Month: January 2011

Around the Globe with Stroganoff

Published by Kathy Hunt

Tonight I’m headed to a potluck dinner that focuses on family heritage and local, seasonal ingredients. To a certain extent I have the local ingredients covered for, since Christmas, I’ve been growing a small garden of oyster and shiitake mushrooms. These homegrown gems will star in mushroom stroganoff, a meat-free take on my mother’s beloved beef stroganoff recipe. In terms of heritage I’m a bit off the mark with stroganoff. As its name may indicate, this dish hails from Russia. In fact, it reputedly was named for the 19th century Russian military commander and diplomat Count Pavel Stroganov. As you might guess, none of my ancestors came from Russia. Most were French with a few Irish, English and Welsh men thrown into the mix. So, how did this Russian meal of sautéed sliced tenderloin, onions and mushrooms blanketed in a sour cream sauce become a recurrent offering at our French-Anglo dinner table? How indeed. Today many culinary historians attribute the creation of beef stroganoff to Count Pavel Stroganov’s personal chef, who came from . . …

Stewing over Winter

Published by Kathy Hunt

It’s another cold morning on the East Coast, one that leaves me with little desire to step outside and into the latest snowstorm. On days like this I start rooting through my freezer, searching for ingredients for a warm, hearty stew. A one-pot wonder, stew consists of slow-cooked vegetables and fish or meat and the thick, savory liquid in which these ingredients simmer. Although I’ve consumed this nourishing dish since early childhood, it still remains my favorite way to add some heat to wintry afternoons. Most stews were born out of necessity, using whatever items cooks had on hand. In the case of Irish stew, these staples included old, economically unviable sheep, or mutton, along with potatoes and onions. Beginning with mutton, Irish cooks of yore would place equal parts of meat, potato and onion in separate layers in a large casserole or kettle. They added a pinch of salt and pepper, poured in enough water to cover the layers, and clamped a lid on the kettle. They then set the concoction over an open …

Make It Quick . . . Banana Bread!

Published by Kathy Hunt

Thanks to a dozen brown bananas over-ripening on my kitchen counter, I spent a good chunk of last weekend making loaf after loaf of banana bread. I could just as easily have baked dozens of banana muffins or even a few coffeecakes. They all fall into the same category of baked goods known as quick breads. As their name indicates, quick breads are made quickly. Unlike with white, whole wheat, rye and other yeast breads, I don’t while away hours letting the dough rise. Likewise, I don’t spend precious time kneading it. I simply mix the ingredients together, pour the batter into a greased pan and allow the loaf to bake. The absence of yeast is what gives quick breads their short prep time. A living organism, yeast requires a draft-free, warm environment of between 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It also needs moisture and food, such as sugar and starch, to grow. As it grows, it gives off carbon dioxide, which causes the dough to rise. The first rise can take anywhere from one …

Hot Sour Salty Sweet

Published by Kathy Hunt

If you live with someone who grew up eating a specific cuisine, chances are that you either avoid cooking that food or beg and plead to learn the special techniques and recipes from that person’s family. In my case I first avoided then pestered and finally amassed a slew of books on Southeast Asian cooking. While no Asian cookbook can replicate the kind of skilled, hands-on instruction that my husband’s Vietnamese step-father provides, Jeffrey Alford’s and Naomi Duguid’s Hot Sour Salty Sweet comes close. With over 175 recipes from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma and southern China their book details the cuisines of the Mekong River region. Broken into 12 chapters, Hot Sour Salty Sweet looks at what everyday people living along the river eat. It covers everything from spicy hot sauces and warming soups to vibrant street foods and refreshing drinks and sweets. Rice and rice dishes as well as noodles and noodle dishes have their own chapters. Likewise, salads, vegetables, meats and seafood receive their due. For each recipe Alford and Duguid give …

Finding the Right Fish, Take Two

Published by Kathy Hunt

A few weeks ago I shared some tips on selecting eco-friendly, consumer-safe seafood. With the new year here and most of us thinking about, if not actually engaging in, healthful eating habits, I’ve decided to revisit the topic. My search for environmentally sound fish continues with barramundi, sablefish and Dungeness crab. Now raised in the U.S. in enclosed, re-circulating tanks, the hardy, fast-growing Australian barramundi qualifies as eco-safe seafood. High in omega-3 fatty acids, it likewise offers a heart-healthy option. Thanks to its sweet, succulent meat and edible, crisp-when-cooked skin, barramundi has become a favorite with cooks. A versatile fish, whole barramundi can be grilled, baked, roasted or steamed. Fillets are ideal for pan-frying, grilling, sautéing and broiling. Barramundi pairs nicely with a range of foods. It compliments arugula, bok choy, brown sugar, cilantro, garlic, limes, shallots and soy sauce, among others. While the overfished Atlantic cod tops the list of seafood to avoid, the abundant, long-lived “black cod” or sablefish falls firmly into the safe category. Caught wild in Alaska and British Columbia, this …

What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets

Published by Kathy Hunt

After two weeks of sheer gluttony the time seems right to chat about a fascinating, food-oriented book. Unlike my previous Tuesday offerings, it is not a cookbook but rather a book that looks at what people around the world cook and eat. Created by writer Faith D’Aluisio and photojournalist Peter Menzel, What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets (Material World, 2010) details what 80 individuals from around the globe consume in one day. In some respects What I Eat can be seen as a follow-up to the duo’s 2005 book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. In that publication Menzel and D’Aluisio looked at what 30 families in 24 countries ate during one week. In their latest offering they pare their exploration down to one day in the life of 80 individuals from over 30 countries. For each profiled person D’Aluisio cites the number of calories he consumes in a day and how he consumes them, i.e. 11 ounces of thin grain porridge made of sorghum and served with 1 tablespoon sugar for …