BOOK/A TABLE - This Applesauce Rules!

                   

A Prayer for Owen Meany* by John Irving was the first book that ever made me cry. Books had been making people cry for years, of course, but I never quite understood it growing up. Crying during a movie made more sense to me, the passivity of watching the drama unfold, you know? Reading is active—if distracted, you turn away, the reel jams, the celluloid melts, the story stops! Hardly a time for tears. Oh, the impatience of youth!

But when I read the extraordinary A Prayer for Owen Meany, I finally understood. Oh, the tears fell down like autumn windfall apples! 

I suppose it wasn’t surprising then that I cried again over Irving’s The Cider House Rules only a few months ago. The story centers on events surrounding an orphanage and hospital in the fictional town of St. Cloud’s in Maine (my homeland). There, women deliver unwanted babies (those ‘Princes of Maine’; those ‘Kings of New England’) or the women themselves are delivered from unwanted pregnancies. The book deliberately parallels David Copperfield as we follow Homer Wells’s journey—and indeed wonder whether or not this particular orphan will become the hero of his own life. 

There are also many pages devoted to apples, their cultivation (and rules of operating the cider house), as you might well imagine. But here, let’s start with the basics. Applesauce!

Following the loose instructions torn out of an old Bon Appétit, I have made Carla Lalli Music’s practically effortless recipe for perfect applesauce many times. She says, “As the apples transform, their skins surrender tannins and color to the sauce, and the fruit steams in its own juices, concentrating the flavors as the liquid simmers.” Doesn’t that sound just fantastic? 

And as Homer (our Prince of Maine and King of New England) observes, “...people will always eat apples...it must be a nice life.”

Applesauce
Adapted from a recipe by Carla Lalli Music, featured in Bon Appétit

Ingredients
A few apples; any kind that suits your fancy
A stick of cinnamon
Juice from 1 lemon
A scraped-out vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Method
Halve the apples and add them to sturdy pot (enamel Le Creuset pots are great) with all the ingredients on medium-low. Add a 1/4 cup of water and let them be. When the rich aromas begin filling the kitchen, stir your apples to make sure they aren’t sticking—if they are, add a little more water.

The total simmering time should be about 45 minutes to yield a rosy, tender flesh. Transfer your batch to a food mill to catch any seeds or stems.

Serve warm. Or chilled!

*(For a deeper dive into A Prayer for Owen Meany, check out Fifth Business by Robertson Davies—Irving based Owen Meany on it.)

Turkey with Pumpkin Mole Sauce

Thoughts on Thanksgiving leftovers...? Well, I do keep a loose flurry of recipes that I have amassed over the years. This one, in my old binder, was apparently printed in 2004 and lay there, in wait. I'm so glad I riffled through the binder and found this old chestnut for chicken with pumpkin mole sauce--it's delicious! But let's talk turkey--why not try this recipe with a proud Tom this year? 

Now, I love traditional chicken mole as you might know and was delighted with this new pumpkin version. As often happens, I find there are delicious recipes to be discovered, waiting to be tailored to one's personal taste, the season, or even dietary restrictions. I, for example, am someone who does not like it spicy hot and I have an aversion to tomatoes (or rather they do to me). I substituted white cannellini beans for substance and the squeezes of fresh lime wedges made up for the acidity. My version was a smaller set-up designed for two and was all quite wonderful. The basic recipe is below with personal reflections and time-saving suggestions in italics. The link is here and thanks to Bon Appetit, epicurious.com and chef Rick Bayless for the recipe!

Chicken (or Turkey) with Creamy Pumpkin Mole Sauce
Serves 2

Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 3-inch-diameter slice white onion (1/2 inch thick), separated into rings
2 garlic cloves, peeled (I used a garlic ginger paste that I had on hand, to great effect! About 2 teaspoons)
1 5x3x1/2-inch-thick slice country white bread, crust trimmed (I used a single onion brioche roll, not trimmed, just easier)
3/4 cup drained canned diced tomatoes (insert cannellini beans here)
1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 canned chipotle chile (or so, some like it hot!)
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/3 cup whipping cream (I used fat-free sour cream, thank you)
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 skinless boneless chicken breast (I used 1 huge chicken breast, bone-in--or shredded turkey!)
Fresh cilantro sprigs (nope)
Lime wedges (yes!)

