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Easter dinner a hoppy occasion
The Nascent Chef
By Margo Oxendine, Staff Writer
For the first time ever, I've cooked Easter dinner.
I was excited about the possibility for weeks. What would I fix?Which seasonings would I use? How in the world would I manage to get everything ready at the same time?
That last poser is one that has always plagued my cooking. Sure, I'm imaginative and creative and quite the eater - I know what goes with what, and I've pleased a taste bud or two in my day. But, how does one pull it all together without, say, the potatoes getting cold and clammy while the biscuits finish baking?
To know this is the secret of being a good cook, I've always thought.
The first thing I knew I would fixfor Easter dinner was a sirloin-tip pork roast that's languished in my freezer for awhile. I don't know why I bought it, really. Well, yes I do. I have fond recollections of Mom's pork roast dinners. Hers always had strings around it, for some mysterious reason. And there was a layer of fat on the outside that, once it got crispy, was quite delicious. It was this kind of roast I thought I had purchased.
When I took it out to thaw Friday afternoon, I examined it closely. There were no strings attached. So I sat down with a stack of cookbooks, and started looking for instructions on cooking a sirloin-tip pork roast.
There were none. There were recipes for pork ribs and pork tenderloins and pork chitterlings (won't be making those). But none for exactly what I had.
So I did what I do best: Improvised. What must one do with a roast, really? Plop it in a pan, rub it with olive oil, stab it, stick some garlic in the stab wounds, pour something wet over it, and pop it in the oven.
I thought about pork. And then I thought about cherries. Wouldn't cherries go nicely with roast pork? Yes! I sprinkled a few around the thing. Now to the herbs. I told a friend what I was doing, and she soon produced sprigs of fresh rosemary. How one acquires fresh rosemary at the dead end of winter, I do not know.
I tossed the rosemary around the roast, and then thought about something wet and juicy. Aha! That bottle of French brandy just might do the trick. Brandy, cherries - they're made for each other. But would the heat from the oven ignite a brandy blaze? Only time would tell. (The answer is no.)
Roast in the oven, I moved on to a simple, seemingly tasty recipe I'd stumbled across: Sweet potatoes baked with apples. I sliced the potatoes, boiled them, buttered a casserole dish (mine is pink, don't you know), placed the potatoes in, then covered them with more butter (Paula Deen taught me that: You can never have too much butter in a dish), some brown sugar and some cardamom, laid on a layer of apples, more butter, some cinnamon, and popped that in the oven, too.
I found it supremely serendipitous that the roast and the potato-apple dish both needed to cook at 350 degrees. I do not know what I'd do if their temperatures differed. Maybe if you cook something longer at lower temperatures, or less time at higher degrees … well, that seems like too much like math.
Things were bubbling along until I got to the Cherry Clafouti. I simply had to make Cherry Clafouti for dessert, because I love the name. I like to say it over and over. It makes me laugh. I am happy that something about cooking finally makes me laugh.
The Cherry Clafouti was so simple, even I could make it. But it cooked at 400 degrees. How to make this happen? Of course! Pop it in for the allotted 25 minutes while you're eating the meat and potatoes. Gee, I love cooking!
The whole thing was absolutely fabulous. I only had one person with whom to share it, but better that than to have to sit there, dancing triumphantly in my chair, as I eat alone. I have done that a lot lately. Friends have become inured to me showing up at their doors, warm Tupperware dishes in hand.
In case you need a fast and fabulous dessert, you'll findthe Cherry Clafouti recipe adjacent. I dare you to say it three times without laughing. Cherry Clafouti
This recipe came from a book-fair find, "Short & Sweet: Sophisticated Desserts in 30 Minutes or Less," by Melanie Barnard, published by Houghton Mifflinin 1999.
2/3 cup dried sweet or sour cherries
1/3 cup kirsch (cherry liqueur; Margo's note: You
may use water, I guess, if you want a serviceable, but
rather boring dessert. If you can't findkirsch, use your
imagination.)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
¾ cup half-and-half
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Generously butter a deep 9- or 10-inch pie pan. In a small bowl, combine the cherries and kirsch. Heat in a microwave oven until the kirsch is hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat and let stand for fiveminutes to plump the fruit. Transfer the cherries and any extra liquid to the buttered baking dish, spreading evenly over the bottom.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour. Add the eggs and ¼ cup of the cream, then whisk in the remaining ½ cup of cream and the almond extract to make a thin, smooth batter. Pour over the fruit. Bake until the clafouti is well puffed and a rich golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve warm.
(Margo's note: When the clafouti comes out of the oven, it will have risen like a marvelous souffle; call in your guests to take a quick look because, like a politician's ego, it can deflatequickly. No matter; it will taste delicious regardless.)
(Melanie Barnard's note: You can vary the recipe with other dried or fresh fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries, apricots or prunes.)
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