May 11: Compound Butters of All Persuasion

I have been just a little boring lately, I know. I am finding being unemployed just a tiny bit more taxing than I anticipated. I know, poor me, right? But there's all these great meals to cook, though, and suddenly I have time to do it. I've been baking bread. I've been doing all of the running-around that had to be worked around somehow when I had a job; including quitting the bank that I have loathed for the past almost-three years and finding a new one, getting all of our accounts switched around. The upshot of all of this activity is that I am thoroughly exhausted by 9 PM. And no, I'm not pregnant, so as it turns out, all I am is a very old lady.

I will say this though: today, for Mother's Day, we went to Eamon's in Old Town Alexandria. And I ate two battered, deep-fried sausages for lunch. And they were just as good as you would think that two battered, deep-fried sausages would be. Better, even. And I don't even care how fattening they were. They were fricking amazing.

I meant to write more about compound butters yesterday, but Blogger ate my post. I hope it was delicious.

A compound butter is not complicated, but it's a thing of beauty. Fat, which is mostly what butter is, is a great vehicle for flavor. Fat picks up flavors easily and transfers them to other things. Also, fat tastes good. Compound butter is butter mixed with other things.

Compound butters are great on almost anything. Vegetables, steaks, fish, pasta, even popcorn. That one from yesterday, that cinnamon-honey butter? On a waffle? Oh mama. A lot of high-end groceries like Fresh Fields and Whole Foods are selling their own compound butters now, and they're excellent, but you don't have to be limited by what they have available.

All you need for a compound butter is softened, room-temperature butter (I like salted butter for compound butter, just because the salt makes the other flavors pop a little) and some other ingredients of your choice. Here are a few compound butters and some suggestions for what to do with them.
Here are a few of my favorites, and my favorite ways to eat them.

Compound Butter

1 stick salted butter (or 1 stick unsalted, and 1/8 teaspoon table salt), softened to room temperature
Other ingredients of your choice (see below)

Beat the butter with a fork until it's light and fluffy, then work in the other ingredients until incorporated. Store the butter in a small, tightly covered container in the refrigerator, or roll it tightly into a log in plastic wrap, store it in the fridge, and cut off rounds as needed.

Sour Cream & Chive Compound Butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons finely chopped or snipped fresh chives
Great on baked potatoes

Cheddar-Bacon-Scallion Compound Butter
1/8 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons crumbled, crisp-fried bacon
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions (white and light-green parts only)
Potatoes of any kind--especially in twice-baked potatoes

Basil-Red Pepper Compound Butter
1/8 cup chopped roasted jarred red peppers
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
Tossed with cheese tortellini

Garlic-Herb Compound Butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press
2 tablespoons fresh finely chopped herbs of your choice--try parsley, thyme, and sweet basil
Spread on toasted country bread for easy garlic bread

Chipotle Compound Butter
1 chipotle pepper in adobo
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from chipotle can)
Spread on outside of chicken quesadillas before grilling

Cilantro-Lime Compound Butter
4 tablespoons lime juice
4 tablespoons finely-chopped cilantro
Melt over grilled fish--mahi-mahi, grouper, and red snapper would all be good

Lemon-Pepper Compound Butter
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
Tossed with angel-hair pasta and sauteed shrimp

Gorgonzola-Worcestershire Compound Butter
1/8 cup crumbled gorgonzola or other strong bleu cheese
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
Melt over grilled steak

Sun-dried Tomato-Parmesan Compound Butter
3 tablespoons oil-packed, finely minced tomatoes
4 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
Spread on white bread for grilled cheese sandwiches
Or, tossed with roasted broccoli

March 22: Scalloped Potatoes with Chipotle and Smoked Cheddar

Tomorrow's Easter. I have a six-pound beef brisket in the slow-cooker right now, with a whole bunch of pureed onion and garlic and Worcestershire and beef broth. This brisket really spoke to me in Costco today. It's going to be spicy and southern-style, not good-Jewish-Mama style. I'm kind of psyched about it.

To go with it, I'm going to make these scalloped potatoes from my bridal shower. Traditional, but with a twist. I can't wait.

Scalloped Potatoes with Chipotle and Smoked Cheddar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 large chipotle in adobo, minced (about 1½ tablespoons)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 1//2 pounds (about 5 medium) russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream2 bay leaves
4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chipotle, thyme, salt, and pepper; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add potatoes, chicken broth, cream, and bay leaves and bring to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes are almost tender (paring knife can be slipped into and out of potato slice with some resistance), about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves.

3. Transfer mixture to 8-inch-square baking dish (or other 1½-quart gratin dish); sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake until cream is bubbling around edges and top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

March 16: Herb-Crusted Pork Roast

I am not a huge fan of ham. For one thing, as a child, Easter always seemed to be the time of year that I would find myself with a stomach virus, so hard-boiled eggs and ham always make me think of terrible Easter nights spent hugging the toilet. Then, when I was pregnant and had round-the-clock morning sickness for four months, only to be replaced swiftly by a debilitating case of gastroenteritis which landed me in the hospital for several days and had me not feeling 100 percent for several weeks afterwards. In this lasting period of varying degrees of queasiness, I found that ham, to me, looked like what I described to my husband as people meat--cooked and sliced human being of some sort. I can manage a ham sandwich, sort of, as long as there's some pickles and cheese and mustard, something to make me not think too hard about what I'm actually eating.

So, of course, as far as holidays go, Easter's not my favorite. Ham is the traditional Easter dinner around my house, and my grandmother was a big believer in a glazed ham with pineapple rounds, cloves, and marashino cherries. Thinking about what to make for my own family, I think I'd like to give them something a little fresher, less sugary, with fewer artificial colors involved.

I love a center-cut pork loin roast how easy it is to make--it's compact, uniformly-sized, and easy to slice. It's also a little bland. Usually I make some kind of a pan sauce or stuffing, but this year, I'm going to do an herb crust, courtesy of America's Test Kitchen.

Herb-Crusted Pork Loin

1 boneless center-cut pork loin roast (2 1/2-3 lbs.)
Salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 slice high-quality white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1 ounce parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)
1 shallot, minced
4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
Pepper
1/2 cup packed fresh parsley or basil
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 garlic clove, minced

With a sharp knife, score the fat cap on the pork, making a 1/4 inch crosshatch pattern, then cut a pocket in the side of the roast, stopping 1/2 inch short of each end. Pull open the roast to cut the pocket deeper. Dissolve 1/2 cup salt and the sugar in 2 quarts water in a large container, submerge roast, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Rinse the roast with cold water and dry with paper towels.

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325. Pulse the bread in a food processor until goarsely ground, about sixteen 1-second pulses. Transfer crumbs to a medium bowl (do not wash the food processor) and add 2 tablespoons of parmesan, the shallot, 1 tablespoon of oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Using a fork, toss the mixture until the crumbs are evenly coated with oil.

Add the parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic, remaining parmesan, 3 tablespoons oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper to the now-empty food processor and process until smooth, about 12 1-second pulses. Transfer the herb paste to a small bowl.

Spread 1/4 cup inside the herb paste inside the pocket in the roast and tie at 3 intervals along the length of the roast with kitchen twine. Season the roast with salt and pepper.

Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the roast fat-side down and brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes, lowering the heat if the fat starts to smoke. Transfer the roast to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.

Using scissors, snip and remove the twine from the roast, discard twine. Spread the remaining herb paste over the roast; top with the bread crumb mixture. Transfer the baking sheet with the roast to the oven and cook until the thickest part of the roast registers 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 50-75 minutes. Remove the roast from the oven and let rest 10 minutes.

Transfer to a carving board, taking care not to squeeze the juices out of the pocket in the roast. Cut into 1/2 inch slices and serve immediately.

February 14: Truffles

Okay, so it's Valentine's Day. There must be chocolate. Great chocolate. Decadent, rich, addictive chocolate.

My mother has made truffles before but it always seemed like a lot of work to me. But oh man, the results are really something. What the hell, I figure. I'm going to give it a try.

There are evidently some fairly complicated rules when it comes to making truffles, which is surprising to me, because it's chocolate and liquor and cream, so how could it be complicated? Well, it's chemistry, which I was never that great at or that interested in, but I'm definitely interested in chocolate, so I'm willing. This recipe gives a thorough but not overly-egghead explanation of the highly mysterious reactions between the cream and the chocolate and heat and cold and fat, which is why I chose it.

This is a variation on JacqueTorres' recipe, which is fancy. He dips his chocolate in chocolate, which is, you know, really cool, but I think it's unnecessary.

This makes 180 truffles. Don't eat them all yourself. Share them with someone who will appreciate them. You could also send some to me.

Chocolate Truffles

For the ganache:
Generous 2 cups heavy cream
21 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Generous 1/4 cup Grand Marnier or Stoli Razberi vodka (optional)

To garnish the truffles:
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut, toasted
About 2 cups (8 ounces; 230 grams) toasted nuts, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Heat the heavy cream in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Make sure that you have chopped the chocolate as finely as possible to allow it to melt quickly and easily. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium-size mixing bowl. Make a ganache by pouring about half of the hot cream over the chocolate and letting it sit for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Then slowly whisk until smooth and homogenous. Do not add all of the hot cream to the cold chocolate at once; the shock of the temperature extremes would cause the fat in the chocolate to separate. As the chocolate melts, you will see some elasticity if there is no fat separation. This means the chocolate still has an emulsion; the fat molecules are still holding together. If the ganache separates, it loses its elasticity, collapses, and becomes very liquid.

Add the remaining cream gradually and mix until all of the hot cream is incorporated and the ganache is smooth and homogenous.

If the ganache separates, it is very easy to fix. Simply add a small amount of cold cream and whisk well. This will bring the ganache back together. The ganache should be thick, shiny, and smooth. Add the desired flavoring and mix until fully incorporated. Pour the ganache onto a plastic wrap-covered baking sheet and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Cover the ganache with plastic wrap and allow it to cool for at least 4 hours at room temperature. As it cools, it will thicken and set.When the ganache has cooled to the consistency of toothpaste, scrape it into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Do not stir the ganache when you do this. Incorporating air by stirring will cause the ganache to harden. Pipe 1-inch-diameter mounds spaced 1 inch apart on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. To pipe the mounds, hold the pastry bag at a slight angle and allow the tip to touch the parchment as you begin to pipe. Once you have formed the mound, stop squeezing and lift the tip straight up, leaving a small tail on the top of each mound. You can also use a spoon and drop small mounds of ganache onto the baking sheet. Let the truffles harden at room temperature for a couple of hours (or in the refrigerator for 15 minutes), until they are hard enough to roll with your hands.

When I roll the truffles, I usually wear surgical gloves. The gloves are not mandatory but if you do not use them, be sure your hands are very clean. To roll the mound into a ball, place a truffle between both palms, squeeze slightly, and roll between your hands. The truffles will look nicer if they are as round as possible. When all the truffles are rolled into balls, they are ready to be coated.

Roll the dipped truffle in the desired garnish. Place the truffles on a clean parchment paper-covered baking sheet and allow them to set, about 5 minutes.The truffles will keep for up to 2 weeks at room temperature, when stored in an airtight container.

Note: If you decide to roll the truffles by hand, it is important to make sure your hands are cold. A good trick is to dip your hands in ice water for a few seconds and then dry them. Do this immediately before rolling the truffles. If your hands are too warm and the truffles begin to melt while you are rolling them, redip your hands in the ice water, dry them, and proceed.

January 25: Quick Cheese Bread

This may not be quick, but it is bread and cheese. Quick is a misleading term when it comes to this recipe; it refers to the fact that the bread contains no yeast and is instead risen with other leaveners--baking powder specifically.

I made two loaves of this for my mother's annual Christmas party this year. I was, frankly, stunned at the reception that it received. I thought it was a humble, albeit very enjoyable loaf of quick bread. I made maybe 10 copies of the recipe before the party ended and handed it out to my mother's friends. It was, surprisingly, the star of the show this year.

