Mom's Mashed Potatoes

I live in a community in which neighbors know each other by the alleys they live on. It's rare to go to someone's front door here. All the action is in the alley. The kids play there. Puppies learn to walk on leashes there. You go to borrow a cup of sugar or drop off a mis-delivered package through the alley.

So, it's natural that it's where we celebrate major holidays. Last Sunday night we held our annual Alley Thanksgiving and about 20 people, including all the little kids--and some of the grown kids--showed up for the ultimate potluck. A juicy smoked turkey. Honey-baked ham. Stuffing, of course. Lots of rolls and lots of salad. String beans. And, I brought the mashed potatoes.

Normally, mashed potatoes isn't something I make, particularly for a crowd. It's a whole lot of carbs. But I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year and my mom, who loves to make mashed potatoes, won't be making them. So I decided to step up with them for our Alley Thanksgiving. Who better to turn to than Evie for a primer on making them for a crowd?

My mom believes in using russets, not Yukon Golds. They mash more smoothly, she says. She uses butter, cream cheese, and evaporated milk to get just the right consistency and boosts the flavor with roasted garlic and the oil they roast in, as well as a big helping of grated Parmesan cheese and some salt.

As a dish to make in a hurry, it's close to being that. The prep is easy; it's just waiting for a large pot of water filled with peeled and quartered potatoes can be a finger-tapping experience. So, go do something else in the meantime.

Now, the good thing about this recipe--other than how deeply luscious and delicious it is--is that you can improvise a bit based on your own tastebuds. Add more garlic or leave it out entirely. Add herbs (I garnished the top with chives from my garden). Add a different grated hard cheese. Or no cheese. Add pepper, of course. Add boiled, peeled celery root. So, riff on this as you will, but with this recipe you have a foundation for your own version of perfection.

I returned home with just enough to share with Mom.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


Mom’s Mashed Potatoes
Serves 10 to 12
(printable recipe)

Ingredients
2 heads garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 stick butter or more, melted
1, 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into one-inch pieces
1, 12-ounce can evaporated milk (or cream or whole milk, depending on your preference)
1/2 cup or more (depending on your preference) Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400°. Slice off top of the garlic heads enough to just expose the cloves inside. Place the garlic heads on a piece of foil, drizzle them with olive oil and wrap in the foil. Place in the oven and roast about 30 minutes, until cloves are just browning and tender. Remove from oven and let cool. Squeeze each clove into a small bowl, add the olive oil from the foil and a little more if necessary and mash. Set aside.

Put potatoes in big pot of cold salted water to cover. Cover loosely and bring to the  boil. Turn down heat and simmer until soft. Remove from heat and drain the water.

Put potatoes in a large bowl with butter and mashed garlic. Start mashing and stir in cream cheese while potatoes are still hot. Then gradually add evaporated milk and continue mashing until the potatoes reach the consistency you want. Mix in Parmesan cheese and salt to taste.

Can be refrigerated and reheated in microwave. Keep additional evaporated milk in case you need to thin it out after reheating.

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Autumn Three-Grain Salad

As Thanksgiving creeps up on us--and, hopefully, cooler weather too--it's time to start thinking of hearty and tasty dishes that, hey, are also healthy. I don't know about you but I have family members who are vegetarian so I also need to come up with some sides that they can enjoy along with the rest of us omnivores. Grains are always a favorite of mine and grain salads are a no brainer--but have you thought of combining grains in a salad?

Creating a multi-grain salad means you get a more interesting combination of flavors and textures, not to mention colors. It all depends of what you mix together. I love the chew of red wheat berries. They're perfect with robust vegetables like winter squash and thick-cut portobello mushroom. Quinoa is more delicate and colorful and works well with fruit, red peppers, cheese, beans, and cucumbers. Farro's nuttiness fits somewhere in the middle. I enjoy combining it with roasted cauliflower, tomatoes, and lots of herbs.

I decided to mix these three up together and add fruit in the form of fuyu persimmons and some beans--garbanzo and edamame--for color, texture, and sweetness. I got some crunch from toasted walnuts and pecans. And I added chopped red onions--just because. The Mexican tarragon in my garden is flowering now in bright yellow. Adding them to my salad gave me a slight anise flavor and some bold color. Altogether, coated in a tangy sherry vinaigrette, this salad has been my go-to meal for several days, even with our heatwave. I know it will be a hit for Thanksgiving!

Now a word of advice, here. Combining grains doesn't at all mean cooking them together. It's a little extra work, but you must cook each grain type separately. If you don't, you risk getting mush instead of the individual textures and flavors you're after.

Also feel free to mix together your own combinations of whole grains. Consider barley, brown rice, kamut, and spelt, among others. And all sorts of other seasonal vegetables, beans, fruits, nuts, seeds, and herbs will work well, too. This recipe should be inspiration to create a dish based on what you enjoy and what you find in the markets.

Three-Grain Salad with Persimmons, Beans, and Nuts
(printable recipe)
Serves 6 to 8

1/2 cup farro
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup wheat berries
3 1/2 cups chicken broth (or water/vegetable broth for vegetarians)
1/ cup red onion, diced
2 Fuyu persimmons, chopped
1 cup cooked edamame beans (available at Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted
1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted
1 tablespoon Mexican tarragon, chopped

Sherry Vinaigrette
Yield: 1 cup

1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch sugar
pinch salt
pinch ground pepper
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Cook each grain according to directions. For the farro and quinoa, the proportions are like rice: 2 to 1 water to grain. Bring the stock or water to the boil, add the grains, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. You're looking for the stock or water to be absorbed and the grains to still have a little chewiness. For wheat berries, it's more like 3 to 1 with a longer cooking time, more like 35 to 40 minutes. It's okay if the water isn't fully absorbed as long as the grains are cooked and are a little al dente.

In a large bowl combine the grains with the rest of the salad ingredients.

To make the vinaigrette, mix together the vinegar, mustard, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Whisk until the dressing has emulsified. Pour enough into the salad to coat the ingredients, but not so much that in drenches it. Serve at room temperature.

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Easy, Stunning Apple Pie a la Coulon

 
I've been making apple pies for decades, having learned from my Nana--who always baked the family Thanksgiving pies. But, her way (which originally used Spry shortening for the crust and then graduated to margarine) has long needed updating and I've been flailing around for a new mentor for a long time. There's no one way to make pies, no one set of perfect ingredients (although everyone boasts theirs is perfect), no one set-in-stone technique. And that diversity is the beauty of pie. But, as many a failed pie maker knows, it's also the source of a lot of frustration.

But, I may have finally found my mentor in Michele Coulon. Her way is the traditional French way. It's simple and straightforward, relies on just a few quality ingredients, and sticking to formula.

Michele invited me into her bakery kitchen last week to teach me how to make her apple pie--and she didn't just demonstrate. She made me put down my notebook and camera and get my hands dirty. It may be the best gift of the season. (And, if you want her pumpkin pie recipe and techniques, you can find them on her new blog.)

So, here are some basics I learned from her:

• Use the best ingredients possible. Michele uses unsalted European-style butter. I'm going to use Straus Family Creamery's European-style organic butter. Another good choice is Plugra. For the cream, use heavy or whipping cream--not half and half. 

• Measure correctly. Weigh apples after peeling and coring. Measure or weigh the ice water for the crust.

• Taste your apples and adjust the amount of sugar based on how sweet or tart they are and the effect you want. Also, blend your apples based on flavor. Michele used Granny Smiths but also added some tiny apples from Crows Pass Farm for additional sweetness.

• Keep the dough chilled. That would seem obvious, but one pastry chef I spoke with last week said she didn't worry about it. However, Michele insists that it affects how the crust turns out. Chill it.

• Pie pans. This is tricky. Michele uses aluminum pie plates for customers but prefers dark metal pans when baking for family to help with browning. She's not fond of ceramic pie plates and is firmly anti-glass (sorry, Pyrex). For this year, I'm sticking with my Emile Henry ceramic pie plates but am researching some cast iron ones I found on Amazon. If anyone has experience with these, please leave a comment.

• Finally, don't over sugar or spice the filling. Apple pies are supposed to play up the flavors of the apples. If you have truly delicious apples, let them shine.

As we got started, instead of using a food processor to pull the dough together, Michele had me use a bowl and very simple tools, including my hands. First, we sliced the butter onto a tray. She already had mixed together the flour and salt. I added the butter to the flour mixture and used two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Don't be shy about it as I was. Go at it with conviction and work the butter down to small pieces about the size of walnut pieces.

Then add your water. It won't look like it will be enough to come together using a mixing spoon, but it will. After a few minutes, once it becomes clear that stirring will no longer do the job, put down the spoon and plunge your hands in to scoop and press together the dough until it just comes together.

Now comes the part we all tend to dread--rolling out the dough. Michele thoroughly flours the board but leaves the rolling pin alone. Her method is to flatten and shape each crust into a disk, roll out from the middle and keep flipping and turning the dough to keep it from sticking. The goal is to form a circle just larger than the pie plate. Once she's ready to move the dough circle from board to pan, she folds it gently in half and then in half again, lifts and centers it on the pie plate, and unfolds it. Into the refrigerator it goes. The second (top) crust is also shaped into a disk and rolled out, then, placed on a small cookie sheet lined with paper and sliced into half-inch strips for the lattice. Then it, too, goes into the fridge for 20 minutes to chill and rest.

While the dough rested, we prepped the filling. Michele peeled the apples and then explained that she finds coring takes too much time, so she just cuts the apples in four pieces around the core (which she nibbles on later). Then she measures out what she needs, and slices the pieces thickly. Again, it's all about the apples here.

The apple slices go into a bowl and are tossed with a mixture of sugar, salt, cinnamon, and flour. Then add a few teaspoons of cream and mix. The cream, Michele, says, adds additional moisture to the filling.

By now, it should be time to bring out the bottom crust. Fill with the apple mixture and gently press the mass down to get it settled into the crust. Top with pieces of butter. The lattice is simple. Instead of weaving the strips, Michele just places half across in one direction and the rest across.

Trim excess and pinch the edges around the pie.

And, as you can see, she turns leftover dough into decorations, cutting out cute little leaves with cookie cutters. She then uses an egg wash (a whole egg and a half a cup of cream) to give the lattice its glow and hold the little leaves in place.

Put the pies on a tray and bake. The results? A crisp, flaky, rich crust enveloping tender, sweet, and bright slices of apple. The best ending I can think of to a holiday meal.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Michele Coulon's Apple Pie
(Printable Recipe)

Yield: 1 Pie

1 Southern Pie Pastry (see below)
1 pound, 5 ounces apples (weight after peeling and coring)
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ounce butter
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup cream
1 egg

Pre-heat conventional oven to 450°.

Make pastry and set aside.

Peel and core apples, placing in a big bowl. Sift dry ingredients together and add to apples, mixing well. Add 3 tablespoons cream and mix with apples.

Roll out pastry and put in pie tin, having edges hanging over the sides loosely. Fill with apples. Dot apples with butter. Put lattice on top. Using a fork, pinch edges but do not go all the way through the dough with the fork. Mix together 1/2 cup cream and the egg. Brush egg wash onto lattice and any dough decorations.

Put on a tray and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 350° and bake until apples are cooked--30 minutes at first, then probably another 15 minutes. Use the tip of a sharp knife to check. If the tip goes into apple slices easily, they're done cooking.


Southern Pastry from Michele Coulon
Yield: 2 pie crusts, top and bottom. Cut recipe in half for 1 pie.

4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound cold European-style butter, cut into 1-inch chunky pieces

Mix ingredients until coarse crumbs form. Then add 12 tablespoons or 160 grams of ice water. Mix until just blended.

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Pie Making with Rachel Caygill of Bankers Hill

 
We're heading into holiday pie-making season so when pastry chef Rachel Caygill invited me to her house, where she was hosting a group called the San Diego Food Bloggers for a pie-making class, I had to go. See, Rachel is the superb pastry chef at Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant, where her husband Scott is the chef de cuisine. I love to go there with my friend Tina Luu, also an extraordinary pastry chef and someone who never orders one dessert off the menu but all of them. So, I've tasted many of Rachel's creations, including her pies. And I wanted to learn her secrets.

Now, this is really going to be more of a pictorial post because so much of pie making is technique and watching Rachel take us through creating the crust for an apple pie was fascinating. But, it's not easy. It involves a lot of physical effort. Rachel throws her whole body into the rolling process. But the results -- a rich crispy and flaky crust encasing a bright apple filling layered in spices -- is so worth the effort. I've also got a number of tips from her that I'm including with the photos. Her apple pie recipe will follow below.

So the first thing you'll notice is that instead of mixing the flour and butter in a food processor to break up the butter, Rachel is rolling slices of it into the flour. Gluten doesn't form until you add water so no worries about over working it. The flour is a half-and-half combo of all purpose and cake flours. After a lot of trial and error over the years, she's settled on a 3-2-1 ratio of flour, fat, and liquid, with a teaspoon of salt per pound of flour. 

Still a little chunky. Then she cuts in lard. Her ratio is 3-to-1 butter/lard.

Rachel then makes a hole in the middle of the flour/fat for a well she fills with water (similar to making pasta).

This gets tricky because the water wants to escape. But use a scraper to pull the flour into the water (and to retrieve the errant water) to form a loose dough.

Rachel pats the dough into a square and then starts rolling to incorporate the ingredients.

Keep the dough moving to prevent sticking and put your whole body into it. It'll grow long. Use the scraper pick up the ends and fold it back into a square and roll it again. You'll do this two to three times.

She's not seeking perfection here, just for the ingredients to begin to come together. For now, the aim is to shape what looks like a loaf.

And, here's the beginning of the loaf.

This goes into the refrigerator to chill and rest for 20 minutes. Or, you can freeze it for later (defrost overnight in the fridge).

The now rested and chilled dough is ready to be rolled out. Rachel cut off a chunk to make the first crust. You can see layers of unincorporated fat. This will help make for a crispy crust. Rachel helps ease the rolling process by pushing the dough out with the heels of her hand. Again, full body work.

Rachel admits she can't roll the dough into a circle -- and doesn't even try. But she says to roll from the middle, keep the dough moving, and flip it over to keep it from sticking.

Rachel rolls the dough onto the rolling pin and eases it over the pie plate. (She uses oversized pie plates that she finds at places like Target.) It's best to have lots of overlap for trimming and rolling the edges.

In goes the filling.

Next comes the top crust and the beginning of crimping the edges. Rachel trims the overhang with scissors. See how the edges of the crust layers align and she folds them together, under, and then down into the side of the pie plate.

Like that. With well-floured hands, she pushes the dough between two fingers for this crimping effect.

Rachel brushes the top with an eggwash, followed by a generous sprinkling of granulated superfine sugar she stores in an airtight container thick with fragrant vanilla beans. Make slits in the top crust to create vents (and separate the vent sides a little to let the air escape so the liquid from cooking apples evaporates. Then bake low and slow -- say, 375˚ for half an hour, then lower the temp to 325˚ for another hour (but this depends on your oven; you may need to start at 400˚). Her reasoning is that it helps the juices evaporate and prevents the top crust from burning. So you get a golden, crispy crust on top, avoid a soggy bottom crust, and create a firm filling.

Cool under pressure with a gorgeous apple pie.

Remember low and slow keeps the filling intact, as you can see here.

A slice of heaven... 

Apple Pie
by Rachel Caygill*
(Printable recipe here)

Rachel Caygill loves cardamom and includes the floral spice in her apple pie filling, blended with cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice and nutmeg mixed with sweet and tart apples -- in this case Granny Smiths and Fujis. And the crust? Well, the top crackled between my teeth and I loved the thick crisp sides that had been crimped to perfection. This is the pie you want to serve at your Thanksgiving dinner.

*The ingredients and amounts are Rachel's. The instructions are mine based on her directions during the class.

Pie Crust Ingredients
(for two crusts)

15 ounces flour (half all purpose, half cake)
10 ounces fat (7.5 ounces butter, 2.5 ounces lard)
5 ounces water
1 teaspoon salt

1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup superfine sugar

Combine the flour and salt. Spread the flour mixture on the counter or a cold marble tile and cut the butter into it. Then roll the butter into the flour. Use a scraper to chop up some of the flour and roll a little more to incorporate. Then cut the lard into the mixture.

Make a well in the flour/fat mixture and add the water into the middle. Scrape the flour/fat into the water to create loose dough. When the dough is formed, roll it out into an rectangle, then fold into thirds and roll again. Repeat once more if necessary and shape into a loaf. Refrigerate for 20 minutes and make pie filling.

Preheat the oven to 375˚. Cut the dough roughly in half -- one part should be a little larger for the bottom crust. Roll out that piece large enough to fill the pie plate with a couple of inches overhang. Gently place the dough into the pie plate, then add filling. Roll out the top crust large enough to hang over the the filling and bottom crust overhang. Trim the edges of the crust to even out. Then holding the edges of both crusts, fold under together and tuck into the pie plate. Crimp the edges between two fingers.

Make the eggwash by mixing together the yolk and milk. Brush onto the top crust. Sprinkle the sugar on top. Then slice vents into the top crust and spread the edges slightly. Bake at 375˚ for half an hour, then lower the temperature to 325˚ and bake for another hour until the crust is brown and thick juices run out.

Apple Filling Ingredients

2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (use a combination of sweet and tart varieties)
6 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3 tablespoons cornstarch
8 ounces dark brown sugar
4 ounces granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped -- or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest from half an orange
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon clove
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, then add on top of bottom crust.

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Talking About Ethnic Markets on KPBS-FM's These Days

I did my monthly food hour on These Days with host Maureen Cavanaugh on Oct. 5, talking about San Diego's wonderful ethnic markets. Chef Trey Foshee of George's at the Cove joined us.

We covered a lot of territory, and there were listener requests on the These Days website asking for a list of the markets we talked about. I provided them with my list -- not comprehensive but as thorough as I could get -- and it's here below. You can also read the transcript or listen to the show on kpbs.org.

Asian

• 99 Ranch Market (7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego,CA 92111 858-974-8899)
• Mitsuwa Marketplace (4240 Kearny Mesa Rd # 119 San Diego, CA 92111-3772 (858) 569-6699)
• Nijiya (3860 Convoy St., #109, San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 268-3821)
• First Korean Market (4625 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111-2309 (858) 278-8303)
• Zion Market (4611 Mercury St. San Diego, CA 92111-2419 (858) 268-3300)
• Lucky Seafood (9326 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92126 (858) 586-7979)
• Sage French Cake (3860 Convoy St #112 San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 571-3484)
• Sun Flour Bagel (96955 El Camino Real Ste 105, Carslbad, CA 92009 (760) 929-8047)
• Marukai (8111 Balboa Ave San Diego, CA 92111-2421)
• Seafood City (Four locations in National City, Chula Vista and Mira Mesa

Hispanic

• Northgate Gonzalez Market 21 (1410 S 43rd St San Diego, CA 92113-4105 (619) 266-6080)
• Foodland Mercato (Five locations in San Diego)
• Tropical Star Restaurant and Specialty Market (6163 Balboa Ave San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 874-7827)
• Mercado 2000 International (1415 3rd Ave Chula Vista, CA 91911-4905 - (619) 427-7701)
• Pata Negra Market (1657 Garnet Ave San Diego, CA 92109-3117 (858) 274-7282‎)
• Pancho Villa's Farmers Market (3245 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA (619) 584-4595) ‎

Middle Eastern

• Balboa International Market (5907 Balboa Ave San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 277-3600)
• Parsian International Market (4020 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111-3726 - (858) 277-7277)
• North Park Produce (3551 El Cajon Blvd San Diego, CA 92104 (619) 516-3336)

Eastern European/Jewish

• Continent European Deli ( 4150 Regents Park Row Suite 110 La Jolla, CA 92037 (858) 623-0099)
• D.Z. Akins (6930 Alvarado Rd San Diego, CA 92120-5305 (619) 265-0218)
• Elijah’s (8861 Villa La Jolla Drive, La Jolla - (858) 455-1461)
• Ralph’s Kosher Experience (La Jolla/Nobel)
• Sausage King (811 W Washington St. San Diego, CA 92103)

African

• S.A. Deli (8360 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Suite 112 San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 694 0212

British

• Shakespeare’s Corner Shoppe (3719 India Street San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 683-2748)

Indian

• Ker and Little India (9520 Black Mountain Rd San Diego, CA 92126 (858) 566-0034)
• Indian Sweets and Spices (5440 Clairemont Mesa Blvd # B San Diego, CA 92117-2357 (858) 277-5787)

(Big thanks to Wendy Fry of KPBS for taking my list, adding links and addresses/phone numbers and sending me the xhtml code!)

Any suggestions for what we should cover next month? The obvious is Thanksgiving, but I'm open to other ideas.

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Taking the Easy Way Out in the Kitchen

It's the night before Thanksgiving and about to rain in San Diego. Our celebration tomorrow will be at my parents' house. A small gathering but for the first time I get to do the cooking since my mom recently had surgery and is still not quite up to the job. At least, that's her story. I've been doing some advance work at my house and the plan is to haul part of the meal or the makings of it there tomorrow morning, along with the dogs and dog beds. Well, you get the picture.

So far, so good (except for a major cranberry recipe mishap--it's not always a great idea to try out something new for a gathering and, really, beware of cloves!). I've got round 2, much improved, batch of cranberry sauce made; have boiled, peeled and chopped the chestnuts for the stuffing; peeled, cored and sliced apples for the pie; made a vinaigrette for the string beans. You get the picture. There's a lot to do tomorrow but it should be quite manageable.

One of the reasons why this has been fairly smooth going is because I have some great kitchen tools. None are particularly extravagant but they've made the job of chopping, slicing, storing and hauling pretty easy. So, I thought I'd share some of these with you and perhaps help alleviate some possible kitchen frustrations you might be having.

Chefs will always stress the importance of a great knife. I'm with them and my go-to, take-when-I-evacuate-for-the-fire knife is a Wusthof Culinar Santoku.

One of the reasons I so love this is because the size and shape of the handle perfectly fit my small hand. I feel a lot more in control than with other knives I've had in the past. I keep the blade sharp and it never lets me down. However, out of curiosity I've also just purchased a seven-inch Kyocera chef's knife and am really relying on that for some of my more precision slicing needs.

This ceramic knife--which may need to be sharpened in, oh, about five years--and two very cool Oxo tools got me quickly through the apple peeling, coring and slicing phase this afternoon. I'm now committed to a serrated peeler. There's no flat blade that dulls, no struggling with putting pressure on at just the right angle. It just goes and takes the peel with it. The corer is new to me and while not absolutely necessary, I liked the fact that I didn't haven't to waste cuts getting rid of the seeded part of the apple. Just shove it through the center and remove the inner stuff in one fell swoop. Then my Kyocera knife could do the rest.

The other knife my family and I rely on for the chestnut stuffing is a chestnut knife. My mom got one for each of us kids, mostly so we could help her. Having done the job myself this year, I totally get it. Peeling chestnuts is no fun, although Maureen Clancy introduced me to a technique that I'm all over: microwave the chestnuts. Don't boil them, don't roast them. The amount of time depends on your microwave oven's power. In my mom's it takes 4 minutes on high doing about half a dozen at a time. The nuts pop right out of the shell. As for the knife, sure, it's a one-function tool but its little beak-shaped blade really digs in to make a quick, accurate cut. A food blogger was complaining this week of the blood drawn when she was making cuts into her chestnuts. I suggested this to prevent further mishaps.


Plus, so long as chestnuts are in season, I buy them for roasting and snacking. So, my knife gets a fair amount of use during winter.

Everyone has a set of measuring spoons. One of my biggest irritations is needing one and having the rest dangle in my way as I'm trying to dig into a spice jar or bottle of honey. I discovered a set of measuring spoons from Progressive International that fit together magnetically but separate when you need to use one or the other. And, they have both a round measuring spoon and an oval to fit into narrow openings.

The one down side is that they are plastic, so go back to your metal spoons when you're dealing with something that could melt them -- like hot bacon fat. Don't ask. But for everything else, they're great; you only have to wash what you use and the magnet keeps them tightly together in a drawer.

One of the dishes on the menu tomorrow night is sauteed Brussels sprouts with shallots and chestnuts. These will need to be sliced fairly thin and I haven't decided if I'm going to just use a knife or my mandoline. I've had a couple in my time and the one I use now is also an Oxo. What can I say? They are good designers. I like its lightness, sturdiness and ease of use. And, it's done a good job of slicing for me.

For some reason it hasn't scored well on Amazon but I've had mine for several years and it's worked great. Be sure to use the food holder so you don't inadvertently cut yourself.

One of the most important tools you need if you're cooking poultry for Thanksgiving--or any meat at any time--is a good thermometer. I have a collection of them, mostly because they don't work well and I've been in search of one I can live with. After watching seasons of "America's Test Kitchen" I finally caught on to what they were using and did a search for it. This is what I use (it's called a Super-Fast Thermapen). It's sturdy, the needle bends out at any angle and is easy to insert into the meat. The digital face is easy to read and registers swiftly. Fold the needle back in and the thermometer's power shuts off. Plus, it comes in a variety of colors. I'm actually taking it with me to my folks' house tomorrow. Until it breaks down, it'll be the one I live and cook by.

The other tool I'll take to my parents' house is a Cuisipro collapsible roasting rack. This is very cool. You roast the bird on it and, because it has handles, you can lift it out of the roasting pan (I have a pair of turkey lifters and always stab myself on the pointed tines, so forget them). Once you set the bird on the platter or carving board, you pull a pin down the length of the rack and the two sides come apart from under the bird. So, you don't have to wrestle with it.

And, here's a turkey roasting tip in two words: high heat. Really high, like 450 degrees. No brining necessary. All you do is rub the bird down with olive oil, garlic salt and paprika (or whatever you prefer). Roast the bird uncovered breast side down until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. Then turn the bird breast side up until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees (you'll stick the thermometer into the meatiest part of the thigh, keeping it from touching bone). For a 14- to 16-pound turkey, it probably takes just over two hours. Take the bird out of the oven and let it rest at least 20 minutes. It should continue cooking inside and reach the correct temperature of 175 degrees. You'll have moist meat and crispy skin. I got this idea from Gourmet Magazine and nothing could be easier or more fool proof.

Tomorrow morning I have to pack the car and one of the coolest little haulers I have is a collapsible red cloth picnic basket. It stores flat but when I need it, I can carry a lot around. It frequently goes with me to The Gourmet Club when I want to bring products to the studio for everyone to taste. I've already got the mandoline and a turkey lifter in it. I'll be adding a container of cranberry sauce, another of the vinaigrette, a bag of chestnuts, two bottles of sparkling cider, a huge pomegranate and the turkey thermometer. I used it over the weekend to take over my other provisions for storage in my mom's refrigerator.


What won't go into the basket? My apple pie. Transporting pies has been an issue with me for years. Usually I have more than one and I've done cardboard boxes, towels, plastic containers. You name it. I did finally find something that kind of worked: a series of plastic boxes that attached vertically and could be carried with a handle but I always worried it would break. I picked up a pie carrier by Sterilite at Target this afternoon that I'm pretty confident about since I already have the larger cake carrier.


Mine is a bright, happy red. It's got a very secure feel to it and the fit is so snug the pie won't slide around while I drive.

I could probably go on. In fact, I'd love to hear what others find as their essentials. This time of year we can all use as much help as we can get.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the people you're with. I'll be with these two...



And, a couple of friends will join us. As much as we're all about the food, really it's about being with our loved ones. With a mother recovering well from surgery and a father who looks pretty darned healthy, I'm very thankful. And, I'll be even more thankful to see my niece and nephews this weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Saluting the Troops Through Shopping

No, I don't mean the Bush dictum to "go out and shop" as a way of keeping the home fires burning. You're probably aware that while our service men and women, including the National Guard, are in harms way on our behalf, they and their families frequently have a tough time making ends meet at home. As do those who are retired from the services. One of the benefits devised to help has been the system of commissaries that offers foodstuff and other essentials at discounted prices. Only the families of active and retired military, including the National Guard and reservists, can shop at these commissaries, so unless you're part of this family it probably hasn't been on your radar.

In San Diego, we have the largest commissary in the world. The non-profit Naval Base San Diego Commissary on 32nd St., near downtown, opened on April 20, 2007 to serve a customer base of 267,000. Today, the average number of transactions is 4,000 a day, with much more on paydays. More numbers? The building itself is more 127,000 square feet, with 75,000 of this making up the sales floor. The Commissary's 18 aisles are wide, at least a third larger than conventional markets (but no more directional shopping arrows). There are more than 800 linear feet of frozen food. There are 29 cash registers. Think of it as a very large Costco in terms of size but focusing almost exclusively on food.

I accompanied Lisa Schmidt of A Blog About Food in early October after she commented on Twitter about the amazing buys she found there. "Price is number one, with the extreme best deals being in milk and dairy, the meat department and spices," she said. "These can be up to half off (and more when referring to spices) what I pay in civilian stores."

In fact, store director William Vick said that a family of four could save over $3,000 a year shopping at the Commissary. All commissaries sell products at cost plus a five percent surcharge, which is used to build new stores and modernize existing ones.

The other reason Schmidt shops at the Commissary is selection. "Sometimes they have foods available that are not usually found in this region of the country. Like I found some dumplings in the frozen food section that I'd only seen in Kentucky."

In October I jokingly asked if I could send her a shopping list and instead she very kindly invited me to tag along with her so I could see the place. I couldn't buy anything, of course, but I did get a wonderful new friend out of it and a great opportunity to see a place usually out of bounds to civilians. Following that trip, Vick took me on a more formal tour of the Commissary. Ironically, although he manages a team of 190 employees, he can't shop there either, having been with the Air Force for a tour of duty but not long enough to take retirement. So, for those of you who have no military affiliation, here's a peek at a place you might not ever be able to visit or at least shop at. And, for those who have access to the Commissary but somehow don't make it there to shop, here, perhaps, is a little incentive, especially going into Thanksgiving and the holidays.

The store itself is a an enormous stucco structure that's not much to look at from the outside. But inside is a mighty food emporium that is clean and bright, thanks to skylights and automated lighting that adjusts to the natural light, an energy cost savings that Vick enthusiastically bragged about.

At the entrance is a massive produce section, almost 11,000 square feet in size. Vick explained that they try to get as much of the produce as they can from local sources, using Coast Produce Company in Los Angeles.


You'll see the variety of everything you'd expect to find in a civilian supermarket in Southern California only in tremendous quantity. Plus, since the Commissary has a large Asian customer base as well as customers who have been based in Asia and enjoy Asian cuisine, there are displays of more exotic produce that you'd usually find in Asian markets, like taro root, long beans and banana hearts. And, a considerable amount of Hispanic products to appeal to their many Hispanic shoppers or those who like Hispanic cuisine.

Also in the produce section is an interactive computer kiosk. Given the enormity of the store, the management decided to set up a screen that allows customers to place an order in the deli department (on the opposite end of the Commissary) so that it would be ready for pick up before they check out.

About 5,000 orders monthly are placed through the kiosk. Allison Chase, a regular customer, loves this service and has been encouraging her friends to take advantage of it, too.

Vick is also proud of the organics sections that he's established in produce, dairy and packaged goods. However, he acknowledges that organic produce is limited because the shoppers here are naturally price conscious.


Nevertheless the options are there. In the packaged organics aisles, you'll find cereals, breads, juices, soups, snacks, beans, condiments, raw whole flax seeds, cookies and candy bars. There are selections in gluten-free and soy products. Red Mill products are here as are other familiar brands. In the refrigerated section are eggs, juices, dairy, frozen foods, and, of course, produce.

Without venturing too far, you'll also enjoy cooking demonstrations at a booth in the produce section outfitted with a stove, sink and prep area. The morning I was visiting, chef Valerie Salatino was making an "Italian paella" using a variety of products sold at the store.



Vick took me over to the Seafood section and there I noticed something interesting that I haven't seen in the markets I shop at. Digital price labels. According to Vick there are about 5,000 of these throughout the store.


The technology allows prices to be updated automatically, eliminating a lot of time spent manually switching out prices and enhancing the accuracy of price changes. As you can see, among the seafood products sold at the Commissary are those by San Diego-based Anthonys Fish Grotto.


The New England clam chowder is just one of a whole case of Anthonys products that include prepared or semi-prepared seafood meals. Across from the seafood case is another large case of what Vick describes as dinner kits.



These dinner kits do very well, said Vick. For those who prefer to put together a meal on their own is a large meat and poultry department. The Commissary orders up to 800 cases a week of Foster Farms chicken. The meats are all cut in-house daily by a full staff of butchers. In keeping with the cost-consciousness of their customers, the meats are USDA choice and select. No prime here. But, you can find bison, whole beef loins and a wide variety of pork and lamb.

The Value Aisle is like a trip to a membership store. Some three truckloads of products are displayed, many of which are club packs and now mostly holiday oriented.



Nearby is an aisle filled with various ethnic foods from around the world. There are shelves upon shelves of packaged German foods.



And, because of the large Asian customer base, there's naturally a large selection of Asian products, ranging from Japanese and Chinese to Korean, Thai and Filipino.



At the far end of the Commissary is a large bakery and deli. There are full selections of meats and cheeses, rotisserie chicken and breads and cakes.



In this same part of the Commissary is a 1,500-square-foot store-within-a-store concept called the Grab N Go. Vick acknowledged that this is still a work in progress. The idea was to have a place close to the exit where service people--probably single and not interested in a big shopping trip--could run in for the necessities, like milk, bread, eggs, soda and snacks. There are even 10, 15-minute parking stalls to allow people to run in and get what they need, along with eight self-checkout registers. Currently, the space is taken up with health foods but Vick anticipates that with the new single sailor housing quarters going up across the street, that the Grab N Go concept will once again be a go.

Alongside this little store is also a sushi counter, with two sushi chefs whipping up their creations for those looking for a bite for lunch or dinner.



And, if you have a special occasion, like a wedding or big birthday, you can special order cakes from Red Ribbon, a local Filipino bakery that also provides less lofty baked goods for parties or other gatherings.



The 32nd St. Commissary is located at 2525 Callagan Highway, Building 3629. Again, it is limited to active and retired military.

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