Radio Kitchen

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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# 1105 - Tea and Tea

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10/9/2012 #1105 Tea and Tea

With the coming of that little chill in the air, we are altering our morning routine just a bit, and clearing out some space for an assortment of teas to enjoy. As a kid, Al only knew the Tetley tea bags his parents had on hand, and that was the extent of it. Today we know that there is tea, and then there is tea. And fortunately, we have a wide variety of choices.

All teas come from a single plant: the camellia sinensis. The tea world is divided into black, green and oolong. Black tea is fermented and very concentrated. Its flavors can last for months, if not years. It was the classic tea for export from China back in the 19th century. Oolong is produced by withering the tea leaves under hot sun, inducing oxidation, then twisting the leaves. Oolong is the tea of choice for connoisseurs, and has great subtlety. Green tea is made with the freshest tea leaves, and is minimally oxidized. It produces a very pale green tinted tea that has subtle, delicate flavors.

Jerry recommends that when you shop for tea, you not look for tea bags, but for loose tea. He also strongly suggests buying a "tea ball" or tea infuser for making a really good pot of tea.

Many popular teas are blends: Early Grey, English Breakfast, Darjeeling and Jasmine. Other more rare varieties include Ceylon Breakfast, Orange Pekoe, Gunpowder Green, Imperial Tea, Gyokuro, Lapsang Soucho, Keemun, and the very expensive Pouchong.

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#1104 - Peppers

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October 2, 2012   #1104   Peppers

All summer long we've been gazing fondly at the pepper tables of our local farmers markets.   If you love color, texture and intricate shapes, then you can't beat peppers for sheer appearance.   We don't know exactly how many varieties we grow here in Maryland, but peppers seem to thrive.   One thing is certain: you can put an entire spectrum of color and flavor into your dishes by using peppers.

One of the most interesting is a regional heirloom variety called "fish peppers," which were prized by African-American cooks back in the 19th century. When they are young, the peppers are creamy white. As such, they were used to give flavor and heat to white sauces used with fish (hence their name). Their foliage is quite attractive, and when the smallish pods mature they become a brilliant red... well liked by landscapers. The fish pepper is hot but not scorching hot, so a little of it in a recipe can kick up the flavor.

We have a large number of sweet peppers growing in Maryland. Of course the Bell Peppers, which come in green, yellow, orange or red, have not a trace of heat but offer a sweet crunch to dishes. Also, easy to find are the yellow banana peppers, and the long yellow-green Anaheim peppers.

A touch hotter are the pablano peppers, which are dark green and fat. They do ripen into a hot red variety, and they are often smoked or dried... becoming ancho peppers. Closely related is the chipotle pepper, which is a dried and often smoked jalapeno. You can go hot with raw jalapenos, which are moderately hot, but not scorching. Or you can go full bore with the notorious Scotch Bonnet pepper... pretty, and tiny, and fiery hot.

What to do with peppers: aside from cutting them up and serving them raw in salads, or skewering them for kabobs, there are a lot of ideas. Grilled peppers retain their sweetness and acquire a richer flavor, and are great side dishes. And some of the larger, mild peppers are perfect for stuffing... often with ground meat and spices.

There are tons of Indian curry recipes that call for peppers with all degrees of heat. They are often mixed with other vegetables such as squash, onion and potatoes to make a complex stew

Finally, one of the most classic uses of peppers is to create a Mexican mole. If you haven't encountered a mole, we're talking about a thick, ultra-flavorful sauce that is arguably more of a condiment than a pure sauce in the French sense. Mole recipes are often quite long, and require considerable cooking time... but the results are stunning. Do a little research into Mexican cucina, and give it a try.

Here's a nice recipe perfect for this time of the year that is made largely from ingredients found in Maryland markets.

Al's Pepper Pot Stew
A Radio Kitchen Original Recipe
(Note: when cleaning hot peppers, wear rubber gloves and do not touch your eyes.)

Ingredients:

1 each: red, yellow, orange and green Bell pepper, de-stemmed, de-seeded and cut into 1" pieces
2 long yellow banana peppers, de-stemmed, de-seeded and cut into long strips
2 jalapeno pepper (or any other moderately hot peppers) de-stemmed, de-seeded, and chopped into a medium mince
1 poblano pepper, de-seeded and cut into coarse chunks
2 small sweet yellow onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tbs ground black pepper
kosher salt to taste
1 cup chicken broth
12 small yellow fingerling potatoes, cleaned and quartered lengthwise
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut up into bite-sized pieces
2 cooked andouille sausages (or similar dried sausage) cut up into one inch pieces

Directions:

1. In a heavy non-stick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, and toss in the peppers and onions and the seasonings. Stir and evenly cook until they are tender and start to sear. Remove from heat, and set aside.

2. In a large, deep sauce pan, bring the chicken broth to a simmer and toss in the potatoes. Just as they start to become tender, add in the chicken and sausage. Keeping the heat low, cook for about 10 minutes uncovered.

3. Add the peppers and onions to the stew and continue cooking for about another 15 minutes over low heat. Keep the pan uncovered, and allow the liquid to evaporate and thicken. Check the flavor and adjust seasoning

4. Prior to serving, heat the stew up again and gently stir the ingredients. Serve over Basmati rice.

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#1103 - Olive Oil and Vinegars

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September 25, 2012 #1103 Olive Oil and Vinegars

Last week we began a discussion about olive oil that we continued this week. At one time in our history, olive oil was relegated to the ethnic portions of our society, and it was hardly mainstream. Today it's everywhere, and our sophistication in using it has grown enormously. Not only are many of us conversant with different styles and qualities of olive oil, we're getting used to using oils with infused flavors.

We had the pleasure of discovering a fabulous new store that deals exclusively in olive oils and balsamic vinegars, and it was an education sampling from the dozens of products they offer. The store is called E.N. Olivier, and it is located on Falls Road, just across from Princeton Sports. For a dedicated foodie, this store is a must-visit. You will find oils made from different varieties of olives, which cover the spectrum from mild (Peranzana) to medium (Picual) to robust (Picholine).

Then there are the flavored oils: gorgeous high quality oils infused with flavors that demand kitchen creativity. The citrus flavors (lemon, lime and orange) get their flavor from fruit that is crushed simultaneously with the olives. Other flavors (basil, butter, herbes de Provence) acquire flavor through the addition of essential oils later in the production process. Regardless of the selection, they all have remarkably clean, pure flavors, and the array of nuance that trumpets high quality.

Balsamic vinegar is likewise a mainstay in the up-to-date American kitchen. What we need to use more often is an item called White Balsamic Vinegar, one of our favorite ingredients. Classic balsamic vinegar is dark and almost syrupy in consistency. The Cadillac of balsamics is the "traditonale" of Modena, which can cost nearly $100 for a small bottle. Fortunately, less expensive vinegars are produced for the rest of us, which still have fabulously high quality.

Flavored balsamic vinegars stimulate a cook's imagination. Black Mission Fig vinegar wants to pair with blue cheese. Pomegranate wants to dress a salad of tangy greens and shaved Asiago cheese. You'll want to mix lavender with ground lamb, and use the black cherry as a glaze on duck or pork. And the dark chocolate balsamic vinegar was put on earth to adorn ice cream and desserts.

White balsamic vinegar is pale and thin and packed with flavor. Straight up white balsamic is a marvelous addition to your bag of tricks - it can offer a mellow tanginess to sauces, dressings, or soups without altering their color. Al loves it sprinkled on oven-baked beet slices. The flavored varieties also spark one's imagination. Oregano insists on appearing in tomato sauces of all kinds. Cranberry/Pear wants to glaze a poached anjou pear. Apricot seems to want to run with lightly grilled asparagus, while lemon white balsamic vinegar is something of a universal salad dressing component.

A trip to E.N. Olivier is also a chance to add to your collection of gourmet salts, which are becoming very popular garnishes these days. The nicest feature of the store is that you can sample everything. If you taste from barrel to barrel and your imagination doesn't begin to run wild, then you probably should give up cooking. But if you are like us, you will feel like a kid in a candy store.

Here are the particulars: E.N. Olivier at 1407 Clarkview Road; phone is 410-823-6457. Visit Liz Nuttal, the owner, or chat with her knowledgeable and friendly staff.

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#1102 - Olive Oil

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September 18, 2012 #1102 Olive Oil

One of the most commonly found ingredients in a kitchen is also one of the most important. Today, we cannot begin to imagine cooking without olive oil, but there was a time a few decades ago when it wasn't at all easy to find in the American kitchen. The popular Mediterranean cuisine centers on olive oil, and thousands of recipes that we Americans love require it.

We often see the term "extra virgin olive oil" in recipes or on store shelves. In Europe the term means something very specific; in the US it is much less so. In the olive oil industry, debate rages as to just how stringent the American definition of "extra virgin" should be.

Essentially, the term "extra virgin" applies to oils that are mechanically pressed, that have no chemical additives, nor undergo any chemical refinement. The nominated oils must also pass tests that insure that they are within exact standards in terms of acidity and organic compounds essential to olive oil, and they must pass a tasting panel to insure quality on the palate.

Today, premium extra virgin olive oil is a relatively small part of the market. It is the hands-down choice for an oil that is used to finish a dish, or be a principal ingredient, as in a sauce. If you are going to saute, you can and should use a lesser quality oil, since its primary function is to act as a lubricant and a heat transfer medium. But when the actual taste of olive oil is critical, it pays to use high grade extra virgin oil.

Baltimore has an important olive oil connection. Pompeian Olive Oil is a local business, and they were the first to import (in 1906) high quality extra virgin olive oil into the United States. The top of their line, the extra virgin, is a very good olive oil that toes the line on carefully monitored production techniques and taste evaluations. The company is planning to open a new tasting room and museum at their Pulaski Highway site in coming months.

And Radio Kitchen now has a very important connection to Pompeian: our own Chef Jerry Pellegrino has been named a national spokesman for Pompeian Olive Oil, and is already producing a television series with the celebrated actress and health enthusiast Suzanne Somers.

You can visit the Pompeian website at www.pompeian.com.

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#1101 - Okra, Kale, and Crowder Peas

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September 11, 2012   #1101   Okra, Kale, and Crowder Peas

Every week when I go to the market I enjoy just walking up and down the aisles checking out everything that's available.   At this time of year, it's wonderful to see how many choices we have.   Now, some of those choices are pretty obvious: corn, tomatoes, melons and peaches.   But if you look closely you can spot some less likely items that still deserve your attention.   And we're thinking of okra, kale and crowder peas.

Okra is a mainstay of Southern cooking, but it's one of those peculiar vegetables that people either love or hate. This is because of the sticky sap that you find inside the okra pod: some people refer to it as slime, it's technical name is mucilage. When shopping, choose okra that is firm, and bright green. Avoid pods that are soft and squishy, or turning black.

Okra is usually cut into rounds, or sliced lengthwise, but it can be cooked whole. The damper the cooking environment, the more the slime will ooze out. In a stew or gumbo this is desirable since it will thicken the sauce. On its own, it is undesirable.

A good solution to cooking okra on its own is to stir fry, using a minimum of oil. The mucilage will evaporate, leaving the tasty flesh of the pods behind. Roasting the round okra slices works well too. One recipe I encountered was essentially an okra tempura, which involved coating okra rounds in a thin batter and then frying them. However you cook it, okra is at its best when it is still crisp and crunchy, or slightly softened. Overcooking doesn't serve this vegetable well at all.

Kale has become a very popular leafy green lately. It's a member of the cabbage family (the Dutch word for cabbage gave us both kale and cole slaw) and it is extremely nutritious. It is one of the most ubiquitous vegetables out there: featured in European, African and Asian cooking.

Kale can be just a little tough, or chewy, so it is usually chopped up if eaten raw. But it really shines in soups, which explains the hundreds of kale soup recipes you can find. One of its strongest affinities is with pork products. It's right at home with bacon, sausage, shredded pork or ham. So use these ingredients in a soup, or plan to have kale as a side dish.

Cooking kale is often a matter of simmering the chopped up leaves. You can sauté kale with a little broth, which will cook down, and then season it with vinegar. Kale blanches easily and can be used much in the same way as spinach. A very simple recipe is to cut up some kale, place it in a plastic bag with some olive oil, shake it, put it on a cookie sheet, then bake it in a hot oven for just a couple of minutes. It comes out nicely crispy, and full of flavor.

If your market is lucky enough to have a pea vendor, you probably have run into crowder peas. These spotty brown peas with their less than round shape are very closely related to black eyed peas. Their flavor is robust and earthy, and their texture is very firm and nicely chewy. Crowder peas are not terribly tender, so you need to soak them over night. As countless Southern recipes tell us, the crowder pea marries well with pork flavors. When cooked they add a dark, flavorful juice to the pot. Unlike fresh green peas, which cook in the blink of an eye, crowder peas do require a good 30-45 minutes simmering, so think slow when working with them.
A natural for soups and stews, crowder peas can be used in salads if you cook them first, then cool them down a bit.

Of course the real message of this show about okra, kale and crowder peas is that you can use all three ingredients to make a nice stew that is perfect for the first cool days of autumn. Mix them up with some onions, peppers, garlic, a ham hock and some cut up chicken, with plenty of broth. That's good down home eating.

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#1100 - Tasted in Normandy

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September 4, 2012 #1100 Tasted in Normandy

Earlier this summer, Al made yet another trip to Normandy in France, and as usual he kept his eyes open and his taste buds ready for adventure. Several of the dishes he orders every time have become gastronomic souvenirs for him, and he tries them at home. One of the signature dishes of Normandy is something that gave Jerry a bit of confusion.

The Norman "galette" is not the kind of galette one encounters elsewhere in France. Ordinarily the word galette refers to a sweet cake. The Norman version is a large buckwheat crepe filled with savory ingredients. The batter is easy to make: eggs, buckwheat flour, milk, water, oil and salt get the trick done. Use your biggest skillet to make these, or better yet, use a flat griddle and one of those little batter spreaders to twirl up a nice round shape.

The galette will cook quickly, and you might want to leave one side underdone. It's perfectly all right to make a bunch and then stack them under a warm towel. The stuffings for a galette are always savory. And here, your imagination is the only limit. Traditionally, however, you see a lot of gruyere cheese, ham, mushroom, eggs, potatoes, smoked salmon, sausage, and assorted vegetables - just about anything you can find at the farmers market. Any combination can conceivably work. Whatever the ingredient, save the cheese and eggs, it should be cooked beforehand.

To fill and cook, place the galette undercooked side down on your biggest skillet. Cut up your ingredients so as to emphasize thinness and flatness. Put the gooiest part down first; the egg mixture (like for an omelet) or the cheese, and then add all the others, keeping things bunched in the middle. Heat on the stove top over medium heat, shaking the skillet constantly; covering helps. Then, fold the four outer sides in toward the middle, and put the entire skillet in a 350 degree oven for a couple minutes. Use multiple skillets if you can, otherwise, keep the finished galettes warm until you bring all to the table.

This trip Al enjoyed a "Galette Fermier," or farmer's galette, in the lovely seaside town of Cabourg. This is one of those "everything but the kitchen sink" recipes that is perfect when its been too long between meals. The fermier includes grated emmenthaler cheese, eggs, potatoes, ham and thinly sliced chicken breast. Needless to say, it's a full meal.

The other ubiquitous dish you find all over France is the celebrated Croque Monsieur. This glorified ham and cheese sandwich is a mainstay for the hungry lunch crowd, and is one of the more acceptable fast food choices you can make. If you can make French toast and béchamel sauce (the easiest of all), you can make a Croque Monsieur. Simply prepare a thick piece of unsweetened French toast, lay down a layer of gruyere cheese, a layer of thinly sliced ham, and cover generously with that béchamel sauce. Stick it under the broiler for about one minute, and voila: the ultimate in satisfying cafe food. And of course, if you want to change the gender of the sandwich, top it off with a fried egg and you have Croque Madame.

Classic Normandy Galette Batter

2 1/2 cups of buckwheat flout, sifted
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 whole egg
pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly, and refrigerate for two hours.

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#1053 - Artisan Cheese in Maryland

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August 28,2012 #1053 Artisan Cheese in Maryland

Since I am a diehard fan of our local farmers markets, and since I am often traveling to Europe where I go to their farmers markets, I like to make comparisons. By and large we are doing extremely well. Our best markets would get full marks in Italy or France...except for a couple things. We don't do a lot with cured meats and we don't do a lot with cheese. But things are changing, especially for Maryland Artisanal Cheese.

We have a handful of cheese makers around the state, and we produce a range of cheeses including goat cheese, cheddars, blues and raw milk cheese.

Here is a list of ones we know of:

Firefly Farms, Bittinger in Western Maryland, premium goat cheese.
Chapel's Country Creamery, near Easton, raw milk cheese.
Cherry Glen, Boyds, goat milk cheese.
Broom's Bloom Dairy, Belair, cheddar cheese.
Hawks Hill Creamery, Street, flavored cow's milk cheese.
South Mountain Creamery, Middletown, cow's milk cheese.
Buttercup Valley Farm, cow's milk cheese.
Caprikorn Farms, Gapland, goat cheese.
OberGood, Sharpsburg, camembert style.
Shepherd's Manor Creamery, New Windsor, sheep's milk cheese.

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#1052 - The Humble Cabbage

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August 21, 2012 #1052 The Humble Cabbage

Among all the wonderful fruits and vegetables flooding our markets these days, there is one so humble that it is easy to overlook, and that is the cabbage.   Since summer time is perfect for enjoying a cold, creamy bowl of cole slaw, we thought it would be fun to talk about the humble cabbage, one of the oldest cultivated vegetables in human history.

Cabbage leaves seem designed to be a wrap of some kind. We think all you need to do is to blanch them in hot water to get them limp, and then stuff them with whatever you would like too wrap up...and the more creative and complex, the better. Don't forget sauces and condiments that will make the wrap sing.

Stuffed cabbage cooked on the grill is another option. Again, working with blanched, limp cabbage leaves, the trick is to stuff them, roll 'em up, sauce it, then wrap up the cabbage in tin foil. Put it on a top rack in the grill and cook it slowly.

Another technique is to core a whole cabbage, parboil it until it is tender, then add the filling, and cook the whole thing on a low slow grill.

Here's a recipe that Al cooked up:

Al's Purple Cole Slaw
A Radio Kitchen Original Recipe

For the slaw:

1 /3 small purple cabbage, finely shredded
3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
one tsp minced garlic
2 tbs grated sweet onion
1/4 cup golden raisins

For the sauce:

1 cup mayonnaise (Al prefers Miracle Whip, Jerry likes Helman's)
1/4 cup apple vinegar
2 tbs white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs celery salt

1. Assemble the first ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
2. In a smaller bowl, assemble the ingredients for the sauce and mix thoroughly. Adjust amounts so that the sauce pours freely, and tastes both sweet and tart.
3. Pour the sauce over the cabbage mixture and toss thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

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#1051 - Seven Things To Do With Melon

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August 14,2012 #1051 Seven Things To Do With Melon

It being mid-summer, we are in the heart of melon season.   As of last check, we have watermelons of all kinds, cantaloupes, honeydews, Juan Canaries and Charentais available.   And don't be surprised if you see a few varieties you don't recognize: Maryland farmers love to experiment.   Most of us are perfectly content to stick a melon in the fridge and cut off a nice cold slice...but there are a few other things you can do with a melon.   Here are some ideas:

1. Melon and meat: wrap up a crescent of cantaloupe or honeydew with a slice of prosciutto (of course), but you can also try pancetta and bacon.

2. Grilled melon, particularly watermelon "steak," the seedless, firm heart of the melon: toss it on the grill to get those great sear marks, then dress it with a sauce featuring balsamic vinegar and very thinly sliced sweet onion.

3. Melon in salsa: cut up your favorite melon and add it an improvised blend of fresh, summer produce from the market.

4. Melon soup: puree that melon, add some fresh cream, a little seasoning and a garnish of mint and you're good to go. Of course, it is best well-chilled and a day old.

5. Granite or sorbet: again you're going to puree and strain that melon, and then add it to your favorite recipes for these frozen delights.

6. Melon in curries: many Indian recipes are perfectly happy to contain melon right along side summer squash, coconut, cut-up potatoes and green beans. It's all about getting a balanced spectrum of flavors.

7. Melon curd: if you've heard of lemon curd, here is the melon version.   I have used it with Greek yogurt, and thickened a little more, it was the filling for a melon meringue pie.

                                   Melon Curd

(Note: this recipe works best when you have really ripe, intensely-flavored melons. You may even need to let the melons over-ripen a bit, and begin to become soft. I recommend the small French Charentais melon for this recipe.)

1/2 large melon or 1 entire smaller melon, very ripe
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
1 tbs sweet butter

1. Use half of a large melon, or an entire smaller melon. Seed it, and slice it into crescents, then cut again, removing the rind. Cut the flesh into smaller chunks for processing.

2. Put the melon chunks, sugar, lemon juice and salt into a food processor, and puree thoroughly. Add the egg yolks and puree again for about 20 seconds.

3. Strain the puree into a glass or Pyrex bowl. Work the strainer with a wooden spoon to force as much of the puree through as you can. Discard the solids left behind.

4. You will cook the puree over a larger pan of simmering, not boiling, water. Do not let the upper bowl touch the water, or the mixture will curdle. Whisk the puree gently but steadily, scraping down the sides occasionally. After about 15 minutes, the puree will begin to thicken. (If you need to, work a little corn starch in to finish the thickening.)

5. When the puree reaches a temperature of 170 degrees, remove it from the heat. Stir in the butter thoroughly. It should have the consistency of Hollandaise Sauce. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

Serve with yogurt, ice cream, garnished with fruit, or spread it on a hot English muffin. Makes about a cup and a half.

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#1050 - An Abundance of Melons

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August 7, 2012 #1050 An Abundance of Melons

One of the greatest thrills of the summer is to see the incredible variety of melons that are available to us here in Maryland. In particular, the Eastern Shore is prime melon country, and growers are constantly coming up with new varieties for our dining pleasure. So to help our listeners, here's a scorecard to keep track of what's out there.

First of all, the melon world is divided into muskmelons and watermelons. Muskmelons all have some sort of webbing growing across the skin. It may be very flat, or very pronounced. Also, in the interior of the melon there is a seed cavity. Watermelons are invariably smooth-skinned, and have seeds scattered throughout the flesh.

In Maryland we are encountering an enormous variety of new watermelons. The old "picnic" melon, huge, elongated and nearly too big for your fridge, is harder to find these days. Smaller "icebox" melons predominate, and many of them are "seedless." Of course they are nothing of the kind, but their seeds are tiny and soft and easily edible. Much smaller "personal" melons are available, good for splitting between two people, or one hungry guy.

To pick a ripe watermelon, look for deep green color and a darker, creamy patch on the bottom. Also, the melon should be heavy for its size.

When it comes to muskmelons, we are sitting pretty. The smallish round "cantaloupe" is actually a muskmelon, per se, and the larger version (tan, with ridges running top to bottom) is the real cantaloupe. The Athena melon is probably the best of these, and is usually available earlier in the summer. The Honeydew is a popular melon, whose flesh starts green, then ripens to creamy white. Look for melons that are tending toward yellow in the rind. The bright yellow Juan Canary has become a staple here, and is a flavorful melon. The orange fleshed Charentais melon is a pint-sized import from France. Many consider it the most flavorful of all melons. Finally, the small, oval Asian melon is catching on with its delicate mild flavor.

I buy melons according to darkness of skin, softness of the blossom end, and above all, aroma. You may need to let a melon ripen for a few days before you eat it. Do not put it in the fridge, as this will halt the process. Also, as soon as you cut it, it will not ripen further.

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