Potatoes Stewed in Tomato Sauce

Tonight was taco night at our house, called either Bell Manor or Chateau Klonsky, depending on who you are talking to at any given moment. Using leftover roast chicken, some jack cheese, crisp lettuce and the following potatoes stewed in tomato sauce, I wish taco night was every night.

These simple potatoes I gathered from some recipe or another. but are most recently inspired by a Pakistani dish in Art Smith’s Back to the Table. My version is decidedly NOT Pakistani, and much closely resembles southern Italian flavors than anything else, but nevertheless, it made for some great chicken tacos. Enjoy!

1/4 c. minced onion
1 small clove of garlic
1 T. fresh thyme
1/2 t. fennel seeds
1/8 t. cayenne pepper or a few dashes hot sauce, to taste
3 small yukon gold potatoes, diced into 1/2″ cubes
1.5 c. tomato puree (I use Pomì brand, but you could always make your own, too!)
1 t. kosher salt
Black pepper, to taste
1/4 c. water

• In a pre-heated skillet (over medium-low heat), heat a tablespoon or two of oil until hot, then add onions.
• Saute onions until translucent, about two minutes. Add garlic, herbs, and spices. If using hot sauce, omit a this step and add at the very end.
• When the kitchen begins to fill with the scents of thyme and fennel, add potatoes.
• Cook potatoes for about 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften a bit.
• Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper.
• Cook until the potatoes are tender. If the mixture gets too dry, add water as necessary. When the potatoes are finished cooking, no water should remain in the pan, creating a thick, flavorful and aromatic sauce.
• Add hot sauce, if using, and adjust seasoning to taste.
• Serve, say, in a chicken taco! Alternatively, you could spoon over brown rice, or on a bed of mixed roasted vegetables.

Black Eyed Peas Hummus

So it’s not EXACTLY hummus. But this garlicky and sweet dish goes great with all the same things: pita, carrots, as a base for chicken and roast vegetables, and is great served both warm and cold. And honestly, given how easy this is to prepare, it’s a wonder I still buy hummus in the store. Mmm, Trader Joe’s Mediterranean Hummus is so good, though.

A few notes. I took a tip from the blogosphere and have been cooking my beans in the slow cooker. Drop them in, cover with water, and just simmer away on high for 3 hours or until done. No need to soak overnight and you can leave the house while they’re cooking away without worrying about your house catching on fire!

If you want to use canned beans, use two 15-ounce cans of beans, drained and rinsed well.

Here’s the ‘recipe’ for my Black Eyed Peas Hummus

1.5 c. (measured when dry) black eyed peas, cooked
1 t. kosher salt, plus more to taste
A few turns of freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to taste
3 small cloves garlic
1 t. lemon juice
1/2 c. cooking water
1/4 c. olive oil

• Mix all ingredients except the lemon juice, cooking water and olive oil in a blender, mortar and pestle, or food processor and combine.
• Add about half of the water and oil and blend again, checking for consistency. Add more water and oil (2 to 1) until the consistency is smooth and creamy.
• Add lemon juice and stir to incorporate.
• Add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
• Serve.

A few pretty pictures and a serving suggestion to follow…

PS: Sorry for the photos. My camera is at a friend’s house. When I get it back the photo quality will improve!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

A recipe with a long history in my family is Cottage Cheese Pancakes. These light, fluffy, pillow-like pancakes are so tasty and sweet my sister and I both beg our father to make them when we come home for a visit.

Well I’ve had a long-standing issue making pancakes, one that dates back years and years ago to a fight with my sister of an egg, a broken cookbook, and a batch of really awful pancakes (to avoid irritating my sister, I’ll leave out the details for now). But this weekend, with Jared begging me to make them, I dug up a recipe from Smitten Kitchen — adapted from the Joy of Cooking — for Cottage Cheese Pancakes.

They’re not quite the same as my dad’s, and I’d leave out the cinnamon next time I make them, but here you go. Try these at home, they’re delicious.

A note about pancakes. For tender, fluffy pancakes, you want to avoid creating excess gluten, which is caused by over-mixing your batter. In any pancake recipe, whether this one or a traditional buttermilk recipe, you want to mix until the dry ingredients are just combined with the wet. A bit of flour streaking the batter isn’t going to hurt anything and the result will be better, fluffier pancakes.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cinnamon or pinch of ground nutmeg (optional, but go with the nutmeg)
1/4 t. salt

1 c. milk
1 c. cottage cheese
3 T. butter, melted
2 egg yolks
1 t. vanilla

2 egg whites

• Place a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-low heat to warm up. Note: if you have a very well-seasoned cast iron griddle, it would be great here. If not, go with the non-stick.
• In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients together to mix.
• In a separate bowl, whisk milk, cottage cheese, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined.
• In a third bowl, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks.
• Pour wet ingredients over the dry and mix until just combined. there may be some dry specks of flour in the batter, and that’s okay.
• Gently fold in the egg whites to incorporate, again not being overly cautious about fully mixing too well (see note, above).
• Brush hot pan with oil or butter. Wait 30 seconds for it to heat up, then add about 1/4 c .of batter per pancake, spreading it out with your scoop to form an even circle.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes per site, and gently but confidently flip each pancake over. Cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side, until light brown.
• Pancakes can be kept warm in a 200° toaster oven (or regular oven) while you make the rest.
• Serve with butter, real maple syrup, jam, or peanut butter!
• If you possibly have leftovers, they freeze well! Cool them on a rack and then freeze them, separated by a small piece of waxed paper or parchment.

Buon apetito!

Guest Blog Post: Pretzel Rolls!

My good friend Kaleb takes over the blog today. He and I (and my sister, too) all baked these Pretzel Rolls last week. He writes about them below and shows off his excellence culinary skills. He’s great in the kitchen, especially when covered with flour.

Take it away, Kaleb…

—

To lye or not to lye…that is the question.

Luckily, there are not a lot of morals involved in baking. Well, that is, as long as you’re not the mother in Flowers in the Attic. But let’s think of softer memories filled with soft pretzels and beautiful german blue-eyed boys in lederhosen. A few years ago, I lunched at Rockit restaurant and bar in downtown Chicago and encountered a burger on a pretzel bun…a match that titillates my taste buds to this day. So with a little prodding from Mr. Klonsky, I set out to recreate a soft pretzel roll in my humble kitchen.

With a little research (thank you Al Gore and the World Wide Web), I came across a couple of blogs offering pretzel recipes and more debating whether or not a lye bath was necessary to capture the authenticity of the German delight. Lye is a caustic material and highly corrosive—so not for the faint of heart nor the amateur baker such as myself. Me without my hazmat suit nor a fashionable pair of goggles means that I had to search for another approach. Luckily I came across two blogs (thefreshloaf.com; http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buttery-Soft-Pretzels/Detail.aspx) offering less daunting alternatives with promising results. Taking the best from both blogs, I came up with a great pretzel roll recipe that I’m hoping you’ll enjoy as much as I do…

Pretzel Rolls

Adapted from thefreshloaf.com and allrecipes.com

Serving: 8 rolls

The night before: create a pâté fermentée —this will help deliver a little more flavor to your pretzels; however, it’s not essential. If you choose not to use it, just add the same ingredients to the main recipe that follows.

Pâté Fermentée by Peter Reinhart; The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

2 1/4 cups (10 ounces) unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (7 ounces) water, at room temperature

Notes:

• Reinhart suggests half all-purpose and half bread flour. Look for bread flour at your local grocer or you can purchase online. I prefer King Arthur Bread Flour. And secretly dream of going to their school in Vermont.
• The suggested amount of water is ¾ cups plus 2 tbsp—I definitely needed the extra 2..not too sticky or tacky…just right.

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until the dough comes together and knead until it goes from a sticky mess to a smooth ball – this usually takes about 10 minutes. For kneading, try to stretch the dough to activate the glutens and start forming the protein strands—the foundation of great breads. Once done transfer to a lightly oiled (hello, PAM), sealable container (larger Ziploc or Gladware), rub the dough against the oiled bowl or container to lighly coat the dough with oil (or you can just spritz it a couple of times with PAM), seal container and let rise for about 1 hour at room temperature or until it expands to 1 1/2 times its size.

Punch down the dough lightly and return to the sealed container and place into the refrigerator. Keep in the refrigerator overnight or for 8 hours. The pre-ferment will be usable for up to 3 days or you can freeze the mixture for up to 3 months.

The next day:

Pâté Fermentée (from the day before)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees, which is 1 minute in my microwave)
1 tablespoon malt powder or brown sugar
2-3 cups all-purpose unbleached or bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
¼ cup coarse or kosher sea salt for topping

• Get out the pate fermentee from the day prior and let stand at room temperature for around an hour. Carefully transfer the dough to a cutting board, cut up the dough into little pieces (about 1 to 2 inches thick). Set pieces aside.
• In a microwave safe container or in a small sauce pan, warm the 1 cup of milk till it registers 100-110 degrees F, stir in brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Once mixed, stir in the 1 tsp active dry yeast (look for jars at your local grocer or you can use 1 packet active dry). In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand about 8 – 10 minutes until there’s a nice head on the mixture and it’s fragrant with the smell of beer.
• In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Make a well in the center; take the pieces of the pâté fermentée and sprinkle on top of the flour mixture. Now add the yeast mixture. Mix all and form into a ball. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water; likewise if the mixture is wet, sprinkle a tablespoon of flour over at a time until the dough is easily tacky but not sticking to your hands. Knead the dough until smooth, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or lid and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Make sure that your container is large enough to handle the additional volume.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, bring the water to a rolling boil and dissolve the baking soda.
• When dough is risen and doubled in size, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball and let rest for 20 minutes.
• While dough is resting, create an egg wash by combining 1 egg with 2 tbsp cold water in a bowl. Whisk the mixture such that the mixture develops a little foam on top and set aside.
• Dip each pretzel one at a time into the baking soda solution for 30 seconds be sure to turn the ball to cover both sides with the solution. Remove the ball from the solution with a meshed strainer or slotted spoon and place on a greased baking sheet or Silpat.
• Brush the egg mixture over each roll and sprinkle with coarse sea salt or kosher salt.
• Score the top of each roll by making an X…doing so will ensure a great shape of the roll given that the dough will rise quickly in the oven.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 – 15 minutes (depending on your oven), until well browned—think delicious dark pretzel brown
• Transfer the rolls to a cooling rack and let stand for at least 5 minutes (if you can)

You can use the rolls as a side with sauerkraut and sausage, a snack with a smorgasbord of gourmet mustards, or even as the foundation on a great burger. But whatever you do, eat ‘em while they’re hot…

The Weekend Began with Bananas

It’s true that so much of what we know about food comes from our parents and in particular, the dishes that they put on your table growing up. Now my family is not a family of bakers, per se, even though everyone in my immediate family is a really good baker. Outside of a few really incredible cake recipes, our traditional holiday cookies, and the absolute best pie crust I’ve ever had, I don’t recall many baked goods in particular. Well, actually there’s one more I add to that list: my mom’s banana bread.

The recipe comes from the Silver Palate Cookbook which, if you don’t have it already, you should seriously consider purchasing. The banana bread has the softness of a wonderful tea cake, but a richness of flavor that comes from a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flours. There’s something about eating this bread with its faint sweetness and little pockets of bananas and crunchy walnuts that makes me crave it even more.

Bananas never last long enough in our house to do this often, but with Jared in Haiti and Brian on a plane to Chicago, I started my weekend with this banana bread. And I might have possibly had two slices. Don’t judge me you would to.

Banana Bread
Adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)
3 large, very ripe bananas, mashed*
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 cut walnuts, coarsely chopped

*Mashed does not mean pureed. Having little pea-sized chunks of banana in your bread will bring you endless joy. Endless.

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ x 3″ loaf pan
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. If using a stand mixer, be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom twice.
• Sift all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt together, stir in whole-wheat flour and add to creamed mixture, mixing well.
• Fold in mashed bananas, vanilla and walnuts.
• Pour mixture into loaf pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes (mine took 70), or until a cake tester or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then cool completely — if you can — on a rack.
• Serve, with butter, jam, or simply on its own.

This bread stores well for 3 or 4 days if tightly wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and kept in a cool, dark place.

Guest Blog Post: Fennel Friday – Edition I

The following comes from my dear sister, Jessica. She will be guest blogging occasionally. She lives in DC, or New Jersey, or wherever the political winds send her. Oh, and she’s a fabulous cook.

—

Fennel Friday – Edition I

I really like, no actually, I love fennel. In fact, it may be one of my favorite vegetables. Period. Originally, I wanted to do a weekly post on this blog called “Fennel Fridays” but Seth wouldn’t let me. I guess that’s what I get for putting myself in a situation where my younger brother makes the rules.

Really though, fennel is a wonderful vegetable – crisp, slightly sweet, with a unique flavor that pairs well with so many other tastes. So when I see a recipe with fennel in it, I always put it at the top of my “to make” list. That’s exactly what happened when I came across Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Fennel-Salted Pork Chops with Spicy Cabbage and Root Vegetables, I was sold. First, it has fennel (we’ve covered that part). Second, it features pork chops. Who doesn’t love pork? I love pork. Just as important, Geoff – my fiance –LOVES pork so I knew it would go over well in our house. And I was intrigued by the idea of spicy cabbage.

According to Jamie, the rutabaga in this dish is a great foil for the spicy cabbage. This was so true. The fennel was strong and prominent. The cabbage had a nice bold flavor and the sweetness of the rutabaga and carrot really completed the dish.

I will say that I think the cabbage could have been even spicier. If you like bold, spicy flavors, you might try upping the amounts of chili, garlic and mustard. Next time, I will.

Overall, this meal was a smashing success in my book. And now for the recipe:

Fennel-Salted Pork Chops with Spicy Cabbage and Root Vegetables
Adapted from recipe of the same name by Jamie Oliver

1 swede (rutabaga), peeled and cut into wedges
4 carrots, peeled, cut into 3cm chunks
Olive oil, for tossing and drizzling
1 bulb garlic, sliced in half, plus one clove garlic, peeled and sliced
A few sprigs thyme
1 small savoy cabbage
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 fresh red chili, deseeded and sliced (or 1/2 tsp red chili flakes)
2 pork rib chops,
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp salt (this amount yields a pretty salty chop, you could reduce it to ½ tsp if you like your food less salty)
Vegetable oil, for cooking

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Toss the rutabaga and carrots in a little olive oil, season with salt and black pepper, and place in a baking tray with the garlic halves and thyme. You could also add some potato wedges to the mix. Cover with foil and put in the oven for about 45 minutes.
• When the vegetables are cooked through, remove the foil and return to the oven to crisp for 10–15 minutes. You should stir them around a bit every so often to ensure they brown evenly.
• While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the cabbage by removing the outer leaves and stalk, and shredding it into thin ribbons.
• Next, prepare your chops. With a mortar and pestle, mash the fennel seeds with the salt until the seeds have been crushed. Drizzle the chops with olive oil, and rub them with fennel salt and plenty of black pepper.
• Preheat a cast iron pan (or griddle) on medium heat. Place the chops in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until nicely browned.
• Put them in the oven for 5-10 minutes (depending on thickness and desired doneness). I cook mine to 147° because they continue cooking after you’ve pulled them from the oven.
• When the chops are done, remove from oven and transfer to a plate to rest, tented with foil, for 10 minutes.
• While the chops are in the oven, heat a sauté pan to hot and add a small pour of olive oil.
• Add the mustard seeds and, when they begin to pop, the sliced garlic and chili.
• Sizzle for a few seconds, add the cabbage, season and stir-fry for a minute or so until wilted.
• Add a splash or two of water or chicken broth, cover, turn the heat down a bit, and let cook for 5-7 minutes. (I just turned the heat to low after 5 minutes and let them sit until I was ready to plate the meal and it turned out wonderfully tender, yet still crisp).
• Serve.

Eat Here II: Whisknladle

Whisknladle
1044 Wall St
La Jolla, CA 92037
www.whisknladle.com

There are lots of reasons to be impressed by the creators of Whisknladle. You could start with the extent to which they make their own salumi, pickle their own vegetables, or cure their own meat. Then move on to their housemade infused liquors, house-baked breads, and homemade ice creams and you start to understand their passion for owning the quality of their food.

Well, they also deliver an amazing lunch and dinner. The cocktails are fabulous, the wine list smart but not overbearingly long, and the food….mmm, the food. From crispy sweetbreads over brussels sprouts ($16) to a crazy good steak frites ($29), this is the best (yes, best) restaurant La Jolla has to offer.

Don’t end your meal before at least considering the following:

Maple Bacon Pecan Crisp
Rosemary Scented Granny Smith Apples with Maple Ice Cream

Previously, Eat Here I: Cafe Chloe

Pan Fried Halibut and Lentils

I hope you will indulge me a bit with my second lentils-related post in a week. But after my dear mother’s comment that I hadn’t used french lentils, I thought I’d rectify the situation and show y’all the difference.

In fact, there’s not much to share tonight, as I’ve already done a post on how to prepare lentils.

Tonight I started by sautéing up carrots, celery, garlic, and leeks in olive oil over medium heat in a sauce pan, added 2 T. dry white wine, and when it was evaporated added 1 c. lentils and 2 c. each water and chicken broth. I simmered until they were tender, about 25 minutes.

The halibut was simply seasoned with kosher salt and pepper. Then fried in a small amount of oil until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side.

See the results, below:

Stay tuned this Friday for my first guest post! My sister, Jessica, will be sharing with us stories about recipes about her favorite culinary ingredient: fennel!

Seared Ahi Pappardelle with Citrus Cream

Continuing to work backwards on my meal to celebrate Rachel Peter’s birthday, here was the main event: seared ahi tuna over a nest of pappardelle noodles and a citrus cream sauce.

I’m actually surprised I haven’t had a chance to blog about seared ahi yet. While it’s not a frequent dish on our dinner table, it’s incredibly easy to prepare and a small amount can really up the ante on a dish, taking it from good to extraordinary!

In this preparation, the fish really shines. Seared to perfection and paired with flavors like garlic and lemon, it’s really ahi tuna at its very best.

Please enjoy!

Seared Ahi Pappardelle with Citrus Cream

1″ thick ahi tuna steaks (about 8 oz. per person)
Kosher salt and pepper

8 oz. dried pappardelle pasta, boiled al dente

2 T. unsalted butter
1/2 small shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T. flour
1/2 c. half and half or heavy cream
1/4 c. water plus a little extra, reserved from the pasta cooking water
1 T. each lemon zest and lemon juice
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Finely chopped chives or italian parsley, to garnish

• Salt and pepper the ahi steaks, set aside.
• Prepare pappardelle pasta and keep warm, reserving 1/4 c. of cooking water to add to the sauce.
• In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When butter is melted and foam has subsided, add shallots and saute for 30 seconds, then add garlic and saute for 30-60 seconds more until very fragrant and beginning to take on color.
• Add a splash of white wine and cook for 60 seconds more.
• Add flour and stir until smooth and cook for a full minute to allow the raw flour taste to subside.
• Add cream and pasta water and stir until a smooth sauce forms. Bring to a simmer and cook for 60 seconds. The sauce will thicken. If it is too thick for your taste, add a little more pasta water.
• Toss sauce with pasta and set aside. Reserve a little sauce for each dish to top the tuna.
• In a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 T. cooking oil, such as canola or peanut, then wipe the pan out with a paper towel to leave thin coating of oil on the pan.
• When oil just begins to smoke, add ahi steaks. Don’t move them for 2 minutes, until the bottom is nicely seared. Turn over and sear for another 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
• Slice the tuna into 1/2″ strips, then place on top of pasta and drizzle extra sauce. Garnish with asparagus spears and chopped chives.
• Serve immediately, perhaps alongside a nice green salad (also pictured below).

Chocolate Zabaglione with Brandy-Soaked Dried Cherries

There have been way too many savory dishes posted on this site recently, so I’m happy to post a little something for your sweet tooth tonight.

My good friend Rachel came over for dinner tonight. This week I’ll post a number of the recipes from this dinner, so stay tuned for those!

But to close the meal, I whipped up an adaptation of Giada de Laurentiis’ Chocolate Zabaglione.

For the uninitiated, zabaglione is an italian dessert custard typically made up of egg yolks, sugar, and marsala wine. This version includes a small amount of cream and bittersweet chocolate chips to create the richest, creamiest, and most delicate chocolate experience imaginable.

My version includes dried cherries rehydrated in hot brandy. They fall to the bottom of the dish and are like a little brandy-soaked surprise! Love ‘em.

Buon Appetito!

Chocolate Zabaglione with Brandy-Soaked Dried Cherries
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis’ Chocolate Zabaglione, courtesy Food Network.

1/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
8 large egg yolks
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. dry marsala wine
2 pinches kosher salt
Appx. 24 dried cherries (bing are great, but any dried cherry will do)
1/4 c. brandy

• In a small saucepan heat cream until just barely simmering. Pour over chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Alternatively, place both chocolate chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 30-45 seconds. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, place the cherries. Bring brandy almost to a boil and pour over cherries. Set aside.
• In a metal bowl — stainless steel or copper are your best choices but any metal bowl will do — whisk together egg yolks, sugar, marsala wine, and salt until combined.
• Bring a small amount of water to a boil in a small saucepan. When boiling, reduce heat to a simmer.
• Place metal bowl over the simmering water, being careful that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. This method is called ‘double boiling’ and is a common way to moderate the heat for delicate sauces or custards such as zabaglione.
• Begin whisking constantly and steadily until the mixture begins to thicken considerably and become foamy. This process takes somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes.
• When the zabaglione is ready, give it a taste. It should be sweet, smooth, and very rich. It should be “eggy” at all, and if it is, cook for a minute longer, still whisking constantly.
• Remove from the heat and, using a large rubber or silicone spatula, fold in the chocolate mixture. It doesn’t have to be fully incorporated, as a little marbling is quite pretty.
• Distribute evenly between 4 – 6 ramekins. Drop cherries to each ramekin and a little brandy, too. The cherries will sink to the bottom leaving only a few tiny air bubbles on the surface.
• Serve immediately while still hot. Zabaglione doesn’t reheat well, so just dive in and eat the whole thing.

Recommended wine/beer pairing: Chimay Red Ale