"CookFight" by NYTimes writers Kim Severson and Julia Moskin and "Second Helpings from the Union Square Cafe" - Pork Braised in Milk and Cream and Mustard Mashed Potatoes

Date I made these recipes:  January 1, 2016 – New Year's Day

CookFight – 2 Cooks, 12 Challenges, 125 Recipes and Epic Battle for Kitchen Dominance by New York Times Food Writers Kim Severson and Julia Moskin; Foreword by Frank Bruni

Published by:  Ecco

ISBN:  978-0-06-198838-7

Purchased at Barnes and Noble Used Books, Roseville, MN

Recipe:  Pork Braised In Milk and Cream – p. 89

Second Helpings from the Union Square Cafe – 140 New Favorites from New York's Acclaimed Restaurant by Danny Meyer and Michael Romano

Published by: HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN:  0-06-0196647-5

Recipe:  Mustard-Mashed Potatoes – p. 251; Mashed Potatoes "base" recipe – p. 321-322

Happy New Year!

It's been a long time since I've planned the main dish around a side dish but my husband was set on this mashed potato recipe and so there it is.  Oh sure, we could have just eaten a big bowl of mashed potatoes on New Years but that seemed a pretty inauspicious way to start the new year.

Originally, I asked him to look through the Second Helpings cookbook to check out some other main dish recipes I tagged, intending to make one of them on Christmas Day.  He liked them, but as he is wont to do, he checked out the entire book and said "I want these mashed potatoes.  I'll settle for the horseradish ones but these are the ones I really want."

Well, who am I to play the Grinch during the holidays?  Wish granted!

The problem though, was that the potatoes didn't really go with the entree I selected for Christmas Day – Martha Stewart's Pork Stew with Fennel and Olives.  In fact, the pasta dish I made for Christmas Eve was a much better fit for the pork stew and so we combined the two and ate those together. 

Still, the mashed potato recipe was hanging out there mocking me.  I kept promising to make them "any day" now and did make them "any day now" after I found something to go with the potatoes.  According to Second Helpings, chicken, rabbit, pork chops, and salmon pair well with these mashed potatoes.

And so enter the Pork Braised in Milk and Cream recipe.  Now I know some of you are probably already turning up your nose at the thought but many moons ago, I saw a recipe for this dish in a magazine and thought it sounded good so I clipped it.  Finding it though, was another story and so luckily, CookFight included it for me.  Archeological dig avoided!

Still, this recipe calls for milk and cream and then lemon and at this point, my nose starting turning up but I trusted the recipe and was not disappointed.  Plus, I trusted the authors, Kim Severson and Julia Moskin, who write for the New York Times and whose columns I've read off and on over the years.

Rounding off our heavy-hitting food writers is restaurant owner, Danny Meyer, whose book – Setting the Table – The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business  (2006) -was a monster hit when it was released.  Danny, who owns several restaurant, led the way in creating a true service environment in restaurants, one where staff (from dishwasher to dining room captain) was as valued, if not more valued, than patrons because if they were happy, customers were happy.  (But "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!").  Exemplary service was not a nouvelle idea, but placing value on the staff was and by gosh, this concept caught on and is seen in practice in almost every successful restaurant.

One of Danny's early and most successful restaurant enterprises was Gramercy Tavern in NYC (Union Square Cafe, the topic of this cookbook was his first one).  After reading about Gramercy Tavern in his book, I made a mental note to go there some day and one fine day in August 2004, I did.  I go to NYC regularly and that year, planned a trip to the city the week after I took the Minnesota Bar Exam to decompress.  Yes, probably only me goes to one of the world's largest city to center herself but that's the way I'm wired.

At any rate, when my friend, Susan, who lives in NYC, asked where I wanted to go to "celebrate" finishing that torture test, I said Gramercy Tavern and so we went.  And It. Was. Spectacular.  The service was, as you might imagine, off the charts and the food was sublime.  At least what I remember of it.  Let's just say that between the pre-dinner cocktails, dinner cocktails and post-dinner cocktails and my total exhaustion from that hideous exam, I don't have a full memory of what we ate except that it was good and it likely involved steak on my part.  You gotta live large sometimes, folks.  Gotta live large.

So anyway, the place blew my mind and I would love to go back sometime with my husband, this time in a more locked and upright position.

