October, In Search Of

 

 



October, In Search Of

 

Including:

~Two recipes of utmost deliciousness

~Two restaurant recommendations

~An account of our amazing visit to Burlington & Shelburne, Vermont

 

 

 

Dad's French Onion Soup

 

I would just like to say that my Dad is an inspiration to me, both personally and in the kitchen. I won't say that I was at his hip as a wee child, but he always turns a hopeful eye to my opinion after he's turned out yet another incredible meal. I guess you could say that I love the foods that I love because I was determined to "be like Dad" in the kitchen. It started in college with my failed attempts at sticky buns. I thought I had to learn how to do that one thing, in order to be a grown-up, in order to have any kind of holiday at all. It means so much to me every time I master a recipe, especially one that's been in the family for a while. Some recipes appear every year at their appointed times while some pop up after years of neglect. This one is next on my list to learn. They say that the fifth taste is Umami (Deliciousness). Trust me, you'll taste it right away.

 

There are actually two different versions of this recipe, so I'll post both. I suggest heating up some fontina cheese over a slice of bread in a toaster oven and then plopping it on the top right before you go to eat. And technique is key here, as Dad is always quick to remind me.

 

Onion Soup (Regular)

~1 very large (1 lb) white onion, sliced thin

~2 Cups dry white wine (Macon-Villages brand, if possible)

~2 Tb unsalted butter

~6 Cups unsalted chicken stock (homemade is the best way to get this)

~6 slices crusty baugette

~2 Cups grated Gruyere cheese

 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Combine onion, wine and butter in an oven-proof pan and braise, uncovered until the onion is very soft and most of the liquid is absorbed.

3. Bring stock to a simmer.

4. Distribute onions to six bowls, add stock, bread & cheese in that order and broil.

5. Serve!

 

From: Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells, Workman Publishing Inc. NY. NY.

 

Onion Soup - Gratinee Lyonaise

~2.5 Quarts broth (mix of chicken and beef)

~Twig of thyme

~2 bay leaves

~3 lbs of yellow onions peeled and thinly sliced

~3 Tb butter

~2 Tb vegtable/olive oil

~Salt

~1 tsp sugar

~4 Tb flour

~2 Cups dry white wine

~French bread

~Cheese: Swiss, Gruyere, or Fontina

 

Heat broth, add thyme and bay leaves. Cook slices of onions in butter and oil in a large covered skillet until soft and golden. Sprinkle with 2 tsp of salt, the sugar and flour, and cook 5 minutes more, uncovered on medium. Stir until onions and flour are brown. pour wine into onions, stiring, pour into broth and simmer 30 minutes. Taste and correct any seasonings.

 

Recipe from "The French Family Feast" by Mireille Johnston, 1988, Simon & Schuster.

 

 

Puree of Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Brown Sugar

 

Most winter squashes need to be peeled and cooked, and then cooked one more time into the recipe you intend to make. Here's a little cooking lessons about winter squashes and pumpkins.

 

~1 medium (1.5 lb) butternut squash, pumpkin, or banana squash

~1 Cup fresh cranberries

~2 Cups brown sugar

~A dash of nutmeg

~2 Cups apple cider

 

Take the medium-sized squash, cut it in half, scrape out the seeds, peel it, and cut it into 2-inch-sized cubes. Put the squash into a saucepan with the fresh cranberries, brown sugar, and cider. Season with a little salt and pepper, and a dash of the nutmeg. very simple. Bring the mixture to a boil, and immediately turn to low ans simmer, stirring every 10-15 minutes to keep it from sticking. Let it cook on that low heat for 30-45 minutes, until the cranberries have burst and the squash is soft to a knife. Take it off the stove and mash it like mashed potatoes. Put it all into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar and shaved cold butter, and bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

 

This is a "how to do it" recipe. You can use the same principle with parsnips and cranberries, carrots and cranberries, or beets and cranberries.

 

From: "Cooking in the Shaker Spirit", ie, the best cookbook I've ever bought.

 

 

Capitol Grounds

 

While moseying through Montpelier, VT the other weekend Emmy and I found ourselves cruising for a light dinner before getting back on the road to Burlington. We picked up coffees at the Capitol Grounds and split a sandwhich called the Monsuier Croquet. I have never eaten a better sandwhich. Egg, pancetta, gruyere cheese (cheese of some type, anyway), on a warmed croissant. Some kind of heaven.

 

 

Lucca's

 

So, back when I was just a wee writer attending Keene State College I looking longingly through the windows of Lucca's, too poor to even think about stepping in the doors. Well, I had (at that point) the perfect sandwhich at their deli sometime in my Junior year. During Pumpkinfest this year (a giant jack-o-lantern festival) Emmy and I strolled into town with empty tummies. Mom and Dad had eaten at Lucca's a couple months ago and highly reccomended it to me. Since I spent most of my college days filling up on cafeteria pasta and subs at Athens', I heartily agreed to return to the Italian restaurant.

