More Food Stuff From "The City Scoop"

OK, I have been remiss as a Bloger and not, well, Bloging, so I thought I would regale you with more "Greatest Hits". This article is from June 8th, '07 and features one of my favorite characters to play, Jenna Seidel. She is a no-nonsense gal who leads a gang of thugs, enjoying the chaos and mayhem that is the Rogue Isle and the second of NCSoft's offerings "The City of Villains". In the game settings, Jenna is a Natural origin, Master Mind archetype (read uber pet class) with 6 semi-controllable pets. Her back story is that she is Sara Seidel's (from CBS's CSI:) little sister. As pets in the "City of" franchise are nameable, her thugs have a CSI twist as well, everyone from Hodges and Archie to Jim Brass are represented.

As with all of my City Scoop food articles, the recipes have been either created by me or passed down through my family. The coleslaw recipe is my Grandmothers, Jean Pettit's and the beans were first made by her husband's father, Kelly H. Pettit, Sr. Enjoy the story and the recipes.

Rogue Isle Repast

By Jenna Seidel

Greeting Villains, Vigilantes, Heroes and other general pains in the neck. After reading the latest edition of “The City Scoop”, I decided that being a food critic wasn't that hard. Besides, the more tourism to the Islands, the better for everyone involved.

I grabbed the gang and we all headed out to Brass Knuckles favorite dive, Lucky Spot BBQ. The six of us had a quiet meal together, with great service. This could be because when five crazy-eyed thugs and one no-nonsense chick walk into a place, we normally clear it out. The food is char-grilled, chicken, pork and beef, with some burgers. If you don't eat meat, you are SOL at “The Spot”.

I had a chance to sit down with Lucky Spot's owner, Deacon Jackson and his wife, Effie. It was hard at first to convince them that we were just there to eat, Archie demands on taking his TNT with him everywhere. After calming them down, Deacon told me that he and Effie moved to the Islands during the “problems” of the 1960's in the American South. “Even with heroes, it wasn't a place for certain folks to be.” Lucky for us, they brought their recipes with them.

Greg had the pulled pork sandwich, Carolina style, the cole slaw on the sandwich, with potato salad. The BBQ sauce is fresh and home made, sweet, tangy and a bit of spice. The pork was juicy and tender and the cole slaw is a cool, creamy contrast to the hot pork. He liked the cole slaw so much that he demanded the recipe and I added it.

Hodges went with a more local flavor, the grilled jerk chicken with plantain fries and pineapple chutney. Pineapple chutney, as far as we can tell, is pineapple cooked in brown sugar and spices. The chicken was a little spicy for me, but I was lucky I didn't pull back a bloody stump when I asked Hodges for a bite. The plantain fries tasted just like sweet french fries to me, but Deacon told us that it looks like a banana, but you have to cook it before you can eat it.

Archie, being a pyro and into anything hot, had the “Firehouse” brisket with a side of beans. The “Firehouse” is a special sauce that is available with any BBQ dish, it's the hottest thing that Deacon serves, made with a lot of Louisiana hot sauce. It burned my eyes when it was brought to our table. Archie said that it was one of the best meals he had ever eaten and didn't even have to add his own hot sauce. The beans “didn't have enough flavor” for Archie, but they tasted just fine to the rest of us. I think that's 'cause we have taste buds left.

Pancho ordered the “Smokehouse Combo”. Half a rack of ribs and smoked sausage, with fries and slaw. So much for originality, if you ask me. The sausage recipe is another one that came form the American south, but this time with Effie and she said that she would rather lose a finger than give up it up. It was good enough I didn't press it, besides she's a nice lady. War, my other Enforcer, ordered a combo, too. He had the “BBQ Combo”, half a rack of ribs, half a BBQ-ed chicken, again with fries and slaw. I really shouldn't complain too much about their eating choices, they are good at what they do.

Brass had exactly what he came for, a rack and a half of ribs. Lucky Spot doesn't actually have this as a menu item, but Brass likes the extra sides he gets when he orders both. The man packed away a pound of meat. Deacon told us that he hot smokes the ribs personally, letting them smoke over 48 hours with real hickory wood smoke. Then he sets the ribs in a cooler for another day, just sitting in the dry rub. He'll baste them 2 or 3 times while he BBQs them over low heat. And I will tell you the meat falls right off the bones.

I didn't order anything, I ate off the guys plates.

Though we didn't have to pay, and got another customer in our “Security” business, Lucky Spot BBQ only accepts cash.

Lucky Spot Cole Slaw 1 head of green cabbage 2 carrots peeled and shredded 1/2 tablespoon of pepper 1-1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise or salad dressing 1 5 oz can of crushed pineapple 1 tablespoon of sugar or sugar substitute juice of half a lemon Shred cabbage into a large bowl and add carrots and pepper. In a small bowl mix remainder of ingredients. Add dressing to cabbage and mix well, refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving, best if chilled overnight.

