Chef Daniel Angerer's Blog

PAPAYA - FRUIT OF ANGELS - the blog

Impressively large, exotic and beautiful, and when ripe a rich orange color.  This luscious fruit was called the “fruit of the angels” by Christopher Columbus. We can consider ourselves lucky that the tropical fruit is available all year round.  While I love local fruits, let’s be realistic, pretty soon the local apples and pears will come to an end and we’ll have to go south of the border to get the flavor and vitamins to keep us going strong through the cold season.

papayas are big fruits

Where genetically modification can do good
Papayas are either red or orange or they can be picked green. Generally, they’re grown in Mexico and Brazil. Due to the response to a disease called ringspot virus that broke out in Hawaii, genetically altered papaya were generated and brought to market. The DNA alteration of the fruit was so successful that by the end of 2010 the majority of Hawaiian papaya plants were genetically modified. 

Meat tenderizer
Papaya has an enzyme called papain, which is used for a tenderizing effect on meats. It’s particularly effective in tough meat such as flank steaks.  

Cooking with papaya
Papaya offers luscious taste and the color of the fruit expresses tropical sunlight -- perhaps a squeeze of lime and the fruit is ready to be enjoyed.

Unripe papaya can be cooked and then consumed which is very popular in Thai cooking in curries and salads and in Indonesian cuisine where they take full advantage of the fruit and leaves. The natural pectin content of the ripe fruit makes it an ideal fit for making jellies too.

Cabbage & Parley Salad with Fresh Papaya
(recipe yields four salads)
1 small head red cabbage, about 4 cups sliced
1 pound jicama1 bunch parsley, about 1 cup chopped
sea salt, to taste
black pepper from a mill
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 two-inch long piece ginger, grated
½ cup coconut flakes, toasted 

1. With a mandolin, cut cabbage into thin slices, discard hard cabbage core.
2. Slice jicama on the mandolin 1/8” inch thick then with a knife into matchstick sized stripes.
3. Peel papaya and cut in half, then remove the seeds with a kitchen spoon and discard. Cut papaya into 1/4-inch cubes.
4. Chop parsley from leaf-to-stem into 1/8-inch wide slices. 
5. In a large bowl, combine vinegar, salt and black pepper and mix with a wire-whisk for one minute, then add oil slowly, while stirring continuously.
6. In a large bowl toss-together cabbage, jicama, papaya, parsley and then add vinegar/oil mixture. Toss mixture and adjust seasoning with sea salt and black pepper.

Cabbage & Papaya Salad

Chef’s Tip: If you like the flavor or peanuts add toasted, crushed peanuts and omit the coconut flakes.

Chefs Note: Papaya seeds are edible and tend to have a sharp, slightly spicy taste – you can use them instead of black pepper though they add a slight bitterness.

 

OJ - the blog

The cold season is amongst us in the northern hemisphere - bundling-up is a necessity. If your immune system is not up to snuff you’re late in the game but here is the good news. There are a few last minute tricks to steal yourself against the flu season soon coming, which is evident with every drug store in town boasting flu shots.
It’s not a bad idea to jump on the raw pressed juice wagon. Lately there has been lots of media attention about cold-pressed raw juice places and their products. Those juice places seem to have plenty of fans and followers because they are strong believers that juicing has a significant place in their daily diet. And yes you can juice your own on a centrifuge type of juicer, but in comparison with raw-pressed juices, which need rather expensive machinery, they’re the losers.

A mountain of oranges.

And then there is OJ
Everyone’s favorite OJ is truly a predecessor in the juicing world.  And one of the best features is that you don’t even need electricity to do the juicing. A typical bar/hand juicer does the trick for the daily glass of OJ. The simplest model can be bought for around ten bucks or if it takes up too much space in your kitchen drawer, squeeze oranges directly into a glass by hand. The fact is that a glass of OJ a day will strengthen your immune system and will give you a head start into flu season.

Which oranges are the best for juicing?
Today’s marketplace offers us a broad selection of oranges and it can get confusing sorting out which ones are the best for juicing. The following is a list of the most common oranges you may find in your local market.

Navel
Season: November – May
About: Navel oranges are seedless, and they peel and separate easily.  They are the status quo eating orange with pleasant sweetness. A terrific fit for savory salads e.g., fennel & orange. Ferments quickly when juiced – so drink the same day of juicing.

