Red Wings

There is a lot of talk about fresh whole, unprocessed foods these days. It’s hard to disagree with the premise that fresh is best, but sometimes it isn’t actually the case.

The advent of commercially frozen foods, like its predecessor, canned foods, has changed the way America eats and most cookbooks on the subject of freezing foods are about the management of home freezing. But how many of us ever use our freezers for anything but storing the frozen items we buy in the supermarket?

The frozen food industry really excels in produce and whole foods. It is critical that the frozen food, in order to retain its high quality and nutrition, be wrapped properly and flash frozen. Home freezing sometimes falls short in these critical areas. Knowing which frozen foods to buy for best quality and good economy is imperative.

There are a lot of myths surrounding frozen foods that have gone around and may confuse you. I know that I always worried about re-freezing foods once they had thawed or even partially thawed. As long as the frozen product is still cold to the touch, about 40 degrees, it can be refrozen with perfect safety. Some things lose some quality when re-frozen, particularly seafood and fruit and they should be used after defrosting. The safety of all other refrozen foods is not an issue as long as you follow the above temperature guide.

Another lesser-known fact is that once defrosted, if left in the refrigerator, most frozen foods will last quite awhile. After thawing, frozen foods are no more and probably not less perishable than they would have been before they were frozen; therefore, it is not imperative that you rush home from the grocery store to get all frozen foods in the freezer unless it is 120 degrees in your car.

Finally, did you know that it is not necessary or even desirable to thaw all meats before cooking? You can cook them frozen and taste tests (done at Columbia University and University of Montana) have actually shown that many meats cooked from the frozen state were preferred to those that had been previously thawed. That surprised me! The cooking method is exactly the same as usual except the cooking time is roughly twice as long.

Frozen fish and seafood is my favorite supermarket buy. I love really fresh fish, but here in Red Wing, unless you’re a fisherman, truly fresh fish is hard to come by. Commercially frozen fish is flash frozen immediately after catching and, if done by a reputable company, makes them as fresh as possible. Obviously whole fish would have an advantage over fillets, but all are very, very fresh. Here is an especially good recipe that takes advantage of low-cost and low calorie fish.

De-lite-ful Fillet of Fish

1 pound frozen fish fillets (such as cod, flounder, haddock, Pollack or tilapia)
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
¼ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
¼ tsp. dill weed
1-14 ½ ounce can diced tomatoes.
1 ½ Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. snipped parsley

Thaw fish in refrigerator. Blot dry with a paper towel. Heat oil in large skillet and add onion, mushrooms and minced garlic. Cook over low heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Arrange fillets over mushrooms. Sprinkle fish with salt, lemon rind and dill weed. Add tomatoes. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Remove fillets to platter and keep warm. Blend flour and lemon juice. Stir into tomato mixture in pan. Cook, stirring, until smooth and bubbling. Pour over fish and sprinkle with parsley. 4 servings at 250 calories per serving.

Another of my favorite products purchased frozen is chicken wings or drummettes. Here is a recipe that may make Red Wing as famous as Buffalo.

Red Wing Red Wings

3 pounds frozen chicken wings
1 cup light soy sauce
1 cup water
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 large clove garlic, minced
½-inch chunk ginger root
4 Tbsp. (1/4 cup) Thai Sweet Chile Sauce
2 Tbsp. vinegar
½ cup catsup
1 tsp. red food coloring
Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce to taste

Defrost wings. Bring all remaining ingredients to boil in large saucepan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Meantime, parboil chicken wings in simmering water for 20 minutes. Remove wings and place on shallow baking pan. Pour sauce over wings and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes more or until tender and glazed.

Kiwifruit

The kiwifruit or kiwi is a relative newcomer to the American table. Discovered in China in 1847 by an English botanist, it is now grown mainly in New Zealand. It was originally known as a Chinese gooseberry, but became so popular in New Zealand that it was named for its resemblance to the plumage of the Kiwi bird, native to New Zealand. Americans found its lovely green fruit with small, edible black seeds akin to strawberries and melon (some say pineapple as well) delightful and took to it immediately.

One kiwi delivers double the vitamin C of an orange and as much potassium as a banana. Now that they are grown in California, the opposing seasons in two hemispheres provide us with year-round availability. And the price has been fairly stable during this rising-price period. They are generally $.33-.45 per kiwi; I found them for $.28 this week.

