Garden To Table

I collected seven harvests of spinach from one of my raised garden beds already.  We love fresh spinach.  Yesterday I resowed one of the two rows.  My second sowing of radishes is poised for picking and last evening we had fresh garden lettuce on grilled burgers.  Everything else is coming along nicely.

 

Anyway, I made a loaded quiche recently with onion, bacon, Gruyère and garden spinach along with a rich egg and cream custard. 

 

Pretty good chow. 

 

The secret is the crust. It is made with lard….

 

 

Winner, Winner....

 ....steak dinner.

I don’t do many food reviews; but here goes.

Doggo and I have been batching it whilst the missus is out of town.  Having consumed all of the recent leftovers, this evening I prepared an annual treat.

A small beef sirloin.  Precisely as I would a venison steak.

It was good; yet not extraordinary. Perhaps, as a wild game snob my tastes have evolved but it was chewier and less flavorful than my backyard whitetail.

I suspect I should’ve sprung for the scary-expensive beef tenderloin yet old habits are hard to break.

Nevertheless, dinner was delicious with a loaded baked spud, mushrooms and the sautéed garden asparagus sealing the deal. 

And because pupper performed a 30 minute down-stay while I dined she scored slice herself.

Pretty good chow if you can get it….

American Culinary Dominance

As the resident food snob here at The Platz it is noteworthy that the price of Rao's pizza and pasta sauces have near doubled in the last year.  How do I know this?  I am the chief grocery shopper and resident Pantry Warrior in our household.  I am also a fan of imported Italian bottled sauces as a consequence of their quality ingredients (San Marzano tomatoes) and unlike American manufacturers their scorning of sugar and preservatives in their recipes.  

Some of the cost increase is a consequence of Donald Trump's taxes on imported goods and the rest is a consequence of inflationary pressure on raw materials, packaging, logistics and labor.  Some of it is what I attribute to the 'Snobbery Premium' or the cost of high demand for a quality reputation and the balance to the $2.7 billion acquisition of Sovos Brands by Campbell's.    

Which leads to this walk down memory lane.   

This image is a print advertisement from 1964-1965 for Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Spaghetti Sauces that were part of a mid-century marketing campaign that ran during the 1950s and 1960s.

Not surprising is the emphasis placed-upon the slow-simmered, hand-stirred, 'Old Italian Way' of authentic Italian sauces directly from Nonna's kitchen stove in Naples to your own kitchen from an American tin can.  Mind you, the theme is that this is a recurring 'secret' as no self-respecting American housewife would dare reveal the ease of which such gourmet results could be obtained simply by opening a can and rewarming the contents on a stove top and pouring it over boiled noodles.  Microwave technology improved-upon the concept by the 1980s.

Chef Boy-Ar-Dee was a real person - his name phonetically spelled so salesmen could pronounce it correctly - Ettore 'Hector' Boiardi (1897-1985) was a honest-to-goodness world-renowned chef. Born in Piacenza, Italy, he immigrated to the states at age 16 and was employed at the prestigious Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Striking out on his own he opened his own restaurant in Cleveland in 1924 - Il Giardino d'Italia.  His sauce was such a customer favorite that he bottled it in repurposed milk bottles for customers to take home. Due to high demand he and brothers Paul and Mario opened a small canning operation in 1928 producing a Ready-To-Heat Spaghetti Kit.  Included was a small can of grated Parmesan cheese making Boiardi the largest American importer of the product at the time.  By 1938 operations had outgrown the Cleveland facility and moved to Milton, Pennsylvania where it could grow its own tomatoes and mushrooms to keep up with national demand.   

In 1942 Chef Boiardi transformed his highly successful commercial pasta business located in Milton into a massive 24/7 operation supporting the war effort producing beef ravioli and other canned pastas for C rations.  At its peak the operation employed 5,000 workers producing roughly 250,000 cans of food per day.  This immigrant chef encouraged his employee with the patriotic slogan: Keep 'em flying! Keep 'em rolling! Keep 'em well-fed!  In 1946 the War Department awarded Hector Boiardi with the Gold Star Order of Excellence - one of the highest honors a civilian can receive from the military. 

