"Beat This! Cookbook" & "Italian Family Cooking" - Savory Bread Pudding & Lentil Soup - New Year's Day 2017

Date I made this recipe:  New Year's Day, 2017 – Breakfast and Dinner

Beat This! Cookbook – Absolutely Unbeatable Knock-'em-Dead Recipes for the Very Best Dishes by Ann Hodgman

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

ISBN:  978-0-547-43700-2; © 2011

Purchased at Powell's Chicago

Recipe: Savory Bread Pudding – p. 44-45

Italian Family Cooking by Edward Giobbi, with an Introduction by Craig Caliborne

Published by Vintage Books, a division of Random House

© 1971

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores – Richfield, MN

Recipe:  Lentil Soup ("Minestrone Di Lenticchie") – p. 21

Oh my gosh, if you have to start a day and a new year with a dish, the Savory Bread Pudding is the way to go.  It was easy to make and delicious!  And to think it was sort of a last minute "Oh what the heck, let me look at this cookbook" decision.  I love it when I get it right like this.

And the Lentil Soup was a great way to close the day, a day filled with football, but most importantly, Green Bay Packers playoff football.  My boys in green and gold prevailed and I was a happy, if not tired, camper.  And I would have said both recipes were "home runs" but as we are not in baseball season, I have to go with the flow and instead dub them "touchdowns."  I love [Packers] touchdowns!

Now I've mentioned before that the great thing about having so many cookbooks is also the worst thing about having so many cookbooks:  indecision.  And when it comes to major holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are so many avenues I could take, so many holiday-themed cookbooks to peruse, that I am often paralyzed just by staring at my shelves.  "Where should I go?  What shall I do" is just not for Scarlett O'Hara anymore!

But then this year, I nailed my cookbooks and recipe selections pretty much in one fell swoop and well – how did that happen?  Answer:  somewhat easily for once!

Most of you probably know that on New Year's Day, there are "lucky foods" – foods that will bring you luck in the coming year - and "unlucky" foods, and even though I was pretty sure I was on track for good luck, it didn't hurt to double-check via the internet.

Lucky foods to start off the new year are pork (for eating "high on the hog"), cornbread, legumes including black eyed peas or lentils, and, if you are Spanish, grapes.  Apparently, if a Spaniard can eat 12 grapes every time the clock strikes at midnight (i.e. 12 times), good luck will come to that person.  But as you might imagine, this is hard to do, and since I didn't want to start the new year off by choking to death at my own hand, that custom went out the window.  As did eating  black-eyed peas because try as I might (and I have tried), they do not float my Midwest boat.

So those are some of the lucky foods.  Unlucky foods, and this may crack you up, are lobsters and chicken.  Why?  Because chickens can fly away and with it apparently, your luck!  Also, they scratch backwards and New Year's Day is all about going forward so have those buffalo wings on New Year's Eve and then forget about it!  And since lobsters can also "walk" backwards, they too, are out for New Year's day so best to stuff yourselves on lobster tails the night before.

Also out?  "White" food.   This is an Asian belief as white signifies death in that culture. So does it count that my breakfast dish had "white" bread and "white cheese," and eggs containing egg whites?  Am I okay by adding greens (sign of money???) and sun dried tomatoes?  It's unclear.  Also unclear is whether or not the egg from the verboten chicken started my day off on the wrong foot.  I'm going with "no."

But even if the answer was "yes," I offset the whole curse by ending the day with my lucky lentils in the form of [Lucky] Lentil Soup.  And since I knew lentils to be lucky, all I had to do was consult one of my many Italian cookbooks for a recipe and "ecco" (Italian for "There you go!"), there was Edward Giobbi's recipe just waiting for me to make it and so I did and it was good.  And as mentioned, my breakfast dish was also good which was nice seeing as how I decided on a breakfast recipe at the very last minute. 

So let's break down these cookbooks and recipes, starting with Ann Hodgman's Beat This!  You should know she also wrote Beat That! and I have that book as well but didn't find anything to make this time around.  And I have to confess that I found her Savory Bread Pudding recipe right off the bat and so didn't spend much time looking at the rest of the book, but if you do, here's what you'll find:  "Drinks;" "Hors D' Oeuvres;" "Soups;" "Salads and Dressings;" "Main Dishes;" "Sauces and Accompaniments;" Side Dishes;" "Show-Off Staples;" "Breads and Breakfasts," and "Desserts."

A few observations:  There is only one "Beverage" listed and it's for a Coquito – a Coconut Eggnog.  Well yumm-y!  And it has rum in it?  Sign me up!  The next category is "Hors D' Oeuvres," and look, I know its much more fancy to use the French word for "appetizers," but for the love of "Michel" (Mike) folks, I never, ever spell it right and so can we just all agree to use the word "appetizers" for cookbooks and "hors d' oeuvres" while out at cocktail parties when we want to sound all lofty and impressive?  We can?  Good!

Also, I think I absolutely need to to try the "Slow-Cooker Caramelized Onion recipe (p. 59) under "Show-Off Staples" as that sounds delicious plus you can freeze them which is good otherwise. I'd be tempted to eat the entire quart all by myself.  Like ice cream.  Only not.

Finally, the author must have a sweet tooth because there are more desserts in this book than there are other dishes and although tempting, I was in a breakfast kind of mood.  And the dish was good.  And it called for bacon and not that there is ever anything wrong with bacon, but I substituted prosciutto for the bacon and man, oh man – winner, winner, chicken dinner!  Plus, the prosciutto + sun dried tomatoes + cheese made it a tad more Italian in flavor and that fit perfectly with the Italian lentil soup I made from the Italian Family Cookbook by Edward Giobbi.

I can't recall just when I became aware of author Edward Giobbi and his daughter, Eugenia Bone, but methinks it was probably in the way, way back from an article in a cooking magazine, perhaps Gourmet, but more likely, Saveur.  At any rate, his stuff is great, his recipes, simple and tasty, and also familiar to me; his lentil soup recipe is similar to other Italian concoctions I've made in the past.

This cookbook (introduction by the late Craig Claiborne) is broken out by "Antipasti;" "Soups;" "Pasta and Rice;" "Salads;" "Eggs;" "Fish;" "Poultry and Game;" "Meats;" "Vegetables;" "Sauces;" and "Breads, Pizzas and Desserts."

And I have to give Edward credit in that he includes a "Feast of the Seven Fishes" menu for Christmas Eve even though there's not a chance in hell I would purchase and cook that much fish for just two people.  Plus, one of the dishes includes "Smelt."  If you've never had smelt, and sadly, I have, the only thing fun about smelt is catching it when the "smelt are running."  When that happens, you can pretty much dip a net in the river and come up with a huge haul. But smelt are full of bones and cleaning them is a nightmare and eating them is as well (to me). 

You should also prepare yourself not to be startled by a recipe for "Baccala with Rape."  The word "rape" here is an Italian green, leafy vegetable and "baccala" is the word for cod.  I'm not exactly sure how "rape" (the veg) is pronounced, but it's either "Rah-pay" or "rah-puh". (Similarly, my last name is "Verme" but the "e" is not pronounced here in America and if it is, it's more like "Verm-uh," not Verme-"ee" as most people think. Anyway, it's complicated!)  If you want to make this recipe (p. 104-105) and you can't find Italian "rape" (or "rapa" or "rabe"), use another green such as Swiss chard, mustard greens, etc.

In conclusion, the lentil soup was great (I substituted bacon for salt pork), the breakfast was killer and so does this bode well for the rest of 2017?  I think it does!

Savory Bread Pudding – Serves 4 to 6 – from Beat This!

(Ann's Note:  you need to soak the sun-dried tomatoes for 20 minutes before preparing this dish.)

½ cup chicken stock

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), finely sliced (Ann's Note:  Trader Joe's sells these in a resealable bag)

1 cup milk

½ cup heavy cream

5 large eggs

½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

6 slices bacon (Ann's Note:  I substituted prosciutto and it was fabulous.  You'll need to add a little oil to the pan though, before cooking the shallots.)

4 shallots, chopped

7 ounces arugula or baby spinach

1 1-pound loaf crusty bread – peasant, focaccia, sourdough or Italian – cut into bite-size cubes

4 ounces Gruyere, coarsely grated

2 ounces Parmesan, freshly grated

Preheat oven to 400F, with a rack in the middle.  Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or a shallow 2-quart ramekin-type dish.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil and stir in the sun-dried tomatoes.  Remove from heat and let them sit for 20 minutes, until softened.

In a large bowl, beat the milk, cream, eggs and seasonings.

