Chefs Move to Schools: Ruby’s Chicken Fingers Saturday, May 19 2012

Almost 2 years ago I was one of over 800 chefs  invited to the White House for “Chefs Move to Schools”, part of the “LetsMove“. This program is First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to help combat childhood obesity within a generation. (In my opinion, no matter your politics, first ladies do good work: teaching people how to read, Laura Bush and feeding kids, Michele Obama.)

It used to be that sit down meals were the norm, they certainly were when I was growing up. And, a low tech childhood encouraged activity. Mama would push us out the door and tell us to go play in the backyard. Many of today’s kids are tethered to TV or a game-boy. The exercise that used to be disguised as play is gone.

Let’s Move a great program but there is a lot of work to do, so it’s slow progress. Anything involving big change and government is no easy task. I’ve volunteered with the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, Share our Strength, and the Atlanta Community Food Bank – but I had never actually gone to speak in a school. A few months ago I connected with Cindy Culver, Director of School Nutrition for Marietta City Schools. We met and she’s part of government and big change. I applaud her and the team in Marietta for making these changes.

On May 15, 2012, I visited Lockheed Elementary School (Marietta City Schools) in promotion of the School Nutrition Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Grant. I shared with the students the benefits of and preparation methods of various fruits, such as the more familiar fruits such as watermelon and banana, as well as papayas, honeydew melon. and horned melon. My audience was composed of over 300 children ranging from kindergarten to 2nd grade. They loved it when I chopped super fast with my largest knife. They all got to taste and sample freshly cut cantaloupe and grapes.

Between sessions we joined a group of about 250 children for lunch and I ate what they ate. Cindy explained that the majority of the kids eat free breakfast and lunch reimbursable by the government. The meal consisted of baked tortilla chips were topped with cheese sauce and ground beef in tomato sauce. First, I met the cafeteria staff and then I went around the tables to each child and talked to them about their plate and asked them to eat their grapes and mandarin oranges. A handful of the kids didn’t have any fruit on their plate, but when cajoled, the ones that had it did. Nutritionally, the meal was sound and I didn’t try to the apples, but frankly, it wasn’t that bad.

I met one little boy who didn’t have the prepared lunch but had brought in a box of Hawaiian Punch and a bag of mini-chocolate chip cookies for lunch. It nearly broke my heart. Another little girl was distraught to tears that there was no ice cream to purchase (ice cream and cookies were once for sale, but Cindy is ending this practice with the next school year.)

I’ve had a weight issue my whole life and put out a pretty raw post about it last year. I understand overweight. This not that simple. The other day I was stuck behind a bus in my mother’s neighborhood. I watched as each kid exited the bus. A lot of them were chubby. At Lockheed Elementary,  I actually noticed there weren’t as many overweight or obese kids — but I was with the youngest ones. The news is filled with health professional’s concerns about obesity. There are dire and more dire observations – and predictions – about the health of our nation’s citizens.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
* 32% of kids aged 2-19 are overweight or obese
* 38% of Hispanic children are overweight or obese
* 36% of Black children are overweight or obese
* 29% of White children are overweight or obese

I’m very excited to have found a home with this initiative and look forward to more days with the children. We’re applying for a grant from ACF and I’m going to plan 2-3 consecutive days so that I can speak to the entire school.

Here’s a kid-friendly recipe I developed with my good friend Ruby who is 10. Some chefs insist on not mimicking junk food and staying away from the chicken fingers, pizza, and hot pockets. Me? I just want them to eat healthful, not processed food. This one fits the bill and passes muster with Ruby. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Bon Appétit, Y’all!
VA

Ruby’s Peanut-Crusted Chicken Fingers
Serves 4 to 6

¼ cup coarse salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, plus more to season
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2½ pounds)
4 cups low fat buttermilk
2 cups whole-wheat fresh or panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
1 cup finely chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, almonds, or pecans
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, then set a large wire rack on the foil.

To make the brine, combine the salt, sugar, mustard, paprika, and ½ teaspoon white pepper in a large plastic or glass container. Add the buttermilk and stir until the salt is completely dissolved. Immerse the chicken breasts in the brine and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. (Do not brine any longer or the chicken will be too salty.)

Meanwhile, combine the breadcrumbs and nuts in a shallow dish. Season with white pepper. In a second shallow dish, whisk the eggs until they are loose, not ropey.

Working with 1 breast at a time, remove the chicken from the brine and shake off any excess liquid. Transfer to a plastic cutting board and, using a chef’s knife, cut the breasts on the diagonal into strips or fingers. (Yes, there is a reason I don’t cut them before I brine them; it makes them too salty.)

Dip the chicken into the egg mixture, coating both sides. Place the fingers in the breadcrumb mixture, sprinkle with crumbs to cover, and press so the coating adheres; turn the chicken over and repeat the process. Gently shake off any excess crumbs. Place the coated fingers on the rack set on the baking sheet. Bake until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the rack and serve immediately.

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

photo credits: at Lockheed: Cindy Culver; Chicken Fingers: Helene Dujardin

Bon Appétit, Y’all © 2012

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Mother’s Day: Spaghetti with Venison Bolognese Thursday, May 10 2012

One of my fondest earlier memories is of my mother teaching me to swim. She floated on her back and I held to her ankles and kicked and kicked, my chubby little legs making more splash than headway. She then held underneath me so I’d learn to use my arms. She taught me how to hold my breath and swim underwater. That’s trust. That’s powerful trust. I never hesitated trying because Mama was there and told me I could do it.

There’s not much I haven’t tried because Mama has always been there. She instilled in me a belief in my ability. Recently, we were talking about me driving alone to DC to go to culinary school years ago. It never occurred to me that I couldn’t or that it was odd or dangerous. Mama told me how much it worried her, but she didn’t mention it at the time. I was surprised at myself that I had never ever considered how my antics might actually effect her. I’m a fairly altruistic and empathetic person, but my trust in her belief in my ability was so strong, that it never occurred to me she actually had any doubts.

The bedrock of our relationship is that we have always been good friends. I was always a bookish child and still seem to be. I was never one of the popular girls, so that means I wasn’t hanging out after school in high school with the others, I was at home with Mama.

We travel a lot together and have a silly amount of fun. It’s really incredible and I feel more blessed and fortunate that I could ever share. I’ll be asked to go teach a class or be in a festival and I’ll call her up and say, “Mama, let’s go.” She pretty much without fail will say yes and off we’ll go.

It’s not all work. We vacation together, a lot, too. We’ve tromped up winding stairwells in Greece and Italy, I got us lost looking for a farmer’s market in Turkey, looked for sea turtle nests in South Florida, goofed around at Rancho la Puerta in Mexico, where we were crying we were laughing so hard, when she was channeling her inner yogi. You can see from the smiles in these photos that we have a lot of fun.

A couple of months ago I asked her to join me in Savannah and she was a hesitant. She didn’t want to drive by herself on unfamiliar roads. We talked about it and I kept reassuring her she’d be okay. She continued to be unsure. I asked her if everything was okay, or was she experiencing memory loss or other kind of health issue. She wouldn’t really respond, but kept hemming and hawing. It made me scared. Very scared.

I’m slowly moving into that uncomfortable club that many folks enter in their 40s. I have friends whose parents are aging, some have become sick, some have passed away. Indeed, we’ve had our own scare. Mama had a surgery for breast cancer in 2003, but she’s been cancer free for nearly 10 years.

Finally, I told her we had to talk about it. I said that we couldn’t not talk about it.

