Estate Sale

I was on my way home from walking a client's dogs, and I saw this sign for an estate sale. I usually don't stop at these events. I"m concerned that Geraldine will kill me if I bring home one more damn thing. " Do we really need another dough scraper?" she might say. My reply would be; "Yes, because you never put the other one back in the same place." If I have 3 of them I can stash them all over the place, and maybe I'll be able to find one when I need it.

Besides that I'm still looking for that half million dollar Native American Indian blanket I saw on Antiques Road Show. Since my client's house is in Piedmont I figured there might be some great treasures, and sure enough there was still plenty to go through. There was so much kitchen stuff that they had to put it into the living room and out on the deck.

First of all, the kitchen, no, the whole house, was right out of the 60's sitcom Leave it to Beaver. I was waiting for June and Ward to show up at any time. Was the Beaver actually a silent sexual code? I mean Beaver Clever?  How about F Troop?  The Fukowee Indians, I mean come on. How that got past the sensors I'll never know.  But, I digress.

There was a  collection in some cabinets in the garage of miniature furniture, and the silverware collection was very impressive. I mean people don't use these silver tea services like that any longer. There was a lot of silver there. The only time I ever see anything like that  these days is if we go to High Tea at the Fairmont Hotel, and we do that about every 20 years. I have tea at our house quite often when I'm high.

The lady of this house was very classy for her time, and  I could tell she could cook. She had some cool cook books on her shelf, one that I was tempted to buy, and another that had at least 30 yellowed strips of paper in it. I know she used these little pieces of paper to mark recipes she was working on. There was no Wolf stove, no convection oven, but I'll bet she made some wonderful meals in that kitchen. A real stay at home Mom who had cookies and milk for you when you got home from school, just like June would for the Beaver.

The estate sale was bustling with people. Some of them shoving you out of the way so they could get to things. There's another reason I don't like to go to these sales besides the fact that my wife is dead set against me being a pack rat, and that is, estate sales make me sad. I don't like the idea of getting a great deal from someone's beloved Mom, Sister, lover, brother.

I know it's not the things that are important, it's the people and the memories, but I have little mementos from my Mom, that make me think of her every time I see them.  I keep them scattered about the house so I'm often reminded of her. I kept her calendar that she had on the kitchen table above the computer in our office at our home in Oakland for the longest time. Mary's kitchen table was her office desk. She crossed off the days of her life on that little calendar. The last one she crossed off was July 15, 2004. She died at that table most likely not long after she crossed out that number.

I've got many of my Mom's things in our kitchen because that's where I am a lot of the time. The kitchen is one of the common bonds that held me and Mom together. Food was our language, and that little kitchen table was where we had many a great meal, and spent untold hours talking about life.  Some of those tiny treasures that I have around the house were her culinary tools, a spatula, a rolling pin, a dish towel, a frosted water pitcher and matching glasses. I've got her clothes pins out in the  backyard with the basket she kept them in to hang dry wash.

In the end I bought a stool for 22 dollars (Not pictured), a beautiful little sauce pan with the lid for 5 bucks,  a metal dough scraper for 2, a citrus squeezer for .50 cents, a cast iron decoration (not shown) that you're supposed to put baby corns in for 5, and a small meat cleaver to remind me of Beaver Clever. When I use those tools I'll think of that house in Piedmont, and June, Ward, Wally and the Beaver.

Just now I went looking one of the two liquid measuring pitchers that we have in the house. Could I find it?  Hell no.  I knew I should have bought that one I saw at the Cleavers.

Estate Sale treasures

Where the hell did she put those?

Peace,

Make Food Not War

new sauce pan put into service

Granola

I made some granola the other day. Everyone associates hippies with foods like granola, or  GORP, (Good Old Raising & Peanuts) and if you follow this  blog you know that I love my protein,  that I'm not the "mellow' hippie. Granola does have protein because of the nuts and coconut. I do love my granola and cold soy milk for breakfast right after, not before, my morning walk with the dogs.

The price of granola is out of this world. Sometimes we purchase granola from the  La Farine Bakery in our little area of Oakland. The quality of their baked goods there is amazing including their granola  Generally speaking good granola runs around 6 dollars a pound. I can eat half a pound of granola as a snack, but it's rolled oats, honey and few other ingredients thrown together, and then baked in the oven. Six bucks a pound seems awfully expensive to me.

The other problem with granola is people say; "Oh granola, healthy, I'll eat a big bowl." Wrong, good yes, but it's also packed with calories. In this recipe I put coconut, honey, raisins, 3 different nuts, cranberries, dried cherries, dried bananas, maple syrup,  and brown sugar. All that sweetness packs a punch on the paunch.  Half a cup will do me or anyone for that matter just fine for breakfast.

So, I decided to make a big batch for Geraldine and myself.  I was multi tasking, and that's something an old man shouldn't be doing especially when he has something in the oven. I overcooked the granola but, Geraldine says it's great so it has to be half decent, and she's right because we both keep eating it. If you follow these direction you'll be just fine, but don't make my mistake. I picked out the overcooked parts around the edges, but I'm still a  little disappointed with myself. It's very rare indeed when I overcook foods.

The recipe is below the photos.

 Make Food, Not War

Oats and fixings 

mix it up

bake it up

finished

                                                     Granola
Ingredients:
6 cups organic old fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almonds
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 dried cherries
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon  ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup crushed dried bananas

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

2) In a plastic zip lock bag and a mallet crush the walnuts, and almonds into bite size pieces and add to the bowl.

3) In a large bowl combine the oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, vegetable oil, coconut, maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and the nuts. Mix well. Use your hands, and make sure everything is incorporated evenly.

4) Spread this mixture out evenly onto two sheet pans, and place in the oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Then take it out, and turn it over, and put it back into the oven for another 10 minutes.

5) Remove it from the oven, and let it cool, and then mix in the raisins, cranberries, cherries and dried bananas. You're done.

That's it. Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I  had a discussion with this woman Elizabeth that I work with on the farm every Wednesday, and she called hipsters, pigsters because of their love of pork products.  Well, I went on line and looked for some statistics regarding the consumption of pork in the USA, and this is what I discovered.

First, let's define what a hipster is. Wikipedia says; "Hipsters are a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class and older teens that first appeared in the 1990's. They are associated with independent/alternative music, varied non-mainstream fashion sensibility, Apple products, liberal or independent politics, alternative spirituality and lifestyles. Hipsters are a mutating trans Atlantic melting pot of styles, tastes and behaviors. Hipsters are the new, post WWII, hippies, punk/grunge rockers of the new millennium."

Sounds a lot like what us hippies were called back in the day with the exception of the computer element. Essentially they are recycling what's already been done, and that's cool with me. We baby boomer hippies from the 1960's were just recycled Bohemians and gypsies that preceded our existence.   I just wish I was skinny enough to get my ass into a pair of those tight fitting britches they all wear. I never liked bell bottoms. You can't run in bell bottom jeans, and you just never know when you're going to need to hit the bricks.

I have discovered that they love their pork products, and pulled pork is at the top of the list. A lot of hipsters here in the Bay Area seem to be from the Midwest, although that might be a generalization. They like to eat, and I like to cook. The hipsters are alright with me. They can't do any worse that we did, since we've made an obvious mess out of this world.

In the Midwest pork consumption is at it's highest, 58 pounds per year, followed by the south at 52 pounds, the West at 42 pounds. People in rural areas eat more pork than us city dwellers, and African Americans eat more than whites or Hispanic Americans.

Surprisingly, Denmark is the top consumer of pork products per-capita. The US ranks number 12 in consumption behind Canada at number 11, Spain is number two, and China is number nine.

I love the other white meat, as pork is called, and lately I've been eating my fare share of it. I made this recipe, and I had about 6 sandwiches over a three time span, and froze the rest for the near future. "What's different about my recipe than these other recipes that I read", one might ask?  It's the bread. Virtually every recipe I read said to serve this sandwich with a hamburger bun. Well gag me with a spoon. That's the best you can do, a friggin' hamburger bun? Why not just put it between two pieces of toilet paper, and eat it with chop sticks.

In order for this sandwich to not fall apart in your hands, and make it through the entire process of consumption, it needs a strong foundation.  Get a good rustic baguette, or a sour dough roll, or  chabatta bread, and for God sake, toast it. It's still going to drip and get a little soggy, but it will hold up till the end. I can testify to that.

I also made some French fries, and stuck those on top to add a little crunch and soak up some of the juice from the meat. The other ingredient I might use would be pickled red onion or a nice crispy Cole slaw without the mayo. If you follow this recipe you cannot go wrong. I promise. Man, I love this sandwich.

Hip, Hip, Oink, Oink

Peace,

Make Food, Not War

                                    Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches With French Fries

Ingredients: (Makes a ton of sandwiches...have a party)

6 pound pork shoulder roast
1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 cloves of garlic mined
1 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 large onion chopped

Directions: For the roast

1) Trim fat off of the roast and cover with it it will sage, paprika, chili powder, black pepper, garlic. and onion.

2) Add the vinegar, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and BBQ sauce to the crock pot and place on the high setting.

3) Put the roast in fat side up. The liquid should cover at least 1/2 of the roast. If not add a little water or more chicken stock. (the roast will release juices that will add to the pot so not too much liquid)

4) Cook for 8 hours turning the roast a couple of times during the process.

5) Once it's finished pull it out, and let it sit for a half hour, and then remove the excess fat, and shoulder bone.

6) Take the juice from the crock pot and let it cool, and then put it in the fridge separate from the meat. The fat will rise to the top, and you can skim this off, and save it to cook with later, or discard it.  Once the fat has been removed keep the meat in the juices. This will keep it from drying out.

For the sandwiches:

1) When reheating the pulled pork for sandwiches get your skillet hot and then put in the pork. Cook till the juices are reduced.

2) Roast the roll and put BBQ sauce on both sides with some pickled red onion or a dry Cole slaw.

For the French Fries:

Ingredients:
Potato
pure corn oil
salt and pepper

Directions: (see below the photos for the rest of the instructions)

1) Julienne a medium sized new potato

Pork should in crock pot with juices

pork shoulder finished

pulled pork meat

Dutch oven French fries in corn oil

reheating pork with juices 

finished julienne French fries

pulled pork sandwich with French fries

2) Put about 4 inches of corn oil in a medium sized Dutch oven, and heat to 375 degrees

3) Add the French fries a handful at a time. (Note: if you add to many fries the oil will cool down too fast and the fries will be soggy.  To cook one medium sized potato I do it in 3 batches.

4) When they are nice and golden brown scoop out with a slotted spoon, add salt and pepper, and place on a paper towels to soak up the excess corn oil.

Place some fries on top of the pulled pork sandwich and around your sandwich. You're done, now EAT!

Seafood Bisque

As we can see the titles of my blogs are taking on the names of food dishes that I feature each week. I cook every week, usually something different so I might as well blog about it . Not only do you get my witty and insightful repartee of life each week, but you get a good recipe out of it. It's sorta like Cracker Jacks, you get the crappy caramel corn (my witty repartee), but it's the little prize that you actually covet i.e., the recipes.

My neighbors are from Boston, Red Socks fans, which I don't hold against them. They're very nice people with three adorable lovely children. They just came back from New Hampshire and mentioned that lobster is $3.50 a pound there. Of course when I heard this my mouth began to water at the sound of lobster, which also brought to mind lobster bisque.

I love soups. They're fairly easy to construct, and they last for days. Since I still had some rock fish left over from the vomit trip outside the Golden Gate, and a can of good crab meat I decided to make a seafood bisque. I procured a pound of jumbo prawns, and using the shells from those, and the bones and leftovers from the rock fish I built my stock for the bisque.

Soups, stocks, and sauces are the foundation of classic culinary cuisine. If anyone is serious about cooking these skills must be mastered.  I've said this a thousand times if I've said it once; "If I can do it, anyone can." I've also said that cooking is not easy, it's hard work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you. I once asked a chef in this restaurant  that I was working at if I could go home after having worked for 12 hours, and he looked at me a bit disgusted, his head tilted back, and in his best American/French accent said; "That's only half a day Marcel, get back to work." I worked 15 hours that day.

