Al's Sweet Potatoes

Al Owens was one interesting guy.  His father, Elmer, was a self made multi-millionaire, whom Al rejected and rebelled against.  At the age of 16, he hopped on his motorcycle and left home to make his own way in the world.  It was many years before he and his father spoke again...only after Al himself had made his own millions.

I met Al after he inherited his father's place on the lake I grew up on, near Wautoma, WI.  Al was probably close to 20 years older than me, but we hit it off instantly and were good friends up until his unfortunate and untimely passing.  A lifetime heavy smoker, Al had finally kicked the habit 6 months before being diagnosed with lung cancer.  He loved to tell tall tales and seemed to enjoy being called out for telling them.  He was an outgoing, generous, gregarious guy, a bit quirky, but in a loveable way.  I miss him dearly and think of him often, especially at Thanksgiving time.

He and his wife would stay up at the lake house until deer hunting was over, at which time they'd head back to Florida for the winter.  He'd often hunt with us, and  for several years, they joined us for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Al always brought his Sweet Potatoes and was very proud of making them.  This is his recipe, which I feel so fortunate to have and to share with you today.  I hope you enjoy them.  Al loved to share them with friends, and I'm sure he'd hope that you would, too.

Ingredients:

4 very large or 6 regular Sweet Potatoes
3/4 stick of Butter
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Brown Sugar (or real maple syrup, if you have some)
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
Chopped Pecans
Mini Marshmallows

Peel Sweet Potatoes and poke with fork numerous times, place in Microwave and cook until soft (20-25 minutes, depending on your microwave).  Remove and put in a bowl with the Butter, mash with a mixer until smooth.  Add the Heavy Cream, Brown Sugar, Salt, Nutmeg and Vanilla Extract, mix thoroughly.  Adjust salt and sugar to taste.   Spoon into a 9x9 Pyrex or Corningware dish, cover with Chopped Pecans and dot with butter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, remove from oven.  Cover with Mini Marshmallows and bake til the marshmallows are just melted.  Remove, cool and serve.

(Pictures forthcoming very soon)

Gyro Flies Pepsi! Gyro Flies Pepsi!

Many years ago when I was 17, my uncle Mike had a rock band.  And my parents were foolish enough to let me go with the band and help run lights and sound pretty much whenever I wanted to, which led to a lot of fun for me that I wouldn't and probably shouldn't have otherwise had.  One night in particular, the band was playing at a frat house in Madison.  After the gig, the band went down to Zorba's on State Street and my instant love affair with the Gyro began.  "Gyro Flies Pepsi!", the cashier called out.  "Gyro Flies Pepsi" came the response from the line cook and beverage server.  Much like the old "Cheeseburger" sketch on Saturday Night Live, the Greek immigrants' broken English dialog continued for orders of Gyros, French Fries, other Greek goodies and Pepsi-Cola.

Across the street was The Parthenon, and for years competition ensued for the best Gyro in Madison...and DAMN were they good.  I'd long for gyro goodness and make a trek whenever I got the craving...often this meant a drive of one, two, even three hours, depending on where I was living at the time.   Later, I'd find Gyro Nirvana once again at a little place on North Ave. on the E. Side of Milwaukee called "Grecian Delight".

But it's always been a challenge, outside of a select few places, to find a decent Gyro...harder yet to try to make one at home.  The 'kits' that are available at the grocery store are awful by comparison and barely even attempt to scratch the Gyro Itch.  Most restaurants and bars that offer a Gyro on the menu do so apparently with the sole intention of miserably disappointing their customers.

So a few years ago, I set out to create the perfect Gyro at home.  Research on the web combined with trial and error resulted in recipes for both making the Gyro meat loaf and the Tarziki Sauce that tastes just like those wonderous late night sandwiches that I crave.  And now you can make 'em at home too.

This is not a procedure for an evening after a long, hard day at work.  Both the sauce and meat take time and effort, but are well worth it.  I'd suggest making up a bunch of meat on a Saturday (you can always freeze it and thaw it later for quicker preparation), and the Tarziki Sauce keeps in the fridge for quite a while.

For meat, the truly authentic way to make it is with Lamb.  Of course, if you've priced Lamb lately, you'll know why both the cost of a Gyro in a restaurant has skyrocketed and the quality has gone down.  It's expensive, and restaurants often now mix in beef or pork with the lamb to offset costs.  That's ok, you can do that too.  I've made it with a 50/50 mix of lamb and beef, lamb and pork, and even all pork.  The seasonings and method of preparation really make for about 85% of the flavor.  If you really want the real deal, you'll need a couple pounds of lamb meat.

**Update:  According to...ahem...Wikipedia, gyros in Greece are mainly made with pork nowadays.

I have a meat grinder, so I buy whatever is on sale.  If you don't have a grinder, get ground lamb, beef or pork, or buy a roast and have the butcher grind it for you (most will do this for free).

If you're going to make all of this the same day that you wish to serve it, start early and start with the Tarziki Sauce.  Get the cukes sweating and the yogurt straining, then start on your meat.  While the meat is in the oven, finish your sauce.

You'll have to buy Pita bread as I don't have a recipe for that (yet!), but for christ sakes, don't buy that god-awful stuff that's cut in half.  This isn't a pocket sandwich.  You want whole pitas.  Larger stores will have flatbread specifically for Gyros...I know Woodmans in WI does.

UPDATE 08/28/2015:  Incredibly AWESOME Pita Bread Recipe....CLICK HERE.

Ok, on to the recipes!

Tarziki Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Cucumbers - peeled, seeded and sliced
2 T minced Garlic
1/2 T Salt
3 T Lemon Juice
2 T Dill (dried, or a bunch of fresh dill)
1 32oz container of Greek Yogurt (Plain)

Start by dumping the Greek yogurt into a screened strainer that will hold all of it and placing that over an appropriate sized bowl.  You can use regular yogurt, but it will be harder to strain (you might try a cloth) and it will take a lot longer.  Greek yogurt is much thicker, and the point of straining it is to remove as much liquid as possible to make it even thicker still.  Greek yogurt used to be hard to find, but now I can even find it in Sturgeon Bay (under the Roundy's brand, even!) so if you can't get it by you, ask your grocer.   Also, you want Plain yogurt.  Not Vanilla.  Unlike Ice Cream, vanilla does not equal plain.   Once your plain Greek yogurt is straining over a bowl, set aside.

Now take the two cucumbers, peel them, cut them in half down the length and then take a spoon and scoop all the watery seedy part out, til just the firm flesh is left.  Now slice that up into about 1/2" slices and put in a colander and toss with about 1 T of salt, and set over the sink for about an hour.   At this time, you'll probably want to start on the meat.

When at least an hour has passed, you should have a surprising amount of liquid strained out of the yogurt.  Toss out the liquid and put the yogurt in a bowl.  Take the cukes out of the colander and put in a food processor along with the garlic, salt, dill and lemon juice.  If using fresh dill, just toss a bunch in.  Using fresh dill is preferred, but trickier as it's hard to measure.  The balance of flavor when you are all done should be about equal between dill, sourness of the yogurt and garlicky saltiness.  Anyway, run the food processor and chop this all together into a fine mix.

Now dump this mix into a clean thin cloth over a bowl and gently bring the corners up and around to form a bag.  Let the juice strain off and gently squeeze, but not too much.  You don't want all the liquid out of this, just whatever will naturally strain off plus a gentle squeeze.

Remove from the cloth and stir in thoroughly with the yogurt in the bowl.  Adjust dill (if necessary) and other seasonings to taste.   Put mixture back into the yogurt container and refrigerate until it's time to serve.

Gyro Meat

Ingredients

2 pounds of ground meat...any mix of lamb, beef or pork, or all lamb.
1 medium to small onion
1 T Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Marjoram
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Cumin

Cut up the onion and put in a food processor and process finely.  Scrape out onto clean towel and bring corners up to form a bag.  Squeeze out as much juice as possible.

In a large bowl, mix ground meat, onion and seasonings thoroughly.

Line a 9X13 Pyrex dish with a clean terry dish or bath towel soaked in hot water.  In a Pyrex bread or loaf pan greased with olive oil, place the meat mixture to form a loaf.  Set the loaf pan in the center of the 9X13 pan, on top of the towel.  Boil enough water on the stove to fill all around the loaf pan til the 9x13 pan is full.   Pour the boiling water all around the loaf pan inside of the 9X13.  Carefully place in a preheated 325 oven, bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool, remove from pan.  Grill outside on grill till all sides have that nice crusty thing going on that a rotisserie gyro loaf would have.  Bring back inside.

UPDATE 08/05/2022:
If you can find an old Ronco rotisserie in a thrift store, GET IT.  You can put a gyro loaf on the rotissierie and it's just like the Greek restaurant ones, only horizontal.   Then you REALLY get that authentic flavor.  Do this instead of grilling the loaf and then frying the strips.

