Smoked Whitefish Spread

Ingredients:
1 lb. smoked whitefish chub
8 oz. block of cream cheese (reduced fat is fine)
1/4 cup light or regular sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onions


Directions:
Carefully remove whitefish meat from the bones. The best way to do this is to find the spine, stick a fork into the fish on either side of the spine and gently pull the meat away from the bones. Then carefully flake the meat with your fingers. Pick through the meat and discard any bones. Mix the fish, cream cheese, green onions and sour cream in a bowl until uniformly combined.



Note: Whitefish is a very oily fish. To remove the fish smell from your hands, rub both hands with the open half of a cut lemon and then wash with soap.

My thoughts:

Whitefish spread and whitefish salad are deli staples. Smoked whitefish is smoky but not as smoky as say, lox and makes a great spread for bagels. It can  be rather expensive to buy ready made so I like to make it myself. It is somewhat of an acquired taste, whitefish spread is a bit on the pungent side but once you have it a good version of it (and  I think this is one of the best) it is highly addictive. I like it on a strongly flavored bagel like pumpernickel or everything the best.

Rachel's Italian Deli Panini

8 slices rosemary Italian bread
2 whole marinated artichokes, thinly sliced
4 slices sharp provolone
1/4 lb lean capicola
1/4 lb spicy sopressata
1/4 lb mortadella
1/4 lb prosciutto

olive oil

Directions:
Create a single layer of each meat on one slice of bread. Top with single layer of marinaded artichokes. Top with a single layer of cheese. Top with a second piece of bread. Brush the exposed sides of the bread with a small amount of olive oil. Place on your panini press and press on medium heat, until the sandwich is warm and the cheese is melty. Repeat for the remaining bread and meat.

My thoughts:

I think this might be my favorite panini recipe so far. Of course, I've thought that after eating all of the panini I have posted this week so might want to take that with a grain of salt but if I opened up an Italian deli tomorrow, this would be the first thing I added to my menu. We used some great locally made rosemary Italian bread (you can use plain Italian bread instead) and some artichokes from the deli counter vs the ones in a jar. They are surprisingly pricey but they were also delicious. The the meats came from our favorite Italian deli but I did use the more reasonably priced grocery store deli sliced cheese for the provolone. While the meats we get at our Italian deli are far superior to what we can get at the local supermarket, when it comes to using just a bit of provolone on a sandwich, I don't think the difference is so great. Anyway, the flavors in this sandwich just melt together. I love it! It is also a delicious sandwich to serve even if you don't have a press. I made a similar sandwich "cold" with the leftovers the next day and it was nearly as good as it was all pressed and melty.

Sourdough Seeded Rye Bread

Ingredients:

for the starter:
1/4 oz active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup rye flour

for the bread:
4 cups flour
2 cups rye flour
1/4 oz active dry yeast
2 tablespoons melted butter, slightly cooled
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon malt syrup
1 teaspoon salt
cornmeal
warm water

for the egg wash:
1 egg
1 tablespoon water


Directions:
Four days before you want to make the bread, place all of the ingredients for the starter in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let sit on the counter for 2 full days. On the morning of the third day, place in the refrigerator. Then, right before you go to bed that night, combine 1 cup of the starter, the two cups of rye flour, and one cup of warm water in a second large bowl. Cover and leave out on the counter overnight. If you want to keep the starter going, add 1/2 cup warm water, 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup rye flour to the starter bowl and keep refrigerated until the next time you want to use it.


Scrape the contents of the bowl that has been sitting out overnight into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the remaining bread ingredients and mix, using the dough hook, until a firm but fairly malleable dough forms. Add more water, a tablespoon at a time, if the dough seems very dry or more flour if it seems wet. Knead by hand or in the machine until a ball forms. Place in a large, buttered bowl. Cover with a towel until it doubles in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Punch it down and divide into two equal halves.