 

There was a special menu just for Pumpkinfest, which was just as well considering the crowd. I had salmon on a bed of some tiny wee pasta and Emmy had orichette pasta with a butternut squash cream sauce. I mean, the food was perfectly proportioned, the service was great, the decor was fantastic, and if any place in the whole state has Umami, my money's on this place. Well done, Lucca, we'll be back.

 

 

There and Back Again

 

Beauty can strike at any time, taking our breath away, crystalizing a moment in time.

 

The grey clouds rolled heavy and threatening across the Shelburne plain. I knelt on that long white road, grey dust slicking my tires and the knees of my jeans. Baby hummed, quietly for once, behind me as if even she couldn't disturbe the peace of that place. Red-winged blackbirds screamed in the dry rushes and a hidden brook babbled. The road was wet and cold and a winter wind picked at the soft fleece of my coat. There was silence on the land and the road sign proclaiming this to be Simmons Drive hung askew. I looked around. Intersections familiar and not reared suddenly from the depths of memory. I searched through the skeleton trees for a swing I barely remember using. With my gloves pulled off I turned the air in my hand, and even that felt almost right.

 

The smell, the land, the sky, and the shrouded horizon (where I knew Camel's Hump was lurking) all consolidated into focus. A bare hillside in winter, strung with candles in paper bags. Pulling cattails under a singing summer sun. The blue-black night when we watched the full moon walk the ridge of the Hump and finally, tentatively, soar up and up, as if in a huge, white hot-air balloon. I have never seen the moon so big as it was on that night. Nana's land, and the house that is not her house, stands almost untouched at the top of the hill. I choose three smooth white stones and rush back to the warmth of the car. My fingers are stained with white clay.

 

The penninsula is ahead of us. We crawl down the road to Shelburne Farms, quiet now in its off-season. Trees soar overhead, tall and lonely, like giants. And then, like the giant's house, the barnyard emerges from the hillside. A horseshoe-shaped barn with all the height, pomp and circumstance of a catholic church rises to greet us. We are in awe of its size. I am dwarfed, as if I were suddenly in Spain again, looking up at the awesome, larger-than-life tomb of Christopher Columbus. We circle the closed barnyard in silence, pointing, as if the lack of speech somehow captures the holiness of this place.

 

A further cruise, toward the inn and carriage house, brings us to one of the most western locales in Vermont. A hard application of the brakes later and we are alone in this vast swath of green hills populated only by sheep and deer. The silence is immense. The wind is a suggestion of winter. But the view; I swear I have found heaven, if it were to exist, it would be here.

 

While the sky was grey and mopey, on the other side of Lake Champlain, in New York, the Berkshire Mountains rise sharply from the shoreline, speckled with brilliant color and zebra-striped sunlight. The northern horizon literaly continues to the curve of the earth, disappearing in a viscous, silver line, beyond which lies Canada and the St Lawerence River. Cradled by green fields at my back, an enormous lake at my front, a sky so huge it seems to swallow and yet give back everything, and what is clearly Aslan's Country beyond the water, I know I have found, perhaps, the most awesome place on earth.

 

 

Much love to you all. I will write again at the beginning of December!

xoxoxo

Kim & Emmy

September

Green fields rolled up and away to the crest of a small hill. Stout stone walls spread out line a hemline, keeping within them a crooked apple orchard, cow pasture, and the myriad of buildings that make up the Shaker Village. Many of the houses are old, 1700’s and yet others were post-1900 additions. The Shakers were a people who believed in doing God’s work, community sharing, and making items of love and value.

The Artisan Festival is held every September, a combination of vendors, farmer’s market, and food stalls. There were many craft demonstrations, such as wool felting, weaving, rag rug-making, braided rug-making, and blacksmithing. The Shakers made many simple, beautiful crafts in their day, as well as planting an enormous herb garden on the hill overlooking the pond. A seamstress demonstrated how to make covered buttons from the inside out, and another artisan heated strips of wood and turned them around to form tiny oval boxes.

It was nice to see how people in their era used to live, everything from a one-room school house to an enormous woodshed already stacked with cords upon cords of wood. Our favorite displays were by far the blacksmith, who beat scraps of iron into little heart shapes for the waiting audience, and a gentleman showing off a timber-frame reconstruction. The building had once been an ice shed in Downeast Maine, and had been painstakingly restored to stand correctly, with each connecting frame marked with a picture or letter so that it could be disassembled and reconstructed at will.

It was a lot of fun, and after a wonderful lunch on the warm grass in front of the band, we will certainly return.

LESSONS in SHEEP

 

The smell of southern New Hampshire in the fall is hay and crisp leaves, pine and tree bark, the way the wet, soft scent of a reed-covered marsh sneaks in through the windows at night.

