PICKLED BEETS

We love our beets around here, and pickled beets have been a favorite of mine as long as I can remember.  In the 50's and 60's when I was growing up, pickled beets were usually part of the "relish tray" that was always put out for Sunday dinner, and which also included carrot and celery sticks, olives, and other small bites.   Sunday dinner was usually served around 1 or 2 PM, after services at the United Methodist church.  Somewhere along the way the frumpy sounding relish tray gave way to the ultra chic sounding Crudite', but they both serve the same purpose of light nibbles to stave off hunger as everyone took their seats and the final carving and serving began.

Of course my mom's beets are the best, how could they not be?  Here is my version based on a recipe from "America's Best State Fair Recipes" compiled by Catherine Hanley.   This recipe is from Loraine LaPole of Anderson, Indiana and was an Indiana State Fair winner.  It doesn't say from which year, but the book was published in 1993.

6 pounds of beets,well scrubbed
1 1/2 cups of water
3 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons allspice
2 cinnamon sticks

I also added a couple whole cloves, bay leaf and mustard seed, which were not in Miss LaPole's recipe.

Blanch the beets until tender but still firm-20 to 25 minutes.

Wash and scald 6 (1 pint) jars-I just ran them through the dishwasher on sanitize.

In a non-reactive kettle bring the water, vinegar, two sugars, salt, and spices to the boil. 

Slip the skins from the blanched beets and cut into uniform quarters, if you are using baby or really small beets, leave them whole.

Add the beets to the vinegar mixture and simmer for 15 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, pack the hot jars with the beets and some of the spices.  Cover the beets with the pickling solution, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.  Remove the air bubble by running a knife inside the edge of the jars.  Wipe the rims clean and seal with hot lids and screw bands.  Process 30 minutes in a boiling water bath.  I processed mine in a steam canner my mom gave me as a gift a couple of years ago-uses less water and energey and keeps the kitchen cooler while you are working.

Of course pickles taste better after they sit for a couple of weeks if you can resist opening them-I can't.  

Summer Figs

One small upside to our strange weather this year is a bumper fig harvest.  Usually the local figs become ripe in late summer early fall-often in October.  But this year the fig bushes didn't die down over the winter, so they have been producing earlier and more abundantly.  Here are some from my friend Ardel's farm.

For a special at the restaurant one night last week, we tossed the figs with some fettucini, proscuitto, capers, and sweet peppers for a special.  The salty proscuitto and briny capers were a delicious compliment to the sweet juicy figs.  While it might seem a little strange to add fresh fruit to your pasta, it was the perfect vehicle to carry this mix of savory and sweet.

Heartbreaking Summer Corn

Here is a picture of our local corn this year.  The drought this summer is an agriculture disaster.  This is sweet corn, but the field corn is worse and the bean crop is almost as bad.  If you shop in stores and aren't close to a rural area you probably won't see this-picture perfect produce will continue to arrive from other parts of the world.  But it will affect prices soon.

While the absence of sweet corn is bad enough, the lack of field corn as feed affects any livestock grower.  Cattlemen can't graze their animals-the grass is all burnt up and they can't afford to buy the corn that is available.  Beef prices will temporarily go down as the cattlemen rush to market the animals as soon as their weight is minimally met, and next year beef prices will probably skyrocket.  Dairy herds are of course in just as bad of shape-we are losing small dairy herds daily.

Not to get political, but the congress adjourned without addressing the farm bill.  While some of the grain farmer's have crop insurance-there is currently no help for the livestock end of things. 

Pepperazzi-My Kitchen Conservatory Class Featuring Peppers

The subject of peppers is vast, and this class barely skimmed the surface.  I chose some very common and readily available peppers, one canned (Chipotle)-one pickled (Pepperoncini), and 5 fresh (Jalapeno. Habenero, Serrano, Thai Bird's Eye, and Bell).


Peppers are used in so many diverse cuisines, as my friend Ruths says "it's all over the map".  Here are the dishes we did.

Italian Beef with Gardiniera

We used the pepperoncini, jalapeno, and sweet red and green bell.


Thai Fried Chicken
We used the Thai Bird's Eye

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

We used the Habanero

Mexican Pork Tinga-we used Jalapeno and Chipotle in Adobo

Peruvian Ceviche-we used the Habanero and Serrano-although the sweet potato and corn garnish sort of cover up all the fish and peppers.

Here are some candid shots of the class preparing the dishes-there were so many people taking pictures it almost looked like a photography class.

Eggplant Involtini

Here is another variation on my last post-this time I made it at home, grilling the items instead of breaded and sauteed and replacing the veal with chicken.  The rolls were stuffed with goat's cheese instead of the mozzarella-and no cheese on top.  It lightened the dish considerably.  I served some braised King Mushrooms on the side.

Thinly slice eggplant, grill the slices with a bit olive oil

Slightly pound boneless chicken breasts

Lay out the eggplant slice and top with a slice of proscuitto, then a slice of chicken, spread out a few leaves of fresh spinach, and place the cheese in the center.

Roll up the package and bake with tomato sauce for 25 to 30 minutes.

The Nightgown

I'm not sure where the name came from, but it is a fun Italian dish that I would call Eggplant Involtini, stuffed with veal, proscuitto, and fresh mozzarella.  We made this recently in a team building event held at Kitchen Conservatory.

