Seasonal Fare with Flair Sampling

Date: Ongoing

Demo Schdule

Check out Victoria’s upcoming food demos:

Potato Grain Made Easy

  • Saturday, January 7th, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Hanover Store
  • Saturday, January 14th, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., White River

Sticky Toffee Pudding

About Victoria

Victoria Hicks is a familiar face at Co-op food samplings and in-store events. An avid cook and food enthusiast, she lived overseas while growing up and returns to Greece annually to search out new recipes. Victoria loves to share her food expertise through classes, demos, and her popular column in the Co-op News. Check out her articles for tips and ideas for your own entertaining! Or of course, you can always drop us a line.

Recipes Being Sampled

Potato Gratin Made Easy
Serves 6

One of the greatest comfort foods we know: a classic gratin dauphinois, aka scalloped potatoes.

5 Tbs. butter
2 garlic cloves
Salt
6 large waxy potatoes (about 2-1/2 lbs.), such as red bliss, peeled and sliced about 1/8-inch thich
2 cups half-and-half (can substitute chicken broth for a lighter option, or mix the two)
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh nutmeg
1 cup grated gruyere
Optional: 2 thinly sliced leeks

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Rub the inside of an 8 × 8 baking dish with 1 Tbs. of the butter. Smash garlic with the side of a knife and sprinkle generously with salt. Chop and scrape the garlic into a mushy paste.

Combine garlic paste, potatoes, half-and-half, and remaining 4 Tbs. butter (cut into 1/2-inch pieces) in a pot; stir. Season with salt and pepper and taste the creamy liquid; it should be seasoned generously. Grate in a hint of nutmeg. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat while stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon. After 8 to 10 minutes the potatoes will be a little tender, and their starch will have thickened the liquid considerably.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish; smooth the top as much as possible. Cover the gratin with gruyere and bake until deeply golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes. Let gratin cool and set a little before serving.

Cook’s Note: A nice addition is two thinly sliced leeks layered with the potatoes.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Serves 8

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbs. butter, room temperature
7 Tbs. sugar
1 egg, beaten to blend
1/2 cup boiling water
4 oz. pitted, dates, finely chopped and lightly floured
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
10 Tbs. firmly packed dark brown sugar
Whipped cream, if desired

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Butter 6 × 8-inch cake pan. Sift together flour and baking powder, ginger, cloves, and a pinch of salt. Cream 2 Tbs. butter with 7 Tbs. sugar in a large bowl. Stir egg and 1/3 of flour mixture into butter mixture. Using electric mixer, beat batter 1 minute. Beat remaining flour mixture into batter.

Pour boiling water over dates in a small bowl. Blend in baking soda and vanilla. Stir into batter. Turn into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Combine whipping cream, 3/4 cup butter, and brown sugar in heavy small saucepan and bring to simmer. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.

Preheat broiler. Pour sauce over cake. Broil until bubbly. Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream if desired.

Cook’s Note: Cake and sauce can be prepared up to 1 week ahead and stored separately in refrigerator. To serve, cut cake into squares and place each in bowl. Spoon some of sauce over. Warm in microwave oven on high until sauce is bubbly, about 30 seconds to 1 minutes.

—The King’s Arms Pub, Devon, England

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