Batter-Splattered

bon voyage / creamed woodchuck

I'm off to Portland for a week -- my camera's packed and I'll be back soon with plenty of photos to share and tales to tell about the beer, the donuts, the thrift stores, the ocean, and brunch here.

 

I'll leave you with this recipe for Creamed Woodchuck my cousin just emailed me along with the question, "What do you suppose a 'kernel' is?"*

Creamed Woodchuck

Originally Published November 1942

Skin and cut a 6- to 8-pound woodchuck into serving pieces (being careful to remove the kernels under the forelegs and in the small of the back). Soak the pieces for at least 3 hours (overnight is better) in salted water to cover. Wash the pieces well, rinse them in several fresh waters, and drain thoroughly. Put the meat in a stewpot with boiling water to cover and let it boil violently for 15 minutes. At the end of this time the original quantity of water will be reduced by half, and the meat will have retained all its juices. Reduce the flame, and let the meat simmer gently until it is tender. Add 1 generous cup heavy sweet cream, 2 tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Note that this is the first time that salt and pepper have been added. Simmer for 5 minutes longer, then thicken the gravy with a little flour, stirred to a paste with cold water. Serve the creamed woodchuck with baking powder biscuits and boiled yams.

*just in case you're wondering, kernels are little red glands -- you know I couldn't leave that un-Googled.

Query

Is there anything more delicious than spending a quiet evening packing for a vacation you've been looking forward to for many long months? (glass of red wine in hand, of course)

I don't think so.

But to my surprise, it just got a little sweeter. After months of scouring the internet for things to do and see and eat during my trip to Portland with a friend, I just checked the events calendar at Powell's Books and discovered to my delight that Clothilde of Chocolate and Zucchini will be signing her new book on Friday, May 2 at Powell's on Burnside.

As if I weren't excited before! I will most certainly be in line to buy a book and have it signed.

Here's our list of things to do in Portland. Email me or leave a comment with more suggestions if you have them.

Download portland_list.doc

Penne Primavera

I had some really good-looking organic green beans, asparagus, tomatoes, broccoli, and fresh basil and parsley loitering in my fridge drawer, just waiting for their moment to shine, waiting patiently but threatening to turn brown if I didn't snap to it.

I needed to use up everything at once and so I struck on the idea of a pasta primavera, one of my favority spring things to eat. And so I found this recipe, which looked absolutely wonderful and so I tailored it to what I had on hand. The recipe instructions were a little more complicated than what I had in mind so I simplified things a bit. The other cooks who rated the recipe agreed, complaining that it dirtied up way too many pots and pans. I hate that, don't you?

Turns out I had to toss the asparagus (oh, the guilt!).

But the results were pretty good anyway. It was just what I was hungering for. Just the list of ingredients makes my mouth water: all those vegetables and fresh herbs, garlic, hot pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, and fresh parmesan. I didn't have any morels (boo hoo!) but if you do, be sure to add the morel step in the original recipe linked to above.

Here's my version of the recipe.

Penne Primavera

Serves six

Three cups or so of assorted green vegetables -- asparagus and fresh green beans (trimmed and snapped into 1-inch pieces), frozen or fresh peas, broccoli (chopped into small bits), etc.

3 cloves garlic, minced

Rounded 1/2 t dried hot red pepper flakes

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 pints grape tomatoes

1 T balsamic vinegar

3 T water

1 lb. pasta -- your choice

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2/3 c heavy cream

1 t finely grated lemon zest

1 c freshly grated parmesan

1/4 c finely chopped fresh parsley

1/4 c finely chopped fresh basil

Cook green vegetables in a big pot of boiling salted water for about 3 minutes until just tender. Remove with a slotted spoon to a colander (reserving hot water in the pot) and run cold water over the vegetables.

Cook garlic and hot pepper flakes in oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring, just until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are softened, about 3 minutes. Add vinegar and water and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, 3 to 4 minutes.

While tomatoes are cooking, return water in pot to a boil and cook pasta till al dente. Drain in a colander.

Immediately add butter, cream, and zest to empty pasta pot and simmer gently, about 2 minutes. Stir in cheese and add pasta, tossing to coat. Add green vegetables, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper to taste and toss gently to combine.

Serve topped with tomatoes and parmesan shavings.

White Lasagna

Those are lasagna noodles. More on them later...

... because look how big Sadie is now!

She's looking more and more like a dog and less and less like a puppy with each passing day. Which means I'm stricken by puppy nostalgia. I mean, she's great and all, just like she is, but I can't help it -- I'm undeniably drawn to puppies now and their fat bald bellies and their sleepy let's-take-our-tenth-nap-of-the-day eyes. It's all I can do resist the urge to snatch them up and take them home.

In the photos above and below, she's doing our new favorite thing -- sitting in the backyard and staring at stuff. Woodpeckers. Chickadees. The woodpile. The horses in the field behind us. Bush planes flying overhead. Squirrels. A golden eagle flapping low and silent through the yard right above our heads. Chewing on sticks (her, not me -- I have yet to develop a taste for birch bark).

Now that it's finally warming up (although as you can tell from all the brown in the photos, spring has not sprung here yet), we just sit and sit and sit. Soaking up the sun. Listening to the breeze in the bare tree branches and the ravens croaking and caw-caw-ing at each other. Watching those amorous woodpeckers go at it -- there were three of them doing their dance of love on a tree branch above us this afternoon! It was a menage a trois of peckers.

{that last sentence oughta yield some interesting google search results}

The only thing we like better than sitting and staring is to take a walk in the woods on a nice, deserted trail. Birch trees. Green moss. Blue skies. Sunshine. We are nature-loving fools, she and I.

While we sat in the backyard this afternoon, let me tell you what was baking inside in the oven. A white lasagna, that's what.

It was the recipe of the day at epicurious the other day (I love that new feature of theirs) and one look at the photo was enough to convince me I needed to make it. Not only is it pretty and delicious, it also used up some rather neglected ingredients I had knocking around my kitchen.

Ingredients like shallots and marsala and white cheese -- the recipe calls for parmesan but I had a lonely chunk of gruyere so in it went. And don't tell anyone but I used sweet marsala rather than extra dry. I know -- gasp!

It all turned out fine and tasty as these photos will attest:

We ate way more of it than any two people should eat at one sitting.

My husband was all for adding some ground beef to it but I rather impatiently explained that then it wouldn't be white lasagna. But he might have been on to something. Next time I make this, I might layer in some prosciutto.

White Lasagna

(or, white lasagne with parmigiano besciamella [lasagne in bianco ], if you want to get all fancy on me)

3/4 cup minced shallots (about 6)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 3/4 cups whole milk
1 cup rich chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup dry Marsala
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 pound grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup), divided
12 (7- by 3-inch) no-boil egg lasagne sheets

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Cook shallots in butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add flour and cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, 3 minutes. Add nutmeg, then slowly whisk in milk and stock. Bring to a boil, whisking, then simmer, stirring occasionally, just until sauce lightly coats back of spoon, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool to warm, stirring occasionally. Stir in eggs, Marsala, sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 cup cheese.

Spread about 1 1/4 cups sauce over bottom of an 11- by 8-inch baking dish. Cover with a layer of 3 lasagne sheets. Repeat layering 3 more times, then top with remaining sauce and remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, until browned, 45 to 55 minutes.

Cooks' note: Sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered (once cool).          

Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

Here's the dessert I mentioned in yesterday's post, a peach and blueberry cobbler, as pretty as it is toothsome:

I wish I would have thought of the word toothsome when I was trying to think up a name for this blog. What a great name for a food blog. Take it, if you want -- just be sure to send me a check for a million dollars. You don't hear it very often which is such a shame. I like the sound of it. It accurately reflects that sort of tastiness that makes you want to sink your teeth into something.

I got this recipe from that same old cookbook I've been sampling from lately. I'm SO GLAD I tried this because the biscuit topping is phenomenal. Better than anything else I've tasted in its class. You toss together the dry ingredients and make a well in the center, then whip up whipping cream until soft peaks form. Stir it into the dry ingredients with a fork just until a dough forms. The dough is so light and puffy and sweet. I saved alot of scraps for eating raw!

I would have eaten those peaches and berries just like that, spooned over some vanilla ice cream. Or maybe just with a big spoon.

Costco just started selling these big bags of frozen fruit that I'm really excited about. Only $8 and the bag is full of good-looking wedges of peaches, white peaches, plump blueberries, and rounds of honeydew melon... so good! You can pick your way through it and make yourself a helluva pie. I take a big bowl of it to work with me and spear fruit with a fork throughout the day at my desk.

I used peaches -- white and regular -- for this cobbler recipe along with a couple of handfuls of tart little blueberries I picked myself last summer. My supply in the freezer is rapidly dwindling so summer better hurry her ass up so I can pick some more.

This was good and oh so easy.

Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

Serves six

4 1/2 c peaches sliced into wedges (you can also use nectarines or apricots)

1 pint blueberries (you can also use blackberries or raspberries)

1/2 c sugar

1 T plus 1 t cornstarch

1/2 c water

1 T lemon juice

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

3 T sugar

1 T baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 c heavy cream

Milk, for brushing

Sugar, for sprinkling

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large saucepan, combine the fruit and berries, sugar, cornstarch, water, and lemon juice. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until fruit has softened. Transfer to a shallow baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and make a well in the center. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Spoon cream into the well and mix with a fork just until a dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface, gently knead the dough several times. Roll or pat the dough to 3/4 inches thick. Cut with a biscuit or cookie cutter of your choice and arrange biscuits on top of the fruit, brush with milk, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake cobbler for 15 minutes or so, until biscuits are golden and fruit is bubbling. Let cool slightly. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Sicilian Rigatoni and Sausage

Oh my god, did we ever eat good last night!

First there was a recipe for sicilian rigatoni and sausage that took so long to simmer and cook, it got me to flipping through the cookbook for a dessert recipe to fill the time. More on that dessert in a later post.

Both recipes came from a new-old favorite cookbook I've been making tons of things from these days -- Queen of the Kitchen Cookbook by illustrator Mary Engelbreit. Everything I've tried has been so good that I had to flip to the back of the book to see if Mary herself was whipping up these concoctions.

Nope. But I can see why the recipes are good stuff -- the cooks are Lori Longbotham, a former food editor at Gourmet magazine, and Miriam Rubin, whose name sounds very familiar but I can't put my finger on why.

But back to that pasta. First, you put some hot italian sausages in a skillet, prick them with a fork, and let them sizzle slowly for 25 minutes or so till they're nicely browned.

The sight of a nicely browned sausage makes me even happier than slightly crispy, thick slices of bacon.

In the same skillet (don't be shy -- use those sausage drippings), you toss in a chopped bulb of fresh fennel, some shallots, a stalk of celery, and a couple of cloves of garlic. Then some tomatoes and fresh basil and parsley. Let it simmer for 45 minutes -- this doesn't go together quick, but it is easy and the results are wonderful. When I first glanced at the recipe, it looked like it would be speedy but oh no, good things take awhile sometimes. And hey, like I said, I got an unexpected and very tasty dessert out of the deal. In my kitchen, cooking boredom often leads to a baking solution for said boredom.

I love the way rigatoni noodles plump up big and fat when they're finished boiling. Here's the sauce after running it through a food processor:

My husband took one look at the simmering ingredients and said, "I don't think I'm gonna like that," (he hates tomatoes) and then he tried to sneak out of the kitchen carrying the plate of sausages behind his back. The dog was hoping he'd make it to the living room but I'm on to that man's tricks.

And as is so often the case, he was wrong because he polished off half a skillet of this pasta. That sauce was excellent and so fresh tasting. You can sprinkle it with the feathery fennel fronds. And speaking of leafy things, use a celery stalk with the leaves still attached if you can find such a thing -- it's getting harder and harder to find celery with the leaves still on! What's up with that? There's five different brands of celery at my grocery stores and they're all chopped off well below the leafy mark.

When it's ready to serve, sprinkle it with more cheese and garnish with the fennel fronds and sprigs of basil. I think this would be so pretty to serve to guests -- imagine bringing it to the table in a big old pasta bowl. You'd be sure to get some oo's and ah's.

Here's my version of the recipe:

Sicilian Rigatoni and Sausage

Serves 4 to 6

1/2 pound hot italian sausage (about three links)

2 T olive oil

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and finely chopped, feathery tops chopped and reserved

2 medium shallots or 1 onion, chopped

1 celery stalk with leaves, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, sliced

5 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/4 c fresh basil, chopped, plus a few small sprigs for garnish

1/4 c fresh parsely, chopped

2 T tomato paste, divided

1/2 c chicken broth

1/4 heavy cream

Salt and pepper

1/2 pound rigatoni or other large tube-shaped pasta

3/4 c grated parmesan cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top

Prick each sausage several times with a fork. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook the sausage, turning often, for about 25 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through. Remove to a plate.

Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the same skillet and add the fennel, onion or shallots, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft and lightly browned.

Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley and one tablespoon of tomato paste. Season with salt and peper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes, adding a little broth if the sauce gets too thick.

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.

Press the sauce through a food mill set over a large saucepan, or in the alternative, blend it in a food processor or blender to your desired smoothness (I like mine a little chunky), then return it to the skillet (I like the idea of using one pan rather than dirtying up another one). Cut sausage into 1/4-inch slices and add to the sauce. Stir in the cream, the other tablespoon of tomato paste, and the rest of the broth if you still have some left. Cook over medium heat, stirring for 5 minutes, or until sauce is heated through.

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain. Toss the pasta and parmesan with the sauce in the skillet, or in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with fennel fronds and garnish with basil sprigs. Serve alongside additional parmesan.