The kiwi is one of the few fruits that become sweeter after picking. They are perfect for eating when they give slightly when touched but are not wrinkled or bruised. You can store ripe kiwis in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. If you bring some home that aren’t ripe yet, ripen them in a brown paper bag with an apple or banana; but watch carefully as they are mushy when over-ripe.

Everyone loves a kiwi cut in half crosswise and spooned out of the skin as an eat-in-hand food, but it is becoming very popular as an add-in to fruit salads and as a garnishing fruit. Now there are more and more recipes showing up on line and in cookbooks and cooking magazines for unusual combinations. Here are a few to try:

Strawberry-Kiwi Salad with Basil (Cooking Light, April 2001)

¼ cup half-and-half
2 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
3 peeled kiwifruit, each cut into 6 wedges
2 cups quartered strawberries (about 1 pint)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Add kiwifruit and strawberries; toss well. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Stir in basil just before serving.
Yield: 4 servings of ¾ cup; 90 calories

With the summer fruits coming into the market, this next recipe really appealed to me as a garnish for our breakfast plates.

Watermelon-and-Kiwi Skewers with Starry Strawberry Cream (Cooking Light, July 2000)

¾ cup sliced strawberries
½ cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1 Tbsp. 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. powdered sugar
24 (1/2-inch) watermelon balls
2 kiwifruit, each peeled and cut into 12 pieces

Place first 5 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Cover and chill. Thread 1 watermelon piece and 1 kiwi-fruit piece onto each of 24 skewers. Serve with sauce.

Calories: 40 per serving; serving size: 3 skewers and 2 Tbsp sauce.


Here’s a fast and Easy dessert that makes a lot—again a great recipe for our inn—and you if you’re serving a large group.

Makes 12 tartlets

Lemon Tartlets with Pineapple and Kiwi (Health, September 2005)

Lemon Curd Filling:
6 Tbsp. fat-free sweetened condensed milk
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 ½ tsp. grated lemon zest
24 mini pastry shells such as Clearbrook Farms Mini Sweet Tart Shells
1 sliced peeled kiwifruit
½ cup finely chopped pineapple

Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest with a whisk until blended. Place shells on baking sheets. Fill a zip-top plastic bag with lemon mixture. Snip off one of the bottom corners and fill pastry shells to ¾ full. Bake 7 minutes or until filling is set. Remove from oven and let cool. Top tartlets evenly with the kiwi and pineapple. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until served.

If you’re entertaining a back-yard barbeque—why not use a tropical theme and serve these for starters?

Kiwi Colada (Coastal Living, November, 2006)

1 ½ cups small ice cubes or crushed ice
3 Tbsp. light rum
3 Tbsp Midori liqueur
¼ cup cream of coconut
2 kiwifruit, peeled
¼ cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp. whipping cream
Kiwi slices

Process ice and next 6 ingredients in a blender until smooth. Garnish with kiwi slices, if desired. Makes 2 ½ cups

The favorite way to serve kiwis in New Zealand is in a meringue baked until crisp, filled with sweetened whipped cream and topped with peeled and thinly sliced kiwi fruit.

Meringues

3 large egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1 ¼ tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 275. Using 3-inch diameter cardboard round or 3-inch cookie cutter, trace 6 circles on parchment sheet, spacing evenly. Invert parchment onto baking sheet. Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl at medium speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and salt and beat to soft peaks. Add vanilla and beat to blend. Increase speed to high. Add sugar 2 Tbsp. at a time and beat until stiff and shiny. Spoon meringue into pastry bag fitted with plain ½-inch tip. Dab some meringue under corners of parchment to anchor paper to baking sheet. Starting in center of one traced circle, pipe meringue in spiral pattern to fill circle. Pipe 2 layers of meringue atop edge of circle to form sides. Repeat with remaining circles to form 6 meringues. Bake about 35 minutes. Turn off heat and let dry in closed oven 1 hour. Cool completely at room temperature. Store airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Food in Literature

The single most-asked question I get about cooking is, upon learning of my extensive cookbook collection, “Why do you have so many cookbooks? Do you cook out of all of them?” The answer is definitely “no,” but still, I do read them—all of them.

