Holiday Preparations

For Christmas, I'm catering again for my parents.  We cook the meal at my house, then pack it all into a cooler with a couple of bricks that we bake, along with the ham, to keep the hot stuff at least warm until we arrive, and keep the stuff that needs to stay cool separate.  Then we drive over to their place, and unpack it all, to be served buffet style.

My dad loves ham, and the rest of us like it, too, so that's what we serve for Christmas.  There must be stuffing, for my dad, and potatoes au gratin for me.  Dad also loves his cranberry sauce, so there must be that.  I make it with fresh cranberries, apples, and a handful of craisins.  We call it "crapplesauce" in private; it tastes anything but crappy, though.  And, we have to have a pumpkin pie.  Why, I don't know, but we all like it, with vanilla whipped cream, so I make those from scratch, too.

In October, we buy our pumpkins from a local pick-your-own farm, then use them later for their food value.  It's not difficult to make and freeze your own pumpkin mash, as long as you use a food mill with the finest insert/die, and leave it to drain in a coffee strainer for a few hours before bagging and freezing it, by the pint.  One pint = one pie.  Or, a quart of soup, if that's the way you roll.

Cookies.  There have to be cookies.  I like to make spice cookies and cream cheese cookies, both of which utilize a cookie press.  The spice ones, if you ball the dough and just bake them like that, resemble and taste like pfefferneusse, minus the anise.  For the cream cheese ones, it doesn't really matter what die you use in the press, but the star shaped one makes nice wreaths, which I can sprinkle with green sugar, just to give them a holiday look.

I used a BB&B coupon today to get bucks off a few kitchen gadgets I wanted:  a really sturdy silicon spatula, one of those things to measure out shortening or lard, so you can scrape it off the top, rather than trying to carve it out of a measuring cup, and a small "ice cream scoop" to use for measuring out cookie dough for drop style cookies.  Yes, the small pleasures of (small) kitchen gadgetry make me happy, as long as they're not too expensive.  The fat measuring thingy is the only one trick pony in the bunch, and I can live with that.

The candy has also been made: peppermint bark and peanut brittle.  I was a little too low on butter to make a batch of English toffee, even though I had all the rest of the ingredients, so peanut brittle it was.

We'll still need to make a grocery run over the weekend for fresh veggies and few other items, but we basically have Christmas covered.

We already bought the frozen duck for New Year's Eve.  I saw it in the grocery store last week, and grabbed one, because they don't always have them when I want one.  Besides, we had the freezer space.  I make that with a mushroom, sage, long grain and wild rice mix, and whatever other side dishes grab me at the time.

My family never had a New Year's Eve tradition when I was growing up, but duck has become ours over the past decade or so.  We got stuck doing a goose one New Year's Eve, because we couldn't find a duck; the goose was fine, but not worth the cost, and the mess the dog caused when he toppled the roasting pan  full of grease from the stovetop (minus the goose) onto the floor took me an hour to clean properly, so that we wouldn't slip.  No.  More.  Goose.

Sweet and Sour Pork

I've made this before with chicken instead of pork.  The sauce is the main thing, along with pineapple chunks.  For veggies, I'll use practically anything that needs to be used -- broccoli, zucchini, or whatever.  This evening, I went with bell pepper and onion, and butchered a fresh pineapple, rather than having to resort to canned in juice.  Sweet and sour sauce recipe follows the picture.

Sweet and Sour Sauce (makes approx. 2 cups):

3/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. white vinegar

2/3 c. pineapple juice (or water)

1/4 c. soy sauce (preferably reduced sodium)

1 Tbs. ketchup (or tomato paste)

2-1/2 Tbs. cornstarch

Mix ingredients; they will thicken when boiled.  Add more water, if you like it thinner.  Can be made in a saucepan ahead, and stored in the refrigerator for later use. 

For the meat portion of the dish, cube it, and marinate it in soy sauce for an hour or so before starting to saute the veggies.  The meat and pineapple chunks go in after the veggies are nearly done, and the sauce at the end, after the meat has browned.  The meat will finish cooking as the sauce comes to a boil and thickens.

Monkey Bread

The recipe is from Beard on Bread.  It calls for pre-soaked dried currants, but I didn't have any, and opted to use pomegranate "craisins" instead.  I'm sure it would work with raisins, dried cranberries, or even dried blueberries.  My bag of dried pomegranate seeds was brand new, so they seemed moist enough that I didn't bother to soak them, but did give them a rough chop to be closer to the size of dried currants.

I've made this recipe by the book before.  Today's improvisation worked extremely well.  Monkey bread is a sweet yeast bread that requires two risings, plucking off balls of dough to roll in a butter/brown sugar/dried fruit mix, and uses a tube or angel food pan.  The texture and moisture is a bit like a sticky bun.

Zucchini and Straightneck Pie

This is sort of a white pizza, topped with zucchini, yellow squash, and a few slices of cherry tomato.  The "white" part is a combination of ricotta with a little cream cheese, salt, pepper, and finely chopped fresh rosemary.  On top of the squash, I sprinkled some ground cayenne, and finely chopped fresh oregano.  Every veggie and herb used, including the cayenne that I dried and ground myself, came from our own kitchen garden or herb garden.

Bake at 400F for about 40-45 minutes (the crust is more like a pie crust than a true pizza dough, so it needs the extra time).  That's parchment paper underneath the pizza, so I don''t have to clean the cookie sheet.  ;)

It's surprisingly rich, despite my use of part-skim ricotta, and only an ounce or two of light cream cheese.  Also, it was surprisingly good.  I was inspired by something similar on Foodbuzz from a few days ago, but changed around the seasonings, and added the tomatoes, which turned out to be a good move.

Zucchini Bread

This was made using the "Carl Gohs' Zucchini Bread" recipe in Beard on Bread.  It's very similar to carrot cake, using oil, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Indeed, it tastes phenomenal with cream cheese frosting, a thin coat of butter, or just plain.

Fresh Cherry Pie

Made from fresh cherries, with a rather sloppy lattice crust, I nonetheless like this pie.  The cherries weren't particularly sweet, so I went with 2/3 c. of sugar, rather than my usual half a cup, and a good two heaping tablespoons of corn starch, with a pinch of salt for the filling.  Yes, it looks . . . um . . . rustic.  ;)

Review: Gotham Bar and Grill

Gotham Bar and Grill, located at 12 E. 12^th Street, in Greenwich Village, serves contemporary American cuisine.  Upon entering the restaurant, you’ll notice a long bar to the left, with tables to the right and back.  It really is more restaurant than bar.  At lunch, it is filled with business executives and their clients.  Still, it retains a rather quiet, low-key atmosphere.  The dress code is what I would call business casual at lunch, and perhaps a little dressier at dinner.

The prices don’t differ much between the lunch and dinner menus for appetizers, with a couple of notable exceptions.  A la carte appetizers are in the $20 range, while entrees are about $25. In addition to a la carte lunch items, there is a budget-friendly two-course prix fixe option available for $25.  The prix fixe menu offers a choice one of three appetizers, and one of three entrees.  Many of the items on the lunch menu are seafood, though meat and vegetarian options are available.  The prix fixe lunch menu is very vegetarian-friendly.

At dinner, caviar is available as a starter, for upwards of $100.  Expect to pay in the neighborhood of $35-$50 for a dinner entrée.  Although not a seafood restaurant, seafood also features prominently on its dinner menu.  Other options include duck, chicken, beef, and lamb.  Vegetarian options include a salad or risotto.

I have never had a bad meal at Gotham Bar and Grill.  The food is always impeccably cooked and presented.  As much as I love duck, I have always ordered seafood.  This is simply because when I eat out, I tend to order something I would make infrequently at home, and with not nearly as much panache as a professional chef.

Dessert items are approximately $15 each.  Gotham Bar and Grill has an excellent pastry chef, but my favorite is the cheese plate.  Several different artisanal cheeses are served with nut bread, jam, and crackers.

