February 2013

 

February2013

 

The Literate Epicures met at the Newtown Bookshop to discuss and enjoy recipes from The Canal House Cooking Volume 7 – La Dolce Vita. This tome celebrates the fall harvest and holiday season with Italian recipes, some classic, some reinterpreted Canal House style. My apologies in advance, it seems my phone decided the photos of the dishes were so delicious looking it ate them. I am trying to get my teenage tech wiz to retrieve them from my elusive SD card file, but until then you will have to rely on my pitiful descriptions.

 

We began with a Canal House recipe that is not in this particular cookbook, but one I had been looking for an excuse to make. The Potted Crab and Meyer Lemon recipe originally appeared in a spring 2012 issue of Bon Appetit magazine, but since it was a Canal House recipe I decided to make it as a bonus dish in addition to the Jam Tart that is in La Dolce Vita. This is a dish that everyone enjoyed and I will make again. It was easy to put together, only 4 ingredients, and a fantastic result that was served over toast points. Very rich and lemony it is a perfect started for any time of year.

 

Margy made the Minestrone and she also commented that it was very easy to make. She had difficulty finding Romano beans and ended up substituting green beans which was a great option. She also substituted vegetable stock for the beef stock to make it truly vegetarian. This is a great soup that definitely highlights the wonderful veggies and one could easily substitute veggies of the season.

 

Janet made the Chick Peas with Stewed tomatoes. She also commented on how easy it was to make with readily available ingredients. She did caution that the recipe calls for canned San Marzano tomatoes, and one must check the label to make sure they are the real thing. It seems there may be imposter canned tomatoes labeled San Marzano that aren’t really from Italy, it is worth searching the aisles of the supermarket for the far superior imported ones. This was a delicious dish that appealed to the vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

 

Brenda made the Meatballs with Mint and Parsley. Ground pork, ground veal and “a slab of prosciutto” were the meats that were mixed with ricotta, eggs, parmesan, mint and parsley. The sauce was made by deglazing the pan with white wine and then adding heavy cream. Brenda was a Prosciutto virgin before this recipe, but will definitely be incorporating it in future recipes. She was hesitant about the cookbook, not really sure the recipes were of interest, but she ended p loving the book. We all agreed the meatballs had a lovely texture and flavor and the mint added a nice flavor without being overwhelming.  

 

Gerry made the Stuffed Onion Piedmontese. She also mentioned that they were easy to make with the prosciutto and breadcrumb stuffing and that the same stuffing could be used in other veggies. She was very pleased with the recipe, her family really enjoys onions in all forms and this one didn’t disappoint. A wonderful side dish that will be made again.

 

Marian made the Cheesecake from Rome’s Jewish Quarter. Lemon and zest, cinnamon, only 3 Tbsp of sugar and ricotta combined to make a delicious cheesecake with a slightly different texture than what you may be familiar with. It took lots and lots of bowls and lots and lots of folding, but the end result was worth it! A great way to end an Italian meal.

 

As I mentioned in the beginning, I also made the Jam Tart. The short crust was enhanced with a few tablespoons of white wine and was easy to work with. A good quality jarred jam worked nicely in the short crust, though homemade would have taken it over the top. This was not a complicated recipe, and is an easy way to add a homemade dessert to a weekday meal.

 

Everyone enjoyed the Canal House Cooking Vol 7 cookbook and will go back to it when the mood for Italian strikes.

 

Our next cookbook is Edwardian Cooking: 80 Recipes Inspired by Downton Abbey's Elegant Meals. With the huge popularity of the series, many of us are really excited about cooking from this book for the March meeting. Yours truly has already made 3 recipes from it and they have all been wonderful!

January 2013

Happy New Year! I hope the second week of January finds you rested and recovered from the holidays and ready to explore some new cookbooks and recipes. So many times as January dawns we make promises that revolve around food. Eat less, eat more whole grains, eat no grains, eat only organically grown foods, eat local, eat exotic, etc. I made one resolution. Not one food related resolution, but ONE resolution. I am making a promise to all of you, dear readers, to faithfully blog each and every meeting of The Literate Epicures of Newtown for all of 2013. Hopefully, I don’t let anyone down with that commitment.

 

In keeping with that promise, here is the rundown of last night’s meeting of the Literate Epicures of Newtown.  We decided to hark back to our roots and chose Ina Garten’s  Barefoot Contessa FOOLPROOF.

 

We had some lovely starters to whet the appetite. Marianne made the Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta. The recipe suggests either colorful heirloom tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. Marianne was fortunate enough to find colorful heirloom cherry tomatoes! Now January tomatoes are not known for their quality, they often resemble red billiard balls in texture and flavor, but these little gems were delightful. The whipped feta was the perfect foundation to perch a mound of the tomato shallot vinaigrette mixture. Fresh and tasty, we all decided it is a winner.

 

Brenda made the Fig and Fennel Caponata which was an inspired blend of flavors. Big bonuses for this recipe, every ingredient was readily available and it is made on the stovetop – no oven required! She loved that it was so easy and produced such a wonderful dish.

 

Anne made the Caramelized Bacon. She also commented that it was very easy, but had difficulty finding Applewood smoked bacon so she substituted Hardwood smoked bacon. It didn’t matter one bit it was delicious! The brown sugar, nuts, syrup, etc were put into a food processor and ground into a thick paste. She then topped the bacon slices with the syrup mixture and baked it on a foil lined pan. It did take a little longer than written, but the end result was outrageously good and on everyone’s “must make” list.

 

Marian brought the Jalapeno Cheddar Crackers which were a little deceptive. They were wonderful and rich but we decided they are a little closer to a savory shortbread than a true cracker. The recipe calls for 5 oz of grated sharp white cheddar. Marian cautioned that when one is grating the cheese in the food processor, it is against ones best interest to open it before it has come to a complete stop. The canine residents of her home were the lucky recipients of several ounces of freshly grated cheddar as it flew in graceful arcs across her kitchen! After a quick check for more cheddar, she was on her way to making the perfect treat to nibble with cocktails. Another plus to this recipe is that you can make several “rolls” of dough and slice and bake them as needed so you always have fresh goodies to offer unexpected guests.

 

Joanna made the Roasted Beet Salad which was a feast for the eyes as well as a treat for the taste buds. A bed of fresh emerald green arugula topped with the beautiful garnet red beets (she mentioned she had never roasted beets before, and really liked the result) and creamy white goat cheese had the perfect balance of peppery notes, creamy notes and just a hint of sweet from the beets. We all decided that beets are really under-utilized and there should be more recipes and methods for making them.

 

Yours truly made the Isreali Couscous with Tuna and it was quite good. I am not a canned/jarred tuna fan and even I thought the dish had merit. Isreali Couscous is a larger cousin of the couscous we all know and love. In the larger version, it is a little toothier and had a little more substance and held up nicely to the oil cured olives, scallions, roasted peppers, lemon, fresh basil and of course the imported jarred Italian tuna. Very simple to make, it was the perfect choice for me to put together after a hectic day at work.

 

Janet made the Jambalaya and though she was very pleased with the results, she felt there were a lot of ingredients and steps to complete this dish. The chorizo and chicken had to be browned separately; lots of ingredients had to be hand chopped, and there were a LOT of steps! She agreed that it was delicious, but would only make it again for a special occasion – this is not a middle of the week after work type of dish!

 

Toni brought the Sweet Potatoes and was very pleased to let us all know that it was super easy, only 3 ingredients and one of the most delicious sweet potato dishes any of us had ever tasted. Instead of the cloying overly sweet sugar or marshmallow topped things that find their way to our holiday tables, these were bright and light and a really lovely compliment to almost any main dish we could name. Along with the baked and mashed sweet potatoes, there is a little orange juice and just a bit of zest to add that lift to the whole dish. Definitely on the make again list for many of us.

 

After enjoying all the savory offerings, some of us went back for seconds (okay, I know I did and I didn’t keep tabs on anyone else LOL) it was time to try the desserts. Lisa brought the Chocolate Chunk Blondies. Oh myyyyyyyyyyy (I wish I had an audio file of George Takai and his world famous “Oh Myyyyyyyyyyy” to hot link here) they were amazing! They were that perfect balance between cakey and just a tiny bit of brown sugar chewy with massive chunks of awesome chocolate (the recipe called for one of those easily available yellow bags of chunks, Lisa used the upscale super deluxe yummy chocolate and not one complaint!) these are something I must make soon. Or never, since if there was an entire pan of them in my house I would be sorely tempted to eat the whole thing. Definitely a fantastic recipe.

 

Shelly made the Carrot Cake with Ginger Mascarpone frosting. Heavenly! There is no other way to describe the unbelievably moist cake studded with candied ginger and topped with clouds of the ginger infused creamy light frosting. She did mention that there were a lot of steps, but the end result made this a truly spectacular dessert. Like the Jambalaya, it may not be something you can throw together on a whim but it is so good it is worth planning an afternoon around baking to serve this to people you love.

 

Overall we were all pleased with the book, some of the recipes seemed a little intimidating and  involved, but after making them and discussing we all had a much higher opinion and will be reaching for this one a regular basis.

 Click this link to see more about Canal House Cooking Vol 7

The next meeting is Tuesday, February 12 (7:00 PM) at The Newtown Bookstore. We will be cooking from Canal House Cooking Volume N° 7: La Dolce Vita by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer which is also available at The Newtown Bookstore. Hope to see you there!