Valencia
Season: February – October
About: The Valencia orange is also known as a summer orange because this variety grows from winter through the summer months, until the end of October. They’re thin skinned and have some seeds. Valencia oranges are the classic juice orange.  

Tangerine 
Season: December – May
About: Compared with oranges, tangerines are smaller. They peel easily and have a bright sweet flavor profile and make excellent juice.

Seville
Season: December – January
About: The Seville is a bitter/sour orange, which is a good cooking orange, especially when making marmalade. Their acidity holds up during the cooking process

Blood
Season: November – March
About: A specialty orange suited better for Halloween with that name. Blood oranges show off their deep red fruit flesh and make sweet juice with pleasant tartness. The juice tends to ferment quickly, so drink the same day it was pressed.


Blood oranges are very appealing visually in savory and sweet salads when peeled with a knife and cut into “filets” e.g., beet & blood orange salad. They’re particularly high in carotenes hence the deep-red color, and contain an excellent amount of free radical fighting anthocyanins.

Mandarins
Season: January - May
About: Small and ideal for snacks or for the lunch box. A slight draw-back is their seeds. They are mildly acidic yet sweet in flavor and yield a sweet juice though they are more of an eating orange.  

Cara Cara
Season: January  - May
About: Super-sweet with low acidity a delicious eating orange with great zing, some varieties have seeds, a pretty-in-pink colored flesh.

Kumquats
Season: January – March
About: About 1 to 2-inch long oval shaped oranges. Enjoy the whole fruit including seeds and the peel. Cut into ringlets for fruit salads and make interesting marmalade. I love them in citrus dessert preparations for garnishing plates. Sorry no juicing here.

 ….and in case you always wanted to know….some orange lingo:
Pith: the white membrane on a citrus fruit - under the skin. Leave the white membrane on the fruit as this contains bioflavonoids, which helps the body absorb and use vitamin C.
If you absolutely hate the pith – pop the citrus fruit in a 450F hot oven for 10 minutes – no white membrane will be left on it.
Bergamot: An essence of the fruit’s skin is extracted which gives an unmistakable scent to tea and is used in cosmetics.
Navel oranges: They’re named because of the belly-button formations opposite the stem side. The bigger the navel the sweeter the orange will be.

See the navel?

Favorite flavor: after chocolate and vanilla, orange is the world’s favorite flavor!
One orange, two oranges…no there are actually 600 different varieties of oranges, this list above is just a sampling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AWESOME TURKEY GRAVY - the blog

Classic gravy has a seductive, silky mouth-feel. To me gravy seems grandmotherly and awakens good old’ memories.

Gravy cooking
In a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet, pan roast nugget-sized turkey bones in the oven to a golden-brown color. Generally, I roast bones at 450F for an hour and turn them over in the middle of the cooking time. Granted, some people don’t roast the turkey bones and make a straight broth by cooking bones and water. In my opinion, much flavor gets lost like that and such stocks are rather greasy which results in a fatty gravy. 

Lets continue on the roasted bone gravy version:
Add two cups of each: 1-inch size-cut celery, carrots, onions, and five, peeled garlic cloves. Dust mixture with ½ cup of whole-wheat flour and continue to roast for 15 minutes. Transfer turkey bones into a 2-gallon sized pot.  Pour off the excess turkey grease from the roasting pan and pour it into an old can or heat-proof dish and cool on the kitchen counter.  Later, chill in the refrigerator and the oil will congeal which can be thrown out without burning holes into your garbage container or garbage bags.

The turkey pan has residue stuck to the bottom from roasting the bones and vegetables, so add ½ cup of water and scrape off that residue with a metal spatula. The residue has lots of flavor so add it to the turkey broth.

Cover turkey bones with ice-cold water (about one gallon) – adding a tray of ice cubes is ideal for terrific tasting gravy. On medium het setting, bring turkey bones to boil and continue to cook/simmer for two hours. Add 5 bay leaves and a tablespoon of coriander seeds and black peppercorns. Continue to simmer the broth for one more hour. Strain turkey stock through a sieve and discard bones. Add 1-tablespoon rosemary leaves, then cook/reduce turkey broth for 30 minutes. Season with sea salt and fresh black pepper grindings

Turkey Gravy
(recipe yields approximately 6 cups)
5 pounds turkey bones (back, neck) cut into 2-inch sized nuggets
1 onion, peeled cubed
5 stalks celery, cubed
2 mid-sized carrots, cubed
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced 1/4“ thick
2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
1 gallon ice cold water
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper from a mill  

Gravy troubleshooting:
Gravy should have a cream-like consistency. If your gravy is too thin, make a slurry by mixing ½ cup of whole wheat flour and ½ cup cold water. Add a little of that mixture to the gravy, and if it’s still too thin, add more slurry. Slowly cook/simmer the gravy for 10 minutes to prevent a floury taste.
Gravy too thick: add more stock or some water to thin the gravy out

No flavor: add sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Peel and slice 2 garlic cloves thinly. Cook on medium heat in 1-tablespoon vegetable oil and add to the gravy. Add ½-teaspoon finely chopped rosemary.

Lumpy gravy: strain a second time through a fine mesh sieve. Secondly, blend the turkey with a stick mixer or a kitchen blender.

CHEF’S NOTE: when blending gravy in the kitchen blender; fill blender cup half-way. And cover with a lid. Secure the lid with a kitchen towel pressing down gently when operating the blender.

If everything fails go with the bought version of gravy.

 

CARAMELIZED NUTS – the blog

I have a soft spot for nuts coated in sugar and heated to a point when they start to brown and create a vanilla-like roasted flavor. This process is called caramelization, which happens when carbohydrates like sugar are heated to a temperature higher than 300°F, which causes it to brown and get that seductive flavor. This process is similar to the Maillard reaction, where proteins in meat brown when heated which is a big part of the flavor we like so much.

sweet home NYC

 

When I first arrived some 20 years ago in NYC, I was hooked on those street carts that roast nuts right in front of your eyes in small copper caldrons and then pack them neatly into translucent paper baggies with their twisted corners to keep them tightly closed.

The smell of caramelized cashews or peanuts is mesmerizing to me and most of my good nutritional behavior goes out the window, and yes, every once in a while I treat myself to them. This time of the year when it’s cold outside and gift shopping is around the corner, those nuts seem particularly soothing and comforting with their warm, sweet aroma.

caramelizing nuts in a non-stick skillet

 

Over the years when I have become more cautious about what I eat, I have created different versions of roasted nuts and switched out the white refined sugar with more wholesome sugars such as maple syrup, agave, honey, date sugar and palm sugar.

The following simple recipes make my mouth water when I think about them. The addition of spices brings variety and the preparations are perfectly suitable for snacks, sprinkled over salads, crushed and strewn over a homey meat stew, tossed into roasted vegetables and for certain they are very applicable in many

escarole salad with caramelized nuts

desserts:

 

Recipes yield about 2 cups

Honey-roasted hazelnuts with coconut flakes and a sprinkle of sea salt
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups hazelnuts
¼ cup coconut flakes
sea salt, to taste

Agave-roasted walnuts with a pinch of cayenne
2 tablespoons agave
2 cups walnuts
pinch of cayenne
sea salt, to taste 

Maple-roasted pecans with a dusting of curry powder
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups pecans
1 teaspoon curry powder
sea salt, to taste

Date sugar-roasted cashews with pepper flakes
2 tablespoons date sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups cashews
1/8 teaspoon pepper flakes

Honey-roasted peanuts with celery seeds
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups peanuts
sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon celery seeds

Palm sugar roasted Marcona almonds with cinnamon
2 tablespoons palm sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups Marcona almonds
sea salt, to taste
pinch of cinnamon

Maple syrup roasted pumpkin seeds with cayenne
2 tablespoons maple syrup
sea salt, to taste
pinch of cayenne 

1. Dip a paper towel into vegetable oil and coat a plate with it – this will prevent the nuts from sticking after the cooking process.
2. On high heat setting heat a skillet, add the sugar (maple syrup, date sugar honey etc.). If the recipe requires water, add it at this point, then add nuts.
3. Season mixture and cook until the sugar has browned and the nuts are toasted. Stir nuts with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
4. Quickly transfer nut mixture to the greased plate.

Chef’s Tip: Cast iron, iron or non-stick skillets are good choices for caramelizing nuts.

Chef’s Note: The browning of sugar happens rather quickly so be careful not to burn it, which will make the nut mixture bitter.