We did and everything is fine. She’s okay, we just need to be aware that she’s aging. That same day I heard a report on NPR that elder drivers are disproportionately responsible for the amount of car accidents. It was good to hear and I needed that reminder. Mama’s always there for me. I can’t conceive of not having her in my life.

Thinking about losing my mama takes my breath away.

I am thankful beyond words for our friendship and relationship. I am thankful for her love, trust, and support. I am thankful for her presence in every last thing I do every last single day, because she taught me belief and trust.

Mama, I love YOU the Most. Thank you. Happy Mother’s Day.

Bon Appétit Y’all!
VA

Mama’s Spaghetti Bolognese with Venison

Serves 6 to 8

My family grew up eating spaghetti with a traditional meat sauce. Well, sort of. . . . The meat was ground venison from a deer Daddy shot, and Mama always added Dede’s homemade scuppernong wine. She also used a McCormick’s seasoning packet, still does. (In my version I add porcini mushrooms to bolster the flavor instead.) This was one of those rare meals mama didn’t make completely from scratch. And, I am not sure why, but she always broke the spaghetti noodles in half and cooked them far, far past al dente, more like “all done.”

I’ve enjoyed Bolognese in Rome, “gravy” in Jersey City, and even served marinara sauce to none other than Giuliano Hazan, but Mama’s “Southern-style” sauce is still one of my favorite dishes in the world. Food memories are precious things. The sense of smell, more so than any other sense, is intimately linked to the parts of the brain that process emotion. One whiff of this and I am immediately transported to my childhood. Buon appetito, y’all!

1 tablespoon pure olive oil

1 onion, preferably Vidalia, chopped

8 ounces white button mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped

2 pounds ground venison, or 1 pound ground round beef and 1 pound ground turkey

2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms

¾ cup dry red wine

1 (16-ounce) package spaghetti

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are soft and all the liquid in the pan has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 45 to 60 seconds. Add the ground meat and crushed tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon, break up the meat into small chunks. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the dried porcini and wine. Stir to combine. Decrease the heat to simmer and cook until thick, about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes or according to package instructions.

Drain the spaghetti through a colander placed in a large serving bowl (to heat the bowl). Drain the water from the bowl and pat dry. Put the cooked spaghetti in the now-warmed bowl. Spoon over 1 large spoonful of the sauce and toss to coat. Spoon over several additional spoonfuls, depending on how many are at the table. Serve immediately.

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

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Real Free Range Chicken: Pastured Poultry Tuesday, May 1 2012

Last week was crazy-busy. I had family in town as well as juggling recipe development for a client, a presentation for another, a fundraiser cooking class, and a column due to Fine Cooking Magazine. I also wrote a piece about my concerns over Wicked Tuna, a TV show about bluefin tuna fishing on NatGeo for CNN.com, and other work to do in preparation for several other upcoming projects. Then, on Friday afternoon, we drove down to Bluffton, GA and spent the weekend at White Oak Pastures with the Harris family.

One of my future and really exciting projects is writing the story of this amazing family and farm. We were there to work on the proposal. It’s not a cookbook, but rather a food narrative, new for me and a writing challenge I’ve embraced whole-heartedly! My blog deadline came and went last week in all the hub-bub, so I decided it made the most sense to write about and share my weekend at White Oak Pastures.

Will Harris III is a fourth-generation cattleman and the 5th generation, his daughter Jenni, is now working with him, as well. Will’s ancestor founded White Oak Pastures in the late 1800s, after returning home from the Civil War. Will is a cowboy straight out of central casting. He’s tall and rugged with a rich, deep voice—and a legendary drawl that makes the ladies swoon. He is a Deep South cattleman from the top of his Stetson hat to the tip of his well-worn leather boots. We rode all over his 1000 plus acres in his open air Jeep, checking on the cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, the guard dog puppies, the rabbits, and his daily expanding farm buildings.

What’s different about Will and White Oak Pasture products is that the meat is environmentally sustainable, ethically produced, and humanely slaughtered. Will says, “Cows were born to roam and graze. Chickens were born to scratch and peck. These are natural instinctive animal behaviors. Commodity livestock production removes costs from meat production systems by raising animals in mono-cultural confinement systems that do not allow these instinctive behaviors.”

He explained that grain-finished cattle spend most of their lives eating grass in pastures, and then move on to a feedlot where they eat an inexpensive, high-calorie diet for three to six months. Dispensing antibiotics to healthy animals has become routine in these confinement systems that now dominate American agriculture. (Very disturbingly, just this morning I read a piece about mad cow disease and how commodity beef is essentially, still feeding cows to cows.)

Will’s grass fed beef is grass fed. Period. And, now, lucky for us, White Oak Pastures is raising chickens and applying the same principles of humane animal husbandry and land stewardship to poultry.

You say, “Oh, I already buy organic free range chicken. I don’t buy chickens with antibiotics or hormones.“

That doesn’t mean as much as you think it might….

The truth is, all chicken is hormone free. USDA regulations prohibit poultry growers from giving hormones or steroids to their birds. So, this label, while truthful, is also misleading. It would be similar to putting a “cholesterol-free” label on an apple.That sounds great until you realize that all apples are inherently cholesterol free.

What about antibiotics? The use of antibiotics is necessary to control illness in massive chicken houses. Too many animals in an enclosed environment can become sick. Trouble is, some poultry that is labeled antibiotic free only means the chickens themselves haven’t been given antibiotics. It doesn’t mean the chicken feed doesn’t contain antibiotics, or that they were administered to eggs before the chicks hatched.

Sneaky business.

Ok, so what about free range? To a large extent “free range” is simply a marketing term. Producers of free-range chickens must simply be able to demonstrate that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside. This does not necessarily mean the chickens are pecking away in a pasture. They may simply have a very small doggie door in one of these large houses. It’s what’s called “greenwashing” which in my opinion, is a kind way to say that it’s all a big lie.

There’s no greenwashing at White Oak Pastures.

There are about 500 chickens per trailer out in the field, not 25,000 in a massive house. They are fed and watered every day. They are free to roam about the pasture, pecking and eating, but they mostly stay close to their particular house. They are guarded from toothsome predators by majestic Great Pyrenees sheep dogs. Yes, occasionally, Will says a raptor such as a hawk will kill one, but for the most part, Will explains the arrangement is very successful.

It’s real free range chicken that is actually called “pastured poultry.” Increasingly, people want this option in their grocery stores and farmer’s markets.

I’ve been to a commodity chicken house as well as a processing plant. I’ve seen the kill floor. It was one of the most vivid things I have ever witnessed. Frankly, it was gruesome. Chickens in commodity plants can be processed at 140 birds a minute. Read that again. 140 birds a minute. In plants that process 140 birds a minute, one inspector checks about 14,700 chickens daily. Frankly, I question the food safety much less the impact on the animals and workers.

I witnessed the kill floor this past weekend, too. It’s humane, not horrible. The animals aren’t panicked, bruised, and broken when they are slaughtered. The White Oak Pasture abattoir was designed by one of the world’s foremost authorities on animal livestock behavior and humane slaughter, Temple Grandin.

These birds taste different. Will says his animals are athletes. They aren’t sick birds crammed in a cage. They hunt and peck. They have muscle. They have flavor. White Oak Pastures chickens are little dinosaurs. This doesn’t come without cost. Will explains that while his beef is about 25% more expensive, the nature of the chicken production creates a situation in that the chicken is at least 100% more expensive.

Will says, “Our way is not the cheapest way to produce meat, but’s the right thing to do.”

Lucky you, once again! I arrived at White Oak Pastures to discover that Whole Foods Market will have White Oak Pastures Chicken on sale this upcoming Friday, May 4. Click here to find a store near you. (Or, you can order directly online for all their humanely raised meats.)

