Lotza Latkes

Our friend Eliot, when pressed by me to request a specific dish for our Saturday night get-together, chose Latkes and beet salad. Having never made latkes before, I consulted our old friend The Internet. I used this recipe as my basic template. Then I turned to Chowhound for some tips, such as throwing in a little baking powder for fluffiness. I confess, the serious tenor of the chowhounders intimidated me a bit. These people really know their latkes and don't fuck around. It also made me feel a bit guilty mixing in a dash of instant mashed potatoes as a fail-safe for my initial latke-making adventure. Another sin for some, I opted for the food processor over a box grater. In the end, I'm not sure if anyone could notice these cheats except perhaps one of those latke masters from the 'hound.


I started Jackie and Eliot with a coldcut nosh and crispy white wine, while I finished frying the last of the latkes. Then, we moved outside to the patio where I served the salad. This dish was actually planned a week before when I was making my borscht. I had roasted an extra beet and put it in the fridge with vinegar. Last night, I mixed that with some pine nuts, goat feta, fresh dill, and white onions, placed on a bed of arugula. To this, I added a couple eggs I had pickled. The salad was a light and tasty complement to the big meats that would follow.


I had asked Eliot to bring by some dark rye from one of those amazing Russian bakeries in West Hollywood . He did not disappoint, showing up with a loaf of the blackest most beautiful bread you will find. Holy shit, that combined with killer veal sausage and some raw onion was out-of-the-box good. Eliot also brought us some wonderful sour cream to accompany the applesauce we'd be covering our latkes with.


But no meal, for Jackie, is complete without dessert. Me? I'm not much a sweets fan; you'll probably never read about me whipping up a pastry or some such thing. But what I offered last night seemed to please: Ben&Jerry's vanilla ice cream topped with this awesome coconut jam called Kaya that I got from my new favorite Malaysain restaurant: Yazmin. Add a fresh strawberry, and you've got a cool and refreshing way to end a Saturday night repast.

We Got The Beets

I think a lot of people freak out about making borscht. This is either because they hate beets, or they think borscht is difficult to make. In reality, if you can make your garden-variety vegetable soup, you can just as easily make borscht. And if you don't like beets, you still might like borscht. It certainly has a much mellower flavor than, say, a pickled beet served on its own.

One thing I really like about borscht is that it's a great way to clean out the crisper. There are many recipes and even varieties of borscht, but the common denominator in most is two ingredients: cabbage and beets.


That's great because both of those things cost about nothing compared to most other groceries. And to me, you can make a great borscht if you have those two and a few other root vegetables. This time, I had some carrots, onions, garlic, and celery. But you can add parsnips, or even sweet potatoes. Some versions call for tomatoes. It's not rocket science. It's a simple stew. So don't over-think it. Just throw in whatever you have.

Another ingredient that I insist upon for my borscht is beef broth. There are many vegetarian-style recipes out there; and I'm sure they are tasty. But for me, I like the taste of a good beef stock for the base of the borscht. It's also a great way to get kids to eat borscht who don't normally like the taste of beets. And, in addition to the stock, I also like to add a little flesh. This can be ox-tail, stew beef, or just any kind of red meat you have lying around. Part of the reason I decided to make my borscht this week is because I had some lovely leftovers from our recent steak barbecue.

And that's it, really, for your borscht ingredients. The only other things you will want are vinegar, dill, and sour cream. The vinegar is added to your stew as you cook it, for taste. And a dollop of sour cream (or plain yogurt for us fat people) is added to each individual bowl when you serve. Top the sour cream with chopped dill. That little blast of fresh herbs really makes for some deliciousness.

A couple final notes about borscht. Many recipes don't require you to roast your beets before adding them to the concoction. However, I find it tastes much better if you do. And it's so easy to roast beets. Just squeeze a bit of lemon or lime on them to keep that nice ruby color; then wrap them in foil. Bake at 350 degrees for a half hour. Then set the roasted beets aside until you're ready to use them.

I usually roast two big beets, using only one for the borscht. The other, I chop up and put in tupperware with vinegar. That way I can make my famous arugula, goat cheese, and roasted beet salad later in the week.

I also used only half of the cabbage. This is because I still have some of that fucking awesome ham left over from Easter. So Jackie and I will be partaking of some wicked sauteed cabbage with ham and caraway seeds for dinner soon. Because that, my friends, is how we do it around Casa de Carne.

Mao Down

This is just a random little posting about a restaurant I absolutely love, MAO. The only problem, it's half a world away in Korea. But for those of you who adore Peking Duck, it's worth checking out the food porn on this site. Really, this is the best fucking duck you will ever put in your mouth. In fact, it even blew away what I tried in Beijing. So, for all you ex-pats over there in the ROK, get down to Apgujeong-dong and get you some of Mao's ducky deliciousness. And for those of us in the Southern Cali area, I highly recommend the tea-smoked duck at Fu Shing in Pasadena. It's not Mao, but it's some pretty righteous-ass bird. Bet on that.

Steaks Are High

As most of you know, cooking a good steak is dependent upon the use of a high heat source. Obviously, for us home chefs, the best way to do that is with ye ol' trusty barbecue grill. Other than that, my requirements for tasty steaks are quite simple. I don't spend a ton at a fancy meat market or go searching for grass-fed, frou-frou cows. Basically, I want a thick piece of meat (I usually ask my supermarket butcher to cut it two inches thick). And the cuts I like are the Porterhouse and its concomitant parts, the tenderloin and top loin (New York Strip). However, my favorite cut is the "Cowboy Cut" or Bone-In Ribeye. Recently, I found this video that made my steak-loving heart leap. Prior to this, I had never really thought of using my black-iron skillets on the grill. Now, I use them all the time for everything from grilled vegetables to cooking some killer polenta. But my favorite use for my black-iron skillet is making these delicious Cowboy Cuts!

Nobody Here But Us Chickens

I love a good roasted chicken. Lately, my favorite way to do it is to first brine the chicken a couple hours or overnight in a mixture of water, salt, soy sauce and lime juice.

The next day, I do a long poaching of the bird. First, I bring water in my big pot with built-in strainer to a boil. Then I put the chicken into the strainer, and place the strainer in the pot with the boiling water. The key is to make sure you have enough water so that the chicken is completely submerged. I immediately turn the heat to low and cover the pot. I then let the chicken cook on low like this for 10 minutes. After the time is up, I turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the still-covered pot for an additional 15 minutes.

Afterward, I remove the strainer with the chicken in it and set this in the sink. As soon as the chicken is cool enough for me to pick up with my hands, I transfer it to a plate. Very gently, I work the skin of the breast loose from the meat without tearing it away from the bird. Then, I rub a mixture of sesame seed oil and soy soy sauce into and under the skin. I also lightly salt the entire bird with sea salt. Then, I let the chicken sit for at least an hour (and up to 4 or 5 hours) unrefrigerated. If you want to do this poaching a day ahead, just put the chicken in the fridge overnight. But make sure to take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before going on to the next step.

When I'm about an hour away from my target dinnertime, I put crushed garlic, ginger and scallions mixed with grapeseed oil all over the bird and under that breast skin. Then I put the bird in a roasting pan and place it uncovered in a pre-heated 450 degree oven. I let it cook with this high heat for 15 minutes, or until the skin is starting to blacken. Then I remove the pan and put a half cup of water in the bottom of it. At this time, I also cover the entire chicken with foil or a roaster lid. When I'm ready to return the pan to the oven, I reduce the temperature to 300 degrees. After 20 more minutes of cooking on this low temperature, the bird is ready. But unless I am just starving by this point, I let the chicken sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes before carving.

This is a delicious and idiot-proof way to make moist and tender chicken.

For a variation of this same recipe, use olive instead of sesame seed oil to rub into the bird, and place a combination of rosemary, thyme, and oregano over and underneath the skin.

And while you're cooking, play this tune to get your giblets jumpin:

Pernil

One of my very favorite things to cook is a Puerto Rican-style pork roast, pernil. It's an amazing mix of lotza garlic, cumin, oregano, olive oil and a pork shoulder. There are many variations on this. I really like Emeril's video recipe, but the ass-fuck won't let me embed it. So, here's the link to the recipe.

Easter Dinner

Today's dinner was typical of my style of cooking. There was some forethought put into it, but then there was a great deal of just throwing together whatever we had in the fridge.

I was going for the traditional Easter meal of my childhood: ham, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, cucumbers and onions in vinegar, plus some sort of vegetable. The ham was a Farmer John ham that I got on sale at our local Ralphs. I didn't even have Easter in mind when I bought it; the thing was on sale for about 30% off the regular cost. That's the way I shop. If there is a good deal on something on I like to eat, I buy it. Then, I figure out what to do with it.

So the ham has a sauce/glaze on it. We had part of a bottle of diet coke in the fridge, a leftover from one of our parties. We also had fresh pineapple. This is where planning meets leftovers. I bought the pineapple because I know Jackie loves it fresh for breakfast. But, at this point, I already had the ham and thought it would be nice together. So, this morning, I cut up the pineapple for breakfast but kept the core for the sauce.

And this is the sauce/glaze I made:

diet coke (maybe 3 or 4 cups)
pineapple core, chopped
2 tablespoons of applesauce
1 tablespoon of molasses
1 teaspoon of red pepper
2 teaspoons of garlic powder

I boiled this for about two hours. Then, I set it aside while I put the ham on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. After scoring the outside of the ham with a butcher knife, I poured most of the sauce (sans pineapple chunks) over it. Afterward, I liberally covered the sauced ham with black pepper. Then, I put that bitch in the oven at 500 degrees for about a half hour (until it started getting black on the outside). When this was accomplished, I removed the ham from the oven. After carefully tenting the foil around the ham so that the sauce would not spill, I poured the rest of the sauce and pineapple chunks into the foil tent. Then I added another piece of foil on top to completely cover the ham. With the ham securely wrapped, I put it back in the oven at 270 degrees for another 3 hours.



The deviled eggs were inspired by Alton Brown's 4-pepper deviled egg recipe. Rather than give you my blow-by-blow, I'll just give you the link to his recipe here.


What I did differently, though, is this: 1. I used agave syrup instead of sugar. 2. I added some horseradish sauce, 3. I put in liberal amounts of paprika and garlic powder. 4. Instead of caper "juice," I used about a half-dozen salted capers in the mix.

My scalloped potatoes were really just an improvised potato au gratin. After boiling some Idaho Golds for about an hour, I drained them, rinsed them with cold water, and then put them in the fridge for a couple hours. While they were in the fridge, I futzed with the ham, before tackling the au gratin mix.



My au gratin base came from a leftover dip Jackie had made last week. This is the one that everybody at our parties loves, even though it takes less than ten minutes to make. All that goes in it is cream cheese, walnuts, and a jar of chipolte salsa. So, I thought that this would make a fine base for my potatoes. To it, I added a couple tablespoons of Bulgarian plain yogurt (since we're trying not to have sour cream), chopped onions and yellow bell pepper, and the last of the delicious Vermont cheddar cheese Jackie got as a Christmas gift (man, that humongo wheel of cheese lasted us through Christmas, New Years, Super Bowl, and two barbecues). I also threw in some pepper, salt, crushed garlic, and a wee bit of red wine vinegar. Then, I mixed in my boiled potatoes. Afterward, I threw everything in a covered pyrex dish and grated some more of the cheddar on top. The pyrex, covered, then went into the oven with the ham at 270 degrees. When I removed the ham 15 minutes before dinner to let it set, I cranked up the heat in the oven to 450 degrees and let the potatoes crisp up uncovered.

Cucumbers and onions in vinegar was something I hated as a child. However, I decided I wanted to try a variation. I would use good red wine vinegar instead of the highly acidic and cheap white vinegar used by my mother and grandmother. Instead of just cucumbers and white onions, I also invited a sliced tomato to the party. And to cut that vinegar, instead of sugar I used a little agave syrup. Finally, the best part of this salad turned out to be a bunch of fresh dill Jackie had harvested from her backyard garden. That dill really added a freshness.



And finally, the cooked vegetable. This was the easiest dish I made because I already had a bunch of blanched green beans in the fridge. I'd bought them at the market about 10 days ago, and blanched them when I realized they were starting to go bad. So, all I had to do for today was thrown them in a nonstick skillet with some olive oil, crushed garlic, and chopped almonds. Then I just sloshed them around in the skillet until they were warm and ready to serve.



And this was our Easter dinner.