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Dinner at Home

140 recipes to enjoy with family and friends

JeanMarie Brownson

CONTENTS i nt r od uct ion 1 c hap t e r 1: Notes and Tips from a Lifetime in the Kitchen 7 c hap t e r 2: Menus for Your Dinners (and Other Meals) at Home 13 c hap t er 3: Party Snacks 21 c hap t er 4: Soups, Stews and Salads 33 c hap t e r 5: Sandwiches, Pastas and Pizzas 63 c hap t er 6: The Main Dish 85 c hap t e r 7: Vegetables and Other Sides 149 c hap t e r 8: Holiday Dinner at Home 175 c hap t er 9: Breakfast for Dinner 193 c hap t e r 10: Sweets and Baked Goods 223 c hap t e r 11: Condiments, Rubs and Sauces 253 appe n di x: Outfitting the Kitchen 271 ac know l ed gment s 275 c r edi t s 276 i ndex 277 ab o ut t he aut hor 282

2 Dinner at Home

I

g r e w up in a family t hat simply l ov e s to cook and eat. Food takes center stage at every event, from reunions to picnics, birthdays, baptisms and weddings. Our obsession, passion and never-ending appetite for food started with my grandparents.

My paternal grandparents grew up in Glogowacz, Austria-Hungary. They immigrated separately to the U.S. with their families nearly 100 years ago. Martin and Mary met again in Chicago and were married in 1925.

My grandmother baked, pickled and scrimped her way through nourishing eight children. My grandfather, a bricklayer, butchered and smoked

hams and sausages between gigs working on some of Chicago’s most iconic buildings and churches.

His brick smokehouse (tucked under the stairs in their Chicago bungalow) was my favorite spot in the house.

Martin and Mary’s children cherished old-world traditions. My aunts prepared all of Gram’s recipes, putting their own skill sets to good use making

3 Introduction

strudels and slaws. Her sons, including my father, still make the family sausage for our annual reunion to this very day. My generation knows the stories and recipes well, even if we don’t cook them often.

Charles, my maternal grandfather, was a professional baker of Sicilian descent. To my mother’s dismay, she didn’t naturally inherit his skills. Instead, she took cooking classes at the local gas company.

She tells tales of pie crusts gone wrong and spaghetti sauce my father wouldn’t taste. Dinner parties tested her nerves. Little wonder, since she cut her cooking chops in the real Mad Men era. She had to not only be the perfect hostess, but look beautiful, too. Fait accompli.

I have two brothers and two sisters—we were five smart, willful children who tested my parents and their wallets continuously. We were always ready for dinner, but late to the table nearly every night thanks to reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

I started paying attention to food in the fourth grade. My teacher brought avocados to the classroom after her Florida spring break and let us all taste this exotic fruit/vegetable. I was captivated by its creaminess. Then my Uncle Jake shared his Gourmet subscription with me (which I maintained until the magazine folded in 2009). He also bought me my first cookbook. When I complained about “hot dog night,” my mom, by then an accomplished cook who prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner for 7 people every day of the week, happily passed the dinner task on to me. I consulted my new cookbook and made hot dogs stuffed with cheddar and wrapped in bacon.

In middle school, I made a four-course all-peanut butter meal for my Uncle Charles, the fanciest eater I knew. Food remains a common bond.

My grandparents shared what they knew: oldworld baking, pickling and smoking. Grandma Dorothy’s fruit trees started my peach jam-making habit. I will never forget Grandpa Kaiser’s smoky

speck or Gram’s powdered sugar-coated nut and meringue-filled pillows and crescent shaped, jamstuffed kipferls. She measured with her hands, not tools, with instinct and experience.

Little wonder that I loved chemistry in high school—after all, most experiments meant following a recipe. I pursued chemistry in college and kept cooking. By sophomore year, I had made nearly every recipe in both volumes of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking—too bad I didn’t have a blog or a movie deal.

My folks didn’t flinch when I’d invite friends over to cook crepes at midnight. I once made chateaubriand after a Yes concert for a special friend. I paid for college by waitressing and catering parties.

Dessert tables were my specialty.

Comfortable in the school kitchens, my foods and nutrition professor, Mary Abbott Hess, suggested I

16 Dinner at Home

No Meat, No Worries Cheese “burgers� with spicy mayo page 67 Cucumber and ginger pickles page 259 Barbecue sweet potato slices page 150 Chocolate cherry peanut butter oatmeal cookies page 249 Stiegl-Radler grapefruit beer, iced tea

We Love Lamb Garlic and spice grilled leg of lamb page 97 Yogurt sauce page 256 Couscous salad with roasted cauliflower page 55 Sliced heirloom tomato salad with black olives and fresh lemon vinaigrette with sumac page 62 Warm flat breads Honey and Greek yogurt spice cake page 251 Pinot noir, iced tea

Summer Dining on the Deck Brown sugar grilled salmon on cedar planks page 137 Grilled asparagus New potatoes with butter and chives Peaches and cream trifle with ginger and bourbon page 245 Iced tea and lemonade (add a splash of bourbon)

Friday Night Supper Sweet potato pancakes page 214 Kale and ham skillet page 122 Latte brownies page 236 Sweet tea, craft beers

17 Menus

Manhattan Cocktail Party Steak and arugula crostini page 23 Herbed cheese spread on endive page 24 Prosciutto parmesan puffs page 24 Charcuterie platter of cured meats and cheese Assorted olives and roasted nuts Perfect Manhattans, red wine

Saturday Lunch on the Deck Warm black bean and rice bowl with chicken and poblanos page 124 Crisp flatbreads Sliced ripe tomatoes Easy grapefruit granita page 243 Fresh limeade

Saturday Night with Friends Roasted chicken with tomato-olive relish page 130 Smoky cheese and garlic toasts page 25 Steamed broccoli White chocolate macadamia blondies page 235 Sparkling rosĂŠ

Saturday Night Beer Tasting Assorted nuts Herbed cheese spread and cut veggies page 24 Slow-cooked choucroute garni page 49 Green salad with fresh lemon vinaigrette with sumac page 62 Latte brownies page 236 A variety of craft beers

41 Soups, Stews and Salads

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ur family ad or e s pumpkin in many r ec ipe s, so I sto c k up on smal l pumpkins. Look for sugar pumpkins or pie pumpkins for their dense, sweet flesh and manageable size. Store them whole, wrapped in paper towels in the refrigerator for up to a couple of months. Once roasted, pumpkin will keep several days in the refrigerator or in the freezer for months.

P.S. No need to despair if fresh pumpkins are unavailable: Butternut squash makes a fine substitute.

Meatless pumpkin and black bean chili Prep: 20 minutes | Cook: 35 minutes | Makes: 4 to 6 servings

Shredded cheese is delicious as a garnish on this chili.

1 large red onion, diced 6 cloves garlic, crushed 3 tablespoons olive oil 1B/c cups vegetable broth or water 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced fire-roasted tomatoes 3 to 4 tablespoons mild chili powder, to taste 1 tablespoon pureed canned chipotle in adobo B/c teaspoon ground cumin 2 cups thinly sliced assorted bell peppers (or 1 [14-ounce] bag frozen red, green and yellow pepper strips) 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained, rinsed B/c teaspoon salt 1 or 2 cups roasted pumpkin (recipe follows), optional For garnish: Chopped cilantro, broken tortilla chips

1 Put onion, garlic and oil into a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in broth, canned pumpkin, tomatoes, chili powder, chipotle and cumin. Stir in bell peppers; heat to a simmer. Cook, partly covered, over low heat, stirring often, about 20 minutes.

2 Stir in black beans and salt. Simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve in soup bowls with a spoonful of roasted pumpkin, a generous sprinkling of cilantro and broken tortilla chips.

Nutrition information per serving (for 6 servings): 276 calories, 10 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 37 g carbohydrates, 10 g protein, 732 mg sodium, 13 g fiber

175 Holiday Dinner at Home

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o od ne w s: R oast beef is easy. Or der ing it f r om t he b utc her proves the only tricky task. This will be the most expensive entree I cook all year, so I patronize a meat market with expertise. I always ask the butcher for advice and to help calculate the weight of the roast needed. I know I need a couple more ounces per person than when cooking a boneless roast. The butcher recommends 12 ounces per person when serving several side dishes. I order a slightly bigger roast because we relish leftovers.

My father, once a butcher, reminds me to order a first-cut rib roast. The butcher agrees. This roast, cut from near the loin, contains ribs 1 to 3 along with a large, lean rib-eye muscle. A second-cut roast contains ribs 4 to 7 with a smaller rib-eye muscle because it comes from nearer the chuck end. No worries. Both are eminently more tender than the tri-tips and sirloin roasts we cook at less extravagant times of the year.

The butcher beautifully trims away all but a modest covering of fat and does me a solid by separating the eye of the roast from the ribs. Then he ties both back together. The result: a beautiful boneless roast sitting on a rack of ribs. This extra care means the bones will add flavor and moisture during the cooking, yet the carving of the eye will be supereasy. After roasting and presenting the fabulous treat to the guests, I simply snip the strings, lift the boneless roast off the ribs and slice.

Herb-crusted standing rib roast Prep: 25 minutes | Rest: 3 hours | Cook: 1 hour, 45 minutes | Makes: 8 to 10 servings

If no one wants them, I’ll save the roasted bones to use in soup.

1 three-rib standing rib beef roast, usually 7B/c to 8B/c pounds, trimmed, tied Traditional herb rub (see recipe on p. 264) 1 cup homemade or low-sodium beef broth B/c cup dry red wine Salt, freshly ground black pepper Mascarpone horseradish (recipe follows), for serving

1 Put roast into a large shallow roasting pan. Coat generously on all sides with the rub. Position it in the pan fat side up and bone side down. Refrigerate uncovered at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Remove roast from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.

2 Heat oven to 325 degrees. Cook roast until an instant-read thermometer registers about 130 degrees for medium-rare when inserted in the thickest portion away from the bone, usually 11/2 to 1 3/4 hours.

Remove roast from oven; tent with foil. Let rest, at least 15 minutes (or up to 30 minutes). The temperature will rise about 10 degrees.

Dinner at Home 140 recipes to enjoy with family and friends

D

JeanMarie Brownson

H ome collects more than 100 recipes and stories from JeanMarie Brownson’s Chicago Tribune column of the same name.

Twice a month since 2007, Brownson has been sharing inventive, easy-tomake recipe ideas that readers adore. inner at

Now, the best of her columns have been carefully handpicked to create her newest cookbook, which is full of recipes Brownson developed for weekday family dinners at home as well as for parties with friends and loved ones.

Brownson has long been a highly respected chef and food writer, from her time as the Chicago Tribune’s test kitchen director and associate food editor to her ongoing professional partnership with iconic Chicago chef Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, Xoco). Brownson is the culinary director for Frontera Foods, the Mexican-food company founded by Bayless and Manny Valdes, as well as for Frontera Media Productions, which produces the PBS

TV show Mexico—One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless. She has also co-authored three cookbooks with Bayless, including Mexico— One Plate at a Time, which won the James Beard Foundation Book Award in the international category.

For Brownson, cooking for friends and family ranks as one of life’s greatest pleasures, and her passion for creating unique, trustworthy and approachable recipes is clear throughout Dinner at Home. Organized by course and complete with full-color photography, this book is a must-have for home cooks who love the time spent gathered around the table with friends, family and reliably delicious meals.

JeanMarie Brownson writes the “Dinner at Home” column for the Chicago Tribune, where she served as assistant food editor and test kitchen director between 1980 and 1996. She is the culinary director of the Rick Bayless-founded Frontera Foods and Frontera Media Productions. She has co-authored three books with Bayless, including the James Beard Award-winning Mexico: One Plate at a Time. Brownson lives in Chicago.

COOKING / ENTERTAINING / COOKING & WINE

November 10, 2015 • $29.95 • 8.5 × 10 • 288 pages ISBN: 978-1-57284-178-9

For more information, call Agate Surrey at 847.475.4457 or inquire via agatepublishing.com. Please supply two tear sheets of any published review.

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