Elm Creek Quilts [13] The Quilter's Kitchen Read online

  Roast Chicken with Cilantro and Orange

  Serves 6 to 8

  1 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped, stems discarded

  3 garlic cloves

  2 shallots, halved

  2 teaspoons kosher salt

  1 teaspoon black pepper

  1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

  Zest and juice of 1 orange

  1/3 cup olive oil

  Two 3-pound chickens, necks and giblets removed

  1 orange, quartered

  Place the cilantro, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, if using, in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until everything is chopped. Add the orange zest and juice and pulse again. While the processor is running, slowly add the olive oil.

  Rinse the chickens in cold water until the water runs clear. Place each chicken in a large resealable plastic bag and add half the marinade. Be sure the cilantro-orange mixture gets into all the cavities. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Turn the bag occasionally.

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  Place the chickens on a roasting pan and put 2 orange quarters in the cavity of each chicken.

  Transfer to the oven and roast until the juices run clear, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes and serve.

  Salmon Fillets

  Serves 6

  2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

  2 tablespoons light brown sugar

  1½ to 2 pounds salmon fillets (tiny bones removed with a tweezer), cut in half

  ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  ¼ teaspoon black pepper

  Preheat the broiler.

  Place the mustard and brown sugar in a small bowl and mix to combine.

  Place the salmon fillets in a large flameproof baking dish and smother with the mustard mixture. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place under the broiler. Cook until browned on top and just undercooked inside, 5 to 6 minutes.

  Cut each half into 3 pieces and serve immediately.

  Ratatouille

  Serves 6 to 8

  2 tablespoons olive oil

  1 Spanish or red onion, chopped

  4 garlic cloves, minced

  1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced

  4 small or 2 large zucchini, diced

  1 red bell pepper, diced

  2 cups diced tomatoes, canned (with liquid) or fresh

  1 lemon, quartered

  Shaved or grated Parmesan cheese

  Fresh basil leaves

  Place a medium-size stockpot over medium-low heat and when it is hot, add the oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook 10 minutes. Add the eggplant and zucchini, cover and cook 10 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes if they are canned, and for 20 minutes if fresh.

  Cover and refrigerate overnight in a storage container, or serve immediately, garnished with the lemon quarters, Parmesan cheese, and basil.

  Wild Rice

  Yield: about 6 cups

  2/3 cup wild rice

  1/3 cup brown jasmine rice

  22/3 cups water

  2 tablespoons unsalted butter

  1 Spanish onion, chopped

  1 carrot, finely chopped

  1 celery stalk, finely chopped

  2 teaspoons dried thyme

  1 cup dried cranberries or currants

  1 cup lightly toasted, coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts

  ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

  ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  ¼ teaspoon black pepper

  Place the rices and water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain, if necessary.

  Place a large skillet over medium heat and when it is hot, add the butter. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and thyme and cook until translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside until the rice is finished. Add the rice, dried cranberries, nuts, parsley, salt, and pepper and gently stir until heated through, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

  Chocolate Fudge Cake

  Serves 12

  1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped

  1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, chopped

  8 large eggs, at room temperature

  1 cup sugar

  1 tablespoon vanilla extract

  1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and wrap with heavy-duty aluminum foil.

  Place the chocolate and butter in a large bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir to combine.

  Place the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk and process until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add the melted chocolate and mix until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Set in a larger roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with hot water halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

  Transfer to the oven and bake until the cake is set, about 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then run a knife along the sides and gently unmold. Set aside to cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

  White Chocolate Mousse

  Serves 8 to 10

  12 ounces white chocolate, chopped

  2½ cups heavy cream

  1 tablespoon Chambord or other fruit-flavored liqueur

  Place the chocolate and 1 cup cream in a metal bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside until slightly thickened and cool to the touch, 20 to 30 minutes.

  Place the remaining 1½ cups cream and the liqueur in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk and mix on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks, about 30 seconds. Add half the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture and fold together gently; add remaining cream mixture and fold together until no streaks remain. Transfer it to a serving bowl and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

  Raspberry Tart

  Serves 6 to 8

  For the crust:

  ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

  3 tablespoons sugar

  ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

  6 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen and cut into pieces

  1 to 2 tablespoons cold water

  For the filling:

  4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

  ½ cup low-fat Greek yogurt

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  ¼ cup superfine sugar

  1 tablespoon honey

  4 to 5 cups fresh raspberries (or other berries)

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  To make the crust: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse to mix. While the processor is going, add the butter, 1 piece at a time; and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the water and pulse until the mixture is still coarse but just comes together into a ball. Press down into an 11-inch round tart pan (with a removable bottom). Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until just starting to color, about 25 minutes. Do not overcook or the crust will be too hard. Set aside to cool completely.

  To make the filling: Place the cream cheese and yogurt in a small bowl and mash until the mixture is smooth. Mix in the remaining ingredients and set aside.

  Spread the filling in the cooled tart shell and then top with the berries. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours.

  You can make the shell and filling 1 day ahead and assemble it just prior to serving.

  Champagne Cocktail

  Serves 8

  8 sugar cubes

  Angostura bitters

  One 750 ml bottle Champagne, chilled

  8 strips lemon peel (1 lemon)

  Place a sugar cube in each of 8 champagne glasses. Sprinkle with a few drops of Angostura and then fill the glass with Champagne. Twist the pee
ls and drop into the Champagne. Serve immediately.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Quilting Bee

  Anna emptied one cabinet and moved on to the next, where she discovered a cache of pans in such poor condition that no amount of scrubbing could restore them. Apparently Sylvia had not exaggerated when she explained that her Bergstrom ancestors never threw anything away. “I think that if I soak this skillet and go at it with a steel wool pad, I’ll scrub a hole right through it before I get to the bottom of the rust,” Anna said, tossing it into the box she and Sylvia had designated for junk.

  “I suspect you’ll see many more pots and pans in even worse condition than that before we’re through.” Sylvia eyed the remaining cabinets ruefully. “If you knew as well as I do what awaits us behind those doors and within those drawers, you’d realize how formidable this job is going to be. Perhaps we should have allowed for more than two days to finish the job, or enlisted more help, if I could have tricked the other Elm Creek Quilters into it.”

  “I noticed that the manor is unusually quiet today,” said Anna, smiling. “I guess your friends conveniently found themselves with more important things to do—and well out of shouting distance from the kitchen.”

  “Oh, the manor’s no quieter than any other weekend when camp isn’t in session.” Sylvia nudged a half-full carton out of the way with her foot so she could open a new cabinet. “You’ve been here only when we’ve had a houseful of guests—footfalls overhead, laughter in the halls, sewing machines abuzz. On Sunday mornings in the summer, I find the few quiet hours between camp sessions restful, but I confess I miss the bustle and excitement once autumn sets in, and quiet becomes the norm.”

  “There’s a big difference between a few quiet hours before the campers arrive on registration day and weeks of silence with the manor mostly empty.”

  “There is, indeed. And yet it isn’t that quiet. I have my husband Andrew for company, of course, as well as Sarah and Matt McClure, and Gretchen and Joe Hartley. But two Elm Creek Quilters and their husbands make only a fraction of the noise of a houseful of quilt campers.”

  “Just wait until Sarah has her twins,” said Anna. “You’ll look back on the busiest days of quilt camp and remember them as quiet and peaceful!”

  Sylvia laughed. “I’m looking forward to it. I could use a little more noise around here. But don’t misinterpret the lack of activity around here this morning as abandonment by our friends. If I had thought to ask them to join us, I’m sure they would have willingly agreed to help.”

  Anna’s heart warmed at Sylvia’s choice of words: our friends. “I’m sure they would have. I was only teasing. Quilters are some of the most helpful people you’ll ever meet.”

  “I should have organized a bee,” Sylvia mused, frowning at a cracked ceramic casserole before dumping it into the junk carton. “Many hands make light work, or so the saying goes. If quilters can come together for a quilting bee, why not to clear out a kitchen?”

  “I’ve never been to a quilting bee,” Anna admitted, “unless you count the ones my aunt used to hold at her quilt shop. Sometimes when a favorite customer had a large quilt to layer and baste, my aunt would invite her to push a few tables together and spread out the backing, batting, and top at the back of the store. Often other customers would join in to help. My aunt also organized a regular monthly meeting to make quilts for charity—tiny quilts for the preemie ward at the local hospital, children’s cuddle quilts for firefighters and police to give to families they served, and fund-raising quilts for just about every worthy cause you could imagine. My aunt often told me that she believed businesses ought to give back to the communities that kept them in business.”

  Sylvia nodded approvingly. “We Elm Creek Quilters ought to do more of that. Often we become so caught up in the demands of running quilt camp that we forget to be charitable. Oh, we think about it, but then we have registration forms to process and class samples to stitch and so many other duties that I’m afraid good works slip to the bottom of our to-do lists.”

