The Cut: Pancetta

Pancetta is to Italians what bacon is to Americans. If you speak to most of us Americans, you know that pancetta must be pretty much the greatest thing ever invented over there! Made of pork belly that is salt cured and spiced with black pepper, pancetta is used in one way or another throughout all of Italy.  I particularly like to use pancetta with eggs for breakfast or with sauteed vegetables to give another dimension of flavor. Eataly here in New York also has a great pancetta panini, which features thin slices of pancetta topped with vinegar-marinated vegetables. 

Retrieved from http://www.fossilfarms.com/images/pic-diagram-bellota-pork.jpg

You might be wondering what is the difference between bacon and pancetta? They both come from the pork belly,  but are prepared rather differently. Preparation is the main reason for why the two do not taste the same. Bacon is brined and then smoked. Pancetta is seasoned, rolled tightly, and then cured. The nice thing about pancetta for me is that is has a completely different flavor profile compared to bacon, and because it is not as smokey, I can use pancetta in a wider variety of recipes.

Most of the time when cooking with pancetta I go to the local deli counter and ask for it unsliced. Once I begin cooking, I cut the pork into tiny pieces and brown in a pan before adding eggs or onion or Brussels sprouts or red wine. While pancetta costs more than bacon, it certainly gives you more flexibility in the kitchen and allows you to experiment more than using smokey thick cut bacon which forces its flavor on most foods.

The Review: Consider the Fork

Retrieved from http://www.considerthefork.com/

Review



My cousin gave me this book for Christmas and I have been reading it on my commute for the past several weeks. I really enjoy it, although I can see how it is not a book for everyone. Consider the Fork is an amazingly in-depth history of the evolution of domestic cooking. From 15,000 B.C. to today, Bee Wilson provides the reader with intriguing facts and stories about how some of the most common technologies (pots, knives, cutlery, and more) in our kitchens have evolved over time. 

How much carbon is in a stainless steel knife? 0.75% is optimal.  Why is the spork so great? It's not, for many reasons. Ever wonder about the importance of cooking pots?  They allowed previously inedible foods to be cooked in water. It is that type of information that makes Consider the Fork such a dense encyclopedia of cooking facts. I love to learn about food and cooking, so this book was perfect for me, but I can certainly understand how the percentage of carbon in your 6" Santoku knife isn't everyone's cup of tea!

• Jump around from chapter to chapter and read about what you're interested in
• Expect dense chapters that go into great historical detail 

Consider the Fork

Paperback Edition from Barnes & Noble

From the New York Times:

"Only when you find yourself rattling off statistics at the dinner table will you realize how much information you’ve effortlessly absorbed."

"Wilson’s insouciant scholarship and companionable voice convince you she would be great fun to spend time with in the kitchen."

The Recipe: Mashed Turnips

I can't remember when it was exactly, but it was not more than a few years ago that I actually ate a turnip. It sounds weird, and writing it now, it looks weird on the screen. Looking back, however, I cannot even envisage a scenario in which I would have eaten turnips. Thanksgiving? Nope. Christmas? Nope. Roast beef? Never. We ate potatoes as our root vegetable, and I never really thought much about it, until I met my wife.

She loves turnips and growing up she ate them on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and with a roast beef. Once I tried them, I loved turnips too. Their flavor is unique, somewhere between a radish and a potato, and they are healthier than potatoes by a long shot - 35 calories for one of average size. Now I love potatoes, I really do, but the taste of turnips really brings an extra dimension to any dish which is why I love this recipe for mashed turnips. The potatoes bring starchiness and the turnips bring flavor.

Retrieved from http://cdn.blogs.sheknows.com/gardening.sheknows.com/2011/01/turnips.jpg 

Turnips are a root vegetable which has been consumed by humans for thousands of years. As Wikipedia so sagely describes, Pliny the Elder considered the turnip one of the most important vegetables of his day. In Hellenistic and Roman times, turnips were used to feed livestock as well as people. 

The turnip is now enjoyed by people all over the world, mostly in the autumn and winter months. It is incredibly nutritious and a healthy alternative to the potato. In addition, the leaves can also be used. Turnips can be roasted and baked, traditionally those are the most popular methods of cooking here in the US, but I truly love this recipe for mashed turnips. 

Recipe

   

· 3 white turnips

· 2 Yukon gold potatoes

· 2 cloves of garlic

· 1 cup shallot, red onion, and spring onion (¼, ¼, ½)

· 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

· 1 tablespoon salted butter

· ¼ cup whole milk

 

NOTE: This mashed turnips recipe is an amalgamation of numerous recipes I have prepared over the years.The primary inspirations are: Food & Wine's and Bon Appetit's recipes. I prefer more onion flavor than most recipes, and the recipe below reflects that preference.

1 Dice garlic, shallots, red onion, and spring onion. Set aside.

2 Peel turnips and potatoes then cut into 1" and 1/2" cubes respectively. Add to large pot of boiling water and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.

3 Add milk and butter (both at room temperature) to pot and mash potatoes and turnips well while still leaving some lumps. Stir in garlic, shallots, red onion, spring onion, and olive oil thoroughly.

4 Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

The New Year: A Healthy Start

Happy New Year! A crazy end to 2013 left me unable to add new posts, but one of my resolutions for 2014 is to add content to this blog more regularly.

Blog writing is not exactly a widely shared New Year's resolution, but eating more healthy/dieting is always at the top year-on-year. I have seen a lot of different articles over the past month which outline the best ways to start off 2014 from an eating perspective, and my favorite concept is also one of the simplest.

Mark Bittman's New York Times column last week discussed many sustainable food resolutions, but I especially liked the one which involved making the foundation of your weekly meals on Sunday. I believe it is a great way to enforce healthy food habits throughout the hectic work week. I have decided to adopt this resolution myself for the coming year. 

I will be cooking vegetables, leafy greens, beans, and grains on Sundays to use throughout the week in soups, salads, or healthy "bento box" lunches. This will not only save me money throughout the week, but also help me avoid making bad food choices at the office. 

Read the relevant excerpts from Mark Bittman's column below:

"Cook simple, unseasoned vegetables every few days. You can steam or parboil or microwave. Once cooked, vegetables keep a long time. And then they’re sitting there waiting to top pastas and grains, to bolster soups and salads, to whip up veggie wraps or just to reheat in oil or butter with seasonings."

"Cook big batches of grains and beans. Because it’s nearly effortless, and having cooked grains and beans on hand at all times makes day-to-day cooking a breeze. They will keep in the fridge up to a week."

If you too want to adopt this as a resolution in 2014, try out some of the recipes below:
Beans

• Humble Home-Cooked Beans
• Best Black Beans Ever
• Slow-Cooked Green and Yellow Beans

Greens

• Braised Greens
• Swiss Chard with Sweet Garlic

Grains

• Six Great Grain Recipes
• Warm Farro with Winter Vegetables

Vegetables

• Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
• Roasted Carrots