Lynne Rossetto Kasper

I love the Splendid Table radio show on American Public Media stations. Lynne Rossetto Kasper is a cool host with such down-to-earth, solid kitchen advice, and her producer Sally Swift is a godsend to cooks everywhere. The callers are thoughtful and witty, and there are some serious recipes given out on the show that have long made my favorites list.

If you haven’t heard the show, you can listen online at their website, where the number of recipes along with whole menus, are staggering and should satisfy harried everyday cooks as well as the weekend kitchen warriors who go into culinary overdrive. This time of year, there’s a whole section on cookies – ho ho ho! – and party bites, along with seasonal favorites.

Cookbooks for readers and cooks

Today, they’ve come out with the list of books from this year for giving that the staff recommends. They’re a diverse group of reads: some cookbooks, like Cook This Now by Melissa Clark; some cooks’ stories, such as Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton; and some to give fodder for debate, like Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit.

All would be welcomed by serious food lovers and at the website where the books are listed, you’ll find others from NPR that qualify as top contenders on a cook’s bookshelf this year.

The Splendid Table

Listen to the show Saturdays at 2 p.m. on WPBI-90.7 FM-HD or 101.9 FM in the Palm Beach County area. Listen from Broward to Dade County on Saturdays at noon on WLRN 91.3 FM-HD. On Sirius Satellite and International radio, listen on Saturdays at 7 p.m. or Sundays at 5 a.m. Other listings are on their website.

Last year, I wrote about one of my dad’s favorite desserts - Lemon meringue pie.

Today, I’m giving you the recipe for Chocolate French silk pie – his other favorite, in honor of Father’s Day.

French silk pie is like a simple chocolate pie, except that it’s whipped with butter and eggs – giving it a chiffon pie quality. It’s silky on the tongue – hence it’s name. It’s not as dense as other chocolate pies – I’m kind of over all those thick, heavy chocolate desserts.

I am not a fan of graham cracker crumb crusts, and think this deserves a lovely, flaky pastry crust.

I’ll have to bake one and eat it for him – he passed away in 1992. Can’t believe it’s been so long – he’s with me every time I make pie, though, approving.

Note: the recipe below contains raw eggs – if you’re concerned about using them, use pasteurized eggs or egg substitutes.

French Silk Pie

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 9-inch pastry pie crust, baked
• Sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Beat butter on medium speed in mixing bowl until creamy. Add sugar and beat to combine. Pour in cooled, melted chocolate and vanilla; beat till combined. Add the eggs, beating well after each one. Mixture should be fluffy and light. Scrape mixture into pie shell, and refrigerate until set – at least 3 hours.

Serve with dollop of whipped cream.

Across the Americas and Europe, baking sweet treats for Christmas is a tradition. Most of the cookies we Americans make are variations on cookies handed down through the decades, adapted to today’s ovens and technology, and ingredients.

Everyone seems to have a story to go with the recipes, too – these are among my favorite things. I’ll be featuring cookie recipes till Christmas – share yours!

Ginger molasses cookies from Montana cousin

These big, soft cookies come from my Pensacola cousin Joan Hatler’s recipe file. They were given to her by her mother-in-law, Fran Hatler, who made them for her two sons and two daughters growing up in Havre, Montana.

“We didn’t have much coming up,” said Larry Hatler, Joan’s spouse. “It was a little town on the prairie. You farmed or you worked the railroad – that’s what my dad did.”

Wheat and dairy farms and cattle ranching are big in this area, 30 miles south of the Alberta, Canada, border. The Rockies stand tall in the distance, but it’s flat and dry in and around Havre. “We didn’t cut any Christmas trees – there were none to cut,” Larry said. “A few cottonwoods here and there – but otherwise, there weren’t many trees around.”

Most Christmases were white – and bitter cold. “We ice skated — a lot,” he said. On a recent visit back at Christmastime, the deep snow prompted a sleigh ride in a horse-drawn sleigh. The riders carolled their way through the town, “We were bundled to the teeth,” Joan recalls. “It was so cold, but it really was special.”

