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Herb's Spicy Neighborhood

The simplest of questions erupted into a loooong thread. Here's my answer.

There's no one right answer, it has to do with how we think.

I keep cooking spices in one area, organized by color, since color and flavor are related. The green herbs (e.g. marjoram, thyme, oregano) are in one neighborhood; yellows (garlic, onion powder) live in another; reds (chiles and chilis, for instance); browns have their neighborhoods. I'm not a strict segregationist, however, and there is some court-ordered busing. Blends are classified by what seems right -- usually it's clear.

 

Baking spices are another shelf -- nutmeg, cinnamons, vanilla, etc.

 

And size matters. Some bottles are too tall for their neighborhoods and have been tall-shamed into the corners, outside the lazy susan.

 

The system isn't strict and apparent the way alphabetization is. Though, even alpha has its issues. Is Minced Garlic an M or a G? Is it Ancho Chile or Chile, Ancho? And I have a lot of trouble with alpha because if I have a flavor in mind, I might want to find neighbors — e.g., I think chile first, then narrow down to Chipotle vs Ancho vs Cayenne vs Aleppo vs a peppery blend.

 

Non-herb, non-spice items are interlopers. For instance, xanthan gum and baking powder are in a completely different area but Cream of Tartar is right there, hanging with the spices. I think he's just a bad boy and everyone is afraid to challenge him.

 

The disadvantage to my color and functional categories is that, while it makes sense to my brain, others using my kitchen might be confused. But my foodie / chefy friends get it immediately, so I guess I have a cook's brain.

The case for meatless meat

I visited Burger King a few days ago to try their new Impossible Whopper, which is made with the all-plant "Impossible Burger."

 

This was my second Impossible Burger. The first was at a higher-end restaurant last year. At the time, my thought was, "Not bad. This is not a fancy restaurant burger but if no one told me, I am not sure I'd know this not made from beef." Given my experience of old-school vegi-burgers, I had to admire what Impossible Foods has achieved.

 

The Impossible Whopper was even more successful because it only needs to match the average quality, well-done (by which I mean, overcooked) beef we usually see at Burger King. It is sandwiched with the Whopper ingredients, which mask any subtle differences. I tasted it as a Whopper and alone. It was extremely close. I am not sure I could tell in a blind test. The Impossible Whopper shows that replicating beef is no longer Impossible.

 

And that's a good thing. I am a committed omnivore and I love meat, but am not happy with the way animals are raised and with the dent they make on the environment. 

 

More important is that this is on a grand scale. Burger King has rolled this out to the whole chain, exposing this product to a vastly wider audience than Impossible Foods could have achieved on their own. 

 

When I posted about the experience, quite a few replies talked about whether the Impossible Burger (and its competitor, the Beyond Meat burger) is healthier than beef. One person claimed (incorrectly) that it has less protein; some whined about all the salt; someone said "it's full of "chemicals." 

 

Wait, what? This isn't about nutrition. It's replacing hamburgers, for pete's sake. Meat substitutes are not appreciably healthier or unhealthier than meat and eating a Whopper every day is not going to be nutritious no matter what you do to it. Nutrition comes from a varied diet that embodies Michael Pollan's advice, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." 

 

Are they good for you? Silly question. It's good for us. It's not about nutrition, it's about critters and humans, and the planet we share. 

 

But criticizing salt content was where their focus was and they could not see past the nutrition label to understand why these products are breakthroughs. The meat substitutes are radically more efficient and kinder to the earth. By a stunning margin. With meat, we eat plants but only after they have been through an animal. Talk about "processed." The land, feed, labor, transportation, water, energy used in meat production are staggering costs. Not to mention that we kill animals to eat them.

 

I'm an omnivore but am all for these products. I would love it if some sweet critter did not have to die to make bacon for me.

 

I made a joke that I am waiting for Impossible Foie Gras. But it's not a joke; I would love that.

Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

He had me at “burnt ends.”

"Burnt ends" are the ends of the cut that tend to over-char (not really “burnt”). They are so well loved, that lots of BBQ places barbecue small cuts, so it's all burnt. So, burnt ends are often not really the end pieces and not really burnt. But my, oh my, they are good. Charred, crunchy, ultra-caramelized, sweet and meaty. That's what we're looking for, so not surprise that a recipe for Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends was a must-try. 

We loved this.

The first time I made it, the pork belly pieces were small and I overcooked it. It was still pretty good. Made some modifications and this time it was one of the best things I've ever made. Juicy, full of flavor, crisped and sweet on the outside, silky on the inside. 

And yes, you can do this without a smoker. Obviously, you will miss the smoky flavors but it will still be magnificent.

The original was from Vindulge — go see the video and writeup. I made some minor changes in my version (in particular, I finish in the oven because once you're in a covered pan, the smoker doesn't add anything). 

Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Note: These are very rich. If you serve them as a main course, plate them in the kitchen (restaurant-style) and include a starchy side, such as smoked sweet potatoes. Or make them as an appetizer, by cutting them in half and serving with a toothpick or on a lettuce leaf.

For the Pork Belly Burnt Ends:

• 5 lbs. pork belly, sliced into cubes
• 1 cup dry rub, one with no salt and 50% brown sugar. I use Meathead's Memphis Dry Rub.
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

For the Sauce:

• 1 cup favorite BBQ sauce (I use Bullseye Original or KC Masterpiece Original)
• 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

Preheat smoker to about 250 degrees. I use hickory for this.

Trim skin and excess fat off the pork belly and slice into 1 1/2-2 inch cubes and place into a large bowl. Add salt and toss; add dry rub, toss again.

Place cubes on a wire rack or directly on the smoker. Smoke uncovered for 2-3 hours. Look for a dark red color and a modest bark.

Remove the pork belly cubes from the smoker and place in a covered, oven-safe pot (e.g. a dutch oven). Add BBQ sauce, honey, pomegranate molasses, and stir. Cover the pot and place in a 275°F oven. Cook for an additional 90 minutes or until the internal temperature is 203 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove the lid and cook for another 15 minutes to let the sauce thicken up.

Drain any excess fat and serve, garnished with minced parsley and sesame seeds. 

Ra Pa Pa Pum Day

Every year, I declare Ra Pa Pa Pum day as the first day I hear — well, that song.

This year: December 14! Thanks to an annoying posting on Facebook. I think it was a cat video. 

This year: December 14! Thanks to an annoying posting on Facebook. I think it was a cat video. 

Turkey 1, Knife 0

Chris Williams sent this sad spatchcock fail to the Turkey Page.

One more day...

Are you ready? This guy is. 

Major edits to the Turkey Page this year. I'm all-in on spatchcocking and adjusted the procedures accordingly. My little buddy this year is 12 pounds, a Foster Farms "natural" bird from Costco (99 cents a pound!), dry brined for four days and uncovered to dry the skin for another day and a half.

This year, I'll be using my smoker to roast the bird. Normally, a smoker runs at 225°F for so but by omitting the water bath (which regulates the temperature), a smoker can run at 325. Bought an accessory which covers the water pan, to catch the drippings. So my hope is a lightly smoked turkey and mildly smoky drippings, mahogany skin, and tender, succulent meat. 

The suspense is killing me.

Rinsing meat: Yes or no?

There were some reports that rinsing splashes bacteria around your kitchen. The advice: Never rinse poultry.

Makes some sense. Or would, if it were true. Reporting in Lucky Peach, Harold McGee looked into it and said they had the flimsiest research. They rinsed dyed meat and noted splatters of color in the kitchen but only when they were sloppy. McGee did more thorough testing. His finding: if you rinse like an animal in a torrent of water, you may splash bacteria around. But who does that? 

Unfortunately, Lucky Peach never published online so the finding is not well known. 

Go ahead and rinse gently, with the food in the bottom of the sink, the way you normally would.

Use antiseptic spray (1/2 tsp bleach in a quart of water) to clean up afterwards.

Pork Cuts

Just what are all the cuts of pork and how do we properly use them? What's the difference between a tenderloin and a pork loin, a rib and a sparerib and a baby back, a ham and a picnic ham?

Leave it to Meathead Goldwyn, high priest of all things porky and smoky, to make it all clear. This article covers all the bases but if you're in a hurry, the graphic gets you most of the way home! Most animal cuts diagrams show you just a side view, but here we get the 3-D picture.

Now we know what do all those cuts are!

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/pork_cuts.html

 

Sugar strategy

It’s hard to resist the pull of sugar, especially for children. Here’s a strategy that has worked well to help kids consider their sugar consumption. 

 

When a child asks for a soft drink, I tell them that they can have one but I ask that they first tell me how much sugar it contains. Then we have a little lesson in Nutrition Labels.

 

 

We use my smartphone and find that 4 grams of sugar is a teaspoon. A 12-ounce soft drink generally has 40 or so grams of sugars. That’s 10 teaspoons of sugar! If their attention is still strong, we continue the research and learn that juice is no better and that 10 teaspoons of sugar is 160 calories. Most fruit juices are about the same.

 

From then on, they know they may have a soft drink or juice but they have to recall the sugar facts for me. It’s surprised me that most of the time, a child who knows the facts makes a different choice (at least when they're with me!).

Spice blends for big flavor

Lately, I have been adopting different blends as my go-to's. I have four.

