'Tis The Season...
It's still officially summer for another week and a half, but my mind has already started focusing on The Holidays.
I like to plan ahead and not get blindsided by them. I mean... Christmas falls on December 25th every year. It doesn't change, it doesn't rotate... It's December 25th. Thanksgiving is a little trickier - the 4th Thursday in November - but still... a little planning never hurts.
We'll be hosting Thanksgiving at our house, again this year. It's pretty much tradition, so we'll have to start planning the ridiculous excess next month some time. I actually create an excel spreadsheet of what we're making, who will be here, and then I look back at blog posts to see what we did and what it looked like.
Organized.
It's how I quantity cook without getting stressed. It helps to have a plan.
We do the same thing with the Christmas baking, although quantities there have been drastically reduced over the years. At our height, we were baking between 6 and 8 thousand cookies every year. It started to get a bit ridiculous - not to mention expensive. We'll be making considerably less - although still way too many.
And then there's the fruitcakes, the stollen, the Christmas pudding... The last three items need to be made way in advance so they can properly age before Christmas. Stir-Up Sunday is about 5 weeks before Christmas - the last Sunday before Advent - and a traditional day to make Christmas puddings, but that's also the Sunday after Thanksgiving and our Decorating Weekend. Methinks I'll be scheduling fruitcakes and pudding for late October and early November...
Yep... It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - even if the weather still says summer!
Mother's Day and Birthdays
Mother's Day is a bit different when your mom's no longer around. It's even more so when Mother's Day and Mom's Birthday fall on the same day.
Mother's Day and Mom's Birthday were always the start of the month-long May Birthday Celebration in our house. All four of my sisters are May-Babies, as well. Yes, it was a crazy time. But none of those birthdays topped Moms. She was the Queen Bee. And even though they were often just days apart - when they didn't fall on the same day - they were two separate occasions.
My father set the mood by having stacks of presents on the table when she got up. He had a great eye and bought a good portion of her clothes. He knew what she looked good in and she loved what he bought. She very rarely returned anything. And shoes... Her father and brother both sold high-end women's shoes. Back in the day she had every matching shoe/bag/belt/hat-combo there was. Imelda Marcos sought advice from her.
Mama had six kids but Mama had style.
And while she ooed and awed over her gifts, she spent extra-special attention on the things we made her. Every picture was a Michelangelo original. Every card, every 29¢ bottle of perfume, every inedible cake we baked, was greeted with praise worthy of an Old Master or chef de pâtisserie. And she saved every one of those scribbled cards.
Victor's mom and my mom were born 2 days apart, on opposite coasts, in 1926. Friday we took his mom out for dinner at the local diner - her choice - and yesterday we had his family over for a combo Birthday Mother's Day dinner. Since I've been doing through Mom's recipes for our Mad Men Mondays I've kept eying her Chinese Casserole. It's a dish she made up back in the '60s and feeds an army. I haven't made it in years and years - because it feeds an army. I decided her birthday was the perfect excuse to introduce it to the east coast family.
My mom never really followed recipes and never really quite had her measurements down. It's a trait I totally understand, so I never have a problem following them. You can go with them as written or play around a bit. They always come out great. For the casserole, the only things I changed were the soups and the mushrooms. I used organic cream of soups - I just couldn't do the national brand and she probably used Lady Lee brand from Lucky Market, anyway... and I added a package of exotic mushroom blend to the mushroom mix. As I said, mom would experiment all the time and as new things caught her eye she would include them when she could.
The Rice-A-Roni Wid Rice mix was a bit different, as well. It's now labelled "Nature's Way" and calls itself "all natural." Strange... But it worked.
In fact, all of it worked quite well. It was Mom's Chinese Casserole. No doubt about it. The only things missing were her - and the huge Corning Ware casserole she made it in.
And then we had the rest of the meal...
I made a huge lasagne. And I do mean huge.
Lasagne is something I have never used a recipe for. I simply worked in too many Italian restaurants and made too many of them to ever think I needed one. And I don't use no-boil noodles. I think they make a gummy lasagne and you can't encapsulate the filling with them. Lasagne is a wrapped package of goodness - not a semi-layered gooey mess. Spend the extra ten minutes cooking your noodles.
The filling for this lasagne included cooked ground beef, hard cooked eggs, porchetta, speck, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, and lots of shredded cheeses - mozzarella, fontina, asiago...
I baked it covered Saturday night for 1 1/2 hours at 350° and then re-baked - also covered - it Sunday for 2 hours at 300°.
For the last 30 minutes I raised the temperature to 350°, uncovered it, and added shredded cheese to the top.
It made much more than we needed. Even with doggie bags leaving, I froze a goodly amount for another day.
The meal didn't stop there... We also had Chicken cutlets.
I breaded them with panko breadcrumbs and corn meal. It gave them a nice crunch.
We also had another huge fruit salad - in Mom's 1960s Salad Bowl...
And the pièce de résistance was a Coconut Cake!
This was a much simpler cake than the monstrosity I made last year. Last year was good, but it was really a one-time cake. I don't see another one of those in my future.
This cake was much lighter and actually more enjoyable because of it.
I made a lightly-flavored coconut whipped cream for the filling and top and sprinkled shredded coconut on top.
The recipe will make either three 8" layers or 2 10" layers. I chose width over height and used 2 10" springform pans.
Coconut Cake
All ingredients should be at room temperature.
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
- ¼ cup Coco Lopez or other coconut cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 8 large egg whites
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter two 10" or three 8" pans. Line with parchment, and butter parchment. Flour pans and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir together the milk, coconut milk, vanilla, and coconut cream. Add the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture in three increments, starting and ending with the dry.
Whip the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until evenly blended. Divide the cake batter evenly among the two or three prepared cake pans.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes for 8" cakes or 40-45 minutes for 10" cakes - or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pans about 15 minutes, remove from pans and set on racks until completely cool.
For Whipped Cream Icing:
Whip 1 1/2 cups whipping cream with 1/4 cup Coco Lopez. Place about 1/3 whipped cream on first layer. Top with second layer and spread remaining 2/3 cream on top. Generously top with shredded coconut.
This was an easy one to make and really took no time at all. I can see it - and a few variations - becoming a part of the repertoire.
All-in-all It was a good day with a lot of good food and fond memories.
And Mad Men Monday?!? There's a 1960s Chinese Casserole in the 'fridge right now.
Leftovers. What a concept!
Easter 2012
I love holidays. I love getting together with everyone and I love the excessive amount of food.
We eat well at our house, but it takes a crowd of people to have a dozen different foods out at any given moment. And a dozen different foods is so much fun.
It's even more fun when it's down the road at Marie and Steve's... An impeccable table - of course - and a bountiful array of creative culinary creations that would please the palate of the most discriminating diner.
I love it!
We started off with a table of appetizers... Victor made Uncle Rudy's Easter Pie, but made it in a tart pan this year instead of the traditional pie plate. It really was good. Extraordinarily good. Stellar.
Uncle Rudy's Easter Pie
Makes 2 pies
- 3 Lb Ricotta
- 8 eggs
- 1/2 cup grated cheese
- 1/2 lb ham, diced
- 1/4 lb prosciutto, diced
- 1/4 lb pepperoni, diced
- To Taste;
- Garlic Powder
- Pepper
- Italian Seasoning
- Parsley
Blend eggs and ricotta. Add diced meats and seasonings. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust and top with second crust. Crimp edges.
Bake at 375° for 45 minutes to 1 hour – the crust should be nice and golden brown.
The photo above shows a 12" tart pan. The recipe made one traditional 10" deep-dish pie and the 12" tart.
Earlier in the week I had received an email recipe from La Cucina Italiana magazine. The email title was "An Adorable Polenta Dumpling." How could I pass that up?!?
"Canederli" di Polenta allo Speck
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Fine sea salt
- 1 1/4 cups coarse polenta
- 1/4 pound speck, finely chopped
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
- 1 tablespoon roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
In a large saucepan, combine water, milk, 3 tablespoons butter and ¾ teaspoons salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Slowly add polenta in a thin stream, whisking; reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until polenta is thickened and tender, 40 to 45 minutes. (Because it uses less liquid, this polenta is thicker than usual.)
Remove polenta from heat; stir in speck, egg yolks, cheese and parsley. Let stand until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
Line a large platter with parchment paper. With damp hands, form 1-tablespoon portions polenta into 40 (1-inch) balls and place on prepared platter.
In a small saucepan, heat 8 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat until butter becomes lightly browned, about 13 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large non-stick skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. In two batches, cook dumplings until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch.
Divide dumplings among 4 bowls, spoon brown butter over the top. Serve immediately.
So... I used a small scoop and made about 65 little balls. I started frying them in the butter as described in the recipe. but they decided to make a mess of my skillet. I ended up putting them on a buttered sheet pan and sticking them under the broiler. I then drizzled them with the browned butter.
They came out great! Victor's mom - who always says she hates polenta - had one not knowing what they were and loved it! Them. She had more than one. So much for hating polenta.
And things only got better.
A cold pea salad with mint, onions, feta... awesome.
And a marinated Shrimp Pasta Salad with just the right amount of everything.
Marie's Pineapple Bread Pudding that I absolutely love...
And roasted asparagus, grilled lamb loin chops, and a spiral-cut ham.
Stupendous.
After feasting on all of this, the table was cleared, the coffee was made, and the desserts arrived.
Desserts. Plural.
I totally forgot to take any pictures of the Apricot Crostata, the Lemon Cream Tart, the Chocolate Mint Brownie Cake, the Platter of Fresh Fruits, or the half-dozen varieties of homemade cookies at Marie's, but we did bring a bit of a dessert plate home with us...
I felt it my duty to try some of everything.
And it was all wonderful.
We got the recipe for the Lemon Cream Tart from Victor's friend, Jenni. It's quite simple, but really packs a lemony wallop!
Creamy Lemon Pie
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 (8- or 9-inch) baked pie crust or graham cracker crumb crust
- whipped cream. for added flavor, fold some lemon curd into the whipped cream just before serving
- Lemon zest (optional)
Preheat oven to 325°. Beat egg yolks, gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. Pour into crust.
Bake: 30-35 minutes, until set. Cool for about 1 hour and then chill at least 3 hours before serving.
I made this in a 10'" tart pan with a graham cracker crust. I also added lemon extract to the whipped cream and folded in about 2/3 cup lemon curd to the cream before piping it on top.
I wish I had taken a picture of the whole tart - it was really pretty.
Oh well...
Peeps
Peeps. One of the most gawd-awful products ever created.
I seriously don't understand the appeal. To eat, anyway... they are fun to play with.
This year, we have a PeepTree Centerpiece. They're glued onto styrofoam with meringue. I even used meringue powder. I didn't want to waste perfectly edible eggs on this.
Since they're practically indestructible, we should have this around for years...
Happy Easter.
2012 and the Food Continues...
I was looking back into the archives at what we've been ingesting on New Year's Day. Surprisingly, I'm not a traditionalist. No pork and sauerkraut and only one Hoppin' John - and that was because we had a family gathering and it was required. Otherwise, we seem to be all over the map as far as our New Year meal goes...
I think it's rather fitting, that way.
This year - with the cold from hell - I had no plans at all. I've been living on homemade chicken soup and really could not care less about what I eat. I also haven't been grocery shopping in a few days and, while there is always food in the house, it's not necessarily what I want.
I got a freebie turkey from the local grocery store, so yesterday I decided we would roast a turkey. I wasn't planning on the whole magilla dinner - just the bird, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Open-faced sandwiches was pretty much my idea.
As the turkey was roasting, Victor decided to make a sausage dressing. And he made a fantastic apricot-cranberry sauce. And he made biscuits. I did the turkey and gravy. I got off easy!
It was definitely far superior to what I had initially imagined. The old adage is to feed a cold. I did. In fact, I fed a couple of them.
And I made a crustless pumpkin pie for dessert. More on that, later.
Now that I'm over-stuffed, it's time to look back on meals of new Year's past...
2011: Steaks and Langostino
Langostino in a harissa cream sauce. Surprisingly good. Nice and spicy.
2010: Stuffed Dates
We brought these to the bro-and-sis-in-laws. They were good. Need to pre-cook the bacon an bit.
2009: Pork in Puff Pastry
Our one pork dish. Because it was already here.
2008: Chicken with Almond Rice
This was from a Celtic cook book I received that year for Christmas. It's kinda associated with New Year and Yule.
2007: Nothing...
No idea what was going on in 2007. Whatever it was, it didn't include writing a blog post.
2006: Hoppin' John
Big-time family gathering. We need to do this, again.
Goodbye 2011
It's New Year's Eve 2011. In a couple of hours it will be 2012. I get to enter 2012 with one hellava cold. That nasty, deep, bronchial cough that makes me sound like a barking sea lion. And the requisite sinus headache, plugged up nose. It's such a joy.
Fortunately, I really don't care about New Year's as a holiday. It was fun when I was a kid and I even had a reasonably good time in my hotel days... Most of them, anyway. There was the year at the Hyatt in Tahoe where some yahoo decided to throw his glass into the huge floor-to-ceiling fireplace at the end of the casino area. Within minutes, hundreds of glasses were being hurled in the general direction of the fireplace. Shattered glass everywhere. It was a mess. The Hyatt in Cambridge was another story. Totally civilized. All managers were scheduled to work. We were all in our tuxedos, women in gowns, and we just wandered in and out of the various parties and festivities. A suite overlooking the atrium lobby was set up for us with an open bar and tons of food. Very civilized, indeed.
Our last going-out-on-New-Year's-Eve was 2003 in New York. We spent a fortune on a room at the Millennium Hilton, tickets to see The Producers - the night Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane returned - and planned to walk the half-block to Times Square to watch the ball drop. The show was one of the most fun I've seen. Alas, we were barred from walking that half-block to Times Square by some of the nastiest police I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. We ended up heading back to our hotel downtown and having free champagne with the bartender, manager on duty, and a couple of other folks. It was rather nice.
And the last time we have ventured out.
So here we are entering into 2012. My 60th year.
Other than the aches and pains, I don't feel like I'm approaching 60. Of course, having never been 60 before, I'm not sure what it's supposed to feel like, but if cocky, reasonable self-assured, and extremely opinionated are traits, I'm definitely there.
2012 is looking to be a great year. We just bought tickets to Italy for a 2-week vacation in June and will be staying in apartments in Rome and Florence - no hotels, thankyouverymuch. Real bedrooms and real kitchens, and living rooms! We'll be traveling with my baby sister and her partner and their three girls. We have our copy of Rosetta Stone Italian so we can at least try and ask a question or two in the language of our host country. We'll also be bringing technology with us to get us through when pantomime and charades fail us. It's gonna be a fun time.
Our last meal of 2011 tonight was another loaf of homemade bread and a big pot of beef stew.
We are the wild and crazy guys, eh? But with this dang-nabbed cold, anything else would be a waste. Besides, we're not Hoppin' Sauerkraut Greens Pork Pickled Herring folks. We'll leave the superstitions to the superstitious and eat what we like. (I'm going to roast a freebie turkey tomorrow...)
The bread was the same as I made the other day. That little bit of rye flour makes all the difference in the world.
And the stew was just stew. I don't have a recipe for it - I just make it.
So Happy New Year to all, and a joyous and prosperous 2012. The prosperous part probably won't happen because our government has sold its soul to Wall Street for personal gain, but there's always the hope that America will wake up in time for the 2012 elections and vote those bastards out of office.
Yeah... And my cold will be over tomorrow.
Thanksgiving and Anniversaries
I suppose it was inevitable that the two of us would meet around the biggest food-related holiday of the year. While it was baseball that got us first talking, my KitchenAid Mixer and Victor's Calphalon pretty much cemented the deal. It's not like either of us are really mercenary or anything, but, hell... merging our kitchens was not a bad thing...
And we've been having fun and eating well, ever since.
Today is 17 years since we first met. 17 years of holidays, food, family gatherings, and fun in the kitchen. We added to the Calphalon collection over the years - we now have all we'll ever need and will never have to buy another pot or pan - and the KitchenAid is still going strong. Buy quality. Buy once. You save in the long run.
We're hosting Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow for a mere 13. The smallest gathering we've done, I think. Naturally, we're going to have enough food for twice that amount. We can't help it. We seriously tried to limit hors d'oeuvres, desserts... It didn't work. Every time we turned around, we were adding something to the list.
But it's okay. We'll deal with it.
I started making the pie crusts a few days ago. I just wrapped them up and stuck them in the 'fridge.
I know there are reasonably good frozen crusts out there, but I just can't do it. These are just too easy to make. And homemade is better. Always.
One thing I had to get used to when we merged kitches was the rolling pin. Victor really liked the long fat-broom-handle-type, while I had always used the more traditional pin with handles. He was right. That rolling pin is so easy to use, and I have perfect control over anything I roll. I can also control the weight and pressure when rolling something out.
Love it!
And when you make your own crusts, they really fit in the pie plate!
Of course, sometimes you may want to make something a bit different - and not use a pie plate...
A Pear Crostatta fit the bill. With the desserts all done, and hors d'oeuvres all organized, tomorrow will just be cooking the turkey and the rest of the main meal.
Easy money.
Our menu for tomorrow is:
Butternut Squash Risotto Arancini
Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce
Hot-Smoked Peppered Salmon
Baked Brie en Croute
Tomato Jam Bruschetta
Spinach Salad with Pumpkin Dressing
Roast Turkey with Giblet Gravy
Nona's Stuffing
Sourdough Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Marie's Sweet Potatoes
Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes
Honey-Glazed Carrots with Dill
Corn Pudding
Cranberry Orange Sauce
Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Homemade Pumpkin Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Cranberry Apple Walnut Pie
New York Cheesecake
Pear Crostatta
This was Victor after I had finished the pies. That mess was mild. I've done much better. Or worse, depending upon your point of view.
And, of course, we have our family traditions covered... The jellied Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce has to be on the table for Victor's father. Served in the cut glass dish that my mother always served it in. We never-ever had homemade cranberry sauce growing up. But we also never-ever had frozen pies. Mom made the pies - from scratch. I'm just following tradition...
So the table is set, glasses sparkling, lots and lots of food in the house, and more cooking in the morning.
This has been the best anniversary, yet!
Easter 2011
It takes weeks of planning, a week of prep, and it's over before you know it.
But what fun we have!
Easter, this year was a bit extra-special because it's 2 days before Victor's birthday.
Every year his family gets together on Saturday night for the annual pizza-and-egg-coloring-eggstravaganza. This year they surprised him with a birthday celebration, as well.
They baked a lot of cupcakes! And yes, the number is correct.
The pizza was great. There were five different varieties. This one was topped with arugula. Back in the day when I made pizza, I was such a purist I probably would have turned my nose up at something like this. Over the years I've learned to appreciate things a bit more. And I definitely appreciated this!
I ate more than I should - but then... when don't I?!? Especially when faced with something like this - and 60 cupcakes.
Earlier in the week I started the Peep-Dipping.
I personally cannot abide Peeps but they are fun to play with. And one of these days I'm going to get serious about playing with them. Every year I see the contests, creativity, and extremes people go tt with Peeps. Some of them are just outstanding. A far cry from a mere chocolate dip!
On to the eating!
Today, we started early - 1pm - with enough food to feed many more than the 15 assembled. We really tried to cut down. We really did. Somehow, though, things just kept multiplying.
We started off with appetizers, of course... Meat balls, stuffed eggs, cheeses and crackers, olives, peppers, prosciutto...
The stuffed eggs were really simple. Mayo, turmeric, dill, salt, and pepper.
We decided to do a bit of a picnic theme this year. We did cold turkey, ham, and beef tenderloin with rolls and croissants for sandwiches, lingonberry sauce and aioli for spreads, and potato salad, pasta salad, green bean and red onion salad, and a green salad.
And we had two hot dishes - Marie's pineapple bread pudding and Ricotta Rollatini - a pasta dish Victor made with homemade pasta and homemade ricotta cheese!
He made a variation a few weeks ago that was excellent - but today's was stellar. He used fresh peas instead of the spinach and the homemade ricotta.
Yum.
The ricotta is no-brainer easy to make and what a difference in flavor!
Fresh Ricotta
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp salt
Add all ingredients to a heavy pot and simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Scoop curds into a cheesecloth-lined sieve and drain about 30 minutes. Squeeze to remove as much whey as possible.
Cover and chill.
It really is easy to make and it's totally worth the time!
And then it was Dessert Time!
It pretty much doesn't matter how much I've eaten - when dessert is ready - I make room.
We started off with Victor's Carrot Cake.
Carrot Cake
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups shredded carrots (about 4 medium)
- 1 1/2 cups oil (neutral oil like grapeseed – not olive)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup coconut (optional)
Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 2 9″ cake pans.
In a large bowl, blend all ingredients (except nuts, etc) on low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes on high speed. Stir in nuts, raisins, and coconutr, if using.
Pour into pans and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cook cake 10 minutes before removing from pans.
Cool completely before frosting.
I made cream cheese frosting, split it into 4 layers, and decorated it with marzipan carrots we bought at Cost Plus when we were in San Francisco last month. They were festive, i couldn't resist.
And I made a Strawberry Cheesecake...
It was a variation on my most favorite recipe.
Strawberry Cheesecake
The Crust:
- 3/4 cups walnuts, finely ground
- 3/4 cup vanilla wafer crumbs
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
The Filling:
- 4 pkgs cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
The Topping:
- 16 oz sour cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
The Glaze:
- 4 cups strawberries
- 1 10 oz jar red raspberry jelly
Putting it together: Preheat oven to 350º. Mix crust ingredients and press evenly into bottom of 10″ springform pan. Set aside.
Cream the cheese until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sugar, vanilla, and whipping cream, mixing until smooth and light. Pour into pan and bake 60 – 70 minutes. Remove from oven and cool about 15 minutes. Keep oven on.
Mix topping ingredients and spread onto top of cheesecake to within about 1/2 inch from edge. Return to oven and bake about 7 more minutes. Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate at least 24 hours (as I said, 2-3 days is best.)
On day you’re going to serve, make glaze. Simply melt jar of jelly over low heat.
Remove cake from pan. Press graham cracker crumbs onto sides, if desired.
Arrange sliced strawberries on top of cheesecake, covering the whole thing. Brush glaze on strawberries, allowing it to run down and pool on cake.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
It really is the best.
Marie brought a crostata di frutta that was outstanding!
A tender crust with a pastry cream, topped with sliced strawberries. Excellent.
And, finally, fresh fruit with honey and more fresh ricotta.
Totally simple and totally good.
The honey is local that I pick up down at Gentile's Market in Newtown Square. I've heard that eating local honey is supposed to help with seasonal allergies. It actually may be working. I haven't felt as bad recently as I have since moving back here!
Our final things were gifts we made for everyone to bring home with them - Limocello and Strawberry White Balsamic Vinegar.
Both are really good and really easy to make.
The vinegar is simple crushed strawberries steeped in white balsamic and then strained and filtered. It can be accomplished in a couple of hours.
The limoncello takes a bit longer. Weeks longer.
Limoncello
- 15 organic lemons, well scrubbed
- 2 (750 ml) bottles 100-proof vodka
- 4 cups sugar
- 5 cups water
Wash the lemons well and pat dry. Carefully zest the lemons with a zester or vegetable peeler so there is no white pith on the peel.
Step One:
In a large glass jar (1-gallon jar), add the vodka and the lemon zest. Cover the jar and let sit at room temperature for at least 10 days and up to 40 days in a cool dark place. The longer it rests, the better the taste will be. (There is no need to stir – all you have to do is wait.) As the limoncello sits, the vodka slowly take on the flavor and rich yellow color of the lemon zest.Step Two:
In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and water; cook until thick and syrupy, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Cool the syrup and then stir into the limoncello mixture. Allow to rest for another 10 to 40 days.Step Three:
After the rest period, strain and bottle: discarding the lemon zest. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve.
It was a lot of fun. And a lot of food.
It doesn't get much better.
Oma's Christmas Stollen
OMG! You should smell this house right now! I have died and gone to Culinary Heaven!
I've said over and over that our baking has been the best, ever. And I'm here to say it, again. It's the best, ever!
I got the recipe from a friend several years ago and finally decided to make it last year.
The first stollen I made was horrible. I totally and completely screwed it up. Don't ask me how - I just did. I actually threw it all away and re-did it. It was really good the second time, but this year?!? Perfection! Absolute perfection. Oma guided my hand.
It started with the dough. It felt right from the beginning. Even though I'm a baker, there are a lot of things I've just never baked before, and Stollen was one of those things.
When you bake a lot, you learn how to touch and feel dough. It speaks to you - you just need to learn how to listen with your hands. Today it spoke and I listened. It said "be patient".
It takes a lot longer to rise than the breads I'm used to making. It also takes longer to knead. Of course, the breads I'm used to making don't have a pound and a half of butter in them! Patience.
I cut the recipe in half because 4 loaves is more than I really need to have in the house.
Oma's Christmas Stollen
This recipe is huge and makes 8 loaves (it freezes well – in Germany, it’s traditional to consume the last Christmas stollen on Easter) so feel free to cut it in half. It isn’t overly sweet and heavy and nasty like traditional fruitcakes – it’s more like a sweet bread, and the butter in the recipe makes it very flaky.
- 6 pounds flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 7 oz fresh yeast (about 80 gr dry)
- 1 lb golden raisins
- 1 t almond extract
- 3 t salt
- 3 lb butter
- 1 quart whole milk
- 1 lb dark raisins
- 1 lb blanched almonds, ground finely (but not overly fine – you get it)
- 1/2 lb citron, chopped finely (as above) and floured
In a saucepan, heat the milk. Remove from heat and add butter, sugar and salt. When just warm, add yeast. Put into large mixing bowl and begin to add flour, about five pounds, mixing well after each addition. Stir in raisins, citron and almonds. Add almond extract. Mix well and knead on floured board (dough will be a little sticky – you’ll use probably half a pound of flour doing this, which accounts for the six pound total) until it’s very smooth and elastic (about 20 minutes). Put into a covered bowl and let it rise until doubled. Divide dough into 8 parts and flatten each piece into a circle and fold over *almost* in half – the bottom diameter will be larger than the top. Let rise again until doubled and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. When cool, dust heavily with powdered sugar.
The house really isn't all that warm this time of year, either. I let them rise for several hours, formed the loaves, and let them rise, again, for several hours.
They look beautiful, they smell beautiful, and I know they're going to taste beautiful.
This is our year. No question about it.
And I think I finally figured out why... It's because we decided we weren't going to go crazy and bake a bazillion cookies like we do every year.
Just by cutting back and coming up with fewer batches of everything, the stress went away. Once we decided it just didn't matter, it all fell into place.
There's a few things still planned for the next few days and the weekend. And when we get to them, we get to them.
'Tis the Season to be Jolly!
And we are.
In Your Easter Bonnet
Let's see... I think there were 19 of us today. We even got everyone around the same table. We're good. It was an interesting mix of extended families. A lot of fun.
Getting everything ready this morning was fun. We have a fair amount of furniture rearranging to do in order to set up a table for 20 people. It's utterly amazing what one can find lurking behind things that don't often get moved. And then I looked up and saw the fan. How that fan could have gotten so filthy overnight is beyond me. I mean... I'm in that room every single day and I know it couldn't have been that dirty yesterday! Amazing.
And then we had two matching tablecloths that were too short for the table. We worked around it and no one was the wiser. When you're good, you're good... :)
And we ate. And ate. And ate some more. We sat down at 3pm and finally got up at 5:45pm.
The menu:
Appetizers
- Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Sauce
- Uncle Rudy's Easter Pie
- Salami
- Pepperoni
- Stuffed Hot Peppers
- Mozzarella and Prosciutto
- Baguettes
Dinner
- Baked Ham with a Pomegranate Mustard Glaze
- Grilled Rack of Lamb Chops
- Baked Perline Pasta
- Chunked Scalloped Potatoes
- Maple Glazed Carrots
- Pineapple Bread Dressing
- Portuguese Easter Bread (made into rolls) with Irish Butter
Dessert
- Strawberry Cheesecake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Carrot cake
- Cannoli
- Asst Homemade Candies
The desserts really rocked. The cheesecake was definitely one of my better ones!
There was such a variety. Leah made the Carrot Cake.
The flourless chocolate cake was almost too rich after so much food. We definitely overindulged, but everything was just so good, it was hard to stop.
Joann made the cannoli. Both traditional fruit-filled and chocolate chips. She even makes her own cannoli shells. She also brought the homemade candies.
It's 8:30pm right now. The dishes are done, the furniture is all moved abck to where it belongs, and everything is back in its place.
I'm ready for bed.
Salads and Easter Desserts
Yesterday's dinner was a quickie because desserts had to be made! A clean out the refrigerator salad with grilled beef and zucchini strips broiled with a drizzle of olive oil, grated cheese and breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
No pictures of the desserts, yet, because they're all in various stages of production. With limited refrigerator space, things just don't get the luxury of their own private shelf and such, so whenever something can stay in a pan or container - it does.
First thing I made was my (infamous) Strawberry Cheesecake. It really does need to sit for a couple of days to meld the flavors. It still needs the strawberries, but I'll be able to do that Sunday after a lot of the other stuff exits the 'fridge.
Next was a flourless chocolate cake that Victor made for me for my birthday. OMG! It is way good! And REALLY easy to make. Chocaholics, go for it!
And, finally, Mom's Lemonade Pie. Well... my variation of it, anyway...
Dinner is all about the desserts, in my not-so-humble opinion!
I have to work all day Saturday and then we're off to the annual egg coloring and pizza party... Fortunately, the rest of the menu is set, the shopping is complete, it's just a matter of puling it all together Sunday afternoon.
Piece of cake.
Happy Thanksgiving, Part Deux
After a great sleep in our own bed last night, I woke early and refreshed - and ready for Thanksgiving Dinner. Of course, that meant shopping. Lancaster County Farmer's Market, here I come. It was great getting down there - my schedule pretty much keeps me from being able to shop down there regularly. I miss not having Wednesday off anymore. I made up for it, today!
First thing I needed was a turkey. I got one about 12 1/2 pounds - almost a third of the size I normally get (last year was 33.3 lbs.) And potatoes, sweet potatoes, fresh peas, rolls, and bread to make my stuffing. I had cranberries in the freezer.
Now... generally, our tradition is we decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. We've been doing it for 14 years... But... since we neither cooked Thanksgiving or were home, we had to do both today - cook dinner and decorate.
It went really easily. First thing was putting on Christmas Music. I cut up and toasted the bread for the dressing and made the cranberry sauce. While it was cooking away, we brought up decorations from the basement. And brought up decorations. And brought up decorations. We have LOTS of Christmas decorations.
I made a simple sausage stuffing, stuffed the bird, and into the oven it went.
Up went the tree and we started decorating.
And we decorated...
Victor did most of the kitchen...
In between decorating, I'd go back into the kitchen and check on things. I pulled the turkey out and while it was resting, I made the gravy and left it on a low simmer while I did the sweet potatoes. I cubed and boiled them, then after draining them, I added butter, brown sugar, ample syrup, and a pinch of mace and cinnamon. Into the oven they went. Peas were boiled then drained and reheated with a bit of butter, salt and pepper. Made simple mashed potatoes. I almost always leave the skins on the potatoes and mash them up, but Thanksgiving calls for peeled potatoes. It's a rule. And there was only two of us. Two potatoes.
We have lots of fun Kitchen-type decorations. We usually do an apple tree every year and we have several Cooking Santa's...
And then the rest of the house becomes a free-for-all.
I do the dining room. Another tradition. And it never is the same year to year. We've been collecting Santa's for years, but as we were unwrapping stuff today, we realized that somewhere alomng the line, we've started collecting Christmas Trees, as well. No idea how that happened. After Christmas sales, I guess... So... The top of the buffet became a Christmas Tree farm this year.
And there's still another dozen in different places around the house...
The dining room table and chandelier also get over-the-top treatment. Nothing is too gaudy for this room. It's fun.
The tree is the most fun - and the first thing we actually do. Almost every ornament has a story. From family heirlooms to the first ornaments we exchanged, handmade by nieces and nephews, Waterford crystal to paper. Ecclectic doesn't even begin to describe it.
Here's a bit of a closeup...
Here are more Christmas Trees... And Santa's. Since there's no mantle, the stockings get hung with the fireplace poker. Santa understands...
The whole front window is Santa's. Scores of them. Actually, the entire living room is Santa. He's everywhere.We've never counted, but we have lots.
Tomorrow we start outside. And we have a couple of projects we'd like to get to if we have the time and energy. Ya never know.
I boiled the carcass for soup and will make that Monday. Tomorrow night is going to be Apple and Gorgonzola ravioli I bought at the Farmer's Market today. I'm thinking a simple cream sauce. We shall see...
It's great to be home!