Cooking the Alphabet

I was introduced to a lot of foods and food tricks while at college ... reconstituted dried eggs (although I’m not sure that really counts as food), the use of ketchup to disguise scrambled eggs made from reconstituted eggs, veal, and several others that escape me at the moment—probably because they were deservedly forgettable. Not so the granola. I’m not sure what their source was, but it was excellent granola: crisp, with a hint of sweetness, and a good ratio of raisins and nuts to the oat base.

Since then, I have looked high and low for good granola; and in the process, I’ve sometimes paid quite dearly for it too. It was our very own Polka who first encouraged my thoughts of making my own—and who, in the process, reminded me that in some parts of the world the stuff goes under the term muesli. After collecting several recipes and experimenting with a few, I really don’t see myself buying the mass-produced product ever again—especially since, as Wendy McElroy points out, it’s easy to dehydrate one’s own produce. Using dried fruit is a boon in another way—the cook can experiment with varying combinations that simply aren’t possible with fruits that ripen at differing times in the season. It isn’t a good candidate for long-term storage [thanks, SRS and Mama, for correcting me on this!], but it’s so easy and good that it’s worth doing.

Did you go through the "red meat is bad" scare and eat nothing but chicken until you were sick to death of it? I sure did. The budget wouldn't stretch to buy fish very often, and there's only so much tuna I'm willing to eat under any circumstances, so I was pretty much stuck with chicken and cheese of one sort or another. And no, I don't eat soy anything either.

The other major drawback to this time frame was the idea that ALL fats were bad, so the chicken was skinless and as fat free as possible. Cubed sawdust comes to mind...

Even though I've made bread most of my life, I had a challenge learning how to adapt to a much higher elevation than I was used to. I was having consistent problems with over rising, rising too fast, and large airholes in the bread because of it. I tried lots of things, from reducing the yeast to reducing the temperature, but I couldn't get the slow, steady rise that makes for smooth texture and easy slicing... until now.

This recipe is a favorite and comes from "Sundays at Moosewood," a collection of the very special recipes from the vegetarian collective in Ithaca, New York.

I decided to alphabetize by category after all, just to be different. :)

First, let me say that most of my recipes are very simple and plain. I believe strongly in whole foods and natural ingredients, but I do not worry about any particular school of thought as to what foods are "good" or "bad" other than that, and I don't do "organic." If you want to consider that, you just need to find "organic" ingredients or make substitutions where necessary.

Now that I’ve typed that title, I guess there isn’t much else that’s edible that starts “squ” ... but I’m being specific because I want to reserve “S” for something else. (You may have noticed this pattern in action already. A nice way to expand the alphabet, no?) Although I greatly enjoy summer squashes, my focus today is on the amazing variety of winter squashes available these days. If all you’ve had is canned pumpkin, well, I feel for you ... you really haven’t had pumpkin.

As far back as I can remember, I have adored the flavor of squashes. My mom and I were the only ones who liked acorn squash, so she’d buy one, bake it, and we’d each enjoy half. Other squashes weren’t readily available back then. We lived close enough to the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show to make that an occasional family trip; I enjoyed it a lot, despite the plentiful wasps and bees trying to get some last food set by for winter. That festival was probably my first inkling that more things can be done with pumpkin—and related squashes—than just pumpkin pie. And it is very gratifying to see more pumpkins used as food, instead of just Halloween decorations. Some pumpkins, usually referred to as “sugar pumpkins”, have been bred specifically for eating; these tend to be too small for carving. I’ve cooked larger ones sold for carving—not knowing any better—and just like any other nonprocessed food, have found a good deal of variability in the flavor and texture. So far they’ve all been perfectly usable, especially since I have a trick that hasn’t failed me yet. (I haven’t tried the tiny decorative pumpkins, nor the giants that have been bred solely to be immense.)

Watermelon is wonderful. The combination of juicy yet crunchy flesh has appealed to me for as long as I can recall—and I never outgrew the fun of seed–spitting contests. But how does one cook with watermelon? Well, let’s go into the kitchen to check it out.

Longer ago than I care to admit, a dear friend asked me about making pie crust. And since today is that person’s birthday, I figured evidence that I hadn’t forgotten that request might make a suitable birthday gift.

When done well, pie crust is a deep brown, delectable testament to the near-miraculous effect of heat on a few simple ingredients. Tender and flaky, it serves as a perfect embrace for fresh fruits, pudding, or whatever tasty filling a cook can devise. Pie crust can also be intimidating as hell to make, because the quality of those simple ingredients really matters. So does the cook’s handling of them. I am by no means an expert pie baker, but I am adequate and if I had regular practice, I’m confident I could become an expert one. So could you; and here are my tips and an excellent recipe for starting down that path. Let’s head into the kitchen!

A while back I read an enthusiastic endorsement of a new cheesecake cookbook on a foodie site; being a cheesecake lover, I clicked through to Amazon to check it out. The cookbook is apparently based on a successful restaurant’s New York-style cheesecake recipes. But a few things in an editorial review turned me off of the book, and of their cheesecakes. My primary objection is the use of corn starch in the cheesecake. Now, I know that restaurants need to be as concerned with food appearance as much as taste, but as something of a cheesecake snob, I do not like extra binders in my cheesecake. The cheese and eggs should be sufficient—no flour, gelatin, or corn starch should be necessary to get a smooth cheesecake. They can add off flavors and textures to the cake. I’ve never had a problem with cracks in my cheesecakes, and I’ve never gone to the lengths described to accomplish a picture-perfect cheesecake—I don’t use extra binders, I don’t use a water bath, and I bake the cheesecakes at typical (325–350° F) temperatures.

All that said, making a pretty and delectable cheesecake is one of the trickier propositions I’ve encountered. Still, all that’s required is some extra care in preparing the batter and baking the cake. For starters, one must plan ahead: cheesecakes taste best after mellowing about 24 hours after they’re baked. Follow me into the kitchen if you’re interested in the secrets of homemade cheesecake success.

My guess is pretty much any decent cook can take a chicken carcass or some beef bones and make a decent stock from it. I regularly save roasted chicken remains and freeze them until I have enough to make a big batch of chicken stock. It’s thrifty, easy, and much tastier and more healthful than bouillon cubes and powders and the like (although I will admit to using a couple of Penzeys soup bases in a pinch). But what about vegetable stock? Turns out it is every bit as easy to make—and for the investment of ingredients and time, it’s an even better payoff than homemade meat stocks. Best of all, homemade stock won’t have unknown quantities of mystery or undesirable ingredients like modified food starch or MSG. This stuff is liquid gold when it comes to adding a nice flavor boost to rice, polenta, and pasta sauces. And of course, it makes a splendid base for building other sauces, or gravies, soups, and stews.

The first I am surprised I didn’t create from the outset, when we began our arduous migration to Drupal [the buffalo got nothing on the difficulties we faced!]: tips and tricks. Any kind of helpful hint, product or software recommendation, etc., that we post should go in this category; and I expect that an accompanying category tag will help further classify them (e.g., pood, Pengy Power), although I am not going to be the tagging police and insist upon it.

The second is a bit of inspiration that came to me yesterday, to help me be more consistent about sharing fun things I discover as I cook. “Cooking the alphabet” is intended to be a semi-regular feature, focusing upon some food or spice—one for each letter of the alphabet. Some will be commonplace, while others will be unusual. I’ll try to include at least one recipe with each letter, but won’t guarantee it. And I will probably break my loose rule of focusing on ingredients rather than final dishes at some point, but I doubt anyone here will care all that much about that. I have the first entry in mind already, but need to get this issue of Sunni’s Salon finished before I can indulge myself.

If any Conspirators want to do their own cook the alphabet series as well, I think that would be marvelous. Or you dear readers can run with the idea yourselves, too. It ain’t as though I’m going to copyright the idea.

Update: How could I have forgotten to mention “Wisdom and Inspiration”? Well, I did; sorry. As the name suggests, that category is intended to mostly be a repository of quotes and other bits of wisdom or insight. Certainly not only from “famous” people, either!