Christmas is Almost Here - But it's Not Too Late For These Gifts

Also, two great meals in Vancouver. A seductive vintage menu. A long-lost liquor returns to America. And a couple of quick holiday recipes.

The mail won’t get it there, but there’s still time to come up with something swell for the people you love. Here are a few things you can pick up at your local supermarket, wine purveyor or hardware store that would make really welcome presents.

Super Seductive Brandy
The first time I tasted this aged, plum brandy the aroma came surging out of the glass and it was pretty much love at first whiff. The scent was so mellow that I imagined a crackling fire, violins playing, a cashmere hug. I folded my hands around the glass and the aroma lingered, still seducing me with its perfume long after the liquor was gone.

I love cooking with La Vieille Prune; add it to apple sauce, or chicken liver pate, or toss a drop into a ragu – and whatever you’re making becomes softer, rounder, more appealing.

For years you couldn’t buy it in America, and I faithfully brought bottles back from France for my friends. Now La Vieille Prune is, suddenly, widely available. And that is something to celebrate.

Pyrex clear custard cups
The workhorse vessels of the kitchen, these might be the bowls I use the most.  Perfect for mise en place, for separating eggs, to hold olives for hors d’oeuvres, for custard, or to serve pate (recipe below).  And, of course, for leftovers. Most supermarkets sell them by the set.

A bouquet of herbs
This time of year I tend to use herbs the way most people use flowers. A bouquet of mint, rosemary and parsley looks very pretty on the table. Put some herbs in a small vase or jar and take them along to Christmas dinner.

Vanilla Paste
This is the new baker’s darling; it’s almost as intense as scraping out the inside of a vanilla bean, which means it has a lot more punch than vanilla extract. Once very esoteric, I now find it in my supermarket. There’s a reason why the bakers are all using it. (A teaspoon and a half is about the equivalent of half a vanilla bean.)

A bird feeder and some seed
Unless you’re in an extremely urban area, every supermarket sells them.  This time of year there is nothing quite as pleasant as watching birds come flocking to a feeder. If you’ve never experienced this particular pleasure, you’re in for a treat.

A chance to help someone help themselves. 
There are hundreds of great charities dealing with hunger.  These days you can hardly do better than World Central Kitchen; Jose Andres’ organization is rescuing the hungry all over the world. Another favorite is Heifer International, which lets you buy an animal for a far away family. You can buy sheep, ducks, rabbits, pigs, even fish – and change a family’s life. But I have to admit that really love the idea of a water buffalo.

Should you be offering those custard cups to a friend, you might want to fill them up.  They’re perfect vessels for chicken liver mousse which is, honestly, one of the easiest things you can possibly make. I make it so often I can whip it up in under half an hour and it is always a huge crowd pleaser.

And if you've got a couple of pretty jars (you save them, right?), some salted caramel bourbon sauce makes another nice gift you can also whip up in a flash.

Chicken Liver Mousse
1 pound organic chicken livers, cleaned of veins, connective tissue, and fat
2 shallots, minced, about 1/3 cup
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 small apple, peeled and grated
3 tablespoons Calvados (or brandy)
1 tablespoon cream, optional

Clean one pound of fresh organic chicken livers, sprinkle all over with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Sauté the shallots in one tablespoon butter, add a sprinkling of salt, and cook until translucent and softened, medium heat, 3 minutes. Transfer to a food processor. 

Melt two tablespoon of butter in the same pan and cook the apples until softened, 3 minutes. Add to the shallots. 

Melt three more tablespoons butter, turn the heat to high and cook the livers until they lose the pink on the outside, about 2 minutes total.  Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the Calvados. Return to the heat and when the Calvados is warm stand back from the pan, ignite the brandy with a long match, and allow the alcohol to burn away.

Put the livers into the food processor, add 4 tablespoons butter cut into ½ inch pieces, and blend until smooth. Add the cream if you have it, and process again. Season to taste with salt and pepper, processing once more, and spoon into ramekins.

Cover with plastic wrap, smoothing it directly on top of the pate and chill for at least 2 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Salted Caramel Bourbon Sauce
Got ten minutes?  Then you can make this terrific sauce that requires nothing obscure in the way of ingredients.  You’ll need 3/4 stick of butter, half a cup of cream, a cup of sugar, a couple tablespoons of Bourbon and a dash of salt. And if you’re out of Bourbon, you can substitute Scotch, Cognac or Armagnac – or simply leave it out altogether.

One suggestion: Before you begin, read David Leibowitz’s wonderful post on making caramel here. Caramel can be tricky, and it will save you a lot of trouble down the line. And another: Use a larger pot than you think you'll need.  I use a 5 1/2 quart casserole. Trust me – it makes everything easier.

Cut 3/4 of a stick of the best butter you can get your hands on into small pieces and put that next to the stove.  Let half a cup of heavy cream come to room temperature. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of Bourbon into the cream. 

Now pour a cup of sugar in an even layer into a large, heavy, light-colored pot and watch it melt over moderate heat. When it begins to liquify around the edges, begin stirring with a spatula, watching carefully. When it is completely liquid, has turned a deep copper color, and is just on the edge of smoking, stir in the butter until it is completely incorporated into the sugar. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream mixture.  It will hiss and sizzle and generally act nasty. Ignore it  – this is the nature of caramel – and whisk until you have a smooth sauce. Add a generous quarter teaspoon of coarse salt (or a bit more if you've used unsalted butter).

This is great on just about everything, and it will keep for a month or so in the refrigerator. (Rewarm the sauce in the microwave for a minute before serving.) Divided into half cup portions and poured into pretty jars, it will make three friends very happy.

I had a conversation with my Canadian publisher this week, and as we spoke about my upcoming book tour I was reminded of how much I’d loved eating in Vancouver on my visit there ten years ago. Recalling my favorite meals, I wondered if I was remembering right. So I went back to look at what I’d written. I am happy to report that both these restaurants are still very much with us.

I left Vancouver a week ago, and I’m still thinking about all the wonderful food I ate while I was there. It truly is a great place to eat.

The first night we went to the very what's happening Bao Bei in Chinatown. I guess it's Vancouver's version of Mission Chinese, a hip young place with a modern menu in the heart of an old-fashioned Chinatown. They take no reservations, and the lines are long. (These days they do take reservations.)

The dish I remember with the most longing - I'm sitting on a train as I write this, and right now I’d give anything to have that shao bing at the top - is a large sesame-studded flatbread stuffed with pickled red onions, chiles, cilantro and tender, pungent, cumin-scented lamb.

The meal began with a lovely plate of Sichuan pickles and eggplant marinated in soy, garlic and ginger.  

Then there was this bowl of very intense chilled noodles, topped with rare strips of beef and tossed with a pungent dressing made of chilies, Sichuan peppercorns and dried shrimp

.

Pork and prawn wontons in curry broth: a little circus of flavors and textures.

And finally, sauteed pea shoots. These are, without doubt, my favorite vegetable. I left happy, my mouth singing with flavor; it was a simple meal, but extraordinarily satisfying.

The next night there was dinner at Hawksworth. Interesting that Vancouver's fanciest restaurant has such a casual vibe. But there is nothing casual about the food. Consider these crisply fried oysters served on a plank of wood with an austere dusting of  powdered malt vinegar. The contrasting polka dot is piquillo pepper paste. A fine way to begin a meal.

An endlessly appealing play of textures, temperatures and flavors. Hamachi sashimi  in a tangle of radishes and herbs is sparked with jalapeno and dotted with passion fruit seeds. On top, a few grains of crisped rice add crunch. Underneath, a shimmering blanket of white soy. Over it all, the icy surprise of coconut sorbet. Fantastic!

Sturgeon, a sturdy, tasty, difficult fish, grilled with tandoori spices in a spiral of cauliflower puree. On the side, a little panisse of chickpeas. What you can't see is the piquant tamarind vinaigrette that underlined all the flavors and pulled them together.

I'm not big on plates composed like this – they always look so twee – but this was a perfect little chunk of duck: flesh rare, skin crackling, flavor intense. It was crowned with a small circle of complementary flavors.

Love the look of this – like something washed up on the sands of a deserted isle. The flavors, however, are very much of this earth: spiced apple, hazelnut, maple. It made a fine farewell to a great city.

Can't wait to go back.

This just floated to the top of my menu box, and as I perused it, I began to think how much I’d like to eat this meal again. It’s the dinner Alice Waters dreamed up to celebrate the marriage of Bruce Cost (who used to cook the annual Chez Panisse Chinese New Year’s feast), and the late Catherine Shen.

Bruce had produced an extraordinary meal for my wedding dinner a few years earlier (I’ll post that menu soon), so I was very curious to see what Alice would come up with for his. It was everything you could possibly want: perfectly seasonal, perfectly local and completely delicious.