From Scratch

This is one fool I’ll suffer gladly and it doesn’t have to be a raspberry fool. Strawberry fool, blackberry fool, blueberry fool are all welcome. Even red currant fool, which is why I learned to make this in the first place.

This dessert is a cousin to the trifle and goes back hundreds of years. In its simplest form, it’s just mashed or pureed berries and whipped cream, sweetened if you wish. I’ve added two ingredients and both are optional. I make a more complex version with cranberries, but fools say summer to me.

A fictional summer made me crave red currant fool; it features in EF Benson’s Mapp and Lucia, one of my favorite books and one in the Lucia series that’s set almost entirely during a blissful between-the-Wars English summer. One day — this was years ago in Manhattan — I spotted red currants at the market. As luck would have it, I’d been invited to an English-born friend’s house the following day so I bought the currants.

When I asked him how to make a fool he said, “Add whipping cream and beat like hell.” That’s not too far from the truth, although his wife was kind enough to explain how she makes it. That’s how I make it too.

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Tags: desserts, easy, quick, raspberries

Don’t worry, no visible spoiler here, but did Bravo accidentally reveal the winner of Top Chef 4 Chicago? I can’t believe it would happen, really I can not. It’s probably benign. But judge for yourself.

On its home page for Top Chef blogs, there is one called Here Comes the Chef and instead of the author’s photo there is just a silhouette. The introductary excerpt of the blog, which is really a Q&A with the chef in question, says– in the words of the chef:

…when they realized two Top Chefs from different seasons were in the same space …

But! On the last page of the blog entry, we find this:

…when they realized two Top Chef[testant]s from different seasons were in the same space …

It becomes obvious long before that who the answerer is and I will hide it below with extra words so the name can’t be guessed. I will say the other chef in the pair above is Season 1 winner Harold Dieterle.

By the way, “cheftestant” is the wonderful term coined by the equally-wonderful Keckler, the former Top Chef recapper at Television Without Pity, now owned by Bravo.

A simple mouse over will reveal what’s hidden. The person interviewed in Here Comes The Chef is Richard Blais, the guy with the faux-hawk.

Tags: reality tv

This quick and easy recipe of angel hair pasta and shrimp delivers heavenly flavors but can be made in roughly the time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta. Dinner’s on the table in 15 to 20 minutes.

There aren’t many steps here, but when the garlic and oregano were in the pan with olive oil, the aromas transported me to the south of France or northern Italy and I was tempted to add a bit of butter, but didn’t. However, I can see myself doing that in warmer weather, skipping the cream and tomatoes and ending up with an even simpler meal along the lines of aglio e olio (see 101 Quick Meals - Plus 1) with shrimp.

But it’s wonderful this way. The recipe comes from the April Gourmet and tastes as if it required much more work. By the way, I left the tails on a few shrimp just for the photo.

Angel Hair Shrimp Pasta in Cream Sauce

Adapted from Gourmet

3 TB olive oil
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced, about 1 TB
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt and fresh-ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup/4 ounces sweet (red) vermouth
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained*
3/4 cup/6 ounces heavy cream
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 pound angel hair pasta

*I used petite diced tomatoes because angel hair is so thin. 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Angel hair cooks in 3 to 4 minutes, so gauge timing of steps accordingly.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add shrimp, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and saute about 2 minutes, until well-colored, turning the shrimp once.

Add vermouth and tomatoes. Stir well. Add cream and bring to a brisk simmer. Let simmer about 1 minute, until slightly thickened. Stir in lemon juice. Adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Drain pasta and serve.

Serves 4

Copyright (C) 2008 From Scratch All Rights Reserved           Print This Post

Tags: quick, shrimp, tomatoes

Editorial cartoonists around the globe weighed in this week on Hillary Clinton’s refusal to quit the Democratic presidential race, despite impossible delegate math and the party’s coalescing around Barack Obama in the name of unity. I didn’t see a single one that took her side.

From Canada, Tab of The Calgary Sun went beyond criticism to sketch out the possible consequence.

Tags: John McCain

My mother’s been on my mind a lot this week, with Mother’s Day just ahead. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of making cookies with her, especially when she’d dig out the cookie press to make these spritz cookies. Like millions of American families, we always had spritz cookies at Christmas, but my family had them many times during the year. When a small, buttery cookie that’s not loaded with sugar is all I need, these fill the bill. 

