recipes

What’s The Big Green Deal?

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Spinach, that’s the big, green deal.Did you know that curly leaf, or savoy spinach almost went extinct?  With the advent of the triple-washed, bagged baby spinach the demand for it among the big produce companies pretty much disappeared.  The flavor is less mild, and all those nooks and crannies on the surface of the leaf makes it hard to thoroughly clean a product which already has a somewhat problematic reputation and history concerning sick-making microbes.But Petey and I both love a classic spinach salad: spinach, sliced button mushrooms, hard-cooked egg, shaved red onion (Petey’s a hold-the-onion man), crispy bacon shards drizzled with freshly made buttermilk ranch.

So, I almost always have some greens in the fridge.  But they go wonky quick, and when most leafy greens get past their prime, there isn’t much to do with them, other than adding them to the compost heap.  But spinach is different.  When I have spinach that’s too shop-worn for salad, I cook it, either sautéed or creamed. I put it into a large microwave safe bowl, cover it with a paper towel and nuke it until it’s completely wilted; somewhere between 2-4 minutes depending on how much I have.  Then I turn it out into a colander to drain and cool.

If I don’t plan on making it right away, I put it in a labeled, dated zip-top bag and freeze it.  If you’re not a big salad eater, you could also skip the whole fresh spinach step, and just buy it frozen. For both sautéed and creamed spinach, you start the same way: onions.  Put some butter or oil into a skillet and add chopped onions.  Season and cook until they begin to caramelize (the more color on the onions, the sweeter they’ll be, you choose).  Then add 2 cups of thawed, wilted spinach that you’ve squeezed most of the water from.  Season and add 10-12 gratings of fresh nutmeg.  For sautéed, let it cook until it’s mostly dry, and a little browned around the edges.  Take off the heat, add the juice of a lemon, check for seasoning, and serve.For creamed spinach:

Start like for sautéed, but after adding the spinach, add about 2/3 cup of 2% or skim milk and ¼ cup cream.  Season and add nutmeg, then stir in ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese (not the stuff in the green can).  Let it cook until the spinach is in a nice thick, creamy sauce (about 10 minutes on medium).Take it off the heat and stir in a couple of heaping tablespoons of whipped cream cheese (this will stabilize the sauce).  Then stir in the juice of a lemon.  Check for seasoning and serve as is, or over a baked russet or sweet potato.

Or.My new favorite thing is to use the creamed spinach in the place of pesto in pasta.  Cook the pasta while the spinach is cooking.  When the spinach is finished, and the cream cheese and lemon juice are stirred in, transfer the pasta into the spinach pan with a slotted spoon.  Don’t drain it, because you’ll then use enough of the pasta water to thin out the spinach, and starch in the water makes the sauce silky and it coats the pasta perfectly.  Then top with more parm.It’s really good, and frankly I’m not sure how this took so long to occur to someone who normally has at least seventy-five varieties of pasta in her kitchen at all times.

Next week I’ll tell you what I got up to tonight with a box of Costco mushrooms and a kitchen full of pasta.Thanks for your time.

Delirious Dessert

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Mobile family

This is us.

After putting a roof over our heads, feeding five mouths, and having a daughter with a serious Barbie habit (me), there wasn’t a ton of money in my family for sugary treats at the grocery store.

When I was a child, my dad was in the Coast Guard, risking his life so that others may live. This meant he was subject to the will of the US government.  Recently, we’ve seen this fact driven home in a manner that illustrates it far better than I ever could. But, this meant there was one parent who could be called to the base in an emergency with no idea when he would return home.  Because of this, my mother was a stay-at-home mom.

What we lacked in cash, mom made up in time.  My mom likes to have, what she calls, “a little sweet around the house”.  We rarely had store-bought confections though; instead, she baked. Simple, cheap, tasty things from stuff we usually had in the house, like bread pudding, popsicles from Jell-O, preacher cookies, and cream puffs.  One of our favorites was her wacky cake that she topped with fudge frosting.

When The Kid was in elementary school, learning about the WWII Homefront, we discovered that the cake, with its lack of eggs, and dairy, had been a “Victory” recipe that rationing made popular.One awesome thing about my mom: she believes it’s perfectly acceptable to have pie, cake, or even rice crispy treats for breakfast (See? Awesome.).  Occasionally Mom would splurge on a specific store-bought treat for weekend breakfast.

It was orange rolls in a can.  Bake, and when still warm, frost with this drippy, drizzly orange icing.  I love those darned things.  Just the smell of them make me feel like a little kid eating breakfast at the kitchen table in my flannel nightgown.Recently I stumbled upon a vanilla version of my mother’s wacky cake.  Adding cinnamon makes it more similar to those orange rolls.  Last fall I went to Fearrington Village farmer’s market and met Nathan Simons, who with his wife Audrey, creates silky, flavored nut butters.  My favorite is their hazelnut/orange.  Which reminds me of those canned orange rolls, but in the very best, most delicious way.IMG_1502.jpgFind Simons Says Nut Butters at www.simonssaysspreadthis.com.

Vanilla-Cinnamon Kooky Cake with Hazelnut-Orange Fudge Frostingvanilla wacky cake1 & 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease 8-inch square baking pan. Mix dry ingredients in pan. Then make three depressions in them. Pour vinegar in one, vanilla in another and vegetable oil in third. Then pour water over top and mix until smooth.

Bake 35 minutes. Cool completely and then top with frosting.

Fudge Frosting:hazelnut orange butter1 & 1/2 cups sugar

7 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons shortening

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup Simons Says hazelnut orange butter

Once cake is cool, combine sugar, milk, shortening, butter, and salt in heavy saucepan. Bring to rolling boil while stirring constantly.

Once it boils, stop stirring and let boil for two minutes or until soft ball stage (235 degrees F.).

Remove from heat and add vanilla and hazelnut butter. Beat by hand until smooth and quickly spread over cake.The Kid will tell anybody who asks, Grampa’s a superhero.  The Kid’s not far off.  If you know someone who served their country in the Coast Guard or another branch, say thanks.  Or better yet, give them a piece of this cake.Thanks for your time.

Ham It Up

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You know how they say that inside every heavy person is a thin person waiting to get out?Well, inside of this person (me) is a three-year-old who flat-out hates to wait.  Who wants to know when it’ll be over.  Who thinks this is stupid and it’s gonna take forever.  Who don’t wanna…Who’s done and will now sit and pout and probably cry dramatically.

That inner three-year-old is the reason why I make a ham for each and every ham-eating holiday.My mom used to order one of those honey-glazed, spiral-sliced, straight from central casting holiday hams.  They were gorgeous, and delicious.

But.They cost about a thousand dollars per pound.  And, Jason had an easier time getting his mitts on the golden fleece.  The hams must be pre-ordered in advance.  The stores are usually at some random strip mall in the middle of nowhere. And pickup is its very own circle of hell.  I’ve seen the lines.  They are so long that while in it, time moves in reverse.  Folks at the head of the line check the time by glancing at their phones.  In the middle of the line, they rely on sun dials.  At the back of the line, time frightens and confuses them, and they entreat the sun to ensure a good harvest.That little impatient three-year-old inside me just couldn’t let my mother subject herself to that porky purgatory one more time.

I decided to do some research, talk to good cooks, and learn how to prepare a ham.So, I am now the family pig preparer.  Each year I make a different flavored glaze, then crust it with chopped nuts that go, flavor-wise.  This year it’s watermelon rind preserves and pistachios.                                                          &But we always have a ton left after the holiday meal.  And everybody’s got their favorite ham dish.

I love my Dad’s ham salad:

Dad’s Holiday ham salad

ham salad 2

2 cups leftover ham pieces

1 small yellow onion

Put ham and onions into food processor and blitz until it’s fine and of uniform size.

Stir in:

2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

Enough mayonnaise to make spreadable consistency. 

Season with salt and pepper.Refrigerate for at least an hour, then serve on bread, or use as a dip for crackers or crostini.

Petey likes ham croquettes.

