a little zaftig » Recipes for Christmas

Lefse

Laura — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:29:26 +0000

It’s thirteen degrees here this morning. The young pines are bending under the weight of heavy, wet snow, threatening to break, and the tall shrubs are splayed out like snow-covered wreaths strewn along the pathway I’ve shoveled to the house. Annie, our little terrier, thinks the snow is a platform across the patio out back; it creaks underfoot until it gives way and she has to tentatively leap her way back to me, falling through the snow. I had my own challenges this morning. My Honey Girl can pull on a cold, wet bathing suit without cringing—not me. But somehow I don’t mind stepping barefoot every morning and evening into the pair of leather clogs I keep by the back door for chicken care. They’re often wet from rain or full of snow. But this morning they were soaked and beginning to freeze. I teetered out in my nightgown and old bathrobe, trying to get settled into them, thinking about socks and whether or not they were worth the trouble. And then, in slow motion, a pitcher full of fresh water in one hand, metal water fount in the other, I stepped onto ice in front of the hen house. Into the air went both legs, both arms, the metal fount, the pitcher, and into the air high above me, the water. Down onto the ice came my back and, onto the snow, my head. The metal fount and the water pitcher followed with a thud, and, like a punch line, the water, which soaked me. At six o’clock on a cold morning, that is a jolt to the bones. I lay there surprised for a moment, and then laughing, as the hens rushed back and forth like a school of fish and Annie harrumphed through the snow to help. I love winter, but mornings like this, I think about California now and then, people eating al fresco with the golden sun beating down on their faces. It seems so civilized and so easy. After a hot bath to warm up and some clean, dry clothes, I joined my Sweet Boy in the kitchen and found him making lefse. California? Watching your 17-year old son making Norwegian lefse on a cold day and eating it together, the last tender pieces fresh from the griddle smeared with good butter and sprinkled with a little sugar, isn’t part of that picture. I’ll stay right here.

Lefse Tips:

Lefse is Norwegian potato flat bread and is made using a few specialized tools. Lacking them, you may make a few substitutions. A potato masher may be used in place of a ricer. If you don’t have a corrugated rolling pin, sprinkle your conventional rolling pin with flour frequently and use a light touch when rolling. If you don’t have a lefse stick, you may use a thin, long spatula. Any smooth griddle will work well in lieu of a lefse griddle; electric griddles which allow you to set and maintain a specific temperature are most convenient.

Use only russet potatoes, also known as baking potatoes. You’re looking for the ones with a dry, dusty brown skin. Using waxy potatoes, such as Yukon gold or red potatoes, adds too much moisture to the dough.

Do not overcook your potatoes. You want them tender, but not waterlogged or mushy.

Do not skip drying the potatoes overnight. It reduces moisture content, which affects the dough.

Be sure your butter is fully melted and cooled a bit before it’s mixed thoroughly into the dough. Little bits of unmixed butter will bubble up through the lefse as it cooks.

The dough will seem dry as it comes together. Don’t fret. It will come together nicely when squeezed in your hand.

The moisture level of potatoes will affect your lefse dough. You may adjust and add a bit more flour or a bit more cream if the dough is too dry or too wet. If it rolls together smoothly in the palms of your hands without feeling sticky, you’re fine. Think of this as a gosh-and-by-golly recipe and relax.

I use a little crimping technique which helps to keep the dough round as you roll. Roll the dough into a ball in the palms of your hand. Then flatten it a bit, patting it into a disc. Place the disc on a countertop and pinch the edges together as you rotate the disc. When you’re finished it will look like a little saucer with slightly upturned edges.

Don’t be shy with the flour when you roll lefse. Your surface and rolling pin should be dusted liberally. Redust your surfaces frequently.

If the lefse sticks, slide your lefse stick under it ever so gently and work to free it. I find that sliding the lefse stick under the dough repeatedly is better than trying to move it side to side.

Roll from the center of the dough, turning it frequently. Use your lefse stick to flip it frequently as you roll.

To turn lefse using a lefse stick, slide it under the dough, lift it quickly and confidently with a swift motion, and flip it over. Leave the stick under the dough, rolling it repeatedly in one direction until the lefse unfurls and the stick is freed.

A hot, clean griddle will create the classic deep brown spots you’re looking for. I set mine on 500 degrees F.

Lefse
Yield: about 30 modest servings

Ingredients:
4 ½ pounds russet potatoes
1/3 c. heavy cream or half and half
½ c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 t. salt
3 c. all purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur.)

Method: (The lefse tips above are more detailed.)

Peel the potatoes, cut them in half or in thirds, and place them in a large pot of cold water.

Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Remove the lid and adjust your heat to maintain an even high simmer. Boil the potatoes until they are tender and yield easily when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and, when they are cool, rice them using a potato ricer.

Cover the potatoes lightly and keep them in the refrigerator overnight.

Add the cream or half and half and the butter and stir to mix well.

Scatter the salt and flour across the potatoes and mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix. The dough will come together when you squeeze it in the palm of your hand.

Heat a lefse griddle to 500 degrees F.

Take an egg-sized ball of dough and roll it in the palms of your hands until it is smooth and uniform. Pat the ball into a disc and crimp the edges, if you wish.

Using a corregated rolling pin, roll the dough on a countertop liberally dusted with flour, turning it frequently with a lefse stick, until it is so thin that you can see the countertop through it.

Using a lefse stick, transfer the dough to the griddle and fry it until deep brown spots appear across its surface.

Flip the lefse and fry the other side.

Transfer each piece to a plate lined with paper or cloth towels and allow the lefse to cool.

To serve, smear the lefse with softened good butter and sprinkle it with sugar, white or brown. Roll up each piece, and cut it in half.

Lefse may be folded into quarters, wrapped in cellophane, and stored in the refrigerator for a few days. It may also be frozen.

Feather Pillow Pancakes with Warm Lingonberries

Laura — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:50:58 +0000

My Honey Girl flew back to college tonight. Everywhere now, throughout the house, there are reminders of her, and of our last week together: a scarf hanging to dry after a walk in the snow, boots tossed in the hallway, the last blueberry pancake from our breakfast this morning wrapped in foil in the refrigerator, her gym thingamabob on my key fob, a tin of British baked beans in the pantry which she bought while home and never ate, the smell of her lovely perfume on a scarf she borrowed.

When she was a baby, and my Dear Husband was completing a graduate program in England, I walked with her every day. We didn’t have a car, so I’d take her out in our Emmaljunga buggy, whatever the weather. We’d stroll to the shops–to the butcher or fishmonger, the bakery, or the grocer—for a bit of fresh air and sunlight, or to look at the hoarfrost or the landscape drenched in rain, and on the way I’d talk to her. I’d wonder out loud to that little, smiling face wrapped in a pale blue hood, what would she look like at five, at ten, at fifteen, at twenty? What would she like, and dislike? What would her voice sound like? What would interest her? As I said goodbye to her across the airport security lines, blowing kisses and catching a glance of her face one last time, I realized that this was it, my Honey Girl at twenty. I’d never wondered beyond this age. It seemed so far off, so impossibly distant. And it’s here, so quickly, much too quickly. Here she is, all of those mysterious details filled in. She is such a lovely person.

The transition when she leaves is always difficult; this one especially so. There are mothers who would sing Alleluia when the summer ended and school resumed, who sang the praises of summer camp, and nights with babysitters, and playdates at others’ homes. I never felt that way. I loved having her around—at every age—and her friends, too, their voices, their talk, their laughter filling up the house. It’s hard whenever she leaves because I treasure her so, because we’ve always had such a nice day together—every day, whatever the circumstances or season or age. My Dear Husband says that we’re entering a new phase: the adult friendship stage, one of true independence and an end to active parenting. That sounds nice, I suppose. But I think of it this way: she’s a cooked egg now, and she did such a good job of growing up.

I used to make these pancakes with warm lingonberries when she was a little pip. She and my Sweet Boy would eat them up as quickly as they came off the griddle. In fact, I made pancakes of one variety or another so many mornings together before school that I couldn’t possible count them. I can see them now, toothy grins over the edge of our tall table, my Honey Girl in a printed dress and my Sweet Boy trying to press down a rippling shirt collar, or both of them still in winter pajamas with fuzzy hair.

These pancakes are tender and remarkably light. If you can’t find fresh lingonberries, serve them with maple syrup, fruit preserves, or confectioners’ sugar. And if you want to squeeze making pancakes into a busy morning, mix together the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls the night before, and refrigerate the wet ingredients. In the morning, heat up a griddle, stir them together, and fry up the pancakes. These are even easier. The batter can be made the night before, excepting the egg whites, and refrigerated. In the morning, beat and fold in the egg whites. By the time little teeth are brushed and buttons buttoned, you’ll have breakfast nearly ready.

Feather Pillow Pancakes with Warm Lingonberries
Yield: about 20 4-inch pancakes

Ingredients:
½ c. crème fraiche
1 ½ c. buttermilk
2 egg yolks
the zest of an orange and a good squeeze of the juice from each half of the orange
a little dribble of almond extract
1/3 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 t. baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 c. all purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur.)
2 egg whites
butter for the griddle
fresh lingonberries
a bit of sugar for the lingonberries
confectioners’ sugar for dusting the pancakes

Method:

In a large bowl, whisk together the crème fraiche, buttermilk, egg yolks, orange zest, orange juice, and almond extract.

Gently stir in the butter.

Sprinkle the baking soda and the salt evenly across the bowl and stir to combine.

Add the flour and stir until well mixed.

In a medium bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they are stiff and glossy.

Gently fold them into the batter.

Heat a griddle to 312 degrees F, or until a bit of batter dropped on its buttered surface sizzles gently.

Butter the griddle. (I use a stick of butter and rub the griddle directly with it.)

Spoon ¼ to 1/3 c. of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake.

Fry the pancakes until the edges appear crisp.

Flip them and fry the other side.

In a small pan over low heat, warm the lingonberries with a bit of sugar to taste, perhaps 2 T to ¼ c..

Serve the pancakes with the warm lingonberries and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

Top Shelf Egg Nog

Laura — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:45:31 +0000

This egg nog combines excellent orange liqueur, brandy, and dark rum with egg-enriched heavy cream and whole milk.

Top Shelf Egg Nog
Yield: about 16 servings

Ingredients
6 egg yolks
1 c. sugar
1 c. orange liqueur (I use Grand Marnier.)
1/2 c. dark rum (I use Pyrat XO Reserve.)
1/2 c. brandy (I use Torres 10 Gran Reserve.)
4 c. whole milk
4 c. heavy cream

Method:

With a hot pad in hand, in a double boiler over simmering water, whisk the egg yolks until they are well beaten.

Add the sugar slowly and continue to whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and quite voluminous.

With a towel in hand to dry the bottom of the bowl, remove it from the water.

Whisk in the orange liqueur, rum, brandy, and milk.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, or in a large bowl using a beater, whip the cream until it is doubled in volume.

Fold the cream into the egg and milk mixture.

Divide the egg nog into two pitchers.

Cover it tightly with cellophane and refrigerate overnight.

The egg nog will keep for about one week if you use fresh eggs, milk, and cream.

Five-minute Cranberry Schmutz

Laura — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:38:22 +0000

Alongside a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey or smeared on sandwiches, this five-minute, four-ingredient cranberry schmutz is a little tart, a little sweet, and exactly perfect. I’m putting a little on a pumpkin muffin for breakfast, too. If there were ever a reason to stop sliding that factory cranberry sludge out of a can, this is it.

Five-minute Cranberry Schmutz
Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients:
2 pints fresh cranberries
½ c. sugar
juice of 2 tangerines
1 large cinnamon stick, broken

Method:

In a large pan over medium low heat, stir together the ingredients. Allow them to cook until the cranberries have burst and the sugar has caramelized, about five minutes.

Fish out the cinnamon stick and serve hot, room temperature, or cold.

Seriously Simple Apple Tart with Hot Buttered Rum Raisin Sauce

Laura — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:52:58 +0000

Oh my, this is good. Our Honey Girl’s dear friend from college, Vickie, wrote to me to ask if I could suggest a recipe or two to use up apples that she had picked this fall at an orchard. After a little dance of joy around the kitchen, and with a dorm kitchen and limited supplies in mind, this is the recipe I baked up for her. The tart takes all of ten minutes to mix up and requires very little kitchen equipment or finesse. Four diced apples are tossed together in a single bowl with a handful of ingredients to bind them, and there’s no crust to fuss over. The fruit is the star here, so choose tart apples with great flavor. I made the boozy sauce a week later for my book group as an accompaniment. It’s forgiving, equally simple, and seriously delicious. If you’re not up to the tart, make the sauce. And smear it straight from the refrigerator onto scones or French toast, or rewarm it gently to pour over ice cream.

Simple Apple Tart
Yield: one nine-inch tart

Ingredients:
soft butter for the pan

½ c. sugar
½ c. whole wheat pastry flour (or substitute all purpose flour)
½ t. baking powder (skip it if you have to buy it specially)
good pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
good pinch of ground cloves (optional)
good pinch of salt
1 egg (I use jumbo.)
1 T. spiced or dark rum (or substitute vanilla extract)

4 medium tart apples (such as Haralson), peeled, cored, and diced

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Generously butter a 9″ tart pan (or substitute a pie plate or cake pan).

In a large bowl, stir together all of the ingredients except the apples. The batter will be rather unwieldy, but just give it a good stir until it all comes together.

Add the apples and stir vigorously until the batter loosens and is distributed evenly.

Pour the mixture into the pan and spread it out.

Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes.

While it bakes, make the hot buttered rum raisin sauce.

Hot Buttered Rum Raisin Sauce
Yield: enough for the tart, plus a little leftover

Ingredients:
¼ c. spiced or dark rum
1 c. golden or Hunza raisins (or substitute dark raisins)
½ c. salted butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. heavy cream

Method:

In a large saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the cream.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the sugar, dissolved.

Light the sauce aflame in the pan so that the alcohol burns off, if desired.

Cook, stirring, until the sauce begins to caramelize and darken a bit.

Stir in the cream and warm through. If the sauce is a bit thicker than desired, stir in an additional ¼ c. of cream.

Serve the sauce warm. It may be kept covered in the refrigerator and rewarmed gently. Add a bit of cream if it is a bit too thick.

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Pancakes

Laura — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:32:43 +0000

When I begin to long for winter to melt into spring, for the crocuses to pop their heads up and to feel the sun on my face again, the best remedy is to make something that I would only cook in the wintertime. It’s a nice reminder of the excitement I feel when the season begins, when the snow feels new and not like a nuisance, and I can’t wait for months of snow and mittens and stews. Gingerbread seems perfect. Since I’m missing my Honey Girl, who is our number one pancake horker, I’m making gingerbread pancakes. I’ve had some exciting blog news this week, and so I’m missing her. If she were here she would gallop through the house with me. The boys are happy, but they aren’t up for a gallop. I long for our pancake-eating, galloping days, when she was just a sprout. So I’ll eat these pancakes and think of her and enjoy another winter day. These pancakes are delicious. The whole wheat flour makes them a little heartier but they’re still melt-in-your-mouth, and the gingerbread spices have made the whole house smell like Christmas again. If you’re needing to lift your winter spirits, make some today.

Pancake Tips
Give your spices a sniff before you use them. They fade in flavor as they age. If they are older than six months or if they smell like a pale version of their true nature, replace them. These pancakes should make the whole house smell like gingerbread.

A microplane is ideal for grating the nutmeg. If you don’t have a whole nutmeg, the pancakes would still be delicious with ready-ground nutmeg.

These pancakes have a high ratio of flours to liquid. That’s intentional. I prefer a pancake that’s luscious and doesn’t need to be drowned in syrup. If you like a cakier pancake, reduce the buttermilk and milk.

I often use a countertop griddle to make pancakes. It was a wedding present from my great aunt, whom I miss dearly. If you have one of these, 312 degrees is perfect for these pancakes.

Allow enough space between your pancakes so that you’ll have room to flip them without issue.

These would be delicious with homemade cultured butter. Recipe here.

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Pancakes
Yield: ten pancakes, five inches in diameter

Ingredients:
1 c. all purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur.)
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 T. baking powder
2 T. brown sugar
pinch of salt
¼ t. ground cloves
½ t. ground ginger
½ t. freshly grated nutmeg (a microplane works best here)
1 t. ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 ½ c. buttermilk
1 ¼ c. milk, preferably whole milk
canola oil or butter for frying the pancakes
Method:

In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, salt, and gingerbread spices until they are well mixed.

Beat the eggs lightly and toss them into the bowl.

Pour in the buttermilk and milk and stir together with a fork until they are just combined. Do not overmix. The batter should have a few lumps. Allow the batter to rest for a minute or two while your griddle or pan heats.

Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat.

When it is hot, pour in a glug of canola oil or add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the pan.

Scoop out ½ c. of batter for each pancake using a measuring cup, and pour it into the pan.

Fry the pancakes until bubbles form across the top and the edges look dry.

Flip each pancake and fry on the other side.

Add a bit more oil or butter to the pan with each batch to fry.

**I always use King Arthur flour, which seems to absorb a higher amount of liquid. If you are using another brand of flour, reduce both the buttermilk and milk by 1/2 c. each to start. Then add more gradually until your batter is a nice consistency. You’re aiming for creamy and bubbly but not thin–definitely a pancake batter and not a crepe batter.