The newest is tajin, a Mexican blend that has become popular. Lime, chili peppers, salt. Simple. Spicy, tangy. 

The blend I use the most is also simple. Put cumin, coriander, and black peppercorns (all as whole seeds) in a pepper grinder. Works on everything.

I am also enjoying Ras El Hanout. Arabic for "top of shelf," it's a wonderful blend. Available from all spice merchants but I use the one from Spice House.

Finally, there are various Persian herb blends I get at an international market. Floral and huge, most have parsley, dill, and similar green herbs and somehow they capture tons of flavor that the jars in the supermarkets lack. Sabzikoko is my current fave. It comes in a big bag so you can use a lot. In mideast cooking, they use herbs by the handful, not by the teaspoon the way western recipes do. Using hard-to-overdose herbs like these lets me go big and really learn how that herb is best used. 

Sauerkraut: You'll never buy it again

Once you see how easy it is to make amazing sauerkraut, you'll never buy it again.

And in case home fermentation worries you — no worries, it's foolproof! The USDA claims no cases of food poisoning has ever been attributed to fermented vegetables. If something does go wrong (unlikely), it's obvious (you know, slime) and you just toss it and begin again. 
 

There’s no vinegar in the recipe: Just salt! The lactobacillus naturally present on vegetables creates the tangy acid that preserves the vegetables and makes it delicious. The idea is simple: Salt draws water from the cabbage and the bacteria do the rest. You need to provide an air-free environment. There are airlock gadgets on the market, or you can pack the cabbage tightly in the jar and use a plastic bag full of salt water to ensure air stays away. 

Add shredded carrots, radishes, or anything you like. 

 

You need a one-quart jar and a way to slice the cabbage (a mandoline is best but a very sharp knife works, too). You can use an airlock but don't need to. 

 

• 1 pound cabbage or other produce, see notes
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (11 g), see notes
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, optional

Set one of the outer leaves aside. Wash jar and, if using, airlock.

Slice cabbage to the thickness you prefer. Thin is traditional and a mandoline is the best way — use the thinnest setting. Strongly recommended to use a cut-resistant glove any time you use a mandoline. Ask me how I know… Sprinkle salt and caraway seeds in layers as you go. Mix well.

Pack into a quart size mason jar and press down using a rolling pin or large dowel to extract juices. Add salt water (1 teaspoon salt per 1 cup water) if the juices don’t fully cover the produce (allow time for the juices to develop; I’ve never had to add water). Leave an inch of headspace above the top of the brine.

Apply a weight to keep produce submerged under the brine. You can buy glass disks or just fill a ziptop bag with salt water (1 tsp salt per cup of water) and use it to seal the top. Remember the cabbage leaf you saved? Fold it to size and fit it to the top, under the weight, to act as a gasket. 

If you’re using an airlock, set it up now. If not, just close the jar — but leave it loose so gas can escape, or the jar may explode.

Store out of direct sunlight in a relatively cool spot (your counter is fine but not on top of the refrigerator) and wait. If you get mold, just remove it before it develops.

Taste after about three weeks. You might prefer the acidity after 6 weeks or more! Eat or refrigerate once the kraut has reached your preferred level of sourness. Keep in mind that opening the fermenting set lid exposes the sauerkraut to oxygen and mold spores so if you want to be extra careful you may consider refrigerating the kraut after it’s been opened and fermenting longer next time if it’s not as sour as you’d like.

Notes: 

Use 1.75 oz by weight (54 g) salt per 5 pounds of cabbage. For every pound of cabbage (one small head), use 11 g = 0.39 oz = 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt ( about 1/2 T table salt or pickling salt)

Cooler temperatures ferment more slowly than warmer temperatures and many fermenters believe a long, slow ferment is the key to excellent sauerkraut.

Spice and politics

It's not often that my food hobby overlaps my business persona (I'm a marketing consultant) but today, one of my favorite spice merchants released a "Letter to CEOs," in which he cites positive business results from a political stand he took in the wake of the contentious 2016 U.S. election. I wrote about it on my marketing blog. 

Politics and business are a risky mix. Like adding eggs to a warmed sauce, if you follow proper technique they will emulsify, but too much heat and you get scrambled eggs. In this case, the mix worked because of Bill Penzey's relationship with his customers.

All this makes me want to bake a pie. Learn more about spices and herbs from Penzey's (and the similar and family-related Spice House). 

t-7 days

My turkey is in the refrigerator. Is yours?

If you plan to dry-brine (salt) the turkey yourself, you better run to the store. A frozen turkey would need a few days to thaw. 

But if you can't, no worries. You have options. The Turkey Timetable tells you how much time you need, depending on how you're thawing, how you're brining, etc. 

How to roast? Gravy tips? I have you covered: http://www.rubenzahl.com/turkey

Flourless chocolate almond cake: torta caprese

In gluten-free baking, heavily chocolate desserts are especially easy because flour's not necessary for dense, gooey goods. Here's a cake that's not as dense as most and has a great balance. One nice advantage is that there are just six ingredients and if you have a scale, most of the amounts are equal, making this easy to remember. 

And it has a back story. According to Food52 (where I originally found this recipe): "It was the 1920s. Three Italian-American gangsters visited Capri to buy a shipment of spats for Al Capone—those elegant, white, button-up protective coverings for your shoes and ankles.  A chef, Carmine di Fiore, made them a chocolate and almond cake. He didn't realize until later he forgot to put the flour in it, but the result is a delectable chocolate cake, crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. The mobsters love it and asked for the recipe—and the chef breathed a sigh of relief."

Note: I added salt to the recipe and have not tested it, but it should amp up the flavor a bit. 

Torta Caprese (Five-Ingredient Chocolate and Almond Flourless Cake)

Other than whipping the eggs whites, all you need is a wooden spoon to mix everything together. It's effortless and forgiving, with just one main rule: The almond meal, butter, chocolate, and sugar should be equal in weight. (Use 

Ingredients

170 (5 oz) grams almond meal, Or make almond meal using blanched almonds, in food processor)

170 (5 oz) grams good quality dark chocolate, e.g. 60-70%

170 (5 oz) grams unsalted butter, cut into 3/4" cubes

170 (5 oz) grams sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt *

4 large eggs

Powdered sugar for dusting

 

1. Remove eggs from refrigerator, place in water. Grease and line a 9-10 inch round springform pan and preheat oven to 325ºF. 

2. Place the chocolate, broken up, in a glass bowl and microwave 30 seconds. Stir, then microwave 10 seconds at a time, stirring between, until melted. Add the butter, stirring with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula to help it melt, giving short additional doses of microwave as needed. Then add the salt, almond meal, and all but 3 T of the sugar.

3. Separate eggs. 

Once the mixture is no longer hot, add the egg yolks and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. If adding any further ingredients (orange zest, rum, etc), stir them in now. 

In a separate very clean, grease-free bowl, whip the egg whites with beaters to a froth. And add the rest of the sugar and continue to beat to soft, fluffy peaks. Add 1/3 of the whites to the chocolate and mix to lighten it. then fold the rest of the whites in. Fold gently and minimally, stopping while there are still white streaks.

4. Pour the batter into the cake tin, smooth over the top and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until the top appears dry and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (not wet batter). It is important not to overcook this cake so that it retains its wonderful moist consistency. Let cool completely in the tin before handling. Dust with powdered sugar and, if desired, some lightly whipped cream. This cake keeps well for several days and is even better the next day. 

Servings: 6

 

Christopher Kimball is back with Milk Street

When Christopher Kimball left the America's Test Kitchen / Cook's Illustrated empire he created, we all knew this master of the meticulous recipe would be back on our screens, on our bookshelves, and in our kitchens.

His new venture, Milk Street, is inspired by international influence. Goodbye New England and hello Turkey, Mexico, Mediterranean and  Middle East. Check out the intro video on the Milk Street site.

I was a charter subscriber for Cook's Illustrated and it transformed my kitchen. I am signed up as a charter subscriber for this new venture, too. 

Death to the slider

I wish I'd taken pictures. 

It was at a convention and lunch was "comfort food." I think it is time for that trend to die. It's an excuse to serve 1968 middle school cafeteria fare to adults. Mac and cheese, you can go away now. But the worst is the slider.

A slider is a trendoid name for a hamburger with ruined proportions. The ratio meat to bun is destroyed. A burger is juicy and hot in the middle, with additional juiciness if caramelized onions or melted cheese are aboard. The edges bring in a little crisp, some seared meat perhaps, and even if the bun and burger differ in diameter, any proportioning error as we chomp through some all-bun or all-burger bites is minor compared to the overall experience. 

A slider is an architectural failure. Teeteringly tall, the bun keeps in no warmth or moistness, and it's a challenge to handle in exchange for cheap reward. 

Even if cooked perfectly — which is nearly impossible for a coin of a burger — a slider gets this all wrong. All edge, no center, too tall, means it's a teetering stack of dry. The only way to rescue it is to waste the bun and pretend it's a sauceless meatball. 

They try to rescue it. I give props for pulled pork, which at least recognizes the contribution of some saucy mortar and structural relief. No props for cheese, lettuce and tomato, which make it even colder, even spindlier. But in the end, all a slider does is to tell your audience you have no imagination. It is time for sliders to slide off into the sunset and go to the fiery hell of White Castle's griddle. 

