Tell Them Pete Sent 'Ya

Chapter One is turning their American Tavern into a discrete watering hole for glamorous degenerates with a NYC Prohibition Dinner, as part of their Heritage Dinner Series. On Sunday, December 7th at 7pm, Executive Chef Warren Baird is whipping up an era-appropriate, three-course affair featuring Blue Point oysters, Prime Rib with creamed spinach and potatoes rissole, and a booze-soaked Brandy Alexander pie. Sip on a secret Prohibition Era cocktail while at it! Warning--may or may not contain bathtub gin. Who cares? As long as it burns!

See below for a permissible password--and pull out your knee-length pearls, find your fringe, collect your raccoon coats, and bring out your brimmers and bamboo canes to get into the swing of things.

And pssst...do note the cost is hardly prohibitive: it's only forty-nine clams (plus tax and gratuity) for the whole kit and caboodle! Chapter One is located at 33 Greenwich Avenue in Manhattan. Call 212-842-9146 for the secret password and go to chapteronenyc.com for more info. Remember, tell them Pete sent 'ya!

Should Life Hand You Lemons...Make Lemon Bars (and other things)!

I recently discovered I had a near to overwhelming amount of lemons in my crisper: I bought a few not realizing I already had couple and then there was a snafu with my favorite online food delivery service Fresh Direct where they delivered even more lemons instead of the limes I had ordered. I had first bought some lemons for recipes and drink garnishes but I don't make that much lemon chicken or drink that many vodka tonics with lemon wedges. So, what to do? Helen Rosner from Saveur magazine's 2012 Cookie Advent Calendar came to the rescue, in part, with her recipe for lemon bars. The underlying shortbread was wonderful and my curd topping tasted great; it just wasn't as firm as I would have liked--next time I would have left the bars longer in the oven once the curd topped the shortbread (which is baked first), somewhere around 15 minutes longer instead of the 10 minutes Ms. Rosner suggests, and also, really do refrigerate the bars for at least several hours after they have been cooled on the counter top for a firmer lemon curd, I think.

I also made preserved lemons and at the moment, I am using the juice from the last lemon to make a Caesar dressing found here to dress my kale later for a wonderful salad!

Lemon Bars
Make 16 Bars
Ingredients
FOR THE LEMON CURD:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
Zest and juice of 2 large lemons

FOR THE SHORTBREAD CRUST:
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ tbsp. sugar
2 ½ tbsp. confectioner's sugar, plus more for dusting
1⅓ cup flour

Instructions
1. Whisk together sugar and eggs in a 2-qt. saucepan until smooth; stir in zest and juice. Place over medium heat, and cook, stirring often, until thickened to the consistency of loose pudding. Remove from heat and add butter, a couple cubes at a time, until smooth; transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

2. Heat oven to 325°. Combine butter, both sugars, and flour in a bowl and beat on medium speed of hand mixer until smooth and evenly combined. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined 8" square baking pan, and press into the bottom. Bake until lightly golden and set, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°, pour lemon curd over crust, and continue baking until slightly loose in the center, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely, and then refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares and dust with confectioners' sugar to serve.
Thanks to themindunleashed.org for the juicy snap!

Fried Chicken & Latke Waffles with Gravy

It's hardly a secret that I think Baby makes the best potato pancakes (latkes) and I love fried chicken and waffles, so we thought to combine the two to fantastic results (shown), our own fried chicken and latke waffles! Williams-Sonoma had a buttermilk brine mix once that appears to have been discontinued--but a simple brine they currently carry may work as well to make the excellent chicken. Baby even suggests just using a package of Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix found in any supermarket as the brine (it's basically the same thing and cheaper too)!

Fried Chicken & Latke Waffles
(Serves at least four with left overs)

Ingredients
For the Fried Chicken:
1 whole chicken cut apart into eight sections (have your butcher do this, if not found already cut up in a bag at your supermarket)
Brining mix (enough to thoroughly pat chicken to draw out the moisture from the meat)
Buttermilk (ditto)
2 cups flour, with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper each
Vegetable oil

For the Latke Waffles:
3 medium baking potatoes such as Yukon gold, grated (or even a bag of already grated potatoes, to save work--perhaps you can find this at your supermarket too)
Roughly 1 cup each chopped white or yellow onions, carrots, and celery
3 TB flour
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 eggs, beaten
1 pinch or two of salt and pepper

For the Dressings:
1 jar Heinz chicken gravy, or make your own ahead of time if you have a favorite
Crown syrup, or other fine maple syrup
Some fresh sage, for garnish (optional)

Method
Rub the brine (generally a mix of lemon, garlic, thyme, and the like) onto your chicken and coat with buttermilk. Cover with plastic and place in refrigerator overnight.

While oil in fyer is heating up for the readied chicken, prepare your latke waffles. Spray interior of waffle iron with cooking spray. Mix all latke ingredients well. Ladle batter into waffle iron. Close and cook each waffle for approximately five minutes, flipping half-way through if using a flip waffle iron. We used a very friendly, Oster DuraCeramic flip Belgian waffle maker, also priced nicely and available on Amazon Prime for about $35. Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon carries them too.

Prepare a large, heavy bottomed pot with about 4-inches deep of oil on high heat or use a Cuisinart Mini Deep Fryer (boy do I love these things and they're reasonable priced too, around $50) filled with no more than a liter of vegetable oil. Set temperature according to product directions. When ready to fry chicken, remove from brine and shake off excess buttermilk. Dredge in 2 cups of flour that have been combed with with the 1 tsp and pepper each. I like to use a gallon bag to shake it up, a few pieces at a time, just like Shake n' Bake. Shake chicken in batches, shaking of extra flour and add to your fryer, no more than 3/4 pound at a time  until nicely browned. Remove to plates layered with paper towels.

Heat the gravy--using a microwave is fine.

When savory latke waffles are done, plate them and top with the most marvelous, juicy chicken. Ladle some hot gravy on each dish with a bottle of maple syrup such as Crown syrup (check out that post) on the side should your guests might wish both. I know I did. Drop some sage leaves in to the hot oil for one second and scoop them out carefully with a slotted spoon, now crisped. Top your dish and do enjoy!

Shouldn't You Just...?

Place a few fork-pierced, ripe fall apples into a pot of water and simmer them gently with such things as dried orange peel zest, cinnamon, and cloves to create a warming, fragrant aroma about the house? The Spice House with shops in Chicago and Milwaukee (and online) is an extraordinary place to find fine spices. Read more about a particularly good garlicky-pepper rub from The Spice House here.

Thanks to socialmoms.com for the--pic!

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.

Pumpkin It Up!

How festive it all looks, does it not? This distinctly autumnal cocktail perpetrated by pumpkin puree makes an appearance as time-appropriate as changing leaves at the wonderful Cuba in Manhattan, via veteran bartender Eduardo Tavares. Instead of the panela syrup, which may be difficult to find, I used Crown medium amber maple syrup. How fall-tastically novel! 

Here's what to when creating this seasonal sipper, with a few of my suggestions slipped in:

Pumpkin Raspado Cocktail

Ingredients

2 oz Appleton estate rum

2 oz pumpkin puree

1 oz fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

1 oz splash of lemon juice

1 oz panela syrup

 

Method

Wet the rim of a gorgeously fashioned, chilled martini glass with half of a lemon wedge and roll it gently over the rosemary. Pour the rest of the ingredients into a shaker filled with crushed ice and shake well. Strain into glass, garnish with a sprig of rosemary perhaps, as well as a wheel of lime--and do enjoy! 

 

Murdery Delicious Duck Breast

I'm sure I've said this before--it is truly amazing what you might discover lurking in your very own pantry, cupboards and freezer. There it was before me, a perfectly good duck breast in my freezer! But what to do with it? I thought of my novel, The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery that features a number of creepily written recipes that anticipate the action in the unfolding fiendishly hilarious drama. I wrote them with tongue firmly planted in cheek but they are actually viable dishes to make. So here I present a variation of A Recipe for Bloodcurdling Duck Breast with Red Wine Sauce that I created from ingredients I that I already had on hand. It was so delicious indeed and utterly fowl-tastic. A soupcon of ingenuity is always the best ingredient in any kitchen concoction.

Murdery Delicious Duck Breast
(Figure on one duck breast per ghoulish guest)

Ingredients
Several Barolo wine-soaked figs from a jar, quartered
1 cup or so of dry white wine from an already opened bottle
1 cube of porcini broth dissolved in two cups of hot water
1/2 TB ground cinnamon
4 TB butter
1/2 large white onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fistful of dried Polish mushrooms
1 tsp ground ginger
1 6 oz duck breast
1 TB olive oil

Method
Melt butter and add olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic gently. Add figs and mushrooms. Pour in broth and simmer, reducing the liquid. Pat the duck breasts with a generous amount of salt and pepper on all sides a put in skillet, skin side down. Flip once until duck has achieved an internal temperature of 135 degrees for medium-rare. Let duck rest for ten minutes, covered in foil and then serve perhaps with roasted potatoes and green beans. And don't neglect the rest of the wine!