Sides

Yes, it is that time of year again. Cool (cold!) weather, leaves turning, and you have to start thinking of your Thanksgiving meal. I am cooking this year after eating out in past years. But I do enjoy the leftovers!

I always think the sides are the best, and I do try at least one new thing every year. All the new magazines were hot on Brussels sprouts and since I do like them (as well as the rest of the family) this is my year for a new take on them. My favorite recipe has always been Brussels sprouts with pancetta and balsamic vinegar (I have given this recipe in the past). But I have found two other recipes that are very good and these have no pork in them, so a few less calories.

These roasted Brussels sprouts have fresh thyme and a little cider vinegar, and with the caramelized onions make for a tasty treat.

From “Fine Cooking” magazine, Dec./Jan. 2015

Roasted Brussels sprouts with Caramelized Onions

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cups thinly sliced sweet onions (from 2 large)

1 medium clove garlic, thinly sliced

Kosher salt

1 Tbs. plus ½ tsp. cider vinegar; more as needed

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved or quartered if large

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.

Heat 2 Tbs. of the olive oil in a 5-quart heavy-duty pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic; reduce the heat to medium, and cook without stirring until the onions begin to brown on the bottom, 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle with ½ tsp. salt and stir with a wooden spatula. Continue to cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot frequently and adjusting the heat as necessary, until the onions are very soft and evenly browned, 20-25 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, toss the sprouts with the remaining 2 Tbs. oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet, stirring once or twice, until tender, 20-25 minutes.

Toss the Brussels sprouts with the onions. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Serve at once.

 

Browned-Butter Seared Brussels Sprouts with Cauliflower Cream

Serves 6

1 ½ cups cauliflower florets (from half a medium head)

1 cup heavy cream

5 sprigs fresh thyme

5 oz. (10 Tbs.) unsalted butter

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large lemon

1 ½ to 2 lb. Brussels sprouts, preferably small, trimmed and quartered

¼ cup dry white wine

1 Tbs. capers

Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving

Combine the cauliflower, cream, thyme, 4 Tbs. of the butter, ½ tsp. salt, and a pinch of pepper in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove the thyme, transfer to a blender, and puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Using a sharp paring knife, cut off the ends of the lemon. Stand it on an end and cut away the rest of the peel, including the white pith. Cut each lemon segment free from the membranes, then slice the segments crosswise in half.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the Brussels sprouts until bright green and slightly tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat the remaining 6 Tbs. of butter in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until it starts to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just begin to brown, about  4 minutes. Add the lemon segments, wine, and capers and cook until the sprouts are completely tender, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon the cauliflower cream down the center of the platter and top with the sprouts. Grate some Parmigiano over the sprouts and serve.

Gumbo '14

It is that time of year when tailgating is the thing and people are putting forth their best gumbo. My October issues of ‘Food and Wine’ and ‘Saveur’ were full of gumbo articles so I decided to get in on the action.

Written memories of gumbo go back centuries, but no one knows when exactly it was born. Many theorize its origins might be the bouillabaisse made by early French settlers in Louisiana. And with Africans laboring in New Orleans’ Creole kitchens, it’s easy to see how okra made it into the mix, too. As far as roux goes, blond versions are often used as a base for French sauces and vegetables dishes. Some people surmise, that one fateful day, a cook might have burned his roux, then added it to the pot anyway, satisfying Louisianians’ desire for more intense flavors.

Cajuns, largely French Acadians, who were exiled to the bayou in the early 1700s for refusing to swear loyalty to the British crown were forced to make their gumbos with whatever ingredients they could muster, while Creole versions, prepared in the cosmopolitan kitchens of New Orleans, with their mixture of European and African influences, were more refined.

South Louisiana and especially New Orleans have many good restaurants for gumbo. ‘Saveur’ lists its favorite ones: Bread and Circus Provision in Lafayette, LA, Café Vermilionville in Lafayette, LA, Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, Herbsaint in New Orleans, Jolie’s Louisiana Bistro in Lafayette, LA, La Provence Restaurant in Lacombe, LA, Li’l Dizzy’s Café in New Orleans, and Prejeans’s in Lafayette, LA.

