The Hawthornes Make Pastrami.

Mr. Hawthorne picked up a brisket 

at Food Lion the other day 

and he's making pastrami.

Here's the process:

First you make a pickling spice mix.

Then you brine the brisket for 4 days.

On the last day, rinse off the brine

and leave the brisket in refrigerator overnight, uncovered.

The next day, you prepare a spice rub for the meat

and then smoke it until internal temperature reaches 190°-200°.
Let rest before cutting.

We have a little stovetop smoker which comes in quite handy.

Rosie assembled all of Mr. Hawthorne's spice ingredients,
since if I'd left it up to him to find them,
he'd still be looking for them.

 

Pickling Spice Mixture

2 TB mixed whole peppercorns

2 TB hot red pepper flakes

2 TB coriander seeds

2 TB mustard seeds

5 fresh bay leaves (less for dried)

1 TB ground ginger

1 TB ground mace

3 cinnamon sticks

1 TB whole cloves

2 TB allspice berries

1 TB smoked paprika

1 TB garlic powder

1 TB onion powder

1 cup coarse kosher salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

4 garlic cloves, minced

Mix all ingredients together in a container

large enough to hold the brisket.

 Stir well to dissolve sugars and salt.

Place brisket in and

add enough water to cover the brisket.

Cover and refrigerate for four days,

stirring mixture and turning brisket over each day.

I used a small cooler.

Now, true deli pastrami would have some type 

of curing salts containing sodium nitrite.

This is what gives pastrami its pink color.

I don't have any curing salts.

But I do have annatto.

Annatto is made from the seeds of the achiote tree,

indigenous to South America, 

and is used for both food coloring and flavor.

I use a little annatto whenever I make Spanish rice

and it's also what gives cheddar cheese its color.

I decided to shave off slices of the annatto

and add that to the mixture.

After the fourth day,

remove the brisket from its brine and wash it off.

Pat dry, then place back in refrigerator, uncovered, overnight.

When you're ready to smoke,

make your Spice Rub:

1/4 cup ground coriander

2 TB freshly ground black pepper

2 TB smoked paprika

Rub spice mixture into brisket.

Mr. Hawthorne used applewood chips in the smoker

and smoked until internal temperature reached 190° - 200°.

Let rest before slicing.

 And there you have homemade pastrami.

Jewish barbecue, if you will.

I'm very happy with the taste and flavor of this pastrami,
but I'd like to try my take on it
and actually get the curing salts.
Pink Prague Powder #1.
Plus a few more tweaks.

Pastrami on toasted homemade rye bread

with a schmear of coarse grained mustard,

 turkey, pepperoni slices, and Swiss cheese.

Rosie Tip #459:

Whenever I'm using pepperoni,

in a sandwich or on a pizza,

I place the pepperoni slices on paper towels and nuke them.

Grease goes onto towels, not in you.

Put under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly,

then add pickle slices and Mr. Hawthorne's pickled red onions.

He keeps a jar of pickled beet juice in the fridge

and simply adds onion slices to it.

Enjoy!

Apple Dee Doo Dah! Rosie Makes An Apple Galette.

Apple Dee Doo Dah!
Zip-A-Dee-A
My oh my.
 What a wonderful PIE!




It's a true fall day.
I can feel it.
It's cloudy, cool, and windy

and I'm relaxing in the kitchen

making an Apple Galette.

I'm making the tart dough first.

Tart Dough

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 TB sugar

6 TB chilled unsalted butter, cut into small dice

1 large egg, beaten

Whisk flour, salt, and sugar.

Rub in butter with fingers,

until you have coarse meal with pea-sized crumbs.

Mix in egg with a fork.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface

and knead until smooth.

Press into disk, wrap in plastic,

and chill at least two hours.

Your hands are your best tools in the kitchen.

Press butter and flour between thumb and forefinger.

When you have coarse meal to pea-sized morsels,

add in the beaten egg yolk.

Knead, press into a disk, 

cover with plastic, and refrigerate.

At least two hours.

Roll out dough.

About 1/8"-thick.

A crude 10 x 14-inch rectangle.

Lightly flour and roll up dough over pin.
Spread out on parchment paper in a baking pan.

Prepare the Apple Galette:
Basic Tart Dough
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
3 TB dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp water
3 TB turbinado sugar

Heat oven to 375°.
Put butter in small sauce pan.
Slice vanilla bean lengthwise
and scrape out seeds into butter.
Throw in pods.
Cook over medium low heat, stirring,
until butter foams, then lightly browns, about 5 minutes.
Remove pan from heat and discard pods.

Place the apple slices in two rows going down
the length of the tart dough, leaving a two-inch border along sides.
Brush with butter and vanilla mixture.
Sprinkle with brown sugar.
Start draping dough edges, overlapping and tucking,
containing the apples and syrup.
Beat egg with water and brush over dough.
Sprinkle turbinado sugar over all.
Bake 35-40 minutes until beautifully browned.

This was gone in a few minutes.

I live with locusts.

Serving suggestion: 

Serve with maple vanilla whipped cream.
Whup up some heavy cream.  A cup or so.
Add in a tablespoon or two of sugar and a tablespoon of pure maple syrup and a teaspoon of vanilla.  If you like, sprinkle in some cinnamon.

Holy Crap! Rosie Still Makes The Bestest Pizza Ever.

 

Rosie has been making pizzas for years.
Since the 70s.
Always from scratch - the dough, the sauce, and, of course, I make my own cheeses and pepperoni and harvest olives from the trees on my estate.

That said, let's make pizza!

Tomato Sauce

1 TB unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small can tomato sauce
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sage

Melt butter in small pan over medium heat.  Add in minced shallot and garlic. Cook for a minute.  Pour in tomato sauce.  Add some water in the can, swirl, and pour the rest into the pan.  Heat over minimum heat for about 30 minutes.  Add in oregano and sage.  Taste test and adjust seasonings if necessary.  Keep warm, covered.

Rosie's Pizza Crust 
1/2 cup warm water
1 package yeast
1 tsp sugar
enough flour to make a nice supple, elastic dough - maybe about 2 cups, added a little bit at a time
It depends upon the humidity.  The tides.  The alignment of planets. And there was a solar eclipse going on today.
1/4 tsp kosher salt

You need to learn to work with dough, and pizza pie is about as basic, simple, and easy as you can get. 

Pour water into a small bowl.  Sprinkle yeast and sugar over top.  Watch yeast grab onto the sugar and gobble it up on the way down.  Stir to dissolve.  Wait for it to proof.  Bubble and foam!

Fork in the flour.  Quarter cup at a time.  When it starts forming a cohesive dough, turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead for about 5 minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.  Form into a ball and place in oiled bowl.  Cover and let rise about an hour.

Heat oven to 450°.   I use a pizza stone in the oven, so when the oven temperature reaches 450°, I let the stone heat for an hour

Start forming the pizza dough.
Take the dough ball and place it on a pizza paddle covered in corn meal.  Start pressing the ball flat, then press out from the center to form a circle.  Make dimples with your fingers.  Finger it out, slowly.  Dimple.  Press.  Rest.  Have a glass of wine.  Go back after the dough has rested.  Dimple.  Press.  Form a built up edge.  Rest.  Have another glass of wine.  Go back and dimple and push out.  Work it.  Relax.  Drink.  Rest.  Keep on keepin' on.  The dough needs to relax as much as the cook does.  Remember that.  Take small steps.

Now, when you've worked the dough and let it rise its final rise for about 15-20 minutes, slide it off the pizza paddle onto your heated pizza stone that's been heating in the oven for an hour.  You want to be sure that stone is heated through.  Cook it for about 8-10 minutes, until it's stiffened up enough to move around on the stone.  Remove dough from oven.


Pizza Toppings:
tomato sauce

red, orange, yellow, green peppers from the garden, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
black olives, sliced
whatever cheeses you have - I used cubed Gruyère and sliced Mozzarella on the bottom, some grated Parmesan, and grated cheddar on top.
good olive oil over top
extra sprinkle of oregano
sprinkles of red pepper

 

  Uncooked here.

 

I have no idea why there's a big
gap here.
Can't fix it.

Seriously, I make the best pizzas.

Rosie Makes Quiche.

A few days ago, I made pie dough from a foolproof recipe.  This particular recipe makes enough dough for three nine-inch pies and I have already made a pumpkin pie with little cut-out pastry leaves sprinkled with turbinado sugar and a pecan pie with the pecan halves painstakingly and OC-ly arranged over top.  I have one pie dough left over and I'm making quiche.  

 

Rosie loves a good quiche every now and then, so we're having quiche NOW, as opposed to then.  A quiche is an excellent way to use up languishing and hidden refrigerator items and cut back on the dozens of packages of assorted cheeses in my deli drawer.  I found a few large mushrooms, half a bag of spinach leaves, and a small piece of Gruyère and cheddar.  I believe I have the makings of quiche.

Rosie's Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

1 9-inch pie crust, partially baked, about 10-12 minutes

4 eggs

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 TB unsalted butter

1/2 bag spinach leaves, chopped

4 large mushrooms, thinly sliced

1- x 3-inch slice of Gruyère, cubed

grated cheddar, to cover top

Heat oven to 350°.

Over medium heat, melt butter.  Add in mushrooms, tossing occasionally until slightly browned.  Add in chopped spinach, lower heat, cover, and wilt spinach.  Cool a bit, then drain well, getting as much of the moisture out as you can.

Whisk the eggs briskly.

Combine milk and cream in small saucepan and scald, which means bring it just to a boil.  Let cool a bit, then slowly whisk into eggs.  Add in nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Place Gruyère, spinach, and mushrooms on bottom of partially baked pie crust.  

Pour in egg mixture.

Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over top to cover.

Bake at 350° about 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and there's no jiggle in the center.

Let rest at least 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Instead of heating up the big-ass oven that takes forever, I used my over-sized toaster oven.  

Rosie Note: 

If using a toaster oven, turn the pie throughout the baking period so that it cooks evenly.

Also, check near the end and tent if necessary to avoid burning the partially baked crust.

So Many Opportunities!

I just received this email:

Dear ROSIE

We determined you have the following qualifications:

1. Internet Connection

2. Typing Skills

Come work with us start immediately

Regards,

The Coffee Shop Millionaire

Who knew I would have this opportunity offered to me?
My excitement is boundless!