Category: cookbooks

Together: Memorable Meals Made Easy by Jamie Oliver

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Minimizing your time in the kitchen and maximizing your time with friends and family is what Jamie Oliver’s newest cookbook, Together, is all about. There are recipes for entire meals such as his Taco Party–Slow Cooked Pork Belly, Black Beans and Cheese, Homemade Tortillas, Roasted Pineapple and Hot Red Pepper Sauce, Green Salsa, Chocolate Semifreddo, and Tequila Michelada or you can select one or more of the 130 recipes in this fascinating book with its lush photos. Oliver, being British, offers some unique recipes such as Wimbledon Summer Pudding, Bloody Mary Crumpets, and My Maple Old Fashioned.

My Sumptuous Beef Bourguignon

Burgundy, Bacon, Button Mushrooms & Shallots

Serves 10

  • 3 pounds beef cheeks, trimmed
  • 4 large carrots
  • 4 stalks of celery
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 4 fresh bay leaves
  • 1 small pinch of ground cloves
  • 3 cups Burgundy or Pinot Noir
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 6 slices of smoked bacon
  • 7 ounces shallots
  • 14 ounces button mushrooms
  • ½ a bunch of Italian parsley (½ ounce)

GET AHEAD Chop the beef cheeks into 2-inch chunks. Wash, trim and chop the carrots and celery into 11/4-inch chunks. Peel the garlic and onion, then roughly chop. Place it all in a large bowl with the mustard, bay, cloves, a generous pinch of black pepper and the wine. Mix well, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

ON THE DAY Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Pour the contents of the beef bowl into a colander set over another bowl. Pick out just the beef and pat dry with paper towel, then toss with the flour. Put a large casserole pan on a medium heat and melt the butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. In batches, brown the floured beef all over, turning with tongs and removing to a plate with any crispy bits once browned. Tip the veg into the pan, and cook for 10 minutes, or until starting to caramelize, stirring occasionally and scraping up any sticky bits. Return the beef to the pan, pour over the reserved wine and 3 cups of boiling water, then bring to a simmer. Cover with a scrunched-up sheet of damp parchment paper and transfer to the oven for around 4 hours, or until the beef is beautifully tender, topping up with splashes of water, if needed.

TO SERVE When the beef is perfect, turn the oven off. Slice the bacon, then place in a large non-stick pan on a medium-high heat. Peel, chop and add the shallots, tossing regularly, then trim and halve or quarter the mushrooms, adding to the pan as you go. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden, stirring regularly. Finely chop and toss through the parsley leaves, then pour the contents of the pan over the bourguignon and season to perfection, tasting and tweaking.

CHICKEN, SAUSAGE & BACON PUFF PIE

ENGLISH MUSTARD, LEEKS & WATERCRESS SAUCE

SERVES 4

  • 2 slices of smoked bacon
  • 2 chicken thighs (3 ½ oz each), skin off, bone out
  • 2 pork sausages
  • 2 leeks
  • 2 small potatoes (3 ½ oz each)
  • 2 heaping teaspoons English mustard
  • 2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups reduced-fat (2%) milk
  • 3 ¼ oz watercress
  • 11 oz pre-rolled puff pastry
  • 1 large egg

GET AHEAD You can do this on the day, if you prefer. Slice the bacon and place in a large shallow casserole pan on a medium heat. Chop the chicken and sausages into 11/4-inch chunks, and add to the pan. Cook until lightly golden, stirring regularly, while you trim and wash the leeks, peel the potatoes, chop it all into 11/4-inch chunks, then stir in with a good splash of water. Cook for  10 minutes, or until the leeks have softened, stirring occasionally, scraping up any sticky bits, and adding an extra splash of water, if needed. Stir in the mustard and flour, followed by the broth, then the milk. Bring to a boil, simmer for  15 minutes on a low heat, stirring regularly, then season to perfection, tasting and tweaking. Carefully pour everything through a colander to separate the filling from the sauce. Pour the sauce into a blender, add the watercress and blitz until smooth. Spoon the filling into an 8-inch pie dish with 7 tablespoons of sauce. Let everything cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

TO SERVE Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Brush the rim of the pie dish with olive oil. Cut the pastry into 3/4-inch strips, using a crinkly pasta cutter if you’ve got one, then arrange over the dish – I like a messy lattice. Eggwash all the pastry, then bake the pie for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is piping hot. Gently heat up the watercress sauce to serve on the side.

VEGGIE LOVE

Peel 1 lb of root veg of your choice, chop into ¾ –1 ¼ -inch chunks and cook for 20 minutes with the leeks, potatoes, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the leaves from ½ a bunch of thyme (1/3 oz). Use veg broth with the milk, top up with ½ cup of sauce on assembly, then finish in the same way.

TANGERINE DREAM CAKE

A pleasure to make, this cake is joyous served with a cup of tea – make sure you pack your flask. Any leftovers crumbled over ice cream will also be a treat. I like to make the whole thing on the day, but you can absolutely make the sponge ahead and simply store it in an airtight container overnight.

SERVES 16

  • 1 cup soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 8 oz liquid honey
  • 2 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 ¾ cups ground almonds
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 6 large eggs
  • 4 tangerines
  • ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
  • Optional: plain yogurt, to serve

ON THE DAY Preheat the oven to 350ºF and generously grease an 8-cup non-stick bundt pan with butter. Place the remaining butter in a food processor with the honey, flour, almonds and vanilla paste. Crack in the eggs, finely grate in the tangerine zest (reserving some for garnish) and blitz until smooth. Pour the mixture into the bundt pan, scraping it out of the processor with a spatula, then jiggle the pan to level it out. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Sift the confectioner’s sugar into a bowl, then squeeze and stir in enough tangerine juice to make a thick drizzle. Pour or spoon over the cool cake, easing some drips down the sides in an arty way, then sprinkle over the reserved zest. Peel the remaining tangerines and slice into rounds, to serve on the side. A spoonful of yogurt also pairs with it very nicely, if you like.

CLASSIC CAKE: Don’t worry if you don’t have a bundt pan, a 10-inch cake pan lined with parchment paper will work just as well.

Flavors of the Sun: Middle Eastern Ingredients from a Century Old Family Business

Chroncile Books

“Herby and garlicky, with a bright jolt of sumac, this is everything you want in a one-pan meal,” says Christine Sahadi Whelan about her recipe for Sheet Pan Chicken with Sumac and Winter Squash.

         Whelan, a fourth-generation co-owner of Sahadi’s and a lifelong Brooklyn resident, grew up in the James Beard Award-winning specialty grocery store that first opened in 1898. A graduate of NYU with a Degree in Finance and International Business she also trained at the Institute for Culinary Education, she also made mamoul with Martha Stewart. She brings all this to the table as Sahadi’s Culinary Director and now with her new book, Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients with its more than 120 recipes. The flavors of the Middle East are just steps away from your kitchen with this book.

         Sahadi’s is truly a family affair. Both her children as well as her husband work at the store which is an integral part of their neighborhood and the city of New York as well. Their excellence was recognized as a true American Classic by the James Beard Foundation.

         Whelan notes that the ingredients in her Sheet Pan Chicken like many of the recipes in the book can easily be substituted.

         “Kabocha and delicata squash are good options because they don’t need to be peeled, but acorn squash or butternut work, too,” she says. “I sometimes use a couple of different kinds for visual interest. Either way, you’ll have folks wanting to eat directly from the pan the second you take this out of the oven.”

         The book is an amazing introduction to the wide variety of ingredients such as sumac, pomegranate molasses, aleppo black pepper, and halvah that are best sellers in the store. Whelan shows us how to use them in easily her accessible recipes that are a great way to learn the nuances of Middle Eastern cookery.

Warm Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini-Yogurt Dressing

“We are always happy to share recipes with customers who want to try their hand at our family favorites at home, but we love it even more when customers return the favor! This recipe is a variation on one that came to us from longtime patron Steve Marcus, who devised a hearty cauliflower side dish incorporating all his preferred Sahadi’s staples,” writes Whelan in the introduction to this recipe. “It’s well-spiced and tangy, with a hint of sweetness from dried apricots, and a nice cold-weather option when there aren’t a lot of fresh green veggies to choose from.”

SERVES 6 TO 8

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp za’atar
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp Aleppo pepper
  • ¼ cup tahini
  • ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt, full or low fat
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • ½ tsp ground white pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • ¼ cup chopped Turkish apricots

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Cut the cauliflower into 2 in [5 cm] florets and mound on a large rimmed baking sheet. Toss with ¼ cup of the oil and the za’atar, ½ tsp of the salt, and the Aleppo pepper. Spread the cauliflower in a

single layer and roast, turning once or twice as it cooks, until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

While the cauliflower is roasting, whisk together the tahini, yogurt, remaining ¼ cup of olive oil, and the lemon juice in a large bowl. Season with the remaining ½ tsp of salt and the white pepper. Add 2

Tbsp of water to thin to drizzling consistency, adding more by the tsp as needed.

Add the warm cauliflower and toss to coat with the dressing. Gently stir in the parsley and apricots to distribute evenly. Serve warm.

Sheet Pan Chicken with Sumac and Winter Squash

SERVES 6

  • 4 lb. chicken pieces, any combination
  • 3 Tbsp sumac
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated with a rasp
  • 1 cup [240 ml] extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 kabocha squash (or ½ kabocha squash and 1 acorn squash)
  • 1 bunch fresh oregano or thyme
  • 3 red onions, peeled and quartered
  • 1 lemon, thinly sliced

Pat the chicken pieces dry and, if you are using breasts, cut each in half to make 2 smaller pieces.

Whisk together 2 Tbsp of the sumac with the salt, dried thyme, dried oregano, and garlic in a large bowl. Add the oil and stir until well blended. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl, turning to coat them with the mixture, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the squash in half through the stem end and remove the seeds.  Cut the squash into ½ inch thick slices and arrange them in a single layer (or overlapping slightly) on a large baking sheet. Scatter the herb sprigs on top, reserving a few for serving. Arrange the chicken on top of the squash, skin-side up, leaving a bit of room between the pieces and tucking in red onion chunks here and there. Dot the lemon slices around the pan. Pour any remaining marinade over everything.

Roast in the center of the oven for 30 minutes. Baste the chicken and squash with pan juices and continue to cook for 15 minutes, or until the skin is browned and the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sumac and the reserved herb sprigs. Serve directly from the baking sheet.

Sweet and Spicy Nut Brittle

“One of the best parts of working in this business is that I always have top quality nuts available for snacking or baking,” says Whelan. “This is a fun way I like to use them that also doubles as a nice holiday gift.

MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS  

  • 2 cups roasted unsalted mixed nuts (about 1/2 lb, coarsely chopped 11/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup Amaretto or bourbon
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.

On a separate rimmed baking sheet, spread the nuts in a single layer and toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl and cover to keep warm. (Warming the nuts helps the caramel flowover them more readily.)

In a 1 quart saucepan, combine the sugar, amaretto, honey, and butter. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Heat over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, then continue to boil until the mixture reaches 300°F (hard crack stage).

Carefully pour the sugar mixture over the nuts and mix quickly with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, coating all the nuts. Immediately pour onto the prepared baking sheet and spread in a thin layer.

Sprinkle with the Aleppo pepper and salt. Let cool completely, then break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

The above recipes are excerpted with permission from Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients (Chronicle Books, 2021) by Christine Sahadi Whalen. Photographs © 2021 by Kristin Teig

Baking for the Holidays is a Perfect Resource for Edible Presents

Seasonal Recipes

I love giving—and getting—edible gifts and so Sarah Kieffer’s Baking for the Holidays: 50+ Treats for a Festive Season with recipes for Christmas, Hanukah, and New Year’s Eve get togethers, cookie swaps, and stocking stuffers is just the thing. Kieffer, author of 100 Cookies, is also the creator of The Vanilla Bean Blog, and inventor the “bang-the-pan” method. The latter is a technique she originally used for her chocolate chip cookies.

But before you get the idea that you’ll be able to slam pans around—which would be a wonderful way to let off steam during the busy holiday season—realize it’s Kieffer’s term for the way she shakes up the cookies while they’re baking in order to create a crispy edged cookie with gooey center cookie. She calls them her “Pan Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies.”

See her blog for that recipe and more.

Peanut Butter Cups

  • 16 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
  • ½ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Pinch salt

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth. Pour

the melted chocolate into a medium bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.

In another medium bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt until combined and completely smooth.

Place about a tablespoon of chocolate in the bottom of each circle in a silicone mold (you can also line a mini muffin pan and use that instead). Tilt and twist the mold around so the chocolate coats the sides of the circle.

Scoop out a scant tablespoon of the peanut butter mixture and gently roll it into a ball between your palms (if it is too sticky to do so, refrigerate the mixture for 10 minutes to help it firm up). Place the ball in the center of each mold and top each one with some of the remaining chocolate.

Smooth out the tops by gently tapping the mold on the counter, then chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours to set. Once set, pop each peanut butter cup out of its mold and bring to room temperature before serving.

Peanut butter cups can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 week.

VARIATION

Cacao Nibs Topping

Melt 1 ounce of chocolate.

Place about ½ teaspoon of chocolate on top of each set and unmolded peanut butter cup, carefully smoothing out the tops. Sprinkle with chopped cacao nibs and let set before serving.

Cook Once Dinner Fix: Cassy Joy Garcia

Cooking demonstrations, Family & Kids Cooking

          Leftovers make me feel guilty. More than they should, they frequently sit and sit in my refrigerator until, as my mother would say, “they’ve served their time” and can be thrown out for good reason—they’re no longer edible. There must be a better way.

          Now Cassy Joy Garcia shows us that way in her new cookbook, Cook Once Dinner Fix: Quick and Exciting Ways to Transform Tonight’s Dinner into Tomorrow’s Feast (Simon & Schuster 2021). I had previously written about Garcia’s first cookbook, the bestselling Cook Once, Eat All Week:  26 Weeks of Gluten-Free, Affordable Meal Prep to Preserve Your Time & Sanity, a title that pretty much says it all. This time around, Garcia again is all about saving time and money while creating great and healthy meals. Featuring 120 easy to make recipes, she uses leftovers from one recipe to create a second completely different meal for another meal.

          The trick, says Garcia, a holistic nutritionist who created the blog Fed + Fit, is to create twin recipes such as Dry-Rubbed Barbecue Brisket and then transform it into a second meal–the very yummy Cheesesteak-Stuffed Peppers and her leftover Roasted Garlic Turkey Breast becomes Spiced Turkey Potato Soup. Both twin meal shave different flavor profiles but enough commonality that it’s easy to adapt each one of a series into a second day dinner without fuss.         

In one dinner series, Garcia takes simply roasted cauliflower florets, transforming them into what she describes as a “craveable, nourishing General Tso’s take on cauliflower and then into the most satisfying tacos inspired by tinga, a Mexican stew.

The bold flavors of the sauces and the way we quickly re-crisp the cauliflower creates the magic. You will not be bored by these dishes, and I bet you’ll find yourself craving them often.”

         She also provides tips, substitution ideas, and a list of categories such as dairy-free, egg-free, freezes easily, gluten-free option, and nut-free to help those on special diets know which recipes will work for them.  

“I really like the idea of being able to bridge tonight’s effort into a meal in the future,” says Garcia, who lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband and two children. “If you don’t get ahead, you’ll feel like you’re constantly catching up.”

We can all identify with that.

The recipes below are from Cook Once Dinner Fix by Cassy Joy Garcia.

MEAL 1                                                                                                

General Tso’s Cauliflower

Serves 4

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 55 minutes

  • 4 medium heads cauliflower (21/2 pounds total), cut into florets
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 11/2 cups uncooked white rice, rinsed
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh   ginger
  • 1⁄3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce (see Tip)
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 cup vegetable broth or water
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (sliced on an angle), for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, for garnish.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Toss the cauliflower florets with 1/4 cup of the olive oil, then divide them between two rimmed baking sheets, arranging them in an even layer, and sprinkle with the salt. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the tops of the florets start to brown.

Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package instructions.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant.

Add the honey, vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, cornstarch, and broth and whisk until well combined and smooth. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens.

Transfer half the cooked cauliflower (about 6 cups) to an airtight container and refrigerate to use for Meal 2 (it will keep for up to 5 days). Add the remaining cauliflower to the pan with the sauce. Toss to combine, then remove from the heat.

Serve the cauliflower over the rice, garnished with the green onions and sesame seeds.

TIPS

  • Garcia says to ook for chili garlic sauce, a bright red Vietnamese condiment, in the international foods aisle. She uses the Huy Fong brand with the rooster on it– the same brand as her favorite Sriracha.
  • If you like less heat, use just 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce to make the dish milder.
  • If you follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, use a vegan fish sauce.

MEAL 2                                                                                                

Cauliflower Tinga Tacos

Serves 4

Active time: 15 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

  • 3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup tomato paste
  • 1⁄3 cup fresh lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • About 6 cups roasted cauliflower (reserved from Meal 1; see page 244)
  • 8 corn tortillas, warmed
  • 1 avocado, thinly sliced, for garnish
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion, for garnish
  • 1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

In a large bowl, whisk together the chipotles, tomato paste, lime juice, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, and 6 tablespoons water. Add the cauliflower and toss to coat evenly.

Spread the cauliflower evenly over a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cauliflower florets start to darken.

Divide the roasted cauliflower among the tortillas. Top with the avocado, cilantro, and onion and serve, with the lime wedges alongside for squeezing over the top.

Roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Fresh Arugula Salad

Serves 2

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

For the Roasted Chicken

  • 1 (4- to 4 1/2-pound) whole chicken
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Roasted Potatoes

  • 1 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-wide wedges
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the Fresh Arugula Salad

  • 4 cups arugula
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a small bowl, stir together the butter and garlic until well combined.

Rub about half the garlic butter over the outside of the chicken. Using your fingers, gently lift the skin from the breast and smear the rest of the garlic butter under the skin.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. Tuck the wing tips under the joint where the wing meets the chicken’s body. Using about 6 inches of kitchen twine, tie the ends of the drumsticks together.

Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until the juices run clear and/or an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of a thigh registers 165°F. If the skin starts to brown too deeply, tent the chicken with a piece of aluminum foil.

Meanwhile, roast the potatoes: In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil. Spread them out over a rimmed baking sheet and season with the salt.

When the chicken has been in the oven for 35 minutes, put the potatoes in the oven and roast for 45 minutes, or until they start to look golden brown.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven, tent it with foil (if it’s not already tented), and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the arugula salad: Place the arugula in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and massage the dressing into the leaves. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Carve the legs, thighs, and wings from the chicken, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate to use for Meal 2 (it will keep for up to 5 days). Carve the chicken breasts from the chicken and divide them between two plates.

Serve the chicken with the potatoes and arugula salad alongside.

MEAL 2

Butter Chicken Bowls with White Rice

Serves 2

Active time: 35 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • Cooked chicken legs, thighs, and wings (reserved from Meal 1), skin removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter or ghee
  • 1 tablespoon grated garlic (about 3 cloves)
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (from about 1/2 inch)
  • 2 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes (from one 18-ounce can)
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • 1 cup uncooked white rice, rinsed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

In a small bowl, whisk together the paprika, garam masala, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and salt. Add the chicken and toss to coat in the spice mixture.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and caute for 3 to 4 minutes, until fragrant but not browned.

Add the seasoned chicken to the pan, reserving any spice mixture left in the bowl, and sear, undisturbed, for 3 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom, then stir and sear for 3 minutes more. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside on a plate.

In the same pan, whisk together the tomatoes, yogurt, cream, lemon juice, and any remaining spice mixture until combined. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, until fragrant and slightly reduced in volume.

Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package instructions.

Return the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes more, then remove from the heat.

Serve the chicken over the rice, garnished with the cilantro.

Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere

Baking, cookbooks, Food, Home bakers, Houghton Mifflin Houghton, International, Paris, Recipes

For the truly sinful, not to be missed are such classic cookbooks as Dorie Greenspan’s Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $26.99 Amazon price), a huge, brilliantly illustrated cookbook of the most delicious looking desserts. Greenspan, selected by Julia Child to write the New York Times bestseller Baking with Julia, also authored the James Beard award winning Baking: From My Home to Yours and Around My French Table named the Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She spends part of each year at her home in Paris (it would be so easy to hate her for this wonderful sounding lifestyle if she wasn’t so friendly and nice) and also in New York City and Westbrook, Connecticut.

Though France is known for its fabulous pastry shops, in “Chez Moi” Greenspan shares recipes created by home chefs.

“In France you can get all the butter puff pastry you want in the grocery store and buy the most extravagant cakes at patisseries,” says Greenspan. “But it was really a revelation to me that the patisserie desserts are not the same desserts you get in French homes. These are charming, uncomplicated, satisfying, and delicious but they’re not fussy at all.”

Intrigued by what her friends baked at home, Greenspan, who has spent nearly two decades living in France, traveled across the country collecting their recipes—from Alsace she includes both a Christmas Cake and because of the area’s beautiful plump cherries, a cherry crumble tart, Tart Tropezienne comes from Saint-Tropez, Olive Oil and Wine cookies from Languedoc-Roussillon and the Soft Salted-Butter Caramels (be still my beating heart) is often found in Brittany.

It took Greenspan some five years to test all the recipes for this, her 11th cookbook, because it was important to her to bring these desserts to America. That involved testing and re-testing with both American and French flours and even traveling from her home in the U.S. carrying five pound bags of flour—one can only imagine the panic at the airport if the flour containers had busted open. Each recipe begins with a story of how she discovered it and where it comes from.

“The stories make the food more personal,” she says.

Surprising, there are several recipes calling for cream cheese including one titled The Rugelach That Won Over France. Before, says Greenspan, the French thought of cream cheese only to be used to make cheesecakes and spread on bagels.

That was before about a decade ago when cream cheese came to France “big time,” says Greenspan noting the French call it Philadelphia rather than cream cheese. And, of course, there’s Nutella which Greenspan describes as being the peanut butter of France.

She also includes a recipe for Crackle Cream Puffs (along with other cream puff recipes including one filled with mascarpone) noting that just as we have our cupcake shops, right now in Paris there are shops selling nothing but cream puffs and that they can be filled to order while you wait.

For those new to French dessert making, Greenspan recommends starting off with her Custardy Apple Squares and then Laurent’s Slow-Roasted Pineapple. As for me, I’m moving straight on to the Soft Salted-Butter Caramels and the macarons.

Brown Butter-Peach Torte

Makes 8 servings

For the filling

  • 2 pounds, ripe but firm peaches
  • 3 tablespoons (1½ ounces) unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • Tiny pinch of fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or a drop of pure almond extract)
  • Juice of ¼ lemon (or to taste)

For the crust

  • 1 partially baked 9- to 9½-inch tart crust made with Sweet Tart Dough, cooled
  • 1 recipe Sweet Tart Dough (recipe below), rolled into a 12-inch circle and refrigerated
  • Sugar, for dusting (sanding sugar, if you’d prefer)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

To make the filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice cubes and cold water nearby.

Cut a small X in the base of each peach. Drop a few peaches at a time into the boiling water, leave them there for 30 seconds and then lift them out with a slotted spoon and drop them into the ice water. When they are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins. If you’ve got some hard-to-peel peaches, you can boil them for a few seconds more or just remove the remaining skin with a paring knife.

Dry the peaches, cut them in half, remove the pits and cut each peach into about a dozen chunks. If the peaches are small, cut fewer chunks; the torte is best when the pieces are about an inch on a side. Put the peaches in a bowl.

Put the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and allow it to melt and then bubble. Stay close to the butter as it boils, and when it reaches a light caramel color, pull the pan from the heat. You may see some small dark brown spots on the bottom of the pan, and that’s fine; for sure you’ll catch the whiff of warm nuts. Wait a minute or two, then pour the butter over the peaches. Add the sugar, flour, salt and vanilla and gently stir everything together. Finish with the lemon juice, tasting as you go. I prefer the juice to be a background flavor, but you might want it to be more prominent, and, of course, the amount will depend on the sweetness of your fruit.

To assemble the torte: Put the tart pan on the lined baking sheet. Give the filling another stir and scrape it into the tart shell, smoothing the top. You should have just enough filling to come level with the edges of the crust.

Remove the circle of dough from the refrigerator and let it rest for a couple of minutes, just until it’s soft enough to maneuver without cracking. Brush the edges of the tart shell with water, then position the circle of dough over the crust. Press the rim of the torte with your fingers to glue the two pieces together and then, pressing on the rim as you go, cut the top circle even with the edges of the pan.

Use a knife, the wide end of a piping tip or a small cookie cutter to remove a circle of dough from the center of the torte—this is your steam vent. Brush the surface of the torte lightly with cold water and sprinkle it generously with sugar.

Bake the torte for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the crust is deeply golden brown and, most important, the butter is bubbling. If you think the crust is browning too quickly—the thick rim has a tendency to get dark—cover the torte lightly with a foil tent. Transfer the torte, still on its baking sheet, to a rack and allow it to cool until it’s only just warm or at room temperature before serving. As it cools, the buttery syrup will be reabsorbed by the peaches, which is just what you want—so don’t be impatient.

Serving: Whatever you serve with the torte—vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt (I like the tang of yogurt with the sweet peaches), softly whipped cream or even more softly whipped crème fraîche—don’t let it cover the top of the torte – it’s too pretty to hide.

Storing: You can partially bake the bottom crust up to 8 hours ahead and you can have the top crust rolled out and ready to go ahead of time, but the filling shouldn’t be prepared ahead. The baked torte is really best served that day. If you’ve got leftovers, refrigerate them. The crust will lose its delicateness, but the torte will still be satisfying.

Sweet Tart Dough (Pâte Sablée)

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine.

Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses–about 10 seconds each–until the dough, whisk will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

To press the dough into the pan: Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked.

Don’t be too heavy-handed–press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

To partially or fully bake the crust: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust.

Put the tart pan on a baking sheet to bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. For a partially baked crust, patch the crust if necessary, then transfer the crust to a coking rack (keep it in is pan).

To fully bake the crust: Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. (Keep a close eye on the crust’s progress–it can go from golden to way too dark in a flash). Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

To patch a partially or fully baked crust, if necessary: If there are any cracks in the baked crust, patch them with some of the reserved raw dough as soon as you remove the foil. Slice off a thin piece of the dough, place it over the crack, moisten the edges and very gently smooth the edges into the baked crust. If the tart will not be baked again with its filling, bake for another 2 minutes or so, just to that the rawness off the patch.

Storing: Well wrapped, the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen up to 2 months. While the fully baked crust can be packed airtight and frozen for up to 2 months I (Dorie), prefer to freeze the unbaked crust in the pan and bake it directly from the freezer–it has the fresher flavor. Just add about 5 minutes to the baking time.

Excerpted from BAKING CHEZ MOI, (c) 2014 by Dorie Greenspan. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Tiffani Thiessen invites us to “Pull Up a Chair”

cookbooks, Family & Kids Cooking, Recipes

          Only six or so when she started helping out in the kitchen, Tiffani Thiessen grew up in a family where dinners were a gathering time to enjoy great cooking and conversations. She upped her game from traditional American fare when she and other stars from “Saved by the Bell” toured in Europe.

          “It definitely impacted me,” says Thiessen who played Kelly Kapowski on the hit TV show and was 16 at the time. “I learned all about wine, cheese and all types of different foods when we traveled in France, Italy and Holland.”

          This love of food and conviviality was so intense that though Thiessen continued with her acting career (she was Valerie Malone on “Beverly Hills 90210” and starred for four years in the series “Alexa & Katie”), she also segued into cooking, hosting both the long running “Dinner at Tiffani’s” on the Cooking Channel and “Deliciousness,” the MTV show that looks at food blunders, restaurant fails, and other funny food and drink moments. As if that wasn’t enough to keep any mom of two young children busy enough, Thiessen spent three years writing Pull Up a Chair: Recipes from My Family to Yours (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt $30), which was released several years ago but remains as fresh and innovative, warm and inviting as ever.

          Describing cooking as therapeutic as well as artistic and creative, Thiessen’s recipes include new dishes, those she collected through the years and family favorites, some that she tweaked including her mom’s beef stroganoff which the family ate once a week when she was young.

          “I wasn’t a big fan,” says Thiessen, adding that her mom’s stroganoff was very traditional and included stirring sour cream in at the end so that it took on the appearance of dog food—her words not ours, Mrs. Thiessen. Tiffani’s tweaked it into a beef and mushroom Stroganoff with creamy polenta, spinach and a touch of brandy. The sour cream is served on the side.

          Did that hurt you mom’s feelings? I ask.

          “No, I have one of the most supportive families,” she says.

          There’s also a cowboy twang to some of her dishes such as the short rib beef enchiladas and three cheese queso, since husband Brady Smith is a meat-loving Texas boy. Her son Holt gobbles up her mac and cheese and Thiessen says Harper her eight-year-old daughter loves to decorate pizzas.

          “I don’t think of myself as anything but a home cook and my recipes are easy but everything I cook is with love and passion and that’s what Pull Up a Chair is all about,” says Thiessen, who, during our phone interview, calls me sweetheart and dear.

          That friendliness as well as the sumptuousness of her cookbook—125 recipes and lots of full page color photos of both luscious-looking food and family (and yes, her husband is handsome and her children adorable), makes me long to get an invitation to dine at her house.

          Since that won’t be happening, I did a little pre-interview stalking watching videos of Thiessen cooking in her kitchen and then displaying part of her cookbook collection.

           “I love cookbooks, I love the look, the aesthetics of them” she says when I mention my sleuthing. “Most people I’m close to would say I have a problem.  I don’t use some of them that much, as my husband points out, but there’s just something I like about having them around.”

          I can identify with that having heard similar comments from both my husband and daughter. Another reason to get that dinner invitation. But until then, I have the cookbook and can create the recipes in my own home.

Pickle & Potato Salad

Serves 6

  • 1½ pounds tricolored small potatoes
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for the potatoes
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • ¼ cup chopped sweet pickles
  • 3 tablespoons pickle juice (from the jar)
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
  • 5 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
  • ½ medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
  • Paprika, for garnish

Place the potatoes in a large pot and add enough cold water to cover them by 1 inch and a generous pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let them rest until they’re cool enough to handle. Cut each one in half.

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sweet pickles, pickle juice, mustard, salt, and pepper.

In a separate large bowl, combine the halved potatoes, eggs, and red onion and toss with the dressing. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and garnish with the parsley and paprika.

Honey-Ginger Chicken Wings

Serves 6 to 8

  • ½ cup honey (preferably wildflower or mesquite)
  • ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • Grated zest and juice of 1 lime, plus more zest for garnish
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 16 chicken wings (about 4 pounds), tips removed, drumettes and flats separated

In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, tamari, sesame oil, ginger, scallions, garlic, lime zest, lime juice, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Reserve ¾ cup of the mixture in the fridge.

Pour the remaining marinade into a 2-gallon zip-top bag. Add the chicken and seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Massage the marinade into the wings. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Before cooking, let the wings stand at room temperature for about 2 hours.

When ready to cook the wings, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove the wings from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Season the wings with salt and pepper and place them skin-side down in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Spoon some of the marinade over them; discard the remaining marinade. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip the wings, basting with the pan drippings. Rotate the pan and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the honey has caramelized and the skin is a dark amber color.

In a small saucepan, bring the reserved ¾ cup marinade (from the fridge) to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the liquid turns into a thick, syrupy glaze, about 4 minutes.

Coat the wings with the glaze, arrange them on a serving platter, and garnish with scallions and lime zest.

These recipes are excerpted from Pull Up a Chair © 2018 by Tiffani Thiessen. Photography © 2018 by Rebecca Sanabria. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Lidia’s Got Your Back with Commonsense Italian Cooking

Chicago restaurants, Chicagoland Area, Cooking demonstrations, Family & Kids Cooking, Seasonal Recipes

Years of fame from authoring best selling cookbooks, hosting TV cooking shows, opening restaurants and gourmet food stores, including the many Eataly stores including the one in Chicago that opened eight years ago, and creating her own line of pastas, sauces and readymade foods hasn’t even slightly dimmed Lidia Matticchio Bastianich’s enthusiasm for spreading the word about the glories of Italian cuisine. Indeed, if she had her way, we’d all be experts in Italian cooking.

“Italian food is very simple,” Bastianich tells me as we chat about her cookbooks including one of my favorites, Lidia’s Commonsense Italian Cooking: 150 Delicious and Simple Recipes Anyone Can Master (Knopf $35), which she co-authored with her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali. “It’s all about good ingredients and not fretting about the recipes.”

Passing on the traditions learned from helping her mother and grandmother cook, Bastianich revels in the email and comments she gets from fans crediting her with teaching them how to cook Italian.

“People think I don’t know how to make an artichoke or risotto or pasta,” she says, “and when they learn, they are so excited. At one of my book signings, a woman told me that when her kids get home from school and they ask what’s for dinner, if she says I’m cooking Lidia, they’re happy.”

In her book, Bastianich expounds on using our judgment when it comes to cooking.

“We all have commonsense in life, in the kitchen we all have it too, this book brings it out,” she says. “It’s straightforward. Recipes are not law. It’s okay to change a recipe according to what we have in the house. I want people to be comfortable with food.”

Intense food memories of her grandmother’s Italian kitchen mix with those of coming to America at age 11 at a time when the Italian ingredients we take for granted now—fresh ricotta, pasta and mozzarella, a wide selection of Italian charcuterie, the Arborio rice necessary for making risotto and high end canned tomatoes—were difficult if not impossible to find. Bastianich describes herself as feeling “yanked from a cocoon.” And indeed life was much different. From milking goats and helping harvest the seasonal garden bounty, she instead wanted to be American which meant eating like an American.

“I was intrigued by Jell-O and TV dinners because that’s what being Americans was— heat up a TV dinner and sit in front of the TV to eat,” she recalls. “Sometimes my mom would give me a fried zucchini sandwich for school. I was so embarrassed. In high school and college you did what your peers do.  My mother was very upset.”

Fortunately, not only for her mother but for American home cooks, Bastianich, realizing she had a heritage that was rich, reconnected to her roots and became an advocate for real food versus what she calls American “utility” food.

“My father never would have eaten a TV dinner,” she says. “Food has given me so much. If I can share that it’s a great gift.”

Sidebar: Mega Italian

Partnering with her son Joe as well as several others, Bastianich opened the 50,000-square-foot Eataly in Manhattan over a decade ago, the group then brought the concept of all thing’s Italian cuisine-wise to other cities including Chicago. The two-story 60,000-square-foot store features a plethora of restaurants, cooking classes a gelateria for gelato lovers and enough retail food vendors to send even the most blasé foodie into overdrive. On October 22 & 23, Eataly is presenting their Tuscan Wine & Cheese event, a focus on artisanal cheeses, regional wines, and seasonal bites on October 22 & 23, Eataly Restaurant Fest until October 31, and How to Eataly offering tips for living and eating better as well as getting the most out of fall until November 1. As for other events, there are cooking classes, market tours, and more all the time.

Eataly is located at 43 E. Ohio St., Chicago, IL; 212-229-2560 http://www.eataly.com/eataly-chicago

The following recipes are from Lidia’s Commonsense Italian Cooking.

Chicken Breast with Orange and Gaeta Olives
Pollo con Olive ed Aranci

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 pounds thin sliced chicken cutlets
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • all-purpose flour for dredging
  • 1 large red onion, sliced
  • 1 cup pitted Gaeta or Kalamata olives, halved
  • Juice and zest of 1 orange
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 teaspoon fennel powder
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and butter. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and lightly dredge it in flour. Lightly brown the chicken in the skillet (you want the chicken to end up with a blonde-colored crust and slowly build the color, and flavor, up) on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Cook the chicken in batches, if necessary, depending on the size of your skillet. Remove to a plate as it is colored.

Once the chicken is colored, add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the olives, orange juice and zest, white wine and fennel powder. Add chicken back to the skillet and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce coats the chicken, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season with remaining salt, sprinkle with the parsley, and serve.

Food Network Ina Garten Panettone Bread Pudding

Lidia’s Pear Bread Pudding

  • 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Zest of 1 lemon, grated
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream, plus more to whip for garnish
  • 4 cups day- old 1/2-inch country- bread cubes, crusts removed
  • 2 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
  • 1/3 cup blanched sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the baking dish with softened butter. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar, the vanilla, and lemon zest, and whisk to lighten the mixture. Whisk in the milk and heavy cream. Add the bread and pears, and pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and the almond slices.

Bake until the pudding is set and puffy and the top is golden, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 15 minutes; serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with whipped cream.

Serving Size

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Apple Cake

Serves 4

  • 2.2 pounds golden delicious apples
  • 2 eggs
  • 3.5 ounces flour
  • 3.5 ounces sugar
  • 3.5 ounces Amaretti
  • 3.5 ounces butter
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 pack yeast for baking

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an -8– or -9–inch springform pan.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and white sugar until pale and light, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until light and fluffy, another minute or two. Beat in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into the mixer with the lemon zest, and mix until just combined. In a medium bowl, toss together the apples, brown sugar, and walnuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and then sprinkle with the apple mixture.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool on a rack, then unmold, and cut into wedges to serve.

Lidia’s newest cookbook, A Pot, A Pan, and A Bowl: Simple Recipes for Perfect Meals was just released, here’s a recipe from the book. Find more recipes on her Facebook page.

Follow Lidia at @lidiabastianich

Castillo de La Mota: In the Castle of the Queen

Adventure, Castles, Historic foodways

         Well, this doesn’t bode well I think upon seeing the entrance to Castillo de La Mota blocked by women archers dressed in long skirts under magenta jumpers each stitched with the insignia of a yellow bird with spiky feathers. But what is most daunting about the scene is that their bows are raised, arrows notched, and the strings pulled back. If they let go, we’ll be hit with a barrage of arrows.

 

         A man behind me grouses to his wife “another day, another castle” but then stops as he sees what is in front of us. It certainly may be another castle here in Spain but it’s not a typical day. I mean, when was the last time you were threatened by Medieval female warriors?

“Password,” shouts the tall woman who looks like she’s in charge.        

“Isabelle,” I call back without thinking.

  “Isabella,” she responds.

   Oops.

   But it’s good enough. The archers lower their bows and part, allowing us to cross the drawbridge into the fortified castle, one of many that belonged to Queen Isabella of Spain.

We are in Medina del Campo, a town known since the 15th century for its fabulous fairs and markets as well as being one of the places Queen Isabella of Spain called home.  And though it’s the 21st century, once inside the castle keep it well could be seven centuries ago.

         We are not only in Isabella’s castle, we’re also in her time. Men, women, and children are dressed in the everyday garb of 15th century Spain, soldiers wear bright red doublet cut with yellow inserts, red pantaloons that stop above the knee, white stockings and leather shoes ranging in colors like blue, red, and beige.

I don’t know much about 15th century weaponry beyond bow and arrows and swords–and even that is very limited. But here the soldiers not only carry broad swords and rapiers, but also pikes and spears. Silver helmets top their heads and somewhere metal collars, part of a suit of armor.

         La Mota isn’t a fairy tale castle, it was a large strong fortress that the townspeople as well as the King and Queen could go for refuge. She and her husband Ferdinand II lived in a royal palace in the town’s major plaza though Isabella wrote her will and took Last Rites at age 53 at La Mota. Dating back to the 11th century, it grew through the centuries becoming the largest castle in Castile.  

Called La Mota because it is on a small hill rising above the town, it has turrets (2), towers (4), thick walls and a courtyard.  Unguided tours are available as are guided tours which can be booked here    

         In her day,  Isabella, one of the few women rulers at the time, would have dined on rabbit, deer, bear, lamb, and bread. She would have enjoyed leeks but little else in the way of vegetables. Juan Alejandro Forrest de Sloper whose blog Book of Days combines his passions for world cuisine and as an anthropologist with a focus on rituals and celebrations. De Sloper was a professor of anthropology at Purchase College, S.U.N.Y for 32 years but he also spent time living throughout the world and learning to cook in all sorts of kitchens.

 In his post on Isabella he shares a dish from Libre Del Coch, a Catalan cookbook—the first written cookbook–written by Robert de Nola who went by the pseudonym Mestre Robert who was the chef to King Ferdinand I of Naples. The Catalan version was published in 1520 in Barcelona and translated to Castilian Spanish five years later. Parts of the cookbook are based on a famous medieval cookbook titled Llibre de Sent Soví.

The cookbook includes classic dishes that were popular with the wealthy (and Isabella was surely that) during the 1400s. Casola de Carn or Meat Casserole is like many recipes or receipts as they were called then, there’s no list of ingredients or amounts. It’s all a little murky for 21st century cooks, and phrases like “all the fine flavorings” are a little—no make that a lot baffling. There are also ingredients such as aggrestal (spelled in the recipe as agressta) means wild plant which can sure cover a lot of ground.

Casola de Carn

(Meat Casserole)

Cut the meat into pieces the size of a nut and fry it in pork fat. When it is well fried put in some good broth and set it to cook in a casserole. Add all the fine flavorings and saffron and a little orange juice or agresta and cook well until the meat begins to fall apart and only a small amount of broth remains. Add three or four eggs beaten with orange juice or agresta. When your master is ready at table, turn the meat four or five times to let the sauce thicken. When it is thick, take it from the fire and serve it in bowls, sprinkled with a little cinnamon on each.

There are some people who do not add eggs, or spices except cinnamon and cloves. The meat is cooked as stated above.

They add vinegar, for the flavor. It appears that many people do it in the following manner: the meat is left whole stuffed with cinnamon and cloves, and with the other spices in the broth. The meat must be turned from time to time so that it doesn’t cook more in one part than in any other. You can leave out the cloves and cinnamon if you follow the other directions correctly.

As wonderful as Isabella’s meal might have been, our luncheon at El Motero in Medina del Campo probably was equally good. Because Medina del Campo is a stop on the wonderful Rueda Wine Route, we indulged in the local wines and dined on fish, baby lamb, and a variety of whimsical dishes such as canelón de mango relleno de frutos de mar y gelatina de gazpacho (Mango cannellon stuffed with sea fruit and gazpacho jelly),  tartar de tomate, aguacate,salmón marinado ,wakame sobre pan de Cerdeña (Tomato Tartar, Avocado, Marinated Salmon, Wakame on Sardinian bread)and  Mini san Jacobo de lomo asado y salsa de piña (Mini San Jacobo roasted loin and pineapple sauce).

I did indeed dine like queen.

They Ate What? Antique Cookbooks and the Meals of Olde

Seasonal Recipes

Still cursing at yourself for the extra helping of potato salad and sweet tea not to mention the second piece of blueberry pie at the family picnic last week?  Well, imagine how you’d feel after attending this 1450 banquet, held in England for the enthronement of an archbishop where guests munched on 104 oxen, six ‘wylde bulles,’ 1,000 sheep, 400 swans and such game birds such as bustards (larger than a turkey), cranes, bitterns, curlews and herons.

“Our ancestors had gastronomic guts,” Anne Willan tells me as we chat on the phone, she in Santa Monica, California where there’s sunshine and me in the cold Great Lakes region.  I find it fascinating to read old menus and descriptions of banquets and feasts and for that Willan, founder of famed French cooking school École de Cuisine la Varenne, recipient of the IACP Lifetime Achievement Award and author of more than 30 cookbooks, is the go to person.

Even better, after collecting cookbooks for more than 50 years and amassing a collection of over 5000 tomes, several years ago Willan and her husband, Mark Cherniavsky immersed themselves in their antiquarian cookbook library and came out with The Cookbook Library: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writers, and Recipes That Made the Modern Cookbook (University of California Press $50).

“Seals were eaten on fast days along with whale, dolphin, porpoise and thousands of other fish,” says Willan. Hmmm…that’s different than the macaroni and cheese and fish sticks I used to eat at the homes of my Catholic friends on Fridays.

Here we peruse four centuries of gastronomy including the heavily spiced sauces of medieval times (sometimes employed because of the rankness of the meat), the massive roasts and ragoûts of Sun King Louis XIV’s court and the elegant eighteenth-century chilled desserts. One for the interesting detail, Willan also tells the story of cookbook writing and composition from the 1500s to the early 19th century. She highlights how each of the cookbooks reflects its time, ingredients and place, the  recipes adapted among the cuisines of Germany, England, France, Italy and Spain as well as tracing the history of the recipe.

