Happy Holidays!

I just entered the Bon Appetit "Blog Envy Holiday Bake-Off" and would love it if you took a few moments to log on to bonappetit.com and voted for my Pistachio and Dried Cherry Biscotti Dipped in Dark Chocolate

The winner will get a trip for two to New York City and dinner with Bon Appetit Editor-in-Chief Barbara Fairchild.

Click on the link below to vote.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/blogenvy/blog-envy-article

You have to vote in each category (my category is cookies)

and scroll all the way down on each screen to move through and submit on the last page.

Contest ends December 13.

Thanks so much.

 Sydne

SYDNE GEORGE PHOTO

Ann Whittlesey, left, and her neighbor Paula Olson

By SYDNE GEORGE For the Tribune

Chuck Olson calls his westside neighborhood “the best-kept secret in Great Falls.”

Ann Whittlesey calls it home.

“It’s not about the house you live in, but the neighbors you have,” Whittle­sey said.

Whittlesey recently won the Dreyer’s Slow Churned Neighborhood Salute contest this year after writing an essay about how she and her neighbors help one another. Whittlesey’s essay was one of 1,500 winners selected from more than 28,000 entries from across the country.

Dreyer’s sent her ice cream and fix­ings for her whole neighborhood, and they celebrated their big win in mid­September in the Olsons’ backyard.

“I don’t know what she tells them, but it must be something good,” neigh­bor Beverly Steen said. “She’s a real go­getter.”

Whittlesey actually has won the con­test three times since Dreyer’s began awarding neighborhoods ice cream block parties in 2004.

Hazel Goodau, who has lived in her westside house since she was born, said Whittlesey is one of the nicest neighbors she has ever had.

“She often comes over to see if I’m OK,” Goodau said. “She’s a wonderful neighbor.”

Chuck and Paula Olson, who have lived in their house for 33 years, nick­named Whittlesey the “Angel of the Neighborhood,” and the name seems to have stuck. “People that live around here have a tendency to stay,” Whittle­sey explained.

She moved into her house eight years ago and has been helping her neigh­bors ever since.

“She cleans the walk and mows our lawn,” Steen said. “We don’t ask her, but she just does it. We’ve been in our house for 40 years, just across the alley. We bought it in 1969 after we were married and raised our three children there.”

What comes around goes around.

“I may mow their yards,” Whittlesey said, “but they are always helping me out, too.”

This summer Chuck and his friend DeeJay Robinson helped move a deck onto Whittlesey’s house, and last sum­mer they put a new roof on her house.

Robinson and Olson have been friends since high school, and Robin­son said he has been adopted into the neighborhood.

“Everybody helps when a project needs to be worked on,” he said. “Ann’s a sweetheart. She’s a joy to be around.” Whittlesey said people joked after the ice cream block party saying, “Hey, Ann, are we going to do this again next year?”

She assured them she’ll do her best.

The Autumn issue of Signature Montana is out now.

Check out my food spread, Fabulous Flavors of Fall

http://signaturemontana.com/index.php?p=kitchen

FROM THE KITCHEN

Fabulous Flavors of Fall

By: Sydne George

Menu
Serves Eight

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Pearl Onions
Maple Braised Short Ribs with Browned Butter Noodles
Pastry-wrapped Baked Apples with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Salted Caramel Sauce

By SYDNE GEORGE For the Tribune

So what does the world’s oldest man eat? The answer is not much, at least not too much, Walter Breuning, who turned 113 on Monday, eats just two meals a day and has done so for the past 35 years. “I think you should push back from the table when you’re still hungry,” Breuning said. At 5 foot 8, (“I shrunk a little,” he admitted) and 125 pounds, Breuning limits himself to a big breakfast and lunch every day and no supper.

“I have weighed the same for about 35 years,” Breun­ing said. “Well, that’s the way it should be.” “You get in the habit of not eating at night, and you realize how good you feel. If you could just tell people not to eat so darn much.” His practice of skipping supper began when he first moved to Great Falls from Minneapolis in 1978. He lived in the Yel­lowstone Apartments at the time and would walk downtown to Schell’s in the Johnson Hotel or the Albon Club on the second floor for lunch.

In 1980, the Albon Club moved to the Rainbow Hotel, and the owners asked Breuning to be manager, which he did for 15 years.

“I never started eating supper again,” Breuning said.

He gets up at 6:15 in the morning and has a big breakfast every day at 7:30. Usually it’s eggs, toast or pancakes.

