Just in Time for Valentine's Day: I Don't Love Chocolate

I know. I know. I am in the minority. I am weird. I do not know what is really good or good for me. Nevertheless, I really do not love chocolate. The reasons for this food bias may be any one or all of the following. First reason is genetic. My mother and my grandmother, the matriarch of the kitchen in our family, did not make chocolate things. and a biology teacher told me that not liking chocolate is genetic. Second reason is Chocolate Soda. I had to pay for a Coke or Dr. Pepper. I could have Chocolate Soda for free at my dad's store; so, I would try one occasionally. BAD. Third reason is my appendix.  An appendicitis attack was misdiagnosed as a virus. My treatment was, you guessed it, chocolate-flavored medicine. BAD..

The story of cocoa is a long and interesting story.  An extensive time-line of the discovery and development of chocolate is on The Gourmet Chocolate of the Month www.chocolatemonthclub.com/chocolatehistory.htm).

A quote from that website: Chocolate has impacted the ways in which some humans worshiped and expressed their values.
Certainly chocolate has become an important part of our food experiences.
 Another quote from the website: Secret Techniques in blending and roasting beans, traditional family recipes and creative interpretations and innovative candy making techniques  have been handed down generation to generations.


Chocolate's reputation as an aphrodisiac has flourished at times in history. Currently we look at the medical benefits of the bittersweet in helping the body with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Remember, only the unsweetened!!!

From the Mayans in Central and South America to the Aztecs to Spaniards to other European countries to the world, chocolate has made important contributions to economics, traditions and gastronomic endeavors in our world          



Now it's not that I never eat chocolate. I do have a favorite Brownie Recipe from "Keepers,"  a book self-published by my friend, Frances Payne. (Her comment about the recipe: This is Marie Wiggnins' recipe and I don't believe that I have ever tried one that is any better. If you get a real craving for chocolate, it is guaranteed to give you that chocolate fix.) I know you don't who Marie Wiggins was, but it doesn't really matter. The brownies are g-o-o-o-d.

BROWNIES

4 eggs,slightly beaten                                           3 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar                                                        2 sticks butter
1 cup flour                                                           1 cup nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing:
1/2 stick butter                                                     1 square unsweetened chocolate
1 pound powdered sugar

Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add the sugar; continue to stir well. Mix flour and salt and add to the creamed mixture. In the meantime, melt the two sticks of butter and 3 squares of chocolate over low heat until blended. Cool slightly and add to the other mixture; add nuts. Pour into a greased and floured 10 X 15 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 325F. for 35 minutes. Cool slightly and ice.

To make icing, melt the margarine and chocolate, add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth and spreading consistency. (This is a little dry; so, I add a little cream.)

CHOCOLATE BOWLS WITH CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

12 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped or 12 oz. dark chocolate morsels
Small balloons. Blow until about 2-1/2 inches in diameter.
Parchment paper

Melt 1/2 chocolate a small double-boiler. Stir until smooth. Add the remaining chocolate , melt and mix until smooth
Blow up balloons to about 2-1/2 inches in diameter and tie.
Drop a teaspoon of the chocolate onto the parchment paper to make a disk.
Dip the balloon into the chocolate to cover 1/3 of the balloon.
Place place each the disk set.
Chill. Pop the balloon and remove.
Viola!! A chocolate bowl
Makes 8 or 10 bowls..

How to make a moo--no, a mousse

2 T. butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3 eggs, separated
1/4 c sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Melt butter with chocolate in a double-boiler.
Slightly whisk egg yolk and add to the butter, melted chocolate mixture.
Beat egg whites for 1-2 minutes. Add 1/2 sugar. Then, beat another 3 minutes until stiff peaks form.
Beat cream for 1 minute. Add remaining sugar and vanilla until soft peaks, about 2 more minutes.
Add beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture, fold gently. Then, fold in whipped cream in the same manner.
Chill.

Spoon the chilled mousse into the chocolate bowls.  Garnish with a fresh raspberries and mint.

We're trying this tonight. Hope it works for us and you, too.

Happy eating,

Jo Ann Miller,
ABW and Consultant
Gourmet Gallery














           

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Looking Back at Christmas

Looking at Back at Christmas. Perhaps just 11 days after Christmas 2011 is not long enough to give any perspective to the holiday. Yet, this is my self-assigned task today. All of the important statements about the significance of Christmas have been stated and restated.  We're in the newest new year, resolutions are made, or not,  and we move on to whatever the year, the day, the moment brings.

This Waco Miller Family celebrated Christmas twice.Christmas Eve, after church, we went to Karyn's for a rather impromptu party. (Somehow we always manage to go there for a party.) Some gift-giving took place at that event. And on New Year's Day all of the ones in town came to my house. For several years we've just given stocking-stuffers and donated to a charity of our choice.Those have included the John Tracy Clinic, Montgomery County Clinics, Asbury House Child Development Center, Family Abuse Centers and others.

However, over and above the gifting and any other occasion of getting together, I must admit that the real emphasis is always on FOOD. Oh, big surprise! Let's face it. So much tradition hinges on the food that we eat and that connection to the special day. In the old days we ate what was in the garden, the yard and the smokehouse. Celery was not in our dressing until Aunt Nellye brought it from Houston. We didn't raise turkeys; so, the hen went into the boiling pot, was de-boned and put into the dressing. Consequently, I am really not a turkey fan. The dressing--not stuffing since there was nothing to stuff--was made of cornbread and biscuits, onion, apples, eggs, butter, the chicken broth--I don't remember any spices. Oh, and celery when Aunt Nellye brought it. And so forth, and so forth and so forth.

This year when the turkey ordered for Thanksgiving did not arrive until two weeks after, an HEB turkey that didn't wander around in a yard or pasture somewhere was our entree. BUT for Christmas we had  turkey again.  This one had been free to roam. Was it better? I don't know. I ate the spiraled sliced ham, black-eyed peas with pea sauce* and scalloped potatoes, cornbread and butter, bread-pudding with whiskey sauce. Two pinot noir wines from the wineries we visited this summer along with a champagne toast and the inevitable Kendal Jackson chardonnay were also present at our gathering. (This was not a tradition in my own family. My mother would heartily disapprove.)

 Pea Sauce. It is a fresh addition to the peas and could be used on any kind of field or beans. (Borrowed from a class participant.

PEA SAUCE

2 red onions
3 tomatoes
2-3 green bell peppers
1/4 cup sugar
White vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Dice vegetables. Add sugar. Cover with vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.

Simple and simply delicious. If you like "heat" with the peas, dice a hot pepper. This makes it like a pico de gallo.

My Favorite Cornbread
"Joy of Cooking"

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon sugar
 A scant teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 egg

Thoroughly mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl beat together the milk, egg and oil. Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until all dry ingredients are moist.
Bake in a heated, greased cast iron skillet at 425 F until lightly brown on top.
Turn over in the skillet, slice a wedge and butter. Eat. Wonderful!!!
I sometimes use the cornbread stick pans. Be sure that they are well-seasoned and have plenty of time to heat in the oven with a liberal teaspoon of oil in each stick. So good because there is a lot of crust.

Again, happy eating.

Hope I am through with turkey for the year. Happy cooking to you. Let me know what will be cooking at your house this New Year.

The Accidental Fried Chicken Salad

It all started with my trying to improve on the proven. Family gathering coming up, and I wanted to make the ULTIMATE fried chicken--being the matriarch and all. Surely the recipe from one of the top Food Network chefs would be the ticket! SO---I bought a large cast iron chicken fryer from "you know where," bought just the right sizes of Organic Chickens to the tune of $3.00+ per pound along with a large amount of Crisco, buttermilk, and fresh flour. (Flour gets stale if you don't cook anymore than I do, and you forget to put it in the freezer.)  The instructions read to be sure to keep the cooking fat at a steady temperature. Borrowed a cooking thermometer and  I was ready.

After work on Saturday I began the process of making this perfect fried chicken. I learned from my grandmother that chicken needs to be put in salty water--brining, it's called now. Buttermilk, salt, some 

seasonings  All set for the first step toward perfection. Place chicken pieces in the mixture. Refrigerate overnight. Done.

The next day all the ingredients were assembled:  Crisco melting in the pan, thermometer clipped to the side of the fryer, chicken drained and dipped in the flavored flour. When the Crisco reached the appropriate temperature, I strategically placed the chicken into the frying pan. Temperature watched carefully to be sure it is steady, letting brown, turning (h-m-m--seems to be getting a little TOO brown at that temp, but must follow directions.)

Eventually, all the chicken had been fried, and after it had cooled, I took a bite--Yum? NO-O-O! Yuck! TOO SALTY!!!!! We had to order TAKE-OUT. But I couldn't throw all of that expensive chicken into the trash. SO--Strip off the skin and crust, debone, boil in fresh water three times, shred, add chopped hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped celery, dill relish, mayonnaise and a few red grapes, and, believe it or not, just a little salt. Delicious! Just what I had in mind in the first place.

Thus my recipe for Accidental Chicken Salad. Enjoy! But as for fried chicken, I'll go back to doing it the way I 've done it for 60+ years.

The Devil in Deviled Eggs and How to Exorcise Them

 Deviled Eggs, it seems to me, are THE most popular item at a picnic or a cocktail party. At Eastertime we all start making them because of so many dyed hen eggs. This past Easter I began to think about "The Deviled Egg." (My grandson observed that at Eastertime, perhaps they should be call angel eggs.) Why the name "deviled"? Wikipedia connects this dish to deviled ham, and maybe that is true. However, after much contemplation (at least 30 minutes) I think the name derives from the fact that, unless certain procedures are followed, the are the "devil" to prepare. And that leads me to the real intent of this blog: How to Take the Devil Out of Deviled Eggs.

Many people contributed to these instructions. And here are the "secrets."
1. Do not start with fresh eggs.
2..Make a small hole in the larger end of the eggs.
3. Place eggs in a sauce pan and cover with tap water.
4. Add salt. Just a tablespoon, may be two.
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Remove from  heat, cover and let sit for 15 minutes--or 12 or 13--just not too long..
7. Drain quickly and shake pan to crack shells.
8. Put eggs in a bowl or pan of ice and water and allow to cool.
With any luck the devil will have been exorcised and the shells will just peel right off.
This blogger does not guarantee smoothly peeled eggs, but if you do all of the above, at least you will know you have done your very best.

I am more confident about what to do next:
Cut in half either lengthwise or crosswise (if crosswise, cut a little of the white from each end so that the egg half will sit straight).
Remove yolks, mash and mix something really yummy with the yolks and refills the halves. I like mayonnaise--real--dill, a little vinegar or dill pickle juice and celery seed.

Some other suggestions for the yummy "stuff" as in stuffed:
From JOY OF COOKING--2006 Edition:
Mayonnaise or cream or sour cream or butter with vinegar and sugar or pickle juice. Season to taste with salt, pepper, mustard, red pepper, curry powder, jalopenos or other peppers.
Other additions: anchovy, caviar, curry powder, crumbled bleu cheese, chopped chive, tarragon,  parsley or, basil, salsa,  etc,
And more specifically, two recipes from "Bon Appetit."

Chipotle Deviled Eggs
12 large eggs
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 to 3 teaspoons finely chopped canned chipotle chiles*
24 fresh cilantro leaves

PREPARATION
Place eggs in large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover. Bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce hear to low; simmer gently 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand  10 minutes. Drain eggs; cover with ice and water and let stand until cold.

Peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Spoon yolks into small bowl; arrange whites on platter. finely grate yolks on small holes of of box grater into medium bowl. Mix in mayonnaise, the 2 teaspoons chopped chipotle chilies. Add more chopped chilies, if desired, for more hear. Season filling to taste with salt, if desired. Using pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch-diameter star tip, pipe filling into egg whites. Cover and Chill eggs at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Press l cilantro leaf into filling each egg and serve.
www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2006/chipotle_deviled_eggs

* Substitute the Homestead Chipotle Mayonnaise available at Gourmet Gallery.

Eggs Stuffed with Smoked Salmon and Caviar


3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 fresh lemon juice
12 ounces thinly sliced cold-smoked salmon, finely chopped
1/4 cup salmon caviar
12 hard-boiled eggs, shelled,  halved, whites and yolks separated

Additional chopped chives
Lemon wedges
Assorted fresh herb sprigs

Line rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. Blend 3 tablespoons chives, oil and lemon juice in medium bowl. Mix insmoked salmon. Fold in caviar. Chop four egg yolks (reserve remainder for another use) and stir into salmon mixture. Season to taste with ground pepper. Pile 1 generous tablespoon salmon mixture in cavity of each egg-white. Arrange eggs on prepared sheet. Cover with plastic; refrigerate up to 8 hours.

Place eggs on platter. Sprinkle with additional chives. Garnish with lemon wedges and herb sprigs.
"Bon Appetit". August 2004. p.83

A Cemetery Picnic

THE MAPLE GROVE CEMETERY PICNIC

(from Picnics I Remember by Jo Ann Miller)

On the fourth Saturday in June, which was always seemed to be the hottest day of the year, we went to the Maple Grove Picnic. All of my Orr relatives were there, too—dead and alive. What I have attended and endured all of my life is the outgrowth of an old tradition to honor ancestors. In the old days in the country in East Texas graveyards were “worked” in the summer after the crops were Laid By. (I don’t remember when we started calling graveyards “cemeteries”.) Initially the clean-up was done on Friday or Saturday with everyone taking a piece of fried ham, a hunk of cold cornbread and a watermelon to share with the other people who came with their rakes and hoes to clear the grass and weeds that had grown up during the spring.

