On Writing Recipes

The history of written culinary recipes has always fascinated me. It's been a great treat to be taking a series of lectures from Joe Carlin, who among other credits, is the associate editor of the massive Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America.

Reviewing the technical details and writing styles of recipes from several historical cookbooks, such as Hannah Glasse's The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple (1747), Joe showed us how the written recipe has evolved and made several points about contemporary recipe writing which are relevant to Knife and Whisk.

Contemporary publishers show a preference for the following:

1. Recipe titles which are long, colorful, descriptive, and detailed.
2. A "personal statement" or other contextual description at the beginning of the recipe. This prose helps to give a better depth of meaning to the recipe, and interestingly, is a hallmark of early cookbooks.
3. The listing of the ingredients in very descriptive terms (such as details on the cut sizes). Additionally, no abbreviations should be used (e.g., always spell out 'tablespoon').
4. The procedure is the prose through which the author's personal voice is clearly heard. The level of detail, logic, and sequencing of the method should be obviously be clear.  Yet, the focus is often exclusively on what *to* do, not what *not* to do.  The trick is finding the right level of detail relative to your audience and other information in the cookbook; for instance, you might not need to describe what is a brunoise cut if you have a separate glossary.
5. Relatedly, there is no standard for "disaster avoidance" procedures for critical steps or possible odd consequences. On Knife and Whisk, I've frequently placed this type of non-procedural information in the Recipe Notes.
6. Contemporary cookbooks contain copious margin information depending on the experience of the writer; for instance, a dietitian might include nutrition information or a cook might describe what is a shallot.

It's great information and I'll be making these changes in the future.  I'm considering consolidating the Recipe Notes into the actual recipe posts.  Thoughts?

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Recipe Notes: Grilled Whole Onions

Place Onions Here

What? You've never roasted an onion before? Oh sure, you've thrown some cut up onion or some pearls on a sheet pan and tossed them in your oven for a half hour or so.

But, you certainly didn't do that when it was 92F outside. And, what with it being right around Labor Day and all, you needed to break out a simple grilling recipe. And, what's the point of grilling on your Grill when you just wrap the thing up in tinfoil and pretend it's a sheetpan? You want that smokey-just-grilled flavor, not that I-think-it's-Alcoa-aluminum taste.

If you've grilled whole peppers before, this is obviously a similar procedure with one major exception. Soaking the onions in water for a good amount of time is critical. It prevents their papery skins from catching on fire while allowing all the onion goodness to roast inside.

The major trick here is to ensure you've cooked the onions as thoroughly as possible. The entire onion should be black. Not brown. We're talking night sky. We're talking about a burn-down-the-house char (note: so, do this outdoors, or at least at a friend's house).

And, if your timing is right, you provide a light onion smoke for your meat searing on the other side of the grill.

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Updates, updates, updates

Excuses, excuses, excuses

Like any content-based site, keeping Knife and Whisk up-to-date is a challenge.  However, it's regrettable that the challenge hasn't been posting the ideas, experiences, and recipes--it's been the amount of time necessary to integrate Knife and Whisk with with Facebook, multiple RSS feeds, Flickr, and Twitter.

The biggest source of frustration has been integration with social sites, such as my decision to use Facebook's own Notes application to import the RSS feed automatically.  When this works, one post will update Knife and Whisk, the RSS feeds, Facebook, and Twitter all at once.  However, because Facebook constantly tinkers with the Notes application and the ability to actually import RSS feeds properly, this has been broken and required silly amounts of time to keep updated.

Additionally, because I want to keep Knife and Whisk's "tags" separate between the regular posts and the recipes (and pending product reviews), I've effectively had to create multiple blogs on Blogger which appear as one site.  Then, I've needed Google Reader to create an aggregate "bundle" feed which lets it look like one RSS feed.

Now, thanks to the excellent RSS Graffiti application on Facebook, I again have the ability to update everything in one fell swoop!  Thanks RSS Graffiti!

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A Taste of Lamb

I was able to help prep, cook, transport, and serve food at the Taste of the Nation fundraising event at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston this week.  Taste is the annual series of events held by Share our Strength, one of the most impressive charities working to reducing childhood hunger.

I represented our school, along with several other students.  We hosted two tables, one savory and one pastry, out of 108 stalls.  This was the second large scale catering type of event with which I've helped and both were equally intense.  It is so much more constructive and valuable to participate in these events from start to finish, at least as much as is possible.  The scale of the thing is one of the most valuable; in this case, we cleaned, marinated, and seared off 76 loins of spring lamb.

The menu was wonderfully clean, light, and Easter springtime--Loin of Spring Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary in a Red Wine Reduction served with a side of Fava Beans, Ramps, Morels, and Bacon. What I found really perplexing was the level of apprehension about lamb.  Remember, we're talking about people, mostly "foodies", who have donated $100 or so to enter the event. 

I know some people are turned off by the lanolin or hand-lotion flavor which can come from some lamb, but that gaminess is really an artifact of improper cleaning or serving lamb which has past puberty.  Out of the 600 servings we provided, there was an apprehension by about 50% of the people.  About half of those took a plate mostly peer pressured into it by their partner with whom they approached the table.  I convinced at least two dozen people to try the lamb--100% success rate of being impressed with a great and simple dish.

Besides getting yelled at by the chef for having a sip of champagne while actually working at the table (although I should know better, it was given to me as a toast by one of the owners of the wonderful Betty's Wok and Noodle--seemed impolite not to have a sip...), and overcooking exactly only two of the loins, I think I did a pretty decent job.  I kept the food moving non-stop through the line (unlike some of my fill-ins), kept the lamb tender and med-rare to medium, kept a damn clean station, and had a great time.  I'd have even attended the after-party if I could have found the damnable place.

Encouragingly, I can easily picture myself working at a restaurant's table in a year or two.  More importantly, I can picture myself hosting a table in the future.

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Recipe Notes: Braised Veal Tongue with Madeira and Preserved Lemon

Braised Veal Tongue
with Madeira and Preserved Lemon Glaze

Overall recipe summary:

• Yeah, yeah, I already hear it in your voice...my gawd, is this meat tasting *me*? Frankly, might you prefer this to eating the cow's arse (like ground round or a roast)? This is more disturbing than chicken 'parts'? Get over it! Tongue is such a wonderful cut of meat, is well marbled, and has the depth of flavor of many steaks. It has a very low cost (Veal: US$3-5/lb) and the veal has a delicate texture.
• Often, tongue is brined and cooked to make terrines or a kind of 'cold cut'. However, braising the meat gives a wonderful, soft bite with a very different texture--somewhat similar to a pulled pork but with smaller strands.
• The recipe and the sauce are incredibly flavorful!

Lessons learned:

• There are two layers of skin, if you will, on the meat. Keeping the top layer on through the braise helps retain moisture. However, you must ensure that you remove the outer leathery skin before the meat cools or you'll likely never get it back off.
• The second skin really doesn't need to be removed when braised, mostly cooks off, is very tender, and helps retain a 'steak like' shape when cut.
  
• The recipe can easily accommodate two tongues about 1.5 lbs each--which would have been great because there wasn't enough leftover to use as taco meat (a great leftover dish for most braises, by the way). In fact, I've updated the recipe to demonstrate this. Alternatively, one could use a larger beef tongue although I'd expect a cooking time closer to 3 hours. In my oven, with my cut of meat, with my dish, this took 2 hours in the oven.
  
• The shape of the meat is slightly awkward to sear, however keeping the outer skin on definitely helps minimize overcooking the thinner part near the tip during searing.
• The only real function of the trimmings is to help get some flavor and fond onto the dish. There's not a lot of value in keeping them in the braise itself, so this step could be eliminated if desired.
  

Overall critique:

• To my palate, spot on. Even the 5 year old ate some!
• If my chef instructor saw that I didn't sauce the entire face of the meat like in that photo, I'd expect he'd slap me upside the head. Lightly painting the meat from a braise after making a sauce really makes an incredible difference in presentation and glosses up the plate.
• One could substitute one-half of a fresh lemon, but the flavor would be different. I love the combination of Madeira and preserved lemon. A dark high-body red wine would also likely work well here. You're using your own preserved lemons, right?
  
• If one prefers, you could easily use a less reduced and more fluid sauce. However, I'm a strong advocate of using a glaze for braises because of the well done nature of the meat. Remember not to season the sauce until it is fully reduced--or you'll end up with a salt sauce.
  
• It's not critical to have the overnight soak, but it definitely helps improve the flavor.
  

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Copyrights and Recipes

Even though the internet is filled with copies upon copies of recipes, including direct verbatim transcriptions of published cookbooks, and even though I'm not making any money from Knife and Whisk, I am seriously concerned about intellectual property and US copyright law regarding recipes.

The best source I can find on the matter is from the US Copyright Office who have a specific page to explain copyright regarding recipes:

Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds, or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. However, when a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection.

Protection under the copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code, section 102) extends only to “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form (a copy).
[...]
Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic, or musical form. Copyright protection does not extend to names, titles, short phrases, ideas, systems, or methods.

Specifically, ingredient listings are not copyright-able. Neither are titles, systems or methods. What does seem protected is the "prose" with which the recipe is explained. Indeed, recipes can be a disaster, leave out ingredients or steps, not have a clear procedure, or can be a linguistic work of art.

All the "prose" or text describing the recipes on Knife and Whisk are significant paraphrases, frequently with procedural or ingredient changes, and are not copies from another source. I rarely follow recipes precisely and I'd wager any recipe I've adapted has changed at least 25%. All "recipe notes" fully originate with me. To help clarify these matters, I've cited "adapted from" statements on the recipes where I've not fully originated the recipe.

Any lawyers care to chime in?

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Waiting for Godot

As you may have noticed, I haven't updated knifeandwhisk.com in a few weeks. I assure you I haven't lost my passion. Or my password.

Instead, I ran into two unexpected circumstances:

1. On the same day I intended to post about the dynamics in our classroom, including some strange and conflicting behavior on the part of my student colleagues, I discovered at least two other students and likely one chef instructor were actually reading this site! You know who you are. In short, I struggled with how to proceed--there are many interesting personalities and details in the dynamics which are important for those of you considering a career change. I've summarily decided to not mince words or hold back on my opinions--I'm not in school to per se make friends. I'll continue to maintain a general confidentiality. And, now that four of my fellow classmates have dropped out or "gone on an indefinite leave of absence", this make things a bit easier.
2. Copyright infringement. Although some say it's your best entertainment value, after having a friend suggest that some of my posted recipes may run afoul of their copyrights, I took some time to research this in depth. I'll post on this separately and thankfully it doesn't look like any of my posts infringe on any copyrights.

That said, what an incredible culinary month it's been! Look for recipes on various breads, lamb, veal all incoming.

Also, look for lengthy diatribes on Why I am Not a Vegetarian (anymore), The Value In Taking Apart a 112lb Beef Chuck/Shoulder, and The Gear You Really Do Need In Your Kitchen.

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Recipe Notes: Crisped Pork Loin Violated with Carrots

Crisped Pork Loin
Violated with Carrots (recipe)

Overall recipe summary:

• Above average, crisped outside, sweet and juicy inside.
• Beautiful sliced presentation and color, especially where all 6 carrots intersect near the center of the roast.
• Inspired by Cristina Fernandez, President of Argentina and her comments about the vitalizing powers of pork.

Lessons learned:

• The tricky part of this recipe is properly cooking the carrots. You don't want too much crunch from the carrots in pork on the plate. You want a toothsome crunch, but it shouldn't overwhelm the crackling.
• Ensure fresh carrots, ensure about 1/2 inch diameter.
• Cook an extra couple carrots for testing for the right heat/texture of the carrots.
• Highly season the carrots to help season the center of the pork.
• Depending on the quality of your meat and details on how it's cooked, you may not have fond for a pan sauce. If a pan sauce is highly desired, try placing the loin directly on the pan and surrounded by the aromatics. The downside of this approach is if the loin drips too much fat, you'll be frying the bottom of your loin.
• Probably tastes better than Viagra.

Overall critique:

• The recipe still needs some minor tweaking, but pretty solid.
• First attempt didn't include parcooking the carrots which is critical to ensure they properly cook.
• Absolutely ensure the crust is fully developed before reducing the heat. The flavor and texture is a big part of the dish.

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Recipe Notes: March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins (recipe)

I'm nowhere near clever enough to have thought of this one.

Several months ago, I saw this idea on CutOutAndKeep (which I saw highlighted on SeriousEats)

I've been looking for an excuse to make these at one of the next parties I hosted which had little kids. We invited families to my birthday this weekend and these little guys were a pretty big hit with the dozen or so 5 year olds.

In fact, I had to snap this picture of the last few very quickly before they marched away. I didn't even have time to clean up the cheese on them before kids (and a couple friends) took them right off the board.

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Birthday Cake: I'll Eat My Hat

I'll eat my hat. Then my knife.

Sharon Berke at Sweet*Bea Cakes made this amazing cake for my birthday, shown here before we lit it on fire and ate it.

At one point, someone actually picked up the gum paste chef's knife to use to cut something else, ripping the handle from the blade. What else could you ask for?

The 'chef' appellation is a wee bit premature, but sweet nonetheless.

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