A little side story about the service:  Susan and I had walked all over town that day and just when we got off the subway and were walking to the restaurant, a blister on my foot broke.  No problem, we thought, we'll just find a Duane Reed (drugstore).  There's pretty much a Duane Reed on every other corner in Manhattan.  Except, of course, this particular corner.

So I limped into the restaurant and asked the hostesses if by chance they had a Band Aid and after giving me one of those "you must be joking" looks, they pulled themselves together, re-read their "playbook," Setting the Table  ("Chapter Two:  When the patron wants a Band Aid...") and got me a Band Aid.  And then checked up on me – twice.  God Bless these angels!  After we dined, I scribbled out our impressions on a survey they provided (good lord, what my handwriting must have looked like) and after that, I got a thank you note.  "No, no—thank YOU!"  Again – impressive!

Coincidentally, these two books – CookFight and Second Helpings – are similar in their approach.  They are both conversational, with photos in each.  The photos in CookFight are of the two writers in their kitchens and their conversation is around their recipe battle.  The photos in Second Helpings are of some of the diners in Union Square Cafe, such as Jacques Pepin, and the narrative in the front of the book centers around how the two authors travel to France and Italy each year (and who knows where in between) to get inspiration for recipes for their restaurant.  Both books have a ton of recipes that are sure to please.

Out of the two, CookFight, is perhaps a tad more interesting because of its format.  Each month, the authors faced off in a cooking  battle, selecting a menu of goodies to make, and writing about their experiences.  Their stories are hilarious, for example, Julia writes of the January "Budget Battle": "Her (Kim's) fifth appetizer was like a knife in my heart." Kim's thoughts about her dish – the milk-braised pork – echoed my own:  "On the surface, this dish might sound horrible, but if you are confident enough and patient enough, the reward is a sauce that is so good it nearly made [Julia] Moskin's husband leave her for me."  Ha!  The contest was suggested by fellow New York Times writer, Frank Bruni, who refereed the face-offs before deciding, wisely, that it was a tie. 

Patience is indeed required when making the pork dish because you must allow a few hours (or overnight) to coat the pork roast with garlic and sage and then you need 3-3.5 hours to slowly simmer the roast in the milk bath.  On the other hand, the potatoes are pretty easy to make so I timed them to finish just about when my pork did.  You'll need to make the "base" mashed potatoes first then add the ingredients to make them mustard potatoes.

All in all, both recipes were a big hit and I would love to cook more of them from these books but if didn't limit myself to one per book, I would never make it through the rest of my collection.  Not that I am making it through my collection, I just like to think I am.

Before I go, I have to say that I was just a tiny bit concerned about not making a bean/pea dish to bring good luck for the New Year as I have the past several years.  (Hoppin' John, a dish made with black-eyed peas, is the traditional American favorite).  Well, I am happy to report that I worried for nothing because when I Googled "foods that will bring luck for the New Year," "pork" came up as a lucky food.  Whew, dodged that bullet!  According to Epicurious.com, thanks to "its rich fat content, signifies wealth and prosperity."  Works for me.

Happy cooking everyone but no cook fighting!

Pork Braised in Milk and Cream – makes six servings

One 2 ½-3-pound pork loin roast

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped garlic (for the rub)

5 large garlic cloves, slightly crushed and peeled (Ann's Note:  You will add these after you start cooking the roast)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (for the rub), plus leaves from 2 or 3 fresh sage sprigs (Ann's Note:  you will add these after you start cooking the roast)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups milk

3 cups heavy cream

2 lemons

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Season the pork well with salt and pepper.  Rub with the chopped garlic and chopped sage and refrigerate; overnight is best, but a few hours will do.

Bring the meat to room temperature and brush off as much of the sage and garlic as you can.  Heat the oil in a heavy pot with a lid, preferably enameled cast-iron.  Sear the meat well on all sides – this will take about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the milk and cream in a saucepan and bring it to a boil, then turn down the heat to keep it warm.

Peel several long strips of zest from the lemons.  Squeeze the juice from one of them (you'll use this when you finish the sauce).

Transfer the pork to a platter and wipe the fat from the pot.  Add the butter to the pot and set the heat to medium.  Add the garlic cloves and allow to get a touch golden.  Add the sage leaves, reserving a few for garnish, and stir, then set the roast back in the pot, along with any juices from the platter.  Bring to a simmer, add the lemon zest, reserving a few for garnish, and season to taste with salt.

