Cat Food

Cullen Skink!

This just in! Our roving reporter from Asia, with cravings for something from his mother country, has just sent us a recipe for Cullen Skink! Cullen Skink you say ... what the hell is Cullen Skink?? Well as told by this wandering Scotsman, Cullen Skink is a soup (skink) that originated in the small town of Cullen on the Moray Firth in Scotland.

As far as I can tell it's similar to our clam chowder but instead of clams they use haddock. It's the kind of soup you'd normally crave on a cold blustery evening - but hey - when a craving strikes - you just gotta have it no matter how hot it is out there! Enjoy your soup my friend!

Cullen Skink
Serves 4

1 lb. Finnan Haddock - or any available smoked white fish
1 Onion, chopped
2 ½ cups milk
Salt & pepper to taste
4 oz. Mashed potato or about a ½ cup
2 Tbs. Butter
2 Tbs. Single (light) cream

1) Wash the haddock, then place in a shallow saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Add the onion to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until the fish is tender and turns opaque.

2) Remove the haddock, discard the skin and set the bones aside. Flake the fish.

3) Return the bones to the pan of liquid, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour, then strain this stock into a clean bowl.

4) Pour the stock into a clean pan and add the flaked fish, milk and salt & pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Add enough mashed potato to make a creamy consistency. Gradually stir in the butter and cream, and blend all the ingredients together. Do not allow it to boil after you have added the cream & butter.

5) Serve in warm soup bowls

Prep & Cooking time: 1½ hours

"The corn is as high as an elephant's eye!"

I was gallivanting around New Jersey this weekend and found some beautiful corn right at the source! It's been superb at the farmer's market this season but the ears I picked up on Saturday couldn't have been fresher if I'd picked 'em myself!

I adore grilled corn. It's wonderful just lightly steamed or boiled but that smoky grill heat makes the corn taste like candy. Getting that little bit of carmelization on the kernels really intensifies all the corn sweetness.

Try this recipe with any and all of your favorite herbs and spices!

Ingredients
As many ears of corn as will fit on your grill
2 sticks of unsalted butter
2 Tbs. fresh herbs, minced - like thyme, oregano, dill, Italian parsley etc. You can mix your favorites too!
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1) Carefully pull the husks back on the corn and remove the silk

2) Pull the husks back up over the corn and soak in cool water while you're preparing the herbed butter

3) Take the butter - which should be at room temperature and slightly softened and put it in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of times to break it up

4) Add the herbs and pulse till they're well incorporated

5) Scoop the butter mixture into a small bowl and refrigerate for a couple of minutes

6) Remove the ears of corn from their water bath & dry them with paper towels

7) At this point you can either pull the husks back - brush with a little of the butter - close them up again and lay them directly on the grill or you can wait to butter your corn till after you grill it. Either way it's delicious. I like the way the herbs really get into the corn if you brush it on first.

8) Grill the corn for approximately 30-40 minutes in their husks and when they're done pull the husks back and time them together. The husks become a convenient little handle so you can start munching immediately!

Feel free to add your favorite herbs and spices to the butter. Sometimes I like to add some cilantro and cayenne pepper for a southwestern kick or basil and garlic for a Mediterranean flavor. The combinations are endless. Use a little salt and pepper to add the final season just before you eat it.

Just Peachy!

I've been buying peaches every saturday at the farmer's market this summer. I've eaten them nearly every way I know how. I've made peach chutney, peach jam, simple grilled peaches that I had over a salad of baby field greens with blue cheese, peach cake ... I've eaten them sliced, chopped, minced and stewed. I thought I'd share one of my favorite peach recipes today. It's a Crostata, which is a type of home style Italian tart. Mostly I've seen these made with jam and a basic short bread style crust usually flavored with a bit of lemon zest. I'm using a cornmeal dough because it lends a nice, almost nutty crunch and a combination of home made jam and fresh fruit. I love the combination of peach and ginger and here I've upped the ginger by using fresh and crystalized ginger too!

Gingered Peach Crostata
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Peach Filing
8 - 10 peaches, pitted and chopped
¼ - ½ cup sugar - start with lower amount and adjust for sweetness
1 1” piece of fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 cup of water
A couple tablespoons of minced candied ginger*

Cornmeal Crust
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
¾ cup butter
2 tsp. Grated lemon zest
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
ice water

1 egg mixed with a little water for egg wash

Method:

Filing
1.) Place all but four of the peaches, ginger, lemon juice, water & ¼ cup sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, covered.
2.) Uncover, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer till the fruit has broken down a bit and the liquid has evaporated. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if needed. Filing can be made a head of time to this point and stored in the refrigerator till ready to use.

