Completely Unrelated

A Poem By Renwick Miller

I had to get this out.  Thanks, Gang.

Copyright 2013, Renwick Miller

Still And Quiet

Are hard won through drunken anger, stilled by Steely Dan, quieted by guitar chords and keystrokes.

That hush you feel when life makes sense from the mouth of a drunk?

It's nothing less than the drunkard's stance between you and Hell.  

Listen.  

Be grateful, 

Be still, 

Be quiet.

Copyright 2013, Renwick Miller.

Author Interview With Michael Moss: "Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us" (C Span BookTV)

Author Interview With Michael Moss:  "Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us" (C Span BookTV)

by Renwick Miller

05/15/2013

We all know that food interacts with the body much like a "drug" in many ways.  The fact that you're even here reading tells me you've had a foodgasm.  Y'know, when the right flavor combination, that perfect mouthful gives you waves and waves of tingles rippling through your body, much like sex?  Ever pay attention to where the tingles start for different stimuli?  Maybe the orgasm tingles radiate out from the groin, where the foodgasm sensations start at the stomach, or even rear stomach, which feels like the base of the spine?

It was a rare and trusted friend who'd hear about these sensations good eating would gift me for many, many years.  I remember sharing these contemplations around the age of 16 and receiving nothing for my bravery but confirmation I should keep my mouth shut;  "We all know you're weird.  It's OK."  I held my tongue for an easy couple of decades after that, until sometime in my thirties and my cathartic first experience with the NeoEnglish word "foodgasm".

Well, fellow weirdos...  Mr. Michael Moss has good and bad news for us:

Good News:  We're not crazy, or even alone.  Food IS, in many ways, a drug.  A drug with effects not unlike heroin, alcohol, cocaine or nicotine.

Bad News:  Pseudo-food purveyors have, for many, many years (decades, even?) employed armies of food scientists to study this phenomenon, find our "bliss points";  The levels of salt, sugar and fat that either individually or in combination bring us to a sexless orgasm, therefore hooking us on the product.  This works  even if you're eating hamburger flavored styrofoam.

Good News:  Now, not only do we know, but we know they know. If you can see them coming, you know when to cross the street.

Here's a link to the discussion:

http://www.c-span.org/video/?312117-4/book-discussion-salt-sugar-fat-food-giants-hooked-us

Recipe: Chicken, Indo-Pak Style

A Leftover Extravaganza! 

by Renwick Miller

05/03//2013

The Inspiration

So a dear, dear friend saw that I'd been chained to the laptop all week jobhunting, had pity on my broke ass and invited me out for drinks this past Friday night.   I stumbled in early Saturday morning hungry as hell, especially since the route home meant walking through West Ridge / Rogers Park, right past four, count 'em, four all night Indo-Pak eateries on Devon Avenue.  If you're in Chicago and you've not treated yourself to the strip of absolutely magnificent eating on Devon between Ridge and Kedzie, you're missing out.  Here's a Chicago Reader article on the strip that lists 12 restaurants, which I'd easily guesstimate at only half, maybe less.  If you know this strip and have eaten somewhere not listed in that article, they're also soliciting reviews, by the way.  

It's a fun neighborhood.  Amazing restaurants with not only Southeast Asian cuisine, but a sprinkle of Middle Eastern and of course good 'ol American thrown in for good measure.  Great grocery (and other) shopping, and I can't mention West Ridge without talking about Argo Georgian Bakery and Levinson's Bakery.  DAMN fine bread and stuffed pastries from Argo, with a really cool little cafe setup where you can nosh and watch them make bread in an old-school Georgian style brick oven if your timing's right, which is usually early morning if I remember correctly.

Photo From Gapers Block.

Levinson's...  Dear GAWD, these people know what they're doing.  My favorite place for sweets within a 5 mile radius, hands down.  Check them out.  NOW.  Seriously, put down the computer and go.

  

Photo Courtesy of Trip Advisor

The Execution

So anyway, I'm HOWNGRY (you southerners know this word).  I need food, stat.  The roughly 20 minute walk gave me more than enough time to mentally inventory the fridge and come up with something to both fill the belly and sate the craving created by those tantalizing smells I encountered.  I whipped up something for the immediate that was so damned tasty I decided to do a batch for the week.  We're working with;

1 smoked chicken leg quarter (leftover)

1 lb of chicken wing drumlets 

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp dill seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 small orange, sliced thin

1 green chile pepper, sliced thin

1-2 tbsp black pepper, to taste

8 oz of wing sauce (spicy or mild, up to you)

6 oz of tahini

2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach
1/2 to 1 cup of water, eyeballed in the mix beforehand or added as the cooking happens.

Below's a shot of the chopped ingredients sans chile, orange, and spinach which came to mind later.  With the knife in the shot for perspective, you can see what's there amounts to about 1 dry measure cup.

For cooking, I'm going with the crock pot on a six hour cycle, though I'm imagining this would work equally well in the oven at 375-400° for about an hour to 90 minutes.  Either way, cook low and slow until the meat falls off the bone.

Things To Watch

The only real concern I can see here is the heat (spice) quotient.  I'd reccomend mixing everything and adding the chicken last, so you can taste the mix as you go. I started with a little too much wing / hot sauce, and overcompensated with tahini, thus the sliced chile peppers added later.  Play with it and have fun.  When you find it's to your liking, add the chicken and start cooking.  Keep in mind too that this would work well with beef, lamb or goat.

I'm making no claims to authenticty here but served with rice, yougurt and naan...  Good eats!

Essentials: Seasoned Olive Oil

You Need This.

by Renwick Miller

04/17/2013

 This one's likely familiar to many of you, as it's an old kitchen staple that's easy and inexpensive to make, and very versatile.  You'll need the following:

• Olive oil
• Vinegar and Oil Serving Bottles
• Basil / Oregano
• Bay Leaves
• Fresh Garlic
• Other Herbs / Spices

The process itself is very, very simple:

      1.Pour oil of your choice into the container of your choice.
      2.Add herbs and spices.  
      3.Place in a sunny windowsill so that flavors permeate the oil.
      4.Use copiously. 

The Tricky Part

Choosing your olive oil.  I'm going to rely primarily on The Olive Oil Times for this section, them and whatever knowledge of the subject is floating around in my head.  A good bit of googling and comparison to other sites seems to put them in...  SHIT, am I sleepy.  No point in writing, but it's like an addiction.  According to OOT there are 8 types of olive oil, with Extra Virgin being the top of the heap.  The others are as follows:

1.Virgin olive oil: This is virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 2 grams per 100 grams and a median organoleptic defect value of 2.5 or less.

1. 
   
1. 2.Ordinary virgin olive oil: Virgin olive oil which has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 3.3 grams per 100 grams and a median organoleptic defect value of 2.5 or less than 6.0.
2. 
   
1. 3.Olive oil: A blend of both virgin and refined olive oil. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 gram per 100.
3. 
   
1. 4.Refined olive oil: This is the olive oil obtained from virgin olive oils by refining methods which do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams.
4. 
   
1. 5.Olive-pomace oil is the oil obtained by treating olive pomace with solvents or other physical treatments, to the exclusion of oils obtained by re-esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds. It is marketed in accordance with the following designations and definitions:
5. 
   
1. 6.Crude olive-pomace oil is olive pomace oil whose characteristics correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard. It is intended for refining for use for human consumption, or it is intended for technical use.
6. 
   
1. 7.Refined olive pomace oil is the oil obtained from crude olive pomace oil by refining methods which do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100 grams. Olive pomace oil is the oil comprising the blend of refined olive pomace oil and virgin olive oils fit for consumption as they are. It has a free acidity of not more than 1 gram per 100 grams. In no case can this blend be called olive oil.

