Well, I'm having Beef Tips for dinner. Why? Long story short: snowstorm.
Now I'm not going to see my parents until Saturday. Bummer.
Yet I have so very much to be thankful for this year. My daughters are doing well, each involved in their interesting and productive lives. My grandkids are awesome. My wife remains the love of my life. I have a warm house and a full belly. I'm even grateful for the challenges that make me roll my eyes and huff, because they give me the opportunity to overcome.
There are so many problems facing us in this country. Hungry babies, homeless vets, war and more war, poverty of wallet and spirit. Sometimes it all seems daunting. All we can really do is pick one or two problems and focus our energy there. For me, it is reprehensible that people go hungry in this land of plenty. It makes me crazy. I donate to hunger relief organizations, both cash and food. But it all seems so impersonal. From 2009-2012 I gave away soup from my home kitchen. I would just whip up a batch on the appointed day and post it on Craigslist. Last year and the year before I didn't do the soup. Need seemed to be tapering off. But this year.....this year I've had many people ask if I would be doing soup this year. Heartbreaking.
So it is with a heavy heart, and yet a cook's excitement, that I start gearing up for making soup. This year it will be on Saturdays. The fun part is that I can make whatever moves me.....respecting my budget of course. I give away soup without question. Nobody has to "prove" that they "need" it. They just have to bring a container. I've filled cups and quarts, doesn't matter to me.
I know that it would be more financially effective to donate money. I understand the dynamics of "economies of scale". But this is my personal fight against hunger in my little neighborhood. Nobody has to fill out a form, show they have need, be referred, or have a number. They just come for soup. I feed them. We talk, sometimes. Sometimes we don't. I never ask a name, but many I know. It's a small town.
This Thanksgiving please consider donating to a hunger relief organization in your neighborhood. When the holiday has passed, pick your one thing, one area where you want to make a difference and do it.
It doesn't take a bureaucracy.
Just a pot of soup.
Peace,
Pat
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
I made Colcannon today, one of my favorite dishes. I'm a big fan of cabbage and who doesn't love mashed potatoes. And what's better than bacon??? More bacon!!!
Ok, so here's my recipe for Colcannon. Handed down from me great, great, blahblahblah
4-6 Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 small head of cabbage, chopped
1 onion, diced OR 1 bunch of scallions chopped
6 slices of crispy bacon
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
6T butter, divided
1/8th teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Warm milk in a saucepan.
Cut the potatoes into large chunks. Boil in salted water until fork tender.
Melt 1/2 the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and cabbage until soft.
Add heavy cream and let simmer 30 minutes over slow heat.
While the cabbage simmers, put the bacon in a processor and grind it fine.
Scald the milk, add the butter. When the butter is melted, mash the potatoes with the butter, sour cream, and scalded milk.
When the cream has simmered to a thick sauce, add the bacon to the creamed cabbage/onion mixture. Taste and salt as needed.
Gently fold the cabbage mixture into the mashed potatoes. Season with a dash or two of nutmeg. (Freshly grated is nice. But nobody ever died from ground nutmeg.)
Although not traditional, if I have leftover Colcannon I make it into Boxty. But that is a recipe for another day.
Peace,
Pat
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Mexican Lasagna, an enchilada pie by any other name.......
I made enchilada pie, or Mexican lasagna as I call it, tonight for dinner. I like to make it up ahead of time and let it set in the fridge for an hour or so before baking it. The sauce is easy enough, you can use a can (we've ALL done it) or you can make an easy, homemade sauce. Here's the recipe for mine.
Pat's Enchilada Sauce
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
4T good olive oil
1t cumin
1t coriander
1T lemon juice
1T chili powder
1t cayenne pepper
2 (15 oz) cans of tomatoes
In a skillet (I prefer cast iron) saute the onions in the olive oil until they start to caramelize. Add the garlic, cook 3 more minutes. Add all of the seasonings and cook for 2 more minutes. Scrape into the bowl of a food processor or into a blender. Return the skillet to the heat. Add the lemon juice and the juice from the canned tomatoes. De-glaze the pan and then pour into the processor with the onion/spice mixture. Add the tomatoes and process the whole thing until smooooothe. Pour back into the skillet and simmer for 10-15 minutes until it starts to thicken.