Cookbooks are not the only source of literary food, however; fiction is also a great vehicle for food writing. Let’s face it, people eat. And eating is a subject of great interest even to those who purport not to like it. Perhaps they are even more interested in food—that’s a whole other subject. But to those of us who love to eat and find a deep connection between meals or dishes of our lives and the feelings surrounding those events, books with food descriptions or recipes are delicious reading.

Take this excerpt from Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

“He stopped just a minute in the pantry door. Mother was straining the milk, at the far end of the long pantry; her back was toward him. The shelves on both sides were loaded with good things to eat. Big yellow cheeses were stacked there, and large brown cakes of maple sugar, and there were crusty loaves of fresh-baked bread, and four large cakes, and one whole shelf full of pies. One of the pies was cut, and a little piece of crust was temptingly broken off; it would never be missed.”

Farmer Boy was my oldest son’s favorite childhood book—he read it time and time again. I can envision his young, growing boy hunger which almost, but not quite, matched Almanzo’s. It makes me smile and transports me back to those days when I fed three hungry boys.

Another writer of juvenile fiction, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings who wrote The Yearling and an adult autobiography called Cross Creek, cemented her place as one of the finest regional writers to emerge during the 1930s. In Cross Creek she wrote a chapter called “Our Daily Bread” that proved so popular with readers that she published a cookbook: Cross Creek Cookery. It has been called “not a cookbook in the traditional manner, but…a mouth-watering, evocative, and charmingly conversational discussion of cooking at Cross Creek” (Rawlings, Cookery, back cover).

The preface of the cookery book has an overview listing of “Cross Creek Menus.” A breakfast of “orange juice, very small crisp-fried Orange Lake bream, grits, cornmeal muffins, kumquat marmalade, strong coffee and Dora’s (Dora was Rawlings’s jersey cow) cream: and “camp dinners” consisting of “fried fresh-caught Orange lake fish (bream, perch, or bass), hush puppies, cole slaw, coffee and …lemon pie.”

The title of the final passage of Cross Creek Cookery is based on a Biblical text, Proverbs 15:17, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” The section revolves around a discussion of Rawlings’s philosophy of cooking and eating. There are two elements necessary, she says, for “successful and happy gatherings at table.” The first involves the food that, “whether simple or elaborate, must be carefully prepared, willingly prepared, imaginatively prepared” (217). With food and guests in place, one can begin the process of pursuing sustenance and fellowship. Here is the way Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings suggests it should go:

The breaking together of bread, the sharing of salt is too ancient a symbol of friendliness to be profaned. At the moment of dining, the assembled group stands for a little while as a safe unit, under a safe roof, against the perils and enmities of the world. The group will break up and scatter, later. For this short time, let them eat, drink and be merry. (217)—Cooking By The Book: Food in Literature and Culture by Mary Anne Schofield.

All this talk of pie makes me hunger for that old-fashioned favorite of mine—make this the long way—it’s worth it.

Lemon Meringue Pie

1 ½ cups sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp. flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups hot water

3 slightly beaten egg yolks
1 Tbsp butter
½ tsp grated lemon peel
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 9-inch baked pastry shell, cooled
Never-fail meringue (recipe follows)

In saucepan, mix 1 ½ cups sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. Gradually add hot water, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over moderately high heat till mixture comes to boiling. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.

Stir a moderate amount of hot mixture into egg yolks, then return to hot mixture. Bring to boiling and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add butter and lemon peel. Slowly add lemon juice mixing well. Pour into pastry shell. Spread meringue over filling; seal to edge. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting.

Never-fail meringue

2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
½ cup water

Combine and cook on stovetop or microwave until thick.

3 egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp sugar

Beat eggs until soft peaks form. Add salt and sugar gradually and beat until stiff. Combine with cooled cornstarch mixture.

Fruits and Veggies

Opening to my homepage on my computer one morning, one of the headlines was “Cancer cures.” I opened it, interested to see if something new had happened since I went to bed the night before. It turned out to be an article written about stress-busting and diet. Most agree that stress is related to cancer and we have been inundated with the role that fruits and vegetables play in prevention and, perhaps to some degree, recovery. Maybe the headline was a bit sensational but the article on diet really made a lot of sense.

Summer is the perfect opportunity to put this sage advice into practice and do it with spectacular taste. Take advantage of every farmer’s market, roadside stand and specialty produce store you find or, better yet, grow your own vegetables. It’s not too late to sow a few lettuces in a container or the edge of a small garden. It really looks pretty, and is so much better than store-bought. You can sow it a second or third time after harvesting and before the lettuce bolts or you can sow it every two or three weeks, trying different types or re-sowing your favorites. Lettuce does best in cool weather, so the midsummer sowing may not produce a great crop but you never know. I have been successful as often as not even with July sowings.

Vow to make Salads and other light dishes the centerpiece of every meal with meat or seafood as a secondary ingredient instead of the other way around. Side benefits are ease of preparation, little or no cooking, fun experimentation, and a slimmer figure (?) in addition to improved health.

Two cookbooks I plan to put into yeoman service for this project: Cold Soups, Warm Salads by Irene Rothschild has also been the inspiration for many opening courses for summertime breakfasts at our inn, such as Strawberry Rhubarb Soup. I include the recipe here for you and it has been very popular. The other, Salad Suppers by Andrea Chesman is new to me and I have only tried one or two recipes to share with you but they were great and there are so many others that sound marvelous.

The first is from Rothschild’s book and uses popular Thai flavors. Seasonings are available in supermarkets.

Grilled Chicken, Thai Style (serves 4)

About 1 pound chicken breasts, boned and skinned
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. brown sugar or raw sugar
Four and one-half Tbsp. Thai fish sauce (Nam Pla)
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 Tbsp, freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp minced and seeded jalapeno or Serrano peppers
One and one-half Tbsp. chopped cilantro
Boston or loose leaf lettuce leaves
Alfalfa sprouts
Flowering red kale, if available, or radicchio or red leaf lettuce
Cherry tomatoes, scored cucumber slices, and scallion flowers, for garnish (chive blossoms would work)

Grill the chicken or sauté in butter in a hot skillet, 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until tender. Remove and keep warm in a 200 deg. oven or cover with foil. Pour off the excess fat from the pan and add the brown sugar, fish sauce, garlic, lime juice, hot peppers, and cilantro. Blend and heat through.
Arrange the lettuce in the center of four serving plates. Place the sprouts on one side and kale on the other side. Artfully place the tomatoes, cucumber slices, and chive blossoms for the garnish. Slice the chicken breasts crosswise on the diagonal leaving it connected at one end. Slide onto the lettuce and spoon the sauce over.

From Salad Suppers comes this wonderful salad, made in less than 20 minutes.

Tuscany Tuna Salad with White Beans (makes 4 servings)

1 6 or 7 ounce can water-packed tuna, drained and flaked
4 scallions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
One-half cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsp. capers, drained
4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil or herb flavored oil
2 Tbsp. defatted chicken broth
1 5-oz. can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper
12 cups torn mixed salad greens
4 Italian plum tomatoes, chopped

In a large salad bowl, combine the tuna, scallions, garlic, basil, capers, vinegar, oil and broth. Toss to mix. Gently fold in the beans. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (The salad can be refrigerated for up to 4 hours at this point.)

Just before serving, add the greens and the tomatoes to the tuna mixture, toss and serve.

If you want a change from salad, you can toss the first ingredients with hot linguine instead of the mixed salad greens.

If you have rhubarb in your garden still, a great recipe follows:

1 and one-half pounds rhubarb, trimmed and rinsed
2 cups water
Dash of salt
10 Tsp., honey
2 pints strawberries
One-half cup red Zinfandel wine (or other hearty dry red)
One-half cup orange juice
Crème Fraiche (sour cream and lightly sweetened whipped cream)

Cut the rhubarb into 1-inch pieces. Put in a pot with the water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, until tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the honey. Let cool slightly and pour into a food processor or blender (I use an immersion hand blender). Rinse the strawberries and remove the hulls. Cut in half and add to the food processor, reserving a few for garnish. Blend until pureed. Remove to a bowl. Stir in the wine and orange juice. Chill until ready to serve. Slice reserved strawberries. Serve with dollops of crème fraiche and garnish with strawberry slices.

Here’s to a healthy and delicious summer.

