Nosh for Thought: Having Fun
It is only fitting to post a counterbalance to my Stressgiving blurb. How do you make cooking, if you don’t enjoy it as much as me, more fun?
1) You could goof off and create something silly like this Potato Volcano. Nothing says silly like Rosemary spews of ash and Gravy lava flows…
2) Do you play music when you cook? Maybe play some jazz, classical or whatever you enjoy to change the mood.
3) Pour yourself a nice glass of wine. Since wine is made for sipping, it will fit nicely with your prep and cooking times.
4) Invite someone else to help you out. You can be the executive chef and someone else can be the sous chef.
5) Do some experimentation. Experiment on non-essential meal items if you can. Play with the spices, cooking time, method or just frankly make something different.
If cooking is a chore for you, try to make it less so.
Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Stressgiving
Most of our meals aren’t much in terms of thought required or advance planning. We just whip something together to keep the family fed. Thanksgiving is such a different beast altogether…
First, the bird, if you are cooking a turkey, is ridiculously large and awkward. Second, you don’t just have 2 side dishes, you have to put out much more. Lastly, and I think the most challenging item is who is coming to dinner and what are their expectations? Are people going to bring food? drink? Do you have some folks who will be assisting you in the kitchen whether you asked them or not? So much of Thanksgiving stress really does emanate from the social aspect of the holiday.
One victory would be to get that turkey cooked right. Another one, would be that you have that turkey resting comfortably while the other side dishes are being constructed, warmed etc. If you could wash away that big worry of the turkey, you’ll have energy for that other stuff.. some that I can’t fix with a fancy cooking suggestion..
Click on the image for my video on turkey prep and dry brining as a solid first step. Happy Thanksgiving Nosh Nation!
Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh For Thought: Keeping Your Head Above..Crust
Isn’t that a great looking pie bird? She is poking her head out of my homemade lard crust I had for an apple pie. Doing a valuable service of venting steam so the crust won’t collapse..anyway..
Some days, it feels like we are drowning in an endless sea of distractions and legitimate problems. It is hard to keep your head above it all. With COVID, it has been 10x worse. With one’s live thrown in upheaval, it is easy to retreat below the crust. DON’T! KEEP UP THE FIGHT! Everyday is a new adventure.
Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Pushing yourself
If you have been paying attention to my content over the last month or so, I have been kind of going through an Italian phase. As we aren’t of Italian descent nor have many Italian friends inviting us over to their homes for spectacular Italian meals, I decided I wanted to make a change. Why am I forced to eat crappy dried pasta from a box? Why am I forced to hoof it into Boston’s North End for a respectable Italian meal? Well no more! As you can see in this pic, here is some fresh fettucine I made myself… I can’t wait to practice more and more! How do you motivate yourself to learn? What is the trigger?
Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh For Thought: Simplicity
How does a pic of pizza generate deep thoughts? This pic is sort of a nice reminder of what content I focus on; savoring the simple things. Here we have a slice of pizza for my lunch on a bench. For $9.50, I had a great view, can’t be beat!! A lot of the cooking instruction here focuses on simple preparation and low stress. I hope you love our content! Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought:
For those who have noticed… yes, I am dabbling more and more in Italian cuisine. After a lot of quality time at home for the last 18 months or so, one must find a great outlet for their energy and passion.
I am not of Italian descent and I never really cooked much Italian cuisine other than a horrible version of pasta and beef and a bad pizza. Now? Watch out!!! I am dangerous…
One of our most recent videos highlighted the San Marzano tomatoes in this picture and the basis for my easy pizza sauce. It has been eye opening for me to realize what crappy sauce is put on pizza these days.
Do you seek to learn new things? It is never too late to learn, remember that!
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought:
Hi Nosh Nation!!! It has been way overdue for me to do some writing. I have been laser focused on amping up my video quality and consistency.
If you note here, I have relaunched my wine programming. Wine & 3 ended and I wanted to keep something up for our wine content.
Wine is such a great complement to the food we eat. Why not continue to give you the wine education to make you a better consumer and develop an appreciation to this magic in a glass. My first wine I featured of course, is one that is part of my Boisset Collection program. Such an aromatic wine but so refreshing for these summer months. Click on the pic and you’ll be directed to our YouTube channel. I hope you are entertained!!! More to come from me..
Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh For Thought: In Season!
With what is available to us here in the US, we are rather spoiled. What used to be a short period of the year to enjoy many food items is now a yearlong thing. We have 24/7 and Amazon access to everything we want.
I attempt to stay to my old fashioned roots and use fresh, in-season items. Pictured on the left is Sea Scallops from New England Fishmongers. The season is ending and I just had to grab them. Even though I could get them year round, maybe I am contributing to the sustainability of the product or just supporting the local fishery and the people that work in it. For a viewer:
1 -2# Sea Scallops. Try to have them all the same size to cook evenly.
For the dressing: 1/4C Mayo, 1 tsp Srircha, 1 tsp lime juice and a pinch of sugar. We can play with these ratios to have some fun.
Mix the dressing ingredients, take 1 TBSP and mix with scallops in another bowl.
Put the scallops in a shallow roasting pan, 500 degrees 5 minutes.
Take Scallops out, Put the oven to Broil. Flip scallops over and put a dollop of the reserved dressing. Put in broiler 2-3 minutes. Done!
Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: A Birthday!
2 years ago, the Nosh thing started at 4am. Just spontaneous.. couldn’t sleep, frustrated.. wanted to do so much more with myself than staying in banking. 27 years is a long time to do one thing. I was passionate about good food and drink but never knew that others would like my message of Eat.Drink.Savor. What really brought it home for me was feedback from people like you that said, “Yes, I think the same way you do”. With COVID, things changed and I took the opportunity to grow this into a business. We have a long way to go but have accomplished so much. Thank you all! I am grateful.
Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: What will this year bring you?
Or shall we ask, what will you bring to 2021?
2020 was a writeoff in all senses. I never liked resolutions and don’t make them. The resolutions always dissolved into the fog of apathy and lack of commitment in February.
On a more uplifiting note, what will I bring into 2021 that was part of 2020?
- A rebrand and relaunch of everything we started in 2019
- A focus on our core tag line, Eat.Drink.Savor.
- A focus on you, our subscribers, and on the content and offerings you value
- A willingness to continue to innovate
Onto 2021!!! Let’s rock this year. Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: A COVID Thanksgiving
What a year.. and the holidays are upon us. For many of us, we won’t be having the Thanksgiving in this Rockwell depiction. Gatherings are limited and travel is pretty much out of the question. Adapt and overcome seems to be the call to action and Eat.Drink.Savor. means something more. What will I be doing? Instead of traveling and seeing my family, we’ll be home. I put the Thanksgiving menu to a vote and somehow the traditional dishes won out. Everyone is pitching in to help and, frankly it give us something to do versus staring at a screen. Be safe and sound everyone! Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: A Great Fail
In cooking, our best laid out plans always go awry. Get used to it! This pork belly looks awesome, right? Well, I didn’t cook it the way I wanted and had to pull it off at 170 degrees. Not the 205 I wanted.. In the end, we treated it like a smoked pork chop vs. the tender strands of belly I planned. You must adapt and overcome as a cook and make the best of everything. You know what? My diners didn’t seem to notice one bit. I actually made Burnt Pork Belly Ends from this a few days later. Eat. Drink. Savor.!
Nosh for Thought: Salad Haters
I am a reluctant salad eater. Unless the dressing is excellent, I have a hard time eating it. I know I need the vegetables in my diet. How do I do it? I like to make sauteed or braised greens. Pictured to the left is Sauteed Spinach. It takes like all of 5 minutes to do. I add, of course, some rendered, crisped homemade bacon, garlic and some cheese for a topping. It is hard for me to share this with the rest of the family but I do… You can saute Swiss Chard and Beet Greens as well. Other greens are more geared for other cooking methods. Anyway, if you are like me and need the greens, then Saute them! Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Homemade Bacon
Once I learned how easy it was to make my own bacon, I have never looked back. I make my bacon with a curing salt to allow longer storage but really, I eat it all before I have to worry about it. The quality of the pork is important though so don’t skimp! Go to your local butcher and tell them what you are up to and they’ll indulge. If not, there are plenty of sources on the Internet for pasture-raised pork. And if you can score access to a meat slicer, even better! I was lucky in my acquisition but it is hard to cut slices this thin with a knife. You can also keep the bacon in slab form and cut as needed. Watch my video on our new YouTube channel and try making it yourself; you’ll be very very happy. Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Ah, the Lobsta!
Summer in New England has many great things but for me, its the lobster. I am fortunate to live close to the ocean and able to buy lobster cheaper than finfish. The debate rages on the best way to cook this crustacean. I like to steam them. Why? 1) Little water to boil ; less mess 2) With only an inch of water, I am burning less fuel and having a less of an impact on the environment. From a Foodie perspective, steaming allows me to get creative with the liquid in the pot. I can also add aromatics too! Hmm, wine and garlic anyone? Try it for your next lobster feast and see what you think. Eat.Drink.Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Why Duck?
Why is this protein so intimidating? Is duck really considered poultry? It is considered waterfowl but its meat isn’t what I would call “chickeny”. Yes, I made up that word.
What are the other obstacles? Well, the biggest one is a mixed blessing, FAT! That wonderful fat that can do so many things can also fowl up your cooking experience. You must render out as much fat as possible to make your dish superb. In this pic, I got fancy and did a little crosshatch thing.
Next obstacle? Duck’s proportions aren’t comparable to chicken. The duck’s legs are rather small. How does this matter? Well, most people prefer a medium rare breast (135 degrees) while wanting the legs/thighs at 175 degrees or higher. That is a 40 degree gap to fill. You can do some gymnastics by portioning out your bird ahead of time but for some, it’s a pain in the tail feathers. I recommend a compromise: shoot for a 150-160 temp on the breast and you might be happy. For you purists that want that medium rare, be prepared to take alternate actions. I will share more techniques in our soon to be relaunched YouTube channel.
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Quarantine
I made a corned beef from scratch for St. Patty’s Day. Since then, a lot of us have been locked away in our homes, away from our jobs, away from our loved ones and friends. We have been restricted from engaging in our normal routine. This picture to date represents at least 5 meals. I took a portion of this brisket and made pastrami and another portion of it to make a hash (I talk about this in another post). I have used that again and again to stretch things out so I do not need to go to the supermarket.
But this whole experience of COVID-19 has brought on a lot of questions, but for me, more importance to what I am doing with Nosh. We do go out to eat but not as much as others. I cook A LOT. My lovely wife cooks A LOT. A few things to ponder:
- Are we overly reliant on restaurants?
- Are we relying too much on just-in-time buying at the market?
- Are we losing simple cooking skills?
- Have we become spoiled with what is available to us, wherever and whenever we want?
I don’t want the answers and I know this will all pass. We will persevere. We will be strong.
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Leftover Corned Beef Hodgepodge (or Hash)
For those who are now stuck at home with no access to restaurants. Guess what? You are being pressed into service. Scary. You are nervous and don’t know where to start. Here is a primer on this dish. It is simple but tastes like a gourmet meal. Don’t worry, I got you.
1) In a pan, put a tbsp or two of some sort of fat. What is that? It could be butter, olive oil, spray on oil, whatever you have. In this one, I put in 2 slices of bacon, diced and slowly warmed it up in the pan until there was about 2 tbsp of fat.
2) Chop up an onion. I don’t care how you get there. Cook it in the fat until the onion is soft and translucent (not pure white anymore).
3) Put in all the ingredients that have been already cooked and just need to be warmed. In this case, I threw in the leftover cabbage and shredded corned beef I had. Cook until they are warm again.
4) I tossed in 6-8 eggs scrambled. Cook the eggs.
5) Lastly, I put in a handful of cheddar cheese. It will melt into the mixture.
Adapt and Overcome. We will be strong and we won’t stop fighting. Be safe Nation!
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Is it a Braise or a Boil?
Look at those carrots! Mmm! I don’t make them enough as the guinea pig seems to have first dibs on them. For this Jose Andres recipe, I created a mirepoix for the stock base. Simple is good.
1) Put up to 2 pounds of peeled carrots, cut on the diagonal, 1/2“ inch thick in a wide pot that has 1 cup and 3 tbs of butter at the boil. A little seasoning and some thyme.
2) Cook, medium-high heat covered for about 10 minutes until the carrots are knife tender.
3) Take cover off and boil at high heat until most of the liquid is gone and you hear sizzle, about 5 minutes. Add a tbsp of maple syrup and a tbsp of cider vinegar off heat.
DONE! Jose just wrote a book about vegetables and was re-published in Milk Street. I happily obliged and tried it. Very pleased. For you budding cooks, try this and you’ll be happy. Eat your veggies!! Think of all the variables for this recipe!
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Low Effort?
Last night, I made a Pork Belly Confit. “Pete, you espouse Low Effort Low Stress cooking, what is that?” You are right, this did take effort.
Confiit is an old method of cooking and preserving animal proteins in fat. In this case, the pork belly is cured overnight and is cooked in rendered pork fat in a Dutch oven for 3 hours at 250 degrees. The pieces here were sauteed to create that wonderful crust for another 10 minutes. The pieces I am not serving are sitting comfortably in my fridge in a bowl covered by the congealed fat. They will last for months.
I emphasize low effort as a way for the Nosh Nation to conquer their fear and hangups about cooking. You need to start simply and have something on the table in less than an hour.
So why am I showing this? This is what I call Comfortable Effort. Yes, it took a while but I didn’t mind. I staged some of the components out over time. While I was prepping, the kitchen was clear and clean. I had Jazz music on and a nice pint glass of Porter. It didn’t occur to me on how long it took. I made my kitchen a comforting work environment. The results speak for themselves. Once you get better and more confident in your cooking skills, do something challenging. This is what I call the fun part of cooking.
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Deviation
In my recent post, I attempted to “Yankee-ize” a popular Southern dish, Shrimp & Grits. Why? Just because..but I really wanted to take advantage of a more plentiful resource up here in New England, lobster! I also had some fresh garlic sausage links sitting in my freezer.
When you choose to deviate off of proven recipes, I recommend only changing a few variables. In this instance, I changed out the proteins (lobster/garlic vs. shrimp/andouille) and the stock (lobster v. chicken). The dish was good but not as great as the original. The richer lobster meat maybe needed that hotter, spicier sausage. Maybe a bourbon burn on the lobster might have done it. In the end, we all still ate it and I saw a few folks going for seconds. What is my message? Try things out in increments and see what happens. You may surprise yourself.
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Risk Taking
In some of my recent content on Instagram, I talked about taking risks. In cooking, that doesn’t mean endangering people with food born illness. It means trying something new and risking failure (i.e. uneaten food). I do not fear failure, in fact, I am a big fan of it as it helps me improve my cooking. So many people are afraid to even try, I say go for it!
I tried dandelion greens for the first time. I have had them in salad before but sparingly and honestly, I don’t eat a lot of salads. My mistake with the greens? Not doing what I could to extract the bitterness out of them. I make Swiss chard a lot and they are bitter but not to the extreme these dandelions are. Next time I’ll take more care. A member of Nosh Nation suggested massaging the greens… ah… ok…
The bottom line here is that my risk was realized. No one had more than a few bites of my dish. I accepted it and moved on. As backup, I had a great fish and a starch that were fine. Take risks in your cooking and expand your horizons!
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Eat your Veggies
Has cauliflower ever looked so good? And this is before I drizzled the awesome dressing on it. MMMM!!! Now, this recipe is courtesy of Diane Kochilas through the latest edition of Milk Street.
Dressing: 1/2 c EVOO, 2 1/2 tbsp Dijon, 1 tbsp Balsamic, 2 tsp honey, 2 cloves garlic, grated, salt & pepper.
1) Take a head of cauliflower, trim it up the leaves and cut the core flat against the flowerets so it can stand.
2） Whisk together ingredients for the dressing. Keep 1/4 cup aside for serving.
3) 450 degree oven, put cauliflower on a baking sheet with parchment. Brush dressing all over!
4) After 40 minutes test that it is done by sticking a skewer all the way through to the core. Make sure it doesn’t meet any resistance.
5）Mix 2 oz feta and 1/4 c. of parsley. Take 1 1/2 tbsp of mustard and slather it on the cauliflower. Press the feta/parsley on top. Cook 5-8 minutes until cheese is melted.
6) Cut head into wedges. Serve with extra dressing.
Voila! A very easy recipe and quite flavorful. Definitely try it other veggie candidates.
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Monday
Its another manic Monday, wish it were Sunday cause that’s my fun day… Ah, I hear you Susanna. The weekend fun may be over but your body still needs food to survive. How do you manage your busy week? Maybe you take the worst of the days and make it your leftover day? How about a pizza night? Go out? Take out? Clean out the fridge?
Besides all of the above, maybe it’s time to start to embrace either the Crock-Pot or the Insta-Pot. There is nothing more satisfying to me is when I throw some stuff in a pot, push a button in the morning and I come home to a wonderful smell emanating from the kitchen. And… it is done!! No fuss! I do recommend that your gadget has an automatic warmer feature so if something only takes 6 hours, it won’t be overcooked when you finally make it back to your abode. There are plenty of recipes for these gadgets plus you can easily convert your favorite recipes as well. Use technology to your advantage! Lower your stress too!
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: The Humble Cod
We eat fish every Friday. After a while one gets a hankering to shake things up a bit. Cod, the state fish of Massachusetts, is frankly quite bland. I am amazed when I am in the fish market that more often than not most of the patrons are buying cod. I prefer cod for chowders but typically steer away from it for any other preparations. In this instance I had some old lobster stock in the freezer and a moment of clarity came over me. Why not make a lobster gravy? I can make killer gravy, so play to my strength, right? Plus cod really needs something else to make it stand out.
For this dish, I seasoned the cod simply and then made the gravy while the fish was coming up to room temperature and the potatoes were roasting. As with all my other pan-seared fish, I had a cast iron skillet get rip roaring hot, added a little olive oil and sesame and watched it shimmer and start to smoke. Place the cod in the pan and sear for about 3-5 minutes until you see a nice sear on it. Flip and put in a 450 degree oven to finish off at 140 degrees internal temperature. Fish is for dinner! What was once a horrible tasteless fish is now a heavenly bite…
What did my “patrons” think? Leftovers were scant at best and I have been asked to remember the recipe…😊。 Funny since there was no recipe….
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Simple but Elegant
I love tuna and in all its forms. Yes, even the tuna in a can. Look at this dish! 45 minutes start to finish! I don’t make this often as tuna is normally $18.99 a pound and that’s not sushi grade. Why do I make it? Well, the tuna takes 6 minutes to make. In this pic, I served it over a bed of seaweed salad (store bought）and roasted mustard crusted potatoes. Ok, here we go:
1) Buy top quality tuna
2) Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a sesame or crunchy topping. Let it sit at room temp for 20-30 mins.
3) Get a cast iron pan scorching hot. Add olive oil and another flavorful oil. When it starts to shimmer and smoke, throw on the tuna. 3 minutes. FLIP! 3 minutes. Done!
Is that all there is? Yes, you bet. Bonne appetit!
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: New Recipes
Who likes eating the same old dishes over and over again? I certainly don’t. I can’t stand it. I ate enough pork chops in my childhood…
Here are some tips for you adventurous types like me:
1) Read the recipe more than once.
2) Figure out how much time is required from start to finish. Can you do parts of this recipe ahead of time? Or will you have to cook it in real time?
3) Do you have most of the ingredients? Do you have to fly to a foreign country to find the spices? Stick to simple or easily interchangeable ingredients.
4) MISE EN PLACE!!!! Prep everything ahead of time and put it in bowls. Lay out your gear. No last minute chopping, searching for gear or ingredients.
5) If you like the recipe, write down notes on what you liked and didn’t like. Maybe suggest different portion sizes or amounts… Add this to your rotation.
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought 2020: A New Beginning
The pic on the left is the best one I took for 2019. The pre-dawn hours on a beach. Every day there is a dawn but they never look quite the same. Will 2020 be the same old same old for you? Instead of resolving to fix something that you’ll likely abandon by February, let’s enjoy your strengths. Whatever you are good at, keep doing it! Work on enjoying the present. Fretting about the past and worrying about the future takes you away from the now. In my various vids and pics, I challenge myself to eat slower and learn to bake. If I don’t succeed? So what! Keep grinding and love who you are and what you have accomplished. Nosh Nation! Stay tuned for more valuable content this year.
Eat. Drink. Savor.
Nosh for Thought: Set the Table!
In our rush to cook and eat something sometimes we end up adding more stress to what is likely an already stressful day. Last night I showed my lovely wife what the power of Mise en Place can do. Making this ATK chickpea recipe was much easier with all ingredients prepped, measured, in individual bowls and in order. What could have turned into an hour long production took only about 30 minutes. Next time do this and I guarantee you’ll be much happier!
Eat. Drink. Savor.