Fruit Cake

Christmas Fruitcake

The traditional store-bought canned fruitcake is the scourge of the universe, the butt of many jokes, but a homemade fruitcake is downright delicious!  My father's mother made a great fruitcake, but I never did see that recipe.  In my own baking, I've tended to go with the white fruitcakses, such as my Apricot Macadamia Nut Fruitcake, and leave the dark fruitcakes to someone else.  However, at the store this morning, I saw a display of all the candied fruit - and impulse buying at it's finest - bought it!

Not having made a dark fruitcake in years, I decided to just go online and see what was out there.  Lots - and a few of them actually looked good.  But one that stuck out was on about.com called "Spiced Dark Fruitcake."

I changed ingredients around a bit to match what I had bought and here's the final recipe I used.  It's an interesting recipe in that one makes the batter on day one, and bakes it on day two - allowing the cake to really meld before going into a slow oven for several hours.  It seemed like the sort of recipe that would have been used back when fruitcakes were held in high esteem.  We shall see.

Spiced Dark Fruitcake

• 4 ounces diced candied orange peel
• 4 ounces diced candied lemon peel
• 8 ounces diced fruitcake mixed fruit
• 8 ounces whole red candied cherries
• 4 ounces whole green candied cherries
• 1 cup currants
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dark raisins
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup molasses

PREPARATION:
This batter is quite heavy, but a heavy-duty stand mixer can handle it.

Mix the fruit in a large bowl with the orange juice and brandy. Stir gently and set aside to marinate for a few hours.

Generously butter bottom and sides of two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and line them with parchment paper. Butter the paper thoroughly. You can use brown paper for this if you don't have parchment paper.

Sift the flour with the spices twice. Add the baking powder and salt and sift again.

Put the butter into a large mixing bowl and cream until smooth. Add sugar; using an electric mixer, cream until light and fluffy. Beat the egg yolks slightly and then add them to the bowl. Mix the batter well before you start to add the flour and spice mixture. Stir the batter as you add the flour, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the flour is thoroughly incorporated, add the molasses and stir. Finally, stir in the fruit, along with any soaking liquid left in the bowl.

Put the egg whites in a stainless steel or glass bowl and beat with a clean beater to stiff peaks. Fold them into the batter thoroughly and then spoon the batter into the prepared pans. Cover loosely with a clean cloth and let the batter sit overnight in a cool place to mellow.

On the next day, heat the oven to 250°. Place the fruitcake on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. After 1 1/2 hours, cover the pan with a piece of brown paper (do not use foil) or set the pan in a paper bag and return it to the oven.

When the cake has baked for 3 1/2 hours, test the with a toothpick or cake tester. If the tester comes out of the center of the cake clean, the cake is done. Leave the cake in the pan and set on wire rack to cool.

When the cakes are completely cooled, turn out of the pans, leaving the paper lining on the cake. Wrap the cake with parchment, then foil, and pack the cake in a tin. Homemade fruitcakes need air, so punch a few holes in the lid of the tin or set the cover loosely on the tin.

Set the tin in a cool, undisturbed place, and every 3 or 4 days before Christmas, open the foil and drizzle a small amount of bourbon or brandy over the cake. The liquor will keep the cake most and flavorful and help preserve it as well.

I've been emailing my Aunt Kathleen about fruitcake the past few days.  I have this vague memory of having fruitcake with my Paternal Grandmother a bazillion years ago, and asked her if  1) Grandma ever made fruitcake and 2) did she have her recipe, if she did.

Auntie wrote back and said her mother never made fruitcake, but that my mother made the best fruitcake - and she thought she had the recipe.  Memories are funny.  I have a stronger memory of my grandmother's non-fruitcake than I do my mom's real one.  (Actually, the memory is having fruitcake and my grandmother explaining what some of the candied fruit was.  I guess I just assumed she made it because back in those days, everybody made everything.)

I went looking through mom's cookbooks but didn't find a recipe.  Hopefully, Auntie has it!  If so, I'll be making that fruitcake also, this year.  Three different styles.

Did I mention that I like fruitcake?


