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JANUARY - A GOOD MONTH FOR TRYING NEW DISHES AND TRAVELING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH BOOKS   By Sheilah Kaufman

LAND OF MILK AND HONEY CUSTARD-LAYERED CORNBREAD

This is a magical, surprising cornbread.  An improbably thin, eggy, milky batter bakes into a tri-part cornbread with a thin but distinct layer of voluptuous custard sandwiched between a cornbready bottom layer and a light topping of the risen bran and corn kernels. From award winning food writer Crescent Dragonwagon's The Cornbread Gospels (Workman Publishing). While testing the recipes for this book Crescent discovered that parrots love cornbread, leading a friend of mine who was not paying attention when I told her about this great book, to say "She wrote a cookbook for parrots!"  The book is chockfull of terrific recipes and interesting information.

• vegetable oil for cooking spray
  
• 1 cup stone-ground yellow or white cornmeal
  
• 1/ 2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 1/ 2 cup unbleached white flour
  
• 2 1/ 4 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
  
• 1/ 2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/ 3 cup honey
  
• 3 tablespoons butter
  
• 3 1/ 4 cups milk
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• kernels cut for 2 or 3 ears of fresh corn or frozen, defrosted, rinsed off plus 2 tablespoons liquid

SHRIMP WITH LONGJING TEA

Cooking with tea is both fun and easy. Think of tea as an ingredient—use green or oolong tea to create flavorful yet delicate infusions when poaching, steaming, braising, or marinating fish or shellfish. These teas are also useful in creating flavorful big-bowl noodle dishes. For marinating pork, beef, or chicken, use brewed black or oolong tea to add a flavor boost. Pluck the tea leaves from your teapot and finely chop them, then add as you would greens to rice dishes, stir-fries, or savory meat sauces. You might include tea leaves in your savory fillings for homemade dumplings. The flavor of tea never overpowers. It is a versatile seasoning that can also be used for adding a delicate hint of color to sauces, fruit desserts, and breakfast smoothies. Follow the Japanese example and add matcha powder for flavor and to bring about a bright, emerald-green color to cakes, cookies, puddings, and ice cream.

Tea is rich in healthful antioxidants as well as in vitamins A, B, E, and K. From these leaves we can obtain a wealth of minerals, such as chlorophyll, copper, fluoride, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Vegetable soups and light broths can benefit from the subtle flavor that tea contributes; use brewed tea instead of water and you are building in flavor as well as adding vitamins and healthful antioxidants.

This specialty of the city of Hangzhou was created to feature that region’s famous Longjing (Dragon Well) tea. The tea’s slightly toasty flavor perfectly underscores the sweetness of the shrimp. On the Heiss’ first tea-buying adventure in China they dined at the sumptuous wood-paneled Shang Palace restaurant in the elegant Shangri La Hotel in Hangzhou, and could not wait to try the Shrimp in Longjing tea sauce. This is their version of that delicious dish. From their fabulous new book The Story of Tea  A Cultural History and Drinking Guide  by Mary Lou and Robert J. Heiss (10 Speed Press).  This book is a sweeping tour through the world of tea, its ifluence across the globe, a complete reference for choosing, drinking, and enjoying this venerable beverage, and includes beautiful photos. Pour yourself a cup of tea and read away.

• 1 tablespoon Longjing tea leaves
  
• 1 cup water
  
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  
• 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
  
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and rinsed
  
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  
• 1 tablespoon aged rice vinegar
  
• 2 ounces fresh snow peas, strings removed
  
• 2 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
  
• 1/4 cup scallions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces on the diagonal
  

Place the tea leaves in a teapot or heatproof measuring cup. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then remove from the heat and let cool for 3 minutes. Pour the water over the tea leaves and brew for 3 minutes. Strain the tea and reserve the tea leaves and the brewed tea for later use.

Place 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch on a plate and add the white pepper. Mix well. Pat the shrimp dry and roll them in the mixture one at a time. Set aside.

Heat a wok or skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil and heat for an additional 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and stir to prevent sticking. Cook the shrimp for 2 minutes, or until it turns pink and opaque. Quickly remove from the pan and drain the shrimp on paper towels.