While these can be piped from a pastry bag, my mother had a Mirro cookie press, an aluminum cylinder from the Fifties and Sixties with a handle on the side to make holding it easier when twisting the knob to extrude a cookie. At Christmas she would tint the dough green, sometimes swirled, then make fat little trees and decorate them with sprinkles or colored sugar. The rest of the year we had other shapes plain.

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Last night, after Barack Obama’s victory speech in North Carolina, David Gergen said it was the beginning of the end of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Gergen is a rarity: he put aside partisan politics after serving in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan White Houses when he agreed to serve the country as an adviser in Bill Clinton’s administration. His soft-spoken opinions always catch my ear.

But last night, having watched the same energized, convention-style speech as Gergen, it seemed to me that we also witnessed the end of the beginning of the Obama campaign, shifting into a new phase that banishes forever all thoughts of Hillary’s once-vaunted inevitability.

Some signs were there before the polls closed. John McCain, nobody’s fool, attacked Obama yesterday, not Clinton, evidence of his perception of his eventual opponent. Hillary’s campaign, in a dizzying display of spin, audacious even for her, tried to change the rules in midstream, telling reporters yesterday the number of delegates needed to win the nomination, is no longer 2,025 but 2,209 — the number it would have been had Florida and Michigan not defied party rules.

He now has 1.876 to her 1.729, after his easy North Carolina win and near-victory in Indiana.

With few primaries left, there are further signs of a circling of the establishment wagons:

• The powerful Service Employees International Union, which endorsed Obama, issued a press release last night calling him the “presumptive nominee.”
• Shortly after midnight, no less an insider than NBC’s Tim Russert, reported that Hillary had cancelled her appearances today on the network morning shows.
• A few minutes later, he said flatly, “We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be.”

. 

Her campaign is said to be so close to broke that she has again loaned it money. Last night, in what the The New York Times calls “an unusual move“, her advisers refused to confirm or deny that. Equally unusual was her very public plea for donations during her Indiana victory speech.

The paper further says Obama’s campaign is poised to announce the support of more superdelegates,  perhaps as early as today, and that some could be among those who have backed Clinton.

Hillary vowed last night to continue fighting for a nomination that is mathematically impossible and would require the Democratic party to negate the popular vote in order to hand her the prize she so desperately wants. She seems not to care that her ambitions are damaging her party and the chance to win back the White House.

It’s all about her. And Bill. Always has been, always will be. There is no beginning of an end of that in sight.

Afternoon update: Wagon-circling continues, with former Sen. George McGovern, now 85, publicly urging Clinton to quit the race. He said Obama has won the nomination “by any practical test” and that it’s time to unite the party.

Copyright (C) 2008  From Scratch  All Rights Reserved

Tags: John McCain

It’s not enough that millions of American freezers are stocked with tubs of that chemical cocktail called Cool Whip. Now, Kraft is about to introduce a less taxing variety at next week’s Food Marketing Institute show in Las Vegas.

As Emily Bryson York wrote in Ad Age, Kraft is only responding to its consumers:

Consumers didn’t want to have to take that trying trip to the freezer every time they wanted a dollop, so they’d either skip the topping or went with a canned brand. Kraft’s solution: a Cool Whip aerosol, so consumers can reach into the fridge and easily squeeze out a topper for their cookie, brownie or piece of fruit.

Better still, the aerosol version will be in the dairy case so nobody has to make an arduous trek to the freezer aisle.

Whew! Thanks, Kraft!

This latest lazy bones product follows the Oscar Meyer hot dogs sold already in the bun; Oscar Meyer is a brand of….you guessed it, Kraft.

A tip of the hat to Gawker for noticing this abomination first.

Tags: consumerism

Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow but there’s plenty of time to make this classic. It only takes about five minutes, even less if you start with a can of tomatoes which, sometimes, is unavoidable.

Some people use the terms pico de gallo and salsa interchangeably but they are different. Salsa, the most popular condiment in America, is Spanish for sauce and that describes its consistency unless it’s a chunky variety. Then we’re moving into pico de gallo territory.

This is also condiment but it’s a relish, not a sauce. It, too, is perfect for dipping or for topping grilled chicken or fish or using in tacos — whatever you like. Made from scratch, its heat, acidity and chunkiness is up to you and of, course, there are no chemicals or preservatives. It’s better than store bought any day.

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Tags: tomatoes

It’s been a horrid week for Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose Labour party was routed and repudiated at the polls in London’s mayoral race. Eight-year incumbent Ken Livingstone is out, Conservative Boris Johnson is in and is already calling for Labour to remove Brown.

Brown, for his part, called it a “bad day.” Bad day? It was Labour’s worst showing in local elections in four decades. When all was said and done, Labour lost more than 300 council seats around the country. Brown’s busy giving interviews today while British papers thrash out his future. Bad day indeed.

Rainer Hachfeld of Neues Deutschland summed up Brown’s plight without a word of dialogue.

And who isn’t a fan of The Run for the Roses? Don’t miss That Horse Race Pie – a recipe and the story behind it — from my archives. The race can’t be used in the name because of trademark restrictions.

This moist bone-in pork roast, with a reduction made from apple juice, is a perfect recipe when you want a main course that’s OMG delicious but requires little work. When carved at the table, it’s impressive too.

It’s the dish I referred to in Opportunities to Stretch a Food Budget and it’s one of my favorites. The pork gets flavor and moisture from a long brine then pan juices and fond lend even more flavor to the reduction sauce. I saw Tyler Florence make it years ago as part of a larger meal and couldn’t wait to try it; I’ve only made a few of his recipes but they’ve all worked and are always worth making again.

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Tags: apples, entertaining, pork

Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech.

Perhaps only George Bush would say “awesome speech” to a pope, but he did, when Benedict visited the White House in mid-April.

See for yourself:

I’ve been writing a couple pieces about supermarkets and the tricks of the their trade, which I’ve written about often over the years. But this is different, a concept Jacques Pépin calls cuisine d’oppportunité. He employs it and so do I, enjoying significant savings and little waste.

Only two things are required: the willingness to try something new with food, perhaps experiment, and — more important for me — memorizing key ingredients and steps of several recipes. Armed with the latter, I rarely run across a good mark down but stand there wondering what to do with the food, whether it’s produce on the quick sale rack or meat. Even rarer is wasting gas for trips back to a store for an ingredient I don’t always use.

Let me share with you a real example of cuisine d’oppportunité in action, one leading to an extraordinary meal for several people at a not-extraordinary price.

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Tags: consumerism

I wish I could say the glass inside my oven door is always spotless, that I clean up splatters on the scorchingly-hot window immediately so nothing ever becomes baked on, but I can’t. Nor can I say my kitchen is chemical-free.

Nothing short of running the self-cleaning cycle — an energy hog and an option I didn’t always have — ever made the sometimes-frustrating job of cleaning neglected inside glass effortless until I learned an inexpensive, easy solution: cream of tartar and white vinegar. It works on glass baking dishes too, when baked-on food is a problem.

Simply mix a couple tablespoons of cream of tartar with a small amount of white vinegar. There are no exact amounts; you want to end up with a thin paste. I usually start with about half a capful of vinegar and adjust accordingly. After doing it once you’ll discover the right consistency.

Apply it to the glass with a paper towel, a sponge or your fingers, close the door and wait two to three hours. Remove it — and the gunk — with a damp sponge and dry with a towel. If some stubborn spots remain, just do it again.

This costs mere pennies per application and cream of tartar is one of the few things in the baking aisle with an indefinite shelf life. It will still be good five years from now.

I got this tip years ago from Graham Haley on PBS. His book, Haley’s Cleaning Hints, is still available but I don’t own it. I tried a few other tips from his show and some were effective, others not so much. But this one’s a gem, turning a chore I used to dread into no work at all.

These wonderful, jazzed-up turkey burgers are on my grill every summer and in my grill pan every winter. Often, turkey or chicken burgers end up bland and dry, even when not overcooked, but these don’t. Sometimes ground poultry doesn’t hold together the way ground beef does, but these do without the overhandling that leads to hockey pucks.

Some of their moisture comes from within, from a fabulously spicy sauce. A small amount of quick-cooking oats — my favorite binder for meatloaves — holds them together without any need to overhandle the mixture. They’re fast, easy and healthful but most of all, they are bursting with flavor. Sometimes I eat them on their own, not as a sandwich, and crumbled leftovers are always welcome in salads, nachos and tacos.

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Tags: turkey