Heirloom Meals: Savoring Yesterday's Traditions Today

Saturday September 19, 2015

Carole's Cookbook Picks:
A Kitchen in France by Mimi Thorisson

A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse

 

Mimi Thorisson is the voice behind the famed food blog Manger. Her cookbook, A Kitchen in France, shares the blog’s focus; each are written as a reflection of her life documented by the recipes she loves. Her approach to food works against the stereotype of French cooking as pretentious or a compendium of flavors too varied and intricate to distinguish from one another.

A Kitchen in France goes beyond the fundamentals of food alone. Thorisson delves into the connections that food fosters and presents her readers with the French joie de vivre seemingly inaccessible to those who live outside its pastoral landscape.

The images capture the tranquility of her town - Médoc’s rolling hills and lush fields, which charm you with the fresh offerings reflective of the current season. Thorisson explains the abundance of asparagus in April and the locals’ haste to gather as much as possible before the season ends. She meditates upon the gift of quality ingredients, expressing the pleasure of a single asparagus stalk’s delicate tang in her Roasted Asparagus with Chervil, bringing out its flavor with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. This method of cooking allows the asparagus to taste more like itself, more like how we expect it to when bringing it in from the garden.


We come closer to understanding France, its approach to cooking and lifestyle, with each of her recipes. Thorisson features photos of the country’s food artisans and foragers, highlighting the attention of all produce, even the care given to a single plum tomato, freshly-picked from the vine for the day’s market. This gives us a view of the landscape which lends a narrative to each recipe - the story of food we must acknowledge and share.

Friday September 18, 2015

The Heirloom Meals School of Cooking Fall 2015 Classes

Pumpkin Everything – October 18th 1-5pm

Pumpkins are one of my favorite foods. I love them because they are both beautiful and healthy. Serving double duty, they adorn my table as décor and then end up in soup, pie, and more!

Come spend the afternoon with me while I share four of my favorite pumpkin recipes:

Pumpkin Pie including the pie dough

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Soup

I will demo the Pumpkin Cheesecake and the Pumpkin Soup and pie dough. Then we’ll do some hands on making the pie and the muffins.

We will end enjoying a cup of soup and a taste of the sweets. You will leave with the recipes and a small pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving Menu Planning and Fabulous Sides – November 8th 1-5pm

We’ll spend the first hour work-shopping each of your menus! I will share mine and how I developed it.

Then, we’ll get cookin’:

2 of my favorite gratins: turnip and potato, and red cabbage

2 stuffing/dressing recipes: Italian Sausage and Bread Stuffing, and Wild Rice Dressing

It will be part demo/part hands on. We will end with a glass of wine and a taste of the sides. You will leave with your menu planned and the class recipes including a few extras.

Edible Gifts from the Kitchen – December 3rd 7-10pm

We’ll dive right into making ginger pennies, caramels, and lollipops. I will do a brief demo and we’ll make them sequentially.

You will leave with a box of caramels, a few packaged lollipops, a lollipop mold and sticks to make at home, and a jar of ginger pennies.

Details: Each class is $75. Sign up for all three for $200.

Pumpkin Everything $75

Thanksgiving Planning and Sides $75

Edible Gifts $75

Fall Class Trio $200

Saturday September 12, 2015

Carole's Cookbook Picks:
Baking with Less Sugar by Joanne Chang

Baking with Less Sugar: Recipes for Desserts Using Natural Sweeteners and Little-to-No White Sugar

 

The ingenuity and expertise of Joanne Chang, owner and pastry chef at Flour Bakery + Café, gets put on display in her third cookbook, Baking with Less Sugar. In America, we’ve come to depend upon sugar to bring flavor to our sweetened creations, but this reliance has only resulted in deadened taste buds and the masking of other ingredients. Chang sees this need to alter our cravings and has created a collection of recipes which challenge our palates to search for flavor elsewhere.

Chang starts her book by addressing the obvious disputes to this baking philosophy, saying that 1) “Life is sweet” and 2) “I sell sugar”. It’s true that owning a bakery, distributing innumerable confections daily, leaves Chang somewhat guilty for contributing to our sugar craze. However, she confronts this issue by explaining her own epiphany that baked goods can be sweet, and made more interesting, by substituting other ingredients for sugar - whether it be honey, maple syrup, or fruit purées. She believes that we negate the potential flavor of a cookie if we focus solely on making it sweet - it can be nutty, smoky, salty, anything on the spectrum of flavor. This introduction to her succeeding recipes has the reader excited for all of the new discoveries to be made outside of sugar’s constraints.

It’s hard to imagine a fruit pie without loads of sugar to make its filling sickeningly-sweet. Chang, however, is a strong believer in allowing the natural flavors of ingredients take center stage. She uses the built-in sweetness of the fruit in her Blueberry Nectarine Pie to make only 4 tablespoons of sugar all that is necessary for the  jammy and luscious pastry. She pairs this with her Double-Crust Pie Dough, allowing the juicy berries to mix beautifully with its flaky texture.

Chocolate is certainly not without its own dose of sweetness, but by depending only on the sugar content of bittersweet chocolate in her Double Chocolate Whoopie Pies, she is able to significantly reduce the added amount from its traditional equivalent. Crème fraîche contributes a certain tangy bite, drawing the pies away from potential chocolate overload.

I love Chang’s use of maple syrup as a sugar substitute in her Sticky Toffee Pudding, a vegan alternative to honey. She outlines the traditional version she makes with “loads of brown sugar”, a comforting option during the colder months. However, she says that in this adaptation, the maple syrup complements the dates’ deep flavor instead of obscuring them in mountains of sugar as too many recipes often do. The dessert is a great example of how using natural sweeteners results in a greater complexity of flavor.


Baking with Less Sugar is not another cookbook focused only on making desserts with fewer calories. Joanne Chang seeks out alternatives for sugar so that she can experiment with other ingredients and develop recipes that taste how we expect them to, while still retaining an element of mystery in their subtle nuances of flavor. The result is healthy, delicious, and nonetheless sweet.

Saturday September 05, 2015

Carole's Cookbook Picks:
French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, & Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano

French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, & Pleasure

 

Warning: for those of you looking for a quick-fix for your weight-management woes, French Women for All Seasons by Mireille Guiliano is not the book for you. Its pages replace this short-lived attempt at weight loss with a lifestyle that is sustainable, allowing readers to practice the French mentality of treating themselves to small indulgences in moderation.

She founds her ideology on a style of living based on incorporating healthy, feasible habits into everyday practice. Nothing about her plan is extreme, instead, she emphasizes the small, everyday treats we allow ourselves to enjoy, attributing success to the inclusion of small amounts of bread, Champagne, and chocolate in our daily diets. She provides helpful weekly menus for each season so that your meals stay consistent with the produce that is at its freshest and most delicious. Don’t feel constrained by these guidelines though, because they are just that, general directions for how to create a healthy relationship with food. Guiliano suggests that you learn what you like and build from there, because the real key to eating like a French woman is acknowledging that maintaining a healthy weight comes from the continual development of our joie de vivre, and appreciating the balance between restraint and pleasure that brings more joy to every moment and to every taste.

For those of us who have tested and tried all forms of yo-yo diets only to lose six pounds one week and gain it all back in the days immediately following, allow Guiliano to start by making food suggestions for you. What diet book would provide a recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cake, whose list of ingredients begins with equal amounts dark chocolate and unsalted butter (not to mention a cup of sugar to follow)? This is an example of Guiliano’s philosophy, where allowing ourselves to luxuriate in a small portion of a decadent dessert prevents us from giving into the temptation of a box of cookies later on.

The recipes are simple and straightforward, giving you plenty of options for weeknight cooking as well alternatives for more formal occasions. She provides a manageable Buttersquash Soup, with no more than six ingredients, but which she suggests dressing up with fresh parsley, grated nutmeg, and a dollop of crème fraîche if you’re expecting company.

French Women for All Seasons reads sometimes like an anthropological study of the differences between the French and American approaches to food, where the latter inhales entire meals in 10 minutes while the former has established the meal as a time for simultaneous reflection and celebration. Guiliano suggests that the difference arises not just in a focus on how our alimentation affects our culture, but the opposite. She extends her theories beyond food, noting that it takes recognizing pleasure in every aspect of our lives, in romance, our family, friends, and even the mysterious bloom of cherry blossoms in spring, to feel completely engaged each moment and entirely satisfied with every meal.

Saturday August 29, 2015

Carole's Cookbook Picks:
A Suitcase and a Spatula by Tori Haschka

A Suitcase and a Spatula: Recipes and Stories from Around the World

 

Though we can’t all pack our bags and head off to Paris when a hankering for French culture arises, it is within our ability to be transported by a single bite of a flaky and light, buttery croissant. Or how about Raspberry Croissant Pudding? This is exactly what food and travel writer Tori Haschka wants to give her readers in A Suitcase and a Spatula. Her recipes make even the most far-off travel destinations accessible, all through the sense of taste.

Haschka believes, just as I do, that our palates have a direct connection to our memories and imaginations. Highlighting the ingredients and flavors exclusive to the destination, Haschka uses her recipes to carve out and put on display the region’s cultural landscape. Peppers spiced with the heat of a red chili in Baked Moroccan Eggs evokes the warmth of the coast of Agadir, while the distinctive bitterness of the liqueur in her recipe for Sardines with Campari, Peach and Fennel raises images of enjoying a Spritz or Bellini in a Venetian Bar. The dish itself is pictured plated simply atop a white dish, allowing its brightness of color and flavor to take focus among vintage china plates stacked to the side.

