Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Two of my favorite cooks are Ina Garten and Dorie Greenspan.  Imagine taking their recipes for cauliflower gratin and combining them.  You have an immediate winner.  What I love about Dorie’s recipe is the bacon.  Cauliflower is somewhat bland and adding crispy bacon gives it a smoky punch.  What I love about Ina’s recipe is the Gruyere cheese sauce.  Although Dorie’s recipe has Gruyere cheese in it, the sauce is an egg custard and I was looking for more of a white sauce with cheese.

This is definitely a company-worthy dish.  It goes well with grilled meats and fish or simple roasts or chicken.  We have had it for several meals now and it reheats well.  I will be making another gratin next week when our friends are here for a visit.  It is always nice to have a great casserole in your repertoire.

The only thing I will do differently next time is use fresh breadcrumbs instead of whole wheat dried breadcrumbs.  The dried breadcrumbs were too dark and dense.  I think the cauliflower florets would show better with the fresh breadcrumbs.

CAULIFLOWER GRATIN (Adapted from Ina Garten and Dorie Greenspan)

1 head of cauliflower, cut into large florets
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups hot milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
3 to 4 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Cook the cauliflower florets in a large pot of boiling salted water for 5 to 6 minutes, until tender but still firm.  Drain.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes.  Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture and stir until it comes to a boil.  Boil, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, or until thickened.  Off the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, the nutmeg, 1/2 cup of the Gruyere cheese and the Parmesan cheese.

Pour one third of the sauce on the bottom of an 8x11x2-inch baking dish.  Place the drained cauliflower on top and sprinkle the bacon pieces over it.  Spread the rest of the sauce evenly on top.  Combine the breadcrumbs with the remaining 1/4 cup of Gruyere and sprinkle on top.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the gratin.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is browned.

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I have blogged about this recipe before, but since it is one of my favorites and because I am always changing recipes to improve them, I thought it would be a good idea to update it.  Lots of people make short ribs on the bone.  Although I love the flavor that the bones impart to a slow roasted dish it does make it harder to cut and eat.  When you are feeding a crowd I prefer boneless, succulent, fall apart beef short ribs.

Variations of this beef casserole have become popular at our large family celebrations.  But it occurred to me that it would also make a great alternative to steak for that Valentine dinner for two.  Just cut the recipe in half.

The ingredients combine to produce a very unique flavor.  Along with the wine and beef broth the sauce is flavored with orange zest strips, dried ancho chile for heat, cinnamon for a hit of spice and chocolate for a smooth lusciousness.  The vegetables are added, not only for their flavor, but for their thickening quality when the sauce is pureed.  Best of all,  the short ribs can be prepared and assembled in advance, giving you more time to make that decadent chocolate mousse for your special Valentine.

SPICED CABERNET BONELESS SHORT RIBS

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds Boneless Beef Short Ribs (about 14)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, cut into small chunks
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfindal
1 cinnamon stick
1 dried Ancho Chile, stemmed and halved
2 cups beef broth
The zest of one orange, cut into thick strips
1 ounce good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Season short ribs with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven.  Saute short ribs in batches.  Remove them to a plate when they are browned.  Add additional olive oil to Dutch oven if necessary.  Add chopped vegetables and saute until onion is softened.

Deglaze the pan with the wine.  Add the cinnamon stick, Ancho chile, and orange zest strips.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the wine is reduced by half.  Add the chocolate.  Stir to incorporate.  Return the ribs to the pan and add enough beef broth to just cover.  Bring to a simmer.  Cover and place in the oven.  Bake for 3 hours.

Remove meat from pot and place in serving casserole.  Strain the sauce, discard the cinnamon stick and puree the strained vegetables, chili and orange zest.  Bring the liquid to a boil and cook for 5 minutes to reduce it slightly.  Add the pureed vegetables and stir to combine and thicken the sauce.  Pour sauce over short ribs and serve.

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Back in the early years of our marriage, we often had dinner parties.  It was the late 70’s and everyone was doing it.  At the time there were so many “exotic” foods to try;  Coq au vin, paella with that strange and expensive spice saffron, and Beef Wellington.

