Category Archives: Recipes

December 16, 2014 · 10:46 am

GINGERBREAD

This is definitely the time of year for gingerbread. The aroma of baking gingerbread is one of the most elemental of Christmas fragrances, and gingerbread houses and gingerbread people have been important parts of our family’s celebrations for many years.

When our children were little, we spent a full weekend every year making a gingerbread house and decorating it with gum drops, candy canes, and Christmas sweets. The plans for the house came from Cooking of Germany from the Time-Life Foods of the World series.

Sometimes, a corner of the roof would mysteriously disappear, but mostly the house stayed intact throughout December. More than once we would try to preserve the house for the next year by wrapping it tightly in plastic and putting it in a secure, cool place. That never worked, and I suspect that various varmints got their own Christmas celebration.

This year, one of our younger grandchildren announced that gingerbread would be on the menu for Santa’s visitation treat. Probably the little one was referring to gingerbread people, always fun for children’s hands to make and decorate.

This year, too, Sarah decided to make a deconstructed gingerbread dessert for Rich Table. She asked her mother for the favorite family recipe that she remembered from childhood to use as the beginning point for the dessert. The finished plate doesn’t look anything like gingerbread that I have made.

Toasted gingerbread, Meyer lemon panna cotta, lemon meringue

Toasted gingerbread, Meyer lemon panna cotta, lemon meringue

Susan pulled up her old standby, “Edith’s Gingerbread” from M.F. K. Fisher’s classic book, How to Cook a Wolf, first published in 1942 and in a revised edition in 1951.

If you have never read anything by M.F.K. Fisher, I would encourage you to do so. A contemporary of Julia Child, James Beard, Craig Claiborne, and the cookbook editor, Judith Jones, Fisher is unique as a food writer. Her first recognition came as the English translator of The Physiology of Taste or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (Counterpoint Press, Washington, D.C.) But she ultimately became well known for her own writings, including the books, How to Cook a Wolf, Serve it Forth, Consider the Oyster, The Gastronomical Me, An Alphabet for Gourmets, and the compendium, The Art of Eating along with The Cooking of Provincial France in the Time-Life series, Foods of the World . Fisher had an unusual ability for describing eating as a sensuous activity, but she also wrote interesting anecdotes, revealed much of her own life, and included simple and excellent recipes for all sorts of food including boiled eggs and gingerbread. Try Edith’s gingerbread.

You might also want to try serving your gingerbread with lemon sauce. That was a combination my mother always used, and I loved it. You might enjoy it, too.

RECIPES

Edith’s Gingerbread

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup boiling water
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 egg, beaten

Method

  1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar.
  2. Beat the baking soda into the molasses until it is light and fluffy. Add to the shortening and sugar.
  3. Sift the spices, flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
  4. Stir the remaining ¼ teaspoon of baking soda into the boiling water. Then add alternately with the dry ingredients to the shortening, sugar, molasses mixture.
  5. Fold in the beaten egg.
  6. When all is well mixed, pour into a greased and floured 8 x 8 inch baking pan. (Fisher’s notes instruct you not to be worried if the batter seems too thin and not, under any circumstances, add more flour!)
  7. Bake in the middle of an oven preheated to 325°F for about 20 minutes. Cool on cooling rack for about 5 minutes, cut into squares and serve.

Notes

  • This is not as sweet as many gingerbread recipes. I like it that way, but if you want it to be sweeter, you can always add more sugar.
  • If you are baking at high altitudes, you may want to cut back to ¾ teaspoons of baking powder to reduce the risk of the dreaded central collapse during baking.
  • Gingerbread seems to beg for whipped cream, ice cream, hard sauce, or something sweet on top. My favorite is the lemon sauce below.
Sift together the flour, ginger, cloves, baking powder, and salt

Sift together the flour, ginger, cloves, baking powder, and salt

The batter is not as thick as you might think. Don't add more flour.

The batter is not as thick as you might think. Don’t add more flour.

Fresh from the oven and cooling

Fresh from the oven and cooling

Lemon Sauce

Ingredients

  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • zest of one lemon
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 tablespoon Limon cello

Method

  1. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the sugar, water, corn starch and salt.
  2. Stir frequently while slowly bringing the mixture just to the boil. It should become thick and translucent.
  3. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and Limon cello.
  4. Serve while still warm.
Gingerbread with lemon sauce

Gingerbread with lemon sauce

 

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December 12, 2014 · 8:55 pm

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP TO TREAT WHAT AILS YOU

We have been back home nearly a week after visiting our family in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are still recovering from a “cold”  (could it be the plague or whooping cough??) that we got from our infant grandson on the Monday before Thanksgiving. He was quite ill for three days and then recovered to his usual bouncy self. Since then, he seems to have forgotten anything about the illness. In the meantime, grandparents are dosing up with various remedies and stoking up the nebulizer at night. Ah, there is a resilience of youth that seems to have left me.

Over the last several weeks, Sarah has been experimenting with dumplings. Of course, that means she has made the classic, chicken and dumplings. It occurred to her on our last night in San Francisco that chicken and dumplings might be therapeutic. There is the belief in more than one society that chicken soup, especially the broth, can cure any cold. There is even some limited scientific evidence that that might be so. We were not about to turn down free medical treatment. Sarah made a delicious version of chicken and dumplings, and we felt better. But the cure did not last.

Sarah's chicken and dumplings

Sarah’s chicken and dumplings

That made me think that maybe a repeat dose at home might do the trick, so I made a batch of chicken soup. Instead of dumplings, though, I decided to use home-made noodles as the starch. The soup was tasty even though the noodles were a little heavy. As to the therapeutic powers, we still have the “cold” (could it be the plague or whooping cough?)

There are three elements to the usual bowl of chicken soup:

First, the chicken. Most recipes call for a whole chicken. After boiling, the meat is removed from the carcass and finely shredded. Since there would only be two of us for the therapy, a whole chicken would be way too much, so I went with four chicken thighs.

Second, the broth. If you are a serious cook, you will make a rich stock from the boiling chicken and aromatic vegetables. For me, that always results in a watery broth that begs to be reduced and flavored. Alternatively, you can use packaged stock. Some cooks sniff at that approach as the commercial stuff contains lots of additives. Read the label, and you will find things like “chicken flavor”, salt, dextrose, celery juice concentrate, carrot juice concentrate, and yeast extract. Actually, the yeast extract may not be all that bad as it adds to the umami flavoring and richness of the stock. My preferred alternative is to use commercial stock in which to boil the chicken and aromatic vegetables. That has the pleasant result of yielding a rich, well-flavored stock. Then you use that for your soup.

Third, the starch. There are several good choices, matzoh balls, kreplach, dumplings, spaetzle, and packaged noodles among them. I went with homemade noodles as I have recently been trying to perfect what seems like an impossibly simple but confounding recipe. I rolled the dough as thinly as I could, but that was not enough. You need strong arms and determination. When you think the dough has been rolled thin enough, roll it out some more. Even better, use a pasta machine and work through the settings to the thinnest or next-to-thinnest setting.

Here’s my effort at homemade chicken noodle soup:

Chicken noodle soup

Chicken noodle soup

RECIPES

Chicken Soup

Ingredients

  • 48 ounces packaged chicken stock
  • water
  • 4 chicken thighs, skin on
  • ½ large yellow onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 ribs celery
  • 2 cloves onion
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning. More if you prefer
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 crimini mushrooms, chopped coarsely
  • 2 scallions, including the green tops, sliced

Method

  1. In a soup pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the chicken, the half onion, one of the carrots, one rib of celery and the remaining ingredients. Return to the boil. Then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken thighs are cooked. Add additional water if needed.
  2. Remove the chicken thighs to a plate, and when they are cool enough to handle, remove the skin and cut the meat from the bones, shredding the meat to the size you prefer. Set aside.
  3. Remove the vegetables and strain the broth through a fine sieve. Wipe the pot clean, and return the broth to the pot. Bring to the boil.
  4. Peel the remaining carrot and slice thinly into rounds. Slice the remaining celery stalk into ¼ inch slices.
  5. Add the mushrooms, scallions, celery, and shredded chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.
  6. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve, stir in the dried noodles, return the soup to the boil for an additional 10 minutes or until the noodles are cooked and tender.

Dumplings

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons basking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup whole milk

Method

  1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together
  2. Beat the egg lightly and stir in the milk
  3. While stirring continuously, add the egg and milk mixture slowly to the dry mixture. You should have a smooth but stiff batter.
  4. By teaspoonfuls, drop the batter into boiling soup. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Noodles

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4-8 tablespoons water

Method

  1. On a clean, dry work surface, make a mound of the flour. With your fingers, form a well in the middle of the flour that is big enough to hold the eggs.
  2. Break the eggs into the well. Add one tablespoon of water. With a dinner fork, lightly beat the eggs, and then begin to pull the flour gradually into the well.
  3. Continue to mix the eggs with more of the flour. Add another tablespoon of water. The dough should be well mixed and begin to hold together. If the mixture is too dry, add more water by a few drops at a time. The finished dough should be smooth and hold together, but should not have any stickiness. Knead for a few minutes with your hands until the dough is smooth. Cover with a bowl or dust lightly with flour and wrap with plastic wrap. Let relax for 30 minutes.
  4. When you are ready to roll out the noodles, cut the ball of dough into fourths, working with only one part at a time and covering the remaining pieces to prevent them from drying out.
  5. Shape the dough into a rough rectangle. Then using a sturdy rolling pin, roll the dough to the desired thickness – the thinner the better. Dust very lightly with flour and fold the dough over on itself so that you have a long roll with four layers. With a sharp knife, cut the roll into noodles of the desired width.
  6. Repeat the process with the remaining three pieces of dough.
  7. Dry the noodles for 20 – 30 minutes. Then add to the boiling soup and cook until the noodles have puffed up and cooked through. It should not take as long as with packaged dry noodles.

 

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December 4, 2014 · 12:23 pm

CIOPPINO AND THE OLD CLAM HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO’S OLDEST RESTAURANT

The other evening, Peter and Rene treated us to a night out as an early Christmas present. Cirque du Soleil had a touring show in town, so we went to see it. For old fuddy duddies who have never gone to  one of these productions, it was quite a treat. It is still hard to believe that humans can do all of the things that they do in such a spectacular event.

Before the show, we went to dinner at the Old Clam House, reportedly the oldest still-operational restaurant in San Francisco. That is not hard to believe. It sits on a grimy thoroughfare in the middle of an industrial area that was once on the wharves of San Francisco. The restaurant had its start in 1861, as the first wave of the Gold Rush was winding down.

The place is an old clapboard building with a peaked roof. It is now painted, but it apparently spent many of its days as a raw wood establishment similar to those you see in old western movies. Inside, the original embossed tin ceiling is preserved, and the bar is a huge mirrored, ornately carved wooden structure that is at least twenty feet high.

Before and after

Before and after

I was prepared for the food  to be ordinary and tourist-driven, much like that at Fisherman’s Wharf, but I was wrong. Tourists probably don’t get there much, and the customers all looked like they were regulars, especially those sitting at the bar.

As soon as we sat down at the table covered with a blue-checked tablecloth, the waitress brought us a round of warm clam broth served in little glass cups along with a big loaf of Acme bread. That gave us a chance to study the menu.

The menu is fairly long and largely restricted to seafood, especially shell-fish. There is a nod to some California specialties like sand dabs, and because the season for Dungeness crabs has just opened there are several crab dishes. Susan ordered clam chowder – she always does, even at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York. Rene ordered crab cakes, and Peter ordered a whole crab, thus requiring the obligate bib.

I ordered the cioppino because, after all, this is San Francisco and it occupied a prominent place on the menu. With a wink, the waitress assured me that this was the original version of the dish. I’m certain that is not true, but I am equally certain that this version is delicious and enough for a longshoreman, if there is such a person around the place anymore. The bowl was a cast iron pot, piping hot and filled with a tomatoey broth rich with crab, clams, shrimp, mussels, and calamari along with new potatoes and chunks of corn on the cob. One local food critic claims the soup is diluted bottled marinara and the clam broth is mostly chicken stock.  I don’t believe either of those assertions, but I don’t have the cultivated palate of a food critic.

Cioppino
Clam broth and Acme bread

Here is a recipe for cioppino that has been in our family for nearly 40 years. It was given to us by our friend, Nancy Swanson, who prepared it for a group of couples with the ski patrol in Park City. Of course, there are many versions of cioppino. I am certain the food critic would declare this one not to be authentic, but if it tastes good, why worry about authenticity?

RECIPE

Cioppino

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
  • 3/4 cup green pepper, chopped
  • 11 1/2 ounce can, clams
  • 2 pound can, tomatoes
  • 6 ounce can, tomato paste
  • 1 3/4 cups red wine
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon basil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3/4 cup fish stock
  • 1 1/2 pounds cod or halibut
  • 1/2 pound raw shrimp, peeled

Method

  1. In a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot, saute the garlic, onion, and green peppers in the oil
  2. Drain the clams, reserving 1/4 cup clam juice. Add the remaining clam juice to the sautéed mixture.
  3. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, herbs, salt, pepper, and fish stock. Bring to the boil and simmer 10 minutes.
  4. Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces. Add the clams, fish and shrimp to the soup and simmer, covered, for 35 minutes.
  5. Remove cover and simmer for 15 more minutes. Serve with good San Francisco style bread.
  6. (Add fresh calamari, clams, crab, mussels, or other shell-fish as you wish)

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December 1, 2014 · 2:50 pm

PANCETTA AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO BREAKFAST STRATA

Breakfast strata is so easy to make and so impressive when it comes to the table puffy, golden, and as high as a soufflé. You need to start it the night before, but otherwise the ingredients and the method are very straightforward.

I made this for Carol’s recent visit to Santa Fe, but it is a perfect breakfast during the holidays. You won’t need much more than juice or fresh fruit and a beverage.

 

RECIPE

Pancetta and Sun-Dried Tomato Breakfast Strata

Ready to eat
Puffed and browned in the middle
Fresh from the oven

Ingredients

  • 6 – 8   ½-inch slices of sourdough or French bread, crusts trimmed
  • 6 tablespoons butter + more to grease the baking dish
  • ½ cup dry-preserved sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
  • boiling water
  • 8 thin slices pancetta
  • 1 large shallot, minced
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 cups cream
  • salt and pepper
  • 8 ounces Swiss cheese, grated

