The ultimate comfort food is the dish your mother makes when you return home from semesters away. For me, this was a version of the famous soy sauce chicken or 紅燒雞, translated literally as "red-cooked chicken." My mother perfected this recipe in my later college years, dispensing with fussy, unnecessary steps to arrive at such an easy and carefree procedure that she called it 懶人雞, which translates to "lazy person's chicken". I further adapted it by adding vegetables to create a one-dish meal that had my own children fighting over the flavor-drenched cabbage.
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| Lazy chicken with cabbage |
Although generally playing a supportive "side-dish" role, potatoes and other underground treasures are so comforting and delicious that they are frequently the first to disappear in any holiday spread. Here are some of our family favorites.
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| Country-style mashed potatoes (recipe below) |
Who doesn't love a steaming plate of mashed potatoes, ready to absorb and deliver all those fabulous oils and juices emanating from well-seasoned vegetables and roasted meats? At our large Thanksgiving gatherings, we find ourselves tripling, then quadrupling recipes -- and still running out.
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| Cottage Pie - using Elise Bauer's recipe |
And potatoes are so inexpensive, you don't have to confine your enjoyment to the holidays. Mashed potatoes form an admirable base for all sorts of savory comfort foods such as Shepherd's pie (which happens to be gluten-free) and Mennonite chicken and noodles (served with buttered corn over mashed potatoes).
A brief primer on foods hidden underground
Not all underground plant-based foods are root vegetables. Some, such as potatoes and ginger, derive from specialized stems or runners. Others are bulbs and still others represent true root vegetables.
Modified Stems
Although they grow underground, some starchy vegetables originate from modified stems. These all have "eyes," which are tiny buds, each with a scale leaf, which can develop into a new plant.
Rhizomes are fleshy underground stems with eyes from which either stems or roots can grow. Rhizomes are connected to the main stems of these upright plants. Examples: ginger, tumeric, galangal, lotus, bamboo
Tubers are specialized bulbous stems emanating from branches of stolons (runners) that extend horizontally just above or under the ground level, although the tuber is always underground. Examples: potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, jicama, taro, yams
Then there is the celeriac or celery root, which has a bulbous hypocotyl or lower stem from which roots arise at the base.
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| Cider Mashed Yams |
Bulbs
A true bulb contains a miniature sprout surrounded by layers of modified leaves. Examples: garlic, onion, daylily bulbs.
Then there is the delicious bulb-like fennel. A member of the carrot family, the "bulb" is formed by swollen layers of the stem base with its slightly sweet, anise flavor. The feathery leaves are reminiscent of dill and the entire plant is edible. Other bulb-like vegetables such as artichokes are actually flowers.
True Roots
Tap root vegetables exhibit swelling of the main root. These include carrots, radishes, beets, horseradish, Daikon, parsnip, turnips. Like parsley, another tap root plant, the leaves of many of these plants are also delicious. Beet greens are particularly tasty in my opinion, carrot tops less so.
Tuberous roots are modified secondary roots with enlargements involving the entire storage root or along the ends or middle of the branch. These include sweet potatoes (morning glory family) and cassavas.
One positive outcome from the coronavirus pandemic is that it allowed me to discover Gordon Ramsay and his zest for maximizing flavor and yield. Interestingly, my favorite recipe from taking two MasterClasses with this uncompromisingly meat-eating chef is the Charred Cauliflower Steak with Olive Pistou and Mushrooms. After making this vegetarian entrée 4x over the past 6 months, I have modified the seasoning blend and toppings to suit our tastes. The flavors are complex, smoky, tart and bright. Who knew the shy, but versatile, cauliflower could be brought to such heights?
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| The Love2Chow Smoky-Sumac Cauliflower Steak with Szechuan Green Beans |
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| Gordon Ramsay's Cauliflower Steak with Olive Pistou, Mushrooms & Chive Blossoms, with cauliflower leaves added into the topping, served over Dan Barber's Cauliflower Purée and a drizzle of harissa-spiced pan juices |
Mid-October is the perfect time to enjoy the brilliant yellows, reds and oranges of Pennsylvania's hardwood forests. And, as it turns out, the cooler weather is great for spotting otters and other wildlife. In less than two days, we managed to hit many highlights along the 47-mile long Pine Creek Gorge in north central PA.
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| Looking downstream from Leonard Harrison State Park lookout, far left |
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| Tiny frog on Turkey Path Trail in Colton Point State Park |
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| From base of Turkey Path Trail in Colton Point State Park |
Pork shoulder has got to be one of my favorite cuts of meat. It is the starting point for Chinese char siu bbq pork, Mexican carnitas, Carolina bbq and other forms of pulled pork and a variety of stews. Even after all the meat has been enjoyed, a rich broth made from frozen bones, mushroom stems and onion scraps yields another round of deliciousness. With the help of an Instant Pot, I've developed a simple version of chashu pork ramen, complete with marinated ramen eggs and a flexible array of vegetable toppings.
The stock is best made the day before, so that you can skim the flavorful fat from the top for other uses. I decided to apply the marinade for the ramen eggs to the meat removed from the soup bones after the stock was made, as the ingredients are similar to those used for braising chashu. This worked amazingly well! On the day of serving, you can prepare the other toppings and season the broth in advance. When ready to serve, simply cook the noodles, and heat the broth to a boil before assembling the most delicious ramen bowls!
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| Pork ramen dinner#1 with marinated eggs, pickled ginger, crispy button mushrooms, zucchini/onions and Shanghai bok choy sum |
Chashu pork is a Japanese adaptation of the Chinese char siu 叉燒 barbecue pork. The Chinese version yields crisp, succulent browned chunks of meat in a sweet-salty glaze. It is quick to cook, adaptable for indoor broiling or outdoor grilling. In contrast, the Japanese version of chashu consists of slow braised, melt-in-your-mouth slices of fatty pork flavored with soy sauce, sake and sugar. Traditionally, chashu takes a long time to make, marinating in sauce overnight after being braised for a few hours. It forms a succulent topping for springy golden ramen noodles in a rich broth.
At the beginning of the pandemic shutdown, I was able to get a fresh 10-pound pork shoulder, cut in half, from Goodness Grows Farms. We have, thus far, enjoyed multiple dishes made from one of the halves, ranging from a saucy stir-fry served over crisp noodle cakes to cellophane noodles, sticky rice or homemade broad rice noodles enriched with char siu pork. With the shoulder bone, combined with a prior bone from making char siu pork, I was able to make enough stock to support several rounds of ramen, each time with slightly different toppings.
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| Ramen Dinner 2. Freshly fried pork cracklings, mushrooms, chashu pork, pickled ginger and leftover vegetables from the night before. |
