Tagged Winter
The Perfect Manhattan
On Booze – Sean’s Notes
Whiskey for me is more of a Winter Drink. My personal preference is for American Whiskeys, and in particular, Bourbon. There are many to choose from, but Maker’s Mark or Jack Daniels is what I usually have. If I drink it neat or on the rocks, I don’t mind following each sip with a Beer Shot (don’t judge me).
For a Whiskey Cocktail, try a Perfect Manhattan. I don’t mean “Perfect” as in “it’s so fabulous, Darling”. It’s called that because it is made with equal parts Sweet Vermouth and Dry Vermouth. If you ask a Bartender for just a regular Manhattan, it will be made with Sweet Vermouth only. So Perfect or not, your choice is really just a matter of personal preference of how you like your Manhattan. So try it both ways, its not hard work.
Three things to Remember when making a Manhattan:
1) Use American Rye or Bourbon (otherwise it’s called something else)
2) All Manhattans take Bitters
3) Whiskey Cocktails are stirred and not shaken ( shaking “bruises” the whiskey, meaning too much water is added to the drink)
Here is how I make a Perfect Manhattan.
Perfect Manhattan
3 oz Maker’s Mark Bourbon
1/2 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth (Italian)
1/2 oz Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth (French)
1/4-1/2 oz Cherry Syrup from Garnish Jar (try Bada Bing Cherries from Tillen Farms)
A couple of Dashes of Angostura Bitters
Add ice to a Cocktail Shaker and add the ingredients. Stir. Strain and serve in a Cocktail Glass or you can pour entire contents of the Shaker into a Highball Glass if you prefer it on the rocks.
Garnish with a Cherry
My Mother’s Cabbage “Kapusta” Soup
As far back as I can remember, my family has celebrated Christmas Eve with the traditional Polish custom of a fasting meal of 12 fish before the celebration of Christmas Day.
My grandmother would set out a white table cloth and make a simple meal of fish cakes, fried flounder, cod, boiled shrimp, broiled scallops and herring. There was always a bowl of rich and delicious eggnog that we would consume in huge amounts, not being at all concerned with calories or cholesterol. I can still smell the fragrance of the nutmeg that my grandfather grated over the tops of our small hands holding tightly to the dainty punch bowl cups.
As we grew into teenagers, my brother and I brought our friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses and even our in-laws to my mother’s Christmas Eve feast. My mother always made a traditional cabbage soup with Polish dried mushrooms. They were costly and I remember my Aunt Bertha bringing back a suitcase full of these particular mushrooms from her trips to Poland until the Chernobyl disaster exposed the mushrooms – and all vegetation for that matter- to high levels of radiation. That was that year my mother switched to Porcini mushrooms and although it wasn’t quite the same – the meal was pronounced “humble “ by my father and our humble holiday feasting commenced.
No matter what happens throughout the year, my brothers and I try to honor my families tradition. My mother still makes her cabbage and mushroom soup and brings it to my home for Christmas Eve dinner. I have made poach salmon, shell fish lasagna and even bouillabaisse in past years stretching the feast of 12 fish to 16 or 18 fish. But in the end it is a “humble” meal and a cod fish dinner with a bitter green salad and a bowl of cabbage and mushroom soup is our family tradition. As I set the table, my brother would sneak up on me and mimic my father’s voice, pronounce our feast a “Humble Meal”, and then dinner can begin.
Here is a Recipe for my mother’s Cabbage and Mushroom soup. It is a wonderful healthy soup and very easy to make. No fat, gluten free and positively delicious.
My Mother’s Kapusta Soup
Ingredients:
2 Small head’s of green cabbage
12 cups vegetable stock or vegetable bouillon
6 to 8 oz Dried Polish Borowik Mushrooms – Dried Porcini or Shiitake can be substituted
1 16 oz Bag or jar of sauerkraut.
Parsley Optional
1) Rehydrate the dried mushroom by pouring hot water over them and letting them rest for 20 to 30 minutes
2) Shred the cabbage either by hand or in a food processor.
3) Heat the stock or bullion in a large stock pot – bring to a boil.
4) Add the cabbage and simmer
5) Remove the mushrooms from the rehydration water and put them in the stock pot
6) Pour the rehydration water or mushroom “juice” thru a fine strainer to remove the grit and add this to the stock pot
7) add the package of sauerkraut to the stock pot
8) Let all ingredients simmer for 45 minutes until the cabbage is tender.
9) Season with salt and pepper to taste.
10) And if you would like to add a bit of chopped parsley or thyme that would be fine. Although My mother would not feel the need to!
Super Bowl Pulled Pork
What could be better than walking your local farmers market on a balmy winter’s day? Here in NYC the temperature just hit 60 degrees & the Union Square Market is glistening in the morning sun. I have my favorite Saturday vendors and today I was on a hunt for a pork shoulder.
Nothing says a lazy winter afternoon to me more than a slow cooked pork roast. The aroma of the spices and the warmth of the oven as filling your home is as good as it gets. I usually make a traditional roast but next week is Super Bowl Sunday & I decided to try something different. This recipe takes a bit of planning – but is has the Sartor family seal of approval and that is good enough for me.
My dear friend Forrest Sartor recently shared this recipe with me. She is an excellent cook – who has taught me a thing or two about Southern Fried Chicken, Cheese Grits, Pecan Pie and Life. Raising her family in Monroe, Louisiana she continues a long-standing tradition of good food and Southern hospitality.
Forrest explained that she & her husband would get up at 5:00 in the morning to cook a pork roast on a smoker for her pulled pork sandwiches. Her mother in law passed on this recipe to her and as Forrest said, “It is just as good and so much easier and quicker. I thought you may want to try it. It is great to have for a crowd, and both the sauces are good for sandwiches.” I feel like I have the Pope’s blessing!
One note, the recipe calls for pork shoulder but Forrest suggest pork butt. I prefer an organic pork butt preferably from your local farmer’s market. I have never matched the flavor and quality of pork from Violet Hill Farms or Flying Pig Farms. Each is unique and their sausages are sensational.
Sartor Family Pulled Pork
Makes 14 cups of Pork
Total Time: About 8 hours plus Resting
¼ cup kosher salt – JF Natural Gres Salt even better
¼ cup Ground Black Pepper – JF Butchers Grind Black Pepper
¼ cup Chili powder – JF Rough Rider Chili
1 T Dried Oregano
1 T Dried Thyme
1 t Cayenne Pepper
1 Bone in Pork Shoulder – or Pork Butt
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
Combine salt, pepper, chili, powder, oregano, thyme, & cayenne in a bowl.
Place a large sheet of foil on a roasting rack, then layer another sheet on top of it perpendicular to the first. Place the pork in the middle of the foil; rub the spice mixture on all sides of the pork, crimping the foil closed at the top to ensure a tight seal. Crimp all sides of the foil closed
Roast the pork for 5 to 6 hours. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Open the foil to expose the pork, roast until the crust is dark and crisp, another 20 minutes. Remove the roast from the oven. Let the pork rest until it is cool to the touch – about 30 minutes.
Transfer the pork to the cutting board and pull out the large bone from the roast. This should slide out easily with no resistance.
Using two forks, pull pork apart and discard any visible pieces of fat or gristle before serving. Serve pork with Mustard Sauce or Vinegar Sauce.
Mustard Sauce
Makes 1 3/4 cup
Total Time 15 minutes
1 cup Prepared Yellow Mustard – or Dijon
½ cup White Vinegar
1/3 cup Packed Brown Sugar
2 T Unsalted Butter
1 T Molasses
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
½ Cayenne Pepper
To Make: Simmer Mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, butter, molasses, Worcestershire, & cayenne in a sauce pan over a medium heat stirring often.
Vinegar Sauce
Makes 2 cups
Total Time: 5 minutes
1 ½ c Cider Vinegar
½ cup Organic Ketchup
2 T Brown Sugar
2 T Molasses
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
1 T Ground Black Pepper – – JF Butchers Grind Black Pepper
Kosher Salt to taste – – JF Natural Gres Salt
Whisk vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, Worcestershire, pepper & salt until smooth.
Sugar Plum Loaf
Sugar Plums at Prospect Park Market - Kristen Taylor
One of the most delicious cakes my sister-in-law Louise bakes every holiday is a Sugar Plum Loaf. It is one of those seasonal delights that she and her daughters – and now granddaughters bake throughout the holiday season. I believe the cake has it’s roots in British cookery, harkening back to a time of Mrs Bridges (Upstairs Downstairs) kitchen when candied fruits, exotic raisins and exotic spices filled the kitchen during the holidays. More of a sweet bread than a true cake the name alone has visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.
A rich quick bread, the Sugarplum loaf is not unlike an Italian Pantone or a Polish Babka. It is baked in a traditional round and is a perfect match for JF Sugarplum Preserves. I suggest you make two loaves – one for yourself and one to give as this recepie is easily doubled.
Fantastic Sugar Plum Loaf
For the Cake:
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2/3 c butter
½ cup sugar
4 eggs
8 cups flour
1 ½ cups warm milk
2 t salt
1 T ground cardamon
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 cups chopped dried fruit – plums, apricots, apples and/or pears
½ cup candied peel – I prefer lemon or orange
For the Deliciously Fresh Lemon Glaze:
1 ½ cups of sifted confectioner’s sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 t finely grated lemon rind
Dissolve yeast in warm water to bloom. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter with sugar and add eggs. Add ½ the flour, salt, cardamon, warm milk and the second ½ of flour. Add the yeast. Turn off the mixer and stir in chopped nuts, raisins, dried fruit and candies peel. Cover the owl and let rise until double. Punch down, Lightly knead. And let rise again.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Shape into 3 large or 6 small round loaves. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
To make the glaze, combine the confectioners sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind. This can be strained but it is not necessary
While the Sugar Plum Loaf is still warm, brush with the Delicious Fresh Lemon Glaze
What to Cook when the Snow Falls and the Wind Blows.
I am always inspired by traditional cooking in the winter. The forecast of snow and the wind chill factor well below freezing has me yearning to slow roasting something wonderfully fragrant.
Today I am cooking in a Basque tradition, a piece of pork smothered in spices and slow roasted at 300 degrees. Slow roasting has its roots in rural cooking where few people had ovens and meats were placed at the back of the fire pit, fire place or bakers oven and heated all day long. When a roast is cooked in this manner, all the luscious fats render into the meat – self basting the roast. This is a rich and delicious meal, a guilty pleasure that brings friends and family together for a memorable feast!
Seek out the best piece of pork that you can find – I have made this with a supermarket pork picnic and is is delicious . But if you are lucky enough to have an organic or heritage pork producer the result is so much better. Here in NYC I shop at the Union Square Farmer’s Market and the gentleman at Violet Hill Farms or Flying Pigs have OUTSTANDING pork. Nothing comes close in my book. The end result exceptional with heritage producers. Here is the deal, the pork is more flavorful and the fat is well – out of this world.
Pork Roast
Josephine’s Feast Pork Spice Rub
Josephine’s Feast Natural Sea Salt
Pepper
Bottle of apple cider
Preparing the meat could not be easier. Unwrap the roast. Wipe it down. Cut slices of garlic and use the sharp end of a pairing knife to create a slit in the skin and push the sliced garlic into the skin. Rub the roast with a mix of fragrant spices – in my opinion , paprika is key, mustard, cumin, salt & pepper are some of my other favorites. Some of you have no problem playing with spices – others need a formula. I’d like to recommend Josephine’s Feast Pork Spice Rub. it has at it’s base Spanish Smoked Paprika, with Black Mustard Seed, Cumin, & Garlic. The rub has no salt – just before placing the roast in the oven rub it down with natural salt – also available at JosephinesFeast.com or in your kitchen shelf
When the roast is ready for the oven, place on a rack and pour 2 to 4 cups of apple cider in the baking pan. Just enough to cover the bottom but not touch the roast.
Slow cook for at 325 for the first 30 minutes then drop the temperature to 300 for the next 3 to 6 hours.
Check the roast every hour making sure there is enough apple cider under the roast to keep it from drying out
When the roast is ready the meat should pull away from the bone, there should be a crispy crust, and the internal temperature should read 160 degrees.
Tent the roast under foil for 10 to 15 minutes.
It is best served with roasted potatoes – I like to quarter organic potatoes – Yukon gold or other small sized spuds. Drizzle with olive oil, rosemary, whole garlic cloves, and salt. Roast in the oven with the pork for 2 hours. While the meat is resting – turn the temperature up to 350 for 15 minutes.
Garlicky greens or a wild arugula salad dressed with Balsamic vinegar and olive oil are a great addition.
As a condiment Josephine’s Feast! Apple Compote cooked with Dijon Mustard is the perfect match. Made with Organic Heirloom Apples it is a tradition accompanyment with roasted meat in Normandy.