Gone Shoppin'

 fig. a:  Old Market, Charleston, SC

Excuse us while we do a little last-minute shopping.

We'll be back (with stories to tell!) shortly.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

aj

Toasts & Roasts

 fig. a:  holidaze 2013

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

1.  The holiday season is upon us.

2.  Good God, there's nothing like a perfectly seasoned, perfectly rosé slab of roast beef--preferably one that's then sliced extra-thin, and served with horseradish.*

Okay.  Yes, the holidays are here.  And that means it was time for our annual "...an endless banquet" Christmas spectacular.

 fig. b:  all aboard!

But, the thing is, sometimes LIFE confronts you with an unexpected storm, and, suddenly, you have to chart a new course.

That's kind of what happened this year.  Everything's fine now, there's no need to worry, but something came up that forced us to make a last-minute adjustment.  What it meant was that the Christmas spectacular didn't actually take place at our place this year.  Consequently, we toned things down a bit, scaled things back, and got "back to the basics."

The holiday bash that resulted might not have been quite as wide open as it had been in the past, it might not have been quite as extravagant, but it was still pretty spectacular, and it was much more of a collaborative effort--and all the better for it.  For all these things, we owe our undying gratitude to our hostess.  (TY, RD!)  Such a lovely apartment, such a wonderful atmosphere, such a great time!!

 fig. c:  S.S. Shamrock!

Originally, we'd come up with this vague Lake Champlain "holiday steamship" theme.  The "point of departure" was meant to be our apartment.  I guess we ended up docking just a little ways up the coast.  And we exchanged the S.S. Champlain for the S.S. Shamrock.

Did I mention that there was a pretty significant snowstorm the day of the party?  No big deal.  We're Montrealers, we know how to deal with such situations.

Anyway, "back to basics" meant simpler preparations.  It also meant fewer last-minute preparations.  But it was still pretty plentiful.  The spread:

 fig. d:  rye!

1 spiral-cut, cob-smoked, maple-glazed Vermont ham with mostarda cherries
1 roast beef with horseradish
nordic shrimp salad
smoked trout & smoked sturgeon platter with cream cheese
crudités & herb dip
baked artichoke dip & corn chips
cheese platter (featuring 1 Jasper Hill Moses Sleeper + 1 Shelburne Farms cloth-bound cheddar)
freshly baked Danish rye & corn rye loaves 

Spanish clementines
gingerbread cookies
festive fudge 

AEB rum punch
aged egg nog

 fig. e:  fudge!

And, yes, getting back to that point #2:  a perfectly executed roast beef is a thing of beauty.  It also seemed like just the kind of thing that would have been served in the dining room of an elegant steamship back in the day.

We discovered a method for a simple roast beef that we really love--and that's proven to be foolproof--earlier this year in the pages of The New York Times.  The recipe accompanied an article on Louisville's enigmatic Henry Bain sauce.  Though the sauce was designed to be served as a condiment with everything from steaks to game, it's a stone-cold natural with roast beef.  In fact, Sam Sifton claimed that this may be the sauce's "highest use" in his article, so he turned to Tyler Kord, the sandwich master at New York's No. 7 Sub, for a killer roast beef recipe to go along with his recipe for Henry Bain.  And that's exactly what he got.  I liked the recipe for Henry Bain--it was definitely unlike anything I'd ever tasted before, and, it's true, it made for a tasty accompaniment--but I absolutely loved the recipe for that roast beef.

As many of your probably know already, getting perfect results with roast beef can be a little tricky.  Nobody likes a roast that's extremely undercooked, and overcooking a roast is all too easy.  This recipe relies primarily on ambient heat to gently warm the roast all the way to its centre, resulting in that ideal rosy hue, not to mention an extremely savoury crust, optimal juiciness, and some outrageous pan juices.

I've been impressed with Kord's recipe since the first time I tried it, but recently I made an adjustment to it that's even more to my liking:  I added ground caraway seeds to its spicy-garlicky rub, giving it a finish that was very much in tune with the nordic characteristics of our Christmas party spread.

Off-Oven Roast Beef  

1 beef roast, like top, eye or bottom round, approximately 3 lbs
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp freshly ground caraway seeds
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tbsp olive oil
red pepper flakes to taste

prepared horseradish or horseradish cream

Remove the roast from the refrigerator.  

 fig. f:  raw!

In a small bowl, mix together the salt, pepper, caraway seeds, garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes to create a paste.  Rub this all over the roast.  

 fig. g:  rubbed!

Place the roast in a cast-iron skillet or roasting pan, fat side up, and allow the roast to come to room temperature, about 1 to 2 hours.

About 15 minutes before you want to begin roasting, preheat your oven to 500º F.

Place the roast in the oven.  Cook, undisturbed, for 5 minutes per pound.  [I tend to go a little over this recommendation:  e.g. 15 minutes for a 2.6-lb roast, and 30 minutes for 5.25-lb roast.]

Turn off the oven.  Do not open the oven door.  Leave roast to continue cooking, completely undisturbed, for two hours.

After the two hours is up, remove the roast from the oven.  Slice as thinly as possible.  

 fig. h:  roasted!

Serve with pan juices and prepared horseradish.  Or use to make whatever your preferred kind of roast beef sandwich is. 

