“The french fry did not become America’s most popular vegetable until industry took over the jobs of washing, peeling, cutting, and frying the potatoes – and cleaning up the mess. If you made all the french fries you ate, you would eat them much less often, if only because they’re so much work. The same holds true for fried chicken…”

Chapter 39: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. FOOD RULES: An Eaters Manual by Michael Pollan

“Frying chicken is so much trouble that people didn’t used to make it unless they had guests coming over and a lot of time to prepare. The amount of work involved kept the frequency of indulgence in check.”

Chapter 60, Treat treats as treats.

FOOD RULES: An Eaters Manual by Michael Pollan

Back when I was in the Navy, stationed on a destroyer out of Norfolk, I was often invited to my cousin’s wife’s mother’s house in Suffolk, Virginia for Sunday Dinner. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and all the good Southern stuff was a standby. That was the sixties and I’ve eaten fried chicken since – especially in the South when we would visit Eric at Duke or later when Brian lived in Tifton GA – but when I’d think about making it, I stopped when I read, “Pour about three-inches of oil into a deep heavy pot…” and looked for another recipe. And I never cared for Colonel Sanders fried chicken. Besides, how can you beat a roast chicken?

Now, I was fresh from a Knife Skills class taught by Dave-the-Butcher and I had a nice half-chicken from Marin Sun Farms. I needed to cut that chicken up for practice. Why not make Fried Chicken? I searched “fried chicken recipes” on the Internet – there are a gazillion of them out there – and settled on one from Emeril Lagasse when he was with the Food Network. It seemed straightforward and used his “Essence” to “kick it up a notch.” I had used his Essence before in other dishes… its good. I cut up my half-chicken. My knife skills class paid off; the pieces are tidy and beautiful, not “mangled as usual.” Six pieces: leg, thigh, two pieces of wing and two pieces of breast. Perfect for two.

Combine a pint of buttermilk with 1 ounce Essence, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed in a large nonreactive bowl. Stir to blend. Immerse the chicken in the mixture and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and for up to 24 hours. Continue reading →

Love meatloaf. Love meatballs. Since I love them so much, I’m very discerning about the cooking and eating of them. I have my favorites. For meatloaf, it is K-Paul’s Cajun Meatloaf — dubbed the Best Meatloaf of all Time by me back in ought-six — but I’ve been making it since I got his cookbook in 1984. For meatballs, the Polly Dutton meatballs that I learned to make from Polly as an Ensign in the Navy, living in Coronado. That said, I’m always trying new stuff. If the recipe looks good, I’ll give it a shot in hopes that it can topple K-Paul or Polly.

This meatloaf was published in the New York Times Magazine in July, 2009 and called Fancy Meatloaf for Nora Ephron. It looked good enough to make and Sam Sifton’s story made it even more intriguing. I belatedly got around to making it recently. I’ll let Sam Sifton introduce his meatloaf:

“I was invited to cook dinner for Nora Ephron. This is what happens if you hang around New York long enough, writing about food… You end up at ground zero. The invitation was to a potluck. Guests were meant to bring food inspired by Ephron’s career or by the woman herself. It was essentially high-stakes food charades. My draw was meatloaf. Ruh-roh. Ephron is famous for her meatloaf, a version of which is on the menu of Graydon Carter’s new restaurant and clubhouse, the Monkey Bar. And cooking plays no small role in her new film, “Julie & Julia.” Just thinking about cooking for her, I felt sick and wondered if bringing a few bottles of cold Pellegrino or Laurent-Perrier Champagne would do instead. I’ve read widely in the literature. Nora Ephron loves Champagne. But I got down to cooking. I started to grind. What was borne out by my experience I pass along as gospel: Do not make Nora Ephron’s meatloaf for Nora Ephron. This is a sucker’s play and remains true even if you’re cooking for someone’s aunt on a Saturday night in Fort Myers, Fla.: Don’t make a person’s signature recipe for that person, ever. Instead, take it as a starting point. Move the ball along. And practice. A couple of years ago, Ruth Reichl edited a huge cookbook that was built out of the recipe files of Gourmet. In it is a meatloaf recipe that combines beef and veal, pancetta and Parmesan, brightened with lemon zest and white wine. It’s a luxurious feed, and I’d run versions through the oven before deciding to take it on the road.”

I had all the ingredients on hand except the Italian bread and thin sliced pancetta. I was planning to try and recreate rice meatballs served to me at a dacha outside Kyiv, but reading about Sifton’s meatloaf made my mouth water so I usurped the meats. Meatballs next time. The last time I made K-Paul, I mixed the meat with my (sorta) new Kitchen Aid mixer toy. I found it gentle, quick and non-messy, although mixing meat with my hands is fun and sensual in a way. Continue reading →