Berkshire Borscht: Amy Cotler’s Locavore Version
You won’t believe the depth and character of this meat borscht, a hearty meal-in-one soup from my book, The Locavore Way. It’s a winter favorite in my house that continues to get better over the course of several days and freezes well, so double or even triple the recipe. The recipe calls for chuck roast, which works well, but you can pretty much use any meat, adding bones for flavor and then removing them at the end of the cooking time. The yogurt or sour cream topping and all the vegetables but the tomatoes are available now, and if you have tomatoes you put up last summer they would be a wonderful addition.
—Amy Cotler
Berkshire Borscht
Makes about 2½ quarts.
Ingredients:
3/4 pound beets
1-1/4 pounds boneless beef chuck roast (or any stewing meat), cut into bite-sized cubes*
flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 quart water or beef stock, or some of each
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
3-1/2 cups shredded cabbage, any kind
2 carrots, diced or shredded
2 celery ribs, diced or shredded
2 small or 1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 to 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1½ to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 to 3 cloves garlic,minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Optional Toppings:
Yogurt, sour cream or crème fraiche
Chopped fresh dill
Preparation Tip: Use a food processor to shred the veggies, radically cutting down on preparation time.
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wrap the beets in foil, and roast them until they are easily pierced with a fork, about 1-1-1/4 hours. Set the beets aside until they are cool enough to handle. Removing any remaining stems. Slip off and discard their skins, peeling any that stick. Dice the beets by hand or grate them in the food processor. Reserve.
2. Meanwhile, toss the meat in a bowl with a little flour until lightly coated. Remove the meat, leaving most of the flour
behind. In a large pot, brown the meat in one layer in the oil over medium-high heat, shaking the pan and turning the meat as it browns. (Do it in two batches if necessary.) Don’t worry if some sticks or if the meat doesn’t brown evenly.
3. Add the water and/or broth and tomatoes, and simmer gently until the meat is almost tender, about 1 hour or more. (Taste it!)
4. Add the vegetables, including the beets, and tomato paste. Simmer gently for another 30 minutes or until the meat is very tender. (If necessary, add extra water or stock to reach the texture of a thick soup.)
5. Season with the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar, if using. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with toppings if you like.
*If you use meat with bones, double the weight.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 02/23/11 at 04:02 PM • Permalink
Antique Apples: Montgomery Place Orchards’ Pie Contest
By Kathryn Matthews
Double crust or crumb top? A lard, shortening or butter crust? Wolf River, Ananas Reinette, or Hudson’s Golden Gem? These were among the tough decisions that contestants in Montgomery Place Orchards’ sixth annual apple pie contest had to make.
Not to mention: a panel of pie lovers, who have been recruited as judges, can be an opinionated, fickle lot. One man’s slice of pie heaven is what another might slip to the dog.
Yet, hope springs eternal. On Saturday, October 16th, I set my apple pie (#13) alongside 32 other pie hopefuls on a long table inside the Montgomery Place Orchards farm stand in Annandale, while spectators and fellow-contestants milled about in anticipation of the results.
My competition included veteran pie bakers, such as Judy Foote (right), 70, a retired accountant in Red Hook who has been baking pies for 50 years. “I baked 15 pies for my son’s wedding, and we never got to the wedding cake,” she confided, adding that she has also given “pie seminars” to two daughter-in-laws, various friends and former co-workers.
There were veteran contestants, too, like Rhinebeck lawyer Lisa Rosenthal, 50, competing in her fourth Montgomery Place pie contest. “I didn’t want the pressure of defending my title,” said Rosenthal, who won first prize for her double crust pie last year. Instead, she switched categories and entered two different crumb top pies, determined not to leave empty-handed.
Pie contests can spark friendly competition within families. The Rhinecliff Hotel’s executive chef, Brian Kaywork (left), 36, won first prize for his Crumb Top pie last year. This year, he tried his luck in the Double Crust category, where he competed against his mother-in-law, Vickie Lieb.
Four members of the close-knit Lowney-Dipper clan were also participants: Michelle Lowney (who has won a red ribbon for her crust) and her nine-year-old daughter Elizabeth of Red Hook each entered a pie. So did Lowney’s mother, Debbie Dipper, and her sister-in-law, Laura Dipper, of Elizaville. “My sister-in-law Laura was the first contestant; it snowballed from there!” said Lowney.
The pie contest was, in large part, a celebration of antique apples.
Talea and Doug Fincke (right), who have been growing fruit—and some produce—on 40 acres at Montgomery Place Orchards since 1986, also run its popular farm stand. (Historic Hudson owns the land that they farm and all buildings on the property, including the stand.). The couple’s son Adam, 21, and daughter Caroline, 23, pitch in, too.
The Finckes grow over 60 varieties of apples. Locally, they’re famous for their antique apples—heritage varieties that are obscure or non-commercial—that they began planting eight years ago. Come fall, they now harvest over 20 different varieties of antique apples, some with poetic names like Black Twig, Hidden Rose and Coe’s Golden Drop, as well as two of Thomas Jefferson’s favorite varieties, Newtown Pippin (of early 1700s Long Island origin), and Esopus Spitzenburg, first grown in Ulster County, New York, in the late 1700s. “We work on a historic farm, and we wanted to grow historic apples that Doug could also use to make hard cider,” explained Talea. Between September and November, five or six varieties of antique apples are usually available at any one time at the farm stand.
The contest began in 2004 as a fun, hands-on way for customers to learn about different heritage apples and which ones are best for pies. Pie contestants must use apples from Montgomery Place orchards, and when they sign up, they receive a half-peck of apples (their choice, a mix of varieties is permissible) from the Finckes for the competition.
There were two categories of pies: Crumb Top and Double Crust. Prizes, which included a $75 gift certificate to Mercato Osteria Enoteca in Red Hook; a $50 gift certificate to the Rhinecliff Hotel; and a $25 gift certificate to Warren Cutlery, were awarded to the top three winners in each category. The best part: after the winners are announced, the contest turns into an all-you-can-eat pie buffet for spectators and contestants alike!
Every year, the Finckes recruit judges based on a specific theme. Past panels have been comprised of chefs, pastry chefs, grandmothers, “Titans” (men over 300 pounds!) and local farmers. This year, the six judges—expected to “defend” their top pie picks—were all lawyers: Red Hook Town Councilman Bill O’Neill; Attorney for the Town of Red Hook Christine Chale; Kelly Mosher, Angela Lore and Kelly Flood-Myers, three Red Hook-based lawyers, and Barrytown weekender David Schulz of Levine, Sullivan, Koch and Schulz in Manhattan. “Not one single person turned me down for the job!” said Talea.
And the winners are……..
Crumb Top
1st Prize
#7 Elizabeth Lowney
Apple Variety: Jonagold
2nd Prize
#9, Kelly Schloemer
Apple Varieties: Suncrisp, Cameo, Cortland, Fuji and Empire
3rd Prize
#12, Lisa Rosenthal
Apple Varieties: Pink Pearl, Northern Spy and Swiss Gourmet
Double Crust
1st Prize
#15, Vickie Lieb
Apple Varieties: Northern Spy and Jonagold
2nd Prize
#16, Regina Viggiano
Apple Variety: Macoun
3rd Prize
#6, Sara Stitham
Apple Varieties: Jonagold, Macoun, Suncrisp and McIntosh
After deciding to enter an all-antique apple pie in the double-crust category, I chose three heritage varieties: Northern Spy (a New York heirloom from the 1840s, which has been grown at Montgomery Place Orchards for over a century); Baldwin (of Massachusetts origin, circa 1740); and Cox’s Orange Pippin (England’s favorite dessert apple, discovered there in the early 1800s as a chance seedling).
My practice “test pie”, sampled by various friends, had been well-received, bolstering my confidence that the flavor of my 100% antique apple pie would hold its own.
Unfortunately, even the best-laid plans can go awry.
As I prepared to roll out my pie dough (all-butter crusts rule!) the Friday evening before the contest, I realized, in a moment of panic-stricken horror, that I had left my “lucky”—and only—pie plate back in the City. It was late. All stores were closed. Frantic, I called my neighbor, Nancy, rousing her from a deep slumber. She came to my rescue, kindly lending me her pie plate.
Turns out: it was ceramic and shallower than my glass pie plate. Type A anxiety engulfed me. How much longer would it take the pie to bake in a ceramic pie plate? How would I be able to tell if the crust was truly done? What if my apple filling didn’t fit?
Well, beggars can’t be choosers. I had no choice but to adjust. I rolled out and filled my pie, and slid it into the oven.
Just as the oven door snapped shut, I remembered—too late—that I should have added bits of butter to my apple filling before sealing the top crust.
Jinxed! I could only hope that my combination of antique apples would carry the day.
So, what were the judges looking for? As the results were being tabulated (three contestants with the highest overall scores in each category would receive prizes), I cornered two judges for answers.
“There’s a big difference between a good-looking pie and a good-tasting pie,” said David Schulz, who, after sampling 19 pies in the double crust category, noted that the best looking pies often disappointed in the taste department. His criteria? “I want to taste the apples—not a whole lot of other ‘stuff’. I like the apples to retain their shape and their texture—I don’t care for applesauce in a crust. And, very important: I like a flaky crust.”
Asked about the biggest challenge in judging 14 crumb tops, Christine Chale replied: “What challenge? I was eating pie!” Still, she has her gold standard for crumb tops: the flavor of the apple should shine through; the filling should retain its shape but not be chewy; the pastry should not be soggy; and the topping should be crispy and not too thick. Go light on the cinnamon and hold the exotic spices (like anise) and added flavorings.
After 2 p.m., Talea announced the results. Nine-year-old Elizabeth Lowney (right) won first prize in the crumb top category. And, with a squeal of delight, Vickie Lieb accepted first prize for her double crust pie; she had bested Kaywork, her chef son-in law (who did not place this year).
For her diligent, two pie baking efforts, Lisa Rosenthal was rewarded with third prize in the Crumb Top category. The crumb top recipe that she used from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Pie and Pastry Bible beat out the crumb top she made from Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. The difference? Her winning crumb top had a moister topping (melted butter, flour, brown sugar, ground walnuts and cinnamon) and a cream cheese-and-butter crust.
As for my pie? Other than adding two additional antique apple varieties (last year, I used only Northern Spy), I entered the exact same apple pie as last year—lightly spiced with fresh ginger and a hint of cardamom. In 2009, I won a red ribbon for “best filling”. This year: nada.
Not that I’m complaining: taste is subjective.
Congratulations to the winners!
Montgomery Place Orchards Farm Market
Route 9G (near the intersection of Rt 199)
Annandale-on-Hudson
845.758.6338
Through October; Tuesday - Sunday: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.; closed Mondays
November 1 - 24, Thursday - Sunday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 10/25/10 at 06:46 PM • Permalink
Vickie Lieb’s 2010 Blue Ribbon Double-Crust Apple Pie
by Kathryn Matthews
Lieb says her prize-winning double crust apple pie is based on an old Pillsbury recipe that she has modified through the years.
For the crust:
3 cups flour
2 sticks butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
Combine flour, butter and salt until pea-sized clumps form. Add water, blending ingredients just until dough just forms. Do not overmix Chill dough for at least 1 hour.
For the filling:
3/4 c granulated (white) sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
4 Jonagold apples, peeled, cored and sliced
4 Northern Spy apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
For the egg wash:
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
Combine the sugars, cinnamon, salt and flour in a mixing bowl. Arrange apples in layers in pastry-lined pie pan, sprinkling cinnamon-sugar mixture over each layer. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Dot with 2 tablespoons of butter. Place top crust on pie over filling. Flute edges. Using a sharp knife, gently create slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
Beat eggs and milk to combine. Brush on pie crust.
Sprinkle white sugar crystals on top for decoration.
Bake at 450° for 10 minutes, then at 375° for 40 minutes, or until apples are tender when pierced with a fork.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 10/24/10 at 06:49 PM • Permalink
Pie Wisdom from a Pro
By Kathryn Matthews
If you want to dazzle family with a home-baked pie—apple, or otherwise—but, you’re a neophyte baker, or, you think that your best pie could be (much) better, take heart. Baker extraordinaire and owner of Tivoli Bread & Baking Company Mikel Gonnella, who also sells his popular multigrain bread and baguettes at Montgomery Place farm stand, offers these pie-making tips.
The Crust:
Gonnella, who has judged a few pies in his time, knows what pie crust for a double crust pie should NOT be: Gummy. Dry. Burnt. Raw. “Tented”—with dead air space between the cooked filling and the crust.
Instead, aim for a crust that is flaky in texture, tastes like butter, and a top crust that rests nicely over the cooked filling.
How to get there:
•Butter (unsalted) is best.
When it comes to pie crust, Gonnella advises using straight butter: “To me, a pie crust is all about the butter.” Crisco is a no-no. “I don’t like what it is, and I don’t care for the end result,” he said. For “hard-core pork fanatics”, Gonnella gives a reluctant go-ahead to use lard. “Personally, I don’t use lard because I can always taste it in the dough”.
•Use good butter.
“You want to be able to taste the butter in a crust—so make it a quality, flavorful, unsalted butter,” says Gonnella, who uses Cabot at the bakery.
•Keep butter cold—as much as possible.
For best results, use cold butter, work with it quickly—and in cool conditions. For example, don’t attempt to make a butter pie crust on top of an oven set on “broil”! And it’s best to make your pie crust early in the morning, when it’s cooler. “You don’t want the butter to start melting as you’re working with it,” says Gonnella.
•Add a little sugar.
Yes, Gonnella adds a little sugar—about 2 teaspoons—to his pie dough, which he says, lends it a nice color.
•Don’t overmix the dough
To avoid overmixing the dough, Gonnellao makes his pie dough in two steps.
First, he breaks up the butter, combining it with flour, sugar and salt in a standing mixer, which he favors. If you don’t have one, use a pastry blender. A food processor is okay to use, but, be aware that, its high speed makes it is easy to overmix the dough within a few seconds, says Gonella, who advises pulsing ingredients for no more than 15 seconds.
Blend dough until moist clumps, the size of small peas, forms.
Then, transfer dough to a large mixing bowl. Add half the water. Rake the dough with your fingers, going underneath and flipping it over to gently fold in the water. The goal is to get the dough to stick together, says Gonnella. Once it does, press into an inch-thick disk, about 4-5 inches in diameter. Wrap well in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to a week. Freeze up to three months.
The Filling
•Less is more.
“I like to make fruit pie filling with as few ingredients as possible because tasting the fruit, itself, is the point. My filling will usually include seasonal fruit, sugar and a thickener, like flour (for an apple pie) or minute tapioca (for a cherry pie). If it’s an apple pie, Gonnella advises, “start with good apples, a little sugar and a little cinnamon—that’s all you need.”
•Use a diverse mix of apples
Gonnella advises uses at least 2 to 3 varieties—ideally, 4 to 5 varieties—of apples for pie filling. “This way, you’re not banking the success of that pie on just one apple, which might retain a hard crunchiness, or cook too soft. Try mixing good pie apples, like a sweet-tasting Cortland and Northern Spy, with tarter heirloom varieties.
•Sugar in moderation
Taste your apples. Sweet apples require less sugar; tart or sour apples, more. “You could get away with 1/2 cup sugar with sweet-tasting apples, but you may need up to 1 cup sugar if the apples are very tart or slightly sour,” says Gonnella.
•Thicken with flour and butter
How much flour to use is a judgment call, says Gonella: “If my apple pie filling is really wet, I’ll use 3-4 tablespoons of flour; if it’s drier, I’ll use less. Then I drizzle on half that amount in melted butter before I put on the top crust.”
•Easy on the spices.
“I’m not looking for garam masala—or any other exotic spice blends—in my apple pie. An apple pie has a standard to uphold; it should taste like an apple pie,” says Gonnella.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 10/23/10 at 06:26 PM • Permalink
Smashed Potatoes & Celery Root with Chive Butter
Knobby celery root doesn’t look like a vegetable to cuddle up to, which is why most Americans don’t cook it (and why CSA members often leave it behind when they make their pickups.) But scratch its skin for an earthy aroma that’s celery-like with a distinctive edge. When classically paired with ordinary potatoes, it elevates both vegetables, so that together they become something more than either alone. Note: If you’re a vegan or down on butter, use olive oil instead. —Amy Cotler, The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food
Smashed Potatoes & Celery Root with Chive Butter
Serves about 6
Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1/2 bunch of chives, chopped
Salt
3 pounds baking potatoes (about 6), such as russet, peeled and cut into eighths
1 small celery root (about 1 pound), peeled well and cut into ½-inch pieces
½ cup milk, chicken broth, or vegetable broth + more if needed
Freshly ground pepper
1. Melt the butter and add most of the chives and a generous pinch of salt. Reserve the extra chives and keep the butter warm over a very low flame.
2. Fill a large saucepan with about 1½ inches of water, inserting a steamer if you have one. Add potatoes and celery root. Bring the water to a boil. Cover tightly, turn down to a simmer, and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes.
3. Drain the vegetables and place in a large bowl, preferably warm, or right in the pot. Use a potato masher to smash them, adding about 2 tablespoons of the butter, and stirring in the milk to reach the desired level of mositure. If you don’t have a masher, fear not — you can make do with a large spoon or standing mixer. Do not use a food processor, however; it will make the vegetables gummy. Season with generous amounts of salt and pepper to taste. Blend until well combined but a little lumpy. (Or if you’re a purist like my husband, blend until smooth.)
4. Mound the vegetables into the bowl or serving dish. Drizzle with as much or as little of the chive butter as you like. Sprinkle with reserved chives. Serve immediately.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 10/20/10 at 09:45 PM • Permalink
Baked Peaches or Pears with Ginger Snaps and Chocolate
The Locavore Way, Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food
Local peaches and pears are in. Eat them out of hand until you can’t stand it. Today I stuffed them with ginger cookies, almonds and chocolate. They barely made it to the fridge, but they’re good warm or cold.—Amy Cotler, author of
1 ounce ginger snap cookies (5 small, 4 large)
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips or grated chocolate
1 tablespoon brandy or cognac
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg yolk (small egg, if possible)
2 firm-ripe pears or peaches (cling free peaches*)
1 teaspoon butter, optional
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pulse cookies, almonds and chocolate in the food processor until they are crumb sized. (Don’t over process. Better too large than too small.) Transfer to a small bowl and add the rum, sugar and egg yolk. Mix thoroughly.
3. For peaches, cut them in half and remove the pits. For pears, cut them in half lengthwise; scoop out the core with a spoon. To make room for the filling, scoop out about a tablespoon at the center of peach or pear half. Finely chop the scooped out flesh and add to the ginger-chocolate mixture. Spoon a little of the filling into each half. Then top each with the optional butter, either chopped or shaved thin.
4. Place stuffed fruit in an oven-proof dish and bake for 45 minutes or until the filling firms up and forms a crust. Let cool. Transfer to a serving dish.
*Late season peaches are usually cling-free, meaning that you can cut around the pit and pull the two halves apart easily.
Today’s Personal Produce Rant
Eat produce for its flavor, not its caché. At least in principle, no one is opposed to biodiversity, but I have a pet peeve about the growing popularity of varieties that don’t cut the mustard. (Especially when old favorites are fneglected.) Give me GREEN beans like meaty Roma varieties. Like white asparagus, yellow beans miss the point—we like them for their green beany flavor.