  “What about during the off-season?” said Anna. “Without campers to look after, I’m sure we could find time to work on a project for a good cause here in the Elm Creek Valley. We could invite the Waterford Quilting Guild to join us.”

  “An excellent idea,” Sylvia declared. “After all, quilting bees aren’t only about getting the work done. An honest quilter will admit that socializing is just as important as sewing, and always has been, ever since our pioneer ancestors invented the bee. My great-great-aunt Gerda wrote about a local nineteenth-century quilting bee tradition in her memoir.”

  In Gerda’s day, Sylvia explained, daughters would learn to sew by piecing quilts, and a worthy young woman was expected to complete twelve quilt tops by the time she reached marriageable age. The thirteenth quilt was to be her masterpiece, as fine a quilt as she could make, putting the best of her needlework talents on display as evidence that she had learned all the sewing skills she would need as a wife and mother. When the young woman became engaged, all the bride-to-be’s female friends and family would gather for a quilting bee, where the thirteen pieced and appliquéd tops would be quilted and finished.

  “According to Gerda’s memoir,” Sylvia added, “the men attended, too, but for the food and festivities rather than the quilting.”

  “You can’t have a gathering of quilters without food,” Anna said cheerfully. “The men wouldn’t want to miss out on that, even if they weren’t willing and able to help the bride finish her quilts.”

  “Contemporary quilting bees are no different,” said Sylvia. “Quilters come for the companionship, the laughter, the sharing of confidences—and to swap patterns and recipes with friends and neighbors.”

  Anna resolved that whenever the Elm Creek Quilters launched their own quilting bees, their guests would find the refreshments as well as the needlework equal to any quilting bee the Elm Creek Valley had ever seen.

  Gorgonzola Basil Dip with Radicchio Leaves and Zucchini Spears

  Yield: about 1½ cups

  1 cup (about 11 ounces) Gorgonzola cheese, at room temperature

  ¼ cup cream cheese (regular, not whipped), at room temperature

  1/3 cup light cream, whole milk, or buttermilk

  2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

  ¼ teaspoon black pepper

  1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

  ¼ cup chopped lightly toasted walnuts or pine nuts

  Finely chopped fresh basil leaves, for garnish (optional)

  1 head radicchio leaves, for garnish

  2 zucchini, cut into spears, for garnish

  Place the cheeses and light cream in a mixing bowl and combine with a fork. Add the lemon juice and pepper and mix again. Add the basil and nuts and add very gently (if you overmix, it will be totally blue). Set aside, covered, for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight. Allow to return to room temperature before serving.

  Serve garnished with the additional basil surrounded by radicchio leaves and zucchini spears.

  Thai Chicken Peanut Satay

  Serves 8 to 10

  For the marinade:

  1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

  ¼ cup seasoned rice wine vinegar

  3 tablespoons canola oil

  2 tablespoons peanut oil

  1 tablespoon curry powder

  1 tablespoon minced gingerroot

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

  3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken tenders, trimmed of fat and pounded

  For the peanut sauce:

  ¾ cup good quality peanut butter (no sugar)

  1 cup boiling water

  2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

  2 garlic cloves, peeled

  2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

  2 teaspoons light brown sugar

  1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot

  ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

  1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

  Chopped peanu
ts, for garnish

  Chopped fresh basil leaves, for garnish

  Chopped scallion greens, for garnish

  To make the marinade: Place the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, oils, curry powder, gingerroot, salt, and cayenne if using, in a nonreactive 3-to 4-quart bowl and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

  Add the chicken to the bowl and mix until it is completely immersed in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.

  To make the peanut sauce: While the chicken is marinating, place the peanut butter and the boiling water in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until the two ingredients come together. Gradually, while the processor is running, add the remaining peanut sauce ingredients and process until creamy. Transfer to a container and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.

  Prepare the grill or preheat the broiler. Have ready 12 wooden or metal skewers.

  To cook, remove as much marinade as possible from the chicken, thread the chicken on skewers, place the kabobs on a grill, and cook until the chicken is deeply browned on the outside and no longer pink on the inside, 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately garnished with the chopped peanuts, fresh basil, and scallion greens, with the peanut sauce on top or on the side.

  Crab Cakes

  Serves 8 as an appetizer

  12 ounces crabmeat, picked over and very coarsely shredded

  ½ cup panko bread crumbs

  ¼ cup mayonnaise or whole-milk yogurt

  2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley or fresh basil

  1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or scallion greens

  ¼ cup all-purpose flour

  1 teaspoon kosher salt