Baking Class: Mexican Wine Cookies

I first posted this recipe back in December of 2008. My father found it in the Dallas Morning News when I was in high school and suggested we make them together. If you want to read a funny story about that experience you can find it here.

These cookies don't look like much, but they are delicious. They have a delicate texture and the sherry adds a nutty warmth that permeates throughout every bite. Whenever I take them somewhere new they languish on the table while people are busy devouring the brownies, toll house cookies, gingerbread, and other more traditional Christmas goodies. But once the chocolate and cheesecake is gone and people start to nibble on them they discover just how good they are. And by the next year, they are asking for them.

This is my oldest tradition. I may not always do much for the holidays from one year to the next, but I always make a batch of these cookies.

Home Cookin v9.81 Chapter: Baked Goods (Sweet/Savory) MEXICAN WINE COOKIES 1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp salt
4 cup sifted flour
1/4 cup sweet sherry

Cream butter with sugar. Add egg and beat until light and fluffy. Blend in salt and 2 cups flour. Stir in the sherry and mix well.

Add the remaining two cups of flour and mix well. Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour.

Roll the dough into balls and use flatten them with the bottom of a glass or cookie stamps.

Bake at 350° F for eight to ten minutes, until the bottoms have just started to brown. Check after eight minutes.

Makes 8-10 dozen cookies.

from the food section of the Dallas Morning News ca 1972

exported from Home Cookin v9.81

Turkey Isn't the Only Reason to Love the Winter Holidays

Most of my friends and family look forward to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays because it is the only time they have turkey during the year.  Which is mainly interesting for the fact that most of them don't really like turkey all that much.  I include myself in this group.  While I do love those leftover turkey sandwiches, I usually only eat one or two small slices at the Thanksgiving table, mainly as a vehicle for sweet pickles and cranberry sauce, both of which I only eat with turkey, and vice versa.  I am a big fan of the stuffing, potatoes, and other side dishes but the turkey itself is my least favorite part of the meal.  (That being said, I have no problem whatsoever having it those two times of the year for those who do actually, you know, like turkey.)

So what does make me happy this time of year?  In a word, citrus.  Late fall and early winter is citrus season, when oranges are orangier and limes and lemons are juicier, and Texas Red grapefruits make their annual appearance in my local Chicago grocery store.

As I mentioned when I first wrote about them in this 2009 post, the two things that I miss the most since moving away from Texas are Ruby Red grapefruit and the Pecos Cantaloupe.  I still haven't found the cantaloupe, but every November the grapefruit shows up at Jewel.

Apparently I am not the only one who feels that way about these deep red, sweet gems.  The 73rd Texas State Legislature declared it to be the State Fruit in 1993.  That is a resolution I can get behind!

Since my move this summer I have been thrown off kilter from my normal routines, and seeing all kinds of things from a new perspective.  The holidays and grapefruit have not been much on my mind, especially once I decided that I was not going to travel this year and instead spend time working on my apartment and other things I have been neglecting since I moved (like this blog).  So I wasn't really thinking about the usual things this fall.  A few days ago I did have the fleeting thought that we were coming into citrus season, which made me happy because oranges are more plentiful and juicier this time of year, but that is as far as my thoughts went.  So when I walked into Jewel Monday afternoon and this five-pound bag of Texas Reds was the first thing I saw, I think I actually squealed with delight.  And threw it into my cart, of course.  That five-pound bag of flour I was going to buy could wait until my next visit.

I went home and immediately supremed a few of them and have been enjoying them all week.  Unlike pink or white grapefruit, the reds are sweet with just a hint of tartness.  I am not a big fan of the pink and white varieties but I absolutely love the reds.  If you give them a try I think you will too.

Many people find grapefruit to be more trouble than it is worth.  I always supreme a few at a time and keep them in a container in the fridge so it is ready to eat when I want some.  If you have never supremed citrus before, this post will show you how.  So now you have no excuse not to enjoy these seasonal gems.

Holiday Baking: Swedish Cinnamon and Cardamom Bread

The holidays offer me the perfect excuse to try recipes for breads that I would normally not consider eating, and this Swedish Cinnamon and Cardamom Bread is the perfect example of that.  It is full of butter, sugar and milk and is a very rich bread.  Which makes it delicious, of course.  The cardamom takes it up a notch from a more usual cinnamon-filled sweet bread and I was intrigued by the shaping method.  So I decided to give it a try last year and was so happy with the original large loaf that I made that I made smaller loaves to give as gifts.  The bread itself is light and not too sweet.  The filling is sweeter but the cardamom helps to mellow out the sweetness.  It was a big hit with my friends.

It is fairly easy to make, which is always a plus.  It only takes a few hours and the aroma of cinnamon and cardamom made for a festive holiday feel in my kitchen the day that I made it.  I am sure it will do the same for yours.

Home Cookin v.9.73 Chapter: Chapter: Breads and Muffins


SWEDISH CINNAMON AND CARDAMOM BREAD
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups whole milk, heated to 115°
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
4-1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons cardamom seeds, lightly crushed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons cardamom seeds, finely crushed
1 egg, beaten
Pearl sugar, for topping

Melt butter in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium. Remove from heat and stir in milk and yeast; let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk flour, sugar, cardamom, and salt in a bowl. Stir in yeast mixture until dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes. Return dough to bowl and cover with a clean dish towel; let sit in a warm place until dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Mix granulated sugar, butter, cinnamon, and cardamom in a bowl until smooth.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 11" x 17" rectangle, about 1/4 " thick. Spread filling over dough, leaving a 1/2 " border along edges. Working from one long end, roll dough into a tight cylinder; transfer seam side down to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cover with dish towel; let sit in a warm place until dough has doubled in size once more, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 375°. Using kitchen shears and starting 1" from ends of dough, make crosswise cuts, spaced 1" apart, three-quarters of the way through dough. Fan dough slices away from the center, alternating left to right. Brush dough with egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar; bake until golden brown, about 22 minutes. Let bread cool completely before serving.

http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/swedish-cinnamon-and-cardamom-bread

Exported from Home Cookin v9.73 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Pan de Muertos

Pan de Muertos is the perfect way to celebrate Halloween.  It is traditionally made in the weeks leading up to the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos, which coincides with our All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1 and November 2.  Orange juice, anise and sugar combine to give the bread just the right amount of sweetness so that it can be eaten alone or slathered with butter or cream cheese.

I have been meaning to post this since I first started making it a few years ago but I keep forgetting to do it close enough to Halloween. I made it for a friend's Halloween Party and it was a big hit.  If you are looking for something different to help celebrate your Halloween, you can't go wrong with this.

I used this recipe from allrecipes.com.  It was easy to follow and easy to make.  You will not be disappointed if you give it a try!

Baking Class: Irish Soda Bread

I had intended to make soda bread for St. Patrick's Day last year, but time got away from me and I never got around to it.  So I was determined to make it happen this year, and I am so glad that I did!

I was not really familiar with soda bread, so I assumed that it was more like a quick bread which, having no yeast, is a lot softer and more cake-like than yeasted breads.  But I was wrong.  This bread has a dense crumb that is strong without being tough.  It toasts beautifully.  It is not overly sweet.  In a word, it is delicious.

And quite easy to make.  You mix up the dry ingredients, cut in a little bit of butter, stir in the wet, knead it a few times, mold it into shape with your hands, cut a cross into the top (I didn't cut quite deeply enough so you can't see it that well, but that had no affect whatsoever on the texture or taste), and bake it for 40 minutes.  C'est tout.

I also like that there are only two tablespoons of butter in soda bread, compared to the half cup you find in scones and biscuits.  The small amount of sugar, combined with the raisins, gives a sweetness to the dough without being too sweet.

I can make no attestation as to the authenticity of this recipe.  I looked at quite a few recipes before deciding to try this one and the ingredients were comparable in most of them so I decided to go with this one.  It was a wise decision.

Whip up a loaf or two of soda bread for your St. Paddy's day celebration and your guests will be quite happy.  In fact, you should whip up a loaf anyway.  You won't be sorry.

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

IRISH SODA BREAD

Makes 8 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup dried currants

Preheat the oven to 375 deg. F.  Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Cut butter into flour mixture with pastry cutter.  Add buttermilk until dough is soft.  Stir in currants.

Turn dough out only a lightly floured surface.  Knead for 5 minutes or until smooth.  Form dough into a 7-inch round.  Place on a lightly oiled cake pan or cookie sheet.  Score with a cross 1/2-inch deep on the top.  Bake for 40 minutes.

from Larissa's Bread Book:  Baking Bread & Telling Tales with Women of the American South, by Lorraine Johnson-Coleman (Rutledge Hill Press, 2001)

Exported from Home Cookin 7.47 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Hamantaschen

My first memory of temple:

It is a Saturday afternoon. I am about five years old. My father gathers up the four of us kids and piles us into the Plymouth station wagon and drives us to a big unfamiliar building, where he drops us off and drives away. I am the youngest, and in the care of my older siblings. We walk into the building to a big room that is magical to me. People are dressed in costume, there are games to play and prizes to win! Ice cream! Cotton Candy! Peanuts! Popcorn! I hardly know what to do first. I find out that we are in a place called "Temple." I like Temple!

A few weeks later we are at our parents' friends house and they are talking about meeting us at Temple for Friday night services. Their daughter, who is a couple of years younger than I am, asks "What is temple?"

Well, I know what Temple is, because I was just there! "You'll love it!" I say. "There's ice cream, popcorn, games, and people wear costumes. It's like the circus!" I am so pleased that my age and experience have allowed me to help explain something new to someone who is younger and less worldly than I am, something I never get to do at home.

We get to Temple. We go in the same doors I had gone through that last time, but imagine my surprise when we do not turn towards the big room with all of the fun and games. Instead, we turn left and head into a bigger, much more quiet room with rows of benches and a big raised area at the front with large wooden chairs, a big wooden stand, and a curtained area in the back. Everyone is wearing suits and dresses, and goes quickly and quietly to sit in the benches. There is soft organ music playing as people enter and find a place to sit.

Even at five, I am old enough to realize immediately that I have made a mistake. We are not sitting with my parents' friends, though, so I cannot tell the daughter that I made a mistake, what I had described was obviously some special occasion and not business as usual at temple. But I could not, so I just quietly hoped for the best, and figured I would explain it to her at the end of services.

But she was young enough not to grasp the subtleties of what had occurred. And in the middle of the service, when everyone was standing for silent prayer, she asked in a loud, confused, plaintive voice, looking around across her father's shoulder (he had picked her up when everyone stood) "Where's the ice cream?"

I wish I could say I had learned my lesson and that it was the last time I ever, with the best of intentions, led anyone astray but alas, it was more like the first of many, many times it would happen. There are some who would say I do it to this day, I'm sure.

You may have realized by now that my first experience at Temple was Purim, the holiday that celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people in Persia from the evil plot of Haman to destroy them. My first visit to Temple was for a Purim festival. How was I supposed to know it was not business as usual?

And I will also say that Temple was never that much fun again. And I don't remember going to any more festivals like that, although we did dress up in costumes for Purim, and one year we made hamantaschen.

If you are not familiar with hamantaschen (and I would not expect you to be if you are not Jewish), they are poppy seed or apricot-filled cookies (or pastries) that represent the tri-cornered hat for which Haman was reportedly known, and are the traditional food of Purim. They are also said to represent the ears of Haman, but hat is what I learned so I am sticking with that.

My memories of hamantaschen were the cookie. You rolled out a sugar cookie, cut it into circles, put a spoonful of filling in the center, and folded the edges in to make the triangle. But when I went looking for recipes, I found a yeasted pastry version that intrigued me, even though it was not in my tradition to use this version. But I have been having so much fun with yeast that I wanted to give it a try.

And I am glad that I did. It turns out that the dough is the same recipe that I used for these sweet rolls. They just get rolled into a different shape, and filled with a poppy seed filling instead of a fruit jam (although those can also be used to make hamantaschen).

The recipe yielded a few dozen of the hamantaschen and I still had half of the dough left. I was running out of time (and yes, ok, I was feeling lazy), so I just rolled the rest of the dough into a rectangle, lined it with the rest of the poppy seed filling, rolled it up and cut it crosswise into 1-inch pieces, and baked up a batch of poppy-seed rolls. Bonus!

Purim begins at sunset on Wednesday, March 7th, and ends at sunset on Friday the 9th, so you still have time to crank these babies out for this year's celebration. Or, if you're like me, bookmark it so you can make them next year. Either way, you won't be sorry.

Home Cookin Chapter: Desserts

HAMANTASCHENMakes about 4 dozen pastries

Poppy Seed Filling:
1 cup blue poppy seeds
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp crystallized ginger
1/4 cup seedless raisins, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup peach or apricot jam

1 package active dry yeast (3/4 Tbsp)
1/4 cup warm water
1-3/4 cups scalded milk
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
dash of nutmeg
zest of half a lemon
6 cups flour
1 egg, or 2 egg yolks, beaten

Make the poppy seed filling: grind the poppy seeds in a spice or coffee grinder to break them up. Combine them with the rest of the ingredients except for the jam. Bring to a boil and simmer rapidly
over medium low heat until the mixture is thick, about 20 to 30 minutes. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Add the jam. (You can also buy prepared poppy seed filling at the store. It can usually be found in the baking section.)

Dissolve the yeast in warm water. When the milk is scalded but still hot add the butter, sugar, salt, nutmeg and lemon zest. Cool until it is lukewarm, then add the beaten egg. Stir in the yeast and about half of the flour. Add enough of the rest of the flour in small increments to form a soft dough that can be kneaded. Do not add too much flour. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a large bowl and cover it tightly. Let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out of the bowl and roll it into a rectangle that is about 1/4-inch thick.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F.

Cut the dough into 4-inch rounds and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the edges of each circle with oil and spread about a teaspoon of the poppy seed filling on each round. Fold three sides of the circle to meet over the filling and pinch the edges together to make a triangle. Brush the tops with warm honey and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Start checking after 10 minutes.

Adapted from The Settlement Cookbook, Third Edition Newly Revised (Simon and Schuster, 1976)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I'm having a lovely time with my family in Austin and I am taking a mini vacation from blogging.

I am not doing much cooking down here, but I did make this Tunisian Soup with Chard and Egg Noodles for dinner on Christmas Eve, which received many compliments. Paired with a fresh salad and warm, crusty bread, it made for a festive, satisfying dinner that was enjoyed by the whole family. It is fast and healthy, and would also be great for New Year's Eve.

I will be back in time for the New Year. See you then!

Baking Class: Snickerdoodles

We are having a cookie exchange at work today. I'm kind of excited because I've never participated in one before. The closest I have come is when I lived at Five Girl Farm in Austin and we all baked for the holidays together, so we had a variety of cookies around the house for the whole holiday season. I have tried to do it by myself over the years, but there are only so many cookies one person can make in any given season, and even less that one can consume and only so many one can give away.

And I was getting tired of my usual rotation, as I've mentioned in an earlier post. I wanted to make something new our exchange, but something that I associated with Christmas. And I thought back to that time when we all baked our holiday treats together at the Farm, and I remembered Susie's Snickerdoodles.

I had never heard of Snickerdoodles before my housemate Susie made them, and I laughed at their silly name. A native Austinite, Susie had grown up making them. They looked like a sugar cookie with cinnamon and sugar instead of just plain sugar, but when I took a bite of them it was immediately evident to me that these were much more than sugar cookies. Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, there was a unique, tangy undertone from the cream of tartar that was like nothing in the world I had ever tasted. She was kind enough to give me the recipe, but I never made them.

So I thought this would be a good time to pull out the recipe and give them a try. But when I went to get it, I could not find it. I have no idea where it went. I do still have all of my old recipe index cards in the original box, and as far as I know it has stayed there untouched for all of this time, but the recipe was not there. So I looked in my backup book, and then my computer files, but it was nowhere to be found.

This bummed me out. I couldn't make the same cookie that Susie made all of those years ago without her recipe. And, if I don't have the Snickerdoodles recipe, what other recipes have I lost over the years that I don't yet know are gone?

I turned to my many cookbooks, but could not find a recipe for Snickerdoodles in any of them. I finally found one in the International Cookie Cookbook, but it used baking powder and baking soda instead of cream of tartar. I know that shouldn't make that big of a difference, but I wanted to get as close to the original recipe as I could and the cream of tartar lended that indefinable tang that made those cookies so darned good. I finally found some recipes online and, after comparing a few of them, came up with what looked like it would work.

And it did work. These are delicous, and almost as good as I remember them. I am betting that the original recipe had shortening in it, because they were softer and not as crisp as mine turned out, and the centers were more chewy as well. But these are definitely keepers. I won't wait so long to make them again.

I am looking forward to our exchange. I wonder what everyone else will bring? (And, because it's me, I'm also bringing a batch of sand tarts. Those have nuts, though, and we have allergies in the office so this way I have something for everyone.)

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies
SNICKERDOODLES
makes about 5 dozen cookies

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and
set aside.

Beat the butter with a hand mixer on medium speed until it is creamy.
Add the sugar and continue beating until the butter and sugar are well
combined and fluffy.

Raise the speed to medium high and add the eggs, one at a time, making
sure it is well blended before adding the second egg.

Set the hand mixer to low and mix in half of the dry ingredients. When
the batter gets too thick for the beateres, switch to a wooden spoon
and add in the rest of the dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball
and set it in the smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and
refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 3 days).

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. and line baking sheets with parchment
paper. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on the baking
sheet, leaving plenty of room for the cookies to spread. Place the
dough back in the refrigerator between batches.

Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes, until the edges are slightly firm.
For best results, turn the cookies around in the oven after about 7
minutes. Do not let the cookies get too brown.

Remove the baking sheets from the oven and place on cooling racks for
about 2 minutes, then remove the cookies from the sheets and let them
cool completely on the racks. Store in an airtight container.

adapted from several recipes found online, but mostly this one.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Mashed Potatoes with Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic

Here is a new take on an old Thanksgiving work horse. It's a little bit of a twist, because it looks like those are sweet potatoes mashed up with the potatoes, but they're not. That's butternut squash in there. And it adds a more complex, savory dimension to the potatoes. Mix in some roasted garlic and a little gruyere cheese and you have an exciting new addition to the Thanksgiving table.

This is another one of those dishes that came about by accident. I was making mashed potatoes and accidentally poured in too much cream and butter, so it was quite soupy. I had to think quickly to figure out how to save them when I remembered that I had some roasted squash in the refrigerator for which I had no clear plans. I knew they would mash well so I figured I had nothing to lose. I mashed them up and added them to the potatoes. They turned the potatoes a lovely shade of orange, so it was a little disconcerting as I was eating them because I kept expecting that sweetness that sweet potatoes added. I don't remember what kind of squash it was, but it was a subtle flavor, adding just a hint of nuttiness.

It was intriguing enough that I decided it was worth playing with it to see if I could come up with something intentional. This time I thought a butternut squash would work better, given it's sturdier texture and more pronounced flavor. I peeled, deseeded, cubed and roasted it in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I separated, but did not peel, two heads of garlic and scattered the cloves among the squash. I baked it for about 35 minutes at 350 deg. F., until both the squash and the garlic were soft.

The most time-consuming part of this dish is roasting the squash and garlic, and you can do that up to two days ahead of time. After that, it's pretty much like making regular mashed potatoes. But it adds an unexpected, wonderful new dimension to an old favorite so you get the best of both worlds - tradition and innovation.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

MASHED POTATOES WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ROASTED GARLIC
Serves 6 to 8

1/2 medium butternut squash, (about 1-1/2 cups) peeled, seeded and cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes*
2 heads of garlic, separated but not peeled
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup cream (or milk)
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
Salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste
Parsley for garnish (optional)

*I usually roast the whole squash and use the rest of it for soup, or a frittata, or some other purpose.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Place squash and unpeeled garlic cloves in a large bowl and add salt, pepper, and the olive oil. Toss well and lay out onto a baking sheet that is large enough to allow for a single layer. Place on a center rack in the oven and cook until the squash and the garlic are tender, about 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (This can be done up to two days ahead of time.)

Place the cubed potatoes in a pan with salted cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan, placing it over the low flame. Let the potatoes sit for a minute or two to dry.

Take a potato masher, a ricer, or a food mill (whatever is your usual process) and mash the potatoes, adding the milk and butter about halfway through. Add the mashed squash and mix it in with the potatoes. Add more cream as needed if the mixture gets too thick. Add the cheese and roasted garlic and stir until the cheese is melted and the garlic is blended in.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

11/19/11

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Deep Chocolate Sables

Happy Halloween! I thought I would give the adults a treat and make something a little less spooky and a little less tooth-achingly sweet this year. These deep chocolate sables fit the bill. They are soft, with a deep chocolate flavor. There is just the right amount of sweetness to balance the darkness of the rich dark chocolate.

This recipe calls for finely chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. I had just the right amount of leftover chocolate (from bars) on hand from earlier baking projects - 2 parts semisweet to 1 part bittersweet. What a perfect way to finally use them! I was afraid I was chopping it too fine, as there was quite a bit of "dust" accumulating, but there were still chunks that got in the way when I was slicing the finished logs, so I think I didn't chop it finely enough. You also want to roll the logs slightly bigger than you think you want them, because they will get smaller yet when you roll them in the sugar.

And there is one thing I have learned with the most recent batches of cookies that I have made, and is the hardest thing to do: you should really wait at least overnight before tasting your baked goods. The only exception I can think of is chocolate chip cookies, of which there is nothing better than taking a bite when they are still soft and warm from the oven. Everything else needs time for the ingredients to settle down and the flavors to combine. And actually, now that I think about it, even chocolate chip cookies are better the next day.

When I tried one not long after baking it (I did wait until it had cooled completely), it was ok, but not great. And I could really taste the cocoa, which left a slight bitter aftertaste. I was pretty sure I had ruined them because I did not use the Dutch-processed cocoa as specified in the recipe. I did not have any on hand and I was not going out just for that so I used regular cocoa. I did not think it would matter that much to my palate, since I had grown up with everyday American cocoa, but maybe for this recipe it really did matter.

But I tried them again the next day with my morning coffee, and that slightly bitter aftertaste had mellowed, and all I tasted was rich, deep, velvety chocolate. Very good. Worth making again.

Another thing I love about these cookies is that you can mix up the dough, roll out the logs, and then put them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before you bake them. I'm sure they would freeze well, too. I love cooking in installments.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

DEEP CHOCOLATE SABLES
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarse or granulated sugar

Cream together the butter and confectioner's sugar until well blended. Add the cocoa powder and mix until it is also well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is fully blended. Beat in the vanilla and the salt.

Add the flour in three installments, mixing until just blended each time. Add the chocolate and stir only as much as necessary for the mixture to come together.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured survace. The dough will be soft. Divide it in half and shape into 2 logs about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the sugar onto the work surface and roll the dough
in it, making sure each log is well coated. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the dough logs into 1/4-inch slices with a sharp knife. Lay the slices on the parchment paper about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies are no longer shiny. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

from The Good Cookie, by Tish Boyle (John Wiley and Sons 2002)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Matzoh Brei (Fried Matzoh)

Passover begins at sundown tonight. While I no longer celebrate it, I have many fond memories of Passover seders from my childhood. Unfortunately, the food is not one of them.

Except that, in a way, it is. My mother, never the most enthusiastic of cooks, happened to make the best matzoh ball soup I have had to date, and my father made a mean chopped liver, which is one of the few dishes that is actually better to me with matzoh than with regular bread (challah being a close second). The charoset, sweetened with concord grape wine and honey, was always welcome. And I was one of those rare childs who actually liked gefilte fish, especially when paired with a robust nostril-clearing horseradish. (And thanks to this link, I know that is because of my Lithuanian heritage on my father's side.)

But the rest of the meal was somewhat pedestrian and a little bland. The roast chicken was adequate, the frozen broccoli was usually overcooked, the matzoh stuffing was a far, disappointing cry from the Pepperidge Farms stuffing that accompanied our Thanksgiving and Christmas (yes, I get the irony) turkeys. And the sponge cake with either whipped cream and strawberries or chocolate sauce? Only good because it was the only dessert we were going to get, unless we wanted to eat the stale chocolate-covered coconut Passover macaroons our Great Aunt Hansi (who was neither great nor an aunt, but that's a different story) brought to the seder every year. Like the ubiquitous Christmas fruitcake, it might even have been the same box. Passover chocolate is not the best chocolate, but when it is covering the dreaded shredded coconut, it is awful. And yet, every year I would take one and take a gingerly bite, hoping against hope that it had somehow miraculously turned into a Snicker's bar but, alas, no such luck.

And the week would get progressively worse. There is only so much matzoh and butter or matzoh and peanut butter a schoolchild can tolerate at lunchtime. And tuna or chicken salad and matzoh sandwiches leave a lot to be desired. So, much as I actually did enjoy the seder, not to mention the four glasses of concord wine we were allowed - nay, required - to drink, the rest of the week dragged. Especially if Easter happened to fall during Passover, because my all-time favorite sandwich in the world was an egg salad sandwich, and my mother only made them on special occasions, and after we had gathered the 3 or 4 dozen dyed hard-boiled eggs the easter bunny had hidden all around our yard on Easter Sunday. Normally, that meant egg salad sandwiches for a week! Sometimes, though, it meant egg salad matzoh sandwiches, which was always such a disappointment to me because I knew it might well be a year before I would see egg salad again.

But I digress. And there was one other dish that made it much easier to give up bread for the duration. And that was my father's fried matzoh, or matzoh brei as I have come to learn it is called.

Matzoh brei is basically a version of french toast that uses matzoh instead of bread. You take the matzoh, break it into pieces, pour boiling water over it over a colander, coat it with an egg mixture, and fry it in butter or oil until the egg sets.

I used to love to watch my father break up the matzoh and run it under the faucet, then mix it up with the eggs and cook it over a low heat in the same electric skillet in which he worked such wonderful hash brown magic. When it was done, we would eat it with strawberry jam or apple jelly, and it was delicious with either. For some reason, it did not go well with syrup. Believe me, I tried. I think strawberry jam was my favorite, although these days my jam of choice is apricot or cherry.

As with my father's hash browns, I had trouble replicating his skill the times I tried to make fried matzoh in the past. Mostly, I think, it is because I did not have a recipe and just tried to follow what I remembered him doing back when I was a child. It always came out ok, but the matzoh was either too hard or too soggy. I could not find that perfect balance of water and egg to get the soft-on-the-inside crunchy-on-the-outside perfection.

I don't know when it occurred to me to look for the recipe in The Settlement Cookbook or why it hadn't occurred to me earlier, but look I did, and there I found the recipe.

It turns out that the secret is boiling water. Who knew? After the water has been poured and drained, you fold the matzoh into the egg mixture, then cook it in a large skillet.

The secret is that you cook it over a low heat and do not touch it for a while. Like Dad's hash browns, this dish does require some patience. Of course, it doesn't take nearly as long, but the lower the heat and, therefore, the cooking time, the softer the matzoh gets without getting soggy.

Matzoh brei is the only Passover dish I would have gladly eaten all year long. If you are looking for something special to get you through the breadless holiday, try this. As with other breakfast goodies, it can also make a delicious dinner.

If you are not Jewish or do not celebrate Passover, I would still recommend that you try it. It's quite delicious.

Home Cookin Chapter: Untried Recipes

MATZOH BREI
Makes 4 servings

3 matzoh
3 whole eggs
Salt
4 Tbsp fat or oil

Break matzoh in small pieces in a colander. Pour boiling water through them; drain quickly. They should be moist but not soggy.

Beat eggs well, fold the matzoh in lightly. Add salt to taste.

Heat the fat in the skillet, add the egg mixture. Cook slowly, stirring from the bottom as the egg sets. Continue to cook gently until the eggs are set.

from The Settlement Cookbook, Third Edition/Newly Revised (Simon & Schuster, 1976)

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Glazed Lemon Poppyseed Valentines

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. If you are looking for something different to make this year, try these Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Hearts. They are sweet, crispy, and delicate, with just the slightest hint of lemon, and they absolutely melt in your mouth. They are a little time-consuming, but what better way to show your love than with just a little more labor than usual? And these are well worth the extra effort. As much as I love chocolate, these make a nice little surprise of a difference.

These are the fourth cookies I have made from Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie. I have to say, I am really liking this cookbook.

So do something different this year from the usual chocolate. You won't go wrong with these.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

GLAZED LEMON POPPY SEED HEARTSmakes 3 dozen cookies

For the cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest
3/4 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup poppy seeds

For the candied lemon garnish:
1 lemon
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup water

For the glaze:
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
pInch of salt

Cream the butter and sugar (on medium speed if using a hand or stand mixer) for about 1 minute, until combined. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest, vanilla and lemon extracts, cardamom, and salt and mix until
combined. Add the flour and the poppy seeds and mix until combined. Turn the dough onto plastic wrap and pat it into a rectanble. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for no less than one hour and no mor than three days. (The dough can also be frozen at this point for later use.)