[recipe based very closely on Tyler Kord's Off-Oven Roast Beef recipe, as featured in The New York Times, January 17, 2013] 

Just how good is this roast beef?  Well, the photos above are of the 2 3/4-lb roast we made the day after we made a 5 1/2-lb roast for our party--a 5 1/2-lb roast that completely disappeared (as tasty things often do).  You see, the next day we found ourselves still having major roast beef cravings, so I went out and picked up another roast and we whipped up another batch--this one served with roasted broccoli and a mixed greens salad.  And horseradish, of course.

The point is:  this recipe is a keeper any time of year, but it's great for the holidays.  Great for a party spread. Great for pleasing a crowd.  Great for making sandwiches.

Happy holidaze 2013!  Eat well!  Drink well!  Be well!

aj

*Actually, roast beef's a pretty lovely thing to serve with radishes à la crème, too.  In fact, the two combined would make for a pretty amazing open-faced roast beef sandwich.  Just a thought...

The Gifts of the Vine

fig. a: "...drink wine, feel fine!"

This year we were pretty single-minded when it came to our annual AEB holiday bash: it was all about the wine. Sure, we still made plenty of food to serve to our guests, but everything was meant to encourage hours of focused oenophilia.

fig. b: wine by Olney

We imagined a party that would inspire our guests to bring an interesting bottle or two, uncork them, share generously, and drink deeply. We imagined a party that would be 100% free of Château Dep.* We imagined a party we might have invited both Richard Olney and Kermit Lynch to.

fig. c: big burgundy

It worked! We had people who called us in advance of the party and said, "Yes, but what kind of wine?" To which we responded, "Think beef Burgundy, think French cheese, think pâté." Some of these people really went all out. Some people really got into the Burgundian vibe. Some people even brought magnums.

We also imagined a wine-soaked Christmas affair, and wine-soaked it turned out to be. I'm not sure if it was just the effects of all that wine piled on top of the effects of all those delicious French '75s (Champagne, gin, lemon, sugar) that we started out the evening with, but this year's edition was easily the most bacchanalian AEB xmas party in the eight years (!) we've been throwing this party. Mission accomplished!

This was the menu that did it all:

French '75 punch

fig. d: Beef Burgundy by Olney

boeuf à la Bourguignonne (follow the link for our recipe)
cheese platter (featuring the most extraordinary Vacherin Mont D'Or)
baker's foie (recipe follows)
baked, stuffed onions à la Olney (follow the link for Michelle's recipe)
baked mushrooms à la Joe Beef (recipe follows)
marinated beet salad
bitter greens salad
oysters on the half shell (TY, F.!)

Far Breton
panforte
Christmas cookies

Mandarin oranges (lots and lots of 'em!)

And here are a couple of the featured recipes:

The first is an adaptation of an incredibly simple and drop-dead lovely pâté de foies de volailles recipe from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread. This pâté is a stunner. We had some guests who told us it was the single best thing they'd ever tasted. Ever. Like I said, it's really good, and as easy as a pâté recipe gets. You can also use chicken livers, but duck livers really make it.

fig. e: baker's foie

Baker’s Foie

1 small shallot, finely chopped
6 black peppercorns
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
6 duck livers
olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme, leaves only
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup cognac
1/2 tsp salt

for the cognac butter:
3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp cognac
pinch of salt

Make a simple syrup by mixing the sugar and water in a saucepan and bringing to a simmer. Add the chopped shallot and black peppercorns and bring back to a simmer. Poach the shallots and pepper in the simple syrup for ten minutes. Strain the shallots and peppercorns and set aside. Discard the simple syrup.

Rinse the livers in cold water and remove any visible fat or connective tissue. Heat a heavy skillet over high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil begins to smoke, carefully add the livers and sear for about 30 seconds. Quickly turn the livers and sear for another 30 seconds. Add the thyme and cook for a few seconds until it is aromatic. Remove the pan from the heat and pour off the excess oil and fat. While the pan is still hot, add 2 tablespoons of the butter and 1/4 cup of the cognac, and deglaze the pan, stirring to loosen any brown bits sticking to the bottom. Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor, add the candied shallots, and let cool for 8 to 10 minutes.

Once the livers have cooled, add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter to the food processor and process to a thick puree. Add the salt and the remaining 1/4 cup cognac and process again. Taste and add more salt if needed. Pour the liver puree into ramekins or into a suitably sized loaf or pâté pan.

To make the cognac butter, place the butter in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cognac until it is hot to the touch. Add it to the butter along with the salt. Stir the butter until it has a liquid consistency and then pour it evenly over the pâté. Cover and refrigerate until the cognac butter has set. Serve cool or at room temperature with toast or bread or crackers.

[based closely on a recipe that appeared in Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread]

The second is another crazy-easy, crazy-tasty recipe, this time from our good friends at Joe Beef. The Art of Living According to Joe Beef states that, "This dish is best prepared in a cast-iron frying pan, served family style at the table," and they're right--the sight and the smell makes people go wild. Another wickedly good hors d'oeuvre!

fig. f: baked shrooms

Baked Mushrooms with New (or Old!) Garlic

16 large white mushrooms, stem ends trimmed
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
2 garlic flowers or garlic cloves (in season)
6 sprigs thyme

Preheat the oven to 450º F. Score each mushroom cap with shallow cuts about 1/8 inch deep. Spread the butter and oil in the bottom of a heavy ovenproof pan. Season the bottom of the pan with salt, pepper, and the paprika. Place the mushrooms, cap down and side by side, in the pan. Tuck the garlic flowers (if using) and thyme among them.

Bake the mushrooms for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the pan juices are bubbling and the mushrooms have shrunk and roasted. Serve bubbly.

[recipe from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan, and Meredith Erickson]

That spread got demolished! We had just enough beef burgundy for leftovers the next day, but otherwise those vineheads cleaned us out. But they paid us back in laughs, memories, outrageous behaviour, and all-around good times.

Hope you've enjoyed the holiday season this year. All the best in 2012!

aj

* If you're not from Québec, this is local parlance for the abysmal, insanely overpriced vins ordinaires that are available from our supermarkets and dépanneurs (corner stores), hence the name. Why the government, which otherwise holds a monopoly over the sale of alcohol (with the exception of beer, which, again, is largely available from the deps and supermarkets) in this province, should feel that the sale of sub-grade wine at every corner store and supermarket in Quebec is acceptable is another matter.

Our Own Private Vermont

fig. a: Michelle, Shelburne Farms

Our own private Vermont is an awfully nice place. It's made up of many of the sites we've visited over the last ten years, as well as many of the tastes we've tasted. It consists of numerous trips and countless memories. 2010 had its fair share, so when we tried to figure out what we'd be serving at this year's AEB holiday bash, we ended up settling on a Vermont theme. Which, of course, meant we had to pay yet another visit to the Green Mountain state to stock up on Green Mountain goodies. And although we made sure to hit a few old favorites--like Al's for lunch, Shelburne Farms for aged cheddar, and Dakin Farm for ham and bacon--we also got a chance to visit a few new places and further expand our Vermont.



figs. b & c: Jericho sunset, Jericho shadow

We arrived at Jericho Settlers Farm in Jericho Center just as the sun was setting, and consequently the light was as gold as it gets and the shadows were as long as can be.

fig. d: Settlers' farmstand

We'd read some great things about Jericho Settlers Farm's pastured meat, and especially their pastured heirloom pork. We'd also read that you could get their meat in Burlington, but we were curious to see what the farm looked. And with that sun setting, and fresh snow on the ground, it looked pretty heavenly.

There was no one around, but Jericho Settlers Farm has a farmstand that's open to the public 365 days a year, and it runs on the honor system (!).

fig. e: Settlers' birds

We stepped inside, took a look around,

fig. f: Settlers' freezer

and made some selections. We were pretty focused on their pork, beef, and chicken,

fig. g: Settlers' sweet carrots

but we were happy to see that they had some root vegetables for sale too, so we added some beautiful multicolored carrots and some fingerling potatoes to our bag and logged our purchases. We noticed that we were the first farmstand customers of the day, which is hardly surprising, I guess, because Jericho Settlers Farm operates primarily as a CSA.

fig. h: Jericho Center Country Store

Just down the road, in the very center of Jericho Center, we found the Jericho Center Country Store, one of the oldest continuously operating country stores in all of Vermont (since 1807!). The interior is a true treasure trove--it's filled to the rafters with antiques and memorabilia from its 203-year history--and in addition to all the usual country store staples, they also carry meat from Jericho Settlers Farm, in case the farmstand happens to be closed.

In the village square, directly across the street from the country store, Michelle noticed a historical marker that told the story of Wilson Alwyn "Snowflake" Bentley. I had no idea who she was talking about, so she filled me in (scientist, photographer, snowflake specialist) on the ride out of town.

fig. i: Moonlight on Vermont

A few minutes later, in Jericho (not to be confused with Jericho Center), we spotted an old red mill and decided to take a closer look.

fig. j: snow crystals by "Snowflake"

And inside the Old Red Mill (a.k.a., the Jericho Historical Society), not only did we find reproductions of the work of "Snowflake" Bentley for sale, but we also found a small museum display on his life and work. It included quite a number of Bentley's original photographs and slides of (what else?) snowflakes,

fig. k: 19th-century Op Art

but it also included this magnificent quilt made by old mother Bentley.

On the way back home to Montreal, we listened to some episodes of This American Life that we'd collected on our mp3 player. One of the segments was a story of fate, faith, and destiny, chance and coincidence, and much of the segment focused on events that occurred in and around the town of Snowflake, AZ--a town that had been founded by two men, one named Snow and the other named Flake. Apparently, still to this day, half the town is named Snow and half is named Flake. Presumably there are a few Snow-Flakes there too.

When we got back to our neighborhood, I dropped Michelle off at home and then set off again to find a parking spot. When I returned our dining room table looked like this:

fig. l: L is for loot

And a few days later we threw our Our Own Private Vermont party, featuring a smoked country ham from Vermont glazed with a mustard-maple syrup concoction, a selection of Vermont cheeses (Shelburne Farms' nutty, crumbly 2-year cheddar and Jasper Hill impossibly creamy Moses Sleeper and Bayley Hazen blue, Lazy Lady's lovely ashed Trillium, and Von Trapp Farmstead's [yes, those Von Trapps] washed-rind Oma), and some baked beans made all the more succulent with 100% pure maple syrup and a smoked ham hock from Jericho Settlers Farm. Completing the scene was a white birch.

Martha's Maple-Mustard Glazed Ham

1 whole (18-lb) bone-in, fully cooked, smoked ham, room temperature
1/2 cup champagne vinegar
1 cup 100% pure maple syrup
2/3 cup Dijon mustard
2 tbsp apricot jam
pinch of kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350º F. Line a roasting pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Rinse ham under cool running water. Pat dry and wrap with parchment paper-lined aluminum foil; place in prepared roasting pan. Transfer to oven for 4 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat vinegar over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 6 minutes. Add maple syrup, mustard, jam, and salt; season with pepper. Cook, whisking, until well combined, about 2 minutes. Set glaze aside.

Remove ham from oven and uncover. When cool enough to handle, cut off rind using a sharp knife. Slice off most of the fat, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick layer. Score fat on top of ham in a pattern of 1- to 2-inch diamonds.

Brush ham evenly with one-third of the glaze and return to oven. After 20 minutes, brush ham again with half the remaining glaze. Cook for 15 minutes and brush with remaining glaze. Continue baking ham until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of ham reaches 145 to 150 degrees, about 15 minutes more.

Transfer to a cutting board. Let ham cool 30 minutes before carving.

Serves a whole lot of people.

Note: We used half a ham (9 lbs) and adjusted the recipe accordingly. We fed 30+ guests.

[Martha Stewart ain't from Vermont, but she makes an awfully good maple-mustard glazed ham. This is pretty much exactly her recipe]

Jericho Settlers Farm, 22 Barber Farm Road, Jericho Center, VT, (802) 899-4000

Jericho Center Country Store, 25 Jericho Center Circle, Jericho Center, VT, (802) 899-3313

The Old Red Mill, Route 15, Jericho Village, VT, (802) 899-3225

If you're intrigued by the sound of Jericho Settlers Farm's pastured meat, but you can't make it out to Jericho Center, you can also find their meat at a massive health food store in South Burlington called Healthy Living (which lies in close proximity to Al's French Frys and South Burlington's Dakin Farm outlet, conveniently enough). They've got an outstanding meat counter with a wide range of organic, pastured, and artisanal meats on offer, and a talented butcher who offers workshops on everything from butchering to sausage-making.

Healthy Living, 222 Dorset St., South Burlington, VT, (802) 863-2569

For more on Jericho Settlers Farm's heirloom pork, as well as the state of sustainable, humanely raised pork production in America, please consult Edward Behr's in-depth report in The Art of Eating #84.

aj

The Mighty Bûche

fig. a: the look of xmas 2010

In case you didn't get the memo, it is that time of year again. Time to deck the halls with boughs of holly. Time to get lit on egg nog. Or if you're feeling especially adventurous, time to contemplate making your very own bûche de noël.

Now, here at AEB, we've been known to lean toward pastries that have a bit more of a Central and Eastern European inflection during the holidays, but there are exceptions. Plenty of them, actually. And most of them involve candied fruit in one way or another: there's panforte, panettone, and stollen, plum pudding, mincemeat tarts, and fruitcake. But one Christmas dessert that has never really been a big part of Michelle's repertoire is the traditionally French (and by extension, French-Canadian) bûche de noël, the yuletide log in pastry form. Michelle learned to make a professional-caliber bûche de noël in pastry school, of course--Quebec's pastry schools are nothing if not classical--but when she bakes Christmas goodies for our home, she dreams of sugar plums and crescent moons, wasps' nests and infant Jesuses.

All that said, when Ève Dumas of La Presse approached Michelle with an intriguing proposition--what if you were to re-imagine the bûche de noël to reflect your family roots--she couldn't pass it up. Suddenly the mighty bûche took on new relevance.*

In terms of appearance, Michelle modeled her bûche de noël after the beautiful white birches (les bouleaux) that are such an important part of our forests here in la Belle Province (and in the Northeast in general);

fig. b: white birch

and in terms of taste, she gave it a torte-like character that drew from her Central European heritage.

The result was a walnut cake with mocha filling, one that came liberally spritzed with rum and iced with a white meringue with beautiful brûlé accents. It looked like this:

fig. c: birch bûche 1

The recipe ran in La Presse at the end of November, but Michelle wasn't crazy about the accompanying photograph. The photographer chose a low angle, probably to highlight the cake's "tree rings," but in doing so he lost most of the cake's birch-like qualities.

fig. d: birch bûche 2

Which is why we decided to run the recipe again here, with new photographs.

Feeling inspired? Here's the recipe as it appeared in La Presse (with translation courtesy of Yours Truly):

Gâteau à rouler/cake roll (10 personnes)

Ingrédients

2 oeufs/eggs

3 jaunes d'oeufs/egg yolks

1/4 de tasse de sucre/cup of sugar

4 c. à soupe de farine/tbsp flour

4 c. à soupe de fécule de maïs/tbsp corn starch

1/2 t. de noix de Grenoble/cup walnuts

Préparation

Mélanger la farine, la fécule et les noix dans un robot culinaire pour faire une farine et réserver. Chauffer les oeufs, les jaunes et le sucre dans un bain-marie en brassant, jusqu'à ce que ce soit chaud. Fouetter jusqu'au ruban (lorsque le mélange tient sa forme en tombant) avec une mixette ou un batteur sur pied.

[Preheat oven to 350ºF. Blend the flour, starch, and walnuts in a food processor until powdered and well mixed, then set aside. Heat the eggs, the yolks, and the sugar in a double-boiler, stirring constantly, until the mixture is hot to the touch. Whip with a mixer or a standing mixer until the egg mixture "holds a ribbon."]

Ajouter les ingrédients secs avec une maryse en faisant attention de pas trop mélanger. On ne veut pas faire tomber l'appareil. Étendre sur une plaque à biscuits (18" x 13") couverte de papier parchemin ou d'un tapis en silicone.

[Add the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula taking care not to overmix so that lose volume. Spread on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or a Silpat™.]

Cuire de 8 à 10 minutes à 350°F, jusqu'à ce que le gâteau soit doré. Couvrir tout de suite avec un linge humide et laisser refroidir.

[Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until the cake is golden. Cover with a damp towel and let cool.]

Crème mocha/mocha cream

Ingrédients

1 t. de chocolat noir haché/cup of chopped dark chocolate

1/4 de tasse d'espresso chaud/cup hot espresso

1/2 c. à thé d'espresso en poudre (de type Nescafé)/teaspoon powdered espresso (such as Nescafé™)

1/3 de livre de beurre mou/pound softened butter

1/3 de tasse de sucre à glacer/cup icing sugar

2 jaunes d'oeufs/egg yolks

Préparation

Dans un bain-marie, faire fondre le chocolat avec le café et le café en poudre. Réserver à la température de la pièce.

[In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate with the espresso and the espresso powder. Set aside and keep at room temperature.]

Avec une mixette, battre le beurre et le sucre jusqu'à ce qu'il soit léger. Ajouter les jaunes et mélanger. Ajouter le chocolat fondu et mélanger encore jusqu'à ce que ce soit homogène.

[With a mixer, beat the butter and the sugar until they are fluffy. Add the yolks one at a time and mix. Add the melted chocolate mixture and mix some more until thoroughly combined.]

Glaçage meringue/meringue icing

Ingrédients

4 blancs d'oeufs/egg whites

1 t. de sucre/cup of sugar

Préparation

Faire chauffer les blancs et le sucre au bain-marie, en brassant.

[Heat the egg whites and the sugar in a double-boiler, mixing all the while.]

Fouetter jusqu'à formation de pics moyens.

[Place mixture in a mixer and whip until it forms medium peaks.

Assemblage/assembly

1 oz de rhum brun (ou plus!)/ounce dark rum (or more!)

Feuilles de laurier fraîches/fresh bay leaves

Canneberges fraîches/fresh cranberries

pine branches

Démouler le gâteau à l'envers sur un morceau de papier parchemin et enlever l'autre morceau de papier avec délicatesse. Couper les bordures pour faire des côtés droits. Badigeonner le gâteau avec le rhum brun.

[Unmold the cake onto a piece of parchment paper and remove the other piece of parchment paper carefully. Trim the edges to make right angles. Brush the cake with the dark rum.]

Étendre le glaçage chocolat avec une spatule coudée. Couvrir toute la surface.

[Cover the entire surface of the cake with the chocolate cream using an offset spatula.]

Lentement, commencer à rouler le gâteau dans le sens de la longueur. Le papier va vous aider.

[Slowly roll the cake lengthwise. The parchment paper should make this process easier.]

Couvrir la bûche avec la meringue. Pour obtenir l'effet bouleau, adopter un mouvement de côté à côté, et non en longueur.

[Cover the bûche with the meringue icing. To get the birch effect, use a side-to-side motion, instead of applying the icing lengthwise.]

Faire colorer la bûche avec le chalumeau. Commencer tranquillement, sinon ça va faire l'effet d'une bûche dans le foyer! Si vous n'avez pas de chalumeau, saupoudrer de la poudre de cacao (dans un tamis fin) au-dessus de la bûche pour créer une texture.

[Use a torch to give the bûche its brûlé highlights. Start gently, otherwise you might get a burnt log effect instead. If you don't own a torch, you can dust the surface with cacao powder instead to give it some texture and highlights.]

Disposer les feuilles de laurier autour, puis les canneberges.

[Garnish with bay leaves, cranberries, and pine branches according to desire.]

Servir la journée même. Sinon, faire le gâteau et le remplir la veille. Bien emballer et mettre au frigo. Finir avec la meringue le lendemain.

[Serve the cake on the day you make it. If you'd rather make it the day before, make the cake, fill it, and roll it, then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated. Ice the cake with the meringue and decorate it the next day.]

Makes one bûche, roughly 18" in length.

Now, once you've made your very own bouleau de noël/yuletide birch, the only thing left to do is to invite some folks over for the log-sawing ceremony. Make a batch of punch or some egg nog, some mulled wine or glögg, and send out invitations to friends and family.

Our AEB ceremony looked like this as things got underway.

fig. e: sawing log

What you can't see are the 20+ ravenous souls who were standing/sitting/crouching off-camera, just waiting for their own slice. Within an hour or two, there was nothing left of that 3-foot monster bûche but the branches.

aj

p.s. Thanks to all those who helped us burn through our log in record time!

p.s. No time? Holidays got you frazzled? Get your very own ever-so-stylishly deconstructed bûche from Pâtisserie Rhubarbe.

* For one thing, there was no reason it had to look so Smurfy.

Some Candy Talking, 2nd rev. ed.

fig. a: the set-up

If you couldn't attend last night's class on candying fruits and holiday baking led by Michelle and hosted by Natasha, Bernie, and Dépanneur Le Pick Up, and you're curious about what it looked like, well, the scene was something like this as Michelle launched into her introductory remarks.

fig. b: Michelle in effect

We're happy to report that attendance was 100%, in spite of the chaos and headaches that inevitably accompany the season's first real snowstorm. Plus, everyone showed up with their "A" game--they were eager, enthusiastic, and ready to roll up their sleeves and do some cookin'. The class was loose, fun, participatory, and it finished with the distribution of the night's booty, which included wedges of panforte, slices of stollen, cookies, and jars of candied fruit.

fig. c: who's that girl?

Michelle has posted quite a number of recipes, ideas, helpful hints, and other tidbits of information regarding the making and using of candied fruits here in the pages of AEB over the years. So, if you're interested in the topic, you weren't able to attend (space was extremely limited), and/or you're prepping for the holidays, you might want to check out the following links:

candying Meyer lemon peel

making fruitcake with exotic fruits

making homemade panettone

making panforte

making the world's most expensive marmalade

and last, but certainly not least, making quince paste

Finally, thanks to Natasha for organizing, to Bernie and the Dep for hosting, and especially to everyone who took part in the course. The idea is that Michelle's class was the kick-off to a cooking class series at Dépanneur Le Pick Up, so stay tuned to these two blogs for any and all information about upcoming events.

am/km

p.s. If you're interested in a somewhat less biased (and much more thoroughly photographed) account of Michelle's night of candied fruits, check out this link to the Gastronomeal blog. You won't be disappointed.

p.s. 2 Still hungry for more photographs? Check out the extensive coverage at Dépanneur Le Pick Up's blog!

Michelle! Live!! @ Le Pick Up!!!

From our friend Natasha at Popcorn Plays comes the following exciting (and flattering) announcement about a special guest appearance by Michelle (what can I say? the girl's unstoppable!) at Dépanneur Le Pick Up.  If you've ever wanted to take a class with Michelle, here's your chance:

Montreal readers — check this out!

Join us at the Dépanneur le Pick Up for an interactive evening with talented chef Michelle Marek, the head pastry chef at Montreal restaurant Laloux. Michelle also runs the mouthwatering food blog ...An Endless Banquet with her partner AJ Kinik.

On Monday, December 6, we will be exploring ways to incorporate candied fruits into unique winter desserts. The workshop will include a presentation and execution of:

Panforte with spices, chocolate + candied fruits

Stollen with marzipan + candied fruits

Crystallized fruits

Ginger cookies

The workshop will begin promptly at 7:30pm. Each participant will be making his or her own desserts to take home, with guidance and instruction from Michelle. Come early for hot cider! The registration fee is $30 and will cover all costs for the desserts presented. The Dep is located at 7032 Rue Waverly.

The Dep is a cozy, intimate space — please register soon as there are only 15 spots. Cash only, please. To register, email me at natasha DOT pickowicz AT gmail DOT com.

We think you’ll leave inspired and ready for the holidays!

Get it? Got it? Good.

Yes, that's right, that's a whole lot of value for 30 bucks, and it promises to be a whole lot of fun too, so make a reservation, and mark your calendars.

aj

Holiday High Jinks

Another year, another holiday special. Except that this one was a little extra-special. We weren't able to celebrate AEB's 5th anniversary in November when that momentous date passed on by, so our 5th annual holiday jam* doubled as our AEB 5th Anniversary Party.

Last year, our party's centerpiece was a ham twin-set--one Kentucky country ham served raw in thin slices, and one Virginia country ham that had been baked. This year we featured another country ham--this time from William Mulder's Fresh Meats of Fredericton, NB--but, frankly, the savory fare got overshadowed a bit by our first annual AEB gingerbread house.

I can honestly say that I had nothing to do with the gingerbread house, aside from a little consulting. The gingerbread house was the product of the Montreal Cake Club (M.C.C.), a local cell of cake-decorating extremists with reputed links to Laloux, the Preservation Society, and La Salle à manger. It didn't weigh 390 pounds, and it wasn't covered in white chocolate, but, like the 2009 White House Gingerbread House, it was modeled on an actual existing structure: the M.H. Merchant Stone House.

fig. a: M.H. Merchant Stone House

The finished product looked something like this,

fig. b: M.H. Merchant Gingerbread House 1

fig. c: M.H. Merchant Gingerbread House 2

and by the morning after, it was a little worse for wear (note the candied-almond "stones" missing from the walkway),

fig. d: M.H. Merchant Gingerbread House 3

but it was still pretty magical. In fact, if you took a close look and peered through the caramel "glass" windows, you'd swear there was someone inside taking advantage of the spacious two-story, 4 1/2-room interior.

fig. e: M.H. Merchant Gingerbread House 4

Anyway, the M.C.C.'s M.H. Merchant Gingerbread House was certainly an impressive sight, and it was 100% edible, but it wasn't really meant to be eaten (that didn't stop some of our guests from trying, though). Attending to the more immediate spiritual needs of our invited guests was the following vaguely Mad Men-inspired menu:

Coca-Cola- & Chipotle-Glazed Ham
Serious Mac & Cheese, Smothered w/ Cajun Gravy
Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
Cajun Deviled Eggs
Crudités
Crackers
Cucumber-Herb Dip
Baked Artichoke Dip
Clam Dip
Cheddar Cheese
Armadale Farm Cumin Gouda

Heineken
Punchbowl Old-Fashioneds
Martinican Rum Punch

Bourbon Chocolate Cookies
Vanilla Crescents
fresh clementines

We were dead-set on another baked ham. Ham has become something of a tradition at our holiday parties, and we'd managed to source a particularly good smoked ham in the Maritimes. Then we received our December issue of Saveur--"HAM FOR THE HOLIDAYS"--and it was as if the food gods (or at least the food press gods) were speaking directly to us (and about 600,000 others). Their cover story has plenty of great-looking ham-centric recipes, but the one that really caught our attention was the Pineapple-Chipotle-Glazed Ham (who knows, might have had something to do with the fact that that's the one featured on the cover). We'd always wanted to do a Coca-Cola ham, but this recipe's Coke, chipotle, and honey glaze sounded particularly tempting.

Coca-Cola- & Chipotle-Glazed Ham

1 15-lb whole smoked ham
8 fresh pineapple slices
whole cloves
2 3/4 cups Coca-Cola
1 rounded tbsp chipotle purée
1/3 cup honey

Put the ham into a large stockpot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 60 minutes.

