Butter, Salt and the Simple Gifts of Restoration Farm
The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.~Robert Louis Stevenson
And now, the growing season concludes again at Restoration
Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake
Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
For glaze:
2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan. Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.
Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.
Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.
To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.
Coq au Vin à la Julia Child
Although the traditional recipe uses red wine, I had my trepidations. It was so painful looking in the pot! Beautiful farm chicken stained red? But I did it and the result was well worth the initial fears. The final product was similar to Chinese lacquered duck.
The process was a little more detailed than other chicken stews. But again, worth the effort.
Boiling the bacon lardons in water before sauteeing removed a lot of their fat and therefore, the flavour did not dominate over the chicken. I bought pancetta already cut and it was perfect. It added a nice subtlety. Then lightly browning them in butter made them very palatable in the dish.
After simmering the chicken in wine and broth, and removing it to another plate, it was time to degrease the liquid. I have always degreased by cooling the liquid. Julia's method requires that it is brought to a simmer. Actually this works, too. The fat tends to come together around the edges and, even though I removed some cooking liquid, I was able to remove most of the grease. Also, as the cooking liquid reduced, I did skim off any scum that formed.
I substituted the cognac with calvados ( Grace - just one more time to use up all your calvados! ). It flamed nicely and burned off the alcohol.
If there was one change I would make, it would be to cut the chicken into pieces large enough that one piece would be a serving. I cut the breast into three pieces and thus, more than one piece would be required for a serving. I think it serves much more nicely if one piece of chicken is on the plate. But then, that is a personal preference.
Traditionally, it would be served with baby potatoes or mashed potatoes and root vegetables or green beans. I think it would also be amazing with polenta.
This is more of a commentary than sharing a recipe. You know how detailed Julia's recipes are! And you all know how to find it! Adapting it to a simpler version so I can publish it on my blog would be blasphemy. So I leave you with these notes to follow when you try this.
Bon Appetit!
Potato and Chard Frittata
We must savour every fresh moment until we find ourselves in the doldrums of winter. This is only potatoes and chard but tastes so nice and fresh. I bought the chard a few days ago at a farmer's market. It is so much more substantial than spinach. It is so full of nutrients and fibre.
I made this in an All Clad skillet and then baked it in the oven for a little while to be sure it was fully cooked. It is hearty and light all at the same time.
Potato and Chard Fritatta
2 medium sized potatoes
2 leaves of chard
2 ounces of freshly grated parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
Very thinly slice the potatoes and set aside. Remove the ribs from the chard and rip the leaves into smallish bits and set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet until smoking. Add a layer of potato slices, then a layer of the chard and another layer of potato slices. Grate cheese over all. Lightly beat the eggs and pour over.
Cook on the stove top until the bottom is crispy and done. Flip the galette onto a plate and slide it back into the pan to cook the top side. Put in a 350F oven for another 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Pumpkin Butter and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
You can really get creative with pumpkins! I think I should try some homemade skin care products with pumpkin. You might find me blogging about that soon.
I discovered pumpkin butter when I spent several months in the southern US last year. It was very popular in east Tennessee. I made some this year and I think it makes a lovely accompaniment to meats such as pork or duck.Not to waste, I roasted the pumpkin seeds for snacks or use in recipes calling for pepitas, Mexican pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin Butter
1 pumpkin
sugar
cinnamon
ginger
nutmeg
Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out all the seeds and pithy insides. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 350F until soft. This will take about 30 minutes.
Scoop the cooked pumpkin flesh into a food processor and puree. The flavourings can be added to your taste. I used this ratio. For each cup of pumpkin puree, I used 3/4 cup of white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon cloves and 1/8 teaspoon ginger. Cook this for about 8 hours in a slow cooker.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Wash all the pumpkins seeds that you have removed. Toss lightly with a little olive oil and roast at 350F for about 15 minutes. Season with sea salt and ras el hanout or any favourite spice mixture, to taste.
