Christmas Cooking

Holiday cooking is in high gear, and it seems that everyone I know is planning, shopping, cutting, dicing, and most of all, baking. All of those mixers  are whirring with flour flying yielding an abundance of sweets to be shared.

My weekend produced some treats that are easy to store and pull out for expected or unexpected guests.

This Wine Bar Nut Mix, a combination of savory and slightly sweet, is delicious before or after dinner.

These dried figs stuffed with a rich ganache and enrobed in dark chocolate make a special treat.

 "Chocolate is the answer.  Who cares what the question is."  Author Unknown

  Enjoy!

Hot And Cheesy

After what seemed like a long hiatus, T and J returned to our house for dinner on Friday night. Sometimes life just happens, but on Friday everything seemed to fall into place. John walked in the side door, as T and J arrived through the front. John shook the martinis until his hands froze as I patted out the pizza and our friends perched on the stools at the kitchen counter. Ready for pizza and politics as usual.

I had come across a recipe last month that got me thinking. With the publication of Amanda Hesser's, The Essential New York Times Cook Book,  this recipe for Hot Cheese Olives was all over the press. It was extremely similar to one I had made many times in the early years of my marriage, Olive-Cheese Balls, from my 1969 edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook. There are a few differences in the recipes, so I thought I would try the one passed on to Ms. Hesser from Southerner, Julia Reed. They are a bit more fussy to make than what I normally serve with drinks, but I had the time and gave it a go.

These tasty morsels proved to be perfect with a drink as well as addictive.  If you try this recipe, and I strongly suggest that you do, make the dough in the food processor--fast and easy.  The olives may be wrapped in the dough then parked in the fridge on a baking sheet until you are ready to pop them in the oven. Make sure the olives are very dry before wrapping. And be careful when eating as the olives remain quite hot! I saved half the dough and froze it for use during the holidays. I'll let you know how that works out.

If you love olives as much as I do you are bound to love these Fried Green Olives a staple, I hear, at some Roman bars. Delicious!

Wordless Wednesday--Dinner Tonight

Wordless Wednesday

 Preparations for Thanksgiving

Stylish

Stylish? Me?  I was just passed on the Stylish Blogger Award.  Thank you! I've never thought of myself as particularly stylish, but now the pressure is on to live up to the name.

Rules for accepting this award are:

1.  Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this.

Thanks to Valerie of Living Out of The Box for passing on this award. Val left a stellar IT career, packed a suitcase, and moved to Italy to study wine and the Italian language.  And she is about to do the same in France.  I love following her adventures as she follows her bliss, laughing all the way.

2.  Share seven things about yourself.

I am a private person who is not fond of sharing myself with people I don't know. So here goes.

The day after my wedding, almost 39 years ago, I left everyone I had ever known to start a life with my husband in Guadalajara, Mexico. We lived there for four years.  It was quite the culture shock for a 22-year old Jersey girl who had never even been on a plane!

My husband thinks I swear too much.  What the f---?  Seriously?

I started my career as an assistant buyer for the now defunct department store, Gimbels, in New York City. In budget lingerie and foundations I worked for two old broads from Brooklyn with the ever- present cigarette hanging from their lips.  Priceless!

I had a Personal Chef business.

I love books and films, especially foreign films.

My favorite place to be is on the beach in St.Thomas.

3.  Pass along this award to 15 stylish bloggers.

I think 15 is a bit excessive, but I would like to pass on the Stylish Blog Award to some of my favorite bloggers:

Amuse-Bouche for Two is where Tracy chronicles her kitchen life with Roberto while they e-mail each other to plan what's for dinner--punctuated with her fabulous photos.

Chez Danisse is where Denise paints beautiful pictures with her words as well as her camera.

Crumpets and Cakes is Monika's edible photography project with her beautiful stylized photos.

Good Food Matters Nancy is an ex-caterer, cooking teacher, food writer and an artist. Quite an accomplished woman.

In Search of the Finer Things I love sharing in Stacy's travels and her cooking and dining experiences.

Rachel Eats is written by a Brit who fled to Italy, met a Sicilian and lives and eats with him in Rome.
Her food is delicious and her exploits are hilarious.

The Ordinary Cook Kath is another Brit who will have you wishing you could cook all of your puddings in an Aga.

Thank you all for your delicious words and beautiful pictures and the glimpses you give us into your lives.  It continues to be a pleasure getting to know you and being inspired by you.

An Autumn Weekend

It was a beautiful fall weekend in New Jersey.  As our son was making his way across the country, John and I had plenty to do at home.

When our friend, T, called early Saturday evening asking, "What are you cooking for dinner?", there was only one way to respond. "Come on over."

I checked out the refrigerator and poked through the cupboards--pasta it would be.

After I cleaned and sliced some cremini mushrooms, I sauteed them in olive oil in a large skillet along with some shallots.

When the mushrooms were browned, I seasoned them with salt and pepper, set them aside and put the water on to boil for the fettuccine. As they sipped their Martinis and the fettuccine was dropped into the pot, I put the heat on again under the mushrooms, added some thyme to the pan and deglazed it with some dry Marsala. When the Marsala had reduced a bit, in went the drained pasta and a knob of butter. Adjusted seasoning, tossed in chopped parsley, and passed a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano to grate on top. Done!

Earlier in the day I had made one of my favorite fall cakes, and it became dessert.

This very simple cake feels as if it is straight out of a country kitchen.

