The Promise of a Pierogi

If you have never had a Pierogi, then you are missing out on one of the best comfort foods ever designed by humankind. To say that it is like a potato ravioli does not do it justice. The dough is extremely crisp and tasty and the insides are warm and smooth. Although they are a little time intensive to make--the end result makes it worth it.



Filling:

1. Peel and uniformly chop about 2 Lbs of potatoes [either Russet or Golden]into about 3 inch pieces.
2. Boil for about 20 minutes or until soft.
3. Saute' finely chopped onion, shallot, garlic or anything that you want to put into the Pierogi. Just let the onion sweat a little and add the garlic at the end for only 30 seconds or until aromatic.



4. Using a potato ricer [or masher-I just think the ricer works best and gives you a uniform consistency in the mixture]rice or mash the potatoes into the bowl
5. Add salt and pepper to season and mix it together.
6. Let the mixture cool. A hot mixture will be the death of the making of a Pierogi.



The Dough:

1. 2 Cups of flour, 1 stick of softened butter, salt and pepper, 1/4 Tbsp chives, 3/4 Cup of sour cream, 1 egg.
2. Make a well in the center of the flour on a flat, clean surface.

3. Combine the butter, chives, sour cream and egg mixture and slowly pour into the well and mix with the flour to form a ball. Wrap the ball up with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.



4. Roll out the dough. I use a large glass to make uniform circular cuts to make 3" in diameter circles with the dough.



5. Take the cool filling and place in the center of each circle, fold over and use a fork to seal each Pierogi [If the dough is dry use a little bit of water to seal them].

6. When they are ready to cook-put them into a large pot of salted boiling water-cook them in batches for 4 to 5 minutes once they start to float.

7. Remove from water and let dry
8. Once dry cook with melted butter or Olive Oil until lightly brown. Serve with Sour Cream, Onions, Sauteed Mushrooms, etc.

Don't Panic...It's Organic

These are some pictures from Brighter Day--our local organic grocery store here in Savannah.

There are numerous benefits from eating organic foods. The basic idea is that the deal between humans and vegetables is "I won't poison you when you're growing and you won't poison me when I eat you."

http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-food/organic-food-basics/health-benefits-of-organic-food.html

Honestly, I think that organic vegetables just simply taste better. For instance, organic garlic tastes much stronger than non-organic or especially the worthless, pre-chopped garlic found in jars.



The other added benefit of finding a store like this is that you can find other ingredients that traditional grocery stores do not carry. For example, I like to make my own pasta from scratch. You can make your own pasta using regular flour, however, nothing tastes as good as making it from Semolina Flour--which is hard to find at a lot of chain stores.


The bottom line is it's healthier and tastes better-what's not to like?

FDA Backs Off Raw Oyster Ban..for now

This is good news. It seems as though the FDA has come to its senses on this subject. Although they have announced a delay in the ban, rather than scraping the plan altogether.

It seems that the most reported recent case of someone being harmed by the consumption of raw oysters is a man in Florida who ate a couple of raw oysters and was so sick that he had to get both legs amputated. It turns out that he had diabetes. Although that is a horrific tragedy--it seems to be an overboard reaction to a situation that rarely occurs. Most restaurants post warnings in the menu about the possible dangers of eating raw seafood and meat in their menus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/health/policy/14oyster.html

Savannah Restaurant Scores

We have just received the new restaurant scores for Chatham County [posted below]. Please feel free to check out how your favorite place to eat ranked.

Keep in mind that the criteria used by the Georgia Department of Human Resources is extremely strict. Do not be disappointed if your favorite place did not get a perfect score. Often a restaurant may have a lower score and it has little to do with the kitchen itself. A dishwasher may have forgotten about a bag of garbage left in an alley as opposed to throwing it into the dumpster. A bartender may not have been wearing gloves when slicing fruit when the inspector was present, etc.

I have attached a sample Food Inspection Form from the Georgia DHR.

http://health.state.ga.us/pdfs/environmental/Food/Forms/FoodInspectionForm.pdf

It is also important to keep in mind that many, if not all of our home kitchens would not pass this kind of inspection. How many times have we left left-overs in the fridge too long or failed to wipe down out counters or allowed pets into the kitchen when we are cooking? The environment necessary for the creation of food-bourne illnesses is much more likely to occur in our own homes rather than in any of these restaurants.

Additionally, the list itself only shows the score and not why the establishment received the particular score. I have found that just about all managers will answer any questions from a patron about why their business scored the way that they did. If they are not willing to do so-obviously you don't want to eat there.

http://www.gachd.org/ChathamScores.pdf

Raw Oyster Ban?

