Puff Pastry Pillow with Creamy Blue Cheese Filling - Blue Monday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It was damp and blustery today, the kind of chill that burrows into marrow and sends shivers up the spine. We had been out and were wet and cold. Ever the provider and minder of the hearth, Bob lit a fire and made some toddies while I tended to a decidedly low-brow supper. I pulled tomato soup and puff pastry from the freezer and grabbed the last of our wonderful Crater Lake Blue from the cheese keeper. The intent was to make a meal we had often years ago. My younger persona was a purist who made everything from scratch. We won't speak today about how far I've fallen, it's enough to know that I planned to make something we had had before. Julia Child, in The French Chef Cookbook, had a recipe for French puff pastry that was made from instant-blend flour. It was used to form the base of a Roquefort Cheese Case that would make your socks go up and down. It was also my first experiment with puff pastry and like all of Julia's recipes, if you could see it through to the end, you were guaranteed success. Tonight, however, was not meant to be a test of nerve or skill. We wanted something delicious that could be enjoyed with grace and a modicum of effort at the low table in front of the fire. There would be no rolling or turns of pastry every hour on the hour. That effort was being circumvented by the use of commercial puff pastry. Not just any puff pastry mind you, I planned to use Dufour Classic Puff Pastry which is arguably better than any of its domestic competitors. So, a job that once took all day to accomplish could be done within an hour. Those of us who learned to cook with Julia love her, but we have all come across her maddening tendency to let you know halfway through a recipe that you now need a cup of veloute or mornay or brown sauce. Surprise! Back then recipes were not written with the clarity you see today. At any rate, this was one of those famous "Julia" recipes. Sure enough, halfway through her instructions you'll find you need a thick white sauce to make her Roquefort Cheese Case. Because I'm honoring Julia in the breech, I've modernized her lovely recipe and have include instructions for making white sauce within it and I am, of course, using commercial puff pastry for the shell. This makes a lovely first course or light entree. If you like any of the blue cheeses I think you'll love this recipe.

Puff Pastry Pillow with Creamy Blue Cheese Filling...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Thick Cream Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pastry Case:
1 (14-oz.) package thawed puff pastry sheets
Cheese Filling:
8-oz. blue or Roquefort cheese, crumbled
2/3 cup thick cream sauce
1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2) To make cream sauce, melt butter over low heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Blend in flour and cook slowly, until butter and flour cook together for 2 minutes without turning color. Whisk in milk; blend until smooth. Cook, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3) To make pastry case, lightly sprinkle work surface with flour. Roll one sheet of pastry to a rectangle that is 1/16-inch thick. Sprinkle cold water on a cookie sheet. Tap off excess. Transfer dough to cookie sheet. Roll out second sheet of dough. Let sit, covered, until needed. Prick center of dough at 1/4-inch intervals with a fork to keep dough flat while baking. Spread crumbled cheese down center of dough strip, leaving a 1-inch margin on all sides. Cover with cream sauce. Fold margins of dough up over filling on all four sides. Brush all margins with water. Cover with second strip of dough, trimming as required, and seal layers together, pressing firmly with fingers. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees F and bake 30 minutes longer. Serve hot. Yield: 6 servings.

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

Maple Butter - Made Two Ways

Maple butter made without a candy thermometer.



Maple butter made with boiling syrup.

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...There are small things that can make a meal memorable. Maple butter is one of them. Its most obvious use is on pancakes or waffles, but biscuits and cornbread, even dinner rolls, are taken to another level when spread with either of the butters we are featuring today. Both are easy to do, though one requires a boiled syrup. I know that some of you are uncomfortable working with sugar syrup, so a second recipe that requires no boiling is also being provided. In one of those contradictions that drive good cooks wild, the butter made with boiled syrup is the most flavorful but it's quite plain to look at. The easier recipe looks like a beauty queen. Whichever version you try, use real maple syrup. The imitation syrup will produce a butter that's not worthy of your time. Once you try maple butter I suspect it will become a staple in your home. I'm starting to use it as a butter replacement in coffee cakes and frostings. It is that good. Here are the two recipes.

Maple Butter I...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup butter

Directions:
1) Using a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat maple syrup until it reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 15 minutes. Stir in butter.
2) Pour mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until it is thick and creamy, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3) Pour into glass containers and refrigerate until required. Yield: 1-1/2 cups.

Maple Butter II...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Directions:
1) Combine butter and maple syrup in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat with paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
2) Spoon into jars, cover, and refrigerate. Yield: 3/4 cup.

Recipes courtesy of OSU Extension Service.

Pot Roast with Potatoes for Pink Saturday

Photo courtesy of Bloomfield Farms



Earlier this week, Peg at Bloomfield Farms did a feature about cattle country. As I moved through her wonderful pictures I was struck by the pink tags that were placed in the ears of the cattle once they were in feedlots. My devious mind immediately knew what I would use as my lead photo today. If I led with a tagged steer, I'd need to feature a recipe for beef. So, I made a large pot roast for dinner tonight. It will provide two additional and easy meals that will allow more time for Thanksgiving preparation next week. I bake my pot roast in a low, slow oven. This recipe can be adapted for use in a slow cooker but the texture of the meat will not be the same. I, obviously, prefer the texture of the oven roast. I prepare a rub of sorts and work it into the beef with a jaccard or fork the night before I brown and roast the meat. I was born a contrarian, so I prefer to use flatter cuts of beef for our pot roasts. My favorite cuts are a boneless shoulder or center cut pot roast. Whatever cut is used, it's important that the braising liquid not cover the meat. It should come only halfway up its sides. I use white vermouth in this recipe. You can use red or white wine. My preference for vermouth is based on the fact that it's a fortified wine and can sit for a good while without turning to vinegar. A good French vermouth guarantees there'll always be a decent cooking wine in the house. That truc originally came from Julia Child. Whenever possible, I make the pot roast 24 hours before I plan to serve it. This allows neat slices of meat to be cut before they are warmed. Here's the recipe for the pot roast which, coincidentally, makes great French dip, cheese steaks or barbecued beef.

Pot Roast with Vegetables...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoons coarsely cracked black pepper
1 (3-1/2 to 4 pound) boneless shoulder or center cut chuck roast
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup dry white vermouth or white wine
1/2 cup condensed beef broth, undiluted
1-1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut in 2-inch pieces
1-1/2 pounds small red or Yukon gold potatoes
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup water

Directions:
1) The night before roasting, combine garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Using a jaccard or meat fork, work the mixture into both sides of pot roast. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When it is hot, slowly brown roast, about 10 minutes per side. Add vermouth and beef broth and bring liquid to a simmer. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook, covered, turning roast every 30 minutes, until tender and meat fork easily slips in and out of meat, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. About an hour before end of cooking time, add carrots and potatoes to Dutch oven.
3) Transfer roast and vegetables to a serving platter. Tent with foil to keep warm. Skim fat from surface of braising liquid. Add water or stock if necessary to equal about 1-1/2 cups. Combine flour and water in a lidded jar. Shake until smooth. Add to braising liquid and simmer for about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4) Using chef’s or carving knife, cut meat against grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Pour about 1/2 cup sauce over meat. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately. Yield: 6 servings.


This post is being linked to:
Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

Portuguese-Style Turkey Soup With Linguica, Kale and Potatoes - Remains of the Day for Foodie Friday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Once the dishes are done and the silver and china put away, the work associated with Thanksgiving dinner is nearly done. Among the outstanding tasks is the handling of the remains of the day. The meat is no problem. It will mysteriously disappear and by Saturday the turkey carcass will be picked bare. Some look at carcass and see a skeleton, others see a soup that emerges with little effort from the last vestige of the Thanksgiving meal. I've tasted lots of turkey soups in my day and have never come across a bad one. Just in case you're in the market for something a bit different, I have an atypical turkey soup to share with you. It's based on caldo verde, a Portuguese soup that's made with Linguica sausage, kale and beans or potatoes. Here, however, rich turkey stock takes the soup to another level. The soup uses two kinds of potatoes, one to thicken and the other to flavor and provide some texture to the soup. The kale freshens and adds a healthy component to a soup that normally uses leftover vegetables that are well past their prime. Linguica is a wonderfully flavored garlic sausage that you can find in most large supermarkets. You have all the other components you need to make this in your pantry. If you don't want to use wine in the stock add an additional 2 cups of water and you'll be fine. Here's the recipe. You'll see it's made in two parts. First, the stock and then the soup. The stock can be made in a crock-pot.

Portuguese-Style Turkey Soup with Linguica, Potatoes and Kale...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Stock
1 turkey carcass, broken into several large pieces
4 quarts water
2 cups dry white vermouth or white wine
2 (8-oz. each) baking potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large rib celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled but smashed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
A small bunch of parley sprigs
Soup
6 medium boiling potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 pound Linguica sausage, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
3/4 to 1 pound fresh kale, stems discarded, washed and cut into 1/4-inch strips

Directions:
1) To make stock, place carcass, water, wine, baking potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, salt pepper and parsley sprigs in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, skimming surface of soup as necessary to remove any scum that forms.
2) Remove potatoes and set aside. Strain stock through sieve into a large bowl. Remove any meat from strained solids and set aside. Discard solids in strainer.
3) Place potato chunks into a blender with one cup of stock. Puree.
4) To make the soup, return stock to a soup pot. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in potato puree. Add boiling potatoes to pot. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Cover pot and simmer, until potatoes are tender. Add Linguica and reserved turkey to pot. Simmer over medium-low heat to blend flavors, about 15 minutes. Add strips of kale and cook 5 minutes longer, or until kale is tender. Taste again for seasonings, adding salt and pepper as required to taste. Yield: 3 quarts; 8 to 10 servings.