Torta di Pere alla Paesana
   By Marcella Hazan from her book, More Classic Italian Cooking


2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 pounds fresh pears
A 9 inch layer-cake pan
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat eggs and milk together in bowl.  Add the sugar and salt, continue beating.  Add the flour, mixing it thoroughly with the other ingredients.

Peel the pears.  Cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and core; then cut them into thin slices, no more than 1 inch broad.  Add them to the bowl, mixing them well with the other ingredients.

Butter the pan, and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on it.  Turn it upside down, and tap it or shake it lightly to get rid of all the loose crumbs. Dot the surface with butter.

Bake in the upper level of preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top has become lightly colored.

Remove from pan as soon as it is cool and firm enough to handle.

NOTE:

The cake is very forgiving.  I didn't have two pounds of pears on hand, so the four I had were enough.You know that I can't stop tinkering, so I like to add a pinch of nutmeg to the flour before mixing into the eggs and sugar. I happened to have some small amaretti cookies on hand, so I finely crushed them and used in place of the breadcrumbs. Nice touch.

California Here He Comes

Did I tell you that our son is moving to California?  Did I tell you that he is our only child?  Did I tell you that California is 3,000 miles away?  And did I tell you that we will miss him?

For a farewell dinner, of sorts, I made one of his favorite fall meals--Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage. This is a hearty and delicious meal--and a little goes a long way.

I followed the pasta with a riff on this salad by New York chef, Andrew Carmellini.  A lovely mixture of baby arugula, Granny Smith apples, raisins, fennel and celery; this citrusy salad proved to be a nice counterpoint to the richness of the pasta.

You  certainly don't need a farewell to serve this dinner.  Give it a try!


The pasta recipe is my rendition of one by Rachel Ray.  Oh please, don't judge me!


Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage
Serves 6-8

2 tablespoons, extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 pound Italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
4 to 6 sage leaves cut into chiffonade
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon  ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 pound penne rigate, cooked al dente
Parmigiano cheese for grating

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add sausage and saute until brown.  Remove and drain sausage on paper towels.  Drain fat from skillet and return pan to stove.  Add remaining oil then the onion and garlic, and saute 3 to 5 minutes until onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage and wine to pan.  Raise heat and reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes.  Add chicken broth and pumpkin and stir to combine. Stir sauce until it comes to a boil.  Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream.  Season sauce with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Simmer mixture 5-10 minutes until sauce thickens.

Remove bay leaf from sauce and add drained pasta; toss over low heat until pasta is coated. Top pasta with grated Parmigiano cheese and garnish with sage leaves.

Candy Corn

I have never been a fan of Halloween.  But I love Halloween candy.

"I bought you a bag of candy corn."
"Candy corn?"
"Yes.  Candy corn. You love candy corn."
" I know, but I don't buy candy corn.  I walk past every bag in the market so that I won't eat the candy corn."    
" You only eat candy corn once a year and you're not overweight."
"Thank you, that was very thoughtful."

Remembrance of Things Past

John and I had just finished off a bag of Maria's biscotti which we came across at a farmer's market in western New Jersey. They were black olive biscotti.  Perfect with a glass of wine or as an accompaniment to an antipasto platter.

It got me thinking. I've made savory biscotti in the past, but not for a long time.  As I started to look around for inspiration, I came across this recipe which very much reminded me of the delicious cheese straws I used to make in my youth for all of our dinner parties. They were light, flaky, buttery twists filled with sharp cheddar cheese and spiced with cayenne pepper. They were also labor intensive and time consuming. My youth has long since passed, and I no longer spend my time twisting cheese straws. So I thought why not combine the flavors of those gorgeous flaky treats with the ease of biscotti?

Of course, me being me, I had to tinker with the recipe adding butter and playing with the amount of flour.  They didn't turn out as expected, so I went back to the original.  These biscotti lack the buttery flavor, and I  do think a bit more tinkering may be in order. But  they hit the spot when you want something uncomplicated with a touch of heat.

A Fall Dinner

Fall appeared in all its glory this past weekend, and it brought with it the desire to cook something for the season.  Since T and J were coming for dinner on Saturday night, it was a good excuse to cook up a favorite one-pot meal of chicken fragrant with honey and cinnamon and simmered with apricots and golden raisins. 

Pre dinner nibbles

The chicken was served on a platter over couscous and accompanied by a Shiraz

And an apple crostata for dessert

HONEYED CHICKEN WITH RAISINS AND APRICOTS
Adapted from a recipe by All-Clad

1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 chicken, 3/12-4 lbs., cut into 8 pieces
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Heat oil in a dutch over medium-high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Brown chicken well, about 5 minutes per side. Remove chicken.  (At this point, I remove the skin from the chicken as I do not like the mouth feel of stewed chicken skin.  Leaving it on while browning, helps retain its moisture and add flavor.)

Add the onion, garlic and ginger to the pan and saute 2 minutes. Add honey, cinnamon, salt, pepper and turmeric.  Stir, adding a small amount of the broth to deglaze the pan. Cook for 30-60 seconds.  Return the chicken to the pan and add the rest of the chicken broth. Cover, turn heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add apricots and raisins and cook for 30 minutes longer until chicken is done.

Brown almonds in the butter and sprinkle over chicken to serve.

Note:  I smelled this recipe being tested three years ago in a department store, and I've been a fan ever since. I often use a larger chicken or add thighs to the recipe.  If you choose to do that, the recipe is very   forgiving--just add a little more broth and season to taste.  Enjoy!