Food Terminology

Last night, on the 1st episode of Next Iron Chef, the participating chefs kept tossing around the word confit. Now, I know of duck confit, but I've never heard of someone making mango confit or salmon confit. Both sort of defy the definition of the word. If you look at Barron's Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst, which I have owned and used since 1999 at least, you would not that confit is defined as such, "...is derived from an ancient method of preserving meat (usually goose, duck or pork) whereby it is salted and slowly cooked in its own fat. The cooked meat is then packed into a crock or pot and covered with its cooking fat, which acts as a seal and preservative."


It certainly seemed like everyone had just learned the word so they were using it as much as possible - blame it on the foodie I suppose. groan.


So are they just tossing around words to impress people who don't own a copy of the Food Lover's Companion? If (and that's a big IF) Food Network is interested in getting people to cook - which I realize these cooking contest are not designed to do - you would think they would advocate for proper use of terminology. I would have expected, at a minimum, that Alton would throw the BS flag on the chefs... disappointing. 

Flavors ...

These blog posts are written long hand first. I'm not sure why except I can do it when I want - especially in boring meetings. Another thing I do in boring meetings, an aside: I spend too much time in meetings - is think of flavors combinations that I think would be interesting to try (read: nectarine and jalapeno jam). This is partly due to a fascination with canning. Oh, an due to my love of a new (for me) book The Flavor Bible. It is fascinating - the book has given me a  new way to think about flavor.

When I want to develop a new recipe, often times, I'll sit around eating something (cherries) while smelling or tasting other things. So when I wanted to pickle some cherries, I ate cherries and smelled herbs and spice to see what seemed to fit. I have yet to look at the cherry section of The Flavor Bible to see if I've made some dreadful mistake, but in a couple of weeks when I taste the cherries, then I'll go look at the book.


Recipe Note: Cherries pickled with white wine vinegar, cloves, black peppercorns, and bay. 

Canning on my own time table - an experiment

Is it possible to can something over a few days instead of just one long (hot) afternoon? I think more people would try canning if you could make things in a step-type process.

So that's what I'm going to try and see if it works - there are some recipes that might not work in this type of process, but I think the critical step is where in the recipe you decide to stop.
Where do you decide it's safe to leave off, cool down, refrigerate, and start again the next day (or so).
And another thought - I read somewhere to freeze blueberries during summer and use them to make jam later in the year - even in winter perhaps when heating up the kitchen seems like a good idea. So, I've cut up some local green jalapeno peppers and some local red serrano peppers. I put them in a zip top bag and then those two into freezer bag and found room for them in the freezer.
I figure later in the fall, when the kitchen is done (who the hell knows when that will be), I'll pull them out and make red and green pepper jelly - who knows that might be a Christmas present for a few people.
My logic, if it can be called that, is that since the starting point for the jelly is just water that has be used to simmer the peppers* and not the peppers themselves, time served in the freezer shouldn't have an impact on the outcome of the recipe. We'll see...


* Recipes that are titled "jelly" and still use the peppers are gross and are not jelly.

Dill Pickles

As I have said before, I'm not a big fan of dill pickles, excepting on a media noche - but that is a sublime sandwich experience. That said, MotH and boy both like dills on other things so in an attempt (or two) should be made. 


I'm lazy. These dill pickles are refrigerator dills, but on a first attempt, I think that is acceptable. Perhaps next summer I'll brine for days on end, but not now. 


Sad Note: Local pickling cukes are over and out here now.
Happy Note: Green peanuts still rollin' on in. 


 Wonder:  How much does a bushel of green peanuts cost?
 Wonder also: How much is a bushel ?
 Wonder as well: How long would it take to boil a bushel?

Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Equipment: 5 pint jars, with appropriate lid stuff.


Cukes:
4 lbs of cukes
2 onions (optional)
5 Tbs pickling salt




Put scrubbed whole cukes in glass bowl, cover with boiling water briefly, and drain. Slice into 1/4" slices. Slice onions and place w/cukes in strainer over bowl. Add salt and stir, let sit 3 hours. Rinse and most importantly taste. If they are still too salty, soak in cold water for ten minutes, check again and repeat as necessary until they are pleasantly salty. 


Brine:
3 c vinegar (white wine is lovely)
3 c H2O
7 T pickling salt
1/2 c sugar
3 1/2 t Pickling Spice


Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, 10 minutes.


In each jar:
1 tsp dill seed
1 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
4 sprigs of fresh dill


And ...
Pack jars with cukes and onions in jars that include the above. Pour in brine, release bubbles and seal (in scrupulously clean jars and rings w/new lids)*. Let cool in a draft free part of the kitchen (not right under the A/C vent if you get what I mean) and they go pop pop pop. Put in fridge, wait three to four weeks - if you can (insert evil laugh here). 


* If you do not know what this means, please do your homework at this site or here. 


Sources: Amalgamation (see pickling books in my librarything), plus a little playing around.

More ... thoughts on squash pickles

While I wasn't a vegetable gardener that first year I made pickles, we had a good bit of local produce from farms in and around Pensacola. So weekly, we (MotH, Dog1, Dog2 and me) went on a drive to the farmers' market near the river in Milton to see what was available - and yellow squash was plentiful and therefore cheap. At the worst, I wouldn't waste too much money* if I jacked it up.

The recipe started as one from the internet I found and like many recipes for me I couldn't quite make it as directed even that first time. I had to mess about with it - and that's the case for most recipes.

I have strong feelings about these pickles. First - You must use turmeric. I didn't the first time, largely because I was too lazy to get any and because I couldn't see how it could make any real difference. That was a mistake. Must. Use. Turmeric. Be warned liquid with turmeric will stain your pretty dishtowels with dragonflies on them. Second - I ate a lot of these pickles in the days following a hurricane. When the dominate noise was from generators and chain saws and all outdoors when from changing from initially smelling like pine sap from obliterated trees to smelling like wet nasty things that the trash men aren't coming to get for a while. All the while  - with all that associated history - these are still damn good pickles and I make them every year. Reminders of a hurricane or not.

*except in jars, lids, pot lifters, etc... you get the idea.

What I've done today...

Since coming home from work, I've made blueberry syrup, a batch of chocolate-heath bar-pecan shortbread cookies (Thank You America's Test Kitchen) and 2 pizzas for dinner --- on the grill no less and am very tired.

Still so much to do while the last remnants of summer are here...

Jalapeno Jelly
Serrano Jelly
Butter Pecan Cookies (can't find my favorite recipes - am devastated)
Another Key Lime Pie (more traditional)
Hot Carrots

It's getting darker earlier and earlier now which makes me want to cook more - just in time for the kitchen to be torn up. Ugh.

Poured rain for over a week now - given up on keep up with total - it's been toad strangler after another. One that finished up with a nice light rain - a bird rain  - where all the birds come out and chirp. I imagine it's a nice shower for them. But it's one of my favorite things - I love rain, rainy days, going outside in the rain (as long as there is no lightening).

Kitchen - first frustration

First day of true frustration with contractor - can't start anything (ANYTHING!) until cabinets arrive. ETA - end of the month. Damn it. That pushes remodel into mid November - prime cooking month  - damn it.*

*But it's a few weeks reprieve from packing up the kitchen (yeah!).

Big Food vs. Big Insurance

Very interesting read from Michael Pollan. It's short but makes lots of sense to me. As someone who tries to eat local as much as possible and I'd like to see and would certainly be willing to support "a diversified, regional food economy" and expect I'm not alone. Now if someone could find a way for us to afford the said "regional food economy" I'd really appreciate it. Anyone? Anyone?


Other comments on Pollan's opinion piece: Locally (Mobile!) 


But I thought this Pollan piece is so far my favorite (excepting Harry Balzer - groan). My counter point later. 


Thanks to the New York Times for letting Big (Evil) Food be a topic of criticism.  

Attention Retirees: Get out of Sam's Club

A little off topic, but you know I don't care  - wait - this is my blog thing so everything is on topic if I want it to be.

To: Retired People
From: Working Stiffs

Stay the hell out of Sam's Club on  the weekend. Go to Sam's during the week ____ the damn work week. You know when the rest of us are ... um ... working ... putting aside money for your retired-ness.

I would just once like to go to Sam's to get the few usual things we get there p'towels, peanut butter, milk (oh, and beer) with out you sloth-like creatures in the way. Stop snacking at every applewood-smoked bacon station - by the way, I love applewood-smoked bacon - come on Maverick Farms show some love.

Retirees, you are slow and obviously have plenty of time to waste and stop at every food trough and get in my damn way.

Next:  List of things I will never do when I get old.

It's the obligatory end of summer and ....

And time for articles about pickles and preserving. While I appreciate these, it's a shame that it only happens at this time of year. Now perhaps it's a shame because individuals and companies are only trying to fill up space since there is not much else going on -- Halloween Parties and Thanksgiving are a little ways off yet - though you wouldn't  know that based on magazine covers. Perhaps it's a shame because I think you can pickle and preserve year around if you put your mind to it, but I'm the chick with a fridge so full of bread and butter pickles there is barely any room for the beer (gasp!).

I did think this was interesting enough to keep. 


And what about Canvolution?  Canning Across America's mission is right up my alley: Canning Across America (CAA) is a nationwide, ad hoc collective of cooks, gardeners and food lovers committed to the revival of the lost art of “putting by” food.  Amen.