Post-war Boiardi faced a dilemma: his factory was too large for civilian demand and he did not wish to lay-off the thousands he hired for the war effort.  He sold the company to American Home Brands in 1946 and remained the public face of his brand until his passing in 1985.  

Immigrant child laborer, chef, entrepreneur, patriot and promoter of affordable canned pasta and sauce.  This is the stuff that made America great!

A Day In The Life Of A Retired Guy

 

Started my day with making the dough.  

Easy peasy.

Braised and deboned a couple wild turkey hindquarters for soup, assembled a batch of Lenten tuna salad, prepped for Wednesday’s class and closed with that dough.

Daily Bread!

Entirely possible my kitchen likely smells better than yours...

Sunday Enchiladas

Most everything came from the freezer and pantry inventory.  Picked-up an beautiful, imported Mexican farmer cheese yesterday while in Sturgeon Bay. 

Lazy Sunday chile verde chicken enchiladas.

From six o’clock, homemade guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes.  Queso fresco and frijoles from our friendly neighbors south of the border.  

Chips.

Post-solstice there’s no eating in the dark either.

How good is that?

 

Gentlemen - Start Your Ovens

Good Monday morning friends. 

My Friday ritual is to feed my sourdough starters.

With freezing temperatures across the land it is opportunities like this that call for baking. You know, if you can’t stand the cold; stay in the kitchen. 

 
At Friday bedtime I set this handmade dough ball of future sourdough breadness on the counter (covered) to proof overnight.  Arising on Saturday....

At the time of another pipe freezing sunrise there was this. 

This recipe is from a sourdough baking class and is a reasonably fool-proof bake. Step-by-step illustrated instructions as follows:

Sourdough Bread

Making Pat’s Sourdough Bread at Home: 

Pat is from the neighboring town of Algoma. The starter I received as a gift to the class participants can be traced over the years through Pat’s sister in Michigan, to her daughter in NYC, to her friend Laurent Gras*, a Michelin starred chef from France. I received a gift of a 40-year-old starter that began its life in France.  Here’s how to keep it going.

Feeding the starter:

120g water

100g old starter

100g flour (10g rye flour and 90g high protein bread flour)

 

(Any discarded starter is used for baking) 

 

double in volume

Whisk the water and starter to make a slurry. Add flour and whisk until lumps have dissolved. Pour into a quart mason jar and set on the counter at room temperature. The starter should double in volume. Then settle down to its original level. After 24 hours, refrigerate.  I use a Mason “Pickle Pipe” (fermentation airlock) to seal my jars. 

Starter can live in the fridge for approximately 7 days. Feed once a week. For more sour flavor use starter that has been refrigerated 4-6 days.  If you keep your starter in the garage beer fridge like I do I’ve learned it will keep for up to three weeks without feeding while we’re away traveling.   Lastly, I keep frozen batches of both my starters in a basement chest freezer as a backup against loss.  

Starting the bread:

Start to finish about 12-16 hours - mostly overnight.  Hands-on time is less than 1 hour.

385g water

90g starter

520g flour (100g whole wheat and 420g high protein bread flour)

12g table salt (to be added later)

Mix water with starter to make a slurry.  Whisk the two flours together and add to the slurry.  Mix everything by hand or a plastic bowl scraper.  Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Stretching the bread:

Stretch and fold eight times. Rest another 15 minutes. Sprinkle half the salt on the dough then stretch and fold 8 times. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the dough with the remaining salt and stretch and fold 8 times. Cover the dough and let it rest overnight (8-10 hours) at room temperature (68-70 F) until doubled in size. If it is warmer this may take 6-8 hours. Wet hands are non-stick.  

