MSPCA Bake Sale, Canine Crumpets





This is what 500 Canine Crumpets looks like!



Whew! 14 hours, 500 canine crumpets, 60 biscotti, and 40 slices of roasted garlic foccacia later, and I am finally done preparing for the MSPCA’s Halloween Bake Sale! This was a lot more time-consuming than I thought it would be, so if I decide to do this again I‘ll definitely try to bribe a few friends to help out. After an entire day of baking, I’m fried!

Two of the recipes I made have been featured in previous posts, but I will repost them, along with a new recipe, Canine Crumpets. This is not an original recipe (I found it online here), but I did tweak it a little, adding more parsley after a suggestion in Natural Dog Magazine. These doggie biscuits are very easy to make, although you might have to hunt for some of the ingredients, such as soy flour. Dogs love them - Tessie, my roommate’s dog, will jump almost four feet in the air for one of these things, and when I take them to the shelter for the dogs on the adoption floor, even the pickiest dogs perk right up for one of these!

Dogs are man’s best friend; bake a batch of these and you’ll be their best friend!

Canine Crumpets

½ pound chicken livers
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup corn oil
¼ c. chopped parsley
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup brewer’s yeast
1 cup soy flour
1 cup cornmeal
3 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the chicken livers into smaller pieces and cook them over high heat in a frying pan. When they are fully cooked through, place them in a blender with the chicken stock, corn oil, and parsley. Blend until liquefied.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and mix well. Add the chicken liver puree and mix again, using your hands - the dough will be very stiff.

When dough is completely mixed, break off a tennis-ball section, wrapping the rest in plastic. Take the dough ball and roll it into a quarter-inch thick sheet. Using a small cookie cutter, cut into shapes and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake them 16-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely, then transfer to a plastic container. They will keep longer if stored in the refrigerator.

Pumpkin Pecan Biscotti

3 ½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 ½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
¼ cup melted butter
1 ¼ c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 cup grated raw pumpkin
1 cup toasted and chopped pecans
1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375. Combine the first three ingredients in a mixing bowl; set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat all remaining ingredients with a mixer until well-blended. Stir in the flour mixture until flour is fully incorporated and a moist dough is formed.

Lightly dust a countertop and your hands with flour. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a log shape (about 11 x 1.5 inches). Place both logs on a cookie sheet lightly greased with butter and flatten them slightly. Bake for 25 minutes. When done, set aside to cool enough to handle.


Once logs are cool, transfer them to a cutting board and slice them crosswise into half-inch thick slides. Return the slices, cut side down, to the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven, turn the slices over, and bake for 10 more minutes or until they begin to turn golden-brown.

Let cool, serve dunked in hot coffee.


Roasted Garlic Focaccia

For dough starter:
2/3c. warm water
2.5t. active dry yeast
1c. flour

For dough:
2.5c. unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting
1 head roasted garlic
1/3c. water
1/3c. olive oil, plus extra to grease bowl and pan
1/3c. white wine
1t. salt

Olive oil, salt, and oregano for topping
Equipment: two large mixing bowls, cookie sheet lined w/ aluminum foil, water-filled cake pan

First, make the dough starter. In a mixing bowl, combine 2/3c. warm water and the yeast. Cover with a dish towel and let this sit for 10 minutes or until the water looks murky and bubbly around the edges.

Next, add 1c. of the flour to the bowl. Stir until all the flour is incorporated into the water and a sticky dough forms. Again, cover with a dish towel and let this sit for 30 minutes. During this time, the dough should puff up a little. Use this time to remove the individual cloves from a head of roasted garlic – if the individual cloves are soft like a paste, set them aside. If any are still a little firm, chop them up a bit and set aside. Also, coat the inside of the clean mixing bowl with a splash of olive oil and set aside.

Now it’s time to make the dough. Add 2.5c. flour, prepared roasted garlic, 1/3c. water, olive oil, white wine, and salt to the mixing bowl containing the dough starter. Combine all until fully incorporated and dough is formed. Turn the dough out onto a clean countertop dusted with flour, and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes, dusting the countertop with more flour if the dough starts to stick.

Once the kneading is complete, put the ball of dough into the mixing bowl coated with olive oil. Cover with a dish towel and set aside to rise for approximately one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. In the meantime, line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil and grease the foil with a splash of olive oil.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto the greased cookie sheet. Stretch the dough so that it covers the cookie sheet. Once the dough has stretched, use your fingertips to create “dimples” in the dough – the surface should not be even. Be careful not to poke holes in the dough – small craters will do the trick. Once you’ve dimpled the dough, cover it with the dish towel and let it rise for an additional 45 minutes. Use this time to preheat the oven to 425, placing a water-filled cake pan on the bottom rack of the oven (this creates steam inside the oven).

Once the dimpled dough has risen, remove the dish towel and brush your dough with a thin coat of olive oil, and sprinkle it with a few pinches each of salt and oregano. Now it is time to bake – place the cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven, above the water pan. Lower the oven temperature to 400, close the oven, and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove the focaccia from the oven. Once it is cool enough to handle safely, slice it up and serve. 

New Cocktail Recipe - The Velvet Rope

Oops, I did it again…I have been extremely busy this week with trainings at the MSPCA animal shelter and preparing baked goods for their Halloween bake sale, which has turned out to be a more ambitious undertaking than I had imagined.  I’m making some treats for humans – Roasted Garlic Focaccia, Pumpkin Pecan Biscotti, and Chestnut Raisin Cookies – but most of my goodies are for the pups.  Last night, I made enough dough to make at least 300 “Canine Crumpets.”  Each time I’ve glanced at my to-do list, I’ve asked myself, “Sweetie, what were you thinking?!?”  I’ve realized that I’m no Martha Stewart – I’m more like her Black Sheep kid sister who says semi-questionable things at the dinner table and makes the drinks a little too strong.  But to all the rescue dogs who will be sampling my Canine Crumpets, I’m a domestic goddess, and their opinions are the only ones that truly matter this weekend.

Because I’ve been busy baking, I haven’t posted in a few days.  I don’t want to leave my readers hanging, so I’ll give you a great cocktail recipe that I created this summer.  Named "The Velvet Rope" because of its color, this vodka-based cocktail was inspired by the cover of Vogue’s July issue (right) featuring French actress Marion Cotillard.  The rich color of her dress, the hint of lace peeking out at her neckline, the dark lipstick – sweet, strong, and mysterious, with a spicy edge – just like the following drink.

The Velvet Rope

1 ½ oz. premium vodka, such as Ketel One

3 oz. organic 100% black cherry juice

½ t. bitter dark chocolate syrup*

1 thin slice habanero pepper

Combine in a shaker with ice, serve in a stemless martini glass, and wait for the hint of pepper to fire up your lips! 

VARIATION:  For a unique and artistic presentation, garnish by skewering one whole habanero pepper between two cherries. 

*  To make bitter dark chocolate syrup, combine 1 T. boiling water with 1 T. premium cocoa powder in a small bowl.  Whisk until the cocoa powder is completely blended and no lumps remain.  Let cool.

Around the World in Eighty Bites - Japan

In trying to capture the spirit of my “Around the World in 80 Bites” project, I decided to vicariously visit Japan.  Japan’s two most famous foods are sushi and teriyaki, but these tend to be overdone.  I do plan to write about sushi at some point, but for now, I wanted to make something that isn’t on the menu at every Japanese steakhouse in the country. 

Like most countries where culinary traditions are an enormous part of its cultural identity, the Japanese prefer to use the freshest ingredients possible, which means that local ingredients play starring roles in the cuisine.  Japanese preparation embraces minimalism and purity of individual flavors.  Unlike other Asian cuisines, such as Thai and Chinese, the Japanese don’t typically blend ingredients, but tend to focus on one ingredient at a time, using condiments served on the side as the glue that binds the meal together.  This dinner of lightly seasoned fresh tuna and steamed pumpkin adheres to that tradition, as the fish and the vegetable share a delicious dipping sauce based on one of Japan’s most commonly used ingredients, miso.  It is the perfect meal to make before a night out with friends, as it is nutritious and filling, yet light enough that the time spent digesting it won’t keep you off the dance floor! 

Seared Sesame Tuna

1 t. coriander seeds

½ t. crushed red pepper flakes

2 T. toasted sesame seeds

12 oz. fresh tuna, cut into three to four steaks

Sesame oil

In a spice grinder, coarsely grind the coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, and sesame seeds.  Pour into a thin layer on a plate.  Rub one side of each tuna steak with a drop or two of sesame oil.  Dip the oiled side of each steak into into the spice blend to coat, set aside.  Reserve any of the unused spice blend. 

Heat a large frying pan over high heat.  Depending on the size of your frying pan, this may have to be done in batches, as overcrowding will slow down the searing process.  Brush a few drops of sesame oil to coat the pan, then add the tuna steaks, uncoated side down.  Sear for two to three minutes, depending on how rare you prefer the tuna.  Now, using tongs, turn each tuna steak over and place the coated side down.  Cook this side for only 1-2 minutes.  Set aside to cool for a minute or two. 

Now, slice each tuna steak into strips approximately 1/4 – 1/3” wide and 2 inches long (as shown in photo).  Arrange them, overlapping, on each plate.  Sprinkle the strips with the remaining spice blend. 

Miso-Beer Dipping Sauce

2 T. white miso paste (also called “mellow miso”)

1 T. soy sauce

2 T. beer (use real beer – steer clear of using something cheap that comes in a can)

A few drops sesame oil

Combine the miso and soy sauce in a small microwaveable bowl.  Microwave for approximately 15 seconds, or long enough to heat the soy sauce without boiling it.  Once it is heated, stir it together using a fork or a very small whisk and break up any lumps.

Next, add 1 T. of the beer, continuing to whisk the sauce.  Now, add the remaining beer and the sesame oil, whisk again, and divide into small bowls.  Serve as a dipping sauce for the tuna and pumpkin. 

Ginger Steamed Pumpkin

3 cups diced raw pumpkin

1 T. fresh ginger, cut into slivers

Salt

Combine the pumpkin, ginger, and salt in a mixing bowl, toss a few times to blend.  In a pot with a tight-fitting lid, place the pumpkin/ginger mix in a steamer basket over about 1 cup of salted boiling water.  Place lid on pot and steam for approximately 10 minutes, or until pumpkin is cooked through, then serve with the Miso-Beer Dipping Sauce.

Around the World in Eighty Bites - Belgium

Before I get to the recipes, I have to let myself get a little emotional here. Up until a few days ago, I’ve been going through the shop, cook, write, post cycle without really knowing who was reading these stories and recipes. Sure, I could see my Facebook and Twitter followers, but I thought those two links were the extent of my reader base. I recently learned that Blogspot, my hosting site, tracks certain statistics. Maybe this is something I should have known, but my technical knowledge doesn’t reach beyond the kitchen - I’m no techie by any means; I don’t even own an iPod! Imagine my surprise when I found out I had readers in Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, and about 20 additional countries! I felt joy, I felt happiness, but most of all, I felt relief. It was the same feeling you get when you’re driving around, unsure where you’re going, and then you see a familiar street or landmark and know that you’re moving in the right direction, and you sigh with relief, knowing that you aren’t a million miles away from your destination.

Over the last few days, I’ve been pretty overwhelmed, and excited, about the fact that people around the world are reading Bacon, Butter & Booze! But I’m not a trophy collector, I’m a writer, and I’m a cook. As such, it is in my soul to use each one of those stats not as validation, but as inspiration. To pay tribute to my international audience, I am going to attempt to cook a dish from, or inspired by, each country that shows up on my stat tracker, and I‘m calling my project “Around the World in Eighty Bites.” Tonight, I begin with Belgium.


Belgium, a small European country bordering France, Germany, and the Netherlands, is known in culinary circles mainly for its beer, chocolate, and, of course, waffles. Tonight, I made a light one-pot meal based on chicken, potatoes, Belgian Endive, and Duvel, a pale ale rumored to be one of Belgium’s best!


Beer-Braised Chicken and Endive

1 T. butter
6-8 chicken thighs, with skin and bones
1 onion, minced
1 ½ lbs. red potatoes, diced
3 bay leaves
Several sprigs fresh thyme
½ t. freshly ground black pepper
1 bottle Duvel ale
1 pound Belgian endive, cut crosswise into inch-wide strips
Salt to taste

Melt the butter over high heat in a heavy-bottomed pot large enough to fit all the chicken comfortably. When butter starts to bubble, add the chicken on the thigh side. Cook for a minute or two, then turn the chicken pieces over, skin side down.

After the chicken has cooked for about two minutes, add the onion, potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, Duvel ale, and pepper. Do not stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes, shaking the pot occasionally without removing the lid.

Once the chicken and potatoes have simmered, remove the cover and add the endive and salt. Stir once, then cover and simmer for 2-3 more minutes.

Now, remove the cover and stir again once or twice. Take the chicken pieces out of the pot, remove skin, and portion into individual bowls. Spoon an equal amount of the endive and potato mixture into each bowl, including the broth. Serve, and be sure to drink some Duvel with this dish!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca - Pasta for the Working Girl on the Go

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca.  The name sounds pretty, until you realize that its English translation is "Whore's Pasta."

Who are these ladies of the night, what were they cooking, and how did they get a pasta dish named after them?  Legend has it that the "working girls" didn't have much time between "clients," and if they wanted to eat, they had to whip together something quick and simple.  Sorry, ladies, no bolognese for you!  This sauce of garlic, tomatoes, olives, anchovies, and capers was easy to prepare and went together in less time than it took to boil the pasta water, which gave the ladies plenty of time to engage in their economic pursuits. 

Think about our eat-on-the-run culture.  Often, food advertisements lure us in with the promise that so-and-so's new product can be cooked in under two minutes, or its packaging is designed to allow us to eat without utensils so we can get the "food" in our mouths while walking, driving, etc.  We can eat soup while talking on hands-free phones and dodging traffic on the way to work!  Really?  This is supposed to be a good thing? 

Our culture demands that we spend the majority of our waking time auctioning off little pieces of ourselves in exchange for wages, and the process of preparing a meal has been reduced and degraded to "what can I throw in the microwave and inhale on the way to my meeting?"  We rarely make slow-cooked sauces, and we rarely sit down for hours and enjoy a luxurious meal with friends and family.  We're much too busy for that stuff...not so unlike the puttane whose compromised time and desperate lifestyles gave name to this pasta recipe.  Are we all just a bunch of prostitutes?  Are we so busy selling ourselves that we have to multitask during dinner? 

I should mention that at least 1/3 of my posts are written from my cubicle while eating microwaved leftovers and watching the clock.  Trust me, the irony is not lost on me. 

Please try this recipe sometime, and please eat it sitting down at a table with a friend or two and a glass of wine...or three.

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

1  pound spaghetti or other long pasta (I used fusilli lunghi)
generous splash olive oil
1  2 oz. tin anchovy fillets (do not drain)
1  garlic clove, minced
1  small onion, minced
1  28 oz. can crushed Italian tomatoes (Rienzi, Pastene and Tuttorosso are good brands) 
1/4 c. capers
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. crushed red chile flakes
1 cup chopped black olives
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan or pecorino romano, to serve (optional) 

Cook the pasta.  In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.  When the oil is heated through, add the anchovy fillets and their oil, the garlic, and the onion.  Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the anchovies have begun to break apart.  Be careful not to let the garlic burn. 

Next, add the tomatoes, capers, oregano, and chile flakes.  Stir well, cover, and cook until the liquid comes to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. 

After the sauce has simmered, add the olives, salt and pepper.  Cook for about 2-3 more minutes, stirring frequently.  In the meantime, drain the cooked pasta, toss with a bit of olive oil, and divide into 4 bowls.  Ladle a bit of the sauce over each bowl, serve, and toss with grated cheese if you'd like.

Pasta with Sausage, Pumpkin and Saffron

Yesterday, after baking several batches of cookies and drinking enough espresso that I had the energy level of a personal trainer but the attention span of an 8-week old kitten, I struggled to put together an edible dinner.  All the grocery shopping I did this weekend was done with the intention of baking cookies - I'd completely neglected real food!

Here is a summary of the contents of my refrigerator:  2 eggs, leaf lettuce, parsley, half an onion, whipping cream, hot sauce, butter, gin, vermouth, one link of hot Italian sausage, half a pumpkin, a log of doggie biscuit dough, and a bottle of Prosecco that I'm saving for the day my writing pays the bills (thankfully, Prosecco has a fairly decent shelf life). 

Turning this motley mix of condiments, booze, and random food items into a meal was a dilemma requiring a little creativity on my part.  I knew I could combine the sausage and pumpkin with some kind of pasta, but how would I make it interesting and flavorful? 

I was up to the task.  The hot Italian sausage from DiPaolo & Rossi's is bold and flavorful, so it doesn't need much treatment to shine.  Butter and olive oil, parsley, onion, a splash of vermouth, and a pinch of saffron at the very end were all I needed to make a quick, gorgeous meal. 

Pasta with Sausage, Pumpkin and Saffron

2 cups short pasta shapes
2 T. butter
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage, sliced into 1/2" thick rounds
1/2 small brown onion, sliced into rings
2 c. cubed cooked pumpkin
1/2 c. dry vermouth
1/4 c. chopped parsley
pinch saffron threads
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
splash olive oil


Cook the pasta in boiling water.  In the meantime, melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over high heat.  Add the Italian sausage and the onion.  Cook, stirring regularly, until the sausage begins to brown and the onion begins to caramelize and turn brown.

Add the pumpkin to the sausage and the onions.  Stir for about 30 seconds, then add half of the vermouth.  It will evaporate quickly in the hot pan; stir quickly and constantly to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat to low, then add the remaining vermouth, parsley, saffron, salt and pepper, and olive oil.  Stir constantly for about 2 minutes to scrape up any remaining browned bits from the pan, then cover and simmer for approximately 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Once the sausage and pumpkin mix has simmered and the pasta is cooked, add the cooked pasta to the pan with the sausage and pumpkin.  Stir for a minute or two so that all the pasta is coated.  Serve immediately.

Coffee and Cookies

I love coffee. No, I need coffee. I have an intervention-worthy dependence on the stuff. If, for some reason, I die under suspicious circumstances and an autopsy is performed, the medical examiner will find espresso in my veins. But unlike a drug addict floating inches above rock bottom, I actually enjoy my addiction. I’m not going to bother with the, “I can quit anytime I want,” schpiel, because I neither can, nor want, to give up my coffee. I’m not in it for the caffeine; I drink decaf late in the day simply because I love the flavor. The first sip of a perfectly brewed cup of Italian roast does for me what a blanket and a pacifier do for a screaming baby.

That being said, I’ve never really strayed from my small group of favorite brands and roasts. Like my past insistence on drinking only Italian wine, my coffee philosophy has been, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” French or Italian roast, Starbucks or Equal Exchange Fair Trade, sometimes sweetened, sometimes not, sometimes adding cream, sometimes drinking it black, but always grinding my own beans and making it stronger than most humans would find necessary or even palatable; the first thing I do in the morning is start my pot of coffee. I grind my beans and add water to the machine the night before, turn it on in the morning and let it brew while I shower, and then I enjoy a cup or two while I make myself presentable to the corporate world.

I recently discovered via Yelp that Boston’s North End is home to a shop called Polcari's Coffee that sells over a dozen varieties of coffee, roasts its own beans, and is conveniently located next to Mercato del Mare, my fish market (which, by the way, now sells incredible sushi). Walking into the store, I felt like a kid in a candy store - large glass jars and barrels filled with coffee beans lined the back wall of the shop, and the service counter was complete with a gilt old-fashioned scale that looked like it was plucked from the market where Vito Corleone worked in the early scenes of Godfather II. Polcari's also sell teas, spices, grains, legumes, and flours, including the chestnut flour I needed to bake a batch of Chestnut and Raisin cookies (featured in November’s issue of La Cucina Italiana and written below). I chose the Espresso Blend and the House Blend, and then asked for a recommendation, explaining that I favor dark roasts. The store clerk suggested Vienna Roast, and he packaged all of my beans in small bags - quarter pounds of each. I wanted to go home and try them right away, but I decided that brewing espressos and testing them after dark would probably not make for the best night’s sleep, I decided to wait until today to test my new coffees. Polcari’s gets an A+ on customer service - I didn’t feel like they were selling me coffee, I felt like they were giving me presents.

Before getting on the train and heading back to my ’hood, I randomly walked into a small produce market on Parmenter Street after seeing some small pumpkins in the window. I needed a pumpkin to make my biscotti, but being two weeks away from Halloween, the only pumpkins I’ve seen are larger than basketballs and weigh more than I do - hardly a wise purchase when my recipe requires only 1 cup of pumpkin! I picked out my pumpkin and thanked the man in the store for having the only non-Barry Bonds-sized pumpkins in Boston, and then I got distracted - “Ooh! You guys have Italian eggplant?!?” He smiled. I quickly surveyed the rest of the tiny shop - “Oh nice, oil-cured olives!” “Fresh borlotti beans? Wow!” “Ohhh, look at all the peppers!” “Sweet, fresh ravioli!” The way my eyes widened at the sight of his gorgeous produce must have led him to believe I hadn’t eaten for a month, and finally, I said, “Wait a minute, what store is this?” after realizing that I’d walked in without even looking at their sign. “Alba Produce,” he replied. Well, Alba Produce, you’ve got a fan in me. Those shiny amethyst-colored eggplants are going to make a great caponata one of these days.

This morning, I busted out my Moka pot and tried each one of my coffee blends. For those who aren’t coffee fiends like yours truly, a Moka pot is a special kind of coffee pot used for brewing espresso on the stovetop. It produces great results without having to spend $1500 on one of those machines that does everything to your coffee except drink it.

The Vienna roast was very rich and deep flavored, and very straightforward - I couldn’t pick out a “hint” of anything except pure caffienated bliss. Their Espresso roast is my new go-to coffee - rich and deep, with the subtle flavor of bitter dark chocolate, and an earthy flavor that reminded me of the smell of the ground after it rains. The House Blend was very similar to the Espresso roast (makes sense, since the Espresso roast beans make up a portion of the blend), but without the complexity. Earlier I stated that Polcari’s gets an A+ for customer service, but that Espresso roast is so fabulous that they could have called me dumb and ugly, given me the finger, and insulted my cooking and my mother, and I’d still go back to buy the Espresso roast.

Below are two recipes for cookies that pair extremely well with hot coffee, and because I can’t write about coffee without including an “I like my coffee like I like my men“ joke, I‘ve included recipes for my two favorite coffee drinks - tall, hot, and Irish or Italian!

Irish Coffee

1 large cup hot coffee
1 shot espresso
1 oz. Irish whiskey
¼ cup whipped cream (best if you use heavy cream and whip it yourself with a whisk or an immersion blender

Combine the coffee, espresso, and whiskey in your favorite tall coffee mug. Top with whipped cream and serve very hot.


Caffe Corretto

“Corretto” means corrected in Italian - literally, the translation is “corrected coffee.” Your brew is corrected with a shot of liquor, most likely grappa, sambuca, or amaretto. I prefer sambuca.

Follow the above recipe for Irish coffee, substituting sambuc

a for the whiskey and omitting the whipped cream.



Pumpkin Pecan Biscotti

3 ½ c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 ½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
¼ cup melted butter
1 ¼ c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 cup grated raw pumpkin
1 cup toasted and chopped pecans
1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375. Combine the first three ingredients in a mixing bowl; set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat all remaining ingredients with a mixer until well-blended. Stir in the flour mixture until flour is fully incorporated and a moist dough is formed.

Lightly dust a countertop and your hands with flour. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a log shape (about 11 x 1.5 inches). Place both logs on a cookie sheet lightly greased with butter and flatten them slightly. Bake for 25 minutes. When done, set aside to cool enough to handle.

Once logs are cool, transfer them to a cutting board and slice them crosswise into half-inch thick slides. Return the slices, cut side down, to the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven, turn the slices over, and bake for 10 more minutes or until they begin to turn golden-brown.

Let cool, serve dunked in hot coffee.
　

　
Chestnut and Raisin Cookies with Pignoli

9 T. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
Pinch salt
1 egg
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 c. chestnut flour
½ c. pignoli
¼ c. raisins

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, and salt, then mix in egg. Next, add the all-porpose flour, chestnut flour, pignoli, and raisins. Mix with your hands until blended.

Lightly flour your hands, then roll the dough into balls about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Place them about an inch apart on a greased baking sheet, and press each into a 2 ½ inch round.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, then rotate pan and bake 8-10 more minutes, or until the edges of the cookies turn golden. Then, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool, and serve dunked in hot coffee. 

Tales from the Tasting, Tuscan Martinis

Last night, The Wine Bottega on Hanover Street hosted a tasting featuring wines from France’s Loire Valley imported by Louis/Dressner, along with special guest Joe Dressner, one of the company’s partners and “kind of a big deal” in the wine world. 

What does that mean to me?  Squat!  After all, I still buy the $7 glass jugs of Carlo Rossi Chianti (I tell myself it’s just for my Chianti Tomato Sauce, but I always down a glass or two while I’m prepping and stirring).  But, the reason I began writing this blog was to record my culinary adventures and share any lessons I learn along the way, so I figured I should attend this event.  I’m very glad I did.

We tasted about 9 different wines, beginning with the whites and moving on to the reds.  Each was completely different from the previous, but if you asked me to describe those differences, I would sit there with the classic Deer In Headlights look on my face before replying, “why don’t you taste them yourself?  Then you’ll understand.”  That was the moment that I knew I had to ask Bottega’s proprietors if they had some sort of “Wine for Dummies” session that I could attend.  They do, and kindly, it is called “Wine 101,” not “The Moron’s Guide To Wine” or something along those lines! 

I am very excited to attend Wine 101– I love drinking wine, I can definitely taste the subtle differences between blends, but asking me to describe a specific wine or how one region’s blend differs from another would be like asking me to write a love song in another language – I know what I’m feeling, I know what I want to say, but if I don’t have the words to convey those thoughts to an audience so that they can relate and sing along, what’s the point? 

I have a feeling that no matter what I learn about wine, I’ll probably always stick to my Italian reds, such as Chianti, but variety is the spice of life.  My goal as a student is to learn to spot the differences in Italian regional varieties, and I’d like to soak up as much knowledge as I can about wines hailing from Italy’s Abruzzo region, which is the homeland of my Italian ancestors! 

Speaking of Italy, along with the world’s best wine, food, and people, it also produces Limoncello, a sweet and quite potent lemon-flavored liqueur.  In Italy, it is consumed as an after-dinner drink, served in cordial glasses and sipped slowly, but in the States it is more likely to be used as an ingredient in cocktails, as I have done in my original cocktail, the Tuscan Martini. 

Tuscan Martini 

6-8 pitted green olives (3-4 per glass, depending on size)

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 lemon slices

2 oz. limoncello

2 oz. dry vermouth

4 oz. gin (rosemary-infused gin is perfect for this recipe!)

serves 2

Prepare the garnishes for two martini glasses:

Thread 3-4 olives on a sprig of fresh rosemary, as shown in the photo.  

Using a sharp knife, remove the zest from the lemon slices, keeping it in one strip.  Twist it, add it to the glass.  Cut away the white pith from the lemon slice, use as a garnish on the rim of the glass. 

In a large shaker filled halfway with ice, combine the limoncello, vermouth, gin, and leaves from the remaining rosemary.  Shake well for approximately 20 seconds, then pour into the prepared martini glasses.  Serve immediately, and sip slowly – these babies are strong! 

VARIATION:  To make your Tuscan martini dirty, add a splash of the olive juice to the glass. 

Spiced & Spiked Shortbread

It’s been quite some time since I’ve cooked anything with Scottish flair, so last night I decided to bake a batch of shortbread cookies.  Quick, easy, and inexpensive, these cookies are buttery and rich without being ridiculously sweet.  I cannot begin to explain why, but these cookies truly taste best when you eat them on a rainy or snowy day while curled up under a blanket and sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea!

Spiced & Spiked Shortbread

8 oz. butter, softened at room temperature

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup powdered sugar*

½ t. ground cardamom

¼ t. ground aniseseed

1 t. grated fresh ginger (you can substitute ½ t. ground ginger)

1 T. Scotch or Irish whiskey

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl (make sure to use a deep enough mixing bowl, otherwise your kitchen will end up looking like a scene from Scarface).  Using a mixer on low speed, beat until the butter has formed into tiny clumps and the ingredients have the consistency of moist sand. 

Pour mixture from bowl into a pie plate or a brownie pan.  Pat the mixture down (as shown) so that it is compressed, but not tightly packed.  It should be about a half-inch thick. 

Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top begins to turn golden.  Next, remove from oven and let cool completely, then slice into desired shapes.

VARIATION:  Add ¼  c. chopped nuts or dried fruit to the butter/flour/sugar mixture. 

*  Commercial powdered sugar often contains cornstarch or other anti-caking agents which will affect the texture of the finished product.  This recipe turns out better if you make your own powdered sugar by placing ½ c. of regular white sugar in a blender or small coffee grinder and grinding until it reaches the consistency of commercial powdered sugar.

Food Finds North of Boston, Getting Creative With Scallops

I spent this weekend with my mom in Portsmouth, NH, and as always, we did a lot of cooking.  Somehow we managed to get our hands on a late-season batch of green tomatoes – every time we’ve made fried green tomatoes since mid-August, I’ve said, “I can’t believe I'm going to have to wait til next summer to eat these again!”  Each batch has made a liar out of me – there’s always a few stragglers waiting for us in the tomato bins at Applecrest Farms.  Will the ones we made yesterday be 2010’s final fried green tomatoes?  Only time will tell. 

A trip to Applecrest is not complete without a visit to their Traveling Barnyard – a fenced-in area where kids (and dorky adults like me) can roam amongst goats, sheep, ducks, geese, and chickens, with a separate enclosure for the llamas and alpacas, and a sweet old Shetland Sheepdog to keep the flocks in line.  Because I fear that I will trip over a child or goat, I prefer to stay outside of the fence where I can participate with little to no claustrophobia. 

For 50 cents, little paper cups full of grain kibble can be purchased to hand-feed the animals.  Most will calmly eat straight from your hand, but some – one goat in particular – have their sights set on larger prizes.  Yes, a mother goat jumped up and grabbed the paper cup right out of my hand and proceeded to devour the entire thing, paper cup included!  I wish the poor goats knew that while high in fiber, paper is not the best-tasting snack available. 

I thought that apple cider, peach nectar, honey crisp apples, sharp farmhouse cheddar, a basket of perfectly ripe figs, and of course, green heirloom tomatoes, was enough fresh food to snack on for the two days I was visiting, but my mom told me that we had one more stop to make.  Apparently, a new store opened in Kittery, Maine, and she wanted to check it out.  I went along for the ride, and when we pulled into the parking lot, my eyes nearly popped out of my head – Enoteca Italiana, an Italian market whose storefront closed in May – had reopened in a new location!  This was cause for celebration. 

A few months ago, my mom and I pulled up to Enoteca to pick up our usual olives, cold cuts, sausages, and cheese, only to see a “Closed” sign hung on the door and boards covering the windows.  “My heart hurts!” I proclaimed.  Neither of us knew of any other store in the area that carried the top-quality, authentic Italian foods that Enoteca offered, and it was devastating to think that paisans living in Portsmouth, Kittery, York, Eliot, and Berwick would have to drive an hour south to Boston just to find a decent slice of mortadella!  Granted, none of those small towns are known for having a strong Italian-American presence, but as the slow food movement continues to grow, Italians and non-Italians alike will turn to shops like Enoteca, seeking a return to flavorful food and an escape from the mass-produced, overprocessed products that line the shelves and deli counters at big-box supermarkets.  We left with a tub of buttery Castelvetrano olives, a package of sliced mortadella studded with peppercorns and pistachios, a bottle of crisp Falanghina, a batch of grapefruit ricotta cookies, and enormous smiles on our faces, knowing that we’d never have to buy crappy capicole again.

Our final stop was Seaport Fish, a seafood market in Rye, NH.  Just like Mercato del Mare, Boston’s seafood heaven, Seaport Fish offers top-quality catch, great variety, and the kind of customer service that makes you feel like you’re their only customer.  They’re my go-to seafood market when I’m away from home.  When I started this blog in August, I made it a point to communicate with the merchants who provided me with the ingredients I needed to make my recipes.  Liz and Keri, the lovely ladies who own Mercato del Mare, have been a great source of not only seafood, but inspiration, and while chatting with them via e-mail they mentioned that they’re always looking for creative scallop recipes.  This was my Quickfire Challenge; I've been on a mission to make an out-of-the-ordinary scallop dish.  My "a-ha!" moment waited until this weekend to arrive.

So what exactly would I do with those sweet, white cylinders?  Pan-seared scallops over pasta?  Yawn.  Bacon-wrapped?  Been there, done that.  Ceviche?  Blahhhhh.  I’ve got it – Sea Smores!  Put a scallop in the marshmallow’s place, make a sauce based on dark brown porcini mushrooms to resemble the chocolate, and sandwich them between parmesan crisps.  I thought it was worth a try. 

I did make my Sea Smores, but next time I do it, I will not use the parmesan crisps.  Never having made parmesan crisps before, I did not realize that they are greasy.  Thin rounds of French bread toasts topped with grated parmesan and toasted under the broiler would be far more finger-friendly.  Regardless, I will include the recipe as I made it, using parmesan crisps.  If you don’t mind a little grease, they’re delicious! 

When purchasing scallops, be sure to buy “dry” scallops, which means that the scallops were not soaked in water.  Scallops absorb water, and if chemicals are added to the water, the scallop will absorb even more.  By buying dry scallops, you’re assuring that you’re not paying for water.  (Learn more about scallops here on Mercato del Mare's Fish Facts page!)

Sea Smores

Olive oil

6 large “dry” scallops

Finely ground black pepper

12 parmesan crisps (see below) or ¼” toast rounds

1 batch porcini sauce (see below)

Dry off the scallops with paper towels so that there is no moisture on the scallops’ surfaces.  Dust the scallops with finely ground black pepper. 

Place a heavy-bottomed pan over high heat and brush with a thin coat of olive oil.  Add the scallops.  Sear the scallops for 1-2 minutes per side, turning regularly.  A golden-brown crust should form on the outside of the scallops; cook no more than 5-6 minutes total, depending on their size.  Remove from the pan; set aside. 

Place six of the crisps on a plate.  Spread 1-2 teaspoons of the porcini sauce on each crisp in a thin layer.  Next, place one of the seared scallops on top of the sauce on each crisp.  Finally, place one of the remaining parmesan crisps on top of each sea scallop, creating a bite-sized scallop sandwich.  Serve with a crisp, dry white wine. 

Parmesan Crisps

Coarsely-grated parmesan cheese

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle about 2 T. parmesan in 2-inch circles on the pan (most standard-size pans will fit 3-4 crisps).  When the parmesan begins to melt and bubble, remove from heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.  Using a spatula, carefully scrape the crisps off the skillet, making sure to keep them in one piece.  Place the crisps on paper towels to absorb some of the grease; set aside until ready to use. 

Hint:  Always make a few more than required to allow for any that break.

Porcini Sauce

¼ c. dried porcini mushrooms, broken or snipped into very tiny bits*

¼ c. Boiling water

Splash whiskey

Splash heavy cream

Salt and finely ground black pepper

1/8 t. cornstarch

Soak the porcinis in the boiling water.  When they have softened, add the porcinis and their soaking liquid to a small saucepan.  Place over medium-low heat; add the whiskey, cream, salt, and pepper.  Cook, stirring constantly, until small bubbles begin to form on the surface of the liquid.  At this point, add the cornstarch, stirring constantly, until it is fully dissolved and the sauce begins to thicken.  Once the sauce is the consistency of melted chocolate, remove from heat and use a rubber scraper to transfer into a small bowl. 

* If you cannot find dried porcini mushrooms, they can be purchased online.

Cold Weather Favorites

Yours truly, sporting sunglasses!

Ladies and gentlemen, summer in Boston is officially over.  Mother nature has been toying with us for several weeks now, temperatures dropping a few degrees here or there, but summer wasn't quite ready to give up the fight until this weekend.  Three events occurred that prove my point - the Red Sox ended their season, I spent Saturday with my best friends at Harpoon Brewery's annual Oktoberfest, and the temperature dropped low enough for my radiators to start churning out heat.  Because I am a food lover, I am not sad.  Cold weather ushers in a whole new assortment of delicious dishes, and when I woke up yesterday morning freezing cold and longing for an extra blanket, a light bulb appeared over my head.  That light bulb was shaped like a steamy bowl of soup.

Is there anything more cozy and comforting on a cold day than a pair of soft pajama pants, an oversized sweatshirt, and the smell of soup simmering on the stove?  If you come up with something, let me know - I'm at a loss.  Yesterday, I made a hearty pasta and bean soup (pasta fagioli), along with a pork tenderloin that I marinated in a garlicky-wine mixture and braised alongside kalamata olives.  The results were delicious, especially when washed down with a glass of Chianti, Tuscany's famous dry red.  Try these recipes for yourself when the temperature drops!


Pasta Fagioli (Italian pasta and bean soup)

Italian cooks traditionally add the rind of a wedge of parmesan or pecorino cheese to soups - it imparts a delicious, rich flavor without any heaviness.

2 oz. pancetta. sliced into small bits
1 small onion, minced
3 carrots, minced
3 celery ribs, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 bay leaves
1/4 t. cracked black pepper
1/4 t. crushed red chile flakes
4 cups chicken broth
1 lb. fresh tomatoes
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 can cannelini or borlotti beans
rind from piece of parmesan/pecorino
1 cup dry ditalini
splash olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot, fry the pancetta bits over medium-high heat until they began to crisp up.  Next, add the onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves, black pepper, and chile flakes, and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.  Do not let the onion and garlic burn.

Now, add the chicken broth, tomatoes, thyme, cannelini beans, and the parmesan/pecorino rind.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce to a simmer.  Cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes. 

In the meantime, cook the ditalini in boiling water.  Be careful not to overcook it - in fact, it is better to drain it when the pasta is somewhat undercooked, since they will absorb more liquid once it is added to the soup.

After the pasta has cooked and the soup has simmered, add the cooked pasta to the soup pot.  Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to release any of the browned pancetta bits that haven't yet made their way into the broth.  Continue stirring for about 5 minutes, then add a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir again, test for seasonings, and add a little more salt and/or pepper if necessary.  Ladle into bowls and serve steaming hot.

 

Braised Pork Tenderloin with Kalamata Olives

2 T. olive oil, plus extra for browning
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
1/4 - 1/2 t. crushed black pepper
1 c. dry red or white wine, plus extra if necessary
1 2-3 lb. pork tenderloin
1 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped

Combine all the ingredients except the kalamata olives in a lidded container large enough to hold all the ingredients and allow them to move freely.  Allow the pork to marinate for at least 2 hours (up to 24), turning occasionally. 



Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pan with a lid for about 1 minute over high heat.  Add a splash of olive oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.  Remove the pork from its marinade (reserving the marinade for the next step), shake off excess liquid, and add to the pan.  Brown the pork on all sides until no pink is showing and a brown crust begins to form. 

Next, add the reserved marinade and the kalamata olives to the pan, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for approximately 35 minutes.  Turn the pork 2-3 times throughout the cooking process.  If you see that the liquid is evaporating too quickly, add a bit more wine. 

Remove the pork loin from the pan, set aside to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.  Then, slice pork into half-inch thick rounds, and spoon some of the olive-wine mixture from the pan over the pork slices.  Garnish with fresh thyme and serve.