Okay, so now for the pie. You are going to need the following ingredients:
2 cups shredded cheddar/monteray jack/ pepper jack cheese
1 pound of ground beef
1 recipe of sauce (see above)
1 recipe of Refried Beans These are Ellie Krieger's beans....awesome!
1 package of Corn tortillas, NOT FLOUR TORTILLAS
Enough oil for frying the tortillas.
Put oil in a skillet and fry the tortillas until they are crispy and browned. Brown the ground beef, drain, and add a little of the enchilada sauce to moisten. In a casserole dish, pour enough sauce to coat the bottom of the dish. Layer tortillas until the bottom is covered. Add half the refried beans, then 1/3 the cheese. Place another layer of tortillas on top, moisten with sauce, add the ground beef and 1/3 of cheese. Place another tortilla on top, moisten with sauce, add the remaining beans. Top with the final tortilla, cover generously with sauce and top with the remaining cheese. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through. The edges should bubble and the cheese should color.
I'll take a picture when it comes out of the oven.
Peace
Pat
Pat's Enchilada Sauce
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
4T good olive oil
1t cumin
1t coriander
1T lemon juice
1T chili powder
1t cayenne pepper
2 (15 oz) cans of tomatoes
In a skillet (I prefer cast iron) saute the onions in the olive oil until they start to caramelize. Add the garlic, cook 3 more minutes. Add all of the seasonings and cook for 2 more minutes. Scrape into the bowl of a food processor or into a blender. Return the skillet to the heat. Add the lemon juice and the juice from the canned tomatoes. De-glaze the pan and then pour into the processor with the onion/spice mixture. Add the tomatoes and process the whole thing until smooooothe. Pour back into the skillet and simmer for 10-15 minutes until it starts to thicken.
Okay, so now for the pie. You are going to need the following ingredients:
2 cups shredded cheddar/monteray jack/ pepper jack cheese
1 pound of ground beef
1 recipe of sauce (see above)
1 recipe of Refried Beans These are Ellie Krieger's beans....awesome!
1 package of Corn tortillas, NOT FLOUR TORTILLAS
Enough oil for frying the tortillas.
Put oil in a skillet and fry the tortillas until they are crispy and browned. Brown the ground beef, drain, and add a little of the enchilada sauce to moisten. In a casserole dish, pour enough sauce to coat the bottom of the dish. Layer tortillas until the bottom is covered. Add half the refried beans, then 1/3 the cheese. Place another layer of tortillas on top, moisten with sauce, add the ground beef and 1/3 of cheese. Place another tortilla on top, moisten with sauce, add the remaining beans. Top with the final tortilla, cover generously with sauce and top with the remaining cheese. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through. The edges should bubble and the cheese should color.
I'll take a picture when it comes out of the oven.
Peace
Pat
Food Safety v. Food Defense
I'm indulging this evening. Specifically I am indulging in vodka, Crystal Head. It is nice, clean tasting just of hint of a burn. It is expensive, but it is not the most drinkable vodka I enjoy drinking. That honor goes to V One. V One is the most drinkable vodka I have ever indulged in, bar none. I wish I could find it out more. I usually end up with Grey Goose if I am out. It is a nice, if nondescript, vodka.
The thing about Crystal Head is that it is so pure, it has almost no character. Its like artisan white bread. V One, made from spelt, is similarly clean in flavor, but with bold character. It is sweet and very spicy on the tip of your tongue. Then, as it glides across the center of your palate, it is sharply alcoholic with a hint of clover honey. It lingers in the back, with a sweetness akin to longing. It is a very human vodka.
I was thinking today about food safety and food defense. Food safety is all about keeping your process for food handling well organized, articulated, and enforced. It is hand washing and cross contamination prevention and HACCP. Food safety is a process for keeping food free of unintentional contamination from harvest to consumer. Or, more specifically, from the time food enters your kitchen until the time it is consumed. Whether it is your home kitchen or a professional kitchen, the principles are the same. There are many training programs out there for food service professionals. Some, if not all, offer some sort of certification. Check with your state to find out which are accepted by your states' department of health.
But what is food defense? Food defense is concerned with keeping your food inventory safe from intentional contamination. Most of the public and private focus on food defense concerns fraudulent and adulterated products, tampered with at the company level for economic gain. There is an excellent article about it available here.
