For those of you in Utah, “Radio From Hell” has been a long standing tradition in morning radio, with the show having been on the air for over 25 years. I actually started listening to Kerry and Bill back in the mid ’80s when they were the morning show on KJQ. I grew up in a small town that only had one rock and roll radio station – 95.5 FM.

Kerry and Bill were Gods to a young kid hoping to grow up in the media. I recall mornings when they dedicated Rick Dees’ “Eat My Shorts” to people who had done wrong by their listeners. I recall one morning I called in to make a request during Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” and Bill answered the phone “Haalloooooooooo” as if he were singing the chorus. I tried on more than one occasion to be their “first intelligent call of the day,” a title I never achieved. I’ve been waking up to Radio from Hell for more than 25 years. To say that this morning show has been a heavy influence in my life would be an understatement. It was listening to Radio and Hell that heavily influenced my entry into the media. They were my heroes, and it was my hope that I would someday reach their level of fame.

So when I heard they were releasing a beer, “Radio from Hell Red as Hell Ale,” I HAD to develop a recipe as a tribute. Since the show was originally called “The Fun Pigs.” it made sense to use pork. And considering the beer was a rich American Red, full of sweet maltiness, I wanted to take the sweetness to a new level. Lo and behold, sticky ribs!

These ribs are sticky sweet, full of flavor, and absolutely fitting to serve as a tribute to the fine folks entertaining Salt Lake City, over at KXRK, X-96.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium red onions – finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups Red as Hell Ale
3 cups dark brown sugar
1 Tsp salt
3-4 racks of baby back ribs

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees

Preheat a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook till
translucent and tender. Add garlic and stir. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add brown sugar, and stir, cooking until sugar is dissolved.

Add vinegar, Red as Hell ale, and salt. Simmer over low heat for 5
minutes. Be careful, as the beer tends to bubble up very quickly if
heat is too high.

Line a large cookie sheet, or cake pan with aluminum foil (depending
on the size of your ribs). Place ribs on pan with meat side up, and
baste with 1/2 of the marinade. Loosely cover the ribs with tin foil,
and cook for one hour.

Remove the tin foil, and flip the ribs so the meat side is down.
Baste with 1/2 of the remaining marinade. Return to oven, without tin
foil and cook for 30 minutes.

Flip ribs back to meat side up and baste with the last of the
marinade. Using either a basting ball or a spoon, scoop the liquid
from the bottom of the pan, and baste the top of your ribs. Continue
basting in this manner ever 15 minutes until the ribs have been in the
oven for a minimum of 2 hours, 30 minutes (you can go up to 3 1/2
hours if you continue basting).

Remove from the oven, and cover loosely with tin foil. Let ribs rest
at least 10 minutes before serving.

This is hands down one of my favorite vegetarian dishes. Simple to make, but loaded with flavor!

3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
12 oz pack of whole crimini mushrooms, washed and cut into 1/4ths (sometimes called Baby Bellas).
1 minced yellow onion
12-16 oz can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb fresh spinach
Juice from one lemon (or 2 Tbs lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoon of smoked salt (optional)
Salt to taste

Preheat a large saute pan over medium heat and add olive oil.
Add mushrooms, and cook until the mushrooms are brown and start to shrink in size (about 5 minutes)
Add onion and cook until transluscent (3-4 minutes)
Add cannellini beans and stir gently.
Top mixture with spinach, lemon juice and smoked salt and cover with pan lid.
Reduce heat to medium/low and cook until spinach wilts and shrink (about 5 minutes)
Add additional salt to taste.

If you hang around a cooking school long enough, the importance of time and temperature becomes ingrained as the secret of good cooking. This understanding allows culinarians to transform previously unusable ingredients into delectable delights.

With the importance of time and temperature in mind, let’s explore how those factors influence slow cooked meat. This is the meat that comes from muscles close to the hoof or horn of the animal. It gets a BIG workout, and therefore tends to develop a lot of tough connective tissue, which in turn makes the meat chewy.

Here’s the thing. Around 160 degrees, the tough connective tissue (called collagen) starts to breakdown, and is transformed from a rubber band textured piece of meat, into a velvety gelatin. In proper amounts it gives moisture to your meat, making even the leanest cuts of meat seem rich and juicy. This process takes 3-4 hours, depending on temperature. But there’s a problem.

As protein cooks, it releases moisture. The higher the temperature the more moisture is released. So a piece of meat cooked to an internal temperature of 155 degrees F is going to be MUCH juicier than a piece of meat cooked to 180 degrees F.

Separately, these two points don’t mean much. However, when combined, the challenge is getting your meat hot enough to melt the collagen, but cool enough to still keep your meat juicy.

Historically, a cast iron pot was kept close enough to the fire to make it warm, but not so hot as to boil the liquid inside. This technique, called braising, is a fun skill to master. By keeping the liquid in the pot below the boiling point, but over 160 degrees, the tough cuts became incredibly tender, but maintained their juiciness. But how is this best achieved today?

There are a couple of popular options for transforming tender meats. The most common is a slow cooker, commonly referred to by the brand name “Crock Pot.” They’re easy to use, require little oversight, and do a great job of heating food above the temperature needed to dissolve the connective tissue. On the downside, they lack precise temperature controls. This means that as the food cooks, the slow cooker tends to boil the liquid in the pot. This causes excessive amounts of moisture to leave your meat, creating a dry roast. In addition

The other method commonly used is oven roasting/braising in an oven safe cooking vessel. When done properly, the cook keeps the liquid in the pot from boiling, meaning the meat tends to be much juicier, and the connective tissue dissolves into a velvety texture. The challenge with this method, is it requires a significant amount of attention to the oven temperature to make sure it is hot enough to cook the food safely, but not so hot that the meat gets too hot.

It’s a tough choice to make. Dry meat that’s easy, or juicy meat that requires a lot of oversight.

There are some steps, however, that are not impacted by your choice of long term cooking.

1- Brown your meat prior to cooking. The browning reaction creates hundreds of new flavors on your meat. Unfortunately, neither method gets the exterior of your meat to a temperature hot enough to create all these flavors. By browning your meat on the stove in advance, you’ll get incredibly rich flavor. It’s a must do!

2- After you brown, include lots of veggies in your stock. The traditional “mire poix” (a mix of onions, celery, and carrots) is a great start, but don’t be afraid of garlic, orange peel, rosemary, or sage. They all add amazing richness to your stock.

3- Get your food above 140 degrees as quickly as possible. Food safety is the issue here. The longer your food sits below 140 degrees, the higher risk you have of food borne illness. An easy way to accomplish this is place your cooking vessel on your stove until it starts to steam (this only works for metal vessels).

4 – Cover your meat completely in a flavorful liquid. Chicken, beef or vegetable stock all add great flavors, as does wine. Be careful to use liquids with a relatively neutral pH. Liquids like lemon or orange juice will wreak havoc on your meat when left in contact for long periods of time.

5 – Cook for at least 3 hours (or longer). Plan on a minimum of 3 hours to properly breakdown tough cuts of meat. The thicker the meat, the longer it will take, but generally speaking 3-5 hours should be long enough.

Happy cooking!

What does a meringue have in common with a Slinky?

Egg white proteins in their unwhipped state resemble a microscopic Slinky, waiting for the chance to be stretched.  As the whisk agitates the egg white, the slinky starts to stretch, and bond with other egg white proteins, capturing air bubbles in the process, and creating a tower of delicious egg white, perfect on a pie!

With just a few techniques you can guarantee you will have a perfect meringue every time!

One of the biggest challenges in making meringue is sugar.  As the meringue cooks, the dissolved sugar loses moisture and crystallizes.  These long strands of sugar crystals resemble the framework of a house, providing structure to keep the meringue from sagging once it’s removed from the oven.  The problem, is sugar also weighs down uncooked meringue, limiting its altitude.  So how do you get maximum altitude, and still get the crucial structure?  Simple, add the sugar when the egg white reaches the soft peak stage.  But this presents another problem.

