A chill wind blows on this November evening, or so one would expect. Oddly, we seem to be celebrating a very late Indian Summer and it was unseasonably warm all day. Nevertheless, the Literate Epicures of Newtown were busy in their kitchens, baking, sautéing, simmering and freezing their offerings for the meeting later that night. Yes, I did say “freezing” since one of our intrepid chefs chose to bring a cocktail from the most recent book – Long Nights and Log Fires, Warming comfort food for family and friends.
Party girl Colleen chose the Vodka Cranberry Floaters to start the meeting with a bang. These are wonderfully festive with the bright red cranberry juice and the blueberries bouncing merrily in the glass. An interesting twist was that she froze the blueberries in cranberry juice in ice trays to add to the visual interest and so the punch retains its punch. Fun and festive, this should be a staple for every holiday party.
Toni continued the red theme with the Roasted Tomato Soup, which was a wonderfully rich soup, far superior to anything store bought. This has an interesting beginning, with the tomatoes, onions and garlic tossed with olive oil, salt and a bit of sugar and slow roasted at 325 for 1 ½ hours. The veggies are transformed into tender sweet yumminess and then blended with additional vegetable stock to create a wonderfully intriguing combination of flavors. This tasted much more complex than the ingredients would indicate.
Brenda made the Baked Mushrooms with Manchego Béchamel. She was concerned that there might be a misprint on the butter, so she did increase it from the original recipe, and decided to leave out the cheese. She used button mushrooms, but allowed that any mushroom would work well in this recipe. It really did take only about 20 minutes to bake, which allows plenty of time to mix up the fennel salad. The fennel was tossed with a very simple oil and lemon dressing and was the perfect crunchy foil for the sinfully rich mushrooms.
Margy made the Chicken, Leek and Tarragon Pot Pie and everyone was thankful that she did. Pot Pies can be wonderful creamy rich and homey or they can be absolutely awful. Fortunately, this was the former. Margy used chicken thighs, removing the fat at the end, which added richness and created a terrific combination of flavors. The tarragon complimented the chicken and creamy sauce to perfection. The leeks added a subtle onion flavor that is incomparable. Leeks are a milder cousin of the onion and are often the perfect ingredient when onion might be too assertive. As she ran out of leeks, she added a little fennel which was a great chef moment. The recipe states that the crust is easy to make, but the refrigerated dough in a roll was perfectly fine.
Marianne selected the Red Curry of Roasted Vegetables. She reports that this is a super easy recipe and she was able to double it so the family could eat and there were leftovers! Carrots, potatoes, pumpkin and parsnip are roasted to bring out the natural sweetness and then added to the savory soup base of coconut milk, red curry paste, Thai fish sauce and stock. Over jasmine rice, this is a must make for the winter!
Mushrooms with Raisins and Apple Cider Vinegar were the next to be tasted, and they were wonderful. Julie put her organic spin on the recipe and everyone really liked the result. Rather than the shallots, Julie substituted in chopped Vidalia onion since she thought the sweetness would complement the dish. The recipe also calls for “runny honey” (which sent the author scrambling to google, I had never heard that term before) and discovered that it seems to be the kind of honey that will run off a spoon rather than a crystallized or creamed honey which is much thicker. Julie subbed organic raw honey and it worked perfectly. Who knew that raisins would work so well with mushrooms? Along with the cider vinegar and honey, the dish is finished with hot pepper flakes which added an unexpected spicy note that perfectly complemented the sweet and sour flavors.
Debbie brought the Thai Chicken Curry and was very happy to discover that it is the perfect recipe to use up any leftover veggies you might have lounging around. She did mention that roasting root veggies would work really well in this, too. The first time she made it she used low fat coconut milk and though it was good, making it a second time using full fat coconut milk really was an improvement. Also, rather than using Kaffir Lime paste, she used the whole leaves in the pot and pulled them out when serving. It came together quickly and had all the robust Thai flavors one could ask for – a definite winner!
There were two dessert offerings this night – the first was Gerry’s Cranberry Cherry Florentines. Sun dried cherries and cranberries are combined with bittersweet chocolate in a delectable cookie that is a symphony of flavors in each bite. They took a little longer to bake than the recipe indicated and she was hard pressed to squeeze 20 of them from the recipe, she mentioned she might make them a little larger next time. Rich and not overly sweet, this is a perfect ending to a wonderful meal.
The second dessert was the Apple Cinnamon Crumble Cake, a recommended alternative to the Pear and Ginger Crumble Cake. This was a strange batter since there was no salt and the consistency was unusual. However, it turned out light and moist. She was concerned about the crumb topping as it seemed a little soft, so, she refrigerated it for a more crumbly consistency. After baking the cake, she realized she forgot the topping in the frig…oops! She toasted separately on parchment paper and sprinkled over the cake. If you are looking for a light, delicious dessert this is a great choice.
The next meeting is December 13 and will highlight recipes that have been contributed by our members and the staff of the Newtown Bookshop. Please be sure to email a copy of any recipe you would like included to Marianne (chopp_alt@yahoo.com) or to me (alexacooks4u@gmail.com) to make sure it is included in our cookbook. We will be cooking our own recipes on that night and sharing and stories or anecdotes that make them special for us, our families and friends. This promises to be a night that will touch your heart and your taste buds. In January, we are looking forward to celebrating Lidia Bastianich with her most recent book, LIDIA’S ITALY IN AMERICA and the other selection is TIME FOR DINNER from Cookie Chef’s Pilar Guzman, Jenny Rosenstrach, Alanna Stang. The staff of the Newtown Bookshop and I wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and here’s hoping your table is overflowing with delicious food and your heart is bursting with love and happiness.
