Food and Memory – a combination that is so prominent at this time of year, right? We all crave food items from our childhoods – those which evoke special memories – both culinary memories and those involving the other senses – evoking memory “photos” of sitting at the dining table in special and happy moments, which were somehow frozen there and hard-wired forever. Years ago in school we all learned about stimulus and response, in Sociology, 101, some early Science class or somewhere. This is one of two times of year – Christmas Holidays and Birthdays – when this situation really comes into play for me – when I especially like to give the gift of food to others – by either giving cookies or other baked goods as Christmas gifts, or by cooking and baking the items my family and friends especially love and ask for. This is a quintessential stimulus and response situation. There are two parties involved here – the giver doesn’t merely want to offer a gift – the reward of giving something like this involves getting the desired response from the recipient. Then the act is perfect in its execution – I am happy I made it and the person who gets it is happy that they got what they desired. This is of particular importance with someone with a very sensitive palate and sensory response register.
Last night we had a dinner here with some friends and Ryan popped up and asked for a Key Lime Pie for dessert on Christmas. This is one of his perennial favorites. Of course, though, there is a catch here – it can not be just any Key Lime Pie – it has to be the one which evokes the response which is seared in the sensory memory. Ryan’s favorite is a wedge, and I don’t mean anything diminutive, of the Key Lime Pie from the Breakers in Palm Beach. There is something totally joyful yet somewhat sinful about sitting down after a meal, in the comfort of your own room and privately indulging, forkful by forkful, in this very special calorie-dense, but delectable creation – the flavor of which is just the perfect tart-sweet balance and has that perfect Key Lime flavor profile. I must confess that I have done this myself, as well. It is just special, comforting, delicious and satisfying. Well, thank goodness we don’t do this often or we would be in great trouble. But, last night he brought this up while we were busy polishing off my Raspberry Tart, shown above, and no sooner had that fork been put down, then I was off, in my mind, thinking about the Key Lime Pie challenge. This is no easy feat in this timeframe. There are no Key Limes in the market here right now, I don’t have the Breakers’ recipe and, the recipes I have tried in the past have netted an overly sweet and overly unctous mouthfeel – the result of the “wrong” formula incorporating that ubiquitous “sweetened condensed milk”. I must say, this is NOT one of my favorite ingredients (along with cornstarch) and it has often sent me in search of a good lime curd instead in this application.
So, after some consideration again early this morning, I shot off an email to the Breakers and asked for the recipe – ASAP – with the hope that they will respond quickly enough and I will be able, somehow to obtain some suitable ingredients and execute this by Tuesday. I am not too hopeful, but I will keep you posted about this endeavor……..
This time of year I am usually up to my eyeballs in Prime Ribs, Baked Hams, Roast Turkeys and the classic and traditional offerings of the seasons. I am one of those who gets pleasure from knowing there is a massive piece of sensationally-fragrant meat roasting in the oven. Hmmm….I am not sure what this says about me – there must be some specific evolutionary element here. My beloved cat, Finnegan Quincy Hanley, who has gone off to that special place in Kitty Cat Heaven, as my dear Mom used to say, used to come and sit by the oven every time I roasted meat – especially beef. He and I were obviously psychically connected in this regard.
As I sit here this morning, I have a lot of menu planning to do. I have not had a chance to think too much about my menus for Christmas Eve and Day up to this point. I have many recipe scenarios swirling around in my mind and I am about to go to the cookbook pile on my desk in search of some interesting combinations.
One recipe I really want to try is the Wild Mushroom, Shoya and Goat Cheese Truffles – from Gregory Richie and published by the James Beard Foundation. I have been saving this for this week. I am hoping this might, if as good as they sound, might sear a new memory for me in my Christmas repertoire. Here is the recipe:
WILD MUSHROOM, SHOYA AND GOAT CHEESE TRUFFLES – makes 18
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
2 tblsp butter, divided
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup plus 2 tblsp aborio rice
1/4 cup dry sake, divided
1/4 cup low sodium shoyu (soy sauce), divided
2 tblsp parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 cup assorted mushrooms such as oyster, shitake, chanterelles)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs, plus more for breading
Generous 2 tsp chopped thai basil
2 eggs, divided
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup goat cheese
four for breading
oil for frying
In a small pot, heat chicken stock over medium heat. As it warms, heat 1 tblsp butter in a separate saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until they become soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat. Toast the rice until it is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tblsp sake and cook until nearly dry. Add 1/3 cup warm chicken stock to the rice. Stirring occasionally, cook the rice until it has absorbed all of the stock. Repeat until the rice is al dente. Add 2 tblsp of the shoyu and stir until absorbed. Stir in the parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper; reserve.
In a separate saute pan, heat remaining butter. Add mushrooms and saute until browned and soft, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add risotto and mix to combine. Let cool completely. When rice mixture is cool, stir in the bread crumbs, thai basil and one egg. Refrigerate until needed.
In a small pot, bring remaining sake, remaining shoyj and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Reduce roughly by half, about 5 minutes. Refrigerate until cool. Stir a tablespoon of shoyu mixture into the goat cheese.
To prepare the rice balls, gather enough rice mixture to make a 1″ ball. Roll the rice in your hands until it forms a round fritter. Poke a hole in the center with your finger. Use a small knife or a chop stick to put a small amount of the goat cheese inside the fritter. Seal. Repeat with the remaining rice mixture. Lightly beat the remaining egg until foamy. Place the flour, beaten egg and panko in separate shallow bowls. Roll each ball in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg, shaking off excess. Finish with a coating of bread crumbs. Store balls on a tray in the refrigerator until ready to fry.
Heat 3″ oil in deep pot until 350F. Fry the rice balls until golden brown and hot all the way through, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
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I have to tell you, this time of year is not about the shopping and the presents for me, it is about the food and the fragrances of the season – the refreshing fragrance of cold, fresh air early in the morning when I take Kit outside and look up and enjoy the constellations, the smell of fresh-cut balsam fir, which instantly reminds me of searching for the perfect Christmas tree with my Dad when I was very young – perhaps one of the most powerful sensory responses from my childhood. And then there is the the smell of great things baking in the oven and cooking on the stove and the images of platters of beautiful foods and desserts on the table – wonderful and fulfilling.
I also love to visit special shops which connect me to my most innate passions – as I did on Friday. I was at La Famigla in Mendham, NJ, a small store which offers Italian specialties – foods and pastries and various specialty products imported from Italy. I always love to oogle all their items and especially did so with the panettones – they had some amazing ones on display. I got to chatting with one of the owners and she directed me to the Panettone from Pasticceria Scarpato in Verona. She told me this was a very special Panettone, not like any of the supermarket offerings, and she had to order these from the purveyor in July in order to secure them for this time of year. This short conversation was enough to send my mind reeling and tugging at my heartstrings for Italy – note to self: Visit Scarpato, originated in 1888 in Verona, Italy on my next trip over. I can not describe the yearning feeling I get for going to such places – where the love of and commitment to baking is so intense that it lasts throughout the ages! Read about it yourself and dream along with me!
will serve this with some berries and mascarpone cream one night and make some pannettone french toast too!
And, speaking of Italy, I would be remiss in not recommending another book – POLPO, by Russell Norman – do not miss this wonderful new tome about a love affair with Venice, its food and the development of his restaurant in London. This is magnificient.
I wish you all wonderful times over the next few days – preparing foods you love and that are well-loved and appreciated by others. I wish you great amounts of satisfaction in this preparation – and in the eating part, too. This is the ideal of comfort and joy, is it not?
after my beautiful Red and White Cyclamen pooped out early, I decided on this centerpiece for the dining room table – festive and you don’t have to remove it to speak to others at the table.
paperwhites in the window
my new “business card” with hand-drawn images
and another of the inane things that occupies me at this time of year – the Christmas Card circa 2012