How to Cook Chicken Legs in a Jar

I am remiss to post any recipe I have not tried. This is an exception. I found it immediately captivating and clever. 

The cook is from Romania-- where, BTW, they do a lot of canning as many post WWII countries still do today. Their techniques vary wildly from American practices, so be careful if you follow any of them. Their meat canning videos are always fascinating. 

At first, I thought that was a canning video and became a bit alarmed when I saw the addition of cream. A no-no in the canning world.

But she didn't can any of this. She simply used canning jars--and it's important to use canning jars because of their heat-containing capability.

For one or two people, this is a no-brainer. I supposed one could use a casserole dish but, this, I believe, allows more of a gentle steam and for the rice to absorb all those lovely juices.

A few things I will to different: add a half-piece of bacon for added flavor, use a mix of leeks and onions, add some shredded carrots and I always add thyme to any chicken recipe. 

If you know someone who is ill or having mobility issues, this a great gift containing all the essentials of a balanced meal: starch, protein, veggies. And it's fresh.

Cover jars tightly with tin foil. To be safe, your chicken should register around 165F.

Watermelon-Feta Summer Salad and an Old, But-Not Forgotten Poem/Friend

A more grown up watermelon salad.

When I managed a produce department, watermelon questions abounded during the summer months. Mostly, "Is this ripe?" On one hand, it drove me nuts; on the other, it was high entertainment to watch the voodoo antics customers performed and ritualized to pick out the best one.

Some rude people expected me to cut open whole watermelon after watermelon until I cut one to their liking. For the most part, people were kind and obliging. (I will have some tips at the end of this blog on how to pick out a good watermelon.)

Sadly, most watermelon here in the States is consumed on its own ... simply slice-and-serve. That's too bad because watermelon makes for an incredible summer salad. It is cool, juicy, delicious. Fortunately, watermelon has grown up in the last decade. Gone are the childhood "baskets" grandma labored over so lovingly for the family picnic and always photographed ... and picked at. 

 Always the star of the family picnic!

(Sadly, gone are the days when one of my best grade school friends, Phillip, who lived on a small farm with 11 siblings!!!--yes, it was a Catholic school with real nuns! We often raided the family watermelon patch with our trusty pen knives. Those were the best melons! The farm is now gone and covered with a subdivision.)

Today, watermelon salads almost constitute a meal. Its sweet juiciness pairs ever so well with Feta's earthy saltiness and brine.  Just those two ingredients with a squeeze of lime is wonderful. 

But why stop there?

Make a real "garden" garden salad by adding cucumber pieces and sliced, sweet grape tomatoes. Add black olives, either regular or Kalamata. Make a honey-lime vinaigrette. Toss with basil and some mint. Add some thin-sliced red onion. Now that's a salad worthy of any picnic. Top with a flurry of toasted walnuts or a sprinkle of pistachios. And, yes, watermelon and tomatoes pair well!

Years ago, on weekends after work, I often travelled to Milwaukee, which had a significant Greek population. A small neighborhood deli sold authentic hand-made Feta formed into ginormous square ice-berg blocks swimming and bathed in brine in tin vats which they cut to order. I've never had Feta that good since!

Below is a basic savory--not sweet--watermelon salad. I've never had anyone complain. Mediterranean salads like these were all the rage five-six years ago. Feel free to add to it--or subtract. Usually, family and guests want the recipe/formula.

Serve with a beautiful grilled chicken breast or fresh fillet of fish of your choice. A cold wine ... Hello Summer! Just grilled hamburgers? This melon-heaven elevates the entire meal--to neighbor envy. Always a good thing ...

Add your watermelon at the last possible moment to avoid "pooling." If possible, keep your cut chunks in a colander or large sieve over a covered bowl in the fridge to catch as much water as possible. Discard as much of the interior gelatinous part of your tomatoes as possible.

If you're not an onion person, a quick run under boiling water will lessen their stringent sharp taste. 

When serving, keep, if possible, some of the ingredients in small bowls for guests to add extra, especially the Feta.

I've also had this with FRESH peaches and topped with fanned avocado slices. Wonderful. 

 

• 3-4 cups cubed seedless watermelon
• 1 cup sliced tomatoes, squeezed of seeds, or use cherry tomatoes cut in half 
• 1 large English cucumber ... I skin mine in "stripes" and scoop out any seeds. If using garden cukes, peel and spoon out the center seedy parts. Cut into chunks. Substitution: Water Chestnuts
• 1/3-1/2 cup pitted black olives, American or Greek, drained, (cut in half if desired)
• 1-3/-1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese from a large chunk
• 1/4 razor-thin sliced red onion in half circles OR some chopped green onions (both optional)
• Herbs of your choice: basil leaves, mint leaves, tarragon
• Shelled walnuts or pecans (optional but makes a nice garnish)

Basic Vinaigrette for a Watermelon Salad

• 2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
• 1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• Zest of one lime
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 large fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste.

• Place ingredients in a jar and shake until emulsified. Taste for seasonings and adjust. Drizzle over salad just before serving. I like to keep some to the side for those who would like more. Suggestion: Keep a small bowl of Aleppo pepper flakes on the side for those who like a bit of heat/spice.

If you have a "Jenga" brain easily stimulated by the sight of LEGO's, this may be the salad for you! For one or two people, it is a fun presentation. Beware, it takes a lot of time and creates a lot of waste. Do not attempt to use a knife to cut the squares. You need a square cookie cutter. 

I've made these balsamic shots and they're great! Simply use a mini scoop to make a "dent" in the top square of the melon. Put in a drop or two of balsamic vinegar GLAZE. Cut same-sized squares of Feta cheese to place under the watermelon square or sprinkle over as in the photo. Serve on a lettuce leaf. I've also used blue-cheese crumbles. Just use a quality brand.

Lastly ... when serving any salad with tomatoes and if you have access to actual plants in your garden, garnish with real tomato stems ... cut the "suckers" from your plants ... put in small glass jars ... First, bruise the stems a little to release the oils/fragrance. Mix with some wildflowers/daisies/grasses ...

🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉

When I was a young teacher, this collection of poems (same title) was a joy to teach. The book created quite a stir amongst English majors across the country when it was first published and was, if you can imagine, a run-away best seller. I could only afford the paperback copy. I still have it, tattered and marked. Keep every book you ever read. There is a reason they market bookshelves . . .

We don't read enough poetry. Today, in fact, we barely read at all--especially for the sake and sheer love of reading. I taught poetry for decades. I can honestly say no student ever complained. Even during Hamlet. Most felt special and grown-up as we discovered humanity that united and defined who we were  . . . 

Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle

by John Tobias

How to choose a sweet seedless watermelon:

1. First and foremost, look for the spot where the watermelon sat on the ground. Never choose one with a "white" spot. You want yellow/golden. White means it was picked too soon.
2. This is often overlooked but important. Check the "webbing" on the watermelon ... it looks like very faint or fine spider webs crawling on the melon... The more webbing, the better the melon. 
3. Look at the over-all color. It should be bright, healthy-looking, and shiny, not dull in color or sheen.
4. Heft it. The heavier the better. It has a lot of "water." 

5. While the shell should have just a bit of "give" to it, you don't want soft or mushy. 

5. Go ahead and tap it. It should have a hollow sound--but that is the least denominator of choosing a melon.

6. The stem should be brown; if green, it was picked too early.

7. Read the poem above. Center its sentiment within your inner watermelon OM ... 

Sour Cream and Clove Pork Chops

You are just going to have to trust me on this recipe. I found it in my grandmother's old World War II cookbook years and years ago. I loved it. Then I kind of forgot about it.

I used to write a column for a local newspaper and recently came across a short note a reader had left me that I had tucked away in a cookbook expressing her admiration for the recipe. But, apparently, not as much as her friend she shared it with "who makes it at least once a week and is addicted."

I am typing the recipe exactly as it appeared in the cookbook. I suggest making it as is before altering or adding to it. Suggestions are in the notes below.

The recipe is easily halved, but I suggest making all the sauce to use over mashed potatoes or rice. Even a good biscuit.

My pork chop of choice is a "rib end" pork chop. Depending where you live, they may not be easily found. At any rate, I like the extra fat and taste it brings. Don't use skinny boneless chops. I cook mine to about 145 F degrees. I like my pork to still have a tinge of pink. Recommended is 160 degrees.You do you.

Please note, "clove" here does not refer to a garlic clove, but an actual whole clove--the kind used at Christmas for holiday baking. It, along with the sugar and vinegar, creates a kind of white, simple "barbecue sauce." 

"Season" your flour how you like it. I use salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.  

Savory is not always easy to find. You can sub marjoram, dried sage leaves or, in a pinch, oregano.

• Prepare for cooking
•     4 loin pork chops, 1/2-inch thick.
• Dredge them with
•     Seasoned flour.
• Insert in each chop
•     1 whole clove.
• Brown them lightly in a little hot pork fat or lard. Place them in a baking dish. Combine, heat and pour over them:
•     1/2 cup water
•     1 bay leaf
•     2 tablespoons vinegar
•     1 tablespoon sugar
•     1/2 cup sour cream
•     1/4 teaspoon savory
• Cover the dish. Bake the chops in a moderate oven of about 350 F degrees for about one hour or until done. Remove cloves and bay leaf.

I think one hour is a bit long. Usually 30-40 minutes does it. As the sauce cooks, it will appear curdled. That is normal. Just re-stir. Plain white vinegar is fine. It is important to keep this covered as it cooks.

This is not a pretty dish. If I have a red onion on hand, sometimes, I will take a few slices of "rings" to throw over chops as they cook. It adds some color. I have also taken small canned new potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and tucked them in about halfway through cooking. Whole sage leaves make for an attractive garnish. 

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

For a trendier presentation, cut baking parchment into squares. Use the bottom of
a glass or jar to push into each cavity to form a liner.

A blueberry muffin will only be as good as the blueberries in it. If using fresh, be sure they are not "soft or mushy." They should be plump, sweet. And they should taste like blueberries. Many do not.

Now is the time is to whip up a batch when blueberries are their most flavorful.  Here in the South, we are having a cool spring. Hooray! That means blueberries have much more flavor. Including strawberries. Heat and berries just do not go together. By the time it does get hot and humid, berries from the North will be available and those from the mountains nearby.

I worked in many produce departments and I can honestly say that I have never had a great tasting blueberry from South America. Never. 

I've used several blueberry muffin recipes through the years, but I've settled on this one which has a bit of history behind it. Apparently, in the mid 1980s, there was a bit of a blueberry muffin competition in The NY Times Food Section. They championed a blueberry muffin recipe from The Carlton Ritz only to be schooled by readers that the best blueberry muffins were from the now defunct Boston department store Jordan Marsh.

Jordan Marsh won.

I used to make American Test's Kitchen recipe but have since found it is really based on the Jordan Marsh recipe but a bit more fussy (they cook down the mashed blueberries until a jammy syrup is formed).

 When baking only 10, keep the two middle cups empty.

The Jordan Marsh recipe mostly floating around the Internet is close to the original, but not quite accurate. There is a video of a reporter interviewing the famous "baker" John Pupek, who made these muffins for 30 years. After reviewing the video a number of times, a baker noticed several major differences from the Internet recipe and made three attempts to duplicate these muffins as close to the original as possible. Their proportions are the ones I give in the recipe below. Here are the major differences: 

FLOUR: The original recipe, without a doubt, uses two types of flour: one cup bread flour and one cup pastry flour. I'm not a pastry baker. I've never purchased pastry flour. I've never seen it in the grocery store. I doubt I ever buy at all. But you can make your own, if you have cake flour. The ratio is 1/2 cup AP flour mixed with 1/2 cup cake flour. (If all you have on hand is AP flour, fine. Just note that the texture will be a bit different than using the recommended two cups of different flour. You do you.

FATS: In a video where the original baker talks about his famous recipe, you can hear him talk about creaming "shortening." Now, to be fair, it is not uncommon for bakers to call any solid "fat" shortening. Remember, these were produced on a major, industrial scale. From a profit point-of-view, I find it difficult to believe they used all butter. And, in the video, you can see the creamed sugar and shortening is "butter-colored." Unlike butter, shortening has less, if any, moisture. 

BERRIES: In the video, they use frozen berries. They are also sure to mix them with some of the flour mixture before adding them to the batter.

EGGS: The authentic recipe used "fortified" eggs. Eggland brand is an example. I'm passing on that one. But it is suggested to add one at a time, scraping down the bowl as necessary. You want to incorporate air into the batter.

FILLING and BAKING: It's agreed to fill paper-lined muffin cups to the top, a bit domed. This will make a well-rounded muffin. Bake at 400 F degrees for five minutes, then lower temperature to 375 and bake an additional 25 minutes.

TOPPING: In the video, they use A LOT of white sugar to top each muffin. Some people use turabando sugar for more crunch. The call is yours.

Hope that is not too confusing. Now, on to the recipe:

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening 
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 whole 'fortified' eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen is fine, but thaw 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 cup pastry flour or
• (1/2 cup AP flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour) see notes above
• 2 tablespoons extra flour (any kind) set aside
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar for tops

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees F with rack in middle of the oven.

1. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with baking spray. Using shortening, also grease the top of the pan. Place ten paper liners in sprayed cups, leaving the two middle cups empty. Do not attempt to bake these without paper liners or they will fall apart because of their high moisture content.
2. In a large bowl or mixer, cream butter and shortening until fluffy.
3. Add sugar and beat on medium for a good minute or more until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as necessary. Beat for about 2-3 minutes. Important to whip air into the batter.
5. Add vanilla and and beat for a few more seconds to combine.
6. Remove 1/2 cup of blueberries to a small bowl and mash. Set aside. (If using frozen and you have too much juice, discard some, but not all.)
7. Sprinkle remaining blueberries with the 2 tablespoons of flour to coat.
8. Mix flours with salt and baking powder.
9. Begin adding flour mixture and the milk a little at a time with mixer running. Once they are both in, DO NOT MIX FURTHER otherwise muffins will be flat and tough.
10. Fold in mashed berries. Fold in whole berries (if using frozen, include any juices that have accumulated).
11. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the mixture between the ten prepared muffin papers, piling high above the rim.
12. Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons sugar.
13. Place in oven. Bake for five minutes then reduce oven temperature to 375 and bake for 20 more minutes. If your oven heats unevenly, rotate pan halfway. Do not over bake. Because of blueberries, the "toothpick" test does not really work. If you don't have to open door, don't.
14. Remove to a rack to cool.
15. Once cool, gently pry the muffins out by making sure the overhang did not stick to pan top.

 Fresh butter, cream cheese, or plain. Which is your favorite?

P.S.

Many people have noted that this is actually a coffee cake "masquerading" as a muffin. And they are correct. Most cake batters and coffee-cake batters can easily become muffins. And vice-versa. 

Instead of muffins,  spread batter in a greased 8x8 cake tin.  Sprinkle with the sugar. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, a few minutes less if using convection. 

I've only found a few recipes and they differ on the amount of blueberries to add. And neither says anything about mashing a proportion. One adds one-and-one-half cups whole berries, the other adds all 2.5 cups. For a coffeecake, I  probably would not add all 2.5 cups.