Michael Twitty's Sorghum-Brined Chicken

This last week, I tried out one of the recipe's from Michael Twitty's, The Cooking Gene. Sorghum-Brined Chicken sounded very "exotic" to me, because sorghum is something completely unavailable in Seattle. A previous blog post tells the tale of how I recently came to be the proud owner of my own adorable pint of sorghum syrup and finally had the chance to taste it. When my local grocery store had a great sale on whole chickens, and I got one for under $5, I knew my time had finally come. Here's a link to the recipe. The recipe for kitchen pepper, that isn't included in the link, is available in his book. Here are some pictures of the cooking process. It was surprisingly not difficult to make, and had more hands-off time than hands-on time. This is a great way to roast a chicken if you don't have a lot of time to devote to chopping and mincing.

This is the kitchen pepper that I made. I didn't have all the ingredients, but was happy with the results anyway.

 The brine is really simple, it's just salt, water, vegetable stock, and sorghum syrup. I used an oven roasting bag to put the brine and chicken in. I never use them in the oven, they're just lying around my kitchen, but I discovered that those bags are really great for brining. I highly recommend using one for this!

 Post-brined chicken with the kitchen pepper covering all of it. Under the chicken is a layer of green cabbage leaves. Under the cabbage are two pieces of kitchen twine. You can kind of see them on three sides. You definitely need kitchen twine for this recipe, so if you don't have any on-hand, buy some at the store beforehand.

 The chicken has been topped with another layer of cabbage leaves, and I have tied all the twine to hold everything together. The recipe calls for a Dutch oven, but I don't have one. I used a disposable roasting pan that I covered with foil, instead. It seems to have worked just fine.

This is the final result. I took the foil and top layer of cabbage off and let it sit in the oven for a while to brown on top more. Definitely test it with a thermometer to make sure it's at least 165 degrees. I think it had great color! The pepper blends well with the sweetness of the syrup and the salt from the brine. The cabbage cooks down and mixes with the flavors too. I made some garlic-flavored rice to eat with this and it was a perfect meal!

The next time you're looking for a new and simple way to roast a chicken, I recommend this recipe. If you can, try to find a chicken that doesn't have additional salt water added to it. This can be difficult to find because it's a cheap and easy way to make chicken stay moist while jacking up the price because it also makes the chicken weigh more than it really does. (Random capitalism-ruining-food rant.) I haven't checked lately, but in the past, Foster Farms chicken never added salt water to their chicken.

There are some other recipes in The Cooking Gene that I'd like to try some day. I'll make sure to write a report about them when I have a chance to make them! If anybody else out there has read or reads this book, I'd love to hear what you thought of it. If you try this recipe, let me know what you think of it! And if you do the Twitter thing, give Michael Twitty, aka, Kosher Soul, a follow. He's great!

The Cooking Gene-Before

The Cooking Gene-by Michael Twitty, was released today and I am eagerly awaiting my copy, which is probably sitting at my parents' house, as I write this. I feel like I have been waiting for this book my entire life, but in reality, it's only been less than a year. I discovered Michael Twitty by accident, I can't even remember how anymore, but I have enjoyed his blog posts and his tweets ever since. I feel as though we are destined to meet in real life sometime, though when, where, or how, I know not.

I have always been interested in both food and history and have spent a lot of time combining them. When I was young, I loved The Frugal Gourmet on PBS and how Jeff Smith entwined the history of a country into the dishes he was preparing. I went to cooking school right out of high school and spent time in the restaurant industry before realizing I wanted to focus on writing. I left and went back to school. When I was in college, I focused on World War II as a history major, and spent most of my time writing about the home front and food rationing in both Britain and the United States. They were issues that fascinated me, yet hadn't been covered as much as the battles had. I have collected books on food history, which aren't that plentiful, and even contemplated writing one of my own, though I've never figured out what to focus on.

