Top: Heritage hooch in a glass jug. Bottom: Three generations of Hatfields. Photos
courtesy The Legendary Hatfield & McCoy
Whiskey.

The hostilities between two clans living in the Appalachian Mountains began in 1865, with a murder. The feud and mayhem continued for decades. There was a miniseries on the History Channel in 2012, and you can review the whole sorry mess on History.com.

Whether truth or marketing, The Legendary Hatfield & McCoy Whiskey claims to be made by descendants of those Hatfields and McCoys.

It extends the tale with news that the two clans have finally put aside their differences, and have created a new whiskey “rooted in old family recipes, pride of name, and Appalachian tradition.”

We received a bottle as a Valentine gift, along with the recipe for a special cocktail (recipe below).
 
WHAT KIND OF SPIRIT IS IT?

Bottled in South Carolina, its an American whiskey, for starters. American whiskeys include Bourbon, corn whiskey, rye and Tennessee Whiskey. Bourbon and Tennessee whiskies are distinguished in flavor from other types of American whiskey, largely because the grain mash used to make them must contain more than 50% corn. By law, all American whiskeys except corn whiskey must be aged in new casks that have been charred on the inside.

The 80-proof whiskey is made from a proprietary blend of “corn, barley, malt, special strains of yeast, [and] infused natural flavors.” By comparison:

If you’re accustomed to analyzing the flavor components of wine or spirits, you may notice flavor nuances that are not uncommon in other whiskeys:

 
The suggested retail price is $37.99 for a 750 ml bottle. It’s currently available in 42 states and online.

At this price, this is not so much a connoisseur whiskey as a novel spirit for entertaining and gifting. We’d especially give it to someone with whom we’re having a major disagreement (and who has a sense of whimsy).

Discover more at LegendaryHatfieldAndMcCoy.com. And consider it for Father’s Day gifts.
 

While no one drinks a photo, this one, with its red ribbon of Port, encouraged us to make a Valentine cocktail. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it also works for Halloween, for a Dracula-themed cocktail.

You may be asking, “What’s a full sneak?” We had no idea, and headed straight to our browser. It’s a taxidermist’s pose often used for the trophy head of a buck deer (big antlers!). Perhaps the Hatfields and the McCoys had their share of impressively antlered buck heads?

Ingredients Per Drink

1. STIR the first three ingredients together over ice. Strain into a tall Collins glass and top with ginger ale.

2. FLOAT the ruby Port on top and garnish with fresh mint or a lemon slice.

 
WHISKEY VS. WHISKY: BOTH ARE CORRECT

Whisky is the Scottish spelling of whiskey, a term that originated in Ireland. The alternative spelling was chosen to differentiate the Scots’ national product from Irish whiskey.

The “whisky” spelling is used in Canada, Japan and Wales, as well as Scotland.

In the U.S., a 1968 directive from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms specifies “whisky” as the official U.S. spelling. However, it allows the alternative spelling, “whiskey.”

Most U.S. producers prefer to include the “e,” as do we. Without it, it looks like something is missing.

Ironically, distillation was discovered in the 8th century in Persia—a country that has not permitted the sale and consumption of spirits since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Here’s a brief history of whiskey.
  

Top: Our most recent whole grain breakfast: poached egg, red rice, baby arugula, sautéed cherry tomatoes and mushrooms (photo courtesy InHarvest). Second: We’ve also eaten our poached egg with leftover white rice and veggies (photo courtesy Gardenia | NYC). Third: You can bake the egg atop the cooked grain instead of poaching it, as in this saffron rice nest (photo courtesy American Egg Board). Bottom: A poached egg with quinoa, broccoli rabe and a sprinkle of pine nuts. Here’s the recipe (photo courtesy Good Eggs | SF).

We’re not tooting our horn after all that Valentine candy, but we’re still holding on to our new year’s resolution to eat a healthy breakfast.

We miss the bagels and cream cheese, the cheese danish, the cinnamon rolls, the weekend pancakes dripping with maple syrup. How long we’ll miss them we can’t predict, but so far, we’re still on the wagon*.

Thank goodness, because it’s National Hot Breakfast Month, and we wouldn’t want to let a food holiday down.
 
OUR NEW GO-TO BREAKFAST

We recently featured a grain bowl for breakfast (bottom photo). We’ve been eating lots of them.

We really enjoy the combination of grain, egg and veggies for breakfast; and we especially like the opportunity to use leftover grains and veggies in a most delicious way.

All we need to do is poach the egg; although we’ve skirted that too, by using peeled, hard-boiled eggs that we pick up at Trader Joe’s. (Slice or halve them and heat them in the microwave for 10 seconds.)

The recipe in the top photo was developed by Mike Holleman, a corporate chef with InHarvest Foodservice, a supplier of premium grains to restaurants and other food operations. He used red rice along with more familiar items.

Just put together these ingredients, and hold off on Chef Mike’s creamy salad dressing in favor of a light toss with lemon or lime juice and olive oil:

 
LIST OF WHOLE GRAINS

Most of us already eat grains for breakfast, in the form of cold cereal or porridge. Here are grains usually used as lunch and dinner sides, that can be part of your whole-grain breakfast.

If you have leftover beans or lentils instead of whole grains, use them!

HERE’S MORE ABOUT WHOLE GRAINS.
 
____________________
*The idiom “to be on the wagon” refers to heavy drinkers who are abstaining from alcohol. To fall off the wagon is to end one’s sobriety. The phrase evolved from an expression used in the early 20th-century American temperance movement, “to be on the water wagon” or the water cart, which meant that the person was sober, drinking water instead of alcohol. A horse-pulled water wagon or cart was used to hose down dusty roads. The phrase has evolved to encompass other addictions or compulsions. [Source]

†Salba is a trademarked name for chia, Kamut® is a trademarked name for khorasan wheat. Grits are refined and are not whole grains.

‡These are whole grains that are used as seeds, due to their tiny size. Use them as a garnish, not as a base grain.
 
  

Mom, a social worker and son, a chef, started a family business to add more flavor to pickles, olives and nuts. The result: unique, assertively spiced, better-for-you snacks, garnishes, or for a relish tray.

Or for gifts. We can’t think of a better house gift for hosts, combining flavor and fun. Shpickles and Shmolives will be our go-to house gifts for the forseable future.

The line is all natural and certified kosher by Rabbi Dovid Chaoi. Shpickles and Shmolives are free of dairy, gluten, soy, sugar and wheat, making them vegan as well.
 
SHPICKLES: PICKLED VEGETABLES

Other companies make great pickle cucumbers. Brooklyn Whatever has started out with other pickled vegetables:

 
We can’t choose favorites here: We like them all. And we feel so good about eating them: So much flavor, so few calories.
 
SHMOLIVES: SPICED OLIVES

Shmolives is a blend of seven different olives, marinated in a “secret mix” of herbs and spices that adhere to the olives, giving you a mouthful of zing with each bite.

Made by hand in small batches “the old way”—stirring to coat the olives with wood spoons—they are a must for any olive lover.
 
SHNUTS: SPICED NUTS

Shnuts are a mix of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans and walnuts—no peanuts.

They’re sweet and savory: herbs and spices with a touch of brown sugar. Made with all natural ingredients, filled with “good fat,” a handful is a healthful snack.

HEALTH NOTES: The USDA-approved heart-healthy nuts are almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts. These nuts contain less than 4g of saturated fats per 50g. Walnuts have the highest amount of the heart-healthy alpha linolenic acid, which many studies show lowers total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) levels.

As with Shpickles and Shmolives, Shnuts are prepared by hand, roasted twice and flavored to perfection: the perfect “shnack.”

A sampling of Shpickles: Brussels Sprouts, Carrots and Cauliflower & Beets.

Get yours at BrooklynWhatever.com.

