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Until Next Time: Downton Abbey

by Rebecca Penovich | 1 Comment

 

Presentation at the Palace. "Presented, photographed, done." Says Lady Grantham with relief. Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

Presentation at the Palace. “Presented, photographed, done.” Says Lady Grantham with relief.
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

It’s hard to believe that Season 4 is over.  PBS decided to start and end the season with 120-minute episodes which in effect made the season only 8 episodes long.

The finale offered us plenty of the eye candy that we love about Downton Abbey:

  • Gorgeous 1920s costumes, replete with feathers, furs, beading, elaborate embroidery, fanciful hats, gloves, beaded bags, diamond tiaras, diamond headbands
downton-lady-dudley-dress

Lady Dudley-Ward is absolutely gorgeous and naughty (by not-so-secretly dating the Prince of Wales.)
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

  • New interiors and London locations, including our first look at the Grantham’s London town home
Sumptious interiors at Grantham House in London (actually Blynford..) Photo credit: Vanity Fair

Sumptuous interiors at Grantham House in London (actual location: Basildon Park.)
Photo credit: Vanity Fair

 

The interiors for Grantham House were actually shot one hour outside of London at Basildon Park, a Georgian mansion surrounded by acres of parkland in Berkshire. The house was built from 1776-83 and was rescued by Lord and Lady Iliffe in the mid 1950s. The house today is a re-creation and restoration of the 18th-century mansion.

Aunt Rosamund’s London town house interiors were shot at West Wycombe Park, a country house near the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, built between 1740 and 1800. It was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th-century Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Baronet.

West Wycombe Park

Many conversations take place in Aunt Rosamund’s London drawing room (actual location: West Wycombe Park)

 

Exteriors were shot in London and much care was taken by the production company to choose locations that didn’t show any signs of modernity (paved streets, advertisements, modern lighting etc.)  Read this excellent article from behind the scenes at the London locations “Downton Abbey: London is the Star of the Show” for some more scoop.

  •  And let’s not forget the pomp and circumstance!  The debutante ball at the palace, Lord Grantham in court uniform, the processional, the King and Queen, and all of Rose’s parties, dances, balls, and club outings.
Rose, whatever you do, don't trip! Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

Darling, this is costing us a fortune.  You should be kind to marry very well.
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

downton-debutante-palace

Hello your Royal Highnesses.  Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

 

Read more about the London debutante season in this great article by Dawn Aiello. Young aristocratic ladies were brought into London from their country estates and presented to society at court.  The season lasted for months and the girls were feted all about town with luncheons, dances, balls, parties, formal dinners, and approved cultural outings so they might meet marriageable young men.

Mrs. Patmore would have been tasked with keeping up a long stream of goodies for guest breakfasts, luncheons, teas, formal dinners, and the ‘at homes’ where the presiding lady of the house would entertain guests with late-night buffet suppers, music and dancing.

Downton-recap-collage.jpg

Here are some of our Downton-inspired Corks & Cakes posts for your review:

 

Downton-recap2-collage.jpg

And some heartier fare:

When you talk like that, I'm tempted to ring for Nanny and put you to bed with no supper. Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

“When you talk like that, I’m tempted to ring for Nanny and put you to bed with no supper.”
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

 

I’ve enjoyed chronicling the season and the era for you.  In fact, I might just keep up these Sunday Downton posts because there’s so much more to write about.

Let me ask you:  which character will you miss the most until next season?  (The Dowager Countess is everyone’s favorite, my guess!)

You can follow her on Twitter @theLady Grantham

Here’s a fun You Tube video:  Sh!t the Dowager Countess Says

What other Downton Abbey-related posts would you be interested in reading on Corks & Cake?

Happy birthday, Oreo!

by Rebecca Penovich | Leave a comment

Oreo-cookies

Cookies and milk, anyone?
Photo credit:  Allison Beuker Photography

 

Today is Oreos 102nd birthday!

Now before you get all food-preachy on me, I know they are commercial cookies and have all kinds of  processed *stuff* in them, but my house likes Oreos and I buy them as a treat.

Plus, they are great with milk!  Milk is healthy!

