What to Cook for the AHS: Coven Season Finale
Dropping a house on these ladies won’t slow them down. They’re wickedly, fiendishly entrancing, terrifying but magnetic and oh so sexy; the witch bitches of the Big Easy. I’m going to miss my weekly DVR’d date with them. American Horror Story: Coven has assembled one of the most empowered, intense and talented casts of women ever to simultaneously grace a television screen. Sure it’s a little gory. But you cover your eyes, watch through your fingers and anxiously wait for one of the many “Oh shit!” moments that make every episode so gut-wrenchingly delightful. Despite the fact that I'll have to jealously wait until the 30th to watch the finale, I've conjured some witch/bitch-appropriate recipes for your viewing and cooking pleasure. So, summon your coven next week for the January 29 season finale, get your cauldron boiling and enjoy a night of seven recipe wonders and a little kitchen witchery of your own.
Cocktail Hour with Gin Rickeys & Papa’s Deviled Eggs
Gin Rickey
(You can use bourbon or gin for this drink)
For each cocktail you need a highball glass, 2 ounces of gin or bourbon, the juice of half a lime, soda water and a lime wedge for garnish.
Fill a highball glass 3/4 full with crushed (or very small) ice cubes. Add the liquor. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime then fill almost to the top with soda water and gently stir. Garnish with a wedge of lime and serve.
Papa’s Deviled Eggs
1 dz hard boiled eggs
1/2 Cup of Mayo or Miracle Whip
2 TBL Dijon mustard
2 TBL Caribbean Jerk Seasoning (dry)
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch scallions, finely minced using as much of the whole scallion as possible
1 large or 2 small habanero peppers, as finely minced as possible (use gloves)
Peel and halve the cooled, hard boiled eggs. Remove the yolks and set them aside in a bowl. Use a fork to mash and mix the yolks with the mayo, mustard, jerk seasoning, brown sugar and lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Use a pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner cut to pipe the filling back into the center of the cut egg whites. Combine the minced scallions and habanero and garnish each egg with a pinch of the mixture. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
For Dinner-Delphine’s Mulligatawny Stew, Cordelia’s Herb Salad & Queenie’s Fried Chicken & Biscuits
Delphine’s Mulligatawny Stew (Sans Poo)
Makes 8-12 cups of soup. This recipe is not a traditional Mulligatawny stew but a Mulligatawny-like soup meant to look like the poo-soup Delphine served to the ladies for dinner. However, no poo is used in this recipe. You need an immersion or regular blender to complete this recipe.
1 small/medium sweet onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped
2 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and shredded with a box grater or food processor
1 medium yam, peeled and shredded with a box grater or food processor
2 quarts chicken stock
1/2 cup clarified butter
1 can + 1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup yellow curry paste (available at Indian or Asian markets)
2 tsp cardamom
2 TBL espresso boiled with 1 TBL raw sugar and 1 cup water until reduced to half and cooled
salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro leaves and sour cream for garnish
In a 6-8 quart stock pot, melt the clarified butter on medium high heat and saute the onion, celery, carrot and apple until soft. Add the chicken stock, espresso reduction and coconut milk and bring to a soft boil, add the shredded potatoes, curry paste and cardamom and stir until the potatoes are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can use more chicken stock or boiling water to thin the soup if so desired. Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the soup. If you do not have an immersion blender, allow the soup to cool then puree in batches in a regular blender and return to the soup pot to reheat on low to medium low heat. Hold on low heat until ready to serve. Whisk a half cup of sour cream with a few tablespoons of coconut milk until the sour cream is pourable. Transfer the sour cream to a squeeze bottle or small plastic zipper bag with the corner cut. Drizzle some sour cream on each bowl of soul and top with a few cilantro leaves. Serve hot.
Cordelia’s Herb Salad
Makes 8-10 salads. All herbs and the arugula should be rinsed and dried before adding them to the salad.
4 cups baby arugula
1/4 Cup chopped fresh chives
1/4 Cup, fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves only
2 TBL fresh dill, leaves only
2 TBL fresh tarragon , leaves only
2 TBL fresh mint, leaves only
2 TBL fresh cilantro, leaves only
Best quality olive oil your budget will allow.
1 fresh lemon rinsed and cut into 8 wedges (more lemon wedges may be necessary based on the size of your coven)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black pepper
Make sure that all the herbs and the arugula are completely dried.Toss them all together in a mixing bowl. Divide the mixture onto as many salad plates as needed. (Or serve on a large platter) Just before serving, drizzle the salad lightly with olive oil, add a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper per serving. Garnish each with a lemon wedge (seeds removed).
Queenie’s Fried Chicken and Biscuits
4 pounds of 8-piece cut chicken pieces
6-8 cups vegetable oil or 4-6 cups Crisco (yes, Crisco)
2 cups + 2 cups all purpose flour
1 TBL + 1 TBL Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 gallon buttermilk
4 eggs beaten with 1/2 cup water in a deep mixing bowl
The day before cooking, place the cut chicken in a cake pan and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Before cooking, melt the Crisco or heat the vegetable oil in a heavy gauge stock pot or deep cast iron skillet to 350੦ F. Drain the buttermilk from the chicken and pat with paper towels to remove excess moisture. In one deep mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour and 1 TBL creole season and stir. In a second mixing bowl combine 2 cups flour , 1 TBL creole season and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Set the bowls up in a line with the egg wash between them and the 2nd flour bowl as clase as possible to the hot grease. When the oil is hot, dredge a piece of chicken in the 1st bowl of seasoned flour to cover it, then the egg wash, then the 2nd bowl of seasoned flour and carefully place it in the hot oil. Cook a few pieces at a time. Cook approximately 15-20 minutes, turning to insure an even color on both sides. When the chicken reaches 180੦F at the bone it is finished. Serve hot as you go or hold in a warming oven (150-170੦F) until all 4 pounds are cooked.
Buttermilk Biscuits
4 Cups flour
2 TBL baking powder
3 tsp salt
2/3 Cup cold shortening, lard or butter
1 1/2 Cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 375੦F. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in cold shortening, slowly add buttermilk. Turn out on a well floured surface and flatten to a 1 inch thickness with a floured rolling pin, fold the dough in half and roll out about 6-8 times, returning each time to a 1 inch thickness. After folding and flattening, cut circles with a glass or cookie cutter to desired size. Bake 7-10 minutes or until browning on top. Serve hot with butter and honey. You can re-roll excess dough and repeat process until you’ve used all the dough. Makes 1-2 dozen biscuits.
For Dessert-Fresh Whipped Cream topped
Flourless Chocolate Cake as Dark as the Heart of Fiona Goode
Fiona’s Flourless Chocolate Cake
1/2 Cup Black Cocoa Powder + 1 1/2 tsp (available at chocolate stores)
4 oz. high quality semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
3 eggs, beaten
1 vanilla bean, cut open
1/2 cup butter + 1 TBL softened, for greasing pan
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dark chili powder
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp of Kosher salt
Fresh whipped cream for garnish
Preheat oven to 300੦F. In the top of a double boiler set to a very light simmer, melt slowly butter with the vanilla bean. Remove vanilla beans after 6-10 minutes and add chopped chocolate until it melts. Allow the vanilla bean to cool and gently scrape out the guts. Grease an 8 inch round cake pan and dust with 1 tsp cocoa powder. When the chocolate and butter have melted, remove from heat and very quickly use an electric mixer to beat in cocoa powder, sugar, eggs, vanilla bean guts, cinnamon, cayenne, chili powder, cloves and salt until thoroughly combined and creamy. Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 30-45 minutes, turning once, until stable. Use the toothpick test to check to doneness. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least a half hour before serving. When cooled and firm, slice into thin pieces (this is a very rich dessert) and garnish with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a pinch of the remaining cocoa powder.
