Gone Fishin’

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Lake Erie fishing is a sport and a pastime that appeals to young & old, male & female, novice & competitive angler. Check out that whopper on the right side of row eight above. That’s a 51.5-inch Muskie. WOW!!!!!!!  Me? I’ll be at the grill with some sides ready to whip-up a tasty Walleye or Perch dinner. Yummmm!!!!!!! :))))

Now that the lake is starting to clear, and the ice is headed east, it’s time to get out the boat (or call a buddy with a boat) and do some fishin’.  Lake Erie fishing, especially for perch and walleye, is some of the most prized angling in the United States and the best fishing in Ohio. Anglers often carefully watch the fishing reports to plan annual treks to Lake Erie, sometimes several times a year, to enjoy the chance at catching an impressive haul after a day or weekend on the water.  I know that serious anglers love heading out really early in the morning (it’s my favorite time of the day!) when the water is calm, and the fishies are biting. I on the other hand will be glad to get the skillet or grill fired up!  I am not a fisherman, something about bobbing on the water doesn’t work well for my constitution!  Here is some good info for the novice fisherman, along with links for charters, and more.  So, call some buds, grab a hat and some sunscreen, light snacks, and head on out to enjoy the day.  Thanks to eriecharter.com, lakeeriewalleyecharterfishing.com, and planetware.com.  Enjoy, and call me when it’s time to eat!!

Play this tune while you read to get you in the mood.

Lake Erie is the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes serving as the international boundary between the United States and Canada. On a clear day on the open water, you can see the mainland of Canada and the Lake Erie islands.

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, and the entire shoreline stretches for 871 miles, touching the US state borders of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York. There are so many fishing opportunities in this body of water, but most anglers come specifically for the walleye and perch.

In order to enjoy the best fishing that Lake Erie has to offer, you either need to hire a Lake Erie fishing charter, which is easy to do, or know a private captain who can take you. Fishing with an experienced captain on Lake Erie is essential.  Here’s some links: Try This and This

The weather conditions on the water are finicky, and the fishing regulations are strict. Having knowledge of the lake and its islands allows you to safely fish in just about any weather.

Lake Erie regulars know that the bait shop intel is some of the best information available. The walleye and perch are constantly on the move, and while most captains will know generally where they should be throughout the year, their specific locations and bite action will change by the day and oftentimes by the hour.

A favorite of Lake Erie fishing is perch.  Anglers say the best set-up is the hook sinker with a worm bait. Although you can also use a spinner tipped with a worm or a small jig head with a worm or minnow bait. Perch fishing with worms tends to produce the best results, but maggots, prawns and lobworms are also amongst the best bait for catching perch. Recently released Ohio Department of Natural Resources yellow perch hatch results indicate more of the same: overall mediocrity, leaning toward the not-so-good side.     )Depending on the fishing zones you choose, you will likely experience different results.

Many anglers also head to Lake Erie for the prized walleye. Walleye require different bait and fishing methods. Strict bag limit and size regulations for walleyes keep the fish populations in Lake Erie in check. It’s one of the reasons that the walleyes in these basins are able to grow to such large sizes.  People come from all over the region and US to fish for walleyes in Lake Erie, especially in the early spring and fall. The sheer quantity of fish and relative unavailability in the supermarket make it a popular sport fish.

There are various techniques used for getting bait into the strike zone for walleyes. Trolling is a common method that enables anglers to use crank/stick baits in the spring and fall and spoons and nightcrawler harnesses in the summer. All Lake Erie anglers have their own preferences when it comes to the use of planer boards, divers, downriggers, weighted spinners, or flatlining while targeting walleyes.

1. What to Know Before You Go. Lake Erie fishing is exciting, and you will relive the trip with every bite of perch and walleye that you cook for dinner, but there are some key things to know before you go. First things first: educate yourself on the Lake Erie fishing regulations. Since bag limits are reviewed each year, it is important to know what they are for the species that you are targeting, as the regulations are strict.

2.  Be sure to obtain a valid Ohio fishing license from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources or from the state you will be fishing from. Lake Erie is surrounded by the US states of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York, which all have their own regulations and fishing license requirements.

3.  If you are susceptible to sea sickness, be sure to wear a motion-sickness patch or take motion-sickness prevention pills with you. The Lake Erie waters can mimic the ocean in inclement or windy weather, making for a rocky day on the boat. Hence the reason I do the cooking!!

4.  Hiring a Lake Erie fishing charter is easy to do, and it is one of the best ways to make sure you get right on top of the fish that you want to target. There are several types of charters available depending on your preference. You can hire a private charter, which is more expensive and generally takes groups of four to six people by pre-booking.

5.  Another option for Lake Erie fishing charters are walk-on head boats, where you just show up and go. These are nice options for people who decide to go fishing at the last minute because they are convenient. They are also more affordable than private charters, making them great options for families and groups who are on a budget.

6. Where to Depart. Lake Erie has three main basins from which anglers generally depart to fish for perch and walleye. Port Clinton is the Walleye Capital of the World, so it is the go-to launch for the Western Basin and that is where you will find the largest concentration of Lake Erie fishing charters. The Western Basin is productive in the spring during spawning season and in the fall.  The Central Basin, stretching along the northeastern Ohio border and part of Pennsylvania, is popular in the late spring and summer. Popular Ohio departures for the Central Basin include Huron, Lorain, Fairport, Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ashtabula, and Conneaut.  The Eastern Basin stretches from Pennsylvania to New York and Canada.

7.  Other Fish to Catch on Lake Erie. when it comes to Lake Erie fishing, there are other species that are great to target as well. Here are some of the other species that are likely to make an appearance:

Smallmouth Bass. The smallmouth bass in Lake Erie are a popular species for anglers. There are some strict regulations regarding smallmouth bass to help the populations get through spawning season, so you will want to review those if you plan to fish for this species in the spring or early summer. Smallmouth bass can be fun to catch, as they are active fighters and oftentimes jet out of the water.

Steelhead. Anglers enjoy fishing for steelhead because they are quite aggressive on the line. They also make for great table fare. The Ohio Division of Wildlife has been releasing steelhead trout in Lake Erie since the mid 90s, and they have become a popular fish for anglers.

Lake Trout. Lake Erie lake trout can grow quite large and are nice to catch. They are stocked in Ohio waters, so there are generally healthy populations.

Sheepshead. Often considered by anglers to be a junk fish, sheepshead are exciting to catch. These are quite popular to get on the end of your line while fishing for something else. Most anglers do not keep sheepshead, but they provide a lively intermission to your day of fishing.

8.  Planning a Lake Erie fishing trip is fairly simple and can become a yearly tradition as it is for so many anglers. Start your planning by deciding what type of species you want to fish for, as that will determine the time of year to go and the location of your departure.

If possible, give yourself a couple of days to make the most of the trip and ensure you have an ice chest full of fish to take home. At the very least, if one day is all you can do, try to plan the trip when you have the most flexibility to change the date if weather conditions are not favorable. Keep in mind that the captain has the final say when it comes to assessing the weather conditions.

Look up local resources like the Lake Erie Shore & Islands to find information on things to do in the area, lodging, and restaurants that you can plan to visit during your stay. They also provide daily weather and fishing reports that you can check before and during your time on the water.

Catch & Cook with Robert Field

How to Get a Fishing License in Ohio with pictures

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

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Sticky

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Look closely. Next time you get a piece of fruit check out those really little stickers. They’re really works of art!! Read all about them below.

It’s that time of year when I really enjoy fresh fruit from the supermarket.  Not only the strawberries or apples (but I must admit the apples are amazing lately), but the variety of oranges, grapefruit, and pineapple that arrive from Florida, California, and Mexico.  Jackie and I love to make a fruit salad, mixing whatever we pick up from our local grocery store, and combining the flavors – there’s something special about fresh grapefruit juice … especially when added to some of my favorite adult beverages!  I was noticing the tiny little stickers on each of the fruits, and then hit the internet to find out more.  Where did these come from, how do they get the tiny UPC code on them, who designs the stickers and keeps track of all the vendors and all the codes?  I found some great info about the stickers (never knew the stickers have become collector’s items) and worldwide coordination of markings and wanted to share.  Special thanks to fastcompany.com, cbc.ca.bonappetit.com, YouTube and Wikipedia for the info. Squeeze away!!

