Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

We had the perfect warming soup for the snowy weather that descended on the Southern States.  This winter will surely go down in the history books as one of the coldest and crippling on record.  Schools throughout NC were cancelled from Wednesday onward through the week.  If we had been home in Florida, we would have missed the snowy weather, but we also would have missed spending time with the Grand Kids.  Snow is more fun with kids.

It is a North Carolina tradition to let the three, four and seven year olds clear the driveways of snow.  Or so it would appear from this picture.  Our Grandson Cameron is clearing his driveway while the neighbor boys are clearing theirs.

The trees were covered with ice and we were lucky that we did not lose power.

The tortilla soup that Kristen made was just what we needed to keep the chill away.  She served it with a delicious jalapeno cornbread.  Kristen has a way of taking a basic recipe and making it her own.  The original tortilla soup recipe came from The Neiman Marcus Cookbook.  She added the chilies and adjusted the seasoning.

TORTILLA SOUP

Ingredients:

• 3tbsp. olive oil

• 1 medium onion – large dice

• 1 poblano + 1 cubanelle pepper (or any peppers you wish) – large dice

• 3 garlic cloves – diced

• 1 tsp. coriander

• 1 tsp. cumin

• 1 can chopped green chiles

• 1 28 oz. can peeled tomatoes, chop tomatoes into small pieces

• 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

• 6 oz. of reduced fat cream cheese (¾ of a block)

• 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

• 1 cup of half and half

• 4 tbsp. lemon juice

• julienned corn tortilla strips (for garnish)

• cilantro – chopped (for garnish)

• green onions – chopped (for garnish)

Instructions:

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions, season with salt & pepper and saute for about 5 minutes.  Add peppers, season again with salt and pepper and saute for another 5-10 minutes over medium heat.

Add garlic, coriander and cumin and saute until fragrant – 1 to 2 minutes.

Add green chiles, tomatoes, black beans and cook mixture until some of the liquid evaporates (about 8-10 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to medium low and add cream cheese.  Stir until cream cheese is completely melted.  Add chicken broth and half-n-half and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips, then cilantro and green onions.

Optional soup additions: chicken, sausage (or chicken sausage!), noodles, corn, etc… if desired to soup.  Avocado would also be a nice addition to this soup!

Other Notes: pairs well with corn bread.

Printable recipe

One of the most trusted and influential food authorities of our era is Alice Waters.  Her innovative Chez Panisse restaurant set the bar high for high quality seasonal food provided by local sources.  One of her latest books, The Art of Simple Food, is a classic for our time.  So many new cookbooks have overblown recipes and complicated fey ingredients.  The beauty of this book is that it offers basic techniques that can be expanded upon.  It is perfect for the novice cook or for old hands like me, who want definitive recipes for classic dishes.  I have been searching for a great Bolognese sauce.  I found it in Alice’s book.

Bolognese Sauce is a rich vegetable and beef studded mixture that relies more on beef broth, wine and milk than on tomato sauce.  Waters’ classic rendition uses skirt steak, pancetta and ground pork for the meat mixture.  She suggests that the sauce is time consuming to make and recommends doubling the ingredients so that you have some sauce in reserve for a future meal.  I did not find it too time consuming.  I just pictured myself as an Italian Signora making her Sunday gravy.  Nothing to it really.  Of course if I had made my own Pappardelle pasta by hand, I might have felt overwhelmed.  But we have a wonderful Italian Market in town that has authentic egg pappardelle pasta.

This was a satisfying simple meal.  Alice Waters’ credentials are impeccable.  I may try her version of Minestrone next.  See my Favorite Reads on the sidebar if you are interested in getting The Art of Simple Food.  I will be ordering copies as wedding gifts for future weddings to which we are invited.  This generation of cooks deserve the best advice and Alice Waters delivers.  What cookbook would you recommend for a novice cook?

We will be traveling to Washington DC this week.  Among other things, I plan to visit Julia Child’s kitchen again at the Museum of American History.  It has been moved and updated.  We have rented a small apartment in Dupont Circle and plan to also visit lots of good restaurants in the area.  I will try to keep you updated on our trip.  I hope we do not get stuck in a blizzard on The Mall.

ALICE WATERS’ BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Heat in a large heavy-bottomed pot:
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add:
2 ounces pancetta, diced fine
Cook over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add:
1 small onion, diced fine
1 celery stalk, diced fine
1 carrot, diced fine
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 sage leaves
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 12 minutes

While the vegetables are cooking, heat in a large heavy-bottomed pan, preferably cast iron:
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add and brown over medium-high heat, in two batches:
1 pound skirt steak, cut into 1/8-inch cubes
4 ounces pork,ground
Cook until the meat is a nice chestnut color.  Once all the meat is browned, pour in:
1 cup dry white wine
Reduce the wine by half, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.  Add the browned meat and the deglazing juices to the tender vegetables with:
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt
Measure and stir together:
2 cups beef or chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
Pour enough of this liquid into the pot to bring it to the level of the meat and vegetables.  Simmer gently until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.  As the liquid reduces, keep topping it up with the rest of the broth and milk, and skimming the fat that rises to the surface.

When the meat is tender, remove the sauce from the heat and season to taste with more salt, if needed, and:
Fresh-ground black pepper

Variations:
Include 1/4 cup dried porcini, soaked, drained, and chopped fine, with the diced vegetables.

Other cuts of beef can be used instead of skirt steak.  Chuck or hanging tenderloin will make a delicious sauce, although hanging tenderloin will require at least an hour more of cooking time to become tender.  During the additional cooking time it may be necessary to add more broth or milk to keep the sauce from becoming too dry.

Printable recipe

This is actually part 2 of my previous post.  On the same evening that I made the Pork Tenderloin with Grapes, I made this Potato Cake with Garlic and Parsley.  They are both recipes from Mimi Thorisson on her blog Manger.  If I had been in my Lake Lure Kitchen this potato cake would have looked better.  It is because I have the perfect mold for it there.  View the following video to watch Mimi’s husband Oddur making this dish along with a steak and you will see what I mean.  Here is the link.  What I really needed to mold the potato cake was my Charlotte Mold.  I have had my tin-lined charlotte mold for many years and it comes in handy for many purposes.  Here is a link to one of my favorite desserts using it.

 But if you don’t have a charlotte mold, you can do as I did here in Florida and use a 2 quart round oven proof casserole.  I sprayed mine with olive oil spray.

This potato cake was excellent. I used the duck fat that I bought in France last year in which to fry it.  The duck fat has been in my freezer just waiting for the right application.  There is nothing better than potatoes cooked in duck fat.  Here is a source if you would like to order it.  But you could also cook the potatoes in a mixture of butter and olive oil.  It was an added bonus to be able to saute the potatoes ahead of time and put them into the mold to be finished in the oven at our convenience.  The potato cake is just right for 4 people.  Just cut into pie shaped wedges and serve.  The cooked garlic and parsley on top are the finishing touch and make for a beautiful presentation.  Your friends will love you.  And for all of you guys out there,  Oddur Thorisson’s video on a perfect date night dinner would be a perfect recipe for a Valentine’s day dinner.

POTATO CAKE WITH GARLIC AND PARSLEY

5 large potatoes
6 garlic cloves (sliced fine)
2 handfuls of chopped parsley
1 tbsp butter
8-10 tbsp duck fat
Salt & Pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Start frying on a medium heat the sliced potatoes with one tbsp butter for 8 minutes. Pour 8 tbps (or more if you wish and according to your taste) of the duck fat onto the potatoes and continue frying till cooked and golden. You’d be surprised at how fast it cooks with duck fat. Flip potatoes constantly. Add salt. By 20-25 minutes they should be cooked. Put potatoes in a small cake mold and press gently with a potato masher or a large spoon so the potatoes take a good shape. You don’t want to mash the potatoes, just press them. Place in the oven for 5-8 minutes.  While in the oven, fry the garlic in the potato pan until it is just browned.

Take the potato cake out of the oven, remove from mold and place on a serving plate. Put the chopped parsley and fried garlic on top. Serve immediately.

Printable recipe

There are so many fascinating websites out there in the ether right now.  I can remember when blogging was a small fraternity or sorority of likeminded people.  Now bloggers are everywhere.  I am always discovering new sites.  One site that, to me, is very interesting comes from a French woman named Mimi Thorisson.  Her blog is called Manger, as in the French word meaning “to eat”.

Mimi is a stunningly beautiful woman of French and Chinese heritage.  She lives with her husband (who is a photographer), her children and at least 14 dogs in a charming home in the Medoc region of France.  With a background in writing for publications and extensive traveling all over the world, she brings a knowing eye and mind to her food blog.  Her husband Oddur Thorisson”s photographs are works of art and her recipes are impeccable.  I have enjoyed getting lost in her world.

Mimi made this dish with chasselas grapes.  These are wine grapes, although they are suitable as table grapes as well.  Since chasselas grapes are native to France,  I just substituted regular seedless grapes that are readily available here.  The pork tenderloin is sliced into 1″ pieces and cooked with shallots, wine and the grapes.  This was a quick and easy dish to pull together.  We loved it.  Mimi has been featured in Bon Appetit magazine and has a cookbook coming out in September 2014.

PORK TENDERLOIN WITH GRAPES (Adapted from Manger by Mimi Thorisson)

1 Pork Tenderloin, sliced into 10 to 12 1-inch pieces
1 cup each red and green grapes
2/3 cup white wine plus 2 tablespoons for the end
3 shallots, sliced finely
1/8 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Unsalted butter for frying
1 tablespoon olive oil for frying

Slice shallots finely and fry in 1 tablespoon butter for 5 minutes on a medium heat.  Add wine and lower heat – reduce until nearly totally absorbed.

Add the grapes to the pan with a little knob of butter and cook for 2 minutes until glossy.  Set aside.

In another pan, heat olive oil, and 1 tablespoon butter and fry the pork pieces for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove filets from pan, add chicken stock and scrape to deglaze pan.  Add the 2 extra tablespoons of white wine and 1/2 tablespoon butter.  Reduce for 2 minutes on high heat. Return meat to pan, lower heat and add the shallot and grape mixture.  Cook for a few minutes to reheat and meld the flavors. Serves 2 to 4.

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In the throes of winter, in my mind, I am enjoying a nostalgic trip back to our summer in France last year.  Our French friends Carole and Laurent (2nd and 3rd from left) graciously welcomed David, me, and our friends Tulin (center)and Dave (on right), into their home in Tours.  We had many fine meals with them.  Carole is a wonderful cook.  Her magret of duck cooked in peaches is sublime, as is her fois gras and ratatouille.  But I have been thinking most about her stuffed vegetables.

The stuffed tomatoes and peppers turned out to be a collaboration between Carole and Tulin; a little bit French from Carole and a little bit Turkish from Tulin, who is originally from Istanbul.  I wish that I had paid more attention to the ingredients that they used.  I was a bit jet-lagged at the time. All I know is that every bite of the casserole was eaten with relish.

When I attempted to duplicate this dish, I used peppers and zucchini because they are readily available this time of year.  I avoid tomatoes in winter.  My inspiration was a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.  Now we have an Italian spin.  But I guess the point is that many cultures have recipes for stuffed vegetables.  Whatever the cuisine, there is great flavor in stuffed vegetables.  And I was able to taste again, the wonderful food that we shared last summer.

I am calling these stuffed vegetables “Provencal” because of the bright colors, the use of olive oil, garlic and herbs, and because visiting sunny Provence was one of the highlights of our trip. Bring a little Provencal sunshine to your table as well.

STUFFED VEGETABLES PROVENCAL

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano
  
• 1/4 cup dried plain bread crumbs
  
• 1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
• 2 zucchini, ends removed, halved lengthwise and crosswise
• 1 orange bell pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 red bell pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 green bell pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
  
  Lightly drizzle the olive oil into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish.Whisk the onion, parsley, egg, ketchup, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in the turkey. Cover and refrigerate the turkey mixture. 
  
  Using a melon baller or spoon, carefully scrape out the seeds and inner flesh from the zucchini, leaving 1/8-inch-thick shells. Be careful not to pierce through the skin. Fill the zucchini and pepper halves with the turkey mixture, dividing equally and mounding slightly. Arrange the stuffed vegetables in the baking dish. Pour the marinara sauce over the stuffed vegetables. 
  
  Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown and a thermometer inserted into the filling registers 165 degrees F, about 45 minutes. Transfer the stuffed vegetables to a platter and serve.Printable recipe