Gumbo vs. Pork

This weekend’s Super Bowl brings on yet another reason to party or entertain. Although, there may not be as much hype this year on GameDay, I feel a certain personal attachment to both cities. I have good friends in both team cities representing New Orleans and Indianapolis.

New Orleans' great city screams rich food culture with its strong Cajun, French and Spanish roots. But, on the surface you may scratch your head thinking - does Indianapolis bring to mind any signature dishes as sexy as gumbo and jambalaya? Well yes. For Indiana, think German influence in the heartland and with substantial hearty foods beyond Orville Redenbacher. (Yes, Orville started his company in Indiana, the state of corn.) Vision foods more like bratwurst, bockwurst, German wieners with sauerkraut, red cabbage and choice spicy German mustards. Maybe even the prized Indiana pork with Kassler Rippchen, a smoked pork loin dish. 

You can mix a menu with dishes from the “Crescent City” and from the “Hoosier State”. Flip a coin and pick my gumbo recipe, or BBQ pork sandwich, or both. Either way, they’re both delicious winners!

The New Resolution

This past weekend I enjoyed celebrating 2010 with my best friends. Great time, great food. By coincidence, we ended up following one of my food & lifestyle trends for this year, Communal Entertaining. I made my chick pea, smoked ham and chevre pizza, appetizer. Dishes made by my friends were braised short ribs, spaetzle, swiss chard (greens for wealth), black eye peas (for good luck), and the best chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies of the new year! The Prosecco and cabernet flowed. Knowing I was in for a party night, I increased my workout earlier in the day to allow for all my communal entertaining- so to speak.

The start of the New Year has many people making resolutions, only to break them shortly thereafter. Myself, I'd rather not put so much emphasis on one day a year, I try to maintain a balanced lifestyle year round. But, if you need to make a lifestyle adjustment, what better time to motivate yourself than the New Year. 

Need inspiration, view my You Can Do It! Plan:

Here is another very easy way to get you jump started this year. How about with soup? Here’s a quick and tasty one to try, especially this time of year. I start off the week with a soup on the menu for Mondays. Soup is very nourishing, filling and comforting. 

Baked Potato Soup

chefgeorgehirsch.com
Makes four servings

2 large baked potatoes, cooled and chopped
4 Tablespoons pancetta (or bacon), chopped
1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup sour cream
2 green onions, chopped
chopped chives, to taste
hot sauce, to taste

In a large soup pot cook the pancetta until light brown.  Add onion, green onion, garlic and cook 2-3 minutes or just until onions soften. Add potatoes and broth.  Increase temperature, bring soup up to a boil, and then lower to a gentle simmer for 30 minutes. Just before serving, gently stir in cheese and sour cream.  Serve topped with chives and hot sauce to taste.

Note: Sour cream should be room temperature and slowly added to avoid curdling.

image: Potato Council

New Year, Classic Mac-n-Cheese

Let’s get this decade started with one of America’s classic and favorite dishes for people of all ages. My spin on this one-pot-dish is so popular- when I prepared it on Live with Regis and Kelly as a side dish, the viewer response was terrific. I was deluged with email recipe requests, even from our neighbors way north in Canada! It's also easy-n-quick to make. BTW, mac-n-cheese is one of my Top 10 Lifestyle Food Trends for 2010. 

Use the recipe as a guide and feel free to add smoked ham, cooked bacon, grilled chicken or grilled shrimp to make your own home-spin.  

Tip: If your are starting a new diet resolution, feel free to cut down on the fat of this recipe. Replace all of or part of the half and half with chicken broth, and use olive oil in place of butter. Or, just make up for it by exercising a little extra this weekend.

For George's Cheddar & Jack Mac Recipe

© GingerBlossom | istock

New Years Champagne Cocktail

Well- Happy New Year!

Champagne is recognized as the universal symbol of good news, and this cocktail's simple recipe shows that life doesn't have to be complicated to be enjoyed. A classic Champagne Cocktail may not be as trendy a drink these days, but as a classic, it’s as good as when Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr sipped it in An Affair To Remember. 

Recipe: Six ounces of champagne and a sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters is all it takes to make a sophisticated cocktail for the New Year. Drop the sugar cube into a tall flute glass, and then slowly add champagne and a lemon twist. 

Tips: With the Champagne Cocktail, you can trust the bitters to take the edge off a lesser quality champagne or sparkling wine. For this drink, you can use a lesser expensive wine spending about $10 to $18 for a good domestic bottle. Or, as I personally prefer to use a good Prosecco.

It is often remarked that Auld Lang Syne is one of the most popular songs that nobody knows the lyrics to. "Auld Lang Syne" literally translates as "old long since" and means "times gone by."

As we say goodbye to 2009 and the close of a decade, I bid you adieu and I look forward to seeing you here next year. George

Traditional Christmas Holiday Foods: Around The Globe

Turkey is often regarded as the common Christmas meal but it appeared on the menu only around 1650 after European colonization of North America. It was introduced to Europe by Sebastian Cabot on his return from the New World. The bird got its name after merchants from Turkey made it a popular dish. Prior to this, goose, peacock or boar were associated with the Christmas feast. Seasonal foods vary with geographic locals and traditional family customs.

USA:

The US is a melting pot of cultures, so we have adopted a mix of many foreign traditions at Christmas time. Feasting on goose, turkey, ham, crown roast, a variety of root vegetables, squash, wild rice, and end our meal with a apple pie or pumpkin pie.

Australia:

Christmas is in midsummer and lunch is often a barbecue of prawns, steak and chicken with ice cream or sorbet for desert, maybe cooked at the beach. 

Czech Republic: 

Traditionally the meal is eaten on Christmas Eve and consists of fish soup, salads, eggs and carp. The number of people at the table must be even or the one without a partner is supposed to be dead by next Christmas. (Incentive? How about rent a partner?) 

Finland:

Traditional Christmas dinner will be a casserole of macaroni, rutabaga, carrot and potato, with ham or turkey. A mixed platter of meat and fish is also popular. After the meal it is a tradition to have a sauna and then to visit the graves of relatives. (Odd combination, but OK)

Germany:

Roast Goose is the favored Christmas meal, accompanied by potatoes, cabbage, carrots, parsnip and pickles. The meal is usually eaten on Christmas Eve. Rural southern Germany feast on game like wild boar and venison. 

Greenland:

The Christmas feast may include Little Auks, (these are seabirds that are a bit like Penguins), wrapped in sealskin and buried for months until decomposed. 

Italy: 

Christmas lunch can run to seven courses including antipasto, a small portion of pasta, roast meat, two salads, two sweet puddings followed by cheese, fruit, brandy and chocolates.  

Jamaica: 

The traditional Christmas dinner is rice, gungo peas, chicken, ox tail and curried goat. 

Latvia:

Christmas Dinner is cooked brown peas with bacon sauce, small pies, cabbage and sausage. 

Norway: 

The Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve and for coastal regions is traditionally cod, haddock and lutefisk. Inland they will dine on pork chops, Christmas meatloaf and special sausages are eaten. Farmers leave a bowl of nisse (gruel) in barns on Christmas Eve for the magic Gnome who protects their farms. 

Portugal:

A special Christmas meal is salted dry cod-fish with boiled potatoes eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve. 

Russia:

Christmas food includes cakes, pies and meat dumplings. The mythical Babouschka is enjoying a resurgence following the ban under Communism. She brings gifts to Russian children rather than Santa Claus. 

South Africa: 

Christmas is during the hot summer season but the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings is still eaten at Christmas. 

Sweden: 

A Smorgasbord Christmas meal eaten on Christmas Eve includes varieties of shellfish, pork, cooked and raw herring fish, caviar, cheeses and brown beans. 

Ukraine: 

Huge meat broths are eaten on Christmas Eve after which children await "Father Frost" to bring presents. 

United Kingdom:

Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies are top picks. The largest Christmas Pudding weighed 7,231 pounds (3.28 tons) and was made at Aughton, Lancashire on July 11, 1992. The largest Mince Pie weighed 2,260 pounds (1.02 tons) and measured 6.1m X 1.5m. It was baked in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire on October 15, 1932.

image: NTF