How Stickers are applied

  • Fruit stickers, or also known as “the world’s tiniest canvases for graphic design” have been around for almost a century.  Called a PLU sticker – short for Product or Price Look Up – feature a four- or five-digit number that lets cashiers know what the product is and then how much it costs.
  • Started back in the 30’s, with growth after World War II, the intricate illustrations gave way to more abstract graphics that made use of typography and striking colors. In recent years, some companies have continued to update their brand identity via the stickers. In the 1960s the brand Filosófo, for example, once sported a paper wrapper with concentric circles, illustrated stars, and a serif typeface. Today, it features a more contemporary typeface and a pristine, watercolor-like rendition of oranges adorned with blossoms. (the stickers are shaped like leaves).
  • The next evolution was a four-digit numbering system – numbers begin with a 3 or a 4 – which means the product was grown conventionally – five-digit combinations start with a 9 (then the product’s four-digit code), meaning it was organically grown.  An 8 was once used to denote GMO products, but that was dropped a few years back as the GMO designation didn’t affect price.
  • Whether you’re buying bananas from a store in Toronto, a shop in Kentucky or a stand in Cologne, Germany, the PLU is the same. Same goes for navel oranges (3107), seedless green grapes (4022) and even passion fruit (3038 for the granadilla variety).
  • According to Jane Proctor, vice-president of policy and issue management for the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, “it’s a global system.  In the U.S., in Canada, in Mexico, in the U.K., in New Zealand, in Australia, in Norway, in Sweden — in these countries, they’re used all the way through the supply chain. And any other country that is shipping to those countries is also using them.”
  • How are codes assigned when a new variety of fruit or vegetable is created that a grower or manufacturer thinks should have its own number, they can apply for a PLU (applications cost $1,000 for IFPS members; $2,000 for non-members.  An IFPS committee meets electronically, four times a year, to decide which applications should be accepted and which shouldn’t.
  • There are now some 1,400 codes in use.  The main requirement is that the product has to be sold by at least three retailers with 25 locations or more. Letters of support from the retailers are also asked for. With the use of bar codes, scanners, and tracking data systems, grocers are able to extract detailed buying behaviors using the UPC Bar codes.
  • The main purpose of the stickers is to allow a cashier to read the code easily through a clear plastic bag, so there are some design requirements.  For stickers with only a number, the type size has to be at least 14 points, and for newer PLUs, it has to include a barcode, which should be at least 10- or 12-point font. (there is no MAX size). It should also have as much contrast as possible, with black lettering on a white background considered ideal.
  • Manufacturers are free to come up with their own designs, making some stickers a collector’s item of sorts. Around the world, fruit stickers have become a collector’s item, replete with jazzy typography, vibrant illustrations, and playful branding that goes back over a century.
  • As one of the world’s largest exporters of fruit, Spain has them in droves. Since the country started exporting oranges and other citrus fruit at the turn of the 20th century, Spain has developed a robust infrastructure producing fruit stickers, paper wrappers, and custom-printed fruit crates.
  • These little “gems” of graphic design are now the subject of a new exhibition in Madrid. Featuring more than 300 Spanish brands, the aptly named Frutas de Diseño (Design Fruits) shines a light on the colorful history of fruit branding in Spain from the 1950s onward—and the wild variety of graphics that have been used to market fruits there and abroad.
  • The exhibition is located in CentroCentro, a striking cultural venue that was once Madrid’s main post office building. It includes 250 iterations of paper wrappers, a popular way of packaging fruit in Spain, more than 100 fruit crates stacked like totems, and a board with 360 real, tiny stickers in all kinds of shapes, from circles to ovals to leaves. Most of them depict a simple wordmark, with a few exceptions like an abstract version of the sun, or an illustrated lemon cut in half. Names like “Infinita” or “La Soculente” (The Succulent) helped businesses, often small family-run affairs, stand out from the crowd.
  • Over the past few years, some companies have been experimenting with lasers, etching numbers, and brand names on the skin on the actual fruit. While in its early days, the practice might gain steam in countries like France, which banned disposable plastic packaging and produce stickers across 30 fruits and vegetables.
  • Can you eat the stickers?  The short answer is yes, but you probably won’t want to.  There is not harm, but the stickers do not break down in the body … just pass through.
  • So next time you find yourself peeling a sticker from your orange, take a closer look before you chuck it in the trash, because you may be holding one of the tiniest forms of branding ever created.

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

CAKE!

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I looooooove CAKE! (I know, I know, I do love food of any kind) They’re good anytime but especially fun on birthdays. Everyone can celebrate the event with a great big smile. Don’t forget to make a wish when you blow out the candles! And get them all out in one breath!!!!  :))))

Ah – the ritual of birthday cake.  It’s one of mankind’s great inventions (along with frosting, sprinkles, candles, balloons and of course ice cream).  I have a fun tradition with my golf buddies – every few weeks, we try to get together for breakfast and celebrate one of our group’s birthdays.  Nothing fancy, just good coffee and good food and good laughs.  It got me thinking about “cake”, so I dug up some interesting info on the topic. I never turn down a great cake – but I have to admit, my favorite desert is either Pineapple Upside Down cake or Boston Crème pie! . So, here’s a little history, fun facts about the birthday song, and world records.  Special thanks to readersdigest.com, The History Channel, CNBC and Wikipedia for the info.  Enjoy.

  1. A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of a birthday celebration. Birthday cakes are often layer cakes with frosting served with small lit candles on top representing the celebrant’s age. Variations include cupcakes, cake pops, pastries, and tarts. The cake is often decorated with birthday wishes and the celebrant’s name.
  2. Birthday cakes have been a part of birthday celebrations in Western European countries since the middle of the 19th century. However, the link between cakes and birthday celebrations may date back to ancient Roman times.
  3. In classical Roman culture, ‘cakes’ were occasionally served at special birthdays and at weddings. These were flat circles made from flour and nuts, leavened with yeast, and sweetened with honey.
  4. The ancient Egyptians are credited with “inventing” the celebration of birthdays. They believed when pharaohs were crowned, they became gods, so their coronation day was a pretty big deal. That was their “birth” as a god – hence, birth day cake (get it?) So, they baked moon-shaped cakes to offer up to Artemis  goddess of the moon, as a tribute. They decorated them with lit candles to make the cakes shine like the moon – hence, the reason we light our birthday cakes on fire.
  5. In the 15th century, bakeries in Germany began to market one-layer cakes for customers’ birthdays in addition to cakes for weddings.
  6. During the 17th century, the birthday cake took on its contemporary form. These elaborate cakes had many aspects of the contemporary birthday cake, like multiple layers, icing, and decorations. However, these cakes were only available to the very wealthy. Birthday cakes became accessible to the lower class as a result of the industrial revolution and the spread of more materials and goods. So, it has become the cultures and traditions to celebrate the birthday with delicious cake and beautiful wishes.
  7. There is no standard for birthday cakes, though the “Happy Birthday“ song is often sung while the cake is served in English-speaking countries, or an equivalent birthday song in the appropriate language of the country.
  8. The birthday cake is often decorated with small candles, secured with special holders or simply pressed down into the cake. the number of candles is equal to the age of the individual whose birthday it is, sometimes with one extra for luck. Traditionally, the person whose birthday it is makes a wish, which is thought to come true if all the candles are extinguished in a single breath.
  9. The phrase “happy birthday” did not appear on birthday cakes until the song “Happy Birthday to You” was popularized in the early 1900s.
  10. In many cultures the person whose birthday is being celebrated is invited to make a wish, and blow out candles. Though the exact origin and significance of this ritual is unknown, there are multiple theories which try to explain this tradition.
  11. Greek:  One theory explaining the tradition of placing candles on birthday cakes is attributed to the early Greeks, who used candles to honor the goddess Artemis’ birth on the sixth day of every lunar month. The link between her oversight of fertility and the birthday tradition of candles on cakes, however, has not been established.
  12. Pagan:  The use of fire in certain rites dates back to the creation of altars. Birthday candles are said to hold symbolic power. In the past it was believed that evil spirits visited people on their birthdays and that, to protect the person whose birthday it was from evil, people must surround the individual and make them merry. Party-goers made noise to scare away evil spirits.
  13. German:  In 18th century Germany, the history of candles on cakes can be traced back to Kinderfest, a birthday celebration for children. This tradition also makes use of candles and cakes. German children were taken to an auditorium-like space. There, they were free to celebrate another year in a place where Germans believed that adults protected children from the evil spirits attempting to steal their souls.
  14. Swiss:  A reference to the tradition of blowing out the candles was documented in Switzerland in 1881. Researchers for the Folk-Lore Journal recorded various “superstitions” among the Swiss middle class. One statement depicted a birthday cake as having lighted candles which correspond to each year of life. These candles were required to be blown out, individually, by the person who is being celebrated.
  15. The Happy Birthday Song is arguably the most frequently-sung English song in the world, giving “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and “Auld Lang Syne” a run for their money. If you hear this song a lot in September, there’s a reason.
  16. Singing the Happy Birthday Song may actually make birthday cake taste better. According to a study by researchers from Harvard University and the University of Minnesota, indulging in a ritual before eating heightens our enjoyment of the food and helps us savor it.
  17. Here are some things you never knew about another birthday pastime: the “Happy Birthday” song. At a well preserved 125 years old, “Happy Birthday to You,” is the most frequently sung English song in the world.  It was originally composed in 1893 as “Good Morning to All” by Patty Smith Hill, a kindergarten teacher and principal in Louisville, Kentucky, and her oldest sister, Mildred Jane Hill, a pianist and composer. Its lyrics went like this:  Good morning to you, Good morning to you, Good morning, dear children, Good morning to all.
  18. The song was part of a larger project of the sisters to create simple music that catered to children’s limited abilities. They workshopped songs on Patty’s class so that “even the youngest children could learn with perfect ease,” with Patty writing the words and Mildred setting them to melodies. They published GMTA in their 1893 book, Song Stories for the Kindergarten. Just like us, the sisters loved simple, shareable sentiments.
  19. For years, legal battles raged over the Hill sisters’ ownership of the Birthday Song and whether or not it should be in the public domain. A 2013 class-action lawsuit initiated by a New York filmmaker challenged the song’s copyright and demanded that the current copyright owner return all previous royalties it had collected for HBTY. In May 2015, U.S. District Judge George King was still hearing arguments for Good Morning to You Productions Corp. vs. Warner/Chappell Music. In February 2016, Warner Music finally ended the long-fought battle when it paid $14 million to put “Happy Birthday” into the public domain. In June of the same year, a judge approved it.
  20. The world’s largest birthday cake was created in 1989 for the 100th Birthday of the city of Fort Payne, Alabama. The cake weighed 128,238 pounds, 8 oz. and used 16,209 pounds of icing!
  21. A birthday cake loaded with diamonds and hand-sculpted fondant smashed the record for the most expensive dessert ever created. Price tag: $75 million. The decadent cake was created by British designer Debbie Wingham, who rose to fame when she crafted the world’s most expensive dress for $17.7 million. It took more than 1,100 hours to make, since all of the tiny edible figurines were hand-sculpted with Wingham’s couture clothing and accessories, including sunglasses and handbags.  Much of the value comes from the bling. The cake has 4,000 diamonds, including a 5.2-carat pink diamond, a 6.4-carat yellow diamond and 15 five-carat white diamonds. Those 17 stones alone are worth more than $45 million. (now that’s when you wanna lick the frosting!!)

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Chips

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Chips are wonderful!!! But who made the first chip???? 

Supply chain mishaps.  Stranded shipping containers.  Logjams at the terminals. Millions of products waiting on the shelf.  Consumer frustration on low inventory.  All because of chips.  That’s not good for business or customers.  So, how did America respond?? – by increasing chips sales by over $400 million dollars in ’21, with a global projection to be four-fold that by 2026. According to people who track things, when Covid-19 forced people to stay home, many of us found solace in a snack: potato chips. I guess you can say, when the chips are down, American’s gobble them up. So, I did some digging, got some sound history and good explanations on the category.  So, grab a bowl, pour out some chips, and enjoy. Thanks to Brandon Tensley from Smithsonian, YouTube, Cleveland.com, thoughtco.com and foodandwine.com for the info.  Now, if we can only find enough dip!!  My favorite dip is still French Onion from Dairymens here in Northeast Ohio.  It pairs perfectly with ridged or kettle chips!

Traditional chips
Stackable chips

  1. Potato chips are thin slices of potato that have been either deep-fried or baked until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appetizer. The potato chips market is segmented by product type (fired or baked), flavor (plain, salted and flavored), distribution channel (supermarkets, convenience stores, online, etc.), and geography – think globally.
  2. Americans consume about 1.85 billion pounds of potato chips annually, or around 6.6 pounds per person. (just one more reason for all those early morning runs!)). Add to that worldwide crunching, with explosive growth in Asian countries – and that’s a lot of chips!
  3. Any search for the origins of this signature finger food must lead to George Crum (born George Speck), a 19th-century chef of Native and African American descent who made his name at Moon’s Lake House in the resort town of Saratoga Springs, New York. As the story goes, one day in 1853, the railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt was eating at Moon’s when he ordered his fried potatoes be returned to the kitchen because they were too thick. Furious with such a fussy eater, Crum sliced some potatoes as slenderly as he could, fried them to a crisp and sent them out to Vanderbilt as a prank. Rather than take the gesture as an insult, Vanderbilt was overjoyed. (think this is where “crumbs” came from??)
  4. Other patrons began asking for Crum’s “Saratoga Chips,” which soon became a hit far beyond Upstate New York. In 1860, Crum opened his own restaurant near Saratoga known as Crum’s House or Crum’s Place, where a basket of potato chips sat invitingly on every table. Crum oversaw the restaurant until retiring over 30 years later; in 1889, a New York Herald writer called him “the best cook in America.”
  5. Still, historians who have peeled the skin off this story have hastened to point out that Crum was not the sole inventor of the chip, or even the first. The earliest known recipe for chips dates to 1817, when an English doctor named William Kitchiner published The Cook’s Oracle, a cookbook that included a recipe for “potatoes fried in slices or shavings.”
  6. And in July 1849, four years before Crum supposedly dissed Vanderbilt, a New York Herald reporter noted the work of “Eliza,” also, curiously, a cook in Saratoga Springs, whose “potato frying reputation” had become “one of the prominent matters of remark at Saratoga.” Yet scholars are united in acknowledging that Crum popularized the chip.
  7. For a long time, chips remained a restaurant-only delicacy. But in 1895 a Cleveland, Ohio entrepreneur named William Tappenden found a way to keep them stocked on grocery shelves, using his kitchen and, later, a barn turned factory in his backyard to make the chips and deliver them in barrels to local markets via horse-drawn wagon. Countless other merchants followed suit.
  8. In 1926, Laura Scudder, a California businesswoman, began packaging chips in wax-paper bags that included not only a “freshness” date but also a tempting boast—“the Noisiest Chips in the World,” a peculiarly American marketing breakthrough that made a virtue of being obnoxious.
  9. The snack took another leap the following year, when Leonard Japp, a Chicago chef and former prizefighter, began to mass-produce the snack—largely, the rumor goes, to serve one client: Al Capone, who allegedly discovered a love for potato chips on a visit to Saratoga and thought they would sell well in his speak-easies. Japp opened factories to supply the snack to a growing list of patrons, and by the mid-1930s was selling to clients throughout the Midwest, as potato chips continued their climb into the pantheon of America’s treats; later, Japp also created what can be considered the modern iteration by frying his potatoes in oil instead of lard.
  10. When Lay’s became the first national brand of potato chips in 1961, the company enlisted Bert Lahr, (famous for playing the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz), as its first celebrity spokesman, who purred the devilish challenge, “Betcha can’t eat just one.”
  11. The U.S. potato chip market—just potato chips, never mind tortilla chips or cheese puffs or pretzels—is estimated at $10.5 billion. And while chips and other starchy indulgences have long been criticized for playing a role in health conditions such as obesity and hypertension, the snack industry has cleaned up its act to some extent, cooking up options with less fat and sodium, from sweet potato chips with sea salt to taro chips to red lentil crisps with tomato and basil.
  12. Still, for many Americans, the point of chips has always been pure indulgence. Following a year of fast-food buzz, last October Hershey released the most sophisticated snack mashup since the yogurt-covered pretzel: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups stuffed with potato chips. Only history can judge whether this triple-flavored calorie bomb will be successful. But more than a century and a half after Crum’s peevish inspiration, the potato chip isn’t just one of our most popular foods but also our most versatile.
  13. For those who plan ahead, National Chip Dip Day is Wednesday, March 23rd

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Stew

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Anyone can make stew. But not like my wife, Jackie, who doesn’t use a recipe. (I get hungry just thinking about it.) She’s just got the touch! Don’t worry though, I found some recipes at the end that will help you cook-up some real tasty stews in your own kitchen. 

It’s right about that time of year for me when I crave another “feel good” food item – (you may have noticed this happens multiple times throughout the year).  With the thermometer going down, and the chilly skies with complete darkness driving home from work, my mind gets focused on thick and steamy, golden delicious, melt in your mouth, give me another helping – stew.  Now, I must admit, I’m REALLY spoiled, as my wife Jackie has a stew “to die for”.  You know, the kind of stew that “sticks to your bones” – sort of like a little internal heater pack.  From my “non-culinary” observations, she puts a whole bunch of browned meat and potatoes and vegies and spices in a big roasting pan, adds water and lets it “gurgle” all day – (that’s my professional cooking term) for a bazillion hours in the oven.   A magical transformation takes place – sort of like my ovens here when we’re solving your PIA (pain in the @%$) Jobs!  The house fills with the pan’s aroma, as the meat and carrots and celery and onions and spices and potatoes all do their thing.  What’s so cool – I asked her for the recipe, and she said – “I don’t really have one – just sort of make it up each time – and throw in what looks good” – (man, did I hit the amazing cooking spouse jackpot or what!).  And throughout the day, I get in trouble for simply wanting to “test” the product! (I think as an officer, I should be able to test what’s in the oven….right?).  When it’s time, I’m so anxious to sit down and do what I know how to do best -EAT!, and remember to have a chunk of your favorite bread so you don’t miss a drop! So, here’s a little history on “stews”. If you have a family favorite, please email it to me at skowalski@khtheat.com – and I’ll be sure to share with the gang and give it a try. Special thanks to one of my favorites – Shel Silverstein for his delightful poem, and delishably.com, tablespoon.com, sunset.com, gimmesomeoven.com, foodnetwork.com, and tasteofhome.com for the info and recipe links. Enjoy!

I have nothing to put in my stew, you see,
Not a bone or a bean or a black-eyed pea,
So I’ll just climb in the pot to see
If I can make a stew out of me.
I’ll put in some pepper and salt and I’ll sit
In the bubbling water—I won’t scream a bit.
I’ll sing while I simmer, I’ll smile while I’m stewing,
I’ll taste myself often to see how I’m doing.
I’ll stir me around with this big wooden spoon
And serve myself up at a quarter to noon.
So bring out your stew bowls,
You gobblers and snackers.
Farewell—and I hope you enjoy me with crackers!

    — Shel Silverstein

Stew (the noun) is “a dish of meat, fish, or other food, cooked by stewing.” (this reads like a definition a kid would make up when they didn’t know the answer).  So, for you newer chef’s out there … basically, any combination of two or more ingredients simmering in a liquid (broth) is a “stew.”

On the other hand, Soup is “a liquid food made by boiling or simmering meat, fish, or vegetables with various added ingredients.”) – when asked, I’m a “stew” guy for sure!

Many people and cultures present soup as an appetizer—a clear broth with or without a few beautifully prepared vegetables simmered within, or a cold vegetable or fruit appetizer (great in summer!).  Stew is not an appetizer, nor a light introduction to the main course.  It is the main course, the star of the show, and the perfect comfort food for those days when there is more darkness than daylight, when outdoor temperatures begin their descent toward freezing.

Historians agree, there is no way to come up with a definitive answer of when stew was invented, but the advent of combining ingredients in a pot to create a nutritious, filling, easy-to-digest meal (“stew”) probably occurred some moments after the discovery of fire, or perhaps more precisely, when prehistoric man took that first step in learning how to cook—learning how to boil water.

In her book, Food in History, Raey Tannahill states that we knew about boiling water long before the invention of pottery (about 6,000 B.C.). She believes that prehistoric men used reptile shells or the stomachs of animals they had killed as vessels in which to boil liquid.

After learning to boil water, humans made another discovery. Boiling foods not only makes them taste better, it creates new flavors. Cereal grains and some root vegetables, when heated in water, break down, soften, and release starchy granules. These starches then thicken the cooking liquid, the flavors of the individual ingredients combine, and a stew is created.

Couple passed down through the ages:  Beef Stroganoff, Coq au Vin, Paella, Hungarian Goulash — in essence, all of these are a stew.

Archeological remnants have been found to show that stew was a common food for Vikings and our European ancestors throughout the Middle East. Stew was eaten by princes and paupers alike, carried to the New World, and travelled across the Great Plains to the Pacific Ocean. It sustained cowboys on the cattle drive, nourished a generation through the Great Depression, and has been a part of human existence for millennia.  And still today, it makes this “heat-treater” a happy man!

Links to some favorites:
All-American Beef Stew (jampacked with 13 “Must Do” Tips for great stew – be sure to read it!)
Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon (she’s genius – and so fun to watch)
No Meat – Earthly Mushroom Potato Stew/Soup

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

$1,500 A Pound?

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If you’re hunting truffles, the nose knows. And you need to get a good one on your side. It used to be pigs that did most of the truffle hunting but they tended to want to eat them. So, man’s best friend, as it turns out, could be trained to sniff-out those ripe underground fungi. And dogs do it for the thrill of the hunt (and maybe a few treats). But they won’t eat the profits! Awesome!!  :-))))  So, you see, it only looks like poop. To truffle hunters those balls are 24 carat gold.

What in the world could cost fifteen hundred dollars a pound?  For those of you who are gourmet cooks, you’ve probably already guessed it.  I was listening to the radio this week and heard a report that it’s “truffle season” in Europe, and prices for the rarest white truffles are over $1,500 per pound.  As a curious sort, I had to learn more about this – and as a foodie, I was intrigued.  I’ll admit I’ve not eaten real truffles before and now my interest is peaked (but my commonsense wallet is not).  Special thanks to Wikipedia. If the weather cooperates  this weekend plan to head out to the beautiful parks with Jackie for a little hiking – never know when I may stumble upon some rare white “ohio” beauties. Now,  in full disclosure I really wouldn’t know what to look for!

  • A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus Tuber. In addition to Tuber, many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including Geopora, Peziza, Choiromyces, Leucangium, and over a hundred others. These genera belong to the class Pezizomycetes and the Pezizales order. (yep, I paid attention in science class)
  • Some of the truffle species are highly prized as food. French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin called truffles “the diamond of the kitchen”. Edible truffles are used in French and numerous national haute cuisines.
  • Phylogenetic evidence suggests that the majority of subterranean fruiting bodies evolved from above-ground mushrooms. Over time mushroom stipes and caps were reduced, and caps began to enclose reproductive tissue. The dispersal of sexual spores then shifted from wind and rain to utilizing animals.
  • The first mention of truffles appears in the inscriptions of the neo-Sumerians regarding their Amorite enemy’s eating habits (Third Dynasty of Ur, 20th century BC) and later in writings of Theophrastus in the 4th century BC.  .
  • A truffle’s substance is pale, tinged with rose. Unlike truffles, terfez (known as the desert truffle) have little inherent flavor. The Romans used the terfez as a carrier of flavor, because the terfez tend to absorb surrounding flavors. Because Ancient Roman cuisine used many spices and flavorings, the terfez may have been appropriate in that context.
  • Truffles were rarely used during the Middle Ages. Truffle hunting is mentioned by Bartolomeo Platina, the papal historian, in 1481, when he recorded that the sows of Notza were without equal in hunting truffles, but they should be muzzled to prevent them from eating the prize.
  • During the Renaissance, truffles regained popularity in Europe and were honored at the court of King Francis I of France. They were popular in Parisian markets in the 1780s, imported seasonally from truffle grounds, where peasants had long enjoyed them. Brillat-Savarin (1825) noted that they were so expensive, they appeared only at the dinner tables of great nobles and kept women.
  • For discovering how to cultivate truffles, some sources now give priority to Pierre II Mauléon (1744–1831) of Loudun (in western France), who began to cultivate truffles around 1790. Mauléon saw an “obvious symbiosis” between the oak tree, the rocky soil, and the truffle, and attempted to reproduce such an environment by taking acorns from trees known to have produced truffles, and sowing them in chalky soil. His experiment was successful, with truffles being found in the soil around the newly grown oak trees years later.
  • These successful attempts were met with enthusiasm in southern France, which possessed the sweet limestone soils and dry, hot weather that truffles need to grow. In the late 19th century, an epidemic of phylloxera destroyed many of the vineyards in southern France and an epidemic killed most of the silkworms there, too, making the fields of mulberry trees useless.
  • Thus, large tracts of land were set free for the cultivation of truffles. Thousands of truffle-producing trees were planted, and production reached peaks of hundreds of tons at the end of the 19th century. In 1890, 75,000 hectares (190,000 acres) of truffle-producing trees had been planted.
  • In the 20th century, with the growing industrialization of France and the subsequent rural exodus, many of these truffle fields (champs truffiers or truffières) returned to wilderness. The First World War also dealt a serious blow to the French countryside, killing 20% or more of the male working force. As a consequence, newly acquired techniques of trufficulture were lost.
  • Between the two great world wars, the truffle groves planted in the 19th century stopped being productive. (The average lifecycle of a truffle-producing tree is 30 years.) Consequently, after 1945, the production of truffles plummeted, and the prices have risen dramatically. Today, they are a rare delicacy reserved for the rich, or used on very special occasions.
  • In the 1970s, new attempts for mass production of truffles were started to make up for the decline in wild truffles. About 80% of the truffles now produced in France come from specially planted truffle groves.
  • In 1999, the first Australian truffles were harvested in Tasmania, the result of eight years of work. Trees were inoculated with the truffle fungus in the hope of creating a local truffle industry. Their success and the value of the resulting truffles has encouraged a small industry to develop.
  • In June 2014, A grower harvested Australia’s largest truffle from their property at Robertson in South Wales.  It was a French black perigord fungus weighing in at 1.1172 kg (2 lb 7+7⁄16 oz) and was valued at over $2,000 per kilogram.
  • Tom Michaels, owner of Tennessee Truffle, began producing Périgord truffles commercially in 2007.  At its peak in the 2008–2009 season, his farm produced about 200 pounds of truffles, but Eastern filbert blight almost entirely wiped out his hazel trees by 2013 and production dropped, essentially driving him out of business.
  • The black truffle or black Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum), the second-most commercially valuable species, is named after the Périgord region in France.  Black truffles associate with oaks, hazelnut, cherry, and other deciduous trees and are harvested in late autumn and winter.
  • Tuber magnatum, the high-value white truffle or trifola d’Alba Madonna (“Truffle of the Madonna from Alba” in Italian) is found mainly in the Langhe and Montferrat areas of the Piedmont region in northern Italy, and most famously, in the countryside around the cities of Alba and Asti.  A large percentage of Italy’s white truffles also come from Molise.
  • In Spain, per government regulation, white summer truffles can be harvested only in May through July.
  • In the U.S. Pacific Northwest, several species of truffle are harvested both recreationally and commercially, most notably, the Leucangium carthusianum, Oregon black truffle; Tuber gibbosum, Oregon spring white truffle; and Tuber oregonense, the Oregon winter white truffle. Kalapuya brunnea, the Oregon brown truffle, has also been commercially harvested and is of culinary note.
  • The pecan truffle (Tuber lyonii) syn. Texense is found in the Southern United States, usually associated with pecantrees. Chefs who have experimented with them agree “they are very good and have potential as a food commodity”.  Although pecan farmers used to find them along with pecans and discard them, considering them a nuisance, they sell for about $160 a pound and have been used in some gourmet restaurants.
  • Because truffles are subterranean, they are often located with the help of an animal possessing a refined sense of smell. Traditionally, pigs have been used for the extraction of truffles.  Both the female pig’s natural truffle-seeking, and her usual intent to eat the truffle, were thought to be due to a compound within the truffle similar to androstenol, the sex pheromone of boar saliva, to which the sow is keenly attracted. Studies in 1990 demonstrated that the compound actively recognized by both truffle pigs and dogs is dimethyl sulfide.
  • I am simply letting everyone know,  I will not be walking a female pig through the forest looking for truffles anytime soon.   I would much rather be walking down a beautiful golf course looking for my ball!
  • If you are so inclined, here’s a recipe.

