Vermont food from a country kitchen - Carol Egbert

Citron – Persian Apple

2012-04-18T11:11:11Z

A fragrant fruit, citron was the first citrus to reach the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Unlike lemons, limes or oranges its not the juicy segments in the center that are most valued, its the thick white rind under the bright yellow peel.

Citron rind is candied and used to flavor sweet cakes and cookies or eaten as a sweet treat with a cup of espresso.

Citron rind can also be served on its own flavored with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt or added to a salad of oranges and fennel.

The lemon scented rind is said to keep moths away from woolens.

Fennel – Finocchio

2012-04-15T14:28:49Z

Wild fennel, more than six feet tall, grows in the Sicilian countryside. In Greek mythology, Prometheus used a stock of fennel to steal fire from the gods. The fennel in the market is a refined cousin of the wild fennel.

The inflated base of the fennel stalks is sweet, crisp and has a mild anise flavor.

Fennel is served both cooked and raw. The feathery fronds add flavor to poached fish.

Sliced fennel combined with blood oranges, extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt is my favorite way to serve it.

These pieces of fennel look like the extinct, fennel antelope.

(The Greeks have mythological beasts, why can’t I?)

Fava Beans, Vicia faba or Broad Beans

2012-04-14T09:35:11Z

Another ancient vegetable, fava beans have been a part of the Mediterranean diet since 6000 BC.

After the fava beans are removed from the pod, each bean is then husked to remove it’s thick outer cover before it is steamed.

Fava beans can be grilled whole, over an open fire, until the pod is soft and charred a bit. Splashed with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with coarse sea salt, diners shell their own beans.

Just as when I eat artichokes or corn on the cob, there seems to be more on my plate when I have finished eating fava beans than when I started.

Radicchio di Treviso

2012-04-14T09:39:58Z

Radicchio is an ancient vegetable. Pliny the Elder, (23 AD – 79 AD), suggested that radicchio purified the blood and aided insomniacs in their quest for a good night’s sleep.

When radicchio is dug up, the leaves are green, then, they are put in dark sheds and the leaves turn maroon as the plant stops producing chlorophyll.

(Just like maple leaves in Vermont!)

Radicchio can grilled and served with a splash of olive oil, shredded and stirred into risotto or added to a mixed salad.

Cooked radicchio is less bitter than raw radicchio.

This section through the stem reminds me of Renni Mackintosh’s rose.

Romanesco – Fractal Vegetable

2012-04-11T16:27:03Z

Romanesco is in the market.

Some call it broccoli, others call it cauliflower and there are those who call it broccoflower.

I call it gorgeous.

Individual curds, that’s what the florets are called, are smaller versions of the whole. Each curds is composed of even smaller versions of itself. In mathematical terms, it is a logarithmic spiral or recursive helical arrangement of cones.

I steamed this tasty, mathematical delight until it was tender and then seasoned it with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Tonight we are having pasta with Romanesco and garlic. Wish you were here.

Easter Monday

2012-04-09T11:50:41Z

Everything, except cafe’s and the sea seems to be closed today because it’s Easter Monday. We moved from one flat to another yesterday, and emptied the fridge as well. An empty fridge and shuttered markets presented a bit of a challenge at lunch time. fortunately we were able to get a loaf of bread from our favorite cafe on Via Roma.

Charles sliced the bread, I toasted it in a bit of butter in a frying pan, (we are ‘roughing it’, making do without a toaster or an oven), and then we had to decide between wild berry jam or honey blended with hazelnuts. I chose some of each.

Although Palm Sunday has come and gone I thought you might like to see the handmade palm decorations that are sold in the piazza on the Sunday before Easter.

Check back, I’ll be posting more interesting bits soon.

A Letter from Rome – Pasta, Gorgonzola & Guanciale

2012-04-04T12:53:05Z

Dear Friends,

I can’t believe it’s been more than a week since Charles and I left Vermont. We started our Italian holiday staying with our friend Fleur who lives, works and eats in Rome.

We are now in Ortigia in Sicily, where we are continuing to live, work and eat. I’m not writing about a meal I cooked because I haven’t! Rather, I want tell you about some of the lovely sweet and savory dishes I’ve had in Rome.

Paving in Rome

On our first day, after walking to the Pantheon, we had a nap while Fleur made dinner. She sauteed thin veal cutlets, each topped with a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf, and made a sauce by reducing a bit of white wine in the sauté pan. She explained that what we were eating was called saltimbocca, which translates as “jump in mouth”. (It did.) Chicken or turkey cutlets, a thin slice of ham and fresh sage leaves would make a successful New England version.