Crust
1.) Place the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a couple of times to combine dry ingredients.
2.) Add lemon zest and butter in cubes and pulse till the mixture looks like course meal
3.) Add the egg and egg yolk and a couple drops of ice water and pulse just till the dough starts to come together.
4.) Dump it out onto some cling wrap, form into a disc and chill for at least a half hour.

Assemble
1.) Divide dough in half and roll out one round for the bottom crust and one for the top crust.
2.) Fit bottom crust into an 8 -10 inch tart pan and let it overhang the sides.
3.) Take remaining four peaches - roughly chop them and add to cooked peach mixture. Sprinkle the candied ginger on the bottom crust and then pour in the peach filing.
4.) Cut the top crust dough into strips and lay across top of tart in a lattice design.
5.) Cut off extra dough around the sides by pressing the dough into the pan rim with your fingers. This will remove the excess dough and seal the top & bottom crusts at the same time and give a nice clean edge.
6.) Brush top of tart with egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees till crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

Remove from oven, allow to cool and slip tart pan off gently.**

* A note about candied ginger: Also called crystalized ginger it has an intense sweet/hot flavor. This can be omitted if you want a less gingery flavor. The ginger in the filing will be mellowed by the cooking and is a nice contrast to the peaches and shouldn’t be omitted.

**It’s best to use a tart pan with a removable bottom. Because of the amount of butter in the crust there is no need to pre-butter the pan.

Garnish with additional candied ginger and whipped cream if you’d like

Serves 6-8

As Promised ... Jam!

Fig & Roseflower Water Jam

Ingredients

1 pint fresh figs
¼ cup water
1 tsp. Roseflower water
1/8 –1/4 cup sugar – start with less and you can add more if you'd like it sweeter
a little splash of lemon juice




Method:

Clean and quarter the figs
Combine figs, water, sugar & lemon juice in a sauce pan and bring to a boil with the pan covered
Add the rose flower water
Turn the heat down and simmer, still covered, till the fruit breaks down
Uncover the pan and simmer till most of the liquid is evaporated



This is a fresh jam where no pectin is used. If you want to Can it by all means do but then make a big batch and process it as you would any other jam.

Makes about 1 cup

Store in the frig for two weeks or so.

This jam also freezes really well.

Thursday ... 6:30 AM

It feels like a jam morning. I've waited all week for these figs to feel just right and now they're ready for the jam pot.

Fig & Rosewater Jam recipe later today ...

You can’t Beet this!

Star Brite Farms had lots of different types of beets this week at the farmer’s market especially my favorite the Chioggia or candy striped beets.

According to Whole Health MD :

Beets … have the highest sugar content of any vegetable, but they are very low in calories. Fresh beets have twice the folate (folic acid) and potassium, and have a distinctive flavor and a crisp texture not found in canned beets. Fresh beets also supply a nutritional bonus--their green tops are an excellent source of beta-carotene, calcium, and iron.

I’m most fond of beets when they’re roasted with a little olive oil and thyme but here’s a beet salad that uses the nice small beets available right now and it won’t heat up your kitchen either!

Beet & Tarragon Salad

8 small Chioggia (candy-stripped) beets
4 small red beets
1 small red onion or ½ a large one – sliced into strips
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 ½ Tbs. Sugar Plum BBQ Sauce or Asian plum sauce
¼ cup olive oil
2-3 Tbs. chopped tarragon
salt & pepper to taste

Separately boil the two different beets, whole & in their skins till just fork tender. They will retain their own color when you cook them separately in their skins.

Drain and cool beets under running water. Peel them and slice them thinly with a mandolin or with a knife. Combine in a large bowl.

Slice the red onion and add to beets.

In a separate bowl combine the dressing ingredients. First mix the vinegar, plum sauce, tarragon and salt & pepper. While whisking add the olive oil till the dressing thickens slightly.

Pour over beets and toss to combine. It’s best to let them marinate for at least a ½ hour to develop the flavor.

Garnish with tarragon.

Serves 6-8 people as a side dish

… and more tomatoes …

The other day I promised more tomato recipes. So, seeing that they’ll be available for some time yet every few days or so I’ll post another one. Today’s recipe is inspired by Alice Waters. I’m not sure where I saw her but the simplicity of this is wonderful and the flavor is intense when using the tomatoes that are in season now. I used a combination of baby red plum tomatoes and tiny yellow tomatoes.


Whole Roasted Tomatoes

Take a baking pan, any shape or size and tightly pack the tomatoes next to each other to fill the pan – Tightly! Take a couple of cloves of garlic and wudge them in between the tomatoes. You can use as much or as little garlic as you like. Even if you’re not a garlic lover use at least a little because it brings a note of flavor that’s important. Take 5-10 leaves of fresh basil and chiffonad them. Sprinkle over the tomates and then drizzle olive oil all over the top. Season with salt & pepper to taste then pop in a preheated oven (375 degrees). Bake until the tomatoes give up their juice and are a burnished golden color. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

You can use these tomatoes as a topping for bruschetta or pasta, as a filling for a panini sandwhich or you can puree the whole mess and serve as a soup. The uses are endless! Let me know what you come up with.

