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After finishing up The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain I slowly made my way out of A Parisian Categorie by reading about Julia Child. An extraordinary woman who has now wormed her book (My Life in France) into three different categories. A 1950's version of a career wife (The Wives Between Us) who lived in Paris (A Parisian Categorie) and a fabulous chef (Back of the House). She is a personal hero of mine.

Ironically, this category got its start because I wanted to read more about the English Queen- Elizabeth I who never married and was nicknamed "The Virgin Queen".  I decided to read the biography written by Alison Weir but if you want to read about Elizabeth's entire life you have to start with her book "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" as she is the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn, continue on with "The Children of Henry VIII" before reading the biography of Elizabeth I which details her life as Queen. Quite the marketing scheme but since I love historical Royal Reading and the Tudors I was more than game. 

My original "clever" intention was to read six books in honor of Henry's six wives but I ended up reading eight--what can I say there are a lot of wive themed books out there, unfortunately most of them seem themed around domestic abuse. I don't know what it says about humans (and I am certainly no exception) but we sure do love the theme of violence in our entertainments. Real and imagined--Sorry Henry but you were not particularly wife friendly.

 The Six Wives of Henry VIII  by Alison Weir

The author obviously used both public records and personal letters from the early 1500's to pen her comprehensive factual version of the tumultuous lives of Henry VIII and the six women he took as wives. I like Ms. Weir, her books are very readable and I certainly learned a lot, but sometimes it seems just a collection of lists and historical records. I did some fact checking and it turns out that other Tudor scholars seem dubious about her work. No doubt, way more accurate than HBO's version: The Tudors. I will have to read deeper--darn the luck. 

  The Silent Wife: A Novel by A.S.A. Harrison

A dark twisty book about an unmarried wife and her "husband" of twenty some years, set in Chicago, this novel obviously gets compared to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, it is even getting made into a movie as they were as well. You know from the beginning "who did it" and it is told in alternating voices between score-settling wife and cheating husband. It is a very psychological read, none of the characters are particularly sympathetic or likable but I definitely enjoyed the book and the writing skills of this author. I will go see the movie. 

  The Silent Wife by Kerry Fisher

I couldn't resist adding a second silent wife to the category, this one is set in England, and involves two Italian brothers, their controlling mother, their wives (past and present), and their children. This seemingly perfect family falls apart in a web of dark secrets, domestic violence, infidelity, and lies when Maggie (Nico's second wife) finds a hidden letter in the attic. The story is told in the alternating voices of Maggie and Lara (Massimo's second wife) and features some satisfying twists and turns, although these silent wives are definitely not as dark and twisted as Ms. Harrison's version of a silent wife.

 Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

This book is set in rural Wisconsin in 1909 and the story revolves around a successful business man who places an advertisement in the paper for a reliable wife, the woman who answers the ad and becomes his wife is anything but...this is a complex dark tale with truly repulsive characters-across the board--I read it, it is well written-- but I was REALLY glad when I was done. A very violent book. Weirdly enough this makes at least the third book that I have read that makes reference to a book called The Wisconsin Death Trap--so I guess I am going to have to source this book out some future day. Perhaps if I ever do a category for the 50 states.

 The Tiger's Wife: A Novel by Tea Obreht

I came close to not buying this book even though it got a lot of praise, press and acclaim when it was first published, I am just not a fan of mystical "fever dream" writing. The book was okay. In my opinion, there were too many different storylines, picking one or even two would have made for a better book. Furthermore--even this book kept my theory alive that it is the preference of authors who put the word "wife" in the title of their books to weave in a storyline of domestic abuse.

 The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 

Hands down one of my all time favorite books and a refreshing relief from the proceeding non-stop tales of domestic violence. It is a book I keep on my My Shelf, this is the second time I have read it and I think I liked it even more than the first time. It is the romantic, and sad, and beautiful love story of time-traveling Henry, who has  "chronological displacement disorder" which means his travels both forward and back in time are random and out of his control. It is also the story of Clare the woman who becomes his wife. I look forward to reading this again and again.

 Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

This is one book with a ton of twists, in my opinion maybe even a couple too many, but nevertheless you are very reluctant to put it down until you are done. I successfully avoided most of my family during Thanksgiving because my nose was pretty much always stuck in this book. Read between the lies, might have been a better title--you can't trust anyone or anything in this book. I will definitely read their next book, if only to see if they did manage to leave any plot twists behind for the future use. 

 How To Be a Good Wife: A Novel by Emma Chapman

A so-so book, not very memorable, but it did have an interesting twist, a lot people complain that the ending is unsatisfying but I don't even remember how it ended, but I don't remember being disappointed either. It is a little slow in places and of course it has its domestic violence elements. 

I am glad to be finally moving on from this category. Only The Time Traveler's Wife will go back on My Shelf and I look forward to reading it again and again.

My Current Categories

24 August 2019

Truly delicious, I have made this recipe as is many of times as is probably obvious from the multiple stains on my clipping. It is my belief that this clipping comes from an early 90's issue of Bon Appetit although I cannot find in on their website. So I am including a photo of the original recipe--this is a recipe that needs no tweaks other than to mention that I usually pre-heat my oven when I start and not after I have made the custard, which I make using a slightly different technique. I struggle not to eat the whole pan straight out of the oven and it is even harder to get me to share.

4 servings 

3 TBS raisins
1/3 cup warm water

1 cup plus 1 TBS whipping cream
1 cup plus 1 TBS milk (I use whole milk)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
Pinch of Salt
3 eggs
9 TBS sugar

3 small croissants, cut into 1/2-inch wide slices
2 TBS (1/4 stick) butter, melted

2 TBS powdered sugar

(Preheat oven to 375°F. This is my tweak--you can wait if you want.)

Combine raisins and water in bowl. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain well.

Bring cream, milk, vanilla bean and salt to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Beat eggs and 9 TBS sugar to blend in medium bowl. (I beat this egg sugar combo until it is light yellow and softly peaks--it is how I learned in cooking school and I see no reason to mess with a method that results in smooth creamy custards). Gradually whisk in cream mixture. (Slower you do this the better-you want to gently warm the egg mixture so that it does not curdle.). Remove the vanilla bean; scrape out seeds into the custard and stir well. 

Preheat oven to 375°F. (If you haven't already.) Lightly brush croissants with melted butter. Arrange in a 6-cup souffle dish. Sprinkle with raisins. Strain custard over croissant slices. Gently press slices down to absorb liquid. Sprinkle with 1 TBS powered sugar. Set dish in a large baking pan. Add enough hot water to the pan to come 1 inch up sides of pudding. Bake until tester comes out clean about 45 minutes. 

Spoon pudding onto plates. Sprinkle remaining powdered sugar over each. Serve hot.

Desserts

06 August 2019

Prepared multiple times. This recipe has quickly become a winter time staple.

Unfortunately, I cannot figure out the source or date of this recipe clipping. It does not seem to be from either Bon Appetit or Gourmet magazine as the recipe does not show up on the Epicurious website. I find their website difficult to search through--seems they have made changes. My search for this recipe only turned up a few random categories--and almost zero recipes using wild rice. 

Before I get going on an epic rant about search engines. Here is a picture of the recipe as printed. If any one can identify its source please let me know. Use as is if you want but don't say I didn't try to warn you to use precooked wild rice.

Sausage and Wild Rice Casserole

6-8 Servings (As a side dish--I use it as a main course)

1 pound bulk sausage (I generally use mild Italian)

Olive Oil if desired

1/2 cup chopped celery (I don't actually measure the celery and onions--I probably use more)

1/2 cup chopped onion

(I also add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic)

Salt and pepper 

Now I completely go off recipe:

I make my own cream of mushroom soup:

1 small container (8oz?) of mushrooms (I have used different varieties depending on my mood and what I have on hand)

3 TBS butter (have a little extra flour and butter and milk to hand so that you can make adjustments as necessary)

3 TBS flour

 2 cups whole milk

Salt and pepper

1 cup wild rice

(PLEASE take the time to precook your rice--this is a serious missed step in the as-is printed recipe) (Also I used red rice because it was in my cupboard--I liked it so much that I will probably always use PARTIALLY COOKED red rice for this recipe)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (this dish pares will many kinds of cheese and is a great way to use up leftover ends and bits)

Salt and pepper

Seasoned breadcrumbs toasted in butter. 

Preheat oven to 325° F.

PRECOOK your rice. Cover 1 cup of rice with enough cold water to immerse the rice. Add some salt and butter (or olive oil). Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer and cooking the rice until it is almost tender.  This is known as PAR COOKING as in the rice is partially but not all the way cooked. If you don't cook the rice before hand then it will both adsorb all the liquid (dry casserole) and the wild rice will still be underdone. If you precook the rice to tender then one might end up with mushy rice from the continued cook in the oven. Remove your rice from the pan and set aside. Season it to taste with salt and pepper.

In the same pan melt the 3TBS of butter. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms begin to brown and the liquid evaporates. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir the 3TBS of flour into the mushrooms until it completely disappears. You may need to add a little more butter to smooth out the roux. Slowly begin to add the milk constantly stirring (or whisking) letting the mushrooms adsorb the milk before adding more--as the sauce develops add the remaining milk. Let this cook for a few minutes then make adjustments. 

Make adjustments--it is best to err on the "a little thin" side as the sauce will both be adsorbed into the rice and thicken more in the oven. If it looks like a slightly thin soup--hooray-- If it seems too thick add more milk to thin it out. If it seems too runny then take about 1 TBS of flour and 1TBS of water and whisk together--stir this a little bit at a time into the mushroom soup. Salt and pepper to taste. 

I use a Le Creuset cast iron casserole pot for this dish. Starting on the stovetop add some olive oil to the Le Creuset and then break up and brown the sausage. Once the sausage gets going add the onion and the celery letting everything get nicely brown. Throw the garlic in at the last so that it doesn't burn. The original recipe states that you should drain the drippings and discard--I skip this step unless the sausage was super fatty. I don't like throwing away flavor.

Mix in the PRECOOKED rice, the mushroom soup, and the grated cheese. If you have been seasoning as go then you may not need more salt and pepper--but taste to make sure. 

Off recipe again! Original recipe calls for 1-1/2 hours in an uncovered 9x13" glass baking dish. 

I put the lid on the casserole dish and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes. I remove the lid and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top of casserole and bake uncovered for remaining 45 minutes.

Casseroles

18 July 2019