Dorie Greenspan once remarked that World Peace Cookies, created by Parisian pastry chef Pierre Herme, were as important a culinary breakthrough as Toll House cookies. Her neighbor, after tasting these dark chocolate marvels, was convinced ‘a daily dose of Pierre’s cookies is all that is needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness.’ Thus, the name. Dorie included these ultra-rich cookies in herBaking, From my home to yours cookbook. I thought them totally appropriate for my first 2015 post, a delicious recipe to wish you Happy New Year.
Remembering that miracles can happen, bake some World Peace Cookies, my French Fridays recipe from Dorie Greenspan.
These are shortbread, slice-and-bake cookies, crumbly and rustic in appearance. (If you prefer a perfectly round, smooth result, my Tip is in the recipe below.) WPC’s are special-occasion treats. Served with champagne? Be still my heart. Tea and coffee? Okay. Cold milk? The perfect nonalcoholic alternative. I made these for the New Year’s Eve crew on duty at The Gant. While these cookies couldn’t compare with seeing Huey Lewis & The News at Aspen’s Belly Up nightclub, (where they’d rather have been), they were appreciated.
World Peace Cookies
Appreciation. Let’s talk about that. 2014 was a banner year for me. I appreciate that more than anyone realizes. Thank you for being part of that. However, I recently celebrated my birthday. Readers, it was a big number. Truthfully, as we enter this New Year, I am still struggling with it. Not whining. Not complaining. Not grumbling. Just resolved to make peace and getting my arms around my aging.
New Year’s Eve was a long night. Aspen being Aspen, we not only had fireworks at 8pm, but also at Midnight. Since I live at the base of the mountain where the display is launched, I was in for a loud albeit spectacular evening. After baking and delivering the World Peace Cookies and taking a moment of silence to remember Dick Clark, I decided to spend the evening settling this whole 70’s-problem.
Fireworks in Aspen as seen from the Roaring Fork River, New Years Eve, 2014. Photograph by Jeremy Swanson
I resolved to see my limitations as possibilities. Admittedly, I physically cannot do as much nor mentally learn as quickly nor emotionally be as strong as I have been in the past. While I’ve not adjusted to that reality, I think my family, friends and, even The Gant employees, see it all too clearly. Luckily I am surrounded by people who value and respect me enough to understand, be kind but still nudge, challenge and encourage me to keep trying (as if I wouldn’t) and do better.
A challenge for the upcoming decade —
In thinking about who I Appreciate, the List is long. To my lifelong friends who remembered, welcomed and embraced me when I returned to Aspen, I Appreciate. Here at The Gant, where no one really l-i-v-e-s, I’ve been treated like a Queen. I Appreciate. To my nature study group, the Valley Vixens, who are truly my support system, I Appreciate. To my virtual colleagues, such a lifeline, I Appreciate. To my friends in France, who encourage me to travel again, I hear you. To my friends in Nevada, saviors during a difficult decade, I’ll see you soon. To my childhood friends, for steadfast loyalty always, I Appreciate. And, to my family, who, in every way and with great effort, embrace me. I Appreciate.
I Appreciate that for the past three years Klara, Gretchen, Freya and Imken, who live in Germany, have asked their Mother who blogs at The Kitchen Lioness, to send me their Christmas artwork. If one can have a Virtual Family, they are mine.
Maybe, in this new year, you wish to take a few moments to think about those You Appreciate. As for that age problem of mine, it’s a work-in-progress but I’ve just reminded myself why I need to be more grown-up about it. Happy New Year, Everyone. Enjoy the World Peace Cookies.
WORLD PEACE COOKIES adapted by Dorie Greenspan from Pierre Hermé
Makes 36
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
5 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
PREPARATION
1. Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda into medium bowl.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter on mediukm speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars, vanilla, and sea salt; beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Add flour mixture and pulse the mixer at slow speed for 5 to 7 times, a second or two each time. Beat just until blended. Mixture may be crumbly. Add chopped chocolate and mix just to distribute.
