Reading recipes
Butcher turns great books into something to savor
ABROOKLYN-based butcher serves up a literary feast in her new cookbook.
Some of the recipes in Cara Nicoletti’s “Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books,” out Tuesday, are inspired by an actual scene — like the “Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting” from Jonathan Franzen’s “The Corrections,” or “The Crostini with Fava Bean Mousse” from “The Silence of the Lambs” by Thomas Harris.
Others are more generally inspired as with the “Nancy Drew Double Chocolate Walnut Sundae.” Nicoletti wasn’t really a fan of the famous mystery series, in part because the blond teen detective teased her friend, Beth, so much about her weight. The sundae is for Beth to enjoy without guilt.
In case you’re wondering, in “The Corrections,” a character starts a disastrous affair with a woman who bakes him cupcakes with peppermint buttercream frosting. And the fava bean recipe came about because in “Silence of the Lambs,” Hannibal Lecter memorably confesses to eating a victim’s liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti.
Nicoletti’s love of food was in fact inspired by her love of reading.
“As a child, I was shy and I connected deeply with the characters in children’s literature,” explains the 29-yearold blogger and butcher. “And, children’s literature is full of food.”
Nicoletti grew up reading on a stool in her grandfather’s butcher shop in Wellesley, Mass. But it was only as a student at New York University that she took up a cleaver herself. Being around food was always a comfort, so the homesick girl starting interning at The Meat Hook butcher shop in Williamsburg.
In 2008, jobs were hard to come by, especially for a new graduate with a degree in literature hoping to land a gig in publishing. So, Nicoletti continued on at the butcher shop, eventually going full time. She also developed her skills as a pastry chef, working at various restaurants.
Nicoletti was soon made aware of how much culinary types love to read.
“They were among the smartest and most well-read people I ever met,” she says. “Every chef I knew was trying to write a novel.”
She decided to bring together her restaurant friends, who loved to read, with her bookish friends, who loved to eat, by staging literary dinners themed to a great book. For instance, the “Lord of the Flies” (William Golding) menu included the “Porchetta di Testa” recipe that’s in her cookbook.
The dinners led to her blog (yummy-books.com) and the blog led to the cookbook. Earlier this year, Nicoletti left The Meat Hook near her home in Williamsburg to work as a butcher in London and Sicily.
And the graduate no one in publishing would hire is now an author. “I’m loving this,” she laughs. As well she should. So chow down with a “White Garlic Soup” inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” (Austen mention’s white soup in “Pride,” but when Nicoletti tracked a recipe down, it was vile. She concocted her own version with garlic.)
Or enjoy some “Cherry Pie,” inspired by Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” about the 1959 murders of a Kansas farmer and his family. Nicoletti’s recipe is a heavily revised version of the pie baked on the day of the murders by one of the victims.
Chilling, but tasty, too.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE WHITE GARLIC SOUP
SERVES 6 TO 8 20 garlic cloves, peeled 2 cups whole milk 2 tablespoons
olive oil 20 garlic cloves, unpeeled 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 small white onion, roughly chopped Leaves of 5 thyme sprigs 4 cups chicken stock 1 cup heavy cream Kosher salt Freshly cracked black pepper 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
The night before making the soup (or at least 4 hours before), put the peeled garlic cloves in a bowl, cover with the whole milk, cover the bowl, and place in the refrigerator. This will help leach out the bitter, spicy edge of the garlic. After the garlic has soaked overnight, discard the milk and reserve the soaked garlic cloves. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the olive oil and unpeeled garlic cloves in a Dutch oven, cover, and roast until deeply golden brown, 30 to 45 minutes. Once the garlic cloves are roasted, squeeze them gently to remove them from their husks.
Heat the butter in a large stockpot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and thyme and cook until the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the chicken stock, cream, roasted garlic, and soaked raw garlic to the pot and increase the heat to medium. When the mixture comes to a gentle boil, lower the heat again and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat and transfer about onethird of it to a blender. (Note: Hot soup creates steam, and this steam has nowhere to go in a blender, which can lead to scary explosions if you don’t follow this tip: On the lid of your blender there should be a hole that is covered by either a cap or a wand. Remove the cap or the wand and cover the hole with a clean kitchen towel. This gives the steam room to escape, which means the hot soup won’t explode all over you.)
Blend the soup in batches until it is very smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, season with salt and pepper to taste, top with Parmesan, and serve.
IN COLD BLOOD CHERRY PIE
SERVES 8 Crust: 2½ cups all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and frozen ½ cup rendered leaf lard, cut into 6 pieces and frozen ¼ cup ice-cold water ¼ cup chilled vodka 1 large egg 1 tablespoon cream Filling: ¾ cup sugar ¼ cup cornstarch ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 2 pounds sour cherries, pitted and halved 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
Make the Crust:
Combine 1 ½ cups of the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse four times. Add the frozen butter and lard and process until the dough just begins to collect and none of the flour is uncoated, 15 to 20 seconds. Add the remaining 1 cup flour and pulse five times, until pea-sized lumps appear throughout.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the ice-cold water and vodka, using a rubber spatula to gently bring the dough together. It might seem stickier or tackier than you’re used to, but all of the vodka will evaporate when baked, so don’t fret!
Divide the dough into two even pieces and shape them into balls, being careful not to overhandle. Tightly wrap them in plastic and put them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
After 2 hours, roll out each ball of dough into a 12-inch round on a floured work surface. Stack them on a plate with a layer of greased parchment between them, put them back in the fridge, and preheat the oven to 425.
Make the Filling:
Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt and then add the cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla. Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and press one round into a 9-inch pie plate. Add the cherry filling, mounding it slightly in the center, and scatter the butter cubes all over the cherries.
Brush the edge of the bottom piecrust with water and gently drape the top crust over the cherries.
Fold the excess dough from the bottom crust over the excess dough from the top crust and crimp them together with the tines of a fork.
Cut several vents in the top crust to allow the steam to exit.
Mix the egg and cream together, brush the egg wash all over the crust, and dust with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 and continue baking until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 1 hour more. If the crust is getting brown too quickly, tent foil over it and continue to bake.
THE CORRECTIONS CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH PEPPERMINT BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
MAKES 2 DOZEN 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder 2 cups boiling water 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda ¾ teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2½ cups sugar 4 large eggs, room temp 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract Peppermint Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows)
In a medium, nonreactive bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, espresso powder, and boiling water and let it sit until cool, about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl intermittently.
Alternate adding the flour mixture and the cocoa powder mixture to the butter and sugar, beginning and ending with the flour, until everything is mixed together and smooth (be careful not to overmix). Pour the batter into the cupcake tins until they are two-thirds full.
Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Turn the cupcakes out onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract 3 to 5 tablespoons heavy cream
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and salt on medium-low until smooth, about 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the confectioners’ sugar until it is fully incorporated, being sure to scrape down the sides after each addition. Lower the speed to low and add the vanilla and peppermint extracts and 3 tablespoons of the cream. If the frosting feels too stiff, add 1 to 2 tablespoons more. Bring the speed up to high and whip for a solid minute to get it nice and fluffy. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes.