Fare Exchange: The best bacon, turnips, soup and lessons on properly using a knife

Wednesday cometh, and always with benefits. Almost always, also, with questions. Today it’s Cathy Lovelady, who wants to know where to buy tomatoes canned in jars and this larger question: “I have been hearing that food in aluminum cans is not healthy. What do you think?”

Well, readers, what do you think? That is what matters.

Secondly, A.E. wants recipes for amaretto or almond custard, “the kind that could be prepared and served in a pie shell,” and amaretto or almond cream, “the kind that is made with gelatin. I would like to learn to prepare them without using a crust.”

BEST BACON

Although we did hear a rumor that Benton’s bacon may be purchased at Pruett’s on Signal Mountain, Clifford Burdette wrote to say, “I don’t think Benton’s bacon is sold in any stores. The address is Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams, 2603 Hwy 411 N. Madisonville, TN. 37354-6356. Their phone 1-423-442-5003. I’ve been there many times. Their bacon is delicious, the best bacon I’ve ever eaten.”

Judy Bellenfant has gone to Madisonville to buy bacon and country ham “from the source. We also made a day of it and went to the Sweetwater Dairy. I know not everyone is that serious about bacon; however, you can order it from them as well.” The link is www.bentonscountryhams2.com.

If you noted several weeks back, Roseann Strazinsky’s recipe for rum sausages, also note that the sausage needed is breakfast links. Here’s a P.S. from her: “Some of that rum sauce left over is wonderful spread over cooked pork chops.”

TURNIPS

There are those who have never tasted turnips, and those who have but won’t again. And then there are turnip fans, some in the home of Barbara Mann. “I found a turnip recipe we really liked, and thought I would share since they are in season.”

This is a downright elegant recipe.

Turnips Gratin

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

2 pounds turnips, peeled and sliced thin, about 4-5 medium-sized

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup Gruyere or favorite cheese, grated

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cream, butter, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Layer turnips and cheeses. Pour liquid over mixture. Cover and bake 40 minutes. Remove cover and bake 20 minutes until brown and turnips are tender.

KNIFE NEEDS

Leave it to Mr. and Mrs. Sunday, on Wednesday, to invite us once again into their chef’s kitchen. Their topic today is knives, and the fact that chefs say that sharp knives are safer. Why, we laymen wonder?

Their insight includes not just words, but sounds.

* In a professional kitchen, speed is really important. A sharp knife lets you quickly prepare the mountain of ingredients you have to get through for a day’s service. If (God forbid) you run out of something during service and get “into the weeds,” you really need to be fast to catch up.

* When slicing a mountain of ingredients, it’s easy to get tired. Since a sharp knife requires less effort than a dull one, you conserve energy if your knife is in good shape. This is good because a tired cook makes mistakes, both improper cooking and cutting yourself. (See the safety angle?)

* Notice that we said “slicing” rather than “chopping”? Most knives – excluding cleavers, say – are built to slice things rather than chop them. Always make sure the blade is moving forward or backward as you cut, rather than just pushing straight down towards the board. Just try it; you’ll find it’s amazingly easier. Put a thick carrot on the cutting board and chop through it and listen for the “thwak” when you cut through it. Then slice the same carrot with a short sliding motion as you press down. The sound should be no louder than a soft tap. The difference is the extra effort you expended – and the extra risk you took.

* You will likely have heard about “chopping” or mincing things by putting the tip of the blade on the board and holding it there while rocking the blade up and down. The fine point you may have missed is that the blade doesn’t pivot around where you hold it to the board, but rather slides a very small amount. Go back and take another look at the YouTube videos you’ve watched and see if it isn’t so. The blade slides when you’re doing it right. This can also help nuts not scatter when you “chop” them on the cutting board.

* Have you noticed that chefs usually pinch the blade as they hold their knives? If you hold the knife just by the handle in a professional kitchen, you’ll be called a “chicken choker” – or worse – for that grip. If you ask the chef “Why?” and he or she is in a good mood, they’ll tell you “control.” Well thanks, chef, but what do you mean by that?

First, the balance point of most good knives is at the meeting of the blade and the handle, so if your grip is exactly over that point you waste no effort in manipulating the knife.

Second, it prevents the knife from turning unexpectedly in your hands. If the handle is at all slippery – which happens just as often in a professional kitchen as in a home kitchen – or if you hit something unexpected while cutting, like gristle or a dense piece of vegetable, the blade will veer off course unless you have it tightly gripped. A sharp blade will cut whatever it meets, so you want it to only meet things that need cutting. (Safety again.)

SCRATCH SOUP

Dan Cobb of Soddy-Daisy answered the request for chicken noodle soup made from scratch. He described his version as “not complicated, simple ingredients, low fat, easy to prepare, yet so tasty. This is one of the few recipes I’ve ever done where adding the salt up front really makes a difference in taste. I don’t know why but it just does. “

Real and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

5 or 6 chicken thighs, skinned

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon basil

1 bay leaf

4 to 5 carrots

1 large onion

6 to 8 ounces medium egg noodles, uncooked

1 tablespoon parsley

Fill a big pot about half full with water. Add chicken, salt, pepper, basil and bay leaf. Bring to boil, watching carefully so chicken does not stick to the bottom of the pot.

Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is just tender, about 30 to 35 minutes.

When chicken is done, remove it and bay leaf from stock; set aside to cool. While chicken is cooling, wash carrots and slice into – to -inch thick coins. Peel and coarsely chop onion.

Using your fingers, shred chicken from the bones and tear into small pieces.

Bring stock back to a boil, add carrots and onions and simmer 5 minutes.

Add noodles and chicken pieces; cook until noodles are done, about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

And on that comforting note, we’ll wrap up for today, as always looking forward to next week.