Tuscany

More and more of the health food literature is emphasizing the Mediterranean diet as heart healthy and delicious. Numerous studies have shown that those people who follow such a diet have fewer incidences of heart disease and stroke and some new studies have shown a link between monounsaturated fats and a lower incidence of cancer. The greatest news of all is that this diet is delicious.

Americans have long had a love affair with Italian food and Italy is perhaps the epitome of the Mediterranean diet. And of all the regions of Italy that we associate with good food, it is Tuscany.

I have a good friend who went on a cooking-school vacation in Tuscany and couldn’t stop talking about the food. She really didn’t have words to describe it, she said. And no wonder. Tuscany is the magical region that is the home of crostini, biscotti, pecorino, pappardelle and panforte; not to mention olives and olive oil.

Enjoying every day and finding a way to celebrate even the mundane days of the week, especially gathering, preparing and sharing food is a goal that I share with the Tuscans. And the Tuscans could almost be credited with inventing “natural” foods—as they are the heart of their cuisine. By natural, I mean fresh, local, unprocessed foods prepared and eaten in as natural a way as possible and welcomed at its “natural” prime. A continuing pleasure cycle that follows the seasons is an art in Tuscany.

Here is a typical Tuscan Spring Menu (Some recipes from Bon Appetit May 2000)

Antipasti

Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi

Chicken with White Wine and Mushrooms
Asparagus and Parmesan Puddings

Panna Cotta with Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce


Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi (Makes 8)

8 First Course Servings

4 6-ounce packages ready-to-use baby spinach leaves
2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup flour
2 large egg yolks
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
Generous pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

¼ cup butter, melted

Cook spinach in large pot of boiling salted water just until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Drain. Squeeze out liquid. Chop spinach. Mix spinach, ricotta, ½ cup Parmesan, ½ cup flour, egg yolks, salt, pepper and nutmeg in bowl until slightly sticky dough forms. Dust baking sheet with flour. Working in batches and using floured hands, roll ¼ cup dough on floured work surface to form 5-inch-long rope. Cut rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece between palms to form oval. Transfer gnocchi to prepared baking sheet. Repeat rolling, cutting and shaping with remaining dough. Working in batches, add gnocchi to pot of boiling salted water; cook until gnocchi rise to surface. Cook 4 minutes longer. Using slotted spoon, remove gnocchi from water; drain. Place in serving dish. Pour butter over gnocchi; toss. Sprinkle with ½ cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

Chicken with White Wine and Mushrooms (8 servings)

8 chicken breast halves with skin and bone
Flour
½ cup olive oil
1 1/3 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped carrot
2/3 cup chopped celery
4 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
2 14 ½ ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups dry white wine

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; dust with flour. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down and sauté until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over and sauté 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to bowl. Add onion, carrot, celery, parsley and garlic to skillet; sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices and wine. Boil sauce until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Return chicken to sauce. Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken and sauce to plates and serve.

Asparagus and Parmesan Puddings

½ cup fresh breadcrumbs made from Italian bread with crust cut off
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed
2 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
½ cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
¼ cup flour
4 large eggs

Butter 8 ¾-cup custard cups; coat with breadcrumbs. Cut off asparagus tips. Cook tips in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain; reserve tips and 1 cup cooking liquid. Coarsely chop asparagus stalks. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Add stalks; sauté until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add reserved asparagus cooking liquid. Cover; simmer until stalks are tender, about 12 minutes. Uncover; cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor; puree. Add Parmesan, ricotta and flour. Using on/off turns, process just until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs in bowl to blend. Add asparagus puree; whisk to blend. Stir in all but 16 asparagus tips. Divide custard among cups. Place cups in roasting pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour hot water into pan to come 1 inch up sides of cups. Bake puddings until set, about 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Invert onto plates. Garnish with asparagus tips.


Panna Cotta with Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce (10 servings)

¼ cup cold water
4 tsp unflavored gelatin
4 cups whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp honey
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp Vin Santo (An Italian dessert wine available at some liquor stores) or Muscat wine or cream Sherry
2 cups pine nuts
Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce (see recipe)
Additional pine nuts

Pour ¼ cup water into metal bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes. Set bowl in saucepan of simmering water. Stir just until gelatin dissolves, about 1 minute. Combine cream, sugar, honey and vanilla in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture and Vin Santo; whisk until well blended. Divide 2 cups pine nuts among ten ¾-cup custard cups. Divide cream mixture among cups. Chill overnight. Set cups in small bowl of warm water to loosen panna cotta, about 20 seconds each. Run small knife between panna cotta and custard cups. Invert panna cotta onto plates. Spoon sauce over. Sprinkle with additional pine nuts; serve.

