ALOHA from the A-ZONE. Chef Nick's Hawaiian pulled pork.

It's 109 degrees today. I'm firing up KEN the WEBER. I cook with charcoal. Long and slow. Let's cook outside and tell the utility companies to go ef themselves. 

 Yes, this will take all your daylight today but you can feed an army with it. 

 Sweet and spicy. Savory and fruity. Grab the bag of charcoal and let's go. 

 What we are doing today is a long, slow almost BBQ process with a chunk of pork. Add some asian accents with tropical fruit and O YEAH DADDY. We are cooking poor, eating rich. 

Mise en place:

a 3 to 5 pound chunk of pork. Usually I use shoulder but today I used a loin roast. WHY? 'cus that's what they had. Look for good marbling or a thick fat cap. 

A big couple pinches of 5-spice powder.  Oh Crap. You're going to ask me what that is. Look for it in your local grocery store's spice section. Bull, make it yourself. It's easy. Chinese 5-spice always includes cinnamon, ground cloves, ground star-anise, ground nutmeg and ground ginger. Whatever. I always include ground cumin and chili powder. Just 'cus I'm a Chef and I can. If you like please use what you found at your local grocery store. 

Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper

One big sliced sweet onion. You laugh at us but Arizona has some of the best sweet onions on the planet. 

One sliced red bell pepper. Today my local farmer's market had crap in peppers so I used one orange. So can you. DO NOT DO NOT use green. Ok it's fine, go ahead and use green but don't say I didn't warn you. 

One can of pineapple chunks. Drain juice from chunks. Use juice for now but save chunks for later. 

1/2 cup good Soy Sauce

1/2 cup commercial teriyaki sauce. Look, there's lots of good ones. Refuse the crap that contains MSG or anything artificial. 

For later

1/2 cup spanish peanuts

pineapple chunks (from the can earlier)

2-3 fresh bananas, sliced. 

MEN, light up your charcoal, girls pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Girlie-men, light your propane grills and hide behind your women. Bitches. 

Let's get started.

Rub kosher salt and black pepper onto your pork. Then rub a big pinch of 5-spice onto both sides. 

I use an aluminum pan for this. Plus wrap

In the pan add the onion, pepper, teriyaki, pineapple juice from the can and soy sauce. 

just dump it on

Wrap in tin-foil. Place it onto your coals. Put the lid on. Ladies, put it into the oven at 325 degrees. Girlie-men, put it on the low-heat side. Let it go.  

Now wait for 4-5 hours. Test it with a meat-fork. Stab it into the center. Any resistance means it ain't done. Let it go until....

It's done. Right?

Right. 

It looks like this

Let it cool down until you can handle it. Put into a large bowl. If you are weird about using hands then use two long-tined forks and shred it. Pull all those meat-threads apart. 

what happened to all those onion and peppers? They dissolved.

Once shredded add all your pineapple chunks, bananas and peanuts. Stir around.

Crunchy and meaty, sweet and salty.

I served it with cole-slaw and sweet-potato fries. We are cooking poor, eating rich. 

Go get your grub on. CIAO.

July in Phoenix sucks. Let's have Christmas instead.

 July in Phoenix is a unique experience. While the rest of the country is reveling in the warmth of summer we are hiding in our homes with the AC cranked up. It's brutal. Today it's 117, might reach 119. Luckily I have beer.

 8 months of the year Arizona is heaven, the other four is that other place.

 Let's leave that for now and talk about the best time of year in the A-ZONE.

Christmas.

 Winters here are bliss. While the rest of the northern hemisphere is shivering we are hanging lights in shorts and t-shirts.
*shifting gears*

 My Mom makes the best Christmas cookies in the entire universe. I bugged her for years to give me her recipes and last year ( bless her heart) she FINALLY relented and gave me one of the best presents ever. A box filled with copies of all her secrets. I love my Mom. One of her best are her rum-balls.
 RUM BALLS YEAH !!!
 Ok so I took it up a notch and came up with these.

I call them CHEF NICK'S REINDEER POOP !!!

easy no bake cookies

1 package of chocolate wafers (2 cups packed), Nabisco brand, pulverize to powder in a food-processor.
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup of candy-cane liqueur , I used BOLL'S
for the rolling
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup pulverized candy cane, use your food-processor

Pulverize is a cool word. It means to reduce to a powder. DO IT.
add the corn syrup and candy-cane liqueur and stir together, it's a paste.

combine your powdered sugar and pulverized candy-cane in a separate bowl, get ready for it

Now, by hand, roll your chocolate mess into balls. Yes it's sticky. Use some ice-water on your hands and keep going.

