PULSE
L AWRENCE J OURNAL -W ORLD
Ren Fest
twice the size purely out of aesthetics and demand. “The 10-ounce kind of looks like a chicken leg, so we CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10B thought we’d just grow and make it bigger.” sticks, each weighing 18 to 22 Taylor orders the jumbo ounces. legs by the truckload, going “It’s a conversation through up to 90,000 pounds piece,” Taylor says of the of them in a single 16-day legs, which have grown season. In fact, she goes to from their start as regular great lengths to make sure 10-ounce drumsticks to ones they never run out, even
on the festival’s three-day weekends for Labor Day and Columbus Day. “I have a 53-foot trailer full of turkey legs sitting here on this site at all times,” Taylor says. “And it holds 22 pallets. So, we’re never out. But it does take time to cook them.” It’s hard to duplicate that 22-ounce drumstick at home, but we did find a few recipes
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
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that mimic the flavors of Kansas City’s favorite merry treat. That way, when the festival closes its doors Oct. 16, you can dress up in tights, pour a pint of beer and pretend to be having dinner before the day’s last jousting match. “Huzzah.” — Staff writer Sarah Henning can be reached at 832-7187.
RENAISSANCE-STYLE RECIPES BEEF STEAK STEW 2 New York strip steaks, cut into chunks Olive oil Flour, seasoned with salt and pepper 1 cup chopped onion 1 1/2 cups dark beer (or beef stock) 3 tablespoons tomato paste 1 teaspoon thyme 1 teaspoon oregano 1 1/2 cups dried morels (or other dried wild mushrooms) 8 ounces medium-size brown mushrooms, ends trimmed 8 ounces medium-size white mushrooms, ends trimmed Salt and pepper
Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium flame. Film the bottom with olive oil. Toss meat in seasoned flour. Brown the meat in the hot oil, a few pieces at a time (do not crowd the pan or the meat will simmer instead of brown). As pieces are browned, transfer them to a heavy pot. If necessary, add a bit more oil to the skillet with each batch. When all the meat is browned, add a bit more oil to skillet and add the chopped onions. Cook, stirring often, until they begin to soften. Transfer onions to the pot with meat. Stir beer, tomato paste, thyme and oregano into the skillet. Bring to simmer, stirring to scrape up any bits on the bottom. Pour beer mixture into pot with meat and onions. Bring to simmer, lower heat, cover and cook very slowly.
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Start by making dough. I wanted to make a lot of pretzels (they freeze pretty well) so I made a big amount of dough. That means I had to mix it in the KitchenAid in two batches.
PRETZEL MIX 2 packages rapid-rise yeast 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup molasses 2 teaspoons salt 6 cups bread flour (I recommend King Arthur, blue label) 2 cups warm water 2 tablespoons olive oil
Put all the ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer and combine on low speed. Then remove half of the dough and set aside in a bowl coated with cooking spray. Put the dough hook on the mixer and mix on low for about five minutes to “knead.” The dough will be very stretchy. This is a good thing.
As stew begins to cook, pour 1 cup boiling water over dried mushrooms. Let stand until mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. Strain the mushroom liquid through cheesecloth or a thick layer of paper towels into a bowl. Remove soaked mushrooms from the cheesecloth, rinse them and add them to the stew. Now stir the strained liquid and both kinds of fresh mushrooms into stew. (Don’t worry if it seems as if there’s not enough liquid; the mushrooms will throw off additional liquid as they cook.) Return stew to very slow simmer, partially cover it, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until meat is very tender and stew is thickened, 1-2 hours. (Alternatively, stew may be cooked in 300-degree oven.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Although the stew will be rich and flavorful at this point, it will be incredible if you make it a day ahead and reheat before serving. — Recipe by Terese Allen or www.organicvalley.coop.
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground 1/2 teaspoon coriander (optional) 1/2 stick butter, melted
Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Beat egg white with water until frothy. Add nuts and stir to coat each nut with egg white. Combine remaining ingredients. Add one-half of the nuts and stir to coat. Add the remaining nuts and stir making sure all the nuts are coated with the sugar and spice mixture. Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for one hour, stirring every 20 minutes until nuts are dry. Remove nuts from oven and immediately drizzle the nuts with the melted butter. Gently tossing and turning nuts to coat completely with butter — this will give the nuts a nice, glossy appearance. Store in an airtight container — makes 2 1/2 cups. — Recipe from www.chsugar. com.