 

Note:  The stretch, fold and rest process is three times.  Resist any impulse to fold and knead on the countertop. I like to finish this step before bedtime. (top photo)

Forming the loaf:

First thing in the morning after the dough and I have risen is this step.  Start the coffee and dump the dough out onto a floured counter. Cover with a bowl and let it rest ½ hour. With wet hands stretch and fold the dough forming a round loaf. Place on a floured towel and place in a bowl seam side up. Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 1-4 hours. (It is cold enough this time of year to leave it on the kitchen countertop)

 

Drink coffee 

Baking the loaf:

45 minutes before baking allow the cast iron pot and lid to preheat in a 450 oven. Tip the towel-lined loaf from the bowl into parchment paper-lined cast iron. Slash and bake covered for 40 minutes at a reduced 425.  At the 40 minute interval remove the lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes at 375 (uncovered).  Total bake time is 60 minutes.  Remove loaf to a wire rack and allow to rest at room temperature.

  

slash

cover

40 minutes at 425F covered - uncover and 20 additional minutes at 375F

cool on wire rack

DO NOT give in to any urge to cut the loaf before it has cooled!  After it has cooled you can place the loaf cut side down on a cutting board for up to a day before bagging in plastic.  Sourdough bread is naturally resistant to turning stale; if it lasts that long anyway.

Pro Tip: This sourdough bread is a very forgiving bake; don’t feel like you’re a slave to pinpoint timing.  Nevertheless, weights and measures must be precise.  Pull and fold your dough like taffy.  Do not knead it on a countertop.

Once upon a time my whole wheat flour had turned so I tossed it out.  Substituting 100g of all-purpose flour resulted in a fine result.

If you care to introduce all the salt to the dry flours before mixing I could not detect any detrimental effect to the loaf.  This saves a step in the stretching and folding process.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Gras_(chef).  As of 01.24.26 the starter is now 44 years of age.

Gentlemen - Start Your Ovens

When the going gets tough;

The tough bake stuff.

During the recent cold snap we had the wood stove operating most of the day every day.  It actually does a reasonably good job of heating the west half of the house and sending heat up the stairwell to take the chill out of the second floor.  Nevertheless, as a consequence of thermostat placement the east side of the house (laundry, powder room and kitchen) remains moderately cooler.

When that happens more often than not we wear fleece and ignore it.  Otherwise, a partial solution is either to do laundry on that day and/or come-up with an excuse to use the kitchen gas range as the operation of the appliances serve to impart some additional heat to the space they occupy.

It's not a huge deal and even though in its 22nd year the house is becoming slightly more "leaky" in keeping the cold out and the heat in; the natural passive solar advantages of old-school farmhouse architecture including lots of tall windows to capture sunny winter daylight when Old Sol is low on the horizon really does work.  Don't let anybody tell you that settlers hundreds of years ago were witless about maximizing solar power in the winter and shade in the summer.  But I digress.

About the baking, I located the last of the Irish soda bread mix (imported from the land of my forebears) in the pantry and decided to bake a loaf.  Mainly for breakfast with a steaming cuppa joe on a cold winter morning.  I amped-it-up with some added cane sugar and a double fistful of dried cranberries (reconstituted).  This was the last of the Irish bread mixes and the last of the cranberries from the pantry imparting a satisfying feeling of inventory turnover.

Anyway,  a good use of a cold and sunny winter day.  And the results were pretty tasty.

Didn't last to the end of the week....

 

   

The Pantry Warrior Strikes Again!

Before we left on vacation 10 days ago Jill took a big box of tomatoes to the local food pantry. I picked an additional flat of greenish ones to ripen in the garage while we were away.  Following more than a week  of neglect today I picked everything you see.  

Consider those beautiful San Marzano tomatoes at the top of the frame.

 

Those were not grown in the rich volcanic soil found in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius; rather they did rather well in the crappy clay and rocky soil found on the peninsula. Those two plants from Sully’s Greenhouse are tomato factories!

