Harpoon 'Roasted Turkey' IPA

For tonight's dinner I roasted a turkey breast that was brined overnight with a mixture of salt, IPA and chipotle. The result was a very moist turkey with a crisp skin and smokey hops flavor.
I paired the turkey with a side of parpadelle pasta made with roasted butternut squash, toasted pine nuts, caramelized onions, garlic, olive oil and sage.

Christmas Present

This year, my husband and I spent Christmas with his family up in Vermont. We were joined by my two younger brothers. As you can imagine, there was lots of laughs, wine and food. Our Christmas Eve dinner featured foods from my husbands heritage: Italian Wedding soup made by my husband's mother and Lamejun (Armenian pizza), bought from Eastern Lamejun Bakers in Belmont, MA.
Photo from Eastern Lamejun's website.

Christmas day spotlighted a Brisket with Portobello Mushrooms and Dried Cranberries (recipe) made by husband's mother.Accompanying the brisket was roasted yams and mashed potatoes. In addition, I made an antipasto and an eggplant caponata.
The antipasto featured home-made roasted peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, herbed olives, pepperdews, cornichons, provolone and buffalo mozzarella.
The caponata was based on a recipe I developed for last Christmas' dinner.

Emily's recipe for eggplant caponata:

2 medium eggplants, diced in 1 inch cubes
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, small dice
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup celery
1 carton pomi chopped tomatoes
4 tablespoons capers, drained
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a gallon-sized ziplock bag, combined diced eggplant with half of olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Shake bag until eggplant is evenly coated. Spread eggplant in one layer on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake eggplant for 30 minutes or until tender, flipping halfway through.

Meanwhile, in the remaining olive oil, saute the onions, garlic and celery over medium heat until vegetables are translucent (~5 minutes). Add pomi tomatoes and grilled eggplant. Continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add capers, sugar, vinegar and chili flakes. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. For best flavor, refrigerate overnight before serving with crusty bread.

ZINGIBER

QUESTION: What is the common name for 'ZINGIBER', a spice often used in holiday baking?

Fortunately, the night before I made a batch of 'Zingiber' cookies for Christmas and was quite familiar with the spice. Even more fortunate for my husband's team trivia team, I had also joined them for their weekly game of bar trivia in Somerville. The answer was 'Ginger'.

Emily's recipe for Zingerbar Spice cookies, loosely based on a recipe from epicurious.com.

2 cups of flour
3 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 cup turbino sugar

Whisk flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and sea salt in a bowl, until well blended. Add in crystallized ginger. In a separate bowl, with a mixer, beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and molasses and beat until blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour turbino sugar into a small bowl. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Carefully transfer to racks and cool.

My Plan for a Lobster Bailout

I read an article recently on USAToday.com about the severe impact of the economy on the lobster industry:

"Lobster prices fluctuate widely during the year depending on supply and demand. Still, it was a seismic jolt when the "boat price" -- the price lobstermen receive for their catch -- fell to as low as $2.25 a pound this month. Prices hadn't dropped that low since the days after 9/11, said Norton. But the hit lobstermen are taking this year is more painful than back then. That's because the cost of doing business is far greater now, with the high price of bait, rope and diesel fuel -- even after recent declines. The plunge in lobster prices comes at the time of year when fishermen are trying to put away money to last through the coming cold-weather months when they aren't pulling traps. Many lobstermen will have trouble making boat payments and paying bills this winter, said Bob Baines, a lobsterman in Spruce Head."

At the end of September, my husband and I hosted a lobster bake for family and friends. McGrath's out of Newport, Rhode Island cooked the lobsters the old fashion New England way - in a pit with muscles, clams, potatoes and corn, steamed for hours with seaweed. The unveiling of our lobster bake, photographed by Meg Belanger.

With the economic slowdown, I am sure not many of you are not jumping to host a lobster bake, BUT for the price of a few lobsters, you could both aide an ailing industry and have a wonderful dinner.

Recipe for Lobster Risotto from the New York Times:

6 cups of lobster stock (recipe)
¼ Cup butter
¼ Cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Medium onions, finely chopped
2 Cups Arborio rice
Meat from 2 cooked lobsters, chopped
2 Tablespoons minced chives
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
½ Cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a medium pot, heat the stock and keep warm. In a large, wide saucepan, melt the butter in the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add a large pinch of salt, then add the rice and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of broth and simmer, stirring until the broth is almost absorbed. Add more broth, a cup at a time, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Stir often. Cook until the rice is tender and the mixture is creamy, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the lobster meat until heated through, then add the chives and ¼ cup of the Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with remaining Parmesan. (Serves 4)

Desperately Seeking STELLA D'ORO ANGINETTI Cookies

Imagine the scene:


STELLA D'ORO: 'Desperate. I love that word, it is so romantic.'
CHARLESTOWN CULINARY: 'Everyone I know is desperate, except you.'
STELLA D'ORO: 'I'm desperate.'
CHARLESTOWN CULINARY: 'You? Haha.'
STELLA D'ORO: 'Sort of.'


Oh STELLA D'ORO, if only you knew how DESPERATE I am. I've grown up with the pineapple creampuffs made with your cookies every Christmas. Yet you are nowhere to be found. STOP & SHOP told me you have distribution problems. FOODMASTER has an empty hole on the shelf where you used to be. The Italian guy at J. PACE just laughed at me. Driving to 6 stores makes me DESPERATE. My husband calling 3 more makes it even worse. I am DESPERATE for you to figure out your distribution issues.

