At a reception held at the Rosenzweig Arts Center during the most recent Decorative Arts Forum I could hardly tear myself away from the table where a huge bowl was stacked with twisted strips of brown sugar bacon. Crispy, salty, sweet — all that was missing was a bowl of chocolate to dip them in!
The taste brought back a memory from decades ago. I lived in New York City and was a member of a civic group called the New York Junior League, sort of like Columbus’ Junior Auxiliary. The organization had women who did all sorts of different things in New York. I was on a committee with a woman who had a very senior position at a bank, and she invited her committee to her apartment for a meeting over wine and nibbles. I remember that the apartment was very, very small which served to emphasize how tall and gawky she was. My eyes were popping taking in this very NY experience. She gave us a glass of wine and brought a plate from the 3-by-3-foot kitchen. Expecting caviar, I was surprised to see strips of bacon on the plate. She enthusiastically described her bacon baked with brown sugar on top. And it was wonderful, although not as prettily presented as that at the RAC.
My point is that unless you are a Frank Stitt (Birmingham) or Sean Brock (Charleston) or one of the other uber chefs out there, recipes may evolve, but I believe that at least 75 percent are remakes or updates of something else. And I don’t have a problem with that.
Several years ago I helped with a neighborhood tour back in Athens, Georgia, during a food symposium there. The theme of the weekend was “Oilcloth to White Tablecloth,” and I took party food recipes from local 1950s and ’60s cookbooks or my recipe files and featured one at each house, along with the recipe card. I had such a good time reading back through my mother’s notes and jottings of recipes. I could remember some from parties at our home. Others, I just thought back to the person whose name was attached to the recipe. Some have been updated since then (vienna sausage in grape jelly and yellow mustard anyone?) and are better now (little smokies in homemade barbecue sauce). And some were better pre-phyllo cups, which I love and use, but they don’t take the place of homemade tart shells.
Here are a few updated goodies that perhaps you’ll enjoy trying during this holiday season. Merry merry to you all!
Anne Freeze was a restaurant general manager and owner of a gourmet food store before moving to Columbus. She can be reached at [email protected].
SPICED BACON TWISTS
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 pound sliced bacon
Your choice: 4 teaspoons chili powder; 4 tablespoons dijon mustard; 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper; 4 tablespoons dry mustard powder; 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
(An amalgamation of several recipes.)
BAKED ARTICHOKE DIP
2 14-ounce cans water-packed artichokes, well drained
4 ounces silken or regular tofu (do not use firm or extra-firm)
4 large cloves garlic
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus more for the top
2/3 cup plain or Greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or more to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
(Source: 101cookbooks.com)
CAVIAR TART
3/4 cup sour cream
8 hard-boiled large eggs, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
7 ounces black lumpfish caviar
(Ann’s note: I remember well the egg salad mold made with plain gelatin, topped with the black caviar. Very exotic to me.)
(Source: gourmet.com)
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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