 

Anyway, when you have tomatoes in abundance and have just returned from holiday you scour your pantry and freezers and whip-together a batch of Autumn Shrimp Sausage Tomato Stew; a household favorite of ours.

 

Raising a toast to Sam Sifton or Melissa Clark - I forget specifically. 

 

Pretty good chow if you can get it….

Pea Picker

I picked peas this week.

 

Pretty good harvest considering the drought conditions.

And the bountiful harvest is largely a consequence of the pouches of deer and rabbit repellent hanging from my pea fence. The vines grew tall and strong and the ripening pods abundant.

 

While out there on my stool picking, Jill was snacking on the young, tender, emerging pea pods. Which leads-to the usual inspiration.  

 

Stir fry. 

 

It all starts with fresh-picked pea pods and grows from there.

 

I had everything else needed in the freezer, fridge and pantry.

 

The Pantry Warrior strikes again with shrimp stir-fry.....

Mis en place....

Hot fire on a gas range...

It all comes together quickly....

There is a double spoonful of basmati rice beneath all of that goodness... 

 

Recipe of the Day

Pasta e Ceci (Italian Pasta and Chickpea Stew)

• Yield 4 servings

• Time 30 minutes

This dish is an adaptation of a recipe that arrived in my in-box this last week courtesy of the foodies over at the New York Times.

There is an incredible number of recipes for this classic Roman dish, and everyone has an opinion on how it should be prepared. This version is more stew than soup, but it can be loosened up with the addition of more water if needed. 

It begins with sautéing onion, tomatoes, garlic and rosemary in olive oil, then tossing in the chickpeas, and smashing a few to give the stew a creamy texture. Liquid is added, then uncooked pasta, which cooks as the stew simmers (one less dish to wash). Coarsely-chopped greens are folded in right before serving. This flexible stew can go in a number of directions, so tweak it as you see fit, but don’t forget to finish each bowl with grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 1 medium Stuttgarter onion from the garden, finely chopped

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• ½ teaspoon Penzeys cracked Spanish rosemary

• ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes

• Fresh ground sea salt and black pepper

• 1 pint of garden tomatoes, drained (reserve the juice)

• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed

• 1 cup smaller pasta you’ll find lurking in your pantry

• 1 (8 ounce) bag of fresh baby spinach, stems removed (substitute kale, escarole or other greens)

• Grated hard cheese for serving
  

Preparation

1. Heat 3 T oil in a stock pot over medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary and red-pepper flakes and cook 1 minute more. Season well with salt and pepper.

2. Stir in the tomatoes and the chickpeas, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of your spoon if needed and smash about 1/2 cup of the beans.

3. Add water to the reserved tomato juice to reach three cups of liquid. Add this to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and simmer, stirring frequently to assure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan, until the pasta is al dente, about 10-15 minutes. The liquid will mostly be absorbed by the pasta. (I added additional water to achieve my preferred consistency). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Add the greens and stir until wilted. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Ladle into bowls and top with grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil and serve with a crusty bread.

Pro Tip

The addition of smoked sausage, uncooked shrimp or cooked chicken makes for a heartier dish. 

 This awesome bread recipe is here.  Give it 24 hours to proof - room temp.....  

Comfort Food

Rain and cold today. Absolutely dank. Perfect conditions to huddle indoors.

Scored a package of Bryant's Smoked Sausage (from the small town of Taylorsville Mississippi) and gulf coast shrimp from one of my bunker freezers.

With the avalanche of garden tomatoes continuing to ripen there was Autumn Shrimp, Sausage and Tomato stew to be made.

And homemade Cheddar Bay Biscuits in all of their buttery gloriousness.

The Pantry Warrior takes no prisoners.......

 

 

Aged Cherries = Great Pie

Yesterday I uncovered a stash of tart, Door County cherries in one of the bunker chest freezers. 

