Smokey Greens

So easy, so awesome. Spicer suggests cooking them in duck or bacon fat. Butter seems to work great. Original recipe from Food and Wine, December 2000.

The trick with greens is to start with way more than you think you need. They cook down so fast. This recipe serves 5 with left overs.

5 bunches of greens. Mixed is best. Kale, collards, mustard, chard, etc. with large stems removed.
Generous 1/2 stick unsalted butter or equivalent fat
2 large red onions chopped
5 cloves garlic minced
2 canned chipotles with some of the adobo sauce (OR 3 of Olivia from Farmer and the Cook's smoked dried chipotles)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbl cider vinegar

1. Coarsely chop and wash greens in cold water. (This can be done in stages as the greens cook down.)

2. Heat fat in dutch oven like pan. Add the onions and saute until soft. (10 minutes or so). Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

3. Stir in greens by the handful, adding more as previous batch starts to wilt. This takes a long time to get through all the greens. Add the chipotles and some adobo sauce if using canned and some salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring ever so often until greens are tender, about an hour.

4. Discard chipotles if you can find them. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Cornmeal Souffle

This is totally fantastic, but time consuming and needs to be timed well with the rest of your meal. It really wants to be the last thing to get put out. Spicer's recipe calls for grits, but I have yet to find grits in Ojai so I have substituted fine cornmeal. It's still good. Recipe from article in Food and Wine, December 2000.

5 cups water
1 cup whole milk (Organic Valley is my favorite)
3 Tbl unsalted butter
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1.5 cups stone ground grits or cornmeal
1.5 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (5 oz)
5 large eggs separated

1. In a large saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in grits or cornmeal and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until grits are thick. About an hour.

2. Transfer cooked grits to a large bowl and stir in cheese. Let cool slightly, then add the egg yolks one at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon after each one. (This is where you have the most fudge room with the timing).

3. Preheat over to 400 degrees. Butter a 2.5 qt class or Cormack souffle dish. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold firm peaks. Stir 1/3 of egg whites into grits to loosen them, then fold in the remaining whites.

4. Scrape mixture into prepared souffle dish and smooth the surface. Bake for about 30 minutes or until puffed and golden and center is moist but not runny. Serve at once.

Buttermilk Cornbread

This cornbread totally satisfies. I have yet to meet someone that does not like it.
Recipe from Susan Spicer. Food and Wine, December 2000.

1 Stick unsalted Butter melted, plus 2 Tbl
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups yellow cornmeal (fine or coarse works depending on your taste)
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbl + 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1.5 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat Oven to 400. Put the 2 Tbl of butter in an 8 inch square baking dish and put in oven. (This helps create a crispy firm crust and seal in the moisture)

2. In a Big Bowl, mix the dry ingredients: cornflour, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder.

3. In a Small bowl, mix the buttermilk and eggs.

4. Add the Wet ingredients to the Dry ingredients along with the melted butter and stir to combine.

5. Remove the hot dish from the oven and tilt to spread the butter around the dish. Scrape batter into dish and bake for about 25 minutes or until the toothpick or fork tool inserted in the middle comes out clean. (I usually check it at 20 minutes). Let cool for at least 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack or serve from dish.

Semolina Souffle Cake with Two Sauces

While a success, only Stephanie loved this cake enough to merit making it again.
So, for her, if requested, I would.

Recipe from Susan Spicer’s Big Easy Christmas, Food and Wine, December 2000
Takes a long day to make it and needs overnight fridge time.

4 1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c semolina flour
1 stick us butter, soft
3 large eggs, beaten a little
9 large eggs, separated
1 tbl vanilla extract

Pistachio Creme Anglaise
Tart cherry pinot noir syrup

1. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan. Wrap the outside tightly with tin foil.
2. In big heavy Cresuet pot, combine milk with ¾ c sugar and bring to a boil. Whisk in Semolina and cook over low heat, whisking often, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in half the butter and remaining ¾ c sugar and transfer to a large bowl. Stirring occasionally let the semolina cool completely. Stir in the remaining butter, then the 3 whole eggs, then the 9 egg yolks and the vanilla.
3. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir one third of the beaten egg whites into the semolina to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Set the cake pan in a roasting pan and add enough hot water to reach halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake in the center of the over for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the cake is puffed and the center is still slightly jiggley. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
5. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and remove the side of the springform pan.
6. I poured some of the pistachio sauce on ½ of the plate and the cherry sauce on the other. I put a thin wedge in between the sauces. Sprinkled chopped pistachios on it and used a lavender flower for garnish.

Pistachio Crème Anglaise
1 c shelled unsalted pistachios
2 c milk
½ c sugar
salt
9 large egg yolks
Shy 1/8 tsp almond extract to taste and more as desired

1. Preheat Oven to 350. Toast Pistachios lightly. Let cool completely. Do your best to get the skins off. Transfer to a food processor and grind into a fine powder.
2. In a heavy saucepan, combine milk with the ground pistachios and bring to boil. Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes.
3. Strain the pistachio milk through a fine sieve into another medium saucepan. Add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk in egg yolks and cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, almost 8 minutes. Do not let the
custard boil.

4. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl. Tast and only stir in the almond extract as desirted. Cover and put in fridge till ready to use. Can be in there for about 2 days.

Tart Cherry-Pinot Noir Syrup

2 c dried tart cherries (small is best)
2 c Pinot Noir
½ c Sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cherries to a medium bowl. Simmer the wine over moderate heat until syrupy and reduced to ¾ cup. Transfer the Pinot Noir to a small bowl to cool, then stir in cherries. Serve at room temperature. (Can be in fridge for up to a week).

Wrangling Christmas Day Dinner

As a way to kick me out of cooking rut, I invited some friends to come over for Christmas Dinner. I am going with a Southern Theme. Here is the proposed Menu as inspired by an article from Food and Wine a couple years ago:

Creamed Leeks and Oysters on Toast
Lox and the Fixings

Standing Pork Roast
Spicy Pear Jalapeno Relish
Buttermilk Corn Bread Stuffing with Andouille and Shrimp
Big Pot Smokey Chipolte Greens
Cheese Grit Soufflé

Semolina Soufflé Cake with Tart Cherry Pinot Noir Sauce and Pistachio Crème

I miss our friends Kim and Jake a lot right now. They moved to Argentina for 6 months and this the kind of party that Kim would have the PERFECT cocktail figured out and Jake would add the perfect dish.

Steve is going to do one of his amazing salads and Olivia will bring the perfect pear Tartan.

I will be posting the recipes and results.