Personally, I've been using olive-pomace for the last...  Six months or so.  Found it on sale at this phenomenal grocery store I learned about commuting to and from my last contract day job.  Seriously, if you're ever in Niles, IL check out Jerry's Fruit and Garden.  Fresh veg and meat at good prices, and a wide selection of "ethnic" goods, mostly eastern European, but a decent smattering of Mexican and Caribbean stuff as well.

One last, potentially confusing but definitely bewildering factor to consider when choosing an olive oil is veracity.  Believe it or not, olive oil is one of the most counterfeited foods in history.  I started a bit of googling for this article about a month ago and was so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information I had to walk away for a bit.  Here's a few articles to chew on:

Guardian UK book review:  Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller

Cracked Magazine.com:     The 6 Creepiest Lies the Food Industry is Feeding You  

Food Renegade.com:          Your Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is Fake

Chowhound.com:                 Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Fraud: Whole Foods, Rachel Ray, Safeway,        Newman's Own, Colavita, Bertolli

Yes, that Cracked magazine.  They've evolved.  Solid research and hilarious presentation.  You "Daily Show" fans will love it.

It's a really fascinating subject, actually.  Both the Cracked article and the book "Extra Virginity: ..." make note of the fact that the ancient Sumerians had a royal anti-fraud squad devoted to the matter (over 5000 years ago),  and in modern times, there's more than one mention of organized crime, and if that's not deep enough for you, follow this link to learn about scientist Ming-Qiang Zou's spectroscopy based olive oil authentication method.  No shit.  

I started out with a few paragraphs on seasoned olive oil, and look where we wound up.  I LOVE food!

Recipe: Apple / Sesame Tilapia

AKA:  I Love Grilling! 

by Renwick Miller

04/27/2013

This one is tasty, quick, and currently residing in my belly, so I thought I'd take the time to pen the recipe before succumbing to the food coma.

It looks like spring may finally be taking hold in Chicago, so I took the camera out for a walk.  After an hour or two of  random point and shoot, I realized I was hungry.  Spring weather always makes me want to fire up the grill, and my first thought was of the 2-3 lb bag of chicken parts I'd thawed for this purpose.  

"But chicken takes so long when you smoke it...  I'm hungry NOW.  OH, wait!  There's that tilapia in the fridge!"

It's been nearly three weeks since the last shopping trip, and I REALLY don't feel like going to the store, so we're working with what we've got.  Lesse... There's;

4 medium sized tilapia filets

1 small yellow onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed. 

1 small apple (don't know what sort), sliced or diced.

About 1 cup of tahini

Salt

Black pepper

Garlic powder
Paprika

1/2 to 1 cup of water.

***NOTE:  The prep designations above (sliced, diced, chopped), like most anytime I write about cooking, are just suggestions.  If you'd prefer diced to sliced, or think pureed in a food processor might lend you better results, have at it.  I'm just writing out what I've done, and if you can improve, please do!  And share your secret if you like the results.  Don't be stingy.***

First, you open a beer and start the grill up.  This would work just as well in the oven, but I'm really fond of the smoke flavor that comes from a nice, low wood fire.  My method is to let a few decent sized pieces of wood burn down to coals.  That's my source for the heat, and the next bits of wood to go on get added just before placing the dish and closing the grill, so if they ignite there's not much fire, but plenty of smoke.  

While the fire's making coals for me, I pop back into the kitchen and start food prep.  Grab yourself a grill safe pan large enough to hold everything and add about half the tahini, onion, garlic and apple, adding pepper to taste.  

From here I added the fish and mildly salted it, sprinkled on the rest of the dried spices, and repeated our tahini, onion, apple, garlic exercise and poured it on top.

