Nantucket Pie

Moist eggy cake's chewy/crispy crust doesn't last; best eaten same day. Some recipes for Nantucket Pie call for more butter, more sugar, greasing the pan... I don't know why.

2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked free of any stems
1/4 plus 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup flour
1 tsp. almond extract, optional

Preheat oven to 325F. Put cranberries in an ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. stir in the 1/4 cup of sugar. In a bowl, combine remaining cup of sugar with the eggs, melted butter, flour and almond extract. Pour this mixture over the cranberries. Bake until it begins to turn golden brown--about 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This simplified adaptation was published in the 2005 Jones Elementary School cookbook, Cooking the Severn and Magothy Way, for which I wrote the excellent preface. Laurie Colwin's original (?) version calls for nuts, which aren't always popular with the third-grade set.

Thanksgiving 20111

Even I liked everything this year: turkey from the Amish market, dressing with sausage, apple & prunes, good gravy, mashed potatoes, spinach gratin, roast butternut, caramelized Brussels sprouts, fresh cranberry relish with kumquats & dates. Pumpkin & pecan pies. Whipped cream. Best part: lots of help from my family.

Turkey: 20-lb. room-temperature turkey in dark lasagna pan was fully cooked after four hours @ mostly 325F (350F for first 45 min.)--therefore 12 min/lb! First hour breast up, then 1.5 hours turned on its side (cut-up onions in bottom of pan may have helped with skin not sticking during the flip); last 1.5 hours of cooking breast up, covered with foil. Very simple preparation: turkey rubbed all over with salt and pepper the day before and brushed once with butter before the flip.

Apple-Sausage Dressing: bake a loaf of cubed French bread (about 6 cups) until brown. Saute in 1/2 cup of butter: 1/2 cup chopped shallot, 2 c. chopped celery, 2-3 cups chopped onion. Add shallot mixture to toasted bread cubes along with 4 cups diced apple, a splash of dry vermouth, 1 lb. cooked crumbled Amish sausage, ~3 c. turkey stock, 1-2 c. diced prunes, 1 tbsp. thyme leaves & 2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage. Mix well. Bake in souffle dish at 350F until brown and slightly crispy on top--about 40 minutes.

Gravy: pre-turkey cooked last week in order to have lots of good stock on hand. Made gravy in advance: 1 tbps. each flour & butter (the roux) for each cup of stock. Gravy Master added for color. (Charred onion works, but is more complicated, and I can't tell the difference.) De-fatted drippings from the real Thanksgiving turkey added for flavor boost.

Spinach Gratin: steam big Costco bag of fresh spinach, drain & stop cooking with cold-water rinse, squeeze out moisture. Combine in shallow gratin dish with equal volume (~3 cups) of bechamel (white sauce) made with shallot or leek-infused* milk/cream and same roux proportions as for gravy above. Stir in grated Gruyere if desired.  Top generously with fresh breadcrumb mixture made in food processor with 3 slices white bread, small garlic clove, 3 tbsp. butter, salt.  Bake at 350F until brown and hot--about 45 minutes. ( I made one of these to freeze for later. It wasn't as good as the freshly made one.)
*Heat milk/cream, add sliced shallot, let stand at least 10 minutes, strain

Cranberry-Kumquat-Date Relish: 1 12-oz. bag of cranberries; 1 cup kumquats, quartered; 3/4 cup sugar; 1/2 cup chopped dates. Combine first three ingredients in food processor; pulse ten times or until coarsely chopped. Add dates; pulse 5 times or until blended. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Refrigerate.  This was a sub for usual fresh cranberry sauce without dates from recipe on cranberry bag, which I think I like better.

Advance preparation: turkey stock up to 14 days ahead (bring to a boil for 5 minutes every three days--or freeze); fresh bread crumbs in food processor a week ahead & freeze; cranberry relish & sauce up to 5 days ahead; blanch spinach 3-4 days in advance; make gravy and bechamel up to 3 days ahead; make pie pastry up to three days ahead (but roll out and bake same day, ideally); stuffing can be made up to 3 days in advance; peel potatoes and keep them in a pot of water 1 day ahead.

Apple-filled Buckwheat Crepes

A variation of this (my) recipe was published in a Valentine's Day issue of Vintage magazine for a breakfast-in-bed story.

Buckwheat Crepes
Makes about 16 7-inch crepes

2-3 crepes per person; serves 4-6 (because the cook gets to eat a few)

2 eggs
2 cups milk
6 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 Granny Smith or other cooking apple per person

Whisk ingredients together and allow to rest in refrigerator for 1-24 hours. Heat a seasoned steel crepe pan over medium-high heat. Pour in enough batter so that you can swirl it around in the pan to fill the area with the thinnest possible crepe--about 2 tbsp.; pour out any extra batter. Cook until lightly golden, then use a fork to lift the edge and flip. Cook on second side until spots are lightly browned. Repeat, stacking the cooked crepes as you go. They'll keep for days well-wrapped in the refrigerator, or you can freeze them.

To make apple filling, use one good tart cooking apple per person. Peel & core and slice, saute in butter (1 tsp/apple) until tender, adding a little bit of sugar at the end. Fill, roll or fold into quarters and keep them warm in a low oven or in a buttered skillet. Serve with sour cream or yogurt.

Panade

Another tasty veggie recipe from Tartine Bread. Leek-infused milk/cream poured over layers of thick-sliced bread, butternut, greens & cauliflower, topped with fontina & baked until golden, then chilled for a few days to make it slice-able. (No egg here, not a custard.) Individual slices are moistened with cream and baked for 20 minutes. Great flavor, great presentation & great for do-ahead. As a substitute for raw kale, try spinach and/or chard.

Serves 6

6 tablespoons butter

2 leeks, white parts only, finely chopped (about 1½ cups)

6 cups whole milk

Salt

4-6 slices day-old country bread, each 1 inch thick

1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled, seeded and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices

1 bunch black kale or Swiss chard, center stems removed

1 head cauliflower (about 1½ pounds), trimmed and cut into ½-inch-thick slices

½ pound fontina cheese, thinly sliced

heavy cream to pour over before final reheating

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the milk, the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat.

2. Cover the bottom of a heavy, ovenproof 5-quart pot with 2 or more slices of the bread. Arrange the squash slices in an even layer on top of the bread and pour in 2 cups of the hot milk mixture. Top with 2 or 3 slices of bread and then with the kale. Arrange the cauliflower slices over the kale. Press down on the ingredients to compact them if they don’t quite fit into the pot.

3. Pour the remaining milk mixture over the top. Stop adding the milk when the level is almost to the rim. Cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and arrange the cheese over the top. Return to the oven uncovered and bake until the liquid is absorbed and reduced and the cheese has melted and browned, 30 to 40 minutes. (When the panade has cooled, it should appear dry.) Serve immediately or let cool and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, cut the panade into wedges and put on individual ovenproof plates. Pour ¼ cup cream over the top of each wedge and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 375.

Carbonnade

Saw this nice piece of chuck at the market and thought of a bottle of pumpkin ale I had at home: visions of carbonnade followed. Browned, braised gently for several hours until meltingly tender in beer with onions, tomato paste, peppercorns--carrots and prunes added for the last half hour. Served with noodles. Thank you, Belgium.

Involtini

Tried the recipe for Involtini from Tartine Bread last night--eggplant roulades stuffed with ricotta, fresh bread crumbs, lemon zest & thyme. Followed the recipe except brushed the eggplant slices with olive oil and broiled one side to brown instead of deep-frying. Pretty simple to make, light & flavorful, keeps well, nice buffet dish.

Serves 4 to 6

Tomato Sauce

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

One 3-ounce can tomato paste

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

One 16-ounce can whole tomatoes

Red wine vinegar

Salt

Stuffing

Bread crumbs made from 4 slices day-old country bread, whole wheat bread, or semolina bread (recipe follows)

2 cups whole milk ricotta

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 or 3 medium globe eggplants

Salt

Olive oil

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup finely grated Asiago cheese

To make the tomato sauce, heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sauté until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until the paste turns a deep rusty red, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes. Add the whole tomatoes, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, using a wooden spoon to mash the tomatoes into chunks. Season with vinegar and salt.

Meanwhile, to make the stuffing, in a bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, ricotta, lemon zest and juice, thyme, and salt.

Trim the stem end of each eggplant. Using a mandoline, cut the eggplant lengthwise into slices 1/4 inch thick. You should have 12 slices. Sprinkle the slices on both sides with salt, layer them in a colander, and let stand for 1 hour. Press the moisture from the eggplant and blot them dry with a kitchen towel. Pour olive oil to a depth of 1 inch in a deep, heavy saucepan or large skillet and heat to 360°F on a deep-frying thermometer. Place 3 or 4 of the eggplant slices in the hot oil and cook until the slices take on some color, 3 to 4 minutes. Using tongs, remove the slices and put in a colander to drain. Repeat with the remaining slices.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Pour the tomato sauce into a medium-sized baking dish. Place a spoonful of filling at the one end of each eggplant slice. Roll the slice around the filling and place it seam-side down in the dish on top of the tomato sauce. Spoon a generous tablespoon of cream over each roll to moisten it. Bake until the edges of sauce around the sides of the dish are dark and the rolls are nicely caramelized, 20 to 25 minutes.

Garnish with the Asiago cheese before serving.