I'm Martha .... It's a Good Thing

I just love to cook. I like to grill, to roast, to sauté, to bake. I guess I’m a risk taker because I love to attack a very complex recipe and am not hesitant to plan a dinner party based around a recipe I have never tried before. Presentation is high on my list of important ingredients. It pains me to eat a meal that isn’t visually attractive. I generally use recipes as guidelines, except in international cuisines where I may be unfamiliar with the ingredients, and of course I am extremely precise when I bake, which is probably my favorite thing to do in the kitchen …. cakes, tarts, pies and especially bread. There is something very sensual about working with a wonderfully warm and tender yeast dough. I idolize Julia Child and Jacques Pepin for their classic techniques, and truly appreciate Lydia Bastianach and Chris Kimball …. How can you question a recipe that’s been tested twenty times by the chefs at America’s Test Kitchens? I love to watch cooking tv, although I’m more PBS chefs than Food Channel. I have a generous library of cookbooks. The last one I used was Baking with Julia. The last one I bought was Lydia’s Family Table. If I had to work with only one cookbook, it would be The Joy of Cooking. I use my computer to research recipes and ingredients and my favorite sites include http://www.cooksillustrated.com/, http://www.epicurious.com/ and http://www.thesplendidtable.com/. It’s a three way tie for favorite kitchen tool— just bought a Nespresso coffee maker and am in love with it. But could I part with my All Clads or my Global knives? Or how about the KitchenAid, I don’t know. (I think the knives would win out!)

Macaroni Popsicles and a Great Chili Recipe by Martha

As Halloween approaches, I enjoy a funny memory of Richard Greene’s pumpkin carving party. When we arrived at Richard’s we were greeted with two kitchen challenges. First, there was a big pot on the stove with a wooden spoon handle standing straight up from the middle of the pot. Richard had cooked a box of macaroni in a too small pot with too little water and had left it stove top. When Jim walked by, he tugged on the spoon, pulling the contents out leaving him holding a “macaroni popsicle”.

The second challenge involved potatoes. Richard wanted to serve mashed potatoes, but had forgotten to buy them. He had a couple of large cans of potatoes which he had emptied into a pot, heated and tried to mash. It was more a pot full of glue. I tried to make something edible, but no matter what I added, the mixture solidified more. Kitchen hint: there’s no way to make mashed potatoes from canned potatoes.

Right after Halloween Jim and I decided to cook chili and came up with the following recipe. The first time we made it, we had a loaf of crusty bread handy, and it was a real treat to stir the chili and dip the bread into the sauce for tasting:

GRILLED & TOASTED PORK & ONION CHILI

30 medium garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
4 lbs. 2-inch thick loin pork chops
Salt & pepper
Vegetable oil
large yellow onions, cut into ¾" thick slices
½ C vegetable oil
¼ C unbleached flour
¼ C Hungarian sweet paprika
2 Tbsp.chili powder
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. file powder
jalapeno chili, seeded, deveined and finely chopped
5 C chicken stock
1 C crushed tomatoes in puree
dried ancho or pasilla chilies, trimmed and chopped

Blanch garlic cloves in boiling water until tender, 7 - 10 minutes. Drain.
Prepare very hot fire in barbecue grill. Position grill rack 4" above fire. Season pork with salt and pepper; brush lightly with oil. Grill until crisp on outside but very rare inside, about 5 minutes per side. Cool on platter. Brush onion with oil. Grill until charred, about 8 minutes on each side. Cool on platter. Remove bones from pork and reserve. Cut pork and onion into ½" dice. Set aside.

Heat ½ C oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hot. Whisk in flour. Immediately reduce heat to medium. Whisk until roux is deep brown, about 15 minutes. Cool roux completely.

Combine paprika, chili powder, minced garlic, file powder and jalapeno in small bowl. Bring stock, tomatoes, and ancho chilies to simmer in saucepan. Place roux over low heat; whisk in spices. Cook 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Whisk in simmering stock 1 cup at a time. Add grilled onions and reserve pork bones. Increase heat and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, skimming and stirring occasionally. Add blanched garlic and simmer until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Discard pork bones. Season chili with salt. Refrigerate overnight to blend flavors.