Eventually, full-blown picnics evolved. The work was done on Friday or Saturday, and picnics were held the following day—from about 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. or so if on Saturday, or after preaching if on Sunday. The girls got new dresses and shoes. (Once my cousin, Susie, sat in the car all the day of the picnic because she didn’t like the shoes Aunt Esther had bought for her.)We looked forward to the “all-day singing and dinner on the ground” or on the picnic tables. If the event was held on Sunday, nothing was sold, but any other day there was a STAND with sody water, lemonade and homemade ice cream. Children spent their nickels and dimes there and their quarters to have their pictures taken. During an election the game was to see how many different candidates’ cards one could get.

My families have ancestors buried at Pine Grove, the oldest church in Rusk County, at Concord Cemetery and at Maple Grove. One of the largest cemeteries in our part of the county is at Shiloh, a church and cemetery on SH 315 between Carthage and Mount Enterprise. People from our community who had moved to Texas from South Carolina began using this burial ground in the 19^th century. The tradition in the community was to go to Shiloh on July 4^th   At one church there was Gospel Singing, requiring a piano and in the other church Sacred Harp singing, no musical instrument required.

However, all that said, the FOOD was the main event. I checked with friends and relatives to see what they remembered their mothers and grandmothers taking to the cemetery on that special day. Here are some of the good foods that we remembered:

Fried chicken                                                           Chicken pie

Fried ham                                                                 Pork sausage

Chicken and dumplings                                        Butter beans

Macaroni and cheese                                            Pimiento cheese sandwiches

Sliced fresh tomatoes                                           Pickled peaches

Sweet cucumber pickles                                      “Light bread”

Watermelon rind pickles                                      Iced tea                                            

Raisin pies                                                                 Fried peach and apple pies

Chocolate pies                                                         Pineapple cake

Coconut pies                                                            Fresh berry cobbler

Peach cobbler

These gathering have changed through the years. This year we’ll gather at Maple Grove on the first Sunday in October. No stands to sell soda, ice cream, no political candidates, no new dresses and hats, no singing, no day before to clear grass and weeds, but the food remains much the same although the ones who prepare it are children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren or even great-great grandchildren of those who once prepared the feasts or brought from Bob’s Barbecue or Chicken on the Run. 

Through the years the meaning of the gathering has remained the same—to honor those men and women who gave us life and who deserve our respect and devotion. We still do that with gusto.

Recipe for AUNT GENE’S MACARONI AND CHEESE*

1 pkg (7  oz) elbow macaroni

½ stick real butter

1 egg, beaten

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

3 cups milk(1 large can Pet evaporated and about 1 ½  cups regular milk, warmed

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook pasta. Add melted butter, beaten egg, salt & pepper. Add milk and cheese and stir. Pour into casserole, about 2 qt. and bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Put more cheese on top before it is done and let it melt.

*This recipe was always a hit at the picnic as well as at our family gatherings. Aunt Gene was blinded by a tear gas bomb lost from a car that had been parked at Uncle Arlen’s store. A little boy found the fountain pen-like device, and as she examined it, the thing exploded, blinding her. She regained partial sight from a plastic cornea transplant many years later. In the meantime she re-taught herself to cook by feel and smell. Her daughter, Carolyn says, “Everything she made was good and I think it got better after she was blinded. She loved to cook—it was her passion—and Daddy loved to eat.”

Looking at the Wild Northwest

This Spring  (June 18-25) Gourmet Gallery is sponsoring a Wine, Food and Sightseeing Tour to Washington and Oregon. Not since Lewis and Clark who travelled there as representatives of the United States government has there been so much excitement about going there.  Our transportation to the area will be faster. Consequently, we'll  be able to cover much more territory. Landing in Seattle, Washington on June 18, we will have an orientation tour of the city including the waterfront, the downtown financial district, the Pioneer Square Historic Distrist and the Seattle Center. After checking into the hotel, the rest of the day is free. Downtown hotels are within walking distance of Pioneer Historial Center and other attractions. If we stay at a hotel on 5th Street, we will be about 4 blocks from Pike's Pub. I'm sure there are other fun places around, too. When I googled (the new verb) this pub, I found a map showing hotels, sight-seeing, and restaurants.  Google Red Lion Hotel and see the map.

Three nights in Seattle will allow time for several wonderful experiences. We'll taste wines at Chateau Ste. Michelle, visit Pikes Place Market and go up in the Space Needle for wonderful view of the city, and have a dinner at a local restaurant. All of these are included in the tour.

And on the third day-- we will drive along the shores of Puget Sound to Olympia, the capital of Washington. Next stop is the Mt. St. Helen's Visitors Center to learn about the May, 1980 eruption. We'll spend the night in Portland, Oregon's largest city. Portland is  the city of roses. Our tour of the city will highlight the waterfront, and the International  Rose Test Gardens. On the fourth day we will  drive through the beautiful Oregon coastal Range to visit the town of Tillamook, home of Tillamook Cheese. We'll travel along the scenic coast and arrive in Newport, Oregon, in time for a Clam Bake.

And on the fifth day--Two exciting adventures awair--We will be immersed in the mystery of the ocean at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and in the afternoon we board giant dune buggies to travel over miles of sandy terrain.

The sixth day--Visit wineries in the wonderful heart of pinot noir area, and return to Portland. This evening is free. Let's see what we can find to do! I don't know where we will be staying, but I have found a website that lists things to do in Portland. Let me see if I can--Well, just type in "Farm to Table Dining." You'll find a plethora of wonderful-sounding places for dining. Surely we be able to find some innteresting and delicious food there.

Day seven will take us to Mt. Hood. We will go to the Timberline Lodge, a National Historic Landmark, on the south side of the mountain, We will have an elegant lunch in the Cascade Dining Room. From there we will drive northward to the Hood river Valley and Columbia River, visit a winery and arrive back in Portland.

Last day--Breakfast at the "Original Pancake House" (if available). Check out at the hotel and have a motorcoach ride to the airport for the flight back to DFW.

What a week!!

We'll wish you were there.

Why Taste Wine at a Wine-Tasting?

"Drink and be merry, for our time on earth is short, and death is forever." A Toast.

 Gourmet Gallery is planning a week's tour of Washington and Oregon in June, and there are seven wineries on the planned itinerary. What can we learn in that beautiful setting? When tasting, does one learn the language of wine? Will I be able to identify different flavors--is it peppery, fruity, buttery, full-bodied? If food and wine enhance each other, how is food paired with wine? I am setting out to learn  these things.

Since we are going to PINOR NOIR country, I have chosen to start with that wine. According to WINE LOVER'S COMPANION, the pinot noir grape is the red grape of Burgundy. It is genetically unstable which makes consistency in this vine extremely difficult. Oregon's long, cool growing season is conducive to the production of some acclaimed Pinot Noir wines. Kevin Zraly writes, "Pinot Noir is a white wine masquerading as a red wine....My favorite wine for lunch is Pinot Noir. Since most of us have to go to work after lunch, the light, easy-drinking style of a Pinot Noir will not overpower the usual luncheon fare of soup, salad and sandwiches. It is a user-friendly wine." Thanks, Jill, for this info about your favorite wine.

The Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Woodenville, Washington has a good website that helps with food and wine pairing. Some suggestions for Pinot Noir are grilled salmon and tuna, smoked duck with a cherry sauce, smoked salmon, and because of the tannins and slight pepperiness of this wine, Asian foods such as Chinese barbecued pork ribs.

  Maybe I'll learn the answer to all my questions. Maybe I won't, but I plan to enjoy the journey.

Karyn suggested her recipe to go with the aforesaid wine. Let me know how you like this pairing.

GRILLED PORK CHOP WITH RED ONION MARMALADE

2 tsp coarse salt
3/4 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
4 loin pork chops, about 1 1/4-inch thick

Marmalade:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. red onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 sweet red pepper, cut in julienne strips
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into julienne strips
2 tbsp. julienned orange zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

In a small bowl, stir together 1 1/2 tsp. of the salt with the sugar, thyme, allspice and pepper. Rub into pork chops.

For the marmalade, heat oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add onions, sprinkle with the sugar and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add red pepper, carrot, and orange zest; cook about 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add orange juice and remaining salt and cook until liquid has evaporated and onion are glossy. Remove from heat.

Rub a grill with oil; gill chops about 4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Serve with onion marmalade.
Serves 4.

Blog assembled by Jo Ann Miller.