Gluttons Club

My cooking techniques are hardly scientific so when I need to tell people how to do stuff, unless they think and perceive amounts of things exactly the way I do, they'll get an orange when I'm telling them how to make an apple.
Bentley and Rose are having guests over for dinner that they want to impress or something. They wanted to grill lamb the way my family does for easter. I tried verbally telling them last night but I think its best to put it in words. This is a basic mediterranean marinade for a butterflied (de-boned and layed out) leg of lamb. I can't stand mint in most forms so there's none of that here, just good pungent med flavors.

This will be for a normal size hunk of lamb. Add more of everything for bigger pieces.

you'll need: one garlic bulb, 6-10 sprigs of rosemary, fresh thyme, two lemons, dijon mustard, decent olive oil, salt and pepper,

To prep the meat, remove excessive amounts of fat and separate pieces to insure even cooking. Score larger sections with a knife. Butterflied legs tend to have a lot of sinew and odd sections. The main muscle piece that will provide the most meat will be thicker than the others so it makes sense to cook it separately. When you go to the butcher, ask for a couple of extra thick plastic bags they use for roasts and whole chickens--they are perfect for marinating in. Use two if you fear a greasy mess leaking out.

the marinade:
-peel and roughly cut at least 6 good size cloves of garlic. Cut them just enough to get a good pile of small pieces but you don't need to go crazy mincing them or pressing them.
-wash and dry 5 or more sprigs of fresh rosemary; keep some sprigs whole for garnish on the lamb plate--it'll look classy. Cut the needles off at the stem, saving the bare stem for later use. Keep the needles somewhat intact or else they tend to get in the way later. With the dull edge of the knufe, bruise the leaves to get to the oils and stuff inside them.
-Wash and dry the thyme. Strip the leaves off the stems and set the stems aside. bruise the leaves as above.
-zest the lemons and add zest to the nice pile of garlic and herbs you've got there.
-Add plenty of coarse salt and roughly ground pepper to pile.
-In the bag you'll marinate in, add the pile of stuff, the juice of the lemons, 4 spoonfuls of mustard and a third of a cup of oil. squish it together to mix and add the meat (it feels kinda wierd, but in a good way). Make sure the meat is well covered (if not add more of whatever you can, a dash of wine or vinegar will help spread it out) and refrigerate over night. If you go for a beer later, give the bag a good squish or two and turn it over to make sure things are well covered.

Cooking:
-Welcome guests, open wine, pour glass, drink, repeat. Bring glass of wine and guests out to grill with you.
-To cook over gas grill: heat up the grill as high as you can. Sear the meat on both sides with lid down before turning to medium to finish the insides.
-To cook over coals: build a two level fire and sear both sides over the coals before moving to the medium hot part of the fire to cook the insides.
-If you saved the rosemary stems, you can toss them over the coals under the meat to provide some fragrant smoke. You may cover briefly to trap the smoke.
-NOTE: The amount of oil used in the marinade sometimes causes flare ups. You'll lose some arm hair but the meat will be fine.

Be mindful that the thinner pieces will cook alot faster. A knife to 'test' pieces is handy. Remove from fire when it is slightly undercooked to your taste, it will finish cooking while it rests under foil for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

As for wine, bourdeaux is classic lamb wine but most full bodied reds will do nicely. A southern rhone, pays d'oc or provencal red are also very good as would be a decent piedmont red or sagrantino. From california, look for tame versions of cabernet or merlot and avoid big, jammy zins and high octane cabs and merlots.

Here's a fun experiment to see if anyone is actually reading: post potential side dishes or variations in the comments section.

So here I am working on work stuff at 11pm. Since I'm writing, I decide I need to be drinking at this hour in honor of my author-heroes who wouldn't be caught dead without a drink at this hour--especially if they were writing.

I knew I had some rye, I bought some Old Overholt recently as part of my authentic plan for drinking. That is, if you're going to drink, you may as well drink the stuff that better drunks before you did. Rye has a mystique that's rare in American culture--it's very American but sometimes difficult to find. Ok, canadian whiskey is often close enough for subsitution but when I think of rye, I think of old, southern white guys with frayed cuffs on their work pants held up by suspenders; I think of the song "American Pie;" I think of the manhattans, old fashioneds and straight whisky drinks that my grandfathers generation drank. These thoughts rarely involve Canada so I make it a point to try and stock rye when possible. The urge for it is rare but when it comes, you ought to be prepared.

