Twist on a Fave: Chow Chow Pizza

I was brainstorming the other day about the other ways in which people could leverage chow chow in their kitchens.  I'm really getting ready for a food swap event coming up pretty soon where I will be featuring my chow chow (check out my earlier post about chow chow relish).  I made up some simple jar labels on online.  I wanted to list some ways to use chow chow on the label.  I came up with a bunch...on hotdogs...of course, on cheese/charcuterie platters, in potato salad, pop of flavor in braises, add to mayonnaise for sandwich spread, add to sour cream for dip, etc...the one that gets me most excited is chow chow pizza.  Think about it.  It's packed full of ingredients that are awesome on pizza (tomato, onion, bell peppers).  I prepared a simple somewhat thin crust dough.  I used the chow chow instead of typical tomato sauce.  I topped it with mozzarella cheese, cilantro, and bacon...who doesn't like bacon! 

It was really tasty straight out of the oven.  I used an entire 8-ounce jar of chow chow, but it was worth it.  The chow chow wasn't overshadowed by the cheese or bacon.  The sweetness of the chow chow offered a really great balance to the salty bacon.  I don't think this would have worked so well with all chow chow recipes.  I used about half the sugar leveraged by other recipes.  The sweetness was still very apparent, but I think any more would have been too much.  In addition, I cook the relish down a lot, so it is not so runny.  Who wants to get hit in the face with steaming hot vinegar if you don't have to!

The true test came for me the next day.  I always think that the best foods can be eaten cold out of the fridge.  Channel fried chicken and other pizza faves here!  You really have to season food well for it to be tasty cold when it is intended to be eaten hot.    This one did not disappoint.  The crust wasn't soggy.  All the elements of the chow chow shined through even more.

So, please take an opportunity to experiment with chow chow.  There is so much to do with it beyond just hotdogs.  Share all of your creative ideas with me.  And hey, if you don't want to go through all of the work of creating your own chow chow, perhaps in the near future, you can purchase mine :-)

AEC

Make Room : Momofuku's Spicy Sausage & Rice Cakes

I think it was the winter of 2013 that I received the Momofuku cookbook as a Christmas gift.  It was by request.  I kept one of them hostage while a culinary student at Johnson & Wales.  I would check it out of the library, and then, on the due date, check it out again. They don't let such shenanigans go on for too long, though.  It's a cool read, even if you are only the aspirational cook, who likes to look at the pretty pictures.  I like reading the back story behind all the recipes. Because I cuss like a sailor when amongst friends (get it from my mama), the occasional f-bomb is appreciated.

After a doughnut tour of NYC (yes, I love doughnuts...read about it), I had the opportunity to visit Momofuku's ssäm bar.  For it, at the time, to be declared one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, it was a pretty low key place. I think that's about all I can tolerate when dining out.  I ordered the spicy pork sausage and rice cakes.  It was spot on...spicy, salty, sweet, umami-y. Of course, after a few bites I began to channel my inner cocky chef.   "I can make this." The stewed pork component seemed easy enough, but I was intrigued by the rice cakes.  I assumed they made them in-house, I mean Momofuku's milk bar makes freaking corn powder. I imagined the process would be akin to potato gnocchi. It occurred to me while I was mapping out the MOP in my head, the recipe is probably in their cookbook!

Of course, it was. Turned out I didn't have to tackle rice gnocchi, although, in my head I was certain that no one ever had such a genius idea. So, along with tracking down premade rice cakes, I also had to get a crap load of other ingredients: Sichuan peppercorns, tofu, bok choy, Chinese fried shallots, something called toban djan.  So, long story not so long, I tackled this recipe a couple of times since first attempting it in early 2014, but I still have rice cakes, Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese fried shallots, and spicy bean sauce in my kitchen. With all of my random experiments, it's getting a little tight.  Throwing good food away is never an option for me.  With that in mind, I grabbed all the perishable items I needed gave this dish another whirl. I could get tofu, scallions, and mostly everything I needed from a conventional grocery store. However, it was a no go on the ground pork. I knew I could score some nice swine from the local Asian market.  This is where I got the pork the first time I cooked this dish.  It was so fresh and fragrant. When cooking up the meat, my kitchen smelled of Italian sausage and hadn't even reached for any seasoning yet...amazing!  However, I showed up at the market at 11am to find that they hadn't opened when the sign clearly said 9:30am.  Pissed, I huffed my way to the neighborhood market where I knew they wouldn't have ground pork. I settled for chicken, the other white meat. 

It was nice to cook up this meal again.  While out of respect, I had the cookbook open to the appropriate page, I was a lot more confident, and only glanced at it a couple of times to make sure I was not overlooking a step or ingredient.  The chicken worked pretty well.  I did miss the swine.  In an attempt to explore, I didn't incorporate the boiled rice cakes into the meat sauce.  Thinking about a preparation method I like to do for sweet potato gnocchi, that I like to team with bacon, basil, gouda, and sautéed greens, I boiled the rice cakes and then seared them in a hot pan with oil.  I used them as a base with the meat sauce going on top.  It got a little sticky but not too bad. I like the crisp texture of the exterior in contrast to the almost creamy middle. 

So, mission accomplished. I cleared some space in my kitchen and dined on a meal inspired by an amazing place to eat ssäm bar.  That rice gnocchi post is coming up soon...f**k yeah!

AEC

Chow-Chow Relish and Random Memories of Home

Do you have a food that your mother would prepare, and you just couldn't stand the thought of eating? Chit'lins was definitely high on the list for me...the smell!  But also on my list was Chow-Chow.  Maybe once a year my mother would spend what felt like days dicing and boiling and conjuring up the relish-like condiment.  I think it was the smell of hot vinegar that turned me off, or perhaps it was the way my dad slurped and devoured everything on the plate where it was showcased. My dad had this way of just making the most delicious meals look disguising.  I'm happy to say that his table etiquette has improved significantly since my childhood years, and now, I feel like I missed out. More than ever do I desire to explore those culinary traditions that my mother featured in our North St. Louis kitchen. Since, I now make my home on the east coast, I rely on random phone conversations and texts to bring the same vigor to my table.

I was inspired to create a Soul Food menu the other day.  However, I didn't want to feature only the standard Soul Food fare. I wanted to dig a little deeper with new textures and flavors that were uniquely Southern and with a punch of flavor. That's when I had my light bulb moment and remembered my mother's Chow-Chow.  Ok, so I reached out to my mother when she quickly confessed that it wasn't her Chow-Chow recipe per se.  She'd been using a Ball recipe that comes with the box of Mason jars and putting her spin on it as needed...no cauliflower!  Initially, she rambled off the ingredients and approximate amounts that I would need...went through a rough method of preparation emphasizing that I had to make sure that I used new jar tops and boiled the closed jars long enough so the bubble at the top went away.  She even took the extra step of tracking down one of the Ball recipe books that she had laying around. Apparently, she had a few. 

But I knew I wasn't going to wait around for the book to tackle Chow-Chow.  In this age of technology, I knew there had to be a recipe online. In fact, I found the same Ball recipe.  However, I did appreciate my mom's efforts. I think I get my love of food and cooking from her. I remember one time, we were in the kitchen surrounded by 3 or 4 cakes that she made the day before. I remember German Chocolate, a 7-Up cake, Red Velvet, and something else...Caramel?  I think I gave her the, "What the hell?" look.  She explained that at least 2 were heading to our family's upcoming reunion.  One, I know, was reserved for pops.  She said, "You know how sometimes you just feel like cooking?"