Pour the milk and cream into the pot, partly cover, and simmer gently for 3 hours or more, turning the roast once in a while and stirring to prevent excessive sticking; the sauce should look slightly golden and clumpy.  Ann's Note:  I turned the roast every 30 minutes and this worked out quite well.  Turn off the heat and allow the meat to rest fr at least a half an hour, or until you are ready to make the sauce, up to an hour.

When you are ready to serve, remove the roast and slice it ¼-inch thick or so.  Place on a platter.

Pour the sauce through a sieve into a saucepan, using a wooden spoon to help it along.  Gently reheat the sauce (no boiling!), then stir in the lemon juice and pour it over the meat.  Garnish with the reserved sage leaves and ½ lemon slice.

Mustard-Mashed Potatoes – serves 4

For this recipe, you'll make the mashed potato recipe first, then add the ingredients for the Mustard-Mashed Potatoes

2 pounds Idaho potatoes, scrubbed and peeled

2 teaspoons kosher salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup milk

¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Then add:

2 tablespoons dried mustard

1 tablespoon warm water

1 tablespoon honey

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

Place the potatoes in a 2-quart saucepan with 1 teaspoon of the salt and cold water to cover.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, until completely tender, about 30 minutes.  Test the potatoes by piercing them with a paring knife—there should be no resistance.  Place in a colander and allow to drain well for several minutes.

Combine the butter, heavy cream, and milk in another saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted.  Keep warm.

Working over the saucepan used to cook the potatoes, pass the potatoes through a food mill or a potato ricer.  If you have any difficulty, add a little of the hot milk and butter to the potatoes.

Place the potatoes over a low flame and begin adding the warm milk mixture, whipping the potatoes with a wooden spoon or spatula at the same time.  When all the liquid is absorbed, season with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and the white pepper.

Stir together the mustard, water, honey, salt, pepper and turmeric in a small bowl.  Fold the mustard mixture into the warm mashed potatoes and stir over low heat until piping hot.  

"The Harley Biker's Cookbook - Big Bites for Hungry Bikers" - Sara Liz's Garlic & Honey Chicken & Dial 911 Mashed Potatoes - for the annual Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis, SD

Date I made these recipes:  August 7, 2015 – Celebrating the annual Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis, SD

The Harley Biker's Cookbook – Big Bites for Hungry Bikers by Owen Rossan (with Biker Consultant Tod Rafferty)

Published by:  Chartwell Books, Inc.

ISBN: 0-7858-1531-7

Purchased at Har Mar Mall Antique Show

Recipes:  Sara Liz's Garlic & Honey Chicken – p. 38 and Dial 911 Mashed Potatoes – p. 53

So every year for the past 75 years folks, Harley Davidson rider from all over the planet congregate in, of all places, Sturgis, SD for a week-long Harley Rally.  I have no idea why Sturgis is the watering hole but it is so there you go.

Now while I know a few people from MN who have attended this shindig, I do not keep this event on my calendar mostly because I don't own a motorcycle, never mind a Harley.  But this year I didn't have to keep track of the dates because my favorite local radio station, 89.3 FM – The Current, did it for me.

This station (which you can and should stream online if you don't live in these parts), is my favorite of all stations because they play a wide variety of music (almost never the Top 40), do not have commercials (it's public radio-owned so you'll hear brief info about sponsors but that's it), and have very fun segments like The Morning Show's 9:30 Coffee Break,  Theft of the Dial and a No Apologies segment where you might hear anything from disco to – and I'm not kidding – The Osmond Brothers.

The 9:30 Coffee Break is genius:  the station selects a "theme" for the morning and then encourages listeners to email or call with musical selections to fit that theme.  On Friday, August 7, for example, the theme was "a) songs named after a city or b) from an album with a city title."  Other times, if a famous singer is having a birthday, they'll say call in with that singer's best songs.  But on Monday, in honor of Sturgis, they asked listeners to call in with songs involving motorcycles or motorcycle riding.  And here was the lineup:

Steppenwolf – "Born to Be Wild"

Yo La Tengo – "Speeding Motorcycle"

The Shangri-La's – "Leader of the Pack"

Jimi Hendrix – "Ezy Rider"

The Hopefuls – "Motobike"

The Allman Brothers – "Midnight Rider"

The Byrds – "Wasn't Born to Follow"

I pretty much hate mornings but I tell you what, there's nothing like a little Steppenwolf to put a gal in a good mood for the rest of the day:  "Get your motor runnin', head out on the highway...."

Now just because I don't have a motorcycle, doesn't mean I don't have a great Harley Davidson story because I do.  And how convenient that I also have a Harley Davidson cookbook, right?  There is no such thing as a coincidence, my friend.

Many years ago, I worked for a data processing company whose headquarters were in Milwaukee and so we ended up having a lot of Milwaukee-area clients.  Milwaukee is also home to Harley Davidson.  As these things co, a co-worker, Mary, and I ended up having to visit a Milwaukee client during Harley Davidson's 90^th birthday celebration and luckily, we were able to (just barely) find a motel that still had rooms available because the city was overrun with Harley riders.  In fact, picture your favorite freeway and then picture it with wall-to-wall motorcycles and riders all in black, stretching for miles and miles and miles and you have what we encountered.

So we got to our hotel and I pulled up in the car port area so we could check in when a couple rode up on their – of course – Harley Davidson motorcycle.  And I noticed that they were speaking French and commented on that to my co-workers.  You should know that I speak some French although I'm not even close to being fluent. Anyway, my coworker then said "Say something in French" and so I said "Bon jour" and the French couple started laughing, as did I.  I mean, she didn't ask me to have a discussion on international politics, she just wanted me to say something in French so I did! My co-worker was not as amused as we were:  "You know what I meant!"  "Oui, Mari!"

So we got checked in hauled our luggage to the elevator and then waited along with six fairly big guys all decked out in black and leathers.  We were not in the proper colors at all, but no matter.  So the elevator opened and several of their friends got out, dressed for the pool and we got in and how we all fit – six big guys, two not-so-big gals and several pieces of luggage and equipment - I don't know but I do know they made sure Mary and I were all situated and that was very nice. 

We ran into these same guys a bit later at the bar along with about a billion of their close, personal biker friends, and the scene was hilarious.  Every single person except us was in black and leather.  Mary and I, of course, had on our best "going to the hotel bar to unwind from the trip" jewel-toned summer outfits which all but screamed "Which of these is not like the others?" but what could we do? Our excuse, and it's a good one, was that it was 1993, jewel tones were all the rage and black was only worn for funerals or if you lived in NYC which we did not.  Now, of course, I wear black quite a bit but not biker black so there's that and I'm pretty sure my leather jacket would be too prissy so we'll leave it at that.  And of course, I don't own a bike.

The next day we went to the client's office and got to talking about the Harley anniversary and Mary mentioned that she was under orders to stop and purchase some commemorative t-shirts before we left Milwaukee and that seemed like an easy task.  But we learned that the shop would be closing before we could get there and so we decided, with the client's blessing, that I should make a separate journey to the Harley store to purchase Mary's items along with stuff for half the staff who were also too busy to go.  And so armed and dangerous with a wad of cash, I set off to the Harley store.

People, again, let me paint a picture and the picture I am going to paint for you is NOT black.  The company car we were driving at the time was not only a "mom car" i.e. station wagon but it was powder blue.  And that is the car I had to drive to the store.  And I took up about four parking spaces when I got there which I'm sure didn't please the rest of the people waiting to park and get in line at the store but what can you do?

So I parked said "mom car" and commenced walking to the store.  I was in a beautiful raspberry-colored suit (my favorite summer suit ever), complete with jacket, skirt,  matching accessories, pantyhose and of course, high heels.  And so I clacked my way to the end of the line and stood there, once again sticking out like a sore thumb among the rest of the shoppers who again were all in black and leathers.  (I hope you're sensing a theme here!) Thankfully, not one person pointed at me and said "What the F are you doing here" but if so, I was determined to assume my best "bad-ass-biker-chick-on- break- from-my-day-job" persona just in case. 

When I got back to the client's offices, of course I regaled them with the story and to this day, I still chuckle to myself when I think of the picture I must have made at that store.  It was probably one of the more memorable client visits I have ever made and so last Monday, as soon as my radio station mentioned Sturgis, I knew what I had to do and that was to pull out the Harley Biker's Cookbook and get to work.

There were lots of good recipes in this book and I had a completely different menu in mind but then Andy took a look and decided that we should go with the chicken and then since the chicken recipe mentioned that the dish would go well with the Dial 911 Mashed Potatoes, how could I resist? (We passed on the peas this time around.)

Should you want to pass on the chicken and go with something else, this book is divided into the following sections:  "Breakfast & Brunch;" "Appetizers;" "Meat Dishes;" "Poultry;" "Fish & Seafood;" "Vegetables & Salads;" "Sandwiches;" "Dressings, Sauces & Marinades" and "Desserts and Snacks."  Several recipes make liberal use of jalapeno peppers and so I passed on those but plenty of options remained and in fact were in hot contention for a while such as "Claude's Blue Cheese Soup;" "Thunder Grunt Stuffed Mushrooms;" "Torque Master Meatloaf" and "Mario's Meatball Sub."  But the man decided that he was in a chicken kind of mood so there it is.

This chicken recipe is easy and as they often say on Food Network's "Chopped" was cooked perfectly.  The chicken was very moist and the garlic did not overwhelm the chicken at all, probably because you cook it with garlic slathered on it for 20 minutes and then pour on the honey and bake for another 20.  Simple and delicious.  And the 'taters?  OMG, delicious!  Absolutely delicious.  I mean, how can you go wrong with butter and cream? 

And that concludes our culinary "ride" commemorating 75 years of the Harley Davidson Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota!

Sara Liz's Garlic & Honey Chicken – serves 2 to 3

10 chicken pieces; thighs and drumsticks work best buy any cut pieces will do

6 cloves garlic, minced

6 Tbsp honey

Chopped chives, to garnish

Salt the chicken pieces and rub them all over with the garlic.  Let sit for about 15 minutes.

Put the chicken pieces in a roasting pan, making sure that the garlic is still on the pieces.  Make sure the pan is big enough so that you don't have to stack up the pieces.  Roast in a 400F oven for about 20 minutes.

Take the pan out and drain off any liquid (not the garlic) that has accumulated.  Pour the honey over the chicken making sure that each piece is well covered.  If you need more honey for this, then use it.

Roast for 20 more minutes or until the chicken pieces are crisp and shiny brown.  Put on a warm platter and sprinkle with chopped chives.  Serve with mashed potatoes and buttered green peas.

Ann's Note:  Please note that it does not say to actually cover the roasting pan you are to use with the cover itself and so I left it off for the first 20 minutes, then hedged my bests and put it on for the second 20 minutes and then because my potatoes were not quite done, I lowered the oven temp to about 170 for maybe 15 minutes and the chicken was perfect!

Dial 911 Mashed Potatoes – serves 4

2 pounds potatoes

½ cup heavy cream

6 Tbsp melted butter

Cayenne pepper

Salt and black pepper

Freshly chopped parsley

Peel the potatoes and boil until they are soft.  Ann's Note:  Maybe if I boiled potatoes all the time, I would know how long "until they are soft" means in terms of minutes but I don't so I didn't.  So I looked it up on the internet and the general consensus is:  peel and quarter potatoes, place in a pot and fill with cold water about an inch past the potatoes.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on either medium or low for 20-25 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, warm the cream slightly.  When the potatoes are cooked, drain and put them back in the pan over a low heat.  Mash the potatoes using a potato masher or a grater.  Do not use a blender or food processor unless you want glue.  Ann's Note:  You cannot go wrong using a potato ricer instead of a potato masher or grater.

Slowly add the melted butter and beat into the potatoes.  When well blended, add the warm cream in the same way.  Keep stirring until smooth and creamy.  Sprinkle in a few shakes of cayenne pepper.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.

Author's note:  This dish takes a lot of salt.  Ann's Note:  I added some but not too much and that was fine by me.

"The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook" - Pineapple Glazed Ham & Potatoes Au Gratin

Date I made these recipes: March 25, 2012 (Mad Men Season 5 premier)

The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin
Published by: Smart Pop
ISBN: 978-193666141-1
Recipes: Pineapple-Glazed Ham in honor of Season 4, Episode 1 “Public Relations” and Julie Child’s Potatoes Au Gratin in honor of Season 1, Episode 2 “Ladies’ Room”

Finally, after 17 months off, Mad Men is back. It’s back! Oh how I have missed it. I mean, weren’t we all on the edge of our seats wondering about Joan’s baby and Don and Megan’s engagement and all kinds of various and sundry revolving stories? I know I was. Aside from a TV show here and there, I can’t think of any other show I have wanted to watch more than Mad Men.

This hero worship is probably due to the fact that I grew up in the 60’s. I was in Kindergarten when President Kennedy was shot (I called him President “Keninney”) and held on for the ride in 1968 when everything seemed to be going to hell in a handbasket. In between, I managed to somehow survive Catholic grade school and Vatican II, secondhand smoke, loud cocktail parties thrown by my parents (where I got to sip from my dad’s martini and please, spare me the lecture) and the gamut of 60’s fashion. In fact, one of the more hilarious scenes from Mad Men has Betty chastising Sally for running around with a dry-cleaning bag on her head because Betty didn’t want the clothing in them wrinkled. While I’m pretty sure my mother would have been more concerned than Betty about my potential death by asphyxiation, I also know my mom’s desire for smartly pressed clothes and so who’s to say I, too, wouldn’t have heard “Ann Marie Verme, you’re ruining the clothes!”

The thing I, and others, love about this show is the attention to detail. When I watch this production, I feel as if I was right back in the 60’s, girdles and all! Many women were horrified that pregnant women smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol but as my friend, Mary, said on many occasions “Oh my God, my mother smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish with all of us kids!” And that was absolutely true; the fact that you were pregnant was immaterial.

Smoking was allowed everywhere, and I mean everywhere, even hospitals (can you imagine?!) In fact, my favorite “toy” growing up was the huge ashtray in our local bank. It was filled with sand and my brother and I used to move the cigarette butts through the sand like we were driving a truck—at least until my mother said “Stop that!” Spoilsport.

For many women of the 60’s, the “available” positions were teachers, nurses, secretaries or stay-at-home housewives. My mother stayed at home (because my dad wanted her to) and hosted coffee klatches with her female friends, grocery shopped, cleaned the house, took care of me and my brother and countless other things and was still expected to have dinner ready and on the table by 6. And it wasn’t that my dad was a hard-ass, far from it. It’s just that more women stayed home because it was expected of them and that was that. Dinner was, of course, preceded with my dad’s wind-down-from-a-tough-day martini.

So speaking of cocktails, this cookbook has a ton of popular 60’s cocktail recipes, many of which I have sampled in bars and restaurants over the past few decades, but I decided to pay homage by making a couple of food recipes instead. Besides, at precisely 8 bells Central Standard Time, I had my own cocktail of choice, a martini, at hand, ready for the start of our two-hour adventure. (By the way, the authors suggest adding 1/8 ounce of vermouth to the gin. Nonsense! That’s overkill.)

As to the food, the recipes all sounded delicious but I just had to make the ham recipe in honor of the hilarious episode from last season, Season 4, where Pete and Peggy have to come up with an advertisement for the fictitious Sugarberry canned ham. (That said the recipe for “Trudy’s Flying Roast Chicken with Stuffing” recipe came in a close second—talk about another hilarious moment in Mad Men history when Peter sent his wife Trudy’s roast chicken over the balcony in a fit of pique!)

Okay, back to the ham, in this episode, Pete and Peggy struggle to make their ham client happy. After much consideration, they come up with a “sure-fired” way to get their female grocery-buying public’s attention and that is to stage an in-store fight where two women argue over who is going home with a Sugarberry ham. The idea was, of course, to make Sugarberry ham the only ham that women would want to make. But naturally, the two “housewives” hired for the promotion get into a major fight, all hell breaks loose and that pretty much put the kibosh on that! Tell you what though I can’t look at a canned ham anymore without cracking up laughing. (And for the record, of course the ham I made today is a canned ham. If Matthew Weiner can pay attention to details, so can I!).

As to the potatoes, well, ham and potatoes just go together, right, so I broke my own little rule of only making one recipe per cookbook and made the au gratin potatoes as well. This was the first time I’ve ever seen them made with Swiss cheese but then again, this is an adaptation of a Julie Child recipe so that made sense. The texture of this is more like an omelet due to the addition of eggs, but I found myself really liking it. Still, Julia Child aside, I’m really more of a cheddar cheese gal myself when it comes to au gratin potatoes.

So there we were – martinis in hand, ham on the plate, potatoes nearby, and Mad Men commenced. Ah, life is good!

Pineapple-Glazed Ham (adapted from The New Good Housekeeping Cookbook (Hearst 1963)) – Yield: 1 ham
1 ham (in keeping with the episode, canned ham is best!)
1 cup pineapple juice, or reserved juice from pineapple can
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 15-ounce can pineapple slices
Maraschino cherries, optional

Cook ham according to instructions on the package. Remove ham from oven 45 minutes before it is done cooking and remove rind. Score ham, if you wish, by cutting it in long diagonal slashes in one direction and then crossing those cuts with diagonal slashes in the opposite direction to create a diamond pattern. Increase oven temperature to 400F.

Combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, and mustard in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened and clear. Spread on ham. Use toothpicks to fasten pineapple slices to ham and place maraschino cherries inside the pineapple rings. Return to oven for 20 minutes or until pineapple is glazed.

Place fully cooked ham on a serving platter and let rest for 15 minutes before carving into thin slices.

Ann’s Notes: My canned ham only took an hour to cook but I was still in a burning hurry to get done in time for Mad Men’s 8:00 (CST) start so….I didn’t wait until the pineapple juice, brown sugar and mustard became a paste but instead just poured it over the ham and shoved it in the oven. But I did take a moment to arrange the pineapple slices on top of my perfectly flat canned ham! Needless to say, I didn’t bother to score the ham since there was nothing to score—no rind, no fuss, no muss, no bother!

Potatoes au Gratin (adapted from Gratin De Pommes De Terre Aux Anchois – Gratin of Potatoes, Onions and Anchovies), Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (Knopf, 1961))

2 tablespoons butter; plus 1 tablespoon for top
1 cup minced onions
½ pound raw potatoes (about 2-3 large potatoes) (Ann’s note: today’s baking potatoes are HUGE so weigh them in the grocery store if at all possible lest you end up with more potatoes than needed like I did.). Peel and dice the potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes
3 eggs
1 ½ cups whipping cream, half-and-half, cream or milk
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup grated Swiss cheese

Place butter in a skillet and melt over low heat. Cook onions slowly in butter for 5 minutes or so, until tender but not browned.

Preheat oven to 375F. Drop potatoes in boiling salted water and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until barely cooked. Drain thoroughly.

Butter a 3-4 cup baking dish. Spread half of the potatoes in the bottom and then the cooked onion and, finally, the remaining potatoes.

Beat eggs with whipping cream, and add salt and pepper. Stir. Pour eggs and cream over the potatoes and shake the dish to send the liquid to the bottom.

*May be cook in individual serving crocks if desired.

"The Mystery Chef's Own Cookbook" and "The Nancy Drew Cookbook" - Baked Sliced Ham and Apples & Dave's Deviled Potatoes

Date I made these recipes: October 30, 2011

The Mystery Chef’s Own Cook Book by The Mystery Chef (John McPherson)
Published by: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc.
© 1934, 1943
Recipe: Baked Sliced Ham and Apples – p. 77

The Nancy Drew Cookbook – Clues to Good Cooking by Carolyn Keene
Published by: Grosset & Dunlap
© 1973 – 1974 printing
Recipe: Dave’s Deviled Potatoes – p. 59-60

I am not a big fan of Halloween. It’s too cold, too dark and when I was growing up, it often snowed. Trust me it is not fun to wear a Halloween costume under a winter coat.

And speaking of snow, the east coast got blasted this weekend by an early (for them) snowfall. This prompted all the local media to remind us Minnesotans of our huge 1991 Halloween blizzard. I cannot believe 20 years have passed since that debacle.

On that Halloween, a rain shower quickly turned into a ton of heavy, wet snow that just kept and falling and falling and falling. While we are used to a big snowfall in these parts, it was hard to get around the cities; snow plows got stuck, roads were only half plowed, mail wasn’t delivered, schools closed and so on. In a word, folks, we were truly snowed in. Well, true confession: my husband brought me to work the next day as driving in this stuff is a challenge to him and I went in on the day after that (the weekend) to get some work done as I was under deadline. Let me just mention that while I made it there and back safely, I also managed to spin the most beautiful doughnut on the freeway without hitting a thing! (So.proud). Darned ice!!

So back to the snow, this did not deter some intrepid trick or treaters who now have a great story to tell their children when they grow up. And in the blink of an eye, Halloween is once again upon us. The sun is out and it appears we are safe from a snowstorm this year. Hooray.

Given my track record of dark, cold and snow, I usually ignore the date all together. Yes, that’s my house, as dark as dark can be. That glow you see? It’s the TV. Otherwise, we usually settle in for a couple hour’s worth of “Just ignore them and they will go away.” (That is very Scrooge of me; I’m getting an early start to Christmas.) Actually, we don’t have many kids in the neighborhood and our street is pretty much ignored by the masses. And that’s good because we never stock up on candy except for ourselves, naturally!

But as I was working on my cookbook list on Saturday, I remembered that I had recently purchased The Nancy Drew Cookbook and if that doesn’t say mystery and spooks and whatnot, then I don’t know what does.

And then, taking a little liberty with the title, I also chose to make a recipe from The Mystery Chef’s Own Cook Book.

In this instance, The Mystery Chef is a man who took the place of a friend on a radio show about cooking and food and built a following of fans although of course, his identity remained a – key point here - mystery. Well, with the advent of the internet, it is no longer a mystery—his name is John McPherson. A clever mystery problem-solver however, could also determine his identity by looking at the copyright information: “Copyright, 1934 by John McPherson.” Move over, Nancy Drew!

So while John’s book is not quite related to today’s theme, it was close enough for me.

As to Nancy Drew, I hardly know a woman in my age category who didn’t read Nancy Drew as a kid. My teeny, tiny library at Sacred Heart Catholic School (grade school) actually carried most of the Nancy Drew books and I believe I managed to read them all—twice! I still love solving a good mystery which might be why I became an attorney. Not that attorneys solve mysteries but sometimes when putting a case together, you often become your own little Nancy (or Ned) Drew.

Tonight’s meal was really easy to make and it kept with my Halloween theme: Ham and Apples (I remember getting caramel apples as a kid for Halloween) and Dave’s Deviled Potatoes for that little Halloween devil in all of us!

Baked Sliced Ham and Apples (to serve 4)
2 large, thin slices raw ham (1/4 to 1/3 inch thick) Ann’s note: I used one large pre-cooked ham steak and that was sufficient for two of us.
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons vinegar
1 cooking apple
½ cup brown sugar
Butter

Remove bone from ham. Mix together the mustard and vinegar. Spread the mixture thinly on the ham. Slice apples very thin and spread 2 layers on the thin slices on ham. Sprinkle well with brown sugar. Now roll the ham the long way, starting from the fat side and folding the fat into the center. Hold together with metal butcher skewers. Place in baking pan and put a few dabs of butter on each ham roll. Bake in a moderate oven (375) for 25 minutes. Baste 2 or 3 times while baking.

Ann’s Note: What am I, a culinary school graduate? I didn’t bother to roll the ham slices as that is just way too much work. Besides, I couldn’t find my metal skewers, assuming I even have any. So I put the ham in a baking pan, spread the mixture mustard and vinegar mixture, put the sliced apples on top of the ham, sprinkled the sugar and then put dots of butter over the ham slice and it worked just fine. As to the apples, the instructions didn’t say to peel them or core them or anything, so I left them peeled and took out the cores when needed.

Dave’s Deviled Potatoes – serves 4
4-6 medium potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons softened butter
1/3 cup warm milk (or, in place of the above ingredients, one envelope of instant potatoes)
½ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
(optional) 4 slices bacon for topping

Wash, pare and cut potatoes into 4 pieces each for faster cooking. Cover with boiling water, add salt and cook (covered) from 20 to 40 minutes until tender when tested with a fork. Drain. Add softened butter and warm milk. Mash until free of lumps. (If you are using instant potatoes, follow directions on package.)

Heat the sour cream in a small saucepan over a low flame. Add mustard and sugar to the sour cream and mix until well blended. Stir potatoes into the sour cream mixture. Blend in chopped onion. Put the potato mixture into a 1 quart casserole.

Heat the over to 350. Bake for 12 minutes.

“Nancy’s Topper”
Add a surprise by frying 4 slices of bacon in the skillet over low heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels, crumble, and sprinkle on top of deviled potatoes.