BOOK/A TABLE - Oh, Fudge!

It was a dark and stormy midnight dreary...and in the kitchen, I was pondering weak and weary over a bubbling, miasmic brew...Dear God, what had I done? How would it all end?

Like the character of Janet in my previous chilling post, things did not end well. As the slab I’d laid out on the counter wasn’t hardening, I slowly had to face the truly frightening fact—my Hallowe’en fudge was a bust. That I had not made fudge at all, but instead, utterly ruined a batch of fudgy deliciousness. Murder most culinary, then—death by chocolate fudge!

I cook. I sometimes bake and it usually turns out better than I anticipate. And then there’s the art of making candy, which often requires tools, such as an absolutely essential candy thermometer in this case. 

I wish that had been made clearer (or mentioned at all) in the first recipe I followed. But it didn’t. The thermometer I used was to check the internal temperatures of meat and the numbers just didn’t end up...panning out. The fudge MUST reach 234 degrees F (112 Celsius) to achieve the soft ball stage. Also, I discovered I didn’t have quite enough sugar when it came time to use it, so that was another problem. 

I’m not going to mention the author of that particular first recipe I tried, but as she linked to Hershey’s original (and much clearer) recipe anyway, that’s what I have included below with my comments in italics.

Cooking allows for personal interpretation and some freedom, whereas baking demands precision. Candy-making requires it.

However, I don’t mind telling you I put the chocolatey gloop in the freezer and over the next few days I gleefully, covertly, kept going back to dig it out with a big spoon, relishing the crusty bits on top. 

At least it didn’t have disastrous consequences for anyone else, like poor Maude in Leonora Carrington’s The Hearing Trumpet, first published in the mid 70’s. Carrington, besides being an author, was also an incredible Surrealist artist (Madonna patterned her gown after a Carrington painting at the Met Gala just this year) and from most accounts, she was barking mad as well.

But it was just that sort of mind that gave life to the character of 92-year-old Marian Letherby. Recently given a hearing trumpet, one of the first things she overhears is her family plotting to put her in a sinister retirement home, where the buildings are shaped like igloos and religion is spewed like vile water. It’s certainly not the kind of place you want to be. Just listen as Marian explains to fellow inmate Georgina what really happened to Maude there:

    We had arrived at the bee pond...sat on a stone bench and I told Georgina the whole story of how I had watched Mrs. Van Tocht and Natacha put poison in the fudge, how Maude had followed Natacha, and afterwards stolen the fatal sweetmeat. Then the dramatic episode on the bungalow roof where we had discovered that dainty, feminine Maud is really a man.
    “Suffering cobras!” said Georgina who had gone pale. The fudge must have been meant for me. She had it all arranged.”
    The little reconciliation feast that Natacha had offered Georgina near the kitchen had been a deliberately planned murder.

So, how do I bring this fearsome fudge fiasco to a finish? I tried to make the fudge a second time (with a candy thermometer) and well, sometimes things just don’t work out. But I’m here for it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hope you have an easier time making this fudge than I did—please share your experiences with me. I’m heading back to the freezer.

Do enjoy and Happy Hallowe’en everybody!

Hershey’s Rich Cocoa Fudge
Ingredients
3 cups sugar
2⁄3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa or Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa 
1⁄8 tsp salt
1 1⁄2 cups milk
1⁄4 cup butter (1⁄2 stick)
1 tsp vanilla extract

You’ll need a saucepan, baking pan, candy thermometer, and wooden spoon

Directions
Line 8- or 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Butter foil.

Mix 3 cups of sugar, 2/3 cup of Hershey’s Cocoa and 1/8 tsp salt in a heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in 1 1/2 cups of milk.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil (about 10 minutes). Boil, without stirring, until mixture reaches 234°F on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from water. (Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan.) About 30 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add 1/4 cup of butter and 1 tsp vanilla. Do not stir. Cool at room temperature to 110°F (lukewarm). Beat with wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose some of its gloss (about 7 minutes). 

Quickly spread in prepared pan; cool completely. Cut into squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

*Note: For best results, do not double this recipe. This is one of our most requested recipes, but also one of our most difficult. The directions must be followed exactly. Beat too little and the fudge is too soft. Beat too long and it becomes hard and sugary. 

BOOK/A TABLE - A Small Pale Ghost

It doesn’t end well for Janet, the heroine of Elspeth Barker’s O Caledonia—it doesn’t begin all that well either, as we discover “bloody, murderous death” right on page one. What an opening! In between we are treated to haunting depictions of adolescence, family betrayals, freezing cold castles, and a menagerie of unusual pets amid the Highlands of Scotland and Barker’s beautifully incisive and clever prose. 

Before things really go south, Janet pays a visit to an aquarium with a few acquaintances (I wouldn’t really call them friends):

“There had been a happy fish in the aquarium house. It was a skate, a pure white skate, and it had moved vertically, floating up and down on a little wake of bubbles, like a handkerchief or a small pale ghost. As it floated, it opened and closed its mouth, and it had seemed to Janet that it was soundlessly singing “Hallelujah, hallelujah. It’s effortless dance was a dance of praise, a joyous offering.”

Now, I’ve never encountered a skate in an aquarium (or its natural habitat for that matter), but I frequently reflect upon the skate with grapefruit they used to serve at Crispo in Manhattan—that was certainly a joyous offering. 

Unfortunately, Crispo closed at least several years ago. But, after living so long in the same place, you kinda get used to your favorite restaurants disappearing, taking your favorite dishes with them. To remedy that, I often try to recreate these past plates at home.

For this delicious, delicate recipe, any flaky white fish will do (such as sole, turbot, or tilapia) if you can’t find skate. The recipe goes quickly so prepare your ingredients beforehand. Do enjoy!

My comments below in italics.

Skate with Grapefruit
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 small skate wings, each cut into 2 equal pieces
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup wondra or all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sunflower or other neutral-tasting oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/3 cup lightly toasted blanched hazelnuts, coarsely chopped (this could certainly be optional)
4 sprigs thyme
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 small pink grapefruit, suprêmed and juice reserved, to yield 12 segments and 2 tablespoons juice (Perhaps you can use a jar of grapefruit segments to save time suprêming them? But use real grapefruit juice, not the syrup from the jar.)

Preparation
Step 1
Dredge Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat as you season skate with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour, shaking off excess.

Step 2
Sauté When pan is hot, add oil and heat until shimmering. Add skate pieces, working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, and sauté until fish is golden brown underneath, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Carefully turn pieces over with a fish spatula and reduce heat to medium. Cook until fish is uniformly opaque and browned on the other side, about 1 1/2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Step 3
Brown butter Wipe pan with paper towels and set over medium-low heat. Drop butter pieces into pan and swirl constantly (to cook evenly) until butter is melted and golden brown, 30 to 60 seconds. Stir in thyme and citrus juices; the butter will spatter a bit. Add hazelnuts, then remove from heat.

Step 4
Serve Divide skate pieces among plates, arrange three grapefruit segments over each serving, and drizzle evenly with hazelnut brown butter. Serve immediately.

From Martha Stewart’s Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook by Martha Stewart

BOOK/A TABLE - A Crashing Boar

Good evening...read on, if you dare...as I present this week’s groovy, ghoulish installment of terrible tales and regrettable recipes!

I first came upon The Girls peering out at me from a shelf in the Strand bookstore. I definitely judged a book by its cover in this case, with art courtesy of Edward Gorey and this quote on the back: “[For] those who feel Barbara Pym-ish on some days and Stephen King-ish on others.” Another quote stated John Bowen’s novel is “a wry, macabre tale of simple living, brutal murder, and a reasonably happy couple.” 

Sold! 

The whole thing begins when the girls (Janet and Susan) must contend with a wild boar that comes crashing into their gift shop. Do they kill it? I’m not going to tell you, however the boar is not the subject of the aformentioned brutal murder...

But I will tell you this, with equal parts pride and shame: after devouring a huge Florentine steak in Italy last year, my husband and I quickly dispatched an enormous plate of boar ragu parpardelle as well, with far greater aplomb than Janet and Susan did in ridding themselves of their boar.

“The boar turned his head. He could see in the antique marbled mirror an antique marbled boar, glaring at him, and from behind there came the confused noise of approaching humans. The boar charged...”

My husband and I also tried out a boar ragu recipe ourselves, once we returned stateside. It might seem like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. I think you’ll find it a fun dish to throw together—maybe on a lazy wintry afternoon—and a very tasty accomplishment as well. Just keep in mind the meat (substitute pork if you can’t find boar or if you’re skittish) should marinate overnight first before you get cooking.

 

My comments are below in italics. Do enjoy!

Wild Boar Ragu with Pappardelle
Adapted from The Pasta Project
Ingredients
1.1 pounds wild boar (try D’Artagnan if your butcher can’t help) or pork

14 ounces pappardelle pasta

For Marinade
1 onion peeled and halved
1 carrot washed and cut into large pieces
1 celery stalk washed and cut into large pieces (for the onion, carrot, and celery save time by buying pre-cut mirepoix like at Trader Joe’s)
2-3 bay leaves
2 teaspoon juniper berries (or a nip of gin!)
2 cloves of garlic peeled
1 sprig rosemary
4 1/4 cups full-bodied Tuscan red wine, such as Chianti, other Sangiovese, Montepulciano or Valpolicella. (Merlot if your feeling frisky and French)
Ground black pepper

For the Sauce
1.1 lbs tomato passata (strained tomatoes) or peeled tomatoes
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, washed and finely chopped
1 celery stalk, washed and finely chopped (again, look to Trader Joe’s for pre-cut mirepoix)
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves peeled
3-4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
5 fl ozs red wine
Salt for pasta and to taste
Black pepper to taste

Instructions
Wash the wild boar meat (or pork), cut it into chunks and put it in a large bowl.

Add the onion (peeled and cut in half) and the carrot and the celery in large pieces (or the mirepoix), the 2 peeled cloves of garlic, the bay leaves, the juniper berries, the rosemary and some black pepper.

Cover with red wine and mix.

Cover the container with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to stand in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Once the necessary time has passed, drain the meat and eliminate the vegetables and herbs. You can cut the meat into smaller pieces if preferred.

Make the Ragu
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan or skillet and fry the garlic, carrot, celery, and onion slightly (with a tablespoon or two of tomato paste—this helps the sauce cling to the meat). Add the bay leaves.

Add the wild boar meat and brown it on all sides.

Add the red wine and let the alcohol evaporate (when you can no longer taste the acidity).

Lower the flame and cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the crushed/peeled tomatoes and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook with the flame reduced to a minimum for about 1.5-2 hours, depending on the size of the pieces of wild boar and how old it is. Stir occasionally and add some beef stock or water if the sauce seems dry.

While the ragu is cooking put a pot of water onto boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. When you are ready to serve your wild boar ragu, cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet.

Remove the bay leaves and garlic cloves and add the pasta to the ragu and mix together carefully. You don’t want to break the pasta ribbons.

Serve immediately. Italians don’t normally add grated cheese to this dish or chopped parsley.

Thanks to sipandfeast.com for the image!

BOOK/A TABLE - A Fig for Regret

In anticipation of Hallowe’en, I’ll be featuring a few frightening reads and recipes all this month—fantastically creepy novels that will keep you up at night...thinking about the recipes inspired by them!

I was at Mermaid Inn a few weeks ago where a Fig and Blackberry Bramble was the special cocktail of the evening. A traditional Bramble is also gin-based and rather summery, but this twist on a classic definitely signaled the promise of fall. I happened to spy a bottle of fig bitters behind the bar at Mermaid Inn and I regret not asking for the cocktail recipe, however I’m sure a few splashes figured into it. 

I found another recipe (below) and perhaps instead of muddling the figs as the recipe suggests, I suspect you can boil some dried figs in equal parts sugar and water to make your own simple fig syrup. Then just add to your shaker as instructed.

Anyway, as I was compiling the list of my favorite crawl-under-your-skin books to share here, I had to put Barbara Comyns’s Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead among them. Her cunning little masterpiece is about an English village afflicted by a flood (with ducks swimming through the drawing-room windows) and the series of gruesome deaths that mysteriously follow. 

And who do you imagine is the hero of the tale, with a long, sallow face? Why a young man named Fig, of course, pursued by a young lady named Norah who rather fancies him.

“When Fig returned for his tea, instead of the soggy bread that smelt of paraffin and the jar of fish paste with green mold on top which were usually arranged on a newspaper, there was a neatly laid table with a newly baked cake. All around there was a strong smell of soap and floor polish.
    Fig drew down his long upper lip and scowled. Much as he disliked his mother’s filthy ways, he resented Norah’s interference even more. For some time he had suspected she was cleaning his mother’s cottage; now he knew...”

Sounds to me like Fig needs something stronger than tea—or something other than Norah’s interfering cake. Perhaps a Fig and Blackberry Bramble?

Do enjoy! My comments below are in italics.

Fig and Blackberry Bramble
Ingredients
Gin: 2 oz of your favorite dry gin. Such as Hendricks 
Fresh Figs: 2 ripe figs (one quartered for muddling, one sliced for garnish). Try boiling dried figs for your simple fig syrup instead
Blackberries: 6–8 fresh blackberries, divided.
Lemon Juice: 0.75 oz freshly squeezed.
Simple Syrup: 0.5 oz (or honey syrup for a richer profile). Or the simple fig syrup you've made!
Liqueur (Optional): 0.5 oz crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur) to float on top

Crushed Ice: To fill the glass.

Instructions
Muddle the quartered fig and 5 blackberries with the lemon juice and simple syrup in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
Add the gin and fill the shaker with ice, then shake vigorously for 10–15 seconds.
Strain the mixture over a glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Drizzle the crème de mûre over the top so it bleeds into the drink (Ooooh! Spooky!) and garnish with an extra fresh fig half and the remaining blackberries.

Thanks to thinkginclub.com for the image!