This recipe is being linked to:
Designs By Gollum - Foodie Friday

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I happened on Jane Grigson's book "Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery" back in 1974 and became an instant admirer. It was an alchemy of sorts. Curled into my favorite chair, warmed by the fire, I turned page after page and was transported incrementally to the wood-fired stove of a French farm kitchen and the wondrous world of charcuterie. I began with pate and moved slowly on to andouille and the boudins, blanc and noir, and ended, finally, with a cassoulet so delicious it made eyes cloud and mist. I no longer make pate, or, for that matter, cassoulet, but every so often I set dietary concerns aside and ready a batch of sausage for the breakfast or dinner table. I suspect that your holiday menu has been set in stone for several weeks now, so, rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd use these few days before the feast to speak of other things. Today it's breakfast sausage for the family or guests with whom you'll share the holiday. Simple. Easy. Delicious. The patties can be made well ahead of time and frozen. They can be baked to feed a gang or grilled to feed just two. While I prefer to grind the meat I use, the sausage can be made with the ground pork you'll find in the supermarket. This recipe uses no exotic spices and you probably have everything you need in your pantry. Here's the recipe for this crowd pleaser.

Breakfast Sausage...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds ground pork
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
1) Combine salt, black pepper, sage, thyme, allspice, brown sugar, nutmeg and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Mix well.
2) Pat ground pork into a 12 x 18-inch rectangle. Sprinkle spice mixture evenly over pork. Mix well. Using a scoop or 1/4 cup measure, form patties about 1/2-inch thick. Place on a tray. Refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months. Yield: 21 patties.
3) To pan-fry, saute patties over medium-low heat in a non-stick pan, about 7 minutes per side.
4) To bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange patties on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until center is no longer pink.

You might also enjoy these links:
Ryan's Recipe Blog - Taste Festival Sausage Making
Pork, Knife and Spoon - Making Sausage - A Primer
Italian Chef Blog - Fresh Italian Sausage

Pfeffernüsse - Outdoor Wednesday

Over the weekend we happened upon a Christmas tree harvest at a local farm. It was fascinating to watch. I was amazed by a seeming contradiction as we watched the process. It's become highly mechanized but still remains quite labor intensive. The men, using specialized equipment, moved in teams to fell, bundle, lift and transport the trees. They completed in a day what would have taken weeks not long ago.



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...My feature of the day was to have been Transylvanian Goulash. Since there was no way to tie it to a Christmas tree harvest, I thought a holiday cookie recipe might be more appropriate. Pfeffernüsse are a favorite of mine. Today's very old and authentic recipe comes from Hannie, in whose German kitchen I learned to make them. Pfeffernüsse are spicy cookies that are part of the Christmas traditions in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. The name translates to peppernuts and it accurately describes their spicy taste as well as the fact that they contain finely chopped nuts and a small amount of black pepper. Spices vary in different versions of the recipe, as does the coating which can range from a liberal application of confectioners' sugar to a thick glaze. The cookies are very easy to make, but they need to be refrigerated in order to shape them, so plan accordingly. Here's the recipe.

Pfeffernüsse ...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2 -1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup very finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup very finely chopped candied orange peel
1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
1/3 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup brandy
Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:
1) Mix flour, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and black pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2) In a separate bowl, beat white and brown sugars into butter. Add egg yolks and mix to combine. Add almonds, orange peel, lemon zest and mix. Stir one third of flour mixture into butter mixture. then add molasses and brandy. Mix in remainder of flour mixture. When fully blended, cover dough and refrigerate overnight.
3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon measure, form dough into balls and place them on prepared cookie sheets, 1-1/2 inches, apart. Bake for 14 -15 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool on cookie sheets. Roll in confectioners sugar. Store in airtight container. Yield: 42 cookies.

Here are some other interpretations of Pfeffernüsse:
A Bowl of Mush - Pfeffernüsse
Global Gourmet - Pfeffernüsse
The Barefoot Kitchen Witch - Pfeffernüsse

This is being linked to:
Outdoor Wednesday - A Southern Daydreamer

Kitchen Reveal Day

Penny from Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen, came up with an idea for an Annual Kitchen Reveal Day that would allow others to see where our cooking is done. My kitchen is part of a great room and it's always on display. That keeps me on my toes. I've included a shot of the pantry as well. The pantry makes the placement of the kitchen possible. Our home is built into a hillside and because of its many windows the house is full of light even on gray Oregon days.