Eggplant Wellington

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Eggplant Wellington

In my mind, beef wellington is the great uncle of savory pastries. The one with the muttonchop whiskers and the velvet smoking jacket, sipping on a brandy. As it happens, this great uncle doesn’t go quite as far back in the family history as you might think. As they tell us over at Historical Foods…

The culinary history of Beef Wellington is a bit of a mystery, with far too many theories, (and all of them lacking in any hard evidence) to put this dish any earlier than the 20th Century – it certainly does not appear in any Victorian recipe books. So ignoring for now the myths surrounding this recipe we should instead concentrate on making it.

Indeed we should! For my vegetarian version, I decided to wrap the pastry around eggplant anyone could love (marinated, breaded, baked), I topped it with roasted mushrooms and shallots sprinkled with sherry, and I put a layer of sautéed chard in the middle. It turned out very well indeed! Tasty, and substantial, but not overly heavy considering it’s really only vegetables inside. (And a few slices of cheese!)

It’s not a last-minute meal – it did take a bit of time because there are a few parts to contend with, but most of them could be made earlier in the day, or even the day before. And if you buy your puff pastry, you’d cut down even more time. (I’d be more likely to cheat and use a quick paté brisée before I’d buy frozen puff pastry, though.) It’s very fun to make, too – and a delight to take out of the oven. I felt so proud of myself! It makes a nice crowed-pleasing meal for a special occasion. Like Christmas dinner!

We ate it with a lovely tomato & port wine sauce that went perfectly with all the flavors and textures.

If you liked this, you might like to also try my Portobello Wellington.

If you’d like to compare this to genuine beef wellington, check out Felicity Cloake’s article in the Guardian.

Here’s Michael Coleman, a fiddler active in the 20s, playing Wellington Reels.
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Don’t Fear the Crust! Puff pastry Edition.

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Puff pastry

Once upon a time, puff pastry seemed like one of those foods that is so mysterious and complex that you have to buy it ready-made. Well, that’s not quite true. Once you’ve made it once or twice, you’ll see how easy it can be. It is time-consuming, but it’s not really labor-intensive. And it’s not actually all that complicated. If you have a day that you’re going to be around the house anyway, doing other things, or in-and-out… that’s the day to make puff pastry. To be completely honest, the pasté brisée recipe I’ve mentioned, with the frozen, grated butter, makes pastry almost as flaky, and takes a lot less time. There’s something about puff pastry, though…it’s like a dragon to be tamed and befriended. Personally, I think it works best for smaller things that you don’t mold the heck out of. It’s very versatile, though!!

Here’s Broken Social Scene with Puff the Magic Dragon, because there is something magical about puff pastry.
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Jane Austen’s (vegetarian) White Soup

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cauliflower and white bean soup

As everybody knows, Mr. Bingley! (his name has to be followed by an exclamation mark – by law!) couldn’t hold a ball at Netherfield until his cook had made enough white soup. I’ve always been mildly curious about the nature of white soup. After a bit of research, I was excited to discover that this white soup is not dissimilar to a tarator sauce, comprised, as it is, of nuts and bread soaked in water. This one has almonds in it, which help to give it the lovely ivory color. The original version also had capon or gamon or something, but obviously I’m having none of that! I decided to use cauliflower, because it’s white, and it makes such a tasty puree. And I decided to use white beans. Can you guess why? That’s right! They’re white! And delicious.

I had read that white soup was traditionally garnished with pomegranate seeds and pistachio kernals. Red and green! On a beautiful, creamy pale soup! It’s the perfect Christmas dinner starter!

I have to admit that I was mostly playing around with this recipe. But it turned out to be exceptionally good to eat, too! It’s creamy and smooth, but there isn’t a jot of cream in it. In fact, if you omit the dollop of butter it would be vegan. And how did it taste? Mrs Bennet is quoted as saying, “Mr Bingley! This soup is mother-flipping delicious!!”

Here’s Nina Simone’s amazing performance of Little Liza Jane, which takes care of two Bennet sisters in one song title.
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CLAP YOUR HANDS!

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Dogs clapping hands!


This is my 100th post! To celebrate all of that time-wasting, I’ve made a playlist of hand clapping songs…songs about hand-clapping, with hand-clapping!! Actually I’ve been thinking of making a playlist like this for a while, because I love songs with clapping hands. It’s a nice list! It will cheer you up and get you moving your feet on a chilly December day. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to look at this ol’ blog.

Chocolate cayenne cutout cookies

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Chocolate cayenne cutout cookies


As I was making these, I said to myself, “Claire, you’re crazy!” Why? Because I made nearly the same cookie less than a week ago! And wrote about it here! Those were my spicy-hot dark chocolate cookies. As I mentioned at the time, they were like little cakes. Diabolical little cakes. Because they were a bit soft and had jam in the middle. I lay awake one night thinking these would also make good cookies to roll out and cut in cool shapes. And then coat with melted bittersweet chocolate. So I came up with this alternative recipe. The taste is very nearly the same – chocolate-y chocolate-i-ness with a spicy cayenne-ginger bite that sneaks up on you. But they’re a little harder and crunchier. And they hold the shape of your cookie cutters.

Here’s MF DOOM with Cayenne Pepper.
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Non-sausage rolls with chard and olives

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chard rolls

We had a party the other night, and I made these chard “non-sausage” rolls. They’re substantial enough that you could have a few with a good salad or some soup and it would make a meal. But…because they’re cut into small pieces they make good snacking food. They’re easy to make as well, because you don’t shape each individual one – you just cut them apart.

I combined swiss chard with a sort of deconstructed version of my tapenade. Kalamata olives, hazelnuts, capers, rosemary, thyme and garlic. Lovely flavors together – earthy, salty and very satisfying.

See also non-sausage rolls with butternut squash and goat cheese.

Here’s another reggae christmas song, because I’m obsessed with them at the moment. This one is completely brilliant…Eek-a-Mouse with The Night Before Christmas (not a creature was stirring, only an Eek-a-Mouse
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Party!

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veggie party food!!

We had a christmas party in our store the other night. That’s right! We have a store. It’s called ANTICK, and we have beautiful furniture and built-ins, and all kinds of wonderful other things as well, from hand-blown wine glasses to the nicest cutting boards you’ve ever seen, to stuffed felt owls. But this isn’t actually an advertisement for our store. No it’s not. It’s about vegetarian christmas party food made by pastry-dorks such as myself!

I had the brilliant idea to try to serve red and green food. So we had red and green cerignola olives, which are my favorite kind of olives. And I made bright green chermoula sauce, which I dusted with bright brick red spanish paprika. Very pretty! (chermoula is a mix of cilantro, parsley, olive oil, lemon, garlic, cumin and, um, paprika) I served it with small slices of baguette.

And I made pretty rosy little paprika cracker cups with membrillo and manchego. And spicy dark chocolate cookies.

And I made chard rolls in flaky pastry. A little bit like vegetarian sausage rolls, with red and green swiss chard (I know, I know, it’s not so red and green anymore once it’s all baked in pastry). These had olives, capers, hazelnuts and mozzarella. They’re nice because they’re small enough that people can have one or two as a snack, but they’re substantial enough that you can have a few and call it dinner. If, say, you’ve been making party snacks all day and don’t feel like making an actual meal.

Here’s Antick decked out in holiday regalia.

Antick

And here’s my current favorite holiday song…The Ethiopians’ Ding Dong Bell. It’s the best!

Cracker cups

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paprika cracker cups with membrillo and manchego


When speaking of my quince obsession the other day, I told you about membrillo, a delicious Spanish quince paste. Due to the miracle of quince’s high pectin content, when cooked for a long time at a slow temperature, it makes this lovely firm jelly, that is as pretty as it is tasty.

In Spain they eat it with manchego cheese, a dry, salty sheep’s cheese. The combination is uncommonly good! I decided to make some little cups out of cracker dough, and put a small piece of membrillo and a small piece of manchego in each one. It looks fancy, but it’s also nice because you get the full experience in one bite – sweet & soft, salty, and crispy crunchy. I made these with smoked Spanish paprika. Because 1)I make everything with smoked spanish paprika (I swear, I have to stop myself, sometimes!) 2) It’s Spanish, like the cheese and the quince paste 3) it makes the dough a beautiful pinkish salmon color that goes so nicely with the lovely pinkish amber membrillo!

I simply made a quick cracker dough, and rolled it into little discs that I pressed into a mini muffin tin. I didn’t want them to be too neat and orderly, they look more like little flowers if you just press them quickly together and crimp them randomly with your fingers.

You could use any kind of cracker dough, and put any number of things inside (food-type things, preferably!) Tapenade and fresh mozzarella would be good. Or goat cheese and a little sprig of arugula, or some capers. Whatever you like!

Here’s Bob Marley’s beautiful My Cup to listen to while you make your little cracker cups.
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Dark, spicy-hot chocolate cookies

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dark chocolate cayenne cookies


I have to come up with a better name for these cookies – but how to describe them? They’re made with extra dark cocoa, and flavored with cayenne, black pepper and ginger for a surprising little bite. They’re filled with tart/sweet unbelievably delicious black currant jam, and they’re topped with dark dark 60% chocolate. All together they’re surprising and addictive. I’d originally thought of this as a cake, and these are like little cakes. The cookies are quite soft, a little crispy and chewy, and the chocolate adds a pleasing crunch. But a soft crunch, if that makes sense? The cayenne is subtle, it sneaks up on you, and gives you a little kick moments after you’ve first tasted the cookie. And it makes the cookies extra-good with either coffee or red wine.

If you want cookies that taste like this but are a little crunchier and harder, try this recipe.

I love the flavor of black currants. (See my ravings in the quince post). I have a small bush in my backyard, but it’s only produced about 20 berries at a time. They’re pretty berries, though! The birds like to eat them right off the bush, which is a pretty sight as well. Did you ever wonder why black currant products, which are plentiful all over europe, are not as common in America? Apparently it’s because black currants, which used to be native, shared a disease with some kind of tree (I can’t remember which one!) so they were outlawed!! So sad. But they’ve come up with disease-resistant stains, now, so maybe they’ll make a comeback.

Here’s Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Pepper Stomp. I love stomps!!
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Roasted Root veg and walnut bisque

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roasted root veg soup

I like the idea of walnuts and root vegetables combined in a soup – all this earthy nutty sweetness called to mind a meal you could make after foraging for nuts and roots on an autumn day. I could imagine Peter Rabbit’s mother making this soup, or maybe Mole of Mole end.

This is a smooth, tawny soup. It’s flavored with caraway seeds and thyme, which is a delicious and mysterious combination – they combine to make something quite different from their familiar, individual tastes. I made a rich flavorful broth, with french lentils, mushrooms, tomato paste, tamari and marmite, but you could use any vegetable broth you like. And the same goes for the root vegetables…I used quite a variety – turnips, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots… but you could narrow it down to a few favorites if you like.

Serve with shavings of good sharp cheddar, which goes well with caraway seeds and walnuts, and contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the vegetables.

Here’s Jimmy Smith’s killer Root Down (and get it). Guess who sampled this?
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