Adding granulated sugar too late in the whipping process is risky.  What if the sugar doesn’t appropriately dissolve, and your velvety meringue is marred by pockets of large sugar crystals?  When making a meringue, use powdered sugar.  It dissolves instantly, and also includes small amounts of corn starch to help with stability.  When substituting powdered sugar for granulated sugar, 1 cup of granulated sugar equals 1 3/4 cups of powdered sugar (powdered sugar has a smaller crystal size, and therefore holds much more air).

But why does every recipe I make call for Cream of Tartar?  Cream of Tartar is the salt of tartaric acid, a byproduct of winemaking.  It has a pH of 5, and helps the tightly packed egg white open up and make the transformation into a long strand.  This gives your egg white volume as it allows your egg white to capture more air.  It also prevents the sugar in your recipe from forming large crystals, meaning a smoother meringue.  The perfect meringue to put on a pie!

Speaking of pie, what about those little brown drops on my meringue?  How do I prevent “weeping meringue?” Even if your pie is made using the steps above, weeping can still be a problem.  Weeping is caused by excess moisture in your pie escaping into the meringue after the meringue has started cooking.  The cause of this moisture? -putting uncooked meringue on a cold pie.  When meringue is put on a hot pie, the steam goes into the meringue and escapes before the eggs have a chance to set, thereby limiting weeping.  But when meringue is put on a cold pie, the pie filling doesn’t start to produce steam until the meringue has set.  This means all that moisture is captured in the meringue, and escapes in the form of little meringue teardrops.

Happy cooking!
www.cookwithtom.com

First things first, lets define aphrodisiac. There is no food that will instantly turn the consumer into a ball of sexual energy, unable to control your passion until you “attack” the first person you see. Aphrodisiacs are foods that promote well being within the body, and help stimulate reproductive health.

Oysters – The apocryphal stories of Cassanova eating 50 raw oysters a day have helped drive the belief that raw oysters help promote drive. However, there is no scientific evidence to support they are anything other than “Sympathetic Magic,” meaning their properties are only a result of visual similarity to “romance parts.”

Basil – Not tonight, I have a headache. In addition to having incredible scent (history suggests it was used as a perfume), it’s also a common ingredient in homeopathic treatments for headaches. ALL headaches. However, science takes a skeptical approach to Basil as an aphrodisiac. It certainly has properties that relax the body thereby allowing room for the mood to enter your relationship, but doesn’t necessarily increase passion.

Strawberries- Bright red berries, covered in life bringing seeds have been considered a romance. Loaded with vitamin C, folic acid and potassium, they help provide essential nutrients to keep your body at the top of its game. However, the interesting part about strawberries is their color. Psychologists have found that the red promotes a feeling of passion!

Almonds – The scent of an almond is said to promote feelings of lust. They’re loaded with vitamin E which acts as one of nature’s antioxidants. However, there is no scientific evidence that almonds actually promote excitement. Healthy when eaten in moderation, absolutely! Aphrodisiac, hardly.

Garlic – Who among us hasn’t been turned off by the pungent smell of our partner’s breath loaded with garlic. Surprisingly, it has an interesting effect on older gentlemen. Evidence from a study by Dr Jeorg Gruenwald, suggests that ingredients in cooked garlic help widen blood vessels in men’s nether regions, helping them to perform better as they get older. If the smell bothers you, cook the garlic before slicing to reduce the amount of allicin, the compound that creates funky garlic smell. (Either that or wear a nose plug).

Dark Chocolate: Nature’s wonderfood! In addition to being incredibly delicious, and surprisingly healthy (assuming 70% cocoa content or greater), consumption of dark chocolate causes serotonin to release in the brain. Serotonin promotes an overall sense of comfort and well being.

Chili Peppers: Hot peppers are loaded with a chemical called capsaicin. This is the part of the pepper that causes your mouth to BURN when you eat it. Capsaicin cause a flood of endorphins to hit your brain, giving you a temporary high. It also increase blood flow.

Honey: Honey has a LONG history in the world of romance. In Persia, newlywed couples drank fermented honey liquor for one month after getting married as a means to get properly acquainted to married life. Thus the phrase, “Honeymoon.” While there IS evidence to suggest that eating honey increases the level of testosterone in the blood stream (vital for the libido), the studies that have been completed thus far lack the sophistication and merit to classify honey as a legitimate aphrodisiac.

Can there be a dish more simple and delicious than a bowl of well cooked pasta? It’s a culinary canvas, waiting to be painted with flavors of your palette.

There are 3 important elements: sticky starch, not so sticky starch, and netting, that go into each piece of pasta. Each element has its role, and understanding that role will help you go far!

Sticky Starch (amylopectin) – This is a starch granule that has a TON of sticky fingers that protrude (science speak: highly branched). If your cooked pasta sticks together like a ball of Clark Griswold Christmas lights, Amylopectin is the starch doing the sticking.

Not So Sticky Starch (amylose) – A starch granule that becomes gelatinized at temperatures above 150 degrees. It’s got only one mildly sticky finger (science speak: tightly packed). This is the starch granule that makes your gravy cloudy when it’s cold, but suddenly clear and clean as your liquid passes 150 degrees.

Netting (protein) – It can come from eggs or from flour, but protein is an important part in pasta making. As it cooks, it forms a net that holds the starch granules in place. It’s effectiveness as a net starts to really take place around 150-160 degrees.

Now that we know the important components to pasta, lets explore how they work together.

A perfect pasta will be slightly al dente, without gumminess. It will be sticky enough to hold sauce, but not so sticky that it sticks to itself. To accomplish this, the goal is to form a strong net around both types of starch before the “not so sticky” starch gells, and floats away from your pasta. Since both the netting starts to hold the pasta together, about the same time the not so sticky starch floats away, it can be a challenge. If the boiling point of water wasn’t limited by altitude (anywhere from 197 – 204 in Utah) you’d be able to crank up the heat of the water hot enough to cause the protein net to form and get the desired results.

At this point it helps to mention the effect salt has on pasta water. The myth of cooking is that salt will increase the boiling point of your pasta water. Therefore, if you add salt, you can overcome the low boiling point we face here in Utah. Although salted water is vital to the flavor of your pasta, our taste buds can only tolerate 1 to 2 tablespoons per quart. And this amount has very little impact on the boiling point. For example, approximately 1/4 cup of salt will ONLY raise 1 quart of water approximately 1 degree Fahreinheit. At this concentration, pasta cooked in this water will be overly salty, and still gummy -far from our perfect pasta!

Since physics limits our ability to cook water at higher temps, the not so sticky starch begins leaving your pasta before the protein net has a chance to properly form. This results in the sticky starch being leftover, meaning gummy/sticky pasta.

However, there is a solution!

Temperature isn’t the only thing that causes protein to form a net. For example, the “cooking” method of ceviche uses lime juice. The acidic juice reacts with the protein to form our desired net (science speak: the protein denatures).

Using this understanding, water that has been acidified will help our protein net form before all the not so sticky starch has a chance to leave our pasta. Regular white vinegar is a great way to increase the acidity of our water! By adding up to 1/2 cup of vinegar to every gallon of pasta water, and then only adding the pasta once the water hits a rolling boil, your protein net will get a little extra help as it works to keep the starch granules together. The result? Perfect pasta!!

Ever notice how a potato in boiling water cooks a LOT faster than a potato in the oven? A whole potato might take 20 minutes in water at around 200 degrees, where a potato may take an hour or longer at twice that temperature.

