AN ODE TO THE CHRISTMAS TREE

OH, CHRISTMAS TREE…

OH, CHRISTMAS TREE…

(an appreciation)

I like nature (though I’m not all that crazy about ‘wild’ life). I love hiking in the woods, walking on a sandy beach, swimming in the ocean… just smelling the fresh air. Flowers are nice in the ground or a meadow or a pot, but what I really like are trees even if I can probably name only about four different species. Memories of my father raking the leaves from the big oak tree in our yard then diving into the piles… the smells, the touch, the colors… will always be with me. Hiking the Appalachian Trail (not the “Appalachian Trail” in Argentina) during the foliage season is an all time ‘high.’ Well, as long as I don’t have to sleep under the stars on the hard ground or even in a tent when the day is done (did I mention, I really don’t like ‘wild’ life). But the tree I love the most is our yearly Christmas tree, not sitting proudly in a forest, reaching for the sky, but sitting proudly in our house, nestled in our tree stand reaching for our ceiling.

I’m also a city girl who loves walking in Manhattan amidst the beautiful man made caverns and canyons. The sight every year of the tall Christmas tree perched in the middle of Rockefeller Center always takes my breath away (well, that and the cold, wintry, New York air)… the perfect marriage of (wo)man and nature.

As long as I can remember, I’ve always had a tall Christmas tree. As tall as the ceiling in my house or apartment allowed. The aroma the tree brings to our home is so clean and fresh and no matter how the tree is shaped, there’s always a perfect angle. I also love the tree’s jewelry. The lights, the ornaments… it’s one of the reasons I love the circus – but that’s another blog. But it’s not just the trees “glitterati” I love, it’s the memory that each ornament holds. I still have the angel my grandparents gave me when I was four…

 faded, fragile ornaments from my father’s youth...

 a Santa my parents gave me when I was five or six...

the first ornaments I bought when I lived on my own…

there are hearts, wreaths, elephants and Pierre Deux ornaments my mother gave Richard and me every year we’ve been together till that last Christmas she spent with us...

 ornaments from TV shows and plays Richard wrote...

(even one from the White House Blue Room, a "Christmas in the White House" special)...

 ornaments I gave Richard as stocking stuffers...

 a cloth ‘fan’ and a cloth ‘bell’ my mother made out of fabric from one of my grandmother’s fancy “dress-up” blouses...

 baubles from friends...

 angels made by my godchild and her sister, a little cross needle-pointed by a young relative...

a card mom sent us years ago…

even an ornament I painted for us (as I did for friends) the year money was an ‘object’…

So as much as I love my noble noble for being beautiful on its own (and am sad when we ‘undress’ her every New Year’s day and send her back to the earth), I also love it because it tells the story of my life as well as any photo album. Christmas trees are memory trees. What was, what is and what can be. It’s love, loss, hope and faith. You can’t get a more perfect marriage of  (wo)man and nature than that.

OLIVE OIL CAKE! DON'T TELL POPEYE

OLIVE OIL CAKE!  DON'T TELL POPEYE

As we have in previous years, we relied on the kindness of strangers (well, not strangers, but good friends) to supply our Christmas Eve party w/ desserts, though I did make my annual brownies.

However, Richard has discovered baking and has fallen in love w/ Cat Cora's olive oil cake.  Yes, really - olive oil.  No butter. (Don't tell Julia!)  No shortening.

The recipe calls for a 10" cake pan, but our round cake pans are only 9".  Didn't matter.  He used the ones we had and though the cake overflowed the edges and was a little difficult to 'de-pan' - it was moist and delicious.

However (Pt. 2), when he was foraging through the storage space above our refrigerator for the platters and bowls and sterling serving plates and bowl we use once a year, he found a 10" square cake pan.  The cake came out beautifully - no overflowing edges. 

However (Pt. 3), when he 'de-panned' the cake, we discovered we didn't have a plate large enough for a square 10" cake -- a round 10" cake would be fine -- but the corners of the square over-reached the plate.  No matter, it still looked good, if not a perfect presentation, and was still moist and delicious.  It's not spinach, but Popeye and Olive Oil would have loved it.

OLIVE OIL CAKE: LADI TOURTA

Recipe courtesy Cat Cora

Prep Time:     20 minutes

Level:             easy

Cook Time:   1-hour

Serves:          12

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, beaten

2 cups granulated sugar

12 ounces extra-virgin olive oil - Richard found that 12 ounces is way too much and only

        uses 8 ounces, sometimes 9

10 ounces milk

2 ounces orange liqueur

2 ounces fresh orange juice

3 teaspoons lemon zest

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 ounces blanched almonds, finely chopped

powdered sugar, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Butter a 10" cake pan (Richard also put parchment paper on the bottom of the pan)

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, olive oil, milk, liqueur, orange juice and lemon zest.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture.  Whisk until well blended.  Fold in the almonds.

Pour the mixture into the buttered cake pan.  Bake for 1-hour.  Place on a rack to cool.  Run a knife around the edges and place it on a plate.  Sprinkle w/ powdered sugar and serve.

THE CASSOULET CHRISTMAS WALTZ

THE CASSOULET CHRISTMAS WALTZ

Cassoulets (casseroles for us American folk) are a great, hearty and 'cheap' way to feed a family -- well, cheap if you make your cassoulet with leftovers.  If you're buying all the ingredients, it's a tad more pricey -- but it's still a delicious, not too expensive way to feed a crowd.  And a crowd is what we had Christmas Eve.

As y'all know from reading my blog, Julia Child has infused herself into our cooking (eating for me) lives, so this year Richard thought he'd do "Julia" (translation: French) for our party and decided to make a French peasant Christmas cassouslet.  According to Julia, no two cassouslets are the same and that adds to their 'intrigue' not to mention they get better w/ age.  In fact, in these days of sub-zero freezers (or just any ole freezer), a cassoulet can be made a couple of months in advance and frozen.  Richard hadn't decided on making a cassoulet that far in advance, but he did start making it three days before the party.  Here is the French Christmas Cassoulet recipe he followed:

CHRISTMAS CASSOULET

Ingredients:

2 pounds dry great northern beans

16 cups cold watter

12 cups cold water

2 medium onions, skin removed

8 whole cloves

16 cloves garlic, minced

8 large stalks of celery, with leaves

12 sprig of parsley

2 teaspoons salt

4 bay leaves

4 pounds of beef spare ribs

1 pound cooked pork (3 cups)

1 pound cooked lamb (3 cups)

2 pounds cooked goose, pheasant or chicken (6 cups) (one 10 pound goose, roasted - Richard

                    roasted a couple of 5 pound chickens)

2 pounds pork sausage (Richard used turkey sausage)

6 medium onions, chopped

2- 15-ounce cans tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups meat gravy

2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed

2 teaspoons dried thyme, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 cups soft breadcrumbs

1/4 cup cooking oil

Directions:

Rinse beans and divide between two 4-quart oven-safe Dutch ovens.  Cover w/ 8 cups cold water each and soak overnight in refrigerator (or bring beans to boiling; reduce heat, simmer for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for one-hour)  Drain and rinse beans.  In the same pots, add 6 cups water to each.  Stud each whole onion w/ four of the cloves.  Add each onion along w/ 2 cloves of the minced garlic, 4 stalks of celery, 6 sprigs of parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and two bay leaves to each pot of beans.  Add ribs to each.  Bring mixture to boiling.  Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer the beans for 35 minutes (beans will be firm, yet tender).

Drain the beans and reserve the liquid.  Discard celery, onion, and bay leaves.  Remove any meat from rib bones and set aside.  Meanwhile, cut pork, lamb, and goose (roast chicken) into bite-size pieces.  Cut sausage into 1-inch pieces (or roll bulk sausage into 1-inch balls) and divide between the two Dutch ovens.  Cook over medium heat till browned on all sides.  Remove sausage, drain, reserving drippings and set aside.

In each Dutch oven, cook 3 chopped onions in reserved drippings till tender.  Add 1 can tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 cup reserved bean liquid, 1 cup gravy, 6 cloves minced garlic, 1 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to each Dutch oven.  Bring mixture to boiling.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Divide beans and all the meats between Dutch ovens.  Stir and combine well.

Bake, uncovered in a 325 degree oven for 1-hour.  Stir.  (If beans seem a little dry during baking, add additional bean liquid.)  Toss breadcrumbs w/ oil.  Sprinkle over top of bean mixture.  Continue baking one more hour.  Serve directly from pots onto dinner plates.  As noted previously, we served ours right from the Le Creuset pot.  If you're gonna go French, go all the way!

Serve w/ crusty bread.

Makes 24 servings.

Variations:  Above is the recipe as given, but remember, "no two cassoulets are alike" so... because several of our friends don't eat pork, no pig was harmed in the making of this cassoulet.  Nor was any lamb, because Richard didn't find any of that either.  He replaced the one pound each of pork and lamb with more chicken and beef ribs.  His only worry was the amount of liquid fat to flavor the beans, since he was using turkey sausages, but he dropped in a few tablespoons of olive oil after sauteeing the sausages.  It seemed to work.  There wasn't a bite left at the end of the night!

CHOCK FULL O' NUTS, IT'S A HEAVENLY PASTA...

Continuing the Christmas party recipes.... here's Nigella Lawson's heavenly pasta w/ walnut sauce.

PASTA with WALNUT SAUCE

Food Network Episode # NESP01

Ingredients:

6 ounces shelled walnuts

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1 slice bread, crusts removed

2/3 cup whole milk

1 ounce grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil (preferably Ligurian)

salt and pepper to taste

2 pounds any flat short pasta (Richard used bowtie pasta)

1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, and toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan until they begin to make a nutty aroma.

Put the bread in a bowl and cover with the milk. 

Put most of the toasted walnuts (reserving about one ounce for garnish) into a blender along with the garlic, bread soaked in milk, and Parmesan.  (Note from Richard:  make sure you include the milk, not just the bread - otherwise the pasta's too dry.)  Blend until it turns smooth and creamy, then pour in the oil and season well with salt and pepper before blending again.

Pour into a bowl, and set aside.

Add pasta to boiling water with salt and cook for the required amount of time.  When the pasta is al dente, reserve a cup of the pasta cooking liquid and then drain the pasta, but put it into a large bowl while it's still dripping slightly with water.  Sprinkle a little olive oil over the pasta to prevent it sticking together, and then add the walnut sauce, mixing it into the pasta (splash in a little pasta cooking liquid to make the sauce less thick if needed).

Roughly chop the remaining walnuts and toss them over the top along with some more Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Richard tripled the recipe for the party.

A 'TRUFFLED' DELIGHT FOR ALL SEASONS

NOT YOUR MOTHER'S DEVILED EGGS

As promised, the Christmas party recipes begin... but this truffled delight is for all seasons.

I love deviled eggs - be they fancy or plain -- but these truffled eggs have become my favorite and when we served them Christmas Eve - they were gone in a NY minute.  But if you're someone who just doesn't care for the earthy, mushroom-y taste and aroma of truffle oil, these deviled eggs are also good without it.

TRUFFLED DEVILED EGGS

compliments of Cottage Living, August, 2007

Makes:   18 deviled egg halves

Prep:      25 minutes

Cook:    10 minutes

Stand:    10 minutes

Ingredients:

12 large eggs

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 teaspoons white truffle oil (optional -- well not for me )

Extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Garnishes:

fresh chives, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions:

Place eggs and water to cover in a saucepan; bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, and let stand covered for 10 minutes.  Drain the eggs, and rinse w/ cold water for several minutes.  Peel eggs, and cut in half lengthwise.

Place 6 egg halves (including whites) and all additional egg yolks in a food processor.  Add mayonnaise, mustard, and 1/4 cup grated cheese; blend well.  Add salt & pepper and, if desired, truffle oil.  If too thinck, add olive oil (or more truffle oil if you want a stronger flavor), 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to desired consistency.

Place mixture in a pastry bag w/ a plain or star-shaped tip (or as Richard does, a small zip-top plastic bag w/ a corner cut out) and pipe the mixture into the remaining egg halves.

Garnish, if desired.

THE HOLIDAY BINGE

(Pierre Deux - it's a Julia/French Christmas)

THE HOLIDAY BINGE

Is everyone still stuffed from the holidays? I know I am and we still have one last Christmas party to go to. It seems as if we’ve done nothing but eat since Thanksgiving! Not that I’m complaining, but wow, a week of lettuce leaves sounds tempting. Well, not that tempting!