In a large, heavy skillet, cook the bacon, turning once, until crisp.  Drain it on paper towels, then crumble it.  Pour away all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet.  Add the shallots and cook them, stirring, until they're beginning to brown, about 6 minutes.  Add the arugula or spinach.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the greens wilt.  Let the mixture cool slightly.  (Ann's Note:  add the bacon to this mixture.  *See below for more notes about the bacon.)

In a large bow, toss together the bread cubes, the arugula mixture, the milk mixture, the sun-dried tomatoes and their liquid and the Gruyere.  Pack this mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle the Parmesan over it.

Cover the dish with foil and bake it for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for about 15 more minutes, or until golden brown.

Ann's Note:  Reader, please scan the above paragraphs carefully.  Do you see her tell you to add the bacon anywhere once you removed it from the pan and crumbled it?  No, you do not.  But the way it reads i.e. "crumble it," suggests that she intends you to put it somewhere in the dish otherwise, she'd tell you to throw it out.  So I made an executive decision and added it back to the pan after cooking the shallots and greens.  And I still stand by my other executive decision to substitute prosciutto for bacon!

Lentil Soup (Minestrone Di Lenticchie) – serves 4 – from Italian Family Cooking

½ cup lentils

½ carrot, chopped

1 whole clove garlic

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons chopped tomato

Pinch of oregano

1 slice salt pork, about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide (Ann's Note:  substituted bacon)

3 cups water (Ann's Note:  nope, more like 5-6)

1 small potato, diced

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Grated Parmesan cheese

Put all ingredients except potato, parsley and cheese in soup pot.  Cook gently for 1 ½ hours.  Add potatoes and when they are tender, remove salt pork and garlic.  Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley and grated cheese, to 4.

Ann's Note:  "Serve hot...to 4" means it serves four people.  This is a most awkward way to list the serving amount but except for the first couple recipes, this is what you'll find in the rest of the book.

"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 Italian Slow Cooker" & "Camille Glenn's Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookbook" - Lentil Soup and Good Fortune Tea Cake - Lucky Foods for the New Year

Date I made these recipes:  January 1, 2015 – New Year's Day

The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone

Published by:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

ISBN:  978-0-547-00303-0

Recipe:  Sicilian Lentil, Vegetable, and Pasta Soup – p. 32

Camille Glenn's Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookbook by Camille Glenn, author of The Heritage of Southern Cooking

Published by: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

ISBN:  1-56512-102-1

Purchased at Arc's Value Village

Recipe:  Good Fortune Tea Cake – p. 200-203

Well, Happy New Year, everyone!

As is usual and customary, I decided to make something with beans (or lentils, as the case may be) to bring good fortune to our household for the coming year.  And then I found this recipe for Good Fortune Tea Cake and thought "why not," right?  Can there ever be an abundance of good fortune?  I think not.

And though we are far away from baseball season, let me use a baseball analogy for these recipes:  the soup was a swing and a miss as it lacked any flavor whatsoever, but the tea cake was a home run.  This concludes my baseball analogy.

Let's start with the Italian Slow Cooker cookbook.  I have a couple of books by Michele Scicolone and so when I saw this one, I thought it would probably be fantastic because her stuff usually is.  But I sensed going in that this recipe would not be another home run hit based on two things:  1) using water instead of chicken or vegetable broth to cook these lentils.  Water doesn't have much flavor, folks.  Broth does.  And 2) the instructions call for you to add salt and pepper but only after cooking the soup for 7 hours.  Um...no.  Believe me, I salted and I peppered and it was still one very bland meal.

Normally, I never alter a recipe for this blog because I want to evaluate the thing "as is," but this time around,  after tasting it midway through, I added a lot of Italian spices.  Still, this only upped the flavor profile (such that it was) a little bit.  And I should have really cheated and used chicken broth.  Live and learn, folks.  Live and learn.

The author also suggests that we add Pecorino Romano to the dish which is always a good idea, but in my book, the flavor should be there before adding any accoutrements.  So for this boo-boo, I'm going to have to ding our author. Nothing personal, Michele!

As to other recipes in this book, many sounded good but I was stuck on the lentil thing to bring us good luck and so there's that.  Still, two good things came out of these experiments from New Year's Eve (previous posts) and New Year's Day:  first, deep down, I'm a bread stuffing versus cornbread dressing gal, and by bread stuffing, I mean my mother's recipe that includes bread, onions, celery and sage.  No need to get all crazy about this stuff.  Second,  as between lentils and the black eyed peas used in Hoppin' John, another New Year's Day southern favorite, it's lentils every time.  I just don't get the point of black eyed peas.  Do not. 

But the cake.  Oh people, THE CAKE!  My gawd, it was awesome and so unexpected!  And hilariously, it was from a southerner so I figure that balances out my previous attempts with cornbread dressing and Hoppin' John.

And although I intended that just my husband and I partake of this incredible edible, we were invited over to my mother-in-law's for a New Year's Day open house and so we came bearing gifts.  There's nothing like the pressure of serving all these people a cake we've never made or had yet to taste but they swooned at first bite. 

I suppose I could just tell you all that the making of this cake was all so simple but that's not how these things go.  So here's how this thing went:  I was too busy cooking on New Year's Eve to get around to making the cake the night before so I asked my husband if he would take out the butter and eggs on New Year's Day to bring them up to room temp (as directed) so I could make the cake that morning.  But when I woke up that morning, I had a near-migraine and so he ended up making the entire cake.  And for the record, no, this was not a hangover migraine.  We ate dinner kind of late on New Year's Eve, and as soon as we sat down, I was wiped out.  In fact, I only had half of my usual and customary martini and that was all the "good cheer" I was able to manage that night.  I fell asleep at 10:30 and so Andy had to ring in the New Year all by himself and that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So I don't know why I had the headache the next day but it was awful.  And so I pressed  Andy into service to help out and am I a lucky gal or what that this man likes to bake?  And this recipe is a bit involved so it took some doing.  But to paraphrase the old Shake and Bake commercial "Here's how I helped:"  I pointed to the cupboards containing the sifter and the grater as well as some of the ingredients he needed and had already put out the springform pan he needed the night before so he was all set.  But thereafter, I was on the couch until go time.  But PS—I normally like the smell of oranges and orange peel but that day, the stuff smelled like that awful Orange Glo stuff you use to remove stick adhesive and if it wasn't zero outside, I would have opened a window to clear the air.  Sorry, Orange Glo people.

This recipe makes enough for either two 8 ½-inch springform pan's worth of batter or one 10-inch and we went with 10-inch.  And it makes a ton of frosting, not that there's anything wrong with that, but we had more than what was needed seeing as how we made one cake.

This recipe also calls for you to insert randomly two small blanched almonds into the cake batter with the instruction that whoever finds the almond in the piece of cake they are given will have harmony and good fortune in the year ahead.  Well folks, if some is good, more is better, right?  So I bought about a cup's worth of almonds and then blanched them and we put them all throughout the batter so that everybody got good luck.  The New Year is no time to be playing favorites with the roulette wheel of life.

I was also to have purchased 1-2 tiny mirrors to put in the center of the cake(s) and before serving the cake, everybody was to look in the mirror and make a wish.  I hate to tell you but we defied fate and skipped the mirror part.  I figured between the cake's name and the overabundance of almonds, we were good to go.

As to the rest of the cookbook, I may just have to keep this one at the ready for next year's holiday dinners.  I don't normally do that but this cake was so good and the rest of Camille's recipes also sounded so awesome that I just may.  What I loved about this book is that she put together suggested menus for the entire season and sometimes you just cannot beat that. 

So, even though the lentil soup was disappointing, the lentils alone should bring us luck and the addition of the cake into the mix should have put us over the top.

May all good things come your way in 2015.

Spinach Lentil, Vegetable, and Pasta Soup – serves 6

*Ann's Note:  Please consider using at least a half and half mixture of water and broth of your choice.  And spices such as basil, oregano, etc.  The author also suggested you can add a couple of chopped potatoes or two cups chopped green beans, winter squash or spinach leaves.  I used potatoes but they were just too bland for this dish.  Should have gone with the green beans...

1 pound brown lentils, rinsed and picked over

1 large onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 large celery rib with leaves, chopped

2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped or 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes

6 cups water (*Don't say you weren't warned)

 1 cup ditalini, tubetti or elbows

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated Pecorino Romano

In a large slow cooker, combine the lentils, vegetables, and water.

Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.  (Ann's Note:  I don't think that's enough as my lentils were still a bit al dente.  I tried 8 hours and that was a little better but not by much.)  Add the pasta and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on high for 30 minutes more, or until the pasta is tender.

Serve hot, sprinkled with the cheese.

Good Fortune Tea Cake – serves 6 to 8 per cake

For the cake

2 cups sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

Zest of ½ navel orange

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large eggs, separated

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons fresh orange joice

1 ½ teaspoons cognac vanilla (see page 29) or 1 tablespoon cognac

2 whole blanched almonds (Ann's Note:  most grocery stores carry slivered blanched almonds but you need them whole.  To do them yourself, pour boiling water over your almonds, just enough to cover and let sit for 1 minute.  Drain, rinse, drain again.  Peel off the skins.  Do not let the almonds sit for too long or they will be soggy.)

For the frosting

½ cup heavy or whipping cream

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 ½ teaspoons good-quality pure almond extract, or more to taste

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter two 8 ½-inch springform pans and dust them with flour.  (You can also use one, 10-inch springform pan).  Shake out excess flour and set the pans aside. 

Combine the sugar, lemon zest, and orange zest in a food processor and twirl until the zest is finely grated (or grate the zest by hand and add it to the sugar).

Using an electric mixer, beat the zest mixture and butter together until thoroughly blended.  Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

In another mixing bowl, combine the flour with the baking powder and salt; stir well.  Alternating, add the milk and the flour to the egg mixture.  Do not overbeat.

Add the lemon juice, orange juice, and vanilla and blend carefully.

Beat the egg whites until they hold a stiff peak.  Gently fold a third of the whites into the batter to lighten it.  Then fold in the remaining whites, mixing gently but thoroughly.  Pour the batter into the prepared pans and poke and almond down into the batter of each pan. 

Bake the cakes on the lower rack of the preheated oven until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Watch the cakes carefully – if they overbake they will be dry.  Don't let them cook so long that the cake separates from the sides of the pan – that's too long.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes.  Then remove them from the pans and set them on wire racks to cool thoroughly before frosting them.

Frost the cakes:  place a small mirror in the center of each cake and frost around the edges to seal it in place.  Then cover the remaining top and sides of the cakes with the frosting.  Place each cake on a stand or platter and arrange a few very small edible flowers around the mirrors.

Before serving the cakes, each guest in turn looks into the mirror and makes a wish.  The person who finds an almond in his slice will have a year of harmony and good fortune – it's a promise!

The author also notes that "This is one of the best cakes I know for its "keeping" qualities.  Store in an airtight container, it will stay moist for days.  (Ann's Note:  this is assuming you have any left!)

To make the frosting, heat the cream in a small saucepan until it is warm. 

Using an electric mixer or food processor, cream the butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt together until smooth.  Slowly add the warm cream, beating until smooth.  Add the almond extract.  If you won't be using the frosting immediately, cover and refrigerate it.

"Cooking in Oz;" "Cora's Country Cookbook;" "The Dead Celebrity Cookbook Presents Christmas in Tinseltown;" "The Twelve Days of Christmas" - food for New Year's Day

 

Date I made these recipes:  January 1, 2014 (New Year's Day)

The Dead Celebrity Cookbook Presents Christmas in Tinseltown – Celebrity Recipes and Hollywood Memories from Six Feet Under the Mistletoe by Frank Decaro (author of The Dead Celebrity Cookbook)

Published by:  Health Communications, Inc.

ISBN:  13: 978-0-7573-1700-2

Recipe:  Judy Garland's Ham Casserole with Sherry – p. 93

Cooking in Oz – Kitchen Wizardry and a Century of Marvels from America's Favorite Tale by Elaine Willingham and Steve Cox – Foreword by Margaret Pellegrini (a Munchkin)

Published by:  Cumberland House

ISBN:  1-58182-051-8

Purchased at:  Bonnie Slotnick's Cookbooks (NYC)

Recipe:  Margaret's Old-Fashioned Hopping John – p. 68

Cora's Country Cookbook by Margaret Hamilton (playing TV character, Cora) (Margaret Hamilton was the Wicked Witch of the West in the movie, The Wizard of Oz

Published for General Foods by MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.

Purchased at:  Bonnie Slotnick's Cookbooks (NYC)

Recipe:  Coconut Cookie Bars – p. 40

The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookbook by Suzanne Huntley

Published by:  Antheneum

© 1965

Purchased at:  Falling Rock Cafe, Munising MI

Recipe:  Rum (or Bourbon) Balls – p. 10-11

I think I got just a tad carried away with my New Year's Day meal, but it wasn't necessarily my fault. 

In August 2013, Margaret Pellegrini, the last of the Wizard of Oz Munchins, passed away.  About a week earlier, when I was in NYC, I purchased the cookbook Cooking in Oz, a cookbook and narrative of life on the Wizard of Oz set.  Margaret wrote the foreword.  So when she died, I thought it would be a great idea to make something from the book but then I got busy and so I set the book aside with reminder to myself to make her Hopping John recipe for the new year to bring us good luck.

At the same time I bought the Oz book, I bought Cora's Country Cookbook by actress Margaret Hamilton.  Margaret was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West and managed to scare the bejesus out of me for many years until I got old enough to figure out she was an actress.  Her alter ego in the movie was Miss Gulch, the mean and heartless woman ripped our adorable Toto ("and your little dog too") out of the arms of Dorothy Gale.  To this day, when I see people riding bicycles, the "music" from her ride starts up in my head.  Talk about memorable – not a lyric to be heard and yet that music alone also set my hair on end.  I hid behind my dad's chair when that movie was on more times than I could count.  And until I was older, we watched the entire movie in black and white (no color TV set for us!) and so I had no idea the movie switched to color when Dorothy landed in Oz.  I was a deprived child....

At any rate, in her later years, Margaret did a complete role reversal away from scaring us to death to comforting us by playing the nice, sympathetic general store owner, Cora, in Maxwell House (coffee) commercials.  (It was "good to the last drop," don't you know!) "Cora" later wrote a cookbook – Cora's Country Cookbook – featuring basic, comfort food including the delicious Coconut Cookie Bars.

Whereas both Margaret Hamilton and Margaret Pelligrini lived into their 80's, Judy Garland, our heroine Dorothy, only lived to be 47.  And so as irreverent as this may sound, her demise earned her a place in The Dead Celebrity Cookbook Presents Christmas in Tinseltown.

Now before you get all up in my grill about even owning an irreverent cookbook (along with The Dead Celebrity Cookbook), let me tell you that this book is funny.  Not in a tacky kind of way funny but funny.  The author clearly loves his celebrities, loves old movies and loves giving us a glimpse into his fun world.  He is both precocious and reverent in his discussions – I like that in an author.

Judy Garland's Ham Casserole with Sherry turned out to be a big hit in our house on New Year's Day.  It's a little strong on the sherry but then again, that's perhaps a fitting way – "...and one more for the road..." - to end a typical alcohol and sugar-filled holiday season.  (By the way, this is going back in time, but every time I head that song – One for My Baby, from which "and one more for the road" is a major line, I cannot help but think of the episode of The Mary Tyler Moore show where Mary Richards sang this number.  It was pretty funny.)

And speaking of the holiday season...so as you can see, apparently I had a subliminal theme going on here – three dead celebrities (not planned, I assure you) – and then out of the blue I included The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookbook.  Well, there's a simple explanation for that:  while I was shelving newly purchased books, I came upon my "Christmas" collection and thought "oh why not?"  Besides, New Year's Day is part of the twelve days of Christmas that run from December 25^th to January 5^th.  When I was growing up, we spent the 6^th of January in church celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany.  So see, it's all good!  Even better were the rum balls I made for dessert – whoa, Nelly, they were potent!  Between Judy Garland's Ham Casserole with Sherry and these, Andy and I could have spent the day feeling quite happy.  P.S.—I love Judy Garland's rendition of "Happy Days (Are Here Again)."  As it is, I watched my Michigan State Spartans win the Rose Bowl (happy, happy, happy) and then we settled down to this mish-mash repast.  Quirky though it may have been, all dishes were good and all cookbooks were fun to look through while planning the dinner.  If I had to recommend one (or two), it would be the two Dead Celebrity books just because they include so many great recipes from famous actors and actresses plus tidbits that make you primed to win at Trivial Pursuit or my favorite TV game show, Jeopardy.

So eat, enjoy, and for those of you who try the Hopping John, may good luck follow you all year.

Judy Garland's Ham Casserole with Sherry – serves 6-8 – The Dead Celebrity Cookbook presents Christmas in Tinseltown

4 cups ground cooked ham (use a Cuisinart if you don't have a grinder)

2 cups cooked rice

½ cup heavy cream

2 eggs, well beaten

2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons deiced green pepper

1 tablespoon grated onion

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ cup sherry wine

¾ cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon butter, melted

½ teaspoon paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the ham, rice, cream, eggs, tomatoes, pepper, onion, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and sherry.  Mix well and transfer to a greased two-quart casserole dish.  Mix the bread crumbs, melted butter, and paprika, and sprinkle on top of the ham mixture.  Bake 45 minutes.

Margaret's Old-Fashioned Hopping John – makes 8 servings – Cooking in Oz cookbook

2 cups dried black-eyed peas

4 cups water

1 cup coarsely chopped onion

1 tablespoon bacon drippings

1 cup long-grain rice

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ pound thickly sliced bacon, cooked

Wash and sort peas.  In a medium saucepan combine the peas and 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.  Drain the peas, reserving the liquid.  Set  both the peas and the liquid asside.

In a Dutch oven sauté the onion in the bacon drippings until golden.  Add water to the reserved liquid from the peas to make 4 cups.  Add the water, peas, rice, salt and pepper to the onions and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 35 to 40 minutes, until the peas and rice are tender and the liquid is absorbed.  Crumble the bacon and stir into the Hopping John.

Ann's Notes:  First, I came close to ruining this entire recipe by first, cooking the peas too much, then almost setting the bacon on fire, then adding too much rice to the mixture and finally, getting a little too close to burning the pan by letting too much liquid absorb.  I was worried that bad luck, instead of good luck, was going to be my friend for 2014.  Second, once I got all the dish assembled I realized that I am just not that fond of this dish.  I've made it before with several variations and it just seems bland.  Still, I don't like to tempt fate and so I'll likely try a new dish next year.  Maybe the nth time is the charm? By the way, this was the first dish out of four that day and so all these comedy of errors happened when I was stone cold sober. ;)

Coconut Cookie Bars – makes 48 small or 24 large bars - Cora's Country Cookbook

½ cup butter or margarine

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups Baker's Angel Flake Coconut

1 cup chopped nuts

1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows (optional)

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

3 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Place butter in a 13 x 9-inch pan and place in oven to melt butter.  Remove the pan from oven, and sprinkle crumbs over butter, pressing down with a fork.  Sprinkle coconut over crumbs; add a layer of nuts and marshmallows.  Drizzle condensed milk evenly over the top.  Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and drizzle with melted chocolate. Cool before cutting. 

Ann's Note:  Maybe this won't happen to you but my marshmallows sort of deflated instead of staying nice and puffy and the chocolate did not drizzle like it should have.  And so I made due by spreading the chocolate on top of the deflated marshmallows just like a frosting. And since I needed to finish what I started, I melted two more blocks of chocolate.  The result was fantastic!  Although the marshmallows were hard to taste (I would have failed on the TV show, Chopped), frosting the bars made them into mini Mounds Bars (sans the almonds—if you recall "...Peter Paul Almond Joy's got nuts.  Mounds don't.") We kept a good portion of the pan for our own eating pleasure but Andy took the rest to work and they were inhaled in two seconds.

Rum (or Bourbon) Balls – makes about 6 dozen – The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookbook

1 cup vanilla-wafer crumbs

1 cup pecans, chopped fine

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons Dutch cocoa

1 ½ tablespoons white Karo syrup

¼ cup or more rum or bourbon

Mix all ingredients together.  From in small balls, using about 1 rounded teaspoonful of the mixture for each ball.  Roll in more powdered sugar and store in a tightly covered container.  A variation substitutes gingersnaps or crushed chocolate wafer for the vanilla wafers; if chocolate wafers are used, omit the cocoa.  For another variation, use almonds or other nuts.  Or roll the balls in cocoa or chopped nuts instead of sugar.

Ann's Notes:  There's hardly a holiday dessert cookbook that doesn't contain this recipe but nobody said anything about what the mixture should look like, just the end result. And the mixture was way too soupy to roll (whether this was operator error or not remains to be seen) so I put the bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.  Well that turned out to be a little long so then I left the bowl on the counter for 10 and the mixture hardened enough to roll out.    Also, a full recipe is said to make about 6 dozen rum bulls but I made half the recipe and in no way shape or form ended up with 3 dozen.  A good dozen maybe, but not three. And as I said before, eating one of these is like drinking a shot of rum so be careful out there!

"Vibration Cooking or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl" - Blackeyed Peas a la Santa Clara (for New Year's Day)

Date I made this recipe:  January 1, 2013

Vibration Cooking or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl by Vetamae Smart-Grosvenor

Published by:  Ballantine Books New York

© 1970, 1992

Recipe – Blackeyed Peas a la Santa Clara – p. 199

After a rather rough 2012, I am all about doing things that allegedly will bring me luck and so sure enough, I made blackeyed peas on New Year’s Day.  Legend has it that eating peas, particularly blackeyed peas on New Year’s Day brings luck.  This belief is particularly strong with southerners, especially African-American southerners.  I don’t think there are too many southern cookbooks on my shelf that don’t contain a recipe for black-eyed peas, also known as Hoppin’ John.

This recipe for Blackeyed Peas a la Santa Clara comes from the book, Vibration Cooking or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor.  Vertamae, an African American “Geechee Girl” – Geechee being another name for the Gullah people who hail from the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia – first published this cookbook in 1970.  Her book tells the story of her travels, her friends, her finds and even – and I love this part – poultices and home remedies to use to cure what ails you.

In 1992, Vertamae updated her highly successful book and in the introduction she talked about some of the people who influenced her in her life and how many of them had passed on.  One person she spoke of in particular is the famous African-American writer, James Baldwin.    Of his funeral, she said “His funeral was the best homegoing service, the most spectacular farewell I have ever witnessed or heard about…The funeral was so awesome.  I told my friends, ‘Listen up.  If you don’t think you can have a funeral like Jimmy’s keep your Black ass alive.’”

I almost fell off my chair laughing at that one.  After participating in a friend’s most awesome memorial service this year, I told my husband that except for a few changes here and there, this was exactly how I wanted my memorial to go.  Vertamae knows of what she speaks!

As to recipes, part of the thrill (horror?) of reading through older cookbooks is seeing recipes that tell the story of the person, a place or a philosophy about cooking.  For example, it is not atypical of a southern cookbook to include recipes for rabbit, squirrel, possum (um…no?) raccoon or even, in this case, Barbecued Gator Tails.  Right - gotta vote that one down, quite possibly because I don’t live in a gator-friendly climate…for a reason!  People made do with regional foods back then because they had to in order to feed their families while on a tight budget.  Many older cookbooks show also that once upon a time, home cooks used every part of an animal (again, it was more economical to do so) and so it was also not unusual to see recipes for brains or hooves or tripe (part of the stomach).  Now, the very thought of any of those items almost makes me gag and yet the joke is on me as all these things are now making a comeback in fancy restaurants across the country. In some countries like Italy, France and Spain, they never left the menu.  Oh well, to each his/her own.  I tend to like simple and the recipe I selected is about as simple as they come.

Blackeyed Peas a la Santa Clara is a “souped-up” version of your plain old black-eyed peas.  Over time, I have certainly seen my share of “souped-up” variations of this recipe (and by that I mean beyond simmering the beans in water), some adding more or different spices to the mix, some using a ham hock or salt pork to add flavor while others have gone whole hog and used everything but the kitchen sink.  In my household, we had a split vote:  Andy liked the recipe – a recipe that included coriander, oregano and red pepper - “as is” whereas I felt like I could have used even more spice and a few more vegetables to boot.  I also cooked a batch of rice to serve along with the beans and dumplings as some variations of Hoppin’ John also include rice.  It all depends on what you want out of the meal and the basic thing I wanted was to be the recipient of good fortune in 2013; anything after that was gravy!

Here then, is the very simple recipe for Black-Eyed Peas a La Santa Clara.  If y’all want to play with the ingredients, be my guest (I’m sure Vertamae won’t mind) but my blog rule is that I stick to the recipe no matter what.

Happy New Year and may good fortune come your way in 2013!

Black-Eyed Peas a la Santa Clara – serving size not given (but it uses a pound of beans)

1 pound black-eyed peas soaked overnight

1 large onion, chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic, mined

1 crushed dried hot red pepper (or red pepper flakes)

Salt

A touch of cumin (I used about 1 ½ teaspoons and could have used more)

A touch of oregano (I used about 1 ½ teaspoons and could have used more)

Salt (amount not given but be generous to add flavor)

1 cup flour

½ tablespoon baking powder

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/3 cup milk

¼ cup chopped cilantro (coriander)

Soak a pound of dried black-eyed peas overnight.  Discard the discolored ones.  Rinse, drain and set aside.

In a heavy pot, sauté the onion, garlic, hot red pepper, then add the salt, cumin and oregano.  Then add the peas and water and cook until tender.  Ann’s Note:  this recipe didn’t say how long to cook before I achieved “tender” so I Googled “black-eyed peas” and cooked them for an hour.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, egg and milk.  Add about ¼ cup chopped cilantro (coriander).  Blend well and drop by rounded spoonful into the peas.  Cover and cook for another 15 minutes.