Part III: COOKING FOR TWO AT HOME 

( #cookingfor2athome )

What does it mean to cook for others at home?  It is more than just feeding; it is an expression of who we are. All ancient cultures have sophisticated culinary traditions as it is embedded in us to be social, to gather and share. This applies to cooking at home. Does it have complicated? Not at all, but it sometimes includes effort, and it is an expression of love and care. We are all partial to some flavors, and I believe it relates to what we are exposed to. What are Spanish flavors? The following recipes have, for me, the taste of Spain. In this batch I have included a vegetable recipe, as per request from +Charmaine Chow.

1)      “Pork Loin Chops with parsley”: it can be prepared with either bone-in (my suggestion for family dinner) or boneless (my suggestion for entertaining).

a.      Tools: large frying pan or skillet, hand blender or mortar.

b.      Ingredients: 6 thin cut pork loin chops, 3 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, pinch of kosher salt, ¼   tsp. of piment d’espelette (red pepper from the Basque country)  or substitute with ¼  or tsp. of sweet paprika, 1-2 sprigs of fresh parsley finely chopped.

c.       Procedure: put the parsley, pepper, and 2 Tbsp of oil in a tall jar or pitcher and use the hand blender until it becomes a finely chopped paste, reserve. Alternatively you can use a mortar and pestle to mash the parsley and pepper, and then add and mix the oil. Place the skillet in high heat and add the rest of the olive oil. Fry the pork for about 2 minutes until golden on both sides and moist inside, serve and add the parsley paste on top of the pork steaks. You can feel the mixed of flavors without being too strong. I know you will love it.

2)      “Caramelized Carrots”: these will go great  with “Pork Loin Chops with parsley”

a.      Tools: 11 inches nonstick skillet or sauté pan

b.      Ingredients: 4 large carrots peeled and chopped into ½ inch cubes, 3 Tbsp of unsalted butter.

c.       Procedure: place the sauté pan at medium to high heat and melt the butter. Saute the carrots for a few minutes making sure they do not burn or brown. Lower the heat to medium to medium low heat and continue to cook and stir frequently for about 40 minutes until they develop a nice glazed aspect (they will be caramelized). Serve. They will have a nice sweet, deep flavor that will surprise you. Try it.

Enjoy

Part II: COOKING FOR TWO AT HOME 
( #cookingfor2athome )

How do we create a culture at home? My cooking has several influences and a few roots. At home my food is a peculiar mix of my Mediterranean background and the Japanese culture I have picked after more than two decades studying Japanese martial arts. An anecdote illustrates this. Last year my daughters went to Italy with my wife and my mother-in-law to visit the family there. After a week, my daughters were complaining that the food “was not their favorite”. They were walking in a northern Italian town when they saw a sign that read “Sushi”. They looked at each other and they both screamed at the same time “FINALLY, AMERICAN FOOD!”.

Creating our culinary culture at home is a combination of taste, habit, character. Here is then my second batch of recipes for this Blog. 

Note on tools: I use a variety of pans for this second set of recipes; however, skillets should NOT be non-stick type:

1)      “Ellie Chicken”: this is another favorite at home that is really chicken with a honey-mustard glace.

a.      Tools: large skillet or sauté pan, and a small (1.5 Qt.) sauce pan

b.      Ingredients: 3 chicken legs and shoulders (I like the dark meat better but you can use breasts) (keep the skin and separate the leg from the shoulder), ½ cup of your favorite mustard, ½ cup of honey (I suggest a mild one like clover honey), 1 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, 2 Tbsp. of chicken stock (or same amount of water with ¼ tsp. of chicken base), salt to taste.

c.       Procedure: Preheat the oven at 450 F. Wash the chicken with water, and dry well with paper towels. Sprinkle kosher salt (about ½ Tbsp.) over the chicken. Put the chicken in the dry skillet and take it to the oven as is, and bake for about 45 minutes. About 15-20 minutes before the end of the baking time melt the butter in the sauce pan and then add the stock, the mustard and the honey, at medium to high heat. Whip with a balloon or fork while it heats. It will start bubbling. Do not stop whisking or it will stick in the bottom. Let it boil for a while, it will start to reduce and become a golden brown glace. After about 10 minutes reduce to a simmer to prevent from solidifying. After 45-50 minutes in the oven, the chicken would be lightly golden and there will be a lot of liquid in the skillet. Take the skillet out and carefully pour out most of the liquid but leave a few Tbsp. in the skillet with the chicken. Pour the glaze over the chicken, brush it and rotate it until all the pieces are coated with the glaze. Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes more. The time is approximate, do net let the chicken burn and take it out if it begins to darken too much in spots like the skin Get the chicken out and cover if you until you are ready to serve.

2)      “Papi Steak version 2”: There are several ways to prepare steak, and this is a variation form a northern Italian recipe. You can also do this with Tri Tip for a party and it is universally loved.

a.      Tools: at least 12 inches heavy skillet or heavy Sauté pan, alternative is a grill

b.      Ingredients: 2 steaks of your favorite cut. My preference is New York Strip, and if you can ask your butcher to cut you two fresh steaks about 1 ¾ or 2 inches thick, it would be best. 1 ½ Tbsp. of kosher salt, ½ cup of parsley, 4-5 anchovies, 1 Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp. of your best extra virgin olive oil.

c.       Procedure: THE NIGHT BEFORE OR EARLY IN THE MORNING, in a mortar mix the parsley, salt, anchovies and mash it. Add the oil and Worcestershire sauce and mix it. and mix it. Rub the steaks and let them rest in the refrigerator for 1 day and take the steaks out of the refrigerator about ½ hour before cooking to come to room temperature. Note on the marinade; the anchovies infuse umami flavor in the steak without turning it into a “fishy” meal; if you think the idea of anchovies is too much for you, substitute them for two extra Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce to add the umami essence. Clean excess of marinade with a paper towel. Heat the skillet at high heat for about 10 minutes until very very hot spray with a tiny bit of olive oil and immediately put the steaks (careful with the smoke). Do not move them, let them cook for  about 3 or 4 minutes (this will brown and caramelize the sugars in the surface) by then they will not stick to the surface and you can turn them. Repeat with the sides if you have the thick steak. After this, lower the heat to medium low and let them cook a few more minutes until desired doneness (if you use a thermometer, 135-140 F inside is about medium). Get them out of the heat and put them on a cutting board to rest for about 5-10 minutes. Pour 1 Tbsp. of melted unsalted butter on top of each while they rest and few drops of lemon or lime over each. Serve and be amazed about the glorious taste. I like to serve mashed potatoes on the side for the steaks cooked this way.

Enjoy

COOKING FOR TWO AT HOME 

( #cookingfor2athome )

In the last few weeks I have received requests from friends to help them build a set of home recipes to explore new things to eat, or simply to learn about home cooking. Flattered as I was I felt that home cooking is an expression of our home culture, of who we are. I tentatively begun to write and begun to receive encouragement and good feedback from the results, particularly from my friend +Charmaine Chow  who came up with the idea of a blog. I decided to revive my Blog where originally I wanted to explore many things of my interest or that give me happiness. Here is then my first batch of recipes for this Blog.  

The recipes have peculiar names because they have been used and modified by my captive audience (my family) until they are favorites at home. Although I usually cook for four (unless we have people dropping by for a bite and friendly chat), I have written the recipes to be for 2 people; that is to say, 2 hungry people.

1)      “Papi Rice”: this is a favorite at home that can be used to go with many things on the side, that is to say, with beef, poultry, pork, etc.

a.      Tools: 3 Qt. Sauce pan.

b.      Ingredients: 1/5 to 1/4 package (~ ¾ cup) of angel hair pasta broken in pieces about 1 inch long or a bit less. 1 ½ cups of your favorite long grain rice (My favorite for this is Basmati). 3 Tbsp. (Table spoons) of unsalted butter. 3 cups of chicken stock; I use the same amount of water and add 3 tsp. (tea spoons) of “better than bouillon” chicken base.

c.       Procedure: melt the butter in the sauce pan and then add the pasta ate medium to high fire. Put the stock 2~3 minutes in the microwave or on the stove so it is very hot when you use it. Move around the pasta in the butter until the pasta begins to darken and then add the rice. Continue to stir and mix around until rice turns white, about 2 minutes, and then add the stock and increase to high heat. When it has a high rolling boil and it begins to reduce the liquid, check for taste and correct if necessary, cover, lower the heat to minimum and let it cook that way for 20 minutes. DO not open. After 20 minutes turn off the heat and let it rest another 5~10 minutes without opening. When you are ready to serve fluff with a fork and serve. You can add a a little parsley for decoration and garnish on top of the rice.

2)      “Lamb Rib Chops Casaluz”: I love these lamb chops, and they go great with “Papi Rice”

a.      Tools: 11 inches skillet or larger

b.      Ingredients: 6 lamb rib chops, 1 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, 4 Tbsp. of virgin olive oil + 1 for marinade, ½ tsp. of cumin, ¼ tsp. of kosher salt, ¼ tsp. of sweet paprika., a few sprigs of parsley (you can substitute for rosemary as an alternative).

c.       Procedure: in a mortar mix the parsley, salt, cumin, and paprika and mash it. Add 1 Tbsp of oil and mix it. Rub the chops with this mixture and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 1 hour (can be longer, it is better if it is not less than ½ hours). In the skillet mix the butter and the rest of the oil and heat at medium heat. When the oil is hot and before smoking, add the lamb and fry it until desired doneness ~3-4 minutes per side for medium rare. 

Feel welcome to drop feedback. 

Enjoy

The first class on Statistics

I find myself on a Sunday morning working to prepare what will be my first class on Statistics for a new course. While I try to imagine ideas and a broad picture of the class I check the stream at Google+ and listen to TED talks on language and speech. Without realizing it my brain begin to put the ideas together and find patterns just as working on Mathematics ill do, and because Mathematics is, after all, a language.
We live in the age of information, communicating and manipulating bits of knowledge. Data can be thought of as a piece of a picture around us; a picture of a story represented by numbers, and therefore, a picture of a story waiting to be told. Statistics is a science that deals with data, but I prefer to define it as a way of describing, understanding and telling the story hidden among the fragmented pieces of data we collect in a myriad of ways. Good statistics explains clearly the links between data, and good statistics often generates interesting questions that further the quest for knowledge. A quote from Sherlock Holmes' The Adventure of the Copper Beeches comes to mind: "Data!Data!Data!" he cried impatiently, "I can't make bricks without clay". And so it is that data gives us the clay with which we form bricks and construct a picture, a landscape, a story.
The building of our story in Statistics begins with context. We must first identify the group of individuals or objects that the data will represent. We call that context "Population" and we begin to ask questions such as "How many individuals or objects are there in that population?" and that number is the purpose of my first class, the number N. What is N? How do we find it? Does it ever change? How does it change? How quickly doe sit change?
Human beings are social learners and story telling (and language) is part of our genetic map. Storytelling is behind Statistics, and, not surprisingly, Storytelling is also behind a good class...
Or so I hope.