If you have some of the above attributes but are not a geezer nor even approaching pre-geezerhood, thank God for that, press on regardless, and welcome.

I know of only one good kitchen probe thermometer.  It's called a Thermopen and is sold at thermoworks.com.  I've had mine for about nine years. The Thermopen is certified as accurate from -57F to well north of 500F, is superfast and has a near-needle thin probe point with the thermister at its very tip.  That's really important in that the Thermopen does not, like all the rest, poke permanent holes in cakes, puddings or meat.  The bad news is that it's pricey (about $100 with shipping).  The Thermopen  now comes in an array of bright colors as well as the original industrial gray.

Back at home, we thawed out a leg of lamb for four and decided to slow roast it.  The Gourmet Cookbook had a recipe for Gosht Korma that I followed, sorta.  After nearly five hours, it came out OK with a wonderfully caramelized crust, but with the meat on the dry side.  Which reinforces my opinion that the best results for low and slow oven cooking are obtained with a Dutch oven. Covering meat in a roasting pan with a couple sheets of aluminum foil in hopes of keeping it moist doesn't begin to match the tight seal and moisture trapping efficiency of a cast iron Dutch oven.  Next time  . . . 

Eggplant Stack
According to Schneider, the earliest written accounts of eggplant date back 2000 years. The "egg" in eggplant comes from its shape and white color, which was more common in early times.  Schneider adds with regret "...that the one general statement that can be made about all varieties of eggplants is that cooking changes the hues and forms drastically, from a glowing garden of Eden to a compost heap. The brilliance of the uncooked fruit does not translate to the cooked one."

Open field eggplants, in all their colors, shapes and sizes, come to market in late summer. They are far better tasting than greenhouse raised.  The tastes--always subtle--vary from sweet (small white and yellow) to slightly bitter (large deep purple).  They're best baked.  Potential bitterness is minimized by first salting the sliced eggplant and letting it sweat awhile before brushing off the moisture and salt.  I am not sure this is necessary, however.  For sure, it adds salt.

Here is an eggplant stack with onion, tomato sauce and Parmigiano Reggiano.  All manner of seasoning combinations work, as eggplant laps up EVOO and spices with gusto.  Choose Italian, Mexican, fines herbes or herbes de Provence.

Eggplant Stack
Yield:  about 2 stacks per serving 
See Abbreviations, if needed
1-2       large deep purple eggplants
1-2       large red onion
3T        Italian, Mexican or French seasoning, of choice
4T        EVOO
S/P       to taste, but don't over salt the eggplant
2C        tomato sauce, of choice
3/4C     freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1.    Preheat oven to 400F
2.    Slice the eggplant into rounds 3/8 inch thick, leave the skin on for now
3.    Lightly coat each round with salt and set aside to sweat
4.    Slice peeled onions into very thin rounds and set aside
5.    Drain the eggplant and brush or rub off the moisture and salt
6.    Place the eggplant rounds on a greased sheet pan (or Pam sprayed)
7.    Dust generously with seasoning and drizzle generously with EVOO
8.    Place an onion round on top of each eggplant and season with pepper
9.    Bake at 400F for about 22 minutes
10.  Prepare the tomato sauce
11.  Remove sheet pan from oven and let cool, leave the oven on
12.  To assemble and serve:

• Carefully remove the onion from each eggplant round 
• Carefully remove eggplant skins (optional)
• Drizzle tomato sauce over each eggplant round
• Dust generously with the grated cheese
• Replace the onion and add a little more sauce and cheese
• Carefully flip one eggplant/onion array on top of another (onion to onion in the center and eggplant on the bottom and top)
• Add remaining sauce and top with remaining cheese 
• Return sheet pan to oven to reheat the stacks and melt the cheese, about 8 minutes
• Serve immediately on heated plates as a vegetarian entree or with meat or poultry 

  ---

"At last count there were 18 copper pots and pans in our professional home kitchen.  Some new, others dating back to the '60s (Paris).  All three hand hammered stock pots are tin lined and have held up well.  They will never need retining.  So, if cheaper, buy tin lined stock pots.  The 9" tin lined fry pan has been retired after one retining and in need of another.  Two tin lined sauce pots are less used for the same reason.  Over the last 25 years, we have retined three pans, the fry pan and one sauce pot at about $75 each and one huge handled high top for $90.  I will have to the high top tinned again in a year or so since I can't be without it.  So, I agree with another fellow who advised to  "buy stainless, inherit tin." To that end, I have found the Bourgeat stainless lined copper pans to be the best on the planet. Not surprisingly, they're also the most expensive."

This post prompted a contributor to ask how many people I was cooking for?  And that he couldn't imagine needing 18 copper pots in a home kitchen. He thought, maybe, I was a collector.

To this I responded:

"Just as Julia Childs says you can make do with three knives, so too with pots and pans. Or in the workshop, why buy power tools when a hammer, hand saw and brace and bit will do? It's all about the job and tools: Can a whole salmon fillet be sautéed in a 9" frying pan? Sure. It will hang over the sides a bit if not first cut in half to fit the pan. Can it be done better, with less trauma to the filet resulting in a better presentation, if prepared in a 14" oval frying pan designed for the job? Yah! And more fun too. And so on, for flared and straight sided pans, big and small stock pots, evaseés with one handle, casseroles with two. Or maybe a chef wants to present a dish in the pan that it was made in...chicken pot pies in individual copper ramekins, for example. Awesome! Go overboard a little for pleasure and display: sure--that too (see photo)."

This elicited the following response: "GeezerG, that's the most superb answer to that question I've ever heard." 

Modesty prevents me from going on...

Over the past three weeks, TLW made two pots of beans--one in the oven and the second on the stove top.  If your Dutch oven is made of heavy cast iron or enameled cast iron, firing the pot either way will produce the same excellent results.  She prefers using the stove top.  It's faster.  Here's the recipe as it evolved, initially inspired by an ingredients list in a recent issue of Fine Cooking.

Dutch Oven Pinto Beans
Yield:  12-15 
See Abbreviations, if needed

1 lb        pinto beans, soaked in cold water overnight
3T          unsalted butter
1            onion, diced
2            gloves garlic, diced
1T          mild ancho chile powder
1T          medium chipotle chile powder
1T          cumin, ground
1/2t        allspice, ground
8            grinds of peppercorn
1            ham hock or 1C of smoked ham pieces
4C         beef broth
1C         coffee, brewed
1/3C      molasses
1/3C      ketchup
1T         Worchester sauce 
4           dashes of Tennessee Sunshine or other hot sauce--not Tabasco
2T         bourbon

1.  Drain the beans and set aside
2.  In a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onions to transparent and then 
     add the garlic--don't burn
3.  Over low heat, add the spices to the onion mix, stir and sauté to aromatic
4.  Add the beef broth, BTB and then reduce to simmer
5.  Add the ham and the beans and bring the pot to simmer on the stove top and cook, covered, until the 
     beans are bitable but clearly not done, about 45-60 minutes (or about 60-75 minutes in a 
     preheated 300F oven)--but be sure they are cooked to bitable at this step
6.  Remove the pot from the heat, uncover, cut the ham meat off the bone, remove the bone 
     and any ham fat and then gently stir in the coffee, molasses, ketchup, Worchester and hot sauce 
7.  Return the pot to the stove top and simmer, uncovered, until the beans are soft to the bite but 
     still give some resistance, about 45 minutes (or 60+ minutes in the oven) or a little longer--but 
     don't cook them until the beans start to fall apart
8.  About half way through Step 7, taste the sauce and adjust for salt (remember, beef broth and ham 
     are salty)
9.  Add the bourbon and hold at this step, or ...
10. Serve ladled into heated bowls or, with a slotted spoon, onto heated plates with the entrée

With two summer grill dinners on our schedule this month, The Little Woman wanted an appetizer that would do something with the monster mushrooms available at the farmers' market.  Along comes a new box of bacon with a few recipes thrown in.  TLW put these stuffed mushrooms together in a few minutes and the crowd loved them.  She will do it again next week and we'll take a photo.

Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms
Yield:  10 
See Abbreviations, if needed
6          slices of bacon
10        large mushrooms
3oz      cream cheese, ambient
1/4C    shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1t         pureed garlic (not more)

1.  Preheat oven to 350F
2.  Cut each slice of bacon into bite-sized rectangles about 1/2" across (called lardons)
3.  Fry the bacon lardons until medium crisp, scoop them out of the pan and onto paper toweling and set aside
4.  Brush dirt off the mushrooms, remove the stems and clean the "gills" out of each interior
5.  Combine cream cheese, cheddar and garlic and then fold in the bacon lardons
6.  Fill each mushroom cap to overflowing
7.  Bake in the oven, on a sheet pan, for 30 minutes
8.  Let cool a few minutes and serve immediately

Thus was born, the line of graters and zesters called Microplane, made by Grace Manufacturing, a heretofore woodwork tools outfit.  They are made of stainless steel and have pressed-out and honed cutting edges that shave rather than shred.  This new grater has four different edges, is very sharp and comes with a plastic cover to protect the edges.  We found one on sale for $12US, marked down from $31US.  A good tool and a good buy. 
 
 

It's SummertimeSummertime, SummertimeSummertime . . .
It's over 90ºF this afternoon and time for the annual food saftety reminder.
Just three bottom lines and a few numbers:  The first two bottom lines are that bacteria need temperature and time to grow and give off toxins.  So, keep these numbers in mind:

· The “danger zone” wherein bacteria grow rapidly is 40ºF to 140ºF.
· In four hours of accumulated time, in the danger zone, rapid growth of bacteria may occur.

Apply these data to a potato salad scenario for a charity affair and we have the following:
 

Event	Time the mayo is in the Danger Zone
Mayo is taken out of the fridge, mixed with Dijon mustard, diced olives, pickles, onions, lardons of bacon and whatever and set aside.	20 minutes
Potatoes are then peeled, cubed, boiled and set aside to cool.	20 minutes
The eggs are hard boiled and set aside to cool and be sliced.	20 minutes
The potatoes and eggs are added to the mayo.
The salad—all ingredients are now at ambient temperature, say 70ºF—is placed in the fridge to await the trip to the charity event.  It never cools to 40ºF.	60 minutes
The salad is loaded into the car and makes the trip to the charity event where it is placed on the serving table just in time for the buffet—a two-hour affair.	60 minutes
There is a good crowd, but plenty of potato salad for the late arrivals.	120 minutes

Add up the time in the danger zone and we get 5 hours.  The late diners are at risk from the potato salad!

The third bottom line is “cross contamination”—that is, the transfer of harmful microorganisms from one item of food to another by means of surface contact (knives, boards and hands) or storage and thawing in contact with other food items.  The villain here is the live pathogenic salmonella, which is the source of most frequently reported foodborne infections. The heroes are space, soap, water and cooking temperatures.  Prepare and store raw meat separate from other products, wash knives, steels, boards and hands with soap and hot water upon completion and cook meat products to temperatures recommended by the USDA—poultry and ground meats for sure (165ºF).

The first step to prepare Matambre is the hardest, namely to butterfly the flank steak.  The easiest way to do that is to buy a large one and have your butcher cut through the meat horizontally stopping about 1/2 inch from the edge.  It can then be opened and closed like a book--that's the whole idea.

By the way, according to Reichl, "matambre" translates literally to "kill the hunger," here's how:

Matambre
Yield:  4 to 6 
See Abbreviations, if needed

1           large flank steak, trimmed and butterflied
S/P       TT
2           carrots, cut in long strips
5           bacon slices 
1/4C     diced fresh parsley
2           garlic cloves, pureed
2           cloves, well crushed
1t          oregano
pinch    fresh grated nutmeg
1C        Panko or bread crumbs
1/2lb    fresh spinach, washed and stemmed
 

1.  Butterfly the steak, S/P generously and set aside

2.  Cut the carrots into long strips and blanch in salted water for about 4 minutes,
     drain and set aside
3.  Fry the bacon to medium crisp, drain on paper towel, then cut each slice into 
     3/4 inch portions (called lardons), save the bacon fat
4.  In a SSB, mix together bacon, parsley, garlic, cloves, nutmeg and Panko
5.  Add a little of the reserved bacon fat and mix to combine
6.  Open the flank steak and nicely layer one side with spinach
7.  Layer in the carrot strips, lengthwise
8.  Top the spinach and carrots with a layer of the bacon-Panko filler, leaving about
      a one inch margin on the open edge so it all doesn't slop out in Step 9

9.  Beginning at the hinged edge, roll up the steak
10.  Tie it together 

11.  Lightly coat the rolled steak with EVOO and place on a very hot grill
12.  Sear the steak to light brown making nice grill marks all around, about 4 minutes
13.  Adjust grill fire to finish the steak with indirect heat, about 25 minutes
14.  Check with a thermometer to 125F center, when done
15.  Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes
16.  Carefully remove the butcher string without unrolling the steak
17.  Hold the steak together with one hand and cut it with a sharp slicing knife into 1.5 inch thick portions.
Note:  a.  At Step 10, the steak can be held in the fridge overnight
           b.  Matambre can be served at room temperature as a buffet offering

One glance at the photo, however, indicates that I forgot Chef/Owner Laura Bell's Basic Rule of Cookies, viz., always have chocolate chips and nuts at hand to place on top of those cookies that have none on the surface when scooped.  Sage advice from my catering days at  A La Belle Cuisine.  Surely you can see why:  If one person is served a cookie with five chips on top and another--seated adjacent--gets a cookie with none, one side glance leads immediately to all manner of introspective thoughts, i.e.,  "Mom does like him best," or "I think this cute waiter really is interested in me ...," or "That fool doesn't know who paid for this lunch." 

Anyhow, this morning The Little Women was cleaning out the pantry after a series of three dinners the past two weeks.  "Why not make some cookies and get rid of these stray bags of stuff."  The stuff comprised a cup each of old chocolate chips, walnuts from the carrot cake and coconut from the shrimp (see below).  So, using my chocolate chip cookie recipe as the base, we have Pantry Cookies.

Pantry Cookies
Yield:  2 dozen cookies 
See Abbreviations, if needed
2C + 2T      AP flour (bleached preferred)
1/2t             salt
1/2t             baking soda
1/2t             baking powder
12T             butter, melted and cooled to ambient
1C               sugar
1C               light brown sugar
1                  egg
1                  egg yolk
1.5t              vanilla
2/3C            chocolate chips
2/3C            walnuts, chopped
2/3C            coconut, shredded (sweetened OK)

1.  Preheat oven to 325F
2.  Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and set aside
3.  Cream together butter and sugars in a standing mixer
4.  Add egg, yolk and vanilla
5.  Add flour mixture
6.  Slow mixer to its lowest speed and briefly work in chips, walnuts and coconut, in that order
7.  Scoop dough with a #36 scoop (or by hand about 1/2 golf ball size) and place well apart on a greased sheet pan
     or a pan with a silicone pan liner. 
8.  Bake about 18 minutes or until the cookie edges start to turn golden brown
9.  Cool cookies on the sheet pan a while before racking 

NOTE:  These cookies cooled out rather too crisp.  Consulting Corriher,  I'll substitute cake flour for AP flour next time and see if that helps.

