Cooking for the Weekend: Rum-Spiced Cider

Finally getting sick of all those pumpkin spice lattes and peppermint hot chocolates?  I know you are, don't lie.  As fantastic as they are, and as much as I obsess about them when they first show up each year, eventually they've run their course.  So what do you do when you've run out of warm things to drink?  Heat up some cider, throw a pat of butter on top, and settle back for some full-body heating action.  This drink will put a serious dent in a cold night.  Promise.

Rum-Spiced Cider
Adapted from Cooking for the Weekend by Michael McLaughlin

2 quarts apple cider, preferably fresh and unfiltered
⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
2 pieces cinnamon stick, each 2 inches long
12 whole cloves
12 allspice berries
2 cups dark rum or spiced rum (optional)
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, sliced into 8 pats (optional)
8 long cinnamon sticks, for garnish (optional)

In a non-reactive pan, combine the cider, brown sugar, short cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice. Set over medium-low heat, partially cover, and slowly bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally and skimming any scum that forms on the surface.

Meanwhile, divide the rum among 8 large mugs. Drop a pat of butter and a cinnamon stick into each mug, if desired. Strain the hot cider into the mugs and serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings

Southern Plate: Green Bean and Shoepeg Corn Casserole

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but I review cookbooks for a website called ChefTalk.  Every couple of months they send out a list of available cookbooks, and I get to fight it out with my fellow reviewers to get the most interesting cookbooks.  I always try to get something interesting (and avoid things like a Crohn's and colitis cookbook, which I'm sure isn't a bad cookbook, just not up my alley).  I was super excited that I got my first pick, for Southern Plate (which is based on a blog), which I thought would be similar to a Paula Deen cookbook.  I made some recipes out of the book, which is very nicely photographed, but unfortunately, it just felt like a let-down to me.

I really hate it when cooks write cookbooks that basically amount to throwing a bunch of canned or frozen food together.  It's a shame really, especially with today's grocery stores being so well stocked.  I just don't understand it.  This casserole probably would have been fantastic with fresh haricot verts and corn straight off the cob, but the way it's written, I just can't get past the metallic flavor of the green beans and freezing destroys the integrity of corn.  Disappointment.  The sour cream adds a nice tartness to the sauce, but I'm also not thrilled with using condensed soup.  This might be good for a harried mom trying to throw dinner together after work while the kids are tearing the house down, but it just didn't do it for me.  At least the buttery Ritz crackers on top were delicious.

Green Bean and Shoepeg Corn Casserole
From Southern Plate by Christy Jordan

½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped bell pepper
½ cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (11-ounce) can shoepeg corn, drained
1 (11-ounce) can French-style green beans, drained
1 (11-ounce) can cream of celery soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream
½ cup crushed Ritz crackers
4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together except for the crackers and butter.  Place in a casserole dish.  Melt the butter in a skillet and mix with the crushed Ritz crackers.  Spread over the top of the vegetables and bake for 45 minutes, or until bubbly.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Desserts by Pierre Hermé: Lemon Loaf Cakes

I was just feeling lemony today.  That, and I realized I still hadn't made anything out of my Pierre Hermé dessert cookbook.  I mean, talk about a sin!  Plus, I needed to get rid of some crème fraîche.  I hate nothing more than spending $7 on an ingredient of which I use one tablespoon.  While most of the desserts in the book look a little more complicated, these lemon loafs are pretty straight forward.  And honestly, you can't beat a good pound cake.

The loaf weren't that hard to pull together, but when I tasted them, I was...underwhelmed.  They are lemony.  They just aren't LEMONY.  They need to take a bath in lemon syrup or something.  Maybe some lemon extract in the batter.  Maybe I just like my lemon cakes really tart.  Otherwise, they were fabulous.  I would follow the directions in small print below the recipe that suggest toasting a slice with butter.

Lemon Loaf Cakes
From Desserts by Pierre Hermé by Dorie Greenspan

2⅔ cups cake flour
¾ teaspoon double-acting baking powder
Zest of 3 lemons - removed with a zester and very finely chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup crème fraîche, at room temperature, or heavy cream
3½ tablespoons rum
Pinch of sea salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
About 1 cup of lemon marmalade, for glaze, optional

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour two 7½x3½x2½-inch loaf pans, dust the interiors with flour, and tap out the excess; set aside.  (These are the perfect size pans for these cakes, but they're not always easily found.  If you don't have them, use two 8½x4½x2½-inch loaf pans.  Your cakes won't be as tall, but they'll be every bit as flavorful.)  Prepare an insulating layer for the cakes by stacking two baking sheets, one on top of the other, or use an insulated (air-cushioned) baking sheet.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and reserve.

Place the chopped zest and sugar in a large mixing bowl and rub them together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy, and very aromatic.  Add the eggs and, using a whisk, beat until the eggs are foamy and pale.  One by one, add the crème fraîche (or heavy cream), rum, and salt and whisk until the ingredients are incorporated.  Using the whisk or a large rubber spatula, gently stir the flour mixture into the batter in four additions; you'll have a smooth, thick batter.  Finally, fold in the cooled melted butter in two or three additions.

Immediately pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans, place them on the baking sheet(s), and slip them into the oven.  Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the cakes are crowned, split down the center, and golden.  A long thin knife inserted into the center of each cake should come out dry and crumb-free.  (Check the cakes at the 40-minute mark.  If they are browning too quickly, cover them loosely with foil tents for the remainder of the baking period.)  Remove the cakes from the oven and turn them out of the pans onto a cooling rack; invert them so they're right side up.  Allow the cakes to cool to room temperature before glazing or serving.

If you want to glaze the cakes, place the marmalade in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat (or heat it in the microwave oven); strain the marmalade.  Use a broad pastry brush to paint every surface (except the bottoms) of the cakes with a thin coat of glaze.  Allow the glaze to dry at room temperature before serving (or wrapping).

Alton Brown: Good Eats Roast Turkey

I have felt like a failure for years now.  I have never been able to make a Thanksgiving turkey that is: 1) juicy, 2) cooked properly all over, and 3) tasty and brown.  I was beginning to think you couldn't have all of those things at once.  I glared at the turkey beauty shots in the cooking magazines, convinced that they had been rubbed with brown shoe polish or something.  I was a good cook, so why did my turkeys never turn out?

Well, Alton Brown saved me.  I used his recipe for roast turkey from his Good Eats television show.  It requires that you make a brine and soak the turkey the night before you plan on roasting it.  Then, Thanksgiving Day, you put that bad boy in the oven with all sorts of things shoved up in the body cavity (apple?  cinnamon stick?).  You stick a probe thermometer in the breast, walk away, and enjoy some time with your family.  And what you get is a fabulous, moist, tasty, perfectly browned turkey.  Success!!!

Good Eats Roast Turkey
From Alton Brown

1 (14- to 16-pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1½ teaspoons allspice berries

1½ teaspoons chopped candied ginger

1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
½ onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38°F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500°F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161°F. A 14- to 16-pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2½ hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Saveur: Colicchio and Sons' Parker House Rolls

Ah, the notorious rolls.  The rolls that have lit up saveur.com like a Christmas tree.  They work for no one!  Horrible recipe!  The chef is full of it!  Um, actually, no, he's not.  It works.  This picture is proof.  I let my breadmaker do the hard work of making the dough and dealing with the first two rises.  I divided up the dough and let the pan sit on a heating pad for about half an hour on the lowest setting and then turned it off for the rest of the rise.  Voilà.  Perfect fluffy amazing rolls.  Incidentally, if you decide to use a bread maker like I did, put the milk and barley malt syrup in first, then flour, then salt, then make a little indention for the bread machine yeast, then drop the butter around the top in chunks.

Colicchio and Sons' Parker House Rolls
From Saveur magazine, November 2010

¾ cup whole milk, heated to 115°F
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon barley malt syrup or dark corn syrup
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon kosher salt
2½ tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, softened
¼ cup clarified butter, for greasing and brushing
Fleur de sel, to garnish

Stir together milk, yeast, and malt syrup in a large bowl; let sit until foamy, 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt; add to milk mixture along with butter and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let sit until nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. Uncover and punch down dough; cover and let sit until puffed, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 325°F. Portion dough into fourteen 1½-inch diameter balls, about 1¼ ounces each, and transfer to a greased 8-inch cast-iron skillet or 8x8-inch baking pan, nestling them side by side; cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Brush with clarified butter and bake until puffed and pale golden brown, 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a rack and brush with more clarified butter; sprinkle each roll with a small pinch of fleur de sel and serve warm.

Makes 14 rolls

Molto Italiano: Risotto con Funghi e Vin Santo (Risotto with Mushrooms and Vin Santo)

My sister and I went to a Halloween festival downtown yesterday, and as part of the city's big push to re-invigorate the arts district, they had various specialty vendors selling beautiful things like fresh flowers and wild mushrooms.  There were two guys selling the mushrooms, and since they had a decent stash, we dug through for some good looking specimens.  And what could be better to highlight fresh mushrooms than a luscious mushroom risotto?

I don't have my entire collection of cookbooks at my disposal currently, but I did have a copy of Molto Italiano.  And it does have a risotto recipe.  Now, I've had some experiences with Mario Batali's recipes that haven't been exactly turned out, so I was a little hesitant to use his recipe.  I should have listened to my inner chef.

The risotto turned out pretty good, taste-wise, but texture-wise?  Total disaster.  The stock was not absorbed by the rice in anything approximating the time table in the book, so the rice slowly became mush.  I seem to keep having these kinds of issues!  Why, Mario, why?  I want to love your food, I really do.  Well, not all of it.  You can keep your offal.

Risotto con Funghi e Vin Santo (Risotto with Mushrooms and Vin Santo)
From Molto Italiano by Mario Batali

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ medium red onion, finely chopped
8 ounces porcini mushrooms, sliced
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
1½ cups Arborio rice
8 cups chicken stock, heated until hot
1 cup Vin Santo (or dry sherry)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until almost smoking. Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and sauté until lightly browned. Add the rice and stir until thoroughly coated and opaque, about 3 minutes.

Add a 4 to 6 ounce ladleful of the stock and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed. Continue stirring and adding the stock a ladleful at a time, waiting until the liquid is absorbed each time before adding more, until the rice is tender and creamy but still al dente, about 18 minutes.

Add the Vin Santo and cook until the alcohol smell is gone, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the butter and Parmigiano, and stir vigorously for 25 seconds. Season with salt and pepper, divide the risotto among four warmed plates, and serve.

Staff Meals from Chanterelle: Cauliflower Gratin

I love cauliflower.  I know that I'm basically an outlier by espousing this view, but that's okay.  More cauliflower for me.  And that also allows me to have more of the cauliflower gratin I made tonight from the Staff Meals cookbook that I found at Half Price Books.  When you have an extra head of cauliflower in the refrigerator, this is just about the best thing you can do with it.

You have to make a bechamel sauce to pour over the cauliflower, and then you coat it in Gruyere.  Sounds like heaven.  Except when you don't salt the cauliflower enough.  Then it tastes like cardboard.  My mistake.  But the table salt shaker helped me to salvage what otherwise would have been a terrible loss.  Note to self: cauliflower needs salt just as much as potatoes need salt.  Lesson learned.

Cauliflower Gratin
From Staff Meals from Chanterelle by David Waltuck

Course (kosher) salt, to taste
1 large head cauliflower, thick core removed, cut into florets (about 6 cups)
Bechamel sauce (recipe follows)
½ cup grated Gruyére cheese
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add the cauliflower florets and cook until just tender but still slightly crunchy, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the florets.  Drain well and arrange in a single layer in a baking or oval gratin dish.

Pour the bechamel over the cauliflower and sprinkle evenly with the grated Gruyére and Parmesan.  Bake until bubbly and browned and the cheeses are melted, about 20 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Bechamel Sauce

5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups half-and-half
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons grated onion
Course (kosher) salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
A few gratings of nutmeg

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking frequently, until the roux develops a nutty aroma, about 10 minutes.  Be careful not to let the flour brown at all.

While the roux is cooking, bring the half-and-half to a simmer in a second small saucepan over high heat.  Immediately remove the half-and-half from the heat and add it to the roux in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until blended and smooth.  After all the liquid is added, continue to cook the bechamel over low heat, whisking frequently, until thickened, about 3 minutes.

Add the bay leaves and grated onion and continue to simmer the bechamel slowly, uncovered, whisking frequently, until the flavors are blended and it's somewhat thicker than heavy cream, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and strain the bechamel into a heatproof bowl.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Bon Appetit: Quick Sautéed Kale with Toasted Pine Nuts

I always thought that kale had to be cooked to death in order to be enjoyable.  I mean, the stuff is tough.  It needs a good long simmer in some potlikker.  Except this recipe completely proved me wrong.  Kale can also be good when it's sautéed with onions and pine nuts.  Need a veggie to go with that Italian meal you're planning?  Here you go.  Want to get on the kale bandwagon?  Here you go.  Don't have time to babysit greens as they stew away?  Here you go.

Note:  I used Lacinato/dinosaur/cavolo nero/black kale. (How many names does this crap have??)  You can use the same thing, or try some curly kale.  Or red Russian kale.  Any type of kale is fine.

Quick Sautéed Kale with Toasted Pine Nuts
From Bon Appetit magazine, January 2010

4 bunches kale (about 2 pounds)
¼ cup olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
⅓ cup pine nuts, toasted

Fold each kale leaf lengthwise in half; cut stem away along crease. Tear leaves coarsely. Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until onion is soft, about 6 minutes. Add half of kale, packing slightly. Cook until kale wilts, tossing often, 2 to 3 minutes. Add remaining kale and half of pine nuts. Toss until kale is just tender and still bright green, about 3 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle with the remaining toasted pine nuts and serve.

Makes 8 servings

Recipes from an Italian Summer: Torta con le Mele (Apple Cake)

Since apples are a fall fruit, I'm not exactly sure I see the connection between them and an Italian summer, but we'll just go with it.  The cake tastes like a shortcake, except with the apples mixed in, instead of on top.  And trust me, it's a huge pain to try and mix the apples into the thick batter.  Oh, and the original recipe did not mention a pan size, but I figured that out for you.  Luckily, as a whole, the cake is pretty easy to make, or it would definitely be up for consideration for the fail pile.  Honestly?  I think there's much better things you could be doing with apples, but if the heat of summer makes you want a dessert that's plain and unassuming, this would be it.

Torta con le Mele (Apple Cake)
From Recipes from an Italian Summer

3 large eggs
¾ cup superfine sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
2¾ cups self-rising flour, plus extra for dusting
3 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
Whipped cream, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Grease a 9-inch cake pan or mold with butter and dust lightly with flour.  Whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the butter until thoroughly combined.  Sift the flour into the mixture, then add the apples and mix gently.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan or mold and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool, then turn out, or serve immediately while hot.  Serve with whipped cream, if you like.

Makes 6 servings

Recipes from an Italian Summer: Avocado Salad

I can't believe that I went pretty much my entire childhood without avocados.  How does something like that happen?  Something that is now the bright center of my universe.  Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration.  Chocolate is the bright center of my universe.  Avocados are the next galaxy out.

Avocado Salad
From Recipes from an Italian Summer

2 avocados
Juice of 1 lemon, strained
2 mandarin oranges or tangerines
1 head romaine lettuce, separated into leaves
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons (generous ⅓ cup) olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel, halve and stone the avocados, then cut them into slices and sprinkle with the lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Peel the mandarins, remove all traces of white pith and cut into round slices. Arrange the lettuce leaves on individual dishes. Make a layer of tomato and spring onion slices on the leaves, cover with avocado slices in a circle and top with slices of mandarin. Sprinkle with the parsley.

Whisk together the mustard, oil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper in a bowl, pour over the salads and serve.

Makes 4 servings