Podchef's Gastrocast Podcast

Welcome to the Podchef's Gastrocast!
The podcast about cooking, food, and the politics of what we eat.

Pancake Day

This coming Tuesday is alternately known as Fat Tuesday,  Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day. It is the last day in the Traditional Christian Calendar before Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. So here is my addition to the countless enteries popping up across the web for this day.
It is a day for using up all the things which would not keep over 40 days, which were forbidden by custom to be consumed during the lenten fast--meats, butter, eggs and other dairy. It has become the spectacle which is Mardi Gras, but in there is still a great tradition whether you are Christian or not--making savory and sweet pancakes.
These are not the Flapjacks which Americans usually think of when one says "pancake", but are more like French Crepes. They were and are the perfect vehicle for using up eggs, milk and butter with the economical addition of flour. These days it is popular to fill them with raspberry jam and sprinkle confectioner's sugar over them, or to eat them with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of sugar. However, in the spirit of using things up and still making something delicious I think we should dig deeper in our pantries and create some more interesting fillings--for dinner and after.
In the UK it has been a tradition since 1445 to have a race on Pancake Day involving flipping a pancake over several ropes tied above the racer's heads as the racers run along. Originally limited to women in traditional dress, I believe it is open to both sexes now. The race originated when one woman was running late for the Shrove Tuesday service and ran all the way to the chapel still in her apron and kerchief  with  skillet in hand.

Here are a few easy, favorite recipes for your Pancake Day Celebration:

Basic Pancake Recipe:
8 ounces All Purpose Flour
a large pinch of Kosher Salt
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups of milk
2 ounces melted butter
vegetable oil for the pan

Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl. Whisk the eggs into the milk and stir into the flour and salt. Mix in the melted butter. Let sit for at least a half an hour, but 45 minutes is better.

Meanwhile preheat a small non-stick skillet or 10 inch crepe pan. Swirl a drop or two of vegetable oil on the pan. Add two tablespoons of the batter to the pan and swirl the pan about to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat for 30 seconds and then snap the pan down on the range, or counter, to loosen the pancake and flip. Cook on the second side another 15--20 seconds. Remove the pancake to a plate and repeat until the batter is finished. You can stack the pancakes up as you go.

Bacon and Mushroom Filling:
Saute 4 ounces of chopped smokey bacon until lightly browned. Add 1/2 an sliced onion and cook until the onion is soft. Add 1 handful of sliced mushrooms and saute until they are cooked and fragrant. Add a good dollop of Bechamel Sauce and take off the heat. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Fresh chopped thyme is a good addition.
Place a few tablespoons of the filling in a pancake and roll it up. Place these rolls in an oven-proof dish. Cover with more of the Bechamel and bake in a 425 degree oven for 30 minute or until the top is browned. (This can be topped with some fresh bread crumbs and chopped parsley)

Bechamel Sauce:
2 ounces butter
2 ounces flour
1 cup milk plus extra

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and immediately stir in the butter without pause. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking all the while, until the roux is smoothly mixed in. Cook over low heat until thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Banana Toffee Pancakes:
2 tablespoons butter
2 bananas, peeled, thickly sliced

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the sliced bananas and toss to coat. Saute until lightly browned.  Take a pancake and fold in half. Add some of the sauteed bananas to the pancake and fold into a quarter. Allow two or three pancakes per person. Pour toffee sauce over the pancakes and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Toffee Sauce:
3 ounces butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons Rum
3/4 cup heavy cream

Heat the butter with the sugars and rum. Stir while everything melts and is thick. Whisk in the cream and cook over medium heat until the cream is fully incorporated. Do not allow to boil or the sauce will separate. Set aside.

by: ChefNeal at 02/27/06 02:45 | link | comments |
pancake day, shrove tuesday

Tivo This

Sustainable Table Blog has reported that LinkTV (Dish Network: Channel 9410; DirectTV: Channel 375) is presenting 4 hours of food and sustainability related programing this Saturday. Check the LinkTV site for times and program names so you can set your DVR to capture this extravaganza. If you eat or cook food you should be watching these shows.

by: ChefNeal at 02/23/06 16:13 | link | comments |
sustainability

Gastrocast #47

The Great Corned Beef Experiment phase two! This week's show sees us experimenting with Bokashi, and tasting the corned beef cured in Gastrocast #42 with a tasting panel of  "experts".  Got extra Corned Beef--take a look at my very first show for ideas on how to use it up.