Also a package of two store-bought pie crusts from the garage freezer. 

After taking a small chunk out of a finger working on a deer stand this afternoon I retreated to lick my wounds and bake pie. 

Pretty good chow considering the cherries were dated July 2007.

The Pantry Warrior strikes again!

Recipe of the Day

Tomato Risotto

Time 30 minutes

If you’re like me you likely have an abundance of tomatoes from your garden or the farmers market this time of year.

Fortuitously, this David Tanis recipe landed in my inbox this morning courtesy of New York Times Cooking. Over coffee on the porch with the dogs to witness the sunrise it occurred to me that I had everything necessary to make this meal come together. The Pantry Warrior strikes again!

A basic risotto recipe that you can build-upon for various versions throughout the year. This iteration is built-upon red, ripe tomatoes from the garden, but if you want to ramp-up the tomato quotient, garnish the finished dish with cherry tomatoes or slices of multicolored heirloom varieties.

Best as a first course or vegetarian main course. It also pairs nicely with a main course — chicken or fish, for instance. I roasted a four pound chicken as the main.

I’ve adapted it slightly as follows:

Ingredients

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ garden onion, diced (about ½ cup)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup arborio or carnaroli rice
• Pinch of red-pepper flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced fine
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 cups ripe red garden tomatoes, diced
• 3 – 4 cups boiling vegetable broth
• ½ cup grated pecorino (or Parmesan) plus more for serving
• 4 medium tomatoes, in different colors, sliced
• Chopped parsley, for garnish
• Snipped basil, for garnish

Preparation

1. Pour olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the onion and season generously with fresh-cracked sea salt and pepper. Cook until softened.
2. Add the rice, continuing cooking and stirring, until the onions and rice are barely brown. Add red-pepper flakes, garlic, white wine and diced tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Ladle boiling broth and adjust the heat to a brisk simmer stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.
4. As the liquid is absorbed continue to ladle boiling broth until the rice is creamy yet firm (al dente). Taste and adjust with salt and pepper, adding additional broth as necessary to loosen the mixture. Turn off the heat, stir in the pecorino and 2 more tablespoons olive oil.
5. Transfer to a low, wide serving bowl. Surround the rice with tomato slices and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and basil. Pass more grated cheese at the table.
   
   
   
   
   

Recipe of the Day

Autumn Shrimp, Sausage and Tomato Stew

This is the time of year that tomatoes are really coming on-line and if you’re like me you’re eating fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes multiple times every day. If you have an abundance of cherry tomatoes from your garden or the farm market here’s a terrific recipe that is an easy-peasy meal to enjoy in a bowl by the wood stove accompanied by a chewy baguette.

Ingredients

4 cloves of garlic – finely chopped

1 cup smoked sausage of your choice (andouille, venison, chorizo, etc.) – cut into pieces

Olive oil

½ t fennel seeds

15 oz can of garbanzos – drained and rinsed

3 C of cherry tomatoes (more is better than less)

1/3 C dry white wine

24 jumbo shrimp (peeled and deveined)

½ cup torn fresh basil leaves

Fresh-cracked sea salt and black pepper to taste

Crusty baguette

Crushed red pepper (optional)

Instructions

Mix yourself a martini with two colossal green olives. Rocks or Up – you pick. This is an important step. Take a sip.

In a stock pot brown your sausage in olive oil until it is brown and beginning to crisp. Add the garlic and fennel seeds and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant.

Sip your martini

Add the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, wine and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook (covered) until the tomatoes begin to break-down.

Sip your martini

Uncover and break-up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Add ½ C of water.

Sip you martini

Add the shrimp to the pot and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Finish the martini and share one of the anointed olives with your sweetie.

Remove from heat and stir-in the basil.

Serve with slices of baguette and that bottle of dry white wine. Fireside is best.

It’s acceptable to dunk your bread in the stew.