Lastly, I want to encourage you to do what you can when you can. So, you may not be able to eat pastured poultry or humanely raised meat or grass fed beef all the time. Think “kaizen”. Do what you can when you can – it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Daily improvements are as simple as one small movement forward at a time.

Check out my recipe below for roast chicken — and tips on making multiple meals out of your premium-priced, pastured poultry. Good honest food that’s good for you, good for the land, and good for your pocketbook. Go get yourself one and taste the difference. You’ll be glad you did.

Bon Appétit, Y’all’
VA

Easy Whole Roast Chicken
Serves 4

There’s no doubt that $12 -$15 for a chicken is expensive. In this economy that’s a lot of money for one meal. Here are some tips on making the most of your pastured poultry.

• Meal One – Roast the chicken. Serves 4.
• Meal Two – Remove all the meat from any remaining bones. Save for soup, use in a stir fry or a casserole. Serves 4. See Garden Pasta Salad recipe below.
• Meal Three – Save the bones for stock. (Heck, in France we saved the eaten bones off people’s plates and made stock. You don’t have to do that, but certainly save the deboned carcass.)

1 3 to 4 pound roasting chicken
4 bay leaves, preferably fresh or sprigs of thyme
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 350°. Season inside the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper. Carefully slide your fingers between the skin and the breast meat; Place 2 bay leaves and a pat of butter between the skin and the breast meat. Place the chicken in a cast iron skillet. Season all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the oven with the cavity facing the rear of the oven. Roast until the juices run clear when pierced in the thigh with a knife, about 1 hour. Let rest for 15 minutes. Carve and serve immediately.

How to Carve a Chicken

• When carving a chicken, let the bird guide the way. This may sound funny, but the parts should separate at the joints with little or no effort. I often tell my students that if the bird is fighting you, the knife is not in the right place.
• Set the bird breast side up on a cutting board. If the bird is hot, I use a clean kitchen towel instead of a carving fork to protect my hand, but you can use a fork. I prefer to use the towel because it doesn’t tear the skin, and I have those asbestos fingers chefs often have. Do what feels comfortable to you.
• Pull the leg and thigh back to expose the joint that attaches it to the body. Somewhat forcefully bend a leg away from the body until the joint pops apart. Use a sharp knife to sever the leg from the body, cutting through the separated joint. As you separate the leg, using the tip of the knife, be sure to get the “oyster,” a yummy nugget of delicious dark meat toward the back of the chicken just above the thigh. Repeat the process with the other leg and thigh.
• Place each leg quarter on the cutting board, skin side down. Use a chef’s knife to cut through the joint that connects the leg to the thigh. (It should be fairly easy to cut through the joint.) Look for a line of fat, and if the knife meets resistance, your knife is hitting bone and is not placed at the joint, which is easy to carve through. So, reposition the blade slightly and try again.
• Place the bird, breast side up, on the cutting board. Feel for the breastbone, which runs along the top center of the chicken carcass. Begin separating one side of the breast from the body by cutting immediately alongside the breastbone with the tip of your knife. Work from the tail end of the bird toward the neck end.
• When you hit the wishbone, angle the knife and cut down along the wishbone toward the wing, then make a cut between the breast and the wing. Finish separating the breast by simultaneously pulling back on the meat and using little short strokes of the knife tip to cut the meat away from the carcass. Do the same to remove the breast meat on the other side.
• Find the joint where the wings connect to the body and bend until the joint pops apart. Use a sharp knife to sever the wing from the body, cutting through the separated joint.
• Using a chef’s knife or your hands, remove whatever meat remains on the carcass. (Reserve the carcass for stock.) Arrange the legs, thighs, wings, and meat on a platter, pour over any accumulated juices to moisten the meat, or use in pan sauce, and serve.

GARDEN PASTA SALAD WITH CHICKEN
Serves 4 to 6

Here’s a new take on pasta salad that combines the leftover chicken, corkscrew noodles, kid-friendly veggies, such as edamame, and a light dressing flavored with a hint of Dijon mustard.

4 cups whole wheat rotini
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups pulled chicken
1/4 cup mayonnaise, or to taste
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup frozen edamame, thawed
1 cup matchstick carrots
1 cup baby spinach, chopped

Cook the rotini according to the package instructions, adding the broccoli to the pot for the last 2 minutes. Drain, reserving 6 tablespoons of the water. Transfer the rotini and broccoli to a large bowl. Add the pasta water and toss to coat the ingredients. Add the pulled chicken.

In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and mustard until well blended. Add the mixture, along with the remaining ingredients, to the bowl and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if desired.

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

This post was not sponsored by Whole Foods Market or White Oak Pastures.

photos by Sally Ekus

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Planting Gardens & Being Thankful: Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes Thursday, Apr 19 2012

This week I kicked off chefs cooking at the at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in their awesome outdoor kitchen. It’s a lovely space and Atlanta is fortunate to have such an amazing garden. If you are a resident or a tourist, you should make sure to pay a visit when time allows. It’s spectacular.

The class was planned months ago, but happily we were able to use about 80% ingredients from the garden. It’s always a gamble, it is after all, farming, but the weather cooperated. The menu was Cream of Spring Greens Soup, Pea and Lettuce Risotto, Fennel Slaw, and Pecan Crusted Trout. For dessert, I made Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes. Other than the trout, all the recipes were newly created for the class. I wanted something special to start the season. An homage, of sorts, to the birth of Spring.

Several climate zones North of Atlanta I’m working on a garden for this summer in New England. Hay and sheeting still cover the rows, but it’s almost ready to be unwrapped. Being in the beauty of the gardens in Atlanta has given me great inspiration. Gardening is so powerful and full of life. Dirt is alive!

If Spring is an infant, Summer moves from toddler to teenager, and quickly. First there are small plants with clumsy, crooked stems then there are these powerful full fledged beings bursting with energy. But not yet, now there are dozens of seedlings in starter pots and biodegradable cups. Babies. They need watering or misting daily.

It’s just not in my skill set.

I do pretty good once the plants hit the great outdoors, but while still inside, they are too close to house plants. I am not so good with house plants. I can barely keep alive “pathos” which could likely survive nuclear winter and Saharan-like drought. What’s funny to me is that the lack of desire to spritz seedlings has to do with patience. I don’t have the patience for it — but I am actually a patient person. If I think something is worth having, I think it is also worth waiting for… working for….

So, my partner in this summer garden venture is spritzing the seedlings. What’s so funny is that she might be perceived as less patient. I talk slow; she talks fast. I work slow; she works fast. I edit my words; she is a fountain of words. The Southern girl who grew up on a red dirt road doesn’t have the patience and the Big City girl does. I love that.

Life isn’t always what is perceived, is it? I laughed at myself when I looked back at Bon Appétit, Y’all to gauge the proportions for the recipe for the cupcakes. In the headnote that I wrote 5 years ago I scoffed at chefs using beets instead of food coloring, and here I am now using beets. See red velvet and think a bottle of red dye and instead, it’s all natural coloring. It’s not what you would think; it’s not what one would automatically perceive.

Life isn’t at all what is often perceived by not only others, but also ourselves, and life is always, always changing.

I’m thankful, not of misperception of course, but of changing life. That’s what keeps us alive and growing.

I’m thankful to have the opportunity to cook in cool kitchens. I’m excited and thankful about our summer garden. (We’ve got scads of okra started so I can test recipes for my next book — on OKRA! It’s a little single subject university press and I am SO excited.) I’m thankful for the many opportunities being presented to me. I am thankful I love my work. I am thankful for my friends, family, and loved ones.

Speaking of, I’m very thankful there’s someone more patient than me to spritz seedlings and help our young plants grow. I’ll show up right about when it’s time to shovel that heavy Yankee dirt and turn those houseplants into a garden.

Bon Appétit, Y’all
VA

BEET RED VELVET CUPCAKES
MAKES 1 ½ quarts batter (2 9-inch layers or 100 mini cupcakes)

3 medium beets, scrubbed
1 cup canola oil, more for the pan if making a cake
½ cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, for garnish, optional

Heat the oven to 350. Place the beets on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until tender, about 1 hour. Remove and let cool. Peel the beets and coarsely chop.

Place the chopped beets in the large bowl of a large food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Process until chunky, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the food processor running, add the oil and continue processing until very smooth. Add 1/2 cup buttermilk and eggs. Puree until smooth.

Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pulse until well-combined. (If you have a large food processor you can continue in the processor, if not, sift the dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the wet ingredients from the food processor to the dry and stir until combined by hand. Don’t be blaming me when your beet dribbles onto your kitchen counter if your processor isn’t big enough.)

For mini cupcakes: Line the tin with cupcake liners. Using a ice cream scoop, a spoon, or a liquid measuring cup, fill the liners no more than 2/3 full. (This is important!!) Transfer to the oven and bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.

Meanwhile, to prepare the frosting, in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle or beater attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth. Sift over the confectioners’ sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. If too stiff, add the 2 tablespoons buttermilk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to achieve the correct consistency. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag. Top with a kiss of frosting. Sprinkle with optional pecans. Serve within 2-3 days.

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

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IPhone Chicken: Poulet Chasseur Thursday, Apr 12 2012

Until yesterday I was still in New England after Passover and Easter. Eas-over, we called it. How’s that for multi-cultural? It’s spring up there, but to this Southern girl it just felt like winter with pretty flowers! So, I wanted something filling and warm for dinner, but not too heavy.

Poulet Chasseur may sound fancy in French, but in English it’s called Hunter’s Chicken. No, it does not mean chicken in camouflage!

You may be more familiar with a very similar dish, Chicken Cacciatore. The word chasseur means hunter and in classic French cooking generally refers to the inclusion of mushrooms.This recipe is quick and easy – just like this blog post. I shot some happy snaps with my iPhone while I made dinner earlier this week.

So, I’m calling this iPhone Chicken.

And, this blog post is short because I kind of feel like I am running around a bit like a chicken with my head cut off, but it’s all good.

No complaining here. I hope you can hear me smiling!! I am one happy girl. I don’t think you’ll mind my brevity. This recipe was so savory and hearty — and I make it pretty healthy, too, with a few quick tips and techniques.

For 2 people, I chose 2 leg quarters. As often as possible I try to use all natural pastured poultry. It’s even less fattening if you use chicken breasts, but in this recipe I prefer the full flavor of the dark meat. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of canola oil in a large skillet.

Sear them on both sides until brown and crispy, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate, then pour off the oil and rendered fat. It was nearly 1/4 cup!

To the pan add 1/2 cup of dry red wine. Stir to loosen the yummy brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add 8 cippoline onions, trimmed and peeled and 1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned, ends trimmed, and halved. Boil away until almost dry.

Return the chicken to the pan. Add 2 tablespoons of chopped herbs such as parsley, oregano, and rosemary. Add 2 cups chunky tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to simmer.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. This is for the farro. I am in love with farro right now. It’s a whole grain wheat that’s good and good for you. (If you are wheat intolerant, you could use rice or quinoa, instead.)

I will cook a pot early in the week then incorporate it into my meals over the next few days. It is really earthy and fantastic served hot in a stir fry with kale or broccoli. I also like it cold in a salad with lots of freshly chopped herbs, carrots, and maybe some leftover turkey cutlets or roast chicken.

Cook the farro until tender, 25 to 30 minutes. And, now, your chicken will be done, too. Check that the juices run clear when pierced with a knife. Also, the skin will be pulling away from the end at of the drumstick. (BTW, if you do use white meat, decrease the cooking time by 8-10 minutes.)

Remove the skin from the chicken and discard. I know you are asking why or maybe, why now? After cooking, the skin is flabby and won’t really contribute good flavor — just fat. And, the reason I didn’t remove it to begin with is that during the cooking process it helps the meat stay tender.

Next, stir in 2 cups of baby spinach. (I forgot to take a picture of this part.) Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.

Drain the farro in a fine mesh sieve and place about 1/2 cup on each plate. Top with one leg quarter. Spoon over the sauce with the onions and mushrooms. Serve immediately.

I forgot to take a picture of this part, too, but it was delicious!

Why don’t you take a picture and send it to me! 

Bon Appétit, Y’all!

VA

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How to Make Meringue: The Perfect Spring Dessert Thursday, Apr 5 2012

Recently, I had an interesting exchange with an editor that wanted to use my recipe for Meringue Pillows with Strawberries and Cream  from Basic to Brilliant, Y’all in a non-food publication. We exchanged a few emails and I sent the recipe along — then she emailed me back, saying that it looked too hard.

Huh? Really. Wow.

That was a wake-up call. Her concerns involved the term “heavy-duty mixer” and the usage of parchment paper to line the baking sheet.

Well, the usage of the term “heavy-duty mixer” is a carry over from my days at Martha Stewart, that was the sly verbiage we used to indicate our preference for a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. The parchment paper fear worried me a bit, but I guess she felt her readers might not have parchment paper, much less a silpat.

Instead of being ticked off, I was grateful. My goal, the reason I write recipes, food stories, and cookbooks is to get folks in the kitchen cooking real food. The exchange made me realize I can change my language to make it more user-friendly.

My whole raison d’etre is that proper technique is the key to good cooking. And, proper technique doesn’t mean something is difficult, expensive, or time-consuming. Julia Child supposedly once said, “If you understand the technique, you don’t need a recipe.” Outfitted with a foundation of solid techniques and fundamental recipes, a cook can accomplish many things. Most of us aren’t going to grow up and become Julia Child, but what she said is true.

So, going forward I will remove the words “heavy-duty” when using a mixer, alert people who the parchment paper is on the same aisle as the garbage bags and is nothing to be scared of, and lastly, continue with my absolute best effort to teach folks how to cook.

I hope you enjoy my recipe for Meringue Pillows. It’s the perfect spring dessert for your Passover or Easter table.

Bon Appétit, Y’all!

VA

PS Want to share some really awesome news.  Bill Daley from the Chicago Tribune listed me as one of Seven Food Writers to Know in his piece about American food writing!

Let’s Get Cooking – Whip it Up

This is easy. Promise. It’s just egg whites and sugar whipped and then baked. Meringue is a combination of egg whites and sugar whipped to form a thick, stiff foam. Different textures are achieved by varying the methods of mixing the sugar and egg whites, and varying the baking times and temperatures. Meringue can be made soft to top a pie, or dried in the oven to make a dacquoise or meringue cookie.

A French meringue is the simplest meringue; it is made by beating sugar into egg whites until stiff and fluffy.

A Swiss meringue is made by heating egg whites and sugar in a double boiler until the mixture reaches 110°F to 120°F. Then the mixture is beaten until stiff. This technique ensures that the sugar is completely dissolved and stabilizes the meringue.

An Italian meringue is the most stable meringue. It is made by heating a sugar syrup to the soft-ball stage, 232°F to 240°F, then beating the hot syrup into the egg whites. Adding butter to the finished meringue makes it buttercream frosting.

Seven Simple Steps for Successful Meringue

1. Use very fresh eggs for the most stable foam. Properly beaten egg whites are the key to a masterful meringue. Beating egg whites is quite simply incorporating air into the egg white foam.
2. It is imperative that the whites must be absolutely free of any yolk or fat.  Use only glass or stainless steel bowls, plastic bowls can retain a film of oil. The bowl and beater should be perfectly clean. Any dab of grease or the tiniest amount of fat will keep the egg whites from expanding properly.
3. The ingredients should be at room temperature to get the best volume out of your meringue. However, since it’s far easier to separate whites from yolks when they’re cold, go ahead and separate your eggs straight out of the refrigerator. Then, let the whites warm to room temperature. You can also speed the process by putting the bowl over warm water.
4. When separating the eggs, crack one egg at a time into a cup, transferring each individual white to the mixing bowl of egg whites only after it is successfully separated. There is nothing worse that ruining the entire batch on the last egg!
5. When ready to beat the whites, start slowly. In the clean metal bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the whisk beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add a bit of cream of tartar or vinegar. Adding acid helps create a stable foam that will hold up until heat cooks the egg proteins and sets the meringue.
6. After adding the acid, increase the speed to high and continue beating just until the whites are stiff, but not dry, and no longer slip when the bowl is tilted.
7. Don’t try to make meringues on a very humid day. The humidity can prevent the meringues from ever getting crisp.

Meringue Pillows with Strawberries
SERVES 6

This sweet dessert is actually virtually fat free – unless you top it with whipped cream, of course. It’s a delicious indulgence that marries perfectly with fresh spring strawberries.

Unsalted butter or canola oil and all-purpose flour for the pans, if using parchment paper
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar plus 1 tablespoon, or to taste
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 pints strawberries, hulled and quartered lengthwise
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, or to taste
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish
Whipped cream, for garnish, optional

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with silicone baking liners or parchment paper; set aside. (If you are using parchment paper, it is necessary to butter or lightly oil and flour the parchment. Then, before shaping the pillows, dab a little bit of meringue at the corners to hold the paper in place.)

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed with salt and cream of tartar until frothy. Gradually – just a little at a time – add the 1 cup granulated sugar and vanilla, beating at high speed until the whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. (If the sugar is added to fast it will weigh down the eggs and they won’t inflate.)

Using a rubber spatula, spoon six 1-cup blobs (yes, it’s a technical term) of meringue onto each prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 to 3 inches of space between the blobs.

Using a small, wet offset spatula, shape the blobs into rectangles, creating 6 smooth pillows. 

Decrease the oven temperature to 200°F. Place the baking sheets in the oven; bake until the meringues are crisp on the outside but have a marshmallow consistency inside, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Check the consistency by poking into the bottom of one meringue pillow. If the meringues start to brown, decrease the oven temperature to 175°F. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, combine the strawberries, Grand Marnier, and the remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve. When you are ready to serve, using your hands or the back of a knife, gently crack the meringue pillows and place on small plates. Top with the macerated berries. Garnish with mint, a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, and a dollop of whipped cream. Serve immediately.

PHOTO CREDIT: Helene Dujardin of the blog Tartelette (and the photographer of my most recent bookBasic to Brilliant, Y’all)

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

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Faith and Uncertainty in Cookbook Publishing Tuesday, Mar 20 2012

While walking the trade floor of the Paris Cookbook Festival I caught a glimpse of the quote above by super chef Paul Bocuse, “Without books there are no recipes, without skills there can be no fine cooking.” It made me stop and read it again.

It’s even more sexy and profound, of course, in French.

The diversity of cookbooks at the fair was eye-opening. There were a great many small single subject booklets, almost pamphlets, that contained 30 or so recipes. No photos. No art. They would be unusual in the United States, but the attention to the concept of a single subject was admirable and noteworthy. I was stopped in my tracks more than once as I considered the array of beautiful, well-designed books. Works of art – the paper, the photographs, the subject matter – table after table was astonishing. Writer, colleague, and friend Kat Flinn and I had a sort of heady, breathless moment over Alain Ducasse’s J’Aime Paris coffee table book. It’s just incredible. By the way, by “coffee table” I don’t mean it’s a book for a coffee table. I mean it’s the size of one.

With that level of amazement regarding cookbooks, why it is then, that at the opposite end of the spectrum someone asks, seemingly, on a daily occurrence, “Is the cookbook dead?”

One of those such occurrences recently filtered into my news feed titled “Recipes Begin a New Chapter, about the move from paper pages to Ipads. It was another piece about folks not buying books anymore. Every few months there’s a story debating if cookbooks are obsolete and being replaced by apps. For good measure, tossed in the mix will be the fuzzy slipper comfort story about the timelessness of sauce-splattered pages and the enduring cookbook.

Oddly enough, in this time of cookbook publishing uncertainty, even the most successful bloggers want cookbooks. And, sites like Food52 exist because they are curated web content — and yet have very, very successful traditional paper cookbooks. It’s both confusing and predictable.

In my opinion, the state of cookbook publishing is like most things. It’s not all or nothing. It’s not black or white. It’s not good or bad. It’s grey. It’s uncertain.

There are approximately 10K cookbooks published in the United States per year. Truthfully, the vast majority of them aren’t beautiful or well-designed. They don’t give pause. Hopefully without sounding overly pompous, I think both of my cookbooks are beautiful. Ten Speed Press makes beautiful books.

Yet sadly, we all know the concept of “beautiful” and “good” don’t always go together. The majority of these European books were no different. On both sides of the Atlantic some writers are callous and quick in the test kitchen – if they are in there at all. I work hard on making sure my recipes work. It’s a point of pride with me.

It’s not just the author, the editing may not have been well-executed by the publishing company. Editors are pinched tighter and tighter and designers are given more and more projects at a time with less time to execute them. The basic truth is that when you are doing things too quickly mistakes happen, I don’t care if you are tying your shoe or creating a cookbook or doing brain surgery. I’ve personally experienced this pinch.

What’s a cookbook author to do? Two more major publishing companies are up for sale. There’s a bit of a sinking ship feeling as publishers are trying to figure out what is next and how to stay in business.

It’s not all gloom and doom. I was working on a proposal for a new book last weekend. Granted, it’s a food narrative, not a cookbook, but I wrote one really solid sentence that made me feel like I was absolutely soaring, not sinking. Is that folly? No. Well, I hope not. I’ve held that soaring feeling in my mind.

I want that sentiment in my head and heart.

I believe words mean something. I believe cookbooks mean something. I see the faces of the people who read my stories and I know my words mean something to them. No, I don’t know what next form cookbooks will take.

I do know I believe that without books there are no recipes. I do know I believe that without the skills taught from recipes there is no fine cooking.

Bon Appétit, Y’all!

VA

Check out the recipe below for the Shrimp and Grits I prepared for my demo at the Paris Cookbook Fair. You have no idea how much pleasure it gave me to preach the gospel of Southern Cooking in Paris, France.

SHRIMP WITH PARMIGIANO REGGIANO GRITS & TOMATOES
Serves 6

By using low fat milk instead of cream, olive oil instead of butter, and full-flavored Parmesan, I’ve lightened this Low Country classic so the flavor of the grits and shrimp are front and center.
3 cups water
3 cups low fat milk
1 1/2 cups stoneground grits
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped, juices reserved
1 Pinch cayenne pepper
24 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and diced
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano, and thyme, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, more for garnish
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the grits: Heat water, milk, and salt to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the grits. Reduce the heat to simmer, and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is smooth, thick, and falls easily from a spoon, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare tomatoes: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and sauté and garlic until soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Pour in white wine, and cook until dry, 2 to 3 minutes. Add bay leaves, and stir in tomatoes and reserved juice. Season with cayenne pepper. Reduce the heat, and simmer until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until pink and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the chopped herbs.

