Sherried Alive

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, sorry, but I couldn't resist. Can you believe no one writing cooking cozies has used this for a title? If anyone wants it, I give it freely!

But, seriously, I am talking about cooking with sherry. And not with execrable "cooking sherry", a substance that should be banned from all kitchens. Dishes made with a dash of real sherry were a household staple when I was growing up–things like seafood Newburg with sherry, or a chicken fricassee with mushrooms and sherry, or crabmeat bisque. Was this a Julia Child/Frenchified fad of the Sixties and Seventies? Did these recipes go out of fashion with the homely casserole? 

I can also remember going through a "sherry phase" with my mom. (Don't worry, I was in my twenties by then!) We bought bottles (occasionally!) of Dry Sack, which we considered very refined, and drank sherry out of tiny little crystal glasses, which I still have. This was certainly prompted by our travels to England and France.

What made me think of this was my attempt the other night at a chicken casserole with a sherry cream sauce. Now I have never been big on casseroles. I don't like things made with canned soups, for starters, so they mean cooking from scratch, and I've never had a big family to feed. But in this case I had delicious leftover roast chicken (fall cooking! Ina Garten!!) and a big head of broccoli that needed using, so I took a stab at a classic chicken divan. Remember that one, anyone? 

I made a lovely white sauce with grated sharp cheddar and a touch of sherry. And the dish was delicious, although my sauce to broccoli ratio was off. Next time I'd make more sauce or use less broccoli–and I'd add more sherry!

And replace my sherry, which was a bit past its use-by date.

Dear REDs, sherried casseroles, anyone? Favorite sherry (or casserole) recipes? 

HALLIE EPHRON: Mmm, chicken divan! A lot of work…

I developed a taste for sherry when we were traveling in Spain and Portugal. I like all kinds – dry (aka fino), medium (amontillado) and sweet (cream). We’d end the day with a mixed drink, sherry with orange juice over ice, at an outdoor cafe. Surely there’s a name for it but I don’t know what it was. These days, I like to sip a glass of sherry with an ice cube at the end of a summer day. 

I’m always amazed at how few people would even consider drinking it. It’s often in the sauce. And shows up in Chinese recipes (in place of rice wine vinegar). And of course it’s THE taste in lobster newburg, but lobsters don’t need 

newburging, at least not in my book.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: My mother’s special guest dinner was chicken divan, which is certainly in keeping with the 1960s-1970s cookery (her fancy guest dessert was Baked Alaska, which could be a whole ‘nother blog!)

I love sherry - I also picked up the habit when in school in London, and went to a church where they regularly offered it during coffee hour - a practice I think all Anglican parishes should embrace. But cook with it? Sorry, no. I get the good stuff, and it’s going down my gullet, not into a sauce. I don’t think casseroles are dead, per se - I brought my kids up on them! - but I think those heavily, well, newburged dishes have fallen way out of favor.

RHYS BOWEN: I was raised on sherry! It was the polite thing to offer to a guest, early evening, was drunk before dinner (and maybe lunch too). At college sherry parties with the faculty were regular occurrences (I remember my friends stuffing peanuts into my mouth when I attended a sherry party having had no lunch and got a little too vocal in my opinions). 

I used to cook with sherry a lot–shrimp newburg was a favorite for guests. And bisques. But the bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream has sat in my liquor closet for a long while unopened.  I really don’t make sauces or casseroles much any more.  We have guests coming next week and I’ll make paella. That’s about as fancy as I get these days.  (And I agree with Hallie–lobster should only be served with butter)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: oh, I am sitting in an airport right now, with a turkey sandwich, and swooning over these dinner ideas! I love love, love Chicken Divan, all that rich sauce, I can imagine the fragrance right now :-)

And I love casseroles, it’s so interesting, how I never think of it, until one makes itself. Just like you, Debs, I realize I have things that will go together if I just have sauce and cheese and maybe a little sherry. Can’t hurt.

Of course, my turkey tetrazzini, incredibly delicious, but anything that has chicken things and vegetable things and cheese things and then lovely cheese bubbling and brown  on the top. Bring it on.

As for sherry, I have to admit I love it.  All kinds. I had a boyfriend, years and years and years ago,  who always loved apples and walnuts  and sherry and blue cheese together. It is still close to one of the best things I’ve ever had. (The food I mean, not the boyfriend.  :-)) 

 And now the perfect girl dinner, right? 

DEBS: When I read Hank's comment I HAD to put together sherry, blue cheese, walnuts, and apple, as you can see from the first photo! I used one of my mom's little crystal sherry glasses, too. Also, I toasted the walnuts. The combination of those ingredients is absolutely fantastic. (Of course, you have to like blue cheese. That's my favorite, Trader Joe's Cave Aged Blue.)

JENN McKINLAY: I think I was born after the sherry craze as I have no recall of my mom ever cooking with it and she is a top notch cook. And I’ve never been one to drink sherry so I have no frame of reference there either. I’m more of a whiskey gal. Neat, if anyone’s pouring.

DEBS: We are hoping our Lucy comes back from her adventures in Spain and Portugal with lots of sherry stories and recipes to share!

Of course I had to try Hank's sherry with blue cheese, apples, and walnuts, and I now declare it to be my favorite new thing. What an absolutely perfect combination--at least for those of us who like blue cheese (but that is another blog!)

When I stopped at my little local wine shop to replace my sherry, there was one option, as the owner said he doesn't sell enough to justify more. But I was happy enough with his choice, and maybe I will start a new sherry party trend in my neighborhood...

How about it, dear readers? Will you raise a little glass with us?

Pairings, not couplings!

RHYS BOWEN: In the Huffington Post last year there was an interesting blog on pairing wine and music. So I thought we'd take this one stage further and let's pair books, wine and food. (Or should it be trio not pair three things?) Does it help to have particular food or drink when you read? Does it enhance the reading experience?

There are obvious examples. When I am reading one of Louise Penny's books and it's winter in Quebec, I need a rug over my knees. I need a hot chocolate to sip.
If I'm reading Morse I need Scotch and opera in the background.
If I'm reading Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, or someone wants to read my Royal Spyness books, may I suggest scones, clotted cream, jam and proper English tea (not made from those awful bags of floor sweepings!)

fellow Jungle Red Deborah Crombie's books need a pint of good ale to go with them. And a pasty,scotch egg, bangers and mash? Now I'm getting hungry.

I love reading about food. I love good descriptions of meals. I love books with recipes in the back. In my upcoming Royal Spyness book, called The Twelve Clues of Christmas, we linger over several Christmas feasts and I even provide some recipes.

So do you love to read about food? Do you like recipes in books? What would some of your food/wine/books pairings be?

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I may be in the minority but I don't like to eat or drink when I'm reading. Maybe a glass of lemonade if I'm outside in the hammock, but even then I usually get so absorbed in the book that flies and no-see-ums drown in the glass before I have a chance to take a second sip.

And since you mentioned it and I am in England - what is the deal with clotted cream? I can't bring myself to ingest anything that sounds like Arterial Plaque in a Tub. What does it taste like?

LUCY BURDETTE: Don't hold back on the clotted cream Ro--especially if it's served with scones! Tastes like whipped cream, only better.

The only true pairing I can think of is must read the New York Times while I'm eating breakfast cereal.

HALLIE EPHRON: Mmm, clotted cream. Tastes like really sweet butter to me. Or creme fraiche. Sublime with a mound of fresh raspberry jam on a hot flaky scone.

I do like food with my fiction. I like food any time. You can tell which books on my shelf I've read by the grease and coffee spots on the pages.

I'll read Lucy's "An Appetite for Murder" with a big wedge of Key lime pie and a grouper sandwich.
A hot dog with "Shoeless Joe."
Honey on toast with "The Secret Life of Bees."
A dry martini with "The Group."
A nice dark glass of red wine with "Dracula."
Pomegranate and walnuts with "Like Water for Chocolate."
Barbecued spare ribs with "Fried Green Tomatoes in the Whistle Stop Cafe."

RHYS: Hallie, I'd love to see the state of your book if you're reading it with barbecued spare ribs. I always end up so messy if I've tackled them. I wouldn't have a clean hand to hold the book!

JAN BROGAN _ I'm with Ro on not liking to eat or drink much when I'm reading - but I do have to have one of my husband's Latte's when I'm reading the Sunday Boston Globe.

 I'm more influenced by television. Completely and thoroughly impressionable I like  to have a sherry with Downton Abbey (and I don't really LIKE sherry, except to cook), and a glass of red wine with the Good Mother (Juliana Margulies is always having one)   and old episodes of Poldark (where they even seem to have wine in the morning).  I often crave a martini with Madmen, but its too damn late on a Sunday night to consider it.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Okay, I have to confess--I went out and bought a bottle of sherry during the last season of Downton Abbey.  It wasn't very good sherry, unfortunately, and it's just not quite right if you're not dressing for dinner.

Ro, if you're going to try clotted cream, you must find somewhere that has really good clotted cream.  (I'd suggest going to Devon but that might be a bit far...) And the scones should be warm, and the strawberry jam should be homemade...

I love books with food, books about food, books with recipes, and although I'm not really big on eating while reading, I do like to try things I read about in books.  Or things I write about--I learned to like really good Scotch when I wrote Now May You Weep, although I don't drink it often.  It makes me want to be curled up in front of the fire in a B&B in the Scottish Highlands, with a tartan rug over my knees.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I remember reading A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES and constantly wanting to take part in the character's food and drink. I understand Deborah Harkness is a wine blogger as well as a fiction author, and you can really tell in that book. There's a description of the meal (and wine pairings) that the heroine first makes for the vampire hero, who can't eat anything that's been cooked or, if I recall correctly, heated. First time I ever considered the "raw foods" movement might have something going on.

And I totally agree with Jan and Deb - a nice glass of sherry for Downton Abbey! You could do a drinking game - Mary and Matthew look longing at each other: one sip. Thomas and O'Brien light one up while plotting outside the kitchen: two sips. Lady Edith gets inadvertently cut down by a family member: chug!