"Fork in the Road" - Michigan Culinary Adventures From the Emmy Winning PBS Series" - Michigan Double Sweet Corn Chowder

Date I made this recipe:  October 5, 2016

Fork in the Road – Michigan Culinary Adventures from the Emmy Winning PBS Series [Fork in the Road] with Eric Villegas

Published by Huron River Press (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

ISBN: 13: 978-1-932399-17-2; © 2007

Purchased at Canterbury Book Store in Escanaba, Michigan on a trip back to my home state

Recipe:  Michigan Double Sweet Corn Chowder- p. 98; Roasted Garlic Puree – p. 88

Last week, I returned to my home state, Michigan, to have an early birthday celebration with my Aunt Mary, who will be 95 years old next week. My birthday is the day before hers and we have always been thick as thieves so it was great to see her to "pre"-celebrate.  She rode shotgun with me on trips to into town as well as one longer one to Traverse City to deal with a rental car issue.  Make that issues, plural, but that's another story for another day.

And while we were traversing Traverse City (and greater Traverse City), we stopped to eat and had a nice chat with our server who said that he was originally from "The Soo," which translated means "Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan" (or, but not in this case, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada). 

The Michigan "Soo" is located in the Upper Peninsula.  Although Aunt Mary has lived "downstate" (i.e. the lower peninsula) for many years, she was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula as was I.  We informed our server of this cosmic connection, and it is cosmic in that it a rare thing to find three people hanging out "downstate" who can all lay claim to having Upper Peninsula roots.  So that was fun.

Anyway, I was hoping to have time to scrounge around for a Michigan cookbook to commemorate this trip, but I did not and so I pulled what I think is the last of my Michigan cookbooks off the shelf and set to work. 

This cookbook is based on the PBS show, Fork in the Road, and is all about Michigan.  The author, who is also the show's host, showcases Michigan foods by regions and then makes recipes using these foods.

As a native to the state, I am very familiar with some of these "native" incredible edibles such as whitefish, cherries and blueberries.  Naturally, the author suggests using "Michigan" ingredients for many of these dishes but that was pretty impossible.  For one thing, I am not hauling whitefish on a plane with me (plus, you'll mostly find it in Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula) and it was way too late for blueberries and cherries.  You should know that the area I was in, Traverse City, hosts the National Cherry Festival every July (1^st part) and you cannot turn around in that town without spotting a cherry "whatnot," regardless of whether or not the festival is in full swing. In fact, I am quite enjoying some hot coffee in my "Traverse City – Cherry Capital of the World" mug as we speak! 

The book is broken out into recipes by region:  "Freshwater;" "The Fruit Belt;" "Middle of the Mitt" (i.e. the lower peninsula); "The Thumb" (the area along Lake Huron's lakeshore, home to such cities as Port Sanilac and Port Huron (I've been to both); "The U.P." (my home turf), and then "Great Lakes Pantry," which features side dishes, spices, vinaigrettes, and other items used in cooking.  That said, I'm not sure these are necessarily native to Michigan but we'll run with it.

Recipes from these regions are as follows:

Freshwater:

• Freshwater Whitefish Chowder with Bacon, Potatoes and basil – p. 15
• Smoked Whitefish Nachos with White Cheddar, Smoked Tomato Salsa and Cilantro – p. 19

The Fruit Belt:

• Balaton Cherry and Michigan Maple Crisp – p. 50
• Barbecued Pork Ribs with Blueberry Chipotle Chile Rub and Blueberry Mop – p. 55

Middle of the Mitt:

• Grilled Ears of Michigan Sweet Corn with Black Truffles – p. 95
• Michigan Beer Bread – p. 96
• Michigan Double Sweet Corn Chowder – p. 98 (featured recipe)

The Thumb:

• Maple Sage Breakfast Sausage – p. 140
• Michigan Steamed Brown Bread with Dried Cherries and Walnuts – p. 144
• Maple Corndogs – p. 147

The U.P.:

• Beef and Pork Pasty with a Classic Suet Crust – p. 166
• Michigan Maple Spice Rub – p. 157
• Maple Chocolate Truffles – p. 169

A few of these sections need an explanation:

If you live along Lake Superior (in either the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or the Duluth area of Minnesota), then you probably know that Whitefish is considered the poor man's lobster.  I am not fond of fish so I don't eat it, but the rest of my family loved it.  There is hardly a restaurant in these regions that doesn't have it on the menu.  Even though many of you won't be able to get your hands on Whitefish, you might want to try some of these recipes with a comparable fish from your area.  Check out Google for a home-turf equivalent.

