POPCORN ON THE COB

Brown Butter Popcorn

I swing by the farmer's market at least once a week to see what's going on. I usually walk away with a bag of medjool dates, which are between burnt caramel and sticky pudding, and whatever else strikes my seasonal fancy. This week, it was dried corn on the cob. I always ignore these little guys, as they appear to have little to no utility. They scream "Fall Display" at a gourmet market, or as part of a centerpiece at Thanksgiving. But, I saw a sign hand written below them: "Put in a paper bag and microwave for popcorn." Popcorn on the cob? Oh hell yes. But what to put on it? Plain butter and salt is the perfect partner, so how do I improve on it?After some contemplation I came to my conclusion: you can't. In terms of savory applications, everything I could think of (bacon maple kettle corn? truffle oil and smoked sea salt? rosemary and olive oil?) intrigued me, but seemed to miss the point. Popcorn is the point. It's slightly sweet and toasted, and best not extravagantly adorned. So, I slightly tweaked the classic with a little brown butter. Enjoy!

Brown Butter Popcorn

Dried Corn (on cobs or loose)

Salted butter

Sea Salt or Kosher Salt (something flaked for texture)

If using the dried corn cobs, stick several cobs in a paper lunch bag, and fold over the edge at least 3 times. Stick in the microwave and nuke for 1 minute and 20 seconds. That's what worked for my popcorn, but every microwave is different, so perhaps try one cob at that time and see what results you get. You will not get every kernal, so don't over cook it and end up with burnt popcorn. If using loose kernals, pop in an air popper or in a lightly oiled covered pot on the stove at medium-high heat. Place the popcorn into a large bowl (you want a little room for coating).

Now for the brown butter. My ratio of butter to popcorn is about 2 tablespoons butter to 3-4 cups plain popcorn. You can do whatever you like. Pop the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until foamy with the milk solids browned. My trick is once the butter starts foaming, I lift the sauce pan away from the heat and swill it around. This deflates the foam and lets me get a good look at the milk solids. You want a nutty, warm brown, like the color of waffles. Pour the butter over the popcorn, and then sprinkle with salt. Toss the popcorn to coat. Then put the sauce pan into the bowl, pushing the popcorn in to coat with residual butter. Taste and adjust. Enjoy!

NOT LAME FRUITCAKE

Must I start with a cliche? "Not your grandmother's fruit cake..." "Fruitcake always gets a bad wrap..." "Why is history like a fruit cake? Because it is full of dates!" Everyone knows fruitcake sucks, though I'm sure exceptions exist. It's the oddest combination of dry pastry followed by a deluge of raw alcohol. Candied fruit leeches sugar out which preserves the brick-like cakes ad infinitum. It reminds me of codliver oil and limburger cheese, dated inside jokes from generations ago, preserved only in merry melodies. My experience with fruitcake has been through its philosophical opposite: Carol Beitcher's California Fruit and Nut Cake. From what I've deduced (her recipe is a well guarded secret, and rightly so, it's awesome) there's no liquor, no candy, just fruit and nuts held together by a skin of cake. Its simplicity rests wholly on the quality of ingredients used. The trick to a successful cake is ripe and succulent fresh fruit (figs and dates in mine) and high quality tried fruit and nuts from purveyors you trust. For an especially dense (in a good way) texture, I steep the dried fruit for a short amount of time, to let them plump up and get a little juicy. It creates a rich, sticky, and tender yet solid cake that slices beautifully and is the perfect companion with butter for breakfast, or with some honey and chevre on a cheese platter. They are best after a few days sitting in plastic wrap, and can last for weeks in the fridge. They, like their derivative, make for beautiful gifts that will no doubt frighten and dismay the recipient, until they take a bite of course. Enjoy!

Note: You can substitute whatever dried fruit and nuts you like. I use this combination because of the balance of sweet (apricots, dates) and tart (cherries, raisins). You can also add orange zest to the batter for a more pronounced orange flavor.

