King Arthur Flour

One of the longest running advertisers on the Yankee Kitchen Show was King Arthur Flour.

And since it was featured on Gus's show, it was the only flour my mother would buy.

You're probably familiar with the King Arthur shop online service with all kinds of products for bakers.

Did you know that they also have a store located in Norwich, Vermont?  They've just expanded it and it is gorgeous!  If you're into all things food, you must go!

I visited it yesterday.  I scheduled a stay in Vermont with my kids for the primary purpose of seeing their store and their newly re-opened cafe.  We're all food nuts.  As you know, the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.  It seems whatever my food focus is at the moment, they're happy to go along with it.

The beautiful King Arthur Flour store, cafe, courtyard, and campus in Norwich, Vermont

King Arthur Flour seems like a great company to work for.
They just posted sixteen positions if you're interested.

Here's a look inside their bright, spacious store...

In the corner are samples of freshly baked goods along with recipes.
You can see their demonstrations on the screen above.  

The newly remodeled cafe just opened this week.

Sugar cookie samples

And, of course, bread for sale

You can take classes at their Baking Education Center.  The Norwich location is their flagship campus.

Here you can look through the glass to see bakers at work.  

And now for a chewy almond delight.

These were the cookies they were giving out along with the recipe.  Of course, you can purchase any hard-to-find ingredients at their store.

Almond Cloud Cookies

Almond Cloud Cookies - gluten free

10 ounces almond paste

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon gluten-free almond extract

1/8 teaspoon extra-strong bitter almond oil

Confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, for topping

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) Blend the almond paste, sugar, and salt until the mixture becomes uniformly crumbly; this is best done in a stand mixer.

3) Add the egg whites gradually, while mixing, to make a smooth paste.

4) Stir in the flavorings.

5) Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared pans.

6) Sprinkle the cookies heavily with confectioners' sugar, then use three fingers to press an indentation into the center of each cookie.

7) Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're brown around the edges.  Remove them from the oven and let them cool right on the pan.

Yield: 21 cookies

Green sauces

My thoughts are turning to green pasta sauces these days....

This lovely lady looks like she's eaten a lot of green sauces with that green tinge on her face.

Now that basil's in season, it's time for pesto.

I started making pesto during the 80's when I was into my vegetarian phase which lasted about 3 months.  It began one fall at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine when I looked into the big brown eyes of a cow and thought, "How can I eat that beautiful creature?!"

The Moosewood Cookbook was popular at this time.  No meat in there, but certainly lots of cheese and butter!  I tweaked the Moosewood's pesto recipe by varying the amounts and eliminating the melted butter.  Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

Pesto

2 packed cups of washed and dried basil leaves, removed from stems.

2 large cloves garlic

1/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup packed fresh parsley

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
~1/4 cup olive oil

salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, except for olive oil and salt, and blend into a paste. Add olive oil slowly until it has reached a consistency that you like. Add salt to taste. Serve over pasta with a drizzle of olive oil and more parmesan if desired.

Makes enough pesto for 1 pound of pasta - enough to serve 6 people.


The Moosewood Cookbook also featured a Spinach Yogurt sauce.  Last night I wanted to make something with spinach and feta, so I used the sauce recipe as a jump off point.  

That's tasty stuff right there!

Spinach-Feta Sauce

1 pound of fresh spinach, washed and stems removed
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled - I used a reduced fat version
1/2 TB unsalted butter
salt & pepper to taste
plain yogurt cheese - recipe follows
1 pound of fettucine


Wash the spinach and remove the stems, don't dry the spinach.  Place in large pot, steam it over medium heat for a few minutes until done.  Pour off remaining liquid.  Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of feta until it begins to melt, add the butter, and add a little salt if you like, and some pepper.  Place in a bowl and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of feta.  Serve with fettucine and yogurt cheese on the side.

Yogurt cheese

Place 1 pound of plain yogurt in a sieve - I used a store brand low fat yogurt - and put this over a deep bowl.  Place in refrigerator overnight.  Believe it or not, this will exude almost one cup of liquid.  Discard liquid.  What remains is a cup of lovely thick yogurt cheese that you can use alone as a substitute for cream cheese, as a basis for a dip, or serve with jam or honey with muffins.  Or just eat it with some fruit. 

Pasta flashbacks!

I was just thinking of a meal that was served to me many moons ago.  A very good friend of mine invited me to dinner for pasta with pesto. Although her husband was the cook in the family, she thought she'd step up to the plate, so to speak.  Well, she made pesto alright - except she used dried basil instead of fresh.  Can you imagine?  Oh dear!  At least she tried.  God bless her!


And now another memory shared by a faithful Yankee Kitchen listener...

Chris, devoted fan of Gus's show, wrote to me about his fond memories of a macaroni and cheese that he loved at the Hayes-Bickford cafeteria in Boston's Kenmore Square.  A google search brought up several mentions of their creamy, old-fashioned mac n cheese. Do you remember it?  Do you have a mac n cheese recipe that recreates it?  I'd love to share it and your comments, as well.  Write to me at ykconnection@gmail.com.

Anita

French Cream Golden Layer Cake

If you can't be on the Champs-Elysees today,

here is a lovely way to enjoy La Fete Nationale,

The National Celebration of France.

~ French Cream Golden Layer Cake ~

The dry ingredients are sifted three times to avoid clumping.

To ensure an even top to the layers, spread the batter

so that it's higher around the edges and flatter in the middle. 

The French Cream is basically a Butter Cream,

 Creme au Beurre, Menagere,

  which is made with egg yolks, sugar, butter, and flavoring.

Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking features

three versions of this classic icing.

Spreading a thin layer of icing first helps prevent getting crumbs on the finished cake. 

A bit of swirling to add a little je ne sais quoi.

Simple is always best.



This recipe was featured in
The Gus Saunders Boston Kitchen Cookbook,
volume 8, April 1972.

French Cream Golden Layer Cake

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs, well beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup milk

Sift flour once then measure.  Add baking powder and salt.  Sift together three times.  Cream butter thoroughly. Add sugar gradually and cream together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, mix well.  Add vanilla.  Add flour alternately with milk a small amount at a time.  Beat well after each addition until smooth.  Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 inch layer pans.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.

French Cream

2 1/4 cups confections sugar, sifted

1 egg

1/2 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons milk

Cream butter.  Add 1 1/4 cups sugar gradually.  Beat well.  Add egg and beat until smooth.  Add remaining sugar gradually and beat well.  Add vanilla and milk and beat well.  Frost between layers of cake and top.

Wine and Food Pairing

Luncheon of the Boating Party / Le déjeuner des canotiers   Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Look at that beautiful scene above.

Could there be anything better than this?  All those sensual pleasures ...

I have a little something on the side, you know.  A job.  If you can call it that.

I do wine tastings.  I like to say that I mix business with pleasure.

Nine years ago, I went to France and enrolled in the Wine & Spirits Program at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.  After a year of studying and traveling to wine regions, I completed the courses and went back to Boston.  There, I attended a wine event for the trade and met a woman who owned a promotional company. I've been working in the wonderful world of wine ever since. 



Did I mention that I love wine?

I love opening it and serving it. 

I love drinking it and talking to people about it.

I love discovering new wines and discussing it with my wine colleagues.   

And most of all, I love sharing great wine and delicious food with my family & friends, sitting around the table, laughing & talking. To me, this is what life is all about.



When I need some inspiration for food and wine pairing, I spend some time with a wonderful book which was a gift from a friend.  It's called Wine, Food, and Friends by Karen MacNeil.

In her introduction, MacNeil refers to wine as liquid flavor.  Putting wine in that perspective really helps when pairing it with food.  If you like to cook, or just like to eat, you instinctively know what tastes good and what seems to go with what.  Wine is just another flavor, a liquid flavor.

The book is divided into four sections - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. With beautiful photographs of seasonal dishes, suggested wine pairings, and Cooking Light magazine's recipes, MacNeil makes it easy for us to set the stage for creating memorable moments with friends.




Penne with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers, a dish based on MacNeil's fond memories of a night in an Italian farmhouse, is easy and delicious.  Her suggested pairing is Teruzzi & Puthod "Terre di Tufi" - a vernaccia with chardonnay and vermentino.

MacNeil notes that dishes which feature tomatoes taste best when paired with lively, acidic, dry wines such as vernaccia, pinot grigio, tocai friulano, Gavi, ameis, or vermentino.






Fresh garlic, basil and tomatoes

My dish with a spiral-shaped pasta, gemelli, that I had on hand



 

Penne with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers

3 cups uncooked tube-shaped pasta

3 TB extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 cups chopped plum tomatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds)

1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives

1 TB capers, drained

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.  Drain.  Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pepper and garlic, sauté 30 seconds.  Add tomatoes, olives, capers, and salt.  Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add pasta to pan, tossing gently to coat, cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.  Remove from heat.  Sprinkle with cheese and basil.  Serves four.

Enjoy!