who bring you America's Test Kitchen on television. Cook's Country and Cook's Illustrated subscriptions are a good choice if you wish to give someone who can't boil water something useful.

Comfort food WIP

It's cold up here with a capital "C." Temps have been 15 to 20 below zero Fahrenheit at night with 35 to 40 below windchills. Surprisingly, it got up to 5 degrees above zero today and the sun shone brightly. That doesn't mean it was bikini weather, just the same.

It's around this time of year when we start thinking about good food from our childhood and how great it was to come to the table after a freezing day. The aroma of roasts, the thick and hearty broth in a vegetable stew... nothing compares to that when you are chilled to the bone, toes and fingers numb, nose frosty.

Certain meals bring back, not only the memory of meals, but the very scent of the food. Baked ham, scalloped potatoes and green beans. Meatloaf, a baked potato and... green beans. Roast beef with taters, carrots and onions. Black bean soup, bean soup with ham and bacon.

We ate a lot of potatoes when I was a kid. Mashed, baked, roasted or fried. Nobody had ever heard of Gratin Jurassien but Mom managed to make a good equivalent even if she wasn't the most adventurous cook. I doubt she had ever heard of Emmenthaler or Juras but, back those many years ago, Velveeta® was just fine. Potato soup is another one of those lovely food memories. So simple yet so delicious.

We also ate a lot of green beans, not that there is anything wrong with that. (We find that we eat more green beans than any other vegetable, even now.) Mom decided to get fancy with the greensies at one point and, while great for holiday fanciness, they didn't go over well for everyday. The notorious "green bean casserole" never really made much of an impression around our house, you know? We liked those onion-thingies but the whole idea of mixing beans, crap of *ahem* soup and plopping fried onions of top just didn't quite seem to do justice to the beans. Green beans with bacon, onion and almonds was quite nice but, as I said, a bit uppity for everyday food.

Shame on you!

As I have noted in the past, we get our beef, pork and chicken from an organic farmer up to our northeast. They only use antibiotics when a beast is ill and all of their animals are out grazing in green pastures and the chickens are pecking around the barnyard, eating bugs and things, like chickens do. The quality of the products we get from Kelli and Matt are exceptional and we have never had one hint of a problem. Until now...

Don't think that what happened with this hog is their fault because it isn't. It's the fault of the locker, the butcher and whatever the hell they did to that poor beast before slaughter. Matt and Kelli care for their beasts, treat them well, don't abuse them nor prod, poke or shock them. They are raised kindly, taken care of and then, at the end, they should be dispatched quickly and as mercifully as possible.

The poor hog was massively stressed just before death. This fact shows in the resulting meat. Bacon, ham, roasts, steak, even bottom layers of fat, are riddled with dozens and dozens of petachiae, tiny ruptured blood vessels. This is what it looks like:


This sickens me to the core of my being. Why? Because that poor hog died horribly afraid. I worked at a locker plant years ago and can still hear the screams* of stressed hogs. My employer then never, and I mean NEVER, slaughtered a hog when it was in that state. He let them out of the chute and put them back in a pen to calm down. In some cases, he called the producer and had them come get the beast and take it back to the farm, just to avoid the kind of fearsome death this beast suffered.

I emailed this photograph to Kelli, telling her that I didn't believe this resulted from any action of theirs, but from something that happened at the locker. She emailed back and said they had problems with this previously but the locker owner told them it was THEIR fault. What gall, what incredible face-out gall on his part. I told her just how this happens and that hogs are particularly sensitive to stress and fear, being smart beasts. Then I put forward the suggestion that she call their vet and consult with him about the situation and show him the photograph. He acknowledged that my verdict was absolutely spot-on.

The result is that Matt and Kelli are removing their business from that particular locker and taking it elsewhere. They have been touring various facilities, based on the vet's advice, over the last couple of weeks and I received an email from her Monday evening that they believe they have found a more humane place to do business.

This will impact the locker negatively and, since the owner has shown no intention of changing his practices, it will serve him right. We rather will honor the beasts that give their lives so we may live and we will not knowingly contribute to unneeded suffering. If we choose to eat meat, we must do so with as much gratitude and humanity as our hearts can find.


* Yes, they scream. It's a sound I never want to hear again in my lifetime.

You want easy? I got easy....

One of my biggest concerns about returning to work full time this year was the issue of meals. My shift starts at 4 eastern but it's necessary to be signed in and ready to go some time before then since there are many things to catch up with every day. That fact alone makes the kind of cooking I have done for many years nearly impossible so I've had to figure out other ways of doing things. With the help of my friend Karen, her genius and instinct, I have been able to do this. I owe this one to her. Thank you, Karen, you are incredible.
Slow cooker meals, braised dishes, along with "fend for yourself night," has made it possible to eat well without a lot of fussing. The following recipe is a staple for us, hearty, rich and flavorful without much work at all. It doesn't matter what size your potatoes are cut into just as long as the pieces are thick enough to withstand hours of cooking. Onions should be about 3/4 inch thick slices, other than that, this is pretty self-explanatory. This will serve about 4 people. Try it and enjoy...

Easy 4-ingredient Supper

• 1 ring sausage, kielbasa is great for this, 2 inch chunks
• 1/2 pound good quality bacon, cut into 1 - 2 inch pieces
• 1 softball size onion (about 1 1/2 pounds of regular onions), thick cut
• 5 or 6 large red potatoes (any kind works, actually) cut into equal size chunks
• 1 pint ham stock
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• ground black pepper

Put the bacon and sausage in a heavy frying pan, bringing heat up just until the bacon begins rendering out fat. Brown meat slightly but don't cook it all the way through. Bring ham stock to boil, reduce heat and maintain. Turn cooker to high.

While meats are browning, put half the onion slices in the bottom of your cooker. Add half the meats and half the potatoes. Sprinkle with parsley and pepper. Repeat with rest of ingredients, including bacon fat. Pour hot stock over all and cover tightly. Cook on high until stock returns to a boil, turn control to low and re-cover.

Allow this to cook for at least 4 hours, 5 or more is better and even longer won't hurt at all. Keep at least an inch of liquid in the bottom of the cooker at all times.

Serve in bowls with hearty bread and cooked cabbage if you want...

Chicken and dumplings with herbs...

...in the slow cooker.

Winter is coming on and young men's fancy turns to comfort food. Warming the cockles of the heart today, I present an all time favorite, Chicken and Dumplings. This will serve 4 really hungry young'uns or 6 not-so-hungry ones. I, like my late father, am not fond of boiled chicken and, since that is the basis of most recipes for this dish, we don't have it much. I think he would approve of this variation as it's boosted with garlic, herbs and pearl onions. Use as much or as little garlic and herbs as you like as this is an individual judgment call on the cook's part. This recipe is a combination of ideas and ingredients from several sources. I would like to thank Annie for the sour cream/yogurt idea, in particular.

Unlike many recipes I have seen, this one doesn't have cream of chicken, mushroom or celery soup. It's thickened at the end (if it needs to be thickened at all) with either sour cream or a nice smooth yogurt. If you don't like that idea, go ahead and remove your dumplings, chicken and everything, plate them up and make gravy from the liquid in the cooker. After all, it's your table and your crew, do what makes your eaters happy...

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

• 4 - 5 pound chicken, whole
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 - 3 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 pound pearl onions (I use the frozen ones)
• 24 ounces water
• 1/4 cup fine lard
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth (optional)
• 1 cup sour cream or yogurt, room temperature
• 2 cups all purpose flour*
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon solid fat or shortening
  
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 3/4 cup buttermilk or soured whole milk**

In a heavy pot, heat the lard until sizzling. Using tongs, add the whole chicken, turning to brown well. Add water, cover and simmer until partially done. This takes about an hour or so and it's more like steaming the bird than boiling since the water will only partially cover the bird. Turn off heat and remove chicken from pot, let it cool enough to handle and cut thighs off, remove backbone and cut through the breastbone into halves. Place chicken in cooker, turn to high to preheat. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Add onions around the bird.

While chicken is cooling, return pot to stove top and bring to boil. Add thighs to pot and contents of gizzard bag if you want to. Add vermouth. When liquid has come to a full boil, carefully pour over the ingredients in the cooker then cover.

Cook for 5 - 6 hours, depending on your particular cooker's settings. When chicken is done and falling from bones, strain all ingredients through a colander. Pick chicken from bones, return to cooker with onions. I don't put the bay leaves back in but you can if you want. If you think there is too much broth to leave room for dumplings, don't use all of it. Just jar it up and put it in the freezer for future use.

Your broth will have cooled some so pour the broth over the chicken, turn the cooker to high and proceed to dumpling making. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Work fat in until the consistency is like coarse meal. Add milk, gradually stirring with a fork until just moistened. When broth is bubbling, pinch off hunks of the dumpling dough and drop right in with chicken, onions and broth. Recover and cook on high for about 30 minutes or until dumplings are done.

Remove dumplings, chicken, onions, plate and cover. At this point you can either stir the sour cream into the broth and dress the plated food or make gravy. It's up to you.

* Or use equivalent baking mix.
** You can use evaporated milk, too. Just proceed as usual, sour the e.m. and add to the dry.

...the eye of the beholder.

Ladies and gentlemen, foodie friends and gentle readers, is this a thing of beauty or is it not?


It is a thing of beauty to me, worth almost it's weight in gold. My appreciation stems from knowledge that few people have a source for solid leaf fat, fresh-trimmed. Not only fresh and fresh-smelling but from beeves raised on grass, free-ranging, no growth hormones, no genetic modifications.

I estimate there to be between 10 and 15 pounds of the stuff. By the time it is trimmed and rendered it will reduce significantly. Final yield may be 5 pounds or so. About 1/2 pound of that will be made into small blocks for the birds this winter. The rest I will use for cooking.

All you low-fat aficionados are having mild seizures at the thought, aren't you? I can hear faint echoes of your protests that we must have massively occluded arteries, sky-high cholesterol, be grossly overweight, horribly unhealthy! My sincere apologies to you all but none of that is true. When used properly, finely rendered beef fat can be a great addition to a cook's bag of tricks. The real trick is knowing how to properly use it....

Preparation of fresh leaf fat* isn't hard but it does take time and a really sharp boning knife. To clean and prepare the fat for rendering, cut off as much clean fat as possible. Be careful not to cut into any of the kidney tissue or remaining hunks of meat. Discard the meat scraps and organs. Cut the remaining clean fat into small pieces and dump them into a large, heavy pot. Add just enough water to cover by about a half inch, turn cooktop to low and bring water barely to a simmer. If it's hard to maintain a simmer, use a heat diffuser under the pot. It's important to keep the heat so low that the fat renders slowly without burning.

As the fat renders, the liquid level will go down. Keep the rendering fat covered at all times. I find it will take this much fat around 4 days to render out totally so don't start the process if you don't have the time. When there is nothing solid left in your pot but pieces of connective tissue and some bits of coarse fat, cool the pot's contents a bit and strain through several thicknesses of fine cotton towels. Set the container with the fat/liquid in a cool place, like a fridge or garage until the fat solidifies on the surface of whatever liquid is in the pot. Working quickly, pull the solid fat out of the pot, turn the bottom up and scrape off any coarse nasties you find on the bottom. Those can be tossed.

Break the fat up into pieces and put in a double boiler or nested pots over simmering water. Melt fat and pour into containers. I keep mine in the freezer and thaw as needed.

This rendered fat is used sparingly to sear meats and in larger quantities for mixing empañada dough or deep fat frying potatoes. When using it for frying, make sure you maintain an even heat so your taters don't soak up a lot of fat and get greasy-soggy. Keep a close eye on your fryer and make sure the fat doesn't reach smoke point or you might have a huge problem, a grease fire. After frying, cool fat slightly and strain well. Return what's left to a container and keep it in the fridge, covered tightly, until you want another batch of crispy and non-greasy fried food.

* Leaf fat is the fine white fat surrounding an animal's kidneys. It is very dense to protect the vital organs found inside and after rendering will be extremely hard. This can be used to make tallow candles if you are so inclined... they will burn almost as cleanly as beeswax and are a lot cheaper to make.

The Casserole With No Name

I don't think I have posted this one yet... I hope not. Sometimes memory fails and, since I didn't see it when going back through posts, I guess I will put it up now.

A reader would have figured out by this time that I really enjoy cooking. Sometimes, though, I just haven't time nor the spare mental energy to spend lots of time putting something tasty together. In those instances, casseroles and one dish meals are truly great. In addition, having to be at work (so to speak, since I work right here but it is a real job) at 3:30 in the afternoon makes preparing a fancy meal pretty much impossible. Never having been a fan of slow cookers nor casseroles, which I ate waaay too many of as a child, this is all new territory for me but I am learning. Maybe unwillingly, but needs must as the devil (or paycheck) drives. So, with that all as a frame of reference, here is the Casserole With No Name....

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 15 ounces canned tomato sauce or equivalent fresh
• garlic powder, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 8 ounces dry egg noodles
• 8 ounces room temp sour cream
• 6 ounces room temp cream cheese
• 1/2 cup diced green chilis (jalapenos work very nicely, thankyouverymuch)
• 6 green onions, white and green diced fine (or just mince up half a white onion)
  
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the noodles. Cook until al dente but not nearly to serving tooth. Remove from heat, drain and rinse well. Set aside.
Heat oven to 350F.
Brown the beef, making sure it is nice and crumbly. Pour tomato sauce over. Add the garlic and pepper, stir in well. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes or so until thickened.
Mix sour cream, cream cheese, onions and chilis together. It does help if you use your hand mixer to do this, makes the mixture nice and fluffy.

Find a lasagna pan or a casserole dish, 8 x 13 with 2" sides, either grease it with butter or use cooking spray.
Place all the noodles in the pan. Spread them out evenly.
Pour the beef sauce over the top.
Plop spoonfuls of the sour cream mixture on the sauce and spread it around almost to the edges of the pan.
Next, spread all that grated cheddar on top of the sour cream mixture.
Cover with foil and bake for an hour. Uncover, turn off oven and let dish sit for 15 minutes or so.

This is really good stuff as far as leftovers are concerned, too. Once the casserole has cooled, cut it up into squares and put them on a cookie sheet. Freeze until solid and wrap in foil or vacuum pack. It reheats really well and being in the freezer doesn't seem to do anything but improve the flavor. I think...)