Cranberry Curd Tartlets

Thanksgiving may have come and gone but fresh cranberries aren't just for holiday cranberry sauce. These sweet-tart, juicy berries are grown on vines in bogs that were originally created by glacial deposits, and thrive in the Southeastern part of Massachusetts, which happens to be Amy's home state. Cranberries possess a variety of health benefits, most notably that they are packed with Vitamin C and antioxidants, and are known to assist in urinary and digestive health. Fall is when cranberries are harvested, so fresh cranberries are plentiful now. 

We've made lemon curd before, which you can read about here, and while looking at a beautiful bag of fresh cranberries in the store, Amy wondered if one could make cranberry curd by heating up the cranberries to get the juice out of them. There would be only one way to find out! 

We heated the cranberries with sugar, orange juice and orange zest until the pop-pop-popping of the berries told us they were done. We squeezed the sugary juice into a bowl, and created a curd by adding eggs, egg yolks and butter. After it cooled, we piped it into those little store-bought phyllo mini-cups and baked them for about 10 minutes so they could set. The color was a little strange (Amy likened it to a slightly darker pink than Pepto-Bismol) but otherwise, these were creamy, tangy, sweet and crunchy all at once. The orange flavor was a bit too strong, so next time we would probably add only the orange zest.

Cranberry Curd Tartlets
Makes 30 

1 lb. bag fresh cranberries

1 cup granulated sugar

juice and zest of one large orange

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 packages mini-phyllo shells

Place cranberries, sugar, orange juice and orange zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until cranberries pop and soften to let out their juice (about 10 minutes). Press through a sieve into a large bowl. Cut the stick of butter into four pieces and whisk the pieces into the warm cranberry liquid. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks. Slowly add a half-cup of the cranberry liquid into the eggs, whisking quickly to temper the eggs. Then continue to pour the remaining cranberry liquid into the eggs and whisk to combine. Return the mixture to the pot and cook over low heat, constantly stirring, until thick and bubbling, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then pipe or spoon the curd into the phyllo cups. Bake the tartlets at 350 for 10 minutes to set. 

New England Clam Chowder

We went clamming on a recent trip to Cape Cod. Well not really recent, but don't ask us where the last couple of months went. Stock it up to having very busy teachers' lives. 

Anyhoo...

Amy had never been clamming before, although Chris used to go all the time as a kid. The youngest of seven, Chris spent his summers roaming the beaches of the Cape with his brothers, sisters and cousins, and clamming was a favorite pastime, of course, as it involved mud and tools. He was (is?) that kind of kid.

Of course, it wasn't summer when we went. It was a rainy October Sunday (the picture above is us in Chatham the following afternoon) but we managed to get in about an hour of time with our pail and rake and scored two dozen clams of various sizes, from littlenecks to bordering on what we'd consider a quahog.

We kept them in a cooler overnight then created our own New England-style chowder with them once we were back in our home kitchen. It didn't come out quite as thick as we would have liked, but we were very happy with the flavors, especially how tender and fresh the clams tasted. Next time we might add more flour, or if anyone else has a suggestion on how to thicken it, let us know.

New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients:
2 russet potatoes
2 dozen fresh clams
2 onions
2 bay leaves
10 cloves garlic, peeled
20 peppercorns
small bunch fresh parsley
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 cup water
4 ounces diced pancetta
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
1/2 stick butter
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste

Cook the potatoes:
Peel, dice and boil the potatoes until they are tender. Then strain them into a bowl, reserving the water. 

Steam the clams: 
In a large pot put the clams, 1 unpeeled onion cut in half, the bay leaves, 8 of the garlic cloves, pepper corns, parsley, celery seed and water. Put a lid on the pot and place over medium-high heat. Steam the clams until they are all open, 5-7 minutes. Strain the pot into a large bowl, reserving the liquid. Remove the clams from the shells and chop them. 

