Snow Pudding

My Nana used to make Snow Pudding years ago. Although I never tried it growing up, my crazy cousins always loved it as children. Fortunately, so many of her recipes were compiled in a treasured family cookbook and this dessert is also among its pages. As we were all getting together for Christmas, I thought I would try my hand at making the fluffy confection. The recipe itself is fairly simple, but making something from other people's memories is not. All the same, I set to work anyway and the eyes-closed reverie when my cousins tasted it after dinner was sweet confirmation that I had done something good--they also told me it was just perfect.

Do enjoy and Happy New Year everybody!

Snow Pudding
1 T unflavored gelatin
1 c sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
3 egg whites

Soak gelatin in 1/2 c cold water. Dissolve in 1 c boiling water. Add sugar and lemon juice. Let cool, stirring occasionally. When thick, beat until frothy. Beat egg whites until stiff. Add to lemon mixture. Beat all together. Pour sauce over pudding when serving.

Sauce
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups milk, scalded
Vanilla
Beat yolks slightly. Add sugar and salt. Stir mixture while adding scalded milk. Cook in double boiler until thick. Cool and flavor with vanilla.

Thanks to whitegadget.com for the photo!

A Friend Writes...Peppermint Fudge!

Just right for the holidays!

"I made this last night for my co-workers - it was a big hit today at the office - super fast and easy, and looked really nice in little 4"x4" white bakers' boxes with silver parchment paper, very festive!"

Peppermint Fudge
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cups (one bag) chocolate chips - I made two batches, one white chocolate and one dark chocolate
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint hard candies

Method
Line an 8x8 square baking pan with foil.
Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips, peppermint extract and crushed candy. Stir vigorously until marshmallows are completely melted. Pour into foil lined baking pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Remove from pan, remove foil, and cut into 1" square pieces.

Thanks to totalbeverage.net for the photo!

Tonight's Menu - Seared Sea Scallops with Buerre Blanc

Saveur has enthralled me yet again with their last two issues. I was duly moved to make seared scallops in a buerre blanc sauce with finger limes from the November issue--but after a little research, there aren't any such limes in the city and ordering them would have set me back $200 for six pints (I only needed four limes) plus $50 shipping to send them here from L.A. Taking a cue from the restaurant Crispo in our relative neighborhood and how they remarkably pair fresh grapefruit with skate, I sought out pink grapefruit. I supremed one palish orb and enveloped the richly pink interior in the buerre blanc sauce while plucking out the little pearls of another for garnish with the scallops. Divine!

As tarragon was part of the sauce, I wanted something similarly resonant to serve alongside and voila, popovers with chopped rosemary emerged from the December pages of Saveur. I didn't have time to seek out goose fat or render my own as the recipe suggests, so I used bacon fat that we already had in the fridge. These I made early and just before it was time to eat, I popped them back into the oven to warm up. Here's how they started out:

I was so engaged with the evening I never had the chance to take more pictures but the menu is below of course and the recipes are linked below just the same where applicable. Thyme, by the way, completed the herbal threaded trinity of this meal when lacing our lemon sorbet. Do enjoy!

Tonight's Menu
Rosemary Popovers
Brussels Sprouts with Pearl Onions & Herb Butter (microwavable, courtesy of Fresh Direct) with Fire-Roasted Tomatoes and Chopped Prosciutto
Scallops with Grapefruit and Buerre Blanc
Lemon Sorbet (courtesy of Sharon's) with Thyme

Shouldn't You Just...?

Have a happy holiday season? Be well, everybody and take care of each other. Thanks for reading.

Advice on modern etiquette for the not-so-new millennium.

Photo credit: Howard Kaden

Recipe Box - Harvey Wallbanger Cake

I'm just wild about Harvey! Remember that little guy? Although I wasn't drinking (much) in the 70's and left that era behind when I was about 13 years old, I did have a towel with Mr. Wallbanger on it that I took to the neighboring Ramada Inn pool every day in the summers. Bars and restaurants have recently revived the Galliano and vodka fueled Harvey Wallbanger cocktail but then a recipe for Harvey Wallbanger cake came from Baby's Aunt Elsa and I howled with laughter--and of course had to make it. Part of the is recipe below but click here then for a link from about.com--do enjoy!


If you tilt your head you can see Aunt Elsa's recipe card!

Tonight's Menu - I'm A Sole Man

When Baby and I last visited friends in Ocean City, NJ, we went to one of our favorite new found places, The Crab Trap, which is a sort of maritime shanty that has been around for years. It's a sprawling, bustling place with lots of great seafood (love the lobster!) and good martinis. We even bought a bunch of paper place mats and appropriated a few bar napkins as well, all emblazoned with the logo. We happened to mention this dining adventure to other friends and so surprisingly, they too know about and love The Crab Trap and have family dinners there, steeped in tradition. So, a dinner menu of fish was set, as was the table, with our somewhat ill-gotten booty: the place mats and napkins.

Our British neighbor had been talking about an old classic lot of steamed prawns, served in beer mugs, so as he and his wife were also our guests, I suggested he bring a bunch over! The sauce is a secret but I do believe Thousand Island dressing is involved.


I'd wanted to make my Wicked Good Clam Chowdah again, so that was a perfect starter, with my father's clams, pulled from the shores of Maine's Muscongus Bay. Crab cakes carried on and then we dove into a heap of Lemon Sole Meuniere. Paula Deen's most delicious Chocolate Bread Pudding was made the day before and acclimated in the refrigerator before being reheated and served to make a very satisfying conclusion to our dinner. My comments about that are in italics.

Stephen's Prawns
Wicked Good Clam Chowder
Crab Cakes
Sole Meuniere
Chocolate Bread Pudding (I didn't make the pecan rum flambe sauce and used Godiva chocolate liqueur instead of coffee liqueur)

Per usual, I got busy with all the cooking and didn't have time to take more photos!

Fishy Soundtrack: Esquivel, Christmas album; Bananarama, Deep Sea Skiving; Cafe del Mar; Beatles, Yellow Submarine; 50's Personal Christmas collection.

Next Magazine - The Twelve Days of Dining

Here’s a different sort of carol—no partridges snatched from pear trees or a feast of geese-a-laying (although I might have tried a few French hens), but these twelve places sent me out singing just the same.

1. Oh, the Provençal fish soup! And ooh, the frog legs in garlic cream at La Promenade des Anglais (461 W 23rd St, 212-255-7400, lapromenadenyc.com)! Monsieur Alain Allegretti brings the breath of the Mediterranean and an air of the periwinkle-blue-colored Cote d’Azur to the western corridor of Chelsea.
2. Although the locale near Port Authority is unlikely, Qi (675 Eighth Ave, 212-247-8991, qirestaurant.com), has an elegant interior and the fare is excellent, influenced from Pichet Ong’s upbringing in Bangkok. Fully flavored tuna tartare with a bunch of fragrant herbs and minty Burmese tea salad with chili lime dressing are our favorites.
3. Jellyfish is done right at Wong (7 Cornelia St, 212-989-3399, wongnewyork.com) with scallops, crispy duck tongue and cucumber. Resounding lobster egg foo young waltzes with leeks, dried shrimp and duck egg yolks.
4. Bento box-sized Hakata Ton Ton (61 Grove St, 212-242-3699, tontonnyc.com) has a whole lot of Japan going on. Simmering, unnamable aromas wafting about reveal garlic fried rice with pork and Hakata’s motsu hot pot with a stunning broth flavored by Kobe beef motsu, otherwise known as intestines. Sesame chanpon noodles are a requisite accompaniment.
5. Carefully detailed, gorgeous Duo (72 Madison Ave, 212-686-7272, duonewyork.com) is wonderfully delicious, too. Poached Maine lobster salad with Champagne mango “caviar” is a clever exercise in molecular gastronomy and glazed duck with lentil and caramelized peaches notably suit the décor.
6. There’s a phenomenal brunch at Greensquare Tavern (5 W 21st St, 212-929-2468, greensquaretavern.com). The Benedict with fatty smoked salmon is served on a spongy English muffin topped with eggs filled with rich, sunny, runny yolks and bright hollandaise sauce. The screwdrivers with fresh-squeezed orange juice ain’t half bad, either.
7. Get quickly acquainted with the fried chicken at Andrew Carmellini’s homey tavern The Dutch (131 Sullivan St, 212-677-6200, thedutchnyc.com). Pair it with the Asian white boy ribs and settle down to a slice of devastating peach pie.
8. The beautiful steak tartare at Goat Town (511 E Fifth St, 212-687-3641, goattownnyc.com) is richly red with verdant parsley, and simple radishes with sea-salt butter make for perfect starters. The Goat Town Chocolate Torte with bourbon and crème fraîche is a remarkably good finish, with a “dip” of salted caramel ice cream.
9. Northern Spy Food Co. (511 E 12th St, 212-228-5100, northernspyfoodco.com) delivers a kale salad with a harmonious blend of clothbound cheddar cheese, sumptuous kabocha squash and slivered almonds lightly dressed with lemon and pecorino. Potato gnocchi are ideally matched with an order of huge, saucy meatballs.
10. It’s a sumptuous symphony of meat at E&E Grill House (233 W 49th St, 212-505-9909, eegrillhouse.com), particularly filet mignon with chive blue butter. Both mashed and twice-baked potatoes are a must, as is grilled asparagus with a perfectly soft poached egg perched on top. Kermit’s brownie sundae includes an onslaught of cheesecake scoops and coffee ice cream.
11. The legendary Peter Luger (176-178 Broadway, peterluger.com) in Brooklyn, famous for its steaks, is more of a reasonably raucous German beer hall than dryly outfitted steak house. Porterhouse steaks for two, four or forty get thrown around the table and the “Holy Cow” hot fudge sundae is worth the trip alone.
12. La Silhouette (362 W 53rd St, 212-581-2400, la-silhouettenyc.com) neatly closes out the year with its fabulousness. The duck, lamb and wild mushroom risotto are sensational when prefaced by a farm-poached egg with truffled polenta and foie gras with mustard-seed–kumquat compote—insist upon the layered pumpkin cheesecake if available.

First featured in Next Magazine.