 

Foolproof hard-boiled eggs

Hard-boiled (or, more properly, hard-cooked) eggs. How hard can that be?

Well, pretty hard. The whites and the yolks set at different temperatures and we have to think about how many eggs we're cooking at once and then there's the ultimate challenge: Will they peel?

Not the first time I have fretted about this here. Pressure cooking worked well but steaming worked better. And recently, I cooked 5 dozen eggs at once -- you can steam any quantity using the same procedure. Win!

Happily, the folks at America's Test Kitchen, who are even more obsessed than I am, tested it in quantity. Their results? Same as Serious Eats found, but I love this chart. It tells the story.

The method again: 

1. Put an inch of water in the pot, set to boil. 
2. Add eggs, straight from the refrigerator (don't bring them to room temp and don't add to the pot until you have a full head of steam). 
3. Cover and steam six minutes for soft-boiled, 12 minutes for hard-boiled.
4. Place in ice bath for 15 minutes, then refrigerate.

Don't miss Star Chefs

The 2016 Star Chefs event is September 25! See: Details.

In the meantime: Here are some photos from a previous year to whet your appetite. 

Star Chefs Turns 6

This is one of my very favorite food events! In this work of love by 12 top Bay Area chefs, you'll experience the dishes that they love to cook, paired with the cocktails and spirits they love.

Now in its sixth year, the Star Chefs event brings top chefs together in one whirlwind, exciting evening. You will have plates and cocktails from top restaurants. The chefs scramble to do their very best, because there's a competition (managed by yours truly). Because chefs are highly competitive creature, they go all out to win! There are three awards: The Judges' Choice, the Peoples' Choice, and Chef's Choice, which is determined by their peers. 

 

 

If a fun food evening with great people isn't enough, and brilliant plates by 12 brilliant chefs doesn't get you there, how about that it's for Silicon Valley Children's Fund? The Star Chefs event supports a different children's cause each year. It's sponsored by the non-profit Table for Three, headed by the big-hearted and lovely Brenda Hammond and Kathryn Williams, two loving, generous, remarkable friends (and hundreds of their loving, generous friends!).

I hope to see you there!

In Sunnyvale at Clover Networks (thank you, Clover!), September 25, 2016. Tickets: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/star-chefs-tickets-25521848536

Processed food

My new pet peeve is the term “processed” when applied to food. Not the food, the term. Because just about any time the term is used, it’s without explanation or qualification. As in: It’s bad because it’s “processed.” 

Here’s the the thing: Most food is processed. Nathan Myhrvold comments that cheese is not much like milk. Wine is processed. So are bread and pasta. 

Eat an olive off a tree sometime. They’re pretty much inedible. And I don’t see anyone turning up their nose at coffee and chocolate, neither of which are delicious when fresh from the plantation. 

What’s important is how the food is processed. Just because it comes from a factory doesn’t mean it’s evil, and just because it’s made in my kitchen from organic ingredients doesn’t mean it’s wholesome (I’m looking at you, Mr. Double-fudge peanut butter brownie.) 

OK, lecture over. Time for a snack. 

The Barbecue Easement

I learned something important today, from the podcast “Special Sauce,” hosted by the founder of Serious Eats, Ed Levine.

Ed is interviewing writer Calvin Trillin, who explains the "barbecue easement.” According to the Rabbi in Joplin, Missouri, "a noted Talmudist and Pitmaster," it says that "any farm animal with four hooves and no scales, if subjected to more than five hours of smoke, is kosher." It applies worldwide, not just in Joplin.

Who am I to contradict?

A recipe wakes from the past: Chocolate Finns

The note in the margin is dated 1981. "These are incredible! Flavor of chocolate and butter dominate. Sinfully rich!" It was back in the day when recipes were on paper, in books. This book was San Francisco A La Carte, published by the Junior League of San Francisco in 1979. The recipe was for Chocolate Finns. 

I made them for a pot luck and soon, I could not show up without them because one of my chocoholic friends (and all my friends were chocoholics) would complain, "hey, where are those chocolate things?" 

Where did Chocolate Finns come from? Usually, the Internet gushes with versions of any recipe one can name but yesterday, I could find just a couple of transcriptions of the same recipe. As far as I can tell, the first and only place the recipe ever appeared is in the book where I found them 30 years ago. They are a little like Nanaimo Bars, a Vancouver Island favorite, but not really. I guess someone in the Junior League made them up.

So I dug around and found the book and a few hours later, took my Finns to a pot luck where they received the same reception from the chocoholics (which, again, was pretty much everyone). 

The Chocolate Finn is a thin, three-layer cake-candy mash-up. The bottom layer is a dense brownie. The middle layer is a candy: sugar, cream, butter. The top is a thin film of bitter chocolate. They are very — they math out to about 100 calories when I cut them as directed, into 1 x 1.5-inch pieces.

While the recipe is pretty easy, there are three separately prepared layers and unless you plan carefully, you will use quite a few bowls and pots. I plan a few adaptations to simplify the procedure (see note below) but for now, the recipe is very close to the original. 

Chocolate Finns

FIRST LAYER 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, Or: 6 T (1.5 oz) cocoa plus 2 T butter ½ cup butter 2 eggs, beaten 1 cup sugar ½ cup flour 1 cup pecans, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla extract SECOND LAYER 1 ½ cups powdered sugar ½ cup butter, softened (do not substitute) ½ cup heavy cream THIRD LAYER 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, Or: 6 T (1.5 oz) cocoa plus 2 T butter 1 tablespoon butter PREP: Attach a candy thermometer or probe thermometer to a small (1-2 quart) sauce pan. Preheat oven to 350 °F (non-convection setting). FIRST LAYER: In a saucepan over very low heat, melt the chocolate and butter. Set aside to cool slightly. Add the eggs and stir immediately; then add the sugar, flour, nuts and vanilla. Spread evenly in a 9x13-inch pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes until almost set. Remove from oven. SECOND LAYER: In the saucepan with the candy thermometer, combine the Layer 2 ingredients and cook over medium heat to between the soft ball and hard ball stage, 120°C=250°F (no higher) about 15 minutes. Spread over baked layer, tilting pan to evenly coat. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or more. THIRD LAYER: In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt together the chocolate and butter. Drizzle over the top of the second layer and spread with a silicone spatula or an offset spatula. Cool until set, then cut into squares (6x8=48 1x1.5-inch pieces). You can refrigerate an hour to cool, but don't serve cold, as they are better at room temperature and are very hard to slice while cold.

 

Notes: I plan to eliminate a step and a pot by using a microwave and using cocoa and butter instead of the unsweetened chocolate. I already tested the cocoa substitution and it works perfectly. The new method will change the first layer instruction to:

Melt 1/4 cup (4 T) of butter and stir in 3/4 cup (3 oz) cocoa. (Hint: Place butter in a glass bowl and microwave with 1/2 cup water in a separate glass sharing the microwave. This prevents the butter from popping and making a mess.) In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add the sugar, flour, nuts and vanilla. Add half of the melted cocoa and butter, reserving the rest for the third layer. Mix. Spread evenly in a 9x13-inch pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes until almost set. Remove from oven.

Then, for layer 3, simply remelt the remaining cocoa mixture and spread.

If someone out there tries this, let me know. I won't be trying it until I recover from my sugar rush. Unlike in 1981, I can't do that in a day. :)  

 

Hollandaise: 10 minutes, no fuss

Photo: Tom Fandre

There’s a reason so many hollandaise sauce recipes are touted as “simple,” “fast,” or “fool-proof.” Of all the sauces, I think hollandaise is the trickiest. It’s the perfect accent for so many dishes but I am reluctant to go there because it’s fussy and if it breaks, it always does it when everything else is ready to go and repairing or redoing it is a pain.

A friend, Tom Fandre, posted this recipe, developed by his Dad, who he calls "Microwave Master Donovan Fandre.” (He says his Dad has developed tons of recipes like this, often combining microwave and conventional. I jokingly said I'd love to see his cookbook: Turns out he has one: Jump Start Cooking!)

What astonished me about this recipe is that there’s no motorized device involved. Somehow, simple stirring and microwave heating combines to generate an emulsion (the thickened suspension of microscopic droplets of water and oil that is characteristic of sauces like this). 

I made a small recipe good for one or two servings. Triple it to feed the family. You will need to alter the times to avoid overheating the mixture. Too long in the microwave and the egg yolk will start to cook. 

Ten Minute, Foolproof (Really!) Hollandaise Sauce

1/4 pound (8 tablespoons) butter, cut into about 16 pieces

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in a microwave-safe cup. Microwave for 20 seconds and stir (preferably with a whisk) immediately. Microwave and stir, ten seconds at a time, until the sauce is thickened and smooth.

Note: To make 1-2 servings, use 2 T butter (cut into 6 pieces), 1 yolk, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Microwave 10 seconds the first time and 5 seconds at a time thereafter. 

Xanthan gum: Get past the weird and it's magical

Sometimes, I have a soup, sauce, or dressing and I wish it had more body. What I need is a fast, convenient thickener that, unlike flour and starch, doesn't need to be heated to work.

Found it: A very cool thickener with a weird name that turns out to be a kitchen superstar. It's magical! Super-convenient: 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon and a hand blender are all you need to go from watery to wonderful.

I was dismayed that I could not find a simple guide to using it, so I did some experiments.

Summary

Want just the basics? OK:

• Easy to find online or in stores. One bag will last a lifetime since you use 1/4 teaspoon at a time and it is shelf-stable.
• No heat required: Just blend it into the liquid. Works for hot and cold! Salad dressing, sauces, etc.
• Use a hand blender or blender and sift the powder into the whirring mixture, because it clumps easily.
• Use 1/8-1 teaspoon per cup of liquid. A light dose adds body; medium to thicken; more to gel. Easy to overdose: Go lightly.

What is it?

First, let's get past the funny name and fears of test tubes. Xanthan gum is an approved food product made by fermenting sugars. It's very commonly used in food products such as salad dressing (which is one of its killer apps!). It's common in gluten-free baking because it produces the thickening and elastic properties needed for baked goods like bread and pizza dough. 

Some key advantages and characteristics:

• All it does is thicken. It adds no flavor. 
• It's very simple to use: add to water- or oil-based mixtures and hit it with the blender or immersion blender. 
• The amount controls the thickening. Use a small amount (1/8 teaspoon per cup) to add body to a liquid; or 5-10 times that much to make a gel. 
• The thickened mixture is cloudy but still transparent (like jelly or cornstarch or tapioca-thickened foods).
• Unlike starch-based thickeners, it doesn't require cooking to activate its thickening power.
• In fact, it's immune from heat. Some thickeners lose their power with boiling — not so, with xanthan gum, which retains its superpowers. Freezing also does not affect it. 
• Xanthan gum is easy to find and economical. Most groceries in my area carry the Bob's Red Mill brand and it is easy to find online. If it seems expensive, you should know that one bag is a lifetime supply, since you generally use 1/4 teaspoon at a time. Shelf life is indefinite.
• Seems to be safe but some people report intestinal distress, even in the small quantities suggested here. 

Using xanthan gum

I found a lot of contradictory information online and decided to try my own experiments to come up with some guidelines. 

First: How much should you use? Applications usually call for 0.1% to 1% by weight and this range was pretty good. At 0.1%, the thickening is just noticeable — think of the difference between juice and water. Ramp it up to 1% and it's a thick gel.

 

I made a video that shows different amounts. In the video, you will see what 0.25% looks like (1/4 teaspoon in 100 ml of water, blended using an immersion blender), then what 1% looks like, then a real-life application of salad dressing. 

For the video, I made a quick vinaigrette using a standard formula of one part vinegar to three parts of olive oil, with a little mustard as an emulsifier and some herbs. Whirring it with the immersion blender yielded a nice salad dressing. I added 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum and blended again. I started with 1/2 cup (125 ml) of dressing, so this maths out to 0.5%. Which is more than I would want in a dressing.

(In the video, the caption at about 0:52 says 125 ml is 1/4 cup. Ignore that caption, as commenter Ole let us know, that's wrong!) 

Rule of thumb

As you can see in the video, xanthan gum is powerful. It takes only small amounts.

• For a cup of liquid, as little as 1/8 teaspoon makes a difference and in most uses, you will use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per cup of liquid.
• In the salad dressing example, that's more than I would ever use — use just 1/8-1/4 teaspoon per 8 oz (the video shows 1/4 tsp in just 4 oz.) 
• To use, add the powder and mix with a blender or an immersion blender. If you mix without a blender, it's not as thick and prone to clumping. 

Recipes and conversions

Some recipes will list the amount in grams, typically 1-2 grams. Few cooks have scales that can measure weights that small. I found little consistency in web resources so I took to the kitchen and did a few tests, measuring out 6 teaspoons of xanthan gum and weighing.

Here's a handy table.

Xanthan gum measures

I measured 1 teaspoon as 2.5 grams but note that the product can be packed to get 3-4 grams, so you may see some variation from other sources. I used Bob's Red Mill brand. Other brands may measure differently. But don't worry about variations — if you use 3.5 g when you were intending to use 2, the difference will not ruin the dish. 

By weight	Teaspoons	% when added to 8 oz. (250 ml)
1/4 gram	~1/8 tsp	0.1%
1/2 gram	~1/4 tsp	0.25%
1 gram	~1/2 tsp	0.5%
2.5 grams	1 tsp	1%

More:

• Wikipedia on xanthan gum
• How to clean up spilled xanthan gum
• Comparing xanthan gum and guar gum

 

Want to be a kitchen science ninja?

New sous vide gadget? Want to learn more sous vide? Or just want to crank up some kitchen skills? Coffee? Baking? Grilling? 

ChefSteps is a great site for modern cooking techniques ("modernist cuisine" such as sous vide and foams). They have several excellent instruction programs, well-tested recipes, and gorgeous photography. Join as a premium member for a one-time $19 fee and you get access to all their lessons, now and in the future. Great deal, highly recommended.

Even if you don't go premium, do explore this site as there is a ton of great free content. 

https://www.chefsteps.com/premium

 

Ra Pa Pa Pum Day

Every year, I declare Ra Pa Pa Pum day as the first day I hear -- well, that song.

Early this year!!! December 1, 2015! Thanks to a Facebook posting by Cousin George. 

Turkey 2015: Julia's Way

Hundreds (maybe thousands) of people use my turkey page each year. What they may not know is that I rarely make my turkey the way the page directs!

That's because I am usually experimenting. There aren’t many ways to cook a turkey that I have not tried — spatchcocking, frying, grilling, whole or in pieces, high-heat, low heat, wet and dry brine, etc. Next year's turkey page might reflect what I try each year.

This year I am doing the turkey in pieces, following a method Julia Child used and Cook's Illustrated revived.

As you probably know, the greatest challenge is getting the breast and legs done at the same time. The method on the turkey page has you start the bird breast down to give the legs a head start. Julia instead separates the legs before cooking and handles them differently. 

She does something cool that I wanted to try: She debones the thigh and ties it up to make the leg meat as much of a roast as the breasts are. 

So that’s what I am doing.

I made one change: Cook's Illustrated wet brines the breast but I love dry brining so much that I am using it on all the pieces. I am also using baking powder in the salt, as it raises the pH and helps crips the skin. (I have used baking powder and baking soda at the end of the dry brine in prior years and it made no difference, so I am trying it at the start of the dry brine, as recommended by Kenji or Serious Eats. See? I told you I experiment!)

I started with a 15-pound, frozen, unbrined Butterball and followed the directions at Cook's Illustrated to separate the legs. I removed the back. This leaves the breast with wings. Here it is, salted and baking powdered:

I removed the thigh bones:

and added skewers and twine:

And we’re ready to go. All the spare parts are in the stockpot and the legs and breast are in a plastic bag to dry brine for four days. 

Peanut brittle

One of my favorite things to make is nut brittle. It’s easy, fast, and a crowd pleaser. It’s easy to do variations. Let me know what you think!

One of the variations is pine nut brittle.

Another variation: Bacon and cardamon. Cook 3/4 pound of bacon and crumble. Remove seeds from 5 pods of cardamon and grind. Add cardamom and bacon with the peanuts. 

Moe's Peanut Brittle

2 ½ cups lightly salted, roasted peanuts (or unsalted nuts and 3/4 tsp salt)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups sugar

¼ cup corn syrup

1 ½ cups water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons butter

1. Combine peanuts, baking soda, cinnamon, and cayenne. Set aside. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat (don’t use waxed paper) and set aside. No parchment? Oil the pan.

2. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy saucepan. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it comes to a boil. Stop stirring, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 3 minutes (see notes for reason). Uncover, adjust heat to medium to maintain a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is a light amber color, about 350 degrees. Be very careful: Once it exceeds 250 degrees and starts to color at all, the reaction accelerates and will burn quickly.

3. Stir in peanuts, then butter and vanilla. This will greatly reduce the temperature of the sugar, so work quickly.

4. Quickly, so the mixture doesn’t solidify before it’s well spread, pour mixture onto lined sheet pan. Distribute across the pan as you pour, then using a silicone spatula, spread thin. 

Cool completely and then break into pieces.

Notes

• Be careful. Melted sugar causes horrible burns.
• Why the three-minute covered simmer? It washes sugar crystals off sides of pot to prevent them falling in later, where they will crystallize the brittle.

Grill of My Dreams

Buying a grill. How hard can that be? 

Well, there are hundreds of choices (and options beyond that) and it's something you'll live with for a decade or more. So I dug in and researched.

I was replacing an 18-year-old Weber gas grill that still worked pretty well but needed some work. So I donated that and went looking.

 

Fuelish choices

Your first decision: Gas or charcoal power? That turns out to be a religious issue so I will direct you to these guys, who are brave enough to go there: 

Charcoal Grill vs. Gas Grill Throwdown: Let's Settle This Once And For All

Charcoal

If you're a charcoaler, it's pretty easy: The Big Green Egg or a Weber.

The Egg, favored by Foodgal's hubby, MeatBoy, and my grill-obsessed friend Mark, is a kamodo-style cooker, made of pottery and massively heavy. It will be almost $1000 after you add the accessories you want but I suggest it for two reasons. One is that it's one of very few ways to get a grill and a smoker in one unit without compromising either the grilling or smoking performance. The second reason is that everyone who owns one l-o-v-e-s it. I mean, everyone. The BGE is not available via Amazon anymore but when it was, every review was five stars.

A Weber charcoal grill will run you a few hundred dollars and any model will work well and last forever. The reviews seem to favor the Weber Original Kettle Premium 22" Charcoal Grill).

Whatever you choose, get the Weber brand chimney starter. Trust me on that — it's under $20 and is the best way to light charcoal (other than a manly choice like a roofing torch or a Looftlighter.) If you use stinky charcoal lighter fluid, you are not allowed to read further. Go away now.

There's also a Weber charcoal grill with a built-in propane-powered starter. The reviews say it works well and is handy and clean. I won't refuse pork chops made on that. 

Gas

This is where the choices become overwhelming. I'll start with a few basic criteria: For me, a grill is a frequently used tool and I am not looking at $250 gas grills. Had one once, dumb idea. On the other hand, you can spend $2500 (or even $5000) on one and I'm not that insane. At least, not yet. 

Choices

Next question: Size. That one's pretty straightforward. Partiers need bigger grills. I went mid-sized.

Next thing to do is choose your features. My list:

• Well-rated gas grill with great performance (which means even, controllable heat)
• Stainless steel grates
• But I don't care if it's stainless outside
• Searing burner
• A rotisserie
• Three burners are plenty

Brand

I went into this biased toward Weber. They're somewhat expensive but the quality is beyond reproach. 

Consumer Reports and other reviews used to heavily favor the Weber but many less expensive brands have joined the Weber models in their recommendations. Amazing Ribs boasts that it's the only place that employs someone to test grilling gear full time and I trust Meathead (he runs the place). So you want to go there. But I stayed true to my bias and only briefly considered others. 

Stainless

A word about stainless steel. It's pretty but on an outdoor appliance, it's hard to keep it pretty. But because it's in fashion, many grills come with a stainless skin. Stainless varies in thickness and composition. It's not necessarily better. 

But inside is where stainless steel shines. I am so tired of replacing cast iron or porcelain coated grates and moving food around the rusting spots. Stainless innards are on my must-have list. 

Models

I homed in on the mid-sized Weber, the 300 series. The searing station requirement moved me immediately to 330. I was looking at the E-330 and the S-330. The E model is color exterior, with iron grates and flavorizer bars (under the grate), while the S model is all stainless. 

My thought was to buy the E-330 and upgrade the grates and the bars. But then I learned from somone on the Amazing Ribs discussion board that Weber has a little-known model called the EP-330 which comes in colors with stainless innards. Ah! Exactly what I wanted. Originally developed as a special model for Weber's authorized dealers, it's also offered in custom colors. 

A better deal

I could not find this locally. I went to Amazon and found several for the right price and with free shipping, from pretty good vendors. The vendor with the highest rating, Acme Tools, curiously, did not have the color I wanted so I checked their own site. Interesting. They carry the full line and could sell it to me direct, for the same price, free shipping, and no sales tax — a significant difference, at this price. 

Did it.

Big box. BIG box.

Ten days later:

One thing you need to know when you buy a grill via the Internet is that it comes in a box. About a 4x4 foot box on a shipping palette. 210 pounds. 

And it comes in pieces. A lot of pieces. Plan on several hours of nuttin' and boltin'. Happily, I love nuttin' and boltin'. 

Weber's instructions are terrific, like IKEA on steroids:

That's one side of a two-sided roadmap. As I said, lots of parts. 

And then, there's the big box

You should also know that when you are done, you still have a big box, and a surprising mountain of cardboard. It took me four weeks of recycle toter-filling to get it all dispatched. 

Cooking

Finally. I love the "Fuh!" of a gas flame coming to life. 

 

 

 

Vera. Very, very vera.

 

 

Update: Ever on the lookout. I have tried a couple of other Pizza Vera places in mountain View. The one below is still the best but almost as good was Pizza Napoletana.

Let it be known that I am a pizza snob. I love the ones that are true to style — New York, Chicago, and Naples. California pizza? Please, don't go there. It's not bad, it's just — not real pizza. 

Real pizza has a chewy, wheaty crust that counterpoints steamy hot against crispy char. Melty cheese and rapidly cooked, fresh ingredients. Don't even point out the place unless it has a 900°F oven, preferably domed and wood-fired. 

In the Bay Area? You can get a pizza that scores an A-, but for A+, you leave town. 

When I was in Las Vegas two weeks ago, my friends Steve and Sue took me to Settebello, a place that's certified as "Vera Pizza Napoletana" — the real deal. This was new to me.

 

Vera: That's Italian for "real."

Awarded by the American Delegation of the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, the Vera Pizza badge goes only to "pizzerias who meet strict requirements that respect the tradition of the art of Neapolitan pizza making."

The pizza was — perfect. 

I wished we had such a thing here. Then yesterday, I was in San Pedro Square in San Jose at lunch time. I stumbled upon the sign. Without the experience two weeks before, I would not have known it had a special meaning.

Could this be — real?

They had the certificate — there, on the wall behind the domed, wood-fired oven:

The verdict: Just as good. The one in San Jose was an exact match to the one I had in Las Vegas.

Happy.

Pizza Bocca Lupo, San Pedro Square; pizzaboccalupo.com

T-4: All dressed up and ready

OK, so who posts pictures of the turkey before it's cooked? I do, especially when it's this colorful!

It's spatchcocked (butterflied). The ruddy complexion is because I air-dryed it in the refrigerator overnight. That gives a crispier skin. The green is because there is herb butter under the skin. The white powder is baking powder, which is said to aid browning and skin crispiness. This year, I powdered only half the bird to see if it makes a difference.

T-6 hours: Roux the Day!

The colors, the smells of turkey day morning! 

Here's the roux for my gravy. A roux is equal parts of fat (butter, in this case) and flour, cooked to build a nutty flavor (and cook out any raw flour taste). Later, it will thicken the gravy. The coating of fat on each flour granule guarantees no lumps and the gravy benefits from the nutty brown flavor. The lighter the roux, the more thickening power. For gravy, I like to see a color about like peanut butter. Here's the progression.

T-1: Refrigerating Quietly

The turkey is brined and is in the refrigerator, uncovered, to dry the skin.

A couple of gallons of very dense broth are on the stove. Built from back, neck, giblets, onions, miso and an additional package of necks I bought, this is the precursor to the most amazing gravy. 

Countdown: T minus 10

In my refrigerator:

No rush, folks. If you're doing the full dry-brine treatment, you can start Saturday or Sunday. Me, I just wanted to say hello to it every morning. 

Buying hints:

• Don't get a bird much more than 14 pounds
• If you are brining, get one that is not packed in a salt solution. 
• Buy a pack of necks and backs for more gravy. 

More...

Turkey Countdown

It's that time again. Time to obsess for weeks about one fantastic meal!

OK, you don't have to obsess, I will do that for you. I have done a major update to to my turkey page. Extensive edits throughout.

Eating Well Without a "Diet"

A friend had a heart-to-heart with his doctor and realized it's time to get his diet in order. I'm not a fan of "diets," as they are generally doomed to fail. I’ve altered my diet over the years by watching what I eat and thinking differently about food. Knowledge and awareness lead to action without feeling restricted by a bunch of "no no" rules. 

Here are some ideas as I gave them to my friend.

• Make your changes a little at a time. Your habits took decades to build; don’t expect to change them tomorrow. 
• Don’t think “no.” That is, don’t think about what you can’t or shouldn’t have. Telling yourself no doesn’t work. 
• Instead, think “yes.” What -can- you have? 
• Eat consciously. Go buy yourself a really good apple and eat it without reading, watching TV, or doing anything else. Pay attention to the apple. A fine apple on a pretty fall day actually better than a fried whatever once you start paying attention. 
• One of my rules is “only eat good food.” I will still have a hamburger but dammit, it will be a good hamburger. No way I will waste my hamburger treat on a McD or BK: I am having my burger at a place that makes them medium rare and fresh. When I started to focus on quality, I lost most of my interest in cheap chains. I am conscious of what I will get at the cheap chain, so it's really easy to drive on by. I don't feel like I am denying myself because I know I won't really enjoy what's there. When I do have a burger or fried whatever, it’s really good, and I savor every bite!
• Eat slowly to give your appetite gadgetry time to sense that you have eaten. 
• Variety is your friend. Look up the “French paradox.” The essence is that the French and most Asians have good nutrition because they have varied diets. Americans have among the least varied diets in the world. 
• Vegetables and fruits are your savior. Instead of taking things OUT of your diet, you can ADD things. Adding veggies and more variety mean you get to eat MORE! Eat things like apples and carrots all day, as much as you want! Buy expensive, great quality produce. Shop Farmer’s Markets. Treat yourself. It’s all so good once you get past the must-have-fried-crap programming.
• Sugar water is your biggest enemy. Cut out the soft drinks a little at a time. That includes diet drinks. And it includes fruit juices! Fruit juices are mostly sugar minus the fiber. Apple juice, orange juice, not good. Whole apple, orange good. Water, good. 
• Do all this a little at a time. You can still eat whatever you like, just start to moderate. 
• One mantra is Dr. Dean Edell’s “Eat whatever you like. Just not so much.” Another is Michael Pollan’s “Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” 

One more idea I will toss your way is a book recommendation: Sweet Fire by Mary Toscano. 

