Sometimes you just know a recipe has legs. By that I mean it tastes so great and it’s so easy to make, people naturally ask for the recipe. This pineapple gazpacho is one of those leggy recipes.

It’s from my first cookbook, The Great Ranch Cookbook, and the recipe came from Rancho de los Caballeros, a western guest ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona.

Next, a version of this gazpacho was featured in a new cookbook this year, called Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods, compiled by the Edible Communities publications.

And now Arizona media maven, Jan D’Atri, has featured my pineapple gazpacho recipe on her gorgeous website and it will be in her “Rescued Recipes” column in the Scottsdale Republic this coming Saturday.

I had the opportunity to make the soup for Jan during her “In The Kitchen“ radio show a couple months ago. And I’ll be a guest again on her show this Saturday, talking about this gazpacho and some of my wacky smoothies.

The theme for the upcoming show is: 8 Things You MUST Cook/Bake/Make in 2011, and you can listen to it on KFYI 550 AM, Saturday, January 1, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

In the meantime, here’s the link for the Pineapple Gazpacho recipe:

http://www.jandatri.com/gwens_pineapple_gazpacho

(Thanks, Jan! The pictures are beautiful!)

Tags: Jan D'Atri, KFYI 550, pineapple gazpacho recipe
Posted in News & Nibbles | No Comments »

Can’t bear to read another 2011 food trends list? Not to worry. I take a slightly different approach.

Instead of predicting the future, I take a look at what just happened. Call it a year-in-review.

What ingredients and dishes did restaurants focus on this year? Are they really trends or food fads? That’s up to you to decide.

I’ve whittle the lengthy list down to 16.  Last year’s Sweet 16 explored salted caramel, foie gras desserts and Staub serving vessels.

What’s on this year’s list? Read on to find out.

Ingredients:

1. Mangalitsa — Bacon is for common folk (so mainstream it’s ridiculous, if still tasty and popular), but the fooderati were rooting for the wooly pig in 2010. Restaurants like The French Laundry (Yountville, CA) and Binkley’s (Cave Creek, AZ) turn this Hungarian, cold-weather loving pig into more than the sum of its parts. Chefs say the taste is sweeter, more succulent than other heritage breeds — in a word? Superior.

2. Shishito peppers — These Japanese peppers became the darling of bar menus because of their ease of preparation. The skins are thin, meaning the peppers can be pan-seared whole and garnished with just sea salt and a spritz of lemon for an easy appetizer. We’ve seen them on menus from Seattle to Texas, prepared with just olive oil and lemon to a finishing glaze of robust soy and ginger.

3. Radishes — The common radish made a comeback in 2010, with a little help from its heirloom friends: Breakfast, Icicle, Black Spanish and Easter Egg radishes. Grüner (Portland), one of GQ’s 2010 top 10 restaurants, plates one of the prettiest radish plates: thin slices fanned over an entire plate, topped with micro greens and drizzled with a caper vinaigrette. And we saw plenty of roasted radishes, too.

4. Brown butter — You can’t look at a menu from any fine dining restaurant without seeing brown butter. Usually, it’s paired with butternut squash and sage, either as a side dish or a pasta main course dish, or served over seafood. But browned butter made an appearance on the dessert menu this year, too, like New York’s Le Bernardin (brown butter ice cream) and Phoenix’s Coup des Tartes (brown butter pear tart).

Dishes:

5. Pretzels — Both as the old ball park standard and as soft bread, pretzels tipped the popularity scales this year, and not just in German or Alpine themed restaurants (although that’s certainly where they started). Retail bakers jumped on the pretzel bandwagon, too. I even had pretzel bread offered on an international flight this year.

6. Charcuterie — Restaurants making their own charcuterie started well before 2010, but several hit their stride this year, offering more than the standard pâté. As it takes more than a year to make some types of salumi and charcuterie, I think it’s safe to say we’ll see even more next year…as long as health departments don’t catch wind of it, that is. For that reason, I think I’ll not name any names.

7. Poutine — Quebec’s classic comfort dish — French fries smothered in cheese curds and brown gravy — crossed the the border this year much to the delight of anyone with taste buds. New York’s T-Poutine restaurant serves eight different versions, and half a dozen restaurants in Portland serve the “fries-as-a-meal” dish. Even Animal (the award-winning L.A. restaurant) serves an oxtail gravy and cheddar version.