By now the grill should be ready, assuming you or someone else has been tending it.  EXCELLENT!  I tossed my batch (in the pan) on the grill for about 35 minutes or so.  Here's where the water comes in;  Keep an eye on things.  Check at the 10 minute mark or so and see how the moisture content is.  Not only do you not want things to burn, but you can control how intense or subtle the apple / sesame combination permeates the fish by how much water you add.  The more dilute the mixture, the subtler the flavor, of course.  If you prefer intense flavor, you'll need to REALLY keep an eye on things, adding small amounts of water every so often.  I'd say a couple ounces at a time.  


Lazy as I am, I'd normally suggest just adding all the water and letting it cook down, but we're not working with red meat, poultry, or even salmon here.  It's a whitefish.  Too much water and time and you'll either wind up with rubber or soup.  Besides which, I kinda enjoy hovering over the grill.  "MAN... FOOD...  FIRE!"  

Hand me a beer, would'ja?

Time's up?  Enjoy!  Pull the pan off the fire and serve.  As pictured, tonight's dinner came with rice and peas. I like to spoon a bit of the tahini sauce over the top of it all, have a bite of fish, rice and smoky apple and wonder what the hell made me think the oven would've been a good idea.

News: Monsanto's At It Again

ENOUGH, already!

by Renwick Miller

03/13/2013

Frankenfoods and the Sequester Shuffle

So this latest round of fiscal prestidigitation...  Errr, "sequestration",  from Washington  is doing what it's done so well for so many years:  Scaring the shit out of us by waving a paper tiger with one hand, while opening the cage divider between us and a streak (group) of rabid, hungry, real Bengal tigers with the other.

One of the big cats in this show is none other than Monsanto (Surpriiise!), sneaking in on us through a  $700 million hole in the USDA's proposed fy 2013 budget  that effectively loosens regulation on GMO products from giants like Monsanto while simultaneously cutting subsides to small farms and farmers, arguably crippling, if not eliminating competition to, thereby increasing profits for, giant agribusiness.

For you clicktivists reading, there's a petition circulating courtesy of care2.com.  According to Care2.com contributor / author Kit B.:

"The Senate has included some very harmful amendments for our food and farmers in the budget they are considering for 2013. Specifically, these amendments would limit the oversight of controversial genetically engineered crops and prevent enforcement of contract fairness provisions for family farmers. 

The need to keep the government running is not an excuse to undermine consumer and farmer protections. "

As of this writing, I've seen no documented proof of the legislation's ties to any one company, but knowing that Monsanto's former V.P. for Public Policy, Michael R. Taylor is now the FDA's Deputy Commissioner for Foods kinda leads the mind in some directions, especially considering that part of the mission of this FDA post born in 2009 is to;

"Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty regulation!"

• develop and carry out a prevention-based strategy for food safety,
• plan for new food safety legislation.

No, I'm not shitting you, check the FDA website.  This sort of chutzpah has to happen organically (pardon the pun), I sure as hell couldn't make it up.

A Little History 

Personally, I'm chomping at the bit to see the web of Monsanto connections that leads to these sorts of fiascoes.  It seems a long and storied tradition, the  link between Big Ag and our regulatory bodies, with simple a Google search  for 'monsanto links to usda and fda' turning up a plethora of names, reporting and accusations going as far back as the Reagan administration FDA's approval of  the sugary-sweet neurotoxin Aspartame, with none other than Donald "Rummy" Rumsfeld (then chairman of G.D. Searle & Company) himself spearheading that effort.  See the complete article at Rense.com;  How Aspartame Became Legal - The Timeline.

A more recent article from the blog Dregs Of The Future cites a points of convergence infographic provided courtesy of the natural health website Mercola.com, which lists individual names and their titles as both Monsanto and FDA employees, respectively.

I think it no small coincidence that this looks like a butt.

Wow.

If you've got an idea as to courses of action, reasons for hope, or ideas on how the hell we're going to explain to our grand-kids our lack of fingers on the back of our necks:  "Is that an 'old people' thing, gram'ma?  When did you lose your neck-fingers?"  please post them below.  PLEASE.  Meanwhile, I'm going to finish stuffing my face with chili-cheese & whipped cream flavored corn chips.  Comfort food makes me feel safe.

Link: Dumpling Reviews, The Chicagoist.com

The Chicagoist.com: Five Of The Best Chinese Dumplings In Chicago

Recipe: Sun King Brewery Winter Contest Winner: Winterfest Braised Rabbit

Hometown Girl Makes Good!  Rabbit. 

by Renwick Miller

03/06/2013

Chicago native Janet Stimac's Winterfest Braised Rabbit won her first prize at the Indianapolis based Sun King Brewery's "Cooking With SunKing" recipe contest, Winter Edition.

Sun King's emphasis in this endeavor seems to be on both local and seasonal ingredients used to create "wonderful and creative dishes".  

Image Copyright © 2012 Sun King Brewing - All Rights Reserved

Looking at the write-up on the brewery's website, Janet's drunken bunny recipe beat out some stiff competition;  "Touch of the West Beer Crust Pizza", "WeeMac N’ Cheesecake" and "Wee Muckle Drizzled Steak with Osiris Brussel Sprouts" to name a few.  Hopefully those and some others will appear on the Sun King website.  

According to Sun King's Beth Belange:

Bunnies hate her.

"(Janet) matched locally-brewed Sun King Winterfest with some locally sourced ingredients. Janet purchased the rabbit, chard, and the cornmeal for the polenta from local farmers at Sun King Community Partner, the Indy Winter Farmers Market."

Yaaay, Janet!

The prize-winning recipe in all it's scrumptrulecence lives  at the Sun King Brewery Website.  Thanks to Janet for permission to write her story, and Sun King Breweries for inspiring what seems to be a festival of yum-tastic-ness. 


Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the liquor store.  If I remember correctly, Sun King makes one helluva porter.

Recipe: PIEROGI!

Ciastowate Kluska Dobroć or "YUM..."

by Renwick Miller
04/16/2013

If you're wondering, "Ciastowate Kluska Dobroć" means "doughy dumpling goodness" in Polski ("The Polish"), and no, I don't speak Polish.  Languages are fun, and so is Google Translate.

For those of you who're used to the traditional recipe format and / or didn't read the "about" page, I'll do my best not to piss you off too bad, but don't expect miracles.  Ditto for you, pierogi purists.  I didn't grow up in the Polish tradition, but do enjoy good food, so feel free to enlighten me via the comments section below.

On Frozen Peirogi

There's more than a few brands on the market, and if you're not familiar, the choices can seem daunting, but here's where pierogi make things easy;  It's a dumpling.

Kaisa's:  A nationally distributed, Chicago born brand and one of my favs.

In other words, it's really hard to screw these up, I think.  Don't get me wrong, it's happened.  Ask the pierogi enthusiasts at ChowHound.com, they've got some very firm opinions on what to try and what to avoid.  I say explore a bit. 

Brands:  Here in Chicago (and distributed nationally) two of the big names are Kaisa's and Alexandra's.  Solid labels, both.  If you're having problems finding them locally, Kaisa's was rumored to ship individual orders once upon a time, and Alexandra's has a hotline to help you find a local distributor.

If you're lucky enough to be in an area with Polish / Eastern European centric grocers, you'll find all sorts of brands and varieties that you won't be able to read the labels of.  JUMP IN!  Naturally you'll want to experiment on your own a bit before trying to impress that Eastern Euro crush of yours with an "Old Country" dinner, but that's part of the fun, no?

Varieties:  Also a fun part of this experience.  Again, it's a dumpling.  You can stuff it with just about anything you like, and many do.  There are of course the traditional choices (sauerkraut, potato & onion, kielbasa, cheese, etc) but in researching this article, not only did I find there's a Pierogi Fest just outside the Chicago city limits, but there's some pretty amazing sounding stuffing choices out there;  Apricot, plum butter and other fruity goodness.

HOLY CRAP...  

I'm going to cease my pierogi education efforts right here and refer you to the Wikipedia article.  Wow.

Jestem Głodny, Cholera! 

OK, down to business.  You'll need to hook or crook yourself the following:

• Frozen pierogi (usually packaged by the dozen)
• 2 - 3 Tbsp. Seasoned olive oil or 
• 2 - 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1-1.5 cups of red and green bell peppers, chopped (save the seeds!)
• .5 - .75 (that's 1/2 to 3/4, NOT 50 to 75!) cups red onion, chopped.
• dried basil or oregano
• salt and pepper
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, diced / chopped / smashed...  Your call.
• Polish sausage, bacon or ham should you choose meat.
• Applesauce
• Sour cream

Personally, I like to steam my dumplings first.  They tend to either burn or stay frozen in the center when going straight from freezer to pan.  If you can pull it off though, good on you.  Once that's done, heat the oil or butter to cooking temperature.  For this one I used a seasoned olive oil (instructions here).  I like to give it medium heat for a minute or two and toss a lone droplet of water into the pan to test.  If it pops, you're ready.  Do NOT try this naked.

Options:  If you're serving meat, you can skip the oil or butter (mostly) and start by sizzling that up first and using the resulting oils & juices to saute everything else.  As I remember it, I used olive oil the night of that photo, so that's how we'll continue.

And stop with the dirty thoughts, already.

Once the oil's ready to go, begin adding the fresh vegetables, stirring steadily.  We're not cooking them, but just a quick saute to unlock flavors.  Keeping the veggie crunch is a nice texture contrast to the dumplings, too.  You'll know one fresh veg is ready and it's time to add the next when you can smell it.  Say you add the garlic first;  when you can smell it, maybe see some browning, add the onion.  When that begins to react to the oil, add the bell pepper, and so on.  I saved the cilantro for last because it's so easy to...  Ruin, for lack of a better word.  Leafy greens like that don't take much, 10-15 seconds, tops.  Once you see it change to a deeper shade of green than what came out of the fridge, it's time for it to come off the fire, or to add the next ingredient, as that serves as a heat buffer.

For the salt, pepper and dried herbs, add them as the spirit moves, though early is usually best.  You want them to both release flavors and pick up some moisture, softening both the flavors and the dried leaves you're inevitably going to bite into.  But, if you're the sort of freak that likes the zing from chewing dried oregano or basil, have at it!  I may just join you for dinner someday.

On that note, check the picture closely, and you'll see bell pepper seeds on the dumplings.  I LOVE these little flavor packets.  Think of it, that little seed has the potential to become a bell pepper PLANT.  The flavor's already there!  They're also packed with moisture, and the fibers aren't terribly tough, so a little while in the pan and they're ready to melt in your mouth.  Just about any time during the saute you can add them, though I like to go early with these as well.

From here, it's time to add the dumplings, and you can go one of two directions;  High heat, your undivided attention, and lots of stirring or medium heat, your near undivided attention, and lots of stirring.  The idea here is to avoid soaking the pierogi in oil.  I don't know about you, but unless I'm really hungover, greasy dumplings are no fun.  Either way, keep in mind this doughy concoction is easy to burn.  You want just a little browning, maybe some charring, and pull it out to drain in a colander or on a paper towel.   Remember it's already cooked, you're just trying to douse it with a little oil and cook some flavor through.

From here, it's time to serve. I'm a huge fan of sweet / savory flavor combinations, so applesauce and sour cream on top are mandatory for me, especially where meat's involved,  though traditionally that's a dessert option.

And get your mind out of the gutter, pervert.

[Photo To Come]

Jeebus...  It's 4am.  A few hours sleep and it's back to the hunt for a day job.  Thanks for listening to me ramble, and join us next time for another installment of "Cooking:  Therapy For The Broke".