The book focuses on carbohydrates. While weight loss is mostly a matter of calories in minus calories out, carbs affect how you metabolize and how your insulin works. Watching my carbs has made a big difference for me. Mainly, I avoid big loads of sugar and flour, white rice, etc. unless they are a part of a diverse meal with proteins and fat and fiber. Toast: Not good. Toast with bacon: Good. Well, not exactly but kind of. Juice: bad; whole fruit: Good. 

It’s not a diet book! Just read it and let it change how you think, see how it alters what you eat. 

Easy read, well written, strongly recommended.  

Popcorn Perfected

It's just popcorn, right?

Not to me, it isn't! I sometimes make popcorn the whole meal and I am pretty particular about how it's prepared. Done well, it's both light and hearty, crisp without being dry, and full of the flavor of corn and butter. I serve it with a variety of toppings — herbs, garlic, parmesan cheese, sriracha, so each bowl can be different. 

I wrote about popcorn in 2006, detailing my method for perfect popcorn, and explaining why hot air and microwave popcorn are evil. It's still all true, so go read that. Then come back and I'll tell you how to make it even better. Go ahead, I'll wait...

Popcorn Upgrade

Everything about the 2006 popcorn was perfect except for one thing — the butter. I was struggling to find a way to get more and better butter flavor and to distribute it well. When you add enough butter to taste, there are kernels that are lightly touched and others that were wet with drippy butter. I tried adding the butter a little at a time, drizzling with various tools, and briefly considered a sprayer. I tried adding it to the bowl first, but it solidified there. And throughout, there was inconsistent coverage and greasy fingers. 

So why not add the butter to the cooking oil, I thought? Good idea but butter smokes at a temerpature well below the popping temperature and was quite browned by the time the popcorn was done. (Not a bad taste — like a brown butter sauce and popcorn flecked with brown bits — but not the proper popcorn I wanted.) 

I knew mixing oil and butter would not work because, contrary to popular belief, oil does not increase the smoking point, it just dilutes the smoking components (and the butter flavor). 

A Better Butter

Then I thought of clarified butter.

Butter contains butterfat, milk solids, and 15-20% water. Clarified butter is butterfat alone. You can buy it or make it yourself. I knew that without the milk solids, clarified butter has a much higher smoking point and doesn't brown. What would happen at popcorn temperatures — especially with the very hot Stir Crazy popper I favor?

I put some clarified butter in the popper and fired it up with a few kernels. I watched...and watched. What I was looking for was popping without smoke.

Uh-oh. It's smoking. I was thinking this might not work, when — pop! Interesting. The pop temperature is very close to the smoking temp. I tossed in the rest of the kernels and that immediately dropped the temperature to below smoking. 

It worked! 

An Even Better Butter

Clarifing butter isn't too difficult but I wondered, how about ghee? An Indian traditional ingredient, ghee is clarified butter which is "brought to a higher temperatures of around 120 °C (250 °F) once the water had evaporated, allowing the milk solids to brown. This process flavors the ghee, and also produces antioxidants which help protect it longer from rancidity. Because of this, ghee can keep for six to eight months under normal conditions" (Wikipedia). 

Advantage: Inexpensive, shelf stable, and very convenient!

Many grocery stores stock ghee, generally in the gourmet or ethnic foods section. 

So here it is: Our popcorn upgrade!

Recipe: Proper Popcorn 2.0

Makes 6 quarts: Adjust amounts if your popper makes less.

1 cup of popcorn (I use Bob's Red Mill)

Fine salt to taste

2.5 ounces (by weight)=1/3 cup ghee

Gear

Popcorn popper, preferably a Stir Crazy

Giant bowl

Method

1. Measure the ghee. If you refrigerate your ghee, it's hard to spoon in a cup so meter it into a bowl on a kitchen scale. You can also soften it in the microwave, but that is tricky because ghee has no water and is transparent to microwave energy. 
2. Put butter in the popper with two kernels of unpopped corn and plug it in. 
3. The instant the test kernels pop, add the rest of the kernels.
4. Alton Brown says to add the salt to the oil and corn before popping -- hmm, good idea. I need to try that.
5. When popping slows to about once every two seconds, turn off popper and pour popcorn into the giant bowl, and add salt, a little at a time, stirring between additions. 
6. Serve while still warm, you can clean up later.

Serve with napkins — and get this, it's important — give everyone a soup spoon. It's geeky, I know, but once you eat popcorn with a spoon, you'll be hooked.

Star Chef's Event

If you are in the Bay Area, here is a do-not-miss event! As a foodie, I love this. And it's for a cause I care about (I am on the board of directors for the organization). 

“Star Chefs and the Wines and Spirits They Love” is a benefit event for food and wine lovers. 16 top Bay Area Chefs* serve their creations and paired wines and spirits at stations around the room. Over 400 guests mingle and visit whatever stations they like. We’re talking world-class cuisine. It’s huge fun and the food is fabulous. 

Then we adjourn to another room for a live auction and dessert.

It’s Sunday, April 13 4:30-8:30 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Tickets are $150/person. To sign up buy your ticket at http://casvstarchefs.com/about/purchase-tickets/.  

The event benefits Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, which matches foster children with volunteer court-appointed advocates who provide critical educational and emotional support, ensure the child's needs are met, and their voice is heard while navigating the court dependency system. Kids with advocates have a much, much better outcome. For instance, 91% of our foster children complete high school, compared to 50% of foster children nationwide! I am on the Child Advocates of Silicon Valley board.

* Here’s a list of the chefs:

Executive Chef Ross Hanson, Oak & Rye Restaurant

Executive Chef Philipe Breneman, Lexington House

Executive Chef John Burke, Liquid Bread Gastropub

Executive Chef Jeff Fitzgerald, Dio Deka

Executive Chef Jarad Gallagher, Chez TJ

Chef de Cuisine Anthony Jimenez, The Table

Executive Chef Brad Kraten, Park Place

Executive Chef Lan Le, White Shallot

Executive Chef Randy Musterer “Sushi Randy”, Sushi Confidential

Executive Chef Justin Perez, Justin’s Restaurant

Head Baker Avery Ruzicka, The Manresa Bread Project

Executive Chef Josiah Slone,  Sent Sovi

Executive Chef Nanci Wokas, Hewlett Packard

Executive Chef Chris Yamashita, Brown Chicken Brown Cow

Bee Whisperer Tim Dauber, Bee Friendly

Sous Vide's Limits

Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, spoke out against sous vide. Outrageous!

Sous vide is the (rather poorly named) modernist cuisine technique in which food is sealed in a pouch and cooked in a water bath at a precise temperature. Until a few years ago, it was strictly a restaurant procedure since the equipment cost thousands of dollars, but now home cooks, like me, have available gadgets for $200-500 which work wonderfully. 

I love what it does for meats, especially. Medium-rare from edge-to-edge is not just possible, but easy. Meat that slow cooks well, such as short ribs, can cook literally for days at the perfectly controlled temperature. And for delicate custards, eggs, and confections which need to reach finely chosen temperatures, it's like magic.

So what's Michael Bauer's beef? Mushy beef. Flabby fish.

He's right. Every sous vide chef learns, pretty quickly (the hard way — ask me how I know), that cooking fine meats, especially finely textured, lean muscle such as loin cuts, become spongy when cooked too long. But it's easy to avoid: don't cook lean, already tender meats longer than an hour or two and chill it when done. 

Apparently not all the fine restaurants have figured this out. 

Avocado Green

Photo: Epicurious

Everyone knows: To keep a cut avocado green and fresh, just leave the pit in the cut half!

Except that everyone knows it doesn't work. Funny how something so easily disproven still floats around as kitchen advice.

So, what does work? Epicurious did some tests on some methods I've used and a few I haven't. On the no side: The pit, plastic wrap, lemon juice, and one that sounded smart to me but doesn't work, non-stick spray. 

(By the way, plastic wrap does work if you use wrap that's not oxygen-permeable, such as Saran Wrap Premium.)

So what did work? "Combining lemon juice and plastic wrap was by far the winning solution."

And if you're making guacamole or cutting the avocado, just use the method that kept the Titanic fresh for 73 years. Place it in a bowl and cover it with water.

For guacamole, the national Super Bowl super snack, mash it, press to remove captured air, add 1/2" of water and refrigerate. The next day, pour off and mix.

 

Gluten-Free

My household includes someone with celiac disease, so I cook gluten-free most of the time. Celiac (or coeliac) disease is an autoimmune disorder which is triggered by even tiny amounts of gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Affecting roughly 1 in 133 people, the complications are serious and the damage is lasting, so it's not just a case of avoiding gluten most of the time. For celiacs, the prohibition is total and permanent.

As a cook, it's not too difficult to manage once you learn what to look for on labels. There are many surprise sources of gluten on labels that don't say "wheat" — soy sauce, modified food starch, malt. Because even tiny amounts of gluten can trigger a reaction, contamination is an issue. Labels now will generally warn when a product is prepared on shared equipment, where wheat products are also prepared. For instance, oatmeal has no gluten, but Quaker oatmeal is processed alongside wheat products and has enough contamination to trigger reactions. Nuts are frequently processed on shared equipment. Once we learned the labeling, it became manageable. 

