Austin to Boston Food Blogger Swap

I'm writing this having just finished packing a box of local treats for a fellow food blogger in Austin, Texas. This is my first time participating in the Austin to Boston Food Blogger Swap. Putting the package together was like shopping for Christmas.

My swap partner, Rachel, writes at the wonderful blog and then make soup. She seems to have similar food tastes and blogging approach to me: A lot of home cooking with a good sprinkle of the other joys of life. I find that encouraging, because her blog is successful in a way that I aspire to. She has lots of participation in the form of comments. People are engaged with her blog, deservedly.

We both send our packages last Thursday. She sent her package by USPS. I got it on Saturday. (I wrote about the contents here.) I sent my package by FedEx ground. It just arrived today.

Here's the note I sent with the package:

October 11, 2012

Dear Rachel,

I hope you have as much fun with this package as I had putting it together. I had to deal with a few tough questions when putting this together.  First, I had to decide how to go over the top without going over my $30 budget. Since shipping costs don’t count, I thought about being outrageous by shipping ice cream.

Bostonians apparently are the nation’s biggest consumers of ice cream, and we have an amazing collection of premium ice cream shops. We have one of the best shops, Rancatore’s, in our town. My daughter worked there all through high school. Since you mentioned how much you missed our local sweet corn, I was considering asking the owner to make a batch of sweet corn ice cream. Unfortunately, you convinced me that it wouldn’t even survive FedEx. I’m disappointed I couldn’t pull that off.

To meet my budget I decided to include a larger variety of sample sizes rather than larger versions of fewer things. In addition, I sent some ingredients and recipes, which will give you more variety of local flavors. I also included some homemade ingredients that I think might be highlights of the box.

My next tough question was figuring out what I would consider local. One great option was to send you maple syrup. You really need to try grade B maple syrup. That’s what the Vermonters keep for themselves. That would have made “local” mean New England. I also thought about including products from New York since that’s where my daughters live. That would have made “local” mean the northeast. Ultimately I decided to stick to Massachusetts.

The last tough question was how to make a centerpiece for the package. With all the sample sized items, I needed to have an item that would stand out as the “main” gift. And, I had to do that without spending too much on one item so there wasn’t enough budget to fill out the rest of the box. I was fortunate to find a great cooking item at an unbelievable price courtesy of a local discount kitchen supply shop, China Fair.

What follows is a list of what I’m sending and why. I hope you like everything.

Boston Baked Bean Pot – This is your main gift, and at under $5, an amazing bargain. This will let you make the dish that has “local” in its name. I’ve included our recipe at the end.

Navy Beans – You’ll need these for the baked beans.

Ocean Spray Cranberries – Cranberry bogs are a prominent feature on the road to Cape Cod. The Ocean Spray factory is in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Although, you can make an excellent cranberry sauce by opening a can and shaking it out onto a plate. Really, I love that stuff. You can also make an excellent sauce by cooking the fresh berries like apple sauce in a sauce pan with a little water and sugar. I’ve also included that recipe. Try it on vanilla ice cream.

Sourdough Starter – This is the ultimate in local. It comes from our own homemade starter created with local Lexington lactobacillus. I sent you half our starter. That will make sense soon. The starter is packed in a screw-top plastic container for shipping. You’ll need to feed it soon to get it going.  Unpack the glass Mason jar I’ve included. Pour the starter into the Mason jar. Add a cup of flour and a cup of warm water. Mix it with the handle of a wooden spoon. Finally, cover the jar with the elastic food cover to keep out dust, but allow gas to escape. Put the jar in the fridge. Each time you use it, you’ll take out about half the starter, and feed it with more flour and water. I’ve included some recipes at the end.

Bay Leaves – You should have found these in the Mason jar. They are from a plant in our garden. I know you have a full spice garden, but I took a chance you didn’t have bay leaves.

Homemade Madagascar Vanilla Extract – This is another homemade ingredient. I make it by the gallon using Madagascar vanilla beans and vodka. After a few months, we have an extra special vanilla extract.

Cain’s Mayonnaise – This mayonnaise is made in Ayer, Massachusetts and can only be found in the New England area. It is the correct mayonnaise for the perfect lobster roll.

Sliced Hot Dog Rolls – These are the kinds of hot dog rolls you need to make a proper lobster roll. I’m sorry I couldn’t send you lobster, but I suspect you can get lobster in your own local market if you want. These rolls are also great for hot dogs.

Taza Chocolates – I’ve included two disks of Taza chocolate. These are made in Somerville, Massachusetts. One disk is plain chocolate. The other is ginger flavored. I’ve included recipe cards for both hot chocolate and iced hot chocolate, but they are just as good to eat right out of the package. Last year, this chocolate was in almost every swap package sent from Boston. I didn’t want you to be the only person not to get some this year. Gail and I picked these up at the factory store.

Pepperidge Farms Lexington Cookies – This is more of a tribute to the town we live in. They aren’t made in Massachusetts, but they are a good cookie.

Fig Newtons – These are named after the city of Newton, Massachusetts where your sister lives. They are now made by Nabisco, but were originally mass produced in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Okay, the last two stretch “local.”

Lark Shortbread Trio Cookies – Finally, these cookies are made in Essex, Massachusetts. They are unexpectedly delicious. Burnt sugar and espresso chip seem like delicious flavors, but the salted rosemary stand out with an unusual flavor that happens to be a wonderful adult treat.

Cranberry Hot Pepper Jelly – This treat was the perfect combination of weirdness, local flavor and deliciousness. Cranberries provide the local flavor and this jelly is from our own Lexington farm stand, Wilson Farms. It goes great on a cracker with cheese or just on its own.

Necco Wafers – These candies are made at the New England Confection Company. When we were in college in Cambridge, Massachusetts we could smell these being made in the nearby factory. A water tower on top of one of the buildings was painted like a stack of Necco Wafers. The factory has since moved to Revere, Massachusetts. Now, we use these wafers as the roof shingles on our ginger bread house. The broken ones end up in my mouth.

Well, that’s it. I’ll be interested in hearing how your beans turn out. And, I’m hoping you love the sourdough starter enough to share it with someone else.

Very best regards,

Ken

 

Boston Baked Beans

If multiplying this recipe, make sure the bean pot is big enough for dry beans to double in volume.

Makes: 6 c

Hands-on prep time: 25 min

    5 min night before

    10 min mixing

    additional 10 min over 6-hr baking time

Start-to-finish time: 21 hr

1 lb (about 3 c) dried navy or pea beans

1 c dark molasses

1 t maple syrup

1 T dry mustard

1 t salt

½ t finely chopped garlic

¼ c light brown sugar

Boiling water

Liquid smoke

½ lb chopped bacon (optional)

1 ½ qt bean pot or covered casserole

1. Cover beans with cold water; bring to a boil; cover; let stand overnight.
2. Next morning, drain; rinse and drain once more.
3. Transfer beans into 6-qt pot; cover with 2 qt cold water.
4. Bring to boil; reduce heat; cover; simmer 30 min; drain thoroughly.
5. Preheat oven to 300 F; bring water to boil; mix remaining ingredients, except water, in a large bowl.
6. Mix beans with molasses mixture. Transfer mixture to bean pot; add just enough boiling water to cover bean mixture, about 1 c.
7. Place in oven over baking sheet to avoid spills. Bake, covered, 6 hr. Stir every hr, adding more boiling water, a few T at a time, if mixture is dry.

 

Cranberry Sauce

Couldn’t be easier!

Serves: 10 (makes: 2 ½ c)

Hands-on prep time: 15 min

Start-to-finish time: 4 hr

1 c sugar

1 c water

3 c fresh cranberries (about 12 oz)

½ t fresh citrus zest (optional)

1. Dissolve sugar in water in med saucepan; bring to full boil.
2. Meanwhile, rinse cranberries very well; pick over.
3. Add cranberries to boiling sugar water; return to boil. Berries will start to pop. Reduce to simmer; cook 10 min, stirring occasionally.
4. Optionally, stir in fresh citrus zest before cooling.
5. Transfer to serving bowl; cool completely at room temperature; refrigerate until set, several hr. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

 

Sourdough Pancakes

Recipe adapted from: Cowboyshowcase.com

A good use for the pour-off from sourdough starter. Mix in 2 ½ - 4 c measuring cup for easy pouring onto griddle.

Serves/makes: 9 4” pancakes

Hands-on prep time: 1 hr

Start-to-finish time: 15 min

3 T oil for griddle

1 c sourdough starter, room temp

2 T sugar

3 T veg oil

1 egg

¾ c flour

1 t baking soda

½ t salt

Up to ½ c water

Butter & syrup for the table

2 ½ - 4 c measuring cup with pour spout

1. Bring starter to room temp and soften butter if necessary. Warm syrup; oil and preheat griddle to 375 F.
2. Mix sourdough starter and sugar in the measuring cup; add oil, egg, and flour, stirring well after each addition.
3. Combine soda, salt and water, add to batter. Add additional water, 1 T at a time, to desired consistency.
4. Thin with milk (sour is fine) instead of water.
5. Pour onto griddle; cook until bubbles form on surface; flip; cook another 1-2 min.
6. Serve with butter and warm syrup.

Sourdough Bread 

It’s best to get comfortable with the look and feel of basic bread dough before attempting sourdough, since the varying flour-liquid balance of the starter makes ingredient amounts only approximate.

Makes: 1 loaf

Hands-on prep time: 1 hr

Start-to-finish time: 2 days

Sponge:

Equal parts (at least 1 c ea) sourdough starter, warm water, flour

Dough:

2 c sponge

4 t sugar

2 t salt

Up to 3 ½ c flour

1 t gluten per c flour

Lg measuring cup

Glass bowl

1. Two days before baking, make sponge: if starter has separated, mix hooch and flour paste back together. Measure starter; pour all into bowl. Measure equal part warm water in measuring cup; pour into starter jar; swirl to pick up remaining starter from jar; pour into bowl. Stir in equal part flour to form sponge, which should be the consistency of pancake batter. Some lumps are OK --- yeast will smooth it out.
2. Proof sponge in warm place, uncovered, until bubbly and sour-smelling, several hr to overnight. Meanwhile, wash and sterilize starter jar.
3. Day before baking, mix dough: pour 2 c sponge into mixing bowl with dough hook; return remainder to sterilized jar for next time.
4. Mix sugar and salt into sponge. Add 2 c flour and 2 t gluten; mix 5 min, then add ½ c flour and ½ t gluten at a time, mixing 5 min between additions, until dough pulls away from sides of mixing bowl. Knead a few min by hand if necessary. Since flours and sponges vary considerably in moisture content, always trust eyes and hands more than recipe amounts.
5. Place dough in baking pan; set to rise in warm place until doubled in volume. Sourdough has already done a lot of fermenting and doesn’t need to rise twice. Even so, most sourdoughs take much longer to rise than regular bread; we always start our dough the day before we plan to bake and serve it. In warm (70 F +) weather, set bread to rise no more than 12 hr before baking, or punch down again right before bed and bake in morning.
6. On baking day, preheat oven to 350 F, bake 30-45 min, until crust starting to brown. Cool a few min but best served warm.

Variations:

If short of time, add 2 t yeast to dough with sugar and salt. Do not add yeast to starter to be returned to jar! We found, quite by accident, that this yeast-added bread is excellent for slicing and sandwiches.

 

Sourdough Starter

Recipe from: epicurious.com

Extra vitamin C enhances the yeast.

Makes: 1 qt

Hands-on prep time: 5 min

Start-to-finish time: 24 hr - 3 weeks

1 2/3 c bread flour

1 t rapid-rise yeast

1 t sugar

½ 500-mg vitamin C pill (not chewable), crushed

2 c warm (105-115 F) spring water

Sterilized 2-qt sealable container

1. Combine dry ingredients in med bowl.
2. Place water in container; whisk in dry ingredients; combine thoroughly. Starter may be slightly lumpy.
3. Cover container with lid slightly ajar; let stand in warm draft-free area 24 hr. Starter will separate into a brown liquid (“hooch”) at the top and pasty flour mixture at the bottom. If starter doesn’t separate, it may not be getting enough air; loosen lid.
4. Starter is useable at this point, but develops more flavor by adding 1 c ea warm water and bread flour; letting stand until foamy, about 2 hr, then refrigerating at least 3 weeks, stirring every few days.

To use in recipe: substitute ½ c starter, 5 oz liquid and, optionally, ½ t rapid-rise yeast for dry yeast and every c of liquid.

For every c of starter taken from container, add 1 c ea of warm water and bread flour; let stand until foamy; return to refrigerator.

Use extra starter for pancakes and waffles, batters for fried foods, etc.

Fish Tacos

We made fish tacos tonight from a recipe Gail adapted from allrecipes.com. This was the first beer batter we've made that called for egg. It was puffy, light and crunchy, adhering well to the fish. I also liked how it didn't over-darken before the fish was cooked.

The white sauce worked really well on the tacos. It was a Tex-Mex tartar sauce. We slathered on so much that it ran all over us. Even at that, we had way too much so the recipe below adjusts the proportions down. I think it will make a nice salad dressing, so too much wouldn't be a bad thing.

Fish Tacos
Serves 2

White Sauce
2 T plain yogurt
2 T mayonnaise
¼ lime, juiced
¼ jalapeno pepper
¼ t capers
⅛ t dried oregano
⅛ t ground cumin
⅛ t dill (we left this out because Gail doesn't like it)
¼ t ground cayenne

Beer-battered Fish
2 c vegetable oil
½ lb haddock or cod fillets, skinned and boned
½ c flour
½ c fresh cold beer
¼ t salt, divided
2 t cornstarch
½ t baking powder
½ egg (1 egg per cup of beer)
Freshly ground black pepper
Deep-fat thermometer

½ c finely chopped cabbage (or lettuce)
4 corn tortillas

1. Heat oil to 375 F (about med-high setting on our stove). Meanwhile remove skin and bones from fish, if necessary, and cut into 1” strips. Sift ¾ of flour into bowl; gently whisk in beer until combined. Stir in ¼ of salt.
2. Mix yogurt, mayo and lime juice. Mince and stir in jalapeno and capers. Add capers and spices; set aside.
3. Chop cabbage; set aside.
4. Pat fish dry; sprinkle with pepper and remaining salt; dredge in remaining flour. Coat fish pieces in batter; let excess batter drip off before dropping into oil. Fry 4 pieces at a time, turning frequently, until deep golden and cooked through, 4-5 min.
5. Transfer cooked fish to paper-towel-lined baking sheet, keep warm in oven while frying remaining fish.
6. Return oil to 375 F between batches; repeat for remaining pieces of fish.
7. Lightly fry tortillas in same oil as fish. To serve, place fried fish in tortilla, top with shredded cabbage and white sauce.

New Year's Eve Feast from Christmas Leftovers

We had so much food left over from Christmas that the refrigerator was making I'm-going-to-die noises. And yet, Gail and I enjoy making a New Year's Eve dinner. Gail suggested a challenge of nice dishes made from the leftovers. The result was spectacular.

First Course: Pumpkin Soup with Chevre and Goose Cracklins
We started by dressing up the pumpkin soup Gail made for when our daughters came home from school. Pumpkin soup is homey and works for Noele's vegetarian diet. This particular soup used winter squash rather than pumpkin and was mashed rather than pureed.  Gail also used more stock rather than milk, since our daughter Anna doesn't do so well with milk.

To dress it up, we took the skin from a goose we cooked for friends and made cracklins. Cracklins are simple with goose skin because it's so fatty. We cut little pieces and cooked them in a hot pan just like bacon, until crispy, about five minutes. The cracklins and a dollop of soft goat cheese blended perfectly with the soup for a perfect starter. Since Noele joined us for the soup, her portion had crisped up sweet potatoes made from Anna's leftover sweet potato fries.

Gail's Pumpkin Soup

Serves: 1 (1 ½ c)

1 t oil

¼ c sliced onion

2 T sliced celery

2/3 c vegetable stock

1 c peeled chopped pumpkin flesh (or other winter squash)

1/16 t salt

¼ c 1% milk (optional)

1 t dark brown sugar

Freshly ground black pepper

1/16 t nutmeg

1. Remove string and chop celery. Melt butter in heavy soup pot; chop onion while butter heats.

2. Sauté onion and celery until tender.

3. Add stock, pumpkin and salt, simmer until pumpkin is tender, about 15 min.

4. Cool enough to put in food processor; puree.

5. Return to soup pot. Add milk, sugar, pepper and nutmeg.

6. Reheat slowly, being careful that soup does not boil.

Second Course: Nova Scotia Hot Lobster in Portabello Mushroom Caps
I'm a bit surprised, but we had just a little bit of Nova Scotia Hot Lobster left over from Christmas dinner. We also had a package of baby porabello mushroom caps that didn't get used in Noele's risotto. We put the lobster in the mushroom caps and simply baked them. The result was a stuffed mushroom that would have made a star appetizer at any party.

In the background of the picture, you can see the split of Veuve Clicquot that we popped for New Year's Eve. That reminded us of our trip to Reims over the summer when we visited that Champagne cellar.



Third Course: Mashed Potato Pancakes
Leftover mashed potatoes became potato pancakes based on this recipe from cooks.com.  They were a bit too thin to be formed, but dropped into the pan just fine. We left out the green peppers.

This recipe would work well as the base for a seafood cake of any kind by adding drained crab, oysters, or even leftover fish.

Fourth Course: Mushroom Risotto Arancini
Noele's risotto is a big hit at every holiday meal. She made a lot more this year, since we usually run out. But we had leftovers this time. Gail found this recipe for arancini from allrecipes.com. Arancini are deep fried risotto balls. Yes, deep frying risotto is as delicious as it sounds.

We modified the recipe to use the leftover risotto and goat cheese we had on hand. We guessed at two cups of risotto for each dry cup of rice, but the result was slightly too thin to work with. We would have done better with three cups of cooked risotto to one egg.




Fifth Course: Pressed Goose with Potatoes and Black Lava Salt
For our last savory course, we made a casserole from leftover goose and potatoes. The potatoes were originally baked with the goose. We made a layer of potato on the bottom of a generously greased ramekin, and topped that by pressing in about a half cup of leftover chopped goose meat. We topped that with a decoration of potato slices. We were pleasantly surprised by the star decoration the potato made on top of the dish. Before baking, we added a pat of butter and some black lava salt. The salt was a Christmas gift from Noele, and added a little something special to the dish.

We ate the whole meal over about three hours, and this final meat dish added the right savory weight to sate us.

Sixth Course: Chocolate Mousse
For dessert, we made a simple dish of chocolate mouse. The mousse was leftover from a chocolate mousse crepes we had with a Hanukkah dinner earlier in the week. For this dessert, we piped the mouse into a wine goblet and topped it with whipped cream. I had a cherry on mine, mostly to decorate it for the picture. I doesn't seem to have helped much.

This particular mousse came from a recipe on cooks.com. The recipe simply adds instant chocolate pudding to fresh whipped cream. When we first made it, we only had half the required heavy cream. That worked fine for the first day. But after sitting in the fridge for a few days, the instant pudding firmed up a bit too much. It wasn't bad, but it would have been better with either more cream, or a lighter cream in the mix.

Epilogue: Rib Roast Open Faced Sandwich with Peppers
Tonight we made one more leftover meal. We took the last bits of the beautifully dry aged Christmas rib roast and sauteed it to render the remaining fat. We served the meat over toast topped with a milk gravy we made from the drippings, and added a sprinkle of the black lava salt. Gail sauteed some leftover peppers and added them to the side for a light but hearty supper. Cooking the meat this way refreshed it much better than a quick trip through the microwave would have.

Mimi's Christmas Eve Chicken and Noodles

We call my grandmother Mimi.  When I was young, Mimi made chicken and noodles every Christmas Eve. We had a large group of people, and it fed us all economically. Why else would you put noodles on mashed potatoes?

Now, Gail makes them for us every Christmas Eve. That morning, I come down stairs to the smell of Christmas, a mixture of stewing chicken and baking cookies. We share the chicken and noodles at Gail's mom's Christmas Eve party. By the way, she wanted a good grandmother name, too. We call her Gumma.

Mimi's Christmas Eve Chicken and Noodles
Serves 6
3¼ to 3½ lb whole fryer (not a stewing hen or oven-stuffer roaster, which are tough when stewed and make a less flavorful broth)
3¾ cu (9 oz package) of fresh pasta uncooked
6 small all-purpose potatoes for mashing (Russet or Yukon Gold, about 4 oz each)
3 t Salt divided
About 2 qt water
2 Peppercorns
6 T Butter
6 T Milk
6 T Flour
Extra chicken stock on-hand if needed

1. Remove giblets from bird. Rinse inside and out; drain.
2. Place bird, 1 t salt and peppercorns in large stockpot. Add water, until bird covered.
3. Bring to boil. Reduce heat just enough so pot doesn’t boil over; skim foam as it forms.
4. Cook, uncovered, until meat falls off bone and carcass collapses (about 2 hr).
5. When chicken falls apart, place large colander into even larger heat-tolerant bowl. Spoon solids into colander, then pour stock through colander to strain.
6. Let colander finish dripping, then place over soup pot and re-strain stock into pot. Let colander finish dripping again; set aside into bowl. Pull chicken apart to allow steam to escape and speed cooling.
7. Return stock to boil. Cut pasta into bite-sized pieces; add to stock with another 1 t salt; cook according to package or recipe directions.
8. When pasta is tender, double strain as before. Set noodles aside.
9. When chicken is cool enough to handle, pick meat off chicken bones, tearing into bite-sized pieces.
10. No earlier than 1 hr before serving, peel and cut potatoes.
11. Return stock to boil. Add potatoes, remaining salt, and water as needed to cover; boil, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 15-20 min.
12. When potatoes are tender, double strain as before.
13. While potatoes are draining, heat cream and butter. Transfer potatoes to mixer bowl, add heated cream and butter. Whip until fluffy; cover and set aside.
14. Measure stock. If less than 3 c, add extra to make 3 c.
15. To thicken stock, use 2 T flour for each c liquid. Transfer 1 c stock to blender or food processor, add flour 1 T at a time, pureeing with each addition. Add more stock from the pot, as necessary, to form smooth, thin paste.
16. Add flour paste to pot, stirring constantly to combine and prevent lumps. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, 5 min.
17. Stir in meat and noodles, heat through. Re-heat mashed potatoes if necessary.
18. Serve chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes.

This dish says Christmas to me like no other.

Christmas Martini

Made this Christmas martini tonight with our feast of seven fishes. Once again, bitters made this pop!

Christmas Martini

• Rim glass with sugar and crushed candy canes
• A splash of sweet vermouth
• A shake of Vietnamese cinnamon
• A dash of angostura bitters
• A gurgle of vodka from the freezer
• Garnish with chunks of candy cane and a cinnamon stick

Gail's Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup
A meal in a bowl!
Serves: 1 (about 3 c)

2 T dried split peas
2 c vegetable stock
¼ c dry elbow macaroni
½ T olive oil
¼ c chopped onion
¼ c chopped carrot
¼ c chopped celery
¼ c chopped zucchini
¼ c chopped tomato
4 oz fresh spinach
1/8 t minced garlic
1/16 t salt
1/16 t oregano
1/32 t basil
1/32 t thyme
1 bay leaf (per pot, not per serving)
1 whole clove (per pot, not per serving)
¼ c canned kidney beans
Freshly ground black peppe
Fresh Parmesan cheese, or a leftover rind

1. Rinse peas; bring to boil in stock; reduce heat to simmer; cover; cook 30 min.
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. When done, remove pasta with slotted spoon, reserving cooking water.
3. While peas and pasta cook, heat oil in heavy skillet over low heat.
4. Chop onion roughly same size as macaroni and beans; add to skillet. Repeat with carrot, celery, zucchini, tomato, spinach and garlic, stirring often, until vegetables soften.
5. Meanwhile, add spices to stock pot.
6. Stir sautéed vegetables into stock pot; cook, covered, until peas start to disintegrate, another 15 min. Meanwhile, rinse beans twice.
7. Add beans and macaroni; heat through, adding pasta liquid to desired consistency. If using a cheese rind, toss it in.
8. Season with freshly ground black pepper before serving; serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

Variations:

• Substitute lentils or any dried beans for peas. Dried beans may need to soak overnight before rinsing twice, then boiling.
• Substitute ½ c cooked macaroni for dry.
• Substitute ¼ c cooked spinach for raw.
• Substitute cabbage, escarole or other greens for spinach. Really any vegetable substitutions are fine.
• Substitute white (cannellini) beans for kidney beans.
• Substitute winter vegetables (root vegetables, squash) for summer ones (celery, tomato, zucchini).

Cuban Sandwiches with Smoked Pork and Sourdough

Yesterday I smoked a 5 pound pork shoulder. After 10 hours of smoking, we still couldn't pull it, but it made nice tender and smoky slices. We also had a loaf of sourdough bread, so we decided to make this riff on a Cuban sandwich.

Smoked Pork and Sourdough Cuban Sandwiches

2 slices of sourdough bread

A few thin slices of smoked pork

2 slices of provolone cheese

A slice of ham

3 dill pickle slices

Mustard

Butter

1. Butter what will be the outside of the sandwich.
2. Add mustard to the inside to taste.
3. Layer smoked pork, cheese, pickles and ham.
4. Cook in a panini press. (Okay, we're not pretentious.  We used the George Foreman grill.)
5. This is important: cut sandwiches in half. Grilled sandwiches must be cut. Nobody knows why.

Gail said she would like it better with a little less smoked pork and a little more ham.

Making Souffles is Easy

Souffles are one of the most dramatic dishes you can make. Popular culture has convinced us that it is one of the most difficult dishes you can make: A door slam might ruin your carefully concocted dish. Don't you believe it. We were reminded about souffles after having them at Capsouto Freres with our daughters. We told them how easy souffles are, and wanted to share this pamphlet with them so they could make souffles too.

Many years ago, we went to The Big E with friends. We got the attached pamphlet about souffle making from the American Egg Board. (Used here with appreciation but not permission.) That's when we discovered just how easy it is to make a souffle. Actually, it's hard to mess them up.

The only real trick is making sure that the base is thick enough. When mixing it up, first make sure the flour and butter mixture (a roux) is bubbling. After adding the milk, make sure the roux thickens the milk fully. The rest is mostly fool-proof. It's hard to over mix the eggs. You won't mess it up if you get a little yolk in the whites. Folding the two parts doesn't have to be done carefully.

This morning, Gail and I had a cheese and garden broccoli souffle, and were reminded how delicious they are. Chocolate is next.

Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake from A Passion for Baking

Dorthea came over last night for our Nova Scotia Hot Lobster. She brought a delicious apple pastry she made from this recipe. It's from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman. More pie than cake, this is a deep apple pastry held together with a vanilla custard. I love an apple custard pie. This recipe takes that to the extreme, and adds a stunning presentation. Thank you Dorthea.

Rougemont Apple Pastry Cake
A Passion for Baking
Marcy Goldman

Crust
2 c flour
1 T sugar
½ t salt
¾ c unsalted butter, cut in chunks
4-6 T ice water or half-and-half

Filling
10-12 large apples, peeled, cored, and cut in ¼-inch slices
¼ c sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 t cinnamon
½ c raisins, plumped
1 T lemon juice

Vanilla Custard
½ c unsalted butter, melted
1 c sugar
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
2 T flour
1 t cinnamon

1. Brush bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan with butter and place on a baking sheet.
2. Mix pastry ingredients in a food processing, adding water until the dough forms. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
3. While chilling dough, cut apples and mix with filling ingredients.
4. Roll dough and fit in springform all the way up the sides.
5. Preheat oven to 350°.
6. Arrange apples to fill pastry, neatly arranging the final layer.
7. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
8. While baking, mix the custard.
9. Uncover and continue baking for 40-55 minutes until apples are soft and brown.
10. Pour the custard over the hot apples and bake another 20 minutes.
11. Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate at least 6 hours.

Nova Scotia Hot Lobster

Here's a dish that makes something good into something great. What's better than lobster? Lobster sauteed in butter with a cream sauce over toast. The cream sauce coats your mouth in the richest lobster flavor you can imagine. Don't skip the toast. It's how you get all the cream sauce.

Nova Scotia Hot Lobster
(one serving)
1 live 1¼ lb lobster
1 T butter
1½ t flour
¼ c light cream
Artisan bread

1. Boil lobster minimally until just red, about 5 minutes.
2. Cool and pick meat from shell.
3. 30 minutes before serving, saute in butter over low heat until butter turns red, up to 20 minutes.
4. While lobster sautes in pan, slice toast into thick slices, set aside. Thoroughly combine flour and cream, removing all lumps.
5. 5 minutes before serving, toast bread; pour flour mixture into pan, stirring constantly while sauce thickens. Season to taste. Serve immediately over toast.

2AM Chili Recipe from Tyler Capps via Pete.com

Gail stumbled upon this recipe for 2AM Chili from pete.com. If you are old at heart, don't click the link. The rest of you may find this recipe a helpful cooking lesson, if not at least funny. Anna, you'll like this one.

A little more research: This comic originally comes from Tyler Capps and is on his site Cooking Comically. He has earned the credit. Noele, check out The Bananarama.

Fried Pattypan Muffins

A few days ago, Gail made delicious pattypan muffins. Pattypans are a round yellow squash, so think zucchini muffins with a different squash. This kind of muffins are best on the first day, but dry out in the middle while getting oily on this outside as they age.

Patience is called for though, because those are the prefect conditions for fried muffins. Gail cut them in half and fried them in a little butter. There is no better breakfast treat. They were better than the original muffins, which is no small accomplishment. Sorry, they are all gone now.

Salsa for Noele's Going Away Party

2cu Tomatoes
1 Hot pepper
1/2cu Kohlrabi
1/2 Sweet onion
1 Red bell pepper

1t Salt
1t Pepper
1T Cumin
1T Lime juice
2T Olive oil

Roast the pepper and onion on the grill.  Chop all the veggies into small pieces.  Mix it all together.  Don't fret the details.  Simple.

The spice mix worked really well with the sweetness of the roasted onion.  The kohlrabi gave it a nice crunch and worked well with the lime.