trans Fatty Blog

Micro-Size My Dessert

In the face of bigger and better everything, the micro-sundae takes off. Fountain and restaurant owners, take note. Sometimes less really is more.

Hummus

The posting on shawarma continues to generate more hits than anything else I've written on this blog, so it's time to visit that other Middle Eastern classic, hummus.

Hummus is a great example of a recipe that's easy to make, but rarely made well (at least outside the Middle East). Sure it's easy. Mashed chickpeas. Nothing fancy there. But when a recipe has so few ingredients, there's nothing to hide behind if any of the flavors is off. The secret is to balance the tahini with the right amount of fresh lemon juice (not bottled), and avoid the tempation to add too much garlic.

Hummus is not made from black beans, roasted garlic, or red peppers. You can make a tasty dip using any of those ingredients, but it won't be hummus. And please don't garnish it with alfalfa sprouts. All you need is olive oil, paprika, and a bit of parsley. If you must add something else, use pine nuts.

Chicken Stock

Chicken stock must be one of the most frequently published recipes in the world. Does anybody really need another version? Not if you already have a method you like, and use it regularly. But if you've never made real stock, or you're convinced you don't have the time to do it more than once a decade, read on.

Chefs and foodies love to rhapsodize about stock-making, and with good reason. The French regard stocks as the foundations of cuisine, used to flavor soups, sauces, stews, braises, pastas, rice dishes, you name it. When you dip your filet mignon into a sauce so meltingly rich that it makes you swoon, there's a good chance that what you are tasting is the quality of the stock.

Making stock requires an act of faith on the part of the cook. Nobody sees you do it. You have to start cooking a day or more in advance, trusting that all that invisible effort will shine through in the final product. If you substitute canned broth, will anybody know the difference? The result may still taste good, but if you ever want your food to transcend good, stock is one of the fundamentals that separates the amateurs from the pros. The line between the ordinary and the sublime begins here.

Although a whole chicken (or meat or fish) can be used for maximum flavor, stocks are most often made from bones and trim, for reasons of cost. To me, this is the best way to fully utilize the animal, and the transformation of the raw ingredients feels almost like kitchen alchemy, taking the stuff that might otherwise be discarded as garbage and turning it into liquid gold.

Do No Farm?

For an interesting review of an interesting? new book (Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization) see First, Do No Farm. Farming, in a nutshell, was a huge step backward for humanity. Suffice it to say you won't see Richard Manning lobbying for agricultural subsidies any time soon.

Agriculture causes obesity... Hmmm. It's hard to argue with that conclusion. Without farming, we'd all be a lot thinner. There also wouldn't be 6 billion of us. No Chicago, no New York, and no Chez Panisse either (since restaurants pretty much rely on large populations with plenty of disposable income).

So while it's hard to disagree with this conclusion, it's hard to know what to do with it either. Farming, TV, cars, and computers all have their down side, but they aren't going away. Whether good, bad, or indifferent, the genie of modernity is out of the bottle. Evolution, like Everest, doesn't care what we think about it. It just is.

Sourdough Focaccia

I promised a friend I'd post this recipe as an example of how to use sourdough starter. If you're new at bread baking, focaccia is great way to start because it's pretty forgiving. It's also well suited to long, slow, fermentation at room temperature or below, which is handy if you don't have a proofing box (used by bakers to keep the dough warm while it rises). The only thing it's not well-suited to is people who are in a hurry. But that's true of almost any yeast bread.

If you don't know what a sourdough starter is, or how to make one, stay tuned, I will post something soon. And trust me, you will like it, even if you're not from Alaska. Once upon a time all bread was made this way.

SPONGE
2 cups white starter (should be about like pancake batter, but lumpier, maybe a tad thicker)
1 cup warm water (not hot, just warm)
1 packet (1/4 oz) dry-active yeast (or less, see below)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil

DOUGH
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour

TOPPINGS (OPTIONAL)
Carmelized onions
Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Fresh basil and thyme
Salt and pepper

1. Create a sponge by mixing the first 5 ingredients (starter, water, yeast, honey, and olive oil). Set it in a cool place (ie, not on the oven or in direct sunlight) to ferment until bubbly, maybe 30-40 minutes. The idea here is jump-start the yeast by giving it a nice warm sugary solution to feed on. If you see bubbles, you know the yeast is on its way. Personally I use a bit less than the full packet of yeast because I like a slow fermentation (rise). If you're a purist and you have a very active starter, you can skip the commercial yeast altogether.

