The Aunt Katie Cocktail - Figgy Pudding

My mother's youngest sibling, my Aunt Katie is about the most fabulous person in the world.  Even though she is a good-solid, pragmatic, Jayhawk through and through, living in Alexandria, VA with my Tennessee-born Uncle Sam for the last 50 years, has made her a true southern lady in every sense.  It's a great combination the she wears well.  Seriously, if you look up "comfort" in the dictionary - there's a picture of Aunt Katie.  Never one to judge, she encourages all of her nieces and nephews at every stage in their lives.  The door to her house on South Lee St. has always been open to her nieces and nephews and various friends throughout their lives.  She's always quick on the plane for a wedding, a graduation or in the event of an illness or crisis.  Whether you are sitting down to a Sunday afternoon meal at her house or holding her hand at a funeral, there isn't anything more comforting than Aunt Katie.  If I am only half the aunt to my nieces and nephews that she is to me, then I will consider my life well-lived.

Aunt Katie with her nieces and nephews

Each year at Christmas, she sends to KC a figgy pudding for our Clan to share at our Christmas gathering.  No one really knows what goes into that figgy pudding but it arrives several weeks before Christmas and is not refrigerated.  Nonetheless, every Clan Christmas, we douse it in alcohol, try and light it on fire and everyone has their obligatory bite of figgy pudding because Aunt Katie sent it.  It wasn't until I was 25 that I finally ate the figgy pudding instead of feeding it to one of the dogs.  It really was quite tasty.  Of course, that may have been the year that I used almost an entire bottle of brandy trying to light it on fire.

Anyway, this year when I hit a brain freeze trying to concoct a cocktail for the holidays, Aunt Katie inspired me by suggesting figs!  Well, duh!   I had fig preserves in my frig so it made sense to start there.  Lo and behold, as I did some research on the trusty internets, I found that using preserves in cocktails is a trendy new thing in all the cool places. 

The Figgy Pudding is named for Aunt Katie not just because it's figgy - but, because you'll find great comfort in it - just like one does in Aunt Katie.

THE AUNT KATIE COCKTAIL - FIGGY PUDDING
1 TBS Fig preserves
2 oz brandy
1 oz dark creme de cacao
2 oz orange juice
2 oz half and half
orange twist, nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon for garnish

In a martini shaker muddle the fig preserves with the brandy, dark creme de cacao and orange juice.  Add ice and top with half and half.  Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass.  Nerdy-Boy does not allow me to play with fire when alcohol is involved, but, if he did, I would light the orange twist on fire and float on top.  You should try that.

A Thanksgiving Appetizer - Sherry Cherry Fig Compote w/Candied Bacon on Goat Cheese

So I'm assuming that everyone is planning their Thanksgiving Day menus just like I am.  Not only is Thanksgiving one of my favorite holidays, I simply adore preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  Nerdy-Boy and I don't usually get home to KC for Thanksgiving, but, generally spend it here in Pennsylvania with his Mom, brother and sister-in-law and whoever else happens to be around Harrisburg.  This year I'm expecting 10-15 people.  I'm so excited to start shopping, planning and cooking I can hardly stand myself these days!

One of my favorite dishes is this Corn and Chesnut pudding that I published last year at Thanksgiving time.  If you're looking for a good side dish, this baby is easy and seems to impress each year!

I'm always looking for a good appetizer to serve for dinner parties.  Since there is so much gluttony going on at Chez Patton-Isenhour on Thanksgiving Day, heaven knows we don't need an appetizer but, this yummy, tangy, sweetness was brought to our house last weekend by the incomparable Rachel Moore and her handsome husband Victor Wills.  It was so tasty that we're definitely taking gluttony to a new level this Thanksgiving.

Slippery and I on the night of the '08 IA Caucus

Rachel and Victor (aka Slippery Pete) are lovely newlyweds who bring so much joy to my life.  Slippery Pete has been hanging out with me since 2002 when he did a college internship for my good buddy and former boss, T.J. Rooney.  He's worked for us on and off while completing college and then law school.  He's the type of guy  who if you called at 4 a.m. to go fetch you a Spot Dog he would.  And don't think he hasn't.

Rachel and Slippery on the Today Show

In 2006, Rachel was President of the College Dems and volunteered for an event I was heading up that Slippery Pete was working for me.  The rest they say, is history.  I was so delighted to wake-up one morning to see them in my bedroom - on the telly holding a sign in the Today Show audience announcing their engagement.

Rachel and I share passions for shoes, politics, good wine and cooking.  And for someone so young, she's quite the gourmet.  If I had a daughter, I would want her to be just like Rachel and marry a man just like my Slippery Pete.   I'm very proud of both of them and so lucky to have them in my life.

So, on to this fabulous recipe that Rachel shared with us last weekend.  Haven't I said before that everything is better with goat cheese?  I didn't think it was possible, but there is indeed a way to make goat cheese even better!  Think salty, sweet, tangy all mixed in with the yumminess of creamy goat cheese and this is what you come up with.  Oh my goodness - such a fantabulous taste explosion in your mouth!  This went especially well with the 2006 Cakebread Cellars Syrah I was serving pre-dinner.

Sherry Cherry Fig Compote:

Equal parts dried cherries and figs, roughly chopped

A sweet sherry - I always prefer the flavor profile of Harvey's Bristol Cream (for cooking and sipping!)

Unsalted butter

Balsamic Vinegar

Orange Juice

Pour 1/2 cup of sherry into a saucier or high sided pan (nonstick helps) on medium heat. Once it begins to bubble, add a pad of butter to help thicken the sauce. While the sauce is combining, roughly chop the cherries and quarter the figs. Add fruit to the pan and stir frequently. Continue to add sherry as needed until the mixture attains the thickness of jam. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add to food processor until consistency resembles a tapenade. Remove from food processor and stir in a few tablespoons of orange juice to loosen and flavor and a few drops of balsamic vinegar to taste. 

Candied Bacon Sprinkles

One pound of thick cut bacon

Brown sugar

In a soup pot or large pan, render down one pound of bacon until it is cooked through, but not yet crispy. Drain well. Transfer to saucier or high sided pan and continue to sauté on medium heat.Once some fat renders out, sprinkle in 1/8-1/4 cup of brown sugar (to taste) gradually, constantly stirring. The sugar will begin to caramelize and stick to the bacon. Once crispy, remove and drain on kitchen paper. When cooled completely, chop to desired consistency... or eat as is... Next time we're doing this with pepper bacon or adding some heat for a spicy-sweet kick. 

We served both on a cheese platter with a baguette. The platter included a duo of goat cheeses: Presidente and Garroxta.

Cherry Mash Cake Balls

Cake Balls are something I've seen popping up all over the place - at showers and parties and at bakeries here and there.  I think they are replacing the cupcake trend.  I can see why - they are cute and they are tasty.  I decided to take a shot at them.  Mine didn't come out as pretty as the ones that I've seen at bakeries but they sure tasted good.  If I were trying to impress, I'd probably order them from a professional baker such as Kay's Cakes and Cookies owned by a good Democrat here is South Central Pennsylvania.  Check out his web site - Dennis does some good work.

I took a gander at these for a Labor Day picnic and this is how they turned out - all sorts of chocolately-goodness when you bit into them.  The great thing about cake balls is that you can get your imagination on and choose whatever flavors float your boat.  Chocolate and peanut butter?  Red Velvet and Cream Cheese?  How 'bout a citrus version using lemon cake and orange frosting?  My virgin try with these using chocolate cake and chocolate frosting inspired me to create a childhood favorite candy version.

One of my favorite candies was Cherry Mash, made in St. Joseph, MO.  I can remember my big brother taking me to the corner store for a Cherry Mash.  It began my lifetime love affair with anything chocolate and cherry combined.   I've never found Cherry Mash in the east and even though we're just a few miles from Hershey's Chocolate - I still long for for the yummy delliciousness of yummy cherry on the inside coated with salty chocolate coating on the outside.  Nerdy-Boy and his roommate before me, Daren enjoyed these over the weekend but renamed them Chocolate Salty Balls.  Boys!

Cherry Mash Cake Balls
1 package white cake mix prepared and baked.
1 container of cherry-flavored frosting
2 packages of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of peanuts crushed

Prepare and bake cake mix.  Let cool to room temp.

Crumble baked cake in a large mixing bowl.  Add 3/4 of the can of cherry frosting.  With a heaping tablespoon of the mixture roll into balls and place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Place in freezer for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, crush your nuts and melt your chocolate.  Mix the nuts with the melted chocolate. 

Remove the cake balls from the freezer and working quickly, roll them in the melted chocolate and nuts.  Place on a cookie sheet and let your balls harden.

Fluffy Apple Pancakes w/Apple Cider Syrup

Some of you might remember about this time last year when I posted a recipe for Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce (If you missed it, go check it out -- it is so good!).  Well, it's October again and here in Central PA, apples and apple cider are everywhere.  And as much as I hate coring and peeling apples, I love cooking with them.  I don't particular like eating an apple on its own (good thing I wasn't responsible for the Original Sin), but, I do like finding a crunchy piece of tartness inside of my food.

My sister Diana and my brother-in-law Jeff stopped by for a quick visit on their way home to Kansas City from Annapolis last week.  Before their long journey home, I wanted to fill their bellies with a good warm breakfast.  I had some apple cider in the fridge from a Cider-Cheese Fondue that I had served at a party the previous Saturday night and some Granny Smith Apples as well.  Hmmm...fluffy apple pancakes!

Now, I always get a little intimidated by my big sister because she is such a fabulous cook. But, when she gives her thumbs up on a dish, I know it's worth sharing here. Jeff - not so much. He's like Nerdy-Boy - he'll eat just about anything.

Diana said as she was gobbling them up, "I didn't know I wanted pancakes.  Apparently I did."  Really - who wouldn't want fluffy apple pancakes?

Of course, Diana can make any dish that I make better.  She emailed me when she got home to tell me she was making this same recipe for house guests but, was cooking up some apples in a little Calvados, a French Apple Brandy to top them off.  Yes, in the Isenhour Clan we have been known to add a little sumthin' sumthin' to our food - even at breakfast time.

Fluffy Apple Pancakes w/Apple Cider Syrup

For the Pancakes - It's really the syrup that makes these pancakes to die for so I just use a box mix of pancakes (we keep Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix in our pantry - somehow I've convinced myself it really is better).  I substitute apple cider for the water, add 1/2 cup of chopped apples and a 1/2 cup of golden raisins.  Make sure that before you pour them on the griddle you give them a good stir so that some of the apples and raisins get in each of the pancakes.

Apple Cider Syrup
1 cup of apple cider
3 Tbsps of brown sugar
1 1/2 tsps of corn starch
2 tsps of lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a slow boil for 5 minutes.  Pour warm over pancakes.

Sweet Pepper Bisque

Remember how I was griping about all of those yummy bell peppers our CSA was sending us each week?  We had so many of them that I had sauteed them, grilled them, stuffed them - I'd run out of things to do with them!

I was comparing notes with my friend Jess who is also a member of the same CSA.  She didn't know what to do with all of the yummy sweet peppers she had either.  So she came up with a sweet pepper soup recipe that I adapted.  Jess just started getting into cooking and it was so fun to have a conversation with her about how she is enjoying trying new recipes and getting her creative on with them.  If she's half the cook that she is political operative, then I want to be invited to her house for dinner soon.

Jess is a vegetarian so she used vegetable broth in her recipe.  I used chicken broth because it was what I had on hand and apparently Nerdy-Boy and I have no conscious when it comes to eating God's little creatures. Hey I'm from Kansas - that's what we do.  I'm not sure but, I think you can be arrested if you don't eat meat.  I added some ginger - well, just because I could.  I had originally intended to add a little cream to truly make this a bisque, but found that it was so creamy on it's own that I didn't need to do so.  And really - do we need the extra calories hanging out here at Chez Patton-Isenhour?  Four out of five friends surveyed say no.

I won't be waiting until next summer for my CSA to deliver more of those yummy peppers to make this sweetness again.  At some point in the coming months I'm going to break my vow to only buy locally-grown produce.  Yep, I'll be heading to my over-sized and over-priced super-market to buy yellow peppers shipped from some corporate farm in California just to taste the lovliness of this bisque sooner rather than later.

Thanks, Jess for sharing!


Sweet Pepper Bisque
1/4 c olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 large bell peppers - seeded and diced (I used 16 of the small yummy peppers from my CSA)
1 medium potato - diced, peeled if you want - I never do - lots of nutrients in that peel
2 Tbsps minced ginger (I used the jarred)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

Heat oil in dutch oven.  Add onions and salt.  Sautee for 3-4 minutes until soft.  Add peppers, potato, ginger, red pepper flakes and ground black pepper. Cover and simmer until peppers are tender - about 20 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup broth and and cover and simmer for another 40 minutes.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of broth.  Puree in food processor or wtih immersion blender.

There are so many things that you can top this with - parsley, dill, rosemary, scallions, sour cream, creme fraiche.  I happened to have some leftover French bread from the night before so I made garlic croutons and topped it with those.  Just enough garlic but not too much to overpower the ginger.

Since Friday is the first day of October and that means lots of tarty-cruncy apples and apple cider, you'll want to check back for yummy apple pancakes and apple syrup for your weekend breakfast.  They're both really easy!

The Most Perfect Food Gets Even Better

Is there any more perfect food than a tater tot?  Seriously -- crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.  And who can resist all of the starchy goodness of a potato?  Tater tots are the perfect food anytime, but, they may well be the most perfect hangover food.  I almost wished I had a hangover when I made these puppies just to test that theory. Well how 'bout homemade tater tots that haven't been processed with who-knows-what additives and then flash frozen?  What 'bout homemade tater tots that you flavor to your own liking?

We recently hosted a milestone birthday party for our friend Colleen.  I set out to develop a 70's menu.  The first thing that I recalled as I started my research was that the cuisine of the 70's wasn't any better than the fashion of the 70's - the tater tot may be the exception.  When I googled tater tots, all I came up with were casseroles.  Casseroles I'm sure my mother once forced down my gullet.  Colleen deserved much more than a casserole made with canned soups so I decided to try my hand at homemade tater tots.  Homemade tater tots are a little bit of work but trust me, you won't even think about that when you pop one of  these in your mouth.  Truly a little slice of carbohydrate-heaven.  No more frozen tater tots at Chez Patton-Isenhour.  I may even give up my addiction to Sonic tater tots as well. 

Here's my basic recipe.  The possibilities of what you could do with this recipe are endless.  How about adding some feta and chopped up black olives for a Greek version?  Or manchengo cheese with some chopped up jalepeno for a little Mexican kick?  Leave me a comment with your ideas for variations -- I know you Pink Stove blogees are creative.


Homemade Tater Tots
makes 36-40

2 medium potatoes (I used russet)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons of onion flakes
1 teaspoon of garllic powder
1 teaspoon of sale
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup of flour
vegetable oil for frying

Boil the potatoes until fork tender - approximately 20 minutes.  You want to be able to stick a fork in them easily but not so they fall apart.  Remove and cool until you can handle them.  Peel potatoes.  Shred with a box shredder.

Combine shredded potatoes, cheddar cheese, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper and GENTLY, gently stir in a large mixing bowl being very careful not to break down the potatoes.

Using one tablespoon of the potato mixture, shape into a tater tot.  After you have shaped your tater tots, lightly roll in flour making sure to shake off excess. You just want a very light dusting of flour.

Heat vegetable oil to approximately 350 degrees.  Drop tater tots into oil and fry for approximately 4-5 minutes until golden brown.  Make sure that you don't over crowd your fryer.  Drain on paper towels, season with salt (I used garlic sea salt) and serve warm with ketchup or sour cream/chive dipping sauce.

Stay-tuned, Pink Stove Blogees -- I've got a couple of incredible recipes to share with you. One is a sweet pepper bisque sent to me by my friend Jess that I adapted.  And with apple season coming up, I have an apple pancake recipe with apple cider syrup that will tempt anyone even outside the Garden of Eden!

The Pink Stove Lives!

So the Pink Stove Diaries has been stagnant for a while.  And for that I apologize to all of you wonderful blogees who gave me such great feedback.  I hope I can get your attention again and you will once again grace me with your readership and your feedback.

I've been doing a lot of experimenting on top of the Pink Stove and in her oven so I have lots of recipes to share with you.

From memory, I've tried to re-create an enchilada sauce I learned to make when I was 14. (I just can't stand that stuff that comes in a can!)  Yesterday I bought several pounds of San Marzano tomatoes to make sauce and freeze so I can make Nerdy-Boy's favorite dish for his birthday in October.  (I could feed him lasagna and ice cream sandwiches everyday for the rest of his life and he would be perfectly content!)  I made a 3 layer flan cake that was not only fabulously delectable but a real show stopper that I want to share with you.  And of course, all summer long I've been experimenting with different cocktails - a martini I concocted for my sister Diana's milestone birthday last May made with her favorite liqueur - St. Germaine as well as some good elixirs mixed with rosemary-infused vodka.  This month one of dearest friends, Colleen has a milestone birthday and I'm planning a menu based on 70's food (The 70's weren't any better for cuisine than they were for music - trust me.)

So I hope you'll tune-in and see what The Pink Stove and I are up to.

With many thanks and lots of love,

Mary and The Pink Stove