Most independent restaurants have not had to worry unless they were using the products that were being adulterated or fraudulently represented. More recently however, restaurants have had to recognize that instances of intentional contamination of food for sale to the public have become more frequent and more disturbing. YouTube videos showing employees spitting in, urinating on and otherwise intentionally contaminating food proliferate. Everything from ground glass in manufactured food to fecal matter in sandwiches. Who can forget Albert Garcia, the McDonald's employee who cost the company over $5 million when he spit and put ground glass in the food of a cop. #asshat
Restaurants are liable for the actions of their employees in many cases. Companies can face massive liability claims, especially if people get sick or even worse, die. There are things that can be done to help protect your company and customers. If you are an independent restaurant owner and are not on the premises during all business hours, you should review your policies and procedures to ensure that managers and shift leaders understand their responsibilities and duties. Be certain that employees are reading, and signing off on having read, the employee handbook which details the policies and procedures that you have developed to prevent intentional contamination, overall food and personnel safety, and adequate supervision. Consider having potential employees undergo a background check. Hire employees that are certified in safe food handling and be sure to have existing employees trained as well. Develop a comprehensive training program which includes instruction on recognizing signs that food may have been intentionally contaminated and processes for reporting possible criminal activity anonymously.
Finally, consider hiring a foodservice consultant to help develop those programs for you. Remember, the cost of training and prevention is far less than the cost of a lawsuit.
Peace
Pat
The thing about Crystal Head is that it is so pure, it has almost no character. Its like artisan white bread. V One, made from spelt, is similarly clean in flavor, but with bold character. It is sweet and very spicy on the tip of your tongue. Then, as it glides across the center of your palate, it is sharply alcoholic with a hint of clover honey. It lingers in the back, with a sweetness akin to longing. It is a very human vodka.
I was thinking today about food safety and food defense. Food safety is all about keeping your process for food handling well organized, articulated, and enforced. It is hand washing and cross contamination prevention and HACCP. Food safety is a process for keeping food free of unintentional contamination from harvest to consumer. Or, more specifically, from the time food enters your kitchen until the time it is consumed. Whether it is your home kitchen or a professional kitchen, the principles are the same. There are many training programs out there for food service professionals. Some, if not all, offer some sort of certification. Check with your state to find out which are accepted by your states' department of health.
But what is food defense? Food defense is concerned with keeping your food inventory safe from intentional contamination. Most of the public and private focus on food defense concerns fraudulent and adulterated products, tampered with at the company level for economic gain. There is an excellent article about it available here.
Most independent restaurants have not had to worry unless they were using the products that were being adulterated or fraudulently represented. More recently however, restaurants have had to recognize that instances of intentional contamination of food for sale to the public have become more frequent and more disturbing. YouTube videos showing employees spitting in, urinating on and otherwise intentionally contaminating food proliferate. Everything from ground glass in manufactured food to fecal matter in sandwiches. Who can forget Albert Garcia, the McDonald's employee who cost the company over $5 million when he spit and put ground glass in the food of a cop. #asshat
Restaurants are liable for the actions of their employees in many cases. Companies can face massive liability claims, especially if people get sick or even worse, die. There are things that can be done to help protect your company and customers. If you are an independent restaurant owner and are not on the premises during all business hours, you should review your policies and procedures to ensure that managers and shift leaders understand their responsibilities and duties. Be certain that employees are reading, and signing off on having read, the employee handbook which details the policies and procedures that you have developed to prevent intentional contamination, overall food and personnel safety, and adequate supervision. Consider having potential employees undergo a background check. Hire employees that are certified in safe food handling and be sure to have existing employees trained as well. Develop a comprehensive training program which includes instruction on recognizing signs that food may have been intentionally contaminated and processes for reporting possible criminal activity anonymously.
Finally, consider hiring a foodservice consultant to help develop those programs for you. Remember, the cost of training and prevention is far less than the cost of a lawsuit.
Peace
Pat
Saturday, November 15, 2014
A cook, by any other name....
Having finally completed my MBA, I am certain that my days of crying over onions and burning my fingers are almost over. As I prepare to take the world by storm, I have set up a webpage of my own, become more active on my Twitter account, cleaned up my LinkedIn profile, received appropriate certifications for teaching food safety, and became involved in Oplerno, an open learning organization where I am currently developing curriculum for a Food Service Management certificate. Obviously I am soon going to be gainfully employed teaching and training and pontificating with opinions and ideas etc. etc. etc..