While the dough is chiling, make the garnish. Peel the zest off the lemon lengthwise into strips. Slice them thinly crosswise. Combine 2/3 of a cup of the sugar and the water in a small heavy saucepan and
bring to a boil. Place the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Add the lemon strips and boil them for three minutes. Remove the peels with a slotted spoon and toss with the reserved sguar until coated. Transfer them to a plate and let them dry for at least 30 minutes. Transfer them to a sieve and shake out the excess sugar.

For the glaze, place all of the ingredients into a medium bowl and mix until just combined, about 30 minutes. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. and place the racks near the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Divide the dough in half. Roll out one half on a lightly floured work surface to a 3/16-inch thickness. Using a 2-1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter (or any cutter of a similar size), cut out as many cookies from the dough as possible and place them on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Reroll the scraps of dough and cut out more hearts, continuing until the dough is used. Repeat with the second
half of dough.

Bake the cookies for 14 t 16 minutes, until they are pale brown around the edges. Turn the pans and switch their positions halfway through. Place the baking sheets on wire racks. Glaze the cookies while they are hot.

Spread a teaspoon of the glaze evenly over each cookie, and then garnish with a piece of the candied lemon peel. Transfer the cookies to the wire rack and let them cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

from The Good Cookie: Over 250 Delicious Recipes, from Simple to Sublime, by Tish Boyle (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002).

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Carnitas: The Perfect Way to Start off the New Year

If you're looking for an easy, inexpensive festive way to kick off the new year, you can't go wrong with carnitas. Although it cooks for a few hours, it takes minutes to prep and takes care of itself on your stove top, leaving you free to do whatever it is that you do to kick off the year right. If you're hosting the day after party it's great for the hangover crowd, and it is hearty enough to please the sports fans gathered around your large screen TV for the bowls of the non-food type.

Carnitas means "little meats," usually braised until the liquid evaporates and then browned in the fat that has remained on the meat. It is usually made from the pork butt (shoulder), which can be cooked whole and then shredded, or cut before cooking and served in cubes.

Which is the way I prepared it here. The most basic recipe I found calls for just salt, pepper, and water. Many add orange juice and coca cola, but the possibilities are endless - cumin, oregano, chili powder if you want to keep the Mexican theme, or curry powder, paprika, and ginger for a more exotic twist. For my first attempt, I decided to keep it simple and just used salt, pepper, orange juice and water.

The original method calls for the meat to be cooked in melted lard, and then the mixture of orange juice and coca cola is added and either cooked over a higher flame on the stove, or roasted in the oven. The idea is that the sugars help the meat caramelize. Much as I love the idea of this and the fact that I actually do have lard on hand, and as delicious as I am sure it would be, that is just too much fat and sugar for one meal, especially since there is already plenty of fat on the pork butt. This method is healthier (ok, maybe only a little healthier), and is plenty delicious as is. The orange juice adds a bright sweetness that takes it over the top.

Carnitas make for a great serve-yourself taco buffet. They go especially well with a savory cabbage slaw, creme fraiche and tomato-jalapeno salsa. Round off the meal with guacamole and chips and refried beans and you have yourself a winning combination.

CARNITAS
5-6 lb pork butt, chopped into 1-inch cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
water

Arrange the pork on the bottom of a large heavy pan (cast iron is preferable). Season heavily with the salt and pepper. Pour the orange juice into the pan, and then add water until the meat is just barely covered.

Bring the pan to a boil, the reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, until the liquid has evaporated. This can take up to two hours (or more, depending on how much liquid there is).

Once the liquid has evaporated, raise the heat to medium and let the pork brown in the fat that has remained. When all of the pieces are dark and crispy, remove from the heat.

Can be served immediately, or refrigerated and then reheated for later use.

Makes 15-20 tacos

Adapted from Homesick Texan's adaptation of a Diana Kennedy recipe.

Baking Class: Criss-Cross Peanut Butter Cookies

This peanut butter cookie recipe is another old family recipe. It is one of those cookies that I would always forget about, and then something would remind me of them and I would make a batch and they were so good I would wonder why I didn't make them more often, and then I'd forget all about them again for more than a few years.

More recently, I had a different kind of dilemma with them. The original recipe called for shortening, and I don't use shortening any more. I have experimented with lard with good results on the savory side, but there's just a little too much pig to my taste for use with sweets.

I generally don't have a problem substituting butter for shortening, but for some reason I wasn't sure how well it would work with the peanut butter cookies. I think because the peanut butter also adds fat to the dough, it might be too much for butter alone to handle. But I have been doing my Christmas baking and was looking for something new to add to the rotation. Much as my friends love the things I do make around the holidays, I get tired of making the same things. This year I have been experimenting, and I thought it would be a good time to see exactly what a difference using butter instead of shortening would make.

As it turned out the difference was negligible. They were crispy, sweet, and full of peanut butter flavor, although I forgot that even though I prefer creamy peanut butter as a rule, for peanut butter cookies crunchy is actually better. That aside, I think I may have liked these even better with the butter.

The proportions of this recipe worked out well for me to make a half batch for my test, which was quick and easy. And four dozen or so cookies is nothing to sneeze at. I took some to work and some to my knitting friends and still had enough to enjoy a few at home without making me feel too guilty.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

CRISS-CROSS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter, preferably crunchy

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F.

Combine the brown and white sugars and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Cream the butter. Add the sugar and cream well, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and the vanilla and mix it together.

Incorporate the flour just until the dough begins to come together, then add the peanut butter and make sure it is fully blended into the dough.

Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place one inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press each ball on one side with the tines of a fork, then press the tines over each cookie at a right angle to the previous lines to make a criss-cross effect.

Bake at 400 deg. F. for about 7 minutes, until they are just beginning to brown. Be careful not to let them burn. Check them after 5 minutes.

Makes approximately 10 dozen, depending on size.

Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)

Cockroach Clusters: a Spooky Halloween Treat

I seem to be writing a lot about sweets these days, so I suppose it is fitting that I finish out the run with a Halloween post.

I would like to be the kind of blogger who is always anticipating holidays and events and has clever posts featuring interesting and unusual theme-related recipes. Alas, that's not how I roll. I always come up with the clever idea the day of the event, or even during the week after it. Some day that might change, but for now I consider myself lucky those times that I rise to the occasion, so to speak.

We just started up our end-of-the month company lunches this week after a summer (and fall due to circumstances beyond our control) hiatus, and since it was so close to Halloween I decided to make something appropriate for Halloween for dessert. It didn't take me long to remember these cockroach clusters. In truth, I believe they are actually more related to Harry Potter than to Halloween, but they seem tailor made for a spooky treat.

These are a snap to make, so if you need a last-minute treat for that last-minute party, they are a no-brainer. All you need are chocolate chips, pretzels, raisins, and decorative sugar or sprinkles.

The recipe calls for skinny pretzel sticks. I was shopping at Whole Foods, though, so I had to settle for the only pretzel sticks they carry, which were organic, and quite a bit thicker than I expected. They worked, but they don't look as spooky as they should. Instead of a cup of raisins, I used half a cup each of raisins and cranberries to add a little tartness.

For the chocolate chips, I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet chips, so these aren't too sweet. The flash has made them much lighter in the picture than they are in real life. For such a child-like recipe, they are awfully sophisticated. I didn't have chocolate sprinkles and I didn't want to buy them, so I used some orange and black colored decorative sugar I had bought years ago instead, and I thought it worked just fine.

If you need something quick to get you in the spirit, you can't go wrong with these.

COCKROACH CLUSTERS
11.5-oz bag Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips
2 cups thin pretzel sticks
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
orange and black decorative sugar, or chocolate sprinkles

Put chips in a large microwave-safe bowl and cook at 10-second intervals until the chocolate is almost, but not totally, melted. Remove from the microwave and stir until the residual heat has melted all of the chocolate.

Add the pretzels, raisins and cranberries and stir together until well mixed.

Drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper, then top with the decorative sugar or the sprinkles. Let set.

Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 30-35 clusters.

This recipe is all over the web, and as far as I can see there is no attribute.

Back to Chicago

No post today - I'm on my way home.

More later.

Happy New Year!

Off to Austin

I'm off to Austin for my yearly holiday visit. T-shirt and shorts, here I come! If I can get there.

Unfortunately, I have to get through this first. We're in the middle of a doozy of a winter storm - ice, sleet, rain, wind. I may not get any further than the airport.

I am expecting the worst and hoping for the best. That way, I might hit something in the middle and I may actually get to Austin before the end of the day.

Wherever you are going for the holidays, I hope you arrive safely and have a wonderful time.

In the meantime, let's get a little festive:

Courtesy of OlderMusicGeek on Youtube

Some Christmas Fun

Not quite feeling that Christmas spirit yet? Check this out. I fed it every Christmas carol I know and it always came up with something. Well, almost always.

It's been around for a while but it's still funny. I especially liked "Jingle Bell Rock," "Lovely Weather for a Sleigh Ride Together with You," and "Carol of the Bells."

Photo from sundog.net

A Slightly Less Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner

I usually go home for Thanksgiving, but this year has been a little bit of a challenge, what with the economy and all, so I stayed home. I could have found somewhere to go, but I found myself looking forward to a nice long four-day weekend all to myself. When I first moved to Chicago, after the first year I stopped going home. Every other year, my brother would come up with his family and we would make a mass migration down to the Melrose for their turkey dinner, but as the kids got older and space became more of a challenge that stopped. And then about six years or so ago I started going down there for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this year it just didn't work out. I'm sure you understand.

I'm not a huge fan of turkey, although I do like the sides. But I am definitely not one of those for whom it's just not Thanksgiving if there isn't a turkey. I thought I would take advantage of having the day to myself by coming up with a Thanksgiving-themed meal that wasn't the traditional fare.

I also wanted to utilize as many ingredients as I already had at hand, so I wouldn't have to make a big trip to the store during what is arguably the busiest week of the year at the grocery store. I did end up at the giant Whole Foods in Lincoln Park the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and it was a zoo. It's the third largest Whole Foods in the world, but it seemed much bigger to me than the larger one in Austin. (Oddly, though, the largest one is in London. Go figure.)

I was actually there meeting some knitting friends in the cafe, but I was getting a ride home so I took advantage of the opportunity to do a little shopping. It was crazy, and obscenely excessive, and somehow seems totally incongruous with the Whole Foods I remember from the early '80s, and with their local, sustainable message, but I have to admit if you can blind yourself to all the hoopla, their organic produce was quite good, and not too expensive. I got some lovely carrots, some beautiful red and green Swiss Chard, and a flat parsley a vibrant, healthy green the likes of which I had not yet seen this season. I am already looking forward to picking up some more items when we meet again next Tuesday.

My friend and knitting student just got accepted into Tulane University in New Orleans, so we won't be seeing her for a little while, which makes me sad even though I am quite happy for her and a little envious of her morning coffee and beignets at the Cafe du Monde, and those lazy strolls through the French Quarter.

Because she was leaving Thanksgiving Day, she gave me a lovely bag of gifts a little early this year. She told me not to open until it was a little closer to Christmas, except that I should poke around for a little box because that could actually be used for Thanksgiving (I haven't opened anything else yet, I promise!). So I poked around, found the little box, and unwrapped it.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that it was a package of Bell's All-Natural Seasoning. Apparently, Martha Stewart has been using it for years,and it is the secret ingredient in her stuffing. Not being a huge fan of Ms. Stewart, I was unaware of this product until, coincidentally enough, it was mentioned in a thread on the cooking newsgroup in which I have lurked for years just a few weeks earlier.

I am not much of a spice blend cook; I usually like to mix my own masalas and combine my own herbs and spices from what I have on hand. I think that is as much because I did not grow up with them, and I like the idea of the variety that combining spices as I use them gives me. But the minute I opened up the box and took a whiff I fell in love with it. It's got the usual suspects of a poultry seasoning - sage, thyme, oregano and marjoram, but it also has rosemary and ginger, which gives it an extra fresh sharpness of flavor. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to cook on Thursday, and I knew I would find a way to incorporate the seasoning into my meal.

I had planned to make some kind of stuffing with greens and sausage for my main course, but I also wanted to make empanadas. That started to seem like too much starch, so I decided to stick with the empanadas and just make greens as a side dish. I knew I wanted sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes are what defines Thanksgiving to me - it just isn't Thanksgiving without them), which is how I came up with my Cranberry Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup. After I made the cranberry sauce for the garnish for that soup I realized that, after years of doctoring it up with orange juice, walnuts, apples and ginger, I really like it best when it is made without all of the bells and whistles, so I decided to use the rest of the bag of cranberries to make more sauce. I thought it would go well with the empanadas.

I thought about making a pie for dessert, but I already had piecrust with the empanadas, so I thought maybe a Jack Robinson cake would fit the theme. It's a yellow cake (that's actually more white than yellow, even though there are two whole eggs in it) with a brown sugar meringue baked on top of it. It's a recipe that has been around in our family since before I can remember, but I have only made it once or twice. I don't know how I thought of it, but once I did I know it was the perfect dessert. An extra bonus is that it is easier to take cake to friends than pieces of pie, and I knew I was going into the knit shop on Friday so I would not have to eat the whole thing by myself.

The only wrinkle I ran into with my meal was that I thought I had some ground turkey in the freezer from my last batch of empanadas, but I was mistaken. The last time I made empanadas, I used ground pork and that is what I had. But I decided not to let it get me down. I used the same seasoning I would have used for turkey, and while it definitely was not turkey, it was close enough.

This is what I ended up with for my Thanksgiving day feast:

Cranberry Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup
Pork, leek and potato empanadas
Gremolata
Home-made cranberry sauce
Red and Green Swiss Chard with bacon and whole-grain mustard
Jack Robinson Cake

It was pretty near perfect. I thought the gremolata would complement the empanadas, but it actually overpowered them. I decided to put them to a different use and ate the empanadas with the cranberry sauce instead. It was much better.

This was a very satisfying meal, without being excessive, which is not really fun when you are eating by yourself. I made the soup and the cake on Wednesday, and everything else was pretty straightforward on Thursday, and sat down to my feast at around three o'clock in the afternoon, after spending a couple of hours on the phone with my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephews.

The empanadas and the cake are for future posts, but I was so pleased with how the chard turned out that I thought I would share that recipe here. It's fast and simple, and goes well with anything. You can't go wrong with greens and bacon.

SAUTEED GREENS WITH BACON AND MUSTARD

1/4 lb. (3-4 slices, depending on thickness) of good quality smoked bacon (applewood or maple are both good), diced
1 tsp whole-grain dijon mustard
2 bunches (1 red, 1 green) Swiss Chard, leaves removed from the stems and torn into large pieces, rinsed and drained.

Put bacon in cold skillet and render out the fat over medium heat. Once the bacon is browned and crisp, remove it from the skillet and put it on a paper-towel covered plate to soak up the grease.

Pour out all but a tablespoon of the bacon grease and put the skillet back over medium heat. When it is hot, add the whole grain mustard, and break it down. As soon as the seeds start to pop, add the swiss chard. Season with pepper (and more salt if necessary but be careful - there's a lot of salt in the bacon) to taste. Cook, stirring frequently with tongs to make sure the greens are evenly exposed to the hot skillet, until the greens have wilted to the desired consistency and are still a vibrant green. Do not overcook the greens, for this dish they should still have some bite to them. If necessary, add a little water to keep them from getting too dry.

Add the bacon back to the skillet and leave over the heat just long enough to mix it in. Serve immediately.

Cranberry Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it. Happy Thursday to everyone else.

After my success in creating last year's Raspberry Chipotle Sweet Potatoes, I thought it might be a fun challenge to come up with a completely new and different sweet potato dish this year. Given how much I've been enjoying the roasted butternut squash soup this season, roasted sweet potato soup seemed like the logical choice.

I was going to keep the same ingredients as last year and make a raspberry chipotle sweet potato soup, but seeing as how it's Thanksgiving, I thought it might be interesting to use cranberries instead of raspberries. It turned out to be a good match. The natural tartness of the cranberries added a fresh zing to the velvety smooth sweet potato. The chipotle added just the right amount of smoky spice. I was careful not to add too much so it would not be too spicy. I think I succeeded. The heat builds slowly and leaves a warm tingle by the time the spoon has scooped up the last little drop.

This recipe uses the same basic techniques as the Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup I adapted from a Cooking Light recipe. The more I cook, the more I realize how many dishes are built from the same foundations. In this case, you take some vegetables, roast them up, add some liquid and puree them, and you have an almost infinite array of possibilities.

But for Thanksgiving, sweet potatoes and cranberries are definitely the way to go.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

CRANBERRY CHIPOTLE AND SWEET POTATO SOUP
Makes 6-8 Servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 shallots, peeled and sliced lengthwise in half
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
10-12 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves stripped and chopped, stems discarded
salt and pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp sweet sherry or marsala wine

1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

heavy cream for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 deg. F.

Place the cubed sweet potatoes, halved shallots and garlic cloves in a roasting pan and toss with the olive oil. Add the thyme; season to taste with salt and pepper and toss again.

Roast in the 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, place the cranberries in a small saucepan with the water and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and let boil until the berries burst, about 5 minutes. Watch this constantly; it can boil over pretty quickly.

Let the cranberry mixture cool completely. Use a stick blender to make a puree, adding water if necessary to give it the consistency of a thick syrup.

Put the roasted vegetables into a large soup pot and add the vegetable broth and the chipotle pepper. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat. As soon as it has started to simmer, remove from the heat and, using a stick blender, blend until smooth. Return the pan to the stove and bring back to a simmer.

Add the milk and 1/2 a cup of the cranberry puree, and stir well. Add more water or milk as necessary to reach desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add sherry and mix well.

Remove from heat. Serve immediately, garnished with a tablespoon of cream topped with a tablespoon of the cranberry syrup.

loosely adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, November 2008

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)