The catalog conspirators have tracked me down again. But I will resist the glossy images and their holiday romance. I must, I must! With a trip home to the mid-West for Christmas and a wedding to save for next year, we are experiencing a much tighter budget for the household. Too bad dear Verizon, you will be shorted one more addiction to life lived via touch-screen.
Thriftiness has also been proclaimed by my parents but maybe for a different reason… “Just cook us something tasty and different when you are home for the Holidays,” they say. Read: “Save your money because we won’t be footing the bill of your entire wedding.”
I am, understandably, was freaking out over the concept of ‘different’. So treating it like ‘new and inspiring’ instead seemed much more doable. And sometimes the best answers to a challenge such as this are the tried and true parlor tricks you’ve done in spurts. Like brie and chutney stuffed phyllo dough, or pear and blue cheese topped phyllo dough with fresh thyme, etc. Butter will definitely be involved, and likely the most expensive food item you purchase over the Holidays.
Justin’s grandmothers’ recipe card files, consulted recently for the Thanksgiving feast, have added these standards to my repertoire. Here are a few of the ideas gleaned from family recipe cards as well as ‘new’ concoctions with friends of the Wood River Valley, and a glimpse into how I plan to attack my mother’s challenge of making something “tasty and different.”
Brussel sprouts with Blue cheese and Toasted Hazelnuts – serves 4
You’ll need: 1 lb brussel sprouts (hard outer leaves removed and coarse stems cut off); ½ to 1 cup of chicken broth (homemade if possible!); salt and pepper to taste; ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles; 2 Tbs olive oil; 1 medium yellow onion or 2 shallots (minced); ¼ cup toasted hazelnuts.
Begin by heating the olive oil in a skillet. Fry the shallots (or onions) until translucent, add salt and pepper to taste. Add the brussel sprouts and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring. Add ½ cup chicken stock and place a lid over everything to steam/sauté the sprouts further. Test with a fork after 5 minutes. Cook, adding more stock if necessary, until desired tenderness. Remove from heat and toss with blue cheese. Adjust salt and pepper. Toss with toasted hazelnuts just before serving.
Note: the chicken stock really improves overall flavor, so try to use a good one.
Buttermilk Corn bread dressing/stuffing
For the cornbread you’ll need: butter to oil the pan; 1 cup cornmeal; 1 cup flour (whole wheat or white); 2 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp salt; 1 cup buttermilk; 1 egg; 3 Tbs honey; 3 Tbs melted butter.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square pan. Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Combine the wet ingredients, including honey separately. Stir the wet mixture into the dry, mixing just enough to thoroughly combine. Spread into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch. Cool a bit and cut up into bite sized pieces and place in large bowl.
Continue with remainder of recipe:
Heat 2 Tbs butter in a sauté pan. Add 1/3 cup minced onion, then after a couple minutes, 1/3 cup diced celery. Cook until soft. Season with salt, about ½ teaspoon, ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper and 2 teaspoons dried sage. Set aside.
Hardboil 1 to 2 eggs. Peel and chop.
Mix the vegetable sauté, chopped eggs and 1 cup of shredded chicken into the cornbread pieces. Pour in good chicken stock, approximately 1 to 1 ½ cups. Mix with your hands until it feels moist but not sodden. Place all into baking dish and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top browns. Add further chicken broth when finished if it has dried out.
Justin’s Buttermilk pie – This is an amazing holiday pie!
I advocate homemade crust: 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour; 2 Tbs sugar; 1 tsp salt; 8 Tbs chilled unsalted butter, diced; 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening (yes!); 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs buttermilk.
Combine flour, sugar and salt in large bowl. Add butter and shortening. Cut in using hands or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir with fork until moist clumps form. (Dough can also be prepared in processor. Using on/off turns, cut butter and shortening into dry ingredients until coarse meal forms. Add buttermilk and process just until moist clumps form.) Press together to form dough. Divide dough in half. Gather dough into balls; flatten into disks. Wrap separately and chill 1 hour. (Can be prepared ahead. Refrigerate 1 week or freeze 1 month. Let dough stand at room temperature to soften slightly before using.) Crust recipe from Bon Appetit 1991.
For the filling, you’ll need: 8 Tbs butter; 1 ¾ cups sugar; 3 eggs; 2 rounded Tbs flour; 1 cup buttermilk; ¼ tsp cinnamon; 2 tsp vanilla.
Have butter at room temperature and cream with sugar in a mixer. Add eggs and flour, mixing well. Stir in buttermilk, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
This pie ends up being delicious warm out of the oven, and also after chilling for a couple hours.