Cooking is the most elementary form of chemistry that we know. You put ingredients together, chill, add heat, let it sit at room temperature,  add yeast, whatever, and see how these ingredients and forces react to one another. I feel if you can keep it simple, and let the natural flavor of the foods be front and center instead of the letting the spices, herbs and marinades dominate the primary food then you've got it made.

Most of the people you see cooking on TV, that's not real. The English guy, chef Ramsey, who yells at people, if he did that to me I'd have to kick his ass. I've never actually seen an episode of that show. I can't even watch the trailers. You don't get the best out of people by yelling at them. Not only is it not reality TV, it's not in the real world.

It seem like everyone is trying to outdo everyone else these days. For me it will always be the basics with some twists and turns, a little fusion of this with that, but the basics rule. If I have to have another bowl, another bite, if I pick up the crumbs with my fingers, ask for seconds and have to have more, then I know I hit a home run. Those are the only recipes I will post on this blog. If I haven't got anything good for the week I won't do a blog.

So, here's my recipe for seafood bisque. It goes well with nice crisp salad, a fresh rustic baguette, and maybe a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

           
Peace,

Make Food, Not War


                                                                 Seafood Bisque

Ingredients:

1 cup of onion minced
1 medium carrot minced
2 stalks of celery minced
1 quart of fish stock
4 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parsley chopped fine
8 oz. crab meat
1 pound white fish 1/2" cubes
1 lb. jumbo shrimp, shelled and devained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
olive oil for cooking
1 cup white wine (optional)

1) In a medium sauce pan with a quart and one cup of water place the shrimp shells and any fish bones or scraps you have for your stock. Bring to a boil and then let simmer. About 15 minutes. Strain the mixture in a bowl and put aside.

2) In your cast iron Dutch oven add a tablespoon or so of olive oil and saute your carrots, onions and celery till they are soft.

2) Once the above is done put the carrots, onions and celery and two cups of  the fish stock in a blender and pulse on high till everything is incorporated.

3) In the Dutch oven melt the butter and add the flour slowly and make a roux.

4) Add the heavy cream slowly to the roux and whisk making sure no lumps form.

5) Then add the fish stock, the shrimp, the fish, the crab meat and all the other ingredients.

6) Bring to a boil and cut the heat to simmer. Add the white wine and let cook for 45 minutes stirring the bottom occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn.

7) Rapid cool and let sit in the fridge overnight.

Note: Soups always taste better the day after. It need time to sit, chill, and let the ingredients marry together.

Reheat slowly and serve with sour dough bread or a rustic baguette.

shrimp shells and fish stock

mirepoix

 

mirepoix and stock blended

butter/fat + flour = roux

roux

roux, mirepoix and fish

seafood bisque finished product

Crogue Monsieur

This weekly blog is going to be a short one. This week is extremely tight. I have to paint the west side, also the hot side, of our house for my summer vacation. Being a grown-up sucks.

I decided to do a blog on the sandwich crogue monsieur for several different reasons. First and foremost it's in the top ten sandwiches of all time in you ask me, and since it's my blog I can declare that it is. Secondly, I just made  mac and cheese again for our national night out bloc party tonight, and reserved some the m & c sauce so I can make a couple of crogue monsieurs. Thirdly, I just did the mac and cheese blog two weeks ago, and coming to the idiotic realization that all I needed to do to fix my crappy mac and cheese was to grate my cheese (not cut the cheese), and to make a morney sauce and hey, why not check out some recipes while you'e at it there Geroges Escoffier.  Fourth, when we were in Paris this spring I had two crogue monsieurs sandwiches at two different establishments, and I was sorely disappointed both times.  Fifth, and lastly, overall I've been unhappy here in the Bay Area, the foodie capital of America, with the crogue monsieurs I have ordered.

So, what the f__k is a crougue monsieur, (and if you do, you'll clean it up), one might ask?  Crouge in French means crunch. Monsieur means mister. So, it's Mr. Crunch which I think it's a good name for a punk band. They could throw toasted cheese sandwiches at the audience. The crouque monsieur is the original toasted cheese sandwich. I make mine with jambon, or as we say here in America,  ham. You put ham and cheese together and you cannot go wrong, well.