2. Add the 2 remaining ingredients (salt and flour) and mix until a dough forms. If your mixer has a dough hook attachment, use that. Otherwise you can knead by hand, although the dough may be a little wet to be easily workable. Work the dough until it is smooth and elastic in your fingers, about 6-8 minutes. Shape the dough into a smooth ball, set the ball in a clean mixing bowl, drizzle on a bit of olive oil, and cover with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

3. Set the dough in a cool place and let it ferment (rise) until it doubles in size. This may take 4-6 hours or longer, depending on the local temperature, the amount of yeast you used, and how active your starter was to begin with. Be patient.

4. Line a half sheet pan (12" x 17") with parchment paper and brush or spray with olive oil. (If you don't have parchment, you can try lining the pan with thin layer of corn meal, but parchment is recommended.)

5. Punch the dough once or twice to force out the air, and set it in the sheet pan. Use your fingers to gradually spread the dough to fill the pan out to the corners. If it doesn't want to spread all the way immediately, let it rest a few minutes and try it again.

6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap again (you can use the same piece you used before) and let it rise until it bulges out of the pan.

7. Dimple the dough with your fingers, basically pressing in every inch or two to make a bunch of holes. The holes add to the surface area, adding texture and visual appeal. They also tend to fill up with any toppings you add, creating little pockets of flavor.

8. Let the dough rest a bit longer. This is called benching, and allows the gluten proteins in the dough to relax. (More on gluten in another post.)

9. While the dough benches, preheat your oven to 400°F.

10. Top the dough as desired (see below) and bake until golden on top and crispy on the bottom. Remove from the pan immediately, and cool.

Toppings

Topping a focaccia is an art in itself. You can go minimal, brushing with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, or you can pile on the toppings to produce what amounts to a thick-crusted pizza. Personally I like enough topping to add interest, but I want bread, not pizza. My favorite version is to brush the doubh with olive oil just before baking, followed by some tomato paste (thinned with more olive oil to make it easier to spread). Season with thyme, salt and pepper, and add a thin layer of carmelized onions (two large onions cooked until nicely browned). Bake for 10 minutes, then add a layer of parmesan cheese, and return to the oven until done. Finally, garnish the finished bread with a bit of shredded basil.

And finally, as an alternative method to slow the fermentation even more, you can set the dough in the refrigerator overnight after step 2 above. This is called retarding the dough because the cold will slow the yeast to a crawl, allowing even more flavor to develop. The next day, remove the dough and continue from step 3. (It may take a while to rise at that point because it will need to warm up first.)

Outside Revisted

All the cliches about men and fire aside (and by the way, those cliches are true) the best thing by far about the gas grill is that because of it, I spend more time in the yard. And that means the whole family spends more time in the yard. And that's a good thing.

Fridge Rant

To all the fine people at my company who leave items in the communal refrigerator with a post-it note saying "please do not throw away."

PLEASE DATE YOUR NOTE. Without a date, this request is meaningless.

Capturing Flavor

Never throw away flavor. Buy it whole, enhance or preserve it when cooking, freeze it when necessary. Never throw it throw it away.

• When you peel shrimp, save the shells, which are packed with flavor. Don't believe me? Heat a bit of oil in a sauté pan, toss in a handful of shells, and hold the pan under your nose. Smell the result? That's flavor. Use it to infuse soups and sauces, or make shrimp butter. And don't buy peeled shrimp, which probably sat on the boat until somebody got around to peeling them -- rather than being immediately quick frozen -- and may be less fresh as a result.
• When you eat chicken, buy it whole, and make stock with the bones. Get in the habit of doing this whenever you have a chicken -- or every few times, freezing the carcasses until you have several -- and it won't seem hard. I'll do a posting on stock one of these days, but in the meantime here's a hint: use your crock pot. This solves the problem of how to leave something cooking all day (or all night) when you're not there to watch it.
• If you have a bunch of tomatoes you need to use, roast, broil, or grill them and make salsa. Freeze whatever you can't use right away.

Do these things regularly, and you'll have a freezer full of bags and containers filled with good things. This may drive the others in your household crazy when they can't reach the ice, but one Tuesday night you'll come home and do something like this:

Mexican-Style Shrimp and Rice

If you started from scratch, this dish would be impossibly complicated for a week night. But it's the kind of thing that happens naturally once basic preparations like those above become habit.

