Girl Detective

I travelled to visit family for the holidays for about 18 years. It took that long for me to realize that holiday travel is usually more expensive, and always more stressful, than travel at off-peak times. I enjoy visiting with family a lot more when it happens at my convenience, and not by the national calendar.

The past few years my husband G. Grod and I have sought out other friends who are also on their own in Minnesota. This year, we split the cooking and celebrated with our neighbors from down the street and their two boys. We ate at normal dinner time, allowing the two-year olds their naps. Best of all, when the two-year olds decided they were done at the table, they got down and played with each other, leaving the rest of us to enjoy the dinner.

No one felt strongly about having a turkey, and no one wanted to cook one, so instead I made a Dr. Pepper glazed ham. We also had mashed potatoes, a sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, spinach salad, pumpkin pie, and bittersweet chocolate mousse cake.

Alas, I forgot to take photos before we ate, and my attempts to photograph individual servings later just looked gross and weird, so a verbal description will have to do. Everything turned out well, but the corn pudding (from the latest issue of Cook’s Country), made with cheddar cheese, heavy cream and a hit of cayenne, was particularly nice. The six-year old pronounced the mousse cake “yummy, yummy, yummy”. I’d never made the recipe before (it’s from Cook’s Illustrated), and it involved separating eight eggs, then whipping the egg whites and folding them into chocolate, and baking the cake in a water bath. Folding egg whites has always intimidated me, but the recipe turned out well, and the chocolate was a nice complement to the pumpkin, since of course I had to have both desserts.

The ham not only allowed for leftovers for both families, but I used the scraps and the bone to make my first-ever split pea soup, which turned out nicely plus made for another few meals. This thanksgiving I was grateful for good food, and for friends to share it with. And for not having to leave my house.

Dr. Pepper Glazed Ham
from Cook’s Country, Dec/Jan 2006

1/2 c. Dr. Pepper
3/4 c. light brown sugar
2 Tbl. fresh orange juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 spiral-sliced, bone-in half ham, 7 to 10 lbs., pref. shank end

1. Bring Dr. Pepper, sugar, orange juice, and mustard to a boil in medium saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture is syrupy and measures 3/4 cup, about 8 minutes. (Glaze can be refrigerated for up to 2 days; reheat when needed.)
2. Remove ham from packaging and discard plastic disk that covers bone. Place ham in plastic oven bag, tie bag shut, and trim excess plastic. Set ham cut side down in 13 by 9 inch baking disch and cut 4 slits in top of bag. Let stand at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees F. Bake ham until center registers about 100 degress in instant-read thermometer, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, about 14 minutes per pound.
4. Remove ham from oven and roll back sides of bag to expose ham. Brush ham liberally with glaze and return to oven briefly until glaze becomes sticky, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, brush entire ham again with glaze, loosely cover with foil, and let rest for 30 to 40 minutes before serving.

Savory Corn Pudding
from Cook’s Country, Dec/Jan 2006

1 Tbl. unsalted butter, softened for greasing casserole dish
6 c. frozen corn
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 Tbl. sugar
1/4 tsp. cayenne
3 Tbl. chopped fresh basil

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 quart casserole dish with butter. Bring large kettle of water to boil for water bath. Bring 2 qts. water to boil in large saucepan for corn.
2. Add 1 Tbl. salt and corn to boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Drain in colander and dry with paper towels. Pulse 4 c. corn in food precessor until rough puree forms, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to large bowl and stir in remaining whole corn, 1 tsp. salt, cream, eggs, cheese, sugar, cayenne, and basil until combined.
3. Pour corn mixture into casserole and transfer dish to roasting pan. Pour boiling water from kettle into roasting pan until it comes halfway up sides of casserole dish. Place roasting pan in oven and bake until pudding is set and a few brown spots appear around edges, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove casserold from water bath, transfer to wire rack and let set for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

To make ahead: Corn can be cooked, processed, and mixed with the whole corn, salt, cream, cheese, sugar and cayenne up to 2 days in advance. Refrigerate until ready, then stir in eggs and basil when ready to cook.

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse Cake
from Cook’s Illustrated 11/2002

Because it is available in most supermarkets and has scored highly in past tastings, Hershey’s Special Dark is the chocolate of choice in this recipe. Other bittersweet chocolates will work, but because amounts of sugar and cocoa butter differ from brand to brand, they will produce cakes with slightly different textures and flavors. When crumbling the brown sugar to remove lumps, make sure that your fingers are clean and grease-free; any residual fat from butter or chocolate might hinder the whipping of the whites. If you like, dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar just before serving or top slices with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Makes one 9-inch cake, serving 12 to 16
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 12 pieces
1 teaspoon unsalted butter , softened, for greasing pan
unbleached all-purpose flour for dusting pan
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (such as Hershey’s Special Dark), chopped
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate , chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 large eggs , seperated
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar (4 1/2 ounces), crumbled with fingers to remove lumps (see note)

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter sides of 9-inch springform pan; flour sides and tap out excess. Line bottom of pan with parchment or waxed paper round. Wrap bottom and sides of pan with large sheet of foil.

2. Melt 12 tablespoons butter and chocolates in large bowl over large saucepan containing about 2 quarts barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until chocolate mixture is smooth. Cool mixture slightly, then whisk in vanilla and egg yolks. Set chocolate mixture aside, reserving hot water, covered, in saucepan.

3. In clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites and salt at medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds; add half of crumbled brown sugar, beat at high speed until combined, about 30 seconds, then add remaining brown sugar and continue to beat at high speed until soft peaks form when whisk is lifted (see photo, below), about 2 minutes longer. Using whisk, stir about one-third of beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites in 2 additions using whisk. Gently scrape batter into prepared springform pan, set springform pan in large roasting pan, then pour hot water from saucepan to depth of 1 inch. Carefully slide roasting pan into oven; bake until cake has risen, is firm around edges, center has just set, and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers about 170 degrees, 45 to 55 minutes.

4. Remove springform pan from water bath, discard foil, and cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Run thin-bladed paring knife between sides of pan and cake to loosen; cool cake in springform pan on wire rack until barely warm, about 3 hours, then wrap pan in plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 8 hours. (Cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

5. To unmold cake, remove sides of pan. Slide thin metal spatula between cake and pan bottom to loosen, then invert cake onto large plate, peel off parchment, and re-invert onto serving platter. To serve, use sharp, thin-bladed knife, dipping knife in pitcher of hot water and wiping blade before each cut.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 at 4:51 pm and is filed under Feeling Minnesota, Food and Drink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.