OUR FIRST SNOW FALL AND . . .

TIME FOR COMFORT FOOD. I made Osso Buco the other night and had one shank leftover with quite a bit of tomato sauce. It was snowing, or rather attempting to snow and the thought of something that would stick to the ribs went on like a light and suddenly the word polenta! came into my head. 

It isn't often that I make polenta but I've been making it off and on for almost 30 years so I've dabbled and experimented and read copious tomes on the subject. However, to my mind, the best one is the one you make yourself with a gallon of lightly salted, boiling water and about 2 cups of polenta. There are exceptions to every rule, though, and the one that I've enjoyed making every now and then is served on a huge platter topped with stewed meats or fowl with lots of sauce and an assortment of cheeses cut into bits on top (think Taleggio, Parmigiano, Fontina and Gorgonzola and you'll know what I mean).

The prime directive in making polenta is to sift the golden powder into the water a little bit at a time and continue to stir vigorously until you have a huge mass of bubbling porridge which wipes away clean at the bottom of the pot (about 20-35 minutes of labor intensive work!).

That's one way to make polenta. There are others; grilled, fried, and with various ingredients in the boiling liquid, such as milk, stock, half-and-half, cream or a combination of some or all of them. There is a fabulous recipe in Johanne Kelleen and George Germon's cookbook Cucina Simpatica, which actually is someone else's recipe (proper acknowledgment to Mike Lepizzera). His recipe to my mind is so radical - and outrageously delicious - that it begs repeating here.

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 pound (two sticks) butter

1-1/2-2 teaspoons chopped garlic

2 cups chicken stock

1-1/2 quarts half-and-half

1-1/2-2 tsp Kosher salt

12 turns of a black pepper grinder

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups polenta

Pinch of sugar

2 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Melt the butter and olive oil. Add the garlic and simmer over low heat until the garlic becomes golden.

Add the stock and half-and-half, plus 2-1/2 cups water, salt, black and red peppers and stir to combine. Raise heat and bring liquid to the boil. 

Very slowly, add the polenta, stirring occasionally. After all the polenta has been added, lower the heat to maintain a gentle boil.  Continue to stir until it is thick and creamy (20-30 minutes).

Off the heat, add the sugar and the Romano. Serve immediately with a tomato sauce of your choice, with or without meat or game. As I mentioned earlier, I had it with leftover Osso Buco and the following night we ate it, fried with Italian sausages.

What could be simpler?

Just to give credit where credit is due: among the "tomes" I mentioned above, Marcella Hazan, of course, is numero uno! But there are others, too! Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty is all about vegetables but therein lies the rub: polenta may be considered a starch but it comes from corn so it, too, is a vegetable and he has some pretty incredible recipes with pictures on this all-inclusive legume. His summer corn polenta is made from fresh, sweet corn and it looks simply amazing and what's more, he serves it with a middle-Eastern sort of Caponatina! A man after my own heart!

But the blue ribbon goes to Teresa Rust in her book Pass the Polenta because she puts this whole polenta thing in its proper perspective. Trendy restaurants "charging [such high] prices for leftovers!" And it's true. Creamy polenta, once cooled, hardens and will never regain a creamy texture. So, when you see grilled or fried polenta in antipasti or on the menu, it was made the day before!

So, enjoy and buon appetito!

I'M BACK! AFTER POST-THANKSGIVING STRESS SYNDROME

NOW THAT WE'VE FINALLY FINISHED the last of the turkey I can actually sit down and write about Thanksgiving Day with a bit of clarity and objectivity and move on to Christmas! (Coming soon!)  On the whole, everything was rather delicious. The white meat of my turkey was extremely moist and tender, but so was the dark meat. Unfortunately for me, by the time we sat down to eat, I was so sick of even looking at food that I had a small piece of a turkey thigh with stuffing, a piece of a baked sweet potato and some cranberry sauce and called it a day. It was only two hours after that when I finally succumbed to dessert. Speaking of which, I think it was one of the best Apple Tarts I ever made. Nothing crumbled, nothing burned and, if you look closely at the photo below, there is homemade mincemeat under the apples.

Apple and Mincemeat Tart

Mincemeat

1/2 cup brown sugar (dark or light)

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 tbs. suet (beef drippings will do in a pinch) 

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice 

1 tsp. grated ginger

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

Grated peel of one orange (you can also add the juice from the orange)

Grated peel of one lemon

3 apples (I like Golden Delicious or Macintosh, but any will do), peeled, cored and cut into medium dice

1 cup raisins

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup dried currants

1/4 cup chopped dried candied fruits (optional)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup of rum and cognac mixed together (you can use more)

Put entire contents in a large saucepan and heat until well blended. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The color should become quite dark. Stop cooking once a mass has formed and you can see the bottom of the pan when stirring.