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Bakes

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Ok, I am hungry!! (Ok, I’m always hungry.) But Cleveland Clambakes are one of the very best ways I can satisfy that hunger. Those food photos really get me going. I might try breakfast, lunch and dinner bakes one of these days. Yeah, that’s a good idea. I found those cool b & w photos from the Euclid Fish Company. And that pretty picture of clam digging on the coast in Washington. Then, see that photo of the giant clam above? It’s a Geoduck found in the Pacific Northwest. And a quick Google search revealed an abundance of t-shirts to express your love of the clambake. Read on and enjoy!!

Autumn in Cleveland is marked by three things: lots of football, crisp weather, and the return of the fill your belly backyard feast called the clambake.  And as a foodie, I just love ‘em. Now it has been a few years since I have been able to gather my extended family together for a Kowalski clambake! Digging out the giant pots from the attic, and from family, the special trip to the seafood store and farmer’s market, prepping the backyard and staging everything, the strategic timed layering, the great aromas, and just the fun of being outside with friends and family drawing the broth and enjoying the rewards.  Hot, savory fresh clam broth is amazing, along with steamed corn and chicken (chef meat and fish variations include fresh sausage (gotta try mine), and of course our close friend Stacy who makes the absolutely best chowder!   When my family gets together, we easily finish off 70+ dozen clams,  making me really hungry just writing this!  The last of the season’s corn, local sweet potatoes, and lots of “slaw”. Then we like to top it off with a selection of local brews – spice, pumpkin and Oktoberfests, and I’m in heaven.  Of course, lots of crunchy bread and butter to soak up the goodness – followed by the slow crawl to the festive desert table. (hungry yet)  I came across this article by Annie Zaleski for thrillist.com and just had to share some of local history around “bakes”.  I have to humbly admit,  Cleveland clam bakes are the best!!   Enjoy, and please share your own recipes and traditions – I’d love to hear ‘em. skowalski@khtheat.com

  • A Cleveland clambake is unique and distinct in both process and composition from those held elsewhere. Instead of being prepared the New England way — on a beach or near water, using a sandy process involving fire pits, rocks, and seaweed — all of the components are thrown into one big pot and steamed together. And Cleveland’s variation is characteristically hearty: a dozen clams, half a chicken, an ear of corn, a sweet potato, rolls and butter, and coleslaw.
  • According to John C. Young, president of Euclid Fish Company, the Cleveland “big pot” approach has been the staple of area clambakes forever.  And he would know: his grandfather, chef John J. Comella, helped kickstart the clambake as we now know it by formalizing the menu and making the bakes more accessible and portable through the family catering business.  “We feel that my grandfather really said, ‘OK, here’s the clams, half-chicken, ear of corn, sweet potato, rolls and butter, coleslaw. Let’s put it all together.”  According to Young, his grandpa loved to cook, loved to talk about food, loved to talk about making people happy through cooking food … and helped supply a ton of “bakes” with churches and social groups throughout town.
  • By all accounts, Comella developed this passion early. He spent his childhood in San Francisco shadowing his own father, a fisherman and produce dealer. The family eventually moved to Cleveland; sadly, Comella’s father passed away when he was 12. The young man shouldered the responsibility to support his family during the Depression — first by selling waffles from a wagon, and then by peddling clams and oysters. Interestingly, his “first love” was actually baseball, Young notes: “[He] actually was going to play for the Indians, but couldn’t pull it off because his family was totally dependent on him.”
  • In 1944, Comella opened a market at E. 185th St in Euclid, OH, under the name Chef Comella’s Fish and Clambake Company. (This eventually evolved into the Euclid Fish Company.) For the chef, clambakes were a family affair. In fact, Young says his uncle (who’s also named John) remembers being at Comella’s house on Hiller Ave in 1944, “going up and down the steps, husking corn and washing clams” from the basement.
  • “When I was a kid, it was a real small house, but everything in the planet took place in that basement,” Young says. “Like a lot of Italian families, everything revolves around the basement, cooking, and with food.” Things started progressing outside of the house after World War II ended when Comella traveled to Toledo and bought some army surplus aluminum pots, which expedited the growth of the catering business.
  • Back in the day, seafood traveled by trains, originating in New York City and moving west through Great Lakes cities — Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, and eventually Chicago — where it would be re-iced. During certain eras, when shellfish such as clams and oysters arrived in Cleveland, they would often be directed to Lake County, where many of the city’s elite families had summer homes and would throw parties on Little Mountain.
  • Guys would bring out clams and oysters to Rockefellers and all the big-name people in town, because that’s what they were looking for during the summertime.
  • Still, pinpointing the exact moment when Cleveland clambakes became a Thing is tough. References to these types of events pop up in the Plain Dealer archives going back to the 1860s. On October 15th, 1866, an article titled “Great Clam Bake at Camp Gilbert: A ‘Running Account’ Of It” included everything from guests taking generous doses of cholera medicine in between artillery practice to the anonymous author being told a “history of clams and clam bakes,” hinting that the parties were already ingrained. His verdict of the day ended with the “firm opinion that clam bakes were glorious institutions.”
  • A Plain Dealer account of the following 1867 Camp Gilbert feast confirmed this characterization: the paper printed a gluttonous clambake menu featuring a staggering amount of seafood, meat, vegetables, and a spread of pies for dessert. A July 15th, 1878, article, meanwhile, references “a grand clam bake” in the works for September at a Euclid Ave house.
  • His verdict of the day ended with the “firm opinion that clam bakes were glorious institutions.”  In the coming decades, clambake references continued to appear regularly, both in the society pages and event listings. (From the September 25th, 1938, Plain Dealer: “Lindsay’s Sky Bar will have a musical clam bake on Oct. 6.”) They became favorites of local companies and political figures, as archival photos, papers, and letters at the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Research Library reveal.
  • Black-and-white photographs dated from 1941, 1945, and 1949 show employees of the Halle Bros. Co. (aka the now-defunct department store lovingly known as Halle’s) having a grand old time at a clambake while playing horseshoes or tug of war and chowing down on food. Posed shots reveal men in dress shirts looking raucous and slightly rumpled, perhaps because some of them were holding what looked to be adult beverages.
  • In light of such historical references, it’s no wonder that by the time Randall Ruhlman wrote his article for The Clevelander, a monthly magazine published by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, in 1950, clambakes were popular enough for him to be cheeky about their ubiquity.
  • “Clam bake season, the period of the expanding belt line, has come to an end for 1950,” he wrote. “It’s a mighty important period in our scheme of living and it runs concurrently with the corn-on-the-cob season in these parts… The average businessman, trade association member, lodge brother, union member, butcher, baker and candlestick maker attend at least two or three clam bakes a season.”
  • More library research shows that these weren’t necessarily always sedate affairs. The October 1957 Cleveland Clinic newsletter touted its annual clambake sponsored by the professional staff — whose 100 attendees reportedly “devoured” more than 1,500 clams — like so: “Clams and clam juice, lobster, sweet potatoes, chicken, pie, ice cream and strained ligaments met 100 members of the medical and administrative staff on Saturday afternoon, September 14, at Cyrus Eaton’s Acadia Farms in Northfield. And, of course, a dignified amount of beer.”  (A separate letter written a few days after the bake by Jay, Eaton’s grandson, casually mentioned: “I am pleased to report that Mr. Becker, our only casualty, felt fine the next day and apparently did not have any serious problem. It was a great help to have Steve drive him into the hospital.”)
  • Naturally, clambakes in Cleveland could have their political inclinations, going by former mayor Ralph J. Perk’s papers at the WRHS Research Library. In 1967, the then-Cuyahoga County Auditor had a sizable election deficit from the previous year that he was trying to reduce by holding “card parties and other functions” — for instance, a clambake. The Friends of Perk Committee sent out hard tickets to the bake with a letter referencing how much he still had to raise ($9,887.50, down from $21,000) that also touted how Perk was “one of the few public officials in modern times who refuses to have a 2% kick-back fund from his employees to pay his expenses.”  (Apparently the strategy was brilliant: judging by the stack of responses from law firms, banks, and individuals, many people who regretfully couldn’t attend often donated money to Perk’s cause anyway and also sent back tickets — which could be given away to other people, especially senior citizens, so they could attend).
  • According to meticulous records, Perk kept up the clambake for years to come, and turned it into an annual fundraiser for his various political campaigns. In 1970, the Friends of Ralph J. Perk Committee sent out tickets with a not-so-subtle bit of messaging: “You will show your appreciation to Mr. Perk for his continuing devotion to public service and his excellent record as County Auditor by properly distributing the enclosed tickets to your many friends. If you desire more tickets they are available, and we will appreciate any additional effort to make this an even greater success than in previous years.”
  • And a 1971 bake in advance of his successful mayoral run was promoted with a more sanguine nudge: “As you know, Ralph Perk is a candidate for mayor of Cleveland this year, and the support of his friends is greatly needed in his campaign to bring experience and integrity back to this city.”
  • Today, Euclid Fish Company honors its founder by proudly selling Chef Comella’s Original Clambake, complete with a returnable steamer. But Young knows that clambakes are malleable — in fact, this year the company is also offering three different seafood boils: Low Country, Portland, and Mid-Atlantic. “People are kind of varying it as people’s tastes have changed,” he says. “I look at it as if [whether] you’re going to cook salmon or clams: ‘OK, what’s your taste? What do you like?’ It’s a blank canvas. Cooking is like art.”
  • Michael Symon has touted a (tasty) variation on a Cleveland clambake, which features shrimp and kielbasa in addition to clams. Andy Dombrowski, the corporate chef for Zack Bruell Restaurants, says the company did a “pretty traditional, straight-up” clambake at Platform Brewery back in August to celebrate the brewery’s Yammy Yammy beer, but Bruell’s Alley Cat Oyster Bar is planning a clambake in October which will utilize salmon in addition to the usual seafood offerings.
  • For most, it’s all about friends and family.  According to Dombrowski, the appeal of clambakes is obvious. “To me, a clambake is more of a backyard thing than necessarily a restaurant thing,” he says. “I think it’s a time to get together and have a party in the fall, eat and drink, and have a good time with your friends and family.”
  • It’s also ideal for a party since clams “hold up to being cooked,” he notes. “It’s not like something like a lobster or mussels or other kinds of shellfish, like shrimp, that if you cook them and they hang out for 45 minutes, they’re tough and not very good. Clams are fine — you dip ’em in butter, and they’re good to go.”
  • “It’s all about being outside,” Young says. It’s all about being with your friends, and all about enjoying food. I think that’s what my grandfather really believed in.”