Historic cookbooks can be so much different than ours, ingredients unfamiliar and instructions rather vague. For example, Willan points out the phrase “cook until” was used due to the difficulty of judging the level of heat when cooking a dish over the burning embers in an open hearth. It wasn’t until the cast-iron closed stoves of the 19th century that recipes writers begin were finally able to give firm estimates for timing.

For food historians and even those just appreciative of a good meal, the book is fascinating. For me as a food writer, I wonder about covering a dinner where birds flew out of towering pastries, seals were served and eels baked into pies and it was often wise to have a taster nearby in case someone was trying to poison you.

The following recipes are from The Cookbook Library.

Duxelles – Mushroom Hash

Duxelles is a classic French preparation of butter-cooked chopped mushrooms flavored with shallots. It is said to have been created by François Pierre de la Varenne. La Varenne’s book, Le Cuisinier Francois (The French cook, 1651), was one of two books  Willan says strongly influenced the evolution of French classical cuisine.  You can use the duxelles to make mushroom tarts, as a stuffing for fish and even put it in spaghetti sauce.

  • 1⁄2 pound mushrooms, rinsed, patted dry
  • 11⁄2 teaspoon butter or vegetable oil
  • 1 small shallot, minced salt and freshly ground pepper

Chop mushrooms in food processor with pulsing motion so they are chopped in fine pieces but are not pureed. In a medium-size skillet heat butter over low heat. Add shallot and sauté about 1⁄2 minute until soft but not brown. Add mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture is dry. Serve hot.

Rich Seed Cake with Caraway And Cinnamon

This recipe is based on a cake in The Compleat Housewife by Eliza Smith, published in London in the 1700s.  Willan, ever the purist, suggests mixing the batter by hand as it was done 300 plus year ago.

“The direct contact with the batter as it develops from a soft cream to a smooth, fluffy batter is an experience not to be missed,” she says. “If you use an electric mixer, the batter is fluffier but the cake emerges from the oven less moist and with a darker crust.”

At times, Willan needs to substitute ingredients. The original recipe listed ambergris as an option for flavoring the cake. “Ambergris,” writes Willan, “a waxy secretion from a sperm whale, was once used to perfume foods. As it is now a rare ingredient, I’ve opted for Mrs. Smith’s second suggestion, of cinnamon, which marries unexpectedly well with caraway.”

  • 1 pound or 3 1⁄2 cups) flour
  • 1 2⁄3 cups sugar
  • 6  tablespoons caraway seeds
  • 5 eggs
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 pound or 2 cups butter, more for the pan
  • 11⁄2 tablespoon rose water or orange-flower water
  • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat the oven to 325ºF. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Sift together the flour and sugar into a medium bowl, and stir in the caraway seeds. Separate the whole eggs, putting all the yolks together and straining the whites into a small bowl to remove the threads.

Cream the butter either by hand or with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the yolks two at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the rose water. Whisk the egg whites just until frothy, then beat them, a little at a time, into the egg yolk mixture. Beat in the cinnamon. Finally, beat in the flour mixture, sprinkling it a little at a time over the batter. This should take at least 15 minutes by hand, 5 minutes with a mixer. The batter will lighten and become fluffier. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake until the cake starts to shrink from the sides of the pan and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean when withdrawn, 1 1⁄4 to 1 1⁄2 hours. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack until tepid, then unmold it and leave it to cool completely on the rack. When carefully wrapped, it keeps well at room temperature for several days and the flavor will mellow.

One Small Garden: Recipes For The Growing Season

Fruit, Seasonal Recipes

One Small Garden: Over 300 Delicious, Nutritious Recipes by Lillian and Dave Brummet is a timely collection of recipes now as more and more fresh produce is coming on to the market. Described as the ultimate guide to using fresh fruit and vegetables from backyard gardens to farmer’s markets, the book is guide to using what’s in season to create wholesome meals, the recipes here use the freshest and purest sources of food available.

“I hope to inspire others to buy fresh local food and to cook it in ways that are even better than going out to a restaurant,” says Dave Brummet of Brummet Media who with his wife has also authored the Trash Talk series about green living and saving money and time through better waste and resource management. “We want to inspire people to spend more time feeding themselves quality, nutritious food instead of the lure of expensive over-packaged convenience foods. In your car, which can be rebuilt with numerous replaceable parts, would you try to run it with dirty kerosene? No, so why do we put junk in our system when we have no hope of replacing those parts we might ruin by doing so. How we eat has an impact on our world – it affects equality, poverty, farming practices, the health of the soil, the purity of the water and air – and of course your own personal well-being.”

The book, loaded with lots of interesting tidbits of historical and nutritional information, is more than just a collection of recipes, it’s also a way of learning how to treat yourself to the healthy, delicious rewards of one small garden.

“The most important thing for me is to have a general feeling that I used the time I was given to create a positive legacy–be it through writing, supporting others, donating, sharing garden harvests, greening our property and making a more eco-friendly home, or daily actions such as dedicated recycling and so on,” says Lillian. “Part of being conscious includes self-sufficiency – not being reliant on aid programs, or living in heavy debt to others, looking after one’s health the best one can, etc. So I try to live proactively in my home life, but also in business – with the idea that what I choose to do now will have a ripple effect on the direction our world takes tomorrow. What I choose to buy now, whether I grow organically, what I choose to write about and blog about all has an impact on tomorrow.”

STRAWBERRY WHEAT GERM MUFFINs

Authors’ note: “Perfect strawberries when in season, frozen strawberries can also be used– just chop, thaw and drain before using. This will yield between 18-22 muffins depending on how large your muffin tins are. I prefer to use muffin cup liners that are compostable, which will help reduce the amount of waste heading to the landfill. Feel free to experiment, I have used reconstituted powder milk, rice milk and almond milk for this recipe with great results. White chocolate chips work well with this combination, however I personally prefer dark, flavonoid-rich chocolate.”

3 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1 cup bran

1 cup wheat germ

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cup white flour

1  1/2 cups chopped strawberries

1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Beat eggs briefly then add sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Add remaining liquid ingredients and then use a wooden spoon to stir in the germ and bran. Allow to rest for 10 minutes while you tidy the kitchen and prep the next step. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together, and when the timer goes off – combine all the ingredients together, including the strawberries and chips.

Preheat oven to 400˚.

Place 22 paper liners in 2 muffin tins and spoon out the batter evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean, and the top has a light golden color. Cool completely before serving.