Lefse

This week I traveled to Whalen, Minnesota to participate in my mother's funeral. Many of her dear friends attended, coming up the long hill in the cold bright Minnesota February sunshine to pay their respects and fix a church luncheon. It was so sweet. Many of the ladies were of Scandinavian descent and many carry on the traditions of their immigrant ancestors. One of their favorite foods is Lefse. My mother and these delightful ladies used to produce large mountains of it for the Whalen Stand Still Parade (A Prairie Home Companion favorite) each year. What follows is her recipe, scaled down from the parade sized batch she normally turned out.

5 Large Potatoes
1/2 Cup Sweet Cream
1/2 Cup Flour for each cup of the resulting mashed potatoes
1 Teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Butter

Boil potatoes, mash very finely. Add cream, butter & salt. Beat until light & fluffy, let cool. Add flour. Take a piece the size of the palm of your hand and roll as if for pie crust, rolling as thinly as possible. Bake on a griddle or lefse griddle until light brown turning frequently to prevent scorching using medium heat. Place between flour sack towels to keep moist until they can be slathered in butter, sprinkled with sugar, rolled up and gobbled down.

Five-Spice Powder

To me five-spice powder was always some dried up brown "stuff" in an old bottle in the back of my spice cabinet. I would read about it in Chinese recipes, but never use it. It never occured to me to make my own.

Five-spice powder is found in Chinese cuisine, but is also used throughout Asian cookery. The concept is to encompass all five flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty. Traditionally it includes star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Szechwan pepper and ground fennel seeds. Another combintion of the five spices consists of huajiao (Sichuan pepper), bajiao (star anise), rougui (cassia), cloves, and fennel seeds. The concept is based on the Chinese philosophy of balancing the yin and yang in food.

Five spice is used with fatty meats like pork and duck. It is used in stir fried vegetables and as a spice rub for chicken, duck, pork and seafood. Five spice also is used in recipes for Cantonese roasted duck, as well as beef stew.

2 tablespoons black peppercorns
6 cloves
1 3/4-inch piece of cassia bark or a 2-inch piece of cinnamom stick
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
5 star anise
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (optional)

In a small pan over medium heat toast all the spices until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Grind the spices in a spice grinder until very fine.

Richard Wottrich

Greek Yogurt & Feta Mashed Potatoes

This delicious variation on mashed potatoes was adapted from "Artichoke to Za'atar", Modern Middle Eastern Food, by Greg Malouf and Lucy Malouf, University of California Press, 2008 edition. Of course the French ideal is that illusionary land of butter and potatoes suspended in time in equal portions - 50/50. But here in the real world where actions have consequences, we search for more reasonable alternatives.

Feta cheese and Greek yogurt have distinctive flavors and do not blow out either the budget or your diet. We served this with a simple roasted chicken, a platter of roasted vegetables, and a medium dry Riesling white wine; with gravy made in the roasting pan with the same wine.

Mashed Potatoes

3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium yam, white flesh, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk, whole or 2% as you like
1 cup Greek-style yogurt
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
salt and pepper to taste

Put the peeled and cubed potatoes and yam into a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are just cooked.

As they simmer, put the olive oil, butter, milk and Greek-style yogurt into a sauce pan and blend together. Whisk in the chopped chives. Keep warm.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain and then put them back in the pot to dry on low heat for less than a minute. Put the potatoes in a large bowl and pour over the sauce pan mixture. Mash with hand masher or hand mixer. Adjust the consistency with either more milk or yogurt depending upon whether it is too thick or too thin. Adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Crumble on the Feta cheese and mix well. Serve immediately.

Gravy

Gravy is the thing! What are mashed potatoes without it?

When I roast a chicken I fill the cavity with whatever fresh herbs and onion greens I happen to have - scallion greens, fennel fronds, rosemary, lavender, or as you wish. Then I surround the chicken with all the vegetable trimmings; carrot tops, potato skins, celery tops, onion skins and so on. Added to this are lemon, orange and/or lime rinds as may be left over from other preparations. Throw in a few peppercorns, Allspice berries and Cloves and you're good to go.

After roasting put the chicken on the cutting board to rest for 10-15 minutes. Tip the roasting pan and carefully drain the excess fat into a can or other safe receptacle. Place the pan on a couple of burners on the stove and deglaze with a cup of the wine. Take a can of chicken stock and swirl in two tablespoons of corn starch and pour into the hot roasting pan. Scrap the bottom of the pan and swirl the various herbs, fruit and vegetables around in the liquid until it starts to boil and thicken. Take a large bowl and put a strainer over it. Carefully pour the hot gravy into the strainer, discarding all other ingredients. Salt and pepper the gravy to your taste - it will be very aromatic at this point. If you like you can add a little cream or milk. Serve hot.

Richard Wottrich

E. Dehillerin - Cookware Shop - Paris

That title is akin to saying that Champagne is a carbonated drink, or that filet mignon is cow meat. Founded in 1820, E. Dehillerin is the nexus of cookware in this universe. Over the top? Not really.

The first time I chanced upon the store was back in 2000. All I wanted was a wine corkscrew. I walked into a world of heavy gauge copper pots and gigantic whisks, fiber glass and silicon sheets, molds for pastry cooks, and stainless steel for induction hob (magnetic). Who doesn’t need a duck press for 1,000 Euros?

The store itself is like a Jean-Paul Sartre séance, with opinionated French clerks who have the humor of a winter storm. But the "stuff" is the thing and they have the stuff!

Their web site is passable. You can download entire sections of their catalogue, so if you’re having trouble finding something – try E. Dehillerin.

Richard Wottrich

The Chicago-Himalayas Connection

By Richard Wottrich

While in Whole Foods last weekend I noticed a new line of teas from Ineeka, a brand I had never heard of. Reading its tin container I saw that they were located in Chicago. Ineeka claims to be the only tea company in North America that owns its own tea plantations and blends its own handpicked teas.

This was enough to peak my curiosity and I bought a tin, took it home and enjoyed a wonderful blend called Ma-Chai (insight), composed of black tea, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, rose petals and saffron - delicious!

Ineeka teas are grown high in the pristine Himalayas of northeast India, in Darjeeling and Assam, on 12,000 acres of prime growing land – considered the best tea growing region in the world. Here the Goel family has been producing tea since 1861, and on these particular farms for 50 years. Over 25,000 local farmers pick their teas. Their high-quality teas have long been sold to luxury companies like Harrods and Mariage Frères, who market them under their own labels.

The Goel family is now selling their 100% organic, biodynamic and Fair Trade-certified whole leaf teas directly, packaged in their innovative Brew-Taché™ infusion system—perhaps the best advance in tea-brewing that I have ever seen.

The Brew-Taché™ infusers are packaged 14 to a canister; the canisters are handsome matte silvery rectangles with rounded corners that are 3-3/4" wide by 5-3/4" long by 2-5/16" high. 

Ineeka offers seven teas include three blacks, two greens, and two herbals:

• Himalayan Green: A rich, pure green producing a honey-like sweetness on the palate and finish.

• Himalayan Black: Lively, brisk, bright and fresh.

• Green Osmanthus: Green tea subtly scented with the sweet aroma of Osmanthus blossoms—a Chinese flower used in some of the world’s most famous fragrances. Osmanthus lends tangy fruity-peachy undertones.

• Ma-Chai: A black tea blend of Assam tea and organic warming spices—ginger, cardamom, clove, black pepper, and saffron, with organic rose petals that create a beautiful composition. This recipe has been carried down through generations of the Goel family, and is a chai lover’s delight.

• Darjeeling: A black tea often described as having a muscatel flavor, this Darjeeling has a silky roundness with a naturally fruity overtone. This blend has added organic calendula petals for beauty, and to provide a hint of added sweetness.

• Mint: Organic herbal peppermint tea that is 100% caffeine-free, the mint leaves are a natural digestive. Even in its hot brewed form, the tea is cool and refreshing (hot mint tea is the beverage of choice in the desert climates of Africa and the Middle East).