Serve by slicing thin slices off of the loaf.   Put a large fry pan on the stove on medium-high heat with a little olive oil in it.  Toss a whole pita into the fry pan and brown each side.  At the same time, toss in enough slices of meat for one sandwich, flipping at least once.   Lay the pita on a plate, lay out the meat, some sliced tomato, sliced sweet onion (Vidalia or 1055) on one half of the Pita and place a dollop of Tarziki Sauce on the opposite half.  Fold up like a taco and dig in!!!   You can also garnish with slices of cucumber and/or feta cheese, to your liking.  French fries on the side to dip into more Tarziki sauce and waalaa, it's 1980 and you're back on State Street in Madison again!

General Tso's Chicken

If you've ever been to a Chinese Buffet, chances are you've had General Tso's Chicken.  It's the most popular item on most buffets and on most Chinese restaurants' menus in North America.   But it actually has about as much to do with General Tso as a Lincoln Town Car has to do with Old Abe.

This dish has been associated with the name of Zuo Zongtang (1812–1885), a Qing Dynasty general from Hunan.  Zuo himself could not have eaten the dish as it is today, and the dish is neither found in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, nor in Xiangyin, the home of General Tso. Moreover, descendants of General Tso still living in Xiangyin, when interviewed, say that they have never heard of such a dish.

Several restaurants in both Taiwan and North America lay claim to inventing the dish.  It's generally accepted in most cases to have originated at New York City's Shun Lee Palace restaurant, claiming that it was invented by a Chinese immigrant chef named T. T. Wang in 1972.

But what the hell do you care?  You, like most people, just love General Tso's Chicken and want to make it at home, right?  Well, look no further, here's how!

Now, this recipe is very close to the original Shun Lee Palace recipe, with a few of my own changes..  Most buffets tend to make it sweeter and less hot, so I'll give you tips on how to aim for that goal at the end of this post.

Step One...Sauce: (make first...before you do anything else)

Mix the chicken, egg, cornstarch and soy sauce

1/2 Cup Cornstarch
1/4 Cup Water
1 1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
1 1/2 tsp Ginger
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 Cup Vinegar
1/4 Cup Cheap White Wine
1 can Condensed Chicken Broth (or mix up 1 cup of about triple strength bouillon)

Mix all this thoroughly in a jar (I use a quart Mason jar) and refrigerate.

Step Two...Chicken:

I like to use Chicken Thighs, but it's a little more work.  Thighs come with one bone in them, which I like because I remove the skin and the bones, throw them in a pot with 2 quarts of water and simmer for a couple hours to make Chicken Stock for later use in soups.   But you can use boneless skinless Chicken Breasts, it's a lot quicker.  Start with either 6 Thighs OR 4 Breasts.  Cut the meat into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks and put in a deep bowl.

Add to the bowl:

1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Water
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Cornstarch

Stir thoroughly to mix the cornstarch in with the egg and soy sauce and set aside.

Deep frying the chicken

Now heat up some cooking oil in a medium, deep pot.  The oil should be at least 3 inches deep, and use a candy or deep fry thermometer to bring the temp up to 350.   Working in small batches, fry the coated pieces of chicken in the oil.  It will only take a few minutes before they're golden brown.  Gently move them about with a tongs or granny fork to keep them from sticking together.  Remove and place on a plate covered with paper towels, keep warm in the oven on it's lowest setting between batches.   When you've fried all the chicken, put in the oven to keep warm.

Step Three...Stir Fry:

2 cups Green Onions, chopped
1 large or 2 small heads of Broccoli, trimming just the florets from the stems
*8 dried Cayenne (or similar) Peppers

Add sauce and stir fry til bubbly and thick

Now get out your Wok or a big fry pan.  If it's an electric wok, set it to it's highest heat setting.  If you're using a gas stove and a carbon steel wok, you want a medium high flame.   Add a little oil, bring up to heat and then stir fry the Onions and Peppers for a minute, then add the Broccoli.  Stir til cooked and turning to a bright green.  Then add the sauce that you prepared in Step One, stirring constantly til it thickens and starts to bubble.  At that point, grab the plate of chicken from Step Two out of the oven, add to the wok and either unplug the wok or remove from heat.  Stir and toss thoroughly to coat the chicken and serve immediately over rice.

*A lot of people don't like hot and spicy food.  You can leave out the peppers entirely if you like.   I make it at home without the peppers and serve crushed red pepper (like you'd put on pizza) as a condiment on the table for those who like it spicy.

If you want it to be more similar to the type of General Tso found on most Chinese buffets, try substituting Teriyaki Sauce entirely for Soy Sauce in the first step, and adding some Orange Zest (that's finely grated outside of the orange) or a little Orange Extract.  That should make it much sweeter and add more of that orange, citrusy flavor found in most buffet General Tso.

Grandma's Lost Cookies

No, this isn't about Grandma having too much fun and losing her cookies.  Sicko.

My Grandma Kohn was, from everything I'd ever heard from anyone who knew her, a wonderful lady.  She left this world far too early from a sudden massive stroke when my father was barely a teenager.  My grandpa remarried within a couple years to an evil stepmother who denied my father and his brother anything to do with anything from the past...from their real mother.   Mementos, clothes, recipes, knickknacks, all were boxed up and hidden in the attic if not given away.   It was many, many years, decades after my grandfather died, when the evil stepmother finally was put in a nursing home.  At that time, the boys finally had access to a few things that were still in the attic.   Even that was probably 20 years ago already.

Fast-forward to about 3 years ago.  One of my cousins came upon an old Dodge Co., WI cookbook from the late 1940's that was made up of several church congregations' recipes.  In it was this recipe for Peanut Cookies from Lila (Rounds) Kohn.   She copied it down, along with another recipe that I'll post soon, and gave it to my father.  Dad remembered these cookies well...he had forgotten all about them and how good they were.  It was like a gift from the past...cookies he hadn't had in over 60 years.

Now, I'm not much for posting recipes for cookies, bars and the like, but these are just so darn good that I can't help but share these wonderful cookies with you here.  They're great with coffee or milk and I would think you could add raisins, craisins or other fruit to them if you like, also.  So here, without further ado, is the recipe for Lila Kohn's Peanut Cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup Lard (or shortening)
2 cups Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 cups Oatmeal (I use non-instant)
1 1/2 cups Corn Flakes
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Salted Redskin Peanuts (Spanish Peanuts)
2 cups Flour

Preheat oven to 350.  Start by beating the eggs, adding in the Sugar and Vanilla and Lard.  When well-mixed, add in the Oatmeal and Corn Flakes, then the Peanuts, the Baking Soda and finally the Flour.  Mix well, drop on ungreased cookie sheets with a spoon.  Bake for about 12-14 minutes.

Enjoy this treat from the past.  Thanks, Grandma!

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

A good friend of mine has a last name that translates from Hungarian literally to "mushroom".  Tommy, this soup's for you!

This easy to make and delicious mushroom soup will warm you on a cold day.  Serve it as a side or as the main course with some fresh bread!  Mmmm!  If you're a wild mushroom picker, this will be extra good when made with your favorite wild mushroom...or just use regular fresh store mushrooms.  Portabellas are great, but even the regular variety make a tasty. hearty, comforting soup.   Personally, I like to use Honey Mushrooms that I pick in the wild, but you kind of have to know what you're doing to do that.

You will need: (about 6 Servings)

1/2 stick of Butter
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, diced finely, about 2 cups diced
2 cups Chicken stock
1 T Paprika
1 T Soy Sauce
2 tsp Dill Weed
1 cup of Milk
3 T Flour
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by melting the butter in a medium stock pot.  Add the onions and saute on medium heat for about 5 minutes, til they turn clear.  Then add the mushrooms.  Saute another 5 minutes.  Then add the Chicken Stock, Paprika, Soy Sauce and Dill Weed.  Cover, reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes.*

*At this point, I use an immersion blender to turn this into a 'Cream of' type soup.  This is optional, and if you do not have an immersion blender, you can work with a standard blender in small batches, filling the blender up about 1/3 of the way and liquifying until it's all blended.  OR you can skip this entirely, but dice the mushrooms finely before adding to the soup.  It's a matter of preference, really.

Whisk the Flour into the cup of Milk until mixed well.  Add to soup.  Simmer on low for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Now add the lemon juice, sour cream, salt and pepper to taste, reducing heat to lowest setting. Do not let the soup boil.  Stir until danger of boiling is gone, leave on low heat for about 15 minutes and serve.  Or just shut off and reheat later when it's serving time.

You can garnish it with a dollop of sour cream and some fresh parsley or dill if you wish, or just serve it up.  I like it with oyster crackers, personally.  Mmmmm!