WYPF 88.1 FM FREDERICK / HAGERSTOWN
WYPO 106.9 FM EASTERN SHORE
Every Tuesday morning at 8:35 WYPR listeners are treated to a tasty serving of culinary advice on "Radio Kitchen". Hosts Al Spoler and Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Waterfront Kitchen offer up-to-date advice on the best in local ingredients, cooking techniques, recipe ideas and gadgets for the kitchen.
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Make Your Own Ricotta
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A few weeks ago Al attended a lovely holiday party where each couple was asked to contribute to the dinner table. Since our format was an informal buffet, and since we all wanted to have little plates to go with our little glasses of wine, he thought a couple pots of bubbling fondue would be just the thing. After many decades in the culinary wilderness, fondue has made some kind of a comeback! Jerry whips it up at his restaurants and it is constant demand.
There are three basic styles: cheese, savory, and dessert. In some cases little has changed over the years, but there are some new things to report. Our preference is for a cheese fondue: first, flavor the inside of the pot with a garlic clove. Second choose a dry, acidic white wine without a lot of fruit; sauvignon blanc is great... you don't have to spend a lot of money. There are two essential cheeses: gruyere and emmenthal. Some recommend a little cheddar as well, and we don't argue. The proportion is 20 ounces cheese to one cup of wine. Once you grate your cheese, collect it in a mixing bowl and sprinkle in some corn starch. This coats the cheese, keeping it from clumping together and it adds to the creaminess of the melted mixture. Heat gently and serve immediately. For meat fondues, canola, peanut or safflower oil have been the cooking media of choice. One of the newest ideas in meat fondues is to substitute a savory broth for the oil. It will take a bit longer to cook your food, but it is healthier and the broth itself adds flavor. While meats such as beef, lamb, pork and chicken are common, you can also try seafood. Salmon, swordfish, shrimp and scallops are great choices here. The dipping sauce is the raison d'etre for the meat fondue. One of my personal favorites is a blend of blackberry jam, beef broth, and a touch of horseradish. Creamy mustard sauces are wonderful with pork, and lamb is happy with minty, herbal blends. Peanut satay sauce is excellent with chicken. And for seafood, any barbecue sauce you would use for grilled seafood would be perfect. The default cooking sauce for dessert fondues is chocolate. You can jazz up the idea with white chocolate, or little dollops of dessert liqueurs added in. But a new idea is to take sweet heavy cream, and add ice cream sauces to it, and bring the whole thing to a gentle simmer. Fruit, pound cake, coconut chunks or bite-sized cookies are great dippers.
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We've just come through one of the busiest times of the year for entertaining, but we do believe there may be more to come. Whether you are planning a formal dinner or just a wine party with snacks, cheese is a welcome part of the menu. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino points out that cheese from Italy should by no means be overlooked! Their price often is not as high a French cheese, which makes them very attractive. And there is far more available than just the hard slabs of parmesan we're used to. Here are some of his current faves.
Montassio, is a 14th century cheese made from cow's milk. It comes in three styles, depending on how long it has been aged: fersco, mezzano, and stravecchio. Of the three, Jerry has the highest regard for the stravecchio, which is a little harder to find. Ricotta Salata is a salted version of the fresh and delightful ricotta we know and love. Made from ewe's milk it has a mild flavor, and a firm but light texture. Great for cubing and adding to salads.
Miti Capra Vattellina is a very old goat's milk cheese that comes from the Italian Alps. It's dry, full flavor is fabulous, and Jerry loves to shave slices off for garnish. Finally, the city of Bra is celebrated for dairy products. Bratenero is a local cheese, made from cow's milk and aged 4-5 months. The cow's diet of fennel and herbs influences the taste. And Bra Duro gets a full 6 months aging, so bring it squarely into the hard style.
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01/04/11 Italian Cheeses
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12/21/10 Gift Ideas
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12/28/10 New Cooking Technology
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Food does have its fashions and while some may make perfect sense, others may strike you as silly. Still others are actually quite charming and given the time of the year, quite useful. One interesting trend we've noticed is a revival of interest in Cupcakes! And with the holidays upon us, cupcakes make a lot of sense. Here are some notes on making great cupcakes. Batter Virtually any cake batter you can buy will work. And you can always mix two for a marble effect.Here are some things you can add: flavor extracts (peppermint, mint, rum, lemon, lime, orange, and pineapple)Solid ingredients can be added: Coconut, chocolate chips, shaved dark chocolate, sprinkles, cocktail drink mixes (margarita comes to mind), instant coffee granules, orange zest, jams and jellies. Fillings (think Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes) You will want to use a pastry bag with a medium sized round tip (#230 is recommended)Essentially anything you can puree in a food processor can be used.We include the following recipe for classic Pastry Cream Filling. Classic Cupcake Cream Filling Yields about 1 1/3 cups of filling 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 6 tbs white sugar 1 cup half & half or 1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream plus 1/2 cup whole milk 4 egg yolks 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. In saucepan, blend all ingredients except vanilla. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches the consistency of medium cream sauce. 2. Remove from heat, add vanilla and cool quickly in the refrigerator. To prevent a skin from forming, cover with plastic wrap. Stir before using. Other ideas for fillings include: fillings based on jams or preserves, sweetened cream cheese, chocolate cream, soft puddings.
Frostings This is where you can get really creative. Here are some of the standard styles.
Butter cream - milk, confectioners' sugar and butter, very easy to color and to pipe onto the cupcake. Glace icing - same ingredients as butter cream, only you use boiling milk Fluffy frosting is based on egg whites, sugar and water. It has a limited lifespan, so eat up quickly. Fondant - the classic ingredient from "Ace of Cakes"...egg whites, liquid sugar, and confectioners' sugar. This tends to be a firmer, longer lasting frosting. Chocolate ganache - very easy to make, blend of whipping cream and plain melted chocolate. (You may work with any chocolate including, milk, bittersweet or white) Cream cheese frosting - cream cheese, butter, confectioner's sugar, and lemon zest. A classic that is easy to work with. Royal Icing - an ancient recipe of egg whites, confectioner's sugar and lemon juice. This, like fondant, sets up very firmly and should be worked with quickly if you are going to add any sprinkles or other drop-ons.
Decorating tips Sprinkles and other drop-ons are very obvious ideas. Others include toasted coconut, grated chocolate, orange zest, caster sugar, powders like cocoa and confectioners' sugar, cut up candied fruit, chopped nuts of all kinds, and molded shapes (you can find dozens of tiny molds for this at specialty baking stores). This is a great time to get familiar with your pastry tube and all its assorted tips. Play around and experiment, using icings prepared with contrasting colors and textures. Finally, let your kids come up with their own ideas. It's a great way to get them thinking creatively in the kitchen.
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12/14/10 Cupcakes
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12/07/10 Pie Crust
