True Confession: I used to buy pre-made pie crust. 'Struth! And I'm not talking about artisanal, butter pie crust from Berkeley Bowl, my friends. Oooh no. I'm talking about Pet-Ritz, Mrs. Smith, and brands you've never heard of from the freezer case at Grocery Outlet, or "Gross Out" as my dear friend Nina calls it. You know, trans-fat-city, tin foil pans. You feel me?
Yes, I was not always "Foodier Than Thou." Becoming a "foodie" (and I can just hear that special note in my mother's voice when she uses that word to describe someone - something that lets you know that their character, morals and judgment are in doubt.) Where was I? Oh, yes. Becoming a "foodie" developed gradually in me. I think my mother's Yankee-by-way-of-Germany concept is that "foodies" are obsessed with expensive, wasteful ingredients, to the detriment of their immortal souls. Which is a pretty interesting take from a woman who, with her husband, raised chickens, milk goats, honey bees and organic vegetables and made her own yoghurt and cheese from the proceeds for decades. Because for me, what she and my Dad did are at the heart of being a "foodie." Choosing organic produce, sustainably raised meats and eggs, buying food directly from the farmer; to me these are moral choices. And, of course, they taste waaaay better than that other stuff, and they're waaaay better for you than that other stuff.
Ah, but what you all really want to talk about is pie crust, yes? So, I had the mistaken impression that 1) pie crust was too much work, 2) the other stuff was perfectly fine, and 3) my pie crust efforts would be lousy. This, despite the memories of the best pie crust ever - my sister Cynta's home-made delectable strawberry rhubarb pie in the tastiest crust in the world. So, I'm willing to admit I was wrong. Isn't that big of me? That's right: wrong, wrong, wrong. It's not hard, or time-consuming, and that divine taste and flaky texture just can't be had any other way.
Now, what I gather from all of the pie crust lore I've been collecting, is that pie crust makers are hard-core in their loyalty to certain fats. There's the butter camp; butter makes a flaky crust, where the layers separate out like mica shards. And of course, butter has that, for lack of a better descriptor, "buttery" taste. Then there are the shortening folks. Shortening also makes flakes; shortening proponents say they are better flakes than butter. Ahem. In a word, trans-fats. "Trans-fats" are created when liquid vegetable oil is forced to bond with extra hydrogen atoms, which transforms them into solid shortening. When they enter your body, the hydrogen atoms seek out the good fat and make it go bad. Yes, there are organic shortening alternatives (Spectrum makes one from Palm Oil, which is naturally solid at room temperature) but my experiments with it have yielded somewhat tough results. Shortening is therefore easily knocked off the list, in my opinion. And of course, there is the lard camp; lard makes a tender, yielding crust, with a savory back-note. This can be a lovely contrast with say, apple pie, or as a complement to a quiche. Which to choose, which to choose; butter or lard? Ah, but then there is the happy compromise - half lard, half butter! Flakes + tender + both flavors = yum.
There are a few technical considerations when blending two fats; butter is much harder than lard; lard is very soft; it becomes almost liquid at room temperature. Both ingredients should be cold when you use them to keep gluten from forming. Gluten is the protein in wheat which bonds into chains when they are exposed to warmth + smooshing; these bonds are desirable in bread and pizza, but makes for a tough pie crust. To deal with this, here are two simple methods; either cut in the butter first, followed by the lard, (my idea) OR, follow the advice in James McNair's Pie Cookbook; soften both fats, blend them together, and then chill them before you use them.
This is adapted from James McNair's recipe; there are many, many fine recipes out there. I don't have a favorite so far; the important thing is to use the best ingredients and follow the basic guidelines.
Basic Pie Crust
Makes 1 double or 2 single crusts. (If you're making a single crust pie, you can make both, and freeze one for later!)
I. Standard Version
3 cups all-purpose, organic unbleached flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp organic granulated sugar
1/2 cup cold, organic, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup cold lard
1/2 cup or more ice water
OR
1/4 cup or more ice water
1/4 cup iced vodka
Follow universal steps below for all recipes.
II. Whole Grain, Low Carbohydrate Variations
1 1/2 cups Spelt Flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
OR: 3 cups Spelt Flour, OR:3 cups whole wheat pastry flour, OR any combination of the two!
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar or xylitol
1/2 cup cold, organic, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup cold lard
1/2 cup ice water
OR
1/4 cup or more ice water
1/4 cup iced vodka
(If you are using a food processor, the fats should be in small pieces and frozen. However, made it both ways, I have to say doing it by hand produces a MUCH more pleasing texture.)
1. Measure the flour using the "spoon and sweep" method; use a spoon to fill the cup, then scrape off the excess with a knife. This ensures the right proportion of flour is measured. This technique comes from "The Bakers' Dozen Cookbook;" I use this method for all baking, but it's especially important for pie crust making.
2. In a medium sized bowl with a nice, smooth, flattish bottom, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Mix well with a fork or whisk.
3. Prepare your ice water by putting water and several ice cubes in a cup or bowl.
4. Add the small hunks of cold butter individually to the bowl of flour, and use your fork to toss them into the flour. Using a pastry cutter (some people use 2 knives or their hands; I like my pastry cutter just fine) cut the butter into the flour, occasionally scraping the gathered hunks of butter and dough off the blades of the cutter with the fork, and occasionally tossing the ingredients to keep them evenly distributed. Do this until the bits of butter are about pea-sized; don't overwork the dough, or it will form gluten bonds and get tough!
5. Now add the cold lard, adding spoonfuls and tossing them into the flour mixture with your fork or spoon. Cut the lard into the dough; it is much softer, and therefore easier and quicker to cut in than the cold butter! Follow the same instructions as for the butter, but now you want the final pieces to be more like coarse breadcrumbs.
6. One tablespoonful at a time, sprinkle in the ice water. After each addition, stir and toss the flour mixture with your fork, until it makes a shaggy dough that is beginning to stick heavily to the fork. If you are using the vodka, add the ice water first, then the vodka to finish. You may use a little less than the whole amount of liquid, or a little more. Squeeze a little hunk together to see if it just barely holds. If not, add a little more liquid. If it's coming together nicely, lay two large pieces of waxed or parchment paper on your work surface, gather up the dough into a nice smooth ball with your hands, divide it into two even balls, and place on the paper. If it sticks to your hands a lot, you have added a little too much water. No biggie; just sprinkle a little extra flour on the paper and over the dough balls, and make a nice smooth ball. Using the paper, smoosh the balls into flat, smooth disks. Try not to handle the dough too much, either with your tools or your hands.
7. Wrap up the disks in the paper, then put them into a plastic bag and put them into the refrigerator. Let it "relax" in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. This loosens up the gluten bonds that have formed, and firms up the fats before you roll them. If you chill it for longer, you may need to let it warm up for a little while before you roll it; otherwise it will crack when you try to roll it - very frustrating!
NOTES FROM CHRISTINE: Flour Choices - Whole grains are full of wonderful nutrients and fiber, and are more evenly metabolized by those with metabolic/blood sugar issues. Any of these combinations are delicious; here are the considerations when choosing your flour. Why choose Spelt? Spelt is fine grained and light, with a lovely, tender texture. Some people with gluten issues can tolerate it better than regular wheat. Why Whole Wheat Pastry Flour? Whole wheat pastry flour is lighter than all purpose whole wheat flour, lower in gluten (the protein that makes bread get chewy) and makes a flakier crust. It's also easier to find than spelt. The blend gives you the best of all possible worlds. Water: the spelt flour absorbs less water than the whole wheat flour; be more sparing when you add the ice water. Vodka gives you the moisture you need to hold the dough together, but it evaporates more readily than water, giving the pie crust a much more tender and delicious texture - well worth it - I really recommend this technique!
