A New Era In Parvovirus Treatment

 I've had an interest in canine parvovirus ever since we got our Libby in 2009. She was born to a Montana hoarder whose "merchandise" was free-breeding, and whose property was riddled with that virus. A serial killer of puppies caught between the waning of maternal antibodies and the maturation of the pup's own immune system, death rates among untreated dogs is 71%, a horrifying figure. (Others cite a number of 91%.)

There's no real treatment for pups infected before they can get a vaccination. Or more accurately, there wasn't until fairly recently, when Kindred Biosciences announced a monoclonal antibody treatment with a claimed 100% efficacy. The drug was approved earlier this year on a "conditional license" by the USDA. It will be interesting to see whether the claimed 100% figure holds up over time, but this is almost unalloyed good news.

Braised Whole Chicken In The Pressure Cooker

This one’s lifted from the website that used to be called Hip Pressure Cooking (now Hip Cooking), but since lost in the rebranding. I also think it needed some adjustment to make it work a little better.

Ingredients: 

• One 3-to-4 lb. whole chicken. I like to keep a couple fryers in the freezer, so this means some lead time; best to defrost overnight, or in water for the impatient.
• 4 fresh rosemary sprigs, though I just used a 1/2 teaspoon of dried.
• 3 fresh sage sprigs; again, 1/2 teaspoon (really, to taste) of dried
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs (the same)
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. (Who are we kidding about this? See below.)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 cup water, beer, or stock, as needed

Rinse the chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. If there are giblets or the neck, you can use them to flavor the braise, so rinse them off, too, and set them aside.

Reserve one rosemary sprig for a garnish (ignore this if you use dried). Pull or snip the leaves from the three remaining sprigs, and also from the sage and thyme sprigs. Chop all the herb leaves. Grate the zest from the lemon, and set the lemon aside. Mix the chopped herbs, lemon zest, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and then rub the mixture all over the outside and inside of the chicken. Alteration: set the mixture aside, because we will next...

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, and add enough vegetable oil to coat the pan. (Alteration: What planet do these people live on that one tablespoon is enough to thoroughly coat a large sauté pan?) Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Alteration: Now add the herb mixture to the outside of the chicken. It will stick better to the bird and you will get more of it in the finished product. In fact, next time I do this, I might double the herb quantities, because it didn’t go very far. I strongly recommend nitrile gloves for this operation, especially right after frying the outside of the bird.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon and strain it into a measuring cup. Add water (or beer or stock) to equal one cup (or the minimum required by your cooker to reach pressure minus 1/4 cup — the chicken will release a lot of juice so the liquid needed to bring this dish to pressure is a little less than usual) and pour into the pressure cooker base. Add the bay leaf to the cooker along with the chicken giblets and neck if using.

If you have a trivet, support the chicken on it. Lower the chicken into the pressure cooker and pour any juices remaining in the sauté pan.

Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes/stovetop or 26-28 minutes/electric (or nonstandard stovetop). Whn the time is up, open the pressure cooker with the Normal Release method.

Lift or slide the chicken out of the cooker and transfer to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil. Optional: for a golden skin, transfer to a baking dish and heat in a broiler for a few minutes right before serving.

Meanwhile, return the pressure cooker base to high heat and boil the contents until reduced to a sauce consistency, about five minutes. Chop the leaves from the remaining rosemary sprig. Pour the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer over the chicken, and sprinkle with the reserved rosemary. (Alteration: I was hungry, so this didn’t happen. But it sounds good.)

Soy-Garlic-Honey Beef Marinade

Adapted from Simply Recipes, but I hate their auto-play website so much I simply refuse to deal with it anymore. I have made this dozens of times, and most recently have changed it to reflect the large quantities I need when smoking beef ribs. It’s probably most important there to cut off any silver skin before marinating, as well as as much surface fat as possible to maximize the amount of meat surface area exposed to the marinade. I like to use the largest semi-disposable plastic containers I can find for the marination vessel; Rubbermaid makes some very nice 4-5 quart ones that work very well for this application. Consequently, I have adjusted upwards the amount needed for this recipe, and rather dramatically increased the amount and kind of vinegar. Here in the South, you can find apple cider vinegar in bulk quantities, as it is a base for many kinds of barbecue sauces. It also works nicely here, as well.

•  1-1/3 c. olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (I always use the garlic press)
• 1 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1 c. honey
• 1-1/3 c. soy sauce
• 2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

In a large steel vessel, combine all ingredients, and mix with an immersion blender. (Or, if you have a capacious enough blender, combine and mix there.) For flank steak, you can just immerse the steak in the marinating vessel. Ribs need to have the silver skin removed and as much surface fat as you can get off without stripping too much meat, then set to marinate. Let the meat sit overnight in the fridge, and cook as you would normally.