4. Divide dough in half. Place each half on sheet of plastic wrap. Form each into 1 1/2-inch-diameter log. Wrap each in plastic. Chill until firm, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
5. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using thin sharp knife, cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on prepared sheets. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies appear dry (cookies will not be firm or golden at edges), 11 to 12 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
TIP: According to Dorie, the easiest way to keep the log of dough round while stowing it in the fridge or freezer is to chill it inside a cardboard tube left from a roll of paper toweling. Slit the tube so it’s easy to wrap it around the dough. When you’re slicing the log, the easiest way to prevent losing that nice roundness is to give the log a quarter turn each time you slice off a circle of dough.
French Fridays with Dorie is an international group of bloggers cooking their way through Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan. To see the Simplest Breton Fish Soup which my colleagues made this week while I was baking World Peace Cookies, go here.
“I’m just too busy to read Mary’s blog right now.”
Orange & Olive Salad – an easy alternative for the holidays to your leafy greens.
Admit it, I know that’s what you’re thinking. Resist that thought. First, this post is short, mostly photos, and secondly, you will love, need and make this citrus salad over the holidays. Orange and Olive Salad, this week’s French Friday’s recipe choice, is a no-brainer, a sure-fire alternative to a leafy, green salad.
Donna, our leader, wants to get us on-the-move. Our host, Carol, is on the right. My smile is fake.
Buy some “meaty” navel oranges, grab a red onion from the pantry, get some olives out of your fridge and you’ve almost put together a platter or single-servings of a mouth-watering appetizer or side dish. Do it all ahead so you can put together, adding olive oil and salt/pepper, at the last minute. This recipe along with Dorie’s interesting tips are printed below.
Seriously?
Despite my trepidation about returning home in 2013 to Snow Country, this year’s snowy conditions have proved easier. Last December I took two scary falls and Old Man Winter successfully chased me indoors. No fun. This month, equipped with proper clothing, Icebugs (cleated shoes), cross country skies and snow shoes – purchased, donated and loaned, I’ve made my peace with him. After last week’s activities, maybe the mountain woman I was has reemerged…..kinda.
After reaching the cabin, emptying the two sleds and discarding our packs, we snowshoed up towards the Markley 10th Mountain Division Hut. Why not? (We arrived back at the cabin just before nightfall.)
As you may recall I belong to a nature study group (the Valley Vixens) with four other women. We’re volunteer USFS rangers, belong to the Forest Conservancy and are longtime locals. Despite that tenure, there is still much to learn about flora, fauna and the expansion of the West so we take study/learning seriously. Our leader suggested a two-day retreat before the holidays (Gung-Ho!), held at a colleagues’ cabin (How Fun!), that is inaccessible by vehicle in the winter (Holy Cow!).
Our cocktail hour (or, two) and discussion of Theodore Roosevelt
Translated, that means everything necessary for a two-day retreat – our gear, food, books and libation – must be hauled in (uphill) by sled or backpack. We Valley Vixens, equipped with snowshoes, would be the haulers. (I had not been on snowshoes for ten years.) Our study sessions would entail a discussion of “The River of Doubt, Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey” about his disastrous South American trip, and sourcing the plants used for our retreat menus.
Early morning outside the cabin – the peak to the left is named Yellow Boy named for a Chinese cook who once lived in Ashcroft (now inappropriate, I know) and to the far right is Hayden Peak which is just above American Lake.
The mountain cabin, located above the mining ghost town of Ashcroft and below a spectacular waterfall, was built by our hosts, Carol and Tom Kurt, in 1979. Since they had graciously extended their hospitality to us, rudeness and opting out, albeit a consideration, was really not an option for me. Our leader, Donna, handed out assignments and graciously offered to haul my sleeping bag on her sled. The other Donna loaded up her backpack with “all” the wine. Call me The Little Engine That Could. And, did.
A morning hike, of course, before we head home.
Shortly after our return, with little recovery time, I participated in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Who could have anticipated a full-on blizzard with 6-8 inches of fresh snow when signing-up two months earlier? The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies was charged with counting birds in the 15-mile radius around Aspen. (Aspen’s expert birders spotted 40+ species on a snowy, windy day.) Roaring Fork Audubon handled the down valley habitats. The count must go on. And, did.
Now that the sleds were lighter, I volunteered to drag one down the hill.
On second thought, maybe not. Carole & Donna are experts.
You can understand why making this simple citrus salad was such a welcomed relief this week – nothing involved or complicated about it. That it was so delicious and such a good recipe for the holidays is only a bonus. French Fridays with Dorie is an international on-line group cooking its way through Dorie Greenspan’s, Around My French Table. To see what my colleagues are cooking up for the holidays, go here.
7:30am, at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies – these Birders are ready-to-go for a day-long Christmas Count.
Liz Bokram is my loyal and enthusiastic birding buddy – what can I say.
2 tablespoons olive oil Niçoise or other small black olives, pitted or not
Salt, preferably fleur de sel, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Remove a thin slice from the top and bottom of each orange to give yourself flat surfaces, stand the orange up, and, working your knife around the contours of the orange, cut away the peel, the pith and the tiniest bit of flesh. Once they are peeled, cut the oranges into rounds 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick, and arrange attractively on a large serving platter. If you’d like, you can cover the oranges and chill them before you finish and serve the salad.
Drain the onions and pat them dry. Drizzle the olive oil over the oranges, scatter over the onions, top with the olives and season with salt and pepper.
Notes
You can leave the onion whole or cut it in half. Thinly slice it, and separate the slices into rings or half rings. Rinse the slices and drop them into a bowl of ice water. If you’ve got the time, let them sit in their water bath for about 20 minutes — the rinse will wash away some of their bitterness, and the bath will make them crisp.
You may want to remove the zest and save it before peeling the oranges. You can remove it in wide strips, cut away the white pith on the underside, and freeze the strips; you can sliver or chop the zest or you can grate it. (Slivered or grated zest won’t freeze as well.)
Lamb & Dried Apricot Tagine is this week’s FFWD recipe choice and is made in this beautiful Le Creuset tagine (or, a Dutch oven).
This week’s French Fridays recipe choice is Lamb & Dried Apricot Tagine, an aromatic, historically Berber stew of spiced meat, vegetables and dried fruit. Its preparation, a braise, translates to being slowly cooked in a shallow earthenware dish topped by a tall, conical lid unique to its North African beginnings.
“Like many Moroccan tagines,” Doria explains, “this one is aigre-doux, or sour-sweet, and studded with fruit. After you’ve made it, you’ll be as grateful [to have this recipe] as I am.”
Lamb & Dried Apricot Tagine served with white rice (or, couscous)
That’s why this week’s post is not only about a scrumptiously delicious Moroccan classic but also about Gratefulness. In our family we’ve had a tradition since Emma’s been three years old, that before eating our Thanksgiving dinner, we each talk about those things during the past year for which we are most grateful. Despite the roller-coaster ride through Life that all families experience, it’s a good time to be reminded of our good fortunes. Many of our best Thanksgiving memories the past ten years are these conversations.
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. William Arthur Ward
My family, before Thanksgiving dinner and the gratitude remarks, at Death Valley National Park.
Our cups runneth over with a menagerie of I Am Grateful For…….. Clara, now 11, has often been grateful for Blazer, her fire-bellied toad who dines on crickets. One year she mentioned gratefulness for each of her named stuffed animals and her Dad. (Her mother, sister and I didn’t make the Cut.) Emma, 13, usually produces a beautifully written list and eloquently improvises off those prompts. Included always are teachers, relatives, friends, beloved pets and, of course, loved ones we’ve lost.
Stephen’s is always rather short but, score a gold star for him, he never fails mentioning his mother-in-law. Although my thoughts evolve, this year I was grateful for good health, fine friends and for the many things that make a mother and grandmother’s heart swell. None of us, however, have a handle on this gratitude business like Melissa who always speaks last. Missy’s “presentation” is lengthy and always involves tears.
The onions, garlic, tomatoes, seasonings and flavorings are slowly cooking and softening before the meat, apricots and almonds are added.
When the girls were little, those tears were of concern to them. As they grew older and in the eight years we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving in the lovely Furnace Creek Inn dining room at Death Valley, there was some mortification on their part. However, we’ve all grown quite appreciative of “Mom’s tears” and, admittedly, would be disappointed if she didn’t shed them. This year she didn’t disappoint. In fact, she was gooddddd.
Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy. Jacques Maritain
What has become special about this tradition is the thoughtfulness required of us prior to each kickoff of a frenetic holiday season. And, everyone is expected to do their homework before we sit down to a splendid dinner. Because three generations are sitting at the table – this year we dealt with an 11-year-old up to a 70-year old, it’s enlightening to realize each year what we all value. It’s a wonderful, ever-changing process.
The toasted sliced almonds are added at the very last minute.
During the past week, I am grateful for having made this delicious tagine and hope you will enjoy it also. I am also grateful that when forced to scale back on my kitchen items, I kept my Le Creuset tagine. (Don’t own a tagine? A Dutch oven works.) For my newly-sharpened knives that are just back from an overdue visit to the local man who has those sharpening skills, I’m also grateful.
The list goes on and on. As you know, French Fridays with Dorie is an international on-line group cooking its way through Dorie Greenspan’s, Around My French Table. I am most grateful for my FFWD colleagues and our friend and mentor, Dorie. To all of you who loyally read my blog, I also am exceedingly grateful, as you know.
Francis Coppola’s 2011 Black Label Claret (a Cabernet Sauvignon from his Diamond Collection) was a good pour for this meal.
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. Eric Hoffer
4 garlic cloves, split, germ removed, and finely chopped
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, or 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1–2 small dried chili peppers
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, cracked
2 pinches of saffron threads
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
About 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
Couscous or rice, for serving (optional)
Instructions
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
If you're using the bouillon cubes, drop them into a medium bowl and pour over the boiling water; stir to dissolve. If you're using chicken broth, bring it to a boil, then pour it into a bowl. Add the apricots to the bowl and let them soak and plump while you prepare the rest of the tagine.
Put the base of a tagine, a high-sided heavy skillet, or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and pour in 3 tablespoons of the oil. Pat the pieces of lamb dry between paper towels, then drop them into the hot oil (don't crowd the pan — work in batches if necessary) and brown on all sides, about 4 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, lift the meat out of the pan and onto a plate. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Pour out the fat in the pan, leaving whatever bits may have stuck.
Return the pan to the stove, reduce the heat to low, and add 2 more tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is warm, stir in the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, just to get them started on the road to softening.
Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, adding a little more oil if needed.
Drain the apricots and add the chicken bouillon/broth to the pan, along with the chili(es), coriander, saffron — crush it between your fingers as you sprinkle it in — ginger, cumin, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro. Stir to mix and dissolve the spices, then season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the meat and any juices on the plate over the vegetables and top with the apricots. Seal the pan with aluminum foil, clap on the lid, and slide it into the oven.
Bake the tagine for 1 hour. Carefully lift the lid and foil and scatter the almonds over the meat. Re-cover the pan and bake the tagine for 15 minutes more.
If you cooked the braise in a tagine, sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro over the meat, bring the tagine to the table, and serve directly from the pan. If you used a skillet or Dutch oven, transfer the tagine to a warm large serving platter and dust with the cilantro.
Viande des Grisons is an air-dried beef which comes from the canton of Grisons, Switzerland. Since we’ve already made three other tartines on French Fridays ( veggie, salmon and goat cheese with strawberry), you already understand tartines are slices of country bread topped with something deliciously imaginative. Italy’s version is bruschetta. The Danes, smørrebrød.
Bresaola, Italian air-dried beef
Because this Swiss product is difficult to locate in America, our Dorie suggested we substitute with Bresaola, the Italian’s take on air-dried beef. Since this was all Greek to me, I switched into my research-and-source mode. That’s the reason this post is about 17th century Italian artisans, the personal chef to a former Italian Prime Minister and a small meat processing plant in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Take a look at that face. It has cured meat artisan written all over it. It’s in the eyelids thick from long nights spent shepherding his craft through the delicate stages of drying and fermenting. It’s in the intent eyes reflecting a passion and purpose for something he cares about deeply. It’s in the knowing smile of a man who has something to share that he’s certain you will enjoy. It’s Cristiano Creminelli and he’s come to America to share his craft and his passion with you.
TARTINE DE VIANDE DES GRISONS is an easily made recipe. It requires one very large piece of rustic bread, sliced 1/3” thick, toasted and slathered with butter. Enough air-dried beef to completely cover the bread. Walnut or olive oil to drizzle on top and walnuts for garnish. Unable to find Bresaola in my local markets, I decided to drive down valley to Whole Foods.
