There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

The December Holidays have come and gone. A new year has begun.

I realize the magic of my season comes from the solace of the hearth and kitchen.  Family and friends naturally gather where food can be found and the wafting aromas lure everyone to the kitchen.

In that spirit, I wanted to show you what I came up with for the hollidays.  I think it worked out well.

Happy Eating and Happy New Year.


Grilled Sweetbreads

Sweetbreads are the thyroid gland of a calf or a lamb.  Which sounds horrible but are really a wonderfully delicate and flavorful meat.  As with all offal, make certain it's fresh or frozen appropriately. 
1 lb veal Sweetbreads
Salt
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Rinse the sweetbreads in cold water.  Remove any extra membrane.

Dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in 2 quarts of water in a non-reactive bowl.  Add the sweetbreads.  (add more water if needed to cover.)  Seal in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 8 hours or more.

Heat your grill to medium high (about 400 degrees).  Rinse the sweetbreads thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels.  Break into skewerable chunks and skewer onto 4 skewers.  (I know--if I used my Thesaurus, I might find another word for skewer.  But I'm not.  Feel free to contribute your ideas in the Comments section.)  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and smear it around with your hand to evenly coat.  Season with salt and pepper.

Lay the skewers on the grill and get to grilling.  Toast each side until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.  (Caution: keep an eye on them.  They'll go from golden brown to burnt in a hurry.)

Remove from the heat and serve warm with a great dipping sauce.  Chimchurri is traditional, but I used a homemade Asian-style soy and vinegar.  Delicious!


Beef Wellington
1 lb Mushrooms (I love a mix of wild mushrooms for a richer flavor)
2 Leeks, trimmed, rinsed and sliced into 1/4 inch quarter-round slices
1 teaspoon fresh Thyme leaves
2 tablespoons Butter or Olive Oil
1 lb Foie Gras
3 lbs Center Cut Beef Tenderloin
2 tablespoons Bacon Fat
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb Puff Pastry (we used my Mom's homemade Brioche)
1 Egg, beaten (for egg wash)

To make the Duxelles: coarsely chop mushrooms.  Dump it into the food processor along with leeks, thyme and a 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Pulse until the mushrooms are small and evenly-sized pieces, but not a paste.  Melt the butter in a large skillet on medium high heat.  Transfer the mushroom mix to the pan, add any more salt and pepper to taste, and saute until the moisture has mostly evaporated out, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the heat to let cool.

In the mean time, tie the tenderloin like a roast to keep its cylindrical shape.  Sprinkle evenly with salt on all sides.  (Most chefs prefer to not only trim the tenderloin for excess fat and silverskin, but also shape it at this time so everything cooks evenly.  I can see their point, but I know that my family prefers various degrees of doneness in their meat.  When the center is rare, the smaller ends will be medium well.  And that's OK.  Use your judgement.)  Melt the bacon fat in a large skillet (the same one you just used?  Yes.  It's got good flavor...) on high heat.  Sear the tenderloin on all sides, seasoning with pepper as you go.  Remove from the heat place in the refrigerator to cool.  (Remember, you want a sear on the outside and the inside should be cold and raw.)  The searing adds flavor and the tying, searing and refrigeration help keep it's shape.

While cooling, slice the foie gras into thin (1/8 inch) slices.  Assemble the foie gras slices like fish scales (slightly overlapping) on a large sheet(s) of plastic wrap.  It's OK if some of the plastic wrap shows through--this part doesn't need to be perfect, just reasonably consistent.  Spread the duxelles evenly over the foie gras.  Cut the string off the tenderloin, lay it on the foie gras and duxelles palette, and then wrap the plastic firmly around the whole thing.  Refrigerate for 30 min to an hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On a floured board, roll out your puff pastry to a sheet large enough to encase the tenderloin with a little extra overlap.  Move it to a sheet of parchment paper.  (This makes moving it and cleaning so much easier.)  Working quickly, but gently, unwrap the meat from the plastic wrap.  The foie gras should now stick to the duxelles which should stick to the tenderloin.  Place in the center of the pastry and wrap the pastry firmly around it.  Trim the excess off the ends, keeping the trimmings for decoration or a puff pastry dessert (as you desire).   Seal any seams with egg wash.  Using a sharp knife, slice a few small vents into the pastry.  Transfer the parchment paper to a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet into the oven.

Bake until the desired doneness.  I like rare to medium rare in the center, so using your probe thermometer, cook until it reads 125 degrees in the center.  Remove from the oven.  Take a second to admire your beautiful handiwork, then cover with foil and let rest for 20 minutes.  20 MINUTES!  No touching it, no matter how good it looks.

Starting in the center, slice into one inch slices and serve.  Some people will want to add a sauce.  This is so rich and flavorful that you really don't need it.  Gilding the lily and whatnot.


Rommegrot
This pudding is completely stolen from NPR.  Yes, NPR.  Not Delicious Dish with Alec Baldwin, but the real thing.  Simple and delicious.  Just like Carl Kasell.
1/2 cup white rice
2 cups half-and-half or cream
Pinch of salt
4-6 cups milk
Butter, Cinnamon and Sugar

Heat the rice, half-and-half and salt in a double boiler over low heat. Cover and simmer for a minimum of 2 hours, adding additional milk as the mixture thickens. This is the minimum time you need for the rice to break down. Ideally, it should cook over low heat for 6-8 hours for a smoother, creamier rommegrot. Continue to add milk as needed and periodically check the double boiler to keep it from boiling dry. If it does boil dry it will turn your rommegrot brown. You can adjust the recipe and amounts of cream versus milk to suit your taste, although it is not recommended to make it with just milk.

When ready to serve, make sure the rommegrot is at a pudding consistency. Serve warm with a dollop of butter and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

"Traditional Norwegian rommegrot does not use rice. It is essentially just cooked cream with flour, but in this recipe the rice acts as a thickening agent instead. I'm not sure how my family started making it with rice, but this is the way my Norwegian grandmother and also, I believe, the way her mother made it."

Mmmmmm ...... Milk Jello

Some desserts deserve more recognition than they receive.  Panna cotta is one of those under-recognized, overlooked, and often neglected delectable treats. 

While we stayed in Stresa Italy, a little village on Lake Maggiore in the Piemonte region at the base of the Italian Alps, H and I fell in love with the local cuisine: fresh homemade gnocchi,  delicious cured meats, soft and hard cheeses and local wines.  (Note: wine is often cheaper than water for table service!)  And, as it turns out, Piemonte is also the likely birthplace of panna cotta, or "cooked cream." 

Panna cotta shares certain similarities with custards: a sweetened and congealed milk base.  The milk and cream are simmered lightly allowing the fats to begin to tighten into twisting bonds (like what happens when cream curdles in your coffee-- but without the sour milk flavor, and less chunky).  Unlike custard, however, there are no eggs and we don't continue to bake the fats in the oven.  Panna cotta, is therefore lighter, more ethereal, and frankly far less complicated to make.  Its flavor stands up well by itself, rich and creamy, but panna cotta most often provides a sumptuous background for fruits, sauces and other flavors. 

Without all the heat and the eggs of a custard, panna cotta uses gelatin as the structural agent.  In spite of popular rumor, gelatin is NOT made of horses' hooves, but is an animal byproduct.  For a really good time, read all about what it is and how it works, here.  The original jelling agent was most likely boiled fish bones, but fortunately for us, powdered gelatin is much easier to use and without flavor.

Surprise your friends and family.  For dessert tonight, try:

Panna Cotta

1 cup Whole Milk

2 3/4 teaspoons Unflavored Gelatin

3 cups Heavy Cream

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

6 tablespoons Sugar

pinch of Salt

Pour the milk into a medium sauce pan and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface of the milk.  Let stand for 10 minutes to allow the gelatin to hydrate.  Get the rest of your ingredients ready and also fill a very large mixing bowl 1/2 way with ice and add enough water to let the ice cubes float off the bottom.  Get another bowl ready that is small enough to fit inside the large bowl, and large enough to hold about 6-8 cups of liquid.  Also set out the ramekins or cups you will use for chilling.

Heat the milk and gelatin on medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the temperature reaches 135 degrees on an instant read thermometer.  Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt until dissolved.

Pour the milk mixture, the heavy cream and the vanilla into the smaller of the two bowls and place that bowl into the ice water bath.  Stirring constantly, chill the mixture to 50 degrees. 

Pour the finished mixture into the cups, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. 

To serve, dip the cup into hot water for 15-20 seconds, making sure not to let any water spill into the panna cotta.  Wet your finger and gently run it around  the edge of the cup loosening the panna cotta's hold.  Turn out onto a serving plate and top with your favorite syrup, sauce, fruit, nuts, etc.  (In the finished picture, H made a Sangria Syrup!)