I’ve been making mulled wine for years. It’s one of my favorite cold weather drinks. Mine is a spiced warm version of Sangria. It’s aromatherapy and relaxation in a mug. Sensual and comforting, it’s the queen of all warm boozy drinks.
I’ve spent year’s preparing this delectable delight, tweaking the recipe a little here and a little there. This year I added something totally new…cardamom. That was it, the magic ingredient that perfected my mulled wine.
I also discovered Rex-Goliath wines, I’ve been digging their cab but this new one caught my eye. The Free Range Red is perfect for mulling. It’s fruity and smooth which definitely contributed to the greatness of my mulled wine. If you’d like the recipe hop on over to Pig of the Month, it’s simple and perfect for entertaining.
Have you ever tried cutting a up a butternut squash? They aren’t the easiest to peel and chop, especially if they are quite large. When I saw that my regular grocery store had some that was peeled and cubed, ready to use, I was over the moon.
There wasn’t a price listing anywhere, but I didn’t expect them to be much. After all squash is still one of the great cheaper foods. We all know what happens when we assume… My cute little package rung up at almost $5.00. At this point, there was no going back for me as I already had visions of roasted butternut in my head without any of the labor.
I have to confess that it was ridiculously easy to just open up a container and put the squash on a roasting pan. My problem is, I’m often not satisfied with too easy. How much better would they be with some onion and those last few sorry looking apples I have? Since I planned on serving them with lamb, I threw a little rosemary in there. Rosemary and lamb are practically married, they are so perfect for each other.
Don’t you love it the day you come home from shopping and your refrigerator is full of beautiful and fresh food? I wanted to take some of that freshness and add it to my dish. I decided to put a little twist on a traditional gremolata. Gremolata is a parsley based sauce that is usually served with veal, in particular Osso Bucco (one of my favorite dishes). I brought that rosemary into the gremolata turning it into the perfect sauce for some simply fried lamb chops.
The roasted butternut squash and apple puree was a rich creamy side with a hint of sweetness and an undertone of rosemary. The gremolata was a refreshing burst of flavor that compliment both the hearty chop and creamy puree.
We had an insane amount of puree left, with the addition of some broth and some cream, viola instant butternut squash and apple bisque. The butternuts squash and apple puree is loosely based off of a Martha Stewart recipe with the main difference of mine being roasted. Personally I love the way roasting the veg adds depth of flavor.
In the future I probably won’t be purchasing already prepared squash, the cost just isn’t worth the convenience. If you’d like to know how to peel, seed and cube a butternut squash, Food52 has a nice short how to video, you view it here.
It’s also Black and White Wednesday which is hosted by Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook. It’s a weekly culinary photo event, if you are interested in participating you can see the rules here. I selected my apples for the B/W photo…they were to ugly for color!
1 large butternut squash (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 apples (about two pounds total), peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch cubes
Couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Olive oil for drizzling
4 tablespoons butter, softened
Preheat Oven to 400°F. Spread squash, apples and onions in a single layer onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and add rosemary. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes or so for even roasting.
When done, discard rosemary sprigs and let cool slightly. Transfer squash mixture to a food processor. Add butter; process until smooth. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed; serve. (If serving later, gently reheat in a medium saucepan over low.)
Original Source: Martha Stewart
Lamb Chops with Rosemary Gremolata
Gremolata
1 bunch Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, coarsely chopped
1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed and stem discarded
3 cloves garlic, peeled & coarsely chopped
1 shallot, peeled & coarsely chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Place lemon zest, juice and remaining ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until well blended but not liquefied. If doing my hand, finely mince the ingredients and mix, or prepare in a mortar and pestle. The gremolata can be made up to 6 hours in advance.
Chops
3 or 4 lamb chops (depending on cut and size)
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 sprig rosemary
Salt and pepper
Preheat a skillet over medium high heat. Generously salt and pepper the lamb chops. Add the oil to the hot pan followed by the lamb chops and rosemary. Cook the chops until desired doneness, we like ours medium rare, it took about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Turn off the heat and finish with the butter. Let rest prior to serving.
This last weekend McGyver was cleaning out the garage, strange but true. As he dug through boxes, he pulled out mementos, memories, good stuff, old stuff and a lot of stuff we don’t need. I wandered in, on Sunday afternoon, to find things sorted and the beginnings of what could actually be a usable garage. McGyver pulled out old photos and some old school albums, we talked and reminisced. Then out of a box of books that had been long forgotten (probably because of the amount of books we have and the number of moves), McGyver brings out a well worn and tattered book. The spine broken, the edges frayed and the pages yellowed.
He opened this book of Best Loved Poems of the American, Garden City Publishing Co. 1927. In the index, next to certain poems were stars, presumably favorites like Casey at Bat and Paul Revere’s Ride. McGyver opened the book and started reading me poetry. Yup, right there in our garage. It just doesn’t get more romantic for a biker guy than reading poetry to his best biker chick in the garage.
He read me several random poems and then he read to me, Miss Foggerty’s Cake. I was hooting and laughing and snickering as he read the poem, I knew that I had to share it. It’s a perfect Christmas foodie poem. When I got ready to put poem to post, I decided to do a little research on-line. I discovered that the poem is also a Christmas song, the spelling is a little different and the word’s are slightly changed but still very entertaining. I also found (no surprise) it on YouTube.
MISS FOGARTY’S CHRISTMAS CAKE
Irish Christmas Song
As I sat at my window last evening,
The letterman brought unto me;
A little gilt-edged invitation,
Sayin’, “Gilhooley come over to tea.”
Sure, I knew that the Fogartys sent it,
So I went just for old friendship’s sake;
And the first thing they give me to tackle,
Was a slice of Miss Fogarty’s cake.
Now, there was plums and prunes and cherries,
There was citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too;
There was nutmeg, cloves and berries,
And a crust that was nailed on with glue.
There were caraway seeds in abundance,
Sure t’would build up a fine stomach ache;
It would kill a man twice after ‘atin’ a slice,
Of Miss Fogarty’s Christmas cake.
Miss Mulligan wanted to taste it,
But really there wasn’t no use;
They worked at it over an hour,
And they couldn’t get none of it loose.
Till Kelly come in with a hatchet,
And Murphy come in with a saw;
That cake was enough be the powers,
To paralyze any man’s jaw.
Now, there was plums and prunes and cherries,
There was citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too;
There was nutmeg, cloves and berries,
And a crust that was nailed on with glue.
There were caraway seeds in abundance,
Sure t’would build up a fine stomach ache;
It would kill a man twice after ‘atin’ a slice,
Of Miss Fogarty’s Christmas cake.
Miss Fogarty, proud as a peacock,
Kept smiling and blinking away;
Till she fell over Flanagan’s brogans,
And she spilt the homebrew in her tea.
“Oh, Gilhooley,” she cried, “you’re not eatin’,
Try a little bit more for my sake.”
“No thanks, Missus Fogarty,” says I,
But I’d like the resate* for that cake.”
Now, there was plums and prunes and cherries,
There was citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too;
There was nutmeg, cloves and berries,
And a crust that was nailed on with glue.
There were caraway seeds in abundance,
Sure t’would build up a fine stomach ache;
It would kill a man twice after ‘atin’ a slice,
Of Miss Fogarty’s Christmas cake.
Maloney was took with the colic,
McNulty complained of his head;
McFadden lay down on the sofa,
And he swore that he wished he was dead.
Miss Daly fell down in hysterics,
And there she did wriggle and shake;
While every man swore he was poisoned,
Through eating Miss Fogarty’s cake.
Now, there was plums and prunes and cherries,
There was citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too;
There was nutmeg, cloves and berries,
And a crust that was nailed on with glue.
There were caraway seeds in abundance,
Sure t’would build up a fine stomach ache;
It would kill a man twice after ‘atin’ a slice,
Of Miss Fogarty’s Christmas cake.
Stanley A. Ransom, had this information to share from Voices, the Journal of New York Folklore, Volume 33, Fall-Winter 2007.
“Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake” has become part of the folklore of Christmas. It has also entered the realm of folklore in a number of other ways. Edith Fowke listed it in Canadian Journal for Traditional Music in 1979 as “an old favorite.” It appears in the Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry, with the author listed as “anonymous.” It is often reprinted. The Family Herald and Weekly Star, a Montreal publication, printed it numerous times between 1913 and 1959. The title shows some variation, with Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra recording it as a music hall song called “Miss Hooligan’s Christmas Cake.” Digital Tradition, the database of folk songs at Mudcat Café (www.mudcat. org), includes the song and a thread in which contributors discuss the song. One contributor notes that in 1939, the song was performed by Leon Ponce in the album California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties, a field recording collected in 1938-40 by Sidney Robertson Cowell as a WPA project.” (Source)
If Miss Fogarty’s cake isn’t enough to kill someone, I found an iPhone app that does. Yes, another fruitcake killer, evidently you can toss fruitcake to kill your opponents. Someone had a sense of humor when they made this one up. However, it does have a 5-star rating, you can find it here if you are interested (I have personally not tried it).
Last week I post Day 7 of our journey, with sad faces we left Barcelona, Spain and stayed overnight in Arles, France. It was the first day on our journey home. Today is Day 8 and we make our way through France and into Italy. If you are just now joining our journey, you can catch on our prep days here and here, and days one, two and three, four, five, part 1 of day six, part 2 of day 6, and day 7 by following the links.
Day 8 July 1, 2008
After a good nights rest, McGyver was up at 8:00 am. We would have been packed and ready to if that honeymoon thing didn’t keep delaying us. After our petite dejeuner which was not so petit, we were ready to hit the road. We wanted to go to Nice, France and get some T-Shirts.