John Grogan and Shameless Self-Promotion

No food today - just shameless self-promotion.

Both of us have always been avid 'letters to the editor' writers and have had scores of letters published over the years.

About four years ago (former) Inquirer columnist John Grogan came across one of my letters, happened on to ourtimandvictor.com website and, intrigued, emailed me about doing a column on us. Being the shy, quiet person I am, I immediately said "YES!" and a few days later found John at the house, notebook in hand. The following column is the result of those couple of hours sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee.

John went on to become famous writing "Marley and Me" (now being made into a motion picture) and we went on with our lives.

Yesterday, Victor got a call from a woman he works with out west. She had picked up a copy of John's latest book "Bad Dogs have More Fun" a collection of his Inquirer columns and was reading about us! What a surprise!

**NOTE: We just found out the book was put together by the Inquirer - not John Grogan. The Inquirer owns his past columns... It doesn't change the fact hat we're in the book (pages 164-167) but John had nothing to do with the publication...

So... we're currently #34 on the NY Times best seller list!

We're also wondering who we should get to play us in the movie. I think George Clooney and Brad Pitt would be fine - and Cybil, of course, would play herself.

Here's the original column:

John Grogan | Ordinary people vowing to marry

By John Grogan Inquirer Columnist

In many ways, they are a typical suburban couple.

They spend their weekends remodeling their tidy three-bedroom house, which sits on a quiet street in the Main Line community of Strafford. They enjoy gardening and cooking and spoiling their dog, Cybil.

They both come from large, traditional Catholic families, and they dote on their 17 nieces and nephews.

Now in their early 50s, they prefer quiet nights at home to going out on the town. They pay their taxes on time, look in on sick neighbors, and vote each election.

They are ordinary in all ways but one: Tim Dineen and Victor Martorano, a couple for nine years, are homosexuals. And that puts them squarely in the middle of the national debate on same-sex marriage.

They are not the ones protesting on courthouse steps or trying to force change by seeking marriage licenses where they know none will be issued. As the debate rages, they have written letters to newspapers, but otherwise go quietly about their suburban lives. It was for this reason - their very ordinariness - that I sought them out last week. I wanted to see for myself just how different from the heterosexual majority a gay couple in a long-term relationship is.

Marriage of the minds

They give me a tour of their house and show off improvements they have made

- new tile, enlarged kitchen, hardwood floors. On the table is a vase of pussy willows brought in from the garden. Outside, a pile of rain gutters sits in the yard, next weekend’s project.

In their own minds, Dineen, a demonstration chef at a market in nearby Wayne, and Martorano, who works in the travel industry, already are married. On their first Christmas together, they privately exchanged gold bands that have remained on their left ring fingers ever since. Still, says Dineen, “we will get married the day we legally can do it.”

Some of the motivation is practical. If one is incapacitated, the other right now would need a written power of attorney to make medical decisions - a precaution they already have taken. And as Dineen pointed out over a cup of coffee, “If Victor died tomorrow, I would have to pay inheritance tax on his half of our house.”

Adds Martorano: “The law does not recognize me as his next of kin, and that is wrong. It’s just wrong.”

But more important to the couple is what marriage stands for - a public acknowledgment of a couple’s love and lifelong commitment. “Marriage is a stabilizing force in society,” Dineen says, “and we want to be part of that stabilization.”

After all, they consider themselves solid members of the community. And so do their neighbors. As Peg Schwartz, 73 and a registered Republican, told me later: “I can’t say enough about them. They really could not be better neighbors. They are delightful. They’re just nice, kind, caring people, and that’s what you want in a neighbor.” Having them next door has softened her position on gay marriage, she said. “If that makes them happy, then that’s all that counts.”

Battling stereotypes

And yet, for now at least, Dineen and Martorano will remain the one couple on their street for whom the civil contract of marriage is not an option. Until that day comes, the two men believe stereotypes and prejudice will continue.

“Gay people have a reputation for being extremely promiscuous,” says Dineen, whose full beard and wire-framed glasses give him a professorial air. “Well, not all gay people are.”

Some of them lead their lives not much differently from the straight people on their streets, sharing the same worries and joys and dreams. And that brings Dineen to his main point.

“If we were married tomorrow, the only thing that would be different would be the piece of paper that grants us our rights and responsibilities. Nothing else would change. We would still be here just as we are today, putting new gutters on the house, going to work, grocery shopping, taking the dog to the vet.”

He adds: “I think that’s what so many people fail to realize. We’re here already. We’re a couple already. For all intents and purposes, we are married. We just lack the legalities.”


Pomegranate Chicken

 

I worked up an appetite today!  I actually went to the gym.  Yes.  Me.  A gym.  Not only did I go to a gym, I saw a personal trainer.  Yes.  Me.  A gym AND a personal trainer.

I just quit smoking and decided I just didn't want to gain 60 pounds - again.  I've lost 35 pounds this past year just by watching what I eat, making better choices -and smaller portions.  I haven't done any excersize.  None. Nadda. Zip.

The way I like food, I'm going to balloon if I don't do something drastic - and for me, there's nothing more drastic than walking into a gym.  Until three days ago, I had never been in one in my life!  Oh...  I've done my share of luxury hotels with their health spas.  I head directly to the massage table and then to the steam room and sauna.

Times have changed.

So I'm starting a regimine that should start to get this old out-of shape body back into shape.  And I hate to admit it, but I felt good after leaving today!  Granted, this was only session one of the program - the easiest - I'm looking froward to going back for more.

But all the working out in the world will be for naught if I don't eat better.

Tonight's better choice was Chicken with Pomegranate Sauce. (Better doesn't have to be boring!)

I took two huge chicken breasts and cut them in half, pounded a bit and dredged in seasoned flour (King Arthur White Whole Wheat.)  I browned the chicken in a bit of olive oil and removed it from the pan.  I added a cup of chicken broth and a couple of tablespoons of sherry and then about a cup of pomegranate seeds. A bit of S&P.

I cooked it down a bit and then added the chicken back to the pan to finish cooking and to help thicken the sauce a bit.

Meanwhile, I cooked up wild rice and steamed a big bunch of broccoli.

I was a good boy and didn't clean my plate! (But I sure wanted to!)  I had to leave room for dessert! (Baked Apples!!!)


Pumpkin Done Right

I just got home from a Pumpkin Recipe Contest at work. OMG!  I am stuffed - but more than stuffed, I am impressed! What an unbelievable collection of foods in one place!  Each employee came up with their own recipes and without prior consultation, we had no duplicates.  Each item was totally unique with its own distinct style and flavor.  I didn't even think to bring a camera.  I guess I just wasn't expecting to have my socks knocked off - but knocked off, they were!

We had:

Pumpkin Ravioli with a Brown Sage Butter

Pumpkin Apple Almond Potstickers with a Ginger Honey Scallion Sauce

Pumpkin Cheese Cannelloni with a Cranberry Sage Butter Sauce

Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin Lasagne

Puff Pastry filled with Fresh Pumpkin Chunks and Sour Cream topped with India Relish

Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Muffins topped with a Cream Cheese and Pumpkin Icing

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Toffee Sauce

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Smoothies, and

Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

I'll start at the top with my own observations...

The Pumpkin Ravioli were something you would find at a fine-dining establishment.  A pumpkin dough filled with a delicate pumpkin and cheese mixture.  Light, yet substantial. And the browned butter sage sauce was the perfect accompaniment.   You could actually make a meal of them adding nothing more than a glass of wine (and bread to sop up the sauce, of course!).  Just divine.

The Pumpkin Potstickers were an OMG! surprise.  Totally unexpected and totally delicious.  I had more than one and could see a tray of them disappearing quickly.  The flavors in the filling were perfectly matched, and the dipping sauce worked great with them.

Pumpkin Cheese Cannelloni was yet another fantastic taste sensation.  Very similar to a blintz in texture, it's another item that could be found at an upscale eatery.  Also light and delicate - yet substantial.  Two of these on a plate with a salad would be a perfect meal.

