Nick Malgieri's Amaretti

These are the cookies served with our chocolate fondue in December.

One 8-oz.can almond paste (do not use almond paste from tube---too much sugar)
3/4 C. sugar
2 large egg whites, beaten just to break up
1/4 lb. pine nuts (optional)---I didn't use them.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Cut almond paste into 1/2 inch cubes and toss into bowl of mixer fitted with paddle attachment or use hand-held mixer. Add half the sugar and mix on low speed until the paste is broken into small crumbs. Add the rest of sugar and mix until the crumbs are very fine, about 2 minutes. Add egg whites in 3 to 4 additions, scraping down the bowl when mixture starts to stick to the bottom and beating until the batter is free of lumps. You don't want to beat a lot of air into this mixture, because it will cause the amaretti to rise in the oven and then fall--what you want is a nice, even puff that persists.

Pipe cookies in mounds on the lined baking sheets with a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4 inch plain tip. Each cookies should be about 1-1/4 inch in diameter and about 1/2inch high. Leave about 1-1/2 inches between cookies. Alternatively you can use a small scoop to form the cookies, using about 1 TBS. batter for each.

Just before baking, wet a cotton or linen kitchen towel(not terry cloth) and gently squeeze out excess water. Don't wring cloth--you want it to be wet. Fold the towel into a strip 2 inches wide and, holding one end ot the towel in each hand and letting the center droop, gently dab the tops of the cookies with the center of the cloth. Use an up-and-down motion to pat the cookies with the towel several times, until their tops are smooth, slightly flattened and glistening. (Wetting the tops will remove the piping ridges and will help produce the crinkly top that is typical of these cookies.) If you are using pine nuts, press them gently onto the amaretti.

Bake on center rack until they are well risen, lightly colored and covered with fine cracks, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer cookies, parchment paper and all, to racks and cool completely.

Gently peel the amaretti off the paper. If any of the cookies stick, just lift the paper, brush the underside with a little hot water, and give it a few seconds to seep ink then peel off the cookie.

Kept in an airtight tin or plastic container, amaretti will remain moist and chewy for a few days, than become dry and crisp.
Yields bout 3 dozen cookies.

A little time-consuming, but worth it. Janet

Lean and Delicious Pork with Fennel from Janet

Janet prepared the following pork tenderloin recipe for our dinner last week. The fennel was a wonderful companion flavor to the pork.

Pork Tenderloin with Fennel----2 Servings

2 tsp. olive oil
1/2C. chopped fresh fennel
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2/3 C. canned unsalted chicken broth
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
8 oz. pork tenderloin

Saute fennel and half of garlic over medium heat until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Pour in 1/3 C. chicken broth and sprinkle in half of fennel seeds. Cover and simmer until fennel is very tender and liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cool.

Starting 1/2 inch up on 1 long side, cut through tenderloin to within 1/2 inch of opposite side. Open as for book. Continue cutting through thick portion of tenderloin until meat forms 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Spread fennel mixture evenly over pork. Beginning at 1 long end, roll pork up jelly roll style. Tie with string to secure. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pork in oven-proof skillet. Rub with remaining garlic clove and 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes. Remove from skillet and keep warm. Deglaze pan with remaining chicken broth. Boil until reduced by half. Cut pork into 1/2 inch slices and spoon sauce over.

Torta al Vina with Red Grapes by Martha

This is the recipe I selected for "Lite and Luscious" night at Janet's. I took about five recipes that I liked and entered the ingredients into Weight Watcher's "build a recipe" tool and this cake came out at only 5 points per serving. It needs no icing, no side sauce. It was easy to make and has lots of complex flavors and textures. It is basically from Lydia Batianich's book, Lydia's Family Table. I added some fresh thyme to her recipe which I thought would add another complimentary layer of flavor. I used the thyme that's in my garden, but no one could taste it. Perhaps the flavor of winter thyme is too gentle. So next time I make this cake, I'll use fresh thyme from the store or use my thyme only in the summer when it full of sunbaked flavor.

The first time I made this cake, I followed the directions about mixing the grapes into the top half of the batter. Lydia said they would sink. Well, no sinkage occurred and the grapes stayed at the top of the cake. (It was still delicious.) The second time I thought I would compensate, so I poured half of the batter into the pan, sprinkled 1 cup of grapes, poured the second. So, of course, the second time, the grapes sank and they were all at the bottom of the cake (still delicious). I will definitely make this again and really won't care where the grapes end up. This is a wonderful recipe.

1 ½ c all purpose flour, plus extra to flour cakepan and to coat the grapes
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. soft butter, plus 1 tbsp for the cake pan
2/3 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. lemon or orange zest
1 tbsp. thyme
¾ c dry white wine
2 c small red seedless grapes

For Topping the Cake During Baking

2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. Sugar in the Raw

Arrange rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375.
Assemble a springform pan, butter and flour the insides.

Sift or stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

With a stand mixer on low speed, cream the butter and sugar together in a big bowl. When blended, beat on high speed for a couple of minutes until smooth and light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the eggs, one at the time, mixing well at moderate speed, then mix in the olive oil, the vanilla, the thyme and the citrus zest. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes or so to lighten and smooth the batter.

Pour and scrape all of the batter into the cake pan and spread it in an even layer. Sprinkle a teaspoon of flour over the grapes and toss to coat. Scatter the grapes over the surface of the batter. Swirl a spatula or knife around them, folding and stirring them into the top of the batter. Don’t fold or swirl deeper than an inch. The fruits don’t need to be completed covered because they will sink as the cake rises. (Maybe.)

Set the pan in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the top is set. The batter underneath will still be loose and will shake. Carefully remove from oven and scatter butter bits and then the sugar on the top. Return the cake to the oven and bake another 15 minutes or so, a total of 40 minutes, until the cake is set and the top is golden brown and lightly glazed by the final sugar and butter. Remove to a cooling rack and after about 10 minutes, remove the side ring. Cool thoroughly. Serve at room temperature, sliced into wedges.

Eliza's Sauces for Chinoise Fondue

Asian Dipping Sauces

-Makes about 1 cup dipping sauce for each recipe-

Spicy Peanut dipping sauce

1/2 cup unsweetened chunky peanut butter (I prefer the freshly grounded)
1 tablespoon of Thai red curry paste
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 ½ teaspoons shrimp paste (my favorite is with bean oil)
3 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon palm sugar or corn syrup
1/3 cup water

Mix all ingredients above in a bowl. Add more water, a tablespoon at a time, if you like your sauce thinner.


Cilantro/Ginger dipping sauce

1 cup cilantro leaves and soft stems
1 scallion, chopped half way through the green stem
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce or to taste
1 tablespoon water
Juice of half a lime

Put all ingredients in a food processor and grind to a paste. Use a blender instead if you want a smoother version.


Soy/Sesame sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce (light sodium would be better)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Chopped chives for garnish

Whisk all liquid ingredients together, add the sesame seeds and decorate with chives

2009 Meeting Schedule

All meetings are scheduled the third Thursday of the month and begin at 6 PM. Here's the current list of dates and hostesses:

January 15 -- Janet -- healthy cuisine
February 19 -- Monica
March 19 -- Eliza
April -- beach trip
May 21 --Vicki
June 18 -- Susan
July 16 -- Guest dinner party -- Martha
August 20
September 17
October 15
November 19
December 17 -- Martha -- fondue

Better Late than Never by Monica

Winter has its perks. Cold weather nights, and sometimes afternoons, are so inviting to a warm cozy drink. I'm not talking about hot cocoa, but a bit more adult beverage that is absolutely delicious, a Gluehwein (aka mulled or spiced wine.) In Germany Gluehwein is usually served during the Christmas season all over the Christmas markets. One of my fondest memories of Germany include seating around with family and friends sipping on Gluehwein and eating traditional Christmas cookies. Gluehwein is now a tradition in our household, one that we also cherish with our dear friends, as we did for our Ladies of the Knife Christmas Fondue dinner at Martha's this past December. I am enclosing the recipe for your enjoyment.

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine (preferably German, but a nice Merlot of Shiraz will also do nicely)
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. honey
12 cloves
1 large cinnamon stick
1 large bay leaf
1 Orange, sliced and peeled (remove the pith from the peeled orange)
1 small lemon, sliced and peeled (optional-if using lemon, remove the pith as well)

Preparation:
Pour the wine in a medium size pot and set on the stove at medium heat. Add the sugar, honey, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and orange (and lemon) zest/s until the wine simmers (do not boil as it will make the wine bitter.) Add the orange/lemon slices once the wine has simmered and continue simmering for another 5 minutes or so, or until the flavors have melded. Serve warm. Prosst!!!

Lite and Luscious Night at Janet's

Our January meeting will be on Thursday, January 15 at Janet's house and in keeping with New Year's tradition, we will focus on Lite and Luscious.



Here's the offeriings for the evening:



Janet: roasted pork tenderloin with Fennel from Bon Appetit

Eliza: roasted beet salad with queso fresco and cilantro pesto

Martha:

Susan:

Monica: appetizer platter, with salmon and ham rolls, olives, almonds

Nancy:

Ingrid:

Vicki: unable to attend

Fondue Night ... An Annual Event? by Martha

Fondue has always seemed like a real cold weather holiday treat, so this year's December meeting was a total fondue night, starting with a great cheese fondue, followed by a broth-based Chinoise fondue and ending with (what else?) a chocolate fondue.

We started the evening with a series of toasts .... one to my birthday followed by another to Vicki and Paul's engagement. I'm happy to have a birthday. Vicki's happy with Paul, so it's all good!

Monica arrived and quickly heated up a warm German wine, gluhewein. She's got the best recipe and we all hope she will share it with the blog.

Vickie brought along a cheese fondue which we devoured with bread and a beautiful plate of vegetables. Here's her recipe:

CHEESE FONDUE

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash white pepper
Dash nutmeg
2 1/2, cups milk (scalded, if in a hurry)
1 pound process swiss cheese, shredded
7 teaspoon Worcesteshire sauce
Dash of' Tobasco sauce
1/3 cup dry white wine (or milk if preferred)
2 tablespoons kirsch (or milk if preferred)
Frcnch bread, cut in 1-inch cubes

Melt butter in ceramic fondue pot over a moderate direct flame. Stir in next 5 ingredients. Stir in milk; cook, stir constantly until sauce is smooth and thickened slightly. Lower flame, add cheese, a small amount at a time and stir until cheese is melted after each addition. Stir in remaining ingredients except bread. We also had a plate of fresh vegetables, including cherry tomatoes, asparagus, baby ears of corn, and boiled small butter potatoes.

CHINOISE FONDUE

The Chinoise Fondue is something like a hot pot. We had a fabulous broth that I prepared earlier in the day and let sit stove top to enable the flavors to interact. Here are the ingredients:

2 quarts chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
2 thai red peppers (leave the whole to float in the broth)
2 Tbsp. curry powder
4 Tbsp. fresh ginger
Fresh lemongrass from 2 - 3 stalks
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
8 tsp. satay powder (can be found easily at an asian market)
1 tsp. salt

Bring broth to a boil and remove from heat. Let it sit 3 - 4 hours, or at least 30 minutes. Reheat before pouring into fondue pot.

For dipping we used:

baby pickled corn
broccoli
asparagus
bean sprouts
shrimp, 3/4 lb.
scallops, 3/4 lb.
thinly sliced tuna, 3/4 lb.
beef, 3/4 lb.

The sprouts that Janet brought along a were very fine alphalfa sprouts that were absolutely wonderful. We just added them to the broth and as our food cooked, they would cling to it and add just another taste and texture.

I personally love the Chinoise fondue because it's not just dip and eat, dip and eat. I tend to be someone who just can't get food to my mouth fast enough, so the fact that we had to wait a minute or two to cook the food led to more relaxed conversation and eating.

Eliza brought along three dipping sauces, a green onion/cilantro sauce that worked well with many of the seafoods; a soy sauce/ginger dip that was magical with the shrimp and a peanut satay sauce that of course really worked well with the beef.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE

So finally, full as we could possibly be, we got to dessert. The chocolate fondue was a basic toblerone fondue. Rather than using a log of one flavor toblerone, I bought a package that contained bite-sized pieces of milk, dark, and white toblerone. To deepen the chocolate layers, I also added a couple of bars of intense orange dark chocolate. Add heavy cream and a good shake from a big bottle of Grand Marnier. We had traditional items to dip including strawberries, bananas and clementine sections. I made some homemade marshmallows (see Ina Garten's recipe at www.homecooking.about.com/od/candyrecipes/r/blcandy4.htm.) The star, in my opinion, were the amaretti cookies that Janet baked from "Julia Child's Baking", page 320. Chewy, flavorful ... really yummy.

2009 Meeting Schedule

All meetings scheduled for the third Thursday of the month beginning at 6 PM.

January 15 -- Janet

February 19 -- Monica

March 19

April -- Beach Trip

May 21 -- Vicki

June 18 -- Susan

July 16

--Guest dinner party--Martha

August 20

September 17

October 15

November 19

December 17

"Salt Air" by Martha

Had an amazing meal the other night hosted by friend and member, Eliza Gonzales at Jose Andres' PennQuarter restaurant Oyamel. Susan insisted that we had eaten at Oyamel when it was in Crystal City, but I just didn't remember it, which tells you maybe why that location closed. But Oyamel downtown is hip, fun, lively and the food is delicious. This meal was to celebrate the fact that Eliza's going to be teaching at the new 14th Street cooking school, CulinAire along with our pal and current Top Chef contestant, Carla Hall.

One of the things that we really liked were the pomagranete margaritas. Well, hard not to like any kind of margarita .... but these were special. Andres serves them not in a salt rimmed glass, but rather topped with a foam which he calls "salt air". We were amazed that the foam was stable enough to last for the whole cocktail. I know what you're thinking, maybe we drank them too fast? Seriously, though, the salt air added a distinct salty taste to the drink, but no way as overwhelming as salt rimming. Susan was brave enough to approach the chef of the night and he gave her the ingredients. He suggested using an immersion blender or foamer to skim the surface of the liquid to create the foam. You're on your own for the ingredients of the margarita. (By the way, the foam also appeared atop the ceviche.)

2 c. water
1 c. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. mezcal
2 tsp. soy lecithin (can be found at health food stores)
Salt to taste (use anything but iodized salt)

A New Toy to Love by Martha

If you have a KitchenAid mixer, you're going to love the latest toy. It's new beater blade that has a silicone lip on the edge that scrapes the bowl as it mixes. It even gets down into the dimple. This eliminates stopping the machine and scraping the contents down. I've used mine several times and am a happy beater. It's about $25.00 and comes in two sizes to fit different sized mixers. I picked mine up at Sur La Table, where they are "flying off the shelves". Interesting, they are not a KitchenAid product. Mine is manufactured by a company that's found at http://www.beaterblade.com/. There's a different model at http://www.frutproducts.com/ that is an interesting design. That site seems overwhelmed with busness too.

Here’s what I learned from baking this season …. It’s not always me! by Martha

I don’t know if you’re like me, but every three or four months I discover a new recipe that gets added to my favorites list. The first time I make the dish, its love at first bite. The seasonings, the texture, the presentation …. the entire dish is perfect. I invite friends I haven’t seen for months to taste this new discovery and I, myself, never tire of preparing it. A couple of months ago, it was a monkfish dish from Lydia’s Family Table. Then it was a pasta recipe from Wolfgang. Then it was a salad from Rick Bayless. I’ll even get so involved in the dish that I’ll buy a special serving plate to complete the presentation. But, here’s the problem. Each time I prepare the recipe, it never ever duplicates the first time. Now I’ve always attributed that to me …. Do I get lazy and not follow the recipe exactly? Take Wolfgang’s Pasta Rounds … the dish is home made pasta sheets that are rolled with a spinach cheese mousse, cut into spirals and then baked. Sometimes the pasta is too crunchy, sometimes the mousse filling too heavy. It’s always good and everyone raves about it, but to me, it’s never as good as the first time.

So enter holiday season 2008. Ah, the Pecan Baci Tart. This is a recipe was just a "Baci Tart" which was supposed to duplicate the flavors of that hazelnut candy. A chocolate dough base, topped with a caramel filling, hazelnuts and drizzled chocolate. The dessert can be made with any nut …. I decided to use pecans because I thought that hazelnuts are too dense and that in their whole form would make slicing the tart difficult.

The first time I baked this was for Thanksgiving and it came out beautiful. The caramel was deep and rich, the nuts toasty. Totally yummy and a real show stopper. So when baking for the Christmas bazaar came around, of course I stepped up to make a pecan tart. And since this one what going on the table to be sold, I wanted it to be ultra perfect. I pulled the caramel sauce from the fire just at the first tiny puff of smoke. Another two seconds and it would have been a burned mess. But it was perfect. I placed each nut carefully to insure the presentation aspect. It baked beautifully and I let it cool completely before heating the chocolate in the microwave to drizzle in a creative pattern. When the chocolate was melted, I put it into a little zip-lock sandwich bag, snipped the tip and started the drizzle. So, are you ready? I squeezed the bag to force the chocolate out and the bag split at the seam, spewing a couple of big globs of chocolate. There was no way to remove the chocolate and no time or interest in rebaking. So a sprig of mint was added to help cover most of the problem. So finally we’re back to where I started ….. it’s not always me …. This time it was a flipping plastic bag!

So far, I’ve made five baci tarts and tomorrow will be baking this not in as a tart, but on a sheet pan so that I can cut it into squares to bring for a couple of parties as finger food. This recipe bakes the same time and time again. It’s beautiful, it’s fairly easy and it’s yummy!

I've even modified it by baking it on a half-sheet pan instead of in a tart pan and cutting it into inch square bit size pieces.

Pecan Baci Tart

Place the oven rack in the middle and heat the oven to 350⁰. It’s important that the oven is consistently at 350⁰. If you have an oven thermometer, use it. If you don’t have one, get one. I have an older stove and the oven temperature fluctuates dramatically. I have found that if I pre-heat the oven for an hour and keep a couple of pizza stones (or bricks) in the oven, that will keep the temperature pretty stable.

Place 2 – 3 cups of pecans on a sheet pan and place in the oven to toast. This will take about 15 – 20 minutes and I check them every five minutes, shaking them to make sure they toast evenly. (My hint here is that I buy nuts in the 2 lb. bag at Costco. I toast all of them at once and freeze what I don’t use. That way I always have toasted nuts ready to use.)

Chocolate crust

½ lb softened unsalted butter
2/3 c sugar
2 egg yolks
5 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c all purpose flour

In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and flour. Set aside. Place the butter and sugar into a mixer bowl and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks and beat well. Add the flour mixer all at once to the butter and beat at low speed until well mixed. Turn the dough into a 10” tart pan with a removable bottom. Take a piece of plastic wrap and using it like a little glove, start to push the dough to fit the tart pan. (You can use your hands, but the plastic wrap makes this a much cleaner job.) Work the dough up the sides of the pan. The final product does not have to be perfect. Just do your very best to line the pan evenly with the dough. Put the pan in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes. Once it’s chilled, put the tart pan onto a sheet pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes. (When it comes out of the oven, it will be slightly lumpy and not at all even … don’t worry it will be fine.)

Caramel filling

While the crust is baking, it’s time to make the caramel filling. For this you’ll need a wooden spoon or silicon spatula, a small saucepan, a heavy 4-quart sauce pan (I use a copper bottom pan to ensure even heating). A candy thermometer is helpful, but not essential.

Place the following into the small saucepan:

1 c. heavy cream
¼ lb. unsalted butter

Heat over very low heat until the butter is melted. Try not to let it boil, but if it does, it won’t be a tragedy. Just be careful because if you let it boil rapidly, you’ll really have a mess.

In the larger saucepan place:

½ c. water
¼ c light corn syrup
1-1/2 c white granulated sugar

Place over high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Keep over high heat, without stirring, until the mixture turns a deep caramel color. This will take 10 – 15 minutes. I’ll actually walk away from it for the first 5 minutes, but once I see any hint of color, I watch this like a hawk. You’re looking for as deep a caramel as possible. This is about 350⁰ on the candy thermometer. I swirl the pan every once in a while to distribute the color. Once you achieve the color you’re looking for, remove from the heat and pour the cream/butter into the sugar mixture. Watch out! This will bubble up and sputter for a few minutes. Once it settles down, stir until you have a beautiful caramel cream.

Now here’s where you have a choice. You can either add the nuts to the caramel sauce at this point or you can pour the caramel mixture into the tart pan and place the nuts onto one by one, by hand. Whatever your choice, just make sure that the tart pan in on an even surface. I pour about half of the sauce into the tart shell and wait a minute or so to see how level the pan is. If it the sauce is pooling toward one side of the pan, I’ll level everything off with a chop stick or hot pad. You may end up with about ½ cup of the caramel cream that you can pour into a jar to use on ice cream. Now you can start placing the nuts on top of the sauce. (Be careful, the sauce is still very hot and you can burn your fingers.) I try to use nuts of all one size and place them in concentric circles, all facing the same direction. (Like the round part of the nut facing the center.) If you’re going to go to all this trouble, you might as well give it your all. I’ve even used tweezers or a bamboo skewer to straighten out a nut that’s drifted out of position.

Carefully place the tart pan and sheet pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. When you remove the tart, the caramel will be very bubbly and very liquid. Use a great deal of care to not “slosh” the filling and place the sheet pan on a very level surface. (Otherwise the contents will “drift” as the tart cools.) After about an hour, place the tart pan on top of a large jar and pull the collar down. If you do this while the tart is slightly warm, the collar will pull off fairly easily. If you wait too long, you may have to work harder to preserve the integrity of the shell.

Chocolate drizzle

Once the tart is completely cool, it’s time to drizzle the chocolate. Melt about 3 – 4 oz of bittersweet chocolate in a small bowl at high power in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir to make sure its smooth and then spoon into a plastic bag. (I suggest using the larger gallon size zip lock bags that are a little sturdier than the sandwich bags.) Or if you have a squeeze bottle, they are the best. Cut the corner of the plastic bag and drizzle the chocolate over the tart.

At this point, I choose the serving plate and will spoon a bit of the chocolate onto the plate. Run a spatula between the tart and the tart pan bottom. You should be able to slide the tart off the metal bottom fairly easily and you’ll be surprised at how stable the tart has become. While the pool of chocolate is still warm, place the tart onto of it. (When the chocolate cools, it will stabilize the tart on your serving plate.)

Whip up some heavy cream and serve the tart at room temperature. You can wrap the tart in plastic and store it in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 days or you can even freeze it for a month or so.

Organizing the December Fondue Meeting by Martha

For those of you who don't have a food club and would like some guidance on how ours works, here's the information that was sent out to our members about our next meeting:

The consensus is to meet on either the 15th or 16th and the 15th works much better for me. So can we plan on 6 PM at my house on the 15th of December? We had decided to have a fondue party and will be featuring three different types of fondues: cheese, Chinoise and chocolate.

I’ve chatted with a couple of people about how we can organize this. How about if we have three different courses? We’ll probably have seven people at the table, so two fondue pots per course. I have three pots, so if we can have three more, that will be great. I’ll have the fuel for my pots, and if you’re bringing a pot, would you please remember to bring your fuel. That way I don’t have to worry about whether you need the gel or liquid.

Here’s what I’d suggest:

CHINOISE FONDUE

For those who are unfamiliar with the Chinoise fondue, this is a broth based fondue into which you dip very thinly sliced meat (usually beef, but sometimes pork), shrimp, bay scallops, vegetables. Here’s a link to a recipe for this type of fondue: http://www.sofeminine.co.uk/w/recipe/r464/chinese-fondue.html. I’ve never made the broth with coconut milk, but this sounds really enticing with the chilies, and the ginger and the satay powder. Wonder what satay powder is? Anyway, the best parts of Chinoise fondue are the sauces. I’d suggest two or three, a curry sauce which is basically curry and mayonnaise. Here are a couple of links for ginger sauce and a peanut sauce:

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/saucesmarinades/r/soygingerdress.htm
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/saucesdipping/r/peanutsauce.htm


CHEESE FONDUE

I don’t have a favorite cheese fondue recipe, but this is the top rated recipe from http://www.foodnetwork.com/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-rays-tasty-travels/swiss-fondue-recipe2/index.html

I’d suggest bread cubes and veggies for dippers.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE

Once again, I went to http://www.foodnetwork.com/ and found one of their highest rated recipes:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chocolate-orange-fondue-recipe/index.html

Remember, the three recipes above are only my suggestions. If anyone has any other recipes that are favorites, just let us know.

