An online supplement of the Pittsburgh Current December 12, 2019
Warm Bellies, Warm Hearts Potato soup for the whole family
BY MEG FAIR - PITTSBURGH CURRENT MANAGING EDITOR MEG@PITTSBURGHCURRENT.COM
I
n Lebanon, PA, there’s a cozy brick house with a small porch and a big front window, unsuspecting to most passerby. That house saw the raising of five children and a grandchild, additions were built, people lived and grew and laughed and cried in that house. The house belonged to my Pappy and Grammy, the home in which I spent nearly all of my childhood holidays. To be honest, any time spent there felt like a dreamy holiday from the time I was a little child, through my awkward teenage years and into my early adulthood. It feels like so many of my memories of that house are accompanied by the smell of a warm pot of potato soup on the stove, a buttery, salty, cozy dish that my Pappy was famous for. You could show up to that house and know with certainty your belly would be warm and full in absolutely no time. This meal is perfect for welcoming weary winter travelers or feeding a whole gaggle of your closest friends and family. It’s also a fun thing to make with people you love, catching up over cutting potatoes, laughing by the stove, washing the dishes together, singing into kitchen utensils, and
so forth.
Pappy’s Potato Soup * 10 lbs of white potatoes (not Idaho, I don’t know the reason for this. Just don’t get Idaho potatoes, okay?) * 2 sticks of butter *Whole milk * 12 hard-boiled eggs * Salt & pepper Hard boil your eggs. While tho-
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se are cooling, cut 10 lbs of white potatoes into small pieces and place in a big ol’ pot of water. Salt the heck out of that water. Cook the potatoes until they are almost soft. Drain two-thirds of the water, but keep about a third in the pot with the potatoes. Add the sticks of butter (cut into some pats to easier melt) to the pot and push them down, wait for those to melt. Use a masher to semi-mash the
potatoes, and pour whole milk to nearly the top of the pot. Add 12 hard-boiled eggs (peeled, duh, and cut into small pieces), salt and pepper to taste! Let simmer for about a half hour, stirring often. Serve with buttered potato bread to really take her home. Feel free to add new ingredients and adjust all to taste--recipes are for personalizing and building your own traditions, after all.
FITZGERALD FAMILY COOKIES SUBMITTED BY RICH AND CATHY FITZGERALD - ALLEGHENY COUNTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND FIRST LADY INFO@PITTSBURGHCURRRENT.COM
PITTSBURGH CURRENT | DECEMBER 12, 2019 | 3
Simple Poblanio Tofu Stuffing BY THE PITTSBURGH CURRENT INFO@PITTSBURGHCURRENT.COM
Chef Christopher Mactaggart is a vegan. But that doesn’t mean he wants a holiday meal that doesn’t feel like a holiday meal. “I know vegans get nothing but side dishes around the holidays; I mean, I’m Christopher Mactaggart Selfie vegan, so I get it,” he says. “But this particular side dish is a bit of a sleeper hit since the tofu ends up making it super dense and filling. I like eating it with gravy because I’m fat and enjoy covering carbs with gravy.” Mactaggart owns 777, a pop-up and catering venture that sells food he describes as “party vegan.” 4 | DECEMBER 12, 2019 | PITTSBURGH CURRENT
Ingredients 1 loaf of white bread, sliced or torn into 1” cubes / 1 large yellow onion, diced / 2 stalks celery, diced / 2 cloves garlic, minced / 1 poblano pepper, diced / 2-3 tbsp olive oil / 1 block (typicaly 14-16oz) extra firm tofu / 4 cups vegetable stock, divided / ¼ cup tamari or low sodium soy sauce / 2 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce (optional if you can’t find any) / ¼ cup fresh, rough chopped sage / 2 tbsp fresh rosemary / 1tsp ground black pepper / ½ tsp turmeric Dry out cubed bread. You can use stale bread if you have time to spare, but it’s easier to just put cubed bread into single layers on baking sheets at 250 degrees F for about 45-60 minutes. Toss every 15 minutes or so to keep from burning. The oven drying method typically results in dryer bread, which means the bread will soak up more liquid - and more flavor as a result. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Heat up olive oil in a saute pan and add diced onion, celery, garlic, poblano pepper, and salt. Stir until well coated. Add more olive oil if necessary. Keep on medium heat until onions are translucent. Add sage, rosemary, black pepper, turmeric and stir into onion mixture until fragrant (maybe 30 seconds or so) Pour in 2 cups of vegetable stock and deglaze pan. Stir well. Using hands, crumble block of tofu into mixture, stirring well. The tofu should end up completely crumbled until there are no chunks left to break up Add tamari and vegan worcestershire to mixture and keep stirring. Let the whole thing simmer on medium low heat for about 15 minutes In a large mixing bowl, combine the dried bread cubes with the vegetable / broth / tofu mixture. Stir in until bread has soaked up as much liquid as it can, but is not soggy. If bread is still dry, add remaining vegetable broth in 1/4 cup increments until bread is soaked through. Transfer everything from mixing bowl into a 13x9 baking pan, cover with foil and put into oven for 45 minutes After 45 minutes, uncover baking pan and let bake for another 15 minutes Serve with gravy because it’s cold outside and you should take advantage of the fact that this is the only time of year it’s acceptable to eat carbs covered in gravy
The Colonel Potter
A spiked Coffee to keep you warm at night BY THE PITTSBURGH CURRENT INFO@PITTSBURGHCURRENT.COM
Caleb Sisco, the lead bartender at Scratch Food and Beverage in Troy Hill, is a big fan of the 1970s TV show, MASH. In fact, he says, the show is on at his home, seemingly on a loop. This recipe for the hot, spiked beverage is homage to the hard-drinking, soft-at-heart character that was played by the late-Harry Morgan (pictured below). www.scratchfoodbev.com
Ingredients
1 cup farrow 1 tbsp. black peppercorns 25g fresh ginger partially peeled 10 juniper berries 2 allspice berries 1 cinnamon stick 3 whole cloves 1 cups Redemption Rye 1/2 cup Goslings 1â „2 cup maple syrup 1/3 cup Molasses 4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup), melted over steam 2 sprigs rosemary 1â „4 tsp. fine sea salt or kosher salt 1. Toast the Farrow in the oven at @ 400 for about 20 minutes or until golden 2. Combine toasted Farrow, 1tbsp. Black peppercorns, 10 juniper berries, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 allspice berries, 3 whole cloves in a blender into a fine powder. 3. Add 25g fresh Ginger, 1/2 cup Maple Syrup, 1/3 cup molasses, 1/2 cup Goslings, and 1 cup of Redemption and continue to blend until smooth. Transfer to a container 4. In a separate bowl, melt 4 oz of chocolate over steam. Once melted, pour into container and stir to combine. 5. Strip the leaves of 2 sprigs of rosemary and add to mixture. Stir in 1/4tsp of fine sea salt. 6. Cover container and let sit at room temperature for 2-5 days, stirring at least once a day. 7. When ready, fine strain into a wide mouth container and refrigerate for up to a month. 8. Add 2 heaping Teaspoons into your coffee, stir and enjoy. Cream optional
PITTSBURGH CURRENT | DECEMBER 12, 2019 | 5
A CONVERSATION WIT THE MOTOWN LEGENDON W
BY AMANDA REED - PITTSBUR AMANDA@PITTSBUR
W
ith 4,000 songs to his credit in his 50-year music career, there’s a good chance you’ll happen upon a Smokey Robinson hit in a Spotify playlist. But, on top of being a renowned singer and songwriter, Robinson is a parttime Pittsburgher, and owns a home in the area with his wife, Frances and is a partner in Smokey Robinson Wines, based here. According to Nielsen, US wine sales over the holidays will be over $1 billion. Robinson knew that sort of growth would be a good opportunity to continue his legacy and grow a new audience. According to Louis Caputo, one of the partners responsible for helping Robinson bring his wine to life: “Smokey is an icon. He is class and perfection and with wine you can get as close to that as possible. With his history, getting behind a product like that, we just think he can touch his fan and wine audiences in a different way.’” The Current got a chance to sit down with the Robinson to talk about wine, the holidays, and some of his favorite things. How did you get involved in the wine business? These two guys (gestures to Louis Caputo and Robert “Bob” Buzelli). My wife is a Pittsburgher, so she’s known Bob for a while, and she introduced me to him at the Kentucky Derby one year, and he and I became friends, and he introduced me to Lou. They talked to me about doing a wine company. I started to taste grapes and
wine, and here we are. You were born in Detroit, but you have a strong connection to Pittsburgh. When did that start and how did that sort of grown. I’ve always loved Pittsburgh, I’ve loved Pittsburgh since I came here many, many years ago, way before you were born, way before your parents were born. I came here to play at a place called the White Elephant with the Miracles, the group I was singing with. And so, I’ve always loved Pittsburgh, but my real bond with it now is my wife. I’ve known my wife for 30 years, and we’ve been married for 17. You are an incredible songwriter. When did you realize you had this knack for songwriting? Honey, I’ve been trying to write songs since I was four or five years
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old. I’m serious about that. The first song that I ever wrote that anyone ever heard of, other than my mom and me, I was in first grade, and I was in the school play, and a teacher let me write a song for it, and so I’ve been trying to do that all my life. Professionally, I met Berry Gordy, I graduated from high school when I was 16 in June. I met him in August of that year by chance. I had a singing idol, Jackie Wilson, and Berry Gordy was a songwriter and record producer in Detroit and he had written all the hit songs for Jackie Wilson. I had all of Jackie Wilson’s records. The Miracles and I went to audition for Jackie Wilson’s managers. We sang five songs that I had written rather than what was currently popular by other artists, and they hated us. They told us that we would never make it. Berry happened to be there and he liked a couple of the songs. He came out afterwards and introduced himself, and he started to teach me how to write songs professionally. That’s when I started to write songs professionally, when I met him. Did the songwriting come before the singing, or were they happening at the same time? Oh no, my mom said I was singing from the time I could open my mouth. I always sang around the house. I grew up in a music house. There was always music. Singing and music and stuff like that was a part of me from pre-birth (laughs); from embryo-ism. If you could choose, would you rather be viewed more as a singer
TH SMOKEY ROBINSON WINE, PITTSBURGH AND SONG
RGH CURRENT STAFF WRITER RGHCURRRENT.COM or a songwriter? I don’t care. I don’t really have a preference on that. I hope people remember me for being a good person who loved the Lord. What’s your favorite song written by you and performed by someone else? I don’t have that either. You’ve written like, 4,000 songs... When someone records one of my songs, I’m totally flattered and totally overwhelmed by it, always. When young rappers first came out and they first started sampling people’s songs, people would ask me all the time, “Aren’t you upset that they’re sampling your songs?” No, I’m not. Sample all of mine, please. Because if you sample my song, that says that that song had an influence on your musical self, and you liked it enough to put it in one of your songs. Plus, I’m going to make some money (laughs). So, I don’t have a favorite. So I’m guessing it’s also hard to choose a favorite artist that you’ve worked with or even a favorite song you’ve written? Oh yeah, I can’t do that. The only favorite thing that I can tell you I have is a favorite album of all time. It’s “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye, because it’s prophecy. It came out in 1970-something, and it’s more poignant today than when it came out. That’s the only favorite I can tell you I have. How have the holidays been for you over the years? Now, earlier in
your career and growing up? Honey. I’m very blessed. Growing up as a child, I was poor. My oldest sister, who was 17 when I was born, ended up being my mother, because my mother passed away when I was 10. My dad was still alive, but my older sister raised me as my mom. And she ended up having 10 kids of her own, so there were 11 of us. And we grew up in the hood, and we were struggling, but we didn’t know because everybody there was under the same conditions. We still had good Christmases because we loved each other. There’s an organization called Goodfellows that would come and bring us toys at Christmas when we were kids. But since I’ve been grown, all of my Christmases are beautiful. Like I said, I’m very blessed. I think once you are grown, you don’t think about Christmas like you used to, except for the fact of how fast it comes. When I was a kid, Christmas didn’t come but every three or four years. And now it’s here every week. Favorite holiday food? You’re a wine guy, but what do you like to eat during the holidays? Well, I like the traditional holiday foods. I’m a vegan, and for the last three or four years I haven’t had any meat, but I like the traditional holiday foods: macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, dressing, and turkey and all that. I don’t eat the turkey anymore. Cranberry sauce preference: homemade or in the can? I like the can. I don’t like the one with the little cranberries in it. I’ve
never liked that. I like the can, it’s almost like gelatin. What’s something about Pittsburgh that you wish more people were aware of? The progression. Pittsburgh is probably the most progressive eastern city we have left. The rest of them are dying, basically. The maintenance and the upkeep of them, and the input is not the same. Pittsburgh is very, very conscious of that kind of thing, and it’s probably the most progressive eastern city that we have left. You’ve been all over the world, so what makes you say that? Pittsburgh. That’s the answer. You live here. Have you been anywhere else? I lived in New York for a couple months. Ok, so what do you think? I like it, I mean… Pittsburgh also feels like home — Absolutely. See, I love New York, for about 12 days (laughs). But I feel the same way about Hawaii. I’ve never been to any place in the world that I love for living as Los Angeles, but I do love Pittsburgh because, like I said, it’s very progressive and there’s a lot happening here, and all those things like that, and I’m very happy that I had the connection with it that I do, and I’m happy that my wife is from here, because I got a chance to see it first-hand and the intimacy of it. I’ve had the chance to know Pittsburgh and to really love it.
PITTSBURGH CURRENT | DECEMBER 12, 2019 | 7
PICKLED CRANBERRIES THROW THAT CAN AWAY SUBMITTED BY CHRIS O’BRIEN, EXECUTIVE CHEF AT SCRATCH FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Ingredients 3 pounds cranberries (fresh) 6 cups red wine vinegar 4 cups sugar 2 cups honey 2 cups shallots minced 1 Serrano chili minced 2 tsp salt
Fairmont Executive Pastry Chef and Food Network competitor Deighht Penney.
Competition Brownies Directions Blister cranberries in saute pan for 30 seconds with a little olive oil and remove from pan and cool. In sauce pot place red wine vinegar, sugar and honey and bring to a boil. Once to a boil, reduce heat to a medium simmer and reduce liquid till a light syrup. Remove pickling liquid from heat and place in a container or containers with shallots, serrano chilis and blistered cranberries and let cool. Reserve in refrigerator until ready to use. Complements duck, chicken or lamb nicely.
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BY THE PITTSBURGH CURRENT INFO@PITTSBURGHCURRENT.COM
Dwight Penney, pastry chef for Fairmont Pittsburgh, spent the past several weeks competing on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship. He was eliminated on Dec. 8 just shy of the contest’s finale. Below is a brownie recipe he used on the show.
Ingredients
1 pound Butter 2 Pounds Granulated Sugar 1 ounce Vanilla extract 6 Whole Eggs 5 ounces Dark Chocolate 1/2 ounce salt 4.5 ounces cocoa powder 4.5 ounces all purpose flour 5 ounces chopped walnuts 2 ounces fresh Rosemary
Directions Bring butter to simmer and pour over chocolate to make a ganache, slowly with a paddle attachment beat in sugar, then eggs, then all your sifted dry until everything is combined. add walnuts and rosemary last. bake at 350 degrees until brownies are done.
Chicken Zangara BY CHELSA WAGNER - ALLEGHENY COUNTY CONTROLLER INFO@PITTSBURGHCURRENT.COM
This remains one of my favorite recipes since childhood. Simple ingredients but wonderful rich taste and even better for leftovers after the sauce has soaked in even more. It is similar to chicken marsala, but in my opinion even better. I grew up in my family’s restaurant, and the former manager improvised this recipe from what was on hand for a last minute banquet when I was about ten years old. I always loved making this for big groups of friends in college and still love it to this day. I have no idea where she got the name “Zanga- and I can only guess that she made ra” but she was a character that up too:-)
Ingredients 1 lb chicken breasts 2 6 oz. cans black olives 32 oz mushrooms (use whatever type you prefer) 1 cup white wine (use your preference; I prefer dry) Butter Oil Flour Salt
Directions Half chicken & pound down slightly to reduce thickness Salt chicken on both sides Dredge in flour Heat oil & butter in pan, add chicken & lightly brown on each side on med/high heat then move to baking pan Add sliced mushrooms, sliced olives, wine & 1/2 reserved olive juice to pan that was used to brown chicken Reduce heat to medium, cover until mushrooms and olives are cooked. Add chicken back in to pan, cover & cook chicken with mushrooms. Sauce will thicken. If you need more liquid add in extra olive juice or wine. Optional: Add 1/4 lb prosciutto - cut into small strips when you add chicken back into sauce Great to serve with rice pilaf & Lebanese salad.
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A BYOB SPEAKEASY
811 Liberty ave pr e s e n t s
MAGICAL Holiday SCHEDULE
NOVE M B E R SUN
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DECEMBER SUN
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JANUARY SUN
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= Best Availability
NovEMBER 27 - JanUARY 5 BOX OFFICE AT THEATER SQUARE 412-456-6666 GROUPS 10+ 412-471-6930
TRUSTARTS.ORG/MAGIC
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= Limited Availability