The Whole Dish: Southern Oregon Food Blog

This blog’s last post about slow-cooker meals got a few kudos on Facebook. So I figured I’d keep going on the topic, particularly since receiving a recipe today that I’ve never seen touted for a slow-cooker.

Bouillabaise is the quintessential French seafood stew, not unlike American cioppino, the topic of Jan Roberts-Dominguez’s latest column. I prefer the former for its fennel, leek and saffron, but when you’ve got a variety of seafood in your bowl, it’s hard to go wrong, provided it isn’t overcooked.

Fresh seafood, of course, is ideal. But I typically say the freshest seafood most people are going to find at Rogue Valley grocers actually is in the freezer cases.

I blogged before about how frozen seafood has a poor reputation, undeserved in recent decades that have seen major advances in freezing technology. Today’s flash-frozen and vacuum-sealed seafood — usually on a boat mere hours after it’s been plucked from the ocean — is preferable to the vast majority of seafood that appears fresh in refrigerator cases but actually was previously frozen and then thawed for who knows how many days.

Frozen clams and mussels are precooked and therefore less flavorful but very easy to use — no scrubbing required. And I’ve been very impressed with wild Gulf shrimp I’ve recently purchased frozen at Food 4 Less in Medford. The difference in flavor between farmed shrimp (the vast majority of which are) is evident. 

MCT photo

Slow-Cooker Bouillabaise

2 cups chopped, peeled and seeded fresh tomatoes or chopped canned tomatoes

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 large fennel bulb, chopped, green tops trimmed and feathery leaves chopped and reserved

1 medium leek, trimmed, well-washed and sliced

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1⁄4 teaspoon hot smoked paprika or ground red (cayenne) pepper

1 pinch saffron threads, crumbled

Salt, to taste

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup bottled clam juice

1 pound boneless, skinless fish fillets, such as halibut, grouper or monkfish

8 ounces sea scallops

8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

6 small hardshell clams, soaked and scrubbed (optional)

1 small loaf French bread, sliced and toasted

Combine tomatoes, carrots, celery, fennel and leek in a large slow cooker. Add the tomato paste, herbes de Provence, paprika, saffron and salt to taste. Add 4 cups water, the wine and clam juice. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Cut the fish into bite-sized chunks and stir into soup with the sea scallops, shrimp and clams (if using). Cover and cook for 30 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Place a slice of bread into each soup dish. Add the bouillabaise and sprinkle with fennel fronds. Pass remaining bread at the table. Makes 6 servings.

— Recipe adapted by the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch from “The French Slow Cooker,” by Michele Scicolone (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012).

With wintertime temperatures lower than last year’s and energy costs among the year’s highest (at least according to my power bill), the house is cold. Almost cold enough to discourage me from cooking dinner on these dark, dreary evenings.

But a hearty dinner is the ultimate winter warmer with the one-pot meal a strategy for keeping prep to a minimum and extending the food’s usefulness over several days. Slow cookers are a classic and much-loved way to go about shortening the time it takes to get dinner on the table by stretching cooking time over the whole day. Slow cookers, energy-sipping appliances that they are, also are a way to cut down on energy use.

While they would seem foolproof, there are a few points to ponder on the slow cooker, aka Crock-Pot. An October story in A la Carte covered some. Here are a few more courtesy of the Detroit Free Press:

Always make sure the insert is half-full, but no more than two-thirds full, to avoid spillovers once the liquids heat up.

Allow enough time. Slow cookers take a while to warm up and, of course, take a while to cook.

Don’t peek. Try not to lift the lid. You lose at least 20 minutes of cooking time when you do so.

Don’t cook frozen meat or poultry in the slow cooker because it will not reach a safe temperature in time to halt bacterial growth.

Add tender vegetables like zucchini, bell peppers and peas during the last 30 minutes or so. Cooking them longer could make them mushy.

Most slow cookers have two settings: low and high. Typically, low is around 200 F, and high is 300 F. But you should not simply translate the recipe to oven temperature following those settings. The slow cooker uses a wrap-around type of heat, and the food is closer to the heat source than it is in the oven.

When converting recipes to a slow cooker, the amount of liquid may need to be reduced because liquid does not evaporate in a slow cooker like it does on the stovetop.

There are other routes, of course, to a one-pot meal using one’s stovetop or oven. Using my Dutch oven Saturday, I braised a leg of lamb in red wine and stock with some vegetables and dried mushrooms. What we couldn’t eat that night became a pasta sauce, taco filling and contribution to lentil stew.

