Recipe: New England Clam and Scallop Chowder

Annually there's a big clam chowder festival a short drive from my house in Newport, Rhode Island. For a stretch there I attended every year. It was a lot of fun and it was interesting to see how different restaurants and organizations approached making what they considered a good chowder. There were New England, Manhattan, Bahamian and Seafood styles as well as a few others including a pretty good quahog chili one year.

They offered different categories to compete in, and in the seafood chowder contest one restaurant reigned supreme and that happened to be the restaurant I hung around at and eventually met my wife at. They made a great chowder, no, they made a phenomenal chowder! It was so good and they won this contest so often that eventually they were politely asked to retire from competition to give other establishments a fair shot at the prize.

Ah, what a great restaurant and chowder, but things change. That is why I am going to offer you a short lesson here on economics. The restaurant of which I speak is doing rather poorly these days and I don't think it will be around for long. I'd like to explain why.
You see each restaurant has a geographical location that it serves. This means that on the average you can count on a certain number of people coming into it from a given distance. They call this your "customer base". If the restaurant is doing well and you decide that you want to open another one, you have to open the new one outside the territory of the first. Two good restaurants owned by one entity in one area don't double the custom base, they divide it. Now a restaurant that used to pull in $30,000 on a Friday night divides that lucrative customer base in half (more or less). So in effect you have doubled your cost but not your profits.

Worse yet, suppose you're not clever enough to catch on before the slump begins to show? What do you think you do? Well I guess you open a third and then a fourth restaurant in the same geographical area as the first popular one, because that is what they did. Guess what? The customer base that didn't double when you opened the second restaurant doesn't multiply again. So now you've divided your customer base by four! Your biggest competition becomes YOU and even the areas that don't overlap between the restaurants cannot generate enough new customers or income to cover that kind of expense! Never mind the other new restaurants that are opening around you that you don't own!

This is what happened to my beloved bar and restaurant. It wasn't long after all this that it took on the desperate feel and vibe of one of those places we've all been to: The "Doomed Eatery". They try anything, changing the menu, coupons, anything! They're cutting corners and missing details to save money but it's all moot, the slide has started and they're on their way out.

Some day soon, if a couple of friends can keep a promise, I am going to have that award winning seafood recipe and I'll put it in this cookbook for you. By then I think that restaurant will sadly be gone. That recipe could have saved it, if the owner had put his money and efforts into packing and marketing that seafood chowder to the masses out beyond his regular customer base. Instead they spent all that money and time to do nothing but compete against themselves.

Bummahs huh?

New England Clam & Scallop Chowder

24 ozs Clam juice
1 lb. of potatoes (Russet or Yukon Gold) cubed small
2 Tbs sweet butter
Pork fat back (piece about the size of a pack of gum)
2 cups of finely chopped onions
1-1/4 cups of celery (chopped fine)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped fine)
1 large bay leaf
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2.5 lbs of chopped local clams (strain from juice, save juice)
1 lb. bay scallops (strain from juice, save juice)
1-1/4 cups of Half and Half
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp Saffron threads (mince or crush into a powder after measuring)
Salt and pepper to taste

Add the clam juice and the potatoes to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender. Remove from heat.

In a larger heavy pot, melt the butter and add the fat back and cook until the fat back begins to brown.

Add the onions, celery, garlic and the bay leaf and sauté until the vegetables begin to soften. Slowly add the flour, mixing thoroughly. Things will begin to thicken and paste up. Be careful not to let the flour burn.

Stirring quickly and constantly, slowly add the reserved clam and scallop juice to the vegetable and flour mixture. You're looking for a smooth mix.

Now, add the clam juice and potato mixture. Then add the clams and the scallops, the half and half, hot pepper sauce and the saffron. Simmer chowder for 10-20 minutes to blend flavor. Stir frequently, testing often to adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve hot with clam cake/fritters. Always better the second and third day.

Recipe: It-Doesn't-Necessarily-Have-To-Be-Sunday, Sunday Gravy

There's no bones about it, I found my cooking passion by making my own Italian food at home. It's not a recent thing either. It started when I was a teenager when I would "dress up" jarred sauces (often with chourcio - NATURALLY!), and it continued right on into my very first "from scratch" dinner recipes and it still goes on today.

I may cook all kinds of authentic world food for my family these days, but there's no world food I feel more comfortable preparing than Italian. It's one of the world cuisines I'm quite comfortable improvising with. Give me anything, as long as you include a few basic Italian ingredients, and I'm going to feel safe cooking something good for you. My cook's confidence is in Italian and to a lesser degree, Thai and Native American cuisine.

Which makes it kind of weird that I didn't have a proper, personal "Sunday Gravy" recipe after all these years. Anyone familiar with Italian cooking or gangster films (real ones not that Hip-Hop nonsense) knows what Sunday Gravy is. For those of you who don't know, allow me to direct you to Italian cookbooks and gangster films to find out. I'm not in a typing mood today.

Anyway, I never found a Sunday Gravy recipe that I really liked all that much. Everyone who is Italian or knows Italians or who cooks Italian is always going to crow about their Sunday Gravy or their friend's Sunday Gravy or their mom's Sunday Gravy or their aunt's or grandmother's Sunday Gravy and how it is the best in the world.

Well, as with most food, they are all right of course. The food you like best is the best in the world - to you! So up until a few days ago, I never had a Sunday Gravy that I could crow to the world about being the best. Then I flipped through the September 2009 issue of Esquire Magazine and I got an inkling.

The picture is what captured my imagination. I saw the photo of all that rich, glistening sauce with all those chunks of meat and well, it got my attention. I sought out the recipe on the following page. There, courtesy of Peter McAndrews (hey! He married an Italian!) I found the recipe and some important words that convinced me to try the recipe. Words like "spare ribs", "bones" and "hours".

That recipe was the basis for my own recipe below. I've made enough significant changes to the original recipe to confidently call this one all mine. (I'm not in the habit of changing recipes just to call them my own. If that were true, you'd see Giada De Laurentiis's Rosemary Roast Pork with Port Wine and Fig sauce in here under a different name! Search recipe out folks because it is FLAWLESS and delicious!).

Anyway, I made changes to suit my taste and preference. The most notable, was starting the whole thing with a onion-hefty mirepoix. Yeah, that's a French word in a classic Italian recipe, but trust me it helps make one hell of a good sauce. I also changed the kinds and amounts of tomatoes, added more garlic and tomato paste, as well as the addition of a pork tenderloin and a little GOOD QUALITY balsamic vinegar. Finally, the fact that your chucking in the World's Best Meatballs doesn't hurt either!

