What the World Eats

Dom Bettinelli points out this photo essay, What the World Eats.

On some levels it is what we would expect with many packaged foods from the Westernized countries. On the other hand, I was stunned to see that a German family spends $500 per week to feed 4 people. Now what would this have been if a French family had been shown I wonder? I always am told that they spend on food the discretionary income equivalent to what Americans spend on technology. I have to say that I am now feeling better about my weekly grocery store bill as it generally is below the American ones I saw and I always thought it was pretty high.

Joyful Anticipation of the Coming Celebration

Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap, and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons; while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable Parks. And now the two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker's they had smelled the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage in onion, these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled.

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Omelettes Made in a Ziploc? That Just Ain't Right.

It's funny ... and weird ... and kind of intriguing. A homemade boil-in-bag breakfast. Men in Aprons have the instructions if you want to give it a try.

This really seems perfect for guys. It combines a science experiment with breakfast.

My secret informant, Siggy, confides that he has tried it and "it works great!"

Crunch

This is a homemade Toffee-Popcorn-Nut recipe that my parents made without fail for every Christmas.

Me?

Well ... Dallas is so much more humid and I run out of time and ... ok, look, I'm not going to lie, especially with Santa checking that list. It's just that I will always put the other recipes first and by the time that I am nerved to deal with molten hot sugar, Christmas is upon us and we have more cookies than we can ever eat. "Why make more sweets?" I tell myself.

Also, truth be told, the humid weather does have something to do with it as well. I want it crunchy and chewy ... not soft and sticky. That ain't easy to achieve unless the Crunch is made only a day or two before Christmas, just when the time crunch really takes hold on my schedule.

Now that I have all that avoidance out of the way, I have to say that this is the popcorn that ruined me for any other toffee popcorn experience. Seriously. Nothing else stands up to that chewy, buttery, crunchy combination.

You know, this year I actually may make it. I can't stand to think of the girls never having this delicious stuff. Yep. I'm doing it for the girls. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Crunch

Step 1:
2 quarts popped corn
1-1/3 cups pecans
2/3 cup almonds
Mix popped corn and nuts on a jelly roll sheet (cookie sheet with edges).

Step 2:
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Combine in a 1½ quart pan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes or until mixture turns a light caramel color.

Step 3:
1 teaspoon vanilla
Remove caramel from heat, mix in vanilla and pour over corn and nut mix. Stir to coat well; spread out to dry. Break apart and store in tightly covered container. Makes about 2 pounds.

I Don't Know About The Tom-inator, But ...

... I have no doubt that the rest of this is the best barbecue in Atlanta. Our co-worker Chris's brothers run it and he's given us some of their ribs as a Christmas gift before. Mmmm, mmm, good! As this Fox News guy attests to.

Fine Art Friday

Red Wine by Qiang Huang,
the featured artist in today's Fine Art Festival.

How to Peel a Banana

Here's one reason to read David Leibovitz. He's so darned funny ...

*To Peel the Banana: Hold the banana in one hand near the base. With your other hand, grab the top stem, and pull it firmly downward. If it gives you trouble, rock it back-and-forth, trying to break the area between the stem and the skin just beneath. If that doesn’t work, take a sharp paring knife, being careful not to cut yourself, hold the blade facing away from you and make a small incision on the side of the skin near the tip. Set the knife aside the tear the skin of the banana using your hands, which should make the skin peel away nicely.

Pull each side of skin down from the banana, exposing the fleshy fruit beneath. Once the banana is almost completely visible, firmly yank the skin down as far as possible and extract the banana from the skin. Discard the skin (it can be frozen, well-wrapped, for up to six month and saved for another use, if desired.) The banana should be used immediately. If not, it can be pureed then stored in a container with a sheet of plastic film pressed against the top, and refrigerated for up to 48 hours.

(Disclosure: The International Association of Banana Peelers, Slicers and Blenders, nor any liquor companies, are sponsors of the site. The instructions for peeling bananas and the recipe are a direct result of my trial-and-error methods, which I developed exclusively for readers.)

