Wonder Woman of the High South - Paula Jo Henry

Who; Paula Jo Henry

Where: Crepes Paulette, Bentonville

What: Pumpkin Cheesecake (Fausse) Mousse

Dighero’s Insights: Paula Jo Henry might be the hardest-working woman in the food biz of Arkansas – first, as owner and operator of the Crepes Paulette food truck, undeniably the most coveted culinary experience of its time at the Bentonville Farmers Market, and now, guiding that success into the award-winning brick and mortar paradigm of the same name, also located in Bentonville. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Fausse) Mousse

Pumpkin butter ingredients:

3 ½ cups steamed, pureed sugar pumpkin (or canned pumpkin)

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Pinch of salt

1 ½  to 2 cups water

Technique:

Preheat oven to 450. Mix all ingredients until smooth (mixture should be “soupy”). • Pour into greased 8” x 8” pan. • Bake for 20 minutes. • Remove from oven and stir. • Repeat this step two more times, until liquid has evaporated, leaving a creamy, smooth paste. • Let cool.

Mousse ingredients:

2 cups heavy whipping cream (cold)

1/3 cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

½ cup cream cheese

¾ cup pumpkin butter

Cinnamon

Speculaas cookies (or other buttery, crisp cookie), crushed

Technique:

Combine the cream, powdered sugar and cream of tartar in a pre-chilled bowl and whip to hard peaks (1 to 2 minutes on high with electric mixer). • Place in refrigerator. • Gently warm the cream cheese in double boiler or microwave and whip until smooth. • Add the pumpkin butter and mix until fully incorporated. • Retrieve the whipped cream from the refrigerator and fold in the pumpkin mixture with a large rubber scraper until just uniform. Do not overmix. • Keep in the refrigerator until serving. • Serve topped with a little cinnamon and a generous sprinkling of fine cookie crumbs.

  Makes 10 half-cup servings.

 Paula says to load mousse into a piping bag or Ziploc with a frosting tip of your choice and “pipe” into stemmed champagne or wine glasses.

Full Article Here: https://www.citiscapes.com/eats-drinks

Wonder Woman of the High South - Crescent Dragonwagon

Who: Crescent Dragonwagon

What: A Salad for Fall

Dighero’s Insights: There are those in life who inspire by merely breathing the same air as we do. Crescent Dragonwagon is one of those people. Her positive, sincere energy has been a welcome addition to the High South food scene since her recent move to Fayetteville from Vermont. Her reputation as award-winning cookbook author and owner of the iconic Dairy Hollow House Inn in Eureka Springs precedes her. And, we’re thrilled to have her in the folds of our community, teaching at Brightwater, sipping tea at the Fayetteville Public Library and even leading fierce writing workshops in her home. Her recipes are delicious, smart and narrative in nature – guaranteed to make you a better person when you make them this holiday season.

 

A Salad for Fall

Ingredients:

4 to 5 small, or 2 to 3 large, fresh beets (ideally, mixed varieties), scrubbed
1 recipe Sesame-Raisin Vinaigrette, recipe follows
1 head red leaf lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

1 head romaine lettuce, base removed, washed and dried, sliced crosswise with a very sharp knife no more than an hour before serving
1 small red onion, sliced paper thin
3 ounces good-quality blue or Roquefort cheese (we used Maytag at the inn), crumbled; optional, may be omitted or served on the side for vegans

½ cup toasted walnuts

1 crisp, tart apple, cored but unpeeled, cut into small matchstick-size pieces

Technique:
1. Up to four days in advance, cook the beets – fold them into a piece of foil, sealing tightly, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until tender-crisp. (Alternatively, you may steam the beets, or slice them and roast the slices; in any case, you want them cooked but not watery, and still with texture). Peel the cooked, cooled beets; dice into ¼-inch cubes.
2. Up to four hours before serving, toss the diced beets with 2 to 3 tablespoons Sesame-Raisin Vinaigrette.
3. Compose the salad as follows: line a platter, or individual plates, with the red leaf lettuce leaves. Top with the sliced romaine. Scatter the beets, onion, blue cheese, walnuts and apple pieces over the salad. Drizzle with some of the remaining dressing, passing additional at table.

