Apr 26

Uncle Nicky Stabile’s Italian Cheese and Pork Sausage Recipe

When I first told my mom that I had received a sausage making attachment for the Kitchen Aid, her first response was that I would have to make Uncle Nicky’s Pork and Provolone Sausages. My response was “Do you have the recipe?” There was no recipe, just the memories of my mother and her cousins that the kitchen smelled of melting Provolone, fresh Parsley was used and no one had any idea as to the fat to lean ratio of the ground Pork that was used.

Uncle Nicky's Italian Cheese & Pork Sausage

Uncle Nicky Stabile's Italian Cheese & Pork Sausage

It was based upon those memories that I embarked upon replicating a sausage for which there was no actual recipe, had not been made in 30+ years and for which I have never tasted. My first attempt in making this recipe was good, but something was missing. The kitchen smelled of Provolone, the Parsley was visually appealing, but most of the Provolone Cheese melted out of the casing and pooled onto the aluminum foil of the baking pan. What did I not replicate? After a couple of conversations with my mom and then talking with Stuart all I could determine was that the Provolone of today is different then the Provolone that was made 30 years ago. Simply said, today’s Provolone (unless specifically made old school style) has a higher ratio of water to fat and milk solid content then in the past. I have nothing to prove this theory except anecdotal observations.

My second attempt at replicating this recipe was to replace the use of Provolone with harder, drier Italian Cheeses under the premise that the water content was less and the cheese requiring higher temperatures before melting.

Uncle Nicky's Italian Cheese and Pork Sausage Mixture

Romano, Parmesan, Parsley, Ground Pork, Minced Garlic & Black Pepper

Ingredients:

  • 4 Pounds of Ground Pork (3 Pound of Pork Loin and 1 Pound of Pork Fat Trim)
  • 1 Pound of Hard Italian Cheese (Parmesan or Romano) Diced Small
  • 1 Cup of Italian Parsley Coarsely Chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon of Fresh Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon of Minced Garlic

Thoroughly mix the ingredients and if possible chill the mixture before stuffing into the casings.

One of the additional lessons learned when using the harder Italian Cheeses was that the cheese needed to be diced smaller then when using the Provolone. Initially the mixture clogged at the exit of the Kitchen Aid auger, where the mouth of the sausage stuffing cone attaches. Dicing the cheese smaller minimized the clogging, but it was still a minor problem. We worked around the issue by removing the plastic lock that holds the auger in place and experienced no problems (not recommended). The next time I make a batch of this recipe, I will coarsely grate the cheese in lieu of dicing just as an experiment.

The second attempt of making this family recipe was a success. The cheese melted, but did not completely escape the casing. For me, it is a sausage to be enjoyed by itself, with a salad and / or with a good piece of crusty bread. The cheese provides the right amount of salt and there is a subtlety to the flavors with no mistaking that this sausage has been stuffed with hard Italian Cheese.

Uncle Nicky's Italian Cheese and Pork Sausage #2

Uncle Nicky's Italian Cheese and Pork Sausage

 

Apr 25

Foolproof and easy Hollandaise sauce

If you are looking for the easiest way to make Hollandaise sauce that won’t break apart or curdle then you’ve found it. Apart from buying a jar of ready-made Hollandaise from the supermarket, there is nothing quicker or easier. As well as basic Hollandaise sauce, I’ve also included the method for making foaming Hollandaise, which has the advantage over normal Hollandaise, in that you can freeze it, therefore you can make it in bulk, and defrost just when you need it, for instance on Sunday mornings when making Eggs Benedict.Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk and fat, and is one of the five ‘mother’ sauces in French cuisine (the others being Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole and Vinaigrette) and it is in effect a warm mayonnaise. Since Hollandaise is a mother sauce, there are many variations and derivatives such as Béarnaise, Noisette, Crème Fleurette, Colbert, Café de Paris, Vin Blanc, Bavaroise, Choron, Foyot, Girondine, Maltaise, Mousseline, Divine and Paloise to name a few. The name Hollandaise, is thought to have come from a Dutch sauce that French cooks served to a visiting King of the Netherlands.

Eggs benedict

Eggs Benedict

My first attempts at Hollandaise sauce came about after coming back from a trip to New Zealand. It seemed to be that every place we stopped for breakfast served Eggs Benedict. I was hooked, and after coming home and being disappointed with store bought versions of Hollandaise, I set out to try to make my own. Reading through recipe books you could be mistaken in thinking that horrors await you when trying to make Hollandaise, from curdling to splitting, from religiously stirring to worrying about the heat. The method I use is foolproof and has never gone wrong for me yet. I’m sure purist will complain that it doesn’t use a bain-marie or that it not what is taught in culinary school. Piffle! Follow these instructions and you will have lashings of delicious home-made Hollandaise.

Hollandaise sauce

whisking in the butter

Whisking in the butter

Ingredients

  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 110g (4 oz) butter
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

I use an electric hand whisk, but you could easily use a food processor or a blender instead.

  1. First heat the lemon juice and vinegar in a small pan (it helps to use a pan with a pouring spout) until the mixture starts to bubble.
  2. Add some salt and pepper to the eggs yolks and whisk for about minute.
  3. Slowly pour the hot lemon juice and vinegar over the blended egg yolks in a steady stream until combined.
  4. Melt the butter in the same pan over a gentle heat, being careful not to allow the butter to brown.
  5. When the butter has started to foam, gently and slowly pour it into the egg mixture while whisking.
  6. Once the butter has been incorporated, use a spatula to scrape around the edges and whisk one more time.

You should end up with a smooth, thick and buttery sauce. Use it immediately or pour into a heated Thermos flask until ready to serve. As well as Eggs Benedict, Hollandaise sauce goes particularly well with fish, vegetables and especially asparagus.

 

Foaming Hollandaise sauce

Pouring foaming hollandaise

Foaming hollandaise sauce

A couple of problems exist with standard Hollandaise sauce. One, you are left with egg whites, and two, it can’t be frozen or re-heated. The answer is to make foaming Hollandaise sauce.

Method

After you have made standard Hollandaise,

  1. Whisk the egg whites until the soft peak stage
  2. Then gently fold into  the Hollandaise Sauce with a spatula until it has been fully blended.

Any left-overs can be frozen and then gently re-heated using a bain-marie.

Oven baked salmon with foaming hollandaise sauce

Oven baked salmon with foaming hollandaise sauce

Apr 25

Best Beer In America…Is It That Easy To Determine?

Summer Pils in a Bottle by Saint Arnolds Brewer

Saint Arnold Brewery Summer Pils (Picture Courtesy of Saint Arnold Brewery)

For the record I do not have a subscription to the magazine Men’s Journal, nor do I go to their website. I was however on a flight a few weeks ago and a passenger in front of me was flipping through the magazine and I saw the following article: The 24 Best Beers in America. I was fortunate to snag the discarded magazine at the end of the flight to review the article. Aside from a nice glossy article with the best 24 beers in 6 categories (Pilsner, Wheat, Lager, Pale Ale, IPA, Brown Ale, Belgian Style Ale and Porter / Stout). There were a number of surprises. Surprises such as; really, this is the best beer for this category and then for the majority, I have never heard of this beer or even the brewery.

The beers on this list that surprised me not because they are good, but they are defined as the best in their class were the Lagers from Samuel Adams and Yuengling and the Pale Ale from Sierra Nevada. The only other beers on the list that I recognized was Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat and New Belgium Ranger IPA. Only 5 of the 24 beers listed that I have drank or recognized. Not exactly a testament to my perceived love for beer.

This raised the question of whether or not given the size of the United States is it possible to determine the best beer in the United States?

From the Brewers Association website in 2011 there was just under 2,000 breweries operating in the United States, with 97% of those breweries being classified as either Brewpubs, Microbreweries or Regional Craft Breweries. Aside from a tear of joy that the art and industry of brewing is alive and well in the United States, the reality of the size of the industry is that the determination of best beers in the United States is a task of epic proportions. A reality that appears to be impossible to determine.

Thankfully there is such an amazing selection of fine beers being crafted by literally thousands of breweries in the United States. Likewise, it is also good that in addition to the 8 categories defined by the article in the Men’s Journal, there is an additional 50 other styles of beer being brewed in which to sample and enjoy that were judged at the 2012 United States Open Beer Championship.

Yuengling Traditional Lager

Yuengling Brewery Traditional Lager

I am a firm believer of supporting locally sourced companies, and my support for local craft breweries is no different. There are four reasons for my support. Freshness is a critical element to enjoying beer. I believe that there is an element of nimbleness and flexibility with small brewers that provides them with the ability to take a risk with producing a new offering and allow the local market to decide on the success of the brew. Local based craft brewers implicitly understand their market and will provide a selection of beers throughout the year to meet those desires of the consumers. Supporting local talent is critical not only to the success of the local economy, but is an affirmation of those that dare and risk much in pursuit of entrepreneurship.

In the end, I believe that it is personal choice and preference that helps craft one’s opinion of the best beer. For starters, I am partial to a Pilsner and Lager and if given a chance will choose draft over bottled beer. Over the last few years there have been a few Pilsners and Lagers that I have tried that truly have been memorable:

Shiner 101 Courtesy of Spoetzl Brewery & McGarrah Jessee

Shiner 101 Czech Style Pilsner (Picture Courtesy of the Spoetzl Brewery & McGarrah Jessee

I have no doubt that there are some very fine and superior Pilsners and Lagers brewed in the United States that surpass my list. However, given that there are nearly 2,000 breweries and only a small percentage of these beers are shipped to the Houston market, I will have to wait and see if my travels take me to where these beers are offered.

Below are links to the articles that provided me with some of the information for this post:

Men’s Journal The 24 Best Beers in America: Gallery

Brewer Association – Number of Breweries

2012 United States Open Beer Championship

Special thanks to the team at Saint Arnold Brewery in Houston, TX for providing me with authorized pictures of their Summer Pils to post to this article.

