Christmas

that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved…Augusta E. Rundel

…The black stove, stoked with coal and firewood, glows like a lighted pumpkin. Eggbeaters whirl, spoons spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens the air, ginger spices it; melting, nose-tingling odors saturate the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs of chimney smoke... Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory

Mary and I still make these luscious cookies that Mommy made every year at Christmas. Coincidentally, we both happened to be making them yesterday…we thought you might like to try them, too.

PECAN PUFFS

1 stick butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. flour, sifted

2 tbsp. sugar

1 c. ground pecans

Beat butter until soft, add and blend until creamy sugar and vanilla. Sift flour before measuring. Measure and then grind the pecans. Stir them and the flour into butter mixture. Mix well. Roll into small balls and place on baking sheet. Bake in slow oven, 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Roll the puffs while HOT in confectioners' sugar and again when COLD. Makes about 50 pecan puffs. (From The Joy of Cooking)

In the mood...

While you're all busy digesting your Thanksgiving dinner, I'm still preparing ours...since this isn't a national holiday in Europe, we've arranged our feast for next week. Here's the menu...Cranberry, sekt and amaretto aperatif...nibbles of roasted pumpkin sticks wrapped with with sage and prosciutto...At the table...pumpkin soup with fresh thyme, parmesan coated roasted parsnips, sweet potato yum yum topped with with brown sugar and pecans, braised spiced red cabbage with apples, baked turnip with breadcrumbs, steamed brussles sprouts, roasted potatoes, roast turkey with sausage, sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sauce...For dessert...pecan pie, pumpkin pie topped with toasted pecan crumble, toffee apple crisp and home made vanilla and/or caramel ice cream.

Here's a link to a little video clip I'm sending to our European friends to get them in the mood for a feast...thought you'd enjoy it too.

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser

Grocery Shopping List

Here is a handy site that will generate a shopping list and nutrition information when you give it a link to your recipe.

Grocery List Maker

Carol Shares a Recipe

Hey Carol - I'm sure Thanksgiving at your house was just yummy as usual. I am going to repost your recipe link. I'm glad Mary suggested this - as I recall it is delicious. Hugs to all.
Liz

Lasagna Primavera - Pampered Chef

November/December Holiday Recipe Plan

Why is it called Thanksgiving?

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? - Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on Thanksgiving," November 26, 1981.

Mary, Jeanne and I have decided to reward ourselves with less pressure during the next two months of celebrations and merriment. (Pressure...what's pressure I'm in AZ now-life is good!)

We will be posting some of our favorite and classic holiday and "just plain good" recipes. Our choice will be to include some items in our menus or not...see...NO PRESSURE!

Since the Bergins are being wined and dined this Thanksgiving, I will probably try this dish the weekend of the 19th.

Just Plain Good

Lamb Rogan Josh - one of Mary's favorites

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lamb-rogan-josh

Lamb Shanks DIVINE!!!!

What a wonderful recipe, and we had the perfect weather for it today, a cloudy windy day with rain showers. It was a great day to spend in the kitchen, sip wine and anticipate this meal. I agree with Jeanne about the rissoto. I also happen to like it and could have eaten this particular version of it as a meal in itself, but it is an easy recipe that I will probably make again. We usually serve mashed potatoes with these,and when I make this again I will go with potatoes. Jeanne, Dale and I will be thinking of you as we are eating our lunch this week, as we plan to eat the leftover rice as well. We also served a Pinot with this, one from Oregon, and it was delicious. We also roasted some squash, which was sweet and in keeping with the season. Unfortunately, I have no pictures as Greg has "misplaced" his battery charger. Best Buy anyone? I have to admit that I was very skeptical about this dessert upon reading the recipe. Carmel topping? But I was very pleasantly surprised with the results, I think that with the tart apples and lemon juice, the flavors balanced very well and it was not as sweet as I anticipated it would be. A plus... it was very easy to prepare. I substituted currents for the raisins, which I like better for cooking.

We feel fortunate that we have more lamb shanks in our freezer, and will enjoy this meal again. Miss you both so much,and am looking forward to doing this again in November

Lammhaxe Rock too!

Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know? Julia Child

I needn't have worried, all month long, about getting these lamb shanks...the butchers at the Viktualienmarkt (photo above) were well stocked with them and the meal was worth the trip, Liz. While unimpressive in its pre-cooked stage, the braised lamb was out of this world...what I couldn't find was herbs de Provence, so had to make my own. I never appreciated that they included lavender, but fortunately we had some in the garden...I just pulled off a few dead flowers and threw them in to the mix...we found the sauce was thick and rich enough without thickener and our Austrian Esterhazy Pinot Noir complemented the dish beautifully...

We would have preferred it with plain rice or potatoes...I loved the risotto...but felt the flavors of the parmesan rice clashed a bit with the lamb...and all of the butter and cheese in the rice makes it very rich with the red meat...I'll enjoy the leftover risotto next week for lunch.

The apple pudding cake was delightful...took a walk to our local orchard for the apples...made my own caramel topping (slightly burned because I was on the phone with Mary while cooking it). We finished off the dessert with our own homemade French vanilla ice cream.

Next time, I'd start cooking earlier...the meal took four hours to prepare and by the time it was on the table, there was little patience left for any creative composition with the photos...we even considered skipping that step altogether we were so hungry...we stuffed ourselves and in the end, needed an hour's walk through the village, blanketed in thick fog, to help digest it all.

Lamb Shanks Rock!!!!

This was a delicious meal. I had to travel a bit to find lamb shanks here in Arizona. There is a Whole Foods in Scottsdale, about a 30 minute ride, not too bad considering that Mary and Jeanne have to ride that far to get a gallon of milk. I felt the shanks were a bit small, but they were very tasty. I purchased 4 for Bob and I (no company this time). I thought there might be enough for leftovers but I ate 1 and 1/2 and Bob had the rest. We had some sauce and rice left over, so we will grill a small rack of lamb and use the leftover rice and gravy to accompany that meal.
The risotto was very good. I left out the ham, didn't think I would need that flavor with the lamb gravy and also, Bob is not a parmesan cheese fan, so I left that out for him and he loved the rice. BTW - I added some corn starch to the lamb shank liquid to make a thicker gravy. I also strained out the veggies - for Bob.
Make sure  you pay close attention to the risotto recipe - I mistakenly added all the liquid at once and I know that it made a difference in the texture of the rice. However, it was still delicious.
Loved the Apple pudding - make sure you have some vanilla ice-cream...it makes all the difference.
I will be cooking these lamb shanks again.....
Hugs

Liz

October 2011 Menu

HI all - now that we have put the onions behind us, I would like to revisit the lamb shanks from the first menu. I have added a risotto for a side dish, your choice of veggies and in keeping with the seasonal apple dishes - an apple/caramel pudding cake for dessert.
I will probably cook this the 3rd weekend in Oct. and will be posting from AZ.
Enjoy!

FROM "COOKS ILLUSTRATED"

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

INGREDIENTS

• 6lamb shanks , 3/4 to 1 pound each, trimmed of excess fat and fell (thin, white papery covering), see illustration
• Table salt
• 1tablespoon canola oil
• 2medium onions , sliced thick
• 3medium carrots , peeled and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
• 2medium ribs celery , cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
• 4medium cloves garlic , minced
• 2tablespoons tomato paste
• 1tablespoon herbes de Provence
• 2cups dry red wine
• 3cups low-sodium chicken broth
• Ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle shanks with salt. Heat oil in a large, nonreactive sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add shanks to pan in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Sauté until browned on all sides, 5-7 minutes. Using tongs, transfer shanks to a plate as they brown.
2. 2. Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat from the sauté pan; add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, a light sprinkling of salt and 1 teaspoon of the herbes de Provence; sauté to soften vegetables slightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Add red wine, then chicken stock to the skillet, stirring with a wooden spoons to loosen browned bits from skillet bottom. Bring liquid to simmer; transfer vegetables and liquid into a deep braising pan, large enough to hold the shanks in a single layer. Add shanks, season with salt, pepper, and remaining herbes de Provence.
3. 3. Cover pan (with foil if pan has no lid) and transfer it to the oven; braise shanks for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover and continue braising until shank tops are browned, about 30 minutes. Turn shanks and continue braising until remaining side has browned and shanks are fall-off-the-bone tender.
4. 4. Remove pan from oven; let shanks rest for at least 15 minutes. Carefully transfer shanks with tongs to each of 6 plates. Arrange a portion of vegetables around each shank. Skim excess fat from braising liquid and adjust seasoning. Spoon a portion of braising liquid over each shank and serve.
   
   

   ALMOST HANDS-FREE RISOTTO WITH PARMESAN AND HERBS

   Published May 1, 2010.   From Cook's Illustrated.

   WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

   For a simplified risotto recipe, we swapped our saucepan for a thick, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven that trapped and distributed heat uniformly and ensured our risotto cooked evenly. We added most of the broth after the risotto absorbed the wine a...(more)

   SERVES 6 AS A SIDE DISH

   This recipe does not employ the traditional risotto method; the rice is mainly stirred for 3 minutes toward the end of cooking instead of constantly throughout. This more hands-off method does require precise timing, so we strongly recommend using a timer. The consistency of risotto is largely a matter of personal taste; if you prefer a looser texture, add extra broth in step 4.

   INGREDIENTS

   • 5cups low-sodium chicken broth
   • 1 1/2cups water
   • 4tablespoons unsalted butter
   • 1large onion , chopped fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
   • Table salt
   • 1medium garlic clove , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
   • 2cups Arborio rice
   • 1cup dry white wine
   • 2ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
   • 1teaspoon juice from 1 lemon
   • 2tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
   • 2tablespoons chopped fresh chives
   • Ground black pepper

   INSTRUCTIONS

   1. 1. Bring broth and water to boil in large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain gentle simmer.
   2. 2. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in large Dutch oven over medium heat. When butter has melted, add onion and ¾ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened but not browned, 4 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add rice and cook, stirring frequently, until grains are translucent around edges, about 3 minutes.
   3. 3. Add wine and cook, stirring constantly, until fully absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir 5 cups hot broth mixture into rice; reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until almost all liquid has been absorbed and rice is just al dente, 16 to 19 minutes, stirring twice during cooking.
   4. 4. Add ¾ cup hot broth mixture and stir gently and constantly until risotto becomes creamy, about 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter, lemon juice, parsley, and chives; season with salt and pepper to taste. If desired, add up to ½ cup remaining broth mixture to loosen texture of risotto. Serve immediately.
   Caramel Apple Pudding Cake
   from Better Homes and Garden
   
   
   http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cakes/caramel-apple-pudding-cake/

Here are some pictures of our meal tonight. Liz is right, I hope you like Onions, Jeanne! If not, Find a substitute for the Onion Gratin, but both Liz and I really enjoyed it. A couple of tips,reduce the amount of onions that you sweat, you probably only need half of them. The Gratin is really good. One other tip, serve some bread with the daube, so you can sop up all the delicious broth. We had a Vouvray wine which by itself would have been a little too sweet, but was perfect with the meal, and that was fun, because it was a wine we wouldn't have had otherwise. The Apple Crisp was very good. we served it with a little whipped cream sweetened with a tiny bit of sugar. Yum! Love, Mary

Hope You Like Onions

This was an interesting dinner. Once again I invited two couples from my neighborhood to be my testers along with Bob. Bob is not an onion fan, so I knew I needed some "outside" comments to fairly critique the meal. Also, the  weather was perfect here in CT (fall is in the air), for a hearty meal.

The overall comments about the Beef Daube were positive. The mustard gave it a very interesting flavor and the addition of white wine also helped to set it apart from the usual beef stew. I would make it again, but probably reduce the amount of onions. One problem may be that I doubled the beef recipe but didn't need to double the onions. Either way, I will used less next time. Here is the finished product.

I think I will also flour the beef cubes before I brown them just to add a little   thickness to the sauce.

The Onion Parmesan Gratin was very tasty. It had a bit too much liquid in the pan and could have used more of the egg and cheese cover. I followed the suggestion of cooking the onions first and then just letting it sit at room temp until you were ready for dinner. I would have preferred the onions were warmer before topping them with the egg, cream and cheese mixture. I think the directions should be modified for that.

Eli's Apple Crisp was delightful and very easy to make. I did not have any double cream, so I did some internet investigations and found that it is possible to use Marscapone Cream Cheese as a substitute. Since I was making a dessert I thought... what could go wrong adding a bit of sweet creamy cheese. It worked. The crisp might not taste the same as the original, but using the Marscapone kept it from being too runny, which I think would have happened if I just used heavy cream. The dessert was served warm from the oven with a bit of vanilla ice cream. The leftovers were also good for breakfast - served with a dollop of marscapone. Yum!

It looks a little dark in the picture, but it was actually cooked perfectly.

Bottom line - I will add these recipes to my favorites. Thanks Mary.

Dreams of Provence

To whet our appetites...un petit voyage en Provence...

"Some spots are the cradle of genius. Provence is one of them." Gerald Durell

"In Provence, I learned that food has a meaning that extends far deeper than simply cooking or eating it. I came to understand that the gathering, hunting and growing of food is part of a life still marked by the seasons. A life that keeps people connected to the land and to each other." Georgeanne Brennan

Photo courtesy of Andrew Briginshaw, Provence 2008

17.9 2011

My Dear Sisters,
This month, I'll have the benefit of your collective experience when I do my own cooking next week. We've put it off so that my taste buds can fully recover from a really nasty cold that has wiped me out for the past seven days.
As you can see, I've done my blog embellishments before the meal this time. I rather like it this way as the palette of colours and flavours revealed during this morning's little jaunt through the internet world of Provence has exquisitely prepared my palate for the delightful promise of next week's meal. Mary, the recipes look heavenly. Do check out the link above to Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence. The daube is mentioned.

24.9.11
" I think between Provence, Wisconsin and Germerswang, something got lost in translation..." (Andrew)
"All I taste is tomatoes." (Tim)
":( " (Jeanne)

...only after we'd eaten a decidedly mediocre daube, did I discover that I'd ruined it by putting in twice the amount of tomatoes called for...the delicate essence of the bouquet garni, with bay leaf freshly plucked from my neighbor's garden...the hours of painstaking labour in the kitchen.. drowned in, annihilated, obliterated by... 450 grams of Italian tinned tomatoes...
...and, as we're eating, trying to find something, anything redeeming in this meal, I hear echoes of Mary, waxing lyrical about this divine sauce Provencal "make sure you have enough crusty French bread to mop it up with..." (sigh)

Well, at the very least, our bellies are full which is really all the blessings we need in this day and age...my wounded pride was assuaged by the comforting, warmth of the apple crisp,(though ours would be more appropriately called apple soggy)...I think the 'crisp' part must refer to the 'burnt to a crisp' edges?) Smothered with the last dregs of our summertime stash of homemade vanilla ice cream it was better than...better than...anything!



...and the weather cooperated today...no small feat in Bavaria...it was a lovely Indian summer's eve..the surrounding fields and rooftops bathed in radiant golden sunshine.. we dined in shirtsleeves on our balcony with not a whisper of a wind...life is good.

Apple Crisp Recipe - Link wasn't working properly

Patricia Wells - ELI'S APPLE CRISP

Prepare this with a good tangy cooking apple, and if possible, combine several varieties - such as Granny Smith, McIntosh and Fuji - for more depth of flavour and texture.

Serves 8

unsalted butter for preparing the baking dish

45g/112oz unsalted butter

1kg/2lb cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut lengthways into 8 even wedges

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

l2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1l2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

75g/2l2oz sugar

250ml/8fl oz creme fraiche or double cream

Preheat oven to 400F/200C/Gas 6.

Generously butter a 27cm (1012in) baking dish, then set aside.

In a large frying pan, combine the butter, apples, lemon juice and a quarter teaspoon cinnamon and cook until just soft, about seven minutes. Stir in half a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Transfer the apples to the baking dish, evening them into a single layer with a spatula. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk until well blended. Add the cream, the remaining vanilla extract and cinnamon. Whisk to blend and pour over the apples in the baking dish. Place the baking dish in the centre of the oven and bake until the top is a deep golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Do not underbake, or the results will be soggy, rather than crisp.

Serve cut into wedges, accompanied by a dollop of creme fraiche. The dessert is best served the day it is made, as the delicate flavours will fade.