We started off on the road in nice weather, but it got cooler and cooler. we pulled off and put on our jackets. After we headed further down the road, maybe five minutes, it had obviously rained heavy and the road was very wet. So we pulled over to put on our chaps, unfortunately the exit did not lead back to the autoroute so we went back down the exit the wrong way. This is not recommended for the inexperienced!
No more than 10 minutes further down the road we headed into some of the blackest clouds. Once again we decided to pull over, this time to put on our rain gear. When you only have a couple of duds to wear and no plans to wash for the next four or five days, you need to keep them dry.
Getting a good start this morning was like riding herd on a couple of snails! Again , not more than 10 minutes down the road the rain began. It rained so hard that cars pulled off to the side and hazards went on. I have to give McGyver credit. even though visibility was limited and the rain stung like needles, he pressed on going 50-60 MPH.
Fortunately the storm didn’t last long and at the next rest stop we shed all our outer gear, gassed up and were dry and on our way. In Nice, we stopped at the information bureau. We got great directions to the Harley Dealership.
We arrived at the Harley Davidson Factory shop about – 1:15. They were closed from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. So we went to the bar/brasserie across the street for a beer and a ham baguette. We reviewed the map, filled our tummies and quenched our thirst.
This was a historic place in Nice, Bonaparte had stayed there from May to December, it made it an unexpected pleasure. We took our pictures in front of the shop then went in and dug through the shirts to find our size. Evidently we weren’t the only ones that had stopped. After purchasing our shirts we headed off to Monaco. The Côtes d’Azur was a beautiful ride.
There was a storm starting to brew and we were hot then cold, hot then cold… As we drove the N7 the rain held out but it became very windy through the passes. One would have thought we were driving through Wyoming with the force of winds we were experiencing. By 5:00 pm we were exhausted from the traffic, mountains and weather and decided to stop before reaching Milan.
About 6:30 pm we headed off the highway (Autostrada) and ended up at at nice 4 star hotel in Marengo near Alessandria. We got our room, unpacked the bike and showered off the road grime. We hit the bar about 7:15 pm waiting for the Ristoranté to open at 7:30 pm. We were a bit underdressed for the restaurant but oh well. dinner was exquisite, definitely the most high class *meal I’ve ever had, but what the heck, it’ sour honeymoon. amazingly enough the hotel cost about the same as the 3 star in Arles.
After dinner we hit the bar (it seems to be a continuing theme) for a quick drink. We need to get a good nights rest before our ride up through the Alps to Oetz for our next overnight.
*Additional notes: I was keeping my journal years before I got into writing about food, however I was so impressed with our meal that on the very last page of our book I wrote down a few things.
We started with an Antipasti with truffle oil, it comprised of artichoke hearts, green and black olives, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, pearl onions and peppers.
For our main courses we had duck breast with anise and clear gravy, rabbit roulade with truffle and fennel wrapped around pork tenderloin, German fried ravioli, garlic aioli and krauter butter.
This was also the first time I experienced a “wine waiter”, a special waiter rolled a cart to our table with our wine selection and some glasses. He inspected each glass to ensure they were perfect. When one of them did not meet his approval he put aside and selected and inspected another. I was enthralled with the whole ritual.
You could tell by our menu that we were getting closer to Austria, it was amazing how beautiful the Italian and German foods blended together.
Isn’t it amazinghow small the chickens are getting these days. Who thought of ‘Toy’ chickens? Whoever did, they’re a genius. Tiny chicken legs are the perfect messy finger food. Kidding…about the ‘Toy’ chickens, not about the little ‘legs’ being the perfect messy finger food.
These little legs are the easier to eat, meatier part of the chicken wing. The nice thing about the little leg, better known as the drummette, it that they are perfect shaped to be easy to hold, provide a few small bites and you only have one bone to dispose of.
Drummettes are relatively inexpensive, they cost a little more than whole chicken wings. However. if you head over to your frozen foods section you’ll see that you can buy large bags of frozen drummettes for about the same price as fresh whole wings, and you save yourself a little work. The other nice thing about drummettes are their consistent size which makes them a lot easier to cook.
I simply fried the drummettes and covered them in a sweet chili sauce/orange marmalade sauce. Like may tiny foods, they just don’t seem to last long. One little drummette leads to another and before you know it, you have a bowlful of bones and no drummettes left.
Drummettes: Wash and dry the drummettes. Generously salt and pepper chicken. In a large frying pan, heat oil over medium, add the garlic and cook for a few minutes to infuse the oil, remove the garlic cloves to prevent burning. Add chicken to the pan and fry 20 to 25 minutes and drain on a paper towel. If you need to cook in batches, keep drummettes warm in the oven.
Sauce: In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and sesame oil, cook stirring frequently for 1 minute. Add chili sauce, marmalade and soy sauce. Cook sauce until the marmalade dissolves and the sauce becomes homogenous. Keep warm until ready to serve.
When drummettes are done, toss with a little sauce and serve the extra sauce on the side.
