Going for Gold in Sochi

When the Olympic torch is lit tonight in Sochi, Russia, my family will cheer on hometown girl, Elana Meyers, competing again on the U.S. women's bobsledding team. Having any Olympian from our suburban Atlanta, Georgia, community, is one thing, but quite another to have a winter Olympian from a town that shuts down when two inches of snow falls.

Elane Meyers, Georgia girl and Olympic bobsledder. From Twitter.

Elana was a standout athlete in high school and aspired to become a summer Olympian. In 2007, she was recruited to try out for the bobsled team and made the team her rookie year. She won a bronze medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics and is a favorite to medal again in Sochi. We're proud of you, Elana! Bring some gold back home to Georgia~

Russian tea. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I don't suppose I know any "real" Russian foods, just American foods that are described as Russian ~ Russian dressing, which to my mind is Thousand Island by another name (minus the pickle relish). And Mexican wedding cookies are sometimes called Russian tea cakes ~ I love those shattery cookies dusted with powdered sugar.

And then there's Russian tea, the mixture of Tang, powdered tea, cinnamon and clove, given as hostess gifts throughout the holidays of my youth. Small Mason jars with circles of  gingham lodged between the lid and ring always make me smile.

Here's the recipe that I remember for Russian Tea from a mix:

 1 cup instant tea powder

2 cups orange flavored drink mix

1 (3 oz.) package powdered lemonade

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Add 2 heaping teaspoons to 8 ounces of hot water to serve.

For a real treat, I made Russian tea from scratch for my family, using freshly squeezed juice. This has been our wintertime luxury ~ fresh juice from oranges, tangerines and Meyer lemons .

Temple oranges. Lucy Mercer

Juicing oranges. Lucy Mercer.

Russian tea from scratch

• 1 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups orange juice
• 4 regular size tea bags
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole cloves
• 1/2 gallon water
• 1 cup sugar
•   

Added To Shopping List!

1. Boil water with cloves and cinnamon sticks for 20 minutes, remove from heat, add tea bags and let steep for about 15 minutes.
2. Add juices and sugar, bring to a boil and let simmer.
3. Skim foam from mixture. Let cool slightly, strain and serve.

This post is part of #LetsLunch, a global Twitter party. This month we're celebrating the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Check back for links from these great writers from around the world:

Homemade applesauce recipe (microwave version)

Homemade applesauce. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

This time of year, I end up with a glut of apples, from friends, grocery store sales and trips to North Georgia apple barns. Homemade applesauce is an easy and kid-friendly recipe to help use up these beautiful apples. My favorite recipe uses a microwave for the heavy lifting - easier than risking burning on the cook-top. Forgive the hippy-dippy instructions - this is more of a method than a recipe.

Homemade Applesauce in the Microwave

1. Peel, core and coarsely chunk six or eight apples. A mix of varieties works best. My last batch included Galas and Red Romes. I even use apples that are a bit past their prime, including the iffy bruised apples in the bottom of the apple bag - just cut out the bad parts.

2. Place apples in large, tall container suitable for the microwave. I use a tall gallon container. Pour apple juice (if you have it, water if you don't) to cover apples by about a third.

3. Place container in microwave and zap at full power for five minutes. Stir and zap for five minutes more. This may require more zapping, just check to make sure the apples are cooked through. Stir in a few tablespoons of butter and sugar, if needed. Let cool and puree in food processor.

4. If you simply must have cinnamon, then spice it up by all means. I like it straight, no sugar added. Warm applesauce makes a first-rate side dish for most kid dinners. It's delish also with a pancake and bacon supper.

Apple tree at Mercier Orchards. Lucy Mercer/ A Cook and Her Books

Look for more pictures of Blue Ridge and Mercier's here.
More apple recipes:

French thin-crust apple tart
Classic apple dumplings
Short-cut apple dumplings
Apple Crisp
Apple Blondie, aka German Apple Cake

Three more recipes that use apples:

Morning Glory Muffins
Mulligatawny
Kid-friendly sushi

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Blueberry and Lemon Buttermilk Scones

Blueberry and lemon buttermilk scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I was asked last week how I relieved stress and I replied "bubble baths." I really should have said "fantasizing about blueberries," because that's what I do. Not in the "Why Violet, you're turning violet!" way from "Willy Wonka," but in the "when I retire from this rat race, I'm going all Lisa Douglas and I'm going to buy a blueberry farm." An organic blueberry farm, with U-pick days in summer and a little shed where I can sell blueberry fried pies, blueberry ice cream parfaits and my fresh-baked blueberry scones.

I'll wear a blue-checked apron and a bandana in my hair, and let people call me "Miss Lucy, the blueberry  lady," and I'll be famous for my Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones. Just thinking about my blueberry days calms me, but I do find myself with the craving for blueberry scones.

My blueberry scones are pretty much the bee's knees, tender and flaky, buttery and just sweet enough. I use my standard buttermilk scone dough, folding in frozen berries from last summer (I use fresh when I have them) and the zest of a lemon, laminating the berries in the dough. I brush them with a buttermilk wash and sprinkle demerara sugar over the tops, for a little bit of sweet crunch as you bite into the tender scone.

Here is my scone shaping method:

1.  I begin by pressing the dough into a rectangle roughly 12 X 6 inches. (I used to have ruler in my kitchen drawer that was quite useful in these situations, but it was used for a homework project and never returned. I'm sure this never happens to you. A chopstick, conveniently, makes an adequate stand-in.)

Buttermilk scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

2. I scatter a cup of frozen blueberries over the dough, followed by the zest of a lemon.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 3. I use my hands to firmly press the berries into the dough.



Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 4.  Fold the dough into thirds, letter-style, over the middle third.



Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer//A Cook and Her Books

5. Fold the remaining third over the middle.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



 6. Turn the dough and press into a rough rectangle approximately 12 X 6 inches.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 7. Repeat the letter-folding. One-third over middle third.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

8. Final third over middle third. Just push any errant berries firmly back into the dough.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 9. And press back into the familiar 12 X 6 inch rectangle.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 10. Preheat oven to 400 and have a lined baking sheet nearby. I use Silpat liners, but parchment paper will work, too. Using a sharp knife, cut dough in half cross-wise.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 11. Then half each half. In other words, you want four equal sections of dough.

Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 
12. Cut each fourth lengthwise, for a total of eight sections.


Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 13. Cut each eighth diagonally in half, for a total of 16 scones.



Blueberry scone dough by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

14. Enter the helper, looking for a job. In addition to cracking eggs, she is quite skilled at "painting dough."

Kitchen helper by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


15. Brush the scones with buttermilk. You may also use cream or half-n-half or make even make an egg wash.



Painting the scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 16. Sprinkle demerara sugar over the tops of scones. Granulated sugar will work, too.

Sprinkling the sugar by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

17. Bake scones at 400 for 15 minutes.

Blueberry lemon scones fresh from the oven by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

   Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones
A key to tender scones is to shred frozen butter into the dry ingredients. I store butter in the freezer, so this is usually convenient. In the wintertime, when my house is at 68 degrees, I can by using butter straight from the refrigerator, but in the summer, when the house is at 78 degrees, frozen butter makes a big difference.


3 cups  unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon. salt

2 1/2 teaspoons. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon. baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, plus extra

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Zest of 1 lemon

Half and half or milk or cream for glazing, optional

Demerara or sparkle sugar for glazing

1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a regular grater, shred the frozen butter and lightly mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

2. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle and follow shaping instructions above. Fold in 1 cup blueberries and lemon zest, then fold into thirds, letter-style. Press into 12 X 6 rectange again and fold letter-style again. Press again into a 12 X 6 rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream and sprinkle sugar over the top. Bake at 400 for at least 15 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk Scones by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Luscious Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake (for National Pound Cake Day)

Lemon cream cheese pound cake. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I'm not sure how or why there is a National Pound Cake Day, but here it is the 4th day of March, in the holiday lull between St. Valentine's and St. Patrick's Day and I guess somebody needed an excuse to bake. Pound cake is as good an excuse as any, I suppose.

The classic pound cake requires a pound of each ingredient - butter to sugar to flour to eggs. Without leavening, this makes for a large, dense cake. Modern cakes tend to fudge on the ratio. My go-to recipe has a ratio of approximately 1.25 pounds fat (combined cream cheese and butter) : .75 pound sugar : .75 pound flour : .6 pound eggs.

Looking for a new flavor, I dug out a cookbook that has hugged my pantry shelf for at least 15 years - "The Pound Cake Cookbook" by Bibb Jordan (Longstreet Press, 1994). It's a darling little book, cover price $8.95, with nearly 40 recipes from Chocolate Cherry Pound Cake to Savory Cheese Pound Cake. My eyes locked on "Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake" - I'm a sucker for anything with lemon - lemon cookies, lemon curd, lemon meringue pie, lemon bars.

This recipe is surprising, first with the self-rising flour. Pound cakes are traditionally leavened only with eggs, which can make for a leaden leaven. I personally like a dense texture, but this lighter cake is a winner, too. Because of the leavening, it bakes faster, in under an hour, and has a lighter, spongier texture. It’s perfect for a spring dessert. With Easter and Mother’s Day falling within two weeks of each other, this would make an excellent cake for the holiday table. The cake is pretty with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, but I like the puckery tart sweetness of the lemon glaze.

Lemons by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

Adapted from The Pound Cake Cookbook by Bibb Jordan (Longstreet Press, 1994)



3 medium lemons, zested and juiced

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

8 ounces 1/3-less-fat (Neufchatel) cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups self-rising flour

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1. Preheat oven to 325. Prepare a tube or Bundt pan with baking spray or butter and flour.

2. In large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Gradually add sugar. Add eggs two at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Add flour, lemon zest, lemon extract and two tablespoons of lemon juice (reserve remainder of juice for lemon glaze), beating until flour is incorporated and batter is smooth and free of lumps.

4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 325. Cake is done when tester comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack. While cake is cooling, prepare the Lemon Glaze.

Lemon Glaze

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 to 1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

1. In a medium bowl, combine lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar. Whisk until combined and lump-free. If the glaze is lumpy, whisk vigorously, then let sit for 10 minutes or so, the lumps will be absorbed.

2. Glaze lemon pound cake while still warm.

My little kitchen helper wanted to decorate the cake, and she just happened to have a box of Valentine hearts....

Lemon Pound Cake with Valentines by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The artist and her creation. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



Happy National Pound Cake Day! Don't forget to leave cake for the elves!

 

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Molasses Pecan Squares: Or the Cookbook, the Chef and Me

Molasses Pecan Squares/Heart of the Artichoke (Artisan/2010).



Sorghum Pecan Squares by Chef Linton Hopkins, Holeman and Finch (photo by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books)


When I was a little girl, just starting to bake, I would become very upset when my creations didn't look like the pictures in the cookbooks. The cakes would be lopsided, or cracked, too dark, sometimes too light. I remember my mom telling me that my creations were homemade and that's better than what's pictured in the book. Her advice has reassured me all these years in the kitchen because, while my food looks and tastes great, it still doesn't look like the picture.

I thought about this recently as I tried the recipe for Molasses Pecan Squares from David Tanis' wonderful cookbook "Heart of the Artichoke and Other Culinary Journeys." Tanis is part-time chef at the legendary Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., the remainder of the year he writes and cooks from his home in France. I had the opportunity to meet Chef Tanis in December for lunch at Holeman & Finch Public House. Chef Linton Hopkins prepared a splendid meal for about a dozen Atlanta writers, bloggers and photographers, using recipes from Tanis' book.

The meal consisted of roasted chicken, Sea Island peas with ham hocks and bacon, cabbage with apples, and many more delightful items. The dessert was a very homey kind of sweet, typically Tanis, who has a gift for simple, elegant, seasonal food - Molasses Pecan Squares, the texture of a blondie and that molasses taste reminiscent of gingerbread (without the ginger). (The top photograph is from "Heart of the Artichoke" and shows Tanis' mouth-watering version of the recipe.) Chef Hopkins' version went all-out Southern, using sorghum instead molasses. The Holeman & Finch serving was flatter and larger and absolutely choked with pecans, as you can see in the second photograph, and was absolutely yummy. I intend to find some sorghum and give his version a try.

And here's my version, darker, flatter, with fewer pecans because I couldn't find that extra bag that I swore was in the freezer. Still, they were tasty and chewy and my Mom loved them. Thanks, Mom.



Homemade Molasses Pecan Squares by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Molasses Pecan Squares



Molasses is a classic American ingredient, and so are pecans. Here they make a dessert that is a little like gingerbread.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened, plus more for buttering the dish

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons molasses

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus a handful of whole pecans for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch-square baking dish. Cream the 8 tablespoons butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. (An electric mixer is helpful.) Add the egg yolks, molasses, and vanilla and beat well.

2. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt, and add to the mixing bowl, stirring well. Stir in the chopped pecans.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold them into the batter.

4. Spread the batter in the dish, and sprinkle the whole pecans over the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness with a kitchen knife; when it comes out dry, the dessert is done. Cool in the pan and cut into 3-inch squares.

Excerpted from "Heart of the Artichoke and Other Culinary Journeys" by David Tanis (Artisan Books, 2010)

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer, unless stated otherwise.



For more stories and recipes from David Tanis, see:

Grapefruit Drinks

Black-eyed Peas with Ham Hocks and Bacon

Flat-Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

Bake a chocolate pound cake for the ones you love

Chocolate pound cake by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

A homemade cake is a nice thing to have around the house during a long weekend, or perhaps you want to bake a gift for a friend. This chocolate pound cake fills the bill. It's not a death-by-chocolate type cake, just a pleasing cocoa taste and tender texture. With a bit of chocolate glaze, it  makes a kid-pleasing birthday cake.

Chocolate Pound Cake

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease a Bundt or tube pan with nonstick spray. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

2. In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Add vanilla.

3. Pour batter into a Bundt or tube pan and place in a 325 degree oven. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center is clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool on wire rack.

Look for more ideas for gifts from the kitchen like Orange Pecan Coconut Balls , Roasted Almonds and my never-the-same-way-twice Ranch Snack Mix on A Cook and Her Books. Looking for cookies? Try Scottish Shortbread and Macadamia Tassies.

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Good Gravy

Gravy for poultry by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Good gravy is a godsend, whether you need it to dress the bird, the dressing or the mashed potatoes, having homemade gravy on the Thanksgiving table pretty much separates the real cooks from the duffers.

There's no particular magic to gravy, just attention to ingredients and proper stirring to eliminate lumps will carry a novice through. Here's the recipe that I've used for years - it's based on canned chicken broth, but substitute homemade turkey or chicken or vegetable broth as you wish. For the Thanksgiving feast, combine the gravy with some of the pan drippings from the bird for a truly spectacular gravy (if the bird has been brined, add drippings judiciously, the salt can quickly overwhelm the sauce).

Gravy for Poultry

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 stalk celery, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme, if available

1 (32 oz) package low-salt chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste.

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add the vegetables, all roughly chopped, and let brown, stirring occasionally. Pour chicken broth into a microwavable container and zap for 1 minute.

2. Stir the vegetables until they are nice and caramel-colored, about 10 minutes, then add 1/4 cup all-purpose flour. Stir this into the vegetables for an additional 5 minutes or so. Then gradually add 4 cups of warm broth. Strain the broth through a sieve, discarding the solids. Season to taste. Cool and store the gravy in the fridge for a day or so, or place in the freezer until Thanksgiving Day.

3. On Turkey Day, stand by the stove, lovingly stirring the gravy, adjusting the seasoning and admiring your kitchen skills. Homemade gravy without lumps, and not requiring a packet or a pocket or a jar.

Heaven is a gingery pineapple scone for breakfast

I made these scones this morning, on a whim and a prayer. I intended to make apricot scones, but found only dried pineapple. Turns out, pineapple and ginger are a luscious scone combination. This recipe is limited only by the dried fruit in your pantry. What combination strikes your fancy? Cranberry and orange? Apricot and almond? Dried cherry and chocolate? Let me know in the comments. All reasonable requests will be honored.

Gingery Pineapple Scones

1/ 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional, but quite nice)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, and grated on the coarse side of a shredder

4 ounces dried pineapple, chopped

2 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk (whole, if you can find it)

Extra buttermilk, or cream, for brushing the tops

Demerara or sparkle sugar, for tops

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Pour in the grated butter and using your fingers, smush until the butter is incorporated, forming coarse crumbs with some the size of peas. Add in dried pineapple and ginger.

3. In a mixing cup, stir together egg and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients and using a spatula, stir just until combined.

4. Lightly flour the counter and turn dough out. Shape into a an 8-inch round and use a knife to cut out 8 wedges. Place the wedges on the baking sheet. Brush with cream or buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake in oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, let cool and serve warm.

Text and images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Don't mess with Texas (caviar)

 

The saying goes “everything is bigger in Texas,” including, it appears, the "caviar" created from the humble black-eyed pea in the vinaigrette-soaked relish known as “Texas caviar.” This dish was made popular in Texas by a chef and cookbook author named Helen Corbitt, who built Neiman-Marcus into a shopping mecca known as much for its food as its over-the-top gifts. I accent this snack with home-baked lime tortilla chips.

Texas Caviar

4 cups cooked black-eyed peas

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1 small onion, cut into small dice

1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced

Cilantro, handful, chopped, optional

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons red wine vinegar

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1. In a medium size bowl, mix together peas, tomato, onion, bell pepper and cilantro, if using. In a separate bowl, stir together vinaigrette ingredients. Pour dressing over peas. Serve with tortilla chips.

 Baked Lime & Salt Tortilla Chips

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

10 fresh corn tortillas

1. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, water and salt. Brush both sides of the tortillas with mixture. Cut each tortilla into six pieces and spread in a single layer on two baking sheets.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Bake chips in oven for 10 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets to ensure even crisping. Serve warm from the oven, with extra salt sprinkled just before serving.

  A primer on cooking dried black eyed peas:

1.      1.  Take one pound of dried black eyed peas and pour out on a baking sheet. Sort out any rocks and gnarly-looking peas, discarding the losers.

2.      2.  Pour the peas into a large bowl and cover with water. Let soak for up to an hour or overnight, changing the water several times.

3.      3.  Drain the peas and pour into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes, or until peas are tender. The peas will foam up and to keep the peas pretty, you may want to skim the foam with a fine mesh skimmer that can be rinsed in a bowl of cold water. Salt the peas after they are tender, never before. 

M Mmmm, you're thinking, salty and savory, I sure could use a drink to go with this, well, here you go, a Fizzy Limonade that my girls invented this afternoon.

Fizzy Limonade

3 cups water

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of one lime

1 cup lime juice (about 6 Persian limes - not Key limes)

Club soda

Lime slices for garnish

1. In a small saucepan, make a simple syrup by combining sugar, water and lime zest. Bring just to a boil, stir to dissolve sugar, then remove from heat.

2. Set up a fine mesh strainer over a bowl filled with 2 cups of ice. Slowly pour lime-flavored syrup through the strainer. Discard the grated lime zest.

3. Stir the lime juice into the simple syrup mixture.

4. For individual servings, fill glasses 1/3 full with club soda, then to the top with limonade. Garnish with a thin slice of lime.

Text and images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Vegetable Broth a Snap to Make



Vegetables for Broth by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Vegetable broth is a very useful thing to have on hand, or to put together on the fly. It makes soups sing and is a meat-free enhancement for rice and other dinnertime grains. Canned vegetable broth is usually no better than “ok,” so if you’re the kind of cook who keep carrots and celery and onions on hand, then you can put together this basic broth. Your food and family will thank you.

Roasted Vegetable Broth

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 carrots, peeled and diced ½ inch

1 onion, peeled and diced ½ inch

2 stalks celery, trimmed and diced ½ inch

1 bay leaf

Sprinkle of salt and pepper

Water

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat vegetable oil and add vegetables in stages, beginning with onions and concluding with celery. Add a small amount of salt to aid sweating and stir frequently. When vegetables begin softening, place lid on pot. After five minutes, stir and add water to cover, about 4 cups. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, add bay leaf and let steep for at least 20 minutes and up to 45. Let cool. Strain and use in recipe.

Apron Strings

Chicken & Dumplings. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

My mom is cleaning out. She says that she's doing my brothers and me a favor by doing a big clean before, heaven forbid, something happens to her and Dad. Mom remembers too well cleaning out her father's basement when he passed away at age 89. That basement could have been a time capsule - suitcases with Aunt Eloise's x-rays, discarded wheelchairs and crutches from various family hospital stays through the years, cancelled checks from 1910. I wish I could say I was making this up, but I was along for the emptying of the basement and I remember it well.

My mom's big clean means that my brother got the telephone lamp - you hang up the receiver to dim the light, something we could do for hours as children - and I got Mom’s collection of aprons. Does anyone outside of a restaurant kitchen wear aprons anymore? I don't always remember to wear them, but my mom always did when preparing dinner. She kept them in the bottom drawer next to the Harvest Gold side-by-side refrigerator, separate from the kitchen towels. That’s right, she had a drawer just for aprons. She made them herself, cotton gingham with rickrack trim and a single pocket. When I helped in the kitchen, I’d pull one out, asking first for the organza hostess aprons that weren’t practical (they were dressy aprons meant for tea and bridge parties), but settling for the gingham and rickrack version with the gathers at the waist. The aprons would circle my waist, fully covering me and the ties would wrap twice or sometimes three times around. Those days are gone.

On some of those apron-wearing days, Mom would let me choose a recipe and we would cook together. She didn’t have a lot of cookbooks, but she did have an old-fashioned recipe folder stuffed with yellowed newspaper clippings. There were more than recipes in the binder - vintage Erma Bombeck columns, clipped because they made Mom laugh out loud; a real estate listing of a log home by a river, complete with a working mill; these were Mom’s life and dreams. And there were recipes, tried and true gems from the newspapers where we lived when my family was young - the Nashville Banner, the Tennesseean, the Spartanburg Herald and Charlotte Observer (we lived in Gaffney, South Carolina, and subscribed to the Gaffney Ledger, and occasionally the Spartanburg paper, but Mom insisted that the Observer had the best food section).

Mom’s chicken and dumplings recipe came from one of these clippings, in a story from the Charlotte paper about a woman who raised a dozen kids in the darkest days of the Depression. She lived on a farm and learned to make great quantities of food for her family. Her recipe produced tender chicken and fluffy dumplings and was finished off with the odd choice of a ½ stick of margarine melted on top. Over the years, Mom and I have each changed the recipe to suit our cooking styles. She makes hers with boneless chicken breasts and canned broth. I prefer meat on the bone and the broth from a gentle poach. Neither of us adds the margarine at the end.

Making broth. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

When I think of my inspiration in the kitchen, I know that it most surely comes from my mom, but I can’t think of a single recipe that is all hers, that I make just the way Mom taught me. My mom is an excellent cook, but I have to say the greatest cooking lesson she ever gave me was to be open-minded and to learn where I can - from other cooks, from books, from TV. I absorb it all and the results are my own.

I make chicken and dumplings about once a month, especially during the winter. When I make this recipe, it makes so much more than my family can eat, so I will pull out a couple of servings and give them to her. She says my chicken and dumplings are better than hers. Can you believe that?

Dumplings ready for the stew-pot. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

My latest variation is in response to some folks who claim a metallic taste in baking powder. I understand this, especially with these dumplings which require three teaspoons baking powder to 3 cups flour - that’s a lot of baking powder. I borrowed a technique from "The Gift of Southern Cooking" by Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis. Miss Lewis made her own baking powder of ¼ cup cream of tartar to 2 tablespoons baking soda. I mixed this up and used it in the dumplings with great success.

Dumplings in broth. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

When I make this recipe, I don't always use a whole chicken - it's quite good made with just chicken breasts or chicken thighs, but if using the latter, I always brown the skin first and remove it, scraping up the tasty bits in the bottom of the pan to enhance the broth. I will also use chicken broth, homemade or canned, instead of the water. But the dumplings are never altered. They are different from most dumplings - they puff like biscuits in the stew. After reheating, they absorb the broth, swelling into yummy pillows.

Chicken & Dumplings. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Chicken and Dumplings

Stew
1 (3 lb.) chicken
1 onion, peeled and cut into wedges
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Water
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced medium
3 carrots, peeled and diced medium

Dumplings
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
About 1 1/2 cups milk, more or less, for the dumplings
Additional milk for the stew

1. Wash chicken and place in pot with water to cover. Add onion and bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and simmer until meat is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken from pot, let cool and remove meat from bones. Throw away carcass, chop meat. Reserve broth.

2. To make dumplings, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening by your preferred method (I’ve given up on pastry blenders; hands are my favored tool for this), until mixture is mealy and the particles are small. Add enough cold milk to make a workable dough, up to a cup and a half. Knead the dough and lightly press out 1/2 inch thick with floured hands onto a floured counter. Cut into 1 - inch strips.

3. Bring broth to a gentle boil, using a fine mesh skimmer to scoop up the fat and gray crud from the surface. In a separate pan, cook celery, onions and carrots in a small amount of water until soft, about 10 minutes. Add cooked vegetables to broth, then chicken pieces, then gently drop dumplings into pot, allowing each to puff up and rise to the surface. When all dumplings are in, add milk to the stew to achieve proper consistency, about a cup or two. Taste for seasoning. Let simmer about 15 minutes. Feed to your hungry family.

© 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Incredible, edible egg salad

Egg salad is a humble and filling concoction. It can be as simple as leftover hard-boiled eggs and a jar of Hellmann’s or, with a little finesse, a show-off sandwich spread and star of an elegant appetizer. The secret is to employ the magic of the eggs, letting eggs do double duty as the bulk of the salad and the binder, which means, in this case, making mayonnaise from scratch. Mayonnaise from scratch need hold no fear for the home cook. One fresh egg yolk, less than a cup of fresh oil, a few minutes of your time and a sturdy whisk are all it takes to make a luscious, homemade mayonnaise that will elevate your egg salad from ho-hum to va-va-va-voom.

Pay attention to the basics when making your egg salad sandwich. Eggs should be properly boiled, no mineral gray ring covering the chalky yolk; whites just set, not rubbery. Creamy mayo, but not too salty. A little kick, maybe pepper, maybe hot sauce. Onion? No way, but perhaps a hint of chive. Crunch? Celery is for sissies and potato salad. I prefer radishes for a peppery bite and crunch. The bread must be toasted, and wheat is the only way to go. The blandness of white bread offers no contrast to the creamy egg salad.

Homemade Mayonnaise

Adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook and online sources

1 very fresh egg yolk

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup canola oil

1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Pepper to taste

1. In a small bowl, place egg yolk, mustard and salt. Whisk until combined. Drop by drop, pour and whisk ¼ cup of the canola oil into the mixture. This will take up to 10 minutes (for me, at least). After the oil is thoroughly combined with the yolk, whisk in the vinegar and lemon juice. In a slow stream, add remaining oil. Take your time and make sure you do this right. If the mixture ever looks like it’s separating, stop pouring in oil and whisk the heck out of it, to combine. If you do this right, you will see the mixture change from dark yellow to lighter and creamier, ultimately a thick sauce, not fluffy like the stuff from the jar, but creamy and delicious, just the same.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Everyone and his dog has a recipe for perfect hard-boiled eggs. My advice is to keep trying until you find one that works for you. Here’s my method:

Start with a saucepan and insert a steamer basket (if you have it - this makes it easier to remove the eggs and also keeps them from bouncing around on the bottom of the pot). Place 6 eggs on opened basket, cover with cold water, bring to a rolling boil, cover and cook for less than a minute. Pull covered pan off the heat and turn kitchen timer to 13 minutes. Some folks say 12 minutes, some say 15. All I know is that mine were cooked perfectly at 13 minutes. Have an ice water bath nearby and plunge the cooked eggs into the cold water. When cool enough to handle, peel away the shells. Old eggs are easier to peel due to the air pocket, fresher eggs stubbornly hang on to their shells.

Egg Salad

½ cup homemade mayonnaise

6 hard-boiled eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons chopped chives

thinly sliced radishes

Assemble sandwich:

1. To properly chop the eggs, I employ the same tool that I use to make a pie crust: a pastry blender. Halve the boiled eggs into a bowl and mash them up with the blender, you may also use a fork.

2. While mixing the spread, toast the wheat bread, use homemade if available.

3. Gently fold the chopped eggs into the mayonnise. Texture is what you’re after. Taste and correct seasoning. It may need more mayo for moisture or acid for contrast. Will probably definitely need pepper.

4. Spread a thin layer of mayo on bread. Then layer radishes, then egg salad. Apply lid to sandwich. Grab a good book, pull up to the counter and tuck in.

Oh, and here's the bonus: a canape: Egg Salad with Chives on Radish Rounds. How simple is this, a baby spoonful of egg salad on a sliced radish, with a sliver of chive on top?

Text & images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.