Nantucket Holiday Table

\ \ \ \ \ Chapter One\ \ \ SALMON HASH WITH POACHED EGGS\ \ \ Hash is one of the most comforting of foods. This one, a steaming mound of salmon and potatoes, is a treat for the tummy. With salmon available year-round on Nantucket, it's possible to indulge yourself at will. But I like to think that certain dishes are "special occasion" ones. This salmon hash, with its simple and luxurious sauce of poached eggs, is destined to coddle and soothe all those who begin a special day with it.\ \ \ 1 1/4 pounds salmon fillet, boned,\ skin on\ 1 pound unpeeled red potatoes,\ finely diced\ 1 onion, coarsely chopped\ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter\ 1/2 cup heavy cream\ Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)\ Salt and freshly ground white\ pepper to taste\ 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill\ 6 large eggs\ \ \ \ 1 In a large, covered saucepan fitted with a steamer, steam the salmon for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fish is opaque throughout. Remove from the steamer and let cool.\ 2 Remove any salmon skin that has stuck to the steamer basket and add water to the pan if necessary. Steam the potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes, or until a tester easily passes through a potato.\ 3 In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion and potatoes in the butter until they begin to brown. Add the cream, stir to combine, and then stir in the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes more. Set aside and keep warm.\ 4 Skin and flake the cooled salmon. Stir the salmon into the potatomixture and cook for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the dill. Cover the skillet to retain the heat while poaching the eggs.\ 5 Poach the eggs in simmering water. To serve, place the warm hash on warm dinner plates and place a poached egg atop each serving. Serve immediately.\     SERVES 6\ \ \ ARCHANGELS ON A CLOUD\ \ \ The not-so-distant cousin of angels on horseback (oysters wrapped in bacon served on buttered toast), archangels on a cloud are delectable tidbits that showcase Nantucket's bay scallops. These archangels are an even more accessible cocktail party food, served on skewers and easily dipped into the horseradish cream.\ \ \ 1 cup sour cream\ 2 tablespoons heavy cream\ 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish,\ drained\ 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice\ 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white\ pepper\ 12 thin slices smoked bacon, cut in\ half crosswise\ 24 plump bay scallops, or 12 sea\ scallops cut in half\ \ \ 1 In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, heavy cream, horseradish, lemon juice, and pepper and stir. Refrigerate until ready to use.\ 2 Preheat an oven to 350°F. Place the bacon on a wire rack sitting in a baking pan. Cook for 8 minutes, or until the bacon appears to be half-cooked. Remove from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 450°F.\ 3 Wrap a par-cooked bacon strip around each scallop and secure with bamboo skewers or wooden toothpicks. Place the loaded skewers on the wire rack and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the scallops are opaque and the bacon crisp. Serve hot, arranged on a platter with a bowl of the horseradish cream sitting in the center.\     MAKES 24 HORS D'OEUVRES\ \ \ THOM KOON'S HOT CRAB DIP\ \ \ Thom Koon, Bart Cosgrove, and I began our friendship the first night of the first Shopper's Stroll in 1974. It has been a friendship marked by great shared meals and hilarious visits. Thom and Bart served this hot crab dip at the first party I attended at their Nantucket home. I loved it then, I love it now. ¶ Thom thinks that he's invited to so many parties during the holidays because when he asks what can he bring, before he can finish the sentence the response is inevitably, "Oh, maybe that crab dip, if it's not too difficult." It's not, and he always brings it.\ \ \ 2 pounds cream cheese at room\ temperature\ 1 cup whole milk\ 1/2 cup finely chopped onion\ 1 tablespoon minced garlic\ 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice\ 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish\ Three 6-ounce cans white crab\ meat, drained\ 1 teaspoon freshly ground white\ pepper\ Salt to taste\ Ritz crackers for serving\ Celery sticks, carrot sticks, multicolored\ bell pepper triangles,\ and cucumber slices for\ serving\ \ \ 1 Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a large casserole dish, combine the cream cheese, milk, onion, garlic, lemon juice, horseradish, crabmeat, and pepper. Thoroughly combine with a wooden spoon. Taste and add salt as desired.\ 2 Bake for 15 minutes. Stir again. Bake 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until the mixture bubbles.\ 3 Serve hot. You may want to keep this on a warming tray. Surround with Ritz crackers (Thorn's favorite) and raw vegetables.\     SERVES 15 TO 20