Plan ahead for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifting.

Not to mention green gifting for St. Patrick’s Day, with Shpickles Brussels Sprouts, Jalapeños, Kale Slaw, Okra and String Beans.

Top: Vegetarian lentil soup with mustard
greens from Good Eggs. Bottom: Black beluga
lentils from InHarvest.com.

Lentil soup is a winter favorite: hearty, nutritious comfort food. Why make your own? Better lentils, more nuanced flavors and the ability to control the salt.

Today’s tip is an easy recipe for homemade vegetarian lentil soup, with a variation if you’d like to add smoky ham hocks.
 
LENTILS: AN ANCIENT CROP

Lentils are an ancient food, found in Mediterranean archaeological sites up to 13,000 years old. As with all foods, it first grew wild and was then cultivated, sometime around 8,500 years ago. It grows well in rainfall-challenged climates like the Middle East.

In the Bible (Genesis 25:30-34), Esau, famished after working the fields, gave up his birthright (the rights of the first-born son to inheritance and position) to his younger brother Jacob in exchange for a pot of Jacob’s red lentil soup. The Greek playwright Aristophanes called lentil soup, the “sweetest of delicacies.” [Source]

Plentiful and inexpensive, through much of history lentils have been considered food for the poor. Marie Antoinette made them fashionable in 18th-century France, although elsewhere, even into the 19th century, they were called “poor man’s meat,” and acceptable during Lent for people who could not afford fish. They became a staple in the Middle East and India.
 
TYPES OF LENTIL SOUP
In modern times, in Europe and the U.S., lentils and lentil soup have moved up, acquiring a position as a hearty and tasty fall and winter comfort food.

 
WHAT ARE BELUGA LENTILS?

Beluga lentils, also called black beluga lentils and petite beluga lentils, are tiny black lentils that glisten when they’re cooked. Their tiny size and shiny black surface reminded chefs of beluga caviar; hence the name.

They are preferred by fine chefs for pilafs, salads and sides because they hold their shape when cooked and don’t become mushy. They have the same good nutrition profile as other lentil varieties: protein, dietary fiber, iron, potassium and important minerals.

If you can’t find beluga lentils, substitute La Puy French green lentils.

When you cook the lentils, consider making extra lentils to add to a salad or to serve as a side. Start with this recipe for Lentil, Olive & Arugula Salad.
 
WHAT ARE MUSTARD GREENS?

Mustard greens comprise the leaves and stems of the mustard plant, Brassica juncea. The seeds are used whole as a spice, pressed into mustard oil or ground into mustard powder, which in turn can be mixed with vinegar or wine to create prepared mustard.

The greens are much more prevalent in Asian cooking than in Western recipes. While they have not received the media attention of kale, mustard greens are being discovered for their flavor and nutrition. Mizuna, a “designer green,” is a Japanese mustard plant, Brassica juncea var. japonica. Tatsoi, another Japanese specialty green, is mustard-like but from a different species: Brassica narinosa.

Low in calories, mustard greens are high in vitamins A, C, K and folic acid (also known as vitamin B9 and vitamin M).

RECIPE: LENTIL SOUP WITH MUSTARD GREENS

This recipe takes 10 minutes of prep time and 45 minutes of cook time. For another vegetarian lentil soup recipe, check out this Red Lentil & Yogurt Soup.

If you’d like to add a smoky meat flavor, use chicken stock plus 3 to 4 smoked ham hocks.

 
Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
________________________________
*You can use any combination of broths, or combine broth with water. You can use all water, but the more broth, the more flavor. For a vegetarian version, of course, use vegetable stock.

Conventional and red mustard greens. As with kale and other vegetables, different varieties will have different leaf styles. Photos courtesy GoodEggs.

‡A ham hock, also called the pork knuckle, is the joint where the foot was attached to the hog’s leg.

**Substitutes for crumbled feta or Parmesan in this recipe include include cotija, goat cheese (lightly aged, so it crumbles), queso fresco or ricotta salata.
 
