Celebrating Autumn. Split Pea Soup.

Even here in my Sonoran Desert the temperatures have dropped. OK sure we aren't expecting snow or anything. It's 65F today with puffy white clouds, crystal blue sky and a nice breeze. Mom would make soup on days like this. One of my all-time favorites is Split-Pea. Creamy without cream. Hearty without a bunch of meat. Slightly sweet and earthy with flavors of vegetables and fresh herbs. Easy Peasy...HAH see what I did there? Grab a bottle of dry sherry, let's do this.
















Mise-en-Place

I used about 2 pounds dried split-peas. I'm making a grip of soup but if you don't need to, divide in half.
1 large Onion
2-3 Carrots, peeled
2-3 stalks Celery
1 clove of Garlic, smooshed
Salt Pork. As much or as little you want. Chop it up fine. Hey look, if you're a vegetarian then just use some Olive Oil for the first step.
8 cups either Chicken or Vegetable Stock
1 bottle dry sherry
Pinch of ground Nutmeg
Pinch or so or Chili Powder
2 dried Bay Leaves
Fresh Herbs. Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Mint. Yes, I said Mint, a much under-used herb, brilliant with peas.
and of course. Kosher Salt and fresh ground Black Pepper
In case ya'll didn't know, Peas are in fact Legumes but you won't need to soak them overnight or anything. The British do but I have no idea why.


Dump all the Peas in a Colander and rinse under cold water. Remove any little pebbles or anything that looks wacky.

Grab your vegetables and small dice.

mince up all the Herbs

and small dice up your Salt Pork.


I bet you can see where this is going. Peas as legumes contain a bunch of Starch that will render out and give us that wonderful creamy mouth feel.

Heat up your deep pot and throw in the salt pork.

Toss that around for a bit and add the vegetables with a big pinch of Kosher Salt and Pepper also the pinch of Nutmeg and Chili Powder. Stir that around a bit, we're just sweating. Add all the herbs.

Add all Peas, toss it

 dump in half the bottle of Sherry and all Stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and relax.

 Let it go until everything is soft. Stir once in a while, you'll notice that the Peas will just dissolve.  You can stop there if you want but if you have a Thunder-Stick (hand blender) use that to puree a little, not a lot. Leave some whole, adds to the texture and character.

 I have always believed in that old adage that soups are always better the next day. I'm hungry NOW so I'm not waiting. Once you have it in your bowl, sprinkle a little bit of Sherry on top.

 That wasn't so hard was it? Allowing for prep-time the whole thing takes about an hour and thirty. I remember my Mom would give us bowls of this with piles of Saltines and we would just go nuts.
I made some of my Sausage and Cheese bread because soup without bread is sad. I'll happily share the recipe if you ask.

To all of you I wish a cozy and snuggly Autumn. 

Cooking poor, eating rich

get your grub on

 Ciao

I love Louisiana. Shoulders to New Orleans.

Nobody loves food more than me. Except maybe the city of New Orleans. Laissez les bons temps rouler. Friends, let the good times roll on.

 I do love me some Cajun. Petite bit of French, little bit of Spanish and a fair helping from Africa and Native American. Today I'm doing Meat-loaf. Yeah ok I said it, Meat-loaf.

The Cajun. Once of Acadia, now of the swamps of Louisiana. French speaking people of the backwaters. This is what a cooking poor but eating rich people can do. Je t'aime.

Chef Nick's Cajun style Meat-loaf. Roasted Fall vegetables besides with Red Gravy.

Mise-en-place

 Meat-Loaf
Some ground beef, 'bout 3 pounds
The holy trinity. One part green bell pepper, one part celery, two parts onion, picture below
one clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup blackening powder*
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

Red Gravy
3-4 slices bacon
1-2 TB flour
chopped Basil
1 dried Bay-Leaf
1 cup brewed coffee
1 can 16z tomato puree
1 TB blackening powder*

Roasted Fall Vegetables
some large chopped root vegetables to include
Potato
Rutabaga
and whatever, parsnip, carrot, I'm a root-vegetable chop me up and add me
today I got some Brussels's Sprouts, trim and split
Onion, peel and slice large
I got me some peeled Garlic cloves
some bacon slices, chopped
tossed with any oil and add
fresh Thyme, Rosemary, salt and pepper
Place in large roasting pan

mmmm Bacon

SOME WORDS ABOUT CAJUN BLACKENING POWDER.
I make my own so you can too.
Paprika
Chili Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Thyme
Ground Oregano
Garlic Powder
Combine with Salt and Black Pepper

looks like 'dis

Here we go wit' some Meat-Loaf

Take your Holy Trinity and sweat in a large pan, add salt and pepper

 Holy Trinity

sweat

Remove from heat and add to your ground beef.
Add egg , bread-crumbs and Blackening-Powder.

