Holiday Brunch

Holiday greetings fellow gourmands!
The Crowing Coq Cookbook Club has completed their third successful year with what has become an annual appetizers and dessert event. This year, on Dec. 14th we met for a brunch at the gaily decorated San Jose home of one of our members. This seemingly simple event has morphed into a sophisticated “pot luck” and members brought dishes from one of our cookbooks or a special dish they wished to share! We had our Kitchen White Elephant gift exchange and the Crowing Coq once again changed hands and will now live between two households. Some people just can't live without the familiar "Cockadoodle doo!" emanating from their kitchen.

We started the event with two festive champagnes from Bill's cellar: Veuve de Vernay, NV, Brut Rose Sparkling wine and a Schramsberg, 2003, Brut Rose from California. George also opened a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile that went well with all the seafood dishes.

For our savory dishes George prepared a Seafood Quiche, filled with shrimp, crab,fish and cheese…mmmmm! They were a wonderful sensations in our mouths…you know, that creamy, rich and decadent feel?! His recipe is from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Mary made Smoked Duck Spring Rolls from Cindy Pawcyn’s, Big Small Plates (p. 78-79). They were wonderful and brought Southeast Asian bright flavors to the event. Sandy created a dish from Jean-Georges cookbook, Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, Simply the Best Crab Salad (p. 53). She adapted it a bit and served them on endive leaves that added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the mangos. These salads were perfect mouthfuls combining the fresh taste of the ocean with just a touch of sweetness from the mangos and a accent of crispness from the endives. Sandi W. made a dish from Julia Child's cookbook, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, Moules Ravigote. The succulent mussels were prepared to perfection with amazing flavors from the ravigote sauce: onions, capers, and herbs. Annie made two dishes to round out the savory part of the brunch. The aroma of Cinnamon Sugar Muffins, greeted us as we entered her home and made us all remember traditional Christmases. She also made a deceivingly simple dish of sliced Marinated Oranges, laced with cinnamon, grand marnier and rose water! I tried the recipe with other acidic fruits with equally delicious results.



The finishing touches were an amazing array of rich, sweet, gooey, buttery, and visually beautiful desserts. Willie brought a Enormous Cream Puff au Chocolat just dripping in rich chocolate and filled with “who-can-resist” whipped cream. This dish is also from a Julie Child cookbook, The Way to Cook. Janis prepared wonderfully moist Orange Date Nut Bars that were iced in a gooey orange and cream cheese topping that just made everyone swoon. Sandi U. baked Snowflake Butter Cookies that were iced and decorated in elaborate designs AND were delicious as well…she claims it’s all the butter in the cookies! So often decorated cookies don’t taste very good but these were the exception to the rule.

If you'd like to try some of the recipes that came from a source outside of our cookbook lists, go to the end of this blog.

BTW, the fabulous photos continue to improve with each dinner because Willie, our "official" photographer, works hard to chronicle our efforts. As many of you already know, photographing food is very, very difficult. Often, the photos in magazines are sprayed, faked, etc. to make the dish look very appetizing. Our photos are really what the food looked like, thanks to Willie's skills. Thank you, Willie!


Enjoy the holidays and wonderful treats!

Bon appétit!

Sandi


RECIPES:


Cinnamon Butter Muffins
Makes 12 3-inch muffins

Muffins
6 T unsalted butter
6 T shortening
1 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t Salt
½ t Nutmeg
1 C Milk
3 C Flour
4 t Baking Powder
Preheat oven to 350º.
Grease 12 3-inch muffin pan cups.
Cream butter, shortening and sugar together.
Beat in eggs, salt and nutmeg.
Stir in the flour alternately with milk until misture is just combined.
Fill muffin cups full (Annie said to just fill 2/3 full)
Bake 20-25 min.

Cinnamon Topping
1 C unsalted butter, melted
1 C Sugar
1 T Cinnamon
Have melted butter ready in shallow bowl.
Combine cinnamon and sugar in separate bowl.
When muffins are done, let them cool for one minute
Turn muffins out onto cooling racks.
Immerse each muffin briefly in the melted butter; let excess drip off.
Roll each in the Cinnamon Sugar mixture.



Orange Wheels
Santre ke Chakle

Serves 4-6
6 large oranges
¼ C Sugar
2 T Raisins
1 t ground nutmeg or cinnamon
4 T rose water
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T Grand Marnier or Orange Liqueur

Peel oranges carefully, removing all yellow pith. Slice each one across into 4-5 rounds per orange. Place in shallow bowl.
Combine sugar, raisins, nutmeg or cinnamon
Pour mixture over orange wheels and refrigerate at least 2 hours
Serve orange wheels chilled, with some of their juice.


Enormous Cream Puffs au Chocolat
Julia Child, Way to Cook, page 396 – 399.

For a giant ring, 12” – 14” round.

Choux Pastry (for 2-1/2 cups of pastry)
1 C Water
¾ stick Unsalted Butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/8 t Salt
1 T Sugar
1 C All-purpose flour (scooped and leveled)
1 Cup beated eggs, exactly. About 5 large eggs (blend together before measuring)

Set out all the ingredients listed, prepare all the baking pans, pastry bags, and other items called for. Preheat oven to 425º.

Bring water to boil in 2-qt pan with butter, salt and sugar. As soon as the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat.
Pour in all the flour at once and vigorously beat it—it will be lumpy at first but smoothes out rapidly as you beat.*
As soon as blended, beast over moderate heat for a minute or more until the pastry balls up, cleans itself off the sides of the pan and begins to film the bottom of the pan. (This step evaporates excess moisture, so that the pastry will absorb as much egg as possible)

*NOTE: Hand beaten with a wire whip produces the lightest and puffiest pastry. Food processor is not recommended. And, for the puffiest results, form and bake as soon as possible after the pastry is made, since it firms as it cools and that holds down the puff.

Adding eggs.
Turn the pastry into a 3-quart bowl with rounded bottom and stir with wooden spatula or spoon for 30 seconds to cool it off f=briefly.
Then make a well in the center of the warm pastry and beat in a ¼ C of the beraten egg: when blended (it will look strangely separated at first), repeat with another ¼ C of egg and then another and half of the final bit of egg.
The pastry should just hold its shape when lifted onto a spoon. You will be tempted to add more remaining egg but beat it in by dribbles to be sure the pastry is not too loose.

To Form & Bake Puffs
¼ C Flour for the pastry sheet
Egg glaze (leftover egg or a fresh one, beaten w/ a pinch of salt and droplets of water)

Sprinkle the flour on the buttered baking sheet and shake it to cover it with a light even dusting. Turn the sheet upside down and bang off excess flour.
Using a 12-14” pot lid as a guide, trace a acircle in the flour on the baking sheet.
Pipe a circle of warm Choux paste to cover the circular guide. Pipe another circle outside the first and a third on top of both of them.
Paint the pastry with the egg glaze.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 450º until pastry has puffed to almost triple in height and is nicely browned. Reduce heat to 400º and continue baking 10 minutes.
Pierce the sides of the puff in several places to let out steam.
Lower heat to 350ºF and bake 10 minutes more.
Turn off the oven and oven and leave the door ajar for another 10 minutes—all of this in the interest of drying out the puff. There will still be damp pastry inside.
Remove the puff from the oven, and carefully slice in half, horizontally.
Scrape uncooked, damp, pastry out of the bottom and top halves.
To crisp the pastry, set the two pieces, inside sides up, on the baking sheet in a 350º oven for 5 minutes.

Fill the cooled ring with the sweetened whipped cream shortly before serving. Spoon warm chocolate sauce over the top.
Pass remaining chocolate sauce separately.
Cut portions with serrated knife.

Warm Chocolate Sauce
(for about 2 ½ cups)
2/3 C White corn syrup
2/3 C Water
½ C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ C Sugar
2 ozs Unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
6 T Unsalted butter
½ C Heavy cream
Big pinch of salt
2 t Vanilla

Boil corn syrup in small saucepan for a minute or two, until it forms heavy strands as you drop it off the spoon.
Remove from heat and stir in the water.
Sieve together the cocoa and sugar, then whisk them into the syrup.
Simmer, stirring, for several seconds, until you are sure the sugar has dissolved completely.—very important since undissolved sugar will cause the sauce to crystallize later.
Add the baking chocolate and simmer, stirring, until melted.
Blend in the butter and heavy cream.
Bring to full boil for 15 seconds.
Remove from heat and blend in the salt and vanilla.
NOTE: If you make this ahead, refrigerate in a covered jar and place the jar into a pan of simmering water to reheat.


Orange Walnut-Date Bars
1 C unsifted all-purpose flour
½ t Baking Soda
½ t Cinnamon
¼ t Nutmeg
¼ t Salt
1/3 C softened butter or margarine
¾ C Light brown sugar
1 lg Egg
1 T grated orange rind
2 T orange juice
½ C Chopped pitted dates
¾ C Coarsely chopped walnuts, divided use
Orange Butter frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour 11x7x1” baking pan.
Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into bowl, set aside.
In large bowl of electric mixer, beat together softened butter and brown sugar, blending until smooth.
Beat in egg, orange rind, and orange juice.
Beat in the flour mixture until smooth.
Stir in chopped dates and ½ cup of the walnuts.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
Bake about 30 minutes or until browned.
Spread with Orange Butter Frosting and sprinkle with remaining ¼ C of chopped walnuts.
Cut into 33 2”x1” bars.

Orange Butter Frosting
¼ C Softened butter or margarine
1 t grated orange rind
1 lg Egg yolk (or 1 T plain yogurt)
½ t Vanilla extract
2 C sifted Confectioners Sugar
2 t Orange Juice or enough to make frosting spreadable.

Cream butter until fluffy.
Add orange rind, egg yolk and vanilla. Blend well.
Gradually add confectioners sugar, beating well.
Mix in orange juice.
Spread on bar and sprinkle with walnuts.

(99 calories per bar, 4 g. fat, 21 mg. cholesterol. 35% calories from fat.)



Frosted Ornament Cookies
Christmas Sweets by Georganne Brennan, p. 63.

1-3/4 C Sifted Flour
½ t Baking Powder
¼ t Salt
1-1/3 sticks Butter, softened
½ C Sugar
1 lg. Egg
1 t Vanilla

Preheat oven: 400º
Sift flour, baking powder, salt onto piece of waxed paper.
In mixing bowl butter until fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla.
Add sifted flour mixture in thirds, stirring until dough is smooth.
Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes.

On lightly floured board, roll dough out to 1/8” - 3/8” thickness, depending upon how fragile cookie cutter shape is.
Cut into cookie shapes and transfer to cookie sheet.
Bake immediately before cookie looses shape.
Gather up dough and re-roll and re-cut.
Bake until lightly browned on bottom and pale golden yellow on top. About 6-8 minutes depending upon thickness of cookie. Do not allow cookies to brown.

Frosting:
Confectioners sugar
Half-and-half
Food coloring
Colored draegies
Colored sugar sprinkles
Stiff paint brushes
Pastery bag with small round tip

Combine sugar and half-and-half until spreadable but not dripping off spoon. If too stiff, add more liquid, a drop at a time.
Divide among several bowls for different colors.
Make more white icing
Frosting will spread more evenly if you put colored icing on while cookies are still warm. For more brilliant colors, let cookies totally cool before icing.
Let frosting set for 30 minutes or 1 hour before piping on any white designs to prevent any colors from bleeding into each other.