The Pumpkin Soup was a vegan entry (full disclosure here - I made it!) that took its cue from the Caribbean.  Pumpkin, coconut milk, rum, hot peppers - plus tomatoes,  hominy, black beans and black rice.  Sweet with just enough kick to be interesting.  It was hearty and thick.  Definitely a full meal during the cold months.

The Pumpkin Lasagne was layers and layers of tantilizing pumpkin, cheeses, greens, and pasta.  It was the type of dish that if set on a table would be empty in minutes with people clamoring for more.  Warm crusty bread, a mixed green salad, a bottle (or two) of a good red wine.  Heaven.

The Puff Pastry was the only entry that used fresh pumpkin!  The sweetness of the pumpkin worked perfectly with the spiciness of the India Relish.  It also made a great presentation - and would be a great addition to any appetizer table.  Come to think of it, they could also make a great plated first course.

The Pumpkin Bars were another (last minute) entry of mine.  A fairly traditional pumpkin pie filling topped with a basic cake mixture and walnuts.  It would be better served cold with whipped cream, but I took them out of the oven minutes before heading off to work, so they were served warm.  They were pretty darn good warm, too!

The Pumpkin Muffins were good enough for dessert!  They were a perfect balance of moist and sweet and the icing was another perfect balance of flavor.  These were any-time-of-the-day muffins, for sure!

Bread pudding is one of my all-time favorite desserts, and the Pumpkin Bread Pudding exceeded every one of my expectations.  It was just perfect.  The texture of the bread, the lightness of the custard, the wonderful sauce... Just perfect.  I ate lots.

The Pumpkin Pancakes were light as a feather!   They were perfectly puffed up and airy - unusual for a pancake with something as dense as pumpkin added to it.  (The secret is the yogurt!) And they were really decadent with some of the Toffee Sauce poured on top!

Pumpkin Smoothies - who wouldda thunk?!?  But what a great taste sensation.  I could definitely see these with a float of dark rum and a little paper umbrella.  Too good just for breakfast!

And Pumpkin Crème Brûlée.  Yes - Crème Brûlée!  Talk about another show-stopper!  Light, creamy, rich, flavorful - all at the same time!  The sugar topping was perfectly crisp and crunchy, contrasting superbly with the silken pumpkin custard beneath.  One would not be enough.

Everything was superb in its own right.  The tastes and textures were as varied as the individuals who brought them in.  Everything was over the top.  There wasn't a single "ordinary" item in the bunch.  I can't even imagine trying to actually judge them.  It's a 12-way tie for first place in my not-so-humble opinion!

And the variety of items really illustrates just how versatile the humble pumpkin is.  From sweet to savory and everything in between.

And another great benefit of today is that I now have some great ideas for Thanksgiving!  I did a ham and gorgonzola won ton one year, but I'm thinking potstickers might work this time around, I could do a large creme brulee instead of individuals... Ravioli as a first course?!?

It's gonna be fun - thanks to some great people today!


Turkey Soup

 

It was cold today - at least this west coast blood thought it was cold today - and cold means soup at my house!

I had cooked a small turkey breast on Thursday, and with plenty of meat and a carcass, I set to work.

Soups are generally 'clean out the refrigerator' meals, and today's soup was no exception.  Into the pot went the stripped carcass, broth, an onion, some questionable celery, a slightly dried half-head of garlic and a bit of S&P.  I boiled and then simmered the stock for a couple of hours and then drained it all.  I salvaged whatever turkey meat I could, and then the broth went back into the pot.

Into the pot went the leftover gravy from Thursday night, along with the elbow macaroni and gravy Victor concocted Friday when I was at work.  I chopped up the rest of the celery, carrots, and then added a melange of partial bags of frozen vegetables that were just taking up space in the freezer - and not enough of any one of them for a meal.

A half a loaf of a crusty whole wheat batard finished off the meal - and finished me off, as well!

Start-to-finish a couple of hours.  Actual work time was less than 15 minutes.  AND we not only had a great dinner, we now have a clean 'fridge, to boot!


Leftovers

I think I mentioned I cooked a LOT of food this past weekend.  A lot.  Granted, we ate a lot, but there have been a few leftovers...

