Pirate Pat Pattersons Pirate Recipes

Pirate Pat's Burning Skillet

Recipe of the Week!
Eat like the Pirates Do!
(anti-acid not included)

Back to basics. Back to what made your Grandmother's homemade soup the best you ever tasted.

If you are lost at this point, let me give you a clue: IT WAS THE STOCK SHE USED!!!

Okay, now that you have thought about how much you loved your Grandma, you can also think about how much you would like to make that fabulous soup she made. Let's start with a few simple stocks that will help you resurrect your long gone Granny, (God rest her perfect soul).

Let's start with STOCK. What is STOCK?. In the most basic terms, STOCK is the liquid that is derived from the cooking of vegetables, fungus, meat or fish and other flavoring ingredients in water. In other words, STOCK is anything that is flavored WATER. How simple can it be?

So let's make STOCK!! What do you have on hand? Chicken parts? Beef bones? Vegetable trimmings? Mushroom stems? Those things that you thought were garbage are now the basis of the best soup or sauce that you ever tasted!!

I love it when Albertson's puts Southern grown chicken on sale for $.49/lb. I know that I will eat well and very cheaply, AND end up with some really nice chicken stock.

I like to buy Southern grown chicken for two reasons: It has richer flavor than the pearly white Washington variety and it is loaded with fat.

Hence, it cooks up juicier and with more flavor. Okay, so you bought a load of hindquarters at a deep discount. Now what?? Cut the rib portion off the leg-thigh and trim away the guts, usually the liver. NEVER cook liver in your stock pot. It makes the resultant stock bitter. Cook them separately and mush them on pieces of garlic toast(!!!) while you are putting the stock together.

So, you have this big pile of raw chicken trim. First thing you need to do is soak them for a bit in cold water and then rinse thoroughly. By the way, necks and wings are excellent for stock if you normally don't eat those pieces. I just toss them in the freezer until I need them for stock. After rinsing, toss the chicken into a large pot. The bigger, the better.

Now you are going to add some aromatics. This means onion, carrot, celery, garlic (FRESH), bay leaf, FLAT LEAF parsley, whole pepper corns and maybe some fresh thyme. These items are listed in descending order of quantity. I usually use equal quantities of chicken and veggies (onion, carrot, celery) with copious quantities of fresh garlic and a modicum of everything else.

Fill the pot to cover plus 1 inch with COLD water. Bring to a boil and skim the gray foamy yuck-yuck that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to skim the yuck-yuck for at least 11/2 hours. After a few hours of cooking, skimming and eating garlic toast with mushed chicken

livers you will be ready to strain the stock. After straining off the liquid (through cheese cloth or a fine mesh sieve) allow to cool uncovered in the fridge.

This will do two things: It will make the stock cold and it will make what little fat that is present rise to the top and solidify for easy removal. Give the fat to the dog. Give the chicken bones to the stupid cat and hope for the inevitable. Freeze the stock or use it right away.

Anyone that knows me knows I love Italian country cooking; especially that of Southern Italy and Sicily. And even though risotto is usually associated with Northern Italian cuisine, I dedicate this recipe to that flower of Sicily (by-way-of-West Seattle), Jacki Patterson. She made an honest man out of my brother Tom and that alone puts her on par with Mother Teresa.

I hear she makes a mean plate of Ravioli. Anyway, you will need the following:

Start by melting the butter in the olive oil in a stainless steel sauce pan over medium heat. Don't let it get too hot. Burnt butter and olive oil will ruin anything.

Cook until the mixture perfumes the kitchen, being careful NOT to brown the garlic.

Add the rice and toss it about to coat it thoroughly with the butter and olive oil.

The stock must be very HOT. Keep it in a separate pan on the stove at a simmer. Add the stock gradually, a ladle full at a time. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. This is fun for two people to do.

When the first ladle of stock is fully absorbed and the risotto begins to thicken, add another ladle of stock. DON'T STOP STIRRING. This isn't like other kinds of rice.

You need to stand there and stir it to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. If it begins to stick, add another ladle of stock and maybe turn the heat down a bit, but DON'T STOP STIRRING.

Keep adding the stock a little at a time until you have incorporated about 4-6 cups and the risotto is creamy, thick and rather toothsome (al dente).

Give it a final slosh of stock and turn the heat off but keep the pan on the burner. DON'T STOP STIRRING.

Let the rice absorb the last of the stock as you stir. It should be thick like oatmeal and just slightly al dente. Toss in a fistful of Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple Tablespoons of good butter, season with salt and pepper and you are ready to serve. There are literally thousands of variations of this basic recipe, but I like this simple preparation the best.

It is gloriously rich and creamy and goes with grilled poultry better than anything I know. We'll look at beef stock another time because I am exhausted now and need a nap.


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