ROASTED PEARS

IT'S JANUARY AND PEARS ARE a succulent way to finish a meal. These are so simple to make and they never fail to please. I prefer Bartlett pears for this dish because the flesh is sweet and juicy and the skin won't harden to a crisp as other pears of the season.

Serves 4

Preheat oven to 350º

2 Bartlett pears, halved and cored with stems kept in place

2 tsp. sugar mixed with 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

4 tbs. unsalted butter (1 tbs. for each pear half)

4 tbs. apricot jam

1 container Fage Greek style yogurt with 

cherry jam

Arrange the pears in an ovenproof dish (pyrex, earthenware, etc.). Sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon, place a generous amount of butter in the cavity of each of the pears and top with a tablespoon of apricot jam on each pear.

Place in the oven and roast for about 2 hours. After an hour or so, check on the pears and baste the pears with any juices that have melted and caramelized on the bottom of the dish.

Continue to bake until the apricot is bubbling and the pears have shrunk and browned at the edges.

Let rest for 5 minutes. Arrange the pears on plates and place a dollop of yogurt on top of the pear and spoon out some of the cherry on top of that and serve immediately.

CHRISTMAS DINNER 2013!

I HAVE A VERY GOOD FRIEND, who, by personal inclination, wishes to remain anonymous. That does not mean that I can't praise his laurels for being someone who is equal to any culinary challenge (I made dessert and baked all the cookies). I am not providing any recipes here and the photographs from dinner aren't completely "spruced up" but they certainly convey the essence of what a trio of gourmandes experienced on a cold Christmas night! 

Sometimes, less is more, but on Christmas Day, we decided to be extravagant and decadent, so our menu was simple, yet complex. 

Blood and Navel Orange Salad with Baby Watercress,  
Red Onion and Avocado 

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Lobster Bisque

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Beef Wellington

Brussel Sprouts Braised in Apple Juice

Tiny New Potatoes Roasted with Anchovy Oil

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Chocolate Mousse topped with Whipped Cream 

and Candied Orange Peel

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Assorted Cookies

Somewhere along the line, our mascots, Ludwig the Cockapoo  and Sheba the Chihuahua relished in morsels of puff pastry, lobster, beef tenderloin and duck treats, but no chocolate.

I will simply supply the list of dishes with photographs and be done with it. Unfortunately, when the vision of gorgeous slivers of blood oranges and red onion arrived at the table (on a very fetching green leafy plate, no less!), I completely forgot about the Kodak moment, so, you'll just have to imagine what this mega-flavor-tease actually looked like. 

Lobster Bisque

Beef Wellington

Chocolate Mousse

Cookies

CASSOULET AND DUCK CONFIT

I SAID that it was the season for comfort food, and now that the Christmas holidays are almost over, I can concentrate on this delicious version of Cassoulet. 

When someone turns 60, it is definitely something worth celebrating. And what better way to do that than with a few unctuous items which will make you bilious for a week! Bilious or not, I took my own advice and stuck to the plan:

Oysters Rockefeller

Cassoulet

Tiramisú

CASSOULET

"That's not too rich, is it?", said with a wry, slightly sly grin.

My recipe for Oysters Rockefeller can be found in my very first blog in September 2012. 

I first had this dish at a restaurant in Milwaukee called Pastiche. It is the best Cassoulet I have ever eaten this side of the Atlantic and I do mean the real deal! This recipe is based on theirs, which was published in the Milwaukee Sentinel on January 1, 2013 (Pastiche Cassoulet). Mine was good, but it wasn't as good as theirs, but practice in all things does make perfect and I will try again before the winter is out.

Cassoulet needs a lot of time, almost as much as pâté. It is a dish which requires cooking in steps and several days in which to do it. One day should be dedicated to the duck confit and the pork shoulder. The second day for stewing the lamb and soaking the beans (overnight). The third day for cooking the beans and assembling the whole dish. You can serve it immediately but it is far, far better if refrigerated and eaten the next day or even the day after that. This allows all the flavors to marry while still retaining some of its own individuality and character. What you need for about 6 people, is this:

6 Confited Legs of Duck 

1-2 lbs. Flageolet beans

1 lb. lamb (in cubes for stew)

1 small pork shoulder

1 smoked pork shank

3 Andouille sausages

3 Merguez sausages

1/4 lb. pork belly cut into medium dice

1 chopped onion

4 tbs. tomato paste
2 tbs. flour

1 cup Reisling or Sauvignon Blanc
2 cups stock (preferably lamb)
2 bouquet garni, as follows:

1 bag filled with a sprig of fresh rosemary, 2 tsp. Herbes de Provence, 1 or 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 6 leaves fresh tarragon, 2 bay leaves

another bag filled with fresh thyme, rosemary, garlic, whole black peppercorns and bay leaf

1 can chopped tomatoes minus half the juice

4 cups beef stock

2-4 cups bread crumbs

DAY 1: Let's start with the duck.

Confit is rather simple to make and once you get passed the whole immersion in fat business it's really a cinch. Only an un-watchful eye can screw this up.

Take the legs and place them in a large enough dish to hold all the pieces, rub with salt and pepper, Herbes de Provence and galic and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 

DAY 2:

Place all the pieces (you can separate the legs from the thighs or keep them intact) in a roasting pan large enough to hold the duck and deep enough to hold enough goose, duck or chicken fat (or a combination of two or all three) to cover all of the pieces. 

Add a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme, a few black pepper corns and 5 garlic cloves.

Cover in aluminum foil, place in a 300º oven and cook for 2-3 hours. Check after 2 hours to see if they are done. You want to make sure the duck meat is tender but not dry or stringy.

At this point, if you aren't going to use the confit you can store it in a large glass jar and immerse the pieces in fat which was used to cook the duck and refrigerate (up to 6 months, if left undisturbed).

After all that, I should mention that there is always an alternative to making confit yourself, especially if time is of the essence: buy the prepared legs of confit at any green market or butcher who specializes in game and poultry. 

Now, onto making the cassoulet.

Salt and pepper the shoulder of pork, score the fatty side and insert a few slivers of garlic and bay leaves all over the top. Roast in a 375º oven for one hour and lower the heat to 325º and roast for 2-3 more hours.

In the meantime, pat dry the lamb pieces and brown on all sides in a well oiled deep casserole dish. Remove the lamb and sauté the chopped onions over moderately high heat until the onions begin to caramelize. Add the tomato paste and stir cook with the onions until the tomato begins to color a deep brownish red and caramelize the tomatoes as well. Place the cooked pieces of lamb and sprinkle on the flour and stir to combine. Add the Reisling and reduce by half. Add the stock, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add the first bouquet garni, cover and place in the oven with the pork roast and cook for about 2 hours. When the lamb and the roast pork are done, remove from the oven, let cool and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to meld and condense.  Immerse the beans in about 8 cups of cold water (making sure that they are completely covered by at a least an inch) and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 3: 

Drain the beans and rinse in a colander. Place in a large pot with the beef stock, salt, the pork shank and the second bouquet garni. Bring to the boil, lower heat and simmer for aout 1-2 hours. Remove the pork shank and as soon as it is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the shank bones and put the meat back into the beans, along with the canned tomato. 

While the beans are cooking, reheat the lamb stew, cut up the pork shoulder making sure to keep a bit of the fat on the pork pieces (you want at least a pound of cut up pork). Remove the bouquet garni from the lamb stew and add the beans and the pork to a large pot with the beans. Brown the sausages and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Take the pork belly and cut into 1/4 inch dice. Fry that in the same pan. Add the sausages and the pork belly to the beans. Mix well to combine, cook over moderately high heat, bring to the boil and immediately reduce the heat and cook steadily to reduce if there is a lot of liquid. Place half of the cassoulet into a large porcelain or earthenware casserole   dish and place the duck pieces on top and cover the duck with the rest of the bean mixture. Sprinkle with a healthy amount of bread crumbs, cover and place in a 350º oven and bake for about 2 hours. Remove cover if necessary and bake until thick and crusty. 

As I mentioned previously, it is always better if you allow it to cool, refrigerate overnight and reheat and serve the next day. 

This is totally optional and according to your own personal preference but you will note that I don't call for much salt in this recipe. The pork, the sausages and even the confit provide quite a bit of saltiness to the dish to make up for the addition of salt.

Bon appetit!

CANDIED CITRUS PEAL

I LOVE CANDIED ORANGE PEEL! It can be used, literally, in any and every sweet desert! Well, within reason. And it's not very difficult to make. The results are far, far superior to anything you'll ever find in a store so going the extra distance to make these is completely worth it.

2 Oranges
2 Lemons
2 Limes (optional)
1 Grapefruit
2 cups sugar
boiling water for blanching
Extra sugar

Divide the oranges into 8 pieces and remove the skins (including the pith here is okay)

Do the same with the grapefruit and the lemons and limes, if using, or use a vegetable peeler or very sharp paring knife to remove the skins.

Blanch the rinds in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinse, fill the pot with cold water, add the rinds and bring to the boil again and blanch one more time for 5 minutes. Rinse a second time and fill the pot with 8 cups of water and the sugar. Add the rinds and bring to the boil once more. Lower the heat to slow boil and cook down until the liquid is very syrupy and has reduced to about 1/2 cup. The rinds should be swimming in  bubbling, sugary syrup. 

While rinds are cooking, take a large flat roasting pan or any large platter and pour sugar all over the bottom of the pan. When the rinds are ready to be removed, take tongs and put the rinds, one at a time onto the sugar. Coat them with sugar and then turn over to coat the other side. 

Place the rinds on a rack which has been placed on another roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Let sit and dry for at least 5 hours, preferably over night.

Place in a dry container and store in the fridge, but should be used within a month.

About the background: I thought it would be nice to add a little something that would enhance the overall atmosphere, and even though the orange peel is sugar coated, there is nothing so Baroque as a little Spanish still life. Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber. 1602-1603. Juan Sanches Cortan.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES - PART ONE

I WAS GOING TO WRITE about Cassoulet but, since I'm still writing down the procedures on that dish, I'd say a few words about Sicilian Christmas cookies - and Italian cookies as well (eventually). 

I've already written about Cuccidadi (last December), which, by the way, I found completely by accident in another Sicilian cookbook called Coming Home to Sicily by Fabrizia Lanza. She calls them Buccelatti, which makes complete sense as it is a roll up pastry of sorts.

My grandmother and my mother, as well as aunts and my older sister ALL SPECIALIZE(D) in making Dadús - a chocolate rum ball (of sorts), which are totally delicious - and addictive! Indeed, all of them believe(d) to possess the patent on baking these chocolate cookies. In my humble opinion, my mother always made the best ones as she never skimped on the liquor or eggs. Whereas hers were always moist, others were dry and crumbly and others still were like rocks, but I'll never tell whose they were! 

Dadús

Makes roughly 500-600 cookies
(you can reduce the amounts by half for less cookies, but I guarantee you, they won't last until Christmas if you do.

5 lbs. flour
3 cups sugar
1 lb. pure cocoa powder
2 lbs. unsalted butter
2 doz. eggs
2 large jars mincemeat
2 lbs. chopped walnuts
2 lbs. chopped peanuts (unsalted) 
3 tbs. vanilla
2 tbs. almond extract
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup brandy

You will need a very, very large bowl (a metal wash basin will do) or you'll have to divide and do in separate batches. You can halve the recipe and use a large stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but be advised, sooner or later along the way of preparation, you will have to use your hands to mix and knead.

Cream the butter and the sugar and then add the eggs. Gradually add the chocolate powder and then the flour. The dough will be very dark. Add the mincemeat and flavorings and salt until the right consistency for rolling into small balls. Add the liquor at the end making sure not to add too much at a time. You want the dough to absorb the liquid. Using plastic gloves, remove from the mixer bowl and knead for a few minutes on a wooden board lightly dusted with flour. If very sticky, you may have to add more flour. Put back into the large bowl, cover with a damp towel and let rest or cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight if making the night before you bake; just make sure you take the dough out of the fridge a good 2 hours before you start rolling the cookies. I find that letting the dough sit overnight helps the flavors to blend and marry.

A very important Sicilian tradition when rolling or preparing almost ANY cookie is the first cookie must be in the shape of St. Joseph's staff (see photo below). San Giuseppe is the patron saint of all bakers and miracles are said to have occurred when gifts have been made and prayers have invoked the generosity of this saint of saints.

St. Joseph's Staff

Roll the dough into small balls and place on un-greased cookie sheets and bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes in a 400º (365º convection) oven. Turn the cookie sheets around half way through the cooking time. DO NOT OVER-BAKE! You want the cookies underdone as they will continue to bake once out of the oven. This ensures that they won't harden into rocks. Let cool completely or overnight before glazing.

Glaze

2 lbs. confectioner's sugar
1 tbs. vanilla
1 tbs. lemon juice
Milk as needed, mixed 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls at a time with a fork, to make a thick creamy glaze (no lumps!)

Generously brush glaze over each cookie (I glaze them twice) and let dry overnight on sheets of parchment paper or foil before storing in containers for refrigeration or freezing. 

Next stop: Pork and Beans, the way the French do it!

OUR FIRST SNOW FALL AND . . .

TIME FOR COMFORT FOOD. I made Osso Buco the other night and had one shank leftover with quite a bit of tomato sauce. It was snowing, or rather attempting to snow and the thought of something that would stick to the ribs went on like a light and suddenly the word polenta! came into my head. 

It isn't often that I make polenta but I've been making it off and on for almost 30 years so I've dabbled and experimented and read copious tomes on the subject. However, to my mind, the best one is the one you make yourself with a gallon of lightly salted, boiling water and about 2 cups of polenta. There are exceptions to every rule, though, and the one that I've enjoyed making every now and then is served on a huge platter topped with stewed meats or fowl with lots of sauce and an assortment of cheeses cut into bits on top (think Taleggio, Parmigiano, Fontina and Gorgonzola and you'll know what I mean).

The prime directive in making polenta is to sift the golden powder into the water a little bit at a time and continue to stir vigorously until you have a huge mass of bubbling porridge which wipes away clean at the bottom of the pot (about 20-35 minutes of labor intensive work!).

That's one way to make polenta. There are others; grilled, fried, and with various ingredients in the boiling liquid, such as milk, stock, half-and-half, cream or a combination of some or all of them. There is a fabulous recipe in Johanne Kelleen and George Germon's cookbook Cucina Simpatica, which actually is someone else's recipe (proper acknowledgment to Mike Lepizzera). His recipe to my mind is so radical - and outrageously delicious - that it begs repeating here.

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 pound (two sticks) butter

1-1/2-2 teaspoons chopped garlic

2 cups chicken stock

1-1/2 quarts half-and-half

1-1/2-2 tsp Kosher salt

12 turns of a black pepper grinder

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups polenta

Pinch of sugar

2 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Melt the butter and olive oil. Add the garlic and simmer over low heat until the garlic becomes golden.

Add the stock and half-and-half, plus 2-1/2 cups water, salt, black and red peppers and stir to combine. Raise heat and bring liquid to the boil. 

Very slowly, add the polenta, stirring occasionally. After all the polenta has been added, lower the heat to maintain a gentle boil.  Continue to stir until it is thick and creamy (20-30 minutes).

Off the heat, add the sugar and the Romano. Serve immediately with a tomato sauce of your choice, with or without meat or game. As I mentioned earlier, I had it with leftover Osso Buco and the following night we ate it, fried with Italian sausages.

What could be simpler?

Just to give credit where credit is due: among the "tomes" I mentioned above, Marcella Hazan, of course, is numero uno! But there are others, too! Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty is all about vegetables but therein lies the rub: polenta may be considered a starch but it comes from corn so it, too, is a vegetable and he has some pretty incredible recipes with pictures on this all-inclusive legume. His summer corn polenta is made from fresh, sweet corn and it looks simply amazing and what's more, he serves it with a middle-Eastern sort of Caponatina! A man after my own heart!

But the blue ribbon goes to Teresa Rust in her book Pass the Polenta because she puts this whole polenta thing in its proper perspective. Trendy restaurants "charging [such high] prices for leftovers!" And it's true. Creamy polenta, once cooled, hardens and will never regain a creamy texture. So, when you see grilled or fried polenta in antipasti or on the menu, it was made the day before!

So, enjoy and buon appetito!

I'M BACK! AFTER POST-THANKSGIVING STRESS SYNDROME

NOW THAT WE'VE FINALLY FINISHED the last of the turkey I can actually sit down and write about Thanksgiving Day with a bit of clarity and objectivity and move on to Christmas! (Coming soon!)  On the whole, everything was rather delicious. The white meat of my turkey was extremely moist and tender, but so was the dark meat. Unfortunately for me, by the time we sat down to eat, I was so sick of even looking at food that I had a small piece of a turkey thigh with stuffing, a piece of a baked sweet potato and some cranberry sauce and called it a day. It was only two hours after that when I finally succumbed to dessert. Speaking of which, I think it was one of the best Apple Tarts I ever made. Nothing crumbled, nothing burned and, if you look closely at the photo below, there is homemade mincemeat under the apples.

Apple and Mincemeat Tart

Mincemeat

1/2 cup brown sugar (dark or light)

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2 tbs. suet (beef drippings will do in a pinch) 

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice 

1 tsp. grated ginger

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

Grated peel of one orange (you can also add the juice from the orange)

Grated peel of one lemon

3 apples (I like Golden Delicious or Macintosh, but any will do), peeled, cored and cut into medium dice

1 cup raisins

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup dried currants

1/4 cup chopped dried candied fruits (optional)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup of rum and cognac mixed together (you can use more)

Put entire contents in a large saucepan and heat until well blended. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The color should become quite dark. Stop cooking once a mass has formed and you can see the bottom of the pan when stirring.

Let rest for about 5 minutes and immediately put the mincemeat into glass jars and seal if you're not going to use immediately (it's best to use it after it's been refrigerated for a day or two). Store in the fridge and use within 30 days. If sealed properly it can last in the fridge for quite a long time but it's better to use it up when you make it.

The pastry dough (pate sucre):

4 cups flour

2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg and 1 egg yolk beaten

Put all contents into the canister of a food processor and pulse until everything is mixed and then turn the machine on until the dough becomes one mass and rolls around the sides of the canister collecting all bits and pieces. The canister should be fairly clean around the dough.

Put the ball of dough on a floured surface and with your hands, smear the dough a bit at a time to flatten it out. Roll it up back into a ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (I make the dough the night before or several hours before I'm going to make the tart.

Apples

4 apples, peeled, cored

Keep the apples in a bowl of water with a tablespoon of lemon juice to avoid discoloring.

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbs. cinnamon

14/ stick of butter cut into small dice to dot the top of the tart

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 400º

Place the dough on a lightly floured wooden board or marble pastry board

Pound with the side of the rolling pic to make it a bit more elastic and start rolling the dough away from you. Turn the dough and continue rolling in this fashion. You can roll back and forth but you might break the dough. Continue to roll until you have a circle that is at least 2 inches wider than your tart pan. Place the dough in the pan and press gently in the corners to make sure the pan is completely lined. Take a knife and cut away the excess. If you have any holes, fill them with the extra dough. Alternatively, you can put small pieces (or balls) of the dough in a symmetric fashion on the bottom of the pan and press with your fingers to get an even layer of dough lining the pan. This works best if the dough has gotten to warm from handling and the butter starts to soften the dough.

Take about 5 tbs. mincemeat and spread evenly all over the top of the dough. Slice the apples in half and then make slices from each half. After cutting all of the apples, take one apple which isn't the most perfect and chop a little and place the chopped apple in the center of the tart thus making a small mound. Using one half at a time, line the entire tart with the sliced apples working your way all around the edge. Once that row is completed do a second row in the opposite direction or another decorative form if you like to cover the mound of chopped apples.

Put the tart pan on a rimmed roasting pan and bake for 60-75 minutes. I time the baking for 35 minutes and then turn the tart pan around and bake for another 35 minutes to ensure that it bakes evenly. I also make an aluminum rim to cover the edge of the tart ring so the crust doesn't burn.

Apricot Glaze

1 jar apricot preserves

a drop of vanilla

a drop of almond extract

1 tsp brandy or Grand Marnier

Pur entire contents of the preserves into a small saucepan. Add the liquids and cook to the boiling point. Remove from heat and immediate strain the apricots directly into another small saucepan. If it is very thick, add more liquor.  Start stippling the tart with a pastry brush. Make sure the entire tart is covered in glaze, including the border of crust.

This can be made the night before a big dinner party (I always cook dessert first if it requires baking). Do not cover it with plastic wrap as the glaze will stick to the plastic and carry away a slice of apple or two with it when you take off the plastic. Better to unmold it and then put it on a serving platter and tent with foil or refrigerate.

This dessert won't disappoint; especially if you serve it with vanilla ice cream.