Let rest for about 5 minutes and immediately put the mincemeat into glass jars and seal if you're not going to use immediately (it's best to use it after it's been refrigerated for a day or two). Store in the fridge and use within 30 days. If sealed properly it can last in the fridge for quite a long time but it's better to use it up when you make it.

The pastry dough (pate sucre):

4 cups flour

2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg and 1 egg yolk beaten

Put all contents into the canister of a food processor and pulse until everything is mixed and then turn the machine on until the dough becomes one mass and rolls around the sides of the canister collecting all bits and pieces. The canister should be fairly clean around the dough.

Put the ball of dough on a floured surface and with your hands, smear the dough a bit at a time to flatten it out. Roll it up back into a ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (I make the dough the night before or several hours before I'm going to make the tart.

Apples

4 apples, peeled, cored

Keep the apples in a bowl of water with a tablespoon of lemon juice to avoid discoloring.

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbs. cinnamon

14/ stick of butter cut into small dice to dot the top of the tart

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 400º

Place the dough on a lightly floured wooden board or marble pastry board

Pound with the side of the rolling pic to make it a bit more elastic and start rolling the dough away from you. Turn the dough and continue rolling in this fashion. You can roll back and forth but you might break the dough. Continue to roll until you have a circle that is at least 2 inches wider than your tart pan. Place the dough in the pan and press gently in the corners to make sure the pan is completely lined. Take a knife and cut away the excess. If you have any holes, fill them with the extra dough. Alternatively, you can put small pieces (or balls) of the dough in a symmetric fashion on the bottom of the pan and press with your fingers to get an even layer of dough lining the pan. This works best if the dough has gotten to warm from handling and the butter starts to soften the dough.

Take about 5 tbs. mincemeat and spread evenly all over the top of the dough. Slice the apples in half and then make slices from each half. After cutting all of the apples, take one apple which isn't the most perfect and chop a little and place the chopped apple in the center of the tart thus making a small mound. Using one half at a time, line the entire tart with the sliced apples working your way all around the edge. Once that row is completed do a second row in the opposite direction or another decorative form if you like to cover the mound of chopped apples.

Put the tart pan on a rimmed roasting pan and bake for 60-75 minutes. I time the baking for 35 minutes and then turn the tart pan around and bake for another 35 minutes to ensure that it bakes evenly. I also make an aluminum rim to cover the edge of the tart ring so the crust doesn't burn.

Apricot Glaze

1 jar apricot preserves

a drop of vanilla

a drop of almond extract

1 tsp brandy or Grand Marnier

Pur entire contents of the preserves into a small saucepan. Add the liquids and cook to the boiling point. Remove from heat and immediate strain the apricots directly into another small saucepan. If it is very thick, add more liquor.  Start stippling the tart with a pastry brush. Make sure the entire tart is covered in glaze, including the border of crust.

This can be made the night before a big dinner party (I always cook dessert first if it requires baking). Do not cover it with plastic wrap as the glaze will stick to the plastic and carry away a slice of apple or two with it when you take off the plastic. Better to unmold it and then put it on a serving platter and tent with foil or refrigerate.

This dessert won't disappoint; especially if you serve it with vanilla ice cream.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

CRANBERRY SAUCE is rather easy to make and if stored well, it will last forever. Well, not forever but, a long shelf life is attainable. 

2 lbs. fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
grated peel from one orange and one lemon
Juice of one lemon
Juice from 1/2 orange
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Wash and rinse the cranberries in a colander under cold water.  Mix all the ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour cranberry sauce into a sterile canning jar, seal and let cool. Store in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving Day.

STUFFING!

THERE ARE MANY schools of thought on dressing: corn bread, white bread, sour-dough bread, dried, fresh, store bought (never!) . . . you see the dilemma. However, in this day and age, some of us prefer to make our own, which is really quite simple. 

About a week before Thanksgiving (here I am, going on again about the week or two before the main event!), take approximately 1/2 loaf of stale bread or a dozen or so dinner rolls - any old bread will do, really - and cut everything up into a nice medium-sized dice (like croutons). I use any and every piece of leftover bread I have in the house. One year, I even used raisin bread with cinnamon swirls. You can season them or not - it's your decision - and place the lot on top of a rimmed roasting pan lined with parchment and bake in a 225º oven for about one hour. Leave the "croutons" in the oven for about 4 hours or over night to dry even more. This will keep in a sealed plastic container indefinitely.

Now that we have the bread, let's add the rest.

3 cups stuffing (I toss my stuffing with oregano, thyme and olive oil and salt and pepper before I dry the cubes in the oven)
2 apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
18 dried apricots, coarsely chopped
12 prunes, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 medium onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 prosciutto cubes
3 Italian sausage links sliced
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 bunch fresh sage, chopped
2 tsp dried powdered sage
3 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken or turkey broth

Mix all ingredients in a very large bowl, except the liquids. Add the liquids gradually and gauge the absorption rate with each mixing. You want to make it moist and pliant but not oozing with milk or broth. Less is more here.

Let rest to congeal for about 30 minutes. If you make it the night before, make sure it is room temperature before you stuff the turkey.

BONED ROAST TURKEY

THIS IS HOW one begins.

1 Turkey

poundage according to number of people at dinner

If your turkey is frozen, you should thaw the turkey out on Monday before Thanksgiving in the refrigerator. On Thanksgiving morning, wash the inside and out with cold water. I am not a big fan of brining the turkey; it's too salty for my tastes, but you wish, feel free.

With the large cavity facing forward, pull the leg out away from you to release the thigh from the carcass. It should snap. You will have to use a boning or any other very sharp knife and separate the joint to completely remove the leg and skin  from the turkey. Repeat this process with the other leg. You will now need to bone the thigh with a very sharp boning knife always keeing the kife as close to the bone as possible so none of the meat is left on the bone. When this is completed, take a sheet of aluminum foil, fold it in half lengthwise and place the thigh on the foil. Open the thighs up and put an ample amount of stuffing on top and roll the meat over the stuffing. Wrap the foil around the thighs to keep it intact and place each one in two corners of the pan.

Using a very sharp knife, try to cut around the wishbone to give you enough room to pull it out. The larger the bird, the more difficult this will be. Once you have done this, sit the bird upright and cut away the carcass from the breast. I use a meat cleaver for this. You can pull the carcass off the body after you get to a certain point. Trim away any excess fat but keep the pope's nose. You should have an entire turkey free of carcass and legs. Trim the wings and cut of the nibbens. Reserve the carcass and giblets for stock to make gravy.

In a large lightly oiled roasting pan, place a mound of dressing directly in the center of the pan and place the turkey on top.  Strew some onions, celery and carrot around the turkey with a little water and butter. Grease the top of the turkey with butter and/or olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Your turkey is now ready for the oven. If you are not going to put it in the oven immediately, keep it covered and refrigerated. Just a reminder, though, if you do refrigerate it, you should ensure that it and the stuffing are at room temperature before putting in the oven

Place the roasting pan in the middle of a preheated 375º  oven and roast for an hour. Reduce the temperature to 325º and cook until done. Baste occasionally and add more water if ans when necessary. If the skin on the turkey browns too quickly, tent it with foil. Test for doneness after 3 hours. The juices should run clear.

THANKSGIVING IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN and if one has noticed, most of the food magazines and TV shows have revved up a full metal jacket of tips and recipes and blogs and, and, and, and . . . 

THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE AT 59TH STREET

Well, I must admit that I am no different. Every home cook has their own take on this yearly feast, so let's talk turkey here. And duck. And oysters. And fruit, as well as a host of other little goodies. 

The ubiquitous turkey seems almost a prerequisite and this holds true in our household as well. My take on it is somewhat different and even though it is unorthodox in a certain sense, I've found out that other very good and ambitious home cooks do it in exactly the same manner. I first time I saw turkey prepared this way on a video of Jacques and Julia's and, even though   there is initially a bit of a tug of war with the turkey in its raw state (the wishbone in particular), I'll never make it any other way again.

One could say that making a Thanksgiving dinner is all about timing and I am here to say that the less time we spend hogging the oven with a bird, the better chance we may have at success in every other dish. Consequently, I partially bone the turkey. I remove the legs and then bone the thighs and stuff them. I remove the carcass and wishbone and use the carcass for turkey stock, but leave in the breast bone. By doing this, I have taken a 26-pound turkey and pared down the cooking time to a mere 3 1/2 versus 5-6 hours. This also ensures that the breast meat will be moist and tender as well as completely cooked. 