Without further adieu allow me to introduce my NEW, old-family recipe for Sunday Gravy:

It-Doesn't-Necessarily-Have-To-Be-Sunday, Sunday Gravy

1/2 cup olive oil
3 lbs. country-style or southern-style spare ribs
3 lbs. sweet Italian sausage
2 lbs. World's Best Meatballs
1-2 lb. pork tenderloin
3 lbs. large beef bones
4 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
10 cloves garlic chopped
3 6 oz. cans of tomato paste
3 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes (lightly crush the tomatoes with your hands)
3 28 oz. cans of ground tomatoes
3 large bay leaves
1 TBS turbinado or light brown sugar
1 TBS GOOD QUALITY balsamic vinegar (the syrupy type)
Sea salt to taste

Take a LARGE stock pot. A large one. A BIG stock pot. I mean BIG, like a 14 quart stock pot. Pour in the 1/2 cup of olive oil and coat the bottom and the sides of that stock pot really well. Place the stock pot on medium high heat. When the oil comes up to temperature and is hot and shimmering (not smoking), brown and remove all your meat in this order: spare ribs, Italian sausage, meatballs and tenderloin. Place the browned meat in a covered pan or dish and set aside.

If you need more olive oil at this point feel free to add it. Let it come to temperature and then brown your beef bones on all sides.

When the beef bones are browned, add your onions, carrots and celery and continue to saute until tender and starting to brown slightly. If the oil begins to smoke, lower your heat. You want the onions, carrots and celery to sauté evenly.

Add the chopped garlic and sauté along with the bones, onions, carrots and garlic for about 2-3 minutes. Be sure not to burn the garlic or it will turn bitter!

Add the tomato paste and mix it in well so that it coats the mix and bones. Continue to sauté until the tomato paste darkens. Again, be careful not to burn the mix.

Add the hand crushed whole tomatoes with their juice, the ground tomatoes, the bay leaves, sugar and the balsamic vinegar. Stir all together until it is well blended. Bring it slowly to a lively simmer. Special note: When you are cooking a quantity of sauce like this, it is always wiser to bring it up to temperature SLOWLY to avoid burning the sauce in the bottom of the stock pot.

When the sauce reaches a lively simmer and is an even, slightly thick mix, add your spare ribs and pork tenderloin. Reduce to a medium simmer and allow to continue like this for one hour stirring occasionally.

At the end of the first hour, add the Italian sausage and allow to simmer for another hour. Always be sure the simmer is low to medium to avoid any burning. Stir occasionally.

At the end of the second hour, add the meatballs and continue simmering for another hour. Stir occasionally.

At the end of that hour, you will notice a layer of red oil forming at the top of the sauce. If you're health conscious you can skim off some of this with a ladle. It won't reduce the fat all that much, but it'll give you a false sense of responsibility that will get you past the guilt of eating all this pork and beef fat goodness.

Season with the sea salt to your preference. Stir sauce well.

Remove from heat. Remove all the meat and bones to a separate serving platter and serve the sauce over your favorite pasta perhaps with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese (as long as your favorites are parmesan-reggiano or pecorino romano).

This sauce kicks ass and is the World's Best Sunday Gravy - TO ME, FINALLY!

Recipe: Chicken and Chourico Paella

My indoctrination to good paella came at the hands of a chef at a resort I was a guest at in the Dominican Republic. Every day at lunch and dinner he would prepare a different variation of the dish that was both attractive and delicious. During one afternoon of my stay, he gave a demonstration on how to cook it and I jumped at the opportunity and I have never looked back.

Paella, much like chili and some other foods, has its passionate followers and I have become one. Its ingredients are not complex and its preparation is straightforward. However, (and in Zen-like fashion) when prepared correctly the dish transcends its humble beginnings by creating a harmony between its ingredients and attaining something quite special, and wholly greater than the sum of its parts (wow, that was awesome, for a moment I felt like a real writer).

Of course variations abound and so do schools of thought. Many paellas you'll find in restaurants are primarily seafood-based affairs. They range from the quite good, to excellent and authentic, to hollow counterfeit products from chefs who know little and think you know even less. Authenticity aside, I have personally seen variations calling for ingredients as varied as rabbit and land snails. Commonly, you'll see chicken, sausage, shrimp, lobster, squid, mussels, clams and just about anything else. The bottom line is that it really doesn't matter what you put in your paella, just that you cover the basics. In the photo above is a paella I made with all the ingredients below, plus the addition of serveral kinds of seafood.

Two of those basics that I will highly recommend are high quality saffron threads and the purchase of a genuine, Spanish-made, carbon steel paella pan. I’ve read cookbooks that say you can cook paella in any shallow and wide pan but I say differently. They are wrong! The biggest difference I noticed in my paella cooking experience was the introduction of my authentic Spanish-made paella pan. Let’s face it, if you’re not prepared to take this seriously you might as well just buy a boxed paella and microwave it.

Now, don’t buy the high-priced hype about saffron OK? Also, don’t buy it at your supermarket or ANYWHERE they sell it by the gram! It is usually of a lesser quality and dramatically overpriced. There are plenty of sources where an ounce of high quality saffron threads can be had for the same price as several grams at your supermarket, (Read a post about my favorite saffron supplier).

If you can't get chourico (you're bumming), no, just use any spicy sausage and add a few teaspoons of paprika. Also, if you want some seafood in it, go on and add it. I do! It is an easy dish to cook and people are drawn to watch it being prepared. Experiment a little and you'll be an aficionado in no time and a member of the ageless, secret society of paella preparers and mystics.

Chicken & Chourico Paella

(Serves 8, use an 18" paella pan)
6-8 cups of chicken broth
1 tsp saffron threads steeped in water overnight
4 boneless chicken breasts (cubed)
Olive oil
2 tsp dry oregano
10 cloves of garlic (minced)
5 large shallots (chopped)
2 lbs of chourico (sliced in 1/4" pieces)
1 28 oz can of tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes)
2 red peppers (cut into thin slices)
2 green peppers (cut into thin slices)
2 cups of green beans cut in 1" lengths
4 cups of rice (arborio preferred)
1 box of frozen peas
Salt & pepper to taste

In a saucepan prepare the chicken broth, bring to simmer and add saffron and liquid. Add black pepper to taste. Keep just below a simmer.

Place chicken, garlic, oregano in a bowl, add 2 Tbs of olive oil and mix well. Place aside for about 10-15 minutes.

Place a paella pan on burner and preheat. Add a little olive oil to pan. When oil begins to shimmer, add the chicken mixture and cook, stirring often until 3/4 done.

Add shallots and cook until they begin to brown.

Then add peppers, chourico, green beans and tomatoes. Stir frequently until vegetables begin to soften.

Add rice by sprinkling evenly over the mix.

Add a few cups of broth to mixture and blend in. Bring it too a simmer. From this point on, DO NOT stir the mixture any more.

Add frozen peas to top of mixture, DO NOT mix in.

Keep adding broth. Let mix simmer, continually replace liquid as it evaporates until the rice begins to get tender. When the rice starts to get tender, stop adding the broth. (If you run out of broth before the rice is tender, you can supplement the paella with warm water.)