Service is excellent.  The wait staff is attentive without being intrusive.  There’s no undue wait for the food, nor is there any pressure to eat up and get out of there, so they can turn over the table.  I would suggest making reservations for dinner, but it is probably not necessary at lunch.

Zucchini Soup

This is one of those quickie 20-30 minute soups.  The potato makes it thick and hearty.  It's probably good chilled, too, but I can never bring myself to wait.  It makes approximately 1 quart of soup.

Ingredients:

• 3 smallish zucchini, or two larger ones, diced
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced (1/2" dice)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 Tbs. or so of olive oil

Method:

1. sautee/sweat the diced onion in olive oil until translucent
2. add the diced zucchini and potato
3. add the chopped herbs
4. add the chicken broth
5. simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the potato is cooked
6. "blenderize" it with an immersion blender (aka boat motor), in a blender, or in a food processor until smooth
7. adjust salt/pepper seasoning to taste

Notes:  dried herbs can be used, but fresh are better, and won't get "wonky" in only a 20 minute simmer.  Also, in a pinch, it's okay to use bullion cubes, if you're out of chicken stock or broth, but you will undoubtedly have to add less salt at the end if you do.

Review: Havana

Location:  105 S. Main St., New Hope, PA, 18938

This restaurant in New Hope, PA, is not really Cuban, despite the name.  The cuisine could be called SoCal meets granny's kitchen.  I had tilapia tacos, while my fearless partner went for something that resembled a giant chicken and shrimp pot pie Hot Pocket, grilled on a panini press.  He finished his meal.  I had to ask for a doggie bag -- oddly enough, for my fries, not for the tilapia.  Two entrees, plus three Yuenglings came to $41 and change.

My understanding is that this place is really all about the music and nightlife, not the food.  They do have some good music, although we went on a Sunday afternoon, not during one of the evening concerts with Nils Lofgren or Jefferson Starship.  We've walked past this place a bajillion times, but this was the first time we stopped there to eat.

The food's actually pretty good, but not spectacular.  For the price, it's a decent value.  The tacos came with a nice pineapple and cantaloupe salsa that I liked better than the fish.  I'll have to make something similar.

The service was a little slow, but that could be a function of it being the middle of the afternoon when we visited.  It would have been a nice touch if the Yuengling had been served with a glass, rather than in the bottle.  On the other hand, if the place gets as rowdy at night as I've seen it on other occasions, there's probably a reason they serve it in a longneck.

Overall, I'd give the place an A-, for the food, and for the swing they were playing while we were there.  I like swing.  The food was fine.  The price was reasonable.  The service could have been a little faster.  It probably is at night.

Alien Soda Bread

I made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread this morning, following James Beard's recipe for the all-white flour version.  I never buy buttermilk, so I typically either use milk that's starting to go sour, or sour regular milk with lemon juice.  Aside from that, it's Beard's recipe.

Evidently, I did not slit the cross on the top to a uniform depth before I baked it.  The result was hilarious.  It looks like an alien skull.

The Barefoot Contessa vs. Keyboard Warriors

Drudge Report Picked up a story from the L.A. Times, which picked up a story on TMZ about how Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) is such a meanie-weenie for not granting the wish of a 6 year old kid with leukemia, to come cook with her.  The comments from the "keyboard warriors" were brutal, essentially vilifying Ms. Garten as some sort of hard-hearted-Hannah.

TMZ reports:

A family member involved with the Make-A-Wish foundation tells us ... a little boy named Enzo was approached by the organization after he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia three years ago.

Enzo told Make-A-Wish ... he really wanted to cook with the "Barefoot Contessa" host because he would often watch the show with his mother while resting in bed.

So, a three year old wanted, above all other things, to cook with The Barefoot Contessa?  To me, it sounds like it's the mother's wish, and she encouraged her son to ask M.A.W. for that.  Kids that age generally want to please their mothers.  Who lets a toddler cook?  Maybe help stir in some flour to the brownie batter, but actually cook a meal?  C'mon!

The boy's mother has a blog of her own, with an entry about the incident.

Unfortunately as we were arriving home from the hospital I got word from “Make A Wish” that it is has been officially confirmed that Ina Garten (the “Barefoot Contessa” ) has declined Enzo’s wish to meet her and cook a meal with her. I felt terrible for him, he has been unwavering in his desire to meet her for 3 years and despite many attempts to get him to pick a 2^nd wish or change his mind he would not.

I find it really hard to believe that a child that young couldn't find something else he wanted to do, given three years.  Have a little whine with that cheese, mom?

Even yesterday when I told him the unfortunate news, his reply was simply “why doesn’t she want to meet me”? 

So, it was the mother who told her son, not that Ms. Garten had other commitments, but that she "didn't want to meet with him."  Good going mom!

I would be lying if I said that I don’t find this to be shocking. To know that out of EVERY THING (material Enzo could choose to have), or ANY PLACE (in the world Enzo could travel to) and out of EVERY PERSON on this earth he chose Ina, and she cannot see what an honor that is. And he wanted to actually be with her for NO reason other then to have her company and cook with her. I actually feel badly for her because Enzo has NOTHING but pure love and intensions and she will never get to have that experience with him and she is missing out on something so authentic and beautiful. 

Whine.  Cheese.  It takes real gall to think that The Barefoot Contessa owes the mother, or the child, for that matter -- neither of which she knows -- anything.  I find it extremely distasteful that the mother would use her child in such a manner, so that she could meet and cook with Ina.  Kids that age either watch mommy in the kitchen, or they do harmless stuff like hand mommy a spoon, or lick the bowl.

The mother's sense of entitlement.is disturbing.  Sure, it's flattering to know that someone you've never heard of wants to meet you, but that doesn't make it your obligation to cater to their demands.  The proper thing to do would have been to accept the "sorry, but no can do" answer, tell the child that "his" wish is impossible, and move on.  Instead, she made a long, whiny blog entry about what a jerk she thinks Ina is for not kowtowing to her son's wishes her demands.

No doubt, having a sick son is stressful, but there are some things you just don't do.  Whining on your blog and/or going to the press about it, fit that category.  The mother's way too old to be throwing a public temper tantrum like that.

To top it off, the kid did select a back up wish to go swim with dolphins, and is getting swimming lessons so he can do so.  I'd say it's a happy ending, for the kid, anyway.  The kid may be disappointed.  Maybe he isn't.  But the mother sounds really bitter, which is just wrong.

There's an interesting discussion here.  Evidently, I'm not the only person who feels the way I do about this subject.

Also, see this blog for a marvelously snarky take on the situation.  The comments are priceless.

*UPDATE*
Now, the boy's mother, who started the whole firestorm, wants to "stop the madness."  I don't think she "gets" it.  If she didn't want to cause Ina Garten any grief, then she shouldn't have posted that entry whining about how she couldn't understand how anyone could possibly deny her special snowflake son, and how he couldn't understand why Ina "didn't want to meet" him.  Basically, the mother blames the press.  What she doesn't understand is that half the kerfuffle is directed at her, not Ina, and it's because of her sense of entitlement evident in her own blog entry, not the press coverage.

Apple Custard Tart

I didn't use any recipe at all for this, and completely winged it.  If I had to do it again, I'd probably let the apples juice a bit more in the sugar and spices before arranging them in the dish.  Mostly, I threw this together because I had a cup of heavy cream that needed to be used, and a whole bunch of apples that were sitting around, unlike my still-frozen pumpkin mash.  I used a combination of granny smith and cameo apples, just because that's what I had on hand.  The spices I used were cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.  I'm a huge fan of allspice, and sneak a pinch into just about any sort of fruit thing I do that doesn't involve berries.

Pita Bread

This is the first time I tried this James Beard recipe from Beard on Bread.  What I love about that book is that Beard gives a little background about the recipes, and the ones that can be a bit hit-or-miss, he identifies as such.  Most of them work beautifully, although I probably wouldn't want to try making monkey bread on a sticky hot summer day, any more than I would, say, meringue.

I only made half a batch, because I really didn't want to use 6 cups worth of flour on a full batch, in case it came out like something best fed to squirrels.  As it turned out, the recipe worked like a charm, and I'll be making it again.  It's probably a little more expensive to make than store bought, but it's fresher, and tastier.

Shoo Fly Pie

New Kitchen Gadget

I bought this food processor today to replace a Cuisinart that was over 30 years old.  The old one had a pretty powerful motor, which still works like a champ, but one by one, all the plastic pieces cracked and broke, leaving me with a motor, a bowl with no handle, the cover, and just the one metal chopping blade.

The thing was so old that it didn't even have on/off/pulse buttons; the lid had to be rotated by hand to engage the motor.  In all fairness, my mom probably used it three or four times, so she gave it to me when they moved, and were looking to give away or get rid of some things.  It was intact, with all its parts/accessories, but as soon as I started using it, plastic parts started cracking, rendering them useless.

Comparing that one to this one is sort of like comparing a mule to a thoroughbred.  This one has a 1000w motor.  Lesser models were available with 500w motors, but I really didn't want to bother spending the money on something potentially underpowered, when it encounters a chunk of raw root vegetable, or cabbage.

What I love most about this model is its nesting smaller bowl.  It allows me to whoosh together a batch of hummus in the smaller bowl without having to get the entire rest of it gooky.  It also helps a lot that the slicing blade is adjustable to various heights, like a mandoline, which sort of eliminates the need to use my mandoline for root veggies.  I can go from potato chip thin to cole slaw cabbage thick fairly quickly.

I know -- this reads like I'm a new convert to food processors.  That's not completely true.  I understood their value, but never had one before that worked for their purpose as well as the 1950s Kitchen Aid Professional model table top mixer I have, and use, for making cake batter, especially cheesecake and red velvet batters.

At the very least, I will no longer have to shave slices of cabbage and shred carrots by hand with a knife and grater, or a mandoline.  That saves a heck of a lot of time.

It's a rather large.  If you don't have the countertop space for it, or the space to hise it away, it probably isn't the appliance for you.  But, if you do, I think you'll like it.

Classic Scottish Shortbread

These were a hit at the office.  I've tried several shortbread recipes over the years, but these seem to come out the most "classic."  Sure, you can vary them by adding, say, almond extract, or cinnamon to the batter, but the recipe that follows produces what I remember from my childhood.  Caution:  loads of butter ahead.  That slogan would make a good roadside sign, wouldn't it?

Time:  one hour, overall; 20-25 minutes baking at 350F; plus 5 to make the dough, and 30 to let it chill in the fridge

Quantity:  Approx. 3 dozen 1" x 2" cookies

Ingredients:

• 3.5 cups of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 lb. of butter (3 sticks), room temperature, or nuked for 30 seconds to soften it
• 1 cup of granulated sugar, plus about a teaspoon, reserved for sprinkling on top
• 1 tsp. of vanilla
• pinch of salt (or 1/4 tsp. if you use unsalted butter)

Method:

1. Cream the sugar and butter together
2. Mix in the vanilla and salt
3. sift the flour, and mix it in, half a cup or so, at a time
4. When it forms a stiff dough that sticks together pretty well, form it into a disk or rectangle, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate it for half an hour (same thing as you'd do with pie crust dough)
5. Roll it out until it's about 3/8" thick, on a floured board
6. Cut it into whatever size/shape you want*
7. Transfer the cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet, jelly roll pan, or whatever baking sheet you have, spacing them about 1/4" apart (they don't expand a whole lot, but they do expand)
8. Sprinkle a little extra granulated sugar over the top of the cookies
9. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, until the edges looks set, and just barely start to develop some color
10. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet, then remove them

* Alternately, transfer the entire rolled-out block of dough onto your baking sheet, then cut the cookies as they cool, about 2-3 minutes after they come out of the oven. I've done this with a pizza cutter, for basic rectangular cookies, and it works.  Call it cheating, if you want, but it's expedient.