INTRODUCTION9 HOLIDAY BREAKFASTS Salmon Hash with Poached Eggs18 Almond French Toast with Caramelized Applesauce20 Eggberg22 Kedgeree with Nantucket Smoked Bluefish23 Sweet Potato and Chorizo Frittata Squares24 Coronation Scallops on a Bed of Parsleyed Rice26 Jimmy Gross's Christmas-Day Crêpes28 Apple-Molasses Pancakes with Honey Butter30 COCKTAIL PARTIES Scallop Seviche34 Archangels on a Cloud36 Gwen Gaillard's Shrimp Tempura with Duck Sauce37 Root-Vegetable Chips38 Mini Sweet Potato and Sage Pancakes39 Gravlax with Spicy Mustard Sauce40 Salt Codfish Fritters42 Cheddar and Cranberry Conserve-Butter Tea Sandwiches44 Thom Koon's Hot Crab Dip46 Hot Mulled Wine with Chestnuts47 Eggnog48 Hot Rum Punch50 MAIN COURSES Roasted Cod on a Bed of Allium54 Wintertime Codfish Cakes with Egg Sauce56 Holiday Table Lobster and Scallop Stew57 Coquilles St. Jacques alla Moda Mia58 Baked Plaice with Mustard and Herbed Bread Crumbs59 Grilled Turkey with Corn Bread and Oyster Dressing60 Chicken Roasted in a Skillet64 Fried Chicken for Chanukah66 Duck Breasts with Cranberry-Orange Sauce on Wilted Cabbage68 Cider-Soaked Baked Ham with Honey-Rum Glaze72 Loin of Pork with Fennel Seeds and Apple Cream74 Coffee Roast Beef Stew75 Fancy Yankee Pot Roast76 SIDE DISHES Pumpkin Lasagne80 Roasted Squash Risotto82 Stewed Squash à la Nantucket84 Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts85 Individual Cauliflower Soufflés88 Broccoli with Anchovy Cream89 Harvard Beets with an Orange-Caper Twist90 Dede Avery's Maple Syrup-Baked Beans92 Laura Simon's Root-Vegetable Latkes94 Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Marmalade-Mustard Mayonnaise96 Red Cabbage and Cranberries97 Wintertime Coleslaw98 SOUPS, SANDWICHES, AND LEFTOVERS Christmas Stocking Carrot Soup102 Caldo Verde103 Curried Parsnip Soup104 Puréed Chickpea Soup with Crunchy Ham Bits108 Potato and Stilton Soup109 Chicken Chowder110 Turkey Sandwiches with Cranberry Mayonnaise on Sweet Potato Biscuits111 Coronation Turkey Salad in Pita Pockets112 The Nantucket-Cuban Connection Sandwich114 Turkey Sandwiches with Avocado and Bacon Mayonnaise on Portuguese Bread116 Chicken and Ham Croquettes117 Turkey Shepherd's Pie118 DESSERTS Cranberry Shortcakes122 Janet Folger's Krumkaker124 Cranberry Crunch126 Cranberry Beach-Plum Cheesecake129 Spirited Gingerbread with Ginger Ice Cream130 Orchard Bundles with Apple-Caramel Sauce133 The Contessa's Bread Pudding135 Pumpkin Caramel Pudding136 Indian Pudding with Hard Sauce138 GIFTS OF FOOD A Quartet of Marmalades142 Green Tomato Preserves146 Cranberry Conserve147 Cranberry Syrup148 Holiday Party Mix149 Curry Bows150 Caramelized Dried Fruits and Nuts152 Hilda Simon's Gingersnaps154 Date Pudding156 Marshmallows and Hot Cocoa Mix157 Leila Coffin Ray's Potato Fudge158 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS160 SOURCES161 INDEX162 TABLE OF EQUIVALENTS168

\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ What do native Nantucket Islanders do during the winter when the summer visitors aren't looking? It turns out that they're doing quite a lot of sophisticated dining. Simon (The Nantucket Table), a part-time resident of the island, offers up a celebration of hearty dishes that she suggests for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's, such as Cider-Soaked Baked Ham with Honey-Rum Glaze and Turkey Shepherd's Pie, which sports a sweet-potato topping and a spicy filling. The breakfast section is particularly pleasing because Simon treats breakfast as the important opening act of a nourishing, joyful day with recipes like Salmon Hash with Poached Eggs and Coronation Scallops on a Bed of Parsley Rice. Some dishes that sound mouthwatering, like Apple-Molasses Pancakes with Honey Butter and Laura Simon's Root-Vegetable Latkes, are bland; however, the dessert section more than makes up for these few disappointments with innovations that make excellent use of native ingredients, including Cranberry Shortcakes, Cranberry Beach-Plum Cheesecake and Indian Pudding with Hard Sauce. Photographs by Jeffrey Allen of quaint island scenes and tantalizing foods complement the reliable, straightforward recipes to create a cookbook that works in the kitchen as well as on the coffee table. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\ \