eG Foodblog: Marlena - Life is Delicious Wherever I am

[marlena spieler]

Have you ever made a Christmas pudding? I brought one back from England and it tasted a bit plastic.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of making one yourself, where is the best place to buy one?

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Swisskaese - Some recent discussion on cooking with suet, to add to the discussion. Suet will produce a much lighter pudding then butter and a pudding boiled in in cloth will be lighter then pudding in a bowl (although the former is more difficult). My suggestion would be to make your own, as it is easier and will most likely taste better. Maybe try a lighter style of pudding first, such as a cloutie pudding.

Marlena - Greece the the UK? Quite a transition in regards to food, I am looking forward to hearing more about your UK project.

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Hi Adam! the project I have in the UK is really very simple. i'm writing a book. well, the front matter of a book to which i've already written the recipes (published in another book). and i've put it off that weee little bit too long. don't tell my editor! anyhow, hard at work, i'm sure i'll speak of it tomorrow when i'm cooking to get in the mood. its a subject that i love anyhow.

as for the christmas pudding, i am actually a christmas pudding hater, but i'm telling you that the Duchy Originals pudding was fabulous! So light, so delicate, and i never thought it possible to use those adjectives with regards to christmas pudding! i'm not getting paid by the pudding i sell, ie i have nothing to gain by flogging that pudding! but it was yummy.

i'm pretty much an anti-steamed-pudding person in general, but i'm telling you: steamed treacle pudding is divine. maybe, just maybe, i'll whip one up this week. my husband would swoon with happiness so i'd better not say it too loudly. if he gets wind of my even thinking about it, life will be impossible until i steam up the heavy sweet and yeah, delicious, thing.

marlena

[marlena spieler]

*raising hand*  I have the book Melt and I love it.  Last year when It was my turn for a foodblog on egullet, I featured your prosciutto and fig jam sandwich.  It was yummy.  I'd love to see some more from the book.

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CaliPoutine, hey there!

Maybe just maybe we'll make a grilled cheese sandwich this week! there are only so many meals and eating opportunities in the course of the week, alas. and i want to make so much for you guys!

but we'll definately have to do a grilled cheese sandwich.

sadly, i don't have a digital camera. i am having to paint the pictures with words. thats okay cause i love words. but still, those digital photos in the food blogs are just like being there. gorgeous.

okay, maybe this is a good time--and thank you for liking my grilled cheese book--to mention another book about melted cheese, by your truly, that is being published this month. its called: macaroni and cheese. published by chronicle books. its very appealing, all that melty cheese, all that supple macaroni.

x marlena

[Carolyn Tillie]

meanwhile, you asked about christmas pudding. its kind of a family joke, as every year my british husband gets all excited and buys a whole bunch of different ones, and i steam it obligingly when the big day arrives, and even pour over brandy and ignite it (the best part of the pudding i'm convinced). but i just don't like to eat any of the puddings i've bought, with the exception of the purchased pudding that we had this year.

Is that the same one you gave me? I have to admit, I haven't gotten around to eating mine yet but will make a point of flaming and indulging this weekend!

Looking forward to your visit too!

[marlena spieler]

Dinner.

Dinner is a little late tonight. The day just carried itself away. First of all, i think i forgot to mention that there was shredded red cabbage in my salad and its been bothering me. the salad was so very crunchy and tangy, and if anyone was going to recreate it, you gotta include the red cabbage.

Now for dinner. Still thinking Greek flavours, I roasted a little chicken that had its insides filled with garlic cloves, lemon chunks (i picked the lemons in greece, in a little grove outside the shepherds hut we were staying at), and a small bunch of fresh oregano. on the outside of the chicklet i rubbed a paste of garlic, salt, lemon and olive oil.

roasted it fast in a hot oven. it made delicious juices, brown and lemony; when the chicken came out of the oven i let it rest, then carved it up and squirted a little more fresh lemon juice over the top.

I served it with orzo-risotto to which i added chopped leaves of fresh spinach and chopped green onion, plus lemon zest, okay and some cream and finished it with lemon juice and grated Parmigiana. mmmmmm. it was even mmmmm-ier with the juices from the chicken.

my husband, however, had only a small amount as he confessed that he had been eating his way through the christmas chocolates we still had leftover.

unhappily i made enough for the Greek army. tomorrow my theme might be: how to use this leftover orzo spinach risotto. it could be a good opportunity. i love leftovers for this exact reason.

for dessert after that hearty dinner and after my husbands indulgent nibbling, we're having apples. very nice quite small apples. they taste a little Cox-like, that is, small and sweet-juicy in a slightly just slightly Fuji sort of way.

oh, did i mention that i had my indulgence too? i had bought a bag of jelly beans at the airport en route from s.f. to greece. they were cheaper wanna be jelly bellies. and they were awful. being awful didn't stop me from tasting nearly every flavour in the bag. but i regret each and every one of them. except the bubble gum one. that was nice.

okay, can hardly wait to wake up in the morning and make coffee. and make breakfast. and and and.....hey, i might stay awake all night and read what Helen in Japan is up to!

night night,

Marlena

[marlena spieler]

meanwhile, you asked about christmas pudding. its kind of a family joke, as every year my british husband gets all excited and buys a whole bunch of different ones, and i steam it obligingly when the big day arrives, and even pour over brandy and ignite it (the best part of the pudding i'm convinced). but i just don't like to eat any of the puddings i've bought, with the exception of the purchased pudding that we had this year.

Is that the same one you gave me? I have to admit, I haven't gotten around to eating mine yet but will make a point of flaming and indulging this weekend!

Looking forward to your visit too!

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it just might be. my husband is a bit of a christmas pudding compulsive buyer! yesterday i steamed a Tesco very special or whatever their top of the range line is, but alas for him, the pot burned while i was on the phone. luckily, he whipped out another pudding and we steamed that one and set it on fire with brandy. these are tiny one person puddings, so we're not being as indulgent as it might seem.

i think i gave you a several person pudding, whatever was my husbands favourite at the time. so go steam, go flambe, go enjoy yourself!

by the way, for those who have never eaten a christmas pudding, it tastes something like this: it is a thick dark dense mixture of dried fruit and some sort of cakey stuff holding it all together. and brandy, a goodly amount.

in calais, which was once part of britain, they make a lovely little christmas pudding, wrapped in cloth as Adam described. lovely little bow on top, too, giving it a total classic look. the french puddings are lighter, tastier. well, french food can (not always, but can) have so much finesse.

but i'm telling you, i loved that Duchy Originals pudding. go figure. maybe i COULD arrange to get paid by the puddings I sold. i think i could sell them with a clean concience. i mean cause i love them.

Also love the pudding i make from scratch with butter. i might be forced to put the recipe up one of these days. and the way i like it is not with the cream or brandy butter that is classically British, but with a little bit of lime sorbet. The tangy citrus sorbet cuts right through the rich warm pudding. heresy in our house, though.

marlena

[jackal10]

The secret to a superlative pudding is to leave out the flour. Just use breadcrumbs, so its mostly fruit held together by the breadcrumbs and eggs..

[Swisskaese]

Your dinner sounds divine. David and I will be over in a few minutes.

I make something very similiar to your chicken. I lived with two Greek Gods in Germany over their Greek bar many years ago and they taught me how to make Greek lemon chicken and roasted potatoes. I am still thanking them for that cooking lesson.

I also lived with an Italian God in the same flat who was from Genoa. His mother would bring us her homemade pesto. Other than my trip to Cinque Terre, I have never had pesto as good as that.

[helenjp]

Christmas pudding! In my kitchen cleanout, I found my grandmother's pudding trinkets and a stack of silver sixpences, so I think a Twelfth Night pudding is in my future! Thanks for the reminder.

[Rebecca263]

Thanks, for blogging for us! Christmase pudding sounds pretty good to me, but I'll eat any fruitcake that you put in front of me, go figure.

[fou de Bassan]

Thanks for sharing all of your wonderful experiences! Your words are nicer than a photo and you've inspired me to make a pudding. Quite a feat, let me say, since I'm not a huge fan.

[marlena spieler]

The secret to a superlative pudding is to leave out the flour. Just use breadcrumbs, so its mostly fruit held together by the breadcrumbs and eggs..

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So true, Jack, and a bit of booze, too! I like dark brown sugar for a molasses-y richness too. gosh all of this talk about christmas pudding and i'm almost thinking happily about it, about whipping one up right this minute. maybe after i finish my work......

x m

[marlena spieler]

Oh you guys, doing this blog is so much fun because you're not alone in this big world! i tap something out, and hey--you pop right up, with me all the way. i could get addicted, and then what will i do when you guys trot off to the next blog (hmmm, i can see what fading celebs feel like: where are my fans!?). but its fun being on the other side too and waiting to see what the blogger is going to write about next....

anyhow, Helenjp, Rebecca 263, and fou de bassan, thanks for sweet words, and now i'm definately going to post my easy christmas pudding recipe that is--in accordance with Jackal10's spot-on direction--only crumbs, no flour!

and swisskaese aka michelle: greek gods, italian gods, great mediterranean food, are we one and the same? except i only dreamed of living with greek gods and italian gods, you lived the dream. i would be very interested i hearing about your greek meat and potatoes by the way, esp the lemon and oregano part........if that is part of it.

Back to blog-land: here is what i'm eating for breakfast: thin crisp toasted whole wheat bread from the island of zakynthos. that is the greek island i was in, and in the village lythakia, one of the women has revived the traditional dark totally wholegrain naturally levened bread. she makes it in huge kilo loaves. i bring it home, cut it up, and put it in chunks in my freezer. it is so wheaty, so honest and whole and comforting and high fiber. a slab of tassia's bread (tassia is the name of the woman) and a drenching of olive oil makes a meal for many villagers, along with a few olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.

This morning i ate the brown toast topped with pretza. pretza is another zakynthos thing. its a goat cheese, made six months of the year, in a pillow case hung from a tree. it is very fresh goats milk with a little bit of natural rennet or even a dab of yogurt; at the start of the summer when the cheese gets going til the beginning of autumn when the weather cools, the cheese gets stronger and more interesting. since i don't have access to fresh goats milk, alas, and my Hampshire neighbours would get a mite snippy about having a big cheese filled bag hanging from the garden tree, and anyhow the weather is too cool and damp, therefore, i make a sort of faux pretza: mash a good feta (and i'm still eating my way through that chunk from athens) with a spoonful of yogurt and a spoon or two of fruity, strong and olivey, olive oil. a sprinkling of thyme as well.

and did i mention that i rubbed the toasted brown bread with a cut clove of garlic. ah, garlic: breakfast of champions!

this morning i'm drinking French press coffee: peets of course. Peets is a Berkeley originated dark roast coffee which makes me shudder with delight just to think about. i bring a bag or two back each time i travel from the bay area to britain, and keep the whole beans in the freezer til i'm ready to grind and brew.

britains best--well i might be biased but i think they are BEST, that good, that great, anyhow, britains best in my humble opinion coffee roasters are Union Coffee, being the labor of love of two guys who trained at Peets in the Bay Area. Steven Macatonia and Jeremy Torz. once i went and visited and got so jangled drinking cup after cup that it took me about two days of hallucinating to feel okay again. but it was worth it i'm telling you.

anyhow, my coffee is no sugar, a little low fat milk. and you know what? i think i'll have a second cup.

should i tap out the recipe to christmas pudding, or should i go work on my project whose deadline is rapidly approaching?

No contest, i'll get those recipe-tapping fingers ready.

x marlena

[mochihead]

I can't wait to see your pudding recipe! I've never actually encountered one, and am curious about the whole thing. I remember growing up thinking that figgy pudding of We Wish You A Merry Xmas song fame was like those chocolate milk puddings.

More about the cheeses and yogurts! Yum!

[marlena spieler]

Marlena's Christmas Pudding for those who do not like christmas pudding

This is a very accepting pudding: add slivered almonds if you like, or candied citrus peel, shredded apple. This recipe is taken from my out of print book, and was inspired by a pudding made by fellow food writer Leslie Forbes: My book is From Pantry to Table, Addison Wesley publishers. i'd like to say that the book was a james beard nominee. i wish i didn't have to say that it sold about ten copies.

3/4 cup (1- 1 1/2 sticks) soft butter (if using unsalted, add a small pinch of salt)

1/3-1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2- 2 1/2 loosely packed fresh wholewheat breadcrumbs (about 4 slices without crusts, whirled in blender or grated in large holes of grater)

3 eggs, well beaten

3 heaped tablespoons raspberry jam or preserves, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Very generous handful of each: raisins, golden raisins, mixed candied fruits

2 tablespoons brandy, rum or whisky

1. cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.

2. stir in the breadcrumbls, eggs, jam, baking soda, raisins, golden raisins, and candied fruit, brandy/rum/whisky.

3. Pour into a 2 quart souffle dish, pudding ish, or heatproof bowl, then cover with a piece of buttered aluminum foil. Secure tightly with a string.

4. Place bowl in a steamer pot, or a heavy pot, then pour hot water into the pot halfway up the sides of the pudding-filled bowl.