Method

  1. Place the slices of bread on a baking sheet in a 200°F oven for 40 minutes, turning once. When cooled, butter one side of the bread and set aside.
  2. Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for at least 30 minutes. Then drain, chop finely, and set aside until ready for assembly.
  3. In a small sauté pan over medium heat, lightly brown the slices of pancetta. Set aside.
  4. In the same sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the minced shallot and sauté until translucent. Add the wine and simmer until reduced to about half.
  5. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until foamy. Stir in the cream and the shallot and wine mixture. Set aside until ready to assemble.
  6. Heavily butter an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Line the bottom with a layer of buttered bread, buttered side up and trimming pieces to fit. Spread the slices of pancetta evenly across the bread. Top with the chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Pour one-half of the shallot, egg, and cream mixture over the top. Sprinkle on one-third of the grated cheese.
  7. Place another layer of bread on top. Pour over the remaining cream mixture and sprinkle with half of the remaining grated cheese. Reserve the rest of the cheese to sprinkle on top immediately before baking.
  8. Cover with plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Weight down with a brick or other heavy object and refrigerate over night.
  9. About an hour and a half before you are ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator. Remove the brick and the covering and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  10. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and place in the middle of the oven preheated to 325°F. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the center is puffed and brown. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes and then serve. Four to eight servings, depending on appetite. Like quiche, it is delicious cold the next day.

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November 22, 2014 · 1:51 pm

BLUE CORNMEAL WAFFLES WITH PINE NUTS AND BACON

Food with blue corn in it is always popular when family comes to visit. Blue  corn tortillas are ubiquitous, and blue corn chicken enchiladas with green chile sauce and a fried egg is one of my all-time favorites. Blue cornmeal pancakes are also good. Add pine nuts  and you have a classic New Mexico combination. During her recent visit, Carol specifically requested blue cornmeal waffles,  so of course I had to accommodate her.

RECIPE

Blue Cornmeal  Waffles with Pine Nuts and Bacon

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup blue corn meal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • 5 tablespoons, bacon drippings, melted
  • 2 large eggs, separated
  • ½ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • ½ cup crumbled crisp-fried bacon

Method

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, baking powder, soda, and salt.
  2. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, syrup, bacon drippings and 2 yolks from the separated eggs
  3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined.
  4. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold in thirds into the batter being careful not to overbeat.
  5. Fold in the pine nuts and bacon pieces
  6. Spoon a little more of the batter than recommended by the manufacturer into a hot waffle iron. Bake until golden brown.
  7. Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup. Eggs and bacon on the side is a nice addition
  8. Makes about twelve 4-inch square waffles.
Blue cornmeal – white flour
Pine nuts
Eggs
Baked waffles
Ready to eat
Bacon

 

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November 18, 2014 · 7:16 pm

NORTH DAKOTA CHEESE BUTTONS (KÄSE KNÖPFEN OR KASE KNOEPFLA)

The State of North Dakota has only one official food. That’s the official fruit: choke cherry, used for jams jellies, and of course home-made wine. Many believe that cheese buttons should be the official food. As far as I have been able to learn, they are absolutely unique to the state. My step-grandmother made them often as a celebratory dish when I was growing up. I loved them, but I have never eaten them since she stopped making them many years ago. She came from a large German family who farmed on the prairies of eastern North Dakota. No doubt they were part of the immigrant wave of German farmers who came to the Dakotas at the end of the nineteenth century. The immigrants actually came from Russia where they had originally moved with the urging of Catherine the Great. There they were successful wheat farmers, so successful in fact that the native Russians grew increasingly hostile and drove them out. Apparently, North Dakota has many similarities with that part of Russia, so it was only natural that the immigrant Germans again became successful wheat farmers.

My step-grandmother cooked meals for an itinerant threshing crew headed by my grandfather. He had two little boys in tow after their mother had died in the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918. Both my grandfather and my step-grandmother thought the little boys needed a mother, and so they married. The little boys and their offspring grew up eating a lot of German food including sauerkraut and cheese buttons. There are many variant spellings of the local name of the dish. Perhaps the most common is kase knoepla, but the literal German translation is Käse knõpfen, so I’ll go with that.

North Dakota
The family farm 80 years later
Main street of a North Dakota town

Cheese buttons have some amazing similarities with Italian ricotta ravioli. The recipe for the noodle dough is exactly the same as a common recipe for pasta, and the recipe for the farm cheese is similar to at least one version of ricotta. You will note that the dish is remarkably deficient of any green vegetable. Instead it is heavy on bread and flour from the wheat as well as eggs, milk,  and butter from the barn yard. That should serve as a warning that this is not a dish for you if you are worried about your cholesterol. But if you like butter, it is hard to think of a better dish. It goes without saying that you cannot substitute margarine or oil.