MMM... Doughnuts

When I was a kid, we used to visit my grandparents in Fairhaven right before going back to school. During this visit we always did 2 things:

1. Back to school shopping at the outlet mall
2. The Feast of Our Lady of Angels

'The Feast' was one of our favorite things as kids, because it was there that we would get hot malasadas. Malasadas are Portuguese yeast doughnuts - (my mother is 100% Portuguese) - that are deep fried then coated with sugar. This is how much they were loved: For our wedding dinner, my husband and I had a 'surprise' malasada course in between the entree and cake...they were the size of a dinner plate, but that didn't stop my brother Nate from eating TWO of them.

Wedding malasada photographed by Meg Belanger.

Honeymoon Macaroons

On our honeymoon in Hawaii, we ate macadamia nuts almost everyday. In pancakes, crusted on fish, covering desserts... when we left, with us came a few bags of the wonderfully delicious nuts. While looking for holiday cooking inspiration I came across a recipe on epicurious for 'Island Macaroons' - coconut and macadamia nut macaroons topped with chocolate. MMMM... I drizzled the chocolate on top instead of dipping, but otherwise the recipe is wonderful.

From epiurious.com:

3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, chopped
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites
Pinch of salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place coconut and macadamia nuts on large cookie sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.
Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Grease parchment. Combine condensed milk and vanilla in large bowl. Mix in coconut and macadamia nuts thoroughly. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into coconut mixture. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake until macaroons just turn golden brown around edges, about 14 minutes. Cool completely on cookie sheets.

Line another cookie sheet with waxed paper. Dip cookie bottoms into melted chocolate. Place cookies, chocolate side down, on prepared cookie sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 15 minutes. (Can be prepared 4 days ahead. Store cookies in airtight container in refrigerate.)

Eat, DRINK and be Merry

At our holiday party last weekend we served up a festive drink that was both easy and popular with guests.

Emily's Raspberry Bellini Recipe:

Champagne (I supported local and bought Westport River's Sparkling Brut)

Raspberry Lambic

Frozen Raspberries

Fill a champagne glass 2/3 full with champagne. Fill the remaining 1/3 with Raspberry Lambic. Finish with a spoonful of frozen raspberries.

P.S. I learned the hard way that putting the raspberries in first is VERY MESSY.

J'aime sel!

I love salt. My family loves salt. We put it in and on almost EVERYTHING. My husband is not a big salt fan (can you imagine?) ... and yet we stay happily married.

As part of a bridal shower gift, my friend Sue gave me a jar of Ile de Ré sea salt, which is hand-raked from marshes off a little island in France. The marshes date back to the 12th Century. I am trying to think of a way to combine a visit to these salt marshes with our next vacation.
http://www.sel-de-re.tm.fr/en/index.php

'Nicholas Cage' Pistachio-Cranberry Biscotti

Yesterday I spent almost 2 hours shelling and pealing the skin off of a bag of pistachios -to get just under a cup of nuts. I think it was doing it in front of the Nicholas Cage movie my husband was watching that made it even more painful -- but the results were delicious!

I admit, I usually lose a couple slices in between the first and second bake. The ends and anything that crumbled during slicing is devoured. MMMM... hot cookies.

Emily's recipe for Chocolate Dipped Cranberry - Pistachio Biscotti:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 stick salted butter + 1 tablespoon

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon anise extract

3/4 cup shelled whole pistachios + 1/8 cup finely chopped
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 325°F. Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl to blend well. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in orange zest, vanilla, and anise. Beat in flour mixture just until blended. Stir in cranberries and whole pistachios. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into log. Carefully transfer logs to 1 prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake logs until almost firm to touch but still pale, about 25-30 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet at least 15 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

Carefully transfer logs to cutting board. Using a chefs knife and gentle sawing motion, cut logs crosswise into generous 1/2-inch-thick slices. Stand slices on baking sheets, bake until firm and pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.

Line another baking sheet with parchment paper. Put chocolate and tablespoon of butter in micorwaving for 30 second intervals, stirring in between each. Microwave until fully melted. (Be careful to no overcook!) Dip 1 end of each cookie into melted chocolate. Place cookies on prepared sheet. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Chill until chocolate is firm.

Christmas Past

This year we will be going to Vermont to celebrate Christmas with my husband's family. Rumors are of an Italian-themed Christmas Eve and a Beef Wellington centerred Christmas.

Here is a look back at some of the goodies from last year's two days of eating:

Antipasto featuring roasted garlic, olives, marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, roasted peppers and prosciutto. Served with crusty bread and cheese (buffalo mozzerella and provolone) from the Fresh Cheese Shop in Boston's North End.
Toasted, sliced french baguette spread with garlic aoli, arugula, braised beef, braise reduction and caramelized onion. The braising liquid included: beef broth, chipotle peppers, pale ale, molasses, bourbon,... MMM...
Sicilian-style Eggplant Caponata
Sage-Butternut Squash Risotto. For a deeper squash flavor I roasted the squash in the oven with olive oil, salt, pepper and sage. I also reserved half the squash and mixed it into the risotto towards the end of cooking. This gave the risotto a mix of creamy squash infused rice with chunks of roasted squash. I finished the dish with fresh ground nutmeg.
Vanilla-Bean Bread Pudding with Golden Raisins. I used Challah bread...the egginess of the bread creates a dense and rich dessert. Also, for plump raisins, I soaked the raisins in Grand Marnier for 15 minutes prior to adding them to the bread pudding mix.Orange-Pistachio Florentines. I remembered cooking these vividly - I was out of almonds, and used pistachios on a whim. I knew I was either going to love them or hate them. Fortunately, they were LOVED...especially by my sister who couldn't eat gluten.

Italian Macaroons with Pignoli Nuts. Light, crisp and delicious!

Stella Doro Cream Puffs... Growing up my great aunt used to make these every Christmas. My siblings and I thought she was a cooking genius. Now I know that the shells were store-bought ANGINETTI cookies and the filling has kool-whip, cream cheese and crushed pineapple... but they are still genius, and in her honor I make them every Christmas.