Food Blog: Cusina

[Squeat Mungry]

Cusina, too bad about the poolish, that herb slab is some seriously good bread! (I've only bought it though, never made it -- I'm no baker!)

Last night's fajitas and quac sound so good!

Keep up the good work!

Squeat

PS I like the new look, too! It's cool that you can also see at the bottom who else is hanging out on thread!

[curlywurlyfi]

oh my god, shrimp and guacamole - why did I never think of this before? how divine does that sound! thanks for this blog, Cusina! (and hurray for having a supermarket across the road from my office so I can stride in after work and collar the ingredients - guess what I'm having for supper!)

Fi

[Cusina]

Hi Squeat and Helen! Cooking with little kids will sound nostalgic to me too in a few years because, on the whole, I just love it, but sometimes it's a real challenge. I can hardly get a thought in sideways without being interrupted for a cup of juice or to get down a puzzle from the "too high" shelf. The behind the scenes reality of this blog is that I write about 4 sentances, get interrupted, come back and write a few more, am interrupted again etc...

So just got back from the little tiny grocery/butcher and need to write this down before I forget.

This store is a throwback to about 1962. Tiny corner grocery about six blocks from us, too small for carts even. It's pretty run down, needs a coat of paint and a new floor, their produce is awful, but the people who run it are incredibly wholesome and nice and the MEAT is awesome. It was all I could do to get out of there without some of their smoked sausage. That is a treat we save for the holidays.

I loved the little sign taped to the meat case glass "How come my forgetter works so much better than my rememberer?".

So, in the butcher case, from left to right, fresh 3 lb fryers and chicken breasts (bone in), then, the slabs of mighty meat. Lots of steaks, T-bones, sirloins, ribeyes, not yet sliced so that you can determine your own thickness, plus several more that I couldn't identify. If you order these he asks you how thick heaves the slab out of the case onto the block, pulls down a huge sharp, well used knife and hacks off a few hunks of steak for you. Bacon wrapped london broil, several roasts, some of them stuffed with yummy things like sausage, peppers and onions. I'm not a meat fanatic, but this stuff looked mighty good. Liver and some other organ meats (not sure what these were). Some pork roasts, chops and ham steaks. Fresh sausages, brats, and breakfast links. And bacon, delicious looking meaty slabs of the stuff. (My brother was in charge of bringing the bacon to our Easter brunch this year, he came with 2 full pounds of this, it is amazing!) Then big containers of potato salads, american style and german (yum), and a ground ham sandwich spread. Then, next case over. A huge bucket, literally, a bucket, of pickled herring, and the selection of smoked sausage was gorgeous. Big sausages with garlic or without, some venison, and a nice looking selection of jerkeys. I'll bet some of those were venison too, though I didn't ask. And then the long slim jim looking things. Wish I knew the real name for those, they were at least two feet long. A big jar of full sized pickles was on the side. Finally, at the far right hand side of the case, are the cheeses. Most of them were Vern's brand cheese which is made right around here somewhere. All the usual suspects (3 ages of cheddar, colby, mozza, swiss, baby swiss, etc...) plus some good looking blue and parmesan.

I think the young guy in the packer hat who served me is the 4th or even 5th generation of the same family in this place. His grandfather was in and out doing some stocking. He looked to be at least 80 and like he knew what he was doing.

I'm off to get some stuff done and hopefully read the chapter on poultry in the Alice Waters book.

[budrichard]

Cusina, not to worry about the canned pumpkin. A few years ago i made pies from roasted mashed fresh pumpkin and canned pumpkin without any additives and we could NOT TELL the difference. Since then it's been Libbey's canned pumpkin for me.

As to the 'PACKERS'. As a Packer Team Owner, I got very hungry at your correct depiction of how to make 'Brats' having grown up on them in Neenah Wiscosnin. WE had Packer season ticketss during the Lombardi 'Glory Years' and I made every game until 1975 except the 'Ice Bowl' when my car wouldn't start that morning(-26F). -Dick

[GG Mora]

...that dilliante housewife...

Dilliante, I think, is code for "brilliant dilletante".

I so envy anyone who has a local butcher. Loving the blog.

[Cusina]

Dick has cheesehead roots too! Wow, I had no idea I was in such good company. Then again I think there is a little cheesehead in everybody.