We had fun in the kitchen.  One of my favorite cookbooks of that time was The Pleasure of your Company by  Diana and Paul von Welanetz.  They were world travelers and cooking instructors from California.  Diana had studied at the Cordon Bleu and the couple loved food of all ethnic origins.  The Pleasure of your Company had recipes for, among many,  A Spanish Paella Party, An Italian Dinner for a Couple or a Crowd, A German Party for Eight or More and An Elegant Dinner Party in the New Orleans Manner.

The menu for the Elegant Dinner Party in the New Orleans Manner was very French.  It included Oysters Rockefeller, Coq au Vin, French-Style Baked Peas, Croissants, French Quarter Ice Cream Torte with Fudge Sauce and Cafe Brulot.  I made it often.

The other night I pulled a package of frozen peas out of the freezer, they being the only vegetable I had for dinner and a light bulb went on in my head.  “What about those French peas I used to make?”  “Where is that cookbook?”  Luckily it was on my cookbook shelf here in Florida and I turned to the much used and stained page.

I am calling this vegetable dish “Retro” because it was something I used to do and because of the casserole I cooked it in.

This Pyrex casserole is 46 years old.  It was a wedding present.  It has a lid and I still love using it.  It is perfect for the Peas Francais.  One of the reasons I love this recipe is that you put frozen peas directly in the oven with pats of butter, chopped shallots and lettuce.  Easy peasy, literally.

The finished dish tastes great.  The bit of sugar, butter, shallots and lettuce make a big difference.  David tasted the peas and said “Ah . . . now I remember this”.  A trip down memory lane indeed.

FRENCH-STYLE BAKED PEAS

3 ten-ounce packages frozen peas
1 shallot, or the white part of 2 scallions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine in a chunk ( I cubed it )
1 leaf iceberg lettuce, cut into 1/4 inch strips ( I used romaine )

Place the frozen peas in a 2 to 3 quart casserole with a tight-fitting lid.  Top with all the other ingredients.  Bake covered at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour.  (I cooked it for 45 minutes).  Stir and serve right in the casserole.

To Make Ahead:  Assemble all the ingredients except the lettuce.  Store in the freezer until ready to bake.  Top with lettuce 1 hour before serving and bake as directed.

As an added note:  Diana von Welanetz Wentworth is also the author of  The Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook and Send Me Someone, the story of the tragic loss of her husband Paul to cancer and the beginning of her new life with Ted Wentworth.


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Plans do not always work out the way we would like.  I was hoping to have a new blog design finished this week, but jumping from Blogger to Word Press is taking some time.  Added to that, my Son and I are working long distance on the technicalities.  When all of the kinks are worked out, I will launch The new Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen website with a giveaway.  I’m just not sure when it will happen.

Added to that,  I have jumped from a lovely holiday into a dentist’s chair.  Life is kind of uncomfortable right now.  For the next few days soft foods are in order.  I am thinking that I will get out my Cuisinart hand blender and make some tasty smooth soups.

But for those of you who would like a little substance to your meal, this spiced beef corn bread cobbler is an easy, flavorful casserole.  I adapted the recipe from  Gourmet Magazine.   I still miss that magazine and, over the years, have found so many great recipes in it’s pages.  “Think of this dish as a sloppy joe with a corn bread and Cheddar crust” according to the introduction to the recipe.  It has spiced elements from cinnamon, cayenne, allspice and ginger and soothing elements from the corn bread and cheddar.  To me it is comfort food with a twist.

2012 will be a special year for us.  Last year we fulfilled one of David’s wishes to travel to Alaska; he on his motorcycle, and me flying in to meet him.  This year we will fulfill my dream of traveling to Paris and Provence.  We leave for Paris on June 9th.  I decided that I did not want to stay in a hotel, so after a lengthy search on HomeAway and VRBO, I found an apartment in the 7th Arrondissiment near the Eiffel Tower and around the corner from the Rue Cler.  Here is the website if you are interested in a future trip.  The owners are American and have outfitted the apartment to familiar standards.

After a week in Paris we will take the Fast Train to Provence.  We have found an apartment in the market town of  L’Isle Sur La Sorgue.  Every Sunday they host one of the best Antique Markets in Provence.  We will rent a car after leaving the train so that we can explore many Provencal villages and towns.

The kitchen in Provence looks so inviting.  I can hardly wait to shop the markets and cook in this lovely space.  Here is the website.

We originally planned to return home after a week in Provence, but if you recall, we met a wonderful French couple on our motorcycle trip last year.  They were on a year long motorcycle trip through Canada, America and South America.  They stopped and spent a few days with us in Lake Lure.  Read about it here.  They have invited us to stay in their second home in The Loire Valley for a few days.  So after leaving Provence, we will drive back North to spend time with them and then fly home from Paris.  In the meantime we are listening to French CD’s and trying to get our mouths around the language.

I hope you enjoy this simple casserole.  I also hope that I will be up to cooking more interesting things than “thin gruel” this weekend.

SPICED BEEF CORN BREAD COBBLER

1 medium onion, chopped
4 tablespoons, vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef chuck
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 (14 to 15 oz) can diced fire roasted tomatoes in juice
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 large egg
2 oz coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (about 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly oil a 9 1/2 inch pie plate.

Cook onion in 2 tablespoons oil in a deep 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until edges are golden, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add garlic and cook, stirring 1 minute.  Add beef and cook, breaking up large lumps, until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes.  (I drained off fat at this point).  Add sugar, spices, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, 1 minute.  Add tomatoes with juice and briskly simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, 8 to 10 minutes.

While beef simmers, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a small bowl, then stir milk and beaten egg into cornmeal mixture until just combined.  Fold in 1/2 cup cheese.

Spoon cooked spiced beef into pie plate with a slotted spoon, reserving juices in skillet.  Skim off and discard fat ( if not already discaded) from juices if desired, then pour juices over beef in pie plate.

Spoon 4 mounds of corn bread batter over beef, then sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons cheese over batter.  Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of corn bread comes out clean, 15 to 25 minutes.

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It was a good idea.  I was looking for an easy to assemble casserole that was tasty and would feed a crowd.  This may be that very thing, but you see, sometimes I can’t leave a recipe alone.  The recipe was on Epicurious.  It was called  My Favorite Mexican Casserole.  It won a blue ribbon from Parade Magazine.  It is made from shredded cooked chicken ( a chance to use a rotisserie chicken ), canned kidney beans, garbanzo beans and corn.  It uses crushed tortilla chips instead of corn tortillas.

I made some good changes to the recipe.  I used frozen corn instead of canned corn.  I used black beans instead of garbanzo beans.  For the final layer I mixed crushed tortilla chips with the last of the cheeses.  But my big mistake was using two layers of corn tortillas where there was no call for them.  It made the casserole too dry.  The only tortilla chips called for were a layer on the bottom.

I will give you the recipe as written and if anyone tries it without messing with it, I would like to know about it.  Not everything we make can be a success.  Now I have to figure out what to do with this huge casserole when there are only the two of us to eat it.

MY FAVORITE MEXICAN CASSEROLE

1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 pound shredded cooked chicken meat (from a small roasted chicken)
1 can (15 1/2 ounces) garbanzo beans, drained
1 can (15 1/2 ounces) kidney beans, drained
1 can (15 1/4 ounces) corn kernels, drained
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce (I used enchilada sauce)
1 cup prepared salsa
1 cup chopped red onion
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 ounces grated Monterey Jack cheese
6 ounces grated sharp Cheddar cheese

Garnishes:
2 cups diced (1/4-inch) ripe tomatoes
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9-inch baking dish, then scatter the crushed tortilla chips evenly on the bottom.

2. Combine the chicken, beans, corn, tomato sauce, salsa, onion, bell pepper, cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Place half the mixture evenly in the baking dish. Combine the cheeses, then sprinkle half over the mixture.

3. Cover with the remaining half of the chicken-and-bean mixture and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serve the garnishes in bowls, so guests can top their portions with diced tomatoes, sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.