If I had wanted to roast the lamb, I could have used my ceramic tagine, a Christmas gift two years ago from my mother-in-law. The distinctive, conical lid of this traditional North African cooking vessel collects moisture and condenses it back onto the food. One-pot dishes cooked in it, which often contain couscous and dried fruit, also are known as tagines.

Learn more tricks for one-pot meals and sample five dishes that freeze well from chef Sandy Dowling, who has a couple of spots left in her “One Pot Meals Redux” class Wednesday evening at The Willows Cooking School in Central Point. Call 541-665-3020 to register.

Or consider the Jan. 24 “Stovetop Braising” class at The Right Plan in Medford. In the meantime, try this Free Press recipe, a faux tagine of sorts meant for the Crock-Pot.

MCT photo

Slow-Cooker Garlic Chicken

3 pounds chicken pieces, bone in and skin on, patted dry

Coarse salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 cup dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc

1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup pearl couscous

Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. In batches, cook chicken, skin-side down, until skin is golden-brown, about 10 minutes. Turn and brown on second side about 5 minutes.

Combine the onion, garlic and thyme in a 5- to 6- quart slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Top with chicken, skin-side up, in a tight layer.

In a small bowl, whisk together the wine and flour until smooth and add to slow cooker. Cover and cook on high until chicken is tender, about 3 1⁄2 hours (or 7 hours on low). Cook couscous according to package instructions. Serve chicken and sauce over couscous, sprinkled with the parsley.

Makes 4 servings.

— Recipe adapted by the Detroit Free Press from Everyday Food magazine’s December 2011 issue.

It’s always gratifying to hear when A la Carte inspires a reader to get in the kitchen.

Sue Webb, an adventurer in most arenas except the kitchen, had great success with this week’s step-by-step for caramelizing onions. Then she made the onions into a meal with the additions of broth and wine for the quintessential French-style soup.

With freezing soups a recent topic on this blog, it’s worth pointing out that French Onion also freezes really well, without the addition of bread and cheese, of course. Then when the craving strikes, it’s all ready to thaw out and throw in the oven with the classic toppings.

My husband rates this dish very high on his dinnertime wish list, so I’ve been caught off guard by his request for it when I don’t have the ingredients on hand. It takes no fewer than three onions, preferably four or five, to make a pot of soup. And I’ve never really seen a way to stretch the sparse ingredients until The Associated Press moved the following recipe last fall.

Garlic I add to my French Onion, but leeks and shallots also are part of the same family of ingredients. The former I typically have in winter, along with dried mushrooms. Adding their soaking liquid is another method of ramping up the flavor in the broth.

And the longer the onions caramelize, the better their flavor, which is why I would exercise all my patience at the stove and double the cooking time listed here. I’d probably add the leeks several minutes before the shallots, garlic and herbs, too.

I like the idea of using a cheese other than Swiss, although I find fontina a bit bland. I would venture that the smoked Gouda Webb considered could hit the mark here.

AP photo

Onion and Mushroom Soup

2 ounces dried porcini or similar mushrooms

5 tablespoons butter, divided

3 large sweet onions, peeled and thinly sliced

1⁄4 cup white wine

2 leeks, white parts only, cleaned and sliced

2 shallots, peeled and chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons each chopped fresh thyme and rosemary

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups each chicken and beef broth

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

4 slices stale, crusty bread

4 slices fontina cheese

Chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Cut or break the dried mushrooms into small pieces and place in heat-safe bowl. Pour 1 cup boiling water over mushroom pieces and set aside.

In large saucepan over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the onions and cook slowly until well-browned, stirring regularly, about 15 to 20 minutes. If onions begin to get too browned, add a couple teaspoons of water. When onions are browned and caramelized, add the wine and stir to deglaze pan. Add the leeks, shallots, garlic, thyme, rosemary and remaining butter.

Increase heat to medium-high and cook until leeks are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the flour and stir to coat vegetables. Pour in the chicken and beef broths, stir well and bring to boiling. Add steeped mushrooms (including liquid), then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper.

Preheat broiler.

Ladle soup into 4 oven-safe crocks. Top each with a slice of the bread, then a slice of the cheese. Arrange crocks on rimmed baking sheet and broil until cheese is melted and begins to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve topped with the fresh chives.

Makes 4 servings.

After a year of writing a monthly column on seasonal eating and cooking for the newspaper’s HomeLife magazine, I’m almost painfully aware of which foods are freshest, most cost-effective and environmentally sound at any given time throughout the year.

Occasional wintertime trips to Southern California always remind of the natural cycle of citrus, which isn’t observed too readily in the Rogue Valley. Just about any decades-old home in Los Angeles has a lemon tree in the yard, and even office buildings may have dwarf lime trees in pots outside the front doors. It took all my sense of propriety not to help myself.

Happily, citrus travels well to our grocery stores and is best enjoyed for the next couple of months. I’ll confess to buying lemons and limes year-round for cooking but perish the thought of purchasing dried-out tangerines and grapefruits in summertime.

But there’s some good news for Rogue Valley locavores striving to eat in season. Ashland Food Co-op has a supplier of citrus in Northern California that fits into the locavore’s range, provided it’s 200 miles, not 100. But logic says that Rogue Valley locavores purchasing foods from Portland should include Northern California on the opposite end of their radius.

It’s most tempting, of course, to throw the whole eat-local concept out the window in the depth of winter, when little fresh produce is available that wasn’t stored or shipped very long distances. Anything bright, fresh and juicy in the perfect counterpoint to starchy roots and bitter greens.

Knowing its shoppers need a little pick-me-up, the Co-op kicks off more than a week of citrus tastings at its store, with recipes for oranges available for sampling at 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and at 11 a.m. Saturdays through Jan. 21. The first dish, which also uses grapefruit and avocados, sounds similar to one of my favorite wintertime salads. The following recipe is one rendition. I also love the combination of grapefruit and avocado with grilled haloumi cheese as the protein and toasted pine nuts instead of sunflower seeds.

Seared Scallops and Butter Lettuce Salad With Grapefruit Vinaigrette

3⁄4 pound medium sea scallops

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, as needed

1 cup Wondra or all-purpose flour, for dredging

1⁄2 cup vegetable oil, divided

1⁄3 cup grapefruit juice

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar

1⁄8 teaspoon sugar

2 small heads butter lettuce, torn into bite size pieces

1 ripe avocado, pitted and sliced

1 small pink grapefruit, peeled and sectioned, each section halved.

1 medium scallion, green part only, thinly sliced crosswise

1⁄4 cup sunflower seeds

Season the scallops to taste with the salt and pepper. Spread the Wondra or flour on a plate and dredge scallops in it, shaking off any excess.

In a large skillet over medium, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add scallops to skillet and saute for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Transfer scallops to a plate and let stand until they are at room temperature.

In a small saucepan, simmer the grapefruit juice until it reduces to 2 tablespoons. Transfer to a small bowl. Add the shallot, rice vinegar, sugar and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt. Whisk until sugar and salt have dissolved. Slowly whisk in remaining oil, then whisk in juices that have accumulated on scallop plate until dressing reaches desired consistency.

Toss the lettuce with 1⁄3 cup dressing. Mound lettuce over 4 plates and divide scallops, the avocado and grapefruit over each salad. Sprinkle each plate with some of the scallions and sunflower seeds and drizzle with remaining dressing.

Makes 4 servings.

The lapse in entries to this blog isn’t for lack of desire to start the new year with some new menus, preferably ones that leave off the butter and cream cheese of the previous month’s.

It’s lack of food that’s left me short on inspiration. I’m closing in on three weeks without a visit to the grocery store since a Christmas Eve sojourn on the coast, followed by a reprieve from cooking for family in the Rogue Valley, a week of my mother-in-law’s Christmas dinner leftovers and then a trip to the Rose Bowl.

While my freezer is stocked with meat and the pantry with a few root vegetables and squashes, a month’s worth of deadlines crammed into a week have left me short on time for meal-planning. So in instances like these, I’m always grateful for a few quarts of homemade soup in the freezer.

Hardly an original concept — and one of the first topics of this blog — freezing several servings of soup here and there is so simple for the home cook yet feels so clever and virtuous when other food is in short supply. Beyond its warmth and nourishment, soup can also be a connection to seasons past.

Tonight, we’re down to our final quart of minestrone, made from the last zucchini, green beans and eggplants of early fall paired with some of the year’s harvest of fingerling potatoes. All that I need to do to bulk it up is boil a bit of pasta or add a can of cannelini beans.

