Holiday Blizzard

Washington and points north are experiencing the full fury of a Nor' easter today, less than a week before Christmas. We have probably fifteen inches of snow now, and it is still coming down pretty hard. Fortunately I managed to get to the grocery store last night after work. Though it was mobbed, I did lay in enough supplies to make it through the weekend without any problem. I always suspect that we could last a couple of weeks if it were necessary, but I hope that I never need to put that suspicion to the test.

Last night's dinner included some of my favorite things that I haven't cooked in a long while. We started with a cauliflower and Stilton cheese soup, which is delicious and very easy. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 small onion or 1/2 large onion, diced

1 rib celery, diced

2 T butter

One head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 potato, peeled and cut into large dice

2 c. chicken stock

1 c. milk

5 oz. (or to taste) Stilton, crumbled

salt and white pepper

In saucepan over medium heat saute the onion and celery until soft. Add cauliflower, potato, and stock, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until cauliflower is tender, 20 - 25 minutes. Puree soup with blender (for smooth texture) or immersion blender (for slightly chunkier texture). Add milk to soup in pan over low heat, stir to combine, and add Stilton. Heat soup to melt cheese, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the main course I prepared a roasted chicken with a bulgur stuffing under the skin. Here is that recipe:

Bulgur Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 small or 1/2 large onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

1 c. bulgur

2 c. chicken stock (actually I used some leftover turkey stock)

1 pinch saffron threads

Saute onion and garlic in oil in medium saucepan over medium flame. After they turn golden add the bulgur and stir to coat with oil. Add chicken stock and saffron, and bring to boil. Cover and turn heat to low; cook 15 minutes. Take off of the heat and let it stand for 10 minutes. (Can be prepared ahead.) Fluff the bulgur and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chicken:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spatchcock a 3 1/2 - 4 pound chicken. (Spatchcocking involves removing the backbone and flattening the chicken out.) Work your hand under the skin on the breast, and loosen the skin over the breast and down both leg quarters. When the stuffing is cool enough to work with, put it under the skin of the bird, down both leg quarters and over the breast. If there is leftover stuffing, make a bed of it in a lightly greased roasting pan (I actually used a large cast iron skillet) and place the chicken on top of it. It will absorb the drippings, which will make it even more delicious. When the chicken is ready to go into the oven, sprinkle the skin with some kosher salt. Place the chicken in the oven and turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Roast, basting several times, until chicken is done, approximately 1 hour. (I generally shoot for a thigh temperature of about 165 degrees, and then let the meat rest for 10 minutes or so. A spatchcocked bird cooks faster than an intact bird.)

With dinner we had a 2006 white wine from Domaine du Tunnel, the Saint Peray Cuvee Prestige, 80% Roussane and 20% Marsanne. It was a very pleasant though subtle wine, and it paired well with the chicken.

An Impromptu Cassoulet

We had our first snowfall in DC yesterday. The flakes were big and wet, and they quickly began to accumulate, at least at our relatively high elevation (around 400 feet above sea level). By the end of it we had maybe three inches on the ground, and even after a 40 degree day today some is still sticking around. That kind of weather makes me crave something hearty and stew-like, and the thought of cassoulet popped into my head as I hid under the comforter this morning. Cassoulet is true French peasant fare, full of beans, duck, and sausages. I don't think I have ever made it before, and I didn't really feel like consulting a recipe, so I just made something up that (I think) is relatively close. It is cooking now, so I guess we will see in an hour or so.

Here is what I did:

Cook about a pound and a quarter of Great Northern beans.

Start with a duck. Cut off the wings, legs, and thighs and season them with salt and pepper. Debone the breasts, and save them for a nice dinner later in the week. Brown the wings, legs and thighs in fat (preferably rendered duck fat) until they are nice and deep brown. (Or if you have plenty of time, make some real duck confit. Or if you have less time but access to a good market, buy some duck confit and you can dispense with the duck entirely.) Make some stock from the assorted leftover bones and skin and parts. After the stock has simmered an hour, degrease it. (If you know what is good for you, you will save the duck fat to use for other things, like sauteeing certain vegetables.)

Saute a few slices of chopped bacon in the Dutch oven that you will use to cook the cassoulet. After the bacon is crisp, remove it with a slotted spoon. Add one large sliced onion, two ribs of chopped celery, and two chopped carrots. Saute until soft, and then add two bay leaves, 3 cloves of chopped garlic, and 1 1/2 t of herbes de Provence. Continue sauteeing until the vegetables start to caramelize. Stir in 1 T or so of tomato paste, and then deglaze the pan with some stock or water. Add the cooked beans, the duck, the bacon, and 12 ounces or so of sliced smoked sausages. Add about two cups of stock, season with salt and pepper to taste. Put in a 325 degree oven for an hour or so.

We are having this with some roasted butternut squash chunks (leftover from the risotto), and a 2006 Bogle Phantom, which is a very hearty red.

(...a couple of hours later...) Dinner was quite tasty, though the andouille sausages I used were so spicy that it became more of a Cajun dish than French peasant...not that there is anything wrong with that. I'll have to try again with something less assertive, and perhaps I should read a few recipes. The wine, by the way, was a very good match. Big, fruity, just a touch hot. It definitely warmed the cockles of my heart.

Don't Look a Gift Squash in the Mouth

Although the photograph is of the apple pie I made for Thanksgiving

(from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook), this post is about something else. One of Glen's colleagues gave us a butternut squash several weeks ago, and I have been procrastinating about using it. I finally got around to it tonight, when I made a risotto. I'm not exactly sure why, but sometimes my risotto turns out better than other times. Perhaps it has something to do with cooking it longer, and developing a starchier sauciness. I usually suspect that it is the quality of the stock. Tonight I used a mix of homemade and prepared, about half and half, and it was pretty tasty. Anyway, here's the recipe.

Toss about two cups of cubed (1/2 inch cubes) butternut squash with some olive oil, and put into a 375 degree oven to roast. Roast for 30 minutes or so, until the squash starts to brown. Add 1/2 c boiling water to a small amount of porcini mushrooms; let them steep until soft, then chop and reserve the mushrooms and reserve the soaking liquid. Saute two leeks (white and pale green part only) in 1 T of butter and 1 T olive oil over medium heat; add 1 1/4 cups arborio rice after the leeks are soft. Saute the rice for a few minutes, taking care to ensure that all of the grains are coated with oil. Add 1/2 c of white wine, and stir until the liquid cooks off. Start adding warm broth (you will need about 4 cups) in 1/2 cup amounts, stirring well. After you have added about half of the broth, add in the reserved porcini liquid, taking care to leave any sediment behind. Add the chopped mushrooms. Continue cooking, adding more broth and some salt to taste. Check the texture; it should still be a bit toothy when it is about done. Add water and continue cooking if necessary. Once the texture is close to done stir in the roasted squash. To finish stir in a few tablespoons of whipping cream, 1/4 cup Parmesan and a few tablespoons of chopped fresh sage. Garnish with additional Parmesan and some sage leaves, if desired.

I served this with some turnip and fennel wedges that had been tossed with olive oil, herbes de Provence, salt and pepper, and roasted in the oven along with the butternut squash. It was autumnal bliss.