Fuller on Food: It's been one of those weeks
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 7:13 AM PDT
By Don Fuller, columnist
Printable version
E-mail this articleWe have pancakes for breakfast on Sundays. Recently, I decided that I would get the "real" maple syrup out of the second refrigerator in the garage. I reached for the syrup only to realize that the bottle was warm.
It was early, and I found myself unable to put two and two together. I was thinking, "How did that warm bottle get into the refrigerator?"
The light was on; the refrigerator was running. I opened the freezer door and felt a rush of warm air.
My mind finally got around the problem. The refrigerator had turned into a heater. And then I realized that most of what was in the refrigerator needed to be thrown away.
The garage refrigerator-freezer is where we keep leftovers and miscellaneous items like applesauce. Everything I touched was warm. There went the quart of beef broth and stew meat. Out with my homemade chicken stock.
My delicious pulled pork, which we postponed having, now was beyond saving. Cubed lamb that we use in making lamb with dill stew was now relegated to the garbage can.
We had bought the refrigerator from my next-door neighbor. To get an idea of its age, you need to know that the finish is harvest gold. We've had it for at least 10 years. And our neighbor probably had it for close to 20.
Rather than invest in another second-hand refrigerator, we decided to get an inexpensive new one. In the appliance section of the stores we visited, cheaper models are set away from the brushed side-by-side stainless steel ones. The thrifty models have no ice and ice water dispensers in the door. No digital controls indicating more than you need to know about the well being of your food and drink.
You feel rather sorry for these basic models. They look so out of fashion.
Of course, Judy and I felt a need to explain that we were buying a second refrigerator for the garage lest the sales associate would feel pity for these old timers on social security. We made the deal and arranged for delivery of the new refrigerator and the removal of the harvest gold classic.
The new one is basic white. I noticed that the brushed stainless steel models are not now in the front wave of the refrigerator section. The new finish being touted is polished graphite. Could it be that stainless steel will soon be the harvest gold of this next decade?
Enough about refrigerators. Let's get cooking.
This past week I made borscht for the first time. I know the version I made is not traditional. First, it is vegetarian, and second, it is pureed. The recipe requires grating all the vegetables, and it was a chore. (I wasn't smart enough to use my food processor, which would have made short work of the preparation.)
When I finished the soup, I decided that I did not like the texture, so I took out my trusty immersion blender and pureed it. We enjoyed it both hot and cold, but felt that the flavors came out better on the second day.
The second recipe is for flank steak. I particularly enjoy its texture, and I found the marinade served to tenderize the meat a bit.
Finally, for dessert is another pear dish. Judy has used a favorite recipe for pears poached in wine for many years. She searched everywhere for it but could not find it among her recipe clippings. Since it was an old favorite, she was distressed to having lost it. Searching through our many cookbooks, we were not even able to find any recipe. I resorted to the Internet and found a few possibilities. From that information Judy came up with her own adaptation. I think it is close to the original so we are both now satisfied that we have a recipe that works and one that we will store in multiple locations.
VEGETARIAN BORSCHT
(Serves 8-10)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
2 large beets, peeled and coarsely grated
4 cups shredded white cabbage
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 russet potatoes, peeled and coarsely gated
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup sour cream
Heat oil in a large pot over low heat. Add onions, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add carrots, beets, and cabbage, cover and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
Place potatoes in a large saucepan. Add 8 cups water, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes or less depending on grate size.
Add tomato paste, sugar, and vinegar to vegetables and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Add potatoes and cooking water; simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in dill, parsley, and chives, and season with salt and pepper. (If using dry herbs, the ratio is 1 tablespoon dry to 3 tablespoons fresh.) At this point the soup can be served as is or run through a blender. The immersion blender can be used in the pot and should be run until the soup is smooth; otherwise, blend in a blender using small batches after the soup has cooled a bit and avoid overfilling the blender so as not to splash out of the blender jar.
Serve either hot or chilled and top with sour cream and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
FLANK STEAK, ASIAN STYLE
(Serves 2)
1/3 cup dry sherry*
1/4 cup soy sauce*
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
3/4 pound flank steak
With a whisk or immersion blender blend together sherry, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger and sesame oil. Put steak in a sealable plastic bag, add soy sauce mixture, and seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Turn bag to assure meat is covered by the marinade.
Marinate for two hours at room temperature, or refrigerate and remove an hour before cooking. Grill or broil until cooked to desired doneness, about 5 minutes a side for medium rare. Remove the steak to a platter and let stand for five minutes before slicing crosswise into thin slices.
The marinade can be put into a medium sauce pan and boiled for 3 minutes, placed in a serving bowl and passed as a sauce, if desired.
*To double the recipe, change 1/3 cup sherry to 1/2 cup and change soy sauce to 1/3 cup. Keep the other ingredients the same.
--- Adapted from Alice Schwab's recipe, Bon Appetit, November 2006.
PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE SYRUP
(Serves 6)
6 firm Bosc or Comice pears
750 ml red wine
1 cinnamon sticks
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons Cointreau (optional)
1 1/2 cups sugar
Peel, slice in half, and core pears. In a large saucepan, pour in the red wine and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Add the cinnamon sticks, lemon zest, cloves, and Cointreau and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the sugar and stir. Add pear halves. Partly cover the pan and simmer over low heat until pears are tender. Timing will depend on the size of the pears; for medium-sized pears, about 1/2 hour.
Carefully remove the pears with slotted spoon and place in a heat-proof serving dish.
Strain the remaining red wine mixture and return to the saucepan. Bring to boil, and cook briskly until it reduces and thicken into syrup. If you desire a thicker syrup, dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water. Add to the saucepan and continue cooking until sauce has thickened
Pour the red wine syrup over pears. Serve warm or cold.
--- Adapted from Gioconda Scott’s recipe at http://www.wktvfood.co.uk
Don Fuller, an avid cook, retired as dean of instruction at Lower Columbia College in 1998. Readers can reach him in care of the paper at The Daily News, P. O. Box 189, Longview, WA 98632 or by e-mail at dfuller@teleport.com.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories