BOOK/A TABLE - A Love Letter

A new version of Wuthering Heights is fast upon us in time for Valentine’s Day. I hear the movie is ‘loosely-based’ on Emily Brontë’s novel, focusing rather more on the love affair between Cathy and Heathcliff as adults, as depicted by its stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. 

I’ll see it of course, but in the meantime, I’d like to bring up a little-discussed aspect of Miss Brontë’s romances—namely, her love affair with books! In Chapter 17 of Wuthering Heights, she writes via the character of Mr. Lockwood:

“No books!” I exclaimed. “How do you contrive to live here without them? If I may take the liberty to inquire—Though provided with a large library, I’m frequently very dull at the Grange—take my books away, and I should be desperate!”

Yes, where would we be without books, without love? Desperate!

I love that Wuthering Heights exists in the world because Emily Brontë dared to imagine it. This post is a love letter to her, then, flung across the moors of which she dreamed long ago. But I will always keep this gentle, final paragraph from Wuthering Heights close to my heart:

“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”

Enjoy this remarkably simple chocolate raspberry clafoutis, mostly done in a blender, and meant to inspire romance in every heart! (The heart-shaped cocotte from Le Creuset may be found here.)

Chocolate Raspberry Clafoutis
Adapted from Gourmet 

Ingredients
12 oz fresh raspberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/2 stick unsalted butter (melted)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
3-3.5 oz bittersweet chocolate (chopped)

Method
Preheat to 400°F. Toss berries with sugar. Blend milk, butter, eggs, brown sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt. Pour batter over berries in a baking dish and bake for about 35 minutes, then top with chopped chocolate.

P.S. I recently ordered this gorgeously painted, gilt-edged deluxe edition of Wuthering Heights from Harper Muse! Other titles include The Secret Garden, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and The Great Gatsby.

Turkey Chili & Wine Engagement

Having squeezed the life out of the Gourmet November/2008 issue for our Thanksgiving menu, we found yet another recipe to duly dispatch of our near-to-ragged carcass: our unsuspecting turkey (shown above) was about to be turned into turkey chili! What a cozy Saturday afternoon too, just around ten of us, lazing about with wine glasses in hand with forkfuls of satisfying chili in the other. Perfectly paired reds included a Temperanillo, Sangiovese and Malbec--the white was a single unoaked Chardonnay-Viognier blend from Languedoc. Aromas of The Spice House's mulling spices with apple and peach cider further filled the room (and some of  it went down with a shot of Bourbon here and there, but more on that later) as we made another go of the festive feasting holiday.

Turkey Chili

Makes 6 to 8 servings (We doubled this by using more beans* and another can of whole tomatoes and good thing too—the 10 of us couldn’t stop eating!)

Ingredients

1 large white onion, coarsely chopped

2 bell peppers (any color), cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

2 teaspoon packed brown sugar

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice

1 (19-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup water

2 cups cooked turkey, cut into 1-inch pieces

*We added in a can of cannellini beans. The addition of 1 TB cumin, 1 TB garlic powder and 1 tsp or so Penzey’s chipotle powder turned out to be essential!

Preparation

Cook onion and peppers in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Add spices and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, breaking them up with back of a spoon, then add beans, water, and 1 teaspoon salt and simmer, covered, 15 minutes.

Stir in turkey and let stand, covered, until heated through, 5 minutes. 

We let the chili sit in the refrigerator overnight, brought our pot to room temperature the next day and let it simmer back to full heat for about an hour. Serve with shredded Mexican cheeses, sour cream, limes, tortilla chips and Fritos!

Cassoulet 2015

It hardly seems like another year could have possibly passed in which I celebrate the anniversary of my blog, but it has! As usual, I found a different cassoulet recipe to make in proud honor of my first post. Epicurious.com was responsible for this one, employing a recipe from the March 2006 issue of Gourmet magazine. While it was tasty certainly, it wasn't exactly among my favorite instructions of the other more hearty, traditional French classic preparations that I've made over the years. I subbed pork loin for pork shoulder (it was just easier--and cheaper!) and as much as some readers may cringe, I used a couple of cans of white beans instead of taking the time to let dried beans soak overnight. Instead of the suggested pork sausage, I rounded up some D'Artagnan wild boar sausage as well as a rabbit-pork-ginger blend to great effect. A delight! However you personalize your cassoulet, I do find it absolutely essential to let the dish rest, refrigerated for a day or two, before slowly reheating and serving to your guests. Make the crumb topping (a great touch) just before this step and do enjoy!

Thanks to folks for reading eveningswithpeter.com!

Chicken with Lemons and Olives

After my recent, spasmodic lemon craze, I wondered what I should do with my preserved lemons. Gourmet provided a ready answer with this chicken tagine dish (a somewhat shallow Le Creuset covered skillet and I proceeded to make short work of my sour, salty friends). This was not difficult work by any means although I suspect guests might think otherwise. Such a rhapsody to serve; a marvelous balance of tart, sweet, savory, salty and buttery deliciousness, even though no actual butter was involved. Incorporating garlic and ginger paste, cilantro and cinnamon, the aromas filled the kitchen--can't you practically inhale it all, leaping off of the page? Saffron threads were first up in a small skillet, to be toasted until fragrant. Frankly, I've never really understood what saffron does (this particular batch delivered by a Belgian friend), but I use it anyway, as suggested in any recipe. It's pretty but I've never really smelled it or tasted it; I just rely on the idea that it is doing its elusive job. I used subtly sumptuous, plump Castelvetrano olives that imparted an unexpected buttery flavor--pit them yourself or apprise your guests that the pits remain as they recklessly bite in. Whatever you do, be keen when choosing your olives--overly salty won't do, add your own salt in, if you wish. The pulp of the preserved lemons slides right off the rind with a proper knife and the chopped rinds themselves melt quite away, leaving a bright tingle to the tagine, once warmed. Now, you could purchase preserved lemons at a specialty market but there is really little to do--just quarter, salt and soak the lemons in their own juices a week ahead of time before topping off with olive oil, and proudly announce that you prepared them all by yourself.

Dispatching the lemons as the olives observe...!

The vibrant mix with a flutter of cilantro, about to be simmered for roughly 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, before the olives are tossed in for another 10 or so...!

Do enjoy!

Play Reading - Gypsy

This month our merry band of players took on the mother of all musicals, Gypsy. Based around a ferocious stage mother named Rose, the show gloriously depicts the old vaudeville circuit and Rose's neglected daughter's later rise to epic fame in burlesque--none other than the legendary stripper Miss Gypsy Rose Lee. As that grand old show tune "Everything's Coming Up Roses" closes Act One, we had to have red roses on the table for a centerpiece and our friend was kind enough to bring such beautiful long-stemmed roses--bunches of them. Aren't they just gorgeous?

I lined up battery-powered candles to make footlights for our "stage" and lit a free-standing antique mirror to create a spotlight on the ceiling. Red paper dinner napkins made a great runway strip, er, runner.

 



Since Chinese food is all they can afford through most of the show, we made what else? A Chinese buffet! 

We ordered a few things for delivery too from our favorite local restaurant. In tribute to a song in the show that extolls the virtues of Chinese food as much as the booking agent who agrees to hire the girls for an act, we greeted our guests with eggrolls, still warm from out of the bag, and extra duck sauce and hot mustard. We also ordered sesame noodles, but I have a great homemade recipe too made with ramped up college-days-Ramen that serves two. The amount of ingredients are entirely suited to taste.

Peanut Butter Sesame Noodles

Ingredients

Ramen noodles

A cube of chicken bouillon, dissolved in water

Smashed garlic cloves, to taste

Some soy sauce

Sesame oil

Suitable seasonings, as you like

A spoon of sweet chili sauce, oyster sauce, or red pepper for spice

Peanut butter

Bangkok Padang sauce

Sesame seeds, for garnish

Chopped scallions, for garnish

Method

Boil the noodles. In another pot add about one-third to one-half cup bouillon, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and the seasonings of choice, to taste. Mix in the peanut butter and add more water or soy as it thickens. Coat the noodles with Padangsauce and adjust seasonings. Garnish with sesame seeds or scallions, or both.

 
Inhabitants of our pu-pu platter included skewers of ginger teriyaki marinated beef skirt steak from Fresh Direct--all we had to do was run the sliced meat through with bamboo skewers (that had been soaked for a while in water so they won't burn) and cook the meat for a short time in the oven. An old friend sent me a wonderful recipe for chicken wings came from an issue of Gourmet magazine from December of 1999.

Chicken Wings in Lime, Apricot and Soy Sauce

Ingredients

8 lb chicken wings (halved at joint, tips cut off)

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 4 to 5 limes)

1 cup apricot preserves

1 cup soy sauce

2/3 cup sugar

4 large garlic cloves

Method

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Divide wings between 2 large disposable foil roasting pans, arranging in single layers. Purée remaining ingredients in a blender and pour mixture over wings, dividing evenly between pans. Bake wings in upper and lower thirds of oven 60 minutes. Turn wings over and switch position of pans in oven, then bake 20 minutes more, or until liquid is thick and sticky.

Serve wings warm or at room temperature.

 
Roast Pork enlivened with red food coloring may be found here. From a Polynesian cocktail party we threw years ago!

In a snap we had fantastic ginger cookies to follow the curtain, aptly named Ginger Grants from Stud Muffin Desserts that everybody just loved. Flavors of orange and lemon with a ginger kick had a soft center and a sugary exterior.

And so, we take our bows; the final rose. Read more about roses that play an important part in my harrowing novel, the pale of memory available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Go to peter-sherwood.net for more info. 

Chocolate Raspberry Clafoutis

An old friend asked me the other day what she should serve her husband for Valentine's Day. Baby and I had given her an enameled heart-shaped Le Creuset Dutch oven and she wanted to utilize it to make something suitable for the occasion. I responded almost immediately with "Clafoutis!" This elegant, perfectly easy dessert is mostly done in a blender and what's more, summons the cherubs!

Chocolate Raspberry Clafoutis is adapted from Gourmet, March 2009.

Cassoulet

Baby and I were just enthralled watching DVDs of Julia Child's show The French Chef and became so inspired that we decided to really try and utilize any of the many cookbooks filling the shelves in our pantry more frequently. The French Chef Cookbook that features recipes from the ground-breaking show was a natural to start with and first up was Cassoulet (The Thirty-ninth Show)! And you must say it as she would have, like a flute stuffed with cotton. Cassoulet!

Now, we don't shy away from the complicated meals, the ones that take a week to prepare. Ask our recent guests that reveled in Onion Soup, Lobster Yorkshire Puddings with a vanilla chive sauce and tarragon chiffonade as a precedent to our Filet Mignon (with homemade demi glace) and a side of asparagus drizzled with Michael Lomonaco's Shallot Champagne Vinaigrette from '21'. But we certainly picked a doozy to start out with in recreating Julia's Cassoulet. We started on Monday, and finished on Friday, shortly before our guests arrived.

Apart from the food served, the success of any dinner party hinges upon the guests involved. Ours were split into three camps, who were excited for three different reasons. For the Sisters M, Cassoulet is their favorite thing, and they immediately set out to find red wines for a perfect pairing; Slushy had never tried the dish before; and Islip (Slushy's boyfriend) had never heard of anybody taking a week to prepare a meal. I recently learned that we inspired him to make a somewhat elaborate meal of his own for Slushy. That's perhaps the most exciting news.

Once we had settled on our main dish and the guests involved, I started thinking about what else to serve--and I must say that everything we created for this meal was a really wonderful journey. So Cassoulet is probably the most hearty dish ever, right? I didn't want to serve cheeses, meats, or anything else to weigh our guests down. I remembered from years back a friend had served salted radishes with butter as a starter. Perfect! I kept the leafy greens intact and spread them across an olive wood cutting board with a ramekin of butter on the side. Not only did it all look gorgeous by the flicker of candlelight, the radishes were quickly devoured.

Recalling an article from Saveur (my favorite magazine, I've kept every issue--it features Reese's Cups as readily as it does foie gras), I thought an elegant platter of white asparagus with pink-tinged tips would make for a superb first course. It certainly wowed our friends, and never having made it before, wowed Baby and I as well. It was Saveur that taught us to shave the tough skin of white asparagus, which you don't have to do with the green variety, and simmer the stalks in water with butter, lemon and salt (I assume to remove the bitterness). I added Bay leaves to the water for another layer of flavor. Riffing on the aforementioned Shallot Champagne Vinaigrette, I brushed a blend of lemon and oregano infused olive oils, garlic, and white wine vinegar on the asparagus.

The Cassoulet was well worth the time spent. It was decidedly a hit! We had prepared our lamb on Monday, and made our sausage cakes. Tuesday, we roasted the pork! As we had theater tickets on Wednesday, we took the night off. Thursday, we soaked our beans and prepared for the final assembly. Then the Cassoulet only had to bake for an hour before it was ready to go.

We had just planned on serving lemon sorbet with basil for dessert but I was unsatisfied with that. How do you serve something as rich as Cassoulet and then cap it off with sorbet? No, we needed a bejeweled crown. Then the March issue of Gourmet magazine arrived with a recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Clafoutis ("somewhere between custard and cake") and it was easy as pie. Most of it's done in a blender and couldn't be more jaw-dropping.

Et voila, mes cheres, here we have a perfect evening suited for Cassoulet!

Soundtrack: Martinis with Mancini; Austin Powers Soundtrack; Serge Gainsbourg, Couleur Cafe; Paris Combo, living-room