Tacos al Pastor For The Instant Pot

Adapted from Steven Raichlen’s recipe at Epicurious for use in the Instant Pot and other pressure cookers. As with so many kinds of marination, surface area is key, and it is a place where I think pressure cooking really does a much better job infusing flavor than conventional cooking.

• 1 large white onion, halved
• 1 pineapple, peeled, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. I ended up using a small can of pineapple rounds. You could also probably get away with canned pineapple bits or crushed pineapple. Note 2019-05-11: I have been buying 14 oz. sized produce section pineapple chunks, of which around 10 oz or so works pretty well. Much more than this tends to invite burning.
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup guajillo chile powder. If this is unavailable, you can make this by stemming and seeding 6 dried guajillo chiles and running them through a spice grinder. I ended up using a much smaller amount — maybe a couple tablespoons — but as the guajillo chile is one of the milder varieties (2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units), it can take a bit to get to heat. More adventurous cooks may wish to save the seeds and reintroduce them prior to adding to the pressure cooker.
• 3 garlic cloves, halved. As ever, I incline to run them through the garlic press first.
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 large or 2 small chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotle chiles in adobo. I substituted a teaspoon of chipotle chile paste.
• 1 2 1/2-to 3-pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2-inch slices. (I used a 4-lb. pork butt cut into 1” slabs, and increased the rest of the ingredients by 50%.)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• For stovetop pressure cooker only: 2 cups of water
• Corn tortillas
• Smoky Two-Chile Salsa. (We did without.)
• Lime wedges

Coarsely dice the onion, reserving half. Take 2-3 pineapple rounds from the can, and chop them roughly. (Or, substitute about 1/3 cup of bits/crushed pineapple.) In a blender, combine half the onion, pineapple, orange juice, water (if using), and the next seven ingredients; puree until smooth.

Pour half the pureed mix into the Instant Pot. Add pork, and then add the remaining puree. Start cooking covered at the zero pressure setting, keeping an eye out for steam. Remove the cover and stir. (This helps to minimize burning.) Re-cover, and cook for 80 minutes at high pressure, or 55 minutes on a stovetop pressure cooker. Quick release pressure, and using tongs, take the meat out and shred it using forks, or Bear Paws. Remove the remaining liquid, run it through a screen (the meticulous will want to also use a chinois), and defat it using a fat separator, returning it to the meat. Mix the other half of the onion and cilantro (optional) and serve with lime wedges.

2020-06-08: Add instructions for minimizing burning.

Red Bean & Andouille Soup

Being mainly cribbed from the Emeril Lagasse recipe with a few modifications of my own to make things work a little easier.

• 6 oz. andouille sausage or ham, diced. I recommend the andouille sausage, which gives the soup its resulting punch (there's very little actual heat in the added cayenne pepper below), but less-heatproof palates may prefer the ham, and I think I may yet try it this way for Helen. I used Schreiner's, from the Sunday farmer's market, and can't be beat.
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil. I used peanut oil, which is my favorite oil for frying, but some people may be allergic; grapeseed or, if you are careful, olive oil should be fine. (The original recipe called for 2 teaspoons, which I find unreasonably small, and in fact I just poured enough in the pan to coat it. One reason that might be so is Schreiner's sausages are exceeding lean, and don't leave much, if any, fat in the pan.)
• One small yellow storage onion, chopped. The original called for 3/4 cup, but that's half a small onion, and I like onions, so there.
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped. I ended up using a sweet red pepper.
• 6 tbsp. chopped celery. I ended up using a small stalk, probably about half again more than the recipe called for.
• 1 bay leaf.
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. minced garlic. (Horrible confession: we ran out, so I had to make do with garlic powder.)
• 3 16-oz cans red beans. I used kidney beans, but azuki beans work for this as well.
• 32 oz. of chicken stock. One reason I wanted to make this recipe is because I had a bunch of stock about to expire.
• 1 cup cooked long-grain rice, as garnish
• 2 tbsp. green onion, as garnish. I omitted both garnishes.
• 1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined. I was originally going to make a gumbo, but the volumes of rice and flour dissuaded me from that path.
• 2 tbsp. butter. I used ghee, which is nearly indestructible as butter goes, and because we have it lying around; but regular butter works fine, too.

