Thanksgiving with the Millers

 

I love Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays. It almost always means our whole family spends weeks working on a menu that will satisfy all of us. My nephews get frustrated and ask why we can’t just have “normal” food on Thanksgiving, and why it has to be so elaborate.

Part of the reason is that we are not “normal.” Part of the reason is that we love experimenting. And part of the reason is that the memories from planning and cooking with each other are just as important as the actual eating of the meal.

This is our Thanksgiving Menu this year.

Oregano-Lemon Roasted Turkey

Wild Rice and Pine Nut Stuffing

Mom’s Cornbread Dressing

Pork Roast with Garlic and Rosemary

Potatoes Dauphin

Herbed Roasted Parsnips, Carrots and Potatoes

Green Beans with Cranberries and Almonds

Beth’s Broccoli with Crispy Asian Noodles

Bread Pudding

Pecan Pie

Rustic Apple Tart with Cinmamon Cream

Sounds pretty normal to me! If you would like any of these recipes, please email me at KarynM@GourmetGalleryWaco.com.

Also, join us at Gourmet Gallery the day after Thanksgiving for the following events:

“Secret” Sale

Kids’ Day

What to Do with Your Leftovers

Wine tasting from

The Klassy Glass

(a new wine bar opening soon on Austin Avenue)

Gourmet Gallery

2056 N. Valley Mills at Cobbs

Waco, TX 76710

254.399.0429



The Benefits of Hoarding

Sometimes I have trouble throwing things away. My grandmother once scolded me for throwing away some used tin foil she had kept since The Great Depression. Consequently, my house has little piles of things I feel guilty about throwing away in almost every cobwebby corner. Many of the piles have something to do with cooking. I need to clean out most of these corners. This once, however, I was really, really glad that I hadn’t.


In the midst of one of those stacks was an old Bon Appétit magazine. It was the September 1995 issue, and yes, I still have it, along with almost every other issue for the last 15 years. The cover picture (as often happens with my favorite cooking magazines) made my mouth water. I recognized this recipe. I made it within the first week of receiving the issue back in the days when I had time to read an entire magazine and time to test out some of the recipes on my friends. I STILL remember how much I loved this recipe, as is evidenced by the splatters, stains, and stickiness of page 16.

Bon Appétit printed this fusion recipe in their R.S.V.P. section, which is the portion of the magazine where they print recipes requested from restaurants all over the world. The recipe came from a restaurant all the way around the world and back – Tucson, Arizona. Presidio Grill to be exact. It combines pasta with chicken, garlic, basil, poblano chilies, and prosciutto. The richness, spiciness, and beautiful coloring of this dish deserve a bold red wine – a fusion of sorts to match the fusion of flavors in the pasta dish.

When I spouted off the list of ingredients to winemaker Bill Peper, he immediately thought of one of his new wines that he hopes to call “Mammoth Red.” Bill is one of the founders of the soon-to-be winery Valley Mills Vineyards Winery, right here in Central Texas. Among other yummy-sounding wines, he is developing this exciting five-varietal blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Lenoir, Tinta Cão, and Tempranillo. Sounds rich. Bill said he will bring a drop of it by Gourmet Gallery. In the mean time, keep your eyes, ears, and taste buds open to learn about the Valley Mills Vineyards Winery. I know I’m excited about it. If you have enough time, maybe you can pair it with this recipe, too.

Linguine with Chicken, Garlic and Basil
From Bon Appétit, September 1995

¼ c plus 1 T olive oil
¼ c minced garlic

¾ lb linguine (A homemade pasta from one of Gourmet Gallery’s pasta making classes would be ideal.)

1 ½ lb skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
2 poblano chilies, seeded, cut into matchstick-size strips
3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
½ c thinly sliced fresh basil
4 oz prosciutto, chopped
2 T (1/4 stick) butter

1 c freshly-grated parmesan cheese

Heat ¼ cup oil in heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until light golden brown, about six minutes. Strain oil into glass measuring cup; reserve garlic. Add enough oil to measuring cup to measure ¼ cup. Set aside.

Cook linguine in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bit, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat reserved oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté five minutes.

Add poblanos and sauté two minutes. Add tomatoes, ¼ c basil, prosciutto, and 2 T cooked garlic and sauté until chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add butter and stir just until melted.

Drain linguine and place in large bowl. Add chicken mixture and 1/2 c parmesan; toss to coat. Season with salt and freshly-ground black or pink pepper (depending on how spicy you want it). Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c basil and 2 T cooked garlic. Serve with remaining Parmesan.

Serve with salad greens with a mild vinaigrette sweetened slightly with some local honey (no herbs so you don’t detract from the full flavors of the pasta) and a bit of crusty bread. While you are enjoying this tasty recipe and your second glass of Mammoth Red, look around you to see what treasure you might discover in the dark, cobwebbed corners of your home. For once you might be glad that you haven’t cleaned for awhile. My grandmother would be proud.

Flat Irons and Red Cabooses

Fall Favorites - Flat Irons and Red Cabooses

Gourmet Gallery is offering our first Flavors of Fall cooking class for 2010 on Saturday, September 18 Soups, Stews, and Chilies Class. Check out our website for more information at www.GourmetGalleryWaco.com.

It takes so little for me to get excited about Autumn. The slightest change in weather stirs that expectant waiting of warming comfort foods, colorful leaves, football, fall picnics, red wine. To celebrate the harbingers of Fall, Jo Ann, Caryl, Molly, and I went to the Red Caboose Winery in Meridian, TX. Whether or not you are a wine drinker, this is a beautiful place to visit. The facility is GREEN; the people are warm and inviting; the wines are enticing and delicious.

We tasted a few wines, but my favorite, especially for Fall, was a Syrah-Malbec that will knock your socks off, or, as winemaker Evan McKibben phrased it, “It really hits you in the face.” He meant it in a good way, and he’s right. It’s a hearty, earthy wine that is rich enough to stand up to any steak or Texas bar-b-que yet mellow enough to complement a piece of dark chocolate. My family and I shared two bottles of it on Labor Day with a medium-rare flat iron steak. (Recipe to follow.) The steak was fantastic, but the wine really set it off.

Red Caboose winery has a Cork and Fork the last Friday of the month. They sell wine by the glass and by the bottle. You can take your own picnic and enjoy the lovely scenery. The folks at the winery suggested we bring our own lawn chairs to ensure a seat. You can find out more at www.redcaboosewinery.com. If you go, please tell them you found out about us from the girls at Gourmet Gallery. Maybe they will come to Waco to do a tasting for us! In the meantime, pack up a picnic and get ready for a beautiful Autumn. To me, it’s the best time of the year to experience the feelings, tastes, and smells of the outdoors.

Grilled Flat Iron Steak*

This recipe is modified from one my mom found on Allrecipes.com. Theirs was cooked in a nonstick skillet. Truth be known, I simply didn’t want to spend the money to feed my whole family. When Mom said she had some of these “new, trendy”steaks in her freezer, it was a lucky day. The steaks were fantastic thanks to a good recipe and Caryl’s grilling expertise. The few remaining leftovers made a wonderful steak salad.

2 lbs flat iron steak*
2 ½ T unfiltered olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T chopped fresh rosemary
1 T shallot, minced
¼ cup hearty red wine (don’t waste your Red Caboose on this, though! Any nice red will do.)
½ t salt
¾ t fresh-ground black pepper
1 t dry mustard powder
1 T meat tenderizer, such as Adolph’s

Sprinkle tenderizer on both sides of steaks. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, shallots, salt, pepper, wine, and mustard powder. Pour over steaks. Cover tightly and marinate in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Grill over medium-hot coals for about 3-4 minutes per side. Let rest for five minutes, then slice across the grain into thin slices.

Serve with jasmine rice and a colorful green salad, or use on rolls for a delicious sandwich to take to
Red Caboose Winery. Don’t forget the deviled eggs and a hunk of dark chocolate to go with the Syrah-Malbec.

*Flat iron steaks are a fairly-recently “discovered” a thin cut that is surprisingly lean and tender. Scientists were trying to find a way to minimize the wasted cut from the shoulder of the cow. According to About.com, these “friendly scientists” found a way to take out the thick connective tissue that made the cut undesirable. Like other thin cuts, flat iron steaks, also known as “top blade steaks,” benefit from marinating and from cooking no more than medium-rare. This cut also makes a wonderful chili or beef stew.

Happing cooking and eating!

Please see our website at www.GourmetGallery.com for a complete listing of our cooking classes.

Beautiful Mediterranean Appetizers

At Gourmet Gallery we occasionally offer a “Mediterranean Menu” class in conjunction with MClennan Community CollegeC. MCC’s Karen Hix has taught these classes for us, and she returns this week for a 2-class series on Mediterranean foods. Karen is Lebanese and Scottish. Fortunately for us, her Lebanese mother’s cooking expertise (read Mediterranean) beat out the haggis and blood pudding influence her father brought to the union. Thus we have a Mediterranean Menu cooking class by the Scottish/Lebanese- American, Karen Hix. Boy, are we glad!

Her menu will dig into appetizers and salads, main dishes and desserts. No shortage of flavor in these lessons. Below are a couple of recipes that she WON’T be making, some that we have come to love and rely on for our own appetizers classes, parties, and pot-luck events. They are always hits; so, try them even if they seem a little unusual to you.

Baked Pita Chips
Cut split pita rounds into even triangles with a knife or pizza cutter. Place on a cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt lightly on top of triangles. Bake at 350° F for about 10 minutes, until crisp and lightly browned.

Feta Cheese, Roasted Red Pepper and Pine Nut Dip

Ingredients:
6 oz feta cheese ½ c finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
¼ tsp minced garlic Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
4 oz cream cheese at room temperature Pita chips, crackers or crudités for serving
1 roasted red bell pepper, diced

Directions:

Combine the feta, garlic, sour cream, and cream cheese in a food processor, pulse until the ingredients are just combined. Scrape the feta mixture into a bowl and stir in the red pepper and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Just before serving, spoon the dip into a serving bowl and scatter the toasted pine nuts on top. Serve with pita chips, crackers or crudités.

Pita Nachos with Hummus and Greek Salsa

Ingredients:
1 serrano chile, minced 2 tsp red wine vinegar
½ c diced red onion ½ tsp salt
1 large tomato seeded and diced Pita chips
½ medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced 1 ½ cups hummus*
1 T chopped fresh Mint ½ grated aged mizithra cheese
3 T olive oil

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the chile, onion, tomato, cucumber, and mint. Add the olive oil, vinegar, and salt and toss to coat. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Arrange the pita wedges on a large platter. Scatter dollops of hummus on top of the pita chips. Spoon the tomato mixture over them and sprinkle with the cheese. Serve immediately.

*Hummus is a dip made from garbanzo beans, tahini paste (optional), and olive oil. There are lots of great recipes for it, or you can use purchased hummus from just about any grocery store. Karen Hix teaches us how to make hummus (a staple at her house) at her next class.

Dates with Prosciutto and Bleu Cheese
We won “Best Appetizer” at the Waco ISD Education Foundation Cook-off this year with this recipe. It sounds weird, but it’s really fabulous!

Ingredients:
24 dates
1 c quality bleu cheese
12 thin slices prosciutto (the best you can find at the market)
Aged, sweet balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut the date in half and remove the pit. Place a teaspoon of bleu cheese in cavity and pack in slightly. Wrap the date with a thin strip of prosciutto, knotting or criss-crossing it on the top of the date. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven until the prosciutto is toasted and the cheese is warm, about 12 minutes.

(These can be assembled two weeks ahead and kept in an airtight container in the freezer. Remove from freezer and bake per above directions.)

Simple Italian Cuisine

We recently returned from a trip to Tuscany where we ate, prayed, and loved! One of the best evenings we experienced was the farmhouse dinner at Fattoria il Poggio, a working winery, olive orchard, and farmhouse in Montecarlo, Lucca. It was a beautiful evening with fabulous food, wine, and good friends. They made a spelt soup that I could live on. (After I find a regular spelt supplier, I will make it and share the recipe if it's okay with the folks at the farmhouse.)

Below is a recipe for Tuscan panzanella. According to my Food Lover’s Companion, panzanella is an Italian bread salad made with onions, tomatoes, basil, olive oil, vinegar, and seasonings and chunks of bread. . . . According to me, it’s delicious! My non-traditional version has a bit of fresh parmesan shavings on top for taste and garnish. Pair with a Tuscan Pinot Grigio.

Traditionally, this salad is made without the heat of an oven with leftover bread. (The Italians did not/do not throw bread away. They gather it up and use it in soups, salads, whatever works.) You can opt to toast or grill your bread first, but the original is stale bread soaked in a bit of water. I prefer soaking in a little water and olive oil mixed.

Panzanella
1 clove garlic, cut in half
1 2-day old country loaf or ciabatta, thickly sliced and torn into 1-inch pieces
6-7 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 T drained capers
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 hothouse cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
½ c fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 c cold water
¾ c + 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
¼ c red wine vinegar
Shaved parmesan

Mix 1 c cold water and 2 T extra virgin olive oil in a large bowl. Toss torn bread into mixture. Working with a little of the bread at a time, remove excess water by squeezing the pieces gently in your hand. Rub a large salad bowl with the garlic clove. Place the softened bread into the salad bowl. Add tomatoes, drained capers, red onion, cucumbers, and basil to the bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

In a small bowl, add the vinegar and whisk in olive oil. Drizzle salad with dressing and toss. Chill. Garnish with extra basil and add more dressing before serving.

I would love comments and feedback - and other favorite Italian recipes!

Buon appetito!

An Impromptu Picnic

AN IMPROMPTU PICNIC
(from Picnics I Remember by Jo Ann Orr Miller)

Picnics with Mother’s family were usually by Murvaul Creek, near a pond out in a pasture, at the Angelina River, or by the bay or beach at Galveston. Mother, Nannan (my grandmother), and Aunt Nellye loved to fish. Occasionally we fried the little crappie or sun perch that we caught served up with a big helping of DO NOT SWALLOW A BONE. However, we usually released the fish to allow them grow. Nannan always had her outdoor cooker in the car along with a cast iron skillet and a knife; so, we could eat the catch fresh from the water.

We were coming back from visiting Aunt Nellye in Houston, and Nannan decided that we’d stop at the roadside park at the river and have fried chicken. (Eating at a café was not much of an option in the late ‘30s and early 40s’.) She bought a fryer and some Mrs. Tucker’s lard in Lufkin. We had everything we needed along with a growing appetite—except some flour. Always equal to any occasion she stopped at a farmhouse on US HWY 59, knocked on the door, and came back with a cup of flour!

I don’t remember what else we had to eat. I just remember vividly the “neighbor” we didn’t know who enabled us to have our picnic “down by the riverside.”

NANNAN’S FRIED CHICKEN
1 FREE RANGE FRYER
ENOUGH WATER TO COVER CHICKEN PIECES AND A HANDFUL OF COARSE SALT
COARSE SALT, FOR SEASONING
PEPPER
FLOUR
LARD FOR FRYING

Catch chicken. Wring neck. Put under a bucket until it stops flopping around.

Dip in scalding water. Pluck feathers. Hold over A flame to “swinge” it (a word Nannan coined for “singe to remove hairs”).

Cut open abdomen and remove all inner parts. Be very careful in getting the liver for the bile duct is very close to it. The bile is bitter. Cut open gizzard and remove the lining along with the small rocks inside. (This is the place the chicken “chews” its food.)

Cut into desired pieces. Be sure you have a pulley bone*. Place in salted water to allow it to absorb the salt.

Heat enough lard to half-cover the chicken. Pepper chicken, dip in flour. Fry until golden brown on one side. Turn and fry until golden brown on other side and until juices run clear.**

Drain grease leaving enough for some gravy—about 4 tablespoon—add 4 tablespoons making a light roux. Be sure to scrape crusty pieces from the bottom of the skillet. Slowly add water until gravy is the desired thickness . Salt and pepper to taste. If you have a lot of company, make a lot of gravy.
Enjoy with some buttermilk biscuits.

*Known in some circles as the wishbone.
**According to the Health Department, chicken should be cooked to 165°F.

Remembering Dad
By Jo Ann Miller

My father was born in 1901, the oldest son of ten children. He was the family patriarch from about age 30. He worked hard, never worried about weight, blood pressure or cholesterol and died at 97. All this made me start thinking about what he ate. Living on an East Texas farm he ate fresh vegetables (hot peppers and peas, etc) and fruits, pork and chicken, cornbread and biscuits--and dessert--lots of desserts. His favorites were the following:
• Pies--hot and cold—specifically sweet potato, chocolate, or pecan made with ribbon cane syrup, pecan made any other way, coconut cream, buttermilk, any other pie available. He really wasn’t terribly particular.
• Ice Cream--homemade or purchased.
• Cakes-fruit cakes and any other kind.
• Syrup on anything.
• Cobblers--Peach and Dewberry, Mixed Berry or Blackberry when fruits were available in the summer. Sweet potato in the fall in winter along with Raisin Roll. This recipe came from Mother's family and is literally an "old family recipe." I never saw a written recipe, but I have watched Mother make it many times. I think this is accurate enough to share.

Aunt Essie Dennard's Raisin Roll

Heat oven to 400F. Grease a 9"X 9" cake pan. If using a glass baking dish, lower temperature to 375F.

1 1/2 cups raisins--dark or white. Reserve about 1/4 cup after heating.
2 1/2 cups water. Reserve liquid after heating with raisins
Put water and raisins into a saucepan and heat until raisins have plumped. Drain, saving the liquid.

1 cup whipping cream, whipped until moderately stiff. Set aside.

Make pastry dough by mixing
2 cups all-purpose
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Crisco shortening
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small cubes
6-8 tablespoons ice water
Cut shortening and butter into flour leaving some particles small and some a little larger. (The dough should have different sizes of particles so that the crust will be flaky.) Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time and mix making the dough stiff as possible, but it should stick together. Divide into two parts and chill for about 10 minutes.

Roll each half into approximately a 9" X 12" rectangle Spread 1/2 of the raisins on the up to about 1 inch of the edge of the crust; spread 1/2 whipped cream over the raisins.

1-1 1 /2 cups sugar

Sprinkle 1/2 of the sugar over each roll. Gently roll, pinching the edges and tucking the ends to keep it all together. Carefully place rolls side by side in the pan and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

While the pie bakes, heat the retained liquid and raisins and add 1/2 cup sugar. When the pastry is browned to your liking, pour the hot liquid mixture over the rolls and return to oven. Turn off oven and let the syrup mixture sit for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cook, if you can possibly wait that long.

Food and fathers seem to go together. What was your dad's favorite? Please share the recipe is it isn't too much of a "family secret."

Nothing Sweeter than a Little Tart

Yesterday, Le Cordon Bleu trained Chef Megan Lasiter conducted a fun pre-Easter class for us, "Nothing Sweeter than a Little Tart." What a refreshing breath of air for Spring! Although her recipes are tried and true, she added just a bit of pinache to keep her audience interested. Among her recipes in this demostration class were pate sucre ( translates, "sugar paste" but is actually a slightly sweetened pastry tart), whiskey pecan tart, lemon meringue tart with Italian meringue, pastry cream for fruit tarts, and good 'ole fruit cobbler.

All of the recipes were hits with the class, but the whiskey pecan took the cake - or the pie - in my opinion. Maybe it's the Southern Girl in me. Perfect with a cup of coffee. The fruit tart, however, was the most beautiful of all. A sip of champagne really completes it.

Below is her pate sucre recipe as well as the pastry cream recipe. Topping this with colorful fresh berries makes a lovely Spring presentation. Please see our Facebook page for pictures. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waco-TX/Gourmet-Gallery/78558491610.

Happy Cooking!

Pate Sucre

(Gourmet Gallery Chef, Rachel Solano says that this pastry is a bit more forgiving than a traditional pie crust. Don't use it for your chicken pot pie, though!)

7.5 ounces unsalted butter
3 ounces sugar
.06 ounces salt
3 ounces eggs
12 ounces pastry flour

Baking Temperature 375 degrees.

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs.
3. Add flour, salt and vanilla.
4. Roll out on floured surface to desired thickness.
5. Place into pie plate or tart pan and press into edges.
6. Bake at 375 degrees until lightly browned.

Pastry Cream
1 quart milk
4 ounces sugar
3 ounces egg yolks
4 ounces whole eggs
2.5 ounces corn starch
4 ounces sugar
2 ounces butter
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Mix milk and first sugar.
2. Bring to a scald in a medium saucepan.
3. While milk is cooking, mix the following: eggs, egg yolks, second surgar, and conrstarch.
4. Temper milk into egg mixture.
5. Add whole mixture back into saucepan.
6. Whisk until thickened to desired consistency.
7. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla.

Spoon into tart shell (pate sucre). Top with fruit or enjoy by itself.