Let the balls rest for 'bout 30 minutes. Then roll them in your combined candy-cane and powdered sugar mess. Let them dry for a day on wax-paper.

That's it, you're done. My family got these as presents last Christmas. Thanks Mom. You inspire me everyday. Now just chill. We cook poor but eat rich. 

Get your grub on, Ciao

my super cute tree

Mom and Dad gave me my nutcracker when I  was very young.  I still love him.  

Pineapple magic trick.

Pineapple is the universal symbol of hospitality. This is a magic trick I was taught by Chef Eric Watson. It looks like a Ham but it ain't. Get out your blow-torch. Takes a bit of time but oh my is it worth it.

Mise en place:

One whole pineapple. Take off the top and all sides.

a large quantity of cinnamon-sugar ( about 3 cups)
plastic wrap, lots
a serrated knife


blow-torch, yep I said it

Sauce:
Half a bag of frozen raspberries
About 1 TB of cinnamon-sugar
Scant pinch salt. Wire mesh strainer

Palmiers:
1 sheet of puff-pastry. Rolled out.
some more cinnamon-sugar
baking sheet and a 400 degree oven

one large pot for the pineapple

one small pot for sauce

 n'kay, so we took off all the crap off our pineapple right?

Roll it and pack on the cinnamon-sugar. 

Wrap it in plastic tightly. Let's pretend that it carries a zombie-virus. 

 Put it into some hot water, bring to a boil and take it back down to just hot for 5 hours. Seriously. 

see ya, in like 5 hours

Le Palmier. 

Yes I have made puff-pastry by hand, no, nobody has to anymore. 

 Pepperidge Farms. Look in the frozen section of your local grocery store. I always, always have some in my freezer, you just never know. take out one sheet and let it come to room temp before you unroll it. 

Alls ya gotta do is unroll it and dump some cinnamon-sugar on it. Take up both sides and roll it up into the middle. 

Grab your knife and start slicing across, about 1/3 inch. Squeeze it together when you can. 

look how pretty

Place each slice on a baking sheet. You won't have to grease it. 'cus like duhhh puff pastry is flour and butter. 

Put in a 400 degree oven, keep your eye on it, do not do not leave the kitchen. Let bake for about 6 minutes. Once browned, remove from oven. Wasn't that fun?? Puff-pastry was invented by accident when a rookie cook forgot to put butter into his tart dough. He then folded the fat by layer into the dough and we now are blessed with this lovely little gem. 

'kay, let's do the sauce

take your handful of frozen raspberries, add some sugar and place all in a small pot over high heat

once heated thru, take off heat and dump into a wire-strainer. 

Force thru to remove all the seeds and YIPEE you just made Sauce Framboise !! (Raspberry sauce for those of you who didn't surrender.)

 Now comes the part with the blow-torch. My favorite kitchen tool. 

 Test the pineapple, stick a meat fork in it. If there is any resistance (like the French), Let it go for another hour or so. Once completely tender to the core. Remove and let drain over a colander. 

Un-wrap and let cool. Put it into the freezer if you are in a hurry. 

Light your blow-torch. Using a meat fork thru the center. Toast the outsides as carefully as you can. 

burn baby burn disco inferno

So do you get the special effects? We have a loaf shaped object with caramelized outsides. Guess what we do now?

Place pineapple on a flat surface and with a serrated knife (hold with a meat fork) make one way slashes across the surface. Then turn it and do the same again. 

Ain't it just the prettiest? 

Slice it the same way you would a ham. Serve with the sauce and some of the palmier. 

with some hibiscus flower.

I know this took a lot of your time, but it's worth it isn't it ? We cook poor but eat rich. 

Go get your grub on. Ciao.

I'm scared of my tomato plant. Green Tomato Ketchup-Catsup. Whatever.

 Scared yes. Did you ever see the movie "The Ruins?" I'm going to wake up one morning and the damned thing is going to be eating my legs.
 I started two plants from seeds in January. Usually I don't have much luck here in Phoenix with tomato. Our spring goes from mild to radioactive within 30 days. Not this year.
 We've had a long- long cool, wet spring. The plants got beyond huge. They grew over their cages and now drape over all sides cascading with fruit.

 Disaster. About 2 weeks before Memorial Day we had a crazy rain and wind storm that blew over one of my cages and broke one plant off at the stem. I had all this unripe fruit of different sizes in danger of going to waste. Most unsuitable for fried green tomato simply because it was too small. What could I do to rescue them??? Good friggin' question. 

