Beautiful Blondes
A reminder popped up on my iPhone earlier this week: January 22, National Blonde Brownie Day. 
In my hourly tweet, text and voicemail barrage, some things are lost in translation, bits of information tumbling over one another. Luckily, though, this salient fluff of calendar notification was caught in a quiet moment when CNN had ceased in sending minute-by-minute updates of political drama or the myriad foodies I follow had taken a coffee break from tweeting about 2012’s food trends or the next live conversation I needed to join with an expert on…whatever.
But why did I want to remind myself commemorate a day that celebrates a cookie bar, and so closely on the heels of National Buttercrunch Day on January 20?
And then I remembered precisely why I took the time to schedule the alert. Being fascinated with food history and knowledge, I was curious: exactly when did blondies pop up on the food parade over the centuries? My chef friend, whose family has owned one of Kansas City’s iconic restaurants for nearly 60 years and who was probably fed Sunday sauce as a baby while being exposed to conversations by generations from the Old Country bearing witness to tradition, knows every bit morsel of food trivia possible. Italian, American, French…doesn’t matter. The only off-limits topic is Indian food—he doesn’t know a shred about it.
Turns out the blonde brownie—or blondie, take your pick—morphed into the beloved chocolate treat of bake sales and after-school snacks once chocolate and cocoa became more accessible and affordable to the general population, thanks to mass production. Pre-brownie, the gooey dessert was made with light brown sugar/molasses and butter, reminiscent of butterscotch candy popular in mid-19th century America and before that, it was those crazy European Medieval and Renaissance cooks whipping up shallow pans of gingerbread. Pre-dating that were the ancient Roman, Egyptian and Greeks who made soft honey cakes.
So there you have it. Not an earth-shattering journey to modern-day cookbooks. No hot culinary trends in blonde brownies on the horizon. No half-hour television specials devoted to its humble beginnings. Just another chapter in our cookie jar history, to be enjoyed in all manners.
-Kimberly Winter Stern
If you don’t have time to order the Dean & DeLuca Brownie & Blondie Assortment for your celebration on Sunday, make your own treats. My friend, Chef Jasper J. Mirabile, Jr. has shared his slightly addictive recipe for blonde brownies made with his secret weapon: extra virgin olive oil. There’s also fresh orange zest and a dusting of coarse sea salt to add intrigue to this beautiful blonde. Pour yourself a cold glass of milk and see if you can eat just one and stop.
Sea Salt Blonde Brownies
Ingredients
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup pecans chopped
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 c. flour (sifted)
2 eggs
3/4 cup XV Olive oil (extra virgin olive oil)
2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. fresh orange zest
2 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 /2 cup butterscotch morsel
1/2 cup Dark Chocolate chip morsels
Method Brown Sugar Sea Salt Olive Oil Vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pecans and flour in a large mixing bowl. Mix. Add olive oil, eggs, orange zest, vanilla and milk. Mix well. Pour in greased 9x9x2 baking pan. Add butterscotch and chocolate morsels on top. Dust with course sea salt. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack and cut into 2X2 squares.
Overland Park, Kan.-based freelance writer Kimberly Winter Stern writes travel, food, lifestyle and design. Also known as the gregarious and cuisine-informed Kim Dishes, listeners tune in weekly for her on-the-road segments on “LIVE! From Jasper’s Kitchen,” a popular Kansas City radio food show. Prolific in eating, writing and discovering, this foodie satisfies an innate desire to sample the world’s gastronomic rainbow by meeting food artisans and trendsetters, gaining insight into the culinary points-of-view of everyone from cheese makers, chocolatiers and chefs who set their city’s locavore pace to farmers who are passionate producers. Stern is a sought-after writer, with work appearing in Better Homes and Gardens, Unity, KANSAS! Magazine, 435 South magazine, KC Homes & Gardens, Generation Boom, Shawnee Magazine, KC Magazine, KC Home Design, KC Business and Midwest CEO. Stern is a national blogger for the Dean & DeLuca Gourmet Food Blog where she cooks, styles, shoots and writes about life and cooking … and loves to lick the bowl clean. This writer may have been given product and/or other compensation from Dean & DeLuca for this post.