Well, the day I texted my mom about Chow-Chow, I was ready to go.  I ended up using a recipe that I found at Food & Wine, with a few changes.  The most notable one would probably be the use of Roma tomatoes instead on green tomatoes. Good luck finding green tomatoes at a Maryland grocery store in April.  Then, I only used half the sugar. I guess since I didn't have all the tartness of the green tomato, all that sugar wasn't needed.  Plus, I wanted to highlight more spice in the final product.  Also (and please no virtual slaps), I didn't have celery seeds, so I used...Old Bay! Shout out to Baltimore!  They swear by Old Bay...Old Bay Wings, Old Bay Chips, Old Bay Ice Cream...yes, check out The Charmery if you can...delish!  I remember one day at work not having Old Bay to make shrimp salad. My cook had a fit! "What we gon' do, Ashley?!!"  She actually left the kitchen in disgust.  Picture me standing in front of 12 pounds of under-seasoned shrimp salad..."Really?" I snuck off and googled Old Bay and discovered that the primary ingredient along with salt was celery seeds. I quickly threw some in the bowl along with paprika and red pepper before she got back.  I played it off like I found some Old Bay in another outlet...sucker!  Back to my point, I have a fairly extensive spice/seasoning collection. I've got containers of stuff that I have ordered online and purchased abroad that I can't even pronounce. On this particular day with the knowledge that I had in hand, I refused to leave the house and spend more money on seasonings...plus, I think it was cold :-I  I also substituted the dried ginger and turmeric for fresh.  That made a huge difference in the vibrancy of flavor in the overall product.  I think I'm going to make that a standard.

One of the tips that my mom gave me was to save time and use a food processor. I heeded her advice and chopped up the peppers, onion, and cabbage together.  I processed the tomato separately, and I was happy that I did. The difference in texture and water content is too drastic.  The tomatoes seemed to need a little more love when pulsing to get the course, even chop that I was looking to achieve. 

Even with all the changes, the cooking steps provided my Food & Wine seemed to work well.  When cooking down all of my ingredients, I was afraid that I was lacking liquid. However, by lowering my flame and stirring more frequently, I avoided that upset.  I do think my version is a little chunkier than my mom's or some that I have seen online. I actually preferred it my way.

So, what's the lesson?  Don't make excuses!  Chow-Chow is simply a relish.  How many different types of relish are out there?!!  Don't freak out if you don't have every single ingredient.  Have some fun, and experiment with another ingredients that make sense.  Do taste and make any adjustments before canning.  You can get a really good idea of your final product when you have finished cooking the relish.  If the Chow-Chow is too salty, acidic, or sweet, fix it before it goes in the jar.  Waiting a couple of weeks only helps to meld the flavors not fix your mistakes.  With that, I wish you the best in your Chow-Chow adventures.  Who knows?  On one of those days when you just feel like canning, you might set a new standard for you and your family.

 RECIPE REMOVED OCTOBER 29, 2020

AEC

Last Minute Curry Soup

 

I started off making vegetable curry.  Truthfully, I haven't done any serious personal grocery shopping in weeks, and my protein stash was non-existent.  I did have some tofu from a previous recipe I developed.  After one smell of the packaging contents, I quickly resorted to Plan B...all vegetables! 

I sautéed some carrots in a pan with oil.  I got them pretty brown before I added onion, ginger, habanera, and roasted garlic (which I keep on hand).  I added a flurry of spices which, of course, is the definition of curry.  Cardamom, cinnamon, clove, coriander, turmeric, ground red pepper, and black pepper with salt.  I added them to the fairly dry pan.  I like to smoke out my spices before adding any liquid.  I think it adds another dimension of flavor to any dish.  I saw a documentary where women of India toast their spices with or without oil as a standard practice.  I've been toasting my spices every since. 

Once everything was coated in the spices and fragrant, I added vegetable stock to cover the contents of the pan.  Once I got it to a good boil and softened the carrots, I added some cream to the pan.  I would typically add coconut milk, but I was completely out of stock.  Once I reduced the liquid down to the point where it coated the back of a spoon, I adjusted my seasoning (more salt, more pepper).  Whenever, you are relying on reduction to thicken a sauce, it is best to leave some room for salting for the very end.  You don't want to add the perfect amount of salt before the liquid has evaporated and end up with a salty product.  With that being said, I did add some salt with the spices.  I don't know, I do think that adding some salt during the cooking process does yield a very slightly more flavorful product.  However, I always under-season before I get to the very end. 

Patting myself on the back, I was eating the resulting sauce in the pan like soup, because it was so tasty.  So, I said, "Hey, why not make soup?"  I grabbed my NutriBullet and bam!...soup!  I had to add a little more stock to thin it out, but it turned out great.  The thick sauce could have been used to accompany chicken or lamb.  I cooked up some rice to bulk up the meal.  I did run to the store to get some parsley and make it pretty...just for you.

AEC

Fried Green Tomatoes with Crunch

Photo Credit: Ashley E. Cummings

If it's fried, it must be crunchy!  Have you ever been served some soggy fried chicken?  Not the best experience.  When tackling fried green tomatoes, I wanted to make sure that the final product had (and maintained) that crunch that everyone loves.  Classically, I think these bad boys are tossed in flour and cornmeal, but I reached for some panko (AKA Japanese bread crumbs) to get the desired texture.  

I did a standard breading procedure which involves dusting seasoned tomato slices in seasoned flour and then coating the slices in an egg and milk mixture.  Finally, the slices get the final coating of panko and cornmeal.  I seasoned the flour with salt, pepper, red pepper, and Old Bay...homage to Baltimore!  

Usually recipes reference using a fairly shallow frying pan so the tomatoes are not completely submerged...which I don't get.  I actually staged (worked for free) at a renowned local restaurant that served fried green tomatoes as an appetizer on their seasonal menu.  They deep fried the tomatoes to perfection.  If I had a deep fryer in my home, I would have done the same.  I cooked the tomatoes in a good amount of vegetable oil.  I was almost able to submerge them, but I was running low on oil...too lazy to go out for more.  

They crisped up quickly in the 350 degree oil.  It was about 3 minutes on one side with an addition 1/1 and a half on the other.  When they came out (shout out to the Supreme Court!), I placed them on a paper towel and seasoned them again with salt and Old Bay.  I was sure to not overcrowd them.  The panko helps ensure they stay crunchy but not overcrowding fried foods is just a good basic practice.  

Because I love sauce, I bootlegged an aioli.  I blended some mayonnaise with lemon juice, salt, white pepper and wah-lah!...bootleg aioli!  

Serve these ASAP!  Make them a feature on a salad.  Use the "aioli" as a dressing.  Eat as a snack.  Enjoy as a side.  Just get these delicious, crunchy bittles into the stomachs of you and whoever you like to/have to feed.  R.I.P. Jessica Tandy.

AEC

Homebrew Crash Management

Photo by Ashley E. Cummings

Funny homebrewing story...ok, terrible homebrewing story!..I went to cool down my wort only to discover that all the water coming from my faucet was now murky brown...wtf! I went to put the pot on the fire escape.  Guess what?  The gate was locked, and I have misplaced the key...yeah, that's safe.  Last resort, just cleared out my freezer to make room for the brew. Just a 1 gallon batch...poor frozen veggies!  Fingers crossed for this one!

AEC

What to Do With All This Spent Grain?

I'm experimenting with my own homebrew.  That's one of the goals I set for my 2015...make good beer.  Only started brewing a couple of days ago. No explosions...no insane amount of stank from hops...so far so good.  I've got at least a month before I can enjoy the fruits of my labor, Brooklyn Brew Shop's Everyday IPA. But in the meantime, I'm left with all this used grain=spent grain.  When making beer, you heat some grain blend (barley, wheat) in water.  Once you sift out the grain, you're left with a sugary brown liquid called wort and a whole lot of wet grain.

