Ringing in the holidays and the new decade

Had an opportunity to try a lot of the results of our preserving work, and also tried some new things over the holidays. Here's the tally:

- Peaches in brandy: wonderfully mellow, *very* peachy brandy, and we served 'em simply - in a bowl, with a little bit of the brandy "juice" and a dollop of whipped cream
- Artichokes in oil and lemon juice: good, still crunchy, and will have to compare with the brined ones the marketeer and the lawyer made
- Pears in vodka: unbelievably alcoholic, and the pears were still crunchy. Not as effective as last year, and I'd change two things: make sure the pears are riper and use brandy instead of vodka for a smoother result
- Gravlax: tasty again, consumed on New Year's Day with scrambled eggs
- Foie gras with fig chutney: a revelation! So unbelievably GOOD!

New: kimchi (still fermenting); really easy to make, and we'll see how it turns out (although it's already making it clear it needs a separate fridge)

I also made a batch of lemon curd in response to repeated demands from my friend Mike. He went home with a full pint, which I think will keep him happy for awhile. It's one of the easiest things to make, and since it doesn't require heat processing, hardly requires the time/effort of full-on canning.

Finally, it turns out that I really really need to make more creme de cassis - mine almost disappeared to LA one night, proving its popularity. Big challenge in the coming year: find black currants so I can make *proper* creme de cassis!

Happy New Year one and all!

Carciofi for Christmas?

The marketeer called me this week to tell me she and her husband, the lawyer, had bags of artichokes, and would I want to come help them "put up" the 'chokes? Certo! Especially since I'd never had a chance to do artichokes before. Off I went, jars and St. Helena olive oil in hand.

We did two batches: one brined and the other in olive oil. Both types will be ready in about 3 weeks. It was incredibly easy - most of the time spent was in preparing the artichokes. The lawyer - who grew up in artichoke farmland - showed me how to trim them properly so they aren't tough or bitter.

Next time I want to do some whole baby artichokes - anyone have any recipes they like?

I think it actually worked!

This Thanksgiving, we celebrated the life of my late, lamented uncle. Now, he was an odd man - after his death, 5 (FIVE) guillotines were found in his house. One (which I particularly remember) was dedicated to chopping the heads off asparagus; particularly effective over dinners when - as kids - we visited him. The gravlax went over well - of course, these are my relatives, but two of them lived in Norway for several years, so I'm feeling confident. :) The salmon was firm, deep red, and quite tasty when served with capers, onions, some lemon and dill.

And the turkey (all 18 lbs) was quite delicious - the consensus was that it was better than last year (wow!). I think that might have had something to do with the fact that this year it wasn't a Butterball, but rather a "natural" turkey that didn't have hormones/ antibiotics injected like the usual Butterball behemoth. While it wasn't a heritage turkey, the dark meat sure did taste good, and it was done in 3 hours flat. Yum yum YUM! The only thing I missed was a decent pecan pie - I'm definitely making one next year.

Tomorrow we'll eat leftovers and joke amongst ourselves about the previous night's stories. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving one and all!

Thanksgiving

Made the "Judy Bird" this afternoon: a dry-brined recipe from Judy Rogers of the Zuni Cafe in SF. I shouldn't say I made the bird, just started the process of brining and will cook it on Thursday (all 18 pounds). It came out beautifully last year so I'm looking forward to my second time around.

And I tried something new today - I prepared gravlax. I've always wanted to make things like cured meats, and gravlax is basically cured salmon. I rubbed equal amounts of sugar and salt into some nice salmon fillets, covered them in dill, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and put them in the fridge where they'll sit quietly for the next 3 days, upon which they'll turn into something resembling smoked salmon without the smoking. A classic Scandinavian or North Baltic dish, which I'll be serving prior to my family's Thanksgiving feast in Florida. :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you Americans, wherever you are!

Time for dem pears again, hon

I finally tasted the creme de cassis, and darn if it isn't good! Got that confirmed by a couple of "tasters" of the kir royales that I made, who agreed that not only was it good, but it was doing a good job of covering up some rather miserable bubbly someone had given us as a freebie (thankfully, that was after we'd had some good champagne). Note to self: always use decent sparkling wine!

Since the kitchen I have is considerably smaller than the doctor's in Sonoma, and not very conducive to hot water canning, I decided to continue with the alcohol-based preserving. The marketeer gave me some beautiful pears she and the lawyer had picked last weekend, so I mixed some Red Bartletts and Boscs in a lovely, big Italian jar I bought recently, and added vanilla, sugar, and about 5 cups of vodka. Since it needs to sit for at least 3 months (preferrably 4), it'll probably be New Year's before we can try the resulting liquor. Just when we'll need it!

Here figgy figgy!

Figs ruled Labor Day weekend: both the preserved and the fresh variety. We started by making fig chutney, a rich concoction updated from a Victorian cookbook. Amazing when served with a triple cream like St. Andre or maybe a really runny Camembert!

I'd found a recipe for grilled figs on the NY Times Bitten blog, and the doctor and I decided we should try 'em Saturday evening. I picked the grape leaves, tied the little bundles up with a rosemary skewer, and boy were they a thing of beauty! We ate them with chicken and some sausage, and relished the creamy goat cheese with the fig, drizzling some of the leftover fig chutney "sauce" over the top of the grilled figs. Yum!

The garden is looking fabulous, and we also spent time working on peaches and tomatoes, returning again to the fabulous 1948 tomato preserve recipe we'd tried last year. The doctor modified the peach conserve recipe and used white peaches and lemon. Quite happy to know there will be plenty more tomatoes before the season is out, so we can keep trying more recipes, including putting up some salsa.

Peachy

Given the popularity of my peach marmalade with vanilla and cognac, I felt compelled yesterday to do a big batch of peach preserves. Armed with almost 15 pounds of peaches, I launched into preserving while everyone else was drinking frosty drinks in the summer Sonoma heat. Once again, the peach marmalade recipe I have proved fussy, and it's clear I'll have to re-trench and experiment with it to make sure I don't end up with caramelized peaches (as I did yesterday). While waiting for the peach marmalade to cook down, I indulged in a hilarious Wii game, Samba de Amigo, much to the amusement of the doctor and the gamer.

I did manage to succeed with peaches in brandy (ready in about a month), which resulted in a bit of leftover simple syrup that we put over ice cream and happily gobbled up.

Peaches - I'll have to consult with the marketeer to get 'em right the next time....