Kitchen Emergency

This is the time of year to whip out recipes passed down from your grandparents’ grandparents. Whatever your culture, food is deeply connected to your roots. Before you even begin prepping the ingredients, the thought of the cookies or bread in the oven can be an overwhelming reminder of all of the things that knit us together with these other humans through the centuries. 

Cooking, like writing, is a necessary art. It’s creative, expressive and primal, speaking to us through the ages. The cave drawings and tablet etchings of our ancestors are now the 3x5 index cards in a small recipe box, and hopefully captured someplace digitally for safekeeping. The inner strands of your genetic make-up echo with memories, like plucking a harp string, when confronted with the smells and sounds of the kitchen humming with activity during the holidays. You are home. 

In the coming week, I’ll be making gluten-free variations of the following. These are the best cookies my mother makes over the holidays. Forget sugar cookies, these are my home! (Note: the variations below appeal to me, and while I have to avoid wheat, the need for a little reminder of the holidays lingers in my weather-beaten soul. For those of you without a wheat or gluten sensitivity, go for it! Wheat-free versions will be coming!)

Russian Tea Cakes (food.com)

Rugelach (Lottie and Doof)

Toll House Cookies (Serious Eats, a riff on a recipe from The Sugar Cube)

Photosynthesis: Doug Coulson, photographer

Where We Come From

Cuisine is beyond the need for survival, it is the need to connect with others. Learning to cook is not simply a means to feed your body. It is the opening of a pathway that leads simultaneously to independence and a deeper appreciation for the people in your life. You need both. Creating something from scratch puts you in a position to have an authoritative stance in the kitchen. If done kindly, this can lead to discussion, experimentation and a deeper understanding between people, helping bridge cultural distances through commonalities. At it’s core, when you cook, you are feeding your entire self and all of your senses, not just your cells, and that is a universal bond.

Where We Need to Go 

We live in a time when food is abundant, and yet others still go hungry. There are many proposed solutions for this, and the debate rages on about the best approach. But for now, head back to when you were young. Many of you reading this will have similar experiences. Remember a moment from your childhood in the kitchen when your grandmother handed you a cookie, or a mug of cocoa or hot chicken soup. She would never let you go hungry. 

At our core, most of us would never let another human go hungry when he or she is right in front of us. Thinking about hunger may not be an immediate worry for many living in the first world, but it is a real and terrifying experience for those living in poverty around the globe.

When you are baking for loved ones, and thinking about your holiday dinners and parties, reminiscing about the times when your family spent snowy days making festive holiday recipes, also remember that when you were little, someone else looked out for you. We have a responsibility to look after children, but we also have a responsibility to look after each other. 

A few possible ways to help over the holidays

Across the world there are calls to action to help others take a foothold. Choosing to help a family with meals, or learn how to farm are wonderful ways to support both immediate and long-term needs. These are organizations that are doing incredible work to bring the issues of hunger to light, while creating immediate solutions.

Feeding America

No Kid Hungry/Share Our Strength

Heifer International

And even though many of us look forward to the holidays, for some, this time of year can be very painful. When life becomes too hard to bear, there are organizations ready to help, and they need our help as well. You can find information on services as well as contribute to make sure the services are always around.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

The National Alliance on Mental Illness

Suicide Prevention Lifeline

If this was your first year to host Thanksgiving, or your first time learning how to roast a turkey, I feel a kinship with you. The last post, Perfecting a Roast Chicken, was to document a kind of prelude for roasting it's larger barnyard companion. It's not exactly a 1 to 1 ratio of time and temperature, but the concepts are similar. 

Learn From Your Mistakes

In the intervening weeks, I'd wrecked one of the practice chickens. One Sunday evening, the little guy got rinsed, dried, salted, and placed in a deep container, uncovered in the bottom of my refrigerator (the coldest part). It was scheduled to be roasted Monday evening. This was supposed to be a 24 hour experiment. Each prior bird increased in time from 4 hours to 12 to around 18. 

Alongside this longer experiment, a different kind of emergency arose. Monday morning after a quick phone call from my dad, I jumped in the car, and drove 2 hours, and I was gone until late in the evening. Tired both physically and emotionally, I came home and went to bed. Then Tuesday, the call came that surgery was needed. Another 4 hour round trip, 4 more hours at the hospital, and the assurance that at least for the next 24 hours, things would be ok, I went home. Lest this overview sound cold and detached, this has been a recurring issue for the past year, and has become a bit of a practiced routine, though never, ever easy. 

As an aside, part of the reason for showing how to reclaim some authority over the kitchen, the pantry, and basic cooking techniques is provide a sense of wisdom in listening to your body, especially as it ages. The most important tools you have to stay healthy are your willingness to experiment and to move. Being active isn't just about running a marathon. It's about being present, involved and thoughtful about your health, which is the most valuable thing you will ever possess. Anyone who has experienced disease directly or indirectly can attest to its value, especially once it is gone.

Back in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator now 48 hours later, the little fowl was turning into jerky before my eyes, so, even though it was late, and I wasn't remotely attentive, it went into the oven.

The result was a rather salty, nicely crispy, not horrid, but not perfect experiment. It wasn't a loss. I used the wings and legs in a bone stock, and it diffused the salt. (Combined with 2 lbs of roasted chicken wings, mirepoix, apple cider vinegar and a couple of gallons of water, it made the best bone broth, but that's another post.)

However, the best part of this experiment was the valuable lesson that more is not necessarily better. Instinctively, we know this when things get burned, but when prepping food, similar principles apply. Simply prepared is best. This has been my mantra for a long time, but this experiment solidified that way of thinking.

Results

The reason for experimenting over the last few months was to learn a new technique, but also to give my family an incredible Thanksgiving, and it is not practical to practice roasting turkeys with actual turkeys. 

Bronzed, crispy skin, flawless white meat, and while the lower joints needed another 10 minutes to finish, research, practice and being prepared was invaluable. The turkey turned out beautifully.

Learning to keep a light hand with dry brining is a great lesson. One of the recipes suggested 3 days in a dry brine with the last 8 hours uncovered in the refrigerator, that's 72 hours!! That seemed too long for all steps, especially with the recent practice run. A judicious 36 hour brine was enough.

The Dry Brine

For a dry brine, the ingredients that would typically get dissolved in water simply get gently massaged directly onto the skin, and left for a set amount of time. Salt, sugar, herbs, lemon zest, 1 clove of garlic.

1 cup of salt

3/4 cup of cane sugar

1 tablespoon of ground or a handful of dried whole sage

1 teaspoon of rosemary or the whole equivalent

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

fresh zest of 1 lemon

peeled garlic clove

Pulse everything together in a spice grinder or small food processor to chop up large herbs, and get the oils from the zest dispersed a bit more through the salt and sugar. 

In small amounts, massage gently all over the bird, starting with the back, turning on the sides to evenly get the surface all over, finishing with the breast side up. The herbs and lemon may smell a bit bitter at first. As it starts to infuse the turkey, the balance of the richness of the turkey skin and the herbs, aromatics and salt will blend beautifully. 

Basic Turkey Anatomy or The neck, Generally, is on Top of the Bird...

Here is the point where I should mention, the extra bits of the turkey. They are shoved unceremoniously into various caverns, and can be a bit of a surprise. When pulling the neck out of the bottom of the creature, you may wonder how it offended the farmer to have ended up in this undignified condition. A plastic bag filled with the giblets is shoved in the neck cavity. Up is down, black is white, the turkey, who is sacrificed with the intention of appearing at the center of the altar (dining room table), is hazed even after death. Pulling that pink shaft out of the underside of the plucked fellow is rather rude!

Trying to find bags large enough to cope with the beast was also a challenge. Being flexible and creative helps. A few months ago I bought a box of space bags in various sizes. Several were unused and worked surprisingly well for keeping the turkey contained and the refrigerator unsullied. I'm certain there are bags large enough to help with this, but as it was my first year, it wasn't something that was top of mind. 

Planning the Day

Choosing a roasting pan, figuring out how to transport the beast, what to do with the extras, and timing all of the side dishes were the remaining challenges, not to mention the fear that the turkey might not cook properly. The first time is pretty unnerving! A wide and shallow roasting pan was the only option I had, and leaving it to chance that there would be one large enough at the destination wasn't worth the risk. That said, next year, a proper deep roasting pan with an insert will be a wise investment. 

Do I take it raw and on ice and roast it there, or pre-roast and double bag it with the seat warmer on to keep it warm, with the possibility of leakage in the car and no temperature control. Cooking it on location was the best scenario, but that meant packing EVERYTHING and leaving very early in the day to get set up. I admire chefs who travel with entire meals prepped, packaged and lined up ready to go so that they are ready to cook once they arrive. 

The extra bits, the neck and the giblets, traveled with me on ice...to several locations. I finally threw them away Friday morning after deciding I'd challenged myself enough. 

Most of the side dishes don't need to be screaming hot from the oven. Some are happy to sit while you finish the gravy. This is where a warming tray would come in handy...so if you have one, its a great time to use it. Otherwise, Alton Brown once used a heating pad to gently melt chocolate, and it dawned on my that its not a terrible way to keep the potatoes warm while the stuffing crisps or the green bean casserole warms through. 

End Note

The first time cooking anything is a great learning experience. It rarely goes off as hoped or planned, as there are variables you can not control. However, you can prepare yourself by learning techniques and practicing. 

As the holiday season gets into full swing, remember that all of the efforts you make in preparing food for people you love are some of the most valuable moments you will have in the kitchen. Share what you can with those willing to help, and get lots of tasters! 

Happy December! Go into the holidays confident in your willingness to bring others joy. 

As convenient as picking up a cooked chicken at the store may be, few stores offer organic, pasture-raised roast chicken that's affordable, and if you are looking after your health, there are more reasons to choose these kinds of birds for meals. 

Without getting into the messy details of industrially raised chickens, raising healthy chickens outside where they can hunt and peck for their food delivers a better tasting roast (or stock, or soup, or chili) than their mass-produced counterparts. The healthier the chicken, the better for you.

Soapbox

For information on the effects of industrially raised livestock and poultry on our health and the environment, you can read studies and research being conducted by the Environmental Working Group (The Most Environmentally Harmful Thing You Can Eat), The Sustainable Table, and a host of other sources including articles in the New York Times (The Myth of Sustainable Meat), and Frontline on PBS (Industrial Meat).

Choosing to eat meat or not in this day and age is almost a political statement, but as we are told to reduce the amount of meat we consume, it's important to choose higher quality options. That can be hard for many, as access to high-quality organic, pasture-raised chicken or grass-fed beef is often limited. Setting aside the cost, which can be out of reach for many, organic supplies are often limited to large cities on the coastlines. In the middle of the country, it's worth it to get to know farmers in your area. Those who raise their chickens organically may not have "organic certification," but if you trust the farming practices, you can get delicious and healthy meat for much less. In cities where it isn't practical for many to wander off into the wilderness to forage for berries, its in our interest to make better food available to poorer neighborhoods. Despite better access in cities, in poor neighborhoods, often the absence of healthier choices, and limited cooking knowledge pushes the most at risk communities into even poorer health, and in the end, we all end up paying more for healthcare for lifestyle diseases like diabetes and autoimmune disorders to support those who cannot afford it. 

End soapbox.

ROAST CHICKEN 101

If you are new to roasting chicken at home, or find it daunting, here are some tips to make it easy to master timing, crispiness and your own seasoning. 

You Can Plan and Prep Ahead

Salt the whole bird, or if broken down, parts, and leave uncovered in the refrigerator for as little as 4 hours or up to 2 days. If the chicken is broken down into pieces, plan for no more than a day. 

Salted and refrigerated for about 6 hours. Note the closeness of the skin around the chicken. Drawing out the moisture will tighten the skin of the chicken. Don't do this to your face. 

SALT: You can grab a handful of salt and from a fairly high point (1-2 feet above) sprinkle all over the bird. The reason for the height is that salt scatters better when the source is higher up. The shorter the distance, some areas will have higher concentrations of salt. The more evenly distributed the better. Note, you are not making a crust on the skin. Think flurries of snow versus a blizzard. 

REFRIGERATE: Leaving the bird uncovered does a couple of things. The salt helps to draw water out of the skin, which will help to make the skin crispy, and leaving it uncovered will help to evaporate some of that moisture. 

Note: If you are squeamish about cross-contamination with things in your refrigerator that you may be eating raw, put those things in a container that can be sealed. At this point, it may be helpful to remind you that its important to clean out your refrigerator once a month. And by clean, I mean, start to train yourself and your family to consume nearly everything out of the refrigerator by the end of the month, knowing that cleaning day is coming, so that you can clean the surfaces without worrying about things going bad. Most things that get refrigerated last a couple of weeks in there. If they aren't consumed within that timeframe consider why you are buying them and if you can buy smaller amounts. Yogurt is a classic purchase that gets hidden and forgotten about, especially if you buy in bulk. 

SEASON: When ready to cook, pat dry with a paper towel and bring to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Pat dry again, and rub with olive oil. 

Seasoning is up to you, but the fewer liquids, the better. Grated lemon zest and a few grinds of pepper are a great start. Dry herbs work well. No need to salt, as you've already done that. Nothing goes into the cavity, except sage and/or thyme. Anything substantial that you put in there will steam the oven, and defeat your crisping adventure. This will not dry out your beast. The cooking technique takes care of that. 

High Heat, No Heat

The easiest way to roast a chicken is in a cast iron skillet at a very high temperature for approximately 30 minutes, and then turn the oven off and leave it in there for another 30 minutes, effectively searing the outside and gently roasting the inside as the oven begins to lose heat. Choose a bird between 3-4 pounds and this will work fine. If the chicken is over 4 lbs, increase the time by 5 minutes per half pound on either end. For example, 4.5 lbs, roast at 425 for 35 minutes and leave in the oven for an additional 35 minutes. 

Heat the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit. When it's ready, (about 10 minutes for ovens without warning chimes) put the cast iron skillet in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. You can do this while you are prepping your chicken. (Note: This may seem obvious, but make sure you put the skillet on a rack far enough down from the top of the oven so that the bird fits in there with it when you put them together. Rearranging racks as you are about to shut the door is cumbersome.)

The pan is oiled and ready to go in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, your pan should be screaming hot. Open the oven, using a thick pot holder, pull the rack out just enough to make sure the pan is stable, and that you can fit the chicken in without scorching yourself.

The pan is slightly smoking. It's ready for the chicken.

(I use nitrile gloves to handle the chicken all the way through the process, from salting to olive oil to putting it in the oven, obviously changing them along the way. They allow you to get a firmer grasp on the chicken without feeling like it's going to slide out of your hands.)

Nitrile gloves work really well in the kitchen, from handling raw meat to chopping hot peppers. If you imagine Johnny Depp in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", I'm really sorry.

Place the chicken breast side up, as the skin is going to be able to get crispy. (Roasting wisdom of many chefs tells you to put the chicken in breast side down, because the time it takes to finish the legs versus the breast is off by several minutes, and during consistent heat, that's a problem. Here, because of the initial sear in the oven and the almost steady decrease in temperature over 30-40 minutes, the chicken cooks perfectly.) Close the door and turn the oven down to 425 degrees.

After 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees (remember, this all depends on the weight of the chicken), turn the oven off and don't open the door. Keeping the heat sealed in is a critical step to making sure the chicken is completely cooked. For the chicken breasts roasted in the picture, 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. 

And the final product after 40 total minutes in the oven is beautiful. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes before serving. 

It's perfectly cooked, and incredibly delicious. 

Now, the extent of this post will make it seem overcomplicated. But it's very simple.

Salt, chill, wait. Pat dry, season, high heat, no heat, rest.

Red Kuri Pumpkin Custard

Ingredients

Approx 2 cups of Red Kuri Pumpkin, roasted, cooled and pureed (1 small sugar pumpkin or Red Kuri Pumpkin, cut in half, seeded, roasted approx. 45 minutes to an hour at 375, wrapped in foil.)

8 large egg yolks or 6 jumbo egg yolks (save the whites for a soufflé or frittata)

2 cups of whipping cream

½ cup of turbinado sugar + 1 Tbsp

1 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice + ¼ of additional cinnamon (Alternatively, 1 tsp of cinnamon, ¼ each of nutmeg and ginger.)

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

½ tsp of coarse Kosher salt or ¼ of sea salt

Equipment

Electric mixer or wire wisk

Blender

Double boiler or saucepan and heat safe bowl (preferably glass)

Wooden spoon

Baking or soufflé dish

1.) In a machine or by hand, combine pumpkin puree, egg yolks, whipping cream with the half cup turbinado sugar, spices, vanilla extract and salt. If necessary, blend the mixture in small batches in a blender for smooth consistency.

2.) Bring about two inches of water to boil in a double boiler or saucepan fitted with a bowl. Reduce to a rolling simmer. Add the custard to the bowl or use the bowl it was mixed in (as long as it’s heat safe) and stir the custard continuously until thick enough to coat a spoon. This will take some time and should not be rushed.

3.) Pour the thickened custard into a baking our soufflé dish and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit about thirty to forty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the custard’s center comes out clean.

4.) Sprinkle the remaining tbsp. of sugar on top of the custard and place under the broiler for a few minutes. Watch very carefully. When it just begins to caramelize, take it out. Do not let it burn.

When summer’s bounty collides with summer’s intense heat, shopping/harvesting, chopping, cooking, and cleaning up the inevitable disaster is as appealing as a Brazilian wax. However, on a day when you can stand for about half an hour without passing out from the extreme heat, try making a delicious French peasant dish that inspired a cartoon.

Ratatouille is a personal experience. The size of the dice of the ingredients, the herbs, the type of tomatoes, learning how to choose and prepare the eggplant, how long you cook it. Yes, there are classic versions of this. There are modern versions of this. You can construct and deconstruct a recipe until you are blue in the face.

The results of my own desire to find a happy balance between a classic and personalized dish are the tips and recipe that follow.

Thinking it through

The simplest approach requires eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions and tomatoes. And yet, choosing the ingredients takes some forethought and understanding.

Eggplant

Eggplants are an intimidating fruit. Yes, fruit. Most of the primary ingredients in ratatouille are fruits.

If you under cook eggplant, the flavor is only less appealing than the texture. If you choose one with bitter, hard seeds, you can get surprises in every mouthful. The skin can be tough. And thus begins the wary look of “why bother?!? I'll just make some vegetable soup with other less cruel vegetables."

The eggplant has a gambling “tell.” At the bottom, where the flower detaches itself from the fruit you have the plant’s equivalent to lifting it’s hind legs. In an appropriately rude manner, the shape of the indentation tells you two things, if it’s male or female, and if the seeds are palatable or bitter.

The male fruit has a round indentation. The female has a slightly irregular line. The seeds in the female are designed to ward off predators, they are hard, bitter and don’t cook well. When you have the option, always choose the males.

Zucchini

The green, straight Italian squash grows aggressively all summer long. One day too long on the vine can turn a perfectly delectable squash into an inedible disappointment.

The smaller they are, the smaller and more delicate the seeds. As they grow larger, the seeds toughen, and the flesh becomes more dense. I once roasted these, attempted to eat a few bites and realized the only possible use for the flesh could be a soup thickener, otherwise, pretty tasteless. (That’s another experiment!)

Peppers

If you like hot, spicy food, mix up your peppers. Sweet, bitter and hot can bring a lot of depth to your stew. Just remember, you already are contending with the seeds from the eggplant, be thorough when you are seeding and chopping your peppers. If you like the seeds, fine, but the reality is you want to enhance the flavor, not blow the roof off.

Onions

This is my favorite time of year for onions. At the open market, there are lovely sweet white onions that practically dissolve into soups and sautes. Vidalia onions are nice in this too. You can mix in a few types, yellow, white, sweet. I tend to avoid red onions as they are very strong, but again, this is about personalizing.

Tomatoes

We wait all year for summer tomatoes. There is nothing like pulling a beefsteak tomato off of the vine and cutting it open within moments, sprinkling the tiniest amount of salt on it and just devouring it. Why on earth would you commit these jewels to a stew? Actually, I wouldn’t.

At this point in the year, you can stock up on Roma tomatoes, especially at the farmer’s markets and save your beefsteaks or heirlooms for your salads and sandwiches. However, don’t rely on canned tomatoes for this until you absolutely have to. Fresh is better as long as you can have it.

Prep

This is a brilliant recipe to experiment with. The amounts of each vegetable don’t have to be precise, and they won’t be while you are figuring out your own style.

(NOTE: Occasionally, I’ll oven roast the tomatoes with some olive oil in advance of starting prep for the rest of the ingredients to concentrate the flavor. One of the options with this recipe is to pre-roast all of the vegetables in olive oil and finish them on the stove with a bit of vegetable or chicken stock.)

Half an hour before you start to cook

On a cookie sheet, layer some paper towels for the eggplant. If you’ve selected male eggplants, you have a fairly easy task in front of you. Cut the eggplant into 1 inch thick (or less) rounds. Lay them on the towel-covered tray and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Wait 15 minutes, rinse, flip and repeat. The salt extracts a bit of water, and you will notice the water beading up around the seeds. The salt also helps to balance out any bitterness with the seeds.

(NOTE: If your eggplant isn’t mottled with seeds, you can reduce the time or skip this step. I’ve noticed that the fewer the seeds, the less this process is needed.)

With the female eggplant, you will need a bit more salt and a bit more time. I’ve given each side about half an hour or more. Sometimes, that hasn’t helped if the seeds are really hard.

While you are tending to the eggplant ritual, you can begin prepping all of the other vegetables to have ready. Have 4 medium-sized bowls ready to hold each of the ingredients so that you can add them in order when you are ready.

Depending on the size of the zucchini, cut them in half lengthwise and then into quarters.

Ballpark the size of the cubes. However high the half of the zucchini is off of the cutting board, cut the cubes to match.

You can always cut them longer or shorter. This is just a reference point.

Seed the pepper and cut into either wide strips or 1 1/2 inch cubes. (Roasting red peppers is a joy unto itself and they can be used in this dish, though the order of adding them into the stew switches to last, after the tomatoes.)

Cut a large yellow onion into quarters, and then in half again. Separate out the layers so that they cook evenly in the stew.

You can cut them into a smaller dice as shown below.

Tomatoes can be prepped multiple ways. If you have delicate tomatoes, simply core and cut the them into quarters, and if the tomatoes are larger, cut each of the quarters in half again.

If the skins are thicker, take a few moments to steam them in a shallow bath of water for about a minute.

The skins will begin to peel away from the flesh and you can remove them with a pair of tongs easily.

Ingredients

Olive oil, coat the bottom of the pan, more to add as needed for various stages

1 large or 2 small eggplants

2-3 zucchini, small to medium

2 peppers, medium, green, red or yellow, all sweet or mix of sweet and hot

1 large onion

4-5 Roma tomatoes (more if you wish, these can be steamed to remove the skins)

Herbs (Oregano, thyme, basil)

Salt and pepper to taste

Once all of the ingredients are prepped, you can add them to the pot in order of longest cooking time to shortest cooking time. The eggplant takes the longest to soften, the tomatoes take the shortest.

Techniques

Over medium-high heat, saute the vegetables in olive oil in the following order:

7-9 minutes for the eggplant (coat in the olive oil in the pan. When absorbed, add a dash more for the zucchini)

5-6 minutes for the zucchini

5 minutes for the peppers

5 minutes for the onions

5 minutes for the tomatoes

At this point, the blend of vegetables will retain their individual shape and their colors should be bright.

Reduce heat to low, and cook slowly for 45 minutes covered.

The vegetables will soften, meld together, and become a thick stew. The other option is to cook everything separately and then add them all in together to let them infuse each other. I often find this takes a lot of attention and time, but it yields a richer stew, as each ingredient is allowed to caramelize on it’s own first.

This lovely, versatile concoction is perfect for enjoying with quinoa, rice or on it’s own.

You can create cheesy tarts with the stew as a base and shredded Gruyere or a soft goat cheese dotted on the top.

It is also wonderful chilled, accompanying a tray of charcuterie and cheese with a glass of sparkling Cotes du Rhone or something a bit softer on the tongue like a Fume or Chenin blanc.

A Note on Herbs

Trying out a new technique or recipe can be daunting. I’ve been trying for several months to perfect lots of different techniques with eggs. Why? Eggs are inexpensive, versatile and when you are trying your hand at explaining techniques to the masses, you need to perfect a few of them first. You’re welcome.

In the wake of the many trials and errors lay fallen souffles, thin omelettes, and the devil of them all, free-form poached eggs. All of these were consumed, and all of them were documented. After many, many experiments, my only advice to the willing and patient is that the science behind cooking has to be fully understood AND experienced. Mistakes are your friend.

Instructions for free-form egg poaching is documented in many books with a few variations.

Fresh eggs, …add vinegar, …boiling water kept at a simmer, …swirl the water counter clockwise and drop the egg into the vortex, …pre-boil the eggs for 10 seconds, …poke a hole in the shell?

All of this is more than you will EVER need to know as long as you stick to the very first rule. Fresh eggs.

After trying multiple times with multiple kinds of eggs I discovered that pre-boiling only complicates the process and the vinegar changes the texture of egg. The science behind this is a separate post.

The most perfect results come from practically squeezing the egg out of the chicken the second before you crack it’s shell to slip into the water. Trying to guess the age of the egg based on the date on an egg carton isn’t going to help you.

To appreciate the moment the white forms the perfect white oval you are going to need to find a fresh supply of eggs. Utterly impractical and you can certainly poach using other methods. But if you can get your hands on them, it’s worth the experiment.

Basic Overview of How It Works

As the egg ages, as with us all, things begin to weaken. In order for the whites to take shape in the boiling water, they need to be freshly formed, suspended perfectly in orbit within the shell. The white is strongest and clings to the yolk when it is young. (More on the anatomy of an egg as it ages later.)

Younger eggs have less air in the pocket at the bottom, allowing more of the white to surround the yolk. Air in the pocket will slowly begin to weaken the white, making it runnier when you crack the egg. Over time, the bond between the yolk and the white weakens, ensuring a sloppy result in the water. If your eggs appear to be more liquid than jelly-like, poach them in an egg poacher.

The perfect illustration of how this bond can fail is to try poaching an egg with a double yolk. In these eggs, the percentage of egg whites is lessened to accommodate the additional yolk and the two yolks competing in the simmering water for what remains of the bond with the white. With less mass to the whites, the bond to the yolks is weaker than a single yolk egg and the result is two perfectly boiled yolks in a mess of swirling egg whites.

Poaching the egg

In a medium sized pot filled with at least 2 quarts of water, bring to a boil and then reduce to a rolling simmer.

Crack the egg into a small teacup. This will allow you to tip the egg into the water at the surface, rather than from any height. The heat of the simmering/boiling water can do most of the work to shock the egg into the perfect oval shape. Simmer for 4 minutes, and monitor the heat so that it doesn’t start to boil over. The slightest bubble will keep it going. You can leave it in a bit longer if you like the yolk less runny.

Only focus on a couple of eggs at a time, especially if you are learning. To keep the eggs warm after the poaching, slip them into warm water while you finish the rest.

It's nearly time for Friday Happy Hour(s). Energized or drained from the past week, you may be looking ahead at the coming week thinking about a project, deadlines or endless appointments, personal and professional. Since it's a short week, rather than having a break, the amount of work you need to accomplish has to be done on a shorter schedule.

Take a few minutes today and plan out a few quick prep items you can do in advance this weekend to make certain you remember to take care of yourself in the push.

Blanching and Shocking Vegetables for the Week

This takes only a few minutes of prep. You can blanch multiple kinds vegetables in batches, so that the set-up and clean-up are done efficiently. When you need to make dinner quickly throughout the week, you can grab them from the refrigerator, and finish them off in a pan with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper to warm them through. The color is beautiful and dinner can be ready quickly.

Pre-blanched Zucchini and Haricot Verts (Young green beans) sauteed in olive oil.

Vegetables, listed in order of blanching, select 3-4

Squash, cut in half, and then in quarters (1-2 minutes)

Green Beans, remove strings if necessary (2 minutes)

Carrots, cut in half, then in quarters (3 minutes)

Broccoli, cut into pieces about 3/4 of an inch (3 minutes)

Asparagus (1-2 minutes, depending on the thickness)

Here's the reason for the order

Squash is delicate, it won't affect the water much, scoop out any remaining seeds. Green beans similarly won't have much impact. Carrots will begin to shade the water orange. Broccoli is robust enough to not absorb much flavor from the carrots, but the buds will begin to shed, leaving pretty green specks in the water. Asparagus is a cruel beast in a rapid boil, and will alter the flavor of everything and anything that comes in contact with it. Always save it for last.

Select a few of these to experiment with, you can create your own order. If you want to do a medley, just start the vegetables with longer blanching times first, set a timer for a minute or two, then add the other vegetables in. I'd still save the asparagus for last and just cut it up in pieces and store in a separate container until you are ready to mix them in at dinner time.

Technique: Blanching and Shocking

In a large bowl, place a strainer, add enough ice cubes to fill it halfway and a few to surround it. Stick it in the freezer until you are ready. Keep another batch of ice cubes on standby in the freezer.

In a large stock pot, add about 2 tablespoons of salt to 3-4 quarts of water, leaving 3 inches of space between the top of the pot and the surface of the water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to maintain a rolling boil.

Blanching

In your chosen order, add one type of vegetable to the pot and turn the heat back up to high for a couple of seconds to maintain the temperature. Set your timer, and monitor the heat. It should stay at a rolling boil, but shouldn't be bubbling over the top.

Shocking

Get the bowl of ice out of the freezer, add water and set next to your stove. When the timer is up, using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables from the boiling water and plunge them immediately into the ice water. This cools the vegetables faster and keeps the color of the vegetables bright, and acts as a holding pen while you move on to the next round of vegetables.

After five minutes, lift the strainer out of the bowl, the ice will be mostly melted. Turn out onto a paper towel to dry off. Pour off some of the water, replace the strainer.

Meanwhile, the 2nd batch of vegetables should have been started. Calibrate your time accordingly. If you have 5 minutes for the shocking, 3-4 minutes into that, add your next batch to the boiling water.

Just before you pull the next batch out of the boiling water, add some of the reserved ice to the strainer set up.

Once you get the rhythm, things will go quickly.

Repeat the steps until you are done.

You can store the dried vegetables in plastic bags or stacking containers and refrigerate until you need them.

They will keep for a week, but by Friday, it's going to be time for Happy Hour again.

Up Next: Ratatouille

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