Notes:  These can be cut into rounds, wedges, or whatever.  I don't believe in wasting cookie dough that has that much butter in it, so go ahead and bake those oddball edge pieces you may get.  You can prick the dough with a fork before you bake it, but if it's rolled out to a consistent thickness, it's not really necessary.  They will come out of the oven soft, but will harden as they cool.

Stuffed Poblanos

Recipe: Reverse Chip Cookies

I'm sure there are various other names for these, but they're basically chocolate chip cookies, with chocolate dough, and white chocolate chips. They stay chewy after they cool, and don't have that cake-like texture that some chocolate cookies have.


Yield: about 4 dozen cookies
Time: 15-20 minutes to make the dough, plus 10 minutes at 350F baking time per batch

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 2/3 c. cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 lb. of butter (one stick, or half a cup), softened
  
• 1/4 lb. of vegetable shortening (or just use all butter)
• 3/4 c. granulated white sugar
• 2/3 c. of brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 c. of white chocolate chips (a 12 oz. bag)

Method:

1. let the oven preheat to 350F while you make the dough
   
2. sift together the dry ingredients in one bowl
3. cream the sugars and fats together in another bowl
4. beat in the vanilla to the wet ingredients
5. add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
6. mix in the dry ingredients, a little at a time, incorporating well between additions, until thoroughly mixed
7. stir in the white chocolate chips, taking care to get them as evenly distributed throughout the dough as possible
8. form balls of dough, about an inch in diameter, and arrange them on an ungreased cookie sheet (or use a small ice cream scoop or soup spoon, and drop them in place)
9. bake for 10 minutes at 350F
10. let cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack

Notes: you can use all butter, all margarine, or half butter and half shortening, like
I do. It doesn't really matter -- whatever you've got on hand, but don't use oil. There's no reason you couldn't use peanut butter chips, as suggested to me by someone, instead of the white chocolate. PB chips sounds really good, although I've never tried it. If you don't have powdered baking cocoa, you probably could substitute melted unsweetened chocolate blocks, but I suspect you'd probably have to add some extra flour (1/8 c.?) to make up for the additional oils it contains.

Recipe: Acorn Squash Soup

It's a crummy, cold, rainy day, so "comfort food" was in order for dinner. My theme was squash.

Yield: approx. 1.5 qts.
Time: 1 hour to roast and cool the squash, plus 1/2 hour to cook the soup

Ingredients:

• 1 large acorn squash, roasted, and mashed
• 2 c. chicken broth
• one onion, chopped
  
• salt
• pepper
• cumin
• Madras curry powder
• pinch of five spice powder
• one large or two small bay leaves
  
• dollop of sour cream for garnish, right before serving
• optional garnish: a few roasted seeds from the squash

Method:

1. cut open, clean, roast and mash the squash
2. sautee the onion until translucent, and add the chicken broth, and spices
3. stir in the mashed squash
4. simmer for about half an hour, adding more liquid, if needed
5. adjust seasonings
6. garnish and serve
   

Recipe: Salsa Verde

There are probably as many ways to make this as there are people making it -- sort of like chili, really. Here's my version.

Yield: 2/3 of a quart
Time: 20 minutes, if you chop everything by hand, or less, if you use a food processor

Ingredients:

• 7 or 8 tomatillos, finely chopped
• 4 -5 large cayennes, still at the green stage, seeds, ribs, and all
  
• a good handful of fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• half a large onion, or one small one, finely chopped
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• salt, black pepper, and lime juice

Method:

1. finely chop all your ingredients, except for the garlic, salt, black pepper, and lime juice
2. combine them, stirring well
3. Mince your garlic, and stir it in to incorporate it
   
4. Season with salt, black pepper, and lime juice until it meets your satisfaction

Notes: This might look watery at first, but tomatillos will set up a bit after the pectin they contain releases. Stir it around, and you have one nice hot sauce to pour over chicken, or dip pita chips. It looks harmless, but it's hot. If you want, you can run it through a food processor, or take a boat motor (immersion blender) to it, but I prefer it with some texture.