Each Little World

Barbie's granola

Today is a better day for cooking than gardening. So here is a new favorite recipe.

My cousin Barb and I reconnected at a family reunion a few years ago. We had not seen each other since we were teenagers and were amazed to discover how many interests we had in common. Cooking is one of them, so she always includes a recipe or two in her Chistmas card to me. I've made her granola recipe a number of times since the beginning of the year and Mark and I are totally addicted to it. 

BARBIE'S GRANOLA

3 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup (4 oz.) slivered almonds

1 and 1/2 cups raw pistachios

1 cup unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup olive or canola oil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

3/4 cup chopped apricots (add these after baking) 

Bake at 250 degrees F. for 45 minutes or until golden

If you've never made granola, you just mix all those ingredients together and spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake. I used two big sheet cake trays which made it easier to brown everything evenly. Since I am trying to cut down on sweets, I cut the sugar in half but left the syrup.

When I really want to treat myself, I put a couple of spoonsful of Barbie's granola over a container of Dannon's Toasted Coconut Vanilla yogurt (the  Oikos traditional Greek style). Heavenly. 

Dinner with the New York Times

The New York Times still follows the traditional newspaper schedule of publishing their food/dining/wine section on Wednesdays, and I rarely miss looking through it. Though I save a lot of the recipes they publish, the amount of dishes I actually make from the paper is much smaller. I do, however, have enough favorites that I've amassed over the years to keep me checking the paper each Wednesday.

Last week I was smitten with their Valentine's Day menu and decided that I would make it for Mark and I for our holiday celebration. He did all the shopping in the morning and I set a festive table and did the cooking — except for the steak. We did a strip steak instead of the suggested rib steak but followed the rest of the meal to the letter. It was delicious and easy. But, as always, I would make a couple of changes in the future.

DUCK FAT ROASTED POTATOES: We actually roasted our potatoes in duck fat as the recipe suggested. They noted you could substitute olive oil which is what I would do next time. Finding duck fat meant trips to two stores and I could not really notice any special flavor it added to the dish — especially since the prep also included fresh rosemary. And I would cut the amount of fat in half, no matter what you're using. We actually cooked more potates than the reciped called for and they still were a bit too greasy for our taste. 

ARUGULA AND AVOCADO SALAD WITH BAGNA CAUDA DRESSING: We love the Times' recipe for Midnight Pasta with garlic and anchovies, but found that same kind of Bagna Cauda sauce overpowering as a salad dressing. We lick up every bit of this poweful taste combination on pasta but actually strained it to make a slightly less strong dressing. Lesson learned.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE MOUSE WITH FLEUR de SEL: The real winner was the dessert. I don't know when I've made a simpler, faster, or easier dessert. This recipe is going into my 3-ring binder for the future. We just used Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate, not too expensive and readily available. I also divided the mousse into six servings rather than four. Visually it did not look skimpy in my grandmother's antique coupe bowls, and tastewise was more than enough since this is a rich dish.

It took the whole five minutes for my chocolate/water to melt and mix and also the full five minutes of whisking for the mixture to thicken into mousse. I managed to vigorously whisk it for three minutes, then Mark — hearing my huffing and puffing and moaning — came out and finished whisking. Five minutes is a long time unless you're in as good condition as Michelle Obama. My arms rebelled!

Warming comfort food

December's snow and the current very cold snap we're in the midst of here, have got me cooking non-stop. There's nothing like a hot oven and a kitchen filled with good smells to take the chill out of winter. Last fall I bought a new cookbook — "Long Nights and Log Fires: Warming Comfort Food for Family and Friends." I found it at Cluck The Chicken Store, which I wrote about not too long ago. 

The book is published by Ryland, Peters & Small and is not a title I've seen elsewhere, so I was happy to discover it at Cluck. The photos that accompany almost every recipe made the book an easy sell for me. A cookbook is not one of those things that I would buy online, sight unseen. I want to read the recipes and get a sense of the content before I plunk down my money.

Ever since I brought "Long Nights" home, it's been sitting by my favorite reading spot where I can dip into it when I'm wondering what to make for dinner. The soups are one of the strongest sections of the book. I've made a number of them, all delicious: "roasted tomato soup with rarebit toasts," "slow-cooked onion and cider soup, and "monkfish, fennel and saffron bourride with harissa aioli." The cider soup was interesting because it uses veggie stock instead of beef (which is how I've usually made it), plus hard sweet cider and egg yolks which gives it a lighter color and a more subtle flavor.

I've also made a hearty "smokey sausage and bean casserole" with chipotle sausages, cannellii beans, smoked paprika and maple syrup. The next recipe I want to try is an entree: "sticky pork tenderloin with a pecorino crust, mustard mash and balsamic onions." Doesn't that sound yummy? At least to those of you who eat meat.

The dishes illustrated in the photo above (clockwise from bottom left) are: "goat cheese, leek and walnut tart," "egg, bacon and spinach pie," and "real treacle tart with carmelized bananas."

Fall baking

Back-to-back pot-luck parties made me turn on the oven for the first time in weeks. I made two batches of my old standby brownies. And then I tried a recipe that I had pulled out of Martha's magazine back in March: Irish-Coffee Blondies. 

Since I had to carry the cookies to the party locations, I pulled out a couple of tins from a collection that I've amassed over the years and use to store/transport cookies rather than a traditional cookie jar. The two pictured above are among my favorites and have held a lot of treats over the years. Churchill was a gift from a long-ago boyfriend. I bought the tin commemorating Queen Elizabeth's Silver Anniversary while I was in Chicago for a day on a job interview in 1977. 

Here I am, pulling the bars out of their travel tins and arranging them on a serving tray. I always cut brownies into "fingers" so I get a few more bars out of the recipe, but also so they are the right size for everyone who just wants a sweet "bite" of dessert. The Blondies are supposed to be cut into 2-inch squares but I cut them in half again — on the diagonal — and that smaller size seemed just right to me.

You can click on the link at the top for Marth's recipe for Blondies and here's mine for Brownies.

BEST BROWNIES I EVER TASTED 

(I gave them this name after I requested the recipe having enjoyed them at a party.)

Melt 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and 1 stick butter (8 Tablespoons) in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup granulated sugan, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and the finely grated rind of a large orange. When this mix is cool, stir in 2 eggs (one at a time). Mix well and add 3/4 cup of flour.

Pour into a 8-inch square pan lined with parchment paper and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. You can cook them a bit longer for a cakier texture. I like the brownies in the center of the pan to have the consistency of chocolate truffles: solid but soft, so I always cook them the shorter time. I test with my finger and consider them done when a light touch no longer leaves an impression. And then I double check with a broom straw.

Cut into 24-32 pieces and dust with powdered sugar. The orange rind adds a touch of sophistication to the brownies and is always a surprise that gets lots of rave reviews.

Here's the view from the screened porch at the country party where these photos were all taken. The hosts had big stacks of china and cutlery gathered from thrift stores which you can see silhouetted and long tables covered with bright green fabric where all the pot-luck offerings were assembled. We had a wonderful time and I also picked up lots of great party organizing ideas! 

Cathedral Square

Our first evening in Milwaukee we began the night on one side of Cathedral Square at the Whiskey Bar, had dinner at Louise's on the other side, and ended the night at the free "Jazz in the Park" concert that filled the Square with music and Milwaukeeans. Saturday morning we roamed Cathedral Square again to enjoy the sights and sounds of the farmers' market located there.

We brought home this dried gourd handpainted by artist/gardener/gourd geek Ramona Palzkill of Dodgeville. The design is a sunflower whose petals cascade down the sides of the gourd. The bottom has a piece of felt on it so it won't scratch your table and the dried seeds — which are still inside the gourd — rattle when you shake it.  

Summer soup

Our long hot summer has tested cooks who are hungry but don't want to heat up the kitchen. I found this recipe for a refreshing green (cucumber) Gazpacho in The Summertime Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin. It was quick and easy and held up well in the fridge for a few days. Slatkin's book is a great resource for lots of other delicious summer suppers.

Dana Slatkin's Cucumber Gazpacho

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 3 cups plain yogurt, preferably Greek-style or whole milk
• 5 medium English cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
• 1/2 bunch celery (about 4 long stalks), roughly chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded, cored, roughly chopped
• 3 green onions, white and green parts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and stems
• 1/2 bunch fresh dill, leaves only, plus a few sprigs for garnish
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Sugar
• Garnish: 2 medium pink radishes, grated

Procedure:

In a blender, puree yogurt, cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, green onions, cilantro and dill in batches until smooth. Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Serve soup in chilled bowls or salted glasses with dill sprigs and grated radish for garnish.

As you can see from the top picture, I served the soup in bowls garnished with snipped chives. But I think it would be excellent served the way Slatkins does — in glasses with salted rims just like a margarita. And what a summery way to start a meal!

Bottom photo and recipe reprinted from the Orange County Register.

No cherry pie this summer

For many years my friend Doris and I spent a week of our vacation in Door County each summer. That's the area that's at the tip of Wisconsin's thumb for those of you who live elsewhere. We'd take an art class with Wendell Arneson at Peninsula Art School in the mornings, make art and visit galleries in the afternoons, read in the evenings and eat around the clock. The food is always fabulous in Door County where the specialties are whitefish and cherries. I don't think you can find an eatery up there that doesn't have dishes with cherries — from muffins to french toast to cherry pie a la mode — on its menu. Our last stop each summer, as we drove out of Fish Creek, was always Ray's Cherry Hut where we picked up fresh and frozen cherries to take home for our own pie baking exploits.

This year's unsettling weather — too hot too early, followed by frosts and dry conditions — has had a nasty effect on Wisconsin's traditional crops. I've already stocked up on maple syrup because of this year's truncated maple season and now it's bad news about the cherries. The Associated Press reports this story about what the change in the weather means for Wisconsin this year:

"Door County in northeastern Wisconsin ranks among the country's top cherry producers. But this year's crop could be the pits.

Bob Lautenbach of Lautenbach's Orchard in Fish Creek says this is the worst year he's ever experienced, and his family has grown cherries all his life.

He tells WLUK-TV the 2012 cherry crop in Door County has all but failed. He says the county would normally produce about 8 to 10 million pounds, but this year the prediction is about half a million pounds.

That's because the warm March woke up the trees early, but several nights of frost then killed off the buds.

Door County growers say they'll try to keep their crop in the county this year, for tourists and locals to enjoy. Prices will be higher."

According to the Wisconsin Cherry Growers' website, Michigan — which produces 80 percent of the total supply of tart cherries — experienced much of the same early season damage to flower buds. Reports indicate that "many commercial Michigan growers have experienced severe and devastating losses" as well.

. . .

Yesterday in Madison, the high was 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.44 Celsius) and today 95 is predicted. We've only had a trace of rain in a month where we typically get about three inches. Not exactly the lovely June days that were the norm for southern Wisconsin. The question we all want answered is how much of this is an aberration and how much is a taste of things to come?

Thanks to Jim Rowen for the heads up on this climate change story.

Sweet Sunday

Ducks, chicks, bunnies, a basket of carrots and lots of sweet treats. There's a mixed bag of licorice, a chocolate tulip cup that I filled with chocolate-covered orange and lemon rind and crystalized ginger — and topped with a white chocolate and hazelnut mini "corn cob." Also included are a tin of Les Anis de Flavigny (French licorice mints) and a package of Stroopwafels (caramel waffles). All of it from Chocolaterii Stam at Greenway Station. I just discovered this Madison outpost of a Dutch chocolate maker which sells a dizzying array of beautiful and tasty treats; and you can easily see I fell prey to a delicious temptation!

A taste of Nepal (and elsewhere)

Mark arrived home from the grocery store late Friday morning just in time to beat the snow storm. He then spent the afternoon cooking spicy Nepalese dishes which he proceeded to serve in courses spread out over a couple of hours. He cooked, we ate, we read by the fire and then he cooked some more.

Strange as it may seem, Madison has a wealth of fabulous Nepalese restaurants. We've been going to the grandmother of them all, Himal Chuli, for more than twenty years. We finally decided we needed to learn how to cook some of our favorite dishes at home, which is how Mark wound up buying Taste of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak.

We began our meal with Taareko Alu or Spicy Sauteed Potatoes from that cookbook. Mark had made these before and this time decided to cut them like chunky French fries and to serve them as an hors d'oeuvre with a glass of Guinness Black Lager. They are fabulous and would work well as a starch with any number of grilled or roasted meats.

This was followed by bowls of Dal a la Himal Chuli. There is nothing more comforting, more warming, more sustaining than Himal's Dal. We'd tried to replicate it at home without much success. I decided to look on-line to see if the restaurant had ever published the recipe; no such luck. But local blogger Jessie Bluejay experimented until she came up with her own recipe to recreate Himal Chuli's Dal at home.

We tried it and thought it was a match. This time Mark served us leftover Dal that we had frozen when we made it after discovering Bluejay's recipe not long ago. De-frosted, and heated up, it still held up quite well both in texture and flavor. Mark served the Dal with Capital Brewery's Winter Skal. We emptied our bowls before I thought to have Mark snap a photo.

(Note that Bluejay's recipe has a couple of visual glitches in it; they appear to be related to accent marks and do not affect the recipe itself or ingredient amounts).

The Dal was followed by Tsak Sha Momos or Tibetan Beef Dumplings, a recipe that appeared in the New York Times not long ago. Momos are a staple at Himal Chuli and these were close enough to their version to satisfy us. Mark served them with Potosi Brewery's Cave Ale and a No Cook Tomato Chutney from the Taste of Nepal cookbook, similar to the way they are presented at Himal. The Tibetan Hot Sauce in the NYTimes sounded too hot for the subtle flavor of Momos. 

He was going to also make a stir-fried Ramechhap-style cabbage (from Taste of Nepal), but we ate so many potatoes that we decided to forego that dish.

Huma Siddiqui is a native of Pakistan who has lived in Wisconsin for quite a number of years. She's well-known locally for her televised cooking show, spice blends, and her evocative book, "Jasmine in her Hair." Part-memoir, part-cookbook, this little volume focuses on "culture and cuisine from Pakistan." It is a touching family saga filled with fabulous recipes.

Here you can find more versions of Dal, as well as a recipe for Saag Aloo (spinach with potatoes), one of Mark's favorite dishes from Himal Chuli; though they add black-eyed peas. And Huma also has a recipe for Samosas: pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes. Huma deep-fries hers while they are baked at Himal Chuli. Either way, another great dish winter or summer.

Here's a little video of Huma cooking. Having worked as her assistant during some of the cooking classes she taught at Orange Tree Imports, I want to point out that — though you can't tell from this video — Huma is always wearing heels and never wears an apron. You will also notice that she never seems rushed or tense when she cooks. Being in a kitchen with Huma is an almost meditative experience. If you live in Dane County, consider taking one of her classes or sitting in on the TV tapings. At the very least you will want to add her lovely book to your cooking library.

 

Editor's note: Just caught up with last week's edition of Isthmus where I read that Himal Chuli was the first Nepali restaurant in the country when it opened in Madison in 1986.

The Saveur 100

Every year at this time I make sure to pick up a copy of the magazine Saveur. The Jan./Feb. issue is devoted to "The Saveur 100," a compendium compiled by the staff of their "favorite tools, tips, ingredients, cookbooks, recipes, restaurants, and more." Each year the list has a theme and this year it's "The New Classics."

The Saveur 100 is the perfect midwinter read: engrossing and entertaining. And I always make a game out of reading it, giving myself marks for foods I've tried, tools I own and the like. Of course, since some foods and restaurants they talk about are in other states and even other countries, I do a bit of fudging on the foodie scale. I get points if I've tried the local equivalent.

If you're suffereing from cabin fever, find yourself a Saveur and create your own quiz. 

Here's how I fared this year:

• 13. Baumgartner's Limburger Sandwich. While I am not a big fan of this sandwich, I have been within sniffing distance of it. Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Wisconsin is the last producer in the country of Limburger, so like it or not, I am proud of its history and Wisconsin connection.
• 20. Griswold Cast Iron. We grew up using Griswold muffin molds and every time I visit my sister in Erie, PA — home of the Griswold company which folded in 1957 — I try to talk her into giving me the family Griswold pans. I've found them in antique shops in her area but the prices have kept me from buying my own.
• 29. Linie Aquavit. I learned to drink Aquavit (with a beer chaser) when I took a spinning and weaving class at Peter's Valley Craftsmen out east. But here in Wisconsin, with its strong Norwegian heritage, I learned to appreciate Linie. At all times — like right now — there's a bottle in our freezer staying properly chilled.
• 59.  Christmas in Connecticut. Watched it for the millionth time between Christmas and New Year's this year. Make sure to get the original 1954 version and not the ghastly re-make. Despite the photo in Saveur, Barbara Stanwyck has a fabulous wardrobe in the movie.
• 64. Vietnamese Pork Chops. Had them for lunch on Saturday at Saigon Noodle in Madison. Saveur provides a recipe, but I'm not sure I'd ever bother making them when I can get them right in the neighborhood.
• 66. Old Gourmets. I, too, hoard my back issues of the now-defunct Gourmet magazine. I've got a few dozen issues going back to the mid-1980s; in particular those from November and December with all the great holiday recipes. And then there are untold articles and recipes I've clipped from Gourmets before I tossed them.
• 67. Judith Jones. If you love cooking and cookbooks, you know Jones.  She's the legendary editor who persuaded Knopf to publish Julia Child.
• 68. Homemade scones. I make 'em, I eat 'em.
• 93. Lambrusco. A guilty pleasure and a must with Chinese food.

 

Soon I will be able to add No. 91. Sweet Orange Buns (pictured above). Mark, who doesn't have an insatiable sweet tooth like mine, pointed out this recipe to me in a way that clearly indicated he'd be mine forever if I made him this treat. What could I do but send him to the store for some oranges and yeast?