I can handle leftovers as well as the next guy, but after a while, I just don't want to see them anymore - at least not in their original state.

Tonight I took leftover sausage with peppers and onions and the leftover beef and put them in a pot with some beef broth.  I had a couple of really ripe tomatoes, so they were chopped up, as well.  And a bit of celery and a can of black-eyed peas.  Stir in some hot chile pepper, and dinner was born.

I also made my own version of Rice-A-Roni to go along with it.  I used some orzo and white rice, sauteed in butter with a bit of minced onion and garlic.  Then added vegetable broth and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Who says leftovers have to be boring?!?


Pass the Bromo Seltzer!

Pop BBQ 1

Pop 2

Everyone's gone.  The house is eerily quiet after three days of non-stop eating, drinking, laughter, and fun.  Did I mention eating, drinking, laughter, and fun?

It was a late Friday arrival from San Francisco (thank you, Delta and the baggage crew at PHL...) but as the arrivee's were on Pacific time, we ended up staying up until three ayem eating, drinking, laughing, and having fun.  We were up ridiculously early Saturday and started off eating right away...  Bagels and cream cheese and stuff like that, and then a light lunch of sandwiches and chips and stuff because we were saving ourselves for a bit of a BBQ with Victor's family.  (Thin-sliced real German Bologna from the Farmer's Market on kaiser rolls... YUM!)

I figured an absolute  maximum of 20 people, so I cooked for about 40.  I kid you not.  I cooked for three or four armies.  Victor's brother walked in, looked at the table, rolled his eyes a bit and said "I see you've done it, again."  We have a bit of a reputation when it comes to having people over and quantities of food being served.  And we definitely didn't let anyone down.  We had food.

Wednesday I had picked up 2 chickens at the Farmer's Market, cut them each into 10 pieces, and soaked them for 2 days in buttermilk, garlic, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and probably a few other spices from the cabinet.  On Friday afternoon, I mixed pretty much the same spices with flour and a bit of cornmeal.  I dredged the chicken in the flour mixture and set on racks to dry a bit.  Then I deep-fried it in peanut oil... Cooled, and then refrigerated.

I made my mom's potato salad - potatoes, green onions, pickles, hard cooked eggs, celery, mayo, catsup, mustard, a splash of worcestershire, garlic, S&P... And a pasta salad - tortellini, onions, sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers, diced celery, carrots, currants, and a dressing of olive oil and raspberry balsamic vinegar.

I grilled a ton of homemade chipotle chicken sausages I had made a couple of weeks ago and then mixed them with Italian peppers and onions...

Plus a couple of London broils I marinated in the now-infamous Pumpkin Butter and Organic Steak Sauce.  And Phoebe's Chipotle Baked Beans.  Plus salami and cheese and crackers and chips and dips and guacamole and breads and rolls and... and...

Oh.  And four (yes, four...) Pineapple Cream Pies.  I can't imagine why Steve rolled his eyes.....

We proceeded to eat all day, all night, and into the wee hours of the morning.

Bright and early Sunday morning was just your typical light breakfast...  Sausage, bacon, fried potatoes, eggs, and more toasted bagels.  One of the great Mysteries of Life is the amount of pots and pans one can dirty making breakfast, and I did my best to uphold the mystery.

Renee and Eileen at the Liberty bell

We did a quick trip into the city to show Eileen the Liberty bell, took a stroll down South Street, and grabbed a Philly Cheesesteak.  (Eileen had never had one IN Philly!)  then back home to the Italian Sunday Dinner Victor was preparing...

He made a great sauce (Italians call it 'gravy') with homemade Italian sausages, homemade meatballs and hunks of pork, and served it on a couple of pounds of spaghetti.  Plus garlic bread and a great savory bread ring that Marie picked up in Manayunk....  And more pie.

All I know is there's no way I could cntinue eating like this!  I am soooooo out of practice!

But what a great time it was!  And Eileen reminded me that when we hit San Francisco in February for my father's birthday that it will be the begining of Dungeness Crab season...

Tim and Pop in the yard

If I start dieting now, I may be ready for it.