Better Homes and Corpses (24 page)

Meg:
Hang the end of an old metal garden rake on your wall and place wineglasses upside down between the tines
.
You can also hang vintage necklaces and bracelets from rake heads.

Elle:
Use a large trophy as a champagne cooler. But don’t buy the trophy from Champagne and Caviar Antiques! Vintage leather train cases make excellent desktop bars. I like mine stirred, not shaken.

Meg:
Take a worn silverplate tray, paint the center with black chalkboard paint, and use for the day’s menu or grocery list. Display on the wall with a plate hanger or place on an easel. You can also use magnets to hold photos or vintage postcards in the center of the tray. Let the tray be your frame. Old tarnished silverplate bowls make great pots for succulent plants. And you only have to water them every three weeks! Make sure the soil is completely dry before you do water.

Elle:
Use vintage glass doorknobs as curtain tiebacks or to hang your pocketbooks. Attach different antique knobs to a piece of recycled wood for another way to display your treasures.

Meg:
Vintage Depression glass ceiling light covers with flat bottoms make great flower vases or fruit bowls, especially arranged in a group.

Elle:
Instead of putting flowers in wall pockets, store stationery supplies such as rulers, scissors, pencils, and pens and hang next to your work space. If the rulers are old and have advertising on them, all the better!

Meg:
And midcentury figural pottery planters make great catchalls for TV remotes, reading glasses, cell phones, pens and pencils, etc. Just make sure you put a piece of fabric on the bottom of the planter to avoid dinging the pottery.

Elle:
Roll photos and slip them into antique bottles for display. If the insides of the bottles are cloudy, let them sit with water and denture cleaner for a day or two.

Meg:
Use a large primitive basket to hide your old and new bills. Place décor magazines on top and no one will be the wiser. No current
American Home and Garden
s, please!

Elle:
Say what! Use vintage and antique metal toast racks to sort mail. Go green if you own a computer and save trees, Meg!

Meg:
Okay. Point taken. And remember, a modern home can meld perfectly with that little touch of vintage or antique. Wishing you great finds!

(Or His Daughter’s Favorite Meal)

CHICKEN CUTLETS IN SHERRY WINE SAUCE

This is my variation on a classic chicken or veal Marsala. I’ve used sherry instead because it gives a pleasantly intense but less sweet flavor, which creates a very tasty sauce. Serves 4.

THE CUTLETS:

Use one and a half to two pounds of thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets. You will find them prepackaged in the meat department among the other chicken parts. (Note: If they don’t have the thin-sliced cutlets, you can use boneless chicken breasts, but you’ll have to pound them flat and thin.)

Put the cutlets in a small, shallow baking dish. Add one clove of chopped fresh garlic and one sprig of fresh rosemary or one teaspoon dried rosemary and rub the chicken with it. Cover the chicken with whole milk or cream and soak for an hour or so.

Now you are going to bread the cutlets. First, prepare a flour/spice mixture.

FLOUR/SPICE MIXTURE:

Place two cups of flour in a shallow dish (not too shallow) a little larger than the size of a cutlet, approximately 9 × 9 inches.

To the flour, add:

1 teaspoon McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning

1 teaspoon ground/chopped rosemary

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon hot paprika

Thoroughly mix the spices and flour together. It is important to blend these ingredients well. (I use my clean, dry fingers to do the job.)

Take each cutlet from the milk/garlic/rosemary bath, making sure that the cutlets are free of the garlic and rosemary but still moist, and dip one at a time in the flour mixture, coating both sides. As the cutlets are breaded, set on a plate. You want all the cutlets breaded and ready to go before you start sautéing them. You will probably have ten cutlets or so.

SAUTÉ THE CUTLETS:

Use a large, heavy nonstick frying pan (the heavy pan retains even heating, and the nonstick nature means a lot less hassle). Cover the entire bottom of the pan with olive oil. The goal here is to have the cutlets lie on the oil rather than float in it; this is not deep frying. The purpose of the oil in this dish is
to keep the cutlets from sticking to the pan and to provide an even crust on the cutlets. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. At the instant it begins to smoke, place as many cutlets in the pan at a time as you can fit without overlapping. As soon as you place the cutlets in the pan they will begin to foam in the oil.

Use tongs. Watching so that they do not burn, try to loosen each cutlet after it has been in the pan a bit—this will make it easier to turn them. Try to make sure you keep as much of the breading on the cutlets as possible. When they are golden brown—usually after about two minutes or less—turn them. The cutlets are thin and it is nearly impossible to undercook them but easy to ruin them by overcooking. When the second side is golden brown, remove the cutlets to a warmed oven-safe serving platter.

Drain any remaining oil. You will have some bits of flour and chicken in the pan—that is a good thing. But if you are doing a lot of batches, this stuff (the residue in a pan left after sautéing is called “fond”) may start to burn, so it’s a good idea to scrape the pan after two or three batches—save those scrapings as long as they’re not burned. You’ll use them in your sauce.

When all the cutlets are sautéed, place the platter in a 200-degree oven to keep warm until you are ready to serve.

THE SAUCE:

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:

1 ½ cups dry sherry

2 cups chicken stock

1 lb mushrooms, sliced (white button, baby bella, or crimini)

6 tablespoons butter

salt

fresh ground pepper

Using the same pan you sautéed the cutlets in, and keeping the heat at medium-high, add back in any bits of flour or chicken from the prior batches. Immediately add the dry sherry. Swish the pan around and use a nylon spatula to loosen the fond from the bottom of the pan. After it bubbles and steams, the sauce will begin to thicken. Shake the pan back and forth (careful not to spill or splash). Raise the heat to high and add the chicken broth. Stir the sauce and cook on high until the sauce is reduced by half. Add the mushrooms to the sauce and continue cooking for another 15 minutes or so. Add the butter; your sauce will thicken slightly and develop a velvety consistency. Taste for seasoning; you may need to add salt and pepper. Your sauce should be done. Try to serve immediately; if you wait too long the sauce could separate.

When everything’s done, all you do is pour the sauce over the chicken cutlets on the platter. Garnish with two large sprigs of fresh rosemary or fresh parsley.

MICHIGAN MASHED POTATOES

Michigan used to be one of the largest potato-producing states in the U.S. While that is no longer the case, the heritage of the potato lives on as a most popular accompaniment, and one of the ways folks love them is mashed.

While there are tons of really incredible ways to cook potatoes, mashed potatoes are absolutely perfect for certain things. And because of that, even if the main dish with which
they are paired is perfectly done, if the mashed potatoes are not good, you can ruin the entire meal. Knowing how to prepare them the right way—they are not hard to do—is really important.

Believe it or not, I’ve made a point of sampling and analyzing literally dozens of mashed potato recipes, probably because I love to eat them so much.

Just what makes good mashed potatoes? I will be the first to admit that mashed potatoes are a fairly personal thing. But I think there are some universal things that matter. Here are my three rules for good mashed potatoes.

First, they should not be lumpy. I know there are lots of chefs out there who do things like “smashed potatoes” or intentionally leave lumps in them, thinking they somehow are more authentic or rustic that way. I don’t agree. There are some terrific ways to prepare them that utilize potatoes in a more lumpy or partially mashed state—Galette Lyonnaise is a fantastic example. But they are not mashed potatoes.

Second, ideal mashed potatoes should not be too “wet” or too “pasty.” That can happen when either the wrong potato (something with too much starch) or too much liquid is used. They should be peaky and stand up. They should not have a shine to them.

Third, they should be subtly flavorful, but not bland. Elements like salt, milk or cream, herbs, etc., should all be considered. Don’t overpower—the potato is the star, after all—but don’t be too timid either. Salt is probably the most important seasoning with potatoes.

THE POTATO:

Start with good-quality potatoes; knowing a little bit about potatoes helps. Believe it or not, some potatoes are better
mashed than others. That does not mean that all potatoes cannot be mashed, it just means that some potatoes produce better results.

My favorite potato is the russet. Idaho potatoes are russets. They have a drier texture that produces a consistently good mash without too heavy a risk of becoming pasty. I recommend sticking with them.

A lot of people love the gorgeous Yukon Gold potato. I know I do—just not for mashed potatoes. While they make great fried potatoes, au gratin, and lots of other things, I have found them to be difficult to work with when using them for mashed potatoes, mainly because they have a tendency to get pasty very easily. I avoid them for mashing.

PREPARING MASHED POTATOES:

First, have enough potatoes to adequately serve everyone eating. My rule of thumb: one large potato per person. Peel each potato and cut in quarters of roughly equal size. Immediately place them in a bowl or pot of cold water. You want them quartered so they don’t take forever to cook. And you want them roughly equal in size so each piece cooks in approximately the same time.

Have a large pot—large enough so that when all the potatoes are in the pot covered with water, the pot is roughly half-full. Place the potatoes in the bottom of the pot and cover with water. Add at least a “palmful” of salt to the water. Don’t be shy with the salt—you’re salting the water, not the potatoes, and while the salt will be absorbed (you want it to be), it is difficult to make the potatoes too salty unless you
really
overdo it. On the other hand, potatoes without enough salt are bland.

Boil on high heat uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until a random sample of potatoes reveals they are cooked all the way through. Test them by piercing with a fork—if it goes easily all the way in, or if it breaks apart as you do so, they are done. Just be careful not to either undercook, which will leave lumps, or overcook, which increases the risk of a wet consistency. Then drain them thoroughly in a colander and put them either back in the pot or in a large mixing bowl—wherever you feel comfortable mashing them.

Next, mash the potatoes, either by using a potato masher, ricer, or similar device. You can also use an electric hand mixer; if you have one, I advise it. When they are roughly mashed (not yet creamy), add the following to the potatoes for a serving for four people:

¾ stick butter

1 16-ounce container sour cream

3 tablespoons horseradish

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ cup cream or milk

Mix these ingredients into the potatoes using the masher or hand mixer. You should see a light, smooth consistency develop. Only if they feel dry to you (meaning you had unusually large potatoes or used more than one large potato per person), sparingly add small bits of milk—a tablespoon or so at a time—until you get the consistency you want. But please be careful: if you put too much liquid in, there’s no saving them.

When you can pull up on the masher or mixer and the potatoes easily form peaks that hold, they’re done. To serve family style, place in a deep bowl and put a pat of butter on top. To serve individually, simply spoon them onto each
plate. A small sprig of rosemary makes a good garnish, as do chopped chives.

JEFF’S BEST VINAIGRETTE

½ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

3 shallots, chopped fine

1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Whisk together and pour over green salad. You can also use on green beans, boiled potatoes, and potato
salad.