BONED ROAST TURKEY

So there is my turkey. Gorgeous, isn't it? You'll notice that the legs are backwards because they're not attached. The thighs are stuffed as well.

It's always a very good idea to create the menu a good 2-3 weeks in advance. But once you've set it, stick to it; don't change your plans midway or even close to the date because it will only cause you grief of the worst kind! Indeed, some things need to be started around this time (today's date is November 13th). If you're Italian, like I am, you're probably going to at least consider  making some kind of stuffed pasta, so you should definitely start thinking about that now. Pumpkin or squash is usually the way to go. Ravioli, tortelli . . . you get the picture, I'm sure. 

TORTELLI ALLA ZUCCA

Charcuterie is always a good idea during cocktails since all you have to do is prepare a platter and let people dig in (some prosciutto, speck, cheese, olives, cornichons, bread and pâté). If you make pâté as I do, getting the right ingredients and beginning preparations now is key. Forcemeat for a terrine should usually marinate in its processed state with white wine a little cognac and spices for a good 5-6 days before baking and then it should sit in the fridge encased in its own jelly (or crust - see photo) for at least 2-3 days, so, allow a good 10-12 days for that. All you need to do is think that it's one step less work to do the week of Thanksgiving and all you'll have to do is pull it out of the fridge and serve. Other years have seen Oysters Rockefeller, Ceviche, Gravlax, even a Lasagna as a tiny second course after the fish or seafood.

Pâté en Croute

Gravlax made with Salmon and Cod on Black Bread

Now that I've introduced the first steps, let's propose a menu - at least one that I would do.  One must remember though, small portions until the main event! But please remember, these are just suggestions for those who are willing to do the work - and love it - and want to gild a lily or two.

Charcouterie of Various Hams and Salamis, Cheese, Olives

Pâté of Duck Liver and Pork with Pistachios and Prunes in Aspic

Tortelli alla Zucca in Brown Butter and Sage

Granita of Lime and Pomegranate with Gin

Turkey with Stuffing

Giblet Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Scalloped Potatoes (or mashed if you want traditional)

Glazed Carrots with Brown Sugar and Butter and Tarragon

Brussel Sprouts Bathed in Butter with Shallots and Bacon

Sweet Potatoes

Apple and Mincemeat Tart

Vanilla Ice Cream

Pecan Fingers

Meringues

Chocolate Truffles

Espresso

Fernet-Branca

Cordials and Brandy

Apple and Mincemeat Tart with Apricot Glaze

GUTTER OIL AND EXTRA VIRGIN LAMP OIL (LAMPANTE): A POLEMIC

"IN OUR CURRENT SOCIETY, everyone tries to swindle everybody else. There is nothing we can do about it."

These words of wisdom are a direct quote from a video on China's gutter oil . . . a very toxic oil made from recycled everything under the sun. Click on the link to view a short YouTube report on what you should definitely be suspicious of when eating in Chinese restaurants, carts, "pop-ups", etc., when in the land of Mao.

GUTTER OIL

Which brings me to the Extra Virgin thing. I was reading a book by Tom Mueller called Extra Virginity, a scandalous report on the complete fraud the extra virgin olive oil industry has become. If what he says is to be believed, and I do believe him, 90% of the extra virgin olive oil from Italy isn't extra virgin at all, and isn't even 100% Italian olive oil. In fact, most of it is barely fit for the lighting of lamps in churches (lampante). Some of it is even deodorized, which is a new twist on making something that stinks, stink even more! The famed Bertolli Olive Oil may be owned by the Bertolli family, but they are bankers, not olive growers. They don't even grow their own olives and it isn't from Tuscany, as some of their advertisements purport, but from all over the Mediterranean; Spain, Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, etc., etc., etc. How's that for a hoodwink?!

I suppose it could be said that this is in true keeping with the times. Governments spy on elected officials, monitor telephone calls of foreign dignitaries (and deny it) and lie to their constituents about every evil under the sun, so why not industries? And they thought Nixon was a crook!

I have a friend on Facebook, who is constantly going on and on about finding new reasons to "despise us," i.e. the  human race. It is a sad thing that what he says holds to be true not for just Americans but everyone else as well. Fraud, corruption and deceit have gone global. Apparently, the food industry is not immune to this very human condition. If I weren't hungry, I'd stop eating. And to quote an Italian who is unconcerned about selling lamp oil as olive oil: "people must have food, mustn't they?" Another Monsanto in the making? Or perhaps it's just another way of saying "let them eat cake!"