In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat, cook the sausage until browned and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

To the fat in the pan, add the oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, bell peppers, bay leaf, salt, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft. (Sorry, browning onions takes about 20 minutes, not 4. Try again, Emeril.) Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the red beans and their juices, cooked sausage, and the chicken stock, stir well to mix, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick and reduced slightly, about 30 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, set the butter in a frying pan on medium-low heat. Once the pan has heated up, fry the shrimp. Remove the soup from the heat, add the shrimp, and discard the bay leaf. (If desired, the soup can be pureed at this point using a hand-held immersion blender, or in batches in a food processor.)

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top each portion with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the cooked rice. Garnish each serving with scallions and serve immediately.

Pressure Cooker Update 2018-01-15: Several matters:

• Dry beans, IMO, are about half the volume of cooked beans, so substitute 3 c. dried beans. Follow directions below.
• Sausage was Aidells Cajun Style Andouille (UPC 764014458058), which is well under Helen's threshold for capsaicin (and barely noticeable on my own palate).
• Red beans are supposed to cook for 25-30 minutes @ 15 psi with natural release per Pressure Cooking Perfection, the dried bean cooking data I have found most consistently useful. I split the time at 2 minutes "presoak" (quick release), followed by 20 minutes (natural release), followed by 10 minutes at pressure for most ingredients (stock, sausage, vegetables, beans, but NOT shrimp).
• The Instant Pot operates at 11 psi, which means the times above should be increased by about 50%.
• 2018-12-15: Make sure to add the shrimp after depressurizing the soup. It will need to cool down anyway, and the shrimp will help with that.
  

Heather's Aztec Chili, In Convenient Recipe Form!

As presented at Raised By Wolves here and here, only this time transcribed into convenient recipe form. I find myself scouring the posts looking for amounts the two times I've made this so far; the recipe format is good for a reason.

• 3 lbs of beans, split between red chili beans and pink (pinto?) beans. Derangement the first: about double this amount of canned beans. Heather thinks this defiles the chili, but if you don't have time to dedicate to the multiple passes of soaking and boiling, this is to me an acceptable option. (I did this for the first batch and it turned out fine. Sue me.) Derangement the second: I have also used Mexican goat's eye beans (ojo de cabra if you inhabit the Mexican markets), and it worked very nicely.
• 3 medium onions
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3-4 tablespoons of peanut oil, or lard (for frying onions & meat -- double this if you substitute bison below)
• 3 lbs beef, bison, or venison roast (I used bison and it's great, but needs more oil because it's so lean)
• 3 lbs ground beef, bison, or venison
• Vegetarian version: for the beef roast and ground beef above, substitute 2 cups textured vegetarian protein
• 2 quarts beef stock or an equivalent amount of Le Goût 095 beef base
• 2 large (14 oz?) cans of tomatoes. I might be convinced to try fresh ones at some point.
• 2 small (6 oz) cans of tomato paste
• 2 oz baker's chocolate (2 squares)
• Optional: 1/2 bottle of red wine or 1-2 bottles of beer
• Chili powder to taste. I like a lot, which means about 8 tbsps.
• Black pepper to taste.
• Cayenne pepper to taste.
• White pepper to taste (I had none and didn't miss it).
• Red pepper flakes to taste.
• Cumin to taste.
• Salt to taste. I like the Himalayan pink stuff or coarse-grained kosher salt, but sea salt works just as well.
• 2 large stock pots (it makes that much and yes you will need them)

What follows is an edited version of her engaging and amusing instructions, which necessarily diverges from them because I have already blasphemed with the canned beans.

If you are using the dried beans:

You rinse the dust off of 'em, pick out any little rocks. (How do the rocks get into the beans? Seriously, how? I never have this problem when I dry beans at home.) Then put them in a great big stockpot and soak overnight in cold water.

Next day, pour out the soaking water, rinse the beans well, and refill the pot. Bring the pot to a boil and then simmer for maybe half an hour. Pour out the boiling water, rinse well again, add fresh water, and bring the beans back to a boil, then simmer.

When the beans are just done -- just about the texture that you want in your finished chili -- discard the second pot of boil water and rinse one last time.

Seriously -- two changes of water, both discarded, you won't regret it, because these beans will taste good and will not give you gas. They will not get any softer after you add the acid ingredients (tomatoes, tomato paste, wine).

When using canned beans, I just dumped 'em in and started warming them up in the stock pots, of which you will need two.

While the beans are cooking, get out your biggest frying pan. Chop up three or four medium storage onions, chop or press about four or five big garlic cloves, and fry them up until the onions are wilted and a little bit brown.

I usually use peanut oil for frying, but this time I used lard. Yeah, lard. Because I serve the chili at parties and to guests a lot, and a fair number of people have peanut allergies. Nobody has a lard allergy. If you are making the veggie version, duh, don't use lard. Also, skip the next bit.

