Al Dente

Steak with Brandy and Mustard Sauce for Valentine's Day

Ever wonder how French women really cook and entertain at home?

Iowa-based restaurant critic and wine writer Wini Moranville has spent her summers in that gastronomic mecca, and shopped and cooked like a French woman for the past 20 years. 

And now I'm happy to report she's created a knockout of a cookbook to showcase the secrets of French cooking the "bonne femme" way. 

"The Bonne Femme Cookbook: Simple, Splendid Food That French Women Cook Every Day," is one of those beautifully crafted and produced books that you'll want to cook from, read from, and savor time and again.

A hefty, hardcover tome with 400+ pages, more than 250 recipes, and whimsical illustrations, it includes chapters on Nibbles, Amuse-Bouches, and Cocktails Maison; Salades and Soupes; Casseroles and Pasta; and--of course--Les Desserts.

But perhaps the most useful chapter for busy American cooks (of either sex) who want to put an appealing dinner on the table for their families in under 30 minutes is Moranville's chapter entitled, Sauté, Glaze, and Serve. 

In each recipe in this section, the cook begins by sautéing the evening's choice of meat or seafood in a skillet. Deglaze the pan by pouring wine and broth into the drippings, then let this mixture boil and reduce, while scraping up all the yummy browned nubbins in the bottom of the pan. Add a few defining touches--grapes, olives, celery root, seasonal herbs, or morels--and the resulting pan sauce will be "rich, intense, and true-to-France," Moranville says.

I was taken with so many of these smartly conceived and written recipes (a collection which Moranville classifies as "bonne femme moderne") but three stood out as perfect possibilities for Valentine's Day. Duck with Raisins, Petits Oignons, and Madeira; "Pretty Quick" Coq Au Vin; and Steak with Brandy and Mustard Sauce are all certain to make your special someone swoon.

“If we think of French cooking at all, we envision slaving three days over cassoulet, hunting all over town for veal bones for a reduction, mail-ordering a lobe of foie gras, and plunking way too much butter and cream in all our creations,” says Moranville. “So I want to spread the word about the fresh, vivid, easy-to-master appeal of good French home cooking, the kind of simple cuisine that French families enjoy together.”

And to that we should all say, "Mais oui!"

Steak with Brandy and Mustard Sauce

Cookbook author Wini Moranville describes this dish as something one might have ordered in the sort of elegant, old-school French restaurant of generations past. "Consider it retro-romantic, but like many great French classics, it is so worth revisiting," she advises. "And while the recipe serves four, it’s easy to cut it down to two servings. Just cook the steak in a smaller pan."

4 (6-ounce) top loin or tenderloin steaks (1 inch thick)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth

1/2 cup brandy

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

1. Season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and cook, turning as needed, to the desired doneness (10 to 12 minutes for medium-rare); reduce the heat as necessary if the meat browns too quickly. Transfer the steaks to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

2. Add the shallot to the skillet and sauté briefly, until translucent. Remove the pan from the heat and add the broth and the brandy, taking care not to let the liquid spatter. Return the pan to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Boil until the liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup—this should take 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the heat and your pan size. Whisk in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season the sauce with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

3. Arrange the steaks on four dinner plates, spoon the sauce over the steaks, sprinkle with the parsley, and serve.

Dishing Up Oregon with 145 Inspired Farm-to-Table Recipes

There's nothing I like better than a good cookbook on Pacific Northwest cuisine. Heck, I've written several of them myself including Pacific Northwest Wining & Dining: The People, Places, Food, and Drink of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. 

And happy to report that Portland-based author Ashley Gartland has made a very valuable contribution to the Northwest-cuisine repertoire with her new book, Dishing Up Oregon: 145 Recipes That Celebrate Farm-to-Table Flavors.

Gartland solicited recipes from her state's leading chefs, farmers, fishers, winegrowers, cheese makers, brewers, and just about anybody else of import on the Oregon food-and-beverage scene. 

In addition to recipes, the book includes heartfelt profiles and photos (by John Valls) of many of these dedicated people (not to mention enticing plate shots), to create a complete portrait of farm-to-table dining Oregon-style.

I'll be trying my hand at recipes including Oregon Shrimp Napoleons, artistic towers of cucumber, bay shrimp, avocado, and microgreens that hail from The Painted Lady Restaurant in the Willlamette Valley. 

Or Abacela Paella from my friends Hilda and Earl Jones, owners of Abacela Vineyard & Winery in southern Oregon. 

Vin Glacé Cake from chef Tobi Sobak of King Estate Winery incorporates both butter and olive-oil, along with the sweet white dessert wine Vin Glacé, to produce a tender, satisfying cake that would be perfect served with Northwest berries or stone fruits in season, plus a dollop of crème fraîche.

But perhaps no other recipe featured in "Dishing Up Oregon" typifies the elegant simplicity of Northwest cuisine as perfectly as Hazelnut-Crusted Salmon with Brown Butter and Balsamic Vinegar, a recipe from chef Aaron Bedard of The Stephanie Inn & Dining Room in Cannon Beach. 

Even the balsamic vinegar called for in the recipe--Apicio--is Oregon-made. It comes from Cooper Mountain Vineyards, a biodynamic winery in the Willamette Valley. This time of year when fresh-caught wild salmon is scarce, try the recipe using flash-frozen-at-sea fish. 

Hazelnut-Crusted Salmon with Brown Butter and Balsamic Vinegar

Serves 4

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, skinned

One 1-pound wild salmon fillet

Kosher salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar, preferably Cooper Mountain Vineyards Apicio

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with foil. 

2. Pulse the hazelnuts in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade attachment until finely ground. Spread the ground hazelnuts on a large plate.

3. Lightly season the salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Roll the top of the fillet in the ground hazelnuts to form a crust. Transfer the fillet to the prepared baking sheet and patch up any holes in the crust. Bake the salmon until the fish is pale pink and just cooked through and the hazelnut crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes. 

4. While the salmon cooks, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking the butter, swirling the pan occasionally, until it becomes golden brown and has a nutty aroma, about 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

5. Remove the salmon from the oven and transfer it to a serving plate. Drizzle the brown butter and balsamic vinegar over the top of the fillet and serve immediately. 

Excerpted from 'Dishing Up Oregon" (c) by Ashley Gartland, photography (c) by John Valls, used with permission from Storey Publishing.

German Christmas Cookies From The Black Forest Inn

I've been looking for a cookbook that would provide me with the secrets to German Christmas cookies, one with recipes for all the classics--pfeffernusse, lebkuchen, springerle and spritz cookies.

Lucky for me, the Black Forest Inn German Christmas Cookie Cookbook was just published this year. And because it was written for the Kindle, it took only a few clicks and less than a minute before I was reading and salivating. Cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, mace. The scent of the holidays.

The Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis has been dishing out German fare since 1965. Everything they serve is made on the premises, and that includes the bread, the brats and of course, the cookies. It sounds amazing! 

Fortunately, I now have their recipes, and I'm looking forward to giving them a go. Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie recipe or cookbook you'd like to share?

--Tracy Schneider 

Bourbon Balls and Sweet Auburn Desserts for the Holidays

In early November, while attending a culinary conference in Atlanta, I met up with Sonya Jones, founder of The Sweet Auburn Bread Company, and author of "Sweet Auburn Desserts: Atlanta's Little Bakery That Could."

A graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, Jones has been named one of America's top black pastry chefs by Ebony magazine, her wares have been featured on CNN, and she's served her famous Sweet Potato Cheesecake (with a poundcake crust) to the likes of former president Bill Clinton and television personality Rachael Ray. 

Her bakery is located in the Sweet Auburn District of downtown Atlanta, just steps from the Martin Luther King Center and the Sweet Auburn Curb Market. It's a popular stop for locals and tourists alike who flock there for breakfast or lunch or to pick up their favorite baked goods such as Jones's famous Naked Hummingbird Muffins, Sweet Cream Biscuits, or a pecan pie for the office. 

"Sweet Auburn Desserts" was literally hot off the presses (or fresh out of the oven, so to speak). And, it was Jones's first published cookbook, so she was justly proud to show off the new arrival. 

And a welcome arrival "Sweet Auburn Desserts" is for anyone who loves Southern cooking, heritage dessert recipes (recipes that have been passed down through the generations but updated here for the modern home cook), and photos of luscious stack cakes, their multi layers oozing icing; pies with mile-high meringue toppings; and baskets of fruit-and-nut-studded muffins that border on food porn they are so enticing. 

Chef Sonya's heritage recipes keep alive a part of my past I thought was long gone, with classics such as Cream Cheese Poundcake, Lemon Ice Box Pie, and Lane Cake (its filling composed of with raisins, candied fruit, pecans, and a splash of brandy, just the way my southern grandmother used to make it). 

Old-Fashioned Pork Cake calls for a pound of fresh pork sausage, brown sugar, raisins, and nuts. While it may be somewhat of an acquired taste, I enjoyed reading the recipe and fantasizing about it anyway. 

This time of year, we're all baking something special for the holiday table or to give for gifts. You'll want to check out Chef Sonya's recipes for Caramel Banana Nut Muffins, Sweet Potato Butter, or Bourbon Balls, a family favorite around our house. 

Bourbon Balls

Yields 3 dozen

1 (12-ounce) package fine vanilla wafer cookies, crushed

1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

1 cup powdered sugar, plus more to coat

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more to coat

1/4 cup bourbon

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Coconut flakes, to coat

1. Combine the crushed vanilla wafers, chopped nuts, powdered sugar, and the cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the bourbon and light corn syrup. Add the bourbon mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

3. Once chilled, form the dough into 1-inch balls. To coat, shift about 1 cup of powdered sugar onto a cookie sheet and roll the balls in the sugar until coated all over. Follow the same procedure to coat with cocoa powder, or the coconut flakes. 

4. Store bourbon balls in a sealed container until ready to serve. Bourbon balls will keep, refrigerated, for two weeks.

Recipe reprinted from "Sweet Auburn Desserts," by Chef Sonya Jones, © Sonya Jones, used by permission of the publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. 

 Photo by Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn

 

Going Vegan for the Holidays

I don't live in New York City and I'm not a vegetarian.

But next time I visit the Big Apple, I'll make a beeline for Candle 79, a vegan restaurant that brings elegance and great taste to the table for vegetable-based eaters and omnivores alike.

Celebrity fans of the top-rated restaurant include Dr. Mehmet Oz, Tracey and Michael J. Fox, and Woody Harrelson and his family. 

Cruising through the restaurant's just-released "Candle 79 Cookbook: Modern Vegan Classics From New York's Premier Sustainable Restaurant," I was taken by the fresh and healthy recipes, lovely plate shots, and useful Glossary and Sources listings.

I guess others were as well, since the book was chosen 2011 Cookbook of the Year by VegNews. 

This time of the year, when many of us overindulge on food and drink, the "Candle 79 Cookbook" offers fresh, creative, vegan choices such as Spinach-Mushroom Paté, Wild Mushroom and Cipollini Salad with Fresh Horseradish Dressing, and Saffron Ravioli with Wild Mushrooms and Cashew Cheese.

I was particularly taken with this Beet Salad gussied up with figs, fennel, and pecans. The recipe for Cranberry-Sage Dressing sounds like something you'd want to make throughout the holidays to grace this salad and other festive dishes.

Beet, Fennel, and Fig Salad with Cranberry-Sage Dressing

Serves 6

For the Dressing: 

¹⁄₂ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¹⁄₂ cup finely chopped shallots

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed if frozen

¹⁄₄ cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 fresh sage leaf, chopped

¹⁄₃ cup water

1 tablespoon maple syrup

¹⁄₂ teaspoon sea salt

For the Salad:

1 pound fresh beets

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and halved

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

¹⁄₂ cup pecans

¹⁄₂ pound baby arugula

1 pear, cored and thinly sliced (optional)

6 fresh figs, cut into wedges 

To make the dressing, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the cranberries and cook, stirring, until they are softened and begin to pop, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool, then transfer to a blender. Add the vinegar, rosemary, sage, water, maple syrup, salt, and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and process until smooth. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Wrap the beets in aluminum foil and put them on a baking sheet. Put the fennel on a separate baking sheet, cut side up, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Put the beets and fennel in the oven and roast until fork-tender, about 30 minutes for the fennel, and 50 to 60 minutes for the beets. When cool enough to handle, peel the beets and cut into thin slices, and cut the fennel into very thin slices.

Meanwhile, spread the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 5 to 8 minutes. 

Put the arugula in a large bowl, add the beets, fennel, pecans, and optional pear, and gently toss together. Drizzle with the dressing and scatter the figs over the salad. Alternatively, divide the arugula evenly among salad plates, placing it to one side of the plate. Drizzle with the dressing and scatter the pecans on top. Arrange the beets, fennel, figs, and optional pear alongside the arugula and serve at once.

Reprinted with permission from "Candle 79 Cookbook: Modern Vegan Classics from New York’s Premier Sustainable Restaurant." Copyright © 2011 by Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos, and Jorge Pineda. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley, CA. 

Photo credit: Rita Maas

Quite Possibly The Booziest Book Event Ever: Bitters Cocktail Tasting

Author Brad Thomas Parsons has been making the rounds in Portland, Ore., and Seattle to showcase his new release, Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All with Cocktails, Recipes & Formulas.

This exhaustive study of a slightly obscure subject is anything but dry and academic. Parsons -- formerly senior books editor at Amazon -- tells the tales behind these tasty tinctures in a way that might even be described as saucy.

The timing of this entertaining and engaging "celebration of cocktails made well" couldn't have been better, as the resurgence of hand-crafted cocktails continues to shake, stir and roll right along. I'll drink to that!

And, as a matter of fact, I did drink to that this week during an event at Tom Douglas' flagship restaurant in downtown Seattle, part of a series called Shop Talk at the Dahlia Lounge.

Guests sampled five lovely cocktails featuring bitters and accompanying savory snacks from Dahlia's chef de cuisine Brock Johnson as Parsons talked about researching the book, the art of cooking with bitters and pairing food with cocktails before fielding questions from the audience and signing copies of his handsome book.

The liquid lineup, served in courses, included a classic Champagne cocktail, served with sweet and spicy nuts (a recipe featured in the book), followed by a gorgeous Negroni served up and paired with salumi, chunks of Parmesan, an anchovy and an olive. Then came a sweet, sensationally seasonal drink called Autumn Sweater that was nicely complemented by a white pepper rubbed pork belly served atop a savory waffle. A whimsical turn on breakfast for dinner! Finally, another sparkling wine cocktail and a straight shot of Underberg bitters from Germany. Prost!

A little goes a long way when it comes to bitters and guests were invited to try a drop or two of the dozens of bottles of bitters from Parsons' extensive personal collection. The two most memorable I tried were a Memphis Barbecue Bitters (smoky!) and the Sriracha bitters!

This kind of show and tell, sip and share makes me so darned happy that authors have come up with such clever ways to get readers talking about their books! The tasty demo of the transformative powers of bitters inspired me to dust off my bottles of bitters and experiment.

Be sure and check out Brad's recipe for Cranberry-Spice Cocktail that appeared in the October issue of Food & Wine. And here's another of the drink from Bitters we tried last night.

Autumn Sweater

Makes 1 drink

• 1 ounce rye
• 1/2 ounce Averna
• 1/2 ounce Amaro Nonino
• 1/2 ounce maple syrup
• 1 dash Urban Moonshine maple bitters
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Garnish: thick clove-studded strip of orange zest

Combine all the ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass filled with ice and stir until chilled. Add a large sphere of ice to a chilled double old-fashioned and strain the drink into the glass.

For the garnish, use a paring knife to slice a thick strip of zest from an orange. Twist it over the drink to release the essential oils and rub along the rim of the glass. Stud the orange zest with two whole cloves and drape it over the ice sphere.

-- Leslie Kelly

Make It Or Buy It? A Great Guide

As my cooking skills have improved over the years, I've been delighted to find that so many impressive foods really aren't that hard to make at home. Marshmallows, butter, bagels, meringues, macarons -- we feel pretty confident about them all. But just because we can make these things doesn't always mean that it's worth the time and effort. Now Jennifer Reese of The Tipsy Baker has done home cooks a tremendous (and entertaining) favor with her new book, "Make The Bread, Buy The Butter,"  where she quantifies the difficulty, price, and relative pleasure of creating more than 100 foods from scratch, from bread crumbs (make them) to banh mi (buy them). Her goal, she writes, was to find the sweet spot between purchasing and creating, to empirically measure what the market does (and doesn't) do cheaper and better. You may not always agree with her choices (we think it's worth making butter, even though we don't always do it), but you'll almost certainly be inspired by her straightforward, engaging discussions and her solid recipes. Don't get turned off by the more time-consuming tasks; Reese also notes that "make it" simply means to make it when you have time and energy, because there are days when even the simplest kitchen task is too much. "By no means do I think everyone should make all (or even any) of these foods, all of the time. I sure don't."

 Here's a summary of a few of her rulings (in the book, each one includes a recipe):

1. Vanilla extract: Make it, at a fraction of the cost of store-bought. Reese notes that you can buy inexpensive vanilla beans in bulk, and all the extract involves is scraping the seeds from the beans and letting the seeds and pods macerate in alcohol for a few months. 

2. Potato chips: Buy it. Homemade chips are fun to eat, but "Lay's are better. And Kettle are even better than Lay's."

3. Creme fraiche: Make it. "A 4-year-old could do it," Reese writes. 

4. Camembert cheese: "If you think this sounds fun -- which it is -- give this a try." The hassle factor is high, but "Is fishing a hassle? Is golfing a hassle? Whittling? Cheesemaking is a hobby, an art, an obsession, and a pleasure, and if you don't feel this way about it you shouldn't do it. Because it's also definitely a hassle."

5.  Mayonnaise: Make it and buy it, depending on the circumstances. Homemade mayo "is a magical food that manages to be simultaneously rich and ethereal, almost evaporating on the tongue." However, Hellmann's has its place, as homemade only lasts a few days and "it would be both exhausting and expensive to emulsify mayonnaise every time you wanted to make a tuna salad sandwich."

What's on your make it or buy it list?

-- Rebekah Denn

Masterbuilt's Visit to Amazon Campus

John McLemore, President/CEO of Masterbuilt Manufacturing Inc., and author of best-selling cookbook “Dadgum That’s Good!” along with team Masterbuilt visited Amazon.com’s Seattle campus and cooked some mouth-watering delights for Amazon’s Kitchen, Home, and Garden retail teams.

Masterbuilt Manufacturing Inc. is the manufacturer and seller of indoor and outdoor cooking products and automotive aftermarket accessories. The company is well known for its indoor electric turkey fryers and smokers.  The Masterbuilt team demonstrated these products and showcased recipes from John’s cookbook.

The deep-fried Oreos and fried turkey made in the Butterball Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer  were an instant hit. The Baby Back pork ribs and Mac n’ Cheese made in the Electric Smokehouse Controller were smoked to perfection. John also delighted us with some low-country boil shrimp and sausage, steamed potatoes and corn on the cob.

 A big thank you to the Masterbuilt team for the fantastic smoking, frying and grilling event and making it a dadgum good experience!

Jacques Pepin's Greatest Hits In This Essential Cookbook

I adore Jacques Pepin. No, it's not just the accent. Or the chemistry he had with the late, great Julia Child. I like Jacques because his recipes make me look like a hero at the dinner table. They turn out and they taste great, from sublime veggies to the porkiest pork. 

In his latest tome, the ultimate French chef compiles 700 of his "All-Time Favorites from My Life In Food," the subtitle for Essential Pepin. Almost as soon as a review copy showed up in my mailbox, my family was fighting over it. (They're big Jacques fans, too.) My daughter, stuck Post-It notes on the recipes she wanted to try, but it was my husband who jumped into action to cook a couple.

Now, my dear, sweet spouse is good at many things. He's an expert skiier and typically bikes 40 miles on a Saturday. He even does the laundry. But for the most part, Johnny stays clear of the kitchen. So, I was impressed when he decided to give Jacques a whirl. He chose the recipe, Pork Chops with Mustard and Capers, went shopping and did the prep.

I got out of the house and took a walk while he finished it because watching him scramble is kind of like watching your toddler take their first steps. You know, when they weave and bumble and maybe even fall down. There's a fair amount of sighing and gasping and the occasional burst of swearing from my normally super-chill spouse.

So much of cooking is about prepping, but it's also about timing, about figuring out when you need to start this and have it come out at the same time as that. It's tricky. A goal many cooks spend lots of time chasing. Yet, I can almost hear the calm, gentle voice of Jacques saying, "Don't worry if it doesn't all come out at the same time. Put the plate in the oven."

Actually, one of the joys of this cookbook is that it comes with a DVD with dozens of tips demonstrated by the telegenic chef. It was a treat to watch Jacques Pepin shuck oysters, peel carrots and make an omelet. I learned quite a few new techniques.