Paella is complete when moisture is completely absorbed, mixture thickens and paella caramelizes slightly on the bottom of the pan.

Remove from heat. Cover with foil and towels and allow the flavors to meld for about 10 minutes.

Serve family style.

Recipe: Chicken and Chourico Paella by Henry Krauzyk from Chop Onions, Boil Water

Suppliers I Love: www.saffron.com

There a lot I can tell you about saffron. There's a lot you may have heard before. How it is the world's most expensive spice. How it comes from a small flower. How hard it is to harvest or how few threads come from each bloom. Then there's the different kinds: Spanish, Indian, Kashmiri and Iranian. I could write a great deal about how to judge it's quality. What you should look for and how you should NEVER buy it in a grocery store. In the grocery store it is low quality and extremely expensive. I could also tell you how volatile the price can be, in fact recently it seems to have doubled.

Yes, I could write quite a bit, or I could direct you to the official saffron supplier of my Chop Onion, Boil Water efforts. Find your way to www.saffron.com. There you can get yourself an excellent education on this great spice. When you're done, order your saffron from www.saffron.com. If you follow this blog, you're going to need it. There's paella and other great saffron related recipes on the horizon! If you order it, you won't be disappointed and often you'll get free gift. I've turned a lot of people on to this supplier, and no one's complained yet!
Suppliers I love: www.saffron.com, Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Recipe: Chunky Chicken Salad

One of the food things I remember not liking from my childhood were ham salad and chicken salad sandwiches. They were always soggy and pasty affairs seemingly spread with a putty knife in to small rolls. Bland or too salty they were the bane of holiday dinner tables. Even today I can take them or leave them. It is always hit or miss. My parents make good ones, but every time I grab one at a party or from a buffet, I know I am engaging in the equivalent of a gustatory crapshoot. Just like at a real gaming table, the odds are always stacked against me.

It always struck me as odd because seafood salad and ground chourico (which you are going to hear a lot about on this blog) rolls always seem to be good. It's not because I don't like chicken or ham either, I do. So, like all things food, when I hit a road block, I start trying to find a solution around it. The chicken salad recipe below is my latest solution.

Chunky, fresh, crisp, creamy and cool it makes a great sandwich. It also comes with the lofty endorsement of both my wife and my mother-in-law whom I believe are chicken salad experts. It's really easy to make and in no time you can have a great party offering or lunches for a week.

Chunky Chicken Salad

3 to 4 lbs. boneless chicken breasts or tenders
1 quart homemade or prepared chicken broth
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup of Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/2 cup celery (chopped)
4 TBS onions (chopped)
4 tsp turbinado sugar
2 TBS olive oil
A little less than 1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
Salt and pepper to taste

Divide and trim the fat from the chicken breasts. Place the breasts and the chicken broth in a large pan and set over high heat. Bring to a boil and then back down to a simmer and simmer for about 7 to 10 minutes. At the end of that time, remove from heat, cover and allow to sit until cool enough to touch. Reserve 1/4 cup of the chicken broth. (Save and refrigerate the rest of the chicken stock for future use in soup, sauces or maybe even a more chickeny chicken salad.)

Take the chicken and shred it into chunks. Make the chunks as big or small as you like. Just avoid making a chicken paste from them! Place them in a large mixing bowl.

Add all other ingredients including the 1/4 cup of chicken broth and mix through thoroughly.

When you're done mixing, mix some more because you probably weren't thorough enough.

Taste and season to preference, cover and refrigerate for several hours to allow flavors to intensify. Garnish with some fresh minced parsley for that upper-middle-class effect.

Serve to happy guests or enjoy for lunch.
Recipe: Chunky Chicken Salad Krauzyk, from Chop Onions, Boil Water

Recipe: German Potato Salad

Every year I throw an Oktoberfest party. I'm not German and I'm not particularly fond of a lot of German food, but I love Autumn and I can appreciate getting together with friends, eating all kinds of sausage and tipping back big draft beers from a nice stein. Which leads me right to Hawaii 1986.

I was staying at my popular Brady Bunch refuge the Sheraton Waikiki. In front of the hotel lies the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Mall. It's a pretty nice mall. Its first level stores are occupied by overpriced outlets and the kind of jewelry stores that advertise quality and tradition, but really just sell status. Well, if status could be bought, but I'm getting too political. The second and third levels over the years have seen a number of shops and restaurants come and go. In 1986 there was a German restaurant on the 3rd level. I do not remember the name of the place, I do not remember the interior, I do not remember anything of what I ate except for the potato salad.

I am not even really qualified to judge potato salad as I'm not an especially big fan of it. In fact the first time I ever had a warm potato salad was that night. The recipe below isn't even for the potato salad I had that night. I did ask for it though. Yeah, I've got big balls. The server excused himself and went in the kitchen and returned to the kitchen door with the chef a few moments later. They kind of looked me over for a moment and disappeared back into the kitchen. A short time later my server returned to say "I am sorry but the chef doesn't want to give it to you."

I often wonder why I didn't get the recipe. I mean the chef must have considered it. He came to have a look at me to size me up and perhaps my motives. Did I not get it because I look like some kind of spy in the German restaurant world? I don't know. Maybe he didn't want to give up the recipe because it was remarkable. Maybe I instinctively knew what he knew all the time, that this was the best damn German potato salad in the world! Or not.

In the end it was all moot. They were out of business by the next year and I forgot about him until my 2003 Oktoberfest party. Along with all the sausages and beer I wanted to have a nice warm German potato salad to offer my guests. I found one on line and monkeyed with it and produced the recipe to the right. I really like it and so do my guests.

I wish that bastard would have come across with his recipe though.

German Potato Salad

3 lbs of potatoes cut into 1" cubes
1/2 cup of chopped onion
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 olive oil
1/2 cup of cider vinegar
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs dried parsley
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the cubed potatoes and cook until tender while still firm.

Drain the potatoes and then place them in a large bowl. Carefully mix in the onions until well blended.

In another bowl add the mayonnaise, oil, vinegar, sugar, parsley flakes, salt and pepper. Mix these ingredients together until well blended.

Carefully fold the liquid mixture into the potatoes and onions.

Let set for 1-2 hours before serving.

Adjust seasoning to your taste.

German Potato Salad by Henry Krauzyk, Chop Onions, Boil Water

Recipe: Turkey Tips with Chipotle Ketchup

Have you ever heard someone from England, Australia or New Zealand pronounce a foreign word that they have a need to use? Well, to an American ear it is friggin' downright funny. Not that Americans don't err themselves. I cringe every time I hear a well-meaning countryman pronounce "filet" with a hard "t". Yikes! I'm not writing this to make fun of Americans though.

