Spookiest Night of the Year

Tonight is the scariest, spookiest night of the year—Halloween! Tonight the streets will be filled with ghosts, goblins, witches, pirates, princesses, angels, devils and, scariest of all—presidential candidates. How did this come to be?


Halloween’s origins date back to an ancient Celtic festival. The Celts lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Britain and northern France. They celebrated their new year on November 1 to mark the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and dead became blurred. On the night of October 3l, therefore, it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth to cause trouble.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands and Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saint’s Day in an attempt to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a church-sanctioned holiday. Soon November 2 was designated as All Soul’s Day to honor the dead. These three: the eve of All Saints’ Day (October 31), All-Saints’ Day (November 1) and All-Soul’s Day (November 2) were collectively called Hallowmas and the eve of All Saints’ Day, Halloween.

People celebrated Halloween by putting on costumes designating spirits and parading in the streets. They also feasted, since the next two days would be holy days of fasting. Except for the two fasting days, I guess things haven’t changed all that much.

If you have some youngsters around, this is also the sweetest night of the year (as in candy) and with all the anticipatory excitement it can be pretty hard to get them to eat anything for supper before going trick-or-treating. When my children were young, I always fixed something I knew they would eat, such as hot dogs, pizza or macaroni and cheese. Not the healthiest supper, of course, but at least it got eaten before the candy came home. But I usually fixed something fun to eat as well—after all it’s only once a year. The adults really enjoy something special, too. So here are some Halloween food ideas for both the kids and the grown-ups.

Brittany Chicken (in honor of those Celts)

5 to 6 pound roasting chicken or capon, cut up
1/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp. dried thyme
1 cup apple cider

Heat oven to 350 F. Run cold water over chicken and blot dry with paper towels. Dredge in flour. Brown chicken in oil for 10 to 15 minutes, removing excess fat as it accumulates. Remove chicken from skillet, drain and arrange in a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle seasonings over chicken and pour cider over all. Cover and bake 1 ½ hours or until tender.

This is good with an easy oven-baked rice casserole:

1 cup raw white rice
1 can chicken broth
½ can water
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup butter
1 can (6-oz) mushrooms, drained
½ tsp. salt

Oven temp: 350 F.

Place all ingredients in a 1 ½ qt. baking dish with cover. Bake, covered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

If you want an easy grown-up version of tomato soup to go with grilled cheese sandwiches, give this a try

Garlic Tomato Soup

12 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 ½ tsp. olive oil
1 can (14 ½ -oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup tomato puree
1 pint heavy whipping cream
¼ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. minced fresh basil
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

In a 3-cup baking dish, combine the garlic and oil. Cover and bake at 300 for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. In large saucepan, bring the garlic, tomatoes and tomato puree to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the cream, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Cool slightly. Place half of the soup at a time in a blender; cover and process until pureed. Return to pan; heat through. (Or, use an inversion blender and blend the whole batch right in the saucepan, then heat through).

Everyone loves cupcakes and these are perfect for Halloween:

Goblin’s Delight Cupcakes

Filling:

8-oz. package cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. grated orange peel
2 drops red food color
2 drops yellow food color
2 cup chocolate chips

Cupcakes:

1 ½ cups unsifted flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

Filling: combine cream cheese, sugar, egg, salt, orange peel and food color in small mixer bowl; beat until smooth. Add chocolate chips; set aside.

Cupcakes: Combine ingredients in order listed in a large mixer bowl; blend well on low speed. Fill 24 paper muffin cups (I spray them with Pam) 2/3 full with batter. Spoon about 1 tablespoon cheese filling onto each cupcake. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake portion comes out clean. 24 cupcakes.

Homemade Doughnuts

For some reason I associate doughnuts with Halloween. I’m not sure exactly why—perhaps there were doughnuts served at Halloween parties I went to as a child—or it may be those orange frosted beauties in the bakery case with chocolate sprinkles on top. Or perhaps it’s really because I love doughnuts so much that during my second pregnancy I faked that I craved doughnuts so I could eat all I wanted! No matter why, when a reader requested a column on doughnuts I knew that Halloween would be the perfect time.




Another reason for lagging on this subject might be that I have never been very successful making doughnuts at home. I have experimented many times because no matter how good the ones at the bakery are, I have a memory etched in my mind from childhood of going to my cousin’s house (across the street from the grandmother I was visiting) and being offered a doughnut from a large plate. I had never seen or tasted home-made doughnuts (it wasn’t one of the things my Mom did) but I watched my aunt pulling out beautiful brown cake-type doughnuts from a sea of bubbling oil where they were bobbing about. She took a large shaker of powdered sugar and covered them with sweet snow. Then she cautioned us not to get burned. With the powdered sugar falling all over my chin and clothes, I bit into the perfect crusty doughnut—crisp and sugary on the outside, soft, sweet and cake-y on the inside. A doughnut that measured up to the texture, the temperature, and the exquisite flavor (cinnamon and just a hint of nutmeg) of that doughnut has become a culinary quest.



Alas, I have never achieved it—but I keep trying. The trouble is that we can’t afford the calories to experiment very often—so Halloween seemed the obvious time to indulge. I like both the raised variety and the cake doughnut described above, so decided to try making both of them. These doughnuts came very, very close to my remembered perfection. I will pass on the tips I’ve figured out along the way.



First, the raised doughnuts—follow the directions exactly. I use an electric deep fryer (Fry-Daddy) which holds an even temperature; the only problem is that it doesn’t have a thermometer to read, so I had to put a candy-hot fat thermometer in the pot to make sure it came to 375 degrees. Also the surface isn’t very large so two was the most I could fry at a time (and that was difficult) so it took a long time. You could use an extra-deep electric skillet which would fry several at a time and which does have a thermometer.



Raised Doughnuts



1 package active dry yeast

¼ cup water

¾ cup milk, warmed

¼ cup melted butter

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour



To mix by hand: Soften yeast in warm water (110). Combine warm milk, melted butter, sugar and salt. Add 1 cup flour; beat well. Add yeast and egg; mix. Add enough of remaining flour to make soft dough. Turn out on lightly floured surface; knead till smooth and satiny (about 8 minutes). Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise till double (about 1 ¼ hours). Punch down. Let rise again till double (about 55 minutes). Roll out dough 1/3 inch thick. Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Let rise till very light (30 to 40 minutes). Fry in deep hot fat (375) till brown. Drain on paper towels. While warm, dip in glaze.



Glaze



2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. (about) very hot water



Stir together until consistency of thick cream; drizzle over warm doughnuts or dip doughnuts into glaze.



Alternative methods: 1) use a heavy-duty stand mixer with a dough hook to mix and knead dough. Kneading time: 10 minutes. 2) Use dough setting on bread machine using your instruction manual for the order to put into machine. Dough will have gone through 1 rising when timer beeps. Take out and continue as above.





Cake doughnuts



3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¾ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1/3 cup milk

½ cup butter, melted

4 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup sugar



Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in bowl; set aside. Separately, combine milk and melted butter. In large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar; beat with electric mixer until thick (about 5 minutes). Add milk mixture; stir with wooden spoon to combine. Add flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon until smooth. Cover dough; chill 2 hours. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Roll dough to ½-inch thickness. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter. Fry 2 or 3 at a time in deep hot fat (375). for 2 to 2 ½ minutes or until brown, turning halfway through with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and doughnut holes. Shake warm doughnuts in a bag with Cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar or frost with powdered sugar-cream frosting and apply decorative sprinkles. Serve warm (or reheat each doughnut 8 to 10 seconds in microwave on high).



Tips for cake doughnuts: Make sure your fat is the right temperature, remembering that if you fry more than 2 at a time, it will take the temperature down and adjust. If you cook them at too high a temperature, they will brown before the inside is cooked. If you cook at too low a temperature, the doughnuts will absorb too much fat.

No Vampires in Gilroy, California

When was the last time you saw a vampire in Gilroy, California? Gilroy is, for the uninitiated, the garlic capital of the world; a title clamed during the first annual Garlic Festival in 1979 held there. Halloween is notoriously the night for vampires, along with all the other ghouls and ghosts—and, since garlic wards off vampires—a great night for garlic!


Our hosts for the dinner club to which we belong decided to get a head start on chasing off the blood-sucking, black-caped monsters with their scary fangs by setting the theme for last year’s feast as garlic. I located my Gilroy Garlic Festival cookbooks to find the perfect appetizers. This course is an easy one for a garlic theme; there were so many that sounded wonderful, I had a hard time limiting myself to 3—the usual number of appetizers we serve but I was certainly glad I wasn’t bringing the dessert course.

A little background on garlic is in order, especially since I think many people misunderstand how to use this fantastic ingredient in everyday cooking. You may be too conservative when you begin using fresh garlic, but like onions and other members of the allium family, when you cook them, they caramelize and the pungent quality softens into a mellow sweetness. One of the most popular ways to serve fresh garlic is to bake whole heads to serve with crunchy bread or along side meats and vegetables. Peel outer skin away but leave the cloves unpeeled and the head intact. Place heads in covered casserole or on a piece of heavy aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and pepper and bake covered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until cloves are soft. Squeeze cloves out of their skins onto bread or other food. Offer the roasted cloves in one small dish and a very high-quality extra-virgin olive oil in another dish. Diners dip the bread in the oil and then squeeze a clove of roasted garlic on the bread.

In addition to being delicious, garlic is very, very good for you. The sulphur compounds that give garlic its pungent taste and strong aroma provide anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiseptic and anti-microbial protection. It also has the power to protect against heart attack and stroke, cancer, high blood pressure and—of course—vampires.

If you really love garlic, you can make your own garlic salt and garlic oil and give away some to your garlic-loving friends. For oil (or vinegar), just add peeled whole cloves to bottles of your favorite oil or vinegar for two or three days before using. To make salt, just bury 3 peeled and pressed garlic cloves in half a cup of salt. Add fresh ground pepper and ground ginger to taste. Let stand for a few days in a screw-top jar. Remove garlic and use salt as desired.

These appetizer recipes won top prizes at Gilroy’s Garlic Cook-off:

Garlic Mushrooms Morgan Hill

4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup dry red or white wine
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. salt
2 lbs. fresh mushrooms

Saute garlic in oil. Add vinegar, wine, soy sauce, honey, parsley and salt. Stir until mixture is well blended and hot. Place mushrooms in heatproof container with tightly fitting lid. Pour hot mixture over mushrooms, allow to marinate from 1 to 3 hours, or more, turning over several times. Save marinade for later use on more mushrooms or use it as a salad dressing.

Party Dip

1 round loaf sourdough bread
¼ lb. butter
1 bunch green onions, chopped
12 cloves fresh garlic, minced finely
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
16 oz. sour cream
12 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated
1 can (10 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained and cut into quarters (water pack, not marinated)
1 French baguette, sliced thinly

Slice top off loaf of sourdough, about 5-inches in diameter. Remove soft bread from cut portion. Scoop out inside portion of the loaf and save for other uses. In about 2 Tbsp. butter, saute green onions and half the garlic until onions wilt. Do not burn. Cut cream cheese into small chunks and add along with onions, garlic, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese. Mix well. Fold in artichoke hearts. Put all of this mixture into hollowed out bread. Place top on bread and wrap in a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake in 350 deg. Oven for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Slice baguette thinly and butter with remaining butter and garlic. Wrap in foil and bake with big loaf for the last ½ hour. When ready, remove foil and serve, using slices of baguette to dip in sauce.

Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner and it seems there are a lot of people who really get into this holiday. In the ancient days, when I was young, this was strictly a kid’s holiday; but that was so long ago that I didn’t even have to have parents along for trick-or-treating. It isn’t just for kids anymore.


In the “spirit” of things, the Grub club, of which we are members, met a few years ago and the theme of our “gourmet” dinner ws Spirits. Knowing the imaginations and personalities of the other three couples in the group, this turned out to be a very interesting dinner.

No other clues were given as to the foods we should bring, so I pondered if spirits were as in alcoholic spirits, or Halloween-style spirits or, perhaps, as our pastor is a member of the club, “spiritual” food. So off to the dictionary

1. Spirit/ from the Latin, literally meaning “breath”; a life-giving force 2. God; esp. in the third person of the Trinity. 3. specter, ghost 4. person 5. mood 6. vivacity, ardor 7. loyalty 8. intent 9. distilled alcoholic liquor. This is quite a list from which to choose.

The hosts had reminded us when they delivered the theme, that the end of October and beginning of November has Halloween, All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead bunched together and that would give us some ideas.

I wasn’t sure which meaning or meanings to use for the appetizer course and thought I would call the others and get some inspiration. Here is the menu for that night’s meal:

A Spirited Dinner for 8

Deviled Eggs
Golden puff Angel wings
Dem Rattlin’ Bones
Pumpkin Brandy Soup
Coq au Vin in Hades Flames
Shrouded vegetable
Brandied Cherries
Angelica

I feared that the underworld was a little over-represented, so I added the Angelica liqueur at the end of the meal to make sure we appease the spirit world in the right direction.

Everyone was understandably a little reluctant to part with their exact recipes, so I came up with some I thought would work. My husband and I were the appetizers, so those are definite.

Golden Puff Angel Wings
Makes 32

2 Tbsp. butter
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ tsp. minced garlic
3 Tbsp. rye breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. whipping cream
One-third cup canned solid pack pumpkin
½ tsp. caraway seeds
One-fourth tsp. mixed dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary), crumbled
1 egg yolk
1 17-oz. package frozen puff pastry, thawed
Three-fourths cup grated Peccorino-Reggiano cheese (or use Parmesan)
1 egg white, beaten with ½ tsp. water

Melt butter in skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add breadcrumbs and stir 2 minutes. Add cream and stir until mixture is almost dry. Mix in pumpkin, caraway, herbs, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and blend in yolk. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Cut each pastry sheet into sixteen 2-inch squares. Spoon 1 teaspoon pumpkin mixture into center of each. Sprinkle with scant teaspoon Peccorino-Reggiano cheese. Brush edges of pastry with egg white glaze. Fold into triangles, sealing edges with fork tines and gently shaping into wings. Arrange pastries on baking sheets. Bake until crisp and golden, about 20 minutes.

Dem Rattlin’ Bones

One-fourth cup vegetable oil
½ onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups chili sauce
1 cup beer
1 cup water
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
3-1/2 pounds pork baby back rib racks

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add chili sauce, beer, water, sugar, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire and hot pepper sauce. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool.

Place ribs in a large baking dish. Brush with half of sauce. Cover ribs and remaining sauce separately and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Transfer ribs to heavy large baking sheet. Roast ribs until tender, basting frequently with some of remaining sauce, about 1 hour. Place remaining sauce in small saucepan and bring to simmer. Cut pork into individual ribs and place on platter. Serve pork ribs immediately, passing chili-garlic sauce separately.

The Coq au Vin recipe is a standard one, you can find in any really good recipe book, but the chicken should be flambéed in Brandy before adding the wine.

The guy who is bringing the cherries told me that he had been soaking fresh Bing cherries in Brandy, orange peel, cinnamon and Kirsch (a clear cherry liqueur) for a month. I could hardly wait to taste them resurrected.

This dinner should give you some ideas for a spirited dinner of your own. As always, I really enjoy hearing about your own adventures with these or other spirited recipes.

Grub Club (also known as gourmet dinner group)

Last April our gourmet dinner group met at our house and the theme was "blue or bleu or blew." We dined on blue dishes on a blue tablecloth, wore blue, and Zig, who was in charge of the music, chose many titles with blue in them and also a variety of “blues.”

The menu featured bleu cheese, blue crab, chicken cordon bleu and blueberries. No one blew anything, but it occurred to one couple to bring a flaming dessert whose fire (you guessed it) we blew out.

Imagine my delight when the theme for last October's party was announced—orange! I brought appetizers and there were lots of those that are the color orange—smoked salmon, shrimp, cheddar cheese, a pumpkin dip—even cheese curls. The list for the flavor orange is long, too: orange flavored chicken wings, barbequed riblets with an orange sauce, orange-scented crab cakes, and orange-marinated olives.

