The Art of Fine Cookery ~ Milady's Lovely, Easy & Luscious Eggnog.....

“The house was bright that night, with candles lit in the windows, and bunches of holly and ivy fixed to the staircase and the doorposts. There were not so many pipers in the Highlands as there had been before Culloden, but one had been found, and a fiddler as well, and music floated up the stairwell, mixed with the heady scent of rum punch, plum cake, almond squirts, and Savoy biscuits.
Jamie had come down late and hesitant. Many people here he had not seen in nearly ten years, and he was not eager to see them now, feeling changed and distant as he did. But Jenny had made him a new shirt, brushed and mended his coat, and combed his hair smooth and plaited it for him before going downstairs to see to the cooking. He had no excuse to linger, and at last had come down, into the noise and swirl of the gathering.
”

Excerpt From: Diana Gabaldon. “Voyager.”  

I love eggnog and it always takes me back to this scene in Voyager where Jamie was telling Claire about the first Hogmanay after he returned to Lallybroch.  I only wish that it had been Claire to share the rum punch with him instead of Loaghaire.....

 This recipe is no less magical and absolutely decadent! It's so easy to make and it's even better when served in a punchbowl surrounded by spicy yuletide greenery! You can make the recipe from scratch if you desire and if I have the time sometimes I will using whole organic eggs, milk, sugar and cream, but frankly when the good organic eggnogs are so plentiful why bother (and you have the added bonus of not having to worry about raw eggs)! Also, if you have anyone in your family who is allergic to milk or eggs, don't forget about Silk's soy eggnog or SoyNog as I believe it's called! 

Actually all of the milk substitutes (actually I think that it is a real disservice to call them that, as they are delicious in their own rights!) are creating wonderful "eggnogs" that you can use as the base for this recipe. They're absolutely delicious  and you will be able to serve a delicious and festive holiday beverage that leaves no one feeling left out! 

The good news for vegans this year is that you don't even have to omit the whipped cream because theres a fabulous whipped rice cream available in a can and ready to use like Redi Whip. Made by Soyana, you should be able to find it easily at your local Whole Foods.

At any rate every year, people beg me for this recipe and I'm always so embarrassed to tell them just how easy it is...with this one it's all in the presentation (and the rum!) At last years Winter Solstice party I think that we went through about 3 punch bowls of it and lots of the RSVP's for this years party start with "Ill see you around the eggnog bowl!" 

All you will need is :

3 quarts of organic eggnog ( Please splurge on the organic, you won't be sorry!)

About 2 cups of really good rum! I personally love the Captain Morgan's special reserve spiced rum for this recipe. It's already infused with spices and vanilla, it's practically perfume! ( And I have been known to use it as such!)

About 6 cups of dried raisins that you've soaked for about 6 hours in a lovely single malt scotch ,reserving the scotch for the eggnog as well! 

Lots of whipped cream that has been infused with vanilla extract, brown sugar and some rum flavoring. For this I like to beat my whipped cream by hand in a copper bowl with a whisk. It takes a little longer but the cream is a wonderful silken consistency. Don't worry if you don't have a copper bowl and just do it the traditional way. It will be just as yummy!

Then add a liberal sprinkling of:

Nutmeg for joy and good luck, Cinnamon for love and prosperity and Allspice for continuous good health throughout the year!

The recipe itself is quite easy, simply put the eggnog into a punch bowl and whisk in the rum and brandy. Ladle the whipped cream onto the eggnog so that it looks like fluffy clouds of cream, sprinkle with the spices and serve. Put some of the raisins in each serving. 

You will need to add more whipped cream on top as the evening unfolds because the cream continuously  gets folded into the eggnog, making it AMAZING! Serve in a lovely punch glass or a pretty tea cup with a kiss and a wish for a marvelous New Year! 

For more of my food musings please go to Stirring the Senses on Amazon.com

For lots more Outlander fun please visit me at Milady's Pantry and My Outlander Love Affair on Facebook!

Bubbling in the Cauldron-Pear Butter with Raisins & Figs

One of the things that I love the most about the Outlander series are the cooking scenes. I love to imagine myself in Jenny's kitchen stirring bubbling pots full of delicious things to feed my family. I can close my eyes and imagine myself throwing open the windows at Lallybroch and smelling the fresh clean air. I smile as I imagine myself reaching for my crystal decanter full of whiskey and pouring myself a wee dram to sip while I stir pots full of soup and jam over the wood burning oven. In my mind I prepare delicious cakes for tea and wonderful dinners for the long cold nights. It's the best fantasy ever for a girl like me!

 How I long for a wood stove again. When I had one at my farm, I would always use it to  cook with. I loved the self sufficiency of it. I remember many a cold morning when we would lose our power but I could always feed my family with a few logs and my favorite cast iron frying pan.I used to make slow cooked oatmeal on my woodstove and also flapjacks,bacon and soup. Occasionally I would make fruit butters. They were always delicious, thick, rich and smoky!

  Today was a beautiful autumn day so I spent it making pear butter. Lacking a fire and a cauldron I decided to use my slow cooker.The result was surprising and filled with a few twists and I even learned a cheat that I'm going to pass on to you. Of course I began with fresh pears, three different kinds. I diced them and put them into the slow cooker with a little bit of olive oil  and a knob of fresh butter. Then I added pear juice, cinnamon, anise,cloves,Cardamom and brown sugar.

I simmered this in the slow cooker on low for 10 hours. After 10 hours I added more diced pear and let it cook for a few hours more. At that point I decided that it was too juicy and I knew I needed to thicken it before I put it in the canning jars, but I jusst wasn't sure how to do it.

So I went to the grocery store and I bought raisins and currents.  I thought about buying figs and then a thought passed through my mind. Instead of dried figs, I bought a jar of French fig jam, full of figs and added pectin. My reasoning was that if I used the jam, perhaps my mixture would thicken on its own. I came home and started the pot simmering. I added the dried fruit and the fig jam. I continued to stir patiently.

 Lo and behold , the pear butter began to thicken! I poured it into canning jars to which I'd added a tablespoon of lemon juice ( each jar) and water processed them for 30 minutes. That fig jam was one of the best cooking cheats that I've ever discovered!

I cracked open a jar about an hour ago and it's absolutely yummy; beautiful, creamy , fruity and thick and ready for holiday gifting!

The Art of Fine Cookery ~ Apple Butter & Oatmeal

“We had wakened in the dark after moonset, leaf-spattered, twig-strewn, bug-bitten, and stiff with cold. We had said not a word to each other, but laughing and staggering drunkenly, stumbling over roots and stones, had helped each other through the moonless wood and made our way back to bed for an hour’s brief sleep before dawn.
I leaned over his shoulder now and deposited a bowl of oatmeal in front of him, pausing to pluck an oak leaf from his hair. I laid it on the table beside his bowl.
He turned his head, a smile hiding in his eyes, caught my hand and kissed it lightly. He let me go, and went back to his parritch. I touched the back of his neck, and saw the smile spread to his mouth.”

Excerpt From: Diana Gabaldon. “Drums of Autumn.”

I spent a wonderful day last week making apple butter and many of my readers asked for the recipe. Normally, the best way to make apple butter is over a hot wood fire, apples simmering away for hours in a large copper cauldron with pats of butter added and lots of brown sugar and cinnamon to finish. Lacking the 50 gallon cauldron and the woodfire, I've devised another method that works well. I use my slow cooker (which is a cauldron of sorts!) and it works verra weel!

All you do is take a bushel of apples  and dice them. You can peel them if you like and that makes a smoother apple butter, but my family loves the peels so I leave them on. I put them in the slow cooker until the pot is full and then I add about 2 cups of sweet cider, about 1/2 a cup of chopped crystallized ginger, a lot of cinnamon, 1 cup of bourbon or single malt and at least three cups of brown sugar. Then I turn the crock pot on low and I use the 10 hour setting. I watch it and stir occasionally and at a pat of butter every once in a while which keeps the foam down. As the mixture "melts" down, I add more apples and brown sugar. I let it cook for about 18 hours on low, stirring and tasting as I go.

At about the 14th hour I add about a cup and a half of maple syrup and 3 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice and stir. Then let it continue to cook for several more hours. You'll know it's done because it will have turned a lovely color (rich caramel) and will smell absolutely wonderful. Cooking it for that long concentrates the flavors and produces a butter that is absolutely delectable. Right before it's done, I add a tablespoon of smoked paprika. This adds a touch of smoky wildness that I love!

You can use your apple butter in so many ways......on hot buttered biscuits, waffles, pancakes, as a filling with fresh apples for pie or on oatmeal as I've done here with brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and fresh butter. It's a bit like having dessert for breakfast! A steaming cup of coffee with cinnamon or a delectable cinnamon tea seals the deal!
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The Art of Fine Cookery : Craving some Comfort and a wee bit of Atholl Brose

       

It's freezing here in Northeast Ohio and it's time for a good old fashioned hot alcoholic drink...you know, something to warm your heart as well as your hands! I have plenty of toddies and hot buttered rum recipes in my arsenal but I really wanted something different; I just wasn't sure what!

Then I remembered the bottle of Apple Pie Moonshine that I had sitting in my cabinet and just as quickly I ran downstairs and took the lid off of the mason jar with the wicked looking brown liquid in it. 

Warning- This is not your uncles Moonshine...This stuff is unbelievable and it smells and tastes just like a fresh cinnamon spiked apple pie, but with a mule sized kick. For some reason (or maybe I'm just highly suggestible!) it made me crave a mug of Atholl Brose, that wonderful Scottish drink of oatmeal brose , honey , whisky and cream so I grabbed my copper kettle and filled it with 3/4 of a gallon of apple cider, 3 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice and 1 stick of butter. I let that simmer for a bit, whisking frequently and next added about 1 1/2 cups of blackstrap molasses and a sachet of one cup of oatmeal tied in the foot of a brand new pair of stockings that I'd cut the foot off of. (I keep plenty of cheap pairs around for that purpose) 

After that simmered for about 45 minutes there was still plenty of liquid but it was syrupy, wonderful and the molasses and oatmeal gave it a very earthy flavor. I squeezed the bag of oatmeal several times into the pot and then I added one jar of the moonshine, 1 cup of Buttershot schnapps, 1 cup of Drambuie, 3/4 of a cup of vanilla brandy and two teaspoons of vanilla extract. I brought it all to steaming, filled a camping thermos with boiling water , dumped it out and then added the piping hot Brew. It was delicious ~ I'm absolutely thrilled!  I've been sipping it all day with steaming Scottish breakfast tea, a shot of Laphroaig and some brown sugar whipped cream! It keeps well and I have enough for an army so perhaps a gathering of the clans is in order or at least a comfy chair, a soft blanket and your dog eared copy of Outlander! 

Here's tae us ~ Musings about Single Malt

“Jamie," I said, " how exactly, do you decide whether you're drunk?"

Aroused by my voice, he swayed alarmingly to one side, but caught himself on the edge of the mantelpiece. His eyes drifted around the room, then fixed on my face. For an instant, they blazed clear and pellucid with intelligence.

"och, easy, Sassenach, If ye can stand up, you're not drunk." He let go of the mantelpiece, took a step toward me, and crumpled slowly onto the hearth, eyes blank, and a wide, sweet smile on his dreaming face.” 

― Diana Gabaldon, Dragonfly in Amber

I love single malt scotch and I have since I was a young girl. My father taught me to drink it. When he determined that I was old enough at the right old age of 17, he taught me to drink his favorite , which was Laphroaig. It's still my single malt of choice and whenever I'm missing him too much I lift a wee dram in his honor. He had marvelous taste always in whisky, tobacco, music and women. He was married to my mother for over 67 years. 

I remember that very evening when he took down two single old fashioned glasses and his coveted bottle of the 18 year. Pouring about an ounce in each glass he handed it to me to sniff. I inhaled deeply, letting the peaty, smoky aroma fill my nostrils. Then he took the glass from me and poured just a little bit of branch water into it and gave it a single stir, commenting that it was to release the spirits of the single malt. Upon taking that first sip I could absolutely believe him. He was quite the romantic my father, a painter and a writer and not just a little bohemian. He loved the paintings of Gauguin and the poetry of Walt Whitman. That first taste of single malt was unlike anything that I'd ever tasted. It was absolutely magical and I've been drinking the stuff ever since.

I still remember that first sip although I've had many since then. It was as if a whole world had opened up for me. Single malts taste of the  very land and water of which they're made and you can understand immediately why there are so many rivalries and loyalties.  Myself , I prefer the thick peaty yet sweet taste of the 25 year Laphroaig and my husband loves the 18 year Glenfiddich. I've tried many others but I always go back to my favorite.  My father is gone now, but I still pour it the same way. A ounce in a beautiful crystal glass and a wee bit of spring water. That's it. I curl up into my favorite chair with a blanket, my cat and and my Ipad and spend the night dreaming of sorrel horses and Scotsmen; although not necessarily in that order. 

I discovered this wonderfully interactive single malt map and thought I'd share!  Rare Drams Whisky Map of Scotland