Vanilla Ice Cream

Friends recently whisked me away for cocktails at the Claremont Resort to celebrate a certain momentous birthday event. Dear friends, sunset over the San Francisco Bay, the twinkling lights of Berkeley and Oakland and the Bay Bridges spread out below us, cocktails and some fabulous marrow, bacon and onion marmalade on toast and really good garlic fries in a paper cone... Sigh. It was lovely.

I cast my mind back to when I had last been at the Claremont.... Waaaaay back when I was in my twenties, I met Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream for brunch at the Claremont. This was when there actually was a real Ben and a real Jerry at Ben & Jerry's, (before British-Dutch conglomerate Unilever gobbled them up in 2000) and I had written them a fan letter offering my acting services to do an ad for them, because I really loved their ice cream. Ben called me up at my thankless secretarial job at PaineWebber (which was gobbled up by Swiss Bank UBS in 2000) and invited me out. I have no idea why, really. We had brunch - and that was that. I never heard from him again.

Also way back in the day, I bought a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cookbook, along with a Donvier hand crank ice cream maker, at the San Francisco Whole Earth Access store (also long defunct.) It's been over twenty years, and I still use that little hand crank ice cream maker; it consists of a metal tub with some special freezable goo sandwiched between the insulated layers. You freeze the cylinder overnight, mix up your ice cream base and chill it, pour the ice cream base into the cylinder, and then stir it with a special dasher and handle every few minutes for about 20 minutes. No salt, no electricity, very little effort, and voilà - a quart of the best ice cream. I still also use the Ben and Jerry's cookbook.

Although it's been about twenty-five years since I met Ben for brunch at the Claremont, and so many things from that time of my life are defunct - including my acting career - I am happy to still be here, and putting my ice cream making skills to good use for my lovely daughter.

For Johanna's tenth birthday party, I used the B&J recipe for French Vanilla Ice Cream. Naturally, I modified the recipe; in the 1980's, people didn't hesitate to use raw eggs in ice cream. Even though I use organic eggs from the farmer's market, I take the extra step to cook the egg custard base for the ice cream. Here is the recipe, including my changes.


French Vanilla Ice Cream

Adapted from Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book

1 cup organic whole milk
3/4 cups organic sugar
2 large organic, free range eggs
2 cups organic heavy cream
2 tsp organic vanilla extract

1. Put the cup of whole milk and the 3/4 cup of sugar into the top of a double boiler. Put the boiler directly on top of the heat (not into the bottom part of the double boiler.) Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is scalded. (Do not boil the milk.)

2. In a medium-sized heat proof bowl, whisk the eggs until well mixed. Gradually pour the scalded milk and sugar into the eggs, stirring constantly. (This keeps the eggs from cooking up into scrambled eggs - not what you want in your ice cream!)

3. Using a heat proof spatula, scrape the eggs-milk-sugar mix back into the top of the double boiler. Over - not in - hot water, cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it has the consistency of a creamy sauce, coating the back of the wooden spoon, or wires of the whisk you are stirring with.

4. Turn off the heat, remove the top part of the double boiler from the hot water, and stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Let it cool, uncovered, then chill, covered, in the fridge until well-chilled.

5. Pour ice cream base into your prepared ice cream maker, and freeze, churning almost constantly. When it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream, you can add any special treats you like - chocolate shavings, etc. - and churn them in until well-mixed. Spoon/spatula the soft ice cream into other freezable containers, and freeze them until solid in your freezer. (If you leave it in the cylinder, it is hard to get it out!)

Serve alone, with the delectable fudge sauce, dulce de leche, or whatever your heart desires!

Delectable Hot Fudge Sauce (Without Corn Syrup): Make Your Own Sundaes

Our daughter, Johanna, turned ten this summer. She was clear on two things about her momentous birthday celebration: 1) it would be a slumber party with her closest friends, and 2) make your own ice cream sundaes would be the centerpiece. She didn't think we needed to plan any special games, activities or outings. However, being the true Berkeley girl that she is, the food was the most important part of the celebration.

By now, whether you know me virtually through my blog, or in the realm of reality, you will assume that, at the least, I would make the ice cream and the hot fudge sauce for this extravaganza. You will further assume that both of them would be organic. And, of course, you would be correct on both counts. I also made some delectable almost flour-less brownies from a Katharine Hepburn recipe, but really, they were unnecessary. The ice cream and the fudge sauce were the most important components.

I found a delicious-sounding recipe for the sauce in the Gourmet Cookbook. However, once again, it was marred by the inclusion of corn syrup in the recipe. Sigh. If you have read my other posts about corn, you will know that 81-86% of all the corn in America is grown from genetically modified seed. In addition, if you have read much of the food scoop that is out there from Michael Pollan, you will know that corn syrup is not considered a healthful food. Plus, there's the extraction process. Acids and enzymes to separate the starch from the sugars; doesn't that sound appetizing? And, no, I have never, never seen organic or non-GMO corn syrup on the market anywhere. However, I had learned from chef and food researcher Alton Brown that the fructose in corn syrup is useful in breaking the crystallization chain of cane sugar when making caramel and other candies; cane sugar just naturally wants to go back to being a crystal, and the fructose bonds with it and blocks the chain. Perhaps that is why the corn syrup was included in the fudge sauce recipe (although no explanation for its inclusion was offered.) What to do, what to do... I'd been wondering for some time if Agave nectar would be a good substitute, but hadn't heard any reliable reports on the matter. If it were a good substitute - well, hello pecan pie, homemade marshmallows, and homemade caramels! It IS fructose, after all.... I decided to risk messing up the batch of hot fudge sauce, and just go for it! I substituted the agave nectar for the corn syrup in the fudge sauce recipe, and....... Drum roll, please! The results? Yum.

Here's the recipe, with my mods:

Hot Fudge Sauce

adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

1/4 cup unsweetened organic cocoa powder (I quite like Trader Joe's brand)
1/3 cup packed organic dark brown sugar
1/2 cup organic agave nectar
2/3 cup organic heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
6 ounces good quality organic bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Yep, T.J.'s again)
2 TB unsalted organic butter, cut into 1/2 TB
1 tsp organic vanilla

Stir together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, agave nectar, cream, salt, and half of the the chocolate in a 1 1/2 - 2 quart heavy saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted. Cook mixture at a a low boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, add remaining chocolate, butter and vanilla and stir until smooth. Cool slightly before serving.

Note from Christine: I have now made two batches of this sauce. I just performed, ahem, quality control checks. With refrigeration, this lasts several months.

True North Niçoise Salad

We just got back from a truly wonderful trip to Alaska; at long last we visited our friends Chris and Lynne in Anchorage and saw why they have made this spectacular state their home. Chris and Lynne, you may recall from an earlier post, helped re-christen the unfortunately named "pickled black-eyed peas" (which are now known to us as "Crack-eyed Peas") while we were on a trip to Joshua Tree earlier in the year. They then introduced the peas as the "official recovery food for the Harvard Cross-country ski team." They are travel companions made in heaven, and we knew we were destined to have some fun on this trip!

One of the interesting things about being in a place where it stays light all the time (it turns dark grey from about 12 a.m. to 2 a.m. in Alaska in the summertime, otherwise, it's all daylight, all the time) is that you are energized to do a lot more stuff than you normally would. Here is how we kicked off the trip: Arrived Friday night pretty darned close to midnight, and yes, it was still pretty light out. Our excellent friends picked us up and drove us back to their house. Joel organized his biking gear and installed his own pedals on a borrowed racing bike. At about 6:00 the next morning, friends collected him and the bike and drove him many miles out into the wilderness, where he competed in the fifty mile event of the Fireweed 400. After the rest of us arrived to cheer him on to victory (he came in second) we all donned crampons and climbed the Matanuska glacier. Chris and Lynne are such hardcore adventurers that they had enough crampons to accommodate themselves, Joel, me, Johanna, and Johanna's BFF, Katy, who had joined us on the trip. After a dinner overlooking the glacier at the Longrifle Lodge, surrounded by multiple examples of local taxidermy, we drove the long way home, and slept very well, despite the ever-present light. The next day: repeat, with variations!

Being insanely active for 17 hours a day means that once again, creativity must come into play when planning dinner. On day 2, while Lynne worked a 13 hour shift at the neonatal intensive care unit, the rest of us went for a walk in a nature reserve, had a quick lunch, then went walking on the mudflats at the Turnagain Arm - until Joel lost a boot to the quivering muck. From there, we went for a hike in the mountains... Are you sensing a pattern here? Coming home from the third hike of the day, I knew that I really must plan a good - and fast - dinner; Lynne deserved something delicious and a big glass of wine when she came home from work.

Fortunately, one of the culinary tricks I have up my sleeve is Salade Niçoise, a hearty French composed salad, comprised of greens dressed with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette, surrounded by little piles of other tasty dressed vegetables, olives, hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced sweet red onion, and topped with a generous hunk of best quality conserved tuna in olive oil. Typically, the vegetables include small, tender green beans, the little waxy potatoes called fingerlings, ripe tomatoes, and some small, sweet beets. However, when pressed for time or ingredients, you can go with just the salad greens, tuna, eggs, olives, and sliced red onion. The different components are harmonious with each other, while keeping things new and interesting in flavor and texture so that the palate never tires. A loaf of good French bread, a good bottle of wine, and life is looking fine.

And what luck! A co-worker of Chris' had given them several gorgeous jars of home-conserved salmon, some smoked, some plain. What a delicious variation on a classic theme!

When we are home, we like to serve the salad with a nice dry French or Spanish rose; sadly, the only pink thing we could find at the local Safeway was white Zinfandel - not an acceptable substitute. However, the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay we were able to get went down very well with the salad.

I love this salad, and all of its variations. The salmon version was so good, it got me fantasizing about trying to set up some bartering with Chris' co-worker.... or maybe catching and smoking and canning my own salmon.... So, by special request from Lynne, here is my version of Salade Niçoise.


True North Salade Niçoise

Serves 2 for Dinner

Serve with a good quality French bread

For Salad:

1/2 pound or so of fresh, best quality salad greens
2 hardboiled eggs (see below for never fail instructions)
1/2 of a small sweet red onion, sliced as thinly as possible
2 medium fresh, ripe tomatoes, cut in wedges (if in season. If not, leave out.)
1 - 7 oz jar or can best quality tuna in olive oil, such as A's Do Mar, or best quality canned salmon, or fresh tuna or salmon, pan-fried, baked, broiled, poached, or grilled

Niçoise olives for garnish
Fresh ground black pepper for garnish

Optional: boiled waxy potatoes, such as fingerlings, green beans, roasted or boiled small red beets

For Dressing:

1 TB best quality red or white wine vinegar
1 TB Dijon mustard
2 large cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
2 large pinches sea salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
5 TB best quality extra virgin olive oil

To hard boil the eggs:

Put the eggs in a small, heavy saucepan, and cover them with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat, boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat, cover the pan, and let sit for 15 minutes. Remove the eggs from the hot water and plunge them into an ice bath. This technique results in PERFECT hard-boiled eggs, with beautifully yellow, solid yokes. The ice water plunge stops the cooking and helps the shell release from the eggs. When the eggs have cooled, gently crack the shells and peel them. Slice them in half.

While the eggs are cooking, make the vinaigrette. Whisk all of the ingredients together in a large salad bowl until the dressing is emulsified. Remove a few spoonfuls to reserve for dressing the eggs and other vegetables. (If you will also be making the optional potatoes, etc. you will need more dressing. Reserve more dressing, and dress each different vegetable separately.)

When all of the ingredients are ready, whisk the salad dressing again in the bowl, and toss the greens in the dressing, adding enough so that the greens are well, but not over dressed. Plate all of the greens on two large dinner plates. Place an egg around the greens on each plate, along with the tomato wedges and about 10 olives. Scatter the greens with the red onion. Place the tuna on top of the greens. Spoon the reserved dressing onto the eggs. Grind a generous helping of black pepper over all, and serve with bread and a nice glass of wine.

Note: French bread will taste fresh from the oven if you heat it briefly in a low temperature oven. We keep a supply of Acme baguettes in our freezer, and reheat them for a few minutes at 200 degrees F in our toaster oven. Delightful!

Walnut Liqueur

A couple of weeks ago I was standing in line at our outstanding grocery store, West Berkeley Bowl, paying for my stuff. "Nosy-parker" that I am, I glanced back at the stuff the man in line behind me was piling up onto the counter; bottle after bottle of French wine. I am frequently asked at the check-out counter if I am planning a big party, or if I am a caterer. Naw, we just enjoy wine with our dinner, and we HATE to run low on any varietals; Joel starts getting nervous when he does inventory and finds that there's only one bottle left in a certain category. So I took great pleasure in seeing someone else buy a nice healthy supply, and naturally, when I noticed that all the bottles consisted of only two different labels, I had a feeling there might be a hot wine tip in the offing! I made inquiries; yes, they were pretty good, and a decent price ($8.99 a bottle) but, he said "we will be using them to make walnut liqueur, so the taste is not so important."

Wow. "You're making Vin de Noix?" I said with surprise and pleasure. Yes, friends, kismet had placed me in line right next to one of the few other people in town likely to be making walnut liqueur on the feast day of Jean Baptiste, and the Syrah and the accent clued me in that he was making the French Vin de Noix, rather than the Italian Nocino, or Croatian Orahovica. Because, of course, I make walnut liqueur in all three styles!

Well, you can imagine he was equally surprised that I understood right away what he was talking about. I asked if he was planning on picking the walnuts in Berkeley (no, they were going to Brentwood) and we discussed the fact that Brentwood walnuts should be ready earlier than those in Berkeley; I like to pick my Berkeley nuts on the fourth of July. And suddenly it came to me: this man probably had a family recipe, and perhaps he would share it!

Yes, and yes, to both questions; he was using a recette from his Tante. He took down my e-mail address in his iphone, and followed up with his recipes just days later, bless his heart.

A little background: Most European countries make some sort of liqueur out of green (English) walnuts; it is traditional to pick them on June 24th, which is the feast day of St. John the Baptist. Central Valley walnuts are ready a little earlier, and Berkeley walnuts a little later. The walnuts should be fully formed, but soft enough to pierce with a needle. When cut open, they are green all the way through, but with fully-formed, liquid-filled kernels. Interestingly, one uses the whole nut, outer skin and all. They have an intriguing, aromatic aroma.

The Neapolitan recipe shared with me by an Italian acquaintance, Sebastiano Scarampi, included this description on picking the walnuts: "Have young virgins pick, preferably in the morning of June 24th while still slightly covered by dew, as the dew of that particular night is considered magical and with beneficial medicinal powers."

Hmmm. Not only does Johanna prefer to sleep in, but it seems like the morning dew of Berkeley would NOT contain beneficial medicinal powers, so I think I will continue to pick mine during regular daylight hours the weekend of the fourth of July, from the top of an overturned bucket, and then wash them well.....


Vin de Noix

Recipes from Frederic Thouvenin

A la Jean-Claude Vallier

32 noix
1 L d’eau de vie
1 gousse de vanille ou 1/4 de citron

Macérer 2 mois
Filtrer
5 L de vin + 1 kg de sucre
remuer tous les matins pendant 10 jours
mettre en bouteilles


A la Christine

25 noix coupées en 4
1 L d’eau de vie
Mélanger pendant 8 jours
3 L de vin rouge
2 L de vin blanc
1 kg 1/2 de sucre
1 bâton de vanille
Ecorces de 6 oranges passées au four pendant 10min
Ajouter tout cela (éventuellement en enlevant les noix)
Laisser macérer pendant 45 jours.


A la Jean-Claude Vallier

32 Nuts
1 Liter of eau de vie, brandy, marc or vodka
1 vanilla bean or 1 / 4 lemon

Macerate 2 months
Filter
5 L of wine + 1 kg sugar
stir every morning for 10 days
to bottle


A la Christine

25 nuts cut into 4
1 L of eau de vie, brandy, marc or vodka
Let mix stand for 8 days

Add:
3 L of red wine
2 liters white wine
1 kg 1 / 2 sugar
1 vanilla bean
Peels of 6 oranges dried in the oven for 10min
Add all this, and let macerate for 45 days.
Filter



1. Pick the walnuts in late June when the walnuts are well formed, but can still be pierced with a needle. Place all of the ingredients in an 8 quart (8 liter) non-reactive container with a lid. of glass or ceramic. Store in a cool dark place for 6 to 8 weeks shaking occasionally.

2. Strain through cheesecloth into a bowl. Taste, and adjust the sugar if you want the drink to be sweeter. Bottle and store in a cool dark place until the cold weather. Some people store for 3 to 6 months before drinking, to allow the flavors to balance.


Nocino

This recipe was shared with me by the Contessa Francesca Cinelli Stratton of the Tenuta Spannocchia

1 liter wine - red or white
20 green walnuts, quartered
1 - peel of lemon
8 - cloves
2 cm cinnamon stick
1 small spoon semi di carvi (caraway seeds)
1 cima (top of) di achillea mille foglie (common yarrow)

Put all together for 3 months in the sun.

Filter, and for every liter of liquid add 300-350 gr. alcool puro, and 300 gr of zucchero.


Christine's notes: This Nocino recipe really needs to mellow for at least 6 months before drinking, and improves with age.



Orahovica
(Croatian Walnut Liqueur)
This recipe comes from Jack Mariani, of the Mariani Nut Company in Winters, CA, who got it from his grandmother, Lukra Mariani.

8 whole unripe walnuts
1 quart vodka
4 lemon leaves
4  orange leaves
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Wash and grind the whole walnuts, including the hulls.  Combine with the remaining ingredients in a glass or ceramic jar with a tightly fitting lid.  Let stand in the sun for 40 days and nights.  Strain, then decant into bottles.  This liqueur is good right away, but improves and mellows with age.

Notes on how to find walnuts: If you live in Berkeley, there are trees growing all over town; the squirrels are very good horticulturalists. If you spot one, ask if you can pick some in exchange for some liqueur! If you don't have easy access to them, many walnut growers in the Central Valley will pick and ship them to you on the appropriate day for super cheap.  As described above, in Europe you would pick the walnuts on June 24th, in hot climates like California's Central Valley, a little earlier.  In cool climates like the Bay Area, a little later.

Hog Wild Whole Hog: The Biggest. Sausage Party. Ever.

Okay, maybe I exaggerate a little. But it was really, really, crazy big! Here's the story.....

Soon after I had yet again upped my pig-buying quantities from 1/2 to 3/4 of a pig (my friend Ondine took the other quarter,) I received an offer from my rancher friend Mary (wingedspan@earthlink.net) that I somehow just couldn't refuse. I had recently made the run up to Bud's Cut and Wrap facility in Penngrove, CA to pick up a Prius load of meat: a whole young pig and three whole lambs - (one for me, one for my friend Rebecca, one for my friend Heidi) and had crammed my share into my freezer. The freezer already contained some grass-fed organic beef from Mike and Sally Gales of Chileno beef in Petaluma..... well, that freezer really was very full. Then my friend Ondine and I held a pork sausage-making party with some of our pig in December, and I blogged about it here. (I also held a lamb sausage-making party with my friend Heidi, but I haven't written that one up yet!)

So, after I sent the link to Mary about the pig sausage party, she wrote back to me: her three sows were "going out of business;" she was going to raise three new piglets to be the next Mamas. The sows were too big and old to sell to her usual subscribers for chops and hams, but perfect for an enormous sausage-making venture. She could sell them to a meat-broker, but she hated to have the girls traumatized, and it was just too much meat for her and her husband, Chris. (Their boar was also ready to be replaced, but she thought he was too stinky to offer to anybody else; they were going to eat him themselves.) Was I interested?

Wow. For days I vacillated; I mean, it was nuts to even think about it, wasn't it? After all, I had just bought most of a good-sized pig! On the other hand - what an opportunity! Finally, I thought; I'm going to check in with Ondine. If she thinks it's nuts, I'll know it really is. However, if she thinks we should go for it - then, game on!

A word about Ondine; honey, as hard as it is for me to admit - she's foodier than me. And chances are, she's foodier than you, too. And I just love the way she inspires me on to new heights of food fanaticism. Suddenly, food fantasies of mine go from being crazy to being brilliant in one conversation. There's no way on earth I would have done what I wound up doing if Ondine hadn't agreed to be my porcine co-conspirator, my soul-food sister.

So, obviously, what she said was "Yes! Let's do it!!!!"

Then ensued weeks of planning, discussion, and the like. How would we do it, where we would do it? Who should we invite? How many recipes, which ones to choose? What would our costs be, how much pork would we wind up with? (We received estimates that were all over the map - 150 pounds, 200 pounds, 300 pounds, 400 pounds, and in the end we didn't actually know how much there was until they were loading it into my friend Nina's station wagon; the final tally was on a slip of paper in one of multiple banana boxes full of ground pork in a walk-in freezer in Penngrove, and no, they wouldn't go into the freezer to check that piece of paper for me!)

There were some interesting twists and turns and drama along the way; we were under the impression that the pig wouldn't be ready for some weeks longer. Then came the word that it would be THAT week - we scrambled to finish our arrangements! Then came further complications; two pigs were despatched on that day, but one, (the pig formerly known as "Hanako") was found to have a serious internal injury; a ruptured bladder, probably suffered during birth. Unlike in the commercial meat industry, where that pig would most likely have been packaged up anyway, Mary couldn't in good conscience let anyone eat her; she was given a burial in a field. Ultimately, the other buyer kindly let us take all of "Rita" so that we could still hold our party. Instead, he will take the third remaining sow in the Fall. Thank you, kind stranger! Thank you, Mary!

So, what did we wind up with, and what did we do? It turns out that those big cardboard boxes held 300 pounds of ground pork, plus another fifty pounds or so of back fat. We had Bud's smoke 70 combined pounds of linguisa and Polish sausage, and friends bought shares of it. Several friends took shares of ground pork home to make sausage with later. And then 9 more friends - Nina and her twin sister Ann, Kim, Alison, Lisa, Brooks, Natalie, Ondine and Ruth, converged on my (not very big, old fashioned kitchen, which has literally 4 square feet of counter space!) on a Sunday to make 150 pounds of fresh sausage, using five different recipes, which I adapted to make in five pound increments. Phew. But in the end, everybody left with lots of absolutely delicious, top of the line, hand-made sausage. And maybe, just maybe, a little inspiration!


Here are our recipes, including the adjustments we made in seasonings at the party:

Italian-Style Sausage with Rosemary and Grappa

Adapted from Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork

5 pounds of medium to coarse ground pork, of which 20-25% is fat
4.5 tsp kosher salt
3.5 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 3/4 tsp fennel pollen or ground fennel seed
2 TB finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 TB + 2 tsp minced garlic
1 third cup dry white wine
1 TB plus 1 tsp grappa



New York Style Spicy Hot Italian Sausage

Adapted from Bruce Aidells' Complete Sausage Book

5 pounds of medium to coarse ground pork, of which 20-20% is fat
3 TB + 1 tsp anise liqueur
3 TB + 1 tsp anise or fennel seeds
1 TB + 2 tsp minced garlic
1 TB + 2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 TB kosher salt
3.5 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2.5 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/3 cup water, as needed


Rancho Chorizo

Adapted from California Rancho Cooking
by Jacqueline Higuera McMahan


5 pounds of medium to coarse ground pork, of which 20-25% is fat
1/4 cup minced garlic
2.5 TB dried oregano
2.5 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed very fine
2.5 TB sea salt
3/4 cups New Mexico or California chile powder
1/2 cup plus 2 TB paprika
1 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
5 TB port wine


French-style Fresh Garlic Sausage
Adapted from various on-line recipes

5 pounds of medium to coarse ground pork, of which 20-25% is fat
1 cup dry white wine
5 tsp salt
2 TB minced garlic
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 TB ground sage
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg



Yankee Sage Breakfast Sausage
Adapted from Bruce Aidells' Complete Sausage Book


5 pounds of medium to coarse ground pork, of which 20-25% is fat
3 TB ground dried sage
2 TB plus 1/2 tsp kosher salt
4.5 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 + 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 + 1/8 tsp dried summer savory
1/4 + 1/8 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 + 1/8 tsp dried thyme
1/8 generously rounded tsp ground ginger
1 generous pinch ground cloves
1/3 cup water

A repeated note from me about fat content: commercial sausage contains from 30-50% fat. Don't submit to your internal Puritan's directive to use less than the 20-25% listed in these recipes! Most of the fat will cook out of the meat, where you can drain it away. If there is no fat, the other liquids will drain away and leave you with dry, tough, (well-seasoned) meat. Plus, if you have done the right thing, and purchased a good pig directly from a rancher instead of a cheap Con-Agra commodity pig, that fat is gooood eating, and much healthier for you than you might think. Follow this link to read more about why pig fat is a much maligned foodstuff, and about how my friend Mary raises her Duroc pigs: http://foodierthanthou.blogspot.com/2010/01/whole-hog-around-pig-in-80-ways.html

In all cases, combine all of the dry seasonings together in one small bowl, and mix well. Combine all of the wet seasonings (including garlic) in another small bowl or cup. Put the meat in a very big, very clean bowl, and sprinkle with all of the dry and wet ingredients. Using your hands, (we used disposable food service gloves on our very clean hands) mix until all is well incorporated. You want everything to be well-combined, but, as with pie-crust, not worked to the point where the fat is melting. When you have reached that point, fry up a little patty and make sure you like the way the seasoning is balanced; all ten of us tasted, discussed, and reached somewhat of a consensus on the seasonings. This is a living document! You can make changes! Bear in mind that the flavors will meld and improve in a couple of days.

When everything is as you wish, package it up in the increment size most useful to you; I like patties of about 1/4 pound each. Much as I hate to use plastic, I like to use "Press 'n Seal" to make my little portions; it is a self-sticking plastic wrap which can be easily sub-divided. Then I put it in a well-labeled, heavy zip-style bag to protect against freezer burn. Freeze what you aren't going to eat that night right away. Now you have big bucks in your food bank, perfect for the nights when you can't think what to make!

"Drink Me!" Artemesia Cocktail: Fit to be Thaied

The inspiration for this new cocktail came to me while I was cross-country skiing. I kept thinking about my ginger liqueur, and Thai coconut soup - coconut milk, ginger, lime juice...... And about the recent impulse purchase I'd made at the Farmer's Market from the nice young men of Coracao chocolate - coconut sugar! They explained to me how coconut sugar was nectar extracted from the coconut blossom, then cooked down and dried, that it's low on the glycemic index, and easily dissolved. It has a texture and flavor that's reminiscent of maple sugar; crumbly, brown, faintly redolent of coconut. They use it in their raw, organic chocolates and other treats. (Coconut blondie bar - off the hook!)

The first night I finally put it all together - oh, baby. This is GOOD. It's so good I've forgotten to take pictures of it all three times I've made it. The pictures will just have to wait......

Fit to be Thaied

Makes one large or two small cocktails

2 1/2 jiggers (3 3/4 ounces) Artemesia Organic Ginger Liqueur
1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces) fresh-squeezed organic lime juice
1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces) organic unsweetened coconut milk (I like Native Forest)
2 tsp coconut sugar

Additional coconut sugar for rimming your cocktail glass, on a small plate


Put all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and stir to dissolve the sugar and combine well. Take a quick taste once it's well mixed; does it need a little more sugar? Repeat. Now add several ice cubes.

Run a cut lime slice around the rim of your martini glass, then roll the moistened outer edges in the coconut sugar until it sticks.

Now shake shake shake the cocktail shaker, counting to "20 Mississippi." Strain into your glass. Try not to chug it down. Yeah, this is chick drink; that's okay once in a while.


Note: Coconut sugar is available at natural food stores, and by mail order through a number of stores, including Amazon.

Whole Hog: Marlena's Soup of Thai Broth, Fat Beans & Chorizo

You know those classical paintings where you see the painter from the rear, painting himself using a mirror, and the mirror continues to reflect the scene, on into infinity? This recipe is a little bit like that! Marlena Spieler, a food writer and recipe creator, recreated this recipe from the taste memory of a soup she ate in Paris. Then she wrote about the meal and the recipe creation in the San Francisco Chronicle. And now, here I am, reprinting the recipe in my blog.......on into infinity.

This recipe is really, really, really good. Now that we're all on a coconut milk/Thai curry paste/lemongrass/ginger roll, let's keep going!

I, of course, used my homemade chorizo from my sausage party with Ondine (http://foodierthanthou.blogspot.com/2010/02/whole-hog-sausage-making-party-with.html) but for those who don't do pork, I hear from friends that soyrizo is actually very good.


Marlena's Soup of Thai Broth, Fat Beans & Chorizo


Serves 4-6 as a starter (CS note: serves 4 as a main course)

This soup was created in flattering imitation of what was served at Ze Kitchen Galerie in Paris.

* 4 to 6 ounces fresh Mexican pork chorizo or Soyrizo
* 4 cloves garlic, chopped
* 2 lemongrass stalks, tops cut off and tough outer layers peeled away; tender inner stalk thinly sliced crosswise (CS note: if you keep peeling, you will find that the center of the stalk really is tender - I hadn't realized it.)
* 1 15-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk (see Note)
* 1 small or 1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
* 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
* 1/8 teaspoon yellow curry powder, to taste
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, to taste
* -- Pinch turmeric
* -- Pinch cinnamon
* 2 to 3 tablespoons red curry paste, Thai House brand preferred (see Note)
* 1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
* -- Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
* 1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked beans like Gigandes or pinto, or a 15-ounce can of beans, drained and rinsed
* 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves or regular basil, roughly torn or thinly sliced
* -- Lime wedges, for serving

Instructions: Brown the chorizo or Soyrizo with half the garlic and half the lemongrass in a frying pan, breaking it up into small pieces. Set aside.

For the broth: Pour about 2 tablespoons of the thick coconut cream (which rises to the top of the can of coconut milk) into a medium pan over medium heat. Add the onion and the remaining lemongrass and garlic; cook until the onions and lemongrass are tender.

Stir in the ginger, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and half the red curry paste. Cook a few moments, then add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for about 15 minutes, or until flavors meld.

Add remaining coconut milk and half of the lime zest or more to taste. Cook a few minutes longer, then remove from heat. The broth can be made ahead to this point.

To serve: Heat broth to just bubbling around the edge. Add remaining red curry paste and stir through. Squeeze a teaspoon or so of lime juice into each bowl. Add several spoonfuls of beans; ladle the hot broth over, then top with a spoonful of chorizo. Sprinkle Thai basil around the chorizo and if desired, serve with a wedge of lime on the side. (CS note: Seasonal Girl just can't bring herself to buy Mexican basil in May. I made the soup without the basil - still quite delicious. I look forward to eating it with basil in a month or so.)

Note: If Thai House Red Curry Paste is not available, choose another brand but taste for heat and adjust downward if needed. (CS note: I used Thai House brand curry paste - it's wonderful. However, 2-3 Tablespoons is a LOT. I used about 1 tablespoon.) Low-fat coconut milk is OK, but the regular, full-fat version tastes richer. To use the coconut cream - the thick part of the coconut milk which gathers at the top - do not shake the can before opening.

Per serving: 306 calories, 12 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate, 22 g fat (16 g saturated), 14 mg cholesterol, 633 mg sodium, 5 g fiber.

Wine pairing: Asian flavors are not overpowered by heat from the red curry paste, so several wines will work. Look for something chilled and refreshing like a Prosecco or a rosé such as the 2008 Saintsbury Carneros Vin Gris of Pinot Noir ($15), or the just-released 2009 vintage.

Marlena Spieler is a freelance food writer and cookbook author who divides her time between Northern California and Europe. E-mail her at food@sfchronicle.com or go to her Web site, marlenaspieler.com. Follow her on Twitter @marlenaspieler.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/04/FDV31C67EA.DTL#ixzz0oDOlDGuQ