This month’s Sugar High Friday is hosted by Habeas Brulee and the theme is a great one — sugar art. Of course, with it being the holidays and everything, I kind of took the lazy way out and made cookies decorated with sparkly sugar. These are very much like chocolate shortbread and are very good. I actually found them to be even tastier the day after baking.

The recipe is from the book, Christmas Cookies, edited by Susan Hernandez Ray. I received it a couple of months ago when I accidentally forgot to decline the monthly selection at the Good Cook’s Book Club. Oops.

Chocolate Star Cookies
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups AP flour
1 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 ounces white chocolate chips
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, combining well. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until blended.

Combine the flour and next three ingredients and gradually add to the butter mixture at low speed. Divide dough in half and wrap each potion in plastic wrap. Chill at least one hour.

Roll one portion at a time to 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut with a 4-inch star cookie cutter and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. I used both a star cookie cutter and a small gingerbread man cutter. Feel free to use your cookies cutters of choice.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks and cool completely. Next, place chocolate chips in a small double boiler (or a heat-proof bowl over simmering water) and melt. Stir until smooth and use a spoon to drizzle over cooled cookies. I’ve found that a good way to do this is to place a cooling rack over a cookie sheet, so that all the extra drizzled chocolate falls through the rack and onto the cookie sheet. I believe I got that idea from Alton Brown and the chocolate eclair episode.

Sprinkle the granulated sugar on top of the warmed chocolate and let set.

Enjoy with milk. Although — watch out for falling gingerbread man heads.

Thanks again to Habeas Brulee for hosting this month’s event!

We have a Christmas tradition (when we’re at home) of having Roasted Cornish Game Hens for Christmas dinner. And they are so-so-so good! Especially so after I got the book, “The Cook’s Illustrated Complete Guide to Poultry (since re-named as the Complete Book of Chicken…). The book is the poultry and fowl bible, as far as I am concerned. This book has never let me down and this recipe is no exception.

I basically follow the book exactly, except that I add veggies to the pan and I rub some roasted garlic, butter and sage under the breast skin. That’s what I do with turkey too. It just seemed like a good idea for hens as well. Really, what piece of poultry could you not do this with? I don’t ever want to find out.

Roasted, Stuffed Cornish Game Hens
Based very closely on the Cook’s Illustrated recipe
2 cups kosher salt or 1 cup table salt
2 Cornish hens (each less than 1 1/2 pounds if possible), trimmed of extra fat, giblets removed, rinsed well
6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine
1 small head garlic, wrapped in foil and roasted until soft (400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes)
2 tbsp butter, softened
4 leaves fresh sage, chopped
Assorted root vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, etc…)

Dissolve salt in 5 quarts cold water in small clean bucket or large bowl. Add hens breast side down; refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. Remove, rinse thoroughly, pat dry, and prick skin all over breast and legs with point of a paring knife. Now, this is what I do: mix the roasted garlic, softened butter and sage together and push it up under the skin of the breast. Mmmm!

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk balsamic vinegar and oil in small bowl; set aside. Spoon 1/2 cup hot stuffing into cavity of each hen; tie its legs together with 6-inch piece of kitchen twine.

Add the vegetables to the bottom of the roasting pan. Leaving as much space as possible between each bird, arrange them breast side down and wings facing out, on large (at least 19-by-13–inch) wire rack, set over equally large roasting or jelly-roll pan. Roast until backs start to get a bit golden, about 25 minutes.

Remove pan from oven, brush bird backs with vinegar and oil glaze (re-blending before each bird), turn hens breast side up and wings facing out, and brush breast and leg area with additional glaze. Returned pan to oven, add 1 cup water, roast until meat thermometer inserted into the stuffed cavity registers about 150 degrees, about 15 to 20 minutes longer.

No picture of the hens here — let’s check on the table!

Remove pan from oven again, brush birds with re-blended glaze, return pan to oven, add another 1/2 cup water to pan and increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Roast until birds are spotty brown and cavity registers 160 degrees, 5 to 10 minutes longer, depending on bird size. Remove birds from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour hen “jus” from roasting pan into small saucepan, spoon off excess fat, add vermouth or wine, and simmer over medium-high heat until flavors blend, 2 to 3 minutes. Drizzle about 1/4 cup sauce over each hen and serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

For the stuffing, I made a simple cornbread concoction by cubing and toasting 3 corn muffins and mixing those with some sauteed celery, onion and garlic (in a bout 2 tablespoons of butter), some fresh sage and some chicken broth. I also threw in some fresh rosemary and some golden raisins.

When you remove the hens from the oven, you will also want to remove the vegetables and collect any drippings you have for the jus. After the birds rest, there will also be some drippings you can add to the pan.

I think these would be a great special weekend meal and this year I’m really going to remember to make some one night. The Cook’s Illustrated book has all kinds of ideas on stuffing too. There’s a version that is stuffed with barley and basil pesto. Those hens would probably be wonderful with some reconstituted sundried tomatoes and chopped olives spread under the skin. Huh. Okay, I think we’ll be having that soon.

A special thanks to jwa for giving me a ride to work this AM, so I could stay at home longer and finish this post.

Je Mange la Ville is going on a break until the 26th or 27th of December. I hope everyone has a great few days. My first post next week will probably be of our Christmas dinner: Roasted Cornish Game Hens, Creamed Spinach and Roasted Root Vegetables. Mmm!

When I was little, whenever we’d go out for lunch, I would get a Monte Christo sandwich. It was my absolute favorite. I think it was the, “I’m eating French Toast for lunch!!”, thrill of it all. Granted, this was a simpler time, long before Freedom Toast.

Recently, however, I was browsing thorugh the Food Network site and saw this recipe, originally featured on Sara’s Secrets — recipe from Mama’s on Washington Square, San Francisco, CA. So, grab a pan and some eggs, bread, meat and cheese and let’s make some freedom on a plate, San Francisco-style.

Monte Christo Sandiches (makes 2)
4 slices white bread
Mayonnaise, as needed
4 slices Gouda or Havarti
4 slices smoked turkey
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Optional: Powdered sugar

Serving suggestion: Really good blackberry jam on the side.

Using a knife, cut the crusts off the sandwich (this helps to pinch and seal the ends). The, lay out 2 slices of bread and spread with mayonnaise. Top each slice with the 1 slice of Gouda and 1 slice of turkey each. Put the third slice of bread on top of one stack, and flip the remaining stack on top, cheese-side down, to make a triple-decker sandwich.

Wrap the sandwich tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours. (Wrapping the sandwich in plastic wrap, compacts it, and prevents the egg batter from seeping in.)

Combine the eggs and milk in a bowl. Heat the oil and butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Unwrap the sandwich and dip it in the egg batter, to coat evenly. Gently place it in the skillet, and fry, turning once, until golden brown and hot, about 5 minutes total.

Use tongs to hold the sandwich upright and crisp up all the ends (so there are no spots with raw, soggy egg).

Remove from the pan and let sit about a minute.

Cut the Monte Cristo in 1/2, transfer it to a place, and garnish with a side of blackberry (or your favorite) jam. We used Julieann’s blackberrry jam, which we picked up on our last trip to Uncle Paul’s Produce Market on Hawthorne (which we, of course, refer to as “Produce Pete’s“). If desired, use a mesh strainer to sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the sandwiches.

Iorio
912 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 445-4716

I pass this restaurant pretty much every day (unless I catch the Division bus instead of the Hawthorne one) on my way home from work. It always looks so cozy and inviting. Bright red walls, soft lights and lately — a big Christmas tree in the middle of the restaurant, as well as two white-light decorated tress guarding the doorway.

I talked jwa into trying this place Saturday night and I’m very glad I did. We had a great two hour dinner and a very nice time. The meal started with a couple of complimentary snacks — bread with a squash dip and a small plate of marinated garbanzo beans with a balsamic drizzle and shaved Parmesan. Both were fabulous!

The meal itself was a hard choice. However, I have a rule that whenever calamari is on a menu we have to have it. At Iorio this meant calamari with a cornmeal crust and accompanied with a herbed aioli and Serrano chile oil. I really liked it. The calamari was tender and the breading not too heavy and the dipping sauces were especially good.

After much debate and a small debacle where I accidentally burned a hole in my menu with the table’s candle. Oops. jwa was very amused, though. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Our meal decisions. Well, we went back and forth a bit on whether we could order the same thing and came to the conclusion that in this one instance it was okay. So, we both got the Chef’s tasting Menu — 4 courses for $30.

First Course
House smoked local salmon Caesar salad

Second Course
Handmade gnocchi with arugula oil and baby Gorgonzola

Third Course
Grilled baby quail with root vegetable pave and braised greens with cider glaze

or
Pan seared ling cod with chestnut butter and root vegetable pave (we both got the quail — it was all little and cute)

Dessert
Pots au chocolate

It was dee-licious. We decided to get the wine pairings for $7 more each, which included a glass of pinot grigio with the salad and gnocchi and a chianti with the quail. They were good wine pairings, but I ended up getting an extra glass of white wine as I ran out of my first glass during the calamari. Oops. Next time, I think we will just get a full bottle of something.

With our pots au chocolate, jwa had coffee (illy) and I had a coffee nudge (illy + Kahlua and Bailey’s). The meal ended with another complimentary item — cookies* (I know the kind has a specific name but it escapes me at the moment), as well as the check.

All in all, it was a very good meal and I think we’ll definitely be going back again.

Iorio gets three holiday lights out of four holiday lights.

* Interesting fact: if you have a bite of one of the leftover Iorio check cookies and a drink of Bridgeport Ebenezer Ale — the combination in your mouth tastes like roast turkey. Fascinating.