It is the season to give and it is the season to bake. I like to combine the two. This is time of year you’ll find me in my kitchen baking delicious and decadent treats instead of walking through the malls (not that you’d ever find me walking through malls any other time of the year).
The hardest part of making food gifts for the holidays is deciding what to make. As I prepared to write this article, I sorted through my cookbooks looking for a few good recipes. I filled an entire page with ideas (granted I was hungry when I did this).
Food gifts can range from simple cookies and breads to elaborate candies or homemade mustards and jams; or how about fresh made cheese; or handmade liqueur or infused wines and liquors; or flavored butters and honeys; or jars layered with all the ingredients for the receiver to bake up a batch of something yummy themselves. See what I mean, I just couldn’t stop. It all sounded good, fun to make, and even more fun to give (you should see the look of bliss and wonder when someone bites into one of your homemade marshmallows for the first time).
I usually decide to make a half dozen different items and give a few of each to everyone on my gift list. Once I’ve whittled down my list, I look for the perfect containers to give them in. It’s not fair to your delicious creations to be given on a paper plate with some plastic wrap thrown over it.
Look for containers that your recipient can use again. Consider using glass containers with lids or a bento box with all those compartments to hold each of your treats. A coffee mug stuffed with biscotti or a new baking pan already filled with sweet bread will bring back memories each time your loved one reuses it. Even a pretty flowerpot lined with plastic wrap or aluminum foil can be filled with goodies. Be imaginative and try not to buy cheap plastic crap that will end up in a landfill when the cookies are gone.
Include recipe cards printed on pretty paper so your friends can make any of their gifts over again and explain how to use anything that might not be self explanatory (like what the heck do you serve lemon rosemary butter on).
When it comes to actually making the food, use all organic ingredients and fair trade and local products when they are available. It’s like giving two gifts that way. One goes to the receiver and one goes to the earth and the people who grow your food.
Go the extra mile in making everything look beautiful. Don’t just make one kind of truffle, make four or five so they look strikingly delicious when the box is opened. Carve designs in the top of flavored butters. Make the cookies just a bit fancier by drizzling chocolate on them or rolling refrigerator cookies in nuts before slicing them. You get the idea (and if you don’t here are a few recipes to get you started). But most of all have fun and lick all the bowls!
Chocolate Truffles
8 oz Bittersweet Chocolate
1 ¼ oz. Butter
4 oz Heavy Cream
¾ oz. liqueur of choice (optional)
Finely chop chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and add to bowl. Heat cream to just boiling and pour over chocolate. Stir until chocolate and butter are completely melted and mixture is smooth. Add optional liqueur. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. When mixture is firm but not hard, form into small balls using a small scoop, a teaspoon or your hands (work quickly so the chocolate doesn’t melt, this is the messiest method). Refrigerate again for 10 min. and roll into smooth balls. Chill again then roll in any of the following toppings:
4 oz. shaved bittersweet chocolate
2/3 c. finely chopped nuts
4 oz. toasted coconut
Cocoa Powder
or, for the truly daring, 22 carat gold dust
Makes 2-3 dozen truffles that will keep refrigerated for 1 week. Bring to room temp before serving. To extend the shelf life, dip truffles in tempered chocolate instead of rolling in toppings.
Coconut Marshmallows
5 cups toasted unsweetened coconut
½ c powdered sugar
2T + 2 ½ t. unflavored gelatin
½ c cold water
2 c sugar
½ c light corn syrup
½ hot water (about 115 F)
¼ t salt
2 large egg whites
¾ t coconut extract
Mix coconut and powdered sugar. Grease a 13x9x2” rectangular pan and sprinkle sides and bottom with 1 ½ cups of coconut mixture.
In the bowl of a standing mixer (you can make these with a powerful hand mixer but it’s hard on them, a standing mixer is best) sprinkle gelatin over cold water and set aside.
In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, cook sugar, corn syrup, hot water and salt over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Raise heat to medium and boil without stirring until an instant read or candy thermometer reads 240 F (this is a very important temperature, don’t quit early or you will only have a very sweet sauce. It takes at least 12 minutes) Carefully and immediately, pour sugar mixture over the gelatin and mix with the whisk attachment on low speed for 30 seconds then on high speed until tripled in bulk, white and fluffy and marshmallow-like. While sugar mixture is whipping, use a hand mixer to beat egg whites to soft peaks. Beat egg whites and extract into marshmallow mixture until just combined.
Pour mixture into prepared pan and sprinkle another 1 ½ c. coconut mixture on top, pressing down gently to make sure it sticks. Chill marshmallows at least 3 hours.
Invert pan onto cutting board and pry out marshmallows. Cut into squares and coat them in remaining coconut.
You can make plain marshmallows by substituting vanilla extract for the coconut and coating the pan and the marshmallows in powdered sugar and cornstarch. You can make other flavors as well. Try substituting half the coconut extract with almond extract and adding finely chopping toasted almonds to the coconut coating. You can add natural food coloring and blend it in completely or leave it partially blended to add a multicolored look.
Gravlax (salt and sugar cured salmon)
2 lb fresh wild caught salmon filet, skin on, halved lengthwise
2 T aquavit or an anise flavored liquor
½ c kosher salt
1/3 c organic sugar
2 T cracked, not ground, peppercorns (I use a Ziploc bag and a hammer)
zest of 1 lemon
1 t crushed fennel seeds
4 oz or more fresh dill
Mix the salt, sugar, pepper, lemon zest and fennel seeds together in a small bowl. Remove any bones from the salmon fillet. Line a baking dish large enough to contain the salmon with plastic wrap. Place the salmon skin-side down in the dish and sprinkle with the liquor. Rub the skinless side of the salmon with half of the salt mixture. Center one of the halves of the salmon on the plate and cover with the dill. Top with the other half of the salmon. Cover the top with the remaining salt mixture.
Seal up this salmon sandwich in the plastic wrap. Place a plate on top of the sandwich and add at least a pound of weight on top of the plate. Place in the refrigerator for at least 24 hrs and up to 3 days, turning the package over every 12 hours.
The gravlax is done when the flesh has lost it’s translucency and is somewhat firmer to the touch. Wash off the remaining salt, sugar and dill and pat dry.
Thinly sliced on the bias and remove the skin. Serve on pumpernickel or rye with lemon, capers and creme fraiche.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
An Ill Wind
Word of Mouth
by Vicki Reich
We were at dinner the other night with friends when one of the men, aged 28, belched. He immediately apologized (with a bit of a devilish grin on his face). He then asked if it was true that in some cultures burping after a meal was a sign of respect to the chef, or if it was just a fantasy of boys from age 6 to 60?
A long discussion ensued but with no definitive answer. I, of course, needed to find out if it was indeed true that some countries out there aren’t as prudish about their bodily functions as we are. When I got home, I looked it up on the Web.
As I guessed, there wasn’t really any reliable answer to be found. There was some indication that chefs in China appreciate small polite burps. Maybe the Inuit people in Canada think a good belch is a compliment. And it’s possible that some people in the Middle East and India won’t be fazed by your ructus. Mostly, I found lots of people out there wishing everyone could prize their burps as much as those fantasy chefs.
Burping and farting (we might as well bring that other “gas” into play) were not always eschewed in polite company. There are lots of historical references to both. Chaucer and Shakespeare enjoyed making their audiences laugh with burp and fart jokes, and these were not 8-year-old boys on the playground jokes. These were grand literary burp and fart jokes. I can imagine the Middle Ages dining halls were full of “wind”.
Whatever your take on the politeness or impoliteness of passing gas at the dinner table, it’s because we’re at the dinner table that it happens. Burping and farting have two separate causes but they are both food and beverage derived.
Burping is caused when air is swallowed along with your food or drink. It also happens when the carbon dioxide trapped in your carbonated beverage needs to escape.
