Crab and Crawfish Etouffee

"We have a common language with food."

-- Chef Leah Chase

Chef Leah Chase was a culinary icon in New Orleans, known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine." Her restaurant, Dooky Chase, was a center of Creole cuisine and culture, earning her many awards and honors. But, Chef Chase's contributions go far beyond food. 

The restaurant, Dooky Chase, had an important role in the civil rights movement. It was one of the very few places in New Orleans where African Americans could meet and discuss the struggles of the time. Local civil rights leaders would meet in the upstairs meeting rooms of the restaurant, while Chef Chase would serve gumbo and fried chicken. Some of those meetings involved Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Riders. As they began to organize the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, King and others would meet with local civil rights leaders at Dooky Chase to learn about the similar boycott in Baton Rouge.

The struggle for equal rights is an important part of our history as a country. That history is under attack. Such an attack is not simply an attack upon African Americans, but it is an attack upon all of us. It is an effort to deny a painful part of our past, out of a mistaken notion that our admitting to our shortcomings somehow makes us weak. To the contrary, acknowledging our shortcomings actually makes us stronger, because it is the first step toward fixing our past mistakes and building a better future. 

All of this requires us to know our true history, which inevitably and unquestionably demands that we acknowledge the contribution of everyone to our combined existence. This acknowledgment in particularly embodied in Creole cuisine. When one thinks of Creole food, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is its relationship to French cuisine, most likely because of the Acadians who migrated from Canada to the Mississippi delta. But, the true history of Creole cuisine is so much more. It is a true melting pot, incorporating African American and Native American ingredients, processes and traditions. Creole food is truly a common language that unites multiple groups of peoples, each unique in their own history, but each of whom share a common bond. 

I wanted to acknowledge that common bond when I prepared this recipe of Crab and Crawfish Etouffee. I used my No Man's Land seasoning. The mix uses a Creole seasoning base but adds sundried tomato powder and crawfish powder, both of which are ingredients drawn from the culinary history of enslaved Africans. The combination of those powders added an earthiness and almost an umami to the dish, whcih easily made up for the lack of pork or sausage. In the end, this dish was perhaps one of the best dishes that I have prepared in recent months. 

CRAB AND CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds crawfish. tails and meat removed
• 4 1/2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all purpose flower
• 1 medium sized yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 large celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 large green bell peppers finely chopped
• 10 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning (or No Man's Land Seasoning)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1 pound fresh crabmeat, picked over
• Kosher salt
• Long grain rice, for serving

Directions:

1. Prepare the crawfish. Rinse well. Remove the tails and remove the meat from the tails, reserving the shells from the tails. Bring 4 1/2 cups water and reserved shells to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; let stand for 15 minutes. Strain stock and discard shells. Set aside 4 cups crawfish stock.

2. Prepare the base. Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook, whisking constantly until light blond in color, about 3 minutes. Add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the creole seasoning, bay leaf and thyme and cook, stirring constantly 1 minute. Add stock, cook, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. 

3. Add crawfish and crab meat. Add the crawfish and crab meat. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Season with Kosher salt to taste. Serve over rice.

PEACE.

Lowcountry Brown Oyster Stew

This post about an oyster stew takes us to a very specific and incredibly important part of South Carolina's lowcountry. It is that part that overlaps with the Gullah-Geechee Corridor. The corridor itself runs from Jacksonville, Florida to Wilmington, North Carolina. However, as the corridor passes through South Carolina, it crosses islands, along with towns and cities, with the rich history of the Gullah-Geechee people. 

The Gullah-Geechee are descended from West Africans who were forcibly taken places ranging from modern day Senegal to Angola during the 18th century. The enslaved West Africans were brought to the United States to labor on rice plantations on the South Carolina's sea islands and along its Atlantic Coast. I had an opportunity to learn about this history and its profound impact upon our country as I prepared a dish of Carolina Crab Rice. (Hint: it was the knowledge and skills, along with the uncompensated hard labor, of those enslaved West Africans that created the infrastructure for, as well as enabled the successful production of, rice in South Carolina.)

The enslaved brought more than their knowledge and skills to this country, they also brought a variety of ingredients that were not part of the American-table at that time. This recipe captures some of those ingredients. For example, dawadawa or fermented locust beans. The fermenting of locust beans can be traced back to the 14th century, and its use in the preparation of food goes equally far back in time. Cooks in African countries like Nigeria, Benin and Ghana use dawadawa in many iconic dishes, like Jollof, as well as soups or stews like Fakoye. Locust beans are typically not cultivated, rather they are dispersed by people and animals. That brings us to the connection between Africa and the "New World." Slaves brought these locust beans with them as they were forcibly taken from Africa and transported to various places in North America, like the South Carolina coast, or the Caribbean. That may be one reason why one can find locust beans, as well as dawadawa, in Haiti. 

Dawadawa (Source: Slow Food)

Another interesting ingredient is the dried crayfish powder. As someone who has used dried shrimp when preparing dishes from Sri Lanka, I have a little familiarity with the umami-like scents and tastes that the ingredient can provide to a dish. The use of dried crayfish powder is used for that very purpose -- to add umami -- in dishes prepared along the African coastline of modern day Ghana and Benin. The technique of drying crayfish - which thrive in freshwater and some brackish water -- could have been brought with Africans so that they could preserve this source of protein for use in dishes.

Both dawadawa and dried crayfish powder are more than ingredients; they embody culinary techniques. A natural processing of ingredients from the land or the water to obtain something more. This particular recipe highlights that fact. The use of dawadawa and ground crayfish powder, along with the sundried tomato powder, served as a substitute for bacon or smoked pork. These ingredients provided elements that mimic smoked flavors, earthiness and richness that one would ordinarily get from using diced up bacon or smoked ham.  

Together, these ingredients helped to produce a stew that I have to say is far more complex and delicious than any oyster stew made with heavy cream. If I had my druthers, I would produce a huge batch of this stew and enter as a contestant in the next Oysterfest held by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in October 2025. It probably would not win (as the winners are usually the heavy-cream based stews), but it would introduce a completely different, but equally authentic and historic, way to prepare this dish to an audience who would probably never have the opportunity to taste it. 

LOWCOUNTRY BROWN OYSTER STEW

Recipe from Saveur

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons toasted benne (sesame seeds)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon lemongrass powder
• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1.5 tablespoons sundried tomato powder
• 2 teaspoons Caribbean bay leaf powder or 2 dried bay leaves; 
• 1.5 teaspoon crawfish powder or dried shrimp powder
• 2 teaspoons ground dawadawa
• 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoon onion powder
• 1.5 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
• 2 pints shucked fresh oysters
• 6 cups seafood stock, vegetable stock or water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion sprouts or chives

Directions:

1. Toast the spices. in a large skillet set over medium-low heat, add the benne, ginger powder and lemongrass powder; toast until golden-brown, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. 

2. Prepare the roux. In a large pot over medium high heat, whisk together the flour, 2 tablespoons of oil and the butter. Stir continuously until the roux turns a dark chocolate brown color, about 5 minutes. 

3. Saute the vegetables. In a separate skillet over medium high heat, add the remaining oil, celery and onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. 

4. Continue working with the roux. Turn the heat down to low, then add the tomato powder, bay leaf powder, dawadawa, crawfish powder, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika and chipotle powder. Cook, stirring continuously until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the celery-onion mixture and then slowly pour in the oyster liquor and the tock, stirring continuously until all the liquid is incorporated into the roux. Add the salt, turn the heat up to medium-low to bring the stew to a boil, then turn the heat back down to maintain a simmer. Cook until the broth is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and has reduced by about a third, 40 to 45 minutes. 

5. Finish the dish. Remove the stew from the heat, then immediately stir in the oysters (the residual heat will cook them). Season to taste with more salt as needed. Ladle the brown oyster stew into wide soup bowls, garnish with onion sprouts and reserved benne seed-ginger-lemongrass mixture and serve hot. 

PEACE.

Maine Lobster Rolls

While the first documented lobster roll may have been served at a restaurant in Milford, Connecticut, there is no doubt that the lobster roll is an icon of Maine cuisine. Anyone who takes a vacation in Maine -- from Kennebunkport to Lubec -- will inevitably have the opportunity to try a roll. And, there are many places across the State to get one. 

However, there are a lot of stories behind this sandwich. It is the stories about the lobsters and those who catch them that need to be told more. 

One of those stories is presently unfolding in the Gulf of Maine. Climate change is clearly making its presence known. The waters in the western part of the Gulf of Maine - such as Casco Bay (near Portland, Maine) - are beginning to get warmer. As anyone who has cooked a lobster will tell you, lobsters don't like warm water. As the waters of Casco Bay get warmer, the lobsters move north and east. As one fisher told Norah Hogan, a journalist with WMTW, "[w]hen I started [about 30 years ago], almost half of the lobsters in the state of Maine were landed in this part of the state - Casco Bay region." He added, "[w]e're not in the ballpark anymore." 

Lobsters thrive in waters that are between 54 degrees and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The waters in the western portions of the Gulf of Maine exceed 68 degrees from time to time. This means that the lobsters will migrate to where it is cooler, which is toward the northeastern shore of the State and into Canadian waters. It also pushes the lobsters further offshore, to cooler, deeper waters. 

This means that, as the waters warm, there will be less lobsters around the shores of Maine. Less lobsters mean that the already high prices for lobster rolls will only go higher (as long as the demand is there). In fact, I was quite surprised that the cost of a lobster roll could be from $28 to $38 for each roll. If both my beautiful Angel and I had a lobster roll, we would be looking at paying $56 to $76 for a meal (and that is without any beer or anything else). 

As it turns out, I had brought my trusty steam pot to Maine for our vacation. As I noted in my post about Steamed Lobsters, I was able to find a seafood market that sold whole lobsters for anywhere from $8.00 to $12.00 per pound, depending upon the lobster. The market only had soft shelled lobsters (that is, those who had recently molted). Soft shelled lobsters come with a lot of water since they have not fully regrown into their new shells. So, part of what one is paying for with that $8.00 to $12.00 per pound is water. I knew this fact when I bought them, but I could buy 4 soft-shelled lobsters for the price of 2 lobster rolls. 

With those lobsters, I proceeded to make my own lobster rolls. I found a recipe, which is set forth below, and tried to follow it as best I could. I also decided that I would do the "presentation piece" and have a whole lobster claw served on the top of the sandwich. However, I think in the future that I perhaps do a rough chop of the claw into pieces. I think that would be better than a whole claw.

MAINE LOBSTER ROLLS

Recipe from Food & Wine

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons fresh chervil or tarragon
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 1 pound cooked, shucked and chopped lobster meat (from knuckles and 6 pincer claws)
• 6 top split (New England style) hot dog buns, separated
• 2 tablespoons salted (or unsalted butter), softened
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, plus more for garnish
• 6 butter lettuce leaves

Directions:

1. Prepare the lobster. Whisk together mayonnaise, lemon juice and chervil. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in celery and fold in chopped lobster meat. Cover and chill up to 4 hours.

2. Prepare the buns.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Butter the sides of buns and toast in skillet until golden and heated through, about 2 minutes. 

3. Finish the dish. Fold chives into lobster salad. Place a lettuce leaf inside each bun. Divide lobster salad evenly among buns. Sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately. 

ENJOY!

Steamed Lobster

A lobster does not need a hot tub. It just needs a steam room.

There are many websites that will tell you there are two ways to prepare whole, fresh lobsters. One way is to boil the lobsters. Another way is to steam the lobsters. These websites will engage in a seemingly meaningless discussion about the pros and cons of each method. Truth be told, in my humble opinion, there is only one way a whole lobster should be prepared. It must be steamed. 

A long time ago, at a crab house far, far away, I used to steam lobsters. The kitchen had three large steam pots, as well as another three, equally large pots in a back-up kitchen. The primary purpose of the pots was to steam crabs; however, we always left at least one open to steam other seafood. A lot of mussels and clams, but, every once in a while, a lobster. 

Since that time, I have not steamed whole lobsters very often. The one notable time involved my effort to make Masaharu Morimoto's Lobster Masala. 

However, the Savage Boleks recently vacationed in Maine, spending a week on Mount Desert island. I found a local business, Parsons Lobsters, in Bar Harbor. Parsons is perhaps the only place that I could find in the town that sold live lobsters. Sitting right outside Acadian National Park, Parsons is a family owned business that has been selling lobsters, and other fresh seafood, such as clams, oysters and fish, for more than forty years. 

We visited the Parsons store, because I wanted to purchase some lobsters to prepare for my family. The store is small, but impressive. At the time, the store was holding approximately six hundred (600) pounds of live lobsters in multiple tanks. There were also displays featuring those clams, oysters, fish and more. We purchased four lobsters and returned to the place where we were staying. (The four lobsters were approximately one and one-half pounds each; but, the cost of four lobsters were less than the cost of a lunch or dinner in town.) 

Going back to the original point of this post, I planned on steaming those lobsters. I brought my good old steam pot, the one piece of cookery that ties me to my original cooking experience.  Steaming is the preferred way to prepare lobsters for one reason ... boiling lobster threatens the taste of the meat. One is far less likely to get the sweet, tender meat that creates an amazing culinary experience. By contrast, steaming the lobster provides a way to get that tender meat, and, protect the meat. 

To be sure, steaming a lobster takes more care and monitoring than simply boiling it. Steaming also provides an additional way to provide some subtle flavor. While most steaming uses simple water, I have often substituted that plain ingredient with something like stock, beer or wine. The best stock would be seafood stock, which can be purchased at many grocery stores. As for beer and wine, the thoughts should turn to something on the lighter side. The best beers would be pilsners and summer ales. As for wines, I think the best wines would be white wines, such as Albarinos from Galicia, Spain or Vinho Verdes from Portgual. 

In the end, and in my humble opinion, the liquid does not matter. All that matters is that you steam the lobster, don't boil it. 

STEAMED LOBSTER

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 whole lobsters, live 
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• Water, seafood stock, beer or wine

Directions:

1. Prepare the steam pot. Fill the steam pot with water, seafood stock, beer or wine, but the level should remain below the steam plate. Heat the steam pot on high heat until it steams. 

2. Steam the lobsters. Add the lobsters. Steam for seven minutes for the first pound of lobster, then an additional 3 minutes for each additional pound of lobster that you are steaming. Melt the butter while the lobsters are steaming. Once they are cooked, remove from the steam pot and serve immediately with the melted butter. 

One final note ... I may have to eat my words about boiling versus steaming the next time I enjoy a lobster boil. But, that will be for another post. 

ENJOY!

Around the World in 80 Dishes: Ukraine

"For Ukrainians who have never had their own tsar ..., the Motherland, their homeland, has always been more important than a foreign tsar and - which is the worse for Russia - more important than faith."

Andriy Kurkov, Ukraine in Histories and Stories: Essays by Ukrainian Intellectuals.

February 23, 2022 - the foreign tsar -- namely, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin -- authorized an unjustified and unprovoked war against Ukraine and its people. Putin conjured up multiple, patently false reasons for his war. Reasons so patently absurd that I will not repeat them because I do not want to give them any more airing than what news outlets have already provided. Nevertheless, this is the war of Vladimir Putin and his cronies, like Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They have pressed hundreds of thousands of Russian troops into a war that, judging by the anti-war protests that took place across the Russian Federation, is not one embraced by the Russian people themselves. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling 
the Ukrainian people that he and his advisors are
fighting alongside them in the streets.

In the days that followed the initial invasion, the above quote manifested itself in the resolve of the Ukrainian people. It was found among that small Ukrainian garrison on Zminnyi Island (Snake Island) who told a Russian warship to go fuck itself. It is also present in the sacrifice of Skakun Vitaliy Volodymyrovich, a Ukrainian soldier who remained with the explosives that he used to blow up a bridge because he did not have time to set the charge and escape. It can even be seen in the words of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who responded to the United States offer of evacuation with the words, "the fight is here, I need more ammo, not a ride."

The Ukrainian woman who told the Russian
soldier to put seeds in his pockets.

Indeed, this resolve is seemingly present in almost every Ukrainian. There is the woman in Henychesk, Kherson region, who stood just feet away from a Russian soldier while telling him to put sunflower seeds in his pockets so when he dies on Ukrainian land, those flowers, which happen to be the national flower of Ukraine, will grow from that spot. There are also countless other examples, including the Ukrainians who take to the streets to block Russian military vehicles with their bodies. 

To be clear, the stakes of the current conflict involves much more than whether Ukraine will continue as an independent country. At its most basic level, the conflict presents a clear and present danger to the very identity of the Ukrainian people. If the Russian Federation is successful in occupying Ukraine, the Russians could effectively destroy the history and heritage of the Ukrainian people. Indeed, that assault is already underway, with attacks on cultural institutions such as opera houses, museums and even the Babyn Yar memorial (which was built to remember the massacre of Jewish Ukrainians during the holocaust). 

In waging this It involves the Ukrainian identity. Ukrainian people are desperately defending not just their homeland, but their own identity and their freedom. No speech by Vladimir Putin and no war by the Russian Federation will deny or erase the history of the Ukrainian people or their homeland.  

"Inside yourself, dig the well which will bring water to both your house and your neighbor's." - Gregory Skorovoda (Ukrainian writer)

The war in Ukraine has underscored the importance of protecting and preserving the Ukrainian culture. Across the world, Ukrainians are reconnecting through shared experiences, many of which revolve around food. In the past, I have used this blog to discuss the persecution of peoples, such as the genocide of the Rohingya, the plight of the Somali, apartheid-like conditions imposed upon the Palestinians, and the systematic imprisonment of the Uyghurs and the destruction of their culture. I realize that posting on a blog is not much, but I try dig deep to contribute in my own small way to helping people understand (to the extent they don't already) the importance of human rights and the need to accept peoples and their cultures for who and what they are.

To this end, I have placed my thumb on the Around the World in 80 Dishes culinary challenge. Rather than wait for the random country generator to assign Ukraine as my next challenge, I have made an exception. It is perhaps one of the most important exceptions that I have made. 

I strongly believe that this particular story needs to be told right now. My hope is that by doing my own digging, I will be able to share what I have learned to help both myself and those who read this blog.

"We have survived two world wars, Holodomor, Holocaust, the Great Purge, occupation in eastern Ukraine. We don't have a lot of land, we don't have nuclear arms, ....  But we have our people and our land - that's what we're fighting for.

- Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The nation state construct known as Ukraine first emerged in the ashes of World War I.  In fact, multiple Ukrainian states emerged, such as Ukrainian People's Republic, the Hetmanate, and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. However, it was the Ukrainian People's Republic that obtained recognition by the international community in 1917. Wars continued in the region, with most of those nascent Ukrainian states finding themselves incorporated into other countries. When relative peace emerged in 1921, the territory of what would become modern day Ukraine was basically split between four countries. The western portions fell within the borders of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. The rest was squarely within the Soviet Union.  After the Second World War, the Soviet Union, under the iron grasp of Josef Stalin, drew the borders that continue to this day.  

And, while it may have been the Soviet Union that carved the lines that constitute the present-day Ukraine, it is an important thing to keep in mind that the Soviet Union and Russia are two separate states themselves. The Soviet Union was an "international project," a federation of national units, one of which was the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. When the Soviet Union dissolved, those units emerged as independent countries, from Estonia to Moldova, Ukraine to Kazakhstan. (Ironically, the Russian Federation itself is an amalgamation of oblasts, republics, krais, and autonomous okrugs, many of which -- for example, Adygea, Bashkorostan, or Kalmykia -- were founded upon ethnic groups and/or have substantial numbers of ethnic minorities in them today.

In any event, the history of this nation state construct is not the same as the people who lived within it. Indeed, the history of the Ukrainian people predate that nation-state. While most of the people who lived in the areas would have identified themselves as Orthodox (based on their religion), a Ukrainian identity emerged in the early 19th century, with its own language separate and consciousness as a people.  Intellectuals and writers, such as Taras Shevchenko and Mykola Kostomarov, wrote works in Ukrainian exploring what would become Ukrainian national philosophy. Shevchenko wrote about the political repression of the poorer classes and dreamed of their liberation. This perspective is important: it is the poor in the countryside who formed the core of the Ukrainians, and the anti-elitist nature of their philosophy was integral given those who lived in the cities spoke Polish or Russian.  For these reasons, Ukrainian thought thrived at the lowest levels, out of view of the official state.  As the Soviet Union emerged, the emphasis on educating the poorest classes resulted in the spread of the Ukrainian language and literature into the 1930s.

However, the Ukrainian identity -- while officially celebrated as part of the Soviet Union -- was also viewed as a threat, especially by the Soviet leader, Josef Stalin. Aided by inept agricultural practices and poor weather, Stalin set in motion the events that led to the Holodomor, or the Great Famine, in 1932 to 1933. Nearly four million Ukrainians starved to death, while their intellectuals, artists, and writers were arrested. While the Ukrainian identity survived the Great Famine, it would face challenges  over and over again. Approximately 900,000 Ukrainian Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, including the massacres of September 29 and 30, 1941, when 33,731 Jews were massacred by the Nazis. Hundreds of thousands of additional Ukrainians were killed after World War II during Stalin's Great Purge. While peace eventually emerged across what was the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the battle continued to preserve the Ukrainian identity in a union dominated by Russians. 

This struggle ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. From the ashes of that empire arose an independent Ukraine. As with all of the post U.S.S.R. countries, Ukraine struggled with establishing a democratic government. While some of those newly established countries fell quickly back into authoritarianism (see my challenge involving a main course from Turkmenistan), the Ukrainian government established a republic and elected its leaders. Ukraine's independence has not always been smooth, with revolutions in 2004 and, most recently, the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. That second one led to the ouster of  pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, and a new, more pro-western government. Elections in 2019 led to a new President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who continued to push for greater ties with the European Union and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Dear God, calamity again! 

It was so peaceful, so serene;

We had just begun to break the chains

That bind our folk in slavery

When halt! Once again the people's blood

is streaming.

"Calamity Again," Taras Shevchenko

This poem hauntingly captures what it means to be Ukrainian. With the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Ukraine and its people finally liberated themselves from the direct shackles of its past (whether it be as a direct subject of the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union) and the indirect bondage of the present (through forced economic and political ties with the Russian Federation). They had finally the freedom to chart their own course; and, whether it took them west toward the European Union or continued east toward the Commonwealth of Independent States, it would be their own choice. 

All of that came to an end on February 23, 2022. Without provocation or justification, Russia commenced a war that is characterized by the inhumane assault upon the Ukrainian people. Those people are now fighting not only for their freedom, but for their identity. This fight has led many Ukrainians around the world to think about protecting their heritage. They have taken to social media to tell their stories, many of which surround the food that they eat. Whether it is the Ukrainian Borscht (which, as with the Ukrainian people, is different than Russian Borscht) or their paska (Easter Bread), these recipes define who they are as much as their history or any nation state. 

There are several key components to Ukrainian cuisine. First, flour and cereals -- such as rye and wheat -- play a significant role in many dishes, including breads, dumplings and pies. Second, ingredients like onions, garlic, horseradish, dill, parsley, and thyme are used to provide flavor to dishes.  Over time, the trade in spices also brought black pepper, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon to the Ukrainian kitchen. Third, Ukrainian cuisine emphasizes a wide use of pork and fat, along with sour cream, sunflower oil and eggs. Finally, Ukrainian cuisine is noteworthy for the two-step process in preparing many dishes, with the ingredients being boiled or fried first, followed by a second technique, such as stewing or baking, to complete the dish.

Telling the stories and sharing the recipes is important. It is as much a part of the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian war as taking arms or throwing Molotov cocktails. Russia has launched this war on the premise of nullifying the Ukrainian identity by subsuming it into a larger Russian one. Efforts to preserve what it means to be Ukrainian, even if through words, contributes to the defense. And, in the end, even the smallest contributions matter.

APPETIZER

Turning to the challenge, I wanted to find a couple of recipes that are either distinctively Ukrainians or upon which Ukrainians have put their own mark. I chose two receipes, one that is a side dish and another that is a main course. 

The side dish, which could also double as a main course itself, is known as deruny, which are relatively simple potato pancakes. The cultivation of potatoes became widespread throughout Ukraine in the 19th century. Potatoes eventually emerged as the "second bread" on family tables, displacing vegetables like parnisps and turnips. Traditionally, families prepare deruny on Sundays as a meal in and of themselves. It seemed only appropriate that I made this dish on a Sunday as well.

This recipe comes from the northern region of Ukraine. If one travelled about two hours west from Kiev, they would arrive in the city of Zhytomyr. The city is some to a very particular piece of artwork by Volodymyr Kosyrenko. It is a stone monument to the deruny, featuring a basket of the potato pancakes sitting on a pedestal of red and gray granite. One could travel another hour and half north to the city of Korosten for the deruny festival.  The festival showcased not just the Ukrainian pancakes, but similar ones from Belarus, England, France, Norway and Poland.

Unfortunately, both Zhytomyr and Korosten have been targets of Russia's unprovoked war, where Russian forces have murdered Ukrainians in attacks across that region.

DERUNY

Recipe from Ukraine Food

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of potatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Prepare the potatoes. Peel and wash the potatoes. Grate using a medium grater. Combine the potatoes with the egg, salt, pepper and flour. Stir until completely combined.

2. Fry the potato cakes. Heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Spoon the potatoes into disc shapes in the oil. Fry each side until golden crisp.

3. Finish the dish. Once fried, remove from the oil. Serve with sour cream or browned onions. 

MAIN COURSE

The main course for this challenge involves something that I have not done for years: make dumplings. I have to go back to my special challenge involving Tibet, when I made sha momos, or my challenge to prepare veprova pecene, a main course from the Czech Republic, during which I also made houskove knedlicky, or bread dumplings. In the Ukraine, the particular dish that I made is halushki. 

While one can find halushki dishes across central and eastern Europe, the Ukrainian version involves the preparation of small flour dumplings, as opposed to either potato dumplings or noodles. At least what I can find, Ukrainian halushki is more often served with onions and mushrooms, along with some bacon (as noted above, pork can be found in many Ukrainian dishes). This particular combination of ingredients works well together, with the puffy dumplings contrasted with crunchy bacon and sautéed mushrooms.

To be sure, my dumpling making skills need a lot of refinement. The dumplings came out rather rustic and, despite my best efforts to standardize the size and shape, it just did not work out well.  Still, in the end, the combination of those dumplings with the butter, bacon, mushrooms and onions made this a very delicious dish. 

HALUSHKI

Recipe from Mom's Dish

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 5 cups flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 150 grams of butter, plus 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 pound of fresh mushrooms
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup bacon pieces
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare the dough. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a little well in the middle. Place whisked eggs, water and melted butter into it. Using a fork, work the ingredients together to form a dough. Finish up combining the ingredients by hand until you get a smooth even texture. 

2. Prepare the dumplings. Divide the dough into eight even pieces. On a floured surface, roll each piece into a long string. Dice each string into small pieces.

3. Cook the dumplings. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Toss in the raw dumplings and boil them until they float to the top.

4. Prepare the toppings. Dice the mushrooms and sauté them in a buttered skillet for about 5 minutes. Dice the onions and add them to the skillet, cooking them until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the bacon and sauté for about 5 minutes. Place the dumplings in a non-stick skillet and add the sautéed mixture and butter. Cook until they turn golden brown.

*    *    *

This challenge was done in short order. While I am not Ukrainian, I still wanted to contribute to the discussion of the Ukrainian culture, cuisine and heritage, all of which are under attack. One cannot stand silent watching Russia's unprovoked assault on Ukraine, its murder of Ukrainians and its attempt to subjugate Ukrainians under some false notion that they are anything other than Ukrainian. In this moment, we are all Ukrainians. Until the next time, 

SLAVA UKRAINI!

Steamed Cockles in White Wine

Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi. 

The words -- translated from Maori, "with your basket and my basket the people will live" -- float through your mind as you stand with a basket in your hand. You are with your family, looking out at a wide body of water during low tide. Perhaps you at the water's edge of Okoromai Bay on Te Ika a Maui. Maybe you are standing on the shoreline on the Otago Peninsula on Te Wai Pounamu. Either way, you are looking for tuangi or tuaki, the small bivalve that hides just beneath the muddy, sandy surface that stretches out before you. 

The words continue to echo through your mind. Naku te rourou nau te rourrou ka ora ai te iwi.  Your basket.  My basket.  The people will live. Working together, you and your family will gather the tuangi or tuaki. Those cockles or clams, as well as other shellfish, have been an important food source for the Maori diet. That importance means that you have to exercise care in terms of how many you collect. You have to ensure that enough tuangi or tuaki remain so that this food source continues to thrive. 

Maori children collecting tuangi near Paibia
(source: Teara)

This image is one that has been repeated for decades or centuries by the Maori across Aotearoa. As the tide goes out, families venture into the shallows in search of cockles. The bivalves prefer shallow waters, meaning they can be easy to dind. They also bury themselves just below the surface, which makes it relatively easy to dig them out. 

There are certain rules that need to be followed. For example, no shellfish are opened while there are still people in the water. In addition, only one kind of shellfish will be taken during an outing. There may be paua (edible sea snails). There may be kina (sea urchins). There may even be pipi (another bivalve).  It does not matter. If you are out there looking for tuangi or tuaki, that is all you will collect during that outing. The paua, kina and pipi are out of bounds. 

(source: Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife)

As you walk into the shallows, your eyes are focused on the mottled brown surface. You are looking for their "shows," a tell-tale sign that a cockle or clam is hiding beneath the surface. The "show" consists of two pencil sized holes near each other. Those holes tell you that a cockle lies just beneath the surface.  You dig with your hands, moving the sand and earth until you reach the bivalve. You wipe off some of the dirt and take a closer look at what you just found. 

In the waters around New Zealand, you are more than likely going to find Austrovenus Stutchburyl, or the New Zealand Cockle. This little saltwater clam is usually found in estuaries or harbors, where the sand is not very fine.  (As it turns out, fine sand could suffocate these clams.) They bury themselves about an inch under the surface. 

Unfortunately, I have not been able to have the experience of collecting bivalves in the estuaries or bays around New Zealand.  However, I was able to find some very good clams, which were perfect for this recipe.  Most steamed clam recipes are very simple, consisting of only a few ingredients.  The reason is simple: one wants the flavor of the clams to shine through, with the broth playing a supporting or complementary role. This recipe is particularly good, as the wine combines with the liquid released from the clams to produce very good broth. 

STEAMED COCKLES IN WHITE WINE

Recipe from Scrumpdillyicious

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup white wine or fish stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 30 cockles (or clams)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested

Directions:

1. Prepare the cockles.  Let the cockles soak in cold water for about 30-60 minutes so that they release any sand trapped inside. 

2.  Steam the cockles.  In a large pot, hear the butter or olive oil and sliced garlic over high heat while stirring constantly, cooking for one minute.  Add the cockles, wine and half the parsley, then cover, shaking the pan occasionally until all of the shells have opened. 

3.  Finish the dish.  To serve, pour the cockles and sauce in to a high rimmed serving platter and drizzle with lemon juice and the remaining parsley for garnish. 

ENJOY!

Pan-Fried Whole Trout

Heritage is sometimes an interesting subject, especially for me.  One side of my family comes from Italy.  Anyone who peruses this blog, especially in its early days, would see the Italian influences in what I cook. This influence draws heavily from my childhood, as I can remember my grandparents making homemade pasta dinners.  When I say homemade, I mean basically everything - the sauce, the sausage, the meatballs, and even the pasta were all made by their hands.  My culinary vacation through Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany further fueled my Italian-inspired cooking.

The other side of my family comes from the Czech Republic or, as it may be commonly referred to  today, Czechia. To be sure, that side of the family had more roots in the United States.  The memories of their cooking are not as strong (which is something that makes me sad).  Unlike my culinary vacation in Italy, I studied abroad in Prague, spending more than three months living and eating there. To be sure, that was during my college days, when the desire to cook was not strong. I ate a lot of Czech food, but I also had my fair share McDonalds or Little Ceasar's (I was suprised to find them there and it was a connection to home). 

Needless to say, the Czech influences are not as present on this blog. In an effort to learn more about those dishes, I bought The Best of Czech Cooking. I perused the book and came across some fish recipes. There are over fifty different species of freshwater fish swimming in the rivers througout central Europe.  In Czech waters, carp reigns as king. There are other fish, such as perch, sander (walleye), catfish and, of course, trout. 

Not only can trout be found in the rivers, but it is also part of an acquaculture industry in the Czech Republic. That industry goes back as far as the 13th or 14th century, althought it grew much quicker in the 16th century.  Landowners began to build ponds to raise fish. They focused on carp first, but have branched out to other species, like trout.  Over time, the industry became quite large.  Indeed, the Cezch Republic is one of the largest producers of fish in the European Union.  However, the Czech people have one of the lowest rates of fish consumption in the European Union. 

Still, there are fish dishes in Czech cuisine, as evidenced by my cookbook.  I chose one of those dishes: pan-fried trout. This is a very simple dish, requiring only five ingredients. Those five ingredients -- fish, flour, lemon, parsley and butter -- come together to make a simple, yet very tasty dish. Indeed, given how easy it is to make this dish, it is surprising that Czechs don't eat more fish. 

PAN-FRIED TROUT

Recipe from The Best of Czech Cooking, pg. 26

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 small trout (1 pound each)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 lemon

Directions:

1.  Prepare the fish.  Clean and gut the fish if it has not already been prepared.  Wash the fish in cold water and then dry it with paper towels.  Season the trout with salt and pepper and cover with flour.

2.  Fry the fish.  Melt 3 tablespoons of butter on medium high heat in a large frying pan.  When the butter has melted and is quite hot, shake off the excess flour from the trout and put them into the pan.  Fry them until lightly golden on one side, 4 or 5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to make sure the fish does not stick.  Turn the trout over, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, and fry until golden on the other side.  Add the parsley and juice from half of the lemon.  Cook for another few seconds.  Serve with additional parsley and lemon wedges.

ENJOY!

Chef Bolek's Oyster Stew 2019

A little more than one year ago, I first encountered the Oysterfest.  A festival surrounding the oyster, the iconic shellfish of the Chesapeake Bay (and, yes, elsewhere, but as someone in the Delmarva, there is only the Bay). The very first thing that I did was serve as one of 500 judges in a taste testing of oyster stews.  I did a post about that experience, which you can find here.  I had such a great time trying the different entries of oyster stew, that I decided to make my own Chesapeake Oyster Stew.

One year later, I returned to the Oysterfest, ready to serve as a judge at the oyster stew competition.  There were only four contestants this year.  Oyster Stew A was very good, but it was lacking a little something in my opinion, although it is hard to explain what exactly was that "something."  Oyster Stew B was very good, and, it helped that I got a few full oysters that I was able to enjoy along with a slight kick in the background of the stew.  Oyster Stew C was good, in that it had the smoky notes that one can get using bacon.  The big drawback was that no one skimmed off the grease, which left a reddish film on the top of the stew. Oyster Stew D was somewhat avant garde, relying upon the flavor of the oyster liqueur than the oysters itself.  Overall, I decided that Oyster Stew B was the best.  As for all of the other judges, a majority chose Oyster Stew A.

After that event, I was inspired to create a new oyster stew for 2019.  I decided to draw from the avant garde nature of Oyster Stew D, but to use actual oysters.  I wanted to make an oyster stew without cream or milk.  That is truly thinking out of the box as that cream or milk is a fundamental characteristic of this type of stew.  The substitute came in a triumverate of liquids.  First, I decided to use white wine, and, in this case, a Chardonnay. The best wine would be an unoaked wine or a slightly oaked wine (which is what I used).  Second, I decided to use clam juice, which gives a taste that works well with seafood soups. (It is great when one cannot find seafood stock.)  Third, I did what every self-respecting cook does when making oyster stew, I used the oyster liqueur. 

The one other major change that I did is to use ham hocks, as opposed to bacon.  The difference is significant because, due to the high salt content of a ham hock, there is not as much grease in the pan as with bacon.  I crisped up the pieces of ham hock to provide some texture elements in the soup, but I had to add a little oil to prevent everything from simply burning.  

In the end, this so-called "avant garde" style of oyster stew was a great experiment.  The only thing that was missing is what I love in oyster stews ... that slight hint of smokiness that comes from the use of bacon.  Perhaps it will find its way back into the Chef Bolek's Oyster Stew 2020. 

CHEF BOLEK'S OYSTER STEW 2019

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 4

Ingredients:

16 ounces of oysters, with liqueur reserved

1 cup finely diced onion

1 cup finely diced celery

1 cup of red potatoes, peeled and diced

1 cup of clam juice

1 cup of white wine, such as Chardonnay

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
2.5 ounces of ham hock (wiping off most of the salt), diced
3 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
1.  Saute the ham hocks and vegetables.  Add the oil and heat a medium sized pot on medium high.  Add the ham hock and saute, stirring occasionally, until it begins to crisp.  Add the onions, celery, potatoes, bay leaves and thyme.  Continue to saute until the onions become translucent, and the celery and potatoes begin to soften, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add more oil if the bottom of the pot becomes dry to avoid burning the ingredients.

2.  Add the liquid.  Add the wine and stir the ingredients.  Then add the clam juice and the oyster liqueur and stir again.  Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat.  Continue to simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

3.  Add the oysters.  Add the oysters to the stew.  Cook for about three to five minutes until the oysters are opaque.  If your guests want their oysters cooked a little more, let it go for an additional minute or two.

4.  Finish the dish.  Pour the stew into individual bowls.  Add a few oysters to each of the bowls.  Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Roast Heritage Turkey with Sausage, Apple and Pecan Dressing

Maybe it is the times that we live in, maybe its because I love history.  Either way, I find myself drawn to earliest days of our Republic, when people such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were walking and talking. I often enjoy trips to Mount Vernon, Monticello, or colonial Williamsburg. And, with each trip, I ultimately find myself fixated on, not the founding fathers, but the enslaved who served them. The reason is that I am almost always interested in the kitchens. Those kitchens were staffed by slaves, who were responsible for preparing and serving each course to the hosts and guests.  (My interest actually goes far beyond what may have been served to the guests of George Washington and focuses on what the slaves often prepared for themselves with what little they had. If you are looking for a good book that touches on this subject, check out The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty.)

For Thanksgiving 2018, I decided to prepare a meal that would have prepared during the colonial times. I drew from my cookbooks, such as The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook, and, online, such as the recipes provided by Mount Vernon.  Nearly all of the dishes -- from the appetizer to the main course -- were recipes that could find some connection to America's colonial past. (The only exception was the roasted vegetable dish, which I had made in the past.)

When it came to the turkey and dressing recipes, I decided upon the a Roast Turkey with Sausage, Apple and Pecan Dressing.  This recipe comes from the Tavern Cookbook.  One would like to think that this recipe was served back in the colonial era, such as to George Washington, but I have nothing to support that theory.  And, given that Thanksgiving itself did not become a recognized holiday until another one of the great American Presidents (President Lincoln), this turkey and dressing recipe certainly wasn't served to celebrate any holiday. 

As for the actual turkey itself, Thanksgiving 2018 also featured a first in my cooking adventures ... roasting a heritage turkey. My beautiful Angel and my family were going to be celebrating Thanksgiving at home with her parents. This sparked an interest in sourcing a local turkey from a Maryland farm and, even further, a heritage bird that represents the history of this bird.  There are several farms across the Old Line State that raise heritage turkeys, such as Narragansett and Bourbon Red breeds. Ultimately, I chose Nick's Organic Farm, in part because of its location and the variety of products beyond turkey that the farm sells.  (In a way, this was a test of buying directly from a farm; I am looking to procuring more of the meat that I cook with from a farm as opposed to a grocery store.)

I purchased a ten (10) pound Bourbon Red turkey from Nick's Organic Farm. This 10 pound weight makes the the turkey the smallest one that I ever prepared. (I usually have cooked birds between 12 and 16 pounds, and, occasionally, up to 20 pounds in the past.) Given this was the first time that I was cooking with a heritage bird, I did a lot of research into the bird itself, including the white meat to dark meat ratio and the cooking times.  This is where the Internet, for all of its information, can fail someone. There are literally recipes for cooking this bird in two opposite ways: (1) low and slow; and (2) hot and fast. For someone who is new to cooking heritage birds, this is not helpful. Needless to say, I choose the low and low method in the hopes that I could err on the side of caution. It would be far less frustrating (or so I thought) to cook the bird for an additional 15 minutes than to have a bird as dry as the paper upon which the recipe is printed. I cooked it at 325 degrees for approximately 3 hours. Otherwise, I cooked the bird according to the recipe's instructions.  The lower cooking temperature meant that the cooking time was a longer.  For purposes of this recipe, however, I have left the cooking times from the Tavern Cookbook because those cooking times are more appropriate for store-bought birds).

The stuffing recipe also provided a first, in terms of the ingredients that were used and the style of preparing the stuffing. In an effort to produce a stuffing as close as possible, my beautiful Angel baked both French bread and corn bread. As for the principal ingredients, I bought some bulk turkey sausage.  (My Angel only eats turkey, she does not eat pork or beef.) The apples were a combination of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples. The pecans were, well, pecans.

Typically, when preparing stuffing, I was always told to dip the day-old bread in some turkey stock.  This dipping is to help the stuffing remain moist during the cooking process.  The recipe that I worked with did not call for the dipping of anything in turkey stock.  Instead, the only liquid that was added to the stuffing was 1 stick of melted butter.  This naturally created a drier stuffing.  Given I was working with a smaller bird, I could not put much of the stuffing in the cavity of the bird. The rest went into a greased, glass baking dish and baked separately. I put the dish in at the end of the cooking time for the bird.

Overall, I found the heritage bird to be the best turkey that I have ever eaten, both in terms of flavor and texture. (And, in this regard, I strongly recommend using Nick's Organic Farm.)  The Bourbon Red really does provide a stark contrast to the rather bland meat and texture of a mass produced, broadbreasted white bird.  In fact, the bird is so much better than any other turkey that I have had, that it more than justified the additional cost of the heritage bird. I definitely plan on using heritage birds in the future.  The only change I would make is to stick with the instructions or go with my gut when cooking the bird

ROAST HERITAGE TURKEY WITH

SAUSAGE, APPLE AND PECAN DRESSING

Recipe adapted from The Colonial Williamsburg Tavern Cookbook, pg .116-117

Serves Many

Ingredients (for the dressing):

1 pound bulk fresh mild or hot sausage
     (I used mild turkey sausage)

2 large onions, finely chopped

2 celery ribs, finely chopped

3 cups cooked corn bread, cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 cups day old French or Italian bread, 

     crusts removed and cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 large cooking apples, preferably Granny Smith,

     peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch dice
     (I used a combination of Granny Smiths and Honeycrisps)

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Ingredients (for the turkey):

1 trimmed turkey (12 to 14 pounds)
     (I used a 10 pound Bourbon Red heritag eturkey)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup (1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups turkey stock

Directions:

1. Prepare the dressing. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, place the sausage and cook, stirring often, until no trace of pink remains. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the skillet. And the onions and celery to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until softened about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the drained sausage, onions, celery, corn bread, day old bread, apples and pecans. Stir in the melted butter, parsley, salt and pepper. 

2. Prepare the turkey.  Dry the turkey inside and out with paper towels. Season the inside the cavity with salt and pepper. Fill the breast and neck cavities with the dressing. Truss the turkey securely with a trussing needle and kitchen string.

3. Roast the turkey.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub the turkey with the butter and season well with salt and pepper. In a large roasting pan, place the bird on its side. Cook for 15 minutes and then turn on the other side for fifteen minutes. Turn, breast side down, in the pan and cook until the back is golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and turn breast side up. Continue to roast for 18 minutes per pound, basting every 20 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the turkey to a warmed platter and let sit, loosely covered with foil for 10-15 minutes.  

4. Prepare the gravy.  Skim the fat from the surface of the roasting pan juices.  Pour off the clear juices and reserve.  Place the roasting pan on top of the stove and sprinkler over the flour. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until the flour is lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Pour in the turkey stock and increase the heat to high. Stir or whisk constantly until the gravy comes to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the clear pan juices and season with salt and pepper. Strain through a sieve and pour into a warmed gravy boat. Carve the turkey and pass the gravy on the side.

ENJOY!