Please make couscous as I was taught at school by our Algerian French chef and as described in my basic recipe for Couscous. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

COUSCOUS WITH DICED VEGGIES, OLIVES AND CILANTRO
Yield:  8 servings 
See Abbreviations, if needed
· 10 oz      prepared couscous
· 1 C         plain yogurt
· 1.5 T      RWV
· 1 T         Dijon mustard
· 3 T         EVOO
· 1 C         diced red peppers (or red and yellow)
· 1/2 C      finely diced shallots
· 1/2 C      finely diced carrots
· 1 C         diced calamata olives
· 3/4 C      minced fresh cilantro (or parsley)
· S/P         TT

1.  Prep couscous as per basic recipe and cool
2.  Combine yogurt, RWV and mustard in large stainless steel bowl
3.  Whisk in the EVOO
4.  Add couscous and other ingredients 
5.  Toss to coat
6.  Serve ambient with lamb, pork, chicken or fish

(Photos portray service for two.)

Shabu-Shabu
Yield:  4 servings
See Abbreviations, if needed
For the broth:
·   14oz          (1 can) beef broth
·   28oz         (2 cans) chicken broth
·   1/3 cup       chopped fresh cilantro or parsley 

For the meat: 
·   1 lb           beef tenderloin

For the veggie selection:  (adjust quantities and improvise selection, to taste)
·   1               Asian radish (daikon) or 5-7 regular radish
·   1               fresh, large fat carrot 
·   ½ head     Chinese cabbage 
·   8 stems     baby bok choy
·   12             broccolini or broccoli flowerets
·   3 cups       fresh spinach leaves, stemmed
·   6               spring onions
·   12             fresh asparagus tips
·   1/2 cup     fresh sprouts
·   2               red bell peppers
·   8               mushrooms of choice, sliced
·   1 block      tofu (optional)
·    3oz          Asian noodles or rice, but not both

For the dipping sauces: 
·  Select 3 or 4 prepared sauces, such as Hoisin, Szechwan, Mandarin Orange, Duck, 
    Sweet/Sour or Sweet Teriyaki
·  Mix 8 parts of really good soy sauce with 1 part of sesame oil 
For the meat and veggies: (pre-wash all the veggies)
1.  Trim the beef tenderloin, square up the sides and place it 
      in the freezer to harden and make it easier to slice
     o  Remove the beef from the freezer before it is frozen
     o  With a very sharp knife, cut into very thin slices
     o  Set aside in the refrigerator
2.  Place the broth in the selected pot, toss in some onion spears, cilantro or parsley
     and set aside
3.  Cut the hard veggies on a slant into very thin slices 
4.  Cut a half head of cabbage, quarter it and separate the leaves
5.  Cut and trim the bok choy
6.  Cut broccolini flowerets off stem
7.  Wash, dry and de-stem the spinach leaves 
8.  Cut the spring onions into thin strips about 3 inch long
9.  Cut the bell peppers into very thin rings 
10.  Cut the optional tofu into 1 inch cubes (or whatever you do with that awful stuff)
11.  For the dipping sauces:
      o  Place each sauce in 2 sets of separate dipping dishes or ramekins
      o  If a sauce is too thick, cut it with rice vinegar or white wine vinegar,
          to taste.  Improvise but don't use soy sauce as a thinner since all of these 
          prepared sauces are already very salty
To serve: 
·  Each guest should have a bowl and chopsticks (or tongs) 
·  If serving rice, put some in each bowl
·  Each guest should have access to all the ingredients 
·  Each couple should have a set of dipping sauces 
·  Add to the boiling broth those veggies that take the longest to cook
   o  Everyone add ingredients in small amounts to cook, dip and sample
   o  The beef, spinach and onion shoots, for example, are shabu-shabu items. That is,
       a couple of swishes and they are done
·  When the beef is gone and the veggie selection is diminished:
   o  Add the noodles, if prepared
   o  Bring the broth to boil then turn off the heat
   o  Ladle a portion of the broth, (noodles) and veggies into each bowl for soup
Note:  This can be messy fun:  Shabu-Shubuers who are not proficient with 
           chopsticks, but are determined to learn, should be fitted with bibs.

Just got this book after seeing the authors do a demo on Emeril's show last week.  More to follow . . .