Seedless watermelon, don’t get me started—all sweet, no watermelon flavor. The same for super-sweet corn, which isn’t corny enough for my taste. Instead, savor heirloom varieties right after they are picked, but before they turn to starch. (Supersweet doesn’t get starchy, because it’s designed to get sweeter over time, but tastes like saccharrin.) And, while fashionable white peaches are excellent for their subtlety, where’s their acidic bite? Gone flat. Yellow tomatoes have less acid, true, and some are extraordinary, I agree, but a good Brandywine screams, “I’m red, ripe, and have swallowed the sun!
Know Your Farmer
We’ve got a long road ahead of us, as big-agribusiness still rules the roost. But this excellent website is packed with good information tipping us in the right direction, including a September 14 article, Scientists Agree: Toward Sustainable Agriculture Systems in the 21st Century. (Took ‘em long enough!)
This website recognizes the importance of regional food systems with direct farm to consumer sales, and that’s good news for us all. Direct sales have increased from $551 million in 1997 to $1.2 billion in 2007, with Massachusetts leading the way. These kinds of sales—in CSAs, farm stands and farmers markets—are about relationships between people, not corporations, and that builds more humane communities. Direct sales also leave more dough in farmers’ hands and fresher food on consumer’ tables. They also boost local economies, because food dollars stay close home, rather than being shipped out to corporate headquarters. All good.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 09/29/10 at 10:15 AM • Permalink
Surprise Red Pepper Soup
This intense soup combines the local harvest and eastern seasonings with a touch of butter to round them them all out. It’s terrific eaten immediately with crusty bread—I couldn’t help myself—but radically better the next day. Serve for lunch or as a first course, rather than as a soup entree. Triple the recipe to thaw when the ground is rock hard and the world is white. See variations below, including a cold version, which is excellent Indian summer fare, and the one pictured here, with cooked corn shaved right off the cob into the soup. (You’ll love how the kernels break apart in your mouth.) Serves 4.—Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way, Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food
2 red bell peppers
1 cup peeled and chopped ripe tomatoes (1 huge, 2 medium)
1-1/2 tablespoons unsweetened butter
1 small diced onion
1/4 of a seeded and minced jalapeño
1-1/2 teaspoons coarsely grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fermented black beans, unwashed
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon sugar
Chopped cilantro and/or sliced scallion er
1. Roast the peppers on the stove top, on a grill or under a broiler. Cook them whole, over high heat, turning them as needed until they are completely blacked, 3-7 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let stand, well covered, until cool enough to handle. Remove tops, peel and seeds. Chop and reserve.
2. Drop the tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for about 5-10 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon. When cool enough to handle, slip off the skin(s). Slice in half and discard seeds. Chop. You should us 1 packed up of chopped tomato with juice.
3. Heat butter in a medium pot over low heat. Add the onion, jalapeño, ginger, garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the garlic is aromatic but not browned, 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the fermented black beans, peppers, tomatoes and 1 cup of the chicken broth. Simmer for 10 minutes and then puree in the food processor or with an immersion blender. Add the remaining 1 cup stock and simmer for an addition 10 minutes to marry the flavors. Add the sugar and taste. If you used homemade chicken broth you may need salt.
5. Serve warm, sprinkled with cilantro and/or scallion greens or see the variations below.
Variations:
Garnish with corn: Shave the kernels off 2 cooked ears of cooked corn right into the soup.
Serve cold, using a flavorless oil instead of butter.
Add 2 - 3 tablespoons of warm orzo to the center of each bowl before sprinkling with herbs.