Fran Hatler was frugal with food, Joan says. “It was how they grew up – every last morsel of leftovers was eaten or reused. But she always baked for Larry when we would go back. She had cookies made, frozen ahead of time, when we got there.”

Fran Hatler’s Ginger Molasses Cookies

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 tablespoons molasses
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• granulated sugar for dipping

Cream the shortening and sugar in a large mixing bowl, first at medium then gradually to high speed. Add beaten egg, then molasses. Sift remaining ingredients (except granulated sugar) together into a small bowl; gradually add to wet mixture on medium speed. Mix on medium speed until combined, scraping sides frequently.

Form dough into 2-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar and place on greased cookie sheet spaced 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes; cookies should be still soft, but cooked through.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. Dough and cookies freeze well.

Chocolate krinkle cookies

Joan also shared with me the following recipe for Chocolate Crinkle cookies – the secret ingredient is cottage cheese – you won’t know it’s there, however, so if you are not a cottage cheese fan, no worries.

These originated from Anita Powers, friend of a friend, who was entering them in the California State Fair. We don’t know whether she won – but she shared the extra cookies with Joan and her friends – and all agreed they should win.

These are soft, crack open as they bake and form the telltale white crevasses filled with powdered sugar that give them their name — so moist – and so unusual. Great for packing, too.

Cottage Cheese Crinkle Cookies

• 1-1/3 cup shortening
• 3-1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 5-1/2 cups flour
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 4 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• powdered sugar, for rolling out cookies
  

Use a wooden spoon and large mixing bowl to combine shortening, sugar and eggs, beating till creamy. Sift together baking powder, cocoa, baking soda, salt and flour. Add flour mixture in thirds to bowl, beating with spoon till combined. Add cottage cheese and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in walnuts.
Chill mixture for 2 hours or overnight. Roll 1 teaspoon of dough into a ball, then roll in powdered sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies will crack; they should be removed while on the soft side of done. Remove to a rack to cool; cookies will fall slightly.

Makes 10 to 12 dozen cookies. Dough and cookies freeze well.

Both cookies above can be made by kids!

Maguire's Hill 16's Shepherd's Pie/ photo by Michael Laughlin, Sun Sentinel

This Shepherd’s Pie, from Maguire’s Hill 16 in Fort Lauderdale  is a great recipe to make ahead, freeze, and have ready when you need a comfort food fix. It’s from my column today in the Sun Sentinel.

Freeze them in freezer-to-oven dishes in single servings.

I used to make this 15 or 20 years ago. Somewhere in my moves, I lost the recipe.

My best friend from high school visited me last week and was talking about how she always makes the turkey and raspberry recipe I gave her years ago. I was happy to have it back!

I loved it because it was simple, a little different (at the time) and the leftover turkey was excellent.

I think I got the recipe from the turkey breast package – hence the reference to the pop up thermometer. I am going to make it for Easter.

Jan’s notes: Increase the glaze amount three times to roast a whole 12-15-pound turkey – this is for a turkey breast and feeds six. You could cut the sugar in half, though if you substituted cranberries for the raspberries, I’d leave it alone – or taste it as you put it together and adjust according to your taste.
This would also be sensational on ham – omit the sage and thyme; try fennel leaves instead.

Pat’s Raspberry-Orange Glazed Turkey Breast

Serves 6

• 1 2-pound fresh turkey breast
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1 cup orange juice (of course I use Indian River Select!)
• 2 cups frozen raspberries (or) cranberries unthawed
• 1/3 cup sugar

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9×9 or 11×7-inch shallow baking pan, place turkey roast.

Pour orange juice over roast, sprinkle with sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and orange peel.

Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Baste occasionally (the more, the better, I found).

Combine raspberries and sugar, place around the breast.

Bake another 10 minutes or until thermometer pops up.

Let stand 10 minutes before carving.

You can read the results in the Post Dec. 17 – we will talk about the winners that day on this blog, too.

Some observations, though: Oatmeal is back. We had at least 24 entries with that ingredient used and other than flour, I’d say it’s the most-used ingredient. Usually, it’s the older bakers (oldest baker was 96!!) making things like “oatie crisps” or “oatmeal jumbles” — and every variation of the old-fashioned Quaker Oatmeal box recipe you can think of.

Now, though, I think it’s a sign of the economy — people are moving back into that “comfort food” zone — oatmeal cookies are  a huge comfort memory. Not so much expensive chocolate or gourmet stuff this year.

Of course, there were the problem cookies. One baker forgot to rinse her mixing bowl: her cookies tasted like dishwashing liquid straight out of the bottle. (Everyone thinks my job is just SO great…go have a swig of your Palmolive, then get back to me…) Don’t you bakers sample the cookies you’re submitting? Or do you just like the taste of soap – does it have a certain esssence?

There were an inordinate number of cookies with burned bottoms. How crazy to submit a cookie that’s oviously burned — just what DO you think your chances are going to be? (While it’s true I love slightly burned spritz butter cookies, I’m an exception (my late husband used to say I have a carbon deficiency) - and there are three other judges to outvote me anyway.

Several bakers forgot the salt, or the flavoring. This was the blandest group of cookies we tasted. (Though a couple of ginger cookies made our eyes water.) Sugar is not everything, bakers….you must balance it with some salt and sometimes, something a bit tart.

We were disappointed in some of the adults’ decorative attempts – a few of the kids did a much better job with techniques and smoothness. (And by the way: We had a number of boy bakers this year — special congrats to those parents teaching their sons to cook!)

All in all, a great contest, but I couldn’t wait to get home to a somewhat salty bowl of leftover turkey pot pie and a glass of milk, just to counteract all that sugar!

Below is a favorite oatmeal cookie recipe — made with applesauce and raisins. It’s a variation of one that my best friend, Lisa Cory, will make as gifts for friends this season from her home in Whittier, N.C.

OATMEAL APPLESAUCE COOKIES

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 egg whites, or 1 whole egg with 1 egg white
• 2 cups quick rolled oats (not instant)
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup raisins, chopped (see note)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or grease it. (I use a nonstick spray, Baker’s Joy, available in most supermarkets, if I’m out of parchment.)

Mix flour, baking powder, allspice, and salt. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg whites; beat well. Beat in flour mixture. By hand, stir in oats, applesauce, and raisins. Mix well to combine.

Drop by level tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet; Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned – take care not to burn. (Make a test cookie first to check your oven.) Cool completely on rack before icing with maple icing (see below) if desired. Pack in container with waxed paper between layers. To freeze, freeze cookies on sheets first, then pack in freezer container with waxed paper between layers.

Makes 5 dozen.

Note: I soak the raisins for 10 minutes in rum first. It plumps them, and gives a nice flavor to the cookies. You could soak them in cider, as well — but the cookies work fine with raisins right out of the box.)

Optional: Maple icing – Sift 2 cups powdered sugar in mixing bow. Add 1 tablespoon butter, a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring. Beat well.  Begin drizzling in pure maple syrup as you beat, until the correct spreading consistency is reached (it thickens slightly upon setting) — a tablespoon or so depending on weather. Cool cookies before icing.

brussels sprouts

I love Brussels sprouts – and I’ll eat them with anything. It’s the big laugh among two of my closest friends — Scott Simmons (knows all things elegant glass) and Lou Ann Frala (photographic memory of any catalog item). I had an impromtu housewarming dinner at a new apartment a few years ago, and served them pimento cheese sandwiches with Brussels sprouts — the only foods I had on hand at the time. If they hadn’t already counted on me for eccentricity in their lives, they did then.

Not everyone is so inclined toward the little cabbages. Pity. Try this recipe below and see if you can convert them.

This recipe for Honey-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pearl Onions and Bacon is for a reader who called my hotline and asked for a recipe she’d lost with these ingredients. I found this one, provided to People Magazine.com, from the Silver Birches catering firm in Los Angeles. I would improve upon this by adding 1/2 cup broken nutmeats; they toast as the sprouts roast, and give the dish a nice crunch.

Honey-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pearl Onions and Bacon

• 20 medium-sized Brussels sprouts
• 16 pearl onions
• 8 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 10 slices of bacon, cut into 1-in. pieces, fried and drained

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Trim bottom of each Brussels sprout, about ½-inch, peel off and discard the outer darker green leaves. Peel each pearl onion and discard the husk.
In a heavy-duty saucepan, bring water and a pinch of salt to boil. Add Brussels sprouts and onions and cook for about 4 minutes until tender.
While Brussels sprouts and onions are cooking, create an ice bath in a large mixing bowl using ice and cold water. When Brussels sprouts and onions are tender, remove and drain them from the hot water and immediately submerge them in the ice bath, cooling them completely. After they are cooled down, drain them from the ice water and set aside.

Heat a heavy-duty sauté pan over medium heat and when pan is hot, add olive oil, butter, Brussels sprouts with onions, honey, salt and pepper. Cook all ingredients until the Brussels sprouts are heated through, about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and place the sauté pan into preheated oven for about 8 minutes.
At the end of the 8 minutes, add the bacon and to the mixture. Cook in the oven for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss and serve.

Editor’s Note: Post has been updated with recipe.

Friend Michele Smith is looking for an old recipe: Can you help?

I’m looking for some help here. Once upon a time I had my great-grandmother’s pumpkin pie recipe – it’s made like an apple pie with pumpkin chunks and two crusts.

Well, I can’t find it and my Alzheimer’s Mom can’t seem to find her copy either. I’m crushed. Finally found some pie pumpkins and now I can’t find the recipe.

Any ideas or suggestions? My mom thought just using the spices used in a normal pumpkin pie, but make it like an apple pie…
I’m not so sure about that. The spices can’t be the same between apple and pumpkin, can they?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you can help Michele, email me (hit contact button above) and I’ll print the recipe for everyone!

This recipe is adapted from one on the ChowHound Board.

CHUNKY (Whole) PUMPKIN PIE

• 1 quart sliced, peeled pumpkin, as you would slice apples for apple pie – see note
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water
• 2 or 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons butter

Make a double crust recipe of pie dough. Line a pie pan with bottom crust and dust with flour. Place pumpkin slices in the crust. Add all of the seasonings and the water. Sift a small amount of flour over pumpkin, dot with butter and top with second crust. Cut a few vents in top crust.

Bake at 350° oven for 1 hour.

Note: A sugar, or pie pumpkin is best for pies. Ones sold as Jack-o-lanterns aren’t as good.

Here’s my favorite recipe from “home”. My mom was the third generation in our family to manage an inn and restaurant on Cuttyhunk Island, Mass., called the Bosworth House. Our cook, Robbie, had adapted one of my grandmother’s recipes to serve guests, and I’ve scaled it back to a 9″ square pan.

Blueberry Pudding

• 2 cups blueberries
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• For topping:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Dash salt

Grease 8- or 9-inch pan. Pour in rinsed blueberries mixed with lemon juice and cinnamon. In a mixer, cream 3/4 cup sugar with butter. Add milk, flour, bpowder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread batter over blueberries. Separately, mix 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, dash salt and sprinkle over batter.

Pour 1 cup boiling water slowly over all. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes to 1 hour 10 min, till bottom of crust is fairly firm. Let cool a little, serve as is or with ice cream.

(Recipe from Beverly Snow, West Palm Beach)

Got the recipe? Leave it in a comment.