So anyway, there I was, just 13 minutes ago, thinking I really wanted a manhattan on the rocks. I went down to the liquor cabinet, poured the liquid ingredients (I make mine perfect: big shot of rye, splash of both dry and sweet vermouth, dash of bitters) and went to the fridge for the ingredient that pulls everything together--maraschino cherries. Well, wouldn't you know it, we're out.

I'd gotten this far, I wasn't willing to walk away without a Manhattan. I toyed briefly with the idea of raiding the Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream for a cherry when I remembered I had some dried cherries I use in my oatmeal and occasional pan sauce. In went a couple of those and I have to say, not bad. It'll put more hair on my chest than I originally intended but I kind of like it. The dried fruit adds something familiar but different enough to make you aware. Without the sweetness, you appreciate the rye flavor a bit more and that's something I don't mind.

Next time, I'll check for cherries first but for now, this'll do. Now I just need to stop blogging and continue working...

N.Y. Governor Introduces Wine Shipment Bill - Yahoo! News

This is an excellent follow up to the recent court decision allowing interstate sales of wine. Pataki did the right thing to allow it but threw in a clever little clause: "It also mandates that out-of-state wineries applying for a license to ship into New York have to be located in states that give New York vintners similar shipping privileges." Though this isn't exactly the sort of free trade principles I'd like to see, it is a decent reaction to the fact that not all states (MA, I'm looking at you) allow the shipments. The twist in the NY law may lead to enough lobbying on the part of wineries in those states to get the laws changed there.

Now all we Massholes need is enough wineries to make a difference. I wonder if beer counts....

If anyone is still paying attention, today is Wednesday and I'm obliged to give you my report on the headlines and lead graphs of three major newspaper food sections.

NYT: Top of the page today is [sigh] hot dogs. Don't get me wrong, I like hot dogs but the beginning of summer hot dog article is predictable and played out. I guess the hot dog lobby has the power to keep it going. Otherwise, Asimov has a very cool article about winemakers in Italy and Slovenia who use unusual, traditional methods to make wine. I love this stuff. Too often wine these days is hindered by technology, science and what people expect it to look and taste. Whenever you get makers willing to leave a white wine slightly cloudy or use ambient yeasts, its a good thing. Moving on, the minimalist makes some fish with peas. Finally, there's a piece on south american olive oil production.

Globe: Forget it. The globe webpage now wants users to register. No frickin' way. Not even if they get a regular wine column. I'll figure out what to replace it with next week.

Seattle Times: This weeks guest is the Seattle Times. The section isn't easy to find but once there, it seems to be satisfactory. There isn't much but it looks like quality.
For the third time in four tries, the lead article in the Gluttons Club guest spot is about farmers markets. That's just weird. Below that is a wine column discussing inexpensive wines and a wine Q&A column mentioning NZ Pinots. Other features cover cookbooks, and food writing. Not a very big section but its got potential. I like the picture of the muscovy duck at a farmers market drawing the attention of a child. Can't tell if she wants to make it a pet or eat it.

Wednesday. Newspaper food sections. Weekly round-up where I scan the papers and tell you what's in them without actually reading the articles. Heeyah!

NYT: Eric Asimov remarks on the interesting supreme court case from Monday which might make it easy for wineries to send bottles directly to consumers. I think I'll treat this topic seprately. Guest columnist Nigella Lawson writes about English cheesecake. I don't know if she recognizes the irony of this in the article or not. The restaurants section talks about a Bronx revival--foodwise, not the Yanks 10 game winning streak. The tastings column features California sauv blancs. My boy the minimalist talks about marinating meat after cooking instead of beforehand. And finally an article about the importance of one's sense of smell.

Globe: HOLY FLURKING SCHNITT! A WINE ARTICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The rest is still kinda weak but at least they mentioned wine this time.

SF Chronicle/Gate: Guest spot for the week is the San Francisco Chronicle, as brought to you by SFGate portal. Not surprisingly for its location, the site features separate food and wine sections. The food is linked to above but the wine is easily found below it. Foodwise, the section leads with a piece on freezing edibles for best results. Interesting. I like that sort of practical yet innovative topic. The accompanying picture is neat. The section also contains a nice looking set of columns; one on ingredients, one on techniques, one on recipes and the typical "hey, lets hang out with a chef" sort. I'd rate this as a pretty good section and might actually make time to read the articles.
The Wine page is, not surprisingly, also reporting on the court decision. Here however, their proximity to so many small producers makes it a little more personal. Further down is an article on chianti classicos with an accompanying recipe to pair with. A cool little feature of the wine page is the "Cheese Course," column which, along with the pairing column, argues for the food and wine sections to be combined. A column on spirits adds depth but what about beer? Also featured are links to external wine new articles. Very thorough, as it obviously should be. I'll certainly revisit.

Organic foods have become a significant element in the nations food supply. No longer are organic products a rarity to be found only in certain stores and restaurants but they're now commonly found in the major supermarkets but are often marketed and displayed separately.

In the major supermarket chain in this area (greater boston), the organic veggies are in the produce section but in their own little area where they are displayed in a group rather than by type. The organic food products are located in an aisle or two at one end of the store. These aisles have different color fixtures, and are labelled "Wild Harvest" in a style and manner completely different than the rest of the store.

While its obvious that organic products are often packaged and marketed differently than conventional products made by huge companies, the need to separate them is curious. Just because they look different and are unfamiliar to some consumers, does that mean they need to be consigned to a separate area like a concentration camp for food?

Maybe the delineation is to highlight their esteemed status and apply an image of luxury to them--the supermarket equivalent of a velvet rope. This would be a grave miscalculation on the part of store managers--no one shopping in a place where coupon flyers and sale displays are prominently featured is looking to satisfy their ego, they want to save a buck. The result is an invisible barrier that keeps the traditional shopper out of the organic aisle on the assumption that it's not for them.

In my largely uninformed opinion, I think the supermarket would be best off eliminating the labels and letting the products compete on the same shelf. This being a fairly liberal part of the world, there are plenty of store options for the shopper concerned with things like organic products. If the mainstream store really wanted to compete directly with alternatives like Whole Foods, then they should open up a separate Wild Harvest store. The reason they haven't is that they know it would fail as a separate entity but persist in thinking it will thrive as an entity within the store.

If they want to offer consumers the option of organic products without changing their main business plan, then they should assimilate them with the rest of the merchandise. This way, the invisible barrier that keeps many people out of the wild harvest section is eliminated and the greater number of options makes everyone happy. Shoppers looking for organic products can find them in the logical place within the stores organization. Shoppers who don't seek them out will be exposed to them next to the conventional brands and might purchase them for health reasons, to try something new or purely by accident.

Time for the weekly brief briefing of Wednesday newspaper food sections. This weeks guest paper is...Chicago Tribune. As usual, I'm busy today so all you get is the quick version; not only have I not read any of the articles I mention, I'm not even willing to devote much time to making snide comments. What you see is what you get. You don't like it? Leave a comment and the Tribune will respond to it.

Globe: Hey, look at that, still no wine column. Typically for the city that loves to hate NYC only out of severe jealousy, the top article is about eating lunch at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. The second post is about Bernies crabs. Third down mentions a blending of south asian and east asian flavors. How exciting. Allright, enough of this crap.

NYT: The feature at the Times this week is all about "sci-Fi" food. Is it me or do they devote a lot of ink on chefs who make food in weird ways? Not too long ago was the guy who made flavored, edible menus now this. If I can't tell whether I should eat it or plug earphones into it I don't want it on my plate. Speaking of sci-fi, Eric Asimov devotes his wine column to producers worrying about the depth of red wines. The Minimalist goes against an Indian (red-dot) chef in a comparison of their shrimps. In the little side articles, there's the predictable "hey, its kind of warm today, let's throw something in about hot dogs" article.

Chicago Tribune: Hooray for guest spots! This week is the Trib, a paper I don't think I've ever read on purpose. There's no reason for that, I just don't come across it too often and have only been to chicago once so there.
At first glance, the food section looks pretty good with the usual variety. I seem to have caught them at an awkward moment though--this week is the first of a new layout inspired by readers survey. Also of interest, at least to me, is that the Trib bevvie writer is starting a new column called "Q". Its one of those cop-outs where writers ask for reader questions so they don't have come up with topics on their own. I tried that once but it probably helps is you have an audience the size of chicago. So basically, the new layout is based on readers suggestions and the bev column is now a q&a? And they say the mainstream media is getting lazy?
Their top (original) feature is on farm stands which is wierd because the LA Times covered that last week. Maybe they read my blog, read about that article and decided to do their own?

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a day when Americans celebrate the victory of the Mexican army over the French a hundred or something years ago. I say Americans celebrate it because it isn't really that big a deal in Mexico. It'd be as if Canada celebrated Bunker Hill day by drinking bud light and dressing up like Americans. Oh wait, that's everyday.

I won't be celebrating this noble mexican holiday but I will use the occasion to pick on crappy mexican beers. Corona, El Sol and their ilk are nasty ass cheapo beers that stupid americans pay way too much for. They are the equivalent of Bud or even Miller (gasp!) in that they are made efficiently yet cheaply for maximum profit. The goal is a consistent product, not flavor. With a marketing campaign like theirs who needs it?

The cheap beer posing as overpriced novelty is nothing new to the industry and will remain a key business model in the industry. My beef is that there are some pretty good mexicans beers out there that don't get a fair shake as a result. You think mexican you think corona and stop thinking after that. Dos Equis and Modelo both produce fine beers in a classic german tradition. A sizable number of German immigrants opened a number of breweries in mexico in the second half of the 19th century. They brought their brewing traditions with them and imported hops, grain and yeast strains to make beer authentic to their native styles. They remain to this day to be some of the finest examples of their style anywhere in the world.

That's it. Just a quick note on mexican beer. um, feliz cinco de mayo?

It's been said before but it needs to be repeated: brining, or submerging in salty sweet water, pork and chicken before cooking makes it oh so delicious. Doing so will keep it from drying out, will enhance the flavor and in some instances eliminates the need to season it before you cook it.

I'm going to try to get technical here for a second so if you have any knowledge of science beyond high school, you might want to skip this paragraph for your own sake. Brining works through osmosis. You create a salty liquid environment (the brine) and put the meat in it. Somehow, the salt imbalance compels the liquids in the meat to leave until a new imbalance is created at which point the surounding liquid is drawn back into the meat. So plain ole meat juice leaves, and tastier brine liquid replaces it.

The trick is to give it enough time. After about an hour, the liquid is drawn out but it takes another hour or so to replace it. Take it out too soon and you'll get dry meat. I'll usually start a brine after work and cook it three hours later for dinner. Overnight brines work well for those with a tighter schedule. Whatever you do, it's important to dry the meat after brining to help it cook better.

The sort of brine you use depends on what you need out of it. For instance, I use a basic brine (salt and sugar) to prep ribs and chicken for slow cook bbq. The brine here is followed with a dry rub and dose of smoke so everything gets a nice and flavorful. When I'm having weeknight pork chops, I'll toss in dried herbs, bay leaves, maple syrup instead of sugar, soy sauce and whatever else gets in the way. This gives a more flavorful brine that seasons the meat so you don't have to later.

My basic brining technique for 2 or 3 pork chops is to put about three quarters cup of kosher salt and half a cup or so of sugar or brown sugar in a quart bucket. I fill the bottom quarter with hot tap water and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar and then fill the rest of the way with cold to balance the temp. Cover it and refridge for a few hours. This basic brine will enhance the natural flavors and is to be used when additional seasoning will occur later.

A more thorough brine uses the same formula but adds lots of good stuff to provide additional flavors for one step prep. Some ideas: Substitute regular sugar with brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses or honey. Add dried herbs; sage, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary work nicely. Reduce the salt and use soy sauce. Add a little hot sauce if you like. The variations are endless--have fun.

Wow, a recurring post sort of thing!

I've decided that this feature, due to laziness, pressure to do my actual job, and inability to read so many papers in one day, will be a round up of the headlines and lead paragraphs of food sections of wednesday papers. Hopefully, my quick scans will produce perfectly accurate summaries for you to decide which to actually read. I will regularly cover the NY Times (which I read regulary), the Boston Globe (so I can trash it) and hopefully will feature one or two other "guest" papers per week. The NY Times is web-subscription only, the Globe is free and since I don't want to sign up with every newspaper everywhere, I'll pick only free ones for the guests.

Let's dig in:

NYT: Top article is about Mr. Robata, a japanese robot who grills food and wears one of those cool japanese headbands and robe-like shirt thingys; the wine column takes on Austrian Rieslings--a sign that they've run out of topics that people actually care about; Mr. Minimalists tries to make stir fry but ends up with salad; someone has a look at a big ole library of cookbooks and such somewhere in michigan I think; and finally, some guy is telling us that mexican food is actually french.

Globe: Still no wine column. Ana Sortun from Oleana wins herself a Beard; some writer guys gets on the nerves of some pizza makers; typically for New England there's something about lobster; and a month after the rest of the world does, the Globe mentions that French lady who wrote a book bragging about how French ladies don't get fat.