Preparation

1. PLACE the lentils in a large strainer and rinse them under cold running water. Pick over the lentils and remove any discolored ones, or occasional debris like small pebbles.

2. HEAT 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a stock pot over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the celery root or parsnips, onions, garlic and carrots and cook over high heat for a few minutes. When the garlic starts to turn golden brown, turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking the mixture for about 7 minutes, until the root vegetables begin to soften.

3. ADD the lentils and 8 cups of liquid—this can be any combination of water, stock or just one or the other. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for 25 minutes, until the lentils are tender. When the lentils are fully cooked…

4. GENTLY STIR stir in the mustard greens and cover the pot. Cook the lentils and greens together for about 5 minutes—just enough for the greens to soften, but still maintain some of their bite. To finish, stir in the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired.
 
Variation With Ham Hocks

1. FOLLOW steps 1 and 2, above.

3. Add the ham hocks (instead of the lentils) and chicken stock. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 1 hour, or until the hocks are tender. Then add the lentils and continue cook for 25 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

4. REMOVE the ham hocks and stir in the mustard greens; allow to cook for 5 minutes, or until the greens soften. While the greens cook, cut the meat from the ham hocks and cube or julienne as desired. Stir the lemon juice into the soup and add the ham. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Garnish and serve.
  

Beet and Sweet Potato Galette from Vermont
Creamery.

In the pastry world, a galette is a rustic, open-face pie, made without a pie pan. It is flat, with a turned-up crust that wraps around the filling to create a “dough pan.” It can be round, square or oblong.

Galette (gah-LET)—called crostata in Italian and rustic pie or rustic tart in English—hails from the days before people had pie plates, and the days after that when only the kitchens of the wealthy had them.

Way before then, the precursor of the galette probably dates from the Neolithic Age, a.k.a. the New Stone Age, which lasted from about 10,200 B.C.E.and ending between 4,500 and 2,000 B.C.E. Thick cereal pastes—barley, oats, rye, wheat—were sweetened with honey and spread on hot stones to cook.

The recipe below, from Vermont Creamery, uses their Spreadable Goat Cheese and Unsalted Cultured Butter.

It can be served as a light lunch or brunch with salad and soup, or as a first course at dinner.

Palates, take note: Vermont Creamery’s cultured butter is churned to 86% butterfat. This is higher than most other butters available and creates an especially flaky and delicious pie crust.

Supermarket butter is 80% butterfat, and most European-style butters are 82%-84%. We’ve only seen the 86% varieties from Vermont Creamery and California’s Straus Family Creamery. If you want the best butter, this is it.

And, we must note: Our favorite butter for bread is Vermont Creamery’s Cultured Salted Butter. It’s amazing: We never use salted butter unless it’s this one, with the lightest touch of sea salt. It’s irresistible.

See the different types of butter in our Butter Glossary.

Ingredients
 
For The Crust

 
For The Filling

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F.

2. PEEL the sweet potato and beet, then slice them into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Set them aside on separate plates, to keep the beets from bleeding onto the sweet potato slices.

For summer, make the galette from zucchini and yellow squash. This example, from Good Eggs, shows an individual-size galette.

4. ADD the ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing until the dough begins to take shape. Gently knead with your fingers to help bring the dough together. If needed, add additional water a little at a time. Once the dough is formed…

5. SHAPE it into a disk and roll it into a rough circle on a piece of parchment, to a uniform thickness of ¼ inch. If you have trouble creating a uniform thickness, consider a pie crust mold for “perfect crusts every time.”

6. SPREAD the goat cheese onto the dough, leaving an inch border around the edge. Layer rounds of the cut sweet potato and beets on top of goat cheese. Gently fold the bare edge of dough inwards on top of the layered vegetables, working around the entire circle.

7. SPRINKLE the top of the galette with fresh thyme, salt and pepper and bake for 40–50 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through and the crust is golden. Serve it hot from the oven, at room temperature or in-between.