1 cup dried bread crumbs
Flour, as required
Three eggs, whipped
Olive oil for saute
2 slices of eggplant
2 veal cutlets-scaloppini
2 thin slices of proscuitto
Fresh mozzarella as required
1 to 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
Grated parmesan, as required

 Thinly slice the eggplant on the mandolin into long strips, bread them by dipping first in the flour, then the eggs, and finallythe bread crumbs;saute them in a saute pan with a little olive oil-drain on toweling and set aside.

Pound the veal into uniformly thin square pieces.

Lay a slice of the veal out, lay a slice of the proscuitto over the veal, lay a rectangle of the cheese in the center of the proscuitto and roll it up into a snug cylindrical package, tucking in the sides of the veal as you roll it, pressing to seal.  Dip the Veal rolls into the flour, then the egg mixture, and then breadcrumbs;saute in the skillet until browned on all sides-about 4 minutes.

Lay out a slice of the eggplant and spread it with tomato sauce (1 to 2 tablespoons), sprinkle with parmesan cheese, wrap the veal roll with the eggplant slice.

Meanwhile, spread 2 to 3 talespoons of tomato sauce on the bottom of a small, shallow baking dish.   Place the veal roll in the baking dish seam side down.

Cover with additional tomato sauce, top with a thin slice of the mozzarella and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
Serves 2

Any nice homemade ragu or tomato sauce will work for this dish.

Coctel de Camarones

I've been eating in alot of Mexican places lately and the shrimp cocktail is at the top of my list of things to order.  They are usually served in these huge icy bowls with soda crackers on the side.  I don't know why anyone would need crackers when there are always lots of hot corn chips-unless it's a Mexican faux-pas to eat chips with shrimp cocktail.  The sauce is a little on the thin side and slightly sweet. 

Here is what I did:
I first reduced some V8 cocktail juice with some garlic and bay leaf.  When the juice was slightly thickened I threw in the shrimp and let them cook in the juice.  Remove the pan from the heat just before the shrimp are done-they will continue to cook for a couple of more minutes.  Chill the shrimp in the sauce.

When the shrimp were chilled, I added the following:
diced onion
diced pepper-both hot and sweet
diced tomato
diced avocado
chopped fresh cilantro
fresh lime juice
salt and pepper

Chill a couple of hours before serving.  Serve with additional avocado, cilantro, lime wedges, and corn chips or soda crackers.

Lobster Boil at kitchen Conservatory

We had a blast last night at KC,  Lobster boils are so easy and fun it is hard to beat for a casual get together.  By the time class was over everyone was hugging and exchanging emails and promising to stay in touch. 

Ingredients:
lobster
red potatoes
corn on the cob
sausage (kielbasa, andouille, or Spanish chorizo)
manilla clams
shrimp
mussels

We did our boil in a turkey fryer.  So now you have another way of using that turkey fryer.  We used 1 1/4 pound lobsters (called chicken lobsters because of their size) purchassed from Bob's Seafood, they were fresh and lively.  There isn't really a recipe for this just timing.  In a pot large enough to hold all the vegetables and lobsters, place a layer of seaweed put in the potatoes, add enought water plus some beer to fill the pot, leaving room for the rest of the ingredients.  Add 2 Tablespoons of sea salt for every quart of water you use.  Bring to the boil and cook the potatoes 5 to 8 minutes.  Add the sausage, and corn on the cob, cook 3 to 5 minutes, add the lobsters head down into the water and boil 5 minutes, add the manilla clams and shrimp boil for 2 minutes, add the mussels and cook until every things is opened and the lobsters are bright red-1 to 2 minutes usually.  (if you use clams that are not manilla, their cooking time will increase).  Strain  and dump onto a table lined with butcher paper or old newspaper and serve with melted butter.

We also made a tenderloin caprese salad to start with.

A really diverse group lots of kids and parents, even a couple extremely young'uns, and a recently engaged couple-you can probably pick them out from the candid pictures.

One new trick I learned last night from Anne (who owns KC) was a rolling pin trick.  You can use a rolling pin to squeeze the meat out of the legs-pretty neat.  At the end there wasn't a single shrimp, mussel, clam, or morsel of lobster left.

Sunday Dinner at Mom's

I was visiting my folks last week who live in Princeville IL-just outside of Peoria.  She made this pork roast crusted with cumin, cayenne, and brown sugar and served it with a pineapple and black bean salsa.  It was juicy and delicious and the salsa was spicy with jalapeno and sweet with the pineapple-my mom definitely knows how to rock a pork roast.

When we're in Peoria we find any excuse to visit the food carts outside the court house.  There are about 8 or 9 of them-quite a selection for a city the size of Peoria.  They have been there for several years, dating back to the 1980's.  We visited the Korean stand for bulgogi-the Korean lady was amused I asked for kim chee-not available in Peoria yet.  Apparently Peoria will eat bulgogi but not yet kim chee.  We also visited a Lebanese stand for gyros and falafel-both excellent.  There are also Thai, Mexican, Southern Soul from "Willies"-a Peoria institution (that cart had the longest lines waiting for grilled pork chop sandwiches) and a few others.

There are no food trucks in Peoria yet as they are all fighting on how to license them and the restaurants aren't happy because they are afraid of losing their lunch traffic to them.  In any case the food carts are charming and tasty, so if you're ever in Peoria in the Spring or Summer check them out.

We all sat around the beautiful Civil War Memorial outside the courthouse.  My brother in law helped to restore the statue a couple of years ago-it is quite impressive.