Here’s the list of items that we’d need to produce the above:

Broth for Chinoise fondue -- Martha
Sauces for the chinoise fondue --Eliza
¾ lb beef sliced very thin
¾ lb shrimp -- Ingrid
sliced tuna -- Eliza
¾ lb scallops -- Ingrid
Vegetables for both chinoise and cheese fondue -- Janet
Swiss cheese fondue -- Vicki
Greyere and emmenthal -- Nancy
Kirsch for the cheese fondue -- Janet
2 baguettes for cheese fondue -- Ingrid
1 cup heavy cream for chocolate fondue --Martha
Chocolate for fondue -- Martha
Fruit for dipping -- Martha
Amaretti for dipping -- Janet

I’ll have the rest of the incidentals in the kitchen, like the cinnamon, Grand Marnier, white wine, white pepper, etc.

Please let me know what you’d like to bring …. It would be very helpful for me not to have to send out reminders. So, please don’t say you’ll bring what no one else is going to bring … I’d love to have this knocked out this week so that I don’t have to think about who’s bringing what.

Also, don’t forget to bring you Christmas gift for the present exchange … something that’s food oriented and around $10.00.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Love you all!

The Wind Beneath Carla's Wings by Martha

Last night Eliza, Susan and I attended a viewing of the premier of this year's Top Chef with our friend and Top Chef contestant Carla Hall at the brand new cooking school, CulinAerie which is located at 1131 14th St. (Here's a shot of Carla and hubby Matthew, basking in his honey's success!)

Great fun and can't wait to see next week's competition. So glad, but not suprised that Carla made it through round one!

CulinAerie is a beautiful new facility with great potential and a line-up of top notch instructors. Check out their website at www.CulinAerie.com.

Ideas for Herbs from Janet

A great idea for the herbs you have left. Chop the herbs and fill each section of an ice cube tray with half water, half chopped herbs and freeze.

Great later for tossing into stews, soups, sauces, etc. Someone told me that these cubes are also available in the freezer section of Trader Joe's. Has anyone tried them?

The International Stylings of Janet

As I look back on the people and places who have influenced my cooking, the first was my Italian grandmother who showed me how so many tasty, wonderful dishes that can be produced with the simplest of ingredients.

As the wife of an Army officer who served for 28 years, several influences come to mind. Three years in south Louisiana introduced me to food and seasonings that were new to me. Three tours in Germany introduced me to a cuisine that is now one of my favorites, especially when the weather turns cool as it has now. Friends I have made along the way have taught me so much. Among these friends are the members of Ladies of the Knife--we met at Sur la Table Culinary Classes. What fun we have together cooking, teaching and learning from each other!

Three cheers for Carla, a goodbye to my basil and a nice tomato appetizer from Martha

I’m off tonight to a new cooking school in Washington, CulinAerie, on 14h Street, which boasts a great line-up of Washington chef/instructors. Tonight isn’t a class, though. Susan, Eliza and I have been invited to a premier party of Bravo’s Top Chef which airs tonight, celebrating our friend and contestant, Carla Hall. Beforehand, we’re planning to try out a little seafood restaurant in Georgetown called Tackle Box. Mmmmmm …. I LOVE fried clams!

It’s a little sad to walk through the garden these days. I took down most of my tomato plants a couple of weeks ago. I picked all of the green tomatoes and have them stored in a paper bag where they will ripen slowly. That should give me tomatoes from my garden until the end of the year. There was a little bit of fresh basil clinging on for dear life that got nipped by a light frost last night. My plants got pretty woody this year, so I wonder if I can use the last remnants on the grill to add a little basil flavor to fish …. I’ll keep you posted. There's one bright spot to the winter garden and that’s the arugula. I know most people like little tender arugula leaves, but my preference is actually big leaves from mature plants. When the weather turns cold, the arugula leaves get a little thick, like winter spinach and they make a great salad.

I did try the following recipe, using cherry tomatoes that had ripened in my paper bag and it was yummy:

Cut about a pint of cherry tomatoes in quarters and place in an oven-proof dish. I have a ceramic dish that’s used to heat brie. Top with about a tablespoon full of finely minced basil. Mix a round of Boursin with about 3 tablespoons full of skim milk. You’ll get a gravy that you pour over the tomatoes. Top with another tablespoon full of basil and set it in 350 oven for about 20 minutes. Served it with some water crackers because that’s what I had in the pantry and they were perfect. In addition to being delicious, it made the house smell great too!