Flatulence is a more complex process. Some of it comes from the same process as burping; it’s air swallowed with our food. Joining this swallowed air is gas produced from the digestion of the food itself. Food that is hard to digest or that passes partially digested from the stomach and small intestine to the lower intestines meets up with yeasts and bacteria in the large intestine. The yeasts and bacteria ferment rather than digest this food and give off gas as a byproduct (kind of like how beer gets carbonated by the byproduct of the yeast in it, but not nearly as appetizing).
There are several foods that are notoriously hard to digest and therefore excellent gas producers. The best known is, of course, beans (the magical fruit). It is the raffinose, an oligosaccharide, in the beans that are the culprit here. Our bodies have a hard time breaking down these complex carbohydrates so the bacteria in our lower intestines get to feast on the undigested remains. Cruciferous vegetables also contain large amounts of raffinose and may cause you to toot. Jerusalem artichokes can be blamed on an occasional ill wind, but in their case it is the complex carb inulin that our bodies can’t digest.
Other foods that can cause a bit of bloat include: cheese and milk, especially if you are lactose intolerant and lack the enzyme to break down the lactose before it hits your colon; onions, garlic and other members of the allium family; and fiber-rich foods.
All this gas isn’t something to be embarrassed about; we all produce, on average, a quart of gas a day. However, you can work on eliminating some of it by increasing the intestinal flora that does all the digesting in the small intestine. Taking probiotics and adding live culture yogurts to your diet can accomplish this. Digestive enzymes also help your body break down those pesky complex carbohydrates.
However, there is always fun to be had with all that extra gas (in the company of close friends or alone, please). You could try to unseat the current Guinness Book of World Records holder for the loudest belch, Paul Hunn, whose loudest burp was 109 db (about as loud as a car horn). Elisa Cagnoni isn’t far behind with 107db for the women’s title.
You could also spend a day seeing just how much gas you could produce like author Stefan Gates who, in his book The Gastronaut, spent the day eating as many foods that made him fart as he could and lived to tell about it.
Or you could just politely burp behind your hand at your next dinner engagement and hope your host is one of those mythical creatures who believe it’s a compliment.
Eggplant Parmesan
Serves 4
My dad would always exclaim that we were “having gas” for dinner whenever my mom served her delicious eggplant parmesan. It never had the same effect on me. None of the main ingredients appear on any of the gas producing food lists I came across so I thought it would be safe to share the recipe with you.
2 large eggplants
2 tbls olive oil
1 cup Italian herb flavored breadcrumbs (I make my own but storebought works fine)
1-2 egg
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb part skim mozzarella
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Slice the eggplant into ¼- ½ inch slices. Place the breadcrumbs on a plate. On a separate plate, scramble one egg. Dip each slice of eggplant into the egg, coating on both sides, then into the breadcrumbs. Place the slices in a skillet with the olive oil that has been heated to medium high and brown the slices on each side. You will have to work in batches and may need to use another egg and more oil.
Place the browned eggplant on a baking sheet. Thinly slice the cheese. In a medium bowl, combine the tomato paste, herbs, salt and pepper. Spread a spoonful of the tomato mixture on each slice of eggplant. Top each eggplant slice with a slice or two of mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Serve immediately.
by Vicki Reich
We were at dinner the other night with friends when one of the men, aged 28, belched. He immediately apologized (with a bit of a devilish grin on his face). He then asked if it was true that in some cultures burping after a meal was a sign of respect to the chef, or if it was just a fantasy of boys from age 6 to 60?
A long discussion ensued but with no definitive answer. I, of course, needed to find out if it was indeed true that some countries out there aren’t as prudish about their bodily functions as we are. When I got home, I looked it up on the Web.
As I guessed, there wasn’t really any reliable answer to be found. There was some indication that chefs in China appreciate small polite burps. Maybe the Inuit people in Canada think a good belch is a compliment. And it’s possible that some people in the Middle East and India won’t be fazed by your ructus. Mostly, I found lots of people out there wishing everyone could prize their burps as much as those fantasy chefs.