Sprinkle a buttered or lined baking sheet with cornmeal. Shape into 2 rounds and place on the baking sheet. Alternately, butter 2 standard loaf pans and sprinkle them with cornmeal and place the dough in them. Or mix it up and make one of each. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk again. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375. Beat the egg and water together for the egg wash, brush over each loaf. Bake for 30 minutes or until brown on top and it sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

My thoughts:

I admit this seems like a long, drawn out recipe. However, it is not terribly difficult and the results are amazing-the closest to deli rye I have ever had in a homemade bread. I have to warn you that it is a pretty stiff dough to work with, even if the final product isn't overly dense. Rye flour doesn't have much gluten so it won't be as soft or stretchy as bread made with plain flour. Personally, I found the dough much easier to knead in my KitchenAid using the dough hook than to knead it by hand. Someone with a little more upper arm strength might have an easier time than I did. I do think it was worth the effort. It was the perfect bread to have with some homemade corned beef and mustard. It also made excellent toast.

Grainy Deli-Style Mustard

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown mustard seeds
1/3 cup yellow mustard seeds
1/2 cup dry mustard
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1/2 tablespoon malt syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
2 cloves garlic, chopped



Directions:
Pour the dry mustard, mustard seeds and 1 cup of water into a nonreactive bowl. Refrigerate overnight.


The next day, pour the remaining water, garlic, vinegar, sugar and spices in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Continue to boil until the mixture has reduced by about a quarter. Strain into a food processor or blender (I used my Vita-Mix)add the mustard seed mixture and malt syrup. Blend until fairly smooth. Decant into jars. Refrigerate at least overnight before using.

Keep refrigerated.

Yield: about 1 1/2 cups prepared mustard

My thoughts:

After my earlier success with a spicy & sweet mustard I knew I would want to make mustard again. After I decided to corn my own beef, it only seemed logical to make my own grainy mustard. Well, logical to me anyway. I am sure not everyone makes their own condiments and deli meats on a regular basis but I figured if I was going to cure my own meat (no matter how easy it was) I might as well make something special to go with it. I love a good corned beef on rye and one of the essential ingredients of this sandwich is a good quality deli mustard.

Like the first mustard I made, this one was extremely easy to make and will keep for a long time in the fridge* insuring that I will have tasty sandwiches for weeks to come. The flavor is a bit sharper and brighter than commercially produced deli mustard and is perfect on a corned beef sandwich or coddie. Or a hot dog. Or really anything you'd want deli mustard on, this is really, really good mustard!


*I still have a bit of the mondo batch of the sweet & spicy mustard I made in December and it tastes exactly the same as it did the day I made it.

Homemade Corned Beef

Ingredients:
6 lb beef brisket, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick

brine:
4 quarts of water
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
10 bay leaves
8 cloves garlic
5 whole star anise
2 sticks cinnamon, broken up
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
2 tablespoons whole peppercorn mix
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon sodium nitrite*
1 tablespoon whole coriander
1/2 tablespoon whole cardamom
2 teaspoons dill seed
1 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon celery flakes
1 teaspoon whole cloves


the cooking spices:
1 cinnamon stick, broken up
3 whole star anise
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon brown mustard seed
1 tablespoon dill seed
1 tablespoon coriander


Directions:
Place the brine ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes.



Allow to cool completely. Pour into a large, non-reactive, air-tight container.



I cannot recommend this container enough. It was the perfect size and believe me, it is harder to find a container that was actually air-tight and big enough to hold quarts of brine and a large cut of meat than you would think.

Add the meat.



Weigh down the meat with something non-reactive and heavy. I used a gallon-sized plastic resealable freezer bag filled with cool water. Refrigerate. Once a day, flip the meat, re-weigh it down and continue refrigerating it. This is to make sure both sides are evenly brined.


After 12 days, remove the meat from the brine. Discard the brine. Add the meat and the cooking spices to a very large (I used this 16 quart lobster pot)pot and fill with water. Boil for 3 hours or until the meat is tender and sort of flakes when you poke it with a fork. Allow to cool. When cool, scrape off any loose bits of fat and discard them. Slice the meat across the grain with a very sharp knife or meat slicer. I borrowed this meat slicer and it worked pretty well slicing the meat to deli-thinness.




*Sometimes called "pink salt" or "curing salt" this is a perservative that helps the meat retain the pinkish color. I had a hard time finding it locally but I finally found it for sale from this website. 8 oz is only $2 and is enough for dozens of curing experiments.

My thoughts:

There were times when I was making the corned beef I felt slightly insane. After all, I am lucky enough to live in a city with a good deli so it wasn't 100% necessary that I make my own corned beef from scratch. Luckily, after the weeks long, insanity inducing hunts for a brining container and sodium nitrate were over, the actual corning of the beef was really easy. Really, really easy. The brine was simple and while flipping the meat every day was one more thing to remember it wasn't time consuming. At the end of the 12 days you just boil it until tender.