Most of us have a repertoire of soups suited to the seasons and our families’ tastes. But it never hurts to shake it up in ways that might not be visually apparent but can boost favorite flavors to the next level. Here are a couple of ideas from Ellise Pierce aka the Cowgirl Chef, author of a Tex-Mex blog and new cookbook.

Pierce pumps up the classic butternut squash soup with chipotles in adobo and, more innovative, roasted red bell pepper soup with tequila. Talk about a salve for the sniffles! In both cases, freeze unneeded portions after blending but before adding the cream and garnishes.

MCT photo

Butternut Squash-Chipotle Soup

Olive oil, as needed

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 chipotle chile (in adobo), finely chopped

1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 cup chicken stock

Sea salt, to taste

About 8 pieces thinly sliced chorizo (or any other spicy cured sausage)

1/4 cup cream

Drizzle a little olive oil into a stockpot and toss in the minced garlic and chopped chipotle. Turn heat to medium-low and cook for a minute or two, or just until you can smell garlic. Watch this carefully — you don’t want garlic to burn.

Add the butternut squash, chicken stock and a pinch of salt. Cover and turn heat down to low. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or just until squash is soft.

While squash is cooking, fry the chorizo. Cut each piece into skinny strips (about 6 1/4 inch), toss them into a skillet and turn heat to medium-low. They’ll crisp up in less than 5 minutes. Let them drain on a paper towel.

Carefully pour squash mixture into a blender, add the cream and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste for seasonings and serve immediately with crispy chorizo strips.

Makes 4 first-course servings.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper-Tequila Soup

2 pounds red bell peppers

Olive oil, as needed

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons of tequila (blanco)

1/3 cup cream

Chopped, fresh cilantro, for garnish

Preheat oven to broil. Roast the red peppers by putting them on a foil-lined cookie sheet, cutting a few slits in them (so they don’t explode) and sliding them into oven. Watch them carefully and turn them over as they char, so all sides get evenly blackened. Put cooked peppers in a bowl of ice water and let them cool for 10 minutes or so; skins should come right off. Be sure and remove membranes and seeds, too.

Put a little olive oil in a saucepan, along with the minced garlic, and turn heat to medium-low. Let this cook just until you can smell garlic; add peppers and the vegetable or chicken stock, a pinch of salt and pepper and give it a stir.

Using a hand blender, puree pepper-stock mixture and let this come to a boil. Turn heat to low and let it cook for 15 minutes or so. Add the tequila and cream and taste for seasonings. Serve immediately with the chopped cilantro.

Makes 4 first-course servings.

Elegant doesn’t have to mean expensive. You can still ring in the new year with a bit of panache if you’re smart about where to part with a few bucks and where to save your pennies.

Lower-end sparkling wines put the fizz in your festive cocktails for just a few dollars, as explained in this week’s A la Carte. When you mix in fruit juices and a splash of liqueur, the swill’s sweetness just adds to the enjoyment.

Partying on a budget, perhaps predictably, was the topic of a recent Newsday story. Writer Lauren Chattman offered a few savvy strategies for maximizing flavors of some inexpensive ingredients.

Purchase cheeses like Brie from Costco, rather than a gourmet grocer, and bake it to intensify the aroma and taste.

Unwrap a 1-pound wheel of Brie and trim the rind away from one end. Return it to the bottom of its box, rind side down, place on a baking sheet and bake in a 300-degree oven until just melted, about 30 minutes. Let your guests scoop the melted Brie, right from the box, onto slices of baguette. For added appeal, serve with chutney or marmalade, even leftover cranberry sauce if it was part of your Christmas feast.

Wild mushrooms come at a premium, with truffles the ultimate luxury. But a tablespoon or two of truffle-flavored oil can add luxurious flavor to inexpensive appetizers. Try drizzling 2 tablespoons of truffle oil over 2 quarts of salted popcorn (sprinkle 1⁄2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese on as well, if you’d like). Or drizzle 2 tablespoons of truffle oil over a pizza topped with sauteed button mushrooms and ricotta cheese.

Don’t forget about eggs. They’re cheap, versatile and make perfect, little bites. Deviled eggs can be flavored with just about any seasoning (curry powder, pesto, anchovy paste). I’ve been stocking wasabi as a pantry staple for several years now and use it to jazz up tuna salads and even mashed potatoes, which had Thanksgiving guests raving.