Michael Ruhlman put this information on his blog earlier this week, but I thought I would follow up on the situation. The FDA has announced that it will ban the sale of raw oysters during warm weather months [April through October] unless they undergo a post harvesting sterilization to prevent illness due to a bacteria known as Vibrio vulnificus which causes about 15 people a year to die. Those that die from it are usually at risk due to auto-immune problems, liver disease, or diabetes. The government will only have jurisdiction over oysters that are transported in interstate commerce.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1257489620139460.xml&coll=1

This should be especially troubling for those of us living in Savannah because nearly all of our oysters are from the Gulf Coast area.

What is unclear is what the sterilization process entails. Although the FDA has put a short Q&A on their website dispelling some myths--such as that alcohol consumption or putting hot sauce on a bad oyster will kill the bacteria -- it does not address what is done to the oyster.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/HealthEducators/ucm085385.htm

However, a quick search revealed two companies, AmeriPure and Motivatit, that both hold patents of post harvest sterilization processes. Ameripure places a rubber band around each oyster to ensure that the natural juices do not leak out. The oysters are submerged in 126 degree heated water for 24 minutes;they are then submerged in 40 degree water in order to prevent the oysters from cooking in the shell.

Motivatit uses a process where the rubber bands are used and submerges them in water pressurized at 37,500 pounds per square inch for three minutes. The pressure kills bacteria as well as the oyster and detaches the oyster's muscle from the shell. Shuckers simply shake the shells and the meat comes out.

The added cost apparently is about 8 cents an oyster-which is nearly double the price.

The FDA and both companies claim that the process does not effect the taste. However, it seems that many Louisiana chefs who have tried them disagree with this position.

Food Pairings

This is a pretty cool website that will not only pair similar food and drinks, but will also suggest replacements. It has some strange suggestions. For example, I asked for a substitution for roast lamb and it suggested blue cheese. I'm not really sure about that-but it is still fun to play around with.

http://www.foodpairing.be/

The Vegetarian’s Thanksgiving Dilemma

I am not a vegetarian, but I’m married to a pescetarian. My wife will eat nothing that walked on land-but will eat aquatic animals. When I first met her, this seemed to me a rather unusual practice. I had never dated anyone who did not eat meat. It was and is challenging and will be more challenging in the future as we have decided to raise our son according to my wife’s eating practices. That situation will probably be the basis for many future blogs.

Unlike many cooks that you see on TV, I have never thought you need to mock someone for their eating choices, anymore than you would mock them for their religious views or lack thereof. Still, it is a difficult lifestyle choice and I think it is especially difficult around special events—like weddings and the holidays for these folks to get something more than a steamed vegetable platter or a salad to eat.

To that end—I have struggled to find food that can substitute for things like turkey on Thanskgiving. We have tried the ToFurkey that is sold in many health food stores. The problem is that—although it’s shaped sort of like a turkey—it’s texture is pretty slimy.

The best substitute along these lines I have found is the “roast turkey” pictured above. [By way of total disclaimer-I do not get compensated in any way for recommending any brand names on this site]. The product comes in a 4” tube. You simply puncture the wrap around the tube and cook for about 40 minutes at 425. It actually tastes pretty good and has a turkey like texture. You can also find this in more mainstream groceries stores. I found this in my local Kroger for about $5.00. It could feed about two people.

Nearly as important is the gravy. Most vegetarians will tell you that besides bacon, what they miss the most is gravy. The following is a great recipe that I found in “Meat and Potatoes Cook Book
[http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Meat-Potatoes-Cookbook/dp/1558322051].

Basically it calls for:

1. 2 cups of water brought to a boil. The actual recipe calls for vegetable stock. I think this is unnecessary because vegetable stock tastes like dirty dish water to me. Just use water. However, you can find some non-animal based boullion cubes to give it some extra flavor. I would only use 2 because it can be very salty.
2. Add 1 Tbsp of fresh Thyme or 2 of dried Thyme to the water
3. Add 2 Tbsp of Tamari Soy Sauce-or a good savory stir fry sauce to the water
4. Dilute 1 Tbsp of corn starch in 3 Tbsp of water and then add slowly to the mixture. The sauce will begin to thicken.
5. Take the pot off the heat and slowly stir in ½ cup of milk (soy milk for vegans)–this will cause the sauce to lighten.
6. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Your vegetarian/vegan will be the happiest you’ve ever seen them on Thanksgiving. Also, I guarantee if you serve regular gravy and this gravy side by side either no one will be able to tell the difference or they will prefer this gravy to the real thing.