Wiggly Wigglers

Photos:
This Week's
Gastrocast #42
Gastrocast #1
Bokashi

Music:
Intro: Another Brass Rail by Amadan
Inbetweens & Outros: The Fermoy Lasses by The Nettles

by: ChefNeal at 02/22/06 01:03 | link | comments (6)|
food, cooking, podchef, gastrocast, corned beef, bokashi

Top of the Pops

While I battle placement and ratings in our own US iTunes Store, thanks to Heather of the Wiggly Wiggler's Gardening Podcast for pointing out in their latest episode--#20--that The Gastrocast made the homepage on the iTunes UK Store! It was gone by the time I got there, but Hurray! A blip of recognition is better than no blip at all. Meanwhile in Ireland Conor O'Neill has rounded up and reviewed the Food Podcasts he listens to. Pretty much the same bunch I do. I should mention Conor was a crucial resource for the Corned Beef Experiment and may be responsible for some sausage making episodes to come.

by: ChefNeal at 02/20/06 14:01 | link | comments |
itunes

Gastrocast #46

Cookies! As suggested by a listener I dust off my stand mixer and whip up three flavors--Apricot Pisctachio, Cardamom; Candied Ginger Coconut; and White Chocolate Macadamia Mango.
Also I discuss Chicken Biosecurity and the ingredient of the week is all about Sugar. At the end some special guests come in for  a cookie tasting.

Music:
Intro: Mon père by Bézèd'h
In betweens & Outro: CORRESPONDANCE by Happy House


Flicker Photos

by: ChefNeal at 02/16/06 21:05 | link | comments |
cooking, podchef, gastrocast, baking, cookies

Recipe Copyrights

An interesting, but impractical idea--recipe copyrights.  I struggle with this notion, both because I use lots of other peoples recipes to develop my own, and even just to use because they're good, but also as a cookbook author.  While it is a great notion to protect your work, I just don't think it is practical. Somewhere I've read about the disconnect big name chefs have with writing cookbooks and the dining experience in their restaurant--is a meal at the restaurant, cooked by professionals, going to be impacted when a frequent patron take the book home and cobbles their way through a favorite? Or does it give them a fuller sense of all which goes into preparing a high-end meal? How does it impact the experience, and what happens if some lesser chef takes a signature dish and uses it at their place but doesn't get it right--will Gordon Ramsey's Vichyssoise cease to be signature and special and return to plain old cold, potato and leek soup?

To me, a recipe is a blueprint. It outlines what the dish should be like. There are many ways to get to the same end, and certainly the same ingredients can be applied to numerous, different dishes. While it is unfair to wholesale steal someone elses intellectual property and turn it into your own, even if you give them credit. The world of cooking is different. Recipes are built on ideas and techniques which are common ground. The ingredients, too, are common but can be varied slightly for nuance. The only real copyright-able part of a recipe then is the individual's flair and wording in the text of the recipe. Hard to control.

There are really no new dishes under the sun. Certainly new techniques are applied to old standards, but if you dig deep enough into history much of what is hot and trendy now has been tried in some form at some time. If recipes were copyrighted 85% of restaurants, at least, would have to go out of business. It would be chaos. I think a much better model should be a Creative Commons Attribution license--which is more or less what I have released my cookbook and recipes and podcast with.

One other way to view a recipe and dish is that they are more like performance art--it is the act of creation which brings the magic. Sure, anyone can gate Central Park in Orange draperies, but Christo brings the eyes of the world to Manhattan. You and I can both use the same ingredients to make a Turkey Pannini for our computer repair dudes, but attitude, timing, quality, and passion determine the final outcome no matter how exact the recipe is we are following. This is something no copyright can control or contain and what truly distiguishes great chefs and their work from the rest of us--no matter how many of their cookbooks we buy.

Inspired by a Boing Boing Article

by: ChefNeal at 02/14/06 20:13 | link | comments (3)|
food, recipes, cooking, copyright

Brrreeeport Proliferation

Track the proliferation across the web of the Scoble's word: brrreeeport

by: ChefNeal at 02/14/06 16:04 | link | comments |
brrreeeport

Great to be back

Ah I'm so glad Mo'time is back on line and everything appears to be working so much smoother.
I am also happy to report my lowly eMac has had its surgery and now with a new heart/brain appears to be working better than before. This return to original speed will greatly help reduce post-production show time and help keep the quality a bit tighter.

The repair technician who showed up in Kitchen Studio was friendly and efficient. He had, apparently, been out to the island before to repair computers--he does all sorts. He told me my problems weren't unusual and that Dell computers were also having massive problems with blown capacitors. Let's hope it won't happen again, with this new motherboard.

He was a bit taken aback when I offered him lunch. He politely rufused but tucked in heartliy when I set a turkey pannini in front of him. He lit up at the Blood Oranges in White Chocolate Sauce for afters. He was very pleasant, but on the whole didn't seem to know what podcasting was about--or didn't let on. He fell in love with my dog and mostly wanted to ask questions about the breed.

My dear (long suffering) wife said perhaps the computer should break more often if it would get me to clean the office as thoroughly. I even got rid of the cardboard I stuck to the window with tape to keep the sun from glaring on the screen  and replaced it with blinds. This will let even more light into kitchen studio. WIth computer worries out of the way, the polytunnel finished for now, and my chicken yard well on its way, I'm off to line up a tasting panel for next week's Corned Beef Taste Off.

by: ChefNeal at 02/14/06 15:45 | link | comments |
motime

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