• Chamomile: For millennia, mankind has turned to the calming and relaxing chamomile flower to soothe body and soul. Beautiful to look at, these gentle whole flowers brew a cup of tea that is both restful and renewing, and 100% caffeine-free.

Enjoy!

Udon with Mushroom Broth, Cabbage and Yams

Udon Soup is a moment in time - a carefully prepared broth and absolutely fresh accoutrements - combining to create perfection. Udon is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle very popular in Japanese cuisine.

Udon is usually served hot as noodle soup in a mildly flavored broth, in its simplest form as kake udon, served in kakejiru made of dashi, soy sauce (shōyu), and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions. Other common toppings include tempura, often prawn or kakiage (a type of mixed tempura fritter), or abura age, a type of deep-fried tofu pockets seasoned with sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. A thin slice of kamaboko, a halfmoon-shaped fish cake, is often added. Shichimi can be added to taste.

The flavor of broth and topping vary from region to region. Usually, dark brown broth, made from dark soy sauce (koikuchi shōyu) is used in eastern Japan, and light brown broth, made from light soy sauce (usukuchi shōyu) is used in western Japan.

The origin of udon in Japan is credited to Buddhist priests who traveled to China: local areas specifically attribute Kūkai or Enni. Kūkai, a Buddhist priest, traveled to China around the beginning of the 9th century to study Buddhism.

Broth
10 cups light chicken or vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped cilantro
1 ½ ounces dried shitake mushrooms, rinsed
¾ cup thinly sliced peeled ginger
2 lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed, all but bottom 4 inches cut off and discarded.
2 6-inch strips dried kombu
2 teaspoons tamari soy sauce
1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar

Accoutrements
2 cups ½-inch cubes peeled yams (sweet potatoes)
5 ounces snow peas, trimmed
4 cups ½-inch-wide crosswise slices of cored Napa cabbage
5 ounces slender carrots (assorted colors if possible), peeled and sliced diagonally
10 ounces Japanese-style udon noodles
1 cup sliced scallions
¼ cup matchbook-sized strips of peeled fresh ginger
4 ounces of firm tofu, cut into ½-inch cubes (optional)
1 cup shredded chicken (optional)
1 poached egg per bowl (optional)
Sambal oelek
Tamari soy sauce

Broth – Bring broth and water to a simmer in a large pot over medium heat. Add the cilantro, mushrooms, sliced ginger, and lemongrass. Cover and simmer until mushrooms are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Rinse kombu; add to the broth for 1 minute. Using tongs remove kombu and mushrooms; discard kombu. Transfer mushrooms to a work surface; cut off stems and discard. Cut each mushroom into 3 or 4 strips. Pass the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into another large pot; discard solids in strainer. Add tamari and rice vinegar to broth. This can be prepared a day ahead. Cover and chill mushrooms and broth.

Garnishes – Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the yams until just tender; 4 to 5 minutes. Using a skimmer, transfer yams to a medium bowl. Cook snow peas, cabbage, and carrots separately until just tender (snow peas, 30 seconds; cabbage, 1 ½ minutes; carrots, 2 minutes). Using skimmer transfer vegetables to separate bowls. Reserve cooking liquid. Vegetables can be cooked up to 2 hours ahead. Let liquid and vegetables stand at room temperature.

Bring the cooking liquid to boil. Sprinkle with salt. Add the udon noodles; cook until tender but still firm; stirring often. Drain and rinse.

Meanwhile bring the soup broth to a simmer. Add the scallions and ginger strips. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Using tongs, divide the noodles among your serving bowls (4 to 6 servings). Divide the vegetables among the bowls, each in a separate mound. Add shredded chicken, or cubed tofu or poached eggs as you wish. Ladle on the hot broth and serve. Pass the sambal oelek and tamari separately.

Richard Wottrich

Pink Peppercorn Thyme Soda

This refreshing nonalcoholic drink served at Green Zebra, a vegetarian oriented restaurant in Chicago USA, gets a spicy floral note from pink peppercorns.