Chattman suggests topping wasabi-spiked eggs with salmon roe instead of caviar. If you can’t find fish eggs in the Rogue Valley, consider substituting a few salad shrimp.

If you want to get really frugal, reach for beans. Cooked garbanzo beans, drained, roasted and tossed with salt and a mixture of spices (try cumin, coriander and chili powder) are as tasty as salted cashews for a fraction of the price. And, of course, homemade hummus costs just a few cents compared with several dollars, even at Costco. Plus it’s tastier.

When I found myself short on supplies to create a dish to share at a chef’s birthday party last year, I made dip from white beans and homegrown, roasted garlic and served it topped with za’atar, an unusual spice blend from the Middle East. For my minimal effort, I got a bunch of kudos from the crowd.

Here are some recipes from Newsday in the same vein. 

MCT photo

Lemony White Bean Dip With Pita Chips

6 (6-inch) pita breads, split and cut into 8 wedges each

Nonstick cooking spray, as needed

2 teaspoons paprika

Salt, to taste

2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed

2 garlic cloves, peeled coarsely chopped

1 cup tightly packed fresh parsley leaves

1⁄4 cup lemon juice

1⁄4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread the pita wedges on baking sheets in a single layer and spray with some of the nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with the paprika and salt and bake until crisp and golden, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheets and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Place the beans, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, oil and 2 tablespoons water in work bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl once or twice, as necessary. Scrape mixture into a small bowl and season with salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 1 day. Makes 2 cups.

Let dip come to room temperature and serve with pita chips and raw vegetables for dipping.

MCT photo

Wasabi Deviled Eggs With Salmon Roe

8 large eggs

1⁄3 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons wasabi powder

2 scallions, white and light green parts, finely chopped

Salt, to taste

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons salmon roe (available in refrigerator case near fish at most supermarkets and fish markets)

Place the eggs in a pan in a single layer and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring water to a boil over high heat, cover pan, remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water to chill for 5 minutes.

Peel eggs and halve lengthwise. Scoop yolks into small bowl and mash with a fork until smooth. Stir in the mayonnaise, wasabi powder and scallions. Season to taste with the salt.

Spoon yolk mixture back into whites. (At this point, eggs can be placed on a platter, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 1 day). Top each egg with 1⁄2 teaspoon salmon roe just before serving.

Makes 16 servings.

Even though I’ve spent more time writing about holiday sweets than actually making them, I’m about to gag on the phrase “Christmas cookie.”

What I really need, like so many of the rest of us, amid this harried season is a cup of cheer — preferably brimming with something alcoholic. The newspaper’s A la Carte section and Holiday 101 page provided plenty of ideas over the past few weeks for festive wines, beers, cocktails and even local labels for gift-giving.

And, of course, there was a story on festive food-and-drink pairings. But why confine the concept to canapes and entrees? With all of those hard-won cookies on hand, how about some tips for maximizing their appeal with a little tipple?

Earlier this month, The Associated Press profiled Cookies & Corks, a Virginia-based company founded by two bakers who realized the appeal of cookies with wine. After selling gourmet cookies for several years, Leah Kuo and Laura Englander hit on a new marketing concept of cookies created for specific types of wine.

Gingerbead cookies are a nice match with riesling / AP Photo

Here are a few more pairing tips from the AP’s story:

Match gingerbread with riesling or gewurztraminer, both aromatic white wines. The spiciness of the cookie brings out the honey and peach notes of the wines, according to Pamela Heiligenthal, co-founder and editor of Enobytes.com. Lace cookies also are nice with late-harvest riesling, which complements the cookie’s delicacy.

Shortbread is a good match for sparkling wine or blanc de blanc Champagne (sparkling wine from France’s Champagne region made from chardonnay grapes). The light, dry flavors of the bubbles cut through the firm, crumbly, butteriness of the cookie, says Heiligenthal.

Sherry is a standby for sweet pairings, with amontillado-style sherry a choice that goes well with rich desserts. Between dry and sweet, it contrasts nicely with desserts without overpowering them.

Cheers!

Readers of this blog post either are relaxed and ready for Christmas while the rest of rush around and finish shopping, or are still browsing for last-minute, edible gift ideas.

If your interest is the latter, I don’t have to tell you that time’s running out to get in the kitchen and emerge with some treats. Happily, there’s a strategy that doesn’t involve turning on the oven or stove, comes together quickly and dirties just a few utensils. A food processor, however, is practically an essential.