Don't forget salt

Mix that all together by hand. The warmth of your hands will activate the proteins and give your product some body. Shape into a loaf on a large open pan.

I said Meat-loaf didn't I

Place your pan of vegetables and your loaf in an oven set at 400 degrees. Leave it for now. Gonna take at least an hour. 

Let's move on to Red Gravy. This is basically a Roux finished with Black Coffee and Tomato Puree. Easy.

In a wide pan, render your bacon until brown, all fat pooled in the pan. 

rendering bacon

Once all the bacon is browned, add your flour and stir around until it stops smelling starchy. You'll know, trust me. Toss in the TB of Blackening Powder, toss around, it will all stick together. Add in one big splash all the coffee. Stir around.

You'll end up quickly with a big pile of yuck. Don't worry. Once you add the Tomato it all makes sense.

Now add your Tomato Puree. Stir around on medium heat.

 Add Basil and dried Bay-Leaf, Simmer for a bit. Check seasonings. 

See? I said it would all make sense. 

Your loaf and veggies should be done by now, let the loaf rest. The vegetables may benefit from more time under heat. Turn 'em over and let those go for another while. Look for some brown. 

Plate up, use as much of the gravy as you want. 

This is

Cooking poor, eating rich

get your grub on

Ciao

Imagination flies on the wings of basics. Part 2

We got the Moist cooking methods down right? Let's move on to the dry.
 Here's something to know. Burnt tastes good. Well ok, not BURNED but caramelized. Sit down kids I have a story to tell.
 Once upon a time a very long time ago when we all ate raw Mastodons and Saber-Tooth Tigers ate us. Some unknown proto-chef dropped his cold haunch of yuck into the fire. Once he dug it out and pawed off all the ashes he (or maybe she) discovered something wonderful. Cooked food is better than raw.



There's some science here. See the thing is this, we don't digest raw food well, despite what the left-coast food-fascists tell us. We lack the enzymes to break down the cell walls of most proteins and vegetables. Although uncooked food contains more nutrients, we can't digest them if they are still inside those cells. Plus and YAY!! heat adds savoriness and color and also breaks down connective tissue which we can't digest without it. Take a bite of a raw Rib-eye if you don't believe me.
 Here's another fun fact. Our palettes are geared towards complex flavors. Nature steers us towards what's best. Trust your guts. Fire makes everything better.

we DO however need a certain amount of raw fruits and vegetables in our diet, so don't be stupid and refuse yourself the pleasure of a fresh apple, leafy greens etc. 

 Roasting: DRY
 This involves surrounding the item with intense heat. It's terrific for most proteins with surface fat and all vegetables. Renders fat and produces a succulent finished product.

roasting both chicken and vegetables

Grilling: DRY

I'm from Arizona. Grilling is our State sport. A friendly argument exists between the charcoal vs gas crowds but that's a different article. It's food placed over heat suspended by a grill. This works wonderfully for anything. I've grilled meat, vegetables and fruit. You cannot deny the loveliness of grilled peach halves then filled with a mixture of Ricotta and honey. 

Lisa K's Cumin and Lemon chicken

Bake: DRY

Done by surrounding food with heat. This applies to any layered meat or vegetable. Bake you say? Isn't that what we do to cakes, muffins and bread? Well sure, same process. What did you think Mom was doing to that casserole? Stick it in an oven and go nuts.

Who remembers Arthur the giant Zucchini?

Cooking with fat. NO, NO, COME BACK  HERE. Sit back down, fat loves you. 

Saute: DRY but with fat. See? It's ok

A tremendously useful cooking method. It involves cooking in a large hot surface with a small amount of fat. Absolutely my favorite cooking method. It can be applied to meats, vegetables and fruits. Heat up your widest pan. Add a splash of oil, butter, whatever and add SMALL amounts of your item. This creates caramelization and fond which can be used to create a sauce. 

do not crowd your pan

 When sauteing, always add a pinch of salt, it helps pull out water which in turn pulls out natural sugars and creates a lovely brown color and rich flavors. 

using fond and a splash of wine adds intense flavors

Pan-frying: DRY

 A layer of fat is used to brown an item that has been coated in batter or breading. Or not. Depends on the item. Flip. The only difference between this and saute is the amount of fat. Use a wide pan. If I'm doing fish I use batter, if I'm not then I don't. If I'm doing chicken-fried steak then I do, If I'm making my Pollo-Cacciatora then I don't. So is this a moist or dry cooking method? Ask me. 

pan-fried Catfish

Deep-frying. 

Submerged into fat, either a batter itself (donuts) or batter-covered item. I don't do this much, 'nuff said. Go to the Arizona State Fair and knock yourself out. This important thing to know is to keep an even hot temperature. 400 degrees usually does it. Keep it dry. Change your oil if it starts to stink. 

TODAY'S QUIZ. Again just one question. What did you cook today and what cooking method did you use and why? 

This is cooking poor, eating rich

get your grub on

Ciao

Imagination flies on the wings of basics. Part 1

"Oh no", you are saying to yourself. "Nick is getting on his soapbox again." Well yes, and no.
 The real secret to knowing how to cook is simple. Learn the basic cooking methods and what to apply them to. That's what we learn in Chef School and yes we pick-up a lot of recipes too.
 Let me ask you this.  What's easier, memorizing a book of recipes or learning some basic cooking methods and some simple facts about ingredients and applying them. Right.


Now then, there are two groups of cooking methods. MOIST and DRY. There's a quiz later so pay attention.

 The factor in deciding which to use is the consistency of our main ingredient. High fat and connective tissue? Or delicate, low in fat? Is it a fibrous vegetable? Is it a starch? Is it a protein? Fish? Beef? Whatever, there is a cooking method appropriate for it.

There are only a few cultures in the world that have codified this and they are often referred to as the "super-cuisines" what are they? 

To demonstrate, I'm going to be posting some photos from past articles, we've used just about all methods in the last three years. See? You were learning stuff and you didn't even know it.
 You're welcome.

Poaching: MOIST
 Done in hot but not boiling liquid. It's used for things like flakey white fish, eggs out of the shell or meats to remove any unwanted flavors or to par-cook it for finishing later. Sure, water is fine but think of the possibilities when you use fish, chicken or vegetable stock. Use white wine for shellfish or chicken. Add herbs, aromatics and spices to make your own mark.

Poaching the chicken for Mariam's Assyrian Chicken

Simmer: MOIST
 Bring to a boil and let simmer. Standard instruction on countless recipes but what exactly does that mean? Simmering is still kinda boiling but is JUST under a rolling boil. Boiling is a violent agitation of liquid and while useful in some recipes is absolute death to most proteins. Simmering is much gentler and gets you a better finished product. Keeping a lid on once you reach boiling and turning the heat down drastically gets you there. Check it often. Related to Braise which we'll talk about next.

bring chicken stock up to a boil, remove scum and lower to simmer

Braise: MOIST
 Braising is done by cooking in a smallish amount of liquid, usually stock, wine or whatever. It's great for large pieces of protein with lots of connective tissue. Meats are usually browned first and the liquid added after. Pot-Roast is a great example of this. It's also useful for fibrous vegetables like cabbage. Braising breaks down tough parts and slowly infuses the finished product with any flavoring agents incorporated in the liquid. If you've been following this blog you'll see it a lot. It can make even the cheapest cuts world-class.

wine makes a terrific Braising medium

Blanch: MOIST

Simply, used to par-cook or partially cook an item. If you've ever cooked professionally you know what this is. Blanch your green-beans and finish later. Great if you're in a position where you want to get as much cooking out of the way now. It's done quickly in full on boiling liquid, the item is put in, cooked partially and either held warm or chilled in ice-water. I use this method to remove peels from fruits or vegetables. The other useful trick is to Blanch pasta and set aside in ice-water, then remove and hold dry until added to a pan-sauce. The method that uses Blanching to remove peels is called "concasse" 

part deaux

Blanching part one

  
















Steam: MOIST
 Used like poaching for delicate foods or in cooking foods where you want to feature the natural flavors. Great for vegetables, chicken breast and fish. Adds moisture but leaves foods fresh tasting without adding any fat.


 Here's the answer to the question "what are the "super-cuisines?" They are of course The Italians, The French and The Chinese. Although there is a friendly argument that The Moroccans belong on the list. What they did instead of just handing down recipes is to examine and scientifically record WHAT method worked with WHAT ingredient. While there are some truly remarkable cultural cuisines out there, it is generally thought that the "supers" and their cooking methods are the basis for all of it.

OK the QUIZ.
 There's only one question. What did YOU cook this week and what cooking methods did you use?

I did Classic Chicken and Dumplings which uses Simmer, Braise and Steam. 

Next time...DRY COOKING METHODS

For now this is cooking poor, eating rich

get your grub on

Ciao

I don't care that it's 95F today. I say it's FALL. Big pot of red.

