Maggie's Farm

That was Tiny Tim on Christmas Day. We got into a chat today at brunch with a Brit friend about Christmas Pudding. 

Whether you like it or not (it's like Fruitcake), it is a necessary Brit tradition.

How to make it is below (recipe and video). Ideally served with flaming brandy, then something creamy on top.  Funny thing about Christmas Pudding is that you can make it months in advance.

Even a year or two in advance. Just put it on a shelf. Even mice won't bother it.

1 lb. Dried Porcini

Things with truffles 

Turkey Hash is pretty good, and so is turkey soup (for which I am boiling a stock from one of the carcasses right now with water, onions, garlic, celery, parsley, herbs, etc - we fight over the carcasses and bones like jackals), but the main reason people in my family cook so many turkeys at Thanksgivings is for the sandwiches for a few days after.

Here's how I make them:

White bread
Smear of mayo on one slice of bread
Smear of cold congealed turkey gravy on the other slice
Slice or two of left-over turkey, white or dark meat (I like the dark)
Generous spoonful of my cranberry sauce
Generous spoonful of turkey stuffing
Salt and pepper

Squoosh the sides of bread together, and cut in half with a sharp knife. Then eat with a glass of beer. Delicious.

Then take a little nap.

How I make turkey stock:

Throw into a large stock pot a whole or chopped turkey carcass, leg bones, wings, etc. Not a bad idea to break the bones with a cleaver and/or to roast the carcass first so some of the bones brown. Cover with water. Take a bunch of celery, carrots, onions and garlic. Chop very roughly with skins on - do not peel - and sautee in butter or cooking oil until browned. (The skins add color and flavor) Then toss them into the pot. Add some cut-up raw potatoes, skins on. Throw in some salt, whole peppercorns. Then parsley, thyme, a little sage and marjoram. A little sugar. A bottle of white wine in there is optional.  Simmer for 5-8 hours, adding water as needed. Then strain. That's a tasty turkey stock. It's man-cooking.

It's the time of year when I stock up on bags of Cranberries and throw them in the freezer.

The canned cranberry "sauce" pictured is garbage. It's just congealed sweetened cranberry juice.

The recipe on the Ocean Spray bags is pretty good, but I cut the sugar they recommend in half. It's nothing but water, fresh or frozen berries, and sugar.

Better yet for Thanksgiving, game, and even chicken, is Cranberry-Orange Relish. Raw berries and an orange. Thanks to the mother-in-law for introducing me to this tangy thing years ago.

A great food, the Cranberry. I love to put them in pancakes (the combination of the sweetness of the maple syrup and the tartness of the cranberries is perfect).

Here's our old post on Cranberry Season and the Heart.

Funny thing about Cranberries: not many animals or birds like to eat them. Maybe bears? I've seen Box Turtles take a bite out of one, but I've never seen anything else eat them. I love Cranberries, as long as they aren't cooked too sweet. Here's a tiny Massachusetts Cranberry bog, flooded for harvest:

 Here's how it's done on a larger scale:

Britain is, rightly, not known for their cuisine. It's no wonder they prefer Indian cuisine. However, is there anything better than Roast Beast with Yorkshire Pudding?

A Brit classic: Cheese and Pickle Sandwich.

 This sandwich must feature thick, almost steaklike slices of aged cheddar. Cheddar cutlets, if you will. The aging adds tangy sharpness and a more crumbly rather than creamy texture. Then, a thick layer of Branston pickle, made from sweet gherkins, cauliflower, carrots, onions and rutabaga in a thick, sweet sauce which tastes somewhat like ketchup. We definitely don’t have an equivalent stateside, but plenty of supermarkets stock the most ubiquitous British foods — malt vinegar, Cadbury’s chocolate, tea biscuits and the like — and Branston pickle can often be found. Try the Indian store as a last resort, no joke.  

Refrigerator Pickles

Easy, and ready in two days. 

It's one of my favorite fishes. I happen to have plenty of favorite fishes though. Halibut has been overfished in the North Atlantic, like Cod and most other things. Atlantic vs Pacific Halibut.

This old photo of a handliner is from our favorite seafood cookbook, Howard Mitcham's The Provincetown Seafood Cookbook.   As is typical of P'town, lots of Portuguese recipes.

 "It's a true classic, one of the most influential of my life." --Anthony Bourdain, from the new introduction

Choose a fish:

Pan seared Cod
Grilled Swordfish
Sesame Pan Seared Tuna
Grilled Salmon
Scallop Skewers

Then choose your sauce:

Lemon Beurre Blanc
Sweet and Spicy Plum
Lobster Aioli
Jerk Pineapple Salsa
Lime Cilantro Dill Crema 

Viruses hate rhubarb. Do not scoff. Did you ever hear of a rhubarb with a + test? That's scientific proof. 

Damn is it good, with some vanilla ice cream on top. So good, it adjusts the brain to a positive outlook. Trust me.

Useful detail: 6 cups of roughly-chopped (1" or less) rhubarb stems = 2 lbs. 

Bruce and his team like this: This Protein-Packed Stew Is the Comfort Food Recipe You Need Now

It's not exactly Moroccan, but I can tell you from experience that Moroccan stews are amazing. 

This recipe is good enough, but don't mix the beans with the rice.  Make lots more of the beans, and dump them on top of the rice. The beans are the food, the rice is the vehicle. 

I think I lived on this in college, and I still like it. Beans from the cans, as we always recommend. If anybody wants to spend the time to soak dried beans, God bless ya. That ain't me.

Plenty of salt, and hot sauce of your choice on the side, of course.  Salad on the side if you like that stuff, but I think salad causes cancer, and maybe corona too. A Conona beer, on the other had, goes well with this supper.

Mrs. BD and her dad ventured out today to the real Italian market a few towns away. Everybody there speaks Italian or Sicilian, including most of the customers. Place smells amazing from all of the cheese and salumi and pickled vegetables. And, next door, is an Italian pastry shop. All of it, the best food on this planet. 

We tend towards the Italian on religious holidays. Mrs. BD is 50%; her dad is as Irish as can be. However, trust me, Italian blood beats celtic or anglo-saxon every time. 

She needed candied citron for Easter Pie (Wheat Pie). Naturally, they brought home a bunch of arancini for lunch. They were the size of baseballs. I've never seen them that big in Sicily. Also, baccala for tonight. Hard as wood.

For today, baccala to keep with her family tradition. For Easter dinner, a Nice Legga Lamb. That's the Irish part. Just 4 of us, sad to say. Distancing, for what it's worth. I miss the whole BD family but I miss church a lot too. It doesn't feel right. I love our congregation, my brethren.

I get the impression that people are making home-cooked meals during this so-called quarantine.  This weekend, I made this: Marcella's beef braised in red wine.  Not bad at all, an Italian pot roast I guess. 

My photo is before the 3 hrs of cooking. 

Are y'all cooking at home more now? 

6 Fun Facts About Maple Syrup (and Sugar, too)

Seems like the middle-eastern version of Huevos Rancheros. 

Huevos Heartburn for me.

Bruce and his kids love this: Shakshuka recipe 

Readers know that I am not a pasta fan, but a little Bolognese as a primi - if it's really good - is ok. Just not too much.

Bolognese is a northern Italian meat sauce. Marinara is southern Italian tomato sauce. Spaghetti and meatballs is an American thing, marinara with meatballs.

Bolognese is not a meat sauce really - it's a meat-flavored sauce. Mrs. BD made a double recipe yesterday for friends tonite. Always better the next day.  

The only recipe we endorse is Marcella Hazan's.  The bit of nutmeg, and the milk, make it perfect.

Remember the rule: Toss the almost fully-cooked pasta in the hot saucepan with the sauce. Don't dump sauce on top of pasta. Some parmesan shavings on top is nice, and maybe a little parsley. Almost any sort of pasta works.