The Calm Before The Season

We leave for our Christmas and New Years holidays tomorrow. We have an eight hour drive before us and we plan on stopping close to Lake Lure to get our Christmas tree. I have never waited this long to put up a tree before and I am looking forward to it.

The cards have been mailed and the presents bought. I am excited about the gift that I am receiving this year because it involves a new method of cooking. Stay tuned for my new passion. I will also be sharing with you the traditional New Year's meal that our group of friends fix every year. Everyone will gather at our Lake Lure home and each of the five couples will prepare their special dish.

So today I am packing and taking a deep breath and enjoying the solitude before the excitement. It is cold even here in Florida. This split pea soup is just the perfect meal to ward off the chill and calm the senses. Let the holidays begin.

SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH SAUSAGE AND POTATO

1/2 pound Kielbasa sausage, cut into pieces

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsps fresh rosemary, chopped

1 1 pound bag split peas, rinsed

4 cups chicken broth

Saute sausage in heavy large pot over medium high heat until fat begins to render, about 4 minutes. Add potato, onion, and fresh rosemary. Saute until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Mix in split peas, then chicken broth, Bring soup to simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until peas are tender, stirring occasionally, about 50 minutes. If desired, thin soup with water by 1/4 cupfuls. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Printable recipe

Seasons Eatings

It is so much fun to share during the holiday season. Gift exchanges are rampant and the blogging community is no exception. My blogging friend Katie of Thyme for Cooking the blog is the hostess of this holiday exchange which anyone can sign up for. Season's Eatings is a spicy/herby/foodie gift exchange to celebrate the holiday season. Katie put all of our names into a virtual hat and paired us up with a Secret Santa. Each person sends a small gift of a local herb, spice or other food that is unique to where they live. They can include a recipe to utilize the food item and it is up to the recipient to make something with it and blog about it. Katie will be doing a round-up of all the participants before the holidays.

What is so great about this event is that we live all over the world. Katie blogs from Provence and we have been following her often humorous adventures in restoring a French farmhouse. She paired me with Cindy Ruth who blogs from Alaska. Check out her blog; Baked Alaska. Cindy sent me the items below.


The box included Wild Salmonberry Jam which she explained was a berry similar to a raspberry that grows in Alaska. That was a relief because I had visions of salmon roe made into jam. Also included were three spice blends that would compliment fish or meat and a wonderful locally made chocolate/coffee bar.

I thought about using the Coho Mojo spice blend on grilled salmon and I still plan on doing that, but for this post I decided to use the Matanuska Pepper Blend to coat some thick pork chops. After sauteeing the chops I placed them in the oven to finish cooking and deglaced the pan with white wine, the salmonberry jam, and balsamic vinegar. The meal was delicious. The chocolate bar was dessert. Thank you Cindy Ruth.




Now I wonder what Meredith - deedee in france will do with the grits I sent her. I also sent her a grits cookbook with a recipe for Bill Neal's shrimp and grits. Hope she likes grits. Season's eatings to all of you.

Simple Holiday Appetizers

When you have your hands full with shopping, baking, and entertaining during the holidays it is nice to have a few easy appetizers tucked away in the cupboard for guests to munch on while dinner is being prepared. I love both cheese straws and spiced pecans. In the past I have made cheese straws using puff pastry and although they are good, they tend to be kind of airy and do not hold up well. I have tried many spiced pecans also, but find the ones made with whipped egg whites retain a powdery film that is not appealing to me. So I was pleased to find these two wonderful recipes in The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. The cheese straws are substantial and crunchy. They can be made ahead of time and stored in a sealed container. The spiced pecans are full of flavor and roasted slowly with a coating of butter, honey and spices. The batch I have just made will be stored in the freezer and served at Christmas. I feel like I have just crossed two more things off of my never ending list and the larder is full. Now I just have to figure out how to transport all of this to North Carolina.

CHEESE STRAWS

1 1/2 cups (about 4 ounces) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces

3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon half-and-half

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a food processor, combine the cheese, butter flour, salt, and red pepper and process in five 5-second pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half-and-half and process until the dough forms a ball, about 10 seconds.

3. On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 8-x-10-inch rectangle that is 1/8 inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into long, thin strips, 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide (dipping the knife in flour after every few inches ensures a clean cut). Gently transfer the strips to an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/4 inch between them. The dough will sag and may break occasionally in the transfer, but don't be concerned - just do your best. The straws can be any length, from 2 to 10 inches.

4. Bake the straws on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the ends are barely browned. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.

5. Serve at room temperature. Cheese straws will keep in the refrigerator, in a sealed container, for at least 2 days.

SPICED PECANS

Makes 3 cups; enough for snacking for 8 to 10 people

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon ground cayenne

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon honey

3 cups shelled raw pecan halves (about 3/4 pound)

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Combine the spices, salt, and sugar in a small bowl and shisk to blend. Set aside 1 teaspoon of the blended mixture.

3. Melt the butter slowly over low heat in a small saucepan. After the foam subsides, turn off the heat and skim the white milk solids from the butter. Whisk the spice mixture into the butter in a slow stream. Whisk the honey into the spiced butter in a slow stream.

4. Put the pecans in a medium mixing bowl and pour the warm spiced syrup mixture over them. Toss the mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon.

5. Spread the pecans evenly on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake on the top rack for 45 minutes. The syrup should look dry (it will still be slightly sticky) and the pecans will have darkened to the color of mahogany. Remove the sheet from the oven and sprinkle the reserved 1 teaspoon spice mixture over the pecans.

6. Serve the nuts as soon as they have cooled, or store them. Stored in an airtight container, roasted pecans will keep 2 weeks.

Printable recipe - Cheese Straws

Printable recipe - Spiced Pecans

Country Captain - A Southern Classic

"The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook makes me daydream of a long ago summer on a Pawleys Island back porch, the aroma of the marsh and the dinner table mingling with laughter of many generations of families and a few too many glasses of wine. Oh to the magic of being at table together in the South." --Frank Stitt, author of Frank Stitt's Southern Table

While browsing in an artists' co-op in historic downtown Sanford, I found a bookmarked copy of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. The book belonged to the group of artists who had just hosted a studio walk and had made recipes from this recently published cookbook; wonderful things like St. Cecilia Punch, cheese straws and spiced pecans. While my husband was looking at the artwork I stayed with the cookbook and found many tantalizing recipes.

The Lee brothers grew up in Charleston, SC but now make New York City their home. They are food writers for the New York Times and have a mail order company for all things southern. On a snowy winter day back in 1994 in a tiny tenement apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhatten the brothers made their first batch of boiled peanuts. They were homesick for this regional favorite. They found other expat southerners who loved the peanuts and needed a fix and the mail order business was born. In order to expand their line of southern specialties they traveled from Kentucky to Northern Florida finding sources for such esoteric foods as sorgham molasses and fig preserves. They learned what made a good barbecue sauce from the vinegar based Eastern North Carolina sauce to the South Carolina mustard based sauce. Their searches began to be chronicled in such magazines as Food and Wine and Travel and Leisure.

I had to have the cookbook. It is a compilation of recipes from all regions of the south and many from their native Charleston. The first recipe I made from the cookbook was Country Captain. I have been making a version of this for many years. It is a mainstay of Junior League cookbooks all over the south. The port of Charleston saw many products from the orient in the eighteenth and nineteeth centuries. Curry powder was one of them. This dish became very popular during FDR's presidency when it became his favorite while vacationing in Warm Springs, Georgia. According to the Lee brothers a southern curry is not a fiery thing and it is often softened further by sweet raisins or currants. I find that the curry flavor is not at all pronounced.

The country captain makes a good dish for a buffet. I made it with a combination of chicken thighs and boneless chicken breasts which I added to the liquid after the thighs had cooked for awhile. It is visually lovely with the red tomato sauce, browned almonds, plump cranberries (my substitution) , bacon, and green parsley. Serve the dish over rice.

COUNTRY CAPTAIN (Adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook)

1/2 cup Chicken broth
1/2 cup dried currants, raisins, or cranberries
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 pound slab bacon or 4 strips thick-cut bacon, diced
12 chicken thighs ( I used 4 skinless chicken thighs and 3 boneless breasts cut in half)
2 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cups yellow bell peppers diced (I used green)
2 cups yellow onions, diced (about 2 medium onions)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes, with juice
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
4 cups cooked white rice
2/3 cup slivered, toasted almons
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Pour the broth into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Place the currants in a small bowl and pour enough broth over them to cover; let stand. In another small bowl, combine the curry powder, salt, and pepper and reserve.

3. Scatter the bacon in a 3 to 4 quart enameled cast iron pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. With a slotted spoon, move the pieces around occasionally until the bacon is firm and crisp. With the slotted spoon, transfer to a small bowl lined with paper towel and reserve.

4. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pot, reserving the excess fat in a small bowl. Brown the chicken pieces in batches over medium high heat, taking care not to crowd them in the pot, until they are golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Add the reserved bacon fat 1 teaspoon at a time if the pot becomes too dry. Remove the chicken and reserve in a medium bowl.

5. Add the carrots, bell peppers, onions and garlic to the pot and cook until slightly softened, about 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes, spice mixture, ginger, and currants and their broth, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the tomatoes have cooked down to a puree and the sauce has thickened around the vegetables, about 8 minutes.

6. Nest the chicken thighs gently in the vegetable sauce. Cover the pot and transfer to oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cover, add the chicken breasts and bake uncovered for an additional 20 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with almonds, bacon and parley. Serve over rice.

Printable recipe

Croissant Bread Pudding

It is very early on Thursday morning and I have just baked Ina Garten's croissant bread pudding because today is Barefoot Blogger posting time. Peggy of Pantry Revisited chose this first Barefoot Contessa recipe for the month of December and it is a good one. I was especially interested in this bread pudding because I have been experimenting with dishes to serve at a brunch later in the month. The beauty of the dish is that it goes together quickly and is so adaptable. I did not add anything extra to the recipe this time, but it lends itself to many flavor options. Peggy added cinnamon and pecans. You could also add orange or lemon zest to it. It might even be good with almonds and almond extract. I halved the recipe because we were not anxious to eat a casserole that serves 10. I also used the small croissants and dried cranberries instead of raisins. Let me know if you have other suggestions and feel free to join our group of Barefoot Bloggers.

CROISSANT BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients

3 exra large whole eggs
8 extra large egg yolks
5 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 large croissants, preferably stale, sliced horizontally
1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half and half, sugar, and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside. Slice the croissants in half horizontally. In a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2 inch oval baking dish, distribute the bottoms of the sliced croissants, then add the raisins, then the tops of the croissants (brown side up), being sure the raisins are between the layers of croissants or they will burn while baking. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently.

Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1 inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Oven Roasted Hash Brown Cakes

These are not potato latkes. My friend Maxine will be delivering her Hanukkah potato latkes to me soon. I can hardly wait. And they are not the potato pancakes my Mother used to make. My Mother would stand at the stove frying batch after batch of crispy potato pancakes which we would devour with syrup or applesauce. These hash browns have an advantage. They are cooked in the oven and they are absolutely delicious. I was skeptical of the method of cooking but they turn out crispy and flavorful. We had them for dinner last night with a pork roast and I have to say, it was an excellent meal; one in which you make noises of pleasure.

The potato cakes are larger than potato pancakes so normally one cake per person would be enough. The directions say that the recipe can easily be doubled and can be made ahead of time and reheated when needed. I was planning on saving two to see how well they did the second time around, but we ate them all. If you double the recipe you will need a lot of space in the oven because you will need two large sheet pans. This recipe was featured in Bon Appetit with the Torta Rustica so it would be good for your Christmas brunch. And even better if you can do them ahead of time.

OVEN ROASTED HASH BROWN CAKES

1 1/2 cups paper thin onion slices

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and grated ( Do not substitute any other potato)

1 tsp salt, divided

2 Tbls unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. ( I think 400 degrees F would be better). Butter large rimmed nonstick baking sheet. Place onion in large bowl. Toss potatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Using hands, squeeze out excess liquid from potaotoes. Add potatoes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and melted butter to onion. Toss to coat.

Divide mixture into 4 mounds on prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Roast 15 minutes, then turn mounds over with spatula, pressing down to flatten to 4-inch-diameter rounds (cakes will still be soft). Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F, bake until cakes are golden and crisp around edges, about 45 minutes longer.

You could also make these smaller, dice the onion, and serve them as an appetizer topped with sour cream and smoked salmon. Adjust the cooking time accordingly.

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Torta Rustica

We will be returning to Lake Lure for Christmas. It is exciting to contemplate cold snowy weather, a roaring fire and a fresh Frasier Fir tree decorated with our collection of ornaments from the past. One of our Christmas traditions has always been a breakfast casserole. I have experimented with many versions over the years and yesterday I experimented with this version from Bon Appetit. I love it. Most breakfast casseroles incorporate the bread cubes into the mixture. In this case there is a layer of sourdough baguette slices on the bottom and up the sides of the casserole. The outside slices get nicely crisp and the sausage, egg mixture is nestled in the center. It is full of green spinach and roasted red peppers which give it a festive appearance. This is what I will be fixing for Christmas morning. I have a feeling it will become our traditional dish for many years to come.

TORTA RUSTICA

16 1/4 inch thick sourdough baguette slices, cut on slight diagonal
1 Tablespoon butter
12 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1 1/2 cups grated Fontina cheese, divided
3/4 cup diced drained roasted red peppers (from 12 ounce jar)
6 large eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk (I used skim)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 X 8 X 2 baking dish. (I used a 12 X 8 X 3 inch dish and found it to be just perfect). Place 8 baguette slices in bottom of dish, press remainder of slices around sides.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium high heat. Add spinach, toss until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer spinach to strainer; cool. Squeeze spinach dry. Transfer to medium bowl.

Heat same skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage. Saute until cooked through, breaking up, about 7 minutes. Mix into spinach; mix in 1 cup sheese and peppers. Spread atop baguette slices in bottom of dish.

Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in last 4 ingredients. Pour over spinach mixture and stir lightly with fork to distribute evenly. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over.

Bake torta until puffed and golden and center is set, about 55 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Note: Most breakfast casseroles can be assembled the night before and baked it the morning. I have not tried that with this casserole. I will probably fry the sausage, saute the spinach, slice the bread and dice the peppers the night before and assemble the dish in the morning.

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