I’ve tried this one twice now, and not only is it way easy, but it comes out really well, and makes for great leftovers.  If you don’t like pork, however, turn back now…

Start by sauteing some onions, garlic, celery, carrots and some herbs (I used dried basil this last time I think).  Once they are golden, throw in some Italian sausage and some country-style pork ribs.  When they are brown, add about a cup of wine (red or white) and cook it down to being almost dry.

Then add another cup of water, cover, and simmer about 1/2 hour.  Then add some tomatoes.  I used a big can of “crushed tomatoes” from Muir Glen.  I also threw in some pickled peppercorns.  The basically just cook in until the ribs fall apart.  Maybe 2 hours. 

Very tasty, low stress, and the leftovers are great.  I just took the leftovers, added some extra tomato sauce and served it over pasta.  Mmmmmm.  Porky goodness.

I just finished a truly fascinating book called “Why Some Like It Hot”, by Gary Paul Nabhan.  It’s all about the effects of our environment on our genes, and how that in turn influences how and what we can and should eat.  For example, the author describes how it was only in Northern Europe that being able to digest milk became a survival characteristic, so it’s only Northern Europeans (mostly) that can tolerate lactose into adulthood.  

He cites a number of similar examples, from Crete to Arizona to Hawaii, where the food and climate that were available shaped the genetic makeup of the people who lived there and have a profound effect on what foods are or are not healthy for those people to eat. 

The phenomenon, which Nabhan terms “food-gene-culture” interaction, is one that has interested me for quite some time.  This is the first material I’ve read that cites such wide ranging examples and really brings home how what is a “healthy” diet has much more to do with the individual than most people think. 

If you are interested in nutrition, or why we eat what we do, it’s a great read. 

We had some friends over this weekend for Vikki’s birthday, and she made a big batch of rumaki for everyone on Sunday morning.  For those who haven’t had the experience, rumaki are basically chicken livers and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon.  There are numerous variations, including some with a soy based sauce on them, but we go for the purist version.

The number one biggest thing is to get good chicken livers.  It’s not easy these days, but check out your local organic or whole foods grocery, or if you have a kosher deli/grocery, that’d probably be a good source too.  I’ve made them with commercial livers from a big grocery store and they can be pretty gross.  Keep in mind that the liver is the part of the body that filters out all the stuff that’s not good for you, and big commercial chicken farms feed chickens lots of stuff that’s not good for them.  Suffice it to say that you can really taste the antibiotics.   Anyway, get organic free range chicken livers if you can find them.  They have a much milder and more pleasant taste.

Cook the livers until they just stop wiggling.  You don’t want to over cook them!  To assemble, wrap up a water chestnut slice with a piece of liver about the same size in about half a strip of (uncooked) bacon and toothpick it together.  Put the finished rolls under the broiler until the bacon is crisp. 

We like to serve ours with hot Chinese-style mustard for dipping.  Well worth the effort.  For the liver-squeamish, we usually make some with green olives instead of the livers, which are also quite tasty, though maybe not quite so sublime.