I post this not as a recipe, but as an example. I didn't measure anything and I'll probably never make this exact dish again. But I'll make lots of things that resemble it. Really it's a bastardization of paella, with salsa replacing the standard sofrito. If you had some chicken, corn, or peas, you could also mix that in.

1. Peel about 15 medium-sized shrimp, and reserve the shells.

2. In a saucepan, heat about 3-4 cups of chicken stock to a simmer (not boil). Add the reserved shrimp shells (along with all those other shells you've been storing in your freezer) and simmer for about 25-30 minutes. Strain and discard shells. Return the stock to the pan and keep warm.

3. In a wide skillet or sauté pan, cook about 4 oz of chorizo or andouille sausage until nicely browned. Add about half an onion (minced or grated), cook a few minutes longer, then add several cloves of garlic and a jalepeno pepper (both also minced), and cook another 30 seconds or so until aromatic. Avoid burning the garlic.

4. Add about 2 cups of roasted tomato salsa (which you also had in your freezer) and cook until almost dry.

5. Add 2 1/2 cups medium-grain rice, and stir briefly to combine rice with flavorings. Pour the shrimp-infused stock over the top. There should be enough to cover the rice by just over a half inch. Do not stir the rice again. Simmer uncovered over medium heat until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is just beginning to brown on the bottom. (This layer of just-browned rice is the key to a great paella, if necessary you can increase the heat at the end of cooking to achieve it. Alternatively, add a bit more stock or water if the rice is too dry.)

6. When the rice is ready, set the shrimp on top, and cover the pan to allow the shrimp to heat through. If necessary you can set the pan in a heated oven or under a broiler to finish the shrimp.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with lemon or lime, and warm tortillas (heated over an open burner) or crusty bread.

Low-Carb Truths?

As anybody who follows this blog has probably figured out by now, I'm a low-carb skeptic. (I didn't say anti, I just said skeptic.)

Why? Because when somebody suggests that we all do an about-face on something as fundamental as what we all eat, I think a wee bit of skepticism is in order. The "eat more fat and don't get fat" argument just plain makes me nervous. Sounds a bit too convenient, kinda like "the more you spend, the more you save." Or "eat your cake and don't have it too."

That said, I also believe in keeping an open mind, so I've tried to read up on some of the science behind the fad. You'd think that with all the biochemists in the world, something as basic as metabolism would be well understood? Hardly. Experts don't seem to agree, consensus is not available, and in the end all you can do is go with your gut (no pun intended). And based on my limited knowledge and understanding, I have heard a few arguments in favor of the low carb diet that actually strike me as (possibly) having scientific merit.

One is the blood sugar argument. In a nutshell, by lowering your blood sugar, it may be possible to stabilize the biochemical mechanisms that trigger appetite. As anybody with diabetes is well aware, sugars go to your bloodstream faster than any other food, while fats and proteins take longer to digest. This could result in fewer highs and lows, less binge-and-bust eating, and a more moderated diet.

Second, if you manage to kick your cells into ketosis, this might result in your body burning stored fats using a less efficient mechanism that harvests fewer calories per pound of stored fat, and secretes the excess as ketones (which you literally pee away). Kinda like how a car gets fewer miles per gallon when you exceed 60 mph. By putting your cells under artificial (sugar-starved) stress, you might be able to burn more fat more quickly, leading to weight loss.

The argument that doesn't wash is the subtle marketing spin that nowadays tries to associate the term "calorie" with "carb." Because pound for pound, fats have more than twice as many calories as carbs do. That's one fact on which the experts still agree.

Why Boxed Wine is Better

Boxed wine tastes better than bottled wine.

Sure bud, anything you say. Time to start reading another blog.

OK, obviously boxed wine isn't better than bottled. But if pragmatism ruled the day, it could be. As noted in the June issue of Rescue magazine, the main enemy of wine is oxidation. And a plastic-lined box can protect wine from oxidation better than any bottle/cork combination.

Why? It's well known that natural cork is not the ideal material for corking a bottle. A certain number of corks fail, resulting in "corked" or spoiled wine. That's why some producers now use synthetic rubber corks or screw tops.

But a box is even better, because the plastic liner collapses around the box as you drain it, protecting the wine from oxygen even after it's been opened. So unless you always finish the bottle the day you open it, a box ought to be the better value.

So does trans Fatty Blog seriously recommend cardboard over glass? No, because style, tradition, and aesthetics all play a role. And having actually learned how to use a corkscrew (a real one, not one of those ridiculous hydraulic contraptions they sell nowadays) I don't want to give up any social advantages that skill might confer. Just reporting the facts.