Chef Daniel Angerer's Blog

IN ROOTS I TRUST - the blog

People often find big, gnarly, thick-skinned root vegetables intimating. This time of the year in the Northwest they're plentiful and locally available. Usually, root vegetables are stored in a cellar or dark shed. I know farmers that keep root vegetables covered in dirt so they keep moist. In a cold storage environment their starches are converted into natural sugars, which creates an addictive sweetness to roots when cooked.

kinpira with carrots and burdock root

Rooted strength
Root vegetables are soothing and make me feel grounded. In addition, they deliver tons of fiber that makes me feel satiated, and those converted natural sugars disperse slow-burning carbohydrates into the blood stream. These root vegetable carbs disperse terrific energy without creating a sugar high in our bodies. It’s a high very unlike that of refined sugar from candy, white flour products or sugary soda, which send you into the sugar stratosphere and then send your energy levels crashing. Root vegetable carbs disperse slowly through the blood into the system and deliver consistent energy. On another note, many root vegetables are packed with antioxidants, which strengthen the immune system—very important for the cold season in order to stay healthy.

Rooted cooking
My favorite way to cook root vegetables is known as the Japanese kinpira way. Kinpira can be explained as braising. It is a cooking style where vegetables are first sautéed and then water or a liquid is added that lets the vegetables soften without burning them. I favor this cooking style since root vegetables tend to have rather hard textures and hence take a while to get to an enjoyable texture and addictive gusto. You may have heard of "caramelizing onions"—that's exactly what happens in kinpira cooking. The natural sugars of the onions are drawn to the surface and create tasty roasted/caramelized sweetness.

My favorite vegetables as of late are burdock roots and carrots. The kinpira cooking technique is supported by a small amount of light soy sauce and miso, which rounds the flavors out beautifully.

whole burdock root

Root Vegetable Kinpira
(recipe yields four servings)
12 oz burdock root, peeled and cut into 1/8"-thick slices
12 oz carrots, cut into 1/8"-thick slices
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as olive or sunflower oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown miso paste
1-inch piece of ginger with the thickness of your pinky finger, finely chopped
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper from the mill, to taste

1) Heat a gallon-sized pot on medium heat, add the oil and the vegetables. Add two pinches of sea salt. Stirring every 2 minutes, cook the vegetables for 10 minutes.
2) Add 1/2 cup of water, soy sauce, ginger and 5 grindings of pepper and cover pot with a tight-fitting lid. Cook mixture for 10 minutes.
3) Turn heat off, add miso, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, then stir. Let mixture sit for 5 minutes, then serve.

…more root cooking
Over the last few weeks I’ve tried the following seasonal root vegetable variations cooked in the kinpira style recipe from above. Use the recipe above as a base. 

- celery root & red onions seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder
- parsley root & quarter-inch cubed red beets
- parsnips & sliced purple turnips
- rutabaga cut into quarter-inch cubes & halved garlic cloves

 

BREAKFAST GRAINS – the blog

 

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day for me before get to work. Often my typical breakfast consists of freshly cooked grains in a voluminous portion. Sometimes my breakfast prep starts the day before, prior to going to bed. I rinse grains—such as short grain brown rice, steel cut oatmeal, or sometimes barley—with clear water, and after that it is soaked in water overnight. In this way I can be sure it won't take the grains too long to get tender when I cook them. Another reason why I like pre-soaking the grains is because it pre-sprouts the grain. Pre-sprouting activates beneficial nutrients and makes the grain easier to digest.
Just about on any day in the wee-hours I set the soaked grain over the fire and season it with a pinch of sea salt. Yes, I’m an earlier riser, so it’s usually around 5AM. Rice takes about 40 minutes to get soft. If I’m in a hurry to get out the door, I gravitate to already cooked grains that I most likely have sitting in the refrigerator from another batch from earlier in the week. I put the grains in the pot with a bit of water and reheat it, stirring every so often, and within five minutes my piping hot bowl of grains is ready.
Over the years I have learned plentiful finishing touches for my morning grain bowl. Here are a few of my favorites:

- a pinch of cinnamon and maple syrup or honey
- seasonal berries such as blueberries in fall, or raspberries and strawberries in late spring
- baked granola for texture sprinkled over the top
- nut milk: once the grain is finished cooking, add 1/4 cup almond milk or rice milk per cup of warm cereal.
- I love toasted nuts: almonds, walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds; one tablespoon of nuts per cup of cooked cereal does the trick for me.
- Sometimes I feel going the savory route, so leftover beans from a prior day’s dinner make it into my breakfast bowl, finished with a tiny bit of miso—I find it very calming.
- Warm cereal seasoned with a teaspoon of miso and a touch of maple syrup is one of my favorite versions.
- For summer mornings I enjoy refreshing rich, whole milk Greek yogurt.
- Often it happens that I have several different cooked grains leftover in my fridge, so I mix and match, which makes for a diversified eating experience.
- I fancy dried chopped cranberries, dates or apricots to add a sweet note to my cereal. It’s always available in my cupboard. 

Rolled Oats
When it comes to rolled oats there is no cooking involved, the overnight soaking process is all that it needs. I do that in the refrigerator in addition to a grated green apple, sliced almonds, yogurt and a touch of honey. My method for rolled oats is modeled after Bircher Muesli, named after Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher Brenner, who was a big defender of that preparation for himself and his patients. Growing up in the mountains of Austria, my mother would feed me Bircher Muesli when I was little boy and I still like it today. Following is my preparation for it:

 

breakfast muesli -breakfast is king

Bircher Muesli
(recipe makes approximately 1 cup)

1 cup rolled oats
½ cup water
1 green apple, grated, such as Granny Smith
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
1 orange, juiced
Fruits such as ½ banana, sliced or 1/4 cup fresh blueberries or strawberries
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt (almond or rice milk)
1 teaspoon honey, to top (optional)

1)   In a bowl combine oats, apple, almonds and orange juice and let soak covered in the refrigerator overnight.
2)   Add fruit(s), yogurt or non-dairy milk and honey. Stir with spoon.

 

 

 

LOCAL NO MATTER WHAT - the blog

When the ground freezes and the days are short, many local markets shrink to barely half their size when compared to the warm season. Regardless, you can still eat local very well. We don't have to rely on meat or heated greenhouses, but rather modest stored grains and roots can make for a satisfying winter dish before other vegetables come out of hibernation.

Soothing grains
Risotto comes to mind. Usually it's prepared with Arborio rice, but you can prepare it with emmer, kamut or freekeh, which are all wheat berries. I use three grains, but you can make the dish with two varieties. Kamut is the wild variety, freekeh is harvested green and then smoked, and emmer or faro counts as an ancient wheat berry.

wheat berry risotto

 

Wheat Berry Risotto
(recipe makes 2 entree-sized portions)

I put a cup of each kind of wheat berry individually into a pot in addition to one bay leaf, a pinch of salt, vinegar and 5 cups of water. Cover with a lid and bring it to boil. Continue to cook the grains on medium heat . The freekeh will likely take 40 minutes to get soft, whereas the emmer and kamut can take up to 2 hours—it depends on how long the wheat berries were stored. Often, longer storage means a longer cook time, but it also depends on the variety of wheat berry. Also, you can pre-soak the wheat berries in water for 6–8 hours, which cuts down on the cooking time. Once the wheat berries are soft, strain the excess cooking liquid and reserve.

As for the vegetables, I like to choose celery root, parsnips, large carrots—which many farmers call horse carrots—in addition to local wintered-in onions and garlic. I peel the vegetables and cut them into 1/4-inch cubes and cook them in a gallon-sized, preferably 12-inch-wide pot. In this way the vegetables get better pan-roasting surface. My cooking oil of choice is sunflower or grape seed oil. They are good oils for long and high heat roasting. In addition, they are heat stable instead of breaking down like extra virgin oils such as coconut or olive oil. Extra virgin oils I use later just before they go on the serving plate.

Let’s continue with the cooking. Cook the vegetables on medium heat with the addition of sea salt for 15 minutes, stirring every 3-5 minutes. When the vegetables start to brown add one tablespoon of water, then add the wheat berries, two cups of the reserved cooking liquid and cashew milk. Cook the mixture for another 15 minutes, stirring frequently. To finish, add extra virgin olive oil, nut milk [PKN1] and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Wheat berry mix:
1 cup emmer
1 cup kamut
1 cup freekeh
3 bay leaves
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Pinch of salt for each wheat berry

veggie prep

Veg prep:
1 cup carrots, quarter-inch diced
1 cup celery, quarter-inch diced
1 cup parsnip, quarter-inch diced
1/2 cup garlic, quarter-inch diced

1 red onion, quarter-inch diced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Finishing the wheat berry dish:
1/2 cup cashew milk
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons parsley, chopped
5 grindings black pepper from the mill

 

Chef’s Note: For a richer version of the wheat berry dish, add 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan to the dish just before serving.

SPILL THE BEANS - the blog

I think bean dishes are super delicious. I like them best when the beans keep their shape during the cooking process and have a creamy interior with a velvety quality. As of late I have been cooking beans with different methods and treating them like they are the super star ingredient.

First of all, I prefer locally sourced beans. With such there is a better chance to learn about growing and harvesting procedures. Also, in this way I can get an idea of how long the beans were kept in storage. I like it to be no longer than 6 -8 months. I think the texture and flavor tends to be better compared to years-old beans the supermarkets sell.

Bean cooking
I make sure to soak the beans in water overnight, then rinse them with tap water. When it comes to cooking, as a rule of thumb I combine 1 cup of dry beans with 4 cups of cold water. For flavoring I add kombu seaweed and spices such as cumin, coriander and smoked paprika powder. The beans are brought to a boil, and after that I change the heat setting to medium so the beans can simmer gently to the point where they're soft but still have the skin holding its shape.

 

If you are short on time there is a quicker way to cook beans. Cover the beans with water in the ratio of 5 cups of water to 1 cup of dry beans and boil for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and soak for 2 hours. After that, strain the beans in a colander and rinse with tap water. Put beans back in the pot and add 5 cups cold water per the original 1 cup of dry beans.

Soaking and cooking beans in that way will eliminate much of the oligosaccharides, which are complex sugars that cannot be digested by our stomach enzymes. They cause the infamous bloating after-effect of eating beans. These sugars get in the intestines where bacteria eat them and produce gas.

Bean dish of the moment
I always thought it was fun having different beans in one dish; the tricky part is that most beans have slightly different cooking times, so to keep the texture of the beans ideal I have been cooking them in multiple pots, in addition to simply roasting edamame in a skillet. The following recipe should be an inspirational guideline—feel free to try out a variety of beans for different flavor and texture combinations.

bean stew

Three Bean & Kale Stew
(recipe yields 4 entrée portions)
2 cups dry kidney beans
2 cups dry cranberry beans
1 sheet, approximately 5"x5" kombu seaweed
1 teaspoon paprika powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons vinegar, such as apple cider, brown rice or plum vinegar

2 cups frozen edamame beans, shelled
1 bunch kale, thick stems removed, chopped into 1” pieces and rinsed
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as sunflower seed or grapeseed oil
Salt

Black pepper from the mill
Extra virgin olive oil

1) Cook each bean variety in its own pot. Add paprika, coriander, cumin, kombu and water.
2) Once the beans are soft, season with salt, vinegar, and maple syrup. Move beans to the side of the stove and steep for 20 minutes.
3) Heat a skillet on high heat, add edamame into the dry skillet and cook for one minute, then add oil, garlic and kale. Continue to cook for 5 minutes longer, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
4) Strain beans through a colander, reserving the cooking liquid.
5) In a pot combine beans and edamame/kale mix, then season with olive oil. Add bean cooking liquid in small amounts to the mixture so it matches your desired texture. Add more liquid if you like a soupy texture, less if you prefer it to be more of a stew.

Chef’s Note: The bean dish is totally satisfying on its own, but if you like it to be more substantial try it with roasted meat or fish dishes.

 

NOTHING BUT THE BUTT - the blog

Growing up in Austria I had my fair share of deliciously cooked pork on the dinner table. Later in cooking school that did not change and I ate pork nearly as much, since it was the chicken breast of those days. I had cooked an endless amount of roasted pork any way you slice it, from loin, pork filet, belly or Schweinsbauch—this is what its called in Germanic speaking countries. In restaurants I often cooked mild-flavored suckling pigs and also huge whole hogs, which were carried in front of the guest to be carved. I still remember the pork roast flavor—it reminds me of a barnyard with its gamey quality—truly delicious. For some reason as the years went by pork fell off the consumers’ palate—perhaps it had to do with a highly competitive pork market that was focused on volume vs. quality.

Pork these days
Fast forward to today. The goal was to get a delicious, fall-apart-in-your-mouth textured picnic roast, aka butt roast, which is a part from the shoulder and commonly used for pulled-pork types of recipes. My standard for this type of roast is a deep, satisfying, sweet-roasted flavor.

Pork roast cooking

First of all, in my experience pork these days benefits from salt brining, which gives it its basic flavor from within and helps with locking in moisture.

picnic roast aka butt roast from the pig shoulder

 

Brining: I tested various brining techniques from 2 weeks to 10 hours. I’ll keep it simple for the sake of length for this blog post. It depends on whether you want a more boiled ham type of texture and flavor or a roasted type is desired. The best results for my fall-apart pork roast was a 16-hour brine of salt, water, bay leaves and vanilla. In my opinion, vanilla underlines the roasted pork flavor notes in a delicate but seductive way. Now let's go to the cooking part. I performed several contemporary, low temperature methods such as sous vide, which instructs us to cook the pork for +/- 11 hours at 150 degrees Fahrenheit in a tightly sealed bag. I cooked it in an oversized Ziploc-type bag. I seasoned it with a few aromatics such as garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. This led me to a similar, moist-cooking method called CVap cooking. In short it's all about cooking meat in a specialized equipment chamber overnight under a combination of adjustable roast/steam settings—definitely a restaurant cooking style. It was delicious but was missing that addictive roasted pork flavor. Yep! I was dwelling and longing for those taste memories from Austria.

pork shoulder roast over vegetables

The next step was roasting at various oven temperature settings and internal meat temperature doneness. Eventually I hit the note and ended up with pork that was roasted at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 5–6 hours (depends on the weight/size of the pork) in an heat-proof type of vessel such as a pot.

The vessel was large enough that the meat did not touch the walls or lid that kept the pork roast moist. Also, my pork had a thick layer of fat on one of its sides, which I put facing down in the cooking vessel on top of chopped onions, celery and carrots. I cooked the meat to an internal temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Furthermore, the meat was rested in that roasting pot for one hour after cooking. I kept it in a warm place close to the stove, which gave it a meltingly soft texture. 

Pork brine
(recipe for a 5–6 pound pork butt)
3 bay leaves + 1 cup water
8 cups cold water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Kosher salt

1) Combine bay leaves and the 1 cup of water in a small pot and bring to a boil, then steep the mixture for 5 minutes on the side of the stove.
2) Combine bay leaf water, the 8 cups of water, vanilla and salt and mix with a whisk.
3) Put meat into a large enough container and cover with brine liquid. The meat should be immersed in the brine—if not, make more brine.
4) Brine meat for 16 hours.

Pork roasting steps
(recipe for a raw 6—7 pound pork shoulder/picnic roast)
- brine pork for 16 hours
- season roast with 1 teaspoon per pound of meat of Kosher salt
- chop 1 carrot and 1 onion and distribute in the bottom of the cooking vessel
- put roast fat-side facing down into the cooking vessel, cover with a lid
- roast pork at 300F oven temperature
- the internal meat temperature should reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit, after 5–6 hour cook time (it depends on the size of the roast)
- let the roast rest for 1 hour on the side of the stove covered with a lid or with aluminum foil 

Chef’s note: I prefer to pick a pork shoulder from a farm that applies humane practices and does not administer antibiotics. A diversified natural pig diet makes a great flavored pork roast—especially if it incorporates squash since that imparts a sought-after flavor profile.