Henry's Havest Feast

A tribute to Henry’s—our favorite restaurant in Lincoln that we miss dearly. While unpacking here in STL, we ran across a menu from a prix fixe dinner we attended at Henry’s in fall 2013. The premise was that the restaurant owner Henry was bringing back a tradition he initiated with a group of friends initiated during his time in Europe. Just prior to Thanksgiving, he would invite friends over and prepare a multi-course meal that celebrated the flavors of fall. We enjoyed every course that night and did our best to recreate them here at our apartment last weekend. (If you ever doubted our foodie-nerdiness, this certainly confirms it.)

(Gruyere & Thyme) Popovers

Mission “popover pan purchase” was not easy, but in the end worth the last minute effort. This turned out to be our favorite dish of the night, and we plan to make them again later this week. We followed Henry’s suggested ingredient add-ins to a basic Alton Brown popover recipe, but truly…the possibilities for mix in and topping ingredients are endless. We’ve listed a few ideas at the end of this recipe, but the list is nowhere close to being exhaustive. Keep us posted if you think of or try anything new or different. We were pleased at the simple preparation and basic list of ingredients that we almost always have on hand as staples in our pantry and fridge. This could become a new obsession!

Ingredients:

·         1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

·         1 cup all-purpose flour

·         1 tsp. kosher salt

·         2 large eggs, at room temperature

·         1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

·         *3 TBSP shredded Gruyere cheese (optional)

·         *1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1.    Bring all ingredients to room temperature. (If needed, you can speed along the process by popping the milk in the fridge and placing the egg in a bowl of warm water).

2.    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oven should be thoroughly heated before you start preparation of batter.

3.    Grease a 6-cup popover pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray.

4.    Combine the butter, flour, salt, eggs, and milk in a blender or food processor and process for 30 seconds.

5.    Divide batter evenly among the cups, filling each 1/3 to 1/2 full.

6.    Place pan in hot oven and bake on the middle rack for 40 minutes. Do not open the door!!

7.    Remove popovers and place on a cooling rack. Pierce each top with a knife to allow steam to escape. Serve warm.

**If preparing the cheese version, use a spoon to stir Gruyere and thyme into batter between steps 4 & 5

**other optional ingredients: other herbs or cheese varietals, dark chocolate slivers, cinnamon and sugar, chives, and of course…pepper! 

Sweet Potato & Chipotle Bisque

The depth and inherent sweetness of the sweet potatoes was a perfect compliment and counterpart to the spicy peppers. Disclaimer: the spiciness did build with successive bites, and in the end we were happy to have small portions. It would be fun to serve this soup as a shooter. Or you could always tone down the heat, if you plan to eat a full bowl as a meal. Another option is simply giving the leftover super-spicy version to Mr. Ruf, who never complains about too much heat and may even sprinkle on additional cayenne to appease his “deaf taste buds.”

Ingredients:

·         1/4 cup chopped celery leaves

·         1/8 cup onion, minced

·         6 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 medium shallot, minced

·         1/2 tsp. each salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika

·         1/2 cup white wine

·         4 cups chicken/turkey/veggie stock

·         2 canned abodo chiles (and a splash of sauce)

·         2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks

·         2 ribs celery, chopped

·         2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

·         1/2 large onion, chopped

·         sour cream or Greek yogurt for topping, optional

Directions:

1.     In a large pot, sauté celery leaves, minced onion, garlic, and shallot in olive oil. Add 1 tsp. each of your initial seasonings (don’t go overboard because you can always add more later; we just wanted to start developing some deep flavors at the get go).

2.    When your veggies start to brown and caramelize on the edges, deglaze the pan with white wine. Reduce by about half.

3.    Next, add your stock, chiles and sauce, potatoes, celery, carrot and onion.

4.    Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmering until veggies are cooked through and can easily be pierced by a fork.

5.    Transfer to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

6.    Return to pan over low heat. Taste and adjust spice level to your liking. If mixture is too thick, add more stock, wine, or water to thin. If mixture is too thin, increase heat and simmer with lid off to reduce.

7.    Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream/yogurt, if desired.

Winter Slaw with Shaved Parmesan & Marcona Almonds

Another spin off from the original Judy Ruf Brussels sprouts slaw recipe that we love so dearly. Thanks, mom! This version adds tangy lemon to the dressing and a few different winter vegetables for textural and flavor contrasts.

Ingredients:

Dressing ingredients:

·         juice from 1/2 medium-sized fresh lemon

·         2 TBSP champagne vinegar (or a combination of apple cider and white wine vinegar could serve as a substitute, depending on your pantry stock)

·         1 TBSP Dijon mustard

·         1/4 cup Greek yogurt

·         fresh ground black pepper

·         salt (go light on this due to the saltiness of the almonds and parmesan)

·         1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

·         2 tsp. olive oil

Other components:

·         8 Brussels sprouts, shredded on the lowest setting of a mandolin

·         1/4 red onion, sliced on lowest mandolin setting and cut into slivers

·         1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded

·         1 cup kale, finely chopped

·         1 rib celery (optional)

·         green apple?  (we didn’t add this the first time around, but think it would be a nice addition; again, we’d recommend thinly slicing on the mandolin and then slivering with a knife into matchsticks)

·         parmesan cheese, shredded

·         Marcona almonds

·         fresh basil or mint, chiffonade (optional)

Directions:

1.    Whisk together all dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust to your liking.

2.    Prepare veggies and toss together in a large bowl.

3.    Pour dressing over veggies and mix thoroughly. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

4.    Just before serving, stir in almonds and fresh herbs (if using) just prior to serving to ensure crunchiness and freshness.

Cocoa Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

We liked but did not love this dish. Previous forays into coffee-rubbed meats have out-ranked tonight’s cocoa-rubbed meat course. The cocoa ended up being a little bit dry and chalky.  The silver lining was a delicious sauce we whipped up with thoughts off the top of our heads—ketchup, Siracha, yellow mustard, ancho chile powder.

                                                 

Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Cabernet, Grape and Shallot Reduction

We combined Dennis’ previous experience with wine-grape-shallot reduction sauces with Michelle’s love of marinating and roasting vegetables. Although the end product was delicious, it was also really time consuming and not worth the effort above and beyond a more basic roasted veggie glaze. Our biggest tip from this (which we’ve applied to many other circumstances) is to leave the peels on the carrots and slice them in half lengthwise before seasoning and roasting. High heat in the oven is also key for caramelization without over-cooking.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta with Gingered Cranberries

I have always liked milky, creamy desserts.  It’s why I love ice cream.  Panna Cotta is an apt substitute when you need a fix and don’t have ice cream.  It’s as if jello and ice cream had an Italian child.  Make sure not to boil the milk mixture.  Also, you really just need 1 1/2 cups of any type of milky product (so long as they are as fat or fatter than whole milk!)  It’s great to serve any panna cotta with something to add a different texture to the dish. Sad to say the cranberry sauce was not worth repeating. We should have added more sweetness—a comment you won’t often hear about a dessert in this household. Even Dennis admitted wine soaked raisins would have been a welcome addition. We topped the leftovers with pecan granola for dessert on a future evening and liked that just as well, if not better.  

Ingredients:

·         1/8 cup cold water

·         1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

·         1/2 cup milk

·         1/2 cup half and half

·         1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

·         1/4 cup sugar

·         pinch of salt

·         1/2 tsp ground allspice

·         1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

·         1/2 tsp ground ginger

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

·         3/4 cup pureed pumpkin (could be made with roasted sweet squash as well)

Directions:

1.    Put the cold water in a small cup and sprinkle the gelatin over it to let the gelatin “bloom.”

2.    Mix the pumpkin and the sour cream/Greek yogurt together in a medium bowl until they are completely integrated.

3.    In a sauce pan add the milk, half and half, and whipping cream with the sugar, salt, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla over medium heat. 

4.    Warm the mixture, but do not bring it to a boil.  Once the mixture is hot, add the gelatin and whisk it in.

5.    Take the mixture off the heat and let cool for a couple of minutes

6.    Slowly pour the cream mixture into the pumpkin mixture and then whisk them together until smooth.

7.    Pour the mix into 3 or 4 ramekins or small non-plastic bowls.

8.    Chill for at least 5 hours, overnight chilling is good.

9.    Serve in the ramekins/bowls or turn out onto plates (warm the sides of the ramekin/bowl to help turn out the desserts)