Now, Readers, it is very seldom I grumble and complain in this blog. In fact you’d be hard-pressed to find any downbeat or negative posts here. But last Tuesday I made my grocery list and drove the 38-mile round trip to Whole Foods to buy, among other things, rustic country bread and Bresaola. When I shop at Whole Foods I expect to pay top dollar but, in return, I have always found quality products and received first-class service.
When I walked into the store and approached the meat area, there were no customers at the counter and 2 or 3 butchers working behind it. It still took a few minutes for a young man to notice me.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“I am looking for Bresaola,” I replied. “Do you know what that is?”
“Nope.”
“It’s an air-dried beef,” I said, helpfully. “Do you know what air-dried beef is?”
“Nope,” he answered, before turning to a colleague who said he had no clue either.
By now, it was apparent he was clearly uninterested in my plight to find air-dried beef. “Why don’t you try the deli?” he suggested, turning his back to me and walking away.
Before, when I’ve been unable to find a product at WF, whoever I ask always escorts me to the proper department, tries to suggest a suitable substitution or offers to take a special order. Clearly that was not going to happen here. So, somewhat intimidated, I wandered over to the deli area and asked the same question to another employee. He had never heard of Bresaola either.
“I may not know,” he answered enthusiastically, “but let’s go to the man who will. You’ve got me curious?”
We walked to the back of the store where I not only met Colin but also immediately spotted three links of cured, dried salami rolls labeled Bresaola in his meat case. Within the next 20 minutes Collin made up for the brush-off I had received earlier. I not only sampled his Bresaola, learning how to correctly pronounce it, but also received a brief tutorial on the various dried and cured meats he had.
Collin, a Whole Foods employee who loves his job, offers me a piece of Bresaola.
Those of you familiar with Italian cuisine may mock my naïveté regarding this product. The best thing about Collin, you see, was that he didn’t. He explained these meats were made and shipped from Creminelli Fine Meats located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Creminelli family, he said, started making salame in Italy in the 1600’s, producing it first for local villagers and growing their reputation over the centuries. In 2007 Cristiano Creminelli, whose grandfather had also been a personal chef to a future Italian Prime Minister, brought his skills and business acumen to America. (Check out the company website – it’s a marvel. Thank you for the C. Creminelli picture and prose from the website.)
Guyomar Wine Cellar’s 2010 Monsignor, a red blend of petite sirah, zinfandel, syrah and grenache, recently touted by Wine Spectator Magazine. Guyomar is located in Templeton Gap on the Central California Coast.
After finding the ingredients, the tartine can be quickly put together. With a small green salad and glass of Guyomar Wine Cellar’s 2010 Monsignor, a red blend of petite sirah, zinfandel, syrah and grenache, it was a lovely and rather beautiful lunch.
French Fridays with Dorie is an international on-line group cooking its way through Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. To see if my colleagues found air-dried beef this week, go here.
Thinly sliced pieces of Bresaola or other air-dried beef (to cover the bread)
Walnut Oil or Olive Oil
Walnut Halves
Instructions
Lightly grill or toast the bread. Immediately slather it with butter. Cover the bread with the beef with the pieces overlapping slightly. Dizzle with a tiny bit of oil and strew with nuts. With a sharp, long heavy knife, cut in half if eating for lunch or a light dinner. If serving as an hors d'oeuvre, cut in 1”-wide strips.
Judy is reading about Red Kuri Soup from Dorie’s Around my French Table while Philip holds up the star of the show. Note that this week the spine separated itself from my well-worn and beloved cookbook.
Once upon a time, in the snow-peaked Colorado High County, lived a brilliantly colored, teardrop-shaped squash named Red Kuri. She tipped the scales at three pounds, a bit hippy, you might say. It’s all about her unique essence of squash infused with chestnuts that suggests her possibilities. Her fatal flaw? If she is baked, braised, or steamed, her shell softens, is edible and, when pureed, completely dissolves. Think Frosty the Snowman.
Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup garnished with goat cheese and cranberries.
If you read last week’s Post, you are familiar with my midweek dinner party, Dorie’s Profound Sweet & Salty Nuts, and other food-fun nonsense. However, you didn’t realize we rapidly motored into serious mode, featuring a Squash Seminar followed by the tasting of this week’s recipe choice, Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup.
The three Presenters: Judy, Philip and Donna
Leave it to the French to romanticize this delicate squash, calling it potimarron. Potiron means pumpkin and marron is the word for chestnut. Perfect and parfait. First, my guest, Judy, read about the recipe from our weekly bible, Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table cookbook. Judy, who spent her career teaching Aspen’s high school kids both French and Spanish, can roll her rrrrrr’s like none other. For those of us who have spent serious money to speak san succès français, it was a revelation.
Philip’s responsibility was to hold up the Red Kuri, my table centerpiece, every time the little darling’s name was mentioned in English or in French. He was kept busy. I had previously asked the mastermind of our nature study group, Donna, to give us the lowdown on the Red Kuri from a botanist’s point of view. She did such a good job she was rewarded with the centerpiece.
It looks like a squash, it cuts like a squash, it tastes like a squash but its delicious shell is edible.
Because the Red Kuri is so flavorful, there’s not much work involved in pulling together this delicious soup. Dorie first tasted it at the table of her friend, Bèatrix Collet. I’ve posted her recipe below. This is a keep-it-simple dish, requiring little else for flavoring but 3 slender leeks. Use your creativity with the garnish. I used toasted walnuts and chopped apples. For my next-day’s lunch, I tried a goat-cheese/ cranberry mixture. Think also about sliced avocados, a squirt of olive oil and fresh lime juice.
Feedback from my taste testers, Steve, Jessica and Don, who are taking their responsibility very seriously.
In the winter you can find Red Kuri squash, in various sizes, at most local grocery stores. Although I prefer a thick soup, it’s the cook’s preference and quite tasty, filling and satisfying either way. French Fridays with Dorie is an international on-line group winding its way through Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. To see what my colleagues stirred up this week, go here.
Le Potimarron
The cubed Red Kuri, sliced leeks, liquid and seasonings are in the soup pot and ready to boil and simmer.
3 slender or 1 1/2 larger leeks, white part only, trimmed, split lengthwise and washed
3 cups whole milk
3 cups water
Salt, freshly ground pepper and freshly grated nutmeg
For the garnish (optional):
1 tart apple, peeled, cored and cut into tiny dice
About 1/3 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
About 1/2 cup crème fraiche or heavy cream
Instructions
Scrub the red kuri squash under water, using a brush, if necessary, to scrape off any stuck-on dirt. With a heavy chef’s knife, cut off the pointy tip of the squash, then cut the squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds and the strings that bind them, then cut the squash into 1-to 2-inch chunks, shell and all.
Toss the squash into a large casserole or Dutch oven. Cut the leeks into inch-thick slices and put them in the pot, too. Add the milk and water, salt generously and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the soup about 25 to 35 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft enough to mash when pressed lightly with the back of spoon.
Using a hand-held immersion blender, a standard blender or a food processor, puree the soup until it is very smooth. Depending on how much liquid boiled away, you may have a thick soup and a decision to make: leave it thick or thin it to whatever consistency pleases you with either more milk or more water. Taste for salt and season with pepper and nutmeg. Heat the soup if it’s cooled in the blender or if you’ve thinned it – this soup is at it’s best truly hot.
Notes
Serving: If you’re using the apples and nuts, spoon some into the bottom of each soup bowl and ladle over the hot soup; top with a little cream.
Storing: The soup will keep for up to 4 days in a covered jar in the refrigerator (it will thicken as it stands, so you might want to thin it when you reheat it) and for up to 2 months packed airtight in the freezer.
Bonne Idée: There are so many flavors that go well with this soup that you can make the basic soup and serve it several different ways. Top the soup with olive-oil sautéed bread cubes. Toss shredded sage into the skillet along with the bread. Or, use thin slices of toasted baguette sprinkled with grated cheese and run under the broiler – use a nutty cheese like Gruyere or Emmenthaler, or a blue cheese like gorgonzola or Roquefort. Why not sauté some cooked chopped chestnuts (you can use bottled chestnuts) in a little butter or oil, season with salt and pepper, chopped fresh thyme or sage. Either spoon a little over the soup or, better yet, over the crème fraiche, if you’re using it.
