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10 Legs in the Kitchen

~ Food. Dogs. Life!

10 Legs in the Kitchen

Monthly Archives: September 2013

Forgive me my manners

29 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by Stacey Bender in cooking basics, From the journals, the kitchen

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Brunch, Potatoes

What kind of food blogger would I be without feeding you? It is Sunday morning and time for brunch so let’s begin with that… You’ll be seeing brunch in many upcoming posts; it is by far one of my most rewarding meals to cook. Sometimes it ends up being my large snack before preparing dinner!

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When my husband and I were first dating, he requested hash browns for breakfast. I had never made hash browns and was unsure how to even deal with the potatoes. I tried several methods of cutting the potatoes, shredding and chopping; I precooked the potatoes and sautéed them raw. I never really achieved his interpretation of hash browns (although the potato cakes rosti come very close) but this is the version of potato that we use most often at breakfast and I do believe they are his favorite. These work equally well for dinner and are especially good with the addition of herbs, garlic or both. They do okay sitting for an hour or so but the longer they sit before being heated to serve, the more soggy they will become (this is not a bad thing but I don’t recommend trying to heat them longer than needed or they will become burnt, rather than crisp, on the outside and dry, rather than soft, in the middle). I find it best to make them in advance of your egg dish (or whatever they are accompanying) and keep them warm on your lowest heat setting on the stove; I keep mine on simmer and it keeps it just warm but not continuing to cook faster than I can prepare the rest on the meal.

PREP
USING 1 medium sized Yukon gold potato per person CUT INTO ¼” SLICES then each slice into ¼” julienne and then into ¼” cube.

PUT THESE CUBES into a saucepan of salted water and bring to just a boil.

REMOVE FROM HEAT AND STRAIN shaking out excess water.

THIS CAN BE DONE SEVERAL HOURS IN ADVANCE (if you have a doggie in the house, this is a healthy snack to offer them – no butter yet- just fresh, par-boiled potatoes. Ginger and Buddy know that I always save a few cubes for them to snack on before brunch).

COOK

MELT a good knob of butter (approx 1 TB per each two-three medium potatoes; more or less depending on the condition of your heart and your affinity for butter) over high heat until the butter stops bubbling. Add the potatoes and give the pan a shake to coat them all with a little of the butter. TURN DOWN THE HEAT TO MEDIUM.

COOK STIRRING EVERY ONCE AND AGAIN but leave them to sit alone undisturbed for several minutes at a time; this allows them to brown. You will eventually turn the heat down to low, depending on how hot your stove is. Once they have browned you want them to cook slowly so that the inside can soften nicely without burning the outside. On my stove, this occurs typically 5 minutes into the sauté and takes, on average, another 10 minutes or so to achieve the degree of doneness I desire. As I mentioned above, toward the end of the cooking, I turn my stove to simmer and let them finish off very slowly while I get the rest of my meal together; this buys me about 20 more minutes to round everything up. ALTERNATIVELY, you could serve right away or if still prepping other things, take them from the heat completely for an hour or so and reheat in a 400 degree oven or on the stove top on med high heat; again, the fresher served the better.

Mine are almost ready so I’m off to cook my eggs…

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Guinea & the Pigs

28 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by Stacey Bender in the kitchen

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Essays, pups

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I am neither Guinea nor the Pig; my husband Tom and our dogs (past & present) Buffy, Ginger and Buddy retain those titles. On any given day however, dependent on circumstance or menu, the role might be reversed between the two of them. Ginger inherited the title from her sister Buffy, but Buffy was rarely Guinea and mostly the Pig (I mean this in the most affectionate way of course).

Buffy was with me for sixteen years before she decided she had finally seen me through what she had been sent to me for, and despite her love of my cooking, our adventures together and apart, it was time to pass the torch and finally get some much needed rest from looking over me on earth. I fully believe she is still looking over me from wherever it is that dogs go when their furryness has no choice but to leave their abbreviated life with us. I also believe she coaches Ginger here and there as well. Ginger was born the day after Buffy passed and I often can envision an escalator taking Buffy one direction and Ginger the other; at some point they cross each other on the way and there is an understanding and familiarity between the two.

Buffy was eight years old when I met, my husband Tom. She was large for her size which should have been an indication, I suppose, that I fed her far too well. She loved to eat and this arrangement worked out well for me because I loved to cook. Enter Tom, and now I had an audience that was both delighted to and willing to eat whatever was at my whim that day. I experimented often and was constantly trying new foods, new techniques and new ways of serving them. The experimenting was really meant for Tom but like I said, Buffy was always well fed from the table so her desire to stop receiving them was really not an option.

One year (1998, I’ve recently noticed), for my birthday, I was given a journal to write my recipes and thoughts on food; the card was signed “Love, Guinea & the Pig” and so this is how, to me, from that day forward they both became affectionately known.

When Buffy departed, Ginger soon became two pairs of helping paws, taking center court on an orange carpet square (her self-appointed place at the head of our kitchen) awaiting the duties of chief taster/helper extraordinaire.

Two years ago, another piggy came around, his name is Buddy; more on that later. And…well, I now have 10 legs in the kitchen; Tom knows to keep from being underfoot/paw.

Over 15 years and six journals later, I have decided it is time to take public this conversation I am constantly having with myself, my Guinea and my Pigs! I am new to this world of blog but can’t think of anything more interesting than to have a chance to connect with other like-minded food fanatics who think, read, eat and talk about food as ordinarily as if they are breathing.

Special thanks and a big shout out to honorary pig, long time great friend and favorite Uncle/person of Buffy, Ginger & Buddy – Pete Woychick! He has supported this project with his talent (see header art), friendship and seeing that my good intentions to putting this out there made it from words on a page to words on a blog! Thanks Pete!

In the days, weeks, months and maybe even years to come, I will be sharing my thoughts from the kitchen right here… perhaps someone out there is listening and will share some thoughts right back!

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