Spelt is available in natural food stores and in well-stocked grocery stores.
Next up: Pie!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Lard. Yes, that's right, LARD.
If you read my earlier post called "The Whole Hog, Around the Pig in 80 Ways" you know how much healthier pig fat (from a sustainably, humanely raised pig, of course) is for you than most of us have been led to believe. Lard is a wonderful ingredient which has been much maligned. If the animal has been raised on a healthy diet, and the fat has not been hydrogenated, it actually has a much healthier profile than you might expect.
Somehow, we all got sold a bill of goods a few decades back; that lard was unhealthy and "it was so much healthier for us to use vegetable shortening." Vegetable shortening, where liquid vegetable oil has hydrogen added to it to make it solid at room temperature, is what we now call TRANS FAT - a truly evil substance, which seeks out good fat in the body, bonds it with its rogue hydrogen atoms, and turns good fat bad. I am sorry to report that the blocks of pure white lard (aka manteca) you find on the shelves of grocery stores have also been hydrogenated to make them shelf-stable. This is NOT the lard I'm talking about today.
Sausage king Bruce Aidells wrote eloquently on the subject in his Complete Book of Pork; "The saturated fat in lard contains about one third of stearic acid,, which may have a beneficial effect on cholesterol, and it helps to relax blood vessels. Lard, which is 40% unsaturated, belongs in the high oleic group, which has a similar lipid profile to olive oil..."
Now, as you know, I bought not one, but TWO whole pigs this year. (From Mary Pettis Sarley of Napa; wingedspan@earthlink.net) After they cut, smoked, ground, cured and wrapped the meat for us at Bud's in Penngrove, I was left with many packages of frozen fat. I have given a few of them away, but I still have many more left. For some unknown reason, I have never been given any of the "leaf fat" the pure white substance that cushions the kidneys and has little or no connective tissue binding it together. What I have are squares of fat from under the skin, bound together with a web of connective tissue. To get the fat into a more useful state, you must "render" it. Rendering consists of cutting the fat into smaller pieces, then cooking it a low temperature in the oven until the fat and connective tissue separate, and the water evaporates. It takes very little effort, and when you are done, you have a wonderful fat to use in pie crusts, biscuits, frying, and the like - anywhere you would use shortening. You also get "cracklings;" little, crispy bacon-bit kind of things that perk up your corn bread in a very tasty way, or are yummy garnishing a salad.
Let's get right to it, shall we? We'll render some lard, and then later on, I'll give you some good pie crust recipes.
Rendering Lard
6 pounds pork back fat, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Makes about 3 quarts
1. Preheat oven to 300 F
2. Put the cubed fat in a large pot or Dutch oven, making sure it's no more than 1/2 full. Slip it into the oven and bake until the fat begins to melt. Stir the mixture and continue to stir every 45 minutes until the cracklings brown and float to the top. It may take up to 4 hours to render the lard. Strain the lard through clean cheese cloth into a clean container, squeezing the liquid out of the solids, and ladle it into canning jars. When the jars have cooled, cover them and refrigerate. Lard will keep in the refrigerator for 6 months. If you wish to keep it longer (I do) cool it well, then put it into a container which can be frozen. It will keep for a long time in the freezer.
3. You can season the cracklings with salt with cayenne, five spice powder, paprika, black pepper, or the spice mix of your choice. I did not the first time, but I sure will next time!
Somehow, we all got sold a bill of goods a few decades back; that lard was unhealthy and "it was so much healthier for us to use vegetable shortening." Vegetable shortening, where liquid vegetable oil has hydrogen added to it to make it solid at room temperature, is what we now call TRANS FAT - a truly evil substance, which seeks out good fat in the body, bonds it with its rogue hydrogen atoms, and turns good fat bad. I am sorry to report that the blocks of pure white lard (aka manteca) you find on the shelves of grocery stores have also been hydrogenated to make them shelf-stable. This is NOT the lard I'm talking about today.
Sausage king Bruce Aidells wrote eloquently on the subject in his Complete Book of Pork; "The saturated fat in lard contains about one third of stearic acid,, which may have a beneficial effect on cholesterol, and it helps to relax blood vessels. Lard, which is 40% unsaturated, belongs in the high oleic group, which has a similar lipid profile to olive oil..."
Now, as you know, I bought not one, but TWO whole pigs this year. (From Mary Pettis Sarley of Napa; wingedspan@earthlink.net) After they cut, smoked, ground, cured and wrapped the meat for us at Bud's in Penngrove, I was left with many packages of frozen fat. I have given a few of them away, but I still have many more left. For some unknown reason, I have never been given any of the "leaf fat" the pure white substance that cushions the kidneys and has little or no connective tissue binding it together. What I have are squares of fat from under the skin, bound together with a web of connective tissue. To get the fat into a more useful state, you must "render" it. Rendering consists of cutting the fat into smaller pieces, then cooking it a low temperature in the oven until the fat and connective tissue separate, and the water evaporates. It takes very little effort, and when you are done, you have a wonderful fat to use in pie crusts, biscuits, frying, and the like - anywhere you would use shortening. You also get "cracklings;" little, crispy bacon-bit kind of things that perk up your corn bread in a very tasty way, or are yummy garnishing a salad.
Let's get right to it, shall we? We'll render some lard, and then later on, I'll give you some good pie crust recipes.
Rendering Lard
6 pounds pork back fat, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Makes about 3 quarts
1. Preheat oven to 300 F
2. Put the cubed fat in a large pot or Dutch oven, making sure it's no more than 1/2 full. Slip it into the oven and bake until the fat begins to melt. Stir the mixture and continue to stir every 45 minutes until the cracklings brown and float to the top. It may take up to 4 hours to render the lard. Strain the lard through clean cheese cloth into a clean container, squeezing the liquid out of the solids, and ladle it into canning jars. When the jars have cooled, cover them and refrigerate. Lard will keep in the refrigerator for 6 months. If you wish to keep it longer (I do) cool it well, then put it into a container which can be frozen. It will keep for a long time in the freezer.
3. You can season the cracklings with salt with cayenne, five spice powder, paprika, black pepper, or the spice mix of your choice. I did not the first time, but I sure will next time!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Spaghetti Carbonara
I have made, and eaten, so many different versions of this dish over the years; with bacon, with pancetta, (cured, unsmoked bacon) with guanciale (cured, unsmoked hog jowl) with cream, sans cream, with and without onion, with or without wine..... They have all been delicious, and I have enjoyed them all. However, this particular recipe, which I cut out of Gourmet magazine a few years ago, (and which is published in the Gourmet Cookbook, which I so often tout) outshines all the versions I've tried. All of the flavors are beautifully balanced; rich - but not too rich. Creamy eggs, salty bacon, the use of both Parmigiano and Pecorino Romano cheese, with plenty of fresh ground black pepper to liven the tastebuds... An added bonus is that this version re-heats pretty well, whereas those with heavy cream seem to always separate in a most unattractive fashion. (It is still best when fresh, however.)
On the eggs: - use the BEST quality eggs you can find; truly free-range chickens have access to fresh vegetables and bugs, and their eggs have a bright orange-colored yolk, an unbeatable flavor, and a richness not found in the others. This dish has very simple, straight-forward flavors, and the eggs really shine. Of course, there are all kinds of reasons to get organic, free-range eggs from a farmer you can trust. Flavor and appearance, of course. Then there's YOUR health - "factory farm" raised chickens are crammed in so tight in incredibly small crates that they can't turn around, and salmonella is easily spread. Then, of course, there's the chickens' health - see above. It's just plain wrong to keep animals in these horrible conditions just so we can save a buck a dozen. You can buy great eggs at the farmer's market, or you can befriend a neighbor who is raising them; it's all the rage in Berkeley. Maybe you can trade them some bacon or home-made sausage from your sustainable stash!
On the bacon: the recipe calls for guanciale, which can be purchased from specialty places like Fatted Calf. However, any good quality bacon or pancetta will do. Of course, you know that any pork product needs to be from a sustainably raised pig, right?
On the pepper: it's really worth your while to grind it fresh.
On the pan: Have I mentioned how much I looooove my iron skillets? They hold the heat beautifully, add great color to foods, and when well-seasoned, can cook anything - even eggs - without sticking. The key is to heat the pan up well, with a small amount of fat, BEFORE adding the eggs. I have tossed out all my non-sticks; yuck. For this dish, I use the Big Boy - 12" of black beauty! Amazingly, you can get a really nice quality, pre-seasoned "Emeril Legassi" pan at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $20. Of course, another large, flat-bottomed skillet will do.
On the timing: The timing on this is important; you want the pasta to finish cooking just as the other ingredients are ready. If one pan is getting ahead of the other, turn it down and let the other one catch up. I have laid out the steps carefully here with this timing in mind.
Spaghetti Alla Carbonara
From Gourmet Magazine
Serves 4 as a main course
Active time: 40 minutes. Start to finish 40 minutes
1 pound spaghetti or linguine (I prefer linguine)
5 oz guanciale or pancetta (or bacon) cut into 1/4" dice
1 finely chopped medium onion
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 large eggs - best quality
1 1/2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano Cheese (3/4 cup)
3/4 oz finely grated Pecorino Romano
1 tsp coarsely ground fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1. Set your salted pasta water on the stove to boil over high heat; if it comes to a boil too soon, keep it covered and turn the heat down to medium - you can always bring it back up to the boil quickly. (Some people think the salt is optional - they are MISTAKEN IN THEIR MINDS.)
2. While the water boils, chop the bacon and put it in the frying pan on medium heat.
3. While the bacon cooks, chop the onion. As soon as the bacon fat begins to render, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 10 minutes.
4. While the bacon and onion cook, grate the cheeses and grind the pepper. (Weighing the cheese is a more accurate way to measure it, especially since using the micro-plane - which I adore - grates so finely that the volume is thrown off.) Combine the eggs, cheeses, pepper, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a small bowl.
5. By now, the pasta water should be boiling. If it's not, turn the heat down (or even off) on the bacon/onion pan until the water comes to the boil. If you've turned the pasta water down, now is the time to crank the heat and bring it back to a rolling boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water, stir well.
6. If you have turned down the heat on the bacon/onion mixture, you can return it to medium-low. Add the wine to the bacon and boil it until it is reduced by half. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the pasta, stirring it occasionally. Again, if the wine reaches its desired state before the pasta is ready to drain, reduce the heat.
7. When the pasta is al dente, drain it well in a colander, and add it to the bacon/onion mixture. Using tongs, toss the pasta with the mixture over moderate heat until well coated.
8. Turn off the heat source (remove from heat if using an electric stove) and add the egg/cheese mixture. Use a spatula to get all the good stuff out of the bowl! Using the tongs, toss the pasta with the egg mixture until it is well coated and distributed. The eggs will cook a little and the cheese will melt a little and, in short, it will be delicious.
Wine Match: This is one place where a buttery/oaky malolactic fermented Chardonnay does the trick; it cuts through the richness of the dish, cleansing the tongue to enjoy the next creamy bite.