I was taken with the recipe given in ‘Saveur’ by Donald Link for his fried chicken and Andouille gumbo. His recipe used the oil he uses to fry the chicken to make the roux. I gave it a try and it was delicious. It did take a little more time to fry the chicken and he takes a long time to make his roux, but it was worth the effort. I gave some to my son in New Orleans and he thought it was delicious.

From October, 2014 issue of ‘Saveur’ Magazine.

Fried Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

Serves 6-8

1 ¼ cups plus 2 tbsp. canola oil

1 3 ½ -4lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces

2 ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Kosher salt, to taste

2 cups flour

1 ½ tsp. dark chile powder

1 ½ tsp. filé powder

1 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. ground white pepper

1 tsp. paprika

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 stalks celery, minced

1 green bell pepper, minced

1 jalapeño, minced

1 poblano, minced

1 yellow onion, minced

12 cups chicken stock

1 lb. Andouille, halved and sliced

12 oz. okra, trimmed and sliced 1/2'’ thick

Sliced scallions for garnish

Cooked white rice for serving

Heat 1 ¼ cups oil in an 8-quart Dutch oven until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°F. Season chicken with 1 tsp. black pepper and salt; toss with ½ cup of flour. Working in batches, fry chicken until golden; transfer to paper towels to drain.

Add remaining flour to skillet; whisk until smooth. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, whisking until color of roux is dark chocolate, 1-1 ½ hours! Add remaining black pepper, the chile and filé powders, cayenne, white pepper, paprika, garlic, celery, bell pepper, jalapeño, poblano, and onion; cook until soft, 10-12 minutes. Add stock; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cook, stirring occasionally and skimming fat as needed, until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Add reserved chicken; cook until chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Add Andouille; cook until chicken is falling off the bone, about 1 hour.

Using tongs, transfer chicken to a cutting board and let cool slightly; shred, discarding skin and bones, and return to pot. Heat remaining oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high. Cook okra until brown and slightly crisp, 8-10 minutes, then stir into gumbo; cook 15 minutes. Garnish with scallions; serve with rice.

 

 

Taos

You can take the high road or the low road from Santa Fe. Most tourists go one way and come back the other. The low road winds up the Rio Grande where it makes a huge gorge at the elevation of Taos. Not the Grand Canyon but impressive nevertheless. The 1965 bridge is the 5^th highest in the US. One of our party elected not to walk out on the bridge to get the view of the river below.

Taos is home to the Taos Pueblo, a site inhabited for about a thousand years. In 1992 Taos Pueblo was inscribed onto the World Heritage List by UNESCO as: The First Living World Heritage. Few live there now as there is no electricity and running water. But many come back for feast days and several work in the pueblo. We had a native boy giving us the tour of this home of “the People of the Red Willow,” which line the stream where those living there go to get water daily. We had some Indian fry bread. They usually serve it to tourists with powdered sugar but one lady was using it for a bun for her hamburgers. We talked with one lady who was painting pottery. She was very proud of her son who had graduated from Dartmouth in New Hampshire, one of the Ivy League schools established to educate the Native Americans. A granddaughter was thinking of going to Wellesley next year. The tribe speaks their native “Tiwa” and have their own school at the pueblo through eighth grade.

We lodged while in Taos, at the former home of Mabel Dodge Luhan, an eccentric easterner who had come west in the early 1900’s and married one of the local Taos Indians, Tony Luhan. She entertained TH Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, Martha Graham among others. Dennis Hooper owned the house in the late 20^th century. We visited Dennis Hooper’s grave in the Jesus Nazareno Cemetery near the San Francisco de Asis Church where his funeral was held. The church was made famous by a painting by O’Keeffe.  Mabel is buried in the Kit Carson Cemetery (where Kit and his wife are buried) in Taos and Tony Luhan’s grave is at Taos Pueblo. Graves are mostly marked with crosses and highly decorated with ‘stuff.’ We visited Kit Carson’s home in town and an 1804 hacienda. There are no exterior windows or doors in the hacienda for protective purposes, only a portal leading into the courtyard. The Indian pueblos originally did not have doors or windows either, but a hole in the roof and ladders that they could pull up to keep out intruders. There is a lot of art in Taos as well as Santa Fe but the town is smaller and more manageable. We visited all the museums. My favorite was the Millicent Rogers Museum which has a collection of her turquoise and silver jewelry. This style maker, socialite and designer from New York lived in Taos and appeared in photo spreads in ‘Vogue’ and ‘Harper’s Bazaar.’ My husband particularly liked the Taos Art Museum. It was the home of Russian, Nicolai Fechin and is a showcase of not only his paintings but his woodwork. He hand-carved the lintels, staircases, bedsteads, and more, in a combination of Russian Tartar and local styles.

Breakfasts at the Mabel Dodge house were huge and served communally. My husband particularly liked the egg dishes. One special breakfast had spinach with eggs with some herb that I could not define. We had wonderful blueberry corn pancakes, great coffee and fruit. If I return to Taos I would stay longer at the Mabel Dodge House. It is a homey, quirky place. One bathroom has 3 walls of windows and no curtains. Not to worry. DH Lawrence painted designs on all the windows. We also enjoyed a dinner at Doc Martin’s. It is located in the former home of the local MD and has one room known as the delivery where he did in fact deliver babies, in the day. We had a cup of chili for starters. Served with lettuce, tomato and a tortilla on the side, it could have been the meal. But we went on with enchiladas and all the trimmings. Because of a mix-up with the wine we got a free dessert. We boxed it up and had it with coffee back at Mabel’s who always had coffee available.

Upon returning home I found a recipe for Navajo fry bread. This bread is still the traditional bread served at New Mexico fairs, craft show, and Indian powpows. The recipe calls for poking a hole so the bread will rise, but tradition says that poking the hole lets out evil spirits. The bread reminds me of New Orleans’ beignets.

Navajo Fry Bread

Makes 4 servings

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons shortening

2/3 cup lukewarm water

Vegetable oil for frying

Jam, honey, or powdered sugar

In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; cut in shortening until mixture has the appearance of fine crumbs. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Use a fork to toss until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl. Dough should be soft, but not sticky.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth. Form into ball, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a large skillet to 400°F. Tear off a piece of dough about the size of a peach. Pat and stretch until thin and round, about 6-8 inches in diameter.

Poke a hole through the middle and drip into sizzling vegetable oil.

Fry circles, turning once, until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Bread will puff beautifully. Serve with jam, honey, or powdered sugar.

Another type of bread that you will see on menus is called sopapillas. This bread is much like the Navajo fry bread except it uses yeast and sugar which makes it a sweet bread for dessert and is usually served with honey and cinnamon. It also can be made savory and stuffed with meat and beans.

I would recommend a visit to Taos. It is an enchanting place with so much art and history. Museums are abundant and the food is delicious.

The Santa Fe Trail

I should be discussing Thanksgiving menus, but I have just had a sensational trip to New Mexico. I had  never been to northern New Mexico, and our friends in Wilmington suggested we meet there for a week and see the sights. The last week of October turned out to be outstandingly beautiful. Yellow was the operative word---the brilliant yellow of the cottonwoods filled the squares and the stream banks. The aspens also have the same yellow color. The landscape was orange and red and purple and brown but the trees were YELLOW!

We flew into Albuquerque and spent the first night in a 1930’s hacienda which is now a nice hotel and restaurant. It is also a working farm and dairy----farm to table with a spotlight on lavender. Then on to Santa Fe, along the old Santa Fe Trail up the Rio Grande. The Santa Fe style of architecture has been preserved and enhanced. No way to mistake where you are. Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico and has been ever since the Spanish came north in 1610. The modern 20^th century capital building is in the Santa Fe style and is perhaps unique as a public building as all of the walls of the corridors display art—several floors of paintings, sculpture, weaving and some of it is for sale. Santa Fe is the third largest seller of art behind only New York and Paris. Canyon Road is about a half mile long and chock-a-block with galleries. (The guide book says eighty.) We had fine dining at a James Beard award winning restaurant, The Compound, and New Mexican cuisine at the ‘long line to get in’ restaurants, Café Pasqual’s and the Shed. Margaritas come in many versions and my husband found a nice Mexican beer, Negro Modelo. It’s the number one selling dark beer in Mexico and number two in the US.

Another old adobe house for our B&B where we built a fire in our kiva---the ubiquitous corner fireplace found in the Santa Fe style homes. We had hot sunny days and chilly nights.

Besides the art work to be seen in the museums and galleries, the Casas Reales, Palace of the Governors, is a must see. Built in 1610-1612, it’s one of the oldest government buildings in the United States. Governor Lew Wallace penned Ben Hur here in the late 1870’s!

Green chile soup or stew seemed to be on every menu. There are many versions of this pork stew but this one is delicious. We ate it for two days and it was easy to make. It is not too spicy and the pork melts in your mouth.

Taken from the cookbook, New Mexico Cuisine, by Clyde Casey.

Green Chile Pork Stew

Makes 4-6 servings

2 pounds lean pork, cubed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large white onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 4-ounce cans New Mexico green chiles, drained

1 large potato, peeled and diced

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

3-4 cups water

½ teaspoon dried-leaf Mexican oregano

In a large skillet, brown the pork in the oil, over medium heat. Remove pork and place in a kettle or stockpot.

Put onions in skillet, adding more oil if necessary, and sauté until they are soft.

Add garlic and cook for a few additional minutes. Remove onions and garlic and add to stockpot. Pour a little of the water into the skillet, bring to a boil and deglaze.

Pour liquid from skillet over the pork. Add all remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 1-2 hours, or until meat is very tender and starting to fall apart.

 

Parker House Rolls

Americans seem to have a sort of love affair with soft-crusted, lightly-sweetened, rich-dough white bread. This is one of the reasons Parker House Rolls became so popular. And they are good, when they are done right.

For a long stretch of time in early America, there was little flour available to cook with; and what there was had a high price tab, due to the trouble and expense of shipping it over from Europe. Resourceful cooks learned how to handle the most abundant grain, corn, by playing to its strengths and turning it into various quick breads.

Parker House Rolls themselves appeared in the 1870’s, at the posh Parker House Hotel in Boston. They are one of those rare foods whose origins can be traced to a specific time and place. The story of its creation has (of course) been lost to time, but tales generally involve an angry chef grabbing handfuls of made-up rolls, and slamming them into a hot oven. With no more time to make more, he was forced to serve them, and they were a hit.

The unique shape is what sets these rolls apart; they are rounded, or cut of a thick sheet of dough, then flattened in the middle, and folded over to make a sort of clamshell shape. As they rise and bake, they puff and open up a little, making for more surface area to turn into a lovely crust. The dough usually contains milk and butter, and is slightly sweetened. When made correctly, the rolls taste rich and light at the same time, soft and gently chewy, and just plain good.

Parker House Rolls are therefore one of those New England trademark culinary offerings and one that is perfect for this time of year. These rolls would be great with your holiday dinners so I thought you might want to give then a trial run. Whether you are serving roasted turkey, hearty soup, or spaghetti, these rolls would be a wonderful addition to help clean your plate.

‘Food and Wine’ October 2014 had a recipe for Parker House Rolls, but it was not so different from one I found in the cookbook, Joy of Cooking.

Parker House Rolls

Makes 3 dozen (can freeze unbaked rolls)

One ¼-oz. package active dry yeast

½ cup warm water

½ cup sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 cup)

2 cups whole milk, at room temperature

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

7 ½ to 8 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Step 1: Make the Dough

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the yeast with the water and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let stand until foamy, 10 minutes. Beat in the remaining sugar, ¾ cup of the butter and the milk, eggs and kosher salt. At low speed, stir in the 7 ½ cups of flour until the dough comes together; add more flour by the tablespoons if necessary. Mix at medium speed until the dough forms a loose ball around the hook, 3 minutes. Brush a large bowl with some of the melted butter. Transfer the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, 1 ½ hours.

Step 2: Form the Rolls

Preheat the oven to 375° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a 9-by-16 inch rectangle. Using a floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise into 3 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 12 small strips. Working with 1 piece at a time, fold it unevenly so the top half overlaps the bottom half. Tuck the overhang under and place the roll seam side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, forming 2 rows of 9 rolls on each baking sheet. Each roll should just touch its neighbors, but leave about 4 inches between the rows.

Step 3: Bake the Rolls

Bake the rolls for about 18 minutes until browned; rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Immediately brush the rolls with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt. Transfer the rolls to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes before serving. To reheat, toast in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes.

The fully formed unbaked rolls can be frozen for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen.