I Should Have Seen it Coming

• Just because a recipe calls for it doesn't mean you have to use it (I hate cilantro but love parsley)
• Do not ever believe the number of servings because it makes a big difference on who you are feeding
• Good cooking does not have to be or should it be difficult
• Not everything has to be made from scratch
• Great ideas come from food magazines but be daring and change them up
• Cooking for family and friends is good for the soul

 
  

 

"Familiarity breeds contempt."  This is referenced in an Aesop Fable.  In the world of food, familiarity breeds high prices.  I was channel surfing the other day and I stopped on an episode of "Happy Days'.     It was the one where Fonzie was going to do a dangerous motorcycle stunt and Arnold was selling chicken to the spectators.  Arnold was pushing everyone to sell the wings.  "No one likes the wings."  The show took place in the 50's and there were few of us who liked the wings.  It was a happy time for me.  No one fought me for the delicious wings of the chicken.  They looked upon me as the strange child and gobbled up the breasts, thighs and drumsticks.  All of which are vastly inferior to the wing.  In  those days wings were practically a toss out.  Now chicken wings cost about 50 cents a pound more than boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Nobody in the 50's would ever have believed it.

I guess the start to all  this was someone in a bar in Buffalo came up with Buffalo wings in  the 60"s.  In Buffalo they just call them wings.  There are various stories out there about how this came to be but the damage was done and I blame New York.  It took awhile for people to get wise to the wings superior flavor and they didn't really start to flourish until the late 70's early 80's.  Now they are everywhere.  I think it would be easier to name the restaurants that didn't serve them.

There is also every version of chicken wings imaginable --- Buffalo, Parmesan garlic, barbecue, Asian, honey mustard, bacon wrapped, salt and vinegar--- it goes on and on.  So, now everyone loves wings and  I  have to pay a lot more money to eat them.  And it isn't fair---see I was the one who always liked them.  If  I had been really smart I would have purchased chicken wing futures and then I'd have enough money to cover the increased cost of my vodka thanks to all of you who turned vodka into another hot commodity.  I never realized  I was so ahead of the times.

Looking for a wing recipe, I don't think so.

Porketta (Porchetta) Roast

• 1 tablespoon dill seed
• 1 tablespoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 pounds  pork roast   

Preheat oven to 325.  Combine all the dry ingredients and rub all over pork roast.  Roast for 1-1 1/2 hours (internal temperature should be 145)

Note:  The internal temperature for pork is no longer 160 degrees.  Pork is safe and not overcooked at 145.