The Essential James Beard Cookbook (62 page)

NUT RUM BREAD

MAKES 1 LOAF

Editor: This not-too-sweet quick bread would be a good holiday gift.

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan

3 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon plain salt

1¼ cups whole milk

½ cup dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup golden raisins

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a medium bowl until smooth, add the eggs, and beat well. Stir together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, along with the milk, rum, and vanilla. Stir briefly to moisten the dry ingredients and stir in the raisins and walnuts. Spoon into a buttered 8½ by 4½ by 2½-inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a straw comes out clean when inserted in the center. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

CARL GOHS’S ZUCCHINI BREAD

MAKES 2 LOAVES

This rather unusual loaf has a very pleasant flavor, a little on the sweet side, and a distinctive texture. The built-in moisture provided by the zucchini makes it a very good keeper. If you wish, substitute 1 cup whole-wheat flour for an equal amount of all-purpose flour, or walnuts for the hazelnuts.

Editor: Beard explains: “Carl Gohs is a fellow Oregonian who has done much research on early foods, as well as on pioneer and Indian cooking.”

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups peeled and shredded zucchini

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the pans

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon plain salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup toasted, skinned, and coarsely chopped hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and foamy. Add the zucchini, sugar, oil, and vanilla and mix lightly but well. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder and stir well. Stir in the hazelnuts. Pour into two 9 by 5 by 3-inch oiled loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in the pans on a wire cake rack for 10 minutes. Turn out onto the rack, turn right sides up, and let cool completely.

WHOLE-WHEAT BRAN MUFFINS

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

Editor: Make these to freeze and have on hand for breakfast when you are on the go.

1 cup wheat bran

½ cup whole-wheat flour

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon plain salt

2 large eggs, separated

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon honey

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.

Combine the bran, whole-wheat, and all-purpose flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Stir to mix.

Lightly beat 2 egg yolks in a bowl. Add the buttermilk, melted butter, and honey and mix well. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with an electric mixer until stiff but not dry. Add the buttermilk mixture to the bran mixture and stir only until moistened. Fold in the egg whites. Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full with the batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out dry. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve warm.

SOUR MILK PANCAKES

MAKES 2 TO 3 SERVINGS

I am quite aware that we do not have the opportunity to get sour milk these homogenized, pasteurized days. One must content oneself with buttermilk—and cultured buttermilk at that. However, it does have the same rather pleasant sour quality. If you want to quicken this process of making the batter, I find the buttermilk pancake mixes on the market to be pretty good.

Beat
2 large eggs
very well—they should be foamy and light-colored. Add
2 cups buttermilk or sour milk
and beat. Add
1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda,
and
½ teaspoon salt.
Gradually stir in enough
all-purpose flour
(2 to 3 cups) to make a batter the consistency of very heavy cream, and add
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted.
Spoon the mixture onto a buttered griddle and cook the pancakes until they are nicely browned on both sides. Serve them with
melted butter
and
hot syrup
and
lemon juice
.

Editor: These days, pasteurized milk does not sour—it just goes rotten and is unusable as a cooking ingredient. However, you can create a substitute for sour milk (and buttermilk) by combining 2 cups milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar, and letting the mixture stand until clabbered, about 5 minutes.

YEAST GRIDDLE CAKES OR PANCAKES

MAKES 12 TO 14 CAKES

These are simply wheat-flour pancakes made with a starter. In earlier times people kept a starter going especially for pancakes. Nowadays we usually make the starter the night before, which is what we are doing in this case. It makes light, puffy, absolutely delicious pancakes. Serve with melted butter, syrup, or honey, and bacon, ham, or even a little steak.

One ¼-ounce package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 cup warm (100° to 115°F) water

2 to 3 tablespoons sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 large egg

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

½ teaspoon plain salt

Whole milk or evaporated milk, as needed

The night before making the pancakes, combine the yeast, water, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 cup of flour in a mixing bowl. Cover with a cloth and leave overnight to rise. The next morning beat the egg well in a mixing bowl and add 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat again, add the yeast mixture, and stir in the butter, salt, and remaining 1 cup flour; add milk if the mixture seems too thick. However, the batter should be a little thicker than is customary. The pancakes should be cooked as usual on a well-buttered griddle. Serve at once.

FRUITS

Apple Charlotte

Hot Fruit Compote

Fruit Fritters

Broiled Grapefruit

Melon with Port

Sugared Oranges

Pears Condé

Fresh Pears and Cheese

Strawberry Fool

Rich Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberries Romanov

Drunken Watermelon

APPLE CHARLOTTE

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Editor: The perfect warm dessert for cold weather, a charlotte is fruit baked in a case of bread slices. A charlotte mold is a round, deep metal pan made specifically for the purpose, but a loaf pan works, too.

Softened butter, for the mold

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, as needed

6 tart apples, peeled, cored, cut into ½-inch wedges

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 12 slices firm white sandwich bread, preferably day-old, crusts trimmed

½ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon dry sherry

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the apples and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. During the last minute, stir 2 tablespoons of the sugar and ½ teaspoon of the vanilla into the apples. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining apples and 2 more tablespoons of the butter. Clean the skillet.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the skillet. Working in batches, add the bread and cook until crisp and brown on both sides, about 3 minutes, adding more butter as needed. Transfer to a plate.

Butter a 1-quart charlotte mold or an 8 by 4 by 3-inch bread pan. Line the mold with overlapping pieces of bread on the bottom and sides, trimming the bread as needed. Fill with the apple mixture and top with more overlapping bread.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Whip the cream, the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, and sherry in a bowl with an electric mixer until the cream is stiff. Unmold the charlotte and serve warm with the sherried whipped cream.

HOT FRUIT COMPOTE

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

In the winter, substitute the dried versions of the fresh fruit in the compote. The compote (with either fresh or dried fruit) is also very good served chilled.

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ripe apricots, peeled, pitted, and halved

4 ripe plums, pitted and halved

3 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and halved

2 firm but ripe figs, cut into quarters

1 pear, peeled, cored, and cut into sixths

Heavy cream, for serving

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Add the apricots, plums, peaches, figs, and pear and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer just until the fruit is tender, about 10 minutes. Spoon the fruits and some of the cooking liquid into bowls, and serve hot, with heavy cream to pour over each serving.

FRUIT FRITTERS

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

These are the dessert equivalent of the batter-dipped shrimp, meat, and vegetables, and they make a light and delicious end to a meal. If you want a sauce for the fritters, serve them with
Crème Anglaise
flavored with 2 tablespoons of the spirit you use to marinate the fruit.