Around the blogosphere

** Reading my adopted niece's blog this morning reminded me how much I miss my not-coming-home-for-Thanksgiving girl. I am grateful for the tutor at Gutenberg College whose family is welcoming Madelaine in for the holiday.

Know a lonely college student in your community? Make sure they have a seat at a table for Thanksgiving. They'll be so grateful (and their parents will be, too!)

Just a few more weeks, Madelaine!

** Tonia has begun writing online again, and she is blowing me away with her words. I am honored to call her my friend.

** There is lots of excitement about Thanksgiving around here. On Wednesday we are heading to a favorite place, the home of friends in the valley. Never again can we say we always have Thanksgiving here; this will be the second time in the last five years we have gone to a friend's house for the big day. I was eager to cook, my friend was eager to recover from some surgery, and there are twelve children who are eager to play and laugh and talk and burn calories before The Big Meal.

What are we cooking? All the usual suspects. Some things we're trying new, though:

Ree's Sweet Potatoes . For Lisa, with love.

A fresher recipe for Green Bean Casserole thanks to Cooks Illustrated.

Cranberry Chutney from Orangette in addition to the ordinary cranberry sauce.

Current challenges include:



finding the recipe for my beloved Cornbread Sausage Stuffing. The page from Martha Stewart's Entertaining fell out a few years ago, and now it is Gone. I miss its smudgy, dripped on, ripped up list of ingredients, and I am wondering if I can recreate the masterpiece without it. This could become an emergency!

Also, Mom is not coming with us, and so I will be without my Gravy Muse. Who knows what the gravy will be like, but our friends are still willing to have me rattle around in their kitchen, crazy risk taking fools that they are.

So, happy Monday, and if you happen to have a copy of the original Entertaining book on your shelf, feel free to email me the best tasting stuffing recipe in the world. That would make my day.

New food blog

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.


I wanted to let you know I will be moving any food conversation over to my recipe blog, recently changed to: Notre Pain Quotidian. Notre Pain Quotidian is French for Our Daily Bread, a beautiful reminder of the sacredness of our everyday lives and Who provides.

Highly recommended

I made this meal last night. Tequila-Lime Chicken, refried beans, rice, pico de gallo, tortillas. All made from scratch. (All recipes found on Pioneer Woman Cooks.)

It was a Major Success.

And FYI: we're on a major budget crunch this summer, but chicken on sale made this a VERY inexpensive meal. And we were eating like kings and queens.

For those of us who cannot handle the lard lifestyle without looking like we're, um, living the lard lifestyle, add some salad fixings, make them pinto beans instead of refrieds, limit the tortilla consumption, and you have a fine substitute. Teenage boys will pick up the slack, though, and make sure there is barely enough leftover for a man's lunch the next day. Ask me how I know.

I would have taken pictures, but....it all disappeared too quickly. And I was too busy enjoying myself.

Cooking adventures continue

In the last week I made Hollandaise sauce for the first time, resulting in delicious Eggs Benedict (my favorite brunch entree.) It was deeply satisfying to have that sauce look and taste so....hollandaisey.

I also made a pear tart and created my own recipe for some glaze. I made it with crystallized ginger and it was the perfect blend of flavors. As silly as it sounds, it made me feel rather accomplished to come up with the idea. The humility comes with the crust, however; it was only so-so. I think I must be too rough for good pastry, and I'll have to learn to tone it down.

And I did a variation on huevos rancheros. They are basically eggs fried with salsa served on warm corn tortillas. Add a few slices of avodado and presto! Yumola. Delicious, colorful, easy breakfast in less than five minutes.

I also made, and forgot to photograph, Julia Child's coq au vin. Wow. Another thick and tasty sauce made out of oodles of wine. It was a winner, and I will make it again. But next time I will take a picture of its perfection.

Valentine's Day recipes

(Photo kept small to hide lamo blurriness.)

Our special Valentine's dinner happened tonight. It was spectacular. I am not usually one to make a main dish with so many steps, but the sauce for the pork roast was unbelievably delicious. If, however, you don't like wine...well....I suggest you find another recipe. There is a bottle of Pinot Noir in this and it reduces into a fragrant, complex, thick sauce that was worth every pot used and every minute spent. Yumola barely does it justice.

The menu:

Pork Shoulder Roast with figs, garlic and Pinot Noir
Potatoes
Green beans
Artisan rolls
Chocolate Panna Cotta

Pork Roast Recipe

1 1/2 cups (10 oz.) dried Mission figs, stems removed, halved lengthwise.
1 T sugar
1/2 t anise seed
2 T plus 1/2 t chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus thyme sprigs
1 bottle Pinot Noir, divided
1 boned pork shoulder (butt) roast (about 3 1/2 pounds)
8 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into large slivers
About 1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
3 T olive oil
About 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. Put figs, sugar, anise seed, 1 T thyme, and 1 cup wine in medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until figs are just tender when pierced, 10-12 minutes. Let cool.

