Food

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Gin Fizz, Illustrated

Warm weather in the Willamette Valley makes me crave cool drinks. I was raised in an alcohol-free home, and have only recently discovered the joys of adult beverages. I bought a book on cocktails during my last trip to Powell’s, a book which has already yielded a couple of tasty treats.

I was initially turned off from cocktails because the first few I tried tasted more like alcohol than anything else. A couple of trips with Dave to the neighborhood bar have convinced me that cocktails can be quite delicious. I’m a sucker for anything citrus. Give me a lemon drop and a basket of fish and chips and I’m set for the evening.

House and Garden’s Drink Guide (published in 1973) is a fantastic book for a guy who knows almost nothing about liquor. (I do know that I like Scotch, but that’s about it.)

The first seventy-five pages (!) of the Drink Guide are devoted to explaining the history and science behind cocktails. Chapter titles include “What Every Drink Maker Should Know”, “Spirits and Wines — What They Are and How to Use Them”, and “What Drinks to Serve When”. The book is a pleasure to read because it’s so damned earnest: this was the era of serious cocktails and serious cocktail drinkers.

Mixing good drinks deftly and easily is a skill that not only affords a host a fine sense of accomplishment but gives guests a great deal of pleasure. It is a skill worth having, one that enhances hospitality and can make jovial a gathering of any size.

There are handy lists of drink measurements (such as jigger and pony), proper glasses, spirits for a well-stocked bar, garnishments and flavorings, and various types of mixers. There are short histories on brandy, champagne, rum, port, vodka, and whiskey. There’s a small wine section.

Here’s the two-page spread illustrating the various types of drink glasses (click on a page to open a larger image in a new window):

    

Browsing through the 850+ recipes in the Drink Guide, the Gin Fizz caught my eye. “Let’s try it!” Kris said eagerly. And so we did. It’s a little bomb of effervescent citrusy goodness. Here’s the recipe (with extended text):

Fizzes
from House and Garden’s Drink Guide (1973)

Fizzes, which are popular drinks in the late morning and afternoon, are usually served in highball glasses. They are made from liquor, citrus juices and sugar, shaken with ice. The mixture is strained into glasses which are then filled with club soda or other carbonated drink, including champagne. Egg, both yolk and white, is used in some fizzes.

Perhaps the best-known of these drinks is the Gin Fizz. There are many versions of it, but following is the classic recipe.

Gin Fizz

3 ounces gin
1 tablespoon superfine sugar
2 tablespoons [fresh] lemon juice
1 tablespoon [fresh] lime juice
3 or 4 ice cubes
club soda

Combine all ingredients except the soda in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a [12 oz] highball glass and fill with soda. Serves one.

Brandy Fizz: Use brandy instead of gin.

Holland Gin Fizz: Substitute Holland gin for standard dry gin.
Scotch Fizz: Use Scotch instead of gin. [This sounds awful, and I love Scotch.]
Silver Fizz: Add the white of an egg. [Why?]
Golden Fizz: Add the yolk of an egg. [Why?]

Bootleg Fizz: Add the white of an egg and a sprig of mint.
Cream Fizz: Add 2 teaspoons heavy cream.
Alabama Fizz: Add a sprig of mint.

I love that “serves one”. The book lists a four full pages of other Fizz recipes. Maybe I’ll try them all by the time I’m sixty.

Now that I’ve made several gin fizzes, I can ad-lib a little. By this I mean that I do not measure the citrus juice. Generally I do the following:

  • Roll a lemon on the countertop to free the juice.
  • Do the same with a lime.
  • Split each fruit in two and squeeze their juices into the cocktail shaker.

This yields roughly the correct volume of citrus juice, even if the ratio is a bit more heavily weighted toward the lime than the recipe specifies.

(Here’s a little secret: if you like citrus juice, this drink is damn good even without the club soda.)

Mickey Finn’s, the pub at which we sometimes play trivia, makes a tasty little concoction they call a lemon drop. I’m not sure what’s in it, but a little digging on the web revealed a couple of recipes, the most likely of which seems to be this:

Sacramento Lemon Drop

3 oz. Absolut Citron vodka (chilled)
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
2 tbsp. superfine sugar
Juice of 5 lemons (fresh and ripe)

Mix all the ingredients in a shaker. Shake vigorously with cracked ice. Dip the rim of a chilled martini glass into some superfine sugar. Pour strained liquor glass. (Dave, the Drink Master, suggests triple sec instead of vermouth.)

Kris’ favorite drink can only be found at Caprial’s Bistro. They call it a Metropolitan. We suspect that it’s like a Cosmopolitan, but made with grapefruit juice instead of cranberry juice.

I’ve e-mailed Caprial’s. They’re going to look up the recipe and e-mail me on Monday or Tuesday. (How cool is that?) I’ll post the recipe next week.

Aimee, who inspired this entry, forwarded the following recipe. “Try this on a hot day,” she says.

Blended Vodka Daiquiris with Lime and Mint

3-1/2 cups ice cubes
1 cup frozen limeade concentrate (do not thaw)
3/4 cup vodka
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves

Blend the first four ingredients in a blender until mixture has a
smooth, slushy texture. Divide among six champagne flutes or slender
glasses. (This is a must! It makes it more fun to drink the daiquiri in

fits and starts.) Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Tune in next time when we may (or may not) explore the gentle art of smoking.

This entry is dedicated to little Aimee Rose. Illustrations are from How to Give Successful Dinner Parties (1970) by Adele Whitley Fletcher.

Comments


On 10 June 2005 (11:27 AM),
Tiffany said:

I do not think I have a favorite drink. I like things for a while and then move to something else. Not that I drink very often. I order Tom Collins when I am in a bar that I do not know because I think that is good to know how to make the drink that you are ordering so if then screw it up you can tell them how you want it. :)
Recently, I found martini mixes (Cosmopolitan, Sour Apple, Chocotini, and my favorite right now, Tangerini) that were a hit at the Girl’s Weekend that I just hosted.

Also over that weekend we found that you can make a White Russian with soy milk and it taste just fine.



On 10 June 2005 (11:39 AM),
Aimee said:

I remember one warm summer Portlandish evening when you and Kris dropped by our little yellow house in Brooklyn and whisked us off to dessert at Caprial’s. While we all hemmed and hawed over the drink menu selections, Kris – without a glance at any other concoction – ordered her Metropolitan and generously offered tart and refreshing tastes all around.

This Spring, during an April heat wave, Joel and I were casting about for a new signature cocktail. Although one can hardly call a G&T (or for those with a more sensitive palate, Tangaray & Tonic) a signature drink, the almost effortless splash of gin, splash of tonic, and sliced lime is a tried-and-true, easy mix. However, sometimes one craves a bit more of a challenge in his or her after-work salve, so we tried to re-create Kris’s Metropolitan, and stumbled upon The Fog.

Taking it’s name from the after-affects of one serving and the opaque quality of the combination as seen through a martini glass, The Fog introduces stalwart vodka to flirty Cointreau in a fresh-squeezed, pulp-included grapefruit juice world. A lime garnish, perched on the side of the glass, tags along.

Unless you’re hoping to cache Caprial’s Metropolitan in the Top Secret Roth-Gates Family Recipe, do share all around … I’d like to set up a taste-test: Metropolitan versus The Fog, tonight only in a knock-down, drag-out. Livers at the ready!



On 10 June 2005 (11:44 AM),
John said:

If you like lemon drop martinis, you should try them with limoncello rather than citrus vodka.

Your life will never be the same. :)

John



On 10 June 2005 (12:15 PM),
Courtney said:

Another refreshing summer drink is the Mojito, a Cuban rum drink with fresh lime juice and mint. Tacqueria Nueve (28th & E. Burnside) serves a great Mojito. Yum!



On 10 June 2005 (01:21 PM),
Lisa said:

Craig is currently working on making limoncello, by the way. It’s lovely stuff when it’s good quality.

Mint juleps aren’t bad, either, once you get past the idea that they’re not mint slushies.


On 11 June 2005 (09:06 PM),
Tammy said:

Jd did you read moms post under your May 30th post on the family page? You need to read that!



On 12 June 2005 (08:09 AM),
John said:

Wow, you guys make it? I’m impressed! I just run down to the liquor store, grab a bottle, and throw it in the freezer when I get home. We are fortunate enough to have the Luxardo brand available here in southwest Missouri.

Hmm.. 10:05 on Sunday morning. Gotta be happy hour somewhere, right? Now that I’m thinking about it, I must have a few sips – it’s THAT good.

/me trudges towards the freezer, shot glass in hand…

John

Tuesday is Sno-Ball Day

Kris and I met after work to go to Contract Furnishing Mart in Clackamas to look at various samples for our bathroom remodel.

“Look at that: a bakery outlet,” Kris said, as we walked through the parking lot.

“It’s not a bakery outlet,” I said. “It’s a Hostess outlet.” And we all know what that means.

We spent half an hour looking at samples of granite and Marmoleum. We hemmed and hawed over various shades of cream. Do we prefer the Umbra or the Shell? Maybe the floor would look better in Van Gogh. And what about the countertops? Should we go with Brazilian Brown or with Mystic Brown? Such choices. It didn’t help that we hadn’t thought to bring a paint chip. Kris had to scour the store for something close to the color she has in mind for the walls, and the best she could find was a big hunk of deep pile carpeting.

When we had finished, we walked over to the bakery outlet. To the Hostess outlet.

