Poppycock!

Hi everyone, Quay Lo here.  Quay Po took the day off. It seems only fair to start by explaining the meaning of the word “Poppycock”. Here is what the Miriam Webster’s on-line dictionary notes:

pop·py·cock

noun \ˈpä-pē-ˌkäk\ informal + old-fashioned: foolish words or ideas :

: empty talk or writing : Nonsense

Examples of usage for POPPYCOCK

“The congressman imagined that he had given a great speech, one that speculated would be remembered in history, but he will more likely be remembered for uttering two hours of poppycock.”

“Starting with the cherry tree, much of what was written about George Washington's life by his early biographers was pure poppycock”

Origin of POPPYCOCK

Dutch dialect pappekak, literally, soft dung, from Dutch pap (soft)  + kak (dung)

First Known Use: 1860s

So why in the world would I be talking about “Poppycock” in, of all places, a food blog? Given, as mentioned above, that it is an old fashioned term and its origin is scatological, and that it follows the well-established connection between words that mean dung, and words of beliefs, or assertions that are untrue or nonsensical. Let me explain. Firstly the word "poppycock" is largely an American term and in its American English sanitization of use, it became more a humorous expression used to describe the nonsensical, the absurd, or the outright fabrication.  Nobody reallly cares about where the word came from or its relationship to the Dutch ward for dung. If you make this recipe you'll understand why that is a good thing. 

How it came to be the name of a favorite confection of mine is a bit of a puzzle.  The word "Poppycock" as a proper noun was first used by a man named Harold  Vair, a Detroit candy shop owner. He was selecting a name for a snack he invented initially for his own use. He was looking for something that he himself would like to munch as he made automobile trips around his region. In 1960, the Lincoln Snack Company of Chicago (whose roots were in a Swiss firm called The Wander Co. founded in Berne in 1865), bought the rights to Poppycock, from Mr. Vair. I'm guessing he retired and munched on "poppycock" for the rest of his natural days.  Several more corporate deals later and Poppycock is today made by the same Lincoln Snack Co which is presently owned by the huge food conglomerate ConAgra. It is a proud trademark in a huge family of products. Did I mention that it had been a favorite snack of mine?  I didn’t consume a lot of it, as it is one of those sugary, buttery trifles with zero nutritional value, high calories, and huge amounts of pleasure value. In fact, I had not had any since well before I came to Malaysia. Imagine, then, my surprise to see it on the shelves of a local grocery here in Kuala Lumpur, a few years back. I quickly bought up four containers of the stuff and parsed it out like a scrooge saving pennies. Alas, it was a fleeting moment in my love affair with Poppycock as it disappeared again from local shelves. Slowly but surely Poppycock receded in my mind until just recently when I ran into an article about caramel corn. From that one article I did more searching. By time I had tired of it, I had learned that there are a million caramel corn recipes and almost as many companies that will ship to you (for a price of course) their version of “Gourmet” caramel corn. They almost always say that word in their name or their descriptions: “Gourmet”. Many of them add some nuts to their mix. Some of them added flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, and even coffee. All of them were expensive. VERY expensive. But the one thing I noticed was that all those recipes I read featured pretty much the same recipe and instructions for the basic caramel corn. That was when I decided that making the caramel corn was easy, and that insinuating some nuts into the mix seemed to be just as easy. I ended up having to tweak the recipe a little but not much. A little extra step and the addition of some vanilla and some sea salt seemed in order. It wasn’t enough to alter the basic flavor profiles of roasted nuts, popped corn and caramel candy). If you want to add a favorite nut (no, I don't mean your husband), or drizzle tempered chocolate over the whole batch instead of working with hard caramel, feel free.

Poppycock Caramel Popcorn, Almonds, and Pecans

1 cup pecan halves

1 cup whole almonds

10 cups popped popcorn 

2 cups brown sugar packed tightly

1 cup butter

1 cup corn syrup

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Medium course sea salt to taste

Place almonds and pecans on a cookie sheet and roast in an oven set to 150°C (300°F) for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool in a large mixing bowl.

Pop the popcorn (about ½ cup raw kernels to make 10 cups of popcorn), When finished add the popcorn to the nuts, (discarding uncooked kernels) and toss to distribute throughout.

In a heavy pot with a candy thermometer affixed or ready at the side, heat sugar, cream of tartar, butter, and corn syrup, bringing the contents up to hardball stage. Take away from heat and immediately add baking soda and vanilla, stirring to blend. Just as quickly pour caramel mix over the popcorn and nuts, tossing until the caramel is formed on all of the popcorn and nuts and large clumps begin to form. Wash and grease your hands with a bit of butter. Press the clumps into a cool cookie sheet so that contents are reasonably spread across the pan evenly (but not exactly). Sprinkle medium-course sea salt to taste. Allow to cool completely, then break apart with your fingers into smaller clumps of nuts and popcorn.  Store in a zip lock bag or a large cookie container. Turn on a favorite movie and enjoy with a friend. (This snack goes especially well with a cup of tea or coffee)

Round pie with square puff pastry

My Quay Lo often said he is a square peg in a round hole living in Malaysia. However, he said he learned a lot about the Asian culture over the years. For example, he loves Chinese, Malay and Indian food. He used to eat our local spicy fare,, sometimes even exceeding my own threshold for the heat,, but now, though he still loves it, his system is not so tolerant as it once was. He has also observed how, in our culture, a hundred conversations can go on at the same time in a gathering, and that we don't mean to be rude or exclude him. Now, when he wants to be  heard, he just speaks the loudest. He observes that it isn't often that he feels the need to be the loudest and still believes that it is far better to simply remain silent and listen. Though he has learned to use some common phrases in Cantonese, like, “Hai Lor” (Right) or “MM goy lay ah” (Thank you), even those he uses only based on the situation.

I remember once we were in a taxi in Singapore and the driver was a Chinese old uncle and spoke very little English. 
Listen to the conversation between my Quay Lo and him:

Old Uncle: “Today, hot ar?”

My Quay Lo : “Hai Lor.” (Right).

Old Uncle was so impressed and asked : You speak Chinese?”

My Quay Lo: “Siu, siu, ngor kay tai tai kow ngor.”  (A little, my wife taught me).

Old uncle was even more impressed and started to speak to him in Cantonese, the whole trip from then on, and my Quay Lo kept saying “Hai Lor, Hai Lor." (Right, Right). When we reached our destination and alighted from the taxi,  he thanked the old uncle in Cantonese, “MM koi lay ar.” (Thank you.) That put a big smile on the old man’s face. As we walked away,  I asked him if he knew what the old uncle was talking about. "Some of it" he replied, "but mostly I had no idea".  So tell me, do you think he is a square peg in a round hole, living here? I don't think so, he fit right in. He is just like my pie, he fits in although not uniformly.  He managed to make the old uncle think that he had a nice conversation with a friendly Quay Lo. Which of course, he had. Maybe it even made the uncle's day.  I guess as long as one accepts their own shape, one will always find a way to fit in. Just don’t let your shape box you in. I did not let the shape of my puff pastry box me in, I went ahead and made the pie anyway.

My Quay Lo said this pie looked like it had been repaired but then I still made a round pie with square puff pastries and, as he testified,  a very delicious one! A little stretch here, and a tuck there, and it seemed to work. Isn't it true that in life we all occasionally have to do that? If we don't have the right shape, no big deal. As my Quay Lo says, humans are the most adaptable creatures on earth. That is a very good principle for the kitchen I think. Quay Lo loves savory pastries. I made this one with a touch of Asian spices and he raved about it. Sometimes the little stretches and tucks we do in life are not as apparent as the patchwork pie pastry, but are more subtle and meaningful like the spices in this pie.

Chicken pot pie

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

300gm skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, diced

1/2  cup carrots, diced

½ cup frozen green peas

1 tbs butter

½ cup water

1/2 cup onion, chopped

¼  tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp mustard seeds (pre toast in a dry hot pan for 2 minutes, tossing frequently)

1 tbs garam masala
1/4 tsp ground red chili

1 can creamy chicken soup

2 (9 inch) unbaked puff pastry (I did not have the round puff pastry so I used 9 inch square ones)

Optional: Use 1/4 cup dry white wine instead of water for more flavor or add one tsp fresh lemon

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.)

Marinate chicken with a dry rub of the garam masala, ground red chili, salt and pepper for 1 hour or more. In a saucepan, add butter. Sauté onions till translucent and soft. Add mustard seed, chicken, carrots, and peas and stir fry till chicken meat becomes somewhat opaque. Add the creamy chicken soup and water and stir in. Bring back to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.