a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Pour into the dry mixture and blend slightly, always by hand with a wooden spoon. Add the melted margarine and mix a bit more. Finally, add mashed bananas and, if using, nuts. Mix gently until ingredients are blended (do not overmix). Spoon batter into the prepared pans and sprinkle the top with additional brown sugar and nuts, if desired.
Bake for 45 to 55 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for muffins). To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick; if it comes out clean, the bread is done. Note the baking time for the future. Turn out to cool. Slice and serve with butter. Makes 2 loaves or 14 muffins.
Stirring It Up with the Big Boys
What does a celebrated New York, chef and author do when he's not overseeing his culinary creations at one of the grandest establishments in New York City? Does he hobnob with fellow wizards talking foie gras and quattro formaggi while sipping fine wine and swapping tales of gastronomic escapades in Paris, Saint-Père-sous-Vezelay, and Brussels?
Daniel Orr, Executive Chef at New York's Guastavino's, author of Real Food, and former cuisine king at La Grenouille, bakes his grandmother's biscuits. ‘Tis true; for occasional weekend brunches and holiday breakfasts, he rolls up his sleeves, puts on his apron, and pays tribute to Gramma Orr.
Ever since I discovered that Chef Orr developed his childhood taste buds in the culinary training ground of Indiana (as did I), I've been a fan. I love that someone from the land of meatloaf and coleslaw has been transformed into such a fine, respected chef. He was surely inspired back in the Hoosier state by some of the best buttermilk biscuits you'll ever taste, thanks to his grandma.
Simple pleasures are essential pleasures,restorative, necessary to survival.
—Jacqueline Deval, Reckless Appetites
Gramma Orr's Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 generous teaspoon sugar
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
¾ to 1 cup cold buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 450°F. In a medium bowl, thoroughly combine the dry ingredients. Cut in the cold butter with a sharp pastry cutter, leaving some large pea-sized pieces among the other cornmeal-sized pieces.
Add the buttermilk and toss to combine (do not overmix or they will become tough and dry!); form a ball. Knead the dough lightly, pat it out to a ¾-inch thickness, and cut with a biscuit cutter. Bake biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet at 450°F for 2 to 3 minutes, reduce heart to 350°F, and bake for another 8 to 9 minutes. Makes a dozen or so grandma-style biscuits.
THE INSIDE LINE
At Guastavino's, Chef Orr transforms his grandma's biscuits into a fabuous dessert. He simply brushes them with buttermilk and sprinkles raw sugar and sweet spices on them before baking. They are served sliced and topped with local Tri-Star strawberries, crème fraîche, and a little chopped mint.
Flipped Out for a Johnny Cake
The first colonists in America were simply smitten with the newly discovered Indian crop called “corn.” England had its porridges, puddings, and muffins, but Old World tables had never known the likes of such rustic, soulful creations as stone-ground cornmeal being flipped, fried, and cooked in the New World.
To founding father Benjamin Franklin, cornmeal in any of its incarnations was soul food. In fact, during a visit to London in 1768 to plead the case for the colonies, he begged his daughter to send him the foods for which he was homesick, among them cornmeal. Ben would give cooking classes to the Englishwomen, enthusiastically teaching them how to make cornbread or flip an Indian slapjack. When he and the colonists were publicly jeered by a London Gazette journalist for eating food that could never afford “an agreeable breakfast,” ol' Ben planted the seeds of separatism by boldly rebutting, “Permit me, an American, to inform the British gentleman, who seems ignorant of the matter…that our johnny cake or hoe cake, hot from the fire, is better than a Yorkshire muffin.” Any day.
Spread some warm, melting butter and Barbara's Jalapeño Jelly on his beloved corn bread, and loyal Ben would have been talking revolution.
The destiny of a nation depends upon how and what they eat.
—Brillat-Savarin
Johnny Cake Corn Bread
Benjamin Franklin's favorite
1½ cups stone-ground cornmeal
1 cup unbleached flour
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
½ cup milk
¼ cup margarine or butter, melted
⅔ cup creamed corn (or freshly cooked corn from the kernel)
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl and by hand, combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, and milk. Pour this mixture into the dry mix and stir gently. Pour in the melted margarine and mix slightly. Fold in the creamed corn.
Pour the batter into a 10-inch, greased cast iron skillet. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (You can also cook this batter “pancake style” in a stove top skillet to make authentic corn johnny cakes; cook each side of the johnny cake for a minute or two.) Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Barbara's Jalapeño Jelly
One 3½-ounce can jalapeño peppers
1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced
One 4-ounce can chiles
1 cup white vinegar
6 cups white sugar
One 6-ounce package Certo™ pectin (use both pouches)
In a blender, blend together on high speed the two kinds of peppers, chiles, and vinegar. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the pepper blend with the sugar and stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Add the Certo pectin and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
To preserve, pour the jelly into hot, sterilized jars and top with canning lids sealed with bands (see the Inside Line below). Store in a cool area and refrigerate after opening. Makes 6 half-pint jars of Barbara's zesty jelly.
THE INSIDE LINE
You skipped home ec class In high school? Here's a quick canning lesson from James Villas' The Town and Country Cookbook:
Unscrew ring bands from canning jars, remove lids; arrange jars in a large pot, and cover with water. Bring water to a boil, cover, and sterilize jars for 10 minutes. Remove jars from the water with clean tongs and pack (with Barbara's Jalapeño Jelly], taking care not to touch the insides of