Make the soup: 
Peel and chop the other onion and remaining 2 cloves of garlic. Wipe out the pot and return it to the stove over medium heat. Brown the pancetta in the pot. Then add the chopped onion, chopped garlic, chopped shallot, thyme and butter to the pot and cook until the onions are translucent. Then add the cooked potatoes and chopped clams. Stir in the flour at that point, and cook until the flour turns golden. Then add the liquids - 1/2 cup of the reserved potato liquid, the reserved clam broth, and the half-and-half. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and season with salt, pepper and/or a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, all to taste.

"Frosty" Peach and Prosciutto Bruschetta

Mystic Cheese Company makes amazing cheese. Chris and I first tried their cheese while talking to company founder and cheesemaker Brian Civitello on a tour of Graywall Farm, a dairy farm in Lebanon, Connecticut. While we went crazy over that cheese, a satiny, buttery, wonderfully meltable concoction known as Melville, Brian was explaining that he makes all of Mystic Cheese's cheese in two "cheese pods," shipping containers that he has set up on the farm. It is a fascinating and innovative idea and if you want to read more about it, this article or Mystic's own website both do a better job than I ever could.

Anyway, we fell in love with their cheese that day and when we found out they recently came out with a new cheese, we bought it as soon as we found it (at the Coventry Farmers' Market). It's called "Frost," and it has the texture of spreadable fudge, it stinks to high heaven, and it is very, very earthy. I could barely eat it straight, so I knew any recipe I used it in needed to be well-balanced.

I thought on it for about a week and then it came to me, just in time for Chris's birthday. The recipe calls for a nice mix of basic ingredients - bread, meat, cheese and fruit - and only takes about 5 or 6 minutes to make. And look how pretty and fancy they are!

"Frosty" Peach and Prosciutto Bruschetta

(makes 12)

Ingredients:

1 medium sized baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 package Mystic Cheese Co.'s Frost

6 slices prosciutto, torn in half

1 large peach, cut into thin slices

olive oil

balsamic glaze

Place the baguette slices on a cookie sheet and put under a high broiler to toast; remove from broiler when toasted to your liking. Spread each piece with a thin layer of Frost. Place 1/2 a slice of prosciutto on top of the cheese. Grill the peach slices on each side, just long enough to warm through and get grill marks, about 4 minutes total. Set the peach slices on top of the prosciutto. Drizzle the bruschetta with olive oil and balsamic glaze, and serve immediately.  

Cherry-Lemon Clafoutis

We spotted black cherries and Meyer lemons in the market the other day, things that aren't consistently available where we shop. We usually eat the cherries right out of the bag, plucking them off the woody stems with our teeth and spitting out the pits. And the lemons? Perfect for tart, creamy, velvety lemon curd. But Amy has been slightly obsessed with French cuisine lately and wanted to try her hand at baking something customarily French: cherry clafoutis.

Clafoutis can be made with any fruits or berries, but black cherries are the most traditional. The simple, rustic baked dessert has basic ingredients otherwise: eggs, sugar, milk and flour. It puffs up a bit while it's baking, then slowly but surely deflates, much like the other French classic, souffle. It can be served warm or cold, and is usually garnished with a touch of powdered sugar, although we didn't bother.

Thus it was that Amy found herself pitting cherries (no, not murdering someone, although that's kind of what it looks like...) with a chopstick and baking Cherry-Lemon Clafoutis during this July heatwave. Which is also why we chose to eat it at room temperature.

Cherry-Lemon Clafoutis

Ingredients:

ghee (or regular butter), for greasing baking dish

1 pound pitted fresh black cherries

4 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup milk (we used 2%)

juice and zest of one Meyer lemon

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a casserole-type baking dish with ghee. Place cherries in the bottom of the baking dish. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar and continue to whisk until the mixture become pale yellow in color, 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the milk, lemon juice and lemon zest until combined. Whisk in the flour and salt until combined. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish over the cherries. Bake for 45 minutes, until the edges are puffed and the center is springy. Allow to cool slightly, then serve warm or at room temperature.