“Look!” I said, in awe. “I didn’t even know Hostess made breakfast cereal.” But they do. There were boxes and boxes of Hostess-branded cereals, knock-offs of Cheerios and Fruit Loops and various other big name brands. There were Hostess “toaster pastries”. And, of course, there was a big-ass aisle of bread.

But none of that was why I’d wanted to enter the store. You all know why I wanted to check out the bakery outlet: Sno-Balls. I’ve been very good with Sno-Balls since the start of the year. I’ve had them once. (Maybe twice.) But I figured that here, in a Hostess outlet, I’d let down my guard and stock up.

Only there were no Sno-Balls to be had.

“I don’t know if I want anything,” I said. “Do you?”

“Let me look around,” said Kris. While she wandered the rows of Ding-Dongs and Cup Cakes and Twinkies, I watched a man in distress do his shopping. Perhaps he was intoxicated. Perhaps he was crippled. Whatever the case, he teetered and tottered through the store. He reached for products in wild, flailing gestures that threatened to send stacks of Ho-Hos to the floor. When he’d finally found the food he wanted, he rummaged through his pockets to check for change. He had some, and we all knew it because it rained to the floor. Kris and I walked back to the bread where we pretended to be interested in the various varieties of hamburger buns. This guy was a little creepy.

When he’d gone, I grabbed a cherry Fruit Pie — a “sell by 01 APR” cherry Fruit Pie — and Kris picked up a box of chocolate Zingers.

“You don’t have any Sno-Balls,” I told the clerk when we went to pay.

She seemed a little daft, a little slow. “No. No,” she said. “We had them yesterday. You should have been here yesterday.”

“I love Sno-Balls,” I told her in a low, confidential tone, “but I always wonder if I’m the only one. They’re often sold out wherever I go. I wonder: are they sold out because they’re popular, or are they sold out because they’re unpopular?”

“Well, the boss used to order more of them,” she told me, “but we couldn’t sell them all. Now she don’t order as much, and it seems we always run out. I wouldn’t be surprised if people was stocking up because they know we don’t have enough.” A run on Sno-Balls!

“But you do get them in from time-to-time, don’t you?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “I don’t know which days we get them, but we do get them in.” Then she changed her mind. “Well, Tuesday is Sno-Ball day.”

“Tuesday is Sno-Ball day?”

“Yes, Tuesday is Sno-Ball day. We always have Sno-Balls on Tuesday. All day long.” I thanked the woman, and we left.

“We should remember this place,” Kris said. “We should come here on our way to Bend.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Just think: we’d be the most popular couple if we brought a couple of boxes of Suzy Qs and Twinkies.”

“Can I have a bite of your chocolate Zinger?” I asked as we drove home. “I’ve never had one before.” I was impresseed. Compared to the non-chocolatey nature of other Hostess products — Ding-Dongs are the worst — Zingers are actually pretty good.

My cherry Fruit Pie was better. All 470 calories, all 22g of fat (11g of which are saturated), and all 35g of sugar.

But what I was really thinking was, “I’ll be back. Next Tuesday is Sno-Ball day.”

Comments


On 06 April 2005 (08:12 PM),
Kim said:

JD, It’s funny you should write about Hostess today. I logged on to your site to tell you that today is the anniversary of the Hostess Twinkie. The first one was made on this day in 1931. I can’t say I join you in your enthusiasm for Sno-balls or Hostess products in general. I think the last time I had one was in High School when I’d occasionally buy myself a fruit pie.



On 06 April 2005 (10:20 PM),
Kristin said:

Funny, indeed. Kim and I happened to be discussing your love of Hostess products while T and Tonio were having swimming lessons. Neither of us could recall your favorite. Now we know. I do remember your nutritious high school fruit pie-and-soda lunches.



On 07 April 2005 (06:51 AM),
J.D. said:

In high school, there was no question: Suzy Qs were my favorite. I loved the luscious chocolate sponge cake and the soft, creamy filling. I haven’t had a Suzy Q in over a decade now. Now my favorite Hostess treat is the coconutty Sno-Ball. I didn’t get this chubby without a little help from these snack products! :)

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but just for fun I’ll mention it again:

In high school, Kristin used to chide me for my poor diet. She warned that constant consumption of Suzy Qs and Twinkies couldn’t be good. My oh-so-clever response was that no, on the contrary, this diet was very good for me. In fact, what I was doing was conditioning my body to take Hostess products as nutrition. In fact, my goal was to make things like carrot sticks the equivalent of junk food for my body. I thought I was pretty funny…



On 07 April 2005 (08:51 AM),
Courtney said:

With all the Hostess products you’ve consumed, and all the preservatives, you should have a very long shelf life!



On 07 April 2005 (12:35 PM),
Lisa said:

Mmmmm! If I were at a Hostess outlet, I’d head straight for the lemon fruit pies (a.k.a. cardboard pie). Come to think of it, I haven’t had one of those in far too long…



On 07 April 2005 (05:50 PM),
Amy Jo said:

I used to have an affinity for chocolate donut gems in all their fried, waxy artifical chocolate glory . . . They don’t sound so good now days . . .



On 08 April 2005 (06:18 AM),
bill said:

gee golly! a Krispy Kreme does’nt stand a chance.but one would have to stop and wash ones sticky paws on the way to Bend. decisions -decisions -decisions!



On 08 April 2005 (06:18 AM),
bill said:

gee golly! a Krispy Kreme does’nt stand a chance.but one would have to stop and wash ones sticky paws on the way to Bend. decisions -decisions -decisions!



On 08 April 2005 (07:05 PM),
Lynn said:

When we were young, my brothers loved those fruit pies. Once, when we were driving somewhere, my mother pointed out the rear window of our car and announced, “Look it’s the Bains.” I assumed she was speaking of the two fruit pies in the back window that one of my brothers had brought along, but she was in fact speaking of another family that passed us in their car. So, we called Host fruit pies Bains for the remainder of my childhood. In fact, it’s difficult for me to say fruit pies when I really want to say Bains. I hope you enjoyed your Bain, JD.

Best Hot Chocolate Ever

That’s right! Another recipe, and it’s a dandy: a hot chocolate meant to be savored.

Craig and Lisa invited us for homemade French onion soup last night. They also served a delightful salad, some tasty carrots, and, best of all, a rather odd dessert: a cup of hot chocolate (served with a slice of salty buttered toast).

But this is no ordinary hot chocolate.

This is:

Chocolat Chaud
(from It Must’ve Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten — adapted from Pierre Hermé)

Ingredients:

  • 2-1/4 cups whole milk
  • 1/4 cup bottled still water
  • 1/4 cup (generous) superfine granulated sugar
  • 1 100-gm bar (3-1/2 ounces) dark bittersweet chocolate, Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, or Lindt (see note, below), finely sliced with a serrated bread knife
  • 1/4 cup (1 ounce or 28 gm) cocoa powder, loosely packed, preferably Valrhona

Instructions: In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the milk, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the chopped chocolate and the cocoa and bring to a boil again, whisking until the chocolate and cocoa are dissolved and the mixture has thickened. Reduce the heat to very low.

Blend for 5 minutes with an immersion mixer or whirl the hot chocolate in a standard blender for half a minute, until thick and foamy.

Yield: Four 6-ounce cups of hot chocolate.

Note: I [Steingarten] use a dark chocolate containing close to 70 percent cocoa, though Lindt bittersweet also works just fine. The Mayans and the Aztecs considered the froth the best part. Today, five minutes with an immersion mixer or a blender accomplishes what a half hour of beating did long ago.

This stuff is delicious — a divine concoction. The food of the gods. It’s to be sipped, not quaffed.

Kris and I are preparing to venture out to find some good, high-quality chocolate with which to prepare this recipe for Jeremy and Jennifer tomorrow night.

The wikipedia gives us more on the history of cocoa.

The above is the fourth in my series of “Best Recipes Ever!” The other three are: Best Salsa Ever, Best Gingerbread Cookies Ever, and — my favorite — Best Clam Chowder Ever.

Sixteen years ago on this date, Kris accepted my application to be her sweetheart. We’ve been together ever since, happy and content despite our contrary natures. Today is the anniversary we mark, not our wedding anniversary.

Comments


On 24 January 2005 (07:59 PM),
jeremy said:

Happy Anniversary! Can’t wait for the hot chocolate. Will it go well with Lagavulin and a Macanudo?

On 24 January 2005 (08:19 PM),
J.D. said:

In Portland, Trader Joe’s has both Sharffen Berger and Valhrona chocolate bars, including a 70% cocoa Valhrona. They also have a house brand bar weighing 500g and containing about 70% cocoa. We’ll have try that, too.

We didn’t look for cocoa powder; Kris has some high-quality stuff she ordered from King Arthur recently. We’ll use that.

On 25 January 2005 (08:57 AM),
Amy Jo said:

Congrats to you and Kris! Paul and I also celebrate our dating anniversary more than we do our wedding anniversary. Seems more significant, seeing as we’ve been together for 15+ years now, but married for only seven.

I recommend trying Dagoba’s cocoa powder. Their hot choccolate mixes are also yummy. I especially like the Xocolatl, hot chocolate with chilies and cinnamon. It isn’t overly sweet and the chilies play off the chocolate nicely. I’ve made brownies with it and their Xocolatl bar–wowsa. Paul isn’t a dessert person and I am, but he looks at me like I’m crazy when I complain that a dessert is too sweet, especially a chocolate one. He fails to understand that too much sweetness detracts from the chocolate . . .

On 25 January 2005 (09:03 AM),
Amy Jo said:

I forgot to include their URL in my previous post:

http://www.dagobachocolate.com/

They have a few other nibs in their favor:

1) They produce organic chocolate
2) They are fair trade certified
3) Their headquarters is located in Central Point, OR (I think)

On 25 January 2005 (09:30 AM),
Courtney said:

Happy Anniversary! Cheers to you both!

On 25 January 2005 (09:56 AM),
Denise said:

Happy Anniversary – you are a great couple!

On 25 January 2005 (11:31 AM),
J.D. said:

Mini-blog:

There’s a brief respite here at work, so I was reading my brother’s weblog, specifically his entry on the Oscar nominations. It reminded me of a story I want to tell, but keep forgetting to.

Last weekend, the book group met for a field trip. We went to see the film adaptation of A Very Long Engagement, the book we just read. Despite having reserved our tickets via Fandango, we were scattered throughout the sold-out theater.

A few of us were seated in front of a woman who truly did not belong at this movie. (I picture her as looking/acting like the young blonde woman on Lost, but who knows?)

When the film started, and the credits began to roll, she gasped. Loudly. As if some super-shocking secret had been revealed. “Omigosh!” she said.

“What’s the matter?” someone asked her.

“Don’t tell me this is one of those movies with captions,” she said. I tried not to snicker, but just couldn’t control myself.

Then, fifteen minutes into the movie, her friend asked again, “What’s the matter?”

“I am so lost,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Somebody else leaned over and said, “Will you shut up?”

When the movie was over, most of our group headed over to South Park for late-night noshing. (I had the Farmer’s Platter — cheese, fruit, and sausage — with a glass of Aberlour; I was too cheap to spend the extra $3.50 to get Lagavulin.) We talked about the woman. We couldn’t decide whether the “shut-up” guy was with her party or not. It’s a mystery.

On 25 January 2005 (02:48 PM),
Amanda said:

Yay! Congrats!!!

On 26 January 2005 (06:32 AM),
Joel said:

Congratulations. And did you like the film?

On 03 March 2005 (06:11 PM),
J.D. said:

For the record, here’s the nutrition information for the chaud. The first number is for the entire batch; the second number assumes a 6-oz serving (one-quarter of the batch).

Calories: 1200/300
Fat: 60g/15g (40g/10g sat.)
Cholesterol: 80mg/20mg
Sodium: 280mg/70mg
Carbohydrates: 136g/34g
Fiber (yes, really): 12g/3g
Sugar: 112g/28g
Protein: 28g/7g
Calcium: 72%/18%
Iron: 40%/10%
Vitamin A: 12%/3%
Vitamin C: 4%/1%
Vitamin D: 56%/14%

American Ethnic Food

A couple of weeks ago, before one of our geeky Dungeons and Dragons sessions, Aimee fixed dinner for me and Joel. She made a traditional Minnesotan meal: Tater Tot Hot Dish.

Hot Dish is apparently Minnesotan for casserole. And Tater Tot Hot Dish is like low-rent Shepherd’s Pie. Since I love Shepherd’s Pie, it’s no surprise that I love Tater Tot Hot Dish. Here’s my adaptation of Aimee’s recipe:

Tater Tot Hot Dish

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown 1# of lean ground beef (mixed with garlic, onion, salt, and pepper to taste).
3. Drain fat. Place in the bottom of a casserole dish.
4. Spread one can of soup over meat. Cream of mushroom is fine. (And is Aimee’s soup of choice.) So is cream of chicken. So is tomato.
5. Fill the rest of the casserole dish with tater tots.
6. Bake for approx. 45 minutes, checking periodically. Remove when top tater tots are nice dark golden brown.
7. A layer of cheese is optional. (Add cheese before baking.)

We’re having the Gingeriches over for dinner tonight. I’m making Tater Tot Hot Dish.

This meal will continue a sort of long-running joke with Jeremy and Jennifer. They prepare wonderful, delicious meals every evening, many of them quite elaborate. Left to our own devices, Kris and I eat lots of canned and frozen food. It’s no secret that one of our favorites is Hamburger Helper (especially Three Cheese Hamburger Helper). Jeremy and Jennifer find this, well, a little disgusting. Tater Tot Hot Dish is a sort of home-made hamburger helper. Except for the Tater Tots.

I e-mailed Dana to find out her family’s recipe for Tater Tot Hot Dish. I figured that since this is traditional Minnesotan fare, her mother would have prepared some sort of variation. What follows is an exploration of ethnic food, American style. (Amy Jo would probably dig this conversation.)

J.D.: For dinner Tuesday night, I’m going to make traditional Minnesotan fare: Tater Tot Hot Dish and Jello Poke Cake. Aimee has shared her family’s recipes with me; do you happen to have yours handy?

Dana: I fear you are on your own — I’ve never heard of either of those dishes, at least not by those names. I’m going to guess that the ‘Jello Poke Cake’ is basically Jello with bananas and whipped cream, which I have had, and which doesn’t really have any variations. Dunno on the Hot Dish — Hot Dish is basically just another name for casserole, and there’s millions of regional variations. The kind we usually had involved beans with a layer of fritos on top…

J.D. And you call yourself Minnesotan! :)

Dana: Well, sort of…

J.D.: Jello Poke Cake is a cake with holes poked in it, into which one pours jello. The frosting is either whipped cream or whipped cream mixed with pudding.

Dana: Nope, definitely never heard/seen/had that.

J.D.: I figured that since you and Aimee were practically neighbors [they’re both from Garrison Keillor‘s mythical Lake Wobegon region], you might share certain dishes. Still, you’re of Norwegian descent, yes? and I think she is of German descent.

Dana: Right. And also, it’s my Dad who is died-in-the-wool Minnesotan, not my Mom. As a consequence, most of our ‘ethnic’ food was not Minnesotan, but was actually Norwegian (Potato Cakes/Potato Lefse, Futimon, Kumla, Milkegrotte, Ebelskeeva, Krumkake, and stuff like that) (I’ve probably misspelled many of those, as I’ve only heard them, never seen them written).

Actual ethnic Minnesota food is a melange of Scandinavian, German, and Native American recipes (not a lot of Wild Rice in Norway or Germany), filtered through a few intermingled generations here in the state.

Also, there’s at least two semi-distinct traditions — The Lutheran’s hotdish traditions vary from those of the Catholics, for example. My Minnesota roots are Lutheran. If Aimee’s are Catholic, then that might also contribute to the variance in our cuisines.

Not that you probably care, but there’s another interesting dichotomy I’m aware of — Minnesota Lutherans have a recognizable sense of humor distinct from that of Minnesota Catholics. The Catholics are more dour, less jovial. This is a fairly gross generalization, but it’s apparently a widely known one.

J.D.: Aimee’s roots are, indeed, Catholic. Mystery solved! :)

Dana: Elementary, my dear Roth! The German Catholics and the Norwegian Lutherans, while sharing many cultural practices, still maintain many distinct differences to the trained eye.

I’ve been trying to think of foods that I would consider particular to Oregon or the Northwest. I’ve not thought of any. Then I realized this may be because I’ve never lived outside the region. I would have no way of knowing which of the foods I eat are regional, would I? Do any of you know what our regional foods are? Amy Jo?

Comments


On 06 April 2004 (12:28 PM),
Tammy said:

Maybe all our seafood could be considered regional. I bet out chinook salmon is a fairly regional dish. I know black olives are not eaten much in the east. They eat the green ones. My sisters husbands couldn’t believe it when they saw us eating black olives.



On 06 April 2004 (01:05 PM),
Dana said:

Actually, if we want to be pedantic, my family is from nowhere near Keillor’s Lake Wobegon.

As for localized cuisine — while I can’t really comment on Oregon (Tammy’s probably right on the seafood), there’s another peculiar midwest treat I know about: The Pasty (that’s with a short ‘a’ sound, like in ‘camp’ or ‘flat’). Of course, these are apparently originally from Britain, but then they mutated in the mines of the Upper Penninsula of Michigan and spread throughout North Eastern Wisconson, as well.

(homer)Mmmmmm…..Pasties(/homer)



On 06 April 2004 (01:24 PM),
J.D. said:

I also here there’s some sort of frozen custard thing that’s popular out in the midwest. For the life of me, I can’t envision what form that might take. Like frozen yogurt?



On 06 April 2004 (01:32 PM),
Joel said:

Yeah, that frozen custard is huge in Wisconsin, there’s a chain called Culver’s that specializes in it. Pretty much a variation on a malted.
I grew up South Dakotan Methodist and, while my mom never made tater-tot hot dish, we had it plenty of times at church potlucks. The poke cake was something new Aimee brought to my life, however.



On 06 April 2004 (01:35 PM),
Dana said:

What, you mean like this?

I’ve never had any of that either, as far as I know. Believe it or not, the states here have pretty recognizable cultural gaps, and there are many things that don’t really get shared around. That looks like maybe a Wisconson thing.



On 06 April 2004 (01:42 PM),
Dana said:

Someone clearly needs this book… =)



On 06 April 2004 (02:42 PM),
mart said:

i’ve lived a lot of places around the country and the world. never been anywhere where salmon is consumed so feverishly (by me most especially!), so i’d have to cast my vote for that one (possibly with a nod to tammy’s seafood in general). also in a funny way, the asian food (thai and chinese) are kinda in contention for this honor too, though undoubtedly they’re more recent imports. to me salmon and thai food pretty well sum up what i can get here that i can’t get elsewhere.

(and i know there’s thai everywhere else too. but out here every corner has its own thai place. as opposed to living in colorado where every corner has its own mexican place, etc.)



On 06 April 2004 (02:42 PM),
mart said:

but black olives? everyone eats them everywhere…



On 06 April 2004 (02:55 PM),
J.D. said:

out here every corner has its own thai place

Is the Asian-Northwest fusion thing regional? Do you know what I mean? Stuff like what Caprial’s Bistro serves. Food that uses Northwest ingredients but in ways that are distinctly Asian.

Mart’s right, though, that this is pretty new stuff. It sounds like Tater Tot Hot Dish has been around for a while. I don’t know any unique Northwest dishes that have been around that long…



On 06 April 2004 (03:24 PM),
Dana said:

The only restaurants that I know of that sort of ‘started’ in the Pacific Northwest would be the Old Spaghetti Factory and Red Robin, neither of which have what you could call a distinct cuisine.

Part of the ‘problem’ is that Oregon, as near as I can tell, wasn’t settled from another country — it was settled from elsewhere in the US. The ethnicity is more diffuse. Here in Minnesota, frex, there’s a lot of Scandinavian and German. Not a lot of anything else. So the resulting mixture developed a ‘fusion’.

In the UP of Michigan there was, at one time, a thriving mining industry. So people who were miners in their own countries ended up settling there. There’s lots of Finns up there (there’s a finnish-language TV program on every Sunday morning broadcast from Marquette). But also waves of Poles, Italians, and people from Cornwall. That’s why a British food like Cornish Pasties ends up in Michigan. And then gets made, and fiddled with, by Finns and Italians, resulting in the similar, yet distinct, UP Pasty.

I suspect the migration patterns of the Oregon Trail kinda robbed the Pacific Northwest from developing that kind of fused ethnic background in the same ways.

But Mart is definitely right — Asian food in general is much more diverse and rich all up and down the West Coast, just as ‘Tex-Mex’ is much richer in Texas/Arizona/Louisiana/wherever than it is up here.



On 06 April 2004 (03:26 PM),
Joel said:

Bento?



On 06 April 2004 (03:48 PM),
Aimee said:

About Tater Tot and Other Types of Hotdish:

The working middle-class habit of the Midwestern American is accompanied by a varied seasonal schedule, dramatically ranging from the 100% humidity of August mornings, to the negative 30 degree January nights. The climate would never be described as Temperate. This motley meterology endows the folks of the Midwest with a hearty “feast or famine” attitude (also a pithy interest in Storm Chasing, as it were).

During the summer months, gardens overrun lawns with an abundance of botanical delights: squash, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, and sweet corn. Most Midwesterners anxiously cast aside the mantle of famine and indulge their august appetites with juicy watermelon slices and buttery fresh-picked, road-side stand corn-on-the-cob [Aside: These pleasures are proudly on display for interested out-of-towners at the Great Minnesota Get-Together (end of August to Labor Day)].

However, as the tomatoes ripen on the vine, the wicked Jack Frost comes a calling in early October, leaving families a few precious days to safely stock their fresh State Fair winners on the canning shelves. Alas for those Midwesterners caught by the blight of a November frost during the work week! They’ll be feasting on the store-bought flavors of the Jolly Green Giant the remainder of the year. And so, to make these dreadful, mushy peas and beans palatable in remembrance of summer’s bounty, these innovative Midwesterners will add a can or two to a casserole dish and combine with salted meat, potatoes, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup and call it “okay.”



On 06 April 2004 (04:23 PM),
Betsy said:

I should have had someone make Jell-O Poke Cake for our monthly cooking club’s white trash night recently!

I grew up in Michigan, but pasties are much more a thing in northern Michigan/the UP (Upper Peninsula) and not southern Michigan, where I lived. And we didn’t do hot dishes or tater tot casseroles either – instead, we did regular old casseroles with cream of mushroom soup, including tuna noodle casserole. Don’t forget the Durkee’s french-fried onions!

Oh – black olives are definitely NOT a NW thing; they are the only type of olive you’d see on a relish plate (which has pickle spears, celery and carrot sticks, black olives, radishes, and maybe a few pickled beets on it, typically) back in the midwest, for starters.

Oregon food tends to be upscale instead of middle-brow, in my experience (I’ve lived in Michigan, NYC, California & now Oregon, but have traveled through the country as well.) Even Bento – which is unique – typically has fresh steamed vegetables, steamed rice, and nice cuts of meat or fish. I wouldn’t have pegged Old Spaghetti Factory as a PDX thing, frankly, but maybe that’s because I first went to one in Cincinnati. (Oooh! Cincinnati chili is good stuff!)

Frozen custard is a St. Louis thing, but you can also find it elsewhere in the midwest. It’s a richer, eggier version of regular old soft-serve ice cream and is quite nice.

And I’ve already told friends that I’m dragging out my old recipe for red, white and blue layered Jell-O this year for the 4th of July. Yep, you put fresh fruit in the blue and red layers (blueberries and strawberries, respectively) but the white layer is made from lemon jello that has ice cream melted into it instead of cold water. It’s surprisingly good, in a cheesecak-ey kind of way…



On 06 April 2004 (06:44 PM),
Tammy said:

THese brother in laws of mine and their friends taht hadnever eaten green olives were not from the midwest. They were from Pennsylvania and Maryland. I don’t know if it was just their community that didn’t eat it or if it’s an East coast thing. Not only had they not eaten black olives a couple of them didn’t even know black olives existed!



On 06 April 2004 (08:08 PM),
Sheilah said:

“Oregon food tends to be more upscale, instead of middle-brow” ? Strong statement.

I guess that depends on if you consider seafood and Thai food upscale? Not me.

Frozen custard, for anyone who hasn’t tried it…is simply delicious! Sinful! :)



On 06 April 2004 (08:49 PM),
J.D. Roth said:

For the record, my version of Tater Tot Hot Dish was, well, substandard. Somehow I managed to forget to buy the cream of mushroom soup. I was faced with a choice: substitute cream of chicken soup or substitute tomato paste. I chose to use two cans of tomato paste. And no water. sigh Maybe next time…



On 07 April 2004 (05:27 AM),
Dana said:

I chose to use two cans of tomato paste. And no water. sigh Maybe next time…

Um. I don’t think you can make hotdish without Cream of X soup… Tomato paste? What were you thinking, man?



On 07 April 2004 (07:04 AM),
J.D. said:

I was thinking: “Gee, this is so much like my Shepherd’s Pie recipe (which calls for tomato paste) that I’ll just substitute that for the soup.”

Of course, this problem might have been averted if I’d taken a list with me to the grocery store instead of trying to remember everything. I also forgot whipped cream (but had time to go back for that; I wasn’t in the middle of the recipe when I needed it).

On a positive note, I did remember to get Kris her sliced olives…



On 07 April 2004 (07:28 AM),
Joel said:

Jeremy, Jennifer, Kris, and anyone else it may concern,
On behalf of the entirety of the Plains States, let me assure you that we in no way endorse or support Mr. Roth’s culinary innovation. In this regard, he stands alone, and must bear full responsibility for the consequences. We do, however, stand by you in your time of trial.
Sincerely,
Joel Miron
Self-appointed cultural ambassador



On 07 April 2004 (07:54 AM),
Dana said:

…ponder, ponder…

Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’ve ever had hotdish that included tomato anything. Not that such a beast doesn’t exist somewhere, of course.

More reference material



On 07 April 2004 (08:28 AM),
Dana said:

Here we go: Old Lutheran Recipes

I recognize most of those, although once again Tater Tot hotdish shows up. Dunno, but I know I’ve never had it.

On a slightly different note, this is not quite, but just about, the beverage my Dad’s mom used to make, and which they called ‘The Usual’. It is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever had (I can’t stand rhubarb, and this just makes it worse).

The recipes there aren’t quite what I grew up with — Mom’s flat bread recipe used bacon grease, as I recall, and I know her Split-Pea Soup used yellow peas (the only place I’ve ever had yellow split pea soup that tastes like my Mom’s and her mothers is at a greek restaurant, of all places).

But anyway, this is at least close-ish to my heritage.



On 07 April 2004 (08:44 AM),
Dana said:

And yet more recipes, this time from the region of Norway called Trøndelag (which is near to where my grandmother grew up, in Stavanger).

Specific recipes I know from that list include Kumla (Norske Potato Dumplings, one of my favorite meals, actually — but Dad hates it), Krumkake (type of cookie), Fattigman (kind of like a donut, but not really), Julekake (‘Christmas Bread’ — not my favorite, but it’s okay in small doses), Risgrøt (Rice pudding), Rommegrøt (kind of a cream pudding, but not really. If made with milk instead of cream, we called it Milkegrøt, which I’m more familiar with), Lefse, Flat Bread, and (of course), Vafler.

But those recipes for Lefse and Flat Bread still vary from what my Mom learned from her mom. I gather there are a lot of regional variations… Our kumla had little chunks of ham inside the dumplings, for example, which isn’t traditional.



On 07 April 2004 (10:26 AM),
Nikchick said:

I’ve had both tater tot hot dish and jello poke cake. I can’t imagine a household in 1970s Minnesota that didn’t serve these dishes, at least once!

Pasties were one of my favorite “Minnesota” foods. My greandma made great pasties. There are two schools of pasty-eating: with gravy or with ketchup. Our family uses ketchup.

My family is neither Norwegian nor German: we’re Finns. My recipe for Tater Tot Hot Dish comes from the 1971 Centennial Cook Book from Albion Lutheran Church, St. James, Minnesota. I never lived in St. James, nor was I a Lutheran, but we inherited this cookbook from family friends.

1.5 lb hamburger browned with 1 chopped medium onion. 1 can of cream of mushroom soup combined with optional half a can of water (I like it without). 1 can whole kernal corn (drained). Mix together in a large casserole. Top with tater tots. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

No recipe for Jello Poke Cake in this book, but there is a recipe for tomato soup cake (made with a can of condensed tomato soup), which I remember having and liking as a kid.



On 07 April 2004 (10:44 AM),
Dana said:

My family is a pasty-with-ketchup family, too, Nicole! But the real question is: rutebegas or no rutebegas?

In the 70s I lived in the UP of Michigan, and then we moved back to Minnesota in 79, and moved away again in early 84, so that may be why I missed out on the TTHD and JPC. Hmmm.



On 07 April 2004 (10:51 AM),
Betsy said:

Sheilah, I probably should have used a different word instead of ‘upscale.’

But if you think about the things people have mentioned that are ‘Oregon’ foods, they’re unique because they’re usually fresh – not canned, or frozen, or from packages. Fresh salmon or crab, fresh berries, nuts, etc. And bento is pretty healthy – steamed veggies, rice, etc.

Contrast that with your typical tuna noodle casserole (and I am not knocking tuna noodle!) – canned tuna, packaged noodles, canned cream of mushroom soup, and either potato chip sprinkles or canned Durkee onions.

I guess I think of it as ‘upscale’ because it’s typically the kind of cooking (fresh ingredients) you’ll find in better restaurants, or by people who are trying to impress or make a ‘nice’ meal for guests.



On 07 April 2004 (11:15 AM),
Joel said:

Interesting point, Betsy, and it seems to fit with Aimee’s interpretation of the development of the hot dish, which, she admitted last night, she’d pretty much just made up.



On 07 April 2004 (11:39 AM),
Dana said:

Made up or not, I thought it sounded appropriately Keillor-esque, Aimee!



On 07 April 2004 (03:42 PM),
Kristin said:

J.D., I’m sure you could’ve sampled Tater Tot Casserole at any number of Zion potlucks, had you not jetted off to Whiskey Hill Store for grape soda and Hostess treats. “Nothing good to eat here,” you thought. My, how far you’ve come :)

My Husband, the Chef

text by Kris, links by J.D.

Jd loves Texas Sheet Cake, a sort of cake-like brownie topped by a rich chocolate glaze. Very sweet, very chocolate-y with a hint of cinnamon. I think this is something his mother fixed when he was growing up. Chocolate sheet cake is on Jd’s menu for Chicken Noodle Fest so I look for his recipe as I make a shopping list.

It’s Friday, so Jd’s working till noon and I’m home. When I can’t locate the recipe, I email him. He responds: “Hm. It may be loose, on a piece of paper, just floating in my recipe bin, or the favorite recipes book, or somewhere. I may have to find it when I get home.” This is déjà vu; the last time he wanted to make this dessert, he couldn’t find his previous recipe, so he purposely got it from his Mom. I’m hoping he can find it, and, after he searches fruitlessly around for a while and is on the verge of giving up in favor of using an alternative cake-like brownie recipe, he actually does. He spied the word “Texas” on a corner, peeking out of a stack of loose papers in a pile on the bookshelf where his cookbooks used to be. He feels victorious. I silently wonder if there isn’t a more efficient system.

When I look at the recipe, I notice it calls for a 10″ by 15″ sheet pan. Although I have more baking gadgets than I could possibly need, I don’t own a pan of this size. Don’t worry, Jd reassures me. He always uses one of our 12″ x 16″ cookie sheets instead. I am doubtful. Does he size-up the recipe? Does he adjust the baking time? Is he sure? He’s very sure, he has made this recipe with this pan, multiple times. Okay, fine—off to the store.

At Thriftway, things go pretty smoothly. A small glitch when he asks if we need peanut butter and I remind him we got a two-pack at Costco last week. He laughs that he could forget such a thing in only a week. But then he gets snippy when in the soup aisle I remind him that we also bought a “flat” of chicken noodle soup. “Why do you assume I would forget that?” he complains. Why indeed? While I am in the produce section, Jd also gets mildly admonished by the Pepsi Corp. stockperson who catches him cheating on the iTunes contest. She has watched him tilt the bottle to sneak a look at the cap to see if he has a winner. He feels no shame.

Home again—time for Jd to cook. I try to prepare myself for the impending combination of Jd in the kitchen with a pound of powdered sugar. I feel like I do a pretty good job of not hovering, but as I’m folding laundry he comes to me holding one of our cookie sheets. You saw it coming, I’m sure. He has realized that, in fact, he has in the past used the smaller size, which we no longer have. He makes store trip number two to get a pan as the batter sits ready on the counter.

As the cake bakes, he makes the glaze on the stovetop. The recipe says to glaze the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven, but when the timer beeps, Jd finds that the cake has risen alarmingly into a dome, rather than remaining flat. I tell him that it should fall as it cools. Be patient. However, wanting to follow the recipe exactly, Jd proceeds to pour hot chocolate glaze onto the convex surface of the hot cake. Gravity exerts its influence, of course, and soon Jd has a sheet pan surrounded by several inches of gooey icing-covered counter. He laughs. I need to leave the kitchen.

Finally, he is done. The remaining glaze has been spread onto the cake, which has flattened somewhat. Wanting to sample his creation, Jd cuts a small piece from the corner. “Hm. It’s not quite right,” he says, “I can’t serve that.” Optimistically, he tastes a piece from the opposite corner of the pan. Still, there is something not quite right. He surmises that what he tastes is the buttermilk. But he has made this recipe before, and it always has buttermilk in it. “The only thing that I could have possibly done wrong is put in a tablespoon of baking powder instead of a teaspoon.” A-ha! I ask if it’s bitter. “I think that’s the buttermilk,” he answers. I sample the cake myself. The strange dome-like phenomena is now explained; the cake tastes characteristically alkaline. Too much baking powder, alright. Jd makes store trip number three: more powdered sugar and buttermilk. Cake #1 goes into the trash. The ants will feast tonight.

While Cake #2 is happening, I go to work on this story. As I make my way to the computer, Jd asks me hopefully if perhaps the omission of the cinnamon could have caused the abnormal rising and taste—he’s not sure he added the cinnamon the first time. I assure him that the cinnamon is completely optional; cinnamon, or lack thereof, is not the cause of his problems.

All sounds like it’s going well from the kitchen, until Jd, obviously pleased with himself, comes in to tell me that he forgot to get more buttermilk at the store (trip #3). “But,” he crows, “there was just barely enough left from the first one!”

I hope you all enjoy the Texas Sheet Cake. It has been a labour of love.

Friend Thanksgiving X

Every year, Kris and I host Friend Thanksgiving, a dinner party for a group of our friends. It’s a joint thing; we share in the planning and preparation.

This year, we had decided to have an Asian theme, serving an Asian salad, crab cakes, a Thai soup, and some sort of grilled fish.

Then, a few weeks ago, Kris put the kibosh on the Asian theme. She decided that we ought to do something semi-traditional instead. (Meaning: turkey and the like.) This made me cranky.

Next, she monkeyed with the guest list, deviating from our plan. This made me cranky, too, but I kept repeating this mantra: “Kris Gates is always right. Kris Gates is always right.” (This is what I tell myself every time it turns out I should have heeded Kris’ advice. I say it a lot.)

As the dinner party approached — and even on the day of the event — there were a lot of little things I was unhappy with: I didn’t like the soup she had selected, I didn’t like the acorns and the “snow” (actually some sort of foam) on the table because it used too much space; I didn’t like the assigned seating because it was poorly received last year; I didn’t think she had thawed the turkey long enough, hadn’t brined it long enough, didn’t cook it long enough.

My list of complaints was long and I made myself a little disagreeable, though still, in the back of my mind, I kept telling myself, “Kris Gates is always right.”

Well.

We had our dinner party Saturday night, and I’m happy to say that Kris was right again. Of the ten times we’ve hosted Friend Thanksgiving (“Friend Thanksgiving X” we called this one), I feel this was the most successful. Kris’ guest-list and seating arrangement were well-planned; the food was delicious; the conversation raucous. My fears were for naught. My objective for the evening was simply to do as Kris requested, and this proved to be the best possible plan.

Our menu?

  • After an hour of cocktails (including Chai-tinis and Midori Sours), we began the meal with wild rice cakes with a chipotle-lime aioli. These served as a replacement for the crab cakes we had originally planned.
  • Next we served a spicy bacon and corn chowder, which was much better than I had expected. (While Jeremy and I were supposedly bussing the table, we were actually in the kitchen slurping down second helpings of the soup.)
  • Our third course was a salad of mixed herbs with onions and a soy-based dressing (in deference to my abhorrence of oil-based dressings).
  • The entr�e was a turkey, brined for a day, and served with acorn squash and a rosemary baguette and a fantastic gravy. I loved the bread and gravy combination so much, that I tried to horde both at my end of the table, sopping up the gravy with the bread. Yum.
  • The main course was followed by a small plate of fruit and cheese, including my favorite apple (honeycrisp!) and the always-popular cheddar-like Double Gloucester.
  • For dessert, we had a nice cake, the variety of which now escapes me. Update: Kris informs me that the dessert was a honey spice cake with brandied cherries.

Why can’t I remember what we had for dessert? For one, the rest of the food was fantastic. For another, we kept the wine flowing throughout the night. (I particularly liked the Sauvignon Blanc and the Niagra, both fruity whites, though the rest of the company seemed less impressed by them.)

Between the cheese platter and the dessert, most of the men gathered outside in the cold and the damp where they enjoyed fellowship over Jeremy’s fine cigars and my fifteen-year-old single malt Scotch whiskey.

What can I say? It was a fantastic evening, despite my fears. And all of the credit belongs to Kris. Bravo!

Kris Gates is always right.

Comments

On 08 December 2003 (04:00 PM),
Tiffany said:

I wish I lived close enough to take part. But then again, I guess I would com eto the family dinner not the friend one. :)
Kris – I cannot wait until Friday.

On 08 December 2003 (04:28 PM),
Paul said:

J.D.,

What was the scotch?

On 08 December 2003 (10:07 PM),
J.D. said:

Paul, the Scotch was a fifteen-year-old Glenfiddich. I hunted for Lagavulin, but nobody seems to be carrying it around here anymore. The Canby liquor store used to, but there was no demand for it. In my memory, the Lagavulin was much better than the Glenfiddich, the the Glenfiddich isn’t bad.

On 09 December 2003 (12:02 PM),
mart said:

yr memory serves you well. lagavulin easily bests that glenfiddich “crap”. ;)

On 10 December 2003 (03:31 PM),
J.D. said:

As promised, here’s the recipe for Kris’ wild rice cakes:

Wild Rice Cakes

(adapted from Martha Stewart, of course!)
1 cup brown/wild rice blend (I use Bob�s Red Mill variety)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp canola oil plus more if needed for frying
2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
1 carrot (1/3 cup), chopped finely
1 celery stalk (1/3 cup), chopped finely
� yellow bell pepper (1/3 cup), chopped finely
2 eggs, lightly beaten
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 � cups Panko Japanese bread crumbs (I found these at Uwajimaya)

  1. Prepare rice as directed on package. If using Bob�s Red Mill �Wild Rice & Brown Rice� blend, it calls for 2 � cups water, the salt and butter above, and approximately 50 minutes. The rice should still be very moist and hold together in clumps. Set rice aside to cool.
  2. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add vegetables and cook until softened, about five minutes. Set aside to cool.
  3. In medium bowl, combine cooled rice, vegetables, and eggs. Gently fold in breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate until the breadcrumbs have absorbed the liquids, about one hour.
  4. Using an ice-cream or dough scoop, shape 16 patties. Place onto a cookie sheet. At this point, you can cover and refrigerate them until needed. Or, you can go on to the next step.
  5. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp canola oil over medium heat. Saute first side 5 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Turn over and saut� 5 minutes more. Serve immediately with wedges of lime and lime-chipotle aioli, if desired.

And, if you’d like, the aioli (I prefer Jeremy’s recipe):

Lime Chipotle Aioli

(adapted from Cook�s Illustrated The Best Recipe)
1/3 cup sour cream
� cup mayonnaise
2 tsp minced chipotle chilis (these are smoked jalapenos�I found them canned in adobo sauce in
the Mexican food section. I rinsed them & pressed them in my garlic press to remove the
skins and seeds. It is a good idea to wear protective gloves when you are handling these.)
1 minced garlic clove
2 tsp fresh minced cilantro leaves
2 tsp fresh lime juice (or more to taste)

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to three days.Enjoy!

Still the Best Salsa Ever

Happy Labor Day!

Today I’d like to re-post a very important bit of information that I originally shared last September. I am not joking when I say this is the best damn salsa I’ve ever had. Make a batch, and see if you don’t agree.

Two winters ago, Kris and Jenn bought me and Jeremy each a copy of the Cook’s Illustrated cookbook, The Best Recipe. Last year, Kris tried the book’s recipe for fresh salsa. It’s fantastic. Subtle, flavorful, delicious.

Here’s the recipe from the book, followed by our modifications:

Fresh Red Table Salsa

  • 3 large very ripe tomatoes (~2#), cored and diced small
  • 1/2 cup tomato juice
  • 1 small jalapeno or other fresh chile, minced (remove seeds for mild salsa)
  • 1 medium red onion, diced small
  • 1 medium garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, minced
  • 1/2 cup juice from 4 medium limes
  • salt to taste

Blend every thing together in blender or food processor. Put the salsa in the fridge for 8+ hours (the longer the better). Enjoy!

Things we have learned with this recipe:

  • Be careful with the lime juice. Too much lime juice spoils the flavor.
  • If, like me, you’re not a fan of cilantro, be sure the leaves are chopped fine. You may want to reduce the cilantro to just 1/4 cup.
  • For optimum flavor, follow J.D.’s Rule of Garlic: “Always add five times the amount of garlic called for by the recipe.” In this case, use five cloves of garlic instead of one clove. You’ll thank me for it later.
  • To vary the heat of the salsa, alter the number of chiles (in particular, the quantity of seeds from the chiles). Kris doesn’t like hot salsa, so we don’t use any chile seeds. It tastes fantastic even without them.

Try this salsa. You’ll be glad you did.

I dreaded Labor Day as a kid. I felt as if Dad took the day’s name literally. It was always a day of huge yard projects, of working outside. It sucked.

As an adult, I’ve continued to labor most Labor Days. It’s more fun now, though. The day off gives me a chance to work on long-avoided projects.

This summer I’ve been especially negligent around the house. True, much of this is due to my knee surgery in May, but part of it is due to a natural laziness found in the Roth blood. As a result, things are in a shambles. The lawn has begun to die (and has remain unmowed much of the summer). The car hasn’t had its oil changed in nearly a year. (It hasn’t been washed or vacuumed in that period, either.) Piles of stuff have accumulated on the library table, next to this computer. I have a half dozen boxes filled with stuff that needs to be sorted and put away. Plus, there’s the usual chores that need to be done, all of which I’ve been avoiding.

Today I managed to make a dent in this list of projects. I didn’t accomplish everything, and I didn’t even do everything that Kris had on my “honey do” list, but I did finish several major tasks, and start on a few more. I wanted to be productive. It’s the first time that I’ve felt like that in months. It felt great.

There’s still much left to do before I go to bed. I have seven or eight boxes of stuff piled in the living room. I need to sort the CDs and books and notes. I need to purge much of the stuff in the boxes. I need to pay my bills.

Also of note: I played with the cats. I slept with the cats.

Life is good.

For dinner tonight I grilled steaks. I grilled a cheap-ass pepper steak (from Thriftway) for myself and a filet mignon for Kris. My dinner was okay — a lot of steak but not that flavorful, which is what I wanted — but Kris’ was great. She said it was the best steak that she’d ever had. A good filet mignon can be like that.

In an hour or so, I’ll make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. When they’re done, I’ll eat them while they’re warm, dunking them in cold milk.

Mmmmmmmm.

Comments


On 01 September 2003 (08:40 PM),
Ron Roth said:

Your dad must have been related to mine. After dreading the start of school, each year dad made us glad that school was starting and Labor Day was over by the large numbers of projects that he tried to finish on Labor Day so he would have them done before summer was over. I think Shanika is glad for school tomorrow also because I had her helping me stain the fence today so it would be done before summer is over.
In our freezer is some of the best steak I have ever eaten. Last year a friend that was a steak ‘connesuier’ (his words not mine) told me how to raise and feed out a cow to make great steaks, he used to have 50 acres just so he could raise his own beef and his family ate more than one cow per year so I figured he must know what he was talking about. Eileen’s brother tried it and then we dry aged it for 21 days before cutting it up. It is the tenderest beef I have ever eaten. Nothing I have ever had in a restaraunt compares with it not even beef I have had in the midwest. I did have a really great 1 1/2 inch thick pork chop at Mike Ditka’s restaraunt in downtown Chicago though and, even though I have never been a great fan of pork, I am wondering how you raise a great hog.



On 01 September 2003 (10:28 PM),
dowingba said:

Labor day = time and a half pay.



On 01 September 2003 (10:45 PM),
Virginia said:

Ron, when am I invited to your house for a steak dinner? Does the steak go well with Fresh Red Table Salsa? I am going to try the salsa recipe tomorrow. I’ll let you know if J.D. is telling the truth. Up till now the best salsa I ever ate was made by Judy Headings, (Steve Headings wife) She had learned how to make it in Mexico.



On 02 September 2003 (07:38 AM),
Aimee Miron said:

Regarding cilantro …

According to a famous Portland bistro chef, I have learned that the more you chop the leaves of cilantro, the stronger the smokey flavor of the herb. For a more subtle, less invasive addition, the chef recommends tearing (by hand) the leaves from the stems, and further tearing the leaves to the desired size. This results in a slight bruise which releases a different flavor than the flavor generated by the chemical reaction between steel knives and cilantro when a fine chopping is required.

Yours,



On 02 September 2003 (08:15 AM),
Tiffany said:

Well, you would have envied my Labor Day! After a lot of pre-Labor Day work, I have nothing to do on Labor Day. I read in bed until 1pm, getting up only to eat. My cats were confused about my behavior, but happy to join me. Rich worked in the garage most of the day. We saw �S.W.A.T.� after dinner, good but predictable.



On 04 September 2005 (11:33 PM),
Joe B said:

I make really good salsa too. email me for recipe.

Best Clam Chowder Ever

I found a good clam chowder recipe in Bon Appétit a couple of years ago. Though it’s not a creamy chowder, it’s the best clam chowder recipe that we’ve been able to find. The ingredients produce a rich, hearty clam chowder with a complex mingling of flavors. I’m making myself hungry just writing about it.

Skipjack’s Clam Chowder
from November 2000 Bon Appétit
with modifications by J.D. Roth

  • Three 8-oz bottles of clam juice
  • One pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (resist the urge to use Yukon Gold potatoes)
  • Two tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
  • Three slices bacon, finely chopped (I use thick, hammy deli bacon — use six slices of bacon if you’re using the thin, pre-packaged stuff)
  • Two cups chopped onions (about one large yellow onion)
  • Three stalks (about 1-1/4 cups) of celery with leaves, chopped
  • Five garlic cloves, minced
  • One bay leaf
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • Six 6-1/2 oz cans minced clams, drained, juices reserved (chopped clams are fine — I use minced because Kris doesn’t like large, rubbery clam chunks)
  • 1-1/2 cups half-and-half
  • One teaspoon hot pepper sauce (we use Tapatío, but you might prefer Tabasco)
  • Optional: 1/2 teaspoon hickory smoke salt (hard-to-find, but great flavor!)

At the top of my recipe card I’ve written, in bold: NOTE: Prepare ingredients before starting! Experienced, or quick, cooks can ignore this advice. I’m neither experienced nor quick. If I don’t prepare the ingredients before starting the chowder, it’s a disaster.

  1. Bring the bottled clam juice and potatoes to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender (about ten minutes). Remove from heat.
  2. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until bacon begins to brown (about 8-10 minutes). Add onions, celery, garlic, and bay leaf. Sauté until vegetables soften, about six minutes.
  3. Stir in flour and cook two minutes. Do not allow flour to brown.
  4. Gradually whisk in reserved juices from clams. Add potato mixture, calms, half-and-half, hickory smoke salt, and hot pepper sauce. Simmer chowder to blend flavors, stirring frequently.
  5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  6. Chowder can be served after as few as ten minutes of simmering, or it can sit on the stove contentedly for hours.

This is a damn good clam chowder, and it re-heats well. I made a double batch yesterday, so we’ll be eating it for a week or two, but with no complaints.

I sometimes make biscuits to go with the meal.

Cracked Pepper Biscuits
from November 1998 Bon Appétit

  • Two tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Two tablespoons chopped fresh thyme (or, if you’re forgetful like me, you might use rosemary instead)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (this might stand increasing)
  • 1/2 cup chilled whole milk (I used half-and-half leftover from the chowder)
  • One large egg
  • Two cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • One tablespoon baking powder
  • One teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation is straight-forward, though it does require a food processor.

  1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
  2. Melt two tablespoons butter in heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add thyme (or rosemary) and cracked black pepper. Sauté until fragrant (about two minutes).
  3. Transfer thyme mixture to small bowl. Whisk in milk, then egg. Cover and chill until mixture is cold.
  4. Blend flour, baking powder, and salt in food processor.
  5. Add 3/4 cup butter. Using on/off pulses, process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  6. Add cold milk mixture. Using on/off pulses, process until moist clumps begin to form.
  7. Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Knead until the dough holds together (about six turns).
  8. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Using two-inch diameter biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out biscuits. Reroll dough scraps and cut out additional biscuits, making sixteen biscuits total.
  9. Transfer biscuits to large baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about twelve minutes. Serve biscuits warm.

You might think, looking at these two recipes, that I’m a huge fan of Bon Appétit, which isn’t the case. I subscribed for a couple of years, and clipped interesting recipes, but generally I find the magazine to ad-centric for my tastes. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m now partial to Cook’s Illustrated.

Comments


On 04 January 2004 (12:30 PM),
J.D. Roth said:

Over the past several months, I’ve made some refinements to the clam chowder recipe. Here are the most important:

  • The recipe calls for one pound of potatoes. Two cups of potatoes (or about three medium russets) is close enough.
  • I use more bacon than the recipe calls for. I like five slices of thick bacon instead of three.
  • I’ve increased the amount of half-and-half from 1-1/4 cups to 2 cups, but this may actually decrease the intensity of the flavors, so be careful.
  • Note that when you fry the bacon in the butter, the bacon fat will become gummy and stick to the bottom of the pan. Do not be alarmed. When you add the veggies in the next step, their juices will wash the bottom of the pan clean.
  • I’m not sure why you’re not supposed to let the flour brown. Anyone know?
  • Try not to let the chowder boil.

I still make this chowder all the time, and can never get enough of it.



On 24 January 2005 (06:38 PM),
J.D. said:

Here’s an important note: the beginning of step four is the key to transforming this chowder from simple excellence to the status of Best Ever. I only just learned this technique a few weeks ago, when Kris read the recipe for the first time. She guided my hand and showed me how to develop a roux.

If, in step four, one adds the reserved juices just a bit at a time, whisking vigorously between additions, the stuff in the pot thickens and develops into a sort of paste. This is the roux (pronounced “rue”). And a thick, gooey roux will yield a thick, delicious chowder.

Actually, the taste is left unchanged; the chowder is just as good without attention to this step. But the texture is much more appealing, and worth the minimal effort to achieve.

More insights a year or two from now.

Mini Bagel Dogs

Custom Box Service runs a cafeteria of sorts for its employees. Every week, I make a trip to Costco to restock the fridge and cupboards. The Schwan’s man comes once a month.

You might think that a group of Mexican guys would eat a lot of burritos and quesadillas and chimichangas, and you’d be right. Lately, though, this traditional faire has been supplanted by a single delicacy from Costco:

Mini bagel dogs.

That’s right: my predominantly Mexican crew cannot get enough of mini bagel dogs.

These tender morsels, produced by Sinai Kosher (“Kosher never tasted so good!”) are just like the wiener wraps that you remember from the grade-school cafeteria, except that they’re made with a diminutive dog wrapped in bagel dough instead of bread dough.

The crew currently eats, at a minimum, one bag of mini bagel dogs each day. Jesus eats the most mini bagel dogs. He ate 105 mini bagel dogs last pay period. The pay period contained twelve days. Jesus is eating nine mini bagel dogs a day, almost two bags a week. The rest of the crew — three guys in the shop and the four Roth boys — eat about three bags a week.

They are good, but should the crew really be eating a bag of them every day?

Each bag of Sinai Kosher mini bagel dogs (“bagel dough wrapped around kosher beef cocktail franks”) contains about 28 mini bagel dogs. According to the nutrition facts, each mini bagel dog contains:

  • approximately 62.5 calories
  • approximately 3 grams of fat (1 gram of which is saturated fat)
  • 5mg of cholesterol
  • 130mg of sodium
  • 7 grams of carbohydrates (with only a trace of fiber)
  • and 2 grams of protein

A mini bagel dog contains no appreciable vitamin content. Four of these pups make a serving.

The mini bagel dogs contain the following ingredients:

Dough: enriched wheat flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, iron, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid), water, vegetable shortening (contains shortening chips made from hydrogenated soybean oil), dehydrated onions, sugar, yeast, malt, dehydrated eggs, salt, dough conditioner (sugar, salt, malt barley flour, mono-diglycerides, wheat gluten, calcium sulfate, ascorbic acid, enzyme), calcium propionate (added to retard spoilage).

Frankfurter: Beef, water, corn syrup, salt, natural flavorings, isolated soy protein, dextrose, sodium erythorbate, extractives of paprika, sodium nitrite.

Mmmmmmmm…

I’d probably be a much healthier person if we didn’t run this cafeteria.

I bought some strawberries at Costco yesterday. They’re “California coastal” strawberries — whatever that means — and, as you’d expect from strawberries picked at the end of January, they’re not very good. Still: they’re strawberries, and I’m eating them in the dead of winter. You can’t beat that!

On this day at foldedspace.org

2004 —
Ebony and Ivory
  What was the first record album you ever owned? Also: the etymology of the word Flotch.

2002 —
Creative and Analytical
  My mind seems to have two major modes of operation: Creative Mode and Analytical Mode.

Comments


On 05 February 2003 (12:32 PM),
Dave said:

Proof positive that the American ability to supply fat, cholesterol and sugar is unparalleled by anyone anywhere in the world. This is why the French fear us!! The United States, taking over the world 350 calories at a time.



On 23 August 2004 (08:03 AM),
Jim Sideris said:

Costco in Santa Barbara & Santa Maria, Ca no longer carry the mini bagel dog! Where else can they be purchased!



On 23 August 2004 (08:03 AM),
Jim Sideris said:

Costco in Santa Barbara & Santa Maria, Ca no longer carry the mini bagel dog! Where else can they be purchased!



On 30 October 2004 (06:46 PM),
Lois said:

I also have discovered that COSTCO is no longer carrying the mini bagel dogs. I even contacted the company- Mt. Sinai is a division of BEST….and they did not help me locate a way to purchase them. My child LOVES these mini dogs…and he has only about seven foods that he likes. PLEASE ADVISE how to find them!



On 12 December 2004 (05:51 PM),
beth said:

I ALSO WANT TO FIND THIS MT. SINAI BAGEL DOGS — PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU FIND IT! PLEASE PUT BAGEL DOGS IN THE SUBJECT LINE.



On 12 December 2004 (05:51 PM),
beth said:

I ALSO WANT TO FIND THIS MT. SINAI BAGEL DOGS — PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU FIND IT! PLEASE PUT BAGEL DOGS IN THE SUBJECT LINE.



On 12 December 2004 (05:52 PM),
beth said:

I ALSO WANT TO FIND THIS MT. SINAI BAGEL DOGS — PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU FIND IT! PLEASE PUT BAGEL DOGS IN THE SUBJECT LINE. bekebeel@aol.com



On 14 December 2004 (08:06 AM),
Jill said:

Ok, I have some facts to share with those of you also searching for Sinai Kosher Mini Bagel Dogs. As you know, Costco doesn’t carry them anymore. I spoke to the manufacturer and actually Sinai Kosher doesn’t make mini bagel dogs any longer. However, a sister brand (Best’s Kosher) carries its own version of the mini bagel dog.
I have posted a customer comment on Costco’s website, asking them to begin carrying the Best’s Kosher brand of mini bagel dogs as soon as possible. Please do the same — the more customer’s that request Costco to carry it, the more likely they will.
I don’t think the warehouse staffers have any control over adding products to their shelves so the website seemed to me like the best route.
In the meantime, I have found a couple smaller grocers in my area willing to order some, IF they can find a distributor of the product (the search is on). If you also pursue this route, it may be helpful for your grocer to know that Best’s Kosher is a brand owned by SaraLee. Good Luck!



On 27 January 2005 (01:30 PM),
Steve said:

Actually, I first got addicted to bagel dogs from buying “Bernie’s Bagel Dogs” which were stocked at Sam’s Clubs many many years ago. Unfortunately, nobody stocks them and I’ve been searching. I found this site by doing a google search.. Ohwell, I’ve got an Einstein Brother’s next door, they seem to sell bageldogs as well.



On 14 May 2005 (11:08 AM),
janice said:

Please let me know where bagel dogs can be purchased in Austin, Texas. We are desperate.

Thank you.



On 25 May 2005 (12:37 PM),
Alina said:

Has anyone had any luck finding any bagel dogs in Southern California?



On 28 May 2005 (12:10 PM),
mina said:

I found them at Safeways in central and Northern California , and actually fill a carry on bag with them when I come home to southern california . I have asked my local Von’s (Which is a sister stire to Safeways , but no luck.
Please some one help me find them locally or a websight I can order from.



On 22 August 2005 (06:38 PM),
Cheryl said:

While also looking for a supplier for mini bagel dogs, I came across this website.

http://www.omahasteaks.com/servlet/oh?DSP=14&AID=1500&IID=4689&SiteID=hLUPakqa5g4-hUdBBOJS8gg%2FJW1%2Aq3mBqQ

Who in their right mind would pay that much?

NOT ME

I was able to find two packets of I think 20 each or so at Safeway. I didn’t count, I just wanted them. I went to find more later, and had no luck. When you ask an employee, they think you are talking about bagel bites. I guess they don’t get out much.

So as like many, I am still looking again.



On 30 August 2005 (11:26 AM),
e graham said:

My son adores the minibagel dogs that we got at costco both in sequim WA and Lewisville TX as well as Tom Thumbs stores in DFW area last year- however this year am unable to find anything similar- does anyone out there know of a store in the DFW area that carries them?

Best Gingerbread Cookies Ever

Mom made great cookies. My favorite were gingerbread cookies, hot out of the oven, with a cold glass of milk. Since I left home for college, I haven’t had a good gingerbread cookie.

Until last night.

For Monday Night Football, Jenn Gingerich made the gingerbread cookies from Cooks Illustrated (November 1999).

Cooks Illustrated is the Consumer Reports of food magazines. The staff tests dozens of recipes to come up with the best recipe for any particular dish. They test kitchen equipment. They answer questions about obscure kitchen tools. They research tips and tricks. This information is all presented in a magazine with no advertising. It’s outstanding.

Also from the same group are America’s Test Kitchen, a cooking show, and The Best Recipe, which is something of a cooking bible in the Gingerich and Roth-Gates households (five stars in 151 reviews at Amazon!).

The Cooks Illustrated gingerbread cookies are, well, the best gingerbread cookies I’ve ever had. Jenn also provided frosting, gumdrops, M&Ms, and red-hots to decorate the cookies. The result? A stomach ache from eating too many gingerbread cookies.

Just like being a kid again.

For the record, here’s the recipe for these cookies. (If you like this recipe, subscribe to Cook’s Illustrated — you won’t be sorry.)

Best Gingerbread Cookies
from the November 1999 issue of Cook’s Illustrated

The challenge: There are essentially two types of gingerbread cookie: the thick ones that bake up soft, moist, and gently chewy, and the crispy thin ones that can not only be eaten but also used to decorate the Christmas tree. (There is of course another type, but it would qualify as building material before it could be called an edible cookie.) We began by trying to perfect a recipe for thick gingerbread cookies but found that by using the very same dough and rolling it thinner, we could also produce a tasty thin cookie that held up on the tree.

The solution: The first thing we did to remedy the many construction-type recipes we found was to add more butter. A ratio of anything less than 4 tablespoons of fat to 1 cup of flour will produce a very dry cookie–which may be what’s wanted when building a gingerbread house but is not desirable in a cookie meant for eating. More sugar and molasses came next, making the cookies more flavorful, pleasantly sweet, and moist. A little bit of milk leant the cookies just the right extra measure of softness and lift. Now, whether thick or thin, we had a cookie that tasted as good as it looked.

For good measure: The recipe provides instructions for a slightly unorthodox technique to mix the ingredients that makes it possible to use the dough at once instead of chilling it in the refrigerator for several hours, as called for in most recipes.

THICK AND CHEWY
GINGERBREAD COOKIES

For about twenty 5-inch gingerbread people or thirty 3-inch cookies

If you plan to decorate your gingerbread cookies and make ornaments out of them, follow the directions for Thin, Crisp Gingerbread Cookies. Because flour is not added during rolling, dough scraps can be rolled and cut as many times as necessary Don’t overbake the cookies or they will be dry. Store soft gingerbread in a wide, shallow airtight container or tin with a sheet of parchment or waxed paper between each cookie layer. These cookies are best eaten within one week.

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened slightly
3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
2 tablespoons milk

1. In food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade, process flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda until combined, about 10 seconds. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and process until mixture is sandy and resembles very fine meal, about 15 seconds. With machine running, gradually add molasses and milk; process until dough is evenly moistened and forms soft mass, about 10 seconds. Alternatively, in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer and add butter pieces; mix at medium-low speed until mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal, about 1 1/2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, gradually add molasses and milk; mix until dough is evenly moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds.

2. Scrape dough onto work surface; divide in half. Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll 1/4-inch thick between two large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate dough 2 hours or overnight.)

3. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

4. Remove one dough sheet from freezer; place on work surface. Peel off top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer. Cut dough into 5-inch gingerbread people or 3-inch gingerbread cookies, transferring shapes to parchment-lined cookie sheets with wide metal spatula, spacing them 3/4 inch apart; set scraps aside. Repeat with remaining dough until cookie sheets are full. Bake cookies until set in centers and dough barely retains imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes, rotating cookie sheets front to back and switching positions top to bottom halfway through baking time. Do not overbake. Cool cookies on sheets 2 minutes, then remove with wide metal spatula to wire rack; cool to room temperature.

5. Gather scraps; repeat rolling, cutting, and baking in steps 2 and 4. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is used.

THIN, CRISP GINGERBREAD COOKIES

For 2 1/2 to 3 dozen gingerbread people
or 4 to 5 dozen cookies

These gingersnap-like cookies are sturdy and therefore suitable for making ornaments. If you wish to thread the cookies, snip wooden skewers to 1/2-inch lengths and press them into the cookies just before they go into the oven; remove skewers immediately after baking. Or, use a drinking straw to punch holes in the cookies when they’re just out of the oven and still soft. Store in an airtight container. In dry climates, the cookies should keep about a month.

Follow recipe for Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, quartering rather than halving the dough, rolling each dough quarter 1/8-inch thick, reducing oven temperature to 325 degrees, and baking cookies until slightly darkened and firm in center when pressed with finger, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Delicious!

Comments


On 03 December 2002 (08:11 AM),
J.D. said:

In typical obsessive J.D. fashion, here’s the breakdown of the Amazon ratings for The Best Recipe: five stars = 129, four stars = 13, three stars = 8, two stars = 2. Pretty darned good!

From reading the comments at Amazon, I’m led to understand the book contains a recipe for coconut chocolate chip cookies that is quite good. I’ll have to try it.

I should note that sometimes it is best to use The Best Recipe as a base for your dish rather than as the sole recipe. For example, we recently prepared Tuscan-style Game Hens. We used the preparation technique from The Best Recipe (brine the hens in a salt solution for several hours) but used an actual recipe from another cookbook (one of Caprial’s). Very nice.

On 03 December 2002 (03:59 PM),
Jeremy said:

The true cooking bible in our household is a collection of cookbooks by Marcella Hazan. These were recommended to me by my brother-in-law and have served us very well over the years. Some of you have had many meals prepared from these cookbooks.

-jeremy

On 03 December 2003 (11:34 AM),
J.D. said:

Yummy. I know what I’m doing Friday afternoon: cookie time!