Witchy Kitchen

Tag: black pepper

  • Rye Popovers with Welsh Rarebit Sauce

    Rye Popovers with Welsh Rarebit Sauce

    I adored Tim Burton’s 2016 film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children based on the book of the same name by Ransom Riggs. I can attribute most of my love to the film’s charming and spookyl atmosphere, from the Burtonesque settings, to the paranomal abilitied children I’ve described as X-Men through an Instagram filter, to the hauntingly lovely Florence and the Machine song that plays through the credits. I can attribute the rest of my love to the luminous Eva Green as Miss Peregrine.

    Illustration by Andrew Tarusov

    Miss Peregrine’s school is located in Wales, and to my American sensibility the most iconic Welsh food is Welsh Rarebit (please comment and school me if there are more dishes I should know). As far as dishes go though, this is a good one, the sauce is simply amazing. One of my peculiar children declared “dis is yum!”

    I made the lovely rarebit creamy cheese sauce flavored with dijon, worcestershire sauce and ale (I used pumpkin beer!) but rather than on rye toast, I made some light and airy rye popovers to evoke Emma (yes in the book it’s Olive) who is lighter than air. I wonder if she’s a good cook – she’s probably great at things like popovers, soufflees, meringues, puris, foams and lattes.

    Just a note, in a rare twist I adapted nothing this time, both unaltered recipes came out really nice.

    Rye Popovers with Welsh Rarebit Sauce

    For the popovers
    Recipe from Food.com

    • 3⁄4 cup rye flour
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup milk
    • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
    • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

    Heat over to 450° and grease a muffin tin.

    Whisk together flours and salt, then add milk, butter, and eggs. Mix well and divide between muffin cups.

    Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350$deg; and bake for another 5 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve with rarebit sauce, below.

    For the rarebit sauce
    Recipe from Alton Brown

    • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
    • 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce (vegetarian sauce to make vegetarian)
    • 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
    • 1/4 cup beer (porter is best, I used a lighter pumpkin beer, also good)
    • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
    • 3/4 cups shredded cheddar

    On low heat in a saucepan, heat butter and flour, whisking continuously for several minutes (do not let flour brown). Whisk in in dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper until well combined. Whisk in beer and cream, and add cheddar. Cook, whisking constantly, for 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted completely and mixture has slightly thickened. Remove from heat and serve warm with popovers.

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Podcast Episode 48: MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN in which Carrie and Diana discuss the 2016 Tim Burton film and the novel by Ransom Riggs that it’s based on. Giant carrots, weird little back-teeth, eyeball munching, carnival food; all very peculiar.

  • Codfish Pudding

    Codfish Pudding

    Just always be waiting for me.

    I reread Peter Pan by JM Barrie, a book I loved as a child, a couple of years ago; it was just as sweet and funny as I remembered, but it’s now layered by my adult experience. There’s some unfortunate misogyny (poor Wendy), and now knowing that it’s about the death of a child, much of it is just so unbearably sad.

    But from unbearable tragedy comes a charming and awfully big adventure, and I made a recipe to match. This is equal parts British nursery food for darling little children and the worst insult to effeminate one-handed pirates.

    I based my dish on this recipe from Cook it Simply with several adjustments in ingredients and cooking method (Do I look like I have suet? Or a pudding basin? But I got through it, oh the cleverness of me!). The result was like a crustless mini quiche – super tasty, and I think the lemon zest brought out the pleasant fishy flavor and brightened it several shades above stereotypically tasteless nursery fare.

    It was very good warm the night of, my kids loved it, and, because I am a monster who eats straight from the fridge, can offer that it was even good cold the next day.

    Codfish Pudding

    Adapted from Cook it Simply

    • 1 pound skinless cod, sliced into small cubes
    • 1 stick butter, melted
    • zest of one lemon
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • fresh cracked pepper
    • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
    • 1/2 cup milk
    • 2 slices bread
    • handful parsley

    Heat oven to 350° and grease a muffin tin.

    Combine cod, butter, lemon zest, salt, pepper, eggs, and milk. In a food processor, blitz bread and parsley to fine crumbs. Stir into cod mixture.

    Divide evenly between muffin cups. Place the muffin tin on a large rimmed baking sheet in the oven, and add water to the baking sheet to about three quarters full.

    Bake for one hour (start checking at 50 minutes, it’s fine for the tops to brown but if they start getting too done cover with foil) until the mixture is fairly solid. Remove to a rack and cool 15-20 minutes.

    Gently remove each pudding, I spooned around the rim to loosen it and used two spoons to lift it to the plate. They’ll get less delicate as they cool.

    Garnish with a little extra chopped parsley and serve warm, or enjoy later room temp or even cold.

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Podcast Episode 45: PETER PAN, in which Carrie and Diana discuss the novel and various adaptations. Diana dreams of cakes, Carrie gets emotional, and there’s pretend feasts, medicine, panpipes and nursery food to go around.

    Lovely artwork by Renae De Liz

  • Imperius Pears

    Imperius Pears

    These Imperius Pears, poached in red wine and bathed in chocolate, are one of the unforgivable dishes. They cast a pleasant thrall over those who eat them; there’s a darkness tinged with spices, especially the unusual black pepper, but the chocolately sweetness is so dreamy that the eater doesn’t mind losing their will.

    Only the wizard with exceptional strength is able to resist – but why would they want to?

    Harry Potter Imperius Pears

    • 4 Bosc pears, almost ripe
    • 2 1/2 cups red wine (such as cabernet)
    • 3/4 cups sugar
    • 1 vanilla bean, split
    • 12 black pepper pods
    • 1/2 inch ginger, sliced into coins
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
    • pinch salt

    Peel the pears and scoop out the core at the bottom with a spoon.

    In a small saucepan, heat wine, sugar, vanilla bean, black pepper pods, and ginger to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and submerge the pears two face up, two face down.

    Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, then flip pears and simmer another 20 minutes. Check to see that they are easily pierced by a fork but not falling apart. Remove to a plate.

    Strain the remaining wine mixture and return to the saucepan, add cocoa and salt, and bring to a boil. Lower heat slightly and simmer until mixture thickens, coating a spoon. Remove from heat and cool.

    Arrange pears on a plate and drizzle with the wine and chocolate reduction. Service with more on the side.

    potter-week-gold

    Submitted for PotterPowers day of Common Room’s PotterWeek – check out #PotterWeek around social media for tons of fun Harry Potter-related goodness!

    Mischief managed.

  • Witchy Autumn Spice Mix

    Witchy Autumn Spice Mix

    Tis the season! I’ve decked the halls with pumpkins and cobwebs, and fall baking is in full swing. Here’s a deliciously fragrant witchy spice mix for all your fall treats, everything from gingerbread to roasted veggies to pumpkin spice lattes.

    It’s nothing revolutionary, it’s like chai masala with different levels of spice (not that you couldn’t make a lovely chai with this), and like store-bought pumpkin pie spice only so much more lovely and piquant because the spices are fresh ground. I’ve made a nice batch which I’ve stored in a little jar in my spice cabinet, but it’s going so quickly I know I’ll need to make another batch before the holiday season is over – and this time make it a double!

    Also, this wouldn’t be half as witchy without some magical correspondences, so if you’re curious:

    • Allspice: money, luck healing
    • Black pepper: protection, exorcism
    • Cardamom: lust, love (so you’ve got the sweet playful version with green cardamom and the smokey sexy one with black cardamom)
    • Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, power, psychic powers, lust, protection, love (so, pretty much everything)
    • Clove: protection, exorcism, love, money
    • Ginger: love, money, success, power
    • Star anise: psychic powers, luck

    All the good stuff; if you’re looking for love, money, or just need a good old-fashioned exorcism, a batch of pumpkin bread may be just the thing. Happy baking!

    Witchy Autumn Spice Mix

    • 10 green cardamom pods
    • 10 allspice berries
    • 14 cloves
    • 3 star anise
    • 3 cinnamon sticks
    • 1 tablespoon black pepper pods
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (about half a pod)
    • 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

    Lightly toast all spices except the ground nutmeg and ginger in a dry pan. Grind all spices in a spice grinder until very fine. You may need to crack the cinnamon sticks first, and then sift the spices once and grind the larger pieces again.

    Stir in the ginger and nutmeg, and store in an airtight container. Will last indefinitely but spices will lose potency over time, so try to use within a month or two.

  • Jerk Marinade

    Jerk Marinade

    That spinach leaf is to mark the spicy plate!

    Grill season has arrived, and one of the first things I was excited to make was jerk chicken – fresh, flavorful, and charred to perfection.

    I have one recipe way back in the archive that I was calling Spiced Thyme Chicken because I had a fear of claiming authenticity when it’s not (here is a cool article on Serious Eats about real authentic Jamaican jerk chicken). However, I’ve come around to the opinion that it’s ok to adapt classic recipes to your kitchen, especially if that means you can make it more often! Besides, I’m always amazed at similarities between certain cuisines; it was easy to construct this Caribbean marinade from ingredients I already had in my desi spice cabinet.

    The biggest change was using ajwain (carom) seeds in place of the typical thyme. I love using fresh thyme but it’s not a staple in my kitchen, whereas ajwain seeds are just because they store easily, and it’s a similar flavor so why not? Other than that, cloves, allspice, ginger, garlic and lime are ubiquitous in both cuisines, so this really isn’t that far off. I didn’t realize green onions were a must until I read that article afterwards, so will probably incorporate next time. I used paprika and a pinch of turmeric for a little flavor and color, and the fruitiness of apple cider vinegar, and that’s totally allowed because jerk marinade is one of those things with a hundred secret house recipes.

    We used this for chicken breasts (this makes enough for 6 or so), but you could use it for all kinds and cuts of meat, fish and veggies too!

    Jerk Marinade

    • 1 teaspoon ajwain (carom) seeds (alternately, you could use a few sprigs fresh thyme or a teaspoon dried thyme)
    • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
    • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
    • 6 cloves
    • 6 allspice berries
    • 2 teaspoons paprika
    • 2 teaspoons red chili powder (because kiddies, we divided the chicken breasts 3 and 3 and added 1 teaspoon to the grown-up’s portion)
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
    • generous pinch black pepper
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
    • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
    • 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
    • 2 teaspoons sugar
    • juice of half a lime
    • 3 tablespoons olive oil

    Heat a dry pan on medium heat. Gently toast the ajwain seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, and allspice. When they become fragrant, remove from heat and grind in a spice grinder.

    Whisk together fresh ground spices with paprika, red chili, turmeric, black pepper, ginger, salt garlic, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and lime juice. Pour olive oil in a stream while continuously whisking.

    Use as a marinade for chicken, beef, fish or veggies, ideally to grill!

    The fresh, bright flavor goes awesome with the nutty creaminess of Hara Masala Coconut Rice.

  • Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    The day December hits, right on schedule, visions of Christmas cookies are dancing in my head. I love peanut blossoms, pretty linzer squares, chocolatey chili cookies – and especially a wintery spice cookie.

    I don’t have one that in particular that I normally make, so this caught my eye when I saw it: Carey Nershi’s Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies on Food52. It had me at black cardamom; which if green cardamom is the Queen of Spices, black cardamom is the sophisticated, mellowed, and camphorous Queen Mother. This recipe not only uses the seeds as part of the spices but infuses the butter with the pods.

    I have adapted nothing about this recipe – I EVEN procured bread flour when AP would probably suffice, but after some light Googling I learned bread flour is higher in protein and therefore yields chewier baked goods – but I wanted to share it because it’s spicy and lovely and will likely become a regular part of my Christmas cookie repertoire.

    Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    From Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies on Food52

    • 14 tablespoons butter
    • 1 cup bread flour
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • Spices: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
    • 5 black cardamom pods
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup molasses
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 cup sugar (for rolling)

    Crack open cardamom pods and remove the seeds. Grind seeds with a mortar and pestle and set aside.

    In a small saucepan, combine butter and empty cardamom pods and heat on medium low until butter is melted and slightly foamy. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 30 minutes.

    Remove the cardamom pods and transfer butter to a mixing bowl; let cool to room temperature.

    Whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, reserved cardamom and the rest of the spices.

    Add the sugar to the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses and the egg. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

    Prepare a baking sheet with silpat or parchment and preheat oven to 375° F. Put 1/2 cup sugar for rolling in a small bowl. Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter, form into balls, and roll in the sugar. Place two inches apart on the baking sheet.

    Bake cookies in batches for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

    These were delicious straight from the oven, but chewier and even more delicious after a couple of days. Happy holidays!