This year’s foodie last hurrah began at our “The Food & Wine’s The Thing, Never Mind The Book” Book Group holiday dinner we hosted (and I blogged about) last week. We decked the halls, maybe not w/ boughs of holly, but w/ garlands, candles, twinkle lights and mementoes tucked here and there on our two fireplace mantels.

Each room had a Christmas tree, a traditional wreath hung on our front door, and the outside of our house was covered w/ little white lights welcoming everyone. We sipped wine, talked and talked and ate and ate… and ate and ate.

Fast forward to 6 days later and the door to our “Christmas” house was opened again for our annual Christmas Eve dinner party for friends and foes and people we met on the village streets – well, not really, but we had a lot of people.

As our guests arrived and Christmas carols caroled from our IPod, we poured them a glass of champagne ‘cosmo,’ a holiday cocktail made w/ champagne, Triple Sec and cranberry juice.

Then… let the eating begin! To continue the Julia theme started over Thanksgiving, I made my “Pate Therese” a “family” recipe given to me by my cousin’s French mother-in-law (who was also a cook of some renown) that I shared w/ y’all in November. Also on display (but not for long) were two French ‘liquid’ cheeses w/ a robust ‘kick,’ deviled eggs w/ truffle oil, the roasted garlic/sun dried tomato/parmesan spread we served at the “Book Group” dinner (this time I remembered to take the picture)

 and salmon poached in champagne w/ a Dijon, dill mustard sauce – another repeat performance from the “Book Group” dinner.

The bar was stocked w/ the champagne cocktail, white or red wine, scotch or vodka or clear, bubbly Pellegrino (I know, I know – Mon Dieu! We should have gotten Perrier, but Pellegrino was on sale).

As everyone mingled, cheese’d, pate’d, salmon’d and egg’d, Richard brought out the evenings main events:

A pear and greens salad w/ burrata, toasted walnuts and pomegranate seeds in a honey mustard dressing;
string beans and sauteed red bell peppers;

A creamy (but no cream) toasted walnut pasta;

Crusty breads; and
A Julia-ish Christmas cassoulet (made without pork – Mon Dieu Pt. 2!) served, as instructed, directly from the oven in Le Creuset.

Divine desserts included:
rum cake

Richard’s olive oil cake

We didn't have a 10" round cake plate

a spiced cranberry cake

pumpkin flan

fudge brownies
the gingerbread wo/men cookies I’ve already blogged about
assort other cookies
pumpkin pie
and, a Christmas tiramisu

We sipped, we talked, we laughed and wished each other wonderful things for the new year… and we ate and ate and ate. Okay, we binged.

Richard’s three days of cooking were rewarded with praise from all and, for the first time in the more than 20 years we’ve been doing this party, all the food was gone. Nothing to freeze! The platters and bowls and plates were empty. It was all that good! So… recipes? Of course. I’ll be posting them separately for you all this week.

By the time our guests were ready to go home to wait for Santa, everyone seemed sated and happy. Thank you Julia (and Julie) for inspiring me to keep my blog going. And thank you Richard for inspiring me, loving me and feeding me (and our friends) so well over the year, and indulging me by making such glorious dinners to write about when I’m not reviewing a restaurant or musing on life.

Happy New Year everyone!

MARILYN & GINGERBREAD WO/MEN

MARILYN & GINGERBREAD MEN

Like so many men "of an age" Richard grew up loving Marilyn Monroe - her sexiness, her beauty and her vulnerability - so when Hallmark a decade ago put out a series of limited edition Marilyn Christmas tree ornaments, I had to buy them for him.  They've hung proudly on our tree ever since and thought I'd share a couple of them with y'all.   And what does this have to do with gingerbread men?  Absolutely nothing, but so what? 

On to gingerbread wo/men...

While eating Finnish pulla (pronounced bulla) toast for breakfast this morning (a Christmas morning ritual we have courtesy of my brother who bakes these 'coffee cake' breads each holiday season), Richard and I talked about last night's open house, sharing our home with friends we love, the food we made, the desserts friends made and I thought I'd begin blogging about the party by introducing you to my friend, Ann, and the crisp gingerbread wo/men cookies she brought to our party.  Like me, she's a food blogger and below is the link to her 'unusual' take on gingerbread wo/men cookies.  As advertised they're crispy AND they're delicious.

http://countrypolitankitchen.blogspot.com/2009/12/gitmo-gingerbread-men.html