Print This Post / 1 Comment / Jan 20.12 / Facts & Tidbits, Recipes: Sweet / by Dean & DeLuca
There’s No Place Like Home: Dean & DeLuca in Kansas
Since the mid-1990s, I’ve called it my happy place—the freestanding store on the northwest corner of 119th and Roe in Leawood, Kansas that bears the unmistakable block letters/ampersand of Dean & DeLuca. That familiar signage heralds the culinary Disneyland awaiting customers beyond the store’s double glass doors.
Located in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, the store represents more than a retail outlet of an iconic gourmet emporium whose flagship is in New York City. Leawood’s Dean & DeLuca punctuates the cycles of my life, the changing of the seasons, the celebrations of family and friends.
It’s a refuge when I’m sad and need a bit of Christopher Elbow chocolate to realign my attitude; holiday headquarters when I’m stocking up on recipe ingredients and gifts; a satellite office where I sip espresso drinks and dunk biscotti in the café when meeting clients. It’s the first place I go to restock my spice cabinet and replenish my olive oil can. It’s my fast food of choice, where I order a Caesar salad to go so I can watch the employees theatrically toss the perfectly dressed greens in the air and then plop them into a container. It’s my tasting kitchen where I sample the latest in cheese and charcuterie. It’s my source for countless hostess gifts—tea towels, tins of tea, a truffle shaver. It’s the place that, when my husband was ill with terminal cancer for two long years, our support group went to keep our refrigerator shelves filled with sustenance.
Acquaintances outside Kansas City, from both coasts and in large cities, are surprised—sometimes downright incredulous—when they learn that a Dean & DeLuca is located 15 minutes from my home.
“In Kansas, really?” they ask, and then query again to make sure I heard them correctly. “The real Dean & DeLuca? In Kansas?”
Truth is, Kansas City is a foodie destination that is gaining national prominence—James Oseland announced on the Today show in late December that KC will have its food moment this year, Zagat and Fodor’s wax poetic about KC chefs and restaurants and Frommer’s hails it as one of the top travel destinations in 2012. Anthony Bourdain put Oklahoma Joe’s, a Kansas born-and-bred barbecue joint, on his bucket list of 13 places you have to eat before you die. People here are sophisticated in their tastes, and know what they like. We have James Beard chefs, celebrity chef-owned restaurants, food trucks, mixologists, world-class ethnic food, coffee roasters, pop-up restaurants…and Dean & DeLuca.
Dean & DeLuca has painstakingly built its reputation and brand on quality—and boutique labels. Shop the aisles of the Leawood store and you’ll discover artisan foods produced in the region—some as close as 5 minutes away—cheeses, chocolates, cookies, sauces.
Leawood general manager Tony Foley and his staff, including assistant manager Brandon Henderson, executive chef Kevin Johnson and packaged foods manager Emma Bland, comb the area for locavore products that meet Dean & DeLuca’s stringent requirements.
For the lucky folks in the Heartland who get to shop Dean & DeLuca every day—buying the best in artisan products from around the world, including Kansas—there really is no place like home.
If you’re ever in town, look me up. I’ll meet you at the Leawood Dean & DeLuca café for a latte and biscotti. My treat.
-Kimberly Winter Stern
photo by: Danna R. Suellentrop
Day in the Life: Leawood Dean & DeLuca
Prepared Foods: Executive chef Kevin Johnson and his kitchen staff start in the early morning hours, cooking from scratch the 40 – 60 items in the case, plus the soups that are offered each day. Chicken salads with Dried Cherries and Apricots and Lobster Dip are among the most popular prepared food items.
Candy: Glistening apothecary jars are filled with a Willy Wonka parade of sweet delights, including gummies, licorices and malted milk balls. According to packaged foods manager Emma Bland, the double-dipped malted milk balls are a customer favorite.
Crowd Control: On any given Saturday, the Leawood Dean & DeLuca will have at least 1,000 customers who purchase from one of its departments, bakery or café—and that doesn’t include the sightseers. Add another 1,000 during the holidays and you have one of Kansas City’s most popular food destinations.
