Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

You can never have too many make-ahead casseroles in your arsenal during the holiday season.  Cauliflower recipes seem to be everywhere on the internet and on the cooking shows.  I made a cauliflower, kale and sausage soup recently and it was a real hit.  The thing about cauliflower is that it is such a mild vegetable that it picks up the flavors of anything that you add to it.

In this case, the additions were a bechamel sauce, Gruyere and Parmesan cheese and a crisp sourdough bread crumb topping.  It doesn’t hurt that the recipe came from the Barefoot Contessa.  We were having steaks for dinner the other night and I felt like making something other than potatoes to go with them.  This cauliflower gratin was the perfect choice.  I actually assembled it ahead of time and popped it into the oven when David lit the grill.

It was creamy, crunchy and delicious.  I am keeping this recipe to share with company.

CAULIFLOWER GRATIN

1 ( 3-pound) head cauliflower, cut into large florets
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 cup freshly grated Gruyere, divided
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh sourdough bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

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 1 teaspoon of salt, the pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup of the Gruyere, and the Parmesan.

Pour 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of an 8 by 11 by 2-inch dish.  Place the drained cauliflower on top and then spread the rest of the sauce evenly on top. Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining 1/4 cup of Gruyere.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoon of the butter.  Drizzle over the bread crumb mixture.  Stir to combine and then sprinkle the mixture over the gratin.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is browned.

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When the weather outside is frightful, nothing tastes better than a hearty soup or pot pie.  To make it even more attractive, this hearty recipe is easy and can be on the table in no time.  Chicken pot pie has always been a favorite dish for me.  My husband, on the other hand, has a slight aversion to it.  When he was a child his Mother often served the convenient Banquet frozen chicken pot pies.  Although she was a good cook, she worked full time as a nurse and it was the 50’s.  Women were encouraged to give up home cooked meals for the convenience of such things as TV dinners and pot pies.  David hated those pot pies, so by association, even a homemade one is suspect.

This recipe is called a pot pie soup because the sauce or gravy is a bit thinner than what is usually associated with pot pies.  But it is plenty thick enough.  It is chuck full of chicken breast pieces, celery, onions, potatoes and mixed vegetables.  The soup mixture goes together quickly.  But the star of this show is the crust topping.  It uses a disk of store bought refrigerated pie dough that is baked separately from the filling.  I love the presentation.  All you need to do is crumble the crust over the filling.

The recipe was featured in last year’s Christmas addition of  Food Network Magazine.  Although it uses some convenience items, it is nothing like the frozen version that David grew up with.  He told me that it was the best chicken pot pie he had ever eaten.  That is the best endorsement that it could ever receive. Give it a try.  It will keep you warm and happy.

CHICKEN POT PIE SOUP

1 disk refrigerated pie dough
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon plus a pinch of poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Kosher salt
2 to 3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups water
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
1 10-ounce package frozen mixed peas and carrots or mixed vegetables

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Unroll the pie dough onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with pepper and  a pinch of poultry seasoning; cut into quarters. Bake until puffed and golden, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, undisturbed, 2 minutes, then cook, stirring, 1 or 2 more minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.

Add the celery, onion, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning to the pot and cook, stirring, 1 minute.  Stir in 2 cups water, the broth, half-and-half and potatoes; cover and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes.  Add the peas and carrots and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.  Return the chicken to the pot and simmer until cooked through.  Divide among bowls and top with the crusts.  Serves 4.

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One of the first blogs that I ever followed was Clotilde Dusoulier’s Chocolate and Zucchini.  Back almost ten years ago, the number of food blogs were relatively small and the bloggers with foresight and talent took the blogging world by storm.  Many of them have cookbooks now and belong in a hall of fame of food blogging pioneers.  Clotilde started her blog in 2003.  She was born and raised in Paris and had an early career as a software engineer in California and Paris.  She created her blog Chocolate and Zucchini as a creative outlet.  When it became a hit in 2005, she quit her engineering job and concentrated on her food writing, cookbook publishing, and travel writing for several magazines.

Over the years, she has honed her cooking style and is now known for her vegetarian, sustainable, and seasonal fare.  Her latest cookbook, The French Market Cookbook, is a reflection of her current Paris kitchen.  Although she is not a vegetarian, vegetables play a major part of her cuisine and shopping the markets in Paris are part of her daily routine.

The French Market Cookbook is divided into seasons.  This pumpkin and cornmeal bread is a part of the winter recipes.  I loved it from the first glance at the picture.  It is a rustic loaf, golden orange from the pumpkin and studded with roasted walnuts.  But don’t expect a sweet pumpkin loaf.  This is a savory loaf with herbal overtones from the parsley, a pleasant bitterness from the walnuts and an unadulterated pumpkin taste.  Clotilde says it pairs well with a soup or salad.  I love it toasted with a cup of tea or coffee.  I love all of the recipes in this book.  I have a feeling it will be on someone’s Christmas list.

I did make one major change to the recipe.  Because of time constraints, I used a can of pumpkin puree instead of a whole pumpkin or winter squash.  The below recipe appears as written.

SAVORY PUMPKIN AND CORNMEAL QUICK BREAD (Adapted from The French Market Cookbook by Clotilde Dusoulier)

1 3/4- pound wedge of baking pumpkin or winter squash
2 tablespoons olive oil for cooking, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup fine-grind stone-ground cornmeal, plus more for sprinkling
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup walnut halves, toasted
3 large organic eggs
1 cup chopped fresh chervil or flat-leaf parsley leaves

Peel and seed the pumpkin and then cut it into 1/2-inch chunks.  Set up a steamer.  Steam the pumpkin, tightly covered, until sloft, 8 to 12 minutes depending on the pumpkin.  Put through a ricer or food mill.

Transfer to a fine-mesh sieve and set over a bowl to cool and drain for 1 hour, stirring gently from time to time to encourage the juices to drain; pumpkins tend to release a fair amount of liquid, but if you’ve used another type of squash, there may not be much to drain at all.  This should yield about 2 cups drained pumpkin flesh.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with oil, line the bottom with parchment paper, and sprinkle the sides with cornmeal until entirely coated.

In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and walnuts.

In a large bowl, beat together the cooked pumpkin, eggs, 2 tablespoons oil, and the chervil or parsley.  Fold in the flour mixture with a spatula just until no trace of flour remains; avoid over mixing, or the texture of the loaf will be heavier.

Pour into the prepared pan and level out the surface.  Bake until the top is crusty and golden and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.

Transfer to a rack.  Let cool for 20 minutes before turning out, and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

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Ginger, garlic, allspice and Mexican tomatoes with green chiles all combine to make this flavorful easy slow-cooker  Caribbean stew.  The winter weather seems to have griped much of our country.  Soups and stews are always welcomed in out household, even though we have not experienced the cold that many of you are facing.  This is my homage to the colder climes.  I remember how effectively a warm fire and a bowl of stew could chase away the bitter cold.  I can still picture us in our northern abode, huddled in front of our hearth clutching warm bowls of stew, spooning their warmth into our mouths, while sipping glasses of  Burgundy wine.  It was a comforting feeling knowing we were snug and warm while the winds blew and the snow swirled outside of our windows.  We are far from that weather now, but I have to admit that I enjoyed it and miss it.  So forgive me for romanticizing winter.  I also know the down side.

Because I have been so busy, I wanted to enlist my slow-cooker to be my kitchen ally for the day.  This recipe was in last years’ Food Network Magazine.  Once the prep work is done, there is nothing more to do for dinner, unless you want to heat some rolls or make a salad.   Stay warm.

SLOW-COOKER CARIBBEAN BEEF STEW

3 sprigs thyme
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/4-inch cubes
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, quartered
4 medium carrots, cut crosswise into thirds
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 10-ounce can Rotel (Mexican-style diced tomatoes with green chiles)
4 scallions
Hot sauce, for serving

Strip the leaves from 1 sprig thyme and chop; combine with the flour, allspice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper in a large bowl.  Add the beef and toss to coat.  Put the potatoes, carrots, the remaining 2 thyme sprigs, the ginger and garlic in a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker.  Add the beef, reserving any excess seasoned flour in the bowl.  Whisk 1/2 cup water and the Worcestershire sauce into the reserved seasoned flour, then add to the slow cooker.  Pour the tomatoes on top.  Cover and cook on low 7 hours or on high 4 hours.

Add the scallions to the stew and season with salt.  Divide among bowls and serve with hot sauce.

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How many ways can you cook a chicken breast?  It is only limited by your imagination.  But this is one of my favorite ways to do it.  There is something very special about putting a pecan crust on a chicken breast.  It is so Southern, and since I have lived in the South for most of my life, it is now in my genes and a part of my cooking style.

There is so much going on right now.  I am sure you are experiencing the same thing.  The panic of  ” Oh no, I am not ready for Christmas”, the decorating, the gift buying and the pressure to pull out all of the stops with baking and entertaining.  My mantra this year is to relax.  I am doing meals that are easy.  No complicated gourmet dishes are involved.

The pecan mixture can be made ahead of time and kept in a baggie in the freezer.  I buy my chicken breasts from Springer Mountain.  They are hand trimmed to 4 ounces each and individually wrapped.  It makes it easy to pull out the number that you need.  The thawing time is quick.

This is an easy week night meal after you have spent the day shopping.  Pair it with sauteed green beans and baked acorn squash.  I used some of the left over pecan mixture in the cavities of the squash along with a little brown sugar and a pat of butter.

PECAN CRUSTED CHICKEN WITH MUSTARD SAUCE ( Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine)

Serves 4

1 cup pecans
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cayenne
1 egg
2 tablespoon water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/3 pounds in all)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons grainy or Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

In a food processor, pulse the pecans with the cornstarch, thyme, paprika, 1 1`/4 teaspoons of the alt, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne until the nuts are chopped fine.  Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.

Whisk together the egg and the water in a small bowl.  Dip each chicken breast into the egg mixture and then into the nut mixture.

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat.  Add the chicken to he pan and cook or 5 minutes.  Turn and continue cooking until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes longer.  Be gentle when you turn the chicken because the pecan crust is delicate.  I transferred the chicken to a small baking sheet and put them in the oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes to be sure they were cooked through.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, sugar, parsley, a pinch of cayenne, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Serve the chicken with the mustard dipping sauce.

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