I have always been fruitcake-curious. So, this year, I decided what the hell, I’ll make one. The recipe is Alton Brown’s Free Range Fruitcake. And I made a special trip (to Trader Joe’s) for all the dried fruit and everything. We had the rum and the brandy already. Go figure.

This is a Part I, as I will have to baste the fruitcake(s) with brandy every 2-3 days for the next 2-3 weeks. How fun! It’s like an ongoing project with alcohol.

AB’s Free Range Fruitcake
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped (I used dried peaches)
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup gold rum (I used dark rum)
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 sticks (not cups!) unsalted butter (that’s 10 tbsp)
1 cup apple juice
1/4 tsp ground cloves (or 6 whole cloves, ground)
6 allspice berries, ground (I had whole allspice berries but I was too lazy to clean out my coffee grinder,and grind them, so I just skipped them)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup toasted pecans, broken
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, broken
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit. I went the microwave route — it worked fine!

Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. At this point, I must confess, I grabbed a spoon and tasted it. Wow. It was so good! I was on the phone with my mom at the time (who likes fruitcake, btw) and told her how good it was as well. She is looking forward to trying some when she is here for Christmas.

So, remove your pot of fruit, rum and butter from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.) Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Here, I used half toasted hazelnuts and half pecans. About 1/2 cup total.

Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. But here’s the thing — I had enough batter for 2 loaf pans! They each got filled up about 2/3’s of the way but it would have been way too much for one pan. If you’ve got a huge loaf pan, you might be fine with just one. Since my loaf pans were of the slightly smaller variety and not filled all the way up, mine were done in about 42-45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

If the toothpick (or knife) does not com out clean, bake another 5-10 minutes, and check again. Remove cake(s) from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan. My cakes came out pretty easily. I ran a knife around the edges and the used a metal spatula to start lifting up from the sides and loosening the cakes from the bottom. Then I turned them upside-down and out they came.

When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. I am using freezer bags. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake’s flavor will enhance considerably over the next two - three weeks. Come Christmas time, you will have one tasty, boozey cake! Hooray!

Okay, so I’ll probably do a mini-update each week on my fruitcakes basting until Christmas. Stay tuned…

A while ago (okay, like 1999), I remembered seeing a recipe in Sunset magazine for lavender-blueberry margaritas. I recently spent some time searching for it, found it, and then was like, huh. Coconut milk? In margaritas? Besides adding fat and making it kind of like a marga-colada, I wasn’t quite sure what the coconut milk did for the drink. So, anyway, I futzed around with the recipe a bit and came up with this one. jwa and I both thought they were really good. Plus, if you make extra lavender syrup, I’m sure there are many other lavender cocktails that you could make with it.

Lavender-Blueberry Margaritas
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dried lavender
1/2 cup tequila
1/3 cup triple sec
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
ice

sugar for rimming glasses
lime wedge
sprigs of fresh lavender

Add the water, dried lavender and sugar to a small pan. Heat and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat and let the lavender steep about 10 minutes, then strain, discarding the lavender and keeping the lavender flavored syrup.

In a blender, add the lavender syrup, tequila, triple sec, lime juice, frozen blueberries and ice. Blend. *whir* *whir* *whir* Taste to make sure the lime juice/tequila/triple sec ratios are good. Adjust if needed.

Meanwhile, go around each glass with a lime wedge to wet it, then press the rim down in a saucer of sugar. Pour the margaritas into the sugar rimmed glasses and enjoy. If you’re feeling hoitey toitey, pop a lavender sprig into the drink. We had the margaritas with some black bean salad and cheddar cheese and avocado quesadillas.

If that were not enough excitement, earlier in the day I received my custom cocktail napkin order from the Stationary Studio. So cute! I think the design really captures jwa’s hair and fondness for wine. The napkins are a sage green and the printing is espresso brown — the same colors that the invitations will be — I’ve been playing around at MyGatsby lately and I think I have the invitations designed.

As for the napkins, we’re having an hour or so of appetizers directly following the ceremony on the rooftop, so we got these to use during that part of the reception. Woo! Guests won’t have to wipe any caramelized onion and sweet red pepper tartlet crumbs on their pants!

The other night we pulled the little Weber grill out of the garage again and grilled some chicken, caramelized some bell peppers and onions (inside, in a pan, with a little salt, cumin and chili powder), made some guacamole and to accompany it all there was a pitcher of tasty, tasty sangria.

The sangria recipe is from the old red and white checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. This is probably one of the only recipes I still use this cookbook for, but that alone makes it worth the shelf space, imho. I’m not sure how completely authentic it is, but it is dependably good.

Really Good Summer Sangria
1 bottle red wine (I used $4 barefoot merlot)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced
1 lime, sliced
1-2 cups sparkling water

Add the sugar, water and the end fruit slices (6 total from the ends of the lemon, lime and orange) to the pan and heat until boiling and all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, pour the wine into a big pitcher and add the uncooked fruit slices. After the syrup has cooled down add that too, reserving the cooked fruit slices. Squeeze as much juice out of those as you can into the pitcher and then discard. Stir.

I usually make this a couple of hours before serving, just storing it in the fridge. When you are ready to drink it, add a cup of the sparkling water. Taste. Add more sparkling water if desired and serve over ice.

Now, to go with your awesome sangria, you may just want to grill some chicken. If you do, first slather some boneless, skinless chicken breasts with a paste made of fresh cilantro leaves (2 big handfuls), garlic (1-2 cloves), lime juice (about 1 tbsp), jalapeno pepper (1/2 a pepper), salt, olive oil (1/4 cup or so) and green onion (2-3). You get this paste by adding all these items to a food processor and letting it go for a few minutes. *whir* *whir* *whir*

Slather. Then grill. Then eat.

Wondering what to do with the leftover turkey and other side dishes from Thursday, I came across this recipe from Giada of Everyday Italian. Although this recipe was originally intended as a Thanksgiving meal for two, I figured it would work well enough with leftover, cooked turkey (as opposed to the raw, ground turkey she uses). It did. I made one other alteration to the original recipe — I added some ricotta cheese to make it a bit creamier. I was quite pleased with the way these ravioli turned out.

Oh and speaking of Everyday Italian, whenever I watch that show and she talks about her husband, Todd, I visualize him as The Todd from Scrubs. And then I laugh and laugh.

Turkey and Cranberry Ravioli
1 cup diced leftover turkey, a mix of dark and white meat (my turkey had fresh herbs — parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme under the skin, so I skipped the fresh parsley listed below)
3 tbsp cranberry sauce
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
3 tbsp grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 egg
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
20 store-bought wonton wrappers

For the sauce:
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp parsley leaves, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme

In a medium bowl, stir together the turkey, cranberry sauce, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, egg, salt, and pepper.

You could also place all of those ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times. This will give you a smoother filling. It’s what I did. It’s really personal preference and whether or not you have a food processor.

Place a wonton wrapper on a work surface. Brush the edges lightly with water, using a pastry brush or your finger. Place 1 tablespoon of the turkey mixture on each of the wonton wrappers. Top with another wonton wrapper. Push out any air bubbles and press the edges tightly to seal.

Repeat with all the wrappers. These are very big ravioli and about five per person is a good serving. I used a whole package of wonton wrappers (about 30) and froze the extra ones. I also had some filling leftover. I popped it into the freezer to use in some butternut squash lasagna I’m going to make next weekend. Oh and also in the freezer? More diced turkey, goat cheese and potato soup, carrot & parsnip soup, extra stuffing, extra gravy and two pieces of pumpkin-orange-marscapone pie. I tell you, one day in February is going to be Thanksgiving II.

But, back to the ravioli. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Add the ravioli and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Be gentle with them and also just do this at a simmer. Meanwhile, in a small pot, heat together the butter, olive oil, garlic and parsley. Stir until warm and the butter is melted. Drizzle sauce over the cooked and drained ravioli and garnish with a little fresh thyme and Parmesan cheese.

A nice pre-dinner cocktail for this meal is the Grapefruit Cosmo, inspired by a drink I recently had at Wildwood.

Grapefruit Cosmo
1.5 oz really good vodka — Ciroc is awesome
1 ruby red grapefruit, cut in half and juiced
1 lime, cut in half and one half juiced
splash of cranberry juice
ice

Add ice to a cocktail shaker and add in the juice from the whole grapefruit, half the lime, the cranberry juice and the vodka. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Cut a slice of the remaining lime for a garnish. Ahhhh, refreshing.

***

Je Mange la Ville has a new holiday/Winter look. Also, I have added a spam-fighting device for comments. To post a comment now, please do the simple math problem you get when you add your name, email and comment. Sorry to have to add this feature but I am getting sick of deleting comments about tranny pics and viagra. Ew. Ew. Ew.

This is part two of my post for Sara’s spotlight on the cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Except, it’s not baking at all! Ha! It’s cooking and chilling. That’s right, I cook and then I chill.

Okay, then. When I saw this recipe (in fact, I spotted this recipe before yesterday’s Swedish Visiting Cake, while browsing the book), I just knew I would be making it. Even better, we already had a bottle of scotch in the house, so there was no extra trip to the liquor store necessary. The resulting flavor has a bit of a bite but it is definitely delicious and butterscotchy. Butter + scotch = great flavor.

The only issue I had, and it was minor, is that the directions are really geared towards someone with a full-sized food processor. I have the medium sized one and I had to do my processing in two batches. And my final mixing, I just did with a whisk to avoid doubling up on the food processor. So, if you have a smaller processor, I would just whisk it all, or resign yourself to mixing in multiple batches.

But, it’s completely worth all the juggling around as, I’m sure Barry & Levon would agree, this is seriously some good puddin’…

($240 Worth of) Real Butterscotch Pudding
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp water
1 3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 tbsp sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Scotch Whiskey (preferably a strong, single malt)

Whipped cream
Buttered or candied pecans

Put the brown sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil for 2 minutes — lower temperature if necessary.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the milk and all of the cream and bring back to a boil. Don’t worry if it curdles while it’s heating. While the milk/sugar mixture is heating, put the cornstarch and salt into a food processor and whir to blend. Stand back when you open the lid — lots of cornstarch dust. I learned that the hard way. Turn the cornstarch/salt out onto a piece of parchment or put in a small bowl.

Add the sugar and egg to the processor and blend for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and add the remaining 1/4 cup of milk and pulse to mix. Add the cornstarch/salt back and pulse to combine.

With the machine running, slowly pour in the hot liquid. Or, carefully pour in half the hot liquid if you have a smaller machine. When that is combined, pour about 3/4 of it in another bowl and blend the rest of the hot mixture into the processor’s remaining liquid. Pour everything back into the pan. If you do have a big food processor, simply (slowly!) pour the hot milk all in one batch.

Whisk the mixture in the pan without stopping over medium heat. The pudding will thicken and a couple of bubbles will bubble up to the surface. Lower the heat as necessary to prevent it from actually boiling.

Now this is where I deviated from the recipe. It said to pour all of the pudding back into the processor and pulse, adding the vanilla, butter and scotch. I just didn’t feel like trying to go through the two batches thing again with my processor, so I just whisked the butter, vanilla and scotch into the pan off the heat. If you do it that way, just be careful that you don’t have any burnt spots on the bottom of your pan.

Pour the pudding into 4-6 ramekins. Four ramekins will be generous, puddin’-loving servings, six will be completely respectable-sized servings. It just depends on how many matching ramekins you have and how much you love pudding, I guess.

Cover with plastic wrap on the surface of the pudding to avoid a skin forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with whipped cream and the pecan topping of your choice. I had some cinnamon-glazed pecans from Trader Joe’s that were just perfect on top!

Thanks again to Sara for hosting and inviting me to participate!