Of course, I had no idea what the other courses would be, but I decided to speculate and began a recipe search for dishes to fit an orange theme.

For the first course, there are plenty featuring pumpkin and winter squashes and even oranges. Two that stood out are Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream and Mixed Green Salad with Oranges, Dried Cranberries and Pecans. Both of these recipes come from “Bon Appetit”, November 1998.

Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream (10 servings)

5 Tbsp butter
2 ½ pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into ½-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
2 cups leeks (white and pale green parts only)
½ cup chopped peeled carrot
½ cup chopped celery
2 small tart apples, peeled, cored, chopped
1 ½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp crumbled dried sage leaves
5 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
1 ½ cups apple cider
2/3 cup sour cream
½ cup whipping cream
Chopped fresh chives

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, leeks, carrot and celery; sauté until slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Mix in apples, thyme and sage. Add stock and 1 cup cider and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until apples are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Return soup to pan. Boil remaining ½ cup cider in heavy small saucepan until reduced to ¼ cup, about 5 minutes. Cool. Place sour cream in small bowl. Whisk in reduced cider. Bring soup to simmer. Mix in whipping cream. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle with cider cream. Top with chives.

Mixed Green Salad with Oranges, Dried Cranberries and Pecans (6 servings)

1 cup plus 3 Tbsp. orange juice
6 Tbsp dried cranberries
3 ½ Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
6 cups mixed baby greens
3 oranges, peel and white pith removed, segmented
¾ cup pecans, toasted

Bring 1 cup orange juice to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Mix in dried cranberries. Let stand until softened about 30 minutes. Drain well; discard soaking juice. Whisk oil, vinegar, orange peel and remaining 3 Tbsp orange juice in small bowl to blend. Mix in cranberries. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Place greens in large bowl. Toss with 2/3 of dressing. Divide greens among 6 plates. Add orange segments to bowl; toss with remaining dressing. Top salads with orange segments and pecans.

Now for the main course. Color alone dictates salmon and since that is so good, I vote for this Golden Baked Salmon—a recipe from the Casperhouse B&B in Soldotna, Alaska (on the Kenai Peninsula).

Golden Baked Salmon

2-3 pound salmon
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. salt
1 fresh lemon
2 medium onions, sliced
1 ½ cups grated Cheddar Cheese
2 tomatoes, sliced
Dash paprika

Place fish in oven proof baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and juice of lemon. Spread with mayonnaise like you are frosting a cake. Sealing it to the bottom enhances the flavor as it keeps the salmon moist. Top with onion, tomato and cheese. Sprinkle with paprika. Add a small amount of water to the dish if necessary. Bake about 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until salmon flakes easily with a fork. Don’t over-cook.

Dessert is easy and an old, delicious recipe of my Mom’s would fill out this orange dinner perfectly.

Williamsburg Orange Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour
1 ¾ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup shortening
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
1 cup raisins, chopped or cut up
½ cup nuts, chopped
½ orange, chopped in blender (peel and all)

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan or two 9-inch round cake pans. Measure all ingredients into bowl of mixer. Blend ½ minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes on high. Pour into pan(s).

Bake oblong 45 to 50 minutes, layers 30 to 35 minutes. Frost and fill with Orange Icing.

Orange Icing

Combine 5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar and ½ cup butter. Blend in 3 Tbsp orange juice or orange-flavored liqueur and 1 Tbsp. grated orange peel.

Pie of the Month: Pumpkin Chiffon and Pumpkin Peanutbutter Bread

My sister-in-law called and invited us for Thanksgiving. In reply to my query about what to bring, she said, “Oh, bring the pumpkin pies!” If you read last week’s column, you may remember that I bought some pumpkins (and squashes) at a farmer’s market and have been up to my elbows in steamed pumpkin—so I decided to make the pies for Thanksgiving now and freeze them (they do freeze well) and feature pumpkin pie as our “pie of the month.”


Well, I really got into this pumpkin thing, so I still have pumpkin puree in quantities. I set out to see what wonderful recipes I could find to make with my great stash of both pumpkin and squash puree. They are truly almost interchangeable. If you buy more than one variety of pumpkin, you will find they vary in moisture content, color and texture. The larger jack-o-lantern pumpkins are usually very moist and require draining the pumpkin after steaming. I steam the pumpkin in pieces with the skin on, strip the flesh off the skin after it is cooked and cooled, and then puree it in a food processor. Next, put the puree in a fine strainer set over a bowl to catch the liquid. Leave it for about an hour and pour the liquid, (along with the liquid from steaming) in a container and freeze for a soup base (it’s chock-full of vitamins).

Back to the pumpkin pies. Although tradition demands that I bring an old-fashioned pumpkin pie, I have so much pumpkin I decided to experiment with a new recipe for a change to bring along, too. I have actually never made a pumpkin chiffon pie, though I have seen quite a few recipes for them, so that seemed the natural way to go. It is a winner! This recipe was taken from the Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook—a really good book of wonderful pies.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Baked 9” pie shell
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
¼ c. cold water
3 eggs, separated
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup dairy sour cream
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. ginger
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. rum extract
½ cup chopped toasted pecans

Soften gelatin in water. Beat egg yolks with 1/3 cup sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Add pumpkin, sour cream, salt and spices. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in softened gelatin. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Cool. Beat egg whites until frothy; add ¼ cup sugar gradually, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Fold into pumpkin mixture. To whipped cream, add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla, mixing well. Spoon half of pumpkin mixture into cool pie shell; then spread half of whipped cream mixture on top. Repeat. Sprinkle with pecans. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Still, I have more pumpkin. Of course, I could freeze it but I am on a roll. I remembered that I have a great banana bread recipe that uses peanut butter, but Zig doesn’t like banana bread. What about pumpkin and peanut butter? Well it turned out to be absolutely delicious.

Pumpkin-Peanut Butter Bread

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use natural peanut butter)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ cups flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
¾ tsp. baking soda
2/3 tsp. salt
2/3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
2 Tbsp. chopped peanuts

Glaze:

1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp 2% milk
1 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add both sugars; beat until blended. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk and 1 Tbsp. peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour or spread glaze over warm bread.

Color In Foods

Color plays an important part in the food we eat. Not only does it advertize its antioxidant and nutritional goodness, but it beckons us to eat the most healthful foods because they look so beautiful. Food is always a feast for our eyes first.

One color in foods that is plentiful and chock-full of nutrition and flavor is orange. This time of year the leaves, the holiday and the fruits and vegetables of the harvest nearly shout this color family which includes tomato red, rust, bronze, deep orange, bright orange, gold and yellow. The number of fruits and vegetables sporting these hues is large, but the most common ones are: tomatoes, yams and sweet potatoes, winter squashes, cantaloupe, carrots, mango, papaya, and peppers.

Beta-carotene, a red-yellow food pigment that turns to vitamin A in the body, is the common element in all of the red-orange range of foods.

Recent findings note that while it was once thought that beta-carotene, the ingredient in these foods that make them colorful, could be useful taken in supplement form, we now know that nature actually does know best. It seems that beta-carotene has many cousins called carotonoids that when acting together with beta-carotene are the powerful punch that helps prevent and even cure. Taking beta-carotene supplements has actually been found to increase the risk for some of the diseases that it was thought to prevent, such as cancer. Well, it does decrease the risk of cancer, but only when eaten together with the other properties found in the whole food. Tomatoes, for instance, are a good source of beta-carotene, but also of lycopene, another carotonoid. In conjunction with beta-carotene, lycopene is a fierce battler of disease; either alone is less so.

Fortunately, these foods are easy to incorporate in our diets, because they are not only beautiful and healthful, but they’re readily available, inexpensive and delicious. What’s not to like? The days of “Eat your carrots”, are gone, since there are so many delicious ways to serve them—even in dessert. Pumpkin, squash or sweet potato pie, and carrot halvah are favorites of mine. Carrots can be sneaked into almost anything: spaghetti sauce, soups, stews—even in juice form (such as V-8) added to provide color and nutrition. Carrot Couscous with Fresh Chives (Cooking Light, Jan/Feb 2006) is such a dish.

