The Paloma

It's almost the Fourth of July, and the weather has gotten hot.  Very hot.  So when 5:00 o'clock rolled around yesterday, we tried a new drink, The Paloma, which Michael Ruhlman wrote about in his Friday cocktail column this week.  Each week he writes about a different cocktail, and this week he outdid himself.  The Paloma is delicious, refreshing, and beautiful - the perfect summer cocktail.

The Paloma
Adapted from ruhlman.com
For 1 drink

Make and serve this drink quickly to preserve the effervescence of the grapefruit soda.

2 shots Hornitos Reposada Tequila
2 shots Izze Grapefruit Soda
Juice of half a lime
Spent lime rind

Squeeze the lime half thoroughly to get all its juice.  Put it in a large wine glass.  Add the Tequila and the grapefruit soda.  Stir.  Drop in the lime rind.  Add ice.  Stir again.  Serve right away.

Chicken Country Captain - Again

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

One day when I was in high school, out of the blue I got a craving for curry. I had no idea how that popped into my head. I had never eaten a curry in my life - not authentic Indian or Anglo-Indian. I'm sure there wasn't even a jar of curry powder, let alone the spices necessary to make it from scratch, in my mother's kitchen. At the time I was reading a book about Bridey Murphy, and for a split-second I thought maybe I was the incarnation of a previous lifetime lived in India. But as I was in an all-girl's Catholic school, that possibility seemed remote.

When the father of a friend of mine took eight girls from my class to Toots Schor to celebrate our graduation, shrimp curry was on the menu, and I ordered it. Then, when Frannie and I got stuck at Kennedy Airport because our flight to London was delayed by twelve hours, we went to the fanciest restaurant there, The Golden Key, and, again, I had shrimp curry. Finally, in London, Frannie and I happened upon an Indian restaurant where we stopped for dinner. That was it. I was hooked.

Forever.

I love all kinds of Indian food - authentic or not.

When I first started this blog, I didn't take photos of the food, so whenever I make a recipe for which there is no picture, I try to remember to take one and go back and post it, and that is what I did when I made this last week. Even though I have previously written about it, this dish is so good that it deserves a revisit.

For over thirty years I've been making an adaptation of the version of Chicken Country Captain from my first cookbook, the 1964 Joy of Cooking. There's something of a debate over whether or not the original is an authentic Indian dish or not.

This dish has become a favorite in America, although it probably got its name not from the sea-captain who brought the recipe back to our shores, but from the Indian officer who first made him acquainted with it. So says Cecily Brownstone, a great friend; and this is her time-tested formula. (emphasis added)

The Joy of Cooking, 1964

Writing in The New York Times on April 17, 1991, Molly O'Neill called Ms. Brownstone, the "Curator of Country Captain Chicken," because Ms. Brownstone said that "For years, every variation upset me."

And mine would be no exception.

Country Captain

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking, 1964 Edition

Serves 4 to 6

2 whole boneless chicken breasts (I haven't tried them, but boneless thighs might work well)
1/2 cup flour (I use Wondra) seasoned with salt, pepper, and sweet paprika
1 onion about the size of a teacup, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup butter or oil
3 tablespoons currants or raisins
Toasted slivered almonds for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces using kitchen shears. Coat the chicken pieces with seasoned flour, and put on a plate as you go along.

In a sauté pan, brown the flour-coated chicken pieces in butter (delicious) or oil (I use grapeseed oil, which is neutral). As the chicken pieces are browned, remove them from the sauté pan, and set aside.

Add the diced onion to the saute pan, and cook until the onion wilts and just starts to turn pale gold. Add the diced green pepper, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the curry powder, and cook for about 1 minute to lose the raw taste and allow the flavor to "bloom."  Add the stewed tomatoes and thyme. Stir the contents of the pan to deglaze. Bring just to a boil, then turn the heat down. You can add a little salt, but be sparing and taste carefully because the chicken is coated with seasoned flour.

If the sauté pan is big enough to hold the sauce and the chicken and can fit into the oven, put the chicken back in the pan, and put it in the oven.  Otherwise put everything in another pan or casserole, and put that in the oven.

Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes. Add currants or raisins for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Sprinkle toasted slivered almonds over the top before serving.

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I serve this with Basmati Rice Pilaf, mango chutney, and pappadams, which I have cooked in hot oil until they puff up.

City Ham

My grandfather in England always prepared a light Sunday supper at 5:00 p.m., about four hours after the main meal. Most often, he would serve thin slices of pink ham with a layer of white fat on the outside, mustard piccalilli relish, some cheese - Cheshire, cheddar, or Danish blue - sliced tomatoes from the garden when they were available, a small salad of bibb lettuce, and slices of whole wheat bread with butter (butter - quite an indulgence in post WWII England). One Christmas night in New Jersey, my friend Sheila, who is from London, served close to the same thing after an earlier dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, which, to use an expression of Julia Reed's, brought down the house.

But other than that, I wasn't especially fond of baked ham and never thought about making it myself until I found this recipe for "city" ham on John Martin Taylor's site. He says

This ham is so good that during parties I have to make sure no one's around when I carve it because folks will flat-out pull the thing to death.

I could not resist trying this recipe after reading that, so I made it and liked it - a lot.

I've since found it's nice to have a baked ham on hand around holidays, particularly if you have company coming and going. It's good to slice thin and sandwich between two halves of Tiny Corn Muffins. You can also add a few small cubes to Macaroni and Cheese, gild the lily and put some - maybe along with a few peas - in Fettuccine All' Alfredo, and sizzle in butter to serve with scrambled, fried, or poached eggs. 

And now that Easter is just about here, it's a good option for the main event at dinner.

John Martin Taylor, who is originally from Charleston, calls this a city ham (wet cured) to distinguish it from a country ham (dry cured), which is also delicious but best eaten like prosciutto - sliced paper thin and eaten sparingly. If you look at his blog post where this recipe is embedded, you will find something interesting to read as well as some other great things he makes.

City Ham

Adapted from Hoppin' John Martin Taylor

1 whole bone-in fully-cooked smoked ham or 1/2 bone-in fully-cooked smoked ham, shank end preferred, but butt end is okay (I always make a half ham) Note: This is NOT a canned ham.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Remove your ham from its packaging. Put the ham on a flat rack in a roasting dish, and loosely crumple a piece of aluminum foil over it. You want the foil to be a loose tent, not a tight cover.

Bake the ham at 275 degrees - for 7 to 8 hours if you have a whole ham; for 3 to 4 hours if you have half ham.

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You Can Tell Everybody

I wanted to make salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner last night, but I didn't like the look of the wild Salmon at Fairway and won't buy farmed anymore. Instead, they had bright looking dry wild sea scallops, and I picked up three-quarters of a pound for the two of us along with a dozen little neck clams so I could make some spaghetti with clam sauce to serve with them.

Like Julia Reed, "to me shrimp is the ur-seafood - to eat it is to taste the essence of the ocean" (from the chapter called Bighearted Shrimp in Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties.)

But I think sea scallops are a close second.

I got home and was going over the grocery receipt, and when I saw the entry Sea Scallops-Wet, I did a double take and thought "That must be wrong."

And, thank goodness, it was.

They cooked so well and tasted so good, it was clear these really were wild, natural scallops that had never been in contact with phosphate, and even though I totally forgot to make and serve tartar sauce with them, Walter declared them delicious.

I also forgot to take a picture, so you will get the recipe for the scallops the next time I make them - which will probably be soon - when I'll be sure to snap a shot of them.

But I do have something to tell you about.

It's my not-so-secret, but very guilty, pleasure. I'm sure everyone has one. Molly sometimes eats Cool Ranch Doritos. Perhaps Alice Waters likes to drink Champagne and eat (homemade heirloom) potato chips before 9:00 a.m. I don't know. But I do know what mine is.

It's Kraft Deli-Deluxe American Cheese.

It's not Kraft Singles. The slices cannot be wrapped piece by piece. The cheese slices must be all "stuck" together.

You can get them in a package that has slices that are 1 ounce apiece and in another package that has slices that are 2/3 of a ounce apiece.

2/3 ounce apiece

1 ounce apiece

I have no idea why that would be, and I pretty much buy whichever package is available when I run out.

I do two things with this cheese, which I refuse to call a product since I like it so much.

I make scrambled eggs, and I make cheese toast - not at the same time.

Deli-Deluxe Scrambled Eggs for 1

2 free-range large eggs

1 slice Kraft Deli-Deluxe Cheese

A hazelnut size lump of unsalted butter

A little black pepper if you like

Wash the eggs, dry them, and crack them into a small bowl. Beat with a fork until they are well blended. Heat an 8-inch frying pan, and melt the little lump of butter in it. (I only use a non-stick pan for two things - these scrambled eggs and manicotti crepes.)

Take the slice of cheese, and tear it into small pieces, dropping them into the eggs as you go along. When the butter is foaming, add the eggs and cheese, turn the heat down low, and start stirring. I use a wooden fork I got at Bridge Kitchenware a million years ago when Fred Bridge was still alive. Stir until the eggs are set the way you like them - I like mine creamy. Remember that when you turn off the heat, the eggs will still cook a little, and the cheese will continue to melt, so don't overcook them to melt the cheese. Sprinkle with freshly grated black pepper if you like. There is enough salt in the cheese that I don't find I need to add more.

Now I am not going to tell you that these are the best scrambled eggs in the world, but they are good.

Not Really a Recipe for Cheese Toast

If I have it, I use a piece of Bread Alone's excellent Organic Whole Grain Health Bread.

Take 1 slice of cheese, and put it on the bread, folding the corners so they are not hanging over the edge of the bread.

Toast it in a toaster oven.

Don't burn your mouth when you eat it!

Tartar Sauce

The newest Fairway in the City is on East 86th Street, between Second and Third Avenues. The fish department is beautiful, stocked with pristine fish that turns over quickly. I have bought large, plump, dry, wild, diver scallops, easy to cook and delicious to eat. Since I pretty much stick to what is wild, I have to wait until I get there to see what I'm going to buy for dinner, and often I'm choosing among lemon sole, grey sole, and flounder.

Last night I got lemon sole. It was firm and lovely and smelled good - like the sea. I cut the fillets in half so the pieces were small and bound them with a breading of Wondra flour, eggs, which I had beaten with a fork and put through a sieve so they were smooth and silkly, and panko.

This looks like a silly product, but it really is convenient.

Then I cooked them in grapeseed oil until they were golden brown.

I served them with fresh spinach sauteed with slices of garlic, sauteed cherry tomatoes, and Rebecca Charles's of Pearl Oyster Bar Tartar Sauce.

Tartar Sauce

Adapted from Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie by Rebecca Charles of Pearl Oyster Bar

These amounts are rather loose and depend on how much sauce you want to make. Increase as desired.

1/3 cup Hellman's Mayonnaise

1/2 large shallot, minced, or 2 tablespoons minced sweet onion

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cornichons (I use Maille cornichons)

1 teaspoon cornichon juice

2 teaspoons tiny capers in vinegar, drained

Salt (if necessary) and pepper to taste

A small squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together and chill until ready to use.

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