LA Times: Our wildcard for the day, the other Times looks at first glance like a superb food section. There are a couple of wine articles, plenty of restaurant reviews, a cooking column and a general foodography pieces. Impressive. This week features a multi-part feature on farmers markets; some investigative reporting on a central coast pinot, something about seafood south of the border, and a cooking with ricotta recipe. The section also lists articles from previous weeks, giving it a lot of girth. I think%2

I used to keep a freezer full of Omaha Steaks and a closet full of omaha steak cooler boxes. I was partially influenced by my Omaha dwelling cousin who seemed to keep OS strip steaks in his pockets like business cards but was genuinely impressed by the quality and flavor of the meat. Eventually, I realized that I could get meat just as good for less money without having to wait for the mail to arrive. I sort of missed those familiar brown boxes in the freezer and when the last cooler box collapsed under the weight of a party goer I was sad but never did I lack for good meat.

Years went by, email addresses changed and I disconnected my land line so their persistent marketing efforts eventually fell on deaf ears. Until last month that is. I got an out of the blue piece of mail from them offering a seemingly huge amount of steak, burgers, dogs, pork, potatoes and knife sets for 70 bucks so I took the plunge. 4-5 business days later, the big ole styrofoam box arrived and I was the proud owner of too little freezer space.

The steaks looked ok but the strip steaks weren't what I remembered. They were small and after taking everything out of the boxes to make them fit in the freezer, they looked the same as the filet mignons and now I can't tell which is which. After cooking what I can now only call a steak, it was perfectly disapointing. Don't get me wrong, it was a good steak but not what you expect for something that costs so much and has to be shipped in from frickin' Nebraska.

I can't say that what I got is typical of OS these days--maybe I just got a bum batch or something. The burgers and dogs and pork chops and potatoes au gratin were all pretty good but not any better than what I can get at the whole foods across town. Given the deal I had gotten, it was nice to load up the freezer with a variety of meats but there is no way I'll be making a habit of ordering from there the way I used to. Unless, of course, the new cooler box breaks too soon.

UPDATE: Ok, so I had another last night for dinner and it was actually really good. Maybe the first was just a fluke or I overcooked it or something. I'm still not convinced that it's worth so much damn money.

This here is the first recipe for the blog that this is. Since I'll be making this for dinner and my brain is still in the woods, this is the best I can come up with for a post today.

Way back when I was working in NYC for one summer during college, I was offered a chance to house sit at Miss Jessie's in the murray hill section of Manhattan while she was on vacation. She has a very nice kitchen in a very nice apartment so I did a bit of cooking while I was there. One night, I went to a small Italian deli down the street and got some orecchiette, pecorino and a soppressata to go with some broccoli I had. I was thinking of a pasta I had in Florence but put my own spin on it. It's incredibly simple but surprisingly good. Or at least I think so. It takes about as long to prepare as it does to boil the water and cook the pasta. Have a try:
Ingredients:
-One pound of orecchiette. Shells or penne could substitute but orecchiette really works the best.
-One soppressata, ideally from a good italian salumeria. Bone dry and ugly looking ones are the best. If you use a hot one, adjust the seasoning accordingly.
-Two good sized heads of broccoli.
-dried pepperoncini chopped up or red pepper flakes.
-White wine to cook with and drink. I'd recommend a dry, unoaked pinot grigio or riesling.
-Good grating cheese, either pecorino romano or parm.

Instructions:
-Boil up salted water for the pasta. Prep the other ingredients but don't cook them until the pasta is in the pot.
-You'll need about three quarters a pound of soppressata, more if you plan on eating some while you cook. Peel the casing and slice into rounds about the thickness of a dollar coin. Then half or quarter the rounds depending on the diameter.
-in a pan large enough for all the pasta, with just a bit of oil, fry up the sopp until it darkens and some of the fat is rendered. Remove to a paper towel covered bowl. Find the crispiest piece and eat it.
-slice the florets off the broccoli. You want the florets real small so they'll coat the pasta. Cut up and use the thinner stalks; save the rest for soup or something.
-add the broccoli to the pan and cook, adding oil if needed. Sprinkle with pepperoncini or red pepper flakes.
-At this point, the pasta should be al dente or close to it. It will finish cooking in the pan so don't let it overcook. When ready, drain well and keep ready.
-Once the broccoli is dark, add the sausage and a half cup or so of wine. Heat on med-high for a minute before adding the pasta and a handful of grated cheese. Heat for a minute, tossing constantly. Add more wine if needed.
-cover with grated cheese and eat.

This makes enough for four people. Would be a nice primo before a heartier secondo course or on its own for light meal.