8. House made pickled vegetables — Beyond traditional pickles, many restaurants applied vinegar and spices to practically every vegetable coming out of the ground. We saw pickled green beans, celery, asparagus, onions, cauliflower, carrots, and of course, the humble cucumber.

9. Hot dogs –  We’ve lost count of the number of food trucks across the country specializing in the gussied up ballpark fare, but now restaurants are getting dog fever, too. In Phoenix, two fine dining restaurants have embraced the haute dog: Cork in Chandler and noca in Central Phoenix. Suffice it to say that we’ve not reached saturation of the hot dog yet (or, apparently, the burger).

Desserts:

flickr photo © by vsimon

10. Pudding — Many of the ingredients and dishes on this list are connected to the overall trend of comfort food and back-to-basics (s’mores, radishes, hot dogs, etc). Add pudding to the list of big fat hugs from neighborhood restaurants. FnB’s butterscotch pudding reached cult status this year, while others just reached us with pure silky love (chocolate and peanut butter from Modern Steak). Portland has Pudding on the Rice, an all-pudding dessert shop and Austin jiggles with the Gourmet Pudding food trailer. I bet a restaurant near you serves pudding, too.

11. Pie — Cupcake lovers got their frosting all in a tizzy this year when the trend masters said that “pie was the new cupcake.” Is it? Perhaps. How can you not love pie? Pastry chefs are putting the all-American staple back on the menu, some dressing it up, others dressing it down. Phoenix’s Beckett’s Table won a Phoenix New Times celebrity chef bake-off with its homey fig and pecan pie earlier this year. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if we see pie shops open across the country in 2011, either.

12. S’mores — From already assembled to make-it-yourself-tableside, s’mores hit dessert menus in a big way this year, from Portland’s Ned Ludd to Frank & Albert’s at the Arizona Biltmore to Eve in Chicago.

Beverages:

13. Latin beverages –  Horchata (rice milk and cinnamon), agua frescas (fruit-based drinks) and sangria (wine infused with fruit) have always populated Mexican and Latin themed restaurant menus, and now they’re crossing over to fusion restaurants, like Zengo’s in New York. Batidos (think milkshakes with a Latin twist) aren’t new to Latin countries, but they made a big splash this year, mostly on the East Coast, both with and without alcohol.

14. Smoothies — I’m sneaking this on the list because I think my 95 daily smoothies (announced via Twitter) made people think about the slushy beverage in a whole new light. I opened my pantry and got creative. My favorite smoothie might have been the Bing cherries with lavender and pink peppercorn. Or maybe it was my peanut butter and grape smoothie, that tasted just like a PB & J without the bread.

Restaurants:

15. Late Night Dining — New York City is seeing a resurgence in late-night dining and by late night, we’re talking after midnight. In Phoenix, another “late-night” offering came of age, and by Phoenix standards, late night is after 10 p.m. I wrote a story for Edible Phoenix in February profiling two such restaurants, Petite Maison’s “staff meals” and FnB’s “Industry Meals.” Since then, three other restaurants have expanded their hours on certain nights. Now, Tuesday through Saturday, Phoenicians can saddle up to an independent, chef-driven restaurant for late night cheap eats: Tuesday – Crudo; Wednesday – noca; Thursday – Posh; Thursday through Saturday – Petite Maison; and Saturday – FnB.

16. Gastropubs — Meddlesome Moth opened in Dallas this year to great fanfare as a gastropub for hipsters (it ranked #2 in D Magazine’s top 10 new restaurants). New York may think gastropubs are nothing new (Spotted Pig, Rabbit in the Moon) but the rest of the country is playing catch up. What is a gastropub anyway? Is it a bar that serves above average food? Yes, that, but more, too. It must have a serious craft beer component. Scottsdale and Phoenix have two gastropubs slated to open after the first of the year (Citizen Public House, LGO Public House).

Other notables: Other things popped on the radar, too, like the rise in vegetarian dishes in non-vegetarian restaurants, and the gluten-free surge that’s resulted in restaurants designating GF on appropriate menu items. I noticed a rise in foraged foods, too. Ten years ago when I worked at The Boulders Resort, we had a forager on staff. His full time job was to find unique foodstuffs, both local and not. Today’s forager is looking for wild ingredients grown within a restaurant’s radius.

I could keep going but I’d rather hear from you. What other trends or fads did you see this year? And, if you’re into predicting the future, what do you think is in store for 2011?

Tags: 2010 food trends, brown butter, food fads, gastropubs, late night dining, Mangalitsa, pie, pudding, radishes, s'mores, shisito peppers, smoothies
Posted in News & Nibbles | 6 Comments »

Instead of an acquired taste, perhaps an acquired texture is more accurate.

On the menu at a Chinese noodle shop (where I adored the hand pulled noodles, by the way) I spot “spicy pig’s ear” offered in two sizes: small ($4.50) or large ($7.75).

Pig’s ear was also printed on the daily specials board.

Curious? You bet, since I’d never had them before — and they were not only on the menu but the specials board, too. It was time.

Now that I have had them, I can confidently say: I don’t care for them. But after some research, I learned there are plenty of people who do.

I even found a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, David Tanis’s A Platter of Figs, although his experience with pig’s ear came in Paris. How did I miss that the 15 times I’ve read through his book?

Apparently, chilled, sliced pig’s ear is a common treat in China, usually served with beer.

Admittedly, the flavor was appealing — the ears were glazed in a barely-sweet, dark soy sauce, and there was that unmistakable delicious pork flavor.

The problem for me was the texture. Crunchy isn’t quite accurate and neither is chewy — it fell somewhere in between crunchy and chewy.

No offense to anyone who delights in chilled, sliced pig’s ear, but I think next time I’ll skip the ear and take the beer.

Tags: A Platter of Figs, Chinese pig's ear, David Tanis, pig's ear
Posted in Restaurant Journal | 1 Comment »

I hadn’t planned on posting this follow-up to my roasted rutabaga post the other day, but I was pretty please with the results (although the pictures are less than perfect, shot with my iPhone while in the process of making dinner).

I had some leftover mashed rutabaga and some leftover sage-date pistou, and I wanted to do something creative with the leftovers.

Enter rutabaga cakes. Fried, of course. Who doesn’t love fried food?

It’s fairly simple and took less than 30 minutes.

First, mix 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs with 1/2 cup ground, toasted walnuts (walnuts are a perfect partner for sage and dates). Season the crumbs with salt and pepper and toss.

Next, scoop the mashed rutabaga and form into a patty. (I used a #30 ice cream scoop.)

Using a scoop ensures the patties are all the same size, which means they’ll cook evenly, not to mention look better.

Coat the cakes with the seasoned crumbs. Next, heat about 1/8-inch peanut oil (it has a higher smoking point than olive oil, but you can use canola oil instead) in a skillet over medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot, gently lay the rutabaga cakes into the pan and fry until golden on the first side, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Flip the cakes to the other side and cook until golden again on that side. That’s it.

I served the warm cakes, garnished with the sage-date pistou, on top of a spinach salad dressed with a sherry vinaigrette (you need a sharp counter point to the sweet rutabaga and pistou).

Of course, all this assumes you have leftover, mashed rutabaga and sage-date pistou. And if you don’t, well then, never mind.

Tags: leftovers, recipe, rutabaga, rutabaga cakes, spinach salad
Posted in Recipes, Vegetarian | No Comments »

Two different presentations — same ingredients. That’s what you get with my roasted rutabaga recipe with fresh sage and Medjool dates.

Last week I was staring at some rutabagas, but figured they were just barely above Brussels sprouts on the vegetable pecking order — in other words, I didn’t think I’d care for them.

Fortunately my Facebook friends came to rutabaga’s rescue, suggesting every thing from a plain butter/salt/pepper mash, to adding a vanilla bean, to loading up a spicy curry or beef stew with them.

In the end I roasted them in the oven with a sweet onion and whole cloves of garlic, drizzled with olive oil, of course.

My dilemma was what to do next? I have to admit that sticking a fork in them and calling it a day was tempting — and tasty, too.

But you know me — can’t leave well enough alone — especially when my garden’s sage and McClendon’s Select Medjool dates were an option. And I didn’t want to add cream or butter, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

So I made a “pistou” of sage, dates and roasted garlic. Pistou is a French olive oil sauce similar to pesto.

My version isn’t a true pistou, which is basil, garlic and olive oil muddled together to top a rustic vegetable soup, but this is my recipe so I can call it what I want — a sage date pistou.

I stirred some of the pistou into mashed rutabagas, making the naturally sweet vegetable a tad more sweet.

(You can spoon the remaining pistou over goat cheese for an impromptu snack, served with a fruity rosé, perhaps.)

Mashing the roasted rutabaga was a little more trouble than serving them cubed — and making the pistou is even more effort, but it is so darn delicious.

I did get the same sweet, earthy taste from the rutabaga cubes topped with sliced sage and chopped dates, so that’s the way to go if you’re pressed for time.

The printable recipe below gives instructions for roasting rutabagas, and then details the easy route (just garnishing with chopped dates and sage) and the not-as-easy route (mashed with pistou).

Either way — cubed and roasted, or roasted and mashed — it’s a delicious seasonal side dish, perfect to pair with roast chicken or pork.

And now I have a whole new appreciation for this winter root vegetable (also called a swede or yellow turnip).

Rutabagas just moved up a couple of notches on the vegetable pecking order. (Sorry Brussels sprouts — your still stuck at the bottom.)

(printable recipe)

What do you think about rutabagas?

Tags: dates, McClendon's Select, pistou, recipe, roasted rutabaga, rutabaga, sage, sage date pistou
Posted in Recipes, Side Dishes | 6 Comments »

It’s easy to zip past The Simple Farm on this busy north Scottsdale street. It looks like an empty lot — a dirt filled gap squeezed between houses hidden behind tall stucco walls.

On Tuesdays, a couple of small signs posted near the street announce that this isn’t any old scrap piece of land.

Drive down the path to a wooden fence and you’ll catch a glimpse of what’s behind the wall — a suburban farm with a mish-mash of vegetable and herb beds, Nubian goats, a flock of chickens and a couple who toil sunup to sundown in their suburbatopia.

On Tuesdays, The Simple Farm is open to the public, selling a variety of vegetables and herbs. Several local chefs have already discovered this hidden patch, plucking purple kale and sugar pumpkins for their restaurants.

Lylah and Michael Ledner are living their dream on a three-acre lot in the middle of suburbia. Michael says for him, it started with a video called Home Grown Revolution, although he’s dabbled in serious home gardening before.

“We’re original hippies,” Lylah laughs. She says Michael was a street musician once upon a time, and camped out at Woodstock.

It’s hard to picture Lylah, a slim, elegant blond as a hippie. Her black garden clogs are caked with dirt, but her hair is swept back in a neat bun. She’s radiant, like the sun reflecting off her chicken coop.

For Lylah — who carved out patches of growing areas and gave them names like strawberry hill and the salad garden — this is about reconnecting with Mother Earth, with her community, and knowing exactly where her food comes from: her own hands and Michael’s.

Scattered throughout Lylah’s Alice-in-Wonderland-scape are whimsical seating areas with wooden entry gates.

She has a thing for French country garden decor. And a knack for making the outdoors look just as inviting as any proper parlor.

Lylah tells visitors to cut their own herbs — lovage, French chervil and sorrel among others — handing silver trays to ladies, wooden cutting boards to men, along with a pair of kitchen sissors.

She encourages visitors to stroll through the gardens, to linger and talk.

The farm’s tiny store is also decorated in French country. Behind the store is the milking barn for Lylah’s other passion — goats.

Storm, Marie, Lavender and Cinnamon are courted by Charley, the buck.

“Goats are like dogs who give milk,” Lylah laughs.

She wears her passion for The Simple Farm on her crisp, white sleeve. She and Michael plan on 2011 as a year of growth.

“2010 was a learning year,” she says. They have a farm manager now, a close friend they trust.

Plans are in the works to plant the front of the property and a year from now it won’t look like a dirt lot anymore. It will look as magical as the gardens behind the fence.

As she plucks an icicle radish from the triangular-shaped gourmet garden patch, Lylah gets misty-eyed.

That’s what happens when you live your dream.

The Simple Farm

9080 East Cactus Road, Scottsdale
480-206-7821
Tuesday Only Simple Farm Farmers’ Market:
9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Tags: Lylah Ledner, Michael Ledner, Scottsdale farmers' market, suburban farm, The Simple Farm
Posted in News & Nibbles | 9 Comments »

I once said spaghetti squash was the most underrated yellow vegetable. I can’t think of another yellow vegetable that deserves more love. Can you?

Yes, summer squash, but isn’t it an underrated yellow vegetable that deserves to be underrated?

Among the winter squashes, spaghetti squash is one of the easier ones to work with and its mild, crunchy flesh is a blank canvas — just waiting to soak up any flavor you throw at it.

In my Cool Mountain Cookbook, spaghetti squash gets a touch of sweetness, tossed with brown sugar and hazelnut liqueur.

But today, savory strikes my fancy, with basil and fresh, local goat cheese from Crow’s Dairy.

Just roast the squash and then saute it briefly with garlic, herbs and goat cheese for a cozy, warm mid-week meal.

I love how the flesh shreds into spaghetti-like strands, tender but still full of delicate crunch.

While the squash is roasting, you can mince the garlic and chiffonade the basil.

Or, use any herbs you like. Spaghetti squash takes well to any kind of herb, especially basil, thyme, rosemary and sage.

Since mincing garlic and slicing basil doesn’t take long, you could whip up a marinara sauce and saute some chard to make it a more substantial meal.

Or, you could saute some mushrooms and scallions while you wait for the squash to finish roasting. You have about 30 minutes of down time between when the squash goes in the oven and when it’s ready for the quick saute with garlic and herbs.

After the mushrooms are tender, deglaze the pan with a little wine if you like.

I, not surprisingly, just splash in a little rosé from the glass I’m drinking while cooking.

Once the squash comes out of the oven, let it cool a bit before scraping out the flesh.

Then just heat a little olive oil in a pan and saute the flesh with the garlic, herbs and goat cheese.

Season with salt and pepper and you’re done.

It takes all of 45 minutes from start to finish.

It’s really that simple, and it’s so delicious.

I’ve topped mine with toasted pine nuts, too.

Do you have a favorite recipe for spaghetti squash?

[printable recipe]

Tags: Crow's Dairy, goat cheese, herbs, pine nuts, recipe, spaghetti squash, vegetarian
Posted in Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian | 6 Comments »

Chow Bella, the food blog from Phoenix New Times featured my brioche chocolate bread pudding in their holiday series “What Are You Baking?”

You can find the recipe and a short interview about what I’m baking this holiday season, along with my New Year’s food resolution on the Chow Bella Blog.

Thanks Chow Bella!

Oh… one thing I didn’t mention in the recipe is why I cut the bread cubes in such large hunks. (Seriously, they look ridiculously large, but there is a method to my madness.)

First, it looks visually stunning, with large hunks of browned bread. That’s because the bread floats to the top and crisps up nicely.

Second, all that crisping means there’s an interesting texture contrast between the crunchy bread and the soft custard underneath. All those chocolate chunks? Well, they just add flavor.

Try it. You’ll love it.

Tags: brioche chocolate bread pudding, Chow Bella, Gwen Ashley Walters
Posted in News & Nibbles | 2 Comments »

Chef Bryan Dooley of Bryan’s Black Mountain Barbecue is a thoughtful guy. In the midst of smoking hundreds of pounds of beef, pork and chicken, he thinks about vegetarians.

“I think about vegetables the way a vegetarian restaurant does,” he says. “To me, vegetables shouldn’t be an afterthought.”

True, and that’s why I named his vegetarian “pulled” spaghetti squash sandwich one of the best sandwiches (meat or otherwise) in the January 2010 issue of PHOENIX Magazine.

Make no mistake, Bryan’s BBQ is a meat lovers haven, but Dooley always has something up his chef’s coat sleeve for those who eschew meat. Besides the pulled squash sandwich that’s on the menu year-round, Dooley offers seasonal items, often geared toward the non-meat eaters.

This past summer, he whipped up a juicy heirloom tomato sandwich and this fall, he dazzled diners with a fried artichoke po’ boy.

He’s tinkering in the kitchen again, thinking about what to offer his vegetarian friends this spring.

And he’s come up with something creative, incredibly tasty, and yet, a tad on the quirky side.

He calls it Veg-A-Pickle-Pie.

Veg-A-Pickle-Pie? I snickered when he first told me the name, but then I tasted it, and while it has a funny name, there’s nothing silly about the layers of flavor Dooley’s packed into his vegetable pie.

So what is it, exactly?

It’s a savory pie with a natural sweetness that comes from two root vegetables roasted to coax out the inherent sugars. He layers a pie crust with pureed roasted sweet potatoes spiked with chipotle.

Next, he sprinkles chopped, pickled green beans over the sweet potatoes. He experimented with spinach, but he’s leaning toward the pickled green beans. On top of the green beans, he layers a roasted beet and herb puree, and then he bakes it.

The kicker — what makes the flavors pop — is the topping of dill pickles.

“I made the pie and thought, yeah, this is nice, but then I put the pickles on it and said YEAH, that’s it,” he says.

I know what you’re thinking. Pickles? I thought the same thing until I tasted it with and without the pickles. The dilly vinegar really heightens the flavor of the beets.

Still, homey dill pickle slices on this gorgeous pie? Dooley likes the funky look of a crinkle-cut pickle covered pie, but I asked him, “why not julienne (matchstick) the pickles to dress it up a bit?” After all, he has a plume of lemon-pepper vinaigrette dressed watercress sitting on the side.