APPLE DUMPLINGS WITH APRICOT SAUCE
1 egg white 1 teaspoon water 1 1/4 cups almonds, whole blanched 1 1/4 cups pecan halves 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
1 cup dried apricots 1 1/2 cups water 1/4 cup sugar 6 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored Pastry for 2-crust 9-inch pie Apricot Sauce 1 cup water and reserved apricot syrup 2 teaspoons cornstarch 3 tablespoons sugar
Remove the dough and set aside. Replace it with the other half of the dough, repeat. Make sure both dough balls are in a well-oiled bowl and have been turned so that there is oil on all surfaces of the dough. In order to get my dough to rise quickly, I heated an oven to 200 degrees and then turned it off before I put the dough in. Then I covered the bowls with Saran Wrap and then a dishtowel, and popped them both in the warm oven to rise. This is the best part. You wait an hour. In that hour, you have cocktails with your friends and practice your Sally O’Malley kicking and stretching. After that hour, you punch the dough down and wait another 20 minutes or so for it to rise again. Once the dough has been sufficiently waited upon, you can take it out and make your pretzels. This is actually pretty fun, too. Divide your dough into pieces that are approximately 2 ounces apiece. It should make about 24 small pieces. Meanwhile, start about 6 cups of water to a low boil and
shake in about 4 tablespoons of baking soda. Roll the dough into strips about a foot and a half long, and then twist them into shapes. I prefer the traditional pretzel shape, wherein you pull the ends up in a horseshoe shape, twist them around one another once and then fold back down to the bottom of the horseshoe. Prepare a baking sheet. I used Silpats, but parchment paper will also work. Also, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Depending on the size of your water pan (we used a large saute pan with high sides), put three or four pretzels in at a time, 30 seconds on each side. Then remove them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain for just a minute before moving to the baking sheet. Sprinkle liberally with salt — of course pretzel salt is best, but in its absence, kosher will do the job. Bake for about 12 minutes or until they’re a deep golden brown. This is much easier than it might seem! I served mine with a little jalapeno cheese sauce that really, you’d punch your grandma for the last bite of.
SWEET AND SPICY NUTS
1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon butter
In small saucepan, combine apricots and water; simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Add sugar and simmer 10 to 15 minutes longer or until apricots are tender. Drain, reserving syrup for apricot sauce. Cool apricots. Chop apricots and stuff into centers of apples. Roll pastry and cut to make six 7-inch squares, rerolling and using scraps if necessary. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Stand one apple on each square, so filling is upright. Bring up corners of pastry to center of apple; moisten edges with water and carefully pinch and seal all seams. Roll back top corners slightly to expose filling. Prick pastry of apple dumplings several times with fork to vent steam. Place dumplings in shallow baking dish. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until apples are tender and pastry is golden. Meanwhile, prepare Apricot Sauce. Serve warm with Apricot Sauce. Apricot sauce: Add water to reserved apricot syrup to measure 1 cup. In small saucepan, blend cornstarch and sugar; add syrup mixture. Cook over medium heat until thickened and clear. Stir in lemon juice and butter. Makes about 1 cup. — Recipe from the Washington State Apple Commission www. bestapples.com.
HEART ATTACK CHEESE 2 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons flour 2 cups of milk, maybe more Salt and pepper to taste 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 blocks of colby jack cheese, shredded 3 jalapenos, seeded and minced
Melt the butter in a large saucepan and then whisk in the flour. Slowly start adding milk until you have a sauce that is thick enough for a dip (not runny like soup). Then add the cheese, spices and jalapenos, and cook over low heat until everything is melted. Add more milk if the cheese makes the dip too thick. Remember, it has to cling to a pretzel, so thick is a good thing. Even the crankiest football curmudgeon cannot help but crack a smile at the sight of a piping hot pretzel and some heart attack cheese. And he might even compliment you on your 38-year-old high kicks. — Read more Flying Fork at Lawrence.com.
Austrian wine becomes hip in America By Fred Tasker McClatchy Newspapers
Austrian wines have had their ups and downs. Grapes were planted there in 500 B.C. by Celtish invaders, destroyed in A.D. 300 by barbarian hordes who didn’t appreciate a good glass of wine and restored in 700 by Charlemagne, who did. Then, in 1985, production dropped by 80 percent after a scandal in which a few winemakers illegally sweetened their wares with an illegal additive. Today, happy to say, Austrian wines are hip. In with the “in” crowd. The country’s signature wine, gruner veltliner, is so popular with young U.S. sophisticates who love it but can’t pronounce it that one company has put out a brand simply called “Grooner.” Wine shop owners and restaurant sommeliers “hand sell” it to customers ready to try something new. The Pfaffl family is riding the wave. In 1978 Roman and Adelheid Pfaffl took over a farm near Vienna with just two acres of grapes. By the
time they handed it over to their children, Roman Jr., Heidemarie and Elisabeth, the winery owned 124 acres of grapes. Roman Jr., now the winemaker, is a bit surprised that his family’s wines have become hip with U.S. trendsetters. “We’re working on it,” he says. “I can’t say we’re really widespread yet because so many Americans haven’t heard of our wines.” Gruner veltliner is similar in flavor and heft to sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio. Pfaffl’s lighter version, called “Austrian Pepper” because of a distinct hint of black pepper in the aftertaste, goes well with raw oysters, other shellfish and light fish dishes. Its fullest version, the single-vineyard “Hundsleiten” Gruner Veltliner, is full-bodied and creamy, a nice match for spicy, fruity cuisine or Asian dishes. Hundsleiten is like a fine Burgundy-style chardonnay in that, unlike most white wines, it responds well to aging for up to 10 years, Pfaffl says. He says he drank a 1990
vintage recently and found it was slightly darkened from oxidation but still creamy, even honeyed in consistency, with flavors of tropical fruits. Austria’s red wines are even less-known than its whites. The Pfaffl family makes St. Laurent, a darkercolored relative of pinot noir, with aromas and flavors of smoke, blueberries and black tea. And it makes Zweigelt, a red grape created in 1922 when wine prof Fritz Zweigelt crossed a St. Laurent vine with the darker, more tannic blaufrankisch grape. Full-bodied and intensely fruity, it’s Austria’s most popular red.
Highly recommended ! 2010 Pfaffl Gruner Veltliner ‘Hundsleiten’ DAC Reserve Single-Vineyard, Weinviertel, Austria: flowery, spicy aroma, sweet-tart flavors of pineapples and green apples, crisp and creamy, long finish; $31. !" 2010 Pfaffl St. Laurent ‘Altenberg’ Single Vineyard, Weinviertel, Austria: aromas
and flavors of smoke, blueberries and milk chocolate, full-bodied, smooth, zingy with acid, long finish; $44.
Recommended !" 2010 Pfaff Austrian ‘Cherry’ Zweigelt, (The Dot), Lower Austria: Pale, transparent red color, fresh tart-cherry flavors, spicy, peppery, very dry; $14. !" 2010 Pfaffl Austrian ‘Pepper’ (The Dot) Gruner Veltliner, Lower Austria: pale, light-bodied, lush but very dry, with flavors of minerals, citrus and black pepper, spicy finish; $14. !" 2010 Pfaff ‘Haidviertel’ Gruner Veltliner Weinviertel DAC Single-Vineyard, Austria: medium-body, rich, sweet, intensely fruity, citrus and pepper; $22.
Matthew Mead/AP Photo
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, Sea Salted Butter France, Black Truffle butter, top, Butter of Parma Italy, bottom, Vermont Cultured butter, Buerre d’Isigny France, top right, and Brookford Farm Uncultured butter in Concord, N.H.
Artisan food movement spreads to butter By Michelle Locke For The Associated Press
Remember when butter came in two varieties — salted and not? Food writer and blogger Leitha Matz can, which makes it all the more surprising when she contemplates the herd of butter choices now crowding grocery shelves. “There’s cultured butter, there are artisanal butters. You can get butter that is more yellow in the spring and summer than it is in the autumn and winter because you can actually see the transition of what the animal is eating. “ In fact, Matz, who tastetested a raft of butters for her blog, Miss Ginsu.com, found herself “astounded at the sheer breadth and variety of butter that was available.” Spread the news: Butter is getting better in the United States. “There’s definitely been a kind of whirlwind with butter,” says Andrew Knowlton, restaurant and drinks editor at Bon Appetit magazine. Like bacon, butter has traveled an interesting path. A hand-crafted product 50 or so years ago, it descended into a mass-produced, taste-shackled commodity only to be resurrected in recent years as interest in good, hand-crafted food has grown. First the bread at restaurants improved, then chefs, who were listing the names of farm suppliers on their menus, got serious about butter. These days, there are wildly popular butters produced by outfits like Straus Family Creamery on the West Coast and the Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery on the East. There are even “cult” butters, like the handmade product from a small dairy called Animal Farm in Orwell, (naturally) Vt., which is a supplier to celebrated chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se and The French Laundry restaurants. And for those with a taste for the exotic, there’s the butter made in Brittany that is flecked with algae. “When you go to the gro-
cery store now, it’s not just the local dairy and the big brand. You’ve got seven or eight to choose from, including imported butters. We kind of caught up to the Europeans,” says Knowlton. How does butter fit in with that other big food trend — eating healthy? Quite well, says Knowlton. “It goes within my definition of eating healthy, which is you eat less when there’s flavorful food on the plate and you don’t if you’re using fake cheese or low-cal whatever,” he says. “I think anything where people are thinking and talking about what they’re putting in their mouths is part of a healthy diet.” Allison Hooper, cofounder of the Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, agrees. “If you eat butter that has tons of flavor, you really don’t need to eat a lot,” she says. Her creamery started making cultured butter about 13 years ago, patterning it on French butters. In a cultured butter, raw cream is pasteurized (a requirement in the United States), then selected strains of bacteria are added to create the required flavor profile. Butter made from pasteurized fresh cream is called sweet cream butter. The butter is available salted or unsalted, or, a very popular product, seeded with sea salt crystals. Mixing things into butter, or making what are known as compound butters, is another development that has become more common. In the October issue, Bon Appetit features a classic herblemon zest butter that can double as an instant sauce. The nice thing about butter is you can indulge in a little luxury without incurring the kind of financial outlay that will cut through your budget like, well, you know. “It’s not truffles or foie gras or some crazy Himalayan salt,” says Knowlton. “It’s a cheap luxury.”
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