Here Comes Another One, Just Like The Other One

A few years ago, after one failed attempt after another, my crew and I decided to stop trying so hard to have fun on New Year's Eve. That first subsequent party consisted of six of us, rotisserie chicken and veggie wraps bought at Safeway, about 6000 cds, playing cards, cigars, and a mixed case of really excellent champagne. We stayed up until dawn blasting the stereo and playing røvhul. No one could remember a better New Year's Eve, hangovers be damned. The bar was set pretty high that night, but subsequent gatherings have always managed to exceed expectations. You can thumb through old posts here and read about last year's soirée and menu. I'm hoping for another memorable fête this year with my east coast fan club. Again, there will be six of us out in posh Southampton (hopefully nobody's checking credentials at the city limits), plenty of "Bolli", and I'm doing all the cooking, ably assisted by Jean 9. It'll be such a fine group that, if we manage not to force the frivolity, it ought to be another banner celebration.

New Year's Eve 2009 Menu

Candied Jalapeño Dip Grilled Prawns with Zesty Lemon-Caper Sauce Ceviche in Lime Cups Chebeague Crab Satchels Bruschetta Alla Romana Martha Stewart's Cranberry Compote with Mascarpone and Cookies*

If I'm not at the market looking for flat-leaf parsley or hothouse tomatoes, I'll be strapped to an apron and away from the computer for the duration. You'll have to read about the aftermath in the coming year.

Until then, the very Happiest of New Year's and a healthy, prosperous Two Thousand Ten.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

*I know... I know.

What, This Old Thing? It's Just Something I Threw On

It ain't all fun and games out here in Blogtown. While tantalizing your eye and whetting your appetite with my photos and prose, a blogger's still gotta eat. Thus tonight's dinner ended up here on You Gonna Finish That? Having plenty of source material for the next few days, I wasn't even looking for a topic, but merely something to stave off the hunger pangs. Being otherwise occupied on my computer, I threw some things into a pot, set it and forget it. I didn't even think to document the process until I tasted my meal. Then I knew I was on to something. Every once in awhile, I surprise even myself.

Sweet Italian Sausage and Farfalle - A Blog O. Food original

1½ lbs sweet Italian sausages, sliced thick ¼ cup olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, chopped ¼ cup pignoli 1½ cups chicken stock 1½ cups dry red wine 1 large can (28 oz) whole, peeled tomatoes 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried oregano 2 bay leaves 2 Tbsp tomato paste 1 lb farfalle pasta

Lightly brown Italian sausage in olive oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed stock pot. Remove pork from pot, and brown onions, garlic and pine nuts. Return sausage to the pot, add chicken stock, red wine, tomatoes and spices, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer slowly for 2 hours or more. If you need to enrich the sauce, add the tomato paste, otherwise, omit. Increase the heat to medium and add the dry pasta to the sauce. Add more chicken stock, if necessary, to just cover the pasta. Stir very gently periodically until the noodles are al dente. Spoon into pretty bowls and top with grated Grana Padano cheese and finely chopped parsley.

Here was a one-pot meal that's all about the sauce. This one was rich and thick and tomato-y. Il mio amico, Matty O. Food, is the king of sauces in my neck of the woods. Just ask him, he'll be the first to tell you. But as I stated earlier, the dish came as much of a surprise to me as anyone. So I guess my sauce skills are madder than I was led to suspect. But don't repeat that outside these doors.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

Thoroughly Mexican? Not So Much.

At some point during any stay with Pops O'Food, usually on one's last morning, you will be treated to the sound of bacon sizzling in a skillet and the smell of biscuits baking in the oven. You are in store for an original: POF's biscuits and gravy. After just one bite, folks cease their search for The Best. They've found them right in my father's kitchen. I stopped ordering them off of menus years ago. The experience was always a major disappointment. As I recall, the last straw was at a Waffle House somewhere in North Carolina. The waitress there plopped something in front of me so disgusting and so obviously NOT biscuits and gravy, that the plate sat untouched. I've never looked back.

Pops has been making perfect B&G since he was a boy. Back then, eggs, potatoes, sausage, ham, bacon, biscuits and gravy from the pan drippings were a staple served every morning. Who knew about cholesterol back then? Would it have mattered? These were poor country folk living off the land with plow and rifle, and a hearty breakfast kept them going until suppertime.

These days, knowing what to expect, I sit back in eager anticipation of the reaction people new to Pop's biscuits and gravy express. The looks on some of their faces are classic. The scales drop from their eyes. They are moved to poetry and singing. I smilingly nod in meaningful agreement.

Buttermilk Biscuits and Pan Gravy - a recipe by Pops O'Food

Biscuits:

2 cups self-rising flour, plus extra for rolling out dough 1 cup buttermilk, plus or minus for stiff batter 2 Tbsp peanut oil

In a large mixing bowl, stir in just enough buttermilk into the flour to form a stiff dough. Sprinkle extra flour onto the dough and on a cutting board or other clean, flat surface and roll out dough to about ½ inch. Using an empty, cleaned large Alaskan salmon can (Pops O'Food is very particular about his cutter), or another round dough cutter, cut out biscuits. Dredge both sides through peanut oil in a cast iron skillet or baking sheet and crowd together. Bake in a 395° pre-heated oven until golden brown, about 18 minutes. (Check the bottom of your biscuits a few minutes early.)

Pan Drippings Gravy:

½ lb bacon or sausage links 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour 1½ cups 2% milk 1 Tbsp sugar

Brown bacon or sausage until crisp and fat is rendered. Remove meat from skillet, reserving grease. Add enough all-purpose flour for a 1:1 ratio of fat to flour and cook over medium-high heat for several minutes. You're looking for a brownish hue to your roux. Pour in milk, add sugar and stir frequently until gravy thickens and small bubbles start to rise from the bottom of the skillet. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Split golden buttermilk biscuits and smother in hot gravy.

This is nothing short of authentic, down home cookin' Grandma used to make. Genuine. Unpretentious. The real deal. This is the kind of food that makes me so appreciative of my roots, especially proud to call Pops O'Food my father.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food