“I like the kinda Route 66 look of the down home pickle slices,” he says.

To humor me, he juliennes the pickle slices, and admits that it’s easier to get a taste of pickle with every bite of the pie.

Even though Dooley is a trained chef with years of high-end resort cooking under his belt, he considers himself, at heart, a simple BBQ guy.

OK, but what simple BBQ guy dreams up olive-studded coleslaw and root beer marinated apple rings with pink peppercorns?

Or, a roasted beet and sweet potato pie with dill pickles?

The verdict?

I’d order it — and I’m not a vegetarian. Of course, I’d order it with a side of the toothy pork ribs or the tender beef brisket that put Bryan’s BBQ on the must-eat Valley dining map.

Dooley’s still tinkering with the recipe, and hasn’t decided if this will be his spring Vegetarian special or not (there are some logistics to work out), but one thing is for sure:

The guy loves to play in the kitchen, and while he’s stoking the pecan wood fire in his smoker full of meat, he’s dreaming of delicious ways to bring vegetarians to his table.

So what do you think? Would you order the Veg-A-Pickle Pie?

Bryan’s Black Mountain BBQ
6130 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek
480-575-7155

photo credits:1, 2, 3: Bryan Dooley; 4, 5: Gwen Ashley Walters

Tags: beets, Bryan Dooley, Bryan's BBQ, savory pie, sweet potatoes, Veg-A-Pickle-Pie, vegetarian
Posted in Restaurant Journal | No Comments »

Photo by © Alan Richardson

Editor’s Note: Pen & Fork’s Cookbook Reviewer Linda Avery selects two cookbooks for you to consider for the cooks on your holiday shopping list.

Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes From My Home to Yours
By Dorie Greenspan
Photos by Alan Richardson
Facts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 530 pages, $40.00 (or $24.00 at Amazon)
Photos: 146
Recipes: Over 300
Give to: Francophiles, people who read cookbooks like novels

When I first flipped though Around my French Table, I thought “this has to be the book of the year.” Dare I say another Beard award may be in Dorie Greenspan’s future?

The recipes jumped off the pages to me: Basque Potato Tortilla, yum… Lentil, Lemon and Tuna Salad, yum… Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin, yum… Cola & Jam Spareribs… huh? Well that’s one of the things that makes this book exciting: the unexpected. The headnote explains that Greenspan recreated this “cola ribs” recipe after having it at a tiny restaurant in Tours. It turns out that the chef had spent time in Kentucky and really likes Coke so he found a way of using it in his French kitchen. With the addition of jam he created a “lacquered Asian-style” dish.

Her headnotes are intriguing and headnotes are what connect you with the any author. She tells charming stories of family, friends, personal experiences, where and how she obtained the recipe. Many times she gives you the license to treat the recipe “as a base to riff on.” And, she describes her recipes as “elbows-on-the-table food.” Something about this book is reminiscent of Paula Wolfert’s The Cooking of Southwest France – maybe the Moroccan influence that proliferates in France.

The recipes are unique and doable. Some require a bit more experience or need longer prep time than others, but on average there are no fancy techniques or learning required. As an example, refer to the très easy recipe for Marie-Helene’s Apple Cake on Amazon. After Baking: From My Home to Yours, I thought Greenspan had exhausted her cache of desserts but she’s given us 44 additional dessert recipes.

Wow – which recipe to test? I gravitated toward Greenspan’s Chicken B’stilla. My first Chicken B’stilla was at the now-gone-but-not-forgotten Roxanne’s at Biltmore Fashion Square in Phoenix about 100 years ago – it was fabulous and I was hooked – I crave it and don’t think I’ve had a b’stilla as good since; certainly never tried to make it. But, it’s a busy time of year and this recipe takes some time/effort/etc. so I’ll put it off until after the holidays.

In the meantime, here’s another recipe (the cover recipe) called Chicken in a Pot: The Garlic and Lemon Version. It says home, French and maybe even winter; and it’s delicious.

From Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes From My Home to Yours

CHICKEN IN A POT: THE GARLIC AND LEMON VERSION

I can’t remember when I first made a chicken cooked in a casserole that was sealed tighter than the ancient pyramids, but I do remember that it was called Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic and that the recipe came from Richard Olney’s deservedly classic cookbook Simple French Food. In his version of this traditional dish, the chicken is cut up and tucked into a casserole with four heads of garlic, separated into cloves but not peeled; dried herbs; a bouquet garni; and some olive oil. Everything is turned around until it’s all mixed up, the casserole is sealed tight with a flour-and-water dough, and the whole is slid into the oven to bake until the chicken is done and the garlic is cooked through, sweet and soft enough to spread on bread. It’s a masterpiece of simplicity, and when the seal is cracked at the table, the pouf of fragrant steam is mildly theatrical and completely intoxicating.

Olney’s recipe was the first of I-can’t-even-count-how-many chickens in a pot I’ve made. I’ve cooked chickens whole and in pieces, with a garden’s worth of vegetables and with only garlic, with hot spices and with fragrant herbs, with (and without wine, and with and without the dough seal (with is better). I’ve cooked the chicken in a heavy Dutch oven (my favorite), a speckled enamel roaster (not the best), and a clay cooker (my second favorite; if you use a clay cooker, though, omit the dough seal — the clay is too fragile). And I’ve cooked it in every season — it’s just as good in the summer as in winter.

This, my garlic and lemon rendition, was inspired by a dish made by Antoine Westermann, a chef with a Michelin three-star restaurant in Alsace and a bistro in Paris. That there’s nothing Alsatian about his use of Moroccan preserved lemons and nothing particularly French about the addition of sweet potatoes makes the dish even more fun.

Makes 4 servings

1/2 preserved lemon, rinsed well
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and each cut into 8 same-sized pieces (you can use white potatoes, if you prefer)
16 small white onions, yellow onions, or shallots
8 carrots, trimmed, peeled, and quartered
4 celery stalks, trimmed, peeled, and quartered
4 garlic heads, cloves separated but not peeled
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 thyme sprigs
3 parsley sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
1 chicken, about 4 pounds, preferably organic, whole or cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature
1 cup chicken broth
2 1/2 cup dry white wine
About 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
About 3/4 cup hot water

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F.

2. Using a paring knife, slice the peel from the preserved lemon and cut it into all squares; discard the pulp. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, drop in the peel, and cook for 1 minute; drain and set aside.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetables and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until the vegetables brown on all sides. (If necessary, do this in 2 batches.) Spoon the vegetables into a 4 1/2- to 5-quart Dutch oven or other pot with a lid and stir in the herbs and the preserved lemon.

4. Return the skillet to the heat, add another tablespoon of oil, and brown the chicken on all sides, seasoning it with salt and pepper as it cooks. Tuck the chicken into the casserole, surrounding it with the vegetables. Mix together the broth, wine, and the remaining olive oil and pour over the chicken and vegetables.

5. Put 1 1/2 cups flour in a medium bowl and add enough hot water to make a malleable dough. Dust a work surface with a little flour, turn out the dough, and, working with your hands, roll the dough into a sausage. Place the dough on the rim of the pot — if it breaks, just piece it together — and press the lid onto the dough to seal the pot. Slide the pot into the oven and bake for 5 55 minutes.

6. Now you have a choice — you can break the seal in the kitchen or do it at the table, where it’s bound to make a mess, but where everyone will have the pleasure of sharing that first fragrant whiff as you lift the lid with a nourish. Whether at the table or in the kitchen, the best tool to break the seal is the least attractive — a screwdriver. Use the point of the screwdriver as a lever to separate the lid from the dough. Depending on whether your chicken was whole or cut up, you might have to do some in-the-kitchen carving, but in the end, you want to make sure that the vegetables and the delicious broth are on the table with the chicken.

Bonne Idée
You can save yourself a little time and some clean up by using store-bought pizza dough to seal the pot. If you use pizza dough, it will rise around the pot.

Serving
If the chicken is cut up, you can just serve it and the vegetables from the pot, if the chicken is whole, you can quarter it and return the pieces to the pot or arrange the chicken and vegetables on a serving platter. Either way, you don’t need to serve anything else but some country bread, which is good for two things: spreading with the sweet garlic; popped from the skins and dunking into the cooking broth. One of the reasons i like to bring the pot to the table is because it makes for easy dipping,

Storing
If you have any leftover chicken, vegetables, and broth (what we call “goop” in our house), they can be reheated gently in the top of a double boiler or in a microwave oven.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Amanda Hesser
Facts: W.W. Norton & Company, 932 pages, $40.00 (or $23.97 at Amazon)
Photos: none
Recipes: Over 1,400
Give to: recipe collectors and serious home cooks

Days before Thanksgiving a curious, weighty package was delivered and I quickly noticed it was from one of my stepdaughters. The last surprise package from Maria came last spring and had me calling for oxygen when I found an iPad with 3G in the plain brown wrapper.

This time, weighing in at four pounds nine ounces, a signed copy of Amanda Hesser’s The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century appeared. Is this a compendium? an anthology? an encyclopedia?

I say it is the best of the best of the best: the best collection of the best recipes of the best cooks, chefs and food writers from Craig Claiborne to Florence Fabricant to the Lee Brothers and Michael Pollan.

Hesser began her six year project by going to the public to help her decide which recipes to include in this massive undertaking. When the entries were tallied, more than 6,000 recipes were suggested; at the top of the list, a twenty year old recipe took first place with 265 votes: Purple Plum Torte, which she suggests is a crowd pleaser because it has eight ingredients, four short steps, requires no special equipment and has a memorable flavor.

This book is peppered with historical notes, serving suggestions and Hesser’s amusing stories. If you don’t buy it or give it as a gift, stop by a bookstore and read it for a while.

Although Purple Plum Torte received the people’s choice award, I chose Anita Sheldon’s Torta di Spinaci to bring to our Thanksgiving repast and in spite of the headnote, I thought it quite elegant with its fluted edge and delicate leaves surrounding the steam hole. It too deserves an award.

From The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century

ANITA SHELDON’S TORTA Dl SPINACI
This is a great Sunday dinner dish. Elegant it’s not, but not everything needs to be. There is one detail that will make or break the recipe: you must squeeze every last drop of liquid from the cooked spinach before chopping it, or you’ll end up with a soggy torta. So, just when you think you’ve extracted the last molecule of water, squeeze it some more.

Serves 8 to 10

For the Pastry
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
Approximately 3 tablespoons water

For the Filling
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 3/4 pounds fresh spinach, trimmed and washed well, or two 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach
Three 1-inch-thick smoked pork chops or pork loin (about 1 pound), any fat and bones removed and meat diced, or 1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 5 ounces)
1 cup (8 ounces) ricotta cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

1. To make the pastry, place the flour, salt, and butter in a bowl. With a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse oatmeal.

2. Mix the egg yolk with 3 tablespoons water and sprinkle over the mixture. Stir with a fork, adding only enough extra water to make a dough that just clings together. Divide the dough in half and form into 2 disks. Wrap each one in wax paper and chill briefly.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Heat the oil in a large skillet and sauté the onions until tender but not browned. Set aside.

4. If using fresh spinach, place the washed spinach leaves, with just the water that clings, in a large saucepan, cover tightly, and cook until the leaves wilt. Drain well and let cool enough to touch. In batches, gather the leaves in your palm and press out all the liquid by squeezing as firmly as possible. Chop the spinach. Or, if using frozen spinach, cook according to the package directions; drain well, cool, and squeeze dry.

5. Combine the chopped spinach and onions in a bowl and let cool completely, then add the diced smoked pork, Parmesan cheese, ricotta, salt and pepper to taste, and lightly beaten eggs.

6. Heat the oven to 425°F. Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured work surface into 12-inch circle and line a 10-inch pie plate with it. Brush the bottom and sides of the shell with the lightly beaten egg white. Pour in the filling.

7. Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the filling. Trim, seal, and crimp the edges. Make a steam hole and if you’re up for it place leaves, cut from the pastry scraps, around the hole (not over it).

8. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and done. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.

Cooking Notes
The torta can be baked early in the day and reheated in a 375°F oven. Cover loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning.
After the torta has cooled, if you wrap it well in aluminum foil, it will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature for 3 hours and then let it finish thawing and reheat in a 375°F oven for about 1 hour.

Serving Suggestions
Palestine Soup, Carrot and Fennel Soup, Caponata, Zabaglione, Chocolate Quakes, Madeleine Kamman’s Apple Mousse

March 19, 1972: “AN ELEGANT EASTER PIE,” by Jean Hewitt

Tags: Amanda Hesser, Around My French Kitchen, cookbook review, Dorie Greenspan, Linda Avery, recipe, The Essential New York Times Cookbook
Posted in Book & Product Reviews | 3 Comments »

The Great Ranch Cookbook

Spirited Recipes & Rhetoric from America's Best Guest Ranches

Par Fork! The Golf Resort Cookbook

Culinary Expedition Through World Class Golf Resort Kitchens

The Cool Mountain Cookbook

A Gourmet Guide to Winter Retreats