RECIPES

Farm Cheese

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts whole milk
  • ½ cup white vinegar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • pepper to taste

Method

  1. Pour the milk into a large, heavy bottomed pot and heat slowly over a medium-low flame, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching on the bottom. When the milk has reached 150°F, stir in the vinegar, remove from the heat, and cover. Stir occasionally as the mixture cools, and the curds form, about 45 minutes.
  2. Line a large colander with fine-mesh cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel. Pour the curds and whey into the towel and allow them to drain. The curds should form a ball in the bottom of the cheesecloth. Twist the cloth gently between your hands and over the sink to squeeze out any remaining whey.
  3. Transfer the cheese to a bowl and combine with the eggs and salt.  Add pepper to taste and set aside.
Two quarts whole milk heating to 159°F
Curds forming with the addition of vinegar
Colander lined with fine-meshed cheese cloth
Draining the whey
Wringing out the last of the whey
Farm cheese ready for the eggs and salt

Cheese Buttons

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour + more for kneading and rolling
  • 3 large eggs
  • 5-9 tablespoons water + more to seal the edges of the buttons

Method

  1. Pour the flour in a mound in the middle of a large, clean, flat work surface. Make a deep well in the center of the mound
  2. Break the three eggs into the well, and using a table fork, beat the eggs gently. Stir in 3 tablespoons of water and then begin to draw the flour in from the edge of the well, stirring and mixing as you go. Continue to draw in the flour, adding 1 more tablespoon of water. Avoid adding too much water, or the dough will get sticky. When the flour is completely incorporated, form the dough into a ball and knead for a 5 to 10 minutes until it is glistening and forms a smooth ball.  Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes.
  3. When you are ready to roll out the dough, flour the work surface lightly. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll out one piece with a rolling pin, covering the remaining pieces in plastic while you work. Roll each piece into a round about 16 inches in diameter. Dust the dough lightly with flour if it is too sticky.
  4. Cut the dough into 2 inch squares. Place a scant teaspoon of the cheese mixture in the center of each square. Moisten the edges of the squares with water and fold over into triangles and/or rectangles (Your choice!). Gently squeeze the edges between your fingers until they are well sealed.
  5. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. In batches, add the cheese buttons to the boiling water. They will sink to the bottom but eventually float. Let the buttons continue to cook for a few minutes after they have floated. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and keep warm in the oven until all of the buttons have been cooked.
  6. Cut any extra noodle dough into thin strips, boil for 4 -5 minutes, drain, and add to the buttons.
Eggs in the flour well for noodles
Eggs and flour
Kneaded noodle dough
Rolling out the noodle dough
Filling the cheese buttons
Formed cheese buttons ready to be boiled

 

Fried Bread Sauce

Ingredients

  • ½ to 1 cup (1 or 2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • about 5 ½-inch slices of home-made or good quality white bread, crusts removed and cubed

Method

  1. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat
  2. Stir in the bread cubes and sauté until the bread cubes are lightly browned and crisp.
  3. Pour over the boiled cheese buttons and noodles, stirring gently to mix.
  4. Serve immediately.
Cheese buttons with bread sauce
Cheese buttons with bread sauce

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November 16, 2014 · 2:33 pm

PISTACHIO-STUFFED MUSHROOMS

Stuffed mushrooms are so retro. They were very popular in the 1960s, but you almost never see them now except at the Olive Garden. That is too bad, because they are easy to make and delicious to eat. They are perfect with cocktails and also make a good first course. The important step is to sauté the mushroom caps before you stuff them. Then you can let your imagination run wild and stuff them with whatever sounds appealing. We have a big bowl of pistachios that we have been snacking from for days, and even though pistachios are surprisingly low-cal, they are not when you eat them by the bowlful. Stuffing them into mushrooms seemed like a good dodge. That’s partly because I have no idea how many calories are in a stuffed mushroom.

RECIPE

Pistachio-Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

  • 8 large crimini mushrooms (the largest you can find not labeled as Portobellos)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 scallions, including green ends, chopped coarsely
  • ¼ cup shelled pistachio nuts, chopped coarsely
  • ¼ cup shredded Swiss cheese
  • ¼ cup fresh bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons Pernod
  • salt and pepper
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

  1. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the mushroom caps. Sauté for about 3 minutes and turn over. Sauté the other side of the mushroom caps until cooked through. Remove to a plate, draining any liquid that has accumulated in the caps.
  2. Remove any woody part of the mushroom stems and chop finely. Return them to the sauté pan along with the chopped scallions. Add more olive oil if needed. Sauté until cooked through. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the pistachios, Swiss cheese, bread crumbs, sour cream, and Pernod. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
  3. With a small spoon, fill the mushroom caps with the pistachio mixture. Sprinkle the tops with the grated Parmesan cheese, and place under a hot broiler until the mushrooms are heated through and the tops have browned.
  4. Serve immediately.
Porcini mushrooms
Stuffing
Ready for the broiler
Ready to serve

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November 14, 2014 · 8:26 am

CHEESE BLOSSOMS THREE WAYS

Cheese straws are such a classic Southern tradition that it seems almost cliché to write about them. They are served at ladies’ luncheons, cocktail parties, and holiday festivities. I have been making them for years except that  during my early attempts I had a hard time turning the dough into “straws”. I used a cookie press, and the treats came out flowers. Never mind, my kids loved them so I have been making them that way ever since.

Cheese straws/blossoms are required at every family gathering, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I make double and triple batches and lug them in my carry-on luggage when I travel. That way they don’t get turned into cheese crumbs.  Even at that, the little gems disappear before everyone has had his or her fill. In fact, after many years, I have learned that some of the family have hidden away private stashes, not trusting the others to share gracefully.

This year, Carol and Cameron will be visiting from Los Angeles for a few days. Then my wife and I will head to the Bay Area to enjoy Thanksgiving with the others. I decided to make three batches and to try different cheese combinations. The usual version uses extra sharp Cheddar cheese. I gave Swiss (Emmentaler) and bleu (Roquefort) cheeses a try as well. The recipes are not wildly different, but because of the different moistures and consistencies of the three cheeses, a little different approach is required for each. In the end, though, I was pleased with the result.

Grating cheese with the food processor
Chilled butter cubes and processed cheese mixture
Old-fashioned cookie press
Ready for baking
Cheddar cheese blossoms cooling on a baking rack
Three versions of cheese blossoms ready to serve

RECIPES

Cheddar Cheese Blossoms

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces extra sharp Cheddar cheese
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (one stick) chilled butter, cut into 8 pieces. Important: Do NOT use margarine.

Method

  1. With the grater blade in place, grate the cheese in food processor. Transfer to a plate and let come to room temperature.
  2. Change to the metal blade of the food processor. Add grated cheese, flour, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper and salt in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time.
  3. Add the butter and continue to process until it forms a ball.  Do not over-process or the butter will melt and separate.
  4. Turn out on a work surface, Knead until any extra crumbs of the dough are incorporated into the ball.
  5. Working in batches, use a cookie press to form flower shapes on an ungreased cookie sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart.
  6. Bake in the middle of oven preheated to 300°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Bake a few minutes longer if you want a darker color. Cool on a baking rack and store in an air-tight tin.
  7. Makes about 6 dozen.

Swiss Cheese and Dill Blossoms

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces “Swiss” (Emmentaler) cheese
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon Kirsch
  • 2 tablespoons dill fronds, finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (one stick) chilled butter, cut into 8 pieces. Important: Do NOT use margarine.

Method

  1. With the grater blade in place, grate the cheese in food processor. Transfer to a plate and let come to room temperature.
  2. Change to the metal blade of the food processor. Add grated cheese,flour, Kirsch, dill and salt in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time.
  3. Add the butter and continue to process until it forms a ball.  Do not over-process or the butter will melt and separate.
  4. Turn out on a work surface, Knead until any extra crumbs of the dough are incorporated into the ball.
  5. Working in batches, use a cookie press to form flower shapes on an ungreased cookie sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart.
  6. Bake in the middle of oven preheated to 300°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Bake a few minutes longer if you want a darker color. Cool on a baking rack and store in an air-tight tin.
  7. Makes about 6 dozen

Roquefort Cheese Blossoms

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces Roquefort cheese
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon Pernod
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (one stick) chilled butter, cut into 8 pieces. Important: Do NOT use margarine.

Method

  1. Crumble the cheese into the bowl of the food processor. Add  flour, Pernod,  and salt. Pulse until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time.Add the butter and continue to process until it forms a ball.  Do not over-process or the butter will melt and separate.
  2. Turn out on a work surface, Knead until any extra crumbs of the dough are incorporated into the ball.
  3. Working in batches, use a cookie press to form flower shapes on an ungreased cookie sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart.
  4. Bake in the middle of oven preheated to 300°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Bake a few minutes longer if you want a darker color. Cool on a baking rack and store in an air-tight tin.
  5. Makes about 6 dozen

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November 9, 2014 · 4:16 pm

PECANS THREE WAYS

The first real blast of winter is due to hit us in the next few days, so we have definitely moved into winter, and the holiday season is fast upon us. (Here if you count Halloween.) One of the best things of the season is that it is time for the fresh crop of nuts of all kinds. For me, they are really a sign of the season. When I was a child, my mother would always set out a big bowl of English walnuts, hazel nuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, and pecans. My father could shell and eat a bowl by himself. Later on, there were other good memories associated with nuts, especially pecans.

I remember a trip through southern Louisiana when Reggie and I, along with a couple of friends set out on a quest to find the best pecans and pork cracklings. Both are recognized as two of the great pillars of Cajun cuisine. We went from plantation to plantation, along with more than one country store. I confess, we also had more than one or two Abita or Jax beers. (Unfortunately, Jax beer no longer exists, and the brewery has become a trendy tourist shopping center in the French Quarter.)

Another memory is of my father-in-law sitting on the porch of his East Texas country house shelling pecans with his special nutcracker that got the nuts out whole. He would spend hours doing that, not saying anything and just looking out at the sunset. He definitely preferred that to going inside and getting caught up in what he considered a trivial conversation.

We, too, always spent hours shelling pecans that we bought at a seasonal market down the street. They sold the nuts already cracked, so you had to shell them immediately before they spoiled in the shell. Of course, pre-cracking came with a premium. In those days, that added a dime to the cost, bringing the nuts to the price of 89 cents a pound. Today, shelled pecans have become a luxury, costing anywhere from $12 to $20 a pound. Even so, they remain a treat that I look forward to every year.