Burping and farting (we might as well bring that other “gas” into play) were not always eschewed in polite company. There are lots of historical references to both. Chaucer and Shakespeare enjoyed making their audiences laugh with burp and fart jokes, and these were not 8-year-old boys on the playground jokes. These were grand literary burp and fart jokes. I can imagine the Middle Ages dining halls were full of “wind”.
Whatever your take on the politeness or impoliteness of passing gas at the dinner table, it’s because we’re at the dinner table that it happens. Burping and farting have two separate causes but they are both food and beverage derived.
Burping is caused when air is swallowed along with your food or drink. It also happens when the carbon dioxide trapped in your carbonated beverage needs to escape.
Flatulence is a more complex process. Some of it comes from the same process as burping; it’s air swallowed with our food. Joining this swallowed air is gas produced from the digestion of the food itself. Food that is hard to digest or that passes partially digested from the stomach and small intestine to the lower intestines meets up with yeasts and bacteria in the large intestine. The yeasts and bacteria ferment rather than digest this food and give off gas as a byproduct (kind of like how beer gets carbonated by the byproduct of the yeast in it, but not nearly as appetizing).
There are several foods that are notoriously hard to digest and therefore excellent gas producers. The best known is, of course, beans (the magical fruit). It is the raffinose, an oligosaccharide, in the beans that are the culprit here. Our bodies have a hard time breaking down these complex carbohydrates so the bacteria in our lower intestines get to feast on the undigested remains. Cruciferous vegetables also contain large amounts of raffinose and may cause you to toot. Jerusalem artichokes can be blamed on an occasional ill wind, but in their case it is the complex carb inulin that our bodies can’t digest.
Other foods that can cause a bit of bloat include: cheese and milk, especially if you are lactose intolerant and lack the enzyme to break down the lactose before it hits your colon; onions, garlic and other members of the allium family; and fiber-rich foods.
All this gas isn’t something to be embarrassed about; we all produce, on average, a quart of gas a day. However, you can work on eliminating some of it by increasing the intestinal flora that does all the digesting in the small intestine. Taking probiotics and adding live culture yogurts to your diet can accomplish this. Digestive enzymes also help your body break down those pesky complex carbohydrates.
However, there is always fun to be had with all that extra gas (in the company of close friends or alone, please). You could try to unseat the current Guinness Book of World Records holder for the loudest belch, Paul Hunn, whose loudest burp was 109 db (about as loud as a car horn). Elisa Cagnoni isn’t far behind with 107db for the women’s title.
You could also spend a day seeing just how much gas you could produce like author Stefan Gates who, in his book The Gastronaut, spent the day eating as many foods that made him fart as he could and lived to tell about it.
Or you could just politely burp behind your hand at your next dinner engagement and hope your host is one of those mythical creatures who believe it’s a compliment.
Eggplant Parmesan
Serves 4
My dad would always exclaim that we were “having gas” for dinner whenever my mom served her delicious eggplant parmesan. It never had the same effect on me. None of the main ingredients appear on any of the gas producing food lists I came across so I thought it would be safe to share the recipe with you.
2 large eggplants
2 tbls olive oil
1 cup Italian herb flavored breadcrumbs (I make my own but storebought works fine)
1-2 egg
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil
¼ tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb part skim mozzarella
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Slice the eggplant into ¼- ½ inch slices. Place the breadcrumbs on a plate. On a separate plate, scramble one egg. Dip each slice of eggplant into the egg, coating on both sides, then into the breadcrumbs. Place the slices in a skillet with the olive oil that has been heated to medium high and brown the slices on each side. You will have to work in batches and may need to use another egg and more oil.
Place the browned eggplant on a baking sheet. Thinly slice the cheese. In a medium bowl, combine the tomato paste, herbs, salt and pepper. Spread a spoonful of the tomato mixture on each slice of eggplant. Top each eggplant slice with a slice or two of mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Serve immediately.
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