The Colonel Is For Sale

 Kentucky Fred Chicken has been a part of the American table for decades. Now it's up for sale. Is anyone up for buying that special secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices?Or any of the Colonel's items? There seems to be more interest in him than in his chicken,

Regular contributor Kim Severson wrote about this in today;s New York Times Wednesday Food section. Kentucky Fried Chicken has been around since the late 1930s It  is more popular in Japan and China. The Japanese dress up figurines  of Harlan Sanders, the Colonel as Santa Claus and his meal is the must have Christmas dinner..In China, the home of most of the world's KFC restaurants he;s a respected elder.In the African countries of Nigeria and Kenya Colonel Sanders is the symbol of quality and cleanliness. In the  US he;s really not considered that important on the fast food scene. His home in Shelbyville Kentucky, a town in the middle of lush Kentucky  horse country is up for sale. The family that brought his property from him wants to move on. This week they'll auction off the house and his personal items and that includes his special recipe for the fried chicken batter. There is still the restaurant named for his second wife Claudia, but that's also closing the restaurant owners and the Sanders' good friends Tommy and his wife have kept open. Regulars will be upset not getting not only the chicken bu the country ham and rolls the size of muffins.

There will still be KFC. sanders sold it in 1962 for two  million dollars. He tremendously regretted that. , as still visited  franchises and berated managers on how they prepared the chicken.The chain was later  acquired by Pepsi in 1997 and then the company morphed into Yum brandsThey also have Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. They do still have the family meals first created not by the Colonel but by  his first franchisee Pete Harman. Harman already had a restaurant in Salt Lake City and came up with the meal plan of packing  several chicken pieces in a bucket with rolls and gravy. They coined the famed phrase "finger licking good and ) dubbed Sanders the "ColoneL" However there are also now chicken sandwiches and nuggets to compete with Popeye;s and Mc Donald's.There is also boneless chicken served with such sauces as chimichurri ranch and sticky chicky sweet and sour. The Colonel's image is also being rebranded. He's shown as a experimenting with exploding pressure cookers which cooked the original chicken and  also throwing pots of gravy on the floor. He;s am anti corporate finger licking machine who will dance on a boardroom table or climb a skyscraper to advertise a value  meal.

What will happen to all the Colonel's items and restaurant. Hopefully it will be bought by a foodie fan who can carry on the legacy. They will have the special recipe. They can run with it.

Tasty Steaks For Summer

 There's no denying it - summer is the perfect season for steaks. There;es something about cooking them on the grill , in the oven  or stove top that adds to their flavor. They've even better when there's a tasty sauce to accentuate the rich mineral flavor.

Regular contributor Ali Slagle wrote about these cuts and fillets in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section She gives seven small tweaks so that America''s favorite meat resembles what;s offered in the best steakhouses .There are also recipes too that come with sauces on the side  to eh=enhance the meats deep beefy flavor. Surprisingly enough she recommends skipping the marinade. Most marinades, that also include salt and sugar don't; work their way into the cut's interior.Just pat the fillets dry and cover with salt. One must is also coating the sides with lots of black pepper. Some fo the best recipes like Texas brisket and pastrami along with pepper steak and  and steak au poivre have black peppercorns as their main ingredient  As the steak cooks the peppercorns toast .growing darker and more intense ,enhancing the meat's richness.Opt for coarsely ground ones instead of finely ground pepper flakes. Another tweak is adding compound butter Even just plain butter swiped over the top of a steaming steak will meld with the juices creating a silky,flavorful sauce.Try herbs, blue cheese citrus or green curry paste. The heat from the butter and meat will only intensify their flavors.

A n Herby sauce is also another tweak that will elevate any filet mignon or T-bone cut,Make it with olive soil and such soft herbs as cilantro, parsley  dill or mint. This is then mixed with any kind of acid like vinegar or lemon juice. A punch like chilis, capers or scallion are also necessary  for some zest and zing.A meat thermometer is a must too.An overcooked steak is not tasty. It's dry  and tough. To take the cut's temperature , hold of the steak with tings and use the needle to pierce the meat. The steak should be between anywhere 120 to 126 degrees Farenheit t be considered medium.Also cut the steak thickly and cook over a high heat. It can be frozen for fifteen minutes before being cooked.What would emphasize the meat's flavor? Sliced tomatoes!Tomatoes ' sweetness is the perfect foil for the meat's savoriness.Ms Slagle gives a variety of different recipes.Use the air fryer for the air fryer steaks with garlic butter/ A tasty weekend dish is grilled skirt steak with cucumber chimichurri sauce A different spin is black pepper steak in a fried cabbage stir fry. A simpler dish would be harissa grilled steak with an overlay of a rich tomato salad.

Summer and steak go hand in hand. Follow these tips and try these recipes  for a tasty meat dish. Each is perfect for the hot days ahead.

It's Still Barbecue Time

It is still summer and we will still have warm weather well into the fall. That means cooking out and still enjoying barbecue favorites. You could add an autumnal touch with different spices. too.

This is the season for tailgating too and you can easily make those game day treats in the comfort of your backyard.Hot dogs are big with the football crowd. Think piling them with either sauerkraut or chili sauce. A novel idea for the season is an apple relish or chutney. This involves peeling and cooking any red apple along with a a green Granny Smith one.Ginger, onions and apple cider vinegar is mixed in along with raisins to create a sweet and tart topping for both hot dogs and bratwursts. This would also be good with barbecued pork chops too for a hearty outdoor meal. Hamburgers are another great barbecue dish. Add a layer of sharp Vermont cheddar and applewood smoked bacon for a substantial lunch or dinner, You could turn this into a vegan treat by using Beyond Burgers topped with soy cheddar and Morningstar Farms soy bacon.You can also take a fall classic turkey.Home chefs can grill a turkey breast on the barbecue.Use a sweet rub made with brown sugar or one with herbs. Have ii with gravy and barbecued butternut squash brush with herbed butter.

Of course steaks are always on the barbecue menu.Elevate them to the next level with a red wine sauce. This is made with a Cores di Rhone red, mixed with garlic, unsalted butter and freshly ground black pepper.You could also serve the steaks with a fresh chimichurri sauce. It's an easy make of just red wine vinegar and garlic and a blend of oregano, parsley and cilantro. Sometimes simplicity is the best route to take. Marinate it in olive oil and lemon with a sprinkling of oregano. This can be squash strips and carrots for a simple side.Parsnips and turnips can also be roasted and served with a sage infused butter. in a week or two there will be the first batch of pumpkins, and these, too, can be added to a late season barbecue.Keep in mind that you need to buy the kind used for pumpkin pies and not the ones used for decoration.It has to be sliced and then the seeds and pulp have to be taken out.After that you can add butter or olive oil along with such spices as cardamon or nutmeg.

It's still barbecue season. Keep grilling delicious meats and veggies during these late summer days. Add a touch of fall seasoning like nutmeg , pumpkin or apple to make it interesting.

A Halloween Treat - Mayo

Is there a place for mayo in a sophisticated kitchen?  Surprisingly yes. At times, it's even better than some of the best butter. It's now being thought of as the go to ingredient from simple grilled cheeses to sous vide meats.

Melissa Clark wrote about one of the world's most versatile condiment in  yesterday's New York Times Food section. Her A Good Appetite was devoted to this French dressing originally used only for chicken. Now it's being used again , but smeared or slathered on raw chicken before cooking. The white cream is a hard sell. It has been maligned by decades of food snobs who associate it with folksy salads served at picnics. Then there's its' appearance. It's jiggly and white , bloppy when it get's smeared on tomatoes or sandwich meats. It's also completely fat, yet it's that fat that creates the Maillard effect on meats. It's a seasoned oil suspended in water emulsion. An emulsion is a homogeneous mixture of two or more liquids that typically don't mix together. Fat droplets have a tendency to coalesce or come together when suspended in that. To make mayonnaise the fat has to be broken up into droplets that are so fine , they will have trouble reuniting in that emulsion. This gives mayo its' classic viscous texture - perfect for brushing onto a meat's surface. Eggs are also part of this emulsion and that gives mayo its' creaminess.

A thin layer of mayo can give any meat a good browning. This helps in minimizing the amount of time any cut spends in a pan or on the grill. Meats such as skirt and flank steak as well as thinner cut pork chops typically have problems browning, before they wind up with overcooked centers.Mayo helps fast cooking meats such as chicken cutlets brown all over. A plus about having a mayo marinade is that it blends easily with a wide range of sauces and condiments. Pesto and chimichurri work well with it along with Thai red curry paste. Barbecue and  teriyaki sauce benefit from it. These sauces have a tendency to burn, thanks to the sugars in them. Mayo solves this by diluting and coating the sugars with an egg protein. The end result is meat that doesn't wind up charred and a sauce flavor that really sticks to the meat.Mayo coated meats can just be cooked as is in a non-stick pan. The mayo has enough fat for cooking. Ms. Clark has tried the recipe out with both store bought and homemade mayo. The last has plenty of recipes on the web to try. It would be interesting to see if this works with vegan mayonnaise.

Don't be a snob about mayo. Try it as a marinade on any kind of meat. You'll be surprised by how sppoky good it is.

It's The Barbecue Issue!!! Part One

Every one's thoughts turn to the outdoors when Memorial Day rolls around on the calendar. it's not the clear blue sky and balmy temps that 's the lure but the grill. It's barbecue season, with all the fun  and good food that come with it.It's time to leave a hot kitchen for a cool  grill.

The New York Times Food section covered all things related to it in today's issue. It's a keeper . especially for those planning on a big barbecue this weekend. One of the best articles is by regular contributor, Sam Sifton. He explains the basic, starting with the most basic - the fire.He parses the difference between direct heat (perfect for hamburgers) and indirect heat( good for slower cooking meats). There is also a how too about creating both on the same grill, whether it's a gas or charcoal fueled one. He then explains how meats from chicken to seafood to pork, beef and lamb, should be prepared and cooked. Mr Sifton recommends novice  grillers to go with the easiest - chicken. There are also tips on  on grilling all the meats along with how to prepare different types such as chicken breasts, shrimp and hamburgers. Melissa Clark gives a how to on how to roast an entire chicken outside.It's actually done in a skillet placed on the grill.One of the best things about cooking this way is that the drippings get saved as opposed to being dissipated . They can be used to saute sides. Ms. Clark uses it to saute spinach spiked with garlic and anchovies. Home chefs can vary the greens with ramps or chard.

Of course veggies are an important part of the cookout . John Willoughby and Chris Scheslinger wrote about the side side of barbecuing. Vegetables are surprisingly good for grilling. They grow tender without losing their flavor and can retain it days afterwards in the fridge.Both Mr. Willoughby and Mr. Scheslinger recommend bell peppers,eggplants and tomatoes. Even lemon and lime slices can be grilled, their juices lending some smokiness to dipping sauces.There is a smoky chimichurri sauce recipe that would be great with any grilled steak. Home chefs have to try the  recipe for red onion chutney that takes the grilled alliums to another level,thanks to brown sugar and a melange of spices that include chili and cumin. Chefs around the country are also on this grill anything bandwagon too.Another Food regular, Jeff Gordonier traveled around the country to see what professional cooks are throwing over the coals.There are glazed grilled carrots that are cooked first and then tossed into a dressing.Onions can be charcoal cooked  so their middles become creamy, savory puddings  while hunks of olive oil soaked bread can be tossed on the grill to  become toasty and smoky.Oranges can be cut and place don skewers to be toasted into chips.Anything can be used in a barbecue, a great idea for chefs who may be running low on food and ingredients.

Today's New York Times Food section will help any home chef  deal with grilling . There is some great advice that will work for  this year and for seasons to come. Save the section. It's truly invaluable

Food Fit For Francis I

Pope Francis is here in the States  and many are probably wondering what does he eat. What's his culinary background? He comes from a good one, His parents and grandparents are from Piedmonte  and Genoa,Italy so there's excellent meals on that side and a bevy of good Argentinian dishes that he also grew up  eating. It makes for a rich and  flavorful food history.

Pope Frances I was born Jorge Mario  Borgoglio in Flores , a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires. His mother's family was Piedmontese and Genovese, probably coming over during the crossover immigration of the late 1800's His father 's family left in the early 1930's.He surely had to grow up on bagna calda , made with good Argentinian beef . This really is pure heaven, a dipping sauce made with anchovies, garlic butter and oil is heated in a fondue pot. Beef  and various veggies such as Savoy cabbage  is dipped into it and cooked. Its' usually served in the winter months and for New Year's Every Piedmontese kid grows up on polenta   and it 's usually made a variety of ways, from cooked with eggs sunny side up to chicken and mushroom gravy, cacciatore style.Risotto or risott (as my family on both sides of the Atlantic call it )is another kitchen must. have. We make ours with tomato  and porcini mushrooms.. How do the Piedmontese end their meals? With the ethereal eggy custard  sabayon. This is a  simple mix of egg yolks , Marsala and sugar cooked over a double boiler. The sweetness is cut with delicate espresso cups full of strong espresso laced liberally with grappa.

Pope Francis ' also grew up with Argentinian food . Since the country is known for its' beef asado or barbecue is popular and often made at family gatherings. Sausage or chorizo  is also served as is morcilla or blood sausage. Other animal parts  like chitterlings are also cooked and served with chimichurri,a take on the Piedmontese salsa verde, made with parsley ,garlic and olive oil along with white vinegar.(it 's big in Piedmonte , usually served with beef tongue).Noquis , the Argentinian version of gnocchi is also made as are fettucini and tagiatelle. Buenos Ayres  enjoys Argentine style pizza but it is baked with a layer of chickpea flour dough on top to create a version of pizza rustica a covered or smothered pie.Argentina also has the Mesopotamia section in its' northeast section of the country offers many different kinds of indigenous fish and papaya dishes.Pantagonia, the rugged southern part that's pointed towards Antarctica  features mutton and lamb along with both freshwater fish such as trout and seafood. Berries grow in abundance here, providing the country with strawberries, bilberries cherries and rosa mosqueta, or sweet briar The country is also responsible for the culinary phenomenon dulce de leche which is poured over cakes and even pancakes.

Pope Frances is a humble man with simple tastes. Yet one can't help but wonder what lush Piedmontese or Argentinian dish is his favorite. There is so much to choose from and hopefully he treats himself to one  of them from time to time.