Recipe: Walnut Cheese Crackers

This recipe was in the latest issue of Bon Appetit, as opposed to the last issue of Gourmet. Sorry, still bitter. I thought they sounded delicious and have a friend who is a cracker fiends, so I made them for her birthday instead of cupcakes! Birthday crackers. I think were delicious and I'll definitely make them again.

Recipe: Walnut Cheese Crackers
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
12 ounces finely grated Swiss cheese (preferably Gruyere)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour
1 cups chopped walnuts

In a big yellow bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the cheese and salt, beat until combined. Add the flour and walnuts, continue to beat on a low speed until the dough comes together. Add cold water by the teaspoon if it's dry. Divide the dough in half and shape into two, 14-inch rectangular logs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least four hours. Alternatively, you can wrap in wax paper, then foil and freeze.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper of Silpat. Cut the logs into 1/4-inch slices, arrangea bout 1/2 inch apart. Bake until a deep golden brown, for about 20 minutes. Then let cool completely.

You can always bake one log and freeze the other to bake for later. It should keep frozen for at least two months.

Recipe: Dama Bianca

For Halloween, we had friends over for an Italian dinner. Yes, there is no connection, but it was a fun evening to entertain and we had a great time. Of course, I love deciding what china to use and put the table together. The idea was kind of fall, but not in an obvious sort of way. And the menu was also inspired by fall, with cheesy, hearty items to match the cooler weather.

To start:
Gnocchi alla Romana (Roman gnocchi is made from semolina, not potatoes, which is cooked in milk then blended with eggs, butter and cheese. After it thickens, it's cut into circles, then baked in the oven with a little more cheese and butter.)
Unstuffed artichokes
Grissini, olives and pickled okra (I have about two cases of pickled okra in the closet, so it is served regardless of the cuisine.)

First course:
Dama Bianca (This white lady is a simple salad made with thinly sliced fennel, celery, fresh mozzarella and a delicious citrus vinaigrette. Recipe below.)

Main course:
Potato gnocchi gratin
Roasted butternut squash with balsamic reduction
Tuscan beans and onions with skillet roasted cherry tomatoes and basil

Dessert:
Chocolate cake with frozen gianduia mousse
Coffee

David sent me four sets of these super cute copper-colored mushroom salt and peppers from West Elm, so I used them for the first time and placed a set between every other place setting.

Recipe: Dama Bianca
This is a great salad for fall, with crunch and a light flavor. Everyone loved it at dinner--perhaps their favorite thing that I served. It's simple and can be done ahead of time.

For the salad:
2 medium fennel bulbs, stalks discarded
6 pale inner (white) celery stalks, leaves discarded and stalks thinly sliced
8 ounces fresh mozzarella (optional), roughly torn

For the dressing:
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest (preferably from an unwaxed organic lemon)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons good-quality fruity extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
White pepper to taste

Discard the stalks from the fennel and slice the bulb in half. To me, it important to cut the tiny triangular heart at the base of the bulb. Some people don't, but I think it's usually a little tough. and easily removed. Then, use a mandoline and slice into thin pieces. Combine with the celery and mozzarella in a large bowl or platter. You can make the salad to this point and refrigerate for several hours.

For the dressing, whisk together zest, juice, sea salt and white pepper to taste. Slowly add the olive oil and whisk until it's emulsified. Drizzle over salad, toss to combine and serve.

Mangez!

Recipe: Curried Cauliflower Soup

It has been a rainy and dreary day today, and even though I had soup for lunch (lovely potato and mushroom at the Restaurant That Shall Not Be Named, more on that later), I thought soup sounded like the perfect dinner. So, I made a pot of tea and go to work on one of my favorite, curried cauliflower!

Recipe: Curried Cauliflower Soup
1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/4 pounds), cut into florets (about 6 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 crushed red pepper (optional)
4 cups water
1 16-oz can of Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt. Roast for about 25 minutes in the over until they begin to brown, tossing once or twice.

Meanwhile, heat the other tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions. Cook until the onion they begins to soften, about five minutes. Add the garlic, curry powder and crushed red pepper and stir continuously for 2-3 minutes, until the spices are fragrant. Add the cauliflower and four cups of water, simmer for 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon or spider, remove about half of the cauliflower from the pot. Add 1/3 cup of the beans and then puree in the pot using an immersion blender. (Alternatively, you can remove about half of the cauliflower and add to a blender with one cup of the broth and 1/3 cup of beans and blend until smooth.) Return the remaining cauliflower to the pot, add the remaining beans and two cups of broth. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Makes about four serving.

Mangez!

Pickling Beets

When I was growing up, my dad had a very nice garden in our backyard. He also helped my Mam-ma and Pap-pa with their garden at the house where he had grown up, about a mile and a half from our house. They had a much bigger space and it seems like between the two growing spaces, we had every vegetable you could want: beans, okra, asparagus, squash, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, melon, and so on and so on. Every year, some of these would be put up and we would vegetable to eat during the winter. And my favorite of the pickly variety? The beets.

I'm not sure if it was childhood memory or not, but pickled beets from the store just cannot compare to the thoughts in my head about the ones my dad would make. But, he hasn't put up any beets in who knows how long, so the flavor in my head has remained a mystery and a memory. Until this year.

I guess my brother and I were persistent enough in lamenting the state of pickled beets in US supermarkets because this year, Sam (dad) put in a little patch of beets in his garden. As it so happened, when I was in Tulsa in August I got to assist in the beet pickling process. And now I understand why he doesn't do it anymore! Time consuming and tiring.

Sam says that he would pickle beets every other year because it was such a long process. And his trick was/is to pull all of the beets at once and just get the thing done, not doing a small batch here and there. He also told me he would make special jars for his grandmother (and very good grandson, this one) with little, baby beets all stacked perfectly in the jar and she would give him perhaps the highest compliment from an Oklahoma farm girl, "those are pretty enough to go to the county fair." Or something to that affect.

So, here is a photographic how-to on pickling beets. I'd be happy to share the recipe with you on one condition: if you pickle beets, I get a jar. A large jar!

The first step is pulling all of beets. Dad was out and in the garden before I could even finish my coffee, so I didn't pull any beets. But, we ended up with a wheelbarrow overflowing with a giant mound of beets.

Then, all of the greens have to be trimmed (compost pile) and the root end trimmed as well. The giant wheelbarrow was transformed to two little buckets.

After they are trimmed, the beets are boiled. This cooks them and also makes it possible to remove their skins. As you can see, we did all of this outside because it is incredibly messy. Otherwise, my mother would have a blood red kitchen! After they were cooked, we tossed the hot beets into a cooler filled with ice and water. Then began to peel and trim, peel and trim, peel and trim. It took forever! I don't have a photograph of that part of process because my hands were covered in plastic gloves covered in beet juice.

After they are all trimmed, the beets are sorted to size, with the larger ones cut down. A delicious brine made with sugar, spices and vinegar is poured over them.

After that, they are sealed and are processed in a hot water bath.

From a giant wheelbarrow of beets to seven quarts. Yes folks, that is what you get from a wheelbarrow full of beets and six hours of hard labor! Seven jars of dark red deliciousness. I got to keep three of the jars which had to sit for a while before they could be opened. Finally, after all of that work and all of the waiting (years of waiting!) I opened a jar of beets and served them to friends at dinner the other night. Are they better than store bought? You betcha. More spice, less sugar and all about the beets. When I finish the jar, I'm going to make pink pickled eggs! Just wait.

Stuff and Things

I haven't posted for a while and I have quite a few 'this and that, stuff and things' sort of info to share with you that are food related in some bizarre ways, so here goes:

I was in Minnesota for a conference and had several wonderful food encounters, including this fantastic painting by Severin Roesen at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He is one of my favorite painters and I'm not sure why. I'm not a big fan of still lifes, but there is something about the way he depicts all of the fruits and vegetation. And I love the way he hides his signature in the tendrils of grape leaves. Amazing.

They also had this fantastic coffee service on display. I desperately wanted it! I love the long spout, almost like a watering can, so you wouldn't even have to reach to refill your guests cup.

And this china from Sèvres is my new favorite. I'll take service for twelve. The original, hand-painted set had almost 400 pieces in it. And those are scattered in museums and private collection around the world. The object at the back of the arrangement is for serving ice cream and everyone knows how much I love a food-specific serving piece.

Here I am at the sculpture park by the Walker Art Center, with Spoon Bridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in the background. I love their work and while this isn't my favorite sculpture they have ever done, it's is quite brilliant and has become an icon for the city. On the other side of the park, you get a great view of downtown.

I didn't just look at food art and antique serving pieces, I also had some good things to eat in Minneapolis/St. Paul, including this green coconut curry with mock duck at a little Thai place that was just down the street from my hotel. It was just spicy enough and made me very happy! You should definitely try Ruam Mit Thai if you are in St. Paul.

I had one of the best breakfasts ever at the Downtowner Woodfire Grill which is also right by the hotel. This is a breakfast place, per se, but a very nice restaurant that also serves a very excellent breakfast. I had the veggie version of Moe's Cajun Breakfast which was sauteed onion, pepper and mushrooms topped with hash browns topped with cheese topped with an egg over easy topped with their special Hollandaise sauce. This is a HALF order. Honestly. It was so good.

Back to Terre Haute, we had a lot of fun with Shane and Melissa who were visiting from Kentucky so she could help out with a program the Swope was holding. It also happened to be Shane's birthday, so we picked up a guitar-shaped, Elvis-bedecked container of popcorn from Big Lots. It's also a coin bank once you eat all of the popcorn! No joke.

Jonah made Shane a birthday cake: carrot with cream cheese frosting. We went with a big group to Mogger's for dinner and a few drinks, which was a lot of fun.

Of course, seasonal change means it's time to change up the bar and make it ready for fall. I had the worst time trying to decide to what to use, but eventually decided on the pheasant ice bucket, the Georges Briard glasses with gold leaves, a mix of cocktail glasses and some other gold accents.

And fall also means it's time to tea, so I made the first pot on Tuesday after I caught a chill.

Last night we went to Jimmy and Ellie's for dinner and to watch Top Chef. Jimmy made two bowls of Asian deliciousness, including giant rice balls that were super yummy--and spicy!

Great, now you're all caught up.

Recipe: Honey Gelato

Well, the weather in Indiana has turned cool and chilly, and my desserts thoughts have turned to warm and homey. Still, there was room for one for batch of frozen deliciousness before the snow starts to fall, so I created a honey gelato to accompany a Lebanese meal with friends last Sunday. The idea was baklava deconstructed: flaky, crispy cookies; slightly salty pistachios; and of course the honey gelato.

Recipe: Honey Gelato
3 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup honey (use your favorite)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups of the milk with the honey and whisk over medium heat until combined. Continue to heat and stir until the milk begins to steam and boil. In the meantime, whisk together the other 1/2 cup of milk with the cornstarch and salt. Once the milk has begun to boil, add the cornstarch mixture and continue to heat and stir until the mixture thickens--to the consistency of Remove from heat and strain, let cool and the chill until very cold. Process according to directions in your ice cream freezer.

To make a baklava sundae, combine three small scoops of the ice cream in a dish, add two crispy cookies such as Royal Dansk Luxury Wafers (vanilla) and top with chopped, salted pistachios.

Recipe: Lemon Goat Cheese Spread

Recipe: Lemon Goat Cheese Spread
I based this recipe on one I found on-line and served it as part of our Mediterranean dinner in Holland, MI plus at a Swope event the following weekend. It was a hit at both. It's delicious on thinly sliced French bread, but it would be equally good with some special crackers.

8 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 tsp lemon juice
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 garlic clove, minced
9 teaspoons olive oil
White pepper

Place goat cheese and butter in small yellow bowl, mix with spoon until it begins to combine. Add the lemon juice to the cheese mixture and continue to mix until it is combined, smooth and creamy. Mix thyme, lemon peel and garlic in another small yellow bowl; season with white pepper. Mix half of thyme mixture into goat cheese. Add olive oil to remaining half of thyme mixture. Form cheese into 2, 2 1/2-inch round; flatten slightly. Place in center of plate. Spoon oil-thyme mixture over top of cheese. I used the extra thyme to make the cute little bird's nests around the spread. Garnish with a couple of lemon slices also, if you wish.