"You must have the courage of your convictions"

Today is a sad day and I will miss Julia Child dearly. I remember watching "The French Chef" as a little kid on a black & white TV. Her funny accent ... the way she would drop food on the floor and then put it back in the pan. She made me laugh but I loved how she made cooking and working around the kitchen seem so easy and fun. I was a tomboy and never had an easy bake oven. I didn't really learn how to cook or come to a food profession till much later in life but I always remembered her style and her gusto and the fact that she liked McDonald's french fries. She was a real human being and she made food accessible. All Food.
"We'd go to the market, and she'd buy Wonder Bread. She had no snobbism about food whatsoever. She loved iceberg lettuce." - Jacques Pepin.

"Bon Apetite!"

Chicken Broiled with Mustard, Herbs, and Bread Crumbs
Poulets Grilles A La Diable

Here is a fine method for broiled chicken which is good either hot or cold. The chicken is partially cooked under the broiler, then smeared with mustard and herbs, rolled in fresh bread crumbs, and returned to the broiler to brown and finish cooking. A practical attribute is that it can be almost entirely cooked ahead of time, set aside or refrigerated, and then finished off in the oven. With the mustard dip, a sauce is not a necessity. But if you want one, serve melted butter mixed with lemon juice and minced herbs, or sauce diable (herbal brown sauce with shallots and wine), Baked, whole tomatoes and green beans would go well with it, and a chilled rose wine.

Serving: 4 to 8 people
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
Two ready-to-cook, 2 1/2 pound broilers, halved or quartered
Basting fat: 6 tablespoons of melted butter blended with 2 tablespoons oil
Salt
6 tablespoons prepared mustard of the strong Dijon type
3 tablespoons finely minced shallots or green onions
1/2 tsp thyme, basil, or tarragon
1/8 tsp pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 cups fresh, white crumbs from homemade-type of bread (make the crumbs in an electric blender, 3 or 4 slices of bread at a time)

Equipment
A saucepan (to make the basting fat)
A pastry brush
A broiling pan minus rack
A broiling pan with rack

1. Preheat oven broiler to moderately hot.
2. Dry the chicken thoroughly, paint it with the butter and oil and arrange it skin side down in the bottom of the broiling pan. Place it so that the surface of the chicken is 5 to 6 inches from the hot broiling element and broil 10 minutes on each side, basting every 5 minutes. The chicken should be very lightly browned. Salt it lightly.

3. Blend the mustard with the shallots or onions, herbs, and seasonings in a bowl. Drop by drop, beat in half the basting fat to make a mayonnaise-like cream. Reserve the rest of the basting fat for later. Paint the chicken pieces with the mustard mixture.

4. Pour the crumbs into a big plate, then roll the chicken in the crumbs, patting them on so they will adhere.

5. Arrange the chicken pieces skin-side down on the rack in the broiling pan and dribble half the remaining basting fat over them. Brown slowly for 10 minutes under a moderately hot broiler. Turn, baste with the last if the fat, and brown 10 minutes more on the other side. The chicken is done when the thickest part of the drumstick is tender, and, when the meat is pricked with a fork, the juices run clear yellow.

Transfer to a hot platter and serve.

Ahead-of-Time Notes: If you wish to do most of the cooking in advance, brown the crumbed chicken under the broiler for 5 minutes only on each side. It then may be finished off several hours later, placed in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Do not allow it to overcook.

Defrosting Frozen Chicken
The best method for defrosting frozen chicken, according to those in the business, is the slowest: leave it in its transparent wrapper and let it thaw in the refrigerator. It will lose much less of its juice and flavor. The best alternative is to unwrap it and thaw it in a basin of cold, running water, removing the package of giblets from the cavity as soon as it can be pried loose, and pulling the legs and wings away from the body as soon as they will move.

Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

On a Rainy Day ... Some Sunshine!

It was a busy day running errands and to the farmer's market. In between showers the sun gleamed and warmed these gorgeous tomatoes. Recipes a bit later ...

Ground Cherries

The other evening my friend and I were routing through her garden and she showed me this great viney thing with what looked tomatillos clustered all over it. She told me it was a ground cherry vine and quickly plucked one off and gave it to me. She said you can tell they’re ripe when the outer paper is dry and a very pale tan.

I pulled open the outer skin to reveal a little yellow fruit inside. I popped it in my mouth and it first felt like a grape. It burst in my mouth when I bit down and the flavor was a cross between a strawberry, an orange and melon. Really tasty!

The Ground Cherry is a Physalis and a member of the nightshade family. Check out The Cook’s Thesaurus for more information on this intriguing fruit.