I've been a cook for a very long time. Cooks share many traits. Cooks are bold, adventurous gluttons for punishment, with masochistic tendencies. Cooks are bi-lingual, speaking both Sarcasm and Bullshit fluently. Cooks are competitive. Cooks can survive on beer for many shifts. Cooks are creative, artistic and opinionated. Good line cooks are little gods. Cooks make terrible spouses, but great lovers. But above all, cooks are committed. Because you must have a reason to walk into the kitchen every day, and for most of us, it's not the money.
I cook at a college in Vermont. So I spend a decent amount of time interacting with the students. There is a program, Dulce, that turns one of the dining halls into a student run restaurant each Friday night. It is free, but you must have a ticket to get in the door. The students that cook in Dulce are just amazing. Mad creative, and so very bold. I had the chance to go a couple of weeks ago. In a subtle nod to the Vermont tradition of Sugar on Snow, the students served a Maple Ice Cream with a house made granola and a pickled radish. Delightful!
I've held every job in a restaurant except for hostess. I've washed the dishes, waited the tables, tended the bar, cooked and cooked and cooked some more. I've been the manager, the owner, the trainer, the bookkeeper, and the marketing guru. I've worked in bars, restaurants, fast food joints, casinos, ferries, production kitchens, non-profit human service programs and colleges. I've cooked steak, seafood, Italian, Mexican, hot dogs, pizza, and vegetarian meals. I've slung enough hash to fill a tanker.
I'm planning on changing course now. I want to teach others how to make their kitchens safe, efficient and profitable. I want to wear something that doesn't have my name on the breast and a sleeve patch for my thermometer. I want to move around a little, see some new sights, meet some new people, take on new responsibilities. And yet.....
I guess that even when I develop a lifestyle that has me out of the kitchen, I'll never really leave. So much of my life has been spent on the line, it's hard to imagine not doing it. But I've become excited at the idea of passing on what I've learned. I will turn 50 soon. While not old, it is certainly old enough to have developed some wisdom. And I think maybe I have. After all, while I know that a tomato is a fruit, I am wise enough not to toss it into the Ambrosia. That's got to count for something.....
Peace,
pat
I've been a cook for a very long time. Cooks share many traits. Cooks are bold, adventurous gluttons for punishment, with masochistic tendencies. Cooks are bi-lingual, speaking both Sarcasm and Bullshit fluently. Cooks are competitive. Cooks can survive on beer for many shifts. Cooks are creative, artistic and opinionated. Good line cooks are little gods. Cooks make terrible spouses, but great lovers. But above all, cooks are committed. Because you must have a reason to walk into the kitchen every day, and for most of us, it's not the money.
I cook at a college in Vermont. So I spend a decent amount of time interacting with the students. There is a program, Dulce, that turns one of the dining halls into a student run restaurant each Friday night. It is free, but you must have a ticket to get in the door. The students that cook in Dulce are just amazing. Mad creative, and so very bold. I had the chance to go a couple of weeks ago. In a subtle nod to the Vermont tradition of Sugar on Snow, the students served a Maple Ice Cream with a house made granola and a pickled radish. Delightful!
I've held every job in a restaurant except for hostess. I've washed the dishes, waited the tables, tended the bar, cooked and cooked and cooked some more. I've been the manager, the owner, the trainer, the bookkeeper, and the marketing guru. I've worked in bars, restaurants, fast food joints, casinos, ferries, production kitchens, non-profit human service programs and colleges. I've cooked steak, seafood, Italian, Mexican, hot dogs, pizza, and vegetarian meals. I've slung enough hash to fill a tanker.
I'm planning on changing course now. I want to teach others how to make their kitchens safe, efficient and profitable. I want to wear something that doesn't have my name on the breast and a sleeve patch for my thermometer. I want to move around a little, see some new sights, meet some new people, take on new responsibilities. And yet.....
I guess that even when I develop a lifestyle that has me out of the kitchen, I'll never really leave. So much of my life has been spent on the line, it's hard to imagine not doing it. But I've become excited at the idea of passing on what I've learned. I will turn 50 soon. While not old, it is certainly old enough to have developed some wisdom. And I think maybe I have. After all, while I know that a tomato is a fruit, I am wise enough not to toss it into the Ambrosia. That's got to count for something.....
Peace,
pat
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