Lou's Most Excellent Kitchen Tips: Kosher Salt

Mistakes happen, and a common one is the substitution of table salt for kosher salt.

First, there is nothing really "kosher" about kosher salt. The salt gets its name because it's used in the koshering process, and in terms of meats it's used to pull the blood out of meat to make them kosher. Now, I'm not Jewish so I'm totally ignorant of kosher this and that. But, that's what I know. [Also, kosher salt tends not to have iodide in it too.]

As this picture shows, however, there is a definite size difference between a kosher salt flake and your typical table salt crystal. The kosher flake is that dandruff looking thing on the left. If you can't see the salt crystal, it's near the pen tip.


Since the kosher salt is bigger and "flakier" you get less actual salt per volumetric measure than you do with table salt; think of how a cup of lead weighs more than a cup of water. Thus, if you just use regular table salt in place of kosher salt, get ready for a dose of the Pacific Ocean in your mouth.

To substitute table salt (or vice versa, kosher), use 1/3 to 1/4 less table salt than kosher. The box of kosher salt will also tell you how much less to use and this can vary by brand so pay attention. In general, I use 1/3 less and if things aren't salty enough, I just add more salt at the end.

Lou's Most Excellent Mojito

The summer mojito is typically some sick concoction of corn syrup, artificial lime juice (if you're lucky) and cheap rum. It's too bad because when you offer a mojito to someone they'll say, "Ugh." Not mine.

In fact, my brothers out in Arizona, who are beer drinkers, wanted me to make something summery for them and I whipped up my take (which really isn't a take) on the mojito. A few weeks before I was bartending a friends party and this was the signature drink.

Over ice, on a hot and humid summer day, this is great drinkin' from inside an a/c'd house looking out at all the suffering fools who decided to brave it. Like those who decide to go for a run in 95 degree heat or some stupid shit like that.

[Makes one, 16 ounce mojito, which is all you may need. Like, since when does one measure booze in 'cups'?]

1/3 cup dark, aged rum
1 lime
1 large sprig fresh mint leaves, separated from stalk
Club soda (at least 8 oz)
Simple syrup (1 cup water:1 cup sugar, boiled till dissolved, cooled to room temp)
1 TBS granulated sugar
Ice

Roll the lime to soften and cut it in half.

In a 16 ounce tall, sturdy glass, add the mint leaves, sugar, and squeeze half a lime into this. Using a pestle or a muddler, grind the mint leaves into the sugar/lime juice until the leaves appear bruised and the liquid from the mixture turns a little brown. Do your best not to mash the leaves, you just want to bruise them up. This should take about 30 seconds.

Add the other lime half and push it with your muddler, further adding more juice from the lime. Top to the top with ice and then add the rum and about 2 TBS of simple syrup. Top this with club soda and mix with a spoon or whatever is around your person (often, this is the knife with which I cut the lime with). You'll need to use an agitating motion as you won't be able to stir due to the contents. If not sweet enough, add more simple syrup.

Drink immediately and often........or at least until your teeth get numb.

You can make these in bulk too. I've done pitchers of mojito's and this works quite well. The modification is to just not add the club soda until you serve each glass. In other words, mash it all up and pour into a pitcher, add rum, then some ice to keep cold. To each glass just throw a lime half into it along with the ice etc. etc. etc....

Excellent Key Lime Cookies

I found this recipe on the web the other day since Judy needed some cookies for the office.

They're quite easy and tasty; a nice summery cookie when chocolate chip just won't do.

How to Make Key Lime Thumbprint Cookies | eHow.com

Lou's Most Excellent Green Chili Mayo

This one is pretty simple, assuming you have some green enchilada sauce left over. This was pretty good, as evidenced by my finger in the stuff.

If you don't you could achieve a satisfactory result with the following:

1 small can of Hatch chili peppers, loosely drained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ yellow onion, minced
¼ TSP salt
Up to 1 cup chicken broth
Corn oil
Flour

Sweat the onion in 3 TBS of corn oil until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, saute for 30 seconds more, then add 1 TBS of flour. Stir until blended and pasty; thin to a gravy with the chicken broth. Add the peppers, loosely cover and simmer for 15 minutes on low heat.

The Mayo

½ cup of Enchilada Verde sauce or the above quickie sauce
1 roasted poblano pepper, peeled and seeded
8 - 10 pickled jalapeno slices
¼ mayonnaise

In a mini food processor add the sauce, poblano and jalapeno slices. Process until smooth and nearly uniform in color and texture, about 2 minutes. Add the mayonnaise and then process an additional 30 seconds.

Lou's Most Excellent Mushmozz Chicken

Man I wish I could remember how I made this. I waited a week to write it up and what a mistake that was. It came together real quick.

If I were to do it again here's what I'd base it on:

- Brined chicken breast, but only brined with salt and garlic.
- Smoked mozzarella cheese
- Plum tomato, seeds removed, diced into dime sized bits
- Marinated mushrooms from the olive bar at Whole Foods, about 4oz.
- White wine (vino verdhe used here)
- Papardelle pasta
- Chiffoned basil
- Parmesan cheese

Pepper the chicken breasts and sear the chicken in about 2 TBS of olive oil. Remove the breasts then add the tomatoes and a splash of wine, saute for about 30 seconds and remove the tomatoes.

Begin cooking the pasta in boiling salted water.

Add about 2 TBS of the oil from the mushrooms to the pan, bring up to medium heat, then add 1 TBS of flour. Stir with a whisk to make a roux. Do this for about 2 minutes, until it bubbles profusely.

Add about 1 cup of wine to the roux and mix. Add the mushrooms. Return the chicken breasts to the pan, coat with sauce, and then top each with a generous portion of tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Add any remaining tomatoes to the pan. Cover the pan to melt the cheese.

Drain the pasta when al dente and reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Remove the chicken from the pan and plate; add the pasta to the pan and toss to mix. If necessary, add the pasta water to thin the sauce. Plate the pasta and add shaved Parmesan as desired.

It was pretty damned good...I should'a paid a little more attention.

Lou's Most Excellent Reuben Hot Dog

Glory, glory, halleluia.

No real recipe here - just an idea that I recommend it to all who are fans of the Reuben. I was going to put a slice of pickle in each one but in my drooling excitement forgot. The thought of Thousand Island dressing did cross my mind but I wanted to at least keep some of the hot dog in hot dog. There's always next time....

Hot dogs
Buns
Swiss cheese
1 cup sauerkraut
½ yellow onion, sliced thin
Celery salt
Whole pepper corns
Mustard
PBR (optional)
Cheetos (optional)

Turn on your oven broiler and set a rack to the middle position. Meanwhile....

...combine the onion, sauerkraut, and 1 TSP of celery salt and ½ TSP of whole pepper corns in a small pot. Cover and heat over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times here and there.

Cook hot dogs as desired. For this recipe, and I usually do this anyways, I boiled them. I'm not much a fan of the pan seared hot dog but to each their own.

Arrange the buns on a baking sheet. Place a dog in each bun, mustard as desired, about two heaping forkfulls of kraut, and top with Swiss cheese (one slice each, halved, used here). Place the pan underneath the broiler and cook until the cheese melts and bun is toasty. Serve immediately with your favorite lunchtime beverage and side.

Lou's Most Excellent Berrymisu

"Paul loves berries...and chocolate," said his wife, Angela. It was Paul's upcoming 50th and Angela was writing for support in the mighty task of satisfying a group coming to celebrate. I volunteered myself for dessert:

> Dessert! ME ME ME!!! OOO! OOOO! I want dessert!!
>
> MEMEMEMEMEME!!!!!

Before I go on, a shout-out to Angela for providing these great pictures!

I came up with "berrymisu" because berries, especially blueberries, are plentiful in the DC region and I've found a new love for them (which means I'll be sick of them in about two weeks).

This recipe is a pain - there's a lot of work here. You could shorten things (such as buying ladyfingers instead of making Pan di Spagna) and leaving out the sides (raspberry coated chocolates and chocolate stuffed strawberries). In fact, if you left out these things the recipe is quite easy and quick. I've broken this down into subrecipes: pan di spagna, strawberry juice, ganache, and the 'misu' itself. Below is a list of everything you'll at least need:

16 large eggs
16 oz mascarpone
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 lemon
1 pound blueberries
1½ pounds strawberries
4 oz raspberries
6 oz 60% semi-sweet chocolate
Vanilla
Raspberry liquor
Cognac
Unsalted butter
9 x 13 glass pan
Two 9" cake rounds
Blender
Cheesecloth
Canned air
Fine mesh strainer

Pan di Spagna
10 room temperature eggs, separated
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
3 cups sugar
2 TSP grated lemon peel
1 TBS vanilla extract
Butter
Two 9" cake rounds

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter and flour your cake rounds.

Add the sugar to the egg yolks and beat until thickened, having the consistency of frosting. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the egg yolk mixture (about six foldings required), then fold the flour into this (again, about six foldings). Gently fold in the lemon peel and vanilla.

Spread evenly between the two pans and cook for about 20 minutes. Do the toothpick test; they will likely not be done so check again every three minutes. When done, flip upside down onto a wire rack and cool for two minutes. Remove the cake from the pans and continue to cool to room temperature (about an hour).

Straberry Juice
1½ pounds strawberries, hulled
1 TSP fresh lemon juice
2 - 3 TBS sugar

Quarter the strawberries and add to a blender. Add a ½ cup of cold water and the lemon juice to this and blend on the lowest speed until the berries are well ground up. Taste the juice - if not sweet enough add sugar as desired. Continue blending on low speed for about two minutes.

Line a fine mesh strainer with two folds of cheesecloth. Pour the berry mixture into the strainer (set over a large bowl to capture the juice) and let sit unoccupied for about 10 minutes. Lift the cloth from the strainer and gently squeeze the mixture into the strainer. Discard the cloth.

While the juice is straining using a spoon or spatula mix the juice in the strainer to alleviate potential clogs. When finished, clean the strainer and then restrain. I know this sounds ridiculous but just do it.

Store in the fridge until ready.

Filling

6 egg yolks, room temperature
¼ cup sugar
16 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 TBS grated lemon peel
1 pint heavy cream
2 TBS strawberry juice
2 TSP raspberry liquor

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow and slightly thickened. Add in the mascarpone and beat at low speed until mixed, then add the heavy cream and beat until thickened and creamy at medium speed. Add in the lemon peel, strawberry juice and raspberry liquor and mix until incorporated.

Assembly

Cut the cake rounds in half, and then slice each one down its length to make a total of eight, half moon shaped cakes. Cut each shape into a rectangle by lobbing off at the round edges, saving the edges.

In a 9x9 dish, add 1 cup of the strawberry juice and 1 TBS of the raspberry liquor and stir to mix.

Line a 13x9 dish with two pieces of plastic wrap, with about 8 - 10" of wrap hanging off the longer edges. Press the wrap against the inside of the pan and into the corners so the inside is completely covered. Pour about ½ cup of blueberries into the bottom.

Quickly dip sections of the cake into the strawberry/liquor juice and press along the bottom of the pan, forcing the berries into it. This does not have to look pretty so no worries. If the cake breaks, no worries on that either. Repeat this until the bottom is covered.

Pour ½ of the mascarpone mixture over the cake and top with another 1 cup of blueberries. Repeat the cake lining procedure as before, cover with the other ½ of the mascarpone mixture with another cup of blueberries, and additional cake (not dipped). Cover the cake tightly with the overlapping plastic wrap; the cake will likely be taller than the pan - this is OK. If you have one, place another empty glass 13x9 pan on top of this and set in the fridge for at least 4 hours. [If you don't have another pan, put a cutting board on top of the cake weighted down with a 3 quart pot.]

Raspberry Covered Chocolates

6 oz 60% semi-sweet chocolate
2 TBS butter
1 TBS cognac

Gently rinse the raspberries under cool water and roll on paper towels to dry. Using the canned air, carefully blow out any remaining water inside the raspberries.

In a small pan over low heat, melt the chocolate and butter undisturbed until the ganache appears milky. Mix with the butter and then mix in the cognac. Set aside for 1 hour.

Arrange the raspberries, hole side up, in between the rails of a cooling rack.

Fill a small tipped pastry bag (or a small Ziploc, cutting of the corner prior to use) with the ganache. Fill each raspberry with ganache. Cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour and let come to room temperature prior to serving.

Chocolate Filled Strawberries

Strawberries (as many as you think you need)
Ganache from above

Using a sharp knife carefully hull the strawberry as you would the top of a pumpkin prior to carving. If you have a bird-beak knife this is much easier. Remove the green leaves of the strawberry and cut off/discard the hull; set aside the top.

Hollow out the strawberry as best you can with a small knife. Set each berry upside down on paper towels to let drain a bit. Fill each with ganache and replace the top of the berry, pressing into the ganache. Fridge for at least 2 hours, not longer than 6 as the berries will begin to discolor. Let the berries come to room temperature prior to serving.

Final Steps

Whip up 2 cups of whipping cream sweetened with 1 TBS sugar and 1 TSP vanilla.

Unlayer the overlapping plastic wrap from the berrymisu. Place a large cutting board on top of the cake and flip over; remove the glass pan and carefully peel back the plastic wrap.


Cut slices of cake and top with the whipped cream; pour about 3 TBS of strawberry juice on the plate and garnish with the berries. Dust with confectioners sugar, if desired.

Voila!