Gluten-free has become a bit of a craze. An unknown percentage of the population, said to be as much as 20%, has (or believes it has) a gluten sensitivity not as severe or as sensitive as celiac disease. And a lot of others have decided to avoid gluten, based on no real science. Many believe it's a weight-loss strategy. The good news is that valid or not, and fad or not, the popularity means many more gluten-free products are becoming available and manufacturers, restaurants, waiters, and suppliers are more knowledgable, all of which is good for the celiacs. 

There are many, many gluten substitutes. Some are more successful than others. It depends on the application. Some things are pretty easy, such as sauces where flour or a roux is used as the thickener. A range of thickeners can be used: Potato, corn, or tapioca starch, xanthan gum, even mashed potato flakes.

Baked good are harder, Cakes, especially highly chocolate ones, are not too difficult. Scones and relatively dry products like cookies work pretty well. And you can get creative, using cornbread instead of bread.

There are numerous flour substitutes, from Pamela’s, Glutino, Bob’s Red Mill, and others. I don’t bake much so can’t tell you how they compare. One I want to try is Cup 4 Cup, a supposedly excellent flour sub which came from Thomas Keller’s pastry chef. Keller backs the company. It's hard to find (the day I went to Draeger’s for some, it was sold out). It's available mail order, too, and at high=end places like Williams-Sonoma. 

As a general rule, anything that has a stretchy, gum-like or elastic texture, like pizza or bagels, is very hard to do; things without masking flavor like white bread, where wheat is the main flavor, are hard. We have made some GF pie crusts that are surprisingly good. 

Pasta is a huge challenge but happily there is a new kid on the block. Previously, the only passable one we found was Tinkyada, which is quite good. But now, Barilla has a GF variety which is so good, I even serve it to non-GF people. 

I'll post some GF recipes from time to time. Here's a really great one. These GF chocolate chip cookies are so good, it's hard to tell they are GF except for the tell-tale, grittiness in the after-taste. But it's the only defect and it's minor. And I'm looking at some formulation changes that may improve that aspect. 

Alton's Chewy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 8 ounces unsalted butter
• 11 ounces brown rice flour, approximately 2 cups
• 1 ¼ ounces cornstarch, approximately 1/4 cup
• ½ ounce tapioca flour, approximately 2 tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
• 10 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 1/4 cups
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1. Melt the butter in the microwave* or a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Once melted, pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the rice flour, cornstarch, tapioca flour, xantham gum, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Add both of the sugars to the bowl with the butter and using the paddle attachment, cream together on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
4. Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm, approximately 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Shape the dough into 2-ounce balls and place on parchment-lined* baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. (The recipe makes 24 cookies, so you'll do two pans at once, two batches). Bake for 14 minutes, rotating the pans after 7 minutes for even baking. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the pans for 2 minutes. Move the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely. Store cooked cookies in an airtight container.

* Don't skip the parchment paper. These cookies do stick.

Well Done, Done Well!

"Dave the inquisitive" asked another of his provocative questions: 

Since foodies go for medium-rare, and most recipes optimize for that, there must be a set of different techniques among that small black-sheep subset of the foodie world that actually prefers med-well or well-done, and has found ways to achieve that and still have tenderness and flavor.

Yes?

For example, I’ve had over-done fillet mignon, and it’s still to die for. So…

Any tips, meat-choices or cuts, cooking techniques, etc, for the well-done crowd?

Medium Rare: Snobbery or Sense?

Medium rare is the ideal for meats like filet mignon, pork loin, and loin cuts, which are simple muscles with little fat or connective tissue. The ideal of “medium rare” is not arbitrary snobbery; it maximizes tenderness and moistness. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats and Cook's Illustrated have both tested it. As Kenji writes in Serious Eats, doneness is a matter of personal taste, but perhaps there is a subjective consensus and a reason chefs prefer medium rare. Kenji "cooked five prime-grade New York strips at temperatures ranging from 120°F to 160°F and fed them to a group of a dozen tasters."

Illustration: Serious Eats
 
The most popular was good old medium rare, done to an internal temperature of 130°F. I've replicated this test myself, though not with a dozen tasters.

There is a good reason. As food cooks, moisture starts to release from the cells and become available but as we exceed medium and move toward well done, the meat contracts, squeezing out moisture like a sponge and the maximum fresh meat flavor is long gone. Moisture and flavor are at their peak at 130-135°F.

When people like well done, I think it’s because they are enjoying the seared flavor and most cooks fail to achieve a good sear in medium rare cooking. The ideal is a dark sear and pronounced crust while keeping the interior at 130-135. 

Doing Well

Whether we consider them gastronomically right or wrong, those who like their meat well done are our guests. So back to Dave's question. How do we accommodate a range of tastes? 

For a pan steak or grilled steaks, we just cook to order, bringing each steak to the desired doneness. For a roast, there are two ways. One is to serve the ends to the well-doners. This is ideal because they are not just getting well-done meat, they’re getting a lot of seared meat, which is probably what they really want. I am not immune to the lure of the end cuts. When there is carved roast beef on a buffet line, I always ask for an end, after I get a normal cut, because the ends are so well seared in a properly done larger roast. Knowledgable servers smile and appreciate the request.

But there are only two ends, so restaurants use a different strategy. They toss the steak into a pan and give it an extra shot of cooking, sometimes in the gravy or juices or finishing sauce. Some places keep some of the roast beef in the warmed juices so that even at room temperature, they pick up color and they serve that to those who ask for more doneness. 

How can the home cook maximize the quality of well done meat?

• Pan finish briefly and gently, and in the juices, to minimize damage.
• Serve with butter or a sauce to reduce dryness. 
• Use fattier cuts for well done.

More on doneness next week.

Seared Salmon?

Dave writes:

"It’s very common to find seared ahi (tuna), which I love. However, even though ahi, salmon, snapper and other fish make good sushi (raw), it is rare (ha ha) to find seared anything-else. Why?"

Dave raises a great point. Is there something unique about ahi, or is it just customary?

I think there are two reasons ahi is commonly seared. The first is that the tuna steaks used for seared ahi are very low in fat and can't tolerate even slight overcooking. Unlike salmon, which remains moist whether cooked medium or even well-done (hence its frequent appearance at large catered dinners), tuna becomes chokingly dry when cooked anything past rare. Searing is one of very few ways they can be cooked.

The second reason is the fresh taste of cool, raw tuna. It tastes like the sea. Pair that with a seared outside, crusted with sesame seeds and some soy, and you have a unique contrast.

Seared ahi requires extreme heat, to brown the exterior without cooking past a couple millimeters of depth. That's tricky to do in home kitchens. Alton Brown demonstrates how to turn a charcoal-starter chimney into a blast furnace. I tried it and it works, though I usually use cast iron on the stove top. I have also tried a blowtorch. 

I very often cook salmon so it's rare in the middle. It's the same idea as seared ahi but not quite the same doneness profile since the goal with ahi is to have it mostly raw with just the outermost edge seared; with salmon I just want it rare or medium rare, not necessarily raw. 

By the way, the way to sear salmon is with skin-on. Crispy skin on moist salmon is da bomb.

Turkey 2013

I have been delinquent in posting this year's progress. Now it's the day and the turkey is in the refrigerator contemplating its fate.

I know some people just want the turkey done but I love re-engineering it every year. (See my turkey page.) This year: Dry brined and dried in the refrigerator for a day. Dusted with a bit of salt plus baking powder to lower its pH. That should ensure a crisp skin. (On a Food Network special, they asked Bobby, Giada, Alton, and Ina what their favorite turkey parts were. My answer: the skin.)

Finished off with an herb paste: Under and over the skin, and deposited deep into slits in the white meat.

I usually use a 400°F oven and start the bird breast down, as recommended by Cook's Illustrated. But this year, I am following the advice of Meathead at AmazingRibs.com. I am planning to use 325°, place it on a rack above the pan, not in it, and skip the flipping. With less heat coming from all directions, and the legs getting it from top and bottom, the theory is I don't have to protect the white meat as much. 

I have a plan B. If the breast is done and the legs are not, I'll follow Bobby Flay's method and remove the legs and put them back in the oven in a covered pan, to braise, while the turkey rests.

My poor guests! They are always eating a science experiment! 

So far, no one has complained.

I'll Have my Burger Smashed

I was invited to a menu tasting at a new, soon-to-open Smashburger location. Although Smashburger has been around since 2007, it's new to the Bay Area and expanding rapidly. The new location, at Westgate in San Jose, will be number 241 in the chain. They claim to be the fastest growing food chain in history. 

My Burger Bias

A word about me and hamburgers. One of the ways I keep my eating relatively healthy is that I have a rule: When it comes to splurge food like burgers, ice cream, and fries, I don't eat any that aren't great. I just don't want to waste the calories on mediocre food and frankly, there is nothing more mediocre than the average fast-food burger. 

I bypass all the fast food chains except for an occasional In 'n Out. If I am going to have a burger, it will home made or from a local burger shop. My rule is generally that I won't have a burger at any place that's not allowed to cook it medium rare. 

Would Smashburger pass muster?

It's a Smash

What's unique at Smashburger is now they prepare the burger. You know how you see amateur chefs smashing burgers on the grill? It always makes me cringe. Each pat squeezes the juices out, which is why we see the leap of flames. However, and this is important, there is one time you not only may smash, indeed you must: When the cold patty first touches a pan or griddle. Cold meat doesn't lose juices because it doesn't have any yet. And that initial smash maximizes griddle contact, giving the best possible sear. Searing is what brings flavor to a burger. And Smashburger gets it.

(They also said that the sear seals in juices. That's a common myth (Harold McGee proved that) but we'll let it pass since searing is beneficial even when you have the reason wrong.) 

Smashburger's name comes from their smash, which they do using a special burger press.

Ten seconds on a 400 degree F griddle gives you — well, this:

And that's why I am willing to forgive the "seal in the juices" line.

The good news is that the patty has a strong, beefy flavor and their seasonings are well integrated. The bad news is that this is a thin patty and will never be medium rare. But it's juicy and the flavor is there. And the rest of the sandwich is well designed.

We sampled four burgers and three other sandwiches and several sides.

First up was the Classic Smash, with the usual accompaniments: lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, American cheese, and smash sauce on an egg button. It was a good, basic burger.

Next up was my favorite (and Christine told us, the one men most enjoy), the BBQ, bacon, cheddar, with bacon, cheddar, barbecue sauce, and haystack onions. This was an A+. What I most enjoyed about this burger is they didn't go overboard with anything. There were several strong flavors, none overdone. This is a meaty, delicious burger. 

The chicken sandwiches also benefit from Smash technology. By using thin breast fillets, Smashburger achieves great flavor, because the seasoning is so well married to meat, and a good sear while keeping the meat moist. There are two: The classic was my second favorite sandwich. The avocado club is more popular because of the juicy ingredients: fresh, perfect avocado slices, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and ranch dressing.

There's a veggie burger. The burger patty tasted mainly of black beans but was good in the sandwich, made very juicy by all the ingredients. But be careful: This sandwich is spicy. 

Every area has a regional sandwich and for us, it's the Bay Sandwich with portabella mushroom, arugula, and truffle mayo. I liked the gourmet flair but thought it a bit heavy with the truffle, which a lot of wanna-be gourmets tend to overdo. I would order this with a very light touch on the mayo. 

Actually, I would order all the sandwiches "easy on the sauce" or ask for it on the side because I thought they were all overly juicy (if there can be such a thing). 

Sides

The best is yet to come. First, let's talk sides. 

Veggie fries: Carrots and green beans cooked perfectly. Bright, tender yet still crunchy. A bit too oily for me but otherwise perfect. 

And the sweet potato fries which are the best I have ever had. Perfectly fried, lightly seasoned. A+ for these. 

The fries are served with various dipping sauces but I'll skip those because the fries themseleves are so tasty. The truffle mayo, in particular, was too heavy on the truffle.

Who Orders Salad at a Burger Joint? Me, Next Time

Now, check out this salad. It's huge and the ingredients are fresh and gorgeous. I might show up here for this! Did I say it's huge?

Shake the Way it Used to Be

Finally, I left room for the shakes and am glad I did. They are soda-fountain quality. Made with Haagen Dasz ice cream, not too thick, and they come with the metal mixing cup, the old-fashioned way, so you have some more after you drain your glass. We tasted two: The PB&J, which was a subtle peanut (from ground Nutter Butter cookies) and strawberry jam; and the Oreo.

But I had a request: I asked for a malted. No one makes malteds anymore! What's up with that? Well, Smashburger does, and it was excellent. Chocolatey and rich, with just the right amount of malt. 

The Verdict

I say it's a smash! Great flavors, quality ingredients, stunning salads, sumptuous sides, and killer shakes. 

Dry Ice Ice Cream

If you watch any cooking shows at all, you will soon see some chef making ice cream using liquid nitrogen. There are a couple of reasons they do this. One is that — well, it's liquid nitrogen. If I had liquid nitrogen, I would use it whenever I could!

A more practical reason is that it makes great ice cream. The key to smooth ice cream is the smallest possible ice crystals and a great way to achieve that is very fast freezing. Liquid nitrogen is −196 °C (−321 °F). 

A third reason is the ability to very quickly make ice cream to order, with any flavor they can imagine. It takes just a minute.

Well, I don't have liquid nitrogen. But dry ice, which is frozen carbon dioxide, is available at the grocery store, for around $1-2 a pound. At −78.5 °C (−109.3 °F), it's nowhere near as cold, but it's cold enough. And it's cool, both figuratively and literally.

The method is simple. Make any ice cream mix and refrigerate overnight. Get a pound of dry ice for each pound of mix. Break it into chunks with a hammer (this is fun).

Grind it into something that looks like snow, using a food processor.  

Put the mix in a stand mixer and pour in the snow. In a few minutes, you have lovely ice cream.

Some recipes suggest using a blender for making the snow:

Fail. In our blender, at least, the blade could not reach the chunks, which jammed in the bottom. The food processor worked well. 

Recipe: Dry Ice Ice Cream

1 vanilla bean (or 2 tsp vanilla extract — see note)
1 ¾ cups heavy cream
1 ¼ cups whole milk
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
6 large egg yolks
Food processor
Stand mixer

Caution: Be sure to read the precautions that accompany your dry ice. Basically, don't touch it and be careful in step 3 and 4 to avoid serving dry ice snow.

1. 4-24 Hours Ahead of Time: Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using tip of paring knife, scrape out vanilla seeds. Combine vanilla bean, seeds, cream, milk, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, corn syrup, and salt in medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is steaming steadily and registers 175 degrees, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.

2. While cream mixture heats, whisk yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk 1 cup heated cream mixture into egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and registers 180 degrees, 7 to 14 minutes. Immediately pour custard into large bowl and let cool until no longer steaming, 10 to 20 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, place in refrigerator, at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

3. Place a strainer on the stand mixer's bowl and pour custard into bowl. Discard vanilla beans (or rinse, dry, and place in a jar with sugar to make vanilla sugar).

Using a hammer, break dry ice into pieces no larger than a golf ball. Drop into food processor and grind into "snow." 

Place bowl on stand mixer and start mixer at medium speed. Add dry ice snow, a half cup at a time at first, then a tablespoon at a time as the ice cream begins to stiffen. As the mixture freezes, you will need to increase mixer speed. Continue until the mixture is ice cream consistency and the mixer becomes labored. If you add too much snow, it will collect at the bottom of the bowl, under the ice cream. 

4. Scoop ice cream into bowls, being -very- careful to leave any dry ice snow deposits behind. Dry ice will burn the mouth. If you're worried about this, transfer ice cream to freezer overnight before consuming.

Ice cream can be stored in freezer for up to 5 days.

Note: Two teaspoons of vanilla extract can be substituted for the vanilla bean; stir the extract into the cold custard in step 3.

 

Egg Chemistry

The American Chemical Society, a professional organization of chemists and chemical engineers, hosts lectures and seminars, frequently about one of my favorite topics, food chemistry. 

Here is a recording of a live broadcast, from their annual meeting, featuring food chemist and author of Cookwise, Shirley Corriher, a frequent Good Eats guest in the early seasons.

http://www.livestream.com/acswebinars/video?clipId=pla_00af849b-9d57-4483-905d-5d111b554b83

Fast forward to 14:45 -- that's where it actually starts. Mostly preamble, the real content starts at 16:45 or so. 

Asparagus x 22

One of my favorite blogs, Serious Eats, puts the spotlight on asparagus -- 22 times!

22 Asparagus Recipes We Love

My favorite is still to just broil or grill so it's nicely caramelized and add a bit of water to the pan to steam it for a minute. Saucy add-ons, like a vinaigrette or just butter, take it to the top!

Spring Salad with Poached Egg

Star Chefs and the Wines They Love

Sometimes, you get to do the foodie thing and benefit a very worthy cause! On April 28, there is just such an opportunity with "Star Chefs and the Wines They Love." This huge, fun event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View features ten South Bay Area chefs who will prepare great dishes and offer paired wines.

The event benefits Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, which recruits and trains volunteers to be court-appointed advocates for kids who are in foster care. What's this mean? Foster kids — who are in the "system" through no fault of their own, because they were abused or neglected — receive care from their foster homes but what they don't receive is consistent support. An advocate represents the child's interest in

This event features ten top chefs serving great dishes and fabulous wines!

Here are the details:

Sunday, April 28, 2013

4:30pm – 9:00pm

• Ticket Price: $150 per person

• Silent and Live Auctions

• Cocktail Attire

Computer History Museum

1401 N. Shoreline Boulevard

Mountain View, CA 94043

More details: tinyurl.com/chefevent

14 Ways to Cook Bacon

Blogger Jillee has tabulated 14 Ways to Cook Bacon.

Her favorite: The waffle maker. Not a bad idea -- heat from top and botton, automatic flattening, hills and valleys to drain the grease and because it's closed, splatter containment. 

My favorite remains the oven. Not fast enough for Jillee's family but I it's 15-20 minutes unattended and mess free. I don't use a rack -- the grease drains well enough and contrary to what Jillee suggests, no need to use a rack to keep the bacon from curling. It behaves. 

I had to laugh at "in the smoker." Smoked bacon. Hmmmmm. I am firing up that bad boy tomorrow, as it turns out. Will let you know. 

I don't know that I would count all these small variants as 14 ways but I am not going to fault her. Any article that says "bacon" 159 times is OK by me. 

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