2. With a small, sharp knife, make 16 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts into roast, each cut about one inch long and one inch deep. Insert a garlic sliver, then a fig half into each cut, closing meat over figs; make cuts bigger if necessary. Set aside remaining figs and their liquid.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using kitchen twine, tie up roast. In a small bowl, combine 1 T thyme, 1 1/2 t salt,1/2 t pepper, and the oil. Rub all over roast. (If you don't have twine, but you do have fruit skewers, you can use them to create a sort of modern art look to your roast. Ask me how I know.)

4. Heat a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown pork all over, turning as needed, 8-10 minutes total; adjust heat if needed to keep meat from scorching. Transfer pork, fat side up, to a 9x13 baking pan.

5. Reduce heat to medium. Add reserved garlic to frying pan; cook, stirring often, until light golden, about one minute. Pour in remaining wine from bottle and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Pour mixture over pork and cover tightly with foil.

6. Bake pork until almost tender when pierced, 2 1/2 hours. Stir reserved fig mixture into pan juices; bake, covered, until meat is tender, fifteen to twenty more minutes.

7. Spoon pan juices over pork to moisten, then transfer meat to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Skim fat from pan juices. Pour juices with figs into a large frying pan and boil over high heat until reduced to two cups, about five minutes. Stir in 1/2 t thyme. Season with lemon juice and more salt and pepper if you like; pour into gravy boat. Remove twine from pork, then cut meat crosswise in thick slices. Garnish with thyme sprigs and serve with sauce.


Potatoes

Small, red potatoes. Peeled. Cut most of the way through to create a ruffly-looking potato. Sprinkle with olive oil, freshly ground pepper, kosher salt and herbes de Provence. I cooked in the convection oven at 425 degrees for thirty minutes. Adjust for your oven. Basically cook until browned and crispy.

Green beans

Skinny french green beans, stir fried until bright green and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Artisan rolls

The basic artisan bread recipe, three balls of dough for each roll. Let rise in cupcake pan. Cook approx. 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Cook ahead; reheat in warm oven just before dinner.

Chocolate panna cottas

2 t. unflavored gelatin
2 cups low-fat milk, divided
3/4 cup sugar
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 2/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 t. vanilla extract
Chocolate shavings

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup milk. Let stand 1 minute, then stir and let stand about ten more minutes for gelatin to soften.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups milk, the sugar, semisweet chocolate, and cocoa over medium-high heat until steaming, about three minutes. Add gelatin mixture and whisk gently until it dissolves, two to three minutes. Let cool for fifteen minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk yogurt with vanilla until smooth. Poor and stir chocolate mixture through a fine strainer into yogurt, then whisk mixtures together.
4. Oil eight ramekins (2/3 cup size). Divide yogurt mixture among ramekins. Chill, covered, until set, 4 1/2 hours and up to two days.
5. Run a small metal spatula between panna cottas and sides of ramekins to loosen. Immerse ramekins one at a time to just below rim in hot water until edges of dessert soften, twenty to thirty seconds; lift small plate over each. Hold plate and ramekin together and give a firm shake to release panna cotta, easing it out gently with the spatula if needed.
6. Scatter chocolate shavings over desserts if you like.

Both pork and panna cotta recipes are from Sunset Magazine's Best Recipes 2010. My mother worked for Sunset Magazine a lifetime ago, so I have always been partial to their publications, but this one is particularly good. Lots of ethnic recipes, plenty of fresh flavors and creative ideas, but not overdone. I will be making lots more recipes in the weeks and months to come. Next up: Tarragon bubble fling and spicy mango shrimp -- yum!

Yesterday

Someone was skiing in paradise.

Someone else was outside in their jammies and gardening clogs, photographing the ribbon of light across the valley in the early morning,

and being surprised by a rafter of turkeys. (yes, a rafter....),

and being delighted by the fact that this book

is the real deal. Homemade artisan bread really is possible (and easy.)

Cooking with Guiness

Since the rain shows no sign of stopping , hot comfort food is the special du jour around here. This weekend we had:

Guiness Stew (adapted from a Guiness Meat Pie recipe found on Facebook)

1/4 C oil, preferably olive
1 1/2 lbs beef top round, or stew meat
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
8 oz mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
2 Tbsp. flour
1 C beef stock
1 C Guiness beer
salt
pepper

Heat oil in a medium pot. Add beef and bacon; sear over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until beef is browned on all sides. Add onion, garlic clove, carrots, celery, and mushrooms, and cook 8 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle in flour and cook 1 minute before adding the beef stock, and Guiness.

**At this point stop and breathe deeply...the stew smells heavenly**

Season with salt and pepper, turn down heat and simmer at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

You can make a double pie crust and serve this as a meat pie, but we served it to a football watching group as stew with french bread on the side. Excellent.

Serve with Guiness or a peppery red wine.

Next Guiness recipe to try:

Irish Brown Beer Bread

2 c. raisins
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. allspice
1 (16 oz.) bottle Guinness Stout beer

Soak raisins in warm water for 10 minutes until they fluff up a bit. Dry on paper towels and coat with a little flour. Cream butter and sugar well. Add eggs and mix well by hand. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, salt, and allspice; add to creamed mixture alternately with beer. Then add floured raisins. Bake in greased tube pan at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes -- check with toothpick.

If we like the bread I will then try and replicate the Guiness Bread Pudding we had in Eugene. We'll see how it goes.

Five Years

Five years of blogging, five years of remembering, five years of friends old and new. I am so glad I began this blog on December 6, 2004.

I decided that to celebrate my anniversary, I would give away a box of one dozen homemade truffles.

All you need to do is:

1) Email me at acircleofquiet AT yahoo DOT com (change out the at and the dot...you know the drill.)

2) Leave me your name, and tell me something about yourself and how you came to A Circle of Quiet (you won't be disqualified for admitting you're here for the truffles. I understand.)

3) Tell me your favorite book from this year.

I will post the winner on December 20th, chosen by some fair and random number generator process, and I will make and mail the truffles the week after Christmas (to avoid having them melt and moosh in the Christmas postal sludge.)

Unfortunately, I will need to keep the truffle give away to my North American readers. If, however, you are reading from the UK or Italy or Taiwan or somewhere else not in North America, please post your name and answers, and I will try to think of something light as a feather I could send to you in lieu of heavy perishables, okay?

I look forward to posting your favorite books. Feel free to post more than one. I love book lists.

Here's to another five years!

The plan for tomorrow morning

(just in case you are in the neighborhood)

Faith's Frosted Pumpkin Doughnuts

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon lemon juice (very important)
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup evaporated milk
Oil for deep-fat frying

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and butter together. Add the pumpkin and lemon juice, and mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to pumpkin mixture alternately with milk. Then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours(ish).

Once refrigetated, turn onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 5-6 times. Roll out 3/8-in.(ish) thickness. Cut into donut rounds (I use a large-rimmed glass and a shot glass for the donut hole.)

Heat oil to 375 degrees. Then fry the doughnuts, a few at a time, until golden, turning once. Supposedly the frying time is 3 minutes. Once golden brown and perfect-ish, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Let cool for a few minutes before frosting.

I enjoy frosting them with maple frosting, though the most common frosting for pumpkin doughnuts is the orange flavored kind (which is pretty good too), so I'll include that here:

Orange Frosting:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon evaporated milk
I teaspoon grated orange peel
--------------------

With thanks, again, to Faith. And to my children, who make sure I only have one.

Faith's Donuts

1 egg + enough warm water to make one cup
1/2 cup more warm water
1/3 cooking oil
4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
4 1/2 T sugar
3/4 t salt
3 T powdered milk
3 t instant yeast
Frosting of choice


Put egg in measuring cup, beat thoroughly.
Add enough warm water to make one cup.
Put egg/water in mixer bowl.
Add 1/2 cup more warm water, cooking oil, flour, sugar, salt, powdered milk, yeast.

On my mixer I pulsed until all the ingredients were well mixed, and then put it on auto-knead until well kneaded.

Roll out to 3/4 inch thick. Cut into whatever shape you like. We did a large round glass with a shot glass for donut holes. Some (aka: Faith) cut into 3"x6" bars. Put on a pan to rise in a warm place (my house was cold yesterday so I put them in a 170 degree oven.)

When they have risen for "a bit" (can't remember how long or how high), cook in hot oil. I used a few holes for my sacrificial bits...at first the oil was too hot and the dough got too brown too fast. By the time we got to the big ones, though, we were set. Make sure you have something on which to put your hot, greasy donuts. This doesn't have to be a messy project, but it sure can be. It's up to you.

Frosting: we like maple donuts, so we just added maple syrup to powdered sugar until it was spreadable. Make sure you wait until the donuts are cool enough so the frosting does not melt off. You can see the fruit of our impatience if you look closely at the donut pictured.

Another good option would be dusting with powdered sugar or dipping in cinnamon sugar.

*Disclaimer: If anyone in your family is coming home more than five minutes after these donuts are served, hide a few in the cupboard so that there are some left. They go fast. Also, I could never make these if I didn't have a house full of hungry people. A donut hole or two is more than enough for moi.*


HT: Miss Faith who helped a very Mondayish Monday become almost Fridayish.

The CSA box meets the blogosphere

Figs are so picturesque, but I was needing a recipe. And look what I found:

(Recipe printed with the permission of Corey from Tongue in Cheek )

Fig Jam

2 pounds of very ripe figs cut in fourths,

1 1/2 pounds of sugar,

Put the figs in a large heavy pan, add the sugar on top of them,

Cover the pan and let it alone for 24 hours.

Most of the sugar will have melted, turn the heat on very low,

Bring the fig-sugar mixture to a boil, stirring often, turn the heat lower,

When the fig-sugar mixture ripples off the spoon the jam is done,

Grill two handfuls of sliced almonds,

Then add the grilled sliced almonds to the jam, stir until well mixed.

Add the boiling mixture to sterile jars and can.

Graduation dinner recipes

Appetizers

Crostini
One bag crostini.
Spread with pesto.
Add one sun-dried tomato on each.
Cover with grated cheese of choice.
Broil just until cheese bubbles; serve warm.

Sliced baguette with brie.

Shrimp wrapped in snow peas.

Salad
Two bunches of romaine.
Two bags of fresh salad mix from Farmers' Market, including purple and green leaves and some flowers.
Two bags sunflower greens.
Ten radishes, cleaned and cut in quarters
Ten nasturtium blossoms, cut into small pieces
Sugar snap peas, cut into pieces with some peas loose in salad


Vinagrette Salad Dressing
One cup olive oil
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Two sprigs rosemary
Two cloves garlic
1 tablespoons Italian seasoning
Pulse until blended.

Pork Tenderloin
4 tenderloins (1-2 pounds each)

Marinade
2 cups orange juice
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 heaping tablespoon crushed garlic
4 tablespoons berry jam
4 tablespoons honey

Marinate for 8-24 hours.
Remove meat from marinade; place in shallow pan (9x13).

Tenderloin rub
Big bunch of fresh rosemary sprigs (needles only, no sticks).
Big spoonful of crushed garlic.
Pulse in blender until a paste.

Rub paste onto tenderloin.

Poor marinade over paste-covered tenderloin.
Bake in 350 degree oven until 170 degree.

Adapted from this recipe.


Bread
One loaf challah.
Three baguettes.
One loaf of artisan bread with chunks of garlic.
(All from the Farmers' Market)

Dessert was grapes, chocolate/white chocolate/butterscotch chip cookies, cheesecake and strawberry/rhubarb pie. Recipes coming.

Wine: Lorca Gary's Vineyard 2003 Pinot Noir from Trader Joe's

Favorite holiday recipe

Cranberry Salsa

2 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped orange sections (about 3 oranges)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
3 T sugar
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 t salt
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

Place cranberries in a food processor; pulse 2 to 3 times or until coarsely chopped.
Combine cranberries, orange sections, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine. Cover and chill.

Serve with tortilla chips.

I recommend you serve this in a glass bowl -- it really is beautiful. I would post a picture, but it never lasts long enough to photograph.

Yield: 3 cups (we have three hungry boys around here, so I triple it.)

Recent inspiration

Something to cook , from Tonia.

A story that moves me on many levels. (Caring for street people. My own masks. The truth that gets spoken in the most surprising places.) Thank you, Ann.

Something to knit, again from Tonia.

(Tonia inspires many at my house. Many. Often. Thanks, dear friend.)

The comment section at Donna's almost always inspires. I really, really enjoy that little stop on the internet. It is sort of the Cheers, where everybody knows your name, place for me.

This quote, posted last week, was the impetus for some EXCELLENT comments:

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass.

~Fran Lebowitz

You can read the comments here.

I do not agree with Ms. Lebowitz. At all. But, that's okay.

A quote that resonates a bit more for me:

"Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."

~Kurt Vonnegut

Again and again, Donna, THANKS.

Cook's Illustrated

I was looking for a recipe but got lost in this editorial:

Waiting for the Run

"If you spend much time in the country, you are used to waiting. Each year, we wait for the corn to come up, the pigs to put on weight, the potatoes to mature, the river to go down, the ground to thaw out, the rain to come, the rain to stop, and the weather to clear for haying. Nothing is immediate. Everything is in the process of becoming...

I have sat in the woods many November evenings waiting for a buck and he never showed. I have waited for a 12-year-old to kiss me goodbye at the bus stop and she never does. I waited for a friend to come home from the war and he didn't.

We just have to learn to be patient, to know that our time is spent in transition, in waiting rooms of our imagination. And then, one day, we wake up and realize that the sap isn't going to run. There will be no boil, no steam, and no syrup. The fish doesn't rise to the fly, the woods remain cold and empty, and you never see your friend again. I guess we had better learn to enjoy the waiting."

What beautiful writing.

I would have selected this magazine for its recipes and its recommendations for kitchen equipment, but now I'll be begging to borrow back issues from my mother so I can read the editorials. Who would've thunk?

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