“You can order anything you want, just like a restaurant,” he said.

“I eat a lot of fruit every day.”

Gov. Brian Schweitzer sent Breuning a fruit basket after a recent visit.

“Boy, I tell you that was good fruit. I ate the whole darn thing,” Breuning said. “Peaches, pears, everything, it sure was good.”

In addition to eating fruit every day, Breuning also takes a baby aspirin.

“Just one baby aspirin,” he said, “but everybody gets that for their heart. That’s the only pill I ever take, no other medicine.”

And he drinks plenty of water.

“I drink water all the time,” he said, and just a bit of coffee. “I drink a cup and a half of coffee for breakfast and a cup with lunch.”

Breuning said he has been healthy all of his life and believes diet has a lot to do with it.

“If people could cut back on their nor­mal weight, it wouldn’t be quite so bad,” he commented. “They just eat too much!”

Breuning remembers his family hav­ing a cow, pigs, chickens and a big gar­den when he was growing up, like most people did in those days.

“Everybody was poor years ago,” he said. “When we were kids, we ate what was on the table. Crusts of bread or whatever it was. You ate what they put on your plate, and that’s all you got,” Breuning said.

Breuning recalls his mother being a good cook, though she died when she was 46 after an operation in Minneapo­lis. His wife was a good cook, too. They met when they worked in Butte for the railroad.

“Everything she made was good,” Breuning said. “We used to have lots of card parties, and they would always say what a good cook she was.”

While diet has contributed to his longevity, Breuning also believes that working hard was good for him.

“Work doesn’t hurt anybody,” he said, mentioning that he had two jobs, one working for the Great Northern Railway until he was 66 and the other as manag­er/ secretary for the local Shriner’s Club until he was 99.

These days, Breuning keeps busy talking with all of the peo­ple who visit the Rainbow Retirement Center interested in meeting the world’s oldest man.

Though his vision doesn’t allow him to read anymore, Bre­uning keeps his mind active by listening to the radio.

“My eyes are gone,” he said, “but I listen to the radio. I get all my news on KMON.”

Breuning started eating out 35 years ago, but said he doesn’t anymore.

“Once you get used to not eat­ing in restaurants, you don’t want to anymore,” he said. Besides, he’d rather eat at home, at the Rainbow Retirement Cen­ter.

“They have a lot of good food right here,” he said, “and good cooks.”

Breuning celebrated his 113th birthday with not one, but two cakes, one chocolate and one vanilla. And for his birthday lunch he got his favorite: liver and onions. 

 

lounging lazily in a soy-ginger marinade later emerged as the base for — would you believe — cashew chicken stir fry?

I remember pondering the puffy gougere with ham and mushrooms as Mom pulled it out of the oven and mentally back­tracking to inventory its individ­ual ingredients, all previously present in the refrigerator. Not to mention the faithful fallback — pork-fried rice. That was one dish Mom effortlessly could evoke on a moment’s notice, pulling frozen peas from the freezer compartment below with one hand and purveying pork roast, scallions, eggs and leftover rice from their respective posts with the other. Voila! Dinner’s on.

Somehow the MacGyver gene wasn’t passed on to me. Before I had kids, I would go to the gro­cery store every day. I’d think of something I wanted to make for dinner, and heaven forbid I should substitute something I had for something I didn’t, I’d head to the store and get exactly what the recipe called for.

Fast forward almost 15 years and two kids later, and you’re right. I no longer go to the gro­cery store every single day. And while I can’t say I’ve become my mother — she’ll always be able to out-MacGyver me — I have become a better meal planner. I can look at a whole week and map out what I am going to make to compile one weekly gro­cery list and stick to it, mostly.

I’ve even gotten better at Mac­Gyvering leftovers (thanks, Mom) into innovative, enticing creations my family doesn’t think are leftovers. “Piggyback menus,” I like to call them. Buy one meat item and cook it for meal No. 1. Save the extra and make it into meal No. 2. Monday, it’s Apricot-glazed Pork Tender­loin, Tuesday, it’s Cha-Cha-Cha Chimichangas, and no one is the wiser.

It sure beats staring into the refrigerator and wondering what in the world I am going to make for dinner or going to the gro­cery store every day.

Piggyback dinner plan

SYDNE GEORGE PHOTO

“Piggyback” meals require a little planning, but are worth the effort. Night one, serve pork tenderloin with apricot glaze. The next night, leftovers become cha-cha-cha chimichangas
If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for ways to minimize meal planning and limit leftovers lurking in the refrigerator. This week, plan to make apricot-glazed pork tender­loin for dinner one night. Then use the leftover pork for chimichangas the next.

APRICOT-GLAZED PORK TENDERLOIN

 12-ounce jar apricot preserves

 ¼ cup light corn syrup

 ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

 1¼ tsp. salt, divided

 1¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper

 ¼ tsp. ginger

 2 tbsp. brandy

 1 cup sliced almonds

 2-pound pork tenderloin roast

 ¼ cup olive oi1

 4 fresh rosemary sprigs

Preheat oven to 375°. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven.

In a medium heavy saucepan over medium high heat, combine preserves, corn syrup, cider vine­gar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ginger and brandy.

Boil briefly, stirring constantly, until mixture is thoroughly com­bined.

Add almonds. Set aside.

Place pork tenderloin roast in a shallow heavy roasting pan.

Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tea­spoon freshly ground pepper.

Roast uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove roast from oven and pour 1 cup of apricot glaze over the top of the roast, leaving the rest in the saucepan.

Return roast to the oven and continue baking for 15 minutes.

Rewarm remaining glaze in saucepan over medium heat while roast is finishing.

Remove roast from oven, tent with foil and let rest for 10 min­utes.

Slice roast into ½ inch slices.

Arrange slices attractively on plate. Top with apricot glaze and garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs.

Serves four with leftover for chimichangas.

SYDNE GEORGE PHOTO

CHA-CHA-CHA CHIMICHANGAS

 Leftover pork tenderloin (about 2 cups), cut into 1-inch cubes

 1 cup roasted red pepper, corn and black bean salsa

 ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated

 1 7-ounce can green chiles, diced (optional)

 8 burrito-sized flour tortillas

 8 toothpicks

 ½ cup sour cream

 1 tsp. chili powder, for garnish

 ½ cup minced fresh cilantro, for garnish

 1 cup roasted red pepper, corn and black bean salsa, for gar­nish

Preheat electric griddle to 300°.

In a medium bowl, combine pork tenderloin, 1 cup roasted red pepper, corn and black bean salsa, cheddar cheese and green chiles. Stir together until thor­oughly mixed. Place ¼ cup filling mixture in the center of each flour tortilla.

Fold left edge of tortilla into center, then right edge into cen­ter, then top down into center and finally bottom edge up to the center, making a square pack­age. Secure loose tortilla flaps with toothpick. Flip chimichanga so it is seam-side down. Repeat with remaining seven tortillas, making eight chimichangas.

Using a pastry brush, brush vegetable oil onto preheated griddle. Place chimichangas, seam-side down onto hot griddle and grill until golden brown, about three minutes. Turn and grill other side.

Serve warm with salsa and a dollop of sour cream sprinkled with chili powder.

Enjoy!

Les Feuilletons de Boeuf en Croute­
(Beef tenderloins in pastry)

Tomates a la Provencale
(Tomatoes stuffed with bread crumbs, herbs and cheese)

Mousseline au Chocolat
(Chocolate Mousse)

SYDNE GEORGE PHOTO
The French chef calls this Les Feuilletons de Boeuf en Croute. To the American cook it’s beef tenderloin in puff pastry.

BEEF TENDERLOIN STEAKS IN PASTRY

 1 17.3-ounce package puff pas­try, thawed

 ½ cup butter, divided

 8 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped

 2 tbsp. shallots, finely minced

 2 tsp. dried thyme

 6 6-ounce beef tenderloin steaks

 1 egg, beaten

Melt ¼ cup butter in a medium saute pan over medium high heat and saute mushrooms and shal­lots until softened. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

Wipe out pan. Heat remaining ¼ cup butter over medium high heat and sear steaks, browning both sides of each steak.

Place steaks on baking sheet, leaving ample room in between. Top each steak with 1-2 table­spoons mushrooms, covering the top of each steak.

Cut thawed puff pastry sheets to make covers for the steaks and drape over steaks.

Tuck edges of pastry around each steak, pressing to seal.

Use additional pastry to cut out decorations for the tops.

Brush pastry with beaten egg.

Bake at 425° for 18 minutes for rare, 22 minutes for medium and 26 minutes for well done.

Serves six.

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH BREAD CRUMBS, HERBS AND CHEESE

 6 medium tomatoes with stems intact

 ½ cup olive oil, divided

 2 cups fresh white bread crumbs

 ¼ cup freshly snipped basil, thyme and parsley

 ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper

 ½ tsp. sea salt

 1 clove garlic, minced

 ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Using a serrated knife, cut around the tops of the tomatoes, leaving the stem intact and removing the lids.

Scoop out insides of tomatoes with melon baller or spoon. Dis­card seeds and cores.

Wipe insides of tomatoes dry with paper towels.

Brush insides of tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Combine remaining ingredi­ents in medium bowl and stir until mixed together.

Stuff tomatoes with bread mix­ture and replace tomato lids.

Place stuffed tomatoes in oiled baking dish, in a single layer, not touching.

Bake in 425° oven with beef tenderloins for last 10-15 minutes of baking, being careful not to overbrown tomatoes.

Serves six.


SYDNE GEORGE PHOTO

Chocolate Mousse

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

 1 pint heavy whipping cream

 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

 2 tsp. almond extract

 1 6-ounce bittersweet chocolate bar, for chocolate curls

Begin the day before you plan to serve the mousse.

In a medium heavy saucepan, heat cream over medium high heat until simmering.

Add chocolate chips and whisk with wire whisk until completely smooth.

Add almond and whisk to com­bine.

Transfer to a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, pour mousse mixture into a chilled mixing bowl and beat with chilled beat­ers until stiff peaks form.

Spoon or pipe into individual serving bowls.

Using vegetable peeler, make chocolate curls with bittersweet chocolate bar.

Garnish chocolate mousse with chocolate curls.

Enjoy!

Guest writer

— Sydne George

Get creative when you have an overabun­dance of mint. Think mint syrup for iced tea, mint pesto, mint frozen in ice cubes or fla­voring mojitos. Or, as shown, use mint with a variety of fresh summer melons for a quick and deli­cious dessert.

PHOTO COURTESY SYDNE GEORGE

If ever there was a time when I should have listened to my mom, this was it.

“It will spread, you know,” she said, handing me the mud­splashed bucket with the lanky root-laden cuttings. “Keep it con­tained.”

I should have listened.

After all, she had grown prolif­ic peppermint for years in the family farm garden which pro­duced everything from raspber­ries and squash to beets and peapods. Even though I heard her sage words of advice, I threw caution to the wind. I planted the few straggly cuttings of pepper­mint she’d given me, unre­strained and free to roam, in my tiny newborn garden plot, hardly believing those gangly bits would survive.

Surveying the empty space remaining, my two young daugh­ters lovingly placed three painted plaster gift dwarfs in the ample unused earth, digging their feet into the freshly-tilled dirt.

Then, dragging their popsicle sticks through the soil, they drew grooves, scattering the self­selected sunflower, carrot, zin­nia, pea and bachelor button seeds that would become our first attempt at a garden.

Jump ahead a few years.

If you tried to sneak a peek at the dwarfs today you’d be out of luck. A garden patch no more, the mint has strangled out every vestige of vegetable or flower that dared to spread its roots in our petite plot. As for the dwarfs, they are nowhere to be found,

lost amongst the foliage that is now the peppermint forest.

So here I am faced with an overabundance of mint. Things could be worse, I know. When life gives you mint … make mojitos, I say.

Invest in a muddle (a stick used to mash beverage ingredi­ents in a glass) and crush away.

For four mojitos, using a muddle, crush three mint leaves and 1 teaspoon sugar in the bottom of each beverage glass. Add 1 table­spoon freshly squeezed lime juice and 1 ounce of rum. Fill each glass with crushed ice and pour club soda to fill. Stir to com­bine. Serve with a fresh mint sprig.

Make sugared mint leaves.

Paint washed and dried mint leaves with beaten egg white and shake in a bag filled with superfine sugar. Use the leaves to decorate cakes and desserts.

How about some minted ice cubes? Boil 2 cups water first to achieve clear cubes. Let cool to room temperature. Place one mint leaf in the bottom of each ice cube compartment. Pour pre­pared water over them. Freeze until solid. They’ll jazz up your summer beverages in a jiffy.

Mint syrup for iced tea, any­one? Bring 2 cups of water to a boil over medium heat, add ½ cup sugar and a cup of washed mint leaves. Let boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let sit until cooled to room temperature. Discard mint leaves. Store covered in the refrigerator. Use to sweeten iced tea.

In need of some foliage in your summer flower arrangements?

You’re in luck. Tucking sprigs of fresh mint into fresh flower bou­quets not only brightens the arrangement with color but adds an inviting aroma, as well.

Mix up some mint pesto. In a blender or food processor, com­bine ½ cup olive oil, ½ cup of fresh basil, ¼ cup mint leaves, 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup of pine nuts, ¼ cup fresh Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

Blend thoroughly. Use as an accompaniment to grilled lamb, chicken or pasta.

A minted melon salad is a quick and easy summer crowd pleaser. Using a melon baller, make melon balls from half of a small watermelon, half a can­taloupe and half a honey dew melon.

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil over medium heat, add ½ cup of sugar and a cup of washed mint leaves. Let boil until sugar is dis­solved. Remove from heat and let sit until cooled to room tempera­ture. Discard mint leaves. Place melon balls in a glass container and pour syrup over the fruit.

Cover and chill. Serve in stemmed glass dessert dishes with fresh mint leaves.

If you still have mint (and I admittedly do), I apologize.

Here’s my advice to you. If someone gives you mint to plant, corral it in a container. Partition it in a pot. Commit to keeping it contained, if you can. My mom was right. It will spread.

On the Road

— Sydne George

Hemingway once said, “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast.”

Having been fortunate enough to spend a week in Paris this summer, I’d have to agree.

Perusing Patricia Wells’ “Food Lover’s Guide to Paris” for restau­rants near the apartment we were renting, I found Ambassade D’Au­vergne, where we dined on our first night there.

The drama of their traditional tableside whipping of aligot, their sig­nature side dish consisting of pota­toes, cheese and garlic, is alive and well. My roast chicken with more cream, cooked to perfection and deli­cately sauced, arrived adorned with peeled fingerling potatoes so tenderly sauteed they melted in my mouth. The wineWells recommended, Chan­turgue, a pinot noir from vineyards near Clermont-Ferrand, whispered of berries and paired perfectly with the earthy morel sauce.

Walking to a nearby brasserie rec­ommended by Rick Steves in his Paris guidebook proved a great choice on our second night. I savored every bite of the Brochettes du Boeuf Grille aux Herbes atop a bed of the provincial vegetable ratatouille, bursting with fresh seasonal flavors, and every sip of the Cotes du Rhone.

No self-respecting food enthusiast makes the trip to Paris without stop­ping at La Grande Epicerie, the gourmet grocery in the Bon Marche.

My nervous excitement got the best of me as we inched closer to our destination. Wandering through the ground floor of the Bon Marche, I approached a cosmetics clerk and blurted out, “Je m’appelle Anglais,” meaning to ask her if she spoke Eng­lish and instead telling her my name was English. Feeling foolish and reacting to her dumbfounded response, we quickly turned and left the building only to find La Grande Epicerie directly across the street.

Oh, to have unlimited time and money in La Grande Epicerie. I could have spent the whole day there drool­ing over gourmet delicacies from around the world. Our best find was the macaron cafe, a crisp coffee-fla­vored French macaron filled with melt-in-your-mouth coffee cream.

The next day included a visit to the Musee Rodin and lunch at their museum cafe. My husband, Mike, ordered the plat du jour which includ­ed a square of their gratin dauphi­nois, a side dish of thinly sliced pota­toes layered with cream and cheese and baked into a heavenly heap.

A highlight for all of us was dining at the Eiffel Tower on day six of our trip, where we enjoyed fine food, spectacular views and exceptional service. It was here at 58 Tour Eiffel, their first-floor restaurant, that our fruit salad dessert featured pitaya, a white fruit with tiny black seeds, which tasted much like a mild fla­vored watermelon.

Our waiter told me pitaya comes from Thailand and finally wrote down fruit’s name after I repeatedly asked for the spelling of the word.

All good things must come to an end, and suddenly it was our last day in Paris. Feeling obligated to sample something spectacular before we left, we returned to La Fougasse, a favorite boulangerie close to our apartment, for one last pastry.

We were not alone in our quest. The line of loyal customers wound down the block this Sunday morning. I ordered a Choux Chantilly avec Framboises which was truly out of this world, kept the signature doily it arrived upon and vowed to replicate the recipe to the best of my abilities upon my return. Au revoir!

Choux Chantilly avec Framboises 

Check out my column:

FROM THE KITCHEN

Simple & Sublime

By: Sydne George

http://signaturemontana.com/index.php?p=kitchen