Thought for Food

I started last Wednesday joining a friend from my Cambridge years at a Dartmouth event whose speaker touched on The French Chef  series and organic gardening, and ended the day at a Harvard event that gave an overview of a course introduced at Harvard this fall: Science and The Physical Universe 27 (SPU 27), otherwise known as: Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science. 

The first talk was given by Russ Morash who worked with Julia Child producing The French Chef and her subsequent cooking programs.  He also spoke about producing and directing This Old House, The Victory Garden, and The New Yankee Workshop. Morash described his first meeting with Julia Child when she arrived on the WGBH (PBS) set of I've Been Reading in 1961 to discuss her recently published Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and how using a hot plate she whipped up a French omelette. The viewer response was so positive that at WGBH's request Morash soon found himself producing 3 pilots for The French Chef. The rest is history. Julia Child in large part generated the rising wave of America's interest in food and the resulting cookbooks and cooking shows that followed.  When I moved to Cambridge in the late sixties the Pot Shop was a busy culinary store whose best selling item was probably The French Chef Omelette Pan (in photo above). Child's Cambridge kitchen is now an icon at the Smithsonian.


After sharing several "Julia anecdotes" which spanned over 30 years of work together, Morash moved on to talk about The Victory Garden and his continuing involvement with organic gardening.  It must be a team effort as his wife, Maria Morash's  The Victory Garden Cookbook  has, since its publication in 1982, been my favorite reference on local garden vegetables.

The morning talk reflected on the past and the merits of organic cabbage and potatoes, the afternoon lecture by Harvard Professors David Weitz and Michael Brenner focused on the science of food preparation. Harold  McGee writes in the appendix to On Food and Cooking: "Cooking is applied chemistry, and the basic concepts of chemisty - molecules, energy, heat, reactions - are keys to a clearer understanding of what our foods are and how we transform them."* The goal of  SPU 27 is to introduce concepts of math and physics and, recognizing the common interests chefs and scientists share, illustrate the equations presented through the medium of cooking.   On Food and Cooking was the textbook, supplemented by handouts from Harvard's physics department. One session each week introduced an equation and the concept behind it,  the second session featured various celebrated chefs who prepared food to illustrate the concept given in the equation.  In addition, the students participated in one laboratory (edible) each week, took two exams and prepared an exhaustive final project.

In the introduction to the second edition of On Food and Cooking, McGee writes: 


     "A lot has changed in twenty years! It turned out that On Food and Cooking [first published in 1984] was riding a rising wave of general interest in food, a wave that grew and grew, and knocked down the barriers between science and cooking, especially in the last decade.  Science has found its way into the kitchen, and cooking into laboratories and factories."**


He later continues:


     "Professional cooks have also come to appreciate the value of the scientific approach to their craft.... A number of culinary schools now offer 'experimental' courses that investigate the whys of cooking and encourage critical thinking. And several highly regarded chefs, most famously Ferran Adria in Spain [elBulli] and Heston Blumenthal [The Fat Duck Restaurant] in England, experiment with industrial and laboratory tools - gelling agents from seaweeds and bacteria, non-sweet sugars, aroma extracts, pressurized gases, liquid nitrogen - to bring new forms of pleasure to the table....


.... One effective and charming force behind this movement was Nicholas Kurti, a physicist and food lover at the University of Oxford, who lamented in 1969: 'I think it is a sad reflection on our civilization that while we can and do measure the temperature in the atmosphere of Venus, we do not know what goes on inside our souffles.'"***


In 1992, Kurti organized an International Workshop on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy at Erice, Sicily that for the first time brought together university and food industry scientists and professional cooks to work together to advance gastronomy. Renamed "International Workshop on Molecular Gastronomy 'N. Kurti'" in memory of its founder who died in 1998 at the age of 90, the workshop continues under the direction of Herve This. Molecular gastronomy is indeed taken to new extremes when  practiced by chefs such as Adria, who developed processes, and subsequent commercialization of these processes, such as Culinary Foam, Sferificación, Gelificación, and Emulsificación. Adria was one of the inspirations for the Harvard course and his Alicia Foundation helped in the preparation of the course materials. 

The closest I have come to this cutting edge is the orange froth on the shrimp risotto, Ed and I had in Las Vegas and a tortilla Ed had at a tapas bar near the Prado in Madrid. When Ed ordered the tortilla the waiter warned him that, "It would be liquid."  The foamy tortilla was as awful (perhaps a good idea, badly executed) as the orange froth was delicious.  While it is fun to read about recent culinary innovations, I'm still focused on doing interesting things with local food.  Even if not in an exotic way,  I look forward to what more science in the kitchen can do for me..  After many miserable failures with cooking a roast, at Christopher's urging I bought a remote thermometer.  I was amazed to see how slowly the temperature increases at first and how fast, exponentially?, it increases as the meat approaches doneness and directly after it is removed from the oven.  Sometime when I am not cooking a roast under holiday circumstances and have the time, I would like to plot the temperature change.

Back to the lecture: In addition to giving us an overview, the professors shared parts of the week 4 lesson and lab (to do at home): "Heating, Cooling and Tempering".  Stay tuned while I try to discover what "Molten Chocolate Cake" (6 actually) can tell me about time-temperature curves for various locations within food, the parameters that affect the length of time one heats food, and how temperature and time can engender molecular transitions that determine the texture of foods.  Maybe this will even answer some of my questions about cooking a roast....

In the meantime: The number of students wanting to take SPU 27 was so large that, given the 300 person cap on the course, only 44% could be accepted.  The professors pointed out to the students applying for the lottery that their comparative odds were pretty good;  only ~10% of those applying to Harvard are accepted and only ~0.5% of those applying for dinner reservations at elBulli are successful.  Given the interest in this course, an evening lecture program was also offered.  The public talks will resume, as will the course, in the fall of 2011.

.
  
*  On Food and Cooking, page 811
**  On Food and Cooking, page 2
*** On Food and Cooking, page 2

Reviewed 9/23/2017

Crisp Pita Bread with Blue Cheese, Pears and Maple Walnuts

Last week I took my Mom to see the "Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass" exhibit and the new Art of the Americas Wing at the Boston Museum of Art, and she reciprocated by taking me to lunch at the museum's New American Cafe.  I had Flatbread with Great Hill Blue Cheese, Pears and Maple Walnuts which came with a salad of spring greens.  It was so tasty....

Serves 2

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Make a batch or two of Maple Walnuts.

Separate the two sides of :

a piece of pita bread

Place the bread on a cutting board.  Place one hand firmly on the bread and with the other hand cut around the circumference of the bread with a sharp knife.  Place the two halves on a baking sheet or for a crispier toast, a perforated pizza pan. Lightly spray the bread with:

olive oil

and place in preheated 400 degree F oven.  Cook for about 4 minutes, checking frequently, until the edges just begin to brown. The flatbread I had at the New American Cafe was not as browned or crispy; for a softer bread cook less. Remove from the oven and top each piece, in this order, with:

thinly sliced blue cheese (I found and used the local Marion, MA Great Hill Blue, shown in top photo)

very thinly sliced pear (half a pear will serve 2)
~ 1 T maple walnuts

Return to oven for ~2 minutes or until the cheese is well melted and the pears are soft. Remove from the oven and cut in quarters.

Serve topped with greens or micro-greens.





Reviewed 7/11/2017

Maple Walnuts

When I was a kid, maple walnut was one of the few flavors of ice cream offered at the local soda fountain. My world of "gourmet ice cream" was Howard Johnson's, which by that time offered a whopping 28 flavors, allegedly causing Mr. Johnson to remark, "I though I had every flavor in the world." Although I like and use maple syrup in many recipes,  I had not thought about maple walnuts for years until they wound up on my plate during a recent lunch out. They were an excellent compliment to the pears and blue cheese and would make an excellent topping/filling for many things - ice cream only one of them.  Stay tuned.

Makes 1/2 c; recipe is easily doubled.

Using the smooth side of a meat tenderizer or other heavy utensil, crush

1/2 c walnuts

Place the nuts in a frying pan large enough so the nuts are in a single layer and roast over medium heat until the nuts start to brown, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in:

1 T maple syrup

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly about 1 more minute until all the nuts are coated with the syrup.

Place the nuts on plate to cool.   Do not put nuts in a storage container until they are completely cooled.

At left: non-fat coffee frozen yogurt with walnuts. As a kid I remember having maple walnut ice cream topped with warm maple syrup.  Why not ice cream/frozen yogurt topped with maple walnuts and warm maple syrup?

These walnuts are also good as a topping for Bitter Greens with Mustard Maple Dressing.

Reviewed 6/20/2017

Asparagus

I've been waiting almost ten months for this!  Friday I walked into Verrill Farm and was greeted by the first asparagus of the season. The farm separates the asparagus by size so I bought a bunch with the smaller diameter spears.  I brought it home and immediately put it in a dish of water, just as it is stored at the farm. The highlight of dinner was a plate of asparagus. Cooking fresh asparagus gave origin to the expression, "As quick as you can cook asparagus!".  I cooked it for two minutes in boiling water, let it sit for one minute and ate it as is - nothing added - absolutely awesome!

On Saturday lunch was warm (cooked as above) asparagus on toast, with just a bit of butter on the toast and just a few micro greens (also in season at Verrill Farm) on top. Occasionally I will also add a bit of mayo, well actually Spectrum's Light Canola Mayo. For my Dad,  fresh asparagus demanded a piece of buttered toast under it, even when served for dinner.

I think back to my first introduction to asparagus, it was probably asparagus from my Grandfather's garden in New Hampshire.  What I really remember, however, was asparagus picking around my Grandmother's house in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  Asparagus grew wild in most of the larger irrigation ditches near where she lived. These ditches were full of water only a few times a week at most. In the interim it was possible to walk down the middle of the ditch and pick the wild asparagus that grew on either side, the largest the diameter of a pencil, and absolutely delicious.

In  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; A Year of Food Life Barbara Kingsolver writes about harvesting asparagus, nothing for the first two summers as the plant matures, then only two weeks of harvest the third summer. Mature plants have a longer but still short season:

"After about eight weeks of daily cutting, the asparagus farmer puts away the knife, finally letting the spears pass beyond edibility into the lanky plants they long to be. For most crop species, the season ends when all the vegetable units have been picked and the mother plant dies or gets plowed under.  Asparagus is different: its season ends by declaration, purely out of regard for the plant.  The key to the next spring's action is the starch it has stored underground, which only happens if the plant has enough of a summer life to beef up its bank account. Of all our familiar vegetables, the season for local, fresh asparagus is the very shortest for this reason."*

Later in the chapter she continues:

"At our house we only eat asparagus for the weeks it's in season, but during those weeks we eat it a lot - the spears must be cut every day.  About the same time the asparagus plant is getting weary of our management plan, we're starting to feel the same way.  It works out." **

After having fresh, local asparagus, nothing else compares.  To avoid disappointment Ed and I tend to eat asparagus only in season. Living near an asparagus farm our standards are very high and reaction to the "imported variety" is not unlike Michael Pollan's who writes in The Omnnivore's Dilemma:

   "The ethical implications of buying such a product [imported asparagus] are almost too numerous and knotty to sort out: There's the expense, there's the prodigious amounts of energy involved, the defiance of seasonality, and the whole question of whether the best soils in South America should be devoted to growing food for affluent and overfed North Americans. And yet you can make a good argument that my purchase of organic asparagus from Argentina generates foreign exchange for a country desperately in need of it, and supports a level of care for the country's land - farming without pesticides or chemical fertilizer - it might not otherwise receive. Clearly my bunch of asparagus had delivered me deep into the thicket of trade-offs that a global organic marketplace entails.
     Okay, but how did it taste?
     My jet-setting Argentine asparagus tasted like damp cardboard.  After the first spear or two no one touched it.  Perhaps if it had been sweeter and tenderer we would have finished it, but I suspect the fact that the asparagus was out of place in a winter supper made it even less appetizing. Asparagus is one of a dwindling number of foods firmly linked in out minds to the seasonal calendar." ***

Realizing the season is short, when asparagus is locally available Ed and I eat it a lot too - usually for dinner and often warm/cold in sandwiches the next day. A few springs ago I had just finished Kingsolver's book when Ed walked into the kitchen, saw the asparagus I had just purchased and said, "Asparagus again?"  The next day when I stopped by Verrill Farm I found their asparagus season was over. It works out.

During asparagus season also check out the following recipes:
Grilled Veggies
Sesame Noodle Salad with asparagus
Winter Squash - Sage Risotto  with asparagus and make it seasonal, use parsnips instead of squash

NEW 2012: Easy Asparagus Pho
NEW 2014: Shaved Asparagus Salad
NEW 2016: Asparagus Stock/Pasta with Asparagus Stock

*  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; A Year of Food Life, page 28

**  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; A Year of Food Life, page 29
*** The Omnnivore's Dilemma, pages 175-176

Revised 8/24/2017

Fiddlehead Ferns

Last week the fiddleheads which I transplanted many years ago started popping up in our yard (top three photos at left). I used to gather fiddleheads and even freeze them since the gathering season is so short: the first and third photos at left are taken less than a week apart. I cooked them with lemon juice and sometimes, taking a cue from an old family friend, served them hot with lemon juice, butter and crisp bits of bacon.  I also cooked them in a marinade of oil, vinegar, spices, fennel and celery and served them cold. Ed does not like fiddleheads prepared any way so in recent years I have stuck with the simultaneously (and longer) in season asparagus. However, wanting to post some recipes, I went on line to verify that fiddleheads could be positively identified by their "U" shaped stem. This was validated in a Cooperative Extension Publication published by the University of Maine:

"Fiddleheads, an early spring delicacy in Maine, are the young coiled leaves of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Nearly all ferns have fiddleheads, but those of the ostrich fern are unlike any other. Ostrich fern fiddleheads, which are about an inch in diameter, can be identified by the brown papery scale-like covering on the uncoiled fern, as well as the smooth fern stem, and the deep ”U”-shaped groove on the inside of the fern stem."


This publication, however went on to caution: 

"The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has investigated a number of outbreaks of food-borne illness associated with fiddleheads. The implicated ferns were eaten either raw or lightly cooked (sautéed, parboiled or microwaved), which was what caused a food-borne illness outbreak in British Columbia in 1990. Although a toxin has not been identified in the fiddleheads of the ostrich fern, the findings of this investigation suggest that you should cook fiddleheads thoroughly before eating (boil them for at least 10 minutes)."

This was news to me so I decided to search further.The Wikipedia post on "Health Effects" is a ambiguous at best giving cleaner marks to the Ostrich fern (what we commonly call "fiddleheads") than other ferns.  Other sites advised cooking well and changing the water at least once while cooking.


Finally,  I consulted my recent purchase, On Food and Cooking; The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (Revised Edition) by Harold McGee. In the few weeks I have had this book I have found it an excellent reference and know I will use it a lot. McGee writes:


"Bracken-fern toxins cause several blood disorders and cancer in animals that graze on this common fern (Pteridium), which is sometime collected in the young "fiddlehead" stage for human consumption. Ostrich ferns, Matteuccia species, are thought to be a safer source of fiddleheads, but there's little solid information about the safety of eating ferns.  It's prudent to eat fiddleheads in moderation and to avoid bracken ferns by checking labels and asking produce sellers." *


He continues: "Long a traditional springtime delicacy, harvested as the fern fonds begin to elongate and unroll but before they toughen, fiddleheads are now a cause for some caution. A common species enjoyed in Japan and Korea, the bracken fern Pteridium aequilinum, has been found to contain a potent DNA-damaging chemical....  It should be avoided. Stalks of the ostrich fern, various species of Matteuccia are thought to be safer to eat."**


Well Ed wins this round. I didn't purchase any of the fiddleheads for sale at Verrill Farm this morning (bottom photo, above). No recipes to test.  


*  On Food and Cooking, page 259
**  On Food and Cooking, page 317

Reviewed 8/24/2017

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast with Red Chili Mole

Itzocan Knock-Off

First a digression - skip straight to the recipe if you wish.

Ed and I first ate at Itzocan (now closed) in the East Village shortly after Christopher moved to New York in 2005.  We have returned to this small restaurant (only 16 seats) several times since to enjoy their innovative offerings --- Oaxaca Mexican with a French influence.  When we went there last month as an appetizer I had their "SWEET Corn Huitlacoche Mushrooms Souffle Cake w/Truffle Oil" for an appetizer. Awesome, probably with a high cream content, and  nothing I am going to easily duplicate.   For a main dish I had one of my favorites, a menu constant, "PAN ROASTED STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST with goat cheese, vegetables and red mole sauce".   I was ready to try to do this myself; the problem was finding a good red mole recipe.

VARIATION 

Then a few weeks ago Ed and I went to dinner at friends - the food always vegetarian, and always excellent.  As an added bonus I was introduced to a new cookbook/author.  The main course was Chickpeas with Potatoes and Tomatoes based on a recipe in Deborah Madison's cook book, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  I promptly checked this book as well as Madison's The Greens Cook Book out of the library.  And one of the first recipes that caught my eye was a Red Chili Mole recipe - not an elaborate Mole Poblano which contains about twenty ingredients, is the the centerpiece of Mexican Christmas and wedding meals, and often called the national dish of Mexico, but a simple red chili sauce (mole).  Ms. Madison uses this sauce for Goat Cheese Enchiladas with Corn. With this recipe in hand I was ready to give my Itzocan favorite a try.


Mole recipe makes about 2 cups, enough for 6 servings. If not all used, it can be frozen for future use. Recipe for chicken and veggies serves two.

MAKE THE MOLE:*  (adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone; I adjusted ingredients based on availibility)

In a dry skillet toast:

1 1/2 t coriander seeds [I use 1 1/2 t ground coriander]
1 1/4 t anise seeds
1 1/4 t cumin
1 1/4 t dried Mexican oregano**

Remove to a plate as soon as herbs smell fragarant.  In a 2 quart saucepan heat:


2 1/2 T vegetable oil [I use 1 T olive oil]

Add:

1 small onion, finely diced ]I use 2-3 T of finely diced sweet onion]
1 t minced garlic [Madison adds garlic with the spices]

Cook stirring frequently for about 3 - 4 minutes until the onion is wilted and slightly browned, then add the ground spices and cook for one minute more.  Remove from the heat, let the pan cool for a minute, then stir in:

1/3 c ground mild [I use medium] red chili

Mix then gradually add 1 1/2 c water.  Return to the stove and bring to a boil, stirring slowly but constantly so that the chili doesn't burn.  It will thicken as it cooks; add an additional 1/4 c water to thin it out if necessary.

Add and stir until it is melted:

1 oz Mexican chocolate***, such as Ibarra, coarsley chopped [I use 1 oz unsweetened chocolate plus 1/2 t ground cinnamon or 3 T baking cocoa plus 1/2 t ground cinnamon].

Simmer for 10 minutes then stir in: 

1 t sherry vinegar

PREPARE AND COOK THE CHICKEN:

Separate, if necessary:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, ~3/4 # total

then slice lengthwise down the middle, almost but not completely through, to form a large pocket

Place the chicken on a washable plate, plastic cutting board or wax paper and open each piece so the two sides lie flat. Place:

 ~1/2 - 1 oz of goat cheese (total of 1 - 2 oz/2, more is better but more cholesterol; I use goat cheese with herbs)

along the full length of each chicken breast, then fold the breast over so it appears as it did before the cutting.

In a skillet large enough to accommodate both/all the chicken breasts heat: 

2 T olive oil

When oil is hot,  place the chicken breasts in the skillet and cook approximately 6 minutes on a side (longer if breast pieces are more than 3/8 # each) until both sides are browned and chicken is cooked through (and temperature is ~160 degrees F). 

MAKE THE VEGGIES: (optional)

While the chicken is cooking, in a separate skillet  sautee:

2 t olive oil

seasonal vegetables; Itzocan's veggies included carrots, onions and zucchini - great when zucchini is in season; when I have made this it was not and of poor quality and expensive so I used:

1 carrot, thinly sliced crosswise
1 parsnip, thinly sliced, crosswise
large sweet onion, 3 large crosswise rings, thinly sliced and quartered
(corn in season or frozen kernels would be a good addition too)

Cook until vegetables are tender, then add:

2 t cilantro, finely chopped

ASSEMBLE DISH:

Originally I served as shown in top photo:
Place one serving of veggies on each plate, top with a chicken breast, and put ~ 3 T mole beside the chicken.

Now I serve as shown in photo at left:

Put the veggies beside the chicken and the sauce on the chicken.

Garnish plates with cilantro and serve with extra mole on the side.

VARIATIONS:  I have also served this without the veggies, most recently with a Mushroom - Arugula Salad. Also, especially if the chicken breasts are very large, they can be sliced crosswise into 3/4 to 1 inch pieces.

*QUICK & EASY MOLE: (half recipe)

Saute in

2 t olive oil

1 t garlic, minced

1 T onion, finely chopped

When lightly browned add:

1 t ground corriander

1 t cumin

1/6 c chili powder

1 T cocoa

1/4 t cinnamon  

Mix until well blended, then add:

3/4 c cold water

Simmer for about ten minutes, stirring until all ingredients are well blended.                                           

** Mexican Oregano:

It would appear these are not the same herb although some sources say Mediterranean oregano may be substituted for Mexican oregano though the quantity reduced since Mexican oregano is more subtle.  Frankly, given the hotness of the chili I used, I'm not sure my substitution made any difference. I've since found Mexican oregano is available in the dried Mexican chili section in Whole Food Markets

From Cook's Thesaurus: "oregano = wild marjoram = pot marjoram  Pronunciation:  uh-REG-uh-no  Equivalents: 1 tablespoon fresh = 1 teaspoon dried  Notes:   Oregano is a popular herb in Mediterranean countries, where it's often used to season tomato sauces, meat dishes, and pizzas.  Mexican oregano has a mintier taste than ordinary oregano."    

*** Mexican Chocolate:

From Cook's Thesaurus: Mexican chocolate = Mexican style sweet chocolate
Equivalents:  1 tablet = 3.1 ounces Notes:  This grainy chocolate is flavored with sugar, almonds, and cinnamon, and used to make hot chocolate and mole sauce. You can buy boxes containing large tablets of this in the Mexican foods aisle of larger supermarkets.  Ibarra is a well-respected brand.   Substitutes:  1 ounce = 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon OR  (in mole sauces) cocoa powder (Substitute one tablespoon cocoa powder for every ounce of Mexican chocolate called for in the recipe.)

I do not understand the cocoa powder substitution above.  Typically 1 oz chocolate = 3T cocoa powder plus 1 T oil .  I have made the mole both ways: using 3 T baking cocoa (with no additional oil) and 1 oz bittersweet chocolate with pretty much the same results.

Reviewed 5/13/2017
Revised 1/30/2019 spelling corrections

Revised 12/28/2024 added photo with comment

Revised 1/4/2025 added Quick and Easy Mole

Maple Roast Parsnips

These are yummy with a sweet, sticky crust.

The first time I made these they were too undercooked and too many.  "Make fewer, cook longer", was Ed's advice.  So for a company dinner the next night I cooked fewer and longer and the longer cooking shrunk the volume so I had even fewer than intended and every last piece was enjoyed.

Bottom line is 2 pounds serves 4-6.

Scrub well and peel only major blemishes:

2 pounds parsnips

Cut into strips about 3 inches long and 1/4 inch in cross section, then toss with:

2 t olive oil
2 T maple syrup

Place in flat oven proof dish, approximately 9 inches by 13 inches that has been brushed with olive oil and put in pre-heated 400 degree F oven.  Roast for approximately 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until parsnips are golden.   While cooking at 400 degrees may result in a few dark tips, this temperature gives the parsnips a crispness that a lower oven temperature does not.

Reviewed 8/24/2017