I don't like waste, specifically food waste, so I was determined to transform it into something.  Union Craft, in Baltimore, works with local farmers who pick up the used grain, so it can be added to their animal's feed.  I won't generate enough to justify a trip, so of course, I'm thinking of repurposing.  The wet grain wasn't too bad on its own, but I wanted to do something a little less boring than eat wet grain for 2 weeks.  Luckily, Brooklyn Brew Shop had a great tip for making spent grain flour.  Everything is going to plan so far.  I put my grain on a baking sheet...well, 2 baking sheets...now, I'm letting them dry out in a 200 degree oven.  It's been about 6 hours.  Once I let it cool, I'll probably only ground down 1 sheet of the dried grain into flour in a food processor.  I think it'll be fun to play around with 2 different textures. 

The dried grain smells delicious already.  I think I might me a little too hype about crisped up grain!  Good thing though. If making beer continues to be this fun, I'm going to have a lot of spent grain.

AEC

Egg Nog Bread Pudding Made with Donuts

Egg Nog Bread Pudding Made with Donuts

Just in case you can't tell.  I'm cleaning out my fridge.  The egg nog must go!  I was cringing as I went to trash some old donuts yesterday. They were an unexpected surprise from some office event.  I received like 7 in total.  The perfect number.  I managed to get through 3.  I was left with 2 glazed and 2 apple-filled.  My love of donuts kicked in right on time.  This must have been done before, right?  Egg nog is just a hooked up custard.

The stale donuts soaked up the nog well.

I thought about adding more egg, but I had just ran out...and it's raining.

The bread pudding set up pretty well without the additional egg.

Buttering the pan and letting it cool in the tin helped it release a lot cleaner.

I topped it with some ice organic ice cream that I had in the fridge along with maple syrup and walnuts.

I am definitely keeping this one in the back pocket for next year!

Never waste a donut again!

AEC

So Much Leftover Cornbread...What to Do?

Stuffed Peppers

 

One thing about in-house recipe development...you end up with a lot of leftovers.  I ate so many Hoppin' John Cornbread Muffins the other day.  I decided that in an effort to not waste food, I'd better think of a way to repurpose them.  Stuffing seemed obvious.  I wasn't in the mood for a traditional holiday dressing.  Rather, I did a spin on an Italian classic and stuffed green peppers with some revved up cornbread.  How'd you do that, Ashley?  Oh, I'm glad you asked.  I crumbled up some muffins in a bowl just with a fork.  I'm sure I could have thrown the cornbread in a food processor, but the fork seemed simple enough.   I added cranberries, shredded smoked Gouda cheese and extra virgin olive oil.  I didn't add a lot of oil.  Just enough to moisten it up a bit.  About a tablespoon per jumbo muffin.  Once I removed the tops and seeds of the peppers, I seasoned them up with olive oil salt and pepper.  In hindsight, I would have charred the peppers on the stove to soften them up and get some additional depth of flavor.  I hand-packed the stuffing in the peppers.  I did not hold back.  You shouldn't either!  I let them cook in a preheated 350°F oven just until the stuffing heated through...about 20 minutes.

 

Stuffed Acorn Squash

I applied the same technique to acorn squash.  I cut a squash in half widthwise for 2 servings.  I hallowed out the halves with a spoon.  The squash was hit with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I used my hands to rub the seasoning all over the squash, inside and out.  I allowed the squash to roast in the oven by placing the cut side down on a pan.  I lined my pan with foil, because I'm lazy and cleaning out the pan wasn't something I was feeling at the time.  They roasted in a 350°F oven until the interior was soft and turned golden around the edges...about 30 minutes.  The cooked squash was again hand packed with the stuffing mixture.  I added some leftover broccoli this time.  One of my New Year's Resolutions: waste less food.  Once the stuffing heated through, I was ready to enjoy. 

Fish with Cornbread Stuffing

 

The fish was another good and quick way to use up the muffins.  I loaded the center of a seasoned fish fillet with the stuffing and simply had rolled the fish around it.  I gave the fish a quick drizzle with some oil and baked it at 325°F until the fish firmed up and cooked through.  Should take 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.

So, to wrap up, there are tons of things that you can do to repurpose leftovers.  Get creative in the new year and leave nothing to waste!

AEC

 

Photo Credits: Ashley E. Cummings