Kitchen Gadgets I Could Live Without But Would Prefer Not To: 1970s Nutmeg Grater

This vintage nutmeg grater has graced my kitchen and grated my nutmegs for 37 years (I counted backwards and, yes, that's about right).  I bought it at a now-closed (and more's the pity) gift store in downtown Davis, my hometown, called Discoveries, a place with small beginnings in 1960 that grew to occupy three levels - basement, main and 2nd floor - next to what used to be the Cinema II indie movie theater.  My older boys will remember fondly the basement level, filled with quality childrens' toys including their beloved Legos.

Discoveries was the first gift store of its kind in Davis to feature greeting cards that were not Hallmark (a rarity in those days), small kitchen appliances, table top ware (I bought my first cloth napkins there - probably in shades of avocado and gold), small unique gifts, the sweetest gift wrap around - their signature emblem sticker, a gold sunburst, affixed a tiny bouquet of dried straw flowers to each beautifully wrapped package - and the most complete section of kitchen gadgets I've seen anywhere.  Bar none.  One could say, and I do, that my kitchen began in Discoveries.

Dorothy Briggs, one of the original three owners who went on to be the sole owner/manager until 1993, was a pretty scary lady.  As a newly married 23 year old, I remember when I wanted to return a duplicated wedding gift and she glowered at me, sending me away with a curt admonition to "come back when it's not so busy" and just what was I thinking, anyway?

So, what's so special about this nutmeg grater?  It's made of stainless steel, has never worn out (I stopped using pre-ground nutmeg when I bought this, freshly grated nutmeg being far superior), the non-grated portion of a nutmeg nut may be stored in the lidded compartment, and it was fabricated in West Germany.  Yes, West Germany.  Which, last time I looked, does not exist anymore.

Kinda like Discoveries.

You can buy a stainless steel nutmeg grater, made in China, in my Amazon Store, but if you truly want one like I have you'll have to go antique hunting.

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Slow Cooker Braised Rabbit with Garlic, Cippolini Onions & Thyme

I am not feeling well.  Haven't been for almost a month.  That nasty cold/flu thingy knocked me flat.  A few days ago I began to recover; almost felt like myself again.  Went back to work, saw a few plays in Ashland.  Felt not perfectly fine, but at least better.  Then the headaches began, temperature spiked, felt hot, clammy, chilled all in the same minute.  Went to the doc and whaddaya know?  I have a sinus infection.  Arrrg.  Back to laying around, trying to rest, trying to get better.
Soooo boring.

Why am I sharing this?  Two reasons:  1) If you get, or have, that nasty cold/flu thingy?, take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest and do not jump up and do the samba just because you think you are better. It's a nasty, nasty virus that will knock you down again if you get too cocky;  2) The dish you see above is directly related to how much effort I was willing to put into dinner.  For all that, I was able to use ingredients I already had in the house and garden, it required very little prep time, and turned out to have the taste and comfort level my weary self was craving.  The look of the finished dish isn't going to win any awards, I know that, but comfort level?  A winner for sure.

So here's what you do (and in the Cook's Notes I'll tell you what I would do differently next time):

Pull a rabbit out of your hat freezer and defrost it overnight in the fridge.  If you don't have a rabbit, use a chicken.

Peel six red cippolini onions and twelve or more cloves of garlic.  Leave them whole.  Get out some whole peppercorns (Tellicherry are my favorite), some flakey sea salt, a couple of bay leaves (fresh if you can get them; I happen to have a bay tree growing just outside my door) and a handful of fresh thyme sprigs.  If you have some bacon hanging around, already cut into large-ish dice and already cooked (because Mr CC has been cooking for me and he loves bacon), use about a half cup of that.  (If you are feeling well enough to go to the store, buy some good smokey bacon, cut it into large-ish dice - about 3/4-inch square -  and cook it.)

You will need some dry white wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc) and some homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock.

And that's it.

                             

In the slow cooker, lay down the whole onions, garlic cloves and peppercorns first then place 1/2 of the thyme sprigs over them, then 1/2 of the bacon pieces.

                             

Sprinkle the rabbit all over with sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper to your liking.

Quickly sear the rabbit in a hot skillet, in a slick of bacon fat if you have it, if not, olive oil with a small amount of butter is fine, until lightly browned all over, then place the rabbit over the aromatics in the slow cooker.  Using 1/2 of the white wine, deglaze the skillet, scraping loose the browned bits from the bottom and pour that over the rabbit.

Sprinkle the remainder of the bacon pieces and the remainder of the thyme sprigs on top of the rabbit.

Gently pour in the rest of the white wine and the chicken stock.

Set the slow cooker to high for the first 4 hours, then low for the next 4-6 hours, depending on how long it takes your slow cooker to render the rabbit fall-off-the-bone-tender.

Go back to bed and wait rest.
After 4 hours the scent wafting through the kitchen will drive you crazy, but you must wait until tenderness is achieved.
Sleep a little, it'll help.

Slow Cooker Braised Rabbit with Garlic, Cippolini Onions and Thyme

Christine's Original Recipe

Print

Ingredients:

1 whole rabbit, skinned (a chicken may be substituted)

12 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole

6 cippolini onions (red or yellow), peeled and left whole

10-12 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bays leaves, fresh if you have them, dry are ok

1/2 cup cooked bacon pieces in approx. 3/4-inch dice

5-6 whole peppercorns

sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1 and 1/2 cups dry white wine, divided

1 cup low-sodium stock (preferrably home made)

Preparation:

Place the onions, garlic and peppercorns in the bottom of a slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the bacon and 1/2 of the thyme sprigs.

Sear the rabbit in a skillet over high heat in a small amount of fat (bacon fat, duck fat, olive oil, butter - your choice) until golden brown.  Adjust heat so rabbit doesn't burn.

Place the seared rabbit over the aromatics in the slow cooker.

Pour 1/2 of the white wine into the hot skillet and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom, allowing the wine to reduce by half.  Pour this over the rabbit.

Sprinkle the remaining bacon pieces over the rabbit followed by the remaining sprigs of thyme.

Pour the chicken stock and remainder of the white wine into the slow cooker, put the lid on and set the cooker to High for the first 4 hours, then to Low for 4-6 hours thereafter.

If necessary, it's okay to turn the rabbit over once or twice during cooking.

When the rabbit is tender, turn the slow cooker off or set it on Hold.  Using tongs, remove all the thyme stems.

Transfer the rabbit to a warmed plate and divide into individual portions.  Spoons the onions, garlic and juices over and around the rabbit and bring it to the table.

Cook's Notes:

Had I been feeling better, I'd have cut the rabbit into serving pieces before searing and cooking. I think it would be much more manageable that way.  That said, this wasn't all that unmanageable.

Watch out for bones:  this isn't chicken (or maybe you used a chicken?), rabbit bones are tiny. 

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Coming Out From Under a Rock . . .

. . . at least I hope so.

It has been awhile since I've shown up here.  And to be honest, what posts I have written in the past seven months did not have my heart in them.  I didn't know what to say.  What to write.  Simply carrying on as though nothing had happened is not my style.  When changes occur, when life throws punches, I want to share. I am an explainer.  But you know, some things are too private.
So I was quiet.

When I read the recent post of a blogger for whom I have tremendous respect, there it was:  A way with words to re-enter the world of recipes, stories and photos without spilling my guts.  In other words, come out from under my rock.  Because make no mistake, I've been in hiding.




So now, with a bit of trepidation, I will begin again, trying out my voice, here on these pages.

This minute, there is a whole rabbit braising away in my slow-cooker.  I didn't mean to be a copycat, in fact had forgotten all about the recipe when I pulled the rabbit out of the freezer, and I certainly chose my own ingredients for my own reasons but, all the same, something was resonating in my culinary sub-conscious so I've got to credit and thank Lucy for my inspiration - on so very many levels - for the recipe to follow . . .

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Jade Chocolates: My New BFF

 Tart dried green mangoes, spicy lime-chili rub, flecks of gray sea salt, all atop dark, bitter-sweet, perfectly bite-sized chocolate tiles. Oh, my.

One bite and I was smitten.

I bought a box, shared them with friends, then had to leave San Francisco the next morning to drive home.  No time to buy more.

A week went by. Cravings set in.  I prowled their web site to no avail. (Well, she had told me they wouldn't be posted for a few weeks yet, now hadn't she?)

 And then...  And then..., there they were. I couldn't submit the order quickly enough; my fingers tumbling all over the keyboard in my haste.

Within a few days they arrived on our doorstep and Mr CC brought them in; wrapped in a nondescript brown shipping box, he had no idea what he was holding (heh, heh).

Yes, I share them. But sparingly, people, sparingly.

Jade Chocolates is an award-winning, San Francisco based business run by Mindy Fong, owner and chocolatier, and one very nice person. Do read her bio and check out the rest of the chocolates she creates by blending superior chocolate with teas and spices from Asia and the Pacific Islands.


If you wanted to, and I whole-heartedly encourage you to do so, you can order these lovely mango delights at Jade Chocolates right now and take advantage of their special price.  I think they will make your tongue very, very happy.


Full disclosure: I did not receive a request to review this product, nor have I received any remuneration for doing so. Sometimes I just want to give a shout out.

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Truffle Tremor - Lots of It!

I've never bought a 3-pound wheel of Truffle Tremor before.

At it's usual price per pound, the cost of a wheel hovers around $75; more if purchased outside of Humboldt County.

The other day, however, our beloved, award-winning cheese company, Cypress Grove Chevre, which, by the way, is a mere 12 miles from my kitchen (oh how I love saying that), had a special sale of their  Truffle Tremor and I snatched up a wheel of it lickity-split.

 Do you see the price per pound, people?

What you see here on my kitchen counter is a well-aged wheel of Tremor; to my palate, the most perfect state this cheese can achieve.  The bloom is velvety and white, the ooey-gooey layer just under the rind (called the proteolysis - my favorite part) is thick and runny, the texture of the cheese is dense and crumbly. The taste?  You can read a review I wrote some years ago here.

So, why was it marked down?  I have no idea.

Maybe the good folks at Cypress Grove just wanted to give us an early Valentine's gift.

Well Cypress Grove, I love you too!

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Kuri Squash Soup with Kale Pesto

February can bring many kinds of weather to us northcoasters:  The ubiquitous rain, of course; frosty mornings; sometimes snow, but also the occasional sunny day to remind us that spring is not far off, no matter what the groundhog saw in your neck of the woods.

So on a recent day, when the sun shone and the temperature reached a balmy 55-degrees, it occured to me that I should use up the remainder of the winter squashes whose presence on my kitchen counter throughout the winter months instills a sense of culinary bounty in my heart.

The squashes I used here were a combination of red kuri and one called Cinderella, which is a French variety, but you can use any orange winter squash that is available to you.  Mine were on the small side, so I used three of them.  I encourage you to use locally grown and organic if you can.

Got pesto?  Swirling a dollop into each serving makes for a nicely visual, and healthy presentation.

Kuri Squash Soup with Kale Pesto
Christine's original recipe
print
Serves 6-8 generous portions
Ingredients:
5 lbs peeled and seeded deep orange squash, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
4-6 small cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1.5-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 very ripe Bosc pear, cored and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc (juice of 1 lemon may be substituted)
1 1/2 to 2 quarts home made or low sodium chicken stock
1 teaspoon porcini powder
1 tablespoon Italian herb blend
olive oil for the sauté (butter is optional)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Preparation:
Assemble and prep your ingredients as listed above.
In a large soup pot, add about 1 tablespoon olive oil or unsalted butter, or a combination of both.
When the oil is hot, lower the heat to medium and add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger and pear.
Stir well and adjust the heat so things will not burn; cover and sweat for about 5 minutes or until the onions are very soft but not caramelized.
Pour in the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any stuck bits, then add the stock, squash, porcini powder and Italian herb mix.
Bring the mixture up to almost boiling, stir, lower the heat so the soup is maintained at a simmer, cover with a lid and allow to cook until the squash is very tender and falls apart when stuck with a fork.
Remove the soup from the heat and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes then purée it with an immersion blender until it is very, very smooth.
Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper if you choose.  Stir well.
Serve with a dollop of kale pesto swirled in and enjoy.

The Italian herb mix that I reach for during the winter months is made by Frontier. It's organic and is available at many natural food stores and co-ops and also in my Amazon Store.

I use a locally made dried porcini powder from the Arcata-based company Hasta be Pasta and I just found out it can be purchased from Amazon so I've put it in my Amazon Store.
The bosc pear:  It had been left on the counter too long and was becoming way too soft for eating out of hand. And while the chickens would have thought it a great treat, it made a nice addition to this soup. What the heck: a squash is a fruit; a pear is a fruit. It worked. End of story.

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Kale Pesto

 My vegetable garden doesn't produce much during our winters, but I can always count on kale.
After a while though, too much of a good thing can wear a bit thin and I struggle to come up with ways to use it.
Over the years, I've made my share of basil pesto, arugula pesto, spinach pesto, and even cilantro pesto but, until now, had not thought to make pesto out of kale, until I made a batch of kuri squash soup the other day and craved a spoonful of home made pesto to swirl into it.

 

Now, I ask you, what is pesto but green leafy things, garlic, nuts, cheese, and olive oil all buzzed up into a delicious paste?  You can add a bit of lemon juice or a pinch of red pepper flakes to spice things up a bit, but those are the basics.  So why not kale?

 Turns out, why not kale?  It makes a deeply green, healthful spoonful to swirl into your winter soups and stews. Plus, it tastes really, really good.  I think you should try it.

Christine's Kale Pesto
print recipe
Ingredients:
4-6 cups (about 6.5 ounces) young kale leaves, ribs removed, coarsely chopped
1 large fresh garlic clove, smashed and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup coarsely chopped, toasted walnuts
3/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup olive oil or walnut/olive oil mix
juice of 1 Meyer lemon
1/2 teaspoon gray sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:
Place the kale, nuts, garlic and cheese in a food processor and pulse until well combined.
With the machine running, drizzle the oil(s) through the feed tube until the pesto is uniformly ground  and spoonably moist. You know, just like pesto.
Add the lemon juice and pulse a few times then taste.  Adjust the seasonings with the sea salt and black pepper, pulsing until incorporated.
Remove from the processor and spoon into a lidded storage container.  Use within a week.
Swirl into soups and stews, serve over hot pasta, shake into vinaigrette. It's all good and good for you.

I used both Russian Red and Lacinato kale for this recipe. Pick only the tender young leaves; the larger, older ones may taste too strong.
Tear the leaves off of either side of the central rib before using.  (My chickens love the ribs.)
I like to freeze what pesto will not be used within a week. Here's a method that allows you to control the thawed portions:  spray the cups of a plastic ice cube tray with a small amount of cooking spray, wipe gently with a paper towel then fill them with the pesto, pressing down to eliminate air pockets. Freeze until solid then pop out the frozen nuggets and place them in zip top freezer bags for freezer burn-free storage.

Copyright © 2005-2012, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Merry Christmas

Although 2011 has been a year of minimal recipes and posts, many of you dear readers have stuck with me despite my non-productivity, for which I am sincerely grateful.  I hope to return to the delights of culinary activity here at the turn of the new year.  Meantime, I hope the holidays are bringing you comfort and joy and that you are looking forward to a bright new year in 2012.


PS - Don't know what happened to my header graphic; do know I've got to fix it.

Copyright © 2005-2011, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Recipe for Spatchcocked Pan-Roasted Chicken - Redux

[Ed. note: Way back in 2008, I sent this post to my friend Paz at The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz and neglected to put it on my own blog. I've decided to remedy that. This update will not have some of the same wording as the original post, but the method and recipe are the same.]

When I posted my Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken recipe a while back, Paz fairly sang its praises from the rooftops of New York and re-posted it on her blog, creating quite a bit of traffic my way. That's just the way she is, thoughtful and generous. And because Paz was so excited about my roasted chicken, I thought it would be fun to show her another method that I think she will find entertaining and make her giggle: Spatchcocking.

Now before your minds head to the gutter, spatchcocking (and, please do visit that link for some very funny, veddy British definitions) is simply a method by which a chicken or other fowl is opened and spread flat, enabling it to cook faster and more evenly. To achieve this, you remove the backbone of the bird, lay it out flat, breast side up, and crack the breast bone to flatten it out.

That's it. Rub it all over with olive oil then sprinkle with your favorite herbs, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put it in a cast iron skillet with a glug or two of wine (red or white, it's your choice) and roast it to perfection. Easy, simple and delicious. If you like giblets, tuck them in and around the bird so they roast together. Oh, and don't forget to baste your bird with those tasty pan juices that will magically appear at the bottom of the skillet.
To spatchcock a chicken:

Put a whole chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board.
Using poultry shears or other strong kitchen shears, begin cutting up one side of the backbone beginning at the tail end. You may have to use a bit of pressure to cut through some of the bones, especially when you get to the bones that connect the wings to the body.
When one side is fully cut, do the same thing on the other side of the backbone, starting again from the tail end.
When the backbone is completely severed from the chicken, set it aside and inspect the chicken where you made the cuts. Remove any small bones laying about that could come loose in the cooking process and get stuck in a guest's teeth or, worse, in his/her throat.
Small bone inspection done, turn your chicken over and spread it out on the cutting board as shown in the photo.
Using your hand, push hard on the breast bone until it cracks or gives to the point that the chicken lies very flat on the board.

There. You're done. You've just spatchcocked a chicken. Now, cook it...

Christine's Spatchcocked Pan-Roasted Chicken
print recipe

Serves 4-6 chicken-loving people or 6-8 daintier eaters
Ingredients:
1 (4-5 pound) broiler or fryer chicken preferrably with giblets, preferrably free-range
Good olive oil
2 tablespoons (or more) dried herbs - I used Made in Napa Valley's Meritage Rub, which I highly recommend
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
olive oil spray for the pan
1/4 cup (a few glugs) of your favorite red or white wine

Preparation:

Rub the bird all over with good olive oil. Do the same with the giblets and the backbone if you are using them (see Cook's Notes.)
Sprinkle the herb rub, salt and pepper all over both sides of the bird, pressing into the skin to help them adhere.
Lightly spray a large cast iron skillet (I used a 12-inch one, old Wagner Ware, without which I would be one unhappy cook) with the olive oil.
Place the chicken breast side up in the skillet, arranging the legs and wings so it all fits snugly. The underside (inside) of the chicken should be flat in the skillet.
Tuck the giblets around and under the wings and neck area and lay the backbone under the legs as shown in the photo.
Pour the wine over the bird, cover the skillet with foil and place in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.
At the 45-minute mark, remove the foil from the skillet and baste your bird, giblets and all, with the pan juices.
Close the oven and roast for 15 more minutes, basting once again during that time.
Stick an instant-read temperature guage in the meatiest part of the thigh; a nicely done chicken should register 160 degrees farenheit and the juices from the joints should run clear.
Remove the skillet from the oven and baste the chicken one more time before transferring it to a cutting board where you will let it rest for 10 minutes. Remove the giblets to a plate.
Pour the pan drippings into a fat separator and decant into a warm serving bowl or pitcher.

To cut into serving pieces, using kitchen or poultry shears, divide the bird into two halves, each having a half breast, a wing and a leg-thigh. Separate the entire leg-thigh piece and finally cut the breast pieces into two equal halves, cross-wise, leaving the wing attached to one of the pieces. This will give you three pieces from each side, which will nicely feed six hungry people. For daintier eaters, separate the thigh from the leg, thus being able to share your dish with 8 guests.

Cook's Notes:
I love giblets and I love the tasty morsels of meat on the backbone of a chicken, especially the tiny tenderloins. If you can find them, see if you don't agree with me.
The corn photo? Sometimes a food photo is so delectable, it must be shared.

Copyright © 2005-2011, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Recipe for Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with Raspberry Swirl

I coulda made this with fresh organic raspberries.

I coulda driven the 12 miles to get them - 24 miles round trip.

Coulda, but I didn't.

Instead I had a Trader Joe's moment:  organic raspberry spread and raspberry wine; both in the fridge, both cold.

It took just 5 minutes to put this together plus 20 minutes to freeze.

It could be in your dessert bowls tonight . . .

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with Raspberry Swirl

Christine's original recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups plain, organic whole fat yogurt (low fat is fine)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (or 8 to 12 packets Splenda)
4-ounces raspberry fruit spread
2 tablespoons raspberry wine



Preparation:
Combine the yogurt, vanilla and sugar in a large mixing bowl, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Keep very cold until ready to freeze.
Combine the raspberry wine and raspberry fruit spread in a small measuring cup. Cover and keep cold.
Freeze the yogurt mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
When the yogurt is frozen, place one-third of it in a lidded container that can go into your freezer, spoon 1/2 of the raspberry mixture over that, then spoon one-third more of the yogurt over the raspberry layer, and repeat with the remaining raspberry mixture ending with the last third of the yogurt on top.
Cut down through the yogurt a few times with a knife. Smooth the top.
Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the yogurt to keep ice crystals from forming then snap on the lid and freeze for several hours until ready to serve.  Can be frozen overnight but if that's the case, bring it out and set it on the counter 1/2 hour before serving so it can soften.

I like my frozen yogurt on the tart side. If you like yours sweeter, add up to 2/3 cup sugar.
I think that using whole milk yogurt works best to achieve creaminess, but low-fat and non-fat will work also although they will freeze to a brick.
As can be seen on other frozen yogurt posts of mine, I usually drain the whey from the yogurt before preparing the recipe.  I decided to not do this here to see how it would turn out. It turned out just fine.  Maybe not as creamy, but fine nonetheless.
The Trader Joe's link in this post is not a promotion and I do not receive renumeration for it; it is there so you can see what the product looks like.  Sorry I couldn't find a photo for the raspberry wine, but TG's carries it with their label at about $8 a bottle.

Copyright © 2005-2011, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved