CIRCLE OF MISSE

Introduction

I have taken a six month break from writing recipes, rather longer than anticipated. There has been so much to do here at Misse that I haven't had the distance and mental space needed to write. But now I am back, from rather nearer than outer space (h/t Gloria Gaynor), and I will be posting recipes and food pieces once or twice a week. Once I get a new content management system (CMS) up and running I may become more prolific. The CMS will save a lot of coding and make it easier for me to maintain this recipe site and its dependencies.

I thought Mayonnaise would be a fun recipe to ease myself back in. It's as easy as pie, but strikes fear into the hearts of many. Let's see if I can demystify some of that.

Introduction

With Thanksgiving upon us, in the U.S., and the holidays only a month away I thought it timely to share some turkey roasting tips.

Now that turkey can be found all year round, in everything from "bacon" to sandwiches, escalopes and sausages, it's important to take some extra care so that the holiday bird still has an edge. Turkey's current popularity is due to its low fat content; low fat all too often means tasteless.

Sourcing a good turkey is essential. In the U.S. I have used Dartagnan who offer a wide variety of birds including wild turkey, it doesn't come in a bottle :)
In the UK The Ginger Pig is an excellent supplier. Most good supermarkets offer free range birds both fresh and frozen.

Introduction

In the autumn and winter I like to use whatever meat is plentiful in my ragu. Wild rabbit and wild boar (with bitter chocolate) are particular favourites, lamb shanks can be fantastic, goose too.

I made this version with duck legs mostly drumsticks, but you can substitute any of the meats mentioned above. The secret is to use cuts of meat that require long slow cooking.

Wild or domestic duck are equally good, but the wild bird will take longer to cook.

Introduction

Garganelli is a favourite of mine and gets requested often; I think of it as the richer forerunner of penne. Making pasta like this is a labour of love, so I keep it for special occasions.

Pasta like this holds sauces well and the imperfections of hand-made pasta offer a more sensuous texture.

This pasta combines well with any meat ragu.

Introduction

Thanksgiving and Christmas are times to celebrate but they can also be used to innovate in the kitchen. I am happy to be constrained by “traditional” ingredients as long as I am free to choose what to do with them.

The reason for scare quotes: traditional = old bad habit, constraint and enemy of innovation; I have little time for it.

I came up with this dish for a Thanksgiving dinner in Atlanta a couple of years ago. We had sent our guests a wide list of ingredients and asked them to choose the flavours that they most associated with Thanksgiving, celebration and autumn/fall. This dish, one of many small courses that we served, was a result of their choices.

I had wanted to do something with sweet potato that showed it in a different light. The dish is equally good with sweet potato or squash, but look for a Potimarron or Hokkaido squash, they are less moist which is essential.

Introduction

This is a house speciality and one of the 'classic' variants that I mention in Spaghetti all Gricia. I tend to think of it as 'Gricia in a winter coat'.

Guanciale also known as pig's cheek bacon (guancia = cheek) is a subtle fatty meat with an un-rivalled flavour. It has started to turn up in good Italian delis, but I cure my own.

This dish is about about pasta and pork, so avoid the temptation to increase the other ingredients, you want to coat the pasta not drown it.

There is a debate as to whether this should be made with onion or garlic or a combination. I tend to use one or the other, am less happy with the result of using both. See suggestion.

Introduction

I have been cooking and refining this dish for years. The recipe is based upon one by Madame Germaine Carter whose 'Home Book of French Cookery' was a favourite in my teens, not only because of the recipes but also due to its narrative. Mme Carter and her co-authors were interned in a number of prisoner of war camps during World War II. During a winter of particular privation in 1941-42, a fellow prisoner suggested the book as a means to boost their flagging spirits. The book is long out of print, but copies are not hard to find.

I have included additional ingredients that you'll find in most 'authentic' recipes in the Suggestion section, but with the exception of the bread fried in bacon fat, I find them a distraction.

This dish is always better when made a day in advance.

Introduction

For a great plate of roasted vegetables, you need a good balance of textures and flavours. Use too many root vegetables and it can be too sweet, though turnips will help offset that. Fresh herbs will give fragrance to the dish.

Use a combination of four or more of the following six categories: (1) potato and\or sweet potato, (2) squash and\or courgette\zucchini, (3) aubergine\eggplant, (4) root vegetables, (5) broccoli and\or cauliflower and (6) onions (red for colour) and a head of garlic.

We made the plate pictured above to serve alongside Porchetta and Aubergines\Eggplants with Oven-Dried Plums; for that reason we left aubergines\eggplants out. The roasted garlic at the center is always a crowd pleaser.

All of the vegetables needed are in abundance right now and should be inexpensive from now until the end of winter, so have fun with your choices and go with the best of the season.

Introduction

It's fun when a friend from afar comes to stay, but it's fabulous when said friend brings truffles with her. Hot foot from Abruzzo and on her way back to Manhattan our pal Jackie brought truffles, so I had to share them.

I watched Rick Stein eating fried eggs with truffles on TV last week, he was on location in Puglia and out with a truffle hunter. I have eaten truffle omelettes here in France, it's a popular dish, but I preferred the purity of fried eggs with truffles.

Lola, one of our chickens, has been laying enormous eggs. I figured that these were double yokers and this was confirmed this morning.

The method for frying eggs I learnt from observing and listening to Albert Roux many years ago.

Introduction

We have grown more varities of chard than I knew existed. In the kitchen garden plan you will see Rainbow\Bright Lights, Silverbeet, Spinach Beet. On the other side of the garden we have what the French refer to as Cardes. The wine bottle pictured is for perspective, not because of a wild party in the vegetable garden.

You'll see cardes in French markets with the leaves bundled on top of each other. The stalks have an excellent flavour and can be substituted in any recipe that calls for cardoons (for the first month, that's what I thought I was growing).

Most chard recipes will tell you to cut off the stalks leaving just the spinach-like leaves. The leaves can be treated like spinach, see Suggestion below. What the recipes neglect to mention is that when you discard with the stalks, you dispense with the essence of chard, because while the leaves are good, the stalks are wonderful. This recipe shows you one simple way to cook them.