Some fun facts about America’s favorite cookie:

  • Nabisco came up with the cookie on March 6, 1912, the same year the South Pole was discovered and the Titanic sank.
  • The first Oreo cookie looked very similar to the Oreo cookie of today, with only a slight difference in the design on the chocolate disks.
  • It would become the largest selling cookie of all time.
  • The origin of the name Oreo is unknown, but there are many theories, including derivations from the French word ‘Or’, meaning gold (as early packaging was gold), or the Greek word ‘Oreo’, meaning beautiful, nice or well done.
  • In January 2006, Nabisco replaced the trans fat in the Oreo cookie with non-hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Source:  Foodimentary

garnished cake 3

 

So go get some Oreos and some organic milk and have a cookie that a happy kid first enjoyed 102 years ago.

Or say Happy Birthday, Oreo by making someone you love this delicious Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Cake.

 

Enjoy!

 

P.S.  No one compensated me for this post and all thoughts and opinions about Oreo cookies are my own.  We just like Oreos!

 

Artful drizzle. Photo by Rebecca Penovich.

Artful drizzle.
Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

 

Strawberry ‘Carpaccio’ with Ginger Creme Anglaise & Balsamic Syrup

by Rebecca Penovich | 3 Comments

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

This dessert looks so fancy yet it is very simple.  I loved the combination of ginger cream with the strawberries and the pop of balsamic syrup.  In fact, I loved the ginger cream so much I ate it with a spoon like crème brûlée.

You could even serve this at breakfast (with or without the balsamic syrup).  Simply provide the crème anglaise in a little pitcher and let your guests pour it over their sliced berries.

Sliced-strawberries

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Ingredients

  • 8-10 fresh whole strawberries (to serve 2 guests)
  • drizzle of balsamic syrup (I used Isola Imports ‘Classic Cream with aceto balsamico Di Modena’)
  • 1 batch of crème anglaise (recipe follows) (you will have extra leftover, eat it with a spoon out of the fridge!)
You can buy this in grocery stores or you can make your own by reducing balsamic vinegar. Be sure to use the highest quality balsamic vinegar from Italy that you can afford. It makes a difference!

You can buy this syrup in grocery stores or you can make your own by reducing balsamic vinegar. Be sure to use the highest quality balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy that you can afford.  It makes a difference!

I took the time to hull the strawberries very carefully in a ‘V’ pattern because I wanted the slices to look like hearts.
After hulling the tops, I sliced each strawberry in half lengthwise.  With my sharpest knife I sliced each half into thin slices and laid them flat on a serving plate as you would carpaccio.
Not all your slices will turn out perfectly.  But that’s okay!  I saved my ugly slices and hunks and put them in a bowl and drizzled them with the ginger cream as a cook’s treat.
In fact, you don’t need to be persnickety about slicing at all – I was going for a Valentine’s day effect for the picture.

Ingredients

This recipe is from Gourmet January 1998 via Epicurious.com
  • a 4-inch piece peeled fresh gingerroot (or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger paste)
  • 1 cup half-and-half
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

  • Cut gingerroot into 4 pieces and smash with flat side of a knife.
  • In a small heavy saucepan bring half-and-half and gingerroot just to a simmer over moderately low heat, about 10 minutes (do not let boil). [NOTE: Or use 1 teaspoon of refrigerated ginger paste from a tube and add that to the half-and-half.)
  • While mixture is heating, in a bowl whisk together yolks and sugar until smooth.
  • (If you’ve used gingerroot pieces, fish them out and discard when half-and-half is warm and infused.  If you’ve used ginger paste you can leave that in as it will melt into sauce.)
  • Add hot half-and-half mixture to the egg yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly, then transfer custard back to pan.
  • Cook custard over very low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly (do not let boil).
  • Pour custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and cool. (Crème anglaise may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring crème anglaise to room temperature before serving.)
Creme anglaise on plate

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Spread 1-2 tablespoons of the ginger creme anglaise on a dessert plate (the amount will depend on the size of your plate.

Then carefully arrange the strawberry slices in a circular pattern until the entire plate is covered.

Drizzle the balsamic syrup lightly across the strawberries in a decorative pattern (a little syrup goes a long way.)

Enjoy with your Valentine!

 

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

 

Here’s a quick video tutorial from Epicurious to show you how to make a créme anglaise without curdling the eggs.  It’s important to not overcook the cream and to temper the eggs before adding them back to the cream.  Once you have the hang of it, you are set to make all kinds of custard desserts.

Jazz at Downton Abbey: Mrs. Patmore Gets Jiggy With It

by Rebecca Penovich | Leave a comment

Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

“Shall we dance?”
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

 

Last week, Rose hired a jazz band for Lord Grantham’s surprise party, and unlike the house party where the kitchen staff were invited upstairs to hear the opera singer perform, this time they have to stay and listen at the bottom of the pantry stairs.

Nevertheless, one of my favorite lines of the night came from my favorite character, Mrs. Patmore.

Mrs. P:  “They sound good from down here.”

Carson: “If you like that sort of thing.”

Mrs. P: “It makes you want to jig about though, doesn’t it?”

Carson: (horrified) “Certainly not!”

Good on ya, Mrs. Patmore. We are glad you didn't keel over. Photo credit?

“I might just loosen my corset and get down with this music!”
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

 

Clueless as Lady Rose is (really, she had no clue that 6 more mouths to feed,  6 more bedrooms to have ready, and 6 more fireplaces to light in said bedrooms, would be an imposition for Mrs. Hughes and her housekeeping staff), she’s keeping the Abbey jumping with her modern ways and tastes! 

mrshughes-char-01_crop_648x327

“Six American minstrels to feed and house in addition to Lord Grantham’s party guests? No problem, your Ladyship. I am Mrs. Hughes, after all.”
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

 

Mrs. Patmore, Daisy, and Ivy would be able to keep up their part to feed the extra downstairs guests by making this Vegetable Barley Soup with Ham (using the leftover ham bone from a previous meal) and stretching it with homemade bread and butter.

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Mrs. Patmore is very resourceful so we know she must also have some homemade apple sauce “put by.”

Add some farmstead cheddar from the village and maybe some treacle sponge cake leftover from the birthday festivities, and those American musicians would have eaten very well after their gig!

Vegetable Barley Soup with Ham

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 1 cup sliced leeks (white parts only)
  • 1/2 cup chopped shallots
  • 1 1/2 T. chopped garlic
  • 1 smoked ham bone (about 1 pound, chop some leftover meat from the bone and reserve to add to the soup)
  • 6  cups chicken stock (I used homemade, watch the salt if your ham is salty)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 14.5 ounce diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup frozen corn (defrost by letting it sit out on counter while you prepare soup)
  • 1/2 cup chopped ham from the bone
  • 1/3 cup uncooked pearl barley
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions

  • Warm the olive oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot. Add the onion, leeks, shallot, celery, carrots and cook over medium low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until softened.
  • Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes more, stirring frequently.  (Don’t let the garlic brown, turn down the heat if you must.)
  • Add the stock and the ham bone.
  • Add the bay leaf.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer, and simmer for 1 hour.
  • Add the 14.5 can of diced tomatoes and their juices.
  • Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, then fish out the ham bone.
  • Stir in the pearl barley, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the 1/2 cup of chopped ham, the Worcestershire and black pepper.
  • Cook 10 minutes more and add the corn (defrosted if frozen.)
  • Taste to see if barley is soft, and add salt as needed.
  • Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
Tune in to your local PBS station February 9, 2014, for Downton Abbey’s next episode! Only 3 more left in season 4!

 

A hearty winter soup to eat by the fire. Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

A hearty winter soup to eat by the fire.
Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Top Chef on Downton Abbey

by Rebecca Penovich | 6 Comments

Cold potato soup?! That's what we ate on the farm when we ran out of wood for the fire. Now it's vichyisoisse. Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE.

“Cold potato soup?! That’s what we ate on the farm when we ran out of wood for the fire. Now it’s vichyssoise.”
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE.

Downton Abbey’s episode 4 (airing January 26, 2014) kept the plot moving along and although I can’t say I thought it was a strong episode, it had its moments.

For one, is Bates a sociopath?  Anna and Mrs. Hughes are convinced he will go out and murder someone (again!).  If he would so easily do that, WHY are you married to him?

He menaces sweet Mrs. Hughes to get her to swear on her dear mother’s grave and tell the secret that she promised Anna she’d keep.  Bates, get a a grip on yourself!

The Alfred “I dream a dream of being top chef” plot line continues and he travels to the Ritz Hotel London to test for a position in the hotel kitchen.

I am French and so a better cook than you! Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

I am French and a better cook than you!
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

The culinary test sequence was short but we know they were to make 4 dishes, one of them vichyssoise (cold potato and leek soup.)  In a subsequent scene, we see the French chef tasting what looks to be a poached pear with chocolate sauce and two other preparations smothered in white sauce (one which looks like a chicken leg quarter and one which looks like a hamburger patty, blech!)

We may never know what he was tested on because Alfred placed #5 and there are only 4 positions to be filled.

"Oh, Alfred. You are so cute when you are studying Larousse Gastronomique." (Note to reader: that French gastronomy tome won't actually be published until 1938.) Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

“Oh, Alfred. You are so cute when you are studying Larousse Gastronomique.” (Note to reader: that French gastronomy tome won’t actually be published until 1938.)
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

Mr. Carson said it best when he said:  “To fail at the first attempt does not mean you won’t succeed later.”

Did you know that Julia Child failed her first try at the Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Paris?  (She was set up by the wicked school administrator who didn’t like her very much, or Americans for that matter.)  For more on that story, read this New York Times article by Julia and her nephew, Alex Prud’homme “Eat, Memory:  Sacré Cordon Bleu!”

Photo courtesy: Harvard University, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women

Photo courtesy: Harvard University, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

So try, try, try again!

If you think you can’t make a soufflé, try this one from Food & Wine called “Fallen Cheese Souffle.”  See, even if you fail, it’s supposed to be that way!  And it’s delicious.

Eggs-in-Bowl

 

Cheese-Souffle-With-Salad-Vinaigrette

And everyone should have a favorite homemade vinaigrette in their repertoire.  Here’s mine:

Dijon vinaigrette is a useful staple! Toss it with green beans, boiled potatoes, braised leeks. Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Dijon vinaigrette is a useful staple! Toss it with green beans, boiled potatoes, braised leeks.
Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • Squeeze of 1/4 quarter fresh lemon
  • Optional: fresh herbs, chopped shallots, salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a small, shallow bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, optional salt and pepper with a small whisk or fork until the mixture is emulsified. Add the olive oil and canola oil in slow stream and whisk again until emulsified.  (NOTE:  I like to turn the bowl with my fingers (1/4 turns) while whisking with the other hand.)

Tune in to your local PBS station on February 2, 2014, 9 pm ET for more Downton Abbey.  

Lord Grantham is going to have a surprise birthday party.  I wonder what his favorite food is?  (I’m guessing leg of lamb!)

Japanese Dumpling Soup

by Rebecca Penovich | 2 Comments

Japanese-Dumpling-Soup

This is a delicious and easy soup to make.  It is also so light and nutritious that you will feel virtuous eating it.

The key is using a very good chicken broth.  I made my own, using the carcass of a roasted chicken we had the night before but I also like Swanson’s Chicken Broth (a brand I use all the time in my cooking.)

Since the soup was so simple (frozen gyoza dumplings from Trader Joe’s, chopped vegetables, aromatics) I took the extra time to reduce and strain my broth twice to remove impurities and boost the flavor.

I even took the time to make a ‘raft’ of egg whites to clarify the broth further.  Have you heard of this French technique?

Lightly whip 3-4 egg whites (depending on how much broth you have) and bring the broth just to a boil, pour the egg whites on top of the broth and turn the broth down to a simmer.  The egg whites coagulate on top, forming a ‘raft’ and the proteins, foam, and other ‘floaties’ gravitate to the raft and stick there, clarifying your broth.

After several minutes, you ladle out the egg white raft and throw it away and you have a very clear, clean soup.

My mother made beef consommé from scratch for my brother’s high school French class and I remember her using this technique to the letter (probably from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.) I also remember her saying that the classic consommé was a lot of work and what you end up with is beef stock!

Photo credit: WGBH

Photo credit: WGBH

So fiddle with your stock or not, but do make this soup and feel good whilst slurping it.

Ingredients

  • 6 cups clear chicken broth (homemade if you can bother)
  • 1 slice fresh ginger root, peeled (a coin about 1/4 in. thick will do)
  • 1 cup diced peeled carrots (about 2 medium)
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1 package frozen chicken, pork or shrimp gyoza from Trader Joe’s (I used pork but the shrimp gyoza are also very good
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 4 thinly sliced green onions, with green tops for garnish

Directions

  • Heat the broth to simmer and add the carrots, celery, and ginger.
  • Simmer for 10 minutes and then remove the ginger root (the broth should be lightly infused with ginger.)
  • Bring soup up to just a boil and add the gyoza dumplings, immediately turn the heat back down so dumplings are at a simmer.
  • Add the soy sauce and the green onions.
  • Simmer dumplings for about 8 minutes until tender.
  • Ladle soup and dumplings into bowls and garnish with the parsley.

Slurp!

Japanese-Dumpling-Soup

“There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” — Vincent Van Gogh

by Rebecca Penovich | Leave a comment

Oranges

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

 

A wise friend once remarked, “You are never sorry when you eat an orange.”

And that is so true.  Oranges pick you up and make you feel brighter, cleaner, sunnier. I’m in need of a pick-me-up this morning as we’ve received news of a favorite elderly relative who has died.  I’m too sad to reminisce now but I will share thoughts in a later post.

Instead I will share some of my favorite things, inspired by orange.  Then maybe I’ll feel better and fortified for the upcoming travel to say goodbye to someone I loved.

 

Chinese saucer

This saucer looks great in our light grey bathroom. It looks antique to me but it’s not. $1 at the thrift store.
Now THAT makes me happy.
Photo credit:  Rebecca Penovich

 

My friend, Josie, works at a local farm stand and once gifted me with a huge box of vegetables at the end of their selling day.  I was challenged to find recipes for cooking them all.  (Note to self:  need to cook and eat more vegetables so it won’t seem so daunting.)

IMG_1078

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Here are a some of the recipes I made:

My favorite roasted carrot recipe:

Carrots

Simple Roasted Carrots

Ingredients

  • 6 large carrots, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, liberal amounts
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I’ll also use chopped fresh mint or thyme if I have them on hand)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400°.
  • Toss the carrots with the olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.
  • Place in casserole dish, cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, until tender and lightly browned.  (NOTE: You don’t need to fuss with parchment paper; I just laid the cooked carrots on parchment for the photo.)
  • Toss with the fresh herbs.
  • Feel good about yourself because you ate your carrots!

I think the key to this recipe is roasting the carrots covered instead of exposed in the oven like other roasts.  It gives them the tender texture like the carrots you braise with a pot roast but they are not mushy.  Try it sometime!

And in closing, some bright flowers I arranged earlier this year.

I buy flowers for myself all the time (from the grocery store.)  Go ahead and disassemble the supermarket arrangement and break up the bouquet into 2-3 different vases.  Grab something green from your yard (a sprig from a bush, a small branch with some leaves on it) and go for it.  It will make you smile when you look at it.

Orange flowers

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

“Be calm. God awaits you at the door.”
― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

English Country House Party at Downton Abbey–Part 2

by Rebecca Penovich | 2 Comments

lady mary on horseback

Lady Mary is back in the saddle, in more ways than one.
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

Those who watched Downton Abbey’s episode 2 on Sunday know that writer Sir Julian Fellowes certainly knows how to ruin a good house party.

I won’t spoil it here for you in case you haven’t watched yet.  In addition to the shocker, there were moments of comedy and drama upstairs and downstairs, including Mrs. Patmore working herself into a tither over the syllabub, the béchamel, and the lemon dill sauce for the salmon.

She wouldn’t if she had a recipe for blender hollandaise.  And an actual blender of course.

The splattered and battered cookbook I learned to cook from (with my mom by my side.)

The splattered and battered cookbook from which I learned to cook the classic sauces
(with my mom by my side.)
Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

 

The sauces Mrs. Patmore frets about are known as the Mother Sauces of French cuisine:

  • Béchamel – classic milk-based white sauce
  • Velouté – white sauce similar to béchamel, using chicken stock instead of milk
  • Espagnole –  brown meat stock-based sauce
  • Hollandaise – an emulsified sauce using egg yolks and butter
  • Tomato – tomato-based sauce

Mrs. Patmore’s lemon dill sauce for salmon could have been either a velouté or a hollandaise, with extra lemon and dill added.  Once you’ve mastered the Mother sauces you can create almost any other sauce by adding different flavor profiles with aromatics, stocks, vinegars, vegetables and fats.

I learned to make hollandaise from my mother’s old copy of Verna Meyer’s Menu Cookbook: Dining at Home in Style, Dillon Press, Inc., Minneapolis, MN 1980.

Verna Meyer's Menu CookbookWe started with vinaigrette (which arguably could be considered a Mother or Master sauce, along with mayonnaise.)  From there I conquered Caesar Salad Dressing and then moved on to hollandaise (my favorite.)

On a teenaged dinner date I had discovered Veal Oscar (veal cutlets topped with crabmeat, asparagus, and hollandaise) and I was immediately in love.  With the dish if not with the boy.

Verna Meyer’s book is so splattered and battered in the Dressings and Sauces chapter that they literally stick together and I have to pry them apart when I want to refresh my memory for her Blender Hollandaise.

Ingredients

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 1/2 T. lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  • Dash of cayenne pepper (more to taste)
  • Dash of kosher salt

Directions

  • In a blender, place egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne and salt and pulse once or twice to blend.
  • Melt the butter in a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan until it is hot and bubbling.
  • Turn the blender on high (make sure the cap is on!) and add the hot butter slowly in a very thin stream until the mixture thickens and all the butter has been incorporated (leaving the white solids behind).

French chef Eric Ripert (whose recipes I love) has published his recipe for blender hollandaise and it can be found all over the internet with instructional videos and such.  I encourage you to check it out to see the method.  His recipe calls for 2 1/2 sticks of butter and that is a lot of sauce.

Verna’s recipe will give you 1 cup–plenty of hollandaise to serve 6 eggs benedict with extra sauce for dipping.  I sometimes add more lemon juice to Verna’s when I want it citrusy and have used fresh squeezed orange juice in place of the lemon.

Undoubtedly at the Abbey, Mrs. Patmore would also have served the classic Asparagus Hollandaise.

 

Asparagus Hollandaise

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

 

Mrs. Patmore, Daisy, and Ivy would have been taxed to the hilt cooking breakfast, luncheon, canapés, multi-coursed dinners, and tea (with scones, sandwiches, jams and cake) for 16 house guests throughout a weekend.

“She will bust a gut if she keeps that up.” Ivy says.

Highclere Castle-StateDiningRoom

The actual dining room at Highclere Castle
(ancestral home of the Earl of Carnavon) and setting for Downton Abbey.
Photo credit: Highclere Castle

 

From what I could tell from rewinding through the episode (yes, I’m that obsessed), Mrs. Patmore’s menu for the first night’s formal dinner might have been:

First course

Chilled soup, possibly vichyssoise or cold asparagus soup

Second Course

Crabmeat in pastry shells with béchamel sauce

Third Course

Poached salmon with lemon dill hollandaise

Main Course

Squab au vin with roasted mushrooms and vegetables

Dessert

Syllabub with orange peel and brandy

Presented in French, on menu cards, with the accompanying wines, which we know from Earl Grantham’s instructions to Carson included a Château Haut-Brion and a Château Margaux.  (He cavalierly let Carson choose the white wines for the fish courses.)

Interestingly in the episode, Alfred finishes the sauces and saves the dinner while Mrs. Patmore is having her anxiety attack and turns out that he wants to be a chef!

alfred the footman serving food

Alfred, now that you have mastered the classic mother sauces of French cuisine, you are on your way to being a chef.
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

 

Good on ya, Mrs. Patmore. We are glad you didn't keel over. Photo credit?

Good on ya, Mrs. Patmore. We are glad you didn’t keel over.
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

 

So there we have it, a very eventful Country House Party at Downton Abbey.

Tune in to your local PBS station on Sunday, January 19, 9 pm ET.  Looks like we are going clubbing in London with Lady Rose so we’ll be shaking up some cocktails 1922-style here at Corks & Cake.

Cheers!

Rebecca

Asparagus and Herbed Butter Canape: English Country House Party at Downton Abbey

by Rebecca Penovich | 2 Comments

Lord Gillingham

Hunky Lord Gillingham in the drawing room.
Photo credit:  Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

You are invited to The Abbey for an English Country House Party

(well, vicariously through television anyway)

If you WERE actually invited you would be expected to arrive on time, and according to Emily Post’s Etiquette, Chapter XXV, “The Country House and Its Hospitality,” published in 1922:

“A week-end means from Friday afternoon or from Saturday lunch to Monday morning.

On whichever day the party begins, everyone arrives in the neighborhood of five o’clock, or a day later at lunch time. Many come in their own cars, the others are met at the station—sometimes by the host or a son, or, if it is to be a young party, by a daughter.

The hostess herself rarely, if ever, goes to the station, not because of indifference or discourtesy but because other guests coming by motor might find the house empty.”

English Roadster Dowton 2

Please someone, DO pick me up at the station in this.
Photo credit Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

 

Before dinner (for which you will be dressed to the nines by your lady’s maid) you might be served canapé which is a type of hors d’oeuvres: a small, prepared and usually decorative food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite.

Or what Mrs. Patmore has referred to as “fiddley bits” in a previous episode. (See Deviled Ham Tea Sandwiches.)

A canapé consists of a base (e.g., bread or pancake), a spread, a main item, and a garnish. The spread is traditionally either a compound butter or a flavored cream cheese. Common garnishes include finely chopped vegetables, scallions, chives, herbs and caviar (Source: Wikipedia).

Asparagus and Herb Butter Canape

Asparagus and Herb Butter Canapé

Ingredients

  • 12 asparagus spears (thin spears, stalks trimmed of their woody bottom)
  • 12 slices thin white bread, crusts removed (I use Pepperidge Farm)
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened for the compound butter
  • 2 tsp. additional butter for sautéing the shallot
  •  4 T. additional butter for melting and brushing on the asparagus rolls
  • 2 T. chopped shallots
  • 2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tsp. chopped fresh dill
  • 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. salt, to taste
  • Snipped chives for garnish (optional)
IMG_1395

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

Directions

  • In a large skillet, bring 1/2 in. of water to a boil. Add asparagus and boil for 3 minutes, until tender. (This will depend on how thick or thin your asparagus spears are.)
  • Drain and immediately plunge asparagus in ice water bath to retain their color. Drain and pat dry. Set aside.
  • Flatten bread with a rolling pin.
  • In a small skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of butter and sauté the shallot until softened, about 2 minutes.  Watch the heat as you do not want the shallot to burn.
  • Combine the softened butter (1 stick) with the cooked shallots, add the chopped parsley and dill, 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice, and the salt to taste.
  • Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons herbed butter on each slice of bread. Top with an asparagus spear. Roll up tightly; place seam side down on a greased baking sheet.  Pinch slightly to seal the edge.
  • Melt the remaining 4 T. of butter and brush the asparagus rolls all over with butter.
  • Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut rolls in half to serve.  Sprinkle with snipped chives.

Makes 24 appetizers.

Asparagus rolls toasted

Photo credit: Rebecca Penovich

The Abbey hosts a house party

When the dinner gong rings, it is time to ‘go through’ to the dining room, where everyone will be seated according to their ‘precedence’ or rank. Countesses before duchesses, everyone. Or is it duchesses before countesses?  Oh dear!  At least we know there will be place cards.
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

Tune in tonight, January 12, 9 pm ET on your local PBS station.

Indian-Inspired Ground Turkey Curry Samosas

by Rebecca Penovich | 2 Comments

Turkey Samosas plated

We cannot resist samosas when dining at an Indian restaurant and I wanted to try to make them at home.  I wanted to find some acceptable shortcuts to the traditional Indian recipe as I was going to make these for New Year’s Eve appetizers to bring to a party and didn’t want to deep-fry.

I adapted this Jean-Georges Vongerichten recipe for chicken samosas so that instead of deep-frying in spring roll wrappers I could use Trader Joe’s all-butter puff pastry and bake them.

Turkey Curry Samosas--baked

I simplified the spices to reflect what I had on hand and added potatoes sautéed in turmeric oil to give them some East Indian flair. I made them appetizer-size and I used ground turkey instead of chicken.  I didn’t have whole cumin seeds to toast and grind, and didn’t have tamarind paste or diced tomatoes so I improvised.  And I added garam masala to take them in a more Indian direction.

Isn’t that annoying?  I always want to reference a recipe that I start out with (out of respect, politeness, giving credit where credit is due), but I so often change, substitute, adapt, or improvise off the written script that the recipe is almost reinvented.

I share my reinvented recipe with you below (and link to the original inspiration above, so you can try both if you like!)

 

New Year's Eve Curry Turkey Samosas

Happy New Year!

Ground turkey in abundanceI used ground turkey that I had defrosted.  (The photo shows the 3-pounder behemoth I purchased on sale; I only used 1 pound of turkey for these appetizers.)

Because the holidays were so busy and I was making a lot of consecutive dishes, I did this in steps over a couple of days so I would not lose my mind.  But it is really easy enough to do all at once.

Step 1:  Make the turkey and spice filling.  (Keeps for 5 days.)

Step 2:  Make the cilantro yogurt dip.  (Keeps for 3 days.)

Step 3: Make the turmeric potatoes and add to turkey mixture.  (You can do this 1 day ahead before you assemble and bake the samosas.  You could opt out of the potatoes if you are pressed for time; the ground meat mixture is good.)

Step 4:  Assemble and bake the samosas.  (Serve that day.)

Since I was taking them to a party in the neighborhood, I baked them and took them right over.  They were good at room temperature.  Awesome right out of the oven. Perfectly fine for my husband’s snack after errand-running, reheated in the toaster oven at 350°.

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Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 3 T. canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup diced red onion
  • 1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks (about 1/2 inch) (OPTIONAL)
  • 1 T. peeled and minced fresh ginger
  • 1 T. minced garlic
  • 1 T. ground coriander
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. garam masala
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder (divided, 1/2 tsp. for the ground meat, 1 tsp. for the optional potatoes)
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 T. Trader Joe’s dry chili paste
  • 1/4 C. chicken broth
  • 2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 T. fresh lime juice
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

  • Heat 2 T. oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring, until translucent and softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
  • Add the coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and ground cumin and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
  • Dissolve the dry Trader Joe’s Thai dry chili paste in 1/4 C. of chicken broth.  Add that mixture to the onions and aromatics in skillet.  [NOTE: This product is made with dried mushrooms and tamarind paste.  Since the Chef’s recipe called for 1 T. of tamarind paste and I didn’t have any, this was a good substitute.  I think you could leave it out but it would have a less authentic Indian restaurant flavor.]
  • Add the ground turkey and cook, stirring, until the meat is completely cooked through (no pink) and broth has evaporated, about 7-8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in the fresh cilantro and the lime juice.
  • Remove from the heat, and cool to room temperature.
Thai "Dry" Chili Paste

This is a mixture of dried mushrooms, tamarind paste, coconut sugar, dried chili, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, and soy sauce. It is a handy condiment to add Asian flavor to your stir-fries and curries. 

 

  • OPTIONAL POTATOES: Place chopped potato in medium saucepan and cover with cold water, add a healthy pinch of salt to the water and bring the potatoes to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer potatoes until soft enough to fall off when pierced by a fork, about 7 minutes.
  • Drain potatoes in a colander and return to the saucepan.  Place over low heat and let potatoes dry out their moisture, shaking the pan, 2 minutes.
  • Heat the remaining T. vegetable oil in skillet over medium heat and add 1 tsp. turmeric to the oil, stirring to color the oil, 1 minute.
  • Turn potatoes into skillet and sauté, tossing to coat with turmeric oil, 4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Take off heat, and let cool.  You can add the potato mixture to the turkey mixture and let flavors meld overnight.

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  • Defrost the puff pastry according to the package directions. (You can do this overnight in the fridge or for several hours on the counter at room temperature, plan accordingly!)
  • Place a defrosted sheet on your lightly floured board or counter.
  • Cut the sheet into fourths and then cut each square on the diagonal to make a triangle.  [NOTE: This will give you luncheon-size samosas as in the photo.  I tested this recipe twice–the first time I made them for lunch; the second I cut the pastry smaller and baked them for the party.)  For appetizer-size, cut the triangles on the diagonal to get smaller triangles (about 3 inches).

Puff Pastry
Puff pastry triangles

Curry samosa filling

  • Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each triangle and fold the point over to reach the other point.  Seal the edges by pressing down with your finger.Samosas folded
  • Preheat oven to 400 ° and bake samosas until golden, 18-20 minutes.

Cilantro-yogurt dip:

  • 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
  • ¾ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon sugar, plus more to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

To make the dip: Put the cilantro leaves in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the yogurt, lemon juice, and sugar. Stir well, season with salt, pepper.  You can also add heat with a chopped jalapeno or with a dash of cayenne.  We were serving children at the party so I left the dip mild.

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Enjoy memsahib!