Petey’s ham croquettes

ham croquettes

1 cup finely minced ham

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

2 finely grated carrots

2/3 cup Swiss cheese, diced

¼ cup melted butter

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Salt & pepper to taste

1 egg + 2 for breading

2 tablespoons flour + more for breading

½ cup milk

2 cups Panko breadcrumbs

Oil for frying

Gently mix together all the ingredients except for 2 eggs, extra flour, breadcrumbs and oil.  Set aside.Make three-part dredge.  Put seasoned flour in one vessel, beaten eggs and milk in another, and Panko in a third.

Roll ham mixture into 3-4 inch long logs.  Roll into flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.  Place into fridge for at least one hour to set and for coating to adhere.

When ready to cook, put enough oil into heavy pot to go up about 1 ½ inches, and heat to 350 degrees.  Working in small batches, fry on each side until golden brown.  Makes 8-10.The Kid?

The Kid (and me too) loves this sandwich.

On the freshest baguette you can find, slather on way too much mayo, sliced tomato, and provolone cheese.  Add sliced ham, and season with salt & pepper.

We first had it at Jersey Mike’s.  It’s a gestalt thing; the whole is tastier than the sum of its parts.Thanks for your time.

It’s Party Time!

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birthday-balls.jpg

This week’s Indy has a piece of mine that I’ve been working on for a while, had a great time with, and am pretty chuffed at how it came out.  If you’re in the area, pick up a copy because the art folks and my editor turn it into a really cool spread.

If you’re away, here’s the link so you can take a peak.

See you next week.cheeseball.jpgThanks for your time.

Vegetable induced ennui

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Petey and I have been married for over 33 years.  On average I cook six meals a week (that’s 5616 meals).  For the first 15 years of marriage though, I probably only cooked four times a week (3120).That’s a grand total of 8736 meals (you would not believe how difficult that simple bit of math was for me—and I was using a calculator).

The upshot of all this is that I have cooked a lot of food, including many, many, many side dishes.  And at about dinner number 1283, I started getting tired of my customary vegetable dance of, “microwave until hot and add melted butter”.I was desperate for a new song for my tired, boring veggies to waltz to.

I started by overhauling my preparation procedure for bags of frozen vegetables; peas, mixed veg, and other similar types.

First, the microwave got a pink slip.

Except for a very few exceptions, I now cook the veggies, frozen or fresh on the stovetop in a non-stick skillet.  It treats the vegetables with more respect, which always adds more flavor.  It also takes roughly the same effort, and can be prepped and ready to go well in advance.

The formula is simple and works with everything.  You can increase or decrease it depending on the number at your table.

Quick cooked Southern vegmixed veg2 ½ cups frozen vegetable

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon chicken base

¼ cup water

Pinch of sugar

Salt & pepper

¼ cup fresh herbs, chopped (optional)

Throw everything into a skillet.  Cover, turn on medium-high and cook until the veggies are hot and the liquid is bubbling.  Uncover and cook until the water is cooked off and formed a sauce.  Take off heat, stir in herbs, and serves.  Serves 4.

This technique also works really well with fresh carrots, with only a few tweaks.  Because they take much longer to cook, you need to start with more water.  Also, you can cut them into any size or shape you like (I usually cut them into slices on the bias), but it’s very important that they all have roughly the amount of same surface area, so they finish at the same time.You can also switch out the sweet component, and the spices.  I have used maple syrup, jam, brown sugar, sorghum, and even reduced root beer.  As for spices, nutmeg, Chinese five spice, and pumpkin pie spice all work.  You can mix and match to your family’s taste and what’s in your pantry.  No need to go buy something special, just work with what you have on hand.

Lately, I’ve been buying large bags of rainbow carrots.  The Durham Coop and Whole Foods normally carry them, at about $1 per pound.  You could also use this procedure with another root vegetable like parsnip or beets.

All in together glazed carrotshoney glazed carrots2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into similar sized pieces

¾ cup water

¼ cup butter

1-2 tablespoons buckwheat honey

10-15 gratings of fresh nutmeg

1-2 teaspoons vanilla paste

Salt and pepper

Put everything into a skillet.  Cover and cook on medium-high until the carrots are tender (about 10 minutes).  Uncover and cook until the liquid has reduced to a syrupy glaze.  Check for seasoning and serve.

The last recipe is for green beans.  It’s from my brilliant child, The Kid.  It’s truly my new favorite way to eat them.

The Kid’s marvelous green beansgreen beans

Garlic oil:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4-6 garlic cloves

Put oil in a small pot.  Give each garlic clove a smash to bruise it, and drop it into the pot.  Turn on medium-low.  When the oil begins to simmer, turn off and let sit to cool.  Strain out the garlic.

1 pound green beans

Garlic oil

Salt & pepper

Line a large baking sheet with foil.  Toss beans with garlic oil, salt and pepper.  Spread out on baking sheet.  Place pan under broiler for 4 minutes.  Toss and cook for another 4-5 minutes until they’re cooked and blistered (in spots—not all over).  Serves 2-3.

I hope you enjoy these veggie ideas.  Maybe after the next thousand or two meals, I’ll come up with another new take on an old veg.Thanks for your time.

A Christmas Miracle

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Half the family thinks she puts crack in them.cookie-dustThe other half, a wide-eyed, innocent, ‘Happily ever after’ bunch if there ever was one, thinks it’s probably fairy dust.

I’m talking about my mother’s Christmas cookies.  They’re a simple sugar cookie, generously slathered with the frosting she learned to make when she took a cake decorating class in Puerto Rico, back in the 1970’s.

Each year she makes 8-10 dozen.  Then one day, a week or so before Christmas, she invites/conscripts a confectionary army to frost them.  After icing, each cookie is sprinkled with holiday-hued sugar, or jimmies, or nonpareils from her vast collection.  As each cookie is festively decked out it’s laid on the dining room table for the frosting to set.But the thing is; these are stealth cookies.

On the surface, they are the same boring sugar cookie everybody on the planet has eaten.

But take just one bite, and you get it.  Forget Helen, this cookie is so good it could launch ten thousand ships.  Both flavor and texture are perfectly balanced.  They are insanely delicious.

One of my favorite things is to watch a neophyte take their very first bite.  I’ll explain how awesome they are, and the newbie will smile politely, all the while thinking I need to get out more and taste a cookie or two.Then, they sink their teeth in and taste it.  Their eyes get real big and their faces light up.  “Oh my Gosh!  I get it.  What’s in these things?  They’re the best cookie I’ve ever eaten.  What the heck?”

Mom’s Christmas Cookies

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:moms-cookies1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter flavored Crisco

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk (whole or 2%)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift dry ingredients into bowl.  With mixer, cut in shortening until it resembles coarse meal.  Blend in egg, milk, and vanilla.

Roll out to 1/8 inch, and cut into shapes. 

Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes or until golden.  Remove to cooling rack.

Frost cookies when they are completely cooled.  Makes about 1 ½ dozen.

Mom’s Frostingmoms-frosting

1 pound box powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 scant teaspoon cream of tartar

1/3 cup butter-flavored Crisco

1 egg white

1/4 cup of water (or less)

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For decorating: colored sugars and jimmies

Dump all ingredients, except water, into mixer. Beat ingredients at low until it starts to come together.  Put the water in at this point, so you can judge just how much to use. Beat until it is creamy and fluffy. We usually dye it festive colors.

A few notes about the recipes:

You might want to fanci-fy the ingredients or procedure.  Don’t do it!  The recipe is some kind of alchemy that only works if made as written.  I’ve tried, and was rewarded with mediocre cookies and regret.  If you have to change things, just make a different cookie.frosting-faceThe frosting is really good, and works on anything that needs frosting, and stuff that doesn’t.  My dad and I have been known to eat a bowl of it, on nothing more than a spoon.

And about the disagreement of what she puts in the cookies?

I’m pretty sure it’s not crack because mom herself is firmly in the wide-eyed camp.  She’s so sheltered she thinks crack is the thing you see when the plumber bends over too far.

So, it must be fairy dust.Thanks for your time.

Strata Symbol

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Since Halloween is coming I thought I’d give you, gentle reader, a voyage through one of the most spine-tingling, terrifying places that I know.

My mind.

I developed this week’s recipe well before I could cook, but it’s one we still all enjoy.

