These tiny, soft, intensely chocolate cookies are packed with pine nuts, while a little grappa gives them a welcome bite. Called Fava of the Dead in Rome, they mark All Souls night. The dark, almost black color gives these innocent little coins a threatening edge. In the Rome of the Caesars, people believed fava beans held the souls of the dead.
As clarinet soloist with more than a hundred orchestras—and as recitalist, chamber musician and innovative jazz artist—Richard Stoltzman has earned an international reputation.
Chunks of caramelized almonds look like burnished cobblestones paving the sweet cookie crust of this tart from the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. There is a delightful play of textures here, a crisp but buttery crust, the crunch of toasted almonds, and the pleasing chewiness of their caramel coating. Soft scents of lemon and anise set this apart from many of the almond tarts made throughout Emilia-Romagna. Although deeply flavored, the tart is not overly rich, making it a good finale to meals of robust tastes and hearty dishes.
Sort of a scrappy extramural stuffing, this is a warm mix of crispy, tender and chewy chunks of bread, moistened with vinaigrette and turkey drippings. It is a holiday variation on our traditional bread salad—I've substituted dried cranberries for the usual dried currants. Tasting as you make it is obligatory, and fun. I recommend you allow a little extra bread and vinaigrette the first time you make this recipe, so you can taste with impunity. For the best texture, use chewy, peasant-style bread with lots of big and little holes in the crumb. Such loaves are usually scaled at 1 or 2 pounds; plan on 1/4-pound bread per person. I don't use sourdough or levain type bread for this recipe, finding the sour flavor too strong and rich for this dish. And make sure to use day-old bread; fresh bread can make a soggy, doughy salad.
Brining turkey makes it more succulent, more tender and well-seasoned throughout. I offer two curing procedures, one for those who've got the space to wet-cure the whole bird in the refrigerator, and a wet-then-dry method where refrigerator space is limited. The first method yields the very best results, but the second method still makes startlingly juicy, tasty roast turkey.
A tricky dish to do in volume, and hence, I tend to forget to make it at the restaurant, but it is easy for the home cook. An obvious friend to bacon and eggs, these lacy cakes are also good with almost any roasted meat or bird. The sweet-salty flavor and crispy texture is irresistible and appeals to those not usually fond of sweet potatoes. These hash browns are also very pretty made with a combination of starchy, yellow sweet potatoes and a little bit of orange yam. (Don't use all yams; by themselves they form a wet, dense mass, not a lacy cake. They don't have enough starch to stick together and form a crust. They do, on the other hand, try to stick to the pan.)
This is the best shoofly pie I’ve eaten, and believe me, I’ve tried many. Some versions are dry and soft; others are quite gooey and moist. This one falls somewhere in between, and is thick and unabashedly pleasing. Shoofly is authentic American pie that comes to us from the Pennsylvania Amish and Mennonites and the Pennsylvania Dutch; we should be grateful to them forever.
This red wine jelly emphasizes both color and flavor. A grown-up dessert, it is tart and sophisticated due to the inclusion of red wine, nicely rounded out by brandy. The whipped cream is a good counterpoint to the austerity of the jelly.
Cooking watery or fibrous root vegetables like celery roots, turnips, carrots, rutabagas, and beets with a little white rice ensures that they will be exceptionally creamy and have a very pure flavor.
Adapted from A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider (Artisan, 2001). Copyright 2001, Sally Schneider.