Grand Dad Kelley's BBQ Beans 5-7 strips of bacon 1 medium onion large chop 1 clove of garlic or 1 tablespoon of garlic salt 4 10 oz cans of pork-n-beans 1 cup BBQ sauce 1 cup ketchup 1/4 cup of brown sugar 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon of Louisiana Hot sauce (Tabasco ) 1 tablespoon of prepared mustard Slice bacon and fry up in a large skillet. When bacon is crispy, drain some fat and saute onions and garlic. Add beans, sugar and sauces. Add 1/2 cup of water and let simmer for about an hour. Beans can be served right away, but are best if refrigerated overnight and reheated. Reheat beans to a temperature of 160 deg. F. before serving, Effie says so.

The Wonders of Food Safety

This article was part of a series I was writing for "The City Scoop", a e-fan-zine for "The City of Heroes/Villains" MMO, that was originally published on April 11 of this year. The whole "Wonders of Food Safety" concept is to allow the common person in on the importances of food safety and how to stay healthy in their own home.

Cooking and holding temperatures

This time of year is unique. The temperature is getting warmer, and the sun is coming up earlier and staying up longer. In Arizona, where I live, the daytime highs are already in the low 90's. However, at least in the US, the one thing most of us start to think about is summer. Summer means barbecue, grilling on the back porch, and having friends and family over for Memorial Day, Labor Day, and the Fourth of July. The one thing you don't want to invite to the party is bacteria. People will not come back over if you give them Hepatitis, Camplibactor, E.Coli, Salmonella or any of a host of others that could show up uninvited.

We've covered a lot in these little mini-lessons on how to keep your kitchen healthy and happy. However, the one thing I cannot stress enough is what is laughingly referred to as “The Danger Zone”. This temperature range, from 40 degrees to 140 degrees F is no laughing matter. Thing of it as the “hot” new club in a tropical location during Spring break, and that somebody spiked the drinking water with fertility hormones. Now speed it up. A food item or a dish can go from safe to teaming with billions and billions of potentially lethal bacteria in under 2 hours.

This does not mean that you can play “The Hokey Pokey” with your food. “You put the egg salad in, you take the egg salad out, you put the egg salad in, and there isn't any doubt....” Every minute in “The Danger Zone” is accumulative, and you only have 2 hours total. Say that lovely potato salad you just made is sitting on the counter. The potatoes were still hot, say 102 degrees, which will bring up the temperature of the mayonnaise to about 90 or so. Now, you wait another hour to get it into the refrigerator, letting everything cool down to about 78. Now you take it to a picnic, where it is going to sit, in the sun all day. Doesn't really sound that bad, does it? Well, the potato salad has just spent at least 3 hours in “The Danger Zone”, and about an hour and a half ago, cousin Debbie's questionable boyfriend didn't use the spoon, contaminating it with the staphylococcus aureus he didn't know he was fighting. Your other aunt, Peggy, who has a weakened immune system already, catches this “bug” and holds on bravely, but eventually succumbs to dehydration and food poisoning.

At least with cold foods, a good way to avoid this it to place every bowl in a bowl of ice, which should keep the temperatures at a reasonable level. Also, consider smaller serving portions. Is not having to refill the salad bowl worth potentially killing your hypothetical Aunt Peggy? Another place you have to watch food temperature is hot food - not only holding but cooking them to the right temperature. The FDA has put out a list of appropriate cooking temperatures. You can throw these out the window, and I do on occasion. You have not lived until you have eaten medium-rare pork or chicken. Yummm! However, I don't do this out, you see. I do, however, order my steaks “Blue”. It's a professional term for “Rarer than rare”, and the meat is very purple. This is a game of Russian Roulette that I gladly play for a good steak. Here is a list of cooking temperatures in the United States.

Beef:
Rare: 140
Medium rare: 145
Medium: 160 (this is the minimum temperature for hamburgers under ½ lb in most states)
Medium well: 165
Well Done: 170

Roast beef: Reheat to 140

Chicken/Turkey:
Whole: 180
Breast: 170

Ham:
Raw: 180
Reheating a smoked ham: 140

Pork: 160 to 170

Stuffed foods, force meat (meatloaves) and reheating: minimum of 160

All temperatures are taken from the thickest part of the item in question, close to the center. If bones are an issue, try to stay away from the bone as they take heat quickly and retain heat longer.

What to take temperatures with:

Instant read thermometers are weapon of choice here. You can get a fairly accurate reading in about 2 seconds. There are several styles to choose from out there, from small pen sized analog and digital ones that are available at the grocery store to large digitals that are being phased out by health inspectors for the high tech and high priced infrared thermometers. The benefit of the infrared style is that there is no contact with the item in question, which is good for checking liquids, sauces and sides, but not so good for checking roasts and hamburgers. Because most probe style thermometers do pierce the skin it is best to only take the temperature once, twice if needed.

Recap:

Hold food under 40 degrees F
Cook food to over 140 degrees F
Use ice baths to help maintain temperature
Use a thermometer to insure proper cooking temperatures