Amy's Award-Winning Super Chili

The Big Game is just around the corner. (Apparently, unauthorized people are not allowed to combine the words “Super” and “Bowl” into one phrase lest they violate copyright and get raided by the Football Gestapo. So we’re calling it the Big Game. You know what I mean.)

The traditional dish for this event is chili. I usually make my standard beef chili, but this year my college roommate Amy MacDonald has offered something more unusual. Her chili was tied for first place in a chili cook-off last year. She says she was inspired by a class she took years ago with chef/instructor Pat Kapp.

Amy sent me her recipe in narrative form. In her words, “It’s not really a recipe—it took three days—it’s practically a way of life.” I love her attitude and her writing because they illustrate the improvisational way in which we all really cook (yes, even cookbook authors!). I hardly ever follow a recipe from start to finish. There’s too much tasting, thinking, and running out of ingredients along the way.

In the interest of making this blog more or less coherent, however, I have translated her essay about making the chili into a semi-standardized recipe. I’ve left in several of her observations because they reflect her personality and that of her chili.

I should add that my family ran out of time and turned the three-day chili into a two-day chili. We just basically kept it in the slow cooker overnight and thought it was ready to serve after 24 hours, just after we added the brown sugar and jam. The end result was quite delicious and definitely prize worthy. So don’t worry if you don’t have three days before the game.

Amy's son William wanted to add barbecue sauce to the chili.

The Chili

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (or 5 drumsticks, which I happened to have in the house)
2 4-inch sticks fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh
salt to taste
1 cup red wine, divided (Amy says, “if you happen to be drinking it at the time. I say, “Drink.”)
1/2 pound kielbasa (I mixed kielbasa and locally produced chorizo), plus more if desired
1 large red onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
butter and olive oil as needed for sautéing
2 cans black beans
2 cans other beans (NOT garbanzos; I used pinto and kidney)
1 can pureed or chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari—even better—if you have it in the house)
3 serrano chiles, seeded and minced
6 ounces dark beer or ale
2 heaping tablespoons chili powder, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 ounces barbecue sauce
vegetable or chicken stock if needed
1/3 cup apricot jam
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
red pepper flakes to taste (optional)hot sauce to taste (optional)

Instructions:

Day I:

Poach the chicken in a little water along with the rosemary and thyme, plus a little salt. Throw in 1/4 cup wine.

Slice the kielbasa into pieces “about the size of a very thick quarter,” and brown them in a frying pan.

In a separate frying pan, brown the onion and garlic in butter and oil. “I don’t know why both butter and oil,” says Amy. “Just do it.” (Actually, the combination adds flavor and keeps the butter from burning.) “The critical thing here is the browning part. Searing everything adds depth.”

Open the cans of beans. Throw them into a pot. “Heat them to a really good simmer.” While they are heating up, take the chicken meat off the bones. Put that meat and the chicken’s cooking liquid in a large slow cooker. Add the beans, vegetables, sausage, tomatoes, soy, chiles, and beer.

“[T]hen start worrying about whether there is enough meat,” says Amy. If you’re concerned (I was! I love meat!), brown another 1 /2 pound at least of sausage in a frying pan. Deglaze the pan with the remaining wine, and add the sausage and wine to the slow cooker. If you don’t use more sausage, just throw the wine in by itself. Stir in the chili powder. Cook overnight on low heat.

Day II:

On Day II Amy’s son announced that the chili needed some barbecue sauce. Amy didn’t actually add any, but I misunderstood her explanation of his request, and I put some in. Not bad! Taste for flavoring, and if you want to add more chili powder. If you think you want more liquid in your chili, add some stock. Stir in the brown sugar and jam; then cook for a few more hours on low heat. Remove the chili from the crock pot, and refrigerate it overnight.

Day III:

Return the chili to the crock pot, add the cilantro, and cook it for several additional hours on low heat. Taste it a couple of hours before you’re ready to serve it. If you think it needs more seasoning, feel free to add some chili powder, salt, red pepper flakes, or even hot sauce. If you think it just needs more cooking, increase the heat to high.

If you’re entering a chili cook-off, lobby avidly and look cute. (Amy always does.) If you’re just watching football, dish the chili out.

Serves at least 10 football fans.

Our Michael is ready for the Big Game.

Soup Days: Chipotle Corn Chowder

BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!

Frank Loesser’s playful lyric is appropriate to this time of year. It is indeed chilly—and snowy—and icy—outside. The cold gives us an excuse to linger indoors and enjoy ourselves, however.

And of course we can cook………

January is National Soup Month for a reason. We have entered the season of simmering pots and warming lunches. I have lots of favorite soups for cold weather. I can eat split pea soup for days on end (a good thing since it’s hard to make only a small pot of it). I save my chicken bones religiously for stock. I turn the dregs of pot roast into vegetable-beef soup. And I’m a sucker for the potential in a can of tomatoes.

We can light fires, which always cheer. We can read the occasional novel. We can think about going for long walks in the snow. We can catch up on housework. (We CAN—but I’m not sure I will.)

Here is a soup I’ve just started making, and I love it. It was inspired by the Happy Valley Locavore, a blog maintained by Meggin Thwing Eastman of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Meggin writes about her quest to cook with and eat as much locally produced food as she can.

The soup on which this one was based (which of course used fresh corn!) solved a long-time dilemma for me. I love to make corn chowder, but I have lots of friends who avoid pork and thus can’t eat the bacon that gives my favorite corn chowder its smoky taste. Meggin’s answer is to use canned chipotles (smoked jalapeño peppers). These give the soup not only smoke but a touch of heat as well.

Stay warm and eat hearty!

Chipotle Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

peanut oil as needed for sautéing
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound new potatoes, cut in small cubes (leave the skins on!)
1 quart vegetable or chicken stock, plus more stock if needed
2 pounds frozen corn (or the corn from 8 to 10 ears), preferably slightly thawed
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, seeded and finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
cream and milk to taste
chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté them until they begin to brown. Stir in the potatoes, and cook for a couple of minutes, adding more oil if needed to keep them from sticking to the pot. Pour in 1 quart of stock, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the corn and chipotles to the pot, return the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer the mixture covered until the corn and tomatoes are soft and the soup tastes good. This takes about half an hour on my stove. Add a bit more stock if the soup looks as though it is drying out.Let the soup cool for a few minutes; then carefully blend it using a blender, immersion blender, or food processor. Return the soup to the pot, and add a little cream. Stir in milk until the chowder looks and tastes right to you. Heat the milky mixture just to the boiling point, and serve. Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired. Serves 8 to 10.

Lorelei Lee likes to nap on Soup Days (and on non-soup days, too!).

Nibbling with the Oxen

Welcome to the Year of the Ox!

The Chinese New Year starts on Monday, January 26. Naturally, I’m thinking FOOD. We don’t have a Chinese restaurant in Hawley, Massachusetts, so I have to make my own fare. Despite our lack of Chinese restaurants, Hawley is a perfect place in which to celebrate the year of the ox. In New England oxen still do agricultural work. Ox pulls are major draws at our local fairs.

I know dumplings are a traditional New Year’s dish, and I plan to make them … next year! This year I’m concentrating on a couple of old standbys. Noodles are lucky for the Chinese New Year so I’m working on my friend Stu Cosby’s Sesame Noodles. I’m also serving spicy green beans because they go nicely with the noodles–and because I love beans any time.

Sesame Noodles

Ingredients:

8 ounces Chinese noodles (you may use spaghetti in a pinch)
3 tablespoons peanut butter (I used crunchy)
3 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons light soy sauce (you may use regular if you don’t have light)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon hot oil
2 carrots, cut into julienne strips
1 cucumber, seeded and cut into julienne strips

Instructions:

Cook the noodles as directed. Drain them. Heat the peanut butter in a microwave oven just until it is soft and stir-able. Combine it with the scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, sugar, and hot oil. Mix until smooth.

Toss the noodles and sauce together. Place them on a platter or in a bowl. Garnish with carrot and cucumber strips. Serves 6 to 8.

Spicy Green Beans

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons sherry
peanut oil as needed for frying
1 pound green beans, washed and trimmed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you like things spicy)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 scallions, chopped

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, water, and sherry. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan. Stir fry the beans for about 5 minutes or until they begin to brown. About a minute before you think they will be done, toss on the red pepper flakes.

Remove the beans from the pan, and add the garlic, ginger, and scallions. Stir fry for 1 minute; then add the beans and the soy/sherry sauce. Stir fry briefly-just until the sauce is warmed. Remove to a platter. Serves 6.

Maple Pecan Granola

Ben and Jerry aren’t the only Americans shouting “Yes, Pecan!” this January in honor of the inauguration. In keeping with my current oatmeal theme I’m making a special Obamalicious batch of oaty, nutty granola.

If I had to pick only one food in the world to eat every day, this granola might just be it. It offers a pleasing mixture of tastes and textures. Luckily, I don’t eat it every day. It’s expensive to make and rather fattening. Nevertheless, a little bit is heavenly with ice cream or yogurt or just by itself as a snack. It also makes a welcome gift. If I thought it would get past security, I would send some to the Obamas. Instead, I’m sharing it with my neighbors.

Maple-Pecan Granola

Ingredients:

3-1/2 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats (do not use instant or steel-cut oatmeal)
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup nutlike cereal nuggets such as Grape-Nuts
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup canola oil, plus oil for greasing the pan
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup raisins (plus as many extra as you like!)
1 cup dried cranberries (more of these are nice, too)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, coconut, cereal, almonds, pecans, and sunflower seeds. Make sure they are well jumbled up. In a separate, smaller bowl or a 2-cup measuring cup, carefully whisk together the oil, salt, syrup, and vanilla.

Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix the whole mess together thoroughly with a big spoon.

Generously oil a large jelly roll pan with canola oil. (Pour a little oil in the pan, and smooth it around with a paper towel.) Place the granola on the pan, and bake it until it is golden brown, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours, stirring well every 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and cool the granola to room temperature. At that point, transfer the granola back into the large bowl, and stir in the dried fruits. Store the granola in an air-tight container (or several).

Makes about 8 cups of granola—more or less, depending on how much stuff you add.

The Golden Spurtle

Before I leave the topic of National Oatmeal Month, I’d like to point readers to the website for the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship. Thanks to Peter Beck and to Apartment Therapy’s Kitchen section for finding this for me!

A yearly cooking contest set in Carrbridge in Inverness-shire, Scotland (of course!), this contest looks ALMOST as much fun as my annual Pudding Hollow Pudding Contest. Avid food enthusiasts will be happy to hear that they can attend both. The Golden Spurtle is scheduled for October 11, 2009, while the Pudding Contest will take place on October 31.

The Golden Spurtle web site includes rules, an entry form, and a wonderful page devoted to porridge, including something you won’t find anywhere else–a Porridge and Oatmeal Thesaurus.

Eat it up!

2008 Golden Spurtle Winners Andy Daggert & Ian Bishop (Courtesy of the Golden Spurtle)

A Cake Called Hope

I’m not traveling to Washington for the Inauguration this week. My mother, the animals, and I will be huddled next to the electronic hearth for the next couple of days, however, absorbing as much televised inaugural coverage as we can.

It’s an exciting event. Even people who aren’t Obama girls and boys can’t help hopping on the hope bandwagon. We all want to do our part to put the country on a new path.

My brother is going to an inaugural ball. Not to be outdone, I have prepared an inaugural cake. I wrote to the folks at Wilton to ask for some red, white, and blue sprinkles. They generously threw in some writing gel, star-shaped icing decorations, and a star-shaped pan. (They offered me a flag pan, but I was afraid that it would present too much of a challenge to my limited decorating skills.)

The resulting confection is not only delicious but beautiful as well. I started out trying to outline the star with the gel. When that didn’t work (did I mention my limited decorating skills?), I decided to revert to my usual free-form style. I ended up with a cake that is cheerful and-yes-hopeful.

In tribute to our incoming president’s message, HOPE is in fact the name of this cake, which includes honey, orange, pineapple, and eggs, among other delicious ingredients. It’s easy to make and even easier to eat.

Hope is a recipe …. For a country that is looking for a brighter future, hope is the main ingredient. – Donna Brazile

HOPE Cake

Ingredients:

for the orange-pineapple pound cake:

1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple (including its juice)
the grated zest and finely chopped pulp of 1 orange (everything in fact but the seeds and the bitter white part)

for the honey-cream cheese frosting:

1 8-ounce block cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter at room temperature
2 generous tablespoons honey
confectioner’s sugar as needed
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan (or a star pan from Wilton).

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, followed by the vanilla, baking powder, and salt.

Gently stir in the flour until it is incorporated, and fold in the fruit and zest. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The timing will depend on your pan. With my star pan and my gas oven, it took 45 to 50 minutes.

Let the cake cool in its pan for 10 minutes. Gently loosen the sides and turn the cake out of the pan onto the rack and allow it to cool completely.When the cake is cool, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and honey. Beat in confectioner’s sugar until you have a soft, spreadable, delicious icing. Beat in the vanilla, and spread the frosting over your cake. Decorate with abandon.

Serves 10 to 12 inaugural guests.

Red Beans & Rice

I have a bean.

Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 80 this January 15. In his honor I’m preparing Red Beans and Rice.

Making food to pay tribute to a civil-rights icon may seem frivolous. The choice of Red Beans and Rice for Dr. King is not entirely inappropriate, however. It was one of his favorite dishes.

Moreover, in an odd way, red beans are suited to the civil-rights movement.

Like that movement, they take long preparation and patience. Like many of the ordinary heroes of civil rights, these commonplace beans get together and over time manage to accomplish something quite wonderful.

The combination of the beans and rice, like the combination of races in our nation’s history, is complementary. When they finally join forces at the end of the cooking process, neither loses its identity. Together, however, they form a complete protein, just as the diverse races in the United States form a whole culture.

This particular Red Beans and Rice recipe is adapted from the formula used by my graduate-school friend Mike Mashon, now a Super Curator of Moving Images at the Library of Congress. In school we called him “Mike the Pirate” as a tribute to his extensive collection of videos of old movies, which came in handy as we studied film history. (Since the Library of Congress is one of our nation’s temples to copyright I should probably add that his videos were all legally duplicated for private use.)

Mike is from Louisiana, where I understand children learn about cooking Red Beans and Rice along with their times tables. I fondly recall his pots of this warm, hearty dish as ideal student fare–cheap, yummy, and nourishing.

Mike prefers Camellia brand beans and Rotel tomatoes with chiles. I was unable to find either here in Yankeeland so I used Goya beans and Whole Foods 365-brand canned tomatoes with chiles. Many of the flavorings are optional; I added the onion, garlic, and Creole seasoning myself. If you are a vegetarian, you may want to try the alternative suggested at a web site called Gumbo Pages. Instead of using meat, add a little vegetable oil to the mixture to replicate the fat in the meat, plus 1 teaspoon liquid smoke.

Mike cooks his beans in a large Dutch oven. He says they can take from 4 to 8 hours to cook that way. I used my slow cooker because it makes this easy dish even easier-no stirring involved!

Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

1 pound red beans
1 can (14.5 ounces) tomatoes with green chiles
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
extra-virgin olive oil as needed to sweat the vegetables
salt to taste (I used a generous teaspoon)
1 pound spicy sausage, cut into small pieces and quickly sautéed to release flavors
(Mike’s mother likes to use half sausage and half cubed ham)
Creole seasoning or hot sauce to taste

Instructions:

Thoroughly wash the red beans. Drain them; then soak them overnight in at least 4 cups of water.

Pour the beans and their soaking water into a slow cooker. Add the tomatoes and chiles, plus enough fresh water to cover the beans if needed. Quickly sauté the onion, celery, and garlic in a little olive oil until they are translucent. Add them and the salt to the pot. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.

At the end of the 3 hours, add the sautéed sausage pieces and a little Creole seasoning or hot sauce. If you’re not sure how spicy you’ll want your beans (remember, the chiles and sausage both add some kick), save the extra heat for the end product.

Continue cooking on high heat until the beans are soft (Mike likes to mash them almost to a paste), another 3 to 5 hours. Serve over rice. This dish is even better the next day. Serves at least 8.

Mike the Pirate (left), with another darling from graduate school, Dan Streible (Image Courtesy of NYU)

Avenaceous Meatloaf

Knowing that this blog and I are currently celebrating National Oatmeal Month, my college roommate Amy MacDonald recently sent me Wordsmith.org’s word of the day for January 5. The word was AVENACEOUS. It means relating to or like oats.

Amy, known to her college friends as “Our Amy” (we like to take credit for her), is one of my favorite people in the world. She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s musical. And she’s as practical and loving as they come. She has a terrific family, from matriarch Kathleen and the seven(!) MacDonald siblings down to her own kids, Caitlin and William. Until recently I was under the impression that Caitlin and William were still extremely young. Last time I saw them they were sipping drinks of such an intense blue that only children under ten could digest them–or would want to try. According to Amy’s most recent missive, however, they have somehow become teenagers.

Our Amy (glamorous earrings courtesy of Kathleen)

Obviously, Amy and I don’t get together as often as we’d like. Unfortunately (from my point of view), she lives in California. Whenever we do, we talk for hours, just as though we were still sitting on our beds at Mount Holyoke. Even when we’re apart, we think of each other often. I’m convinced that no one else would have found the term avenaceous for me. If you’d like to see Wordsmith’s full tribute to this highly appropriate word, click here.

I was going to call the dish below “Your Basic Meatloaf with Oatmeal,” but I think the new name is much classier. Classy or not, this comfort food is a staple in my home in winter. My mother Jan never uses breadcrumbs to fill out her loaf. Oats are much tastier and more nutritious as well. If you’re feeding small children, chop the onion and bell pepper into very small pieces to disguise them a bit. Adults seem to like larger chunks.

To keep from chilling your hands, take the ground meat out of the refrigerator about an hour before you’re ready to put your loaf together. Enjoy your avenaceous meal!

Avenaceous Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2 pounds good-quality ground beef (or a combination of beef with pork—or beef, pork, and veal!)
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium or 1/2 large bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
lots of freshly ground pepper
1 or 2 eggs
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats plus a bit more if needed
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, onion, bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. (Your clean hands are the best tools for putting them all together.) Blend in 1 egg and the 1/2 cup oatmeal. If it’s hard to get everything to bind together, add another egg and/or a few more oats.

Fashion the meat mixture into a rough log, and place it in a baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard, and spread them over the meatloaf.

Bake the loaf from 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serves 8.

Oat Cuisine

In my New Year e-mail to friends I mentioned that I was working on an article about oatmeal. The response was enthusiastic.

“Oatmeal is our friend,” e-mailed Carol Cooke, a realtor from Alexandria, Virginia. Just as passionate was Sheila Velazquez. Along with her family, Sheila is working hard to resurrect the old Rice farm on Pudding Hollow Road here in Hawley, Massachusetts. They are basically camping out (brrr!) while nurturing their children and chickens, reconstructing the historic house’s interior, and reading seed catalogues as they dream of the garden they will plant in spring.

Sheila wrote that on chilly winter mornings she enjoys oatmeal almost every day. She buys organic oats in bulk and cooks them with water, dried fruit, and cinnamon. She throws in a little salt at the very end. “So good and also a good way to use up fruit that’s getting past its time,” she added.

Sheila offered me a recipe for oatmeal pie, which she termed a sort of “faux pecan” concoction. She said of oatmeal in general, “It seems that some of the most delicious foods are also the least expensive and best for us.”

I don’t eat oatmeal every morning. Unlike the noble Sheila I always add at least a little brown sugar or maple syrup to my morning porridge. I do yearn for the warmth and comfort of oatmeal at this time of year, however. I’m apparently not alone. More Americans eat oatmeal in January than in any other month, a statistic that prompted Quaker Oats to name January National Oatmeal Month.

Of course, Quaker had a vested interest in creating a month devoted to its signature product. I forgive the company because oatmeal is indeed the perfect food in this dark and cold season. The old cliché that it sticks to one’s ribs turns out to be true. Whole grains like oats take longer for the body to process than many other foods.

The best oatmeal for health purposes is a long-cooking type such as steel-cut oats. If you’re in a hurry, old-fashioned oats take only five minutes to prepare and are still very good for you. Avoid the small packages of instant oatmeal, however. They tend to go overboard in adding salt and sugar.

Oatmeal always appears on lists of super foods. It is good for cholesterol and blood pressure. It also delivers several nutrients, as well as some protein.

Best of all, it is versatile. Broccoli is also a super food, but there are only so many ways a person can disguise broccoli. Believe me, I’ve tried! As well as making a tasty breakfast cereal, oatmeal can be tucked into fruit crisps, cookies, breads, muffins, and meatloaf. It can even be used to construct a facial mask. (Take that, broccoli!)

In this post and the next few I’ll share recipes to boost oatmeal intake this month. If you’re looking for a basic oatmeal cookie, you can’t do better than the formula for Vanishing Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies on the inside of the Quaker Oats box top. Dan Turner of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, told me how to get the best consistency with these cookies: use a Crisco stick instead of the butter or margarine called for in the recipe. You’ll find that the cookies really do vanish quickly.

The Rice Farm in Hawley, Massachusetts

Rice Farm Oatmeal Pie

Sheila Velazquez says that she originally found this recipe in Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, published in 1972. At one time she managed a farmer’s market, where the pie was a best seller. Sheila explains that the oatmeal forms a chewy crust on the top of the pie.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) soft butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark corn syrup
3 eggs
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the spices and salt. Stir in the corn syrup. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition until all is blended. Stir in the oats.

Pour the mixture into the pie shell, and bake for about an hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Serves 6 to 8.

Epiphany (The Color Purple)

With Epiphany only a couple of days away, I decided to try making a King Cake yesterday. I first learned about King Cake from French friends. The French enjoy a “Galette des Rois” on and around January 6. In France, the cake is mainly bought in bakeries. It is made of layers of puff pastry with almondy cream in between the layers.

In Louisiana, this concoction became a simpler King Cake. Both cakes celebrate the arrival of the three kings at the manger to visit Jesus, born twelve days earlier. Both also contain a surprise—a bean or crown in France, a plastic Baby Jesus in Louisiana. Whoever comes across the surprise in his or her piece of cake becomes king or queen for the day. In Louisiana, that person is also responsible for bringing a King Cake to the next feast. (Natives of that state eat King Cake from Epiphany straight through to Mardi Gras!)

Louisiana King Cake is basically a sweet, yeasty bread baked in the shape of a ring, festooned with toppings that reproduce the traditional colors of Mardi Gras–purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. I had never made King Cake before. I looked to one of my favorite sources, King Arthur Flour, for suggestions.

I didn’t follow the recipe precisely, so I can’t blame KAF for the fact that my cake didn’t come out as well as I would have liked. (If you’d like to see the KAF recipe, here it is.)

Even so, I think I’ll try something a bit different next time I attempt one of these cakes. My cake didn’t rise very well, perhaps because of the cold weather. Worse yet, the overall effect was bland. My cooking may not be gorgeous as a general rule, but it is hardly ever bland!

Although the cake wasn’t perfect, the meal during which we ate it was pretty darn terrific. My guests all cheerfully helped decorate the cake. Different people were assigned the tasks of dying the glaze purple, green, and gold. My neighbor Peter, who has a wonderful visual sense, came up with a very creditable purple. In fact, he suggested that I call this post “The Color Purple.”

As a reward for his hard work, Lady Luck let Peter find the cake’s surprise. His piece included a quarter as I had neither a bean nor a Baby Jesus. (Don’t worry; I counseled my guests to chew carefully!) He is now King of Pudding Hollow—for at least the next day or two.

The experience of sharing even my imperfect cake with friends reminded me of the other, equally important definition of Epiphany. The word also connotes a moment of revelation. Eating with friends and enjoying the gorgeous pinkish/purplish light of winter in New England made me feel part of something bigger, both social and natural. And that’s a perfect feeling on Epiphany.

Alice was in charge of the color green.

The King of Pudding Hollow

A Sky Full of Epiphany

Note from Tinky MUCH later: I made a lovely king cake for Mardi Gras. Click here to see the recipe………