Please Explain (The Leonard Lopate Show)

What is folk music? Spanning genres, geographical locations, and eras in time, it’s the music of the people. Although American folk music has been around for a long time, you could say it had its biggest explosion in the 1960s in Greenwich Village. In fact, New York has experienced a bit of a folk revival in recent years.

On today's Please Explain, we're exploring folk music with Eli Smith, the co-founder of the Brooklyn Folk Festival, the banjo player for The Downhill Strugglers and the former co-host of The Down Home Radio Show. Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, a multi-instrumentalist performing at this year's Brooklyn Folk Festival, joins Eli in the conversation. They'll also perform live in our studio!

Event: The Brooklyn Folk Festival will be held at St. Anne’s Church (157 Montague Street between Clinton and Henry) from April 8th-10th. It will feature 35 bands, workshops and events including an old time string band, freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement, shape note, country blues and international folk music from Syria and Colombia.

While some may cringe at the thought of eating brains, sweetbreads, also known as offal, are celebrated in many cuisines around the world. On today's Please Explain food writer Robert Sietsema and butcher Brent Young of The Meat Hook, tell you all you'll ever need to know about buying, preparing and eating offal. They'll also share the best local restaurants offering exciting offal options.

Do you have questions about offal? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

Check out recipes from Chef Chris Consentino of Offal Good!

Marinated Tripe, New Potatoes & ParsleyExtracted from Beginnings: My Way To Start a Meal by Chris Cosentino

-1 1/3 cups each coarsely chopped carrot, celery, and onion-2 heads garlic, split, plus 5 cloves, minced-1 bunch fresh thyme-2 bay leaves-1 tbsp fennel seeds-Kosher salt-2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise-1/2 cup dry white wine-Juice of 1 lemon-4 tbsp Champagne vinegar-2 lb honeycomb beef tripe, preferably organic and unbleached-10 fingerling potatoes-1 tbsp red pepper flakes-Finely grated zest and juice of 3 Bearss limes or Eureka lemons-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling-3 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a large stockpot, combine 8 cups water, the carrot, celery, onion, split garlic heads, thyme, bay, fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon salt, the vanilla, wine, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar. Rinse the tripe well under cold running water until the water runs clear and the tripe is free of grit. Add the tripe to the pot, place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the liquid just simmers and cook uncovered, skimming any scum that rises to the surface, until the tripe is very tender, about 3 hours. Remove from the heat, let the tripe cool completely in the cooking liquid, and refrigerate the tripe in the liquid overnight.

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with salted water to cover, bring to a simmer, and cook until just tender when pierced with a knife, 10-15 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold running water to cool completely, and then cut crosswise into slices 1/4 inch thick. Place in a bowl. Remove the tripe from the cooking liquid and discard the liquid. Using a very sharp knife, shave the tripe into thin, ribbonlike strips. Transfer to a bowl. In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, pepper flakes, lime zest and juice, and remaining 3 tablespoons vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the olive oil and season with salt. Add just enough of the vinaigrette to the tripe to coat lightly and then toss to mix. Taste and add more vinaigrette to your liking. Add the remaining vinaigrette to the potatoes and toss gently to coat evenly. Add the potatoes to the tripe and toss together.

Transfer the tripe and potatoes to a platter and garnish with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve right away.

Serves 6

Tuscan-Style Chicken Livers

Extracted from Beginnings: My Way To Start a Meal by Chris Cosentino

-1 1/2 lb chicken livers, trimmed of any sinew or green or brown patches-3 shallots, sliced-1/4 cup vin santo-2 tsp fresh thyme leaves-1 fresh bay leaf-Finely grated zest of 1 orange-Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper-Small pinch of licorice powder-4 tbsp rendered duck fat, plus more melted duck fat for sealing-3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter-24 baguette slices

In a shallow bowl, combine the chicken livers, shallots, vin santo, thyme, bay, orange zest, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the licorice powder and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Remove and discard the bay leaf from the chicken livers. In a large sauté pan over high heat, warm the duck fat. When it is hot, working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken livers and shallots to the pan. Cook, turning as needed, until the livers are well colored on the outside and pink at the center, about 4 minutes. As each batch is ready, transfer it to a food processor. Pour the remaining marinade into the pan, stir up the browned bits, and add the contents of the pan to the food processor.