NOT LAME FRUITCAKE

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar

3 cups halved walnuts

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup flame raisins

1 cup medjool dates, pitted and halved

1 cup figs, tops removed and halved or quartered (this late in the season, I find that brown turkeys are best)

1/2 cup dried mediterranean apricots (or whatever's sweetest), halved

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Steeping Liquid:

2 cups orange juice

1/4 cup muscat or dessert wine

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease the loaf pans (2 large or 4 small) and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Heat up the steeping liquid until warm and pour over the dried fruit. Steep the fruit until plumped, but not jammy, about 30 minutes. If you over steep you'll lose the flavor of the dried fruit. Toast the walnuts in the oven for 10 minutes, or until slightly fragrant. Allow them to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and stir in the brown sugar, walnuts, and fruit. I found it easiest to mix with a large spoon, digging from the bottom of the bowl, to coat everything.

Whisk the eggs and vanilla until pale and frothy, usually about 5 minutes. Add the egg mixture and combine until all the fruit and nut pieces are coated with the batter. Pockets of the dried ingredients pop up, so combine thoroughly. Spread into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.

Bake for about an hour in the center of the oven, or until the cake is golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When cool, lift the loaf from the pan. To store, cover with plastic wrap and wait for a day or two to eat, to let the flavors meld. Cut into small slices with a sharp knife.

A HEAVY STOCKING THIS YEAR...

This Christmas a theme developed in my family's gift giving: sandwiches of knowledge wedged between two hardback covers. Fourteen to be exact, half antique and half contemporary. This was my brother's first year of actual gift giving, as for the first fifteen years of his life he got away with adding his name to the card and getting off scott free otherwise. Not so, this year. This year he had to think up a gift, and then have my dad or myself chauffeur him to procure said gift. So, he and my dad jetted off to Janet Jarvis's Cook Book Store in Pasadena, to hunt down antique cook books they thought I'd enjoy. Bullseye. My weakness had been discovered and thoroughly exploited. Hats off, Henry, on your first round of gift giving! These cookbooks are just too fabulous and I can't wait to read through all of them. Check them out below and enjoy!

The vintage books...

90% of his reason for buying this book was the inscription to the previous owner...

"It's a good thing that Thanksgiving turkey was already dead, cause the way you carved (?) it was really murder!"

HA! Awesome. I just love the pluck on Sandy for leaving that note in pen for all of posterity to enjoy. At least she had the decency to conceal the "murderer's" name.

Illustrations too!

My friend Carly got me these adorable pamphlets. I LOVE the house wife enjoying her new Osterizer.

Recipes from the 17th and 18th century. Looks like I'll be brushing up on my Dutch Oven skills.

This long-winded love letter to whiskey and the martini, America's greatest endowment to mankind, is utterly charming.

"California is more than a state-it's a way of life." Apparently salad has always been the lynch pin of our lifestyle, changed only by a slow evolution from cream cheese and buttermilk and egg yolks in our dressing to simpler vinaigrettes.

The ultimate dad gift. Now all I have to do is find some bear...

I love these pretend newspaper cut outs with wifely tips. My favorite idea: wrap a brick in decorative paper for an inexpensive book end!

The new stuff...
Sisters whose California style has gained favor with celebs like Jennifer Aniston, The Family Chef is a collection of their favorite recipes.
This famed bakery from NYC produces vegan and gluten free desserts. I can't wait to wrap my head around the science of it.

I bought my brother a tortilla press for Christmas, so I can't wait to bust out a few recipes from the master, Rick Bayless.

My boyfriend got me a fascinating exploration of the world of oysters. A Geography of Oysters is a lovely blend of geography, biology, history, and philosophy, and a necessary read for any blossoming ostreaphile.

The perfect blend of information and wit, A Hedonist in the Cellar examines the world of wine through the essays of Jay McInerney.

And then there's Momofuku, Japanese for lucky peach. Everything about this book appeals to me. Unapologetic recipes, candid writing, and intimate photography. The book is worth buying for the pork belly and slow poached egg recipes alone.

KITCHY TV

On todays episode of Kitchy TV, I make snowglobes out of Kerr Jars. Fun, easy, and wonderful gifts, these snowglobes are a great holiday activity. Merry Christmas, everybody!

Homemade Snowglobes from Claire Thomas on Vimeo.

AND THE WINNER IS......

In the wake of Thanksgiving, I put on a Holiday Left Over Challenge for a fabulous KitchenAide Mixer furnished by the lovely people at Sam's Club, and "insert bugle call here" the winner is going to be announced. Right. This. Second. Right......pause for dramatic effect......Now.

But first, let me just say how awesome every recipe submitted was. I made and ate all of them, and was floored by the level of creativity and deliciousness. Thank you for sharing your recipes with me, I thoroughly enjoyed them! And now for the winner:

It's Kelly Artz and her delicious Thanksgiving Wontons with Cranberry Dipping sauce! I love that her recipe is not only unrecognizable as a left over meal, but it also utilizes three ingredients from the holiday table: turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It's easy to put together and perfect for next day appetizers. The cranberry sauce acts as the perfect counterpoint to the fatty crunch of the wontons, and the scallions add a bite of spice. I even tried mixing a little sriracha to the wonton filling for extra heat. Fantastic job, Kelly!

Below, I also included the runners-up: Mandy from Gourmet Mom on the Go's South Western take on leftovers, and Andrew Hyatt's Left Over Hash. Both were absolutely delicious, and a great way to enjoy the remnants of Holiday gluttony. They will be receiving a Kitchy Kitchen Holiday package filled with tons of goodies. Thank you again for all of your submissions, I had the best time eating and cooking my way through them. Happy Holidays!

From Kelly Artz

Thanksgiving Wontons with Cranberry Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1 package wonton wrappers

½ to 1 teaspoon leftover turkey and stuffing

½ teaspoon cranberry sauce

¼ teaspoon scallions

½ cup oil

Pinch of salt

Directions:

To start, moisten the edges of the wonton wrapper with your fingers. Lay the wrapper on a flat surface and fill it with the turkey, stuffing, cranberry, scallions and a touch of salt. I used between a ½ and 1 teaspoon of the turkey and stuffing, depending on how much you can fit. Then form the wonton square into a crescent moon shape by pushing together the moistened ends in order to make it stick.

Heat about a ½ cup of oil in a large saucepan until 375 degrees. Carefully set 4 or 5 wontons in the oil. Fry for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. Take out and set them on a paper towel to take some of the oil off.

In a separate small saucepan, heat up some leftover cranberry sauce until hot. This is your dipping sauce for the wontons. Enjoy!

From Mandy Heaton of Gourmet Mom on the Go

We always have a ton of leftover Mashed potatoes-they’re inexpensive to make and I always go crazy so we always have leftovers. Our family loves Southwest Food and it seems like a completely different meal even though I’m using turkey and mashed potatoes. Here's my original creation to use up those potatoes and turkey:

Southwest Turkey and Potato Cakes

Makes 8
Ingredients:
2 C. leftover Mashed Potatoes
2 C. leftover Turkey, cubed
1 C. Panko Bread Crumbs
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning
1 C. Salsa, your favorite kind
½ C. Black Beans, rinsed and Drained
½ C. Cut corn, fresh or canned
2 T. Canola Oil
Light Sour cream, for garnish

Directions:
Mix Mashed potatoes and taco seasoning until well combined. Heat 1 T. Canola oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Scoop out ¼ C. mashed potato mixture and shape into a patty. Roll in panko crumbs. Repeat with remaining potatoes. Cook in skillet until browned on each side, about 2 minutes each side (add the other Tablespoon oil if needed). Remove from skillet and set on cookie rack.

While potato cakes are cooking, mix turkey, salsa, beans and corn in a medium bowl.
Put a heaping spoonful of turkey mixture over each potato cake, top with a dallop of light sour cream, and serve immediately.

Happy Cooking!


From Andrew Hyatt

Morning After Turkey Hash

*This is great the next morning because it tastes nothing like Thanksgiving dinner, at yet still uses up the leftovers (or at least some). And it's easy! Make enough for two or invite people over for a brunch of Hash and Mimosas

Ingredients:
Mashed potatoes-3/4c per person (ours had garlic and sour cream in them. If you're potatoes don't have that, I'd recommend sauteing some garlic before adding the potatoes)
Cut up turkey
Hot Sauce (I used Tapatio)
Eggs-1 per person

1. Heat up about a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan. Once completely melted, spoon in enough mashed potatoes for each person
2. Fry until mashed potatoes begin to brown and get crispy, turning over to brown as much of the potatoes as possible. It's the crunchy fried parts that give this dish flavor!
3. Add turkey and cook a few more minutes until heated through. Season with hot sauce and salt/pepper to taste
4. When the turkey is added to the potatoes, poach eggs in boiling water and cook for about 2 min.
5. Plate Turkey Hash and place poached egg on top. Sprinkle salt/pepper on egg

Enjoy!