Cooking American Style Class 1 American Harvest International

Cooking, American Style Class 1 American Harvest International Center at Catholic Charities Community Services October 1, 2013 Instructor: Virginia Guilford

Cooking, American Style • • • Class 1 – American Harvest Class 2 – Fall Foliage Class 3 – Supermarkets Class 4 – Halloween Party Class 5 – Thanksgiving

Cooking, American Style Class 1 – American Harvest • Is there an American Cuisine? • Seasonal Flavors – – Spring Summer Fall/Autumn Winter • Basic Kitchen Equipment • Recipes • Harvest Favorites and Menus

Is There an American Cuisine? • Is American cuisine simply a mix of food from other countries? • Are there any uniquely American dishes? • Is there a uniquely American style of cooking and eating?

Types of American Restaurants • New American Cuisine – – Union Square Cafe Gotham Bar & Grill Mercer Kitchen Restaurant Cookshop • American Comfort Food – – – Sarabeth’s Bakery Shake Shack Clarke’s Standard Smith & Wolensky Bobby Van’s Little Pie Company • Regional Specialties – – Southern/BBQ New Orleans California New England • Fast Food – – – Burgers French Fries Chicken & Waffles Onion Rings Chili

Seasonal Foods & Flavors • Spring – Chicken, Veal, Ham – Filet of Sole, Salmon – Spinach, Asparagus, Peas – Rhubarb, Strawberries – Lemon – White Wine, Iced Tea, Lemonade – Light green, light yellow, light pink

Seasonal Foods & Flavors • Summer – Hot Dogs & Hamburgers, Grilled Steak – Lobster, Steamed Clams – Corn, Green Beans, Tomatoes – Peaches, Apricots – Raspberries, Blackberries, Marionberries – Lime – Gin, Tequila, Beer, Coca Cola – Red, white, & blue

Seasonal Foods & Flavors • Fall/Autumn – Pork, Turkey – Clam Chowder, Halibut – Mushrooms, Parsnips, Turnips, Kale, Sweet Potatoes, Eggplant – Apples, Pears, Pomegranates – Pecans, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves – Bourbon, Rum, Apple Cider – Brown, orange, gold

Seasonal Foods & Flavors • Winter – Roast Beef, Goose, Cornish Game Hens – Oysters, Caviar – Carrots, Potatoes, Turnips, – Pineapples, Oranges, Grapefuit – Peppermint, Chocolate, Meringue – Champagne, Scotch, Cognac – Red, dark green, silver, gold, white, black

Basic Kitchen Equipment • 1. 5 -quart & 4 -quart saucepans with covers • Cast-iron skillet • Stainless steel sauté pan • 2 -quart baking dish • Microwave safe bowls & plates • Cookie sheet • Baking pan • Microwave • Kitchen Range with Oven • Measuring cups & spoons • Whisk • Silicone spatula • Spatula • Tongs • Chef’s knife • Paring knife • Instant-read thermometer • Immersion Blender • Grater

Recipes • Butternut Squash Soup • Molasses Cookies • Gingered Pears in Phyllo Cups

Butternut Squash Soup • Ingredients – 2 Tablespoons butter – 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped – 2 ½ pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1” pieces (about 6 cups) – 3 sprigs of fresh thyme – 1 Tablespoon salt – Dash of Pepper – 1 ¾ cups chicken broth – 1 ¾ cups water • Directions – Melt butter in a 5 -quart saucepan. Cook onions in butter, stirring occasionally, until they are softened & golden. – Add pieces of squash, the thyme sprigs, salt, chicken broth, water. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil. – Reduce heat to low, cook for 12 – 15 minutes, until squash is tender. – Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add pepper, and additional salt if needed.

Butternut Squash Soup Variations • You can substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth, if you want to make a vegetarian option • Add different spices, including fresh ginger, coriander, whole black peppercorns, curry, cumin, cayenne pepper • Add shrimp, chopped apple, sweet potato • Substitute apple cider or orange juice for part of the water • You can use other kinds of winter squash. Winter squashes are squashes with firm skin such as pumpkin, acorn squash, delicata, hubbard, kabocha. • Serve the soup in cups or bowls with garnishes such as: – – – Croutons Pieces of cooked bacon Toasted squash seeds Sour cream or crème fraiche Thinly sliced rounds of jalepeno peppers

Molasses Cookies • Directions • Ingredients – 12 Tablespoons butter – Preheat oven to 350°F – 1 cup granulated sugar – Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in sugar & molasses. Lightly beat egg – ¼ cup molasses and add to mixture. – 1 egg – Stir flour with spices, salt, & baking soda. – 1 ¾ cups flour Add to butter/molasses mixture. – ½ teaspoon ground cloves – Put a sheet of aluminum foil on a baking – ½ teaspoon ground sheet. Spoon tablespoonfuls of batter ginger onto foil, leaving space for cookies to – 1 teaspoon ground spread. Use a second baking sheet as cinnamon needed. – ½ teaspoon salt – Bake 8 -10 minutes at 350°F, until – ½ teaspoon baking cookies begin to darken slightly. soda – Let cookies cool on foil. Peel away foil from cookie bottoms when cookies are cool. Cookies will be soft.

Gingered Pears in Phyllo Cups • • Phyllo Cup Ingredients – 6 (13 -by-17 -inch) phyllo sheets – 6 Tablespoons butter, melted Pear Filling Ingredients – 2 pears, Anjou or Bartlett – 3 Tablespoons butter – 1/3 cup brown sugar – 2 Tablespoons crystallized ginger – Dash salt – 1/3 cup chopped walnuts • • • Phyllo Cup Directions – Preheat oven to 475°F – Brush each sheet of phyllo dough with butter. Create stack of 6 buttered sheets. Cut into 12 rectangles. – Push phyllo rectangles into muffin cups. – Bake 10 minutes. Let cool. Pear Filling Directions – Peel, halve, & core pears – Melt butter in frying pan, add brown sugar, cook 3 minutes on medium, until sugar has disolved. – Add pears, ginger & salt; cook until pears are tender. – Stir in chopped walnuts Fill phyllo cups with pear mixture. Top with whipped cream.

Phyllo Cup Technique • Arrange a sheet of phyllo on a large cutting board and brush the top with melted butter. Add the next sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Continue until you have a stack of 6 sheets of phylllo. • Using a sharp knife, cut the phyllo into 12 approximately 4 -by-4 -inch squares. • Fit 1 square snugly into each well of a 12 -well muffin pan, gently pressing the phyllo into the bottom and up the sides of each well.

Harvest Favorites • Cook with Autumn Harvest Ingredients – – Apples, Pears, and Apple Cider Pumpkins Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, Turnips, Parsnips Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes • Your Fall Menus – Dinner Party? – Harvest Picnic? – Harvest Family Supper?

Presentation Slides and Recipes • For the presentations for all five Cooking, American Style classes • For a document with the all the recipes from all the classes Go to the Docs & Links page of my website at www. virginiaguilford. com