Our daughter, Carol, and her son are going to visit us this next week, so I will have some pecans ready for them. Then I will take the leftovers to our Thanksgiving celebration with the rest of the family. Here are three very simple recipes for pecan halves that I have gathered over the years. Every one is delicious in its own way.

RECIPES

Salted, Butter-Roasted Pecans

This is the simplest recipe, using only pecans, butter, and salt. The recipe comes from my mother. You can dress it up in lots of different ways. I have substituted kosher and Maldon sea salts for regular salt, but you could use garlic salt, onion salt, cumin, chili powder, or whatever powdered flavoring you can think of.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups raw pecan halves
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • salt to taste

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 250° F.
  2. Arrange the pecans in a baking pan and top with the butter, unmelted and cut into eight pieces. Place on the middle rack of the oven.
  3. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring frequently to distribute the butter as it melts and to check for burning.
  4. Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with salt or other seasonings to taste. Cool.
  5. Transfer to a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Karen’s Orange Pecans

Pecans-2

Many years ago I received a Christmas gift of pecans from my secretary. They were so good, that I asked her for the recipe, and she obliged. The pecans are sweet and almost a candy, but many folks enjoy them as a snack with cocktails.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 medium orange, zested and juiced
  • 4 cups raw pecan halves

Method

  1. Combine the sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in a heavy sauce pan that is big enough to hold the pecans comfortably.
  2. Bring to the boil over a medium flame. Then stir in the pecan halves.
  3. Continue to boil and stir until the pecans are completely coated, and the syrup is completely absorbed.
  4. Remove from the heat and continue to stir until the pecans are separated and sugary.
  5. Spread on wax paper to cool.
  6. Transfer to a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Jean’s Texas Barbecue Pecans

Mis en place for Jean's Texas barbeque pecans

Mis en place for Jean’s Texas barbecue pecans

This recipe comes from a good friend who grew up in Texas and spent much of her adult life there. These are smoky and salty, so it is nearly impossible to eat only one when you have a drink in hand. My philosophy is why worry.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup liquid smoke
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups raw pecan halves

Method

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine the liquid smoke, water and salt. Stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
  2. Stir in the pecans with a slotted spoon. Let stand for 1 hours, stirring several times to make sure the pecans are completely coated with the liquid smoke mixture.
  3. Transfer the pecans to a baking pan, using the slotted spoon to make sure the liquid is well-drained.
  4. Bake in the middle of an oven preheated to 300° F for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Bake a few more minutes if the nuts have not dried out, but watch carefully to avoid burning.
  5. Remove from the oven. Cool.
  6. Transfer to a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.
From left, salted butter-roasted pecans, Karen's orange pecans, Jean's Texas barbeque pecans

From left, salted butter-roasted
pecans, Karen’s orange pecans, Jean’s Texas barbecue pecans

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November 3, 2014 · 4:09 pm

NON-CHAMPIONSHIP CHILI

This was the weekend for the Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) world championship in Terlingua, Texas. Around 300 competition chili cooks from all over the country were there along with their families and friends. I was not there. It is an invitational event, and all of those cooks have been entering cook-offs all year-long to collect enough points for an invitation. I am home. We have returned from California, having enjoyed the California Chili Cook-Off Championship and then an extended visit with our family in the Bay Area. It should be apparent by now that I did not win anything at the cook-off, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. On top of that I learned a lot about chili competitions if I should ever decide to enter another one. This post will include lessons learned along with a chili recipe based upon my non-championship chili  but made milder for my good wife who has no tolerance for spicy foods. The recipe also will contain the greatest of heresies – pinto beans and tomatoes. Those and the garnishes cut the piquancy of the dish and make it a family favorite. If you want a hotter chili, just double all of the amounts of chili powder. You can order these specialized chili powders on line from Pendrey’s Spices in Fort Worth, Texas or Mild Bill’s Spice from Ennis, Texias. If you don’t want to go to that bother, you can just use store-bought chili powder. You can even try a combination of the stand-bys: McCormick’s, Gebhardt’s, and Mexene. LESSONS LEARNED 1. Don’t be too ambitious. It rapidly became obvious that on my second attempt, it was foolish to enter contests for the best salsa, the best guacamole, and the best chili. That clearly wound up being too many balls in the air. 2. Try not to have anything to chop. Cutting up avocados, green onions, and tomatoes for a half-gallon of guacamole is nearly a full-time job in itself. Besides, having sharp knives anywhere in the vicinity of the booth is dangerous. A sliced finger will send you to the first aid station or the emergency room. 3. Grease is the challenge of the chili cook. A pool of glistening red grease floating on the top of the turn-in cup is probably the surest way to be disqualified. It presents a paradox that even the most accomplished cooks wrestle with. Most use 80/20 ground beef. That is, 80% meat and 20% fat. The fat definitely enhances the flavor, but it is also unattractive and needs to be removed. Some champion cooks make huge meatballs and boil them in water for 30 minutes before they add them to the chili mix. That gets rid of the grease, but it reduces the amount of umami savor from the Maillard reaction developed with browning of the meat. Some cooks brown the meat and pour off any extra grease, but they are still stuck with a lot to deal with. Compromise solutions include browning the meat balls before boiling or boiling and straining the meat after it has been drained. It seems to me that both of these approaches sacrifice some of the umami. Another alternative would be to blot the browned meat in a clean kitchen towel. An approach all good cooks undoubtedly use is to skim any grease that rises to the top during cooking, using a small spoon or ladle or a wad of paper towel. There is a final mop-up of the sample ladled into the turn-in cup. Whatever, it is a problem to be dealt with. 4. Be sure to bring plastic bags for trash and a container to hold discarded liquids. You would be surprised at how much trash one generates just cooking one pot of chili. It may easily fill up a household trash bag, so be sure to bring plenty. Another problem is what to do with all the production liquids, including the water for boiling meatballs, drained grease, and skimmings. It is considered bad form to pour any of that on the ground. And you are responsible for cleaning your booth. 4. Camp stoves are not the same as kitchen stoves. I practiced several times making chili on the stove at home, but it was an entirely different experience on a butane camp stove. The flame kept going out, and it seemed like it was either on – burning things – or off – not cooking as I had thought it was. Fortunately, my friend, Reggie,  had brought a butane fire lighter or I would have used up a box of kitchen matches. However, the experience pointed out the need to practice on a camp stove under challenging conditions. 5. Visitors can be distracting. While we were busy cooking our competition chili and worrying about the deadline, crowds kept coming by to sample our chili, guacamole, and salsa. It was fun to meet all the different people, but it certainly increased my anxiety level. 6. You will need a lot of luggage. When you travel to chili cook-offs, you need to have everything you need. Of course, that means your ingredients, your utensils, and your stove. There are other things to worry about: the contest sponsors may or may not furnish a table and chairs. You need both. An umbrella or other cover is handy to shield you from the sun and rain. If you are entered in the showmanship contest, you will need all of your props along with lots of giveaways and your pirate costume if that is your theme. Clearly, at least one and maybe two of the largest suitcases you can find are important. Unless, of course, you do what many fierce competitors do. They buy a motor home so that they can pull up next to their friends on the circuit, spend the night, have space for all of their gear along with a refrigerator well stocked with beer and/or wine.

