Q). We were excited to see you
mention this delicious fish dish (Finnan Haddie) that my Swedish
Grandmother used to prepare for my father and his brother on Sunday
mornings. Where can we find smoked haddock, a recipe for Finnan Haddie,
or better yet, a restaurant the serves it (i.e. you “used” to make a
chowder with smoked haddock at The Whaling Station…)?
The Draper Family
Via e-mailA). Good luck
trying to find Finnan Haddie served anywhere in the U.S. of A. Call
Buster Crab at Monterey Fish Company (831-373-3511), he can order some
for you. There is a minimum order of 15 pounds at about $100 or so. If
you find some, here’s a simple recipe to get you started: |
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Finnan Haddie Dip
Recipe
½ pound smoked haddock
½ pound softened cream cheese
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Handful of diced onions
Remove skin from the fish and shred the flesh. Combine all ingredients
and refrigerate.Q). I so
enjoyed you column regarding Midwest “casserole” recipes and how kind of
you to print my recipe for “Hot Beefs”. However, a true Midwesterner
would refer to the “casserole” as a “hot dish” and yes, we use LOTS of
cream of mushroom soup along with cream of chicken and other foreign
canned concoctions Californians are unfamiliar with! I will be happy to
teach you how to cook Minnesotan! The other
discrepancy is with my “Hot Beef” recipe whereby you indicated that you
could use beef stock in place of beef bouillon cubes – NO, NO, NO, you
may not! The beauty of Minnesota, and those |
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who come from there, is “the simpler, the
better”. By the way, your wife sure looks great and I thoroughly enjoy
working with her! Heidi (Pilates instructor)
Via e-mailA). Yo, Heidi –
pretty feisty there, aren’t you? I’m officially inviting you to appear
on my cooking show. Let’s see what you’ve got, kid! But, you have to
promise to make your version of the tuna-tater tot casserole, oops, I
mean hot dish.
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Speaking of tater tots – I had no idea what
they were, so I had to go out and buy some. First thing I did was check
the ingredients; potatoes, vegetable oil (sunflower, canola, soybean,
and/or cottonseed), salt, yellow corn flour, onions, dextrose, disodium
dihydrogen pyrophosphate, natural flavoring and contains soybeans. I
also learned that tater tots were invented in 1953 at the Ore-Ida
company as a use for the left over potatoes from French fry production.
After tasting them, I thought I should write the author of “101 Things
To Do With a Casserole” and add a recipe for |
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tater tots with jarred marinara and
grated cheese (from a green carton) – you know, just a homier
version of gnocchi and marinara with freshly grated pecorino.
Q). John, my brother and I are interested in mushroom hunting with
you. Do you still have mushroom hunting trips?
A). Right now I don’t. However, David
Arora conducts a class during Thanksgiving weekend up in Mendocino
County. There are rustic facilities and (weather permitting) tons and
tons of mushrooms. The price varies each year, but |
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everything is packaged, including room
and board. Friday, Saturday and leave Sunday.
You will go foraging with an expert guide then 70 to 80 people all
return to camp to display and identify all of the mushrooms. This is the
best of the best of the mushroom foraging. David Arora will have slide
shows and there are always contests for the biggest, the smallest, the
most beautiful and the not so beautiful mushroom – great clean family
fun. For more information call (707) 884-3457 or e-mail
amanitarita@yahoo.com . Also try
wildaboutmushrooms.net;
they always have something going on. |
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Q). I got in on today’s show late and
I was wondering how you got all the meat together to cook it. It was
turkey, duck and something else. Cook for 11 hours and it looked
wonderful. I am from Defiance, Ohio and wish I could afford to come to
California some day to come to your place to eat.
Marsha Miller
Via e-mailA). That
something was chicken. Get it? Big turkey then duck, chicken and quail
(or hummingbird)! It’s a Cajun recipe called Turducken and it sounds
more complicated than it is. Good luck and good bye!
Turducken Recipe, Part 1
The Turducken will need to cook for 12 or
13 hours at 190 degrees F so begin preparation well in advance.
Needs:
· 20-25 lb whole turkey
· 4-5 lb whole duckling |
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- 3-4 lb whole
chicken (or use a larger chicken and place the duckling inside it)
· corn bread dressing
· sausage stuffing
· large roasting
- cotton string and cheese cloth pan and rack
Place the cleaned turkey, breast side down,
on a flat surface. Cut through the skin along the length of the spine.
Using the tip of a knife and starting from neck end, gently separate
meat from rib cage on one side. Toward neck end, cut through meat to
expose shoulder blade; cut meat away from and around the bone, severing
bone at the joint to remove shoulder blade. Disjoint wing between second
and third joints. Leave the wing bones and keep the wing attached to the
meat. Continue separating meat from frame, heading toward the thighbone
and being careful to keep the "oyster" (pocket of meat on back) attached
to skin, rather than leaving with bone. Cut through ball-and-socket
joint to release |
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thighbone from carcass (bird will be open on
one side, exposing bones left to deal with). Keep the leg attached to
the meat. Repeat boning procedure on the other side of the bird.
Carefully remove carcass and reserve for making stock. You should end up
with a flat boneless (except for wings and legs) turkey with the skin
intact in one large piece. Cover the boned turkey and set aside (or
chill). Repeat the process on the duckling and chicken, but cut off the
first two joints of wings, and debone both stumps of wings and leg
drumsticks (cut through flesh at thinnest point and trim around these
bones with a knife until they can be removed). Trim excess skin and fat
from necks of birds. If it is your first time deboning a fowl, it is
advisable to practice first on the chicken rather than the turkey. Both
the chicken and duck will be stuffed inside the turkey and need not be
kept "perfectly" intact. Make stock from the chicken carcass. Next time:
stuffing and roasting. |
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