Bay of Pigs Invasion

Serving: 1 Mocktail
Total Time: 5 Minutes

1 oz Perfectly Cordial Tropical Sour
3 Mint leaves
Lime for Zesting
Garnish: Lime Wedge and Mint Bouquet

Directions:

Cheese Spread on Crostinis with Deviled Almonds 

30-36 crostinis

4 – slices white bread
2 cups – hard cheese, grated or cut into small pieces
2 – eggs
Salt, pepper and mustard to taste
2 tbsp – milk
2 tbsp – butter

Caroline Harrison’s Deviled Almonds

3 oz – blanched & chopped almonds
2 tbsp – unsalted butter
Cayenne pepper to tasted
Kosher salt to taste

Cut the bread into four pieces, then drizzle some olive oil on a sheet pan. Place the bread on the sheet pan leaving a little space between piece. Drizzle bread with more olive oil, and bake for 8-10 minutes on 375 degrees, or until crispy.

Mix the remaining ingredients together in the top of a double boiler and stir over a medium heat. If you’re going to use it straight away cook it until it’s as thick as you want but still spreadable. (If you’re going to store it in the fridge, cook it until it’s about as thick as thick or double cream as it will set firmer in the fridge. To serve, spread on toast, crackers or crusty bread.)

Rough chop the almonds, place them in a skillet with the butter and cook over medium until they are golden brown. Drain them on papers towels, then add them to a bowl. Toss them in the cayenne and salt and pepper. Taste for your preferred level of heat.

To assemble, spread the cheese mixture on the crostini, then sprinkle the nuts on top of the cheese spread. Garnish with fried sage, or oregano.

Lincoln’s Oyster Chowder with New Salem Saleratus Rosemary “Crackers”

Serves 8

Chowder:

1 – large rosemary sprig
3 tbsp – unsalted butter
2 – leeks, trimmed and sliced
1/4 cup – yellow onion, petite diced
3 – medium, par-boiled white or red potatoes, small diced
1 cup – english peas
3 cups – heavy cream
1 cup – whole milk
1 tsp – white vinegar
24 – freshly shucked oysters with their juices
Dash of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt & pepper
Minced chives for garnish

To make biscuit crackers 

2 tbsp – rosemary butter from above
2/3 cup – whole fat buttermilk
2 cups – unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp – baking soda
1/8 tsp – salt
1 tsp – unsalted butter
1/4 cup – boiling water

Melt butter and add rosemary on low heat and let steep for several minutes. Remove rosemary after a few moments so it does not make the butter bitter.

Prepare crackers first.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.

Add the butter to the boiling water to melt and then stir into the flour mixture. Then stir in the sour milk. Stir with a fork, then knead briefly. You may have to add a bit more milk or flour to make a dough that is firm enough to work and not sticky.

Separate dough in two. Working in two batches roll out dough. Lightly flour a board and roll out dough to a 1/8” thickness and cut oyster cracker size cracker rounds. Place on a baking sheet and chill. Once chilled for at least 15 minutes, brush with rosemary butter, sprinkle with flake salt if you like, and bake, about 6-7 minutes.

To prepare chowder

Add leeks, onions and salt & pepper, to remaining rosemary butter, sweat over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add half-and-half, potatoes and peas and simmer for 20 minutes. Make sure not to overheat here – you will break your cream. So, keep it on a low to medium heat at most. Add vinegar and a little nutmeg then taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Add oysters and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Re-taste and adjust if needed.

Ladle stew into 8 soup bowls, 3 oysters per bowl. Garnish with chives and biscuits crackers.

Braised Fall Greens

4 oz – extra virgin olive oil
2 ea – sweet onion, cut into small dice
3 ea – garlic clove, peeled and sliced thin
4 ea – fresh bay leaf (sub dried if fresh is unavailable)
4 oz – pickled sweet/hot peppers (my favorite brand Mama Lil’s), coarsely chopped
1 tsp – smoked paprika
12 oz – canned tomato, crushed rustically
5 oz – apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp – hot sauce (like Frank’s, Valentina, Louisiana, etc.)
2-3 cups – kombu stock, see recipe below
2 bunch – hearty greens, stem removed and roughly torn into 2”x 2” pieces (kale, turnip or collards)
2 tbsp – salt
T.T. – freshly cracked black pepper
1-2 ea – lemon

In a large pot or enameled Dutch oven add 3 oz olive oil, onion, garlic, bay leaves and a pinch of salt.  Sweat over medium heat for 20 minutes.  Careful not to brown. Stir in the smoked paprika and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add the tomato puree.

Cook, stirring every few, until the tomato has reduced and the oil has started to reform (~15-20 minutes). Add the Apple cider vinegar and hot sauce.  Reduce until all liquid has evaporated. Add 2 cup of the kombu stock and bring to a simmer.

Start adding the greens a handful at a time.  Allow to just wilt then add another handful until all greens are in the pot.  Season with half of the remaining salt.

Assess the situation. The goal is to cook the greens uncovered so the liquid slowly evaporates and concentrates adding the extra kombu stock as needed to keep the greens from drying out and scorching (45-60 minutes).  The goal is for the texture to be “jammy.”

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. You can serve immediately, finished with lemon juice and remining 1 oz olive oil or my favorite…wait! Wait till the greens are room temp or even the next day and finish with lemon and olive oil in the same manner.  Serve with abundant amounts of crusty rustic bread.

Kombu Stock (aka Kombu Dashi)

2 ea – approx. 4” x 4” pieces kombu seaweed
1 qt – filtered cold water
½ cup – dried shitake mushrooms

Place the kombu, shitake mushrooms and cold water in a pot and allow to sit at room temp for 30 minutes.

Slowly heat over medium low heat until the pot just simmers.  Remove from heat and allow to steep for 15 minutes.  Strain and reserve.

Note:  Kombu stock will hold in your fridge for up to a week.  Will add a vegan source of umami to soups and stews.

Crab Salad

A Modified Selection from LBJ’s White House
4 Servings

For salad

8 oz – fresh Jumbo Lump Crab, picked
16 ea – cherry Tomatoes such as Sungold or Sweet 100, sliced in half
2 tbsp – shallot, finely diced
2 tbsp – serrano pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup – castelvetrano olives, pitted, crushed and broken into pieces
1/4 cup – cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup – extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp – chives, minced
2 tsp – tarragon, minced
Salt, to taste
Lime Juice, to taste

For dressing 

2/3 – cup Green Goddess Dressing (recipe to follow)
Nasturtium leaves or garden flowers to garnish
Maldon salt, to taste

Gently toss together salad ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Arrange in the center of a shallow bowl or dinner plate, mounded gingerly. This can be done to serve family style or similarly, in individual plates.

Dollop Green Goddess about the top with a small spoon.

Garnish with various leaves and flowers. Finish with a last squeeze of lemon and some flakey sea salt.

Green Goddess Dressing

Yields 1 Cup

3/4 – cup Plain Greek Yogurt or Labna
1/2 cup – basil Leaves, packed
1/4 cup – chives
1 ea – garlic Cloves
1 ea – anchovy Filets
1 ea – scallion
1 ea – lime, zest and juice
1 tsp – salt
1 tsp – freshly Ground Black Pepper

In a blender, purée yogurt, basil chives, garlic, anchovies, scallion, lime zest and juice, salt and pepper until smooth.

Spread the cheese on the crostini, then sprinkle the nuts on top of the cheese spread. Garnish with fried sage, or oregano.

Classic Vanilla Ice Cream with Plum Compote

Serves 4

To make ice cream

2 cups – whole milk
1 1/2 cups – heavy cream
1/2 tsp – salt
6 – yolks
3/4 cup – sugar
1/2 cup – light corn syrup
1 tbsp – vanilla puree

In a medium heavy bottom pot, bring milk, cream, sugars and salt, to a boil. Whisk occasionally. Temper in egg yolks. Whisk until combined.

Place mixture back on the stove. Stirring occasionally over medium low heat. Use a rubber spatula, making sure the mixture doesn’t burn or curdle. Bring mixture to 160 degrees F (71 degrees C.)

Strain mixture into a container over ice bath. Cool the mixture to 39.2 degrees F (4 degrees C) Add vanilla puree.

After mixture is cooled, let cure overnight in refrigerator.

Pour ice cream base into ice cream machine. Follow ice cream manufactures instructions. Spin until the ice cream looks thick and creamy. About 20-30 minutes.

Pour into container. Cover with parchment paper and airtight lid. Freeze.

For plum compote

6-8 – ripe plums
1 cup – sugar
1 – cinnamon stick
1 – lemon

Remove pit from plums. Roughly cut the plums into chunks.

In a medium heavy bottom pot, add sugar and enough water to make the consistency of wet sand. Bring the mixture to a caramel. Add the plums, cinnamon stick and juice of the lemon. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally.

Cook mixture on medium high for 20 -25 minutes or until thickens. Let compote cool in pot. Remove cinnamon stick.

Serve with classic vanilla ice cream. Enjoy.