Disco boots are optional in my kitchen

I expect to see mousses and similar whipped foamy recipes to feature shortly.  What’s not to like?

Spiced Carrot Soup

The New York Times Dinner for Eight, by Denise Landis

This light soup, known in India as gaajar (carrot) shorba (soup), is an appetite stimulant.  Simply presented and gently spiced without being hot, it is a fine introduction to the remainder of the meal.  It can be made ahead (through step 3), and reheated to serve.

5 medium carrots, trimmed, peeled, and cut into chunks

1 two inch piece of cinnamon stick

3 green or white cardamom pods, lightly crushed

5 cloves

1/3 tsp. crushed black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

12 cups (2.5 quarts) stock or broth

1/3 tsp. cayenne pepper

Salt

Whole fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

1.       Place the carrots in a food processor and process until they are chopped small; set aside.  In a double or triple layer of cheesecloth or a large mesh tea ball, combine the cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaves.  Tie or fasten securely so the spices are contained and will not fall out; set aside.

2.       In a large saucepan or stockpot, combine the stock, carrots, cayenne, and spice mixture.  Place over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Boil until the liquid is reduced by half.  Remove from heat and allow it to cool.

3.       Discard the spice mixture.  Place a fine meshed strainer over a large bowl.  Transfer one third of the soup to a blender, puree until smooth and then pour it into the strainer.  Repeat with the remaining soup until all is pureed and strained.  Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate.

4.       To serve, heat in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently reheat until steaming and season with salt to taste.  Ladle into bowls and garnish each bowl with a few cilantro leaves.

Spare Ribs with Modified Raichlen Basic Rub

It becomes necessary to make charcuterie a few times a year.  It is always more fun when you involve your friends in the process, whether making or eating.  (My life this year has been much busier than I had originally thought when I signed up for Charcutepalooza, so I haven’t had much time to blog about it.  So, alas, I must put a whole lot of meat processing into a single day.  Maybe I’ll be able to spread this out into a few posts.)  Today is going to be filled with making sausages, so I’ve done some prep to start with, before the friends show up.

Of course, we need to have a tasty lunch, so I’ve rubbed two racks of spare ribs with a modified version of Steven Raichlen’s Basic Barbecue Rub, from his book How To Grill.  I plan to smoke these outdoors while we’re doing the sausages.  I’ll use some firewood and hardwood chips for smoking, likely apple or hickory.

Pork Bellies and Maple Syrup... soon to be BACON!

I’ve also mixed up some bacon cure from Charcuterie, by Ruhlman and Polcyn, and added maple syrup from Maine (Bob’s Sugarhouse, in Dover-Foxcroft), my home state.  With some overhauling during the week, this will be ready by next weekend, barring major disasters.  I plan on using this bacon as holiday gifts, so let me know if you want to be on the drive-by gifting list!

But now I need to go finish some prep before the pals get here, so may the pork be with you!

Close to the photo in Around My French Table

It’s become obvious to me why Dorie Greenspan has so many devotees.  She’s a great writer, cook, and baker, and she believes that more detail is better in recipe directions, rather than brevity.  She’s up front when something takes a lot of time, as this one does, but with a little planning, it’s not difficult.  This makes her recipes easy to follow, complete, and reassuring to bakers who may or may not have a lot of experience.  It’s why her books are treasured tomes.  Having purchased both Around My French Table and Baking From My Home To Yours, I’m a devotee now, too.  It doesn’t take long to understand why Tuesdays with Dorie and French Fridays with Dorie are such enthusiastic blog projects.  I’ve had these two books on the coffee table for a few weeks, and it’s been fun to peruse them while lying on the couch relaxing.

As with the Silver Spoon ricotta cake, this is a cake made with cheese that isn’t like New York style cheesecake.  It’s light, and tangy, and not very sweet.  It has a tart dough crust, and the filling is made light by separating the eggs, and folding the egg whites into the yolk and goat cheese mixture, before pouring it into the tart shell and baking it.

I made this as a first dessert course for a dinner party recently, and served it with a hot lemon sauce and strawberries, though it would also be delicious in a more savory setting, I think.  Do yourself a favor and get Around My French Table, and make this cake.  You’ll be very glad you did.

Not your typical cheesecake.

This is a recipe I love because it’s easy, delicious, and not a typical cheesecake.  It’s light, and is lovely with any kind of fruit or lemon sauce, or just plain.  I’ve substituted orange zest for lemon zest with similarly delicious results.

I got the recipe from The Silver Spoon, an Italian cookbook that some have called Italy’s Joy of Cooking.  I like the cookbook, but I hate the fact that they rarely give sizes for pans, which can make baking a bit more challenging.  However, I’ve done enough experimentation that I can do this easily now and get consistent results.

Easy peasy to mix, boring in the pan

Equipment

• 9-inch springform pan
• cooking spray
• stand mixer or large mixing bowl and whisk
• dry measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• liquid measuring cup
• fine grater
• silicon or rubber spatula

Ingredients

• 2.25 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 4 eggs
• scant 0.5 cup soft brown sugar
• 2 cups ricotta cheese (whole-milk ricotta is best)
• grated rind (zest) of 1 lemon
• 5 Tablespoons olive oil
• 0.75 cups milk
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder

Process

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease and flour the springform pan using the cooking spray and a little flour.  Tap out any excess.
3. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
4. Whisk together the eggs and sugar in the mixing bowl until pale and fluffy.
5. Stir in the ricotta, lemon zest, oil, and milk.
6. Add the flour and baking powder mixture, and mix well.
7. Pour into the prepared pan, scraping down the bowl with the rubber spatula.
8. Bake for about 50-55 minutes, until golden brown.  Let cool on a wire rack, then turn out onto a plate.

I’m using the Duck Confit with Clove recipe from Charcuterie, by Ruhlman and Polcyn.  I think this recipe will complement the pancetta and sausages I’ve made already that will make out our “kit”, which will be equivalent to two of the D’Artagnan kits, due to the size of the group for this dinner.

12 Duck legs, from Au Bon Canard, via People's Food Co-op

As is often the case, the hardest part was procuring the duck, but I luckily found 12 lovely duck legs at People’s Food Co-op in La Crosse, WI, and I snatched them up.  This saved me a trip to Caledonia, MN to get them at the Au Bon Canard farm.  I’d have preferred to get them at the farm, but with storms in the forecast and a packed holiday schedule, I took the easy way out.  Aren’t these lovely duck legs?

The first step in the process is pretty simple- give the duck legs a salt and herb/spice cure.  Here are the ingredients for the cure:

Kosher Salt (Morton's), in this case 6 tablespoons

Large garlic cloves

Bay leaves

Whole Cloves and Peppercorns

So, the basic mise-en-place prep for this is to slice the garlic cloves, roughly bash the cloves and peppercorns, and count out enough bay leaves so that each leg gets at least half of one.  As you see here (Click on the photo below if you’d like to see a larger version):

Prepped and ready for the duck

And now, we prep the duck, which is in non-reactive containers:

Duck legs, salted on both sides

More salty duck legs

Then, I sprinkled the pepper and clove mixture over the duck, added the sliced garlic to the meat side, and topped the legs off with the bay leaf.  Here’s what it looked like (click on picture below for larger view):

Cure prep complete, ready for the fridge

After this, I covered the pans with plastic wrap, and put the duck in the fridge for at least 7 or 8 hours, at which time the cooking part will start.  Stay tuned!

Le Polpette di Melanzane, close up

The following recipe is from Mark Leslie’s book, Beyond the Pasta, Recipes, Language & Life with an Italian Family.   This is a recipe you want to make when you have plenty of time to do the work ahead, and it is worth it for a dinner party, or for favorite eggplant aficionados.

Chopped and salted eggplant

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Mark when he was in town as part of a book promotion dinner with The Book Shelf and The Blue Heron Coffeehouse, and chatting with him about cooking, and chatting in Italian.  The links above will do a better job than I can describing the book, and Mark, who’s an entertaining storyteller, and an excellent stage manager.

The eggplant, soaking, under a plate to keep it submerged. (Not required by Mark)

Una polpetta (singular of le polpette), is the Italian term for meatball.  In this case, the “meatballs”  have no meat, as they are made of eggplant (melanzane).  It’s a great recipe to make for appetizers, or to put with pasta.  When we had them with Mark, they were served with a simple tomato sauce.

The eggplant, after cooking, weighting, draining and cooling

Soaked, squeezed and torn bread

Rolled and Ready for Frying

Polpette di Melanzane

Yield : about 32 polpette, 6 to 8 servings

Equipment

• large pot (6 quarts, minimum)
• chef’s knife
• paring knife
• cutting board
• measuring spoons
• small bowl
• large bowl
• frying pan or Dutch oven
• tongs or slotted spoon or skimmer
• Microplane or other fine cheese grater
• large spoon or spatula
• colander
• plate

Ingredients

• 3.5 to 4 lbs. eggplant (perhaps 3 large)
• 2 Tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 slices Italian bread (1/2 inch slices of a Tuscan boule, or similar bread)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmiggiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup plain dried bread crumbs, plus a little more, if needed
• Sunflower oil, or your favorite frying oil

Process

1. Peel the eggplants, slice them into 1/2 inch rounds, and then 1/2 inch cubes.  Put the eggplant into the large 6-quart pot.  Sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons of salt, and stir, so that the salt coats all the eggplant pieces.  Pour in enough water to cover the eggplant by two inches.  Let the eggplant soak in the water for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  (I covered the eggplant with a plate to keep it submerged, as mine kept floating up.)
2. After the eggplant has soaked for an hour, (remove the plate, if you did as I did) place the pot over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil.  Boil the eggplant until it is thoroughly cooked, at least 10 minutes.
3. Drain the eggplant into a colander, and squeeze out the excess water by placing a plate on top of the eggplant cubes and weigh it down with a can of tomatoes, or a heavy pot.  The idea is to get as much water out of the eggplant as possible.  Let the eggplant drain until it is cool.  (This may take a while)
4. While the eggplant is cooling, put the bread slices in a bowl and cover them with water.  Weigh the bread down with a saucer to keep it submerged.  Let it soak this way for 5 to 10 minutes.   Squeeze the water out of the bread slices with your hands.  Tear the bread slices into small pieces into a large bowl.
5. Add the cooled eggplant to the large bowl and bread pieces, along with the grated cheese, garlic, parsley, eggs, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Mix well. If the mixture is too soft to form into balls, add a little bit of dried bread crumbs, and mix.
6. Form the eggplant mixture into 1 inch balls, and roll each ball (polpetta)  in the bread crumbs, to coat.
7. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large heavy skillet or Dutch Oven, over medium heat.  In batches,  brown the polpette on all sides, about 4 to 6 minutes.  Place on paper towels to drain.   While still warm, sprinkle with salt to taste, and serve.

The Cake, made with Kim Crawford Unoaked Chardonnay

I’ve found that people respond very well to cake, in general, and to a good moist yellow cake in particular.  The cake pictured above was made for a Chardonnay tasting event DH and I went to recently at the home of good friends.

As you can see, I often take a “low to the ground” approach, common in Italian cooking, where I get the excellent ingredients to the plate with as little artifice as possible.  Luckily, my extended local food loving “family” is not offended by the rusticity of my presentations.

Thanks to Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins of The New Basics, and to Michael Ruhlman of Ratio, I can present to you my favorite yellow cake, and a delicious chocolate ganache to top it with.  This cake can be mixed in less time than it takes my oven to preheat, and can usually be prepared entirely with staples in my pantry.  The recipe is easy to adapt for different flavor profiles, and is limited only by your imagination or energy level when decorating/topping/filling.  In the photo above, the filling is fresh raspberries that were macerated in sugar, then the liquid released from the berries was reduced to a syrup and recombined with the berries.

I have made this cake countless times, and I have taught this recipe to others, who have gone on to many social successes merely by bringing some version of this cake.  A version of this cake recipe was served at my wedding to DH.

Great Yellow Cake

Yield: two nine-inch round layers

Equipment

• 2 9-inch round cake pans
• parchment paper or wax paper
• scissors
• pencil
• electric mixer
• large mixing bowl
• dry measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• liquid measuring cup
• knife or bench scraper for leveling
• silicon or rubber scraper/spatula/spoonula
• cooling racks
• pot holders

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs (large)
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup canola or other vegetable oil
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Process

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the bottoms of the two nine-inch round cake pans with parchment paper or wax paper, and then grease and flour the lined pans.
2. Beat the sugar and eggs together with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on medium speed.  Add the oil, wine, vanilla, salt, baking powder, flour; beat for one minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl at the end to be sure all ingredients are incorporated.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.  Place the pans on the middle rack of the oven, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  The cake will pull away from the side of the pans.
4. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks, removing the paper liner.  Turn the cakes right side up and let them cool for at least 2 hours.
5. Add filling between the layers and ice, or cover with ganache (recipe below), for a layer cake, or garnish with a fruit or sauce for single layers.

One of my favorite ways to assemble this cake is with homemade jam between the layers of the cake, and then pouring warm chocolate ganache over the top of the cake.  Orange marmalade and raspberry are two excellent choices, though I’m sure there are more.

Basic Ganache (Chocolate Sauce)

Yield:  Makes two cups

Equipment

• mixing bowl
• whisk
• small saucepan
• Pyrex liquid measuring cup (preferably 2 cup size)
• rolling pin or hammer or meat tenderizer, or if you’re a purist, chef’s knife and cutting board
• rubber/silicon spatula

Ingredients

• 8 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate (that’s 2 Ghirardelli bars)
• 8 ounces cream (whipping, heavy, whatever you call it)  (1 cup)

Process

1. Get the chocolate into small pieces, either by chopping, or, by my preferred method- bashing the bars with a hammer or rolling pin while they are still wrapped up. Put the chocolate pieces in a mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Heat the cream to a simmer.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the mixing bowl.  Wait 5 minutes or so for the chocolate to soften.
3. Whisk cream and chocolate together  until they are completely combined.
4. If you’re using this to top the cake, pour the ganache into the Pyrex measuring cup, and then pour it over your filled cake.  You’ll have a little more ganache than you need to cover the cake, but this isn’t really a problem, is it?

Now that my duck breasts had cured in salt for more than 24 hours, it was time for the next step.  As you can see, it’s just like after being at the beach- they’ve been rinsed of salt and dried, and they have a deeper color.

Step 5: Rinse And Dry Duck

I then got my mise en place, which includes the Third Ingredient, White Pepper (after Duck Breast and Kosher Salt).  I took out my butcher twine and some cheese cloth, and the trusty shears.

The Third Ingredient, and the Wrapping Stuff

Step Six: Pepper the Duck

I sprinkled the duck breasts on both sides with the ground white pepper.  This adds a nice fruity smell, some bright pepper flavor, and deters insects during the drying process, which will last for the rest of the 8 days.

Step Seven: Wrap in Cheesecloth, Tie With String

As you can see, I wrapped the peppered duck breasts in cheesecloth, and tied them up with butcher string with extended loops, so I have something to hang them from.   Step Eight was to hang them on a h0ok in the basement, which is about 65 degrees, with about 70 percent humidity, or a little higher since we’ve had lots of rain this week.

I’m planning to serve this, sliced very thin, with pieces of melon as a canape at our big party next week.  We’ll see!

Homemade Mortadella- Not Bad for a First Try

In case you did not know, the meat product we call bologna (sometimes pronounced baloney) in the United States is really based on Mortadella, which is an emulsified sausage (or forcemeat) that is indigenous to the city of Bologna (pronounced boh-loh-nya), in the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy.  I used Ruhlman & Polcyn’s recipe for mortadella, which includes pistachios with the classic chunks of creamy white fat, but often the pistachios are omitted in commercial versions.

This was my first try making an emulsified sausage (hot dogs are another example of an emulsified sausage), and it was a bit more challenging than the other 0nes I have made.  Now that I’ve gotten the grinding procedures down, getting the stuff ready for the emulsification was pretty easy.  I mixed the emulsion in the food processor, and it all came together pretty well.  Then came the hard part for me.  I made a large sausage shape by wrapping the forcemeat in plastic wrap, and then poached the sausage in 160 – 180 degrees F water on top of the stove, using a plate to keep the sausage submerged.

The hardest part of poaching is keeping the temperature within this range, and getting the sausage to cook evenly.  The pot I used for poaching tended to cook the bottom a little faster than the top.  This was frustrating, since my temp readings for one side would be about 100 degrees F, while my temp readings for the other side up would be 50 degrees F.  This is likely due to the shallowness of my poaching pot, since I did this on a burner.  I’m wondering if I would have better luck bringing the water to temp, then poaching this in a 180 degree oven, or if I just should use a deeper pot?

I think I was so freaked out about the warnings of cooking this too hot and having the emulsion break that I went too far the other way- instead of taking 12-15 minutes to cook, this took about an hour, and multiple checks of temperature, which meant more holes in the plastic wrap.

As it turns out, I had a good texture, and got a great first time result.  And none of my tasters were disappointed.  (Maybe my tasters are too nice?)  I should have more confidence at this stage of the game, I guess.  I’ve ordered some beef bungs and collagen casings, so hopefully my next attempt will be better packed, and more consistently shaped.