I remember Autumn

I remember Autumn. Little known fact about me. I spent a big chunk of my boyhood in Toledo, Ohio. Falling leaves, crisp frosty mornings and just the hint of winter.
 The truth? I'd rather miss it and still be able to spend Thanksgiving in shorts and t-shirts.
 However; Ohio has apples in the way Arizona has oranges.
 This Christmas I'm making apple butter for the family. I started today with beautiful Granny-Smith and a couple Honey-Crisp. This will take me most of the day. I don't mind. I've found that something made by my own hands for the people I love means so much more than anything I can buy. Let's begin.

Mise-en-place

4-5 pounds apples. A blend of different kinds is super. I started with Granny-Smith for the acidic complexity. I also used some Honey-Crisp for the sweetness. Smell what you select. Use what you think is best.

1 cup apple-cider vinegar
2 cups water
Sugar (maybe 4 cups) adjust the amount according to your own tastes. If you are using more sour apples then add more sugar, if using sweeter apples then you may find less is better.
pinch salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
One pinch Nutmeg
grated rind and juice of one lemon
AND Chef Nick's secret ingredient ONE WHOLE JALAPENO . This is a trick I was taught by Chef Aaron Lightner. The spicy pepper will heighten and brighten the spices. Don't worry it doesn't make it through the whole process.

Equipment
One big pot for the apple stuff
A food-mill or large colander with spatula.
One big pot for sterilizing the jars
A pair of tongs
Good sized ladle
I used BALL jars.

Quarter all the apples. Leave skins on, don't core. Pectin is an amazing substance and there is LOADS of it in the parts we usually cut off. Put in the large pot. Add the water, vinegar, whole pepper,  lemon stuff and spices.

Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes. Pull out the pepper and discard. Test the softness of the apples with a fork. They should slide off.  

Place your colander over a big bowl and using your big man muscles lift up the pot and pour entire contents through your colander. Reserve the liquid. Look, I know most of you have stopped reading at this point because this seems really HARD. If I can do this so can you. 

You'll get a big mass of THIS. 

Smoosh and smear this through either your colander or through a food-mill. Either way. Separate the skins, seeds and what-not. Squeeze it through. Discard that mess. 

Put the apple mush back on heat in a large pot. Pour reserved liquid through a wire-mesh strainer back into the pot. Bring all back up to a boil and STIR.

 Here's why is takes all day. You need to stand there and stir over heat until it reduces and turns brown and really thick. It can take up to 2 hours, sometimes longer. Think happy Christmas thoughts the whole time. Plug in your iPod. In the end it's completely worth it.

Some words about jarring. Sterilize all the lids and jars in boiling hot water. Make sure water covers everything. Sterilize any other equipment you'll need. Ladle, tongs. Bring it to a boil and let it go for at least 20 minutes. Reduce heat to low and keep it all under-water until needed. Once done remove pot off-heat but we'll still need that hot water so don't discard. 

OK so it took a long time. We're almost done. Pull out a jar at a time and fill using a ladle. Hold with clean towel. If you spill along the sides use a PAPER towel to wipe it down. Here's a cool kitchen tip. Paper towels are sterile. 

Pull out the lids (2 parts) and screw them down TIGHT. Place jars back into hot water for 10 minutes, this will ensure a tight seal. 

Remove jars from water carefully and put them somewhere outside of any drafts to cool down. You'll hear a weird sucking sound as they seal. Check the dimple on the jar lid and it should be depressed all the way in. 

That's IT finally. Santa would be proud. Wasn't that fun? 

We're cooking poor, eating rich. Get your grub on, Ciao !

Happy Thanksgiving. Love to you all. 

Chef Nick on a soapbox.

Beloved friends. It's been nearly 3 years now and the American economy is still in tragic shape.

 We can get through this. Yes we can. Somewhere nearby is a patch of dirt. Turn it over and start planting. We are a nation of pioneers. 

  I know they told you that stopping at the local fast-food drive-thru saves you time. It isn't true.

  Yes. Ronald, the King and Jack lied to you. Here's the truth. 

 You spent about 5 minutes waiting in your car deciding what to order and then shoved it  down your babies food-holes. The bag you gave them has almost no real nutrition in it. Let's compare. 

 You could have cooked at home. By cooking I mean really cooking, not opening a can, tear open a micro-waved trough of garbage. Cooking. Your Grandma would know what that is. Cooking at home saves you money, time and your health. 

Money = time. Health problems = money. Therefore, health problems=money+time. 

 Once not long ago our Mom's and Grandma's knew this. They had lived through the Great Depression. 

Waste then meant you starved. Not "wahhh Mommy I'm starving I want McDonalds whaaaahh." 

Starved, dead.  

Don't be afraid. We still have all the power. You have a patch of dirt nearby, plant it. You have neighbors, let them borrow from your garden, ask to borrow from theirs. 

 Friends. My list of what to always keep in your kitchen. Have you been paying attention? 

First off, plant an herb garden. why pay money for what anyone can grow? Rosemary, basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, all grow well anywhere. 

basil parley oregano tarragon 

 Pay a premium at any grocery store for what you can grow yourself for pennies? No, never.  

Rice and beans. Get your grub on with any combination of these. Two complex carbs equals a complete protein. Jambalaya. Paella. Texas Chili. Stupid easy. Lentils, black, pinto are my favorites. 

ALWAYS keep a bag of IQF fruit in your freezer. you'd be surprised how often I pull out a hand-full to make a desert sauce or add to a BBQ sauce. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries. Puree and add sugar, strain. Done. 

A well stocked spice collection. You can cure a world full of ills with enough nutmeg. Spices are ground seeds and barks and what-not from rare and tropical plants. Dried herbs are a waste of money, except Oregano. Essentials are cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, curry powder, turmeric, cardamom. 

AP flour. Yeast. Salt. Sugar. Learn to bake your own bread. They can't take this away from us. It's called the STAFF OF LIFE for a reason. The ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks knew this. How did we forget? If you need an easy formula for bread, message me. 

 Baking Soda. Baking Powder. Corn Starch. 

Kosher salt. Fresh ground black pepper. Kosher works best, not as obnoxiously salty as the stuff in the blue round container and easier to grab by the finger pinch. Fresh ground pepper is easy. Buy whole cloves and crush under a heavy pot. I keep both in a small dish by the stove, ready to go anytime. 

Keep a bottle of red and or white wine around. 

Chicken and beef stock. OK look, yes making this yourself will make me proud but if you really don't have time for gosh-sakes don't get that crap in a can. If you want to learn how to make your own, call me. 

Olive oil. Pick one. 

Plant more, save more. 

garlic harvest

In your fridge. Onions, Carrots, Celery, Garlic. These are the basis for everything. 

Pasta. Yes my family is Italian so perhaps I'm prejudiced but I can always find a reason to add a handful to just about anything. I always keep some ribbon (like linguini) and some small (like ruote) on hand. 

Dried are just fine

Save all your kitchen scraps and start a compost heap. Add it to your garden to replenish the soil. 

we call this our "thanks for coming" pile

Save all chicken and beef bones. Use to make stock.

DO NOT throw away sour milk. Make BISCUITS or SODA BREAD or PANCAKES. 

Just for fun I always keep a package of puff-pastry in the freezer. Makes a quick crust for pot-pies or a quick Palmiers for desert. 

Above all. You can feed yourselves despite what they tell you. 

We are cooking poor, eating rich. 

Get your grub on, CIAO

my tomatoes plus flowers

Dad strikes again. Zucchini Moussaka.

Size does matter

  Holy crud. I thought Arthur was big. This week Dad had another giant zucchini. I named him Philip. Obviously I couldn't just do the same thing so I thought. (think think think) I wonder if you could use zucchini to make Moussaka instead of eggplant. I DON'T KNOW EITHER!!! Let's try. 
 I have nothing against eggplant, in fact I really like it but I didn't have any. C'mer Philip, I have a knife that wants to get to know you. MWAAHAHAHAHA.

 If you DO have 3 good sized eggplant then use those. Look for ones that are heavy for their size.


The best way to get thru Moussaka is to break it down into steps. Meat part. Vegetable part. Sauce part.

I broke down your mise-en-place just like that. We'll do each one separate.

Meat:
1# ground beef or lamb or half-half
1 medium onion, small dice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TB tomato paste
salt-pepper (kosher, fresh ground please)
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 TB Oregano
1 TB+ fresh parsley chopped
1 solid pinch Nutmeg
1 tsp lemon zest
juice from one lemon
8 oz dry red wine

Vegetable:
3 good sized eggplant or one Philip. He's somewhere around 5#'s I think. Peeled in stripes (pictures)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper (again)
grill to 400 degrees

Sauce: Classic Béchamel
1 part butter to one part flour (roughly 1 TB each)
small pinch nutmeg
Salt-pepper (ok you get it)
1 egg-yolk, beaten
2 cups whole milk, scalded. this means bring it to a boil and remove from heat immediately

For the top:
1 cup shredded Parmesan or Asiago or Romano. If you can find Mizithra use that. It's getting easier to find specialty cheeses.
Some chopped fresh herbs. I used Basil, Parsley, Mint and Thyme. Yes I said Mint, it's a Greek dish. Mint isn't just for garnishing dessert plates ya know.

OK Meat first.
Heat up a heavy pan
Add a splash of olive oil and add your meat in crumbles.
It will brown better if you don't stir it too much so LEAVE IT ALONE
Season with salt and pepper
Add your spices (cinnamon, nutmeg)

ok NOW you can stir it around
Add your onion and garlic once the meat is cooked about half way thru.

Sweat those around until clear.
Add your lemon peel and lemon juice. Stir.

Add your Tomato paste. Stir again.

OK the  best part. ADD THE WINE.
Keep stirring until it reduces and doesn't look watery.
Remove from heat and put in a bowl or whatever to cool.









DIE PHILIP DIE !!!  Vegetable second
Grab your peeler
Make stripes by dragging along lengthwise
It's not just for pretty, it makes it cook more evenly and removes a bit of the bitterness that peels have.
Slice into 1/2 inch slices (like wheels)
Toss in salt. Add more salt. No, more.
We need to sweat out some of the water. We don't want soggy. Maybe you do. Maybe you're just a big ol' soggy lover.

Lay in layers of paper-towels and let sit for 30 minutes. The salt will pull out the water and transfer it to the towels. The water will remove most of the salt. Neat huh?
 Toss it all in olive oil and pepper.
 Normally you would brown these off in a big pan adding more and more oil until Greece calls and tells you that they're out. I have a better idea. Because I'm using Zucchini I decided to grill. Ok not a big stretch because I live in Arizona and grilling is our State Sport. I Heated up the grill to 400 degrees and laid them down just enough to put some light grill marks on both sides.

Hopefully this works. Remove to a cool plate.

SAUCE: This is Béchamel. Sadness, none of my pictures survived. No I don't know why.
No worries. Easy stuff.
Heat up the milk until just boiling, remove from heat quickly. Set aside
In a separate pot melt your butter (medium heat, let's not go nuts)
add the flour and pinch of nutmeg
stir around until it stops smelling "starchy" you'll know, trust me.
Add your milk and with a whisk...whisk until it thickens. Remove from heat.
Now you could stop there, it'll still work. If you want to GUARANTEE it will work, then do the next part.
If you have your beaten egg-yolk handy add a small amount of the sauce to it and stir quickly. This is called "tempering." It will increase the temperature of the yolk without cooking it. We need both the yolk and sauce to be the same. Once stirred together add the egg part to the sauce part and whisk again over low heat. It will thicken and get all pretty and glossy. Remove and set aside.

* Don't forget to grate your cheese and chop your herbs

Now we assemble.

pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Layer your vegetable along the bottom of a baking dish. Over-lapping slightly.

first layer

second layer

Add a layer of meat (half)

Add another layer of vegetable

third layer

Add the rest of the meat and half the herbs and cheese

cover it all with the Bechamel Sauce.

 Get it all down along the sides and all the way to the bottom.
Top it all with the rest of the cheese and herbs.

Bake it in oven for 45 minutes to an hour until the top browns lightly

Let it sit for AT LEAST 15 minutes before you try to cut it.

Thanks Dad. Thanks Philip.
We are cooking poor, eating rich. Get your grub on. Ciao.


AAANNNDDD just because I love my nephew Hayden and he kept me company in the kitchen today. Here he is in all his shirtless glory.

yeeaaahhh that's his smile 

Nick's peach sangria. Memories of basis new american

such a pretty dining room

   Once upon a time there was a magical place. It wasn't big, it wasn't well known but it was very-very cool. It was a little neighborhood restaurant called "basis new-american." (lower case on purpose)
A well thought out menu, a dynamic and eclectic wine list (thank you very much) and a terrific staff made this place magic. Sadly it closed in July of 2010. A victim of the crappy economy. I miss the calamari. It was unlike any you've ever had.


basis played host to my WHS RAMS right before the end. Everyone had a good time.

the WHS RAMS send their love to our friend DEE

The cool kids table

Ol' buddies !

 Once upon a time our owner came to me with a drink special idea. "Twinkles" he said. (that was my nick-name) How 'bout a Sangria or something like that? OK. So I went through all my books and magazines and I put this together. We served it every summer until the end.

The formula is simple:

Keep in mind we made this in huge volumes so if you don't need this much, reduce. C'mon you can do math right?

12 ripe peaches pitted and sliced
1 bottle of Riesling 750 ml
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup peach schnapps
1 bottle of peach nectar (this can be tough to find) 38 oz
1 bottle of white grape juice 64oz
handful of fresh raspberries
one orange sliced
2 lemons sliced

Combine everything in a large container and let it soak overnight. Pour over ice in a large glass and garnish with some of the peach slices and a few raspberries. One glass makes everything so much better.
Two makes everything fantastic.

yes please

Tonight we're Cooking poor, DRINKING rich. Get your grub on. Ciao.

A zucchini so big it should have it's own Facebook page.

Before we begin. Yes all the obvious innuendoes about "size" have been made.

My Dad grew a big sumbitch of a zucchini. His name is Arthur. Yes he has a name. What? You don't name your giant produce? That's just weird.

Arthur sat on the Kitchen counter DARING me to turn him into something yummy. So I did.


I grabbed some vegetables from the fridge. Some herbs from the garden, a pound of Italian Sausage, Parmesan and bread-crumbs. And a long serrated knife.

Red and green Bell Peppers, Red Onions, Garlic, fresh seeded Tomatoes.

Sliced Arthur length-wise. Going slowly. Using a spoon, scooped out the inside to make a boat. 

Browned and drained the sausage. 

Sweated the vegetables, added Salt-Pepper and Oregano. Combined everything in a bowl with shredded Parmesan and Bread-crumbs. 

Drizzled some Olive Oil on the Zucchini and seasoned it with S&P. Stuffed both halves and topped it with more cheese and bread-crumbs. 

After about an hour in a 400 degree oven. Testing with a fork to make sure it was tender. Removed it from the oven, let it rest for a quarter of an hour. 

Slice, serve. Maybe a little Tomato sauce. That's it. Cooking poor, eating rich. 

Good-night Arthur. Thanks

Now go get your grub on, Ciao.