Real Bread-Potato Stuffing

Today is Christmas Day, and as usual, I am making the traditional bread stuffing for the bird (chicken, in my case). In referring to our classic recipe in the cookbook I realized that although Mrs. Slade provided the basis, it is not the way we (I?) actually make this stuffing.

We use cubed bread rather than bread crumbs, and lots more of it than 2 cups. I'm sure we use onion and celery in it as well, and my own variation is to add a coupled of chopped sautéed mushrooms. And of course, the seasoning is all adjusted accordingly.

So for what it's worth, here is what I think our recipe really is. Is this the way you make it too?

Ingredients

• 4 cups stale bread, cubed (150 grams)
• 2 medium potatoes, grated (100 grams)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped fine
• 2 mushrooms, chopped fine (optional)
• 1-2 teaspoons poultry seasoning 
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons parsley, minced
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Cut the bread into small cubes. If the bread is quite fresh, let it sit out for a couple of hours to dry out.
2. Grate the potatoes and add to the bread cubes.
3. Melt the butter in a skillet and sauté the onions and celery for a few minutes, then add to the bread and potato mixture.
4. In the same skillet, sauté the mushrooms until they release their moisture and turn brown, then add to stuffing mixture.
5. Add the parsley, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.
6. Mix gently using your hands.
7. Beat the egg with a fork and add it to the stuffing. Stir in gently.

You can put the stuffing either in the cavity or under the skin on the breast of the bird. The second option is better because it helps to keep the breast meat moist. Any stuffing that doesn't go in the bird can go in an oven-proof casserole, covered with tin foil. Stuffing that is cooked separately can be topped with a couple of strips of bacon or dotted with butter to provide some of the fat that would normally come from the bird.

Even Better Pastry Dough

For years, Mrs. Campbell's pastry recipe was the one I turned too, but I made it with butter or margarine instead of lard or vegetable shortening. However, I have recently found a food-processor pastry recipe and method that I think will be my go-to recipe from now on. It comes from The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. She uses it for quiche, pot pies, and such like.  I assume you could add a bit of sugar for sweet pie dough.

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons | 1 3/4 sticks | 200 grams cold unsalted butter (I put it into the freezer for 30 minutes first)
3 or 4 tablespoons of ice water.

1. Put an ice cube in a small bowl with 4 tablespoons of water.
2. Put the flour and salt in a food processor and spin for a few seconds to mix.
3. Cut the butter in small pieces and add them to the flour.
4. Pulse 8 times with 1-second pulses (say alligator for each pulse to get it right).
5. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the ice water over the flour-butter mixture.
6. Pulse 8 times with 1-second pulses.
7. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the mixture out onto it. (It will not be a dough yet.)
8. Gather the mixture together into a ball as best you can. If it is too dry, sprinkle a little more ice water on the driest spots.
9. Use the heel of your hand to smear the dough out in small increments, and gather the dough together again. (This is technique called fraisage, first popularized by Julia Child.)
10. Flatten it out into a disk, wrap it in plastic and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling it out.

Tip: If you only need part of it (I use a quarter of it for a 2-serving quiche), use what you need now, cut the rest in the portions you think you'll need, flatten each portion into a disk, wrap and freeze until you need it.

Onion Jam

Yesterday a new cookbook arrived in the mail called Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. It is devoted to baking with whole grain flours including whole wheat, rye, and oats, but also teff, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, and spelt. The book has been getting rave reviews so I couldn't resist.

Oddly enough, the very last chapter is devoted not to grains but to cooking fruits, mostly compotes and jams for short term use. The item that really jumped out at me was onion jam, so that's what I made first. It is very simple, and very good. It just takes a bit of time.

My one caveat with this recipe is the amount of salt. Kim calls for 1 teaspoon of kosher (that is, coarse) salt. I used coarse sea salt (Baleine) and found it too salty. If you use regular salt, I suggest using just a quarter of a teaspoon.

Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients

2 pounds yellow onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt or 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Method

1. Slice the onions in half length-wise, then in 1/4 inch slices cross-wise.
2. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat until it shimmers, then add the onions, salt, and pepper.
3. Stir the onions to coat them in oil, and cook them for 10-15 minutes until they are just beginning to brown.
4. Cover them, turn the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Uncover them, stir them, and continue cooking for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Towards the end of the cooking time, stir them more frequently to prevent burning. 
6. When all the liquid has evaporated and the onions are jammy and caramelized, take them off the heat and add the vinegar. Cool and keep in the refrigerator. 

According to the recipe, this will keep a coupled of weeks in the fridge or a month in the freezer. I don't think it's going to last that long!

Tip: Storing Tomatoes

From a recent Cooks Illustrated article, I learned that the way to store tomatoes is stem side down, at room temperature. Either that, or tape over the stem scar to prevent moisture and bacteria from getting in. Needless to say, just turning them over is easier!

Gujerati-style Green Beans

These are nice with all sorts of meals, not just Indian cuisine. You can make the beans as hot or as mild as you like by adjusting the red chili. The recipe calls for fresh beans, but you can get acceptable results using frozen beans that have been thawed, just skip the blanching. Around here, you won't find black mustard seeds in the spice aisles of the ordinary grocery stores; you'll have to look for them in specialist south Asian shops.

Source: Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery (1982).

450 g fresh green beans
4 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil (I actually use less than this)
1 tablespoons whole black mustard seeds
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 - 1 dried red chili, coarsely crushed (red pepper flakes will do)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Trim and cut the beans to 2.5 cm lengths. Blanch them in rapidly boiling water for 3-4 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. When the oil is hot put in the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, put in the garlic, stirring them until they turn light brown (not too dark!). Put in the chili, and stir for a few seconds. 
3. Add the beans, salt and sugar. Reduce the heat to medium low, cooking for 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently. 
4. Add the black pepper, mix, and serve.

Salmon with Mango Sauce

This is what we serve guests in the summer when we want something a little showy, that won't take too long, and won't heat up the kitchen too much! It is very nice with basmati rice and steamed or grilled vegetables.

Source: Skinny Feasts (Dee Hobsbawn-Smith, 1997).

Step 1
Make the Mango Sauce!

Step 2
Combine:

1 tablespoon pureed ginger root
zest of one (1) orange
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon  oil (the original recipe specifies canola, but we use olive or peanut)
freshly ground black pepper

Step 3
Spread as evenly as you can over both sides of

4 5-oz. (140 g) salmon filets or salmon portions

Let stand for 10 minutes.

Step 4
Grill on medium-high until salmon is done.

Pool some mango sauce on each plate and place the salmon on top and serve.

Mango Sauce

This tasty and colourful sauce goes well with steamed or grilled fish and vegetables. A great summer recipe, you can make it ahead and quickly grill the fish or steam the vegetables at the penultimate minute. It comes from Skinny Feasts (Dee Hobsbawn-Smith, 1997). I can't find that cookbook on the shelf in the regular bookstore anymore but you might find a used copy somewhere.

Peel and puree:
2-3 ripe mangoes

Add all the remaining ingredients

2 tablespoons pureed ginger root
2 oranges, juice and zest
1/4 cup white wine
2 tablespoons, minced red bell pepper (optional, but it is a pretty contrast in the sauce)
1-2 tablespoons honey to taste
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced flatleaf parsley
salt and hot chili flakes to taste

Thin the sauce with orange juice if desired. Taste the finished sauce and balance the flavours with salt and chili flakes.

Makes about 1.5 cups (375 ml) depending on the size of the mangoes.

This sauce can be frozen if you leave out the fresh herbs, adding them after thawing.