Sesame-Raisin Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup agave syrup or honey

1/3 cup dark raisins, preferably Manuka
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¾ cup peanut oil
¼ cup toasted sesame oil

Technique:

Note: Must be prepared in a food processor. Make sure toasted sesame oil is nice and fresh; if it has been sitting on the shelf, it is likely rancid and should not be used.

 Place all ingredients except the oils in the processor, and buzz until the raisins are pureed to a dark, evil-looking paste. Then, with the machine running, gradually drizzle in the oils until the whole is emulsified. Taste for salt and sweetness, possibly adding a bit more agave or salt.

To toast sesame seeds:
In a small heavy skillet, watching constantly, toast the sesame seeds over medium heat until they begin to pop, are golden-brown, and give off fragrance. Shake the pan and stir as they toast; they burn if left unattended. Toasting should take 2 to 4 minutes, max.

 The dressing can be made up to a week in advance; the vegetables can be prepped as noted in recipe. But don’t assemble the salad until just before serving.

 Crescent says that this dish was a regular on the Thanksgiving menu back when she and her late husband owned Dairy Hollow House Inn – a country inn and restaurant that brought “nouveau’zarks” to the Eureka Springs area back in the late ‘80s.

Wonder Woman of the High South - Mollie Catherine Mullis

Wh0: Mollie Catherine Mullis

Where: Oven & Tap, Bentonville

What:  Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Dighero’s Insights: Mollie Mullis is one of the kindest, most positive people embedded in the culinary landscape of the High South. As partner in the esteemed Oven & Tap restaurant in Bentonville, she seamlessly applies passion and nuance to the work she does every day. She is a breath of fresh air as a female powerhouse in an otherwise male-dominated industry. Trust when I say that her Perfect Mashed Potatoes, the best I’ve ever had, are just one of her many talents and virtues.

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and diced

4 teaspoons kosher salt (plus more for boiling potatoes)

1 cup Irish butter (regular butter will also do), melted

2 cups heavy cream

Special Equipment: Food mill with fine-dish attachment

Technique:

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add a large handful of salt (water should taste like the ocean) and bring to a boil. • Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are fork tender, 20-25 minutes. • Drain, and briefly rinse with cool water to remove any excess starches, then set aside. • Warm the butter, cream and 4 teaspoons of salt in a small saucepan over medium until it comes to a simmer, about 5 minutes. • Remove pan from heat.

Pass hot potatoes through food mill into a large bowl (cold potatoes will become gummy), adding 1 ½ cups of the butter and cream mixture while milling the potatoes. • Once all of the potatoes have been milled, pour the remaining butter and cream mixture into potatoes, ½ cupful at a time, folding the liquid gently into the potatoes. Be careful not to overwork the potatoes. •  Serve mashed potatoes topped with a few pads of Irish butter and cracked black pepper.

https://www.citiscapes.com/eats-drinks

Warning: CHUNK Rock Cookies May Cause Creativity and Individuality

Bake whatever the hell you want, whenever you want - and for contingency of rule following sheep that contend baking is ONLY an exact science, and you should never stray from a recipe, technique - my response is simply, “Not ALL great recipes come from a cookbook!” Just like music is meant to be played, rearranged according to the person making it - baking is no different; bake it just like you’re feeling - and if you do that, there is no WRONG way! {Also - these cookies taste better with the music cranked UP - pissing off the neighbors, smelling up the house}

“punk was defined by an attitude rather than a musical style” - David Bryne

Chunk Rock Cookies

 ·        1 1/2 cups ap flour

·         1 1/2 cups bread flour

·         1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·         1 teaspoon cardamom

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         2 sticks salted butter

·         1/2 cup sugar

·         1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

·         1 teaspoons vanilla

·         1 teaspoon bourbon

·         2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

·         12 oz. chocolate, chopped into chunks

·         ¼ cup toasted, salted sesame seeds

Technique

Preheat oven to 360ºF. Place parchment on baking sheet – coat with pan spray.

Mix together flours, cardamom, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl.

Brown the butter in a hot pan, careful not to burn, but to cook until simmering, slightly brown, nutty.  Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Next, add the sugars, bourbon, and vanilla into a food processor or mixer.  Paddle ingredients until blended, then slowly add the eggs and yolk.  Once silky smooth, slowly add flour mixture until dough forms - then stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop medium sized dough balls onto parchment covered sheet pan.  Press half a dozen (or so) sesame seeds into the top of each ball – then bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.