Heat oven to 350º. Transfer the ham to a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Using toothpicks, secure the pineapple slices to the surface of the ham. Stud the ham with cloves to taste [Saveur recommends 64 cloves, but we like our ham a little less clove-y, so we went with about half that many]. Pour 2 cups of the Coca-Cola over the ham, then add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining Coca-Cola, the chipotle purée, and the honey in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the glaze has reduced and become syrupy, roughly 12-15 minutes. Uncover the ham and brush it with some of the glaze. Increase the heat of the oven to 500º. Bake the ham, brushing occasionally with the glaze, until it has become browned and glossy, about 15-20 minutes. [Make sure to watch the ham carefully, though. If it starts to brown too quickly, you may want to protect it with that loose foil covering again.] Let cool for 20 minutes before carving.

As for the mac & cheese. This recipe was quite literally the product of hearsay. As in, a couple of weeks ago, I was motoring along on the Trans-Canada, listening to a podcast of American Public Media's The Splendid Table, when I heard Jane & Michael Stern gushing about Rocky & Carlo's in Chalmette, Louisiana. The segment was about the famed hybridity of Louisiana's cuisines, and the ways in which the Italian-American idiom has coupled with Cajun, Creole, and Southern cuisine in all kinds of interesting ways there, but mostly it was about Rocky & Carlo's as a prime example of this culinary bricolage. There was a lot about the Sterns' spiel that had me ready to veer off my easterly course and make a beeline for Chalmette, but the thing that stuck with me the most was their positively ecstatic descriptions of Rocky & Carlo's macaroni & cheese. They came out and anointed Rocky & Carlo's mac & cheese their very favorite mac & cheese in all of America (!). They had plenty of good reasons for naming Rocky & Carlo's mac & cheese #1, but a big part of its considerable charm had to do with the fact that you could get it smothered with either a red sauce or a Cajun brown sauce. For a split second there, I seriously thought about putting the pedal to the metal over the border and across 8 eight states all the way to Chalmette to give that smothered mac & cheese a try, but then I came up with a Plan B: put the pedal to the metal all the way to my kitchen so that I could improvise a batch of Mac & Cheese Smothered w/ Cajun Brown Sauce myself.

The following is what I came up with. Does it bear any resemblance to Rocky & Carlo's? I have no idea, but mac & cheese has rarely tasted so good.

Smothered Mac & Cheese

Make your preferred macaroni & cheese recipe, keeping in mind that you're going to smother it with a zesty roux-based brown sauce momentarily, so you might want to keep things simple and straightforward, and you might want to avoid a béchamel sauce and go with a cheese and milk/cream sauce instead (the logic: béchamel + roux + macaroni = flour + flour + flour).

Got your macaroni & cheese in the oven? Perfect. Now it's time to make your brown sauce:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 celery stalk, diced
1/4 bell pepper (green or red), diced
2 tbsp mixed herbs (parsley, thyme, chives, etc.), finely minced
1 tbsp Cajun Magic (recipe follows)
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock (or 2 cups water, in a pinch) [we've been using vegetable stock and/or water, usually, meaning our smothered mac & cheese has been 100% vegetarian!]
salt & pepper to taste

Warm your stock in a separate saucepan.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large non-stick frying pan or a properly seasoned skillet. When the oil is hot, add the flour all at once and begin stirring constantly. Make a deep Cajun roux. When your roux has reached your desired depth (I recommend going with a cappuccino-colored roux here), add the onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the celery and bell pepper and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Add the herbs, stir, and add the Cajun Magic, sautéing for another minute. Add the stock in a slow stream, stirring constantly. Cook the gravy until it thickens, reaching your desired consistency. If it thickens too quickly and you want the flavors to meld a bit longer, add a bit more water or stock and cook it down some more over medium heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve your hot macaroni and cheese, smothering each helping with plenty of the brown sauce, and topping with a dash or two of Tabasco sauce, if you so desire.

Cajun Magic

1/4 Cup of salt
2 tbsp sweet paprika
2 tbsp cayenne pepper, espelette pepper, or hot paprika
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp white peppercorns
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Combine all the ingredients, and, using a mortar & pestle or an electric spice grinder, grind them together. The resultant spice blend should be lively and complex.

We knew we were making Martinican Rum Punch again this year--we've been rockin' that recipe for several years now, and it's a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. But this year we wanted to add a new drink to our arsenal of beverages. We thought about making Old-fashioneds to order, but then discovered this ingenious punchbowl version in the Esquire Party Book. Much, much easier to prepare, and our guests loved 'em. Maybe a little too much. They cleaned us out of the first batch in no seconds flat, and, the next thing we knew, a chant of "Make more punch! Make more punch!!" erupted throughout the apartment. You've been warned.

Punchbowl Old-fashioneds

8 lumps of sugar
2 tbsp bitters
1/3 cracked ice or 1 appropriately sized ice ring
1 quart bourbon or rye
16 slices of orange, lemon
16 cherries

Muddle the sugar, bitters, and ice together in a punch bowl. Add the bourbon or rye and stir well. Drink responsibly-ish.

How good were these Punchbowl Old-fashioneds? This good:

fig. f: Michelle loves Old-fashioneds

Thanks to all our guests for making our 5th anniversary bonanza such a blast and for participating so generously in our donations drive for Dans la rue.

fig. g: in the light of the miracle

Thanks to MS and CWI for packing pixels and helping us to document the festivities.

aj

* If you're particularly devoted to reading AEB and particularly good at math, you might be thinking: "seeing as you threw your first AEB holiday party just weeks after you started the blog, shouldn't this be your 6th holiday party?" And you'd be right. It should have been our 6th, but, if you must know, we skipped a year once.

Bringing it all back home

It's that time of year again.

fig. a: good cheer!

So you send out your invites,

fig. b: ole No. 301

and you settle on a centrepiece (real sugar-cured country ham*) and a theme (Southern).

Then you put together your menu:

Glazed and baked country ham (Turner Ham House, Fulks Run, VA)
Shaved country ham (Col. Newsom's ole No. 301)
Buttermilk biscuits
Shrimp & Oyster Gumbo
Vegetarian gumbo
Oysters Rockefeller
Pimento cheese
Artichoke dip
Deviled eggs
Poor man's caviar
Cheese straws
Pickled corn
Spiced nuts

Rum punch

Dark fruitcake
Light fruitcake
Ginger snaps

fig. c: Michelle's huîtres

Oysters figure prominently on the menu, so you find yourself two small cases of oysters (one 24-count, one 48-count), and you roll up your sleeves and begin shucking and cooking up a storm.

Baked Artichoke Dip

I cup mayonnaise
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 13 3/4-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400º F. Stir the mayonnaise, the Parmesan, and the onions together in a medium bowl. Pulse the artichokes in a food processor until finely chopped. Stir the artichokes into the cheese mixture and add the lemon juice and the black pepper and mix well.

Scrape the artichoke mixture into a small baking dish. Combine the breadcrumbs and the olive oil and sprinkled them overtop. Bake until the top is browned, about 20 minutes.

Serve with crackers or toast.

[recipe from The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking, by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer, and Ethan Becker]

Baked Country Ham

1 whole 15-pound country ham
10 bay leaves
2 tbsp mustard seeds
3 cups cider vinegar
24 whole cloves
1 cup dark brown sugar

special equipment: a large stock pot capable of holding the entire ham

Clean your country ham with a stiff brush under warm running water. Place the ham in your stockpot and fill it with just enough water to cover the ham (it's okay if the ham hock protrudes above the water). Let the ham soak for 24 hours, changing the water as often as possible, ideally a minimum of four times.

Change the water a final time and transfer the pot to your stovetop. Add the bay leaves, the mustard seeds, and the vinegar and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 3 hours (or until the internal temperature of the ham reaches 160º F), topping up, as necessary, with fresh water.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375º F.

Remove the ham from the stockpot and turn off the heat. When the ham is cool enough to handle, shave off the skin (but not that beautiful layer of fat characteristic of a country ham) with a sharp knife. Score the fat and exposed flesh in a diagonal pattern, stud it with a single clove in the center of each scored diamond, and pat in thoroughly on all sides with the brown sugar.

Place the ham in a roasting pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the fat has crisped and the sugar has melted into a lovely glaze. Let the ham rest on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and carve.

Serve with buttermilk biscuits and plenty of fixings (mustard, pickled corn, etc.).

[adapted ever so slightly from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook]

Southern Odyssey Mix

Preheat stereo to 450º F.

In a computer or MP-3 playing device of your choosing, mix together about 200 of your favorite Southern hits, especially all those having to do with Southern food and Southern drink (like Elvis Presley's "Crawfish," Dusty Springfield's "Willie & Laura Mae Jones," Bob Wills' "Roly Poly," Betty Davis' "They Say I'm Different," Memphis Minnie's "Good Biscuits," Hank Williams, Sr.'s "Jambalaya," Ann Peebles' "99 Pounds," Koko Taylor's "Wang Dang Doodle," Ted Hawkins' "There Stands the Glass," and so on). Mix well.

Place in stereo and bake for 6-7 hours, or until guests are fully loaded.

& c.

Invite 40-50 of your closest friends, and ask them to bring their own bottle to augment the festivities, as well as a canned food donation for a worthy charity (in this case, Dans la rue).

fig. d: Hello, Abner!

If you're lucky, your guests might arrive bearing gifts, like Abner Bauman's summer sausage from rural Ontario,

fig. e: C's candies

or C's gorgeous assortment of homemade/handmade candies (including my two favorites: Aunt Bill's Brown Candy and Neapolitan Strips).

If you're really lucky, you might just have enough baked ham left over to make some AEB ham & cheese sandwiches, the sandwich Michelle promptly declared "the best sandwich I've ever eaten!"

fig. f: AEB ham & cheese

AEB Ham & Cheese Sandwich

fresh Portuguese rolls
leftover baked ham
red onion, sliced into rounds
thinly sliced cheddar cheese
mayonnaise
strong mustard (preferably Vve Tierenteyn-Verlen brand)
pickled corn

Compose and devour. Repeat as needed.

She ain't kidding. That Turner country ham's robust, gamy flavor plus that powerful, horseradish-y mustard, the pickled corn, and the bit of raw onion, makes for a ham & cheese sandwich that'll get up and talk to you.

fig. g: how 'bout them apples?

And if you're especially lucky your generous guests will bring you enough canned goods to fill two large boxes, because as great as it is to participate in an event like Menu for Hope 5, it's important to try attending to the situation at home too.

Happy holidays! Eat well! Be well!

aj

ps--TY to all our generous guests!

* Which, in spite of what non-believers will try to tell you, if they're prepared according to time-honored Southern tradition (like both of our hams were), are 100% sodium nitrate- and nitrite-FREE.