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Crackling, or "cracklins" as they are usually
called, are the crispy, crunchy things that
remain after the fat has been rendered from
pork. Look for cracklins or fried pork skins in
the snack food section of your supermarket, or
for "chicharrones" in any Hispanic market.
Crackling Bread
6 Tbs (90 ml) bacon grease or butter, melted
1 cup (250 ml) all-purpose flour
4 tsp (40 ml) baking powder
1 tsp (5 ml) salt
1 cup (250 ml) yellow or white cornmeal
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (250 ml) milk
1 cup (250 ml) chopped crackling or fried pork
skins
 Place
2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the bacon grease in a
heavy, 8- or 9-inch (20 - 23 cm) cast iron
skillet and place the skillet in a preheated
425F (220C) oven until the grease sizzles. Tilt
the pan thoroughly coat the bottom and sides of
the skillet before adding the batter. Meanwhile,
sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a
mixing bowl. Stir in the cornmeal. Make a well
in the center of the flour mixture and add the
beaten egg, milk, and remaining bacon grease.
Beat vigorously for 1 minute, fold in the
crackling, and pour into the hot skillet. Bake
at 425F (220C) for 20 to 25 minutes, until
golden brown. Cut into squares or wedges. Serves
6 to 8.
All recipes this week are adapted from "The
Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink: With
More Than 500 Recipes for American Classics" by
John Mariani, available
here.
 Reader
Donna from Minnesota writes:
Over the weekend I decided I wanted to make egg
rolls. Realizing I was missing a key ingredient,
I decided to make chow mein instead. While
looking for a recipe I totally forgot I had
Betty Crocker's Chinese Cookbook in my stash and
forgot how every single recipe I have ever made
from it turns out fantastic. The 1981 copy I
have is no longer in print but I see there is a
newer version available at Amazon. You won't
regret adding this cookbook to your collection.
Click here for more information.
Tell us about your favorite cookbook, kitchen tool, or gourmet food by sending a brief review to Review@wwrecipes.com. And please don't forget to include the link to Amazon.com or the ISBN or ASIN number.
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Thanks to reader
Anna Welander for today's helpful hint:
This tip might
seem obvious to some, but I hadn't actually
appreciated how well it works. When measuring
something very sticky that tends to go
everywhere on the counter, like syrup, use a
measuring cup that you can hang on the edge of
the container you want to measure into and pour
in the syrup, or whatever it is that you are
measuring. No mess!
If you have a handy solution to a common kitchen problem, please send it to Tips@wwrecipes.com
Kathy Jenkins asks: What is double-acting baking
powder?
The Chef answers: Baking powders are a
combination of sodium bicarbonate (better known
as baking soda) and an acid in powdered form
(usually tartaric acid). The "double acting"
part refers to the fact that the baking powder
is activated (i.e. persuaded to release carbon
dioxide) by two different actions. The first is
the addition of liquid, which dissolves the
dried acid and causes it to react with the
sodium bicarbonate; and the second is heat,
which causes the sodium bicarbonate and acid
mixture to release more carbon dioxide.
Send your questions on any topic, no matter how serious or silly, to AsktheChef@wwrecipes.com - I can't answer them all, but I'll publish one every day whether I know the answer or not.
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Today, our
cookbooks demand fresh lemon grass and fish
sauce, and a food processor with three different
types of blades. No aspiring middle-class
gourmet today would dream of using canned soup
in *anything*. Cookbooks are, in large part,
aimed more than ever at a financially secure
audience, with the leisure and the money to
pursue upwardly mobile eating and cooking.
Martha Stewart's cookbooks and domestic advice,
for instance, helped to create a whole new ideal
of home cooking and entertaining, one even more
impossible to attain than Betty Crocker's
admonition to keep the cookie jar full. A
powerful domestic cooking ideal, aimed primarily
at those with the disposable income necessary to
pursue it, continues to shape cookery
instruction.
Jessamyn
Neuhaus, from "Manly
Meals and Mom's Home Cooking"
Please address your comments regarding "The Last Morsel" to editor Barbara Forsythe at TLMEditor@aol.com
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