Special thank to the team at McGarrah Jessee, the advertising agency for the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX for providing me with the authorized picture of their Shiner 101 to post to this article.

Apr 23

Knaekbroed – Danish Crispbread Crackers

This recipe came from Mai, a Danish friend, who gave me this recipe after I had been making rugbrød. These are very ‘more-ish’ and are great with cheese, pate, dips or anything else. You can substitute the plain flour for rye or wholemeal flour or any of the seeds for any others you may have instead, for instance poppy seeds.

Knaekbroed with duck pate

Knaekbroed with duck pate

Total time: 30 min

Ingredients

  • 100ml (3.5 fluid oz) of rolled oats
  • 100ml (3.5 fluid oz) of sesame seeds
  • 100ml (3.5 fluid oz) of flax (linen) seeds
  • 100ml (3.5 fluid oz) of sunflower seeds
  • 100ml (3.5 fluid oz) of pumpkin seeds
  • 200ml (7 fluid oz) of water
  • 350ml (12 fluid oz) plain flour
  • 100ml (3.5 fluid oz) oil
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1.5 tsp salt
Knaekbroed ingredients

Knaekbroed ingredients

Method
In a mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients together and mix to form a dough. Divide the dough in two and roll one half of the dough between two sheets of greaseproof (parchment) paper until it is approx 12″ (30cm) square or roughly the size of a cookie tray / baking sheet. Gently remove the upper sheet of paper and transfer the bottom sheet of paper and dough to a cookie tray / baking sheet. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut into cracker sized pieces ~ 1.5″ x 3″ (4cm  x 7.5cm). Repeat for the other half of the dough. Bake until golden brown for approx 15 to 20 mins at 175C (347F). If there are any left, then store in a air-tight container and it will keep for a long time.

Rolling the Knaekbroed dough

Rolling the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper

Apr 22

Baking bread the easy way

‘Bread is the staff of life’. Most of us take bread so much for granted that we wouldn’t know what to do if it no longer available. This is pretty much what happened to me, when I came to America. Sure, there is plenty of bread available in the shops, but it wasn’t what I was used to. The mass produced bread contains high-fructose corn syrup and tastes sweet to me. There are ‘artisan’ loaves available with plenty of seeds and whole grains, but they are pretty pricey. I had made my own bread in the past, but didn’t look forward to having to make multiple loaves per week, so I purchased a bread machine and worked out that I could make my own ‘artisan’ loaves of bread for about $1.50, which was about a 1/3 of the price in the shops.

Bread MachineBread machines are a fairly recent addition to the modern kitchen and the first bread machine was released in 1986 by Matsushita (now Panasonic). Most automatic bread machines available today are pretty much the same, with a integrated mixer pan, cooking element and digital controls. Pour the correct quantities of ingredients into the machine and 3 to 4 hours later you will have a perfectly cooked loaf of bread.

After experimenting with lots of different bread machine recipes, I’ve pretty much settled on 2 that I make regularly, 8 Grain bread and Yoghurt and bran bread. These 2 breads are simple to make, taste great and make good toast. I usually make them in advance, slice them, bag them and freeze them until needed. Since there are no preservatives in the bread you really need to eat the quickly or freeze them. When slicing the bread, I have found it is best to cut it when it has thoroughly cooled using a thin bladed bread knife rather than trying to cut it with a heavy bread knife when it is still hot. Though it is tempting to eat the bread when it is still warm, most home-made bread will tear when it is freshly cooked.

8 Grain Bread (2lb loaf)

8 Grain Bread

8 Grain Bread before mixing

  • 1 cup (235ml) water
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cups (700ml) strong white bread flour
  • 1 cup (235ml) rye flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 0.25 cups (60ml) rolled oats
  • 0.25 cups (60ml) wheat bran
  • 0.25 cups (60ml) whole millet
  • 2 tbsp brown mustard seeds
  • 2 tbsp golden flax seeds
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp rapid-rise active yeast

Add the water, olive oil, salt and sugar to the bread machine. Gently add the white and rye flour over the water. Add all the seeds and the yeast. Set the bread machine to a whole wheat, 2lb, medium setting.

Yoghurt and Bran Bread (2lb loaf)

Yoghurt and Bran Bread

Yoghurt and Bran Bread

Yoghurt and bran bread has a soft and open texture. It is slightly chewy and has a little tang because of the yoghurt.

  • 1 cup (235ml) water
  • 0.75 cups (177ml) plain yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1.5 tbsp olive oil
  • 2.5 cups (590ml) strong white bread flour
  • 1.75 cup (414ml) whole wheat flour
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 0.5 cups (118ml) wheat bran
  • 2 tsp rapid-rise active yeast

Add the water, olive oil, salt, yoghurt and sugar to the bread machine. Gently add the white and whole wheat flour over the water. Add  the bran and the yeast. Set the bread machine to a whole wheat, 2lb, medium setting.

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