Here it is complete with photos. If it does not crunch, you did something wrong. Making a great crougue monsieur is a matter of heat, or temperature control, and timing. If it's undercooked the bread is soggy.  You can just as easily overcook it, burn it, and it will taste like charcoal. If you cook it just right it's crunchy on both sides of the bread, and on the inside, the cheese is melted, and the ham is warm.

Of course mine always come out perfect. So does my mac and cheese now, I"m very happy to say.

Have a beautiful week.

Peace.......Make Food, Not War

                                                       Croque Monsieur With Jambon (Mr. Crunch)

1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
pinch nutmeg
pinch cayenne
big twist fresh crushed black pepper
pinch white pepper
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 pound Swiss ementhaler cheese grated
1/4 pound smoked Gouda cheese grated
1/4 pound sharp Irish cheddar cheese grated
3 tablespoons Pecornio Romano cheese
2 ounces boiled French or Italian ham
fresh center cut sweet Batard loaf cut on the bias 3/4 inch thick
Good French Djon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped parsley




1) Grate the Gouda, Irish cheddar and Ementhaler cheeses, and put aside.

2) In a small sauce pan on medium heat melt the butter, and flour, cayenne, black pepper, white pepper, mustard powder, and nutmeg and stir to you have a blonde roux, about a minute.

3) Whisk in the milk slowly. Be careful not to burn or scald, but bring to a light boil, and cut the heat. Add 1/3 the grated Swiss, 1/3 the grated cheddar, and 1/3 the grated Gouda cheese and all the Pecorino Romano cheese. Stir till you have a nice smooth mornay sauce, no lumps, and let cool to room temperature.

4) I a large non stick skillet with medium heat place the two slices of sweet batard bread slices down with a weight on them, and toast till golden brown and crunchy, both sides.

5) Brush both sides of the inside pieces of bread with Dijon mustard, and place 1/3 cheddar and 1/3 Gouda and 1/33 the Ementhaler, equally on both sides, and the 2 ounce of boiled ham in the middle.

6) With the snadwich in one hand and a soup spoon in the other lather on some mornay sauce, eonough to cover the bread equally and add the three cheese and flip it into the hot skillet.

7) While the first side is cooking, later the other side, and add the remaining cheese. Don't let the cheese burn. When it's nice and crusty, do the flip, and cook the second side for another minute or so.

See the photos for more details.

Note: Mornay sauce will last in the fridge for 4 or 5 days covered with plastic wrap. Put it in a double boiler to reheat it.

You're done. Cut it and eat it. Serve with thin julienne cut French fries and a cold Ale,  IPA, or a  dry white wine.

                                                   NATIONAL NIGHT OUT PHOTOS

Michelle BBQ ing

Alberto and Sister

Mike and Newborn Baby girl

Tito 75 and Jack 91

insides toasted

mustard and cheeses applied to insides

toasting the insides

bread, mornay sauce, ham, mustard and cheeses

jambon added

mornay and extra cheese added side #1

side #1 cooking

splatter wire on top to heat insides

side #2 constructed

side #1 complete, side #2 cooking

finished 

finished product/ crunch crunch

Rockin' Mac and Cheese

Every season has it's foods that correlate with that time of the year, and summer and mac and cheese just seem to go together. I set out the other day to make a great mac and cheese, and I wanted to keep it meatless.

Originally I was going to use panchetta, Italian bacon, but decided against it. Great mac and cheese has always, for some unknown reason, eluded me and I can't have that. There's two things in life I don't want to fail at #1- is love #2- is cooking. I never really worked at making a great M & C.

My baked ziti has always been my M & C or at least my Italian version of mac and cheese. . I make it will basil, baked tomatoes, mild Italian sausage, beef, veal, herbs, spices etc.,  and 4 cheeses. That's another blog, another day, but it rocks. My M & C  has never  climbed the heights that my ziti has ascended, alas.

My mac and cheese has always come out oily and lumpy. (notice that I'm using past tense now) The oil would rise to the surface of the baking dish, like an oil slick from a sunken WWII German U boat.  Coupled with the lumps it was third rate at best. I never got rave reviews for that M & C, and damn it that's what a chef lives for, the oh's, the ah's, "hey killer mac and cheese dude." I don't think so.

Still I would put out a pan of it ever couple of years to the same old lackluster reviews. "So, how was the M & C." I'd ask after not getting any unsolicited reviews, and the replies would be courteous, but never flattering. If you have to ask people how the food was then that's a good indication you're fishing for a compliment. Time to go back to the drawing board.

My mistakes were simple rookie mistakes of course. You've probably figured them out already, but here they are anyway. First of all I wasn't grating all my cheese finely enough. I was cutting some of it into chunks. So, on top of the oil slick the cheese lumps were swimming in tepid pool of oil.  Secondly I never made a roux, and that was my second biggest mistake. I never looked at M & C like it was mornay sauce, but that's the consistency that you want, and hey, I can do mornay all day.

I pride myself on knowing my fromage. I spent a year of hard labor working in the cheese and charcuterie department at Oakville Grocery. We had over 150 different cheeses, and I knew each one of them intimately. I love cheese, and that's the primary reason that I'll never be a vegan. I might be able to live without meat, but cheese, let's get serious now.

I was in a cooking contest maybe 8 months ago, and one of the entries was a mac and cheese that was fantastic. I didn't get that recipe, but someone found one that worked real well for me. I tweaked it like I do most everything else to fit  to my liking, and now I'm sending it out into cyber space to be lost forever. I kept this very basic. This M & C comes out smooth and creamy, no more lumps submerged in oil.

I hope you like it, because I'm quite pleased with it my damn self.. The next time I put it out  I'm hoping not to get the stink eye from anyone, and instead get some of those Oh's and Ah's that I'm looking for.

And the update to all this is I know it did turn out great  because Geraldine loved it, asked for seconds, and she is an extremely finicky eater, honest to her core, and has a good pallet, so if I can please her then I got it made. Happy wife, happy life.

Peace.....Make Food, Not War

                                                Rockin' Mac & Cheese
                                        Serves 4 as entree or 8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

1 quart 1/2 and 1/2 milk
1/3 rustic baguette  cut into 1/2" pieces
1 pound Cellentani pasta
1 tablespoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoons mustard powder
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley medium fine chop
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup grated Gouda cheese (smoked optional)
1 cup yellow sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup grated sharp Irish cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese

Directions:

1) For the cheese sauce melt the butter in a dutch oven medium/high heat until it's foaming, add the flour, mustard powder, cayenne, black pepper, nutmeg, and whisk well till all is incorporated, about 1 minute.

2) Gradually whisk in the milk, and bring the mixture to a boil, and cut heat to medium/low continuing to whisk until it's thickened to the consistency of of heavy cream. This will only take a few minutes.

3) Cut the heat off completely, and with a wooden spoon add the parsley and all the cheeses slowly until they are fully melted. Another couple of minutes.

4) While this has been going on your pasta should have been cooking till it's al dente'.
Drain the pasta in a strainer and in a large bowl mix the pasta with the cheese sauce.

Note: in the photos below you'll notice that I didn't use all the cheese sauce. I reserved about a pint because it was not to my liking that way, but it would have been fine with all the sauce in it, just a little creamier than I wanted it. If you like it really creamy add it all. The original recipe called for 5 cups of milk which would have made it like soup.

5) Let this mixture cool for one hr. at room temperature, and then put it into a Pyrex baking pan, and cook covered for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. I put it in a cold oven, and set the oven to 350, the timer for 25 minutes, and that does it fine. Don't worry about waiting for the oven to get up to temp. just put it in there.

6)After it has been in the oven cooking for 25 minutes then add the bread crumbs on top and place it under the broiler on the middle rack till the bread crumbs are golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Let sit for 10 minutes and serve. Now you're rockin'.

Peace.......Make Food, Not War

Cellentani Pasta 

Finished Product w/leftover sauce

Rockin' Mac & Cheese

Which Came First?

The incredible edible egg

Was it the chicken or the egg that came first?  The Victorian Samuel Butler said: "A chicken is just an egg's way of making another egg." This short blog is dedicated to the egg, specifically the hard boiled egg. The egg is possibly the most versatile food on the planet earth, and one of the best sources of protein. But the list of benefits that eggs, and chickens, give to us humans is nothing less than spectacular.

The egg has long been a symbol of fertility. Is it not the egg that we men attempt to fertilize in women to make more little humans? Is it not the egg that women freeze for use after they've built their careers as CEO's, doctors, film stars,  lawyers, and Indian chiefs, and then at the tender innocent age of 55 want to reproduce and start a family?  So, it would seem that the egg is possibly the source of life itself?

Chickens are a symbol of virility. The male of the species, the rooster, has long been recorded throughout history for it's aggressive behavior with such words as; "cocky" and the female of the species, the hen, with words such as; "coquette." Cockfighting is one of the world's oldest sports going back to India, Rome, and Greece. Words like cockpit are still used in our daily communication with one another.

Yet, the egg has endured vilification like so many other foods. It is been said that the egg causes high cholesterol, linked to heart disease. And of course there is the dreaded salmonella fears that pop up from time to time, and a minor pandemic of chicken flu ever so often. And who among wants to be called "chickenshit."

Try to get your eggs and chickens from a source that is guaranteed organic fed, free range, and fresh.  If you have the yard space get your own laying hens. Chickens are great pets, and they produce for us. In a months time you'll be giving your neighbors fresh organic eggs. You'll be making new friends, the neighborhood will be closer, and yes, the world will be a better place. All because of you and your chickens.

Personally, I couldn't eat my laying hens. I've raised chickens and ducks before for food, but laying hens are pets. Can you hear yourself now; "You know Henrietta you've been a great laying hen lo these many years, but now that you ain't laying no more it's time to make a nice consume out of you ragged old ass." The life of a broiling hen isn't long, but laying hens can live up to 10 years or more.  Don't name them if you're going to eat them, that's my policy.

Chickens are great recyclers. They love old wilted lettuce and funky produce. They will eat most any veggies, peelings, rinds, skins, fruit, grains, cooked pasta, and beans to name just a few. They do not like citrus rinds.

Chickens also love to eat bugs. Let them out of their pens each day (free range), and they'll go through the yard rounding up the bugs. Free extermination, and free fertilizer.

I love, love, love, chicken. My mother always cooked a capon (de-sexed roosters) for the holidays, and I still carry on that tradition.

If you're going to raise chickens there are dietary considerations you need to be aware of, specifically calcium and grit. You'll need to consult you local feed store, and while you're at it go to www.backyardchickensite.com for some help as well. It is a cool web site with lots of great tips for raising chickens.

If the health risks are your fears then stay away from eggs.  Although, if your a pregnant woman you might want to consider eating more eggs, possibly daily, because of the high nutritional value that they provide. Specifically, eggs are high in choline, and without choline, folic acid, which helps to prevent spina bifida, cannot work. There is no better source for choline than egg yoke. Also, many doctors are now telling people with high LDL's that it's ok to eat an egg once in a while.

I always refer back to Mr. Tracarro, my nutrition teacher in college who said;  "All things in moderation." A couple of eggs a week won't kill you,  but a dozen might catch up with you. A glass of wine at night with dinner OK. The whole bottle, I don't think so. A valium once in a while, no problem. A hundred  milligrams of a day, and it's time to visit Betty Ford.  For me the benefits of eggs outweigh any health concerns that I foster.

I'm not finished with the benefits of eggs just yet. In the protective confines of that hard shell we can find; vitamin A, B5, vitamin B2 aka ribflavid, B9 folic acid, B 12, vitamin D, vitamin K for clotting, iodine for thyroid function, K2 a catalyst for mineral absorption, something lacking in most western diets, molybdenum, phosphorus, tryptophan, niacin, protein (all 8 amino acids), selenium, choline, and zeaxanthin. All of that in that little package. That make eggs perfect protein, and yes, a super food. That's a mouthful of goodness in a tough little package.

Besides all of the nutritional benefits without the egg,  cooking and the culinary arts as we know it would never be the same. No eggs for our cakes, cookies, pasta, no egg foo young,  drop egg soup, no omelets, custards, no fritatas, no meringue, just to name a few. As a binding agent eggs cannot be beat, and it's ability to form a light delicate foam when whipped is essential to many dishes.

Speaking of cooking, the art of cooking eggs in is one of high culinary skill and expertise. I've done a little breakfast short order cooking and I loved it. As many ways as there is to cook eggs, there are just as many ways you can screw them up.  You can break them, overwork, overcook, and under cook them in a thousand different combinations.

You might say; "Come on man, what's so hard about cooking scrambled eggs?" I know a woman in Carson City Nevada who scrambles her eggs in a cappuccino maker. After I had those I taught myself how to do it. They're like billowy pale yellow clouds, soft and fluffy. Stick a couple of those between a fresh croissant roll with a little goat cheese, some crisp spinach leafs, caramelized onions,  a thin piece of boiled Italian ham, some fresh crushed pepper, and your taste buds will dance with delight. How many times have you had green scrambled eggs with crusty brown edges?  Don't tell me there's nothing to cooking scrambled eggs.  No, watching a really great short order cook do breakfast is poetry in motion if you ask me.

Check out the Julia Child videos of her cooking omelets with her copper skillets. They're my favorite cooking videos of all time.

Here is  the recipe for hard boiled eggs that Geri and I use all the time. "What's so difficult about cooking hard boiled eggs?" you might ask. Well, it's the shell that's the hard part. If you don't cook them correctly your eggs will look like a beautiful woman who bites her fingernails. Plus you waste the albumin which is where the protein is located.  Follow this recipe and you'll have perfect hard boiled eggs.  The shell will just peel right away.  If you bite your finger nails, STOP.

There really is no dispute of which came first, it was the egg of course. The egg is a cell, and first  came water, and with water came cells, and with cells came, well, everything else. Or was it divine design. The controversy rages on.

Cluck, Cluck

Peace....... Make Food/Not War

Pickled hard boiled eggs were very popular when I grew up in Connecticut 1200 years ago. You could find them in a lot of bars for $.25. An 8 ounce glass of beer was $.25, and a schooner or 12 ounce beer was $.35. A couple of those for breakfast and you were good to go. See recipes below.


                                                             Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Ingredients;

Farm fresh organic eggs
water/ice

Directions:
1) If you have cold eggs right out of the fridge place them in a medium sauce pan of cold tap water that completely cover the eggs.

2) Put the pot on high heat and set the timer for 17 minutes. Bring the water to a boil, cover with a lid, and cut the heat.

3) After 17 minutes remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, and place in an ice bath for 2 minutes. This will shrink the body of the eggs from the shells. Bring the pot back to a boil.

4) With the slotted spoon transfer the eggs back to the boiling water for 10 seconds.
Remove the eggs with the slotted spoon, and place in the ice bath for 15 to 20 minutes.

5) Peel the eggs and let sit in the fridge for up to 3 days in submerged water. Do not cover the eggs.

You can also pickle them in vinegar. See the three recipes below.

Perfect hard boiled eggs are tender and white with a firm yellow yoke, and no trace of darkness in the yoke.

                                              Pickled Hard Boiled Eggs with herb de' Provence

Ingredients:
6 farm fresh organic hard boiled eggs
3/4 cup white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 white or red onion sliced
1 teaspoon herbs of Provence

Directions:

1) Put the eggs, herbs of Provence, and onions in the jar.

2)In a medium size sauce pan bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil, and cut heat to medium. Stir regularly to make sure the sugar doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, and until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely.

3) Pour the vinegar and water in the jar till the eggs are completely submerged. Add more water if necessary. Close lid tightly and refrigerate.

Your pickled eggs will be ready in a few days. They will last in the fridge for about a month.

Note; The longer you leave your eggs in the jar the more permeated  they will become with the pickling.


                                                                   Curried Pickled Eggs

1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 onion sliced
3/4 cup sugar
3 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon mustard seeds yellow or brown
1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
6 farm fresh organic hard boiled eggs

The pickling instructions are the same as above.

                                                                    Jalapeno Pickled Eggs

3/4 cup white vinegar
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and stalks discarded
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
5 cloves
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 bay leaf
6 farm fresh organic hard boiled eggs

The pickling instructions are the same as above.

cold eggs cold water

Bring to a boil and cut heat...17 minutes total

1st ice bath

second ice bath

perfect hard boiled eggs

vinegar, water and sugar mix

eggs and onions

eggs, onions, herbs of Provence

Pickled hard boiled eggs with herbs de' Provence