Quit Wining and Get to Work!

It is fall again and the grapes are ripe! I tuned last year's crop into grape jelly but this year I wanted to try wine. I have been brewing mead for over a year so wine is an easier process though I found stemming and mashing the grapes tedious. We used the food grade pail I make sauerkraut in and lined it with a sterilized mesh bag, dropped in the stemmed grapes (about 14 pounds) and went to town on them with a potato masher.

   I then pulverized a campden tablet with a mortar and pestle and stirred it in. Campden tablets kill any natural yeast or bacteria on the grapes then dissipates after about 24 hours. After the campden tablet did it's job I added a packet of wine yeast and covered the bucket with plastic wrap to keep anything out. After a few day the plastic wrap domed out with the carbon dioxide given off as the yeast happily lived out their existences. About two weeks after that I siphoned the liquid into a clean milk jug (actually distilled water came in it but you get the idea) and stretched a balloon with a pin hole in it over the top.
  After that I added a can of frozen grape juice concentrate, a gallon of distilled water and 2 pounds of sugar to the bucket along with the mesh bag of the grape skins and seeds. This in theory should produce another 1-2 gallons of wine by using the tanins in the skins and seeds. It has only been a week into the second batch. I will let you know how it goes...

It's a Pennsylvania Thing

When I speak with people of Chicken and Waffles I always get strange looks. 'Chicken and What?" they always ask. Yes, chicken and waffles, and it is awesome. It makes great use of leftovers from a roast chicken dinner.

Chicken & Waffles

1. Melt 4 Tbsp. butter in a sauce pan (or Saucier) over medium-low heat.
2. Sprinkle 4 tbsp. of AP flour over the butter and whisk to combine.
3. Whisk 2 cups milk into the flour and butter mixture and raise the heat to medium high.
4. Add leftover chicken (1-3 cups or so) to the mixture and if you have any leftover gravy throw that in too.
5. Bring to a boil then drop the heat to medium low and simmer until thickened.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Meanwhile make a batch of your favorite waffles. If it is a very sweet recipe reduce the sugar.
8. Serve the chicken over the waffles. Viola!

Variation include minced onion, carrot and celery sauteed in the butter prior to adding the flour or dropping a bay leaf in with the milk. Mushrooms also would be very nice.

Lazy Potato Cookery

Happy October! We are enjoying the Indian Summer and decided to have a cookout today. Having excess potatoes I made potato salad.  I have modified my mother's potato salad recipe, not to improve it but to expedite the process- mostly because I am lazy and hate peeling and boiling potatoes. Anyway here is the current recipe I am happy with.

15 Minute Potato Salad

1. Take 2 lbs of potatoes and scrub them well. Stab them a few times with a fork then toss half of them in the microwave. Nuke on high for 6 minutes. After you remove them wrap them in a clean kitchen towel and nuke the other pound of potatoes.

2. While the potatoes rest, crack 2 eggs into a microwave safe bowl, punch a hole in each yolk (so they don't explode) and nuke them in high for 2 minutes or until cooked though.

3. Meanwhile dice a medium onion and 3 stalks of celery. Toss it on the largest bowl you have.

4. When the potatoes are cool, cube them and add them to the onion and celery. Chop the eggs and add them as well.

5. Drizzle about 2tbsp of apple cider vinegar over everything and toss to coat.

6. Fold in about a cup of mayonnaise (I use either olive oil mayo or Miracle Whip)

7. Transfer the potato salad to a smaller bowl, cover and chill.

The recipe works well for smaller amounts of potato salad but for a large amount, for a party for instance, it is easier just to peel and boil the potatoes and eggs rather than spend 6 minutes per pound nuking the potatoes.