Oh so rich Potato Gratin

I made this recipe for our Christmas dinner. It was a huge hit. Well, of course, it was! It's so darn rich you'd have to be crazy not to love it. I pulled this recipe from the New York Times Temporary Vegetarian column. My recipe below is adapted from the NY Times recipe since I found the cooking times in the original total fantasy. Sometimes I wonder if the recipes are tested. This recipe came from a restaurant chef, so I have to assume he did make it. But, I'm thinking something got lost in the translation to a recipe for home cooks.

As with my "slim" potato gratin recipe (see here), a mandoline makes the process of slicing the potatoes much easier. You can slice the potatoes by hand. They will probably come out a bit thicker and less even, but it will still work out ok.

Potato and Swiss Chard Gratin
(serves 10 - 12)

Adapted from DBGB Kitchen & Bar, Manhattan, via the New York Times

1 pound Swiss Chard Leaves And Slender Stems, stems cut into 1⁄4-inch cubes
2 ½ cups Heavy Cream
1 Garlic Clove, smashed
1 small Shallot, sliced
2 Thyme Sprigs
1 Bay Leaf
¼ teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg
3 pounds (6 to 8 medium) Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled
1 Tablespoon Butter, at room temperature
Salt And Black Pepper
6 ounces Grated Gruyère

1. Heat the oven to 350°F, and place rack in the center. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; set a bowl of ice water on the side. Boil the chard leaves until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to the ice water. Squeeze them dry and chop roughly. Boil the diced stems until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain well and add to chopped chard leaves.

2. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream, garlic, shallot, thyme and bay leaf to a simmer over medium-low. Watch carefully because cream can boil over quickly. Reduce heat to low and simmer to reduce somewhat, about 30 minutes. Strain out the solids and add the nutmeg.

3. Meanwhile, slice the potatoes into ⅛-inch-thick rounds with a mandoline or sharp knife. Butter a 12- to 14-inch gratin dish or dutch oven. Make sure that it is at least 4" high. Start with a layer of one-third of the potatoes, overlapping the slices. Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper. Add half the Swiss chard,  and one-third of the Gruyère cheese. Dribble on one-third of the cream mixture. Layer on another third of the potatoes, salt and pepper, the other half of Swiss chard, and another third of the cream and Gruyère. Finish up with the rest of the potatoes, salt and pepper, the remaining cream, and the rest of the cheese.

4. Bake until the top is browned and the potatoes are fork-tender, about 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Eating my way through New Orleans

Mid-Afternoon Beignet at Cafe du Monde

Frankly, we didn't get very far, eating our way through New Orleans. First off, we only had 4 days there and second, there is way, way too much great food to get through, even if you had months.

Full disclosure: I absolutely loved New Orleans. We had never been there before and I had heard many things about it, good and bad. Forget the bad. It's good. No, it's great. If you haven't been there, go. If you were there before Katrina, go back. I don't know if it's as good as before (certainly for many of the residents, it isn't, since some neighborhoods still haven't come back) but for tourists it's a blast. There is food, there is art, there is culture. And there are the people, who are just wonderful. Obviously, they are resilient. The owners of the B&B we stayed in moved back to the city about 5 weeks after Katrina. They had unreliable electricity for months. They had no potable tap water for 5 months! But, back they came and rebuilt their beautiful B&B in an historic neighborhood, the Faubourg Marigny, downriver from the French Quarter. (It's the Royal Street Courtyard. It's charming, lovely and a bargain.) New Orleans needs tourists. Help them continue to rebuild by going to visit them. You won't regret it.

On to the food. Because, one of the best reasons to go to New Orleans is the food. It's unique - lots of Creole (a combination of Spanish, African, French and American influences), as well as German, Cajun, French, American, well, most anything. New Orleans has always been a city of immigrants and it shows in its dining scene. We saw very few fast food chains in the city. These folks know good food and they have enough local fast food (can you say "po' boy?") that they don't want lousy hamburgers. Good for them! Here in no particular order are my favorite dishes.

Mussels in white wine at Adolpho's on Frenchman Street. Some of the meatiest, sweetest mussels I've ever had. Tons of garlic. Absolutely delicious. Adolpho's is Creole-Italian. Italian figures big in the Creole cuisine, but it's not really Italian. It's thoroughly New Orleans.

One of the best snacks in the world

Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde. If you don't go to Cafe du Monde for this, you have missed one of the grand New Orleans traditions. Yes, tons of tourists there but who cares? The beignets are perfectly fresh, generously dusted with powdered sugar. Well, dusted isn't quite the right word. Buried, actually. The cafe au lait is excellent too. You have no excuse to miss Cafe du Monde; it's open 24 hours a day.

Praline bacon (with grits), callas, boudin balls

Praline bacon, callas, and boudin balls at Elizabeth's in the Bywater. The Bywater is the next residential neighborhood downriver from the Faubourg Marigny. Not a place you happen upon unless you went looking for it. But, you should look for it. Praline bacon is their signature dish - thick cut meaty bacon with a crust of brown sugar and pecans. The perfect combination of salty sweet piggy goodness. Callas are an old New Orleans recipe. They are sweet rice fritters and you rarely see them on menus anymore. They are spiked with a good dose of lemon juice, I believe, giving them a unique tang. Unusual and delicious. Boudin balls are deep fried sausage balls, served with a creole mustard sauce. Again, delicious! Just skip the biscuits.

Corn and sweet pepper fritters at Mat & Naddie's in Uptown. Actually, a lot of what we had at Mat & Naddie's was fantastic. We had a 4 course Reveillon dinner here. Reveillon is a December New Orleans tradition. Originally, it was the big feast after fasting at Christmas. Now, it's a bunch of New Orleans restaurants offering multi-course dinners for very reasonable prices during the month of December. So, December is a good month to visit New Orleans if you are a foodie. The corn fritters were light and crispy, like little crunchy clouds filled with sweet corn. These people know their fried foods! We also had incredible shrimp risotto, smoked quail on manchego waffles and eggnog creme brulee. They have an excellent wine list filled with unusual selections too.

Aren't they pretty!

Chocolates at Sucre on Magazine St. Not only are they stunningly beautiful, they are delicious. I bought a collection of them for my dear chocolate-loving friend Ronnie and she assures me that they were all wonderful. I bought some for myself and I agree! Sucre is a lovely sweet shop, on a funky section of Magazine St. Magazine is the prime shopping district, full of galleries, restaurants and shops.

There was so much we didn't get to try, like muffeletas, raw oysters, bbq shrimp and po' boys. So, we need to go back. There is always more good stuff to discover and eat in New Orleans.

An Impressive Raspberry Trifle

Here's an impressive holiday dessert, a Raspberry-White Chocolate-Almond Trifle. I pulled this recipe off of Epicurious.com a few years back and I've made it twice to rave reviews. It's not often I make a recipe more than once. It has to be knock-out good. And this recipe qualifies.

This is not a difficult recipe but it does have a number of steps and components. Don't be intimidated! Give yourself enough time to get all the pieces done, put it together and let it chill until you need to serve. Everyone will be impressed.

Crisp ladyfingers are found in some supermarkets in the cookie section or in Italian groceries. They are the same ladyfingers used in tiramisu. Typically, they come in 7 oz packages with 24 cookies in each.

A tip on washing and drying raspberries -  put them in a colander and spray them with cold water. Then shake them gently. Finally, place berries on a clean kitchen towel, hollow side down so any water inside the berries drains out. Fresh raspberries are delicate little things and this is the best way to clean them without banging them up. And since these berries are garnish, you want them to look pretty.

The order of assembly is important here. If you put the hot melted jam on top of the whipped cream, it will deflate the cream, so follow the order in the recipe to keep the cream light and fluffy.

Full disclosure on this recipe: the second time I made this recipe, I grabbed the vanilla extract instead of the almond extract. Still tasted great! So, if you only have vanilla and don't want to spring for a bottle of almond, go for it. It will be just fine.

Raspberry, White Chocolate and Almond Trifle
(serves 16-20)
Adapted from Epicurious.com

Requires 5 hours of chilling after assembly and can be made up to 24 hours before serving

3 ½ cups Chilled Heavy Whipping Cream, divided
12 ounces High-Quality White Chocolate (Such As Lindt Or Perugina), chopped
1 ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract, divided
½ cup Sugar
½ cup Water
7 ounces Boudoirs Or Champagne Biscuits (Crisp Ladyfinger Cookies)
1 cup Raspberry Jam, melted
2 12-ounce Packages Frozen Unsweetened Raspberries, partially thawed
2 6-ounce Containers Fresh Raspberries, washed and dried
¾ cup Sliced Almonds, toasted

Bring 1 cup cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate; whisk until smooth, which will take a couple of minutes. Cool to barely lukewarm, about 10 minutes. You don't want to add hot chocolate to the cream because it will deflate the whipped cream.

Beat 2 1/2 cups cream and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in a large bowl to soft peaks. Fold in white chocolate mixture.

Stir sugar and 1/2 cup water in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar melts. Mix in 3/4 teaspoon almond extract; remove syrup from heat. Quickly submerge 1 biscuit in syrup; shake excess back into pan (I found that the ladyfingers acted like a sponge so there wasn't anything to shake off). Place dipped biscuit in bottom of 14-cup trifle dish. Repeat with enough biscuits to cover bottom of dish (should be 8 ladyfingers).

Spread 1/3 of melted jam over biscuits in dish. Top with 1/3 of partially thawed berries with juices. Spread 1/3 of whipped chocolate cream over berries. Repeat layering with dipped biscuits, melted jam, partially thawed berries, and whipped chocolate cream 2 more times. Mound fresh berries in center of trifle. Sprinkle almonds around edge.

Cover and refrigerate at least 5 hours.

Link to PDF of Raspberry, White Chocolate and Almond Trifle

Leftovers - how to use up stuffing

I have an over-abundance of stuffing. This has nothing to do with the deliciousness of my stuffing. It was quite tasty. But when your mother-in-law brings a bathtub full of mashed potatoes, your friend brings corn pudding and you make a sweet potato casserole, there is bound to be leftovers. There is just so much starchy food that people can eat, particularly when they are saving room for pie and homemade vanilla ice cream.

Lots of turkey soup recipes say throw in some stuffing. I don't get this. I haven't tried that, mind you. It simply doesn't sound that appetizing to me. I would much rather put in wild rice (see last year's post on Turkey-Wild Rice Soup) or barley. Stuffing does freeze well and it's nice to have a stockpile for the rest of the comfort food season. But, my favorite way to use up stuffing is to cook it for breakfast. Heat it up in the microwave or oven. This speeds up the process a bit. Break up the stuffing in a skillet with a little butter or nonstick cooking spray. Make a nest in the stuffing and break an egg into the hole(s). This is not a particularly brilliant suggestion but it is one that I personally love. Stuffing is the perfect start for breakfast - it's got bread and usually some sausage. Isn't that the start of most great breakfasts? Just add eggs. Think of it as the Post-Thanksgiving version of Toad-in-the-Hole.

I included a link to the original recipe in my pre-Thanksgiving post. I made a number of adjustments, so here's a link to the PDF of my adapted  Apple-Sausage Stuffing.

Thanksgiving 2010

Here we are, on the eve of another Thanksgiving. Who doesn't like Thanksgiving? OK, the poor devil that gets stuck cooking everything. I'm not sure why anyone would want to cook everything on the table for Thanksgiving. Even as a professional, I don't want to be stuck with that much cooking. You can go commercial, buying some of the dinner. I prefer to enlist the help of my friends. I do the turkeys (see last year's Thanksgiving posts Turkey Brining and Turkey Cooking) and a few other things, which I discuss below. And I let my guests provide the rest. In my house, Thanksgiving is not when I impress folks with my cooking prowess. It's about sitting down to far too much food, and enjoying what everyone has provided. Kind of like the first Thanksgiving when everyone who attended reportedly brought something to the feast. Can't say I've ever been disappointed in this arrangement. Everyone brings something they are proud of, so everything is delicious.

Besides the usual turkeys, I am making a bunch of new recipes. Yes, I am a crazy woman who tries out new recipes on my guests at Thanksgiving. But, hey, if you can't try new stuff on your best friends and family, who can you try it out on?

Here's what I'm making:

From Epicurious.com: Apple-Sausage Stuffing but with my modifications.

From Anne Burrell at the Food Network: Sweet Potato Casserole

From The Pioneer Woman blog: Nantucket Cranberry Pie which was part of a Throwdown with Bobby Flay last week. Not really a pie. More like a cobbler. But, as there are two other pies coming from my guests, I thought I'd try a non pie dessert. I am making vanilla ice cream to go with it. Homemade vanilla ice cream. What can be better than that?

Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving especially my dear Pamela who will be spending her first Thanksgiving away from home with family in New Jersey and New York. Sweetie, we miss you!

Shrimp, Tomato and Avocado Salad

This appetizer came together at the last minute. I had some cooked shrimp and wanted to make a first course salad with them. Everything else in this recipe just happened to be lying around my kitchen. That's how recipes get created in my kitchen. I start with an ingredient and then figure out what other things I have that will complement it.

The tomatoes were the last of my ripe garden tomatoes. Not my favorite variety but with the other flavors, they were fine, which means this would work with your average dull supermarket tomatoes. Pomegranates are in season right now and they add a surprising crunch to this colorful salad. I've made a few modifications to the recipe I made for a dinner party, making the presentation more elegant.

Shrimp, Tomato and Avocado Salad
(serves 4)

4 martini or wine glasses, chilled

12 oz cooked shrimp (small shrimp are fine)
3 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 medium avocado
juice of 1/2 lime
2 tbl lemon olive oil OR 2 tbl extra virgin olive oil and zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tbl chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
large pinch of mild or medium pure chile powder, such as New Mexican red Chimayo
4 sprigs of cilantro for garnish

1. If the shrimp are 31/40's or larger, cut into bite-size pieces, about 1". Place in a medium bowl.


2. Dice the tomatoes and combine with the shrimp. Add the pomegranate seeds, season with salt and pepper.


3. Add lime juice, lemon oil, cilantro, and chile powder to shrimp-tomato mixture and toss gently.


4. Dice the avocado. Season with salt and pepper.


5. To assemble, place 1/8 of the shrimp-tomato mixture in each glass. Then place a small layer of avocado pieces followed by 1/4 of the remaining shrimp-tomato mixture. Finish off with remaining avocado.


6. Chill in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve.


Note: Do not chill much longer than 1 hour because the shrimp is likely to get mushy from the lime juice.


Link to PDF of Shrimp, Tomato and Avocado Salad

Baked Penne with Butternut Squash and Turkey Sausage

Here's a recipe to use the tomato sauce that I posted in my previous blog post dated October 27. This is a tasty fall pasta dish. It uses butternut squash, a beautiful seasonal ingredient. Adding the squash up's the nutrition and makes the pasta very filling with a relatively small portion of sausage. And this is quite filling - it's a grand meal served with a mixed green salad.

The cinnamon is an interesting addition. It evokes Greek pastitsio more than Italian. Greek pastitsio and Italian pasticcio are similar and a bit more complicated than this recipe since they use a bechamel sauce. Both are delicious but this is a lot easier.

Baked Penne with Butternut Squash and Turkey Sausage
(serves 8)




1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
½ cup Dry White Wine
¾ pound Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage, without casings
½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 pound Butternut Squash, ¾" dice, about 4 cups
2 cups Tomato Sauce
1 cup Vegetable Broth
⅓ cup Heavy Cream
Salt And Black Pepper
1 pound Penne Pasta
3 ounces Soft Mild Goat Cheese (Such As Montrachet), crumbled
3 ounces Shredded Part-Skim Mozzarella
¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450℉. Coat a 13"x9"x2" baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until golden. Stir in the garlic and saute 1 more minute. Pour in the wine and cook until it has evaporated and the onion is browned, about 8 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up into chunks with a spoon, until it is no longer pink. Add the cinnamon.

3. Add the squash, tomato sauce, broth, and cream. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid boils. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender, 15 minutes. There should be plenty of liquid. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. While the squash is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook penne according to package directions until al dente. Drain well.

5. Combine goat cheese and mozzarella in a medium bowl.

6. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir. Add ½ of the cheese and mix well. Spread the pasta in the prepared baking dish, smoothing out the top. Top with the remaining cheese mixture and the Parmesan cheese.

7. Bake until the cheese melts and bubbles, about 15 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Adapted from The Essential Best Foods Cookbook by Dana Jacobi, Rodale, 2008.