 Ragu. Not the crud in a jar. Real Ragu. Feeds an army. Empties out the fridge. Bottle of red wine, lots of tomato, lots of herbs.
 This is my take on the classic Italian-American version which uses three different proteins. Today I got a Beef Chuck steak, a Pork-chop with bone, some salt pork and some chicken gizzards, livers and such. A tug of Basil, Rosemary and Parsley from the back-yard.  This is a rich and complex-flavored dish but is actually really easy to make (shhh it will be our secret.)
Takes a while but easy to put together. Grab your biggest pots and let's get started.

CHEF NICK DOES RAGU:

Mise-en-place

2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 large yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
3 pieces Salt Pork

Pork
Beef
Chicken livers, gizzards

Bottle of dry red wine
Chopped fresh herbs. Parsley, Rosemary, Oregano, Basil.
A couple dry Bay Leaves
and my secret ingredient, one piece of Orange Peel. I don't remember where I picked that up from but thank-you whomever.
Olive Oil

Any special vegetables you have lying around. Today I used a Red Pepper and some Patapan Squash. I  like Eggplant in this but sad me, no got.
Don't be afraid to add stuff.
Mushrooms are awesome in this but my little niece is allergic so no go.

1 large can Tomato Puree, best you can afford
same of Crushed Tomato.
OK sure if you have a junk-load of fresh than use that but you'll need to peel and de-seed
(un-seed?, I dunno) and crush by hand.

Black Pepper, Kosher salt.

The thing to remember is that this is going to cook for a while so large pieces are the order for the day.

I've mentioned in other articles that Italian cooking uses something called a Battuto. This uses the same aromatics as the French Mirepoix with the addition of Garlic and Salt Pork. The idea being that all of it gets sweated together and forms the base of whatever you're making, soup or sauce, which when you think about it are really the same thing.

Start your Battuto with the carrot, onion, celery and garlic. Again, today we're looking for a medium dice. In other dishes you'd take this down into almost a paste.

Chunk up the Salt-Pork and toss all that together. Set aside.

Any special Vegetables you want to use, chop up large and keep on a separate plate.

Gather up your animal parts. Large dice please. Save any bones. Keep the chicken parts separate. We'll use those last. Wash your board.

nice sized pile of this

Grab all your fresh herbs and rough chop. That's all your prep, really it is. Unless you count opening up 2 cans and a bottle of wine and I never do. You're ready to go.

Heat up a large pan, add some Olive Oil. Add a handful of your meats. Season a bit and let them sit on high heat until they give, we only want a light sear. Once they give, turn the pieces over and do the other side. Remove to a plate and do the rest. EXCEPT FOR THE CHICKEN PARTS. We'll do those last. Once all your meat is done, put the pan back on medium heat for the last part. 

chicken livers, separate

Now, on the bottom you've got all this golden-brown stuff. Put the pan back on heat and add just a splash of your wine. Instantly it will boil. Use a wooden spoon, scrape up quickly and set aside. 

Add caption

All that stuff is what we Chefs call "flavor" Ok yeah I'm a smart-ass. It's actually called "Fond" and is a result of caramelized sugars naturally occurring in meats and vegetables. 

Done with the meat for now. Start heating up a deep pot. Add a tiny splash of Olive Oil and all the Battuto with a large pinch of both salt and pepper. We just need to sweat here, no browning. Add the Bay-Leaf and piece of Orange Peel. Toss around for a minute. 

Add any bones, toss again. Add all fresh herbs and any special Vegetables you'd like to add.  Toss around again. Add all your cooked meats. AND guess what? Toss around again. 

THEN, my favorite part. Add the rest of the wine, all at once. Bring to a simmer and stirring, let the alcohol cook off (you'll know, use your nose)

Turn down your heat just a little and add both cans of Tomato stuff. 

I want to marry you

Check seasoning. Bring to a gentle simmer, put the lid on and let it go for, oh say....at least a couple hours. Stir occasionally, no sticking. This can go on all day. Once everything has cooked together you'll want to crack the lid a little and let it reduce slowly. We're aiming for sauce, not soup.

 It's even better if after the cooking you let it sit in the 'fridge overnight and re-heat the next day. Make a big grip of large type Pasta. You can even, if you're so inclined to just dump a mess of al dente pasta into the pot and just let people serve themselves, that's ok with me. Also, you'll want to fish around and pull out your Bay-Leaf, bones and Orange Peel. 

Serve up with some grated Parmesan. Maybe garnish with some more fresh Basil. Your call. 

This is cooking poor. eating rich

Go get your grub on

CIAO