POTS AND PANS CITY BLOG

Malbec is one of the classic red Bordeaux variety grapes that is fast becoming popular in the United States today, although it is still often overshadowed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or sometimes even by Cabernet Franc.

The red Malbec grape was first grown in France in the 18th century, but it was given up by the French and English wine makers because it was thought to make a sharp wine. It was also difficult to grow in France, being prone to rot and mildew in the cool, damp coastal regions of Bordeaux. Immigrants transported the grape to Argentina in the first part of the 19th century, and it has done well in the high-altitude region of Mendoza.

For decades, Argentinean wine makers have fought to develop new technologies in fermentation to improve the quality of wine made from this grape. Because of this, in recent years the wine has been winning in blind taste competitions in Europe and has become a major player in the domestic wine industry. It is now believed to be a better wine than many of those produced in Chile.

The Malbec wine is much smoother than Cabernet Sauvignon with a slightly fruitier taste, and thought to have an aroma often reminiscent of violets or sweet ‘jammy’ fruit. It can be appreciated for its spicy white pepper characteristics. Another up side to this wine is that it can be consumed when fairly young.

This wine has a well-balanced fruit and acid profile, and the spicy peppery taste of this well-rounded wine can stand up well when consumed with the deeper spiced flavors of a chilli dish.

Below is a recipe for a Chipotle Chilli dish that would be ideal to serve with this wine.

Chipotle Chilli

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 large onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small can chipotle chillies, or 2 fresh chilli peppers diced finely (seeds removed)
• 2 TBSP. dry chilli powder
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 large can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce
• 1 pkg. dry beef bouillon powder
• 1 small can button mushrooms, drained

In a large stockpot, brown ground beef. Drain off any fat. Chop celery into small pieces. Add garlic, celery and onion to beef and cook until vegetables are softened. Add all remaining ingredients and spices. Bring mixture to a boil, and then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for approximately one hour adding water as needed. Let simmer until sauce is thickened. Adjust chilli seasoning to your liking (add more for a more spicy flavour). Serve.

Of all the tools and utensils used in the kitchen today, it is probably the knife that rewards the most careful selection. When you consider it, a knife is an extension of your hand. To fillet, slice and chop requires manual dexterity. If a knife allows you to move and handle your ingredients in a natural and easy way, this will add to your cooking enjoyment and mastery.

There are a wide variety of cook’s knives available today. In addition to the quality traditional European brands such as J.A. Henckels, and Wusthof , there is a fascinating array of Japanese and oriental brands, such as Global, Ran and Kai. These Japanese brands tend to be made of harder steel and have thinner blades. They hold their edge for longer and are sharper, making them ideal for precision and accuracy. However they do take longer to sharpen and maintain than their European counterparts, which are generally considered to be easier to look after, more sturdy and great for chopping for example.

But how do you choose which is right for you? First and foremost, you should consider the tasks that you perform most regularly and choose accordingly. Here are a couple of things that you may like to bear in mind:

Material: High carbon steel is generally considered the best performer, but can discolor with use, although this is purely cosmetic. High carbon stainless steel is a popular choice, will look great and will take and maintain a sharp edge. Stainless steel is generally less expensive, will retain its good looks but is not hard enough to maintain the best possible edge. Ceramic blades are so hard that they will maintain a sharp edge for months or years with little maintenance. However, they are more expensive to buy and may require using a diamond sharpener.

Handles: The next material choice to consider is for the handle. Handles generally fall into three categories; wood, stainless steel or composition. Some chefs prefer the feel of wood although wood is not allowed in many commercial kitchens. Composition handles help ensure a safe grip on the knife when handling wet items, and are generally preferred over more slippery stainless steel. However, both are sanitary and virtually maintenance-free.

Types of knives: There are some tasks in the kitchen which, if performed regularly, warrant having a special knife for the job. However, there are three knives that will probably see the most wear and tear; a chef’s knife, a paring knife and a serrated knife.

A good chef’s knife will typically have a blade 6″ – 12″ long. It will be used for slicing, dicing, chopping and mincing. It can even be used for boning large cuts of meat if you do not have a cleaver. The side of the blade is great for crushing garlic etc.

A paring will have a 3-4″ long blade and will be used for peeling and paring fruit and vegetables and for trimming where a larger blade would be cumbersome.

A serrated blade is used for cutting through bread, bagels, baguettes etc and should have a blade log enough to cut through a large loaf or a sandwich cake.

These three kitchen work-horses will serve you well and, if you’re on a tight budget, will serve most purposes.

If chosen wisely, a quality set of cooks knives will increase your cooking enjoyment and be a valuable investment for a long time to come.

A frittata is one of those great egg dishes that can be served for breakfast, lunch or supper. Here is a fantastically tasty recipe that just fits the lunchtime or suppertime bill. Including the spinach as the vegetable and the potato as the staple, it includes everything you need for a satisfying meal. The crisp cheddar cheese topping makes it taste extra-special.

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP. olive oil
• 3 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
• 1 ½ cups fresh spinach leaves, torn
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• ½ cup cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add sliced potatoes. Cover pan and cook about 10 minutes until potatoes are cooked through but still a bit firm. Add garlic, spinach and onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, until spinach is wilted.

Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium bowl. Pour mixture on top of spinach in the frying pan. Sprinkle the cheese over all. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan to the oven and place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the eggs are firm.

This spicy version of a frittata is not strictly Italian, even though hot Italian sausages are used.  The paprika and chili powder add to the spicy-ness and gives this tasty frittata a bit of heat.

Ingredients:
6 eggs
2 Hot Italian sausages
1 large onion
¼ cup milk

1 red bell pepper

1 TBSP. olive oil
½ cup Mozzarella cheese

½ tsp. paprika

½ tsp. chili powder
Salt
Pepper

Prepare the sausage: Take a sharp knife and run it down each sausage.  Then remove the meat from the sausage casing.  Chop onion and red pepper into thin slices.  Beat eggs, milk and spices together.

In an ovenproof pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the sausage meat, onion and pepper and sauté until the sausage is browned.  Add the egg-milk mixture into the pan and mix it together with the sausage and vegetables.  Cook on the stovetop until eggs are barely set. Remove from heat and top with the cheese.  Place the whole skillet under your broiler until the cheese is melted and browned.

Author Adam Perry Lang graduated with distinction from the Culinary Institute of America and then went on to cook at Daniel, Le Cirque, and Restaurant Guy Savoy. He is the owner of Daisy May’s BBQ USA in New York City, and is partnering with Jamie Oliver on an international restaurant project.

Perry Lang is very serious about BBQ. He has won honors and first place awards at major barbecue championships. His new book Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking is a very serious BBQ book.

There are chapters on pork, beef, lamb, and chicken. Most of the recipes also include several brief preparation recipes, as each meat is paired with specific herb bundles, seasonings, glazes, etc. to achieve a specific effect. The book also includes sections on grill types, characteristics of different woods used in smoking, recipes for sauces, brines and marinades. Serious Barbeque covers the slower cooking style of the South as well as high-heat styles of BBQ.

This is probably one of the best BBQ books out there, and if you are serious about your barbecue, you are not likely to be disappointed.

Enhance your next dinner party by serving lovely, rich seafood chowder filled with all the tantalizing flavors of the sea in a light creamy broth. The Seafood Chowder recipe presented below is not difficult to make and your guests will truly be impressed with your cooking skills. This lovely chowder recipe can be served as a first course of a meal, or even on its own with crusty bread and a salad.

The culinary experience for you and your guests can be further enhanced when the tasty chowder is paired with an appropriate wine, such as a Chardonnay Blanc. This gentle white wine will compliment the delicate flavors of the fish in the dish. A robust red wine or a very tannic red wine will overpower the fish and may even cause a metallic or steely taste when consumed together. The Chardonnay Blanc offers a crisp and fruity flavor that goes well with the light buttery, creamy flavor that is built into chowder, while the acid content of the wine will bring out the flavor of the seafood.

Chardonnay is a white wine grape grown all over the world, as it is easy to grow and adapts well to different climate conditions. The white wines are produced in many different styles ranging from Chablis, to the rich buttery Meursaults and the fruit-flavored New World wines. The Chardonnay has a fruity aroma suggestive of crisp apples, pears and lemon, while its full-bodied nature can still support complementary characteristics such as oak, butter or vanilla.

Of the years, Chardonnay has been subject to criticism suggesting that is has been a wine that is cheap and over-exposed—one that only inexperienced wine-drinkers would order. This reputation was due to the fact that in the past in California it was fashionable to use excessive oak and malolactic fermentation when making the Chardonnay, which resulted in an often cloying, fat, oak-y tasting wine that paired poorly with food. But the un-oaked Chardonnay which has not undergone malolactic fermentation will have the hints of green apple, lemon or lime that make it a good pairing for many foods.

Serving a good Chardonnay Blank with the delicious Seafood Chowder presented below will be sure to make your next dinner party a hit.

Creamy Seafood Chowder

3 onions

1 tsp. minced garlic

3 TBSP. butter

2 TBSP. flour

In a large stockpot, melt butter. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are transparent. Stir in flour and brown.

Add to pot:

6 cups chicken stock

3 small potatoes, peeled and cut in small cubes

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Pepper

1 TBSP. Basil

1 tsp. Thyme

Bring to a boil. Turn heat down and let simmer until vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork. In small batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return mixture to pot.

Add:

½ pkg. Mixed seafood

2-3 pieces of fish (cod, sole, etc.) cut in chunks

1 cup baby shrimp

Bring soup to a boil and turn down and simmer for 12 minutes. Add 1 cup half and half cream.

Heat through and serve hot.

Amazon is having a sale of lots of kitchenware on August 10 & 11, with savings of up to 60%.  There are a couple of pages each of cookware and kitchen gadgets in addition to vacuums, etc.

Here is a tasty recipe that can be used as a lunch or brunch dish.  The added chicken to the vegetables and eggs makes it a total meal in itself and the fresh sage cooked under the broiler gives it great flavor.

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
¼ cup milk
½ red bell pepper

½ green bell pepper

1 TBSP. olive oil
½ cup Mozzarella cheese

4-5 fresh sage leaves, torn
Salt
Pepper

Peel the potatoes and dice into ½” cubes.  Chop onion and peppers into thin slices.  Beat eggs, milk and salt together.

In an ovenproof pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the potatoes and sauté until the potatoes are tender.  Add the egg-milk mixture into the pan and spread the chicken and vegetables over all.  Cook on the stovetop until eggs are barely set. Turn on your oven broiler to preheat.  Remove the egg-potato mixture from the heat and top with the sage leaves and then the cheese.  Place the whole skillet under your broiler until the cheese is melted and browned.

There seems to be a bit of discussion about what a frittata (pronounced ‘free-TAH-tah) really is.  Is it a type of quiche, or is it an omelette?  To give the first two definitions, a quiche typically is an egg dish made with cream baked in a crust, almost like a pie.  A quiche can have a variety of ingredients added into it to create many different styles and tastes. An omelette, on the other hand, is simply beaten eggs cooked with butter or oil in a frying pan with the firmed-up egg folded around various ingredients.  Typical omelette ingredients include cheese, onions, bacon, mushrooms, other vegetables, ham or other meats.

Now a frittata is an egg dish that has its origins in Italy.  It is something like an open-faced Italian omelet, but the eggs are not folded over the ingredients.  It typically starts in a skillet but is finished up being baked in the oven or put under the oven’s broiler.  The ingredients in a frittata are usually fully mixed in with the beaten eggs before the cooking starts.

Another method of making a frittata is to cook the eggs and fillings together in one pan until the bottom is set, and then invert the frittata into another pan to finish cooking the other side.  Frittatas are usually served hot, but you may find some appetizer frittatas that are served at room temperature.

Frittatas are a good meal choice for any time of the day-breakfast, lunch or dinner. Any egg dish naturally goes for breakfast, but the versatile frittata can be a good choice for lunch or dinner too.  Frittatas are even easy to transport, cut into a wedges, and taken as a snack or for a lunchtime meal.  They are a healthier alternative to take for lunch than the typical fast food restaurant fare.  For dinner a frittata meal can contain foods from all the food groups, especially when paired with some fresh Italian bread and a side salad. Some frittatas may even contain leftover pasta or potatoes to make it even more a complete meal.

Frittatas can contain any number of different ingredients.  Fresh vegetables, mushrooms, cheeses, meat, potatoes, different herbs or any combination thereof are common.  Leftover vegetables or cooked meat are also great in frittatas.  Herbs, fresh or dried, can also add a lot of flavor to a frittata, or you could use your favorite hot pepper sauce to spice it up as well.

For health conscious people, frittatas can also be made with egg substitutes.  Using egg substitutes (that you can find in any grocery store) could be a good way for you to enjoy the great taste of a frittata while still watching your cholesterol intake.  You could also make a frittata just using egg whites.  In that case, just use a pinch of turmeric to add a bit of color and a little bit of extra spices to add to the taste.

When cooking a frittata, it is wise to use a non-stick frying pan or skillet.  In that way, you do not have to use any cooking oil or butter so the eggs don’t stick to the pan.  Your frittata will slide right out of the pan easily.  Using a skillet that will go from stovetop to your oven is also advisable.

Many people enjoy the great taste of a frittata.  They are easy to make and are healthy too.  The flavor combinations that you can create in a frittata are only limited by your imagination.  Various herbs, vegetables, spices, meats, and cheeses provide a basis for your culinary talents to expand when making a frittata.  Try one on your family today.  They won’t be disappointed by your efforts.

Among the recommendations in the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans is the advice to eat more vegetables.

Though the amount varies from person to person, an adult eating a total of 2,000 calories a day should have about 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day. Children can eat proportionately fewer cups, but they also need to have a good assortment of veggies daily. The Guidelines recommend a mix of dark-green, orange and starchy vegetables, plus legumes (such as cooked dry beans) and other vegetables.

As you harvest summer’s bounty from your garden or the supermarket, keep eggs in mind. Versatile eggs can help you increase your family’s vegetable intake. The complete protein that eggs provide can turn the incomplete protein of vegetables into a main dish. In turn, veggies supply carbohydrates and fiber to make a well-balanced meal. Vegetables, in fact, make good flavoring foods for a number of quick-to-fix egg dishes.

Fried rice is one easy-to-make example. To cook it, simply stir-fry cooked rice with veggies, pour on eggs mixed with a touch of soy sauce and scramble. You can also turn vegetable soup into a hearty entree by poaching eggs in it. It’s quick and easy, too, to cook a frittata, an unfolded, family-sized omelet that makes a handy skillet supper. Just pour seasoned eggs over cooked veggies and let the mixture cook without stirring.

When you introduce new veggies, let the kids help. Children are more likely to try new foods when they’re involved in the cooking process. For the Wagon-Wheel Frittata, young helpers can beat the egg mixture, prod the broccoli florets into place with a fork, arrange the tomato slices and sprinkle on the cheese. Older children and teens often prefer more strongly flavored foods, so let them choose a frittata topping from among several choices, perhaps a spicy pizza sauce, salsa or hot pepper sauce. Whatever they choose, you can rest easy knowing they’re eating their veggies.

Wagon-Wheel Frittata

6 servings

• 1/2 cups (about 6 oz.) fresh
• broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup (about 1.5 oz) sliced
• fresh mushrooms
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil or butter
• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup skim or low-fat milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian
• seasoning, crushed
• 4 very thin tomato slices
• 1/4 cup grated or shredded
• Parmesan cheese

In 10-inch omelet pan or skillet over medium heat, cook broccoli, mushrooms and water, covered, until broccoli is tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain. Remove pan from heat. Add oil. Arrange broccoli florets evenly around pan. Set mushroom slices between broccoli florets.In medium bowl, beat together eggs, milk and seasoning until blended. Pour into pan over broccoli and mushrooms. Cover. Cook over medium-low heat until eggs are almost set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Place 1 tomato slice in center. Cut remaining tomato slices in half. Arrange over top to resemble wagon-wheel spokes. Sprinkle cheese evenly over top. Cover and let stand until eggs are completely set, about 5 minutes. Slide from pan onto serving plate or cut into wedges and serve from pan.

Nutritional information per serving of 1/4 recipe using cooking oil and skim milk: 189 calories, 13 gm total fat, 322 mg cholesterol, 233 mg sodium, 203 mg potassium, 5 gm carbohydrate, 14 gm protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamins A and C, riboflavin, calcium, phosphorus, iron.