 I drove along twisting roads that climbed mountains, forded tiny streams, and skirted 1700’s farmlands. The sky was high and blue as cornflower and the fall wind blew light and chill. Slants of golden sunlight cut a zebra pattern on the road and I passed through narrow, hidden valleys with steep slopes and rocky rivers.

 I arrived at the farm quite late in the evening, which was cool, with absolute silence, save for the soft clucking of the chickens and the distant baaing of sheep. We plunged right away into farm chores; herding the chickens and ducks in for the night, feeding the pony, and mucking out the stalls. It was a strange thing, putting my hands on the rough pitchfork after so many years absent from the horse training camps of my early Girl Scout years. But I knew what to do, and that didn’t feel so bad. It was nice to feel competent at something, at a task you’re set and to complete it. When I was in Scouts I never liked mucking-duty, but I was happy to return to it now.

 We went to bed tired and exhausted. I rose the next morning at 6:30, long after, it seemed, that the chores were finished. Such is farm life. We prepared the barn for the coming of the sheep, sweeping the floor as clean as it could get and opening the appropriate gates. After the shearer arrived we climbed the half-mile hill to the sheep’s pasture.

“Here, sheepies!” A grain bucket rattled. The girls and I had our instructions; walk behind the herd, make sure no one got lost and keep them on the road. The best laid plans, indeed. The sheep, as eager as Black Friday shoppers, had other plans. They charged through the gap in the fence and on down the road, with us running behind, waving our arms crying, “Stop, please!” and laughing as we ran.

 Every sheep in the fold followed the bends of the pasture road perfectly, outstripping us by a hundred yards at least. They crossed the paved road between the pasture and the farmhouse and then all milled, every one, into the barn yard. We arrived breathless and thankful that no cars had chanced to be passing.

 The sheep are a breed called Leicester, developed in Britain in the 1700’s and so prized for their heavy wools (up to 6 lbs for a ram’s summer fleece) and thick, meaty carcasses. They grow fast and have thick bones, and are often used to improve the quality of other breeds. They are also well-tempered.

 They say a good shearer can be done in just a few minutes and she was, though the other sheep were curious and so was the dog, who poked around and licked at bits of wool. Unskilled as I was, my task was to do quality control on the fleece; that is, I got to inspect each fleece for bits of hay and scat, and remove them. Each fleece was bagged, weighed and labeled according to which sheep the fleece had come from with the date, and to set aside the bags with the tops open, so the oily fleeces could properly dry. Later they would be washed and the sheep would be garlicked for worms and turned out into the new pasture.

 We advanced up the hill once more and moved the light-weight electric fencing and the water trough to a new area of pasture. A lamb had died, perhaps in the night, and her fluffy body lay cold and alone in the shade of the hill. We inspected her for scratch marks and worms, but found nothing. A short trip in the truck later brought us back to the barnyard, where the lamb was carefully sheared of all her still-good wool and then regulated to the enormous compost heap behind the barn. It was more than I thought I would see, or help with, but it was nothing I hadn’t expected to be a reality. It was sad, money-wise, to see the lamb dead, but the death itself was not a shocking thing.

 I left at lunchtime, before garlicking or turning the sheep out to a new pasture. I wanted to stay, and would certainly go back. It’s not romantic, farm life, but it was fun and hard, and it satisfied my heart and my hands.

RESTAURANT of the MONTH:

The restaurant we visited that we loved the most this month would definitely be the Italian Farmhouse, a division of the Common Man company, in Plymouth, NH.

 http://www.thecmaninn.com/plymouth/dining/italian-farmhouse.aspx

 We highly recommend it.

RECIPES

WONTON SOUP

 

Ingredients

• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup shredded or diced cooked pork
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 16 wonton wrappers
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions

Directions

Place broth and cabbage in a large saucepan and set pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine pork, soy sauce and sesame oil. Pulse 3 or 4 times until the pork is finely minced but not a paste.

Arrange 16 wonton wrappers on a flat surface. Spoon filling onto the center of each wrapper, to within 1/4-inch of the edges (about 1 teaspoon per wrapper). Wet your fingers with water and pull up corners of the wontons to create individual "purses". Pinch the edges together (with wet fingers) to seal.

Place stuffed wontons in simmering broth. Cook 5 minutes, until wontons are tender and translucent. Remove from heat and stir in scallions.

 

BISCUITS SUPREME

Ingredients

·        2 Cups sifted enriched flour

·        4 tsp baking powder

·        ½ tsp salt

·        ½ tsp cream tartar

·        2 tsp sugar (I use ¼ Cup sugar)

·        ½ Cup butter

·        2/3 Cup milk

Directions

In large bowl combine the first 5 ingredients. (I buy pre-sifted flour and don’t’ bother to sift) I use my pastry blender to lightly mix dry ingredients. Add butter and blend with pastry blender until well-mixed. Make a depression in the mix. Add milk all at once. Stir with sturdy fork till mixture is formed. Toss onto floured surface and pat and push to rectangle or squares about ¼ inch to ½ inch thick. Cut with knife into squares or use cookie cutter, or diamond shapes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Aluminum pans make for a more golden brown color.

 

 

 

Notes

We have made these biscuits several times in September, and they are always a hit, gone within nearly minutes. The notes on this family recipe card say “Mom to Mimi, via Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book”. There is no date, and since my mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother were all Mimi, it’s impossible to know who’s talking.

 

Closing thoughts:

That’s all for now, my dears. I hope you enjoy and I wish you well during this rather tumultuous month of October. I, quite unexpectedly, don’t have a job anymore. But be assured that you can expect regular updates still, I won’t abandon your need for fabulous recipes. You can expect another update after Halloween. So, in the meantime, good peace, and good food.

Love,

Kim & Emmy

The Recipe Queen: Year 1

Looking back on the blog it’s hard to imagine it’s been a year already, a year in which so much has already happened. True to my promise, here is the whole list of everything good we managed to make over the past year. It’s interesting to see how the blog gradually switched from restaurant reviews to cooking, paralleling my own journey towards sustainable food.

~~~

It’s almost funny that Emmy’s only post (the blog has become my exclusive project) was the first time we posted a recipe. Below, find “Surprise: Eggless Pancakes”, a treat I made early one morning after coming off night shift.

~Eggless Pancakes~

·         1 cup all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon sugar

·         1 teaspoon cinnamon

·         2 teaspoon baking powder

·         1 cup whole milk

·         1 tablespoon vegetable oil

·         1 tablespoon water

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         2 tablespoon butter

 

Then mix and griddle. For more detailed mixing instructions, feel free to follow the link to the original. This recipe makes about 8-10 pancakes.

 

~On-the-Spot-Pancake-Glaze~

 

·         2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

·         1 tablespoon honey

·         1/5-1/4 cup brown sugar

 

Melt butter in microwave, then combine with honey and brown sugar. When Kim made it she used three tablespoons of butter, but in hindsight we both agree it would be better with only two.

 

~~~

Here’s a yearly recipe, and one I just recently remade.

~Dad’s Apple Pie~

One double pie crust for a 10” pie top and bottom Preparation Time: 15 minutes, one hour overall

FROM THE KITCHEN OF ROGER SIMMONS

Double Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS:

ITEM	QTY	MEASURE
Water (or skim milk)	5	Tablespoons
Butter (or lard, Crisco, margarine)	½	Cup
Salt	½	Teaspoon
Flour	1-1/2	Cups

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix flour and salt together.

2. Cut in the fat. There are several ways to do this. The easiest is to mix this in a food processor with the steel knives after you have sliced the butter into pats and distributed it throughout the flour salt mix. Alternatively you can use a pastry cutter. Or if you have neither of these you can use two sharp knives working against each other. At the end of the cutting in process the flour/fat mixture should have the consistency of corn meal. I do this with my hands.

3. Add the liquid to the flour/fat mixture. If mixing by hand make a well in the flour and add exactly the amount of liquid and mix well with a fork. If using a food processor switch to the mixing knives (usually a blunter plastic set) and add the liquid and then pulse just enough to combine. A fork works just as well.

4. Divide the amount of dough in half. Shape each half into a disk and then refrigerate the dough, covered in plastic wrap for one to two hours until chilled and firm. You can then:

a. Proceed to the appropriate recipe.

b. Freeze.

2-5 hours is best, that way you can get the dough literally paper-thin and it won’t tear. It may crack around the edges as it gets dry, though, so don’t leave it too long. I wrap them in plastic while I go out & run errands. The dough is good to nibble on, too.

SOURCE: My mother gave me this recipe in the mid-80’s as the base for apple pie or a quiche. I believe that this recipe came out of a Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1950’s.

Easy, right? Of course, now on to the pie part! Tasting is encouraged!

One 10’ double crust Apple Pie Preparation Time: 30 minutes, 90 minutes overall

FROM THE KITCHEN OF ROGER SIMMONS

~Apple Pie~

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

 

ITEM	QTY	MEASURE
Pie Crust (double)	1
Apples (Large) (Cored, peeled and sliced)	7 – 8
Salt	1	Dash
Flour	1	Tablespoon
Sugar	1	Cup
Cinnamon	1	Teaspoon
Nutmeg	¼	Teaspoon

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

5.      Rinse apples and then peel, slice and core them into a large mixing bowl. I traditionally use Cortland Apples for this recipe as they get soft but not totally mushy like Macintosh nor will they still be crunchy like a Granny Smith. Feel free to experiment. My theory on this is the tart-to-sweet ratio/content. The more tart the apple, the more likely its chemistry will keep it stiff and crunchy, the sweeter the apple, the more likely the chemistry in it will turn it to sugary mush. I experienced the ushiness this year with the Braeburn (I think) apples we chose. It looks like Cortland are a New England-centric variety, so I encourage you to ask your grocer/local apple-picking stand how to get the perfect consistency. Of course, picking them yourself is always best, and fun outing while the dough is setting in the fridge. J

 

2. Remove one pie dough package from the refrigerator. Using a well-floured board, roller and hands roll out the pie dough to cover the well of a 10” pie plate with approximately 1” hanging over on all sides. Set aside.

3. Mix dry ingredients together and then dump over the apples. Mix well with a large spoon. Place the apple mix into the pie plan gently so as not to tear the pie dough. Pile higher in the center. Set aside. Taste this. Give everyone you know a taste. DO IT.

 

4. Remove the other pie dough package from the refrigerator. Using a well-floured board, roller and hands roll out the pie dough to cover the pie plate and apples with approximately 1” hanging over on all sides. Working carefully drape the pie dough over the pie plate and apples.

 

5. Trim the pie dough even with the edge of the pie plate. Work around the edge of the pie plate pinching the edges together. Cut several vents in the center of the pie crust. Bake at 400 degree F for 50 minutes. To prevent the juices from over flowing onto the bottom of the oven place a baking pan underneath the pie plate. My pinching technique still sucks. But if you manage to get a very thin crust by leaving your dough in 2-5 hours or longer, DO NOT leave your pie in for the 50 minutes, the crust will be too thin and it will BURN. Make sure that after 30 minutes you are checking the pie frequently.

 

SOURCE: My mother gave me this recipe in the mid-80’s. It is a plain and delicious recipe that has always been praised. Using butter to make the crust gives it extra flavor.

~~~

As I was searching for recipes I came across this gem:

So yesterday, as Emmy and I made our weekly pilgrimage, one of the Fromagination employees, Gabriel, a new kid who's taller than any basketball player I've met and has just as much enthusiasm (just in the cheese department) was dressed up for Halloween as cheese. This may not seem like an enormous leap, given his chosen profession, but he had a foam wedge hat on, a full body yellow biking suit on, and a sticker on his cheek that proclaimed him as "Marieke Gouda", a delicious young cheese with lots of bold flavor.

~~~

The next recipe up is a particular favorite of mine, we only get it once every couple years, it’s that good.

~Vassar Chocolate Sauce~

Serves: 8-10 as a Sauce for Ice Cream Preparation Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

ITEM	QTY	MEASURE
Sugar	1	Cup
Water	1/4	Cup
Bitter Chocolate (unsweetned)	1	Oz or square
Karo Syrup	2	Tablespoons DO NOT SUBSTITUTE!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Measure and mix all ingredients into a medium (1 or 1-1/2 quart) saucepan.

2. On high heat bring to a full boil stirring occasionally as chocolate melts and then continuously thereafter.

3. Boil for 1 minute (use a timer to make sure) stirring constantly. Over boiling by more than 10 seconds will result in a sauce that hardens like rock on the ice cream. Under boil and you will have something too runny. Ours was too runny on the first go, so we re-heated it to boil another 10 seconds. Also can be safely refrigerated.

4. Cool by immersing the saucepan half way into a larger container of cold water (We just used our soup pot in the sink) that you have more cold water running into or by stages. The reason to cool is that if you put boiling sauce onto ice cream then it will melt it straight away. Serve the ice cream into bowls while you cool off the sauce.

5. Leftovers. Whatever is left over can be scrapped into a bowl and reheated later, preferably when everyone else is out of the house or asleep.

