Seared chicken thighs, pene

I could well be addicted to these Bell & Evans chicken thighs. The W.F. near my house carries the Rosie and Rocky brands of organic and free range chicken at their meat counter, but not the B&E whole chickens and parts like the W.F. at Cherry Creek,  but they do have these packages in the chiller situated near to the meat counter. I'm glad I found them there. I could cook up the package and eat the whole thing on the spot, but I try to control myself. These are great just seared in olive oil. Very paleo, but I dolled them up a bit to stretch them out and to be a little civilized. 

Mayonnaise was made with olive oil, not recommended by pros because it tends to cause the oil to go bitter, I did not find that, but for the first time I used the whisk attachment to the immersion blender instead of the blender attachment and held back on the aggressive whipping. I added all the zest of a medium size orange along with 1/2 teaspoon raw cane sugar.  Raw. As if. It's still refined to crystalline form, just a little brown. 

I have on hand mint and basil so both were used. If I had something else, say fresh sage and tarragon, I would have used that. I wouldn't hesitate to include cilantro. 

I had ginger ready but decided at the last minute not to include it. I do not know why. 

I also considered but did not use:

*  cranberries

*  grapes

*  apple

*  pineapple

*  mango

*  pecans

*  walnuts

*  pistachios

*  shallots

*  scallions

*  cinnamon

I sense a change stirring within me, a tendency toward simplicity. Maybe its laziness. Maybe it's the summer heat. Maybe this is what maturity feels like

Polenta with chile

Weinzweig extolls the virtues of Italian Mulino Marino polenta. Mulino = flour mill, Marino = family name of famed piedmont old-skool millers. "Cornmeal so far superior to commercial brands that it's another product altogether."

Wow. Do tell.

"Despite the higher price restauranteurs and locals alike line up to buy it, quite simply, they say, because it tastes so much better than any other polenta around."

Well, there you have it. But what makes it so good? It's only corn, after all.

"The Marinos grind only full-flavored old varities, primarily one known as Otto File [eight rows]. The ear has only eight rows of very large -- huge compared with what we're used to seeing in the United States -- well-rounded kernels …

Although it's more difficult to grow, Otto File is far more flavorful than standard commercial corn. It's also more expensive to grow than more common seed varieties. Yields are low and each stalk offers up only a single ear. It must be planted earlier than more modern varieties in order to avoid cross-pollination. and it must also be left longer on the stalks in order to enhance its natural sweetness; the Marinos don't harvest it until late September or early October."

Well then, there you really have it!

Sorry, it's unavailable. Just kidding. It's available seasonably on Amazon and other places. But here you can have it for $9.00 LB plus shipping. I wouldn't trust it though. It contains the germ and the germ contains oil. The germ goes south fast after milling so it already suffers from being imported, even more so for having been stored. I'll wait 'till September.

In the meantime, my own corn milled myself also has the germ and it's delicious even if it is regular teeny tiny kernels with more than eight rows per cob. And after all, corn is a product of the Americas to begin with. I must admit to a touch of Americocentrism here when it comes to products that originate in America like potatoes, tomatoes, corn, chocolate, vanilla and chiles that are taken up by Europeans and improved in some way to suit their tastes, then supremacy claimed.

And what's with this cooking for 120 minutes and cooking for 90 minutes bullshit? 

Non capisco questo.

Yo no lo comprendo.

Je ne comprends pas.

I do not understand this. 

Because it cooks, it boils, bang, it's done. 10 minutes max. Bitttman agrees. It can be soupy or it can be thick. It can even be cooled and fried. 

I must be missing something really good. It's almost worth nine bucks and 120 minutes to see if ground corn can be all that. I'm beginning to become curious. Even with the degradation and expense of shipping added in. All I know now is that this polenta right here is wonderful. 

The chile is my own two leftover chiles from previous meals mixed together; the one with too much chipotles en adobo and the one mixed with beans and rice. This polenta was made with chicken broth and curry mixture in a tin from the now defunct Spice Boys which was just a few blocks away and now is gone.


Update: That does it. I really do need to get put some knowledge here. I'm seeing otto file online under various names and colors. Zingerman's, with whom Weinzweig is/was associated, at top that started this post, themselves offer otto file online, one kilo @ $15.00 which translates to $7.50 LB, if my maths are right.  Anson Mills also offers it, along with another which is also outstanding according to yet another site. But Anson offers these wholesale, minimum order 10 LBS. I do not know which type is offered at Anson retail. It is not specified other than fine and coarse. Although several types are offered  wholesale at Anson Farms. I hear them calling to me, beckoning me to try them.  This is  a problem for me because I can not handle that much. It's marketed under other names too, American Indian names, on other sites.  I sure would like to find a place locally and if not that then at least order from somewhere on North America, and last choice would be to pop for the known imported type originating from Marino's, if that's what it takes to obtain a reasonable amount, and risk the the damage that time does to the germ of grain.  And that would be a shame.


Update update: I placed an order with Zingerman's.  The shipping was steep but reasonable, I suppose. I always justify the expense to myself by comparing it with formal education, where anything by comparison always seems cheap. In fact, it pretty much justifies anything . But then at check out Zingerman's added an extra  "warm weather care" charge that nearly doubled the shipping. My reason center kicked in. I removed the temperature-sensitive item (cheese that is recommended) then went back to checkout. The warm weather care charge was still there. I guess that's how the germ in the milled corn is protected. So I closed the window without providing payment information.  I can wait for warm weather to end. Besides, I still have a lot of my own ground corn that I still love even though I know something out there is superior. I'll delay until cool weather to satisfy my curiosity. See how mature I'm gett'n? I must say, that I do appreciate Zingerman making these products available online and the care they show in protecting them. 

Popcorn

Popped corn, the best in the galaxy. No brag, just fact.

I saw it all in a dream:  I'm greeted in heaven by a group of beings of the Melchizedek Order. They weren't even old looking.  The one in front goes, "Glad to see you make it, Chip, although we feel regret about the whole white-water rafting thing." And I go, "Thanks. Appreciate that." Then the guy goes, "Before we get started on your beginner classes, mind if you whip us out a batch of that popcorn for which you're famed?"  This was confusing to me because it did not comport with my expectations, and I go, "Huh? What? Beg your pardon. " And he goes, "You know what I'm talkin' 'bout. The popcorn. The POPCORN, Boy." And I go, "But, but, but, how can it be thou partaketh of mortal food in this spiritual realm? Doth thou not partaketh of the tree of life?" And they all go, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. You loon."  I never did make the popcorn in the dream because without a pantry I couldn't fathom where to get corn kernels and curry powder and butter.  But that tells me, this is the best popcorn in the galaxy.

Things happen quickly. Best to have everything ready mise en place

1/2 cup kernels (slightly less, actually) works perfectly for the heavy pot I use.

Grated Parmigiano with sea salt. To finish, the cheese delivers the salt, the butter delivers the spice.

The real stuff, not the fake stuff marketed as Parmesan as if that could fool us, and I suppose it does fool some of us. My own family *hangs head* refuses to appreciate the clear superiority of the real thing and they persist in using those ersatz frauds. But I still love them anyway through these trials and in spite of this most grievous shortcoming. In fact, I even ate some without complaining just to fit in. But I couldn't believe they choose to ignore my sagacious steady pontification this whole time. Pfffft.

Anyway, the kernels are heated in olive oil just below the smoking point. McGee writes if the kernels are heated too quickly the insides do not expand properly. They need a little time. He's very technical in his description of what's going on inside the kernels. I had been blasting them on HIGH so I stopped doing that after reading McGee. I also stopped using a lid on the pot because McGee said that traps moisture released by the kernels which makes them soggy. Screen for crispy popped kernels. Plus you get to watch what's going on inside the pot.

You'll notice the lids on the poppers at the movie theaters are loose flaps that open fully as the popcorn bursts out.  This pot with a screen is much better than the popcorn popper I bought on Amazon. I think I'll give that thing away. It was just an experiment anyway, and it failed.

Butter ready with curry and cayenne.

Melted in the pot off the heat but still hot from the popcorn, then drizzled over the cooked popcorn. The sizzling butter cooks the spices briefly which is better than sprinkling the spices  raw over the buttered popcorn. You know how Indians from the subcontinent heat ground seeds that comprise various curries, often unique to each household, before adding the vegetables and everything else. This emulates that. Except here prepared curry is used and that would be unacceptable to authentic Indian cook. But hey, it's popcorn, ah'ight? And I'm American, whadjew expect?

Bison burger

Marketed as buffalo at WF. Ha ha ha ha, they crack me up. They know better. Anyway, I drew a djed on it with mustard but it didn't come out all that well. The sign depicts an architectural column shaped like a tied bundle of reeds  and it's thought to mean stability. It's supposed to look like this:

You can see I drew poorly. My excuse is the squeeze bottle isn't much like a pen. But that gives me an idea for better hamburger drawings. I need to get some of those picnic squeeze bottles.

Bison has hardly any fat at all so this was augmented with olive oil.

Have you ever tried rice vinegar? I think that's my all time favorite. It actually tastes sweet on this salad.

Vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, chocolate ganache

This was breakfast. It was supposed to be dessert last night, but I was too stuffed so I delayed gratification.

This method is not hard and fast. There are very broad margins for variation. In the end, it's up to you, what you want, the type of ice-cream you want to end up with. Martha Stewart said she never uses eggs in ice cream because then you simply end up with custard. I say, that's what I want -- custard. So I suppose this is frozen custard, even though the recipe is for French vanilla ice cream. There's nothing particularly French about it that I can see. This recipe uses a lot of egg yolks and fresh vanilla beans, but it doesn't have to.  It's possible to make perfectly good ice cream without any eggs and by using vanilla extract. I'm feeling rather uppity right now, and since I'm troubling to make ice cream, I might as well go all the way. No milk for me, no Siree, I drink that stuff all the time anyway. 

* two sliced and scraped vanilla pods

* 1 pint heavy cream

* 1 pint Half & Half

* 1/2 cup sugar

* 5 egg yolks

* 1/8 teaspoon salt

I used 1/2 cup sugar because 3/4 cup or 1 cup sugar seemed too cloying. I used 5 egg yolks instead of 6 egg yolks because the eggs I have are huge. I tempered the eggs into the hot liquid, although in all honesty I do not see why that is necessary. It seems to me possible to whisk the eggs with the cream and bring all the ingredients together up to temperature. Nobody ever mentions that possibility. I like tempering eggs. It helps me pretend I know what I'm doing. It also seems to me that more time to infuse the vanilla  would lead to a deeper final product.  I did not do that, but next time I probably will. For instance, I think that orange zest or mint or vanilla, any natural flavor agent like that, would be improved by allowing to infuse for longer periods. 

The zest from two oranges that I added to the cream mixture could not be tasted so I added Grand Marnier to compensate. The result is disappointing. Instead of bright happy zing of oranges, it ended up with a flat metallic non-orangish thud.  That does it! This stuff is overrated. For now on, it's going to be long infusions for me. Other than that, I'm well pleased with this ice cream. 

Caramel is melted sugar with butter added along with cream. It's very easy to make but it does take just a bit of technique. The dry sugar can be stirred in a pot until it liquifies then stirring must end. At that point swirling is allowed. Sugar melts at a temperature much hotter than boiling water and for this reason it's dangerous. Don't let any little kids or pets around when you're making caramel, they simply do not appreciate the hazards they invite with their impish games and childish ways. The liquid sugar quickly burns and the taste of burnt sugar is dreadful. Have the butter and cream ready at hand. Adding butter  initiates the cooling of  the liquified sugar.  For 1/2 cup caramel sauce:

1/2 cup cane sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup (or so) cream. 

Melt the sugar, stir when it's still granular, swirl when it begins to melt. Lift off the heat to check the steady upward heating and swirl to mix the melted portions with the unmelted portions evenly. Note the mixture darkening, at the point of desired darkness toss in the butter and remove from heat. The progressive heating is suddenly stopped, when the butter is melted, slowly add cream. The mixture bubbles madly and rises in the pot, keep drizzling and whisking until the desired thickness is attained.  Making caramel sauce  is easy, fun, and dramatic. If the first attempt fails, analyze where you went wrong and start over.  

Add a pinch of salt if unsalted butter was used.  

Ganache is even easier. 50% cream / 50% chocolate. Decide how much you want, and heat that amount of cream in the microwave. Thirty seconds should do, it tends to boil up very quickly. Add the same amount by weight of chocolate. You can use any commercial chocolate bar or even chocolate chips. I'm using single-source couverture chocolate because, hey, I'm an obnoxious snooty uppity chocolate snob. 

See what was done here? Real cream, real vanilla, real chocolate, and cane sugar.