Black Bean Casserole

9 six-inch corn tortillas
1 one-pound bag black beans, cooked (or two cans, rinsed)
3 cups cooked rice
1 cup sour cream
¾ pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 four-ounce can chopped green chiles
2 cups salsa

Preheat oven to 375. Mix cooked rice with beans, 1.5 cup salsa, sour cream and chiles. Lay 3 tortillas on the bottom of a dish. Spoon ½ mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle with cheese. Repeat with 3 tortillas, rice and cheese. Finish with remaining 3 tortillas and ½ cup salsa and cheese. Cook 20-25 minutes until bubbly. Serve with sour cream, salsa and chips.

Serves 12, with leftovers
9 cups kosher salt for brining, plus 1 tablespoon for the spice mixture
1 (15 pound) whole leg of pork, bone-in, skin-on
1 cup fennel seeds
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
8 garlic cloves
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 10 lemons)
2 cups spicy olive oil, such as Arbequina

One week prior to cooking, brine the pork. You can ask your butcher to brine the leg for you, or do it yourself: Dissolve three cups salt in 2 gallons cold water in a five-gallon bucket. After the salt is dissolved, add ice to bring the water up to the three-gallon mark to ensure that the brine is very cold. Place the whole leg in the brine and refrigerate for up to a week. (If refrigerator space is a consideration, a sturdy five-gallon bag, sealed tightly, would also work.) I like to change the brine every couple of days, using up to 9 cups of salt.

The night before serving the pork, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the leg from the brine and allow it to air dry, or pat dry with paper towels. With a sharp paring knife, make parallel incisions about 1 inch apart the length of the pork through the skin and fat of the leg, almost to the meat. Repeat, covering the entire skin of the leg with the incisions.

Lightly toast the fennel seeds in a dry large nonstick pan over medium heat until just fragrant; let cool. In a food processor, pulse the cooled fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic and the 1 tablespoons salt until roughly chopped. Generously press the spice mixture into the incisions in the leg.

Place the leg of pork in a roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes. The pork should be deep golden brown in color and very aromatic. Mix the lemon juice with the oil and pour over the browned pork leg. Turn the oven down to 225 degrees F and continue to roast for about 12 hours. Baste with the pan juices every few hours, if you like, or just leave it to cook. In the morning I will baste a few times. Check the pork frequently after 11 hours; the meat should fall off the bone and the skin should be a deep golden brown.

To serve, remove the cracking skin and then pull the meat with a form into long pieces. Drizzle the pork with the remaining pan juices, or serve the jus on the side. Serve the cracking skin, cracking it into pieces, if you wish, as a garnish with the pork (some think it’s the best part).

Grilled Quail
12 quail, halved
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Place quail in a ceramic dish. Pour olive oil over and sprinkle with fresh thyme sprigs. Generously salt and pepper. While dish is marinating, prepare grill.

If available, use hickory wood for grilling. Let wood come to high heat, then place quail on grill and cook 6-10 minutes, depending on level of heat.

Alternately, the quail can be baked in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

4 ½ cups unbleached, unbromated white bread flour
¾ cup unbromated whole-wheat bread flour
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
2 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon water
1 cup plus 2 teaspoons starter

Place flours, salt, starter and water in mixing bowl.

Begin mixing at low speed (#2 on Kitchen Aid Mixer with a dough hook) for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, increase speed (#4 on Kitchen Aid Mixer) for 2 more minutes.

The temperature of the dough should be between 72°F and 80°F. The dough should be soft to the touch and moist feeling, but should not stick to fingers. Place dough in a bowl that had been lightly dusted with flour. Cover with plastic and let rise for 1 hour. Fold the dough by lifting each of the corners of dough and folding them into the center. Cover the dough with plastic and return to a warm, draft-free place for another hour. Repeat this folding process a second time, and let rest for a third hour.

Since you are making one loaf, no dividing is needed.

Shape the dough into a boule. Lightly dust a banneton with flour. Place the dough in the banneton, seam side up. Throw a light film of flour over the top to keep the plastic from sticking, and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Let the dough proof for 2½-3 hours in a warm, draft-free place.

Place a piece of parchment paper on a bread peel. Turn the dough onto the peel, bottom side up. Using a single-edged razor blade, score the loaf, just barely breaking through the skin and cutting about ⅛ inch into the dough. Bake at 450°F for about 40 minutes until the bread is a deep golden brown with a crisp crust and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

9 cups egg whites
10.5 cups sugar
2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar
6 cups cake flour
1.5 cups almond flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2-3 tablespoons local honey, jam or caramel sauce

Mise en place all ingredients. Add two cups of the sugar to the flour and sift.

Whisk the Cream of Tartar into the remaining sugar. On high speed, whip the egg whites while gradually sprinkling in the sugar. Whip to a medium peak.

Gradually fold the dry mixture into the egg whites. Use a fold motion and not a stirring motion, as this may deflate the egg whites. Make sure there are no streaks of flour in the batter.

Divide between 4 pans and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door during this time. Continue baking for an additional 35 minutes.

Once cake has cooled, slice the cake and lightly butter each side. Lay them in a non-stick skillet and pan fry over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Turn the slices and fry until lightly browned on the other side.

Transfer each slice to a plate and immediately drizzle with honey. If you want to use jam or caramel sauce, dump it into a hot pan off the heat, stirring it until it melts, then spoon it over the cake slices.

Makes 5 servings

1 pint fresh oysters, shucked
½ cup butter
1 quart milk
1 pint cream
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Several dashes Tabasco sauce
Paprika for sprinkling, if desired

Drain the oysters over a bowl, reserve liquid and set aside. Melt the butter in a heave two-quart saucepan. When it bubbles, add the drained oysters. Cook and stir over low heat for about 10 minutes, until oysters are well done.

Add the drained liquid from the oysters, plus the milk, cream, salt, white pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Taste and season.

Sprinkle lightly with paprika, if you wish, and serve with oyster crackers, dropping several into each bowl as a garnish just before serving.

Serves 4
3 cups half-and-half
1 cup fine cornmeal, white, yellow or mixed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 7-inch round casserole or soufflé dish.

Scald the half-and-half in a heavy pan by bringing it almost to a boil, creating tiny bubbles around the outside. Pour a steady stream of cornmeal into the half-and-half, whisking constantly. Continue cooking until it forms a thick mush. Remove the heat and stir in the butter and salt. Let cool slightly.

Beat the egg yolks until pale yellow and stir them into the corn mush.

Whisk the egg whites with a stand mixer until the form stiff peaks. Gently fold the whites into the corn mush.

Pour the corn batter into the prepared dish and bake in the center of the oven for 35 minutes; at this point, feel the top and see if it’s wobbly or runny. If it is, return to the oven until cooked, up to 10 minutes or so longer.

The surface should be puffy and golden brown and resemble a soufflé. Serve hot.

Marie’s Hot Chocolate

Serves 4-6

4 cups whole milk
1 cup Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips
2-4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch or two of cayenne
Pinch of kosher salt

Place milk, cacao chips and sugar in a saucepan and heat to medium until chips are melted and milk is hot. Remove and add remaining ingredients. Stir well.

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
1 cup dark Karo syrup
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 cup pecan pieces, toasted
¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup bourbon
1 unbaked pie shell

Combine the Karo syrup, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a rolling bowl, stirring steadily, for two minutes. Remove from heat and add 3 tablespoons butter.

Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Pour in hot syrup mixture slowly and beat with a wire whisk.

Add the toasted pecan pieces, chocolate chips and bourbon and mix together. Pour into an unbaked pie shell and bake for 45-50, until filling is firm. Cool before cutting.

Serves 10
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
4 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
½ cup chopped scallion
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 16-ounce can tomatoes, with juice
1 8-inch piece Polish or Andouille sausage, sliced
4 thin smoked pork chops, cubed
1/8 teaspoon each ground allspice, cloves, mace, coriander and cardamom
3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
1 gallon water
4 pounds fresh okra, sliced
2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
½ pound crabmeat

Cook vegetable oil and all-purpose flour together in a heavy cast-iron skillet. Transfer to a 2-gallon pot and add everything but the seafood. Simmer for one hour then add the seafood. Serve over rice.