I wasn't sure what spices exactly went into corned beef the few recipes I could find that didn't call for pre-brined meat just called for "pickling spices". What exactly was in those pickling spices wasn't really clear. So I just picked spices that I thought would make for tasty meat and hoped for the best. I then waited a long 12 days to try it and well, it totally worked. It was the best corned beef I have ever had and I have had a lot of corned beef. It was melt in your mouth tender and had the most perfect straight-from-the-deli flavor. Well worth the effort.

Deli-Style Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, grated
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
salt
white pepper
16 oz cooked macaroni (I actually used cellentani)


Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, celery seed, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. In a large bowl, stir together the onion, celery, carrot, and macaroni. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving, but overnight is best.

My thoughts:

My Grandpop celebrated his 94th birthday today. My mom made crabcakes (naturally, my family's been in Baltimore over a 150 years, anything else would be sacrilege) and I thought I'd bring a side dish to his birthday lunch. He really likes getting macaroni salad at the deli so I thought I'd make a homemade version. I actually had never made a tradition macaroni salad before so I had to improvise, but I think I did a good job of maintaining the style of the dish, while using ingredients that I like-celery seeds, high quality Dijon mustard instead of what I am sure is the traditional yellow and white wine vinegar instead of plain white distilled. The result? The best macaroni salad I ever had, bar none. Even my normally macaroni salad eschewing husband enjoyed it.

Matzo Ball Soup

Ingredients:
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 parsnips
4 carrots
4 stalks celery
3 onions (2 large, 1 small-divided use)
3 sprigs fresh sage PLUS 1 tablespoon minced
1 bunch fresh parsley PLUS 2 tablespoons minced
1 large chicken, cut into pieces, skin/fat removed and reserved
2 quarts chicken stock
1 cup white wine (optional)
1 cup matzo meal
1 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:
In a large soup pot, place 1 large onion, quartered; 1 (large) parsnip, halved; bunch parsley; sprigs of sage; 2 celery stalks; chicken pieces; broth and wine. The broth should be covering the chicken. If not, add water or additional to cover. Over high heat, bring to boil then reduce to low and simmer, partially covered for 1 hour, every 10 minutes, skim any scum that floats to the surface off. Meanwhile, heat a saut� pan, add the fat, and the small onion, quartered and cook over medium heat until the fat is rendered. Strain into a heat safe bowl or measuring cup. Boil one cup water and pour it into a bowl with 1 cup matzo meal, stir to combine. Add 3 tablespoons rendered fat (if you don't have 3 tablespoons worth, make up the difference in oil), minced parsley, minced sage, salt, egg and white pepper. Stir to combine, refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut the remain carrots, parsnips, celery and onion into bite sized pieces, set aside. After the soup has cooked for one hour, remove the chicken and place in a bowl. Strain the broth through a fine strainer into another large pot, pressing the solids to release any liquids. Discard solids. To the remaining broth add the cut up onion, carrots, parsnips, and celery. Return the broth to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, remove the mazto meal mixture from the refrigerator and, using wet hands, roll into 1 inch balls. In a another pot, bring a large amount of salted water to boil. Drop the matzo balls into the water and cook 15 minutes, they should float to the top but this does not mean they are ready, cook the full 15 minutes. Pick the chicken off the bone using a fork or your fingers and remove to a a covered bowl. When the vegetables are tender, add the chicken back into the broth.

To serve: place 4 matzo balls in each bowl (should serve 4-6) and ladel the soup over. Serve right away.

My thoughts:

Matzo ball soup is a Passover classic. It is perfect because there is no need for leaveners, something that is forbidden at Passover, and uses matzo meal, which is made of ground matzo, something that is plentiful this time of year. Everyone had their own technique of making matzo balls, but this is my favorite. Not too dense, not too fluffy, the parsley adds a little flavor and they absorb just the right amount of broth. We made them with schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) which gives them a wonderful flavor and has a third of the saturated fat as butter. Matt did a wonderful job of skimming off the broth, it is a little time consuming, but it really results in a super clear yet flavorful soup. One note: if you have any leftovers, store the matzo balls separately and heat them up in boiling water while you reheat the soup, if not, they tend to soak up too much of the liquid and fall apart during storage.