Another wildly popular food from the U.P. (if not the most popular) is the Cornish pasty (pronounced pass-tee).  The Upper Peninsula (and northern Minnesota) is big into mining (of iron ore) and immigrants came from all over to work the mines.  The Cornish pasty was popular in the mining community but then caught on throughout the region. Today, you will find pasty shops everywhere and if you are traveling the area and find one, give it a try.

The crust for this recipe (which I did not try) is  made with a traditional suet crust but I've eaten plenty in my day that were made from vegetable shortening or lard and all was well.  Where disputes arise is the filling (rutabagas or not) and whether or not a pasty should be eaten with gravy, ketchup, or plain.  We were always a "ketchup" family as a pasty is really like a meat and potato casserole/meatloaf, wrapped in crust. 

Then there's the "Fruit Belt" of the lower peninsula.  The area I was just in, Traverse City (and environs) is the cherry capital of the world.  Also found in the "Fruit Belt" (as well as the U.P.) are blueberries and maple trees that yield maple syrup.  My dad used to tap the trees on our property to make syrup, and we also went blueberry picking several times when I was a kid.  Rounding out the fruit selection are recipes featuring Michigan apples.

As to the corn chowder I made, of course the recipe suggested using Michigan sweet corn, but alas, I used up some Iowa sweet corn brought to us by friends this summer.  I am no corn connoisseur but I doubt anyone could tell the difference.

So, with cheating on my mind (!), I set to work making this dish and I have to tell you that it failed because I failed.  The chowder itself is really flavorful and very good but I screwed up the corn situation and it was basically inedible. 

Here's what happened:  twice now, our Iowa friends have given us corn (Thanks, Doug and Emily!) and twice I've frozen it on the cob.  Methinks I should have blanched the corn or something but I didn't because what do I know? And so twice it ended up being soggy when I thawed it – no surprise, right? 

So this time around, I decided to try to dry the kernels by spreading them on a baking pan and setting my oven to 275.  When that didn't work, I thought maybe I should roast the kernels and so I put them in the oven at 425 just for a short period of time but by then, it was too late.

I was bereft.

Naturally, I should have looked online to see if I could find instructions, but I thought my solution would work.  It didn't.  As Andy said "Well, this is how we learn."  Ha!

So here's my advice to you if you make this dish (which you should because everything else was delicious):  1) if you use sweet corn (and the dish calls for you to add the de-kerneled cobs to the  chowder), do it when the corn is fresh, period, end of discussion. 2) if you cannot do that and want to make this dish, use frozen corn (proportionate to what you would remove from the cob) and cook it as directed.  And this is because 3) even though the recipe says to pour the hot chowder broth over the raw kernels to cook them, I am not sure that will happen unless you are using fresh kernels.  That said 4) the only ingredient in this chowder's "broth" is cream.  That's it.  My cream simmered nicely but it also thickened which is fine for the end result, but not so much to cook the kernels – at least in my completely inexpert opinion, emphasis on the "in."

I found I wanted to add chicken broth or water to the chowder so it was less thick but did not as I almost always stick to the recipe and the recipe said to use cream (and only cream).  You might want to tinker with it.

Finally, this recipe calls for you to use 1 tablespoon (less, if you make half the recipe as I did) of Roasted Garlic Puree, found on page 88, but you have to roast a lot of garlic for that 1 tablespoon and I didn't want to deal with it.  So here's what I did instead:  I caramelized one small onion along with some sliced garlic cloves, then pureed that and added it to the dish.  Worked just fine without the added fuss of roasting garlic.

And so kids, if you rework the recipe for either fresh corn or frozen (but cooked) corn, I think this might work. Heck, you could probably even use canned corn because who's going to know? 

After we picked our way around the corn, Andy suggested that maybe I could try again but I am not that fond of corn that I wanted to do so and so I passed.  Besides, I know where I sinned and shall now say the kitchen equivalent of  five Hail Mary's and move on.   And if you don't want to make corn chowder, there are plenty of other delicious recipes in this book with fabulous photos to boot (I am so hungry right now).

This concludes "Michigan, My Michigan," a look back at my home state and the fond memories I had of living and touring it.  As an aside, many people (including me) think that "Michigan, My Michigan" is the name of our state song but it isn't. According to Wiki, the state song is just "My Michigan."  I can see why there is confusion though, as the lyrics say "Michigan, my Michigan..." over and over but details, details.

Michigan Double Sweet Corn Chowder – serves 4

4 tablespoons unsalted sweet butter

1 cup white onions, peeled and diced

½ up leeks, white part only, diced

1 tablespoon Roasted Garlic Puree (recipe below) Ann's Note:  or substitute caramelized onions and garlic – see below

½ pound red skin potatoes, washed and sliced

*9-10 ears ultra fresh double sweet corn, preferably from Michigan, shucked, kernels removed, reserving "bones" (ears) *Ann's Note – Important see notes above and below about the corn situation

3 ½ - 4 cups heavy cream

Sea salt, to taste

Clancy's Fancy Hot Sauce, or similar, to taste

½ small lemon, juiced

For the roasted garlic puree – makes about 1 cup (of which you need ½-1 tablespoon)

1 pound fresh hardnecked garlic, whole heads or similar

½ cup extra virgin cold pressed olive oil

Sea salt, to taste

Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Fresh rosemary sprigs

And if you want to skip that, you can caramelize one small onion and a couple of garlic cloves (sliced) and then puree that.

To make the garlic puree:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Peel the outermost layers of skin off the heads of garlic leaving an intact whole head free of any scrap.  Split the heads in half (horizontally) opening the cloves.  Put the heads, cut sides up, in a small baking dish and pour the olive oil over them.  Season with salt, pepper, and top with the rosemary.

Cover tightly with foil or lid, place in the oven, and roast until about three-fourths cooked, about 45 minutes.  Uncover and return to the oven until the cloves begin to pop out of their skins and brown, about 15 minutes.

When cool enough to handle easily, squeeze the roasted garlic into a small bowl.  Press firmly against the skins to extract as much of the sweet roasted garlic as you can.

Add the oil from the baking dish and puree with the back of a spoon or in a small food processor until a paste forms.

Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week.

To make the chowder:

In a 3-quart saucepan, melt the butter; sauté the onions and leeks over a moderate heat until translucent and wilted, about 10 minutes.

Add the Roasted Garlic Puree (Ann's Note:  or pureed caramelized onions/garlic mixture or skip this all together!) and the sliced red skin potatoes.  Cook for another 3 minutes or until the potatoes are warmed and completely coated in the butter.  Add the heavy cream, "corn bones" and season with the salt and hot sauce.

Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the "bones" have released their flavor.  Remove and discard the "bones."

***Place the rest of the raw corn kernels in the bottom of a soup tureen and pour the hot soup base over all, season to taste with the lemon juice.  Serve immediately.

***Ann's Note:  Since I screwed up the corn portion of our program, let me just remind you that to achieve the results above, use fresh corn otherwise, frozen but cooked corn is probably your best bet.  I just didn't think the "hot soup base" was hot enough to cook the corn but that's just me.  I also think the base was too thick and needs more than just cream but that's not what the recipe says!

If you get the corn right though, this chowder will be a home run instead of a slight swing and a miss.

"Country Cuisine;" "The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains;" "The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking" - for Queen Elizabeth II's 90th Birthday!

Dates I made these recipes:  April 21 – April 27, 2016 – Queen Elizabeth's 90^th Birthday

Country Cuisine by Elizabeth Kent

Published by:  Sidgwick & Jackson – London

© 1980

Recipe:  Carrot Vichyssoise – p. 117 – from Sharrow Bay (hotel) in Ullswater, Cumbria:  Chef:  Francis Coulson; Proprietors:  Francis Coulson and Brian Sack.

The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains – Edited by Michael Smith

Published by:  Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. New York

© 1977

Purchased at an estate sale

Recipe:  Louisa Trotter's Cheese Straws – p. 69-70

The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking by Linda Collister.   Includes recipes by Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood

Published by:  BBC Books

ISBN: 978-1-849-90483-4

Purchased at Barnes and Noble

Recipe:  Paul's Chocolate Volcanoes – p. 310

Right then.  Let me start off by saying that I hope "HM" (Her Majesty) appreciates the efforts I went through to produce some delicious delights befitting HM and her 90^th birthday because folks, finding and making these recipes was a downright horrible exercise, what what!

Let's begin with a few points of culinary interest:  1) In 1994, my husband, Andy, and I went to England and considered ourselves most fortunate to have eaten fairly decent food while there.  This was at a time when the Brits were just getting the hang of edible cuisine.  But that said 2) most of their food is, I'm sorry to say, rubbish and I spent more time for this blog post eliminating food I wouldn't eat on a bet (like ""Smoked Mackerel Hot Pots"—oh me no think so!) than what I would eat.

Then 3) I eliminated recipes that called for hard-to-find ingredients (i.e. native to Great Britain but not here) or recipes that just took too damned long to make.  So there went half of the three book's contents right there.

And then there was this problem:  4) Some books like Country Cuisine had so many usable recipes that I wanted to "cheat" and make a bunch of stuff from that book and that book alone but that would break my own rules of one per cookbooks so I couldn't go down that rabbit hole.  Then other books like The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains was just bereft of anything usable or – dare I say – edible, and I had to work hard to find a recipe – any recipe – that would work.  Best I could do was Cheese Straws and I thought they would pair well with the soup so there you go.  And finally there was dessert which seemed like it would be easy except I had to eliminate anything made with yeast (due to previous efforts at making a doorstop), phyllo dough (I hate working with it) or anything requiring 2,000 or so steps before I could shove the thing in the oven.

So there was that.  And then, and it has to be said, I had to deal with measurements and converting measurements and that was no fun at all.  Not at all.  England uses grams for measures which is why you absolutely need a scale to do some of this stuff.  In fact, the very same day that I made this recipe, my friend, Star Tribune columnist, cookbook author and master baker, Kim Ode, wrote a column for the paper outlining essential kitchen equipment for amateur bakers as well as one for advanced and I am chuffed to say that although I don't bake a lot, I had all but one item from both lists.  As I commented on her Facebook page, I love my kitchen scale and marvel that I ever went without one.

And as a reminder, all of this was to honor "HM" whom I adore and who gets mad props for making it to age 90 (and 63 years on the throne) while looking fabulous to boot.  And all the dishes I made her paid homage to her in some way, shape or form.  "HM" is fluent in French, thus the vichyssoise, Brits love their crackers ("biscuits") and toasts at tea times (cheese straws) and "HM" loves chocolate so hooray!  And with the exception of the cheese straws, all of these turned out to be pretty darned smashing! (Details to follow.)

And now a word about the books:

Country Cuisine is a compilation of recipes from country hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts and it is "delightful" as the Brits would say.  I thought it especially appropriate that the author's name is Elizabeth Kent as Elizabeth II is related to the Duke of Kent; they are first cousins.  Most of the recipes in this book were sounded good and were pretty easy to make while others, as noted, sounded horrible.

The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains is based on a TV show – The Duchess of Duke Street – that aired on the BBC from 1975 to 1976.  The show spotlights Louisa Leyton Trotter a/k/a "The Duchess" who worked her way up from being a servant to a cook to being a Duke Street hotel proprietress.  I didn't watch the series but heard about it (it was Emmy-winning) and so there you have it.  This cookbook gave me the most trouble as most of the recipes just weren't "all that."  Again, I reference dishes like "Creamed Veal Kidneys" and "Kippers with Marmalade."  Ghastly.  The "biscuits" I made were okay but that was mostly my fault – I think.  The recipe said to add the egg mixture to the flour mixture to form a paste but the paste didn't form like it should.  I suspect more liquid was necessary but didn't know how much so left it alone.  I also think the dough sat too long in the fridge but that was my fault.

The last cookbook, The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking, got me back on track and thank goodness for that.  Say what we will about British cooking, baked goods – both savory [savoury if you are British) and sweet saved the day.  Baking doesn't usually involve icky ingredients although savory bakes can be dicey. 

Now if you're not familiar with the BBC/PBS show, The Great British Bake Off, acquaint yourself with it ASAP by watching it on PBS or YouTube. I'll wait.  In Britain, this show is several seasons ahead of where we are in America but I don't care because the show is fantastic!

The premise of this show is that several bakers, most of them baking at master or near-master levels, compete to win the show's grand prize.  Each episode has three baking challenges:  the signature challenges i.e. recipes they are known for; the technical challenge where they are given basic instructions for the challenge of the day and the showstopper where they have to make spectacular items like 7-tiered cakes that look good and taste good too.  Each challenge has winners and losers and then at the end of each episode, someone is cut and sent home.

Each challenge is judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood (yes, that's his name), who are master bakers and whose recipes are included in this cookbook.  And each show is hosted by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc.  Mel is an absolute stitch to watch and you will likely "luff" her.

The thing I "luff" about this show besides Mel is that the contestants are so absolutely polite with each other it's ridiculous.  And so British.  Even though they're in a competition they rally around each other each and every episode and it's touching.  Compare this to some of their American "counterpart" shows where every single day in that kitchen is a thrown down of some sort, sometimes involving knives, sometimes not.  "Uncivilized" is likely what the Brits would say with a good "sniff, sniff" in that way they have.

And I also love the judges and marvel at their own skill of being able to ascertain when someone's "bake" is just not quite on point.  Plus they're funny although Mary is much more quiet compared to Paul.

And with a last name of "Hollywood," it should be no surprise that Paul is the more outgoing.  And out of all the incredible edibles out of this cookbook, supplied by the bakers and the judges, I decided on his Volcano Cakes.  They were easy to make and seeing as how HM loves chocolate, this is as close as I could get to a birthday cake in her honor.

And with that, let's have a "Hip, Hip, Hooray" for HM and then off we go to the kitchen!

Carrot Vichyssoise – serves 8 – from County Cuisine

2 potatoes

4-5 carrots

2 onions

2 leeks

Ham bone or 2-3 rashers of bacon (Ann's Note:  thin slices of bacon)

2 bay leaves

2 ½ pints chicken stock

1 dessertspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

½ pint single cream (Ann's Note:  The Brits have "single cream" and "double cream" and best I can tell, half and half is probably the closest although I used regular cream without any problems."

Carrot cut in fine strips to garnish

Peel the potatoes, carrots and onions, then chop into small pieces.  Trim and shred the leeks.  Put all the vegetables into a large saucepan with the ham bone or chopped bacon, bay leaves and stock. Cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender.  Remove the bay leaves and ham bone and liquidize until smooth (or put through a sieve).  Add the sugar, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Blend in the cream, the slowly reheat (taking care not to let it boil) or chill thoroughly.  Just before serving (hot or cold), garnish with fine strips of carrot.

Louisa Trotter's Cheese Straws – serving size not given – from The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains

 5 ounces plain flour (Ann's Note:  plain flour is all-purpose flour)

4 ounces unsalted butter

2 egg yolks

2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Good pinch of salt (about ¼ teaspoon)

Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon cold water

Mix yolks, lemon juice and water together.  Rub fat into flour until sand-like texture is arrived at.  Toss in grated Parmesan cheese.  Season lightly, tossing well in.  Make well, pour in the liquids, mix quickly and form deftly into a paste.  Leave for 1 hour in a cold place.  (Ann's Note:  My mixture did not form a paste and I suspect it was because there was not quite enough liquid in the mix but I followed the directions given so....)

Roll out dough ¼-inch thick and then cut into 2-inch wide strips.  Place these onto a buttered baking sheet, mark out the strips into ¼ to ½ inch sticks.

Dredge with more grated Parmesan cheese if the budget permits!  Bake at 400 for 7 to 8 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.

Remove with the aid of a palette knife to a cooling tray.  Divide when quite cool.  Store in airtight tin.

Ann's Notes:  Because the dough did not form into a paste, the rest of the instructions were difficult to follow.  I did my best to roll out the dough into a ¼-inch piece but failed and gave up trying to cut the dough into strips and sticks and just sort of threw the mess onto a baking sheet and hoped for the best.

The result was not half bad in the taste department but horribly awful in the looks department.  And I baked them for about 10 minutes as 7-8 didn't cut it.  If I had time I would make these again to see if I got different results but I didn't so there you have it.

Paul's Chocolate Volcanoes (Signature Bake) – makes 6 – from The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking

Unsalted butter and cocoa powder for the moulds

165g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces

165g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 medium eggs

3 medium egg yolks

85g caster sugar (a/k/a "Baker's sugar," "Superfine," or "Fast-melting" sugar)

2 tablespoons plain flour

6 small pudding moulds

Grease the pudding moulds with butter and dust the inside with cocoa powder.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  (Ann's Note:  or use a double boiler).  Remove the bowl from the pan and stir until the chocolate mixture is smooth.

Combine the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl.  Using an electric mixer, whisk together for several minutes until thick, pale, and mousse-like in consistency.  Carefully fold in the chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour, trying not to knock any air out of the mix.

Divide the chocolate mix equally among the 6 prepared moulds.  Place in the fridge and chill until firm. (You can make the puddings up to 24 hours in advance and leave them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.)

Heat your oven to 400F.  Place the moulds on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes* until the puddings are risen but not cracked.  Ann's Note:  at 8 minutes*, the dough was raw so I added 5 more minutes to the timer and they were almost done.  Five more minutes got me closer but still not quite there so I added 5 more and after a total of 23 minutes, they were perfect.  I don't see how on earth they would be done in 8 minutes unless he used the tiniest "pudding" moulds on the planet.  I used small soufflé molds and still had to bake them for quite some time.

Also, I've had similar "volcano" cakes in Hawaii at Roy's and theirs differed from these because they need 45 minutes to bake and they flowed chocolate "lava" when cut open.  These do not and from the looks of the photo, they were not supposed to.  Instead, we got a lovely moist center and that was good enough for us.  Whether they were up to Paul Hollywood's or even "HM's" standards is another story for another day.