Writing and food are very much my life still, but I have added to it. Another element is my love of genealogy. I have always been fascinated by my family's long-past history, probably because of my family's more-recent history. My maternal grandparents both died very young, when my mother was still a child. She and her siblings were always incredibly close because of this, but because they were so young, none of them knew much about their parents or their past. I've always felt a hole inside of me that my grandparents left behind, and I think genealogy has helped me fill it, somewhat.

Technology has advanced over the years, allowing me to find out things I never would have imagined about my past. Most of my family lines come from Canada, but one line is American. My mother's father's line. It seemed to have originated in the South, a place I've always thought of as "far away" and "over there," but never connected to me or my history. I'd never been able to trace the line back very far for some reason and it always frustrated me. An internet search on my maternal family's surname brought a shocking discovery, in that it was the name of an enslaved man from Virginia. The first of his line. But I didn't have proof beyond the name. Is that why I couldn't trace it? Because they'd been enslaved and therefore, unlikely to have documentation? I didn't know what to make of it. How could a white person have had black ancestors? How is that even possible? I lived with this information and uncertainty for a few years, not sure what to make of it. Then DNA tests began to be available at affordable prices, and I had my parents and father's parents take the tests. And there it was, on my mother's test, a tiny bit of African, which I am happy to have inherited when I took my own test and saw the results. The proof I needed, well, more proof, at least.

As I lived with this information, things began to hit me differently. History that you always thought of as terrible, but not yours, felt more personal. A place that was far off and over there, now felt closer to me. People that I never thought I was connected to, are now connected to me, through a shared past. Knowing you have ancestors who were enslaved takes getting used to. Things make me angry now that I used to not even think about, before. My white privilege glares in my face and I see how ridiculous it is that it is granted to me, but not to everybody.

How do you come to grips with this? Do I have the right to embrace this? Should I ignore it all because it's not my place? Or do I have the privilege to ignore it because it doesn't show in my skin? Ignoring it doesn't change how your family's past played out, it just disrespects it. Embracing the past, acknowledging it, feeling the pain, sorrow, and the unfairness of it all, is how we honor the past, and our ancestors.

I was in the middle of all of this when I first came across Michael Twitty and heard about the book he was working on. It was perfect timing, possibly kismet. Here was a man who was talking and writing about a past and a place and a people that I had just found out I was a part of, even if only in small part. Would I find anymore clues to my family's past in these writings? Would I find my place in the past, and therefore, in the present? Will this help fill the void that I have spent my life trying to fill with family history? I don't know, but I hope I will at least find something that I can see myself in.

I will post again after I've read the book, and even during, if I feel the need to. I will try some of the recipes and share my experiences here. If you want to read along with me, click the link above and order your own copy today! I'd love to hear what you all think of the book too!

Dining-In: A Culinary Tour of America-Hammond, Louisiana

The Location: Hammond, Louisiana

2013 population: 20,337; 47.3% African American, 46.6% white; per capita income, $21,097.

Hammond was named after its founder, Peter av Hammerdal, a Swedish immigrant who came to the region in 1818. Hammond, an escaped prisoner from Dartmoor Prison, used his savings to buy the land near New Orleans, and with the use of slave labor, established the space that would become the town. The city was built in 1830. Prior to the European colonization of the region, Louisiana was home to at least 34 Native American tribes, including the Tangipahoa, the Appalousa, and the Choctaw.

In 1854, the Great Northern Pacific Railroad came to the city, which turned Hammond into a major commercial center and travel destination. It became known as the "Strawberry Capital of America" because of the amount of berries that were shipped from there.

During the Civil War, Hammond was a center for shoe-making for the Confederate Army. During the Second World War, Hammond's airport was used as a detention center for German POWs.

Today, Hammond houses many warehouses for large store chains, such as Walmart. It is also home to the Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum, which is a destination on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

The Dish: Gumbo
Gumbo has a long history, and essays have actually been written about it. I won't go into too much detail or I would probably write for hours, but gumbo is the official state dish of Louisiana. This weekend, there is a large Gumbo festival in Bridge City, and that is why I am doing this now! Bridge City, however, doesn't have much history to it, so I chose Hammond instead. Why not New Orleans? Too done...I wanted to feature a place most people have never heard of.