Potato’s are one of the worst conductors of heat in the food kingdom. All sorts of studies have been executed trying to figure out the perfect way to cook this darn thing. And they all point to the same result, spuds take forever to cook. It’s this slow transfer of heat that caused the Belgians to come up with a double frying strategy for spuds, once at 325 F, and another at 375 F, to counteract the slow transfer of heat. The lower initial cooking method cooks the spud through, and the higher temperature browns the exterior.

How does all this relate to an oven?

Let’s talk a little bit about the factors that help an oven cook food.

The first factor is a bunch of hot air. Air is a TERRIBLE conductor of heat (ever stuck your hand in a 212 degree oven, and then in a boiling pot of water (also 212). Where the oven seems uncomfortably warm, the water will give you serious burns. Even though they’re both the same temperature, the results are dramatically different. Therein lies the challenge with air as a method of cooking. It doesn’t get the job done. It’s no wonder that the phrase “a bunch of hot air” means a lot of hype, but no action.

The second influence is the motion of the air in your oven. Think of this as a reverse windchill. A 32 degree day may seem nice with no wind, but when it’s combined with a 30 mile per hour gale, it seems a LOT colder than it is. As your oven elements cycle off and on, air warms and cools. This creates a natural convection in your oven that forces hot air molecules into your food. Although this cycle in a normal oven occurs at a very low speed, it has a significant impact on transferring heat from the air of your oven to your food.

The last, and most important part of cooking your food in an oven is the infrared radiation emitted by the heating elements and oven enclosure itself (walls/ceiling). Radiation does more to cook your food than both of the previous factors combined. To prove this, try holding your hand in the middle of a 300 degree oven with the element off, then try it again with the element on. Although the temperature in the oven is close to the same in both scenarios, you’re MUCH more likely to get burned when the element is on. This same radiation makes wearing a black shirt on a sunny day a bad idea. This same radiation that causes dark pans to burn the bottom of your cake. It’s blocking this radiation that prevents sunburns, and burned pie crust edges.

The way that infrared radiation is emitted is not linear. So if you increase the temperature of your oven by 10%, you won’t see a 10% increase in radiation. The total radiation will increase by the absolute temperature to the fourth power. In other words… a LOT. For more discussion on this, please read this article on blackbody radiation and this article on the Stefan-Boltsmann Law. It’s important to note that the sides and back of your oven are radiating heat near to the temperature of the air in the oven, but the heating element is roughly 2000 degrees. Something to think about next time you stick your hand into the oven while the element is on.

So what does this mean to the average person?

1 – Just because the air in your oven is to temperature, doesn’t mean that the walls and ceilings of the oven are hot enough to properly cook your food. If you’ve ever made cookies and noticed that the more batches you make, the shorter your cooking time is? The walls and ceilings of the oven are finally emitting enough infrared heat to help in the cooking process. To get more consistent results, let your oven go at least 15 minutes after it’s been preheated before you begin cooking. (I know some chefs that swear you should go at least an hour).

2 – Consider the type of dish you will be cooking your food in and how it will absorb radiation. Dark metals will absorb much more heat, meaning a pizza with a killer crust. On the flip side, it can also mean the bottom of your cookies will be burned before the cookie is cooked through. By understanding a lighter pan will cook slower, and a darker pan will cook faster, you’ll be able to tailor your pan selection to get the best results.

3 – The side of the food exposed to the heating element will always cook faster. If you’re making two pans of cookies at a time, the top pan will always be browned on top before the bottom pan (assuming you’re using similar pans). However, the bottom pan will have a browner cookie bottom. To account for these differences, switch your product halfway through. You’ll get better results.

4 – Aluminum Foil prevents burning. After all, it’s reflective nature will prevent the infrared radiation from coming into contact with either your pan, or your food, depending on where you place the foil. Once the power of the radiation has been diminished, the miniscule effects of air temperature and convection will be left to do the work. Many a Thanksgiving turkey has been saved from burnt skin by a well placed piece of foil, at just the right time. (Just make sure your foil isn’t touching your food, or it will still transfer heat).

In closing, I know of some people that put unglazed quarry tiles in the bottom of their oven, and let it preheat for 30 minutes or more. The tiles do a pretty good job holding heat, preventing the oven from cycling on and off when the door is opened. In my experience, this practice does a great job at creating consistent results in applications where a well done bottom crust (such as pizza) aren’t important.

Then again, you can always put the pizza directly on the quarry tiles.

Ingredients:

1 cube butter

10 oz semi sweet chocolate

5 eggs

1¼ cup sugar

5 Tbsp. flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. mint extract

Instructions:　

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a saucepan over low heat melt chocolate and butter. Stir frequently

While chocolate/butter are melting, Combine eggs and sugar in a separate bowl and mix until creamy and pale yellow.

Sift flour and baking powder into egg/sugar mixture and mix to combine.

Once chocolate is completely melted, gently fold into the egg/sugar mixture.

Stir in mint extract.

Pour batter into a buttered and floured 9″ springform pan.

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, then lightly cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes more.

Garnish with crushed mint candy canes and whipped cream.

1 pkg. puff pastry
2/3 cup sun roasted tomatoes
2/3 cup artichoke hearts
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 egg (beaten)
Flour for dusting

Let the puff pastry warm to room temperature.

Using an ample amount of flour, roll each pastry sheet into a 12″ X 14″ rectangle

In a bowl, combine tomatoes, artichokes, cheese, and oil. Mix well, and then chop in either a blender /food processor or with a sharp knife.

Spread 1/2 the mixture on each sheet of puff pastry, leaving a 1″ gap on the edges, and lightly press the filling in.

With the short end if the pastry directly facing you, fold the outer edges until they meet in the middle. Fold the entire pasty one more time.

Place the pastry roll in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400.

Remove the pastry roll, and cut into 1/2″ wide pieces. Place each piece on a pastry sheet, spacing them at least 3″ apart.

Bake at 400 for 15-17 minutes until just lightly browned.

Move them to a cooling rack as soon as possible

Makes a great appetizer!

I LOVE the flavors of pumpkin pie, but get bored with the same old pumpkin year after year. This updated version of a pumpkin pie gives everyone an individual portion of a rich and delicious fall treat. Be careful when cooking the custard not to overheat it. Once it thickens, remove it from the heat before it curdles. Although the corn starch will give you a little broader heat range before curdling, it is still possible to end up with a clumpy custard if attention to temperature isn’t taken.

The result of this recipe? A chewy, slightly spicy crust, with a rich delicious custard.

Crust
1/2 cup graham cracker crust
1 tbs Butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp dried chipotle pepper
Honey

Custard
2 cups cubed banana squash (you can also use butternut or pumpkin)
3-4 oz package of goat cheese (chevre)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup honey
8 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla

To make the crust:
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients, except the honey, and mix well.
Separate the pie crust mix into 5 individual 6 oz ramekins and lightly tamp into place, forming a layer along the bottom of the ramekin.
Bake for 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and lightly drizzle honey across the top of the graham cracker crust, making a thin layer along the top of the crust. Return to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, until crust just starts to turn brown.
Remove from oven and cool.

The custard filling:
Heat 2 quarts water in a saucepan to a near boil. Add the squash and cook until tender. Cool by draining the water, and then adding ice cubes and fresh water to the sauce pan, or by putting in a single layer in your fridge. Drain squash.
While the squash is cooking combine goat cheese, sugar, cream, vanilla, honey, egg yolks, salt, and corn starch in either a blender or food processor.
Once the squash is cooled, add to the goat cheese mixture, and process until completely pureed.
In a 2 quart saucepan, add the custard mix and cook over medium heat, whisking frequently. Cook until custard thickens (this will happen almost instantly upon reaching a temp of 180). Take care to not overcook or egg yolks may curdle.

Add the custard filling to the ramekins and refrigerate.

Top with whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg.