Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

It has been rainy days and clouds for the last week.  We are happy for it because it has stopped the raging fires that have endangered our lives for weeks.  We feel for the people affected by the fires in Gatlinburg, as they were impacted much more than our community.  Our community sent much needed resources to the firefighters in their area.  These few weeks have been a time of reflection, thankfulness and love of neighbors.

I haven’t had much time to cook. Photography ops show only grey skies and low light.  So, for at least for the moment, I will rely on previous posts to convey my love of the season.  The food in December is a labor of love.  A beautiful entree is required.  It shows your guests that they and the holidays are special. This first dish, above, is one that David made for Christmas a few years ago.  It is now our Christmas Beef Short Rib Recipe.  It looks like the season with the red tomatoes and green beans and is absolutely delicious.

One of my triumphs in recipe development is this Maple-Glazed Stuffed Pork Tenderloin that I entered in a Food52 recipe contest.  It was a finalist for the top spot.  This is a beautiful entree wrapped in bacon and drizzled with honey.  Your guests will love it.

The final entree is somewhat humble, but one of my favorites because it was what my Mother served to guests when she was entertaining.  It is a Ham Loaf with a thick sweet glaze that will have you licking your fingers.  It is simple but festive with the cross hatching and a glistening cloak.

I hope this brings you inspiration for the holidays.

In my last post I included the above picture of dishes that I served over the holidays.  Number 1 is Braised Short Ribs on Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Green Beans and Roasted Tomatoes. If you want to impress your guests on New Year’s Eve, you won’t do better than this.  It is pretty to look at and the beef is so tender that all you need is a fork to enjoy it.  I have several boneless short ribs recipe in my repertoire,  but this one is so special that I will make it for birthday parties, Christmas dinners, New Year’s or any other special occasion for which I want to make people feel special.

The presentation is the key.  If you have a wide mouth white soup bowl it would be stunning.  But even served on my black and white dinner plates it looked festive.

 

The recipe came from Chuck Hughes on The Food Network.  I was intrigued by it because of the unusual ingredients including beets, cinnamon, cocoa powder and brown sugar.  The beets impart a dark color to the sauce and the flavorings give it a hint of sweetness.  I have changed the amount of brown sugar.  It called for 1 cup but that seemed excessive.

 

I can’t think of a better way to bring in the New Year.  Your friends and family will thank you.  Happy New Year everyone.

 

BRAISED SHORT RIBS

2 packages boneless short ribs (about 16 to 18 total) or 8 bone-in short ribs
3 large onions, coarsely chopped
3 to 4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
4 carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 beets, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 heads of garlic, cut in half
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme
1 star anise (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
Coarse salt
1 cup flour
Canola oil
2 bottles red table wine
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
Handful peppercorns
1 to 2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, celery, carrots, beets and garlic.  Add the rosemary, thyme, star anise, and cinnamon stick, and set aside.

If using bone-in ribs, trim off the excess outer fat.  Season the ribs well with coarse salt.  Dredge in flour until well coated.

In a (very) large Dutch oven or wide soup pot on high heat, pour in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the ribs to the hot oil and sear the ribs so they are browned on all sides.  You will have to do this it batches for the boneless ribs.  Remove the ribs and set aside.

In the same pan, transfer all the vegetables from the bowl, and stir to caramelize and pick up all the brown bits.  Add the meat back into the pot.  Pour the wine over top.  Ensure all is covered with the liquid and if not, top up with water.

Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar and peppercorns, and bring to a boil, cover with a lid or foil, and place in the oven until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours.  Remove the ribs to a platter, and strain out the solids to use for something else.

Boil the cooking liquid in a wide shallow pan until it is reduced by half.  It will be richer, more flavorful and thicker.  Add a nub of butter at the end for sheen and flavor.

Serve the short ribs on a mound of Garlic Mashed Potatoes, topped with green beans and roasted cherry tomatoes.

 

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

1 heat garlic
1 tablespoon good, fruity olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A sprig or 2 of fresh herbs (rosemary or thyme)
6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled, and quartered
1 stick butter
1 cup cream or half and half

Slice the top off a garlic head and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the fresh herbs.  Wrap in a tin foil packet, and roast in the oven for about 1 hour.

Fill a large saucepan with water; add a few good pinches of coarse salt and the potatoes.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until just fork tender.  Do not over cook or the potatoes will be soggy.  Drain off the water, leaving the potatoes in the pot.

Add the butter and cream to the potatoes and mash well.

Remove the garlic from the oven.  Squeeze the garlic cloves into the potatoes, and stir in.  The consistency you want is rough, with some lumps.  Seaon the potatoes with salt, and pepper, if desired.

 

BEANS AND TOMATOES

Stem the beans and place them in boiling water.  Cook until crisp tender.  Plunge the beans into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and set the color.  Set aside until ready to assemble dish.  Just before serving time, heat a couple of tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.  Add beans and toss to coat.  Cook until just heated through.

Place a pint of cherry tomatoes on a small baking sheet.  Coat with olive oil, coarse salt and pepper.  Place in a 400 degree oven and cook just until skins begin to burst, about 10 minutes.

Printable recipe

 

 

We love New Orleans.  We have been there several times and are always charmed by the food, culinary talent, and history of the city.  We don’t spend much time on  infamous Bourbon Street; been there, done that years ago.  But there is so much more to the city.  One of my favorite shops in The French Quarter is Lucullus.

It is a wonderful antique shop that imports all kinds of French antique cookware.  I have a beautiful copper pot, circa early 1900’s, that I bought from the shop at least 15 years ago.  The name of the shop has great gastronomic significance.  Lucullus was a Roman general and politician in 80 BC.  He was known for his decadent banqueting and interest in food.  Today Lucullan means lavish, extravagant, and gourmet; ie, a Lucullan delight.

There are many wonderful restaurants in New Orleans.  My first food epiphany occurred in New Orleans.  I was newly married and we traveled there to a conference that my husband was attending.  Our friends, John and Georgia, who were also attending the conference, had heard of a small restaurant that was supposed to have great food.  We traveled across a bridge to reach it.  I wish I could remember its name.  It is long gone now.  We just called our old friends and they remembered the name.  It was called La Ruth’s.  Thank goodness for friends whose minds are still sharp.  There were only 30 seats but La Ruth’s was always busy.  Both David and I ordered Trout Meuniere.  Even today I can remember the taste of the buttery lemon flavored fish.  I think that was the beginning of my understanding that food could be a transporting experience.  We both still talk about that meal and have tried to duplicate the experience.  We are still working on it.  But sometimes there is only one first time; impossible to recapture.  I wonder if Julia Child ever duplicated her first experience with Sole Meuniere.

Today New Orleans is home to many culinary legends.  Among them is John Besh, a native son of Southern Louisianna.  He has nine restaurants.  Among them is La Provence in Lacombe, just outside of New Orleans.  Set on picturesque grounds with an extensive kitchen garden, La Provence looks like a typical Provencal auberge.  The stucco, tiled roof restaurant features an antique French bar, a huge stucco fireplace and oak beamed ceilings.  It has a sophisticated menu of French and Cajun inspired dishes.  But the closest thing you can find to Jambalaya would be a Quail Gumbo.  Nonetheless the recipe that I am featuring today is a John Besh jambalaya that was featured in People magazine of all places.

I must give credit where credit is due.  David found this recipe, bought the ingredients and cooked it.  He is still smarting over the fact that I never mentioned that he made the Braised Short Ribs that we had at Christmas.  Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish with Spanish and French influences.  Meats and seafood cooked with rice is reminiscent of the Spanish paella.  The Provencal word Jambon, meaning ham, is more than likely the basis of the word’s origin.  David included both chicken and pork in this dish, along with andouille sausage and shrimp.  It was delicious.

It is good straight out of the pot.  But I “fancied up” the presentation a bit.  I saved some of the shrimp, sausages and sauce separately.  After the jambalaya was done I placed a serving of it in a round bowl, packed it down and then inverted it into an individual serving bowl.  I surrounded it with sauce and sausage pieces and placed three shrimp on the top.  I sprinkled it with snipped chives for a little color.  This makes a lot so it is good for company.

JAMBALAYA (Adapted from John Besh)

3 slices of bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
3 cups uncooked, converted Louisiana white rice
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2-1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup tomato sauce (I used Rao’s Marinara sauce)
1/2 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (More for presentation)
2 cups diced cooked pork and chicken
3 green onions, chopped
Salt
Hot sauce

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, cook bacon over medium-high heat until fat is rendered, about 3 minutes.  Add onions, stirring often until browned.  Add green pepper, celery and sausage; cook, stirring often, 3 minutes longer.  Add rice, paprika, thyme and red pepper flakes.

Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, pork, chicken and green onions; bring to a boil, stirring well.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 18 minutes until rice is done.  (Add shrimp after rice has cooked for about 5 minutes into the process.)  Remove from heat.  Seasons with salt and hot sauce.

Printable recipe

It has been a season full of love, laughter and awesome food.  We returned home yesterday and I have had little time to unpack, let alone cook, so I am offering you a pictorial review of our holiday.  Hope your holiday was as happy an occasion as ours was.

For our Christmas Eve dinner Kristen made Ina Garten’s Short Ribs.  The casserole was assembled with lots of root vegetables.

The short ribs were roasted to brown and then added to the casserole.

Cam Man, looking “oh so cool” and Gampy waiting for dinner.

Rachel and the neighbor kids toasting the holiday with sparkling grape juice.

Gampy reading Rachel a Christmas Eve bedtime story.  What makes it special is that it is one that Gampy wrote himself.  It is called Rachel and the Wizard of Lake Lure.

Michael and Kristen on Christmas day at the family celebration at her sister’s home.

Uncle Jeff’s 19 hour smoked brisket.  This is just a small portion of the 11 pound roast.  Just look at that beautiful smoke ring.  It was unbelieveably delicious.

We spent the New Years weekend in Charleston with our good friends.  On Friday night Johnny and Karen made a low country boil with shrimp, sausages, potatoes and corn.

We had mussels on the side.

Johnny also brought the appetizers.  With that grin he could do a commercial for Cheez-Its.

For New Years Eve we did steaks and baked potatoes.

Barbara made a delicious salad.

The cooks wish all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Oh what a food orgy the holidays were! And I loved every minute of it – from Kristen’s Christmas Eve Short Ribs of Beef, to Jeff’s Christmas Baby back ribs seasoned three ways and smoked slowly all day, to our New Years Day meal with friends. We have been gathering for New Years with our motorcycle “gang” ( or should I say over the hill gang) for a long time. The menu has become a tradition and each of us has a speciality. We have slow roasted fall apart pork roast, sweet potato casserole, black-eyed peas, turnip greens and Rosa’s corn bread, which is redolent of buttermilk, butter AND oil. But this post is supposed to be about restraint! I’m trying, I’m trying . . . I don’t believe in diets anymore. What works for me is portion control. OK, I was in the library the other day and ran across “The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook”, so the chicken recipe came from this obvious diet cookbook. But what I liked about it was that it was full of flavor and in order to get the 4 oz. chicken breast it called for, I had to cut the standard breasts I got from the grocery store in half. With this I served jasmine rice cooked according to package directions but with the addition of orange zest to complement the chicken. And to be sure we were eating the right portions, I put the rice in individual 1/2 cup molds, kept them warm in the oven and unmolded on the plates when dinner was ready. From The Barefoot Contessa ( does she ever fail to deliver?) I made Broccoli Rabe with garlic. If you don’t like bitter greens I’m sure you could substitute broccolini. It was a satisfying meal and I felt righteous in my restraint even as I scoured the pantry for chocolate. Just a small piece.

MANDARIN ORANGE CHICKEN

3 Tbls frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)
3 Tbls lower-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbls freshly minced garlic
1 Tbls hot sesame oil
1 tsp chili garlic sauce or chili paste
3/4 cup canned unsweetened mandarin oranges in juice
6 4oz. trimmed boneless, skinless breasts

In a large, resealable plastic bag or container, mix the juice concentrate, soy sauce, garlic, oil and chili sauce or chili paste. Gently stir in the oranges and their juice. Add the chicken, submerging it in marinade. Seal the bag or container and marinate in the refrigerator at least 6 hours or overnight, rotating once or twice.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Transfer the chicken to an 11″ x 7″ glass baking or casserole dish (or the equivalent) in a single layer and pour the remaining marinade on top. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.

BAREFOOT CONTESSA’S BROCCOLI RABE WITH GARLIC

2 bunches broccoli rabe
3 Tbls good olive oil
6 large garlic cloves sliced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Cut off and discard the tough ends of the broccoli rabe and cut the rest of it into 2 inch pieces. Place the broccoli in a colander and rinse. Drain well.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the garlic and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 6 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
Add the broccoli to the hot oil. Add the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook covered over medium to low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally with tongs, until the stalks are tender but still al dente. Add the reserved garlic, check the seasonings, and serve hot.