Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I have been away from my blog for a long time now. I still love the blogging community and all of the virtual friends I have made over my 10+ years of blogging. But other pursuits have filled my time and photographing my meals got to be too time consuming. When I have to tell my husband that we have to eat at 4:00 in order to get the best light for the meal, he just shakes his head.

We are also cleaning out accumulated stuff of a lifetime. One of the cabinets in my bookcase has housed my collection of Gourmet Magazines dating back to the late 60’s and 70’s. I have been an avid cook from the time we married in 1966. I have been reading some of these back issues and am amazed at how much information is available in each of them.

The 1989 December issue is a good example. There are tasty recipes for Winter stews for entertaining, 6 different fudge recipes, 3 recipes for Hanukkah latkes, and a yummy praline butter cookie recipe. There is a detailed travel article on Santa Fe, New Mexico and a Christmas in Provence article. But the best article was about the way Dolley Madison entertained in the White House. She was quite a character. Each article was so well written, intelligent, and detailed.

I checked EBay and Amazon for old issues of Gourmet and have decided a fair price to charge is $3.00 each for them with the following breakdown.

The issues will be sold by year. This is what I have.

1966-1, 1967-1, 1968-4, 1969-5, 1970-4, 1971-3, 1972-3, 1973-5, 1974-10, 1978-10, 1979-1. The issues are in pretty good shape for their age, but a few have loose pages. Nothing is missing.

1980-4, 1981-3, 1982-12, 1983-12, 1984-8, 1985-12, 1986-9, 1987-10, 1988 -12, 1989-12 (one issue has loose pages), 1990-12, 1991-6, 1992-6, 1993-11, 1994-3, 1995-12, 1996-11, 1997-12, 1998-9, 1999-12, 2000-7, 2001-5, 2002-1, 2003-5, 2004-4, 2005-8, 2006-12, 2007-4, 2008-6, 2009-6.

Shipping charges will be calculated by the number of magazines you purchase.

E-mail me with any questions, pennyklett@gmail.com.

My best to all. I may be blogging something occasionally.

One of the steps in making Quiche Lorraine that I don’t like is having to pre-bake the pastry shell. You have to fill the pastry shell with dried beans or weights of some kind in your parchment lined dish. The pastry is baked until lightly cooked. My problem with this is that even with carefully following these instructions, the pie shell still shrinks and the edges no longer hug the top of the pie dish. I experimented with this quiche and am happy with the results.

The reason for pre-baking is to prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy. With this quiche I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F. and turned my oven to the convection setting. If you don’t have a convection oven, the higher heat should be enough to help the crust along. After 15 minutes of baking I turned off the convection and lowered the temperature to 350 degrees F. to finish cooking. The bottom crust was not crispy, but it was not soggy either. That was enough for me to avoid the extra step of pre-baking.

When preparing my deep dish pie, I found myself reaching for an abundance of ingredients to match its generous proportions. Sautéed leeks, plenty of bacon, Gruyère cheese, and a touch of extra liquid made for a hearty filling. Remember, you can easily adjust your ingredient quantities to fit the size of your dish. For your weighing solution needs, view now. Enjoy your culinary adventure!

On another note, I want to apologize for not being here on my blog more often. I certainly do not want to give up this space that has meant so much to me over the last 10 years. But other responsibilities and time constraints make it hard for me to focus as often on my favorite outlet. Bear with me and I will try to be here is often as possible.

Quiche Lorraine

• Ina’s pie crust ( I halved this and left out the sugar) or a pre-made pie crust
• 8 slices of bacon, diced

• 2 large leeks, washed and sliced
• 4 large eggs or 3 Jumbo eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 4 oz Gruyère, shredded

Refrigerate the prepared pie crust before filling.

1. In a medium nonstick sauté pan over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour off all but one tablespoon of fat from the pan. Add the leeks and cook over medium-low heat until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not brown. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2, salt, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg; whisk until evenly combined.
3. Spread the leeks evenly over the bottom of the crust. Top with the bacon, and the Gruyère. Pour the egg/cream mixture over top.
4. Slide the quiche into the oven and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes until the top is slightly browned and the center is set.

Printable Recipe

It has been a quiet Winter in our Florida rental home. In the past we have enjoyed so many activities available in New Smyrna Beach. There are weekly weekend events along the main thoroughfares of Flagler Avenue and Canal Street. We have attended antique car shows, art exhibits, wine tastings and Fat Tuesday parades. But this year we have avoided the crowds. But, when Valentine’s Day came around, we traveled back to NC for our Grandson’s birthday and then stopped in Charleston on the way back to Florida. We had a glorious warm and sunny day to explore this quaint town. One of the perennial favorite restaurants is called 82 Queen. They are repudiated to have the best crab cakes in Charleston. We had lunch in the courtyard.

I ordered the appetizer of Crab Cake with Bacon Sautéed Corn and Red Pepper Aioli.

It was delicious and it was fun trying to duplicate this at home. I think I came up with a good recipe combination using recipes found on line and adapting them to our tastes. The below recipe makes a lot. For the two of us I cut it in less than half. It is easy to adjust it to your needs.

Crab Cakes with Bacon Sautéed Corn and Red Pepper Aioli

Crab Cakes:

2 pounds fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage

1 1/2 cups panko

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped chives

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice and zest of 1 lemon, plus more lemon wedges for serving

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. For the crab cakes: Gently fold together the crabmeat, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, chives, Dijon mustard, seafood seasoning, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper and the juice and zest of one lemon in a large bowl. Refrigerate the crab mixture for 15 minutes to firm up; this allows the breadcrumbs to absorb some of the liquid, helping the crab cakes bind together.
3. Meanwhile, make the tartar sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, dill pickles, capers, chives, zest and juice of 1 lemon in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Scoop heaping half cups of the crab mixture and pat into 2 1/2-inch wide patties. Lightly press them together so they do not fall apart while cooking. You should have 8 patties.
5. Heat 3 tablespoons unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the crab cakes to the pan and cook until golden, about 2 minutes, then flip using a flat metal spatula. Continue to cook until lightly golden, about 1 1/2 minutes then transfer the pan to the oven. Cook until the crab cakes are completely heated through, about 10 minutes.

Bacon Sautéed Corn:

• 5 slices of bacon , diced
• 1 16 oz. bag of frozen white shoe peg corn, thawed

Cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Sauté corn in bacon dripping until soft, about 10 minutes.

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

• 2 whole roasted red peppers ( I used Jarred roasted red peppers)
• ⅔ cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and halved, or more to taste
• 1 ½ cups light mayonnaise (such as Hellmann’s® Light) 
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

Place roasted red peppers and basil in a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped and combined. Add lemon juice; pulse 3 times. Scatter garlic halves over mixture; pulse to chop, 4 to 5 times. Add mayonnaise and sugar; pulse until smooth, 5 to 7 times. Season with salt and pepper.

Printable Recipe

We have foregone visiting many restaurants during this pandemic. The exceptions have been restaurants that have outside seating. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy restaurant meals at home. There are many copycat recipes on the internet. PF Chang’s lettuce wraps are among them. I combined several different recipes to come up with one that suited my tastes.

This adaptation has a hit of heat to it from the chili-garlic paste. It has crunch from the water chestnuts and flavors of the orient from hoison sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and garlic.

The summer has passed quickly. Many decisions were made with caution in mind. We decided to cancel the family 4th of July celebration. Having 14 people crowded together in our cottage did not seem wise. But when Labor Day rolled around we reconsidered. The family had been careful with contacts and we spent much of our time outside. Meals were simplified so we did not have to spend as much time shoulder to shoulder cooking. But we still managed to have our annual blind wine tasting. Thank you Dave Anderson for the fine selection of Grenache wines.

Welcome to Fall with a toast to good health and a future free of dread.

PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chili-garlic paste or sambal oelek (less if you don’t like heat)
• 1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 3 green onions, thinly chopped
• 1 head of Bibb or butter lettuce

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the ground chicken and cook until chicken is browned crumbling as you go.

Add the onion and cook until onion begins to wilt. Add the garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for a few minutes more.

While chicken is browning combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and the chili-garlic paste. Add this mixture to chicken mixture in the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes or so to combine flavors.

Add the water chestnuts and cook for a minute more.

Serve in lettuce leaves with the chopped green onions. ( I added a few diced red peppers for color).

Printable Recipe

It has been a long summer. I haven’t been blogging and I apologize for not letting all of you know that all is well with me. We have been staying at home as many others have also. I just needed a break from social media for a while. But I am back and following all of you again. Thanks Lynne for checking up on me.

I have been cooking, but nothing inspiring or new until I made this pork chop dish. It comes from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. My Daughter-In-Law gave me a container of dried gourmet mixed mushrooms for Christmas and they led me to search out recipes including dried mushrooms.

This is not a quick recipe. Several steps are required. But I have the time. My days have fallen into a new rhythm. Mornings are spent on necessary chores or trips to the grocery store. Early afternoons are spent reading or binge watching Netflix shows. I have seen every episode of The Great British Baking Show and I’m working my way through each season of NCIS. But at 4:00 P.M. I am usually in the kitchen. I like the concept of “slow cooking”. Working my way through a recipe that requires slow deliberate steps is calming.

The braised pork chops are flavored with white wine, tomatoes, heavy cream, the dried mushrooms and fresh button mushrooms. It is a dish worth the time.

Braised Pork Chops with Tomatoes, Cream, and Porcini Mushrooms

• 1 ounce (1/2 cup) dried porcini or other dried mushrooms soaked in 2 cups of warm water for at least 30 minutes.
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 pounds pork chops, preferably from the center loin, cut 3/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and cut up
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• The filtered water from the mushroom soak
• 1/2 pound fresh white button mushrooms

1. Choose a sauté pan that can subsequently accommodate all the chops without overlapping. Put in 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the oil is hot, slip in the chops. Brown the meat deeply on one side, the do the other.
2. Add the white wine, letting it simmer briskly for 15 to 20 seconds, while using a wooden spoon to scrape loose any browning residues in the pan. Add the tomatoes, cream, salt and pepper the cup-up reconstituted drained porcini mushrooms. (Save the soaking water). Turn the heat down to cook at a very gentle simmer, and cover the pan, setting the lid on slightly ajar.
3. Cook for 45 minutes, or more, depending on the exact thickness and quality of the chops, until the meat feels tender when prodded with a fork. Turn the chops from time to time.
4. While the chops are cooking, put the filtered water from the porcini mushroom soak into a small saucepan, and boil it down to about 1/3 cup.
5. Wash the fresh white mushrooms rapidly under cold running water and wipe them thoroughly dry with a soft cloth towel. Cut them into very thin lengthwise slices without detaching the caps from the stems.
6. Choose a sauté pan that can contain the fresh mushrooms without crowding them. Put in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and turn on the heat to high. When the oil is hot, put in the mushrooms. Stir them frequently, adding salt and pepper. When the liquid they will shed has boiled away, add the reduced filtered water from the porcini soak, and continue to stir frequently until there is no more liquid in the pan. Take off heat.
7. When the pork chops are tender, add the cooked mushrooms to their pan. Turn the chops and mushrooms, cover the pan again, and continue cooking for 5 to 8 minutes always over moderate heat. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.

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