NOTES: This recipe comes down to you from your great grandmother Katharine Hawley who attended Vassar College before she left after her freshman year to marry your great grandfather. The story was that making this chocolate sauce was the one lasting thing she took away from that year in college. When I was in the Army I asked my mother to send me this recipe which she did but she left out the ¼ cup of water thereby ensuring that whenever we made it turned into lava. Dad was in Germany at the time, after his first year he returned in the summer to marry Mom and they lived together abroad for several years before coming back to the States.

~~~

And, again, from my Father’s kitchen:

2 loaves or 3-4 dozen rolls Preparation Time: 1 hour labor, 6-8 hours overall

FROM THE KITCHEN OF ROGER SIMMONS

~Mrs. Bullard’s Bread/Rolls~

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

 

ITEM	QTY	MEASURE
Water	2	Cups
Water	1/4	Cup
Olive Oil		To coat
Sugar	½	Cup
Butter	2	Tablespoons
Salt	1	Tablespoon
Eggs	2
Flour	8	Cups
Yeast	2	Packages

 

 

DIRECTIONS: Fun fact: Breads are made with yeast. Pastries are made with butter. Cakes are made with eggs. So, because this recipe involves yeast, butter, and eggs it's technically all three.

 

1. Place sugar, salt and butter in a large mixing bowl. Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil and add to the dry ingredients. Let cool to 105 to 115 F.

 

2. Warm ¼ cup of water to between 85 and 105 F. (I can do this by feel, now. I don't need a thermometer.) Add a small portion (1 teaspoon) of the sugar and flour and mix in yeast to proof. Let stand about 10 minutes until foamy.

 

3. Add the yeast mixture to the hot water mix. Add ½ the flour to the water mix and beat well. Beat the two eggs until fluffy and then add to the flour and water mix. Add the remaining flour, less ¾ of a cup, one cup at a time and mix well.

 

4. Roll out on a bread board that is well floured with the ¾ cup and knead 8-10 minutes. After kneading place in an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled in size. Punch down. At this point either:

 

a. Proceed to sticky bun recipe.

 

b. Form into rolls or loaves and let rise until doubled in bulk. Bake 20 minutes in a 350 F oven.

SOURCE: My grandmother got this recipe from Mrs. Bullard who was a friend of hers in Geneva, NY in the 1930’s. Growing up we had this recipe at Thanksgiving and Christmas as the base for sticky buns and small rolls.

8-9 sticky buns Preparation Time: 2 hours labor, 4-5 hours overall

FROM THE KITCHEN OF ROGER SIMMONS

 

~Sticky Buns~

 

INGREDIENTS:

ITEM	QTY	MEASURE
Raw Bullard Dough	1/4	Bullard Roll Recipe
Filling
Butter (melted)	2	Tablespoons
Brown Sugar	½	Cup
Cinnamon	1/4	Teaspoon
Sauce
Butter	4	Tablespoons
Light Corn Syrup	½	Cup
Brown Sugar	¾	Cup

1. Prepare sauce. (Okay, I don't know why this recipe still includes "Light Corn Syrup". Corn syrup is gross and it's nearly-garunteed to come from GMO and pesticide-drenched corn. Poison in your sticky buns? Yuck! Of course, Dad never uses corn syrup when he makes it so when I did when I was experimenting in college I never understood why the sauce wasn't as sweet. He then told me you have to have a combination of maple syrup and honey. So I did that in 2010 for Thanksgiving. The sticky buns were so sweet they were nearly inedible. So, I said, "Daaaaaaad." To which he responded, "A few capfuls of molasses." And now they're perfect.) Mix ingredients together and bring to boil stirring frequently while heating and continuously while boiling. Full boil for up to 60 (This year Dad texted me to say 45 seconds maximum. I agree. Otherwise it'll end up as hard-tack.) seconds. Pour into a 10” pie pan or 9” X 9” glass Pyrex dish. Let cool.

2. Roll dough out in a rectangle on an unfloured board, about 12” by 6”. Pour melted butter onto dough and spread to within 1” of top and bottom. Sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mix. Roll dough up the long way (like a hotdog). Slice evenly into 8-9 pieces and place on top of the sauce mix. Leave space between the slices for the rolls to rise.

3. Place rolls in a warm place and let rise until doubled in bulk. Bake 20 minutes in a 350 F oven. After removing from oven cover with tin foil and a large plate. Flip carefully. Serve.

NOTES: Since I usually do this recipe on the holidays for a midday meal I prepare the dough recipe the night before, allow one rise and then punch down and refrigerate. The next morning I pull the dough out several hours before I will start the recipe and let it warm up. As for the sauce I usually mix in some honey and a bit of maple syrup and decrease the corn syrup to make up the required volume. If you want nuts or raisins you would put them on top of the sauce before setting the rolls in.

 

~~~

I’m so sorry that all the formatting sucks.

~~~

~Carrot Walnut Bread~

2 cups grated carrots
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two medium loaf pans by greasing and dusting with flour or lining with parchment paper.

1. Grate and measure the carrots and set aside.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Whip the eggs together in a medium bowl. Stir the sugar in and then add the oil, extract, and milk.
4. Make a depression in the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture along with the carrots and nuts. Mix with a spatula until combined.
5. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until the loaves test done when a toothpick is inserted in the middle of the loaves. Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on wire racks.

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“Fluffy Dinner Rolls” would have been here, but the website was experiencing some serious linkrot. So, that’s not happening. Onward and upward.

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~Potato Soup~

 

·         1 med onion, chopped

·         1 tbsp butter

·         Chicken broth/bullion cubes

·         Potatoes, approx. 6

·         1 stalk celery, chopped

·         1 peeled carrot, chopped

·         Salt to taste

·         Milk/half & half cream

 

Sautee 1 med onion in 1 tbsp butter until clear, not brown

Chop carrot and celery

Roughly chop potatoes and place in pot with celery and carrot

Add water to cover potatoes, one bullion cube per cup

Boil 20-25 mins or until potatoes are fork-soft

Mash with masher

If necessary, simmer until soup reaches desired consistency

Add salt to taste

Add milk/cream to taste (best with half& half)

This recipe, her Mom adds, can be doubled or halved according to need. Just add as many potatoes as you like, enough broth to cover and veggies to preference. Here, we substituted celeriac for celery because celery is not in season yet.

 

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Then, this was really good:

~Pop-Overs~

 

~1 Tb melted unsalted butter

~3 eggs

~1 Cup whole milk

~1 Cup flour

~1/4 tsp salt

DO NOT preheat oven, it needs to be cold when you put the pop-overs in. Take a pop-over tin (deep) or a muffin tin and grease with oil/Pam/cold butter/etc. In a mixing bowl beat together wet ingredients until foamy. I suggest using an electric mixer here, but you don't have to. Beat in the dry ingredients until smooth, DO NOT overmix. Batter should be thin. Fill each tin 2/3rds of the way full with batter. Place pan on middle rack in a cold oven. Turn temperature to 375F or 190C. A deep tin will take about 35-45 minutes, while a muffin tin will take about 25 minutes. DO NOT open the oven door for the firs 30 minuts of cooking, or tops will not rise. When you remove gently pierce the top of each pop-over to allow steam to escape. Let cool. Fill with jam and enjoy!

 

~~~

And a personal favorite:

~Ultimate Chicken Soup~

 

~3 carrots Not seasonal (Carol's larder ran out so no more until next year), replaced w/ 2 lbs frozen sweet corn.

~3 celery Also not seasonal, replaced w/ 2 small celeriac, chopped.

~2 small onions

~1 clove garlic, chopped

~enough potatoes to fill a small sauce pan, peeled & chopped

~enough water w/ bullion OR enough stock to cover final amount of veggies&chicken

~salt & pepper to taste

~meat off 1 chicken

~oil/butter for frying veggies

~white cooking wine

~rosemary & other Italian seasonings, added to taste

 

We got a whole, 3-4lb pasture-raised chicken & roasted it slowly at 375degreesF for 1/2hour per pound of chicken. Cleaned it, patted it dry, & rubbed it all over w/ a rub that contained:

salt

pepper

garlic powder

sumac powder

& some thyme.

Every half hour we took the chicken out of the oven, turned it, & basted across the skin w/ a stick of butter. Then the chicken was de-boned & the meat set aside for the soup.

Boil chopped potatoes until easily pierced w/ a knife, reserve WITHOUT draining. Sautee the rest of the veggies in a large soup pot until cooked down/sweated to personal taste. Just as onions are starting to brown, add a splash of white wine. This brings up anything that has cooked onto the bottom of the pan. Scrape w/ a wooden spoon to bring up the cooked-on bits. Add potatoes & chopped chicken meat. Add enough water w/ bullion OR stock to cover. Season to taste. Remove when done.

 

~~~

In between these recipes I made The Mush Travesty of 2013. It was the mushiest thing to ever mush the Mush Train. Again, we persevered.

~~~

~Cucumber Moons Sauteed w/ Fresh Dill~

 

Mmmmm. Little crunchy-shalloty snacks.

 

·         2 large or 3 medium cukes

·         3 Tb butter

·         3 med-large shallots, chopped/minced

·         2-3 pinches fresh/dried dill

·         salt & pepper to taste

 

Peel cukes, scoop out seeds w/ a spoon, chop like celery into "C" shapes. Chop shallots. Heat butter on med or med-high until completely melted. Sautee veggies until beginning to get crisp. Add seasonings to taste & cook (stirring constantly) several minutes longer until desired crisp-ness. Enjoy immediately.

 

~~~

~Brown Rice Stuffing~

 

~Oil for cooking (we used local sunflower oil)

~2 cloves garlic, minced

~2 onions, chopped

~3 cups raw brown rice

~6 cups water, chicken or veggie stock, or tomato juice (we used chicken stock)

~1/2 tsp allspice

~1/2 cup almonds, chopped (I put them in a plastic baggie and beat it with a meat tenderizer)

~1 cup chopped tomatoes

~3/4 lb cheddar chez, grated (just get the stuff that comes already grated, 1 lb is 16oz, 1 C is 8oz)

~salt & pepper, to taste

Heat oil in a large skillet/saucepan; add & saute garlic & onions. Add rice & brown about 5 minutes. Add desired liquid and allspice. Cover and cook until rice is done, about 40 minutes. (It says toast the almonds here, but I didn't bother.) Stir in tomatoes, cheese, almonds, & salt & pepper to taste. You can stuff into peppers (9) & bake at 350 for 30 minutes or you can eat it plain, stuff a bird with it, what ever you want! It was great!

We're living out of boxes now in anticipation of the Great Migration, but it's not that bad. I'm super excited, are you?

~~~

~Strawberry Muffins~

 

·         2 Cups flour

·         1/3rd Cup white sugar

·         5 tsp baking powder

·         1/2 tsp salt

·         1 large egg, slightly beaten

·         1 Cup plain whole milk yogurt

·         1 lemon, zest of

·         4 Tb unsalted butter, melted

·         1.5 Cups chopped strawberries

 

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix until combined. Make a well in the center. Beat egg seperately and melt butter. Add to the dry mixture. Add the rest of the wet ingredients. Trust me on the yogurt. Add chopped up strawberries. Stir until combined, do not overmix.

Put batter evenly into muffin tin, bake 20-30 minutes, or until crowns have browned and feel firm when you tap them. Enjoy!

 

~~~

~Summer Strawberry Soup~

 

·         1 pint/2 cups strawberries, chopped

·         1/3 Cup honey

·         2.5 Tb fruit vinegar

·         3 Cups whole milk plain yogurt

·         2 tsp sweet wine

·         1/4 tsp orange juice

·         1/4 tsp lemon juice

 

Combine all ingredients & mix well. Store in the fridge and serve cold. Lasts forever, quite easy to double or triple the recipe without any trouble. Really, you can add as many strawberries as you want, although the recipe doesn't translate to blueberries very well, I've found. Can be used as a cold soup or your daily yogurt. I ate this every day for three months running a couple years ago.

 

~~~

~CORNELL CHICKEN~

 

Cornell Chicken - Nana Simmons’ recipe from Ithaca NY (chicken BBQ at Grad school at Cornell University)

You Need:
1 Egg	Instructions:
½ cup corn oil or canola oil
1 cup Cider Vinegar	Chicken pieces; rinsed and dried; can use breasts with bone in, or thighs and drumsticks.
2 Tablespoons salt	Using a whisk, or an electric beater.
1 ½ teaspoon Poultry Seasoning	Beat egg until frothy, slowly add oil while beating. Until frothy.
(a pinch) ¼ teaspoon white pepper or substitute ground black pepper.	Add rest of ingredients and beat thoroughly. This is the sauce to marinate the chicken in overnight.
	Pour into freezer weight food baggy (or multiple baggies). Close securely.
If you don’t have time to make overnight, you can get these marinating in the fridge in the morning, turn them during the day and cook them up for supper.	Rinse chicken, pat dry with paper towels, add to the baggy and re- seal. Place in refrigerator, turning the bag over every 2 hours, to keep the sauce moving to baste the chicken pieces.
	Next day, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove chicken from refrigerator, you can pre-warm in microwave (at 50% power). Put the chicken on a baking tray (usually on a baking rack on a baking tray, lined with tin foil) in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes to pre-cook. Check for doneness with a knife, the juices should be clear, not pink. If smaller pieces are done, remove these and cook larger pieces a little longer.
	Finish on the grill or under the broiler oven setting, turning frequently to crisp/ or grill the outside.

 

~~~

~Southern Tomato Pie~

~1 sheet pie crust

~6 plum tomatoes, cut 1/4 inch thick

~Coarse salt (optional)

~2 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese

~olive oil

~1/3 Cup minced fresh basil

~ground pepper to taste

Using a 9-10in pie plate, put crust in. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. DO NOT prick crust (pie weights help here). Partially bake 9-11 minutes, remove and let cool. Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees F. Chop tomatoes, sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired & let drain for a couple minutes. Sprinkle cheese evenly in pastry shell. Arrange tomatoes over cheese in an overlapping circular pattern, covering surface. Brush tomatoes w/ olive oil. Sprinkle w/ basil & pepper. Bake 30-35 minutes. Makes 8 servings. Good the next day!

 

~~~

~Sauteed Chicken Breasts w/ Peaches~

 

~4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat

~salt & pepper

~all-purpose flour

~2 Tb unsalted butter

~1/4 C thinly sliced shallots

~1/4 C balsamic vinegar

~1/4 C chicken broth

~1/4 C heavy/whipping cream

~2 large ripe, but firm peaches (or 1 lb)

~2 Tb shredded fresh basil (trust me, you want it fresh)

1. Use a meat pounder, flatten each breast so that it is roughly the same thickness throughout.

2. Season the breasts with salt and pepper (use more salt that you think you'll need, trust me!), then dredge through the flour, shaking off the excess.

3. Melt 1 Tb of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and saute until cooked through. Cut into the thickest part and make sure that it is cooked all the way through, white, but NO PINK. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with plastic wrap while you make the sauce.

4. Add the remaining 1 Tb butter (I also used a little wine to bring the burnt chicken bits up off the bottom of the pan, a wooden spoon is good for this). When the butter is melted, add the shallots and saute until tender. Add the vinegar and cook until reduced by half, forming a thick glaze. Add the broth and the cream, along with any juices that may have collected on the chicken plate. Cook again until reduced by half and lightly coats the back of a spoon. Add the peaches and toss until just warmed through. Removed from the heat and stir in the basil. Adjust salt & pepper as desired.

5. Take your chicken and spoon some sauce over it.

6. Wow.

 

~~~

And that’s all. It’s strange, we cooked so much over the last year and yet these were the recipes that stood out, that I personally recommend. Happy eating everyone, I’m looking forward to this coming year.

Xoxoxo,

Love always,

Kim & Emmy