I was recently given some ground venison. I’ve discovered you can prepare ground venison in the same way you cook beef or pork. That is, you can make burgers, casseroles, chili, meatballs, meatloaf, tacos or stew.  It is quite versatile. Also, venison is one of the  leanest, heart -healthy foods. It is low in fat, high in protein, and a great source of iron. This time around I decided to do it stir-fried with mushrooms. It came out great. I also paired it with pappardelle noodles; which are a broad, flat pasta similar to fettuccini. But you can pair the dish with any ribbon pasta or a grain like rice, quinoa or couscous. Some would consider this dish a form or Nuyorican picadillo (by the way, pronounced ‘pee-kah-dee-yoh’).

VENISON WITH MUSHROOM

Ingredients:

8 oz. (or more) mushroom, washed and sliced
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 pound ground venison
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano or ½ teaspoon dried
Salt and black pepper to taste
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoons light or heavy cream (your choice)

Instructions:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frypan or skillet over moderate-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have released their juices, about 3-4 minutes. Remove mushrooms to a plate and set aside.
2.  In same pan or skillet, heat additional 2 tablespoons of oil. Add onion and cook until onions becomes translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
3.  Stir in venison. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Cook until venison is browned, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cream, stir to mix and cook about 2 minutes more. Serve immediately over pasta or favorite grain.
   Yield: 4 servings.

When the precooked package pizza crust came out years go, it was a game changer. Now you could have ready-made pizza without the bother of having to make pizza dough, which was a challenge in itself depending on the ingredients used.  This was a quick, easy solution to a common problem. I became an instant convert and, ever since, have been  making all types of pizza toppings. My favorite is the classic Pizza Margherita with fresh basil, home made sauce,  olive oil  and cheese. But I’m constantly experimenting.

I am also a fan of focaccia, the flat oven-baked Italian bread product similar to pizza dough. In Italy, focaccia is served as an antipasto, appetizer or a sandwich. My favorite focaccia dish is Focaccia  al Rosmarino or simply, rosemary-olive table bread. Then inspiration struck: why not use the same ingredients with ready-made pizza crust? The result is my version of Rosemary-Olive Focaccia. Admittedly, a  shortcut process. The only difference with the recipe is that focaccia is usually made in the form of a big square or rectangle. In my creation you get regular pizza slices.

ROSEMARY-OLIVE FOCACCIA

Ingredients:

1 ready made pizza crust (like the Boboli brand)
3 tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup (or more) grated Parmesan cheese (can use Asiago or Romano cheese, if desired)
6 Kalamata olives (or any black olives), pitted and quartered
4 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and cut into strips
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Rub 1 tablespoon olive oil over top of pizza crust. Sprinkle with ½ cup Parmesan cheese. Place in oven (in an oven proof pan) and bake until cheese begins to brown.
3.  Arrange olives, sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary and garlic atop pizza crust. Sprinkle enough remaining Parmesan cheese to cover lightly. Drizzle with remaining olive oil
4.  Continue baking until cheese melts and crust is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven, cut into slices and serve.
   Yield:  servings.

New Year’s Eve is upon us, and I celebrate by posting my famed Hangover Cures For The New Year once more. Believe me, folks, I’ve been though it.  So here is my treatise, again.

New Year’s revels have been with us since the beginning, and so have hangovers cures. The ancient Romans recommended eating deep fried canaries as a sure-fire cure. The ancient Libyans quaffed a mixture of sea-water and wine. The ancient Greeks recommended eating sheep’s lungs. The ancient Chinese swore that eating horse’s brains was the cure. In the 1800s in the U.S. it was thought that soaking your feet in mustard would do it. Among our Irish brethren it was thought that burying the person up to the neck in moist river sand would generate a cure.

Today in Mexico the national cure is menudo, a broth made of boiled tripe. In Haiti, it’s sticking 13 black-headed pins in the cork of the bottle you drank from that will deliver you from the hangover. In Puerto Rico, at one time, it was said that rubbing a lemon under your drinking arm would be the cure. In Poland, it is still recommended that drinking pickle juice is a good remedy (I would think twice about that one). A more modern cure among scuba divers is taking a blast from an oxygen tank. Some say a steam sauna is the best way to get rid of a hangover. But what if you don’t have access to a sauna?

My experience with hangovers comes from my wild and misspent youth when I was known for more than my share of imbibing. The following remedies are what I consider to be tried and true options, as far as the primordial hangover is concerned.

1. Drink plenty of fluids. Booze dehydrates you. Replenish your system with fruit juices and water. Orange juice with its vitamin C content is especially good.
2. Take a hot shower. This relaxes constricted blood vessels and tense neck muscles.
3. Avoid caffeine. It dehydrates you more. Drinking black coffee will probably make you sicker.
4. Tray good ole Alka Seltzer the next morning. Avoid aspirin, Tylenol or Ibruprofen. Aspirin is a blood thinner, and just like alcohol it can intensify the affects of a hangover. Tylenol (acetamoniphen) can adversely affect the liver. Ibuprofen can cause stomach bleeding.
5. Sweat it out. Exercise the toxins out of your system. But beware that too strenuous exercise may dehydrate you more. I do a series of breathing exercises from our Kung-Fu Wu-Su system called 8 silk weaving. This is marvelous for easing a hangover.
6. Pop some vitamins. B vitamins (especially B6) help the body metabolize alcohol. B vitamin supplements also provide a boost of energy. Vitamin C helps detoxify the body naturally, reducing the affects of the poisons in your system.
7. Ginkgo Biloba (ginkgo seeds) is considered a good herbal remedy since ginkgo contains an enzyme that speed up the body’s metabolism of alcohol.
8. Drink skullcap tea made from an herb (skullcap) that eases withdrawal from the alcohol. It can be found in capsule or tablets in health food stores. I like skullcap tea sweetened with pure, raw organic honey. Believe me, you’ll feel better in an hour or so.
9. Another good tea drink is peppermint. The mint contains antioxidants which is a natural stomach soothener and digestive aid.
10. Ginseng tea or ginseng root (steeped in hot water) soothes the stomach and helps with stomach troubles (endemic to hangovers). I prefer Korean Panax ginseng tea (which contains fructose).
11. Which leads us to the next cure, fructose (or fruit sugar), which speeds the body’s metabolism of alcohol by 25%. Or try putting some raw honey in your tea (it’s more than 40% fructose). Recall that among old time bartenders the favored hangover remedy was just honey in hot water.

If nothing works you can always try the time honored “Hair of the Dog.” That is, having a shot on booze, preferably gin or vodka. Something about the blood stream dealing with the new alcohol and thus ignoring the old alcohol, and the hangover in your system. For the record, I have never tried this, and I don’t think I ever will. And then there’s offering prayers to Saint Viviana, patron saints of drunkards and, concurrently, hangovers.

But my best hangover cure of all is simply, rest, peace, and quiet. Just sleep it off.

That time of year again; and again I post my famed Hangover Cures for the New Year.  The post is based on research and experience.  Believe me, friends, I’ve been through it.  My wild and misspent youth speaks for itself. I no longer indulge in New Year’s Eve festivities. I’ve had enough of those days. In fact, in one memorable New Year’s Eve party, I was thrown out a window—but that’s anther story  Be t as it may, for those who still over-indulge, here is my treatise—again.

In the summer, in Vermont, the place alive with fresh mint. It grows on the side of the road, in most gardens and woods. Apart from cooking with it, I also use mint when preparing that  southern favorite, a Mint Julep. Most of us know of the Mint Julep as a drink associated with the Kentucky derby, where it has been served since 1938.   To everyone it is known as a bourbon-based cocktail. Guess what? It wasn’t always so.  Do your research and you’ll discover that the true mint julep was a “morning tonic” that Virginia gentlemen imbibed in the 18th century. It’s ingredients were rum, (yes,rum), water and fresh mint.

Being Puerto Rican, I am a partisan of rum. Thus, when I prepare a mint julep, that is beverage that I use. The reason that bourbon replaced rum in the Republic is that Senator Henry Clay who, before the Civil War, was known as the “Great Compromiser” for his efforts to evade that catastrophe, became a walking billboard for bourbon. He came from Kentucky and he avidly promoted his native product, which he substituted for the rum.  It is noted that he introduced the bourbon version to Washington  D.C., at the famous Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Advertising like that can’t be beat.

No, I have nothing against Henry Clay, great patriot that he was. I just prefer the traditional rum version. Used with dark rum, it has a more refined, mellow taste. I cal it my ” Boricua Mint Julep.” Check the recipe given below, and judge for yourself. And, always, please drink responsibly.

BORICUA MINT JULEP

Ingredients:

12 fresh stemmed mint leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
2½ ounces dark rum
cracked ice
Fresh or carbonated water
5 or 6 sprigs fresh mint for garnish

Instructions:

1. In a tall Collins glass (10-14 oz), gently mix the 12 mint leaves with the sugar and 2 teaspoons of water.
2.  Pack the glass with ice and fill with rum and equal parts water.
3.  Garnish with the sprigs of mint so that the tops are about 2 inches above the rim of the glass. If preferred, you can serve with 2 short straws.
   Yield: 1 Boricua cocktail.

Who doesn’t like pizza? We all do.  Because it’s probably the healthiest fast food there is.  Today’ recipe mirrors that with the quickest, most delicious recipe that you can make at home in a jiff.  Historically, it’s the oldest pizza dish there is. So, you’ll be making not only a delicious dish, but one filled with history. Pizza Margherita  traces its origin to the late 18th century. It was popular in Naples by the 1830’s. It was the typical Neopolitan pizza made with tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil and olive oil. It’s still the most popular pizza style in the region.

And you can make it at home with no effort at all. I like convenience, so the trick is to use ready made pizza crust like the ones made by the Boboli brand. Which can be found in most stores these days. They carry thin crust, original pizza crust, and 100% whole wheat, which is the one I prefer. But, if you have the time, and desire, you can prepare your own pizza crust.

This is the recipe that I saw prepared in countless bistros in Napoli. I tweaked it a bit in that I added garlic for more oomph. You can skip the garlic if desired. It ain’t fancy. There’s no pepperoni, anchovies, chicken, pineapple rings as in so-called Hawaiian pizza, or any of that stuff.  Most important of all, it’s home-made. So, forget Domino’s, Pizza Hut,  Little Caesar’s, et all.  This is the original. The genuine product as served in Naples.  It won’t disappoint.

QUICK MARGHERITA PIZZA

Ingredients:

1 Boboli pizza crust (I prefer whole wheat)
¾ cup marinara sauce, home made or store bought
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup (or more) thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
1 package basil leaves, rinsed and pat dry with paper towels

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Place the crust on a pizza stone, tiles, or large sheet of aluminum foil. Pour the sauce over the crust. Using the back of the spoon, spread it evenly over the surface, stopping about ½-inch from the edges.
3. Sprinkle the garlic over the sauce; and drizzle the olive oil over the pie.
4. Spread the mozzarella slices over the sauce; and scatter the basil leaves on top. Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes (or until the cheese is bubbling).
Yield: 3-4 servings.