The other reason to read him? Because this footnote accompanies a recipe called The Easiest Chocolate Ice Ream Recipe ... Ever which doesn't require an ice cream machine and evidently keeps a perfect consistency in the freezer for months! Wow!

Why Fruitcake for the Holidays?

Did you know that fruitcake is considered a holiday dessert to this day because of a law that was passed in England in the 18th century? The law restricted fruitcake consumption to the holiday season because it was considered far too rich for regular eating. These days, whether people think of fruitcake kindly or with deep suspicion, it is something to make, consume and share around the holidays.

Slashfood has the scoop. I don't make fruitcake but I love it ... and who wouldn't when it is from the Collin Street Bakery? Mmmmm ...

Thanksgiving ... Already?

Finally, this weekend I could no longer ignore the fact that Thanksgiving is this week. Luckily, our menu, like most, is set except for a few things which are my Thanksgiving "funny bone" and that I get quirky with every year. Variations are allowed by my family in the cranberry relish and sweet potatoes ... and that is only because I am the only one who eats them. Our day-after-Thanksgiving meal also is mandated by tradition. Chef salad featuring turkey (of course), blue cheese dressing and crumbled bacon (the real thing please!) on top. Mmmmmm, crumbled bacon ...

Here are a few links to recipes I've posted that we'll have at the feast.

Holiday Central
Ok, not my recipes but O Chef must answer just about every question you could think of there ... including any that my "short-hand" recipes may leave you with!

Herbed Thanksgiving Stuffing
This is the best stuffing ever and cooks in a slow cooker. I have made this four times now and never been disappointed. It really frees up the oven for other things and, if you happen to have a problem with sticking your hand up a turkey (no problemo here) then you're set free from that as well.

Skillet Cornbread
If you happen to like cornbread stuffing (which I do not), you may want to make this for your base. I've never found a better recipe.

Pecan Topped Sweet Potato Casserole
This was new for Thanksgiving last year and it was delicious. However, this year, I'm going to try Sweet Potatoes Baked in Cane Syrup from The Texas Cowboy Cookbook (scroll to the bottom of the post). Why? Just because it sounds interesting.

Mashed Potato Dinner Rolls
These are a favorite any time but especially at Thanksgiving ... all-American dinner rolls.

Cranberry Ginger Relish
I made this last year. Then I made another recipe when that ran out ... and then another. Well, you get the idea.

Perfect Piecrust
This is not a misnomer. Very easy and very delicious. It is long but that is to give detailed directions. You can't go wrong with this.

Pecan Pie
This is non-negotiable. Gotta have it.

Pumpkin Pie
Are you allowed to have Thanksgiving without this? Or watch the Cowboys play without having some? Nope.

We'll also be having some Greek Green Beans (a pound of green beans, juice of a lemon, a can of diced tomatoes, a chopped onion, some olive oil ... all simmered slowly for about an hour ... mmmm) and ... something else green ... maybe spinach? Not that we need any more food, mind you, but my mind quails at the sheer heaviness of it all without some veg to balance it.

LEFTOVERS
These are not usually a problem around our place but The Common Room has some interesting looking recipes, especially that casserole. Check it out.

Mashed Potato Dinner Rolls

This weekend I made a batch of these to have on hand for Thanksgiving. This recipe is from The Grass Roots Cookbook by Jean Anderson. I don't think it is in print any more so if you see a copy for sale, snap it up. It was the result of a "best cooks" series run by Family Circle, for which Anderson traveled thousands of miles and profiled many home cooks around the country known locally for their excellent cooking. This is one of the best cookbooks I know for representing regional cooking in the last days when such a thing was widespread and cooks vied to be the best. Every recipe I have tried from it has always been wonderful.

These rolls are no exception and my family loves them. They are the epitome of those soft, slightly sweet, buttery American rolls that are so difficult to find these days. Bakeries carry ciabiotta, authentic baguettes, fresh flour tortillas ... but a good American roll is hard to find.

I make these using leftover mashed potatoes. The fact that they are seasoned doesn't really make any difference to the rolls. Also, I have found it is good to leave the dough slightly sticky. Otherwise the rolls will be dry. I also tend to add 1-1/2 teaspoons malt powder (from King Arthur Flour) when I have it around.

If I am making them to serve to a large group, then I will bake them as described in the recipe. The result is very pretty, as our Japanese exchange student from long ago said, "Like a flower!" Otherwise, in a more utilitarian fashion, I make 48 balls of dough and put them 6-rolls x 8-rolls into a half-sheet jelly roll pan. (This is a large size pan that you can get from a restaurant supply company. I find them invaluable for cookie baking and much more.) I then freeze them in 6-roll squares to pull out for dinner.

Here is the recipe, straight from the book.

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup hot, unseasoned mashed potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 package active dry yeast (That would be 2-1/2 teaspoons for those using bulk yeast ... also available from King Arthur flour. I double this amount if I am in a hurry.)
2 cups warm milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
9-10 cups all-purpose flour (enough to make a soft but manageable dough)

1. Combine butter, mashed potatoes, sugar and salt and stir until butter melts (if using leftover mashed potatoes, melt the butter and add it ... that warms up the potatoes). Cool mixture to 105 to 115 (or lukewarm).
2. Sprinkle yeast over warm milk in a large mixing bowl (milk should feel comfortably warm when dropped on wrist). Stir until yeast dissolves.
3. Add mashed-potato mixture to yeast; beat in eggs. Add the flour about 2 cups at a time, beating well to blend. Add only enough flour to give you a soft but workable dough -- it should not be so sticky that you cannot knead it.
4. Turn dough onto a floured board and, with well-floured hands, knead about 5 minutes or until soft and springy (I do the mixing in my Kitchen Aid with the beater until it is "shaggy" and switch to a kneading hook for the kneading ... but for many years I made these by hand).
5. Turn dough into a buttered bowl and brush the surface with melted butter. Cover with a clean dry cloth and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk -- about 2 hours. (This dough takes somewhat longer than usual to rise because it contains only 1 package of yeast.)
6. Punch dough down and let rest about 10 minutes. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead lightly again -- about 2-3 minutes.
7. Pinch off bits of dough and roll into balls about the size of golf balls. Arrange one layer deep, in concentric rings, in three well-greased 9-inch layer-cake pans (I also have used pie pans for this), spacing the rolls so that they do not quite touch one another (they will after they have risen). Cover pans with clean dry cloth, set in a warm, draft-free spot and again let rise until double in bulk -- about 1 hour or slightly longer.
8. Bake the rolls in a very hot oven (450) for 10 minutes or until rolls are nicely browned and sound hollow when thumped with your fingers. Serve hot with plenty of butter.
9. Note: Any rolls not eaten right away can be cooled to room temperature, then wrapped in foil (do not separate rolls) and frozen to enjoy later.
   

True Confessions of Two Chefs

David Leibovitz reviews Alice Water's new cookbook, The Art of Simple Food, and begins with a classic reminiscence.

During my interview at Chez Panisse, as I sat across the table from Alice Waters in the main dining room at the restaurant, she asked me, "What do you eat at home?"

Since I'm not exactly convincing when lying, I told her.

"I eat popcorn, mostly." And continued, "I'm a restaurant cook. I don't have time to eat at home."

(Although I did conveniently omit the fact that it was microwave popcorn...)

In spite of that, or because of my chutzpah, I got hired and worked at Chez Panisse for a long time. What nailed it for me and endeared me to Alice, years later, wasn't her politics or her philosophy on cooking. It was when I told her, "I really like to drink coffee leftover from the morning, with milk in it, that's been sitting on the counter all day."

And she said, "Me too."

Go read the review and take a look at that Gingersnaps recipe he excerpts. Mmmm, those look fantastic.

Cross-posted at Happy Catholic.