Literate Epicures August 2012
We are back at the Newtown Bookshop for meetings! Yes, it is
under new ownership and located 2 doors down from the old location, but Kathy
is a wonderful hostess and very generous in allowing us to meet there on the
second Tuesday of the month. The August cookbook selection was The Best of
Americas Test Kitchen 2012 and it was well received by all. The general consensus was that everyone
enjoyed the science and rationale behind the recipes and the explanations of
why certain flavors go well together and why certain techniques are needed to
obtain the desired results. We began the festivities with a lovely Sangria that
Lisa brought.
This is a “go to” recipe from the previous ATK Best of and
we are all very thankful that she harked back to the prior book. The sangria
was wonderful! Fruity and delightfully sweet without being cloying, it had just
the right balance of citrus to wine and was just the right beverage to start
the evening.
Marianne made the Artichoke Tart that was gorgeous to look
at and tasted even better. She made the variation listed in the book that used
sundried tomatoes and we were all glad she did. A food processor was definitely
appreciated in the prep of this one and used for all three phases – dough,
filling and topping. It was time consuming to make but she would definitely
make it again (in stages) with lots of planning.
Debbie decided on the Gazpacho which was the perfect dish to
highlight the bounty from her garden. There were lots of ingredients and a lot
of chopping. Better than average knife skills are needed for this one to make
sure all the lovely bits of veggies are uniformly presented and it must be made
in advance to allow the flavors to meld. She loved that it is thickened with a “hearty
white bread” and olive oil emulsion and not only did the texture and flavor benefit
from this mixture, the soup took on a lovely pastel tomato color that was
beautiful with the brilliant colors form the veggies. The croutons she made to
top the soup were out of this world. So good in fact, she refused to take any
left overs home because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop eating
them.
Colleen made the Panzanella which again was a perfect choice
for this time of year when tomatoes are at their best. We all agreed that it
was very tasty and the vinaigrette had the perfect balance of velvety
smoothness from the olive oil and acidity from the vinegar. A keeper for all
summer dinners.
Toni made the Prosciutto Stuffed chicken breasts, and though
it was meant to be served as an entrée, it was awesome cut into bite sized
pieces and done with toothpicks as an appetizer. The breasts were butterflied and filled with
prosciutto, Fontina, butter and tarragon. She mentioned that it was a fairly
easy recipe and the results were outstanding. Definitely different and one must
like tarragon (I can’t imagine who doesn’t, but I guess there are a few) it is
something I will be serving for late sumer and fall cocktail parties. Really a
wonderful dish.
Brenda made Spanakopita and it was terrific! It was quite
labor intensive with the layers of Phyllo, butter and grated cheese and the
filling from fresh spinach steamed until it just wilts but retains the
brilliant emerald green. The addition of Greek yogurt to the more traditional
ingredients of lemon, dill and mint was really nice. It was different than the
cottage cheese type mixture, but no less delicious.
Margie made the Chickpea Cakes which were unusual and very
tasty. The cake mixture called for toasted bread crumbs from a whole wheat
white bread (hearty white again anyone?) and seemingly they are quite delicious
even before they are mixed into the cakes. Now she did warn me that if I
included the next part, she “is a great shot with a .357”! I guess I am taking
my life in my hands tying this, but here goes….. She made the crumbs in advance
and left them to cool on the counter. When she came down a little later, the
plate was almost completely empty except for a few telltale finger streaks that
remained in the pitifully few crumbs left on the plate. Seems her DH decided they were delicious as is, and didn’t
wait for the rest of the recipe! Once she made another batch (this time hiding
them from Hansel) and mixed them with the chickpea mixture, she discovered that
the first few were a little crumbly. She soon got the hang of working with them
though and turned out some very tasty treats. She served them with a lovely
sauce (as I recall it was similar to a tzatziki) and would definitely make them
again.
Janet made the eggplant casserole. Actually, she may have
made it two weeks in a row, since she had the wrong date and was all set to go
the previous Tuesday! She thought it was a long involved recipe with lots of
steps, but the final result was excellent. IT began with slicing the eggplant
into thick rounds and painting each one with olive oil. They were then baked
until they were golden brown – much less work and more calorie friendly than
frying. She opted for fire roasted tomatoes and it was a good choice. The smoky
background was really good with the cheesy casserole and homemade crumb
topping. Do you sense a theme here? Seems a LOT of the recipes use real bread
for the crouton or crumb component and we all agreed they are much tastier than
anything that comes out of one of those canisters that have been sitting on the
grocery store shelf for ages.
Gerry opted for the Chicken Riggies – a dish that she
remembers having for the first time in Utica, NY. She told a fun back story
about arriving in Utica late one night and needed to find something substantial
for dinner. At the restaurant she and her family chose, she asked a patron who
was just leaving what was the best thing on the menu. Without hesitation he
replied, “Chicken Riggies!”. Still unconvinced, when they were seated, she
posed the same question to the waitress and got the same response. It was so
good, they went back to the same restaurant the following night just so they
could order it again. She had tried a few recipes since then, but none came
close to the original until now. This recipe naled it and is just as good as
her memory of the first time. She was worried it would be too spicy, but the
lovely sauce tamed the heat perfectly.
Jeanine made the Gingerbread Cake and Maureen added the Mascarpone
Mousse topping for it. This is another very involved recipe that required a lot
of steps and a lot of dirty bowls, but the final product was amazing. Bright
and flavorful from both fresh and ground ginger, it has a lovely base of Stout
which gives the cake a richness that is almost indescribable. The Mascarpone
Mousse is from a different cookbook and was really great on the wonderfully
rich cake. I am a huge ginger fan and this cake really fits the bill with the
double dose of ginger and just a hint of other spices.
Yours truly opted for the Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies. Like
so many above, I found there were a lot of steps and a lot of bowls, and some
odd ingredients (1 TBSP milk – really? Like that is going to affect the outcome
in 2 dozen cookies?) but I persevered and made the recipe exactly as written. I almost couldn’t wait for them to come out of
the oven to give them a try. Fortunately, one broke as I was moving it to the
cooling rack, so it was the perfect opportunity to give it a quick taste. It
was good, but not TDF and certainly not as “lime-y” as I had hoped, and the
coconut was good, but again didn’t have as much impact as wanted. The secret to
success, Grasshopper, is to WAIT! By the time we met on Tuesday (I had made
them the night before) the lime was definitely present and the coconut was noticeable
and they really were one of the best sugar cookies I have ever had.
The general consensus was that everything we tasted was
good, each dish was well seasoned and delicious. This is a wonderful cookbook
for ambitious novice cooks or those with more experience and they are all
familiar recipes that have been updated or have a slight twist that makes them
just a little unusual.