Back to the dramatic dinner made by my better half: It turned out beautifully. The flavors were intense and married well with the chop. It got Johnny so fired up, he started thumbing through the book looking for the next recipe he would cook. Ah, there it was, the Blackfish in Shredded Potatoes. (Though he couldn't find blackfish, he referred to the section where Jacques explains how to substitute one fish for another, and, voila, we had Tilapia in Shredded Potatoes. Another winner.)

I suggested that every Saturday become our designated Jacques Pepin cooking night. I sincerely hope this notion gets some traction because this book is chock full of recipes I want to try. Here's that terrific pork chop recipe:

Pork Chops with Mustard and Capers

Serves 6

Sharp Chinese chile sauce, mustard, and capers are ideal with pork chops. You can make variations in the sauce, perhaps substituting hoisin sauce for the chile sauce. Mashed potatoes are the perfect accompaniment.

6 pork loin chops (8–10 ounces each), about 1 inch thick

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, finely chopped (about ½ cup)

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

½ cup dry white wine (such as Soave)

1 tablespoon Chinese chile sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ cup Basic Brown Sauce (page 613)

2 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

Sprinkle the chops on both sides with the salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the pork chops, arranging them so that they don’t overlap. Cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Turn the chops, cover, and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. (Covering the meat at this stage allows it to absorb moisture and become tender.) Transfer the meat to an ovenproof serving platter and keep warm in the oven.

Pour out all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat in the skillet. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine and boil until there are only 2 to 3 tablespoons liquid left. Add the chile sauce, mustard, and brown sauce, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for seasonings (you might have to add salt and pepper). Add the capers.

Pour the sauce over the meat, sprinkle with the chives, and serve.

Recipe excerpted from ESSENTIAL PEPIN by Jacques Pépin. Copyright © 2011 by Jacques Pépin. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-- Leslie Kelly

Learning a Lot About Luscious Liqueurs

I always love reading a cookbook, or cocktail book, or really, just about any kind of book that teaches me something.

Thumbing through Seattle-based master mixologist A.J. Rathbun's latest book, "Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz: A Cocktail Lover's Guide to Mixing Drinks Using New and Classic Liqueurs," I learned a lot.

The stylish tome--Rathbun's 10th--includes recipes for 200 liqueur-based drinks, from classics such as El Postre and the Violet Fizz, to ultra-contemporary creations including Ginger Bliss and the Temporary Getaway. 

The recipes are interspersed with glorious four-color photos, illuminating Liqueur Spotlight sidebars, and chatty recipe introductions.

It's as if Rathbun is sitting on the bar stool beside you, talking to you like a long-lost drinking buddy, as he takes you by the hand through the wonderful world of luscious liqueurs.

I was thrilled to see an entire sidebar devoted to one of my favorite liqueurs--Lillet Blanc. Rathbun describes it as "the French apéritif made from a mix of wine, citrus liqueurs, and undisclosed formulas."

He goes on to say that Lillet Blanc is "an aromatized wine (a cousin to vermouth, you might say) with a light orange lilt. It was first made in 1887 by Paul and Raymond Lillet and sold within the Bordeaux region of France starting in 1895."

You might have heard of Lillet if you're a James Bond fan. In both the book and the film "Casino Royale," the British super spy asks for a Kina Lillet Martini. (Kina Lillet was the liqueur's original name, when the secret formula included lots of quinine sourced from Peruvian kina kina tree bark, according to Rathbun.)

Bond's drink of choice was composed of “three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, and half a measure of Kina Lillet.” 

Of course, you've probably already guessed that the "great secret" ingredient in the recipe below is none other than one of the world's most luscious liqueurs--Lillet Blanc.

Great Secret 

Cracked ice

2 ounces gin

1 ounce Lillet Blanc

Dash of Angostura bitters

Orange twist, for garnish

Orange slice, for garnish (optional, used instead of above twist)

1. Fill a mixing glass or cocktail shaker with cracked ice. Add the gin, Lillet, and bitters. Stir well.

2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Twist the twist over the glass and then drop it in. Shhhhh.

Recipe reprinted from "Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz: A Cocktail Lover's Guide to Mixing Drinks Using New and Classic Liqueurs," by A.J. Rathbun (Harvard Common Press, 2011, $19.95)

Photo Credit: Jerry Errico