in defense of sandra lee (I know, I know)

Now, most folks probably don’t know who Sandra Lee is or the battle that rages within my conscious about why she deserves her own show on Food Network.

First off, her show is called, “Semi-Homemade Cooking”. She gets 70% of her ingredients from the store and 30% from home. (Which I’m assuming are things like..sugar…flour…and maybe aluminum foil?)

As a proponent of making things from scratch, I am automatically conflicted. I’ve used canned biscuits my entire life, but now that I know how to make them from scratch, it just doesn’t compare. For one, we don’t know what goes in canned biscuits. We know they taste good but what exactly are those words that use letters like z, x and q?
Who actually cares these things are in canned biscuits?

I do.



But I also understand that cooking from scratch takes time. Let’s be honest, we don’t always want to come home every day and put together a pot of chicken stock. Most of the time, I buy it from the store and sleep peacefully at night. In fact, a lot of times it’s good to support the people who just do it better than you. Of course, check the back of the box for what’s in it. If it’s a good source, you can go home knowing you’ve helped someone pay their bills.

So, in defense of Sandra Lee, we have to be realistic of what we can and cannot do. I do not think we should buy boxed ingredients full of MSG, preservatives, trans fats and loads of salt. I believe she’s popular because she’s somewhat realistic of the time most Americans have when they’re the main cook for their family.

I would hope that you don’t trade in your organic [or not organic] veggies for canned or pre-processed foods, but I do encourage that we learn to cook with good ingredients. Personally, I don’t mind taking the time to make these things work. I love doing it and have the spare time. If I had a few kids and a steady 9-5 job, I’m sure it would be different. Even so, I would hope that I would watch the things that go in our bellies.

So no, Sandra Lee, I don’t believe you are an evil spawn from the land of preservatives (generally speaking), but I do hope you realize that a lot of manufactured foods aren’t good for us. I would hope you don’t encourage people trade in their ‘made from scratch’ ingenuity for semi-homemade cuisine.

And please, don’t ever make Kwanzaa cake again. Ever…ever…ever!

(For the unfortunate invention of Kwanzaa cake, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we2iWTJqo98 )

braised is beautiful.

My last meal was somewhere between my mom’s pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy or buffalo wings with chili cheese fries.

I will, till this day, lean towards the pot roast. I don’t know what it is!

Well…I guess anytime you cook a big chunk of meat over a long period time it almost always results in a good thing. I’m such a huge fan of braised dishes (pork shoulder, shanks, roasts, etc…)

Now those unfamiliar with braising should know it’s a super easy concept and process. I guess a more technical definition would mean to “sear the meat on all sides and slowly cook in liquid for an extended amount of time till it’s ‘fall off the bone’ tender.” So, after you recover from that terrible definition, let me try to explain my favorite pot roast recipe and what I do most of the time I braise a nice piece of protein. (In this case, beef and/or beef shank with some nice marbled fat.)

Fat = flavor



I reckon’ I’ve taken a more “beef bourguignon” technique when making it – though I don’t use nearly the amount of ingredients the traditional and “classic” French versions require. What I’ve taken away from beef bourguignon is the red wine. Yes. Yes. Yes. The red wine makes all the difference. You ever see folks drinking red wine with their big ole’ honky-tonk steaks? It’s because it tastes really, really good together.

But, as I’ve yet to have red wine capture my palette, I generally just cook with the stuff and let other folks who may or may not live in my house finish it off. :) Some grocery stores sell it in tiny bottles for cooking purposes.
Wine gives beef this incredibly rich taste, not to mention it leaves your final product looking reduced to a gorgeous dark brown glaze.

So alas, here is how I like to make it and hope you get to try it sometime!

Ingredients:
3-4lbs chuck roast (will probably just say, “Great for pot roast!” or something…)
2 cups yellow onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped in 1” pieces
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1-2 quarts of beef stock (depending on how much meat you have)
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup red wine
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a heavy bottomed pot (such as a Dutch oven, which is how I usually cook mine), drop about 1-2 tablespoons of canola oil and heat till it just starts to smoke. While the oil is heating, make sure your roast is cut into 2” hunks and is seasoned with salt and pepper (somewhat generously).

When the oil is hot, sear the meat on all sides (about 1-2 minutes a side), but just until it gets to be a nice dark brown – not black!! Make sure not to overcrowd your pot while searing, or the meat will not brown as it should.
When all the meat has been browned, drain the fat and oil into a bowl, and place about 1-2 tbsp back in the pot. This is when you add your onions. Toss them in and scrape up that good “fond” that should be lodged to the bottom of your pot. This is where a lot of your flavor is. It’s also where I add a little pinch of salt to help the onions break down a bit.

Once the onions start turning soft, I add the red wine and scrape up any remaining bits from the pan (also somewhat known as deglazing). Let the wine reduce a bit with the onions to cook out the alcohol. When it has reduced for a few minutes, add your carrots and garlic and give it a good stir.

Now it’s cool to add your meat back into the pot, along with the beef stock (enough to almost cover the meat), bay leaves, Worcestershire and a few pinches of salt and a couple of teaspoons of pepper.
I’ll bring it all to a boil, then reduce to a simmer on medium-low heat for a good 2 ½ - 3 hours – or until the meat can easily be pulled apart with a fork.

It should serve about four people -- or two, really, really hungry people.

I love eating pot roast with boiled or roasted potatoes and greens – but I wouldn’t cook your potatoes with your pot roast…I tried it once and it came out really soggy, but to each their own!
You can add mushrooms to this dish as well (when you add your carrots and garlic) and it would turn out even better – that is, if you like mushrooms.

Pieces of meat like the shank will probably take a little longer because they are a bit tougher, but if you braise anything long enough, it’s sure to come out tasting fan-freakin’-tastic.

Here’s to honoring our ingredients,
Take care, my friends.

respecting the food you eat

I’ve devoted much of this past year to cooking better. I suppose everybody needs a hobby, so I figured I’d adopt a more useful one. {Not in any way to dismiss your dog sweater-knitting group…}

Now, before you picture a scene from Julie & Julia or something, I need to emphasize that it started in an ideal foodie city that supports and praises its hospitality industry. I came to the realization that I needed to learn how to cook better. I’ve always loved cooking, but found myself cooking the same thing over and over again in different forms. The world just seemed to offer so much good stuff and I found myself limited in skill and technique.

I took a knife skills class. I learned how to properly cut an onion and why certain knives are important to have around.
What it came down to was honoring the food we bought and cooked. It really shifts the way you think about food and what you buy with your hard earned dollars. I was tired of messing up simple things. I grew frustrated with wasting great pieces of meat/veggies with too much salt or mixed them with any bad assortment of things.

With this, I’ve been sticking my nose in books that dive into the world of the professional chef and investing in some really incredible [albeit, intimidating] cookbooks. I can’t often afford great ingredients, but it makes it so much more worth it when you can and actually do it well. I feel like honoring our food is important.



For instance, we roasted a chicken a few weeks ago…and found ourselves saying, “Thanks chicken…for feeding us and tasting so good!” It was funny as we caught ourselves talking to a piece of meat, but for what it was worth, it felt good. It felt good to know we didn’t waste it…that we used it again to make stock that fed us a week later.

If anything, cooking gives me much peace. The kitchen is a great comfort to me because it has allowed me to constantly learn new things and feed others in the process. So, there was nothing more to do than just dive in. Stretching our limits as far as culinary skills go, felt important. It’s something that I’m affirmed in, perhaps coming from a deep Southern heritage of good and simple cooks who love to sit around the table to share a meal.

I saw the joy in feeding others and in return, found that it fed my soul.

And in the end...that's all that matters.

That...and a belly full of good food.

what you eat (and my conviction)

I decided to take a different route today, but perhaps a more pressing one, at that.

Coming from a Southern brotha, talking about healthy food is not something I care to dive into…but as of lately, it is something I can’t get away from.
It’s not so much about healthy food, as to what kind of food we’re putting into our bodies. And before you say it’s the pot calling the kettle black, I am saying that my eating habits are not very good. But, they’re better than they used to be.

So, I write this as some form of encouragement and not conviction…to help better ourselves as people as we grow together with our family and friends.

Eating well is something I’ve been learning to do. And by “eating well”, I hope you don’t assume that I mean “eating A LOT” or even eating expensive, dainty ingredients. Eating well means eating things that are good for you and even the things that aren’t good, in careful moderation.

I’m not one to skimp on butter or bacon or the occasional deep fried delight, but I do choose carefully when I want/need to cook and eat these things. I am not a nutritionist, but I am seeing the cause of much obesity and as a Southerner, many people I see just can’t say no, nor do they even try something different. Hell, you don’t have to be from the fattest state in the nation to see that all the U.S. has major food culture issues.

Stay away from McDonalds…Wendys…and BUM!BUM!BUM! SONIC! (Except the occasional strawberry limeade… :P) It’s hard when you’re on the road, and what the hell…eat it if there’s nothing better…but try to resist the urge for a quick fix. You know you’ll regret it. I’ve never met anyone who felt good after eating McDonalds…that stuff is so chemically modified -- it’s almost hard to consider it food. That goes for much of fast food culture, or in the words of Mr. Bourdain, "T.G.I. McFunsters".



(Considering I don’t have kids, I will stay away from my opinion, because I know each family differs…but I do hope as families grow, they feed each other well. Kids learn to eat what the adults eat and if they don’t, then they can do what we did…either eat or don’t eat. I know I had to be a stubborn kid and ask [“whine”] for chicken nuggets and pizza all the time…and I’m sorry for that, mom. :)

I’m even talking about packaged meals. Dried noodles in bags with that powdery cheese/herb crap. There’s no way that’s good for you. I’m sure it’s loaded with salt as well…just check your ingredients and see if you want that stuff in your body. (No MSG!!)

I will go ahead and say I will NEVER be too good for any kind of food. I don’t ever want to be picky or judge someone by how they cook...and especially if they’re doing something for me. Never. Never. Never. Like I said before…just encouraging our friends and family to cook from scratch if they can…and buy good ingredients.

I know it takes more time…but it’s so…so…worth it. Regardless of what you’re cooking at home, you know what’s going in it…therefore it’s automatically better for you.
I’m learning more and more that we need to be careful with what we put in our bodies. The things the world tells us to eat is often marketing and economics...fight against it.

Meat consumption. I love...love..love meat. But it is important to love it in MODERATION. You don't have to have meat everyday. It's expensive and probably pretty sketchy unless you get it farm direct. Too much of it can't be a good thing. If you want, take it old school and use meat as a flavoring for a dish, instead of the main course. It's how the majority world does it...and I think we're going to start seeing the price of food sky rocket. We might as wall start learning how to cook with the bottom of the barrel...

Eat greens! Beans are super good for you as well...whole grains...use olive oil instead of butter to help cook what you got goin' on in that pan.

But again, I'm new at all this, so I'd love some feedback as to what kind of foods you eat that are or at least, seem healthy and taste super rad. Feel us in!

It is important that we eat well...for our kids...for our friends and families future.

And most of all, it is important to be a better world.

Bacon,
Josh

The Ole' Larder!

I like to pretend that I know what I’m doing in the kitchen. Granted, I’ve spent the majority of the past year or so learning to cook better…write better…live better…so I’ve picked up a lot of helpful things.

I watch this video blog sometimes called, “Working Class Foodies”. There was an episode that was devoted to what this person kept in their pantry (though I’m thinking “larder” sounds so much cooler than pantry these days).

It was helpful to see what kinds of things people kept on hand – especially if you find yourself cooking more so than eating out or buying pre-cooked food. I thought it’d be cool to share some things I’ve found useful in my recent excursion of learning to cook well.

First, I’ll start off with kitchenware – knives, pots, pans, etc.
I love my Dutch oven. It’s not the best brand, but it works just fine. It’s great for stovetop braising like making pot roast and pulled pork. It also works just as good in your oven. It’s an incredibly versatile piece of kitchenware that every cook needs. There are beautiful ones out there on the market, just make sure it’s big enough to cook whatever it is you like to cook.
A roasting pan is really helpful as well, but not super necessary.

I also love my stock pot. It's pretty self-explanatory, but stocks are the base for any good soup, stew or braising liquid. Stocks are fun to make as long as you have a few hours to roast bones and skim the top for oil and fat. And like the pros will tell you, DO NOT BOIL YOUR STOCK. Keep it at a light simmer. Reduce. Skim. Strain. Reduce. Skim. Strain. The more you reduce, the better it'll be.

Knives! I like Global knives. They look super rad and are all forged with one piece of stainless steel. The bolster and the tang are right on the money as far as how I hold my knife. I think it's important to have good knives...it'll help you cut better and look much sexier doing it... :P
I have a 5in. cook's knife, 6in. flexible boning knife, paring knife, and a 6in. Santoku.
I also have an F. Dick offset serrated knife. It's great for cutting bread and slicing tomatoes.
All these knives serve different purposes, but really all you need is one good knife and I'd recommend a 6-8in chef's knife. They're all-purpose and look damn good in your kitchen.

I’m still in the process of switching to all nonstick pans to more “all-clad/stainless steel” type kitchenware. Nonstick pans are pretty sketchy to begin with and you should throw them away immediately if they start to chip off that black stuff (which unfortunately is NOT pepper.) It’s good to go with stainless steel if you can. Always keep around at least one or two smaller nonstick pans to cook eggs with or else it can become quite a pain in the ass to clean.

Mixing bowls. I used to think I had too many, now I don't think I have enough. They really come in handy when I have to store dough in the 'fridge, or epic amounts of leftovers. Never underestimate the power of the mixing bowl.

If you ever want to bake your own bread, it’s pretty crucial to have a baking/pizza stone. As the name suggests, it works great for pizza dough and breads all alike. It generates good, even heat that helps give your bread crispy crusts and even cooking.



Tongs are great. They’re perfect for grilling and come to the rescue when you’re figuring out how to turn that hot piece of food. I’ve seen some chefs recommend not using them as much because they can squeeze a lot of the juices out of your food. But I’m sure if you go at it with ease, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Now on to the pantry/stock items! (I know you're so excited!!)

This is my list of "favorite" things I try to keep on hand at all times:
garlic. (Two heads)
onions. (At least two. One yellow and one red.)
shallots (A few should last you a bit, depending on how often you cook with them.)
sea salt.
kosher salt.
black peppercorns
white peppercorns (two different tastes -- white peppercorns go great in just about everything -- black pepper I use more for finishing a dish)
Tony Chachere's (Of course!)
apple cider vinegar
white vinegar
bay leaves
louisiana hot sauce
worcestershire sauce
unsalted butter
olive oil (and lots of it!)
vegetable oil
milk
eggs
red potatoes
chicken stock
beef stock
white sugar
brown sugar
bread flour
all-purpose flour
yeast
pastry flour
baking powder
baking soda

I know it's a lot of stuff, but once you have it all, you really don't have to buy it all that much. I really can't shop unless I know I have all these things in my cabinet. You really only need a few ingredients to cook once you have all these things.

Good luck, my friends and happy cookin'!!
I'd love to hear what you can't cook without - feel free to post it in a comment or on that handy-dandy Facebook page.

Cheers!
Josh

The Two Fat Ladies [Finally a new post!]

There was this brilliant show in the late 90s called, “The Two Fat Ladies”.

I remember my dad watching it on occasion, giggling and moaning, while the “oohs” and “ahhhs” fell out of his mouth like saliva from Pavlov’s tormented dogs.

Watching them nearly a decade later, and with a strong curiosity as a newly birthed gastronome, I totally dig it.
You can safely gather by the name of the show that yes, they are fat and they are indeed ladies. And by watching the show, you can see why they claim such a build.

They cook with the good stuff.

Now, I assume they cook old school.
Meat. Potatoes. Parsley. Garlic. Lard. (…aaand end scene!)

If you have never watched their show (which you can get on Netflix), they basically drive around England in a badass Triumph motorbike with a sidecar. They explore beautiful countryside and dig around in rustic gardens. Both with incredibly strong personalities, share small stories and switch back and forth with recipes, banter and fun little songs and prose. Surely they would have never been picked up for long by the Food Network.

They cook at monasteries, nunneries, campgrounds, restaurant kitchens and do so with a variety of stoves, pots and pans. They use heavy old Dutch ovens and always seem to cook in the most amazing kitchens that are garnished with fresh herbs, spices and lots and lots of fat.

And by fat, I mean bacon…lard…drippings…the usual barrage of cholesterol heart-clogging goodness. “Look at all that good fat…” they’d say.

The food is most definitely English, which means…there’s not much to it. It’s mainly potatoes…tomatoes…cabbage…and again, lots of bacon and fat. There are the things like fish gelatin molds, bean and egg salads and “strawberry breasts” that come off as quite unusual. I suppose I find them a bit more odd than the average Brit.



I assume England has very nice game. [Lots of little birds that are good for eating, but don’t have too much going on as far as taste goes.]
For example…Cornish game hens are rather dry and bland unless you jack them up with something good. In typical TFL style, they would stuff the bird with herbs [rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, etc.] and probably some other type of meat like ground pork or something else fat-tastic. THEN, they’d tightly wrap the game hen in bacon and bake it for a couple of hours. And so this goes for several recipes. Cover with bacon [fat] and cook.

“None of that streaky American bacon”, they’d say. “You must get that old country bacon…”

At the end of each episode…they’d take a sit down…one smokes a cigarette and both hold a glass of gin as they tap glasses to the setting sun and wish to one another “good health to you, daw'ling!”
“Here! Here!” and “Cheerio!”

As I read a few days ago, one of the ladies died in 2000 of cancer – most likely from smoking and a bad diet. I believe though, she enjoyed the life she had and most definitely ate very, very well.

So, here’s to you, two fat ladies for singing your own theme song, showing us how to properly cook with fat, and giving us one helluva’ show…

Cheers!

On Cooking Well

My essay for Anthony Bourdain's new book, "Medium Raw".

Growing up between the southern lines of Louisiana and Mississippi, I was a product of red beans and rice on Monday and potluck casseroles on Sunday. It was here that I found communion with the food I will always be able to call my own. Collards, black eyed peas and fried chicken – the Holy Trinity.

My appreciation of good food was not always so. I didn’t know where ham came from nor did I really care. I just knew it tasted good between two pieces of Bunny bread. But please, just mayonnaise and maybe some of that yellow cheese we call “American”.

Cooking well in the South was not something attainable by average folk. It was something we watched Bobby Flay and Emeril do on our center-pieced television sets. To cook well took time, money and skill. It involved more than canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup and a box of french fried onions. Eating well was a privilege for those who could afford it.

Like many aspiring bohemians and curious 20-somethings do, I moved to Portland, Oregon. Here, along with marrying my wife, I got a job doing what most Portlanders end up doing; I started working in a café. I was trained to make coffee by (arguably) one of the best roasters in the US. I fell hard into the ebb and flow of the food and beverage industry.
I serve food and drink to wealthy patrons of one of the more high-end districts of Portland. I’ve put my hours in cleaning toilets, washing dishes and digging cigarette butts out of coffee residue. I have painfully smiled away disrespectful and demeaning customers when they find it necessary to ruin your day at all costs.

The people I work with behind the counter have become family. We talk shit and give each other a hard time for messing up an order. We grow enraged over messy eaters and bad tippers. And so it goes, the usual talk of disgruntled workers who rely on tips to pay for their earned rations of cigarettes and beer.

It was here in Portland that my palette changed. I began to respect food culture. Who knew Swiss chard tasted so good in an omelet? And not just any omelet, but one made with eggs from free roaming hens! Yes, they do taste better. I grew to learn, along with my belly, that eating well connects you to a location.

Eating well forced me to cook well, and I loved it. I took a knife skills class and learned how to properly cut an onion. Cookbooks give me hot flashes. Now, obsessed with local food culture and pork belly, I have developed a philosophy of my own. I want to cook well for my family. There is a great calm in being able to do that. I resonate with the words of Justo Thomas, "I got a good job. A good family. I live in peace."