While the onions are frying, cut up about three pounds of beef or venison. This time I used chuck roast. Venison is better, but not everyone will eat it, so this batch is all beef. Cube the meat about the size of a die -- much smaller than for stew. (This is easier if the meat is partly frozen.)

Note that I have used bison with this recipe but it is so dry it requires a lot more oil to fry -- maybe twice as much as in the original recipe.

Put the onions aside. Brown the cubed meat. Put the browned, cubed meat aside with the onions. Brown about three pounds of ground beef or venison.

Why, you ask, do you not brown the onions and all the meat together? Good question. Because I've got some big-ass frying pans, but none big enough to cook all that stuff in one go.

Throw the meat and onions in with the the rinsed, cooked beans. At this point I divide everything in half and start a second stock pot, because leftovers are everything with this chili, and there's no point making a small batch. Two big stockpots full make enough for a couple of dinners plus about five quarts of frozen or canned chili for later. If you don't have two big stockpots, then just use half as much of everything.

Add a quart or two of beef stock, or vegetable stock/miso if making the vegetarian version. Dial the heat back to low, and then add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Allow to simmer, then add chocolate. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Add chili powder, white/black/cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, and cumin.

For the vegetarian version, now add the textured vegetarian protein.

Salt to taste.

Cranberry Cherry Relish

A recipe from Cathy Payne --

• 1 1/2 pounds cranberries (three 8 oz bags)
• 1- 3 cups sugar (to taste)
• 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
• Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
• 1 cup unsweetened dried cherries

Pick through the cranberries, rinse and drain. Combine the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, cranberry juice, and orange zest in a pan. Place over medium heat; boil slowly until the berries pop open, about 10 minutes.

Skim the foam off the surface with a spoon, stir in the cherries and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate. It will last up to one month.

Crock Pot Barbecue Beef Ribs

Beef ribs are notoriously tough, which is why I go first to the crock pot. This recipe is utterly painless and yields delightful, falling-off-the-bone spare ribs.

• 1 quart tomato sauce. I used my own canned, but most people will want to use two 14 oz. cans.
• 1 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 3 tbsp. onion powder
  
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3-4 lbs. beef ribs

Mix all the liquid ingredients, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Scatter the xanthan gum over the surface of the liquid, and, using either a whisk or an immersion blender, slowly blend it in until the sauce starts to consistently gel. Add the bay leaves, and ribs. Set to cook for 6 hours.

Mom's Navy Bean Soup

 

• 1 pound of dried Great Northern beans
• 1 ham hock or 1 center slice ham, diced (save the little bone)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 c. carrots, diced
• 1 c. celery, diced, with leaves
• 1.5-2 quarts chicken broth OR
• 6-8 c. water (If you don't want to use chicken broth.)
• 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes (optional)
• 1 lb. sliced mushrooms (optional)
  
• 3 large cloves of garlic (optional)
• 1 tsp. cumin (optional)
  
• Salt, pepper to taste

Pour the dried beans out and inspect for debris for stones or bad beans. Rinse the beans and put in a large soup pot, covering with water. Bring to boil; turn off heat and let sit for 1 hour. (This is supposed to reduce the beans' flatulence ability.) Pour off the water and pour in the broth, if using, or the 6-8 c. water. Add the onion, celery, garlic, and ham hock or the little bone that comes with the center-cut slice of ham. Turn on heat to med.-high and bring to boil. Turn heat to med.-low and let simmer for 2 hours. Remove ham hock or the little bone. Dice ham hock meat. If using the center-cut slice of ham, saute the meat in a little fat. Set aside. Using an immersion blender or a potato masher, mash some of the beans to thicken the soup. Add the diced ham meat, carrots and tomatoes and simmer until carrots are tender.  Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4 - 5. Best way is to serve with cornbread.

Pressure cooker: Brown the meat beforehand, if desired. Cook beans in stock at 15 lbs. (high) for 35 minutes. Use quick release; add all other ingredients, and cook for an additional 25 minutes.

Note to myself for next time: Try this method of presoaking.

(Sorry, Ma, no cornbread tonight.)

Update 2017-10-22: At Helen's insistence, I cooked up a pound of mushrooms in a couple tablespoons of butter and added it to the mix before hitting it all in the pressure cooker. Noms!

Ann's Tartar Sauce Recipe

Got as a comment from Ann Disnard on Facebook.

• 1 Cup Mayo 
• 1 Cup Mayo½ tsp Dry Parsley (or 3x fresh)
• ½ tsp Horseradish 1 tsp Dijon Mustard½ tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Vinegar
• 1 TBL Sweet Relish
• 1 TBL Minced Onion, Fresh2 Dash Green Tabasco Sauce

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate at least one hour before serving. I use Hellman's mayo, the kind of horseradish you get in the refrigerated section at the grocery, distilled vinegar and I make sure the onion is finely minced.

Marinara Sauce Canning Recipe

Tomorrow, I'm going to take delivery on 50 lbs. of tomatoes, which had me thinking about some of the stuff I've laid up before. I've previously experimented with marinaras, and all of them have been tweaks of recipes found elsewhere. This one is based on the marinara recipe found on page 191 of the encyclopedic Putting Food By, and actually is an expression of how I intend to implement this next time, as I used half the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes as will be listed below. The main change is that I'm reusing previously canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.

• 2 quarts tomato sauce or 1 quart tomato sauce and 2 pints of paste
  
• 2 quarts diced tomatoes
• 2 medium onions, chopped
  
• 2 chopped green peppers (or celery)
• 10 cloves garlic, crushed/minced
• 2 lbs. fresh mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup parsley (I used dried in a much smaller amount)
• 4 tbsp dried oregano
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup salt
• 4 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves (optional)
  
• 2 tbsp basil
  

Heat the oil in a pan big enough to hold the onions, peppers, and mushrooms, and combine those ingredients, sauteing until tender. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, spices, and salt; allow to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the bay leaves. Fill pint jars to a 1" head space, and process at 10 lbs. for 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts. Makes about 10-11 pints, or 5 quarts.

Edit 2014-09-12: doubled spices, onions, tomatoes, tomato sauce and/or paste, and peppers, but not the salt.

Johnathan Levy's short rib recipe

 I had this years ago at the home of my friends Jonathan and Rachael Levy, and it is a fantastic recipe that doesn't require all day in a smoker to get. I have a bit.ly link for it, but thanks to Rachael changing her surname after marriage, Facebook forgot the old link. Here for posterity:

2 pounds is the perfect size rack. Remove the back membrane. In the oven at 325° covered with tinfoil, for one and a half to two hours. Make sure it is a tray as there will be a lot of fat.  Finish on the grill, indirect heat, until crust is formed. Then [baste] with barbecue sauce. Time on the grill is more or less one hour. Keep the grill below 350. NOM NOM!

Tortilla Soup

A work in progress, so expect this to change over time. Adapted from the Fagor pressure cooker cookbook.

• 1/3 cup cooking oil (canola, olive, whatever)
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 15 oz. cans of diced tomatoes (I can my own and use a full quart)
• 2 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce (again, I use a quart of my own)
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 lbs. chicken thighs, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb. grated cheese
• Chopped cilantro
• Tortilla chips
  

Heat oil in the pressure cooker, add onions and garlic cloves. Saute until brown. Extract half the onions and set aside. Add tomato sauce, and, with an immersion blender or in a conventional blender, grind the onions and tomato sauce until pureed. If using a conventional blender, return to the pressure cooker. Add broth, tomatoes, celery, remaining onions, chicken, and salt and pepper.

Heat to boiling, then bring to high pressure (15 lbs.) for 10 minutes. Quick release pressure and serve with tortilla chips covered in cheese and cilantro.

Edit:

I can as chicken soup, 10 lbs. for 60 minutes in pints.

French Onion Soup (Canning Recipe)

Yet another interpolated recipe, between the James Peterson version, this version of the Julia Child classic as reimagined for pressure cooking, and the Bon Appétit version.

• 5 lbs. onions. This works out to about 6-7 medium yellow onions.
• 2 quarts beef stock. Some recipes claim you can use chicken stock, and so, go, them; but I've never tried it, and the beef flavor is for me an integral part of this comfort food.
• Optional: 2 tsp. beef reduction; I use Better Than Bouillon.
  
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. sherry
• Optional: 1/2 c. red wine
  
• Salt, pepper to taste

Slice the onions. Out of sheer self-preservation, I use a Cuisinart; five pounds is a lot! Using a large skillet, wok, or griddle, melt the butter until liquid, and fry up the onions until slightly cooked, about 10-15 minutes. The object is not to brown them, but to infuse butter and reduce volume. This will most likely take several passes, so reserve some butter for each pass. Place the cooked onions in a bowl and set aside. In a large pot, add the beef stock, thyme, sherry, wine, and water, and raise to a simmer. Add the onions back. Add beef reduction (if desired), salt, and pepper to taste.

Can in pints with 1" head space at 10 lbs. for 60 minutes. Makes about 8 pints.

To serve: cover with croutons or bread slices and gruyère cheese. Bake at 375F until brown (5 minutes?).

Beef Stock

• 5 lbs. beef bones
• 2 lbs. stew meat
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, quartered
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4-5 large whole cloves garlic, peeled
• 3-4 bay leaves
• Optional: red wine for deglazing
• Salt, pepper to taste

Roast the bones (and if desired, the stew meat) in the oven at 375F for an hour. Put garlic, bay leaves, carrots, onions, and celery in a stock pot, and add the bones and beef. Optional: deglaze the roasting pan with red wine and add the drippings to the pot. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the bones. Add pepper (but not salt!). Bring to a simmer and allow to cook covered with the lid cracked for no less than 8 hours, 12 preferably. Periodically skim the fat and scum off the top with a spider, small screen, or ladle.

When the stock tastes right, add salt. Many people don't, and I understand that, but I can never get the flavor right without it. Since I don't concentrate it further, this isn't really a problem for me. Run through a chinois screen into another vessel, setting aside the bones and other solid matter. (I save the beef for dogs.) Clean the pot of any residual material and return the stock to the pot after running through a fat separator. Bring to a boil.

Can in quarts at 10 lbs. for 25 minutes.

Mama Hallie's Chili Recipe, Canned

Interpolated a bit for canning, but also beefed up the way I like it.

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 1/2 lbs. stew beef, cut into 1/2" cubes
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 c. dried beans, picked clean
  
• 1 quart (or 2 14 oz. cans) diced tomatoes
• 1 quart tomato sauce
• 1 quart beef stock
  
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried basil
  
• 2/3 c. chili powder to taste
  
• salt, pepper to taste

Bring beans to a boil, and if desired, drain water and start another pot (said to reduce flatulence); cook for 90 minutes to two hours until done. Alternatively, cook in a pressure cooker at 15 lbs. for 35 minutes, using quick release. Drain and set aside. Cook the onion until soft, about 5 minutes, and set aside. Brown beef. Add all ingredients and bring to a simmer. Can in quarts with 1" head space at 10 lbs. for 90 minutes, 75 minutes for pints. Makes about 9-10 pints or 5-ish quarts.

Jessica’s (Not Quite!) Ghetto Pho

Jessica Cargill has for years taunted me with her recipe for “ghetto pho”, so called because of her love for cheap ingredients. A proper pho takes days to make, mostly because of the traditional French approach to making beef stock. This is how we made it yesterday while Jessica was visiting with the winsome, resilient Mr. Rollo.

• 2 quarts beef stock
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 oz. lemongrass paste. You can find this commercially (about half a tube), or if you have access to a good Asian market, you can cut up your own.
• One medium onion, sliced
• 1 lb. rice noodles
• About half a head of cilantro, with leaves stripped from stems
• 1 lb. or one 14 oz. can bean sprouts
• 2 oz. fresh basil, chopped (about a cup finished)
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 2-3 limes, juiced (about 1/4c.)
• 1 lb. beef sliced lengthways in 1”-2” x 1/2” strips . We used a T-bone steak I had in the freezer, which probably came out to a bit more than a pound.
• 1 lb. shrimp. Frozen, shelled, precooked works fine.
• White pepper (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. garam masala
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. star anise

Put the beef and chicken stocks in a stock pot along with the onions, cilantro, basil, lemongrass paste, lime juice, salt, and white and red peppers. Add the beef and shrimp, and allow to cook for about 45 minutes to an hour. While the main soup is cooking, prepare the noodles separately starting around 30 minutes into the process. (Ours took 6 minutes to cook per the directions). Drain and rinse, and add back to the soup. Serves about six.

Big Bird: Roasting The 30+ lb. Turkey

Adapted from the recipe from Coleen Johnson in her Thanksgiving 101 class at Prep Kitchen Essentials. Coming back to it now nearly a decade later, I have found a good many of its instructions wanting, editorial lapses that need repair.

Herbed Salt:

• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
• 3 small bay leaves, coarsely ground
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel (optional; we omit this because of a guest with citrus allergies)

Stuffing (optional):

Quantities here probably should be doubled for a 30-lb. bird.

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1 whole lemon, chopped with peel (again, optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Turkey:

• One turkey. The original recipe calls for a more normal 14-16 lb. turkey, but owing to the size of our parties, we typically get a 30 lb. bird.
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups (or more) Golden Turkey Stock. (I used chicken stock, because that’s what I have on hand.)
• Turkey bag. Note this will not be used for cooking the bird, but storage during the resting period in the refrigerator. You may need two if you use the FDA-approved cold water defrosting method for a frozen turkey.
• 10 oz. salt per gallon of liquid brining solution. I count on 7-8 gallons. A 4-lb. box of Morton’s table salt, or a couple 3.5 lb. boxes of Morton’s kosher salt, will do nicely.

Stuffing:

I might be inclined to double these quantities for a bird about twice the size of the one called for in the recipe. Since we didn’t use it, the original quantities are presented here.

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1 whole lemon, chopped with peel
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Gravy:

• 3 1/2 cups (about) Golden Turkey Stock
• 2/3 cup chopped shallots
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

Herbed salt:

Rub first 6 ingredients in small bowl to crush herbs finely. This works best in a mortar and pestle. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; store at room temperature. Stir in peel before using.

Stuffing:

If using stuffing, mix stuffing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

Turkey:

If defrosting a frozen turkey, see the FDA recommendations for this process; a 30-lb bird should take 7 days to defrost in the refrigerator (24 hours/5 lbs.). The cold water process is faster but requires more watchfulness, AND an extra bag. (I readily concede we cheated here and went with a warm-water bath to speed defrost the bird, a double no-no, because of possible cross-contamination. It worked fine, but it’s a dangerous game. Never again.) As an aside, it is possible — and even FDA-approved — to roast a frozen whole turkey, but it will take 50% longer than normal. Doing so would make the next part of this recipe fail, so I can’t recommend it.

Brine the turkey: I do a very simple brine of 10 oz. (weight) salt per gallon of water. I also use a mess of ice (20 lbs. in a 65-quart cooler, cleaned with a bleach solution) to keep the temperature down, and for food safety. Between the salt and the ice, the solution temperature should barely get above 32F, even for extended periods. I typically leave mine going overnight. Start by adding the ice and five gallons of water to the cooler, and then in a stock pot, add enough salt to 2-3 gallons of water to meet the requirements of the overall mix (so, 70 ounces for 7 gallons of water). (I assume the ice won’t melt, which isn’t quite correct, but most of it will stay solid for the time period we’re talking about.) Warm the mix while stirring until the salt is completely dissolved — it shouldn’t take more than tepid temperatures. Immerse the turkey in the ice water, add the brine solution, and let it sit overnight.

Update 2017-12-26: See Alton Brown’s approach to fixing this problem, which is how I think I was probably doing it before. That is, use cold and warm super-saline water together at about the same ratio I recommended upthread, but without initial ice. Monitor the bird closely thereafter, adding ice should the water temperature drift over 40F. (He suggests using a probe thermometer with an alarm.) The size of the bird is such that it will bring down the water temperature on its own, whereafter you can add ice as needed.

Pre-roasting prep: The next morning, remove the turkey from the brine. Rinse the turkey inside and out (do not pat dry). Pull any fat pads from the main cavity and neck cavity of turkey; wrap, chill, and reserve fat for roasting. Sprinkle inside and out with herbed salt.

Set rack at lowest position in oven and preheat to 425°F. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat very dry. Divide onion mixture between main and neck cavities. Fold neck skin under and secure with skewer. Tuck wing tips under. Tie legs together loosely. Place turkey on rack set in large roasting pan. Spread butter all over turkey. Make slits across the breast and insert tablespoon-sized pats of butter into those slits.

If using stuffing, stuff the turkey.

Place reserved fat pads and reserved neck, heart, and gizzard in pan; pour in 2 cups stock. Tent the whole bird in aluminum foil. Large birds tend to blow the rules away, and this site suggests 11 minutes/lb. for a 425F roast, which more or less aligns with our experience today. Check the turkey’s interior temperature in the thickest part of the breast early (a couple hours, at least) to prevent untoward surprises (and be prepared to re-tent with new aluminum foil each time).

30 minutes before the bird should be done, remove the tent and let it bake under direct heat.

When done, allow to stand 30 minutes before carving.

Stir-Fried Beef With Snow Peas & Red Peppers

Stolen from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook, pp. 143-144. I doubled the recipe given I had unpacked two packages of T-bone steaks (what I had in the freezer, defrosted under water until stiff but not completely melted). Deboned and defatted (mostly on the latter), it amounted to 1 lb. 6 oz, about double what this calls for.

Sauce

• 1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 c. oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp. dry sherry
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch

Beef stir-fry

• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 (12 oz.) flank steak, trimmed and sliced thin across the grain on a slight bias. (As mentioned above, I used t-bone steak, but I expect this recipe can tolerate considerably cheaper cuts.)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced. Highly dependent on size, and I would recommend assuming smaller cloves. Also, whenever someone says “minced”, I just run it through my Rösle press.
• 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger. I had none, and so substituted 1/4 tsp. powdered ginger.
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 12 oz. snap peas (I used whole snow peas)
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4” slices
• 2 tbsp. water
• FOR THE SAUCE: Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
• FOR THE STIR-FRY: Combine soy sauce and sugar in a mediu bowl. Add beef, toss well, and marinate for at least 10 minutes, or up to one hour, stirring once. (I opted for 30 minutes.) Meanwhile, combine garlic, ginger, and 1 tsp. oil in a small bowl.
• Drain beef and discard liquid. Heat 1 tsp. oil ... HA HA HA, however much you need to coat the wok. Heat until oil is smoking. Lay the beef one layer thick, and allow to cook for 1 minute uninterrupted. Stir and cook another 1-2 minutes until browned.
• Add any remaining oil to the wok and heat until just smoking. Add pea and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to brown, 3-5 minutes. Add water and continue to cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, 1-2 minutes longer. Clear center of skillet, add garlic-ginger mixture and cook, mashing mixture into pan, until fragrant, 15-20 seconds. Stir mixture into vegetables. Return beef and any juices to skillet and stir to combine. Whisk sauce to recombine, add to skillet and cook, stirring constantly until thickened, about 30 seconds. Serve.

13-Bean Soup

As with so many things in the kitchen, I find myself interpolating between recipes in order to make better use of the hardware I have. This is a good example of taking one thing from column A and another from column B and merging the two, in this case, the 13-bean soup recipes from Pressure Cooker Perfection (an America's Test Kitchen title) and the recipe from the Bob's Red Mill 13-bean soup label.

• 2 cups 13-bean soup mix. You can buy this in the Bob's package, or Sprouts actually sells a 10-bean bulk mix that's very similar.
• 2 quarts of chicken stock.
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp. minced fresh thyme, or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
  
• 1 pint tomato sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed. Any time a recipe calls for minced garlic, I always press it as it's faster and easier, plus more flavorful (IMO).
• 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage. I use chicken sausage as it's lower fat.
• Enough olive/vegetable oil to cover a frying pan and the base of the pressure cooker (4 tbsp.?)
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 ounces Swiss chard
• Salt and pepper

Measure out two cups of the soup mix, and then pick through for bad beans, stones, and the like. At this point, you may wish to soak overnight, but the received wisdom is that overnight soaking is not necessary. That's especially true with pressure cookers.

Edit 2016-10-29: Use this quick pre-soak method:

• 8 cups water
• 2 tsps. salt
• oil

Rinse the bean mix in a colander and add to the empty pressure cooker. Add the water, salt, and oil; run for two minutes, and do a quick release, periodically stopping the release if foam comes out.

Coat a skillet and your pressure cooker with olive oil, and set both to high heat until the oil smokes a bit. Add the sausage in the skillet, and the chopped carrot and onion in the pressure cooker. Cook the sausage until brown on all sides (about 2 minutes), then set aside. Cook the carrots and onions until soft, about five minutes. Add the garlic and thyme to the pressure cooker, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth, tomato sauce, bay leaves, and sausage to the pressure cooker, adding any residual juices from the sausage.

Lock the pressure cooker lid and set on high for 70 minutes (1:10). Quick release pressure. Extract the bay leaves and discard. Remove the sausages and cut in 1/2" thick slices, and return to the soup. Add the chard, and cook an additional five minutes, until the chard is tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For non-pressure cookers:

For cooking at atmospheric, the cooking time is 2:30 (two and a half hours).

Flu-Buster Soup

Given to Helen from a friend at the Copper Well spa, and something I’m gonna try making tonight or tomorrow.

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 stalk of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
• 1 zucchini, peeled and chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon, 2-4 tablespoons
• 2 cups of vegetable stock
• 1/2-1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste.

I used an instant pot but you can do it on the stove too. (Multiply times by about two for cooking at atmospheric.)

Saute garlic, onions, and ginger in olive oil until onions are translucent.

Add the rest of the ingredients and pressure cook for 40 minutes.

Use immersion blender to blend or cool and use blender. Return to pot and heat through.

Optional things to serve with is sour cream, Greek yogurt, or coconut cream. Crispy bacon or crisped tofu are great too.

I’ll probably dial back or eliminate the cayenne because Helen can tolerate very little nowadays.

Recipe Blogging: Black Bean Chili For The Instant Pot

Facebook has decided to annihilate their Notes feature, the one place on that site where you could post formatted text. (They pulled the plug on new notes some time last year, while retaining anything you had previously written.) Forthwith, I will start posting some recipes here that I previously published there, in instances where I had somehow retained a link (as by bit.ly):