Bakery Breakfast

Colazione is breakfast in Italy. It is a modest but sweet meal. Eggs and bacon are saved for pasta carbonara, (spell check suggested that I spell it coronary), cornflakes are for American exchange students and oatmeal is for the horses. At the corner bakery, we chose pastries layered with apple, oozing ricotta, and others filled with chocolate and hazelnut and shared them as we walked to the cafe for cappuccino. A New England version might be a slice of apple pie, a cheese Danish or toast slathered with Nutella. I suggest serving a pot of tea because no one makes cappuccino like the Italians.

Spaghetti Sculpture

We found a small restaurant near the Forum for lunch. There were four of us so we ordered two pastas – penne with a tomato sauce flavored with pancetta, (Italian bacon), and gnocchi in a simple tomato sauce – and two salads – one, a bowl of fresh mixed greens flavored at the table, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and the other, thin slices of aged, dried beef, called bresaola, with radicchio and wedges of lemon. To recreate this meal, pick up some fresh pasta, tomato sauce and mixed greens at the market, tune your radio to the broadcast of the Metropolitan opera and forget about the bresaola.

After more walking, we found the mother of all gelaterias, Italian for ‘heavenly ice cream store’. There were at least fifty customers, some friends, some Romans and many countrymen (tourists). The cases were filled with an overwhelming variety of creamy, frozen goodness. It was easy to resist ‘The Standards’ – strawberry, chocolate, coffee, and pistachio, and even the less familiar melon, pineapple, mango, and raspberry. We met our match in the exotic section. I got four flavors in two scoops – dark chocolate with hazelnuts and walnut with figs. Alison outdid us all with one scoop of strawberry dark chocolate on top of a scoop of pear and cheese gelato. Did I mention that she’s pregnant?

After another nap, we put on our walking shoes and crossed the Tiber. Fleur took us to her favorite restaurant in Trastevere for a six-course dinner after she had extracted my promise not to reveal its name, (jet lag made that an easy promise to keep.)

We began with sea bass carpaccio topped with white truffles, and a pasta with fava beans and more shaved white truffles. Then, we were served a steaming platter of Matthew’s favorite – pasta all’amatriciana. That’s pasta topped with a tomato sauce flavored with guanciale – un-smoked Italian bacon made with cured pig’s cheeks. Then came the steak, a thick cut of chianina beef served rare and topped with a squeeze of lemon juice and a splash of olive oil and accompanied with grilled red endive.

Ancient Corner

After devouring a bowl of Romanesco broccoli that had been steamed and then sauteed in olive oil with garlic we were ready for dessert. Fleur insisted that we try her favorite – gorgonzola semifreddo. Gorgonzola is soft blue cheese and semi-freddo is similar to soft serve ice cream. Blue cheese ice cream sounded pretty strange to me, until I tasted it. It was scrumptious!A small mountain of almond and lemon flavored Italian cookies accompanied the bill for dinner. We staggered home to bed. The only way I can imagine re-creating this meal is to fly to Rome, phone Fleur and offer to treat her to dinner at her favorite restaurant.

I’ll write more when I can. Sipping cappuccino in the morning, finding sandwiches in the market mid-day, watching the sun set over the sea and enjoying dinners prepared by others is taking most of my time.

Love to you,

Carol

Frangipane Plum Tart

2012-03-07T15:49:47Z

In less than two weeks, Charles and I will be on our way to Sicily. We will be there for nearly seven weeks, missing the end of winter ice and snow and the muck of mud season. Because of an unexpected bit of good luck, our house will be rented while we are away. With renters needs in mind, I have been making empty space in cupboards, cabinets and closets. As I sorted through the pantry, I discovered a rock hard block of almond paste from last years trip to Sicily. (That’s it on the right next to chocolate from Modica.)

Rather than throw it away, I decided to use it to make a frangipane tart. Although, I had eaten frangipane tarts I had never made one. I adapted a recipe for frangipane filling that I found on the Internet, and made a tart to share with friends at a cozy dinner party on Friday night. It had a buttery lemon crust and a frangipane filling studded with tiny French plums I had found at the market. Here’s how I did it:

Frangipane Plum Tart

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: Carol Egbert

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 40 mins

Total time: 2 hours

Serves: 8

This tart has a buttery crust filled with almond frangipane filling studded with plums.

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tablespoons ice water
Frangipani Filling
1 1/4 pounds firm-ripe plums
8 ounces almond paste, grated
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Glaze
1/3 cup peach jam
2 Tablespoons boiling water
1 Tablespoon orange liqueur

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º Make dough first because it has to chill before being baked and then cool completely before it is filled and baked again.
Combine flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a mixing bowl.
Use pastry blender to combine dry ingredients with the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs with small lumps of butter.
Add egg yolks, vanilla and one tablespoon of the water to form dough.
Turn dough out onto counter and knead it to distribute butter.
If dough is ‘shaggy’, add an additional tablespoon of water to make the dough workable.
Form dough into a disc, use well-floured fingers to pat the dough into an even layer on bottom and one inch up the sides of nine-inch spring form pan.
Chill dough for 30 minutes, prick bottom of tart shell with a fork, cover dough with foil and fill with pie weights.
Bake 5 minutes, until edges are golden, remove pie weights and foil, bake crust 15 minutes more, until golden.
Cool the crust, in pan, while preparing plums and the frangipane filling.
Cut plums in half, discard seeds, and set aside.
Combine almond paste, butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Beat until light and fluffy.
Reduce speed to low, add eggs, one at a time, beat well after each addition.
Beat in the flour and salt.
Spread filling in tart shell and poke plum halves into the filling.
Bake tart 70 minutes or until frangipane is puffed and golden.
Top with glaze made by combining jam with water.
When jam has melted, stir in orange liquor.
Drizzle glaze on hot tart and cool it in pan on rack for 15 minutes before removing the side of the pan.
Cool the tart completely before serving.

Notes

Peaches, apricots, or berries can be substituted for plums. If you can’t get to the market in Ortigia, almond paste can be found in the baking aisle at most markets. It is not the same as marzipan.

Although the almond paste I used came from Sicily, it is readily available in the baking aisle at the grocery store. The French plums were quite small, if you use larger red plums or fresh Italian prunes you may want to cut them into wedges. Dried beans or uncooked rice can be used instead of pie weight.

I’m looking forward to making this tart with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and peaches. But, I’ll have to wait until we get back from Italy in May.

Click here to receive an email notification of my next post and to subscribe to the newsletter from Carol’s Kitchen.

Sarah Pinneo’s Julia’s Child & Muffet Bread Visit my Vermont Kitchen

2012-03-01T20:54:48Z

I’ve invited Sarah Pinneo to share her thoughts and a recipe. Sarah is a friend, food writer, cook book author, and a novelist. This month, she celebrates the publication of her book Julia’s Child (Plume / Penguin U.S.A. 2012).

Her cookbook The Ski House Cookbook is on my bookshelf and I use it whether or not there is snow on the ground. Her new book, Julia’s Child, is a delectable comedy for every woman who’s ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker.

Here’s Sarah…..

I wrote Julia’s Child because I was fascinated by the new culture of “mompreneurs,” these fabulous women who, when they can’t find something they need for their children, start a company to manufacture it. In the book, mom Julia Bailey struggles to decide whether she has the grit and patience—or the financing—to see it through.

When I visit with book clubs who have read Julia’s Child together, I enjoy relating some of the stories that real-life foodie entrepreneurs told me. I spoke to over a dozen moms (and dads!) who started food companies in their basements, while pregnant, and without adequate funding. Some of these companies are still small, and some of them have gone national. Their misadventures fueled the drama—and the comedy—in my novel. It was a fun story to research and to write.

When I finished the text, I realized that it would be great fun to include some of Julia’s recipes. Since I’m a food writer and a recipe developer, I assumed that would be, as they say, a piece of cake.

The trouble was that Julia’s (fictional!) successes were for tasty baked goods called “muffets.” In the book, Julia is very proud of the fact that muffets contain very little added sugar. But when it came time to write the recipes for the book, it was harder than I thought to create low sugar recipes that I actually wanted to eat.

Sugar, which is a big ingredient in most quick breads, acts as a moistening agent as well as a sweetener. When you leave it out, you risk a bland, dry result. After quite a few flops, I finally succeeded with Squash Carrot Raisin Bread. So to pull off this recipe, I compromised by adding a half cup of honey. That’s about a third as much added sweetener as most quick breads have, but it still tastes delicious. The raisins also contribute to the natural sweetness. The result is a naturally sweet, moist cake-like snack bread. Enjoy!

NOTE: a gremlin got into my computer and changed all of the measurements in the earlier version of this recipe. The recipe below is the corrected one. Sorry for any kitchen disasters.

Squash, Carrot Raisin Muffet Bread

Recipe type: Quick Bread

Author: Sarah Pinneo

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 9 pieces

Ingredients

7/8 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup raisins, chopped
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup yellow summer squash or zucchini, finely grated
1/4 cup carrot, finely grated
1/3 cup sunflower seeds

Instructions

Grease and flour a 9 × 9 square baking pan. Preheat oven to 325°F.
Combine the flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.
Cream butter and honey together until well combined.
Add the oil and raisins, and stir until the raisins are well distributed.
Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix until combined.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, and then stir in the squash, carrots, and sunflower seeds.
Bake for 35–40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Muffet bread will be a beautiful golden color on top.

Notes

Cool for ten minutes in the pan, and then turn out the loaf onto a rack and cool completely, or cut squares from the pan.

Sarah lives in Hanover, New Hampshire. Contact her for book club events at sarah [at] sarahpinneo [dot] com.

To receive an email notification of my next post and to subscribe to occasional newsletters from Carol’s Kitchen click here.

Roasted Pears and a Pear Cake the Vermont Way

2012-02-29T13:39:47Z

When I began to paint, my primary subjects were pears. No matter how imperfect my rendering, the shape was distinctive enough that neither Charles, nor my sons, said things like “Nice apple,” or even worse “What’s that?” At the market, I carefully chose each pear for its color or shape; pears were subjects, to be painted, not fruit to be eaten. Those days are gone, now I think that pears are to be eaten, any time of the day. Recently, I stirred pieces of pear into oatmeal for breakfast, made a simple lunch by putting a pear, a chunk of cheese and a piece of crusty bread on a plate, served roasted pears at dinner with sauteed flounder filet, and baked a pear cake studded with walnuts, crystallized ginger and poppy seeds for tea time. Serving whole or sliced pears is effortless, roasting pears is nearly as easy.It was my friend Peter who introduced me to roasted pears. He served them as a minor, side dish in an extraordinary dinner that featured a perfectly roasted goose. He shared his recipe as we enjoyed a creamy, frozen lemon mousse and warned that step #3 was the most difficult. Here it is in his words:

Peter’s Roasted Pears

“I’ve found that red Bartlett pears are the best for roasting.

There are nine steps.

Buy one pear for each serving.
Make sure the oven is turned on. It can be set at anything from 300º to 425º.
Remove the pesky, sticky little label from on each pear. Be thorough, some pears have TWO!
Wash pears.
Place pears in a container large enough to hold them in a single layer. Do not use a container that will melt or catch fire.
Put pears into hot oven. Remember to close oven door.
Bake until tender. (20 to 35 minutes)
Serve with a knife and fork.
Share this recipe.

Each step is crucial to insure success.”

Roasted pears are scrumptious, I make them a couple of times a week and have found step 9 to be a great pleasure. Although Peter recommends red Bartlett pears I have successfully roasted red and green Anjou and Bartlett pears

Here’s how I made the pear cake:

Roasted Pears and a Pear Cake the Vermont Way

5.0 from 1 reviews

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: Carol Egbert

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 65 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 12

Spicy pear cake, lovely for dessert, tea time or breakfast.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 Tablespoons poppy seeds
2/3 cups chopped walnuts
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, minced
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 pears, peeled and grated to make 2 cups
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and floured a 10-inch Bundt pan.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, poppy seeds, walnuts and crystallized ginger in a large mixing bowl and set it aside.
Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, and beat after each addition.
Add grated pears and vanilla.
Turnmixer to low, and add dry ingredients. Mix until there are no streaks of flour.
Spoon batter into pan and put it into the center of the preheated oven.
Bake 65 minutes in my oven, the cake was browned and firm on top and a toothpick inserted in the center came out dry.

Notes

Rather than frosting the cake, I sprinkled it with a generous dusting of vanilla sugar. Next time, I’m going to top it with a simple lemon glaze made by combining a cup and a half of confectioners’ sugar with enough fresh lemon juice to make a thin glaze.

Charles has been serving as salad chef lately and one of our favorites has been his pear blue cheese salad. He makes it by topping a bowl of shredded iceberg lettuce with diced pear, crumbled blue cheese and mustard vinaigrette and then declares it “a salad beyond com PEAR!”