Mix the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar in a bowl and set aside. Add a few tablespoons of brewed tea to the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch and stir to make a smooth paste. Add the remaining1/2 cup of the brewed tea and stir to dissolve. Set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the pan and heat on medium-high for 30 seconds. Add the snow peas and green beans and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the cooked shrimp and scallions and heat for 1 minute. Add the tea leaves and the oyster sauce mixture. Heat for 1 minute. Finally, add the tea and cornstarch mixture and cook for 1 minute, adding a few tablespoons of water to the sauce if it becomes too thick, Serve hot.  Serves 4 to 6.

PAVLOVA

From the Land DownUnder comes a lovely new travel book Waltzing Australia by Cynthia A. Clampitt  a marvelous tale of  the travels ( with photos on her blog)  of a sensible woman in her mid-30’s who walks away from money, security, career just to make a dream come true.  Clampitt covered nearly 20,000 miles discovering Australia and herself in the process.  Here are some of her favorite Australian recipes.

This light and luscious dessert was named for the great ballerina. New Zealand also lays claim to this dessert, and there is no definitive proof as to who really created it first. The main difference between Pavlovas in the two countries would be the topping: in Australia, you’d most likely see passion fruit, while in New Zealand, kiwi fruit would be a more common topper. (And it’s kiwi fruit, by the way, not kiwi – kiwi is a bird, or a nickname for New Zealanders – Americans may not care, but Kiwis do.) A nice combo of blueberries and sliced strawberries would be attractive and tasty, but would make this a Pavlova Americana. Enjoy. 

Base:

• 4 large egg whites
  
• 1 cup superfine sugar
  
• 1 tsp. white vinegar
  
• 2 tsp. cornstarch

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  
• 1/12 Tbs. granulated sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• fruit (see notes)

Place oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 250F.

In a large, clean bowl, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks. Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Sprinkle the cornstarch and vinegar on top of the meringue and beat a bit more, until stiff again.

Now you make your meringue cake. Opinions differ as to how to approach this. You can put down a sheet of baking parchment and draw a 7-inch circle in the middle. You might also get a pastry bag and pipe a circle and then fill it with a perfectly even rope of meringue. I just guesstimate the circle size and spoon the meringue onto the baking sheet, spreading it into a circle of about the right size. Do what works best for you (that is, pick a method that makes it likely you won’t write this recipe off as too complicated). Also, baking parchment might make it easier to get the meringue off the pan. I have used it. I have also just sprayed a cookie sheet lightly with baking spray, and I’ve had it slide off with no trouble.

Anyway, whatever method you choose, you now have a circle of meringue, looking rather like a single cake layer and a little more than an inch deep, on your baking sheet. Put it in the oven and bake it for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the outside is dry and takes on a very pale cream color. Turn the oven off, leave the oven door slightly ajar, and let the meringue cool completely before removing from the oven.

Set the meringue aside until just before you plan on serving the dessert. Then, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla, and beat to incorporate. Spread the whipped cream across the top of the meringue. Decorate with the fruit you’ve chosen, and serve. Serves 6 to 8.

Notes: If you’re using passion fruit, you’ll need 10. For kiwi fruit, four or five should do the trick. For berries (blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries, blackberries), you need about a cup.

The meringue can be made a couple of days in advance. Once it is completely cool, put it in an airtight container and keep it someplace cool and dry.

It’s important that you don’t complete the dessert until you’re ready to serve it. The acid in the fruit will break down the whipped cream and the whipped cream will make the meringue soggy. If you don’t want to serve all 6 to 8 servings at once, you can either cut up the meringue and just add whipped cream and fruit as you serve it (not so great on presentation, but the taste is the same), or you can make a couple of smaller meringues.

WINTER TWLIGHT

• 1 cup pomegranate juice
  
• 1 tablespoon Chambord
  
• 1/4 cup cognac
  
• 1 slice of lemon, halved, for garnish – optional

PUMPKIN LASAGNA

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 2 onions, chopped
  
• 2 lbs. Swiss chard or spinach, stems removed and chopped
  
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
  
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
  
• 1 teaspoon dried sage, divided
  
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg, divided
  
• 28 ounce can pumpkin puree, divided
  
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
  
• 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  
• 1/2 cup milk
  
• 9 no boil lasagna noodles (6 oz)
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
  

ENGLISH STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

• 6 ounces pitted dates
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 2 cups cake flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup brown sugar
  
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream
  
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract