A Silver Celebration at Stella!

(Unfortunately, Stella is no longer open.)

Beyond breathing, loving my family, and believing in God, I haven’t done many things for twenty-five years.  So the celebration of twenty-five years of marriage was very important. 

And in honor of the occasion, my husband and I had a splendid meal at Stella! in New Orleans.  While the exclamation point is part of the restaurant’s name, I think it’s well-placed and well-deserved.

Before booking the reservation, I had checked out the restaurant’s web site and found they offered only a 4-course prix fixe or a 7-course tasting menu.  But that didn’t deter me because the selections sounded inventive and intriguing.

I’ll admit to some second-guessing after I noted that some diners had made some negative comments on-line  about the restaurant’s lack of an affordable wine list, small portions, high prices, and snobby service.  

But after our quite remarkable meal, I can say the positives far outweighed the negatives.  Yes, the prices, particularly for the wines, were high, but the portions were more than adequate, and we found the wait staff friendly and knowledgeable for the most part. 

We chose the four-course prix fixe and opted for the wine pairings to eliminate any guesswork or bad selections—we are not wine connoisseurs.  One or our waiters was a sommelier, but although he knew a lot about the wines, he might have commented more about why and how the wines worked well with our dishes. 

Beyond that small quibble, this was a fantastic meal, one we’ll remember for a long time. 

Pre-Dinner

We were seated immediately and were struck by the quiet, understated elegance of the restaurant.  The restaurant was busy, but not at all crowded—it was the weekend after Thanksgiving.  One of our two waiters took our cocktail order, offered us a choice of water types, and a serving of bread.  

Soon after our glasses of champagne arrived, we were presented with an amuse-bouche of a bite-sized serving of salmon tartar with a foam (I was so dazzled by the visual presentation, I didn’t listen closely to the description.)

1st Course

I ordered the “Deviled Egg, North Star Caviar & Champagne Gelée.”  I admit to loving caviar, not that I have it often, but I especially like “little” eggs, and these were perfect.  The saltiness of the caviar was perfectly matched by the “big” egg—the deviled egg.

I’m not a real liver fan, but the foie gras in my husband’s “Foie Gras Torchon, Satsuma Compote, Pickled Persimmon, Pistachio, Brown Butter & Cacao Nibs” was so creamy!  All of the components of his dish were in little “piles” which allowed him (us) to make our own flavor combinations.

2nd Course

I admit I would have liked just a little more of my “Gnocchi with Duck Prosciutto, Chanterelle Mushrooms & Burgundy Truffle,” but if I had eaten more I would not have made it to the end of the meal.  Each of the elements was wonderfully chewy and just lightly bathed in a creamy sauce. 

I didn’t get to try much of my husband's “Crispy Veal Sweetbreads with Andouille, Whole Grain Mustard, Hubbard Squash Purée & Duck Egg” because he’s very territorial about his sweetbreads.  The egg was a puzzle, but a delicious one.  It appeared to be in a deep-fried crust, and when it was pierced with the fork a yolky sauce flowed out.  When the waiter tried to explain the cooking process, he lost me at “liquid nitrogen.”  Maybe some culinary secrets are best kept secret.

3rd Course

I admit when I chose the “Prime Beef Tenderloin, Bone Marrow, Charcoal Roasted Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, Oyster Mushrooms & Pomme Dauphine,” I was a little nervous about the marrow part.  The last time I ate bone marrow, it entailed a long-handled spoon, and I only ate it because I was in Paris eating with French relatives who were paying for the meal.  

But here the marrow appeared mixed into a crumbly topping on my perfectly cooked medium-rare piece of tenderloin and also in a demi-glace sort of reduction that glazed the bottom of the dish.  Plus I think I fell in love with Brussels sprouts!

My husband is such a duck lover that I knew he would choose “Tasting of Duck 5 Ways.”  He was in duck heaven with the Asian flavors of the duck broth, sliced breast, lacquered leg, foie gras-stuffed wanton, and a Peking duck-style pancake. 

4th Course

To be honest, I decided on my dessert choice at the beginning of the meal:  “Olive Oil & Thyme Cake, Cured Lemon Saffron Ice Cream, Candied Ginger and Olive Oil Jam.”  It turned out to be an excellent decision.  The ice cream was tangy, and the cake had a rustic texture.  But what had captured my imagination in reading the description on the menu also captured my taste buds’ attention—the olive oil jam.  It glazed the top of the cake, and tasted just like, well, olive oil jam—with just a hint of sweetness.  Wow!

Surprisingly, my husband chose the “Selection of Artisanal Cheese.”  He enjoyed it, but although I’m a Wisconsin girl, I’m not a cheese lover.

But wait—there’s more!

I’m not sure if this was something offered to all guests or if it was in honor of our anniversary, which I had noted on the reservation, but at the end of the meal, we were presented with a dessert “sampler” which included two small chocolate-ginger truffles, two tiny macaroons, two miniature cream puffs, and two each of a couple of other bites.  

What a sweet ending to a stellar meal at Stella!  Here's to another twenty-five years!

There's an App(le) for That!

I think for many of us apples are THE autumn fruit:  candied apples, bobbing for apples (did anyone really every do that?), apple pie next to pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. 

But apples hold a special place in my heart for another reason.

My father, a chiropractor, tried to raise us in a sugar-free household.  There was NEVER soda in the house and candy only entered at Halloween, Christmas, and Easter, I think at my mother’s insistence.  She also worked other “end-arounds” with occasional homemade pies (my dad did love apple pie with cheddar cheese), cookies and, the big Friday night treat, homemade milkshakes.

But most of the time, the sweet tooths (sweet teeth?) of my four siblings and I had to make due with graham crackers and . . . “apple candy.”

Apple candy was our name for my mother’s labor of love.  She would peel, core and slice at least ten apples for our bedtime snack.  To this day, although I love apples, I wish someone would present them to me on a plate as “apple candy.”

This meal presents apples in most, but not all, of the dishes and was a great way to introduce some of my favorite people to each other.  Thanks to Trish, Charlie, Lynn and Bill—and my Bill who prepared the pork and served as my extraordinary sous chef when I was “wounded” in the line of duty.  (Don’t sharpen your knives mid-prep!)

Menu

Mulled Apple Cider Cocktail

Crostini with Roasted Garlic, Goat Cheese & Apple Chutney

Red Cabbage, Apple and Caraway Soup

Apple Salad

Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples and Onions

Potatoes Gratinée

Green Beans with Bacon

French Apple Tart

Apple Pie-Infused Bourbon

Mulled Apple Cider Cocktail

As anyone who knows me knows, I love champagne.  In fact, for brunch I usually order a “virgin” Mimosa meaning hold the orange juice.  But I do like sparkling wines with a concentrated flavoring.  A few tablespoons of thawed cranberry juice cocktail in a glass of champagne is a favorite of mine.  This recipe called for chopped and seasoned apples in it, but the idea of trying hard NOT to swallow little pieces of apple while  sipping a cocktail didn’t apPEAL to me. 

Source:  adapted from Food Network Magazine, October 2012

Yield:  4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 quart apple cider

3 cinnamon sticks

Knob of "bruised" fresh ginger

3 whole cloves

Pinch nutmeg

1 bottle dry Cava or other dry sparkling wine

Process:

In a medium pot, over medium heat, add the cider, cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Stir to blend. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Reduce by half and taste for seasoning. Set aside to cool. In a large bowl add the apples, lemon juice and sugar. When ready to serve the cocktails, pour the cider into champagne flutes (about halfway) and top with the Cava. Stir and serve.

Crostini with Roasted Garlic, Goat Cheese & Apple Chutney

I found the inspiration for this appetizer in the title of a recipe I found  in Bon Appetit (October 1999).  However, I adapted it and used a different chutney recipe.  I presented the garlic, goat cheese and chutney in matching individual serving dishes on a platter surrounded by the crostini. 

Yield:  6-8 servings

Crostini

Ingredients:

2 baguettes (skinny)

Olive oil

Process:

Preheat oven to 350°.  Slice the baguettes diagonally.  Place bread slices on a large cookie sheet.  Brush each slice with olive oil.  Bake until slightly crispy but still soft to the touch, about 15 minutes.  If not serving immediately, store in airtight container at room temperature for several days.

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

4 heads of  garlic

Olive oil

Process:

Preheat oven to 375°.  Peel off the outer papery layer of each head of garlic.  Cut the top ¼ to 1/4 –inch of each head, exposing the top of each clove of garlic.  Trim individual cloves as necessary.  Place the garlic bulbs cut side up in a baking dish.   Drizzle olive oil on each head and “massage” into the sides of the heads.  Cover the baking dish with foil and bake about 45 minutes or until all the cloves are tender.  When cool enough to the touch, squeeze each clove out of its skin into a container.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

2 4-oz. packages goat cheese

Process:

Bring the cheese to room temperature and “mash” with a fork in the serving dish.  (I heated the cheese up a bit in the microwave.)

Apple Chutney

This is so good, I just wish I had taken time to imagine a whole bunch of other uses for it.  I’m sure it would be great with pork for a starter.  It looked like applesauce but packed such a great hit of “heat.” 

Source:  Ina Garten, 2012

Yield: makes about 3 cups

Ingredients:

6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and half-inch diced

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)

3/4 cup good cider vinegar

1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon whole dried mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 cup raisins (I omitted because I detest raisins)

Process:

Combine the apples, onion, ginger, orange juice, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, pepper flakes and salt and in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to simmer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Take off the heat and add the raisins.

Set aside to cool and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Red Cabbage, Apple and Caraway Soup

The flavor of this was so reminiscent of my mother-in-law’s red cabbage (See Ruth's Red Cabbage).  I actually made it the day before and reheated it—yum!

Source:  Bon Appétit, October 2000

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced

4 cups chopped red cabbage (about 12 ounces)

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

3 14.5-oz.cans beef broth

2 cups dry red wine

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

Sour cream (I used purchased crème fraiche)

Chopped fresh parsley (I used chopped chives instead) 

Process:

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add apples and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Add cabbage and sauté until beginning to soften, about 6 minutes. Add caraway seeds and stir 1 minute. Add broth, wine, vinegar and honey. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer until cabbage is very tender, about 30 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Refrigerate. Rewarm soup over medium heat before continuing.)

Ladle soup into bowls. Top each bowl with dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Apple Salad

Source: original recipe

Yield:  6 servings

Ingredients:

Baby greens

1 bunch green onions, green parts only sliced in ¼-inch horizontal

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 English cucumber, peeled, cored, halved and sliced

Spicer Pecans 

Fresh, cracked pepper

Apple Vinaigrette

Process:

Divide greens on 6 plates.  Sprinkle the greens with equal amounts of the onions, apples, cucumbers and a handful of pecans on each plate.  Sprinkle with cracked pepper.  Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

Apple Vinaigrette

Source:  original recipe

Yield:  about 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 T. stone-ground mustard

2 T. apple cider vinegar

4 T. frozen apple juice, thawed

2 tsp. minced ginger root

½ c. vegetable oil

Process:

Whisk together the mustard, vinegar, apple juice and ginger root.  Slowly whisk in the vegetable oil. 

Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples and Onions

Source:  Bon Appétit, February 2004

Yield:  4 servings (I doubled this, and it turned out well.)

Ingredients:

1 large pork tenderloin (about 14 ounces)

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1 large onion, sliced

2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/2 cup dry white wine or apple cider

Process:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Season pork with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and sear until all sides are brown, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer pork to plate. Cool slightly. Spread mustard over top and sides of pork; press fennel seeds into mustard. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Add onion slices and apples; sauté over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Spread evenly in skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place pork atop apple-onion mixture.

Transfer skillet to oven and roast until apple-onion mixture is soft and brown and meat thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150°F, about 15 minutes. Transfer pork to platter and tent with foil. Let stand 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour white wine over apple-onion mixture in skillet. Stir mixture over high heat until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Cut pork on diagonal into ½-inch-thick slices. Spoon apple-onion mixture onto plates. Top with pork and serve.

Potatoes Gratinée

No apples in this dish—fear of overkill!

Source:  Kay Ewing Cooking School Cookbook

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

4 baking potatoes, peeled & sliced, about 2 lbs.

Salt and pepper.

1 c. milk

1 c. heavy cream

1 c. shredded Swiss cheese

Process:

Preheat oven to 375°.  Grease a medium-sized baking dish.  Layer potatoes, slightly overlapping, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  In a small saucepan over medium heat or in the microwave, bring milk and cream to a boil.  Pour over potatoes and top with Swiss cheese.  Bake 45-50 minutes until potatoes are tender and brown. 

Green Beans with Bacon

My husband and I fell in love over green beans!  When we were in graduate school, we were invited, with our dates, to a dinner party.  However, after almost fighting  over the green beans that were served, beating everyone else playing Trivial Pursuits and making some serious “google-eyes” at each other, we were from then on a couple.  Whenever I serve green beans with bacon, I think of that night—fondly!  The “apples” in this dish come in the form of the apple wood smoked bacon.

Source:  original recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1½ lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 1½-inch pieces

1 lb. apple wood smoked bacon, sliced cross grain into ½ inch pieces

Soy sauce

Process:

Steam green beans until crisp tender.  Drain the beans and put in ice water to “refresh.”  (The beans can be held in the refrigerator for several hours or in the ice water for an hour or so.)  Meanwhile, sauté the bacon until crispy and brown and crumble and drain on paper towel, reserving bacon fat in a heatproof dish.  When ready to serve, heat 1-2 T. of the bacon fat in a large frying pan.  Sauté green beans in the bacon fat (adding more fat if needed) until the beans are reheated and glazed with the bacon fat.  Sprinkle the beans with soy sauce to taste.  Place the beans in a serving dish and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon.  

French Apple Tart

Ina, one of my cooking muses, says that this is one of her favorite recipes, and I can see why.  I served it with dollops of whipped cream to which I added a little sugar and cinnamon. 

Source:  Ina Garten’s Back to Basics

Yield:  6 generous servings

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

2 c. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. kosher sat

1 T, sugar (I used 2 T.)

12 T. (1½ sticks) cold, unsalted butter, diced

½ c. ice water

For the apples:

4 Granny Smith apples

½ c. sugar

4 T. (½ stick) cold, unsalted butter, small dice

½ c. apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam

2 T. Calvados, rum or water

Cinnamon (I sprinkled the apples with cinnamon when they were on the crust.)

Process:

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 400°.. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.  (I lined it with foil first to avoid having to clean cooked apple juice from the pan—good idea!)  Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baler. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. Sprinkle with the full ½ cup of sugar and dot with the butter. (This is when I sprinkled the tart with cinnamon.)

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out.  Don’t worry!  The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine!  When the tart’s done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture.  Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn’t stick to the paper.  Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Apple Pie-Infused Bourbon

I love a not-too-sweet liqueur, and this fits the bill!  I made one batch 2 weeks before my dinner party, but I had to make another batch because we “sampled” it too much. 

 

Source:  Southern Living, Sept. 2012

Yield: Makes 3 ¼ cups

Ingredients:

1 Golden Delicious apple, chopped

2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 (750-milliliter) bottle bourbon (I used the super cheap grocery store brand.)

1/4 cup simple syrup (recipe follows

Process:

Place first 3 ingredients in a 1-qt. canning jar. Add bourbon; cover with metal lid, and screw on band. Let bourbon stand at room temperature 4 days. Shake jar to distribute flavors. Pour bourbon mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a pitcher, discarding solids. Stir in Simple Syrup, and pour into a clean 1-qt. canning jar or 3 to 4 small bottles. Cover and store in refrigerator up to 2 months.

Simple Syrup:

1 c. sugar
1/2 cup water

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and cool 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Orange-, Clove-, and Cranberry-Infused Bourbon Variation:

Omit apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place 2 (2-inch) orange rind strips, 8 whole cloves, and 1 cup lightly crushed fresh or frozen cranberries in a 1-qt. canning jar. Add bourbon; cover with metal lid, and screw on band. Let bourbon stand at room temperature 4 days. Proceed with recipe as directed in Step 2.

Everything's Bettah with Muffaletta Bruschetta

To make the confession I am about to make is probably considered heresy by many in Baton Rouge:   

I have never been to an
LSU football game.

There!  I said it!  I might need to go into a witness protection program now.

The truth is I haven’t actually refused to go to a game, but, given the choice (and my sweet husband has always given me the choice), I'd prefer not to.  

First, I’m not a very knowledgeable fan of the game.  Second, even though LSU football games are mostly all night games, it’s still pretty steamy down here. 

For a Wisconsin girl, it seems essential that you attend a football game in a sweater AND jacket, that the sound of clapping is muffled by gloves and mittens, that you see your breath when you cheer, and that it might even snow by half-time. 

Now I have enjoyed many a game in the air-conditioned comfort of my living room or the living rooms of friends.  And the additional reward of these off-site games is that we can sip and snack and dine throughout the entire event.

Since my husband has two season tickets this year, I’m pretty sure I will soon break my football “fast," preferably to see LSU beat Bama.  I think I would especially enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the tailgating LSU is famous for.

Until then, I offer this fantastic appetizer that I made for home “tailgating” this season.

Muffaletta Bruschetta

Source:  original recipe

Yield:  20+ pieces

Ingredients:

1 c. purchased olive salad (I use Boscoli)

½ c. salami, diced (I used Genoa)

½ c. smoked Gouda, diced

1 baguette

Olive oil

1 clove garlic, sliced lengthwise in half

Process:

Since the salad is rather oily, I put it in a wire-mesh strainer, sprayed it with hot water, let it drain, and blotted additional moisture with paper towels.  Combine the olive salad with the salami and cheese.  Set aside. (The topping mixture can be prepared ahead.  Refrigerate if preparing more than an hour before serving.) 

Preheat oven to 350°.  Slice the baguette, slightly on the diagonal, into ½-inch slices.  Place bread slices on a large cookie sheet.  Brush each slice with a small amount of the olive oil.  Bake in the oven until the tops are beginning to crisp but the bread still gives to the touch.  Remove from oven and let cool until you can touch the bread.   While the bread is warm, rub each slice with the cut side of the garlic.  Start a new garlic clove halve if the first one starts to disintegrate.  (The bread can be prepared a few hours before assembly and left at room temperature.)

To assemble, top each slice of bread with a heaping tablespoon of the olive salad mixture. (I found that it helps to put the bread pieces very close to each other so that the olive salad mixture stays on the bread and not the pan.)  Return the bruschetta and heat for about five minutes or until the cheese begins to melt.  Serve immediately.  

Thai-ing One On During Hurricane Isaac

A tree down across our neighbor's yard

Death.  Taxes.  And if you live in Louisiana—hurricanes.   Certain.  Inevitable. 

As a “recovering” Yankee transplanted to Baton Rouge in 1989, I first experienced a hurricane in 1992, and his name was Andrew.  We didn’t have a generator then, but, thankfully, the temperature did drop following the storm.  However, I still remember my 3-year-old daughter’s plaintive cry after days of every meal being cooked on the grill and eaten outdoors on the patio:  “Can’t we go inside and watch TV?!”

Then came deadly Katrina in 2005 and destructive Gustav in 2008.  Although our city and state suffered greatly, my family had gained a generator, a window air-conditioning unit, and miles of orange extension cords which helped us endure the almost two weeks of powerlessness each time.

Tree on a neighbor's house

So when Isaac approached, we knew the drill:  crank up the generator, load up the gas cans and cars, stock up at the grocery store (alcohol and snack foods are essential), batten down the patio furniture, and pray for the best.

I won’t diminish the real suffering of so many in Louisiana, especially those displaced by the horrific flooding.  There are several huge trees down and a few blue tarps on roofs in our neighborhood.

Tarp on a neighbor's house

Our camp in Springfield was flooded and will need to have all floors and walls replaced--but thank God for flood insurance.  Our boat sustained some damage and a kayak floated away.     

But our daughter came home from New Orleans and stayed with us for a week, and, miraculously, we only lost power for a couple hours.  So we snacked, sipped, chatted, napped, and watched movies during the two days of rain and wind.  And, in large part to cope with the stress, I chopped, and cooked, and chopped, and cooked. 

Following is one of our meals, compliments of Hurricane Isaac, and it was made during our two-hour power outage.

Stormy Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing

Source:  original recipe

Yield:  4 servings

Ingredients:

For the salad:

1-10 oz. package broccoli slaw (cabbage slaw might work, too)

1 8-oz. can pineapple tidbits or chunks, drained minced (or 8-oz. can crushed)

½ to 1 tsp. minced fresh jalapeño pepper (optional)

French-fried onion rings (or 2 sliced shallots, floured and sautéed in oil)

For the dressing:

2 T. fish sauce

2 T. rice onion

2 T. soy sauce

2 T. brown sugar

2 T. creamy peanut butter (not fresh or old-fashioned)

2 T. fresh lime juice

1 tsp. chili garlic sauce (or more to taste)

Process:

In a steamer basket over boiling water, steam the broccoli slaw for 2-3 minutes until crispy-tender.  Rinse with cold water and chill while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  (If you like your salad very crunchy, you could skip this step.)   In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.  Add the pineapple and jalapeño pepper, if using, to the slaw.  Stir in the dressing.  (You might want to pour in about half of the dressing first and then add more if necessary so that the salad isn't overdressed.)  Chill.  Garnish just with onion rings before serving.

Thai Curry-cane Chicken 

This recipe is similar to a previous posting but I think the flavor, color, and "crunch" were enhanced by the addition of the red peppers, the minced ginger and the jalapeño pepper.

Source:  original recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 red pepper, sliced into ½-inch strips

1 medium onion, halved and sliced lengthwise into ½-inch strips

½ lb. green beans, cut in 2-inch pieces (can be lightly steamed first)

1½ lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, sliced crosswise in 2-inch strips

Vegetable oil

1 T. peeled and minced ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

1½ tsp. seeded, minced jalapeño pepper

2 T. fish sauce

1 14-oz. can coconut milk

1-2 T. green curry paste

Juice of ½ lime

¼ c. chopped cilantro

¼ c. chopped fresh basil

Process:

Heat enough oil to coat the bottom of a wok or large frying pan until very hot.  (A pinch of salt added will prevent smoking).  Stir-fry the red pepper, onion, and green beans until crisp-tender but slightly browned.  Remove the vegetables to a large bowl.

If necessary, add oil to coat the bottom of the wok or pan.  Stir-fry the chicken in the pan until done and lightly browned.  Add the ginger, garlic and jalapeño pepper and stir-fry until fragrant, but don’t brown the garlic.  Add the fish sauce, coconut milk, curry paste, and lime juice.   Continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken slightly.

Add the reserved vegetables and heat through.  Before serving, garnish with cilantro and basil (or serve on the side).  Serve with rice, preferably jasmine. 

The Little Village: Three Strikes and You're Out!

I love Italian food.  I love local restaurants.  I love giving second chances.   But after three tries, I still don’t love The Little Village!  And I have no idea why it remains a popular Baton Rouge restaurant.

Let me just fly through the first two meals. 

Try #1:  Mediocre meal, and there was that pricey bread that they sort of trick you into buying. (More about that "bread trick" later.)

Try #2:  An o.k. meal with my sisters—but the restaurant was infested with fruit flies.  Not appetizing, and the servers seemed to think it was not a problem.  (More about that "not a problem" later.)