Process the liver mixture until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the butter until the mixture is emulsified. Pass the mixture through a tamis (drum sieve) into a bowl. Pack the mixture into one or more ramekins and top with a thing layer of duck fat to seal. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 4 days.

Just before serving, preheat a stove-top grill pan over medium-high heat. Place the baguette slices on the grill...

Cast iron cookware has been around for centuries, but many modern cooks are intimidated by it. How do you clean it? What can (and can't) you cook in it? Should you season it?

In this week's Please Explain, Julia Collin Davison, the executive food editor at America’s Test Kitchen and author of the forthcoming book Cook it in Cast Iron: Kitchen-Tested Recipes for the One Pan That Does It All (Cook's Country), and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, Managing Culinary Director of Serious Eats and author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, answer all your burning cast iron questions and dispel the many myths surrounding the classic cookware.

Do you have questions about cast iron cookware? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

Recipe: Classic Roast Chicken with Lemon-Thyme Pan Sauce from Cook It in Cast Iron from America’s Test Kitchen

Classic Roast Chicken with Lemon-Thyme Pan Sauce from "Cook It in Cast Iron" from America’s Test Kitchen
("Cook It in Cast Iron," America’s Test Kitchen)

Serves 4

Why This Recipe Works: Roast chicken is often described as a simple dish, but the actual process–brining or salting, trussing, and turning–is anything but easy. We wanted a truly simple way to get roast chicken on the table in just an hour without sacrificing flavor. We quickly realized that trussing was unnecessary; we could simply tie the legs together and tuck the wings underneath the bird. We also found we could skip flipping the chicken during cooking by taking advantage of the great heat retention of cast iron. We cooked the chicken breast side up in a preheated skillet to give the thighs a head start and allow the skin to crisp up. Starting in a 450-degree oven and then turning the oven off while the chicken finished cooking slowed the evaporation of juices, ensuring moist, tender meat, even without brining or salting. A traditional pan sauce pairing lemon and thyme was the perfect complement, and it took just minutes to make while the chicken rested. Pan drippings contributed meatiness, and finishing the sauce with butter gave it the perfect velvety texture. We prefer to use a 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken for this recipe. If roasting a larger bird, increase the time when the oven is on in step 2 to 30 to 40 minutes.

1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 lemon, quartered

1 shallot, minced

1 cup chicken broth

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position, place 12-inch cast-iron skillet on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Meanwhile, pat chicken dry with paper towels, rub with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck wingtips behind back.

2. When oven reaches 450 degrees, place chicken breast side up in hot skillet. Roast chicken until breast registers 120 degrees and thighs register 135 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes.

3. Arrange lemon quarters cut side down around chicken. Turn off oven and leave chicken in oven until breast registers 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Using potholders, remove skillet from oven. Transfer chicken to carving board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 15 minutes. Let roasted lemon cool slightly, then squeeze into fine-mesh strainer set over bowl, extracting as much juice and pulp as possible; press firmly on solids to yield 2 teaspoons juice.

5. While chicken rests, pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet, being careful of hot skillet handle. Add shallot and cook over medium heat until softened, about 30 seconds. Whisk in broth and mustard, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until mixture is reduced to 3⁄4 cup, about 3 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices. Off heat, whisk in butter, lemon juice, and thyme. Season with pepper to taste; cover to keep warm. Carve chicken and serve with sauce.

To secure wings while roasting whole chicken and prevent them from burning, fold them firmly behind neck. They should hold themselves in place.

When Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 to $750 a pill, it brought the issue of drug prices to the spotlight. Today's Please Explain: Drug Prices.

Don't freak out! But our latest Please Explain is all about fear. Sociologist Margee Karr discusses what fear does to our brains, why we scream, and why we love horror movies.