The title above should remind you that, at one time, Annalena studied literary criticism. I will explain what it means to those not in the know, and that means everyone but moi.
I am extremely interested in foods that "transcend their signifiers," while also maintaining them. What does this academic bs mean? Well, let me give you an example.
The famous television chef, Marianne Esposito gives a recipe in one of her books for dried cherry sweet rolls. At the end of her exposition, she says "I serve these on Christmas morning." Now, that makes sense to me in a very real way: sweet, rich and the touches of bright red throughout them. Of course they would signify Christmas. But what I want to know is: does she serve them ONLY on Christmas, or does she also serve them at other times. And, going a bit deeper, if she does serve them at other times, did they start as non-Christmas items that became holiday food, or vice versa? It is the second group that interests me.
We can think of many examples of foods that fall into the first group: everyone has a specialty dish, that people ask for on the holidays. At New Years, our guests always want my artichoke cheese dip. It did not start as New Years' food, but it has acquired a patina of "New Years" I'm sure you all can think of others, for any holiday. Then there are foods that, really have become "locked" in certain traditions. For example, egg nog: if you can find eggnog other than the period between Thanksgiving and New Years, you are lucky. Those disgusting candies, Cadbury Creme Eggs. Look for them (if you dare), at times other than Easter. Panettone? I see it sold all year, but does anyone buy it or eat it? Fruitcake???? Cranberries????
See what I mean? Now, let's look at foods that HAVE made that jump, for whatever reason.
Oranges were always associated with the Yule season. I believe that is because they were ridiculously expensive, and intended only as a special treat. As they became more widely available, and cheaper, they became everyday food. Can you think of others?
So, that's what I mean about transcending the signifier: for these foods, they , at one time "signified" Xmas or some o ther holiday. If you were dropped into a living room, from outer space, and had no sense of what time of year it was, if you saw certain foods on the table, you knew that there was a holiday.
One of the classes of foods that has tried to make this jump, is stuffing, or more correctly, (at least to me), dressing. We all have favorite turkey stuffing recipes. (Now, let me clarify a term here, before we go on. I use "stuffing" to refer to foods that are actually used to fill the bird, and cook inside of it. "Dressing" is of the form of stuffing, but is cooked separately. The terms are used very loosely. For example, the recipe I present here was described as a stuffing. It never went into the bird). You can buy this hideous product "stove top stuffing," that I guess is supposed to replace potatoes or rice or whatever else you would be serving with your protein at dinner.
Does anyone actually buy that stuff? Does anyone eat it? EWWWWWW.
Well, dressings are very big "transgressors" to me. If I find one that I truly like, it becomes a part of my repertoire, and shows up at other times of year. This is one of those - a new one. It's custardy, which is a plus in my book. It's easy, which is also good. It's rich, even better, and it makes a lot. And you can do any kind of variations on it. Again, there is a method here, that you should study, learn and adapt.
The good cooks will see it right away. I would bet you that, having finished reading this, my freind Franklin has five or six variations of it in mind right away (incidentally, Franklin, based on your mac and cheese I made one this weekend. MMMMM GOOD).
Here we go. First, let's get our meat mixture done. You need a pound of sausage meat - spicy is good, fennel is good, sweet is good, whatever you like. When I say sausage meat, many butchers and farmers markets will sell you their sausage meat in bulk, i.e, without casings. But if you can only get sausages in their casings, just cut through the tube and pull out the meat . You all know how to pull out meat, don' t you? Put that aside, and dice up a cup each of celery, onion, and your favorite apple type, which should be peeled and cored. You also want to dice a few cloves of garlic, and get some fresh herbs ready. If it's pork, think sage. If you are already thinking variations and thinking merguez sausage (were you thinking that Franklin? I bet you were thinking of something else...), think rosemary. If you were thinking chicken or turkey sausage (getting warm, Franklin?), think another complementary herb, based on what the sausage already has in it . (Incidentally, I bet Franklin is thinking of smoked turkey meat that he's gonna grind like sausage, cause he's like that...).
Put some oil in a pan, and add the meat. Saute' it unitl it browns. You'll need to break it up as you go along, because these sausage meats are dense and they clump. Then take out the sausage, put it aside, and cook everything else in the drippings. It will take you less than ten minutes to do the sausage, and about 5 to do everything else. Mix it together.
Next, you need a bread base. I would stay away from the truly rich breads, and anything with fruit in it. Go for European style, bland breads. The recipe I used called for baguette. I used ciabatta, and I was perfectly happy with it. Rye bread would be nice. So would sourdough, I think. In any event, you need about a pound of it, that you cube in about one inch cubes. Keep the crust on those cubes. Add the bread to the sausage mix
Mix together a cup of whole milk, a cup of chicken stock and then a couple of tablespoons of melted butter. Whisk in three large eggs. Now pour all of that into the bread/sausage mix. Pour all of it into a 9x13 inch, buttered baking dish, get it in the oven, and bake for about 45-50 minutes, at 350.
Your home is going to smell positively wondeful as this cooks. You will be tempted to go in and eat three pieces before you serve it. Personally, I see nothing wrong with that, but you and your guests might consider it rude.
Now, I hope you see that this certainly does serves as a side to a turkey. But can you see it as breakfast or lunch? It is , essentially, a big ole' savory bread pudding, and who doesn't like that?
Change things. For example, if you want to go vegetarian, switch out the sausage for a pound of sauteed mushrooms (Jeremy? You listening, bud?). Maybe work some hot sauce into it, and put a second cup of milk in instead of the chicken stock. Got any other ideas?
Franklin, this one is for you. I KNOW you're gonna make a variation on it, I'm gonna copy it, "and the beat goes on."
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