3 Times Thursday - Fun Fillo Bites

It's 3 Times Thursday, and today we are exploring Fun Fillo Bites. Mini fillo shells are the entertainer's best friend. They are inexpensive and come 15 to a package. They can be filled with savory or sweet delights. They can be heated, chilled, or served at room temperature. There are dozens of websites with hundreds of recipes ideas on what to do with these crunchy, flaky cups. Here are three of our favorite, because they are so simple and so delicious, and they all contain one of our other go-to ingredients - cheese!

#3. Goat Cheese and Chow Chow Fillo Bites - Creamy, sweet, crunchy and spicy, all in one yummy bite.

Ingredients:

2 packages mini fillo shells

6 ounces plain goat cheese

1 jar Mariah's Sweet and Hot Chow Chow Relish

Remove phyllo cups from package and set out on serving tray. Fill phyllo cups with desired amount of goat cheese and top with spoonful of "chow chow" relish. 

#2. Puck, Nuts 'n Honey - Puck is a Middle Eastern spreadable cheese that comes in a jar and tastes very similar to brie. It's wonderful with nuts and honey. And the name is kinda funny.

Ingredients:

2 packages mini fillo shells

1 jar Puck

4 ounces chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or pistachios, or a mix of all of these!)

2 ounces honey

Remove phyllo cups from package and place on a baking sheet. Fill phyllo cups with desired amount of cheese and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Put them in a 350F oven for about 15 minutes. Remove to a serving tray and drizzle with honey. 

#1. Brie and Berry Bites - Sweet, tart and so elegant. The balsamic really spruces up the flavor of the berries. Serve these as an appetizer or a dessert!

Ingredients:

1 package mini fillo shells

4 ounces brie

1 pint berries

balsamic glaze, or reduced balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350. Lay phyllo cups on a cookie sheet. Fill each cup with brie, top with a berry and bake for about 10 minutes, until heated through. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and serve warm. Idea plus: Try it with apples or peaches drizzled with honey.

Tourtiere (Canadian Meat Pie) for Pi Day

Happy Pi Day, everyone! While Mr. Science Chris likes the symbolism behind 3/14 (or 3.1415....), Amy just looks forward to eating pie. And being French Canadian, she's always wanted to try Tourtiere, especially after seeing this recipe in Saveur.

We made a couple of adjustments to the Saveur recipe. For instance, since it was a weeknight, we used store-bought pie dough. We also tried a mix of ground meat - 2 parts pork to 1 part beef. We forgot to buy apple cider, so we put 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar into the cooking meat instead. And what we ended up with was a very interesting dish with lots of layers. It was definitely hearty, with all that meat and potatoes, but it also had beautifully warm spice flavors such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. And the aroma of this meat pie cooking? Just right for a cold, damp Monday afternoon. No wonder they eat this in Canada!

Tourtiere

Adapted from this recipe from Saveur

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust, defrosted

1 1/2 cups raw potatoes, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground pork

1/2 pound ground beef

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium onions, chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 bay leaves

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 egg, beaten

Lay the bottom pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt, and boil the diced potatoes until they are tender. Mash and set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the pork and beef and cook until no longer pink. Add the garlic, onion, and carrot, and cook, stirring often, until meat is nicely browned and vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in cider vinegar, celery seed, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and bay leaves. Continue to cook and stir until liquid is evaporated. Stir in mashed potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and allow mixture to cool completely. Preheat oven to 400F. Place the filling into the pie plate, smooth the top and cover with the top crust. Fold the crust under itself and crimp together with your fingers. Brush with the beaten egg and place in the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until hot and golden brown.  

Grilled Pomelo "Steaks"

Do you know the pomelo? It's basically a really big grapefruit. In fact, its Latin name is citrus maxima. Love that. Chris came home with a huge pink pomelo the other day, saying he wanted to slice it and grill the slices. Pomelo "steak" and eggs!

He sprinkled the slices with demerara sugar and put them on a hot grill until they were warm and covered with pretty grill marks. Meanwhile, I cooked some eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for a deliciously big breakfast. The pomelo was sweet and juicy, with the perfect amount of char. Yummmm. Don't you just live for Sundays?