I'm Martha .... It's a Good Thing

I just love to cook. I like to grill, to roast, to sauté, to bake. I guess I’m a risk taker because I love to attack a very complex recipe and am not hesitant to plan a dinner party based around a recipe I have never tried before. Presentation is high on my list of important ingredients. It pains me to eat a meal that isn’t visually attractive. I generally use recipes as guidelines, except in international cuisines where I may be unfamiliar with the ingredients, and of course I am extremely precise when I bake, which is probably my favorite thing to do in the kitchen …. cakes, tarts, pies and especially bread. There is something very sensual about working with a wonderfully warm and tender yeast dough. I idolize Julia Child and Jacques Pepin for their classic techniques, and truly appreciate Lydia Bastianach and Chris Kimball …. How can you question a recipe that’s been tested twenty times by the chefs at America’s Test Kitchens? I love to watch cooking tv, although I’m more PBS chefs than Food Channel. I have a generous library of cookbooks. The last one I used was Baking with Julia. The last one I bought was Lydia’s Family Table. If I had to work with only one cookbook, it would be The Joy of Cooking. I use my computer to research recipes and ingredients and my favorite sites include http://www.cooksillustrated.com/, http://www.epicurious.com/ and http://www.thesplendidtable.com/. It’s a three way tie for favorite kitchen tool— just bought a Nespresso coffee maker and am in love with it. But could I part with my All Clads or my Global knives? Or how about the KitchenAid, I don’t know. (I think the knives would win out!)

Macaroni Popsicles and a Great Chili Recipe by Martha

As Halloween approaches, I enjoy a funny memory of Richard Greene’s pumpkin carving party. When we arrived at Richard’s we were greeted with two kitchen challenges. First, there was a big pot on the stove with a wooden spoon handle standing straight up from the middle of the pot. Richard had cooked a box of macaroni in a too small pot with too little water and had left it stove top. When Jim walked by, he tugged on the spoon, pulling the contents out leaving him holding a “macaroni popsicle”.

The second challenge involved potatoes. Richard wanted to serve mashed potatoes, but had forgotten to buy them. He had a couple of large cans of potatoes which he had emptied into a pot, heated and tried to mash. It was more a pot full of glue. I tried to make something edible, but no matter what I added, the mixture solidified more. Kitchen hint: there’s no way to make mashed potatoes from canned potatoes.

Right after Halloween Jim and I decided to cook chili and came up with the following recipe. The first time we made it, we had a loaf of crusty bread handy, and it was a real treat to stir the chili and dip the bread into the sauce for tasting:

GRILLED & TOASTED PORK & ONION CHILI

30 medium garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
4 lbs. 2-inch thick loin pork chops
Salt & pepper
Vegetable oil
large yellow onions, cut into ¾" thick slices
½ C vegetable oil
¼ C unbleached flour
¼ C Hungarian sweet paprika
2 Tbsp.chili powder
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. file powder
jalapeno chili, seeded, deveined and finely chopped
5 C chicken stock
1 C crushed tomatoes in puree
dried ancho or pasilla chilies, trimmed and chopped

Blanch garlic cloves in boiling water until tender, 7 - 10 minutes. Drain.
Prepare very hot fire in barbecue grill. Position grill rack 4" above fire. Season pork with salt and pepper; brush lightly with oil. Grill until crisp on outside but very rare inside, about 5 minutes per side. Cool on platter. Brush onion with oil. Grill until charred, about 8 minutes on each side. Cool on platter. Remove bones from pork and reserve. Cut pork and onion into ½" dice. Set aside.

Heat ½ C oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hot. Whisk in flour. Immediately reduce heat to medium. Whisk until roux is deep brown, about 15 minutes. Cool roux completely.

Combine paprika, chili powder, minced garlic, file powder and jalapeno in small bowl. Bring stock, tomatoes, and ancho chilies to simmer in saucepan. Place roux over low heat; whisk in spices. Cook 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Whisk in simmering stock 1 cup at a time. Add grilled onions and reserve pork bones. Increase heat and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, skimming and stirring occasionally. Add blanched garlic and simmer until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Discard pork bones. Season chili with salt. Refrigerate overnight to blend flavors.