It’s a savory Mexican torte.  But that’s not how it began life.  And the mental journey on which I’m taking you is how and why I made changes, from the discovery of the original incarnation’s recipe to dinner last night, when we ate slices leftover from the torte I made a few days ago.

Even before I had any cooking skills, I was fascinated by cookbooks.  They were books about food—with pictures.  I might not have been much of a cook, but I’ve always been a champ at eating.I especially loved going to garage sales and the library sale to snag those little cookbook magazines from the checkout line at the supermarket.  The older the issue better, with a special interest in the Pillsbury Bake-Off editions.

In one from the 70s, was a Mexican pie built in a pie crust and layered with hamburger, sliced tomatoes, lots of cheese and sour cream.  I decided to make it.

It was tasty, but it was also so full of fat that after a few bites one felt the need to go for a run, followed by a few hours of calisthenics.  I needed to lighten it up.To make for a dramatic, attractive presentation, I make it in a spring form pan.  I layer it with flour tortillas which I dredge in a sauce.  Between the tortillas I’d put a couple different Mexican ingredients.

For the sauce, I mixed a mild green salsa, some chicken stock, and sour cream.  I put it in a pie tin and coated both sides of the tortillas before I laid them in the spring form.

I took the topping from the original recipe but lightened it.  After the torte had cooked (covered in a parchment round and foil) at 350 to an internal temp of 165, I uncovered it, spread 2 tablespoons of low-fat sour cream on top, and sprinkled ½ cup or so of cheddar.  I then put it under the low broiler until browned.mexi-torta-1After experimenting, I settled on filling.  The center layer was 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken mixed with ½ cup of store-bought queso, like what you eat with chips.  The layers above and below the meat would be my deluxe homemade cantina-style rice.

Super Lucky Happy Fun-time Mexican Rice

cantina-rice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ yellow onion, chopped

1 ½ cups Jasmine rice rinsed under water until water runs clear, then drained

2-4 ounce cans chopped green chiles, undrained

1-10.75 ounce can low-sodium tomato soup

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons dry thyme

2 teaspoons Goya adobo powder

2 packets Goya Sazon with achiote

½ cup white wine

2 ½ cups chicken stock

1 cup frozen shoepeg corn

Heat oil in large, heavy pot with lid.  Sautee onions until they start to caramelize. Add the next seven ingredients and cook, stirring frequently until the rice is very lightly toasted.

Add wine and let cook out.  Pour in chicken stock and corn.  When it comes to a boil, lower to medium-low and cover.

Cook, covered, approx. 17 minutes or until liquid has just cooked in.  Take off heat, leave covered, for 15 minutes or so.  Serve, or use as layers in torte.

I hope this trip through my thoughts hasn’t been too traumatizing. I have one last thing to say.Boo!

Thanks for your time.

To each his herb

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Last week I talked about spices, and warm flavors.This week it’s herbs, and cooler flavors.

Fresh herbs are always best, but sometimes you don’t have the luxury.  There’s some dried thyme, as well as oregano and dill in my spice cabinet in case of emergencies.   But because those dried herbs can quickly lose their mojo, keep dried herbs no more than six months (label the bottle with date you brought it home).  rolled-herbs

To keep the fresh herbs longer, you’ve got two choices.  Either lay out about 6 pieces of paper towel on the counter.  Spritz the paper with cold water.  Then set a bunch down, and roll.  After that bunch is covered, lay down another bunch.  Roll, then lay another bunch, and so on.  When all the herbs are wrapped up, spritz the paper bundle, and place in a large zip top bag.  Refrigerate.

You second choice is easier but you don’t get quite as long a shelf life.  Trim the ends off the herbs.  Fill a tall glass with water, and place in the trimmed herbs like flowers in a vase.  Change water daily.

“Rosemary for remembrance”.  I’ve grown rosemary since Uncle Will, my honorary grandfather, died when The Kid was two.  I bought one very hardy, low maintenance Mediterranean variety which is now a large shrub outside my front doors.  It’s both fragrant and ornamental—many places use it for landscaping. rosemary-basilBasil is a soft leafy herb with that distinctive, fennel/licorice flavor.  It’s a staple in Italian foods.

I like to heat two cups of extra virgin olive oil and add a big handful of each herb.  Before adding the herbs I roll them between my hands to bring out the oils.  I then let the herbs steep until it cools.  I strain it and store it, covered, in the fridge.  This oil is great for dipping bread into.  It’s also good brushed on meat before grilling.  And if you’re not big on red sauce on pizza, brush a little of this aromatic oil on it, then arrange your toppings.

I make a paste of fresh thyme, lemon zest, Parmesano Reggiano, smashed fresh garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  I either crust a pork tenderloin with it or smear some under chicken or turkey skin. lemon-thyme-pasteQuite a few years ago my mom developed an allergy to eggs, and from then on, left them out of the potato salad.

I discovered I liked it better without eggs, so I made it that way, as well.  Only I added fresh dill and flat-leaf parsley.

I made it one night when we were visiting family friend Chef Chrissy.  When I served it, Chrissy mentioned that it was a little ‘passive’.  I think that was a nice way of saying boring.  Then Chrissy’s dad, Bear tried it.  He informed me that it was the best tater salad he’d ever eaten.  So from then on it was called…

Passive-aggressive potato saladpassive-potato-salad

8 medium-size red or Yukon gold potatoes, boiled to fork tender, cooled, peeled and cubed

½ yellow onion, diced

3 tablespoons each parsley and dill, chopped finely

4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1-1½ cups Hellmann’s mayo

Salt and pepper to taste

Place cooked, cubed potatoes in large bowl.  Add onions and herbs, drizzle in 2 tablespoons oil and toss.

Starting with 1 cup, stir in mayo.  If you need more, add more.  Season, taste, and re-season if necessary. Cover and let sit at room temp for 1 hour.

Right before service, stir in last 2 tablespoons oil.Serves 4-6.

When using fresh herbs in cooking, the later you add them, the fresher the flavor will be.  And always hold a little back, to sprinkle on the finished dish.  If only you could perk up your own life the same way…Thanks for your time.

Things I learned in class

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“What did we know from scallions?”

She may not have known a whole lot about scallions, but Nathalie Dupree is a walking encyclopedia of culinary knowledge and history.

Friday night I went over to the Southern Season in Chapel Hill, and attended a cooking class given by the Grande Dame of Southern Cuisine; Nathalie Dupree.  And boy, was I taken to school.  Below is just a few of the many, many things I learned.

1.)Nathalie is kind, and very funny.  And she absolutely does not believe in giving yourself a migraine by stressing in the kitchen.  The history of Southern cooking is not fancy and fussy, it’s making do with what you have on hand.

2.)When you’re cooking a large meal, write a list of everything you need to do, so you’re not sitting down to dinner and realize you forgot the rolls.  Order the list by cooking time.

3.)Okra.  Cut it lengthwise, and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until colored and crispy.

To dice okra, treat it just like an onion.  Leave on stem, cut width and length-wise.  Then slice it into a dice.

4.)Thomas Jefferson, who was an accomplished and curious farmer, is the reason why there are so many varieties of peas and beans available to us.  Using a couple types, our first course was this delicious salad.

Corn and butter bean salad

corn and bean salad

1 pound shelled butter beans, butter peas, speckled peas or any combination, fresh or frozen

6 ears corn on the cob, preferably Silver Queen, kernels and juice scraped from cob

1 green onion or scallion, sliced, white and green parts

8 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

¾ cup mayonnaise (Good Southern girl Nathalie has a strong preference for Dukes)

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar

3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Add the beans to boiling salted water, reduce heat and cook about 3 minutes.  Add the corn and cook 1 minute more.  Drain the beans and corn and run under cold water to stop the cooking and refresh them.  Drain again.

Gently toss together the beans, corn, onion, bacon, mayo, vinegar, and thyme.  Taste, then season.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour before serving for the best marriage of flavors.

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*Variation: Substitute one pound package frozen white shoe peg corn or other whole kernel corn (see, I told you she doesn’t believe in getting all crazy in the kitchen about ingredients or technique).

5.)This is absolutely genius: Because it’s a summer crop in the north, and a winter crop in the south, flour grown in Northern climes are harder, ie; contain more gluten, which makes for stretchier bread dough (a good thing).  Southern flour is softer, which is much better for flaky pie crusts and biscuits with crispy crusts, and tender insides.

WhieLilly, Martha White, and Southern Biscuit are all from the south and therefore better for cake, pastry, and biscuits.

King Arthur flour is from Vermont, and thus is a much harder wheat, and really good for bread making.

Gluten is protein.  So, if you’re not sure how much gluten is in a particular brand of flour, check the nutritional label.  Flour with higher protein content per serving has more gluten.

Nathalie Dupree is my kitchen hero.  To illustrate her laid back cooking philosophy, I will leave you with one of her best lines from class.

“If it turns out great, serve it.  If it doesn’t; make a trifle.”

It doesn’t matter what the original plan was…anything can be a trifle.

Thanks for your time.

 

Happiness by the Pound

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I really like a dish detergent that smells nice.  For a long time I used one that smelled like green apple Jolly Ranchers.  But it became harder and harder to find, until I had to look for another.

So there I was in Kroger, facing the great wall of dish detergent.  They were every color of the rainbow and every botanical aroma in the olfactory rainbow.

Then I spotted a bottle of creamy violet liquid.  And ever since the first grade when I saw purple socks on Donny Osmond, all shades of purple have been my favorite color.

It was Palmolive blueberry/almond.  I love blueberries.  By themselves or in stuff; don’t care.  Last weekend I was at Maple View Dairy and had their scrumptious blueberry ice cream.  I even have a small blueberry bush in my yard.  Unfortunately, it only produces about twenty berries—and I have to arm wrestle neighborhood birds for those.

This is Rodney.  He sucks.

Dumb birds.

Back at Kroger I unscrewed the cap and took a sniff.  It smelled just like sun-warmed blueberries, and lightly toasted almonds.

I took it home.  It’s become my brand.  The best is when I squeeze some onto a hot pan.  I get a face full of steam that smells like warm desserts stuffed with blueberries and almonds.

Which got me thinking…if hot dish detergent smells like something I’d like to taste, what if I baked something with the same ingredients, but without all the soap?  My nose was already convinced it was a great idea.

I decided to try the combo in a pound cake.  But I didn’t want it to be an ordinary pound cake.  The combination of blueberries and almonds remind me of hot summer nights out on the back porch, quiet country lanes, and small town farmers markets.

My pound cake would be an old-fashioned, traditional pound cake.  That means no leavening (baking soda and baking powder).  The bulk of the lift would come from the air beaten into the batter.  The NC state fair even has two different categories for the pound cake contest; one with leavening and a traditional one, without.

It’s also started in a cold oven.  The slower heating gets every last bit of rise out of it before the cake starts to set.

Traditionally, a pound cake was made with a pound of butter, flour, eggs, and sugar.  My recipe uses cups, ‘cause that’s just how I roll.  And the salt in the recipe is only for enhancing flavor.

Blueberry Almond Pound Cake

blueberry pound

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

3 cups sugar + 2 tablespoons

3 cups all-purpose flour (divided)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1-1 1/2 cup raw sliced almonds

big pinch of salt

Instructions

Generously grease and flour tube pan and set out eggs and butter to allow them to come to room temperature.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.

Reserve 2 tablespoons of flour and sift the rest with the salt and add it to the creamed mixture alternately with the heavy cream, starting and finishing with the dry ingredients.

Mix until fully incorporated, and quite fluffy.  Stir in the vanilla and almond extract.

Toss the blueberries with 2 tablespoons flour to coat, and gently fold into batter.

Pour into prepared pan.  Sprinkle almonds on top, and then sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over.

Place in a cold oven. Turn the oven to 300 and bake for 80-90 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, but moist.

Cool for 20 minutes then remove from pan and flip back over so that almonds are on top.

Serve with more berries and ice cream.  Or, Spread butter on slices and toast in oven until golden brown.  You should get about 16 slices.  Store in airtight container.

Don’t let this cake intimidate you.  Remember, this is the way folks baked for millennia.  Only you have the advantage of an electric mixer.  In addition, you probably don’t have to milk a cow, or fondle a chicken for her eggs.

Thanks for your time.