5. steam the pudding for 2 hours adding water to the bottom of the pot as you need to (the water will evaporate and if the pot burns, the pudding is ruined).

6. Serve hot, accompanied by a drizzle of cream (my husbands fave), brandy butter (soft unsalted butter beaten with a little icing (powdered) sugar and brandy) or less traditionally lime sorbet, or the boozy citrus sauce below:

Boozey Citrus Sauce

Juice of 3 lemons

6 tablespoons orange marmalade

Pinch of allspice

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks butter), melted

7 ounces sherry, rum, brandy, whisky Cointreau, etc: your choice whichever you wish

heat all of the ingredients together in a little saucepan until it bubbles around the edge. Serve immediately (may be made ahead and reheated). if sauce isn't sweet enough (this depends on the marmalade) you can add sugar to taste then heat again.

[marlena spieler]

More about the cheeses and yogurts! Yum!

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I'm such a fan of pretza, and thought that maybe it was just my own personal passion. But then last autumn my friends on Zakynthos, who happen to be cheese import/exporters, took a big bag--i think it was about 75 lbs--of pretza to the Slow Food Cheesefest at Bra, Italy, and completely sold out. The Italian and French cheese afficionados were crazy about the stuff too!

I'll think about some of the other cheese-stuff from my greek island to write about.

x marlena

[mochihead]

You know, you have me eyeballing the goats in the pasture behind our house, thinking, "Hmmmm.... I wonder if I can milk you and hang your cheese from our tangerine tree...."

I think I will try that xmas pudding recipe later this week. What kind of candied fruits would you recommend using in it? I still have an aversion to the neon red & green stuff, but love citron and candied orange peel. Would that work?

[marlena spieler]

You know, you have me eyeballing the goats in the pasture behind our house, thinking, "Hmmmm.... I wonder if I can milk you and hang your cheese from our tangerine tree...."

I think I will try that xmas pudding recipe later this week.  What kind of candied fruits would you recommend using in it?  I still have an aversion to the neon red & green stuff, but love citron and candied orange peel.  Would that work?

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Yes, use citron and candied orange peel. I love citron--has anyone seen the (israeli) movie ushpishim (i think thats right, or is it? --michelle? ). its a movie that came out recently involving a very expensive citron (etrog) for Sukkot. it also involved a lovely religious couple, as well as two escaped criminals, and a miracle. totally delightful.

anyhow, go milk that goat! you could see about trying it with a dab of live yogurt added; i'm not sure if the weather is too moist in hawaii. if you like, i can put you directly in touch with my friends the cheese people on zakynthos (though they are doing a bit of travelling for the next month, but still will be in contact email wise).

a funny story about goats: on our first visit to the island, we went to milk the goat. i wanted to do it, as wanted to write my column about milking a goat. there were about five of us, and four of us had milked a goat. the fifth--my husband--had not. he was, in fact, frightened of milking a goat. he was frightened of the goat full stop. he had never seen a real live goat up close before. he was frightened that the goat would be afraid of him, since he was afraid of it.

so friend number one who milks her cow every day tried; the goat wouldn't give her milk. and so it went through us all. I tried to milk the goat, and she wouldn't give milk to me either, which really hurt my feelings.

and finally my husband went up to the goat, tried to figure out which angle to approach it, leaned over and with his fingers gave a little pull. the milk came shooting out!

maria, the goats owner was so impressed, that she told everyone in the village, and now my husband is legendary, and goes by the nickname 'gidas' which means goat.

x marlena

[jackal10]

My pudding Proportions need not be exact. Basically eaqual weights of everything:

4lbs mixed fruit (1lb each of sultanas, raisins, currants, 1.2 lb of candied peel, prunes, or use the pre mixed dried fruits most supermarkets sell) Ideally soak in a glass of rum of brandy for 12 hours first

1lb each of eggs (weighed in their shells), dark brown sugar, fat (suet or butter). breadcrumbs.

1/2 pt Guiness or ther dark beer - the other 1/2pt for the chef

Large glass rum or brandy (also for the chef as well)

1 tsp each salt, mixed spice, nutmeg

Stir together, wish, put into basins, tie down and steam for 8-12 hours, then another 4 hours before eating. Keeps forever after the first steaming.

For other times of the year make a lighter colour pudding: use white sugar, light ale, etc

or there is Figgy Pudding http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,...1667886,00.html

[mochihead]

Jackal10, I will have to do a taste comparison of the puddings! But I think I may have to scale yours back... 4 pounds of fruits and 1 pound each of eggs, sugar, fats & breadcrumbs! Wow!

What is mixed spice? Is that a specific namebrand sort of spice or a standard combination of spices? I'm imagining allspice or Chinese 5 spice in my head.

Marlena, that's such a great story about milking goats! I wouldn't even know where to begin milking a goat, although I love petting them - the kids are so cute. I hope your husband wears his name with honor now. Gidas the Great!

meh meeeehhhhhhh

Edited January 4, 2006 by mochihead (log)

[Swisskaese]

Yes, use citron and candied orange peel. I love citron--has anyone seen the (israeli) movie ushpishim (i think thats right, or is it? --michelle? ). its a movie that came out recently involving a very expensive citron (etrog) for Sukkot. it also involved a lovely religious couple, as well as two escaped criminals, and a miracle. totally delightful.

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The movie is called Ushpizin and it is roughly translated as Holy Guests. It is an Aramaic word. It is a very special movie.

They make etrog jam here.

Edited January 4, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[marlena spieler]

Yes, use citron and candied orange peel. I love citron--has anyone seen the (israeli) movie ushpishim (i think thats right, or is it? --michelle? ). its a movie that came out recently involving a very expensive citron (etrog) for Sukkot. it also involved a lovely religious couple, as well as two escaped criminals, and a miracle. totally delightful.

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The movie is called Ushpizin and it is roughly translated as Holy Guests. It is an Aramaic word. It is a very special movie.

They make etrog jam here.

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Right after I saw the movie, Ushpizin, I was in Sacramento, California, visiting my family, and dropped in on the legendary Darryl Corti, who is one of the most knowledgeable people i know on the subject of food (he is a grocer, and on the board of many food concerns such as Saveur mag etc) , especially italian food and wine. After priliminary chat and cheek kisses, he presented me with a citron from his tree and told me that he--and Italians along the Amalfi/Sorrento coast--make thinly sliced citron/etrog dressed in olive oil as a salad. So I took it home, and as the etrog was very big, and as my family was very scared of this lemon-ish salad, i ate my way through it all. one of my favourite incarnations was with red onion and avocado and lemon juice. sea salt.

etrog jam sounds luscious too! candied citron is really terrific. anything else done with citron/etrog? i bet it would be good preserved in some way, perhaps a savoury way?

you're so right, swisskaese/michelle, Ushpizin such a special movie. it so touches the heart.

x marlena

[jackal10]

For mixed spice use sweet mixed ground spice suitable for the season - cloves, nutmeg, ginger. Its sold in packet here. More like pumpkin pie spice, than chinese spice or garam masala or even quatre epices - no aniseed notes..

That recipe makes 4 or so good size puds.

[Swisskaese]

For mixed spice use sweet mixed ground spice suitable for the season - cloves, nutmeg, ginger. Its sold in packet here. More like pumpkin pie spice, than chinese spice or garam masala or even quatre epices - no aniseed notes..

That recipe makes 4 or so good size puds.

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For those of us that cannot buy packets of mixed spice, here is a recipe.

I am considering making a Christmas pud for Shavuot, like some of my Anglo friends do. I will have to remember to bring some vegetarian suet back with me the next time I go to England.

Edited January 4, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[BarbaraY]

Reading the pudding recipe took me back to my grandmother who often made them for Christmas and served them flaming. Hard Sauce and Brandy Sauce were served with it.

I have tried making it only once and wasn't happy with the result. It wasn't bad but not Grandma's. Perhaps I will try again with your recipe.

[marlena spieler]

Regardless of whose pudding we are eating, I must add this little tidbit: for the flaming, in order for the alcohol to ignite and cloak the pudding with the most beautiful blue halo of flame, warm the bottom of the spoon with a lighter or lit candle, or even the stove, the spoon should be pretty deep and full of the booze. Don't burn your fingers as the heat travels up the handle.

When the booze gets very hot it might ignite on its own volition, but if it hasn't, just touch the flame to the hot liquid. It should burst right into lovely blue flames.

Pour this flaming alcohol right over the pudding, it will roll over it, just gorgeously, and burn a few moments before sputtering out.

note: this works as well with a chicken as it does with a pudding. i'm a big fan for flambeeing things: it gives a lovely flavour but cooks off some (not all as previously thought) of the alcohol.

marlena