I love cookbooks that go beyond simply giving measurements and proportions, ones that surpass a list of ingredients and instructions by including light but thoughtful prose. Doing so intertwines food and experience, showing the former’s deep profundity and effect upon our lives. Haschka applies this in her reflection of Menton in the south of France, where she describes the outpour of beauty in its abundance of flowers and the restorative effects of mussels and rosé, a food and drink combination that became the cure to her flu when she visited. Her headnote for her Mussels, Fennel, and Chickpeas in Pink Wine serves as a precursor for the joy that is to come, stating that “No matter how you were feeling when you started, healthy contentedness comes from this.”


A Suitcase and a Spatula lets you take a vacation from your kitchen, allowing you to experience the food and world beyond your stovetop. Tori Haschka provides you with two invaluable gifts: a life well-traveled and a body well-fed.

Wednesday August 26, 2015

Dale Gillis of Gillis Farms, New Mexico

I will never take an onion for granted again. Although they seem like a commodity – always available in the grocery store, a staple in my kitchen, and with the exception of a few seasonal varietals like Vidalias, they are never out of season. The care and skill needed to provide continuous onion production requires experience of the sort that is only earned from very hard work.

Dale Gillis, owner of Gillis Farms in Arrey, New Mexico schooled me in onion farming.  On his 4000 acres farm he grows onions and chili peppers (referred to as chilis). Only 1000 acres are dedicated to onions as Gillis Farm practices traditional crop rotation. One of the common onion diseases from overplanting is called pink root. To avoid pink root, Dale rotates his onion crop with corn, sudan grass, and alfalfa which all clean the soil, replenish nutrients and keeps his onions disease-free.

For the most part onion farming is labor intensive. Dale’s fields are hand-weeded and harvested. During harvest, Dale employs up to 500 people. The only insecticide used is to combat onion thrips, which is the major insect pest of the onion.  Weeds are solely managed by hand.

Gillis Farm is in the high desert of New Mexico where winters are mild and summer temperatures average around 100 degrees.  While this sounds harsh, it is ideal climate for onions. Dale claims that wet, damp conditions produce root rot. In fact, at harvest time, Dale likes it hot and dry.

Dale plants 40-48 different varieties of onions, mostly yellow with some whites and reds as well. The varieties are selected to spread the harvest over as long a period as possible to insure continuous production. Dale begins harvesting on May 20th and continues until late August. Onions planted on September 15th, for instance are harvested mid-June.  Dales’ 1000 acres produces 1.2 million 50 pound bags of onions. That’s 60 million pounds!!! Dales’ onions are sold directly to the supermarket chains including Walmart.

Dale proudly holds the mantel of his farming roots. His great grandparents arrived in New Mexico from Germany in 1918 and began the farm, which has been passed down to his grandparents, his parents and now he, and his brother and sister, with the 5th generation coming on strong.  His son and 2 nephews are beginning to work on the farm and absolutely love it. In fact, Dales’ son is getting a degree in Ag Business.

When I asked Dale what this new generation can bring to the farm, he said “a knowledge of computers and technology.”  Dale also emphatically stated that you cannot learn onion farming in college.  He said, “Only experience teaches you to grow.” That experience is what provides the knowledge to see a field of onions that needs zinc or iron, or has thrips.  Experience provides that critical wisdom necessary to successfully grow onions on the scale that he does. Dale’s best advice to future farmers is to do the work. “Without a work ethic, it’s worth nothing. Put your head down and run with the ball.”

When I asked Dale if he ate onions, he chuckled and actually said, “ Not many! Because at harvest time everything smells like an onion – my truck, my bed, my body.” He does, however, eat a fair amount of chilis. His favorite meal is steak with green chilis. He shared that growing up and even now, meals were simple – grilled meat, grilled onions and chilis, with peach cobbler for dessert.  Another favorite was called Green Chili Stew, which was a stew of steak pieces, chilis, potatoes and onions. His mom served it with a flour tortilla.

Here is a great recipe for grilled burgers and onions from the National Onion Association.

A bit about Dale’s Chilis

New Mexicans are very particular about their chilis. You are either a red or a green chili person.  Dale is a green chili person!

One curious fact about the chilis Dale grows is that 20% of them are grown for color.  Who knew? The chilis grown for color have no heat index. The red is extracted as a powder and is found in cosmetics and even cheese.

The other 80% of the chilis are all dehydrated and sold in small packages. They range on the heat scale from mild to extra hot.

The chili growing offers excellent crop diversification for Gillis Farm. As one might imagine, weather is either a farmer’s friend or foe. Having more than one crop is a hedge against the potential ravages of weather.

I would be remiss if I didn't share a New Mexican Chile recipe. Click this link for Green Chile Stew from the Santa Fe School of Cooking.

When I finished my interview with Dale, I just sat for a few moments. I knew I had spoken to a hard-working, salt-of-the-earth gentleman – of few words, yet quite communicative. His years of hard work, generational knowledge and love of farming produce the onions I have so cavalierly stored in my onion basket. Now when I hold that sphere, I honor it as it exists in all its perfect splendor because of people like Dale Gillis. Thank you Dale!

Enjoy Dale on Heirloom Meals Radio too!

Disclosure: I was compensated by the National Onion Association for this post. All opinions are my own.

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