NOLA BBQ Shrimp 'n Grits

Our niece, P, is heading to New Orleans for spring break this weekend and boy, are we jealous. We haven't been since 2013, and Amy can feel it in her bones. It's an ever-present longing for her. Like Louis Armstrong's song goes, "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"

We met P for dinner to give her some trip tips - things to do, places to go, restaurants and bars to visit, must-eat dishes. You know the drill. And a few days later, no surprise, Amy had a yearning for Southern food. Her favorite New Orleans dish, in particular - BBQ Shrimp. 

We've written about BBQ Shrimp before (here, here, here). Amy tries not to make it too often, as it is an exceptionally rich (read: full of butter) dish. But at times like this, it's more of a need than a want. We usually gorge ourselves on shrimp and bread alone, but this time we made them over creamy cheesy grits. Oh yeah.

Note: Start the grits first, as they take slightly longer than the shrimp.

BBQ Shrimp 'n Grits

inspired by the recipe from Ralph's on the Park

BBQ Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 pound large fresh unpeeled (heads, tails, shell left on)

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

3 teaspoons Creole seasoning (such as Tony Chachere's)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary

2 tablespoons hot water

1/2 lemon, seeds removed

1 stick unsalted butter, chilled

Place shrimp in a large skillet. Add Worcestershire sauce, pepper, Creole seasoning, garlic, rosemary and water. Squeeze the lemon over the shrimp to add the juice, then put what's left of the lemon into the pan. Cook over high heat, occasionally stirring/tossing, until shrimp start to turn pink (about 2 minutes). Reduce heat to medium, then add butter, one tablespoon at a time, to the pan. Continue to stir and/or toss gently while adding the butter, until all butter is incorporated into the sauce and shrimp are fully, but not overly, cooked (2-3 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp). Serve over grits with crusty bread and lots of napkins. 

Grits

Ingredients:

3/4 cup stone-ground corn meal (aka grits, aka polenta)

2 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup half-and-half

4 tablespoons cream cheese (regular or whipped)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (or to taste)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until they are smooth and tender (about 10 minutes). 

Cans Get You Cooking!

Our favorite grocery store, Big Y, partnered with CansGetYouCooking.com to sponsor a recipe contest. The "Cozy Crockpot Recipe Contest" required that you submit your best crockpot recipe using at least two canned goods. We entered our Slightly Smoky Ham and Bean Soup (which uses canned tomatoes, canned chicken stock and two types of canned beans) and we won! Hurrah! Click here for the easy to make, light-on-the-wallet, hearty soup recipe.

February's Go Local Magazine

Go Local Magazine is a local lifestyle magazine showcasing life around the Massachusetts/Connecticut line. Its mission is to improve the community by promoting the region (which includes Stafford Springs, Somers, Enfield and Suffield, CT; and Hampden, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow and Agawam, MA) as a destination to live, play, shop and eat, and to showcase the citizens who make it great. 

One of our recipes is being featured in the current (February 2016) issue. You can get a free copy at many businesses around these towns (go here for a list) or check it out online (here). Find it on page 19!

Three Day Cassoulet, or "Project Cooking"

In recent weeks, we have not had much free time. Not enough to put our culinary skills to task and make something good and tasty, anyway. Then suddenly we were faced with Snowzilla 2016. Even if we weren't expected to get a whole lot of snow, we decided to take advantage of the situation and cook. Really cook. "Project cooking."

What's project cooking, you wonder? It's when you decide to make a recipe that is really involved. One that takes time. One that has lots of ingredients and lots of steps. One that maybe takes...three days to make? Yep. A recipe that is, in a word, a project. Does it seem daunting at first? Sure! But like any project, with prior planning, pre-shopping and the blessing of some time in your schedule (like one whole weekend with nothing to do but wait for snow that never comes because it all fell on New York and Jersey) you will have accomplished something spectacular.

The perfect project this particular weekend was that something spectacular we call "Three Day Cassoulet." Cassoulet is a slow-cooked casserole that originates in France and traditionally contains beans and meat, usually duck or goose confit and some type of pork.

And it is a project to make. However, in reality, the first two days' work is pretty light, especially if you do a little cheating, as we did. Use prepared stock and buy your duck confit - that will significantly shorten your efforts. Still, on the third day, the care and time spent on this recipe yields a hearty soulful dish, filled with spicy meats and creamy beans and a depth of flavor that is unmatched. So. Worth. It.

Three Day Cassoulet

Serves 6-8

Cooks' Notes: Try your best to find duck stock and duck fat, but if you can't, use chicken stock and unsalted butter instead. D'Artagnan makes an amazing duck confit that we often find at our grocery store for about $5-6 per leg. Finally, you can make this in one pot and serve it, but we like to make them in individual lidded dishes (it's fancier). 

Ingredients:

3/4 pound dry flageolet beans or small white beans

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

4 cloves garlic

6 stems of thyme

1 onion, peeled and cut in half

1 carrot, peeled and cut in half

2 ounces salt pork

1 quart duck or chicken stock

2 tablespoons duck fat or unsalted butter, divided

1/4 pound andouille sausage, diced

2 legs of duck confit

3-4 cloves garlic confit, smushed with a spoon

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup Panko-style breadcrumbs

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

Day 1: 

Place beans in a glass bowl and cover with room temperature water; allow to soak overnight. That's it!

Day 2:

Drain beans and discard the water. Place beans in a large soup or stock pot. Place the peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic cloves, and thyme in a cheesecloth and use twine to close it - a bouquet garni. Throw this into the pot, along with the onion, carrot and salt pork. Cover with the stock. The liquid should cover the beans by an inch. If there's not enough stock, add water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer uncovered until beans are tender. This could take up to 2 hours. Allow to cool entirely, then refrigerate the beans and liquid overnight.

Day 3: 

Drain the beans, reserving the stock, but discarding the vegetables, pork and bouquet garni. Bring the stock to a boil and reduce by half; set the stock aside once it is reduced. Heat 1 tablespoon duck fat in a large skillet and brown the andouille sausage; set aside. Then heat the duck confit in the duck fat so it is warmed through and brown on both sides. Shred the duck with two forks and set it aside with the sausage. Whisk the smushed garlic confit, mustard and butter into the reduced stock. Add the beans, shredded duck and pieces of sausage. The mixture should be moist, so if it isn't, drizzle with additional stock or water. Heat the other tablespoon of duck fat in a clean skillet. Add the breadcrumbs and toast, stirring often, until browned. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley. Either leave the mixture in one serving pot, or divide into individual dishes, and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for additional 15 minutes until thoroughly hot and golden brown. 

Garlic Confit

The term "confit" is thrown about these days almost as much as the term "steak." But if such culinary powerhouses as Epicurious, TheKitchn, and the New York Times can publish recipes for Cauliflower Steaks, we can publish a post on the smooth, silky magic of Garlic Confit. 

Typically, when people think of confit, they think of duck, or goose, or some other type of meat that has been cooked in its own fat for the purposes of preserving it. It is a pre-refrigeration technique, much like salting or pickling. Only here we are using it to keep garlic, and the fat is olive oil.

Think of it like an easy garlic spread, one that secures all that sweet, fresh garlic flavor without adding the toastiness of roasting. After you've made it, you realize how versatile it can be. Smear it on grilled Italian bread. Toss it into a pot of steamed veggies. Add it to your favorite soup or chili. Rub it under chicken skin before roasting. The tender cloves, as well as the infused oil, have any number of uses, none of which will include the sharp bitterness of raw garlic. Added bonus? It will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator, so go ahead and make a double batch.

Garlic Confit

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic

olive oil, as needed

Separate the cloves of one head of garlic and peel each clove. Cut the root end off of each clove and place them in a small saucepan. Add enough olive oil to cover the cloves by an inch. Set the pan over the lowest possible heat and cook for an hour, until cloves are tender when pierced with a fork (but not brown). Remove the pan from heat and allow to cool, in the oil, for an hour. Pour cloves and oil into a jar, cover with a lid, and keep in the refrigerator up to a month.