When Civilization Collapses, Brunch Will Be At My House

We are having quite the week. J flew south to help out with the grandchildren when her son had to have a minor surgical procedure. Upon arriving, she became very sick with the cold and inner ear infection from hell. I have spent the last couple of days pacing around trying to figure out how to get down there to be with her -- a totally fruitless endeavor because all it would accomplish is probably getting me sick.

So it was a big surprise for me to see in my inbox a question about Book Club. At my house. In three hours.

Lucky for me, the house was clean. And I had some ginger cookies that I had made the day before. A quick scan of the Internet turned up a recipe for brownies, a few tweaks, and we were in business.

I am so glad that I can cook things from scratch. The brownie recipe is actually only marginally harder to make than opening a box. You have to measure the ingredients, but other than that, it is the same as a mix. And I know what is in there. No mystery. I keep sugar, flour, baking power, cocoa in the house, so when I have an overwhelming desire for something chocolate, I can whip something up.

Here's the recipe. Give them a whirl and enjoy the feeling of being all pioneer womanish!

Brownies

 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans 

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, eggs, and vanilla.  

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in pecans, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let them cool, then cut into squares.

Francesca Woodman

Yesterday I learned about the work of an incredible artist photographer, Francesca Woodman. You can see her work here. It is incredible to me that she only lived to be 22.

To me, what separates art from what is not art is that art makes you feel what the artist is feeling. Francesca Woodman's work surely does that. You can feel the torturous quality of her life.

Who else do I know nothing of?

Here's a link to a book about her work.

Cold Snowy February Day

J and I went out shooting on Saturday. We have been having such a snowy cold winter. I don't remember one like it in the twenty five years I have lived here.



I got a new lens for Christmas, and I was all hot to use it. So we went to the Rochester pier at Charlotte, and shot these pictures. It didn't take very long for us to be chilled right to the bone. So even though a couple of guys came by and told us that there was an eagle at the end on the pier, we couldn't force ourselves out to see it.


And of course the wide angle lens that I had was not the right one to use for the eagle, but climbing over the snow bank to get back to the car to change the lens, with my fingers all stupid from the cold, well, it just wasn't going to happen.



I'm counting the days until spring. I can't wait for my new bulbs to come up. And for some temperatures above 20 degrees.

Beautiful Combination

One of my workmates pointed out this beautiful video. I love the way it makes use of shadow puppets and sign language elements. And of course, the music is beautiful too.

Letters of Note

 Letters of Note is a really interesting website. As you might guess, it presents letters from famous, infamous, and interesting people. Today's offering is a letter from Keith Haring, the brilliant artist who was lost to us due to AIDS.


Keith Haring's advice.

Planning a Cheese Course

I revised this posting on 2/31/10/
I am serving a cheese course on New Years Eve. I have served cheeses as part of a buffet or with drinks. I usually choose a brie or something Brie- like, a jalsburg or something similar, a cheddar, and, if J isn't going to be there, a blue cheese.

So I wanted to do something a little more exotic, not in a threatening way, but let's all stretch a little on the last day of the year and see if we can't discover something new and wonderful. My web searching turned up gourmet food store that called it's cheese department a fromagerie So off I went to Max's.

There are four Max restaurants in Rochester. One is cross the street from the Eastman Theater, and J took me there for my birthday this year. This was the restaurant where they asked my how I wanted my pork chop cooked. As in, did I want it rare. That was one of those moments when I realized that I had a certain view of the universe, and it was utterly wrong. I had the mistaken notion that pork was to be cooked well done, at least.

Cheese from Max's Market

So the shop I was setting off to is part of the Max's franchise. The front of the store is expensive jams and pickles, and other nonessentials. Nothing too strange, and sadly, nothing as nice as the Simon David  a lovely store where my mother would buy wonderful pastrami and lox. In the back of Max's is a takeaway gourmet meals area, and you can also order something to eat there. And there is the cheese case. http://www.maxmarketmonroe.net/

Chris, of Max's Market, helped me choose. This is what I brought home:

Bellweather Farms "Carmody" "A Bellwether original! Made from Jersey cow milk and aged at least 6 weeks. Naturally golden in color with a smooth texture and wonderful flavor, Carmody is a consistent blue ribbon winner at the Los Angeles County Fair." http://www.bellwetherfarms.com/home/

Manchego. "The intense taste and crumbly texture make it perfect to eat it as is, with a slice of bread. As the focal point of Antipasto, Manchego can be served with olives, sun-dried tomatos, crusty bread and a robust red wine (Rioja) or a dry sherry (Fino).It is equally enjoyable as a snack or dessert with fruit or fruit tarts."

Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam Triple Cream "Just North of the San Francisco Bay, Mt. Tamalpais rises like a monument to Northern California's natural beauty. In deference, Cowgirl Creamery named its signature cheese MT TAM. It's a smooth, creamy, elegant, 10-oz, triple-cream - made with tasty organic milk from the Straus Family Dairy. MT TAM is firm, yet buttery with a mellow, earthy flavor reminiscent of white mushrooms."

Artisinal Carbecou Feuille. "Cabecou Feuille, a small disc of fresh goat cheese from the Perigord region of France, is dipped in plum brandy and sprinkled with coarse black pepper before being wrapped in two chestnut leaves to mature. Cabecou is smooth and creamy with aromatic brandy flavors and a tangy bite."

Capra Ubriaco al Traminer "Capra Ubriaco al traminer is a firm cheese steeped for a period of 10 days in a red grape must. The Traminer grape is a relative to the Gewurztraminer. The added wine flavor gives the pleasantly milky cheese more complexity and richness on the palate."

I didn't realize that the Carbecou Feuille was dipped in brandy. I considered replacing it with it with this Cowgirl Creamery cheese: "Cowgirl Creamery captures the essence of West Marin with its Red Hawk, a triple-cream, washed-rind, fully-flavored cheese made from organic cow milk from the Straus Family Dairy. Aged four weeks and washed with a brine solution that tints the rind a sunset red-orange, Red Hawk won Best-In-Show at the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference in 2003 and a Gold Ribbon and 2nd Best-in-Show in 2009." It also looked like it was too small to split 5 ways, so I took off for the Pittsford Wegman's to find a replacement.

If you don't live in the Rochester area, or one of the other lucky towns that have a Wegman's, you won't really understand the devotion that we have for this wonderful grocery stores! The Pittsford Weggies, nicknamed "Taj Ma-Weggies" by our friend Sherrie, has not only everything you might want to buy, but the absolute best of everything. And they are staffed by the most friendly, helpful, and customer-centered people that breath air. Seriously, I'm not sure why I didn't buy all of the cheese at Wegmans. Next time I will.

Wegman's to the rescue!

So, a young lady named Sarah carefully listened to my request for a washed rind cheese to complete my cheese plate, and suggested Bourboned Pie D'angloys, a cheese made from French cow's milk. Here's how this website describes this cheese: "Decadently smelly and drippy inside it is reminiscent of a very ripe brie. As you may have guessed from the picture of a tiled roof house, it hails from Burgundy. As far as I know, it is sold in the Francophone zone only (France, Southern Belgium, Luxembourg, Western Switzerland). It seems a recent - post-WWII - invention but what it lacks in pedigree it makes good in taste." This is indeed a stinky cheese. I'm hoping it won't be too off putting for my guests.

Truffle Honey

I will be serving these cheese on individual plates with a smear of truffle honey. I'll also offer three nice breads (also from Wegman's, of course!) One is a sourdough raisin, and I can't wait to pair it with the Pie D'angloys. I also have a nice whole wheat bread, and a white French baguette. Because I bought an entire jar but only needed one for the Remoulade sauce, I'll set out some cornichons. And while I'm at it, an apple and some dried apricots.

New Years Eve Menu and Game Plan

We are having part of our family of choice over for New Year's Eve. I'm going to really do it up big--no holds barred! Here's the menu:

New Year's Eve Dinner

Miniature Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce 

or 

Caviar, Smoked Salmon, and Blini Torte

Caesar Salad

 or

 Field Greens with Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese, and Candied Walnuts, in a Hazelnut Citronette

Rib Roast, Twice-baked Potatoes, Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Flight of Five Cheeses served with Truffle Honey, and Two Breads

Ginger Cookies and Coffee

I love offering choices for the first course and salad. I get to make two,and I also can serve things that I know some of our friends don't or might not like. It also makes them fee extra well cared for and loved! My strategy is to make part of the meal something super easy -- in this case, the main course. I also make as much ahead as possible.

My schedule looks like this:

Tuesday: do the major shopping. Make the cookies, roasted beets, iron the table cloth, and assemble and wash the serving dishes. The main course will be served family style. Unfortunately, I have so little room in my kitchen that most of my serving pieces are in the basement and must be washed before using. The plates I will use are also in the basement but are in lovely cloth zippered cases, and won't need washing. They will, however,need schlepping.

Wednesday: Make the Remoulade Sauce, buy the cheese, set the table.

Thursday: Make the twice baked potatoes, wash the lettuces, make the citronette, make the croutons, buy the flowers and make the arrangement. Make the egg salad for the torte.

Friday Morning: Make the crab cakes, to the point of frying, slice the breads, slice the goat cheese for salad, prepare the Brussels sprouts for the oven

Friday Night: Roast the meat, potatoes, sprouts. Make the blinis. Prepare the cheese plates. Assemble the salads. Fry the crab cakes. Open the wine. And ENJOY!

The plan is that when everyone arrives, the main course is in the oven and everything is done, save for the crab cakes being fried and the tortes being assembled. Those represent about 15minutes of work, tops.

Here are the recipes:

The inspiration for my cheese course is here.

Caviar, Smokes Salmon, and Blini Torte
The original recipe is from Epicurious and can be found here. 

 Makes 2 servings
Active time: 50 min
Total time: 50 min

Ingredients

For egg salad
1 hard-boiled large egg, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

For blini
2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg, separated
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided

For filling
1/4 lb thinly sliced smoked salmon at room temperature
2 ounces trout caviar, such as rainbow- trout caviar, or salmon roe

Preparation

Make egg salad:
Stir together all ingredients and a pinch of salt.

Make blini:
Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Add milk and yolk and whisk until smooth. 3Beat egg white with a clean whisk in another bowl until it just holds soft peaks. Fold into batter along with 2 tablespoons melted butter.

Brush a 12-inch nonstick skillet with some of remaining melted butter, then heat over medium heat until hot. Working in batches of 6 or 7, drop 1 level tablespoon batter per pancake into skillet and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Flip over and cook 1 minute more. Brush blini on both sides with some of remaining melted butter, then transfer to a plate and keep warm, covered with foil. Brush skillet with butter between batches.

Fill tortes:
Drape smoked salmon on 6 blini and top with egg salad. Spoon caviar onto 6 more blini, then stack on egg-salad-topped blini.

Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

This recipe is from Wolfgang Puck's site and can be found here. 
Ingredients
Remoulade Sauce
1 tablespoon capers, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh chives
1 cornichon, minced
1 anchovies (1-2 for 6 servings), minced
1 shallot, minced
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1 cup good-quality homemade or store-bought mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Crab Cakes
2 cups heavy cream
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely diced yellow bell pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 pound lump crabmeat
2 fresh jalapeño chilies, seeded and finely diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon leaves
2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), ground to a mealy consistency
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup clarified butter

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
1. make the Remoulade: In a bowl, stir together all the ingredients until well blended. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
2. For the crab cakes, in a saucepan, combine the heavy cream, garlic, rosemary, and paprika. Boil over medium-high heat until the cream reduced to half its original volume. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, in a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and red and yellow bell pepper and sauté, stirring frequently, just until glossy but not yet browned. Transfer the vegetables to a plate and leave to cool to room temperature.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, crab, jalapeño, basil, parsley, tarragon, 1 cup of the panko, salt, white pepper, reduced cream, and sautéed vegetables. Carefully mix until well blended.
5. Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions, each about 3 ounces, shaping them into round, slightly flattened cakes each about 3 inches in diameter by 1/2 inch thick. Spread the remaining panko on a dinner plate and turn the crab cakes in them to coat them generously.
6. In an ovenproof sauté pan, heat 1/4 cup of the clarified butter over medium-high heat. Place 6 crab cakes in the pan and pan-fry until their undersides are golden, 2 to 3 minutes. With a spatula, carefully turn the cakes over. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 2 minutes more. Remove the cakes from the pan and repeat the process with the remaining butter and crab cakes. Serve immediately with Remoulade Sauce.