This is really a great loaf of bread. If you have leftovers, and I recommend doubling this recipe so that you will have leftovers, you can thick-slice it, smear it with honey mustard, pile it with shaved smoked deli ham, and top it with sliced cheese, then run it under the broiler. It is both delicious and a great cure for a hangover.

Makes one 9-inch loaf.

Quick Cheese Bread

3 ounces parmesan cheese, shredded on the large holes of a box grater (about one cup)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, or mild Asiago cheese, cumbled into 1/4-to-1/2 inch pieces (about 1 cup)
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, then sprinkle 1/2 cup of the parmesan evenly over the bottom of the pan.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and black powder to combine. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the cheddar, breaking up clumps, until it is coated with the flour mixture. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, egg, and sour cream. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined (the batter will be heavy and thick). Do not overmix. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan; spread to the sides of the pan and level the surface with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan evenly over the surface.

Bake until deep golden brown and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 5 minutes; invert the loaf onto the rack, turn right-side up, and continue to cool until warm, about 45 minutes. Cut into slices and serve.

What I Want For Valentine's Day

Have you seen those green tea roses that are around now? Golly, I wish I'd known about those for my wedding--they are absolutely lovely, very subtle, and beautiful paired with blue hydrangea, which my attendants and I carried with white roses--lovely, but I think that these would have had even more impact:

Dan loves to buy me flowers and does so with no encouragement at all. It's really a very nice thing in a husband. Last year on Valentine's Day, three dozen red roses appeared at my office with the sweetest note I'd ever read. And everyone in my office all got together, gathered around my desk, and said in unison, "Awwwwwwwwwwwwww."

You know, I'm a pretty practical girl. The flowers are nice, but this year, I want something else. My mother knows me pretty well, and this year for Christmas, she stuffed my stocking with jars of spices from Penzey's Spices. Are you familiar? It's a spice company that not only sells a wide variety of herbs and spices, but also sells blends. Last night, for example, I had popcorn with Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle on it, and it was a great effort for me not to lick the bowl.

My husband rarely reads anything I write; it's the curse of being married to an English teacher. By the time he's done reading 130 essays written by functionally-illiterate 9th graders every week, he's pretty much all done with the reading, although he did mention to me the other night, when I left my laptop open on the couch, that he agreed with everything I said about Shane's Rib Shack. Anyway, I doubt he'll see this, but if he does: Dan, don't send me flowers. Send me these things instead:

Arbol chile peppers

Black and Red spice

Ceylon cinnamon

Sicilian Salad seasoning

Pequin chile peppers

Sandwich Sprinkle

Rogan Josh seasoning

Italian Sausage seasoning

Northwoods Fire seasoning

Parisien Bonnes Herbes

Creamy Peppercorn

Tsardust Memories

Szechuan Pepper Salt

Trinidad-Style Lemon-Garlic

Flowers are great and everything, and you can't go wrong with them. This year, though, I would be willing to forego the traditional Valentine's Day gifts if the mailman were to turn up on my doorstep with a giant basket full of spice blends. Does that make me weird? A little. Am I okay with that? Oh yes.

December 31: Hoppin' John

"One pound of bacon, one pint of red peas, one pint of rice" — this is how Sarah Rutledge begin what may well be the first written receipt for this quintessential Lowcountry dish. The daughter of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and niece of Arthur Middleton, another signer, Miss Rutledge was the "Lady of Charleston" who anonymously authored The Carolina Housewife in 1847.

Southern ladies are great observers of tradition and superstition. Miss Rutledge probably knew that this humble dish of black eyed peas, or dried field peas, are served with rice and greens and cornbread and pot likker, and are thought to bring good luck in the new year.

Most likely, the dish arrived in the south with the slaves. There were tens of thousands in Charleston and on the neighboring rice plantations of the 17th and 18th centuries. Those West Africans were long familiar with rice cultivation and cookery, and the pigeon pea, favored throughout Africa, found a favorable environment in the Caribbean, where many of the slaves first landed. The Carolina Housewife may have been written by a "Lady of Charleston," but dishes such as hoppin' john were staples in the "big house" that had been brought there by black cooks. You need not be a historian to understand that the slaves taught the master to love this simple dish.

I hope that this recipe brings you all the good luck in the New Year that Sarah Rutledge and her predecessors expected. Happy New Year.

Makes six servings.

Ingredients:
1 cup small dried beans such as cowpeas or black-eyes
5 to 6 cups water
1 dried hot pepper (optional)
1 smoked ham hock
1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup long-grain white rice

Wash and pick over the peas. Place them in a saucepan, add the water, and discard any peas that float. Gently boil the peas with the pepper, ham hock, and onion, uncovered, until tender but not mushy — about 1 1/2 hours — or until 2 cups of liquid remain.

Add the rice to the pot, cover, and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, never lifting the lid.

Remove from the heat and allow to steam, still covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the cover, fluff with a fork, and serve immediately with greens and cornbread.

The Christmas Eve Open House

My mother has a Christmas Eve-afternoon tradition of inviting over thirty or forty of her friends. They show up when they feel like it and stay as long as they feel like staying, and it's really my favorite kind of party with some of my favorite people--really, my mother has just incredible friends. Mom always has homemade eggnog with bourbon and champagne, and my stepfather has an extraordinarily well-stocked liquor stash. They also sort of casually collect wine, and they have wonderful taste. People generally bring plates of cookies and Christmas candy and fruitcake, which Mom sets out, but the big attraction is the food.

My mother makes a few things really well, and her Christmas Eve Afternoon spread is her best of the best. Everything varies from year to year, but every year she makes these glazed meatballs that really are just plain frozen meatballs that are simmered in this mixture of chili sauce and apricot preserves and some other stuff, which, my God, I know how weird it sounds, but wow. My stepfather is a frat boy in a 71-year-old's body, and so she makes wings, only he can't take the spicy anymore, so she makes these tequila-lime wings, as well as honey-barbecue flavored. I'm not a fan of wings, but these are invariably the hit of the party.

I like dip, and so I am generally left in charge of dip at the party. Crudite with roquefort or dill dip, hot clam dip with bacon and scallions, and this artichoke-parmesan spread with roasted garlic on crostini--fabulous. That last thing is so rich it almost hurts to eat, so I pair it with tomato bruschetta with basil and a balsalmic reduction that complements it and cuts the richness a little. Chips and salsa, hummus and toasted pita. Last year I made queso fundido with chipotle and Mexican sausage. Spicy, and delicious. This year I'm thinking about a spinach dip with water chestnuts and bacon with pumpernickel bread.

Mom's cheese board varies from year to year. There's a brie or a camembert, something a little soft and runny, and some kind of goat cheese--last year I brought her a small-batch fresh cheese from West Virginia that I bought straight from the farmer. The farmer, incidentally, was so handsome that it hurt. Last year or the year before, she had a 4-year bandaged cheddar that isn't like anything else I've ever had in my life. The last few years, we've replaced the aged parmesan with a dry jack, which is really sharp and strong and powerful, and last year she got ahold of a Spanish manchego that was just incredible. Mom's a fan of stilton, but I like bleu d'auvergne or something a little less overpowering. She puts it all out with fruit and nuts and really yummy aged port.

There's always some yummy little nibbles--spicy honey-glazed pecans, marinated olives, shrimp or crab claws. Most people have a bigger meal planned later in the day when they come over, but this spread is enough to keep people pretty satisfied.

Mom's party is a great time, and the people make it. She's got really fascinating friends--scientists, writers, teachers, a retired judge, artists, musicians, all of these creative and smart and funny people, a few members of our extended family, the neighbors. The people are the party, and the food is peripheral. But the food is so good, I look forward to Christmas Eve all year long. I love it.

I am not going to start in with the recipes until January 1st. But if you're interested, shoot me an email or leave me a comment, and I can send a recipe for any of the stuff I've mentioned. Or leave me your ideas for your holiday celebrations and get-togethers.