Try # 3:

The atmosphere of the new location is pleasant enough, but, as with so many restaurants, the acoustics are a bit loud.  More annoying is the fact that the tables are so cramped together that trying to dodge waiters on the way to the table is difficult.  Evidence of this was a head-on collision of two waiters and a lot of broken plates.

And the restrooms are not IN the restaurant.  You have to go out to a hall and then another turn into another hall—no signage to guide you there or back!

Our waiter took our drink order and asked that tricky question: Did we want to start out with bread? Since we hadn’t even looked our menus yet, we didn’t remember that the “half loaf” that we agreed to was $6.  It was a good thing we declined the tapenade the waiter suggested ($1.50) and roasted garlic ($3.00).  The bread is very airy and drenched in oil and topped with cheese.  Good?  Yes.  Worth $6?  No.  

[Let me just pause to say that I am so tired of the new server mantra:  “Not a problem.”  Is waiting on customers mostly a problem and I am the exception?  I just don’t get this expression.]

We ordered the “A la Village Oysters 2-2-2” for an appetizer—2 Bienville, 2 Rockefeller, and 2 A la Village oysters--or so we thought.  After our waiter brought our wine and took our entrée order, he said he would have our salads out right away.  We thought he just misspoke, but, nope, he had forgotten our appetizer order.

So we were told to “enjoy” our salads before the appetizer.  The salads were unremarkable—only greens, not a vegetable or garnish in sight. 

The oysters arrived, lukewarm, but edible.  Well, again—sort of.  My oysters had a lot of grit in them.

My husband did enjoy his bruccialuna, which is a veal cutlet roll stuffed with bread crumbs, prosciutto and pine nuts and stewed in a red sauce.

I had the veal marsala.  Although this dish consisted of a generous two-slice portion of veal, it was a little over-breaded.  The marsala sauce was plentiful but tasted more of beef broth, and not a homemade one, than marsala. 

Then there was a long wait after we finished our entrées until our server came to ask us about our dessert order.  There was another long wait before our server brought our dessert order.  There was another long wait for our check to arrive.  There was another long wait for our bill to be processed.

The Little Village was crowded, even on a rainy Saturday night, but I continue to wonder why.  Mediocre food.  Slow, spacy service.  That’s it for our The Little Village “inning.”  You're outa here!

Summer Berries

There are so many foods that SCREAM summer:  s’mores, corn on the cob, BLTs, watermelon, ice cream, anything grilled, anything from a farmers’ market, and, of course, anything with berries.  Following are a handful of recipes featuring berries.  Fortunately, today most berries are available year-round, so these recipes aren’t just for summer.  Berry good--especially for the Olympic festivities!

Summer Pudding

I first had this dessert many years ago in a very unstuffy buffet restaurant before attending a play at the Barbican Theater in London, England.  Summer pudding is quintessentially British but very easy. 

Source:  an old clipping (from New Home Cooking by Florence Fabricant Clarkson, 1992)

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 loaf (1 pound) thinly-sliced white sandwich bread (I use Pepperidge Farms)

1 ½ c. sugar

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 ½ pints mixed fresh berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries

2 T. raspberry liqueur

1 c. heavy cream, whipped (optional)

Remove crusts from bread and discard or save for crumbs.  Line 1 ½-quart bowl with bread slices in a single layer cutting slices to fit so that no gaps appear.  Reserve remaining bread for covering top of pudding.

Combine sugar and lemon juice in large saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until sugar starts to dissolve.  Stir in berries; cook 5 to 8 minutes until berries have softened, but still hold their shape.  Remove from heat.  Stir in liqueur.

Spoon berries with slotted spoon into bread-lined bowl.  Reserve ½ cup berry juice; pour remaining juice over berries.  Fit remaining bread on top in double layer to cover berries.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Place flat plate that fits inside bowl on top layer of bread.  Place filled 2-pound can on plate to weight down pudding.  Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight, or for up to 2 days.

To serve, remove can and plate.  Carefully run thin knife around inside of bowl.  Invert onto large plate with rim.  Use reserved berry juice to “paint” any areas of bread where color did not completely soak in.  Slice pudding and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Wisconsin Schaum Torte

This is a recipe I remember my German paternal grandmother and my mother making.  These may be filled or topped with many things.  My mom used to fill them with ice cream or pudding and then berries.  For chocolate lovers, Nutella would be a good option.  


For 6 servings, I whisked 8 oz. of marscapone cheese with a little bit of sugar and put that in the base of the cups.  Then I topped them with a mixture of berries:  sliced and sugared strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and black berries.  I didn’t garnish with whipped cream, but when has whipped cream ever hurt anything? 

Source:  an old clipping

Yield:  12 servings, may be halved

Ingredients:

6 egg whites

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 T. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Process:

Preheat oven to 275°.  In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy.  Add cream of tartar and vinegar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl).  Add vanilla and sugar a little at a time, beating on high speed until very stiff peaks form.  Make twelve tortes on greased and floured cookie sheets (I lined the pans with parchment paper instead) using the back of the spoon to build up sides and dent the middle. Bake for 50 minutes.  Then turn off the oven, leave undisturbed and allow meringues to sit with the door closed for 1 more hour.

Loosen tortes from cookie sheets before they are cold.  Makes 12 tortes.  (I made these a day before I served half of them and put them in a plastic container.  I served the second half two days later, and they were still nice and crispy.)

Berries with Almond Cream

This is super simple, but elegant and refreshing.  Recently I made this without the Amaretto, and the cream tasted like “liquid” cheese cake with a nice tang that complemented the berries

Source:  Kay Ewing’s Cooking School Cookbook

Yield:  about 1 cup of topping

Ingredients:

1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

½ c. powdered sugar (I tend to use less, about ¼ c.)

3 T. Amaretto

½ c. whipping cream

Fresh berries (If I use strawberries, I usually slice and lightly sugar them first.)

Process:

Beat cream cheese, sugar and amaretto with an electric mixer until smooth.  While beating, very slowly pour in cream until combined.  Cover and refrigerate.  Top individual servings of any combination of berries with the cream.

A Vintage Meal

Vintage.  Retro.  Mid-century. 

You know you are getting old when these are the words that describe trends in fashion, interior design and architecture from your youth.

But when I think of cuisine from my childhood, which mostly encompassed the 1960s, I don’t think of it in such glamorous terms.  

As a child growing up in northern Wisconsin, I didn’t have a lot of access to gourmet food and fine dining experiences.  In fact, what I mostly recall are dishes with canned soups, Jello and processed cheese. 

This is not because my mother and other relatives weren’t good cooks.  They were.  

But their cooking was also circumscribed by the constraints of middle-class incomes, lots of kids and, consequently, a lack of time.  This was a pre-food processor, pre-microwave oven era. 

And there was a lack of product availability.  Take vegetables, for example.  It’s hard for us to remember a time when even the local grocery store didn’t have tomatillos, celery root or eight kinds of peppers. 

But for my mother, a child of the Depression and World War II, canned vegetables were the norm, frozen vegetables were an expensive and recent innovation, and fresh vegetables, other than root and seasonal, local vegetables, were hard to come by. 

I can remember the first time I had fresh broccoli at a friend’s home in the early 70s.  I came home raving about the “little trees.”  Broccoli is still my favorite vegetable.

So when I started planning a dinner party for friends of a “certain age,” I thought it would be fun to take some of the “swankier” dishes I remember from my childhood and teens—some I had only read about--and re-present them. 

My sincerest thanks to my Guinea pigs:  Jan, Dennis, John, June, and Malcolm.  And to my dear husband who did the grocery shopping and listened with enthusiasm as I talked through this menu again, and again, and again. 

A Vintage Dinner Party Menu

Miniature Twice-Baked Potatoes

Gougères

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail & Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Deconstructed Chicken Kiev

Quinoa Pilaf

Spinach Gratin with Roasted Red Peppers

Red Velvet Baked Alaska
Stinger Shooters & "Cigarettes"

The Recipes

Miniature Twice-Baked Potatoes

Twice-baked potatoes were always a special-occasion treat when I was growing up.  I’m sure my mother didn’t have time to do much of anything TWICE. 

These are a “toy” version of those tasty spuds.  I was going to stick a small piece of cooked bacon in each potato, but I ran out of time.  I’m sure a sprinkling of cheddar cheese either in or on the potatoes would be good, too. 

Source:  original recipe

Yield:  16 potatoes, appetizers for 6-8

Ingredients:

20 very small (about 1 to 1½-inch size) Yukon gold potatoes

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

2 T. buttermilk

4 T. sour cream, divided

4 T. snipped chives, divided

Preheat oven to 425°.  Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil (I’m tired of washing baking pans.)  Place the potatoes on the foil-lined pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Mix the potatoes with the oil to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix again.  Roast the potatoes until fork-tender, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool until the potatoes only warm to the touch.

Cut each potato in half horizontally.  Using the small end of a melon-baller, scoop out the cooked potato into a small bowl.  (For a short "ode" to the melon-baller, see "Summer (Jazz) Brunch.")  Reserve the potato “shells.” Using a fork or potato masher, mash the potatoes.  Add 1 T. buttermilk and 1 T. sour cream.  Mix to combine.  Add more buttermilk and sour cream to achieve a “rough” mashed potato consistency.  Season with salt and pepper and 2 T. chives. 

Using a small spoon, fill the potato shells with the mashed potatoes.  (You will probably not be able to fill all of the potato shells). 

These can be made 2 hours ahead and held at room temperature.  Before serving, rewarm on the baking sheet at 350° for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fill a sandwich-sized plastic bag with the remaining 2 T. of sour cream.  Cut off one of the corners of the bag to make a ¼-inch hole.  When the potatoes are warm, remove them to a platter. Squeeze a small amount of sour cream on each potato, and sprinkle the potatoes with the remaining chives.  (I considered a caviar garnish, but I had to stop somewhere!)

Gougères

My first experience eating anything made out of a pâte à choux dough was when, as a child, I ate the delicious cream puffs at the Wisconsin State Fair held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Real whipped cream (it IS the “Dairy State”) oozing out of pastries the size of babies’ heads!  Making the puffs is really quite easy, and I remember making éclairs when I was in my teens. 

These are a savory, appetizer version.  I did find a recipe from the 1960s for these, but it called for a stick of butter.  This more modern recipe is actually by the blogger and food writer who inspired me to start this blog. 

I think if I made these again, I would make them maybe half the size and adjust the cooking time.  I also might sprinkle some additional cheese on the top before baking.

They were a huge hit and completely devoured by my dinner guests.  You will have to take my word for it that the presentation—I piled them up in a gigantic martini glass—was perfect.  In the excitement of my hungry guests arriving, I forgot to snap a picture.

Source: Bon Appétit, April 2009 (Molly Wizenberg)

Yield:  Makes 2 dozen 1 ½-inch gougères

Ingredients:

1 c. water
3 T. unsalted butter (I used 4 T.)
¾ tsp. salt
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, chilled
1 c. (packed) coarsely grated Gruyère cheese (about 4 ounces)
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Process:

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

Bring 1 c.  water, butter, and salt to simmer in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking until butter melts. Add flour; stir rapidly with wooden spoon until flour absorbs liquid and forms ball, pulling away from sides of pan. Stir vigorously until film forms on bottom of pan and dough is no longer sticky, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Remove pan from heat; cool dough 2 to 3 minutes. Using an electric mixer, beat in eggs 1 at a time. Stir in cheese and pepper.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto baking sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. Using damp fingertip, press down any peaks of dough.

Bake gougères until golden brown, about 30 minutes, reversing position of pans halfway through baking. Using small sharp knife, pry open 1 gougère to check for doneness (center should be slightly eggy and moist). Serve hot or warm.

Can be made 3 hours ahead. Transfer to racks; cool. Rewarm in 350°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail 

As I’ve mentioned before, I LOVE shrimp.  (See Shrimply Delicious.) 

But shrimp cocktail seems especially vintage and indulgent when shrimp of this size are used.  So I decided to combine this classic first course with a salad.  The baby arugula and julienned radishes echo the peppery flavor of the horseradish in the cocktail sauce.  Roasting the shrimp makes all the difference in the flavor.

Source:   Back to Basics by Ina Garten

Yield:  6-8 servings

For the shrimp:

2 pounds (12- to 15-count) shrimp (I bought 3 shrimp per guest, which was plenty.)
1 T. olive oil
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

½ c. chili sauce (recommended: Heinz)
½ c. ketchup
3 T. prepared horseradish
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
1 hollowed out lemon half per guest for cocktail sauce, bottoms sliced so lemons will stand

Process:

Preheat oven to 400°.  Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place them on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread them in 1 layer. Roast for 8 to10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through. Set aside to cool. For the sauce, combine the chili sauce, ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. Serve as a dip with the shrimp.

Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Source for Lemon Vinaigrette:  Bon Appétit, December 1998

Yield:  Makes about 3/4 cup

Ingredients:

½ c. olive oil
3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. minced shallot (I left this out)
1½ tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. grated lemon peel
½ tsp. sugar

Process

Whisk all ingredients in bowl to blend.  Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)

For the salad:

Source:  original recipe

Yield:  6-8 servings

Ingredients:

8 c. mixed greens (I uses a mix of baby spinach and baby arugula)
½ c. julienned radishes (about 4-5 radishes)

Process:

Before serving, lightly dress greens with vinaigrette.  Sprinkle salad with radishes.

To assemble shrimp cocktail and salad:

Fill the hollowed out lemon halves with about 2 T. of the cocktail sauce.  Place a filled lemon half and 3 shrimp on each plate.  Place some of the salad on each plate.

Deconstructed Chicken Kiev

O.K. the name of this recipe is very tongue-in-cheek.  In fact, I thought about calling it “Plan B Chicken.”  I had intended to make Chicken Kiev, a quintessential “vintage” dish and one I actually made in my early cooking days in the mid-70s.  

But breasts are bigger than they used to be in the 70s—including the breasts of chickens. 

Chicken Kiev is made of very thin pieces of chicken that are wrapped around chilled butter and then pan-fried.  It’s important that the chicken completely encase the butter. 

However, even though I gently pounded the huge chicken breasts my husband had purchased, I couldn’t get them thin enough to roll around the chilled butter to make Chicken Kiev.  In retrospect, I might have had the butcher cut scaloppini, or I might have cut the breasts horizontally myself.  

Anyway, I didn’t, and I was left with uneven and too-small pieces of chicken.  

So, having already made the compound butter—truffle butter was my plan to “modernize” the dish—I decided to “schnitzel” the chicken and use the butter in a sauce.  

Schnitzel is not really a make-ahead kind of dish, so frying the chicken while my guests were in the living room made me a little nervous.  But it worked!  I think my German mother-in-law would have been proud.

Source:  original recipe

Yield:  8 servings

8 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 3/4-inch thickness (about 2 ½ pounds total)

Salt & pepper

1 c. flour

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 c. panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) 

vegetable oil

2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 stick (8 T.) truffle butter (recipe follows)

1 c. dry white wine

Lemon wedges for serving

Between two sheets of plastic wrap, pound each breast to ½-¾-inch thickness.  Blot the chicken with paper towels.  Lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.  Place the flour, eggs and panko in 3 different pie plates or shallow bowls.    In two large frying pans, pour enough vegetable oil to reach about ½-inch high.  Heat oil until smoking and then add 1 T. of the truffle butter to each pan.  Working quickly, coat both sides of each chicken breast with flour, then egg and then panko.  Cook chicken in the butter-oil until browned, crisp, and cooked through, turning once, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to platter.  Tent loosely with foil.  

Drain one of the frying pans of most of the oil, leaving brown bits on bottom.  Over medium-high heat, deglaze the pan with the wine and lemon juice, whisking and cooking until reduced by about half.  Whisk in at least 4 T.of the truffle butter, one tablespoon at a time.  To serve, drizzle the butter sauce on the chicken.

Truffle Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 tsp. truffle oil

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

In a small bowl combine the ingredients with a fork until blended.  Chill until almost firm.  Using plastic wrap, form the butter into a log about the size of a stick of butter.  Chill until ready to use.  (Leftovers can be frozen.)

Quinoa Pilaf

Source:  Foodnetwork. Com

Yield:  4-6 servings (in parentheses are my modifications for 8 servings)

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil (1 T + 1½ tsp.)

1 med. onion, peeled and chopped (1 lg.)

½ cup crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced  (3/4 c. I chopped them for a finer texture)

1½ c. quinoa, rinsed well and drained  (2 c.)

½ tsp. fresh thyme leaves removed from their stems (3/4 tsp.)

11/2 tsp. kosher salt (2 tsp.)

Pepper, freshly ground

3 c. chicken broth (4 c.)

Process:

Place a saucepan on high heat and get it hot. Add the olive oil and swirl it around to make sure the entire surface is covered with oil. Add the shallot and sweat (cook until translucent but not brown). Add the crimini mushrooms and cook until brown. Add the quinoa, thyme leaves, bay leaf, kosher salt and black pepper to the pan and stir. Let the ingredients heat up and roast a little to bring out all their fullest flavors. The steam coming up should be very aromatic.  Slowly and carefully add the vegetable stock (it will spatter because the pan and ingredients are hot). When it comes to full boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and allow to steam for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat, remove lid and fluff the quinoa and then replace the lid and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.

Spinach Gratin with Roasted Red Peppers

When I asked my husband what vegetable dish he remembered most fondly from his childhood, he didn’t hesitate a second before replying, “Creamed spinach.”  This is Ina Garten’s recipe. 

Although she’s known as the “Barefoot Contessa,” I think of her as “The Food Queen.”  And if she says frozen spinach is acceptable, it is!

But with apologies to Her Highness, I added roasted peppers to this dish.  The flavor and color of the peppers put this over the top.  This would be a great make-ahead Christmas dish.  

Source:  Parties! by Ina Garten

Yield:  8 servings

Ingredients:

4 T. (½ stick) unsalted butter    

4 c. chopped yellow onions (2 large)

¼ c. flour

¼ tsp. nutmeg grated nutmeg

1 c. heavy cream

2 c.  milk

3 lbs. frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (5 (10-ounce) packages)

3 red bell peppers, roasted, charred skin removed, cut into strips (can be omitted)

1 c. freshly grated Parmesan chees

1 T. kosher salt

½ tsp.  freshly ground black pepper

½ c. grated Gruyère cheese

Process:

Preheat oven to 425°.   Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well.  Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the spinach to a baking dish.  (I used a fairly large gratin dish.)  Stir in the peppers, if using.  (At this point, I refrigerated the gratin.  The next day I brought it to room temperature before proceeding.)  Sprinkle the remaining ½ c. Parmesan and the Gruyère on top. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve hot.

Red Velvet Baked Alaska

A quick glance at Wikipedia (I’m sorry!) tells me that this show-stopping dessert has been around for a very long time, but that it was given the name “Baked Alaska” in 1876 at Delmonico's Restaurant to celebrate the acquisition of the territory of Alaska.  

It’s a dessert that, to me, screams 1960s indulgence and exhibition.  

Another dessert that reminds me of the 60s and 70s is Red Velvet Cake, also known as Waldorf Astoria Cake.  I first had this luscious cake at the home of my BFF, Patti, when I was in high school.  Her mother, Gloria Juetten, iced it with a great cream cheese frosting.  I’ll admit I mostly think of cake as a “frosting deliverer,” but, oh, what a delivery!

So my idea was to combine all these food memories in this dessert.  It was, if I do say so myself, amazing.  

This is my ice cream maker--it's a non-electric "chill chamber."

Cream Cheese Ice Cream

My family members shake their heads in disbelief that I, a Wisconsin native, don’t really like ice cream.  

Maybe it was all that un-homogenized milk I was forced to drink as a child.   I hated those “clunks” on the top of a newly-opened bottle of milk.  This milk, by the way, was delivered in glass bottles twice-weekly and placed by the milkman in the insulated milk box outside our back door.  

So here’s a “double diary” ice cream recipe, and it, surprisingly, might just be my favorite ice cream ever.  

Source:  Gourmet, April 2003

Yield:  Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

Process:

Blend cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, then stir in cream. Freeze cream cheese mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours. 

To make the Baked Alaska, line a 9” X 5” loaf pan with plastic wrap.  Spoon the soft ice cream into the pan.  Freeze.

Even uncooked this red batter looks so yummy!

Waldorf Astoria Cake

Source:   Gloria Juetten, mother of my dear friend Patti Seaman

Yield:  2 8-inch layers (measurements for one layer are in parentheses)

Ingredients:

½ c. shortening  (¼  c.)

1 ½ c. sugar  (¾ c.)

2 eggs (1)

¼ c. red food coloring (2 T.)

2 T. cocoa (1 T.)

2 ¼ c. sifted flour (1 c. + 2 T.)

1 t. baking soda (½ tsp.)

1 t. salt (½ tsp.)

1 c. buttermilk (½ c.)

1 tsp. vanilla (½ tsp.)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease and flour 2 8-inch round cake pans.  In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and food coloring until well mixed.  In a medium-sized bowl, mix the dry ingredients, sift the dry ingredients together. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, mix the buttermilk and vanilla with a fork.  At low speed, mix in 1/3 the dry ingredients until well mixed and then mix in ½ of the buttermilk mixture until well mixed.  Continue with 1/3 of the dry mixture, ½ of the buttermilk mixture and ending with the remaining 1/3 of the dry mixture. 

Pour the batter in the prepared cake pans and bake on the center rack for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes clean.

For the Baked Alaska:  Prepare one-half of the recipe, using measurements in parentheses.  Pour batter into 8”X8” lined with parchment paper, greased and floured.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Cool 10 minutes in the pan and then remove to completely cool on a wire rack.  Cut the cake to fit on top of the ice cream in the loaf pan.  You will have to cut a strip to fit the end of the loaf pan, and you will have some cake left over--darn!

Wrap the loaf pan with the ice cream and cake in plastic wrap and freeze. (Make ahead:  this can be done  several days ahead of serving.)

Meringue

Ingredients:

4 egg whites, room temperature

½ tsp. lemon juice

Pinch cream of tartar

1/3 c. sugar

Process:

With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites, lemon juice and cream of tartar until frothy.  Gradually beat in the sugar until stiff peaks form.  

To assemble and finish:

Remove the ice cream and cake from the pan and plastic wrap and place on a baking dish.  Using an off-set spatula, spread the meringue over the ice cream loaf completely encasing it and finishing with little “peaks.”  (Make ahead:  The meringue can be prepared and spread on the cake several hours before serving.  Place in freezer before continuing.)  Preheat oven to 500°.  Bake dessert for 3 minutes until the peaks of the meringue are browned.  Slice and serve.  

Stinger Shooters

If this were truly a 1960s  meal, we would have started out with serious cocktails—Martinis, Manhattans, Old Fashioneds and the like.  Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think we have the drinking stamina we used to have.  

But I thought I’d present, more as an after-dinner liqueur, shot-sized Stingers.  These remind me of my step-father, Ron Douglas, who introduced me to Dr. McGillicuddy’s Mentholmint Schnapps in a Stinger at the Fireside Restaurant in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.  I served these with Pepperidge Farm Pirouette rolled cookies to stand in for cigarettes.  

Yield:  6-8 shot-sized servings

Ingredients:

½ c. brandy

½ c. white crème de menthe (which is actually colorless)

1-2 shots water

This is a make-ahead recipe.  Combine all the ingredients in a small pitcher jar.  Chill. (If making to serve immediately, skip adding the water and shake or stir with cracked ice.  Strain and serve.)