... a spirited celebration of regional food and culinary craft, season by season, with original recipes by Susan S. Bradley
This Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Zuni Café culinary goddess, Judy Rodgers, for turning me on to dry salt curing. had wet brined poultry and pork for years before trying the salt curing process Chef Rodgers describes in The Zuni Café Cookbook. To compare the two methods, I conducted several tests, and to my palate, salt-curing wins. Although both methods have advantages, you just can’t beat salt-curing for ease and juiciness of the cooked meat.
The most important element of Thanksgiving preparation in the OtherWorldly Kitchen is Brown Poultry Stock. I say this unequivocally, because it is essential to my Thanksgiving 24-Hour Gravy. Without this luscious, silky gravy, it’s just not Thanksgiving.
On the LunaCafe Facebook page recently, I bemoaned the fact that this is an atypically chilly and dreadfully dreary May in the Northwest. By chilly, I mean most days are in the 50’s, which forces me to put on three layers of everything just to step out the door. This is not the kind of weather that makes me all dreamy-eyed about eating cold, composed salads, no matter how much I will crave them once summer finally kicks in.
Instead, I find myself jotting down ideas for Moroccan tagines. Why? Because they are hot, spicy, succulent, and so damn delicious that not even the weather can bring me down when I’m eating one.
Can you say Tzatziki (za-ZEE-kee)? Honestly, it’s more difficult to say it than to make it. Which is a good thing, because it’s the magic potion that sends this Greek-inspired sandwich into the flavor stratosphere. And I promise, after one bite, no one will care if you bungle the pronunciation.
There’s something about January that sends me running to Mexican, Latin American, and Southwest cookbooks. Perhaps it’s because the sun has disappeared from the Northwest, and I suspect it headed to Cabos San Lucas without me. Laughing all the way.
Just knowing that there are lots of folks basking in the sun as I huddle in front of the fireplace, firing up their charcoal grills as mine sits forlorn on the freezing deck, and swishing their lucky feet in a cool swimming pool as mine are buried in 3 layers of wonder fiber makes me want to smother everything I eat with a fiery chile sauce and pretend I’m wintering in Mexico.
I’m on a grind-my-own-hamburger kick this summer, so thought I would share another sublime grilled burger that came out of the OtherWorldly Kitchen this past week.
This one is loaded with fire, spice, and smoke, and has got that essential aspect I call Big Taste. For the Summertime Beef & Brew Grilled Burgers posted earlier, I used beef chuck shoulder, but for my Fire & Spice Burgers, I was seduced by a mountain of well-marbled boneless beef short ribs in the butcher case. It was that luscious fat that got me all dreamy eyed.
Is there anything better in the glorious summertime than a big, juicy burger, straight off the grill, tucked into a soft, toasted bun, topped with all the fixings? Maybe with a cold, dark beer alongside? Not in my book.
But too often these days, cooks are cutting corners with the beef patties, sometimes even buying preformed patties at the meat counter. When I see someone in the grocery store reach for those predone packages of hamburger patties, I want to scream, “No, no don’t do it.” Because, well, it actually matters what grade of ground beef you buy and how you form the patties. It matters very much.
It’s picnic season once again—hallelujah!–and I’m perusing my culinary files for dishes that lend themselves to packing into a cooler and heading to the beach or mountains. This is one of those dishes.
I also love having it on hand in the frig for everyday snacking. Thinly sliced, it makes a fantastic sandwich. But perhaps its most glamorous role is as the star of a composed luncheon plate or the centerpiece of an appetizer buffet.
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