The Nashville Collection ow y’all doin’? This week we’re going South for some of the iconic foods from Nashville and broader region. There are several things that make Nashville so desirable—1) the great music, 2) the wonderful people 3) the fantastic food. Nashville is the capital of the state of Tennessee and home to Vanderbilt University. Legendary country music venues include the Grand Ole Opry House, home of the famous “Grand Ole Opry” stage and radio show. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and historic Ryman Auditorium are Downtown, as is the District, featuring honky-tonks with live music and the Johnny Cash Museum, celebrating the singer's life. You haven’t lived in Nashville unless you’ve tried the city’s craveable staples. Freshly baked biscuits, mac and cheese, baked beans, collard greens, baked potato salad, fried green tomatoes are all among the frequently-found side dishes to accompany some of Nashville's most beloved mains… barbecued ribs, Brunswick stew and hot and spicy fried chicken aka Nashville Hot. This week we will introduce you to the city’s best offerings that have attracted the wide array of different people who have populated this city since the dawn of the country. I thought it best to start with fried chicken. Best served with mashed potatoes and gravy. Prep time: 20 minutes Brine time: 1 to 6 hours Rest time: 20 minutes Fry time: 10 to 12 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients For the brine 48 ounces cold water 1 cup white vinegar 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper 1 tablespoon hot sauce 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon turmeric 1-4-pound chicken, cut into 10 pieces (split the breasts) For the chicken Vegetable or canola oil, for frying 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon hot paprika 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon hot sauce 2 teaspoons yellow mustard 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 3 cups (10 ounces) crushed butter crackers (I prefer Ritz Crackers) Directions To prepare the brine
ChefSecret:
Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “During high stress times it’s best to remember that anger can be an expensive luxury.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Entrees #Chicken #Brine #FriedChicken #Nashville #GrandeOleOpry #RymanAuditorium #JohnnyCashMuseum #VanderbiltUniversity #Tennessee #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021
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…from the Happy Hour Bar How you doin’? You may have seen the Cosmo most recently featured on The Real Housewives of New Jersey or you might have thought the Cosmopolitan gained popularity in the 1990s on Sex and the City. At that time, it seemed that young women everywhere were drinking a Cosmo because the girlfriends of Carrie Bradshaw commonly ordered the drink when out on the town. Once the girls found out “everyone” was drinking them they stopped because it was no longer elite enough for them. The International Bartenders Association (yes, there really is a IBAC) Cosmo recipe is based on vodka citron—lemon-flavored vodka. The Cosmopolitan is related to a collection of cocktails called cranberry coolers like the Cape Codder. Though they are often presented differently, the Cosmopolitan also bears a likeness in composition to the Kamikaze Cocktail. While the Cosmo is widely perceived to be a more contemporary creation for the “modern woman,” there is a recipe for a Cosmopolitan Daisy that appeared in Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars, published in 1934. Once again who invented what and when is in dispute. Made with ingredients that would have been readily available during this period, this identically named cocktail aims for the same effect. If this drink is, in fact, the source of the modern Cosmopolitan, then it would be an adaption of a Daisy rather than a Kamikaze. Bartender Neal Murray says he created the cosmopolitan in 1975 at the Cork & Cleaver steak house in Minneapolis. According to Murray, he added a splash of cranberry juice to a Kamikaze and the first taster declared, "How cosmopolitan!" This event supposedly led to the naming of the new beverage. There are a number of other claims made as to the origin of the cosmopolitan. Cocktail historian Gary Regan credits bartender Cheryl Cook of the Strand Restaurant in South Beach, Florida with the original creation. Served in a large martini glass, the combination of lemon and cranberry flavors in the Limoncello Cosmo creates a clean and bright flavor that is never cloying or too sweet. Prep time: 5 minutes Yield: 1 cocktail Ingredients 1-1/2 ounces vodka, chilled (try using lemon-flavored vodka for more citrus flavor) 1/2 ounce Limoncello, chilled 1/2 ounce cranberry juice, chilled Ice Garnish: fresh cranberries Directions
ChefSecret: Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy, around the Gulf of Naples. It is also a popular homemade liqueur that escapes Italian taxes. There are various recipes available online and in print. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Like many others I thought I would never survive the pandemic. I am not afraid of death I just don't want to be there when it happens.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Cocktail #HappyHour #LimoncelloCosmo #Cosmpolitan #SexAndTheCity #CarrieBradshaw #Limoncello #Cranberry #Vodka #Cheers #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 … from the California Kitchen How you doin’? It doesn’t have to be winter to enjoy a bowl of soup… especially a bowl from Italy. Italian Wedding Soup is a hearty, healthy and delicious soup. If you think it has something to do with Italian weddings you would be all wrong. Having said that, I’ll bet you’re wondering where and why this tasty soup got its name. If Italians actually serve this soup at their weddings, it is pure coincidence. Italian folklore romances this soup as traditionally served at Italian weddings to provide the bride and groom to “energy” throughout the evening. However, if serving this dish appeals to the romantic in you, we hate to burst your bubble, it isn’t true. The English translation got this dish all mixed up. Italian Wedding Soup originated in Naples and its original Italian name is really minestra maritata, which means “married-up soup” which implies the unity of all the ingredients which consist of leafy, bitter greens (chard, kale, chicory, spinach, etc.) and a hearty meat broth with pork, beef, ham hocks or sausage. Although the Americanized version includes tiny meatballs and a little bit of greens, traditionally this soup is heavy on the veggies and doesn’t include meatballs at all. Really, there is nothing fanciful and elegant about the soup, as it was considered a peasant dish using whatever meat or chicken bits and greens were available to throw in—kind of like the old “Stone Soup Story.” This is my gussied-up Americanized version of the original and I can tell by experience this is a hell of a lot better than anything I found in Naples. Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Yield: 6 to 8 servings Ingredients 1 tablespoon Olive Oil For the Meatballs 1/2 pound lean ground beef (80%) 1/2 pound ground pork (or 1/4-pound ground veal and 1/4-pound ground pork) 1 egg, beaten 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs, homemade is best 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated into a powder 3 cloves garlic, finely diced 1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes For the Soup 1-1/4 cup diced yellow onion 1-1/4 cup diced carrots 3/4 cup diced celery 1 tablespoon minced garlic 8 cups chicken broth (homemade is best when made in an Instant Pot) 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3/4 cup dry orzo pasta 8 ounces fresh leafy spinach For the Garnish Fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped Freshly grated Parmesan cheese Directions
ChefSecret: In step #7 you can de-glaze the pot using 1/4 cup dry white wine for a fuller flavor. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “The longer I stay at home during the pandemic the more homeless I look.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Entrees #InstantPot #Soup #ItalianWeddingSoup #Meatballs #Orzo #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 …from the California KitchenHow you doin’? Back a couple of hundred recipes ago, I published a recipe for Cantonese Orange Chicken (Cooking Lesson #96). As I wrote at the time, this is the Americanized version of Orange Chicken. In this recipe I would like you to see what a more traditional Hunan-style Orange Chicken tastes like—it has all the orange, but some of the Hunan heat as well. The big bonus—it’s made in an Instant Pot leaving you with just one pot to clean. All Orange Chicken recipes ask for orange in some form—juice, zest, dried peel or a combination of all three. Authentic Chinese-style orange chicken isn't battered and fried, and it's not sauced with fresh oranges or orange juice either; it calls for using dried orange peel and chili peppers instead. Those recipes can vary all over the place but they’re all in the same ballpark. With this recipe—Instant Pot Orange Zest Chicken—I’ve come as close as I can remember to what I originally tasted in Hunan province…orange, sweet, pungent and slightly spicy. Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 45 minutes Yield: 6 to 8 servings Ingredients For the chicken prep 2 pounds chicken thighs or breasts (cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces) 1/4 cup corn starch 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper 1 tablespoon granulated garlic 2 to 4 tablespoons peanut oil 1/4 cup Shaoxing rice cooking wine (for deglazing the sauté pan) For the sauce 3/4 cup orange juice (no sugar added) 4 tablespoons minced garlic 1 tablespoon ginger (grated) 1/4 cup lite soy sauce (I prefer Kikkoman low sodium) 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1 tablespoon rice Asian seasoned rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon orange zest 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce (more if you like it spicier) 1/3 cup tomato ketchup For optional added goodness 1 peeled tangerine segmented from small a Cutie 1/2 cup spring pea pods 1 cup bean sprouts 2 tablespoons green onion bottoms (cut in circles) For the cornstarch slurry 1 teaspoon cornstarch 2 tablespoons cold water For the top garnish 2 green onions, tops thinly sliced 1 teaspoon orange zest Instructions
Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “You can tell the pandemic is taking its toll when the doctor tells you that you are the perfect weight, but you are 4 feet too short.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Entrees #InstantPot #Chicken #OrangeChicken #OrangeZest #Hunan #Cuties #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 …from the California Kitchen How you doin’? If I have my choice of a thick slab of ground beef, lettuce, tomato, some kind of “secret sauce” or an old-fashioned diner-style Patty Melt, I’ll take the Patty Melt every time. To me it is the perfect ratio of meat to bread and enough cheese and onion to keep it moist, juicy and interesting. The original flavorful Patty Melt was invented in California after WWII (the big one) by Tiny Naylor, the owner of Biff's and Tiny Naylor restaurants. I want to share this recipe with you with an innovative twist or two that makes it uniquely yours. It is true that a patty melt is a close cousin to an ordinary burger—it comes standard with a sweet and savory heap of caramelized onions and melty cheese over a ground beef patty. It is sandwiched between two pieces of skillet-grilled rye bread instead of in a bun. I like to customize my patty melt by nearly burning the onions, adding some Thousand Island Dressing and sometimes even topping with a little bit of coleslaw. The original is great, but any food is always a little better when you have a chance to customize it. One of the sandwich restaurants I go to even chops up the patty on the grill and then scoops it on top of the rye bread while grilling. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 45 minutes (onions) Grill time: 15 minutes Yield: 2 patty melts Ingredients For the caramelized onions 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 3 large yellow onions, thinly sliced (they cook down) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce For the patty melt 1/2 pound ground chuck (3-way ground chuck 20% fat) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground mix pepper 4 slices Swiss or good old American cheese 4 slices corn rye bread 4 teaspoons butter Directions To make the caramelized onions
Options: I like to add 1 tablespoon of Thousand Island Dressing (recipe below) to one side of the sandwich. I also like to make this sandwich with coleslaw instead of onions occasionally, and it’s equally good. To Make Thousand Island Dressing California-Style—1 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons chili sauce, 2 tablespoons minced green bell pepper, 2 tablespoons minced pimento, 2 tablespoons minced sweet pickle—Mix together and chill until ready to serve. ChefSecret: Give yourself enough time to make the caramelized onions before you assemble your patty melt. Caramelizing the onion lets the natural sugars develop as the onions slowly turn a deep brown and they cook into a sweet, jam-like texture reducing the acidic sharpness found in raw onions. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Whenever someone says to me you look so familiar, where do I know you from? I respond, Do you look at the wanted posters in the post office?” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Entrees #Sandwiches #PattyMelt #GrilledOnions #RyeBread #SwissCheese #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 |
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