Serve with butter, maple syrup (real is best here), jam, spiced apple butter, or a sprinkling of sugar.

Swedish Rice Pudding with Spiced Sour Cherry Compote

Laura — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:48:29 +0000

In the Scandinavian countries, it’s traditional to place a single whole almond in the rice pudding served at Christmastime. Whoever finds it receives good luck for the year and a marzipan pig, a yuletide symbol of this good fortune. We usually make this rice pudding for Christmas, but seeing as we’ll be eating it on New Year’s Eve this year, it seems fitting to present the pig as a hogmanay.

Swedish rice pudding differs from other rice puddings in its heightened creaminess and richness. I cook two eggs with additional sugar into the pudding and fold two cups of whipped heavy cream into the chilled rice pudding. It’s pretty heavenly, with or without the sour cherry compote.

This recipe is part of a winter menu (here).

Swedish Rice Pudding with Spiced Sour Cherry Compote

Pudding Tips

I use short grain rice, such as sushi rice or Arborio rice, in my rice pudding. It’s not traditional, but it makes the pudding extra creamy. If you use sushi rice, give it a few rinses in cool water before cooking it.

Tempering means adding a little of a hot liquid to a cooler liquid to before adding the cooler liquid to the rest of the hot liquid. In this case you stir a little of the hot milk and rice into the eggs before adding them to the pudding. If you don’t temper the eggs in this way, you risk forming scrambled eggs in your pudding.

Bear in mind that the pudding will be significantly thicker when it is cold. You only need to cook it until it thickens slightly in the final stage.

The rice pudding and compote will keep covered in the refrigerator for about one week.

Swedish Rice Pudding

Ingredients:
¾ c. short grain rice
1 ½ c. water
pinch of salt
4 c. whole milk
1 c. sugar, divided
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
2 c. heavy cream (I love Cedar Summit Farms.)
cinnamon for dusting the top
1 whole almond to hide in the pudding

Method:

In a very large pan, bring the water to a boil over high heat.

Reduce the heat to low and stir in the rice.

Cover the pan and simmer undisturbed for 15 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the water.

Add the milk, ½ c. sugar, and the vanilla to the pan and stir them together.

Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the vanilla bean.

Whisk together the eggs and the remaining ½ c. sugar.

Temper the eggs by stirring a little of the rice and milk into the eggs and sugar. Then whisk the eggs gradually into pan.

Cook on the lowest possible heat, stirring constantly, for a few minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Do not allow the mixture to begin to boil.

Transfer the pudding to a large bowl and cover it with cellophane pressed directly to it. Chill it in the refrigerator.

When the pudding is cold, whip the cream and fold it gently into the pudding.

Transfer the pudding to a serving dish, press a single almond into the pudding, and dust the top with cinnamon if you wish.

Serve plain or with the spiced sour cherry compote.

Spiced Sour Cherry Compote

Ingredients:
20 ounces frozen sour cherries
good red wine to nearly cover
a few glugs of good port
½ c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 star anise
small handful of allspice berries
piece of a whole nutmeg
small handful of red peppercorns
1 T. cornstarch

Method:

Put the cherries into a medium pan. Pour in good red wine ‘til it reaches the bottom of the top layer of cherries.

Pour in a few glugs of good port until the liquid nearly covers the cherries.

Stir in the sugar and salt.

Place the cinnamon sticks, star anise, allspice berries, nutmeg, and red peppercorns on a piece of cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Tie it into a bundle with cooking string and place it in the pan.

Split the vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and add it to the pan.

Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat.

Stir a little water into the cornstarch to make a smooth paste.

Stir it into the pan and simmer for a minute.

If it is not sufficiently thick, make a little more cornstarch paste and add it slowly to the pan.

Remove the spice pouch and vanilla bean from the compote and serve warm.

You may refrigerate the compote if you are going to serve it later.
Warm it over the lowest heat possible and serve it warm.

Winter Supper: Swedish Meatballs, Rot Kraut, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Fennel and Green Apple Salad with Juniper Berries, & Swedish Rice Pudding with Spiced Sour Cherry Compote

Laura — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 03:56:36 +0000

After two months spent preparing for Christmas, when it’s over the mood in our house is usually a little tired. A long, gray winter lies ahead of us and the magic of Christmas is past. It’s nice, then, to continue the festivities for a few days by making a meal or two like this one. It’s simple, and many of its elements may be prepared ahead, so it isn’t a great deal of work. And it seems to lift everyone’s spirits. Today it is raining of all things! Soon the temperature will fall again and everything will be a sheet of ice. Then another six inches of fresh snow will blanket us, and the temperature will dip to single digits. It’s nice to be gathered around the table with nice food, warm company, and nowhere we need to go.

In the Midwest, recipes for these dishes abound. These are my versions. Tinker happily with them as you wish. There are tips for making the recipes in concert at the end of the post.

Winter Supper: Swedish Meatballs, Rot Kraut, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Fennel and Green Apple Salad with Juniper Berries, & Swedish Rice Pudding with Spiced Sour Cherry Compote

Dinner Tips
The Swedish meatballs and gravy freeze well. Make them up to a month ahead, thaw them in the refrigerator, and warm them gently on the lowest heat possible, stirring frequently.

When you make the gravy, add the liquids very gradually and stir vigorously to avoid lumps. If you do get lumps, strain the gravy before you add the meatballs.

You may cook the potatoes and hold them in the hot water until you are nearly ready to serve dinner. Then drain them and mash them.

The salad is simple and very quick to assemble. You may make it at the last minute just before you are ready to serve dinner. A benriner is an inexpensive Japanese mandoline. Coincidentally, “Benri ne?” means “Isn’t it convenient?” in Japanese. If you don’t have a benriner or a mandoline, you may slice the fennel and apples with a knife. Just plan more time to do so.

The Rot Kraut may be made up to a week ahead and kept in the refrigerator. In fact, its flavor improves a bit over a couple of days.

The Swedish rice pudding and compote may also be made a few days ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground pork
2 pounds ground beef (80% lean)
12 slices white bread
6 eggs
salt and pepper
1 scant c. whole milk
pinch or two of allspice
pinch or two of ground ginger
pinch or two of freshly grated nutmeg
pinch or two of freshly ground cardamom
butter for frying the meatballs

Method:

In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients until they are just blended.

Roll the meat into balls the size of a pingpong ball.

Heat a very large skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, melt a good knob of butter and fry the meatballs until they are golden brown on all sides. Alternatively, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake the meatballs in a glass or ceramic dish for 45 minutes. Frying produces better flavor, but is more labor intensive.

While the meatballs cook, make the gravy.

Place the cooked meatballs into the gravy and simmer for 30 minutes.

Gravy for the Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:
8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 T. all purpose flour
1 heaping T. grainy mustard
8 c. beef stock (preferably homemade)
4 c. whole milk, divided
½ c. flour

Method:

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter.

Stir in the 8 T. of flour and cook for a minute or two.

Stir in the mustard.

Very gradually add the broth, stirring constantly.

Shake one cup of the milk with ½ c. flour until you have a smooth paste. Stir it into the gravy.

Add the remaining 3 c. milk and stir.

Simmer until thickened, stirring contantly.

Add the meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes.

Rot Kraut

Ingredients:
1 head red cabbage, sliced on a benriner or mandoline into paper thin slices
3 slices bacon, diced
1 large onion, sliced thinly
½ c. natural apple juice
½ c. red wine vinegar
3 T. brown sugar
½ c. red wine (not cooking wine)

Method:

In a very large pan, sauté the bacon until it is crisp.

Add the onions and sauté them until they are soft.

Add the cabbage and all of the other ingredients and stir it all together.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Lower the heat to lowest possible, cover the pan, and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring often, until the cabbage is soft and fragrant.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
5 pounds Yukon gold or waxy potatoes
6 T. unsalted butter
2 c. heavy cream (I love Cedar Summit Farms.)
salt and pepper

Method:

Peel the potatoes and place them in water to cover in a large pan.

Bring the water to a boil over high heat and reduce it to a simmer.

Simmer the potatoes for 20 minutes, or until they are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Drain the potatoes in a colander.

Place the butter and cream in the pan and warm them.

Add the potatoes and mash them with a potato masher until they are very smooth and creamy.

Season them with salt and pepper to taste.

Fennel and Green Apple Salad with Juniper Berries

Ingredients:
2 bulbs fresh fennel
2 tart green apples
a small handful of juniper berries, crushed with a sharp knife
a drizzle of olive oil
2 T. white vinegar
salt and pepper

Method:

Using a benriner or mandoline, slice the fennel and apples into paper thin slices.

Scatter the juniper berries over the top.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and toss.

Swedish Rice Pudding and Spiced Sour Cherry Compote

Recipes here.

Recipes In Concert

1. Make the rice pudding and refrigerate it.

2. Make the Rot Kraut.

3. Add the whipped cream to the rice pudding and refrigerate it.

4. Make the meatballs.

5. Make the gravy while the meatballs fry or bake.

6. Make the compote.

7. Boil the potatoes.

8. Set the table.

9. Make the salad.

10. Mash the potatoes.

11. Serve the meal.

Santa Bread

Laura — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 14:14:00 +0000

It’s Christmas Eve morning and, as usual, I’m so excited I can’t sleep. I usually get up before 5:00 every year, and when my Honey Girl and my Sweet Boy were little ones they were up with me, too, waiting for my Dear Husband. We would gallop around the house before we started shaping the Stollen and preparing breakfast. But they are teenagers now, sound asleep, and it’s little Annie and I up before dawn. We sit in the darkness together with just the lights on the tree and listen to the quiet and watch the snow falling. The world is white and peaceful and I am perfectly happy.

Since I have a little extra time this morning, here’s a post I didn’t get to this week. If you’re having a quiet Christmas Eve morning, this is a perfect and easy recipe to add to your baking. If you have rapid rise yeast and bread flour, I’m sure you have everything else you need to make it.

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t about this point before Christmas, it’s nice to take a break from the have-to-do and should-do lists to just bake something for the pure joy of baking. So this weekend, we invited my Sweet Boy’s sweet sweet girlfriend Taylor to make Santa bread with us. In 2002 we saw a Martha Stewart Show during which some particularly crafty person, unlike myself, made Santa-shaped breads, and I quickly sketched the design. That sheet of paper, scribbled with a purple marker, has been in the back of our Christmas three-ring binder for eight years. It was time for a revival.

Taylor made a sweet googly-eyed Santa with an adorable polka-dot hat. And my Honey Girl made a rather mischievous looking Santa who looks like he might be plotting with the gingerbread men.

Bread is not my forte, but this fast white bread recipe is so simple that even I can make delicious, and adorable, bread with it. I got up early, mixed up the dough, and got it through its first rise—about 45 minutes total. Then the girls shaped the loaves, they rose a second time, and we baked them—another hour and a half total. This is the kind of project that’s perfect for a lazy day or a day when you are working on other projects at home. You can attend to the dough here and there for a few minutes, but most of the time required is just spent waiting. The bread is quite tasty, too. We made Santa bread sandwiches—after, with some guilt, we took the plunge and cut into Santa’s beard.

Santa Bread
Design by staff at the Martha Stewart Show
Bread recipe, Fast White Bread from The Joy of Cooking
Yield: two loaves

Ingredients:
6 c. bread flour, divided
2 T. sugar
2 packages (4½ t.) quick rising active dry yeast (also labeled as rapid rise yeast)
2½ t. salt
2 c. very warm (115 to 125 degrees) water
4 T. melted butter
4 currants or raisins
red food coloring
1 egg

Method:

In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together 4 c. flour, and the sugar, yeast, and salt.

Add the water and butter.

Mix by hand or on low speed for one minute.

Gradually add additional flour ¼ c. at a time until the dough is moist but not sticky.

Knead for about ten minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl and turn it over once to coat with oil.

Cover the bowl loosely with cellophane and let rise in a warm place (75 to 80 degrees) until doubled in volume, 30 to 45 minutes.

Divide the dough in half to make two Santa breads. With one half of the dough, pull off about 1/3 of the dough and set it aside. You will use this dough to make Santa’s eyes, mustache, etc.

Shape the main piece of dough into a circle. Pull and stretch the top of the circle out to form Santa’s hat.

Take a little piece of dough from the reserved dough, roll it into a little ball, and press it into the top of Santa’s hat to form a pompom.

Take three small balls of dough from the reserved dough and roll them into Santa’s eyes and nose. Press them onto his face firmly, and press two currants or raisins into his eyes.

Take a small piece of dough from the reserved dough to make Santa’s mustache. Shape it into a flat oval and cut slits towards the center on both sides. Pinch the piece in the middle and press it firmly onto Santa’s face under his nose.

Take a small piece of dough from the reserved dough to make Santa’s hatband. Roll it into a snake the width of your hat and pat it flat. Lay it across Santa’s hat and press the ends in.

Take the remaining reserved dough to make Santa’s beard. Pat it into a half oval the width of Santa’s face. Slice it into strips from the bottom up leaving a ½ “ strip uncut at the top. Place the beard on Santa’s face and press it in at the edges.

Beat the egg in a small bowl and add a dribble of water to thin it just a bit.

Brush all of Santa’s face except his hat and nose with the egg wash.

Mix a generous amount of red food coloring into the remaining egg and brush Santa’s hat and nose with it. Give his cheeks a touch, too, to make them rosy.

Allow Santa to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

While Santa is rising, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until he sounds hollow when tapped.

Very Merry Christmas!

Roast Pheasant with Pan Gravy

Laura — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 03:26:13 +0000

I am test-driving a pheasant tonight for Christmas Eve dinner at my darling sister Molly’s house. In fact, her husband got twelve pheasants on a recent hunting trip, and, if all goes well, we’ll be feasting on them together Friday night. I haven’t had a pheasant dinner like we’re planning since my dear grandfather passed away in 1985, and roasting the bird has brought back a flood of memories of sitting at their table, so happy to just be there, eating yummy things that he and my grandma had cooked for us, making a little pile of buckshot on my plate, and watching my grandpa dip his flour-dusted roll into the butter and through the pheasant gravy on his plate. How I miss them and time at their table.

Wild pheasant is much gamier than commercially raised, and also considerably leaner. It benefits from barding, but in lieu of such, I opted to just smear my bird liberally with softened butter. Barding the bird is easy enough—you simply place a layer of bacon or slab fat over the breast of the bird—but I prefer to enjoy game birds as my grandpa made them, their nature unadulterated. To test-drive roasting tonight, I kept things ultra simple, but you could stuff pheasants with anything you like: with wild rice, with a proper stuffing made with sausage and cubed bread, or even with clementines or lemon and perhaps some thyme or sage leaves. If you stuff your bird, add five to ten minutes per pound to your roasting time, and stuff the bird just before it goes into the oven.

The bird pictured here arrived skinless, the victim of a very lazy butcher, poor bird. If you hunt for your own birds, pluck them and leave the skin on. Skinless, I’m afraid, they are doomed to dryness, though this little bird was still delicious drizzled with a little pan gravy. With the skin, they will live up to their succulent potential.

Roast Pheasant with Pan Gravy

Ingredients:
One pheasant per two diners
A good knob of softened butter
Salt and pepper
Chicken stock for the pan gravy, perhaps 2 c. (preferably homemade)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Rinse your bird and pat it dry.

Rub it liberally with softened butter and sprinkle it all over and inside with salt and pepper.

Place it in a roasting pan and into the oven. Immediately turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees.

Roast the bird for 20 minutes per pound, or until the juices run clear.

Tent the bird with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for ten minutes.

Pan Gravy

Place the roasting pan on the stove over medium heat and add a bit of chicken stock to the pan.

Scrape up the pan juices and any crispy bits with a wooden spoon.

Bring the stock and pan juices to a boil and reduce them until they are a syrupy consistency.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Coconut Macaroons

Laura — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:24:54 +0000

If you like coconut and you’ve never made macaroons, you must make some. One bowl, one spoon, three ingredients—and 30 minutes from start to finish, including baking time, dishes, and wiping down the kitchen. They are crispy at the edges where the coconut is toasty, and tender chewy on the inside. Many macaroon recipes call for sweetened condensed milk, but I think this makes for an overly sweet cookie. Pared down, these are pure coconut flavor.

Music for baking coconut macaroons for Christmas
A sweet, pure voice for a sweet, pure cookie: Doris Day, The Complete Christmas Collection

This recipe is part of the Cookie Baking and Candy Making Plan for Christmas 2010 (here).

Macaroon Tips
To separate an egg white, crack an egg in half. Pour the egg white out of one half of the shell and discard that half shell. Then, holding your hand over the measuring cup, gently pour the yolk into your hand. Allow the white to run through your hand and into the measuring cup below. Reserve the yolk for making custard or another yolk-rich dessert.

Coconut Macaroons
Yield: four dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 c. egg whites
2 c. sugar
16 ounces unsweetened desiccated coconut

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.

Separate the whites from about seven eggs into a one-cup measure until you have one cup of egg whites.

In a large bowl, mix the egg whites and the sugar well.

Add the coconut and stir to mix.

Scoop out little macaroons using a tablespoon or a small scoop and place them on the baking sheet with ½“ between each cookie.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Rotate the trays from top to bottom and 180 degrees.

Bake for another 12 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool to room temperature.

Store them between layers of waxed paper in a tin or other container. They will keep about one week.

Storage tips here.