Back to the people who make our language sound funny. Over the course of my life I have been fortunate enough to make many friends in the aforementioned countries that print money with the queen on it. Among the many benefits of having such friends is the abject pleasure I take in listening to them speak. I like the accents. They are interesting and often very, very amusing.

My very informal personal research has revealed that it is the preference of the inhabitants of these odd and strange commonwealth lands to Anglicize the foreign words they need to adopt for various reasons. This as opposed to the American method of adopting them as close to the language of origin as possible. A trait which I find respectful.

I'm sure it doesn't seem like much of a thing until you hear your Kiwi editor pronounce things like "risotto" (rihz-OTTO), "basil" (Beh-ZILL) or "Parmesan" (oh I can't even write it). Better yet, nothing, NOTHING beats hearing her pronounce "chipotle" (well except maybe my friend Sally from Northern England pronouncing "Feng Shui" (FEHNG-SHOOEY). Back to my rant: When pronounced in its native Mexican language "chipotle" seems the perfect sound to describe these smoked jalapenos, especially if they're packed in adobo sauce. However, when a Kiwi pronounces it, the sound is reminiscent of what you hear when you drop an empty metal canteen on concrete. Instead of that perfectly suitable "Chee-pote-lay" you get "CHEE-POT-UHL!"

CHEE-POT-UHL!

It also sounds like the call of a very large, flightless, messy and unpleasant bird!

CHEE-POT-UHL! CHEE-POT-UHL!

If you ever happen upon one of these pleasant and patronizingly polite foreigners I encourage you to offer them an Italian or Mexican menu. You'll have hours of fun listening to them! I did it with a Portuguese menu once and I still laugh every time I go back to that restaurant! Funny foreign chatter aside, this is a quick and easy recipe. Season the turkey to your personal taste and adapt the spicy ketchup to your comfort level. Personally, I make a large quantity of the chipotle ketchup and keep it handy in the fridge just like regular ketchup.

Turkey Tips with Chipotle Ketchup

1-2 lbs. Fresh turkey tenderloin or breast (cut into 1" cubes)
Montreal Steak Seasoning
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1-2 Tbs butter
1 can of Embasa Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
1 cup of ketchup.

In a large bowl, toss the cubes of raw turkey with your desired amount of Montreal Steak Seasoning (I think I'm somewhere around a tablespoon per pound of turkey, maybe a little less). Cover and set aside while you prepare the chipotle ketchup.

In a blender or food processor combine 2 Tbs of the adobo sauce (from the can of chipotle peppers), the cup of ketchup, and 1 of the chipotle peppers (stem and seeds removed)* blend until smooth.

Set a fry pan on medium-high flame. Add the olive oil and when it begins to shimmer add the butter and cook the combination until the butter is no longer foaming. Add the turkey cubes and cook, stirring frequently until just cooked through.

Serve with the chipotle ketchup on the side.

I serve these with fries or tater tots. Yeah!

* Freeze the balance of the chipotles and adobo for future use.

Recipe: Turkey Tips with Chipotle Ketchup, Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Websites I Love: Vah Chef

I do a lot of Indian cooking at home. For me it's an area of constant exploration and discovery that is further rewarded with great food that I prepare in my own kitchen. I started my education of Indian food with several good books. I will certainly review them here in future posts.

Cookbooks are of course indispensible when learning to prepare new foods. A great cookbook will not only teach you how to prepare certain dishes, but will offer photos and even a history of the food and processes involved. Some will even give you a philosophy lesson. Books are not the only route in the age of the internet though and sometimes you can find a great source for recipes, tricks, secrets, alternatives and details there.

I stumbled upon Chef Sanjay Thumma while looking on YouTube for a good way to prepare naan in a conventional oven. Sure enough he had a couple of alternatives for preparing it and they worked out really well. What I like about Chef Thumma is that he presents his video recipes in a friendly, dynamic and easy-to-follow format. His enthusiasm is engaging and his knowledge is extremely helpful.

I had mentioned in an earlier post how I had been chasing and tinkering with a chicken makhani recipe for a long time and that I had finally gotten it to where I liked it. Well, in Chef Thumma's video on chicken makhani he mentioned that Indian restaurants around the world add a little ketchup to their recipes. Sure enough, it was a very important addition to my recipe for chicken makhani and was the missing element I had been searching for! Our recipes for this dish do differ, but I wouldn't love mine if it wasn't for this little gem of knowledge I got from Vah Chef.

His videos are full of similar tidbits and he's very entertaining to watch and listen to. If you're into cooking Indian and you want to augment and polish your skills, I highly recommend Chef Sanjay Thummas website and blog. It is definitely a website I love!

Visit vahrehvah.com to see Chef Sanjay Thumma's instructional videos and recipes!

 


Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk. Websites I love: Vah Chef

Recipe: Sun-dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

I'm going to make a statement that may upset a lot of people (especially Europeans). As I live my life generally not caring about upsetting a lot of people, I don't care. This is just an advisory note that you should look past your initial feelings of instant resentment and open-mindedly consider what I'm going to write. Beyond that, I'm also saying that if you cannot do that, I just don't care if you're upset. It's how I roll.

Ready?

Here goes...

Without the contributions of the Native Americans, international cuisine as the world now knows it would not exist!

There would be no Italian, Spanish or Portuguese food as we know it. French, Indian and Chinese cuisines would also be greatly diminished. Strangely enough though, British food would remain completely unchanged and uninteresting.

Why do I proclaim this? Because without the contributions of the Americas there would be no dishes that contain potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, peanuts, chocolate, vanilla, sweet potatoes or corn. All of these ingredients in modern cuisine were introduced to the world by Native Americans to the early European settlers.

Think of any of the major cuisines available today without these important ingredients and you'll have to agree. Pasta without tomato sauce? Szechuan, Portuguese or curries without chili peppers? Satay without peanuts? French desserts sans chocolate and vanilla? The Irish without potatoes?

What about the sweet potato? One of the top 15 crops worldwide! The Europeans got their first taste of it in the Caribbean and then proceeded to distribute it worldwide! It helped thwart a Japanese famine in the 1730's and was so integrated by New Zealand's Maori into their mythology as to have eleborate rituals and ceremonies governing its growing and storage methods!

So next time you consider food, consider the contributions of the Americas and the Native Americans! Don't even make me bring up pineapples, cashews, strawberries or medicinal plants!

How does it all relate to the attached recipe? TOMATOES YO!

Sun-Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

2 28oz cans of ground tomatoes
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (diced)
1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil
2-3 Tbs of fat back or equivalent (optional)
3-5 Tbs red onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 Tbs dried basil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 healthy pinch of dried oregano
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

In a deep saucepan add olive oil and place on medium heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add fat back (if using) and cook until it is rendered. Remove the solids.

Add onions and stir often, cook until translucent.

Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Carefully add the ground tomatoes and the sun-dried tomatoes. Blend in well, simmer for five minutes then add the basil, oregano, salt and pepper, stir in well..