 Luckily I'm me and had some old cookbooks that provided answers. "Joy of Cooking" from 1960 and "Betty Crocker" from 1962. Back when cookbooks were written by and for  home-cooks not by stupid celebrities for rich folks' coffee tables. 

 The art of preserving is not dead. Heck, I found everything I needed in my neighborhood store. Bet you can too. Stupid easy. Just takes some time and effort. 

CHEF NICK'S ZESTY GREEN TOMATO KETCHUP (catsup) whatever. 

Mise en place: All about ratios. 

 I love my deep cast-iron pot. I know you love yours too. Do not do not use it for cooking the tomatoes. Why? It's composition will react to the acids we're playing with and create a bitter mass of yuck. Use a stainless steel, porcelain or enamel pot. 

I used about 5 pounds of green tomatoes so...

1 large red onion, cut into chunks

4 cloves garlic, peeled

3 jalapeno peppers de-stemmed,  including seeds. Entirely optional.

1 cup of Kosher salt

1 pound dark brown sugar

2 TB pickling spice* more about this later

a square of cheese-cloth

 White Vinegar and Cider Vinegar. I used half and half of each

4 jars. Ball Mason is a great brand. The lids have a fool-proof dimple that lets you know when it's sealed. 

Food processor 

1 big pot, big enough to hold jars and lids

1 large pot for cooking

Wire strainer. 

OK, put all your jars and lids in a big pot. Cover over 2 inches with water and put it over high heat. We need to sterilize them. Bring to boil, let it simmer, let it go for 30 minutes. Leave them in water until we're ready. 

 Slice your green tomatoes thick. 

See? like I said, all different sizes

 Put tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt and jalapeno peppers in a large pot. Add vinegar until just covered. Add pickling spice tied in cheese-cloth. Bring ALMOST to a boil (but don't boil them) then turn down your heat to LOW. Let this steep for 4 hours. 

  O WAIT. We need some words here. 

 *PICKLING SPICE. No, you don't have to make this from your own spice supply. It's available commercially. It usually includes allspice, bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, coriander, mustard seeds, dill seeds and peppercorns. Whole or crumbled. 

 Gather some (2TB) into a square of cheesecloth. Tie up into a sack. 

oo look it's my handy-pandy

 Look for a transparency in the tomatoes and onions.

 Once you've achieved that. Remove sack of picking spice. Pour out carefully any remaining liquid, reserve one cup just in case. 

 I love my food-processor. My Mom and Dad gave it to me for Christmas years ago, I use it almost every week. 

 Using the grinding blades. Work a ladle full at a time and grind your mess until smooth. you cannot fuck this up. If it seems too thick; it won't but just in case it does, add a little of your reserved liquid. 

  Remove to a large bowl. Here comes the bitch part. We need to strain this out to remove any skins and seeds. CHINOIS time. 

Place your wire strainer over your now-empty pot that you cooked everything in. By ladle full start straining your mess. Use a spatula and PRESS. 

start 

sorta done

what you removed

  OK, so the bitch part is really a bitch but now you've got a smooth product back in your pot right? RIGHT? 

 Put your pot back over medium heat and add the brown sugar. 

 Stir until sugar dissolves. 

Now it's time to jar up your mess. 

 Remove one jar at a time and ladle the ketchup (catsup) while hot. Screw on lid. 

Place jars with lid back into hot water (off heat) for 5 minutes. Remove and let sit somewhere outside of drafts until the dimple on top the lids is completely depressed. 

 You're done. 

 Seriously

The rose was from one of my neighbors. The note says "thanks for all the tomatoes"

Store it at room temperature or if you insist, in the fridge until needed. Use it just as you would regular commercial ketchup (catsup). I had it with my Birthday steak, butter-roasted mushrooms with tater-tots. That's right, I love tater-tots. The only processed food you're ever likely to see me eat. 

And O yes, it was my Birthday this week. 

Why yes, there IS a candle on my steak. 

 Now with love. Go get your grub on. CIAO.

here's some pics of the very coolest present I got. Thank you Maggie Mom. 

awww you think THAT'S COOL? wait for it....

To Nick with warmest wishes on your birthday. Maggie Mom rules. I love you. 

Whatsa matta you? How I survived the end of the world. Pollo Alla Cacciatora

                                                    

   I love coming from an Italian family. I love that cousins are loved as ferociously as siblings. I love that siblings are a part of our soul. I love that Dads are thought of as highly as the Pope and that Mothers are living Saints. I love that we can eat and drink together, laugh seemingly forever and never get tired.
  I love that with only 48 hours notice, I got to cook for my generation of the Atonna family.

  A coupl'a chickens, a tug of rosemary some mushrooms and a head of garlic. Lots of love.

 Here's the story. When I started cooking ( I was maybe 15) I found a recipe in my Mom's old Better Homes and Gardens for chicken cacciatore. I tried making it and was really unsatisfied with the results.
  Seriously, what the heck is this nonsense. Over-cooked chicken in a bland tomato sludge. NOT what I was hoping for. I tried it again and again. Nope, it all sucked.

  Here's why. THEY DUMBED IT DOWN.

  Years went by. I kept learning. I kept researching. REVELATION. I found an Italian cookbook written by (gasp) Italians.
   I understand that this was; according to legend, made by hunters out in the woods with what they found OR it was prepared by wives anticipating a poor hunt and using what was on hand. Whatever. I think it was a little of both. So here's what you'll need.

CHEF NICK'S SIGNATURE DISH: POLLO ALLA CACCIATORA

Mise en place. The Italians taught the French how to cook, yes we did.

1-2 whole chickens. Important notes on this later
A whole lot of extra virgin olive oil
1 head of garlic, separated into cloves, skin off
some sliced wild mushrooms, about a hand-full. Today all I could get was baby 'bellas but oyster, woodear all work great.
a good tug of fresh rosemary, separate leaves from twigs. 2 TB at least
red wine vinegar, if using 1 chicken about 1/2 cup, if using 2 well duh double it
dry white wine, if using 1 chicken about 4 ounces, blah blah, ok you get it
one BIG pinch of kosher salt
a big pot with steep sides and a heavy lid
if you have a spatter screen, I'd get it out
a set of tongs
a wooden spoon


ok here's the thing.
 I could never understand why hunters would spend all friggin' day standing over a pot with a chicken in it, aren't they supposed to be HUNTING? I figure the version of this dish that calls for a quick and messy fry in oil makes more sense. This calls for a bit of work but it's worth it. Trust me.

OK divide the bird into it's 4 basic parts. Cut these in half again. Cut THOSE into even smaller parts, try for about 10 to 12 pieces. Leave skin and bones intact as much as you can. Chop off the ends of the drumsticks and the tips of the wings. Save for stock.

trust me, use a sharp knife

 Dry all your chicken chunks with paper towels. Wash your hands. 

 Get the pot HOT. High heat please, yes. 

  Add about 1/2 inch of oil. Add 1-2 clove of garlic.

 Add 2-3 chunks of chicken. Skin down first. 

I know you're scared. Here's the problem. Extra virgin olive oil SMELLS like love but it contains a grip of water so it's gonna splatter. Ladies, please use your splatter screen to cover the top. Guys please wear shirts. 

 This takes some timing, remove the garlic clove before it burns but keep that chicken on heat until it turns a dark golden brown, on ALL sides. Alternate your heat from high to medium high, do not let it reach the smoking point. If it does, take off heat for a coupla seconds. I KNOW this is advanced stuff and if you need me to, I will come to your house and show you. 

 Add the chicken, a few pieces at a time, alternating cloves of garlic, as everything browns remove it to a plate nearby. 

save those garlic cloves on the same plate as the chicken

and if you are doing 2 birds you'll need to dump out and change your oil half-way through. 

 You'll end up with a plate of this...

Once all the chicken pieces are done. Dump out the remaining oil. Don't worry, you won't have to add any for the next step. There's enough left in the pan. NOW add your sliced mushrooms. These will brown quickly

 once they do, remove them to a separate plate. 

 It's magic time. Still over high heat. Add the vinegar to the pot and scape up all that love on the bottom, once it STOPS smelling really sharp (your nose will wrinkle) dump in all your chicken and mushrooms. Add your fresh rosemary and big pinch of salt. Toss that around. Decrease heat to medium and add the wine. Let boil for a few seconds.  Put the lid on and turn the whole mess upside-down and shake. Distribute all that goodness.

 Serve with some cooked pasta, tomato sauce, some good bread and a fresh salad to keep up the fiber. Need a recipe for Tomato sauce? Check out the March 20th 2010 post, omit sausage.

 Cooking poor, eating rich. Get your grub on, Ciao.

THIS IS HOW WE EAT

The next generation

My Niece Brynn

Chef Nick with nephew Hayden