Cooking With Shelburne Farms

Shelburne Farms is listed as one of the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. In the 1800’s it was a collection of small farms in the Vermont countryside. Those small farms came together 1880 to form a private estate and model farm under the watchful eyes of Dr. William Seward Webb and his wife Lila Osgood Vanderbilt Webb. Over the years Shelburne Farms was again transformed from a private estate to a public, educational foundation. It is a truly wonderful place to visit. In 2001 my favorite architect, Adam Kalkin constructed a Collector’s House out of steel cargo containers on the Sheburne Farms site.



Melissa Pasanen and Rick Gencarelli produced a cookbook of recipes featuring the produce from the farm. Cooking with Shelburne Farms shows off the legacy of the farm's commitment to the vast culinary history of Vermont.

I got tons of apples from the vast culinary environs of West Virginia. They provided a great deal of applesauce. I agree with Pasanen and Gencarelli who feel that making applesauce is a lot easier if you have a food mill. My Great-Aunt Ruth used a chinois to make her applesauce. If you use a mill or chinois you don’t have to bother with peeling the apples. If you don’t have either, peel the apples first and then simply mash them as you would potatoes.Either way, making applesauce is about as easy as (well, actually easier than…) pie.

Oven Roasted Applesauce

5 pounds apples, about 15 medium, cored and cut into 8 wedges each, peeled unless you have a food mill
1/2 cup apple cider or natural apple juice
1/4 –1/2 maple syrup, depending on the tartness of the apples, Grade B for the strongest flavor
4 whole cinnamon sticks
4 whole star anise, divided and tied up in two cheesecloth bundles.

1.Preheat the oven to 375F. In a large, heavy, shallow roasting pan, toss the apples with the cider and maple syrup. Distribute the cinnamon sticks and star anise. Roast until the apples are very soft, about 30 –45 minutes depending on the apple variety.

2.Pull out the cinnamon sticks and star anise. Run the apples through a food mill or, if they were peeled, mash them roughly with a potato masher or puree them in a food processor or blender

I really don’t see the need for wrapping the star anise in cheesecloth. Simply pick it out in the same way you do the cinnamon sticks.

1001 Sandwiches

In 1928, Florence Cowles wrote a book entitled 500 Sandwiches. Over the next twenty years, the book was reprinted many times. 500 Sandwiches became 700 Sandwiches and finally 1001 Sandwiches. In fact, there is one edition of this book that was bound with the 500 sandwich recipes but with the 700 sandwich title. In case you are wondering, who counts the recipes in the books, each type of sandwich had a “head count” as it were. So one can add up the sandwich numbers without actually counting the "Tomato Soup Sandwich" or the "Cheese and Pea Sandwich."

Thank god, because I would surly lose count of the pimiento sandwiches alone. Who knew there was so much one could do with pimientos, or peanut butter, or liver. There are the traditional "Ham and Cheese Sandwich" and the not so traditional "Ham and Beet Sandwich", or the "Ham and Banana Sandwich" or the "Deviled Ham and Jam Sandwich."

There are nearly three hundred pages of sandwiches and there is not a single page that won’t leave you with peculiarly queasy look as you read.

Mrs. Cowles suggests that everyone keep a…”variety of sandwich “makings” always on your emergency shelf; or better still, keep a special sandwich shelf for them.” Because is you have a good selection of ingredients, “you can meet calmly and sandwich emergency which may arise.”

Since we are in the Lenten season, here is sandwich for that very occasion.

Lenten Sandwich II

6 hard-cooked eggs
1 cup English walnuts
3 tablespoons chopped sweet pickle
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 cup vinegar

Grind together the nuts and egg whites. Ass pickle. Mash the egg yolks and add the seasoning. Mix all together and spread on leaf lettuce between white bread.

Yes, this is the second Lenten sandwich in the book. Remember there are 1001 sandwiches in 1001 Sandwiches, so pretty much every occasion is covered. There is no “sandwich emergency” you can’t tackle as long as your emergency sandwich shelf is stocked.

Nathalie Dupree's Shrimp and Grits

Grits are my favorite food. I know about 10,000 ways to make grits. Everyday grits can be new an interesting so it seems odd to me that there are just a few cookbooks featuring grits. I wrote about Bill Neal’s book, Good Old Grits.

The iconic recipe for grits is of course, shrimp and grits. The basic recipe: make grits; top with shrimp. The more complicated recipes, are simple and complicated and delicious. If you want to find a cookbook that offers a multitude of recipes for shrimp and grits, look no farther than Nathalie Dupree's Shrimp and Grits.

Nathalie Dupree is the grande dame of Southern cooking. We shared a plane once. I had watched her make grits with yogurt in them. I told her I wasn’t sure I wanted yogurt in my grits. I was very young! She told me that in order for Southern cuisine to mature, it had to be willing to change a bit with the times. So I went home and added yogurt to my grits, and over the next few years, quit a few new things. She was right, grits are still as Southern as ever, but they are as versatile as any starch out there.

According to Dupree, the earliest mention for shrimp and grits was in the 1930 edition of Two Hundred Years of Charleston Cooking. Originally called “Shrimps and Hominy” by the 1976 edition it had been changes to “Breakfast Shrimp and Grits.” In Charleston they like to call their grits “hominy.” Here is the original recipe.

The Original Breakfast Shrimp & Grits

1 cup uncooked grits
2-3 cups milk
2 cups water
1/2 cup butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound raw shrimp, shelled

Add the grits to the simmering milk and water in a heavy saucepan, preferably nonstick, and cook as package directs, stirring constantly. Do not let the grits “burp” loudly, and watch the evaporation of liquid. Add more if necessary. When fully cooked to the texture you desire, remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, heat 4 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan and sauté the shrimp in the butter until the shrimp turns pink. Add the rest of the butter to the pan and melt. Top the grits with the shrimp and pour the butter on top.

Add a Bloody Mary and you have the “Breakfast of Champions” or Belles everywhere. Head over to Lucindaville for my “Scallop and Grits” recipe.

For more from Nathalie Dupree check out her blog.

Jack's Skillet

Jack Butler wrote one of my favorite books, Jujitsu for Christ. He is best known for writing Living in Little Rock with Miss Little Rock. But my favorite book by Jack Butler is Jack's Skillet: Plain Talk and Some Recipes From a Guy in the Kitchen .

Jack Butler is a guy’s guy. He knows about beer and knives and football and how to use and iron skillet. He is also a guy with a wife and four daughters. Jack’s Skillet is about his wife and kids and writing and food. Butler is a Southerner so he knows that no self-respecting Southerner puts sugar in their cornbread. He knows a crowder pea when he sees one (and he can cook a mess if her runs across them.)

This recipe grew out of a meal with the now departed Larry Brown. Brown wanted oysters, so they went to the store and ended up with several cans of quite large Washington oysters. They ate their fill, Larry Brown left and Butler had two containers of oysters left behind. On trips to the beach, Butler's wife made Oyster’s Rockefeller. Butler decided on an oyster casserole based on the classic dish but with a rock-and-roll spin. This dish was born.

Oysterfellers Rock ‘n’ Roll

1 large bunch fresh or 1 package frozen spinach
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 slices whole grain bread, shredded
1 dozen club crackers, crumbled
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Two 10-ounce jars or 1 1/4 pounds fresh shucked oysters
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat over to 375 F.

2. If spinach is fresh, clean and destem.

3. Saute spinach in butter and just enough water to keep from sticking until tender and water has
mostly evaporated. (if spinach is frozen, you will not need to add much water.)

4. In blender, combine bread, crackers, parsley, celery, and cheddar with 2 or 3 bursts.

5. Put half the mixture from the blender into a loaf-sized glass baking dish.

6. Layer bread mixture with half the oysters, juice and all. Slat and pepper the oyster layer to taste and layer it with half the spinach. Sprinkle evenly with half the Parmesan until all the ingredients are used.

7. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. Serve with ketchup and horseradish or other condiments as desired.

What a great way to spend and afternoon, eating oysters, drinking beer and reading!

The Splendid Table's How To Eat Supper

"The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who wake up thinking about what they are going to eat for supper, and those who don’t. We are decidedly in the former camp; in fact, we wake up thinking about what we are going to cook for supper."

So begins The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper. Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift are the award winning host’s of Public Radio’s aptly named, The Splendid Table. Their book is more than a cookbook, though they handle that part of it with great aplomb. The book is also a bibliography, quote books, celebrity dish, advice column and how to meditation on the way we eat supper.

My favorite piece of advice:

The 450 F. Oven. Walk in the door and turn the over to 450 F. Even if you have no idea what you are going to be eating, this single act starts supper.

Here’s a recipe that required no oven at all.

Iced Cantaloupe Soup With Jalapeno And Basil

One 2 1/2-pound intensely sweet-smelling ripe cantaloupe
2 cups ice cubes
Generous pinch of salt
4 or 5 grinds of black pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
Juice of 2 large lime (about 1/2 cup)
Grates zest of 1/2 large lime


Finish

1 or 2 jalapenos, seeded and cut into a fine dice
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves, coarse chopped
1/2 medium red onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice (optional)

1.Cut the melon into quarters. Scoop out its seeds and trim away the rind. Slice it into chunks and put them into a food processor. Add the ice, salt, pepper, sugar, lime juice, and puree. Stir in the grated zest.
2. Place the jalapenos, basil, and onions in separate small serving bowls. Pour the puree into individual soup bowls or into a pitcher for further chilling.
3. To serve, pour the soup into bowls and pass the condiments. The basil and jalapeno are the essential finishes for the soup, while the onion is an attractive option.

As you can see, I am committed to willing spring into existence, even with snow this week!

Babe's Country Cookbook

I admit it. Babe was one of favorite movies and Babe: Pig in the City, isn't far behind. While I love the movies they were not grounds for me to stop eating pork. And as much as I loved the singing mice, the first one to set a tiny paw into my kitchen is dead; I don't care if he's singing Ave Maria!

Even with my predilection for pork of the "everything but the squeal" variety, I do own Babe's Country Cookbook : 80 Complete Meat-Free Recipes from the Farm compiled by Dewey Gram. Needless to say, there are no recipe's for Babe or any of his farm friends. It's vegetarian only in the Babe Country Cookbook. I can live with that.



We have been awash with garlic lately and since it freezing here in West Virginia, I saw this recipe and fell in love.

Kelly Sim's Roasted Garlic Soup

3 heads garlic (not cloves- heads, whole and unpeeled)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 leek (just the white part), trimmed, rinsed well, and sliced
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 quarts water

GARLIC "CHIPS"

3 or 4 cloves elephant garlic (those are the huge cloves)
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red bell pepper, for garnish
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Preheat your oven to 350. Roast the whole, unpeeled heads of garlic on a baking sheet in the oven for 45 minutes. While the papery skin will turn dark brown, the pulp will become soft and golden brown. When cool enough to handle, slip off the skins. Slice the garlic heads and reserve.

In a large soup kettle or saucepan, heat the 2 tablespoon oil. Add the onion and leek, and saute until soft but not brown, about 8 minutes. Add the sliced roasted garlic heads, the sliced potatoes, and the water. Simmer partially covered, for one hour.

MAKING GARLIC "CHIPS": Peel and thinly slice the elephant garlic. In a small skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons oil. Add the garlic slices, and saute until they become golden brown garlic "chips," about 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain, and reserve.

Core and seed bell pepper. Cut into thin strips, and reserve.

Just before the soup is done, stir in the cream. In batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor, and then strain through a sieve into a bowl for extra smoothness. Season with the salt and pepper. If need be, reheat the soup, but don't let it come to a boil. pour into 8 bowls, and garnish with the garlic "chips" and red bell peppers.

I like mine a bit more rustic. I use my immersion blender and never sieve! Most of the time I forget to garnish. Even without red pepper it a soup Babe would be proud of.

Ba Ram Ewe

Festive Picnics

I am planning to do a week of picnic books as they are one of my favorite types of cookbook. I was planning to do that week of titles when it was warm and sunny and all the world was picnicing

Today’s weather in Shirley was supposed to be 72 degrees and sunny. In reality, it is 51 and pouring rain! Weather is such an exact science. So I am jumping the gun and offering up a picnic recipe as a form of wishful thinking.

I must say, I have yet to find the “perfect” picnic cookbook. Truthfully, any food can be a picnic food, the true test is the portability of the food. I wish that more picnic cookbooks spent time on the transportation of the food.

Festive Picnics by Pamela Sheldon Johns and Jennifer Barry has ideas for picnic table decorations and fun ideas for transporting what you have cooked. Of course some things need to be cooked on sight.

Garlicky Barbecued Corn

6 ears of fresh sweet corn, husked
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the corn for 3 minutes. Drain and let cool.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the garlic. Set aside.

Light the fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill to 425 F. Place the corn on the grill turning and brushing frequently with the garlic butter for about 3-5 minutes, until the corn is heated through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve at once.

I am resting assured that May is near. Warm weather. Sunshine. Lovely picnics. I’ll keep wishing!

In & Out of the Kitchen

In & Out of the Kitchen -- In 15 Minutes or Less is one of Anne Willan's lesser known books. It came out slightly before the fashion of doing books on how to get in and out of the kitchen in 15 minutes or less became popular.

My friend Anne (not Anne Willan) and I often talk about how food from France looks better than food in America. It seems odd, but even quick and easy food tossed on a plate in France just looks better. The pictures in this book prove that. They are all so lovely, but I admit they are a tad "stagey!"

I pulled out this recipe, because I love it. It is one of those "recipes" that is not really a recipe, just instruction.

Melon Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

2 small ripe melons
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 pints raspberries

1. Mix vinegar and sugar in bowl. Pick over raspberries and add to bowl, stirring to mix.

2. Trim ends of melons so they will sit flat, cut them in half and scoop out seeds.

3. Fill with raspberries and juice, cover loosely with wrap, chill at least 20 minutes.

Here is my recipe:

Lucinda's Cantaloupe with Balsamic Syrup.

1. Cut a cantaloupe

2. Sprinkle with balsamic syrup

Eat up!

Hey, I could be in France.

Good Tempered Food

After running across a recipe similar to my mother’s salmon croquette recipe in The Deep South Natural Foods Cookbook, I thought there must actually be a “natural” salmon croquette recipe that used fresh salmon. What better place to look than in Good Tempered Food.

Tamasin Day-Lewis is a calm, collected cook. She has been on television in the U. K. but since she doesn’t throw pots of food at people, and call them names, her show hasn’t, as they say, made it across the pond.

Day-Lewis is the daughter of the poet Cecil Day-Lewis and the sister of Daniel Day-Lewis, so writing and performing probably come naturally to her.

Salmon Fishcakes

about 600g wild salmon, cooked
about 300g cooked potatoes, mashed without milk and butter
a handful of flat-leafed parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
85g stale wholemeal bread, baked in small squares in a slow oven to dry out for 15 minutes, then whizzed into crumbs
vegetable oil for frying

Mash the salmon into the potatoes roughly, so it still has coarse textured flak and is not a homogeneous puree. Season and throw in the parsley, then shape the mixture into 2cm thick cakes and place them on a large flat plate. Keep covered in the fridge for an hour or two to firm up, or longer if convenient.

Whisk the eggs on one large flat plate, and spread the dried bread crumbs on another. Dip the fish cakes first in the egg on both sides, then turn them into the bread crumbs, making sure the sides are well crumbed too. Place them on a third large plate. Heat a shallow film of oil, about 50ml in a frying pan over medium heat, Put the fishcakes in and fry for 4 minutes or so on a side until golden brown. Drain on a kitchen paper and serve two per person.

This is the last salmon recipe for a while, I promise!

The Cook's Book

Jill Norman was Elizabeth David’s publisher, the British version of Judith Jones; great cookbook editors, both. In 2005, she edited The Cook's Book, gathering together renown chefs from around the world. She asked them to explain various techniques they used to prepare restaurant dishes and explain them to home cooks. Some of the preparations are rather basic, like how to broil a scallop, or how to make a compound or flavored butter and some are more technical, like Ferran Adria recipes on making foams.

The book is a behemoth volume that leans more toward the techniques than the recipes, but even if you know how to poach fish or bone duck, you can find yourself mesmerized in this book. It straddles the line between "I know that!" and "How cool!"

This is one of those, "I know that" recipes. It seemed so comforting when I read it. For some reason, the "heart" shape seems to always be the favored design for "en papillote" but small paper lunch bags work just fine.

Baked Salmon En Papillote

Olive oil for brushing
8 baby turnips, cut in half
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 thinly sliced fennel bulb
8 baby carrots, cut in half
4 tbsp snipped chives
4 pieces salmon filet, about 3 oz

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Cut out four large heart-shaped pieces of parchment paper. The halves of each heart should be about twice the size of a piece of salmon. Brush one half of each heart with the olive oil.

2. Divide the vegetable and chives into four portions. Place one portion in the center of the oiled half of one paper heart. Season a piece of salmon with salt and pepper, and set it on top. Add a few sprigs of thyme.

3.Fold over the other half of the heart. Crimp the open edges to seal them by making a series of small folds all around. Fill and seal the remaining packages in the same way. Place the packages on a baking sheet.

4. Bake until the paper packages are puffed up and lightly browned. 5-7 minutes. To serve, cut open the packages and transfer them to individual serving plates. Alternatively, put the sealed packages on the plate and let each person open his or her package.

I know the recipes have been a bit on the “fishy” side this week, but fish is good for you. So eat more of it. I promise, steaks next week. Honest.