Stuffed Peppers - delicious, rustic fare in about 30 minutes

Over two years ago I started paying more attention to cooking. Not recipes, but cooking. The way ingredients go together. The way flavors combine. Techniques for controlling heat and moisture. It's been an excellent ride, and here is where many might expect me to say that it's a ride now over.

Not so.

I often think about the value of cooking. What it's brought into my life and how the knowledge and experience have benefitted my family and me. Right now the greatest value is fast, simple meals that are delicious and a lot healthier than grabbing some McDonald's value meals or nuking a Lean Cuisine. None of that crap belongs in our bodies, but we often justify eating it for the sake of convenience. "I just don't have time!"

Bull shit. Check it out:

• Avail yourself of some chorizo (the dish will work as well with ground beef), a green pepper, some black beans, an onion, queso fresco (or some other cheese you really like), salt and pepper.
• Heat a pan to medium-high.
• Poke a hole in the casing and squeeze out the chorizo in chunks into the pan.
• Dice half that onion and toss it with the chorizo.
• Brown it, crumble it (the chorizo, not the onion. Crumble, I mean. The onion will brown, too).

• While it's heating, slice the green pepper in half and scoop out the seeds and stuff.
• Preheat that oven to 300 degrees.

• It's going to take some time for the oven to heat, so why not add the beans to your sausage mix and give it a stir.
• Let it heat through.
• Put the pepper halves on a baking sheet, spoon the chorizo mix into the halves and bake in that oven for about 20 minutes.
• When it comes out, sprinkle with queso fresco and a little hot sauce.

The whole process takes about 30 minutes, provides a reasonably healthy lunch, and you get to listen to your own music the entire time. What's not to like?

Wednesday news bites for August 27, 2008

Photo credit: ewanr

To Eat Local, Kill Local
The case of eating local meat often runs up against NIMBY syndrome (not in my back yard). If you want to do it right, however, you have to make some tough choices. Chris Cosentino and others speak out in an article in San Francisco Magazine.

FDA: Irradiating Spinach, Lettuce OK to Kill Germs
Cool. No, seriously. What else will it kill? You know, eventually.

Thinking Globally, but Growing Locally
If you're eating local, you're eating seasonally, too. And it should go without saying that you're eating...er...locally, too. So, no bananas in New York State, no apples in Florida. Got it?

Sour Grapes
I don't often cover the restaurant business here, but this one has to do with ethics: Wine Spectator has given an award to a non-existent restaurant. Looks like one of the worst cases of advertorializing I've ever seen. Nick Fox provides a brief write-up.

Rock 'n' Roll: How to start composting
It's a good habit to get into, and doesn't take a lot of space as long as you have the right equipment.

Weekend Project: Sharpen your Knives!
This is something I definitely need to do. People seem to worry a lot about sharp knives, but most kitchen knife accidents are caused by dull knives.

Cheap vs. Expensive Food: Is 'value added' really the way to go?
Are we willing to pay food's real worth?

Tandoori Chicken

My monthly food column as it appeared in the August issue of Satellite Magazine

When people think of national cuisines, they traditionally think of French, Italian or Chinese. These are mother nations, and many of the ingredients and techniques pioneered there spread throughout various regions and across the world's oceans. But India has some of the world's richest culinary traditions and is rapidly becoming a major player on the culinary world stage. And it's the last stop in our summer travels.

Most people associate curry with Indian cuisine, but curry merely indicates a heavy mix of spices. Indian curries usually include turmeric, coriander and cumin. But Indian cuisine is as varied as its regions, ranging from hearty, rich foods in the north to light seafood dishes along the coast to hot, spicy dishes in the south. It's the northern cuisines that we usually think of when we think of Indian food--heavily sauced foods and stews from the Punjab region in Northern India, and it is this region we travel to this month via tandoori chicken.

Tandoori recipes are named for the clay oven, called a tandoor, in which they're traditionally prepared. If you don't have one of these ovens sitting in your back yard, you're probably not alone. Your oven, set at a very high temperature, will do just fine. You can also use your backyard grill. They key to many Indian dishes is the balance of flavors and massive ingredient list. Tandoori chicken is no different. Once everything is mixed, however, the preparation is a snap.

Ingredients

• Six chicken thighs (approximately 2.5 pounds. You can use chicken breasts, but they won't be as flavorful. To get the most flavor, make sure the bones are in and the skin on--delicious!)
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 a small onion
• 1 small shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice (or any acid--you could try lime juice or various types of vinegar)
• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon (cinnamon will impart some sweetness to the dish. You can add more if you like, but be careful. Cinnamon is one of those spices that can easily overwhelm the taste of your food.)
• Salt (to taste, though you should add at least one hefty pinch)
• Ground pepper to taste

Optional:

• Cayenne pepper or red chili
• Cloves

Supplies:

• Roasting pan and wire rack

Note: Some recipes will call for red or yellow food coloring to help boost the dish's visual appeal. I don't like to go that route as it seems most unnatural.

Start with a large, non-reactive bowl (preferably glass) with plenty of room for the chicken thighs (but small enough to fit in your refrigerator). Finely chop the onion, shallot and garlic, and fold them together in the bowl with the yogurt. Add the lemon juice, stir to combine, and then add the paprika, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and pepper (also add the cayenne or red chili flakes if you've chosen to use them). In addition, you can add a pinch of ground cloves to your mix, if you want to add some of that smoky, anise flavor they impart. You can also add turmeric to liven the dish and give an additional color pop. Stir everything together and then place the chicken thighs in the bowl. Rub the mixture over the chicken thighs so they're liberally coated, then stash the chicken in your fridge and let it marinade at least two hours. Twelve is better, twenty-four is best.

When you're ready to cook, get the roasting pan and place the wire rack inside it. Put the pan and rack in the oven and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. When the oven is heated, place the chicken on the rack and bake the chicken for approximately 30 minutes (if you stick a skewer into the middle of the chicken thigh, juices should run clear). Remove the chicken from the oven and serve it hot with rice. Some people will sprinkle chopped chives or cilantro as a final garnish.

Thus ends our summer culinary journey. Like all summer trips, the end is a bit melancholy, the return home just a bit too soon. Your own food journey doesn't have to stop, though. Keep exploring. Create! Seek out those cuisines and cultures that interest you and bring a piece of them into your home through food. It's not quite the same as being there, but it just might push you to make the trip.

Wednesday news bites for August 20, 2008

Feed kids real food, not drugs
Culinate.com tackles doctors' latest recommendations that kids get drugs to help them lower cholesterol. Culinate's shocking recommendation? Stop feeding kids chemicals and candy and give them some real food.

Food for thought
The American Conservative magazine suggests food culture is no longer just the concern of hippy liberals and their dirty farmer's markets. Sustainability, local food and eating together are now the province of the conservative movement. How do they take our best ideas and claim them as their own?

Weather Watch
Agriculture savant Frederick Kirschenmann assesses the potential effects of climate change on farming in the United States and ways to ensure adequate food supplies in the future.
via Ruhlman

Poverty brings out the best in consumers...and cuisine!
Slashfood.com on the economic necessity for inventive food preparation.

Wednesday news bites for August 13, 2008

Photo credit: una cierta mirada

Obesity on the Kids' Menus at Top Chains
What does it do to a kids 1,200-calorie-a-day diet when lunch weighs in at 1,020? The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a study that finds 93 percent of the top chains' kid's meals are over 430 calories, the recommended 1/3 of daily caloric intake for kids aged four through eight.

Monsanto plots growth hormone exit
Based on increasing negative public opinion of Recombinant bovine somatotropin, Monsanto seeks to sell its inventory of Posilc, their branded hormone. Already illegal in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the EU, Slashfood wonders who will buy the stuff?

Dark Meat
Shmuel Herzfeld writes about an immigration sting that revealed poor working conditions, abusive practices, and teen agers working 17-hour days. Shocking and deplorable enough, but it could also mean the meat produced as kosher isn't kosher at all.

Niche Farming Offers Way Back to the Land
Niche farming provides extra income for many small and family-owned farms. Perhaps with the growing local food movement we'll see more people returning to the land.

Where the hell have you been?

We’ve all heard the question, slinking in late at night, breath stinking of cigarettes and booze. That tender lump about the size and shape of a large class ring just peaking on the forehead. Or maybe hickeys blooming across your neck like rude, exotic flowers.

Okay, some of us have heard it.

Fine. I’ve heard it.

It’s a question that doesn’t necessarily expect an answer, dripping as it is with obvious disappointment. But it’s one I’ll try to answer here, since I’ve all but abandoned this blog after returning from the Wildacres Writer’s Workshop in North Carolina.

I’ve been busy.

I’ve been working on a novel for several years now and have just completed what I hope is the final round of major revisions. I’m excited. Now I’m cleaning up a few loose ends and adding a line or two of explanation here and there throughout the piece. Then it’s agent time (I hope).

I’m still thinking about food, still cooking, still doing my best to make meals for my family and myself. Meals that are simple, delicious, and make the most of every ingredient. I just haven’t had the time to photograph and write about it. But I will. I love it too much to stay away for very long.

Wednesday news bites for July 30, 2008

Photo credit: bored-now

Sense of Place: The Food of Florida
The Kitchn provides recipes and thoughts on the foods of my home state, Florida.

Making the most of your produce
The Seattle Times provides tips and tricks to preserving your summer produce.

Newspaper backlash
Good food is so yesterday
Culinate.com reports on the snarky tone food reporting has taken of late.

Mississippi is the fattest state for 3rd straight year
Colorado still leanest, D.C. loses weight
CalorieLab parses U.S. obesity. Seems poverty and sedintary lives are leading causes.

Does Fructose Make You Fatter?
The New York Times' Tara Parker-Pope brings us more bad news about fructose.

A Taste Trip to Thailand (Pad Thai Noodles)

My July food column as it appeared in Satellite Magazine

This month we journey across the Pacific, leaving Peru and landing in Thailand to enjoy what is arguably the country’s most popular dish in the west, Pad Thai noodles. Pad Thai noodles is a traditional, single-pot dish with as many variations as there are people cooking it (one variant I found even called for ketchup). The secret is all in the sauce, so take some time and adapt it to your tastes. Again, don’t be afraid to experiment! You’ll probably want to go to one of the many local Asian markets in town for the tamarind sauce, but the rest of the ingredients should be available at the supermarket.

One other thing to remember: Asian cooking is often cooked fast and hot. The secret to being successful lies in the prep work. Once you get started, there’s rarely any downtime, so you can’t chop the scallions you forgot and you certainly can’t pop out to the store to pick up a last ingredient.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 Package of wide rice noodles (might be labeled as pad Thai noodles)
• ½ block of extra-firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil (or other low-flavor, high-heat-point oil)
• 2 tablespoons tamarind sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup chopped scallions (approximately three scallions, chopped on a bias—save a couple more from the bunch for garnish and crunch)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup bean sprouts (reserve some extra for garnish)
• ½ cup chopped peanuts
• 1 red chile, minced (you can substitute red pepper flakes)
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Soy sauce

To begin, set the noodles in a large bowl and cover them with hot (not boiling) water. Allow them to soak for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the noodles from sticking. While they soak, chop the peanuts (I like using the chef’s knife, but you could easily chop them using a clean coffee grinder or place them in a zip-top bag and smack them with a wooden spoon or mallet). You’ll also want to combine the fish sauce, tamarind sauce and sugar, chop the scallions, and prepare the tofu in pieces about the size of French fries. Heat a wok--if you don’t have a wok, you should. If you still don’t have a wok, you can certainly get away with using a skillet. One with slightly sloping sides will work best for Asian cooking. Add a tablespoon of peanut oil to your wok and place it over high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer in the pan (it’ll look like it’s skimming across the metal if you move the wok), add the tofu and several dashes of the soy sauce. Sear the tofu for about 30 seconds on each side, or just stir fry for about four minutes total. Searing will give the tofu a nice texture, however, so I would recommend letting it sit in the pan for at least a little bit. When the tofu is done, take it off the heat, drain it, and set it aside.

When the noodles have finished soaking, drain them and take a moment to get ready. The ingredients will come together very quickly, so you’ll need to work fast. Dinner will be ready about five minutes after the noodles go in. Heat the wok back up to high, add some additional oil if needed, and toss in the garlic and scallions. Let them cook about a minute, then add the egg.

Allow the egg to cook for about 10 seconds and scramble it. Then add the noodles and combined sauce. Toss everything together until all the noodles are colored with the sauce and ass the peanuts and bean sprouts. Keep the wok moving! Let these heat through for about 30 seconds to a minute. Finally, add the tofu, let everything heat through again, and transfer the whole lot to a giant serving dish. Garnish with the extra chopped scallions and bean sprouts, and serve with lime wedges and the minced chile.

Thailand has a rich culinary history, and its cuisine is marked by distinct regional differences. However, Thai food is united by a blend of flavors--savory, sweet, salty, and sour--wrapped in varying levels of heat. The important thing is balance and taste, so feel free to add ingredients as you see fit. Pad Thai noodles are well suited for shrimp, chicken or pork. Just remember to taste, taste, taste!

Wednesday news bites for July 23, 2008

Who Owns a River? Everyone Does
Rumination on the Kings River.

How to be a snob: drinking alcohol
GOOD: "I taste a hint of blackberry."
BAD: "The tang of Fruit Roll-Ups."

As Price of Grain Rises, Catfish Farms Dry Up
The New York Times looks at catfish farmers as an indicator of hardship for other food industries.

Food Econ 101
Paul Roberts discusses the economics of food production and why it's no longer working.

Sense of Place: The Flavors of Florida
A quick rundown of native Florida ingredients.

Wednesday news bites for July 16, 2008

HFCS is now 'natural'
New labeling reveals corn lobby's power.

As food costs soar, it's back to basics for meal planners
From growing their own to soups and stews, Americans battle the rising cost of food.

Cutting Out the Middlemen, Shoppers Buy Slices of Farms
Skipping grocery stores and markets, consumers are going straight to the source.

Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks, Cookbook of the Day
Tools, tips and techniques for the home cook, from "meez" to mirepoix.

The shocking truth about many "healthy" diets
Just because it's labeled organic doesn't mean it's good for you.