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 09/22/10 at 08:08 AM • Permalink
Amy Cotler’s Zucchini Feta Fritters
These savory cakes are crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, and are superb accompanied with a salad of summer tomatoes and chopped Greek olives. It’s a snap to use lots of local goodies in this recipe, such as garden zucchini, farmers market onion, local yogurt and eggs. (I used Hawthorne Valley Farm yogurt and North Plain Farm eggs.) You may find local feta, but there isn’t any in this neck of the woods. (You can try the feta made by Adamah Dairy in Falls Village or Four Brothers Farm in the Hudson Valley.) Next time I’m going to try this with regional cottage cheese. This recipe was adapted from Ayla Algar’s Classic Turkish Cooking and was printed in my first book, One Pot Vegetarian Dishes, which is out of print but still available and crammed with tasties. —Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way, Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food
Zucchini Feta Fritters
Serves 3 - 4
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 pound zucchini
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped dill (or dill and parsley or dill and cilantro)
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 eggs,lightly beaten
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour or more as needed
1/4 teaspoons cayenne
3 tablespoons olive oil
1. Place an unbleached coffee filter or paper towel in a colander, and spoon the yogurt inside. Sit the colander in a bowl and for 15 to 20 minutes, to allow the yogurt to drip and thicken. Remove yogurt to a small bowl.
2. Grate the zucchini in the food processor. Toss with the salt, and let sit in the colander, over a bowl, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove to a hand towel and squeeze out extra liquid. Place in a medium bowl with the herbs, feta, eggs, onions, flour, and cayenne. Stir to combine.
3. In a large non-stick pan, heat the oil to medium-high. Add the zucchini batter in tablespoons, pressing down with the back of a spoon, until 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Test one, cooking on both sides, until crisp and brown, 2 to 3 minutes each side, then adding more flour to the batter if the zucchini is liquidy. Cook in batches. Serve with yogurt on the side or with a small dollop on top of each fritter.
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Posted by Dan Shaw on 09/09/10 at 01:20 PM • Permalink
A BBQ Pitmaster Rustles Up Some World Class Chow
Taghkanic resident John Markus is an expert at BBQ. What man isn’t?, one might well ask. But, as it happens, Markus is the real deal. An Emmy-award winning TV writer (The Cosby Show, The Larry Sanders Show, among others) and the creator and executive producer of The Learning Channel’s current hit BBQ Pitmasters, Markus cooks competitively on the national BBQ circuit, sometimes with his own team, sometimes on the team of one of his mentors. These include 10-time world-champion pitmaster Paul Kirk (aka The Baron of Barbecue) of Kansas City, and Chris Lilly, executive chef at Big Bob Gibson, a restaurant in Decatur, Alabama that was founded by the great-grandfather of Lilly’s wife.
Last weekend Markus’ team, Central Pork West, nabbed first prize against 70 competitors in the chicken category at a KCBS (that’s the Kansas City Barbecue Society, the NFL of competitive grilling) event, the Hudson Valley Rib Fest, in New Paltz, NY. Next weekend, he will not be competing; instead, he will be exhibiting his skills as he mans the grill at a benefit barbecue at the Churchtown (NY) Fire House. The menu will include his winning chicken, with it’s “secret Alabama glaze,” as well as hickory-smoked pork spare ribs and brisket. Proceeds from the event will benefit Taghkanic Neighbors and the legal fund of The Granger Group, an organization engaged in a battle to block a proposed car racetrack from being built on private property in the town.
To preview what lies in store at the event, catch the third episode of Markus’ series, now in its second season, airing on TLC Thursday night at 10 p.m. “We took twenty of the best teams in barbecue and created an elimination,” says Markus, who sees BBQ as “a culinary pursuit that has a lot of layers. It can be done on a grill that costs $90. Or you can get obsessed with the pastime and find yourself yearning for one that costs $20,000.”
The following recipe, which Markus claims will turn out perfectly well on the aforementioned $90 grill, is not on the menu for next Saturday’s event, though it is a competitive barbecue staple. Markus’s recipe presumes a gas grill. For a charcoal grill, see his note at bottom.