Method 
(Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees)

1. In same large pot, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onion rings and (garlic and ginger paste). Sauté until brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to processor, leaving oil in pot. Add bread to processor (reserve pot). Add tomatoes (or beans) to processor. Puree mixture until smooth. Transfer tomato puree (or beans) to small bowl (do not clean processor). Add 1/2 cup broth and (1 ) chipotle chile to processor. Puree until smooth.
2. Add 1 tablespoon oil to reserved pot. Heat over medium-high heat. Add chile puree; cook until puree thickens and darkens, stirring often, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add tomato (or bean) puree. Simmer until thick, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Whisk in pumpkin and 3 cups broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until mole thickens and reduces to 3 1/3 cups, about 30 minutes. Put chicken in oven for 25 minutes. Whisk in whipping cream (or sour cream) and sugar. Season to taste with salt. 
3. (NOTE: If you are using leftover turkey, just add pumpkin sauce to it here, with the sour cream and sugar, and put in oven for 20 minutes. There is no need to cook further after that--you are really just warming up the turkey and letting the flavors blend together. Otherwise, proceed as below!)

Cook chicken for 20 minutes more, adding sauce and covering. Sprinkle chicken generously with salt. Let rest for at least 10 minutes, cover slipped to the side to cool, before serving. Spritz with lime. Dress with chicken-flavored rice!

The link to the actual recipe is here. Thank you epicurious.com for the recipe!

Great Pumpkin (Ravioli)!

Duly inspired by the classic Charlie Brown special, I adapted this recipe for Fusilli with Gorgonzola and Walnut Sauce (Bon Appetit, November 2006) posted on epicurious.com to make pumpkin ravioli with a walnut cream sauce. I suggest you do too! My version varied by using the ravioli instead of fusilli and a few leaves of sage instead of a cup of chopped basil. Dress it up with a salad of arugula and sliced Fuji apples gently tossed in a red wine vinaigrette and do enjoy!

Pumpkin Ravioli in Cream Sauce with Toasted Walnuts
Comfortably serves four as a pasta course

Ingredients
1 package fresh pumpkin-stuffed ravioli, about 12 large pieces
2 TBS butter
1 TB olive oil (I skipped this; wasn't necessarily needed I didn't think--or okay, I forgot)
3 garlic cloves, minced with garlic press
1 tsp thyme
3/4 cup heavy cream (definitely needed)
3/4 cup domestic crumbled gorgonzola
3/4 cup toasted walnuts (put them under the broiler until fragrant, only a few minutes)
Several sprigs of sage leaves, without stems

Method
Cook raviolis in salted boiling water until they float, about three minutes or so. Remove with a handled strainer and reserve a cup of the pasta liquid. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat (add in a good green fruity olive oil here, if using). Toss in the garlic and saute with thyme for a few minutes. Add the ravioli, cream and gorgonzola on lower heat. Mix together and add pasta liquid slowly until sauce thickens; the whole cup might not be required. Stir in the sage and warmed nuts with lots of freshly ground black pepper and a few grinds of cracked salt.

A Vegetable Festival!

Surely you remember how tiresome it was when you were a child and any speaking relative could tell you to eat your vegetables. Well, spring into summer as we have here a recipe for a whole roasted head of delicious cauliflower in a yogurt marinade as well as a tasty dish of fresh fettucine with morels, asparagus, and peas! I adapted the recipes here and there, as one does to suit the individual taste, and I found the following two dishes to be quite good. So did my guests! PureWow.com served up Spicy Whole Roasted Cauliflower, the link found here. I bought prepared tzatziki to sub for the yogurt marinade and it worked just fine. Add in the suggested chili, cumin, garlic, and curry or more to make it as spicy as you like.

Epicurious.com provided the fettucine recipe via Bon Appetit, and I adapted the recipe that may be  found here. I did much more tinkering with this one, adding in about a cup of frozen peas that I cooked and tossed in at the end. I readily roasted the asparagus in Persian lime oil (extra-virgin olive oil is fine of course, or even a spritz of lime juice) instead of boiling the stalks, as the recipe suggests. The fettucine was fresh (not dried), I skipped the snips of tarragon because we didn't have any on hand and used fat-free condensed skim milk instead of whipping cream--we didn't even notice the lack of fat! And as hideous as the morels may appear, they are so sumptuously fragrant and spongy and really make the whole dish.

Do enjoy!

Thanks PhoenixTools.org for the picture of the morels! Wonderful!

A Dinner to Die(t) For

As Baby was away on business for three weeks and rigorously dieting all the while, I wanted to create a celebratory dinner for him upon his return; one that was delicious but also mindful, regarding pounds and ounces. I had read an article in New York magazine about the influence of cauliflower in terms of the city's tables--I was instantly intrigued as it set my mind to work on what was to be the centerpiece of our dinner--cauliflower steaks! This cruciferous vegetable has been blanched, sliced and griddled all over town apparently as of late. I was drawn to a particular description of the cauliflower first being "milk-pickled" at Blue Hill in Greenwich Village before being cooked sous vide and then seared. For a number of hours, I thought to let our halved head of cauliflower sit refrigerated in low-fat milk with a few tablespoons from a tin of buttermilk brining powder we had bought at Williams-Sonoma, shaking the mix about now and then. The cauliflower was then ready for a sear in a cast iron skillet. I wasn't sure if the whole thing would fall apart but it didn't, clinging firmly to its leaves at the base, which added a fine flavor. I think our veggie friend could have even withstood more time in the pan for an even markedly deeper char.

Garlicky kale from Fresh Direct was a great side and we absolutely fell in love with our easy-to-make, beautiful summer squash salad so fresh and full of flavor from basil and parsley with crunchy red quinoa and complementing walnuts from Epicurious.com.

Rosie Daley, Oprah Winfrey's spa chef from years ago, provided a recipe for Chocolate Tofu Cake from In The Kitchen With Rosie for a wonderful dessert! Tofu, cocoa powder, cinnamon, maple syrup, low-fat ricotta cheese and cream cheese, a few tablespoons of Godiva chocolate liqueur and Patron coffee liqueur were first all whipped up and then chilled (no crust!) to lead us to a most satisfying, guilt-free conclusion! 

Crepes Corbie

When Corbie was eight years old, she used to hang around the smoke-filled green room in the theater wing of my college, where her mother taught students about the world of musical comedy. I suppose we baby sat Corbie in a way, so naturally we all tortured this precocious, tousled-haired little girl. She recently turned 30 and now I find myself friends with a successful, slyly beautiful, talented young woman. To celebrate in our way, Baby and I made her dinner headlining our own creation, flaming Crepes Corbie. Think of a savory Suzette, with lobster (we are both from New England, of course) with vanilla chive sauce, brown butter, pearls of salmon roe and of course, Cognac.

I set a reasonable table for the three of us during the day with these outrageous tall stems that dangled sprouted pods from the top as a centerpiece, and other autumnal branches that had delicate orange and yellow flowers,  reflective of our petite pumpkins and ghoulish gourds.

Baby made the stacks of crepes ahead of time as well. To make the thin pancakes, a basic recipe can be found here. And always throw the first one out for luck!

About an hour or so before our guest of honor arrived, we started to saute the lobster shells (from the reserved lobster meat) in butter and wilt the leeks, carrots, celery and tarragon chiffonade in prep for the vanilla chive lobster sauce. This requires heavy cream and I forgot to buy it, but you know what? You forge on (and don't tell anybody your dish didn't come out the way you wanted it to be). The end result was still pretty tasty, just thinner, and well, less fattening too.

We made the scallion mashed potatoes ahead of time too, and quickly microwaved our bag of haricots verts with almonds from FreshDirect, as we reheated the potatoes later and topped them with lump crab before serving.

When we all sat down to dinner (after a few glasses of rose, which turned into a few more) we enjoyed a wonderful salad composed of mesclun greens, Napa cabbage, Mandarin orange segments and toasted brioche croutons tossed with a silky shiitake and sesame dressing, courtesy of Annie's, which frankly could be served with a straw.

The Crepes Corbie were a delight to make, as we rolled up three at a time in a buttery saute pan, with the lobster tucked inside. Then we added about a quarter cup of Cognac, removed from the heat and lit the whole thing on fire! A note: before the flames rapidly die down, the dish should be presented theatrically to the table (at a distance) and served once the incendiary crepes are quite out.

We had yellow cupcakes with vanilla frosting for dessert. After all, whatever our age, I hope we are still children at heart.

Happy Birthday, dear Corbie!

Tonight's Menu - Sole Meuniere

It worked! It worked! After several miserable attempts at making Sole Meuniere, this one was a triumph. Check out here, here, here, and here. Below is the recipe to follow--at last what was once my Waterloo turned out to be wondrous. What I've learned: make sure you have a cooperative, conducive pan (fairly shallow, and well-heated--an All-Clad skillet is great), a sizable cut of sole filets, not too thin, and the best European butter you can find. And don't let the fish linger once you've floured it; cook it right away.

Lemon sole was the star, served with a reasonable cucumber bisque as a starter, before moving on to a frisee salad with a ton of chopped parsley freshened with a mustard bacon dressing and whole potatoes roasted in olive oil to accompany our main.

Classic Sole Meunière
Recipe adapted by Molly Wizenberg via Bon Appetit magazine 

2 servings

Ingredients
Fish
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 lemon sole fillets (each about 3 to 4 ounces)
Coarse kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Sauce
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Lemon wedges

Method:
Fish
Place flour in pie dish. Rinse fish; pat with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides of fish with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge fish on both sides with flour; shake off excess. Place on platter.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until oil is hot and shimmers. Add butter; quickly swirl skillet to coat. When foam subsides, add fish and cook until golden on bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully turn fish over and cook until opaque in center and golden on bottom, 1 to 2 minutes. Divide fish between 2 warmed plates; tent with foil. Pour off drippings from skillet; wipe with paper towels.

Sauce
Place skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter; cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley and lemon juice (sauce may sputter). Spoon sauce over fish. Serve with lemon wedges.

Thanks to manhattanpug.blogspot.com for the image!

Swiss Chard Stew

This Swiss Chard Stew from epicurious.com (Bon Appetit, December 2005) with curried red lentils and garbanzo beans is extraordinarily good. Making it also happened to effectively dispatch a number of things we already had in our cupboard such as several cubes of vegetable bouillon, lentils, cayenne, and curry powder. We didn't have red lentils, so I used the green variety, cooked until tender, and although this recipe calls for canned garbanzos, I used a pound of dried, simmering them independently first, which lent a nice texture to the dish. We had a bunch of fresh kale patiently waiting in our crisper, so I subbed that for the chard. A hint: to remove the stalks, just grab onto them with one hand and rip the leafy fronds off with the other. We also used a little creme fraiche instead of the yogurt called for as that was what we had on hand. Such a warming dish for winter and very easy to make. Just don't go overboard in devouring it when it is placed on the table--as you might well imagine, it is very high in fiber!

Swiss Chard Stew
Adapted from epicurious.com
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
5 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
1 large bunch or 2 small bunches Swiss chard, tough stalks removed, coarsely chopped (about 12 cups)
1 pound red lentils (about 2 1/4 cups)
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
Plain yogurt

Preparation
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 13 minutes. Mix in curry and cayenne. Add broth and chard. Increase heat; bring to boil. Add lentils and garbanzos; reduce heat to medium. Cover; simmer until lentils are tender, stirring twice, about 10 minutes. Divide stew among bowls. Top with yogurt.

Photo credit: Scott Peterson

Chasen's Chili & Biscuits

Well, Baby and I made buckets of Chasen's incredible, famed chili and froze it as Mr. Chasen himself used to do before serving to his patrons, then reheated our individual parcels, a considerable stash, to accommodate ourselves as well as our guests over the ensuing wintry weeks. The recipe is right below--along with a roadmap for Cheddar, Bacon and Fresh Chive Biscuits to go with. I recommend maple syrup for drizzling over the biscuits, and of course lots of Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses, scallions and sour cream for toppings on the chili!

Individual servings of Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche are a fun and excellent conclusion--also, if you're game, try scoops of the ice cream in your favorite coffee for a wonderful affogatto dessert.

Chasen's Chili
Adapted from cooksrecipes.com
Ingredients
1/2 pound dried pinto beans
Water
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups onions, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup butter
2 pounds beef chuck, coarsely chopped
1 pound pork shoulder, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup Gebhardt's brand chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
Rinse the beans, picking out the debris. Place beans in a Dutch oven with water to cover. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand one hour. Drain off liquid.
Rinse beans again. Add enough fresh water to cover beans. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for one hour or until tender.
Stir in tomatoes and their juice. Simmer 5 minutes. In a large skillet sauté bell pepper in oil for 5 minutes. Add onion and cook until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the garlic and parsley. Add mixture to bean mixture. Using the same skillet melt the butter and sauté beef and pork chuck until browned. Drain. Add to bean mixture along with the chili powder, salt, pepper, and cumin.
Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered for one hour. Uncover and cook 30 minutes more or to desired consistency. Chili shouldn't be too thick--it should be somewhat liquid but not runny like soup. Skim off excess fat and serve.
Makes 10 cups or 6 main dish servings.

Cheddar, Bacon, and Fresh Chive Biscuits
Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2010

yield: Makes 12
active time: 25 minutes
total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients
6 thick-cut bacon slices
3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus melted butter for brushing 2 1/2 cups (packed) coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 12 ounces)
1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
1 3/4 cups chilled buttermilk
Preparation
Position rack just above center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain, then chop coarsely.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in processor; blend 5 seconds. Add butter cubes. Blend until coarse meal forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer flour mixture to large bowl. Add cheddar cheese, fresh chives, and chopped bacon; toss to blend. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring to moisten evenly (batter will feel sticky).
Using lightly floured hands, drop generous 1/2 cup batter for each biscuit onto prepared baking sheet, spacing batter mounds about 2 inches apart.
Bake biscuits until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Brush biscuits lightly with melted butter. Let cool 10 minutes. Serve biscuits warm or at room temperature with honey, if desired.

Soundtrack: RuPaul, Supermodel of the World; Soho, Goddess; Deee-Lite, Infinity Within; Betty Boo, Boomania; En Vogue, Funky Divas