Author Archives: Eric

02.03.06
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Mom's Chop Suey

My mom made this for us as kids in Ohio, and it usually made an appearance at church suppers and whatnot. I loved it!

Spam, as the meat of choice, was just right. Its saltiness and soft texture blends well with the salty over-processed texture of the canned vegetables, and is set off by the crunchiness of the canned noodles.

Who knew this wasn’t the real deal? There were no Chinese restaurants in Columbus, Ohio in the ‘50’s, or if there were, we didn’t go there.

Mom didn’t settle for just the can of chop suey, she made her own additions of the extra vegetables, but you needed the can of chop suey to get that dark brown sauce that was so good. This was a staple in our house.

Years pass and we’re living in Newton with kids of our own, Julia Child on the TV, and a new Vulcan restaurant range with six burners. So I go about recreating my mom’s chop suey using fresh bean sprouts, fresh vegetables and even fried, fresh Chinese noodles. And I made my own sauce, no cans for me (okay, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots are still canned). I stuck to the Spam, because after all, that’s “American.”

Folks, it ain’t the same.
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02.01.06
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PIZZA!

So simple: flour, water, olive oil, salt, honey, and yeast. Top with whatever. And yet…

One day, somebody said on the radio, or I read somewhere, or Carol said that somebody said… but it doesn’t matter, “Two slices of pizza is the perfect breakfast.” This lit up my eyes and my senses. All my life I’ve been trying to find a breakfast.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Eat three balanced meals a day!

As a kid, I was force-fed cereal and milk. If I didn’t feel well, my mother would give me milk toast. That was pretty good. (Butter a piece of toast, and submerge it in a shallow bowl of warm milk. The butter melts and makes yellow streaks on the surface of the milk. How can that be bad?) I’ve tried the traditional eggs every way with meat any way or without. Pancakes… French toast… All this stuff is fine… after 10:30 in the morning. Before that, I wanna wretch. I even tried Carnation Instant Breakfast. Yuk.
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01.30.06
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Rose Beep


(That would be Roast Beef, of course. I don’t know why we started calling it “Rose Beep,” it must have come from a kid or an Asian waiter or somewhere… anyway, it’s stuck on us.)

For Christmas 2001, Carol got me (as requested) a TempTime model DTTC digital thermometer & timer. It has a probe that you stick in the meat and a long sensor wire leading to the control module with a large digital display that I can read without my glasses! How have I gone so long without it???

To go with that, a four pound standing rib roast of beef. Wow.

So from Christmas until Saturday that big honker has been “dry aging” in the refrigerator. (Beef on a rack in refrigerator with dry towel on top… change towels daily for 3 days.) Carol saw a recipe on the TV [Alton Brown’s Good Eats] where you put the roast (canola oiled, salted & peppered) in a 200 ° oven until the internal temperature reaches 118 °… take out to rest and cover with foil. Rest until the internal temp is 130 °. Meanwhile turn the oven up to 500 ° and stick the meat back in for 10 minutes or so to brown. Deglaze juices with 1C water and 1C red wine and reduce by half. Crinkle 4 sage leaves, add to the sauce and cook for one minute, strain. (4# roast took 1:40 to 118 °)

We did that.
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01.26.06
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Four – or more – Tomato Sauces

Black Krim tomatoMARC’S SPAGHETTI SAUCE
I sent an e-mail to the kids with a newly made up recipe for quick and easy tomato sauce for spahgetti. (I wrote this in January, so there were no fresh tomatoes around. In season, by all means, use fresh — seeded and peeled.) The e-mail exchange follows:

—–Original Message—–
From: Marcus Rector
Monday, January 24, 2000 3:13 PM

Dear ones —

I told Brian about this on the phone last night and he said, “So what makes it so special?”

“Well… its quick, easy and good… whaddayawant?”

I cooked this really good spaghetti sauce last night, and after eating, Carol said I should write it down.
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01.23.06
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Apples for Breakfast

Jan 5, 2006
Apples for Breakfast

I like apples for breakfast. With cheese.

I get the Fuji from the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building. The cheese: Fresh Cheese Curd from Spring Hill Farm.

Peel, core and cube apples, put in a small bowl.

Add some cheese curd. Eat with a small fork. Read the Sporting Green.

This week, back from the Georgia trip on Monday, I missed the Saturday market. Carol got me some kind of red, kinda mushy apple from Safeway, not suitable to eat raw. I also couldn’t get the Cheese Curd. I got Dry Jack from Leonard’s (It’s really Cheese + now, but I’m not sure I like the way its going, so I’ll call it Leonard’s).

Peel, core and slice the apple into four slices. Butter in the orange Le Creuset skillet. Fry the apple, put shavings of cheese on top. Good.

01.23.06
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Brunswick Stew

I’m thinking about a menu for my annual Super Bowl Party. Brother W sent me some North Carolina pulled pork for Christmas, and we saved it for the party, but I don’t think it’ll be enough.
So, I say to myself, “Brunswick Stew would be a perfect accompaniment.” We used to eat that a lot in Roanoke, and gosh, I know we’ve done it in Boston, but maybe not since we moved here. Carol always made it, though, not me. I think she got the recipe on a yellow index card from one of our neighbors in Roanoke, Virginia. What I remember is that it has chicken, tomatoes, corn and okra, and it is kind of thick.

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01.18.06
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Peeling makes all the difference.

Peeling makes all the difference.

Sunday morning breakfast, I’m deciding what to eat. There’s a Roma tomato. I’ll slice that and make some egg salad.

Eating a fresh tomato in January? The tomato came from a meal last week where I used a sliced tomato under a steak with anchovy sauce. Bought two and only needed one. As a farmer’s market guy, I generally don’t do “fresh” tomatoes out of season, but when I do, I buy the Roma type — they’re meaty rather than mealy — but the skins are thick and tough. But peeled and covered with egg salad, the slices can be cut with a fork so easily you don’t know they’re there, except for the burst of tomato flavor in your mouth.
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01.16.06
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Soup With Cabbage

Chou

Just after Christmas 2005 I began reading one of my Christmas presents, The Perfectionist; Life and Death in Haute Cuisine by Rudolph Chelminski. It’s the story of Bernard Loiseau, a three-star French chef of a legendary restaurant called “La Côte d’Or” in Burgundy who killed himself when his restaurant was threatened with the loss of a star. But Chelminski was still “setting the stage” early in the book, describing Loiseau’s family and father, when I read this passage:

“…soupe au chou: cabbage quarters simply boiled in water with potatoes, carrots, and onions and a large slab of smoked lard (a cut similar to unsliced bacon), chockablock with rich, cholesterol-laden fat. Cut thick slices of sourdough peasant bread to serve with it (not forgetting to first whip the knife back and forth over the loaf in a quick sign of the cross) and you have a dish that is the closest thing to the magic potion of Asterix and Obelix. Soupe au chou is a true French icon, a peasant curative and forifiant that can go head to head with the world’s champion of Jewish penicillins.”

It was cold and gray and snowy most of the week before the New Year, I had all the ingredients on hand (in fact had GROWN all the veg ingredients myself, and had KILLED and salted the meat myself) and could think of no better time to find out if Chelminski was right about this Gallic version of chicken soup. I’m also very partial to cabbage and all of it’s brothers and sisters in the Brassica oleracea clan, and we have an abundance of red cabbage in our root cellar from our 2005 garden. The idea that this is a “French icon” that I’d never heard of or tasted was also very appealing.
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01.14.06
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Broccoli di Cicco

from Julia at Mariquita Farm

Broccoli di Cicco at Mariquita Farm

Broccoli di Cicco is an heirloom, old-fashioned kind of broccoli. It’s sweet like ‘regular’ broccoli, it’s what they developed the giant broccoli heads from. But unlike the big-headed Globe variety, once harvested, the di Cicco plants just keep on growing, so it is available at farmer’s markets most of the year (in California, that is). All the stems and leaves and everything can and should be eaten.

Broccoli di cicco is one of my favorite vegetables. It doesn’t last very long in the refrigerator, not more than a week, so I’ve often found myself whipping up this recipe just to use it up before it spoils. Leftovers are good for a day or so, but there are rarely leftovers. I’ve done this many times, very fast and easy and tasty.

Asian Broccoli di Cicco

1 tablespoon olive oil (Just enough to cover the pan bottom.)
1 pound broccoli di cicco, chopped into 1 inch pieces, including stems and leaves
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Heat a large frying pan until very hot. Add the oil and immediately add the garlic. Let sizzle for 15-20 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and give everything a quick stir. Without turning the heat down, cover the pan and let steam for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the broccoli is done. (I go for 4 minutes, if you like it crunchy, go for 3.)

Broccoli di cicco Chinese Style

Why do this instead of the lightening fast “Asian Style?”

This is more substantial and quite saucy and the onions play an important role, they are not cooked long enough to ‘disappear.’

3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 pound broccoli di Cicco
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons rice wine
1/3 cup stock or water
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Wash the broccoli and cut into 1 inch pieces. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion until golden. Add the broccoli and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and the sugar.

Blend the cornstarch, stock, and wine. Add to the broccoli mixture. Cook over high heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and sprinkle sesame oil over and gently mix in. Serve.

that’s all?

12.21.05
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BBQ Hot Dog Dish

Barbecue Dog

From the Mother Hale, served regularly on Harrison St., best with squishy buns to soak it all up.

1 onion, chopped
2 T. butter
2 T. vinegar
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. mustard
1/2 cup water
1 cup catsup
1/2 cup chopped celery

Mix all together and pour over one pound of hot dogs in a shallow dish.

Bake at 350 °F for 30 minutes.

Man, is this tangy and finger lickin’ good. Put the hot dog in a bun and ladle over the sauce to make the bun good and mushy. Eat with a knife and fork.