Special thanks to the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Research Library. Sources used in the story include MS. 4456, Ralph J. Perk Papers; MS. 3913, Cyrus Eaton Papers.

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Early Harvest

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Tomatoes. They just make me smile. Well, food in general makes me smile. But tomatoes are so wonderful and fresh. An incredible fruit to grow, eat raw, cooked and as pieces parts of fabulous recipes. Call me any time if you want to talk tomatoes…or any food, really. And of course, there are a ton of tomato costumes and t-shirts on the web. I especially like those couples’ shirts above. And don’t forget to enter the new coloring contest! A great prize awaits the winner.   :)))

Being a foodie, I just LOVE this time of year – when the summer crops start to leap out of the neighborhood gardens and pile high at the local market stands.  I get such a rush out of stopping by, and picking items to enjoy – cucs, corn, mellons, peppers, basil, onions and of course, those AMAZING local tomatoes.  Although I have to admit cherry tomatoes are not high on my list, their ok on salads or for decoration but they have to be in something.   Now how awesome are the beefstakes almost bursting out of their skins. I poked around the internet and found some great eating and cooking tips and recipes.  The quick pasta and oil ones are my favorite – so easy and so delicious.  And I definitely have a soft spot for BLT’s – crusty Italian bread, lots and lots of bacon, crisp lettuce, gooey mayo and big, think tomatoe slices – OMG!! (add a little fresh basil and BOOM!).  Simple chilled cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet onions, seasoned in mayo and vinegar just can’t be beat. Needless to say once I start, the more options for great food choices show up!  I found a nice article from huffpost.com, who did a search of their own and found some doozies – and if you have a favorite family/personal recipe, be sure to email me back at skowalski@khtheat.com and Jackie and I will give it a try.  Thanks Huffington Post, feastingathome.com, halfbakedharvest.com, howsweeteats.com, and naturallyella.com.

Here’s a link to 28 incredible recipes from huffpost.com (and some of my favorites)
I am not really sure about # 7 or # 22..  just saying!

Spaghetti and Fresh Tomato Sauce

Heirloom Tomato and Zucchini Galette with Honey + Thyme

Embarrassingly Easy Grilled Sourdough with Buttery Herbs, Heirloom Tomatoes + Honey Drizzle

Roasted Tomato Gazpacho

Red Wine Marinated Flank Steak with Cherry Tomato Caprese Salsa

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

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CHEEEEEESE.

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Cheese starts with Cow or goat milk mostly. Although other animals get into the act, too. (read on to find out what animals) But it’s just fun and nutritious to eat cheese. Spread it, cut bites, throw a couple of slices on a sandwich. The uses are many. And it’s all enjoyable. People are so passionate about cheese that an industry of clothing, costumes and jewelry has grown around the stuff. Me? I’ll eat it any way I can get it. See that picture near the bottom? That’s my head. I had the x-ray just before lunch last week and if you look really carefully, you’ll see what I was thinking. The picture at the bottom is what I had for lunch that day.  :))))

 

Cheese.  And my love of food.  A partnership of devotion and enjoyment.  Last weekend, while grilling one of my perfect hamburgers, (see prior KHT Blog) I ran into the house to grab some cheese to put on top of my seared beauties.  I paused with the refrigerator door open, trying to satisfy my tastebuds – let’s see, what to choose… American, cheddar, swiss, smokey, pepperjack, blue, mozzarella, Kraft Singles (how do they get those little babies into the plastic wrapper anyway?) or one of my childhood wonders of the world – Velveeta – yikes. (what’s really inside that silver foil block of gold anyway – and who doesn’t remember using Mom’s wire cheese cutter and slicing off a big hunk of gooey love).  Talk about a PIA (pain in the @%$) Job!  I picked sharp cheddar and must admit it was perfecto!  Of course, there are countless types of cheese, all of which with their own distinct textures and flavors. I’m learning that most good cheeses start out with the same star ingredient: milk.  Variations include cow, sheep, goat, buffalo (and yep – camel, yak, and even horse).  So, I decided to write a bit about cheese.  Today’s blog is the detail on how it’s made – future blogs will explore flavors and techniques from around the world – along with some yummy recipes.  Thanks to sclyderweaver.com for the step-by-step details, and YouTube and Cricketer Farm for the fun production videos (I’m still amazed how much handwork goes into some cheese production).  Enjoy, and be sure to make a “toasted” (or grilled) cheese sandwich this weekend. If you have a personal recipe, please share: skowalski@khtheat.com.

Fun Production Video
Great Cheese Guide
Cheese Joke: What’s a basketball player’s favorite cheese?  (Swish).

While all cheeses have milk in common, the type of milk can differ from cheese to cheese. Some common types of milk used in cheese making include:

  • Cow’s milk: Most cheeses are made with cow’s milk. This is due in part to the wide availability of cow’s milk and the fact that it offers optimal amounts of fat and protein. Some examples of cow’s milk cheeses include cheddar, swiss and gouda, among many others.
  • Sheep’s milk: Sheep’s milk isn’t commonly enjoyed as a beverage since it’s so high in lactose, but it makes an excellent base for cheese. Some popular types of sheep’s milk cheeses are feta, Roquefort, manchego and petit basque.
  • Goat’s milk: Goat’s milk is also used to make some delicious cheeses, with a distinctive tangy flavor. Goat’s milk cheese is known in French as chèvre. In addition to fresh chèvre, other examples of goat’s milk cheeses include Le Chevrot and French Bucheron.
  • Buffalo milk: Water buffalo milk is not a common cheese ingredient, but it has made a name for itself in the world of cheese making as the traditional choice for mozzarella. (most mass-produced mozzarella today is made with cow’s milk).
  • Bit Obscure:  Camel milk is common to make South Africa caracane cheese. Horse and yak.

– Milk doesn’t turn into delicious cheese on its own. Another important ingredient in cheese is a coagulant, which helps the milk turn into curds. The coagulant may be a type of acid or, more commonly, rennet. Rennet is an enzyme complex that is genetically engineered through microbial bioprocessing. Traditional rennet cheeses are actually made with rennin, the enzyme rennet is meant to replicate. Rennin, also known as chymosin, is an enzyme that is naturally produced in the stomachs of calves and other mammals to help them digest milk.

– Milk and coagulant are the main components of cheese, but cheese can also include sources of flavoring, such as salt, brine, herbs, spices and even wine. Some cheeses may be made with identical ingredients, but the end product will differ based on different aging processes.

– It’s a natural process that requires some help from artisans, known as fromagers or, simply, cheesemakers. Another term you may hear is a cheesemonger, but this technically refers to someone who sells cheese.

– The cheese-making process comes down to 10 essential steps:

STEP 1: PREPARING THE MILK
Since milk is the star of the show, to make cheese just right, you need your milk to be just right. “Just right” will differ from cheese to cheese, so many cheesemakers start by processing their milk however they need to in order to standardize it. This may involve manipulating the protein-to-fat ratio.  It also often involves pasteurization or a more mild heat treatment (we like this step!!) Heating the milk kills organisms that could cause the cheese to spoil and can also prime the milk for the starter cultures to grow more effectively. Once the milk has been heat treated or pasteurized, it is cooled to 90°F so it is ready for the starter cultures. If a cheese calls for raw milk, it will need to be heated to 90°F before adding the starter cultures.  See how all things require us heat treaters!!

STEP 2: ACIDIFYING THE MILK
The next step in the cheese-making process is adding starter cultures to acidify the milk. If you’ve ever tasted sour milk, then you know that left long enough, milk will acidify on its own. However, there is any number of bacteria that can grow and sour milk. Instead of letting milk sour on its own, the modern cheese-making process typically standardizes this step. Cheesemakers add starter and non-starter cultures to the milk that acidify it. The milk should already be 90°F at this point, and it must stay at this temperature for approximately 30 minutes while the milk ripens. During this ripening process, the milk’s pH level drops, and the flavor of the cheese begins to develop.

STEP 3: CURDLING THE MILK
The milk is still liquid milk at this point, so cheesemakers need to start manipulating the texture. The process of curdling the milk can also happen naturally. In fact, some nursing animals, such as calves, piglets or kittens, produce the rennin enzyme in their stomachs to help them digest their mother’s milk. Cheesemakers cause the same process to take place in a controlled way. In the past, natural rennin was typically the enzyme of choice for curdling the milk, but cheesemakers today usually use rennet, the lab-created equivalent. This reaction allows the milk to form coagulated lumps, known as curds. As the solid curd forms, a liquid byproduct remains, known as whey.

STEP 4: CUTTING THE CURD
The curds and whey mixture is allowed to separate and ferment until the pH reaches 6.4. At this point, the curd should form a large coagulated mass in the cheese-making vat. Then, cheesemakers use long curd knives that can reach the bottom of the vat to cut through the curds. Cutting the curd creates more surface area on the curd, which allows the curds and why to separate even more. Cheesemakers usually make crisscrossing cuts vertically, horizontally and diagonally to break up the curd. The size of the curds after cutting can influence the cheese’s level of moisture – larger chunks of curd retain more moisture, leading to a moisture cheese, and smaller pieces of curd can lead to a drier cheese.

STEP 5: PROCESSING THE CURD
After being cut, the curd continues to be processed. This might involve cooking the curds, stirring the curds or both. All of this processing is still aimed at the same goal of separating the curds and whey. In other words, the curds continue to acidify and release moisture as they are processed. The more the curds are cooked and stirred, the drier the cheese will be. Another way curd can be processed at this stage is through washing. Washing the curd means replacing whey with water. This affects the flavor and texture of the cheese. Washed curd cheeses tend to be more elastic and have a nice, mild flavor. Some examples of washed curd cheeses are gouda, havarti and Swedish fontina.

STEP 6:  DRAINING THE WHEY
At this point, the curds and whey should be sufficiently separated, so it’s time to remove the whey completely. This means draining the whey from the vat, leaving only the solid chunks of curd. These chunks could be big or small, depending on how finely the curd has been cut. With all the whey drained, the curd should now look like a big mat.  There are different means of draining whey. In some cases, cheesemakers allow it to drain off naturally. However, especially when it comes to harder cheeses that require a lower moisture content, cheesemakers are likely to get help from a mold or press. Putting pressure on the curd compacts and forces more whey out.

STEP 7: CHEDDARING THE CHEESE
With the whey drained, the curd should form a large slab. For some cheeses, another step remains to remove even more moisture from the curd. This step is known as cheddaring. After cutting the mat of curd into sections, the cheesemaker will stack the individual slabs of curd. Stacking the slabs puts pressure on them, forcing out more moisture. Periodically, the cheesemaker will repeat the process, cutting up the slabs of curd again and restacking them. The longer this process goes on, the more whey is removed from the curd, resulting in a denser, more crumbly finished cheese texture. Fermentation also continues during the cheddaring process. Eventually, the curd should reach a pH of 5.1 to 5.5. When it’s ready, the cheesemaker will mill the curd slabs, producing smaller pieces.

STEP 8: SALTING THE CHEESE
The curd is now beginning to look more like cheese in its final form. To add flavor, cheese makers can salt or brine the cheese at this point. This can either involve sprinkling on dry salt or submerging the cheese into brine. An example of a cheese that gets soaked in brine is mozzarella. Drier cheeses will be dry salted.  Some cheeses have flavor added in other forms as well. Some examples of spices that find their way into some types of cheese are black pepper, horseradish, garlic, paprika, habanero and cloves. Cheese can also contain herbs, such as dill, basil, chives or rosemary. The options for flavoring cheeses are endless. For many cheeses, though, the focus is simply on developing the natural flavors of the cheese and adding salt to intensify those flavors.

STEP 9: SHAPING THE CHEESE
There are no more ingredients to add to the cheese at this point, so it’s ready to be shaped. This is where the final product really begins to reveal itself. Even with so much moisture removed from the curd, it is still malleable and soft. Therefore, cheesemakers are able to press the curd into molds to create standardized shapes. Molds can take the form of baskets or hoops. Baskets are molds that are only open on one end, and hoops are bottomless molds, meaning they only wrap around the sides of the curd. In either case, the milled curd mixture is pressed into the mold and left there for a certain amount of time to solidify into the right shape. These molds are usually round or rectangular.

STEP 10: AGING THE CHEESE
For some cheeses, the process is already finished, but for many cheeses, what’s known as aging remains. Aging should occur in a controlled, cool environment. As the cheese ages, molecular changes take place that cause the cheese to harden and the flavor to intensify. The aging process can take anywhere from a few days to many years. In some cases, mold develops, which adds unique color and flavor to the cheese. Once the cheese has finished aging, it is finally ready to be enjoyed by consumers. Cheeses can be sold in whole weels or blocks or by the wedge. When you know how much time, effort and care went into making your favorite cheese, it’s likely to taste even more delicious.

WHAT ABOUT “FRESH” CHEESE?
Fresh cheeses tend to be smooth, creamy and mild in flavor. There is one main difference that separates fresh cheese like feta, ricotta or fresh mozzarella, from other cheeses — they are not aged. Fresh cheeses must still go through the bulk of the steps we outlined above to varying degrees. If all you did was drain some of the whey off after initially forming curds and whey, you would have cottage cheese. For other fresh cheeses, you must continue to strain the curds to remove more moisture and pack the cheese into a shape. Making fresh cheese is a simpler process, so some home cooks attempt this type of cheese making in their own kitchens.

HOW IS CHEESE AGED?
Aging cheese doesn’t just mean leaving it lying around for a while. It is a carefully controlled and timed process, and even subtle changes can affect the texture and taste of the finished cheese. In general, cheeses are aged in cool environments with relatively high humidity levels. Another term for aging when it comes to cheese is ripening. There are two basic types of ripening that can take place:

  • Interior-ripened cheeses are coated with an artificial rind of wax or some other material to protect the surface. This causes the aging process to occur from the inside out. Two common examples of interior-ripened cheese are cheddar and swiss.
  • Surface-ripened cheeses are not sealed off on the outside, so a natural rind develops with the help of bacteria being introduced. This process causes the cheese to age from the outside in. Brie and Muenster are two examples of surface-ripened cheese.

Beyond these basic distinctions, it’s helpful to understand the process that goes into aging specific categories of aged cheese, including red mold (also known as washed rind) cheese, white mold (or bloomy rind) cheese and blue cheese.

RED MOLD CHEESE
As the name suggests, red mold cheeses are covered in a reddish rind. Some popular types of red mold cheeses include French Morbier, Reblochon and Taleggio. Red mold cheeses are also often called washed rind cheeses, which hints at how they are aged. These cheeses are stored in a very humid environment and are washed frequently in some type of liquid, such as wine or a salty brine, for example. The thinner the cheese, the more the liquid will permeate and soften the cheese.

WHITE MOLD CHEESE
Cheesemakers spray or rub a white penicillin mold onto aging cheeses to create white mold cheeses, also known as bloomy rind cheeses. When these cheeses are done aging, they are covered in a fuzzy white mold. This process results in a soft cheese that is creamy and pasty in texture. The most popular type of white mold cheese is brie, which is loved for its silky smoothness and mild flavor. Some other examples include French Normandy Camembert, Le Chevrot and St. Marcellin.

BLUE CHEESE
Some aged cheese doesn’t just have mold on the rind but throughout the inside of the cheese, as well. Blue cheeses, like the ever-popular French Roquefort, creamy gorgonzola or English blue stilton contain streaks of blue or green mold and have a characteristically sharp flavor. First, mold spores are added to the cheese at some point during the cheese-making process. Then, during the aging process, cheesemakers encourage the mold to grow and spread throughout the cheese by poking air tunnels into it.

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 

Barbecue

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I’m soooo hungry from working on this. There’s nothing like a good barbecue. Unless it’s a good grilling out. Yes, there is a difference. Read on to find what that difference is. And don’t forget: plenty of napkins and carry your Tide Stick!  :)))

 

This past weekend, after the rain, wind and “felt like it was coming” snowstorm, I had a chance to relax a bit after helping the kids with some DIY projects at their homes.  Like most of us, I stood in the backyard, with my chicken grilling, and beverage of choice in hand, enjoying the wonderful aroma of barbequed chicken.  My results were delicious, although most of my grilling expertise comes from trial and error, not really knowing the inner secrets of great grilled barbeque chicken – marinades, high/low heat, cooking times, temperatures, resting time, etc.  So, I got on the internet and went hunting for some great chicken grilling tips and recipes – and of course, no surprise, there’s a ton of them.  I learned there’s a difference between “grilling” and “barbeque” and I found a fun site, girlsatthegrill.com filled with wonderful info, and also some great recipes, like picnic chicken, South American Chimichurri sauce, alfredo with grilled apples, and more (visit tasteofhome.com)  (man, just thinking about these is getting me hungry!!). Now, one of the best parts will be to see how many of these recipes can be used with other meats especially since one of my good buds doesn’t like chicken! Enjoy, and be sure to email me your favorite tips at skowalski@khtheat.com – and I’ll share with our readers.  Thanks to girlsatthegrill.com, tasteofhome.com, toriavey.com and YouTube for the info.  ENJOY!

The history of grilling begins shortly after the domestication of fire, some 500,000 years ago. The backyard ritual of grilling as we know it, though, is much more recent. Until well into the 1940s, grilling mostly happened at campsites and picnics. After World War II, as the middle class began to move to the suburbs, backyard grilling caught on, becoming all the rage by the 1950s.

A common misconception: grilling and barbecuing are not the same thing. While the terms are often used interchangeably, grilling and barbecuing are two very different cooking methods. Grilling is the most basic form of cooking—it is, quite simply, the method of cooking a food directly over an open flame or high heat source. Barbecue, on the other hand, is a low and slow method of cooking over indirect heat. Because of the long, slow cooking process, barbecued meat soaks up the smoky flavors and spice rubs, rendering the finished product moist and tender. Barbecue is more suited to bigger, tougher cuts of meat that do well with slow, even cooking (think brisket, tri-tip, ribs, and pulled pork). Grilling is reserved for foods that can cook more quickly—hamburgers, steaks, chicken, hot dogs, seafood and vegetables.

It’s impossible to pinpoint exactly where these cooking methods were first used. Anthropologists have never come to a consensus on when our earliest ancestors first learned to “cook” and prepare food. Current estimates place the advent of cooking anywhere between 2 million and 300,000 years ago—a pretty wide range.

Our American appreciation of barbecue has roots in the Caribbean. The word barbecue likely originated with the Caribbean Taino Indians, who would smoke or dry meat over a frame made of green sticks.

From its earliest Caribbean roots, barbecue settled in the state of Virginia, then moved south through North and South Carolina, Georgia, the Appalachians and into Tennessee and Kentucky. From there, barbecue moved westward as Americans began to settle the West. By the early 19th century, barbecue hit Texas (where it obviously made a big impression), then moved all through the Southwest before finally reaching the Pacific coastline. Today, barbecue is popular nationwide, but remains most culturally significant to the states of the South and West.

Barbecue also has strong ties to African American culture. Black communities in the South embraced barbecue as an affordable way to cook and enjoy meat, leading it to become one of several core soul food dishes. When migrating North in the early 1900’s, they brought barbecue with them. By the mid-century, barbecue restaurants run by black cooks and their families had cropped up in cities across the United States.

The direct descendant of that original American barbecue is Eastern Carolina-style pit barbecue, which traditionally starts with the whole hog and, after as many as fourteen hours over coals, culminates in a glorious mess of pulled pork doused with vinegar sauce and eaten on a hamburger bun, with coleslaw on the side.

Early colonial barbecues were often large group events – loud, unruly, and populated with heavy drinkers. (Glad to see we haven’t lost too much of the old-time traditions!)

It wasn’t until the 1890’s that barbecued foods became commercially available. As the popularity of barbecue grew, men who considered themselves to be barbecue experts recognized a market and began charging for their services during holidays and public ceremonies. At first, they cooked the food in temporary tents that could be moved from place to place. These barbecue tents eventually turned into permanent indoor structures, which became the earliest barbecue restaurants. While barbecue was fast becoming a commercial enterprise, backyard barbecues, often referred to as “cookouts,” saw a rise in popularity.

Over the years, regional variations developed, leaving us today with four distinct styles of barbecue.

  • Carolina-style has split into Eastern, Western and South Carolina-style, with variations largely in the sauce: South Carolina uses a mustard sauce; Western Carolina uses a sweeter vinegar-and-tomato sauce.
  • Memphis barbecue is probably what most of us think of when we think of BBQ — pork ribs with a sticky sweet-and-sour tomato-based mopping sauce.
  • Texas, being cattle country, has always opted for beef cooked “cowboy style” usually brisket, dry-rubbed and smoked over mesquite with a tomato-based sauce served on the side, almost as an afterthought.
  • Kansas City lies at the crossroads of BBQ nation. Fittingly, you’ll find a little bit of everything there — beef and pork, ribs and shoulder, etc. What brings it all together is the sauce: sweet-hot, tomato-based KC barbecue sauce is a classic in its own right, and the model for most supermarket BBQ sauces.

In suburban Chicago, George Stephen, a metalworker by trade and a tinkerer by habit, had grown frustrated with the flat, open brazier-style grills common at the time. Once he inherited controlling interest in the Weber Bros. Metal Spinning Co, a company best-known as a maker of harbor buoys, he decided the buoy needed some modification. He cut it along its equator, added a grate, used the top as a lid and cut vents for controlling temperature. The Weber grill was born, and backyard cooking has never been the same.

For those who like to “grill”, (no sauces) this comes from girlsatthegrill website – The Grilling Trilogy – The story of the holy trilogy of grilling (or Grilling Trilogy™ for short) is a simple one. Years ago, they developed this technique to use in grill trainings for chefs and food writers, teaching the techniques of grilling without the flourishes (of other flavors). Just oil, salt and pepper.

Oil is truly essential, and you don’t need to use very much. Coat all the outside surfaces with a thin layer of olive or vegetable oil. They prefer olive oil for everything, but you can use any kind of oil except butter because it burns easily. And remember, grilling is intrinsically low-fat and healthy because you aren’t frying or sautéing in oil or butter. If you don’t oil the food, it will dry out and become tasteless.

Likewise, salt is very important. It is a natural mineral, and used in moderation, and is the most important ingredient (besides the food itself) for great taste. There are a few things to keep in mind when cooking with salt. Season food with salt just before it goes on the grill, otherwise it will draw the juices to the surface of the meat. We want the juices to stay inside the meat so it is tender and juicy when we serve it. Start with a little and add to taste, as there is a fine line between just right and too much—it’s much easier to add than take away.

Notes on Salt: Use Kosher or sea salt for the grilling trilogy and everyday cooking. Splurge and buy Fleur de Sel (flower of salt—hand-raked once a year in France) for your table. The natural shape of the Fleur de sel salt crystals add a mild distinctive flavor and texture to salads, meat and vegetable dishes. But don’t stop there, try the Pink salt from Hawaii, Black salt from India, Grey salt from Brittany and any other salt you can find.

And last, but not least, pepper. Pepper is best freshly ground from a pepper mill or spice grinder every time you use it. The flavor that we get from pepper is propelled by the oils in the peppercorns, these oils dry up very quickly which is why already ground pepper has much less taste than freshly ground pepper.

Pepper Tip: Before putting the peppercorns in your pepper mill, put them in a dry sauté pan, stir occasionally and heat gently just until a wisp of smoke is present and you can smell the pepper. Remove and let cool before grinding. This is how you roast a spice to bring out the maximum flavor in the spice. You can do this with all whole spices before grinding them and they will all taste fresher and deeper in flavor. This is the same basic idea behind coffee roasting, and it’s up to you to decide how dark you like your spices—or coffee for that matter.

Have fun, experiment, and when you find something delicious, be sure to send it to us at KHT.

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.
As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::