Eats For One … or more

Bacon Explosion

I got this recipe from the NY Times just in time to make it for my 10th annual Super Bowl Party. When I mentioned to Carol – who sent me the link – that I wanted to make it, she said, “Oh no, the guests will explode!”

“What better time,” I said, “we’ll have 15 people here, the perfect opportunity.”

The Times story, by Damon Darlin, was entitled, “Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog.” They did it in a smoker; I don’t have a smoker and Super Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day, so I did it on my Weber Q grill.

So, here’s my story, dedicated to my brother, Tom, who was in Atlanta, weeping. (more…)

Stuffed Pork Chops

I got so hungry writing the review of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Cooking that I just had to cook something from that book.As luck would have it, a colleague of Carol’s was coming over for dinner the following Sunday to watch the Academy Awards. Good timing.

I went through the book carefully to find something appropriate. I wasn’t in the mood for fish or seafood, so that limited the possibilities. Pork Chops stuffed with a spiced up sausage-apple mixture looked good. It can be prepped ahead and it spends over an hour in the oven so that once Sarah arrives, the cooking would be virtually completed. I wanted to roast some beets, as well, so they could share the 400-degree oven with the chops.

Saturday at the Farmers Market, I stopped by Golden Gate Meat and got 4 Frenched pork chops. I had the butcher cut a pocket in each for stuffing – not a difficult task, I could do it myself, but he’s a pro. Looking at the chops in the meat case, they didn’t look extra big, so instead of 3 folks, 3 chops, I got four. Besides, the recipe is for six chops and can’t readily be halved… leftovers of any K-Paul dish are good. I got some mild Italian sausages to use as the ground pork ingredient.

Sunday was chilly and rainy, a perfect day for cooking. I started the mise en place mid-afternoon. Once the “meez” (as Anthony Bourdain calls it) is done, the cooking is a breeze, K-Paul writes very explicit instructions. (more…)

Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, Morrow, 1984
A Review

My hardcover copy of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen is dog-eared, food-stained and some of the pages are coming out of the binding. It is inscribed, “From Robert and Katy, 1984,” and it is still a “top shelf” cookbook in my kitchen library.

I prize it because the recipes have a zing to them and it contains the best meatloaf recipe of all time. Chef Paul calls it Cajun Meat Loaf. I call it K-Paul Meatloaf.

That’s just by way of introduction. His “saucy” foods – Creoles, Gumbos, Jambalayas – are spicy devils, but in no way fiery; even my wife-of-tender-palate likes them. His Basic Cooked Rice and Dirty Rice make a good bed for sopping up the juices.

His recipes seem intimidating at first – long lists of ingredients and long descriptions of methods. I made little go-by cards to put up over the stove. Once I dutifully did my mies en place I learned they had a drib of this and a drab of that, and the preparation had a rhythm to it. Not so hard after all.

I had the good fortune to eat at K Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans when I was there on business on a balmy night in the late 80’s. I was about 20th in a long line – they don’t do reservations – and noticed that some people in line had drinks – hey, it’s New Orleans. Just as I was about to go to a nearby bar for my own drink, a woman came down the line asking, “any singles.” I quickly volunteered and was seated with a dentist, his wife and son from San Diego. I don’t remember what I had after the Dirty Martini and before the Sweet Potato Pecan Pie, but the experience is etched in my brain.

When BUTTER was BAD, Chef Paul wrote a book called Fork in the Road. His name on the cover caused me to buy the book straightaway. Can Chef Paul really do “healthy low fat?” I guess he did it, but all the taste went away. After one meal, I banished that book from my library.

I went on using Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen two or three times a year – OK, more times just for the meatloaf – moderation is the key.

Dang all, I’m hungry!

James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking, Knopf, 1977
A Review

This is my go-to book about cooking. As the title implies, its more a book about cooking than it is a cookbook.

It has recipes, of course, but the recipes are there to illustrate the principles and methods of cooking. The chapters tell the tale. From the front: Boiling, Roasting, Broiling and Grilling, Braising, Sautéing, Frying, Baking. For example, when I buy a piece of Corned Beef for a St. Patrick’s Day feast of New England Boiled Dinner, James Beard starts with corned beef and concentrates on getting that and the vegetables cooked properly… indeed, cooked separately and for different lengths of time and brought together only at the end.

We bought a fish poacher in Boston to poach a four-pound salmon for a party. In James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking there is more than one recipe for poached fish and in my cooking-for-parties phase I poached a few salmon, as well as other fish and shellfish. I especially like the Poached Fish with White Wine Sauce and Shellfish a la Nage, “a la nage” is the French term for a style of preparation in which shellfish are both cooked and served “swimming” in a white wine court bouillon and eaten hot, tepid or cold. Shrimp, crayfish or small lobsters are excellent prepared in this manner. Lovely.
I could cite similar examples from the other chapters, but these will give you the drift.

I grew to love James Beard. Beard encouraged me to use my fingers to mix pate, to press my fingers on the meat to feel for proper doneness; to substitute ingredients and to feel the cooking, rather than read it. He told me about meats and fish and vegetables and herbs and spices, where they come from, what they’re about, in an interesting, chatty way. It would have been nice to know James Beard. He led me to make up recipes based on what caught my eye in the market, or more likely, what was on hand. It is illustrated with informative line drawings. Sadly, it’s out of print, but it can be found used.

A Birthday Treat

Carol was being very mysterious about my birthday. She kept saying she would take me out, but she said she wouldn’t say where. Then, “The place I wanted to take you closed, but I have another place in mind, but I won’t say where.”

Okay by me… as long as I know I won’t have to cook.

When she got home from work, she said, “I couldn’t get a reservation, but maybe we should just go anyway.”

“It’s your party,” I said. Clearly, she couldn’t wait to surprise me.

“Well… let’s go,” she said, “I’ll drive. It’s someplace we’ve never been before.”

“So we’re driving,” I said, “That rules out about 20 places.”

As she crossed Van Ness, I said, “I smell Fillmore Street.” She grunted. She turned left on Fillmore. Where haven’t we been on Fillmore, I wondered. She drove on. “Hmmm, maybe Yoshi’s?” I said. She said no, but when we got to Yoshi’s, she said to look for parking. A space opened up on the other side of the street. She made a quick left into it, a three-point turn and parked… a very city-like maneuver. In the near corner of the glass Yoshi’s building, we could see a restaurant looking place. No sign, but a big wooden door welcomed us. We went in. (more…)