Customer Service: One of Kansas City’s top customer service gurus is behind the prepared food counters. Ric Delaney knows his regulars—thousands of them—by name and food preference. And cashier Barb Hilber, who has been ringing up sales for nearly 13 years at the Leawood Dean & DeLuca, has a fan club. Like Delaney, she knows her customers well—and they line up at her station to chat and catch up as she’s taking of business.
On the Locavore Trail
General manager Tony Foley and assistant manager Brandon Henderson keep the Leawood Dean & DeLuca shelves filled with handpicked local products from Kansas and Missouri small-batch food manufacturers. Saturday is sampling day at the store, when two or three products are featured, often with the food artisan on hand. Here are some popular items.
Bob’s Biscotti from Benish’s Bakery
Kansas City, Mo.
These all-natural cookies for grown-ups are a favorite with shoppers at the Leawood Dean & DeLuca. Thin enough to nibble but sturdy enough to dunk, the line of biscotti includes The Citrus, which combines lemon and orange zests and oils, Cognac and spices.
Christopher Elbow Artisan Chocolates
Kansas City, Mo.
The No. 1 chocolate sold throughout Dean & DeLuca nationwide during the holidays is this award-winning, highly touted luxury product from chef Christopher Elbow of Kansas City, Mo. The signature white boxes wrapped with a silk chocolate-colored ribbon contain divine, handcrafted pieces made from top-shelf ingredients such as 100 percent Venezuelan bean chocolate, French lavender and Grand Marnier. Christopher Elbow chocolates are tiny works of visual art that have garnered the acclaim of connoisseurs the world over.
Landeria Goat Cheese
Olathe, Kan.
Kathy Landers raises every one of her 100 American Alpine goats in Olathe, a Kansas City suburb; she has what she dubs a “close herd.” Landers gets close to 130 gallons of milk daily from her goats, and makes hard and soft cheeses, including the Farmstead Cave-Aged Goat Cheese that’s available in the Leawood Dean & DeLuca cheese case.
Grinders Signature Hot Sauces
Kansas City, Mo.
Chef Aarón Sánchez of “Chopped” and “Heat Seekers” opened up a restaurant five minutes from the Leawood Dean & DeLuca store called Mestizo; he has fallen in love not only with Kansas City, but also with local artist, entrepreneur and foodie Stretch Rumaner’s line of searing hot sauces. The store carries this line of palate-challenging sauces that customers use on chicken wings, in barbecue dishes, as marinades and dipping sauces, including Wimpy, Molten, and Near Death.
Overland Park, Kan.-based freelance writer Kimberly Winter Stern writes travel, food, lifestyle and design. Also known as the gregarious and cuisine-informed Kim Dishes, listeners tune in weekly for her on-the-road segments on “LIVE! From Jasper’s Kitchen,” a popular Kansas City radio food show. Prolific in eating, writing and discovering, this foodie satisfies an innate desire to sample the world’s gastronomic rainbow by meeting food artisans and trendsetters, gaining insight into the culinary points-of-view of everyone from cheese makers, chocolatiers and chefs who set their city’s locavore pace to farmers who are passionate producers. Stern is a sought-after writer, with work appearing in Better Homes and Gardens, Unity, KANSAS! Magazine, 435 South magazine, KC Homes & Gardens, Generation Boom, Shawnee Magazine, KC Magazine, KC Home Design, KC Business and Midwest CEO. Stern is a national blogger for the Dean & DeLuca Gourmet Food Blog where she cooks, styles, shoots and writes about life and cooking … and loves to lick the bowl clean. This writer may have been given product and/or other compensation from Dean & DeLuca for this post.
Print This Post / 2 Comments / Jan 16.12 / Facts & Tidbits / by Dean & DeLuca
Winter’s Comforter
Winter’s Comforter
As the calendar goes deeper into the winter season, there are two points of consolation that make the cold, dark days remotely bearable. First, spring creeps ever closer with sunsets that dip below the horizon a bit later. Second, there is the solace of food that keeps us quite happy and warm while we wait for the ground to thaw and the dogwoods to burst their puffy blooms. We even remain oblivious to the fact that, especially in the Northern climes, the barbecue grill hidden under mounds of snow mocks us, a painful memory of breezy summer meals that fragrance the neighborhood.
But I digress.
Right now it’s the winter of our culinary—forget the dis here—comfort. Domes of flaky pastry crust with bubbling chicken and rosemary-scented vegetables are like cashmere mittens, cozying up our innards. Mounds of mashed potatoes crowning a savory mixture of lamb, carrots and wine wrap us in velvety English-inspired pies. Crusty casseroles that go from oven to table laden with rich stews of beef and aromatic onions rendered meltingly tender from braising slowly in Burgundy, served with tears of crusty peasant bread to sop up the densely flavored and silky sauce, blanket us with maternal cajoling, urging us to surrender to frigid temperatures and “Eat, eat!”
Comfort food at its soothingly best is how I mark time in January. I move about my kitchen bundled in sweats and a ski jersey, sheepskin slippers toasting my toes, a fire blazing in the next room, preparing rib-sticking dishes that would help even a bear in its sustenance seeking pre-hibernation mission.
The winter dinner bell peals with the reassurance that, as forkfuls of comfort food are consumed along with bottles of wine and glasses of dark beer, this is a temporary stop on the calendar’s cuisine train. Soon enough we’ll be sautéing spring peas and tossing marinated kabobs and chops onto the grill. But right now it’s the sturdy belles of winter that keep us satisfied until March’s triumphant vernal equinox.
Eat, eat!
Shepherd’s Pie
Serves 4
This is one of my favorite winter comforters—anything but a pie, the mélange of meat and vegetables under a cover of browned mashed potatoes never disappoints. Tempt summer by serving a purchased apple pie a la mode for dessert. From the Dean & DeLuca Cookbook.
Ingredients
2 large baking potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled
1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound ground lamb
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 ½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 teaspoons flour
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup beef stock
1 cup corn kernels (optional)
Method
Put potatoes in a large saucepan and cover them with water. Bring water to a boil, and cook potatoes for about 40 minutes, until cooked through. Drain potatoes and place in a bowl. Mash them with the milk and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Set aside.
Melt remaining butter in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the garlic and ground lamb and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes, until lamb is well browned. Season with the remaining salt, rosemary, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well and then sprinkle mixture with 2 teaspoons of the flour. Stir again and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour excess grease out of pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add the onion and carrot to pan and cook over moderate heat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of flour and stir. Increase heat slightly, and add the white wine and beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release any caramelized bits. Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by about half.
Add lamb mixture and corn. Stir well and cook another 3 to 4 minutes. (Enough of the liquid should have evaporated that the mixture is held together by a nice thick sauce.)
6. Butter a casserole dish well and spread lamb mixture over the bottom. Cover the lamb with the mashed potatoes and smooth the top. Bake casserole, uncovered, in the oven for 40 minutes, until heated through. Serve immediately.
Comfort Food Superstars
Chicken Pot Pie with Rosemary
We’ve all consumed bland and commercial pot pies—those frozen doorstops from our childhood. Try this recipe for one that isn’t your Swanson’s variety—this pot pie is all grown up, with haricot verts, tiny pearl onions, chunks of sautéed chicken breast and a creamy wine sauce to bind it all together. Vive la comfort food!
Order Up
Or, if you prefer UPS to deliver comfort food to your doorstep, here’s one sure to please: a chicken pot pie with organic peas, carrots, onions and celery with free-range chicken. Large or individual, this aims to please.
-Kimberly Winter Stern
Overland Park, Kan.-based freelance writer Kimberly Winter Stern writes travel, food, lifestyle and design. Also known as the gregarious and cuisine-informed Kim Dishes, listeners tune in weekly for her on-the-road segments on “LIVE! From Jasper’s Kitchen,” a popular Kansas City radio food show. Prolific in eating, writing and discovering, this foodie satisfies an innate desire to sample the world’s gastronomic rainbow by meeting food artisans and trendsetters, gaining insight into the culinary points-of-view of everyone from cheese makers, chocolatiers and chefs who set their city’s locavore pace to farmers who are passionate producers. Stern is a sought-after writer, with work appearing in Better Homes and Gardens, Unity, KANSAS! Magazine, 435 South magazine, KC Homes & Gardens, Generation Boom, Shawnee Magazine, KC Magazine, KC Home Design, KC Business and Midwest CEO. Stern is a national blogger for the Dean & DeLuca Gourmet Food Blog where she cooks, styles, shoots and writes about life and cooking … and loves to lick the bowl clean. This writer may have been given product and/or other compensation from Dean & DeLuca for this post.
Print This Post / No Comments / Jan 12.12 / Recipes: Savory, Seasonal, Uncategorized / by Dean & DeLuca
Pairing Tea with Food
by Tracey Ceurvels
Have you ever considered pairing tea with food? Tea is my go-to drink in the morning and throughout the day when I am busily working on my computer, but I’d never considered drinking it with a meal (well, except for a bagel with cream cheese). That is until I came across TWG Tea.
TWG Tea, a purveyor of fine tea, has introduced a novel way of drinking tea: by pairing their teas with food. And their uniquely crafted teas—seamless flavor combinations and attention to detail when it comes to ingredients—bring out the tea’s varied nuances and will enhance your dining experience.
In celebration of the National Hot Tea month here are some ideas to pair tea with food:
Breakfast
All the Breakfast blends: English Breakfast Tea, Breakfast Zulu Tea, Singapore Breakfast Tea or New York Breakfast Tea. Darjeeling, Ceylon and African black teas
Vegetarian Dishes
Japanese green teas, red teas and green tea blends
Smoked salmon and sushi
Japanese green teas, Oolongs, Darjeeling, Pu-Erh and citrusy green tea blends:
Turkey and Roast Chicken
Darjeelings, Ceylon black teas, China Oolongs Ceylon black teas
Fish
Chinese green teas, Japan green teas, smoky teas, Darjeeling and Pu-Erh, citrusy green tea blends
Lamb
Black tea, Earl Grey, Lapsang Souchong, Jasmine teas and mint teas
Beef
Black tea, Earl Grey, Lapsang Souchong, Jasmine teas and spicy blends
At night:
All white tea and white tea blends
So, next time you long for a cup of tea, rather than drinking it on its own, consider pairing it with food to add a new dimension to your meal.
Thank you to TWG Tea for the information contained in this topic! Known for its contemporary and chic paradigm within the luxury tea industry, TWG Tea conceives each of these tea blends with absolute attention to every ingredient and seamless flavour combinations to be appreciated alongside fine cuisine.
NYC-based food writer Tracey Ceurvels is a busy writer-mom-food lover who blogs about dining in + out at The Busy Hedonist. She offers busy food lovers an easy + convenient dinner plan of fresh, seasonal dishes with weekly menus + shopping lists. Tracey’s articles about food + travel have appeared in The Boston Globe, Haute Living, PAPER, The New York Daily News, Time Out New York among other publications. Stay tuned for her iPhone App launching soon called iFoodShop: A Food Lover’s Guide to Shopping in NYC.
Print This Post / 2 Comments / Jan 09.12 / Facts & Tidbits / by Dean & DeLuca
New Year’s Eve Dinner: Black Tie or Blue Jeans
Two distinct fashion personalities—glitter and denim—invariably dictate the food I’ll consume during the 365th supper of the calendar year. Resolutions that will greet me with a bowl of spicy black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day are momentarily forgotten on December 31, and instead my attention turns first to wardrobe. Black tie and stilettos, a formal sit-down dinner with a prelude of caviar and prosecco? Or jeans, boots, a cozy sweater and Scrabble with friends in front of a roaring fire, sipping mulled wine, watching the big screen as the ball drops in Times Square?
A dressed-up dinner party doesn’t mean that the menu has to be complex; inject elements of glitz here and there with dishes synonymous with indulgence. A favorite is a creamy polenta I’ve prepared for years; as a first course, it has a star power and special richness that pairs well with black-tie entrees such as tenderloin and lobster.
If New Year’s Eve is a bit more casual, with an intimate gathering of pals dining from lap trays in front of the fireplace, trot out a zippy brisket recipe. This slow-cooked meat, encrusted with a mixture of spices redolent of India, requires nothing more than easy dinner companions like buttery rice timbales and sautéed Brussels sprouts.
No matter how I ring in the New Year, two things are guaranteed: I’ll be perfectly dressed for dinner, and dinner will be perfect no matter how I’m dressed.
Happy New Year!
-Kimberly Winter Stern
Black Tie: This creamy, dreamy starter will have dinner guests swooning. Not your ordinary polenta, this divine creation is whisked at the last minute with Gorgonzola and mascarpone, and topped with grated cheese, cracked black pepper and slivers of fresh sage. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a beef tenderloin or lobster feast. From The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook.
Soft Polenta with Gorgonzola and Mascarpone
Serves 4 as a first course
Ingredients
2 ½ cups water
2 cups chicken stock
3 large sprigs of fresh sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup mascarpone cheese
¼ cup Gorgonzola dolce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
freshly ground black pepper to taste
10 sage leaves, slivered
Parmigiano-Reggiano for grating
Method
Bring the water, chicken stock, sage sprigs, and salt to a boil in a large saucepan and boil, covered, for 3 minutes. Discard sage sprigs. Reduce the heat to moderate so that the liquid comes to a simmer.
Pour in the cornmeal by the handful in a thin stream very slowly, whisking constantly in one direction. When all the cornmeal is added, begin stirring with a long-handled wooden spoon. Keep the mixture at a bare simmer and stir frequently. Cook the polenta, stirring and crushing any lumps that might form against the side of the pan, for 15 to 20 minutes. (As it cooks the polenta will thicken considerably.) The polenta is done when it comes away effortlessly from the side of the pan.
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk mascarpone, Gorgonzola, and butter into the polenta. Pour polenta into serving bowls and sprinkle with pepper and sage. Pass Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table for grating.
Blue Jeans: This is a decidedly exotic brisket, with the flavors of India front and center. Serve the meat with simple buttery rice-and-parsley timbales and sautéed Brussels sprouts and an assertive red wine such as Zinfandel or Petite Sirah. Finish with a velvety and decadent espresso chocolate mousse and flutes of Champagne to toast the New Year. From the Dean & DeLuca Food and Wine Cookbook.
Indian Spice Brisket
Serves 6 to 8 as a main course
Ingredients
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons ground pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 beef brisket (2 to 3 pounds)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200° F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. In a small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix well. Put the brisket in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the rub lavishly all over both sides of the meat. Knead the rub thoroughly into the meat, using all the mixture and coating the meat evenly. Turn the meat fat-side up and roast for 2 hours uncovered. Cover and roast for another 2 – 3 hours or until done. Remove from the oven and cut the meat into thin, crosswise slices. Add several tablespoons of water to juices in pan and heat on low; drizzle meat with sauce.
-Kimberly Winter Stern
Overland Park, Kan.-based freelance writer Kimberly Winter Stern writes travel, food, lifestyle and design. Also known as the gregarious and cuisine-informed Kim Dishes, listeners tune in weekly for her on-the-road segments on “LIVE! From Jasper’s Kitchen,” a popular Kansas City radio food show. Prolific in eating, writing and discovering, this foodie satisfies an innate desire to sample the world’s gastronomic rainbow by meeting food artisans and trendsetters, gaining insight into the culinary points-of-view of everyone from cheese makers, chocolatiers and chefs who set their city’s locavore pace to farmers who are passionate producers. Stern is a sought-after writer, with work appearing in Better Homes and Gardens, Unity, KANSAS! Magazine, 435 South magazine, KC Homes & Gardens, Generation Boom, Shawnee Magazine, KC Magazine, KC Home Design, KC Business and Midwest CEO. Stern is a national blogger for the Dean & DeLuca Gourmet Food Blog where she cooks, styles, shoots and writes about life and cooking … and loves to lick the bowl clean. This writer may have been given product and/or other compensation from Dean & DeLuca for this post.
Print This Post / No Comments / Dec 28.11 / Parties, Recipes: Savory, Seasonal, Uncategorized / by Dean & DeLuca
Christmas Dinner: Sublimely Simple Side
By this time in the holiday whirlwind, no doubt you’re tired. Beyond weary, frazzled, fatigued. You’re chronically exhausted. It’s been one long to-do list since the last forkful of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, and the showstoppers still loom large on that countdown.
Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas morning brunch. Christmas Day dinner. Santa sliding down 3.7 billion chimneys during his annual rounds is elementary compared to the strength it sometimes takes to muster as we approach the holiday finish line.
A solution to the great holiday food marathon that comes close to wilting my robust cuisine spirit is a concept that, regrettably, has taken me years to perfect: keep it simple. Sublimely simple. Dishes that require the least amount of kitchen time but still pack an impressive punch make my short list for holiday entertaining. Recipes within recipes— the ones that require five-step vinaigrettes or croutons from homemade bread or pans of candied pecans in order to complete the dish—are eschewed. I save those for dinner parties after I’ve recovered from holiday overload, sometime in March or April.
Instead, my Christmas menus include dishes that are like friends I greet once a year, picking up where we left off. Comfortable foods to make and eat. Christmas Eve dinner is a rich and elegant oyster stew that I serve with thinly sliced garlic toasts. Christmas morning brunch includes savory basil cheese strata that, once everything is measured and the crusts are cut from the challah, I can make with my eyes closed. Christmas Day dinner are individual Rock Cornish game hens glazed to a picture-perfect mahogany and presented resting on creamy white china, fresh thyme peeking out from under their demure bottoms, moist stuffing tumbling from tiny cavities.
Each year I take a couple of new sides I deem as worthy accompaniments to the Christmas dinner centerpiece for a spin. Never am I (or my guests) disappointed, which is a good thing. By the time this meal rolls around, I’m in no mood for an uncooperative dish.
The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook by David Rosengarten is a constant companion in my kitchen. Not only is it a dependable workhorse, the thick volume is also a creative resource for nightly dinners or company’s-coming inspiration. Here is a soul-satisfying side dish for Christmas dinner that is simple—and guaranteed to impress.
Celery Root Gratin
Serves 12
Ingredients
4 pounds celery root, peeled and
-coarsely chopped
3 pounds russet potatoes, (preferably Idaho), peeled and coarsely
chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 stick, (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 teaspoon saffron
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 ½ cups Gruyère, coarsely grated
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup coarsely chopped
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Method
Preheat oven to 400°
Place the celery root and the potatoes in separate large saucepans with enough salted water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until soft. Strain both the celery and the potatoes and set aside. In a heavy saucepan bring the cream to a boil over moderately high heat, and add the butter, saffron and garlic. Reduce the heat to moderately low, and cook about 5 minutes, or until the cream mixture is bright yellow.
Purée the celery root in a food processor, gradually adding the cream
mixture. Set aside. Place the potatoes in a bowl and mash until you have a
rough texture. Add the celery root mixture to the potatoes, and add 1 cup
of the Gruyère. Mix together with a wooden spoon and season generously with
salt and pepper.
Butter a 13-inch by 9-inch ovenproof dish (about 10-cup capacity). If you prefer
to serve individual portions, you could use instead eight #4-size ramekins
(each one has a 1 ¼ cup capacity). Place the celery root-potato mixture
in the large, ovenproof dish or in the individual ramekins.
Sprinkle the top with the parsley and the remaining Gruyère. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes, or until the casserole is heated through and the
top is golden brown.
-Kimberly Winter Stern
Overland Park, Kan.-based freelance writer Kimberly Winter Stern writes travel, food, lifestyle and design. Also known as the gregarious and cuisine-informed Kim Dishes, listeners tune in weekly for her on-the-road segments on “LIVE! From Jasper’s Kitchen,” a popular Kansas City radio food show. Prolific in eating, writing and discovering, this foodie satisfies an innate desire to sample the world’s gastronomic rainbow by meeting food artisans and trendsetters, gaining insight into the culinary points-of-view of everyone from cheese makers, chocolatiers and chefs who set their city’s locavore pace to farmers who are passionate producers. Stern is a sought-after writer, with work appearing in Better Homes and Gardens, Unity, KANSAS! Magazine, 435 South magazine, KC Homes & Gardens, Generation Boom, Shawnee Magazine, KC Magazine, KC Home Design, KC Business and Midwest CEO. Stern is a national blogger for the Dean & DeLuca Gourmet Food Blog where she cooks, styles, shoots and writes about life and cooking … and loves to lick the bowl clean. This writer may have been given product and/or other compensation from Dean & DeLuca for this post.
Print This Post / No Comments / Dec 23.11 / Home, Recipes: Savory, Seasonal / by Dean & DeLuca