John Markus’s Beer Can Chicken
1/2 cup butter,
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 12-fluid ounce can beer
1 4-pound whole chicken
1. Preheat an outdoor gas grill for low heat.
2. In a small skillet, melt butter and mix in the garlic salt, paprika, salt, and pepper.
3. Discard 1/2 the beer, leaving the remainder in the can. With a manual can opener, make two additional openings in the top of the can, then, using a funnel, pour 1/2 of the butter mixture into the beer can. Place the can on a disposable baking sheet then lower the chicken onto it, inserting the can into the bird’s cavity so the chicken does a sort of handstand on the baking pan, the tips of its legs and the can forming a stable tripod. Baste chicken with the remaining melted and seasoned butter.
4. Place baking pan with the beer can and the chicken on the prepared grill. Close the grill lid and cook over low heat for about 3 hours, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C)
For a charcoal grill: Bank ten coals on each side, when they’re ashen you are ready to start. Place the chicken and close the lid, lifting it every 30-40 minutes to add 3 or 4 new coals to each side. (Most grills have hinged flaps on the side for easy briquette addition.) Put a thermometer in the top vent to make sure the fire isn’t too hot. Between 225 and 275 is BBQ! Low and Slow always gives you moisture in your poultry.
Editor’s note: If you want a 4-pound chicken, better buy it from a farmer. The smallest we could find in a supermarket was 4.81 pounds. This is an issue because a larger bird standing upright is top heavy and also could interfere with the lid of the grill. Ours barely made it. Getting the beer can out of the bird without spilling the remaining contents requires four hands—two gloved ones to lift the chicken straight up, two others to grasp the can with tongs and pull it straight down, during which procedure our bird fell apart a bit. It was, nonetheless, delicious. The aromatic steam that results when the contents of the beer can heat up kept the interior moist and flavored it.
Championship Southern Style BBQ
Churchtown Fire House
2219 Country Route 27, near the intersection of Rtes. 27 &12 and Taghkanic-Churchtown Road.
Churchtown, NY
Saturday, August 28; 4 - 7 p.m.
At the door (space is limited, so availability cannot be guaranteed): $25/adult, $10/child over 5
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Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 08/22/10 at 01:21 PM • Permalink
Guido’s Fresh Melon Sorbet & Granita
Although commercial honeydew and cantaloupe have become readily available year round in most areas, they don’t taste anything like sweet summer melons. (A cantaloupe in the middle of January can taste like, well, crispy water) This is the prime time for melons when we start seeing Crenshaw, Golden Dew, Sugar Kiss, Orange Flesh Honey dew and of course watermelons. These melons are so packed full flavor and juice that you’ll want to make sure your standing over a bath tub when you’re eating them! Whether wrapped in prosciutto, made into a sorbet or simply sliced, few things are more refreshing on a summer day than melon. —Jim Gop, Guido’s In-House Chef
Fresh Melon Sorbet
Makes about 1 quart or 4 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. roughly chopped watermelon, muskmelon or honeydew
3 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbs. vodka
9 oz. sugar, approximately 1 1/4 c.
Instructions
Place the melon in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vodka and sugar and process for another 30 seconds. Place the mixture into the refrigerator until chilled, about 1 hour (see note).
Pour the chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and place in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours before serving.
Note: Why put vodka in sorbet? Vodka will not freeze, creating a smooth, non-granular texture. Flavored alcohol may be used to enhance the sorbet. If you don’t want extra flavor, use regular vodka.
Watermelon Granita
Makes about 1 quart of 4 servings
Ingredients
6 cups cubed seedless watermelon
1 cup cane sugar
Juice of 2 limes
Zest of 1 lime (optional)
Instructions
In a food processor or blender, combine the water melon and sugar. Puree until completely smooth. Stir in lime juice and zest (if using). Pour mixture into a wide plastic container and place in freezer for 1 hour. Thoroughly scrape and fluff the watermelon mixture with a fork. Freeze for another hour or until completely frozen. The granita should have a grainy, crystallized texture.
Scrape with a fork one last time, and serve in bowls.