Louisiana is a state rich in culinary choices. It was definitely a state where I had to pick and choose and narrow down what to make. Gumbo, jambalaya, muffaletta sandwiches, po'boys, the list goes on and on. Louisiana is a state the truly embodies the "melting pot" concept of America. The Native American tribes, the slaves, and the European immigrants all added their influence to the cuisine. The Cajuns, formerly known as the Acadians, were French immigrants from Canada who found themselves uninvited to live in Canada(It's a long story...). They traveled down the Mississippi River and settled in Louisiana, bringing their musical and culinary traditions with them. The Creoles, were French and Spanish Catholics who eventually intermixed with the slaves and Caribbean population to create a unique culture. The foods that came out of this meeting of cultures is also a blend.

Gumbo, which I settled on, is a cross of cultures in one dish. It is thickened with roux, a French concept, and traditionally seasoned with file(accent over the e, that I can't insert here,) which is a Native American spice. The "holy trinity," otherwise known as celery, onions, and bell peppers, is prevalent in Cajun cookery. Gumbo can be Creole, or Cajun, depending on what you thicken it with and what you put in it. My recipe, which came from my personal recipe files, is very basic, though it uses some ingredients I rarely use or have never used, so it was a fun one to try. It actually was a very fast-cooking gumbo as well. Traditionally, gumbo takes hours to make. I guess my recipe isn't traditional! But it was good. Here's the recipe:

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo
1 large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup olive oil(I used vegetable oil, and it was just fine.)
1/4 cup flour
2 (14.5oz) cans whole tomatoes in tomato juice(no salt added)
1/2 lb. Andouille sausage, sliced 1/4" thick(I used one sausage link, which was about half that amount. It is a very spicy sausage, so it's great to season the gumbo, but too spicy for me to eat.)
1 cup water
1 lb. large shrimp, shelled but with tails left on, and deveined(I had a 12 oz. package of shrimp and I think it was plenty.)
2 1/2 cups hot cooked white rice

1.) In medium-size bowl, combine onion, bell peppers, celery, garlic, oregano, thyme, salt, crushed red pepper, and pepper; set aside.

2.) In heavy 4 qt. saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is medium brown.(This takes time and confidence. You really do have to stir constantly, with a whisk, and it will start to smell like it's overcooking, but it isn't. Just keep at it until it's a nice deep brown color. Roux can be the color of coffee if you let it go long enough, so don't be afraid, just keep at it.)

 Add vegetable mixture and cook, stirring, until vegetables are coated with the flour mixture, about 5 minutes.
3.) Add tomatoes with juice, sausage, and water.(Now, it does not say either way, but I cooked my sausage first before adding it to the mixture. I wasn't sure if the gumbo would cook long enough to cook the sausage all the way through. You can make that decision for yourself and cook it first or not.) Cook, stirring occasionally to break up tomatoes, 10 minutes.
4.) Add shrimp to mixture in saucepan; heat to boiling. Cook until shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

5.) Divide rice among 6 individual soup plates. Spoon gumbo over rice, and serve.
Makes 6 servings(Because I used less sausage and shrimp, mine made closer to 4 servings.

I heated up some biscuits to go along with this, but I really wanted cornbread. I might get some today to eat with my leftovers. This was pretty tasty, but I suspect it'll be even better tonight when I reheat it. As with any soup/stew, it always tastes better the next day, right? This was pretty spicy! When I stopped eating the sausage, though, it got easier to eat. If you are a spice fan, you will love this, and might even want more spice. You could add hot sauce if you want, or more pepper flakes, but I thought it was just enough for me, even bordering on too much. The rice really does help cut the spice, because it spreads it out. I highly recommend serving it with rice. And I recommend watching The Princess and the Frog, like I did, because it's the perfect movie for gumbo. You could also watch The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which would also work very well.

There are so many foods from Louisiana and I want to try them all. Next year, when I finish this project and start some smaller projects, I think this state will warrant a closer look. It's just too good not to try it all!

Sources:
Gumbo History

More Gumbo History

City Pic

City Map

City History

City Info