Carrot Couscous with Fresh Chives

2/3 cup carrot juice
1 ½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ cup uncooked couscous
2 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives

Bring first 4 ingredients to a simmer over medium-high heat; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Drizzle with oil; fluff with a fork. Sprinkle with chives; toss to combine. Yield: 2 servings of about ¾ cup each. 236 calories.

Here’s a new combination that’s sure to look wonderful and taste good! (from Bon Appetit Nov. 2007)

Sautéed Parsnips and Carrots with Honey and Rosemary

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 pound carrots (about 4 large), peeled, cut into 3x ¼ x ¼ -inch sticks
1 pound large parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored, cut into 3x ¼ x ¼ -inch sticks
Coarse kosher salt
2 Tbsps. Butter
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 ½ Tbsp honey

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots and parsnips. Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are beginning to brown at edges, about 12 minutes. Note: Carrots can take a bit longer to cook than parsnips, so if the carrots are large and mature, sauté them for a minute or two to soften slightly before adding the parsnips.

Here’s a recipe from Bon Appetit (Nov. ’07) that has convenience and/or processed foods. That’s really rare. However, this pie is worth doing—for it’s truly delicious and beautiful and you can add to its virtues that it is easy.

Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue

Crust

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (made from about 7 ½ ounces graham crackers, finely ground in processor) or you can use already ground crumbs in package.

3 Tbsp. sugar
6 to 7 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add 6 Tbsp. melted butter and stir until crumbs feel moist when pressed together with fingertips, adding 1 Tbsp. melted butter if crumb mixture is dry. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish, building up sides ¼ inch above rim of dish. Bake crust until set and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on rack.

Filling

3 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams)
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Pierce sweet potatoes all over with fork; place potatoes on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until potatoes are very tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes open and scoop out pulp. Transfer pulp to processor and puree until smooth. Set aside 2 cups sweet potato puree for filling; cool completely (reserve any remaining puree for another use). Combine 2 cups sweet potato puree, sweetened condensed milk and all remaining ingredients in large bowl; whisk until well blended and smooth. Pour filling into crust. Bake pie until puffed around edges and set in center, about 50 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool. Refrigerate pie at least 4 hours or overnight.

Marshmallow Meringue

1 7-ounce jar Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Crème
3 large egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
¼ cup sugar

Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 400 F. Using rubber spatula, scrape marshmallow crème into large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl until foamy. Add sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time and beat until stiff and glossy peaks form. Add ½ cup beaten egg whites to marshmallow crème and stir with rubber spatula or spoon just until incorporated to lighten (marshmallow crème is very sticky and will be difficult to blend at first, but blending will become easier as remaining whites are folded in). Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions just until incorporated. Spread meringue over top of cold pie, mounding slightly in center and swirling with knife to create peaks. Bake pie just until peaks and ridges of marshmallow meringue are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Let stand at room temperature until meringue is cool.

Alaska Day

Today is Alaska Day; Alaska Day is a legal holiday in the U. S. State of Alaska.  It is the anniversary of the formal transfer of the Territory of Alaska from Russia to the United States which took place on Friday October 18, 1867.

Keeping this in mind, I decided to check on the foods that are most commonly enjoyed in Alaska. The ones that kept coming up were wild seafood, wild berries, wild game such as moose and caribou, sourdough bread and beer.

With 34,000 miles of coastline, one million square miles of fishing water and 15,000 salmon streams, it’s no surprise that Alaska is home to the most renowned wild seafood. Those who have experienced the vastness of Alaska believe that nowhere on earth compares to the wild Alaskan seafood found in its pristine waters.

Salmon, also known as “Alaskan turkey” is the king of the seafood and there are several varieties that are caught in Alaska such as King and Sockeye. Five of the six types of Pacific salmon are protected in areas of Northern California, Washington and Oregon. As a result, about 90 percent of the salmon caught in U.S. waters comes from Alaskan rivers. Alaska takes sustainability very seriously and has the most stringent resource management in the world. In fact, the 200 million salmon that are harvested from these bountiful waters represent a fraction of Alaska’s salmon stock.

King or Chinook salmon is prized for its vibrant hue and high fat content which results in its buttery texture. It is perhaps most commonly known for its association with Alaska’s Copper River, though king salmon and Copper River salmon are not synonymous. When you buy Copper River salmon, you are not buying a particular variety—you are buying fish from a certain river.

Here’s a great salmon recipe from Anne Casale’s Italian Cooking

4 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp shallots, minced
1 Tbsp. lemon juice, strained
½ cup dry white wine
6 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), finely minced
½ tsp. coarse salt
½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. fresh basil, minced or 1 tsp. crumbled dried basil
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, minced or 1 tsp. crumbled dried thyme
2 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves, minced or ½ tsp. crumbled dried rosemary
½ cup dry bread crumbs
2 (12-ounce) skinless salmon fillets

In a large skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté, stirring constantly, until lightly golden, about 1 minute. Add lemon juice, wine and tomatoes. Turn heat to medium-high and cook until sauce is reduced to ½ cup, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. (Sauce can be made up to 1 hour before cooking fish. Reheat over low heat just before removing fish from oven.)

Adjust oven rack to center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 ovenproof casserole with cooking spray; set aside.

On a piece of wax paper, combine salt, pepper, basil, thyme, rosemary and bread crumbs. Dredge each fillet in bread crumb mixture, coating well. Transfer fillets to prepared pan and place 2 inches apart. Drizzle with remaining 2 tsp. of oil.

Bake in a preheated oven just until salmon is opaque and barely flakes when tested in the center with a knife, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to serving platter; slice each fillet in half crosswise; spoon sauce over fillets and serve. Yield: 4 servings

Wild berries of all kinds abound in Alaska, among them cranberries and raspberries, but none as wonderful as the blueberry. They are from the tundra slopes and contain the highest antioxidant chemicals that protect our bodies from free-radicals. UAF researcher, Thomas Kuhn has discovered that Alaskan wild bog blueberries simply drip with elixirs that combat inflammation in the central nervous system. Although wild Alaskan blueberries pack a punch of antioxidants three times higher than cultivated blueberries, all are exceptionally high in antioxidants.

Since I don’t have easy access to the Alaskan wild blueberry, I use the Minnesota variety for this popular breakfast menu item:

Blueberry French Toast with Blueberry Sauce

12 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed
2 packages (8-oz each) cream cheese
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
12 eggs
2 cups milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla

Sauce

1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp. butter

Cube or tear bread into ½” pieces. Spray 9 x 13 pans with vegetable spray. Put half of bread in pan. Dice cheese into ½” pieces—put over bread. Put blueberries over cheese, then the rest of the bread pieces. Mix eggs, milk, syrup and vanilla. Pour over all. Refrigerate overnight. Bake, covered, 30 minutes at 350; uncover and continue to bake for 30 minutes more.

For sauce:

Mix sugar, cornstarch and water in saucepan. Cook until thick. Add berries; cook 8 minutes. Remove and add butter.

If you’re interested in tasting moose burgers or caribou, you’ll have to go to Alaska and find someone to cook them for you; it’s illegal to sell wild game.

And lastly, for dessert of course, there’s always Baked Alaska.

Baked Alaska

1 layer of Devil’s Food Cake, baked (use home recipe or mix—freeze other layer for another use)
1 quart brick chocolate chip, vanilla or your favorite flavor of ice cream
4 egg whites
½ tsp. cream of tartar
2/3 cup dark brown sugar (packed)

Cover large baking sheet with foil. Place baked cake layer on baking sheet (if you have a round layer, trim to a square, or bake in square pan. Place ice cream on cake, leaving 1-inch edge. Trim cake to match ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in brown sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Completely cover cake and ice cream with meringue, sealing it to foil on sheet. (If desired, it can be frozen up to 24 hours at this point.) Bake on lowest rack in oven 3 to 5 minutes or until meringue is light brown. Trim foil to edge of meringue; transfer cake to serving plate. Cut into 6 slices; cut each slice in half. Serve immediately. 12 servings.