Liquids you need for the gravy
Three Serrano chiles for kick
Three ounces of pork stew meat. You could substitute a pork chop.
The mix of spices to be added to the gravy. This is the first of three.
The finished chili if it were to be turned in at a contest
Double heresy – beans and tomatoes
Chili with beans and tomatoes added
Chili with onion, cheddar cheese, Frito chips and sour cream.

RECIPES

Spice Packs

First “dump”

Ingredients

  • 1½ teaspoons Fort Worth Light chili powder
  • 1½ teaspoons RT-Rio Tejas chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
  • 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½teaspoon monosodium glutamate (MSG)
  • 1 packet Goya Sazón with cilantro and annatto (con cilantro y achiote)

Second “dump”

Ingredients

  • 1½ teaspoons Fort Worth Light chili powder
  • 1½ tablespoons San Antonio Red chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • 2½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 5 teaspoons ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 1 packet Goya Sazón with cilantro and annatto )con cilantro y achiote)

Third “dump”

Ingredients

  • 1½ teaspoons San Antonio Red chili powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon turbinado sugar

Method

  1. Measure ingredients into three small plastic containers with tight-fitting lids.
  2. Have the containers ready so that you can add them, one at a time, at the appropriate time during cooking.

Non-Championship Chili

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds 80/20 ground chuck
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 3 ounces pork stew meat
  • 3 fresh Serrano chiles, pierced several times with a sharp knife
  • 8 ounces tomato sauce
  • 14.5 ounces canned beef broth
  • 14.5 ounces canned chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 15 ounce can pinto beans, drained
  • 15 ounce can, petite diced tomatoes, drained
  • spice packs
  • chopped white onion (for garnish)
  • grated Cheddar cheese (for garnish)
  • Frito original corn ships (for garnish)
  • sour cream (for garnish)

Method

  1. In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef in the vegetable oil, stirring frequently to break up any clumps of the meat and to prevent burning. When the meat is well-browned, remove from the heat, drain in a colander, and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Set aside.
  2. Wipe the pot clean with a paper towel or kitchen towel. Return to the heat. Add the pork, Serrano chiles, tomato sauce, beef and chicken broths, and the first spice “dump”. Stir until well combined. Bring to the boil and boil for 30 minutes.
  3. Remove the pot from the heat. Then remove the pork and the chiles, squeezing their juice into the pot. Return to the heat, add the cooked ground beef, and cook over a low flame for 1 hour.
  4. At the end of the hour, return the mixture to the boil for 10 minutes. Stir in the ketchup, and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.
  5. Stir in the second spice “dump”  and continue to simmer for 15 minutes.
  6. At the end of the 15 minutes, stir in the third spice “dump”. Continue at a slow boil for 20 minutes.
  7. Stir in the beans and tomatoes and simmer until completely heated, about 5-10 minutes.
  8. Serve with garnishes

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