When grits are thickened, stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano. To serve, put a heaping spoonful of grits onto a plate. Top with the tomatoes and shrimp. Garnish with freshly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

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Cooking with Fat: Animal to Vegetable Thursday, Mar 1 2012

Folks think of Southern food and envision Fried Chicken, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Catfish, and Fried Okra. There’s a suspicion that is not completely unfounded, that if something doesn’t move fast enough in a Southern kitchen it will soon find itself sizzling away to golden brown perfection in a cast iron skillet. However, that’s merely a one-dimensional view. The truth is that Southern food doesn’t have to be unhealthy or trapped in the past. And, frankly, some food that is portrayed in the media and on television isn’t actually real Southern cooking.

But, yes ma’am, there’s no doubt, we Southerners do love our fat. I’m not a hypocrite. I’m not pretending that we’re not known for things like Biscuits smothered in Tomato Gravy   and that  Bacon is pretty much regarded as a food group.

Fat enhances the taste, aroma, and texture of food. Fat makes food taste good. With the entire nation embracing Southern cooking it has brought attention to a regional American cuisine that’s not fearful of fat. Our bodies are hard-wired to like fat. There are some fats we actually can’t live without! In fact, our cell walls are built of fat. Fats play a crucial role in transporting nutrients throughout the body, healthy skin, good eyesight, to name just a few of their many benefits. Healthy fats can also help you lose weight.

The trouble is, most Americans, Southerners included, no - especially - generally eat too much fat and too much of the wrong kind of fat. Look at this map of obesity rates from the CDC. The red indicates a real problem.

 

 

Here’s a primer on fats so when you make the choice to enjoy fat – in matters of both indulgence and moderation – you’ll know what just what needs to sizzle in your skillet. (And before I lose you, there’s some delicious recipes – including a cookie – for you at the end.) 

FAT FACTS: There is a well-established link between fat intake and the risk of heart disease and stroke. Diets rich in “bad fats” – saturated fat and trans fat – cause high blood cholesterol. But, all cholesterol is not the dirty word most folks think it is. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance produced by the liver that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. It is also present in the foods that we eat. Our bodies need cholesterol to build healthy cells, produce hormones, and help the brain, skin, and other organs to properly function. Once again, however, Americans tend to over do it. Too much cholesterol in your bloodstream can collect as plaque on vessel walls causing them to narrow. Over time this keeps blood from moving freely and can cause less blood and oxygen to reach your brain and heart. This can result in a heart attack or stroke. Eat this, don’t eat that. Low fat isn’t always good fat. Good – and bad – cholesterol? It can be pretty confusing, so it’s important to know your Fats Facts:

Unsaturated fats are found mainly in many fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants. These fats may help lower your blood cholesterol level when you use them in place of saturated and trans fats. Food containing unsaturated fat include salmon, trout, herring, avocados, olives, walnuts and vegetable oils such as soybean, corn, safflower, canola, olive, and sunflower. Omega 3 fatty acids are class of unsaturated fat. They are found in foods including walnuts, some fruits and vegetables, and coldwater fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, sturgeon, and anchovies. Omega 3 promotes healthy blood circulation and helps reduce inflammation. The bottom line on unsaturated fats is that these are the ones you want to use the most.

Saturated fat is found mostly in foods from animals and some plants, including tropical oils such as coconut, coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil and cocoa butter. Too much saturated fat can raise cholesterol. The bottom line on saturated fat is that they should be used in moderation.

Trans fats or Trans-fatty acids are mainly found in processed hydrogenated oils such as margarine and shortening and processed foods made from processed oils. They are also found in lesser amounts in animal products such as beef, pork, lamb, butter, and milk. Some science indicates naturally occurring trans fats aren’t viewed as harmful as those that are from processed foods. Companies like using processed trans fats in their foods because they’re cheap. Stay away from processed foods with trans fats.

LET’S GET COOKING

Animal Fat The flavor of all animal fats is rich, savory, and, well, meaty. Lard is rendered fat produced from pigs, schmaltz is rendered fat from chickens, duck fat is the equivalent of liquid gold, suet is raw beef or mutton fat, and once it is rendered it is called tallow. (Rendering is a process of cooking that melts the fat and makes it fairly shelf stable.) Lard was the premier Southern fat of days gone by and biscuits and piecrusts made with lard are old-fashioned Southern classics. Potatoes fried in duck fat are simply otherworldly, and the secret to many a Jewish grandmother’s light-as-air matzo balls is schmaltz. Uses include frying, sautéing, and for use in baked goods. Alas, any thing that tastes this good should be enjoyed in moderation.

Butter Classic French cooking pretty much considers butter to be a food group. My view is on butter is that, if you’re going to eat it, you may as well eat the absolute best since the gourmet like French Echiré Butter has the same amount of calories as the cheap stuff. The great part is just a little butter will go a long way. Butter lends a smooth and creamy taste to foods and is silky on the mouth and tongue. Magical, exquisite, wonderful things happen when the milk solids in butter begin to brown. Butter can be used in medium temperature sautéing, sauces, and perhaps most famously, in baking.

Canola Oil Canola oil is among the healthiest of cooking oils. It’s high in Omega-3s, a class of unsaturated fat that helps promote healthy blood circulation and reduce inflammation. As a chef, I often use canola oil because it’s flavorless and allows the flavor of the food shine through. I look for Expeller Pressed Canola Oil canola oil, which is a chemical-free mechanical process that extracts the oil. Canola is a good all-purpose cooking oil and is excellent for sautéing, frying, and baking or for use in raw form in salad dressings, mayonnaise, and vinaigrettes. It’s hands down my favorite oil in the kitchen.

Olive Oil Olive oil is at the heart of all Mediterranean cooking. Extra virgin olive oil is cold-pressed and is the least refined of the olive oils. Depending on the olives, from which it was pressed, will have varying flavor and aroma. This oil is best for low to medium heat cooking due to its low smoke point. The finest Extra Virgin Olive Oil is best used without cooking at all and simply as a finishing touch on a dish. Pure olive oil is slightly more refined and has a higher smoke point. It is best for sautéing at medium heat. Both oils are flavorful and best used where the oil’s full flavor is intended as an integral part of the finished dish.

Peanut Oil If you’ve had a deep fried turkey at Thanksgiving, it’s likely it was fried in Peanut Oil or a peanut oil blend. Refined peanut oil has a very high smoke point. Smoke point is just what it sounds like – the point an oil will start to smoke and break down when placed over high heat. The higher the smoke point, the better it is for frying and high-heat cooking. Since peanut oil used for deep-frying you’ll often find 1 to 5 gallon jugs that are pretty heavy for shipping if buying online. Instead, look at local hardware stores or big box supercenters.

Safflower and Sunflower Oil Sunflower Oil and the related safflower oil are both used as cooking oils in cuisines over the world. Produced from related flowers, they are very versatile. Safflower oil is a favorite for salads because it doesn’t solidify when refrigerated and chilled. Both can be used in cold dressings and mayonnaise as well as high heat cooking and sautéing and are neutral enough for baking. These oils are heart healthy and fairly inexpensive.

Vegetable Oil Growing up, my grandmother had a small bottle of “salad oil” in her cupboard. That’s a pretty non-definitive term, much like the term Vegetable Oil. It’s a bit sneaky; for the most part vegetable oil is actually soybean oil with a few other plant-based oils blended in. The deal with vegetable oil is that it’s less expensive than pricier oils such as olive, sunflower, or safflower. Vegetable oil is widely available.

Thanks for reading! Please visit my website virginiawillis.com for more recipes and stories. You can also sign up for my newsletter and keep up with events and classes. And, I waste time have lots of fun with my iphone when I travel if you’d like to friend me on Facebook and Twitter.

Below are some recipes using oil including a basic vinaigrette that shares some tips on choosing oil for a dressing, my grandfather’s grilled chicken using peanut oil, and lastly, shortbread cookies made with butter.

Bon Appétit, Y’all!
VA

PS: Happy to announce Basic to Brilliant, Y’all was nominated for a Southern Independent Booksellers Award and that I am a new contributing editor for Southern Living!

Classic Shallot Vinaigrette
Makes about ½ cup

There’s been a whole lot of talk about culinary “apps” (as in smartphone applications, not starters or nibbles) and cooking by ratio, not by recipe. Vinaigrette is an excellent example of this premise. To make a proper vinaigrette, that is, one that is a perfect balance of smooth and creamy to acidic and tart, a certain ratio of ingredients must be followed: one part acid to three parts oil. The recipe emerges from the technique when the acid is sherry versus balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice versus a combination of white wine vinegar and champagne vinegar. One could also use apple cider, white wine, or red wine vinegar, each vinegar with a different flavor profile. The recipe continues to unfold when the oil is chosen. Is it a full-flavored vinaigrette for tomatoes and cold meats made with extra-virgin olive oil, a milder combination of corn and olive oil, or even milder still, with grapeseed or canola oil? The choice is yours!

2 large shallots, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons oil

In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots, mustard, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Add the oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Dede’s Grilled Chicken
Serves 4 to 6

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup peanut oil, plus more for the grate
2 tablespoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon coarse salt, plus more for seasoning the chicken
1 (4 to 5-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 lemons, sliced Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare a charcoal fire using about 6 pounds of charcoal and burn until the coals are completely covered with a thin coating of light gray ash, 20 to 30 minutes. Spread the coals evenly over the grill bottom, position the grill rack above the coals, and heat until medium-hot (when you can hold your hand 5 inches above the grill surface for no longer than 3 or 4 seconds). Or, for a gas grill, turn on all burners to High, close the lid, and heat until very hot, 10 to 15 minutes.

Combine the water, vinegar, peanut oil, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and salt in a squirt bottle. Set aside. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Apply some oil to the grill grate. Place the chicken on the grill, leaving plenty of space between each piece. Grill until seared, about 1 to 2 minutes per side for legs and thighs, and 3 or so minutes for breasts.

Move the chicken to medium-low heat or reduce the heat to medium; continue to grill, turning occasionally and squirting with the marinade, until the juices run clear when pierced, 12 to 18 minutes. Add lemons and grill until charred. Remove the pieces from the grill as they cook and transfer to a warm platter. Give them a final squirt of sauce for flavor and serve immediately with grilled lemons on the side.

Button Shortbread
Makes about 3 dozen

These are delicious, indulgent, and incredible. It’s basically just enough flour to hold the butter together. They are perfect along with ice cream or a cup of tea. And, since they are so very indulgent, it’s good to know they freeze exceptionally well in an airtight container.

2 cups all purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1⁄2 cup confectioners’ sugar, more for flattening the cookies
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone baking sheets. Set aside. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In the bowl of a mixer using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture and vanilla; beat until just combined.

Using a small ice cream scoop, portion the cookies about 2-inches apart on the prepared sheet pans. Dip a smooth glass in confectioners’ sugar. Press to flatten to about 1/4-inch thick. Using a wooden skewer, make 4 holes in the center of a cookie so that it resembles a button.

Transfer the cookie sheets to the refrigerator and chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Bake until the cookies are pale golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly on the cookie sheet then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 7 days.

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

Food pics by me.

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Wicked Tuna: A Deal with the Devil Monday, Jan 23 2012

Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society, one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world, works to inspire people to care about the planet.

There were two magazines we weren’t allowed to play with when I was growing up: Southern Living and National Geographic. They were the “important” magazines. They were special. Now, an adult and a chef, I know Southern Living undoubtedly helped fuel my love of food and cooking. But, the magazine that has always been closest to my heart is National Geographic.

My first magazine subscription was National Geographic Explorer and as a child, I cherished each and every one. My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to remember the issues were thin and small, about the size of a half sheet of paper. There was a drawing of a man with a pipe and a hat known as “The Explorer.” Soon, the magazine changed its name to World Magazine, and I continued to read every one, cover to cover. All along, the familiar yellow spine meant for the grown-ups came delivered to our home every month, a gift from my grandparents. As soon as I was able, I read that one, too. I couldn’t get enough of exploring, of seeing different people, places, and things.

My grandparents loved to travel in their motor home. Often, my sister and I or a cousin would travel with them. We’d go away for weeks and months at a time every summer. My older cousin Sam went with them to Alaska, a trip I still yearn to take. The next year, they took me to Newfoundland. While on the ferry off the Nova Scotia coast I witnessed a pod of whales rolling in the deep blue water. Later, my sister and I traveled from Georgia clear across the Southwest then north up into the Canadian territory of Saskatchewan before we headed back across the entire United States to Georgia. A stack of National Geographic magazines with the familiar yellow spine and the appropriate maps for our travels, accompanied every trip. In high school, I remember having the National Geographic map of Europe tacked up on my wall; it seemed a million miles away from my red dirt road in South Georgia, but I knew I wanted to go there, and eventually, I did.

To this day, I don’t read National Geographic magazines – I relish them. Each issue is a journey and exploration into a whole new world. National Geographic fulfilled its mission with me; it inspired me to care about the planet.

Yet, today I feel betrayed, heartbroken, and sick. The National Geographic Channel will debut a show this spring called “Wicked Tuna”, a reality series that follows the lives of tuna fisherman in Gloucester, Massachusetts. According to media reports the series is part of a joint venture between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and the National Geographic Society. Seemingly, the last vestige of what I thought should be beautiful and pure and good is not. It would be comic if it weren’t so tragic and absurd. It seems that the National Geographic channel has made a veritable pact with the devil.

Two years ago, Nat Geo proclaimed the “Eleventh Hour” for tuna and sharks. On its own website, National Geographic states: Bluefin tuna have been eaten by humans for centuries. However, in the 1970s, demand and prices for large bluefins soared worldwide, particularly in Japan, and commercial fishing operations found new ways to find and catch these sleek giants. As a result, bluefin stocks, especially of large, breeding-age fish, have plummeted, and international conservation efforts have led to curbs on commercial takes. Nevertheless, at least one group says illegal fishing in Europe has pushed the Atlantic bluefin populations there to the brink of extinction. 

It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s wicked in the true sense of the word, evil and morally wrong.  The producer, Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Studios is quoted as saying, “Commercial tuna fishing is brutally competitive. With its limited season, the intelligence and prowess of the fish, and the sheer fact that they’re worth so much, the livelihood of each vessel’s crew can be made or broken in a month.” 

National Geographic is capitalizing on and exploiting the very species they have declared to be on the verge of extinction.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch states consumers should “Avoid” all bluefin tuna, referencing the near collapse of bluefin populations worldwide. Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity submitted a petition to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeking an endangered status for the fish, claiming the species faces possible extinction because of overfishing and habitat degradation. Ocean Conservancy states the species is overfished. The Pew Charitable Trust states, “Some species of tuna, such as the valuable Atlantic bluefin tuna, are dangerously over-exploited.” Pew’s Global Tuna Conservation Campaign is urging countries fishing for tuna to “enact strong measures that will lead to the recovery of severely depleted Atlantic bluefin tuna population, including suspension of the fishery and prohibit take of Atlantic bluefin tuna on its only known spawning grounds.” The list of organizations against bluefin fishing goes on and on and on.

As a chef and food writer, I care about the food I prepare, the food I eat. I work to educate my students and readers about responsible and sustainable food. As the National Geographic Society mission states, I work to inspire people to care about the planet.

John Fahey, Chairman & CEO of the National Geographic Society should hang his head in shame. At minimum, he and the National Geographic Channel have some serious explaining to do. If you’d like to let the National Geographic Society know what you think of Wicked Tuna, please shoot them a note to comments@natgeochannel.com

Sincerely,
Virginia Willis
Chef and cookbook author

CC:
Editor, the Washington Post
Editor, the New York Times

Photo credit: Virginia Willis

UPDATE: 1/24/12 MANY OF THE COMMENTS BELOW ARE FROM HARD-WORKING FISHERMEN WITH FAMILIES TO SUPPORT. VERY CLEARLY, WE DISAGREE ON CERTAIN POINTS. THE DIALOGUE HAS BECOME QUITE HEATED. WHILE I DO NOT APPRECIATE NAME-CALLING AND PERSONAL SLURS, I DO APPRECIATE THE PASSION AND EXPERIENCE THAT THEY BRING TO THE CONVERSATION.THANK YOU FOR READING.

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Frying the Friendly Skies: Old-Fashioned Apple Hand Pies Tuesday, Dec 6 2011

I’m off on a whirlwind tour of Texas teaching at Central Market this week.  Last week I was in Nashville, Atlanta, and Chicago. I had a great time teaching at the Viking in Franklin. I also got to speak at the Culinary Historians of Chicago meeting on the “Exceptionalism of Southern Foodways.”

Folks ask me all the time about traveling. Sure, sometimes it’s hard, but mostly? Mostly, I love it. I get to meet so many nice people. Many folks are friends on Twitter and Facebook. And, the part I love the most is when students bring in their spattered and well worn copies of Bon Appétit, Y’all  for me to sign. I call that my carrot. It’s impossible to describe.

FEELING EXTRA CRISPY

Having said that, I’d like to make a few comments about air travel. I’m feeling a little extra crispy about a couple of things. First of all, there seems to be a direct correlation between how sleep deprived I am with the number of people that recognize me at the airport, which is, actually in and of itself, really, really weird.

So, heads up, although there are biscuits, Meme, and Mama — this post is a bit more colorful than my typical MO of biscuits and reminiscences of Meme and Mama.

I think a substantial number of the TSA agents were bullies growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I cannot imagine having that job. I would just be very happy if the King of TSA would make up his mind if my shoes are meant to go in or out of the bin when going through the X-ray machine. I will do as I am told. Quit moving my cheese. Or shoes, as the case may be.

Madame Real Housewife of Atlanta, I don’t think your thigh high lace up high heel boots are the best choice of footwear for the security line.

I sound like a grumpy old woman, but I do not think that college coeds need to be in their PJs with “Juicy” stamped on their butt with their tan, toned, and taunt mid-drifts showing. It’s practically soft porn in public. I am fairly certain I saw a dirty old man in the beginning stages of heart failure the other day when a bevy of sorority girls on holiday break passed him in the corridor. BTW, I didn’t stop – he was old enough to be their grandfather.

What is up with pillows at the AIRPORT? Why not just use your bed linens to wipe out the dumpster at the CDC? Eeeew.

I don’t need to watch the news or a special report about how America is failing it’s school children in math.  Airplanes board in zones that are numbered sequentially. 1-2-3-4. Never, ever does 3 jump to the front of the line. It’s not like lotto where they pull numbers off of bouncing balls. And, by the way, the plane does not board faster if you block the entrance and your zone has not been called.

TWO carry-ons are allowed per person. The number between ONE and THREE. (See above.)

If you can’t lift it, you shouldn’t be carrying it. And, if it’s the size of a body, no, it is not going to fit in the overhead compartment, otherwise, the airlines would sell seats there, too.

Off means off. It does not mean everyone on the whole plane turns off their phone except one lucky person. It means everyone. And, yes, Mister Platinum Business Man, I can see you fly a lot because you are platinum. And, no, it hasn’t changed since your flight yesterday. Off means off and that means you, too. (see Alec Baldwin)

I’d like to ban the ability for seats to recline. Seriously, is it really that much more comfortable to recline the seat? Dude, does it really transform the cattle car realm of existence you are laboring in, into the naugahyde Barcalounger back in your man cave? I don’t think so.

On that same note, I want to know who exactly figured out that the tray back on the seat in front of you is the exact height necessary to pop the screen off of a laptop? It’s exact almost to the millimeter. We’re talking infinitesimal space, “Can’t-insert-a-sheet-of-paper-between-blocks-at-Mayan-ruins” kind of thing….

That same engineer should be put on something really, really important, like creating a wall to activate instead of the armrest that comes down between you and your seatmate. I tweeted this and someone commented on the potential increase in mile-high club activity. I don’t care. At least then contorting would be worthwhile.

Maybe a force field would be best. It would need to go all the way to the floor and be extra strong near the seat area. It has become clear to me that there are some gentlemen that are quite confused about how wide their legs need to be when they sit down. Honestly. If their package were as large as they seem to think it is, they’d need a harness and a back brace.

Bon Appétit, Y’all!

VA

MAMA’S READING LIST & UPCOMING EVENTS

Check out Country Living for great party and holiday entertaining ideas.

Need roasting recipes? Take a look at Eating Well.

Seats are selling fast, so please sign up for a Media Skills Seminar in Birmingham at Food Blog South.

MEME’S OLD FASHIONED APPLE HAND PIES 

MAKES 15

Mama, Lisa, and I made these the morning after Thanksgiving using Lisa’s homemade applesauce. They were incredible. Mama and I took a bite and immediately burst into tears. They tasted just like Meme used to make. (See, you know I had to have a maudlin moment.) For serving, dust them with powdered sugar or serve them Yankee-style with maple syrup.

2 cups White Lily or other Southern all-purpose flour, or cake flour (not self-rising), more for rolling out
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits and chilled
3/4 to 1 cup milk
1 heaping cup applesauce, preferably homemade
Canola oil, for frying
Confectioner’s Sugar, for serving
Maple Syrup, warmed, for Yankee-style serving

Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Set aside. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Pour in the milk, and gently mix until just combined.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly, using the heel of your hand to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself. Give the dough a small turn and repeat 8 or so times. (It’s not yeast bread; you want to just barely activate the gluten, not overwork it.) Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds of dough with a 4-inch round cutter dipped in flour; press the cutter straight down without twisting so the dough will rise evenly when fried.

Place about a tablespoon of applesauce just to one side on the circle of dough. Fold the dough over, using your fingertips to remove any air pockets. Dip the tines of the fork in flour and press to seal.

Pour oil in a cast iron skillet to 1/2-inch deep. Heat over medium high heat to 350°F. Add the pie and cook until golden on both sides, 3-4 minutes total.

Repeat with remaining dough and applesauce.

Make them a few at a time to fry; don’t be tempted to make them all and then fry them. The dough is far too delicate.

It’s a good tag team dish. Have one person on the skillet and 1-2 people making the pies. When bundling the scraps, don’t smush them together in a tight knot. Lay the scraps on top of each other to roll out. The hand-pies will be more tender.

Serve hot with confectioner’s sugar or warm maple syrup.

Please be nice. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission is prohibited. Feel free to excerpt and link, just give credit where credit is due and send folks to my website, virginiawillis.com. Thanks so much.

Food pics by me.

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