Strawberry-Vin Santo Sauce (makes 2 cups)

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp Vin Santo
¼ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp (packed grated lemon peel

Puree strawberries in processor. Transfer puree to heavy saucepan. Mix in sugar, Vin Santo, vanilla and lemon peel. Simmer over medium-low heat until sauce is reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes. Cool.

Syttende Mai

May seems to be a good month for ethnic festivals; last week I wrote about Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican celebration and now it is time for the Norwegian festival named, appropriately, Syttende Mai, which means “May 17”. This date marks the anniversary of the Norwegian Declaration of Independence from Sweden in 1814. This area of the Midwest has the largest population of Norwegian extraction in the U.S. and both Norwegian and non-Norwegian enjoy celebrating the day together. A three day event is held in Stoughton, Wisconsin every year and here in Red Wing there are often celebrations in the churches and by the Sons of Norway.

Besides the authentic and handsome costumes, demonstrations of the rosemaling art, dances and troll hunts, the festival must, of course, include food. I consulted with our own resident Norwegian “expert” Lois Christenson who told me that two of the staple foods cooked and served at a Syttende Mai festival are the open-faced sandwiches which are a staple of all the Scandinavian countries, meatballs and the myriad delicious butter cookies—which are always present, although particularly so at Christmas. Also ever-present are cakes and pastries of all types—the Scandinavian sweet tooth being well known. The celebratory cake known as kransekaka—a tall tower of baked marzipan rings, decorated with white sugar icing and Norwegian flags—and blotkake—a sumptuous sponge cake, layered with fruit and whipped cream are two of the best.

Of course, fish of some kind and lefse are part of any Norwegian feast, and often the rich, cream porridge, rommegraut, is served as well. If you’re not familiar with rommegraut, it is a “porridge” made of extra-heavy sweet cream (approximately 35 percent butterfat), combined with a little flour, warm milk, salt, sugar and some fresh lemon juice. The ingredients are cooked for several hours and stirred with a whisk or wooden spoon. If the cream is raw, the butterfat will rise to the surface of the mixture and is periodically spooned off into a bowl and served on top of the pudding. Even if you can’t get raw cream, however, a good rommegraut will result. Then you must melt butter and pour over each serving, on top of which you sprinkle sugar and cinnamon.

Reading about Norwegian culture, I was constantly reminded of the harsh, cold climate and the mountainous terrain. The people seem to thrive on it and are ardent sportsmen, getting to work as early as Americans, eating a quick lunch and arriving home as early as possible in order to take the family hiking, sailing or skiing. And yet the hardships of their countryside have never prevented Norwegians from enjoying food—and their feasts and festivities are equal to any.

In honor of Syttende Mai I gathered my first rhubarb and made Rabarbragrot, a delicious compote that my grandmother (who was not Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, or Finnish but whose neighborhood was) made for me when I was a child.

Rhubarb Compote

2 cups water
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ pounds rhubarb, washed, scraped and cut into ½-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
½ tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water

Dissolve the sugar in the water in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rhubarb and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes until rhubarb is tender. Remove from heat and add vanilla
Mix cornstarch with cold water and mix to a paste. Gradually stir it into the rhubarb and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer from 3-5 minutes. Chill. Serve plain or with sweetened whipped cream.

Cream Cake

5 egg yolks
½ cup cold water
1 ½ cups sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. lemon extract
¼ tsp almond extract
1 ½ cups cake flour
¼ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. cream of tartar
5 egg whites

Amaretto liqueur
2 pints sweetened, crushed strawberries
2 cups heavy cream, whipped and sweetened with ¼ cup sugar

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add water and continue beating until very thick. Gradually add sugar, then extracts. Fold in flour sifted with salt, a little at a time. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until they form moist glossy peaks. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Bake in a 10-inch springform pan or an ungreased tube pan. Bake one hour at 325 degrees. Loosen sides of pan when cool.

When cool, slice cake horizontally in half. Sprinkle about 2 Tbsp. Amaretto liqueur on one layer. Cover layer with half the whipped cream. Put half the strawberries over the cream. Cover with other layer of cake. Put remaining whipped cream and strawberries over the top layer. If the pan you baked the cake in did not have a hole in the center, cut the cake like a wedding cake, leaving a circle of cake in the center.

Portuguese Food

Several years ago I was in the Tampa Bay area of Florida enjoying a beautiful 80-degree day while on a two week vacation. It was a vacation, even though we house sat while our son and his new wife went on their honeymoon cruise.

Our daughter and her boyfriend were there as well. Jaoa Ferreira is from the Azores and, while there, treated us to his native Portuguese cooking. Jaoa and Nick (the groom) went fishing a few days before the wedding and brought back some Blue Gill and some Mackerel. It would have been difficult to do anything wrong to those fillets, as wonderfully fresh as they were, but Joao sautéed them lightly in olive oil and served them with a wonderful sauce or refogado.

It is often said that one knows when he is in a Portuguese home by the aroma of refogado that fills the kitchen. Refogado is both the product and the technique of a universal base for sauce, comparable to the Creole roux. Basically it is comprised of sautéed onions in olive oil with one or all of the following: garlic, bay leaf, paprika or tomatoes.

Portuguese cooking is really simple; basic meats, poultry and fish most often marinated and served with dipping sauces. The spices are the hallmark that distinguishes Portuguese food from other cuisines; in particular Spanish. The Portuguese were explorers looking for spices to trade and in so doing brought home and used exotic flavorings long before other European countries did. Although a close neighbor of Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, Portuguese cooking has spices and herbs and taste combinations that would be astonishing to most Spanish palates. The list is long but the most common are cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, red pepper paste (Massa de Pimentao), black and white pepper, saffron and coarse sea salt—usually more than our American taste would dictate. Other ingredients that are frequently used are tomatoes, vinegar and wine.

The traditional spice combination is an herb and spice paste made with garlic mashed and blended with coarse salt, crumbled bay leaf, sweet red pepper paste, parsley, olive oil and freshly ground pepper. The Massa de Pimentao is a paste of sweet red peppers cured in coarse salt. If you can’t find it at a specialty store, you can use paprika.

All of the fresh catch did not get eaten at that first fish meal, so Joao treated us to a very traditional Portuguese dish, fish cakes with dipping sauce called Molhanga or Molhu cru (raw sauce). It is a common marinade and dipping sauce sometimes poured over both fish and boiled potatoes if they are served. Joao used no recipe and had to make do with utensils and ingredients in his host’s kitchen but the results were wonderful and can be made easily by any of us; however the fish itself will be hard to duplicate in Red Wing or anyplace in the Midwest. Nevertheless, I believe you’ll really enjoy the Portuguese version of fish cakes:

2 cups (approximately) cooked fish, flaked
2 Tbsp. parsley (flat leaf, if possible), chopped coarsely
1 large potato, peeled, cooked and mashed with a fork to a puree
1 large garlic clove, minced
3 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
¼ cup Port wine
2 eggs
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and white pepper to taste

Heat vegetable oil in deep saucepan about 4 inches deep for frying. Mix together the rest of the ingredients. Shape with 2 spoons into oval croquettes and deep fry until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels and keep warm while making Molhanga.

Molhanga
1 tsp. cumin seed or ¼ tsp. cumin powder
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ tsp. coarse salt
¾ tsp. paprika
¼ tsp sugar
1 tsp hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
3 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley (flat leaf)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (or can use leftover oil from frying fish)
¼ cup water
¾ cup wine vinegar

Using mortar and pestle or blender, combine cumin, garlic, salt, paprika, pepper and sugar. Follow with hot pepper sauce and parsley. Transfer to bowl. Stir in water and vinegar and whisk in olive oil. Pour over cooked fish or serve on the side for dipping.

Our starters were simple—just right to whet our appetites for the main course—grapes and bruschetta. The vegetables served on the side were very simply prepared and delicious. Fresh sliced cucumbers with coarse salt and vinegar; grated carrots with olive oil, salt and pepper and a touch of sugar. What a wonderful meal.