Hot Buttered Rum
Finally. Snow in Seattle. We’ve had a gorgeous winter – mostly clear and crisp – but it feels good to have a little of the white stuff falling from the sky. As is normal, some areas are getting hit much harder than others. No matter what the situation is in your neighborhood, today is a great day for hot-buttered rum!
I hesitated to post this recipe but looking back I see I haven’t mentioned it for a few years. I guess it’s safe to post it again!
I love that you can make a batch and then store it in the freezer so it’s ready at a moment’s notice. One morning’s “work” equals lots of days of spicy, warm pleasure.
Hot Buttered Rum
1 qt vanilla ice cream, softened (let it get almost liquid-y)
1 lb. soft butter
1 lb. brown sugar
1 lb.powdered sugar
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Cream butter, sugars and spices. When they are thoroughly blended mix in the ice cream.
Store in freezer until ready to use.
To make drinks
Put a generous tablespoon of batter into a mug.
Add a shot of rum. (I prefer a golden rum.)
Mush it around until the batter is soft.
Add boiling water to fill cup.
Stir.
Grate a little fresh nutmeg on the top.
Using Leftovers
Not only is homemade soup delicious and soul-satisfying, it’s a great way to use up all sort of leftovers you may have in your fridge. Sometimes this even leads to new flavor combinations you may not have otherwise tried.
The ingredients that inspired the soup in the photo were a partial onion, a small bag of mushrooms, a couple of carrots, leftover elk steak and some beef broth.
I started by sweating the onion, a few cloves of garlic and a small piece of ginger. Then added the carrot and a couple of bay leaves and sautéed a few minutes longer, then added the mushrooms. Next, about 2 or 3 cups of broth went into the pot. I brought the soup to a boil and let it simmer for about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to develop and merge. Next I added some rice noodles and when they were about half way done I added the chunks of elk, which was already cooked. I wanted to warm the meat without cooking it to death.
After scooping the soup into bowls I topped it with a little chopped green onion. Add a couple of slices of bread and maybe a nice green salad and you have dinner!
Linguine with Crab, Lemon, Mint & Chile
Citrus fruit is another of my winter favorites – it brings a little sunshine to the dark, dreary days we often have. I was happy to see the great collection of citrus recipes in the January issue of Bon Appetit magazine . Doubling my delight, I noticed a pasta recipe that featured both crab and lemon!
Yes, crab with lemon is a classic combination but this recipe adds a couple of nice twists: mint and chile.
Pasta, dried chile and lemon are nearly always in my pantry. And I still have some usable mint in my garden, which is unusual for this time of year but probably due to the dry winter weather we’ve had. As you may have guessed from my last post I had crab in my refrigerator, too. With this ingredient convergence I was meant to make this recipe. And so I did.
It all comes together in a few minutes. You have to allow time for the pasta to cook, but that gives you plenty of time to get the sauce ingredients ready to go. I sautéed the onions and garlic, then pulled the pan off the heat until the pasta had about 5 minutes remaining. At that point I continued on with the sauce and added the pasta as soon as it finished cooking.
This is a light and delicious meal. It’s extremely satisfying yet a nice break from all the rich foods from the holidays. The mint and lemon keep the dish fresh, while the butter and crab add a silky plushness to each bite.
I pretty much followed the recipe as is. At least as much as I follow any recipe…. When you add the crab at the end of the recipe make sure you just warm it and don’t over cook it. You don’t want it to dry out or become tough.
You can find the pasta recipe here.
Crab & Avocado Omelet
Dungeness crab is caught and available in the markets year-round here in the Northwest and I eat it all year long. But I think of winter as “crab season” as the always delicious crustacean is a little sweeter and the meat a little more firm when the air and water temperatures drop. I tend to indulge myself during the holidays and this year has been no different.
This morning, on this day-after-holiday holiday, I treated myself to a crab and avocado omelet. The primary concept when using crab is that any other ingredient should be used in moderation so you don’t overwhelm the delicate flavor of the crab. Other than that, nearly anything goes!
This morning I filled the two-egg omelet with three large pieces of crab leg ; about one quarter of a ripe avocado, cubed; a tablespoon or two of thinly sliced and chopped onion; a little flat-leaf parsley; and some Emmanthaler, a mild Swiss cheese. Once cooked, I finished the omelet with a little more cheese, a couple of cubes of avocado and a light sauce made from crème fraiche, some horseradish and a little fresh-squeezed tangerine juice.
Cristina Ferrare’s Big Bowl of Love
If you’re looking for a gift idea for a food-loving friend I have a suggestion for you, Cristina Ferrare’s Big Bowl of Love.
Last April former super model turned author, Cristina Ferrare, was in Seattle promoting her latest book. I attended a gathering of food lovers hosted by Seattle Bon Vivant, Myra Kohn, to meet Cristina and sample tastes from the cookbook. There was no charge for the event and I received a complementary copy of the book for attending.
Cristina is one of those genuine, interesting and friendly people who you wish you could spend some time with and really get to know. Warm and welcoming, down-to-earth, easy-going. And this comes through even as she recounts stories of how she got to know Oprah when Oprah and Steadman, just dropped by one of her parties.
The food at the event was very good, although most of it was prepared by a team of food stylists, due to Cristina’s limited schedule while in town. So I was anxious to try some of the recipes on my own. Between the food at the event and my browsing through the cookbook I immediately felt at home with these recipes. I’d call them Italian-inspired, and while Cristina’s heritage definitely shines through, the recipes are not strictly Italian. And definitely not authentic Italian. They remind me of things my maternal grandmother would make as she evolved the traditional recipes of her youth to incorporate locally available ingredients and other techniques she’d learned while living here in the U. S.
Spritz
Spritz is such a simple cookie. Light, buttery, flavored with almond or whatever you prefer. Easy to make. Small enough to keep the guilt factor at a minimum when eating one. Or two.
They are always one of the first cookies I make when I start my holiday baking. In a short time I’ve accomplished something, the kitchen smells great and I’ve indulged in a fragrant treat along with a cup of tea.
You will need a cookie press
Make Your Own: “Canned” Pumpkin
This time of year I use a lot of pumpkin. It ends up in pie, bread, lasagne, pasta and soup, just to name a few things. Many years ago I realized how easy it was to make my own pumpkin puree and I rarely, if ever, buy canned pumpkin anymore. There’s nothing at all wrong with canned pumpkin. It has a little more water in it, then my own puree, and it’s generally not really made from pumpkin but some other squash, but that’s not an issue. I just like making my own.
And it’s pretty easy to do. You really only need an oven and a food processor or blender, although the food processor works much better.
There are four steps:
- Clean and roast the pumpkin
- Cool and then remove the skin
- Puree in a food processor or blender (you actually can do this by hand but check my note below)
- Measure and place in storage containers and then freeze
Pumpkin Bread
This is the time of year when cinnamon and spice and everything nice becomes a reality, not just a nice little rhyme. One of my favorite things to make is pumpkin bread from a tried-and-true recipe that I’ve used for years. It’s deliciously moist and fragrant with warm spices. It’s very easy to make. The hardest part of the recipe is waiting for it to bake and then cool enough so that you can slice it!
I generally make my own pumpkin puree but canned pumpkin is perfectly fine. Your baking time may be a little longer since canned pumpkin generally has more water in it than your own roasted pumpkin will.
Pumpkin Date Bread
Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Christmas Cookbook
2 ½ cups sugar
⅔ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
16 oz pumpkin
⅔ cup water
3 ⅓ cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup chopped nuts
¾ cup chopped dates
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of two loaf pans, 9x5x3 inches or three loaf pans, 8x4x2 inches.
Mix sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin and water in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Divide evenly and pour into the pans.
Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 60 – 70 minutes. Cool slightly and then loosen sides of loaves from pan and cool on wire racks. Wait until completely cool to slice.
Cider Dinner at the Bravehorse Tavern
Wednesday night found a friend and me in the back room of the Bravehorse Tavern. (Otherwise known as Ting Momo during lunch hours.) We sat at long tables with fifty or so other guests enjoying a cider pairing dinner. It was interesting to learn about the different styles of ciders (English versus French, for instance) as well as have a chance to sample cider from two local cidermakers, Tieton Cider Works and and Finnriver. As always the food was delicious, creative and inspiring.
While they have always had events, over the last year or so Tom Douglas’ team has really been increasing the number and variety of options. I encourage you to check their event web page on a regular basis. I find the events to always be well-priced and to offer more than you’d expect. Here are a few photos from Wednesday’s cider dinner:
Jumpstarting the Holidays
On Saturday about fifteen friends and I worked an afternoon shift at the Northwest Harvest Warehouse. We spent two hours packing oats into family-size portions. We processed 5500 pounds of oats. It’s amazing what a few people can do.
NW Harvest keeps their overhead costs very, very low and much of this is due to the volunteers who help out. This means if you donate cash to NW Harvest most of it goes to buying food (and their buying power is awesome) to help those in need. They distribute food to over 300 food banks in Washington.
It’s a great organization, one I’ve supported for years. If you are in Washington I encourage you to support the agency in whatever way you can – $$, canned goods, labor – or if you are outside of Washington find a local food bank and give them a hand.
After our work shift, we gathered at Via Tribunali in Georgetown to refuel. They have a really nice room for large groups. We had a great meal as we continued to build the camaraderie and community among us.
Find and support a food drive event
Find a public donation site near you
Culinary Fool 