On the eggs: - use the BEST quality eggs you can find; truly free-range chickens have access to fresh vegetables and bugs, and their eggs have a bright orange-colored yolk, an unbeatable flavor, and a richness not found in the others. This dish has very simple, straight-forward flavors, and the eggs really shine. Of course, there are all kinds of reasons to get organic, free-range eggs from a farmer you can trust. Flavor and appearance, of course. Then there's YOUR health - "factory farm" raised chickens are crammed in so tight in incredibly small crates that they can't turn around, and salmonella is easily spread. Then, of course, there's the chickens' health - see above. It's just plain wrong to keep animals in these horrible conditions just so we can save a buck a dozen. You can buy great eggs at the farmer's market, or you can befriend a neighbor who is raising them; it's all the rage in Berkeley. Maybe you can trade them some bacon or home-made sausage from your sustainable stash!
On the bacon: the recipe calls for guanciale, which can be purchased from specialty places like Fatted Calf. However, any good quality bacon or pancetta will do. Of course, you know that any pork product needs to be from a sustainably raised pig, right?
On the pepper: it's really worth your while to grind it fresh.
On the pan: Have I mentioned how much I looooove my iron skillets? They hold the heat beautifully, add great color to foods, and when well-seasoned, can cook anything - even eggs - without sticking. The key is to heat the pan up well, with a small amount of fat, BEFORE adding the eggs. I have tossed out all my non-sticks; yuck. For this dish, I use the Big Boy - 12" of black beauty! Amazingly, you can get a really nice quality, pre-seasoned "Emeril Legassi" pan at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $20. Of course, another large, flat-bottomed skillet will do.
On the timing: The timing on this is important; you want the pasta to finish cooking just as the other ingredients are ready. If one pan is getting ahead of the other, turn it down and let the other one catch up. I have laid out the steps carefully here with this timing in mind.
Spaghetti Alla Carbonara
From Gourmet Magazine
Serves 4 as a main course
Active time: 40 minutes. Start to finish 40 minutes
1 pound spaghetti or linguine (I prefer linguine)
5 oz guanciale or pancetta (or bacon) cut into 1/4" dice
1 finely chopped medium onion
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 large eggs - best quality
1 1/2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano Cheese (3/4 cup)
3/4 oz finely grated Pecorino Romano
1 tsp coarsely ground fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1. Set your salted pasta water on the stove to boil over high heat; if it comes to a boil too soon, keep it covered and turn the heat down to medium - you can always bring it back up to the boil quickly. (Some people think the salt is optional - they are MISTAKEN IN THEIR MINDS.)
2. While the water boils, chop the bacon and put it in the frying pan on medium heat.
3. While the bacon cooks, chop the onion. As soon as the bacon fat begins to render, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 10 minutes.
4. While the bacon and onion cook, grate the cheeses and grind the pepper. (Weighing the cheese is a more accurate way to measure it, especially since using the micro-plane - which I adore - grates so finely that the volume is thrown off.) Combine the eggs, cheeses, pepper, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a small bowl.
5. By now, the pasta water should be boiling. If it's not, turn the heat down (or even off) on the bacon/onion pan until the water comes to the boil. If you've turned the pasta water down, now is the time to crank the heat and bring it back to a rolling boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water, stir well.
6. If you have turned down the heat on the bacon/onion mixture, you can return it to medium-low. Add the wine to the bacon and boil it until it is reduced by half. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the pasta, stirring it occasionally. Again, if the wine reaches its desired state before the pasta is ready to drain, reduce the heat.
7. When the pasta is al dente, drain it well in a colander, and add it to the bacon/onion mixture. Using tongs, toss the pasta with the mixture over moderate heat until well coated.
8. Turn off the heat source (remove from heat if using an electric stove) and add the egg/cheese mixture. Use a spatula to get all the good stuff out of the bowl! Using the tongs, toss the pasta with the egg mixture until it is well coated and distributed. The eggs will cook a little and the cheese will melt a little and, in short, it will be delicious.
Wine Match: This is one place where a buttery/oaky malolactic fermented Chardonnay does the trick; it cuts through the richness of the dish, cleansing the tongue to enjoy the next creamy bite.
Monday, September 6, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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.
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