This is a Hooray for Husbands! post. Last Tuesday it was Michael’s birthday. He would have been 86 years old. Instead of feeling sorry for myself and imbibing in Woe is Me, I decided to do what Michael loved best and invite friends to dinner. I asked two Aspen couples with a friendship history of 25 years, and another couple, who had only known Michael through my eyes, to join me.
I warned the gals about wearing lipstick, my code phrase for blogging purposes and photo ops and got down to the business of planning and cooking a meal. We neglected to mention to the men that this would be a work/blog dinner as well as, hopefully, a pleasurable evening.
…..which brings me to my French Fridays recipe choice, Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts. The Doristas made these in 2010 prior to my joining the clan. Since everything I was serving for dinner I’d never made before, these would be a simple and tasty cocktail nibble. If as delicious as anticipated, wouldn’t they be a great hostess gift when packaged in holiday finery?
The whole almonds after they have been mixed thoroughly into the frothy egg white.
Although you can use a variety of nuts, I chose only whole almonds. After beating an egg white to a runny froth, I swished 2 cups of almonds until all were coated and shiny. Then I poured in a mixture of sweet (sugar and cinnamon) and spicy (salt, chili powder and cayenne). After the almonds were thoroughly coated, I separated the last bit of egg white from the nuts and transferred them to a parchment lined baking sheet. Thirty-five minutes later at 300 degreesF, I had toasty brown almonds to serve my guests.
All shiny and covered with the spice mixture, the almonds are headed to my oven.
Fast forward to Tuesday evening. Picture the scene: we have our wine and have just settled down to deal with the appetizers. The first guest to go for the nuts was Steve Chase who hardly got one into his mouth before I said, “What do you think?”
“About what?” he asked.
“The nuts,” I replied. “Do you taste the sweet? The spicy?”
At this point, all conversation has stopped to hear Steve’s and my exchange. At this point, also, Steve is looking at me like I’m nuts. (He’s given me this look before so I’m unbothered by it.) By the way, during the conversation I am also clicking photos of Steve eating the almonds. His wife, Donna, jumps in to explain that ‘Mary made these and is blogging about them’.
Long story short, the two other husbands, Philip Salet and Don Wrigley, took a handful of nuts and the critiquing began: “some spice, not too much, however,” “festive,” “still salty but sweet,” “perfect with a light red,” and “I just like them.” Not to be outdone, Philip’s wife, Jessica, suggested, “How about profound? These nuts are profound.”
Brown and toasty. It’s time to cool off.
We all agreed, Dorie’s Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts are “profound”. I’ll include photos and more about our dinner party in next week’s post when our recipe is Béatrix’s phenomenal Red Kuri Soup. In the meantime, if you would enjoy making these Profound Sweet & Spicy Cocktail Nuts, here’s the recipe:
2 cups nuts, whole or halves, but not small pieces, such as almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, or a mix
Instructions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Spray a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with a silicone baking mat.
Mix the sugar and spices together in a small bowl.
Beat the egg white lightly with a fork in a larger bowl – you’re not making a meringue, just breaking up the white so that it’s liquid.
Toss in the nuts, stir to coat them with egg white, then add the sugar-and-spice mixture and continue to stir so that the nuts are evenly covered.
Using your fingers, lift the nuts from the bowl, letting the excess egg white drip back into the bowl (you can run the dipped nuts against the side of the bowl to de-excess them), and transfer them to the baking sheet, separating them as best you can. Discard whatever sugar-egg mix is left in the bowl.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the nuts are browned and the coating is dry.
Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the nuts to another baking sheet, a cutting board or a piece of parchment paper, break them apart, and let them cool completely. The nuts crisp as they cool.
Storing: Kept covered in a dry place, the nuts will hold for about 5 days at room temperature.
Notes
Bonne Idée: You can swap the spices at whim. For a change, omit the chile powder and go for 5-spice powder (you can keep the cinnamon, if you’d like), curry powder (I’d use just a smidgen of cinnamon with the curry) or even cardamom (in which case, I’d cut out the cinnamon). You can also make herb-flavored nuts using finely chopped fresh herbs or dried herbs (just make sure your dried herbs are brightly colored and still fragrant). Keep the sugar and salt, drop the chile powder and cinnamon, and try mixing the nuts with fresh rosemary or thyme or dried herbes de Provence.
