EBOOK
About
After traveling across the country for three years, Sheila Lukins, the co-author of The Silver Palate cookbooks and The New Basics Cookbook and author of All Around the World Cookbook, set to work tasting, interpreting, and making magic in over 600 recipes. Here are Mashed Yukon Golds, a Stovetop Clambake, Vegetable Jambalaya, Bing Cherry Chutney, Peachy Keen Pie. Quesadillas with duck and caramelized onions, a burger stuffed with Maytag blue cheese, gazpacho made with both fresh and roasted vegetables, crab cakes sumptuous with lobster meat, orange zest, and mace. It's a star-spangled celebration.
Sheila Lukins, one of America's best-known and best-loved food writers, was the co-founder of the legendary Silver Palate take-out shop. Her celebrated cookbooks, written alone and with her Silver Palate partner, Julee Rosso, helped change the way America's eats. For the past 23 years, she was also the Food editor of Parade Magazine. LANCASTER APPLE BUTTER
Until I spent a weekend in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I had always thought of apple butter as one of those elusive foods that was sold in jars or served on relish trays at quaint country inns. But visiting with Mennonite and Amish families, I was treated to the most delicious, perfectly spiced apple butter imaginable. I knew the time had come for me to have a lesson in this all-American spread. To begin with, I learned that any old apple won't do. For the perfect consistency, it has to be a mealy-textured cooking apple, such as Gravenstein, McIntosh, or Rome Beauty. Cooked with cider, then baked with a touch of cinnamon and a splash of vinegar, this apple butter is thick, dark, and deeply aromatic. Although this recipe may be more work than a trip to the supermarket, it is eminently worthwhile, and the apple butter will keep for up to 3 weeks--if you don't eat it all with the first taste!
6 pounds mealy apples (Gravenstein, McIntosh, Rome Beauty)
1 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1. Peel and core the apples, then quarter them. Place the apples in a heavy ovenproof pot, add the cider, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the apples are soft, about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Press the apples, along with any liquid, through a strainer into a bowl. Return the mixture to the pot and add the cinnamon, vinegar, and brown sugar. Bake, uncovered, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 weeks.
Makes about 5 cups
DEVILED LAMB CHOPS
Wait till you taste these little devils. They're just nicely spiced, not searingly so, but they do pack a surprise because most folks, I've found, don't expect to have their lamb served with a little heat. Pile the chops on one half of a large platter with grilled corn piled on the other. If you're not in the mood for wine or beer, an icy pitcher of iced tea is the drink of choice.
Wine: Sonoma County (CA) Cabernet Sauvignon
Beer: Pennsylvania double bock
Marinade
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt, to taste
8 rib lamb chops, cut 1 inch thick, bones frenched
1. Prepare the marinade: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add the lamb chops and coat them well with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, turning them occasionally.
3. Prepare a barbecue grill with medium-hot coals or preheat a broiler.
4. Grill or broil the lamb chops, 3 inches from the heat source, brushing them with the marinade, for 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare meat.
Serves 3 to 4
FENNEL AND ACORN SQUASH WHIP
Fennel and acorn squash have surprising affinity for each other. Alt
Sheila Lukins, one of America's best-known and best-loved food writers, was the co-founder of the legendary Silver Palate take-out shop. Her celebrated cookbooks, written alone and with her Silver Palate partner, Julee Rosso, helped change the way America's eats. For the past 23 years, she was also the Food editor of Parade Magazine. LANCASTER APPLE BUTTER
Until I spent a weekend in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I had always thought of apple butter as one of those elusive foods that was sold in jars or served on relish trays at quaint country inns. But visiting with Mennonite and Amish families, I was treated to the most delicious, perfectly spiced apple butter imaginable. I knew the time had come for me to have a lesson in this all-American spread. To begin with, I learned that any old apple won't do. For the perfect consistency, it has to be a mealy-textured cooking apple, such as Gravenstein, McIntosh, or Rome Beauty. Cooked with cider, then baked with a touch of cinnamon and a splash of vinegar, this apple butter is thick, dark, and deeply aromatic. Although this recipe may be more work than a trip to the supermarket, it is eminently worthwhile, and the apple butter will keep for up to 3 weeks--if you don't eat it all with the first taste!
6 pounds mealy apples (Gravenstein, McIntosh, Rome Beauty)
1 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1. Peel and core the apples, then quarter them. Place the apples in a heavy ovenproof pot, add the cider, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the apples are soft, about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Press the apples, along with any liquid, through a strainer into a bowl. Return the mixture to the pot and add the cinnamon, vinegar, and brown sugar. Bake, uncovered, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 weeks.
Makes about 5 cups
DEVILED LAMB CHOPS
Wait till you taste these little devils. They're just nicely spiced, not searingly so, but they do pack a surprise because most folks, I've found, don't expect to have their lamb served with a little heat. Pile the chops on one half of a large platter with grilled corn piled on the other. If you're not in the mood for wine or beer, an icy pitcher of iced tea is the drink of choice.
Wine: Sonoma County (CA) Cabernet Sauvignon
Beer: Pennsylvania double bock
Marinade
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt, to taste
8 rib lamb chops, cut 1 inch thick, bones frenched
1. Prepare the marinade: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add the lamb chops and coat them well with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, turning them occasionally.
3. Prepare a barbecue grill with medium-hot coals or preheat a broiler.
4. Grill or broil the lamb chops, 3 inches from the heat source, brushing them with the marinade, for 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare meat.
Serves 3 to 4
FENNEL AND ACORN SQUASH WHIP
Fennel and acorn squash have surprising affinity for each other. Alt