Bring mixture to a boil then lower to a low simmer and cook for 45 minutes stirring occasionally.

If sauce is too thin, continue cooking uncovered until desired consistency is achieved. If sauce is too thick, slowly add pasta water to desired consistency.

Serve over pasta topped with Parmigiano-reggiano cheese, or use as an excellent base for meatballs.


Sun-Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Recipe: Braised Chicken Breast Portuguese

Chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken. I love chicken and cook a ton of it. I've named this dish "Braised Chicken Breasts Portuguese" although I don't know if it is a traditional Portuguese recipe. It's simple enough and with the right ingredients so that you'd think it was traditional, but I've never come upon it in my travels nor at dinner in the homes of my Portuguese friends. It's a hearty and flavorful dish that is best laid out on a pile of rice with the extra gravy poured all over everything.

The real story is about the search for tenderness. In the "I-knew-even-less-then-than-I-know-now" days of cooking I used to try and try and try to cook chicken breasts that were tender and moist, usually with limited results. I even tried marinating the breasts in buttermilk because I had heard some chain restaurants do that to make up for the inadequacies of their chefs in the heat vs. timing departments. It didn't work.

Then I hit upon braising. A little dredging in flour, a quick fry in shallow oil to seal the breasts and then a slow and low simmer in your desired sauce. Et voila! You get chicken so moist and tender that you get a little suspicious as to whether there may be something abnormally wrong with it (at least I was).

Of course any method used to cook something can go too far and eventually dry it out or make it tough, but if you stick with the basics of braising you're going to get good results. While this recipe is Portuguese, you'll see the basic technique in there and I urge you to try your own variations with your favorite sauces and styles. In fact I also do a Mexican variation of this recipe using molé roja and it is equally tender and moist.

Only, my wife doesn't like molé which means I don't get to make it often. I'd like to, but I don't. Do you know why? Well it's because I'm a diplomat and a nice guy. I'm also flexible, easy going and generally tired of getting remarried.

For now.

: )


Braised Chicken Breast Portuguese

1-2 lbs boneless chicken breast
1-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1-2 cups of white wine
1 medium onion (chopped fine)
1 tomato (cubed)
Portuguese olive oil
1 clove of garlic (minced)
2-3 bay leaves
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs parsley (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste

If the chicken breasts are attached split apart. Rinse in water and pat dry.

Place some of the Portuguese olive oil in a small high sided pan to a depth of about 1/4". Set on high heat.

When the oil comes up to frying temperature, dredge each chicken breast in flour and coat well. Fry the breasts in the oil until well browned on both sides. Remove and set aside.

In another large high sided pan add 2 Tbs Portuguese olive oil, set on medium-high heat. When oil begins to shimmer add the onion and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the minced garlic, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and paprika and continue stirring.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

When the tomatoes begin to soften, raise the heat to high and add the wine and bring to a high simmer.

Reduce the heat to low and add the chicken breasts. Cover and maintain a very LOW simmer for 30 minutes turning the chicken once (carefully so as not to remove the crust). The gravy should just about be simmering.

Remove lid, remove chicken breasts and set aside in a covered dish to keep warm.

Increase heat to a full simmer and reduce sauce, stirring frequently until thick. Add the parsley in the last several minutes. Serve dressed with sauce on steamed rice. Garnish with a little more parsley.


Braised Chicken Breast Portuguese, Chop Onions, Boil Water

Recipe: Yankee Apple Pie

Nothing is more American than baseball, hot dogs and apple pie right? Well sort of. The way I understand it, baseball was actually based on an older British game called rounders. Hot dogs also came from a foreign land-Germany. The Germans do more things with weiners and sausage than my sausage-craving-friend Andy could ever hope to try. Finally, apple pie, that most American self-identified food, alas, the Europeans were making it long before they came here and stole all the land from the natives.

Don't let this bum you out though. Things like this happen all over the world and all through history! Take Italy for instance. What kind of food comes to mind when you think of Italy? Pizza and pasta right? Well, pizza found its way to Italy via the flatbreads of the Moorish invaders. Pasta? That's all Chinese, kiddies! What is pasta without sauce right? Well tomatoes were unknown in Italy and Europe until the Europeans found their way to the New World! Central and South American Indians were making sauces from tomatoes thousands of years before an Italian even knew what pasta was! The same can be said for many cultures dishes, many find their origins in other places and cultures.

So lighten your hearts countrymen and countrywomen! Rounders is lame! It had to be turned into something better! Guess who did that? Americans! We made it so popular with our changes that it is widely played throughout the Americas, the Caribbean and Asia! Similarly the hot dog has transcended its Germanic origins due entirely to its popularity in the United States (I do believe we added the bun!). We do more things with hot dogs alone than some Asian cultures do with rice!

Finally, there's apple pie. Sure it had its beginning in Europe, but those old recipes pale in comparison to the kicked up and spiced up version that American colonial women created when they naturalized and immortalized that dish as one of the New World's premier dessert dishes.

In this day and age with the internet, overnight delivery and an ever-shrinking world, I have friends in South Korea who dream about trying fresh baked American apple pie! Really! If they ever visit, this is the recipe I will use to bake them their first apple pie. I'll serve it to them with big scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream as well! Then I'll pour a big glass of champagne for myself and ask them to pronounce things from a Portuguese restaurant menu.

There are a lot of opinions where apple pie is concerned. Some folks say a blend of tart and sweet apples works best, others will mumble about the amount of spices, etc. For the sake of originality and variation I say experiment. Starting out with Macintosh's or Cortlands doesn't hurt and I've upped and downed the various spices as well. Experiment future pie makers! Experiment!

Yankee Apple Pie

5 lbs of Macintosh or Cortland apples (peeled and sliced into wedges)
1-2/3 cup of sugar
6 TBS all-purpose flour
2-4 TBS brown sugar
3-4 tsp of ground cinnamon (use your own judgement here)
1/2 tsp of ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBS of fresh lemon juice
1 large egg (beaten)
Either purchase or prepare enough dough for two pie crusts (tops and bottoms).

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

In a large pan over low heat, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and sugars.

When the spice and sugar combination is well combined, add the apple wedges and lemon juice (if using) to the spice mixture and toss to coat. Leave in the pan, tossing frequently until the sugars begin to liquify and glaze the apple wedges. BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN.

Remove pie filling mixture from heat.

Carefully unfold or roll out the pie dough and place in the bottoms of two pie pans.

Fill each pie with pie mixture. Mixture should heap a little to the center of the pie.

Carefully cover each pie with another piece of dough sealing the seams with a little beaten egg. Press pie edges together firmly. Brush the exposed pie dough with beaten egg.

Cut 3 small vent holes in the top of each pie and place them in the oven at 450°F for about 20 minutes. Then lower the heat to 375°F and continue cooking until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool.

Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Apple pie chop onions, boil water

Recipe: Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken)

In my research, I've found that this is a "dining out" recipe which means that most people don't make it at home. The reasons for this are practical as most homes don't have the tandor oven necessary to make the chicken perfectly. From what I understand this recipe originated using not only the leftover meat but also the drippings from tandori roasted chicken. That doesn't mean it's impossible to make at home. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Chicken Makhani is probably the most popular Indian dish in the world. My introduction to it came at one of my favorite lunch haunts: New Mother India in Waltham, Massachusetts. I've had chicken makhani at many other places, but New Mother India's is still the best. It's their sauce of course and the extremely tender chicken doesn't hurt. They were the target I was shooting for when I started trying to replicate the dish. Two years, and a host of recipes, alterations and attempts later, I still don't have it. No one's complaining in my house though because I've come up with one that is very good and easy to prepare at home. It's a home kitchen homerun!

Now I've had Chicken Makhani in restaurants a few different ways. Sometimes it comes with a little sauce, sometimes in comes with a lot. This recipe is in the middle. If you want more sauce, just scale up all the ingredients except the chicken. This recipe also includes what I've been lead to believe is a widely used but rarely admitted to Indian restaurant secret: Good 'ol American Ketchup! Trust me, it has to be true because it makes a big difference in the finished dish!

Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken)

1 inch piece of ginger (diced)
3 garlic cloves (diced)
1/2 cup of almonds (some recipes say blanch them. I did once but don't anymore.)
1/2 cup of plain yogurt (Greek preferred but use what you have)
1/2 tsp of mild chili powder (some Indian types are VERY hot)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp fenugreek
4 cardamom pods
1 lb. diced fresh tomatoes (the redder, the riper, the better)
1-1/4 tsp salt
2 lbs. boneless chicken breast (cut into bite-sized pieces)*
5 TBS clarified butter (yup, this isn't for the faint of heart, it is called "Butter chicken" for a reason!)
1 large onion (thinly sliced)
6 TBS fresh cilantro (finely chopped, Chop a little extra as a garnish).
5 TBS heavy cream
1-3 TBS ketchup (I use Trader Joe's organic)

Blend the ginger, garlic, almonds and yogurt into a liquidy paste. Add a little water if necessary.

Put the ginger, garlic, almond and yogurt paste in a large bowl. Add the chili powder, cloves, cinnamon, garam masala, cardamom, tomatoes, salt and blend everything together well.

Add the chicken to the bowl and mix in well. Be sure all the chicken is well-coated.

Now, some recipes say to marinate this in the fridge from 2 to 24 hours. Me? Nah, right on to the next step and I don't taste a remarkable difference.

Preheat your oven to 350°F (Yup, I learned this from one recipe and it makes a nice difference).

Set a large, deep, OVEN SAFE pan or dutch oven over medium heat and add the clarified butter until melted. Add the onions and sauté until beginning to brown and soft.

Add the chicken and sauce mixture and fry for a few minutes to get the mixture up to oven temp.

Add the chopped cilantro and heavy cream. Carefully mix in thoroughly.

Place in the oven uncovered and cook for about an hour. Keep an eye on it. You want it to brown a little in a few places on top, but not burn or dry out! If it seems to beginning to brown too much or looks like it is drying up, throw an oven-safe cover, or aluminum foil on it and finish cooking it like that.

When time is up, immediately remove it from the oven. Add the ketchup (shhhhhh!) and stir it in thoroughly. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Serve garnished with a little chopped cilantro. Add basmati rice and naan as sides and kabam! Indian food heaven!

*Truth be told you can use any skinless cuts of chicken you like. I like boneless breast.




Chicken makhani butter chicken recipe

Review: Rao's Cookbook

You are looking at the most important Italian Cookbook of the fourteen Italian cookbooks I think are important enough to keep on hand. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, Rao's is a New York City institution as far as Italian cuisine is concerned. Reservations are impossible, and a year long waiting list keeps its ten sacred tables full. Some patrons have standing reservations, they own their tables!

If you want to eat at Rao's put your reservation in EARLY. Sure, you can eat at their Las Vegas location, but quite frankly, that's not Rao's. If you want the genuine Rao's experience you can find it in one place: Rao's, 455 East 114th Street, East Harlem, New York 10029. You want to make reservations? Here's the number: (212) 722-6709, be sure to tell them Henry K sent you!

The cookbook is worth the the price for the meatball recipe alone. The marinara recipe is simple and perfect. There's also a recipe in there for a sauce with savoy cabbage that is surprising. There are lots of great recipes and I've tried many. You will as well.

What also makes this a great book is what's behind the recipes. Stories and photos from the restaurant's history and more importantly, a lot of background info on how Rao's prepares the foundations for their recipes. Broths, vinegared peppers, flavored oils, batters and more, with tips on preparing garlic and beans and other things for recipes throughout the book.

If I had one suggestion, I would say that I would have liked to see photographs of every recipe. Apart from that, if you're looking for a great Italian cookbook, or of you're looking for ONE Italian Cookbook, Rao's is my suggestion.

8 months, 2 weeks and 4 days until my reservation...

Review: Bufalo Chipotle Hot Sauce

I can always remember where I was in my life when I've tried some important foods. Chimichurri was in Oranjestadt, Aruba. Manapua was in Honolulu, Hawaii. Boeuf Wellington was in Providence, Rhode Island. Oh man, the charbroiled hot dogs they sell on the street in Ponta Delgada, Azores are something else! The list goes on and on, but you get the picture and you can probably relate

The first time I ever had Bufalo Chipotle Hot Sauce was in the Cancun Airport in the Yucatan as I was leaving Mexico after another great vacation in Playa del Carmen. I was walking around looking for a cold beer and I walked into a small hot sauce shop. The guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted to try any and I chose a serrano-based hot sauce and the Bufalo Chipotle Hot Sauce I bought a couple of bottles of the Bufalo Chipotle Hot Sauce on the spot and I've never looked back.

When I ran out of my initial purchase, I quickly found a new supplier and I've used the stuff religiously ever since. I guess you could call it my favorite hot sauce. It is thick, rich and the smokey chipotle flavor just makes anything you put on it a taste sensation. It's not one of those set-your-butt-ablaze hot sauces that all the low-browed chest pounders love to brag they use. It has just the right amount of heat to make it a food experience rather than a dare.

I've tried other chipotle flavored hot sauces just for comparison and they just don't match up. The others are always too watery, too vinegary, or too something that just falls short of the Bufalo brand. I'm sticking with this stuff.

Recipe-wise I use it on and in a number of foods. My favorite thing to put it on are my wife's cheese burgers (recipe forthcoming). Now, those burgers are among my favorite foods anyway, but when she shakes some Bufalo Chipotle Hot Sauce on them... BANG! I am into yum yum outer space!

Bufalo's homepage here.

Nutritional information here.

I rate this stuff 4 out of 4 stars.

Recipe: Rigatoni Pomodoro

There are a lot of reasons to love New England in Autumn. There are the brilliant colors, the warm days and the brisk nights and the smell of the air. Sunlight even takes on a warmer and more yellow character and the sunsets are works of art. It's my favorite season, my best kisses have always been in Autumn, it's a "thing" I guess.

Another reason I love Autumn in New England is the native harvest. Sweet corn, squash, acorns, potatoes and a host of other great things. Then there are the tomatoes. My dad keeps a sizable garden and grows a wide variety of vegetables, come Autumn, I get lots and lots of tomatoes and trust me, I have a use for every single one. Below, you'll find my newest Italian recipe that not only uses tomatoes, but show cases them wonderfully. Use extra-red, very ripe tomatoes and this humble pasta dish will transcend its humble ingredients. I've had it twice in the last few days and my wife and kids aren't complaining one bit!

Rigatoni Pomodoro

1 lb. fresh rigatoni
2-3 Tbs Olive oil
1/2 onion (chopped)
4-5 fresh extra-red, very ripe tomatoes (cut into pieces about 1/4"-1/2" square)
1 clove garlic (chopped)
4 Tbs tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp sea salt
Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
Chopped basil for garnish

Divide the chopped tomatoes into 4 equal parts.

Set water to boil for pasta.

Set a sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil. When it begins to shimmer, add the onions and sauté until translucent.

Add the first part of the tomatoes, basil, black pepper and allow to cook and reduce.

When first portion of tomatoes cook down and are reduced and beginning to thicken, add second part. Stir occasionally. Adjust heat as needed.

When second part of tomatoes cook down and are reduced and beginning to thicken, add third part of tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic and salt. Lower heat and allow to reduce slowly, stirring occasionally.

You are looking for a very thick and rich sauce.

By now pasta water should be boiling cook the rigatoni just short of your desired doneness.

Drain the rigatoni and add it and the last part of the chopped tomatoes to the thickened pomodoro sauce. Toss well until the pasta is well coated. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and serve sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano. Garnish with a little chopped basil.

Recipe: Thai Pumpkin Curry

My wife, like many people, used to hate curry. She hated all Indian foods actually. To someone like me and the billions of other curry lovers out there, that is simply hard to believe. The range of curries are too wide with too many regional influences and nuances for anyone to say "I hate curry".

I think the real reason someone may not like curry is because they've had one that they didn't like and judge all the others based on that decision. I think that probably goes with entire cuisines. How can anyone dislike an entire cuisine? How can you reject all Indian, Thai or Japanese food based on small samplings? That's like not liking a hot dog and because of it ignoring all other American dishes! Keep daring yourself to try things.

The dish below was the transitional one for my wife. With it, she went from curry hater, to Thai curry lover. Shortly afterward she became an Indian curry lover as well, and then an Indian and Thai food lover.

It's been inspiring to watch and sure makes dining out and cooking at home a great deal more interesting!

Thai Pumpkin Curry

2 cans of coconut milk
1.5 to 2 lbs. of London Broil or similar beef cubed (or pork or chicken)
3 TBS yellow curry paste
2 TBS fish sauce
1 TBS palm sugar (or similar sugar)
4 TBS tamarind juice
6 green cardamom pods
1 stick of cinnamon
3 cups of sugar pumpkin (cubed)
1.5 cups of potato (cubed)
3/4 cup carrots (cubed)
1 onion (frenched)
1/2 cup of roasted peanuts
Juice of half a lime
Chopped cilantro and Thai basil

Place a large pan over high heat. Pour in all the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the meat and lower to a simmer. For beef, simmer for 30-40 minutes. For chicken or pork simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the curry paste and stir until it dissolves into the coconut milk and meat mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind juice, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots and onions. Continue simmering for 15 to 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the roasted peanuts to the curry and mix well. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the lime juice and chopped cilantro/basil. Reserve some as a garnish.

Serve hot in bowls accompanied with sticky or jasmine rice.

Recipe: Native American-Style Baked Squash

Squash, Beans and Corn were staples for the Native Americans. They were so important that a philosophy of gardening related to them developed. Called "The Three Sisters", squash, corn and beans were always planted together in mound gardens (usually with fish heads and entrails as fertilizer).

Corn was planted first and a short time later beans were planted close to the developing corn stalks. On the outer edges of the mounds squash was planted. As the plants developed the beans were allowed to grow up the corn stalks. This kept the beans off the ground and away from most hungry pests, and also kept the corn well supported. Amazingly, the beans also added nitrogen to the soil which kept the following year's corn healthy and full. Finally, the squash kept weeds down and slowed moisture evaporation from the soil with its large low leaves. It also further discouraged pests with it prickly vines.

The common idea of America before the arrival of Europeans was of a wildly wooded place populated by a primitive race that lived as hunter-gatherers. The truth is wildly different. Early adventurers as far back as the Vikings and the Conquistadors left written records of large cultivated fields that contained a host of domesticated plants. American native people were hybridizing beans, corn and other plants into many varieties long before the first non-natives ever set foot on the North or South American continents.

For today's entry I have chosen one of my favorite Autumn foods. Squash was also a favorite of many of the New England tribes. To this day one can still find the odd squash patch growing in the woods, a remnant of former native farming.

Oh, and for the record: Corn, beans and squash? Native American gifts to world cuisine. Well, those and potatoes, peanuts, pineapples, etc., etc., etc.

This one is an easy-to-prepare delight.

Native American-Style Baked Squash

1 Acorn, Butternut or similar squash
2 TBS sweet butter
8 tsp maple syrup or maple sugar

Heat the oven to 425°F

Split the squash down the middle and scrape out the seeds and stringy membrane.

Place the squash cut side up in a dutch overn.

Put one tablespoon of butter and four teaspoons of maple syrup or sugar in each half.

Cover the pan and place in the oven for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven, allow to cool enough so you can scrape the flesh from the skins into a bowl.

Mash well or whip. Serve hot as a side or on blue corn cakes (a future recipe).

Recipe: Channa Masala

I'm presently in the beginning stages of putting together the 2009 edition of my cookbook. I've been sorting out my Indian recipes for the new Indian section and I'm looking forward to seeing them in "Chop Onions, Boil Water".

This is a recipe I've put together from several others with a decent bit of tinkering in between to get it right where I like it. It is one of my wife's favorites and watching her eat it is almost as much as a treat as eating it myself. I finally managed to get it to where I like it tonight. So, this one is right off the stove and into the book and blog on the same night!

Channa Masala or Aloo Cholay and naan bread are sort of like the peanut butter and jelly sandwich of India. A lunch and snack standard. A popular and fortifying food that can be purchased from street vendors or prepared in the home. As with many Indian dishes there are lots of ingredients, it's all worth it. This stuff is even better on the second and third day. If you think you may not like chickpeas, you're wrong. Just ask my wife.

Channa Masala

2-3 TBS peanut oil
1 stick of cinnamon
6 whole cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 medium onions (chopped)
2 TBS ginger (chopped)
4 green cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp amchoor powder
4 medium tomatoes (chopped)
2 tsp palm or brown sugar
1/2 tsp hot Indian chile powder
2 cans (30 ozs.) chickpeas
2 TBS butter
3-4 TBS yogurt
1/2 tsp garam masala
Juice of one lime
Chopped cilantro

Put the oil in a heated pan place on medium heat, when the oil begins to shimmer add the cinnamon, and cloves. Heat until the cinnamon begins to unravel. Then remove the cinnamon and cloves. Immediately add the cumin seeds. When the seeds stop crackling immediately add the onions and saute until translucent.

Add the ginger, cardamom and bay leaves and stir. Add the garlic, curry powder and amchoor powder until mix is well blended. Do not burn the mix. Lower the heat or add a little water if necessary.

Add the tomatoes, palm sugar and Indian chile powder and mix in well. Allow the tomatoes to break down and liquify.

Add the chickpeas (and some water if necessary)

Continue to cook until reduced and thick and rich.

Add chopped cilantro and blend well.

Finish with butter, yogurt, garam masala and lime juice. Salt to taste.

Serve with naan or pooris.

Recipe: Sweet Potato Pie

Much like the Brady Bunch influenced my lodging decisions in Hawaii, a host of 1970’s African American-based television sitcoms influenced my first venture into piedom (pausing for your laughter). I cannot count the times I heard the characters of various shows praise the promise of a sweet potato pie! Strange huh?

Mostly, it was out of odd curiosity. I remember thinking “ugh, how good can a pie made from potatoes be?” So, a number of years later that curiosity and wonder got the best of me and I decided to see for myself. I am here to tell you their praise was justified because sweet potato pie is (clap) DY-NA-MITE! Its flavor hovers somewhere in the area of pumpkin and squash pies, but in my opinion it offers subtle complex nuances and just a better overall taste.

I’m not the only one who thinks this either. The first pies I ever made were sweet potato pies, a few of these made their way to my parents home, and since then it has become a Thanksgiving tradition. My mom insists that I bring them, and it seems no one else objects either, especially my wife who insists I make a few for home as well. There’s nothing like a cool slice o’ sweet tater pie and some fresh whipped cream to top off a holiday meal.

Interestingly enough, during my various trips to Hawaii, I was introduced to a purple sweet potato. In the future I’d like to try making a pie from it. The idea of a purple dessert intrigues me (stay tuned). Anyway, there’s no secret to baking this masterpiece, if I had to add anything I’d offer that you should mash and whip the potatoes to a silky smoothness and also, after cooking, let the pies cure in the fridge overnight.

Sweet Potato Pie

1-1/4 lbs Sweet Potatoes (approx. 2)
1/2 stick unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 Tbs dark rum
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and roast them on a shallow baking pan in the middle of the oven until VERY tender. Allow to cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.

Remove the flesh from the sweet potatoes and thoroughly mash them until smooth.

Melt the butter in a small pan and slowly stir in the sugar.

When the sugar melts stir in vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum, salt and flour.

When thoroughly mixed add butter/spice combination, milk and eggs to mashed sweet potatoes. Mix well. Pour the mix into the pie shell.

Move pie into the oven and bake until the filling rises and just sets. Remove from oven and allow pie to cool before serving topped with whip cream.

Recipe: Chicken/Turkey Pot Pie

One of the great things about getting older is noticing how much better things were when I was younger. Are you in your forties or fifties? Think about it. Isn’t it great? It’s even more fun to rant about it. Here, I’ll show
you!

Rap and Hip Hop? Come on, it sucks! It really does! As a matter of fact 90% of popular music sucks! I see these buffoons in music videos posturing and pretending to be something they’re not and I just love it because it sucks! Most of it is barely music. Black, white, yellow or red the new music mostly sucks. That is saying something because I grew up during DISCO!

When was the last time you saw a great movie? When was the last time you saw an original concept, original script, that was well written, excellently acted and filmed beautifully? I can’t remember because all the new movies SUCK! They are making movies based on television shows and other movies from when we were kids. Do you know why? Because it was better then! They just can’t get it right though, can they!

How about television? There are good shows right? I know there are several I like. That still sucks though. Do you want to know why? I’ll tell you anyway. Because there were ALWAYS several shows I liked, even way back when there were ONLY THREE CHANNELS! Now we have over a hundred or more and still there are only several good shows!!!! There should be sixty good shows but there aren’t because today’s television SUCKS! Television was
so good back in the day that Hollywood keeps making bad movies based on the good old programs!

Cars suck today! Okay maybe they’re better for the environment and safer, that’s good, but why do they all look the same? Remember when you could look at a car and know its make and its year of manufacture? Not today, they are all so bland! The ubiquitous conformance of the gray flannel suit of the 1950’s has manifested itself in the auto industry! It’s boring and it sucks!

One of the few things that have gotten better is food. Today we have access to a wider variety of ingredients and produce. Foods like Thai, Japanese and Lebanese that would have been considered exotic when we were kids are commonplace today. We even have channels on television that are dedicated to food and its preparation (though it’s a pity that many of the programs still SUCK!). So while it is a pleasure to know how much better we had it back then, it’s still good to know we can count on some improvement!

What’s all this got to do with the recipe to the right? Well the basis for the recipe comes from a cookbook inspired by the television program “Northern Exposure”. A great program! How do I know? Easy, because I can weigh it against all the ones that suck today!

Chicken/Turkey Pot Pie

5 cups cooked chicken/turkey cubed
1-1/2 cups of sliced carrots
1-1/2 cups of sliced celery
1 10-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
4 cups homemade chicken/turkey stock or canned broth
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup reserved vegetable broth (see below)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 flat sheets ready-made or homemade pie dough

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Fill a saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Add celery and carrot and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Strain through sieve reserving 3/4 cup of resulting vegetable broth and allow it to cool a little in the freezer. Rinse vegetables under cold water.

Put celery, carrots, chicken and peas into a large bowl. Toss together to mix thoroughly.

Distribute evenly between 2-3 pie dough lined pie plates. DO NOT pack
tightly.

Combine chicken stock, milk, celery salt, pepper and nutmeg in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to a low simmer.

In a small bowl, mix flour and reserved vegetable stock and whisk into a smooth paste. Stir paste into the saucepan. While continuing to stir, raise heat and bring back to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes or more, until mixture is thick and smooth. Test and season to taste. Pour sauce in equal amounts over the chicken-vegetable mixture.

Cover each pie with dough. Seal edges well. Put four knife slits in each pie to allow venting. Brush the top of each pie with egg white. Cook in the oven until golden brown. Remove, allow to set, and then serve with any surplus gravy.