I speak, of course, of the liquor-laced sweets known by whichever booze the cook chooses to infuse: rum, bourbon, whiskey or any flavored liqueur. If you known someone who likes to keep a flask handy, they’ll love these, as will many people who don’t often drink spirits on their own.

When my enthusiasm for all things rolled out, cut out and decked out was exhausted a couple of years back, I whipped up a batch of rum balls the night before a holiday party. In the time it takes to mix up cookie dough not to mention bake it off, I had enough rum balls to save some for tailgating at the next week’s Rose Bowl.

Here are a couple of classic recipes courtesy of McClatchy News Service, plus one that caught my eye for its coffee liqueur and instant coffee granules combined with chocolate wafer cookies. It should appeal equally to morning java junkies and the cocktail-hour set.

Whichever you choose, have some fun rolling these in colored sugar or crushed candies, like toffee or peppermint. 

MCT photo

 Bourbon Balls

1 (11-ounce box) vanilla wafers

1⁄3 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

2⁄3 cup finely chopped walnuts

2⁄3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon, unsweetened cocoa powder

2⁄3 cup bourbon or whiskey

Finely grind the vanilla wafers in a blender or food processors. Place the sugar in a bowl and set aside. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand until all bourbon is absorbed. Roll mixture between palms of your hands to form a ball about the diameter of a quarter. Roll in granulated sugar.

Makes about 3 dozen quarter-sized balls

— Recipe from “Sugar, Sugar: Every Recipe Has a Story,” by Kimberly Reiner and Jenna Sanz-Agero (Andrews McMeel, $29.99).

Rum Balls

1 (11-ounce) package vanilla wafers, in fine crumbs

5 tablespoons rum

1 (11-ounce) package chocolate chips

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Finely chopped nuts, for rolling

In a medium bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and bourbon. Melt the chocolate chips and stir in the sweetened condensed milk until mixed; gradually add cookie-crumb mixture. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in the nuts. Store tightly covered.

Makes 51⁄2 dozen-plus quarter-sized balls.

Chocolate-Coffee Snowballs

1⁄3 cup coffee liqueur

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1 (9-ounce) package chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed

3⁄4 cup sifted powdered sugar, plus more for rolling

3⁄4 cup chopped almonds, toasted

Combine the liqueur, corn syrup and instant coffee granules. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes. Stir until granules dissolve. Combine the cookie crumbs, 3⁄4 cup powdered sugar and chopped almonds; stir well. Pour coffee mixture over crumb mixture, stirring well. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in powdered sugar twice to coat well. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Makes about 4 dozen.

— Recipe from “Southern Living: 1001 Ways to Cook Southern” (Oxmoor House, $34.95).

It’s almost as anxiously anticipated in Oregon’s winter as snowfall on the Cascades — Dungeness crabbing’s return to the coast.

The commercial season officially opened Thursday after a few weeks’ delay to let the crabs pack on a few more pounds. That’s good news for everyone who celebrates their holidays with a crab feed.

My family already got its fix the weekend before Thanksgiving. Recreational crabbing is open in bays year-round, and we enjoyed a red-letter day. While sun was scanty, the region was experiencing a daylong lull between winter storms, and there was hardly a whisper of wind to mar the surface Coos Bay — almost as calm as glass.

Although some crustaceans were still a bit soft in the legs, we caught plenty with the help of friends — crabbing newbies — for the classic crab-crack with plenty left over for our a favorite family recipe: Creamy Crab and Egg Bake, mentioned in a previous post.

As usual, my dad cooked the crabs in salted water over a portable propane burner in our driveway. The method not only keeps the stench and mess outside, but adds a festive air to the year’s first crab boil.

Even if you don’t catch your own, it’s well worth it to buy live crabs and cook them yourself. Copious tips for purchasing, cooking, cleaning and picking crabs can be found at the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission website.

Our young friends eagerly took to the unfamiliar techniques for excising all the meat from the shells. Too bad our fingers were too messy to shoot some video footage of the fun.

If your family cooks up some special recipes or makes its memories around the dinner table, we’d love to get in on the action. Post the video to our Cooking on Camera page and enter the recipe in our Recipe Box, and you’d be eligible to win a gift certificate to The Kitchen Company in Grants Pass.

Strangely enough, an East Coast lover of that region’s blue crabs responded to our video query. While we didn’t find it particularly useful to Rogue Valley readers and it wasn’t really relevant to our contest, this short film does furnish some ideas for producing your own online cooking show.

If you lack recipes for crab, here’s a new one from The Associated Press, billed as ideal for holiday entertaining. It borrows the flavors of creamy crab dip and adds some veggies and starch to turn it into a meal. If your crab is already picked, Creamy Crab and Rice Casserole takes just 25 minutes to assemble and 20 minutes to bake. 

AP photo

Creamy Crab and Rice Casserole

1 red bell pepper, cored and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium red onion, peeled and quartered

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3⁄4 teaspoon salt, divided

1⁄2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

3 cups cooked long-grain white rice

1 pound Neufchatel cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup mayonnaise

1⁄2 cup milk

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

2 pounds lump crab meat

1⁄4 cup chopped, fresh chives or scallions

3 tablespoons butter

1 1⁄2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1⁄2 teaspoon paprika

Heat oven to 400 F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a food processor, pulse together the red pepper, celery and red onion until finely chopped.

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the olive oil. Add chopped vegetables, the garlic, black pepper and 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt. Saute until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the corn and rice, then spoon into bottom of prepared baking pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, milk and Old Bay Seasoning. Gently stir in the crab and chives. Spoon over rice mixture.

Return skillet to burner over medium heat. Add the butter and melt, then remove skillet from heat. Add the panko, paprika and remaining 1⁄4 teaspoon salt, then stir until well-mixed. Sprinkle evenly over top of crab mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 16 servings.

I blame those cute, little star, snowflake and tree shapes for tempting me to embark on cookie baking at possibly the most hectic time of the year.

Surely this year will be different, I always think. I diligently assemble ingredients, equipment and packaging, follow recipes and set to work decorating with years of art classes to my credit, no less. But my cookies always are disappointing — amateurish and not particularly appetizing.

The fault, I’ve realized, lies with rushing the process a bit. Baking is not one of the ways I unwind, certainly not as the clock closes in on midnight with the counters still covered in flour and sugar slurry.

So last year, I skipped sugar cookies altogether. While helpful and timely, not even this week’s A la Carte story on decorating tips and techniques could spur me to action. Yet feeling a rolling pin under my palms and fitting the cookie cutters onto a slab of dough like so many puzzle pieces are as linked to the season as the smell of pine or the sound of crinkling wrapping paper.

Thanks to The Associated Press, I think I’ve found a way to satisfy the urge to cut out a few cookies. I ran across this recipe last year for a peppermint-spiked chocolate tart that uses sugar-cookie dough for the shell and to decorate the top. Combined with other elements, the cookies make for an interesting dessert that justifies the baker’s effort. Best of all, the tart filling is a simple ganache, and the whole thing can be prepared ahead of time and easily transported to holiday gatherings.

I happen to love peppermint, particularly with chocolate, and would be inclined to try even more sweet suggestions from a new story posted to our Holiday 101 page. But this tart also would be delicious with orange or almond extracts, even plain, old vanilla.

Likewise, cookie shapes could range from elegant holly leaves to playful snowmen. I plan to use a delicate dove-shaped cutter for the cookies, which never seem to look right with icing but would be lovely dusted with powdered sugar.

AP photo

Chocolate-Peppermint Snowflake Tart

1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1⁄2 cup sugar

3⁄4 cup (1 1⁄2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 1⁄4 cups heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 1⁄2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Heat oven to 375 F.

In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until mixture forms a dough, about 30 seconds.

Remove dough from processor and break off about a third of it. Set this aside.

Press remaining dough into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Use a fork to prick bottom of crust all over. Freeze for 15 minutes, then bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until center of bottom feels firm.

Meanwhile, make snowflake cookies. Roll out reserved dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 1⁄8 inch thick. Move dough to a baking sheet, including parchment paper, then refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Use 1- to 2-inch cookie cutters to cut out 8 to 10 snowflakes (of multiple sizes, if desired). If dough becomes too soft, you may need to chill it in refrigerator as you work. Once all cookies are cut, transfer them to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Bake snowflakes for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on size of cookies), or until firm. Cool cookies on baking sheet.

To make ganache filling, in a small saucepan over medium, heat the cream until simmering. Add the chocolate and let sit off heat for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract, then pour into baked tart shell. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

When ready to serve, dust snowflake cookies with powdered sugar, then arrange them on top of tart.

Makes 8 servings.