Glorious Fall

Glorious fall—and especially October—is my favorite time of year. I must admit I like it a little cooler than it is this year, but I won’t complain. Driving through the countryside in the beautiful bluff country is a breathtaking and exhilarating experience. Everywhere you look the gold, maroon and bright red leaves stand out against the still-green background, waving their colorful leaves in the wind and sometimes tossing them into the air.

Now is the time to stop at the farm-stands and farmers’ markets you find along the way for the last of the tomatoes (we still haven’t had a freeze), a few cucumbers, lots of broccoli and cabbages—but best of all—the colorful and delightful pumpkins and squashes.

They come in every shape and color from dark green to bright orange and grayish white and every shade in between. Their homely warts and bumps only add to their beauty and foreshadow an array of delicious dishes packed with vitamins A and C as well as lots of fiber and tons of flavor! It’s a feast in every sense.

All squashes and pumpkins are gourds: fleshy vegetables with seeds on the inside and protective rinds outside. Preparation of both is the same. The pumpkin is more variable in moisture content, so it is a good idea to buy the smaller, sugar pumpkins if you are going to make your own puree. However, it is possible to render the large, jack-o-lantern style pumpkin into a delicious puree—just a little more bother. Canned pumpkin puree is fine, but it has been scarce the last two years. So far, I have been able to find it on the supermarket shelves but it isn’t Thanksgiving yet.

To prepare your own pumpkin puree you can boil, bake or steam the pumpkin. Halve pumpkin and remove seeds (save to roast, if you wish) and stringy portion. Cut into small pieces, then peel. Cook in boiling salted water to cover for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tender. Drain and mash or put into food processor to puree. When cool you can use immediately, refrigerate for 3 or 4 days, or spoon into freezer containers and freeze for several months. This puree is wonderful for soups and baked goods.

Winter squashes are too numerous to list, but in our market the most common are buttercup, butternut and acorn. Buttercup is my favorite because of its deep orange, mealy, sweet meat. Here is the simplest and one of the best ways to prepare buttercup squash:

1 large buttercup squash
¼ cup butter (half a stick)
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Nutmeg or cardamom to taste

Cut squash in half; remove seeds and stringy portion. Prick skin with a fork in several places. Place both halves on microwave-proof plate and microwave on high for approximately 10-12 minutes or until tender. When cool enough to handle, remove flesh from skin and put into food processor while still warm. Add butter, brown sugar and salt. Process until smooth. Place in casserole and dot with more butter. Sprinkle with nutmeg or cardamom if you wish. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes at 350.

Here’s a great breakfast (or anytime) recipe.

Pumpkin Nut Waffles

2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
3 eggs, separated
1 ¾ cups milk
¾ cup canola oil
½ cup canned pumpkin puree
¾ cup chopped toasted pecans

Sift together dry ingredients. Beat egg yolks. Combine with milk, oil and pumpkin. Add to dry ingredients. Beat egg whites stiff. Fold into batter. Pour onto hot waffle iron. Sprinkle with a few chopped nuts and bake. Makes about 8 waffles.

Here’s a great slow-cooker soup recipe from the November issue of Family Circle magazine:

Gingery Butternut Squash Soup (makes 6 serv.)

1 small (3 lb) butternut squash, seeded, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 Tbsp grated ginger

3 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

¼ tsp. black pepper

Place squash cubes and garlic in slow cooker with ¼ cup water. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours. Meanwhile, heat oil over med-high heat in skillet. Cook onion for 5 minutes, stir in ginger and cook 1 minute. Remove squash from slow cooker and discard garlic and liquid. Puree half of squash in food processor with half of onion mixture and 2 cups of the broth until smooth; pour into slow cooker and repeat with remaining squash, onion mixture, 1 cup broth and ¾ cup water. Stir in salt and pepper, then cover and cook an additional 30 minutes. Top with cheese toast if desired.

Indoor Grilling

Now that the grilling season has come to an abrupt end, it’s time to take out the broiling pan that came with your range and do some indoor grilling. Do you even still have it? I know that broiling in the oven or broiler/oven is somewhat passé, but it really is a great way to get that crispy, barbequed flavor and texture.


If you have a regular broiling pan with a rack, there are many ways to make complete dinners all at once that are quick, easy and delicious. The bottom of the pan is a perfect place to put partially cooked vegetables or even grains (rice, pasta) that is almost done because it catches the juices from the meat above. You don’t have to worry about over cooking since broiled foods rarely take a long time.

An exception to this is poultry, which is the trickiest of the meats to broil, I think. Aloha Chicken Dinner is not only easy, it looks festive and if you close your eyes, put on some ukulele music, and don a grass skirt, you might think summer isn’t really over. It can be done almost entirely under the broiler, is absolutely delicious and you can assemble everything ahead of time and start the whole procedure at once. Who knows, you might start using that broiler again.

Aloha Chicken Dinner for 4
Broiled Chicken with pineapple sauce
Pineapple and peaches
Orange rice
Sugar snap peas
Peanut Cake

Broiled Chicken with pineapple sauce

4 lbs. cut up, skin-on chicken
¼ cup melted butter
Salt and Pepper
4 slices fresh or canned pineapple (rings)
4 fresh or canned peach halves

Sauce:

¼ cup melted butter
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon peel, grated
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup pineapple syrup
1/3 cup peach syrup
2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
¼ tsp. thyme

Put melted butter, lemon peel, lemon juice, syrups, chopped onion, soy sauce and thyme in a small saucepan and bring to a slight boil. Mix cornstarch in 1 Tbsp. cold water, stir until cornstarch is dissolved and add to boiling liquid. Stir until thickened. Remove from heat.

Orange Rice

1 cup brown rice
1 cup orange juice
2 cups water
Salt

Bring water, orange juice and salt to a boil. Stir in brown rice. Bring back to boil; lower heat to low and cover. Cook 40 minutes. Drain any liquid and set rice aside.

Assembly:

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Line broiler pan with foil, shiny side down. Spray foil with vegetable spray (Pam.) Lay chicken pieces on foil, skin side down (no rack). Brush chicken pieces lightly with melted butter. Broil 5 to 7 inches from heat, 25 minutes or till lightly browned, brushing occasionally with drippings and/or more butter. Remove pan from oven and spoon rice and snap peas around chicken pieces. Lay pineapple rings and peach halves over rice. Pour Pineapple sauce over all. Broil 15 minutes longer. Check chicken frequently and turn as necessary to prevent burning. Arrange chicken, pineapple and peaches on platter, spoon rice at one end. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Peanut-Coconut Cake

1 ½ cups cake flour or 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup milk
1/3 cup shortening (or butter)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Spray 9x9x2 or 8x8x2 inch baking pan. Measure all ingredients into large mixer bowl. Blend ½ minute on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes or until cake tests done. While cake is warm, frost with peanut-coconut topping:

¼ cup peanut butter (smooth)
¼ cup light cream
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup flaked coconut
½ cup chopped peanuts

Blend peanut butter, half and half and brown sugar; spread over warm cake. Sprinkle with coconut. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat about 4 minutes or till frosting is lightly browned. Sprinkle peanuts over.

Edible Gifts

We took our favorite local trip around Lake Pepin on Sunday and found a new place (for us at least) called Domaine Da Vine apples and grapes—U-Pick. I hadn’t had access to Concord grapes fresh from the vine, so I bought a couple of pounds. Back home, looking through my old cookbooks, I found some interesting recipes using a small amount of grapes. They all required slipping the skins, so I knew they would be time-consuming, but, oh, well—it is an interesting undertaking. I chose a grape butter from my 1972 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.


I found slipping the skins less difficult than I thought. If you make a slight cut at the stem end and squeeze from the other end, the grape pops right out. Since you use the skins in the recipe later, any pulp that clings to the skin goes into the final mixture. The result surprised me. It thickened nicely (grapes do have quite a bit of pectin) and was delicious. But best of all, it was a beautiful jewel-like purple color. It made me think of making some other colorful companions and making gift baskets.

If you want an early start on edible gifts for the holidays, now’s the time. It has been so unseasonably warm it has been hard to think of holidays but at last the weather is changing and there are still local fruits to preserve and add to my grape butter for a beautiful offering. Spiced apple jelly tinted to a rosy clear color will be a great addition and a smooth lemon curd is always welcome. I decided to add a concoction from a new book on my shelf, Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Topp and Howard: Kiwifruit Honey Almond Conserve. Purple, rose pink, yellow and emerald—now for a sparkling bright red. I looked for a change in flavor, too, and found Cranberry Hot Pepper Jelly—a great gift for making the easy appetizer with cream cheese on crackers or to accompany a holiday roast or bird. This rounds out a beautiful gift for somebody and you can step it up a notch by adding homemade or store bought crackers, breads, breadsticks and some cheeses.

Spiced Grape Butter

1 ½ pounds stemmed Concord grapes
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1 cup water
2 ¼ cups sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves

Wash grapes; separate skins from pulp. Cook pulp until soft. Sieve to remove seeds. Add peel and water; cook 10 minutes. Add grape skins; heat to boiling; add sugar and spices; cook until thick. Seal in hot, sterilized glasses. Makes six 6-oz glasses.

Apple or Crabapple Jelly

Wash fruit; do not pare or core. Cut in eighths, removing blemishes. Barely cover with water; simmer until soft. Strain through jelly bag. Measure juice; heat to boiling; skim and add ¾ cup sugar for each cup juice. Stir until sugar dissolves; cook until syrup sheets off spoon. Add red food coloring until a light rose color is achieved. Seal in hot sterilized glasses. Rose, geranium, mint or other leaves may be used for flavoring.

Kiwifruit Honey Almond Conserve

1 ½ cups diced, peeled kiwifruit
1 cup diced, peeled and cored apple
1 lemon
¼ cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup liquid honey
½ cup raisins
½ cup sliced almonds
1 Tbsp. Amaretto liqueur (optional)

Place kiwifruit and apple in a medium nonreactive saucepan. Remove thin outer rind from lemon with vegetable peeler and cut into fine strips with scissors or sharp knife; or use a zester and add to saucepan. Remove and discard the remaining white rind. Finely chop the pulp with a knife or in a food processor with on/off motion. Add pulp and water to saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce heat and boil gently for 20 minutes or until fruit is tender. Stir in sugar, honey and raisins. Return to a boil, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, until mixture will form a light gel, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in nuts and liqueur (if using). Ladle into hot sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes.
Makes 3 cups

Cranberry Hot Pepper Jelly

1 large sweet red pepper
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded or other hot pepper
¼ cup water
¾ cup cider vinegar
¾ cup frozen cranberry cocktail concentrate, thawed
3 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch liquid fruit pectin

Finely chip sweet and jalapeno peppers in food processor. Place in a small saucepan with water and vinegar. Bring mixture to a boil, cover, reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a coarse sieve, pressing with back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Pour liquid through a jelly bag. Place strained liquid, cranberry concentrate and sugar in a medium, nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin, return to a full boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Lade into hot, sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes. Makes 3 cups.

Wonderful Aromas of Fall

Every year at this time, I get the bug to cook and to entertain. I suspect others feel the same way. Of course our lives get busier, but they also get more structured and the holidays that are looming (yikes!) get our thoughts on to menus for sharing with guests. The crisper weather is part of the equation as well. The wonderful aromas of fall include the warm, spicy, sweet and robust smells of good food.

When I think of fall foods, I include apples, pears, pork, poultry, squash and pumpkin, sweet potatoes, cranberries, cruciferous vegetables and preserves, all found in yummy desserts, one-dish stews, compotes and side dishes. Have you seen the olive oil commercial where a lovely young lady can’t stop producing wonderful dishes and putting them out on a long, groaning table—and then when her husband comes in and asks “What is all this?”, she gives no special reason other than her love of cooking (and the olive oil)? That’s me this time of year. Or, I wish I could do that.

Woman’s Day for October 7, 2008 has an apple cake recipe that’s wonderful. As a matter of fact, they said, “Our staff enthusiastically agree—this may be the best apple cake we’ve ever had.”

Apple-Walnut Cake with Cider Sauce
Serves 16

2 cups sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
¼ cup apple cider
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon,
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 cups flour
2 large Granny Smith apples (3 ½ cups), peeled, cored and sliced
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts

Cider Sauce

2 cups apple cider
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350. Coat a 10-in. tube pan with removable tube insert with nonstick spray. Whisk sugar, oil, apple cider, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until blended. Stir in flour until blended. Stir in apples and walnuts. Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour and 10 to 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack 1 hour. Remove sides of pan. Cool completely before lifting cake off bottom of pan.

Cider Sauce: Whisk cider, brown sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan until blended. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Boil 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla; stir until butter melts. Let cool to warm or refrigerate until serving.

Pumpkin used to be a nightmare to cook—it was difficult to cut, clean, and when baked, it yielded so much excess water that it had to be allowed to sit in a dripping cheesecloth bag over a bowl for hours before it was useable. Now that the sugar pumpkin is widely available in markets, I have switched from cans to homemade pumpkin. The sugar pumpkin (also known as pie pumpkin) is small and easy to prepare. Cut off the top and bottom ends and peel with a standard vegetable peeler. To make a puree, set a steamer basket in a saucepan filled with 1 inch of water. Cover; bring to a boil. Add 1 sugar pumpkin (approximately 4 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks. Cover; cook until very tender, about 15 minutes. Puree in a food processor until smooth. Makes 3 ½ cups. Freezes very well. Use as you would canned pumpkin puree.

*Alternative method: Sometimes the pumpkin shell is too tough to cut or peel easily. Stab a sharp knife through the pumpkin several times and place on a microwave-proof dish. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes. Remove and test to see if the outer shell is penetrable; if not, microwave, testing every 1 minute until it will cut easily. Then cut off the top and scoop out the seeds. Cut in chunks and either steam or microwave until the pumpkin scoops easily off the shell. Puree as above.

The following recipe and the preparation of sugar pumpkin puree are from Everyday Food, October, 2008.

Pumpkin and Pecorino Gratin (Serves 4)

2 slices white sandwich bread
¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 cups Sugar-Pumpkin puree (see above)
2 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 450. In a food processor, combine bread and cheese. Season with salt and pepper, and pulse until large crumbs form. Season Sugar-Pumpkin puree with salt and pepper; spoon into a 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with crumb mixture, and dot with butter. Bake until crumbs are browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Cider-Braised Pork Chops (Cooks’s Country, Oct/Nov 2008)

6 bone-in blade-cut pork chops, about 1 inch thick
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup apple butter
1 cup apple cider
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Pat chops dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chops in two batches, about 4 minutes per side; transfer to plate. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. fat from pot and cook onion over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, flour and 2 Tbsp apple butter and cook until onions are coated and mixture is fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in cider and thyme, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon, and bring to boil. Add browned chops and any accumulated juices to pot, cover, and transfer to oven. Braise until chops are completely tender, about 1 ½ hours. Transfer chops to serving platter. Strain sauce, then use a shallow spoon to skim off fat. Whisk in vinegar, parsley and remaining apple butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing sauce at table.

Skillet Cooking

I have a new toy! For me, a new kitchen item is as exciting as new shoes are for most women. And it’s really a new old toy—an electric skillet.

We have been having an on-going garage sale around here in an effort to move out so many years of accumulated stuff. Now, I hate garage sales (having them, that is) and so Zig has been in charge, but I keep supplying him with new stuff. So, when I went down in the pantry to try to find some kitchen things of which I was willing to let go (now, that is a problem), I came across my old Farberware electric skillet that I believed to be broken. I couldn’t remember why I put it in the pantry except that I thought the thermostat that plugs in was not working. The Farberware skillet from 25 years ago was circular and made of stainless—no non-stick surface—but it is beautiful and I remember bringing it to the table to serve and using it on a buffet as well.

I decided to check the internet for replacement parts and (I supposed because it is so old) found that the part was $21.00 which I though was a little steep, so I plugged it in and, voila! It was just a loose wire in the cord—easily fixed with electrical tape. But by now I wanted to look at the new models I saw when I was looking up the part. About an hour later I was the proud new owner of an Oster, hinged cover, non-stick and very modern looking new electric skillet and the cost new was (on sale) $25.00.

My daughter-in-law in Madison, WI is a great cook and keeps up with the newest methods so I called her to find out if she or anyone she knew had an electric skillet. My generation all got one as a wedding gift, but no; she doesn’t have one or know of anyone who does. I began wondering why we all put this appliance away and forgot about it. Maybe it just duplicates what better cooking utensils can do—I needed to find out.

The first thing to try was a recipe from the manual that came with my new skillet just to be sure I was using it correctly. This chicken cacciatore just was wonderful, but mostly, I loved using this skillet—so much that I couldn’t quit and I have been making breakfast, lunch and dinner in it ever since (well it was just yesterday) but I had to get out every cookbook on electric skillet cooking and mark all the different things I want to try.

What’s so great about an electric skillet? Is it just another electric appliance to use a few times and for which to try and find a place to store? No—it multi-tasks and competes successfully for stove-top cooking in a multitude of ways: it will fry, braise, simmer, stew, pot-roast, pan broil, saute and poach. It can pop corn, bake potatoes, grill sandwiches, warm food and act as a serving dish, toaster and sometimes as an oven. With some restrictions it can deep fry but shallow frying is one of its best attributes. On the other hand, with a non-stick finish, it can “fry” foods using only a vegetable spray and thus cut calories drastically and still have that fried-food delectability.

Its large capacity makes it a perfect utensil for poaching—eggs come to mind—but there are many possibilities. An electric frying pan can double as a griddle and makes wonderful grilled sandwiches, French toast and pancakes. It’s great for soups and stews, casseroles and keeps them warm on the dinner or buffet table.

Many special uses such as corn popping or cooking with no water or using as a bain marie (water bath) can be performed by your electric skillet—so I am sold!

Chicken Cacciatore

2 Tbsp. canola oil

4 pieces chicken with skin and bone (thighs, legs or halved breasts)

½ cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced tomatoes

½ cup chopped green pepper

4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup red wine

Hot cooked spaghetti or other pasta

Set skillet temperature to 350. Add oil. When skillet light goes off, arrange chicken pieces skin side down in skillet. Cook chicken until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side, watching carefully that they don’t over-brown. Add onion and garlic around chicken pieces and cook until onion is transparent but not brown. Reduce temperature to “Simmer”. Add remaining ingredients, except spaghetti. Cover and cook 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken pieces to plate. Turn temperature up to 350 and then add recombined cornstarch mixture to bubbling sauce, stirring until thick. Add chicken back to sauce; turn temperature down to “Warm.” Serve chicken and sauce over spaghetti.

Octoberfest

Oktoberfest originated in Munich and that city is where the largest celebration takes place each year (seven million revelers) sometimes for a month or more starting in late September and going until everyone is “fested out” I suppose. It was begun in 1810 as a wedding party for Bavaria’s Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. But like many other festivals centering on food, drink and merriment, it is now celebrated all over the world. There is even one held in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil; perhaps an unlikely location, but there are many German immigrants and their descendents living there.


I don’t see any reason why Red Wing should be left out of all this festivity and fun, as well as delicious German food and great beer. After all the town is full of visitors here for the leaf-peeping and the great art fair this weekend, perhaps you should bring in a houseful of your friends and do an old-fashioned Oktoberfest dinner party.

Decorations and libations for an Oktoberfest are easy: all you need are funny Alpine hats with what looks like a huge shaving brush sticking up at the back. Have genuine beer steins for clinking, pass around some large pretzels with mustard, add some oompah music and you’re all set. Casual and jolly is the theme.

But what about the menu? Here’s one that is festive, not too difficult and makes use of the seasonal foods we all love.

Oktoberfest for 10

Clear Beef broth
Mixed greens salad with honey-mustard dressing
German Sausages with Sauerkraut and Apples
Kartoffelnudeln
Sourdough Rye Bread with caraway
Ginger-Pear Cake

German Sausages with Sauerkraut and Apples

2 pounds smoked ham hocks
1 pound fully cooked bratwurst
8 ounces thick-sliced bacon
2 pounds fully cooked Metwurst (can substitute Kielbasa)
1 pound fully cooked knockwurst
2 large onions, chopped
2 tsp. juniper berries (optional)
2 tsp. whole black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
6 whole allspice
3 bay leaves
3 red apples, any tart and crisp variety, unpeeled, cored
2 2-pound jars sauerkraut, squeezed dry
2 cups dry white wine
Assorted mustards
Prepared horseradish

Cover ham hocks by 2” of water in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until meat is very tender. Transfer to bowl. Boil broth until reduced to 2 cups about 15 minutes. Remove meat from bones; discard bones. Hold meat in bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a heavy large pot (Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add bratwurst and bacon. Sauté until bacon is crisp and bratwurst is brown, about 10 minutes. Put in bowl with hock meat.

Add onions, spices and bay leaves to same pot. Sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add apples cut into 2-inch pieces; sauté about 2 minutes. Mix in sauerkraut. Add all meats cut into 2” diagonal slices. Press to submerge. Add reserved broth and wine. Boil 10 minutes. Cover and bake for l ½ hours. Arrange sauerkraut and meats on platter, surround with Kartoffelnudeln. Serve with mustards and horseradish.

Kartoffelnudeln

3 ½ pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
½ cup butter
2 ½ cups chopped onions
1 Tbsp snipped fresh chives
Salt and freshly ground pepper
5 eggs
7 Tbsp water
2 tsp salt
3 and three-fourths cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Chopped fresh parsley
1 cup whipping cream

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until fork tender. Drain; return potatoes to saucepan. Set over low heat and shake to dry potatoes. Work through ricer into medium bowl. Melt butter in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until very brown and crisp, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Stir in potatoes and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Cool filling.

Beat eggs, water and salt to blend. Stir in enough flour to make firm dough. Knead noodle dough until smooth. Cover and let stand 30 minutes. Divide dough in half. Knead 1 piece lightly. Roll out on lightly floured surface to 15x20-inch rectangle. Using fluted pastry cutter cut out 5-inch squares. Repeat with remaining dough. Mound filling in center of each square, using about 2 Tbsp. for each. Moisten dough edges with water. Bring four corners into center; pinch seams to seal. Crease seams to seal dumplings completely.

Add oil to large pot of water. Bring to boil. Add 6 to 8 dumplings, reduce heat and simmer until dough is cooked, about 20 minutes. Remove, using slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towels. Repeat cooking and draining with remaining dumplings.

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange dumplings in single layer in two baking dishes. Sprinkle with parsley. Pour ½ cup cream in side of each pan. Bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Ginger-Pear Cake

4 large sweet firm, but ripe pears, peeled, cored, quartered and cut into slices
½ cup (one stick) butter
Three-fourths cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 and one-fourth cups flour
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
One-fourth tsp salt
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
4 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 large egg
One-third cup applesauce
One-fourth cup molasses
One-third cup flat beer
½ cup whipping cream
One-eighth cup sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 10” round baking pan with cooking spray. Put first ½ cup butter and brown sugar into pan and put into oven until butter melts. Lay pear slices in concentric circles on top of melted butter-sugar mixture.

Combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place second brown sugar and butter amounts into a large bowl and beat with mixer on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Add egg and beat well. Beat in applesauce and molasses (batter may look somewhat curdled). Reduce mixing speed to low. Add one-third of the flour mixture, and beat just until blended. Repeat procedure with remaining flour mixture. Add beer and beat just until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Invert cake onto large plate. Whip cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar or not as you wish. Continue beating until thick. Serve cake warm or room temperature with whipped cream.

October is Harvest Month

October is harvest month all over the country, and that includes our own burg of Red Wing. The fall farmer’s market is my favorite with squashes, pumpkins, apples of all varieties, bell peppers, cabbages, kale, beets, eggplants, etc. This is the perfect time to turn your oven back on, invite some friends and have a fall harvest dinner with fall fruit and vegetables as the stars.


I am especially fond of a squash and apple combination—the creamy, somewhat bland squash is beautifully complemented by the tangy sweetness of the apple. I think you could get away with serving several dishes using this combination, or a similar one.

Harvest Dinner for 6

Roasted Squash and Apple Soup (Adapted from Minnesota Home October 2007)
(makes about 2 quarts)

3-4 pounds butternut squash
3 Tbsp. Canola oil
2 leeks, white parts only, washed and thinly sliced
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 Haralson apples, peeled and diced
1 cup apple cider
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 cups water
1 stick cinnamon

Cut squash in fourths. Lay on parchment paper in a microwave-safe baking dish or alternately, an oven-safe dish. If making in microwave, lay cut side down and microwave until tender, about 8 minutes on high. In conventional oven, preheat to 350 degrees. Place quarters, cut side down on prepared pan. Bake for one hour. Let cool. Scoop out flesh and set aside. Heat oil in large Dutch oven on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, leeks and ½ tsp. salt. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until soft and translucent but not brown. Add ginger, apples, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Cook for ten more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cider, cream, milk, reserved squash, cinnamon and water. Bring to a soft boil; lower to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes or until soft. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Discard cinnamon stick and blend soup in batches, using a hand-held immersion blender, food processor or blender. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and serve with a small dollop of sour cream and minced chives.

Harvest Root Vegetable Salad (adapted from Bon Appetit October 1996)

3 large beets
1 large rutabaga (10 ounces)
1 large carrot
1 large parsnip
1 turnip
3/4 cup Canola oil
¼ cup walnut or olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp raspberry vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
2 shallots, minced
½ cup chopped fresh chives or green onions
1 bunch spinach, trimmed
¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 400. Wrap beets in foil and bake until tender, about 1 hour. Cool; peel. Cut into matchstick-size strips. Cut all the rest of the vegetables into matchstick-size strips. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add rutabaga, carrot, parsnip and turnip strips and boil about 3 minutes. Drain. Transfer to bowl of ice water and cool. Drain well.

Whisk both oils, lemon juice, vinegar and honey in small bowl to blend. Mix in shallots. Season with salt and pepper. Combine beets and blanched vegetables in large bowl. Add chives and enough dressing to coat. Season salad with salt and pepper. Arrange spinach around edge of platter. Mound salad in center. Sprinkle with walnuts and serve.

Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes and Apple Cider (Bon Appetit Oct 96)

1 ½ Tbsp. olive oil
6 5-oz. center-cut pork chops (about 1 inch thick)
3 large onions, sliced
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into ¾-inch-thick rounds
6 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1 ½ tsp. dried
¼ cup flour
1 tsp. salt
2 cups apple cider
1 141/2 ounce can low-salt chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil in large skillet over high heat. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. Add chops to skillet and brown about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Add onions to skillet and sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Arrange onions in bottom of large roasting pan. Top onions with sliced sweet potatoes. Melt butter in same skillet over medium heat. Drizzle half of melted butter over sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with rosemary. Top with pork chops in single layer. Add flour and salt to remaining butter in skillet. Sir over medium heat 2 minute. Gradually mix in cider and broth. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Boil 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour over chops. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake until pork is tender and juices thicken, 1 hour. Serve.

Cranberry-pear Bread Pudding with custard sauce

1 cup whole milk
¾ cup whipping cream
5 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
1 pound sliced cinnamon raisin bread, cut into 1-inch squares
3 cups half and half
3 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
4 tsp. grated orange peel
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries
1 cup coarsely chopped peeled pears
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
Powdered sugar

For sauce: Bring milk and cream to simmer in heavy large saucepan. Remove from heat. Whisk yolks and sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens (about 5 minutes). (Do NOT boil). Strain sauce into bowl. Mix in Grand Marnier. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

For Pudding: Preheat oven to 350. Arrange bread squares on large baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, stirring once, about 10 minutes. Cool. Transfer bread to large bowl. Add half and half and toss gently. Let stand 3 minutes. Butter 9x9-inch glass baking dish. Whisk eggs, sugar, grated peel and vanilla in bowl. Stir in cranberries and pears. Pour over bread and mix gently. Transfer mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake until set and top browns, about 1 hour. Cool at least 10 minutes. Spoon custard sauce onto plates. Cut warm pudding into squares. Transfer to plates. Sift powdered sugar over.

Clay Pot Cooking

Clay-pot cooking goes back to the ancient Etruscans and perhaps, even further. It is believed that as soon as man mastered fire, he began to cook in earthen pots. Both glazed and unglazed pots are used today, but there are differences in the performance of each.


Unglazed cookers are sometimes termed “wet” pots, and glazed, “dry”. The Etruscan wet-pot is thought to produce unique results because of the steam which is generated after soaking the pot for at least 15 minutes prior to cooking. The filled and “watered” pot is then put into a cold oven and the contents cooked at a very high temperature of 450 to 480 degrees F. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking time, you can remove the pot from the oven and pour the liquid into a pan for making the sauce. For additional browning or “crisping” of meat or fowl, you then replace the pot in the oven with the top off for the final 10 minutes of cooking thus eliminating the need for using another container (skillet) to brown.

Glazed or “dry” pots also produce delicious results. Pampered Chef (the home party kitchen stuff company) makes a great variety of cookware they call “stoneware”—an unglazed substance that has unique cooking qualities. Because it is fired at a much higher temperature it is not usually necessary to submerge it in water before cooking. However, I have a lot of Pampered Chef stoneware (I used to work for this company) and I tried wetting it first and liked the results. Since it is not glazed, it does absorb some of the water and that makes steam. This works especially well for baking bread in the stoneware.

We have been enamored with the crock pot (slow cooker) for some time now, and have almost forgotten the clay-pot cooker, but it’s time to take one out (or purchase one) and give it a try. It doesn’t cook all day, thus allowing you to come home to the dinner—but the results are a nice change from the sameness of crock pot dinners. Since you start the clay cooker in a cold oven, it would be a perfect use for the delay-start feature of a conventional oven.

So what’s so great about clay cooking? Because it is self-basting it produces its own natural sauce; additionally, you can cook without fat while preserving all the food value and flavor. And speaking of flavor, “Clay makes it taste better,” says Paula Wolfert in her new cookbook, Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking, reviewed by the October Bon Appetit. Because it delivers a steady heat, vegetables caramelize and tough cuts of meat turn meltingly tender.

I have a much older cookbook called The Clay-Pot Cookbook by Georgia and Grover Sales which has a plethora of delicious sounding recipes to try. I found a bargain in whole chickens at the store and decided to try one of them on the beautiful 6-pounder I purchased. We enjoyed a sumptuous meal, using both a large stoneware casserole with a domed lid and a smaller version of the same pot for sweet potatoes. The chicken and the sweet potatoes were superb—I encourage you to give this a try.

Orange Chicken

1 5 or 6 pound whole chicken
Salt
Pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium oranges, peeled and sliced (reserve the rinds)
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
½ tsp. allspice, ground
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
Arrowroot or cornstarch

If you are using an unglazed pot, presoak top and bottom in water for fifteen minutes. Wash chicken, inside and out, under running cold water. Dry with paper towels. Rub inside of chicken with salt, pepper and minced garlic. Stuff with orange slices, peeled. Place chicken in large clay pot, breast down. Grate or process the orange rind and sprinkle over chicken. Add orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, allspice and brown sugar. Place covered pot in cold oven. Turn temperature to 480 degrees. Cook 1 hour and 45 minutes. Ten minutes before done, remove from oven, carefully pour liquid into a saucepan. Return the pot, uncovered to oven for final 10 minutes to brown the chicken. Meanwhile, bring sauce to a boil and thicken with arrowroot or cornstarch, dissolved in a little cold water. Taste and correct seasonings before serving.

Sweet Potatoes

Number of sweet potatoes that will fit in your clay cooker or as many as you plan to serve.
1 cup orange juice

Prick sweet potato skins with fork in several places. Place in clay pot that has been presoaked for 15 minutes. Pour orange juice in pot. Cover and place in cold oven. Turn heat to 480 degrees. Cook 1 hour and 15 minutes. Serve with orange sauce from above recipe or butter and brown sugar.