Erm, I'm a little embarassed to ask such a simplistic question, but I have a few pictures I'd like to add to this blog and I can't figure out how. With the upgrade happening the help feature isn't very helpful. Would someone out there illuminate me? (so much for brilliance! hehehe, thanks for the benefit of the doubt though GG Mora.)

[tejon]

I think I've decided to visit my butcher today and get a fresh roasting chicken to make for dinner with stuffed shells and then, drumroll please, make some stock!

Way to go! Be sure to make some soup so you fully enjoy the results - something broth based like minestrone or maybe egg drop (simmer with some ginger and green onion for a bit to flavor the stock). Wait til you taste it .

[jhlurie]

Erm, I'm a little embarassed to ask such a simplistic question, but I have a few pictures I'd like to add to this blog and I can't figure out how. With the upgrade happening the help feature isn't very helpful. Would someone out there illuminate me? (so much for brilliance! hehehe, thanks for the benefit of the doubt though GG Mora.)

Cusina, please look at your Private Message area, I've sent you some information about this.

[Squeat Mungry]

Cusina,

Congrats on deciding to go ahead with the stock. In my experience, each cook has his or her own method, but it's so basic you really can't go wrong, and the difference will bowl you over!

Cheers,

Squeat

[Cusina]

No one to run to my rescue with picture tips? Oh well, I'll blog on anyways.

My son and I ran to the bakery, another institution that I'll describe in more detail for you when I have more time. Delicious stuff. We bought a loaf of sliced whole wheat sandwich bread and a loaf of really beautiful Italian bread with roast garlic in it to replace my unmade Acme herb bread. My son picked out a sugar cookie in the shape of a turkey. On the way home he kept remarking on how good his "chicken" was. I tried to correct him and we ended up spending a lot of the ride making various poultry noises. Having children definitely takes you places you wouldn't otherwise go.

We also went to Target where we got a lot of boring stuff like cough syrup and some ice cube trays for stock. Found a nice EVOO mister, which I have been meaning to buy forever and a new spiffy looking ice cream scoop. Gotta love new toys!

The chicken is set for baking, resting in the fridge. Salt and peppered and then stuffed with lemon, rosemary branches and garlic. I'll put it in the oven around 4:30 and start the shells. I'm lucky enough to have a 1/2 Italian husband who makes and freezes a family marinara. Pulled some of that out of the freezer for the shells.

Lunch today was PB&J for my son, with baby carrots and chocolate milk. Mine was, hate to admit this one, Amy's canned chili with vegetables. Sometimes I just eat for sustenance and this was one of those meals. We are definitely "one big meal a day" types in this house. Breakfast and lunch take a backseat to a big dinner.

Am I boring you all to death out there with my slice of Americana? It seems awfully typical to me. I'm hoping that is just my own perspective and that you're getting something out of this! More later.

~Cusina

[Cusina]

AHA, Figured out the picture thing.

Here you go. The first two are gratuitous cute pet pictures. Sorry.

This is the older cat Ollie.

Here is Rosie, our kitten, investigating the bag from the butcher shop. Nothing like a fresh chicken to get a cat's attention.

The next two are scone baking pictures. First, obviously, is the patting them out stage. And the next one is my son watching them bake.

There you go, a few visuals, gotta love technology.

Edited November 18, 2003 by Cusina (log)

[Cusina]

And yes, that is a dumptruck full of money being poured into a hole on the front of my son's Boston sweatshirt. My father-in-law has a twisted sense of humor. I like that about him actually.

[helenjp]

Not boring! Totally exotic for me, even if I were reading this in my native New Zealand, and not in Japan. Whole chickens...whole wheat breads...is this the same planet you are talking about?!

[Toliver]

You're doing great so far, cusina! I am looking forward to hearing more about your Wisconsin food life and your box o' recipes.

Besides the brats, what is typical Wisconsin fare? What do you always find at a potluck, for example?

And do you have farmer's markets in your area? How's your grocery selection? What kind of stores? And during the Spring & Summer, do you have a vegetable garden?

More, more!

[Cusina]

Thanks for the encouragement!

Well, let me give you a little geography lesson on the part of the world where I live as it isn't the most highly published subject. It's damn cold up here, most of the year at least. Therefore all the European settlers who were used to milder climates stayed as far away as possible, which was probably a smart move. Therefore, a lot of the people in Northeastern Wisconsin have German, Polish, Swedish and Norwegian ancestors who originally settled the land in the 1850-1870s, about 4 or 5 generations ago. The cuisine reflects those cultures in a general sense. So do the people. This is one spot in the country where they grow 'em big. Not just waistlines either. I'm 5'11" (178cm) and not considered to be outrageously tall, just the tall side of average.

The food here leans toward the fried and the bloody. Lots of meat and potatoes going on as well as fish. There are many, many freshwater lakes close by including Lake Michigan, which is huge. Much of the fish served by the locals here is beer battered and fried, like the recipe described yesterday and Varmint slathered over. Fried cheese also tops the local regular menu. (Real healthy huh?) There is also a serious grill culture here. When the weather is nice, and even when it's not, there will be coals going all over town. Brats, burgers, dogs, steaks, chicken and ke-babs are the most popular grilling items.

I live downtown in a medium sized city with a population just under 100,000. Land isn't terribly expensive so the cost of living is pretty low. Your average 3 bedroom ranch house here is about $125,000 new and you can get a perfectly nice "used" place for $80,000. Or on the other end of the scale, you can buy the 12,000 sq. ft. riverfront manor (about circa 1925) that is accross the way from us for 1.8 million. The town has blue collar roots, primarily in the paper industry and the surrounding dairy farms, but is becoming more white collar. The local accent here is funny. Think halfway between SNLs the Superfans and the characters in Fargo. No, I don't talk that way!

The groceries here are big, plentiful and clean, but they are all the same. I really wish we would get a whole foods or a Trader Joes or something along those lines. There is one store with a pretty good sized natural foods department and a few small mom & pop health food stores. Also in town you have the usual sams club, wal-mart superstore and etc... which I almost never enter unless really desperate.

I'm trying, tolliver, to think what was at the last potluck I went to. I think there was a BBQ beef on buns entree (exotic that, usually it's sliced ham) and then things like potato salad, veggies and dip, fruit salad, three bean salad, jello, "asian" peanut noodles, lots of bars and cookies and a coconut cake and somebody brought some really, really good little tartlets, lemon or lime I think, yum. I brought a green salad with blue cheese, strawberries and walnuts tossed with a sweet poppyseed dressing. My neighbor accross the street ate almost the whole bowl, shamelessly. My particular neighborhood has a lot of 'imports' though. Most of us are people who have moved here from elsewhere. (I grew up in Wisconsin with New York parents, then moved to Chicago and moved back in 1998.)

So there you have it. Pretty nice place to live, if you don't mind freezing your tail off for a few months of the year.

[Cusina]

Oh, yeah, and for dinner, we really enjoyed the roast chicken and shells. The shells were stuffed with spinach, ricotta and feta. Delicious. The stockpot is full of bones and gooey chicken goodness waiting to be boiled down into stock tomorrow. Chicken soup and cheese souffle sounds mighty good to me!

[fifi]

I am thoroughly enjoying your blog. What I can't imagine is dealing with the cold. I am a Gulf Coast girl and when it gets to 50F it is time to move south. How do you cope with the cold and the impending dark days? Do you cook anything different in the winter than you do in the summer?

[herbacidal]

Am I boring you all to death out there with my slice of Americana? It seems awfully typical to me. I'm hoping that is just my own perspective and that you're getting something out of this! More later.

~Cusina

i like americana. i don't hear enough about it. but that's just an asian boy talking.

[Cusina]

Hi Fi~ (hmmm, that makes hi-fi)

Our menus are almost completely different summer to winter. Summer is all about grilled meats and fish, salads, fruits and veggies from the farmer's market. Winter is much heavier. I start baking quite a bit and I also make quite a bit of soup. Still do salads but they are more vegetable based rather than fruit or pasta salads. You are getting a taste of my late fall/winter menu in this blog.

As far as making it through the cold it's not that bad really, but I'm used to it. I actually look forward a bit to the dark cold months because our social calendar is much lighter and I'm kind of a closet introvert. I love to sleep more and read alot by the fireplace without feeling like I should be outside doing something else. Plus on the great days that you can get outside and do things like sledding, hiking, skating and skiing it is fabulous! Ask my brother in law the same question in February and you might get a very different answer. He moved here (well, chicago actually, but north) from Atlanta in May.

I think someone, maybe Tolliver, asked if I do a garden. I live on a medium sized city lot with a big honkin' old house on it and quite a few trees, so I don't have much space that is condusive. I like to do tomatoes and herbs, but that is about all I have space for. The house has consumed most of my energy. We bought it just a year ago and it had been pretty neglected. Nothing was wrong structurally, but it was UGLY. This year we have done a tremendous amount of restoration and updating. The results have been great, but lots of effort.

Later on today I'll get back to Grandma's recipe box. Lots of fun stuff in there.

~Cusina

[Cusina]

Hi Herbicidal! Glad you are enjoying this too.

[Toliver]

I think someone, maybe Tolliver, asked if I do a garden.  I live on a medium sized city lot with a big honkin' old house on it and quite a few trees, so I don't have much space that is condusive.  I like to do tomatoes and herbs, but that is about all I have space for. 

Garden grown tomatoes & herbs can be enough. They sate the soul in so many ways. You are fortunate to have such treasures a few footsteps away in your backyard.

Living in an apartment and not being able to grow either, I look forward to the day when I'll have a home with a garden.

I was glad to hear you have a farmer's market up there. I can only imagine the bounty.

I remembered I have a Wisconsin connection. I have a dear family friend living out in the countryside near Marshfield, which I think is central Wisconsin. She often speaks fondly of the beauty of the Dells towards the south.

From what part of Wisconsin are you writing (you don't have to say which city)?

[stringcheese]

As to the 'PACKERS'. As a Packer Team Owner, I got very hungry at your correct depiction of how to make 'Brats' having grown up on them in Neenah Wiscosnin. WE had Packer season ticketss during the Lombardi 'Glory Years' and I made every game until 1975 except the 'Ice Bowl' when my car wouldn't start that morning(-26F). -Dick

Wow, this thread is making me homesick! I'm a Wisconsinite in Virginia for graduate school, although I'll be moving back to Madison in May (hooray). From the wonderful descriptions of the food, to the references to Wisconsin winters (shaming me when I complain that it's 45 and rainy here today! How quickly I forget...), to the mention of God's team, the Packers!

And then to find that someone else grew up in Neenah, Wisconsin--my hometown. What a small world.

Anyway, thanks, Cucina, for this blog. A lot of it is very familiar to me, but not boring or typical at all. It feels like home, and as a result I'm actually getting excited for my 14 hour drive back to Wisconsin on Saturday for a Thanksgiving visit. I'm looking forward to more posts, especially from Grandma's recipe box!

[Cusina]

Hi stringcheese, welcome to eGullet. Hope you stick around for a while and enjoy the show. I'm finding it to be a very interesting place. My food and drink learning curve has gotten much steeper since discovering this BB.

Tolliver, I live in the Fox Valley area, which is south of Green Bay and one hour west of Lake Michigan.

Lunch was leftover shells from last night for me. Grilled cheese and apples with PB for my son. I love that shell dish partly because it makes lots of leftovers. My stock is bubbling on the stove as we speak. You all were very right, it couldn't be easier to make stock. Took the carcas and leftover meat from the chicken last night, added carrots, celery, garlic and rosemary. Covered with water in the pot and will simmer for about 3 or 4 hours, seive and cool, then skim the fat and freeze. Thanks for getting me in gear to do it.

I also had a little treat this morning. Wen't to a local candy shop to buy a hostess gift for next week and enjoyed a chocolate pecan caramel. Yum! This place is kind of a throwback to the 1950s, though in a much cleaner, more nostalgic way than the butcher. And the chocolate is great. The best in the place, in my mind, are their butter creams. Absolutely taste like fresh sweet butter in the middle. They also have great malted milk balls. They are about 1/2 inch malted balls with at least 3/4 inch milk chocolate coating. Huge and delicious.

[Cusina]

I have some time this afternoon to go back into Grandma's recipe box. Let me give you a little background on her. I realize that you are probably picturing her as this nice homespun Wisconsin lady. Not quite, she was born and raised in Nebraska, then went to graduate school for Vocal Performance in Iowa where she met my grandfather, a new Physics Phd. He became a professor and they moved to New York city where my father was born. Shortly after they moved to Port Washington on Long Island where she lived out the rest of her life. She, however, was very attached to her parents and to Nebraska so they travelled there by train every summer. My Grandfather retired quite early, in his 50s I think, and they took up travelling the world to see the sights. My Grandfather took almost all the pictures on these trips and so we have albums full of my Grandma waving in front of famous things. Here she is waving in front of the Great Wall of China, here in front of an Egyptian pyramid, here in front of a Dutch windmill, here in front of the Berlin Wall... you get the idea. She was always incredibly social, very easy to talk to, so they met interesting people wherever they went and had many of them come to visit them in NY. All this is reflected in her recipe box, if you know where to look.

She went through the decades with the rest of America, so some of her stuff is pretty dated. Here is one labeled "Jackie Kennedy & Grace" Grace is her double first cousin who is within 2 weeks of her age, so they were like sisters. I sincerely doubt Jackie actually made it to Lincoln to give this to Grace, but who knows.

Baked Chicken Breasts

4 Chicken Breasts

1 can (3oz) drained mushrooms

1 can (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream mixed with

1 cup sherry wine

Paprika

Arrange chicken in baking dish, don't overlap. Cover with mushrooms and liquids (mix other ingredients and pour over) Dust with paprika. Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with rice. Serves 4.

Here is another Jackie Kennedy recipe for how to make a turkey... hmm. Something tells me this isn't the famous Jackie Kennedy. I can't really imagine her breaking out the cream of mushroom soup in the White House kitchen.

I don't want to make it sound like all Grandma did was open cans and boxes. She did cook from scratch quite a bit. The souffle recipe that Maggie sent me is here, almost exatly the same. Lots of her scratch cooking was baking. I especially remember her pies and bars. Lemon bars were her absolute favorite but mine were Missisipi Mud Cake. Rich cake on the bottom, marshmallow center and chocolate icing. Yum. I'll bet this one is copywritten somewhere so if you want it just PM me.

I can remember my grandfather going on a serious pinapple pie baking mission as only an ex-physicist can. I don't know what the criterion were for "perfect" but it was intense and much fervor and humor went into finding the perfect recipe. There are several here as testament to the journey. I think this one was the winner as it seems to be the most used looking and is in the front of the stack.

"Combine large can of undrained crushed pineapple with mixture of 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook untill thick and clear, stirring constantly. Add 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Pour into pastry-lined 8-inch pie pan. Add top crust. Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes." I don't remember ever eating a piece though. I think he consumed most of the efforts.

She has a pretty wide variety of pies here. Ranging from the very typical to some rather unusual ones. Apple, cherry, pineapple, pumpkin, Lemon Meringue, Rhubarb, German Sweet Chocolate (coconut and pecans), Jello Ice cream pie that was obviously a favorite of my Uncle's, Chocolate Marshmallow, Chocolate graham cracker delight, Praline Pie, Chocolate cream, Heavenly Pie (which appears to be a custard), Cooky Sundae Pie, Mile High Strawberry Pie, Cracker Pie (made with Ritz crackers? um, o.k.), Peach Parfait Pie, Key Lime, Shamrock Chiffon Pie (I think my great-grandmother was very fond of jello), Sweet Potato Pie (mmm, need to try this one), ButterScotch Pie, Baked Alaska Pie, Pumpkin Praline, and Pecan. Whew. Lotta Pie. Plus about 10 variations on pie crusts including my mother's and her own "good" pie crust.

Here is the frontrunner of the pies. I DO remember this one as being very good.

My Apple Pie

Applet to fill pie shell - tart apples

3/4 to 1 C sugar

2 rounded T flour

1/2 to 3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Oleo

lemon juice

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Put small amount in bottom of shell.

Fill with apples, sliced (and peeled presumably)

Add rest of dry ingredients

Dot with oleo and lemon juice.

Add top crust - slitting here and there

Bake at 400 for about 50 min.

Well, enough for now. I'll leave you to ponder pie for a while.

~Cusina

[Squeat Mungry]

Thanks for this, Cusina... great stuff! My grandmother also made all kinds of pies, including fried pies. She also made a pie with Ritz Crackers! I think it was called "Mock Apple Pie".

Loving your blog,

Squeat