Outside of the Christmas and birthday window though, the Kaufmann's box interchange was welcomed with chubby open arms. Mostly, because any box-to-Lo trade was done by my Grandma with little pay-off on my end, perhaps just a hug and a squeeze. And inside that recycled box, which most likely would have hosted a wool sweater for my Grandma, was a sampling of her treasures: A dozen sesame seed buns, two dozen Parker rolls, square upon square of her Texas sheet cake, a nut roll or her miniature cookie versions, and if I was really lucky six big bear claws - my all-time favorite pastry.
Riding home from her house, I would hold the box tightly, careful not to let it tip or slide. When no one was looking, I would rip off the pinky claw of one of those bears to sample just how amazing this batch was. For breakfast the next day, we would each get one. Far better than any choice we could make from the collection of multi-grain cereals lining our pantry cupboard, was the sweet seduction of a nut-filled, iced pastry that had my grandma's love wrapped up in it.
Yesterday, was another brew day. Well, Peter brewed and I took the temperature during various phases of the process. At my request, he made an all-grain Saison beer - a traditional Belgian farmhouse ale.
Brew days for Peter are cooking and baking days for me though, and on the docket for this event was a brunch of prosciutto omelets and my Grandma's Bear Claws - a treat that I have been craving for too long. I pulled out the recipe that I had copied down from my cousin Meghan when we visited her in D.C. this summer. There were gaps here and there in the instructions, but I took a leap of faith or two while thinking, 'what would Grandma do?' I guessed right and right again, and ended up proud of my results.
Later in the day, while the beer was going through a boiling phase, Peter asked what was on the menu for dinner. I again asked myself what Olga would do, and she answered Swiss Steak. So I got one of the cheapest cuts of meat - round steak - and roasted it and served it with gravy, mashed potatoes and spinach souffle. It was the perfect panacea to a weekend of hard work around the house. Even better though, was the bittersweet satisfaction I felt when my phone buzzed with a text from Meghan. She said she had showed my Grandma the picture of my bear claws and she said, 'it's beautiful.' Just like that.
Lo.
Swiss Steak (serves 2 with leftovers)
1 pound round steak, trimmed and cut into thin slices
1 clove garlic
Flour
Salt, pepper
Bacon drippings
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 cup beef stock
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Rub steak pieces with garlic clove. Mix together flour, salt and pepper and cover steak with the mixture. In a medium dutch oven, heat bacon drippings. Brown steak, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside. Add onions and saute until softened, about 5 minutes picking up the browned bits stuck to the pan. Add the stock, then return the steak to the pot.
Roast at 350 F for 2 hours or until the steak is fork tender. Naturally, the juices in the pot should render a gravy that is a pretty perfect, but if you need to, remove the steak from the pot and then reduce over medium high heat until the gravy is thick enough. Serve with mashed potatoes.
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David Lebovitz' Spinach Souffle (serves 4)
1 bag fresh spinach
1 leek
2 tablespoons butter
Nutmeg
Salt
Chili pepper
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup Parmesan
Use only the light green to white part of the leek. Slice thinly. Fill a bowl of water and swish leek slices around in it to clean. Drain and set aside.
In a medium saute pan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add leeks and saute until soft and transparent, about 10 minutes. Add spinach bit by bit until wilted. During the last batch, add a pinch of fresh nutmeg, chili pepper and salt. (Smell the combination now, heaven!) Set aside and let cool.
When cool, place in food processor with eggs and milk and process until smooth. (There should be green pieces everywhere though.)
Lightly butter four ramekins and fill 3/4 of the way with the spinach mixture. Top with Parmesan cheese. Let settle for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 F. Bake for 45 minutes or until you stick a tester in and it comes out clean.
***
Bear Claws (makes 12)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla
2 packets of yeast
2 eggs, beaten
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Filling
1/3 cup nuts (I used almonds - if I used vanilla above, I would have used walnuts)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or is using vanilla and walnuts, cinnamon.)
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla
Over medium low heat, warm milk and butter until butter is melted. Cool until lukewarm (about 100 F.) Mix in sugar, salt, almond extract and yeast. Stir well, then let sit for five minutes, until yeast is dissolved.
Stir in eggs. Add flour in stages, until a dough forms. Knead until smooth and supple. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Mix together filling. Make sure the 2 tablespoons of butter is soft. On a well floured surface, roll out dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. You might want to break the dough into two pieces and do this twice. Spread butter all over the pastry dough. Then in the central section spread filling evenly. Fold into thirds, like an envelop, encasing the filling. Cut the pastry into about six sections, each about 2 1/2 inches wide. Place them on a bake sheet. Cut slits into each pastry and spread the 'claws' apart so they are shaped like a bear claw (ta da! thus the name.) Repeat with the second piece of dough. Cover claws and let rise until double in size.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let cool then ice.
