Clearly, I Can't Multitask

This morning before I left for work I put half a pound of Rancho Gordo Runner Cannelini beans into some water to soak all day because I am going to use them for dinner tonight (Chicken with White Beans and Rosemary).

I just remembered that I forgot to pull the chicken thighs (you know, the "chicken" part of this meal) out of the freezer to defrost.

It's Monday; what can I say?

Summer in January

The spread

On January 24 the lovely ladies of the MLFB descended on my house for a late-afternoon get-together that was intended to transport us back to those warm and luxurious days of summer. If it had to be winter outside, then it could also be summer inside, if only for a few hours.

I can't emphasize enough how fortunate I feel to be part of this group of women. You guys (gals?) rule!

This is what happens when you spend the first part of the afternoon listening to opera and get home 45 minutes before the party starts: total biscuit chaos.

Patti, Diana, and Jen (Zora on the couch)

Zora, Cathy, Kim, and Alex (I apologize for the big fingerprint smudge)

Cindy (aka MK) and Alex's fabulous mojitos in the foreground (oh, so divine!)

Maggie's miniature cones and berry sorbet...yum!

Patti's blackberry pudding made with frozen blackberries from Locavorious

The way it should be: an empty glass at the end of the day

Indoor Picnic: Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Oven Fries, and Homemade Ketchup

In a couple of weeks the Michigan Lady Food Bloggers will be descending on my house for a "sweep away the winter blahs" event, the theme of which is "Summer in January." I decided to take the concept for a test drive, inspired by a recipe for homemade ketchup that was in my most recent issue of Saveur. From there, it was a natural branching-out to pulled pork made with one of the last two remaining pieces of our Back Forty Acres hog and oven fries done right from the fine folks of Cook's Illustrated (aka America's Test Kitchen). Put everything on a red-and-white checkered tablecloth and I had myself an indoor summer picnic.


But first, the ketchup (Saveur Magazine, Jan/Feb 2009, p. 52).

Ingredients:

• 4 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tsp celery seeds
• 1/4 tsp chile flakes
• 1/4 tsp whole allspice (about 6-7 pieces)
• 2 lbs tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 anaheim chile, chopped
• 1 clove garlic

Wrap cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, celery seeds, chile flakes, and allspice in a layer of cheesecloth; tie into a bundle and put into a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat along with tomatoes, salt, vinegar, brown sugar, onion, and anaheim chiles; smash and add the garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions and chiles are very soft, 40 minutes. Remove spice bundle; pureé sauce in a blender until smooth. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer into a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 30 minutes. Add more salt, sugar, or vinegar, if you like. Transfer ketcup to a glass container. Set aside to cool. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.


I didn't have any anaheim chiles; if I had done my homework beforehand I probably could have found them or an adequate substitute but the day I did my shopping for this dinner (Saturday) was such a diaster, weather-wise (you MLFBs know what I'm talking about!) that the prospect of trying to drive anywhere chilled my blood and thus I just clomped through the snow to the New Chelsea Market instead. I am lucky to be able to walk to a well-stocked grocery store. I even grabbed the last bundle of Zingerman's Bakehouse hamburger buns while I was there.

I also boosted the number of tomatoes in the recipe (I think I used closer to 3 pounds) and since the recipe only said "onion" I chopped up three very small onions, assuming that was approximately equal to one large onion. Hey, it didn't seem to affect the recipe at all.

I used my stick blender to puree the mixture directly in the pot (MESSY!) and didn't strain it at all; consequently, my ketchup had chunks and seeds in it. What can I say, I was lazy. And no one seemed to care.

That's some fine-looking condiment.

Oh, half hog, we hardly knew ye.

Next, the pulled pork (Weber's Big Book of Grilling, p. 169):

• 1 boneless pork shoulder roast (also known as Boston butt), 4 to 5 pounds
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Allow the roast to stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before grilling. Season with salt and pepper. Grill the roast, fat side up, over indirect medium heat until the internal temperature reaches between 185 and 190 degrees F, 3 to 4 hours. The meat should be so tender it pulls apart easily. Remove from grill, place on platter, and loosely cover with foil. Allow to rest for about 20 minutes.

For the barbeque sauce:

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup minced yellow onion
• 2 cups ketchup
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Tabasco sauce

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the roast has finished resting, thinly slice, chop, or "pull" the pork meat into shreds with your finger or two forks, discarding any large bits of fat. Moisten the meat with some of the sauce and mix well in a bowl. Toast hamburger buns, if desired. Serve the pulled pork warm on the buns with the remaining sauce on the side.

Of course I used my freshly-made ketchup in the sauce recipe!


And last, but not least, the oven fries (Cook's Illustrated, Jan/Feb 2004, p.21):

• 3 russet potatoes (about 8 ounce each), peeled and cut lengthwise into 10-12 evenly sized wedges
• 5 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to lowest position; heat oven to 475 degrees F. Place potatoes in large bowl and cover with the hottest tap water you can get; soak for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coat an 18 x 12-inch heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with 4 tbsp oil and sprinkle evenly with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper; set aside.

Drain potatoes. Spread potatoes out on triple layer of paper towels and thoroughly pat dry with additional paper towels. Rinse and wipe out now-empty bowl; return potatoes to bowl and toss with remaining 1 tbsp oil. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on baking sheet; cover tightly with foil and bake for 5 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until bottoms of potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15-20 minutes, rotating sheet after 10 minutes. Using spatula and tongs, loosen potatoes from pan, then flip each wedge, keeping potatoes in single layer. Continue baking until fries are golden and crisp, 5 to 15 minutes longer, rotating pan as needed if fries are browning unevenly. Transfer fries to second baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain. Season with additional salt and pepper and serve.

Just pretend it's 81 degrees outside instead of 18, OK?

Holiday Treats Exchange

Buddy thinks: "If they just look away for a second...all of this could be mine!"

On Saturday I met up with the lovely Michigan Lady Food Bloggers at Patti's house for a cookie exchange. Well, not really a cookie exchange, but an all-out treats extravaganza. A cookietravaganza? Either way, it was good eats, good treats, and good conversation. I brought three varieties of cookie to the gathering: espresso biscuits, pecan snowdrops, and molasses spice cookies. I came home with my biggest plastic container bursting with about a dozen different kinds of treats. It was another fine evening of merriment. Even the foul weather could not dampen the mood.

The madness begins!

My haul

The aftermath

Molasses Spice Cookies

This was another offering for the MLFB gathering. This is one of my Old Standbys. I make these cookies all the time. This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 1/3 cup ( 2 1/3 ounces) packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup light or dark molasses

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray it with nonstick cooking spray (I used my Silpat silicone baking mats, which EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE BECAUSE THEY RULE).

Whisk the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined; set aside.

Either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the egg yolk and vanilla; increase speed to medium and beat until combined, about 20 seconds. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the molasses; beat until fully incorporated, scraping the bowl with a spatula once. Reduce the speed to the lowest setting; add the flour mixture and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl once. Give the dough a final stir by hand to ensure there are no pockets of flour at the bottom. The dough will be soft and gooey.

Place some more granulated sugar in a small bowl for rolling. Pinch off wads of dough (approximately 1 heaping tablespoon) and roll into balls about 1 1/2 inches across. Roll the dough in the sugar to coat and place each ball on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake until the cookies are browned and still puffy, the edges have begun to set, and the centers are still soft (the cookies will look raw between the cracks and seem undone), about 11 minutes, rotating the sheet from front to back halfway through the baking time. Do not overbake.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheer for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack. Makes about 20-24 cookies depending on the generosity of your dough balls.

Sugar and spice and everything nice...wait, no sugar in this picture, just spice!

I did not have enough molasses (probably barely 1/4 cup) so my dough was not as dark and gooey as it should have been.

Pecan Snowdrops

This is one of the cookies I brought to the MLFB Cookie Exchange last Saturday. This recipe comes in many guises-- Pecan Balls, Snowdrop Cookies, Snowball Cookies, etc...but whatever you might call them, they are little spheres of crumbly goodness. This particular recipe was my grandmother's. It was on a card, written in her elegant early-20th century upbringing script, nestled in her recipe box for decades.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
  

Cream the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the flour and salt and combine. Add water, nuts, and vanilla and combine. Chill dough for an hour.

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Pinch off wads of dough and roll into balls approximately 1 inch across. Arrange on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Prepare a small bowl of powdered sugar. Roll the cookies in the sugar once while still warm, allow to cool completely, and roll again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last weekend I picked up my final share of the season from Tantré Farm: the Thanksgiving share. It was so massive I had to split it into two pictures.

Root vegetable bonanza: squashes, potatoes, rutabaga, onions, more potatoes.

More veggies! Brussels sprouts, turnips, radishes, chard, cabbage, kale, spinach, beets, cauliflower, parsley...I know I'm forgetting something...

The whole thing. That's a lot of vegetables!

Obviously, clocking in at over 60 pounds (lowball estimate), there is enough food here to feed 30 people for Thanksgiving. As such, most of this is going into my refrigerator and the cool basement for storage. I am taking some Brussels sprouts to my parents' for Thanksgiving dinner because I am going to introduce everyone to the miracle that is roasted Brussels sprouts. (I can hear my brother now..."You want me to eat what? No way! Ewwwwww!" By the way, he's 31.)

I had to take some close-up pictures of quite possibly the most visually amazing vegetable I've ever seen. This is Romanesco broccoli (a variant form of cauliflower).

The thing that is so interesting about this vegetable-cum-work-of-art is that it exhibits a complex mathematical pattern known as a fractal.

Each of these points is a universe unto itself. The pattern repeats itself into infinity. This is quite the marvel of nature. I'm reluctant to eat it (but better to eat it than let it go to waste).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!