Maggie's Farm

In reference to our Scientific Survey about coffee containers, a reader sends this:

Victor Coffee Mugs made by the Victor Insulation Company.

These mugs originally were made without handles for use on Navy ships, so outside lookouts could wrap their hand around one to warm up and drink coffee, too.  Also, they are hard to knock over or break.

The real ones are commonly available on Ebay (see:  9 Victor Coffee Mugs Heavy Thick Diner Restaurant Vitrified Stoneware Original) and worth every penny.  We use them exclusively.

We learned how to make it right from Jewish friends. Mrs. BD has had the bug that's going around - stiff neck, headache, muscle cramps, general weakness, so I made a batch for her. No, it's not meningitis.

Quick and easy. I lightly sautee a pile of chopped onions, celery, and garlic in some olive oil and butter. I chop a few carrots, skin on. Throw them in the big crock pot. I lightly brown a few chicken legs and thighs, and throw them in, and cover with water. I toss in a bunch of herbs - bay leaf, thyme, a little rosemary, maybe tarragon, and a large pile of chopped parsley. Lots of salt and pepper.

I put the crock thing on high for 5 or 6 hours. It can't go wrong, and it is good medicine for whatever ails ya.

 Pic shows a pretty cup from our everyday set, a regular logo mug, a demitasse cup from my Grandpa's set which we are using for espresso now, a good old Dunkin medium styrofoam cup, and a coffee cup aka teacup.

Mrs. BD assures me that "coffee cups" like the Cuthbertson Christmas cup in my photo are actually teacups. I do not like to drink coffee from those things, because it's too delicate and precious, does not hold enough, and gets cold too fast.

What sort of thing do you like to drink your coffee or tea from?

Cooked up a big batch of superb Beef Stew (my opinion) for the family crowd yesterday, to be served today for birthdays. A stew always benefits from a day's rest.  I do it the Frenchie way with the cheapest cuts of meat, lardons, lots of pearl onions, porcini mushrooms, Cotes de Rhone - all the best stuff. My concoction is also good for the unwanted cuts of venison.

I slow cook it, low heat, for 6 or 7 hours, let it rest for 24 hrs, and serve on egg noodles, Italian or otherwise.

However, I somehow stumbled on recipes for liver 'n onions. I love calves liver and onions, with a side of mashed taters. (Me like chicken liver too, but that's another story.) The trick to tasty calves liver is the same as for foie gras - crispy on the outside and pink on the inside. That means high heat, quick cooking. I like liver in chunks, not slabs.

Readers know that we do not meander around this incredible museum colossus at random (which works fine if you are stoned and have all day but that ain't us anymore), but we only go for one show or one area. One hour only, or a little more, or you get the deadly brain affliction known here as "museum-brain."

Having accumulated a manageable dose of education and culcha, a nice lunch and a glass or two of wine nearby is perfect. Mrs. BD suggests the following for affordable cheap amazing prix-fixe lunches - make reservations) Decent dress code not a bad idea for these, ie dresses and jacket and tie.

Our long-time favorite: Giovanni Vento Cinque. Cozy, cuisine not entirely predictable but always good. My favorite? The calves liver with balsamic. That's Italian.

Caravaggio. Jacket and tie required. Wonderful and elegant but not stuffy.

Jean Georges - just across the park. Mind-blowing.

If you can handle two venues in one day, stroll down to the intimate Neue Gallery and have a perfectly authentic Viennese lunch in their parlor. I have been in Vienna, and this is Vienna.

For in-laws, kids, and their significant others

Roast Boneless Leg of Lamb to 120 degrees (F) - rare - au jus of course
Steamed haricot verts with olive oil
Steamed spinach with garlic and olive oil
Mashed Oregon Gold taters
I forgot to get the beets at the store - I have never gone to the market without forgetting something
Green salad of baby spinach, baby kale, and arugula, with goat cheese

Hard crusty bread

Prosecca, Mt. Etna Rosso, Martinelli's

Christmas cookies and espresso from my Christmas machine

The Art of the Bûche de Noël

Great to make, but easier to buy one at your baker

Best Macaroni and Cheese

The best side with any juicy, fatty, succulent meat

5-Minute Peanut Butter Frozen Fudge

We changed our Christmas Day menu. Our neighborhood butcher is making us a crown roast of pork with 18 chops - and each chop 2 inches thick. I'll stuff the roasts with sausage-apple stuffing, and we'll make some applesauce. Few winter foods are more succulent and delicious.

We want it easy but good. We're thinking something like this:

Eggnog and/or Champagne, and Martinelli's of course for the teetotalers, then wine
A spiral-cut full-size Harrington's Country Ham big enough for 20, with some cool sauces and mustards for it
Corn Pudding
Scalloped potatoes with bacon
Asparagus
Biscuits
A green salad
Misc. Christmas cookies for dessert - bring homemade ones with you

We do church Christmas Eve, not Christmas morning as I did as a lad. We forbid gifts with extended family so we omit that silliness - except gifts of homemade cookies. In fact, we are not too big on gifts in general anymore. Instead, we'll have Mrs. BD on ye olde Steinway playing Christmas songs for us all to sing off-key, and some group games. We often play the "Who am I?" game.

At night, the kids go off to the movies with friends.

What's your plan?

it's a good opportunity to catch up on the local news. In Maine.

I see this morning that, during the night, Mrs. BD & Co. produced three punkin pies (from fresh pumpkins and homemade crust) and two pecan pies. Nice. My job this morning? Making stuffing (cornbread with sausage, onion and celery) and grilling the turkeys. Then the friendly Indians will arrive bearing their goodies after their annual TG 10 K race. I say they are nuts but they all blame me for introducing them to the running habit which I did, years ago. I quit that when my 3rd kid was born. It did not feel right to disappear for two hours every weekend morning with three little kids around.

Basting is a waste of time, the stuff just runs off the skin. With my frightening horse-sized hypodermic needle, I am injecting cider into the birds this year. Breasts, legs, wings, and under the skin. Once in the beginning, again when half-done. They are not Butterball, just plain fresh turkeys. One is 20 lbs and one is 26 lbs. That's a big turkey. Good leftovers for all. On the grill, I have plain charcoal and I am keeping some oak and apple logs burning and smoking on top of the charcoal. Nice smelling smoke wafting around for a country mile, as light snow falls. That's Yankeeland Thanksgiving. And the Indian Pudding is in the oven.

For a dumb reason, I did brine one of them for 24 hrs. in a ton of herbs and spices and wine, etc. but it really is not worth the trouble. Just inject them with liquids - sherry, white wine, cider, brandy, beer, or anything. You can add herbs, melted butter, whatever. It's a man's job, cooking meat and game. And mashing the taters with cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and heavy cream. Taste while doing to make sure you added enough pepper and to keep your strength up.

The Thanksgiving Recipes Googled in Every State - Which foods are unusually popular in each state on Thanksgiving.

It's wonderful to see how regionally-diverse this big nation of America remains, but I would not touch some of that stuff. I mean, Snickers Salad for Thanksgiving? Sheesh! Nothing against Snickers but oh, well, it's all good as long as we are grateful. I don't want to be a food snob, but, gee whiz, there are some limits!

Pic is my standard Yankeeland cooking. I use half the sugar, twice the berries. My mother in law always makes raw cranberry and orange relish - deliciously tangy and different from this.

It looks like we're down to only 20-25 (not counting rug rats) of friends and family for Thanksgiving this year at the Maggie's Farm HQ. Some of my sibs are doing TG at their new vacation house on Cape Cod, appropriately-enough.

The way we do it is like the Indians did: everybody brings part of the feast. We rent a few round or long tables with chairs to put in the parlor, light up a couple of fireplaces, decorate things a little, and warm up the grill.

Best holiday of the year - no presents, just festive get-together. No TV allowed, generally-speaking.

Our home team is, as usual, providing 2 turkeys, stuffing, gravy, wine and beer, green salad, and Mrs. BD's pumpkin pies and Indian Pudding. Oh, and  whipped cream. Soup is just too much trouble. Guests are bringing apple pies and ice cream, grilled brussel sprouts, pickled beets, sweet potatoes, mashed taters, mashed rutabaga, roasted parsnips, cranberry relish, champagne and Martinelli's, and hors d'oevres. 

Low-carb, fat-free, vegan, and gluten free of course!

It can be simple or complex. Here's simple.

Classic way to serve it is with spaetzle, a dollop of sour cream on top,  and a side of sliced cucumber and onion marinated in vinegar.

I post enough recipes that I like, and that I like to make. It's your turn for the most American of foods.

What are your favorite Apple Pie recipes? Got any tips?

A pal of mine likes to sprinkle sugar over the top crust partway through the baking. He uses supermarket crusts, but it works very well.

(I actually like Tarte Tatin better, but have trouble caramelizing the bottom - which becomes the top.)

Our Maggie's Farm chef, in photo, will test each one of them for us.

It's the peak of apple season in Yankeeland, and the best use for apples is Apple Pie and Tarte Tatin, which is sort of a semi-burned upside-down apple pie. Other than just eating one off the tree.

The Tarte Tatin was supposedly invented by mistake. I have tried to make them many times, but I can never get the hard crispy caramelization on the apples that I seek: I just get a browned upside-down apple pie - a gooey mush that sticks to the pan and makes for a mess of a presentation (but tastes good anyway).

Hard apples - not cooking apples, high heat and an iron skillet seem to be important. Some people seem to have no trouble getting it right, but I never do.

Here's a recipe. If you can make it right, it ain't too terribly bad with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream on the side.

My chef friend advises making them with a basic Flan Pastry, aka Chef's Pastry. Chef claims that once you've had a good Tarte Tatin, you'll never go back to apple pie with its overdose of pastry.

Cooked up a large casserole pan of this simple squash recipe last weekend. Everybody ate it all up.

Next time, I'll grate more Parmesan for it.

Remember that the 1917 Delmonico's menu was cents, not dollars (a 1917 nickel approx = today's dollar) I'd like a time machine to go there today. What NYC Restaurant Menus Looked Like 100 Years Ago Vs. Today

I'd have the oysters, the soft-shell crabs, and the squab (I love squab).

Delmonico's  (Since 1837) is still in business, on Beaver St.

Complain to me if this is not the best and simplest chicken you have ever had:

Have the butcher de-bone Cornish Hens - aka Spring Chicken, aka Poussin, aka a small chicken (1 per person, or maybe 1/2 per person).

Marinate in bottled Italian dressing for around 5 hours or overnight. Try to squash them flat in the marinade. Then squash the boned birds to spread out flat on a charcoal and/or wood fire, season with salt and pepper, several minutes per side, until the skin is crispy.

Never overcook a bird - they dry out. Chicken needs a little pink in the middle of the breast. If you want, you can brush some more vinaigrette on it while grilling.

Serve on a bed of mashed taters with garlic spinach on the side.

De-boning a bird takes practice, but butchers are quick, generally no extra charge. You can do this with a large chicken, but it won't be as good.

My chef friend/advisor says that one should never cook any bird without marinating first, unless it's in a stew.

We saw this on cafe menus frequently in Sicily, but never tried it (too many other interesting and unusual things to try).

Nutella Pizza. A cool snack. (Link fixed)

- Boiled new potato with mint

Hardly needs a recipe. Salt and pepper, and chopped mint mixed in with a little olive oil. A Med. classic

- Roasted Brussel Sprouts