8 whole star anise
2 tablespoons whole pink peppercorns plus additional for garnish
1 tablespoon whole cloves
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh thyme sprigs plus 8 additional sprigs for garnish
ice cubes
4 cups chilled club soda

Preparation

Toast anise, 2 tablespoons peppercorns, and cloves in small skillet over medium-high heat until aromatic, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Wrap spices in triple layer of cheesecloth; tie shut. Pound with rolling pin to crush spices lightly. Bring 3 cups water and sugar to boil in medium saucepan. Add spices in cheesecloth. Remove from heat; cover and steep 15 minutes. Add 1/2 cup thyme sprigs; cover and steep 10 minutes longer. Strain syrup into medium bowl. Chill until cold. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.

Fill 8 tall glasses with ice. Divide syrup among glasses.

Add 1/2 cup soda to each glass. Garnish with thyme sprigs and peppercorns.
 
Bon Appetit

Black Bean Soup

Black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are native to the Americas. One of over 500 varieties of kidney beans, black beans are also known as turtle beans, caviar criollo, and frijoles negros. These beans date back at least 7,000 years, as a staple food in Central and South American.

This particular recipe is adapted from “Cold-Weather Cooking” by Sarah Leah Chase, Workman Publishing, New York, 1990. Sharon made this soup the night of a snow storm – what could be better. The flavor notes are subtle and surprising.

8 ounces sliced bacon, diced
1 large onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 carrots, peeled and minced
4 ribs celery, minced
3 jalapeños chilies, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1 large can of tomato sauce
¼ cup cumin
¼ cup oregano
2 bay leaves
1 pound black turtle beans, soaked for at least four hours
4 quarts chicken stock
½ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup sherry or Madeira
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
Sour cream to garnish

1. Cook the bacon in a large stockpot over medium-high heat until it begins to crisp. Remove it with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

2. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery to the bacon fat and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the jalapeños and cook 5 minutes more. Stir in the cumin and oregano.

3. Rinse and drain the black beans and add to the stockpot. Add the tomato sauce. Cover with the chicken stock. Simmer uncovered until the beans are tender and starting to split, about two hours. Thin with additional broth as you wish.

4. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the lime juice, sherry and bacon. Season to taste. Just before serving stir in the cilantro and garnish with a spoonful of sour cream. We served this fabulous soup on white rice.

Cool Cucumber Raita (Indian)

Raita (also spelled raitha) is an Indian condiment based on yogurt (dahi) and used as a sauce or dip. It is similar to a Greek tzatziki or a Turkish cacik sauce.

Traditionally raita is yogurt is seasoned with coriander (cilantro), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. It is prepared by frying caraway (zeera) along with red mustard (raie) and these mixtures are poured into curd. Vegetables such as cucumber and onions and even fruits like pineapple and raw papaya are used. Raw ginger and Garlic paste, green chili paste and sometimes mustard paste are used to enrich flavor. A popular variety of raitha of northern India is Boondi raitha; tiny balls of fried gramflour, which may taste salty or tikka (spicy). The mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate that makes it a good foil for spicy Indian dishes. Raita is also eaten with kebabs. Southern Indian cuisine, such as that found in the Bangalore region, often uses finely chopped or diced carrots mixed with dahi yogurt.

My version of raita is based upon the freshest ingredients you can find at the moment. It is a cool counterpoint for chili, which we will serve for Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow.
 
2 cups Greek-style yogurt
1 seven-inch long English cucumber, peeled and corsely grated
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons (packed) finely chopped fresh cilantro
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
   juice from one squeezed lime
 
Combine the yogurt and grated cucumber in a mixing bowl. Add the course salt, chopped cilantro, chopped mint, and lime juice. Mix well. Cover and chill for at least two hours. It will keep well for three days.
 
Richard Wottrich
 

♪♪ My Boyfriend’s Back and You’re Gonna Be Sorry ♪♪

All of us have our peccadilloes – mine is Coca-Cola. I have been a Coke drinker all my life – not the diet junk, but real unadulterated Coca-Cola. I've finally gotten my hands on a glass bottle of Coca-Cola produced in Mexico.

Coke and Pepsi switched to High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in the 1980's, which brought an annoying sweetness to the palate. But what were my choices - New Coke or Crystal Pepsi or RC Cola? Forget it. Then I walked into Costco last week and I saw them. Beautiful shrink-wrapped 24-bottle cases of tall thin clear glass bottles of Coco-Cola made with real Mexican cane sugar. Eureka!

There is a difference between Mexican cane sugar Coke and our American Coke. The difference is in the overall feel and aftertaste of the drink. The Mexican Coke is a bit sharper, cleaner and crisper. Coca-Cola also makes a Kosher version, sharper still than the American and Mexican versions.

Now Coca-Cola claims of course that all its Coke products taste exactly the same – that HFCF and cane sugar taste the same. You can draw your own conclusions about that. Some people think all salts taste the same, or all butters.

But then there’s that tall, thin sexy bottle of Coca-Cola calling silently from the depths of my garage refrigerator. I’ll be right back…

Richard Wottrich

Sherry Yard’s Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting
Financier Method
Yield: Two 10-inch round cakes









Sherry Yard’s “The Secrets of Baking” is the Zen Master of deserts. Sherry is the Executive Pastry Chef at Wolfgang Puck’s famous restaurant Spago. She was recently named the nation’s top patisserie by the James Beard Society. Sharon recently made this Carrot Cake by Sherry and it was jaw-dropping good! (This is baking, so remember, follow the directions exactly.)

Special Items:
Two 10-inch round cake pans (9-inch pans will do and make a deeper cake)
Parchment paper
Standing electric mixer with paddle attachment

Carrot Cake Ingredients:
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted 3 times
½ cup almond flour or almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups grated carrots (about 2 medium sized carrots)
1 cup grated unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
1 pound (2 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½+ cups powdered sugar, sifted (you may need more)
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake Preparation:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the solids separate and brown into a dark golden color, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove it from the heat and let cool at room temperature until it reaches 70°F, about 30 minutes. Don’t chill it. It needs to remain in liquid form. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven. Spray two 10-x-2-inch round cake pans with pan spray, line them with a piece of parchment paper, then coat the paper lightly with pan spray.

3. Sift together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or use a large bowl and a hand mixer. Turn the machine on low and mix for 30 seconds. Set aside.

4. Combine the granulated sugar and the cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir to blend. Add the powdered sugar and stir to blend, then add the brown sugar and stir again to blend. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs lightly. Add the sugar mixture and the vanilla, and whisk together quickly to combine well.

5. Turn the mixer on low and stream the sugar mixture into the dry ingredients. Once lightly incorporated, increase the speed to medium and whip for 2 minutes.

6. Reduce the speed to low and slowly stream in the melted butter. Be sure to scrape in all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Mix for 30 seconds on medium speed, then turn the mixer to high speed and mix for 3 minutes more, scraping down the sides of the bowl well.

7. Using a balloon whisk, gently fold in the carrots, coconut, and pineapple. Carrot cake batter will keep in the refrigerator in this form for up to 2 weeks.

8. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans on a rack for 5 minutes, then invert onto the rack, remove the pans and parchment, and cool completely before serving. Wrapped airtight, carrot cake will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

9. When the cake is completely cool, top with the frosting and spread evenly to coat. The frosted cake can be stored for 1 day at room temperature or refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Cream Cheese Frosting Preparation (Nick’s Hole in the Wall Diner, Los Angeles)

1. Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter together very slowly on the lowest speed.

2. When the cream cheese mixture is completely smooth and lump free, about 4 minutes, slowly add the powdered sugar. When it is fully incorporated, about 2 minutes, add the lemon zest, lemon juice, rum and vanilla. Mix to combine. Cream cheese frosting can be used right away or stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Richard Wottrich for Sharon Wottrich