State of the Onion (29 page)

MATCHSTICK VEGETABLES WITH A KICK

Heat oil in a large pan.

Add garlic, ginger, five-spice powder, and chili powder, and stir for 1–2 minutes. Add carrots, green beans, and celery. Stir over medium heat until vegetables are half cooked, about 2–4 minutes. Add cabbage and continue to toss and cook for a further 5 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender but still crisp. Sprinkle with salt, mix well, cover and cook for 2 minutes.

Serve immediately.

APPLE TART

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place pie crust in a 10-inch pie or tart shell with a removable bottom and set aside.

Peel the apples and cut them into quarters. Cut away and discard the cores. Slice thinly. Place apple slices in a bowl, add lemon juice and toss until the apple slices are coated (this will keep them from browning).

Arrange the apple slices on the tart pan in a tight pattern like fish scales, in overlapping layers. Continue until all apples are used. Sprinkle the apple slices with the sugar and lemon rind. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Place on a baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 375°F. Bake 25 minutes longer. Keep an eye on the tart for the last 15 minutes of baking. If necessary, cover with foil to keep from browning too much.

While tart is finishing baking, melt the apple jelly over low heat, stirring until liquid. Gently brush the top of the hot tart with the melted jelly.

Serve hot or cold, as preferred.

OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place butter in ovenproof baking dish large enough to hold chicken pieces in a single layer, or a 9 × 13 cake pan. Put in oven to melt.

Place flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and lemon zest in a large, sturdy resealable plastic bag. Shake until mixed.

Remove pan with melted butter from oven.

One piece at a time, place chicken pieces into bag with flour mixture, seal, and shake until chicken is coated. Remove from bag, and roll in melted butter in pan. Place in pan, skin side up.

Continue until all pieces are coated in flour and butter, arranged in pan.

Place pan in oven. Cook until chicken is brown and crispy on top and cooked through—about 40 minutes.

Remove chicken from pan. Plate and serve.

Should you desire it, pour off most of the liquid from the baking pan, deglaze the pan, and make gravy. It's fabulous. But the president, though blessed with a good metabolism and a fondness for running, is watching his waistline, so I generally don't serve him gravy with this dish.

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

Place potatoes in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Add water sufficient to cover them. Put lid on pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, watching to be sure pan doesn't boil over. Once the water is boiling, reduce heat slightly and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender. Approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.

Drain cooked potatoes and set aside. Return empty pan to heat and add butter. When butter melts, add garlic. Cook until tender. Return cooked potatoes to pan. Mash or whip with immersion blender until nearly smooth, gradually adding warm milk until potatoes are the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper. Place in warmed serving dish, top with chives if desired. Serve.

Some people salt the water the potatoes are boiling in, which raises the temperature of the boiling water and lets the potatoes cook faster. I prefer to add salt at the last stage, when I have more control over the amount the dish has—I think it leaves the potatoes more tender, too. But either method works.

OLLIE'S GREEN BEANS

Place oil in large, heavy skillet over medium heat.

Add garlic and onion, stirring until softened and onion turns translucent. Add green beans. Stir to coat. Continue cooking until beans are still bright green and slightly crunchy but cooked through. Salt to taste.

Serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE ANGEL FOOD CAKE WITH FRESH BERRIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine boiling water, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Stir until smooth and glossy. Set aside. In another medium bowl, or in food processor bowl, whisk or pulse together cake flour, 1 cup sugar, and salt. Set aside.

In a large, clean bowl (the slightest bit of fat will keep your egg whites from whipping properly), beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Continue beating until egg whites form soft peaks. Gradually add 1 cup sugar until stiff peaks form.

Remove 1 cup of egg mixture from large bowl and fold gently into cocoa mixture.

In large bowl, take remaining egg mixture and incorporate flour mixture into it by gently sifting 1/3 cup of the flour onto surface of beaten eggs, and folding them together. Don't overwork this batter or it will lose its incorporated air. Work gently but efficiently and quickly.

Gently fold cocoa mixture into egg batter.

Spoon or pour batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan. Run a knife through the batter in a circular motion to eliminate any large air pockets. Smooth the top of the batter with a spatula.

Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes. Do not open oven door during the first 30 minutes of baking. Top of cake will crack—this is part of its charm. Cake is done when surface springs back when gently touched or toothpick inserted into middle of cake comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and invert pan.

Let cool completely (at least 2 hours) at room temperature.

Remove cake from pan by running a sharp knife around sides and center of tube pan to release from sides, then remove cake from pan. If cake has removable tube, run knife around bottom of cake pan before removing.

Dust cake and berries with confectioner's sugar. To serve, place cake slice on individual plate dusted with cocoa powder and confectioner's sugar. Heap berries to side of cake. Dust with more confectioner's sugar. Serve.

As a special treat, here are a few more of Olivia's White House favorites.

CRISP TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl sift together dry ingredients and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream softened butter and sugars. Stir in vanilla until smooth. Stir in egg until smooth. Add dry ingredients 1 cup at a time, stirring to incorporate. Dough will be soft and uniform. Stir in chocolates.

Shape into quarter-sized balls. Place on parchment paper covered cookie sheets, in 3 widely spaced rows—this batter will spread during cooking! Bake until cookies are browned and flat, roughly 15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets. Remove cooled cookies from parchment paper and store in a tin.

These are excellent crumbled and served over ice cream.

CUCUMBER SLICES STUFFED WITH FETA AND PINE NUTS

Combine cheese, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, pine nuts, garlic, dill, salt, and pepper. Spread 2 tablespoons of filling between two slices of cucumber. Place on platter. Repeat with remaining filling and cucumber slices. Garnish with chopped parsley and sprinkle with salt. Serve cold.

BAKLAVA STUFFED WITH ALMONDS, PECANS, AND PINE NUTS